Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A long, long time ago there was a great war unlike anything seen before with human eyes. For this was not a war raged between the nations of man, but rather the divine as a three-way conflict between God and his angels, the devils, and the fallen angels ranged across the heavens as well as the earth. All to see who would, in the end, take control over the world.

Then, one day, from out of the blue the war was interrupted by two great dragons. No one knew why they were fighting, all they knew was that the two great beasts cared not where they took their brawl. They fought wherever they pleased, including on the battlefield of the great war. And when the three great powers tried to get them to stop or to take their own battle somewhere else, the two dragons became enraged for it is not wise to get in the middle of a fight between dragons.

Eventually, the three leaders of the great factions called a pause to the war in order to deal with the two dragons. The three stood there, united in a single cause as the dragons bared their fangs and claws at them. The two great beasts attacked, aiming to eat the heads of the leaders of heaven, hell, and the fallen angels. Yet, despite their power rivaling that of gods, the two dragons were defeated; their bodies were cut into pieces and their souls sealed into humans as what would later be called Sacred Gears. These Sacred Gears, or God’s Artifacts, allowed the humans who received them to enact miracles on earth.

Since that day so long ago, many different humans have held within the powers of these Sacred Gears. Each one of them making their mark in the pages of history, becoming legends. Yet, no matter how long time flowed, the desire to do battle between these dragons never ceased. It seemed that, without fail, the hosts of the Sacred Gears would seek the other out to fight.

Though that conflict never changed, the world around them did. The human race, which had only ever received supernatural powers from various Sacred Gears sprinkled into the masses, would eventually gain powers of their own without the need of the divine. This change began with the arrival of the glowing baby in China. From there, powers known as quirks began to spread all over the world with 80% of the population having at least some sort of power. From there, the world changed into something straight out of the comic books as the impossible was made a reality!

However, the same could not be said for one Izuku Midoriya.

“Where do you think you’re going Deku?” yelled Katuski Bakugo, his voice ringing through the classroom followed soon by the sound of a loud explosion before dark smoke filled half the room. A cry of pain rang through the air as the class heard someone rolling on the ground, their bag and books getting scattered all around before the boy hit the back wall of the classroom. As the smoke cleared, most of the students looked on with mild interest as Bakugo, the one who had caused the explosion, grabbed his target by his uniform jacket and pulled him up to his feet. Some even began smirking, leaning back in their seats as Bakugo towered over the trembling form of a green-haired boy with diamond-shaped freckles. No one said anything as frightened tears began forming in Izuku’s eyes, letting out a yelp as Bakugo’s right hand slammed onto the boy’s shoulder, gripping it tightly as the sound of several small pops could be heard as well as the sight of smoke rising up between the boy's fingers. But nobody in the room rushed to his defense nor did they even bother to find a teacher to put an end to this. After all, why should they?

Izuku Midoriya was quirkless, a person born without any sort of superhuman ability. What was strange was that he should have gotten one of his parent’s quirks or a combination of both. Yet, he had nothing. Thus, as the nickname Bakugo gave him all those years ago stated, he was useless. A Deku. But, despite this fact, Izuku had a dream. One which all the students in Aldera Middle School had mocked Midoriya forever since the day he had been declared quirkless.

And it was this dream that enraged Bakugo.

“You were there, weren’t you?!?” screamed Bakugo, his face inches away from his targets. Izuku flinched due to both the volume and the spit flying right into his face. “At the U.A. mock exam for the hero course! Don’t you dare lie to me, you damned worthless nerd! I overheard some of those extras talking about you while I was in the bathroom, talking about some mumbling freak taking notes on everyone he saw! You really think you can compete against me?!”

“N-N-No K-Kacchan!” stammered Izuku in both panic and pain. “I’m really not trying to compete against anyone! Honest!”

As Bakugo glared at the teen with explosive fury, a few members of the class laughed aloud. It was just so absurd that, no matter what people told him, Midoriya refused to learn the simple truth that he could never, ever, become a hero. He had no quirk, no strength of his own. Sure, some schools like U.A. had eased up on their acceptance policies into hero courses and allowed those with no quirks to enter but nobody actually believed that there was a quirkless person out there that could succeed in getting in. It was all for the publicity. But, no matter how many times these simple facts were told to him, Izuku Midoriya refused to back down from his dream of becoming a hero. If only he would just give up then maybe he wouldn’t be bullied so much.

And there was nobody who bullied Izuku more than his former childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugo. Bakugo who had been blessed with an amazingly powerful and flashy quirk, practically making it his destiny to become a great hero…something that he liked to remind his classmates of whenever the opportunity arose, much to their chagrin. To have someone like Izuku even consider climbing to the same heights as Bakugo angered the teen like nothing else.

“You really think you, a quirkless loser, can get into U.A?” Bakugo continued to yell, new veins appearing on the sides of his head as he did. “I’m sick and tired of you looking down on me Deku. I’m going to remind you of your place once and for all! Maybe this will get it through your damned HEAD!”

As Bakugo pulled back his left arm, a larger explosion than the normal pops he would make when bullying Midoriya erupted causing the class to become deafly silent. Tension now filled the air as many of those watching now wished they were somewhere, anywhere, else as they could tell this wasn’t like what Bakugo had done in the past. Normally, Bakugo would verbally assault the green-haired teen and use his explosions to either knock Izuku against a wall or as intimidation. The blond bomber wasn’t stupid; always in control of the force of his explosions to make sure he didn’t leave any lasting damage or cause enough harm that would get him barred from entering any hero school. But now, that explosion he just used, would surely be enough to leave Midoriya with burn marks on his face. Possibly even scars.

Was the mere fact that Izuku was not just talking about entering U.A., but actually making a physical effort to get in enraging Bakugo this much? Or was this a case of the straw that broke the camel’s back? Either way, Midoriya was going to be in a world of hurt.

And the quirkless boy knew it as well, still feeling the heat on his face from that last blast.

‘Oh no, no, no, no, no!’ thought a panicking Izuku. ‘He’s really lost it this time! Kacchan’s really going to kill me! And nobody’s going to save me! I…I have to do something!*

Izuku’s body trembled out of control, more tears forming in his eyes as the inevitable seemed to slow down before him. He could make out every bead of nitro-sweat on his bully’s open palm as it seemed to gather to create another large blast. He could see the motion of Bakugo pulling his arm back, getting ready to slam his hand into Izuku’s face. If only he had some sort of quirk that could help him. A strength enhancement to help him break free of the grasp. A reflection quirk to just redirect the blast. A warping quirk so that he could be anywhere else! Heck, he’d even settle for a slime quirk so that he could just melt out of Bakugo’s grip and escape through a crack in the wall or under the door! Only…he had none of those.

As Bakugo’s hand began moving closer to him, something awoke within Izuku. Perhaps it was just his fight or flight instinct, the voice of his desire to take flight finally going hoarse and allowing fight to be heard! Perhaps it was just his desire to not be a victim of this anymore, having finally reached his limits.

Or it could just be the knowledge that no matter what he did he was going to get hurt so he might as well try and fight back.

So, Izuku reached out with his dominant left hand to grab Katsuki’s wrist. An act that, at first, startled the blond. Then, like clockwork, Bakugo became angrier! But Izuku did not back down as a strange feeling began moving through his body and into his hand. This feeling, this power, began to shift and change rapidly around his hand making him feel like his hand was changing into something…clawed. Only it wasn’t. It was still the same hand that Izuku used to take all his hero notes. Just a bit…brighter? Then, Izuku heard a voice in the back of his mind.

‘About time you did that,’ came a booming, powerful, and somehow ancient voice that seemed to echo all around him. ‘I was beginning to wonder if you would ever stand up for yourself! Now LET US TAKE HIS POWER FOR OUR OWN!’

“DIVIDE!” Izuku’s shout along with a bright blue light coming from Izuku’s left hand caught the blond bomber off guard, his wrist twisting so that his palm faced his victim while letting out an explosive blast. However, compared to previous explosions, this one wasn’t all that bad. It had force behind it, but only enough to compare to a powerful wind that would make walking a tad more strenuous. As for the heat, it wasn’t the searing heat Izuku had known for so many years but rather simple warmth! What’s more, Izuku felt a surge of power running through him like nothing he had ever felt before. The sugar rush he felt when he was a little kid and had eaten twelve All Might limited edition chocolate bars had nothing on this!

‘Why are you just standing there?’ demanded the voice. ‘Quick! Use the energy boost to take this whelp down before he recovers!’

Izuku blinked as the voice rang through his head once more, noticing at the same time a shocked Bakugo trying to escape from the young Midoriya’s grasp. Yes trying . Bakugo, the strongest person in their class, was struggling to free himself from Izuku’s grip! Instinct took over again, Izuku flinging Bakugo’s arm to the side like it was the easiest thing in the world before bringing his arm back to elbow the mighty Bakugo right in the face. Izuku watched as the ashen-blond spun in the air slightly before crashing to the ground where he then rolled into a nearby desk.

For a moment, Izuku stood there as he breathed hard until he realized what he had just done. He had just knocked Bakugo down like it was nothing. And what was scary about it all was just how easy it had all been. Like something had sapped away most of the bully’s strength. And how did he move that fast? Slowly looking up, Izuku began to sweat as he realized the entire class was watching him with wide-eyed expressions.

Just then, someone gave his flight instinct a glass of water for it screamed at him to run. To put as much distance between him and everyone else as possible because, when Bakugo got up…well, Izuku didn’t need to finish that thought as he grabbed all his stuff from the floor before high tailing it out of there at full speed!

-x-

“What just happened? What just happened? What just happened?” This single sentence was on an infinite loop, the green-haired teen asking this over and over again as he ran at full speed back to his home. Once inside the apartment, he locked the door before heading to his own room where he leaned his back against the door. His legs felt weak, his uniform now drenched in sweat from that epic run with no breaks. His hands jittered as he allowed his backpack to drop to the floor.

Then, slowly, Izuku sank to the floor with his back never leaving the door. The body could feel his body crashing, the burst of energy he had gained with his fight with Bakugo having vanished shortly after he left the classroom. He had called on every reserve of energy he had in his being and then some just to keep running. To put as much distance between him and his bully. And now, with his body finally crashing, all the teen was left with were his thoughts.

So, as he sat there, his mind tried its best to piece together what had happened. Had someone used their quirk to save him? He was quirkless after all so that made sense. Perhaps a teacher or another student? That thought was quickly struck down though. Logically, if there was a teacher nearby they would have stepped in to put a stop to it themselves rather than using their quirk and getting in trouble. Also, Izuku knew the quirks of all the teachers at his middle school. Heck, he even knew the quirk from that substitute teacher who had come from the nearby town of Kuoh! And none of the other students he was aware of had a quirk that could give someone else power like that.

Did that mean…

Did he dare hope?

Heart pounding, Izuku crawled on the floor to get to his desk. As much as his body protested, demanding that he lay there for a few hours or days, Izuku forced himself up and onto his chair before pulling out a notebook. One whose title on the cover was written in Crayons: Hero Analysis of Izuku Midoriya. His hands trembled, now with excitement as he opened the first page seeing that it was mostly empty save for a single word that he had written so long ago. Quirkless. Around that word were several stains created from the tears that had been pouring down from his eyes. New watermarks threatened to join them, but Izuku managed to hold them back.

Finding a spot below that word, Izuku brought the tip of his pen to the line. Then, he took a deep breath to calm his nerves before beginning to write.

As Izuku wrote down his theories on what he believed his quirk might be, someone else was looking through the teen’s eyes. Or, rather, something. This being deep within Izuku watched on in silence as Izuku’s pen flew over the page, noting the meticulous way the boy was breaking down how his ‘quirk’ worked. He may not have had the same level of brilliance as his former host, but the boy was no slouch. With time, he would become a worthy vessel.

However, when the teen wrote down that his quirk might be causing him to hallucinate voices the being within Izuku could no longer keep quiet.

‘I can assure you I am no mere hallucination!’ stated the voice. The suddenness as well as the power behind these words caused Izuku to jump in his chair, his pen being flung into the air. Briefly, the teen looked around, trying to see if there was anyone around only to then realize that he had heard that voice before. In school. And in his head!

“Ok. Ok. I’m still hearing voices,” said Izuku aloud as he tried to make sense of everything. “I hope that this is because of my quirk, like some sort of side effect.”

‘I am neither a side effect nor am I a quirk,’ grumbled the voice.

“Ah…ok. Then what are you?” asked the teen, wondering where this would go.

‘My name is Albion, the White Dragon Emperor,’ was the reply, its tone holding no small hint of pride. ‘Also known as the Vanishing Dragon! Long ago, I was defeated by the leaders of the three great powers before having my soul and power sealed away into what would be later known as Scared Gears. Think of them as superpowers before the age of what you call quirks.’

Izuku sat there, listening to the voice now known as Albion, taking in what it was saying before coming to the most logical conclusion.

“So I guess I must have a sentient quirk then,” said the boy, excitement slowly growing in his voice. “It would have to have some ability to think in order to make up such a story. I have heard about the existence of such quirks, but I never thought that I would actually have one!”

Albion, in response, just let out a sigh. ‘I should have realized that words alone might not be enough to convince you. Perhaps a demonstration of my powers are in order.’

Before Izuku could say or do anything, that same strange feeling he had before he activated his ‘quirk’ began moving through his body and into his left hand. With wide-eyed fascination, Izuku watched as his left hand began to glow blue hoping to see his ‘quirk’ in action again so that he could have more notes. He had expected a great many things to happen, like the power in the room dwindling or the batteries in his devices having their energy lives cut in half and then feeling a great charge of power. What he didn’t expect was for his left hand to become a white, clawed gauntlet with a blue gem on the back of his hand.

“Now witness me in my original form!” Izuku sat there shocked as the voice he had been hearing in his head was now coming from the blue gem! But before he could dwell on that, the room around him vanished only to be replaced by scattered white clouds within a seemingly endless blue sky. Then, rising from below, was a dragon! A large western-style dragon with white scales so beautiful that they seemed to glow along with blue eyes, two golden horns on top of his head, and feathered wings that reminded him of an Aztec god he had once read about.

And as Izuku sat there, staring into the blue eyes that stared right back into his own, he could feel the power of this great beast that dwarfed him in every way possible. A power that was real. This thing, this dragon was real. There was no way his quick could do what it did back at school and show him all this!

With that, Izuku found himself back in his room having never left his seat with the blue gem now embedded in his left hand.

“So…it’s true,” whispered Izuku as the truth began to set in. “I don’t have a quirk. Everything that happened back in that classroom was because of you.”

As Izuku stared at the gem, he could feel his heart pinching in the most painful of ways while tears began to form in his eyes. It was like the world’s cruelest joke. To have him think that, after all these years, he finally had a quirk, that he could finally be a hero…only to find out it was a lie. He didn’t blame Albion since he probably didn’t intend to get Izuku’s hopes up, just wanting to protect his host or something like that.

“You are wrong, human,” said Albion firmly, instantly getting Izuku’s attention. “When your soul was created, the Scared Gear Divine Dividing was fused into it becoming one with you. Its power became your power! When you stood up for yourself and tried to fight back, your subconscious called upon it. All I did was offer some brief guidance.”

The despair that Izuku felt quickly morphed into confusion as he stared as he continued to stare at the gem. “Then…Then why couldn’t use this power before?!? I mean, Kacchan used to beat me up all the time when we were kids!”

“The main reason was that your body was too weak to handle the transfer of power,” Albion responded with a sigh. “Most of the assumptions you made in your notes are correct: Divine Dividing is a power that transfers half of the strength and powers of your opponent before adding what was stolen to your own abilities. With this power, you will always be at your peak while your enemy gets weaker faster. However, when you were younger, your body could not handle the strain of taking in the stored power. As such, you were unable to use Divine Dividing.”

Izuku’s eyes widened at that.

“And now I am strong enough?” Izuku asked, his voice full of hope.

“Heh, heh. Just barely, and I’m being generous here,” laughed Albion, causing Izuku’s head to drop. “In truth, what you saw on your hand was just the first stage of Divine Dividing. A ‘half-awake’ form if you will. In order to gain access to my full power, your body is going to need to become stronger!”

For a moment, Izuku felt himself deflate at Albion’s statement of him being weak. Not that it wasn’t true, he was built like a straw man after all. It was, well, he had hoped that this quirk would be able to change that. Make him stronger so that he could become a hero.

Yet, a moment later, Izuku’s eyes brightened as he realized what Albion was saying. If this was just what the bare minimum of Divide Dividing could do, just imagine what it would be capable of once he grew stronger! The full access to everything that Izuku felt when he saw Albion in his true form! Just imagine how many people he could save with that sort of strength! Quickly turning back to his notebook, he began writing ideas at a frantic pace.

“Alright,” began Izuku over the scribbling of his pen jotting down his plans. “So, first off, I’m going to need to register Divine Dividing as my quirk. That will give me time to figure out what sort of training I should be doing to boost my overall physical abilities. Let’s see, I could try getting a bunch of weight and using them. Maybe even jogging with weights. I heard that helps with some people. Or I could look online for a workout program. Wait, maybe join a dojo or a gym! That might actually kill two birds with one stone!”

“What are you thinking, partner?” asked Albion.

Grinning, Izuku pulled out his phone and began typing in his search while barely noting the fact that he was being called ‘partner’.

“Well, the way I see it, I not only need to be able to handle this strength but also how to use it to its full advantage,” explained Izuku. “Meaning I’m going to need to learn how to fight. A dojo will not only help me improve my strength and stamina but also teach me how to fight. I might not be able to go blow to blow with someone who has been studying for years, but I’ll at least get the basics down before taking the U.A. entrance exam. The same goes for a gym. They’ll be able to provide a number of different workout classes as well as some self-defense classes or kickboxing.”

As Izuku began looking up the nearby gyms to see what sort of classes they offered and how much, Albion grinned. His newest host was certainly interesting.

Chapter Text

‘So, this is the place you have chosen.’ Izuku nodded as Albion’s words echoed through his head, standing stiffly at the entrance of the dojo waiting for someone to greet him. Waiting to meet the person who could give Izuku the training he needed to better handle Divine Dividing and become the hero he always wanted to be.

It had been a day and a half since Izuku had first communicated with the dragon dwelling inside of him. During that time, Izuku had researched every gym, dojo, training program, and personal trainer he could find on the web. He examined everything with the same level of scrutiny that he gave when examining heroes' quirks and their potential. From their hours of operations, the various types of training they provided, equipment, lesson plans, and even who the instructors were. Well, all that as well as making sure that it was within his family’s budget.

When Inko had returned home the day Izuku had awakened his ‘quirk’, the young man had rushed over to her before she could close the door to their apartment to tell her the good news. Naturally, she was a little bit skeptical that he had just now awakened a quirk since such things were very rare. As in she could count on one hand the number of times she knew it had happened from all the research she had done back when Izuku was little and still awaiting his quirk. But after having Albion’s gem appear on the back of his left hand and using his Divide on her, Inko was sold! That night, emotions ran high as both Midoriya’s broke down in happy tears. Even more so when the Midoriya matriarch sent a quick text message to her husband who then, after only a few minutes of receiving the text, called Izuku to congratulate him. After a long talk with his dad, Izuku put his phone on speaker in order to reaffirm his desire to become a hero and ask for their support.

“Alright, we’ll support you as best we can,” said Izuku’s father over the phone, his voice, though happy, sounding a little tired. As if he were struggling to stay awake.

“But, only as long as you keep your grades up,” added Inko. “I know you have a lot of catching up to do and there’s not a lot of time before the entrance exam for U.A. However, that’s no reason for you to neglect your studies in the name of pushing yourself!”

With that promise easily made, Izuku was given his price range.

Within the time between then and his mother taking him to get his quirk registered, Izuku had crossed off a number of potential training options. Most of the personal trainers were out since each of the sessions would cost the same as the monthly training allowance. The same went for certain gyms run by former heroes, though that had more to do with the fact that they were just using their slowly dying name recognition to score some easy cash. At least, that’s what Izuku came to after reading the very negative reviews and comments made about these places. Thankfully, there were a few good ones out there. Some even offered ‘Hero-in-Training’ courses for people his age that would allow quirk training under their supervision. Oh, yes that was very tempting for Izuku.

In the end, Izuku ended up choosing a dojo without a lot of reviews, good or bad, that was close to the higher end of his budget. To anyone else, this might have seemed like a huge mistake on his part. But Izuku had his reasons. The first was the man who ran the dojo. While he was never a hero, at least not one Izuku or the internet knew of, the man had studied and mastered many martial arts from all over the world. In fact, he was so skilled that some hero agencies would contact him in order to train their sidekicks. He also boasted that he could help people find the fighting style that fit his students the best. Not only that but if you were willing to put in the work, he would help you create your own style! Now that was something that would greatly help Izuku!

Another reason Izuku wanted to go here was because of the rooftop parkour classes that you could sign up for. Albion had explained to him that the more he used Divine Dividing, the more it would drain his stamina. The only reason he hadn’t felt it when he used it on Kacchan, or ‘that whelp’ as Albion liked to call him, was because of the adrenaline rushing through his system. Meaning that if Izuku was going to be in situations where he would need to use Divine Dividing multiple times then it wouldn’t matter how strong he kept his body if he passed out. What’s more, after doing some research into the subject, parkour seemed like it would be ideal for hero training. Not only would it give him a full-body workout, but it would help increase his bone strength and endurance. And that was just how it would improve his body! How many times had he watched heroes leaping from building to building as they tried their best to get to the scene of a villain attack or other disasters? Or used the surrounding area in a fight? The more Izuku thought about it, the more he began to realize that taking up parkour would help him improve as a hero!

There were a few other things that he found in his research that parkour was supposed to help him with. Some of it he could believe while the rest, well, he just didn’t. Like, he could see how leaping from rooftop to rooftop, jumping from one wall to the next in order to climb upward, lunging from railing to railing would help improve his quick thinking, creativity, and even help him with a fear of heights. However, he still wasn’t sold on how this would improve self-confidence and reduce anti-social behavior.

So now, here he was, dressed in a plain white shirt and jeans as he looked around at the seemingly empty dojo. The place looked and felt bigger than it did in the photos, with a wide empty place in the middle to train. Looking up, Izuku saw that the room had a second story that only had a catwalk where people could stand and look down as they watched bouts. That or they could also be used in some extreme matches. Also on the catwalk was a pretty girl who-

Izuku’s brain needed a moment to reboot as his eyes focused on the sight before him. There, standing on the railing was a very pretty girl dressed in a white gi. Her orange hair was tied to the side in a ponytail while her eyes were hidden behind a blindfold as she continued to walk on the catwalk. Every once in a while, the girl would do a cartwheel making the boy’s heart race with fear that she would fall and break her neck. But such things never happened as she just moved with what seemed to him like calculated grace with each move.

Finally, after making two laps around the second floor, the girl leaped toward the ground. Twice she spun around before she landed, punching the ground as she did so as if it were the finishing move in a video game or something. Then, she stood up. As the girl untied the blindfold from her eyes, she shook her hair slightly giving it that brief wavy motion that reminded Izuku of the brilliant orange leaves billowing in the fall wind. And when he saw her eyes, Izuku couldn’t help but gulp as his face turned red at seeing those teal eyes beaming with life and pride.

Eyes that soon fell upon him!

“Hey there,” said the very pretty girl in the friendliest voice any girl had ever spoken to him in. “Didn’t hear you come in. Are you here to sign up at our dojo?”

As the girl gave him a friendly smile, all Izuku could do was stand there as a strangled, almost whimpering noise escaped his throat. A girl was talking to him! Not mocking or laughing at him, but talking to him like a normal teenager! And she was smiling at him so warmly. His brain didn’t know how to process this and was on the verge of needing to be rebooted once more. So all he could do was stand there, stiff as a board with his eyes wide.

This, naturally, didn’t go unnoticed by the girl as her smile became a bit forced.

“Ah…ok. I’ll, um, get my parents and maybe they can…help you.” With that, the girl turned and began walking away. As she did, Izuku's eyes continued to take her in. From her broad, powerful shoulders all the way down to her-

‘NO! No, no, no, no-no-no! NOOOOOOOOOO! I refuse to go through this again! Refuse!’ Albion’s sudden, desperate cry snapped Izuku out of his trance as he jumped at least a foot into the air. After landing and clutching at his heart, he looked down at the blue gem that had reappeared in his left hand in confusion.

‘Albion, what was that about?’ thought Izuku, communicating directly to the dragon merged with his soul. For a moment, Izuku just stood as he listened to the heavy ‘breathing’ of Albion. What in the world could have caused a dragon like him to panic so much?

‘S-Sorry, partner,’ Albion said eventually. ‘I just had… Well, what I mean to say is…My last partner had certain tastes that sort of… He wasn’t as bad as this other human, but all the same…I just thought, for a moment, that you might have similar tastes is all. And the thought of having to go through all that again caused a bit of a panic attack.’

Izuku nodded his head in understanding. There had been times when a sudden bang had caused similar fears within him as they brought back certain memories of the past. Of being on the ground, helpless with a certain ashen-blond standing above him. The feeling of being utterly helpless within that old playground. The feeling of being a Deku.

‘I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do?’ thought Izuku sympathetically.

‘No, no, I’m fine,’ was the reply from the ancient dragon, his breathing now fully under control. ‘Been through enough group therapy to last me a lifetime and beyond.’

Izuku nodded as he looked up. The pretty girl was gone, but he could now hear footsteps approaching. Taking a deep breath, Izuku straightened himself as he mentally prepared himself to meet his sensei. He could do this! He knew he could. Even if there was a pretty girl in the room, he could manage a conversation.

A few minutes later proved Izuku wrong. Standing before him were three people, the pretty girl, and her parents. And it was clear that the girl got her looks from her mother! The woman’s hair was the same color of orange, except she kept hers loose and flowing all the way down to her shoulders. What’s more was that she was dressed in a black, skin-tight body suit that showed off her curves. Then there was the father, his sensei, who was a tall, bald man with a black beard that was pointed in the front and on both sides. He stood there in a sleeveless gi, arms crossed as he looked down at the boy he could probably crush into powder using only his thumb.

“So, do you wish to train here at this dojo? Did your parents send you here to toughen you up or something?” Izuku flinched at the man’s tone and words. His voice was deep by nature while the tone told Izuku that he had little interest in him. And going by what he had just said, caused Izuku to wonder just how many kids had entered through those doors for that exact reason.

With his body shaking slightly, Izuku managed to look that man in the eyes.

“N-No s-sir. I wanted this,” the young man managed to say with a minimal amount of stuttering.

Before Izuku could avert his gaze, he saw the man’s eyebrow rise slightly. He also noted that the woman’s eyes seemed to sparkle a bit with excitement.

Then, when the man spoke again, his tone was a tad warmer. Friendlier.

“I see,” said Mr. Kendo, a slight smile almost visible on his face. “Well then, tell me what you hope to accomplish by training here.”

Izuku took a deep breath before looking back at the man, his eyes shining with all the will and determination the boy had in his body. As he did this, the man standing before the young Midoriya couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“I want to become a hero, more than anything else in the world!” he said almost instantly. However, that rush quickly died as he lowered his head slightly. “I know…I know I’m probably not much to look at right now. That I’m weak, worthless even. But I want to change that. I promise I’ll work hard and-”

Izuku stopped as the man placed a meaty hand on his shoulder, nearly knocking him down. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the pretty girl frowning while her mother’s look became concerned.

“Young man, if you did come here by your own choice, then you are most certainly not weak. Nor are you worthless,” said Mr. Kendo in a firm tone, the type that stated that this was final. as he lifted his hand off Izuku whose heart seemed ready to burst. A part of him wanted to clutch at it while tears poured from his eyes, yet the man’s gaze commanded Izuku to remain focused on him. “Now, before I can even consider taking you in as a student, I would like to know how such thoughts came to be. Is it because your quirk is extremely weak or are you quirkless?”

A lump formed in Izuku’s throat as he thought about his past. Thought about that day in the playground when he had tried to protect a fellow kid from being bullied by Kacchan. About how he had gotten the nickname Deku. He thought back to the laughter that always followed whenever he told others about his dream. Then he looked up at the man standing before him, took a deep breath, and began to tell him what he could. Naturally, he told him the same thing he had told his parents about Divine Dividing. And he gave a less than detailed account of what life had been like for him. Never giving out names or going too deep into detail. But despite that, Izuku had a feeling that the man was filling in the blanks all on his own. Perhaps, given the question he had asked, he had dealt with plenty of people who had been in the same position as Izuku. Maybe even some that had been worse off. When Midoriya finished, the man was silent for several seconds as he stood there nodding to himself.

“Izuku Midoriya, now I am certain you are the type of person that this dojo welcomes with open arms,” said Mr. Kendo as he reached out to pat the green-haired boy on the shoulder, doing his best not to knock him over. “You are the type of person that, no matter how many times you have been knocked down, have gotten back onto your feet. That there is the truest form of strength. And now, you are recognizing your flaws and seeking to improve.”

Izuku suddenly found a spot on the floor that was very interesting, staring at it as his face flushed with embarrassment.

“I guess I should have tried doing this sooner, right?” said Midoriya, more as a statement than a question as he realized his own mistake. Both the man and Albion chuckled at that remark, the dragon’s tone echoing in his head so that only he could hear.

“Well, given what your dream is and that you thought that you were quirkless, I’d say not training your body at the very least was foolish,” stated Mr. Kendo with a bemused smile. “But at least you recognized that now. And if that determination I saw in your eyes is anything to go by, you will be giving this your all.”

Izuku’s eyes widened slightly at that before another question tickled in the back of his mind. One he had asked before. Given what Mr. Kendo had said prior, asking if he had been quirkless as well as what he had said after, was there a chance? Would he give a different answer? Or would Izuku be denied once more?

After taking a breath to steel his nerves, Izuku spoke again doing his best to look in the eyes of the man before him. “Ah, can I ask you something? If…If I had come here, still quirkless, do you think I could be a hero?”

Mr. Kendo didn’t answer right away. Rather he paused, stoking his beard while looking like he was collecting his thoughts. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t discourage you,” said Mr. Kendo at last, his words surprising Izuku. “I would rather arm you with all the tools you would need so that you could, at the very least, try. If you succeeded, then the taste of victory would wash away the bitterness of defeat you had dealt with for so long. And if you failed, then I believe you could move on from that knowing that you gave it your all. How does that saying go? ‘Better to shoot for the stars and fall in a blaze of glory than to have never tried at all’? Yes, I believe that’s it.”

Izuku found it harder to keep his feelings inside now. Tears were stinging around his eyes. It might not have been the words he had wanted his mother to tell him back when he was a kid, it wasn’t the words he hoped his hero would tell him if they ever met. Yet after years of people telling him to not even bother, hearing someone say that he’d let him try was powerful in its own right.

“Thank you, Mr. Kendo,” Izuku managed to say while doing his best not to fall to his knees.

So, as Izuku did his best to get himself under control, he entered the dojo to begin his training. Or, rather, to fill out the paperwork needed first. Then the training.

-x-

“Texas Smash!” Izuku, dressed in his own white gi, charged at his training partner, Itsuka Kendo, ready to try and imitate the fighting style of his hero All Might. With a bored look, Itsuka effortlessly deflected the blow with her wrist before sending a powerful punch right into the green-haired teen’s gut. As Izuku felt all the air inside him leave, his orange-haired opponent swiftly knocked him off his feet courtesy of a leg sweep.

Since signing up at the Kendo Dojo several days ago, finding himself lying in pain on his back was becoming a regular occurrence for the teen. Mrs. Kendo, as it turned out, was in charge of the extra lessons including parkour. And while she was starting Izuku on something simple right now, jumping over uphill railings and then back down, it was still incredibly draining to the teen. As for Mr. Kendo, Izuku had told him that he wanted to learn how to fight like All Might. The instructor hadn’t put up any argument, teaching his student the way he wished after their stretches and stances with his daughter being his sparring partner.

So far, things weren’t going so well. He was doing everything he was told and Mr. Kendo had told him that his form was correct. So why was it that he was having so much trouble?

A hand then appeared in Izuku’s field of vision along with that orange hair that made his face turn a shade of red. Though, thankfully, not as red as it had been on his first day here. That day had been by far one of his worst experiences as he devolved into an awkward mess just standing before her, not knowing where to look. Izuku had, at first, decided to focus on her face. This proved to be a mistake as he had become just as flustered as when they had first met, made all the worse as she stood there looking back at him with such a soft and warm expression. As tiny squeaks escaped his mouth, Izuku shifted his eyes downward hoping that would help. No, it was worse! Because now he could see her neck along with all the exposed flesh right underneath it. Quickly, Izuku realized if he kept staring there Itsuka might think he was staring at her breasts. So, to avoid being called a pervert, his gaze shifted down again to her stomach which wasn’t any better. Soon enough he was looking at her legs which were moving towards him. The next thing he knew, Izuku was looking up at the ceiling in pain until Itsuka’s face came into view ready to help him to his feet.

It took a few more times of him getting knocked onto his back before he managed to not feel as awkward looking at her. Though, talking to her and just being too close to her were difficult at times as his face would turn bright red. as he was now feeling less awkward around her. Groaning, he took the hand and got to his feet.

“Th-Thanks Itsuka,” he managed to groan, accepting the offered hand and getting to his feet.

“No problem!” As she spoke, Itsuka’s voice was bright and chipper. She then smiled, something that contrasted greatly with the look she had just moments ago. “Ready to try again?”

“Yeah,” began Izuku. Then, as he noticed Itsuka beginning to turn, Midoriya quickly blurted out a question. Something he had been meaning to ask for some time. “But, ah, do you have any advice on what I’m doing wrong? I mean, All Might-”

“Has a fighting style that fits him,” interrupted Itsuka, interrupting her training partner. There was no way she could have missed the confused expression on Izuku’s face, so when she spoke next it was done in what he had begun to think of as her ‘Big Sister’ voice. The tone she used when she was explaining something, holding up a finger as she did so all with a helpful smile on her face. “Look, All Might’s fighting style works well with his body type. Because he’s so big and has so much mass, he can put more weight behind his attacks along with his strength. Even the most basic punch can be made several dozen times more effective because of that. He’s also fast enough so that his opponents don’t have time to deflect or dodge an attack. And his strength, well, you know how insane it is.”

Izuku let out a hum as he brought a hand to his chin, muttering to himself as a finger tapped against the side of his face. “So, if I want to fight more like All Might, I need to get bigger, gain more muscle mass, get faster, and become stronger. Maybe I could start-”

“Izuku, can I ask you a question?” interrupted Itsuka again. When Midoriya turned to look at her, he was surprised to see that her smile was gone. Now, she looked worried. “Do you really…hate yourself that much?”

“W-What?!?” Izuku shouted, taking a step back as he did so.

“I’m sorry it’s just,” she began before pausing, looking away in a manner that seemed to show that she was having a hard time putting her thoughts into words. After a moment, it looked like she decided to just go for it. “Listening to all of that makes it sound like you want to completely change who you are instead of trying something else.”

Izuku didn’t know what to say to that at first. To be honest, he had never really thought about it. Sure he idolized All Might, but who didn’t? He was the greatest hero of all time! Who wouldn’t want to be just like him? Especially when you were everything the man wasn’t. Then, when he spoke, he lowered his head slightly to avoid looking at Itsuka.

“For the longest time, nobody believed in me,” he began, lowering his head slightly so as to avoid looking directly at Itsuka. “Not my mom, the kids I used to play with. Even my best friend didn’t think much of me. That’s why he gave me the nickname Deku. Because it fit me so well. Because I was…useless. But that never stopped me from wanting to be more like All Might. To be the type of hero who could just reassure everyone around him with a smile. To let everyone know that things would be alright because I was there. So I want to be just like him.”

“But, if you do that, then it won’t be your smile that reassures everyone. It’ll still be All Might’s,” said Itsuka, her words causing Izuku’s head to shoot up. Now he could see that she had never taken her eyes off of him, an odd smile on her face that he couldn’t place. “Izuku, if what you want is for people to see your smile and feel reassured then you have to become your own hero. Don’t limit yourself to thinking that there’s only one way to do things. Because, if you do, you’ll end up missing so much potential.”

“My daughter is correct,” came the voice of their instructor. Turning his Izuku, Izuku saw that Mr. Kendo had risen from where he had been sitting as he watched their bouts. Now he had a very serious look on his face. “Midoriya, if you truly wish to become a hero then you must first overcome this handicap: yourself. Your own self-doubts and your views on All Might. Those do you a great disservice. They chain you, binding you to the ground so that you can never soar through the air on your own wings. I know you can be so much more if you just give yourself a chance.”

Izuku swallowed hard while grabbing a shaking arm. A part of him felt confused in so many ways. His mind was buzzing. He heard what they were saying but…

“H-How do I do that?” he asked. How do you change the very idea of the pinnacle of what it means to be a hero? How do you change that image you have in your head, guarding it with everything you have?

“You can figure it out yourself,” Mr. Kendo said simply, surprising Izuku. “Do you know why? Because you, like everyone else, were born with the same thing that All Might and other great people have had. Two arms, two legs, two eyes, and a brain. No matter how the world sees them, you have everything that every pro hero had when they started out. With those same tools, you too can become great as long as you have the will. How much you’re willing to hone them, how much you are willing to learn. All that is up to you. So figure out what works for Izuku Midoriya while carrying on with the spirit of All Might. And once you do, I’ll help you down that path you have chosen.”

For a long time, Izuku just stood there as he processed what he was being told. To be honest, he had never looked at heroes that way before. He had always seen them as these amazing people like Kacchan; born with the strength, courage, and drive to do whatever they wanted. But now that he thought about it, both he and Kacchan had started off exactly the same. What was different, what separated him from people like Kacchan and All Might, was that they got quirks. They learned how to fight with what they had been given. The same went for other heroes like Kamui Woods, Ryukyu, Endeavor, and so many others.

But what would work best for him? What could he use?

Izuku then blinked, realizing what they were saying about his idolization of All Might. That in wanting to be so much like his hero, he hadn’t considered other options. Hadn’t done the same level of research that he had used to bring him here to this dojo.

After all, he had all the tools he needed. He had eyes to see so many different styles and a body to train in them. The mind to figure out if their strengths fit him and that their flaws didn’t hinder him. He just needed to figure it out on his own.

‘I believe you are beginning to understand,’ Albion commented in his head.

Izuku nodded before looking over at his instructor.

“Can you show me some other fighting styles?” he asked.

The man grinned before nodding.

Chapter Text

Time passed within the Kendo Dojo, with Izuku making up for all the lost time he had spent wishing he had a quirk and hoping that things would just work out.

To say that Mr. Kendo was a wellspring of information regarding martial arts would have been an understatement. The man lived up to his reputation and had a level of passion for the art of combat in the same vein as Izuku himself when it came to heroes. Mr. Kendo seemed to know just about every martial art form in existence, both those still used today as well as those that hadn’t really been practiced since the pyramids had been built! The man even had notebooks on some of the unique fighting styles of some of the major pro heroes, detailing their strengths and weaknesses. Not just notes, but also drawings of the stances for those heroes’ finishing or signature moves! The biggest difference between their notebooks was that Mr. Kendo’s writing was like a work of art compared to Izuku’s hastily written notes.

That passion, as Izuku quickly learned, turned out to be a double-edged sword. During Izuku’s time training at the dojo, he witnessed a significant number of new students who were brought there, some seeming to be dragged, by their parents. Often, those kids looked on fearfully of everything around them as if they were unsure if this was the place for them. That or they held expressions that said they would rather be anywhere but here. As for the parents, well, they were going on and on about how they wanted Mr. Kendo to ‘toughen them up’ or to just ‘get them away from their computer games’ before they even made it to the back room. Those students never lasted long, doing everything in their power to get out. There were a few students, however, that stayed on longer as they became interested. Though half of those teens left as they grew annoyed at the advice Mr. Kendo gave when he suggested other forms of martial arts that they might be more interested in.

An issue that Izuku no longer had.

One by one, the father and daughter duo showed Izuku every martial art they knew and let him get a feel of each. The green-haired teen learned about the basics of Kenpo and karate while also experiencing being thrown with a judo technique. He experienced the rhythm of Capoeira before moving on to Kung Fu followed by things like Gunhead martial arts.

In the end, Izuku discovered that the kicks he learned in Muay Thai and Taekwondo felt more natural to him. He could more easily flow into the stances of these moves and use them more effectively than what he had been trying prior. What’s more, they just felt right. More so than any of the other times he tried to emulate All Might’s Smashes. The more he learned about these styles, the more he practiced with them, the more influenced he became to make something that was his own. To use what he was learning as the foundation of his own style.

But that was not the only thing that he was picking up on. Mr. Kendo and Itsuka were teaching him how to read his opponent. What a shift in their stance meant, how to tell what direction the attack was coming from, and so forth. This was something Izuku was able to pick up on fairly easily thanks to all the time he spent watching various heroes, learning to spot when they would be using their signature moves and other aspects of their quirks. Now those skills had been taken up from ten to twenty!

While this was going on, his training with Mrs. Kendo was slowly producing impressive results. Bit by bit, she moved him up in his parkour routine, pushing him further and further. She showed the green-haired teen, along with the rest of the class, how to jump from one corner wall to the next in order to scale it and how to use the same trick when descending. He learned how to shift his momentum around when he fell from a high area, going into a roll so that he would sustain fewer injuries. He began to leap from building to building and, in time, went from a scrawny kid who could barely run five minutes before feeling like he was about to die to a well-toned, well-muscled athlete who stayed with the class even when everyone else dropped out.

As for school, things had certainly changed since the day Izuku awakened Divine Dividing. The story of how Midoriya, of all people, had managed to overpower Bakugo and knock him into the desks had passed around the school so many times that it might as well have become a local legend. What’s more, many of his classmates began to take notice of Izuku’s ever-improving build. It was during gym glass where they were playing a game of basketball with shirts versus skins, Izuku being skins, that all his hard work with the Kendo’s had been put on display for everyone to see to which many of his classmates complimented him. He even noticed that some of the girls, the same ones who had snickered at him and left him to the ‘mercy’ of Bakugo prior, were now blushing at him!

Meanwhile, with Bakugo, as days turned into weeks and weeks into months, the teen became more and more irritated. Whenever even the slightest bit of praise was given to Izuku in his presence, the explosive blond would shoot death glares at the one who spoke before turning his anger on the holder of the Divine Dividing. As soon as Izuku began to perform better in P.E. or show a marked improvement in his grades, Bakugo’s fist would soon slam into a desk or locker while letting out a shout of rage. As for Midoriya’s quirk, Izuku repeated the same story he was telling everyone in order to avoid confusion. Nearly all of his classmates, when they heard this, just nodded while looking thoughtful and saying that it ‘made sense’ to them. Bakugo, on the other than...

“You have to be kidding me!” he screamed when he had heard the reason, viens appearing on his neck as he did so. “That damned nerd knew about his quirk this entire time! That Deku! He was mocking me, looking down on me!”

Eventually, it reached the point where Bakugo blew up his own deck in a fit of rage before letting out a savage scream that promised bloody murder while eyeing his former childhood friend. It probably would have escalated further into a full-blown fight had not their homeroom teacher, as well as several others who heard the noise, rushed in at that moment. Needless to say, the teen was punished but only with a stern warning from the principal as he did not wish to ruin the future of such a promising student over one incident of misconduct. However, it was quickly made clear that, should anything like this happen again, the school would have to take more drastic actions. This was only enough to keep Bakugo somewhat at bay, gripping his pencil so tightly that he had to buy them in large packs daily or clawing at his new desk in order to keep himself from doing anything explosive in class. But, in those times outside of the class, Katsuki Bakugo would vent by putting the green-haired teen down with his words.

“It doesn’t matter what shitty quirk you now have,” Bakugo had said while practically being dragged away by his closest ‘friends’. “You’ll never be able to reach my level no matter how hard you try. And you’ll still never get into U.A. So quit looking down on me!”

And so, eventually, the day of the entrance exam loomed ever so close on the horizon…

“Begin!” As soon as the single was given by Mr. Kendo, both Izuku and Itsuka, both of whom were in their fighting stances, closed the distance between each other within the dojo. Sweat rolled down their faces from the several prolonged matches the pair had gone through already, caressing the slight bruises they both carried as they did. But, despite this, both teens just grinned in anticipation as their last bout of the night began.

Izuku, having analyzed her fighting style for some time now, knew that she was more than likely going to start off with a powerful right hook aimed for his chest before going in with a flurry of punches. And, after staring into her eyes, knew that this time would be no different. Rather than blocking it, Izuku leaned back to allow the first blow to sail over him while at the same time kicking upwards. As he expected, Itsuka moved back to avoid the blow which nearly grazed her chin. However, Izuku wasn’t done. Landing on the ground with his hands hitting the mat first, he used the rebound in order to launch himself forward with his leg extended ready to connect with the orange-haired girl’s gut.

Unfortunately for Izuku, Itsuka saw this coming and was able to move back just in time to avoid an attack that would have knocked the air right out of her. Once Izuku realized that his attack wouldn’t connect he managed to spin his body around rapidly before landing on his feet. But he didn’t come to a complete stop, still using the momentum he had generated to move into a spin kick while moving forward. Itsuka blocked the attack with her arms, grunting from the impact yet smiling all the same.

This, after months of hard work, was the final evolution of all of Izuku’s training: the Shooting Dragon style. This style, named in honor of Albion, used the extensive leg work and training he had gained in Muay Thai, Taekwondo, parkour, and various other martial arts he had learned and brought together with the help of Mr. Kendo in order to deliver powerful kicks on his own as well as using his surrounding in various ways. As for his hands and arms, for right now they were going to be used to block or deflect enemy attacks when he couldn’t dodge. Though he hoped that, when he would be able to practice more with Divine Dividing, he would also include using his dividing ability when blocking. It wasn’t perfect, not by a long shot. But it was something Izuku was taking pride in.

For the next several minutes, the match continued as Itsuka sent punch after punch toward her forest-haired training partner while Izuku did his best to dodge them and counter with his own kicks. Sweat continued to roll down their bodies, sprinkling onto the mat yet neither teen paid it any mind as they pushed their bodies further. In the end, it was thanks to the years of experience she had over Izuku that Itsuka managed to deliver a blow powerful enough to knock him down.

“That’s match. Good job, both of you!” declared Mr. Kendo with a hearty laugh filled with pride in his two students.

As he did, Ituska walked over to Izuku and extended her hand to him as she panted heavily with a big grin on her face. For a moment, Izuku just looked at the friendly gesture. When he had first started taking these lessons, the gesture was practically foreign causing him to flinch. But now, after ten months, such gestures were common as Izuku finally had a friend after so many years. Itsuka was pretty easygoing, willing to talk to Izuku on just about anything when they were having their breaks or when they happened to meet up in public. She was just herself and Izuku felt like he could just let down his guard whenever she was around. The two had even started hanging out on days when they weren’t training to just have some fun together. How that happened, Izuku hadn’t the foggiest. One moment they were talking over the phone and the next moment he was in Itsuka’s room, which surprisingly had a bit of a motorcycle theme to it, where the girl posed to help Izuku practice his drawing of her for when he included the young Kendo into his hero notebooks. He was honestly surprised he hadn’t passed out in shock as he sat there, sitting on a girl's bed. After that, it just became a regular thing for them to simply hang out.

Soon enough Izuku took the offered hand, though he did blush as he was helped to his feet noticing that Itsuka’s gi had opened slightly to show off a bit more of her skin. Nothing too perverted, but coming a little close. So the teen did the only thing he could think of and adverted his eyes.

“Good job Midoriya,” said Itsuka, slightly panting as she spoke. “I can’t believe you’re the same scrawny kid that came here almost a year ago! Are you sure you’re quirk isn’t some super specific learning quirk? Like you can learn and master martial arts faster?”

“Thanks, but I don’t think so,” equally panting Izuku, feeling the sweat rolling down his face and back as he spoke. Still he managed to let out a laugh, feeling a little bit embarrassed as he kept his gaze slightly downward. “Besides, even if I did, it would be no match for all the hard work you’ve put into your training.”

Izuku managed to look his sparring partner in the eye to see her beaming at him with pride, her smile nearly blinding him, just in time as Mr. Kendo approached the pair to further congratulate the pair. That, as well as instructing them to rest their bodies for the next couple of days so they would be in tip-top shape for the U. A. entrance exam. After all, it was only a few days away.

-x-

On the day of the entrance exam, Izuku was making his way toward the entrance of the famous hero school. The teen’s body trembled with each step he took as his nervousness began to get the better of him.

‘Oh man! Did I study enough for the written exam?’ thought Izuku, knowingly muttering to himself as panic set in. ‘Did I study the right things? I-I know I did really well in the mock exams, but is that enough to pass? What about the practical exam? I know I’m just going to mess everything up!’

‘Relax partner,’ rumbled Albion’s voice in Izuku’s head.

‘Easy for you to say!’ thought Izuku. ‘You’re not the one taking the exam! If I fail, then all of my hard work will have been for nothing! I’ll let Mr. Kendo down. I’ll let Itsuka down! They’ll think that everything they’ve helped me with has been a waste of time!’

‘…do you really believe that?’ asked Albion in a serious tone.

‘I…’ Izuku’s thoughts trailed off as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, looking down at the ground as people began to pass him by. He tried to imagine their faces, looking down upon him with the same level of disgust and anger that Bakugo would shoot at him. Only, it looked so alien to him. So unnatural.

‘I understand what you are going through,’ spoke the great white dragon within him after a moment or two of silence. ‘You are not the first human I have been sealed within to let your fears and nerves get to you. Now, take a breath and relax.’

At first, Izuku wanted to argue with Albion but decided to trust him on this. After all, the ancient dragon hadn’t led him astray yet. Slowly, Izuku took a breath before exhaling with equal slowness. As he did so, he could feel the trembling lessen as Albion continued to speak.

‘Good, good. Now that you are relaxed then perhaps you will listen to reason: failure is not even a possibility! Not when you have the power of the Divine Dividing within you! Whatever challenges these fools place in front of you, they shall be overcome by using their own power against them! And what is it your teacher taught you? You have everything you need to succeed. You just need to figure it out.’

Slowly, Izuku smiled as he remembered the words that Mr. Kendo had told him. Albion was right. He had all the tools he needed. All that was left was to see the problem before him and figure it out. Except…

‘Ok, that’ll help me with the practical,’ thought Izuku. ‘But what about the written portion? I’m still a little nervous about that.’

Albion snorted.

‘You have studied for this exam more than most of my previous partners have studied in their entire lives!’ Albion replied with a snort. ‘I highly doubt that there will be anything on it that you wouldn’t know. And, should that happen, you need only ask me for assistance!’

Izuku jumped at that, scaring the people around him with the sudden act. Unable to help himself, the green-haired teen began looking around as if fearful that someone heard that.

‘Ah, wouldn’t that be cheating?’ asked Izuku in a timid tone.

‘Ha! I am a part of you!’ roared the dragon in amusement. ‘Our very souls are connected! It would be more akin to say you were conversing with yourself! Besides, how would they know?’

‘That, ah, might be true,’ admitted Izuku. ‘But it still feels wrong somehow.’

Now he could practically feel Albion rolling his eyes as he spoke next. ‘Bah. Fine, have it your way.’

Lightly chuckling at Albion’s antics, Izuku decided that he had wasted enough time just standing around and continued along his way. Yet, he did not get far as he heard a girl’s voice speaking in broken Japanese, sometimes slipping English words into her sentences. Curious, Izuku began to scan the crowd before noticing a girl with large horns sticking out of her long, blonde hair. Her blue eyes glistened, her voice in a panic as she moved from person to person and shoved a piece of paper in front of them to which she then pointed to something on it. Most of the people there, all of whom looked like students from various schools, either ignored her completely or just laughed as they kept on walking. He then watched as she approached another student, a tall boy with dark blue hair and glasses, who seemed to just glare at her with annoyance. She once again spoke, but as soon as she held up the paper, the blue-haired teen cut in.

“Unacceptable!” bellowed the bespectacled teen loudly, catching the attention of everyone in the area while making a chopping motion with one arm. “If you cannot take this seriously then I suggest you just go home!”

With that, the boy stiffly turned on his heel and stormed off leaving the girl to tremble in a way similar to how Izuku had been not too long ago. Just standing there, trembling as she clenched the paper in her hands while looking like she would burst into tears at any moment.

Seeing someone in distress, Izuku did the only thing he could think of.

He reached out to her.

“Excuse me, can I help you?” Izuku’s words, spoken in slightly strained English, caused the girl’s ears to perk as she turned her attention onto the Divine Divider. He could see hope in her eyes as she quickly approached him. As she did, Izuku heard the clip-clop sounds of hooves. Very quickly he noticed that the sound was coming from this girl how, indeed, had hooves.

“Y-You speak English?” asked the girl in a shaky voice.

“Enough to hold a decent conversation,” explained Izuku with a nod. “My dad works in the States so I thought it would be a good idea to learn it as a second language in Middle School.”

“Oh thank God.” As the girl said this, she jumped into the air happily before showing Izuku the paper in her hand. Looking down, the first thing that caught Izuku’s attention was the U.A. logo in bright blue at the top. As he began to skim the document, quickly translating as much of the English into Japanese as he could, it dawned on him that he had received this exact same letter! The letter informing him about when and where the entrance exam was going to be!

“I’m really sorry,” said the blond horned girl. “I was a little nervous this morning about taking the exam so I decided to stop at one of your manga cafes. I always wanted to visit one and I thought it would be a good way to calm my nerves. You know, relaxing with a good manga to take my mind off things. Then I guess I, ah, sort of lost track of time.”

As she said that last part, the blonde looked away guiltily making Izuku wonder just how long she stayed there.

“Anyways, I-I trying to find this school,” she continued after a moment. “But my Japanese isn’t that good yet and no one seems to be very helpful. Guess they all must be busy too. I would have used my phone to get directions, but I left it at my hotel. The last thing I wanted was it going off in the middle of the exam or getting damaged during the practical.”

Izuku bit his lower lip before glancing around, again noticing the students wearing uniforms from various schools. He had a feeling he knew where they were all heading: to the U.A. entrance exam. For a moment, the teen wondered why no one was willing to help. After all, they were all trying to become heroes so why not do something heroic, even if it was nothing more than a small act of kindness, and help her?

The answer he got, however, made him sick to his stomach.

‘They’re not helping her because they don’t want her to show up,’ Izuku realized with a hint of anger. ‘There are only thirty-six spots available for the first-year hero course and everyone is fighting for them. If she doesn’t show then that will be one less person they have to compete against! And if she’s late, the result will be the same since the school will turn her away if she’s even a second late! But this isn’t right! This isn’t how heroes are supposed to act!’

As a righteous fury began to bubble within Izuku’s body, Albion spoke up. ‘This is nothing new. Humans will, naturally, often prioritize their own desires and happiness over that of others. It is understandable.’

‘That doesn’t make what they are doing right or heroic!’ snapped Izuku.

‘I never said it was either of those. Just that it was understandable,’ was Albion’s reply.

Sighing, Izuku looked back at the girl who stood there looking at him with those big, blue eyes of hers. As he looked at her, Izuku thought’s became more focused. He knew he couldn’t control what others thought or did, but he had full control over his own actions. And he was going to do what a hero should always strive to do: help someone else even at the cost of oneself. Even if helping her meant that he meant that there would be more competition for him later, something that might even end up costing him entrance into the school of his dreams, it would be worth the risk just to help her.

“Well, I can show you the way if you want,” he said, smiling warmly.

“Really? You don’t mind?” asked the girl, her blue eyes brightening considerably while her smile grew. “I’m not going to make you late for anything, am I?”

Izuku just shook his head. “To be honest, I’m actually heading there myself so it’s no problem. Oh, right. I have introduced myself. My name is Izuku Midoriya.”

“And I’m Pony Tsunotori!” said the American girl with a bit of a peppy jump. “And thank you so much. I really hope we both get in. It would be great to have a classmate that can speak English and is nice!”

Izuku grinned, voicing his agreement as the two headed off toward the famous school. What neither of them knew was that the whole thing had been caught on a hidden camera. One of the hundreds placed around the area surrounding the U.A. It would also come as no surprise that they also didn’t know at a certain principal had watched and listened to the entire exchange, smiling into his teacup as he wrote down a series notes.

Eventually, Izuku and Pony made it onto the ground of U.A. where Itsuka was waiting for them. When Izuku first spotted his orange haired friend, she was leaning against the gate as she looked down at her watch. It was hard to miss her worried expression, biting her lower lip the entire time. No doubt she spotted him out of the corner of her eye as, when they began approaching the Big Fist girl, Itsuka looked up in both relief and annoyance. Then her face morphed into confusion when she noticed Pony standing next to Izuku instead of moving with the rest of the crowd. After a brief explanation of why he had been a little late and introducing Pony, the three went into the building to take the written portion of the test.

Needless to say, the written exam’s difficulty lived up to the school’s reputation. It seemed like none of the questions were straightforward as nearly every single one of them was written in a way that was meant to trip or misdirect the students into answering it incorrectly. Even Albion, who looked down at the test through Izuku’s eyes, found himself struggling to answer the questions. Thankfully, Izuku did not rush himself, reading and then rereading the questions as many times as he felt necessary before fully understanding what they were asking and then writing in his answer. As he worked, his attention was drawn away from his paper several times thanks to a few people who were overconfident in their ‘cunning’ as they believed that they were smart enough to cheat and get away with it. Such thoughts were swiftly proven false as the teachers who patrolled the auditorium would silently rush over to these less-than-honorable students to catch them in the act and instantly remove them from the premises. A more disheartening sight were those who sat there, looking down at their test papers in abject horror before just getting up on their own and leaving.

When the exam was over, Izuku spotted Itsuka who gave him a grin along with a big thumbs up which he returned. He then looked around to see that Pony also seemed to be in high spirits.

After a little bit of a wait, Present Mic entered the scene to explain to them the practical portion of the exam. According to the DJ hero, they would be fighting a large number of robotic villains within mock cities. There were three different types of villains, each one with a numerical value based on their level of difficulty with one being the weakest while three being the strongest. Basically, you got points equal to the villains you defeated. It seemed simple enough. But Izuku did have a nagging feeling in the back of his head that they weren’t telling them everything.

Then, as that blue-haired student began asking about the fourth robot on the sheet that they were all given, Izuku decided to get Albion’s opinion while doing his best to pay attention to what was being said in the real world.

‘What do you think Albion?’ asked Izuku after conveying his opinion on the matter.

‘I believe that your suspicions have merit,’ agreed Albion, Izuku imagining the great dragon nodding as he spoke. ‘Given how the written test was presented, it would be foolish not to expect some sort of surprise. For example, if there was a way to gain points then perhaps there is also a method by which points are lost.’

Izuku nodded, barely even noticing that the blue-haired teen had chastised him in front of everyone as it looked to all the world that he was lost in his own little world while mumbling to himself.

“Sorry, just thinking,” said Izuku quickly. That seemed to barely pacify the other teen whose attention returned to Present Mic as soon as he began to talk once more. And as he did, Izuku went back to his conversation with Albion.

‘Right,’ thought Izuku as he did his best to keep his muttering low. ‘We should keep our eyes open. However, I am a little worried that we’re facing robots. I’ve never taken the energy from something that wasn’t alive before. I-Is it possible for Divine Dividing to work on a robot?’

‘Hmm,’ replied Albion, the ancient dragon pondering the question for several long moments. ‘In the past, Divine Dividing has been able to absorb the energy from angels, devils, fallen angels, dragons, magical attacks, and so forth. I see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to do the same thing with robots. However…’

Albion’s words trailed off as the students around them began to rise from their seats, heading toward their assigned battle zones. Patiently the dragon waited, hoping that Izuku could figure out what he was about to say. Thankfully, he didn’t need to wait long.

‘The drain might not affect them the same way!’ Izuku realized, his worry quickly returning. ‘I mean, can a machine’s strength be cut in half? Its speed? I-I’ve seen machines slow down when their power is really, really low. But this? I-I might need to use Divide a couple of times to get them to that point! C-Can my body handle it? Oh no. No, no, no! I knew I should have tested Divine Dividing more.’

Izuku was now moving towards the locker rooms, a hand on his chin as he continued to be deep in thought.

‘Ok Izuku. P-Panicking like this won’t get you anywhere,’ the teen thought. ‘Just need to focus. I’m a lot stronger than I was back when I first used Divine Dividing so I should be able to handle the transfer better. If I continue to use that energy to its max potential, then maybe I can burn through it quick enough to use the Divide on the same robot a couple of times. Maybe three? That will be thirty seconds so I should be able to dodge their attacks. Perhaps I could try looking for any structural weak points while I’m dodging.’

And so, Izuku’s mind continued to try and work out the problem as he headed towards the test that would determine his fate.

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya had hoped that there would be at least one familiar face within the group heading to his testing site. Someone like Itsuka so that they could stretch together or Tsunotori so that they could have a chat. Stuff that might help ease his nerves. But, alas, the universe was not too kind to the boy as the only familiar face he saw was the blue-haired teen that had scolded Tsunotori.

As Izuku began to stretch his legs he momentarily considered approaching the taller teen. To simply explain what had happened this morning and perhaps then he could help arrange a proper apology from him. However, upon looking at the stony and harsh expression the boy was giving off the teen decided against it. This teen had already shown that he was easily triggered into thinking the worst about others around him. Odds were that if Izuku did walk up to him the other teen would loudly chastise him.

Maybe after the exams when everyone wasn’t as stressed he’d…wait a moment! The bespectacled teen’s legs had exhaust vents in them! Seeing them brought Izuku’s mind to the Ida family and the Turbo Hero: Ingenium! Was this guy related to them or something?

As the young Midoriya’s mind began to spiral into his analysis mode on the possible Ida boy’s quirk, the door to the testing area opened. For a moment, no one made a move as they all just stared at the empty city within.

“Come on! Come on! What are you all standing around for?” yelled Present Mic from up above. Almost as one, the students turned their attention upwards to find the man looking down at them just to the side of the gate with a manic smile on his face. “There are no countdowns in real life! The test’s already begun!”

With that, everyone began to run right into the city at top speed. Some like the maybe-Ida boy shot past the rest with amazing speed leaving the rest of the group far behind. Then there were people like Izuku who, thanks to his intense workout regimen, managed to stay in front of the pack without feeling winded.

It didn’t take long before the first robotic villain was spotted. A one-pointer robot came out of a nearby alley up ahead, looking like it was ready to take down all the students by itself. Upon seeing it, there was a moment when Izuku felt fear touch his heart. After all, this was a machine built to test them. To fight them. But the holder of the Divine Dividing pushed down that fear the same way he did when he was jumping from rooftop to rooftop with Mrs. Kendo.

As the teens behind him began screaming dibs on the metal foe, Izuku sped up to his max running speed. Though he did not immediately activate Divine Dividing, Midoriya’s eyes began to scan his target to find its weakness. While fighting a robot without one's quirk might be considered very foolish the green-haired teen knew he needed to do this. Needed to confirm that, in case Divine Dividing didn’t work on machines, he still stood a chance in this exam. That as well as something a bit more personal. A part of him needed to know that if he had entered into this exam without any real power, be it a quirk or a Sacred Gear, that he still stood a chance at being a hero.

By the time Izuku was right in front of his foe, the green-haired teen had settled on his target. With all his honed reflexes, the teen bent his knees before leaping up into the air and curled himself into a ball as he began to spin around. Quickly gravity called him back to earth, the teen sticking out a leg as fell and slammed it right into the neck of the machine. Upon contact, a cracking noise filled the air before the robot hit the ground with its lights dimming into nothingness. It was down. Izuku Midoriya had received his first point.

However, there was no time to celebrate his victory. He had won nothing more than a single battle while the war raged all around him. The other students knew that as they were already moving deeper into the city as they looked for more robots to fight. So Izuku wasted no more time as he began to look for another robot to defeat.

He didn’t have to search for very long as the tank-like three-pointer robot came crashing through a wall right in front of Izuku. Acting on instinct, the green-haired youth leaped back just as the machine turned to face him while firing several rubber bullets from its back. While Midoriya managed to avoid the majority of the attack, one of the projectiles grazed his leg with enough force that it ripped right through his pant leg while leaving a deep red mark across his skin. Letting out a hiss of pain, Izuku lunged over to the side to avoid getting hit again as his eyes scanned the machine. Sad thing was that this one didn’t have such an obvious weakness as the first and its body looked like it was made of much thicker metal. Perhaps with time, he could uncover the hidden weak spot. But time was the one thing he did not have in abundance at the moment.

‘Guess now is as good a time as any to see if this works.’ With that thought, Izuku activated Divine Dividing. Instantly he felt the power in his left hand begin to pool, the blue gem forming for all the world to see. But then it vanished! No, wait! It moved! That power shot through his arm, into his shoulder, and then settled into his back. For a moment, Izuku was confused as to what was happening to him. Then from his back sprouted two white wings, each one holding four ‘feathers’ made of bluish energy for a grand total of eight. Unable to help himself, Izuku stood there as he marveled at the change.

“What…What is this?” asked a bewildered Izuku.

The three-pointer responded by firing at its target once more. Again, Izuku leaped to the side only to see that both his speed and leap had increased. Almost like he was flying. Well, he did have wings now.

‘Congratulations partner!’ came Albion’s voice within Izuku’s head. ‘It seems like all your training has paid off, your body is now capable of handling the first stage of Divine Dividing. Now you can make full use of your new abilities!’

‘New abilities?’ asked Izuku internally, shooting forward towards the three-pointer to quickly make contact with it. 

 “Divide!” cried the green-haired boy aloud.

Midoriya once more felt a surge similar to when he used Divine Dividing on Bakugo nearly a year ago. He could feel the power coursing through his being, the machine’s strength and speed being added to his own. Only this time it didn’t feel as fleeting as that first time. With wide eyes and a rush moving through his systems, Izuku jumped onto the machine’s back where he then sent a downward kick right into the back of the three-pointer’s head. As Midoriya had expected, this one was a bit tougher as it needed a second kick before the head would break off from the rest of the body. And while this was going on, Albion spoke.

‘Yes,’ was Alibion’s reply with Izuku somehow getting the sense that the dragon was nodding. ‘Since you are a little preoccupied I’ll keep this simple. The wings on your back aren’t just for show. Nay. The energy that you have stolen from your foes shall be spread throughout the feathers and any access energy will be released from the tips. Just think of it as storage that you can use to keep yourself stronger longer with a built-in run-off system. But be warned, if you drain too much energy with no way to release it then you shall have to endure the strain that comes with it. These wings will also grant you flight.’

‘G-Good to know,’ thought Izuku.

Glancing around, Izuku found that he was alone. The streets seemed utterly devoid of any of the foe villains. However, he could hear the sounds of crashes and explosions off in the distance. No doubt the others were racking up a good deal of points. If Izuku wanted to pass this exam, then he would need to hurry up.

Bending his knees, the teen prepared to take off into the sky at full speed without really thinking about it. This, sadly, proved to be a mistake as Midoriya became nothing more than a green and blue blur rocketing through the air while screaming like a madman. His hands thrashed in front of him while the world rushed past him, the buildings he passed blending together. He felt himself going up, down, twirling in the air so fast that he could vomit at any moment, and so much more. New fear swiftly came to life knowing that if he didn’t get control of this soon then he might meet his end by crashing into the street or into one of the mock buildings.

Finally, with a herculean effort, Izuku put all his focus into stopping. And it worked! The teen stopped instantly with no whiplash. He hovered in the sky, panting while doing his best not to look down.

“That…was…a…stupid…idea.” As Izuku panted each and every word, he realized that before he could do anything else he would need to get the hang of flying. Not just so that he could continue the exam, but also so that he would not become a splat upon the ground. Since time was a factor Midoriya knew he had to make this both quick as well as effective. After taking a breath, the teen leaned to the left to see what would happen. Thankfully he did move in that direction. So Izuku decided to experiment a bit more as he leaned right, forward, and backward finding himself moving in that direction. Ok! He could work with this.

Now that Izuku had the basics down, the teen began to move downward toward the faux city below. Albeit a bit slower this time, his speed was more akin to a sprint than the super speed he had been going mere minutes ago. Yes, Midoriya knew that he was running out of time. However, he also knew that if he did anything like that again then all he would accomplish would be wasting more time! Later he would begin to practice more with his wings, learning how to fly and how to fight with them. But for now, he had to focus on the test right in front of him.

It didn’t take long for Izuku to find more robots. Three of them: two one-pointers and a single two-pointer. Still in the sky, none of the metallic foes had noticed him. A factor that Izuku would capitalize on. Wasting not a single second, Izuku shot down towards the ground while looking like he was doing a flying kick. One aimed right for the center of the two-pointer. The blow landed, the machine’s parts flying all around before either of the other two machines could even turn around. Swiftly Izuku shot toward one of the one-pointers to make contact.

“Divide!” yelled Izuku.

A smile appeared on the teen’s face as his Divine Dividing took effect once more, the robot slowly turning to look at him. Or, rather, where he had been as Izuku was already above the two machines. An axe kick was sent down into the arm of the drained one-pointer robot, severing it completely as the green-haired youth then spun around in the air so that his opposite heel would connect with the robot's neck. Crack went the neck of his robotic enemy, its body slumping to the ground as Izuku managed to just barely grab hold of the severed limb before it hit the ground. The last one-pointer charged forward with its arm pulled back yet Midoriya was faster. Gripping the metal arm with both hands he swung it right into the midsection of the faux villain. A loud clang echoed through the air as metal embedded into metal while sparks began to fly. Not another second was wasted as Izuku kicked the makeshift weapon in deeper, the robot powering down and earning the teen another point.

Upon realizing that all of his foes were down for the count, Izuku took off to look for more villains.

Then, after a few more minutes, the ground began to shake.   

‘What’s going on here?’ That thought echoed through the young Midoriya’s mind as he took to the sky, the ground shaking at an alarming rate. Then there were the students whose screams of horror occurred mere moments before the teen spotted them racing through the streets. It looked like they were scrambling to get away from something.

Theories of what was going on flowed through Izuku’s mind as easily as a river. Was it an earthquake or some other natural disaster? Or was there a gas line underneath the city that ignited after one of the students used their quirks to destroy a robot? Maybe even someone’s quirk going out of control? Whatever the case, the airborne teen flew out into the middle of the street and looked at what the others were running from.

What he saw caused his eyes to widen while a feeling of utter insignificance overtook him! It was the zero-pointer! The sight of it boggled the mind, nearly causing Midoriya’s mind to crash and reboot! It was larger than life as it peered down at the fleeing students from above the buildings with its giant metal head. Giant metal claws crashed into the buildings around it, breaking them apart with no effort at all as pieces fell to the earth below. How thick did the school have to make its metal frame in order to keep it from falling apart?

Instincts told the teen to flee, that he stood no chance against such a foe. The rational part of his mind agreed as it began to lay out a plan: while everyone else was running for their lives he could take advantage of the situation to find more points. Turning, Izuku was about to do just that had it not been for the sound that his ear barely caught.

Turning his head, Izuku saw rubble moving on the street and…was that a person underneath? From where he was, he couldn’t properly identify who it was. But he could make out the figure of something that was clearly human. A human life that, if someone didn’t do something soon, would be snuffed out by the approaching zero-pointer.

Clenching his fists, Izuku’s mind began to race faster than ever before in his life. He had to do something. If All Might was here, he could have solved this easily. The mighty symbol of peace would have appeared in front of that person in an instant, throwing off the rubble before punching the giant tin can. But could Izuku do any of that? He could try flying down there and saving whoever it was, but what would happen if he or she was pinned down with something or if the rubble was too heavy to move? What if that thing began to fire some sort of projectile that knocked him out as well? What if the zero-pointer began to speed up and crushed the two of them before making its way to the rest of the students? Could he take the robot on with Divine Dividing? So far, the other robots hadn’t given his Sacred Gear too much trouble. But something told him that a machine like that would have a lot more power. If he did use Divine Dividing and he couldn’t handle it then that would be it. And even if he could, he doubted that he could destroy that thing with a punch like All Might! Even if he punched it over and over again a million times all he would get would be bloody knuckles and broken hands. So what could he…

Just then, the words of Mr. Kendo cut through his panicked thoughts. He remembered how the man had told him about his greatest handicap: himself. For, at that moment, he had allowed his fears to get to him. Had allowed himself to start thinking like the old Izuku Midoriya who wanted to be so very much like All Might. But…he wasn’t that person anymore. Now, he had his own wings to soar through the air. Literally. He had all the tools he needed to succeed. He just needed to figure it out.

So, after taking a breath, Izuku flew through the air a bit faster than before towards the head of the giant robot. Once he got close enough, the teen spun in the air and sent his heel right into one of the eight red eyes of the zero-pointer. Upon impact, the lens cracked in a spider web formation. Taking half a second to admire his handiwork the green-haired teen moved back before beginning to circle around its massive head like an annoying fly. From time to time he would deliver a kick here and there against its metallic shell knowing it wouldn’t damage it. But the point of this wasn’t to damage it.

The Divine Divider knew he was taking a risk with this plan, hoping that this machine was programmed to attack the nearest student or the one who proved to be more threatening. But as long as he got it to focus on him then the rest of his quickly-made plan would, in theory, work.

After the third pass around its head, the zero-pointer’s arms moved as if to swat the teen. Something that the teen easily dodged, zipping to the side as he saw the metal limb coming a mile away. A second arm tried capturing him within its clutches only to be met with the same result. Briefly, Izuku wondered if this was what it would be like to fight someone with a Gigantification quirk.

With the zero-pointer’s focus now on him, Izuku got it to turn its back on the helpless victim on the ground as well as the other students taking the test. Slowly it followed the green-haired teen with the glowing wings who dodged each of its arms with ease until they were far enough away. Then came the more dangerous part of Izuku’s plan. After dodging one last swipe the Divine Divider landed on the attacking arm before looking up at its head while trying, and failing, to smile smugly. Well, it didn’t take long for the shadow of a metallic claw to surround the teen. A moment later, it came crashing down creating a scrapping noise that could be heard all over the testing area! All in the effort to eliminate the annoying ‘fly’. Only its effort was in vain as Izuku easily flew out of the area of impact. But the zero-pointer didn’t let up as it slid its clawed hand down the arm toward where Izuku was.

The Divine Divided waited till the last moment before flying up and over the mass of metal to see the damage the machine had done to itself. That's when he saw it. While the armor plating on the giant was thick and no doubt strong, the force it had used was enough to dent and break off parts of the shell on its arm. Heart pumping faster the teen spotted several holes that looked big enough for him to enter! And, much like how a virus enters the human body through a cut, Izuku flew into the inner workings of the zero-pointer. There, he began to break everything he saw with ease as it seemed like the people who made this never considered the possibility that someone could get inside. Explosions both large and small erupted all around him as the teen made his way deeper inside. It was only when he noticed that everything was powering down that he exited the now-still machine.

For a moment, he stood there gazing at his work. His accomplishment using his own skills. A laugh escaped his lips as he felt the same pride he had when defeating the one-pointer. A part of him felt like celebrating the fact that he had defeated the foe that so many others had run from. More importantly, he had saved the life of that person.

Speaking of which, Izuku turned his head to see that whoever was in that rubble was still there as there had been no one else around to help. Without really thinking about it, the green-haired teen flew down to where the person lay finding a pretty girl with short brown hair whose face broke into a smile the moment she saw him land. But as he began to lift the debris off of her Present Mic announced that the exam was over.

A couple of hours later, a cleaned-up Izuku Midoriya was walking away from the school with Itsuka Kendo next to him. As they made their way to the train station the two talked about how they did in their exams, Itsuka explaining how she grabbed robot after robot with her large hands before either crushing them or simply throwing them at other robots. A smile appeared on Izuku’s lips as he listened to her words intently, while his eyes watched as her face lit up with fiery excitement. A passionate flame whose color he believed matched the color of her hair. He was almost ashamed to admit that he hadn’t done nearly as well as she had, barely scraping up a dozen or so points before the zero-pointer showed up. Then…

“Oh my God Izuku! You took down that giant?!?” exclaimed Itsuka, her eyes shining with amazement. “I didn’t even think that was possible when I saw it!”

That caused the young Midoriya to chuckle at that, scratching the back of his head.

“To be honest, I don’t think I would have been able to do it if it hadn’t been for what your father told me back when I started,” he admitted. “And I don’t think I would have been able to get as far into the exam as I did without the trying the both of you gave me.” The boy paused, looking at his orange-haired friend with a slight blush on his face. “Remember what you asked me back when I first started at your family’s dojo? About hating myself? I guess I really did back then. I just thought I had to be something completely different to save people and bring smiles to their faces. That how I was had nothing to offer. But now, because of you and what happened today, I can say that I don’t feel like that anymore. Because I was able to save that girl with my own skills and I made her smile. All I really needed was the confidence.”

Itsuka smiled back at Izuku, a slight blush on her face from the praise.

“Thanks, but I really didn’t do all that much,” she said before her face turned more serious and worried. “But…what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to keep trying to become a hero,” Izuku said instantly as he had already thought about this while he had been changing. “U.A. isn’t the only hero school out there. So I’ll keep working hard so that I can get into a good one. Then, maybe I’ll see if I can transfer so that I can join you at U.A.”

Again, Itsuka smiled at that while moving a bit closer to the boy who had become a close friend.

“Say, we still have some time before our train arrives,” she said. “How about we take a moment to celebrate? I saw this little coffee shop near the train station this morning that looked nice. So let’s go there and give a toast to a job well done!”

Smiling, Izuku nodded.

A few weeks later, Izuku was in his room holding an envelope from U.A. No doubt holding his test scores as well as his rejection letter. A part of him didn’t even want to open it, instead wanting to focus on the exams for Shiketsu, Ketsubutsu, and Isamu. After all, what was the point of reading something when you already knew what it said? Then again, he was curious to know how he did on the written exam so maybe it was worth opening. Perhaps he could see where he needed to focus his studies for the other hero schools.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku opened the envelope to find not a sheet of paper but a disk that landed on the ground with a clang. Then, as the teen blinked in surprise, the device lit up and projected the image of All Might himself.

“I AM HERE! AS A HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTION!” declared the projection.

Izuku stumbled back at the declaration of the number one hero dressed in a pin-stripped suit. What was going on? Why was All Might doing this?

“Now, Izuku Midoriya, I shall be giving you your test results,” continued All Might without giving a single answer to the questions going on inside Izuku’s head. “For the written portion of the exam, you scored fairly high.”

Izuku watched as All Might stepped to the side as a screen appeared next to him. On it was a picture of the broccoli-haired teen along with his name. Below that were his scores on the various subjects of the exam. As he looked over them, a smile appeared on his face. All Might was right, he had scored high. Sure, none of them were perfect but they were close. And at the bottom of the exam, it showed that he had placed fourth in this portion of the exam.

“You should be very proud of this young man,” spoke All Might again after a moment. “But, we both know that it’s the practical that you are really interested in. For that, you scored a total of eight villain points.”

A soft sigh escaped Midoriya’s lips, his shoulders slumping slightly. Only eight points. That was slightly worse than what he thought he had gotten. Figuring that there was really no point in hearing anything else, the teen got up to turn off the projector only to stop when he heard what the number one hero said next.

“Frankly, it’s not a very impressive score when compared to the other examinees,” the tall man said. “But fear not for there were other factors involved with this exam! Behold as I show you a video!”

Izuku froze as All Might pulled out a remote from nowhere, the image of his test scores being replaced with something else. It took the teen a moment before he recognized the scene: it was of him and Tsunotori right before the exam. When he had helped the American girl find the way to the school. But, what did that have to do with anything?

“The truth, Young Midoriya, is that the exam started before you even reached the main gates of the school,” explained All Might. “Cameras were placed throughout the city, watching to see what our new potential students were like when they thought we weren’t watching. What you did for this girl, who was a stranger in our country, showed us just who you really were. A person who is willing to help another, even if it does not benefit you in any meaningful way. Even if it might hurt you in the long run. That is true heroism. And for this small act, you were rewarded eight rescue points by our principal!”

The screen then changed again, showing Izuku leading the zero-pointer robot away from the injured girl.

“You then stood up to a foe much greater than yourself during the actual exam,” explained All Might, his voice brimming with pride as he spoke. “Even though you were low on points, you still chose to help another. This act of self-sacrifice was witnessed by a panel of judges who decided to award you with the maximum of sixty rescue points. Thus giving you a grand total of sixty-eight rescue points. That, combined with the eight villain points, gives you a total score of seventy-six points for the practical.”

Tears filled Midoriya’s eyes as he fell to his knees, looking up at the scoreboard that now appeared before him. There he was, scoring right below Bakugo.

“Welcome Young Midoriya, to your Hero Academia.”

Chapter Text

“Are you sure you’re all set?” asked Inko, standing behind her son as he prepared for school. The woman’s hands were clenched together in worry. “You didn’t just back action figures, did you?”

Izuku said nothing at first, hiding a small smile as he tied his shoes. Today was the day, his first day at his dream school: U.A. Now dressed in his grey uniform and red tie, the teen felt almost giddy with excitement just to be wearing it. So much so that there wasn’t a trace of nervousness within him. That or it was pushed to the back of his mind. His mother on the other hand, well, she seemed to have challenged all the anxiety they both should have been feeling. Ever since last night, she had been fretting over every little thing. Was his uniform ironed properly? Had all the right forms been sent to U.A.? Did he have everything he needed? Would the school provide the right lunch?

“Yep, I’m all set.” There was confidence in the Sacred Gear user’s voice as he said this, standing up while slinging his backpack onto his back. For a moment, no one said anything as the teen made his way toward the door. It was only when his hand touched the handle that his mother called out his name. Turning to look at his mother, Izuku saw that the worried look she had was gone. Now, in its place, was a smile as well as some tears.

“I just wanted to tell you I’m proud of you,” she said, hands pumping upward in an encouraging manner. “You’re really cool.”

At that, Izuku felt his own smile grow as he slowly began to open the door.

“Thanks, mom. Well, I’d better be off,” he said.

“There you are!” came a familiar girl’s voice. “We were waiting for you. Oh, hi Mrs. Midoriya.”

“Come on, come on!” came a second girl’s voice along with the sound of hooves clopping on the ground. “We’re going to be super, duper late if we don’t hurry.”

In his mind, Izuku heard glass shattering as he looked at the pair waiting for him at his doorway. Dressed in their own U.A. uniforms were Itsuka Kendo and Pony Tsunotori waiting for him. Two girls were at his door waiting for him to walk to school together. With his mother standing right behind. Slowly, very slowly, Izuku turned his head to look at his mother only to have his fears confirmed. The older Midoriya now had her hands clasped together as if in prayer while her tear ducts held all the usual signs that they were about to explode.

“M-My little Izuku is becoming a man!” cried Inko. “He really is becoming cool.”

Knowing what was to follow, Izuku quickly stepped out of his apartment before quickly closing the door behind him while pressing his back against it for good measure. The door then bulged slightly as it bent outwards due to a massive stream of tears that nearly knocked all of the teens off their feet. As the girls watched in surprise at what was happening, they could hear the cries of the mother inside the apartment. At least she was crying because she was happy.

While the stream of tears never really stopped, Izuku felt some of the pressure leave the door causing him to move away from it. At the same time, he fished out his phone from his pocket to send a text message to his neighbors, asking them to keep an eye on his mom and keep her hydrated. That and to apologize for any water damage caused…again.

As he did so, both girls just stared at the door as well as tears flowing under the crack. Then, Pony looked at him excitedly as she pumped her fists into the air.

“Wow Izuku, you’re mom's quirk is super cool,” exclaimed the American girl. “It’s like Superman’s eye lasers from those old pre-quirk comics! Only with water!”

“Ah, that’s not her quirk,” exclaimed Izuku awkwardly. “That’s more of a…family trait. Her real quirk is levitating small objects.”

Pony just blinked at that. She then looked at Izuku, followed by the door, and then at Itsuka who simply nodded to confirm. Yeah, Itsuka had seen the Divine Divider tear up once or twice when he became overly emotional so she had been there to witness it firsthand. Not as powerful as his mother though.

“A-Are you sure she doesn’t have two quirks?” Pony asked.

Shaking his head, Izuku put away his phone as the group began to quickly make their way to the train station. As the three of them leaped down multiple stairs at a time, the teenage boy glanced over at his two new best friends as their hair flowed behind them. And thinking about how the American girl had become a good friend to both of them.

Shortly after they had received their acceptance letters, Pony had tracked Izuku down. It had been ‘super easy, barely an inconvenience’ as she put it since all she had done was politely ask U.A. for his phone number. As for why she wanted to talk to him, Tsunotori wanted to thank him once again for helping her find her way to the school. That and she wanted to spend her time working on her Japanese until school started. While a little embarrassed that she thought so highly of his skills the forest-haired teen had agreed. Thus over the course of a couple of months, the pair spent time at the local libraries to help with Pony’s language issue after she had found a place to stay in Japan. Not only that, but Izuku went to a Manga Café for the first time along with both Tsunotori and Itsuka so that the American girl could practice what she had learned by reading the manga aloud.

Naturally, Midoriya also spent a great deal of time continuing to train at the Kendo Dojo. There, he and Itsuka continued to train their bodies while Pony watched with wide-eyed excitement. And sometimes Mr. Kendo would be in such a good mood that he would allow Pony to train with them for free!

Back in the present, the trip to U.A. seemed to have occurred in the blink of an eye. One moment they were racing to catch their train, managing to squeeze through the doors right as they were closing and the next the three of them were making their way through the halls of the illustrious hero school. None of them could hide the excitement they were feeling as they marveled at everything they saw, ready to begin their journey to become the very best heroes they could be.

The only thing that they found an issue with came from a classroom. They, along with other students walking down the hall, couldn’t help but turn their heads to look at the door marked 1-A. This was due to all the noise coming from the room as two people whose voices Izuku recognized. The first, and loudest, came from Bakugo as he yelled his usual threats of violence and murder. The other one belonged to that blue-haired boy from the exams who had called out Izuku for him mumbling as well as chastising Pony. While he was not as loud as Bakugo, the blue-haired teen could be heard trying to reprimand the ashen-haired boy for something.

“Glad we don’t have to deal with that,” said Itsuka, shaking her head in embarrassment as she eyed the door one last time.

Izuku nodded in agreement, noticing as he did that several of the other students in the hallway were giving the heroics classroom similar disapproving looks. Now as he walked there a bit more of a skip to his step. His time here at U.A. was truly going to be a fresh start for the young man. He was going to be away from the teens who had an issue with him, surrounded by people who at best were already his friends and at worst held a neutral impression of him. A new start for the next part of his journey to becoming a hero!

Not too long after passing 1-A, the three friends entered their own classroom. 1-B was by no means silent with everyone sitting at their desks and staring at the board in front of them like mannequins. Nor were they as loud as their sister class. Instead, there was a light murmur going around as the students chatted politely with each other, some talking with a bit more energy yet smiling all the same. Only a few seemed to be sitting peacefully on their own, either reading a book or scrolling on their smartphone.

Entering the room, Izuku noticed several heads turn to look at the group entering. One of them, a girl with shoulder-length green hair and a shark-toothed grin, raised an eyebrow at this but seemed to say nothing about it. She just went back to talking to another student whose head reminded Izuku of a comic bubble. However, there was another teen in the room who kept his focus on Midoriya: a bespectacled teen whose quirk gave him the appearance of a beast-man of sorts.

Then, just as Izuku found an empty desk, the hairy teen spoke up. “Ah, I remember you,” in a polite tone. “You were the one that got called out during the entrance exam.”

A few teens stopped talking, turning their attention towards Izuku who was beginning to sink into his seat. Already he was fearing for the worst, that that instance could have given some of his classmates a poor impression of him already.

“Y-Yeah. That was me,” Izuku admitted, hoping to remedy any negative thoughts that people here had of him with an honest apology. “Sorry if my mumbling bothered you. I, ah, it’s sort of a habit I have when I’m deep in thought.”

The beast-man simply shook his head.

“Oh no, no, no. I was hardly bothered at all, my good sir,” replied the teen, dismissively waving his hand as he spoke. “To be perfectly frank, I barely heard a thing. Rather, I found our fellow examinee's actions rather disagreeable. He had every right to ask Sir Present Mic his question, yet there was no reason to assume that it was a misprint. At least not until the end of the explanation. And he certainly had no grounds to single you out in such a manner. At least not for something so minor. If your mumbling bothered him that much, the proper way he should have handled it would have been to seek you out afterward to have words in private.”

The teen then paused, giving Izuku a friendly smile that showed off some of his sharpened canines. “Oh, where are my manners today? Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jurota Shishida. It is a pleasure to see you here.”

Izuku, only slightly surprised by the teen’s overly polite manner of speaking, returned the smile as he reached out to shake the teen’s hand. Which Jurota accepted.

“Thank you,” said the green-haired teen. I’m Izuku Midoriya.”

Just then, another student in the room spoke up. One wearing a bandanna. “Yeah, I remember that guy,” he said. “Kind of hard to forget such a stuck-up jerk. I bet it’s because someone rammed a stick right up his God dam-” Before he could finish, a vine from one of Izuku’s female classmates reached out to smack the boy right across the cheek. “Woman! What the heck is your problem?!?”

“First of all, please refrain from using the Lord’s name in vain,” said the girl whose hair was literally made out of thorny vines. “It is disrespectful towards the Creator. Second, never again refer to me as ‘Woman’ again. My name is Ibara Shiozaki.”

“I don’t care who you are! Just don’t slap me again God dam-” Izuku watched as this time several vines were sent flying toward the face of the bandanna-wearing teen, one to stop less than an inch away from his face. All of them were positioned so that they could, if Shiozaki wanted to, strike him from multiple directions at once. And it seemed that the teen realized this as well as he gulped loudly before raising his hands in a surrendering manner. “Ok, ok. We’re all good here. We’re all friends. So how about you put away the thorny vines? Ok? Ok.”

The vine-haired girl said nothing in response, only giving her fellow classmate a slightly irritated look as he began to push one of the tendrils away from him. After a moment or two, the various thorn-covered vines retreated.

As the class let out a sigh of relief, another teen with oval-shaped eyes and brown hair spoke up. “Yeah, that guy was pretty intense. I just remember thinking at the time: if he gets that annoyed now, what’s he going to do when he becomes a sidekick or a pro? But he has nothing on the dude that was in my testing zone. Guy goes flying out of the gate, explosions coming out of his palms, and gets right to destroying all the robots fast. All while screaming ‘Die’ at the top of his lungs and looking like he was raised by feral wolves.”

“I think I met that guy, shroom,” said one of the girls in his class. Like the girl he had saved at the entrance exam, she had brown hair but the bangs were longer so that they covered her eyes. It was also interesting as, now that Izuku was really looking at it, her hair reminded him of a mushroom.  “Did he have blonde hair, red eyes, and a face that seemed stuck on angry? Shroom?”

“That or someone smeared dog droppings under his nose,” said the oval-eyed teen with a nod. “But, yeah, that sounds like the guy.”

Hearing that caused the mushroom-haired girl to groan as she sank in her seat. “I nearly bumped into him right before the entrance exam. He was calling everyone ‘extra’s’ and telling us if we got in his way he’d murder us. Shroom, I was hoping he was just full of hot air and would fail but from the sounds of it, he got in. Shroom.”

Before the conversation could go on any further, the bell rang as the door opened once more to reveal a rather tall white-haired man dressed in a red hero costume. As he made his way toward the front of the classroom, the students became quiet while giving him their full attention.

“Alright,” said the man after giving the class a once over. “Seems like everyone is here. That’s good. Allow me to be the first to welcome you in person to the hero course here at U.A. Starting today, I will be assisting you on your journey to becoming the next generation of heroes as your homeroom instructor. My name is Sekijiro Kan, but I would prefer it if you just called me by my hero name: Vlad King. Now, we have a busy day today. The opening ceremony will be starting soon and I don’t want us to be late.”

A few minutes later, 1-B made their way out into the hallway. Almost as soon as he was outside Izuku could almost feel a hateful stare directed at him. Turning around, he noticed that the students of 1-A were milling their way out into the halls albeit heading off in the opposite direction. And, standing in the middle of the hallway with eyes filled with the fury of hell itself, was Bakugo. The ashen blonde’s teeth gritted tightly as he clutched at a gym uniform. As for the boy’s stance, it was one Midoriya was painfully familiar with. One that said that any moment the red-eye teen would come charging at him, using his explosion to close to the distance.

For a moment, Izuku’s body twitched in fear as their eyes locked. He had been aware of Bakugo’s ever-increasing anger towards him since the day they had received their test results. How could he not when the explosive blonde did nothing to hide it? Oh yes, Izuku was still afraid of this one. Even after all the leaps and bounds he had done to improve his body, to hone a fighting style that would make him a hero, and even managing to knock him done once that fear still remained. The memories of pain that Bakugo had inflicted on him seemed to be imprinted onto his very soul.

Seeing that he was falling behind the rest of his class, the Sacred Gear user took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Then, Izuku turned and walked away.

“DEKU!” screamed Bakugo, his voice easily being carried down the halls and over the students. In fact, several students and teachers turned to look at the deranged-looking teen who was frothing at the mouth. “DON’T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME YOU FREAK!”

Biting his lower lip, Midoriya continued to walk without turning around. Though he remained tense and ready for a possible explosion right to his back.

Thankfully, Izuku made it to the welcoming ceremony without incident. There, all the students stood at attention save for one class. Out of the corner of his eye, the green-haired youth noticed some of the other hero course students glancing over at the spot where 1-A was supposed to be with pity. Others, well, seemed like they were taking bets. And he heard a few whispers that sounded like ‘one student expulsion’ and ‘five students expelled max’. What kind of reputation did 1-A have?

Before the teen could begin to ponder this, mumbling under his breath the entire time, the opening ceremony began. It was there that Izuku saw the principal for the first time. He had heard that Nezu was an animal that had been experimented on and that he was a mixture of several different animals. Yet it was another thing to see the bear-dog-mouse walking to the podium in a suit with a scar over one of his eyes.

“To our new and old students, I welcome all of you to U.A.” said Nezu in a cheerful tone. “I hope you are all ready for another exciting year of learning! Before we begin the ceremony proper, I would like to make a sad announcement as one of our veteran staff members shall be stepping down. After her many years of healing both students and pros alike, Recovery Girl has decided that she shall be retiring to live out the rest of her days with her friends and family in peace. While she will be remaining here for the next week or two so that she can get her affairs in order, I would like to say now that she shall be sorely missed. That she is a reminder to us all that you don’t need a powerful and destructive quirk to be a true hero.”

Izuku found himself shocked by this announcement. THE Recovery Girl was retiring? The youthful heroine who had saved countless lives with her quirk was leaving U.A.? Looking up at the stage, he saw the old woman with a cane tear up slightly at the comment. But she wiped the tear away before lightly waving to a crowd that all voiced their gratitude for all she had done.  

“Thankfully, we have managed to find another hero with a powerful healing quirk to take her place,” continued Nezu. “Meaning that the teachers won’t have to hold back due to fear of excessive injuries!” At that, the small animal began to laugh wildly as he threw back his head. And he continued to do that until Recovery Girl whacked him on the head with her cane while also giving him a disapproving look. “Oh, I’m going to miss those. Now, while our new nurse has yet to arrive, we do have another teacher that is here ready to teach. Please welcome Japan’s number one hero: ALL MIGHT!”

With that, the Symbol of Peace walked onto the stage dressed in a pin-stripped suit. He smiled brightly as he walked onto the stage, causing the entire crowd to explode with excitement. In one case that was literal as one student exploded into a cloud of confetti before reforming himself. As for Izuku, he was beside himself as he pulled out his notebook from…somewhere and held it tight to his chest. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he would get All Might to sign it. He may have found his own path to becoming a hero and had stopped trying to imitate the great hero that was All Might, but that didn’t mean the man wasn’t his all-time favorite hero!

From there, things proceeded as normal. A few speeches, singing the school's anthem, and so forth. When it was over, Vlad told his class to get changed in the locker room and then to meet him outside. While he didn’t give them a time limit, he did stress not to take too long.

Fifteen minutes later, Izuku stood in a line with the rest of his class in the vast fields behind the school. To his right was Itsuka while Pony bounced on her hooves to his left excited about what else they were going to be doing today. Thankfully they didn’t need to wait long as Vlad came out, rolling a large chart full of balls. He looked at them, nodding in approval.

“Good, you all made it out here in a decent amount of time,” said the pro hero with a slight smirk. “For first years of course. Now then, today we’re going to have a little bit of fun: Quirk Dodgeball!”

With that, the large man grabbed one of the balls from the cart before flinging it at Itsuka. Thinking quickly, the orange-haired girl activated her quirk to enlarge her hand to its full size. Just in the nick of time as she easily caught the ball before wrapping it up in a fist. Everyone else looked on in surprise at what the man had done before excitement took over. Almost as one, the group let out a cheer, some even jumping in the air at the prospect of being given permission to use their quirks.

“Before you get too excited, there are a few ground rules,” Vlad King continued. “First and foremost, I don’t want to see anyone throwing the balls with the intent to cause harm. I know that accidents happen, but if I see any of you doing anything that would intentionally cause one of your classmates harm then we’re going to be having a problem. And trust me, I’ll know when you’ve done something like that. Second, standard rules of dodgeball apply here. See that line over there that divides the field in half? Neither team can cross it nor can you leave the field unless you are out. You’re out if you get hit by the ball or if your opponent catches the ball you threw at them. Now, if you have a ball, you can use it to deflect incoming attacks. Once you are out, please leave the area and sit down on the side. This should go without saying, but if you are out you are forbidden to use your quirks to help your team.”

Shishida then raised his hand. “Sir Vlad, how will we be deciding the teams?”

“I don’t want us wasting too much time on this so we’ll go by seat numbers,” replied the homeroom teacher with a small shrug. “Evens on the right side with odds on the other.”

Excited, Izuku rushed over to the right side of the field. Soon, he was greeted by a teen with skin with black skin and white hair who introduced himself as Shihai Kuroiro. Moments later, two more walked over to them. One of them was the green-haired girl who playfully introduced herself as Setsuna Tokage while the other, a pale teen without lips, said his name was Juzo Honenuki. Quickly joining them after that was a dark-haired teen named Hiryu Rin. Next came Sen Kaibara who seemed more than a little laid back about the whole thing followed by Shiozaki. The final three made their way to the group: a teen that was a bit on the smaller side named Nirengeki Shoda, a quiet dark-haired girl named Yui Kodai, and the oval-eyed Kosei Tsuburaba.

It was a little upsetting to not be with people he knew like Pony or Itsuka. Heck, he wasn’t even with Shishida who was the only one in the class besides the girls he had an actual conversation with. Yet those feelings were pushed to the side as he told himself that this was the beginning of his journey here at U.A. A brand new start for him! So he was going to use this as a chance to make new friends.

“Ok so how do we want to do this?” asked Tsuburaba once they had all gathered around. “Just go in and everyone for themselves? That’s how we always did it back in middle school.”

“I guess. To be honest, this really isn’t my game,” said Kuroiro as he dug his hands into his pockets.

Izuku nervously raised his hand, instantly getting an eye roll from Setsuna.

“Dude, if you have something to say then spit it out,” she said, slightly annoyed. “We’re all equal here so you don’t need permission.”

“O-Oh, ok,” said Izuku before he paused to take a deep breath. This seemed to calm his nerves, allowing him to speak with far more confidence than he really felt. “I think that’s a bad idea. Since quirks will be involved, we should have a strategy in place to prevent our quirks from interfering with each other. Plus it would allow us to take down the other team more effectively.”

Tokage hummed slightly as she nodded, clearly agreeing with the idea. “Did you have something in mind?”

“Well, in order to make a proper plan, we need to know what we can all do,” began Izuku. “I’ll go first. My quirk is called Divine Dividing. It allows me to steal half of the strength and power of whoever I’m touching once every ten seconds. It also gives me wings to store the excess energy I can’t handle with my own body and allows me to fly. Oh, and I have some training in martial arts.”

Everyone looked at Izuku with wide eyes, barely blinking as Izuku quickly spoke. Then, finally, Tokage broke out into a wide grin.

“Well dang,” she said as she revealed all for her sharp teeth. “That sounds really awesome. Well check this out, my quirk is called Lizard Tail Splitter.”

From there, everyone gave out their quirks one after another along with any other detail they could come up with that might help. Izuku adopted a thinking pose, hand on his chin as he mentally processed everything that he heard. With each new quirk and skill he heard, a plan was being created. When they finished explaining everything, Izuku wasted no time explaining what he had come up with. Most took it at face value except Tokage and Honenuki, who pointed out areas where they had issues with. Of course, Izuku had no issue with this as he welcomed their criticisms and opinions.

Finally, a few minutes later, Kan had finished placing several balls along the line that divided the teams. Izuku had one foot on the edge of the back section of the field, his eyes locked on a smirking Istuka who seemed eager for this match.

“And BEGIN!” yelled Kan

As the odd’s team ran forward to grab the balls, Honenuki placed both hands on the ground with a wicked grin. Instantly, the ground underneath their opponent’s feet began to soften causing them to sink as if in quicksand. At the same time, Tokage and Shiozaki began to use their quirks to get the balls, with Setsuna separating her body apart into small masses and flying over to grab the orbs while the Christian girl used her vines to do the same. Sure it was simple and straightforward, but it did the trick.

While the odd team had been taken aback by this, they by no means were willing to give up. Pony had been the first to act, using her Horn Cannon quirk to launch the horns out of her head and sent them to collect one of the balls. Meanwhile, a silver-haired girl reached out a hand before a couple of the balls began to levitate toward her. Yet, despite this, Izuku’s team had managed to collect more balls.

Once all the balls were collected, it became an all-out war! Honenuki deactivated his quirk, the opposing team half stuck in now very solid ground making it harder to move. Shoda was first to act, punching the ball at his opponents before using his Double Impact quirk to give it a boost. The attack hit its target while another ball thrown by Rin was flung forward only to be caught by one of Kendo’s massive hands. With the Dragon Scale user out, Kendo chucked the captured ball right at Tsuburaba who used his Solid Air quirk to block.

While this was going on, Izuku took flight into the air as the next part of their plan was ready. A few members of the opposite team noticed this, their eyes wide in surprise at the wings that had appeared on their green-haired classmate’s back. However, they quickly dismissed him upon noticing that he held no ball in either hand. Was he supposed to get a bird’s eye view or something? 

Once Midoriya was high enough he looked down into his hand to see several marble-sized objects within his palm. Smiling to himself, Izuku quickly looked down at where Kodai stood who responded with a nod. Seeing this, Izuku flung the ‘marbles’ down at the opposite team while his own began to throw the remaining balls they had at their disposal. Given the size of the objects Izuku had flung at them, it was not surprising that the evens team didn’t see them or recognize them as a threat as they instead prepared for the incoming ground assault. That was their mistake as Kodai began to press her fingertips together, returning the size of the balls she had shrunk and given to Izuku back to their normal size. Balls rained down on the Itsuka’s team, taking out over two-thirds of the students there.

Yet, despite how many had gotten hit, one person had seen it coming: Itsuka! The girl had kept her eye on Izuku the entire time, wondering what he was up to. And while she had been too late to put the pieces together, she had reacted quickly enough to grab one of the balls he had thrown at them and using it to block an attack from Kuroiro. As Vlad called out that Izuku was out, the two gave each other a look and a nod before the flying teen left the field to watch the rest of the match which they eventually won.

Class 1-B played two more matches of dodgeball that day. Who won after that, nobody really cared as they were all having way too much fun to care about little things like that. And, when they left, the class felt more like a group of friends than anything else.

Chapter Text

“I’m doomed. There’s no point in denying it,” wailed Tetsutetsu.

Izuku looked up from his lunch, his attention now focused on his classmate who sat directly across from him at the table not touching his own meal. Rather, Tetsutetsu just sat there with his hands running through his hair as he stared wide-eyed into empty space. His expression looked like he had just seen all his worst nightmares come to life, combining themselves in order to throw the steel-hardening hero in training into a new level of terror. Midoriya was not the only one to notice this as several of the other people who sat there looked on with concern.

“Sir Tetsutetsu, come now,” said Shishida politely, one of his hands gesturing to the steel quirk user as he did so. “There is no need to be so overly dramatic. It’s only the second day of school and-”

“That’s just it!” exclaimed Tetsutesu, interrupting his classmate while running his fingers through his hair. “It’s only the second day of school and I’m already feeling lost. The classes here are harder than…Look, I barely passed the written portion of the exam! I had to guess over half the questions! I think I understood some of the stuff they told us in class. But only bits and pieces here and there! And it’s only going to get harder as the year goes on! H-How am I going to pass the finals?!? Oh, man. They’re going to kick me out.”

That got a hum out of one of the last guys sitting in their section of that table: Honenuki. Izuku watched as the recommendation student closed his eyes while crossing his arms across his chest. Since the dodgeball game yesterday, Izuku had been eager to get to know more about the softening quirk user. A gesture that had touched Honenuki as he thought that it would take a while for some people to get over how different he looked. But Izuku hadn’t been bothered by it. And, when he found out that Honenuki was bilingual, able to speak both Japanese and English, Izuku quickly introduced him to Pony who was happy to meet another person who could speak her native tongue.

Finally, Honenuki spoke. “Well, it's only our first day of classes. I’m sure sooner or later you’ll get the hang of it. Maybe just spend more time studying.”

“I guess” replied Tetsutetsu with a sigh. “But I suck at studying. I always get distracted and end up lifting weights or working out.”

“Tetsutetsu, if you are having trouble you know you can always ask us for help,” said Kendo, who was sitting next to Izuku, while waving a finger in the air. “We’re your classmates. My dad has this saying: one who is truly strong knows when to ask for help.”

At the same time, Pony, who had been sitting next to Kendo, leaned forward to look at Tetsutetsu with those wide, excited eyes of hers. “Oh! I know! I know! Ask Izuku to help you study! He helped me improve my Japanese big time. And made it fun too!”

That got Tetsutetsu’s attention. Lowering his hands, he looked at Midoriya with hope returning in his eyes. “Really? Can you help? Dude, you would be a real lifesaver!”

Izuku didn’t say anything at first, simply putting his utensils down as he adopted a thinking pose. It wasn’t that he was against helping out his classmate as he was eager to have a fresh start and make more friends while on the road to becoming a hero. It was more like he didn’t know if he could do the same for him as he did for Pony. He had used her interests to bridge the gap in her education. So could he…

“Well, if the problem is just that he gets distracted easily then maybe studying in a group might be the best solution,” pondered Midoriya aloud in a low mutter. “More people around him keep him focused and on task. But will that be enough? Tetesutetsu did mention the gym and working out. U.A. does have several gyms that are open to all students after hours. Perhaps we could reserve one of them for an hour or so every night so we can go over what we learned while lifting weights or on the treadmill. Get a workout and learn at the same time. Might be a problem with our focus so divided, but as long as we don’t push ourselves too much we should get in a good workout both mentally and physically. Though-”

“Is…Is he always like this?” asked Honenuki.

Caught off guard by the sudden interruption while in the zone, Izuku nearly jumped out of his seat. Looking around, the Divine Divider saw that everyone was staring at him. Kendo, for example, was resting her head on her fist as she watched him ramble on with a soft smile on her face that caused his cheeks to tint red. Pony had stars in her blue eyes while Honenuki seemed worried. Shishida had a hand on his chin as he looked at his classmate, his expression almost hidden. And as for Tetsutetsu…

“Dude, where were you when I was studying to get into U.A?” the teen asked excitedly, hands balled into fists while an open smile that showed off his sharp teeth was present. “That actually sounds like fun! I can’t wait to get started!”

“Well, before you get too excited, we need to find out if it's possible,” said Itsuka as she sat up straight. “We need to talk to the teachers about reserving time at one of the gyms and we might not be able to get it every day. But I am pretty sure that we’ll be able to get some time in the library pretty easily.”

“Right,” agreed Izuku as he nodded at his orange-haired friend, his body relaxing as a smile appeared on his face. “We should also ask the rest of the class to see if anyone needs any additional help. Or, at the very least, wants to join. We have a group chat for our class so I guess one of us could post it there and-”

“DEKU!” A half second after the green-haired teen heard that familiar scream of rage, his face was slammed onto the table and into his food. Struggling to breathe the teen felt his body slide across the surface followed by empty air for a brief moment before finally crashing into the ground. Coughing, Izuku managed to turn his head slightly just in time to see the feral visage of his attacker, Katsuki Bakugo, as he had already leapt over the table. His brain was still processing what was happening as an open palm slammed into the back of his head, pressing down with great force while a knee pressed down on the Divine Divider’s wrist.

It has been so long since he had been in this position. Not since he first activated Divine Dividing, standing up to his bully for the first time since the playground. But now, taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, Izuku found himself paralyzed with fear. He couldn’t move, thoughts as complex as pushing him off were too complicated at this moment. He could only lay there, feeling like his old self as he looked up in the corner of his eye at the person who had made his childhood a living nightmare.

“You damned, useless NERD!” screamed Bakugo, viens already in his eyes as he spat down that the teen beneath him. “Worthless stain! Damned Deku! Did you think we were done?! DID YOU?! Did you think I wouldn’t see how close you were to my entrance score? With damned RESCUE POINTS?! Still looking down on me? Trying to make me look bad?!”

More pressure was added to Izuku’s face, squishing it further into the ground. His bones were feeling like they were put into a press with the potential for them to break at any given moment. Only now could he hear movement all around him, shoes squeaking against the floor. But his eyes refused to look away from the angry red eyes above him even as spit flew from Bakugo’s mouth every time he yelled. There was no mistaking it: Bakugo was beyond angry or livid. It was something else. And it scared Izuku that there could be another level of anger within the teen. More fear was added as the teen tried to reach Baukgo with his other hand but to no avale. From this position, his attacker was out of his reach. 

“Now, you are going to answer my question you pathetic waste of space,” demanded Bakugo as heat began to emanate from him palm. Heat that Midoriya knew all too well despite not experiencing it in some time. “Then you are going that your worthless ass out of my school! Either by you walking out on your own two feet or in a body bag!”

“That is highly uncalled for,” came Shishida’s voice. “Cease this utterly barbaric behavior my good sir at-”

“Mind your own business sasquatch!” yelled Bakugo without taking his eyes off of Izuku.

“Well, we tried to do this the civil way,” said Itsuka. Half a second later the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the lunchroom as Bakugo was knocked off of Izuku, tumbling onto the floor before rolling into a crouching position. Looking over to his side, the teen saw that it had been Itsuka who had come to his rescue. Her normal-sized fist still extended, she looked down at the ashen-haired teen with contempt. Then, after glancing back at Bakugo, Izuku saw a large bruise forming while a trickle of blood escaped from his lips.

“You damned extra. If you want to die so badly then so be it!” growled Bakugo, palms open as several mini explosions began to appear in his hands.

Izuku nearly trembled where he was as he saw the flash in Bakugo’s eyes. He also noted that the others who had been seated at their table had already risen, determination in their eyes as the silence filled the room. Thankfully, something came in the nick of time to prevent things from escalating. That thing happened to be long bands of some sort of white cloth. They wrapped around Bakugo, pressing the teen’s arms against his body as he fell to the ground. Everyone looked up to see, at the other end of the cloth, a man with long shaggy black hair and glowing red eyes. At the same time, another person came running towards Izuku which caused a brief surge of panic in the teen. Though he did relax a little when he saw that it was the girl he had saved back in the entrance exam, her eyes filled with concern at what had happened.

“Oh my…I-I saw what happened,” said the brown-haired girl with the permanent blush. “Are you alright Deku?”

As the other 1-B students looked at Uraraka in shock, Izuku felt his heart sink deep into an abyss. Tears threatened to form in his eyes as he looked up at her. This was supposed to be a fresh start for him, a new beginning. That he could go the next three years without anyone calling him Deku! Well, everyone but Bakugo. But now? If she was already calling him that, how long till everyone else started calling him Useless? He must really look pathetic. He was taken out so easily, froze in fear, and needed someone else to save him. Some hero in training he turned out to be.

Breathing quickly, Izuku did the only thing he could think of: get away from everyone. He was aware he said something, yet the words didn’t seem to register in his mind as he got to his feet before charging out of the lunchroom. No doubt everyone was watching him, judging him harshly. But he didn’t have the mentality to worry about that now as he left the room and only stopped when he got to the first intersection in the hallway.

Once he stopped, Izuku bent slightly as he panted while resting his hands on his knees. He could hear Albion trying to talk to him, but his voice was jumbled within his mind. With each breath, he tried to clear it. Tried to get his thoughts in order and to think clearly.

“I was right about you,” came a cold, emotionless voice from behind him. “You don’t belong here.”

All sound in Izuku’s head vanished when he heard those words. Slowly he turned to see a man dressed in all black, his long and unkempt hair matching his attire. Quickly Izuku realized that this was the person who had stepped in, the cloth in one hand as he led Bakugo with him. But now the man’s gaze was upon the Divine Divider, giving him a look that Izuku knew all too well.

He was being judged.

“I saw that pathetic display of yours in the entrance exam,” he continued, moving in closer to Izuku as his eyes flashed red. “You clearly have little understanding of how to use your quirk properly and wasted time figuring it out on the battlefield. Did you even practice it at all? And now this.”

Izuku could feel his heart beating faster, his legs becoming shaky as the man continued to glare at him. Words tried and failed to form in the teen’s mouth creating further annoyance in the man standing before him. Said man then took a step closer.

“The only reason you are still here is that you were not placed in my class,” said the man, now almost directly in front of Izuku. “Believe me, I would have removed you on the first day for being a-”

“Aizawa, that’s enough!” As the words were spoken, the large meaty hand of Vlad King slammed into Aizawa’s shoulder. This act had surprised both Bakugo and Izuku, neither of whom even noticed the man approaching. But not Awiaza who simply turned to give the taller man an annoyed look. For a while, neither man said anything before the dark man began to walk away with Bakugo in tow.

Then…

“You know I’m right.” And with that, Aizawa walked away from the pair with Bakugo in tow without looking back.

-x-

“Tea?” asked Kan.

Not trusting his voice, Izuku nodded his head as he kept his eyes on the small table separating him from his homeroom teacher. The young man just sat there on a couch in the teacher’s lounge, his standard uniform replaced with his gym tracksuit. He was aware that the door was locked, giving them privacy that did little to calm the teen down. As he heard the tea being poured into their cups, his mind went to all of the worst-case scenarios. No doubt Vlad was going to expel him like how that other teacher had wanted. Just in a calmer atmosphere. Why wouldn’t they? The school had just seen how pathetic he had handled a sneak attack followed by the way he had reacted. Clearly, they would say that he wasn’t cut out for the hero course if he couldn’t handle that.

And with Albion now going silent, he felt all the more certain that he was right. Perhaps even the soul of the ancient dragon no longer wanted anything to do with him.

Then, the tea was placed before Izuku.

“I want to apologize for what Aizawa said to you,” said Vlad King in a gentle tone. One that seemed to contradict his very appearance. “It was certainly something you didn’t need to hear after what you just went through. Though harsh, the man means well.”

Izuku said nothing as he took up his cup and took a sip, his eyes still downcast. Then, after a moment, he spoke.

“Was he right?” began Izuku before pausing to swallow the lump in his throat. “Is the reason I’m even still here because you didn’t place me in his class?”

For a moment, silence filled the room. Despite not looking up at the man before him, he knew there was no doubt a war going on in Vlad King’s brain. To be honest, lie, or deflect. Then, finally, the man spoke.

“It…is possible,” said Vlad with a heavy sigh. “Aizawa has a bit of a reputation for expelling students that do not meet his standards, regardless of how well they do in the entrance exam. One time he even expelled an entire class. But, despite this, he does not want to expel you.”

Midoriya looked up in surprise, nearly dropping his tea as he stared at the man in disbelief. Now he saw that his homeroom teacher was holding the small cup in his hands, looking down at it with his eyes half lid as if remembering something.

“He was critical of how much time you wasted during the exam,” continued the blood-themed hero. “How you did not use your quirk right away and, when you did use it, you began flying around out of control. With that said, he was mildly impressed that you managed to get some control over it in such a short amount of time. That as well as taking down the zero-pointer without getting hurt or putting anyone else’s well-being at risk. So he recommended that you be sent into General Studies with the option to be moved into the Hero Course once you got a better handle on your quirk. However, myself, Principal Nezu, and the other teachers felt otherwise.”

The large man then paused to take a sip from his drink. Then, when he looked at Izuku again, there was something of curiosity in his gaze.

“Now, I’m sure you know that U.A. does background checks on all of our students for obvious reasons,” he said, Izuku simply nodding back in confirmation. “Normally, we scrutinize any reported misconduct ranging from quirk misusage to arrests. If we require a better understanding of the situation or that said potential student has learned and moved on then that student is called in so we can question them. Others we simply discard without a second thought. But perhaps some of us pay a little too much attention to that part and miss other things. Like, for example, both myself and Nezu noticed that you changed your quirk registration almost a year ago. And, originally, you were declared quirkless.”

Izuku nodded again before going into the story he had told so many people thus far. How he had discovered that the reason everyone, including himself, had thought that he was quirkless was that his body hadn’t been strong enough to handle his quirk. He intentionally remained vague on how he had discovered this, not wanting there to be more bad blood between himself and Bakugo. And, thankfully, Vlad never pressed the issue nor did he interrupt his student as he continued the story of how hard he worked to get his body into shape. About how, at the entrance exam, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that Divine Dividing worked on machines as well as wanting to see what he could do on his own. And that when he did activate his quirk was the first time he had discovered the wings and, well, the first time he had ever flown.

It was only when Izuku had finished his story that Vlad spoke once more, his voice filled to the brim with understanding. “I see. From what I am hearing, your quirk is still developing. No doubt due to coming in so late in the game. Well, considering that, I’m honestly a bit more impressed that you came so far in such a short amount of time. Now you have me curious to see what you’ll be like at the end of the year!”

Izuku could now see an almost feral grin on Vlad’s face. But, unlike Bakugo’s feral expressions, this one held less of the murderous glint in the eyes and was replaced with excitement. Seeing it almost flew Izuku through a loop. But before the teen could dwell on it much longer, Vlad’s expression softened.

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy thinking you were quirkless for so long.” said the pro hero shoftly.

“It wasn’t…” Izuku’s words cracked as he began to deny the truth of what it had been like. To dismiss it all like it had just been no big deal, a bit of rain that ruined what was supposed to be a sunny day. But his own voice had already betrayed him and already the pro hero sitting before him was giving him a look that said he already didn’t buy that. So, Izuku spoke honestly. “Deku. I-I don’t know if anyone told you, but that’s the name Ka, er, Bakugo called me. It’s the name a lot of people knew me as growing up. Useless. That’s how I was made to feel for years. I was mocked for just wanting to have the same dreams as the rest of my class. For just wanting to help people. That’s all I wanted to do. Yeah, I was stupid for not working out more if I wanted to be a hero. I realized that a while ago. I eventually did put in the hard work but…maybe I’ll always be a Deku. If I freeze up like I did in the lunchroom, unable to fight back, then how can I ever be expected to do the same when I’m fighting a real live villain? Maybe Mr. Aizawa is right and I should just-”

Izuku was silenced when Vlad reached across the table to gently place a hand on his shoulder.

“Midoriya, you are certainly not the first student I’ve seen freeze up when taken by surprise,” said the man firmly. “And you certainly won’t be the last. I won’t hold it against you especially since you were in a place where you thought you were safe. So go a little easier on yourself and we can work on it.”

“R-Really?” asked Izuku.

“Of course,” said Kan with a nod while removing his hand from Izuku’s shoulder as he leaned back into his seat. “We train our heroes to deal with a number of different situations that can happen out in the field. That includes how to deal with unexpected attacks. Now, how are you feeling?”

Izuku blinked at that. Slowly, it began to dawn on him that he was feeling better. The panic he had been feeling was lessening, his mind now thinking far more clearly. Like how that girl had called him Deku. Of course, she didn’t know his name as they had never really spoken. She no doubt heard Bakugo screaming it at the top of his lungs and, for some reason, assumed it was his name. Hopefully thinking it was his surname or something. Looking back at his homeroom teacher, Izuku saw a sad smile on the face of the blood-themed hero.

“I sort of know what you’re going through,” said Vlad King. “Believe it or not, I was bullied pretty bad back before I started my hero training.”

Again, Izuku blinked at what he heard while his mouth hung open slightly.

“Y-You were?” asked Izuku, mouth slightly hanging open as his mind tried to process this. He knew a lot about the career of Vlad King. While not to the extent of All Might, but he did have several pages dedicated to the man sitting before him in a notebook back home. And in all the vidoes as well as pictures in articles he had seen the man in, Vlad King always appeared so strong. So powerful and focused. It was mind blowing to even consider that anyone would think to bully him.

Vlad King, however, nodded.

“A lot of people get unnerved by blood quirks,” began the man as he looked down into his teacup. “It’s a primal thing to grow uneasy when you see it, ten times more so when there’s a scrawny kid that can manipulate his own blood. Got pushed around a lot, bullied, and called things like ‘that creepy vampire’. One day I even found jars of pig blood stuffed into my locker, the people around me laughing it up and asking if that was my lunch.”

Izuku gulped as a question burned in his mind.

“Did leaving that place help?” he asked.

“It did,” replied Vlad King as he looked back up at his student. “When I started my hero training, I found that most of the people there were more accepting of me. Those that weren’t didn’t get very far. Some of them never made it past Sidekick when they graduated. But, some of that stuff stuck with me. Especially the things they said to me. There would be times when I could almost hear their voices in the back of my head. Then there were times when I would just snap at people when they made certain comments. It’s…not as easy to escape that kind of stuff. It just seems to haunt you like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace.”

“C-Can I ask how you were able to…get past that?” asked Izuku.

“Of course!” answered Vlad with a smile, one that showed off his fangs. “The first thing I needed to do was admit that what they said hurt. Let it out. Then I found friends I could talk to, ones I trusted and who were willing to listen to me vent when I needed it. And, finally, I took the names they used to insult me and I owned them! It’s the reason I decided that my hero name would be a reference to the inspiration of Dracula. Once I owed it, I took away all the power those people had.”

Shortly after that, Izuku Midoriya left the teacher’s lounge feeling infinitely better. He managed to head back to the classroom where a worried Itsuka and Pony were waiting for him along with the rest of the class. He was embarrassed yet glad at the same time to see that there were so many people who were worried about him.

“That ruffian!” declared Shishida as he adjusted his glasses. “Attacking anyone when their back is turned is the mark of a coward!”

“I knew he was bad news. Shroom,” cried Komori, her own hands balled into fists. “I’m just glad he’s in 1-A. Can you imagine what would have happened if he was here with us? Or if Midoriya was in 1-A with him? Shroom!”

Izuku smiled at their words.

“So, does anyone know what happened to Bakugo?” he asked as he turned to the rest of the class. “The guy who attacked me?”

Itsuka made a face that showed she wasn’t happy. “Yeah. Tokage overheard some of the teachers while we were looking for you.” As if to punctuate that statement, Tokage’s eyes and ears separated from her body and began to move around on their own. Along with her mouth that was twisted into a sharp-toothed grin as Kendo continued to talk. “According to her, Principal Nezu was furious about the attack and wanted to expel that Bakugo kid. But that jerk Aizawa stepped in and managed to get him a suspension. He’ll be back when they start rescue training in a couple of days.”

“Oh, that’s bullshit!”  This statement by Awase was quickly shared by the rest of the class. Even Shiozaki seemed enraged with this, her hair slashing around like dozens of angry snakes. It seemed like too much of a slap on the wrist for attacking another student completely unprovoked. But perhaps there was going to be more to his punishment like he would be missing something important in class or something.

Some of the class even wondered if the reason they didn’t expel the jerk was that the school feared unleashing such a ticking time bomb on the world.

However, their speculations had to be put on hold as Vlad entered the room, ready to give a lecture on proper heroing laws.

The next day, 1-B discovered what the angry blonde had missed out on as the door opened and All Might himself almost seemed to soar into the room before landing in front of Vlad’s podium. Stars were in Izuku’s eyes as he looked up at the number one hero. He stood there, dressed in his current hero costume while making a V for victory sign as a bright smile shone on his face.

“Greetings you bunch of newbies,” announced the number one hero. “I, All Might, am here to teach you the ropes in what I like to call Heroing 101! And, just like your sister class, I will be pulling no punches as we start our battle training!”

Chapter Text

Izuku stood on the roof of a building within Training Ground Beta as he nervously counted the seconds until their first heroics training lesson began. Glancing over at his partner the Divine Divider was glad to see that he wasn’t the only one as Itsuka was doing some breathing exercises. Their objective in this exercise was simple: they were the heroes who had to break into a building housing a ‘bomb’ held by a pair of villains. All they had to do was either touch the bomb or capture both villains before the time ran out. Easy…at least on paper that is. They were going up against Tokage and Kuroiro. Not only that, but they were going to be the first group to do this exercise. With the entire class, plus All Might himself, watching them. Judging them.

“We got this,” came the voice of the Big Fist user.

Izuku blinked, not realizing that Itsuka had closed the distance between them to place a hand on his shoulder while giving him a warm smile. Seeing this helped him to relax a bit as well, though he blushed a bit as couldn’t help but notice how heroic and alluring she looked in her hero costume. Looking down and placing a hand on his chest, he too began to feel a little more heroic at this moment. After what his orange-haired friend had told him almost a year ago about making his smile his own, the teen had workshopped his old hero costume to remove All Might’s influence. Now he wore the finished product: a green suit, its color a lighter shade than what he originally wanted so as to not clash with his wings, with white markings on the side along the sides. On both legs, he wore white knee pads that went up to his thighs. The teen had removed the hood that held the hair bangs from his original design as well as the mouth guard that looked like All Might’s smile, much to the delight of Albion and Itsuka. Though Pony did sulk a little as she had thought that it looked really funny. In its place, now hanging around his neck, was a respirator shaped like a dragon’s jaw.

Now he looked more like his own hero instead of a fanboy playing dress up.

“Yeah,” agreed Izuku with a nod. “We got this.”

As Izuku said that, All Might announced the beginning of the match. Wasting no time, the green-haired teen activated his quirk, the large wings appearing on his back before he blushingly picked up his friend to carry her bridal style. With his friend in his arms, Izuku flew across the street aiming toward one of the windows in the middle of the building while one of Itsuka’s fists grew to its maximum size. Once they arrived at their destination, Kendo wasted no time smashing the glass into thousands of pieces with a single punch. However, rather than going inside, Izuku flew upwards at the highest speed he felt comfortable at before landing on the roof.

As Kendo used her enlarged fists to rip the roof access door off its hinges, Izuku deactivated his wings so that he could properly fit through the door. Their first plan had been simple: have Izuku fly around the building looking for the bomb and then the two of them could just crash through that window. However, both agreed that that sort of plan would have worked better had he not shown everyone at the dodgeball game that he could fly. No doubt they would expect something like that. The same would go for the roof. So, instead, their plan was to try and divide their opponents. Hopefully, after hearing that crash, one of the villains would go to investigate leaving the other to guard the bomb or the roof.

As the pair moved through the top floor they began to notice just how dark it was, the lights being turned off while all the doors were kept shut. It was so dark that the two had to move a bit slower while keeping a hand pressed against the wall. The two strained their ears as they listened for the slightest noise of their enemies approaching. As the two turned a corner they were met by…a floating eyeball? The two heroes stared at it, wide eye thinking that their own eyes were playing tricks on them.

That is until the eyeball blinked causing both hero hopefuls to scream.

As the pair backed away from what was the beginning of a horror movie, Izuku felt someone wrapping their arms around his neck. The fear of being taken by surprise filled the teen, his mind going numb as he looked to the side to see the haunting face of Kuroiro grinning at him while showing off all his teeth.

“Izuku!” As Itsuka yelled out his name, several small objects began to fly toward her. Quickly they combined to form a pair of hands that swiftly grabbed the Big Fist girl by the wrists. Kendo soon found herself being dragged and pressed against the wall by the severed hands across from the struggling Izuku. Then, several larger masses flew down the hallways along with a mouth that floated underneath the eye.

“Nice try with that distraction,” said Setsuna’s mouth. “Good thing I left an eye over here while the rest of me went to search the building.”

Struggling to get a full breath of air, Izuku reached up his hands to pry off the arms denying him precious oxygen. Yet when he tried Kuroiro simply began to tighten his chokehold. To make matters worse, Izuku got a front-row seat to the fate that befell his partner. He watched as Itsuka struggled to push forward, to remove herself from the wall, to lower her arms so she could rip off Tokage’s hands. However, much to the green-haired teen’s mounting horror at the situation, the extra lumps of flesh began launching right into Kendo’s gut. Itsuka like all the air from her lungs had been knocked out from the first attack, barely able to take another breath before the next piece of Setsuna stuck her. Over and over, these pieces struck before pulling back in a seemingly never-ending series of rapid-fire punches.

“It’s over hero,” said Kuroiro said as Izuku felt one of the arms let go. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it reach into the darkness where the rest of his enemy's body was most likely to be. Then, when he saw it next, in the dark villain’s hand was the capture tape!

Seeing the tape brought a moment of clarity to Izuku’s mind, the desperate need for air forgotten. Once that capture tape was wrapped around him, he would lose. He would have to lie there, unable to participate in the rest of the exercise leaving Itsuka to fend for herself again the two villains. Well, not if he could help it!

So, with gritted teeth, Izuku tightened his grip on Kuroiro arm that was around his neck. An action that surprised the dark teen. Then…

“Divide!” shouted Izuku as he activated his quirk, his wings extended to cancel out as much of the darkness in the hallway as possible. With no darkness for Kuroiro to sink back into, it was like he was being pushed out of the wall. Midoriya used this, adding his own strength to add to the momentum while spinning the darkly clad teen and tossing him to the ground. A second later, Kuroiro’s body hit the ground with enough force that it actually bounced. But before he could land on the ground a second time, Izuku was around in motion to continue his attack. The Divine Divider had spun around, lifting his leg high into the air as he did so before sending his heel right into the gut of his attacker.

At the same time, Kendo was turning the tables on Setsuna. The orange-haired girl, despite the pain she had endured, began to push herself off the wall while growing her fists to their full size once more. With a fierce battle cry, she then began to swing both of her enlarged hands around creating waves of wind that knocked Tokage’s body parts around while irritating the lone eye. Then SMACK! Ituska’s hand came done, swatting several of the pieces in one go as though they were nothing more than a couple of annoying flies. Shrinking her hands, Kendo then ripped off the severed hands that still clung to her wrists before flinging them against the wall.

At that point, Setsuna’s eye and mouth were the only parts of her still afloat. Seeing that there was nothing else they could do, they tried to make a break for it only to discover that Izuku was blocking their path as he had somehow gotten behind them. Tokage hesitated and, at that moment, Itsuka had enlarged her hands once more to swat the last of the villain’s pieces.

With the fight over, Izuku looked over to see Itsuka holding her stomach with her once more normal-sized hands with a strained grin on her face. As she gave him a thumbs up, showing she was ready to continue, Izuku instantly returned the gesture.

From there, the rest of the exercise was pretty easy. They found the bomb along with literally half of Setsuna, looking like various chunks of her body were missing. She tried to put up a fight, pieces of her body flying out at the two heroes in a vain attempt to keep them from the bomb. However, both Kendo and Midoriya were easily able to avoid the attacks thanks to all the parkour training they had done, touching the bomb with five minutes to spare.

Once the match was over, all four were brought back to where the rest of the class was waiting for them. There All Might heaped praise on all four of them for a splendid job as both heroes and villains had good plans while also making good use of their quirks. And while he did criticize Izuku for hesitating as long as he did when Kuroiro got the drop on him, he was overall glad that he overcame this. As for Izuku, he just nodded as basked in the glow of his own achievement. That he had been able to save himself, unlike what had happened with Bakugo.

From there, the rest of the matches continued. Everyone in Class 1-B gave Izuku a look as he pulled out a notebook from…somewhere as he began taking notes on all the various quirks of his classmates and how they used them. The one that had impressed him the most was Pony who had attached the capture tape to her horns before launching them into the air, guiding them to her target like a guided missile. Not only that, but when the ground had been covered by her opponent’s glue she had gotten over it by jumping on her floating horns and riding them over the obstacle.

All in all, it had been a good day despite All Might racing away once the class was over.

-x-

The next day, the students of 1-B found themselves back in Training Ground Beta. Dressed in their hero costumes, they followed their homeroom teacher as he led them down the deserted streets. With their footsteps seeming to echo all around them the place gave off a bit of a spooky vibe.

“Alright, class,” said Vlad King as he led his class through the empty city. “Today, while 1-A is doing rescue training at the USJ, you will be learning how to deal with large-scale ambushes.”

Izuku flinched when Vlad King brought up the USJ. They had all heard about the Unforeseen Simulation Joint yesterday after All Might’s lesson from their homeroom teacher. A place that was designed to simulate entire disaster environments in a controlled setting for training purposes. When they heard this, the entire class had grown excited though less so when the blood-themed hero said that he was trying to get a joint class training going with 1-A. No doubt wanting to smooth tensions out between the two heroic classes. Well, obviously it didn’t work out and Izuku couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. He could still remember the way Mr. Aizawa had spoken to him, making his feelings for the green-haired youth crystal clear. That, along with the fact that Bakugo was back from his suspension, his presence heard loud and clear, were the more likely reasons for 1-A’s homeroom teacher to reject the idea.

“Hey,” came Itsuka’s whisper right into Izuku’s ear, both the suddenness and the feeling of her warm breath almost causing him to jump. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll go to the USJ another time.”

At that, Pony chimed in as she leaned close to whisper as well.

“Yeah!” she said, a little louder than Itsuka. “And we won’t be keeping an eye out for that jerk!”

Glancing around, Midoriya saw that while they had been quiet the rest of the class seemed to have heard this. Many of them were either nodding in agreement or just giving the Divine Divider a reassuring smile. Seeing that made Izuku relax a little. Maybe he was just thinking about this too hard. Perhaps the reason the idea was rejected was that there weren’t enough teachers to watch over them.

Vlad King, meanwhile, continued talking as if he had not overheard anything. “This type of thing can be one of the most terrifying aspects of the job. I’m sure that many of you noticed it in the entrance exam, examinees freezing or panicking when one of the robots suddenly appeared before them. It is that fear that you will be learning to overcome, to not hesitate when faced with danger.”

“So are we going to be fighting the robots from the exam again?” asked Kuroiro. “No offense Mr. Vlad but we already know we can take them.”

Vlad turned his head to look at his student, a sadistic smile briefly appearing on his face. “Yes, you did. But when you last fought them, you were in a group with the robots targeting whoever they first came across. This time, however, you will be facing a dozen or so robots alone that can appear at any time. Furthermore, we will be making those robots a bit tougher. All thanks to the Support Department.”

As if on cue, a three-pointer robot came racing down the street towards them at a speed much greater than they had shown during the entrance exam. What’s more, there seemed to be someone riding on top of it! It was a girl with pink dreadlock-styled hair, her jacket tied around her waist to show off her tank top, and her arms raised high into the air. Drawing closer, Izuku took note of the homemade steampunk-like goggles on her forehead along with the various blotches of oil on her skin. Eventually, the robot came to a halt right in front of the group which nearly caused the girl to go flying off.

“Class, allow me to introduce one of Power Loader's best first-year students in the Support Department: Mei Hatsume,” announced Vlad King as he gestured to the girl who was now laughing her head off. “She’s here to make sure that the robots pack a bit more of a punch than what they did during the entrance exam.”

Mei suddenly stopped laughing, head snapping to look at the hero in red before blinking at that though her insane grin never left her face.

“Really?” asked Hatsume in a weird, cheerful tone. “Power Loader really said that about me? I thought he just wanted me out of the classroom after I blew it up for the eighteenth time.”

Pony, as well as the majority of the class, blinked at that. “But we’ve only been at school for-”

“Not that I mind of course!” exclaimed Mei, waving a hand around while interrupting the American girl. “This is far more interesting than listening to another boring safety lecture. Now, if only I were allowed to really cut loose I could show all of U.A. the pure genius of Mei Hatsume!”

As she said this last part, Mei threw her head back to let out an insane laugh. One that sent shivers down all the students. And while the girl continued to laugh, Vlad King cleared his throat with a little cough.

“By the looks of it, I take it that you finished what I asked you to?” asked the teacher.

Hatsume stopped her laughing so fast that it nearly gave Izuku whiplash, and turned her head to look at the 1-B homeroom teacher while giving him a thumbs up.

“Just about done,” said the Support Course teen. “Though I do want to go over some other improvements to make these babies a bit tougher to deal with. I can tell you all about it while you sign a permission form to allow me to use the Support Department’s rocket fuel!”

“No.” As Vlad King said this, his face went flat as it lost all the humor it had and was replaced with a more stony expression. If that bothered Hatsume, she didn’t show it at all. All she did was jump off the back of the three-pointer robot while still grinning like a mad woman. Vlad just shook his head, turning to look at his students.

“Well then, while Hatsume finishes her job, I want to go over how this exercise will work. One of you will-” Vlad King got no further as the man’s ringtone went off. Grumbling, he pulled his phone out while giving the device a nasty look. Yet that look quickly morphed into one of abject horror so powerful that his phone nearly slipped out of his hands. After catching it, he looked up at his students who all stared at the man who was growing pale.

“I…I have to go,” he said, already on the move. “There has been an emergency on campus. All of you are to help Hatsume put everything away and then head back to class. Then, wait there till I return. That’s final!”

And without another word, the man dashed off quickly disappearing from sight.

Once he was gone, Kendo quickly took the lead as she clapped her large hands together to get everyone’s attention. Thankfully for the orange-haired girl, she received no pushback or outright refusal. They had all seen the look on the pro hero's face, recognizing that something serious had to have happened for him to act like that. The only one who proved difficult was the lone Support Student who spent the next five or so minutes fighting with Kendo as she did not want to undo all the hard work she had done.

Eventually, Itsuka wore the pink-haired mechanic down. As one the students began to move through the faux city to where Hatsume had stored the robots that she had tinkered with. And while on the move, the class began to speculate on what could have happened. Pony thought that an accident might have occurred at the USJ, one that needed all heroes on deck.

“Yeah,” agreed Tsuburaba as he let out a dark chuckle. “How much you want to bet that blonde jerk caused it? I can just see him losing his cool before exploding on everyone.”

Hearing that caused most of the class to let out a nervous laugh. Given what they had seen of Bakugo’s temper it was a possibility. Not one they wanted to see happen of course. As for Izuku, the teen just scratched the back of his head as he looked away.

Then, in the middle of the street just ahead of them, came a swirling dark vortex made of mist. Instantly going on high alert, Kendo ordered her fellow classmates to hide. Everyone scattered at that, moving into the nearby buildings and down alleyways to take cover. As for Izuku, he along with Shishida, Pony, Mei, and Itsuka all made their way down into an alleyway.

After a moment had passed, a lone figure walked out of the portal. It was a tall, lanky man with pale blue hair that was completely unkempt. Yet what drew everyone’s attention were the multiple severed hands on his body, holding onto his arms and face. And…there was something else about this person that put Izuku on edge. Just looking at him caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise.

“This is such a drag,” complained the hand man, scratching his neck as he spoke. “Such a boring level to be on. I so wanted to be there when we defeated the final boss, not doing this side quest. If Kurogiri doesn’t record the moment when Nomu smashes that man’s skull in, I’m going to have to kill him. Hopefully, the loot and reputation I gain from this will be worth it.”

As Izuku tried his best to process what the man meant, more figures appeared from within the portal. Three of them, each with an exposed brain! The first of these monsters had huge bat-like wings and a gas mask covering its lower face. The second had four eyes along with thin, lengthy arms making it look a bit like a skinny gorilla. The final one was the most muscular of the three, dark-skinned and eyeless wearing tattered shorts.

Staring at them, Izuku felt a cold sweat cover his body as he tried his best to swallow. Thankfully he wasn’t alone. Shishida’s jaw had dropped, his hairy form shaking in terror at the sight. Itsuka’s face could not hide the fear she felt while Pony stood there frozen in fear.

“Sir Midoriya, w-why aren’t the alarms going off?” whispered Shishida.

Izuku nearly jumped at the whisper so close to his ear, but he managed to keep himself still. He did not want to do anything that would catch the attention of those monsters.

“I-I don’t know,” admitted Midoriya, his mind trying to piece together a theory. Right now, he only had one. “M-Maybe it has something to do with the press from yesterday? I heard that while we were in class with All Might they managed to get onto school grounds. Perhaps there were repairs needed after that and the alarm was shut off?”

“No, that’s not it.” Mei’s voice was just barely above a whisper as she looked at the monsters herself, a hand on her chin. “Power Loader went over that system late into the night. I know because he kicked me out of the Support Studio before he left at eight. It’s more likely that they bypassed the system thanks to that warp quirk they got.”

“That’s a pretty serious flaw!” Pony whispered/yelled.

Izuku shook his head before glancing over at Pony. “Not really. Warp quirks are very rare and each one works in a different way. I heard that in order to detect when one is being used, the security equipment needs to understand the frequency of the warper in order to detect how they are warping time and space.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed Mei as she slammed her open palm on Izuku’s shoulder before giving him a thumb’s up. “Looks like you're not just a bunch of muscles there.”

Meanwhile, back with the villains, the portal had closed leaving the four standing in the middle of the street with their leader staring off into the distance toward the main campus.

“Well, while the main boss Nomu is destroying the Symbol of Peace I get to destroy his precious society,” spoke the person who was clearly a villain. His tone sounded like he was trying his best to convince himself that what he was doing was worth it. And by the way his voice rose, a smile forming beneath his disturbing mask, it was working. “Oh, how their reputation will drop when the public learns that an entire school was slaughtered!”

As the lead villain began walking towards the exit, the shattering of glass filled the air. Everyone looked up to see Tetsutetsu, his body hardened by steel, first raised as he shot downwards towards the villain. The teen had screamed something that Izuku didn’t quite make out, but the intention was clear as day. Sadly, he never made contact as the eyeless monster grabbed Tetsutetsu by the arm before slamming him down into the street as though he were little more than a rag doll. Blood shot out of the Steel user’s mouth as he bounced off the ground.

“NO!” screamed Izuku as his wings activated, sending him flying towards the villains without ever really thinking about it. The hand villain seemed to stare at him, letting the green-haired youth touch the monster still holding his classmate to use Divine Divide upon it. As soon as he did, however, Izuku felt more power running through him than anything he had ever felt before. So much so that there was pain before his wings shattered into nothing. Falling to the ground, he looked up to see all four villains looking at him.

“How nice,” said the hand villain. Now that Izuku was closer, he could see the man’s smile in all of its sickening glory. “The pathetic low-level scrubs are coming out to meet us. Good. Let's kill them all.”

Chapter Text

The four-eyed monster looked down at Izuku, its tongue hanging out slightly as it let out a primal cry. While the noise sent a cold wave pulsing through the green-haired teen, he did not back down.

“Tetsutetsu!” cried Izuku to his friend and classmate without taking his eyes from the threat in front of him. “Get out of here!”

Gritting his teeth, Midoriya used the skills he had learned from the Kendo Dojo to leap upward from the ground and kick his target right in the lower jaw. As he fell back towards the ground, the young hero spun his body around rapidly before landing on his feet. The four-eyed thing then tried to reach out and grab him only for Izuku to kick his hand away. Yet that was as far as he got as the dark, eyeless one backhanded the teen. Blood flew out of Izuku’s mouth the moment contact was made, his ribs almost cracking from the blow. But before he could even process the full extent of the pain he was in, the Divine Divider found himself flying towards a wall of a nearby building at a dangerous speed.

“Horn Cannon!” came Pony’s voice. Then, before Izuku could become a mere splat against the wall, a pair of horns rocketed toward him. Attaching themselves at his waist the horns turned to the side, narrowly avoiding the wall while slowing down the inertia. Now Izuku could see his friend and-

“PONY!” yelled Izukun in a state of pure panic. “BEHIND YOU!”

He watched as the blonde’s eyes widened in confusion, not realizing that the bat-winged thing was now behind her. With hands raising above its brain-exposed head, it looked ready to deliver a crushing blow to the girl’s skull. One that was stopped thanks to Shishida who tackled the monster as his size began to increase. With his increased mass, the even more beast-like teen pinned the bat-winged thing down while delivering blow after blow right into its face! Yet, even from this distance, Izuku could see that each of Shishida’s punches were doing little, if anything, to hurt that monster.

Somehow, the bat creature was able to push Shishida off of him before grabbing him by the wrists and taking off. Thankfully, before it could get too far away, Itsuka had begun using the training from her mother’s class to leap from wall to wall in the alleyway between the two buildings to get high into the air so that she was above her target. With an enlarged hand she made a chopping motion right into the monster’s back while Pony launched more horns aimed at its wings. A cry of pain was finally heard as the two attacks hit at the same time causing the thing to drop its prey. As for Shishida, he shrank before he hit the ground while also curling himself into a ball in order to transfer his momentum.

Glancing over where the other two creatures were, Izuku saw that his class was trying to deal with the intruders. Shiozaki had extended her vines out, wrapping them around the two things so tightly that the thorns should have been digging into their flesh. At the same time Kamakiri, Rin, and Kaibara were striking at them close range with their quirks. Blades extended, Kamakiri seemed to leap between the two while sounding a little like Bakugo. However, he wasn’t able to give them so much as a paper cut. And while Kaibara and Rin attacked with their own quirks neither of their strikes even did so much as dent the things. Even Tetsutetsu, who had stayed in the area, tried punching them to no avail. All the while, the hand villain just stood there scratching his cheek slightly.

“Well, this is boring,” commented the villain lazily. “Nomu, you’re all so high-leveled that these newbies can’t even scratch you. Might as well be the main protagonist in one of those anime Sword Something animes. Guess none of you will need a boost. Just kill them already.”

Before Izuku’s mind could process what it had heard, the vines snapped as the two things now known as Nomu let out mighty roars while their arms swung in the air. Everyone there was knocked back skidding on the ground so hard that several of them left small trails of blood in their wake. Even the bat Nomu joined in, grabbing Shishida and Pony before flinging them over with the rest so that they could all be killed at once!

As for Itsuka, she had taken matters into her own hands. After activating her quirk to enlarge both of her hands, the orange-haired girl began smashing and digging into the buildings and streets ripping out large chunks. Beads of sweat appeared on her brow as she then began to punch into the rubble until they were smaller, regardless of the blood dripping from her hands. Then…

“Yanagi, give us cover!” yelled Kendo.

Izuku watched in amazement as the silver-haired girl’s quirk activated, levitating and moving around all the debris that Kendo had just made. It spirals around the area until it became something like a wind storm that nearly blinded everyone there. Squinting, Izuku could see the hand villain raising his hands to protect himself. Then, before he could give out an order to his minions, Itsuka appeared in front of him with her fist still enlarged.

“STAY AWAY FROM MY CLASSMATES!” With that warcry uttered, Itsuka punched the hand man with all her might sending him against the wall right behind him! One of the Nomu then tried to swipe at her only for the Big Fist user to dodge it with a leap back into the mass of debris. Then, after a moment or two, it ended leaving the villain and his three Nomu standing in the middle of the street alone.

Slowly, the man stood on shaky legs and narrowed eyes filled with anger. His right hand began to twitch as if begging to be used. However, the villain ignored it as his eyes focused on where the U.A. students had been.

“Nomu,” breathed the villain, pure hate dripping off his words. “Find them and kill them.”

Meanwhile…

“Just what the heck were you thinking?!” The entirety of 1-B flinched when they heard that, Kendo’s voice echoing around the mock office building they were all currently hiding in. As many of the students there did the best they could to patch up their injuries, their eyes constantly shifted to the fuming orange-haired girl. She stood in one of the corners of the room with her arms crossed against her chest looking down at Tetsutetsu. The Steel quirk user was currently on his knees, head downcast.

“Sorry I,” began Tetsutetsu before pausing to gulp loudly as he looked up at the angry expression of Itsuka. “Look, when I heard them talking about killing people I just didn’t…I thought I could take them down and-”

Itsuka let out a growl, gritting her teeth as she continued to stare at Tetsutetsu while giving off an angry big sister vibe. One that had nearly the entire class giving them space. All except for two who barely stepped forward with their hands up in a calming manner.

“Lady Kendo, please,” said Shishida in a tone meant to bring a sense of calm. “I’m sure it was never Sir Tetsutetsu’s intention to put anyone in harm’s way. His actions were surely done with the goal of protecting the school.”

“H-He’s right Itsuka,” added Izuku. “If he hadn’t done that, those things would have just gone to the school to kill everyone.”

Kendo gave her friend a look that nearly caused him to take a step back. However, after a moment, her features softened somewhat.

“I know that,” she admitted before glancing over at the Steal Quirk user. “But it would have been smarter to try and sneak around to the school. They had no idea we were here. We could have easily told the teachers what just happened or warned the students. But now, we’re stuck here. Hey, Hatsume. What’re they doing now?”

The class turned to look over at Mei who was standing by the window with a grin still on her face. From what Izuku knew, her quirk let her zoom in on things like a pair of binoculars. If this wasn’t a life-or-death situation, he would be asking her so many questions.

“Hehehe, you guys made him mad!” laughed the crazy Support Course student/ “Right now that handyman is stomping his foot like a kid throwing a temper tantrum while the rest of them are just breaking stuff. Must be looking for us.”

That’s when Tokage stepped forward, her arms missing as well as an eye.

“Yeah, and they’re going to be looking for a while,” said the Lizard-Tail Splitter. “I have a bunch of my pieces out there making noises to lead them away from us. Hopefully, we can distract them until a teacher comes looking for us.”

“Excuse me Lady Tokage,” began Shishida before clearing his throat. “But I was just wondering what will happen if said teacher runs into those brutes?”

Setsuna didn’t say anything out loud. Not like she needed to as her face just seemed to scream the answer. A single teacher, even a former pro hero, might be able to handle one of those things. But all three? That might be a little much. And what if they tried to make a break for it and those monsters chased after them into the school?

Fear began to settle on the entire class. Izuku could see it all, even in Itsuka’s face. He was scared too. The teen tried to calm himself, using Mr. Kendo’s words to try and solve this problem. So that they could all get out of this situation alive. But no matter what he tried he just couldn’t figure it out! He wasn’t strong enough to use Divine Dividing on these monsters, not without his wings breaking due to the strain and falling on his ass again. Even if he did try to sap the strength of the same one he had divided before and it succeeded, that still left two that were pretty tough. Much stronger than any of his normal kicks could take care of. The only option he could see having even a chance at succeeding was to fly towards the school and find a teacher. But the odds that the Nomu, as the villain called them, spotting him were too great. If they did, they would surely follow him to the school and just begin the rampage they had planned on! At least like this they could keep the damage to a minimum. At least for a while. In the end, there was simply nothing he could…

Suddenly, the young hero’s eyes widened as he turned to look at his classmates. Mr. Kendo was right! He had all the tools he needed, he just needed to figure it out. But he had also told the teen that his greatest obstacle was himself. The problem was that he was only thinking about what he could do by himself! Hadn’t he written down his entire class’s quirks? Wasn’t he aware of all the skills they brought to the table? And what about the area? Couldn’t he make use of it?

Bits and pieces of information began to swirl around in the green-haired teen’s mind, slowly becoming puzzle pieces that came together. Even faster when he glanced around the room, reminding himself of his allies and their abilities. Slowly, he began to come to the conclusion that his plan could work.

‘But, can I do my part in this plan?’ thought Izuku as he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. ‘When I used Divine Dividing on that Nomu, it was so strong that my wings shattered! If it does that again, not only will I be killed but so will everyone else. Wait, the wings only shatter when the strain of too much access energy becomes too great. So if I have a way to release that energy…I wasn’t going at my full speed so if I can shift that energy to that then maybe…’

Izuku’s eyes widened as he then turned to look at his classmates…only to realize that they were already staring at him. No doubt he had been muttering everything and had weirded them out. So the teen just gave a nervous laugh.

“I think I have an idea,” he said aloud at last. “I won’t pretend that it's perfect, but it might just stop those things. But it’s going to take all of us to do it.”

There was a brief moment of hesitation before the class gave Izuku their full attention. Since nobody else had any ideas, they were willing to at least hear him out. Seeing this, Midoriya nodded before turning to Mei.

“Hatsume, can you make the robots here extra dangerous?” he asked. “Like just go wild and make them a serious threat?”

The Support Student looked at him as if Christmas had come early, a bit of drool escaping her lips. But she quickly wiped it away before pulling out a wrench which then twirled in her hand.

“Give me five minutes and I’ll see what I can do,” she said before laughing, sending shivers down the spines of all the students.

-x-

“Where are they?!?” roared Shigaraki as he stomped his foot on the ground, his childish whining echoing down the streets while being carried off by the wind. In his mind, he knew what he should do: just walk through the gates at the other end of this area to enter the school and then have his Nomu slaughter everyone. Maybe even capture it on video for the public to watch. But if he did that then those brats might get away! Including that stupid NPC that punched him. The nerve of her! What had he done to deserve that?

Before Shigaraki could answer his own question sound of one of his Nomu crying out in pain caught his attention. Turning, he glanced over at the four-eyed one seeing its hands covering its eyes as it thrashed about. And above its head were…four floating fingers? Stupidly, the villain blinked at that before he was caught off guard again by the sounds of dozens of windows breaking. As glass rained down on the streets, the leader of the League of Villains looked up to see a number of green machines with twin tails using one of the metal legs to clear all the shards out of the window frame. Before he could even guess how many there were, he spotted several robots with the number ‘one’ painted on them racing towards them.

“Divide!” came a voice that was annoyingly familiar to Shigaraki. Before he could turn around, he saw a flash of light burst past him. Just briefly he was able to make out the kid in green before the noob rocketed down the street past the army of machines and out of sight.

That’s when the streets became a warzone. From the windows, rubber bullets rained down upon them from all directions. Both ground Nomu let out cries of pain as they were struck protecting their master on instinct, shielding him from the shots that struck with so much force that they imbedded themselves into the pavement. As for the winged Nomu, it tried to fly up higher in an attempt to drive down and launch a counterattack. But as soon as it was up there, more of the tailed robots revealed themselves to be on the roof. They fired their projectiles at the winged one, forcing it back. But what was most shocking to the villain was how the eyeless Nomu was reacting! It trashed around more than the other two and showed signs that it was in far more pain than either of the other two Nomu. A sight that shocked the Shigaraki as this one was supposed to be the closest in power to the one that was killing All Might right now! 

By this point, the robots with the number one painted on them had closed the distance to begin their attack. The black Nomu swung at them, but his attack was slower than before and lacked the same amount of force that it had when it sent that green-haired noob flying. Because of this, the machines were able to dodge the swipe before surrounding the Nomu, wrapping their metal arms around its body. Wait, shouldn’t that have been easier for it to-

Shigaraki’s thoughts were cut off as the robots exploded. The villain’s ears began ringing in pain as he was flung backward, thankfully caught by the other two Nomu who were now trying to get their master out of the shower of bullets. Shigaraki let them, ignoring everything around him as he focused on his black bioweapon. There the eyeless brute stood there as he continued to be pelted, smoldering embers marking the outlines of the areas of missing skin! As the villain tried to process this, he was suddenly dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes when the Nomu spotted a couple of those brats down the street. They chased after them, leaving Shigaraki alone.

-x-

At the same time in an undisclosed location, Mei Hatsume was grinning like a mad woman as she continued her work. Her movements were like a blur as she went from robot to robot, opening up various panels to supercharge everything she could. Their speed, accuracy, removing all the safety limiters, and doing a few other things that might get her expelled from U.A. had the situation not been so dire.

“Fly my babies! Fly!,” she cried out with insane laughter. “Make your mama proud!”

While this was going on Tetsutetsu stood behind her, standing guard in case the villains figured out where the machines were coming from. To fight them, giving Mei time to escape should it come to that. But all he could do was stand there in awe at her work, heart thumping harder.

-x-

Elsewhere, Pony and Kodai were racing down a route given to them by Mei. The pair went down dark corridors and flights of steps, going deeper and deeper underground. On occasion, they would pass by a robot that would wave its slender arms in the air as it told them that they shouldn’t be there. But neither girl listened as they continued forward to complete their part of the plan.

Eventually, the two came upon a large steel door. Not bothering to stop, Pony began to fire her Horn Cannon. The American girl didn’t care if she got in trouble for damaging school property or anything like that. Her friend, one of the first she made when coming to this country, had given her an important task. With everyone risking their lives, how could Pony live with herself if she didn’t do her part? If she didn’t give it her all?

Luckily her horns were stronger than the door, shredding it into nothing in a matter of moments before kicking its remains down. When the pair crossed the threshold, they found themselves standing on a steel catwalk with the head of the zero-point robot looking right at them.

-x-

Back with Izuku, the teen gritted his teeth as he sped around the faux city at an alarming speed. Up and down the streets he went, burning through all the stolen strength he had before rounding up from behind each of Nomu to steal more from them. Halving their strength again and again. But, despite everything he was doing there was a great deal of pain. The first time he had divided their strength the strain had been almost too much to bear despite all he was doing. He felt like he was being torn apart as tears swelled up in his eyes. And while the other passes after those first ones were easier to bare, the pain he felt still lingered.

But, it would all be worth it if his entire class made it out of this alive. Izuku had managed to spot them all luring the ground Nomu, keeping them on the move. Itsuka jumped and dodge out of the way of the creatures chasing her while Manga used his quirk to zap them with lightning or blow them away with an explosion. Rin pelted them with scales that were now sticking into their flesh while Shoda used his Twin Impact to deliver remote blows to them after striking them once. And when the Nomu flung whatever they could at the ground troop Tsuburaba would come to the rescue by creating a solid air barrier to block it.

Meanwhile, the winged Nomu had begun doing its best to chase after Izuku. Trying being the keep word as, even before Izuku had used Divine Dividing on it, he was the faster of the two by far. Now, after three uses, the Nomu looked like it was having trouble just staying airborne! With this villain weakened, Izuku began to take the offensive as he continued his part of the plan. He would zoom forward, leaving that thing in his metaphorical dust before circling around to strike at it from behind. A kick to the head, heel to shoulder, and a jab to its side. Over and over again, Izuku delivered blow after blow in between stealing more of their strength.

Then, as he made another pass, he saw them! Pony and Kodai! The pair were high in the air in the middle of the false city, the American girl standing on her horns to keep her in the air while holding her classmate bridal style. As for Kodai, she was carrying something in her arms tightly.

A grin appeared on Izuku’s face as he looked down to see that the others were in place. The one, two, and three-pointer robots had helped the class herd the two Nomu below to this position. Both of them didn’t look so good now, bruises and burns covering their bodies from all the attacks they had received. They were also slower now as they looked like it was nothing short of sheer willpower that was allowing them to drag their bodies toward their targets. As for their leader, he too was following them into the middle of an intersection.

‘Better make sure the gang is all together,’ thought Izuku as he prepared for his first ultimate move. One he had been thinking about since he had gotten his wings. He shot up high into the air, far above the bat-winged Nomu. Once he was high enough, the teen shot down feet first while spinning around.

“Heavenly Dragon Fang!” As he said this, Izuku’s feet connected with the Nomu’s back sending it hurtling toward the ground. The teen almost joined it as he quickly discovered the drawback to this move: it made him really dizzy. Thankfully he was able to right himself before crashing, doing his best to correct his vision as he watched the end result of their planning as it came to fruition.

Honenuki was the first to act, softening the ground so much that it became like quicksand for the three monsters. Once they had sunk all the way down to their hip, the lipless teen stopped applying his quirk before Awase went in. With a grin, the bandanna-wearing boy welded their bodies to the ground at the atomic level while Shiozaki sent out her vines to bind their bodies further. Once the welder had finished, Bondo began covering the entire area with his glue as the cherry on top.

Once that was done, every student on the ground made a mad dash as Kodai dropped what she was carrying. At first, it looked like a small robot action figure. That is until she brought her hands together to deactivate her quirk. In an instant, the object returned to its original size making its identity known to all: the massive zero-pointer!

All of the Nomu looked up at their impending doom along with the hand villain who had managed to leap over to the black creature. As if he thought he could pry it out from the trap it was now in.

“Wait,” said the villain, eyes wide with shock. “Is that a giant robot? How can this school afford that?”

SMASH!

The zero-pointer struck the ground sending a massive shockwave along with a massive cloud of dust racing down every street. Buildings around it shook with so much force that those closest to it began to crumble or simply toppled over, the debris landing on the robot. The street now had massive cracks spiderwebbing their way through the area, causing the fire hydrants to erupt with water. Slowly, class 1-B approached the robot while silence filled the air. Even Mei watched from a window to check and see if the nightmare was finally over. Then-

“BOOST!” came the voice of the villain. “TRANSFER!”

Izuku, who was still in the air looking down at the carnage, widened his eyes when he heard that and even more so when a black fist erupted from the zero-pointer’s shell. Another hand joined it, together slowly pulling apart the metal to make a wider opening. The Nomu then staggered out, parts of its body missing as it bled out. It only managed to take three or four steps before it fell on the ground never to rise again. Yet what Izuku saw next shook him to his core. The hand villain had jumped out of the hole with a new addition to his costume: a red gauntlet with a green gem embedded on the back of the wrist covered the man’s right hand.

“I see,” came Albion’s voice. Though this time it wasn’t in Izuku’s head. “So you are here Ddraig.” Izuku blinked as he lifted his left hand finding Albion’s gem had appeared again.

“Albion? I-It is you,” came a new voice. Izuku noticed that the green gem on the villain’s gauntlet began to glow when the voice spoke,

Now the villain lifted his hand in annoyance.

“You know this scrub?” asked the villain as he held up his hand in annoyance, looking between the metallic surface and the flying teen.

“Indeed, we know each other well mortal,” answered Albion. “After all, we are both the great dragons whose souls were used to create the Sacred Gears. And once more we have found each other to continue our-”

“Albion, please help me!” wailed the one Izuku had to assume was Ddraig. It almost sounded like he was crying! “This human host is horrible! He uses me to scratch himself and…and he’s just so annoying! I miss Issei!”

“Would you shut your whining?!?” snapped the villain. “And who is this scrub?” Ddraig let out a sigh that made Izuku feel like he had done this more than once. At the same time, the Divine Divider began to glance around to see where the rest of his classmates were. They were still around, however they were tense while keeping their eyes glued on Izuku. No doubt they had seen the way he was hovering in the air, seeing this as well as his expression that told them that this wasn’t over. Thankfully, no of them, not even Pony, Kodai, and Mei, were close enough to hear what was going on.

“I told you before of the other Heavenly Dragon,” Ddraig said finally, clearly annoyed. “The one that is my opposite. While I double the strength of my user and can transfer that strength to others, Albion’s power allows him to cut his opponent's power in half.”

“What?!?” whined the hand villain. “That’s not fair! You never told me there was another person with cheat code powers! I was supposed to be the only one! Me!”

“I did tell you Shigaraki,” began Ddraig. “Many times in fact.”

The man-child then began to scratch his neck violently, over and over again. Izuku flew back a little, unnerved by the strange behavior. Then, just when it looked like he might claw out his own neck, the Boosted Gear user slammed his palm on the zero-pointer. What happened next scared Izuku as the machine that had given him so much trouble turned to dust with the pale man standing in the middle of it.

“Guess I’ll have to do some experience farming for a-” began Shigaraki until he was interrupted as a black liquid shot out of his mouth. He flailed about calling out to someone he called Master before the black substance completely covered him. And then, he was gone.

Chapter Text

With the villain having retreated and the danger passed, class 1-B wasted little time on dealing with the aftermath the best they knew how. Kendo had gone into the main building in order to contact the teachers. While she was gone, Izuku stayed with the rest of the class within the training area. The Divine Divider had them rope off the area with whatever material they had, which was mostly Shiozaki’s hair, making sure that the bodies of the Nomu remained untouched. As for Mei, the Support Student just began to tinker with this and that. Almost like she was off in her own little world. Much to their relief, Vlad King wasted little time in returning back to the school. His face was almost as white as his hair when he had arrived only to grow paler when he saw the Nomu.

“There was one of those things at the USJ along with a large number of villains,” he said, eyes fixed on the open-skulled corpse before him. “Before we even got there, that thing nearly killed Aizawa and gave All Might the hardest fight he’s had in a while. All that while your classmates were terrorized by the small fries. To think they would have more of those things.”

“Truly, God was watching over not only us but the rest of the school. We should give thanks,” said Ibara as she clasped her hands together in porAs she said this, a light seemed to shine down on Ibara from above. Seeing how they were still out in the open with no spotlights above them, this naturally caught everyone’s attention.

“Ok, please tell me you’re all seeing what I’m seeing!” yelled Awase as he began to search the sky. “First Midoriya pulls out notebooks from out of nowhere and now this? What the God dam-”

The teen wisely cut himself off from finishing that sentence as the vine-haired girl gave him a death glare, tendrils of her hair rising up like snakes ready to strike. At the same time, Albion began to chuckle to himself.

‘Hmm, I wonder what would happen if she were to learn the truth?’ thought an amused Albion within Izuku’s head.

Thankfully, before anything could escalate any further, Vlad King coughed into his fist to grab everyone’s attention.

“I just want to let all of you know how proud I am of all of you,” said the blood-themed hero, color slowly returning to his face. “Like Shiozaki said, you not only protected yourselves against a true threat but also saved the lives of many of the students here at U.A. All without anyone getting seriously hurt. Why, you even managed to protect a civilian while you were at it! I’ll make sure to bring this up with Nezu to make sure you all receive some extra credit. Now, we were going to be picking class reps after today’s lesson but with everything that has happened I think-”

“Sir Vlad,” interrupted Shishida as he raised a furry hand. “Please forgive my interruption, yet I feel I must express the feelings of not only myself but the entire class when I say that we are ready to pick out class reps.”

With that, Shishida as well as the rest of the class turned to look at Itsuka and Izuku as one. At first, Midoriya just looked behind him to see if there was someone standing behind him. But no, there was nobody there. Then it dawned on him that they were, indeed, suggesting that he and Itsuka become the class reps. As for Kendo, her face was scarlet as she waved her hands around.

“Wait, wait!” she said. “Hold on a second! Why us?”

Pony bounced a little as she moved towards the pair with wide eyes and an even wider smile.

“Because both of you were so cool!” exclaimed Pony as she bounced towards the pair with wide eyes that seemed to sparkle. While most of the class nodded in agreement, the horned girl continued. “Itsuka, you managed to come up with that plan to get us away from the villains that first time. Plus, you punched that guy while telling him to stay away from us! It was like having a cool big sis! And Izuku, he was the first to leap out to help Tetsutetsu! Not to mention his own plan. Big protective brother right there!”

“W-Well I just…just didn’t want to…” stammered Izuku as he felt the heat rising towards his cheeks trying to brush aside what Pony was saying, but it was no use. For some reason, it was hard to argue with the American girl as she stood there smiling brightly at them. Even more so when she took both their hands in her own, jumping up and down excitedly as the rest of the class just commented that she had a point.

Within the next couple of minutes, Izuku became the new Vice-Rep of class 1-B. Honestly, he was pretty happy with the decision of his class. While it was embarrassing to hear them all thinking that he was more likely the smarter of the pair and had a stronger quirk, they all agreed that Kendo would be a better fit for Class Rep. Mainly due to the fact that she was the more confident one and they could all see Izuku turning to her for advice. Yeah, he could see that too.

Once that was done, Kan told everyone to head over to the nurse's office to get checked up before heading home. As his first duty as vice-rep, Izuku helped Kendo decide who should be at the front of the line before hanging out in the back. After all, it was their duty to make sure that everyone else was taken care of so he would be last. And, as he waited alongside Itsuka in a silence that was mostly comfortable, he noticed that many of the guys leaving the nurse’s office were red-cheeked and walking as if in a daze. Ibara, on the other hand, left the room with sparkles in her eyes while her hands remained clasped together in prayer.

Then, finally, it was his turn.

After closing the door behind him, Izuku saw a lone figure in the room. Someone who wasn’t Recovery Girl! It was a young woman who looked like she was in her early twenties or so, with long blonde hair and dressed like a nun. It wasn’t until she looked up from her device, smiling at him warmly, that he finally recognized her. This was the Twilight Saint, a hero whose healing quirk had already saved the lives of countless people! Was she to be the school’s new nurse?

“Hello there White Dragon Emperor,” said the pro hero kindly.

And just like that, Izuku’s blood turned to ice. He stared at the woman who just kept standing there with a warm and friendly smile as his own features were that of horror. She…Did she know about Albion? If that was true then she knew that he didn’t have a quirk, that she had been lying to everyone! Was she going to tell Vlad King? Would she tell his entire class, the newspapers, the-

“Forgive my partner, he’s a little shocked,” came Albion’s voice in the real world, the blue gem appearing on Izuku’s left hand as it did so. “It is a pleasure to see you again Lady Asia Hyoudou. Though I wish the circumstances were different.”

The nurse let out a light giggle before her smile dimmed slightly, becoming just a tiny bit sad.

“I wish the same thing Albion,” she said.

Izuku blinked in confusion as he looked between the gem on his left hand and the school’s new nurse.

“Wait,” said the teen finally. “Do you two know each other?”

“Yes,” said Asai as she looked from the teen standing before to the gem on the back of his hand. “Though it was a long time ago when we last saw each other.”

“Indeed,” agreed Albion, using the tone that Izuku had come to associate with him nodding. “The woman standing before you now was one of the many wives of the former Red Dragon Emperor: Issei Hyoudou. He fought with my previous partner Vali Lucifer.”

“Oh, I guess that…WAIT! WIVES?!?” yelled Izuku, eyes bulging as he stared at the woman before him.

“Oh yes,” replied Asai with a blush, a hand reaching up to cup a cheek while a dreamy look appeared in her eyes. “I married my Issei along with many other girls who became like my sisters.”

“Yes, there has been no greater perverted wielder of the Booster Gear than Hyoudou,” added Albion, this time using a tone that told Izuku that he was nodding in a more sagely fashion. “In fact, his love of women’s breasts became so well known that he was often referred to as the Breast Dragon Emperor and the Grabbin’ Dragon.”

“He even had this special on television once where he sang a children’s song about grabbing women’s breasts,” added Asai in a cheerful tone that caused Izuku’s jaw to hit the floor. “Oh, not to mention this little stage play we did.”

Izuku could only stand there, steam pouring out of his ears as he took all this in. It was so hard to process, not helped by the fact that the woman before him was telling him all this while having an almost angelic smile on her face. Then…

“Wait, if that villain had the Booster Gear, doesn’t that mean that your husband…” began Izuku, suddenly realizing a horrible truth for this woman.

“Is dead,” finished Asai, her smile vanishing as she nodded. “Yes. My Issei died nearly 200 years ago before the age of quirks began.” As she spoke, Asia lowered her head in mourning. At the same time, Izuku’s looked like his mind was going to fry at any moment. Did she say two hundred years ago? How was that possible?

“I-I’m sorry but that’s a little hard to believe,” admitted Izuku. “I mean, you look like you could easily pass for one of my upperclassmen or a young hero just starting out! Plus, if you were born in the time before quirks how would you be able to heal others?”

At that, an almost devilish smile appeared on Asia’s face.“The same way you are able to steal other people’s strength: a Sacred Gear.” As she said this, rings appeared on her hands. “Mine is called Twilight Healing, granting me the ability to heal. As for how I look this way…well…” Suddenly, bat-like wings sprung out from Asia’s back. Wings that clashed greatly with her outfit. Wings that brought images of a- “I sort of got myself into a bit of trouble and was reincarnated as a devil!”

The only sound to come out of Izuku was a small squeak as his vision began to spin. The teen raised both his arms up as if ready to push the woman away if need be, hearing her giggle in a cute manner that did not sit well with him. After all, who in their right mind would not be freaked out by all of this? Weren’t devils supposed to steal people’s souls? The fact that she was making that noise sent alarm bells ringing in his head. So, gritting his teeth, he prepared himself for whatever trickery this woman might try.

“Relax partner, she means you no ill will,” said Albion in an attempt to calm down Izuku’s mental freakout. “Out of all of the former Red Dragon Emperor’s harem, she was the kindest of them all. You shall never find a more gentle soul.”

“Really?” asked Izuku cautiously.

“Yes,” replied Albion. “Though I am surprised to see her here at this time. Tell me, Lady Asia, are you here now because you sensed the awakenings of both dragons? Are you here to witness our battle once more? Or are you hoping to save Ddraig from that villain?”

The Twilight Healer shook her head, her long golden hair flowing as she did so. “Regrettably, I didn’t know that either of you had returned until this afternoon,” she admitted. “I took this job in exchange for a favor from the school. The fact that we are all here at the same time is simply a coincidence.”

“A favor?” asked Izuku with piqued interest.

“Yes,” said Asai, her face becoming serious yet somewhat relieved. “You see, the granddaughter of one of my dearest friends, Gasper, got into some…messy trouble recently. Since her parents are, ah, not willing to help her the rest of us reached out to find some way of helping her that didn’t involve turning her into a devil. Saving that as a last resort. Thankfully, U.A. was kind enough to offer a hand in exchange for various services.”

Izuku blinked at that, wondering just what kind of person Asia was talking about. 

-x-

“Hello everyone! I’m Himiko Toga and I’m a wanted criminal!”

The sight of a blonde girl, her hair in messy buns, greeted the class with a slightly unnerving smile that showed off her fangs. It was not something that Izuku or anyone in 1-B would have expected to see after the couple of days off they had after the attack on both the USJ and U.A. itself. And with that rather, ah, bold declaration they were all at a loss on how to respond.

Thankfully Vlad King had no such issue as he walked over to her before lightly swatting her head with a notebook. The girl reacted as though he had landed a much more powerful blow to her skull, rubbing her hair while backing away from the taller man. Then, the blood-themed hero turned to look at his students.

“Yes.,” began Vlad in a serious tone. “As Miss Toga said, she is a criminal. However, U.A. has recently started up a new program to help certain troubled youths with extenuating circumstances. So, Miss Toga here was given a choice: either take her chances in court or become a student here and become a hero to make amends for her crime. I think it’s clear which option she picked.”

At that, the sound of palms being slammed on a desk echoed across the room as Awase stood up. “Whoa, hold on there!” the teen yelled with fury in his eyes. “How is this fair?! We all worked our butts off to get into U.A. and all she needed to do was commit a crime with a sob story waiting in the wings?!”

“He’s right! This isn’t right!” yelled Tetsutetsu as he threw a fist into the air.

Seeing the reaction of some of his more vocal students, as well as the looks of many of the others who silently agreed with them, Vlad King held up his hands.

“Ok, I understand where you are all coming from,” began the pro hero. “However not everything is cut and dry. This is something that you will all have to learn in order to become proper heroes. Take Miss Toga here as an example. While she did commit a rather heinous crime, this was due to the fact that she had never received the proper quirk counseling. Instead, by her parents' own admission, she was taught quirk suppression. And, as I hope you are all beginning to guess when she was no longer able to do so it led to some disastrous results.”

At that, the class became quiet as Toga began looking around as if confused. Everyone there, including Izuku, knew that quirks got more powerful with every generation. As did certain tendencies and behaviors that were associated with those quirks. That was part of the reason counseling was so important. So that people were not at the mercy of their quirks. That as well as making sure all that power didn’t go to your head.

“The reason Miss Toga is in this class is because we both share blood-related quirks,” continued Vlad once he saw he had everyone's attention. “Both myself and Hound Dog shall be working with her every day in order to help her live a more functional life with her quirk. As for her placement here, yes, she will be taking all the same coursework as the rest of you to become a pro hero one day. That said, she chose this course knowing full well the cost of failure. If she falls behind in her grades or does anything that will get her kicked out of the Hero Course, her expulsion and return to prison are all but assured.”

For a moment, silence overtook the room before Ibara clasped her hands together in prayer.

“We were quick to judge,” began the Christian girl. “Yes, Toga has sinned but she is seeking a path to redemption! Oh Lord, we give You thanks for this opportunity to do Your will!”

Everyone there stared at the vine-haired Christian as light shined down upon her. Albion let out a small chuckle within Izuku’s mind, the green-haired teen believing he heard his partner muttering again about telling her something. As for Toga, she began to wildly rub her eyes in disbelief.

“Where is that light coming from?” asked the messy bun-haired girl.

“Thank you!” cried Awase who was now seated, throwing up hias hands as he spoke. “We’ve been wondering the same thing!”

Vlad Kind then cleared his throat again to get everyone’s attention. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way does anyone have any questions? Midoriya?”

Izuku, who had been the first to raise his hand, quickly produced his notebook from seemingly out of nowhere before turning to a blank page.

“Yes!” began the Divine Divider as he picked up a mechanical pencil. “Ah, Toga. Vlad King said that you have a blood-related quirk. Could you tell us more about it?”

At that, Toga’s smile fell a little. Before answering, she looked to her new homeroom teacher as if asking for permission which he granted with a nod. Once she saw this, the girl raised her hands up before pointing at her mouth.

“Ok!” she began in a cheerful tone. “My quirk allows me to transform into people whose blood I drank. Not only do I take on their appearance by also their voice! Oh, I also get the clothing they were wearing…somehow. But every time that happens it appears on top of whatever I’m wearing at the time so it’s better if I’m naked before transforming.”

Toga then slowly lowered her hands, feeling the gazes of the shocked class upon her. No doubt they were creeped out by what they had just heard. Who in their right mind wouldn’t be after hearing-

“That’s amazing!” cried Midoriya. Unable to control himself, Izuku moved from his seat so that he was right in front of Himiko. Said girl was a little startled by this, jumping back a bit as her new green-haired classmate looked at her with wide eyes that seemed to sparkle with excitement. “You’re quirk is just so amazing! You could become one of the greatest spy heroes of all time! All you would need is a little blood and you could slip into the villain’s ranks without anyone noticing. You could be in and out, collecting all the information that the heroes would need before storming in. And that’s not even considering all the non-heroic work you could do once you get your license! You could become the world’s best understudy, taking on the form of any actor or actress perfectly. Heck, they wouldn’t even need to fit you for a spare costume. Voice acting work, modeling, maybe some medical applications, and…”

As Izuku continued to talk, he missed the widening eyes of the blood drinker as well as the blush that was tinting her cheeks while also becoming unable to close her mouth. As he went on and on, that blush moved to cover her entire cheeks until steam was coming out of her ears. Soon, her eyes became beating hearts as this random green-haired boy just continued to gush about her quirk. Seeing a part of herself as amazing that the rest of the world just backed away from in disgust. 

Eventually, this ended when a frowning, red-faced Kendo stood up from her seat and silently walked behind Izuku. While giving Toga a look that said ‘sorry about this, she then placed two hands on the back of her friend to begin pushing the still-rambling Izuku back to his seat.

As for the rest of the class, while most of them still harbored some concerns as to what she had done, the majority decided to give her a shot. After all, if the Vice-Rep of the class didn’t have an issue with her then they didn’t see why they should either.

Once that was done, Vlad King informed them of the upcoming Sports Festival.

After that, the school became a lot more interesting for the students of 1-B as they began to prepare for the upcoming event. For one thing, their class was getting a bit more attention from the rest of the school as many of them wanted to know more about the Nomu attack. This caused a good deal of embarrassment in the class, especially with Izuku, but they did their best to answer people’s questions as best they could. After all, when they became pros they would be answering questions from civilians and reporters all the time so it would be good practice. In contrast, their sister class responded to the same curiosity in a less than humble demeanor. Bakugo just told people to get out of his way, that he didn’t have time to talk to worthless extras like them. Then another blond from 1-A just began to brag about how superior their class was while a small child with purple balls on his head made innuendos at all the girls. And then there were people like Todoroki, son of the number two hero, who just walked past everyone without giving people a second glance. So it was understandable that most of the school began to dislike 1-A, thinking they were elitists.

As for classes, nearly every hero lesson where All Might wasn’t involved became free quirk training. Everyone in 1-B was giving it their all including Himiko who had asked to train with Izuku, Itsuka, and Pony. She impressed everyone there with her agility and surprise tactics, even going toe to toe with Kendo using the wooden tantos that the school provided. What’s more, Toga began to show Pony how to use her horns like blades for stabbing and cutting in order to make the horned girl a greater threat.

Though for reasons he didn’t know, Toga usually had a blush whenever they sparred.

One day, a week before the Sports Festival, Izuku was walking past the various gyms the school had while being deep in thought. Since meeting the new nurse, Izuku had been full of questions on so many things that whenever he tried to get his thoughts down on paper he ended up going through an entire notebook. And today, Asia had told him of the previous Red Dragon Emperor had died.

“Like me, Issei had been reincarnated as a devil,” the nun had said. “While he should have had a much longer life span, in order to gain more strength he did things that shortened his life span. So please Midoriya, do your best not to do the same. If you do, you will only end up hurting the many people you leave behind.”

Those words refused to leave Izuku’s mind, almost on an infinite loop. Before Albion showed up, he really only had his mother. She had been the only one to worry about him regularly. Now he had the Kendos, Pony, Vlad King, Toga, his entire class, and so many more people in his life. He’d do anything to protect them, but he didn’t want to make them sad.

‘The answer to that is easy partner,’ said Albion within the teen’s head. ‘Become as strong as you can while here at this school. That way you won’t have to do such risky things later on when other people’s lives are on the line.’

“That’s easier said than done,” muttered Izuku. “What if more of those Nomu show up and I’m-”

Izuku’s words were cut off as he heard a thud followed by a curse coming from one of the gyms. Thankfully done in a voice he didn’t recognize. Curious the Divine Divider glanced inside to see someone he vaguely remembered walking down the halls. It was a boy around his age, with purple hair that seemed to stand up despite the amount of sweat running down his forehead as well as eyes that looked like he suffered from a lack of sleep. Midoriya watched as the teen got onto shaky legs, his breath coming out in heavy pants before he began to punch the air in front of him with all his might. After a moment…

“Need some help?” offered Izuku as he entered the gym.

The purple-haired teen jumped at the words before spinning around to look at Izuku who just walked in while scratching the back of his head.

“N-No,” replied the other teen, clearly embarrassed at being seen like this. “I don’t need your help.”

Izuku just smiled at this as he continued to make his way toward the sweating teen. Without missing a beat, he began to explain a better way to throw a punch while also giving him a visual demonstration. Something that his new ‘friend’ watched in awe, even trying it out himself and gasping at how different it felt.

“Why are you helping me?” he asked once he had gone through the motions. “I’m not in your class. Heck, I’m not even in the Hero Course. I’m aiming to take one of your slots. So…why?”

“Because you just looked like you needed it,” replied Izuku as if it were the simplest thing in the world. Which, to the Divine Divider, it was.

From there, the two exchanged backstories as they trained for the next hour or so. The teen, Hitoshi Shinso, spoke about how everyone thought he’d end up a villain with a quirk like brainwashing. At that, Izuku couldn’t help but to relate how people saw him before his ‘quirk’ finally revealed itself. Something that shocked Shinso. But, what united the teens was that despite what they had gone through their entire lives was a single goal: to be a hero.

After all, you can’t help what the heart longs for.

Chapter Text

Within the nurse’s office of U.A., Asia sat at her desk with her seat turned so that the warm reddish and golden rays of the setting sun offered the last of their warmth to her back. The room was silent save for the soft, tuneless humming that escaped her and the soft tapping upon the tablet in her hands as she scrolled down on it. As far as she could tell, everything was set for the Sports Festival. The school, naturally, had a medical room on site full of all the equipment she would need to treat any injury ranging from headaches to minor cuts and bruises to anything requiring major surgery! The only thing that still needed to be done was to deliver certain supplies that needed to be refrigerated the night before as well as some other items that expired quickly.

Absentmindedly, the devilish nun briefly turned her attention to the desk where a neat pile of medical charts belonging to a few students lay undisturbed. Students who, for one reason or another, seemed to find themselves in her office more often than some others with sticky notes attached to each one. While most people thought that the U.A. nurse’s job was simply to heal their students, which it was, there was another key part to it: recommending the removal of certain students from the hero program when their health and well-being became an issue. Looking at the pile brought a frown to the seemingly young woman’s face for it broke her heart to do something like it. After all, U.A. was a place where the young heroes in training could work to improve their quirks and gain better control of them in order to save others. Getting hurt was expected and with a ‘quirk’ like her own Asia could heal any injury while Recovery Girl had certainly done her fair share of miracles.

But, at the same time, Asia knew this was something that had to be done. Principal Nezu was the type who would allow any student entrance into the school as long as they passed, regardless of any negative effects their quirks might have. Something that hit a nerve with a certain sleep-deprived teacher. However, that did not mean that they were free to endlessly endanger themselves. Either by their quirks or simply recklessly endangering themselves under the belief that they would be healed no matter what. After all, what would happen once these students left U.A. and no longer had the benefit of their healing talents? As such, it was now Asia’s duty, as it had been Recovery Girl’s before her, to observe the students that came into the nurse’s office. How often they came in with the same injuries? If their quirk was causing serious problems. If they acted like their injuries were no big deal, something to be brushed off.

A file belonging to one such student sat at the top of the pile on her desk. This student was a first year belonging to class 1-A whose quirk had a strange backlash that damaged their body when used multiple times. What was strange was that, before coming to this school, this student never showed any signs of this side effort or the super strength displayed. Thankfully, the drug test she had insisted on giving that student when she had started her first day looking for Trigger and other similar quirk performance-enhancing drugs had come back negative. Also, the student had voiced their irritation over their constant need to be healed so often and seemed focused on improving. Because of these factors, this student wouldn’t be dismissed after the Sports Festival. At least, not from her end.

Still, while she was completely willing to help heal this student completely as they tried their best to master this new aspect of the quirk, she could only do so much for so long. Ok, Twilight Healing would always heal the wounds as good as new. But what would happen when she wasn’t there? Internships were right around the corner and Asia wouldn’t be able to drop everything just to go and heal them! She was also worried about what would happen to this student once they left school. So while she commended this student for all the work they were putting into mastering their quirk, sooner or later her job would require her to make a difficult call. She was scheduled to meet with Nezu at the end of every month, going over her observations and suggestions on each of the students. While she wanted with all her heart to give them all the time in the world, she knew that for regular humans that simply wasn’t possible. If this student didn’t figure something out by the middle of the year she would suggest their transfer to a different course. Yes, it would hurt them. But Asia would rather they start looking into different career paths than continue on this one sooner rather than later.

Then, if she had to make the same recommendation for the same student at the end of the year, well, she would be raising a little hell of her own to make sure it happened.

Then, just as she was turning her attention back to her tablet, the door to the nurse’s office opened so suddenly and with so much force, that it made the nun nurse jump out of her seat with a squeak! Looking up, her eyes widened at a very odd sight. Standing in the doorway was Izuku Midoriya dressed in his gym uniform. The green-haired teen was panting heavily while carrying Toga in his arms. The younger blonde was passed out, face red with blood dripping from her face and onto the floor.

“What in the-” began Asia, but was cut off as Izuku zoomed into the room looking ready to cry.

“I’m so sorry,” he began in clear panic, setting his new vampiric classmate on one of the beds. “We were just…and then she just…” Quickly moving across the room, Asia went over to the teen who was looking between her and Himiko so rapidly she was surprised he wasn’t getting dizzy. Sweat was dripping down his forehead as he spoke between his panting.

“Midoriya, calm down,” said Asia gently. She waited a moment, gesturing for him to get some water from a nearby pitcher of water on a nightstand. As he did so with shaky hands, Asia moved to check the girl’s pulse. “Now, when you are ready, please tell me what happened.”

She turned in time to see Midoriya had just chugged down a large paper cup of water, gasping for air when he finished. “Ok,” he said. “Well, we were with Mr. Kendo in Gym Omega and…”

-x-

Izuku watched from the sidelines of Gym Omega which was one of the weirdest gyms the school had! The main floor of the gym was composed of four parts, each with a heavily matted circle in its center that was about 40 meters in diameter. While they looked like the normal sort of padding you could find in most schools, they seemed like they were made from a super shock-absorbent material. But that wasn’t what was so weird and, honestly freaky, about this gym. It was what was lined against the walls! Countless tubes were placed one after another with only a keypad separating them. Inside each of them was a different type of robot that put the ones in the entrance exam to shame. The first few looked like those old pre-quirk boxing toys made real, with thicker armor. Then there were more complex ones that held weapons. There was one that had six arms, each with a sword sharpened to perfection. But then there were the ones who looked human. As in Izuku thought for a moment that the school had kidnapped people and stuck them in these tubes because that’s how lifelike they appeared. What’s more, many of them were women whom the creator had decided to give alluring features as well as skin-tight outfits. Sure there were a few guys in there, but the number was obviously disproportionate! And some of them were dressed in barely anything with the last two being the worst! One was a woman whose outfit made her look like she worked at a strip club while the other was a woman dressed only in her lingerie!

Shinso, who was sitting next to Izuku, had noticed this as well The look on the purple-haired teen when he had first laid eyes on the robots mirrored his friends: shock mixed with a blush before quickly turning away.

Now the pair sat there stiffly, beads of sweat forming on their brows as they forced themselves to watch what was going on in the middle of one of the rings. And not linger on the many female-looking robots behind them!

Standing in the middle of the circle was Mr. Kendo, seemingly alone. His arms were outstretched in front of him, almost like he was ready to grab something but holding off while his feet were spread. For several long moments, he just stood there, appearing to any passerby who suddenly walked in that the man had simply zoned out and was staring into nothingness. However, both boys knew better. Then, Mr. Kendo suddenly and swiftly spun around. Reaching out with one hand, he seemed to pull Toga out of thin air before tossing her to the side as if she were a rag doll. The vampiric girl, dressed in the same blue gym uniform as both the boys, landed with a thud before bouncing back up to her feet.

“Very good young lady,” said Mr. Kendo as he moved out of his fighting stance. Turning to the girl, he gave her a thumbs-up with a smile. “I think I might have what you are looking for.”

As Toga tilted her head slightly with a curious expression, Izuku just beamed.

‘It was a wise move calling this man,’ commented Albion, once more using the tone that Izuku had come to associate with him nodding his head. ‘If Toga is going to thrive in the hero course, she will need a fighting style should there ever come a time when weapons are off the table. The same goes for that Shinso boy. This will benefit them both greatly.’

‘I know,’ replied Izuku. ‘I’m just glad that Mr. Kendo agreed to do this.’ As he thought this, the teen recalled how this had all come about. With all the training for the Sports Festival, Izuku had noticed that his two newest friends needed additional help. While Toga was quick, nimble, and stealthy he felt like this would only get her so far. Especially when she didn’t have one of her training weapons. As for Shinso…the boy just needed to know how to fight. Izuku was doing his best to teach him, but there was a world of difference between someone like himself who was still somewhat of a novice, and a true master. Something that Izuku was humble enough to admit to not only himself but also Shinso. So, why not ask the man who had taught him? The master who knew more fighting styles than anyone he knew?

There had only been one slight problem: Toga couldn’t leave the school for right now. Apparently, there were still some details that needed to be fine-tuned with her agreement so until she began her internship the blood drinker was forced to remain on campus. Izuku had spoken to his martial arts teacher about this, asking if it was alright for him to give a special lesson to his friends. Oddly enough, the man agreed to this without much convincing.

Either he was hoping to get some additional students once the Sports Festival was over or the man was just very bored that day.

“Now then,” began Mr. Kendo’s voice, the sound bringing Izuku out of his thoughts. Now he watched as the taller man turned to face Toga. “I believe I have the perfect fighting style for you. Watch carefully now.” With that, the man struck an odd pose that Izuku had never seen before. One foot was placed in front of the other, though they weren’t as firmly panted as Izuku had seen before. And with his hands brought up with the fingers pointing downward gave the impression of a man sneaking through a house.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the man vanished completely. Before either Izuku or Shinso could turn their heads to look around, they heard Himiko crying out in pain! The two turned their focus over to where the girl had been standing to find that she was now lying face down on the ground with Mr. Kendo standing above her.

“What I just showed you is a heightened form of your disappearing trick,” Mr. Kendo as Toga slowly got up onto her feet. Thought her legs did look a little shaky. “This is a fighting style that was created completely by accident along with a sister style by a man back in the pre-quirk era. It’s called Umisen-ken.” Mr. Kendo then paused, a foul look appearing on his face before raising a fist to cough into. “When I say accidentally, I mean that both styles were originally interoperated as treating the body as a house and using different methods to ‘break in’. One style uses brute force to knock down the front gate, aka your opponent’s defenses, in order to get inside. Usually starting with a loud cry to catch them off guard followed by swinging your arms to bat away your opponent's arms and finishing with a powerful kick to the chest. Umisen-ken, however, has you sneaking in through the back to strike quickly and repeatedly. It wasn’t until later that it was discovered that both styles were meant to literally break into people’s homes to rob them.”

Everyone, including Albion, sweatdropped at that.

“So it’s exactly what I’ve been doing this whole time,” said Toga with a slight frown.

“Yes and no,” responded Mr. Kendo. “While the techniques were originally sealed away, they eventually were brought back along with a slew of various fighting styles during the chaos caused by the emergence of quirks. Whether it was used by people who wanted to fight those with greater power than them or simply those with quirks who needed to defend themselves, people were doing whatever they could to secure their own survival. However, as time went by, bits and pieces of these techniques were lost to time or perverted when put on the internet. Now they exist as mere shadows of their former glory. The method you have been using to vanish from sight is a watered-down version of the original.”

Izuku watched as Toga, upon hearing that, visibly slumped. And it wasn’t like he could blame her. That trick was the one that she was most proud of. So hearing the truth about it was no doubt disheartening.

“With that said,” continued Mr. Kendo. “You have a firm handle on the basics. I believe that learning this style would be most suited for you. Perhaps, with some hard work, you can bring it to a whole new level that the original creator never could.” Izuku could see Toga blushing from the praise before giving the man a nod that showed off both her fangs.

With that done, Mr. Kendo called Shinso over to begin the process of finding the purpled-haired teen a style that was best suited for him. With a sigh, the brainwashing teen rose before walking to the middle of the mat with his hands in his pockets. At the same time, Himiko practically skipped over to Izuku before twirling around and sitting down next to him with a flourish. Once her behind was on the ground, the girl brought her legs up so that they were pressed against her chest.

At first, the pair sat in silence as they watched the other two people in the room talk, only occasionally glancing at the other before turning their heads away. Both doing their best to hide the nervous expressions on their faces as well as the light tint of red coating their cheeks.

Finally, Toga broke the silence.

“Hey, Midoriya,” she began in a slightly nervous tone. “I just want to say thanks. For, you know, everything.”

“It’s fine,” replied Izuku, his eyes moving downward to stare at his shoes. “When I was younger, I wished that more people out there could have helped me out. It didn’t need to be anything big. Maybe just a little encouragement, a kind word, or just not laughing at my dreams. So I just want to give what I never got.”

“Because you’re actually quirkless?” asked Toga. Though her words were spoken softly, Izuku reacted as though she had screamed them from the top of the school building practically jumping to his feet in a panic. He then turned to the girl who was still sitting there, giving him a shy smile. “My Grandpa used to tell me stories about the Sacred Gears. I basically grew up hearing all about the Boosted Gear and Divine Dividing. I’ve seen you training your ‘quirk’ and Pony told me about how amazing it is that you managed to get this far after finally being strong enough to use your ‘quirk’. Plus, my Aunt Asia is a member of the staff here. So you really shouldn’t be surprised that I know about it.”

“Oh right,” replied Izuku, his heart rate slowly returning to normal yet still a little nervous. “Are you going to tell anyone?”

At that, Himiko let out a small laugh. “Yeah, like anyone would believe me if I did tell them the truth,” she said before shaking her head. “No. But if the day ever comes that you need to tell them, I’ll back you up. Besides, it’s not like I really blame you for lying to them. It’s not easy being an outsider, wanting people to just accept you.”

For another long moment, the two sat there in silence as they watched Mr. Kendo teaching Shinso a move. While Itsuka’s father held up his hands, palms out towards the brainwasher while also circling him, Izuku’s thoughts went toward what she had said. He knew a little of her past, but only in broad strokes and none of the finer details. Was this some sort of invitation to ask?

“No, it’s not,” said Izuku at last. “Though, it was probably harder for you. I mean, sure my mom never really believed that I could be a hero even back when I was four. But…she still wanted the best for me. Having your parents suppress a part of yourself like that must have been suffocating.”

Himiko let out a humorless chuckle, her eyes becoming dark as she adverted her gave. “Oh, it was pretty much the same,” she said. “When I was younger, my parents had already written me off as a monster. All because I found a dead bird and was drinking its blood, but they believed that I had gone out and killed it! Seriously! How was I supposed to do that? I was a little girl. And what they did to me, going to see people to teach me quirk suppression and change the way I acted, it was all because they wanted ‘the best for me’. They even made me stop seeing Grandpa because he was a bad influence in their eyes.” With that, Toga let out a heavy sigh that seemed to hold all of her frustration. “Sorry for dumping all of this on you. It just bugs me that they never saw anything from my point of view. Drinking people’s blood was just the way I showed how much I loved them, wanted to be more like them. Everyone else got to express the way they loved each other in public in so many different ways. But me, when I did it, it was creepy.” By the time she was done saying this, Izuku had brought a hand to his chin in a classic thinking pose.

“You know, that makes a bit of sense. I mean, drinking blood as a sign of love. I sort of get it,” said Izuku, causing Toga’s head to quickly snap in his direction. With her mouth hanging agape, Izuku continued. “Blood is, both symbolically and literally, life. And it holds the most important details of a person. So, in a way, you could say that sharing blood with someone else could be seen as sharing some of your life with that person.”

“That’s it!” cried Toga, spinning her body around so that she was now on all fours. Her expression had changed, looking so happily excited while bringing her face so close to Izuku’s that she could pounce on him at any moment. “You get it! You really get it! It’s what I want to do! I want that intimacy. To be as close as possible to the people I love. So much so that I can become them because, to me, they’re cute. Please tell me you feel the same way!”

At first, Izuku prepared himself for the heartbreak in Himiko when he told her no. Yet, as his mouth opened, no sound came out. For several long breaths, no sound could escape him despite his mouth moving while an old memory returned. He then visibly relaxed.

“I used to,” Izuku admitted while Toga got back into a sitting position. Only now she was sitting on her legs right next to Izuku so that their shoulders were touching. “I wouldn’t call it love, but there was someone I looked up to. When I saw him, that’s when I was filled with more hope for the future than anytime else during the day. And…I wanted to be just like him. So much so that my all my sketches for hero costumes were trying to match him in appearance, my hero names were just knockoffs of his, and when I went to learn how to fight I wanted to do it in the same manner as him. I was even willing to completely change my body type just so I could do it.”

“You said ‘used to’,” said Toga, a crestfallen expression appearing on her face. “What changed?”

“I finally met other people that I grew to admire,” replied Izuku almost instantly. “They basically helped me realize that the way I have has worth. And if I continued to just copy someone else, that was all I would ever be: a poor imitation of that person. So, instead, I’d rather just take the best parts of the people I love and admire to carry with me. The lessons they taught me, what they inspired in me. That way, they’ll always be a part of me as I move forward.” Izuku then turned to Toga, nervously placing a hand on her shoulder as he looked into her now wide-eyed expression. “Maybe you could try that. Taking on the spirit of the people you think are cute and love. That way, you’ll always have a part of them with you as well. Besides, I don’t think you need to turn into them because you’re already really cute just as you are now.”

Izuku watched as Himiko’s jaw dropped, so much so that he could see all her fangs. Then, starting from the neck, her face began to turn a shade of red that Izuku had never seen before while her eyes became nothing more than dark spirals. By the time the red reached her forehead, the blonde’s head was flung back with steam escaping her mouth, hair, and ears. Then she fell backward onto the mat with a very scared Izuku rising to his feet in panic.

-x-

 “And that’s what happened!” exclaimed Izuku, fidgeting as he stood there with tears in his eyes. “Can you figure out what’s wrong with her? Will she be ok?”

“Oh, she’ll be fine,” said Asia as she held up one of Himiko’s arms while pretending to check her pulse. In truth, she knew that the girl was fine the moment she laid eyes on that face. Even unconscious, Himiko had a dopey grin with blood leaking from her nose. She just wanted to hear what had happened to put the girl in this state.

-x-

A few days later…

“How about this one?”

Toga turned her head to look over at Pony who was holding up a tablet. On the screen, there was a man dressed in a red trench coat, yellow sunglasses, a wide-brimmed hat that matched the jacket, and a suit underneath. For a moment, all the girl could do was look between the image of the anime character before looking at the excited face of the American girl, and then back to the image before sighing.

“I don’t think so. Not cute enough,” said Toga, wincing as Mei continued to roughly continued her work. Namely her hero costume. While it would take a while to get something made, the support course could whip her up something to allow her to use her quirk during the upcoming Sports Festival. That way, when she did change, her cute naked body wouldn’t be broadcasted all over the world when the changes melted off her. There were currently only two people right now that she wanted to reserve that right for and one of them was in the room with her.

Pony, in Himiko’s opinion, was a major cutie. How could anyone not find her expression adorable with those big blue eyes and that long flowing golden hair? Not to mention those horns and tail! But beyond that, she was one of the few people in her class who could best understand Toga as feeling like an outsider. Not only did she have a mutant quirk (from a country that heavily discriminated against people of that type) but now she was a foreigner. But despite all that, she was still super friendly which made her all the cuter to Himiko.

Even now as she huffed, she still looked so adorable as she went to look for another design for Himiko’s hero costume.

“I thought it looked good,” she said softly. “You could have gone for the old abridged version of him. You would have looked awesome and been super funny.”

Toga, in response, just blew a raspberry at her. “Sorry, but I’m not going for something that makes me look like I’m a hitman vampire. I’m looking for something, well, cute. Not as in all pink and bubbly and-”

“Something that will fit all the wonderful babies I have planned for her!” exclaimed Mei.

Sighing, Pony shook her head as she swiped away at her tablet. “Well, that was the last cool-looking anime vampire who wasn’t set in a high school anime,” she said. “So, maybe we could look at some old mobile games for ideas. There was this one called Azur Lane that used to do a bunch of vampire and Halloween skins for their characters. Maybe we could use one of them for an idea.”

Before Himiko could point out that she didn’t know if she wanted to go with a vampire-inspired costume, the horned American girl had pulled up the images. As Pony swiped the screen to show them off, Himiko had to admit that some of them looked really cute. Especially the ones belonging to a fleet called the Crimson Axis. But none of them really stood-

“Wait!” yelled Himiko, startling both of the other girls. “Go back!” Instantly Pony turned the tablet over, swiping the screen so that she came back to the last image before frowning.

“But that’s her original skin,” commented the girl as she showed the image to Himiko again with Mei looking on in slight interest. Though that might have had more to do with the gear on the girl’s hands rather than the outfit and the character as a whole.

“She’s such a cutie,” was all Himiko could say. “Besides, that outfit is just my style. All I need to do is make a few changes here and there. Maybe some gear that Hatsume could make for me?”

“Ohh, make you some special babies?” asked Mei, her grin widening. “Please do tell.”

With that, Toga went into detail about the changes she wanted. To help aid her, Mei brought in a digital sketchpad. The original image was brought up, with the support student using the electric pen to make the adjustments that Himiko wanted as well as designing the gear that the girl thought would suit her best. And, when they were done, Himiko was excited for the day when she could wear it.

Chapter Text

The day of the Sports Festival finally came, with people all over the world tuning in to watch the event. As families and friends gathered in their homes to watch what U.A. had to offer, as well as pro heroes watching intently for potential new interns, the internet was ablaze. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by certain members of class 1-B.

“Guys, you got to see this!” called out Awase suddenly.

Izuku, along with many of the other students in the 1-B waiting room, gathered around Awase as he held out his phone. Currently, it showed a social media site where a heated argument was taking place between several dozen or so people. The topic? Which of the first-year classes would come out on top! Several people were standing firm that since 1-A stood their ground against a horde of villains as well as a creature that fought All Might that they were the class to keep an eye on. But there were those that disagreed, heatedly pointing out that while 1-B fought fewer villains they still came out on top without having a teacher save them in the end. Round and round the fighting went, with some of the comments getting a little personal.

“And this is just one of the threads that I found!” explained Awase while seeming unable to control the smile forming on his face. “There are hundreds of debates like this going around on the internet! Even among some of the pros! I also found a few sites where people were placing bets! Stuff like which class would have more people making it to the final round and the like.”

 Many of Izuku’s classmates seemed to be in awe at that statement. Some even quickly pulled out their phones to do a quick search…only to stop at the disapproving look Kendo was giving them.

“Ok, so people out there are talking about us,” said the big sis of class 1-B as a frown appeared on her face. “That’s great. But we need to keep our heads in the game.”

“That’s what I’m doing damn it!” stated Awase, shooting a quick nervous glace over to Shiozaki to see if she would strike him with one of her vines. When none came, he continued. “Look, I don’t think there has ever been more focus given to the first years in the Sports Festival. Not even when All Might was in his first year! So we need to make sure we impress everyone! Yo Midoriya! You got a plan we can use?”

That caught the green-haired teen off guard, becoming a little nervous as all eyes fell on him. Glancing to the side, he noticed that Toga was looking at him expectedly with both fists clenched with Pony mimicking her. As for Kendo, she had a hand on her head as if she were nursing a headache that was about to come.

“Well, it’s a little difficult to make a plan when we don’t know what the games are or what the other students are capable of,” the Divine Divered said at last. “But, I have rewatched a lot of the older Sports Festivals in order to prepare. The first round is usually a large group event made to cut most of the students. Most of the time it's just the hero course students along with one or two students from the other courses. After that, the second round will have an event that will somehow either punish the person who came in first place or help whoever came in last. The final round is always a tournament.”

Hearing all that, Toga beamed brightly.“That makes it all easy!” exclaimed the blood-drinking girl as she held up a single finger and began wagging it before the group. “We can use the first round to study anybody noteworthy. Just hold back a little, watch everyone else who are just flinging their quirks around without a care in the world, and then BAM! Second round we pounce going right for their throats!”

As she said this last part, Himiko smiled in a way that showed off her fangs while a dark blush graced her face. Itsuka, however, looked more annoyed than anything else.

“Guys, we should be giving this our all,” stated Kendo before glancing over to the vice rep. “Come on Izuku, help me out here.”

However, rather than agreeing with her on the spot like she had hoped, Izuku had his hand to his chin while mumbling up a storm. For several long moments, they all watched as the Divine Divider’s eyes shifted from side to side as he seemed to be examining this from all angles. Then, when it looked like he had come to some sort of conclusion, he lifted his head.

“Actually, Toga’s idea is pretty good,” he said at last. Seeing the exasperated look his oranged-haired friend was giving him, Izuku quickly explained. “The pros out there will be watching us, seeing how we will react to all these different situations. By observing our fellow classmates we’ll show them that we have the skills to gather intel on villains as well as being able to work as a team regardless of the situation. That will put us ahead no matter what the second event is. Then we can show them that we can capitalize on that information.”

“Alright, Vice-Rep!” cried Awase, throwing a fist into the air. Around him, several of the other students showed their own agreement as they too raised a fist into the air. Others gave their approval with a nod of their heads as they wanted to work smarter, not harder.

Itsuka, however, shook her head a little in disapproval.

“Still feels a little dishonest,” she said in a defeated tone. “Like we’re cheating somehow.”

Izuku looked at her, cocking an eyebrow as he spoke. “This coming from the girl who reads all those strategy articles and watches those ‘Let’s Play’ videos on Youtube before even playing the game?”

At that, Kendo’s face matched the color of her hair as the entire class had a good-natured laugh at her expense. Even Izuku chuckled as he moved behind her to gently pet his friend on the back.

Not long after, the Sports Festival began. One by one, the booming voice of Present Mic began calling the classes out as they took their spots on the field within the massive stadium. Everyone from the hero courses to general studies, support, and even the business course all stood before the onlooking crowd as Midnight took center stage.

“Will Katsuki Bakugo please step forward to give the Sport’s Pledge?” called out Midnight from her podium, cracking her whip as she spoke.

As the ashen blonde made his way to the stage, hands in his pockets and a scowl on his face, whispers began to circulate amongst the students. Many were surprised that U.A. had chosen him to give the opening remarks. None more so than class 1-B, who had neither forgotten nor forgiven Bakugo for the way he had treated Midoriya back in the lunch room. While Izuku remained silent, he could hear his fellow classmates saying that a guy who was suspended his first week should not be given such an honor. He could also see Kendo’s hands balling into fists.

“I just want to say…I’m going to win.” said Bakugo into the mic, looking down at everyone else there as though they were all just barely above being worthy of notice.

An explosion of anger erupted from the students from this comment. Something that only rose in its intensity when the teen’s scowl turned into a smirk before stepping down to head back to his class. Even Kendo lost her composure.

“Izuku, no matter what happens, let's make sure he doesn’t place!” said Itsuka in a growl. Nearby, Izuku saw Pony nodding her head so vigorously that her long blond hair was flowing back and forth. Meanwhile Toga muttered something about wishing she had some knives and Bakugo’s tongue.

Once everyone had quieted down, Midnight went to a holographic roulette wheel and activated it to decide what the first round would be. Quickly the wheel spun around before landing on something that Izuku had never seen before: Mountain Climbing!?! But, there was no mountain.

“The first event will be Mountain Climbing,” announced Midnight, ignoring the confused looks of her pupils. “Our brave students will have to start from the bottom and claw their way to the big leagues! But can they make it in time? Only one way to find out!”

Movement from the sideline caught Izuku’s attention, but before he could turn to see what it was the ground beneath their feet vanished almost instantly! As one, the many first-year students fell down a pit so deep that they could no longer see the people in the stands. When they landed, the ground was surprisingly soft as it felt almost pillow-like with a bit of springiness to it. Slowly everyone got to their feet, Izuku looked up finding that it was difficult to judge how deep they all were. All he could see was that the hole now appeared as nothing more than a spec. Then, a moment or two after everyone had managed to get to their feet, many different colored handholds of various sizes and shapes seemed to just grow out of the walls.

“Start!” came Midnight’s voice from up above. Yet, despite her being so high above them and the speakers being even farther away, Izuku could still hear the woman perfectly.

And so too did everyone else. Bakugo. The first to react, wasted no time unleashing an explosion that knocked down many of the students as he propelled himself upwards. A somewhat insane laugh filled the air as he sped upward so fast that not even Todoroki, who was standing on a rising pillar of ice, could catch up with him. At the same time, everyone else who had quirks that could help them out in this event made their move while the rest began to climb the handholds. However, most of the general studies students and the support course seemed less enthused by this challenge. Some of them even just sat down, waiting for the event to just get over as they saw no point in performing in this festival just to make someone else look better. 

But Bakugo paid none of that any mind as he just continued to rocket upwards towards the finish line and first place. That was until he felt something land on his back, the force strong enough to break his momentum and sending him hurtling towards the wall! Bakugo couldn’t help but let out a cry as his body collided with several of the handholds, his gym uniform ripping while the sensation of several bruises forming could be felt. Despite this, the ashen blonde bomber instinctively reached out and managed to grab hold of one of the handholds. His body jerked at the sudden stop, causing the boy to grunt in pain as he swung there. But, at least, he had prevented himself from falling back to the bottom and starting from the beginning. Whatever relief that gave him soon evaporated in the heat of his anger. Turning his head, Bakugo began to look for the coward who had tried to take a cheap shot at him from behind! Yet, what he saw caused his brows to furrow in confusion as he wasn’t the only one in this state. Tokoroki had been knocked off his ice pillar and was hanging on one of the handholds same as him. Mineta, who had been using his purple balls to bounce his was to the top had his head slammed into the wall. Something had happened to all of them. But what? Was it some sort of trap the school had set up?

“Hey there Kaachan!” came a voice from above.

Hearing that voice using his old childhood nickname caused the blond bomber to see red. Gritting his teeth, he turned to look up seeing the pebble that had been a major source of irritation for him for so very long. Izuku Midoriya stood there, feet pressed together on the same handhold while he kept his hands in his pants pockets. Bakugo might have noticed the slightly unnerving smile the green-haired teen was giving him if it weren’t for the look in Deku’s eyes. He was gleefully, GLEEFULLY, looking down on HIM!

“DIE!” yelled Bakugo in pure rage. Without a second thought, Bakugo lifted a palm at the freckled-faced teen before unleashing a large explosion. One so powered that it shook loose the rock and earth, causing several students to plummet below. Not that he cared as Bakugo watched Deku leap to the side effortlessly with a laugh.

“So predictable!” said Izuku in a gleeful tone.

Hearing the nerd say that in such a sing-song voice caused Bakugo’s teeth to grind.

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” roared Bakugo.

Deku didn’t flinch at all. Rather, the green-haired teen just put a finger in his ear while making a motion like he was cleaning it. “Man, you really love to scream at the top of your lungs,” said the teen before pulling out the finger only to then bring it close to his face. As if he found inspecting what he found more important than Bakugo. “Does your throat ever get tired of all that yelling? What happens when you lose your voice? Do you get a whiteboard? Parents through a little party?”

Bakugo was now seething in anger, his vision turned scarlet as he began to launch himself toward a laughing Izuku. The target of his rage leaped from handhold to handhold with what seemed like the grace of a cat, sometimes even swinging on them like a monkey. Quickly, everyone around began to keep an eye on the pair so that wouldn’t get caught up in this little game.

So much so that no one bothered looking down where another green-haired teen with diamond-shaped freckles stood. Having pulled out a notebook and pen from…somewhere, Izuku was busy taking notes on everything he saw. Thankfully, Bakugo’s explosive anger at the situation was causing the hero students to slow their pace allowing him more time to write while the non-hero students tried to keep up. However, most of these less athletic students were the ones falling to the ground more often than not. With Kendo by his side to act as a second pair of eyes, the teen wrote down everything he could to help his classmates. Like how this one girl with a dark ponytail pulled out a grappling hook from her skin as well as rope. Another guy shot tape out of his elbows.

Sadly, this couldn’t last forever as Todoroki began making his way up to the top once more on his pillar of ice. Seeing this, the laughing Izuku slowed down as another blast from Bakugo hit the earth next to him. The feral teen let out a roar, thinking he had gotten the drop on the nerd. However, when the smoke cleared, Katsuki saw a sight that gave him pause. Half of Deku’s face seemed to be melting away to reveal a yellow eye while the Cheshire grin he had never faded.

“What the heck…” whispered Bakugo as he stared at the sight before him in horror, his mind trying it best to make sense of what just happened.

“So,” began the person who was once Deku, the hair on their head sliding off to reveal blonde hair tired into messy buns. But, what unsettled Bakugo was that half of the nerd’s face was still there, looking at him with utter psychotic glee. “Are you going to keep chasing me or are you going to settle for second place?”

That caught Bakugo’s attention as he quickly looked over at Todoroki. With the loudest scream anyone had ever heard from the blonde he maxed out his quirk to its fullest, a massive explosion rocketing him up into the air while also knocking everyone else back. And in the chaos and smoke he created, no one noticed the real Izuku zooming up with Itsuka in his arms. Quickly they found a spot on the wall and began climbing up along with their transforming friend.

-x- 

By the time the trio had climbed out of the hole, Himiko’s disguise had completely melted off her body. Thankfully, Mei had come through and had managed to whip her up a skintight black body suit that would work with her quirk. What’s more, Toga had filled out the proper forms to use it in the festival. Not that school was going to say no as, if she used her quirk without it, then she could be exposing herself on live TV across the planet and the U.A. didn’t want to deal with that.

Again.

Once they stood upright on the grass, Izuku looked up at the scoreboard to see that they had placed decently. Right now Itsuka was in twentieth place, Himiko in twenty-first, while he had taken the twenty-second. Overall, he was very proud of where they all stood. Quickly scanning the rest of the board he was happy to see that the rest of the class had either already placed, with Pony coming in at tenth place, or were now just coming out of the hole. It seemed like everyone in 1-B was going on to the second round!

A loud cry of rage then caught Izuku’s attention, his green eyes locking onto red ones across the field. Bakugo’s glare intensified as more veins appeared on his forehead and neck, his screams becoming wilder as a couple of his classmates seemed to be holding him back.  He could tell that they were trying to placate him, probably reminding him that he still came in first place. To not throw it away by attacking the 1-B student and getting disqualified.

“So Izuku, did I do a good job?” asked Toga as she moved towards her friend, wrapping her arms around one of his. An act that, due to her skin-tight suit, caused the poor boy’s arm to be sandwiched between her breasts. As Izuku blushed at the contact, he was certain that Toga did this by accident as she was caught up in the moment.

What wasn’t an accident was her fanning the flames of the other blonde. There was no way he could miss how she turned her head to look at Bakugo before giving him a slight wave and a wink. How the stadium was not awash with flames, he had no idea.

“You did great!” Izuku managed to say without stuttering, though his face was still a little red. “I’m glad I gave you some of my blood before the match started. Though I’m sorry you ran through it all in the first round.”

Toga grinned before she waved it off since the small makeshift plan they had made in the waiting room had paid off. Everyone in 1-B could tell that Bakugo was a hothead who had it in for Midoriya. So much so that thought and reason would leave him at the slightest provocation. Because of this, Himiko had offered to use her quirk to cause a little trouble in the hopes that it would either force others to reveal their quirks or slow everyone else down. All she needed was some blood as well as a bit of info on the blonde. Besides, it wasn’t like she was out of options as both Itsuka and Pony had donated some of their blood to the little vampire as well.

A short time later, the next round of the Sports Festival had been announced: the Calvary Battle. And, as Izuku had predicted, U.A. had decided to punish the winner of the first round by awarding him a headband worth ten million points. With that on his head, Bakugo was basically a target for everyone else. Getting that pretty much guaranteed a sport for the team in the final round. It would also make it harder for him to form a team.

So, as Bakugo was left to try and make his own team, screaming at people to join him, Izuku went around sharing the information he had gotten on 1-A. His class stood around him as the Divine Divider quickly went over all the details he had managed to gather on the opposing class’s quirks. He did note that this information wasn’t perfect, but it would at least give them some idea on what they were facing.

Once Izuku had finished, his classmates broke off to begin forming their own teams including himself. While Izuku would have liked to include his friend Shishida, the polite teen had refused saying he would be better suited elsewhere. The same went for Toga who, despite wanting to be on the same team as Izuku, knew that she wouldn’t be a good fit. Thankfully, both Itsuka and Pony had agreed with Kendo taking the front while the American girl would take the side. That left just one more person to-

Suddenly, Izuku spotted a familiar mess of purple hair. There, standing off to the side as he carefully eyed the remaining participants was Shinso. No doubt scouting them out before deciding on who to brainwash. Grinning slightly at the sight of one of his newer friends, he called over the teen.

“Shinso, do you want to join our team?” asked Izuku.

“You sure you want someone like me on your team?” asked the brainwasher before looking away.

“Yeah!” said Izuku excitedly. “We have Itsuka to handle any close-range trouble while Pony can deal with the other teams long range. But no one else knows about your quirk, making you our secret weapon in case things go wrong.”

“Thanks,” whispered Shinso as he let out a small smile.

After several more minutes, the game began. As he expected, everyone in 1-A was focused on Bakugo’s team which included Sero, Kirishima, and the loud-mouthed Monoma. And it was easy to see that they were being overwhelmed as Bakugo had used his explosions a bit too much in the first round. Especially in his last-ditch effort that gained him first place.  Because of this, his arms were shaky, face wincing every time he unleashed an explosion. Thankfully for him, Monoma was able to lend a helping hand as he copied the other blonde’s quirk.

As for 1-B, they waited a short while until they were sure that their sister class was completely focused on getting that first-place headband. When that happened, they all went to work swiping away the points easily. An act made all the easier thanks to the information Izuku had managed to gather, letting them know what to look for in case the enemy teams launched a counterstrike. Yet such actions were rare as so many of those from 1-A barely even noticed that their headbands had been taken.

As for Izuku’s team, they had only managed to take a single headband by this point. This, along with their own high score, might have been enough to get them to the third round. However, the teen wanted more than just getting enough. He wanted to ensure, without a doubt, that they had won this round. But, what could he do?

The answer to that question came from an unexpected source that drew his attention. Todoroki had managed to get Bakugo’s headband! Enraged by this, Bakugo set aside the pain he was in as he ordered Sero to attach the teen’s tape to his body before rocketing towards the retreating Team Todoroki! Before the bi-colored-haired teen could wrap his prize around his neck, Katsuki had shot past him while grabbing his headband back! Then, before he could fall to the ground, Sero pulled him back to his team.

“Hey! Isn’t that cheating?” yelled Awase as he looked over at Midnight.

“It’s all fair as long as he doesn’t touch the ground,” announced Midnight, not just to the student but all those gathered in the crowd as well.

Midnight’s words struck a cord within Izuku, his mind quickly going into overdrive as he realized the implications. Slowly a devilish smirk appeared on his face. Oh yeah, they were going to win this in the best way possible.

“Guys, we need to get to a corner of the field,” said the teen as he tapped on their shoulders to further get their attention without raising his voice too high. “The farthest from everyone!”

“You sure about this?” asked Kendo.

“Oh yeah,” was Izuku’s reply.

Itsuka managed to look up at Izuku, ready to argue or question this more. But the words failed to leave her mouth as she spotted that gleam in his eyes that sparkled with confidence. So, instead, she nodded while also vowing to herself that if this failed he would be treating her to coffee for the rest of the year. As they moved away, another team spotted them. Their rider, Setsuna, watched them for only a moment before grinning wickedly. Quickly she ordered her team to follow her fellow green-haired classmate and, once they were close enough, called out to him.

“You know you’re going the wrong way, right?” she casually asked the other team’s rider, slightly leaning back as she did. “The action’s back there.”

“I could say the same about you,” replied Izuku.

Tokage’s grin seemed to grow a bit. “Knowing you, I bet there’s a plan brewing in that head of yours. Mind if I tag along?”

“Sure,” said Izuku almost instantly as he turned his head to look back at the action behind them. Team Todoroki was still in second place, still aiming for the top spot by trying to get their hands on the ten million points. “We can take down the top teams in this match at once!”

Quickly the two teams from 1-B made it to the farthest edge of the field. Once there, they turned around to see that the single-minded battle had ended as nearly all 1-A had finally discovered their lack of points. Now many of them were switching tactics, giving up the greater prize in order to get their own points back just to stay in the race. Meanwhile, Team’s Midoriya and Tokage just stood there watching both this as well as keeping an eye on the clock while Izuku explained his plan. Sadly, not everyone could play a part. On his team, Itsuka and Shinso would be left on defense in case something went wrong. Thankfully, neither of them minded. Shinso wanted to keep his quirk a secret for the finals and Kendo wanted to watch Izuku take Bakugo down a peg. By the time he had finished explaining everything, Pony let out a cheer while Setsuna cackled like crazy.

It wasn’t until the clock read one minute left in the round that Izuku acted. Activating his wings the teen flew away from his team, Pony firing off a pair of her horns which followed after the blue streak of light that was Izuku. The forest green-haired teen sped through the air, moving around the field to keep out of everyone’s way until finally turning towards Bakugo’s back. The blonde exploder was still busy fighting off everyone he had insulted and belittled, doing everyone possible to keep his points safe. Then-

“Divide!” shouted Izuku while touching his bully’s back with his left hand, his right grabbed the ten million point headband off of Bakugo. All done before the ashen blonde teen could even process what had happened! By the time he did Izuku was a steam of neon blue light heading back to his team. In a panic to retrieve his point, Bakugo tried to fire his explosions to propel him into the air like before in order to give chase. However, the force of the blasts that he was so proud of barely lifted him off of his team. Feeling helpless, Bakugo began breathing hard and sweating while Sero shot some of his tape at the retreating back of Midoriya. Hoping that he could either pull the 1-B student back or maybe even alter his path so that he touched the ground. That hope proved to be in vain as two horns sliced through the tape like it was nothing.

At the same time, Todoroki watched in shock as the headband he had been so determined to steal was taken right under his nose. Turning his head to figure out where Midoriya was going, he failed to notice the disembodied hands right behind him until it was too late. At once, one had grabbed the headband around his head while the second took all of the other points the icy-hot teen had managed to collect as insurance. Todoroki tried to reach out to grab them, to not let all his work go to waste! But it was too late as they had already flown past his grasp and higher into the air.

Izuku was grinning like mad as he landed back with his teammates, holding up the ten million point headband into the air in the same pose as All Might would have when he won a fight. The crowd responded to this declaration of victory by rising to their feet while cheering at the top of their lungs. As for the rest of the students, it was chaos! Some teams looked like they were arguing with each other as they tried to decide what to do. Others were making a mad dash toward teams Midoriya and Tokage while the rest were trying to collect whatever points were closest to them. But no matter what they did, they were at the mercy of the clock as the seconds ticked by. And before anyone could reach them, the buzzer sounded.

Both Team Midoriya and Team Tokage began bouncing around in excitement, hugging and high-fiving each other as if they had already won the festival. However, as Present Mic began listing off the teams that had made it to the final round, one sentence killed their mood. It seemed that Sero had come through for his team at the last moments, using his tape to grab a couple of headbands before the time was called. They had the lowest points out of everyone who was going on to the tournament, but they were going.

“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!” yelled Itsuka, her fists growing to giant size as she raised them above her head. As the oranged-haired girl raged Izuku let out a sigh. Looks like he might face Bakugo in the final round after all.

Chapter Text

“All right, all right,” came Present Mic’s voice over the speakers, along with the swivel of a chair that told everyone that he was literally spinning in his seat. “For all of our wonderful audience, those rocking in their stadium seats and for those chilling back at home, please allow me to introduce to you the finalists who will be throwing down in the main event! And what a lineup we have as both 1-A and 1-B will both be getting to share the spotlight along with a few students from other courses! Starting us off from 1-A, we have the student who started us off with a bang which almost turned into a whimper. Let me hear you shout for Katsuki Bakugo!”

“HEY!” screamed Bakuko who turned around so his back was now facing Midnight. He, along with the rest of the students who were lined up on the podium, faced what felt like a random direction at first with the R-Rated Pro before them. But, in reality, they were facing the various cameras that were now zooming in on them before broadcasting the close-ups to the rest of the world.

“Then we have the leader of the team that placed above him; the girl who just has so much positivity bubbling up inside her that it lifts her off the ground Ochacho Uraraka! Then there are her teammates from 1-A the raven edgelord Fumikage Tokoyami and the slippery Mina Ashido! As for the rest of 1-A who just barely got in, we have the teen who saved them from a sticky situation: Hanta Sero! Along with him, we have the copycat Neito Monoma and the mountain of manliness Eijiro Kirishima!”

The Voice Hero then cleared his throat before continuing. “Now let's give it up for the people who surprised everyone by pulling the rug right from under 1-A’s feet!” declared Present Mic, getting many cheers from the audience.

“More like they used a ruling to their advantage,” came another voice, one that lacked energy. Instantly, Izuku recognized the owner as the person who had chastised him for how he acted after being attacked by Bakugo: Aizawa. At that moment, it almost felt like the dark-haired hero was looking down at him from the announcer's box to bore into his soul. “Had it not been for Midnight’s decision in the last round, the outcome would have been far different. With that said, I will admit that they used the conditions presented to themselves well. Not just the ruling, but also the lack of awareness of the others, the space provided to them, and the countdown. All these additional factors played a key role in their success.”

“First off, we have the leader of the second place 1-B team,” continued Mic as though his co-host hadn’t said a thing. “We have a girl who might be part reptile: Setsuna Tokage! Aiding her was the man of metal with a name that’s a mouthful Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, our lady assassin of the roses Ibara Shiozaki, and the gentle beast man Jurota Shishida! Now let's introduce you all to the team that really stole the show! He’s the boy of the shining wings who stole first place so quickly that if you blinked you missed the whole thing: Izuku Midoriya! But he didn’t do it alone as he had some guided missile support from his classmate Pony Tsunotori! And the final member of 1-B who is sure to give up all a big thumbs up Itsuka Kendo!

“But it’s not just the hero students who are the stars of this show,” continued Present Mic, now sounding positively giddy. “From the support course, we have one of my more energetic little listeners: Mei Hatsume! And from General Studies, we have a student determined to break into the Hero Course: Hitoshi Shinso!” 

With that done, the brackets were shown on another holographic image followed by a short break. Those who were not fighting in the tournament were offered the chance to continue to show off their skills in a series of smaller games. As many of the students played, either trying desperately to impress the pros or just have some fun, those who were moving onto the final event began to prepare. Some, like Bakugo, simply hyped themselves up. Others like Izuku, Itsuka, Shishida, and Pony used this time to plan for their upcoming matches. Especially Izuku and Itsuka who were going to be in the first and second matches.

Then, finally, it was time.

“Alright, my faithful listeners!” announced Present Mic when it was time, the crowd’s excitement becoming almost deafening as they looked down at the field. Where once it had been a massive open field, now it held a raised platform made of cement which had been molded and hardened by the pro hero Cementoss. “The first round of the tournament shall begin! Oh yeah! Hailing from class 1-A, we have the master of shadows. The murder of crows: Fumikage Tokoyami. However, he’s going to have his hands full as he faces off against the high-flying Vice Rep of class 1-B: Izuku Midoriya!”

The crowds cheered as both teens walked onto the stage, Tokoyami calming walking out with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed. Meanwhile, Izuku’s movements were a bit rigid as his nerves were getting to him a little. Before, it had been easier to stand before the crowd when there were plenty of other people around. But now that there were only two, he could feel far more eyes on him.

As the two teens stood at opposite ends of the ring, with Midnight going over the rules, Izuku eyed Tokoyami carefully. He had seen the bird-headed teen’s quirk several times already, however his observations of Dark Shadow during the cavalry battle had been most illuminating. Put simply, Tokoyami’s quirk was a sentient shadow creature that could attack and defend for the teen. Most notably, it could extend itself towards the target making it good for long-range attacks. Something that he had noticed more than once during the last event as the shadow creature protected their team’s headband while also assisting them in capturing others. But now that he was closer to the 1-A boy, Midoriya could see a very noticeable flaw: Tokoyami himself was not strong. Judging by the lack of any real muscles on the teen’s arms as well as what he had seen in the Sports Festival, Izuku theorized that his opponent was the type that relied either heavily or exclusively on his quirk.

“Begin!” cried Midnight. As she cracked her whip, Tokoyami called out Dark Shadow while at the same time Izuku activated his Divine Dividing. The crowd let out a cheer, ready to witness the showdown between quirks of shadow and light.

Tokoyami made the first move, sending Dark Shadow out toward Izuku as quickly as he could. The bird beast extended its clawed hands as it flew across the ring while growing slightly larger. Then, when it was right in front of Midoriya, the green-haired teen finally moved. In a flash, he had shot past the quirk creature and flown towards its host.

“Dark-” But that was all Tokoyami could say before Izuku’s leg collided with his gut. Air shot out of the 1-A student's lungs, his mouth agape as spit and stomach juices flew out. Then the force of the kick sent Tokoyami flying out of the ring and onto the grass where he rolled until his back hit the stadium wall.

In less than thirty seconds, Izuku Midoriya had won his first match.

Once Midnight had called the match, Izuku walked towards his downed opponent who was still lying there with one hand holding his gut and his shadow friend looking over him in concern. Both of them saw Midoriya approaching, Dark Shadow letting out what sounded like a feral growl that caused the teen to flinch. Yet he didn’t stop until he was right in front of Tokoyami and held out a hand with a nervous smile.

“Need a hand?” asked the green-haired hero hopeful.

At first, the bird-headed teen looked at the gesture in confusion. But then, after only a moment, he struggled to smile while accepting the hand. Carefully, Izuku helped Tokoyami to his feet before shaking hands properly while also looking the other in the eye with respect.

“You fought well,” said Tokoyami, his voice somewhat laced with pain as his free hand went to cover his stomach. “Though I wish I could say the same for me.”

“You’ll do better next time,” reassured Izuku. “But, if you don’t mind me making this suggestion, you should probably work on your own strength. Dark Shadow is an amazing quirk, but relying only on it gives you an obvious weakness.”

“Wise words,” replied Tokoyami with a nod. “I shall gratefully take heed of them.”

“Oh my,” cried Midnight as she watched the scene unfolding, swaying from side to side with her hands wrapped around her body while a steaming blush grew on her face. “Such a wonderful display of sportsmanship. Oh yes, it’s really heating me up!”

Hearing Midnight saying that, for all the world to hear, caused the teen’s cheeks to burn. Quickly, Midoriya flew off into the stadium where he took a seat with the rest of 1-B, taking a seat between Pony, who was waving her arms in the air happily, and Toga. While the other blonde smiled happily at Izuku, she did shoot Midnight a glare while seeming to mouth something that the boy thought was ‘Unfair’. As his class congratulated him on his victory, Izuku looked down to see a pair of drones had put Tokoyami on a stretcher. Most likely taking him to see the nurse.

“Alright, alright!” came Present Mic’s voice over the speakers. “Let's move on to the second round, shall we? Next up we have the little listener who got the highest score in the entrance exam ready to take a win for his class: Katsuki Bakugo! However, that might prove tricky as he faces off against the fiery martial artist and class rep of 1-B: Itsuka Kendo!”

Izuku leaned forward in his seat as both students entered the arena. As usual, there was a scowl on Bakugo’s face and murder in his eyes. Whether it was because he was still fuming over nearly losing in the last round, ready to take his aggressions out on a member of Izuku’s team which caused it, or if it was due to him remembering how Ituksa punched him in the cafeteria that one time, Izuku had no idea. In contrast, Kendo walked into the ring with confidence as she politely waved to the crowd.

“So, who do you think is going to win?” asked Pony as she, as well as the rest of the class, leaned forward just a little bit.

Izuku didn’t answer right away, instead biting his lower lip before glancing over at Pony.

“It’s tricky,” he said, surprising the American girl. “Itsuka has more professional fighting experience under her belt. She can more easily read her opponent than someone like Kacchan and I would say is more physically strong. Plus she has a level head on her shoulders. However, while Kacchan never had any official training before coming to U.A., he has great battle instincts and a powerful quick that gives him an advantage both in close as well as mid-range combat. So, I guess the determining factor is who can take the advantage first.”

Moments later, the match began with a literal bang as Bakugo rocketed himself arena with a savage look on his face. Enhanced by the jumbo screen everyone in the audience could see that he was out for blood. When he got close, the blond pulled back his hand for his famous opening right hook. Kendo saw this, ducking to the side which was wide open due to Bakugo overextending his swing. Now in position, Itsuka prepared to deliver a punch to his gut only to have Bakugo unleash several small explosions with his left to change his trajectory in the air. Seeing this, Kendo leapt back and out of the way before she was backhanded.

But it didn’t stay that way for long as Itsuka moved in quickly to close the distance. “Kachū Tenshin Amaguriken!” yelled Kendo before she began to use one of the newest techniques she had learned just for the festival.  Bakugo’s eyes widened, arms raising to block the incoming attack but was too slow. Everyone watched as a flurry of punches moving so fast they could barely be seen impacting everywhere from his gut to his face with a force that Izuku knew all too well. What’s more, each blow sent Bakugo back several inches towards the edge of the arena! Seeing this, Izuku clutched his notebook with his breath caught in his lungs. It was so surreal to see Bakugo, one of the most tenacious people he had ever met as well as the one who had bullied him for so long in this state. 

When the attack ended, Bakugo’s face was shown for all the world to see. Bruises were forming on bruises, large blotches of blues and purples forming over most of his exposed skin. One eye looked like it was fighting with all its might to stay open, his lip bleeding from several spots on his lip. But Bakugo refused to give in as he swung a fist at Kendo that she easily read, stepping out of the way to watch as it harmlessly sailed past her before using that same move again.

As more blows rained down on Bakugo, Izuku felt a hand touch his shoulder. Due to how engrossed he was in the fight, Izuku jumped a little at the contact but managed to relax when he saw that it was Himiko. 

“Looks like we know whose going to win,” she said in a sing-song tone. However, her smile vanished when Izuku shook his head.

“It’s not over yet,” he said. “Kacchan’s quirk has to do with his sweat. Meaning the longer the fight goes on and the more damage he takes, the more easily he can produce sweat. That leads to more powerful explosions.”

“Oh,” replied Toga as she then went back to examining the fight, biting her lower lip a little while her eyes narrowed. “Well then, let's see if he can manage to use all that extra power he gets before his body gives out on him.”

Back in the ring, the crowd watched as the angry blond fell to the ground where he rolled back while holding his gut. Anger and pain dominated the look in his eyes, veins bulging in his temples.

“Damn it!” screamed Bakugo.

Quickly getting up, Bakugo rushed towards Kendo with a savage growl. Once close enough, he shot his palm out to his opponent only for Kendo to deflect the blow with her wrist so that the explosion happened next to her head. At the same time, she knocked Bakugo off balance, hooking the back of his ankle with her foot before pulling back. The exploding teen fell backward with Kendo’s fist ready to knock him out. Oh, if only the blow had connected. Bakugo saw this and, once again, used smaller explosions to get out of the way. The blond rolled on the ground before landing on one knee, raising a hand right at the orange-haired girl. A more powerful explosion came from his hand, a blood-hungry grin on his face as he saw the look in Kendo’s eyes before flames and smoke obscured his vision.

But that look soon changed as Kendo’s enlarged hands came out of the smoke. Izuku stood, realizing that his friend had used the back of her hands as a shield for there were several large burn marks on them. But that didn’t stop her. Instead, she fought through the pain before grabbing Bakugo in her enlarged hand.

“I’ve had enough of you!” she roared as she brought the hand holding the explosive blonde back while taking up a pitching stance. “How about you spend the rest of the Sports Festival in the stands!”

With that, Kendo flung the 1-A student out of the ring with all her might. Yet, before Bakugo could touch the ground or hit the wall, he began to use the explosions from his palms to move through the air. Barely missing the wall by a hair, he managed to turn around to land back in the ring.

“JUST FUCKING DIE ALREADY MAN HANDS!” roared Bakugo. With that, he went all out. Veins could now be seen on both his arms and neck as he pushed as much nitroglycerin into his palms before unleashing the most massive explosion he could muster right at Kendo. And this was it, there was no way she could dodge or get away. The blast hit her full-on, flinging her out of the ring before her body was impaled into the wall. Blood could be seen leaking from her mouth right before she fell face-first into the ground, causing most of the audience to gasp in shock.

If Bakugo cared or seemed worried, he didn’t show it. Instead, he looked down at his trembling arms with disgust. Then, before he turned to leave, he spat on the ground in a final show of disrespect.

Izuku, Pony, and Toga didn’t even bother to wait for the match to be called as they rushed toward the nurse’s office. As they did, they could hear the gasps from the crowd as well as the panic in Midnight’s voice as she urged the medical drones to get there quickly. Because of their early dash, they were able to arrive at their destination shortly after Kendo did. The teens were in time to see Asai holding out her hands above Itsuka who became enveloped in green light. Quickly, all of the girl’s injuries began to vanish until she looked as good as new. And, when the light faded, Itsuka opened her eyes. Slowly she looked around looking slightly confused before a small pout that Izuku found adorable appeared on her face.

“I lost, didn’t I?” she grumbled, arms crossing her chest. 

“Yeah, sorry,” said Izuku as he went over to his friend, sitting on the bed next to her.

“But you did really, super good out there!” added Pony as she too sat next to Kendo.

“You looked so cute out there,” said Toga as she surprised everyone by appearing behind the redhead, wrapping her arms around Kendo’s neck in a gentle manner. “The way you made that guy bleed all over the arena with just your fists. You’re just so adorable.”

Izuku nodded. “They’re right you know,” he said, placing a hand on Itsuka’s lap. “I bet all the pros out there will have their eye on you given how well you fought both with and without a quirk. Even more so when they realize what Kacchan had to do to take you out.”

That brought a slight smile onto Itsuka’s face as Pony joined in, her arms wrapping around the Big Fist girl’s stomach.

“Thanks, guys,” she said, no one noticing that the devil dressed as a nun was watching them with a slight smile on her face. Instead, Itsuka turned to look at her green-haired friend. “Oh, Izuku? When you face him in the next round could you kick him extra hard for me?”

-x-  

When Izuku and the others returned to the 1-B booth, they stayed as a group. Itsuka sat on Izuku’s left while Pony took the right. As for Toga…

“Ah, this is comfy,” purred the blood drinker. Currently, she was sitting directly in front of her green-haired friend while leaning back in such a way that her head rested on his lap. Naturally, this caused Izuku to blush in embarrassment while the rest of his class just chuckled at how clueless he was.

What they didn’t know was that, at that moment, two pairs of eyes were watching them. Mineta, using his purple balls, had climbed up the barrier that separated the two classes with his face turning a slight shade of red as he glared with unrighteous fury at Midoriya. Standing on his tiptoes next to the grape-themed pervert was Kaminari, looking on more in envy than rage.

“Lucky bastard,” grumbled the electric user shoulders slumping somewhat as he wished he was in that position.

“He has it,” breathed Mineta, causing Kaminari to glance at the grape-themed teen as fires began to appear around him. Forgetting himself, Mineta pushed himself up a bit to point at Midoriya. “He has it! The legendary harem quirk spoken only in manga, anime, and hentia!”

“Whoa, seriously?” asked Kaminari in awe for he too had heard of this quirk…from the same sources as Mineta. Especially that last one.

“Of course! How else could such a plain-looking guy have all those hotties around him when we don’t!” Mineta all but screamed. “We must do everything in our power to keep him away from our class before his quirk infects them. Then he’ll be sure to take away Yaoyorozu so we’ll never get the chance to squeeze her breasts. Then he’ll take away Ashido and her nice rear. Uraraka who has curves in all the right places. Hagakure who's so freaky she runs around naked! Asui and her nice legs! He can have flat as a board Jiro since she’s as plain looking as him but-” Mineta got no further as the cords to Jiro’s earphone jacks suddenly wrapped around the pervert, almost strangling him for a moment before being pulled back. The smallest of small 1-A hit the ground for a moment, laying there in a fleeting moment of confusion until it dawned on him that he was surrounded. All of the girls he had just named were looking down at him, with their eyes whited out in furious glares. Jiro seemed the most angry, cracking her knuckles as she tightened her hold on him.

Later, after Mineta’s screams had died down after the course of a few matches, it was Pony’s turn to fight.

“So, who do you think is going to win this one?” asked Kendo as their friend Pony raced out to the middle of the ring, waving her arms in the air all excitedly. From the other corner came Sero with a big grin on his face.

“Pony will win, duh,” said Toga as she rolled her eyes, kicking her feet lazily as she did. “There’s no way someone that dumb looking can beat a cutie like Pony.”

Kendo turned to look at Toga with clear disapproval, but before she could open her mouth Izuku spoke up. “Toga is right. If I had to guess, I’d say that Pony is one of the strongest people in our class. Given what I’ve seen of Sero thus far, he doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Oh really?” came the voice of Kamakiri from behind them. All three students turned to look at the bug-like teen as he sneered down at them. “Playing favorites are we? What makes Pony the strongest when compared to everyone else? Other than the fact that she’s usually hanging off of you.”

Izuku blushed and bristled at the same time after hearing that. A part of him wanted to shy away from answering the question. To say something that could placate his classmate. However, out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed that several of his other classmates were now paying attention to him. To the conversation he had started. He had dug his grave.

“It’s not because we’re friends,” said Izuku with a sigh. “It’s because of all the skills under her belt. Her quirk and the training she’s done with it gives her massive advantages over most others. She can use her horns to move through the air, giving her a speed advantage. What’s more, she can use them for long-range combat; either by a massive, numerous assault or a targeted attack. And now, thanks to Toga’s help, she is learning how to use them better as close-range stabbing weapons. But that’s not all she has going for her. Pony also has greater natural strength, stamina, and speed without her horns. She might not have the same power behind her attacks as Tetsutetsu or Shishida, but its nothing to scoff at. Nor does she need any additional material like metal shavings or fear of going berserk. So, because of all these factors, I believe that Pony is at least one of the top five strongest members of our class.”

Kamakiri looked dumbfounded for a moment before slowly nodding his head in understanding before he, along with the rest of the class, turned to watch the fight.

Meanwhile, in the ring, Pony’s smile brightened for reasons she didn’t even know. She was already happy as it sounded like the crowd was really rooting for her over the 1-A guy. But now, she had an extra bounce in her step.

“Ah man, looks like the crowd is against me,” said Sero, cracking his neck a little as he spoke. “Might end up really hating me if I beat up such a cute girl too.” At that moment, Midnight cracked her whip and announcing that the match would begin. “But I don’t feel like losing either!”

With that, Sero shot his elbows forward and began to launch tape from both of them at the same time. Pony, seeing one stand heading towards her chest with the other was heading towards her legs, reacted by raising her hands up to her head in a manner that almost looked like she was surrendering. Except, she wasn’t! Instead, her horns detached from her head to attach to her wrists before instantly regrowing. She then brought down her arms, slashing through the tape and cutting it to ribbons before it could ever touch her.

Seeing this, Sero’s eyes widened in confusion as he didn’t know what to do next. But Pony wasn’t giving him time to think as she bent her legs before launching herself in the dark-haired teen’s direction. Sero let out a small cry of panic as he then launched more tape at the American girl, only for the make shift blades she was using to become detached from her wrist. Without losing any of her momentum, Pony twirled the horns in the palms of her hands until she was holding them like trench knives. The crowd went wild as the blonde then stabbed her own detached horn right into the ground, pinning one of the stands of tape to the arena floor before using her now free hand to grab ahold of Sero’s tape.

Thanks to the way she was running at him, Sero’s tape hung loosy within Pony’s grasp. Though not for long as the 1-B used pierced the tape with her other horn before appearing to throw it.

“Ha! That’ll never work!” laughed Sero, somewhat relieved as he watched the horn and tape fly past him. Pony just smirked as he had, somehow, forgotten what her horns were capable of. That or he assumed that she had only supplied the horns and someone else was using their quirk to control them which, to be fair, was a possibility. Nevertheless, she was extremely satisfied when her horn began to change course in the air to wrap around the tape user causing his smug smile to vanish. It spun around him in a blur, wrapping the teen up in his own tape until he looked like a mummy. Once Sero fell over, Pony just rolled him out of the arena like he was nothing more than a rolled-up carpet getting a good laugh from the crowd.

A few matches later came the funniest of them all.

“You have done well to get it this far, clinging to 1-B scum to do all the heavy lifting for you,” laughed Monoma, posing slightly before Shinso after Midnight had called the match to start. “But alas, you miscalculated for clearly you forgot that the final round of the Festival is a series of one on one matches. No one to help you out. Though, its not like any of those inferior 1-B students would have been able to help you. In the end, they are destined to fall to the superior might of 1-A!” At that moment, Monoma threw back his head before laughing insanely. As Izuku watched his, he knew that Monoma’s confidence was not unfounded in this moment. He had seen his Copy quirk in action a few times now. While he didn’t know all its rules yet, Midoriya as well as the rest of 1-B had heard Monoma asking his classmates to allow him access to their quirks right before the match. Meaning he had an unknown amount of quirks at his disposal. But, at the same time, if this performance was suppose to endear him to the crowd or the pros, it wasn’t working as Izuku could see many of them cringing and looking away from the jumbo screen showing focused on the 1-A student.

Shinso, on the other hand, stared at him while appearing relaxed.

the matches proceeded. 

“Do you really believe your own hype that much?” asked Shinso, almost lazily.

“I am the-” began Monoma, only to be stopped dead midsentence as Brainwashing took effect. From there, all Shinso had to do was issue his simple command and Monoma walked out of the ring.

The final match of the first round was the one Midoriya had thought would last the longest. Tetsutetsu had been knocked out with a single punch, one so powerful that it caused hurricane-level winds to sweep across the stadium. Not only did this level of strength concern Izuku, but also the backlash of the attack as Tetsutetsu’s opponent’s arm looked broken.

Then, finally, it was Izuku’s turn once more. Stepping into the arena with Present Mic reintroducing them to the crowd, Midoriya kept his eyes on his opponent. The blonde teen looked angrier than before as the veins on his forehead seemed to indicate. Seeing that face brought back so many memories, bringing with them the fear he held. The holder of Divine Dividing could feel his arms and legs trembling yet he stood his ground.

“There’s no escaping this time Deku!” screamed Bakugo, not caring that the whole world was getting a close-up of his face. You’re not leaving this ring until I have beaten all the answers I want from your worthless ass! And this time, you won’t have any of those worthless extras around to save you!”

A flicker of anger appeared within Izuku, but nothing more as he looked at the bully. Slowly, he took a breath before giving the bully his most determined face. And it seemed to do the trick as Bakugo looked taken aback by it.

“It won’t be so easy as you seem to think. After all, you aren’t launching a surprise attack on me this time,” said Izuku, his words causing Bakugo to bristle before raising his head so that a shadow covered the upper part of the explosive teen’s face. Like this, only Bakugo’s eyes could bee seen making him somehow look scarier. However, Izuku didn’t stop. “You’re last match. It was tougher than you thought it would be, wasn’t it? You actually had to push yourself, going all out on Itsuka.”

“Like hell!” spat Bakugo, fingers twitching as he spoke. “That worthless man handed extra-”

“Don’t lie Kacchan,” interrupted Izuku, surprising both Bakugo and himself with this. “I watched that match along with everyone else. I’ve seen what it’s like firsthand when you effortlessly blow someone away. But that fight? No, you had to go all out. You had to push more nitroglycerin into your palms than ever before. All just to take her out.”

Bakugo seemed ready to blow, several small explosions dancing in the palms of his hands as a growl escaped his throat. He might have charged then and there had Midnight not given him a look telling him not to try it.

“Who do you think you are talking to me like that?” demanded Bakugo with a growl, eye twitching as he was no doubt fighting with himself not to launch over there and begin attacking Izuku. “Well? You’re nothing! A shitty loser! Look at you! Even now you’re shaking in fear before me!”

Izuku took a breath. “You’re right,” he admitted before sliding into his fighting stance. “I’m afraid. But…I’m still here and not backing down!”

 And with that, Midnight started the match.

Letting out a bloodcurdling scream of rage, Bakugo used his explosions to launch himself toward Izuku who stood his ground. And, like with his match with Kendo, the exploding teen started with a right hook. Rather than dodging it, Izuku used his wrist to redirect the attack so that it flew harmlessly past his head just as Bakugo unleashed an explosion. But, Izuku wasn’t over as, before the flames could subside, the Divine Divider spun around to deliver a powerful kick right into Bakugo’s ribs. A kick with so much force and power behind it that he, Katsuki, and Midnight could hear the cracking of ribs moments before the bomber teen was sent flying away.

“Itsuka asked me to give that one to you,” said Izuku as he kept his guard up, waiting for the retaliation he knew was coming. He didn’t have to wait long as Bakugo scrambled to get back on his feet, sweet forming all over his body from the injury. Growling in both pain and rage, he charged at the green-haired teen. Thanks to his with the explosive teen, Izuku knew all of Bakugo’s tells and with his time at the Kendo dojo he could better capitalize on this information. And right now, Bakugo was nothing more than an open book to him.

So, he knew that this time Bakugo would launch an open palm strike aimed right at Izuku’s face. While to most it would look like a slap, it was far more dangerous in the hands of someone like Bakugo. If it struck, he would then fire off an explosion at point-blank range. If you blocked the strike itself, the flames and the force from the blast would still hit. So that was why Izuku went with option number three: leaning backwards so that he fell on his back and allowing the strike to sail harmlessly over him. Then, while Bakugo looked on in confusion, Midoriya pressed his legs close to his chest before sending them into the gut of his former friend. This caused the angry blond to stumble back while Izuku got into a crouching position before delivering a sweeping leg kick on his opponent to knock him down. With Bakugo down, Izuku raised his leg high into the air ready to slam his heel right into Bakugo’s gut and to finally end this. However, before the attack could connect, Katsuki unleached explosions from both his open palms that contained enough force that he slid across the arena floor.

While it would have been satisfying to defeat Bakugo using only his martial arts skills, Izuku knew that it was only a matter of time before his opponent used the same move he used to defeat Itsuka. That and he didn’t want to hold anything back. Activating Divine Dividing, Izuku shot into the air so fast that he was nothing more than a green and blue blur that only stopped once he was right above Bakugo. Then, just as quickly, he shot downward to deliver an axe kick using his flying ability to enhance the speed and power of the blow. The ashen blonde saw this however and managed to roll out of the way as one hand gripped tightly onto his chest.

Gritting his teeth so hard that he drew blood while lowering his hand, Bakugo propelled himself through the air toward Izuku. This time, when he got close enough, the blonde positioned his palms towards the ground sending him upwards quickly while also generating plenty of heat and smoke. Due to this, Izuku was forced to cover his eyes for a moment. At that moment, Bakugo managed to land a punch to the teen’s shoulder. Quickly, Izuku used his wings to gain a bit more distance. Only Bakugo wasn’t letting that happen. He charged towards the green-haired teen, this time running as fast as he could while sending out several small explosions to help boost his speed.

‘He’s still working himself hard, trying to build up even more of a sweat , thought Izuku as he continued to move. ‘With those injuries, he should already be sweating more than he needs. But he wants more. He must be trying to collect enough so that, when I divide his strength, his explosions will still hurt me.’

Once close enough, Bakugo extended a palm towards Izuku. This time, however, it wasn’t one of his normal explosions. This one was far brighter, forcing Izuku to close his eyes. The next moment a real explosion collided with Midoriya’s stomach knocking him back. But it didn’t stop there as, while Izuku fell to the ground, blast after blast was sent toward the green-haired youth. And slightly above the deafening noise, somehow Midoriya could make out the screams of his bully.

After several moments of this, Izuku shot into the air in order to escape. There high above the arena and far enough from his bully’s explosions, the teen paused to catch his breath while his vision slowly returned. He could hear the blasts and screams below him fading as the ashen blonde no doubt realized that he was no longer there. When he could properly see again, Izuku looked down to find that indeed Bakugo was glaring up at him. And seeming even angrier for having to look up at him.

As Izuku looked down at Bakugo, he believed that this was going to be the deciding factor in this match. While his opponent could move about the arena and propel himself in the air via his explosion, he seemed limited to just a few feet above the ground. Meanwhile, Izuku had far greater speed, mobility, and could actually. Something that Bakugo had to be aware of. Meaning that his opponent’s options were limited.

‘I think this is it,’ thought Izuku as he went through everything he knew about Bakugo. ‘If there was ever a time to unleash an explosion powerful enough like the one he used against Itsuka, now is the time. It is his only option. However, despite how powerful it is, with my speed I’m sure I can move out of the way before the flames even reach me. After that, his arms will be spent. I just need to-’

Izuku’s thoughts were cut off as Bakugo surprised him by launching up into the air. The explosions from the teen’s palms were rapid, spinning him round and round until he became a cyclone of pure anger. The crowd gasped and cheered wildly as they felt the after-effects of this move all the way in their seats. Class 1-A was cheering Bakugo on while 1-B screamed for Midoriya to get out of the way.

Only, Izuku didn’t do that. Instead, he began to spin around himself to deliver his own attack.

“Howitzer Impact!” screamed Bakugo.

“Shooting Dragon Fang!” cried Izuku.

With that, Izuku entered the center of the cyclone. He didn’t aim for Bakugo’s head but instead aimed for the teen’s side, colliding with the blonde’s outstretched arm. A crack that only the two teens could hear soon followed, the explosion whirlwind ending as Bakugo spiraled out of control and out of the smoke. The jumbo screen zoomed in on the 1-A student, showing that his left arm was clearly broken as it was quickly turning purple. However, rather than falling head first into a wall or into the crowd, Bakugo was caught by the wrist by Izuku who held onto him at arm’s length.

Once more, Bakugo was forced to look up at Izuku while the green-haired teen looked down as their eyes met. This only served to anger Bakugo evermore.

“Damn you! I’m going to-”

“Divide.”

That word, spoken so calmly, silenced the explosive teen as he felt himself getting weaker. A look of utter horror began to take over his face as he began to struggle to free himself but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Izuku just looked down at the person who had tormented him for so long. He knew how easy it would be to just let him go, to let him drop and watch as he struggled to save himself with his diminished strength. To watch as he had to be saved by the teachers.

“Divide.”

More strength was sapped from Bakugo as Izuku shook his head. Yes, it would have been easy. But was he tempted to do so? That was a hard no. Despite everything that had happened today, everything that he had been through during his entire life with Bakugo, Izuku could never just drop him like that. Nor would he ever do anything that might threaten his life. No, he would do the right thing and finally move on. And he knew just the way to do it.

“Divide.”

At that moment, Bakugo became aware that they were getting closer to the ground. But, they weren’t heading toward the arena. No, instead they were heading straight for the out-of-bounds area. A wide look of fear flashed through the teen's eyes as he called on every bit of strength he had.

“NO!” screamed Bakugo. “NOT LIKE THIS! NOT A DAMNED RING OUT! DEKU!”

“Divide,” was all that Izuku said as he continued to lower his former friend to the earth below.

The ground was getting closer. Snarling, Katsuki launched several explosions from his good hand only feeling small puffs of smoke similar to those he had when he was four. His feet thrashed about, doing everything he could to cause some pain to the green-haired boy. But even when he connected, Izuku didn’t seem to flinch.

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!” roared Bakugo.

“Divide.”

More strength was taken from Bakugo as he struggled to raise his bad hand. Tears formed in his eyes as he moved it, a sob escaping the teen’s lips as he tried to point a palm at the Divine Divider. But he felt so weak that he could barely do that.

Then, before he could let out another curse, his feet were gently placed on the ground. The gentleness of it all infuriated the blonde like nothing else. Being kicked out or dropped out of the ring he could handle. It showed he was strong, that he was tough. But like this? Being treated as though he were a delicate piece of glass? That was a major blow to his pride. But what hurt worse was who had done this to him: Deku. Out of all the people in the world, it had been the one he had stepped on for years. The weak, cowardly, quirkless little pebble who had just defeated him for all the world to see! It was maddening!

Finally, the match was called with Midoriya being declared the winner. As the crowd cheered wildly, Izuku turned to look back at Bakugo one more time.

“Goodbye…Kacchan,” said Izuku, intending for that to be the last time he ever used that old nickname for Bakugo.

With that, Izuku began to walk away from his former childhood friend as the medical drone approached.

However…

“NO!” wailed Bakugo. “THIS WASN’T HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! YOU’RE NOT A HERO! YOU’RE A THIEF! YOU STOLE EVERYTHING FROM ME! MY DESTINY, MY PLACE IN THE TOURNAMENT, MY POWER! THAT’S ALL YOU ARE! THAT’S ALL A WORTHLESS STAIN LIKE YOU CAN DO! THIEF! THIEF!”

Izuku never looked back as he slowly walked away, his ears picking up the sound of Bakugo flailing around on the ground. Clearly, he was having a hard time accepting that he lost. But, this was one problem that Izuku was not going to rush over and try to help. No. Not this time. He was done with it.

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya was seated in the waiting room, his legs twitching with nervous excitement. A hand went to his chest, feeling his heart racing while a smile grew on his lips. This was really happening. Here he was, about to go into the final match of the Sports Festival to see who would win first place. Honestly, this felt a little too good to be true. Not only had he defeated the person he had admired, the person he had looked up to as a childhood vision of strength and tenacity, but also several other outstanding heroes in training. He felt so honored to be here that a part of him didn’t care how the match turned out. That just being here was more than he deserved.

‘Enough of such foolish thoughts partner! Do not settle for aiming for anything other than the top!’

Izuku nearly jumped in his seat at Albion’s sudden words. As he looked down at his left hand, the teen thought about the person he would be facing. A student from 1-A, the one who had defeated Tetsutetsu in a single blow. The person that, with a single flick of his finger, sent Shinso out of the ring due to the massive air pressure he created. A student who stood there, taking everything Pony could dish out before sending her flying out of the ring.

‘He’s strong Albion,’ thought Izuku, communicating to the ancient dragon. ‘Much stronger than anyone else here.’

‘Perhaps, but that is no reason for you to cower in fear!’ insisted Albion. ‘You hold the Divine Dividing! No matter how strong he is, all it will take is a single touch for it to be cut in half! Besides, would a true hero back down from a stronger foe?’

Izuku’s eyes widened at that before giving a firm nod. In his heart and mind, a true hero would face any odds in order to save and protect the people. So, he would use this match to show the pros out there that he had what it took. That he would face down an opponent with superior strength and take him down!

With this newfound determination, Izuku began going over his opponent's matches in his head. His opponent was strong, insanely so, but he had one clear weakness that Izuku could capitalize on. Every time he used that super strength of his, the part of his body that he used would become damaged. Like when he fought Tetsutetsu, his arm looked all cracked before turning purple. The same went for the finger that he used against Shinso. Sure those injuries got healed up, but only once the match was finished. If Izuku used his speed to his advantage, he could just let his opponent's injuries pile up until he could not continue. Or just let him injure himself enough and then use Divine Dividing to sap half of his strength so that it could be used against him. Both were sound plans.

By the time Izuku had figured out what he was going to do, Present Mic’s voice called him to the stadium. Taking a breath, he walked out of the room and towards one of the biggest fights of his life.

“Alright, alright,” came Present Mic’s energetic voice. “Ladies and gentlemen. Pros from all around the world. I hope you are ready because the final match of the first year's Sports Festival is about to begin. Coming in from the left we have the plainest-looking boy you will ever see! But don’t let that fool you because he has taken down some of his rival class’s heaviest hitters! Give a shout-out to the kid Aizawa wanted to kick out of the hero program on the first day: Izuku Midoriya!”

As Aizawa’s incoherent grumblings filled the airways, the 1-B student made his way toward the center of the arena.

“But, does he have what it takes to take down the last of 1-A’s heaviest hitters?” continued Mic. “Coming in from the right, we have the teen with the strength of the mountains themselves! The living embodiment of what it means to be manly. Let’s give it up for the powerhouse: Eijiro Kirishima!”

Izuku took a breath, watching as his redheaded opponent made his way to the arena. Kirishima looked embarrassed as he walked across the field, scratching the back of his head while his class cheered him on. Yet, when he got onto the arena floor, he didn’t stop. Instead, he kept moving towards the green-haired youth with a sharp-toothed smile on his face. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw that Midnight was watching this closely and seemed ready to step in should something go wrong.

Finally, Kirishima stood in front of Midoriya with his eyes downcast slightly.

“Your fight with Baku-bro,” began the 1-A boy. “You had a chance to get back at him for what he did to you in the cafeteria, you know? Could have just let him fall after breaking his arm. Heck, you could have just kicked him while you were both still in the air to knock him out of the ring.” As he said this, Kirishima lifted his head to show that he was smiling with those sharp teeth of his before reaching out his hand. “But instead, you took the high road with my buddy. You brought him back down to the ground safely even though he didn’t like it. That’s super manly of you bro. And that makes you alright in my books.”

Izuku felt his cheeks heat up before taking the other teen’s hand in his own, giving Kirishima an honest quirk-free handshake.

“T-Thanks,” he managed to say.

“But don’t go thinking that just because you helped out my best bud I’ll go easy on you. I plan on winning this,” added Kirishima.

“You’re not the only one,” replied the Divine Divider as the two ended their handshake. “So come at me with everything you have and I’ll do the same!”

Kirishima grinned wildly at that. “Alright!” exclaimed the teen as he gave Midoriya a thumbs up. “Looks like this is going to be one manly fight!”

“Oh my!” swooned Midnight, gaining everyone’s attention. “Such passion before the match. Oh, it’s really doing something for me now!”

Both students, as well as most men in the audience, turned bright red as Midnight squirmed from her spot on the stage. Her face had a blush that almost hid the blood running down her nose. Almost.

Once the crowd had gotten over their shock and embarrassment over Midnight’s statement, the cheers grew to their highest volume yet as both students took their places on either side of the arena. Izuku activated Divine Dividing, his wings on full display causing his class to go wild. At the same time, Kirishima’s body took on a more jagged and rocky appearance while his class did their best to cheer him on. The teens, however, blocked everything going on around them out as their eyes locked onto the others. The only sound to get through to them was Midnight’s voice when she told them to begin.

Like a flash, Izuku was zipping around the stadium. While doing this, the teen kept his eyes on Kirishima who was visibly having a hard time keeping track of the flying teen. Seeing this, Izuku shot at full speed with his legs in front of him. The green-haired teen’s feet connected with his opponent’s right shoulder with a force so powerful that it sent a shock wave through the stadium, sending plenty of litter flying up into the air. Yet, despite making contact, Kirishima stood there like that kick had been the equivalent of a fly landing on him!

‘Ok, so he’s not just strong but also has an amazing defense!’ thought Izuku as he took in this new information.

Seeing Kirishima raising a clawed hand, Izuku shot back into the sky before his opponent could swipe at him. But as he gained distance, the green-haired teen looked back in time to see the redhead preparing to flick a finger at him. Though, that wasn’t the interesting thing. As Kirishima held his hand out aiming at the flying teen, Izuku noticed what looked like glowing red veins of power on that finger. Before Midoriya could ponder about it some more, the hardening quirk user flicked his finger! The result sent a massive, uncontrollable whirlwind of air at Izuku while also creating a number of cracks on the user’s finger. And while Midoriya was thrown around a bit by the powerful winds he was able to quickly right himself.

That didn’t stop Kirishima as he readied another finger to flick at Izuku, the same veins appearing on that digit as well. Spotting this, Izuku flew faster out of the way at the very last moment and avoided the attack altogether.

‘It’s like a volcano,’ thought Izuku as he continued to analyze his opponent with growing excitement. ‘That strength is like magma, pooling into a certain point before it erupts. That’s so amazing!’

‘Focus partner! Focus!’ snapped Albion.

‘I am!’ As Izuku thought this, he dodged another attack from Kirishima. Then another. Each finger flick sending another blast of air toward the audience, causing them to cry out in both shock and amazement. Now, four figures on his dominant hand were cracked and the teen looked like he was in pain.

Believing that now was the right moment, Izuku flew around the stadium once more so that he was nothing more than a blur. Kirishima could do nothing but stand there, unable to keep track of his opponent but keeping his cool. That is, however, until Izuku appeared right behind him while placing a hand on the teen’s rocky back.

“Divide!” declared Izuku. A mass of power filled the teen, causing him to cry out in pain. Not even the Nomu he had drained that first time had this much strength! So it was no surprise to Midoriya as his wings shattered, causing him to fall to the ground.

“Uh…so much…power,” grunted Izuku as he forced himself to stand, his body still feeling the sting from the strain.

‘Yes,’ commented Albion, using the tone that indicated he was nodding. ‘It is remarkable that he has that much power flowing through his veins. However, that power has now been cut in half so he should be easier to-’

Albion’s words were cut off as Kirishima turned on Izuku, his uninjured fist raised to attack. A rush of adrenaline flowed through the forest-haired teen, giving him the strength he needed to push away at the last moment before the blow connected. That was the only good news as Kirishima’s attack was powerful enough to create massive cracks in the arena that webbed their way from one end to the other. What’s worse was the fact that his arm looked to be completely intact!

Slowly, Kirishima raised his arm up to the sky seeming to inspect it with a look of awe and wonder.

“Whoa,” said the redhead before turning to look at Izuku with a grin. “I don’t want this to sound like I’m bragging or anything, but I have so much strength that it was a real challenge controlling it! But this? Much easier! Thanks, man.”

‘Oh, well, ah…mistakes have been made.’ As the sheepish words of Albion rang through Midoriya’s head, Kirishima threw a punch in the direction of the Divine Didier managed. While Izuku managed to dodge the attack, the force of the blow still created winds that sent him flying. The crowd watched in shock and awe as the 1-B student was flung backward before rolling for some distance only stopping close to the edge of the ring.

Gritting his teeth, Izuku managed a back flip onto his feet before racing away from the edge while the crowd cheered wildly. Kirishima was not standing idly either, running towards his green-haired opponent with a wild smile on his face. Izuku reached him first, getting low while trying to knock him off balance with a sweeping kick. Unfortunately for him, Kirishima’s leg barely budged. Taking barely a moment to process this, Izuku changed tactics as he sent an upward kick from this position aimed at his opponent's jaw. While the blow connected perfectly, Kirishima acted as though he felt nothing. Instead, the 1-A student grabbed Midoriya by the leg before flinging him to the side in the hopes that he would be sent out of bounds. Thankfully, Izuku managed to twist himself in midair before landing on the ground so he would be able to stop himself.

However, Izuku's respite was brief for Kirishima had already leaped high into the air with his fists clasped together above his head. Izuku reacted more out of instinct than anything else, racing away from the spot before Kirishima struck the cement. The ground behind Midoriya erupted, stony shrapnel impaling his back before he was sent flying to the other side of the arena. This time, Izuku nearly did land out of bounds as his head was so very close to the edge. With a groan, Midoriya pushed himself off of the ground before standing on shaky legs waiting for the dust to settle.

As he waited, Izuku tried to activate Divine Dividing once more in the hope that it would allow him to somewhat make this fight more even. Yet there was nothing. Things were not looking good for him. He was tired, both from the fight and the loss of blood as he could feel his life fluid slowly moving down his back. His attacks were not strong enough to hurt his opponent when his rocky skin was activated. Not to mention that Kirishima was now able to use the super strength of his quirk without fearing its repercussions.

However, Izuku refused to throw in the towel. No, that was not what a real hero would do. After all, he still had everything he needed. Two arms, two legs, and a brain to use. He just needed to figure it out.

So, as Kirishima walked out of the dust cloud with smoke rising from his hardened body, Izuku began to process what he had seen so far. Looking for any sort of weakness. Well, for starters, Kirishima didn’t seem to gain a speed boost. At least, not that he had noticed. As for his fighting capabilities, calling the 1-A student a brawler would be generous.

Then, Izuku noticed something interesting. Kirishima seemed to stumble a bit, nearly tripping on some upturned rock. Eyeing widening at that, Izuku looked behind his opponent to see that the ground behind him was composed of either jagged rocks or small platforms. Taking his attention back to the redhead, Izuku could see that he was beginning to tire out. No doubt from the fight so far as well as pain from his broken fingers. But there was something else. Something that could only truly be seen up close. Kirishima’s body was losing some of its edges. It looked far less jagged and rocky. Was there a time limit to it or was it like tensing a muscle, something he couldn’t hold forever? Whatever the case, it looked like Kirishima’s time in this form was coming to a close.

So, an idea came to him. It was a stupid, reckless idea that might get him killed if he wasn’t careful. Not to mention turning off a number of pros watching. Yet it was the only thing he could think of doing. Thus, Izuku got into his fighting stance.

“Kirishima!” called out Izuku. “I’ve only got one shot at defeating you. So I’m coming at you with everything I have left!”

At that, the redhead grinned as he raised his own fist.

“Oh, that is so manly! Let’s finish this Midori-bro!” exclaimed Kirishima.

With that, Izuku charged forward while yelling at the top of his lungs. He could hear Present Mic yelling over the speakers, wondering out loud if Midoriya had lost his mind! The crowd's noise was almost deafening, but Izuku pressed forward until he was right in front of Kirishima. The redhead launched a punch from his uninjured hand, just as Izuku knew he would. So with the hardening quirk user putting his weight behind the blow, Midoriya twisted his body to go behind Kirishima while hooking the other teen’s leg with his own. This caused the teen to go off balance, falling to the ground face, and fist, first. As for Izuku, he managed to plant his other leg onto Kirishima’s back before launching himself away.

Just in time too. As the blow from Kirishima connected with the arena floor, the cement instantly shattered in what felt like a massive explosion. Massive cracks spider-webbed their way across the floor, sending streams of debris up into the air to create a cloud of dust. Then, when it was over, the crowd gasped to see that the arena that had taken so much punishment over the course of the day lay in ruins! Now it appeared more like an island chain of platforms with large gashes separating them from each other going all the way to the grassy earth below. Midnight looked concerned but allowed the match to continue as such.

As Kirishima got to his feet, he stumbled a little as the piece of cement he was standing on could barely hold him. That and he was panting heavily now as his hardened body looked almost gone. Meanwhile, Izuku was putting the final piece of his plan into action as he jumped from platform to platform without losing any of his speed. Kirishima tried to jump to the next platform, ready to continue the fight but stumbled with the landing so badly that he began swinging his arms wildly to keep himself from falling face-first into the ground.

That was the moment Izuku knew he had to strike. With Kirishima still trying to steady himself, Midoriya moved behind the redhead before leaping up into the air with all the might he had in his legs. Slightly above his opponent, Izuku spun himself into a ball the same way he had during the entrance exam before delivering a powerful axe kick to Kirishima’s shoulder. A loud crack was heard followed by Kirishima’s scream, the remains of his rocky skin vanishing. The redhead fell to his knees clutching his broken shoulder with his broken fingers while sweat began to pour down his face. As for Izuku, he fumbled the landing badly due to his now broken foot. The green-haired teen fell to his side, gritting his teeth in pain as an arm dangled off the cracked edges inside the arena. But neither of them was out yet.

Slowly Izuku and Kirishima began to rise, ready to continue the fight as the crowd went silent. The crowd seemed to know that the fight was nearing its end. Neither teen could use their quirk, but the fierce look of determination they had in their eyes told the other that this wasn’t over. That they would continue to push themselves and go Plus Ultra. And now, on this little island that Kirishima had accidentally made, all it would take was a single slip-up to end the match.

Once they got to their feet, Izuku saw Kirishima raise his injured arm while the other hung limply at his side due to his broken shoulder. The Hardening teen staggered for a moment before charging at Izuku the best he could. At the same time, Izuku struggled to get into his proper stance due to the strain of his broken foot. As his eyes watered, he noticed something about Kirishima’s arm. The veins he had noticed before were back, glowing as they webbed across the other boy’s skin! As much as Izuku wanted to theorize what that meant, his survival instincts promptly slapped his curiosity upside the head! He glanced quickly to his right and then his left, but there was nowhere to go. No way to dodge this save for the most reckless and dangerous option. His other options were to take the hit and die or quickly shout that he surrendered.

It took a split second for Izuku to make up his mind. Gritting his teeth, Izuku stood his ground waiting for the blow. Midnight was shouting something, Cementoss getting ready to move to action as well. But, just before the attack hit, Izuku leaned back allowing the fist to sail over his body. The teachers saw this, stopping to watch as the 1-B student then quickly clung to the arm, wrapping his own arms around it before the wind generated by the attack could be formed. Kirishima was quickly thrown off balance by this unexpected weight, his body bending downwards. Just then, Izuku’s feet planted themselves into the hardening teen’s gut. The crowd went deafly silent as Kirishima’s body was tossed over by this maneuver, half of his body landing on the edge of the small island of cement they were on with his feet touching the grass.

“What is this!?!” cried Present Mic as the crowd went wild once more. “No, seriously: what is this? Is it a ring out or what?”

That’s when Midnight held up her whip. “According to the rules, you are out if you touch any part of the ground outside the arena floor. While Kirishima did not move out of bounds, he did touch the ground that was not a part of the arena. So with that in mind and seeing how neither contestant is able to continue fighting, I declare that Izuku Midoriya is the winner!”

-x-

A short while later, a patched-up Izuku found himself being raised up from underground as he stood on the first-place podium. Before him stood all of the first years, looking back at him with a mixture of pride, awe, and even envy. He could easily spot his friends, Istuka giving him a thumbs up while Toga blew kissing at him and one of the people on the third place podium. As for Shinso, the brainwashing teen gave him a thankful wave while being surrounded by his fellow General Studies classmates who were treating him like he was the true winner of all this. Meanwhile, class 1-A didn’t seem too upset that it wasn’t a member of their class standing at the top save for two. Monoma looked like he was doing everything in his power to pretend that there was no first-place spot. As for the other, well…

Bakugo was situated in the back of the pack, heavily retrained in a manner that some would consider overkill. Numerous straps bound his body to a special lifting dolly, his hands and feet seeming to be encased in heavy-weighted armor. There was also a metal frame that surrounded his body from the neck down while his mouth was gagged. And despite all that the school had down, it still didn’t seem like enough for the moment Bakugo saw Izuku on the podium his rage gave him additional strength. He began to rock back and forth, doing everything in his power to inch his way to Izuku so that he could ring his neck. Muffled curses could be heard, no doubt trying to call Izuku a thief again.

Not wanting to look at those bloodshot, angry eyes anymore, Izuku turned his attention to the person on the second-tallest podium. Standing there to his right was Kirishima, scratching the back of his head and looking a little embarrassed as the crowd cheered him on.

“Hey,” said the green-haired teen, gaining the attention of the 1-A student. “I hope there are no hard feelings. You know, about how the match ended.”

“Heck no,” replied Kirishima. “That was one of the most manly fights I’ve ever been in. The way you stood your ground and used my own strength against me was just so cool! Besides, I was on my last leg anyway. Can’t wait to see how things turn out next year when I get more control over my strength!” With that, that redhead let out a laugh while never noticing Izuku’s shiver. Would he ever be able to handle the strain of dividing and taking in that level of strength? Only time would tell.

Glancing to his other side, he saw the two who were tied for third place. As always, Pony was super excited as she waved to the crowd. As for the other student who had tied for the position, Uraraka just looked a little embarrassed.

Finally, the moment came for the metal to be handed out. And who better to do it was the school’s most famous alumni as well as the current holder of the number one hero: All Might! Upon seeing this, Izuku was practically vibrating in place. One by one, the great hero placed the metals around the necks of each student, giving them words of both praise as well as words of wisdom before embracing them in a hug. 

Finally, it was Izuku’s turn.

“Young Midoriya, I remember the first time I saw you,” began All Might. “A nervous young man who was low on points, yet risked everything to save a random stranger. You stood up and defeated a foe that many of your fellow examinees feld from, not by overpowering it but by being cunning and creative. Skills which I am glad to see you have not thrown away. And it is my hope that you never do.”

“I won’t All Might,” responded Izuku as the pro hero placed the medal around his neck.

Nodding, All Might turned while making a sweeping gesture towards the camera. “Now then young man,” said the smiling hero. “How about we hear some inspiring words from you to close this day of the Sports Festival?”

For a moment, Izuku’s brain froze as he stared at his reflection in one of the lens. He could see it zooming in on him, getting a close-up of his face to be broadcast all across the world. So that everyone could see and hear what he had to say. The teen could feel his mouth hanging open, completely blindsided by this. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that he wasn’t the only one freaking out. Midnight, it was giving All Might a look that screamed “Are you CRAZY?”. Seeing that, it became clear to the young hero that All Might had decided to do this on his own. That had the school wanted this, they would have informed the young man sooner so that he could get his thoughts together.

After a moment longer of awkward silence, Izuku took a breath. He guessed this was another case of All Might wanting to go Plus Ultra. After all, heroes had to give on-the-spot interviews and the like all the time. So maybe this was just practice?

So, all that he could do was tell the world what he had always wanted to hear.

-x-

Meanwhile, at the same time, Melissa Shield sat at the drawing board within her personal lab on I-Island as she worked on the design of her next project. The idea she had was a pair of special gauntlets that would be able to absorb high levels of impact and protect the user from the backlash of their own power. If she was correct, someone like her Uncle Might would be able to able to use them several times before they broke.

While working on the design, the television was playing the U.A. Sports Festival in the background. A part of her winced every so often as she listened as memories of an old dream would rise up from the depths of her heart where she buried them. A dream of being a hero which she knew she could never have as she was quirkless. However, she never changed the channel as she used this to focus on her new dream. To be like her father and create support gear for heroes. It was the closest that someone like her could ever get to being a hero. And keeping tabs on some of the future heroes was a good move as she could start coming up with ideas to help make them better. But that would come after she finished-

“For the longest time, I thought I was quirkless,” came a voice from the TV. Instantly, Melissa stopped what she was doing as her eyes widened behind her glasses. For the span of a single breath, her pencil trembled in her hand before she looked at the screen. There stood this years first place winner, a somber expression on his face as he looked at the camera with honest eyes.

“I’m sure that many of you witnessed what happened during my last match,” continued the green-haired boy, Melissa standing up before walking closer to the screen. “How my quirk failed me when I tried to use it against Kirishima, rendering me quirkless throughout the rest of that match. Fighting an opponent that was much stronger than I was. I’m sure many people out there thought it was crazy to continue fighting in that condition. That I should just give up. That I shouldn’t even try. That I was useless in that state.” Melissa watched as the teen briefly closed his eyes before shaking his head. “Before coming to U.A., I was taught my most important lesson: all of us are born with all the tools we need. Two arms, two legs, and a brain to use if we are wise. We just need to figure it out. It’s because of those words that have helped me forge who I am now. And it can be the same for everyone who has a dream worth fighting for! It doesn’t matter if you have a strong quirk, a weak quirk, or none at all. We are all more than our quirks! We are all born with all the tools we need! All you need to do is put in the time and effort to figure out what works for you. It might not work all the time! It will be difficult and you might fall on your face more than once. But that’s what it means to go Plus Ultra!”

As the crowd gave the boy a cheer, Melissa fell to her knees while missing the uncomfortable look that All Might was giving the winner. Her mind was reeling from what she had heard. What he was saying, it couldn’t be true. Could it? She couldn’t be a hero, her body wasn’t strong enough. She just…

Melissa’s head then shot up, her eyes growing wide. Quickly she scrambled to her drawing board, ripping her old sketch off the moment she was seated in front of it. That green-haired boy was right! She may not have a quirk, but she was damned smart. Smart enough to figure out what she needed.

-x-

At the same time, a man with dirty blue hair watched from his computer scene of the Sacred Gear holder giving his stupid little speech. While the man-child’s master was pleased to see the new holder of One for All in action for his own purposes, Shigaraki found himself unable to care. No, he wanted the boy with the wings. The one who weakened his Nomu with his cheat hack. A cheat hack that only HE was supposed to have. What’s more, he was going to make that entire class pay! From that guy with the steel quirk who stood up to them first to the freaking psychopath that dropped a freaking robot on them!

-x-

After the Sports Festival ended, the first years were given the next few days off to recover while the school began looking into the number of requests they got from pros.

When they returned to their homeroom on Monday, before class began, everyone was excitedly talking about all the people who congratulated them on their performances. Kendo, Izuku noticed, blushed when she brought up her experiences. Apparently, the media had found out that she and Izuku had trained in the same dojo. Once their fans found out, the place was swarmed by people asking her all sorts of questions. Many of them were people with less flashy quirks like her own, praising how cool she looked when she fought Bakugo.

“It was kind of embarrassing considering how I lost,” admitted Itsuka.

“Honestly, I thought you did really well,” said Izuku. “And, well, they’re not lying when they said you looked really cool out there.”

As he said that, Izuku felt his cheeks burn as though Bakugo had unleashed multiple explosions on each one. And, at the same time, Kendo’s face began to turn bright red as well.

Thankfully, before the situation could become awkward, the doors to the class opened to reveal Vlad King and, surprisingly, Present Mic. After the students took their seats their homeroom teacher congratulated them all on their hard work. Then he informed them that before he showed them their results they were all going to be picking out their hero names with the help of Present Mic. Something that got a big cheer from everyone there.

Everyone was given a few minutes to decide, writing their names on a whiteboard before presenting them to the class. While many of the students were nervous, Present Mic told them to think about it like they were announcing this to the press. Shouting out to the world who they were.

After time had been given to them, Izuku watched as his classmates presented their names. Itsuka had gone with the name Battle Fist. Shishida wanted to be called Mr. Noble Beast as a proper hero name, only for Present Mic to shoot it down for being ‘too lame’. In the end, the proper teen decided to go with Gevaudan. Pony nearly bounced to the front to present the name Rocketti while Toga had gone with the more ominous title of Nobody. As for Izuku, when it was his turn, he had decided to take Vlad King’s words to heart and use the name that had been an insult to him as his hero name. However, the name Deku would no longer mean nothing. Instead, it would stand for ‘you can do it’!

Once that was finished, Class 1-B got to see their results…though they were disappointed that they didn’t get as much as they were hoping. Izuku, who had placed at the top, barely got over nine hundred offers with the rest getting drastically less. The reason this was upsetting was that they heard that some of the students in 1-A got offers in the thousands.

‘If I had to guess, it's because the quirks in 1-A are flashier than ours,’ thought Izuku. ‘That and the fact that the son of the number two hero is in that class.’

‘Perhaps so,’ commented Albion. ‘However, those who only look at such trivial things are unworthy of our attention. So pay them no heed. Instead, focus on the ones who seek your true worth.’

‘You’re right,’ agreed Izuku.

Soon, sheets were handed out to those who were given offers sorted by the rank of the heroes. What surprised Izuku was the fact that Endeavour was at the top of his list! This was odd seeing that the pro hero normally kept sidekicks that had something to do with fire, either controlling it or dousing it out. And Izuku didn’t really fit into that category. For a moment, the teen considered his options before placing the man in the maybe pile. Endeavor was skilled, he had to be to keep the number two rank for so long. But, the man’s demeanor was the exact opposite of what Izuku wanted to be known for. That as well as a feeling that Endeavor wanted him for something else. Still, this was a great possibility so if nothing else caught his eye then he would-

Izuku’s thoughts were cut off as he looked at the next offer. He had expected it to be Hawks, seeing that they were both flyers but it wasn’t. It wasn’t even someone that Izuku had ever considered before! But now, looking at the name with wide-eyed wonder, it made sense. It was the Rabbit Hero: Mirko!

Chapter Text

“You wanted to see me?” asked Izuku after he was allowed into Nezu’s office. As he closed the door behind him, he noticed that the windows were shut tight preventing the early morning rays from entering the room. Seeing the Principal sitting in his chair, paws pressed together while a fan spun painfully slow above his head within this heavily shadowed room created a ball of fear to begin growing within the teen’s gut. Not helped by the fact that Vlad was standing next to Nezu’s chair with his arms folded across his chest while Aizawa stood slumped over on the opposite side with his hands in his pockets. While he could not see Vlad’s features in the dim light, he could feel Aizawa’s eyes following him.

‘This isn’t looking good,’ thought Izuku, sweat rolling down his face. ‘Albion, do you think they figured out I don’t have a quirk? Are they going to question me about how I can do all the things I can do with Divine Dividing? Or are they going to tell me that there was a mistake and I really got no offers?’

‘Both seem doubtful,’ replied Albion with a yawn. Something that surprised Izuku. Could a soul get tired? Did he need to rest? But before he could start diving into his theories, the ancient dragon continued. ‘Instead of worrying about what it might be, I suggest that you wait and find out what the issue at hand is. Then we shall take it from there.’

Mentally nodding his head, Izuku came before the desk of Nezu.

“Ah, young Midoriya,” said the Principal in a chipper tone that greatly contrasted with the environment. “Please, forgive us for calling you in so early before classes began. There is something vitally important that we need to discuss. Something that should have been brought to your attention sooner, yet due to some last-minute changes it was delayed.” Upon hearing that, Izuku felt himself stiffen which, in turn, caused the disheveled man to glare at him even more.

“Ah, sorry,” began Izuku, thousands of beads of sweat rolling down his entire body now. “But what is this about?”

“Why, it’s your special first-place reward for winning the Sports Festival!” exclaimed Nezu as he threw up his hands.

“Huh?” was all Izuku could say to that, Albion echoing the sentiment in his head. Glancing over to his homeroom teacher, he could see that his teacher was looking a little sheepish.

“You see,” began Vlad King after clearing his throat. “Normally the first-place winner of the Sports Festival is given an additional prize in the form of tickets to attend the I-Island Expo. I was going to tell you yesterday after you and everyone else got back from your little break, however, the usual official confirmation that we receive has yet to be sent.” The tall man then let out a heavy sigh before continuing. “The reason I never pulled you aside yesterday to inform you about this was because I didn’t know if the situation had changed. Didn’t want you to get all excited about something you might not be attending.”

“Which is why I personally contacted them last night,” said Nezu, cutting into the conversation. “After all, we need to give you time in order to make the necessary arrangements to attend. They understand and have asked me to relay to you that you will, indeed, be attending the Expo this weekend as a special guest. As for the tickets, it seems that the officials at I-Island are-”

“Being irrational,” interrupted Aizawa, earning him an eye roll from Vlad and a light chuckle from Nezu.

“I was going to say that they are being met with a rather unusual request at this moment,” said Nezu happily. “Something that requires them to deliberate on. Still, as I said, you shall be attending the I-Island Expo.”

“Really!?!” Izuku all but shouted, the fear vanishing from his features as his eyes seemed to light up with excitement. He was only vaguely aware that he was leaning closer to the chimera-like creature, but such things as personal space seemed so insignificant at this moment. Why? Because never in his wildest dreams did he ever expect to go to the I-Island Expo! Located on a manmade island, it housed some of the greatest minds in all of the world whose sole purposes were to study quirks as well as creating some of the top support gear. The island was also like its own little country with its own form of governess. Normally, the government of the island heavily restricted travel to and from. But, during the Expo, the rules were loosened to allow people from all around the world to see their latest findings! Heroes from around the world would be gathering, support companies would be in attendance, and so much more. If you loved all things hero-related, you HAD to visit at least one Expo in your life.

If you could afford the ticket that is.

“Yes, really,” laughed Nezu, pressing a paw on Izuku’s nose which had gotten a bit too close. “You and one other person of your choosing will be departing for I-Island this Friday. Once there, you shall be receiving first-class services in one of their top hotels for the next three days and two nights. All meals shall be provided for you and your guest along with a special pass granting you admission to any of the events. Though they may ask you to participate in some of the demonstrations and the like. You will also be required to attend certain events, such as a ballroom gala where some of the top heroes and CEOs of support companies will be in attendance.”

“Of course, you do realize that, while you are there, you will be representing U.A.,” added Aizawa. “Your behavior at the Expo will reflect heavily on us. So, do try to keep some of your less desirable habits in check. The last thing we want to hear is how you pestered every hero there with details on their quirks as well as getting their autographs.”

At that, Izuku’s face turned beat red before Vlad spoke up. “Just try to keep in mind that everyone there is trying to relax and have a good time as well. Do that and I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“Well, if we’re finished, then I’ll take my leave,” said Aizawa as he bent down, picking up a sleeping bag that Izuku hadn’t noticed. Once it was slung over the man’s shoulder, Aizawa gave the Divine Divider one last look before walking towards the door.

“Hold on,” said Vlad before Aizawa could even reach for the door handle. The shabby man turned to look at the muscular man in red, her eyes showing just how irritated he was at this moment. “Don’t you have something else you wanted to tell Midoriya?”

For a moment there was silence within the dark room, broken only by Nezu as he sipped from his teen. However, Izuku managed to focus the majority of his attention on Aizawa as the man was now looking right back at him. No, it was more than looking. The man seemed to be sizing up the teen once more in a critical manner that caused the teen to grow a bit more stiff. Then, when Aizawa narrowed his eyes, Izuku began to sweat.

“Very well,” said Aizawa as he then turned to give Izuku his full attention. “While you have shown that you have improved by some degree during the Sports Festival, I still stand by my decision that you should have been placed in General Studies. The only reason you were able to succeed was thanks to half-thought-out rulings made in the heat of the moment. Do not even get me started on your fight with Kirishima. If that had been a real villain fight, the moment your quirk became usable was the moment you became a liability to all those around you. The more rational thing would have been to forfeit rather than to damage your own body on a long shot chance that the ruling would have been set in your favor.”

For a moment, Izuku stood there trembling under the harsh gaze of the man in black. Something about the man’s eyes just sent a shiver down his very being for a reason he did not completely understand. However, despite that, Izuku felt something swelling up within him. This man was discounting all the effort he had put into the festival, trying to claim that he had just gotten lucky. But what hurt him the most was that last comment. That he should have just given up. Well, that just wouldn’t do.

“Wait,” cried out Izuku as Aizawa reached for the door. The tired man turned, giving the green-haired kid before him a look of annoyance, yet Izuku continued after taking a breath. “If that had been a real villain fight like you said, and I ran away, what would have happened to all the people I was trying to protect? They could have been hurt or killed.”

“Perhaps,” replied Aizawa, his expression becoming unreadable now.

Seeing that he had the man’s attention, Izuku continued. “You’re right, I did take a gamble with the ruling. Hoping that if I got Kirishima off that fragment of the arena then it would count as an out-of-bounds. And I know that, in real life, something like that will never happen. But, I think I proved that I won’t become a liability if something like that happens to my quirk out in the field. That I can at least buy time for the people around me to get to safety or hold off the villain until help arrives. What’s more, I think I showed everyone that I’m more than just a kid with wings who can steal strength.”

“Not a one-trick pony. Good response,” replied Aizawa, lifting his head a little to reveal the creepiest smile that would haunt Izuku’s dreams for years to come. Then, without another word, the man left.

“Seriously, why couldn’t he have just said that he was impressed,” grumbled Vlad, shaking his head.

“Who knows what goes on in that man’s head sometimes,” replied Nezu. “Regardless, the two of you had better be on your way. I am expecting maintenance to be here soon. Honestly, we can build giant robots in a day but it takes more than a week for someone to get around to finally fixing my lights and automatic windows!”

-x-

“Morning Izuku,” said Kendo happily, waving at her green-haired best friend as he pocketed his phone while walking in through the door. However, her expression took on a more concerned look as she began to take in her friend’s downcast stance. His shoulders slumped, head down, feet practically dragging as he made his way to his desk. All without ever saying a word to her which was unusual in and of itself! When he finally got to his seat, Izuku placed his arms on top of the desk before his head fell down onto them. The only thing that was needed to make this picture of depression utterly perfect was having a tiny raincloud appearing above the boy’s head.

“Izuku?” spoke Itsuka, slowly approaching the desk while gaining the attention of a few other people in the room.

“Sir Midoriya, is something the matter?” asked Shishida.

Lifting his head slightly, Izuku peeked a glance at his beast-man friend before glancing over at Kendo. The sight of her worried expression caused him to wince slightly. Then he pulled himself upright as he forced himself to smile.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “I guess I’m just making a big deal out of nothing.” Itsuka looked ready to say that ‘it didn’t seem like nothing’ but stopped when the light in Izuku’s eyes began to return. His green pupils seemed to shine while the rest of his eyes widened as he looked at the orange-haired girl. “Itsuka, are you doing anything this weekend?”

At first, the Class Rep was a little taken aback by this yet managed to compose herself quickly enough that only one person noticed. That one person being Toga. The vampire girl had been watching Izuku from her seat since the moment he walked in. But now that he was talking and looking like life had been returned to him, the little bloodsucker was inching closer to his seat. Using her skills, she seemed to sink lower behind her desk until she was completely out of sight before rising up in a completely different seat closer to them.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” replied Kendo. “I mean, just the usual. Helping my dad around the dojo. Helping my mom with the chores. Getting a good workout in. Why? Do you need my help with something?”

“No,” replied Izuku, looking relieved as he shook his head. “I was just wondering if you wanted to be my plus one at the I-Island Expo this weekend.”

“WHAT?!?” yelled Toga as she popped into existence in the middle of the group. Ignoring everyone else, the blood quirk user turned her attention to the green-haired boy who was shockingly getting used to her sudden appearances. As he stared at her calmly, Toga bent down with her fingers on the desk as tears began to form in her eyes. “You have tickets to I-Island?”

“Yeah, it's one of my prizes for winning the Sports Festival,” answered Izuku. “And I’m allowed to bring one other person.” As Himiko’s jaw hit the surface of the desk, Kendo began scratching her chin.

“Wow. I mean, ah,” stammered Itsuka awkwardly as she looked away, her cheeks slightly tinted red as she scratched at one side of her face with a single finger. “Are you sure you want to invite me to something like that? Don’t know if there’s really anything there for me. Plus there are probably other people out there that you probably invite instead.”

 “Well, you see,” began Izuku, looking down as he spoke. However, before he could spiral back into despair, the teen managed to shake himself out of it. “You don’t have to worry about anyone else. But if you don’t want to go I understand. I just thought that you might enjoy the motorcycle show that they have there.” As Izuku said this, everyone in the room could hear the familiar sound of a record screeching to a halt. Slowly everyone turned to look at Itsuka as her body began to twitch uncontrollably.

“M-Motorcycle s-show?” she repeated.

“Yeah,” said Izuku with a nod. “I look up the events every year. Heroes and support companies will be bringing a number of vehicles from around the world and putting them up for display for people to get a look. From planes, boats, cars, and even motorcycles. Plus we’ll be allowed to have our pictures taken with the heroes who ride them. We’ll even be able to get a sneak peek at some of the latest heroic models before anyone else in the world. There’s also going to be a panel on support equipment used by martial arts-type heroes and the challenges that quirks add into the equation of making them.”

“YES!” yelled Itsuka, throwing her fists into the air and accidentally causing them to enlarge as she did so. “I’ll go!”

As Izuku smiled happily at the scene, a whimper caught his attention. He turned and nearly fell out of his seat as Toga hadn’t moved a muscle. Instead, a gloomy aura surrounded her.

“No fair,” she complained. “You asked her and no one else.”

“Well, Istuka has done a lot for me,” explained Izuku. “And, to be fair, it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision. But I guess if she had said no I would have asked Pony, Shinshida, and then Shinso if they wanted to go. I mean, I know Pony would have loved to have seen heroes from every culture walking around along with a number of mutation-type quirk users. Not to mention that there are usually a number of high-ranking American Heroes there that she could meet. I’m pretty sure that Shishida would enjoy the panels on heroing and support tech etiquette plus the number of attractions that let you go all out with your quirk. And Shinso would probably be able to get a good idea for the best type of support gear if he managed to get into the hero program.”

At that, Shishida let out a hum. “Ah yes, I would have found that most enjoyable,” said the teen as he placed a hand under his chin. “But, alas, I would have been unable to make it as I have an appointment with my dentist that weekend. It would be rude of me to cancel on such short notice. Nevertheless, I appreciate that you would have thought to include me on your short list Sir Midoriya.”

“So you didn’t think of me at all?” asked Toga.

“No!” cried Izuku holding up his hands. “I mean, there’s always a weapons area in the Expo provided by the support scientists that includes things like knives that I know you would like. They also almost always include the latest in transforming clothing. And, well, there are supposed to be a lot of games and shopping, so I know you would have enjoyed it as well.”

“Then why not even consider asking me?” asked Toga, her eyes growing bigger larger and more moist as she looked at her green-haired friend. A sight that caused Izuku to wince as its power grew greater and greater. It honestly felt like his heart was being squeezed by the amount of hurt she felt for her lack of inclusion.

In the end, Izuku sighed as his head slumped down. “Because…I didn’t want to get you into trouble,” he muttered. Instantly, the saddest puppy dog pout that Himiko could create without drinking the blood of someone with a cute puppy quirk vanished. She tilted her head in confusion, her eyes urging her friend to continue. “You have all these restrictions on you still because of, well, what you did. If I told you about the plus one and you found out you couldn’t go, I was afraid you’d try and sneak out.”

“I,” began Toga, standing up in an instant and holding up a single finger in protest. However, vocalizing that protest turned out to be difficult as she couldn’t find the words that would sound even remotely believable. So inside, she just looked to the side as an ‘ahh’ escaped her lips.

“He’s got a point,” said Kendo, who had just come down from her own excitement high and was giving Toga a frown. “You’d probably not even make it past the front gates. And even if you did manage to sneak out of the school, the moment they discovered you on the Island you’d be finished. They wouldn’t even send you to Principal Nezu’s office. Just straight to jail and we’d never see you again.”

“N-No,” whimpered Toga as the reality of the words she was hearing began to sink in. About the fate she really, really didn’t want to befall her now that her mind was clear. Being in jail was bad, but being separated from all the people she loved was far worse! Even if they were allowed to visit her, which she knew in her heart they would at least try to do so, there would be a glass wall separating them! She wouldn’t get a chance to hold them, feel their hair, drink their blood, or do any of the things she still wanted to do with them. But she still wanted to go so badly! It would be like the cutest date of all time! On an island, watching her green-haired friend nerd out before she pulled him away to do some stuff she wanted to do with him… one-on-one.

Slowly, the ideas of what they could do reared their head, causing the girl to smile. She could see them heading down to the beach, hand in hand. How he would become flustered in that adorable manner when she showed off her cute bikini. Or would he get even more flustered when she came out of the water, hair matted down and skin glistening with the ocean right behind her? Then she could get him to put some sunscreen on her…Wait a moment! Will they get separate hotel rooms or will they be right next to each other? Well, it didn’t matter because…

“I WON’T LET THIS STAND!” declared Toga, her nose bleeding a little as rated X thoughts entered her mind. Before her face could turn red, she dashed out the door at speeds that would put the Ida family to shame.

For a moment, 1-B remained where they were in complete silence. Then…

“She is aware that class is starting soon. Right?” asked Tokage.

-x-

In the Nurse’s Office, Asia was sitting at her desk enjoying the moment. Right now, all was at peace within her little world. All Might would not be putting the students through any dangerous exercises for the remainder of the week meaning she wouldn’t have to patch anyone up. In fact, other than handing out some medication, she doubted she would be seeing any students until after the internships. So, as she picked up her teacup, she knew she had to savor every moment of this until-

“AUNTY ASIA!” came a loud cry as the door to the Nurse’s Office was flung open. The blonde devil nun was so shocked that her teacup flew out of her hand well above her head. Thankfully for her, she managed to catch it, breathing a sigh of relief before turning to look at the door. There, still in the doorway with one arm holding the sliding door open, was a heavily breathing Himiko.

“Ahh, yes?” she said.

“How do I get permission to leave this school?!?” yelled Himiko, still slightly panting with her mouth open to reveal her fangs. Though, if one looked closer, they would see that despite being in this state Toga’s pupils looked a bit more heart-shaped than normal.

“Well, maybe if you ask nicely and flatter him a bit the Principal will give you permission?” suggested Asai questioningly.

“Got it! Thanks,” said Toga before slamming the door shut.

-x-

Moments later, Nezu was in his office enjoying the newly fixed lights and working windows. Then…

“Oh Great Rat God,” said Toga as she opened the door unannounced. “This lowly human beseeches you for thy blessing. In your wisdom, please allow me to leave this wonderful school that is under your watch so that I may improve myself at the I-Island Expo? With Izuku Midoriya watching over me of course.”

“Granted!” said Nezu happily, raising his paw as he did so.

“Thank you oh Wise and Wonderful Rat God,” said Toga right before the door slammed shut.

“Wait a moment,” said Nezu. And, as if on cue, the door opened again to show that Toga had yet to run away. In fact, she was the one who opened it as if she had feared something had gone wrong. “What is with calling me a god?”

“I was told to ask nicely and to flatter you if I wanted to go,” answered Toga. “Is there a problem with my approach?”

“Oh no, I was just curious,” replied Nezu.

“So I can still go?” asked Toga.

“Of course,” said Nezu. “Providing that Midoriya did invite you and he fills out the appropriate forms to allow someone in your position to leave campus. Oh, did you know that you are late for homeroom?”

“Crap. Thank you,” said Toga before slamming the door closed again, leaving behind Nezu alone in his office as he began to cackle wildly.

-x-

“You’re late Miss Toga,” said Vlad with a frown as Himiko burst into the room. The poor vampire girl was now panting heavily, having run from one end of the school to the other in record time. As if the school actually did keep track of stuff like this and Himiko had broken the previous record of running in the hallway that had been held by the previous Ida. Though she probably wouldn’t care about this accomplishment right now as she was panting up a storm, sweat running down her face as she slumped into her seat.

“Now then, as I was saying,” continued Vlad King after shooting Toga one last annoyed look. “For the rest of the week, you will not be having the standard hero lessons with All Might. Instead, we will be doing a special heroes vs. villains exercises along with Class 1-A. One that will have the entirety of our classes going up against each other. The first exercise will take place tomorrow with Class 1-A being the heroes while our class will be the villains. On Friday, the roles will be reversed. What’s more, how you do in this exercise will heavily impact your end-of-semester grade, second only to the finals. So I suggest you all take this seriously.”

As the entire class stiffened in their seats, Vlad King pulled out a remote from his belt. After pressing a button on the device, an image appeared on the board behind him showing one of the training grounds that none of them had been in yet but had heard about: Omega. Training Ground Omega was a large forested zone with rocky areas along with a few rivers and a single large lake. If he had to guess, this area was used as an additional rescue training area like the USJ. For emergencies like finding lost hikers or other similar things. But, Izuku knew that it could be used for other things. Like, for example, trying to track runaway villains in the forest as they make a getaway or fighting said villains without destroying the nature around them.

“The scenario will be as follows,” continued Kan. “A large group of villains are making a deal to transport a nuclear bomb via a warp user. Due to the large area and the ‘tip’ that multiple dangerous wanted villains are in the area, heroes from twenty agencies will be gathering to deal with it. It will be up to the heroes to locate where the bomb is hidden and then take out villains before time runs out or to release a special flare signaling the local authorities to advance. While villains can be captured, they cannot break themselves free but can be rescued by other villains.”

“Man, this is going to so Go, er, annoying,” stammered Awase, shooting a quick glance over to Ibara as he managed to correct himself in time. The vine-haired girl briefly narrowed her eyes at him, noticing his almost slip up but said and did nothing.

“Excuse me, Sir Vlad King,” said Shishida as he raised his hand into the air. Once the pro hero gave him a nod, the beast teen continued. “Is the purpose of this exercise to simulate high-stakes raids that require multiple hero agencies to work together?”

“That is part of it,” answered Vlad with a nod. “Once you have your own agencies, there will be times when you are called in for group efforts. However, that will vary depending on the situation. For example, if heroes discover the creation of a large gang or smaller organization like the League of Villains, then heroes from all over that city will be called in. But for more serious cases, the heroes called in will be more selective. Sometimes, a team of heroes will be created when dealing with a specific threat and you will be called in due to either your quirk or the type of experience you can bring to the table. Or there will be serious threats that will shake the foundation of our society that will force us to call upon high-ranking heroes only. So far, All Might has had you working either individually or in pairs. This will be the first time when you are working in such a large group to accomplish your goal. Needless to say, the more power involved with their own beliefs with how to proceed will make things challenging.

“However, there is more to this exercise than just that,” continued Vlad. “When heroes team up, they are not just representing themselves but also their own agencies. This adds to a layer of complexities. How is pay determined for such a large group of people? Who will receive the majority of the credit? Will it be the person who set everything up or will it be the person who captured the most villains? If something goes wrong, who will take the fall? What will it mean to an agency that gets all the positive credit? Or to the one who gets no credit? What if this goes sideways? This is why we will be having a group of local heroes brought in on both dates to act as a panel of judges. Once the exercise ends, they will inform both teams of the most likely scenario that can be expected moving forward.”

Vlad King then paused, looking over at the clock to see that homeroom was just about over. “Alright. This afternoon, you will be meeting over in Training Ground Omega to go over your plan. We are going to be giving you a large amount of freedom with this exercise, just make sure it gets Cementoss’s approval and that there is written documentation of your plan. Remember, you are playing the villains and I expect all of you to take this seriously. The better you can get into the heads of villains, the better you can see through their schemes.”

-x-

“Ah man, this is the life!” exclaimed Kaminari as he leaned back on the leather chair provided for him. It was now after lunch as he, as well as the rest of 1-A, were found in one of the large conference room dressed in their hero attire. In the large, circular room was a table that was shaped like a massive O that had maybe forty chairs similar to the one that Kaminari was sitting at. There were also pitches filled with ice water situated in various locations around the table so that no matter where you sat one would always be in reach along with plenty of glasses.

“You’re telling me,” said Sero as he too leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. He had no idea if what he was seeing was real or just an image on a screen, but it looked like the ceiling was a giant aquarium full of tropic fish. Watching them swimming around was rather soothing. Honestly, he felt like he could watch them all day and feel content.

“Ah, I feel a little uncomfortable,” whispered Uraraka as she looked at the table, wondering if the wood that had been used to make it came from the rainforest. As her family owned a construction company, she had picked up a few tricks to tell her the quality of certain material,s and what she was seeing just screamed ‘super expensive.’

“Who the fuck cares?” snarled Bakugo as he placed his feet on the table, a scowl on his face. “Why are we even doing this?”

“To go over our plan for tomorrow,” said Yaoyorozu as she stood at what most would consider the front of the room. “We’re all going to need to work together if we want to-”

“Yeah right,” scoffed Bakugo. “Like I need the help of any of you extras to take care of those shit stains. The only thing any of you need to do is just stay out of my way while I murder them.”

“Dude, that doesn’t sound very heroic,” said Sero with an eye roll. Then, a smirk appeared on his face as he looked over at the angry blond. “But sure, let’s let you handle them. It’s not like you got dragged around by your nose during the Mountain Climbing event or had your headband stolen by them during the Calvary Battle. Sure, we’ll just let you rush on out there where that Kendo girl will be waiting to turn you all black and blue again before Midoriya just picks you up before setting you down gently in a cell they created."

Bakugo’s chair was flung backward, hitting the wall behind him with so much force that it broke. Now standing, the ashen blonde seethed in rage as small explosions danced in his hand. “Do you want to die?” he snarled.

“Bakugo, enough!” snapped Yaoyorozu, slamming both her palms on the desk. Now she was leaning over the structure in a manner that made Mineta drool, but she ignored it as she kept her focus on the class’s resident hot head. “Bakugo, I will admit that you are one of the most skilled people in this room right now. But even you have your limits. Tell me, are you planning on charging in screaming at the top of your lungs until they find them? Can you take down an entire class of students, some of whom have been shown to be faster and capable of flight? Do you really stand a chance of facing odds like this in an area where they hold the advantage?”

“No,” snapped Bakugo as he walked over to the rich girl. Once he was there, he grabbed a tablet from where she stood and after pressing a few buttons the holographic image of the forest appeared in the opening of the table. “I know that shitty nerd Deku better than anyone here. The coward will try to convince his class to hide here.” With that, Bakugo had the image zoom in on an area in the back. It was rocker than the rest, the terrain more hostile to those walking around. “It’s an ideal place for someone like him to hide. Forces us to move through the entire forest, wasting time. Then, when we get there, we’ll have to scale this shit slowly if we want to navigate it like a group for fucking preschoolers! More time wasted, letting that coward run out the clock to give them a win.”

While no one said it out loud, many of those in 1-A found themselves agreeing with what Bakugo was saying. Well, not on Midoriya’s character or any of the other vulgar things he was spewing, but the spot made sense as a naturally fortified location. The jagged rocks there would make using things like Sero’s tape dangerous as it could be cut easily. The forest was also more dense, making open combat more difficult. But still, if he was wrong…

“Well put that down as a possibility,” said Yaoyorozu. “But I think we should have a few more ideas to help us narrow the scope down.”

“You saying I’m wrong Ponytail?!?” yelled Bakugo.

“You might be,” said Shoji, earning the ire of Bakugo. Not that the masked teen seemed to care all that much as he continued. “There are other people in 1-B other than Midoriya. I’d rather not allow your beef with him to be the reason we fail in this exam. So let's try and figure out a few other places we should investigate or try to figure out some search pattern.”

“Unfortunately, I will be of little assistance in this,” said Ida, speaking for what felt like the first time all day. The speedster teen had been keeping to himself more since the end of the Sports Festival. “With the amount of trees there, I will not be able to move at my max speed. There are also a great number of tripping hazards so moving at high speeds will either put my own health at risk or help the villains pinpoint my location.”

“So you’re fucking useless,” sneered Bakugo.

“No! That’s not what he’s saying!” yelled Uraraka as she stood up. “He’s just looking out for his own well-being right now since his brother-”

“Uraraka, no!” Ida all but screamed in a panic, looking at the girl as if she had betrayed him. For a moment, she just stood there in confusion before covering her mouth and quickly sitting down. This grew concerned looks from most of the class.

“Dude, is everything ok?” asked Kirishima.

“It’s fine,” replied Ida, in a tone that clearly showed that he was, in fact, not fine at all.

“Well,” said Jiro, doing her best to get the conversation back on track. “It’s not like we don’t have people in our group that can’t help us find them. I can use my quirk to help scan the area along with Shoji. Plus we have Koda who can ask the local animals for help.”

“This is taking too long,” said Todoroki. “How about I just freeze the entire forest?” The casual way the teen said this caused a chill to run down the spine of everyone there.

“Ah, don’t you think that might be a little much?” asked Ojiro.

“I agree,” said Yoayorzu as she watched her fellow recommended student shrug. “We might get heavily penalized for destroying the forest’s ecosystem as well as putting a large number of animals' lives at risk. I’m also certain that the judges will bring up the possibility of hikers or children playing in the forest that could have been affected by such a large-scale use of your quirk.” Todoroki only let out a sigh, showing that he heard them but did nothing else.

“I, ah, have been looking over a few of our other options,” said Uraraka, nervously glancing over at Ida before addressing the rest of the group. “We are allowed to make a formal request to the local government and were given a list of things we can ask for. I think we should ask to see if anyone owns any land within the forest or if there were any permits that were issued. Or if permission was given within the last year to bring in any-”

“Why would we need that sort of junk?” asked Sero, Kaminari nodding along.

“Well, my family owns a construction company,” began Uraraka. “It’s not a big one and it's not doing well, but I know that-”

“Boring,” said Mineta, with a loud mock yawn. Uraraka gave the smallest person in the room an annoyed look but said nothing. Instead, she redoubled her focus on the rest of the class.

“We’re supposed to be treating this like it’s the real thing, right?” she began, earning a few nods from around the room. “Well, one thing my parent's company has taught me is how important permits and records are. There is a chance that the school placed several cabins within the forest that could be ‘abandoned’. Looking at the property records and seeing if there are any buildings in the area might help narrow down our search. Or, if they requested a permit to do any form of construction or used the excuse of land renewal to bring in heavy equipment might help give us another clue.”

“That actually sounds like a good idea,” said Ojiro, bringing a hand to his chin.

“Totally,” said Mina, bouncing in her seat as she spoke. “Think about it. Why haul a bomb through the forest and then just pitch a tarp over it when you can just crash inside someone’s hunting cabin? Sounds like the more villainous thing to do.”

“Yeah, but what are the odds that the school would provide something like that?” countered Mineta. “Plus, what villain files for a permit?”

“Well, it would make it look less suspicious,” commented Ojiro. “Especially if the police noticed something like a cement truck heading into the forest.”

A few others looked ready to say something only to stop when Yaoyorozu cleared her throat. “I believe both sides have made their points,” she said. “To keep things moving along in an orderly fashion, I say we take a vote. Those in favor of making a request to the local government, please raise your hand.” A few moments passed with only Uraraka, Ashido, and Ojiro raising their hands. When it was clear that no one else was going to raise their hands, the trio lowered theirs while Ashido gave her red-headed friend a dirty look.

“Sorry,” said Kirishima. “But Midori-bro seems like a super smart guy. I don’t think he would leave behind a paper trail that would make it easier for us to find him. And he would try to talk everyone else in his class from doing the same thing.”

“Hmm, he’s not as smart as you think,” said Monoma, stretching himself out in his chair.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Jiro. Then she scowled. “Please, don’t let this be another rant on how ‘inferior’ 1-B is as a whole and that’s why he’s not as smart as us.”

“Oh, heavens no,” replied Monoma, waving off Jiro’s remarks with a flourish. “While I certainly believe that with all my heart, I shall not repeat what we all know. Nay, for I shall regale all of you with the tale of how easily I was able to worm information out of Midoriya.” With that, the blond copy teen stood up with his arms raised high above his head. “It wasn’t all that hard. I merely approached him during lunch today, of all days, to ask a few questions. It was slow going at first, as he remained rather tight-lipped about his fellow classmates. But once I began talking about quirks, well, it was like a floodgate had been opened! He could barely stop himself from spewing all the details on his friend’s quirks.”

“Isn’t that cheating?” asked Tooru.

“You call it cheating, I call it information gathering on villains,” replied Monoma. “And what I found was worth more than its weight in gold on the inner workings of some of his classmate’s quirks. Most notably, the most dangerous one in this context: the wild card known as Himiko Toga. Or, as Sero put it, the one who led Bakugo around by his nose trying the first event. While he kept his lips sealed on what she requires in order to mimic our forms, all she can gain is our appearance. Looks and clothing. Not our gear or quirks.”

“Yes, she would be the most difficult to deal with in this situation,” agreed Yaoyorozu. “But are you sure about the accuracy of this information?”

“Please,” spat Bakugo. “Deku’s biggest weakness, other than being utterly pathetic in every way, is that the nerd loves quirks. Once you get him talking about them, words just start pouring out of him before his brain realizes what he’s said. At least, not until it’s too late. Used to piss people off in elementary and middle school. Hell, you probably made his day by talking quirks with him. So much so that I doubt he realizes what he said.”

-x-

“So you told him about my quirk?” asked Toga as she and the rest of class 1-B stood in front of the gate in ground Omega. Today was the first day she was dressed in her hero costume and everyone could tell that she was enjoying it. Her attire was modeled after the character Admiral Graf Spree from the game Azur Lane, the main part of it looking like a single-piece black dress that had red frills running along the bottom of her skirt. Though until the original, which had long triangular cut-outs running along her sides exposing a good deal of skin as well as under her breasts, she had only kept the underboob window open for business. The sleeves of her costume were long, looking tied together with strings running around her arms until they reached a few inches from her wrists. Her shoes were black as well, made to help with her stealth while using a belt and buckle rather than laces which could come undone while running. Around her neck was a red scarf which, when she pulled up over her face, had the image of a fanged smile. A similar image was placed on her skirt, replacing the jagged cutout smile of the original.

On the more practical side, Toga also wore a utility belt. Each side of her hip was a knife holder, containing her specially made trench knives that were shaped like fangs. Thanks to Mei, the blades as well as the rest of her equipment would be able to remain hidden when she transformed, hiding underneath the goop. They also had a few interesting settings to them! But the item that Mei made that made Himiko want to kiss her was the Blood Candy Maker. This cylindrical device could be pressed against someone’s neck or a blood vein before a needle struck out and began drawing blood. The device would then begin to capsulate the blood into something that looked like a pill or candy, making it look less conspicuous when she was taking in the blood.

“Just want I wanted him to know,” answered Izuku who, like everyone else, was in their hero costumes. In the teen’s hands was an old paper topographical map. As part of the exercise, the villain team wouldn’t be getting the most high-tech equipment and would need to use this day to scout out the area on foot. Or, at least, they would if they didn’t have so many skilled fliers. Off to the side, sitting at a desk he had created over by the entrance of the Training Field, was Cementoss.

At first, Toga frown slightly at Izuku’s comment though thankfully not appearing utterly betrayed. Then, as the moments ticked by, a wide grin appeared on her face. One so large that it showed off all her teeth.

“You have a plan brewing in that head of yours, don’t you?” she asked, a blush appearing on her face knowing that her crush had a very important role set aside for her.

Unsurprisingly, Izuku nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it since we were told about this exercise,” he answered. “So, I’ve made a few plans. But this one is the highest risk vs. reward plan. Still, even if the rest of the class doesn’t go for it, you’ll still be valuable in taking out the hero team.”

Toga’s giddiness at that was so potent she felt like she could explode at any moment. However, it was also at that moment, that Pony returned riding on her horns from within Omega with Honenuki in tow. The lipless teen looked nervous, standing on a pair of Pony’s horns with his arms stretched out like he was doing his best to keep balance. Even more so when he landed on the ground.

“Oh thank God,” exclaimed Honenuki, falling to his hands and knees. This caused Pony to let out a pout.

“Hey, it wasn’t that bad,” she said, stomping one of her hooves onto the ground while balling her hands into fists.

“Wait, what the hell is this!” demanded Awase as looked over at Shiozaki. When the vine-haired girl just gave him a questioning glance, the wielding teen continued. “Every time I say the G-word around you I get smacked upside the head with one of your vines. Or bound in them, letting the thrones dig into my skin! But he says that and nothing?! What the actual fucking hell?!?”

“When you say the Lord’s Name, it is full of disrespect,” said Shiozaki, frowning at him. “Often, it is used as part of a swear. Honenuki, however, used His Name as a show of gratitude and respect with no ill intentions behind it. Perhaps you could learn something from him.”

“Moving on,” said Kendo, rolling her eyes as she approached Honenuki. “That spot we saw on the map. The one with all the difficult terrain around it. Is it any good?” As she asked this, Izuku leaned forward a bit to listen in.

“No way,” replied Honenuki as he slowly got onto his feet. “Area looks good on paper as a place to defend the bomb, but it’ll be too much of a hassle to be worth it. If we didn’t have people like Tsunotori and Kodai to help, it wouldn’t even be worth considering as it would be next to impossible to get that bomb there without it being damaged. And once you get past that, it doesn’t get any better. The ground is very uneven, meaning we’ll have to do a lot of work if don’t want the bomb to topple over and go spinning down the hill. Then there’s the lack of cover. There’s a few trees in the area and we could put a tarp over it to give it some sort of protection from the elements, but a single glance from a drone will tell them exactly where it is.”

“You’re putting a lot of focus into the bomb's safety,” said Kuroiro with a frown. “It’s not like it's real. And even if it was, we’re planning on selling it so who cares.”

“Well, we’re supposed to be these really good arms dealers or whatever, right?” responded Tokage, waving a finger at the dark-skinned teen. “So we have to think like them. We need a spot where the bomb won’t get too damaged and explode on us because, if it does, then collecting our big payday will never happen. But even if it doesn’t, if it takes too much damage or the weather affects it in some way, then it might not work. And selling bombs that don’t work means we’re not going to get a lot of repeat customers. We’ll get very angry customers who want their money back along with our heads as interest.” At that, Kuroiro covered his face with his hand as he looked away in a gesture that showed he wished he hadn’t said anything.

“Uneven ground is just part of the problem,” added in Pony. “Lots of rocks sticking out of the ground. I wouldn’t recommend fighting there. One slip up and you could find yourself flying head first into a jagged rock.” Hearing that caused everyone to pale.

“Well, that spot is a bust,” sighed Kendo as she held up the map with one hand before smacking it with the other. “The good news is that there’s a good chance that the hero team will think the same thing we thought and check it out. Meaning it’s a good place to set up a trap or something. But, before we get into that, we’ll need to figure out where we’re going to hide the bomb. So does anyone-” Itsuka was cut off as Izuku raised his hand, Toga pointing to him with both fingers. “Anyone other than Izuku? Come on guys, don’t make Midoriya be the one to do all the heavy thinking.”

“Sir Midoriya is talented at this,” commented Shishida as the rest of the class reluctantly nodded.

“Come on, let my fellow greenie have the floor,” said Tokage.

As the rest of the class nodded in agreement, Istuka simply let out a sigh of defeat before giving her classmates a dry look. “Fine, he can get the ball rolling,” she said before her eyes hardened. “But I want to hear at least one more idea from you guys after!”

“We could, ah, gang up on them and hit them until they die?” suggested Tetsutetsu as Midoriya walked up to the front.

“Dude, this isn’t a video game,” said Rin while shaking his head.

Once he was standing before everyone, Izuku coughed into his fist before speaking. “Ok, I have a few plans that will I think have a really good chance of letting us win,” began Izuku, pulling out his notebook from wherever and holding it up for everyone to see. “But, I want us to do more than just win. I want us to go Plus Ultra here, to not just preventing the heroes from ruining our deal but to ruin them for good. So that they’ll become a joke in hero society and destroy any chance of them leaving behind a legacy to build upon. To leave them with nothing, sitting in the street with nothing but a cardboard box containing what few positions they still own as their agency is taken from them and us eating in some fancy upscale restaurant.”

“Oh wow, Izuku is so hot when he talks villain,” whispered Toga, a bit of blood leaking from her nose as pink dusted her cheeks. Though she was speaking mostly to herself, Pony, who was standing next to her, managed to overhear this…and she had to agree as her face was turning a bright shade of red.  

“Dude, you have me so hyped!” shouted Tetsutetsu, a large grin on his face and hands balled into fists. There was a sparkle in his eye that belonged more to a child waiting to open his presents at Christmas than a hero ready to plan villain in an exercise.

With that, Izuku began to detail his plan to the best of his ability. While some parts of it made no sense at first and needed him to pause and clarify if they had heard him right, by the end they all had a good idea of what he was talking about. Midoriya himself paused more than once, turning to Cementoss to ask if what he was asking could be done. At that, the pro hero simply nodded, saying that the request wasn’t too extreme though he would have to fill out a large amount of forms to make it all happen. And by the time he was done, nearly all of the class was grinning with excitement save two. Both Awase and Shiozaki were staring at their green-haired vice rep with red faces.

Chapter Text

With a heavy sigh, Izuku tossed to his side before pulling the covers a bit higher up. His eyes closed for what felt like the thousandth time that night, hoping that sleep would soon come. But the beating of his heart refused to die down even a little. Instead, he opened his eyes to glance over at the smiling All Might alarm clock that sat resting on his nightstand. It read 10:13 PM. Not awfully late as he had stayed up later plenty of times before. It’s just he didn’t need it right now. Not with what was happening tomorrow. And not after that talk he had with-

It never ceases to amaze me that, after all you have accomplished, you keep inviting doubt into your heart like a stray cat , came Albion’s voice within his head while being accompanied by a long, drawn-out yawn. As the dragon did so, Izuku rolled onto his back while taking in the dragon’s words before laughing.

Sorry about that, replied Izuku, his mental words causing the dragon to halt his yawn. Then, as Izuku continued to stare at the dark ceiling above him, he continued. I think some issues take more than winning a single Sports Festival to get over.

If you think that is the only notch on your belt then you are blind , commented Albion. You have passed one of the most difficult entrance exams in history in order to get into the school of your dreams. You have saved the lives of not just your classmates but also the entire school. You have befriended a worthy ally in Himiko Toga. And, most importantly, you stood your ground against a foe that brought you much terror in your life. Izuku Midoriya, you have done more than just winning in a simple festival.

You have a point, replied Izuku, averting his eyes for a moment.

Then what is the source of this doubt? demanded Albion, a note of frustration in his voice.

For a moment, Izuku remained silent both physically and mentally as he pondered the subject. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what the problem was, but rather that he had been afraid to admit it. To say it aloud because then it would feel all the more real. As for relaying it to Albion, could a dragon like him ever understand what he was going through? Sure, the dragon had been a part of him since the day he had been born, but Albion wasn’t him. He was just stronger, made of much different stuff than he was. But, then again, he had been around for perhaps thousands of lifetimes so maybe he could offer some insight.

I’m afraid of falling , answered Izuku, sitting up in his bed. Slowly he raised his hands, looking at his palms in the dark while Albion let out a hum that told the teen to continue. When I began, it felt like I was just standing at the foot of the mountain, staring up at my dream. Then, when you appeared in my life and I met the Kendo’s, I felt like I was beginning to climb it. It was rough at first, but I made progress. With every win I got, with every new friend I made, I feel like I’m getting closer to the top. But it also means that if something goes wrong I have a long way to fall.

Midoriya then paused for a moment, closing his eyes. I’m sorry Albion. I know I’ve made riskier plans before. But they’ve always been in the heat of the moment with no time to second guess myself. When the Nomu’s attacked the school, it was do or die. No time to let things really sink in, you know? And in the Sports Festival, when I made my plans, it would only affect a small group of us or just myself. Now, however, I’m actually getting time to think about all the ways this plan can go wrong. And if it does, then everyone in my class will be affected. I know Itsuka, Pony, and even Toga will have my back. But the rest? They may have gone along with my plan because they usually work out, but what if it doesn’t this time? What if everything goes sideways and they blame me for it?

Another long moment passed as Izuku sat there, having unloaded his feelings upon the ancient dragon. As he waited, Midoriya began to brace himself for the words he knew were coming. For Albion to call his fears foolish. That as long as he had Divine Dividing that all his fears of losing were idiotic. Or to say that, if they put all the blame on him for something they all agreed to, then they weren’t worth having as friends.

Partner, cherish the fear of falling , spoke Albion, his words surprising the green-haired teen greatly. Trust me, you’ll never know how important it is until you lose it for good.

I…never expected you to say that , admitted Izuku.

Albion let out a soft chuckle. I was once in the same position you are in now. Back when the world was a much younger place. Like you, I saw a mountain before me, both literal and metaphorical, that I climbed. For so long I moved upwards, facing challenges that made me fear that I would fall. Oh, those battles gave me such a rush. The fear of defeat and the rush it gave me knowing that I was facing off against a powerful opponent! Knowing that one wrong move would knock me back down, either forcing me to lay low and recover or fall to the ground dead. Then came the day when I stood on top, looking down at those who sought to claim my hard-earned victory. It was then that Albion’s words grew more solemn. Sadly, far too many became a bore to deal with. My poison was too powerful, sapping them of life far too quickly for me to enjoy anything. And so, I stood there at the top in utter boredom.

Briefly, Izuku thought about this. He had never considered that he and Albion would ever have this sort of connection, that they both tried to scale towards their dream. While Izuku’s dream was not to be the number one hero, just to be the type of hero like All Might who could save everyone with a smile on his face, he began to wonder what he would do when he achieved that role. Would he then set his sights higher after a while? To push himself to make others feel more safe? And, if he did that, what would he do when he became number one in Japan? Perhaps even the world? Well, he couldn’t do it forever. But, until he retired, what would his life be like once he had achieved all his dreams? What would he have to look forward to?

Is that why you fought Ddraig? asked Izuku eventually.

Heh, if you ever asked him he’d probably say who knows why we fought. That it was for some reason or another, replied Albion fondly. But, for me, he was my last chance at feeling like I could fall. When I first laid eyes on him, I thought him nothing more than a knuckle dragger. Oh, but then when I found out he was immune to the poison I breathed my heart leapt with joy at having a fight that wouldn’t be over so quickly. Then when I felt his mighty blows against my scales, his unrelenting barrage! I knew it then that if there was any dragon left who could give me a challenge, to cause me for even a moment to consider that I might lose, it would be him. So I savored our fight as it raged across the world. I didn’t want it to end.

Then, the mood changed again as Albion became more serious. Listen here Partner for I shall give you this advice. Heed it well. You are still young and inexperienced with Divine Dividing. More than once, it has failed you. But, you have shown an ability that is impressive all on its own. You’re ability to plan, to take in the quirks and abilities of those around you so that they work towards your victory. Like Divine Dividing, that is a skill that you are still growing in. So, when one fails you, lean on the other until you achieve victory. And when both fail, rely on your allies to see you through the storm. Should you fail, then see it as a new challenge to regain the trust of your classmates as well as a chance to improve. Though, I highly doubt that you will be the one they blame. Rather it will be whoever is not pulling their own weight.

Izuku blinked at that. Doesn’t that somewhat contradict what you’ve been telling me up till now?

Ha! Hardly , laughed Albion. Let fear have a place at the table for it is not your enemy. It is a friend that keeps you on edge, alive, and knowing that there are still things in this world that can challenge you. But panic? Keep that stray out of the house. And should it break a window to get in, shoo it away. It serves no purpose.

Cats keep mice and rats out of the house , countered Izuku.

…Yes well… You know what I mean! snapped Albion.

Izuku would have laughed there in the dark, imagining the blush on Albion’s face as he was forced to admit he was stumped had his phone not rang. For a moment, Izuku just gave it a curious look as he tried to decide what to do. Should he just dismiss the call, let it ring and go straight to voice mail, or pick it up? It was late after all. Who would be calling this-

Izuku’s eyes widened, thinking about the one person he knew who might call him at this hour. A person living in a different time zone that he had called earlier this day. Rolling over, Izuku quickly grabbed the phone with a wide smile on his face. Though that smile did not live long for as he looked at his caller I.D., Izuku saw that it was Tetsutetsu. As his eyes focused on the name, Izuku could feel his heart sinking slightly. Not that he didn’t want to talk to his classmate, but…

Holding back a sigh, Izuku laid back in bed while bringing the phone to his ear. “Hello?” he said after accepting the call.

“Hey bro,” said Tetsutetsu, sounding a little nervous. “Surprised you picked you. I mean, I’m glad you did but it's just that I was expecting this to go to voice mail or something.”

“Yeah well,” began Izuku before letting out his sigh. “So, what’s up?”

“Oh, ah,” began Tetsutetsu, the nervousness in his voice growing. “Wow, now that I’m actually doing this, it feels a little awkward. Geez, I mean…maybe I should have just texted you or something. Might have been less, you know, for both of us.”

“Tetsutetsu, is everything ok?” asked Izuku, glancing over at his phone with a worried look. The last time he had heard the Steel quirk user sounding this nervous was at the beginning of the year when he thought he would have trouble with the classes. Only he sounded ten times worse now. Was the exercise tomorrow getting to him too? It was worth a pretty high chunk of their grade after all. Or was he in some sort of trouble? Did he break into a junkyard to get some sort of metal he needed but then got caught? Was he making some sort of backroom deal? Was he being blackmailed? Was-

“I need your advice on asking a girl out!” blurted Tetsutetsu, his words causing Izuku’s brain to come to a screeching halt. In fact, he was also pretty sure that the stop was so sudden that everything in the mental vehicle was thrown through the window! There was no way he was having this conversation, right? N-No, there had to be a mistake.

“What?” was all Izuku could say, all his brain would allow him to say.

“It’s Hatsume,” continued Tetsutetsu. “You remember her, right? Support girl who showed up that one time during class? Helped us fight off the Nomu’s?”

“Yeah, kind of hard to forget the girl who calls her inventions her ‘babies’,” responded Izuku with a blush. “But I don’t understand why you’re calling me of all people.”

“Seriously?” said Tetsutetsu in a tone that caused Izuku to imagine his friend giving him a deadpanned expression. “Out of everyone in class, you’re the only guy I know who is nearly always surrounded by girls. I know you and Tsunotori hang out at manga cafes all the time.”

“T-That’s well…it started as me just teaching her Japanese,” stated Izuku, suddenly feeling a little hot under the collar. “It then just sort of, well, evolved into us hanging out.”

“Yeah, or how about all that alone time you spend with Toga,” continued Tetsutetsu.

“Tetsu, Toga gets a little stir-crazy sometimes,” responded Izuku. “I’ve been trying to help her by putting her phone on a table while we have coffee and tea, watching cat videos, and pretending we’re at a cat café. Good news is that we won’t have to do that much longer. Nezu sent me a message today saying that as long as I promise to keep an eye on her, I can be her escort and take her off campus.”

“That sounds a lot like a date,” said Tetsutetsu, his words causing Izuku to cover his face with his hand. “But, none of that compares to how you asked Kendo to I-Island today.”

“That’s,” began Izuku, eyes wide and his face turning a shade of red that seemed to glow in the dark. “Look, we’re just going as friends. Two really good friends who happen to be a boy and a girl.” Before Tetsutetsu could counter, Izuku let out a sigh as he continued. “Listen, I don’t know how to ask a girl out on something romantic, but I do know how to ask a girl to just hang out with me. So the only advice I can give you is just asking if she wants to hang out. See how it goes and get more comfortable with each other. Then, if you think things are going well, tell her how you feel. If she feels the same way then try upping the relationship.”

“Hey, that sounds pretty good,” said Tetsutetsu, his tone indicating he was grinning broadly. “Dude, I knew I could count on you. I feel a bit easier now.”

“At least one of us does,” whispered Izuku, speaking so low that me thought that others would assume it was just one of him mumbling sprees. Something barely audible and not worth paying attention to. However, it seems this wasn’t the case.

“Hey bro, is everything ok?” asked Tetsutetsu, Izuku managing to hear him shifting on the other end.

“It’s,” began Izuku before he stopped himself. He then took a breath as he decided to be honest. “It’s about the exercise tomorrow. Everyone is putting their trust in my plan, which is great, don’t get me wrong. But if we fail because I was too greedy then it’s all my fault. It’s just weighing on my mind.”

“Oh man, Kendo was right,” groaned Tetsutetsu followed by a soft clang on the other side of the phone. “We really are putting too much pressure on you to do all the heavy thinking. Look, I know I’m not the smartest in class. But I know that you are way smarter than me. That’s why I’m going along with your plan even if I still don’t completely understand everything. Though there is one thing that I am smart enough to realize: you’re only human dude. There’s no way I’m expecting you to be right all the time. Even the manliest heroes make mistakes. And what makes them even more manly is that they own up to them, learn from them, and keep moving on despite what people think.”

Izuku blinked at that. “Wow, thanks Tetsu,” said Izuku, feeling a few tears beginning to form. “So, does that mean you’re not worried about the exercise?”

“Like hell I’m not!” declared Tetsutetsu. “Bro, the school is insane for springing this on us before we head out for our internships! And setting it right after the Sports Festival while also making it so that it counts as a good chunk of our grade? You’d have to be nuts not to be worried. I’ve been trying my best to keep my mind off of it by doing some manly things and pumping myself up to ask Hatsume out.” There was then a pause. “But no bro, I’m not going to be pointing figures at you if we fail. It’s not manly to do so when I didn’t have any good ideas myself. If anyone does blame you, then they deserve to get a lower grade than the rest of us.”

“Thanks Tetsu,” said Izuku, using a finger to remove a large tear from the corner of his eye. Between the Steal quirk user's own unease for what was to happen tomorrow and what Alibion said, the teen was feeling better.

-x-

The next day before classes started, Tetsutetsu found himself standing at the doorway of the Support Course…which was currently lacking a door. Though he suspected that the door-shaped piece of metal across the hallway was the missing door.

Peering into the room, he spotted the pink-haired girl working hard on one of her projects. What it was, he had no idea other than it looked messy. Wires were sticking out in all directions along with chunks of metal, some of which looked like they were smoking. Honestly, he didn’t know if it was because the girl had just finished wielding them or if it was just part of the aftermath of an explosion. One of several as even he could notice the several scorch marks in the Support Room. All of them looking relatively fresh.

But what stuck out to him the most was how Hatsume was acting. The maniac grin she had on when they first met was nowhere to be seen, a scowl on her face as her hands busied themselves. Then, all of a sudden, she pulled her hands back before letting out a loud curse like she was frustrated. She then waved her hands around and, in doing so, revealed to the Steel quirk user a long stream of smoke coming from the thick gloves she wore.

Just as Hatsume seemed ready to pull them off and fling them to the floor, Tetsu knocked on the doorframe. The reaction he got was instantaneous, Hatsume turning her head towards him in an almost owl-like fashion.

“Who are you?” she asked, head still turned towards him though now tilting it slightly. “If you’re here to request some babies, please just fill out the appropriate forms and don’t bother me. I only have a short amount of time to get this baby working before Power Loader returns with the rest of the class.”

“Ah, I’m Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu,” replied the 1-B student. “You remember me, right? We met at the Nomu attack a few weeks ago?”

“Hmmm,” hummed Hatsume, looking up at the ceiling briefly. Then she turned back to look at him. “Sorry, don’t remember you.”

“Oh,” sighed Tetsutetsu, shoulders slumping at this. Did he really leave so little an impact that she didn’t remember him, even after he had stayed with her to guard her? You’d think that would be enough. But at least she didn’t remember him as the guy who jumped down at a Nomu, putting everyone in class in danger.

Just as he was about to mumble an apology, excusing himself to leave and lick his emotional wounds before the big exercise today, a series of sparks erupted from whatever it was that Hatsume was working on. The girl noticed this as well, cursing up a storm as she turned towards her malfunctioning hardware. Scowling the entire time, her hands became a blur trying to fix whatever the problem was. Yet after only a few moments she seemed to give up, moving to a different table to rest her head in her still-gloved hands.

“Hey, are you alright?” asked Tetsu, his legs feeling like Awase had welded them to the spot.

“Hmm, fine I guess,” mumbled Hatsume, not bothering to look up at him. “Fingers feel a little numb and I might have a couple of burns, but nothing I’m not used to. Maybe a slight headache from-”

“No, I mean are you doing alright? Like emotionally and stuff,” interrupted Tetsutetsu. “You don’t seem like yourself.” This seemed to perk Hatsume up a bit as she looked up. Tetsu could see parts of her face had grease and oil on it along with several areas that looked slightly burned. No doubt all of that from her gloves. Yet the teen only took those things in for a moment as his attention was shifted towards her eyes. When she had last looked at him, it had been a brief once-over before dismissing him. Now her gaze seemed to be taking him in more fully.

“What do you mean by that?” she asked, sounding very curious now. “How do I normally seem?”

“You’re,” began Tetsutetsu only to cut himself off before saying the word ‘manly’. While he wasn’t the greatest expert with girls, he understood that saying something like that, even to Hatsume, was probably not the smartest thing he could do. So, he instead decided on a different approach. “Passionate. When you’re working on a project, you get into this zone where everything else just seems to melt away. It’s just you and the joy of working on whatever it is you're doing. And you have so much energy while doing it! Like you’re feeling more alive than ever. But now, not so much.”

“Huh, that sounds a lot better than what everyone else is saying” commented Hatsume, tilting her head to the side without even a hint of a blush at the description. She then let out a tired sigh, one so powerful that it looked like she could slide down to the ground with her back pressed against a table. However, she managed to remain standing. “Guess you have a point. None of the best support companies sent me any requests to do an internship. And the ones that did were aren’t that big or well known.”

“Oh, sorry,” said Tetsutesu unaware of what to say. He didn’t know that support students were also trying their best to get internships. Though that was probably why they were allowed to use the gear they invented during the Sports Festival. “But hey, at least you got some offers. That has to count for something, right?”

“I guess,” grumbled Hatsume. “But this wasn’t how I expected things to go. All the support companies were supposed to take one look at my super cute babies and be in awe of them. Then they would be breaking down my door for an internship, me accepting one from the most prominent one. There they would further see my genius before-”

“Potentially stealing your ideas, claiming them as their own,” said Tetsutesu, shocking Hatsume. “I have an aunt and uncle who work at a support company. Pretty big one from what I’m told. But I don’t get to see them all that much since the company likes to give them long hours and most of the time they have to work holidays in order to meet deadlines. And when I do see them, they kind of complain a lot about how they made some hero some sort of gear only to get no credit. Plus the company keeps all the rights to said gear.” He then looked at Hatsume quizzically. “What companies did give you offers.”

Hatsume blinked for a moment. “Ah, let me see,” she said before fishing out a couple of pieces of paper from her back pocket. In an instant, Tetsutetsu recognized it as similar sheets as the ones they got their offers from. However, he didn’t have time to dwell on it as Hatsume began to read off a list of names. None of which Tetsutetsu recognized so they were most likely small companies or independently owned shops.

By the time she was done, Tetsutetsu had a hand to his chin doing his best to try and figure out what to say. The only issue was he had no idea! He tried to wrack his brain, doing his best to remember all the times his aunt and uncle tried talking shop only to realize that, to his horror, he had always tuned them out. Curse his inability to focus on boring subjects! Feeling sweat forming on his brow, he decided to move his thought process in a different direction: what would Midoriya do? Well, knowing him, he’d probably already know about these companies if they were tied to any well-known heroes. He’d then probably look them up and do…something. But if the heroes were happy and kept coming back that had to be a good thing, right? As for the other shops, well, what sort of clients did they have?

“I think you should do some research on them,” said Tetsutetsu at last. “Maybe just looking into seeing who hires them and, ah, how they treat their staff? Or, ah, oh right! If your plan is to start your own company, maybe looking at a smaller operation might be best! You’ll be able to see more-”

“But my quirk lets me zoom in on things,” said Hatsume, tilting her head in confusion. Though, despite this, there was something new in her eye.

“I mean, you’ll probably be working closer to the bosses and stuff,” replied Tetsutetsu quickly. “Has to be better than working in the basement of some skyscraper-like building or in some warehouse while the higher-ups are on the top floor.”

Hatsume blinked at this before a manic grin appeared on her face. “You know something, you have a point!” she exclaimed before walking over to the still sparking pile of machinery which now had several small flames coming out of it. “Why should I, the great Mei Hatsume, feel dejected that some small-minded higher-ups couldn’t see my brilliance? Or realizing that I’m a threat that will one day take over the industry?”

“That’s, ah, not what I said,” mumbled Tetsutetsu, though he was glad to see that the pink-haired support student was feeling better.

“If they think this is enough to stop me, then they are dead wrong!” she declared, not seeming to have heard him. Instead, her hands were hard at work moving through the various pieces of the machine. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, the sparks had vanished as had the flames. “No, I shall make them rue the day they tried to halt my progress to the top! I’ll sign up with the best support company that is not completely blind to my amazing talent! During the course of this internship, I shall help them skyrocket to the top crushing everyone else in the process! Then the world will know of my brilliance and the amazing cute babies I can make!”

Tetsutetsu let out a nervous laugh. “Well, ah, if you need a hand getting any materials you can just let me know,” he offered. At that, Hatsume spared him a sideways glance.

“U.A. gives me all the supplies I need, most of it delivered right to my workstation,” she stated. “Pretty sure that any support company will have something similar.” Then, before Tetsutetsu’s shoulders could slump, she gave him a small smile. “But for when I’m working at home, well, I could use the extra hand. You look really strong. Probably strong enough to lift some pretty heavy stuff there.”

Soon, after that, Tetsutetsu left with Hatsume’s number in hand and a large blush on his face.

-x-

The rest of the day seemed to progress normally. At least, that’s how it felt on the surface. Yet, just below the surface, there was an underlining tension that was blooming. One that was, perhaps, equal or greater than the one they all felt right before the Sports Festival began. Then, when lunch began, Class 1-A couldn’t help but notice that their sister class was nowhere to be found. Perhaps they had already been taken to Omega to begin setting up so as to not waste too much time.

Little did any of the students know that a group of three heroes were now sitting in the same observation room that the staff had been in during the entrance exam.

“This seems like a pretty intense setup for first years,” said Death Arms, who was seated in the middle of the group. The muscular hero had in his hands a clipboard which was full of documents that he was currently looking over. “Though I shouldn’t be surprised. Given what happened with the League and other challenges, these kids need to be pushed to their limits and beyond.”

“True,” said Kamui Woods, who was much deeper into his own stack of documents. “Plus it will probably be a good thing for these kids so they know what to pay attention to when they go out on their internships.”

“I think I might have missed it, but did the hero team request any documentation on permits and the like?” asked the last, and newest of the little group: Mt. Lady. Said woman was skimming through the pages with a frown on her face as if she had already gone through everything they had provided.

“They didn’t,” answered Death Arms, pausing at a page and frowning. “According to the school, the dumb kids took a vote to see if it was even worth their time. Big mistake. At least three of them had enough sense to want to check. I say we make a note so that they get a slightly higher grade.”

“Agreed,” stated Kamui with a nod as Mt. Lady tossed the hero’s clipboard to the side before then picking up the villain team’s papers. “That’s standard procedure. If any construction had been done in this area, it would have greatly helped them narrow down the space they would be searching for. There was also a chance that they could have gotten the names of the people who requested the permit and then used that to check quirk registration to discover what they were dealing with. Even if they did just have the Sports Festival, they might not know what everyone’s quirks are. Just because they didn’t make it to the final round doesn’t mean that they aren’t a threat.”

“Well,” began Death Arms as he put down his clipboard. Once it was out of the way, the man pulled out a cigarette and lit it up while ignoring the disgusted look he was getting from Mt. Lady. “Looks like they’re going to be learning that the hard way it seems. Heroes need more than raw, brute force to succeed. Especially when going up against more clever villains. Now, we just need to see if Class 1-B are that clever.”

“Ah, have either of you guys read over the villain’s plan?” asked Mt. Lady. Both of the men turned to look at her, finding that the horned woman had gotten a few pages into what she had been reading and looked baffled. “Because this seems a little complex.”

At first, both Death Arms and Kamui Woods just gave a look before picking up their other clipboards. For the next several minutes, they began reading about the basics of the plan as well as everything that the villains had done in order to protect their big payday. At first, Kamui Woods just stared at the words as if he were looking at a previously undiscovered language that he was having a hard time deciphering. That was until Death Arms leaned back in his seat and began to laugh heartily.

“Oh now, this is rich,” stated Death Arms, a hand on his head while the other held onto the clipboard. His laughter hadn’t died down but instead had increased to the point where tears were in his eyes. “Hot damn! If all goes according to plan, then the heroes will really regret not checking for permits! And this part right here! Oh, my sides!”

“It’s not that funny,” commented Mt. Lady with a frown, before looking back at the document. She then pointed to a certain passage that utterly confused her. “Though, it is strange. Most of the plan I get. But this part right here seems more than a little random.”

“Oh well,” began Death Arms as he took a long drag of his death stick. Then after letting it out, he turned to grin wickedly at the heroine. “Just keep in mind what they are playing at and wait till the very end. Everything will depend on how the hero team reacts when they see it and if they manage to capture any of the villains.”

“What are you,” began Kamui Woods, his eyes narrowing at the back of the more muscular man. But, before he could finish his own sentence, his eyes widened as if he had finally figured out the missing piece to the puzzle. With wide eyes, he looked at the paper before whipping his head over at one of the screens. “Oh.” That was all the wood-based hero could say before slumping in his chair.

-x-

Yaoyorozu stood at the camp the school had provided for them within Omega, hands on her sides with a confident smile on her face. The outer walls of the camp were composed of cement slabs, the kind used on freeways that could deflect semi-trucks, keeping them separated from the wild vegetation. Within the camp was a tent that, if they needed to, could be used to treat the wounded. Though that was more for minor injuries such as small scrapes, cuts, and minor dislocations that could be patched up. If anything serious happened to any of the students from either side, they would be airlifted straight back to school and prevented from continuing with the exercise. Next to the tent was a table that had a few snacks and water bottles, used more for emergency energy busts. Finally, near the back, was a truck used by the police to haul away large groups of villains. That was where all the captured villains would be detained.

“So when are we going to get started?” asked Kirishima, slamming a fist into an open palm as a wild smile crossed his features. “Because I’m ready to get this started!”

“Technically, it started the moment we set foot in the woods,” stated Yaoyorozu, though a bit more quietly as she glanced over at the two students she was most worried about. The first, and most obvious, was Bakugo. The ashen blonde teen was pacing around in his hero uniform, grinding his teeth so hard that everyone was surprised that sparks were not erupting from his mouth. It was clear that he wanted to head out as soon as possible to target the one he called Deku. The only reason he hadn’t was probably due to fear that, if he did before given permission to start, then he would be disqualified and forced to sit out for the rest of the exercise. Meaning no ‘killing the worthless villains’ as he would put it.

The other was Todoroki. The half-fire, half-ice user was standing off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest while his gaze focused on the ground. While he appeared calm and in control, everyone knew that wasn’t the case. Ever since he had been forced to sit out the rest of the Sports Festival after having his team’s headband stolen in the last minute of the cavalry battle, he had seemed off. When Sato had just gone over to speak with him, asking how he was doing, Todoroki had reacted by shooting a glare at the sugar-powered teen before almost freezing him solid! Thankfully, Todoroki managed to get control of himself before any serious harm was done and apologized while seeming horrified by what he had done. Yet, despite this, there was still an air around him that conveyed to all that he wasn’t over his loss. This had only been further proven when, once classes started up again, in how he acted during his classes. For two full days, the slightest failure would set him off now, causing either panic to appear on his face or a full-on rage. What’s more, he had been seen practicing with his ice more while becoming even more reluctant to use his fire side for anything. Including melting the mountains of ice he was generating.

But one thing was certain, Tokoroki was directing his frozen fury on proving himself today. While Momo didn’t know everything, she suspected he had two targets. The first was the most speculative: Tokage. It had been the recommended student who had managed to take him out of the Sports Festival in the simplest of ways. And it had been right after that when he became so much colder than the rest of the class. The second was Midoriya, the person who had come out on top and taken first place. Momo didn’t know the exact reason why, but ever since the ending of the Sports Festival Todoroki had been the 1-B student in his sights. Whenever the boy was mentioned, Endeavor’s son seemed to lean a bit closer to the conversation and had been caught rereading the articles on the teen more than once in between class. Her best guess was that Todoroki believed that defeating Midorya, the one who had come up on top, would erase the stain of his loss. That or prove something to him. But, whatever it was, she would never find out until he actually said something to them.

“Alright then, let’s get,” began Kirishima but stopped when Yaoyorozu held up a hand to silence him. She then turned towards the rest of the class.

“If I could get everyone’s attention please,” she said in a low voice, doing her best to keep from shouting. At first, only a few people heard her, and she had to wait for those people to get the attention of the rest of the class before continuing. “Before we begin checking out the sights we outlined yesterday, I want all of you to have these.”

There was a brief pause as everyone watched Momo cupping her hands together. Then, the light of her quirk appeared as her hands were filling with small devices. Each one seemed to have a fleshy color to them and was small enough so that they could easily fit into a person’s ear.

“You should all have the communicators provided by the school for this exercise However, I must insist that we use these instead as our main way of communicating with each other,” she began while handing them out to everyone. “These are specially designed com-links that I spent the better part of last night looking up and studying. This particular design utilizes your body’s electromagnetic field as a power source and will sense the vibrations in your jaw. All you have to do is cup your ear to activate them and we’ll be able to hear everything you're saying, even if you are whispering.”

“Why the fuck are we even bothering with this shit?” spat Bakugo as he held up the device up to his eyes filled with disgust. Several of the other students there also seemed to express this feeling, though not in the same crude manner as the bomber teen.

“Oh, my dear friend,” exclaimed Monoma, throwing an arm around Bakugo causing the explosive teen’s hair to somehow become even more spikey as he glared at the offending arm. Nevertheless, Monoma pressed on while holding his own com-link in the air. “It is to further contest against the most villainous member of lesser heroic class: Toga. Should she somehow manage to get the drop on one of us, there is little doubt that she will take our equipment to help further her disguise. But we will know it's her if she tries using the standard communicators or lacks this specially made com-link provided by one of the superior recommended students in our class.”

“Well, there is that,” conceded Momo, though she winced when Monoma talked about superiority and such. “It’s also in case the villain team tries listening in on any communicators they manage to get their hands on.”

“I see,” said Ida as he brought a hand to his chin. “We can fool them by pretending to talk into our normal communicators while pressing a hand to our ear to activate the ones you gave us. That way they won’t be able to listen in on our conversations during the exercise. I am also assuming that the design you picked is unhackable?”

As Momo nodded in delight, Bakugo snarled while pushing Monoma off him. “Fucking damn it,” he spat, roughly putting the device in his ear. It was clear that he despised doing this, but if it meant not being fooled by Toga again and having a better chance at winning then he would do so.

“Now then, we should begin heading out to our designated scouting locations,” said Momo as she held out a small disk similar to the one most of the students had received when they had gotten their acceptance letters. This time, rather than a hero telling them their scores, it showed a map of the area along with four areas circled. Each area had been assigned a group to investigate the night prior. Group A would head out to the location farthest from their current location. Since this was the most likely place for them to place the bomb the group consisted of their heaviest hitters: Bakugo, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Ida, and Kaminari. Well, Kaminari being there more to shock everything in case something went wrong. Team B would be heading to an area on the opposite side of Omega where their current camp was. This group consisted of Ojiro, Sero, Monoma, Asui, and Aoyama. Team C would be checking out a more rocky area off to the side, located between the areas where groups A and B would be checking. This team included Kirishima, Ashido, Uraraka, and Sato. As for Team D, they would be checking out the rest of the forest just in case. This team included Jiro, Koda, Mineta, Hagakure, and Shoji. As for Yaoyorozu, she would be remaining at the base camp for now in order to conserve her quirk and to help navigate the others.

“Remember, keep in contact at all times,” continued Yaoyorozu. “Communication will be the key to this operation. If any of you spot the villains, let the rest of us know. If you have to fight them, defeat them quickly and then bring them back here. Also, don’t do anything that can cause a forest fire. Bakugo! And no freezing the entire forest Todoroki.”

“Whatever,” spat Bakugo as he then took off.

“Bakugo, wait!” cried Ida as he ran after him. “We should move as a team!” This feeling was not shared by the rest of the group as Todoroki shot past him using his ice to propel himself forward. Tokoyami followed suit, using Dark Shadow to grab branches from nearby trees to help him move through the forest. Seeing that it was now useless, Ida sped off leaving behind Kaminari.

“Oh this is bullshit,” complained the electrical teen as he tried his best to keep up. However, since his quirk didn’t give him a speed boost, there was no way he could catch up.

As the rest of the teams began to head out, none of them realized that something had been watching them this entire time. Or, rather, someone’s disembodied eye and ear which had been focused on the heroes for the last several minutes. And it was no surprise that, once they began to leave the body pieces took off into the air to return to their owner.

-x-

Meanwhile, in her location deep within the forest, Izuku Midoriya sat with his back leaning against a massive tree close to the center of Training Ground Omega though leaning a bit more to the west. Around him were several of his classmates. To his right were Pony and Himiko, both talking in whispers to each other about something that the green-haired teen couldn’t make out despite the relative closeness. Also nearby was Kaibara who was standing with his back pressed against a tree, eyes closed and arms crossed against his chest.

“Hey all you wonderful guys and gals,” came Tokage’s voice from over their radio. Everyone in the area paused, before reaching down to take hold of the device which Izuku had charitably called antiquated. Tokage, on the other hand, had said it looked like a discounted piece of crap from a store that went out of business back in the early 2000’s when they had first laid eyes on it. Thankfully, despite its blocky appearance, it worked well enough. Everyone in 1-B had one…save for Awase and Shiozaki as having them would ruin their part of the plan.

“Got the low down on the heroes,” continued Tokage, her voice clearly heard over the light static. “Midoriya, you were right about two of the locations. Hothead, Icelad, Shadowboy, and that guy who’s always hanging around the perverted freak are heading northeast. Tails, Mr. Tape, Loud Mouth Copycat, Froggy, and some dude in a knight suit are moving toward the southeast spot. But no one is heading anywhere in the northwest and are completely ignoring the entire southwest.”

“Do they have an issue with the west?” complained Pony as her cheeks began to puff up.

“Interesting,” said Izuku as he pulled out a notebook with the label being ‘Villain Plan’ from somewhere. As Kaibara blinked in confusion upon seeing this, Midoriya began flipping through the pages until he reached the spot he was looking for. “I was certain they would at least investigate the northwest area given all the paperwork we had to fill out. Do they think it was a ruse given that there are no natural strategic advantages there? Or are they planning to check it out later after looking into the more obvious locations?”

“Doesn’t look that way,” said Tokage in a tone that suggested she was rolling her eyes. Well, most likely one eye unless she had reconnected with all of her missing body parts. “Heck, I’m even beginning to wonder if they even bothered to check any of the permits! Seriously, we took twice as long on the paperwork for the area that Shiozaki and Awase are in than the other two spots combined!”

At that, Midoriya let out a hum. “That actually makes our overall plan easier,” he said. “If they don’t know about all our spots, then the odds of them finding the bomb are almost non-existent. However, if we want the big plan to succeed, we’re going to need to lure them towards the center where Awase and Shiozaki are waiting for them. What are they doing now?”

“Exactly what you told them to do,” laughed Kuroiro. “My sides are hurting. Oh wow. Just wow. Don’t worry about the heroes. It’s dark enough in the forest area for me to move about easily. I can lure them to the spot. Though I might burst out laughing when I see their faces as soon as they get there.”

“Please don’t,” begged Izuku. “That will completely ruin the plan.”

At the same time, Pony leaned over to Himiko.

“You know,” began the American girl. “I’ve been thinking about what you said. About how it sounds when Izuku talks all villain-like? Well, now I’m imagining him as a mastermind.”

-x-Pony’s Fantasy-x-

It was nighttime, a light sheen of water covering the streets and the cars down a mostly silent city road. The only footsteps belonging to a single person. That person being Izuku Midoriya. Only he wasn’t dressed in a hero costume, but instead a dark suit and a light green button-up shirt along with his messy tie.

“The rich and powerful take what they want,” said Izuku, staring off into the distance. “And we steal it back for you.”

All of a sudden, there was a swell of instrumentals playing in the background that had a bit of a spy theme to them. The image then changed to Toga, walking from room to room changing her appearance as she did to fit whatever role she needed to in that setting. Then, after the final room, half of her face melted off to reveal her true form while the word ‘Grifter’ appeared next to her. The scene then changed again, this time showing Kendo. The orange-haired girl was fighting several thugs, punching and kicking them before the scene changed again to show her walking away from an exploding building while the word ‘Hitter’ appeared next to her. Then it was Pony’s turn. The blonde American could be seen leaping out from an air duct, jumping on top of a pair of horns before touching the floor that had red lines of light shooting from the sides. Easily she glided across the floor as she approached a glass case that her horns were already in the process of cutting out a hole. Her title card said “Thief’. Finally, there was Shishida sitting in front of a computer. His fingers typing away at a code before the title “Hacker’ appeared next to him.

“We provide…Leverage,” said Izuku after the scene cut back to him, the word “Mastermind’ appearing next to his fluffy green hair.

-x-End of Pony’s Fantasy-x-

“Instead of us being just villains and them being the heroes, we should just rewrite the script,” continued Pony. “Those heroes are either violent thugs, like Bakugo, already corrupted, like Mineta, or just plain incompetent! But the system is just as dirty, protecting them and letting them do whatever they want because it gives them power or because the heroes help those in power in other ways. But us? We know the truth! We follow Midoriya, the great mastermind as he commits acts of villainy in order to better expose and humiliate those who have done wrong to the vulnerable people out there! Doing it in such a way that the very idea of them coming back for revenge is almost laughable as no one will ever take them seriously again! So for today, we are using a fake bomb to lure out all our targets!”

Toga’s only response to this was to cup her cheeks as her face began to turn a shade of red. The idea of Izuku, acting like a villain to take down powerful people who abused the system sounded so freaking HOT! It made him both the ultimate bad boy but also a cinnamon roll at the same time. As for Kaibara…

“You know, if they made a show like that, I’d watch it,” he said.

“There’s one more issue,” continued Tokage. “Rocky, Pinky, Gravity Gal, and the guy with the big lips are heading to the mid-east spot. Don’t know why they are, but the route they are taking will keep them away from the middle of the zone unless we lead them there. Also, they put something in their ears. Couldn’t get a clear view of what it was, but they all have it.”

For a moment, no one other than Midoriya spoke. Instead, he set down his radio before pulling out a pen before beginning to write something all while mumbling under his breath. The reactions he got varied though none of them were negative. By this point, 1-B had come to realize that this was just Midoriya getting into the zone with his thinking process. As such, Kaibara just gave his green-haired vice rep a small smirk as he waited. Pony had her fists clenched, pumping them up and down as she eagerly waited to find out what the plan was. As for Toga, she was still somewhere in Pony’s fantasy. Currently, she was imagining them all sitting down on a large couch with Midoriya pacing back and forth in front of a large screen going over what they knew about Bakugo. Her sandwiched between Kendo and Pony, listening on how they would completely ruin the remainder of his life before-

“Komori, are you good at your end?” asked Midoriya suddenly, speaking into the radio he had pulled up to his ear.

“Ah, I think so. Shroom,” said the mushroom girl, sounding a little confused. “I mean, everything over here will work perfectly without me. So, ah, yeah. I can leave.”

“Ok then,” said Midoriya over the radio. “I’m going to need you to head over to the mid-eastern section as quickly as you can along with Tsuburaba and Kodai. You all remember that one spot we considered as a possible place to hide the bomb? Let's show the heroes why we decided it was a bad idea. And Komori? Feel free to cut loose.”

Somehow, everyone in 1-B who had access to the radio began to imagine the smile that Komori was giving at that moment. The type of smile that sent shivers down the spines of the most hardened criminals.

Oh, the heroes had no idea what they were in for.

Chapter Text

Bakugo let out a savage cry as his explosions rocketed through the forest zone of Omega. With each blast he shot forward over the trees, only barely aware of the leaves that were being burnt in his wake or the branches that were falling to the ground. None of that was on his mind. His only thought was getting to Deku

Deku. Just thinking about that freak was enough to cause additional veins to appear on his forehead and arms, launching him with additional force while his heart beat so fast he might end up getting a heart attack before he turned eighteen. But how could he not be angry at the nerd? What happened at the Sports Festival had been humiliating! Not only had Deku made him look like a fool twice during the first two rounds, but then he stole his spot in the finals! His destiny of being one of the best heroes, if not the best, heroes to ever walk into the school on day one had forever been tarnished by that fucking thief. To make matters worse, the worthless extras that existed in this world continued to laugh at him! How many times had some snot-nosed kid looked at him, pointing, and then said ‘Mommy look. It’s the big baby from TV.’ That stupid kid was lucky his mother had enough brains to get out of his sight or else he would have unleashed hell upon that toddler!

Thankfully, he was getting a chance to put that damned nerd in his place before he left for his internship. Deku probably thought he was being smart, making them cross the forest in order to eat up time and drain their stamina. But he would show him! He was The Great Lord God Explosion Murder…even if Midnight had shot down that name as well as several others. Stupid whore. Still, he was going to win this all on his own! He was going to go there and while those stupid extras in 1-B sat there, twiddling their thumbs as they assumed he would wait for the rest of his class, he would catch them off guard. He would go in there, explosions raining down on all those stupid villains till they were too bloodied to do anything else. He would be the one to take down an entire group of villains, coming up on top just like All Might. He would then capture the bomb, showing that he was the best. That there was no one else who could possibly reach his-

“Hey, Bakugo. Fancy meeting you here,” came a voice right next to Bakugo. Eyes wide, the blonde bomber turned his head to see Deku of all people flying next to him with a smile on his face. “Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Remember the times we used to-”

With a savage howl, Bakugo adjusted his position by twisting his body around so that his body was facing Deku’s. Then, without warning, he pointed his palm at the nerd while detonating a powerful explosion. One so powerful in fact that it sent the ashen-haired teen backwards and down to the forest below. It was rough, crashing into several braches but his body was tough enough so that it endured with only a few rips to his costume before landing in a crouching position.

“That was rude,” came Deku’s voice from right behind him. Turning around, he spotted Deku sitting on a tree branch while kicking his legs back and forth like he was a little kid again. And what’s more, he was completely unharmed! Not even a single stray hair looked like it was on fire. “Sort of reminds me of that time you slipped into the river and got mad when I tried to help you up.”

“SHUT UP AND DIE!” screamed Bakugo, leaping into the air with enough force that he was only a foot below the branch Izuku was on before he felt gravity pulling on him. He helped in his return to earth by firing off another explosion. He watched as the flames began to envelop the tree, the branch crashing into the ground right in front of him. But there was no-

“You’re really having a hard time coming to terms that I can fly,” said Deku. Spinning around, Bakugo saw his childhood annoyance hovering a few inches off the ground. “And this time I’m in a much less confined space.”

“Just stand still and DIE!” screamed Bakugo, leaping towards Deku with everything he had before unleashing explosions from both hands. The blast this time hit a tree, causing the shitty thing to fall to the ground in several pieces.

“Ah, I think not,” said Deku now several yards away.

“Bakugo, we are getting reports of a series of explosions,” came Ponytail’s voice in his ear. “What’s going on?”

“Just think about it for a moment,” continued Deku as Bakugo ignored Ponytail’s annoying voice. “What villain in their right mind will say ‘Oh, you want me to stand still while you unleash explosions on me? I had no idea. Terribly sorry about that. Here, let me make it up to you by standing perfectly still’. Somehow, I doubt that will-” Bakugo let out another war cry and he ran towards Deku only to watch as the green-haired nerd seemed to vanish from sight only to reappear in the trees several yards further away. “Happen,” he finished with a smirk.

Bakugo landed on a tree branch, his back hunching while the teen's arms were lifted up so that they were almost at chest level. The ashen blonde was panting now, head lowered as he felt new veins appearing all over his face. He could almost feel his eyes darting around slightly from side to side, completely unfocused as the rage continued to build in. How was this happening? How was fucking Deku of all people treating him like a joke? It made no sense! He had always been number one, the best of the best growing up. Then that fucking nerd somehow gets a quirk and suddenly he’s better than HIM?!? No fucking way!

“Deku! You’re dead!” screamed Bakugo again, launching himself through the air in the direction he had last seen the damned nerd. He spotted his target easily, floating in the air with his hands behind his back and a grin of all things on his face! Then, when he saw his death coming towards him, the damned coward turned tail and flew away so quickly that he was nothing but a streak of light. But that didn’t stop Bakugo. Oh no, he continued to blast his way across the trees.

“Bakugo!” came Ponytail’s voice again, louder than before. “What is happening out there? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?”

Hearing that caused Bakugo to grit his teeth, anger being diverted to a new target. “Fuck no!” he spat aloud to the dumbass who had the audacity to assume that he needed help against anyone. “It’s only fucking Deku.” Just then, he spotted his target again. This time he was sitting on a branch, waving at him.

“Wait? You’re fighting Midoriya?” asked Ponytail as Deku flew away.

“No, the damned coward is running,” spat Bakugo as he continued to give chase. “I’m managing to keep up with him.”

“You’re keeping up with Midoriya?” repeated Ponytail, disbelief clear in her voice.

“That’s what I said,” snapped Bakugo. “The damned nerd is heading east. So before you get your fucking ears cleaned, tell the rest of the worthless extras to stay out of-”

“Bakugo, STOP!” cried Ponytail, her voice in a panic. Not that Bakugo cared all that much as he felt the nerves in his ears screaming in pain like when the old hag's voice began grating on him. Somehow, he managed to land on a branch that creaked slightly from the added weight but managed to hold.

“What the fuck Ponytail?” demanded Bakugo. “No, who the fuck do you think you are telling me-”

“I’m telling you to use your brain!” Ponytail all but screamed at him through his earpiece in a rare fit of anger. Bakugo’s eyes widened, clearly surprised that the prime and proper extra had this much fire in her. Then, when she spoke again, it was done in a more composed fashion. “Bakugo, I know you’re smarter than this. So, please, think about it. Everyone knows you have it in for Midoriya. We know it. 1-B knows it. Also, Midoriya is fast with those wings. So fast that he can appear as a blur. And yet you are keeping up with him? Please tell me you see something wrong with this picture!”

“He,” began Bakugo, but stopped himself. He wanted to say that the damned nerd was looking down at him, stopping from time to time to taunt the explosive teen. But the moment the words tried to form on his lips, they felt wrong. Something was-

“Hey Bakugo,” came Deku’s annoying voice. Looking up, he saw Deku in the air overhead waving at him before flying off. Seeing this made the ashen blonde’s eyes narrow.

“Yeah, something is wrong,” growled Bakugo. “That damned Deku just came back to wave at me. Something is up.”

“I don’t know what their plan is, but it is clear that 1-B is using your hatred of Midoriya to lead you around like a carrot on a stick,” stated Ponytail. “For all we know, he could simply be leading you around the forest and away from the bomb until time runs out making you look like a fool. Or he could be trying just to wear you out without having to touch you so that you become too exhausted to continue. Or leading you into a trap! We’ll stay away from that area just to be on the safe side.”

“Yeah, good call,” Bakugo admitted reluctantly. With a sigh, Bakugo then turned so that he was facing westward while his jaw clenched. There was a part of him that hated this. A part of him that thought he was running away from a fight he could win. But that was the thing, even if he pounded Deku so hard that they had to pull his worthless ass out, it would be only a single battle vs a war. If he lost this exercise because he was too busy killing Deku, then Deku would still win in the end!

Besides, in the end, he would face that worthless piece of shit again. Once that nerd realized that their little plan wasn’t working and the bomb was in danger, he would come flying towards him! Then Bakugo would finally put Deku back in his place. With that thought, the explosive teen flew off towards his original target.

-x-

“Did you hear something?” Awase almost rolled his eyes at Shiozaki’s question, but he managed to hold himself back. Instead, he turned to look at the vine-haired girl who was not wearing her hero costume. Instead, she was wearing what she considered her casual attire which, thankfully, was not something you wore to church. It was a long-sleeved, sky-blue dress with a sunflower pattern on it that went all the way down past her knees.

“No…dear,” he said, feeling awkward as he said it. Dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a black shirt, he felt his cheeks turn red from his comment. Even if it was all part of the pair, staying in character even if it didn’t look like anyone was watching, was super embarrassing! Thankfully, Shiozaki seemed equally embarrassed as her vines moved to cover her face. While he couldn’t see her expression, Awase could see that her ears were turning red.

Midoriya, if we lose I’m going to kill you for making us do this for nothing , thought Awase as he looked around the room he was in. Currently, the two students were in a long log cabin fit for a family of four. Somehow in the span of a day, the teachers had made sure that it had running water, indoor plumbing, a fully stocked kitchen, furniture, a solar generator, and a garden in the back! Hell, someone (Midnight) had also managed to create a series of pictures of them together as well as stocking the drawers with some rather revealing nightwear.

How did that woman keep her job here?

“I’m going to head out to the garden,” said Awase as he moved to the front door. “If I hear anything fishy, I’ll let you know.”

“Y-You should just stay inside,” stammered Shiozaki. “The signal is very weak. I doubt we could call anyone if any trouble arises.”

“Will do…love,” whispered Awase, mentally telling himself that this was just an act. That he was just saying the same lovey-dovey things his parents always said to each other. That it didn’t mean anything and if anyone else from the class was watching this he would weld them to the bottom of a plane!

-x-

“What was that?” asked Todoroki to no one, pausing as he heard a loud crash. It wasn’t the first one he had heard, moving through the trees using his mother’s ice. Ever since the exam had begun, Bakugo had been using them effectively to cross the distance needed to get to their target. Yet now, they were getting bigger and there was something heavy falling to the ground.

Curious, Todoroki veered off course to check it out. What he found a few minutes later was both surprising yet unsurprising at the same time: a fallen tree that clearly looked like it had been blasted apart from the trunk. Clearly, Bakugo’s doing given the tendrils of smoke rising from it as well as the faint smell of nitroglycerine that 1-A was sadly becoming used to. But why did he do it? While many of the other trees in the area had received damages, none of them were this severe. Bakugo, when he was in the right frame of mind, had enough control over his quirk to not let something like this happen. So what set him-

“Midoriya!” said Tokoroki, eyes widening for a moment before they narrowed and his hand clenched into a fist. He could feel the blood beginning to boil in his system, anger taking over. He hadn’t gotten the lecture that man had given him after the Sports Festival, about how if he had just used that bastard’s fire then he could have saved his headband from those floating hands. Nor had he gotten over his overall failure, his chance to prove to that man that he didn’t need that man’s flames to become a great hero. He had watched Midoriya take on the strongest people in his class, Kirishima and Bakugo, and somehow come up on top!

“Objectively, I’m stronger than him,” stated Todoroki as he began to run in the direction of the fallen debris. “Yet, somehow, he’s been able to upstage me every time our paths cross. I won’t lose. I’ll defeat Midoriya using only my mother’s ice and then win this exercise all on my own! That will prove to them-”

“That you like to talk to yourself a lot,” came a female voice. Upon hearing it, Todoroki came to a skidding halt as he looked around. He remembered that voice from somewhere. He knew he did. But, when he looked around, nobody was there. It was like he had heard the voice of a ghost, ready to leap out at him.

It was only then, as Todoroki looked around at the sea of trees around him, that he felt utterly alone. He felt vulnerable. The half-hot half-cold teen gulped before trying to steady himself. Trying to reassure himself that he could do this. Reminding himself of just how powerful his mother’s ice was. That with it, no one stood a chance against him when they were fighting fairly.

“There you are,” came a new voice. Turning around, Todoroki’s eyes widened to see that it was Midoriya. He was just standing there, wings extended, with a look of joy in his eyes. And…was he writing in a notebook? “Oh, I have so many questions about your quirk. I got to see a little of it at the Sports Festival, but I have so many questions! Does your body somehow generate the ice or do you pull in moisture around you and then freeze it? Or do you somehow summon it from another dimension? That would be so cool!”

As the green-haired boy continued to talk, Todoroki felt himself thrown through a loop. This…This wasn’t what he had expected from Midoriya. Based on how he acted when he fought Tokoyami, Bakugo, and Kirishima, Todoroki was expecting something more timid. Heck, the image that Bakugo gave whenever he talked about certainly supported that theory. But this?

Then, confusion left Todoroki as clarity returned. “Enough of this,” said the stoic teen as he sent a massive wave of ice towards his target. When it was over, a mountain of ice that reached above the tree line could be seen. However…

“Your ice certainly is impressive,” said a voice right next to Todoroki right before he felt a hand touching his left cheek. “But I noticed that you have an obvious weakness. Divide.” Todoroki tried to elbow Midoriya, to knock him away before it was too late. In that moment, he felt himself being drained. Todoroki’s body felt heavier, his breathing becoming more labored. It was like his stamina was cut and everything he had been doing up until now was catching up with him.

“No, I can’t lose,” gasped Todoroki. “Not like this.” The teen glanced around, only to see Midoriya standing a few feet away with his back against a tree, the notebook was gone. His green eyes were now focused on mismatched ones with a look that was analyzing him.

“You know, for all the talk about you being one of the best recommended students, you’re pretty straightforward,” commented Midoriya, now seeming less than impressed. “It’s useful, don’t get me wrong. That ice allows you to tackle a wide array of problems that would give most heroes out there a hard time. But, at the end of the day, all you do is throw vast amounts of ice at the problem to simply overwhelm the issue. On top of that, you only use your right side. Meaning it’s easy to predict which direction it's coming from and if your fast enough you can get out of the way. A group of villains with a skilled long-range emitter-type quirk could take you out in a heartbeat.”

“Shut it. I’ll never use my left side or that man’s flames,” snapped Todoroki. Upon hearing this, Midoriya’s eyes narrowed giving him the appearance of someone who was pissed off. “What? Are you going to lecture me like my father does? Talk about all the people I could save if I just swallowed my pride and used my fire on the off chance I go up against someone my mother’s ice is useless against? Spare me! I’ve heard it before. I refuse to use it.”

“No, that wasn’t what I was going to say,” replied Midoriya, eyes still narrowed. But before either teen could say anything else, a loud crack could be heard. Turning, Todoroki realized that the ice was cracking for some reason. And it was on his left side!

Before Todoroki could do anything, the ice shattered. Flying out of it was some random teen from 1-B who Todoroki didn’t know, his arm spinning rapidly like a drill. While that was strange and potentially dangerous, what was worse was the fact that there were now several very large and very sharp ice shards flying toward the 1-A student! Rapidly, his mind began to process how to deal with this situation. He could just heat his left side to begin melting the ice the moment it touched him, but that was too slow and he would still feel the impact. If he launched fire- NO! He wouldn’t do that! Instead, he turned away from Midoriya to raise an ice wall to protect himself from his own ice and give him time from this new villain. However, when he began to use his quirk, Todoroki noticed something was off. The ice wasn’t as thick as he could normally make it at this level. And, what was worse, he was creating it slower. Generating it at half the speed he normally could.

“Divide,” came Midoriya's voice, Todoroki briefly felt his touch on his left side again before he sped away. Now his ice felt like it was moving at a snail’s pace while being as thin as paper. The ice that was coming towards him easily broke through without losing any obvious momentum. But what was worse was what happened with the no-name. His arms stopped spinning as he landed on the ground. At first, Todoroki thought there had to be a time limit for how long he could to that. But that might not have been the case as the teen lifted a leg that began spinning while the one that was still on the ground began rotating him at high speed. In the blink of an eye, Todoroki felt the impact right into his side sending him flying. What made it all worse was how sluggish his body felt, how weak he felt.

“Divide,” came Midoriya’s voice as arms wrapped around Todoroki’s chest to catch him. The dual color-haired teen was then dropped to the ground, wincing in pain. Looking up, he saw Midoriya was now looking down at him in disappointment.

“Don’t give me that look,” gasped Todoroki as he reached up with his right side. “I don’t need that man’s flames. I’ll become the top-” Todoroki was then silenced as Midoriya placed his hand over his mouth.

“Divide,” said the teen. Then, for the next thirty seconds, Midoriya divided Todoroki three more times until he was as helpless as a newborn and passed out.

-x-

“Man, that was savage,” commented Kaibara as he walked around the prone figure of Todoroki. Lightly, he tapped his foot against the 1-A student’s shoulder to see if he got a response. When none came, Kaibara looked over at the Vice Rep to see him walking away. “Never seen you give anyone that look before. Kind of surprised me.”

Midoriya stopped for a moment before glancing over at the prone figure of the teen they had just taken down. As he stared at the young Todoroki, memories flashed through his mind. He recalled all the days back when he was younger trying with all his might to levitate something, anything, like his mother could. He remembered the times he nearly passed out trying to breathe flames like his father. Thinking about that while looking at the 1-A student caused an ugly bubble of anger to form in Izuku’s stomach.  

“I guess he just hit a nerve,” said Midoriya before looking forward. “Anyways, I’m heading over to Kendo. You all know what to do.”

-x-

“I thought I heard something again,” said Shiozaki as she came rushing out of the cabin. “Please tell me you heard that. It sounded like something big was cracking or crashing.”

“Sorry, too busy working to pay attention to anything like that,” commented Awase as he continued to use his quirk on the pieces of wood in front of him. Though glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shiozaki placing her hands on her hips while her cheeks puffed out slightly.

“Too busy to keep yourself safe? To not look after your own well-being?” she demanded. “What could be more important than that?”

“Well, I was making this for you,” said Awase, slightly embarrassed as he pulled up his little project before sticking it into the ground. It was a large cross. He had managed to find some decent wood in the forest that surrounded them that was straight enough. Once he had collected the right sizes, or at least close enough, he welded them together in the right shape. And around the base of the cross, he had planned on surrounding it with small stones he might be able to find near the lake that was practically right behind there, no, the cabin they were using.

Only because he was bored of course.

“Awase,” whispered Shiozaki. “Why did you…”

“I, ah, figured you would like this,” he said slowly, doing his best to figure out what to say while staying in character. “I mean, when we left the city, we forgot some of your stuff. I know we plan on going back and getting it later, but I figured this would do for now.” He then looked over at the Christian girl to find her face had turned bright red as she seemed unable to meet his eyes.

“That…was very kind of you,” she whispered. “Thank you.” Somehow, hearing that made Awase’s heart flutter and made him want to work a little harder just to hear her say that to him again.

-x-

Meanwhile, over with Tokoyami, the raven-headed teen continued to move through the trees using Dark Shadow. The sentient quirk grabbed onto a branch, pulling them forward and, while Tokoyami was in mid-flight, would then reach out to grab the next branch. An effective way for him to move around in this environment. Thankfully the level of light was decent. Not too bright, making Dark Shadow too timid and not too dark making him lose control.

“WHAT IS THAT?” screamed Kaminari through the earpiece.

“Kaminari, what is it? What’s going on?” came Yaoyorozu’s voice.

“A shadow,” came Kaminari’s voice, every one hearing him breathing hard now. “But not just any shadow. Oh God, eyes just…appeared in it. Those freaky eyes just stared at me for a moment before it grinned. It grinned at me, showing off its teeth! Shadows don’t have teeth! Not even Dark Shadow has teeth like that!”

“Get a grip sparkplug,” growled Bakugo. “It’s probably just that split bitch. Just stop being useless and hurry the fuck up.”

“Dude, I’ve seen her teeth and they look nothing like,” began Kaminari before his voice reached a new level of panic. “What was that? I think there’s more than one of them. Guys, I think I need help! Why did you leave me behind?!? I can’t do this on my own. My quirk, it’ll fry- Where did you come from?!? NO!” Kaminari then let out a scream followed by the crackling of electricity. Turning his head to look behind him, Tokoyami saw arcs of lighting shooting upwards and in all directions. No doubt his classmate had used his quirk on everything around him.

“Kaminari!” cried Yaoyorozu in panic. “Ida. Tokoyami. Bakugo. Todoroki. Can anyone help him?”

“I’m afraid I’m a bit lost at the moment,” came Ida’s voice over the com link.

“Damn useless extra slowing us down,” growled Bakugo. However, there wasn’t anything from Todoroki causing tensions to build.

“I’ll head back,” said Tokoyami. “I saw the sparks. I should be able to-” The teen was cut off as something came into his field of vision fast! It looked like a flying, two-pronged pitchfork. Instantly, Dark Shadow went on the defensive getting between it and Tokoyami. However, just before it was about to collide with the living shadow, the pitchfork split into two! They separated, swerving around Dark Shadow who looked from one to the other as if trying to decide which one he should go after. And, as they got closer, it finally clicked in Tokoyami’s mind what these were. He had seen them before, at the Sports Festival.

Not that that information did him any good as the objects he now realized were horns collided with his stomach before instantly coming together and tightening around his waist. A moment later, Tokoyami was flying upwards above the trees and away from any darkness. And there, standing on a pair of floating horns, was the American 1-B girl as she cheerfully waved at him.

“Hello again,” she said with a bright smile as they floated high above the trees. “Looks like you’re captured.”

“One would think,” replied Tokoyami before Dark Shadow lunged out. The horned girl’s eyes widened in surprise as Dark Shadow punched her in the face before she could move away, knocking her off her horns. This, in turn, caused the horns holding him to lose their flight so that he fell with her. For a moment, the shadow user cursed himself. From this height, all it would take was one wrong move and he would come out of it with a broken arm or rib. Or worse.

“Dark Shadow!” called out Tokoyami. As the shadow beast shot downward, the hero in training looked over at the girl who had momentarily caught him. His heart raced, seeing that she was falling head first towards the ground! If she hit the ground like that, then surely she would die! Would a teacher be able to get here in time? Who was watching this?

But then, just as they were coming close to the canopy, the girl twisted in the air so that she was now looking at him. After bringing her fingers next to her horns, the girl shouted “Horn Cannon” causing her horns to shoot out of her head followed by another pair instantly regrowing before they two were shot out. Two of the four horns went to grasp her waist, righting her before Tokoyami’s eyes before slowing her movement. The other pair went for the shadow user. And while the horns that had helped her had seemed gentle, the ones aiming for him were now so. With Dark Shadow away from his body again, the horns collided with Tokoyami’s gut so hard that it knocked the air out of his lungs before launching him into a tree. A cry of pain erupted from the teen’s beak, the back of his head colliding with the bark of the tree so hard that his vision momentarily swam. Groaning, he managed to see the blonde girl being gently placed on a branch before grabbing the base of her horns to hold like blades.

By this point, Dark Shadow had returned. Its claws grasped at the horns that were now pinning the bird-headed teen against a tree, tugging at it with all his might. However, it seemed that the horn had buried itself deep into the wood and would not be so easily moved. To aid his companion, Tokoyami reached out to try and help, only to have more horns flying out at him. They collided with his legs and arms, pinning him in an awkward position. One even came dangerously close to his manhood, causing Tokoyami’s eyes to widen in horror.

“Are you captured now?” asked the blond, dropping one of her horns to rub her cheek which was swelling slightly from the blow Dark Shadow gave her. To answer, Tokoyami did his best to struggle with his bonds. Yet, despite his best efforts, he could not gain any space between himself and the tree.

“It…appears I am,” admitted Tokoyami. He then gave the blond an intense look. “So tell me, are you going to use your capture tape now?”

The blond said nothing, just letting out a hum as her eyes seemed to twinkle a bit. Then when she spoke, you could hear the mischief in her tone clear as day. “Well I could,” she began, “but I don’t feel like getting punched by that shadow again. You’re pretty much captured at this point anyway even without the tape. So, what should I do with you?” Somehow, the grin she had on her face sent shivers down Tokoyami’s spine.

-x-

Elsewhere in the forest, Team B was making its way through the forest. Monoma had copied Tsu’s Frog quirk, allowing the two of them to move through the forest with greater ease. With them, Ojiro carried Aoyama on his back as the tailed teen used his additional limb to swing from tree to tree. As for Sero, he was trying his best to do a Tarzan impression using his tape. Though sometimes he got a little stuck when he overswung.

About fifteen minutes after they had left their main base of operation, the group stumbled across their first clue. Asui was the first to spot it, several footprints in the dirt leading in the direction they were heading in with a few others half hazardly covered up. Like someone had been trying to be stealthy but got sick of all the work. Shortly after that, they spotted something else. Red droplets on the ground.

“Do you think it's blood?” asked a concerned Ojiro as he looked around while Aoyama’s knees began to shake loudly. Not helped by the full suit of armor he was wearing

“Doubtful,” replied Monoma as he poked at it with a stick. “Far too bright. Plus it’s dried and not caked into the earth. I’d say it's more likely that those inferior students of 1-B were trying to trick us using fake blood or paint.”

“Hey,” shouted Sero. Everyone looked up to see him standing there, just up the path and pointing at something. “I found some more. I think there could be a trail.” Sure enough, as soon as the rest of the party caught up to the tape user, they could not help but spot the paint or whatever it was on the ground along with more footprints. And looking forward, they could see clear evidence that someone had been walking through the foliage along with more spots of red.

“Does anyone else have a problem with this? Ribbit?” asked Asui, feeling sweat beginning to form on her forehead.

“I do,” said Ojiro, his body tensing as he got into a fighting stance. As if expecting someone to attack them at any moment. “There’s something really wrong with this.”

“Oh please, you give those 1-B mongrels too much credit,” laughed Monoma. “Clearly they thought that now, this deep in the forest and so far away from the main gate it was safe to let down their guard. Why, I bet that Yaoyorozu was correct in her assessment that the area that Bakugo picked out was far too obvious and instead they set up camp around here expecting us to run right past it. That just goes to show the superior mental fortitude of 1-A!”

Asui and Ojiro were about to speak up, but before they could Sero spoke up. “He’s got a point,” the tape user pointed out. “We didn’t see any signs of them up till this point. Maybe whoever was walking through here just got tired of covering their tracks or was just lazy. No need to think too hard about this.”

“I agree monsieur,” said Aoyama, though he could be seen shaking from head to toe. “Also, do we have any better leads?”

Ojiro frowned at that but then sighed. “I suppose you're right,” he said. “But, we should keep our guard up just in case. If this is a trap, we can turn it around on them and maybe capture a few.”

“Shouldn’t we tell Yaoyorozu? Ribbit? Just to be on the safe side?” asked Asui who still had concern in her voice.

“Absolutely not!” stated Monoma. “If Bakugo gets wind that we might be close to the bomb then he’ll rocket over here to try and seek all the glory for himself!”

“More like he’ll be trying to get a rematch with that Midoriya guy,” commented Sero, shaking his head. “Seriously, what is that dude's beef with the guy? He attacks Midoriya in the cafeteria, screaming his head off and threatening to kill him…only he looked a thousand times more likely to do it that time. And when he came back from his suspension, all he would say was that he was ‘going to find out how that worthless Deku cheated and got into U.A. before he killed him’. All before his loss at the Sports Festival. If he thinks for a moment that Midoriya will be here, guarding the bomb, you can bet he’ll be screaming for his death as he blasts over here.”

“And we would lose the element of surprise,” added Aoyama.

Reluctantly, Asui went along with them. Mostly because Ojiro wasn’t taking the villain team as lightly as the rest. She felt that along with the tail-quirked teen, if anything went wrong, then they could figure out a way out of whatever trap was set. Or, at the very least, get a message out to the rest.

So, with that, the group followed the trail and five minutes later found where it led. To say they were surprised was a bit of an understatement. Before them laid a clearing that had a doorway in the middle of it. Not just any door, but a heavy metal one like the type used in bomb shelters. Behind it was a small metal structure that was close to the ground, with some parts lower to the ground than the door. But that wasn’t what was so strange. It was the signs! Yes, someone had posted several signs with each one written in red paint! One said: This is a trap. Another read: No bomb here. A third read: Just ignore this place if you want to win.

“They…can’t be serious,” said Sero, who felt more confused than Kaminari when he fried his brain. Even Asui seemed thrown through a loop.

Standing near the door and looking very annoyed to be doing so was a student they had only seen in passing. Overall, he looked like a mantis wrapped in a black cloak. Just him, standing there.

“Do you think there’s only one guard?” asked Ojiro, glancing around the clearing and the sky to see if he could spot anyone else. However, despite his best efforts, he couldn’t find anyone. Bitterly, he wished they had thought of bringing a support hero along with them. Someone who could be able to tell if there were any other people around. Or, better yet, support equipment that could do the same job. The last thing he wanted to do was go running in blind.

“Seems that way,” said Monoma. He sounded a little unsure despite the brazen and confident front he was currently putting up. “If I had to guess, the rest of them are spread out across the training ground. No doubt confident that we would be looking for the bomb elsewhere so they left a skeleton crew to guard it. Typical 1-B overconfidence.”

Asui gave Monoma a look, clearly not liking what he was saying. Nor did she like anything about this situation before her. Something was wrong, she felt it in her froggy bones. And by looking at Ojiro, he seemed to feel the same way.

“Well, no matter what, we should check it out,” said Sero. “After all, nothing ventured nothing gained. Am I right? And even if it is a dud, then we can bring back a captured villain while marking this place off as a possible enemy camp! It’s a win-win!”

“But what if it is a trap? Ribbit?” Asui pointed out.

Sero just rolled his eyes. “Please, who in their right mind tells people it’s a trap?” he asked. Asui opened her mouth, but Ojiro spoke up first.

“I agree that we need to check this place out and we have an opportunity to reduce the villain’s forces by one,” he said, giving Sero and Monoma a meaningful look. “But, we would be wise to proceed with caution. Let's not rush in.”

“Fine, fine,” said Sero, waving him off. The only one who hadn’t said anything was Aoyama who seemed to inch back a bit, clearly nervous about the whole thing.

Several moments later, four of the five heroes rushed out of the trees surprising the mantis teen. Asui was first, using her tongue to try and wrap up the villain’s leg. The mantis teen saw right through this, leaping high into the air as sharp steel blades sprouted from the sides of his arms. From his location in the woods, Aoyama fired a beam of light which nearly hit its target. Distracted by this attack, the mantis teen seemed to overlook Sero who ejected the tape from his elbows to wrap up the mantis teen’s legs. With a powerful tug, the villain was slammed to the ground next to a waiting Monona who touched his target in order to copy his quirk. With a laugh, Monoma ejected a blade from his wrist and pressed it against the next of the villain.

“Now then, don’t give us any trouble and lay there like the inferior student you are,” said Monoma as Asui began to wrap the villain in the capture tape. The villain said nothing, just spitting right into Monoma’s face as a last act of defiance.

“Alright, now I think only a few of us should go in,” said Ojiro once the villain was captured. The tailed teen then turned to the forest, bringing his hands up to his mouth. “Hey, Aoyama! You can come on out. We need to-” The teen’s shouting was cut off as a loud crash filled the air, so loud that it deafened the tailed teen’s words. A half a heartbeat later the heroes heard the sound of dozens of birds, flapping their wings and crying out as they took to the air as if fleeing from some natural disaster. Tensing, the hero team began to look around, doing their best to defend themselves from whatever it was.

Monoma glanced down at the captured villain, ready to demand to know what was going on. Yet the words died in his throat when he saw the mantis teen’s expression. He looked scared. No, terrified at what was likely to come. Made all the worse when they heard a savage, beast-like roar.

Then, from out of the trees, came a large, fur-covered beast. All of the heroes watched as it ran through trees, knocking them over or simply shattering them as it ran on all fours. Also, even from this distance, they could not miss those massive jaws or the large amounts of saliva that were flying around with every thrash of its head.

“Get into the building!” shouted Ojiro as he made a quick decision, perhaps the best he could make. Strength-wise, this thing was on a whole other level. There was a chance that they could fight him off, Ojiro’s martial arts training coming into play, but considering how easily it was moving through the trees he expected that only his blows would be able to do any damage. And if he got taken out, they were done for. They could try and run into the forest, but even with their greater mobility, it would be hard to escape. Especially with Monoma’s time limit and him carrying Aoyama. And even if they did run away, where could they go? Back to the main camp where only Yaoyorozu was? No, the best course of action was to get into the building. It was plainly obvious to Ojiro that this beast could not fit through the door. And if this was a student, a member of 1-B using his quirk, he would have to deactivate it in order to get through the door.

No one else argued with him, everyone scrambling to the door. The heavy metal door was difficult to open, creaking as it slowly slid forward. But the charging beast-man, who had just entered the clearing, gave them the adrenaline rush they needed to speed up the process. They all then rushed inside, pulling the door closed as one before spinning the giant wheel-shaped handle to lock it. The sound of a heavy click brought them reassurance even as the beast man pounded on the door. Only barely could they see any dents, but each one of them was followed by a whimper barely audible through the door.

“Oh man, I thought we were dead,” gasped Sero as he looked around. Before them was a stone stairway with metal inside to help reinforce it. Looking further, he saw it went down two flights before stopping at another similar doorway. On the walls were radiation signs as well as a few industrial-strength lights.

“Where’s Aoyama?” asked Asui, sounding fearful. Her question brought forth a new level of fear in everyone as no one had seen the naval laser user. Slowly it dawned on them that, as he had been further away from the door, he had either run further into the forest…or hesitated too long in running to the door. Meaning they had locked him out.

“Let’s,” began Monoma only to pause before swallowing loudly. “Let’s press forward and see what they were guarding.”

As the blond began walking down the steps, Sero reached out and grabbed Monoma by the shoulder to spin him around so he could face the remaining members of their group. “Hey, what the heck man! We can’t just leave Aoyama out there to fend for himself!”

Monoma, however, just knocked the hand off of him. “Please, you’re acting like all this is real and that they’ll actually kill him or something. At worst, they’ll bang him up a little before wrapping the capture tape around him. Besides, it's his own fault for being so far away from the rest of the group. And, even if this was real, should we sacrifice the entire group just to save one cowardly hero?” stated the copy teen. Before he continued, they heard a few more banging from the other side of the blast door. “Listen to that! They are trying desperately to get to us in here. Meaning the bomb has to be in here! If we can touch it, this exercise is over. Meaning we save Aoyama and end up being the heroes who foiled the villain's plans. We will be the ones in the headlines!” With that, Monoma turned and walked down the stairs while laughing like a madman.

Sero, for his part, glanced over at the blast door while his hands clenched into fists. “Damn it!” he swore before following the copy quirk teen. And, after a moment, Asui and Ojiro followed. As much as they hated to admit it, going out right now would be a bad idea as none of them had a quirk that could help in this moment. The best they had was Asui vomiting out her stomach acid and hoping it hit someone standing right at the room. But that was a long shot, one where, if they failed, there was a good chance that the teens up there would be upon them. At least in here, the beast teen would have to turn off his quirk or get smaller. Plus, if the bomb was in here, all they had to do was touch it and everything would be over just like Monoma said. If it wasn’t, they were going to contact the rest of the class whether Monoma liked it or not.

Though, the fact that Aoyama hadn’t contacted anyone via the comlink was worrisome.

-x-

Outside…

“It seems that Sir Midoriya’s plan played out as he expected,” said Shishida, one of his enlarged arms banging at the door. Meanwhile, the rest of him had shrunk down as much as he could in order to regain enough of his logic. He used this time to remove the capture tape off of Kamakiri with his other hand.

“Yeah well, I don’t really like it much,” stated the mantis boy as he stood up straight. According to Midoriya, the plan was to lure them into a false sense of security and overconfidence before Shishida came barreling in. Hopefully, their fight-or-flight instincts would advise them to retreat from such a threat, and heading into the bunker. When they heard from Setsuna that the more hot-headed members of 1-A were heading further north, it made the plan seem more likely to succeed. Honestly, if Midoriya had left the plan like that, he would have been pissed. But, thankfully, that wasn’t the case as the green-haired class vice rep had enough foresight to realize they might try to fight. If that was the case, Shishida was supposed to free Kamakiri first. Together the pair would then push as many of the 1-A students into retreating into the bunker as possible while capturing those that fled.

Speaking of people fleeing, Kamakiri heard a rustling in the bushes. Figuring it was the coward who hid there firing that stupid laser at him, the green-skinned teen grinned slightly as he began to walk towards the woods.

“At least I get to have a little fun,” he muttered before leaping forward. Unlike in that previous fight where he took a dive, his leap was long and fast. Using his fighting skills, Kamakiri’s feet landed on the trunk of a tree for only a moment before he rebounded off of it. Sailing from tree to tree, barely making a sound, he quickly came across his target. And what he saw disgusted him to no end. His target was dressed up like a glittering knight, yet he was bent over with his head in a bush and his ass raised. The rustling he heard was from this coward shaking so hard that it was moving the bush!

“Pathetic!” yelled Kamakiri as he descended upon his prey, blade extended and swinging in an arc. The 1-A coward turned his head to look at him, fear visible even through his stupid useless visor. Then, somehow, the knight managed to roll to the side. Though not soon enough to completely miss the swipe. A large chunk of his cape had been sliced off while a small chunk of his side armor was now on the ground. No doubt those support students would be pissed. But it was a useless piece anyway and it was this coward's fault, not his.

“No, no!” cried the coward as his hands reached down for his belt. Realizing something was up, Kamakiri lunged to the side.  Just in time too as a laser was fired from the belt, burning a hole through a couple of trees!

“So you do have some fight in you!” cheered Kamakiri with a grin, leaping from tree to tree again as he circled his target. “Good to know hero! That means I don’t have to go easy on you!” At that moment, the knight looked ready to piss himself. But Kamakiri didn’t care all that much as the teen fired a few more shots, each one a miss. After the third, the coward fell down on his knee while his hands went to hold his stomach. He tried to raise his head, teeth grit, however, Kamakiri chose that moment to drop down so that his elbow collided with the teen’s skull.

“At the very least, you stood your ground like a man,” said Kamakiri, giving the prone hero in training before him a small bit of respect. “Though you should have listened to the signs. Would have saved you a whole lot of trouble.”

-x-

Back in the bunker, Monoma and crew opened the second blast door. Thankfully, this one wasn’t as rusted and seemed to open with greater ease. As one, the group looked into the room and their eyes widened at what they beheld. The room looked entirely made of cement with small rectangular sheets of metal along the bottom of the walls. Everything was bare save for an object right across from them covered in a sheet. Something that looked bomb shaped!

“There it is!” cried Sero in relief as both he and Monoma rushed deeper into the room.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” muttered Asui as she and Ojiro slowly walked into the room, maybe a step or two away from the door. If anything happened, they could keep the door from closing all the way and help get them out of there.

“I kn-” began Ojiro, but stopped as Monoma, with a flourish, unveiled the object from underneath the sheet. As soon as he did, something like orangish-brown dust flew up into the air and quickly entered their lungs due to the small size of the room. At once, everyone began coughing so hard that the door slammed shut seemingly on its own. Both Asui and Ojiro turned, trying to open it back up. To escape from this enclosed room full of what they were now realizing were spores from the giant mushroom hidden under the sheet! What kind it was, none of them knew nor did they care as escaping to breathe in fresh air was at the forefront of their minds. But that objective seemed out of reach as they were only now realizing that there was no handle on the door, a loud clicking sound seeming to now echo through the room. Ojiro narrowed his eyes at the door, leaping up to spin around and bash the door down with his tail. Or, at least, he tried to. Due to his near-constant coughing and the lack of air in his lungs, Ojiro couldn’t put as much power needed into his jump, falling to the ground before his tail ever touched the metal. What’s more, he was feeling weaker and his thinking was getting a little fuzzy. In fact, it was so fuzzy that it was like the fur at the end of his tail. Such a funny thought.

“What hehe is hehe happening?” asked Sero between a burst of laughter. He then began to sway, feeling the world melt and spin around him. Not like he cared as new colors began to swim through his vision. He could see words, smell sounds, and just felt so freaking amazing. Nor was he the only one as the rest of the group seemed to be on the same train to whateverville that he was on.

It was then that one of the steel rectangles on the wall slid up, revealing the face of a living glue stick. Glue then shot into the room, coating all of them in it. Before long, everyone was wrapped up in glue cocoons and hung from the ceiling laughing the entire time.

Chapter Text

Shortly after his fight with Todoroki, Izuku found himself in an area of the northwest section of training ground Omega. The area looked fairly unremarkable, looking like the rest of the forested area with large trees and mostly even terrain. The only thing that set this area apart from ninety percent of the rest of the western area of Omega were a few large mounds here and there. Grass and plants covered them, giving the impression that they had been there for a while. However, Izuku knew that those mounds hadn’t been there yesterday. That they were a result of them making their true hideaway.

After landing on the ground, it took Izuku a moment or two of walking around to find what he was looking for as they had opted not to use any markers. If they would have a hard time finding it then the heroes would have a harder time finding it. At least, that was the line of thinking. Even if the heroes had decided to check for permits, there was still a large amount of ground to cover and it wouldn’t tell them what they had done exactly.

Eventually, Izuku found the camouflaged trap door on the forest floor. One large enough for the bomb to fit through. Quickly checking his surroundings, and constantly listening for Bakugo’s screams of rage, the green-haired teen lifted it up revealing a long tunnel that reminded him of a metal sewer pipe shooting straight down. The walls of the tunnel were smooth, the only exception being a built-in ladder running along one side. Rather than using the ladder, Izuku leaped down. Using the tricks he had learned from Mrs. Kendo, Izuku controlled his fall by leaping from side to side while being careful not to touch the ladder. In he did well, let's just say he was glad that the tunnel wasn’t too deep.

When Izuku landed, he found himself at the end of a small bunker. Small being the keyword. The bomb was at one end, maybe ten steps away from where he stood. On either side of the room were metal benches, Itsuka lying on her back on the right side.

This had all been part of the overall design. Rather than having some massive complex, with seemingly endless tunnels you could get lost in or some fortified structure in the middle of the woods, Izuku believed that controlling the flow of battle would be most important. At least in this situation. The tunnel leading down here would only allow one person to enter at a time. Meaning, in most circumstances, the heroes would have to climb down one at a time where Itsuka and Izuku would be waiting for them. The lack of space also worked in their favor in hand-to-hand combat. Less room meant there was not as much space to dodge and if you weren’t used to it then the fight would be harder. Thankfully, neither Izuku nor Itsuka had that issue. Using the limited space, Midoriya could more easily reach his opponents to use Divine Dividing without pulling out his wings. Following that, Itsuka could easily punch their lights out. The limited space also helped them slow down the enemies so that, if they felt they would be overwhelmed, they could still call for backup and hold out till help arrived.

Of course, Izuku took into account that this would not work with everyone. Todoroki, for example, could use his ice to freeze everything in here and then just walk right on in while they remained frozen in place. Kaminari could have used his electricity to zap everything in the room. Even Bakugo could have caused them a problem simply by using his quirk to smoke them out. Honestly, Izuku was thankful for the hero's team placements as it made it so much easier for them to deal with the bigger issues. That and Tokage’s information gathering.

“So, how did it go?” asked Itsuka, still lying on the bench as she stared up at the ceiling.

“Surprisingly good,” said Izuku with a sigh as he sat down across from her. Though, like his, he got to see more of her leg than he normally would and felt an intense blush appear on his face. After quickly averting his eyes, he continued. “I-I decided to go after B-Bakugo first. Lead him on a bit of a chase, though it ended sooner than I thought it would. To be honest, I had thought I would either have to go between fighting Todoroki and letting Bakugo chase me around Omega several times or just letting the others handle him. But it all worked out. Seems someone managed to convince him to let me go.”

At that, Itsuka sat straight up with wide eyes. “Wow, either Shinso is on their team and Tokage missed him or we just experienced a miracle,” stated the orange-haired girl.

“Who knows,” laughed Izuku. “Bakugo isn’t stupid. Sure, when he gets angry he lashes out-”

“Which seems to be all the time,” interrupted Itsuka.

“But if you can get through to him and know the right words to use, you can get him to calm down enough for him to see reason,” finished Izuku. “And it looks like 1-A has someone who can do that. Hopefully, they’ll continue to operate under the idea that I only brought him over here to waste time.”

Itsuka pouted slightly. “And here I was hoping we’d get a rematch,” she said with a sigh.

“Hey, I’ll be happy if no one shows up,” replied Izuku with a slight smile, finding Itsuka’s pouting face cute…as well as something else. It stirred something inside of him that the teen was slowly beginning to realize he had. However, he pushed it down in order to continue. “It means that we win. I’ll take victory with boredom any day of the week.”

Iysuka frowned at that for another moment before finally letting out a huff of defeat. “As much as I want to, I can’t argue with that logic,” she said while leaning back. “And what of everyone else? Come on, spill the beans. I’m in the dark on what’s going on out there and bored!”

Izuku grinned, feeling a gleam in his eyes that some would have considered villainous. “They have been dealt with,” he said, leaning forward a bit so that the lights above them cast a shadow over his eyes. Now only the light from his green pupils could be seen along with his grin which was getting a tad toothy. “And soon the package will be delivered.”

-x-

“Todoroki! Kaminari! Tokoyami!” yelled Yaoyorozu, panting slightly as she spoke. The richest girl in 1-A was now standing in front of a new device she had created after realizing a small oversight in her planning. While the earpieces had been a wonderful idea in her mind, the issue was that everyone could hear what they were saying. Meaning if she wanted to talk to someone privately it wouldn’t work. So, she had used her quirk to create a simple tablet along with all the coding she needed to make it work. With this device, she could single out individuals or groups with only her being able to hear everything. Though now she wished she had added in a tracker to the communicators.

That wasn’t the only thing she had created since the start of the exercise. After hearing that Midoriya had engaged with Bakugo, she had a sudden realization. If they did manage to capture someone, Midoriya could just fly in and rescue them. All he had to do was break into the police transport vehicle, remove the capture tape, and they would be free. Once that happened they could either attack and capture her while destroying their base of operations or just leave. Honestly, she didn’t know which was worse: to have a potential group of ‘villains’ attacking her all at once or to be considered so beneath their notice that they just walked right past her. So, to aid her, she had created two cannons. She would have made more, but their creation as well as the special flash bangs she had loaded them with had eaten up a large amount of her lipids. And that wasn’t even factoring in making the tablet! But it was better than nothing. Hopefully, she would be able to take the flying teen down with them. Or perhaps disorient him.

However, Midoriya was only one of many worries she had right now as she tried her damnedest to get a handle on the situation. So far Todoroki, Kaminari, and Todoroki weren’t speaking to her. She had no idea if they had been captured, knocked out, or simply on the run and unable to talk back. The only solace she had at the moment was that there hadn’t been an announcement alerting them that they were so gravely injured that they had to be removed from Omega. If only those three were her only worries. She hadn’t heard anything from Team B yet. Yaoyorozu had tried several times now to talk to them and the only thing she had gotten was giggling. Something was wrong. Oh, and on top of all that, Mineta was acting up. Instead of trying to find more villains, he was treating this like a game and trying to ‘accidentally’ bounce into Hagakure’s naked front and butt! His antics were slowing down the scouting team!

“Hey, friendly coming in,” came a voice that caused Yaoyorozu’s eyes to widen. She turned around and, upon seeing who it was, dropped her tablet to rush over to him. It was Kaminari! The teen had entered the base camp, covered in dirt while one arm was holding onto the other which hung limply at his side.

“Kaminari, what happened?” demanded the rich girl, quickly going over the wounded arm.

“I think,” began Kaminari, but paused to hiss as Yaoyorozu took hold of it and began to feel it for injuries. “You know, any other day having you feel me up would be a dream come true.”

That caused Yaoyorozu to frown as she looked at him. “Is now really the time for that?”

“Sorry, sorry,” replied the teen with a wince. “Guess my brain is still a little fried from overusing my quirk.”

“What happened,” asked the creator quirk user, pushing aside certain comments that she could already hear Jiro making in her mind. “Last I heard, you were being attacked. Who was it?”

“Yeah, I got attacked. No thanks to the rest of my team, leaving me behind like that,” said Kaminari before sighing. “I don’t know who they were, except they were the creepiest-looking guys in that class. They just came up out of the ground. Or, wait, did they both come out of the ground or did that you guy come out of the shadows?” Kaminari then paused before shuttering. “I remember calling for help, then the next thing I know I’m wandering through the trees with my arm banged up not too far from here. Best guess I’ve been able to come up with is that I overused my quirk before taking off running. Probably ran into several trees along the way.”

“Right. Well, good news is that this is treatable. It’ll only hurt for a moment,” said Yaoyorozu.

“Wait, it’ll-” began Kaminari before a loud cry filled the air around him as his dislocated arm was reset. “Damn it!”

“By the way,” continued Yaoyorozu with a frown. “Why didn’t you contact us as soon as your head cleared? You had us worried.” The rich girl then narrowed her eyes, watching to see what he would do. Then, much to her relief, he pulled out the communicator out from his ear and held it up.

“Because the damned thing got fried when I used my quirk,” he said, placing the broken piece in Yaoyorozu’s hands. For a moment, the girl said nothing as she examined it as best she could with her own eyes. Though, it wasn’t hard to see that he was telling the truth as there were several parts that had darkened on the tiny device due to electrical burns. Slowly, she cursed herself for not considering this flaw before.

“I apologize,” she said with a bow. “I should have taken that into account. I’ll make you another one.”

“Thanks,” said Kaminari. Then, as Yaoyorozu began to create a new earpiece, the electric teen continued. “Nice to know that someone in this class cares about me. Everyone else just left me behind to fend for myself.”

Momo winced slightly at the words as they held more than a little truth to them. “Sorry about that,” she whispered, handing her fellow classmate the earpiece. “I should have done more.”

Sudden realization flashed across Kaminari’s face as he raised his hands and began to wave them around wildly in a dismissing manner. “Hey, hey. I’m not blaming you,” he said quickly. “I mean, you were over here all by yourself. Not much you could have done. Heck, everyone else was too far away as well. I’m more pissed off at the rest of my ‘team’ for just ditching me.”

Yaoyorozu gave him the briefest of smiles. “Thank you,” she said, feeling a little better than he understood why she wasn’t there when he needed help the most. “Though, Tokoyami did say he was going back for you. It happened after you were attacked since he said he saw the electrical sparks from your quirk.”

At that, Kaminari looked a little sheepish. “He did? Wow, now I feel like an ass,” he said before a look of panic crossed his face. The teen then grabbed Yaoyorozu by the shoulder, surprising her. “Wait, he came back for me? There where is he? Is he ok?”

“I…don’t know,” replied Momo as Kaminari let go of her shoulders. “His last communication was telling us that he was going back for you. I’ve tried to contact him since but there has been no response. I think…” The heiress’s words trailed off as she finally began taking in this new information, coming up with a scenario. In her mind, she could see Kaminari shocking one or two possible members of the villain team before wandering off. Maybe in that time, another member of 1-B came to the area to check up on his classmates and helped them back onto their feet before Tokoyami got there. Then… “I think we should operate under the assumption that Tokoyami was captured.”

“What?!?” yelled Kaminari looking ready to make a mad dash into the woods. “Then we have to go and-”

“No, that would be a bad idea,” interrupted Momo. Kaminari looked ready to argue, but the rich girl continued before he got a word in. “Right now, the only two people we have are you and me who are free at the moment. I could call in our scouting party, but they're busy with their own job. And as for everyone else, Team B is not really answering their communicators and Team C hasn’t reached their destination yet. Going in by ourselves would be a bad move. Especially given that we don’t know who we are dealing with exactly. Not to mention that they have more than likely moved on from that spot, taking Tokoyami with them. Without knowing where they are or how many we are dealing with, going off on a rescue mission would just end up giving the villain team more captives.”

“But,” began Kaminari, looking torn. Yaoyorozu felt she understood what was going through his head as he looked between her and the forest. That he understood her words, that heading out there now would do more harm than good, yet felt like he had to do something.

So, Yaoyorozu decided to comfort him a little. “Don’t worry,” she said, doing her best to sound reassuring. “We’ll get him back. Depending on where they are taking him, one of our teams is bound to run into them. Or our scouting party will catch wind. Until then, we need to sit tight.”

“I…ok,” he said with great reluctance.

Then…

“Hey!” came a voice that caused Momo’s eyes to narrow. Turning around, she saw Mineta running towards the camp with a rather large slam mark on his face. Her look of disdain prompted him to answer the unspoken question. “Jiro slapped me and said to get out of her sight. The others agreed.”

“Of course they did,” sighed Yaoyorozu, feeling her shoulder slumping. What had she been thinking placing Mineta on a team with a naked, albeit invisible, girl? Not to mention a coward who would have gone running the second he sensed danger? Oh right, he would have freaked out the moment a real fight started in the forest the same way he did during the USJ attack. Crying while flinging his balls around before hiding. And the reason she didn’t want him here was because she didn’t want to deal with the walking sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen alone. Now, she supposed, she had to take one for the team. On the plus side, she wasn’t alone.

About fifteen minutes later, a new figure approached the base camp. It was Todoroki! However, it was a version of the teen that no one in the class had ever seen before. Starting from his head, his hair was disheveled with patches of dirt and mud on his face. His clothing, which was basically his gym uniform, was equally dirty with a few cuts here and there. Though Momo noted that there were no cuts on his body. She also noted that he had stumbled here on foot, instead of using his ice to propel him.

“What happened?” asked Momo, noticing that her fellow recommended student was panting heavily.

“Midoriya,” gasped Todoroki. “I fought him shortly after the exercise started.”

At that, Momo frowned. “Bakugo also fought him,” she stated, her lips pursed.

“It was after that,” said Todoroki simply, his tone suggesting that that was enough. Which was typical of the teen. Still, something felt off.

“Why didn’t you use your ice to get back here?” continued Momo. That caused Todoroki to freeze in place. He gave her a look for a moment, scowling as he did so before holding up his left hand for all to see. He stared at it, appearing to concentrate on it for several long seconds before he lowered it. He then lowered his hand with the air of someone who had just proven their point when the answer should have been obvious.

“Midoriya kept cutting my quirk in half,” he said finally, presumably noticing the blank stares he was getting from not just Yaoyorozu but Kaminari and Mineta as well. “As soon as I woke up, I tried to give chase but found myself weaker and unable to do so. This will pass, in time, just like it did with Bakugo and Kirishima. But I don’t know how long so I decided to come back here. I’ve been struggling to run back here since then.” Looking annoyed, Todoroki then made to move past them only to have Yaoyorozu block his path. The dual quirk user shot the girl a dirty look but she ignored it.

“If that’s the case, then why didn’t you tell us anything?” she demanded. At this, Todoroki blinked almost owlishly. Like he didn’t understand.

“You know, with your communicator,” said Mineta, pointing to his ear.

“My…oh right,” he said, understanding finally dawning on him. He then reached up to his ear only to then pull out nothing. “It seems that they removed it. Could I get an-”

“It’s Toga!” cried Momo, thrusting a palm forward at the Todoroki impersonator while at the same time using her Creation quirk to create a staff from it. The staff impacted Toga right in the chest, no doubt being caught off guard. As the fake began falling to the ground, Momo shot a glance over at Mineta who seemed to be cowering slightly. With her eyes, she told him to use his quirk to capture the fake. Instead, the tiny student pulled out his capture tape and leapt at ‘Todoroki’ with a primal roar. Using mobility that Momo didn’t think that Mineta had without the use of his quirk, he spun around the fake to tie him up. Even ending it by making a bow out of the capture tape.

Kaminari just clapped at this.

“Good job,” said Yaoyorozu, picking up the captured villain who was barely putting up a fight. “Though why didn’t you use your quirk?”

“What? Is that what you wanted me to do?” he asked. “I figured you just wanted me to tie him up. Also, I, er, sort of overused my quirk.”

Shrugging at that, Momo brought Toga to the prisoner’s bus. The Todoroki impersonator struggled slightly, breathing out things like ‘you’re wrong’ and ‘you’ve got the wrong person’. However, Momo ignored all of this and simply opened the doors to the back of the bus before forcing him/her inside. Then, without sparing the faker another look closed the door.

“Ok,” she said as she walked away from the vehicle. “Since we now have a villain captured, I want the both of you to remain here as backup.”

“Sure thing,” said Mineta as Momo went back to retrieve her tablet. Though, as she picked it up, she could hear the tiny teen continuing the conversation with a blush on his face and a wide smile that showed off some of his teeth. “I hope the next person we capture is a real cutie.”

“Oh yeah, that would be great,” said Kaminari, glancing down at his purple ball-headed buddy. “Any 1-B girl’s who caught your eye?” Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Momo went back to work trying to coordinate with the rest of the teams.

-x-

“Hey Izuku,” Itsuka said as she laid on her back on one side of the small, underground bunker she was currently in. A hum was all she received from the only other occupant, causing her to turn around and look at it. Like her, he was lying on his back with his hands behind his head. Taking it easy for now and conserving his energy…not that he needed to considering what he had done to Tokoroki.

“Yeah?” he said at last.

“I was just wondering what’s going on with you,” she said, before getting into a sitting position. She noticed that her green-haired friend’s eyes and she could tell by his following expression what he was going to say next. “And don’t give me that ‘it’s nothing’ excuse or anything like that. You’ve been acting down ever since you came back from the Principal’s office. Something is clearly bugging you.” She paused, taking a breath to help keep her voice under control. “Izuku, you know you can talk to me if there’s anything bothering you. It’s what friends do.”

“I,” began Izuku before suddenly looking distracted. Like he was having a conversation with himself or something. It was a look she was very familiar with, seeing him have it multiple times since they first met. After a moment, he sighed before sitting up.

“I guess I should start with a little confession,” he began before looking at Itsuka right in the eye. “It’s about the expo. When I found out that I was going and I could bring one other person, I first thought of my mom. I know she’s not as big into heroes as I am, but I thought going on a vacation to a manmade island with all expenses paid would have been a nice gift. To say thank you for all that she’s done for me. However, she said she couldn’t go. That it was just too short of notice and that she had to take care of business that, well, is the kind of stuff you can’t just toss onto someone else.”

“Yeah, that’s understandable,” replied Itsuka, tilting her head as she was curious as to where this was going. If she was being honest, she had fully expected Izuku to ask his mother first. Given how close they were and how much he talked about her at times, it only made sense that he invited her. Hell, she would have been pissed if he hadn’t asked her first! Still, why was he acting so weird? Was he really that upset that she couldn’t go?

“After I spoke with her, I asked someone else. Someone other than you,” continued Izuku, this admission shocking Itsuka. After all, who else was there?

“O-Oh,” she said, looking away while trying to sound like it really wasn’t all that important that she wasn’t his second pick. Even though it kind of was. “So, ah, who did you ask before me?”

Izuku’s hands clenched into fists. “M-My dad,” he replied before taking in a deep breath. “My mom...after she said she couldn’t…suggested that I ask my dad.”

Itsuka felt her eyes widen at that as she hadn’t even considered that her friend would have asked his dad. Izuku’s father was always an elusive topic. The man was mentioned from time to time, though the most Itsuka could ever figure out about the man was that he was helping to pay the fee to let Izuku train at the dojo and that he wasn’t around all that much. It had also never escaped her notice that whenever she came by the man wasn’t home. The closest she had ever come to seeing him was in pictures on the wall. From what she had gleaned, he was taller than Inko, with messy hair that Izuku had inherited only black. He had also grown it out longer, tied up in the back. The man was also where Izuku got his freckles from, though the man’s seemed more random. The last thing that had caught her attention was permanent stubble on his chin.

“He actually picked up when I called him,” continued Izuku, pulling Itsuka out of her own thoughts. Now she could see her friend looking down. “We made a little small talk as I made my way to class before I asked him if he could come.”

“And he said no?” guessed Itsuka. Much to her surprise, Izuku shook his head.

“He said yes,” said Izuku.

“Ah,” was all Itsuka could say as she stared at her green-haired friend. Blinking a few times, she did her best to try and process this. He was upset because his dad said yes? Did that mean they had a sour relationship or something? Had he been hoping his father would say no? Wait, if he said yes then why did he ask her? Something just didn’t add up.

“He sounded really excited too,” continued Izuku, his eyes now downcast as he clasped his hands together while his fingers intertwined. “L-Like he was happy to be spending time with me. I asked him if he was sure and he said he was looking at his calendar right now and it was all clear and…and…” Izuku gulped, body shaking a little. It was like he was watching a horror movie for the second time, knowing that the creature that scared him on the screen was about to show up at any moment making the experience all the more tense. “Then, just as we said our goodbyes and I was about to end the call, he told me to wait. Then said he made a mistake, that he couldn’t go. Then he hung up before I could say anything.”

Upon hearing that, Itsuka felt something so foreign to her that she honestly didn’t know how to express it. What she had just heard sounded so unbelievably cruel. Sure, there were far, far worse things that a parent could do to their child. But to get your son’s hopes up like that, dash them, and then run away made her wonder if the man had done all that intentionally. Now, she had made him relive all of it. And without the shock of the moment, it probably hurt a thousand times more.

“I’m sorry,” she said, crossing the small room so she could sit next to him. Without thinking too much about it, she pressed the side of her body against him. And a moment later, she felt him returning that pressure. For a moment, the two just sat there leaning on each other. Then she spoke again. “When was the last time you spoke to him? You’re father, I mean.”

Izuku swallowed. “It was when I first got my quirk,” he said, his hand reaching for Itsuka’s to hold for comfort. Of course, she let him. “He didn’t even call when I won the Sports Festival. I guess it’s a little silly for me to complain about something like that. Whining about not hearing from your dad when everything else is going your way. Probably makes me sound childish.”

“No,” said Itsuka. “It makes you human.”

“The last time I saw him, I was six,” continued Izuku, sounding like a floodgate had opened and it was hard to close. “He…He went to work in the U.S. shortly after the doctor declared me originally quirkless. He just…wouldn’t look at me. There was also something different about him. I can’t really remember everything that was happening. But, ah, he came back when I was six. That day, when I heard he was c-coming back, I was so excited.” Izuku let out a humorless laugh. “I remember fighting with my mom, saying I didn’t want to go to school that day because I wanted to be there when dad came h-home. She still made me. When I got home, I waited by the door all day. When he showed up, it was an hour before I had to go to bed. Then, the next morning, he was gone. Like the whole thing had been a dream. All I knew was that he had to go back to work. After that, just the occasional call.”

“Izuku, I’m sorry,” said Itsuka, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him in closer for comfort. She was only vaguely aware that her breast was pressing against his arm, but she was more concerned about comforting her friend than worrying about something like that. “Damn, I really suck at the whole hero thing. I thought talking about whatever was troubling you would help. Only I made it worse.” She then paused as Izuku wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping themselves from separating.

“You asked because you cared,” mumbled Izuku. “Believe me, knowing that is more than enough.”

For some time, the two sat there in silence.

-x-

“Are they going to, ah, you know?” asked Mt. Lady. At that moment, the pro hero was leaning forward in her seat with her eyes glued to one of the many screens that were showing them the first-year students in the exercise. Something that both Midoriya and Kendo had forgotten as they continued to hold each other. They also apparently didn’t know that all three pro heroes could hear, if they so chose, everything that was going on. Why had they decided to listen in? Well, it had been decided as a group for them to at least turn on the volume so that if something inappropriate started happening between a boy and a girl in an enclosed space when they thought that maybe no one was watching they would pick up on it.

“I don’t think so,” said Kamui Woods, arms crossed over his chest. “Though, this isn’t the best time for a conversation like this. They both need to keep their heads in the game.” The wood-using hero then brought up his notebook and began to write a few things. “Kendo should never have brought up the subject like this. If she was worried about how it would affect their operation, she should have brought it up either before or after the exercise. As for Midoriya, he should have just said that he’ll tell her later. It’s not the sort of behavior that we expect from heroes.”

“Oh?” said Mt. Lady, a sly smile on her face as she gave her fellow hero a look through half-lidded eyes. “But, they’re not heroes right now. Remember, they’re the villains.” Kamui Woods’ body grew stiff at that remark, eyes slightly widening at the same time. He then glanced over at Mt. Lady who was giving him a look that wanted to see how he would handle this. Turning his attention back to his notebook, the pro hero began to cross out large chunks of what he had written.

“I’m too old for teenage drama,” said Death Arms as he took a drag from his cigarette, his eyes drifting towards a screen showing another one of the hero teams that seemed ready to walk into a trap.

-x-

Kirishima ran his hand along the walls to the entrance of a large cave embedded in the wall of one of the rocky parts of Omega. They had not been exactly looking for this cave or any cave to be precious. Just checking out the middle areas between the zones where groups A and B were looking.

If he was being honest, when they had first approached this area, he had been ready to call Yaoyorozu and tell her that this felt like a waste of time. The area was nearly completely made of stone, with canyons of various sizes and shapes scattered about the place. Some of the canyons went up two to four stories tall and were wide enough for a truck to drive through. These were in the minority, however, as the rest were so thin you had to hold your breath to get through. The ground was also loose, with plenty of rocks shattered about the place that could easily cause you to trip. It just felt like a really stupid place to hide the bomb as there was basically no cover. All the heroes had to do was walk along the tops of the canyons and they would see everything!

It was while doing just that, however, that they managed to find one thing that made them glad they hadn’t just walked away. A cave. After getting to the ground with the aid of Uraraka’s anti-gravity quirk, Team C found themselves in front of the current location.

As Kirishima checked the area, he noted that there were signs that people had passed through here recently. In front of the cave were a bunch of small stones that were at least two footprints in length. Well, two of his shoeprints at least. How did he come up with this measurement? Because he could see a few prints in the stones. Maybe four or five different tracks all leading inside. There were also signs that someone had dragged something inside.

“Alright, let's check this out,” said Sato, a grin on his face as he began walking into the cave. However, he was stopped when Uraraka grabbed his wrist. Jumping slightly at the sudden contact, he turned to look at the anti-gravity girl with a questioning look.

“I think we should let Yaoyorozu know about this. She should at least be kept in the loop,” said Uraraka, her voice doing its best to be firm. However, they could all tell that she was at least a little nervous at the moment. Whether it was because she was trying to assert herself in this situation or if it was because she was nervous going into a cave it was hard to tell.

Sato opened his mouth to say everything was fine, but Ashido cut in. “She’s right,” said the acid user, glancing around. “If this is where they hid the bomb and something happens to us, everyone else needs to know. And if it’s a trap, then they know where to go to rescue us.”

“Oh come on,” said Sato, his voice not exactly dismissive. “You’ve both overthinking it. I mean, look around. There’s no one here!”

“Just because we don’t see anyone, doesn’t mean they’re not here,” snapped Ashido. “They could be waiting inside to ambush us.”

“And we’ll be at a disadvantage,” added Uraraka. “If they are in there, then the villains have a better idea of the layout of the cave. Meaning they can better ambush us or set traps. Also, I won’t be able to use my quirk to its fullest in there. Same with Kirishima. He can harden his body, but if he uses the strength-enhancing part of it then there’s a good chance he might bury us alive!”

“Ah, come on now,” said Sato, though they could all hear in his voice that the sugar teen was beginning to sound unsure as well.

At the same time, Kirishima was deep in thought. Uraraka had a good point. While he had managed to get a little better at controlling the quirk All Might had given him, it still required a lot of concentration to use the right percentage of the quirk's power. If they did get into a fight, the goods were sadly too high that he would lose his control and accidentally use more power than he should. If that happened, getting caved in would be the least of their problems. He might accidentally kill someone, breaking his arm in the process, and then they would have to deal with the cave collapsing on them. But, beyond himself, the others would have a harder time. Mina still used her acid for greater mobility when she fought. While she could still use it to fight in the cave, there was a greater chance that she would end up crashing into the walls or falling into some pit she didn’t see. This was U.A. after all and he wouldn’t put it past the school for them to have placed a bottomless pit in here. As for Uraraka, he got her point. Taking away gravity would just let them float to the ceiling where they would then be able to just kick off. In fact, with all the surfaces inside, removing gravity from the enemy might be a boon.

Also, he had just watched the first episode of that old anime Goblin Slayer last night and he didn’t want anything like that shit to happen to them. Not without knowing that backup could reach them quickly.

“Look, we lose nothing by telling Yaoyorozu about this,” said Kirishima, watching as Uraraka’s and Ashido’s faces lit up. “But we do gain a lot by telling her. Plus, it’s just really unmanly to keep secrets from your allies.” With that, Kirishima contacted a very appreciative heiress to inform them of the cave as well as their concerns that this might be a trap.

“Thank you for informing me,” she said, her tone telling everyone that she was speaking with a smile on her face while a hand rested over her heart. “To be safe, please check in at least every five minutes. If ten minutes go by and I don’t hear anything from you then I’ll do everything in my power to send backup.”

“Thank you. This is Red Riot signing out,” said Kirishima, a hint of pride as he said his hero name.

With that done, the group made their way into the cave. As Uraraka began to fish through her supplies looking for her flashlight, the other three checked their surroundings while there was still plenty of light. So far, there didn’t seem to be much. Once the flashlight was out, they continued to move letting the brunette lead the way as the entrance grew more distant. The air, which had been warm outside, now held a bit of a chill while feeling somewhat humid. Above their heads they could hear the squeaking and the fluttering of wings from bats, making Sugar Man flinch in fear. And along the walls were various mushrooms.

In fact, the deeper they went, the more mushrooms there were. At one point, an entire wall was covered with them.

“Is this,” began Ashido, her voice sounding slightly strained. The pink-skinned girl then brought a hand to her throat to rub it a little before continuing. “Normal?”

“I…don’t…know,” said Sato between coughs. Kirishima also let out a few coughs as well, his own throat feeling tight while his head felt a little dizzy. But he was sure he could continue.

“Though they…look a…little…creepy,” continued Sato, hacking between his words before needing to rest his palms against his knees while bending over.

“Now that’s not a nice to say, shroom,” came an unfamiliar voice, causing everyone there to tense up. Slowly, with shaking hands, Uraraka shifted their only light in the direction they all believed they knew where the sound had come from. And they were right. Down a nearby short hallway that they had almost missed, was a girl in a red mushroom-like costume sitting on a rock near the back. She smiled at them, sending chills down their collective spines while looking at them with those unusual eyes while kicking her legs back and forth.  

But, it was what she said next that truly frightened them.

“After all, these lovelies were made just for you,” said the 1-B girl, her smile somehow growing wider. At that moment, the cave walls seemed to explode with various mushrooms. Breathing became so much harder, the heroes being forced to stumble backwards as the villain’s laughter echoed through the cave. Ashido tried her best to help, creating and then splashing acid against the walls. However, this did little to help as the fumes created added to their nausea. More of the mushrooms were creating spores, making it more and more difficult to breathe as none of them had masks with respirators.

Somehow, they managed to make it to the cave’s exit. For a moment they all thought that they would be able to escape, gain some fresh air in their lungs, and then come up with a better plan. That, they quickly discovered, was too good to be tried. Standing there at the entrance was an oval-eyed teen. He took a deep breath before exhaling something.

Sato was the first to figure out what that something was, eating some sugar to give him the boost of strength he needed to try and reach the villain. However, he was stopped several feet from his target by a seemingly invisible wall! Now dumber, Sato backed up before trying to repeat the process only to once again run into the invisible wall. Naturally, he tried it a third time, and so on.

“A…barrier?” coughed Ashido as she fell to her knees, one hand on her stomach. By this time, Kirishima had noticed that most of them, save Mina, had mushrooms growing on their costumes and bodies. He knew and could feel that he had several on his shoulders and a patch running down his back. Uraraka had several sticking out of her hair and a few on her belly. Sato, well half of his arms were covered in them as well as having patches on his legs. The only reason Ashido seemed to be spared, at the moment, was probably the acid she was no doubt secreting through her pours to protect her.

“Let’s put an end to this, shall we? Shroom?” came the girl’s voice. Looking back for a moment, they could see the mushroom girl walking towards them slowly. As she did, it was like a field of mushrooms were growing in her wake.

Kirishima was about to do something. Either to ask Mina if she could use her acid to break the barrier or if he should do it himself. But that was when he noticed another villain standing there at the entrance. It was a girl, her face looking like an emotionless mask as she stood next to the oval-eyed boy. Feeling his heart rate quicken, Kirishima reached out a hand and prepared to shout as he watched her press her fingers together. But it was too late. In an instant, all the small rocks they had stepped over while entering the cave returned to their normal massive sizes to block the exit further while trapping them in darkness.

Gritting his teeth, Kirishima began to charge up One for All in his arm. This would not be the end of them! He would not let this be where their part in this exercise came to an end. He refused to go down without a fight! Why? Because it was unmanly!

Also, both he and Ashido couldn’t afford to fail given how low their grades were.

With a roar, Kirishima’s body hardened while he punched forward. The force of the blow did the trick, destroying the barrier and sending rubble flying across the canyon like beads from a shotgun shell. But the backlash, that was a whole other story. The wind shot back at them, knocking back anyone who wasn’t bracing themselves or holding onto anything. Which, sadly, was everyone but Kirishima who had dug in his heels to brace himself. He could hear the mushroom girl screaming as she was flung down the cave followed by the rest of his teammates until a loud thud was heard. What’s more, his arm was broken. But that was a minor concern at the moment as he needed to make sure that he hadn’t accidentally killed anyone.

Sighing, Kirishima stumbled back into the cave hoping that, with the quirk user out, that the mushrooms would be gone. However, as he walked with his broken arm hanging limply by his side, the teen knew one thing: even though they had beaten this trap and captured several of the villains, they had still lost.

-x-

“Come on. Come on,” grumbled Awase under his breath, making sure that no one could hear him. His eyes were laser focused on the task before him, waiting to see if there were anyone foolish enough to take the bait. All while doing his best to remain perfectly still.

Then, after a minute or two, he saw something. Movement under the surface. Hands clenching tightly at the tool that would seal his target’s fate, the teen grinned wickedly. With his eyes focusing like this, he could practically see the fish-brained fool slowly checking out the bait. Just a moment and then he would have-

“How’s the fishing coming along?” came a voice right behind Awase, causing the teen to not jump into the air and to not make a cry that sounded like a five-year-old girl. After landing on his feet from not doing either of those things, Awase looked back at the water before sinking to his knees. The trout he had spotted heading towards the hook of his fishing line had been spooked away.

Meanwhile, Shiozaki glanced over at the empty bucket next to him with a frown. “Not great I see,” she said.

“Hey, I almost had one,” growled Awase, fuming as he wanted nothing more than to throw the fishing rod he had borrowed from his father onto the dock. Seriously, why was fishing go god damned hard! And the way Shiozaki was acting made it all the worse. Like she was mocking him, perhaps even implying that she could do it better! Well, that wasn’t going to happen. He’d let her have a piece of his-

“Here,” she suddenly said, snapping Awase out of his rage. He stood there, staring at Shiozaki for a moment with wide blinking eyes that noticed a slight blush on her face. Slowly he looked down at her hand to see a glass filled with a dark red liquid along with some ice cubes floating in the middle.

“Ah, thanks,” he said while taking the glass. The teen then held it up to the sun, staring at it with one eye open like he was examining it or something. “Didn’t know we had anything like this.”

“We didn’t,” said Shiozaki before holding up her own glass. “I made it from the berries in the garden.” The girl paused, her blush deepening slightly. “I wanted to thank you for that cross-up put up. A-As well as for volunteering to catch us dinner. You’re very reliable.”

“Thanks,” muttered Awase as he stared into the drink, doing his best to remember the back story. “Hopefully the roads will be back open soon. Or we can get a signal. But, until then, let's just try to enjoy ourselves.”

“Yes, the Lord has given us everything we need to survive,” added Shiozaki as she took a sip of her drink. “It would be a sin to waste such precious gifts.”

Seeing that his partner had taken a sip of her drink, Awase raised his glass to do the same confident that the anime cliché of the girl being horrible at cooking and not knowing it would in no way apply here. However, the moment the liquid touched his tongue, his eyes went wide before they began to water more than Midoriya’s when he cried. To say it was sour would have been putting it mildly. It was like someone had condensed a million pickled lemons and kumquats into a single drop.

He then looked to Shiozaki, wondering if there was something wrong with her taste buds only to find her sticking out her tongue while also looking ready to cry.

“To be wasteful is a sin,” she said.

[hr]

Elsewhere, Ida was still running through the forest far from his destination. Truth be told, he probably could have gotten there faster. However, with his lack of any device to help him navigate through the forest effectively and in an orderly fashion, it was taking him longer. Add to the fact that his mind kept going to his brother...

Shaking his head while trying his best to keep his eyes open for any unorderly roots that were sticking up out of the ground, Ida buried those thoughts. For now at least. As much as his cherished friend Uraraka hated it, he was going to Hosu to deal with the fiend who had ruined his brother’s career. And nothing would stop him. Then, he needed to set some things right. Things he had been putting off for far too long. But, for now, he needed to focus on why was he sinking?

Blinking in realization, Ida noticed that his movements had come to a crawl while his legs had sunk into the earth up to his kneecaps. He could still move, but moving seemed to cause the process of sinking to quicken.

Then, all of a sudden, it stopped. The ground hardened back to normal. But there was one teeny, tiny problem with that: he couldn’t move his legs. For the next moment or two, Ida moved his arms like he was running while trying to move. Trying his best to get the engines in his legs to help him escape. But the problem was that the earth, in its softened state, had managed to slip into his exhaust pipes which made things more difficult.

Realizing that he had no choice but to dig himself out, Ida forward slightly ready to begin with the humiliating task. However, before his fingers could make contact with the dirt, his helmet flew off his head. With wide eyes, Ida raised his head to look at the now floating helmet which began to turn to look at him face to face. For a moment, it hovered there before colliding with his skull. For a moment, Ida winced in pain before anger began to rise within him. Were they mocking him? Trying to make a fool out of him?!?

“You vile fiends! Cowards!” yelled Ida at the sea of trees before him, his voice seeming to echo all around him. “Is this how proud students of an illustrious school such as U.A. acts? Have you no honor nor shame at using such underhanded and childish tactics? Come out and fight me fair-” Before Ida could finish saying what even he knew at some level was foolish, he felt another blow collide with his head. This one was several times harder than the first one, so powerful that it forced Ida to bend backwards.

For a moment, Ida felt his world go dark. Before him was a vast nothingness that lasted for only a moment. But, when he opened his eyes with a start, he found two things of note. One was that he was bent over in an uncomfortable position looking up at the leaves on the trees trying to block out the blue sky above. The other thing was that his arms had sunk into the ground up to his elbows!

Panic raced through him as his own powerlessness quickly became apparent. He tried to struggle out of the earth, but nothing he did would allow him to budge. Not helped by this rather awkward angle.

Just then, the three villains who had done this to him emerged. A lipless teen that Ida had noticed a few times at lunch, a gloomy white-haired girl, and a shorter teen. As Ida stared at them, at the three villains, something took hold of him. He began to wonder if this had been what had happened with his brother, trapped isolated, and alone waiting for backup to arrive with a villain standing before him. He began to struggle violently, trying to desperately free himself. Thoughts were becoming jumbled, but there was one that was most prominent: if he couldn’t take these three down, how could he take down a pro like Stain?

“Let me go!” screamed Ida, glasses falling off his face in the struggle. “Fighting three against one is the mark of a coward! Release me and face me in an honorable fashion.”

“Ah, I hate to break it to you, buddy,” said the lipless teen, drawing Ida’s ire. “But…we’re the bad guys right now. We don’t play fair.” As the lipless teen spoke, the shortest of them walked over to Ida who simply growled at him. Then, once the smallest of the trio was right by Ida’s side, he slammed his fist right into the speedy teen’s gut.

“Unlike you, we’re taking this seriously,” said the teen who had punched Ida who was now trying to recover after having all the air forced out of his lungs from that blow. As it was now, the teen could easily look down at him while holding up the fist that just punched him. “Unlike you. We’ve been watching you run around this forest for a while now, trying to figure out where you were going. If you had bothered to focus on this for a few minutes, you probably could have reached your destination. Instead, your head was elsewhere.”

“You,” seethed Ida as the short teen began to walk away. “Don’t you turn your back on me! I can-” Ida got no further as he felt another impact right into his gut, several times stronger than the first causing him to black out.

-x-

“Damn it!” screamed Bakugo as he leapt up into the air, an explosion NOT caused by him erupting on the ground below. The teen’s costume had several large, visible rips in it as well as a gash on his left cheek that was bleeding pretty badly. Streams of smoke rose up from several different parts of the teen’s body including his shoulders and boots.

As gravity pulled the teen downward back to the battlefield, Bakugo felt his anger boil. He had arrived here a few minutes ago, alone. Normally, he would have been fine with that as it meant there would be no fucking extras to get in his way. And that once the fighting started, fucking Deku would either show up so he could beat the ever-living crap out of him or they would call him and the nerd would be too cowardly to show up. That he would just cower where he was, just like in middle school. Just like in the cafeteria. Or like he almost did during the Sports Festival.

However, when he arrived, there had only been one person waiting for him. Some freak with a comic speech bubble for a head. He was just standing there calmly, hands in his pockets like Bakugo was no big deal. Now, after several minutes of bouncing around the area, the ashen blond had realized a few things. The first was that he could have used the rest of the shitty extras on his team. Not to win the fight of course. The idea that he needed help was insulting! But, they could have made themselves useful and looked for the damn bomb instead of having him split his focus. Second, there was a good chance that, even if the other extras were here, they wouldn’t have found the bomb. Through all of his leaps and bounds over this part of the forest, he had spotted nothing. No shelter, no building, no shitty extras guarding it. There was nothing other than this freak here.

“Zap!” cried the freak, the word appearing in the speech bubble as he said it. A moment later, the edges of the bubble became jagged reminding Bakugo of lightning. But he couldn’t dwell on that for long as from those jagged lines came actual lighting flying towards him.

Third: this freaks quirk was bullshit!

Gritting his teeth, Bakugo used his explosions to propel him upwards and to the side. Just in the nick of time to as, had he been a half a second too slow, the lightning from that freak's head would have collided with his foot. That, in turn, would have sent the electrical charge all over his body!

“Kaboom!” yelled the freak, his speech bubble growing in size as the words grew before wind and dirt came flying towards Bakugo as if there had been a sudden explosion. He had no idea what this freak’s quirk was, but it seemed it could do more than one thing. So far, the 1-B extra had made the ground hot when he said ‘sizzle, sizzle’, made the air colder when he ‘shiver, shiver’, and the ground shake by saying fucking ‘rumble, rumble’. In other words, he just held onto them longer, shouting them with his hands raised up into the air like an idiot. What made it all worse was that somehow that made his quirk more powerful. Or maybe it was just him.

Bakugo’s thoughts were then interrupted as a new freak came out of the dust storm flying towards him. So stupid Chinese looking extra looking slightly less dumb with a piece of paper covering his face than the freak on the ground. Growling, Bakugo swung his arm ready to knock this clown out of the sky so he could go down there and murder the freak he had been fighting. However, when his fist connected with the worthless extra’s arm, it was Bakugo who felt the pain. Wincing slightly, he glanced at where he had struck to see thick green scales covering the teen’s arms.

China Boy, or whatever he called himself, grinned as a foot connected with Bakugo’s gut. Spit and stomach fluids were forced out of the bomber boy’s mouth as he was sent flying backwards. Meanwhile, the extra on the ground must have said something that Bakugo hadn’t paid attention to, spraying him in water and forcing him down towards the ground. As he fell, Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself away from the waterfall that had materialized out of nowhere only to then feel a pain in his leg. Before Bakugo could look down to see what it was, he caught a glimpse of something flying past him. There, flying through the air, was a green scale about the size of a small coin and looking razor sharp. Half a second later, Bakugo felt more pain all over his body as the other scales did not miss their target.

Finally, Bakugo crashed into the ground. Pain coursed through his body as he struggled to get up. Nothing felt broken, but he would have to double-check to be sure. He knew without a doubt he was bleeding. And wet. Oh, he was also very, very pissed. Not helped by the fact that the two extras who had done this to him were standing above him, looking down at him from the ledge of a cliff.

“Let’s see now, what did you say back at the Sports Festival?” asked the Chinese extra in a mocking tone. “Something about how you were going to win? Consider yourself officially knocked off your high horse once again. Though, I’m a little jealous that Kendo and Midoriya were the first two to do so.” New rage fueled Bakugo, letting out a roar as he got to his feet. Not that the extras were smart enough to worry about this as they continued to taunt him. “Oh, what’s the matter? Are you going to throw another temper tantrum?”

“JUST DIE!” screamed Bakugo, extending an arm toward the ‘villains’ while pulling a pin from his gauntlet. A gauntlet full to the brim with his nitroglycerin.

The explosion that followed was far more powerful than anything that Bakugo had expected. Almost laughing as it happened, he watched as the rocks almost appeared to be vaporized before him. The earth moved and quaked before his might, being blasted into the air or falling to the earth like the trash it was. Trees snapped in half before catching on fire, the plum of smoke rising high into the air. With savage glee, Katsuki Bakugo watched all of this. He was a hero because he had won.

Then…

“BAKUGO!” came a ringing in his ears. The voice of ear lobes. Groaning in annoyance, the teen brought a hand to his ear to talk to the worthless extra who was currently stumbling around in the woods like a clueless idiot.

“What do you want?” complained Bakugo, eyes fixed on the flames.

“We just heard a loud explosion!” yelled the punk extra. “Was that you or is there another psychopathic bomber in 1-B?!?”

“Hey, there’s no one else like me in the world,” said Bakugo sharply.

“Great, well then I know who to yell at then!” snapped ear lobes, causing Bakugo to roll his eyes. “That explosion you caused is interfering with our search. I had my jacks in the ground when it happened and I’m surprised I’m not deaf! Oh, it also scared away all the animals meaning Koda can’t talk to them.”

“Meaning you two are even more useless than before. Perfect,” sneered Bakugo, though he was slightly surprised at how fiery the punk girl was at this moment. Normally she acted like she didn’t give a damn about anything.

“Oh, don’t you dare give me that you asshole,” growled ear lobes. “The exercise is almost over. Now, because you were probably not paying attention to what was being said since it came from us ‘lowly peasants’ I will fill your fucking majesty in on it so you’ll know how royally FUCKED we are. Team B is MIA, possibly captured by the enemy somewhere. Team C is heading back to base camp and are in bad shape. Good news is they managed to capture a few of the villains. Bad news is several of our guys were accidentally hurt. As for your team, it’s in shambles as you don’t know where three of your members are. And since I don’t hear you bragging about beating the exercise, I’m going to assume that you DON’T HAVE THE BOMB!”

Ear lobes words were like getting an entire bucket of cold water dumped onto him. Turning his back to the slowly growing forest fire, Bakugo began to panic. She was right. The damned extra was right. No one knew where in this entire zone the bomb was nor did they have a clue. And time was running out!

“You’re useless,” Bakugo said after a moment. “It was your job to look for the bomb in case Ponytail was wrong.”

“You were wrong too prick,” spat the punk girl, her words another slap in the face to Bakugo. “One of the locations we decided to check was on your recommendation so don’t blame Yaoyorozu. And your not-so-little explosion is the reason I can’t continue looking for the bomb! My ears are still ringing! So how about…you…” The girl’s words trailed off for a moment.

“What?” asked Bakugo after a moment. “Damn it. Don’t tell me they caught your worthless asses as well.”

“No,” said lobes, her voice softer now. She sounded, well, confused. “It’s a house. There is a nice house in the middle of the zone.” At that moment, a tree fell right behind Bakugo as his red eyes widened.

Chapter Text

“We’re back,” grunted Kirishima, moving slowly into the main hero base along with the rest of his team. The hardening hero was down to only one good arm right now, which was being used to carry the oval-eyed teen that had managed to create that air barrier over his shoulder. His other arm, however, was not in good shape. Despite hardening it, the backlash from a full-powered One for All punch was simply too great for him to handle completely. His arm hung limply at his side, colored a shape of purple that made the rest of his team shift their gaze whenever they looked at it as well as having several cuts that had long since dried. Honestly, he was grateful that there was a great healer still at this school or else his recovery might have put him back by years.

If the arm could be saved that is.

As for the rest of his team, they were in better shape though that wasn’t saying much. Uraraka limped as she carried a now weightless and captured mushroom girl, the anti-gravity girl’s leg having been sprained in the impact. Thankfully, Uraraka wasn’t too angry about what happened when she looked at what the alternative would have been. Mina had it a bit better, the back of her costume ripped as well as caked in dried blood from the several large gashes she had acquired. That didn’t stop her from carrying the last girl they captured who was also bound in the capture tape. As for Sato, he seemed to have taken it the worst as he limped along using a stick he had found to help keep his balance. Out of everyone, he had needed the most breaks to get here to clear his lungs.

Yaoyorozu grimaced as they approached, taking in their condition. However, that didn’t last long as she tried to put on a brave face for them all.

“Thank you,” she said, reaching out her arms in a carrying position. Kirishima saw the gesture and accepted, handing over the teen he was carrying. A moment later, Kaminari showed up to help as he walked over to the two unconscious girls with Mineta right at his heels. Unfortunately for them, Yaoyorozu noticed this before promptly handing over the air barrier teen to them. She then gestured to the prisoner bus, eyes narrowing as she did so to tell them to get moving.

“Have they been a handful?” asked Kirishima as the pair began walking towards the bus with their heads lowered.

“That’s putting it mildly,” commented Yaoyorozu in a sour tone. “All they have done is comment on which of the 1-B girls looks the cutest, which ones they want to see in a swimsuit, and arguing about their measurements.” The rich girl then let out a sigh before taking the girl Uraraka was carrying. “I got her.”

A few minutes later, all the ‘villains’ found themselves in the prison bus. The three new captures were placed on the bench across from, according to the report they had received from Yaoyorozu, the disguised Toga. ‘He’ continued to spout off things like how they were making a mistake, how ‘he’ was the real Todoroki, and so forth.

“She’s not dropping the act,” said Yaoyorozu after Kirishima brought it up, closing the door as she did so. “I believe she assumes that, if she keeps acting like this, we’ll eventually drop our guard enough to free her.”

“That’s dedication,” replied Kirishima, giving a bus a quick glance. “I wonder how long she can keep up her transformation?”

“Who knows,” said Kaminari, pulling out a piece of candy from his pocket. With a flick of his thumb, the sugary piece went soaring above while the teen pulled back his head and opened his mouth. The treat then landed right into his mouth, which closed instantly as he began to chew. “Wish Monoma had managed to get that little piece of intel off Midoriya. Would have made things a lot easier for us. Oh, sorry. Did either of you want a piece?”

“No thanks,” Kirishima replied, waving his good hand at the offered candy as there were only two pieces left. Yaoyorozu mirrored his action, though there was a slight look of disgust on her face. Mainly because the candy had been sitting in the teen’s pocket. “Though, speaking of Monoma, has anyone heard back from him or his team yet?”

“No,” sighed Yaoyorozu, her shoulders slumping as she spoke. “I’ve been trying to reach his team for a while now and still nothing. I was going to ask Shoji if he wouldn’t mind checking out the area with your team acting as backup. However, with your team in this state…” As her words trailed off, Kirishima couldn’t help but wince as he looked over at his team. Uraraka was helping to disinfect Ashido’s wounds and apply some bandages to them with what little medical supplies they had left. As for Uraraka, she could still move about somewhat ok but she would need an actual nurse or doctor to look after her. The same went for Sato.

“I can go,” said Ashido, standing up and wincing. “One’s better than none.”

Yaoyorozu shook her head. “It’s too dangerous,” she said before raising a hand to silence the protests that were already forming. “In an ideal situation, I would agree with you Ashido. That sending you and Shoji to scout out the area would be to our benefit. However, we are far from anything that could be considered an ideal situation as our class is spread thin. Todoroki, Tokyomai, or Ida are currently MIA along with the entirety of Team B. As for your team, most of you aren’t in the best shape. If this house is the real villain stronghold, then it stands to reason that that’s where they are keeping our classmates. We should scope out the stronghold, plan an attack once we identify who we are dealing with, and then launch an attack with the dual purpose of freeing our fellow classmates while also looking for the bomb. Time is not on our side.”

“Which is all the more reason why we should have only a couple of people looking in the area Tsu’s team was in!” stated Ashido firmly, rising to her feet. “What if the bomb is there and that house is a distraction or something?”

“She’s got a point,” said Kirishima as he looked over to the heiress. “If we’re wrong about the house, then there’s a good chance that we won’t have enough time to continue the search. Heck, depending on what happens, we might not be able to continue looking! Never mind the fact that we don’t exactly know where the B Team ended up. We’re talking about an entire area of a forest that we’ll have to search on limited time.”

Kirishima stopped as he watched Momo biting her thumb, her expression subdued as she tried to think. As she did, Kirishima did his best not to bring up the worst truth of them all: there was no guarantee that they would even be able to find the bomb even if it was in either location. As much as he hated admitting it to himself, they had been super unmanly since the USJ. On that day, they had faced what they believed was the darkness that invested the world and stood their ground against it. Even when they were separated from the group, even when that monster known as Nomu had beaten Aizawa within an inch of his life, they had managed to come out unscathed when the other teachers arrived. When the Sports Festival arrived, they thought that it would be their class who stood on every pedestal. And when that didn’t happen, there was a silent agreement with the entire class that it was different. Events like the first two rounds and a one-on-one tournament were far different from the real thing. Now the hardening hero had to bite back what they had all forgotten in their eagerness to feel special, to feel ready for the world of heroes that they so wanted to be a part of. That simple truth that 1-B had done the same thing as them on the exact same day. They had faced fewer villains, three weaker versions of the Nomu at the USJ, and the leader, but even fighting a weaker version of that thing without All Might there to back them up was impressive. Even more so that they won! And it wasn’t because one of them secretly had a quirk that stockpiled power, was the child of a high-ranking pro, or even had some insane ability. It was because their class just worked together better.

“How about we get Kaminari and, yuck, Mineta to help us,” offered Ashido, still pressing the issue. Her words startled Yaoyorozu who then quickly shook her head.

“Out of the question,” she said. Mina opened her mouth to argue, but the heiress cut her off. “Yes, those two would be a big help. But we would be leaving our injured here, alone. If the villains caught wind of it, they could easily free all the people we captured. Including Toga. If she breaks free, then we’re right back to questioning if we are talking to the real person. That would create confusion and distrust. We can’t have that. Not this late in the exercise.” The raven-haired girl then let out a sigh. “But, the point has been made. Both you and Shoji are to begin searching the area Team B went to. Do your best to avoid engaging the enemy and contact us as soon as you spot anything important. Meanwhile, Uraraka and Sato will remain here to help guard the base. The rest of us will have to head towards the house. Myself included.”

-x-

“Out of all the things I expected to see today, this wasn’t one of them,” whispered Jiro to Koda. The pair were hiding in the bushes right in front of the clearing where the house was located. Laughter could be heard as the two 1-B students, dressed in casual attire, walked into view. The vine-haired girl walked in front of some dude wearing a bandana, laughing as she seemed to twirl around. The other teen, whose face looked wet and with some seaweed in his hair, just grumbled as he carried a bucket.

Koda just nodded, his eyes glancing around for birds. Unfortunately, they were still absent. There was no telling how long it would be till they or any other animals returned after Bakugo’s explosion.

Just thinking about the blonde idiot made Jiro clench her teeth, but only for a moment as she released a sigh filled with her frustrations. She was royally pissed at him and had given him a small taste of what she was feeling. And while she could go on a mental rant over the course of her entire life about how badly his actions had fucked them over, she was not going to do that. Right now, they needed to keep their heads in the game. After they were done, all bets were off.

The problem right now was that both she and Koda were basically quirkless. Jiro’s ears still had a ringing to them which was annoying but manageable for the moment. At the very least she could still hear like a ‘normal’ person. The problem was that whenever she tried using her quirk, the ringing increased a thousandfold causing her to cry out as she got a massive headache. Something was wrong with her jacks, no doubt caused when the vibrations of Bakugo’s explosion ran into them as she listened for the villains. As for Kida, well, you kind of need animals around to talk to them. Yet it was a little strange that none of them had returned. Not even the birds. She had tried asking him to talk to the bugs, but the silent teen just freaked out.

Just then, footsteps could be heard racing towards them. Jiro turned around in time to see the newest bane of her existence arriving: Bakugo. One of his grenade gauntlets was missing, the rest of his costume looking like he had gotten into a nasty fight with a living storm.

“What the fuck is all this?” seethed Bakugo, having enough sense to not go blindly charging in at the moment. Possibly because he had just moved across almost half of the entire forest and fought the ‘villains’ all with little to no breaks. This was nothing more than him realizing he needed a moment to catch his breath which was perfectly fine for Jiro.

“It’s like you see it,” said Jiro as she glanced over at the building. The 1-B couple were now entering the house, looking awkward as if they didn’t know if they should kiss or not as they did so. A moment later, they saw movement inside.

“Why the fuck didn’t we find out about this place sooner?” growled Bakugo, looking ready to lunge forward.

“Because it’s a big forest,” snapped Jiro, shooting a glare at her blonde classmate. “It takes time to search. Even more so when we have to be on the lookout for villains while staying together. Unless, of course, you wanted us to end up like your team.” Jiro barely held back a smirk as she noted the agitated look on Bakugo’s face before he looked away. She knew it was the best she would ever get to him admitting that she had a point. And, yeah, she was going to take it!

Several minutes passed before two more people showed up. Yaoyorozu and Kirishima. However, their arrival didn’t make Jiro feel any better. Kirishima was down one good arm while Yaoyorozu looked like she had lost some weight.

“Is this really all we have left?” she asked, mentally going over the roster in her head.

“I’m afraid so,” said Momo with a heavy sigh. “At the very least, we managed to capture a few of their members and are being guarded as we speak.”

“Just give me a minute,” growled Bakugo as he pulled out a small canteen from his belt. “Once I catch my breath, I’ll be ready to take them all on.” The teen then began to chug the water as quickly as he could.

“Are you sure about that Baku-bro?” asked Kirishima, giving his friend a questioning look. “We have no idea how many people are in there.”

“Does it matter?” spat Bakugo, glaring at them. “We know there are two in there: vine bitch and bandanna brains. If there are more then who gives a fuck? We have a job to murder all of them and get our hands on the damned bomb. So if there are more in there then we just have to kill them as well.”

Yaoyorozu let out a sigh, rubbing her temples as she did so. “I really hate the way you talk ninety-nine percent of the time. However, you have a point. Let's use this time to scope out the area and see if we can find all access points. Hopefully, we can take them unawares.”

-x-

“Damn it all to,” began Awase as he toweled off in the kitchen. As he tried his face, he mentally continued his curse at the fish that had done this to him. It was completely unfair! He had caught the damned thing fair and square, only to have it slap him with its tail the moment he unhooked it before they both fell into the water. Ok, his face fell into the water, but the point still remains!

What was worse was that that fish was supposed to be their meal. He was going to be looking like the big, tough, reliable guy here and catch them dinner. Instead, he looked like a fool in front of Shiozaki…wait, weren’t a bunch of heroes watching them as well? God damn it! He looked like a fool in front of them too! Which was worse? Looking like a fool in front of a single girl who he would have to spend the next couple of years with or a group of heroes he might never see again?

“Awase,” called Shiozaki from the living room.

“Yeah, what is it?” the bandanna-loving teen asked as he entered the room. There he spotted his classmate and pretend wife, pulling back the curtain slightly as she looked out the window. “Is something wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she said, looking back at him. “But I think there are several heroes hiding in the bushes staring at our house. And they’re not really doing a good job at being sneaky.”

-x-

Meanwhile, back at the hero base, Mineta couldn’t contain his own drool as he stared at the sight before him. Across from the small camp was Uraraka, lying on her back and seeming to stare up at the sky. Though, even from this distance, he knew her eyes were closed. She looked so perfect in this moment, wearing that skin-tight outfit that showed off every curve all while being perfectly vulnerable. Oh, if only there were a few less witnesses then he would happily bounce over to her and snuggle his head between her melons while keeping her bound to the forest floor with his sticky balls.

“She sure is a cutie, isn’t she?” asked Kaminari. Mineta looked up to the one person who had joined him on more than one occasion to go ‘girl watch’ as well as plot a few schemes to see them in more revealing attire. At the moment, Kaminari was eyeing Uraraka with a slight blush on his face. Under his arm, he carried the tablet that Yaoyorozu had left as she didn’t want to have to carry it and worry about it while fighting the villains.

“Yeah, she is,” agreed the smaller of the two. “It’s a shame she hangs around that stick in the mud Ida all the time. Bet the dude doesn’t even realize that he has a hottie like her practically hanging off him.” A slight grin appeared on Mineta’s face as he moved a little closer to his friend to speak in a low whisper. “Though I did hear something interesting. Apparently, she’s pretty poor. Makes you wonder if she’s just hanging around him for the cash. If she is, well, I bet I could slip her some bills for some fun. If you know what I mean.”

At that, Kaminari’s blush vanished as he turned to look at Mineta with shock. “Dude, not cool,” he said firmly. “Not cool at all.”

“Whoa,” cried Mineta as he stumbled back, his eyes fixed at the electric teen. “Come on man, I wasn’t completely serious about that. Just talk. But it does make you wonder. I mean, she barely even responded when you asked her out on a date. Why go for someone who is all about the rules, wouldn’t know fun unless he looked it up in the dictionary, when she could have gone out with someone like you?”

Mineta had hoped that his slight flattery would help ease the tension. Or, at the very least, bringing back the old wounds that Uraraka had inflicted on Kaminari would be enough to charge the target of his ire. However, the lesser class pervert just sighed at him before turning to look at Uraraka again.

“If you ever want to be with a girl, there are some things you should never say. Even when you think they aren’t listening,” said Kaminari in an almost sage-like tone. “Besides, you’re wrong about her liking Ida. She doesn’t have a ‘girl in love vibe’ going on. You can tell they're just friends.”

“R-Right,” said Mineta, a little weirded out by what his friend just said. But, as he thought about it and picked up on the most important piece of information that he cared about, the teen grew excited. “That means she’s still on the market. Oh, it also means that that harem quirk guy from 1-B hasn’t snatched her up yet. Good news for you and me. Seriously, that guy is snatching up girls left and right. Like that smoking hot girl with the orange hair. You know, the one with the nice rack. Not as good as Yaoyorozu’s, but then again who else in our year does? Plus with those nice tones legs and shapely rear, it’s a waste for her to have eyes only for the most bland-looking guy there. Then there’s that shape-changing chick that’s always hanging off him! Can you imagine the possibilities? She can turn into any girl she wants in order to spice up their alone time! And don’t get me started on that transfer student from the States.”

“Hmm, Pony is a cutie,” said Kaminari, his voice sounding a little distant.

“Oh, is that her,” began Mineta, only to stop as he looked up at his friend. Kaminari now had both hands on the teen’s face, a massive blush that was quickly spreading across his cheeks. Then there was his face! The smile was way off from Kaminari’s normally dopey grin or confident smirk. Something about the way the teen’s lips curled upwards, mouth open to show off his teeth gave it an unnatural appearance. Then there were the eyes.

“She’s just so adorable with all that energy,” continued Kaminari. “Not to mention that she’s clearly a girl in love. Same as Kendo, but they’re both too worried about hurting the other's feelings to actually make a move on the person they love. Not that I blame them. I love him so very, very much too.” Mineta felt like turning to stone at that moment, his perverted brain unable to function now that he heard this. Did Kaminari just come out in front of him? No, wait. He was also talking about girls so does that mean he’s admitting to being bisexual? C-Could the harem quirk really do that?

“Oh, I certainly don’t want to be left behind again,” continued Kaminari. “I want to feel my Izuku wrapping his arms around me, telling me that I’m just perfect the way that I am. Nor do I want any of the others to be left behind. I want us all to experience the wonders of love as we cuddle with each other. To be together, all of us.”

“Dude are you,” began Mineta, his brain still trying to process this when, all of a sudden the tablet made a beeping noise. Still smiling that creepy smile, Kaminari looked down at it. He paused for a moment before glancing over at the smaller teen before then swiping at something on the screen. A half second later, Ashido’s voice came over the earpiece. It sounded like she had been talking for a while now. Wait, why didn’t they hear anything before? Did Kaminari change the settings on the earpieces when they weren’t looking?

“I repeat, we have a major problem,” cried Ashido as something crashed behind her. “The forest over here is on fire! I repeat, the forest is on fire! It’s still a ways away from us, but the smoke cloud is huge. You can probably see it from where you are. If we don’t find Tsu and the others, they might get caught. Why aren’t the teachers putting it out?! Oh this is bad! Wait, there’s something in the distance. Yaoyorozu, if you are hearing this, we found another building with…signs in front of it? Telling us this is a trap? What is going…Wait, Shoji heard something. It's coming at us from KAMINARI?!? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING THROUGH THE FOREST NAKED?!?”

Trembling, Mineta turned to look at the person standing next to him only to find that Kaminari’s face was right in front of him. Still smiling that creepy smile. Mineta’s legs began to tremble, the control of his bladder forfeited as he began to piece together the horrifying truth. Then, as Kaminari brought a finger to his lips, part of his face began to melt away in a very familiar manner.

“Shh,” was the only sound Toga made before Mineta passed out in fear.

-x-

“There you go,” said Toga as tossed Mineta, now bound in capture tape, into the prison bus by the diaper. The small, grape-themed hero sailed past an equally bound Uraraka and Sato only to then land head first onto the bench before rolling onto the floor. Across from them was Todoroki, who seemed to be dividing his dirty glares between Toga and his classmates. A sight that just made Toga grin even more as she stood there with Komori, Tsuburaba, and Kodai standing behind her. “Please enjoy your stay!”

With that, Toga slammed the door shut before locking it, making extra sure that it was louder than normal for the added effect. A sense of giddiness bubbled in the blonde’s stomach as she turned, almost twirling around, as she made her way into the camp. Izuku’s plan had worked perfectly. Once they knew about the ear devices, it was a simple matter to use it as well as the information Izuku had ‘let slip’ to the heroes for their advantage. Because of this, they were able to slip Toga behind the enemy lines without them suspecting her. Sure, she had to dislocate her shoulder to help sell the act and take out a fried earpiece from that idiot’s ear, but it was worth it to be the rescue for anyone who got caught. And now, with time running out, there was little chance that the others would capture them.

Oh, and that guy Kaminari being naked? Izuku had requested that they make sure their defeats were as humiliating as possible while doing their best not to overdo it. And that’s exactly what Toga did while getting in a little laugh.

As she walked across the camp, the rest of her classmates were at work making sure that the hero's humiliation was complete. Komori and Tsuburuaba were gathering up everything they could while Kodai shrunk it for easier travel. Soon, the heroes would have nothing left save the bus.

“Kaminari, patch me through to Ashido and Shoji,” came Yaoyorozu’s voice in Toga’s ear. The vampire girl grinned, listening to the slight panic in her voice. “We spotted smoke rising from the tree line. There’s a lot of it. I want to make sure they are safe or if they managed to find-”

“I’m sorry,” said Toga, answering the call in her normal voice as she began to access a file from the cloud from Yaoyorozu’s tablet. “But the number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please hang up or stay on the line for the next representative.”

With that done, Toga hit play. All at once, every earpiece was blasted with music.

“It’s gabbing time,” came a choir of children’s voices, making Toga feel nostalgic. Setting the tablet on the ground, she began to move her hands around in the air as if she were conducting an orchestra.

“ In the corner of some country

There is a dragon who loves boobies

He strolls around searching for booties on sunny days

Dragon, Dragon, boobie dragon

Squish squash, sucking sucking, puff puff

There are many varieties of boobies

But I love the big ones most

Boobie dragon is flying today, too

In the corner of some country

Boobie-loving dragon was smiling

Even on a stormy day, pushing boobies cheers him up

Dragon, Dragon, boobie dragon

Push, push, touch, touch, stop it

I have seen so many boobies,

But I love the big ones the most

Boobie-dragon presses boobies today, too

On some sandy beach

Boobie-loving dragon was exciting

Many boobies at the summer beach, it's full of dreams

[thanks for visiting animesonglyrics.com]

Dragon, Dragon, boobie dragon

Bam, Bouncy bounce

Boobies in swimsuits are great,

But I love the big ones the most

Boobie-dragon is going today, too

He saw one boobie cleavage

Boobie-loving dragon fell in love

Princess Switch's boobies are very nice ☆

Dragon, Dragon, boobie dragon

Squishing, touching, bouncy bounce

There are many varieties of boobies

But I love Princess Switch

Boobie dragon is sleeping today

There were many varieties of boobies

But I really love Princess Switch

Boobie-loving dragon is going to be flying tomorrow, too”

“Ah, that take me back,” said Toga as the song began to repeat.

“Ah, Toga, what was that?!?” Tsuburaba almost yelled, a massive blush on his face. Behind him, Kodai’s normally stoic expression was hinted with red while Komori hid her face behind her hands.

“Oh, nothing much,” replied Toga as she looked around the area that used to her the hero's site, now devoid of everything but the bus. “Just a song that my grandfather and aunts used to sing to me when I was little. You know, like a lullaby or just to make me feel better when I was feeling really sad.”

For a moment, all three 1-B students stared at her with blank expressions on their faces. As Toga began to skip away, earpiece still in her ear so she could listen to the song, they all had one thought as they followed her: this explains so much, yet raises so many more questions.

-x-

“What the fuck is this?” yelled Bakugo, tossing his earpiece to the ground before stomping on it in order to get rid of the perverted yet somehow childish tune that was playing.

“What should we do?” asked Kirishima, looking to Yaoyorozu along with Jiro and Koda. However, what they saw was not reassuring.

Yaoyorozu had fallen onto her hands and knees, staring unblinkingly at the ground as the music continued to play in her ear like some form of demented mockery. She hadn’t predicted that the villains would take this opportunity to rescue their people. But how did they do it? Why didn’t anyone at the base camp sound the alarm? Had they been hit so fast that they had been unable to do so? What happened to the people they left back at the base? Were they captured and being dragged somewhere? Should she send someone to go over there and check on them? However, these thoughts then gave way to new fears and concerns. The communication system they had agreed to use rather than the one the school had provided was compromised! How did they discover it? No, that wasn’t the issue. If that had been compromised then it meant that, even if they used the school-provided communicators then there was a chance that the villains could be listening in! Or would Ashido and Shoji not listen to them?

Just then, a new pit of dread formed in Momo’s gut as she realized just how bad the situation was. Toga was free now! The wild card of 1-B, the shapeshifter, could be anywhere! She could walk up to them at any moment and they might never know! Even if she didn’t, none of the heroes would be able to trust if the person they were talking to, either in person or on the radio, was who they said they were. Trust was gone! No, wait! She could trust the people besides her. Right? But still, what should she do? They were five tired heroes at the end of their ropes going up against twenty-one villains who could appear from anywhere! The situation could not be more dire! No! She had to think! They were running out of time! She needed to plan their next move. If only she hadn’t gone all out at the beginning then maybe they could-

“Screw this!” yelled Bakugo. Despite the shouting of everyone else, telling him to wait, the explosive teen launched himself towards the front door of the house. Without wasting another moment, he kicked down the door causing screams to arise from inside the house!

“Hey, what are you doing?” demanded the 1-B boy wearing a bandanna. “This is private property. You can’t just come in here without-” The teen got no further as Bakugo launched a right hook right into his jaw. The teen fell to the ground as the vine-haired girl began to scream for help. Crying out for another hero to show up and save them or even the police. When Momo and the others arrived inside, she looked at them expectantly and with hope in her eyes for some reason. But that hope died when she saw that they weren’t here to help.

“Everyone, search out and find the bomb,” said Yaoyorozu.

“Bomb?” echoed the boy on the ground, a hand on his cheek as the other moved out. Bakugo raced upstairs while Kirishima went to check the basement. As for Jiro, she began to check the main floor of the building while Koda remained behind with Momo. “What bomb? What are you-” Several loud crashes interrupted the villain followed by Bakugo’s screams of rage. Before anyone could say anything else, a loud explosion rocked the building.

“Our home!” cried the vine-haired girl. At that, Yaoyorozu turned to look at the two, wondering what was going on here. They were supposed to be playing villains, not civilians. Why weren’t they fighting back, even to defend themselves? So what was their angle here?

Before Yaoyorozu could think about the matter any further, Bakugo rocketed down the stairs. Almost literally as he used his explosions to help speed up the process. When he landed on the ground, everyone could hear several loud thuds coming from upstairs. Most likely items that had been on their last leg to remain standing after Bakugo lost his temper.

“Where is it?!” screamed Bakugo as he began to attack the wall itself. A loud explosion destroyed several of the clearly fabricated pictures on the wall, either shattering them on the spot with the explosion or sending them falling to the ground. All in an effort to create a hole that he could look through. As he created another one, Yaoyorozu ignored the shouting from the two villains who had, for some reason, remained on the floor holding each other to stare at her classmate. Bakugo was looking…panicked? Frantic?

“Bakugo, stop,” complained Jiro as she entered the room, clutching the side of her head. Blood was coming down her face, nearly causing Momo’s heart to stop. She was about to ask what had happened. If Jiro had gotten attacked by a hidden villain or had fallen victim to some trap. However, those thoughts died quickly as she realized that Jiro would have called out in either situation. That as well as the look she was giving Bakugo who just screamed as he blasted another section of the wall, knocking down a cross which caused the vine-haired girl to faint.

“Shut up!” screamed Bakugo as he raced into the kitchen, destroying everything in a frenzy. By the time the fridge had been tossed across the room, Kirishima tentatively returned to deliver some more bad news.

“No bomb down there,” he said, glancing over at his best friend worriedly. “Guys, I think we have the wrong place.”

“It has to be here,” said Yaoyorozu, glancing over at the still-injured Jiro. Her hands shook, trying her best to create some bandages yet her thoughts yet getting in the way. They couldn’t fail, not after so many of them had gotten hurt just to reach this point. There had to be something she was overlooking. Was the bomb buried in the garden? She had seen it in the patch of land when they were scouting the place. Was it in the lake? Was there a secret room in the basement that Kirishima missed? There had to be something. They had no other leads!

“No!” screamed Bakugo as he stormed into the room again, his angry eyes locking onto the bandanna teen. Yaoyorozu saw the look in his eyes, quickly understanding what he intended to do. But as she moved to stop him, Bakugo pushed her to the side as he made his way to the 1-B. Growling, he grabbed the teen by the jacket to lift him up. “Where is the bomb?”

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said the teen, nervous as he too knew what was coming and clearly wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Wrong answer!” roared Bakugo, slamming an open palm right into the teen’s gut followed instantly by a small explosion. The captured villain screamed, blood shooting from his mouth as Momo looked down at where the blast had landed. It was clear that Bakugo had held back, but for all, it was worth it meant little. The jacket had a large hole in it that was still smoldering while the teen’s chest looked badly burnt. And that was only the damages that she could see! Bones could be broken or there could be other internal damages!

“Baku-bro, that’s going-” began Kirishima, but stopped when Bakugo threw the villain onto the floor. What followed were a series of punches that rained down on the bandanna teen’s face. For the life of her, Momo knew that the sounds of fists hitting flesh while the other teen cried out would haunt her nightmares for years to come. As she stood there, hands covering her mouth, Kirishima moved to stop this madness. However, what happened next was something that no one expected. The moment Kirishima placed a hand on Bakugo’s shoulders the ashen blond turned swiftly, palm extended, to send a point-blank explosion right into the red-head’s face! Unable to fully harden in time, Kirishima cried out as he stumbled backwards until his back collided with the wall.

“I won’t lose!” yelled Bakugo as he turned back the villain on the floor to resume raining plows on his face. “Not again! Not to fucking Deku again! So tell me where the bomb is or else you're dead!”

As the villain tried to say something, blood coming out of his mouth as his words bubbled out, Yaoyorozu moved to stop this insanity. To tell Bakugo that he was going too far and that he was going to kill someone. But she stopped when she noticed something out the window. A large plume of smoke rising from the trees as well as fire! The forest they were in was on fire. Villain forgotten, her thoughts turned to all the people who she had sent out there. People who were still out there in harm’s way!

This had gone on long enough. The bomb had to be here! She had to end this exercise now! So with that in mind, Yaoyorozu raced outside while pulling out the flare gun. Without giving it another thought, she fired it into the air to signal the police to arrive and end the exercise.

-x-

“Well, I must say that I’m impressed by the heroes,” said Death Arms, both Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods standing behind them as they gazed at the gathered classes before them. It had been about ten minutes or so since the end of the exercise, the voice of Present Mic being blasted on the speaker systems to inform everyone that the exercise was over and to gather at the entrance. Drones had been sent out to put out the flames that had nearly covered almost half of the zone. Thankfully, the school had specialists they could call to repair all the damages.

“Really?” asked Kaminari, drawing the attention of the pro hero. Kaminari stood with the rest of his class on the right side of the entrance to Training Ground Omega with their teacher standing begrudgingly behind them. Since the teen hadn’t been able to return and find his costume, he was now wrapped up in a heavy blanket which hid the scrapes he had received running nude through the forest as well as the beginnings of a rash brought on by some of the poisonous plants. Still, despite all of that, there was still some degree of hope in his eyes.

Death Arms didn’t answer right away, instead glancing around at the rest of the teen’s class to see if they shared his hopefulness. One of them was Monoma, who despite still being half covered in glue, seemed to grow a smug expression on his face. Mineta looked at them with wide, hopeful eyes that seemed to ignore that his diaper was now a bright yellow. Then there was Yaoyorozu who, while not as optimistic as the rest, had brought her hands together as if praying for the best possible outcome. As for the rest, well, not so much hope. Asui, Ojiro, and Sero were just barely paying attention to them as they continued to remove the glue that still clung to their bodies while Aoyama just looked down at the ground. Tokoyami was rubbing the makeup off his face, put there by Pony along with the assistance of Dark Shadow. Uraraka was giving the pros a dubious look while Sato was glancing away. Jiro, whose ear had been patched up was busy patting the back of Koda to reassure him that everything would be ok. Ashido had a scowl on her face while Shoji just stood there looking impassive. As for Kirishima, the boy had a crestfallen expression on his face. Hagakure, well, they couldn’t see her, and she had been somehow overlooked during the entire exam. But seeing as how her shoes and gloves remained still, they figured she wasn’t pleased with how this went either.

Then there were those three. Ida stood there, fists and teeth clenched as his face took on a look of fury. Todoroki stood off to the side, away from his classmates to give them the cold shoulder. And finally, Bakugo. Oh, Bakugo looked ready to pounce at Yaoyorozu for not letting him win on his terms. For signaling they had found the bomb when in fact none of them had ever laid eyes on it. For not letting him ‘crush’ every villain they came across. For not ‘murdering’ someone called Deku. Those three were the ones who were the least pleased.

“Oh yes,” continued Death Arms. “You all did in a single day what few have ever accomplished. Not only are your hero careers over, but you will all be sued to the point where your grandchildren will have to keep paying! All of you have utterly failed!”

“What?!?” cried out Kaminari as he began looking around, noticing to his horror that the rest of the class was growing pale by this news. Clearly, they had not expected it to be that bad.

As 1-A took that in, Death Arms turned to look at the villains who stood opposite of the heroes with their teacher standing behind them. Vlad King had his arms folded across his chest, eyes closed and not saying a word. Though, if you looked close enough, you could see the faintest of smiles on his face. As for the man’s class, they were, for the most part, unharmed. Awase was still getting tended to by Asia, the school nurse bathing him in green light as his wounds mended. Said nurse had a frown on her face, clearly unhappy with the extent of the teen’s injuries. However, despite the pain he was in, Awase seemed pleased by this news shooting a thumbs up to the green-haired kid who thought up this insane plan. As for the rest, well, they also looked very pleased with themselves.

“Sir, doesn’t that seem a little extreme?” asked a very shaken Yaoyorozu. Dearth Arms glanced in her direction, seeing her arms and legs shaking as she spoke. “I…I can understand our rankings as pros taking a hit if we had failed to secure the bomb. But we did manage to capture at least two of the-” Death Arms raised his hand to silence her.

“No, you didn’t,” he said. “At least, not in the eyes of the police and the public. You broke into a house that was legally allowed to be there, doing so without a warrant, committed an unlawful search of the premises, and then assaulted Awase and his ‘wife’ after destroying their private property. All of this was captured on home security. And, even after a careful search of the premises, there was no trace of a bomb.”

“But sir, that’s not fair,” said Hagakure, waving her gloves around. “They were supposed to be playing the villains. We were never told that they could also play the part of civilians.”

“That is true, they were villains,” admitted Death Arms. “Or, to be more specific, they were villains acting like innocent civilians. But, let me ask you this: how are you going to prove it? All we have is your say-so without any evidence to back up your claim. Now, compare that to what the police will find when they arrive. Doors broken down without a warrant, house destroyed by explosions caused by one of the heroes, a man almost beaten within an inch of his life, and all of this caught on home security camera. Now, who do you think they are going to believe?” Death Arms paused as he watched the students take all this in. “Now, for the sake of the exercise, the police will still assist in searching for the bomb in the location where you fired the flare at. But, once they find nothing, it’s the end for you. That was a part of the villain’s plan.”

“But there was no way we could have known that!” argued Ashido.

“Which is why the teachers put in an additional clause when the villains submitted their plan for approval,” said Kamui Woods stiffly. “As long as you captured one villain, there was a chance that they would flip. The more the better. So, while you still would have been hit with a number of charges and your careers would become non-existent, being sued by the villains for everything you all have wouldn’t have been on the table.”

Some of the students looked ready to argue, but a sigh from Mt. Lady followed by a bored look silenced them. “The simple fact of the matter is that the villains made you all look like fools,” she stated, barely even looking at them at this point. “Even without the assault on ‘civilians’, very few of you walked away from this in a positive light. Several of you were captured and left where anyone could see. Tell me, how do you think the public will react when they find out that an entire team of heroes was left in a bunker glued to the ceiling and acting like they were high? Or when we find another group of heroes tied up in the police bus that they brought? Or how one of you was left in the forest, running around naked for so long? I’ll be frank, if this were the real deal, the Safety Commission would have had all your licensees revoked before the full report landed on their desk. To make matters worse, you never did figure out where the bomb was being hidden. Meaning the villains can use that spot again if they so desired.”

“But there was no way we could have searched the entire,” begun Yaoyorozu only to be cut off by a glare from the eldest hero there.

“You would have been much closer to finding the bomb if you had bothered to look at permits,” snapped the pro hero. “If any suitable structure was going to be made, the villains were required to fill out the paperwork. Even if they moved it to a slightly different location, you would have had more ideas on what you were looking for. Holding a vote was stupid. You lost nothing by checking and had everything to gain!” Death Arms then narrowed his eyes further as he approached Yaoyorozu, his size intimidating her for a moment. “But that wasn’t the only mistake you made. Those little earpieces? But you thought you were being very clever by relying on them. But, the villains were prepared. They had one of their members watching all of you the second you walked into the forest. Your little leg up would have worked better if you hadn’t done it out in the open! Instead, you gave away the entire plan to protect yourself from a shapeshifter. Furthermore, your entire approach to it was sloppy! You should have had a plan set up well before this along with planned check-ins to keep everyone informed.”

“We understand why you did that,” continued Kamui Woods, watching the girl who looked like her entire self-worth was being crushed. Yet the hero continued knowing that she needed to hear where her plan went wrong. “You were worried about Toga, which is fine. But there were better, simpler ways of preventing her from infiltrating your group without waiting for your quirks usage. The buddy system for one would have been a good idea along with using code words or just questioning them on things only your class would know. Putting all your eggs in technology was bound to fail, especially if they checked the bodies of those they captured.” He then coughed into his fist. “Also, the cannons were a bad idea. You went all in from the start, using up so many lipids that it hindered you when they needed you the most.”

“But she isn’t the only one you really messed up,” barked Death Arms. “There are several of you who really cost you this exercise. Monoma! While the rest of your team is partially to blame for their compliance, you were the one who brought up the idea of radio silence once you found the bunker! Had you not allowed your ego to take over, you would have reported it to the rest of the class. Then, they would have at least known where you were or had an idea of what to expect. Perhaps there would have been few reasons to split off the group.”

“Fucking useless copycat,” stated Bakugo under his breath. Though not quite enough so that all the heroes present couldn’t hear him.

“Oh, don’t get us started on you boy!” growled Death Arms as he walked over to poke the smaller teen in the chest. “If there was anyone who had the right to look down at their classmate, it certainly isn’t you! Going off on your own into a forest full of villains-”

“Who cares!” yelled Bakugo right into the hero's face. “Those extras were only slowing me down anyway! Besides, I’m one of the few people here who didn’t get beaten to shit like some worthless sidekick! I was the winner when I fought those two villains! I was the one left standing in the end with them murdered!”

“Is that what you’ll write in your report? Do you think that will save you?” demanded Death Arms. At the sight of Bakugo’s smirk, the hero laid down the facts. “Then congratulations, you really are above the rest of the class. Because not only are you being charged with assault, but potential murder as well as setting fire to the forest without putting it out! Oh, and if any heroes would have died before they could be saved, you would have taken the blame for that as well!”

All color drained from Bakugo as the facts were laid on him. “W-What? But they were villains,” he whispered.

“And before they are villains, they are human beings with rights,” stated Death Arms. “There are situations when a hero will have to take a life. But, on the whole, that is a line best to be avoided. We are charged with capturing villains not being their judge, jury, and executioner. Once you put that in the file, the police will begin searching for the bodies. However, with the amount of destruction you created, finding any trace of them might be impossible. If they are presumed dead, then that means that the villains that you failed to defeat and escaped are basically free to live normal lives. I can only the smug looks of satisfaction they’ll have when they learn about who a dozen environmental agencies are taking you to court for the damages you caused as well as any families who lost loved ones caught in the fire. Not to mention the two villains in that house. Trust me, by the time they are done with you, you will wish they had left you as some washed-up, D-listed hero working out of their parent’s home and hooked on Trigger. That life will be heaven compared to the hell that you’re currently in!”

“As for the rest of your team, they did very little to impress,” sighed Mt. Lady. “You all followed this hot-head lead, going off on your own. Though, at least one of you tried to voice out a complaint and Tokoyami was the first to turn around to help Kaminari. It shouldn’t have happened in the first place though.”

“I understand and shall seek to do better,” said Tokoyami. At that, Mt. Lady nodded.

“Then there was you Ida,” said Kamui Woods as he turned to look at the turbo teen. Ida had his head down, not daring to look at the man who was now approaching him. “Even though you said that you should stay together, you still choose to go off on your own. A very poor move considering that the terrain was not the best match for your quirk. What’s more, you allowed yourself to get lost. A situation that could have easily been rectified if you just accepted help. All in all, you made it easier for the villains to capture you. You need to start thinking with a clearer head or else you’ll end up in a bad situation one day.”

“Then there’s Todoroki,” finished Death Arms turning to look at the son of the number two hero in Japan. “Like Bakugo, you went in stupidly thinking that you could win all of this on your own. And how did that work out for you? The villains easily exploited a weakness of yours, weakened you, and left you to be captured by your own class. Honestly, from what we saw when you first walked into the forest and what your teacher wrote in your file, it's no surprise that your class was instantly distrustful of you. I doubt if they asked you a question about the goings in your class you would be able to answer it.” Death Arms then shook his head. “Frankly speaking, I’m surprised that your father didn’t teach you better. You have obvious weaknesses, both physical and only being able to produce ice on one side of your body. That, coupled with your attitude, makes you a failure as a hero.”

“As for the rest of you,” said Kamui Woods, taking note of Todoroki turning to glare at Midoriya but saying nothing. “We will be spending the next couple of days writing up some detailed reports on your performances. According to your teacher, they will be emailed to you this weekend along with your grades. Make sure you go over it before you start your internships.”

“Now, moving onto the villains,” said Death Arms as he approached the 1-B students, scratching the top of his head as he did so. “You could have just made a couple of those underground bunkers and hid, waiting for the exercise to end while the hero team stumbled around. Instead, you all choose to be proactive and flexible. You played to their fears and paranoia on Toga’s quirk. So, not only did you receive a huge payday from selling the bomb but you also made a killing via lawsuits.”

“Hell yeah!” cheered Awase before turning to Midoriya. “Dude, that plan of yours was just sick! Sure I got hurt like a mother,” he paused, glancing over at Shiozaki who just glared. “Er, what I meant to say is that the pain was worth it in the end!”

“Thanks,” said Midoriya, smiling so brightly and happily that a light seemed to shine from him. “To be honest, I never expected things to turn out this well. I was a little worried about sending all of you to that cave, but I guess it worked out well in the end.”

“It was amazing,” cried Toga. “At least now we know that, if this hero thing doesn’t work out for you, you’d make a pretty good villain. Just imagine taking on the role of villainous mastermind once more…for justice!”

“Yeah! Team Leverage will rise again!” added Pony who was jumping up and down with glee.

“Guys that’s,” began Izuku but stopped, shocking both heroes and teachers as the green-haired teen took up a thinking pose. Mumbling could be heard just under his breath, the only words they were able to hear were ‘not a bad idea.’

At first, many of the young heroes in training just stared at him with blank, blinking expressions while an image appeared in their minds. Now they saw a darker version of the class cinnamon roll sitting in a fancy, high-back chair that looked several centuries old. His hands, for some reason, were gloved in black leather as he held a glass of wine. As for the rest of his attire, he wore a white button-up shirt with suspenders and dark pants. Around his chair were the three girls he normally hung out with. On one side, in a skimpy red dress, was Toga as she licked blood off a knife. Pony was on the other side of the chair, for some reason looking like a sexy barbarian getting ready to charge. Kendo sat on Midoriya’s lap, wearing a darker version of her hero costume with more spikes as she caressed Deku’s cheek.

As soon as they realized what they were imagining, as well as realizing just how badly his plan had ruined the lives of the hero team, several students from both classes rushed over to stand before the green-haired hero nerd. So lost in thought was said nerd that he didn’t realize they were upon him till they were right there!

“No Midoriya, please do not consider such a vile lifestyle,” cried Shiozaki, her hands clasped in prayer. “Stay in the light! Stay in the light!”

“Sir Midoriya, do not tell me you are considering moving towards such ideals,” begged Shishida. “Surely you know better than to walk down such a road!”

“Please don’t, the world will not survive you being totally evil!” shouted Ashido. “Villain Bakugo we could handle but not you.”

As the shouting continued, as well as Bakugo yelling at the pink-skinned for the insult, Midoriya just stood there as he tried to process what they were saying. “What? I was just thinking that Leverage would be a great name if we very formed our own hero team,” he said. “Is there a problem with it?” Feeling relief, everyone backed away with nervous smiles saying that the name was fine.

“However, while the villains did win, there is a slight chance that this backfired on all of you in the long run,” continued Kamui Woods, getting back on topic.

“What do you mean?” asked Tetsutetsu. “I thought we did a great job.”

“You did. And that’s sort of the problem,” said Kamui as he looked to his fellow heroes who gave him nods. “If this was the real deal, the media would be focusing more on the failures of the heroes. But what we couldn’t decide is how many heroes would look at this event and wonder if the villains were a threat to be taken seriously. At least, not objectively. There may be a few higher rank heroes out there that would come to that conclusion as well as a few members of the Hero Safety Commission who would be on the lookout for you, but if there will be enough to actually put Leverage on the radar is pretty hard to get a read on. It would be best if that’s not the case, leaving all of you as just a random group of villains until the heat dies down. Then you can go back to your villainous plans with no one the wiser. On the other hand, if enough top-ranking people do consider you a threat, Japan will do everything in its power to hunt you down.”

“Best we could agree on was that there was a slight chance that would happen,” commented Mt. Lady. “We’ll leave people like Nezu to come up with the percentages.”

With that, the heroes in training were allowed to head towards the locker room to get cleaned up before they left.

-x-

“Oh god, that was so painful,” complained Ashido as the door to the girl’s locker room opened. Bent over, arms hanging limply by her sides, the pink-skinned girl stumbled inside followed by the rest of her female classmates. All of them looked just as mentally and physically exhausted as their normally hyper pink bundle of joy. A moment later, the rest of the girls from their sister class awkwardly entered as well.

“Excuse me,” said the vine-haired girl as she approached Mina. Ashido, forehead pressed against her locker, turned slightly with tired eyes to look at the girl still in casual attire. The look on the 1-B’s girl’s face was somewhere between nervous and apologetic. “I’m not sure we have been properly introduced before. My name is Ibara Shiozaki.”

“Hey,” groaned Mina, doing her best to smile and raise a hand to fist bump Shiozaki yet her arms just felt too much like lead at the moment. “Nice to meet ya. The name’s Mina Ashido.”

“A pleasure,” said Shiozaki with a light smile. “I know this might sound a little rude, given what we all went through, but…could you please consider not doing that again? Using the Lord’s name in such a way?”

Mina blinked at that. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” continued Shiozaki before talking at a frantic pace. “I’m sorry, I truly am sorry. After everything my class has put you through, having me standing here and making requests on what you can and can’t say is probably the last thing you want to hear. However, hearing you use the Lord’s name in such a manner is very disrespectful. So, I am merely asking that you consider refraining from your use of such phrases. If that would not be too much of a bother. If not, I will understand and do my best to ignore it.”

For a solid moment, Mina considered how best to handle the situation. Due to her mind being drained, her immediate thoughts were to tell the girl where to shove it. Thankfully, she didn’t say it and continued to think about it. Looking her over, it was clear just how nervous the girl was just by making this request. And, well, Mina knew what it was like when people around her made comments that she didn’t like. Sure, she would walk up to them and give them a piece of her mind. But not every girl out there could do it like her. So it took guts. Plus it was such a little thing that really wasn’t worth getting into a fight over.

“Yeah, sure,” said Ashido, watching as the expression on Shiozaki’s face brightened a bit. The sight of which gave Mina a little bit more energy to work with. Now standing a bit straighter, she managed to give a real smile. “And don’t worry about the exercise. It was nothing personal. I mean, it’s not like you wanted to be villains and were the people who decided to make this a good portion of our grade. You were just doing what you had to do.”

“You said it,” came a new, cheerier voice before an arm hung itself on Ashido’s neck. And, when Mina turned, she realized that it was just an arm. Before the acid girl could cry out, another green-haired girl bumped into her opposite side with a toothy grin. “We all got to do what we got to do. So there shouldn’t be any hard feelings. Oh, by the way, the name’s Setsuna Tokage!”

For the next few minutes, all the girls just relaxed without getting undressed as they exchanged names. With each moment that passed by, whatever tension that had been in the air dissipated to the point where a few of them (like Mina and Setsuna) were exchanging contact information. Once they were done with that, the girls then began to talk about their male classmates by giving their names as well as their physical descriptions. Speaking of the guys, they had mentioned that a few of the 1-A boys were refusing to enter their own changing room while 1-B was inside. Monoma because, well, he was Monoma who refused to get changed in the presence of inferior heroes in training regardless of the facts. Todoroki seemed to just want to sulk for the moment. And finally, there was Bakugo who looked ready to go on the warpath.

“I think the only reason that hot-headed little bitch hasn’t gone in is because he knows he’ll lunge at Midoriya,” finished Setsuna, looking everyone there know her feelings on the ashen blonde. “Pretty sure even he knows that attacking another student again wouldn’t lead to another slap on the wrist. So he just has to stand there, stewing in his own anger.”

“Well, Bakugo didn’t think it was such a slap on the wrist,” commented Uraraka as she looked up in remembrance while beginning to remove her belt. “He missed our first lesson with All Might and picking class reps. But what I don’t get is why he did all that.”

“Maybe because he’s an egotistical a-hole?” suggested Setsuna before turning to look at Kendo and Pony. “Hey, you two have known the vice-rep the longest. Any ideas?”

“I have ideas,” said Kendo as she put her mask into her case. “Some of it was confirmed when he attacked Izuku in the cafeteria. But, it isn’t my place to say.”

“But I’ll say this,” said Pony with a frown. “Izuku told me that they used to go to the same middle school. Back then, Bakugo was a pretty big deal. Used to say that he would be the first and only person in that school to get into the hero school at U.A. with the highest score ever recorded.”

“Yeah, I think Bakugo screamed something about that during the lunchroom incident,” grumbled Jiro. She then turned to look at Kendo with a small smirk on her face. “Oh, loved the way you punched him on both occasions. If we ever have a one-on-one combat trail between classes and you get a rematch against him, just know that I’ll be cheering you on.”

“Thanks,” replied Kendo with a bit of a blush. Though it didn’t last long as she walked over to Momo. The raven-haired girl had been mostly silent, seeming lost in her own thoughts. Though she did look up once the orange-haired girl was standing in front of her with a hand extended. “Speaking of rematches, I look forward to when we face your class again on Friday. I know you will only get stronger and give us a greater challenge. I’ll, ah, make sure that Izuku doesn’t do all the planning again.” Out of the corner of her eye, Kendo noticed Ashido bringing her hands together and looking like she was silently thanking god with tears in her eyes.

“I,” began Yaoyorozu nervously before her expression became a tad more resolved. She then took Kendo’s hand and shook it. “I agree. We shall endeavor to make sure that we do not have a repeat of today. However, I must insist that you come at us with everything you have. Even if it means allowing Midoriya to make up the plans.”

“Nooo!” cried Ashido as she fell to her knees, a pair of gloves floating beside her to pant the pink-skinned girl on the back.

“Well,” began Shiozaki, coughing into her fist for a moment as a blush appeared on her face. “Hopefully, Midoriya will not see any need for such things as subterfuge. Will it was not completely unpleasant, I would rather not be stuck on the sidelines a second time playing house.”

“Oh?” came Toga’s voice as she seemed to appear out of nowhere, half undressed, and placed her hands on the Christian girl’s shoulders. On her face was a massive blush as her golden slit eyes stared at a suddenly nervous Shiozaki. “Could it be the reason the exercise wasn’t ‘unpleasant’ had something to do with who you were partnered with?”

“W-What?” yelped Shiozaki backing away as she said this, her face now scarlet as she found herself the center of attention. Toga now had a hand under her chin, smirking slightly while appearing to be sizing her up. Mina had stars in her eyes, looking hungry for some juicy gossip while Tokage playfully covered her mount with a hand.

“Wait? Are you implying that Shiozaki likes Awase? Shroom?” asked Komori, tilting her head as she said this. “But they hate each other. Shiozaki is constantly smacking Awase upside the head every time he says the ‘G’ word in vain.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say I hate him,” mumbled Shiozaki, poking her fingers together while looking down.

“Oh Komori, you are so innocent when it comes to the realm of love,” sang Toga. “Everyone has their own way of expressing their love for another. Some people hold hands, kiss, give each other gifts, or do things that don’t make sense to most of the world. In the case of Shiozaki, she feels a need to punish Awase because she cares about him. She’s not going to politely ask him to stop like she did with Ashido. Oh no. Because of her deep-seated feelings for him, she can’t waste a second in trying to save his immortal soul. Also, smacking like that allows her to touch his skin even for a moment. I bet she savors every moment! So those attacks are the way she shows her love!” As Toga said all this, the shapeshifter began to twirl around with an outstretched hand while stars suddenly seemed to appear all around her. Meanwhile, Shiozaki just pressed herself against the wall as her entire body seemed to turn red from embarrassment.

“Is that how it is?” asked Jiro, a slight smirk on her face. “Then maybe Awase keeps saying the wrong thing, not because he’s stubborn, but because he likes it.”

“Oh, maybe you’re right,” agreed Toga with a nod. In response, Shiozaki let out a high-pitched squeak that almost muffled out a thud coming from above their heads.

“Ok, ok,” said Kendo, clapping her hands. “You’ve had your fun Toga. Now we need to get changed so-”

“Oh come on Kendo,” interrupted Toga, waving off the Big Fist user as she turned away from the flustered vine-haired girl. Said girl was now speaking rapidly in a low tone while her eyes were nothing more than spirals. “We’re just doing what girls should be doing: talking about love and gossiping. It’s the perfect way to release some stress after such a long day.”

“Here, here!” cheered Ashido, fist-pumping into the air. The pink-skinned girl then turned to look at Setsuna. “So, any other lovey-dovey couples in your class? Because right now, I think the only couples in our year are coming from your class. Unless you count Bakugo’s love for himself.”

Tokage snickered at that. “Oh trust me, we do,” she said before pointing a thumb at Kendo, Pony, and Toga. “We got three girls who all have their eyes on a certain green-haired teen. Though the battle may already be over as Midoriya asked Kendo out for a romantic getaway just for the two of them.”

At that, Himiko smirked. “Oh trust me, it isn’t the end,” she said while Kendo began to blush.

“He just asked me out as a-” began Itsuka before another thud was heard, louder this time. As the girls looked up at the vents above their heads, a dark aura began to surround the 1-A girls.

“We have a rat,” said Jiro as she sent her jacks up towards the ceiling. Channeling her heartbeat through her jacks, the ceiling began to vibrate with noise while Ashido threw some acid up at the vent opening. As soon as it melted away, the half-naked form of Mineta landed on the ground.

“Hey, what’s the big idea!” shouted the smallest teen there as he picked himself off the floor. “I was just eyeing the goodies before me. It’s the least I deserve after what that psychopath did to me! So how about you all just get undress-” Mineta finally felt the overwhelming aura of anger directed at him from all the girls there. Kendo was looking at him with disgust, enlarging her hands while Momo used the last of her lipids to create a metal bat. Jiro was cracking her knuckles while Komori went to the shower to help make the place more humid for her mushrooms. One by one, all the girls began to either activate their quirks or prepare their fists for a beatdown.

-x-

“Hey everyone,” said Midoriya, standing next to his seat. The teen had been in the process of packing up for the day when the girls entered the classroom. He was about to ask what took so long as he and the rest of the guys had finished getting changed ages ago when he noticed that Kendo, Yanagi, Pony, and Toga all had blood on their hands. And what was stranger still was that Toga wasn’t licking it off of her. “Did something happen? Is anyone hurt?”

“Something happened to someone unimportant,” commented Toga, glancing down at the blood still on her hand not with a look of longing but utter disgust. “Someone disgustingly unimportant who we would have ended had Midnight and Aunty Asia not heard the commotion and stopped us. At least we’re not in trouble. Can’t say the same for him.” At that, all the girls in the class nodded as Toga went to grab wipes from her bag to begin cleaning her hands.

“Enough about…that thing,” grumbled Itsuka, accepting the wipes from Toga as she turned her full attention towards Izuku. “Were there any problems with you?”

“Problems?” echoed Izuku. “Not much. A few of the guys from 1-A accused us of cheating, but Kirishima told them they were being unmanly for not accepting the fact that they lost.”

“Very true,” said Tetsustetsu with a nod as he slung his backpack on his back.

“After that, they went hunting for Mineta once they realized he vanished from the locker room,” continued Izuku. “Strange. You would think that by now he would know his way around the school without getting lost. And the fact that he did so when he hadn’t fully changed was weird. I offered to help, but they said it was official 1-A business.” As Izuku sighed, the girls just looked at the innocent boy with slightly teary eyes hoping that he wouldn’t get too disappointed when he learned the truth. Or mad at them when he learned just how close Mineta came to death. “After that, I received a message from Nezu with some, ah, interesting news.”

“Oh?” said Kendo, wondering what this was about.

“Ah,” began Izuku, looking a little embarrassed. “It turns out that the reason it was taking so long for my confirmation to I-Island to arrive was because someone wanted to meet me really badly. So much so that they managed to convince the board there to throw in a couple extra tickets.” He then gave Itsuka an apologetic smile. “Sorry, but it looks like we’ll have some company.”

“Well, ah,” began Itsuka as she turned to look away, scratching her cheek as she did so. She looked like she was about to say something, however her eyes landed on Pony. The American girl looked at her with wide eyes full of hope and glee, almost ready to start leaping with joy at any moment. The orange-haired girl then let out a sigh, hanging her head a little. “It’ll be fine. We’ll still be able to spend time together.”

“Great!” said Izuku. He was then about to ask Pony if she wanted to come but stopped when he felt something collide with his desk. Turning his head, he found Toga bending down on the opposite side of his desk so that the only part of her face that was visible were her eyes up. And those yellow slit eyes were giving him a sad kitty cat-like pout that nearly made his heart stop with how sad and pleading they were. Just begging not to be left behind.

Finally, Izuku sighed. “Pony. Toga. Would the two of you like to come with us to I-Island this weekend?” he asked. His only response was getting tackled to the floor by the two happy, laughing blondes who were clearly saying yes. And as he lay there with Kendo trying to pry them off of him a few questions entered his mind. The first was what was he going to do with the last ticket. The second was how should he tell his mother that he was going to an island with three girls. And lastly, why did this embrace feel so good that he never wanted it to end?

-x-

At the same time, a large metal cube was being unloaded off a plane and onto the dock of I-Island. The cube took up a large amount of space, requiring dozens of the robots to move it around. On the cube was only a single door with a keypad required to open it with several tanks of air connected to the surface to keep the lone individual inside of it alive. But that wasn’t all as along with the cube were several guards who were from the prison Tartarus, each one of them keeping their hands on their weapons as they eyed the cube as if in fear that at any moment all hell would break loose.

“I hope the specimen is in good condition,” came a voice, followed by the sounds of someone walking towards the guards in a hurry. The lead guard turned, seeing it to be the man to whom they were delivering the prisoner to.

“Not this time Dr. Shield,” replied the lead guard. “Unlike the last few, this one didn’t put up much of a fuss. Wills so broken that this piece of shit didn’t even consider making a break for it.”

“Good, good,” said Dr. Shield as he approached the metal cube. Slowly, almost reverently, he placed a hand on it so that he could feel just how cold the metal shell was. “I would hate to waste time patching up wounds that could interfere with the procedure. Oh, I know this time it will be a success! I can feel it! All the data from the past failures have been examined and fine-tuned. Hopefully, I will be able to unveil its existence by the end of the weekend.”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the lead guard, his tone uncaring. Mostly because he didn’t know what was being done to the dozen or so prisoners that they had already brought this man on the authority of the Safety Commission. “Just make sure that you clean up your mess once you are done. And, if you need another one, you know who to call.”

Chapter Text

The next several days until the trip to I-Island were like a whirlwind to one Izuku Midoriya. Thought it was one he found himself enjoying more than not.

Starting from the moment Kendo managed to pry his other two female friends off of him, Izuku went to work ensuring that Toga could come along with them. This involved heading over to the Nezu’s office to pick up a special form, fill it out, and then submit it to the principal. By completing this form, he entered into an agreement stating that he would take responsibility for Toga during their stay off campus. While both the principal and school nurse believed that Himiko would listen to him and not do anything that might get them into trouble, there was always that chance that something could go wrong. As such, Nezu had to impart just how serious this was given Toga’s situation. Should Toga cause any serious trouble, then his spot in the hero course would be in jeopardy. If she managed to escape off the island without him then the principal would have no choice but to expel him while also blacklisting him from entering another hero school. And those were the lightest punishments.

Once that had been settled, Izuku was treated with the time-honored tradition of becoming a human pack mule as the three girls wasted no time shopping for the trip. Their first stop: one of the fancier shops in the mall that sold dresses for more upscale events. The moment Izuku stepped into the store, he felt extremely out of place as he was bombarded with mannequins with slightly oversized bust lines wearing some of the shop’s more premier lines. It might also have to do with the fact that he had never been into a store like this before in his life as his mother mainly went for simpler fashions in order to save money. Thankfully, he wasn’t alone as Itsuka seemed visibly lost as she looked around at all the fashions.

“Seriously, they’re asking for this much for this?” whisper/demanded Itsuka as she seemingly pulled out a gown from one of the hangers. It was a bright blue dress that looked like it would hug the body tighter than any hero costume out there. What’s more, the front was nearly completely cut out. Face turning red, he noticed that there were stands of fabric that made various small X-shaped patterns across the front in order to keep it the wearer’s body from spilling out. Hopefully, the gown would cover the private areas of the wearer…though judging by what he was seeing it would be just barely.

“Honestly,” continued Itsuka with a huff, almost slamming the dress back where it belonged with a blush on her face as well. “I could buy two leather biker jackets for the price of this dress and still have some left over. And those probably use ten times more material than that thing!”

Izuku nodded, agreeing that the price was simply too much even for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this as well as it just not suiting her. While he believed that Itsuka was beautiful, her beauty didn’t come from flaunting her body in such a manner. That she didn’t need to resort to showing off that much skin in order to make a head turn. At least, that’s how he felt.

After a short amount of browsing, the three girls managed to collect an armful of outfits to try on before heading over to the changing room. However not before Toga ordered Izuku to sit down on one of the chairs in front of the three rooms. What followed was something akin to a mini-fashion show with each of the girls exiting their changing room to ask Izuku to judge how the dresses looked on them. A job Izuku felt wholly unqualified for. What did he know about fashion? His original hero suit designs tried to imitate All Might and, as a few people not so kindly pointed out, made him look like he was wearing bunny ears. Him, the guy who had several ‘t-shirt’ t-shirts. One of which he was wearing right now! He was going to be the one to tell them if they looked good or not?

“I kind of like this one the best,” said Itsuka, breaking Izuku out of his thoughts as she exited the changing room. The dress was honestly very simple, yet Izuku felt his cheeks heat up when he saw her in it. Its color was turquoise, with only one thick strap that wrapped around her shoulder while the neckline stopped just before her breasts. As she moved, Izuku noticed that there was a cut along the sides to give her better movement as well as to show off her legs. Finally, a thick black belt that covered most of her waist seemed to tie the look together giving her a tough yet alluring appearance.

“Wow, that…that looks amazing on you,” said Izuku, his eyes wide as he spoke honestly. Hearing that, Itsuka blushed slightly before heading back into her changing room before the next girl could come out. While she did try on a few outfits, Itsuka decided to go with the first dress in the end before taking a seat next to Izuku.

Pony was the first to exit her dressing room after Itsuka, a bounce to her step as she did so despite the fact that her choices were the most limited. This being due to some of her more animalistic features such as her tail as well as the limited number of dresses within this selection being in her size. While there were services for people in Pony’s position, altering the dress would take more time than they had as well as being a bit pricey. Still, that was not enough to put a damper on Pony’s mood as she twirled around for Izuku and later Itsuka. In the end, Pony went with a dark green, shoulder-off dress. The outfit looked like the material used to make it rougher and thicker than the others, yet Izuku still thought it looked really good on her. The green-haired teen also noted that once the dress went past her hips, it began to look like there were multiple layers and made it look like the dress was cut up into spikes with the longest one going past the knee.

“Best dress,” said Pony, smiling after she returned to wearing her normal attire. “I had to quickly detach my horns with most of the others. That one, I don’t need to worry about my horns cutting through the fabric as much. Plus it's still super cute.” Izuku nodded, never really realizing before just how hard it was for someone like Pony to go out shopping before. Mainly because these days he normally saw her in her school uniform which was button-up. Though, now that he thought about it, whenever they went out to help her student her Japanese before school started Pony usually wore something with a wider neckline or shoulder off top. Same for these days whenever they went to a manga café.

As Pony sat beside him, Izuku’s mind continued to ponder this question. He began to imagine himself sitting with Pony at the café they enjoyed the most as it had well-maintained manga novels dating all the way back well before the dawn of quirks. Sitting there, much like he was now, he looked over at Pony to see that there was a cut in her blouse that the American girl hadn’t noticed. One running right along her breast, small enough that most people wouldn’t notice unless you were close enough. Or perhaps it started out smaller but then began to expand for as soon as he noticed it Izuku could have sworn that said cut got just a little bigger allowing him to see her bra. Eyes widening, the cut grew just a bit more to reveal-

Albion’s screams of ‘NO!’ broke the teen out of his thoughts. In fact, both the mental and physical versions of Izuku slapped themselves hard. An act that surprised both girls, making them just a little in their seats from the sudden action. Somehow Izuku managed to laugh it off while mentally chastising himself for even thinking like that.

Himiko took the longest out of the three of them as it seemed like she wanted to try on everything within the store that was both in her size as well as everything that seemed a size too small for her. Each exit from the changing room was done with a flourish, the door opening to reveal the blood lover standing there in a pose. Sometimes it was just her standing so that he got a good look at her side profile, turning her head slightly in his direction to give him a suggestive wink before sauntering out of the room. Other times her hands were behind her head, chest pushed out as far as she could. Then there were the poses that made his heart stop, face flushing as he looked away. The times he had his other female friends with him, he couldn’t help but notice that their faces were bright red too. So at the very least, it wasn’t just him. In the end, Toga bought a red dress whose single strap went around her neck. The dress seemed to cling to her chest while leaving her shoulders, arms, and sides completely exposed. Izuku’s heart had nearly leapt out of his chest when he discovered that Toga’s entire back was also exposed with the material only returning maybe an inch above her butt! It also exposed the fact that she was currently without a bra! Ah, at least the dress didn’t expose anything else as it went all the way to her feet.

Once the dresses had been paid for and boxed up, Izuku carried them from store to store as the girls continued to acquire more items for the trips. It soon became clear that Toga needed the most, having only a few casual outfits of her own along with her school uniforms to her name as her parents had tossed out most of her possessions after she had been arrested. Thankfully, her grandfather had sent her a credit card to use once U.A. would allow her out. Though the fact that the card had a red pentagram on it made Izuku worry a little. Meanwhile, Pony wanted to buy a few things for the trip, mainly some new mangas to read during the flight, as she wanted to save the majority of her money for the expo. As for Kendo, she didn’t really need anything as she had already gone over her stuff since Izuku first asked her out. The only thing she really needed was the dress. Still, the orange-haired girl tried a few things on here and there for fun.

For the most part, it was pretty standard stuff. That is until they reached a store specializing in swimwear. If Izuku had been blushing like mad when he saw the girls in their dresses, his face had gone atomic as they began to try on various swimsuits and asking Izuku for his opinion. Somehow, all three girls exited the dressing rooms at the same time wearing similar bikinis. The sight of which caused the poor boy’s brain to almost crash like his laptop had done shortly after installing a speech-to-text app into it. Toga was wearing a black bikini, showing off her lithe frame and her perky chest. Pony was wearing a white one, but had the images of apples positioned in the absolute worst places! Kendo’s bikini had a simple blue-and-white striped theme to it. This time Toga and Pony went with their first picks though they did spend a bit more time trying on the various other swimsuits that caught their fancy. Itsuka, on the other hand, decided to go with something else. In the end, she went with a two-piece suit that covered a bit more of her upper body that was a shade of blue along with a matching hip cloth.

Then came the last store of the night: lingerie. Izuku thanked God (an act that caused Albion to chuckle slightly for some reason) that the girls didn’t ask for his opinion. In fact, they said that he didn’t even need to go into the store if he didn’t want to. That he could go himself a snack if he wanted since they might be there for a while. Though the fact that Toga had just smirked at him without saying anything didn’t seem to sit well with him.

With their shopping concluded, Izuku was able to concentrate fully on school for the remainder of the week. When they arrived at U.A. the next day, they quickly discovered that things were not looking good for 1-A. The first piece of news came during homeroom when Vlad King informed the class about Mineta’s behavior the previous day, both during the course of the exercise the previous day as well as for him crawling through the vents in order to spy on the girls changing. Hearing this caused no small amount of rage to boil within the Divine Divider, though if he was thinking straight he would have been more surprised that it had less to do with the fact that a hero student was acting this way than the fact that he tried to look at Itsuka, Toga, and Pony without their permission. Thankfully, Aizawa only put up the smallest of fights when protecting Mineta as he would become the second 1-A student to receive a suspension before the finals. While it would only be for the remainder of the week, it also meant that he would be getting a zero for the rest of the exercise along with any additional homework he received from the rest of his classes. While this was a huge setback for anyone within the hero program, that wasn’t the end of it as the school was changing the hero who he would be interning with. Instead of spending a week with Mt. Lady, Vlad King revealed with great amusement that he would be instead interning with Mr. Muscleman. A bald, male hero who liked to walk around wearing only a Speedo as well as a constantly oiled body. A man who was also reported as being a friend of Midnight’s as the two frequented clubs that appealed to a certain taste they both shared.

As for the rest of 1-A, there was an air of misery that surrounded them that anyone from the school could plainly see. Including Mei! Somehow, the entire school had heard about how the mighty class that had survived a massive villain attack had been brought to a new low and rumors were being spread like wildfire. One of them was that Aizawa was in hot water, that Pro-Hero Endeavor had visited the tired-looking man to yell at him for not teaching his son properly. Another said that the Hero Safety Commission had also been informed of how badly the exercise had gone and were demanding answers from the man. Izuku didn’t know how much of these stories he actually believed, but what he did know was that he had heard the man yelling at his students.

It wasn’t until they saw their sister class in the lunchroom that 1-B discovered just what else was going on. Most of 1-A sat in silence, poking at their food with their utensils without sparing the rest of the school a glance. A few of their members, such as Todoroki and Bakugo, had distanced themselves from the rest in order to eat their meals in isolation.

“I’m going to see if they're doing ok,” announced Kendo.

“I’ll go with,” began Izuku, but stopped himself when he noticed Itsuka holding up a hand.

“Look, I know your heart is in the right place,” she began, keeping her voice low. “But they don’t know you as well as we all do. A few of them might get the wrong idea, thinking that you are just heading over there to gloat or something. I mean, they know you were the one who thought of that plan to make their day a living hell.”