Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stepping up to UA was nerve wracking, to be sure.  Izuku swallowed around the lump in his throat as he looked up at the shining building - his dream school!  He was actually here!  He took a deep breath, stepped forward to chase his dreams…

...and started falling face first into the pavement. This is it , he thought, this is how my life ends.

He felt his arm getting yanked a bit, startling him out of his existential crisis and he looked up as he stumbled to see a big grin full of pointy teeth.

“Woah there, man!  Wouldn’t want you falling before the exam!  That feels like bad luck, and that's super unmanly!”

Izuku blinked as the boy helped him back to his feet, still smiling.  “I’m Kirishima Eijiro,” he continued, “nice to meet you, bro!”

“Oh,” he startled, “I’m, um, Midoriya Izuku. You-you too!  Thanks for catching me.”

The redhead laughed.  “No problem, man!  It wouldn’t be very manly of me to let you fall, and I’m aiming to be a hero after all.”

Izuku blinked again before stuttering, “Oh, m-me too!  Maybe I’ll see you in the hero course.”

Kirishima’s grin got even wider, allowing full view of the shark teeth.  Izuku’s eyes zoomed in on them, already wondering if they had something to do with his quirk.  Perhaps it was a mutation?  Maybe they came with enhanced jaw strength, or they were harder than regular teeth.

“Yeah, that would be totally awesome!  Best of luck, Midobro!”

He was snapped out of his musings by the nickname as the boy began walking again, before calling out, “You-you too, Kirishima!”

Damn , he thought, he gave me a nickname and I couldn’t even think of one to call him back.  Is this what having friends feels like?

He hurried to the testing room for his written exam, feeling strangely light.  If the rest of the examinees were as nice as Kirishima, then maybe this wouldn’t be so bad!

“Haah?! Deku, what the hell are you doing here?”

And he spoke too soon.

He hurried to his seat, sparing Bakugo a glance before glancing back at the pro hero who was proctoring their exam.

“Kacchan, I’m here to take the exam…”

The blond boy sneered. “I can see that, shitface; but what does a useless fucker like you think he’s doing, trying for UA?  I thought I warned you.”

Izuku pursed his lips.

“The exam is starting, Kacchan.”

“Tch, whatever.  You won’t be getting in anyway.”

~~~~~

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief while he stood with the other examinees waiting for the practical exam.  The written portion had gone fairly smoothly, with a few essay questions about quirks and quirk laws.  Even if he didn't feel confident on the rest of the exam, he was certain he had those sections down pat, and now all that was left was the practical portion of the exam...not that that was any less nerve wracking.  If anything, this was going to be worse.  Despite his ten months of hell training, and the fact that he had gotten All Might’s quirk, he hadn’t had the opportunity to use it yet.  As much as he loved All Might, his explanation on how to use it was...sketchy at best.  Suffice to say, Izuku was not keen to mess up in what would arguably be one of the most important tests in his life, and the warning that if he wasn’t prepared that his limbs could blow off wasn’t doing him any favors in the nerves department.

Ectoplasm finished explaining about the exam and asked if there were any questions when Izuku heard a mutter beside him that broke him out of his spiralling thoughts.

“Ah, man, I was zoned out.”

He looked over to see the boy who had spoken, a blond boy with a streak of black in his hair, looking sheepish.  Izuku glanced around before leaning over.

“How much did you miss?”

The boy looked surprised for a moment before yellow eyes met green and he smiled softly. “Uhhh, all of it?”

Izuku blinked.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” the boy chuckled, “I was so nervous I forgot my ADHD meds this morning and I really shouldn’t have.”

“...There are robots, four types, worth one, two, three, and zero points.  I think they’re all marked.  We’re supposed to destroy them.”

The boy stared for a moment before breaking out into a grin.  “That makes a lot of sense!  Thanks, man!”

Izuku smiled softly and looked away right as the doors opened and Ectoplasm called for the start of the exam.  He gave a wave to the yellow haired boy before running off with the crowd.

~~~~~

He mentally signed his will.  His All Might collection should be auctioned off to help support his mother, and his notebooks should be burned so that no one could get their hands on them.  Honestly, no one needed to see how much he nerded out over heroes.  He wished Kirishima, at least, luck in getting into the hero course, because if a nice boy like him couldn’t make it, then the state of society would deteriorate significantly.

He ran some more, ducking around corners, desperately trying to find a single robot.  There were so many cool quirks that he had seen - no, don’t get distracted Izuku, it’s already been three minutes according to your watch and you haven’t even gotten a single point.

He spun around another corner only to collide with a body also going at breakneck speeds.  The two recoiled off of each other, and the other kid got their bearings first.

“Sorry about - oh hey, it’s you!”

Izuku shook his head to clear the pain to see that he had collided with the yellow haired boy from before, before looking past him to see a three pointer preparing to attack.  He yelped and grabbed onto the boy, pulling him back around the corner just as the laser cannon went off.

“Holy shit, thanks!  That was kind of terrifying!  I’m Kaminari Denki!”

Izuku took a shuddering breath before looking at him in confusion.  “I’m...Midoriya Izuku?  No, this isn’t the time, what’s your quirk so we can take that three pointer down, before it catches up?”

“Oh, yeah, my bad.  I call it Electricity!”

Izuku’s eyes lit up.  “Wow, that's pretty perfect for this, since we’re fighting robots!”

He scratched his head.  “Eh, not really, it takes a lot of charge to take them out and if I go over my limit I get...kind of stupid.”

“What?” He crinkled his brow, momentarily ignoring the thundering that was steadily approaching.  “I don’t know a lot about robotics, but it can’t take more than, what, 400? 500 watts to short circuit them?”

“Well, yeah, but my electricity loses power the farther the distance it has to go.”

“Then just...touch it?  Or use metal as a conductor?”  He blinked rapidly, quickly waving his hands.  “I, I mean, I don’t mean to tell you how to use your quirk, after all you’ve had it since you were four or five and I’ve just met you, I didn't mean to assume, I’m sorry, I’ll-”

“Wait, I didn't even think of that!”  He looked around and chewed his lip worriedly, peeking around the corner at the three pointer.  “I don’t think I can get close enough to touch it without getting blasted though, and I don't see anything metal around…”

Izuku peaked around the corner himself.  “I think I can distract it if you try and get close.  Plus, I see a downed pole just past it if we can survive this.”  He glanced shyly at the other boy.  “Do you...want to try it?”

Kaminari grinned.  “Hell yeah, man, sounds like a plan!  Are you sure you’re ok with being bait?  Do you have, like, a speed quirk, or something?”

He smiled nervously.  “Let’s just say I have a lot of practice running.”

Without another word, he darted out of the alley, waving his arms at the three pointer.  It immediately locked on and shifted its gaze to him, laser powering up.  His eyes widened and he took off, running around it in a circle so it wouldn’t move as much.  He saw a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye as the first laser fired and he picked up a bit more speed, feeling the all too familiar explosion just behind him.

Just as he heard the laser powering up again, he heard a zap and it sputtered out.  He slid to a stop, catching a dazed looking Kaminari grinning at the smoking husk of the robot.  He jogged over, worried that the boy wasn’t moving, but as he approached, he was met with a beaming smile.

“Mido, that was so cool!  I didn't even consider touching things, I just assumed I would have to hit 'em with lightning!”  He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and eyed the smoking heap.  “I think I went a little overboard though, I’m not used to dealing with small amounts of electricity.”

Izuku giggled a bit.  “How much did you end up using?”

“Like...a thousand.”

“O-okay, yeah, you might want to cut that in half.”

He grinned at the green boy again. “Just like you said, huh?  Thanks for your help. I would have been a goner if you hadn’t pulled me around that corner, and now I have a new strat for raining hell on these machines!”

Izuku smiled before startling, glancing down at his watch again.  “Oh no, there are only five minutes left!  I haven’t even gotten a single robot!”

Kaminari’s smile fell.  “Shit, dude, sorry, I took up your time.  You’ve got this! Don’t give up, and go get ‘em!”

Izuku smiled and nodded before taking off again.  It felt good to help out the boy from before (and now he had a name, plus he knew his quirk, and it was really cool), but the test was halfway over and he hadn’t managed to get a single point.  He thought back to what he had told Kaminari earlier, eyeing a destroyed two pointer, and pursed his lips, a plan forming.

The two pointers looked almost like scorpions, but with four legs and two tails.  One ended in a rather sharp and sturdy protrusion - not enough to cut people, but if enough force was applied it could probably puncture the hull of the other robots around.  And, even luckier, this two pointer had that tail separated from its body.  It was heavy, sure, but he had lifted refrigerators before, a few minutes of lifting and swinging this would be nothing.

He found that it bent in one direction and not the other, so he could level it like a lance and it would be straightened out by its own weight, or he could use the bending side to flick it like a whip.  He didn't have any practice with a whip though, so it might be better if he just used it like a lance.  Still, as a bludgeoning weapon it wasn’t too bad.

He heard a yelp from another street over and whirled around to find three one pointers converging on...nothing?  Wait, no, he could see shoes moving around.  Maybe some sort of invisibility?

He was getting distracted.  Izuku shook his head and ran forward, lining up the improvised lance with the closest robot.  With a crunch, it rammed it’s way through the hull and the robot sputtered to a stop.  He quickly ripped out the lance just as the other two turned towards him and he swung, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get both if he just wanted to stab them.

The first robot’s torso was shredded by the pointed end, but the other was too far away and merely got nicked, punching it back slightly.  Izuku’s arms ached; he had overestimated how heavy this thing was, and the quick changes in direction he was putting on were straining his arms, but at least it was still a nice burn and not a dangerous one. Yet.

He tried to get out of the momentum of the swing as the one pointer swung it’s guns on him but he stumbled.  His eyes widened and he tried to leap out of the way, but then the robot suddenly powered down.  He blinked, surprised, before he remembered the invisible person.

“Are...are you ok?”

A girl’s voice bubbled from behind the robot as he saw the shoes come back into view. “Am I ok?! Are you ok!  That was so cool!   You were swinging that around like boom! Pow!  Like it was nobody's business!  Just how strong are you?!”

“Oh, uh, I-I’m not, it’s really not, oh jeez..”

She laughed lightly and he felt a hand on his shoulder.  “It’s all good!  But yeah, thanks!  And good luck on the rest of your test, Mr. Hero!”

Izuku jumped as the hand left him and the shoes went down the street.  “Oh, uh, yeah! You-you too!”

He took a deep breath and adjusted his grip on the tail, setting his jaw.  Three minutes left…

~~~~~

This couldn’t be real.

How much money did UA have?  The zero pointer was taller than most of the buildings, meaning it was at least 15, no, 20 stories tall!  Izuku was not keen on getting close to that monstrosity of a robot, and it looked like the other examinees had the same idea.  There was only a minute or two left before the exam ended, and the giant robot wasn’t worth any points either.

He swung his weapon at a two pointer at the same time that Kirishima drove a sharp looking fist into it.  A hardening quirk of some kind?  That’s really cool , Izuku thought to himself as Kirishima shot him a grin before they both kept running.

Suddenly, from the direction of the zero pointer, he heard a scream and a sharp zap!   The smell of ozone filled the air and Izuku glanced back to see Kaminari standing in front of the zero pointer, thumbs up and blank expression on his face, the corpses of a two pointer and a three pointer nearby.

Why wasn’t he moving?! Izuku thought, torn between running and grabbing his maybe-friend.  Suddenly, their previous conversation flashed through his mind.

“...if I go over my limit I get...kind of stupid.”

Taking another glance at his empty face, Izuku’s heart sank.  He had gone over his limit and was not in the right state of mind to run from the zero pointer.  Sure, UA probably wouldn’t let him get crushed, but that thought didn't enter into his mind as he grabbed the tail one more time and ran back.

He heard Kirishima give a yell about why he was running back, but he just leveled the lance and planted his feet, feeling the power of One for All coursing through his arm.

“PLUS…”

He used his momentum and the lance shot forward, piercing the hull of the zero pointer.

“...ULTRA!”

His arm fell to his side and he looked at it with dizzy eyes.  It was turning a purple color and with a wince, the pain caught up to him.  Yep, definitely broken.  But hey, it didn't explode, and that’s always a plus.

He bit his lip to stop the tears from overtaking him as he turned to Kaminari and wrapped his left arm around the boy, dragging him away.  He spared a glance at the zero pointer that had reeled back a bit from the impact, tail still lodged in it’s chest, but it was slowly starting to right itself, despite sparking dangerously at the entry site.  He had to get Kaminari away, and fast.

Suddenly, there was another person at Kaminari’s side, holding him up as well, and Izuku cast a tired smile at Kirishima, who looked worried.

“Midobro, your arm…”

“AND THAT’S TIME!!!!!”

The voice of Present Mic rang out across all of the exam sites, signaling the end of the exam before Kirishima could say anything else and Izuku just smiled.

“It doesn’t matter, I got him out.”

He could tell the redhead was still worried, but they both made it back to where Recovery Girl was looking over people for injuries.  They set Kaminari down on a seat, the boy still being out of it, and Kirishima waved at him with a smile before heading out - the boy wasn’t injured, afterall.

Izuku plopped down beside the blond boy, gingerly settling his arm and trying not to wince.  After the adrenaline completely wore off, the pain was excruciating and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from crying out every time it moved.

When Recovery Girl turned to him, her gaze sharpened and narrowed and he gulped and smiled weakly.

“Young man, what on earth were you thinking?  You broke every bone in your arm, you realize that, right?”

“I do, I’m sorry.  Kaminari overused his quirk and couldn’t escape on his own, though.”

She pursed her lips before giving him a kiss on the forehead.  He winced as the bones realigned themselves and the swelling and purple color went down, but he sighed as the pain went down with it.  She produced a sling from her bag and fitted it around the arm.

“I don’t know what Toshinori was thinking, clench your butt cheeks and yell smash, how ridiculous.  I’m glad you didn't get seriously hurt, but you’re using too much power and it’s breaking you.  Don’t take your arm out of the sling for two days and even then only if you feel no pain at all.  Are we clear?”

He smiled weakly.  “Y-yes, ma’am. Um…”

She handed him some gummies and raised an eyebrow.  “Yes, young man?”

“...may I have your autograph?”

Chapter Text

Izuku looked up at the building in front of him in awe.  Sure, he had seen it on the day of the entrance exam, but the stress hadn’t let him fully enjoy it.  Now, he walked through the gates not as an examinee, but as a student, and a Hero student no less.

He had only gotten 12 villain points, which normally wouldn’t be enough to pass, but apparently there were also rescue points.  With his two encounters with Kaminari and the one with the invisible girl, he had gotten 40 rescue points, putting his total at 52 points, which had been enough to get him into the Hero course.  He and his mom had cried for about an hour when they saw the holographic projection, and even now, Izuku couldn’t really believe it.

“Hey! Midobro!”

Izuku blinked and turned to see red hair and sharp teeth.  “Oh!  Kirishima!”

“Hey, man!  Looks like you got in after all!  Where are you headed?”

“Oh, C-class 1-A.”

Kirishima stopped before breaking out into a massive grin.  “No way!  Me too!  That’s so manly, we’re gonna be in the same class!”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.  Maybe his luck was finally starting to turn.

“How’s your arm, by the way?  It looked pretty gnarly when I left.”

Izuku smiled softly.  People caring about his well-being?  Yeah, he could get used to this.  “It’s fine!  Recovery Girl was there to patch me up so I just had to be careful not to stress it out too much, but I’m all good now!”

“Awesome!  Holy cow that’s a big door.”

Izuku stopped beside his friend (could he dare to dream?) and looked up.  It was a massive door.  About 20 feet tall and 6 feet wide, with 1-A emblazoned on it, the hole in the A being a window, the bottom just below the top of his head.  Why on earth would they need a door this big?  Mutant type quirks, maybe?  It was also incredibly wide though, and he couldn’t remember ever seeing a hero (or villain, for that matter) that would need a door this big to get through.  No, wait, maybe that brute from two years ago, what was his name?  Something about-

“Uh, hey dude, you good there?”

He started.  “Oh!  W-was, I muttering a-again?  Sorry, I know that’s a-annoying...”

Kirishima grinned beside him.  “Nah, it was kind of cool, I was kind of wondering why the door was so big too.  But class is probably going to start soon, so we should probably go in.  It’s not manly to be late!”

Izuku blinked.  His muttering was…’kind of cool?’  No one had ever said that before.  He nodded with a soft smile and opened the door.

Almost immediately, two voices rang out.

“Mido!”

“Kiri!”

Two figures bounded up to the pair in the doorway and Izuku flinched instinctively at the sudden noise and movement.  The two who had rushed up were Kaminari and a pink girl with yellow and black eyes and horns on her head.  A mutation quirk of some kind?  Or maybe just a secondary quirk based on what she had?

The bubblegum colored girl grinned at him and said, “Who’s the green bean, Kiri?”

Kirishima grinned and slung an arm around his shoulders.  “This is my bro Midoriya.  I met him on the day of the entrance exam!”

“Hey,” Kaminari butted in, “me too!  Kaminari Denki, by the way.  Good to see you made it Mido!  And thanks for the save, both of you!”

“O-oh, it, really it wasn’t, um, that big of a deal…”

“Yeah, it wouldn’t be manly to just leave you there, dude!”

“Wait!” the girl screeched, pointing at Izuku, “is this the guy who broke his arm fighting the zero pointer?!”

Izuku blushed and ducked his head, but Kirishima’s arm just tightened.  “Yeah!  It was super manly!”

She grinned and thrust out her hand.  “Ashido Mina!  You seem like a cool guy, Mido!”

A voice cut through their conversation.

“If you’re just here to make friends, you can leave.”

The small group of four turned to look at who had spoken only to see...a yellow caterpillar?

A zipper slid down (oh, it was a person in a sleeping bag) and a juice packet slipped into the man’s mouth, eyes looking simultaneously bored and attentive, before the figure shuffled to the front of the room to stand behind the podium.  The four of them scrambled for their seats with the rest of the class, Izuku not really paying attention to the people around him as the teacher (he assumed) slipped out of the sleeping bag.  The tried looking man folded it and tenderly set it on the desk in the front of the room like it was his most prized possession before turning back to face the class.

“It took you 8 seconds to quiet down. That’s illogical in this line of work. We’ll work on getting that down to a more reasonable time.  I am Aizawa, your homeroom teacher.”

He pulled a gym uniform out of seemingly thin air.

“Put these on and meet me in the field in ten minutes.”

“But what about orientation?” came from a girl with a bob of brown hair.

“You’re in the hero course.  You don’t have time for something as menial as orientation.  If you aren’t out in ten minutes I’m expelling you.”

He stalked out of the classroom and everyone was silent for a moment before they scrambled to grab a gym uniform (where had they come from?  One minute the podium was empty and the next there was a stack of gym uniforms.  Whatever, Izuku couldn’t afford to dwell on it now, there was a threat of expulsion hanging over his head and he couldn’t bear to think that he had gotten into his dream school only to be expelled on the first day.)

~~~~~

Izuku nervously waited on the field.  He wasn’t one of the first people out, but he wasn’t one of the last, and he saw someone who had gotten out early - Bakugo.  He was cursing himself now - of course Bakugo got into the hero course, Izuku had always known he’d be a hero; was it wrong he had hoped not to face the exploding boy?  It was certainly wishful thinking.  He hid behind Kirishima and Kaminari as the other two joined the growing group, knowing a confrontation was going to happen but not wanting it to happen yet.  Ashido joined their group as well, chatting amicably with Kirishima, since they had gone to the same middle school, as they had explained.

“Aw, that’s fun!  I don’t have anyone from my middle school here.  What about you, Mido?”

Izuku looked at Kaminari with a weak smile.  “Yeah, there’s someone.”

Before they could ask him more questions, however, Aizawa-sensei started talking, saving him from having to deal with this for another few minutes.

“Bakugo, you scored the most villain points during the entrance exam.”

The blond scoffed, as if that was a given.

Their teacher tossed him a ball as he stepped forward into the circle on the ground.

“What was your distance on the ball throw in middle school?”

“76 meters.”

Their teacher nodded.  “Throw that but with your quirk.”

Bakugo grinned and wound back, releasing the ball with a “DIE!!!” and an explosion.  Izuku flinched, accidentally bumping into Ashido, who gave him a worried glance.

“705.2.”

The class erupted into murmurs of excitement and Izuku heard one girl (she had a familiar voice, but he couldn’t remember from where) say “this will be fun!”

Aizawa-sensei’s eyes flared red - the underground hero Eraserhead, oh that’s so cool!  His homeroom teacher was Eraserhead !! - and the class instantly quieted down, the atmosphere going from jubilant to threatening in an instant.

“ Fun ?  You think this is going to be fun ? You have three years to become a hero. Will you have an attitude like that the whole time? Alright.  There will be eight tests.  The person who comes last will be judged to have no potential and expelled.  Welcome to UA’s Hero Course.”

“That’s not fair!”

“Nothing in life is fair.”

With that somber note, they started the Quirk Apprehension Test.  There were sprints, long jumps, side hops, toe touches, grip strength tests, and finally, the ball throw.  Izuku was nervous that Bakugo would notice him, but it seemed he didn't have an interest in what his classmates could do, and he was getting distracted by the girl with brown hair from before and a tall boy with dark blue hair and glasses.  Izuku tried to recall what the girl’s quirk was, something touch based, but he hadn’t really seen her use it.  The boy on the other hand was easy; he had engines in his legs that made him pretty fast, crushing pretty much everyone in the running tests.

Izuku noticed some of his other classmates as well.  The invisible girl from before was indeed in his class - that must have been the voice he recognized before.  Ashido had an emitter quirk where she would produce acid that she could slide around on.  It was pretty cool!  There was also a frog girl, a guy with a lot of arms, a guy that looked like he was made of rock (and he looked awfully shy, Izuku could sympathize with that).  There was a guy that had what looked to be a tail, and another with a bird head.  The whole class seemed really cool.

The one who really caught his eye, however, was a stoic boy.  His hair was split down the middle, white on one side and red on the other.  He heard the boy’s name was Todoroki, meaning he was probably the son of the number two hero, Endeavor.  He had a burn scar over his left eye, and Izuku was fascinated with his quirk.  He’d thought that with Endeavor as his father, the boy would have a fire quirk as well, but all he had seen so far was masterful use of ice, and it was beautiful.  Sure, the air got a little colder every time the dual colored boy used his quirk, but sometimes a few ice crystals would catch the light just right in a way that made it sparkle. Plus, his control was stellar - he never iced more than he needed, and was well out of the way of the other students when he did so.

His quirk is so cool , Izuku thought with a sigh.  What he wouldn’t give to pick his brain about it.

“Midoriya.”

He was snapped out of his musings by the voice of his teacher and he saw a blond head whip around, red eyes blazing with something unknown, but probably bad.

He didn't make it more than a few steps to the circle where the ball throw would take place before the harsh voice of his childhood friend cut through the crowd.

“Haah?!  What the hell are you doing here, shitty Deku?!  You don’t have a quirk, how the hell did you get into UA?”

Aizawa’s eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything, Kirishima spoke up.

“Nah, Midobro totally has a quirk!  He’s super strong and almost took out the zero pointer with it!”

“Yeah,” Kaminari jumped in, “he saved my butt!”

“Ka-Kacchan, I meant to tell you, honest…”

“So you tricked them.  Why else would these shitty extras think you have a quirk when you’ve been a quirkless Deku your whole life?!”

He snarled and launched himself forward, palms popping.  Izuku flinched back and shut his eyes, bracing for the searing heat he usually felt.

After a few seconds of nothing but a few muffled swears, he nervously peeked his eyes open to see Bakugo wrapped in his teacher’s grey capture scarf.  He blinked in shock and unwound the tension in his body a little bit, glancing at his teacher. His eyes were flared red again, hair lifting away from his head, his whole face set into a scowl.

“Do not attack your classmates outside of training, Bakugo, or I will expel you.  Midoriya earned his spot in this class just as much as you did, and I can assure you, he has a quirk.”

The rest of the class looked between the two students and their teacher, not quite sure what to make of this situation, as Aizawa released Bakugo.

“Do not make me restrain you again.  Midoriya, throw the ball.”

Izuku gulped.  He had to do well in this test or he might get expelled.  He didn't think he was last place, but he certainly wasn’t first.  Still, how to use his quirk in a way that wouldn’t hurt him?  Like Recovery Girl had said, he used too much power and it broke him, kind of like Kaminari, and…

Wait.

Kaminari.

His mind raced back to the entrance exam.  Kaminari had been using too much power at once and it made him “get stupid” because it was more than he could handle.  One for All was far too much for Izuku to handle at 100%, so maybe if he used less power…

He closed his eyes and focused on the well of power within him.  If 100% broke his arm so significantly, maybe 50, no, 20% would be fine?  Then again, a fifth of the damage he had sustained was still a lot of damage, so maybe he should go with 10% to be safe.  He opened his eyes and wound back, focusing hard on only having 10% of One for All in his arm.

He threw the ball and it shot out, much farther than he would have gotten without his quirk.  His arm ached a little and looking down, he saw some bruises forming, but a careful prod told him it definitely wasn’t broken.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow as he looked at the receiver.  “706.2.  And you didn't break your arm again.”

Izuku’s eyes bulged.  706.2?!  That was higher than…

He threw a glance back at Bakugo, who looked ready to light the green boy on fire, but he kept glancing at their teacher and settled for gritting his teeth and popping some small explosions in his hands.

He walked back to Kaminari, Kirishima, and Ashido, who all grinned and shot him thumbs up.  Kirishima poked at his arm, shark teeth in open air.

“That was super manly!  And you didn't break your arm this time!”

“Ha ha, yeah…”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.  He had a feeling Recovery Girl wouldn’t be too happy to see him at the infirmary on day one, so he was glad he didn't have to bother her.  Bruises would fade, after all.  More than that, however, he was glad he finally had an idea of how to use his quirk.  He felt like he had had a major breakthrough and was super excited to test his newfound limits.

They turned back to face their teacher as he finished making marks on his clipboard.  The whole class waited with baited breath before he glanced up, seemingly forgetting they were waiting for something.

“Oh, right.  Last place is Mineta Minoru.  But he isn’t expelled, it was a logical ruse.”

The whole class let out sighs that ranged from relieved to exasperated, and the boy in question (he was very short and had purple balls for hair) started crying.  One girl, he recalls her name being Yaoyorozou, with a creation quirk (and that was a cool quirk), mentioned how “it was obvious,” and how she thought more people had caught on, but she had also gotten first in the tests, so Izuku wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

They all went back to change out of their gym uniforms, some groups already talking.  The guy with the bird head (Tokoyami, his brain supplied, mutation with an emitter quirk,) was talking with the tall masked guy who had multiple arms (Shouji, he thought his name was), and the guy with tape elbows, Sero, was talking with Jiro, who had earphone jacks dangling from her ears.

Ashido met up with them at the classroom, where they found a syllabus on each of their desks, and she and Kaminari seemed to get along like a house on fire, spouting memes left and right, breaking down into laughter more than once.  They walked towards the gates as a group (the first day was only a half day after all, so it was time to go home) but Ashido quickly split off.

“I gotta run to dance!  See you guys tomorrow!”

“Bye Mina!”

Kaminari and Izuku both gave their own goodbyes as the three of them walked down the street.

“So Mido, what changed between the entrance exam and now?”

Izuku blinked at Kaminari then smiled softly, ducking his head.  “You mean the not breaking my arm thing?  Actually, I was inspired by you.”

“ME?!” The electric boy looked around before pointing back to himself.

“Y-yeah.  Um, remember how you said if you go over your limit, your quirk kind of...makes you shut down?”

Kaminari shrugged.  “I affectionately call it Idiot Mode.  So how does that relate to you, you’re already one of the smartest guys I know?”

“W-well, my quirk is like...a strength enhancement quirk?  Kind of?  During the entrance exam, I used the power at 100% and it broke my arm.”

“Oh wait,” Kirishima butt in, “so you’re saying your full power breaks you?”

“Yeah.  It’s what Recovery Girl said too.  So instead of using 100%, I dialed it down to 10%.  Then my arm only bruised.”

Kaminari grinned widely.  “Awesome!  I’m glad I could help, Mido!  It’s a really cool quirk.  But you seem like a super smart guy, why are you only thinking of this now?”

Kirishima nodded. “You kind of planned that in like, five seconds.  Had you really never thought of it before?”

Izuku scratched the back of his head, heart sinking.  Why hadn’t he thought of it earlier?  Oh, right, because he didn't know and it was his second time ever using his quirk.

“Wait, your second time?”

He blinked at the two dumbfounded boys.

“Did I say that out loud?!” he squeaked.

“Dude, what do you mean it was your second time using your quirk, haven’t you had it for like, 11 years?”

Better to bite the bullet, but he had to think of an excuse, and fast.

“...No.  At least, not that I know of?  Or maybe I already had it but I couldn't use it before.”  He racked his brain for a way to spin this, he couldn’t let any more secrets spill out.  “If I had tried to use it before it might have killed me, and I only got strong enough for this much recently?  So I guess my body didn't let me use it?” Yeah, this sounds plausible, keep going with this idea.  “Like, the first time I used it, you saw, Kirishima, it completely destroyed my arm, and that was after 10 months of intense training to build up muscle mass, so if I had been able to activate my quirk when I still had noodle arms, my arm might have just...exploded off of me.”  Ah yes, the best way to tell lies, with a sprinkling of truth.  He really hadn’t meant for something like this to come out, especially not so soon or to people he had pretty much just met, even if he did hope they would be friends.

“So you were planning on taking the exam quirkless?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s so manly!”

“Oh wait,” Kaminari spoke up, “is that why Bakugo was calling you quirkless?”

Izuku flinched away from Kaminari.

“...Y-yeah.  He’s the one I know from middle school.  I’ve been quirkless, um, or presumed quirkless, for the last 14 years.”

Kirishima patted his back.  “He was saying some pretty mean stuff, sorry man.  But considering the fact that you had never used your quirk before the entrance exam, that was super manly!”

“Yeah!” Kaminari interjected.  “You’re even cooler now!  You figured out how to use your quirk after using it twice, and I’ve had my quirk for years and needed your help to really figure it out!”

Izuku felt his heart warming and his eyes misting.  No, no, don’t cry, not here.

“Th-thanks, g-guys.”

“Oh shit, Midobro, are you ok?!”

Dammit.

“Oh man, you’re crying.  Was it something I said? I’m so sorry Mido, whatever it was I didn't mean it!”

“No, it’s not…” he sniffed, “it’s not you guys.  These are h-happy tears.  Just...thanks.”

They looked at each other.  “What are you thanking us for?”

He gave them a bright smile, wiping the last of his tears away.

“Being my friends.”

Bonus:

Aizawa rubbed his eyes in the teacher’s lounge, nursing a cup of coffee.  Vlad was going on about how wonderful his students already were, but he had tuned him out a long time ago.  He was looking down at one of his student’s files with a frown.  Bakugo’s comment had caught his attention.  He knew they had attended the same middle school, so it stands to reason that they knew each other before this, but why would Bakugo believe the other boy didn't have a quirk when he so clearly did?  A dangerous and reckless quirk, to be sure, what with how it had shattered his arm in the entrance exam, but Aizawa was used to reckless hero wannabes.  He had been so distracted by the “quirkless” comment that he had forgotten to erase Midoriya’s quirk during the ball throw like he had planned, fully intending to expel him if he broke his arm, but it turned out to be unnecessary.  The boy had figured out how to not break his arm in the month between the exam and the first day.  In addition, his throw had been one of the top ones, bar Uraraka’s, so perhaps there was potential there after all.  He looked to the Quirk section of his student’s file and his narrowed eyes blew open.

“ Quirkless Strength Enhancement (edited xx/xx/xx)”

Aizawa closed the file and grit his teeth.  That was the day of the entrance exam .  Someone (Nedzu, mostly) had some explaining to do.

Chapter Text

The second day was not off to a good start.  Izuku had met up with Kirishima outside just like the day before, and Ashido had been with him this time, making for an amicable walk to class.  Entering the class however, was another story.  The invisible girl (Hagakure) thanked him again for the entrance exam, calling him “Mr. Hero,” which made Ashido laugh and Kirishima grin, but that drew the attention of a certain blond.

He already looked mad, and he sneered when Izuku flinched back from his gaze, huffing and leaning back in his seat, propping his feet up more.  The engine boy, Iida, was quick to reprimand him, chopping a hand through the air, while Uraraka laughed at their antics.  Izuku relaxed minimally when Bakugo’s attention shifted off of him, but he still subtly shifted to have Kirishima in between the two of them.  He hadn’t noticed yesterday, but he was sitting right behind Bakugo, and he wanted to put off getting close to the explosive bully as long as possible.

Kaminari burst through the door, greeting the other three while out of breath, fitting himself between Kirishima and Izuku with a grin.

“Ha ha, did you guys do that on purpose?”

They looked between each other before Kirishima scratched his head.  “Do what on purpose, Mina?”

She cocked her head, not sure if they were being serious, before she burst out laughing, clutching her sides.

“You, oh wow, you didn't, that’s hilarious!  You guys, hehe, jeez, no way am I telling you now!”

She took out her phone and snapped a picture of the bewildered boys before she rotated her phone and bounded over to Hagakure.

“Check this out, you see it, right?”

There was a pause and then a squeal.  “No way!  That’s so funny!”

Izuku blinked, looking at the other two.  What…?

Iida interrupted their laughing with more arm chops, insisting they find their seats, as class would start soon.  Izuku was reluctant to approach Bakugo, but luckily, not two seconds after he sat down, the door opened and their teacher walked in, effectively stalling any murder and destruction that would likely come his way if left alone with Bakugo.

The tired looking man (did he get any sleep last night?  His eyebags looked worse than yesterday) swept his gaze over the class, lighting on Izuku for perhaps half a second longer than the rest of the students before he sighed.

“Only 6 seconds.  Better.  We’re planning a field trip later this week, so get these forms” he tossed a stack of paper onto someone’s desk (Aoyama, Navel Laser), “back to me by Thursday at the latest.  Or you won’t go.  Obviously.”

He slouched behind the podium, zipping up his sleeping bag (had he had it the entire time?) and laying against the wall.  “Do whatever you want for the rest of homeroom, I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t wake me up.”

With that, their teacher rolled over, and after a moment of quiet, people started to get up and move around, going back to talking to their friends.

Izuku felt someone bound up beside him and looked up to see Hagakure standing beside him.

“Hey there, Mr. Hero!  Your name is Midoriya, right?”

“O-oh,” he stuttered, “yeah.  Midoriya Izuku.”

Uraraka stopped nearby from where she had bounded over, confused.  “I thought your name was Deku?”

Bakugo tched.  “Might as well be.”

“Ah, um, no, that’s just what Kacchan calls me.”

The brunette blinked before breaking out in a smile, a bit of wickedness in her eyes.  “Kacchan?  That’s a cute name for someone so violent.”

Bakugo glared at her and snarled,  “Watch it, Round Cheeks.  Don’t forget I saved your weak ass.”

Izuku flinched and paled, but the girl just rolled her eyes and grinned.  “Yeah, and then I saved yours .  Don’t worry, Explodey, or is it Kacchan?”  She put a finger to her cheek, feigning innocence.

Bakugo stood up, palms popping, before Iida came out of nowhere and chopped a hand down onto his head.  “Cease this at once, Bakugo!  This is unbecoming of a UA student!”

“Shut the hell up, Glasses!  I’ll fucking kill you!”

Izuku slid out of his seat silently, not wanting to watch two of his classmates get murdered, silently apologizing to Hagakure for abandoning her.  He made a beeline to Kirishima and Kaminari, plopping down in an empty seat.  He thinks Asui, the frog girl, usually sat there?  Looking around, he noticed her in the back by Jirou, Tokoyami, and Shouji; Jirou seemed to have drawn them in to talk about music, which was fine by Izuku - it just meant he had a place to sit near his friends (and wasn’t that an exciting thought, he had friends ).

“That looked rough Mido, you grew up with Explodo over there?”

He nodded, hand scratching the back of his head.  “Our moms are friends and we live near each other.”

Kirishima glanced at the boy, still exploding at Uraraka.  “Was he always like this?”

Izuku’s hand dropped to his shoulder, remembering the phantom pains of being burned, muttering, “Yeah, pretty much.”

He didn't notice Kaminari and Kirishima exchange glances.

“Well,” Kaminari heaved, “he sure is loud!”

“Ha ha, yeah, he sure is.  Say, Midobro, you told us your quirk, but I never told you mine!”

Izuku glanced over, shaken out of his unconscious staring.  “Oh, yeah, it’s a hardening quirk, right?”

Kirishima blinked before breaking out into a grin.  “Man, I forgot you’re super smart!  Yeah, it’s a hardening quirk!”

Izuku’s eyes widened and he rapidly shook his hands.  “Oh, no no, I’m not smart, I just saw it in b-both the entrance exam and the test from y-yesterday!  I-it’s nothing special, really.”

Kirishima raised an eyebrow in disbelief and Kaminari butted in, “Well, you kind of broke down my quirk when I had just told you the name.”

“Really, it’s nothing…”

Kirishima shrugged.  “Well, it’s not a flashy quirk anyway, it’s nowhere near as useful as yours or Kamibro’s.”

Izuku looked back at his friend, eyebrows furrowing.  “No,” he said, “it’s a great quirk, and it's super versatile!  You can use it for both offense and defense.  Can you harden your whole body, or just your arms?  It is a keratin based hardening or do you literally turn to stone?  I mean, I can imagine your body producing a natural supply of keratin, or maybe calcium, but from what I saw it didn't remind me of bone, but rock might be more durable, depending on the type of rock, plus you have really sharp teeth, which might be a factor…”  He trailed off, glancing up when he realized both boys were grinning at him.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I was rambling again-”

“That was super cool!”

He blinked at Kirishima in shock.  “You-you think that was cool ? Isn’t it…annoying? Or creepy?”

Kaminari laughed, throwing his head back.  “Mido, I said the same thing!  You break down quirks like it’s nobody's business.  If you didn't have that strength enhancement quirk, I would assume you had an analysis quirk!”

Izuku couldn’t believe his ears.  He thought Kaminari was just being nice on the day of the entrance exam, since it had directly benefited him, but here was a second person who thought it was actually…cool.

“But you might want to slow down the questions.  I know you’re speedy, but you don’t need to go that fast.”

Before Izuku could respond, Kirishima ran a hand through his hair, thinking back.  “I can definitely harden my whole body, but not for long, and it feels pretty weird, so I don't do it often.  As for what it’s made of… I don’t really know!  But my sharp teeth I inherited from my mom!  My grandad’s quirk has something to do with his jaw, I can’t really remember, but the teeth have been passed down and I’ve been lucky to get ‘em!  I think they look super manly!  But yeah, it might be helpful to know how I harden instead of just that I can.”

He grinned at the green boy as Kaminari jumped up and down in his seat.  “Me next!  Me!  Ask me questions about my quirk!”

Izuku could only blink in confusion.  “Are...are you sure?”

He cocked his head with a wry grin, eyebrows furrowing slightly.  “Yeah, man, I wouldn’t have asked otherwise, ya know?”

Izuku chewed on his lip, mind racing back to what he already knew.

“Well...it’s electricity based, as you told me before.  Based on the trial run we had in the entrance exam, you probably work best as something of a human taser instead of being able to launch lightning like you had assumed, since the electricity loses voltage the more ground or air it has to cover.  Do you know any hand to hand combat?  Your quirk would probably work best if you could get close, after all, and being able to fight up close would give you an advantage, and with electrically charged punches, you could tone it down to a mild shock if you needed to conserve power, just enough to rattle them but maybe not enough to knock them out?  How much can you let out at once?  And how little?  I know you mentioned not being used to dealing with small voltages.  Does your body have a constant electric charge?  Could you charge electrical devices or batteries?  Could you store excess electricity in batteries, and then channel it out later?  I’m not quite sure why your brain essentially short circuits when you use too much power, but I think it could be one of two things.  Either you’re sending too much electricity into your brain at once and it overloads the action potentials, or you’re depleting it of all it’s power and it has nothing to run on so it shuts down all non essential functions.  If it’s the first one, does that mean you have a seizure every time you overload yourself, since every single neuron gets a signal and fires at once when you do a big shock?  Do you have a ground when you shock things, or is that amount of electricity just passing through you?  If you do have a current, is it direct, or alternating?”

“Mido, remember what Kiri said about slowing down?  I lost you after question 2.”

Izuku winced, effectively broken out of his train of thought.  “I’m sorry.”

Kaminari laughed as Kirishima patted him on the back with a grin.  “Nah, it’s all good Mido, I couldn’t understand half those words anyway.  What’s an action potential?”

He sat up a bit straighter, more than keen to share some of his random trivia.  “So your nervous system, including your brain, runs on electric signals.  When there is a signal in a neuron, it’s called an action potential in psychology and neuroscience.”

The blond scratched his chin.  “Well, I remember some of your questions, so I guess I will answer what I can so I can get a Dr. Mido diagnosis,” he winked at the boy in question, “and so I can be even better.  After the entrance exam I worked a bit more on getting out small doses of electricity and now I can do 100 minimum if I focus really hard.  My max is 1.3 Million volts, but, uh, that makes me stupid, like when the zero pointer freaked me out. Also!” He looked really excited, “I can totally charge people’s phones!  I found that one out a few years ago, I can just stick the cord in my mouth and it charges the phone!  I guess that means I can charge other devices too!”

Izuku was immediately back in the zone.  “That would imply some sort of ambient current or electric charge in you, since most phones charge with 5 volts, as is industry standard.”

Kaminari grinned again.  “Yeah, that makes sense!  But, yeah, I don’t know if I'm grounded or what really happens in my brain.  I guess, just like Kiri, we should probably run some tests later!”

Kirishima pumped his fist in the air.  “Hell yeah!  If it helps with my quirk, I’m totally down!  I’m usually free after school if you guys are!”

“Yeah!  We will figure this out!”  Kaminari turned to face Izuku.  “What about your own?  You kind of just got it, after all.”

(They didn’t notice their teacher stiffen minutely.  He wasn’t actually sleeping, of course, just curious to see what they would do without him directly supervising.  He’d have to talk to this rambunctious before long, but he was curious to see how they would take their classmate’s analysis.  He could already feel a headache coming on when he thought of those three; they were going to be the death of him one day, he just wasn’t sure how yet.  Probably something to do with the boy who had only recently gotten a quirk; Nedzu told him nothing, merely confirming that yes, the child had recently come into his quirk.  He had heard of late bloomers, but this was ridiculous.  And why had no one told him?!)

“Oh, uh, I mean, I’m sure I’ll figure it out?  I don’t have any ideas right now, but maybe after helping you guys I might figure something out?”

Kaminari shot him a thumbs up.  “If I can inspire you again, I’ll do whatever I can!”

“Yeah man,” Kirishima piped up, “I’ll help in any way I can!”

Izuku smiled.  This was the nicest anyone had ever been to him (and they knew he had been quirkless and didn’t seem to mind!) and he was so glad he had found friends already.  Even with Bakugo in the class, this was already becoming manageable.

He glanced over at the blond in question before his eyes flicked up to the clock on the wall and he blanched.  It was almost time for their first class.  It seemed Iida, a stickler for rules, had noticed as well, quickly informing the class to find their seats before their teacher came in.  Izuku leapt up, waving at his friends.

The class sat for but a moment when a loud voice rang out, “I AM HERE,” the door burst open, revealing none other than All Might, “COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

There was nothing normal about that entrance, Izuku thought with a grin, but he cheered along with the rest of the class, excited to see his idol, mentor, and predecessor stand in front of them with a beaming smile.  He barely noticed as Aizawa slipped out the door with a mutter of “I need caffeine,” leaving them alone with the number one hero.

“What are we going today, sensei?”

He grinned and flashed a card at them that read “BATTLE.”

“Welcome to Foundational Hero Studies, young ones!  We will be having a battle simulation battle down in Ground Beta, and as such,” he pressed a button on the side of the wall with a flourish and the wall popped out, “you will be using your hero costumes!  I will wait for you outside so that I may escort you to the training grounds when we’re all ready.  Have at it!”

Students immediately began to clamor for the briefcases lining the wall, each labelled with their seat number, before they dashed to the locker rooms to change.  Izuku was really happy with his costume, even if it was just a modified jumpsuit his mom had made him.  She had been so proud of it that he couldn’t turn her down, but he had managed to get a utility belt and some heavy duty gloves and boots (red, white, and red, respectively) as well as a face mask added.  He opted not to put the hood up, leaving both it and the mouth guard loose as he stepped out to be with the rest of the class who had already changed.

Once everyone was changed, All Might turned to the class with a grin and said how they were all “hero hopefuls” and something about the costume making the hero, before leading them off to Ground Beta.  They were in the observation room, with the multiple screens showing the cameras facing a particular five story building, both the outside and the inside.  After they had all gathered, All Might turned back to face them.

“Like I said, a Battle Trial!  People will randomly be split into teams of two, and will face off, heroes versus villains.  You might think that all fights happen outside, but that is not the case!  A smart villain will keep inside buildings to better use the small space to their advantage, since heroes are concerned with civilian lives and property damage.  Villains will have to protect a bomb and not get captured.  They will have five minutes of preparation time before the heroes are released into the building, and then there will be ten minutes for the heroes to secure the bomb or stop the villains.  Are there any questions?”

“Sensei!” Iida yelled, a hand in the air, posture rigid in his armor costume.  “Is random assignment really the best way to split up the teams?”

“Well in real life, heroes won’t always get to pick who...they...work...with.” Izuku trailed off as the whole class turned to look at him, curling in on himself.

“Correct, Young Midoriya!  It is best to be able to work with whoever is available, and pros won’t always get to pick who that is!”

“I see!” He bowed stiffly at the waist.  “Forgive me for doubting!”

“All is well, young Iida!  Now then, the teams!”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Ashido was going to be his partner, even if he didn’t notice when she bounded over to where he was, Kirishima and Kaminari (also partners, by some miracle of fate) already there.

“Jeez, Mina,” Kaminari groaned, “you’re so lucky!  You got Dr. Mido!”

Kirishima rolled his eyes.  “What am I, dog food?”

Ashido cocked her head and looked at the green boy.  “Dr. Mido?”

Kaminari lit up.  “Watch this.  Mido, what do you know about Mina’s quirk?”

He was startled out of his plan forming before blinking at the blond.  “Oh.  Well, I’m assuming it’s an emitter quirk.  She can produce acid from what looks like anywhere on her body, but most common places are her hands and feet.  It seems like she can change both the acidity and viscosity of the acid, since when she used it in the quirk test yesterday it didn’t really melt the ground that much when she used it to slide, but I can imagine a higher acidity would have eaten through the robots in the entrance exam no problem.  I don’t know if it’s the reason her skin is pink, but the acid doesn’t seem to affect her, or if it does, it does so at a much slower rate.  Perhaps her body is naturally resistant to it, or she has extra alkali in her skin to combat the acid.”

“Holy. Shit.”

He whirled around to find the girl in question already there.  He hadn’t noticed her arrive, lost in planning limbo, and he blushed, waving his hands hurriedly.

“I’m so sorry, I-”

She burst out laughing.  “Mido, that was so cool!  You must be hella smart, you saw my quirk for like, what, 30 minutes?!  That’s crazy!”

Kaminari crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.  “What did I tell you?  Dr. Mido!  With him on your side, you can’t lose.  He totally has a plan for everything.”

“Ashido, I-”

“Mina.”

He blinked at the girl who was still grinning.  “What?”

She put a hand on his shoulder solemnly, but her eyes betrayed her mirth.  “Call me Mina.  I mean, you’ve already broken down my quirk, so you feel pretty familiar already.”  At his mortified expression, she laughed again, hand turning into a fist to lightly punch him.  “I’m kidding, Mido!  You’re Kiri’s friend, so that makes you my friend!  And I meant it when I said you’re really cool.  Are you sure you don’t have an analysis quirk instead of a strength enhancement quirk?”

He sighed.  “That’s what Kami said.”  He paused, eyes going wide when he realized his slip before they shot up to the blond in question.

Kaminari just shot him a thumbs up and a grin.  “Hell yeah, I did, Mido!  I dunno if anyone knows as much about quirks or can break them down like you do!”

“It’s just a hobby, really...”

Kirishima scoffed.  “A hobby?  Dude, some people make careers out of that hobby!”

Izuku shuffled in place.  “I’m nowhere near good enough for that .”

The three of them looked at each other in confusion and concern, but then All Might was announcing the first battle trial.

“Mineta and Hagakure as the villains and Midoriya and Ashido as heroes!”

Oh boy, they were first.

Chapter Text

“Alright, Dr. Mido, what’s the plan?”

“Please don’t let that catch on.”

“Too late!”

Izuku sighed, looking back at the map they were given.  The building had five floors, stairs going up on either side, windows around, and one door.  There were winding hallways and various scattered rooms, but all in all it didn’t have any glaring weak points.  He chewed his lip in thought.

“Ashi- uh, Mina, tell me about your quirk?”

“Why,” she laughed, “you were totally right about everything you said earlier.”

He blinked and blushed, ducking his head.  “So, you can change the acidity and viscosity?”

She scratched her head sheepishly.  “Ok, acidity definitely, but, um, what does viscosity mean?”

“Oh, it’s how liquidy it is.”

Mina beamed.  “Then totally!  What’s your idea?”

He looked up at the building in thought.  “Well, we don’t know what floor they’ll be on.  Hagakure is invisible, so maybe you could leave a layer of really mild acid everywhere?  That way we could see her footprints and she couldn’t sneak up behind us to catch us unaware, but it won’t destabilize the building.  It should have enough viscosity to retain the footsteps, if that's alright.  Maybe just on the stairs, if you have a limit?” He glanced over and she nodded, contemplating the map.  “I don’t know what Mineta will do, but his quirk lets him take the balls off of his head and stick them to things, which I assume could mean us.  If we aren’t careful, he could trap us.  If I were him, I’d be near the bomb, trapping the ground so no one could get close.  I can probably tank most hits and if he does trap the floor, I could...probably throw you at the bomb, honestly.”

She glanced up, surprised.  “Really?”

He nodded and shot her a smile.  “I’ve never really thrown someone before?  But hopefully it won’t come to that.  I wonder if your acid could dissolve the purple balls…”

She grinned and All Might’s voice boomed out, “The five minutes are up!  Heroes, you may enter the building!”

They slipped in through the main door, padding as quietly as they could.

“Should we stick together, or split up?” Mina whispered.

Izuku bit his lip.  “It might be better to stick together.  We cover less ground, but we’re less likely to get ambushed.  Still, a bit of distance might not be a bad thing.”

She nodded.  “You go first, Dr. Mido!  I’ll lay acid in our tracks.”

He shook his head at the name, but went a few steps ahead, putting several feet in between them as they finished checking the first floor and approached the stairs.  They kept pretty silent, the only sounds the occasional slick from Mina putting down some acid and the quiet footfalls.

The second floor was also clear, but as they rose up the stairs to the third, Izuku heard a voice whisper in his ear.

“Hey there, Mr. Hero.”

He yelped and whirled around, trying to figure out where Hagakure was.  She must have taken off her gloves and shoes because he didn’t see a single indication that she was even there.

“Mina!  Try and hit her with some acid!”

His partner sprinted up the last few stairs, releasing acid in a wide arc in the hallway.  The invisible girl yelped as the low acidity hit her costume, perfectly showing where she was, and Izuku ran forward with the capture tape, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He scrambled for a bit, not being able to see where exactly her hands were, but he managed to loop the tape around her enough for her to stop struggling, as Mina came up to try and subdue her as well, holding her down.

“Hagakure Tooru has been captured!”

“Phooey.”

Izuku patted her awkwardly.  “You really freaked me out there, to tell you the truth.”

“Well,” she said sweetly, “it was too good of an opportunity to pass up, Mr. Hero .  Plus, I wasn’t expecting you two to be together.”

Mina grinned at him.  “That’s one down, now all that's left is the grape baby.  Do you still want me to put acid down?”

He shook his head.  “No need, that was only for Hagakure anyway.”

The girl in question cooed, “Aww, just for me?”

Mina grinned.  “Then I’ll take the lead this time!  I want to see if I can melt his balls!”

Izuku blinked at the phrasing before following after his partner, again a few feet behind, their positions shifting from what it had been.

The third floor was also clear, aside from the girl they had already encountered, but the fourth floor had them both on their guard as the hallway was full of evenly spaced purple balls.

“It looks like there’s enough room to maneuver between them but be careful where you put your feet.”

Mina nodded and let some acid drip off of her hand onto the closest orb.  It sagged like a deflating balloon, sputtering and completely melting.  Izuku watched the acid continue to eat through the floor, sending a few drops below them.

“...Well, that answers that question.”

She grinned maniacally before dancing forward, stopping to furtively peek into each room for signs of the bomb, but it wasn’t until the central room that she held up a hand, stopping Izuku in his careful weaving.

“He’s in there with the bomb,” she hissed, “and there’s even more balls everywhere.  This place is trapped to high hell!”

He stopped beside her, peeking in.  Mineta was pacing around anxiously, not affected by his own balls, head bleeding just a bit.  Izuku pulled himself back before he turned to check the door, worrying his lip as he did so.

“The bomb is as far away from the door as possible, in a corner without windows, not that we could really go back outside at this point.  How much more acid can you make?”

She shrugged.  “I can melt like, 20 more balls at this rate.”

“How about a hole in the wall big enough for a person to fit through?”

She bit her own lip.  “Yeah, probably, but I won’t have much after that, at least, not anything acidic.”

He nodded.  “That’s fine.  The room behind us is pretty close to the bomb and if we can get through without being detected, I can try throwing you at the bomb.”

She grinned and started weaving her way back down the hallway, ducking into the previous room.  Izuku scanned the wall, doing mental math, before tapping one specific spot.

Mina swiped a hand across the wall at head height, and acid began dripping down, pretty liquidy.  It ate at the wall until it was less than an inch thick, with holes showing the room with the bomb in it.

“That’s all I have,” she muttered, wiping her brow.  “Sorry, I guess setting the traps took more than I thought.”

Izuku shook his head. “It’s my fault, it wasn’t a good idea.  I think…” he fingered the wall at one of the thicker spots, “...I can kick this down and then throw you.  We won’t be able to sneak this one, and we’re running out of time already.”

She nodded and gave him a thumbs up and a grin.  “I’m ready when you are, Dr. Mido!”

He sighed before rounding on the wall.  Use One for All, but don’t break… he looked down to his legs.  They were more reinforced than his arms were, and legs usually had more force behind them anyway, so maybe he should try a kick instead of a punch?  Nah, he didn’t know how to properly kick, and then it might just make a loud noise and alert Mineta that they were there.  Better to stick with what he knew.

He pulled his arm back, focusing on his quirk.  10%, just like last time, shouldn’t be too bad.  On second thought, maybe 7 or 8 would do, the bruises were still there from yesterday.

With a grand punch, the wall crumbled and exploded into the room, startling Mineta, who screamed loudly at the sudden noise.  Not wasting a moment, Izuku grabbed Mina’s stomach and legs, hefting her above his head like a lance.  She squeaked as she was picked up, but stayed rigid to give him a better grip before he launched her in the direction of the bomb.  She floundered for a moment but reached out to grab onto the bomb.

A buzzer sounded, Mineta still reeling and Mina still panting a bit from the adrenaline, and All Might’s voice rang out once more.

“The bomb has been secured!  Hero team wins!”

Izuku and Mina both sighed in relief, Mina sliding down the bomb to land on the floor with a huff.   “That was crazy, Mido!  You lifted me like I was nothing!  That quirk of yours really is something!”

He blinked and stammered, “Oh, uh, no, I didn’t use my quirk for that.”

She paused and slowly turned her head.  “You what.”

Before he could scramble for a response, she continued, “You mean you just deadlifted me?  Off of the ground, no problem?  Holy shit!!!”

Mineta picked himself off the ground, still shaking.  “And you broke down a wall!  Was that without your quirk too?!”

“Oh, um, no, Mina had weakened it and then I punched it, with my quirk.”

Mineta’s eyes widened and then he scowled, walking out while muttering something about first names and lucky bastards under his breath.  Izuku helped Mina up and they all walked back to the observation room, picking up and releasing a bound Hagakure on their way.

“So,” All Might said upon their return, “who was the MVP this round?”

“It was totally Mido!”

Izuku “eeped” and hid his face at Kaminari’s outburst.

“He came in like BOOM! POW! He knocked down that wall and threw Mina at the bomb!  Plus it looked like he came up with some killer plans!”

Yaoyorozu nodded solemnly.  “His planning was excellent.  I'm assuming Ashido laying down the acid on the stairs was a way of detecting Hagakure?  And speaking of, they were both quick to react when she appeared.”

All Might smiled brighter, if that was possible.  “Very good!  I would also agree that young Midoriya is the MVP of this round, though everyone performed admirably!  Next, we have Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami as the villains, versus Bakugo and Aoyama as the heroes!”

Izuku turned his attention to the screens, eager to see his classmates in action.  His hands itched for a notebook, but he settled for fiddling with his costume.

Yaoyorozu set to work putting traps and trip wires in doorways while Tokoyami set up the bomb area, using crates and debris to cover up some of the windows and making the room darker.  The rest of the crates were spent in adding shapes in the darkness, giving him some cover.  After the five minutes were up, Bakugo stormed into the building, Aoyama trailing behind with a pout after being yelled at.  Izuku would only imagine that he had said something along the lines of “stay out of my way, you extra” and felt a twinge of sympathy for the french blond.

After the first few traps, an enraged Bakugo took to blowing every doorway up, spiralling to the top.  Yaoyorozu encountered Aoyama (who had gone a different way to avoid Bakugo) and despite her best efforts (the mirror to deflect his beam was a really good idea), they ended up fighting to a stalemate before Yaoyorozu got a lucky shot and downed him.  Bakugo, in the meantime, had made it up to the fifth floor where Tokoyami was waiting in the darkness.  Bakugo completely ignored the bomb and ran around, trying to find the bird boy.  After his quirk reared its head (a sentient quirk called Dark Shadow, really cool, in Izuku’s opinion), Bakugo wasted no time in blasting it to bits.  There was no audio, but Izuku could see the quirk shrinking back from the light, and before long, Bakugo had blasted the boy into submission, subduing the villains and winning his team the match by touching the bomb before Yaoyorozu could get back to the site.

“Who was the MVP this round?”

Iida spoke up this time.  “I believe the MVP was Bakugo.  He managed to get through the various traps and subdue the villain guarding the bomb!  Even if Aoyama had not managed to stall Yaoyorozu, he would have been able to win his team the match by capturing the bomb!”

All Might smiled and nodded, agreeing with the boy, before announcing the next match.

“Jirou and Sero as villains, versus Koda and Sato as heroes!”

Both Jirou and Sero seemed to want to stay in the bomb room, setting up some tape over the windows to prevent easy entry.  They situated themselves on the fifth floor, like the last group, knowing neither of the heroes could climb walls, at least not easily.  Koda called to some birds, who went and scouted out where the bomb was located, before the two tall students ran into the building, quickly climbing to the fifth floor.  As soon as they entered, Jirou, an earphone jack in the wall, held up a finger to Sero, positioned on the other side of the door, waiting to ambush them.  Every time the hero team would reach a new floor, Jirou would hold up another finger, signally to her partner where they were.

When they finally reached the fifth floor, the hero pair slowed, approaching the door, not realizing the villains were in similar positions on the other side of the wall.  Jirou held up a hand, waiting for them to make a move.  Sato downed a small container of sugar, powering up, before ramming into the doorway.  Sero immediately shot out tape, but the boy was going so fast that it missed, whizzing past.  Koda, however, didn’t see it in time and ran right into it, tripping and getting all tangled up.  With one hero out of the way, Sero launched another set of tape from his elbows, snaring the boy jacked up on sugar.  Sato struggled against the tape, but Jirou took the opportunity to run up and wrap the capture tape around his wrists, and All Might announced the villains as the winners.

“The MVP this time was Jirou,” Yaoyorozu said with a smile.  “She always knew where the enemy was and relayed that information to her partner, allowing for an ambush and preventing the hero team from securing the bomb, or even just catching them off guard.”

“Ojiro and Shoji as the villains, versus Kaminari and Kirishima as the heroes!”

Izuku sat forward excitedly.  Both of his new friends were going to be able to fight together against two people with mutant quirks (or was Shoji’s transformation? He’d have to ask later) who seemed like pretty good fighters.

Ojiro and Shoji opted for a similar strategy as Jirou and Sero, but while Shoji stayed in the bomb room for recon, Ojiro started heading downstairs. When the heroes entered the building, they quickly encountered the tailed boy, who had followed his partner’s instructions to their location. His tail swung to take them out but Kirishima jumped in front, crossing his hardened arms and taking the brunt of the blow.  Kaminari took out a short metal rod from a holster under his jacket and Izuku could see the electricity arcing down it occasionally. It looks like he took my advice from the entrance exam and started using metal as a conductor , Izuku thought with a grin. Ojiro darted backwards, trying to stay out of reach of the electrically charged boy, but Kirishima was there at every turn, preventing him from running.  After dealing more hits to Kirishima, pushing him back a few times, his tail got a little too close and Kaminari shot forward, hitting him with the short metal pole.  Ojiro went rigid for a few seconds, convulsing slightly before his eyes rolled back into his head and he toppled forward.  He seemed dazed, but not completely out.  Still, it was enough for the boys to wrap him up in capture tape, the announcement of his defeat ringing out.

Shoji flexed his arms when he heard his partner go down, but resolutely stood as the pair of heroes approached.  They did something similar to Koda and Sato, with Kirishima barreling in, getting himself wrapped in Shoji’s arms and tossed to the side, but Kaminari was not far behind, yellow electricity arcing off of him and his pole.  The two engaged in a careful dance, where Kaminari would try and zap the multi limbed boy and Shoji would try and grab his clothes to get a grip on him that wasn’t likely to knock him out.  Kirishima slowly climbed to his feet, shaking his head from the impact (Izuku noticed the cracks and dent in the wall and winced in sympathy; that had to have hurt) before running at Shoji once more.  This time, however, Shoji swung Kirishima around and into Kami’s waiting taser.  The force of the impact threw them both back, and Kirishima, already disoriented from before, dropped like a stone (if he wasn’t so worried, that turn of phrase might have been funny, Izuku thought), and Kaminari just collapsed under his partner’s weight.  Shoji rushed forward and snapped capture tape around the electric boy, knowing he wouldn’t charge up again with his teammate on top of him, and the villains were declared the winners.

“I think the MVP this round was Shoji!  He took out both heroes practically on his own!”

Yaoyorozu nodded at Iida’s comments.  “The plan to use Kaminari’s quirk against him was very good, and definitely won them the match.”

“Last one, Asui and Todoroki as the villains, versus Iida and Uraraka and the heroes!”

While they went out into Ground Beta, Izuku took the time to go to his friends.  Kirishima had been taken off to Recovery Girl by Shoji, and Ojiro had come to when the round ended, so Izuku could only really talk to Kaminari.

“You did really well!”

Kaminari sighed, looking at his hands.  “I dunno, Mido, I accidentally hit Kiri and cost us the match… that doesn’t seem very good to me.”

Izuku frowned and placed his hands in his friend’s.  “You weren’t expecting it.  But you guys faced Ojiro and won!  He definitely has fighting experience, and you guys managed to take him down!  Plus, your use of the metal rod as a conductor? Super smart!”

Kaminari grinned wryly.  “That was your idea, Mido.  But yeah, it would be nice to be as good at fighting as Ojiro.  It took two of us to take him down.”

Izuku sat next to his friend.  “I think you did great.  Plus, it’s the second day, we’re not supposed to be the best yet.  And hey!  Maybe we can ask Ojiro to teach us some martial arts!  That would be good for all of our fighting styles and quirks, don’t you think?”

Kaminari smiled for real this time, no underlying feelings at all.  “Yeah, that’s a great idea!  Next time, we’ll kick their asses!”

They were interrupted by sharp gasps from the rest of the class.  The match had just started and the building was...encased in ice.  Izuku quickly looked at the cameras to try and figure out what had happened, aside from Todoroki freezing the entire building.  Asui looked a little sick, shivering uncontrollably, and Iida and Uraraka were trying to get into the building but to no avail.  Eventually, they managed to chip away at the ice enough to get inside, but the time was quickly called and All Might announced that the villains won.  Asui was quickly warmed up and Todoroki was unanimously declared the MVP, since no one else had really done anything.  Izuku looked at him with a mix of admiration and worry.  He was so powerful, but something in his uncaring attitude didn’t sit right with Izuku.

With that momentous finish, the battle trials were over and All Might dismissed them back to class.  Next they had math, if Izuku remembered correctly, but he kept eyeing Todoroki.

There was something wrong there, and he was going to figure out what.

Chapter Text

The rest of the second school day up until lunch was pretty normal.  They had a free period during the third block, but Izuku used it to do homework, much like the rest of the class.  Math with Ectoplasm (his cloning quirk was so cool! Izuku couldn’t wait to see it in action) had shown that UA was not playing around.  They already had homework assigned on the first day, and while yes, it was mostly review to make sure people remembered things, their teacher wasn’t pulling any punches.  

According to All Might, Aizawa-sensei would be reviewing the Battle Trials with them after lunch, and Izuku was pretty excited.  They hadn’t talked much after each person’s match, only declaring the MVP and moving on with little criticism.

Speaking of battle trials, Izuku was keen to try out some of the things he had discussed with Kirishima and Kaminari before, now that he had had time to think about it and had seen their quirks in combat again.  After he finished his homework, he grabbed a notebook and began scribbling some of his ideas before they left his head.  They didn’t seem to mind his analysis before, so hopefully they wouldn’t mind him offering suggestions.

Finally, after an English class with Present Mic, they were dismissed for lunch and he grabbed his notebook and pencil along with him, eager to ask more questions and try and test things out.

“So Midobro!  You were super awesome in the battle trials!” Kirishima scratched the back of his head sheepishly.  “I thought we were doing ok until Shoji just overpowered us…”

“Oh, no, you guys did great!  You were in the infirmary when I told Kaminari, but-”

“Aw, man.”

Izuku blinked at the blond in between them.  “I-I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?”

He gave a sigh and shot him a wry grin.  “You called me Kami earlier, but I guess it didn’t stick.”

He stopped in shock for a moment before going beet red.  “Oh, um, sorry, I didn’t realize.  Are...are you sure you don’t mind?”

The electric boy chuckled.  “I’ve called you Mido since day one; if I minded I’d be a huge hypocrite.”

Izuku nodded haltingly.  “R-right, so, as I said to K-Kami,” the blond shot him a thumbs up and a grin, just like earlier, “you two took on Ojiro and won!  Considering you don’t really have any combat experience aside from throwing punches with wild abandon, you guys did super well!  Plus, in that whole fight, you worked together like you’ve known each other all your lives, making up for each other’s weaknesses and playing into each other’s strengths!  Shouji came up with a good strategy to take you both out, but you guys did really well!”

Kirishima grinned sheepishly.  “Well, if you say so, but what do you think we could have done better?”

Izuku’s eyes lit up and he opened his notebook.  “So this is just things in general, but I think we could all do better if we knew exactly how your quirks worked.  For example, Kirishima, I wasn’t close enough to really see, but does your arm harden into the same structure when you harden it, or is it different every time?  Because if it’s different, you could probably neutralize enemies by getting close and then hardening your hands around them like handcuffs, but more literal!  Oh, but we probably should really work on close quarters combat because then you’re really close to the enemy.”

He tapped a note on the page before rounding on Kaminari.  “What metal was the pole you used made out of?”

“Uh...I think, aluminum?  Yeah, that sounds right.”

He pursed his lips and scribbled a note.  “Not the most conductive metal, but it’s a good one.  If you decide to use other metal weapons in the future as a way to conduct electricity, like maybe some metal knuckles in fingerless gloves,” he scribbled again, “then I would see if they could give you silver or copper.  They aren’t as sturdy as aluminum but they conduct much better and it could help you with rationing your power.  I still want to go back to the battery idea from earlier, though.  If you could store your power you could potentially use it in bigger bursts and maybe it wouldn’t short circuit you.”

“Or you could use the batteries to power other weapons or tech.”

“Yeah, that’s true, you could…”  He trailed off and the three of them turned to face the fourth person who had come up and injected themselves into the conversation without them noticing.

She smiled and continued, “You have some really fun ideas, Hero Course!  We should make babies together!”

Izuku sputtered, blush creeping back in full force.  “W-what?!” he managed to strangle out.

She blinked once before smiling again, holding out a hand.  “Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume Industries!  You should stop by the support lab sometime so I can show off all my babies!”

He slowly started to connect the dots as he shook her hand nervously, noting the grease stains on her uniform (or lack of one; she was in a black tank top and what looked to be the lower half of the gym uniform, the top part tied around her waist).  Support lab, inventor, babies…

“Oh, you mean your inventions?”

She nodded eagerly.  “Yeah!  I mean it though, you have some pretty neat ideas.  I’d be happy to help you test them out!”

Izuku glanced back at the other two, who had managed to somewhat recover from their shock.

“Well, we were planning on testing a few things…”

“Great!” She didn’t let him finish.  “See you after school, Hero Course! Oh, and you two as well, I guess.”

With that, she bounded off, leaving the three boys in a stupor as they tried to process what had just happened.

“Wait, she calls her inventions babies, right? She doesn’t want to make actual babies with Mido, right?!”

Kirishima was the first to recover.  “Yeah, I’m pretty sure anyway.  We’re still 14, after all.  And, I guess this works?  We were already planning on testing, and I guess a support course student would be able to help with that.”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded slowly, “plus she probably has a lot of the equipment that I would want to try and get to test things anyway, so this actually makes it easier?”

Kaminari sighed and kept walking, stepping into the cafeteria (when had they gotten there?).  “Well, I’m starved.  All this thinking is making my brain hurt!”

Kirishima guffawed.  “You? Thinking?”

“Hey!”

~~~~~

Mina ended up joining them for lunch and almost fell out of her chair laughing when they told her about their previous encounter.  Kaminari took the opportunity to complain viciously and call her a bad friend, but he totally joined in when she started poking fun at Izuku’s reaction to her “let’s make babies!!!” comment, but that was totally justified!  The only crushes he got were new quirks that he wanted to analyze, it’s not his fault he didn’t talk to many girls!

When he pointed that out, Mina just said that he seemed fine talking to her, but he just shrugged.  She felt more like a big sister than anything, so she was really easy to talk to.  She cooed and squealed at that, declaring she would be the best big sister ever!

They spent the rest of lunch talking about the battle trials again, Mina still raving about how he could deadlift her.

“It’s really not that big of a deal!”

“Yeah, but you weren’t even using your quirk!”

Kaminari choked on his food.  “That was without a quirk?!  Dude, how strong are you?”

Kirishima whistled.  “That’s crazy, you must have been working for years to get that buff.”

He scratched the back of his head.  “I only really trained for ten months…”

Mina threw her hands up with a disgruntled groan before slamming them back down on the table.  “This sucks!”

“Um… what do you mean?”

She sighed and slouched.  “I can’t call you green bean now!  You’re too strong to be a bean!”

Kaminari grinned.  “Nah, you still can.  I mean, I won’t stop.”

“Neither will I.”

Izuku put a hand to his chest in mock betrayal.  “And here I thought I had friends for the first time since preschool.”

The air stilled and they all slowly looked at him.

“W-what? What did I say?” Oh god, this is where they scoff.  Friends? Yeah right, who would want to be friends with a Deku…

“Mido, you haven’t had friends since preschool ?!”

He blinked at Mina’s hiss.  “Oh, uh, no, not really.  People thought I was weak and weird.  No one really wanted to hang out with the quirkl- uh, the quirky kid.”

Kaminari and Kirishima glanced at each other at that slip, Mina barreling on.  “Who wouldn’t want to be friends with a cute and sweet guy like you?!  That’s it, time for me to come into the big sister role, tell me who hurt you and I’ll have a nice chat .”

He waved his hands to try and stop her.  “No, Mina, really, it’s not that bad.  Plus, I have you guys now, and that’s all I could ask for, really!” He folded his hands in his lap and frowned at them.  “You really are different than everyone else.  It’s nice.”

This time, Mina joined in on the glance and they came to a silent agreement.  No one was going to hurt their green light again, and if they had to fight the world, they would do it.  He had already shown a lack of self-confidence, but they would be damned if anyone contributed to it.  First though, they had to get him distracted out of this mood.

“So, Dr. Mido, now that you’ve seen my quirk in action, any other tips to add?”

He looked up, dull eyes lighting up and he smiled softly.  “Yeah!  Based on what I saw, you can control your acidity and viscosity, which we already knew, but it looks like you have a limit on both, or at the very least acidity.  That means your body probably is very acidic on it’s own, but I’d need a sample to really see that, and you have a limit to how much acidity you can use before the stuff you secrete becomes more and more basic until it’s basically just water.  I don’t know if it's the same for viscosity, though, we’d need to run more tests.  But it shouldn’t be too hard to increase your limit, and it feels like a lot.  Like, so much so that if you poured all your acidity into something small, you could melt through anything, and incredibly fast.  I also don’t know how solid you can get your acid, since you keep it pretty liquidy for the most part, but anything too solid will have a hard time getting out of you, so perhaps that’s for the best.”

The bubblegum colored girl grinned and Kirishima shot her a thumbs up under the table.  “Dr. Mido strikes again!  I’ll have to do some testing when I get back from dance!  Still, Mido, it’s really crazy that you can break down quirks like this!  I’m super impressed!  If you get any faster at this, you might be able to do this in real time in a fight, figuring out a way to beat your opponents in no time!”

“Yeah!” Kaminari shot a fist in the air.  “Keep using your crazy brain, Mido! But, uh, maybe use it to help me with math too?”

Izuku and Kirishima laughed, Mina quickly demanding he help “his big sister” too.  He agreed and they wandered back to class, food eaten.

He really had friends.  It was a nice feeling, but a nagging voice in his brain that sounded a lot like Bakugo told him it wouldn’t last.

~~~~~

Critiquing the Battle Trials boiled down to a lot of “work on your quirk” or “work on close combat” (that one was a bit more common than the first one, since a lot of people relied a lot on their quirks).  Still, it took up all of fifth period, and then Midnight came in for Modern Hero Art History.  It was day two, and she was already assigning them an essay?  The topic didn’t seem too bad, at least, but after class ended, Kaminari and Mina wept comically, clutching each other.  Despite not having met before school, the two became fast friends.  They were practically inseparable at this point, and the thought made Izuku laugh a bit.

“Are you laughing at our pain, Mido?! How could you!”

“No, no, I just thought of a joke!  Honest!”

They briefly disentangled themselves and Mina looked excited as she said “Well tell us!!!”

Izuku blushed.  “It really isn’t that funny…”

“It made you laugh,” Kaminari countered, “so let us be the judge of that.”

“...Fine. W-what do you call Kaminari without Mina?”

They immediately grinned, but their brows were furrowed.  “What?”

“Kari.”

They blinked and Kirishima popped a fist on his other palm.  “Oh, haha, because-”

Izuku slapped a hand over his mouth, still watching the other two with a poorly concealed grin.  “No no, let them figure it out.”

He dropped his hand when he felt Kirishima grin behind it and they both watched as the two turned to confer with each other before Mina groaned, but she was smiling.

“Ka mina ri!  If you take out Mina, it just becomes Kari!  That’s it, when I’m gone, we have to call you Kari!”

“But Mina,” he pointed out, “how would that work if you aren’t there to see it?”

Kirishima and Izuku just laughed from the sidelines as she pouted.

“True.  Then tell you what, if I ever call you that, it’ll be because we are no longer friends!”

He gasped in shock, offended.  “No!  Mina, you said we’d be friends forever!”

She placed a hand to her brow as she grabbed her backpack and started heading out the door.  “Alas, what need do you have of me when you have Kiri and Mido?  I shall take my leave, O Kari!”

“Noooo!” He fell to the ground dramatically as she left with a giggle.

“Right,” Kirishima grinned, “if you’re done, I think we have an appointment with support.”

Kaminari shot off the floor instantly, brushing himself off and grinning at Izuku.  “That we do!  Mido still has to help that girl make babies, right?”

Izuku grabbed his backpack and hurried out the door, ignoring the blush that was creeping up his cheeks.

Knocking on the door to the support lab proved unnecessary, as Hatsume pulled the door open before they could, dragging Izuku inside.  The other two could only follow after, chuckling all the while.

“Hi again, Hero Course!  You said you wanted to test some things to do with electricity, right?  Here, use this.”

She shoved a doodad in his hands and he blinked, but she had already turned back around to root around in a bin beside what appeared to be her workbench.  She pulled out a long wire that split into two, ending in a black clamp and a red clamp, and then another wire with only one clamp.  She tossed them at Kaminari before opening a drawer and pulling out a sheet of… holy shit why did she have electrodes?

“Yellow hair is the one with the electricity quirk, right?”

Izuku nodded, before realizing she wasn’t looking at him, and was setting up a laptop.  “Uh, yeah, that’s Kaminari.”

“Yo!”

“So!”  She turned around with a flourish, hitting the enter key as she did so, facing the group with a smile.  “What do you want to test?”

Izuku looked at Kaminari who just shrugged, wires swinging a little.

“Um, I guess we wanted to test the natural flow in his body?  It seems to go through his brain, which would be bad, and I kind of want to know if he runs on alternating or direct current.  Testing if he can take in electricity would also add merit to the battery idea, if we ended up not wanting to, as you said, use the batteries to power weapons of other tech.  Um, Hatsume, what did you hand me?”

She grinned.  “Call me Mei, Hero Course.  You have a heavy duty battery in your hands!  But I can check the currents and things super easily, I just need these!”  She flapped around the sheet of electrodes.

“Um, how, how are you going to do that?”

She grinned in response before plugging one end of the wires (not the end with the clamps) into her laptop, then dragging Kaminari over to sit in the chair.  She pulled an alcohol wipe out of nowhere and wiped his palm, his forehead, and the back of his neck.  He shuddered and looked at the other two but they couldn’t stop this now, Mei had already started and they weren’t sure it was wise to get her to stop.  Plus, it’s not like she would hurt him.  Right?

She whipped out a syringe filled with something a pale blue and they all recoiled but she just squirted some gel on the underside of an electrode before slapping it onto his hand.  She repeated this for both his forehead and neck before finally clamping onto each of the little metal protrusions.

“There.  Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

She bounced back to the laptop and pressed the spacebar, watching eagerly as little lines started moving across the screen.  She tapped a few buttons and the jagged lines zoomed out to see something resembling a regular sin graph, curving up and down in a methodical manner.

“Looks like you have a natural current of around 7 volts.  Let me just..”

She tapped a few more buttons, isolating one of the three streams.  “I'm not getting anything special from your head, so I don't think you really have to worry about the brain thing.”

Mei whirled back around, grin never falling.

“Tell me everything about your quirk, Generator!”

Kaminari gulped at the nickname and the three of them shared a glance.

~~~~~

They walked away from school a few hours later, Kaminari looking a little dazed.  Mei had already started on support gear to add to his costume, including the gloves Izuku had suggested to him earlier (she must have overheard), as well as some caltrops.

“You might not be able to shoot out lightning,” she’d said, “but your electricity will travel farther if it has somewhere to go, so toss these out and you’ll get a nice current!”

She had also taken the battery from Izuku and thrust it into the blond boy’s hands, telling him to “take this with you and come back tomorrow with some extra charge,” so they could fully test the battery theories.  Mei had said there should be no reason why he wouldn’t be able to take in extra power, but it wasn’t something they had tested before and they didn’t want him to just drain power from the building (Aizawa-sensei would not be pleased, and Majima-sensei would probably ban Mei from the lab after hours, so they had opted to wait until they had the battery with some power in it instead).

“So, Mei is…” Kirishima trailed off with a quiet laugh, “...eccentric.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Kaminari muttered.

“It was really nice of her to help us test things out!” Izuku smiled.  “Plus, since she’s one of the people in charge of our costumes, you guys will be way better equipped faster than the others.  I don’t think anyone has made anything other than minor changes to their costumes.”

They approached the train station where they would split and Kirishima suddenly jumped up.

“Oh, guys, don’t forget the permission slips for that field trip sensei was talking about!  Wouldn’t want to leave someone behind!”

Kaminari shot the other two a thumbs up, running to catch his train.  “See you guys later!”

Izuku smiled at his two friends, his phone a few numbers heavier than it had been a week ago.  Yeah, he could get used to this.

Chapter Text

The next day had them all holding their breath at Aizawa-sensei’s ominous alert.

“You have to pick a class president.”

Immediately, the class was in uproar, everyone thinking that it was finally something normal… and also that they wanted to be the class president.

Izuku wasn’t sure he was on the same page.  He watched Aizawa curl up in his sleeping bag and really really wished he could do the same.

“Everyone,” Iida chopped through the air, “we must do this in an orderly fashion!”

“Well,” Kaminari chuckled, “should we use a seconds system then?  Since everyone wants to be it.”

Mineta blinked.  “A what?”

The electric boy grinned.  “A seconds system!  Sure, anyone can try and put themselves on the ballot, but they have to be seconded to actually make it up there!  That way they have at least one vote off the bat that isn’t from themselves, ya know?”

Yaoyorozu nodded.  “It seems like a good idea.  I saw we try it!”

Iida nodded, going to the front of the room and picking up chalk.  “Very well, then raise your hand if you would like to be president!”

Almost every hand shot up.  Iida pushed up his glasses.  “By seat order!  Aoyama, would anyone like to second Aoyama?”

Mina got seconded by Kaminari, Asui and Iida both got seconded, Kaminari got seconded by Mina (returning the favor), Yaoyorozu got seconded as well, and Izuku?

Izuku didn’t even try to run and three different people seconded him.

“Dr Mido for president!  Woo!”

He fell into his seat, trying to hide as Kacchan growled (he hadn’t gotten seconded).

Iida nodded at the comprehensive list.  “Very well!  Now, these six people are your candidates!  We shall now vote on these six people!”

Yaoyorozu passed out papers to everyone and they all took out papers.  Izuku was really hoping that he didn’t get it.

Iida tallied up the votes and Izuku honestly was incredibly nervous.

The votes ended up like this:

Yaoyorozu: 9

Midoriya: 5

Iida: 4

Asui: 2

Ashido: 0

Kaminari: 0

Mina and Kaminari didn’t seem too upset, cheering at their zero votes (they didn’t even vote for themselves) and Yaoyorozu looked incredibly flattered by her landslide (almost majority) vote.

Iida looked a little peeved, but bowed out gracefully as Yaoyorozu took the podium.

She looked expectantly at Izuku and he flushed.

“Woo! Vice rep Mido!  Get up there, green bean!”

He hesitantly slid out of his seat to slink to the front.  “I-I’m not sure I’m the best for this…”

Yaoyorozu giggled.  “The people have spoken, Midoriya.  You’ll do fine.”

He nodded slowly and stood beside her, fidgeting as she gave her short and sweet acceptance speech.

“We’ll also be looking at officer positions, for both Iida and Tsu, who the class seemed to like, but please, feel free to come to us with any ideas you might have!”

With that, they had to go off to class, but it seemed like no time before it was lunch and he could round on his friends.

“Ok, why the heck did you guys vote for me?  I’m going to be terrible!”

Kaminari snorted.  “Yeah right, you’re one of the smartest people here!  With Yaoyorozu’s leadership and your brains, this class is gonna do great!”

Mina cheered.  “Yeah!  I voted for you too!”

“How did I even get five votes?!”

Asui tapped him.  “I voted for you, kero.  I am rather blunt, and I thought you would make a good rep.  You had good insights during the battle trials, and your plan was pretty good.”

He flushed again.  “O-oh, thank you Asui.”

“Call me Tsu.”

She wandered off to lunch before he could reply, and Kirishima slung an arm around his shoulders.  “I voted for you too, so that’s four!  You’re gonna be a great vice rep, Midobro!”

Hagakure bounded up beside them.  “Oh!  That makes me number five, Mr. Hero!  I just think you’re neat!”

He hid his face in his arms as the group around him laughed and let himself be led to the cafeteria, since he couldn’t see.

“You guys, I’m socially anxious.”

“Yeah that’s why you’re the vice rep!”

He groaned as they got in line for food, deciding he could get some comfort food in katsudon for the suffering his friends were putting him through.

Eating slowly, he pulled out his phone to research class officer positions.  He had never paid much attention to student government, since Aldera didn’t really have it in the first place and no matter what, he knew he wasn’t getting elected, even as a joke, so he hadn’t really seen a need to know about it.  Now that he was the vice representative of his class through some miracle of friendship, he knew he wanted to be informed.  Kaminari had said that he was elected for his brains, so he might as well put them to use.

Treasurer, manages the budget.  Would they need a treasurer?  Were they going to be collecting money?  They’d need someone responsible, so they didn’t make off with the money, and someone good at math, so they could balance the books without many mistakes.  Maybe Asui, erm, Tsu?  Her no-nonsense attitude made her look really responsible.

Historian, takes pictures and records things that happen, often works with yearbook and newspaper committees, publicizes class events.  Probably best for someone social who likes taking pictures and has a large network of connections, or can at least make one.

Secretary, keeps meeting minutes, attendance, and keeps the calendar and webpage, if they have one.  Someone who’s good with time, then.

If the class was big or really active, there were other jobs too, like Sergeant at Arms, who maintains order and decorum-

His train of thought was cut off when the alarms blazed overhead and several people in the cafeteria screamed.  Izuku panicked.  What was going on?

A third year yelled, “It’s a level three alarm!  That means there’s an intruder on campus!”

He looked nervously at Kirishima, Kaminari, and Mina, before they all grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed their way through the crowd.

“We have to get back to class,” Kirishima yelled over the din, “before we get crushed!”

Izuku looked around nervously, trying to figure out a good path or method of getting through the crowd that didn’t involve getting hurt.  Sure, Mina or Kami could use their quirks and people would back off really quickly, but it would also hurt people, so that was a no go.

The crowd pushed them to the side, and Izuku found himself squished against the window, giving him a perfect view of the outside commotion that was the press.  He saw Aizawa and Mic-sensei trying to coral them out, but he breathed a sigh of relief.

“IT’S JUST THE PRESS!”

His yell was lost to the general crowd, but his three friends heard him, as did Iida and Uraraka, also in the crowd.  Izuku blinked at the two of them, remembering their quirks, and pushed towards them.

“Iida!  Uraraka!  We need to calm everyone down, since it’s just the press!  Can you float above the crowd?”

The girl shook her head.  “I would be too sick to yell!”

Iida chopped a hand through the open air around his head.  “I shall go!”

In an instant, Iida was spinning above the heads of the crowd until he landed near the exit sign.

“EVERYONE,” he bellowed, “PLEASE CALM DOWN, IT IS JUST THE PRESS.  THIS IS NOT AN ATTITUDE BEFITTING OF UA STUDENTS!”

The crowd slowed to a stop and people muttered.  Just the press?  Oh, nothing to be concerned about then.  The crush of the crowd lessened and they all breathed a sigh of relief.  The group of five, counting Uraraka now, made their way over to where Iida was still floating on the ceiling, and Uraraka put her fingers together, muttering “release.”  Kirishima helped Izuku get the taller boy to the ground.

“An excellent plan, Midoriya!  Thank you for your help!”

He shook his hands in front of him, feeling himself fluster.  “No no, Iida, without you this wouldn’t have been possible, I swear!  I just came up with the idea, you guys were the one to carry it out!”

Mina shoved him lightly with a grin.  “Come on, green bean, give yourself some credit!”

He blushed, ducking his head as they all walked back to the classroom.

“Round Cheeks!  Glasses!  Where the fuck did you go?”

Iida immediately hounded Kacchan about his language, while Uraraka just giggled and griped about how he “abandoned” them.  Izuku felt a twinge of envy with how easily they seemed to get along with the explosive boy, but put it aside.

He had friends now, and good ones.  He didn’t need Kacchan or his approval.

The rest of the class trickled in, some people calling Iida “Exit Sign Iida” and laughing about how he handled the situation.  Soon, everyone was there, and Aizawa-sensei walked in looking exhausted.

“As you are probably all aware by now, the press managed to get past the barrier.  We’re still looking into how, but it’s been dealt with and we’re sorry for the scare. Blah, blah, technical things, finish up your elections for the remainder of lunch and don’t bother me unless someone is dying.”

Ok, wow, Izuku thought as the man curled up in his sleeping bag, he was really annoyed by the press.

He stumbled to the front with Yaoyorozu, who smiled at him.

She cleared her throat.  “As I said before lunch, we’re looking to fill officer positions now.”

Mina raised her hand.  “What are the positions?  I thought it was just rep and vice rep!”

Izuku perked up.   “Oh, I did some research during lunch!  There are a couple that are pretty standard for a class presidency, like secretary, historian, and treasurer, but then there are others like sergeant at arms and peace officer for if you have a really big or active class.”

Yaoyorozu nodded.  “Indeed.  I don’t think we will be dealing with money, so we won’t need a treasurer, but the others are very important to the functionality of the class.  The secretary keeps track of meeting minutes and the calendar to make sure everyone knows what events are coming up and so we can keep track of people’s ideas.  The historian keeps a record of the goings on throughout the year-”

“Oh, I can do that!  I love taking pictures!”

She smiled at Mina.  “They also talk to the yearbook and newspaper to publicize events.  Are you still up to the task?”

Mina nodded eagerly.  “You can count on me, rep!”

Yaoyorozu nodded, turning back to the class.  “All in favor?”

Most of the class raised their hands.

“Any opposed?”

Not a one.

“Then Ashido is our historian.”

“Um,” Izuku spoke up, “I think Iida should be the sergeant at arms, he was really good at getting the school into order during the alarm…”

Iida bowed.  “I would be honored to accept this position!”

The class voted and it was unanimous.

Iida bowed again, this time to the class.  “Thank you for putting your faith in me!”

“Woo!  Exit Sign Iida!”  Kaminari fistpumped the air.

Tsu ended up becoming the secretary, volunteering for the position, and they all figured that was a pretty good start for class leadership.  If they needed more, they could add more.

The rest of the day went pretty normally, but the reps and vice reps had an after school meeting with the other first years, so Izuku waved goodbye to his friends and walked with Yaoyorozu to the meeting place.

The class 1-B rep extended a hand to Yaoyorozu.  “Kendo Itsuka, class B’s rep, nice to meet you.”

“Yaoyorozu Momo, class A, likewise.”

The ginger girl turned to Midoriya and he quickly stuttered out his own introduction, shaking her hand and the hand of her vice, Shoda Nirengeki.  As the meeting started, everyone introduced themselves, going around by letter, from A all the way down to K, with the management folks, and Izuku’s head was swimming with names.  No one really stuck out to him, but it was just the first meeting to get to know each other, so it wasn’t actually that big of a deal; no one had to plan anything for a while, and class officers were often class specific.  There were very few school or grade wide activities, but the staff apparently liked all student council reps per grade to know each other at the very least.

With that short meeting out of the way, Izuku was free to walk home, and found himself walking beside Yaoyorozu for a good portion.  He was content to walk in silence, but it seemed she had a question on her mind.

“Midoriya, if you don’t mind me asking, why do Ashido and Kaminari call you Dr Mido?”

He flushed, looking away.  “O-oh, it’s silly, I spent a long time breaking down quirks when I was little and learning how they worked, so when I met them, I was able to break down theirs and they thought it was cool, I guess.”

Her eyes twinkled.  “How interesting!  If you don’t mind, what do you think of mine?”

He hummed.  “Well, Creation is really cool.  Items come from your skin, and I’m assuming they get the energy required from somewhere within you, to give you a limit.  I’m not sure if it’s direct energy to matter, or if it’s taking your own matter and just alchemizing it, but that seems more likely, or you’d probably feel really hot when creating things.  In that case, since creating something large like the motorized scooter you made for the quirk apprehension test didn’t change your physical appearance to the naked eye, it probably draws on one component of your body that’s fairly dense.  Hopefully not something like bone or muscle, which are usually pretty dense on their own, but maybe something like fat stores?  They aren’t incredibly dense on their own, but that is where a lot of calories are stored, so if nothing else, you’ll likely burn your fat stores for the conversion energy.”  He paused and turned to her.  “I imagine you also have to know a bit about what you’re making, right?”

She smiled and clapped her hands together.  “That was incredible!  I don’t think I told anyone anything other than the fact that I can create things as of yet, but you made some very accurate deductions!  I use my lipid storage to create things, so the more i eat the more i can make, and I need to know the molecular composition of the things I make.”

Izuku blinked, and nodded.  “That sounds pretty hard, but you seem to have a really good knowledge base already.  I imagine you could make something made of crystal, with perhaps a diamond structure, and it would be really hard.  Maybe for a weapon, if you needed one? Or just, you know, a gun.  Most people expect guns in the age of quirks.”

She chuckled.  “No, they don’t.  Thank you for your help, Midoriya!”

“Oh, no, Yaoyorozu-”

“Please, call me Momo, or Yaomomo at least.  I very much enjoyed our conversation, and we’re going to be working together for the foreseeable future.”

He blushed.  That was the third girl in a week that insisted he call them by their first name, or some variation.  What was it with high school and girls wanting to skip formalities?

“R-right, Yaomomo, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow for the field trip, then?”

She smiled.  “I look forward to it, Midoriya!”

He nodded.

The field trip, that would be fun.

Chapter Text

Iida fully realized his role as the Sergeant at Arms, gathering the whole class into lines of two by seat order to get on the bus in an orderly fashion.  Uraraka was quick to console him when they all realized the structure of the bus was not conducive to his line structure, but after deflating momentarily, he straightened up and chopped the air, back to normal already.

Izuku sat next to Kirishima and Kaminari, the electric boy sitting next to Mina on one of the long benches.  Uraraka sat with Tsu and some of the other girls, chatting the whole way to their location.

“Midoriya, kero.”

He looked up at Tsu, blinking.  “Yes A- erm, Tsu?”

“I always say how I feel.  You seem very close to Kirishima and Kaminari.  Did you know each other before coming to UA?”

His eyes widened.  “Oh, no, we didn’t.”

“Yeah,” Kirishima cheered, “we both met Midobro at the entrance exam.  Saw this manly dude and knew I had to befriend him, ya know?”

Uraraka giggled.  “A match made in heaven, since you’re like ketchup, mustard, and relish!”

Mina doubled over laughing.  “Oh!  That’s good!  The condiment crew!  I didn’t think of that one!”

Hagakure giggled.  “Nah, I still like the Traffic Light Trio better.  It just fits!”

The three boys blinked at each other.

“Wait, Traffic Light Trio?”

Mina whipped out her phone, pulling up the picture from the second day and passing her phone.  “Look, if you orient the picture this way, you have Kiri on top as the red light, Kami in the middle as the yellow light, and Mido on the bottom as the green light!  And it totally fits!”

Kirishima scratched his head.  “It does?”

“Yeah!  Get Mido talking about something he cares about and he’s off, no stopping!  He’s the green light and he can only go, go, go!”

Ojirou nodded from further down the bus.  “And Kirishima, you are certainly a good stop measure.  All hardened, no one would want to run into you, it hurts.  Good at stopping people, so red light, makes sense.”

“Yeah,” Jirou snorted, “and get Sparky into Idiot Mode and he sure is slow.”

Izuku frowned.  “I think there’s a better comparison.  Kami all lit up with his quirk is like a warning; you want to start slowing down or you’re going to be forced to stop.”

“Yeah,” Kaminari pouted, “and I’m getting better at not going into Idiot Mode.  I’m working on it, ya know?”

Kirishima nodded.  “See Midobro, you want to run, see Kamibro, you want to slow the heck down, see me, you are gonna stop.  I like it!  Traffic Light Trio!”

Bakugo tsked at the back of the bus.  “It’s shitty.”

Tsu turned to face him, face impartial.  “You are incredibly rude for no discernable reason.”

Mineta cackled from the front of the bus.  “Yeah, Bakugo, you’ll never be popular with the ladies with an attitude like that!”

“Shut it, Grape Face, you know nothing about the interests of ladies.  Unless you’ve finally grown self aware enough to realize that what they want is to be as far away from you as possible.”

The whole class erupted into rioting and Aizawa sat up with a red eyes glare, hair flaring and making them muffle their laughter, but the entire class couldn’t help giggling, looking between the dumb face of Mineta and Bakugo, who was picking his nails indifferently.

“Holy crap,” Kirishima breathed with a face splitting grin, “Bakubro really drinks his respect women juice.”

“Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair, I’m just not gross, it’s not hard.”

Jirou gazed at the explosive blond with a raised eyebrow.  “Same hat?”

He turned incredulously to face her, raising his own eyebrow and looking her up and down.

He grunted, “Same hat.”

Izuku was so confused.

Kaminari was too.  “What the fuck was that?  What does that mean?”

Tsu put her finger on her chin.  “Hmm, I think I have an idea.  Same hat, kero.”

The rest of the class looked so confused, but Jirou and Tsu exchanged a nod and Bakugo just rolled his eyes and went back to scrolling through his phone.

What?  What on earth could possibly be connecting those three people and what did it have to do with the fact that Bakugo didn’t leer at women?

…Wai-

Before he could continue his thoughts, he was violently shaken out of them by the bus coming to a stop and Aizawa-sensei immediately forcing them off the bus, muttering something about not wanting to have to listen to any more inane teenage conversation.

Izuku blinked in the light, looking up at the big dome building in wonder.

“Yo, is this Universal Studios Japan?!”

The class tittered and laughed at the joke and even Izuku chuckled; the building was labelled the USJ, even if it clearly wasn’t the amusement park.

Aizawa rolled his eyes and sank into his scarf, grumbling something unintelligible before straightening with a sigh and leading them into the building.

Uraraka bounced up and down as soon as she saw the hero standing before them.

“It’s the Space Hero!  Thirteen!”

The hero chuckled and waved.  “Hello!  Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, students!”

Aizawa leaned in with a frown.  “Where is All Might?”

They winced and held up three fingers.  Aizawa let out a long sigh.  “Can’t be helped if he’s an idiot.  Let’s just get on with it.”

“Right! As I was saying, welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or the USJ for short!  I am Thirteen, as some of you may know, and I specialize in rescue, the theme of this facility.  But, while my quirk, Black Hole, can be used to suck up debris, it can also be used to kill.”

The most was instantly somber, but they continued.

“Your quirks can also be used for great good, but you have to understand how dangerous they all have the potential to be.  Any one of you could do something terrible, but that’s why you’re here, to learn control and to become great heroes!”

The hair on the back of his neck stood up and Izuku blinked, looking around as the lights flickered.  He immediately tensed at the purple fog swirling around the fountain in the central plaza.

“Sensei-”

“I see it.  Thirteen, stay with the kids.”

Kirishima blinked.  “Is this part of the exercise?”

Aizawa-sensei fully switched into Eraserhead the instant people began pouring out of the purple mist.

“No, these are villains.  Everyone evacuate, now.”

“Sensei, doesn’t UA have intruder alarms?  Why aren’t they going off?”

Izuku bit his lip.  “An emp or signal disabling quirk would work just fine.  The lights flickered before I noticed the portal mist, so it could be either, but probably a signal blocker, since the lights came back on.  If someone could get outside, power cycle a phone, they could probably contact someone…”

Yaomomo nodded.  “Iida, you’re the fastest!”

“Unfortunately, I cannot let you escape, students.”

The purple mist formed a man at the top of the stairs and Izuku looked around, immediately fearful.  Thirteen extended their arms to give the students some cover, but Aizawa had already thrown himself down the stairs to confront the villain in the plaza while Izuku was muttering, so it was them alone with one pro hero and what was definitely a villain.

“DIE!”

Bakugo launched himself at the mist villain, floating in the air with the help of Uraraka, and the smartly dressed man clicked his tongue before purple mist enveloped the startled boy and he disappeared.

“I forgot, you might be students, but you are still UA’s golden eggs, and it wouldn’t be wise to underestimate you.  Ah, well, my purpose still holds.  I am here to scatter and slaughter you!”

The mist spread out too quick for Izuku to catch and before he knew it, he was falling through the air, only to smack into a building with a groan.

He wearily hauled himself to his feet, seeing Kouda and Sero nearby as villains and thugs started to converge on them, calling out taunts.

He swallowed.

Izuku just hoped everyone else was ok.

~~~~~

Kyoka huffed and shoved her wet hair out of her face, flicking the rain water off, not that it mattered.  She must have been sent to the downpour zone, since it didn’t look like the rain was letting up any time soon, but at least it made for good splashes, allowing her to hear everything that tried to get close.

She heard a quiet, “Jirou?” and whirled around to find a very pink girl.

“Uraraka?  You got sent here too?”

She nodded, brushing her bangs out of her face.  They probably both looked like drowned rats, and Kyoka was not excited to see what all this water would do to her leather jacket, but they had far more pressing concerns than their costumes.

“There are a bunch of thugs around here, but I’ve been trying to find the exit and see if anyone else dropped with us.  Six zones, right, so I guess there’s gotta be three or four of us in every location, unless the numbers got super skewed.  Haven’t heard anyone so far, but the rain is both a blessing and a curse on that front.”

Uraraka nodded and opened her mouth to speak when a horrible roar shook the whole dome.

It almost sounded anguished.

The two girls exchanged glances and ran off in the direction of the roar.

~~~~~

Mina was not super happy about the grape being with her, but Aoyama made up for it with his fun and sparkly attitude.  She really liked the kid, which was good because the guy sat right in front of her, and she had been looking forward to getting to know him more, but she didn’t imagine it would be on top of a mountain surrounded by evil grinning villains.

Sure, they weren’t great at being villains, since they were being taken out by two beautiful hero students and a screaming baby man, but it was still freaky, and there were definitely some close calls.  Mina was spreading a low acidity, low viscosity substance everywhere.  Sure, it was more likely to be annoying and hinder their vision than actually hurt them, but she knew how potent her acid could be.

Still, Aoyama looked like he was about to be sick and Mineta was a mess of tears, snot, and now blood as he just kept throwing balls at the villains.  There were only a few not restrained or knocked out, so she grabbed one and let a potent acid sizzle his wrist.

“What the fuck, don’t you want to be a hero?!”

“Talk, mister!  Why the hell are you guys here attacking our class?!  Otherwise you’ll get more where that came from!”

Aoyama came up beside her and managed to muster up the strength to look intimidating.

“Monsieur, I would do what the lady says.  I have seen her dissolve a man’s balls, and you would not want that, oui?”

The villain paled and immediately started talking.

Neither of them noticed Mineta shudder at the reminder.

~~~~~

Eijirou felt kind of useless.  Sure, Midobro had been all about getting his confidence up, and saying his quirk was cool and versatile, but here were Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, the two recommendation students, completely wiping out every single villain they came across.  Todoroki froze their feet to the ground and before the fire all around them could melt them out, Yaoyorozu shot them with a net and tied them up.

Eijirou felt like he really didn’t need to be there.

After the tenth villain, Todoroki was looking a little bad.  He seemed to be sweating, which made sense, but he was constantly making ice, wasn’t he?  So why did he look so hot?

Yaoyorozu noticed too and sat him down, putting a hand to his forehead, before she recoiled in shock.

“Todoroki, you’re freezing!”

He brushed it off, even as his breath came out in short puffs.  “I’m fine.  There’s fire everywhere, I’ll warm up in no time.”

She refused to continue until he was at least a little warmer, and forced him to sit down while she fussed over him, rubbing his arms.  He looked mildly annoyed, honestly.

Eijirou felt something behind him and immediately whirled around, clamping his hands down on his attacker’s wrists and he hardened them, almost as an afterthought.

The villain shrieked and tried to pull back, and Eijirou saw his classmates stand up in alarm in his peripherals, but he was just looking at his hands.

“Huh, Midoriya was right.”

Yaoyorozu quickly knocked the villain out and gave him a confused look.  He held up the limp wrists of the villain where his hands were still hardened.

“Handcuffs, literally.  I guess I do harden differently every time, that’s pretty neat.”

“Um, Kirishima…”

He blinked and released his hands sheepishly.  “Sorry, caught in the moment, we should get out of here.”

Todoroki nodded.  “They’re after All Might, so they must have something to believe that they can defeat him.  We should go.”

Eijirou looked back at his hands and frowned.  He hoped Midobro was doing ok…

~~~~~

Katsuki was not feeling super great, in general.  I mean, mostly he was pissed, super incredibly pissed, that that misty fuck had just decided to yeet him into a different part of the USJ, the landslide zone or whatever.  Gloves and Octo-Arms were both here too, which was whatever.  Arms was probably strong, but Gloves was only good for stealth, and Katsuki was not about that life.  He was the nuke that was going to explode the villains to hell, and there was nothing subtle or stealthy about that.

So when villains came out of the woodworks, talking about taking down All Might, the number fucking one, Katsuki did what he did best, and exploded.

Arms said something in warning, but Katsuki was busy cackling and exploding the fuckers that thought they could kill the number one hero.  Yeah fucking right.

He breathed deeply as the last one fell and finally heard what the hell Arms was saying.

“-landslide with the noise!”

Landslide?  No shit, that was the zone they were in, Katsuki was smarter than Arms seemed to think he was.

He rolled his eyes and was about to yell at him to fuck off, but then his eyes widened and he heard and felt the rumbling.

Oh.

That landslide.

He grabbed Gloves and started to run.

~~~~~~

Denki was not having a great time.  He was completely surrounded by water, which was a great conductor of electricity, with two of his classmates, Tsu and Satou, and they were on a boat that was surrounded by, again, water, and worse, villains!

This day was not going super well, honestly.

“Shit, fuck, this is bad.  Electricity and water do not mix.”

Tsu put a finger to her chin.  “Hmm, you’re right.  Do not worry, I will fish you back out.”

“Wait, what?”

He didn't have time to do more than scream before he was hurtling back towards the water, villains laughing about betrayals and sacrifices and he felt the energy inside him building up before he tucked himself into a ball to minimize the surface area that hit the water.

He came back to on the shore, shaking himself out of his daze.  He looked at Tsu with reproach, but she just shrugged and patted him on the arm.  Satou looked like he was coming down from a sugar crash, and they were all wet, but the villains at least weren’t coming to bother them.

His gaze turned to where Aizawa-sensei was fighting this big hulking beast thing and he heard Izuku cry out from the other side of the plaza.  He watched Sero send tape to get their teacher before he and Kouda sprinted up the stairs to where Ojirou was trying to stabilize Thirteen.

Across the entire plaza, students came out from the various zones and a villain covered in hands scratched his neck.

“I wasn’t done with Eraserhead, how dare you take him from me!  I guess this means you’re offering yourselves up?”  He chuckled, lowering his hand from his neck.  “Ok then, brats, let’s play.”

Denki gulped.

~~~~~

Tenya was rooted to his spot as he watched all of his classmates get sucked into purple mist, leaving only him, Ojirou, and Thirteen.

“Ah, I missed a few.  Let me fix that.”

“Oh no you don’t, villain!”

The tailed boy rounded on Tenya as Thirteen uncapped their finger.

“Sergeant at Arms, or whatever! Iida!  You heard the reps, you have to go!  You’re the only one who can get help!”

Tenya hesitated for a moment before nodding and taking off for the doors at a dead sprint.

Thirteen screamed, but before he could even look back, Ojirou screamed as well, “I’VE GOT THIS, GET HELP!”

As soon as he was out of the doors, he tore his phone out of his pocket.  No signal, but if Midoriya was correct, turning it off and on again would restore its connection to the grid.

He was still running for UA, but each second it took for the phone to reboot felt like a lifetime and a mile had passed.

Finally, it was on again.

He quickly unlocked it and punched in the number for UA.

It rang twice.

“This is Iida Tenya, of Class 1-A!  We are under attack at the USJ!”

~~~~~

Izuku felt way more connected to Kouda and Sero after this.  The ruins zone had not been a bad place to land, in all honesty, especially not for the other two.  For Kouda, this zone naturally had birds all over it, giving them plenty of intel for other people in the zone, and Sero was a regular Spiderman, even though most of the buildings were in ruins, hence the name of the zone.  In no time, they had taken out all the thugs in the zone and found the exit to the central plaza.

Just in time to see their teacher slammed into the pavement by a bird looking muscular monster.

He felt something crawl up his throat, but he managed to swallow it down before it got all the way out and turned to the other two, no doubt pale.

“Sero, can you…?”

The black haired boy nodded and started running for the stairs, shooting one piece of tape to the arch at the top and the other to their downed teacher, dragging Aizawa-sensei with him as he shot up to where Ojirou was waiting.

The mist man appeared at the side of the main villain guy, the one covered in hands.

“Shigaraki Tomura.  All Might is not here; perhaps it is best if we leave.”

“Kurogiri, did you kill Thirteen?”

“They are incapacitated, but for being a rescue hero, they fought well… well enough for a student to escape.”

“Kurogiri, if you weren’t our exit, I would turn you to dust right now…”

The young adult (because he sounded young) started scratching his neck and turned to face the direction Sero had gone.

“I wasn’t done with Eraserhead, how dare you take him from me!  I guess this means you’re offering yourselves up?”  He chuckled, lowering his hand from his neck.  “Ok then, brats, let’s play.”

Kurogiri bowed back slightly, letting Shigaraki take control of the situation.

“Maybe if I kill some kids, All Might will show up?”

With a speed that rivalled Iida’s, the villain shot forward to where Satou, Kaminari, and Tsu were standing, stock still, and Izuku let out a cry.

“NO!”

Kaminari also screamed and the smell of ozone floated through the air as Shigaraki flinched back, growling.

“You brat!  How dare you shock me!  Nomu!”

It was at that moment that Todoroki came sliding out of the conflagration zone on a bridge of ice and Izuku let out a sigh of relief as the ice spread to the bird creature.  Still, not one to sit around, he ran out as well.

“Kouda,” he called back, “help Sero with the teachers!”

The tall and shy boy nodded, running off for the stairs.

“Please stop attacking my classmates,” Todoroki spoke matter-of-factly, but it just made the villain snarl.

“Stop ruining things, hero brats!  I’ll kill you!”

“Hey Hands Fuck!”

He whirled around again as Bakugo came running from the landslide zone, carrying what was probably Hagakure while Shouji came running right after, long legs loping.

“Eat this, shitter!”

Red eyes widened behind a hand (which was frankly disgusting, was that real?) as the ground rumbled and he stumbled and scrambled out the way of the oncoming landslide.

As if sensing a threat to it’s master, the Nomu rushed forward to take the hit, getting itself buried under the rubble in the process.

Wait, wasn’t it frozen?

Izuku’s head while back around to where the Nomu had just been to find its feet still in the ice.  But then, how had it run over there…?

“Nomu, stop fucking around.”

The Nomu rose from the rubble and rocks, looking no worse for wear.  No, that wasn’t quite right, cuts were healing all over its torso.

“Healing…?”

Shigaraki chuckled.  “Yep!  Nomu will take anything you throw at it and just get back up again, good as new.  Now you can see why we’re going to destroy the symbol of peace!”

As if on cue, a large BOOM shook the USJ and a booming, familiar voice rang out.

“I AM HERE!”

He wasn’t smiling.

~~~~~

Izuku sat numbly on the edge of the ambulance, wrapped in the shock blanket.  He hadn’t been really hurt much, only breaking one of his arms, like he had at the entrance exam, in that final fight.  No one else knew about All Might’s time limit, so he had to protect him when the villains went in for one last attack.  Sure, their Nomu, the multi-quirked beast, had been Plus Ultra blasted out of the USJ, but the hand villain apparently had a disintegration quirk, Izuku had found out later.

Aizawa-sensei’s elbow would probably always have a scar.

Other than their three teachers, no one had to go to the hospital, and All Might more so to make sure he wasn’t actively dying.  His time limit had probably been shortened, though, since he was already at his limit when he got to the USJ.

Every single person in the class thanked Iida for getting help, because there was no way they would have been able to beat the Nomu, Shigaraki, and Kurogiri on their own.  His quick timing and call to UA had probably saved a lot of them injury and maybe even death.

Izuku didn’t really want to think about it.

He gave Kaminari a hug, blubbering about how worried he had been when the villain had gone for him, and the electric boy patted him, still dazed from all the electricity he had used that day, but assuring his friend he was fine.

Recovery Girl tutted over his broken arm, but just kissed him and gave him some gummies and made him promise to get some rest over the next few days.

He was quick to agree.

The class all watched their teachers get wheeled away in ambulances. Sero had managed to tape Thirteen back together from where they had been subjected to their own quirk, but everyone was suspected to make a full recovery.

He walked over to their class representative.  “Yaomomo?”

“Yes, Midoriya?”

“We… we should probably let the class talk about this.  Together.  Like, therapy.  This was bad.”

She nodded slowly.  “I - yes, I agree, this is not something we would normally be expected to go through at our age.”  She laughed, sounding almost desperate.  “We’re first years, even if we’re hero students.  This, this wasn’t supposed to happen…”  Her breath shook and her head fell into her hands.

Izuku sat beside her, offering nothing more than his presence as they both sobbed openly.

Field trips were supposed to be fun, but this one had only ended in disaster.

Chapter Text

They had the next day off, but on Monday they were all back to school, and it was quiet.

There wasn’t the usual boisterous laughter from Kami and Mina, the almost-goth kids weren’t talking about bands in the back, even Bakugo wasn’t yelling, Iida and Uraraka sitting in their seats.

Everyone was there five minutes before class was supposed to start, and it was dead quiet.

Izuku glanced back past Mineta to look at Yaomomo.  She nodded and stood up, going to the front of the room and Izuku slid out after her, fiddling with his thumbs.

She took a deep breath, noting that every eye was on her.

“We should talk about it.”

Bakugo leaned back in his chair and scoffed.  “Talk?  The fuck will that do?”

She frowned.  “Something tells me not all of us would be comfortable with therapy, even if we all need it after a traumatic event like that, so this gives us an avenue to talk about it and get our feelings out there in a comfortable environment.”

He rolled his eyes.  “What, you want us to sit in a circle and hold hands?”

“U-um,” Izuku stumbled over his words, “maybe not the holding hands part, but sitting in a circle…?”

Tsu nodded.  “I think it is a good idea, kero.”

Kirishima stood up.  “Ok!  Let’s arrange the desks in a circle!”

Iida moved his desk and then walked over to Bakugo, swinging his arms about listening to authority and manhandling the blond boy’s desk into the slowly forming circle.  Yaomomo smiled gratefully and they both went to move their own desks.

Soon, they were all sitting in a circle, but it was back to being quiet.

Yaomomo cleared her throat.  “Since I am your class representative, and this was our idea, I suppose I can start.”  She took a shuddering breath and looked down at her hands.

“I was… very scared.  We aren’t prepared for things like this, and we had to fight actual villains.  I was lucky to be with Kirishima and Todoroki, but if I had been by myself, I might have died.  The only thing that kept the panic at bay was… well, I think that I had gone past the point of panic into calm, if that makes sense.”

Kirishima spoke up next, looking confused.  “Ah, man, you looked totally in control, class rep, I never would have guessed.  I just spent the entire time feeling… useless…”

She shook her head, eyes wide.  “No, you saved us, remember?  With your Hand Cuffs!  If you hadn’t been there, it would have been terrible.”

He scratched his head, but smiled.

Tokoyami shifted in his seat.  “I would like to apologize to Jirou and Uraraka… I lost control of Dark Shadow in the downpour zone, and put you both at risk by giving in to the darkness.”

Jirou snorted, twirling an ear jack.  “Dude, we just led the villains to you and you took them out.  You were fine once we got out of there, which was also easy, since we just had to lure you.”  She paused, looking away.  “It was scary, but you would never hurt us on purpose, you know?”

Uraraka nodded.  “You saved us!”

Bakugo rolled his eyes.  “Can we not do this whole “you saved us” thing and just admit that without the fuckers we all got sent with things would have gone to shit?”

Shouji nodded.  “You’re welcome.”

“Literally shut the fuck, Octopus.”

“You caused an avalanche by being reckless.”

“And I took out every single villain and then downed that bird fucker besides.  We all lived, get off my dick about it.”

Hagakure giggled.  “Thanks for carrying me out, Prince Charming!”

“Gloves I will kill you.”

“I should have done more than run away.”

They all stilled and looked to Iida, who was staring down at his desk, glasses hiding his eyes.

“I could have helped, I should have, I heard Thirteen get attacked, but I just kept running, like a coward.”

Bakugo clicked his tongue.  “Hate to break it to you, Glasses, but listen up, because I’m not gonna say it again; if you hadn’t run, we would probably all be dust right now.  Literally, Hands Fuck was freaky as hell.”

Iida looked up sharply, the glare on his glasses clearing to reveal shining eyes.  “Bakugo-!”

“SHUT UP OH MY GOD.”

“Bakugo is correct, Iida, you saved our lives.”

Everyone in the room stiffened and turned to the door where Aizawa-sensei was leaning heavily, arm and head completely wrapped in bandages.

“SENSEI!”

He rolled his eyes, which they could barely see, and sighed.  “Stop being so loud, honestly.”

“Aizawa-sensei,” Kaminari sputtered, “how are you out of the hospital?!”

“It was illogical to stay in bed.”

The whole class exchanged a glance.

“Regardless,” their teacher continued, “none of you should have had to deal with that.  You’re all first years, and our security will be upgraded.  We take safety very seriously, and none of you should have been put in a position where you had to fight for your lives.”

He bowed and everyone stiffened, but said nothing.

He straightened up, letting out a pained breath.  “Remind me to never do that again.  Anyway, continue with your discount therapy session, you can do that for the remainder of homeroom, I didn’t have any plans anyway.”

He stalked over to his desk and shimmied into his sleeping bag, seemingly immediately unconscious.

They looked at each other before they burst out laughing.

~~~~~

They spent the rest of homeroom chatting, still in a circle, feeling much lighter than they had been since the attack and Izuku relaxed.  No one was perfect, not after going through that, but they all had each other, and they all knew it.  Everyone was fine, they could see everyone was fine.  It was a benefit of the circle set up, that they could see every other classmate, constantly reassuring themselves that everyone was in good health.

As homeroom drew to a close, they put the desks back the way they were supposed to be, preparing for their morning classes, when Aizawa spoke up again.

“Oh yeah, by the way, we’re still having the Sport’s Festival in two weeks, so be ready for that.”

“So soon after the attack?  Is that wise?”  Iida chopped the air, like usual.

“I agree, but something about putting on a strong front or whatever… plus, security is going to be excessive, so anyone dumb enough to try and attack the sport’s festival will, in fact, die.”

He said it so deadpan that they almost didn’t catch the implication of murder, but by the time they realized, he was already out of the room and Mic was there to teach them english.

Two weeks, huh?

Izuku was looking forward to it.

~~~~~

Izuku opened the door and blinked at the crowd of students that had gathered there.

“Woah,” Uraraka said, “what the heck are all of these guys doing here?”

“There’s here to make a fucking challenge,” Bakugo growled, pushing past her and glaring balefully at the crowd.  “Bunch of extras want to check out the class that took on villains and won .”

“Bakugo!”  Iida chopped at the air, “Do not call our fellow students extras!”

“Wow,” a voice drawled from the crowd, “I guess the rumors were true, the hero course really is full of stuck up people.”  A tall purple haired boy elbowed his way to the front and Izuku was astounded he was still standing with how tired he looked.

“You know,” he continued, “if someone from another course does well enough in the Sport’s Festival, we might replace you.  Better watch out…”

“Wow, your voice is hot.”

The boy blinked, forcibly shaken out of his attitude and a faint blush rose up his cheeks.

“What?”

“What?”

The students of 1-A parted a bit to reveal Denki, frozen with an almost dreamy expression on his face that was slowly getting more and more tense.  Izuku could almost hear the internal screaming.

Denki nodded to himself and turned to Izuku, still smiling brightly, as he yelled back into the classroom.  “Hey Kiri, can you open the window for me?”

“Yeah bro, you feelin a little hot?  No biggie!”

Denki nodded again and walked back into the classroom, everyone still frozen and waiting to see how this would play out.

“Woah, Kamibro, no, what are you doing?”

“Let me jump, Kiri, I have nothing left to live for!”

“Bro, what happened?!”

“I told a cute boy his voice was hot!  To! His! Face!”

“I don’t see why that means you have to jump out the window!”

Izuku smiled up at the boy in question.  “Sorry about that, he didn’t take his meds this morning and his brain to mouth filter is gone.”

Seemingly trying to ignore the actual words that came out of the electric boy, the tall boy blinked again.  “...Aren’t you on the third floor?”

Izuku frowned, casting a single glance back at his two friends, one of which was trying to jump out the window, and the other who was stopping the first from jumping out the window.

“Yeah, but Kiri is still stronger than Kami right now, so unless he gets in a lucky shot… plus Aizawa will probably pull him back!”

“I will not, if he jumps, he has to live with the consequences.”

Izuku sighed at the words of his teacher.  “Ok, maybe I should go help.  Kami!  We’re going to lunch!”

“No!  Let me die!  Unless you have the ability to time travel in your ridiculous quirk, this is the only solution!”

He rolled his eyes and looked back to the crowd of confused and amused students.  “Sorry we messed up your declaration of war, but I need to stop my friend from auto-defenestrating!  Kaminari Denki, we are going to lunch and you’re going to back away from the window, or so help me, I will get Mei!”

“Fuck, no, she’s still harassing me about the battery powered laser gun!  You don’t want her to get that, right Mido?”

“Then we’re going to lunch!  I will carry you if I have to!”

“That’s not fair!  You can’t be that small and that buff!  You shouldn’t be able to carry me at all, Mido!”

“Then walk like a normal person and I won’t have to!”

“Kami, bro, let’s just go to lunch.”

“My life is over and my friends aren’t supportive of me!”

“You mean, we don’t want you to jump out the window for having a bi panic attack?  Yeah bro, in that case, I guess we aren’t.”

Shinsou Hitoshi, along with the rest of the gathered crowd, was so confused, even as the red head, the yellow head, and the green head walked out, pushing past the crowd to head in the direction of the cafeteria.

“Sorry again!”  The green one called back.

Yeah, definitely confused.

~~~~~

Kami groaned into his arms, not even caring that Mei was currently hooking up various devices to him and completely ignoring his food.

Kiri patted him on the shoulder.  “Its ok, bro, we all go through crisis at different times.”

“Why am I such a disaster?  Why did neither of you remind me to take my meds this morning?  Now I can never talk to that guy again!  He was coming to challenge us because he wants to beat us and get into the hero course and oh god, what if he transfers into our class, I should just quit school and go live in the mountains, I’ll be a goat farmer.”

“I think it’s goat herder.”

“Thanks, Mei, I’ll be a goat herder.”

Izuku sighed.  “Kami, it’s really not that bad, people do things like that all the time!”

“Mido tell me honestly, when was the last time you embarrassed yourself that badly?”

“Um, meeting Mei.”

The girl sorted.  “Nope, that was all on me, try again Hero Course.  Also, hand me that.”

He handed the tool to her without looking, thinking.  “Um, then, maybe when I didn’t realize Mina was there and I rambled about her quirk?”

Mina burst out laughing.  “Ok, I will admit, your horrified face was really funny, but I don’t see how that’s embarrassing, it was just neat!”

“Right,” Kami groaned, “Mido is terrible at this.  Kiri, what about you?”

“Bold of you to assume I’ve ever been embarrassed in my life.”

Kaminari slammed his head back on the table.  “This sucks, my life is over!”

Mina patted him from across the table.  “Don’t worry, I’ll help you get the boy.”

His head shot up and he fixed her with a wide eyed glare.  “NO.  Don’t you dare .”

She giggled.  “Just sayin, I think I make a pretty good matchmaker~!”

Izuku winced.  “Mina…”

She chuckled.  “Ok, fine.  But on the subject, what about you two?  Any crushes?”

Mei didn’t look up from her device.  “I’m going to assume you forgot me because you know I’m not interested in people.”

“You got it, girlfriend!”

“Generator, give me 200 volts.”

Kirishima scratched the back of his head with a hum.  “I dunno, Mina.  I mean, yeah, there are some pretty manly guys in the class, I guess, but haven’t really felt the zing, ya know?”

Kami groaned.  “You want a zing?  I can give you a zing, just say the word.”

Mina hummed, putting her chin in her palm and resting her elbow on the table.  “There are some cute boys, you’re right.  Anyone make you smile when you see them smile?”

“I mean, not really?  Plus a lot of the guys either don’t smile or don’t show their mouths.”

The table (bar Mei) winced.  Good point.

She whirled to him.  “What about you, green bean?  Anyone caught your eye?”

Izuku felt his face growing hot and he immediately waved his hands rapidly.  “N-no!  I’m not really looking at anyone like that!  Honest! Plus who would…”  He trailed off with a mutter and the other four all frowned.

Kirishima leaned forward.  “Ok, different question, who has the manliest quirk?”

Izuku blinked.  “The… manliest quirk?”

“Yeah, which quirk do you pay attention to the most, what do you get drawn to?”

He hummed, looking up to think (why did people look up to help them think?).  “I dunno, a lot of the quirks are really cool.”

“But is there one you just can’t stop staring at, or thinking about?”

Mina nodded.  “Yeah!  What does Dr. Mido want to diagnose!”

“Oh, well that’s easy, Half-Hot, Half-Cold!  I’ve only ever seen the ice side, of course, but it’s really pretty and Todoroki has such good control.  But even then, like we saw in the battle trials, he also has a lot of power, so the small stuff is even more impressive.  I bet his fire would be just as pretty, but the ice is really beautiful.”

He trailed off to see them all grinning.

He blinked.

“What?”

Mei crowed in triumph.  “There!  Generator-powered laser gun!  The sport’s festival will be awesome!  Generator, come to the labs after school, I’m no longer allowed to test things in the cafeteria.”

“Wait, “no longer?”  What the heck did you build on my arm?!”

She patted the device that was now cocooning Kaminari’s arm and crooned.  “The Generator-Powered Laser Baby!  Investors will love it!”

Kaminari shook his arm, trying to dislodge it, but to no avail.  “Mei!  Get it off!”

She just cackled.

Kirishima, Mina, and Izuku looked at each other, then shrugged and went back to their food.

“Guys?  Guys, help!”

“I like your new bracelet, Kami!”

“Mina!  Please!  Help me!”

The pink girl just grinned and took another bite.

Kaminari groaned, falling into his seat like a puddle.

“Betrayers!  Fiends!  Woe is me, for I am friendless Kari!”

Mina snorted and rice came out of her nose.

Chapter Text

“YOU CAN’T RUN FOREVER, GENERATOR!”

“I DUNNO MEI, I THINK I CAN!”

Izuku hummed and went back to his notebook, scribbling away observations on Kirishima’s quirk as Mei chased Kaminari around the school courtyard.

It was after school, where they all agreed to hang out (well, the three of them agreed, Mina going to dance, and Mei came out of the building like a cackling witch) and the weather was really nice, so they decided to go outside for their testing today.  Mei was keen to strap another device to Kaminari for the free power he could provide while Kiri and Izuku looked at the various properties of Harden.

“So, I was doing some research, and I found what’s called the Mohs Hardness Scale.  I asked Yaomomo to make some of the testers for it, from hardness 4 to 10.”

Kirishima hefted up one of the seven rocks.  “Is that what these are?  Neat!”

Izuku hummed.  “So the easiest thing to do would be to test the hardness of different parts of your body to not only get a baseline, but also to see if anywhere is harder.  Also, the result on Mei’s machine will be ready in like, fifteen minutes, so we’ll get a better idea of your composition.”

“Sounds good!  Scratch me up!”

Izuku took the lightest rock, the fluorite (or its equivalent) and hovered over Kirishima’s arm.  Grabbing the hardened arm solidly in one hand, he pressed the mineral to his arm and slid it down as if to scratch it.

The rock left behind a residue, and wiping it away revealed a perfectly whole arm.

“Ok, so you’re stronger than a 4.”

He tested the next one, apatite, to the same result.

“That means that you’re harder than bone!”

Feldspar, hardness 6, was also scratched instead of scratching him.

Quartz actually broke off some small chunks.

Topaz left some yellow brown dust on his arm.

Finally, with number 9, corundum, Kirishima got scratched.

“Ok, that’s really cool!  That means your hardness is somewhere between an 8 and a 9 on the hardness scale, which is really cool.”

Kirishima let the quirk fall away and flexed with a grin.  “That sounds really cool!  Time to test other regions?”

Izuku nodded, eager, and they got to work.

No one area was noticeably harder or softer than his arms, with the one exception being his face, somewhere between a 7 and an 8, but Izuku wasn’t quite done testing.

“Can you harden your whole body?”

Kirishima scratched the back of his head.  “I mean, yeah, I can, but I mostly just use my quirk on one limb or another.  I can’t hold the whole body thing for long.  Why?”

Izuku grinned.  “I want to see if your overall hardness drops when you harden your whole body versus a specific part.  If it does, that means you’ll want to focus on increasing your hardness in general so if you don’t know where you’re going to get hit or if you’re about to take a big hit you'll be ok.  On the other hand, if your hardness doesn’t decrease at all, then that means you should focus on maintaining it all over your body for longer, so you get a longer time in general!”

Kirishima nodded.  “Makes sense.  I can only hold it for about ten seconds now, so be fast, yeah?”

Izuku nodded, hovering over his arm with the topaz.

Kirishima suddenly looked like he was made of flesh covered rocks, and Izuku scratched the topaz against his arm.  Moment of truth, he delicately wiped it off to see if Kirishima had gotten scratched.

He hadn’t.

“Kirishima!  You maintain hardness!”

They both cheered, drawing the attention of Kaminari and Mei, who paused their chase.

“Wait what’s going on?”

Kirishima grinned at their third group member.  “I have a goal!  I stay the same hardness even if all of me is hard!  That means I just gotta up my time!”

Kaminari grinned back and flashed them a thumbs up.  “Rad, dude!  You got to learn something that doesn’t make you a target!”

As if on cue, Mei immediately tackled him to the ground and he screamed.

“I’M NOT READY TO BE A FATHER!”

There was a ding and Izuku perked up.  “Oh, that’s the analysis machine thing!”

He immediately slid over, reading the screen with hungry eyes.

“Haha, yes!  I was right!  When you harden, your skin floods with dense keratin proteins in a coiled helix!”  He whipped out his phone to one of the few tabs he had open.  “Things to eat to increase your keratin levels are eggs, onions, salmon, sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, mangoes, garlic, kale, beef liver, and carrots.”

He looked up with a grin.  “Most of those things are super doable!”

Kirishima fist pumped the air.  “Hell yeah, dude!  I’m gonna be the manliest hero ever!  This is super cool, Midobro!”

He flushed.  “Oh, it’s nothing, really!  I’m just happy to help!”

“Still, knowing I gotta spread my hardening out over my whole body to increase my time is super helpful!”

Izuku blinked.  Spreading out his quirk over his whole body.

Huh.

Zoning out entirely, he sat a bit straighter, feeling One for All coiling inside of him, seemingly eager to be used.

He used to just reduce the percentage in one of his limbs, but what if he spread it out all the way?

First he got the regular 7% in his arm, feeling it settle in like a warmth.  Then he imagined feeling that all over his body.

“Woah, Mido!”

He opened his eyes and felt it fade away with a snap.

“What?  What happened?”

“You started glowing green, dude!”

Izuku blinked, then furrowed his brow.  “Glowing...green?”

Kirishima grinned.  “Yeah!  You had lightning all over the place, but it wasn’t like Kamibro’s, since touching it just felt kinda warm.  What did you do?”

Izuku blushed, looking away.  “Um, well, I tried putting my quirk… everywhere?  Like you do with your hardening…”

“Yo, Kamibro!  Mido took inspiration from my quirk too!”

“That would be cooler if you hadn’t left me to die!”

“Stop being dramatic, Generator, I’m testing a grabby hand.  If you just filled up all the batteries I gave you, we wouldn’t be here.  Now, 750 volts, please!”

Kirishima snorted, turning back to Izuku.  “Cool that I could help!  Can you do anything with it?”

Izuku scratched his head, frowning.  “Since you were able to knock me out of it so easily, I don’t know.  I guess I should just… try again?”

At the encouraging nod from his friend, Izuku closed his eyes again and took a breath.  He took the warmth from his core and let it spread at a nice 7% power, and this time, with Kirishima not immediately distracting him, he could feel the tension in his muscles.

He opened his eyes slowly, even them straining, and he winced.  He barely saw the green sparks Kirishima was talking about before the strain became too much and he released it.

“Aw man, what happened?”

He frowned, bringing his hand to his chin.  “I don’t know.  It was like I was a rubberband pulled really tight.”

Kirishima nodded.  “I get that.  It’s hard to move when I have a full body harden going on.”

Kaminari, sitting on the ground several feet away, having given up, spoke up next.  “Maybe try less power or something.  You’re using the bruising level of power, which is probably not the greatest, so maybe less power will ease up the tension?”

Izuku nodded.  “Right!  I think I’ll just start at 1% and then go until it starts to get uncomfortable.”

Having gotten a pretty decent feel of One for All last time, he opted to not close his eyes and started at 1% of his power, spreading a gentle warmth throughout his whole body.

He slowly ramped it up.

At 6% he felt the tension starting to get the better of him, so he dialed it back to 5%.

He clenched and unclenched his fist experimentally.

It held.

“You got it!  Now see if you can move or if you’re like me, haha.”

Izuku smiled and slowly stood up.

It held.

Kaminari whooped, raising his hands in the air.  “Green light is a go, people!”

Izuku laughed, but then gasped in despair as it slipped away.

Mei shook her head.  “It’s a new gadget, just do it again.  Failure is the mark of progress!”

As if on cue, the grabby hand thing she had attached to Kami’s arms started to spark and he shrieked, waving it around.  “Get it off, get it off, get it off!”

Mei rolled her eyes.  “It’s fine, we have at least twenty seconds before it explodes.”

“THAT IS NOT REASSURING!”

Kirishima chuckled, but Izuku was back to focusing.  Like the inspiration he had taken from, he needed to practice maintaining his new usage of his quirk so he could use it more, hopefully while moving.

After holding it for a full minute, he tried to move.

Everyone had since sat down to watch his own progress on his quirk, and they all cheered when he took a step, and then another, and then he was running.

It felt so good.

He spent the next ten minutes running with One for All active, laughing the entire time.

“Tag, you’re it!”

Kaminari looked mildly offended, but immediately leaped up to give chase.  “No fair, you’re way faster than us normally, and now you have the green glow power!  Kiri, help!” He stopped.

“Mei, are the repairs done on that grabby hand?”

She cackled and tossed it to him.  “Go, Generator, test my baby in a real situation!  Go forth and tag!”

He grinned and slipped the repaired device on, clicking the hands menacingly.

“I’m coming to get ya, Mido!”

Izuku grinned in challenge and dodged as the hand shot out to its full twenty foot range.

“Your aim will be worse the farther out it goes, Kami!”

“Then I’ll just need practice!”

Not one to miss out on the fun, Kirishima bolted after him, trying to tackle the shorter boy into the grass while Kaminari tried to use the grabby hand (which he was slowly getting better at aiming while moving) to corral them together so that at least one of them would catch him.

Mei merely watched, calling out tips to Kaminari and writing down notes, eyes zooming in on it every so often and humming to herself in glee, when suddenly Izuku felt a metal hand brush him.

He stopped, stumbling a little at the direct change of speed and slowly turned back to face the other two.

“Yes!”  Kaminari fist pumped the air, device retracting like a whip.  “I finally tagged you!  Now you’re it!”

Izuku grinned and let the green lightning crackle over him again.

“Yep!  I’ll give you a ten second head start!”

Kaminari paled and immediately took off in the other direction, Kirishima following close behind.

Izuku counted down from ten before taking off at a run.

They stood no chance.

~~~~~

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Kaminari snorted at Izuku’s question.  “Never, you have all the braincells in this relationship, but I know for a fact it will be funny as shit.”

Izuku gave a side glance to Kirishima.  “Kiri…?”

“I say do it, this does sound pretty funny.”

Izuku sighed, and walked over to where Bakugo was talking to (read: yelling at, but friendly) Iida and Uraraka and eyed Kami, who gave him a thumbs up from behind his phone.

Bakugo noticed him.

“The hell do you want, shitty Deku?”

“Um, well, Bakugo, I was wondering if you-”

He cut himself off as the boy’s head slowly turned to face him with the most incredulous look on his face.

He blinked and continued, pretending not to notice.  “Anyway, Bakugo, I was wondering if-”

“ What the fuck. ”

It was almost a whisper, and there was no heat behind the words.

Izuku blinked again.  “Um, what?”

“Wh-why did you call me that?”

He blinked again.  “Your… name?”

“Yes.”

“Well you always said you don’t like being called Kacchan, so-”

“No.”

“N-no?”

“No.  Never call me that again.”

“Um, ok, Katsuki-”

“ No.”   He sounded strangled and his eyes were incredibly wide.

“Um.  Then what do I call you?”

Bakugo grit his teeth.  “What you’ve always called me, nerd.”

Izuku blinked and frowned.

After a pause, Bakugo forced it out through clenched teeth.  “Call me Kacchan .”

“Oh!  Ok, Kacchan!”

He smiled and walked off, leaving Uraraka about to laugh and Iida confused.

Bakugo just looked lost.

Kaminari pressed the button on his phone and burst out laughing. “Oh my god, that was priceless, he really didn’t like you calling him anything else.”

Izuku smiled, ducking his head.  “I feel bad, we tricked him.”

Kirishima patted him on the back with a grin of his own.  “Nah, he spoke from the heart and showed his true feelings, Midobro.”

“Plus,” Kaminari snickered, “now I have prime blackmail material!”

Izuku chuckled, casting glances at the still shell-shocked blond.

“Yeah, maybe… don’t bring this up ever.  You recorded it, that should be enough.”

Mina bounded into the classroom.  “Recorded what?”

Kaminari grinned and thrust his phone in her face and she blinked before putting in the headphones.

As she watched, her grin grew wider and she kept glancing at Bakugo, who was back to his regular self, likely because Uraraka was making fun of him.  Iida seemed to be reprimanding her, but she just kept going.  Izuku wondered how she wasn’t getting exploded, in all honesty, since he definitely would be.

Mina burst out laughing, handing the phone back to Kaminari and wiping a tear from her eye.

“Oh my god, thank you so much, I needed that.”

Izuku waved his hands rapidly.  “You can’t tell him, or he will kill me!”

Kaminari snorted and patted him.  “I’ll go down with you, Mido, don’t worry, we’ll both be dead if this gets out.”

Kirishima grinned.  “Plus, I’ll defend you guys!  I’m unbreakable!”  he pounded two hardened fists together.

Izuku sighed.  “Thank you both for your votes of confidence.  “No Izuku, he won’t kill you!”  “Don’t worry, Izuku, we won’t tell him!”  Real helpful, guys.”

Kaminari snorted again, raising his voice to a falsetto.  “No Izuku, he won’t kill you!  Don’t worry Izuku, we won’t tell him!”  His voice dropped back to normal.  “There, feel better now?”

Izuku giggled.  “Yeah, thanks Kami.”

“Any time, my dude.”

“Yo,” Jirou said, “he’s almost here.”

Everyone scrambled to their seats just as Aizawa walked in.  He nodded.

“Good, you’re getting better.  Onto business.”

~~~~~

Lunch found Izuku buried in his notebook.  He didn’t have a name for his full body ability yet, and he had been experimenting with it in heroics class earlier, so he was writing down all of his observations and completely ignoring the conversation that was going on around him.

That meant he didn’t notice when Monoma of class 1-B came up to their table.

“Class A, consorting with support students?  You’d really do anything to get ahead!”

Mei snorted.  “Oh please, I came to them when I heard Greenie talking, they couldn’t get rid of me if they tried.”

Monoma scoffed.  “I can assure you, class B has far superior heroics candidates than 1-A ever could.”

Without looking up from her gadget, Mei retorted.  “Do you have a generator?”

“A-a what?”

“A generator,” she shot a thumb at Kaminari, “someone that can give me electricity to power my stuff.”

The blond student puffed up.  “I’ll do you one better - I can copy the quirks of any one of those class A schmucks!”

Sensing an opportunity, Mina perked up.  “Copy, huh?  Hey, Dr. Mido, what do you think of a copy quirk?”

Izuku blinked and looked up from his notebook at her before breaking out into a grin.

“A copy quirk?!  Oh, that’s so cool!  Copy quirks are so incredibly versatile, since they can mimic any quirk ever!  Maybe not mutation, since that would actively change your body.  There are a couple of different ways to activate copy quirks, depending on the quirk, but I bet the best and most accurate would be touch, since quirks are a product of DNA and that gives you direct access to the person’s DNA.”

He hummed, taking a breath.  “If it was touch based, I wonder if the DNA has to be active or if you could store hair from people with useful and versatile quirks so you’re ready for any situation.  The only downside of a copy quirk, other than the fact that it’s super rare, is that you generally have to have people you can copy, but if you didn’t need live cells, hair could completely negate that downside and they would be one of the most powerful heroes ever, good for every situation.  They’d probably be really smart, too, to keep all that in their head and know what would be best for every situation.”

He blinked at her with a smile.  “Why?  What brought this up?”

He finally noticed Monoma as the boy sputtered beside their table, eyes wide.

“Oh, um, hello?”

“…You really think that?”

“Think… what?”

“What you said about copy quirks?”

Izuku blinked, confused, but nodded.  “I mean, yeah, I like pretty much every quirk, so the idea of a copy quirk always appealed to me. …Why?”

Monoma pursed his lips, considering, before he nodded.  “Ok, not all of class 1-A is terrible.  You win this round.”

He walked away and Mina giggled.  “Dr. Mido strikes again!”

He was so confused.  “Wh-what did I do?  That was… Monoma, from class 1-B, right?”

Kirishima chuckled and patted the boy.  “He has a copy quirk.”

Izuku went beet red and shrieked.  “You just let me ramble about his quirk while he was right there and I didn’t know?!”

Mina patted him on the shoulder.  “Think of it this way, Dr. Mido, you just made him rethink his otherwise extremely negative opinion of class A single handedly!”

“Yeah,” Kaminari cheered, “you just made a friend, maybe!  Or at least like, an acquaintance!”

Izuku covered his face with his hands, feeling the heat from his seemingly perpetually red cheeks.

“Guys, warn me next time!”

“But you get flustered if you know you’re talking about someone who can hear you!”

“Yes, that’s why you should tell me so I don’t have to go through the mortifying ordeal of being known after spilling my guts and creeping them out.”

Mina rolled her eyes.  “It’s not creepy, it’s cool!  How many times do I have to tell you, Izuku?”

His blush came back in full force.  “M-Mina!”

She snorted.  “Now you have something else to blush about, eh?”

Kirishima cheered.  “Good call, Mina!  Don’t worry Izuku, you can call me Eijirou if you want!”

“Don’t leave me out!  I already called you Izuku earlier today, you can totally call me Denki.”

He sighed, blush dying down.  “W-well, we’ll see.  I haven’t ever really called anyone by their given names before Mina and Tsu…”

Kaminari grinned wickedly.  “And Kacchan~ ”

THe blush came back and Izuku squeaked, burying his face back into his hands.

The entire table of five laughed, but Izuku didn’t feel like he was being laughed at, like when he was in middle school.

He smiled around his hands and glanced at his friends.

If this was friendship, he could more than deal with a little bit of teasing.

Chapter Text

Izuku was nervous, but for a very good reason!

The sports festival was finally here, and the stadium was absolutely full of people cheering and yelling.  It was a little overwhelming, especially knowing that the crowd had pro heroes in it too, looking to scout out the students if they did well.

Plus, All Might had pulled him aside before it began.

“This is your chance to tell the world, I AM HERE!”

Yeah, no pressure, or anything.

Since he had only had his quirk for so long, he really didn’t know how on earth he was supposed to measure up to his other classmates who had been working with their quirks for years.  Sure, he had his new ability that Denki called “Going Green” and Izuku hadn’t managed to come up with a better name for yet.  He also had his low power bruising shots if he felt he could afford to sacrifice a little mobility in exchange for pain and power.

But up against someone like Todoroki, Bakugo, or Yaomomo?

His party tricks and extra speed and strength really weren’t going to help him much.

Present Mic announced their class as they came onto the field and the cheers were thundering.  Classes B through K didn’t get nearly as much fanfare, much to some of their grumbling, but it was fine.

“Hey,” Eijirou nudged them both, “look, it’s Cute Boy!”

Denki let out a strangled cry, but he did glance in the direction of the general studies class, where the purple haired boy was standing, looking tired and bored.

“Say it a little louder, why don’t you?!”

“Ok, HEY, IT’S-”

Denki jabbed him in the side with an electrically charged finger and Eijirou didn’t harden himself in time, so he cut off with a choked laugh as he doubled over, running from the furiously red boy.

Izuku grinned and tried to contain his laughter.  “Denki, I thought you were the yellow light, not the red light.”

The electric boy just looked betrayed.

“Please welcome the student representative, Bakugo Katsuki of Class 1-A!”

Izuku tensed, wondering what the blond would say.

“I’m gonna be number one, so either lay down and surrender or give me a good challenge.”

Class A collectively winced as everyone else booed.  Iida looked apoplectic and Uraraka was laughing sheepishly.

“Well,” Midnight flicked her whip, “with that… rousing speech out of the way, let’s see what the wheel decides our first obstacle to be!”

The screen behind her displayed a wheel, and Izuku didn’t have time to read all of the options before it was spinning, landing on and highlighting one.

“Obstacle Course!  Out that door is our five kilometer obstacle course!  Once the buzzer sounds, the course will begin.  Anything goes, as long as you stay on the track.  Plus Ultra!”

The crowd cheered and everyone tensed, ready to run through the narrow doors.

“Well, Green Light,” Eijirou clapped him on the shoulder, “time to live up to the name!”

Present Mic called the start and Izuku lit up, darting forward and slipping through people like a fish in water.

“He’s Going Green!”

Izuku chuckled at Denki’s cry from behind him, and he tensed, hearing the crackle of ice speeding towards him.  He looked down and just barely managed to jump.  Man, he thought, that was really smart of Todoroki, to slow down the competition, but looking back revealed all of 1-A to be wise to his tricks.

When he landed from the jump (which had been greater than it would have been if he hadn’t Gone Green - ugh, it was sticking) he skidded a little bit on the slick ice.  Todoroki and Bakugo were already pulling ahead, one sliding on ice with all the grace of a professional ice skater, and the other using his explosions to propel himself forward.

Izuku was one of the next to break out from the herd at the narrow entryway to the course.

“AND SOME OF OUR HERO STUDENTS ARE THE FIRST TO BREAK AWAY FROM THE PACK, COMING UP ON THE ROBO-INFERNO OF DEATH!”

“Please stop adding “of death” to the obstacle names.”

“AWW, YOU’RE NO FUN, ERASER!”

“Good.”

The first obstacle was pretty dangerous looking, filled with more of the robots from the entrance exams and several zero pointers.  Izuku faltered in his step, but he saw that there was technically a path through them even if you didn’t destroy any of the robots.

And then Todoroki froze two zero pointers in an instant.

Izuku’s breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened, completely not hearing any of the exclamations from Mic, just looking at how the ice caught the sunlight and sparkled, two monstrous machines caught and suspended.

Then they creaked.

Immediately, Izuku blinked, alarmed.  They weren’t stable, and people were trying to get under them-!

It came crashing down and everyone faltered, but then Eijirou and a boy who looked to be made of metal burst from the hulls of the robots, calling out about how dangerous it would have been for anyone else.

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief and he began to leap through the debris.  His eyes caught on a thin piece of metal that had come off of one of the robots and he grabbed it impulsively.

Mei was getting to his head.

Speaking of Mei, she cackled as she swung herself over the next obstacle, appropriately named the Fall.  Trusting his balance, he took a deep breath, let the green energy spark over him again, and took off, sliding down the wires and leaping from platform to platform.

Last was the biggest obstacle yet; a Minefield.

Bakugo and Todoroki were about a third of the way across, seemingly more keen on fighting each other than making real progress, but Izuku wasn’t about to complain.  He just needed to find a way to get across, and fast.

Based on the other people around him who were getting flung back in pink explosions, even Green, he wouldn’t be fast enough to just outrun the blasts.  Plus, that would clear a path for other people, and despite how much Izuku loved to help people, this was still a competition.

He looked down at the sheet of metal in his hands, then back at the mine field.

…Denki and Ei were going to kill him for this.

~~~~~

He felt his entire world ending when Midnight announced that first place was worth ten million points.

This was it, this was where he died.

“HERO COURSE.  THIS IS PERFECT!”

He blinked as pink swarmed his vision and suddenly, Mei was there.  “If we can get Generator, that will be even better!  Oh, Generator, join our team!”

Denki chuckled.  “Sure, Eijirou and I were on our way over anyway.  That makes four, right?”

Izuku’s vision blurred and he was instantly sobbing.

“Y-you g-guys really want to, to t-team up with m-me?”

Mei snorted.  “If you think ten million points is a deterrent, you don’t know me very well, Hero Course.”

Eijirou clapped him on the back.  “Yeah man, we’re the Traffic Light Trio!  We gotta stick together!  It’s totally not manly to leave a bro hanging!”

Izuku sniffed and wiped his eyes, ignoring the puddles on the ground.  “Ok, then we need a plan.  Who’s going to be the rider?”

Mei was ignoring the conversation entirely, checking on her various babies to see what might work best.

Denki perked up.  “I was gonna say you since you’re the smallest, but you’re also probably the strongest, quirk or no, plus you’re fast.”

Eijirou nodded.  “Denki, bro, you wanna be the rider?”

Izuku grinned, putting a hand on his shoulder.  “Yeah!  Plus, Mei, you have that grabby hand you were working on?”

She looked up, pupils focusing on him.  “Of course!  Generator, catch!”

Denki caught the offered tech and slid it on, clicking the hand together a few times with a grin.  “Oh yeah, we’re in business now, baby.  Mei, what else do you got?”

“None of my outright weapons got approved, but I have a shielding baby, hover boot babies, and a jetpack baby that might be helpful.”

“Does the shielding one block electricity?”

She tapped Eijirou.  “Based it on Manly Man over here, so it’s at least gonna help.”

Eijirou grinned.  “Naturally a bit resistant, we tested.”

Izuku nodded.  “Then I’ll carry and wear the armor.  If we need a big discharge, we should be ok.  Denki, can you maintain a field around you?”

“To discourage any wandering hands?  Yeah, no problem.”

“Ki-Eijirou, you block attacks from one side, Mei from the other.  Mei, how can we best use the hover boots and jetpack?”

She grinned.  “I thought you’d never ask!”

Chapter Text

Izuku rolled his shoulders, adjusting his grip on Denki’s legs where he was flanked by Mei and Eijirou.  They were just going to be running interference, since Izuku really didn’t need any help carrying Denki, even if it was for ten whole minutes.

Surprisingly, Bakugo only had three members in his group including himself; Uraraka and Sero were supporting him, which seemed like an odd combination.

Todoroki had Iida, Yaomomo, and Tokoyami supporting him.

Hagakure was being held up by Ojiro, Satou, and Kouda.

Shouji had his arms in a tent behind him, hiding whoever his team members were from sight, but the board listed him as Team Asui, so that was at least one team member.

Surprisingly, the purple haired boy had three team members of his own.

He was being supported by a green haired girl from class 1-B, who was talking to both Mina and Aoyama animatedly.  Mina would occasionally glance at their group and giggle, but the purple boy just looked flabbergasted.  A look at the scoreboard revealed his name was probably Shinsou.

Izuku would have to keep an eye on him.

~~~~~

Hitoshi was completely confused.

The pink girl, Ashido Mina, had come bounding up to him and demanded to be on his team.

“Do I know you?”

She grinned, bouncing on her feet.  “I’m Denki’s friend!”

He raised an eyebrow to let her know that he had no idea who the hell “Denki” was.

“Electric boy?  Called your voice hot?”

Suddenly, he was looking anywhere but her, grimacing.  Great, probably someone trying to threaten him or something.

“So why do you want to be on my team?”

She snorted.  “Because I want front row seats to his face when he sees you!  Plus I want you to get to the tournament round so you can fight him and he’s forced to confront his bi ass!  What do you say?”

He eyed her.  He was originally planning on brainwashing people into being his teammates, since he was the only gen ed kid out here and had no friends anyway, but here was a hero student, class 1-A no less, volunteering to be on his team.  On one hand, he would have to rely on other people and, god forbid, talk to them, but on the other hand, he might not have to brainwash anyone, keeping his quirk a secret for the tournament round.

If he made it that far.

“Sure, whatever.”

“Great!”  She beamed.  “I’ll go get us two more teammates!  Wait right here, Cute Boy!”

God, he changed his mind, but she was already bounding off.

“AOYAMA, BABE, COME JOIN MY FABULOUS TEAM!”

“Oui~”

Oh god.

Next she went up to another random girl and they were just jabbering away before the three of them trickled back over.

“Welcome to the team, guys!”

The new girl grinned, revealing sharp teeth.  “Hey!  Setsuna Togake, nice to meet you guys!  My quirk is called Lizard Tail Splitter!”

She detached her hand and floated it away before doing jazz hands and it flew back, reattaching itself.

The blond boy flicked his hair back.  “Bonjour!  Je suis Aoyama Yuga, and I can’t help but sparkle~!  I have a magnifique Navel Laser~”

He jutted out his midriff, highlighting his belt and it’s shiny lens.

The pink girl giggled.  “Ashido Mina, quirk: Acid!  Pleasure to be working with you guys!”

Hitoshi blinked and sighed.  His turn.

“Shinsou Hitoshi.  Who’s the rider and who’s the main horse?”

If they noticed his dodge of quirk, they didn’t comment on it.

“I can be the main horse,” Setsuna grinned, “I’m pretty buff.  Might detach my hands every once in a while to nab a headband, but you can count on me!”

Aoyama flicked his hair again (what was with this guy).  “Twould be easier to aim if I was not on top, oui?  I shall also be a horse.”

Ashido grinned at him.  “Ok, Shinsou, then you can be the rider and I can be the other flank!  With mid to long range quirks, me and Aoyama will be good guards.  We’re counting on you!”

Well that was easy.

“Sure,” he drawled, “if that’s what you Hero Course kids want to do, who am I to stop you.  Let’s kick some ass.”

Both of the girls cheered and the french man laughed daintily.

Maybe this would be ok.

~~~~~

“AND WE’RE BACK, FOLKS, FOR THE CAVALRY BATTLE EXTRAORDINAIRE!  WE SEE MANY FINE TEAMS, INCLUDING SOME INTER-CLASS TEAM UPS!  ERASER, HOW IS IT LOOKING OUT THERE?!”

“Like a cavalry battle.”

“EXCELLENT COMMENTARY, AS USUAL!  MIDNIGHT, TAKE IT AWAY!”

Midnight flicked her whip with a sharp crack.

“Alright, everyone, I want good clean fun!  You can’t attack people directly, and you must wear all headbands at neck level or higher!  You have ten minutes, and, GO!”

At the sound of the whip crack (she used that a lot) it seemed like every team lunged for them with the ten million points.  Izuku was already Green when it started and he dashed to the side, completely avoiding all the teams that had decided to rush them.

Bakugo screamed something about cowards, but Izuku was really not listening, focusing on avoiding teams and listening for callouts from Mei or Denki.

“Todoroki incoming!”

Izuku’s eyes flicked to Todoroki’s team, Iida giving them high mobility as Dark Shadow flung out to grab at their headband.  Eijirou hardened his arm and batter the quirk away as Izuku turned, and they sped past, Izuku managing to keep up with Iida’s speed.

“BAKUGO HAS DETACHED FROM HIS TEAM - IS THIS ALLOWED?!”

“As long as he doesn’t touch the ground, it’s legal!”

Izuku glanced over and immediately saw the value of Bakugo’s team composition.  Uraraka could make him weigh less, if not weightless, and he could use explosions to fling himself around to get up in people’s faces and steal their headbands.  Then, Sero could hook him with tape and reel him back in, giving Uraraka a break and getting him out of danger quickly.

“Mei!”

“I see it, Hero Course!  We’ll have to watch out when we take to the air.”

A mechanical hand flung out and grabbed the headband off of a two person group, a green praying mantis looking boy and a blonde girl with horns.

“A SURPRISE ATTACK FROM TEAM MONOMA LEAVES TEAM BAKUGO HEADBANDLESS!  WILL THEY BE ABLE TO RECOVER?”

He heard Bakugo raging on the other side of the field.

“Ice!  Left!”

Izuku flung them to the side as the crackle of ice swept through where they had just been.  Eijirou wrenched his foot from the ice and ran back to them.

“That could have been bad,” he yelled, “thanks, Mei!”

“No problem, Manly Man!  Hero Course!  At five minutes, we’re going up!”

Izuku glanced at the clock, shocked that over four minutes had already passed, and nodded to himself.  He had gotten in a lot of practice sustaining Green mode for a while, but he was starting to feel the strain and wanted to stay fresh for those last few minutes that would no doubt be hectic.

“That makes half your time gone, kiddies!  I wanna see your youth!”

He pressed the button on the jetpack and heard the hover boots power on, one on Eijirou and one on Mei as the two grabbed on to him tightly.

“Up, up, and away!”

They hovered at about fifteen feet above the arena, out of range of almost everyone.  Tsu flung her tongue out from Shouji’s back, but Denki shocked her before she could get too close and she recoiled.

Izuku heard explosions and imperceptibly tightened his grip on Denki’s legs.

Denki grinned above him.  “Thanks for stopping in!”  He launched the grabby hand at bakugo and swung him, letting the zero gravity and momentum aid him.  “Come again soon!”

Bakugo screamed out expletives as tape shot out to reel him back in.

“Generator!  1000 volts for the jetpack, please!”

He leaned back and smacked the top of the jetpack which Mei had outfitted with the same thing you would usually find on a battery and for a moment, Izuku smelled ozone.

“Good for another two minutes, Hero Course!”

“WHO IS THIS DARK HORSE IN TEAM SHINSOU?  WITH TWO CLASS 1-A STUDENTS AND ONE CLASS 1-B, HOW DO THEY KNOW THIS GEN ED STUDENT?!”

“Sometimes you have to team up with people you don’t know.”

“NO STORIES ABOUT THEIR ROUSING FRIENDSHIP?  OH, AND IT LOOKS LIKE TEAM BAKUGOU AND TODOROKI ARE LOCKED IN A FIERCE BATTLE SINCE THE TEN MILLION ARE IN THE AIR AND OUT OF REACH.  THEY’LL HAVE TO COME DOWN SOON!”

The jetpack started sputtering as the timer counted down from a minute and Mei cackled.  “Alright, Manly Man, hover boots time!  Let’s give Hero Course a speed boost!”

Eijirou grinned.  “Aye aye!”

As they slid to the ground, Izuku lit up green again, finding he could go just as fast with a lower percentage, 3%, letting him last for those last sixty seconds.

“Recipro Burst!”

All four of their eyes locked onto Todoroki’s team where Iida was zooming towards them.  Izuku wasn’t going to be fast enough to get them out of the way, and they were on Mei’s side, not Eijirou’s.

Izuku felt his shoulders tingle as Denki lit up with a shriek and it caused Todoroki’s hand to spasm a little, jerking it down to grab at not the ten million headband.

Izuku reached out to grab at their headbands and locked eyes with Todoroki.

There was a flash of fire that made them both flinch.

“10, 9, 8, 7-”

Iida’s engines stalled, but all eyes were on them, still the keepers of the ten million points.  People converged, Bakugo flinging himself through the air, hands outstretched.  A disembodied hand was close, Eijirou trying to bat it away.

“-AND TIME!  THE CAVALRY BATTLE IS OVER!”

Bakugo fell to the ground, screaming into the dirt, and a lot of other people sighed.

Midnight stepped back up to the screen.

“In first place, keeping the ten million points, is Team Kaminari!”

The crowd cheered and Mei cackled while the three of them exchanged grins and high fives.

“In second place, Team Todoroki!

Izuku looked at Todoroki and smiled, but the boy was staring at his left hand and frowning.

“In third place, Team Bakugo!”

Bakugo screamed again from the dirt and Uraraka and Sero high fived.

“And finally, Team - oh, this is a twist!  Team Shinsou!”

The four teams gathered at the front.

“Since Bakugo's team only had three members,” Midnight hummed, “the fifth place team will be able to send one member to the finals!  Team Monoma, who would you like to send?”

Izuku looked over at the copy quirk user.  He had three people with him, Shoda, the vice rep of class B, a boy with light brown hair and a cocky grin, and a serious looking boy with dark brown hair.  After a bit of debate, Monoma stepped forward.

“I will go.”

Everyone else in the team looked satisfied with that, patting him on the back and walking off the field.

Izuku waved at him with a smile and Monoma blinked before waving back.

Midnight purred.  “So sportsmanship like, sending in your fearless leader.  If you didn’t move on, don’t worry, we’re going to have a short thirty minute break in which you can play the games outside the stadium to win fabulous prizes!  Mic, tell them what they can win.”

“YEAAAAAH!  ALL SCHOOL MERCH IS NOT ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SALE BUT ALSO ABLE TO BE WON AT SOME OF OUR FUN BOOTHS - TRIVIA, WEIGHT GUESSING, DUNK THE SIDEKICK, DARTS, AND MORE!  TRY YOUR LUCK AND WIN  BIG!  OTHER STALLS ARE NOT SPONSORED BY UA, BUT YOU CAN FIND HERO MERCH BOTH FOR PRIZES AND FOR SALE!  AND DON’T FORGET THE DELICIOUS FOOD!  YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT FOLKS!  SEE YOU ALL BACK HERE IN THIRTY MINUTES!  YEAAAAH!”

Midnight smiled.  “The sixteen of you will need to be ready in half an hour, but the matchups will be posted in about fifteen.  The first contestants will be given a five minute warning to be ready.  See you soon, kiddos!”

Denki stretched.  “And Mei is already gone.  I dunno about you guys, but I am hungry.  Wanna see how many of the snack stalls we can hit?”

“Midoriya.”

Izuku blinked and turned to face an impassive Todoroki.

“Um, yes?”

“I need to talk to you.”  His dual colored eyes slid to the other two.

“Alone.”

Mina bounded over.  “Hey guys, you made it!”

Izuku swallowed, not quite sure what Todoroki wanted, but he smiled at his friends.  “You guys go on ahead, I’ll find you guys.”

“Ok,” Eijirou grinned, “don’t hold him up too long, Todoroki!”

They wandered off the field, Mina immediately telling Denki something that made him flush, and Izuku looked back to Todoroki.

“You wanted to talk?”

Baleful eyes swept the students still loitering.

“Not here.”

He walked off, Izuku having no choice but to follow.

After winding through some of the tunnels into a pretty empty part of the stadium, Todoroki leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.  Not sure what to do, Izuku perched against the opposite wall, already nervous for a talk that might be literally nothing.

“You made me use my fire.”

He blinked.  “Um, what?”

Todoroki looked at his left hand, just like he had done after the cavalry battle and his eyes were shadowed by his bangs.

“In the cavalry battle, for a moment, you had this aura that overrode my control and made me use my fire.”

“Isn’t that… A good thing?  I mean, you don’t normally use your fire, but I know it probably helps you regulate temperature when you use a lot of ice-”

“Midoriya.”

“Sorry,” he squeaked.

Todoroki clenched his fists.  “I swore I would never use my fire.  You made me break that oath.”

Izuku almost apologized again, but then he paused.

“Todoroki, I know it’s not my place, but… why not?”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes, inspected him.

After a long pause filled with nervous fidgeting, he spoke, looking away.

“Have you heard of quirk marriages?”

Izuku nodded slowly.  “They were outlawed, seen as a form of eugenics; the penalty for arranging a quirk marriage is 10 years in prison minimum.”

“My mother has an ice quirk, the perfect balance to my father’s fire quirk.”

Izuku’s heart sank and his breath caught in his throat, dreading what Todoroki was about to say next.

“She was bought like cattle so that my father could have the perfect child, the perfect balance of fire and ice, so that he could finally surpass All Might as the number one.”

He scoffed.  “Old man knew he could never do it on his own, so he wanted his child to do it for him.”

He paused and Izuku was silent, not exactly sure what to do about Todoroki admitting to his father committing a felony.

“In every memory that I have of my mother, she is never smiling.  The last time I saw her, she said she couldn’t stand to look at me and poured boiling water on the side that reminded her of him.”  He covered his scar with his hand and Izuku’s breath hitched.

“So I made a promise, that I would be the number one hero with only my mother’s ice, never using my father’s fire to spite him and prove him insignificant.”  He looked up, heterochromatic eyes meeting green.

“And today, I broke that promise because of something as inconsequential as fear.”

“Todoroki…”

“I will beat you,” he continued as if Izuku hadn’t said anything, “because for some reason, All Might has his eye on you.  I will prove my father wrong by winning this tournament, here and now.”

Todoroki walked away and Izuku sank to the ground, eyes unfocused.

How on earth was he supposed to respond to that?

He walked out of the stadium and quickly spotted Mina, Denki, and Eijirou.  He put on a smile and joined them, immediately being handed some yakitori and getting roped into the conversation, but other than comments here and there, his mind was elsewhere.

They walked back into the stadium with seven minutes to spare and looked over the matchups that were on the screen.

The first battle was between Uraraka and Todoroki, then Mei versus Iida, Izuku versus Setsuna, Mina versus Tokoyami, Yaomomo versus Aoyama, Eijirou versus Bakugo, Denki versus Monoma, and finally, Shinsou versus Sero.

Izuku took a deep breath as they took to the stands, the five minute warning going off.  Todoroki and Uraraka were already gone, preparing for their match.

The third round of the sports festival was about to begin.

Chapter Text

The first fight was Uraraka versus Todoroki.  Uraraka looked incredibly determined, whereas Todoroki just looked completely normal, like he always did.

“OUR FIRST FIGHT OF THE THIRD ROUND IS OUR SECOND PLACE WINNER OF THE FIRST TWO ROUNDS, THE ICE PRINCE, TODOROKI SHOUTO!”

The crowd cheered uproariously, and Mic continued.

“VERSUS! SOMEONE YOU CAN’T HELP BUT ROOT FOR, URARAKA OCHAKO!”

“You are supposed to be unbiased.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, ERASER, THAT WAS TOTALLY UNBIASED!  NO BIAS HERE!”

Midnight snorted and raised her whip.  “Fighters!  Rules are simple!  You win by knockout, ring out, or your opponent saying they give up or can’t continue!  Are you both ready?”

The both nodded, eyes never leaving each other.

“Then let’s get started!”

She cracked her whip down and Todoroki leaned forward with his right side, sending ice spiraling to Uraraka, but she had already pressed her fingers together and floated herself.  She quickly released, letting her momentum and sending her hurtling for him, hand outstretched to tap him.

“AND URARAKA USES HER ANTI GRAVITY QUIRK TO DODGE TODOROKI’S FIRST STRIKE!  CAN HE RECOVER BEFORE SHE USES IT ON HIM?!”

“He just did.”

“ERASER, WHAT ARE YOU FEEDING THESE KIDS, THEIR REACTION TIMES ARE INCREDIBLE!”

“They came like that.  In addition, it would be illogical to let yourself get distracted or underestimate your opponents.  Always assume the worst is going to happen and you’ll either be right or pleasantly surprised.”

“I THINK THAT'S THE LONGEST STRING OF WORDS WE’VE HEARD FROM YOU TODAY!  THANK YOU FOR YOUR WISDOM, O GREAT ONE!”

“This is why you had to drag me here.”

“AND ANOTHER SKILLFUL DODGE BY OUR GRAVITY GIRL, BUT SHE’S LOOKING A LITTLE QUEASY, AND TODOROKI IS NOT LETTING HER GET CLOSE!”

“If she tags him, she can float him out of the ring.  It’s smart for him to keep her at a distance.  She’s a powerful force and he knows it.”

“IF WE GET THIS LEVEL OF COMMENTARY EVERY BATTLE, THIS WILL BE THE MOST YOU HAVE SPOKEN IN PUBLIC SINCE GRADUATING HIGHSCHOOL!”

“And the more you point it out, the less likely it is to continue.”

“AAAAAAND IT LOOKS LIKE TODOROKI FINALLY CAUGHT URARAKA’S FEET IN AN ICEBERG!  CAN SHE ESCAPE, OR IS THIS THE END?”

Midnight raised her whip.  “Uraraka is unable to continue, Todoroki is the winner!”

The crowd went wild and Todoroki stepped forward, beginning to melt the ice that was practically consuming the arena.  Uraraka was high up, her lower legs completely caught in ice, just past her knees.  She was broken out and walked off the field by Todoroki, since she was shivering badly and still looked nauseated.  Izuku hoped she felt better.

“Tch,”  Kacchan muttered further down the row, “she put up a good fight against Icy Hot.”

He looked at the class when he felt their stares.

“What?!”

Jirou twirled an ear jack with a raised eyebrow.  “Bakugo, was that… a compliment?”

“FUCK OFF, EARS!”

The class burst into laughter, taking that as a yes and Izuku smiled softly to himself.  Bakugo was making genuine friends who he respected, it was a miracle.

“STEPPING UP TO THE RING IS A HERO COURSE STUDENT, IIDA TENYA, AND OUR ONE SUPPORT STUDENT TO MAKE IT THIS FAR, HATSUME-”

“Hatsume Mei, that’s right, sorry Mic, but this is my show now!  Don’t worry, I’ll return it to you once we’re done!”

Izuku winced at seeing Iida decked out in support gear, anything she hadn’t used in the cavalry battle and more, and knew exactly what Mei was about to do.  His battle might be next, but he had at least ten minutes before he even needed to think about going to the waiting room.

Still, protocol dictated that he head to his waiting room now, so he found himself pacing around the room, trying to remember everything he could about Setsuna.

He knew she was in class 1-B, and that she got in on recommendations, but other than that…

He thought back to the cavalry battle.  She had been on the team with Mina, and he’d seen her detach her hands to grab at headbands, so she could at least detach and probably reattach her hands, if not other parts of her body.

He got so lost in planning that when Mic’s voice came back on, signifying that Mei had relinquished the sound system and therefore probably given up, having done her advertising, he jumped a little before heading out.

He passed a disgruntled Iida and tried to offer him a smile before stepping back out into the arena.

He squinted in the bright light as Mic introduced them to the crowd’s cheers.

“IN ONE CORNER, WE HAVE OUR FAVORITE LIZARD GIRL, SETSUNA TOGAKE OF CLASS 1-B!  AND IN THE OTHER CORNER, OUR UNDEFEATED FIRST PLACE, MIDORIYA IZUKU OF CLASS 1-A!  A BATTLE OF THE HERO CLASSES, WHO WILL WIN?!”

Midnight grinned.  “Good clean match, eh?  Give ‘em a show, kiddies!  FIGHT!”

Izuku lit up green, darting forward to try and catch her off guard, but he just went through her.

He literally went through her.

Her body had split apart, flying a few feet away in all different directions, letting him pass through harmlessly.  He whirled around to face her as she reformed with a grin.

“Mr. Undefeated First Place, huh?  We’ll have to change that!”

She darted forward, suddenly on the offensive, and her hand flew faster than she did, curling into a fist and barely missing his head as he pushed One for All to 5%, dodging out of the way.

“Aw, come on!  I knew Mina’s classmates would be cool, but you’re just too fast, dude!”

“Um,” he said, avoiding her hands still, “I think your quirk is really cool!  Since Present Mic called you a lizard, if a part of your body got destroyed or was otherwise unable to reattach, would it regrow, like a lizard’s tail?”

She snorted.  “You’re asking about my quirk in the middle of our match?  Monoma was right, you are a little crazy.”

Izuku flushed.  “He-he said that?”

“Nah, he just said you had a love and knowledge of quirks, which to me, means crazy.  But yeah, I can regrow parts, but it sucks and takes a lot of time and energy, so I avoid that.”

He nodded to himself.  “Then, is that also why you have sharp teeth?”

“Yep!”  She grinned, showing them off.  “Just the fangs, for the most part, but all my teeth are a little pointy.  You’re pretty funny, Midoriya.”

“Um, thanks?”

He darted forward, grabbing at her arm to try and throw her, but she just detached her arm and stepped back several feet.

“Can you feel your detached limbs?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m really sorry.”

Her eyes widened and he took her left arm and snapped the upper part before setting it on the ground.  Her eyes watered as she bit back a scream and the arm limped back to her, reattaching but still being at a bad angle.

“Smart,” she gasped, “I’m down an arm.”

She grinned and the lower half of her arm detached.

“But not all of it!”

She went in for a punch again, but it was a feint, and she caught him in the ribs with her right hand before gripping his arms and starting to push him back towards the edge of the arena.

Izuku dug in his feet, not able to get a good grip on the hands and only the hands that were pushing with the full force of her body behind them, but he delivered a boosted pinch to both hands, making her swear and loosen her grip.

He slipped out and rammed into her, sending her staggering back and hissing at how it jostled her arm.

“I'm really really sorry!”

She grinned even as he pushed her further.  “You’re one weird guy, Midoriya.  It’s a fight, why are you apologizing?”

He picked her up and tossed her out.  She turned to land on her good side, but her attempts to keep herself in bounds were unsuccessful and the crowd went wild as Midnight called the match.

Izuku hurried over to her, wringing his hands.

“Are you ok?  Can I take you to Recovery Girl?  Oh jeez…”

She laughed, hauling herself to her feet and extending her right hand for a handshake.

“Sure, us greenies gotta look out for each other and all that.”

Recovery Girl clucked her tongue as they arrived, but gave Setsuna a kiss before turning to him.

“It was a clean break.  If you have to break someone’s arm, that’s the way to do it, but don’t make a habit of it!”

He nodded rapidly, bowed, to Setsuna’s laugh, and hurried out, wanting to see if he could catch the match between Tokoyami and Mina.  If he had to guess, Tokoyami would probably win, if only because Dark Shadow couldn’t be hurt by her acid, but she was pretty slick, pardon the pun.

The crowd cheered just as he reached the 1-A viewing box.

“Denki!  Who won?”

The electric boy grinned.  “Hey, Zuku!  Nice win!  But anyway, Tokoyami won.  It took him a while to catch her, but once he did, ring out.”

He sighed.  “Man, I figured, but still, it would have been cool if she had won.  Dark Shadow is really powerful, though, and Tokoyami is nothing to scoff at either.”

Eijirou chuckled.  “True, and you get to fight him next!”

“I have a plan.”

Denki doubled over laughing.  “Well, duh, you’re Dr. Mido!  The man with a plan!”

Izuku rolled his eyes and sat down as the next match was announced.

“OUR SPARKLING FRENCHMAN AOYAMA YUGA, IN ONE CORNER, VERSUS THE QUEEN OF CREATION, YAOYOROZU MOMO!  WHO WILL TAKE VICTORY BETWEEN OUR 1-A COMPETITORS?!”

Midnight called for the start and Momo brought out a circular shield and a long pole.  Upon closer inspection, not only was the shield concave, or curling away from her, but it was mirrored.

“These two have fought before, in training, and it was a close battle.  I wonder how much they’ve learned from that fight.”

“THIS IS THE KIND OF COMMENTARY AND BACKSTORY WE NEED!  A REMATCH; WILL THE OUTCOME REMAIN THE SAME, OR WILL THE UNDERDOG RISE TO THE CHALLENGE?  WHO KNOWS, NOT ME, I DON’T ACTUALLY KNOW THE OUTCOME OF THAT FIGHT!”

“Yaoyorozu won, barely.”

“WILL OUR DAZZLING BLOND BE ABLE TO TAKE HIS REVENGE?”

As it turned out, no.  Momo had learned from that battle, and every time Aoyama shot at her, she captured it with her curved shield and sent it right back to him, getting closer to hitting with every shot.  Izuku could only imagine how difficult it would be to aim that, but she was actively getting better all the time, until finally, a shot hit him.  Multiplied by the mirrored surface, it hit him like a sack of bricks and hurled him out of the arena.  She didn’t even use her staff for more than playing keep away and so she would have enough distance to catch the beams.

“THE QUEEN HAS NOT BEEN OVERTHROWN!  YAOYOROZU MOMO IS OUR WINNER!  WE ARE HALFWAY THROUGH ROUND ONE, FOLKS, THAT’S RIGHT, FOUR MORE MATCHED FOR ROUND ONE!”

Izuku looked up to realize Eijirou had already gone, since he was walking onto the field with a huge grin.

“THE KING OF MANLINESS-”

“Please stop giving people royal titles.”

“-THE MANLIEST MAN, KIRISHIMA EIJIROU, A ROCK SOLID FRIEND, OR SO I’VE HEARD, VERSUS THE HUMAN BOMB, BAKUGO KATSUKI!  TIME TO ANSWER THE AGE OLD QUESTION OF THE UNSTOPPABLE FORCE VERSUS THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT!!!!”

Midnight called for the start and Eijirou crossed his arms in front of his face as Bakugo lunged, palms popping.

Izuku already knew how this would go.  Eijirou would last a long time, since they had been practicing, but he wouldn’t last long enough for Bakugo to overexert himself and even if he did, Bakugo embodied Plus Ultra to the fullest if it meant winning.

Five minutes later, a powerful explosion sent Eijirou out of the ring, passed out.

The next battle was between two blonds, Denki and Monoma, the class 1-B kid that Izuku had embarrassed himself in front of the other day who apparently talked about him to at least Setsuna.  Honestly, Izuku wasn’t sure how this one would go.  Sure, Denki was a human taser and discouraged getting touched for a copy, but Monoma had no doubt come prepared with some of his classmate’s quirks, so he’d have to see what the boy had before he could make an actual decision.

“CLASS B’S OWN COPY MACHINE VERSUS THE GENERATOR OF CLASS A!  ANOTHER BATTLE OF THE HERO CLASSES, HOW WILL THIS TURN OUT?”

“Fight!”

Denki lunged forward, body lit up yellow as lightning arced across his skin, and Monoma laughed and yelled something at him before Denki slammed into an invisible wall.  Denki recoiled a little, reeling from the impact, when Monoma punched forward.  A second air displacement, stronger than the first, followed the punch after a split second delay and Denki found himself stumbling backwards again.

Monoma slammed his hands to the ground, causing the concrete to ripple, but Denki found his feet and jumped forward, extending a hand that crackled.

Monoma’s eyes widened and he tried to slide back, but Denki connected and he jolted before he managed to get away.  His hair was rising a little from his head, filled with static, but he righted himself and grinned.

Izuku could actually hear the yell this time.

“You fool!  Now I have a copy of your quirk!  See how it feels when it’s turned against you!”

Izuku sucked in a breath as Monoma released all the electricity at once, Denki backing up to avoid the brunt of it, and when it cleared, Monoma was out, thumbs up and expression empty.

“Monoma is unable to continue!  Kaminari moves on!”

The crowd cheered and Izuku watched Denki walk over with a wince before sending a small shock through Monoma, causing the other boy to start and come back to awareness.  His eyes narrowed and he immediately started to ask questions, or so Izuku assumed, since they walked off the field together with Denki grinning wryly.  It was the expression he always had when Izuku was asking anyone a bunch of questions.

“OUR FINAL MATCH OF ROUND ONE, THE PACKAGE MASTER, SERO HANTA OF THE HERO COURSE, VERSUS OUR LAST NON HERO COMPETITOR, THE SURPRISE FOURTH PLACE IN THE CAVALRY BATTLE, SHINSOU HITOSHI!”

Shinsou said something to Sero right before Midnight called for the start, and the next thing Izuku knew, Sero was walking out of bounds.

That.

Was.

AWESOME!

Izuku couldn’t wait to figure out what the hell had just happened, because it already looked really cool.  He would really have to track the purple haired boy down later, because that seemed really useful, whatever it was.  Was it mind control, body control, suggestion, or maybe even something like Midnight’s quirk?

“NOW THAT WAS FAST!  BUT NOW WE’RE IN ROUND TWO OF ROUND THREE, MATCH ONE!  GOODNESS, WRAP YOUR HEADS AROUND ALL THOSE NUMBERS!  FIRST UP, WE HAVE THE FROSTY TODOROKI VERSUS SPEEDY IIDA!  WILL IIDA BE FAST ENOUGH TO DODGE THE WINTER CHILL?  LET’S FIND OUT!”

Midnight called for the start and it was over in an instant, a huge glacier covering half the arena and casting a shadow over the viewing booths.

“I-IT SEEMS LIKE TODOROKI DIDN’T WANT TO RISK IT AND COMPLETELY FROZE HIS OPPONENT BEFORE HE COULD MOVE!  TODOROKI MOVES ON AFTER WHAT MIGHT BE THE SHORTEST MATCH IN HISTORY!”

The crowd called out to Iida, telling him not to mind, and Izuku’s heart went out to the boy.  First he was used as an advertisement for Mei, then he was frozen solid without a real chance to even try.  It didn’t seem like Todoroki to use such overwhelming power, and this time he barely melted Iida before walking off, alone.

“I HOPE OUR SECOND ROUND FIGHTERS ARE MAKING THEIR WAY DOWN, BUT WE WILL NEED A FEW MINUTES TO CLEAR THE ICE FROM THE ARENA, SO HANG TIGHT!”

Oh, right, he should probably go.

He passed Todoroki in the hallway.

“H-hey, congrats on your…”

The boy brushed past him, eyes simmering with anger, but Izuku knew it wasn’t directed at him.  It wasn’t directed at Iida, either, but it still made Izuku flinch at its intensity.

Todoroki didn’t even seem to notice him.

He stepped out into the arena as Mic called to introduce the next match, taking a few deep breaths and running back over his plan.  Sure, it was simple, but that also meant it was adaptable in case things went wrong.

“IN ONE CORNER, OUR GREEN LEGEND, MIDORIYA!  VERSUS!  THE RAVEN OF THE NIGHT, TOKOYAMI!”

Izuku powered up One for All to the creaking 6%, and as soon as Midnight started the match, he lunged forward, ducking and weaving around Dark Shadow before the bird-like creature could react and grabbed Tokoyami around the waist, heaving him backwards.

Shadow claws dug into the ground, stopping the boy just before the boundary line.

“The same trick will not work again, creature of light.”

Izuku grinned.  “I dunno, I think I’m faster than you and Dark Shadow.”

The bird in question cackled.  “Me and Fumi can beat you!”

In response, they both lunged again, but when Izuku ducked under Dark Shadow, Tokoyami was no longer where he had been standing.  The hairs on the back of his neck prickled and he threw himself to the ground, feeling Dark Shadow fly over him by the wind.

He flung himself to his feet and dialed up One for All to 7%.

He tackled Tokoyami before he could move again and threw him again, this time aiming a bit more up, and he desperately tried to stop himself again, but it was too late.

“Tokoyami is out of bounds!  Midoriya wins!”

Tokoyami sighed and bowed.  “It was a good fight.”  Dark Shadow poked his head out.

“You were cool!  Fumi wants to be your friend!”

“Dark Shadow!  Cease this instant!”

Izuku giggled.  “I’d like to be friends with you two too!  Thanks for the good match!”

He waved as they walked away and winced.  Going up to 7% had been what let him win, but it made him sore all around.  He stepped off the arena, heading back through the tunnels to where he would go back to the waiting booth.

A wave of heat washed over him and he sighed.  It felt nice.

Wait a minute.

His head shot up and he came face to face with a scowling fire.

No, wait, it was Endeavor.

“So, you will be fighting my Shouto next.”

“Um, yes, I guess so?”

He nodded with a sneer.  “Make sure you give him a good fight.  His past two opponents have been weak, but you seem strong enough to actually give him a challenge.  You’ll be a good stepping stone on his path to defeating All Might.”

Izuku’s eye flashed as the man turned away.  Ok, this man was a grade A dick.  Not only did he commit a felony, apparently, and was a child abuser who may or may not also be technically guilty of murder, but now he was actively belittling his classmates, who had worked really hard and were ten times the person he would ever be.

“Excuse me, Endeavor?”

He turned back with a raised eyebrow and a glare.

“I’m not All Might.”

“Clearly-”

“And Todo- Shouto isn’t you.”

Endeavor turned to face him more fully with a scowl.  “What are you getting at, boy?”

Izuku pursed his lips.  “When he becomes a great hero, it will have nothing to do with you.”

He felt the heat flare but he was already walking away to the stands, ducking into the safety of the public corridors and soon finding himself back in the 1-A booth.

“Yo, dude, nice job!  You’re going to the semifinals!”

Izuku ignored Eijirou and glanced up at the half and half boy who was looking impassively at the field, eyes still having that flare of anger in them.

“Todoroki.”

The boy looked at him, impassive.

“Your dad is a dick.”

He blinked, even as the rest of their classmates erupted into confusion, and Izuku saw the corner of his lip twist up before his expression flattened again.

“He is.”

The class had never been more confused, but Izuku just nodded and plopped down to watch Bakugo finish exploding Momo.

Cementoss reset the stage and Mic started introducing the next round.

“OUR DARK HORSE OF GEN ED, SHINSOU HITOSHI, VERSUS THE HUMAN TASER, KAMINARI DENKI!  WHO WILL WIN?!  HOPEFULLY THIS WON’T BE AS SHORT AND SHINSOU’S LAST MATCH!”

Shinsou smirked and said something that had Denki sputtering and blushing furiously, electricity flicking off of him.  He said something back and stilled, but not before Shinsou had his own light dusting of pink on his ears and cheeks.  He covered his eyes with his hands and muttered something that had Denki turning and walking out of the ring.

“DAMN, ANOTHER QUICK ONE!  SHINSOU MOVES ON TO THE SEMI FINALS, WHICH WILL START AFTER A FIFTEEN MINUTE BREAK WITH TODOROKI VERSUS MIDORIYA!  STAY TUNED FOLKS!”

Todoroki offered him a nod as he stood up to go prepare, and Izuku smiled.

He was decidedly not nervous.

Definitely not.

Chapter Text

They faced each other, maybe thirty seconds before the match was about to start, final preparations being made.

“Earlier.  What brought you to that conclusion?”

Conclusion?  Oh, right.

“He came and found me and lowkey threatened me because I was fighting you next.  I think I made him mad.”

Todoroki looked troubled.  “He spoke to you?”

Izuku chuckled.  “Yeah, it really hammered home how much of a dick he was.  I-I mean, I knew before, what with… what you told me…”

The boy nodded.  “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

Izuku shook his hands rapidly.  “It’s nothing, really!  Plus, he probably hates me now after what I said to him.”

Todoroki looked curious, but that was when Midnight called for the start.  “I will not hold back.”

Izuku frowned as he dodged the ice.  Wasn’t that exactly what Todoroki was doing?

He blinked at the sound of cracking and dove out of the way of the top of the iceberg cracking and falling off to where he had been standing.

The ice was meant for speed, not strength, to combat him Going Green.

It was smart, but Izuku could use that.

He kicked off the most recent ice column and the force of his jumps to climb higher left cracks in the slightly more fragile than usual ice, covering the two pillars he was jumping between with spiderweb cracks.  Once he reached the top, he grinned down at a squinting Todoroki.

“TIMBER!”

A sharp stomp sent the entire pillar falling to the ground, Izuku jumping to the other one for the same effect before he rode an ice chunk down to slam a fist into Todoroki’s jaw.

When he pulled back his hand, hurrying out of his immediate range while the boy recovered, he shook it out, feeling the cold.  He frowned and looked closer and saw frost arcing up Todoroki’s arms and right side, breath coming out in puffs.

“What happened to not holding back?”

Todoroki was confused for half a second before his expression hardened.  “I will never use his fire.”

Izuku felt a twinge of annoyance go through him.

He opened his mouth to say something but Todoroki just glared and sent a wave of jagged ice in his direction, forcing him to dodge.

“You know what I said to your father?!”

He was ignored.

“I said that when you become a great hero, it won’t be because of him!”

Todoroki blinked in shock.

Izuku laughed, running a hand through his hair.  “Yeah, I know you’re going to be a great hero, but it will have nothing to do with him, because you aren’t him.”

“Of course I’m not him.”

“Yeah?  Then why are you letting him control your life?”

Todoroki recoiled, but Izuku pressed on, shattering another spike of ice.  “You are your own person, Todoroki, you aren’t him!  And it’s not his power, it’s YOURS!”

On that final word, he punched Todoroki directly in the stomach, making him double over.

“Fight me with your fire, because it’s yours.  You can’t be a hero by only using half of your resources, or someone is going to die.”

He backed up slightly, shards of ice everywhere.  The last remaining spike crumbled, and the field was open.

The air should have felt cold, but the breaking ice has evened out the area completely, making it just cool over the usual warmth of the day.  Todoroki considered him as he recovered, cocking his head, before raising his left hand.

He watched as flames licked it, arcing lazily up his arm like a cat winding itself around your legs, and Izuku grinned.

“You’re insane.  You could have beaten me, went on to the finals, but instead, you made me stronger.  Why?”

Izuku smiled.  “Because.  You’re going to be a great hero.  All of you.  You did more damage to yourself than you did to me, and that didn’t sit right.  Your ice has always been beautiful but this…”

He gestured to the curling fire.

“Together, they make something ethereal.”

Todoroki smiled slightly, furrowing his brow.  “You’re very odd.”

Izuku grinned cheekily.  “Thanks!  Now, like you promised, no holding back.”

Frost curled up one arm and flames licked the other as Izuku pushed himself to 8%, the farthest he had ever gone.  It hurt, but the roar of adrenaline beat that back as he dashed forwards, meeting the whirlwind of ice and fire head on.

He knew he was getting hurt, but he just ducked and weaved and socked the other boy in the jaw, cutting off the elements and sending him reeling.  He prepared to go in for a grapple, to pick him up and throw him like he had done with his other opponents, but Midnight’s voice cut through.

“Todoroki is out of bounds!  Midoriya moves on!”

The two boys blinked at each other as the crowd erupted into cheers and it was like Izuku came back to himself.  He sucked in a breath at the prickling all over his torso and half of his face, wincing as he moved.

Todoroki looked concerned, but Izuku brushed him off.

“I’m fine, nothing Recovery Girl can’t fix.”  Izuku lit up.  “You made your ice faster!  It was really cool, even if it did weaken the structural integrity.  It was a good plan to catch me; if I hadn’t kept my distance, I would have been toast!  And that tornado you made?  It was so cool!  You have to try that again during training sometime, a whirling cone of fire and ice, wow…”

He trailed off as the blood rushed to his head and he stumbled.  Arms grabbed him to hold him upright, but he barely felt it.

He gazed up at the worried face he almost sort of didn’t recognize and murmured, “Pretty, just like your ice.”

His vision faded to black.

~~~~~

He woke to crisp white sheets and a tutting Recovery Girl.

“Better hurry, boy, if you want to fight in the finals.  You have about two minutes to get back to the field.  Hopefully your ten minute power nap was enough.”

He shot up, noting how he was sore, but otherwise unhurt, and not wearing the top half of his gym uniform.  Oh yeah, it had gotten destroyed by Todoroki - who he had called pretty, or maybe that was a dream, but regardless don’t think about it - but there was a new one laid out for him.

“Just over a minute, dearie.”

He quickly scrambled out the door, tugging the uniform top on as he went, and broke into a sprint.  The last match had been between Bakugo and Shinsou, and he honestly had no idea who he was facing, but he’d find out in a moment.

Somehow managing not to trip to the cheers and bright sunlight that immediately assaulted him as soon as he stepped out into the arena, taking his place.

“Good of you to join us, Midoriya!  Are you both ready?”

Still blinking away spots, Izuku nodded.

“AND THE BATTLE YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR, THE FINALS!  IN ONE CORNER, HERO COURSE STUDENT MIDORIYA IZUKU, THE GREEN LIGHTNING, THROWING PUNCHES AND COMPETITORS INDISCRIMINATELY.  HE’S TAKEN FIRST PLACE THE PAST TWO ROUNDS, CAN HE DO IT AGAIN?

IN THE OTHER CORNER, OUR DARK HORSE, WHO’S QUIRK WE DON’T REALLY KNOW ABOUT, GENERAL EDUCATION STUDENT SHINSOU HITOSHI, WHO REALLY LOOKS LIKE HE COULD USE A NAP!  WILL THIS BE THE SECOND TIME IN UA HISTORY THAT A GEN ED STUDENT TAKES THE CROWN, DETHRONING OUR SHORT GREEN LEGEND?  LET’S FIND OUT!”

Izuku perked up.  Shinsou?  That meant Bakugo had lost, and that also meant…

“Hey, you have the brainwashing quirk, right?”

The tall purple themed boy tensed.  “Yeah, what-”

“That’s so cool!”

The boy looked taken aback, but Izuku just kept going.

“I imagine that’s how you got out Kacchan.  He’s strong, sure, but he can’t resist opening his mouth, especially in the face of insults or whatever, so you probably did that.  But you have so much potential with a quirk like that!  I mean, you’re a dream in any hostage situation, since you can just brainwash them into releasing the hostages!  Villain takedown, all you need is your quirk!  Of course, like Eraserhead, you’ll probably need to have enough athletic skills to get close enough to use it, and no hero is a one trick pony, all that, but-”

“Dude, aren’t we supposed to be fighting?”

Izuku blinked and flushed, looking away nervously.  “O-oh, yeah, sorry-”

He was overcome with a fog and it was like looking at the world through a foggy glass.  He felt like he could curl up and sleep, his power nap not nearly enough, and he heard a deep voice pierce the fog.

“Turn around and walk out of the ring, Greenie.”

Obediently, with no thought, he turned to the side and began walking.  It was cozy, in his head, which felt a little odd.  He never thought of his head as a nice place to hang out, since that was where he pushed all the negativity he had heard all his life down, but it was like being wrapped in a down duvet, and honestly, it was pretty nice.  Not even Mic’s exclamations could knock him out of it.  If Shinsou told him to sleep, he would no doubt be out before he finished the last syllable.

Like jumping into the pool, he was suddenly back in his own body, and the roar of the crowd was deafening.  He almost wanted to block out all the noise, but he caught the tail end of Mic.

“-AND WITH THAT, WE HAVE OUR FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL WINNER!  THIS DAY WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY, FOLKS!  GIVE IT UP FOR SHINSOU HITOSHI!”

Izuku whirled around with a grin to where the other boy was looking a little uncomfortable, but he was smiling still.  Then he caught Izuku’s eyes and his expression went carefully blank.

Izuku rushed over and he stumbled back, but Izuku was too excited to notice.

“OH MY GOD!  Shinsou, that was SO.  COOL .  Voice activation, right?  Since you said something, I replied, boom, I was gone.  I was right, that would be so handy, I don’t even think I can tell you all the ways that would be useful, oh my god, I’d want to study it more, because being in my own head was not like I thought it would be.  It felt like hypnosis, or what I think hypnosis would feel like, since I’ve never had it happen to me, but still-!”

“Stop.”

Like he was still controlled, Izuku’s mouth snapped shut and he blinked, bewildered.

Shinsou looked just as confused.  “You… don’t hate me?”

Izuku blinked again.  “Hate you?  Why would I hate you?”

“Because I brainwashed you…?”

“Of course you brainwashed me, it was a fight.”

His eyes glazed over for a moment before he was smacked back.  “You just responded, even though you know that’s how I can activate my quirk.”

“Yeah?”

“You… you’re crazy, all of you in the Hero Course are crazy, oh my god…”

Izuku giggled and looked away.  “Yeah, so I’ve been told.  I think me and the rest of the trio are the worst of it…”

Shinsou almost opened his mouth to ask, then shook his head.

Midnight sauntered over.  “Not to interrupt your lovely chat, but it’s time for the awards ceremony.  Normally it would be delayed, but since our last two matches were pretty harmless, sin the grand scheme of things, everyone is ready to go right now if you two are.”

Izuku beamed.  “Yep!  I’m good!  Shinsou?”

The boy shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Midnight smirked.  “Perfect!”

She snapped her fingers and Cementoss nodded, raising three platforms, the center one being the tallest.

“AND NOW FOR OUR AWARDS!  WILL OUR THIRD PLACE FINISHERS PLEASE COME TO THE ARENA?!”

Izuku glanced at the tunnels to see Bakugo scowling as he stalked out and Todoroki striding, unpressed for time.  He offered a wave to the heterochromatic boy, who returned it after a moment.

They took their places on the platforms, and Mic took back over.

“THIS YEAR, OUR AWARDS ARE BEING PRESENTED BY OUR NEWEST ADDITION TO STAFF - THAT’S RIGHT, LET’S GIVE IT UP FOR ALL MIGHT!”

With a boom, All Might touched down onto the field, about ten feet away.  The wind made them stumble a bit, but none of them fell, and the crowd got even louder.

“I AM HERE!  To present the medals!”  He smiled impossibly wide.

“FOR THIRD PLACE,” Mic announced, “TODOROKI SHOUTO AND BAKUGO KATSUKI!  LET’S MAKE SOME NOISE!”

All Might placed the two medals around each of their necks and gave them both hugs, whispering in their ears.  Izuku couldn’t believe Bakugo was accepting the hug, but then again, it was All Might, so that might have had something to do with it.  The blonde caught him looking and scowled at him, so Izuku looked away.

“IN SECOND PLACE, MIDORIYA IZUKU!”

All Might smiled at him and placed the heavy silver medal around his neck.  “Excellent work, young Midoriya!”  He hugged him, and whispered, “You made me very proud.”

Izuku felt like he heart was going to beat out of his chest and his face hurt from the splitting grin he had no doubt he was wearing.

“AND FIRST PLACE, MAKING HISTORY, IS SHINSOU HITOSHI!!!!”

All Might hung the last medal and boomed, “OUR VICTORS!”

The crowd went wild and Izuku smiled.  His mom was probably sobbing buckets at home.

~~~~~

“IZUKU!”

He got pounced on from three different directions as Eijirou, Denki, and Mina all came in to give him a hug.

Eijirou pulled back, sniffing, and patted him on the shoulder.  “You did us proud, bro, bring the Traffic Light Trio to victory like that!”

Mina grinned.  “Saw you talking to Cute Boy!  His quirk get you excited?”

Izuku nodded rapidly.  “Yeah!  It’s so cool!  I hope he makes it into the Hero Course, like he said he wanted to, because it’s a really great quirk for heroics!”

Denki sighed.  “Yeah, that would be awesome.”

The other three stared at him with knowing grins and he scowled, looking away.  “His quirk would be super good, like Zuku said!  I was agreeing with that part of the statement!”

“Sure,” Mina snickered, poking him in the ribs, “ that’s the part you were agreeing with.”

He looked her dead in the eye.  “Nice to meet you, I’m Kari.”

She gasped and fell to her knees, immediately begging and pleading to be forgiven, but Denki just grinned at Izuku again.  “So what the heck happened in your Todoroki fight?  He never uses his fire!”

Eijirou hummed.  “Maybe he likes it when people yell at him?”

Izuku flushed and rapidly shook his head.  “No, that wasn’t it, it was just, um, I don’t-”

“Midoriya helped me.”

He stiffened and whirled around, stumbling a little, but two hands caught his arms and set him back upright, one hot, one cold.

“T-Todoroki,” he squeaked, “you snuck up on me!”

He blinked. “Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to startle you.  Are you…”

He trailed off, looking at Izuku’s chest and the green boy nodded, certain he looked like a strawberry right now.

“Y-yeah, Recovery Girl patched me up, apparently I was only out for ten minutes.”  He chuckled.  “Good thing, too, or I wouldn’t have been able to talk to Shinsou!”

Todoroki nodded.  “I’m glad you’re alright.”  Without another word, piece apparently said, he turned and left.

“You helped him, huh?”

He turned back, frowning, feeling his blush fade.  “I, um, yes?  He was hurting himself, just using his ice…”

Mina nodded, solemn, from where she was still sitting on the floor.  “Frostbite’s nasty, yo!”  She grinned, all solemnity gone.  “Tell me, was his fire just as pretty as his ice, just like you thought?”

Oh god, she still remembered that lunch from two weeks ago?

“Um, very pretty…”

“Zuks, she was asking about the fire, not the boy.”

He squeaked and buried his face in his hands.

“Did I really say that to him…?”

Denki visibly perked up, even though Izuku couldn’t see him.  “Say what?  Oh man, what did you say?”

Izuku was mortified, but he knew they weren’t going to stop bugging him about it until either he told them to back off (which he wouldn’t, this wasn’t really a big deal) or he gave in.

“I… might have called him pretty before I passed out.”

Denki guffawed.  “Dude, you called him pretty and then passed out in his arms?  Holy shit, that’s way worse than telling Shinsou his voice is hot!”

Eijirou chuckled.  “Sometimes we need our brains to be on autopilot to get past ourselves and say what we really feel!  That was pretty manly of you, Zuks!”

Mina cackled, rolling on the floor.  “Oh my god!  And then, and then, when he startled you, he grabbed you, and you looked like a tomato , oh my god, this is the best!  She took a few deep breaths and hauled herself to her feet.  “Ok, I’m good now, this is fine, I think the teachers are going to start kicking us out soon, we should go home, but we will definitely keep this conversation going over the group chat!”

Izuku whimpered and hung his face in his hands again.  “We really don’t need to.”

Denki grinned and started walking away.  “Oh,” he called back, “we really do!  See you guys later!”

They all waved goodbye and Izuku smiled, fingering his silver medal.  Yeah, home sounded nice.

~~~~~

Shouto was trying to avoid his father as long as possible, but when the blond kid who had lost to Kaminari cornered him, he blinked.

“You,”  Monoma hissed (that was his name, right?), jabbing a finger in his face, “you stay away from the one good thing 1-A has before you corrupt him with your ego and pride!”

The one good…?

“Oh, you mean Midoriya?”

“Yes!  I saw you getting all chummy in your fight, but don’t think your quirk is cooler than mine!  I can have your quirk any day of the week, so don’t get too high on your horse!”

Shouto blinked.  His quirk…?

Monoma leaned back, talking to himself more than Shouto, looking worried.

“I can have all the quirks, I’m cool, way cooler than this 1-A schmuck, yeah, way cooler…”  he looked up, eyes blazing.  “So stay away from Midoriya if you know what’s good for you!”

Shouto blinked as the blond walked away (in triumph…?) and shrugged internally.  Stay away from Midoriya?

No, he thought, picturing that beaming smile, he didn’t think he would.

Chapter Text

“As you might have noticed,” Aizawa drawled, “due to his poor performance of not making it to the second round in the Sport’s Festival, Mineta has been booted to General Studies and we have a new student.”

Denki looked both mortified and excited as the door opened.

“This is Shinsou Hitoshi, who you all know won the festival.  Be nice or I will expel you.  Shinsou, you’re behind Midoriya.”

Shinsou’s face visibly filled with resignation, but he sighed good-naturedly and walked over, completely ignoring the small wave the blond on the other side of the room sent him.

“Oh another note, the purpose of the festival was to secure you internships,” their teacher clicked a button and a hologram displayed a graph of the top ten people who got the most offers, “and as such, agencies put out requests.  If you didn’t get any, there’s a pool that you can choose from.”

The top was actually Todoroki, with Bakugo next, then Izuku, then Shinsou, and so on.

“Come on,” Denki complained, “Shinsou got first and he has the fourth most offers?  What BS is this?”

Todoroki sighed in the back of the room.  “They saw my name and just sent…”

Ignoring them, Aizawa continued.  “In the internships, you will be training under real heroes and officially be out on the field.  That means you’ll need-”

“HERO NAMES!”  Midnight kicked open the door, waltzing in.  “Which is where I come in, because Eraser over here is terrible at names!”

“You named a cat Sushi.”

“And you didn’t even come UP with your hero name,” she quipped back, not even looking in his direction, “so I’m here to help!  Be warned, you can change these, but if you gain a lot of notoriety under the name you pick, it will stick!”

They passed out white boards and markers and Izuku stared down at his, completely unsure.  He had no idea what he wanted his hero name to be, not even an inkling.

Eijirou got up first with a grin.

“I’ve actually had this one picked out since I was a kid!  The Sturdy Hero: Red Riot!”

Izuku briefly noted the call back to Crimson Riot before his brain latched onto the “red.”  he looked over at Denki and saw the blond grinning back.

“Are we really doing this?”  He mouthed.

Denki grinned and shot him a thumbs up.

The boy quickly scrawled something and shot up, racing to the front.  “The Stun Gun Hero: Yellow Flash!”

Midnight made an ex with her arms.  “Copyrighted, try again.”

Denki blinked.  “Copy…?  Oh yeah, that.  Uh, then, the Yellow Shock!  Does that work?”

Midnight nodded as Mina giggled.  “No way, are you guys really gonna do it?”

Izuku got up sheepishly, trying to hold back his smile.  “The Hero that Never Stops: Green Lightning.  Yeah, Green Lightning.”  Just like Mic had called him in that final round, it sounded right.

Mina burst out laughing, clutching her sides.  “Hell yeah, Green Light!  The Traffic Light Trio will be unstoppable!”

Denki and Eijirou both flashed him a thumbs up.  Midnight hummed.

“Similar names… are you three planning on being a hero team?”

They exchanged bewildered glances.  A hero team?

She chuckled, catching on to their confusion.  “The Wild Wild Pussycats, for example, are a hero team.  They all have cat themed hero names and have similar outfits, plus they work together quite frequently.  You don’t have to decide now, of course, but it’s something to think about!  Not many heroes form teams, but there are certainly benefits to it.”

The rest of the class slowly picked out their hero names (Mina’s “Alien Queen” got shot down, and Izuku’s heart went out to her), when Iida got up.

“Tenya.”

Midnight frowned.  “Your given name…?  Are you sure?”

He nodded stiffly.

“Glasses,” Bakugo growled, “I can tell you’re thinking something stupid.  Stop it, it’s not like you.”

Everyone turned to him, bewildered.  That was the second time he had sort of complimented someone, even if it was a little backhanded.

Iida pushed up his glasses, hiding his eyes behind the glare.  “Then do you propose a better name?”

“I dunno, Turbo or some shit.  Engine Boy, Speedracer, Donkey Man.”

“...Donkey Man?”

Bakugo nodded.  “Cuz you kick.”

Iida blinked several times then wandered back to his seat.  “I will think more on my hero name.”

Midnight shifted and smiled uneasily.  “Right, who do we still have left?  Oh, Shinsou, you haven’t gone!”

Izuku heard the boy sigh and groan under his breath as he hauled himself to his feet.  He was looking away from the class with a bored expression as he flipped up his board for them to see.

“The Sleepy Hero: Hypnos.”

Midnight blinked. “Hypnos?  Like, the Greek god?  But that has nothing to do with your quirk.”

He nodded.  “Underground, I want to mislead people.  But brainwashing and hypnosis are pretty similar, so it still works.  Plus… well, I’m tired, so.”

Midnight and several students chuckled, and she gave him her approval.  Izuku flashed him a smile as he sat down and he rolled his eyes.

“Todoroki, did you think of one?”

The boy blinked, then stood up with a light frown.

He got to the front and considered his board for a moment, before turning it around.  

“The Elemental Hero: Equilibrium.”

Midnight hummed in appreciation.  “Balanced out, fire and ice.  I like it!  You pass!”

Izuku sent the boy a beaming smile as he passed him, causing Todoroki to blink before moving back to his seat.  Eh, he’ll take it.

“And with that,” Midnight cracked her whip and swung her hips, “my part is done!  Turn in those internship forms to your teacher by the end of the week, kiddos!”

She sauntered out, and people immediately grouped with their friends.  Izuku watched Bakugo stalk over and kick Iida’s desk, growling something, but Izuku was too busy getting to his own friends to really pay attention.

“Guys,” Eijirou grinned, “you did the color thing too?”

Denki chuckled.  “We were inspired!  I dunno about Zuku, but I had no idea, then I heard you with your red, and suddenly it all became clear!”

Izuku hummed.  “I really didn’t have any clue what I was going to do, but I was reminded of how Mic announced me in my final fight with Shinsou, and, well, it sounded like a good idea!”

Denki perked up.  “Speaking of!  Yo, Shinsou, come hang!”

The boy’s head pulled itself off the desk slowly and he squinted across the room at their group.  His eyes went from Izuku, to Mina, to Denki, and he shook his head and plopped back down to nap. Mina giggled.

“Looks like Cute Boy has had enough of us!”

“Aw, man, don’t be like that!  I promise we’ll be quiet, really!”

Izuku snorted.  “You really can’t promise that, Denki.”

“I can try!”

Shinsou turned his head to face them with pursed lips and calculating eyes.  Denki grinned and gestured for him to come over, and whatever internal battle Shinsou was having seemed to reach its conclusion, because he sighed and got up, bringing his stack of offers with him.

“What.”

“So,” Denki immediately started, “Hypnos?  I didn’t know you knew any greek gods!  Maybe I should have gone with Zeus, eh?”

“But then you wouldn’t have gone with the color theme,” Izuku pointed out.

Denki hummed.  “True.  Right, internships!  Who are you guys thinking of going with?”

Eijirou pumped a fist into the air.  “Fourth Kind seems really manly!  I was thinking of going with him!”

“Does he do a lot of close combat?”

Eijirou frowned.  “Uh, no I don’t think so.  Oh, right, we were going to get better at that!  Shoot, now I have to look at close combat heroes.”

“Do you have Gunhead?”  Izuku leaned over to check his list.  “His epithet is the Battle hero, I think, so he would be a decent pick, and I think Fury Fighter is in his agency too…  Mina, who are you picking?”

“Poison Party!”  She cheered.  “They have a similar quirk to mine, and I wanna learn how to deal with the stigmatisms and get some tips!”

“The… eye problem?”

She blinked.  “That wasn’t the word I was looking for, was it?”

He shook his head.

“Rats,” she snapped her finger, “but I’ll get it.  Biases, or whatever, that’s what I meant.”

Denki patted her on the shoulder.  “Yeah, I get it, words are hard, man.”

Shinsou raised an eyebrow.  “Based on the impression I got from Midoriya I would have figured you were the smart kids.”

Denki and Mina burst out laughing, wiping away a few tears.

“No way,” Mina murmured breathlessly, “Izuku has all the braincells in this relationship.  We just borrow them for pranks!”

Shinsou nodded slowly.  “…Noted.  On a completely unrelated note, I think I hear punk rock girl calling my name.”

He wandered to the back of the classroom, ignoring the dramatic weeping and moaning coming from the two class clowns to join the quiet and calm section of the room, also known as the back corner.  Izuku caught Momo’s eye and waved with a smile.

“Aw man,” Denki sighed, “we didn’t even get to hear where he was going!”

Izuku giggled.  “Probably someone underground, if they sent in any offers.  Where are you going again?”

Denki grinned.  “I have an offer from Stormy Weather!  She does all this crazy weather manipulation for rescues and stuff, and I thought it would be neat to go to someone who also has experience with electricity and stuff!”

Izuku’s eyes sparkled.  “Oh, I know her!  Yeah, that’s a great choice!”

“What about you, Zuku?”

Izuku looked down at his stack of papers.  “I dunno, but we have till the end of the week.  I have to do a lot of research to find the best fit!”

Eijirou chuckled.  “Yeah, that sounds like you.  Just remember to get some sleep too, you know?  Not manly to let yourself waste away in the name of research.”

Izuku nodded fervently.  “Of course!”

~~~~~

“GENERATOR!”

Denki just sighed and covered his food, bracing himself for Mei to flop onto their table, once again having no actual food with her but various parts of machines instead.

“Hi Mei, yeah, I’m doing well, thanks for asking, what about you?”

“Generator,” she ignored him, “you have no idea how much attention my babies got!  It’s all thanks to you!  In thanks, I’m willing to go out of my way and add one upgrade to your costume for free!  What would you like!”

Denki blinked.  “Wait, what?”

Mei rolled her eyes.  “I’m making you a baby because I got a lot of offers and investors.  Pick something and I’ll make it for you.”

Denki just looked at Izuku.

Izuku took the initiative, pulling out his notebook.  “Well, you already have the staff for a mid range weapon, and you added in the metal knuckles for the extra short range punch, so maybe a long range weapon?  Something that could act as a conductor for your electricity so that it doesn’t lose power as it goes out, but hopefully something either easy to use or familiar…”

Mei nodded sagely.  “Got it, thanks!”

She bounded off, sweeping the machine parts into her arms and running back out of the cafeteria.

“What the fuck?”

Eijirou just grinned.  “She’s pretty fun!”

“Yeah,” Mina giggled, “she’s a riot!  Gives a good name for the pink squad!”

Izuku blinked.  “The pink squad?”

“Yep!  Shinsou is an honorary member, because he’s purple.”

That explained nothing.

“Mr. Hero!!!!”

Izuku jumped as an invisible girl jumped on him, sliding rapidly into the seat next to him.

“H-Hagakure?”

“Yep!  Anyway, Mr. Hero, you’re suuuuper smart, can you help me pick an internship offer?  I only get to choose from the forty who always take people, but I know nothing about them!”

“Um, sure, I guess?  Can I see the list?”

She brandished it and he looked it over, deep in thought.  It was a pretty wide selection.

“You might want to try this agency here.  If I’m right, that’s where the underground hero Ghost works.  His quirk isn’t well known, but when he holds his breath he… well, I guess he basically doesn’t exist?  It’s called Erase Presence… But anyway, he does a lot of stealth and infiltration, and they might pair you up with him, since your quirks are related.”

Hagakure squealed and he felt her hugging him.  “Thanks so much, Mr. Hero!  You know all the cool and obscure facts!  Oh, Mina, are we still on for Saturday?”

Mina laughed.  “You know it!  See you then!”

“Yeah!  Bye traffic lights, bye Mina, bye Mr. Hero!”

Izuku watched the floating uniform leave.  “She does know my name, right?”

“Probably!”

Not helpful, Mina.

Izuku heard Bakugo yelling a table over and his ears couldn’t help but tune in.

“Oi!  Icy Hot!  You’re going with your dad in Hosu, right?”

“He will most likely be there to go after the Hero Killer, yes.  Why?”

“Make sure Glasses doesn’t do anything fucking stupid, got that?”

“I don’t really understand, but it is noble of you to be concerned for your friend.”

“Literally no one fucking asked you.”

Oh, Izuku remembered, the Hero Killer.

Who had just hospitalized and paralyzed the Turbo Hero: Ingenium.

Oh.

That was Iida’s brother.

Now he understood why Bakugo had been unusually passive this morning, and was so adamant about making sure Iida didn’t do anything stupid.  If Iida was interning in Hosu, the site of his brother’s attack, then there was a good chance his reasoning was to get revenge.  Not very hero like, but this was his brother, and anger could make you do terrible things.

Bakugo knew that first hand, and didn’t want his friend (for there was no doubt that Iida was his friend, even if just because of constant pestering) to go down the same path and make the same mistakes.

He looked down at his offers again, and thought of the one All Might had given him personally.

Maybe he could look for something in Hosu?

“Oh, looking to follow around Todoroki, are we?”

He jolted.  “Uh, did I say that out loud?”

Mina chuckled.  “Don’t worry, Big Sis Mina will help you score the boy, you don’t have to follow him to his internship for that!”

“That’s-that’s not why I wanted t-to go to Hosu!”

Denki snorted.  “Of course, of course…”

“Don’t worry, bro,” Eijirou said solemnly, “we support you in your endeavors.”

Izuku sighed.  They wouldn’t listen to his completely reasonable excuse, but whatever, internships would probably still go well.

Only time would tell.

Chapter Text

“Off the floor, boy!”

Izuku groaned and picked himself up.  He remembered what it felt like to push himself cleaning the beach, and wondered if this was better or worse.  Probably better since it was actually fighting and combat he was being taught instead of just hauling broken machinery, but his body was sore enough that it was screaming this was worse.

Gran Torino was a good mentor, in Izuku’s opinion.  Sure, he saw why All Might was scared of him, but he was actually getting taught!

He had gotten a little spooked when he thought the old man was dead, but weeks of pranks from Eiji and Denki and Mina made him smell the ketchup and sausages soon enough, and then he just laughed and helped the man clean up. After pretending to have amnesia (yeah, another staple of pranks, honestly) Gran Torino gave him a grunt of approval.

“And Toshinori taught you this… Going Green?”

Izuku blushed and shook his head.  No, he explained, he had been inspired looking at his friends’ quirks.  Regulating power from Denki, and distributing it from Ei.  Gran Torino had laughed.

“Of course, that fool doesn’t know the first thing about teaching!”

Izuku hated to say anything bad about his mentor, but yeah, he had to admit, the number one hero was not the greatest at teaching.  Sure, he had his moments, but it was clear the man was not used to dealing with children and teenagers beyond giving them encouraging words.  He had said it before, and he’ll say it again, All Might did nothing to teach him how to use One for All.

“Clench your butt cheeks and yell smash” is not a helpful tip.

So, Gran Torino had him learning maneuverability and combat in the air.

He made it up to 6% consistently, and could push 7% if he needed to, but not for long.  6% was constantly on now, and he barely had to think about keeping it up.  By the end of the second day, he could push 9% for about ten minutes before his bones started creaking.  Gran Torino had the quirk Air Jet, that let him speed around by expelling air through the holes in his feet, so Izuku got a good taste of how to use his speed to his advantage.

He also got a good taste of the floor and the bottom of Gran’s boot.

“Get up, boy, we still have work to do before dinner!  If you’re good, I’ll take you on patrol!”

Izuku perked up, jumping up with an energy he hadn’t had a moment ago.  “Really?  A patrol?”

Gran snorted.  “Wouldn’t do to have you get used to fighting me.  But you still need to land a hit on me before I even think about it, brat.  Hope you’re ready-”

In the middle of his last sentence, he leapt forward, but Izuku was long since used to it and dove out the way, coming back up with a roll and a grin.

“I’ll get you this time, Gran!”

“Counting on it!”

He pushed 8% to grab the old man’s foot as he kicked past, but despite it landing, Gran was going too fast, and he slipped out again, leaving Izuku with the boot equivalent of rope burn.  He shook out his hand with a frown, grateful for the gloves that protected him from the majority of his high speed slip up, and wracked his brain.

Gran was fast, exceptionally so, to the point that Izuku might be able to match his speed at 10 or 11%, but he wasn’t there yet, so no dice there.  The area was small, but that just gave Gran more advantages, since he was used to ricocheting around small spaces, and turning on a dime.  Izuku, on the other hand, had not yet mastered the art of slowing down on the turn and accelerating on the rebound yet.

It was a concept he equated to cars and driving, but he didn’t know how to do that, so it wasn’t super helpful.

Looking at physics, the only way to land a hit on Gran Torino would be to map his path (which Izuku had done since day one) and then move with him so the speed difference wouldn’t be as great and he could make a successful grab and tackle.

Wait for it, wait for it…

There!

He lunged, wrapping his arms around the small old man and falling to the floor with a thud.

“Does that count as landing a hit?”

He got kicked in the face.

“It does!  Now, let’s eat!”

Oh joy, taiyaki for dinner again.

Izuku really had to introduce Gran to frozen dinners.

~~~~~

The train shook and the emergency lights flashed on.

“Attention all passengers, we have encountered an obstacle on the tracks.  Please remain calm, we are looking to resolve the issue.”

The front part of the carriage was torn to shreds as a hero got thrown in, quickly followed by a hulking beast that had Izuku’s heart sinking.

“Gran,” he yelled, “that’s a Nomu!  Genetically modified, has multiple quirks!  I’ve fought one before!”

Gran grunted.  “Evacuate the citizens!  I’ll handle this.”

Before Izuku could protest, Gran was gone, hurtling out of the train after the screeching Nomu, and Izuku gulped and turned to the frightened civilians, grateful he was already wearing his hero costume.

“I’m going to evacuate you guys, but I need full cooperation.  Has anyone already called the first responders?”

One of the civilians held up their phone where they were already speaking rapidly, and Izuku nodded.

“I’m Green Lightning, and I’m not going to stop until you’re all safe, ok?”

He peeked out the jagged hole in the train as the hero groaned.  There was a roof within easy jumping distance.

“Ok, I’ll be taking you guys two at a time.”

“Kid,” one woman said, “you think you can carry two people at a time?”

Izuku shrugged.  “I could probably carry five to six, but my arms aren’t big enough and it’s safer to make sure I have a good grip.”

He hefted the delirious hero out from under the rubble not even bowing under the weight.  “I can take one more, is anyone in active danger?”

A pregnant woman came forward.  “I, I don’t want to be any trouble…”

He smiled.  “It’s alright ma’am, no trouble at all.  Let’s get you to safety.”

He curled an arm around her carefully and lit up to 6% before leaping out of the train, trying to keep the ride as smooth as possible.  He gently set her down and carefully removed leaned the hero up against a wall.

“I’ll be right back.”

He leapt back, feeling the train rock slightly under the force of his landing and he winced.  “Sorry about that.  Who’s next?”

~~~~~

In under a minute, his car was evacuated, and the hero was coming back to his senses.

“I have to go find my mentor,” Izuku muttered, “can you stay here with the civilians until help arrives?”

He nodded.  “You can count on it.  Green Light, you said it was?”

“Green Lightning, but yeah.  Thanks!”

He waved to them as he leapt across the buildings, desperate to find Gran Torino and help where he could.

“Turbo?  Turbo!  Where are you?”

Izuku slid to a halt as Manual ran around, calling for someone.

Wait a minute, wasn’t Turbo one of the names Bakugo had suggested for Iida?

And wasn’t Iida supposed to be in Hosu, the city they were currently in?!

Oh no.

Izuku pushed himself to 8%, running and jumping like his life depended on it.

“Brat!  Why are you not on the train!”

“No time,’ he called back to Gran, “I think my classmate is looking for the Hero Killer!  Also I already evacuated everyone!”

“Wait!  Don’t go after the Hero Killer you snot nosed idiot!”

Izuku sent an apologetic smile back to the man still dealing with a Nomu and kept going.

“-and this is where you die.”

He skidded and looked over the edge of the roof to see the glint of silver armor and steel sword.

Shit.

He leapt down directly onto Stain, kicking the sword and the man’s face as he did.

“Midoriya!”

“Green Lightning, we’re on duty, Turbo!”

“What are you doing here?  This is my fight!”

Izuku grimaced as Stain righted himself.  “Your fight?  Turbo, you sought out the Hero Killer and were about to die.  This stopped being your fight about ten minutes ago, if it was ever your fight in the first place.”

Stain worked his jaw and spat.  “You,” he murmured, “are that green kid.”

“Yeah, that’s me, now back off, I don’t technically have permission to fight you, but if you go after Turbo again…”

Stain chuckled, voice raspy and harsh.  “You would break the law to save your friend?”

“Midoriya!  Please, this is none of your business!”

“Meddling where they aren’t wanted,” Izuku snapped, “is the essence of being a hero, Iida!”

He slipped his phone out of one of his pockets and carefully remembered the layout of his screen.  Sent to hopefully all of his contacts.  Now all he needed to do was wait and hope Gran would get the message and understand what it meant.

“Interesting,” Stain hissed, “you have good friends, Ingenium Jr.  You didn’t even try to save Native, but here is your friend, here to rescue you from your own stupidity.”

Izuku flinched.  Native?  He glanced to the slumped form further down the alley he had assumed was a pile of trash and winced.  Was he dead, or just paralyzed like Iida?

“I have no qualms with you,” Stain rasped, “so if you leave now, I will not kill you.  Your fallen friend, however, has to die.”

Izuku grinned, but it was half snarl.  “Then I have qualms with you.”

“Excellent,” Stain crowed, “EXCELLENT!  FINALLY, A TRUE HERO!  YOU ARE A WORTHY OPPONENT, GREEN LIGHTNING!”

Oh, joy, just what he had always wanted.

“Mi- Green Lightning, please!  Do not put yourself at risk for me!”

He grit his teeth.  “Then get up and fight your own battles, but I’m not leaving you or native in the hands of a serial killer.  Be useful or shut up.”

Iida swallowed.  “His-his quirk, he paralyzes you after he cuts you.”

“Thanks, dodge the blades then.”

He lunged to the side, barely avoiding getting sliced open by the jagged blade, praying desperately that someone who had gotten his message was on the way, mostly Gran, Gran could probably run circles around this guy.

The sword flashed down and Izuku slid out the way, right into the dagger Stain had drawn.

He choked as it slid into his arm.  It nicked his abdomen, but the blade was short enough that his arm stopped most of it.  His breath grew short.  He watched in morbid fascination as red welled up around the exit point and down the tip of the blade, the deep crimson reflecting in the light.  He knew in a moment the pain would catch up with him, since it had somehow managed to slide between the bones in his forearm, which could not be good for him.

But if he thought it had hurt to get stabbed, the removal of the knife was far worse.

It burned, and he could feel it tearing through his muscles.  The blade had jagged teeth on it that caught on things and made his breath hitch.  He could feel the heat leaving his arm as blood dripped from it, and his own life forces glinted in the light on the blade.

He stumbled back as Stain’s long tongue gliding over the bloodied blade, and Izuku felt his body go rigid, the outpouring of blood slowing to a crawl as his body came to a stop, reduced to essential functions.

“It’s the ingestion,” he breathed, mentally cursing himself for thinking about the quirk in this instance, but on the other hand it was the only thing keeping him from screaming.

“Clever, clever, little hero,” Stain almost purred, and if Izuku could move he was certain he would be throwing up, “just like Shigaraki said.”

Izuku felt the blood drain from his face (that couldn’t be healthy, he didn’t have a lot of that to spare).  Shigaraki had talked to Stain?  And about him?  Honestly, no thanks.

“BACK AWAY FROM THE BRAT!”

A yellow blur came and slammed into the hero Killer’s face, sending him sprawling.

“Gran!”   Izuku cried out, feeling like he could cry.  “His quirk paralyzes you if he ingests your blood!”

“And you just had to get yourself stabbed!  I taught you better than that!”

Stain and Gran Torino began a careful and fast dance of blades and wind, Air Jet keeping Gran out of reach while letting him get in close for a kick.  Izuku could see Stain getting more erratic and growly.  He was about to pull the same trick he had on Izuku, and he cried out, but a flash of ice sent the serial killer jumping back.

“Midoriya, you should be more specific in your messages.”

Izuku could have cried in relief.

“Todoroki!  Can you ice over my arm?  I’m losing a lot of blood.”

The boy looked alarmed, but rushed over to comply.

“Boy,”  Gran yelled, “you were injured and didn’t tell me?!”

“You were a little busy,” Izuku called back, “helping me not get stabbed again.”

Izuku winced as the cold took over, but smiled gratefully at Todoroki.  “There should also be a puddle of blood below my arm.  He paralyzes you by ingesting your blood and would rather not give him any help.”

Todoroki nodded and looked down before blinking and paling.

“Midoriya…”

“I’m fine, help Gran!”

Izuku gave him a reassuring smile, completely not looking at the large puddle.  Sure, the blood had dripped slowly, but it was a pretty nasty cut and Stain had damaged it more on his exit.

Todoroki hesitated a bit more, but nodded.  “Are you Gran?”

“Gran Torino!  I’ve got this, kid, get the paralyzed people out!”

Todoroki immediately hooked his arms under Iida’s and starting dragging the boy out of the alley, completely ignoring his protests.  A high powered kick from Gran had Izuku stumbling back.

Wait, stumbling?

Izuku blinked and stood up straighter.  “It wears off!  I don’t know why, but I’m good to move!”

“Then leave!”

“Gran,” he yelled, “I’m not leaving you to fight a serial killer!”

“I’m your mentor, listen to me!”

“Give me permission to fight!”

“Hell no! Get that hero out of here!”

Gran cursed and fell to the ground, holding his shoulder.  “Dammit.”

Izuku ran up to him, dragging him away.  He fought for a moment before Stain’s obscenely long tongue licked his sword, rendering him paralyzed.

“Can I have permission to fight now?”

Gran cursed.  “I, Gran Torino, give Green Lightning permission to fight with his goddamn quirk!  Don’t die, brat.”

Izuku grinned.  “No problem!”

With his arm iced and eyes alert, he ramped it up to 10% hissing a bit as he felt the strain.  “Since it wore off on me, it might wear off on you.  It’s not blood ingested, it’s not the site of the wound… Blood type?”

Stain chuckled darkly.  “It will not help you, clever hero.”

“Sir,” Todoroki ran up, “permission to fight?”

“You seemed fine fighting without it before!  But sure, let’s just let all the kids fight!”

Todoroki nodded and ran up beside Izuku.  “What’s the plan?”

“Honestly?  Stall for time until more pros get here.”

He nodded. “Very well.  Speed or strength?”

Izuku blinked.  “Speed.  Between the two of us, we should be fast enough.”

He chose not to mention how lightheaded he was feeling.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of green light, ice, and flashes of red.  Todoroki was also using his fire, something that lifted Izuku’s mood, and soon enough, Stain was struggling, up to his neck in ice.

Izuku wasted no time in punching him in the throat and then the head at 3% One for All, knocking him out cold.

Izuku flopped to the ground, feeling the ice on his arm melting.  He had no doubt that if he checked it, it would be running red as well.

“Great,” Gran grumbled, “now we get you idiots to an ambulance.”

That sounded good to Izuku, honestly.

He stumbled to his feet, ignoring the way the world spun and slowly dragging himself out of the alleyway where sidekicks and heroes were starting to gather, looking over the paralyzed folks and working on apprehending the Hero Killer from the ice he was still knocked out cold in (haha, puns, Izuku was very tired.  Was it that he needed sleep, or that he was missing a lot of blood?)

There were shouts of alarm that made him blink and suddenly everyone looked much smaller.  Sounds drowned out so he could hear ragged breathing and the leathery flap of wings.

Hosu was on fire, he could see, with people panicking and heroes running around like little ants, trying to get them all put out.

His arm hurt again, and so did his sides.

His vision blurred as a water tower came into view and he passed out.

Sleeping sounded like a good idea.

Chapter Text

Mina was having a great time.

Party Poison was really fun to be around, living up to his name and really bringing the party with his fun attitude all the time.  His costume kind of reminded her of Mic-sensei’s in the sense that he looked like he could be in a biker gang, decked out in a lot of leather.

His quirk was really cool.  Izuku could probably go all Dr. Mido on it, but she had a pretty good idea of how it worked.

His skin could change colors and patterns, mimicking different snakes and then just having some completely wild combinations you totally could not find in nature, and then he could spit venom that did various things, depending on his coloration.  Mina was super excited to learn all about what he used when and where, and how that could relate to her own acid.

Despite being a twilight hero, he was pretty well known in his locale.  Sure, she had never heard of him before now, but she lived ages away, so she had an excuse.  She knew for a fact she would no doubt be buying some Party Poison merch, some for her, and some for Izu, of course.  The boy loved heroes, and she would find him something cool.

They were out patrolling, even this late at night, when they passed by a storefront that apparently sold TV’s, and she froze at the window.

“…Reports on scene say the Hero Killer, Stain, apprehended, was screaming at the League and Shigaraki for taking “a potential true hero,” claiming he should have stabbed the League’s leader when he had the chance.  Bystanders do say that a winged Nomu reportedly did take off with a small, costume wearing person into the air, and heroes on scene refuse to comment.  Here is a photo taken of the, as of now, missing person.”

It was an incredibly blurry picture, and the lighting was bad because of the city being on fire, but Mina’s heart skipped a beat.

She recognized that green costume.

“Party,” she murmured, “how much longer on this patrol?  I have some things I need to take care of.”

He glanced at the TV.  “You know them?”

She nodded, numb.

“We were about to wrap up anyway.”  He fixed her with a firm gaze.  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, alright?”

She grinned.  “Don’t worry, I’ll bring the party to whatever I do!”

She whipped out her phone and texted the group chat.

This would not stand.

~~~~~

Denki was having a lot of fun.

Being in the center of a hurricane was not something you’d think would be enjoyable, but it was so exhilarating.  Plus, this was a category 1 typhoon, according to Stormy Weather, and was just meant to get the blood pumping.  He could feel the electricity in the air, the ions charging themselves based on the winds and such.

He had gotten a pretty in depth explanation of lightning in storms and how they worked, but he had been way too excited to get more than the basic concept down to really grasp it.  It sounded cool though, so he’d definitely look it up later.

The winds died down and revealed the bunker Stormy Weather had.

“How was that, Yellow Shock?”

He grinned.  “Awesome!  I could totally feel the energy all around me, like I was getting super charged!”

She smiled, black eye makeup crinkling.  “Right?  There’s nothing quite like the storm to get your blood pumping.  With that, we’re done for the day, unless a call goes out, so get some rest.”

Denki grinned as his phone vibrated in his pocket.  He pulled it out to see a message in the group chat, from Mina.  It was an image attachment; probably a meme.

His face fell as he read it.

…What?

~~~~~

Eijirou was learning a lot, and having a blast while doing it.

Uraraka had ended up going with Gunhead too, so they did a lot of sparring with each other and the sidekicks.  Izuku had been right, Fury Fighter was one of the sidekicks and he was pretty fun!

In all honesty, he kind of reminded Eijirou of Kaminari - always ready with a joke and fond of pranks.  It seemed the complete opposite from his quirk, Incite.  Basically he was like Ms. Joke but instead of making people laugh, he made them angry.

“Angry people are sloppy,” he said, “for the most part.  Sometimes making people angry just makes them calculative, so you gotta be sure you know how to hold your own in a fight.  Never let your anger get the better of you, ok kids?”

Only twenty two, and so full of good insight!

They wrapped up for the day, hitting the showers, and he had messages in the group chat by the time he got out.

electrolytes : so what are we gonna do

alienQUEEN : I mean we have to be back to our internships in like, 10 hours, that feels like plenty of time

electrolytes : yeah plenty of time to die??? Where tf would we even go, he could be anywhere

MountainMan : what’s going on?

alienQUEEN : read back

Eijirou scrolled back up, looking at the messages from today.  There were jokes and memes and poking fun and status reports from all of them.  There were lulls, of course, people not being on their phones during work, but then there was a long stretch before Mina sent an image of a TV screen.

He squinted and clicked on it, zooming in and reading the headline.

His face drained of color.

Mina and Denki had then gone from freaking out to… planning something.

MountainMan : oh fuck

electrolytes : yeah, tell me about it

alienQueen : Mei is in

electrolytes : since when do you have her number, you guys never hang out

alienQUEEN : pink squad

alienQUEEN : anyway, ei, you in too?

MountainMan : in for what, that was never really explained

alienQUEEN : nobody fucks with our green light

alienQUEEN : we’re getting him back, duh

MountainMan : should we leave this to the heroes?  We have like, no information to go off of

electrolytes : that’s what I was saying, but at the same time

electrolytes : if we can GET info i'm totally down

MountainMan : if we get info, then sure

alienQUEEN : already on it, mei is pissed lol

“Hey, what’s got you all upset?  You’re usually all smiles, Kirishima!”

He looked up at Uraraka, trying to put a smile on his face.  “It-it’s nothing…”

She didn’t seem like she quite believed him, but she shrugged.  “I’m gonna watch TV for a bit if you don’t mind.  Just to catch up with the world, you know?”

He nodded absentmindedly, looking back at the blurry picture of Izuku hanging limp from the nomu’s grasp.

He heard the TV turn on and Uraraka suck in a breath.

“-attack on Hosu led to mass destruction and several casualties, including some hero interns on site.  One student is missing in action, with no word from authorities on their whereabouts.  On the positive side, heroes were quick to action and the Hero Killer, Stain, was arrested.  Here are his final words before he was carted off to Tartarus:”

“I’LL KILL YOU, SHIGARAKI!  YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A FAKE, I SHOULD HAVE GUTTED YOU WHEN I HAD THE CHANCE!  HOW DARE YOU TAKE HIM, HE WAS GOING TO BE A TRUE HERO!  THERE ARE ONLY TWO PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD THAT CAN TAKE ME OUT: ALL MIGHT, AND GREEN LIGHTNING! ”

The news anchor took back over.  “It is, as of yet, unclear as to who this “Green Lightning” is.  No one has been willing to give a statement on the matter, but we assume it is the student currently missing, Midoriya Izuku, a first year in the UA hero course, and second place winner of the UA sports festival.  UA has stated they will be holding a press conference tomorrow evening and asks all questions about the missing student be held until then.  Hiro, what are your thoughts on the Hero Killer’s final words?”

“Well, Masumi, I think it’s pretty clear that the initial speculation that the League of Villains and the Hero Killer had teamed up are pretty much disproven at this point, given the clear animosity between the two parties.  That means both parties took advantage of the chaos tonight to accomplish their own goals.  Whether they were successful or not remains to be seen, since we are not sure of the League’s intentions.  Was it destruction, mass panic, or the kidnapping?  No demands have been released yet, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Eijirou couldn’t take it anymore and darted over to turn off the TV.

“Kirishima…”

“No more TV tonight, sorry, Uraraka.”

He tucked himself into bed and faced away, shoulders hunched.  He slowly brought out his phone, lowering the brightness as far as it would go, and pulling up the group chat again.

MountainMan : please tell me we have information.

~~~~~

Izuku woke up and felt rather numb, honestly.  His head was pounding lightly, like it would normally be a splitting headache but was being held back by something or other, so it was more like a dull pulse.  And his arm didn’t hurt!

Wait, why was his arm supposed to be hurting, again?

He opened his eyes, vision blurry, and dragged his arm in front of his face.  There was a raised line on both sides of his arms, pink and pulling slightly at the surrounding skin, but it didn’t hurt and was a healthy color.  Man, he must have been out for a while, or the hospital had a good healing quirk on hand.  He didn’t feel dizzy, but he was still slow to sit up, quickly remembering the blood loss he had probably passed out from.  He wasn’t super sure of the events directly before his passing out.  Something to do with Stain…?

The bed he was in was pretty comfy, way more comfy than he assumed a hospital bed would be like.  He honestly hadn’t been to a real, full hospital in a really long time.  Any injuries he got were usually pretty minor and could either be fixed with time or a trip to Recovery Girl.

In addition to being comfy, the bed sheets and blankets weren’t white, like he had always assumed they would be, but then again, he had thought hospital linens would be… linens.  These felt like flannel or cotton, in all honesty, and they were in nice themes of grey and black.  Still bland, but not stark white.  It was nice!

For some reason, he was in a private room, with an end table that had a glass of water on it.  There were no windows, just the closed door, but why was he in a private room in the first place?  Had All Might set it up, or something?  Maybe he was being kept in isolation to make sure there were no complications…?  From the… stab wound?

He ran a hand down his face and his eyes caught on a bracelet.  It was pretty solid for a hospital bracelet, but what did he know?

He swallowed around his dry throat and was super grateful for whoever had left him the water for when he woke up.  He’d have to figure out who that was, so he could thank them.

The door burst open and Izuku spit out his water in shock.

“Oh, good, you’re not dead.  Don’t try anything, “

That was Shigaraki.

Which meant this was not a hospital.

He scrambled back amidst his coughing, feeling for One for All in case he needed to make a quick escape, only to find it completely gone.  He looked up in panic, and the other boy seemed to see why.

Shigaraki sneered.  “Quirk suppressant bracelet.  Sensei had one on hand, or it would have cost a pretty penny.  I just wanted to kill you, and the stupid nomu for bringing you, but Kurogiri convinced me to save your life instead, see what Sensei has to say about you.”

“Y-you… you helped me?  Why?”

Shigaraki rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets.  “I dunno.  The Doctor got all excited about it for some reason.  Can you walk?”

Izuku jolted at the sudden topic change and gingerly set the mostly empty glass on the end table, slowly dragging himself to the edge of the bed.

“I haven’t tried, I woke up two minutes ago.”

“Well hurry up, that’s a league member bed, and unless you were planning on joining up, it’s no longer yours.”

Izuku’s face scrunched up, but he set his feet on the ground and stood up, only feeling dizzy for half a second.

“Great, let’s go.”

Shigaraki gestured to the door and Izuku eyed him as he left.

He realized he was wearing simple clothing, not his hero suit, just a regular dark grey t-shirt and some sweatpants and socks, but it was pretty comfortable.

He didn’t want to think about who had dressed him.

“So…” he drawled, “league member beds?  You get a lot of recruits?”

“No.  Stupid Stain didn’t want to join; no idea what Sensei was thinking with that guy.  Maybe Hosu will bring in business, though.”

“Why didn’t you keep me in like, a cell?”

Shigaraki snorted.  “If you want to be dissected by the Doctor, we can arrange that.  Also we don’t really have cells; this is a bar, not a prison.”

“Your base is in a bar?”

“Kurogiri likes it.”

Honestly, Izuku had thought Kurogiri’s posh outfit was just wanting to be fancy, but he could no longer picture it as anything other than a bartender uniform.

“…Get a lot of customers?”

“Meh.”

They walked out the hallway into the bar proper, empty except for Kurogiri behind the bar, cleaning a glass that, as far as Izuku could tell, was already spotless.

“I got him.  Sensei ready for him?”

Kurogiri set the glass down.  “Indeed.”

Izuku jumped, realizing what this meant.  “Wait-!”

His vision was overtaken by the same purple mist from the USJ, and when he could see again, he was in a dark room with only the whir and light from various monitors and machines.  THe room was pretty dark otherwise, and he had to squint to make anything out.

“My, how you’ve grown.”

He started and whirled around.  There, in the darkness, connected to wires and tubes, was the silhouette of a man.

“H-hello?”

“Ah, and polite, too!  Hello to you too, Midoriya Izuku.  Tell me, do you know who I am?”

Izuku shifted on his feet.  “Well, Shigaraki calls you Sensei, at least, I assume?  Since they said they were taking me to Sensei… other than that, not really?  But you’re… you’re the shadow leader of the League of Villains.”

He chuckled.  “Oh no, the League is all Tomura’s, I merely support his endeavors and let him learn and grow from his mistakes.  But you are correct, I am Sensei.  How strange, that you were not warned of me before given your great burden.”

“Burden?  I-I don’t understand.”

“The Doctor,” Sensei mused, completely ignoring the inherent question, “was quite excited when you were delivered to us.  It took him a while to recall where he had seen you before, but it’s hard to forget someone you hand a death sentence to.”

A death sentence…?

“In fact, I believe that is why you are able to speak right now!”

“Wait, what?”

Sensei chuckled.  “You were on the brink of death.  My multitude of healing quirks would not have been able to save you.  A regeneration quirk, on the other hand, can cover a multitude of sins.  And yet, you showed no adverse reactions.  Of course, I took the quirk back; can’t have All Might’s chosen walking around with something as useful as that.”

Alarm bells were going off in his head.  Multiple quirks? Taking the quirk back? All Might’s chosen?

“…Who are you?”

The man stood up, walking into the soft glow of the monitors, and spread his hands.

Izuku stared at his complete lack of eyes and wide grin.

“I am All for One.  And you, my boy, were handed a legacy that includes a target.  My brother’s quirk will finally be back in the family, after all these years.”

Ah.

This was bad!

Chapter Text

“All for One and One for All…”  he muttered.

“‘United we stand and together we fall’, yes, it’s quite a lovely quote.  I used to read that story to my brother, when he was confined to his bed.  I assume that’s why we named our quirks the way we did.”

“Your…brother?”

All for One hummed.  “Indeed.  All Might really told you nothing?  Very well, then I suppose it falls on me to inform you.  At the dawn of quirks, there were two brothers.  One had the ability to take and give quirks, which made him both a savior and a target.  No one liked quirked individuals back then, you see, so the government was constantly after him.  But for those who did not want their quirks, he would take them, freeing them of their differences and letting them live normally.  And those who craved power could get it, for a debt.  His power grew, and he sought to destroy the oppressive powers that sought to destroy him and his followers.”

“In addition, his brother was sick.  He could barely walk, and the older brother would do anything to protect him, even if the younger did not like his methods.  At one point, he locked his younger brother in a vault, to keep him safe, but the younger brother did not like this.  Finally, in a bid to get him to see reason, the elder brother gifted his younger brother a quirk that would slowly stockpile strength, so that hopefully one day the younger brother could walk again.”

“As it happens, the younger brother was not, in fact quirkless, something I only found out much later, but he used his power to escape and start a war against his older brother, who had merely wanted to look out for him.  In the end, they had a big fight that led to the death of the younger brother, but he had chosen on a successor and passed on his power and his hatred.  For eight generations I have fought my brother’s legacy, my most recent battle being All Might, and as you well know it left both of us crippled.”

All for One smiled softly, putting a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, and he tensed.

“And now it is yours.  How reckless of All Might, to not even tell you of the legacy you carry.”

Izuku shifted uncomfortably.  “He thought you were dead.  He… he would have told me, otherwise.”

“Oh, I’m certain.  Would you still have accepted it, knowing the burden that comes with it?”

“Yes.”

“My, how selfless.  Willing to die for your heroic cause, I see.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

All for One chuckled.  “Certainly not, after I went through all the trouble of keeping you alive.  Of course, I would love it if you would give me my brother’s quirk back, but something tells me you won’t bend easily, so no matter.  My fight and All Might’s is passed; now it is time for our successors to take up the mantle.”

“…Shigaraki?”

He hummed.  “In some ways, he reminds me of my son, but something tells me they wouldn’t get along.”

Izuku tensed again, eyes wide.  “You have a son?!”

“Oh yes, but he isn’t aware of it and doesn’t have my drive for taking over the world, it would seem.  Worry not, he is perfectly on the side of the heroes.  Maybe with enough time, he would join me, but I’m not holding my breath.”

All Might had to be told.  Not only was his enemy alive, but he had a son.

“He’s grown up so well, I am eager to see how he fairs, despite being on opposite sides.”

He sounded fond, and Izuku was incredibly weirded out.

Just then, the wall busted open and a primal scream echoed through the room as people poured in.

Izuku blinked in the dust and gasped.

“Guys?!”

~~~~~

Arranging an extrajudicial raid over text was not something Mina thought she would be doing, but here she was.  She told the gang to meet in Hosu, where it all went down, to start gathering their leads, but first, she had to make a stop.

It was going to be an hour before Denki could get over here anyway, being so far, even by bullet train.

She kicked open the door to the hospital room and completely ignored Iida’s immediate protests to stalk towards Todoroki.

“Hey, wanna help me get Izuku back?”

Todoroki blinked, then nodded.

“Todoroki!  You cannot be considering this!  The heroes have it handled, and we only got into this situation in the first place because someone decided to take the law into their own hands.

“Yes,” Todoroki said, “that was you.  You decided to become a vigilante.  Therefore, this is your fault.  You should come too.”

Iida immediately began to protest when the door was kicked open again.

“Honestly,” Iida chopped at the air, “is there no sanctity to hospitals any more?  Who let you people in!”

“Shut is, Glasses,” Bakugo growled, “you and I both know you’re going to be convinced to go to keep the chucklefucks in line, so I’m going to make sure you don’t do something else stupid tonight.”

Mina put a hand on her hip.  “Who said you’re invited?”

“Cheeks snitched.  And again, stopping Glasses from doing something stupid, since Icy Hot obviously can’t be trusted to keep an eye on him.”

“We were in different areas of the city.”

“You had one job, Half n Half.”

“Wait wait wait,” Mina interrupted, “how did Uraraka find out?”

“Shitty Hair.”

“Eiji told her?  Oh wait, they were totally at the same internship, ok.  Well anyway, are you guys in or…?”

Bakugo folded his arms.  “Who else is in this shitty rescue team?”

“Denki, Eiji, Tooru, and Mei from my end, plus I guess the Bakusquad and Todoroki now.”

“Fucking Crazy Eyes?  Christ, the villains stand no chance.”

Todoroki nodded.  “Hatsume is an asset.  Also, I’m not really injured so I’m good to go.”

Iida chopped his arm through the air again.  “Bakugo, I insist you do not go!  It is bad enough that Uraraka has been persuaded, but we cannot break the law!”

Again,” Todoroki said flatly, “this is your fault.”

Iida caved.

“Right,” Mina cheered, “let’s go to the meeting place where Mei is waiting!  Rescue team, move out!”

“Fuck off, Raccoon Eyes.”

~~~~~

The McDonald’s employees looked both scared and resigned, like, yep, same shit as always, this was a normal Wednesday night.

“So,” Mei laid out a map, “I managed to track Hero Course’s phone while he was still in Hosu.  It got scrambled for a sec, I’m assuming from that warp villain you guys told me about, but then it averaged out in this area,” she circled Kamino ward, “and then cut off.  If we can get closer, we can ask around and get rumors about where these fuckers are and bust greenie out.  Objections?”

Denki crossed his arms and bit his lip.  “That’s a big area.  We have what, eight hours before we need to be back?  Do you think we can actually find him?”

Mei shrugged.  “If all else fails, we can narrow down locations for the heroes, but the sooner we can get Hero Course out, the better.”

“Yeah,” Tooru muttered, “who knows what they’re doing to Mr. Hero!”

Todoroki frowned and glared at the map like it could be scared into giving up Izuku’s location.

“Right!”  Mina clapped her hands.  “We need disguises, especially Todoroki, because all of us are pretty recognizable and if we get caught we are totally getting expelled!”

Mei cackled.  “No worries, my pink friend, I have brought supplies!  Generator, catch!”

Denki scrambled to grab the glove-like thing Mei tossed to him.  “What is it?”

“Your long range weapon!  A grappling hook!  Similar enough to the grabby hands and also latched on and can conduct your shocks!  Press the thumb button to fire, press it again to retract, press and hold to release and retract.”

He slid it on and grinned.  “Sweet!  Thanks, Mei!”

She three a beanie at Todoroki. “Cover up your chimera hair!  Everyone else should be good, but I do hope you brought some gear, because I only had something for these two.”

Mina put on her own beanie, handing one to both Eiji and Denki, who both had pretty distinctive hair, and shrugged on her jean jacket, knowing the multitude of patches would distract most people from her other bright colors.

Bakugo tsked.  “Right, let’s go.  We have a lot of fucking ground to cover and I really don’t feel like wasting my whole night looking for Deku.”

They all boarded the train in silence, no one much for small talk, while Mei cross referenced addresses with the map, crossing off anything that was definitely not a villain front, like grocery stores and dentist offices.  Like sure, they could be a front, but it was highly unlikely, so best not to waste time there.

They split up at the train station, into groups.  Uraraka went with Bakugo, Iida with Todoroki, Tooru with Mina and Mei, and Denki and Eiji together.

“Everyone has my number,” Mina waved, “so if you see something or get a rumor, text me!”

They all split off in different directions, pictures of the map on their phones and their areas planned out.  Kamino ward was big, but not so big that they wouldn’t be able to get rumors, at the very least.

“Hey,” Mei called down an alley, no fear, “seen a misty guy or a guy with a hand fetish and dry as shit skin?”

The older boys down the alley cursed her out and she just flipped them off and kept moving.

“Oi,” to a random couple on the street, “any sketchy places that could definitely house some villains nearby?”

They ran away.

After about an hour, someone came up to them.

“Hi,” she smiled, “I hear you cuties are looking for the League?”

Mei nodded, utterly fearless and fully prepared to kill someone.  “Yeah, they have a friend of ours and we’re looking to get them back.”

“Oh!”  The girl’s yellow eyes lit up.  “Me too!  I have a pretty good idea of where they’re holed up, too!”

Mina narrowed her eyes.  “Why are you looking for him?  You don't know him.”

“No,” she sighed dreamily, “but Stainy liked him, and he looked so pretty covered in blood.  The League is a bunch of meanies for taking him!”

She grinned and brought out a knife.

“So I’m going to cut them up!”

Mei shrugged.  “Understandable.  Let us call our friends and then we’ll be on our way.  Can you point out on the map where you’re thinking?”

The girl blinked at the completely nonplussed reaction but leaned over and pointed at an area on the map after inspecting it for a few seconds.

“Great!  Pink friend, call in the cavalry and tell them to meet us there!”

Mina was decidedly wary of this knife wielding school girl, but getting everyone back would give them an advantage if she decided to double cross them, so she sent out the location anyway, getting confirmations from the other three groups.

“So, I’m Himiko!  What are your names?”

“Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume industries.  Say, your fangs, are they aesthetic or quirk related?”

Toga giggled.  “Quirk related.  You’re a real cutie, Meimei!  What about you, bubblegum?”

Mina blinked.  “Ashido Mina.”

“Oh, the acid one!  You’re super cute!  And you?”

Tooru jumped.  “Oh, um, Hagakure Tooru.  Nice to… meet you?”

“Yeah!  I can’t see you, but you sound and dress cute, so I bet you’re a cutie!  Green Lightning has such cute friends!”

Mei snorted.  “You should see gravity girl, she’s the definition of cute and sweet.  She can and will suplex you, though.”

Toga stopped suddenly, grin turning sharp and deadly.  “We’re here!”

The other six came around the corner as they looked up at the seemingly abandoned warehouse.

“Hey,” Denki murmured, “who’s the blond?”

“Toga Himiko!  You guys are really cute!”

Mina nodded.  “She’s our lead.  Apparently she likes Stain and since Stain publicly called out the League…”

Toga nodded happily.  “Stainy is so dreamy!”

Choosing to ignore that in favor of the mission, Denki raised his arm.

“Time to test this grappling hook and see what’s inside.”

There was a whir as the wire shot out and the device hooked onto the scaffolding of the roof, letting him pull himself up to peek in the windows.  He squinted, before recoiling and falling back to the ground in shock.

“What is it?”

He swallowed.  “Nomu.  A bunch of nomu, in tanks.”

Toga nodded.  “That’s how you know, ya know?  Plus I’ve seen the misty guy and the doctor looking guy coming in and out of here.”

Doctor?

Mei walked forward.  “If you didn’t see any people, let’s just go in guns blazing.  Surprise attack.”

“Hold the fuck on,” Bakugo snapped, “guns blazing is not a fucking surprise attack, Crazy Eyes, it’s a fucking death sentence.  What the fuck do we do if the shitty ynomu wake up and wreck our shit?  You weren’t there, but one of those fuckers gave us trouble, and Spark Plug over here said he saw a bunch of them.  The less alarms we set off, the closer we can get without people getting up in our shit.  If we’re lucky, we get Deku out before they even realize we were here and everything is fucking fine.”

Eiji nodded.  “Definitely.  I’m not the best at stealth, but I think we can do it.”

“Then leave it to me!”  Tooru was hushed, but already moving for the side of the building.  “I can find him and come back for the rest of you guys and then we totally rescue him.  No one can see me anyway, unless they have heat sensing, so I’ll just take off all my clothes and go.”

Toga blinked. “Oh, that’s really cool!  Hurry back!”

Tooru shimmied out of her clothing.  “Uraraka, can you float me up to the window?  Since it’s already open a little.”

Uraraka wandered forward with her hands in front of her, until she startled, settling her fingers down on the invisible girl.

“Thanks!  I’ll be back!”

It was tense, waiting for those few minutes but soon she was calling back, breathless.

“I found him!  Come on, hurry, he’s with this guy I’ve never seen before!”

They all tensed and hoisted each other up and through the window, Denki taking people with his grappling hook, until they were all inside.

“Hurry,” she whispered, “I’ll grab Mei’s hand and you follow her!”

Mei’s hand was instantly grasped and they hurried off, able to follow her and the brief shadows of Tooru.

They wound down stairs, trying to go quietly, but none of the eerie nomu in tanks seemed to care about them, or they didn’t wake up, and no alarms went off.

“Here, in this room, on the other side of the wall!”

Mina could hear the murmur of voices and shit bit her lip.  “I’ll weaken the wall, like in the battle trials, then Eiji and Bakugo can bust it down.  Everyone else, be ready for a fight.”

She took a deep breath and slid her hand over the wall, thin acid dripping down and eating a layer of the wall.  The voices got a little clearer, and she nodded at the two boys, who readied a hardened arm and an explosive palm.

“He’s grown up so well, I am eager to see how he fairs, despite being on opposite sides.”

They bust down the wall, front line fighters moving in first, and they heard coughing and gasps.

“Guys?!”

Mina grinned.  “I don’t know who you are, weird dude, but nobody messes with our greenlight!  Come on, Izuku!”

Izuku seemed to snap out of his stupor and lunged forward, getting pulled back into the crowd of people by Todoroki, who immediately pushed the boy behind him, glowering at the bald man.

“Ah,” he rumbled, “you have good friends, my boy.  Very well, I’m done, you may go.  And keep the bracelet, as a gift.  If you’re ever back, we can talk more, but do consider your burden and know that if you ever want to give it up, I am always waiting for you.”

Todoroki felt him tense.

“Come on,” Mei yelled, “this is a free ticket out!  Let’s go!”

The group of now eleven people dashed back out of the building, Izuku following them back the way they had come.  They went out the door this time, not wanting to bother with the windows, and Tooru picked up her clothes, putting them on while hopping up and down after them, and they didn’t stop running until they were two blocks away.

“Ok,” Izuku huffed, “were those nomu?!”

“Yeah,” Denki gasped, “we’ve gotta tell the pros!”

Mina groaned.  “How about this, we drop Izu off at UA and he can explain it, while we go back to our internships and pretend we didn’t just break like, three laws.”

Toga giggled.  “That was fun!  Scary, but fun!  We should hang out more often.”

Izuku blinked.  “Um, hello…?”

“Hi!  I’m Himiko!  You’re really cute, especially covered in blood!”

He took a step back nervously.  “Um, thanks?  I think?”

She turned to Mina with a grin, but it was way less manic than her usual one.  “Mina!  Here’s my number, you should totally text me next time the League tries something mean!  Or just to hang out!  I promise I’ll try to commit less crimes, even if blood is really pretty!  And then I’ll have your number, and if I hear anything, I can let you know!  Cuties stick together, right?”

Mina nodded slowly.  “Ok, that would actually be super helpful.  I’m going to ignore the crime part but please know we are training to be heroes, so like, if you commit a crime in front of us…”

Toga waved and scampered off.

“Ashido!”  Iida chopped at the air, “She admitted to committing crimes!”

“Yeah, and without her we would have been searching Kamino for hours, so I’m willing to let it go.”

Todoroki nodded.  “Lesser of two evils.  We got Midoriya back, and that is all that matters.”

Bakugo rolled his eyes.  “Whatever, it’s 2 am, can we go now?  I dunno about you extras, but I have to wake up early and I am not looking forward to it.”

Denki grinned.  “We did it!  We got our green light back!  And Zuku, if you try to go back to your internship I will personally zap you into next week, with zero regrets!”

Eiji nodded.  “Agreed, you get to skip the rest of the week and this will be enforced using quirks if necessary.”

“Hey,” Mina giggled, “do you think Cute Boy would help us make sure he doesn’t go back to his internship?”

“Guys,” Izuku stammered, “I’m fine, I was healed up, look!”

He held up his arm with the two pink scars on either side, and Todoroki immediately frowned.

“That looks bad.  But you’re saying the villains healed you?”

“Uh, yeah, they didn’t want me to die, I guess?  I really have no idea.”

Bakugo shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Losers, come on, the train leaves in fifteen minutes and we’re twelve minutes away.  Unless you want to stay in Kamino for the rest of the night, I suggest we get moving.”

Uraraka swung an arm around Eiji.  “Yeah!  Kiri and I gotta get back to Gunhead before they realize we’re gone!  Mei, can you take Midori to UA or the police?”

Mei nodded.  “Easy.  I exist on negative sleep anyway.  Come along, Hero Course!”

Izuku waved to his friends as they boarded their separate trains, and his heart swelled with how many people had come to get him, without even telling a professional.  Kidnapped and rescued in the same night.

He fell asleep on the train.

~~~~~

All for One hummed, sitting in his chair once more.

“Two factions, both alike in dignity, 

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, 

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, 

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. 

From forth the fatal loins of these two foes 

A pair of star‐cross'd siblings fight for life; 

Whose misadventured piteous overthrows 

Do with their fight continue the strife. 

The fearful passage of their death‐mark'd bond, 

And the continuance of their factions’ rage, 

Which, but their systems’ end, which one holds fond, 

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage; 

The which if you with patient ears attend, 

What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.”

The doctor shifted.  “Sir?”

All for one sighed.  “No one has any appreciation for the classics.  Sure, it was a parody, but really?  You don't even know Romeo and Juliet?  What is the state of society, my goodness.”

He hummed to himself, completely ignoring any reply the doctor might have given.

“How ironic,” he murmured, “that it began with two brothers and it shall end with two brothers, adopted or otherwise.”

“You said something, sir?”

“Oh, ignore me, just an old man musing.”

Chapter Text

Shouta had never been simultaneously thankful and resentful that he had stayed late.

Personally, he would call this early; it was pushing 3 am, and Hizashi was no doubt going to heckle him come tomorrow… today… no, tomorrow, it wasn’t today until he slept or the sun came up, whichever came first, and that was still two to three hours away.

He wasn’t sure which one, but one of them.

But there was his number one Problem Child, standing awkwardly outside of UA, no doubt not having his student pass with him, so it wasn’t like he could get inside.  No, he wasn’t even wearing the outfit he had been kidnapped in six hours ago.  God, it had only been six hours ago, some parts of Hosu were probably still warm from where they had been on fire.

Wait a goddamn minute, this kid wasn’t even injured, and he was wearing clothing he didn’t own.

“Problem Child.”

A green head bobbed up and he scratched his head sheepishly.  “Hi, sensei…”

Shouta tried to figure out how to word his questions in a way that made sense and actually asked what he wanted to know, but in the end he gave up.

“What.”

“Oh, um,” the boy jumped, “do you mean what happened…?”

“Sure, start with that.  Actually, come inside, get off the street.”

He waved his pass at the door to let the kid in to UA, walking silently to the teacher’s lounge and just listening to the soft steps of the nervous kid.

Why was this kid nervous?  Did he do something wrong in his miraculous escape and recovery?  Is there a body Shouta is going to have to hide?

He waltzed into the teachers lounge and made a beeline for the coffee machine.

“You want one?”

The kid started and shook his head.  “Adrenaline hasn’t worn off yet and I think I took a… power nap, of sorts.”

“Tea?”

“No thank you.”

Shouta sat heavily on the couch and sipped the fresh brewed and pitch black coffee, raising both eyebrows and shaking his head slightly, eyes closed, as it settled in.

“Now.  What.”

“Um, so, what do you want to know?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, ok, I’ll go based on what I remember then… I was in Hosu, pretty sure I was fighting Stain, but then it got fuzzy and I passed out from blood loss.  I wake up in what I think is a hospital but then Shigaraki comes in the door and no, it turns out, I’m just in one of the bedrooms in the League’s hideout-”

“League bedrooms look like hospital rooms?”

Midoriya froze and then nodded slowly.  “…Yes.”

“Continue.”

“Ok, right, so he brings me into this bar and Kurogiri warps me to All for One-”

Shouta choked on his coffee, spitting some burning coffee onto his lap and blinking, suddenly incredibly awake.

“You what?!”

“Yeah it was terrifying!  Also apparently he has a son, which is also terrifying.  He just talked and then…”

His face got carefully blank.  “And then I escaped.”

“Alone.”

“Yes.”

“From All for One.”

Midoriya looked away.  “Well, he didn’t exactly give chase, if that helps.”

Shouta pinched the bridge of his nose.  “You were sent to the criminal mastermind of the underground, that almost no one hears about unless they’re in deep shit, and he just… let you go.”

He watched the boy startle at the swear, but honestly, it was far too early in the morning/late in the night to care about language.  This kid had been in the clutches of the most feared man in the underground, the bane of the underground world and all it’s heroes and villains alike, and had not only walked out unscathed, but had been essentially let go, after being healed.  For what purpose?

“Midoriya, show me your injury.”

He jumped and held out his left arm.  There, on his forearm were two long gashes, perfectly healed as if they were at least six months to a year old.

“And he just healed them?”

The kid looked away and muttered something under his breath that even Shouta’s sharp ears couldn’t catch, and his gaze sharpened.