Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Our story starts out as any other, with a boy running through a hallway, a concerned and slightly panicked expression on his face. He had unruly, green hair and wide green eyes. This boy was none other than Midoriya Izuku, Ninth Wielder of One for All and a freshman at UA University. It was his first day, and well…

“Come on, 1-A, 1-A,” said the boy, unable to find his classroom. He didn’t want to be late, but as it was the first day, he hadn’t had much time to memorize the main building’s layout just yet. Turning down another hallway, he kept searching until he had finally found it. It was a much larger door than he was used to, but he was sure it was where he was supposed to be with the large “1-A” painted onto it. ‘I wonder if it’s meant to cater to mutation quirks or those with large body proportions.’

After a small prayer in hopes that two people weren’t inside, he slid the door open…

“Remove your feet from that desk this instant!”

“Huh?! Who shoved that stick up your ass?!”

Only to be met by the two people who he just prayed to not see today.

“Perhaps we started off on the wrong foot,” said the blue haired boy who was attempting to admonish the blonde. “My name is Iida Tenya, and I am from Somei Priv-”

The blonde had interrupted, “Somei, huh? I can’t wait to tear you a new one!” The blonde boy, Bakugou Katsuki, said that with a wicked smirk on his face.

The bluenette, Iida, startled back slightly. “You would threaten me, your own classmate?! Are you sure you are in the right place?” Before he could continue his tirade against the blonde, Iida had noticed Izuku by the door.

“It’s him,” the bluenette said, slightly subdued. This brought the attention of the rest of the people in the room onto Izuku. Iida began walking to the door, reciting his introduction again before Izuku interrupted him, having already heard it before.

Still startled and unnerved by the attention suddenly shifting to him, he couldn’t speak, stuck in his thoughts until a somewhat familiar voice broke him out of it.

“Hey Green Bean, glad you kept your end of the promise.”

Izuku turned to see a girl smiling towards him. With slightly messy long, blue hair and bright blue eyes, the girl approached him. The boy was slightly confused at first at who the girl was.

‘Promise? What is she talking about? Wait, Green Bean. The only person who’s called me that was-’ “Wait, you’re that girl from the beach!” he stated, surprised.

The girl stopped before pouting slightly, her head dropping in disappointment. “‘That girl’? I guess that’s what I get for forgetting to introduce myself back then.” Before the conversation could continue any further, another familiar voice to the boy cut through the air.

“Hey, it’s you! Falling Boy!” the voice exclaimed, excitement clear in their voice.

Izuku had turned to see the nice girl he had saved during the entrance exam from the Zero-Pointer. He had wondered if the brunette got in, but it seems he wouldn’t need to search for long.

“After everything that happened, I knew you’d get in!” The belief in her voice took the boy off-guard even after seeing the clip of her wanting to give him her points. “Huh, wait, how did you know that?” she asked. Apparently the boy was muttering, as he often did.

Before any of the conversation could continue, another voice cut through yet again. “If you’re here to make friends, you can go ahead and leave.” Everyone at the doorway stopped at a man’s voice and turned to where they thought it was coming from…

Only to spot what looked like a giant yellow caterpillar. After a moment a raggedly dressed man stepped out revealing that it wasn’t a cocoon but rather a sleeping bag. “Only one of you spotted me. The rest of you took twenty seconds to quiet down. I expect you to be faster next time.

“Now then, I’m Aizawa Shouta, your homeroom teacher.” The man reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a gym uniform. “Put these on and meet me on the field outside. You have five minutes.” After that the man left, leaving the rest of the students in silence.

That’s when the blue haired girl began to move. “C’mon, let’s get moving. It’s probably not a good idea to be late with him,” she said before leaving herself. The rest of her classmates quickly followed behind her.

==========

“Congrats, that was four minutes and fifty-eight seconds,” said the man drearily. “Move faster next time. The longer it takes you, the more civilians that will be put into harm's way.” Most everyone there realized that their supposed teacher was someone who refused to be pleased. The rest just didn’t care. “Now then, time to conduct a Quirk Assessment test.”

“A ‘Quirk Assessment Test’?” was the common question voiced by all of the students.

“Wait, what about orientation?!” questioned the brunette from before, obviously confused at missing the opening ceremony. “We’re going to miss it.”

The man turned and replied lazily, “Heroes can’t waste time on pointless ceremonies. Here at UA, we aren’t tethered to pointless traditions like most other schools.” Aizawa’s expression turned harsh for his next statement. “That means I get to run my class however I like.”

That got Izuku to take a step back in fear. The blue haired girl stood next to him and turned to him with a calming look and a small smile on her face. While he didn’t calm down completely, he did stop panicking for the most part.

“You’ve been taking standardized tests all your lives,” Aizawa started again. “You’ve never been allowed to use your quirks in any physical exams. That’s irrational. Not allowing someone to test their limits limits their ability to grow.”

Many thought on the man’s words, seeing some sense in them.

“Highlander, you got the highest score on the Public Entrance Exams,” the man stated. “What was your farthest softball throw in high school?”

“About seventy meters,” the blue haired girl, Highlander apparently, replied. Izuku could see Bakugou snapping his head towards her, rage clear in his eyes.

Izuku thought back to the scoreboard that was shown in his acceptance letter. He was shocked to first learn that Bakugou had only gotten second place with seventy-seven villain points, only coming after someone named ‘Highlander Azura’ with forty villain points and fifty rescue points. Izuku was also surprised he had gotten fifth place with sixty rescue points and ten villain points. Apparently he had gotten some villain points when the Zero-Pointer had fallen onto some other robots that were still active.

“Do it again, but this time use your quirk,” ordered Aizawa. The man had tossed Highlander a ball before she moved towards the circle.

She stopped for a moment to think from what Izuku could observe. Then she tossed it straight up. Before anyone could question what she was doing, lightning burst from her as she dropped down and began to spin. Izuku believed he saw a move like the one she was performing in a break dancing video once. The pink-skinned girl nearby got an excited look on her face due to the display.

“Requiem…” Blue lighting began flashing around her as she began to spin faster. Izuku looked up to see the ball slowing its ascent, then began to fall as gravity took over. Looking down again, he saw her spin faster and faster with the ball coming closer and closer. Finally, she changed her position, one of her feet being planted on the ground before pivoting…

“Roundhouse!” he heard her yell as her other foot making contact with the ball, launching it into the sky with him and the rest of the class quickly losing sight of it.

A few moments later everyone could hear a beeping. Turning to Aizawa, he held up a tablet displaying a distance. “843 meters huh? I thought it would go a bit further,” Highlander said in a contemplating tone. Izuku jumped slightly and looked back to see her, not noticing her approach beforehand.

“As you can see,” said Aizawa, breaking the silence, “this is what you can really do if given the chance.”

The whole class began talking. Someone, he thinks it was the pink-skinned one from before, cheerfully yelling, “We actually get to use our quirks for this?! This is going to be fun!”

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines after that was said. Aizawa called their attention a moment later. “Fun? Heroics isn’t fun and games. How about this, whoever places last in the assessment gets expelled.”

This caused the class to uproar with confusion. Izuku stood stock still with shock, afraid of failing with a quirk he had literally no experience with. “Wait, what?! But that isn’t fair!” stated the brunette from before.

“Fair? Life isn’t fair. Disasters can happen anywhere at any time. Villains too. Is it fair that you have to be the ones to deal with them?” Asked the man. This got the class to stop. “If you want to make it in this field, you’ll have to combat that unfairness and work with what you have.” The man then gave an almost manic grin. “So if you want to make it past today, you’ll have to go plus ultra.”

Izuku gulped at that.

==========

First, they all started with a fifty meter dash. Izuku might not have been able to use One for All, but the training he underwent to get it did help improve upon his running speed. While his was slightly better than average at 6.85 seconds, there were a few standouts like Iida, Highlander, Bakugou, and a tall black-haired girl who pulled a bike seemingly from her stomach. Izuku had to resist the urge to pull out his notebook and start asking her about her quirk.

Next up was the grip strength test. Izuku had gotten around 77 kg. Again though, there were standouts in comparison to the rest of the class. The first two were Highlander and that black-haired girl from last time, the latter had apparently created an industrial clamp to do her test with, with the third coming from a giant of a man with a set of six arms with a sort of webbing connecting them.

The third test was the standing long jump. Most of his classmates cleared the sandbox, some even going much further than necessary, but Izuku alongside the rest of his classmates had landed in the sand box in one way or another. Highlander had approached him asking if he was okay, but he just waved off her concern. He thought he saw a disbelieving look in her eyes, but he chose to ignore it. He was far more concerned about the fact that most everyone already had at least one outstanding score.

Next was the side steps. Everyone tried different ways of getting higher scores, but most attempts ended up with a score only slightly above average. There was an exception with a diminutive boy with balls for hair that used said balls to create trampoline-like walls to bounce back and forth in rapid succession. This did not help Izuku’s anxiety.

The fifth test up was the ball toss. Highlander was exempt due to her doing it at the start, but that still left everyone else. Iida had taken a page from Highlander’s book and kicked it, getting the ball over two hundred meters. The black-haired girl from before pulled out a CANNON to everyone’s surprise. Well, it was a mortar to be specific, but the point still stands. He could faintly hear someone saying “bitches love cannons” regardless of semantics.

After a little more time and prep work on the girl’s part, the cannon was fired. The noise seemed to bother this one purple-haired girl who seemed to have headphone cords coming out of her ears. Izuku resisted the urge to pull out his notebook again. Everyone had such interesting quirks. He could ask tomorrow… ‘if I can survive that long,’ he thought darkly.

The nice girl had apparently gotten an infinity due to it leaving the atmosphere. Izuku really wanted to know how she did that. There were several other notable scores, but faster than he liked, Izuku was up.

‘Either he’ll get another average score, or he’ll break his arm to actually get something good. Either way, he’s not staying,’ thought the man.

Seeing no other choice, Izuku had charged up One for All in his arm and prepared to throw. As he did however, he felt the power suddenly and forcibly leave him. The sensation tripped him up, causing him to mess up his throw and only getting around twenty meters or so.

Before the boy could question what had happened, he was suddenly wrapped up in some cloth and forcefully turned towards the adult, the man’s eyes glowing red.

“You were just about to break your arm, weren’t you?” Aizawa asked rhetorically. “If you were just planning to break yourself over and over in the field, you’ll get yourself killed.” Izuku could feel the cloth around him slacken and see it return to the man. “Just get it over with. We still have to finish this test.”

Izuku had stood there for a moment, still scared from what Aizawa had said and done. He was thinking on the problem at hand. If he used his quirk, he’d be out of the last few tests. On the other hand, if he didn’t use it, he would definitely come in last place. He’d have to do something to limit the damage.

‘Wait, if I channel it into my arm, then that will get hurt, but if I just use something smaller…’ With the bare bones of a plan forming in his mind, the greenette moved, channeling his quirk into only a single finger. Throwing it caused a ‘BOOM’ created by the air pressure alone. Most everyone was blown back by the force. The counter on Aizawa’s pad stopped at 734 meters.

After the smoke cleared, there Izuku was standing in the middle of the circle with a purple, and broken, finger clenched in a fist looking at Aizawa with determination. “I used my quirk, but I’m still standing.”

The silence that played out after that was interrupted a few moments later when another explosion came from the other students.

“DEKUUUU! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET A QUIRK?!?!” Bakugou was rocketing towards Izuku, fury in the boy's eyes as he rocketed full force at the boy. He would cause a lot of damage… had a strand of familiar cloth not come from the side and restrain the enraged blonde. “What the hell?! What the hell is this thing made of?! Why can’t I use my quirk?!”

“I canceled it out obviously,” Aizawa droned out. Looking over, the students could see the man’s eyes glowing red.

Hearing the man’s statement however, Izuku had an epiphany concerning the man’s heroic identity. “Wait a second, you’re Erasurehead!” exclaimed the boy.

“Quit using your quirk, you’re giving me dry-eye,” ordered the man. After a few moments, the man addressed the still squirming Bakugou. “Stop or I’ll expel you. We still have to finish the tests.” Bakugou decided to stop for the time being after that statement. He wasn’t willing to take any chances with the man for a moment.

Izuku began walking over to the rest of the students after that exchange. His eyes were drawn to Highlander however when he saw a look of rage on her face pointed at Bakugou.

==========

After that, nothing worthy of note happened during the last few tests, though Izuku’s finger still hurt. Most received the same scores in the seated toe touch and sit up portions, but there were a few exceptions like the previous tests. The final test, the long distance run, went until Aizawa had cut it off, stating that they shouldn’t keep wasting time on it when the results were clear.

That’s when he presented the scores.

1st: Yaoyorozu Momo
2nd: Highlander Azura
3rd: Todoroki Shouto
4th: Bakugou Katsuki
5th: Iida Tenya
6th: Tokoyami Fumikage
7th: Shouji Mezou
8th: Kirishima Eijiro
9th: Ashido Mina
10th Uraraka Ochako
11th: Kouda Kouji
12th: Satou Rikidou
13th: Asui Tsuyu
14th: Aoyama Yuuga
15th: Sero Hanta
16th: Kaminari Denki
17th: Jirou Kyouka
18th: Hagakure Tooru
19th: Mineta Minoru
20th: Midoriya Izuku

Seeing the placement he had, Izuku almost went catatonic. His journey ending almost as quickly as it had started. The thought crossed his mind that All Might might take back his quirk when he heard about Izuku’s expulsion.

Before he could spiral too deeply, the almost-hobo spoke. “By the way, the expulsion was only a logical deception to push you to do harder on the test.” Hearing this revelation, Izuku almost fainted. He thinks he could hear the black-haired girl comment how obvious that was off to the side, but he wasn’t paying too much attention for obvious reasons.

“You’re lying.” An almost cold voice cut through the myriad of other voices causing everyone to turn who had said it. It was Highlander. The blue-haired girl had a look of quiet, barely-disguised rage on her face directed at Aizawa. Aizawa, on the other hand, looked completely unconcerned.

“Oh, and what makes you say that?” the man asked lazily.

“The fact that you expelled your entire class last year on the first day speaks volumes in my opinion.” This piece of information caused many people to go pale, especially the black-haired girl that had commented beforehand. “From what I’ve heard, you would expel anyone you deemed a liability without a second’s hesitation.” Some people had paled further at that. “Also,” the girl continued, “those scores have clearly been tampered with.”

“That’s quite a claim, Highlander,” stated the man. “Care to share why you’d think that?”

Nodding, Highlander began. “Simple, you’re using a metric you didn’t tell us about. That, or you simply arranged the placements as you saw fit.”

“I don’t have to divulge how I calculate the scores,” the man argued in a bored yet harsh tone.

“Midoriya could have easily made it up to at least the 15th spot if all you were doing was taking the scores. Hell, Bakugou should be 6th at the highest, yet he’s 4th? He only received notable scores during the ball throw, 50 meter dash, and the jump. Even then, some people here scored much higher than him in several events, yet those people are much further down the list.” Bakugou looked enraged at the claim. However, the expressions on several of their classmates' faces turned contemplative, obviously to consider the same facts and questions Highlander proposed.

“I told you, I don’t have to reveal how I calculated the scores.” The man, despite his cold and calm expression, was slightly on edge after being called out. If this got back to the Rat, then he wouldn’t be able to move as freely as he had been allowed to.

Highlander either didn’t notice or care and continued. “Then I’d like to talk to the Dean.” This statement startled more than a few people there, none of them expecting the Dean to be dragged into something on their first day. “You have not only deliberately lied to us, but you’re withholding critical information. Doing that in the field could get people killed. If how you scored us makes sense, then I’ll drop the issue entirely. Otherwise…” She let the threat hang there and let everyone else present fill in the blanks.

Highlander and Aizawa had a stare off for the next few moments, waiting for whoever would break first. After a few tense moments, the man relented. The list projected had changed. “Get your syllabi from your desks before you leave. All of your stuff should be at your dorm. Class dismissed,” the man said gruffly before he turned around to leave.

The new list had some similarities, but also several key differences.

1st: Yaoyorozu Momo
2nd: Highlander Azura
3th: Iida Tenya
4th: Todoroki Shouto
5th: Tokoyami Fumikage
6th: Shouji Mezou
7th: Bakugou Katsuki
8th: Kirishima Eijiro
9th: Ashido Mina
10th Uraraka Ochako
11th: Satou Rikidou
12th: Asui Tsuyu
13th: Midoriya Izuku
14th: Kouda Kouji
15th: Aoyama Yuuga
16th: Sero Hanta
17th: Kaminari Denki
18th: Jirou Kyouka
19th: Hagakure Tooru
20th: Mineta Minoru

Knowing that no one would be expelled just then lessened the impact greatly, but to see just Izuku shoot up to 13th from 20th was a little shocking to some. Bakugou was enraged even more by seeing himself being dropped down three more places. He turned towards Highlander, but she didn’t react at all, enraging the boy even more.

Izuku though, he was at a loss for words. This pretty girl he didn’t even really know risked herself to call out the man on how he was treating Izuku. Several things didn’t make sense to him in that moment, so he decided to do what he usually did and shelved them for later.

That’s when Highlander clapped her hands a few times to call everyone’s attention to herself again. “Sorry about making it so intense there for a bit. Now, I don’t know about you guys, but I’d rather get started on getting my room set up before it gets too late.”

Iida decided to take this moment to take charge. “Highlander is correct. We should not linger here for longer than we have to. There are many things we have to do as students of this fine institution before the day ends.”

One by one, everyone nodded their heads and began the trek back to the main building.

==========

Several minutes later, Izuku was walking by himself to the dorms after getting his finger healed. Today had been a rollercoaster for him. First was arriving at the UA to attend, then was the threat of expulsion, then everything that happened during the test and Aizawa’s confrontation with him, and all of it being topped off with everything that happened at the scoreboard, which was a rollercoaster in and of itself. His thoughts were interrupted when two people walked up behind him.

“I must say, I knew UA was unorthodox as an institution, however I wasn’t expecting that display from before.” He recognized Iida’s voice coming from his right. The person to his left didn’t take long to respond.

“Sure, UA may allow more freedom, but I’m thinking that freedom has gone to some of the teachers’ heads.” The other voice belonged to Highlander. Izuku was still very confused with the girl’s actions throughout the day.

“Hey!” yelled a voice behind him. All of them turned around to see the brunette from before running towards them from the main building.

“Oh, it’s the infinity girl,” stated Iida as she had caught up with them.

“Oh, my name’s Uraraka Ochako,” said the now-name Uraraka as she introduced herself. “And you guys must be IIda Tenya, Midoriya Deku and- wait, I don’t think I ever caught your name,” wondered the brunette.

“Deku?” Izuku asked, startled.

“My name is Highlander Azura, and that is Midoriya Izuku, not Deku.” Highlander seemed to have a tint of annoyance in her voice, though the exact reason eluded Izuku.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Uraraka said, quickly apologizing. “I just heard the blonde guy call you ‘Deku’ and thought that was your name.”

Shaking his head to refocus, the boy responded. “Oh, ‘Deku’ is something Kacchan calls me to make fun of me.”

“Oh, really? I thought he meant ‘Dekiru’, you know, ‘you can do it’.”

“Going by the tone of voice and his clear hostility, he probably meant ‘Deku’ as in ‘useless’,” Highlander interrupted quickly.

“‘Useless’? Why would anyone give someone else such an insulting nickname?” replied Iida, clearly confused and exasperated.

“One of life’s greatest mysteries,” Highlander replied distantly.

“Oh, Sorry. I didn’t know that’s what it meant. I’ll call you ‘Dekiru’ instead then. It could make a great Hero name.”

Izuku’s face exploded into a blush. “O-okay! You c-can call m-me Dekiru,” Izuku stammered.

“Yeah, that fits much better in my opinion,” Highlander said, nodding.

“Hey, wait,” interrupted Uraraka. “From everything I’ve seen today, it seems like you two know each other. What’s the story behind that?”

“While I wouldn’t have put it so crassly, I must admit that I am curious too,” Iida assented as he adjusted his glasses, curious at Highlander’s mannerism that spoke of familiarity between the two.

After a moment, Highlander spoke up again. “Oh, that? You mind if I tell them?” she had asked. When Izuku shook his head after a moment, she continued. “A couple of months back I was curious about a rumor about someone cleaning up Dagobah beach.”

“The dumpster beach?” Iida interrupted.

“The dumpster beach no more thanks to our Green Bean here!” she replied, patting Izuku on the back.

Uraraka got excited again at this. “Whoa, really?! That’s so cool! I’ve seen some of the pictures taken there. It looks so beautiful.”

Izuku flushed again under the praise. “I-it was n-nothing! I-I just used i-it f-for some training, that’s all!”

“I see, not only were you training yourself, but you were also giving back to the community at the same time. Such an act is the epitome of a heroic spirit. Not only that, but you also figured out the secret behind the rescue points. Truly a magnificent display.”

“S-secret?” Izuku asked, still heavily flustered. “I-I just saw s-someone who needed help, a-and my body moved on it’s own.”

“That only makes your action more magnificent! You acted without a desire for a reward. No, more accurately, you thought the act of saving someone was a reward itself! I cannot think of anyone more suited to be a Hero!” Iida’s passion rang through his words. Izuku didn’t know if he could be any more flustered.

“Oh, right,” said Highlander, breaking through Iida’s speech, “I had heard about someone taking out a Zero-Pointer only to end up getting hurt badly. I honestly shouldn’t be surprised it was you.

“Now, we got side-tracked, but you guys asked how we knew each other.” At this Uraraka and Iida both nodded. “Well, as I was saying, I was curious about the rumors and decided to investigate one day…”

==========
Dagobah Municipal Park Beach
7 months ago

Izuku had the day off of school today, so he decided to get in some extra hours of cleaning at Dagobah. All Might wasn’t watching him that day due to some business he had to take care of. He had been vigilant in Izuku’s first few months, but as time went on, he and All Might agreed that he didn’t need 24/7 supervision. So there Izuku was, moving trash to the dumpster to be picked up later. That’s all that would have happened too, had someone not caught his attention.

“Heyyyyy!” yelled a voice. In his surprise, Izuku dropped the piece of trash he was carrying, luckily not on his foot. He quickly swept his gaze, looking for whoever called to him.

That’s when he saw a pretty black-haired girl wearing tight-fitting jeans and a light jacket on the other side of the railing. She seemed to be waving him over to talk to her. With no small amount of hesitation, he began walking over to see what the girl wanted.

“Y-yes?” he stammered, nervous about talking to a pretty girl. “C-can I h-help y-you?”

“Not really,” she answered. “I just wanted to know if you were the ‘Green Ghost’ that’s been rumored to be cleaning the beach.”

Still nervous at the situation, he had decided to answer. “I-I don’t k-know about any ‘G-Green Ghost’, b-but I am cleaning t-this b-beach for t-training.”

“Training huh?” she asked rhetorically, though Izuku could hear a bit of amusement and amazement in her voice. “Cleaning up a whole beach on your own just for training. That’s some serious dedication. You planning on going through the hero track?”

“Y-yeah, I am. It’s b-been my dream for-forever now. W-What about y-you?” Izuku replied, cursing how he couldn’t get his stuttering under control.

She began looking towards the ocean observable through the area he had cleaned up already. “Heroics might have not always been my dream, but yeah, I’m doing that too.” She looked back at him, “I’m guessing you’re going to UA?”

“Yeah. I w-wanna learn from the best of the best.” He started rubbing his neck and laughed nervously. “Ev-everyone does though I g-guess.”

“You got me there.” She stopped for a moment before nodding to herself, seemingly coming to a decision. “Alright, what’s your name?”

“W-what? O-oh, my n-name is Mizuku Idoriya- wait, I mean Midoriya Izuku!” Izuku became flustered at his misstep.

The girl began giggling however. “Midoriya Izuku, huh? I’m gonna call you ‘Green Bean’!”

“‘Green Bean’?!” he asked quickly.

“Well, you have green hair and eyes, and ‘green’ is in your name. As for the ‘bean’ part, well you’re as cute as a bean, obviously,” the smile on her face bright and genuine.

This caused Izuku’s face to explode red. A girl had just called him ‘cute’!? He had no idea how to reply. The girl’s face turned serious, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Anyways Green Bean, let’s make a promise,” she stated. “When the two of us meet in UA, let’s be rivals.”

“Rivals?” he asked.

“Yep!” she perked up again. “You’re a nice, earnest, and hardworking person. The perfect kind of person to be my rival.” Izuku was still confused and flustered, not expecting her to compliment him so much.

Before he could voice any reply though, he could hear a phone begin to ring. The girl reacted, pulling out her phone, then immediately answering after seeing the caller ID. “Hey mom. Yeah. Shoot, sorry, I’ll get right on that. Right. See you.” Putting her phone away, she turned to him, “Sorry, I have to go,” she said apologetically. “My mom needs me to run an errand right now and be back in time for dinner. I’ll see you at UA!” she yelled as she turned and ran down the street.

Izuku, in his shock, couldn’t get her attention before she left. There were so many things he was questioning about the whole conversation, but one detail stood out. ‘When’, not ‘if’, but ‘when’ they both got to UA. She said it with such certainty that he hadn’t really took note of it until just then.

Invigorated by her belief in him, he got back to work. Izuku was determined to show her that her faith in him wasn’t wasted. He’d see her again, the girl named…

“Oh crap! I never asked her name!” he screamed towards the ocean.

==========
Present

The retelling was accurate to Izuku’s memory. The event had stuck with him all this time. He had tried to memorize all the details of her that he could remember, wanting to find her again. It was part of the reason he hadn’t recognized her at first. The blue hair did look better on her in his opinion.

“A promise during a first meeting? That seems a little rushed to me,” stated Iida.

“Eh, maybe,” she admitted, “but it just felt right at the time. Part of my philosophy is to take the chances that you have when they appear. You never know if you might ever have them again.”

Uraraka took this moment to present her own opinion. “That’s so cool! A promise to become each other’s fated rival!” she exclaimed, pumping her fists. “I wish I could’ve done something like that.”

The conversation would have continued had they not reached the dorm building for class 1-A. All of them entered the main floor, and after deciding to talk again later, split up to find their rooms. Today might have been confusing to Izuku, but he was hopeful at what was to come.

Chapter Text

It had been a few hours since the four had gone off to their own rooms. The dorms were separated between boys and girls with the ground floor having the common room and all of the bells and whistles such as a utility room and kitchen. There was a washroom as well, but they were separated by gender. The diminutive purple-haired boy seemed to lament this slightly from what Izuku could see.

Most of his time was spent setting up his room. His mother had insisted he only bring a portion of his hero memorabilia collection to create less hassle, so his new room took him less time to set up than he originally thought it was.

As he was finishing setting up his decorations though, he heard someone knocking on his door. Not having much else to do at the moment, he opened the door to find his pinked-skinned classmate.

“Heyo!” she exclaimed while closing in on him. “Despite what that hobo-guy from before said, I was thinking that we should all get to know each other,” she said excitedly.

“O-oh, really?” he stuttered. “W-what did y-you h-have in mind?” he asked, taking a step back to get some space.

“Well, at first I thought a dorm room competition would be fun,” she answered before looking down with a defeated expression on her face, “but I got outvoted.” She had immediately perked up once more before she started again. “That’s why we’re now going to do introductions downstairs.”

Izuku was relieved to hear that the first option was outvoted. He didn’t exactly like the idea of at least a dozen people he didn’t really know entering his room to judge it. “I-if that’s all, th-then I guess I’ll go d-down and wait.”

“Really? Awesome! I’ll keep getting everyone then,” she said before starting towards the next room. “See you in a few!”

With this, he went back into his room to give it a final once-over then trekked down to the commons to wait for everyone else.

==========

As he had exited the staircase, Izuku spotted Iida, Uraraka, and Highlander all sitting on one of the couches. Seeing an opportunity, he approached.

“Ah, there’s the Green Bean,” stated Highlander as soon as she spotted him.

Iida and Uraraka turned towards him, smiling and beckoning him over. He had sat with them and added a few things to the conversation they were having while waiting for everyone else, but he was content to listen for the most part. It was strange to be a part of a conversation that he wasn’t forced into or the subject of. They were talking about random things mostly.

Everything halted after the pink-skinned girl from earlier got everyone’s attention.

“Alright, now that everyone is here, let’s get started!”

“Actually, there are only eighteen people here. Where are our missing classmates?” Iida corrected. Taking a look around, Izuku noticed that Kacchan and the boy with red and white hair split down the middle weren’t around.

Her expression turned more annoyed at the subject. “Oh, those two bozos blew me off the moment I said anything about this. Too good for us I guess.” Before anyone else made any comments though, she sprung back. “Moving on, this is going to be the basic intro-thing. Your name, a thing or two about you, and what your quirk is if you wanna. Going around the room starting from me, I’m Ashido Mina, but you guys can call me Mina, and I like dancing and the movie ‘Alien’. My quirk is ‘Acid’. I can create acids and change their viscosity and solubility from my skin.”

Taking this as their cue, the next student went. Everyone introduced themselves one-by-one, some people adding their own comments about some things or topics. Izuku was more interested in the quirks, every one of them were so interesting. He wishes he didn’t leave his notebooks upstairs. Before he knew it though, Izuku and his group were all that were left.

“My name is Iida Tenya, and I am partial to rules and Pringles. My quirk is ‘Engine’, and with it, I can turn orange juice into fuel to increase my running speed and kicking power,” his introduction was as proper as he had been all day.

“Well, my name is Uraraka Ochako, and I like mochi and space. My quirk is ‘Zero Gravity’. When I touch all five of the pads on one of my hands to something, it floats.” As she explains, she uses her quirk on a nearby empty cup and let it float for a bit before deactivating her quirk.

After Uraraka’s introduction was finished, everyone’s attention turned to Izuku. He jumped when he saw that before stuttering out his own introduction. “O-oh, um, m-my name i-is M-M-Midoriya I-Izuku. I-I like to analyze q-quirks and any-anything to do with heroics.” He paused slightly, hoping he could bluff through the next part. “M-my q-q-quirk is c-called ‘S-Stockp-pile’, and it l-lets m-m-me in-increase my str-strength as you guys s-saw.”

A yellow-haired boy, Kaminari Denki, chose to jump in at this. “Yeah, breaking your finger to throw a ball over 750 meters? That’s a crazy amount of power!”

“But that kind of thing is pretty manly in my opinion!” replied a red-head, Kirishima Eijirou.

“Manly or not, that still had to hurt a ton,” came the voice of Sero Hanta.

“Excuse me,” cut in the black-haired beauty Yaoyorozu Momo, “but we still have one person left.” At this, everyone gave their apologies before turning to the last person.

“Don’t worry about it guys,” she replied. “Anyways, my name’s Highlander Azura, but I don’t really mind you guys calling me Azura. I like writing and parkour.” Before she continued though, a sultry smirk adorned her face. “As for my quirk though, that’s a secret,” she said as she brought a finger to her lips. Several people protested a few moments later. She interrupted everyone before it escalated. “Come on, let’s have some fun with this. If any of you guys can come up with an accurate guess before the first Practical Heroics lesson, then I’ll give you a prize.”

“A prize huh?” asked Mina suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. “What do you get if you win?”

“A kiss from a fair maiden seems acceptable,” she replied sweetly. There were several reactions, namely blushing from the guys and a few of the girls, but Ashido and Hagakure seemed excited while Mineta began drooling.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Not gonna be that easy. I’ll have to get something, though it would be funny regardless.” At this the pink-skinned girl groaned. “Anyways, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m getting hungry. I heard that the kitchen should be stocked, so it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”

“She is exactly correct!” exclaimed Iida whilst chopping his arms. The people directly next to him jumped at his sudden proclamation. “In order for us to operate at peak performance, we must eat nutritious and balanced meals! Now, who among us knows how to cook? We will create a rota to handle cooking responsibilities. On that note, we must also organize who shall do what chores and when around the dorms!”

“Geez man, you need to lighten up,” commented Jirou Kyouka.

“So noisy,” complained Tokoyami Fumikage.

This caused Iida’s head to droop down. “Why does no one understand the importance of these actions?”

Wishing to get everyone back on track, Azura called everyone’s attention back to herself. “Alright, alright. We can figure everything else out later. We’re only on our first day after all. Now, show of hands, who knows how to cook?” Most of the group raised their hands. “Alright, better question, who knows more than just how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or instant ramen on their own?” At this, several slightly embarrassed people put their hands down leaving Izuku, Ochako, Tenya, and a few others with their hands up. “Green Bean, Jirou, follow me. The rest of you just make sure you don’t burn the dorms down,” she said as she walked towards the kitchen.

A few moments after the three fully enter the kitchen, Ochako spoke up. “You know, Highlander seems oddly comfortable around everyone.” This observation caused several people to look in her direction, slightly confused.

“What do you mean Uraraka?” Tenya prompted.

“Well, I dunno how to best describe it.” After a moment of thinking, Ochako continued. “It’s just, no offense, but I’m nervous around everyone here. Too many new people, you know? Highlander though, she doesn’t seem nervous at all.”

“I think I get it,” Mina interjected. “Normally when a bunch of people first meet, everyone has to find how they fit together. Azura though, she just slid right in.”

“Maybe that is just who she is as a person,” said Momo offering her own thoughts on the matter. “We have only known each other for a few hours now. Even after our individual introductions, there is a lot each of us don’t know about everyone else in the room.”

==========

Izuku was nervous about cooking for everyone, but the compliments he was receiving had diminished that feeling. Though he was still incredibly flustered after the fact. Most of his classmates had gotten up to either talk in smaller groups around the common room or go back to their rooms to finish unpacking. Kacchan and the split-hair boy came down for food, but they didn’t stay very long. The only people left at the dining area were him, Ochako, Tenya, and Azura, with Momo sitting at another table quietly sipping what appeared to be tea.

“So Green Bean,” Azura said, “you said you liked analyzing quirks before, yeah?” Izuku froze for a moment before nodding, preparing himself for ridicule and insults. “That’s cool! I’m glad to finally meet someone else I can talk quirks with.”

Izuku balked. ‘Wait, is she saying that…?’ he thought before he asked just that aloud.

“Yup!” she answered enthusiastically. “I always loved to figure out how things in general worked. Quirks are just fascinating when you get into the details. Some of them seem to completely break the laws of physics, but if you look at it at a deep enough level, the rules bend far more often than they break. Like Uraraka’s quirk.” This startled Ochako and caused her to straighten in her seat. “You said that your quirk essentially frees an object from gravity, but if that were the case, it would’ve been shot to the stratosphere.”

At this, Ochako stopped, slightly confused at her statement. Her expression then turned contemplative in trying to figure out what Azura meant before it hit her, “If I took away gravity completely, then it wouldn’t stay on the planet because the Earth is rotating around the Sun.” With this realization, Ochako had a slightly haunted look. “I could’ve hurt so many people like that.”

“You’re right on both accounts. Part of the reason we’re here is to train to make sure we only use the least amount of force necessary to resolve a situation and not hurt anyone,” replied Azura, nodding in understanding. She then looked up with a serious look on her face. “Quirks are tools, powerful ones that could kill people if we aren’t careful.”

This got everyone present to think about just how much power they were eventually going to be given when they receive their licenses and graduate. The amount of power they already held was terrifying when one thought about it long enough, but when they graduate, they would be able to use even greater power whenever they wanted. At this, Momo approached, intrigued by the conversation.

“You are quite correct, Highlander. That lesson was impressed upon me during my early days of quirk counseling and training,” came from the dignified Momo.

“I’m glad at least someone has had that lesson before. It’ll make teaching everyone else easier.” Her expression softened to a small smile, “although I told you guys to call me Azura, I’m fine with it.”

“Then please call me Momo, it is far less cumbersome,” replied the beauty. “Though I must ask, are you American by any chance Azura?”

“Nope,” she replied quickly, popping the ‘p’. “Japanese born and raised. Though I guess you can say I’ve had a…” she trailed off, eyes darting to the side, “different upbringing.” At the way she finished, everyone decided to drop the conversation for now.

“Anyways,” Azura redirected, “going back to quirks, yours confuses me too Momo.” This caused Momo to tilt her head. Izuku admitted that she looked kind of cute like that.

“It confuses you? I had thought I had explained it rather well earlier,” she stated.

“That’s not what confused me. To reiterate, I like figuring out how quirks work on a bare-bones level. Like I said earlier, a lot of quirks bend the rules of physics, not break them, and that can be seen when you figure out the what and how behind a quirk. That curiosity brings me to ask questions that a lot of people seem to miss. With all that in mind, I must ask; how did you figure out how your quirk works?”

Momo took an empty seat at their table and thought for a moment before replying. “I went to my quirk counselor. He looked at mine and my parent’s quirks, and then presented his explanation. I don’t understand where the confusion is coming from.”

“You went to a counselor after you first used your quirk?” Azura asked. At this, Izuku began to see what she was getting at.

“Well, yes.”

“What happened exactly? And how old were you?” she probed further.

After a moment, Momo spoke, “I do not see how this is relevant, but I was five I believe. I had lost a special toy of mine, a stuffed bear, and began to cry.” At that, Momo began to blush. “All I wanted was to hold it again. A flash of light happened, and the next thing I knew, that same bear appeared before me.”

Surprisingly, Izuku was the next one to speak with wife eyes. “If that’s the case, how did you know what the atomic and molecular structures of cloth, buttons, and other accessories were at five years old?”

Azura turned to him, “Exactly! There’s no way she could have known unless she was into chemistry at a very young age. Even then, there’s no way she could have completely understood all of it for a few years, at least.”

“If that’s the case, then there must be some other way. Maybe she collects data through studying and interacting with an object, then calls upon that data for whatever object she needs. Maybe the longer she interacts with an object, the higher the quality of the object.”

“That’s a possibility.” Turning back to the heiress, Azura probed her further. “How close did the original and the copy look? Were there any differences?”

Momo however only sat there stunned, her whole worldview shattered by the two. There were many thoughts going through her mind, too many she thought.

“Uh, I think you two broke her,” replied Uraraka. Azura’s expression didn’t change, but Izuku’s face went completely red when he realized just what happened.

After taking a moment to collect her thoughts, Momo answered the question after being prompted again. “They were nearly identical. There were no differences from what could be seen. H-how- This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Momo,” said Azura, calling the girl’s attention, “do you know the exact chemical makeup of a pool noodle?” she asked. After getting a response in the negative, she continued. “Then make one. I know what you just said, but if we’re right, then you won’t have to know molecular structures for your quirk to work.”

Momo concentrated for a second. She pictured one in her head. She thought about deriving the material used from what she knew, but she also wanted to test Azura’s hypothesis. Keeping the image of the pool toy itself in her head, she activated her quirk, a pool noodle was spat out from her arm. It had floated over to Izuku who picked it up and handed it back to her. As she kept making observation after observation, she was stunned further and further into silence.

“Correction Uraraka,” Azura said whist giggling, “now we’ve broken her.”

“Uh-how-I-wha?” was all the heiress was able to stutter out. Everyone else gave her a moment to recollect herself, obviously a bit shaken at the revelation.

“I have been using my quirk incorrectly this entire time,” she stated.

Azura opened her mouth, but someone else beat her to the punch. “You weren’t doing anything wrong, you were just doing what someone else told you. And because it worked, you never thought to question it deeper.” Izuku was the one to speak, momentarily overcoming his stuttering to give the raven-haired beauty comfort.

“I, thank you Midoriya,” she said after a moment. This shocked him out of his confident state, causing him to have an almost incandescent blush.

“N-n-no-no p-prob-blem,” he managed to stutter out.

“I must agree with Midoriya, Yaoyorozu!” said Tenya as he excitedly chopped his arms.

“Yeah, Dekiru’s right. We can’t always know everything from the word ‘go’,” chimed Ochako. Azura nodded with the statement.

“Thank you, all of you. Still, I can’t help but question why the counselor would tell me that I needed to know so much about molecular structures?” Momo pondered with concern.

“Probably for a better commission,” Azura said, cutting in. At the slightly confused expressions she continued. “Quirk Counselors, despite their profession, are honestly mostly incompetent. Anyone could learn the basics to quirk analysis if they actually tried, but there are already other people doing that job so barely anyone bothers. The ones who actually know what they’re doing charge exorbitant prices, while the actual affordable ones mostly only have the bare-bones to get the license because of how simple the basics are. Even then, more than a few from what I’ve seen try to overcomplicate the quirk to give its user an ego boost. They could also ask for a higher commission for ‘figuring out a complicated quirk’. Honestly, the whole profession needs a serious retooling.” Everyone at the table paid close attention to her tirade, seeing some of the points that she made.

“You seem quite passionate when it comes to this subject,” commented Tenya.

“I may not be a licensed professional, but what most people call a Quirk Analyst or Counselor is honestly insulting to the actual profession or study of quirk science.”

“So,” Momo started, “I was lied to since the beginning for a slightly larger paycheck? Is that all that was?”

“I said probably. The guy might’ve also never asked enough questions and just went with the first conclusion he came to that seemed to work,” Azura responded. “This could actually work in your favor honestly.”

A scandalized and frustrated expression overcame Momo’s face. “Excuse me? How could that lie possibly have been good for me? I have been using an overcomplicated way to use my quirk for nothing!”

“It’s because it was over complicated that it helped.”

“Oh, I get it,” said Izuku suddenly as he pinched his chin in thought. “Because she’s so used to using her quirk in such a detailed way, she could increase her already incredible production time. Without having to look at everything molecule by molecule, her creation process could be near instantaneous. She’ll obviously need to practice to break her out of her current mindset, but she’s obviously driven and smart enough… to do… that…” Izuku trailed off when he again realized he was surrounded by other people. His face exploded into a blush when he realized what he said at the end. He couldn't help getting lost in his thoughts, quirks were just so interesting! If he paid more attention, he would’ve seen a blush on Momo’s face as well.

“Yeah, that,” agreed Azura as she pointed at his blushing form.

“Wow, you two are wicked smart!” Ochako’s smiled. “I never would’ve figured that out.”

Izuku began stuttering in surprise, attempting to deny her claim, but Tenya's voice boomed over him. “Yes, to think that after knowing each other for less than a day, yet the two of you figured out a large discrepancy with her quirk. Truly, the two of you are worthy of studying at this fine institution!”

“I-I-I didn’t do anything. Highlander did all the work,” he said quickly.

“Not really,” she waved off. “There’s not a lot of people that can keep up with me when it comes to quirk analysis. Even then, you did bring up a few points I hadn’t considered. Time observing related to the quality of the object produced? That’s something we need to test. Same with the lipids. It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Iida chose this time to speak up again. “I hate to be the one to interrupt, but it seems to be becoming quite late. Perhaps it is better to continue this conversation later.”

The group looked out the window to see that it was dark out. Their conversations took longer than any of them expected it seems.

“Probably a good idea. I wanna see the rest of the campus tomorrow, so it might be a good idea to get some shuteye.” Izuku nodded in agreement at Azura’s words. The campus was so big. Trying to find his way around that morning had been almost agonizing. “You guys wanna join me? It’d be more fun that way.”

“Yeah, totally!” said Ochako with a bright smile.

“Indeed, we must do our due diligence and strive to be the best students we can be for this fine institution!” exclaimed Tenya.

“You could’ve just left it at ‘yes’,” Azura deadpanned before she turned to him and Momo. “Well Green Bean, Momo? You guys coming too?”

“If it will not be a bother,” came the heiress’ dignified reply.

“O-oh, u-um, ye-yeah. Th-that sounds n-nice,” Izuku finally assented.

“Sweet! We’ll all meet down here at say, ten o’clock. That good for you guys?” After another round of affirmations, the group split up, everyone happy at the outcome, though Izuku was still heavily confused.

Not only did Azura defend him before, but she also analyzes quirks. And she complimented him on his own analysis too. He didn’t believe any of it. Like she said, quirk analysis was easy to get into, his observations were nothing special. More questions about the girl and no answers for the boy. The thought that it may be worse tomorrow did not help him in the slightest.

Chapter Text

Izuku stood in the common room, waiting for the rest of his friends (Yes, friends.It’s only been one day and he already has friends, PLURAL) to meet with to tour the campus a bit as it was a Saturday. He had gotten up early due to him still being used to All Might’s crazy workout schedule however. ‘That’s probably not going away for a while.’ So there he was, waiting for whenever everyone else would show up.

A ding from the girl’s side elevator tore him from his thoughts. As the door opened, Azura stepped out, her hair up in a ponytail like during the tests the day before. She was obviously going casual with a t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. He was the same in that regard as he wore a t-shirt with the word “pants'' written on them. His mom said he had a horrible fashion sense, but he found it funny so he kept wearing them.

“Hey Green Bean,” she greeted before a snort escaped. “Nice shirt,” she commented, trying not to laugh before recovering. “How did you sleep last night? New place and all that.”

“O-oh, g-good morning Highlander-”

“Azura.”

“-Azura. I slept well. How about you?” he questioned back.

“Good. The bed was a little stiff, but that should go away with some time,” she replied as she made her way to the kitchen. “You have breakfast yet?”

“Oh, no. I was thinking of what to make.”

“No need to overcomplicate it. Here, I’ll make us some eggs.” After going through the cabinets and refrigerator, the girl started up quickly. In return, Izuku went to retrieve some dishes, taking care to grab extra sets for anyone who came down. The two then descended into a comfortable silence, the only real noise being Azura working on the eggs.

“Hey, Green Bean, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask,” she said with her back still turned towards him, breaking the silence.

Izuku jolted at this, a million possibilities going through his head. “O-oh, w-what is i-it?” he stuttered out.

“Your shoes,” she began slowly, “they’re ‘Quirkless Reds’ aren’t they?”

This caused Izuku’s anxiety to skyrocket and his body to freeze. There was only one company in Japan that made affordable and good quality shoes for quirkless people. The thing is that the shoes were always made with the same bright red color, making it so someone could easily identify someone who was quirkless.

Those factors gave the shoes that the company made the unofficial name of “Quirkless Reds”. The fact that she knew this could only mean bad things for Izuku. He began to try and stutter out denials, but he couldn’t get anything understandable out. Azura turned and took notice of his demeanor.

“I’m not going to do anything bad. I just need confirmation.” This caused Izuku to stop. Confirmation for what? Seeing the confused look on his face, she continued. “Like I said last night, I like researching quirks too. Yours doesn’t follow the rules I know, but if I’m right, there’s a reason why.”

Despite her attempts to calm him, Izuku’s mind still raced. Should he trust her, or should he just say nothing. He didn’t know how well that second option would turn out though. Lying also wasn’t a good idea because he was a terrible liar when unprepared. And there he was, completely unprepared.

Between a rock and a hard place, Izuku had no choice but to relent. “U-um, th-they’re, uh…” he tried to stutter out. “Y-yes, they a-are.”

“Damn,” her look turned contemplative. “When did your quirk appear?”

Izuku honestly had no idea where this was going. “O-oh, the En-entrance Exam?”

“Oh, the Entrance Exam…. Eh?” Her eyes snapped to his, confusion obvious. “Wait, are you saying… that you went into the exam thinking you were quirkless?”

“U-um, y-yeahhhh…”

The two of them stood there in silence. Azura turned her attention back to the eggs, dishing them out onto the two plates set out for them and say forward in her seat with her hands interlinked.

“Holy fuck,” she said after a while. “You… you are crazy. I mean, props to you for trying, but still. Have you gone to a quirk counselor yet?” she asked suddenly.

Izuku jolted, again. “U-um…” he muttered, trailing off at the question

Azura looked at him with a more serious and dangerous glare. “You have gone to a quirk counselor, right?” Izuku continued to stay silent. “Ho-ly shit,” exasperation prevalent in her voice as she relaxed her body and fell into the chair’s back. “Welp, seeing as how I’m invested, I’ll be your impromptu quirk counselor.”

Izuku nodded at her statement… before he realized what she actually said. “W-wait, what?! Y-you don’t have to do that Highla-“

“Azura.”

“-Azura. I wouldn’t want to waste your time.”

“It’s not wasting my time if I’m offering. You need help and I want to give it,” she stated concisely before shrugging. “Simple as that.”

“B-but-“

“Look, Green Bean, I can take a guess at what’s going through your head, so no, you’re not making yourself a burden for me.”

Izuku stopped at her words. How did she…?

At the confused look on his face, Azura turned to face away from him. “I’m not ashamed of it, but it’s… it’s a long story. The short of it is that I know what it’s like being quirkless in today’s society. Saying it’s shitty is a massive understatement,” she said with a melancholic tint to her voice. She turned back and looked him in the eyes with a fire burning in her own. “I’m helping because I want to. So like it or not, you’re not denying me on this.

“Let me help you.”

The girl in front of him was becoming more and more confusing by the hour. She defended him, helped him, had similar interests to him, and now she knew what it’s like to be treated as a quirkless? It was too much. Too many questions revolved in his mind, but the conviction in her voice and the look in her eyes, she wasn’t lying. Despite the mystery she was, he once again relented.

“O-okay. If y-you w-want to help, th-then I can’t r-really deny you. C-can I ask w-what happened though?”

A sad smile crossed her face before she spoke. “Someday. Someday I’ll tell you everything. For right now though, we’d better table this discussion. I doubt you’d want private stuff like this to get around just yet.”

“O-oh, you’re right.”

“I’ll get a place set up for a session though. I’ll give you the details later.”

“Th-thank you, really.”

“Don’t mention it,” she responded with a small, genuine smile.

A moment later, Tenya exited the stairwell, fully ready for the day.

Breakfast was a relatively quiet affair with a few quiet conversations taking place across the room, even after half the class entered the common room. Izuku looked at Azura as she spoke to Momo, possibly a continuation from last night. She was becoming stranger and stranger by the minute. In 24 hours she has protected him, complimented him continuously, and hinted at her own mysterious past that involves quirklessness.

Just what was going on?

==========

“Ah-ha! It seems that UA will need to reevaluate their maps of the campus! This path is obviously not marked correctly!”

“Iida, you need to relax. It’s a small printing error, not the end of the world,” Azura commented as she looked over the other bluenette’s shoulder. “Though you’re looking in the wrong spot. We’re a bit more south,” she pointed out.

“Ah,” Tenya let out as he froze mid-stride. Seriously, he was so stiff that he could be mistaken for a board. “I did not see that. Thank you, Highlander-“

“Azura.”

“-Azura,” he corrected.

“Eh, it’s no big deal. I’ve always had a knack at reading maps for some reason,” the girl waved off.

“Yes, well, our current location aside, I am glad I decided to accompany all of you. This trip has been quite informative,” the black-haired beauty stated.

“Yeah! I’d be totally lost Monday if we didn’t,” the gravity girl chimed in.

“Y-yeah. I didn’t realize there were so many training fields,” Izuku commented. UA’s campus was MASSIVE from what they’ve already explored. The greenette was convinced that they’d need a week just to go to every location listed. Even then they wouldn’t know everything the school had to offer.

A growl broke everyone’s trains of thought. “Ah,” Azura vocalized as she held a hand over her stomach. She pulled out her phone and opened it in one fluid motion. “Didn’t realize how late it was. You guys want something to eat?”

“To think we went so long before realizing we almost missed the most important meal of the day! This act is unforgivable!” Tenya exclaimed.

“Yeah, I could eat,” Ochako answered.

“Lunch sounds lovely,” Momo called out as she clasped her hands in front of her.

“S-sure,” Izuku managed to stutter out.

Everyone then looked at Tenya for a few moments before he deflated. “Yes, lunch sounds like an excellent idea,” he finished off lamely.

Following the map, they found one of the many fast food joints sprinkled around the campus as they were a decent distance from the dorms. As the door opened and the group entered, they were met with a retro style diner, something one would see in pre-quirk America. Seeing as it was past the lunch rush and it was the second day, they were able to get their food and find a booth with no time wasted.

Their eating was interspersed by small bits of conversations, usually about what they had all seen until then; including the recreational areas around the dorms, a few training sites, and finally a town square-like area called “Alliance Square” where upper classmen in the management and support tracks set up shops or rented space for presentations to start off.

Izuku glanced over at Azura as she pulled out what looked to be a candy bar in a nondescript wrapper. She began munching on it as she drank the last of her soda.

Of course, with Izuku as he is, he couldn’t help but ask. “Hey, Highlander, what is that?”

“Hm?” she let out before swallowing. “This?” she probed as she held up the bar. A quick, embarrassed nod from Izuku had her continue. “I guess you can say I’m like Momo in a way. Her quirk (supposedly) needs lipids from her body to create the constructs she envisions. My quirk needs a massive amount of energy to work well. Best way to get that energy is through eating.”

Izuku’s inquisitive side perked up as the rest of the table picked up on their discussion. “Energy? So that lightning from before had to do with the activation of your quirk. And I’m assuming that energy is related to caloric intake.” Azura merely nodded as she had taken another bite. “How many calories do you need a day?”

At this Azura swallowed to accurately remember. “About 4,000,” she replied nonchalantly as everyone’s eyes widened. “Though that’s if I do nothing. If I use my quirk, that depends. The most I’ve needed is 10,000.”

“Wha- but that’s five times what a normal person needs! How do you get all of that?” he replied as he pulled out a notebook.

“Uh, where did he pull that from,” Ochako questioned, but she was ultimately ignored.

“These bars are LOADED with calories, fats, and various nutrients. I’d eat up a store’s entire menu if I don’t eat these. Comes with the territory with stockpile quirks I guess. My metabolism is naturally incredibly efficient too, so my body breaks it all down in an hour or two. Though eating too many can cause digestive issues.”

“So your quirk requires massive amounts of energy to maintain, most of it you get through a special diet. Yesterday you showed several feats of strength and speed which means your quirk must take that energy and convert it into physical strength. Though the real question is how muchyoucanchannelandconvertinsuchasmallamountoftime mumblemumblemumble…”

“Eh, close,” she interrupted. Izuku’s eyes shot up from his notebook, several notes and a rough sketch already present with her name in English as the title of the page. “I don’t convert energy into physical strength. Though energy is a major component. Couldn’t do anything otherwise. That’s all I’m telling you.”

Izuku jumped back in embarrassment as he tried to make himself smaller. He attempted to stutter out an apology before Azura interrupted him again.

“You had a pretty good guess though. Glad you’re already trying to piece it together,” she encouraged.

“You got all that?” a voice interrupted.

Izuku and Azura looked over at the other side of the table and remembered they weren’t alone.

“Ah, sorry, got caught up,” the bluenette replied. “Yeah, I did. Why?”

“Not even I could fully understand what he was saying,” Momo answered quietly.

“S-sorry. I didn’t mean to creep you out with my mumbling,” Izuku replied as he bowed his head.

“‘Creep us out’? I’d say you were displaying your intelligence before anything else. So intelligent that your brain can’t keep all of your thoughts in your head,” the blue-haired woman replied as she tapped his forehead.

“Quite,” Momo commented. “While I might not have caught the end, what I did hear was very informative.”

“Indeed! A quick mind is necessary for an aspiring Hero!” the robot in disguise stated as he chopped his arm.

“Though you might want to get a mask to muffle yourself. You could leak your own plans to your enemies and all that,” the brunette advised.

“True that,” Azura finished off as she took the last bite of her bar.

Izuku, for his part, merely sat there with his head in his hands, face burning so red in embarrassment that he looked like a strawberry.

“By the way, what else you got in there,” the bluenette stated as she pointed at his notebook.

Wishing to shake the compliments off, he grabbed the book and flipped to a page that showed off a rough sketch of Momo and her description of her quirk. “I-I haven’t got-gotten to ev-everyone yet, b-but I did write a-all this down last n-night.”

Momo hummed as she read the pages over. “This is definitely comprehensive, especially when taking into account what we discussed last night. A list of strengths and weaknesses as well.”

“Oh cool,” Ochako cut in, “there’s also an improvement section, though it’s blank.”

“Y-yeah. I haven’t s-seen enough to get into too much detail yet,” Izuku replied, breaking free of his stutter at the end.

“I suppose that is fair,” Tenya acquiesced. “Do you have entries on Uraraka and I perhaps?”

Izuku confirmed before flipping to those pages. As the other four talked though, he couldn’t help but realize what was actually happening.

Four of his new classmates were looking through his latest notebook with critical yet nonjudgmental looks. Asking questions and stating answers rather than ridiculing him for his analysis. It was… nice.

Azura whistling broke him out of his thoughts. “Damn, this is good, really good.”

“O-oh,” the stutter was back. “It’s n-nothing s-special. Y-you said i-it yourself, an-anyone could l-learn if they tried.”

“I meant for more surface level, amateur stuff. This is the work of a pro. Though that does make me feel concerned.” At this, she began to frown.

“Concerned?” he questioned in an attempt to keep himself present after all the compliments.

“This is sensitive information. Just imagine if a Villain got their hands on this stuff,” she provided before shivering for a second. Izuku shivered too at the implications. Azura took notice of his and everyone else’s reactions. “Yeah. Have you ever thought about coding it? Or at the very least putting it on an encrypted hard drive?"

“W-well, no,” Izuku replied as he lowered his head and spoke quietly. “I-I never th-thought it cou-could be useful. No one paid attention to it before.”

“Their loss,” she replied as if it were a fact. “This level of analysis could turn some of the most mundane quirks into real powerhouses.”

“Wait, really?” Ochako asked.

Azura chuckled. “I guess I’m giving another lecture. I should get a job here if this keeps up,” she joked. “Quirks aren’t an end-all be-all weapon. Quirks are just a form of power, and power is just that; power. What that power is used for and what it’s capable of is entirely dependent on what its wielder does with it. Sure you can use a quirk the same way all your life, but learning and innovating are the best ways of becoming stronger. Take last night for example.”

“You raise several good points,” Momo agreed. “Had we not had our conversation, I would have never have thought of my quirk in that way. It’s fairly easy to fall into habit, I suppose.”

“Mhm, and that’s not even getting into morality. Seriously, whoever coined ‘villainous quirk’ needs to be shot,” she grumbled in frustration.

“Pardon the interruption,” Tenya started, curiosity plain in his voice, “but what do you specifically mean by that, High-“

“Azura.”

“-Azura?”

The aforementioned girl sighed. “Good, you’re asking for clarification instead of outright denial. That makes you better than some jackasses I’ve met.

“What I meant was that, as I said, power is power. It can’t do anything on its own. All it can do is be used by someone. For example, someone could have a quirk that makes them one step away from a vampire, but said person could be the sweetest person ever. The problem is that a lot of people put too much stock in what a person looks like or what they can do instead of who they are as an individual.”

Izuku was simultaneously shocked and relieved that someone finally put that into words. He’s had the same opinion for years at this point, but he could never articulate it to anyone else. ‘Not that anyone would listen anyways.’

He quickly (and rather violently) shoved that thought down. It wouldn’t do for an aspiring hero to think like that after all.

Turning his gaze, he spotted the others with contemplative looks on their faces. From what he could tell, they looked as if they were merely processing and accepting the words, rather than getting ready to scorn the opposing viewpoint.

Another voice broke each of them from their thoughts. “If I may,” Momo started, “you’re essentially saying that our quirks’ strength and the consequences of using them are entirely dependent on how they are used, not their raw strength.”

“That’s the long and short of it,” she replied. “And as much as I want to continue this discussion, we’d be here till night if I kept going, so let’s shelve it for now.”

“Yes, quite. It seems you are rather passionate about this topic as well,” Tenya agreed.

“Long story, I’ll tell you later.”

“Only when you’re comfortable,” the brunette piped in. “Don’t wanna chase you off just yet.”

“Thank you for your consideration,” the blunette wryly smirked before chuckling again.

==========

The rest of the afternoon was just spent walking around another portion of campus before heading back. And while they spent most of the day only walking, Izuku felt exhausted. Not the same kind of exhaustion that came from running away from and outmaneuvering his former classmates, but a good kind, one that came from conversing with friends for hours on end.

‘Is this what “hanging out” is like?’ he thought.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Ochako blurted out as they neared the dorm building. “We should exchange phone numbers!” At this, the brunette pulled her phone out and opened up her messaging app.

“Oh, that sounds like a lovely idea,” the ravenette praised as she pulled out her own phone.

A minute later and everyone had everyone else registered. “This’ll actually help with tomorrow too. Should’ve thought of that,” Azura bemoaned.

“Tomorrow?” Tenya questioned.

“Ah, right, I offered to help Green Bean with his quirk. I’ve got a place booked as all the time slots were still open this morning, so I figured we could knock it out sooner rather than later.”

“Help him with his quirk?” Ochako probed further.

“Yeah, apparently he wasn’t allowed to use it at all due to how destructive it was. Honestly, it was negligent of them to do that, even if it’s almost too powerful,” Azura sighed as Izuku looked on in shock. “That’s why I’m gonna help him. He’s got the heart of a hero, but he needs a bit of practice on the physical side.”

“If that is the case, may I join you?” Momo interjected. “I wish to speak to the two of more about my quirk, and a controlled setting would be most advantageous for testing purposes.”

“Same. Plus, it sounds fun too!” Ochako added.

“I don’t see a problem with that. What about you, Green Bean?” the woman asked.

“O-oh, y-yeah, sure, I don’t mind,” he replied with a stutter at the suddenness of the question.

“If all of you are going, then it would be unbecoming of me not to ask as well,” the stiff man added.

“Great!” Azura exclaimed. “I’ll set up a group chat and send you the location.”

“Why not just meet up like we did this morning?” Momo asked.

“Like I said, no one has booked anything yet, so I got the whole morning if we need it. Plus, I’m an early bird, so I’d probably be there before most people woke up,” she shrugged.

“I suppose that makes sense.”

With that the group made their way in for dinner and sleep. It would be a long morning after all.

==========

Izuku laid on his bed thinking about the day he spent with his friends. His thoughts were interrupted when a familiar *ding* rang from his phone. Picking it up to see the message, he almost dropped it when he saw the name of the sender was not, in fact, his mother.

~~~
Highlander Azura

Hey

Just wanted to ask if you could get to the gym early too.

There’s still some stuff I wanna talk to you about.

~~~

Izuku startled a bit at the woman’s blunt words. He took his time to calm down before realizing it probably had to do with what she was asking that morning. She did imply she valued his privacy. That sentiment was only reinforced by the lie she told the others earlier.

~~~
Highlander Azura

O-oh, okay.

I’ll be there.

Good.

Well, goodnight.

Goodnight.

~~~

Izuku had to stop himself from panicking.

‘I just texted a girl!!!’

Okay, he failed miserably, but he tried. He genuinely tried (forgetting the fact that the conversation lasted all of five minutes with him only saying six words).

Regardless, he was both excited and wary of tomorrow. On the one hand, he could gain better control of All Might’s quirk. On the other, she could probably figure him out entirely. He’d rather try to figure everything out on his own and not let anyone figure out he’s borrowing the power he has, but with how Azura already inserted herself, that would be difficult at this point. All he could do was go along with everything for now.

As he closed his eyes to sleep, he couldn’t help but dream of what he had gained over the past day.

Chapter Text

Sunday- 7:30 a.m.

Izuku woke up early, as usual. And after a quick warmup/workout and meal, he was making his way over to the gym Azura had booked. The girl herself had seemed to have already left though.

He pulled out his phone to double check his route. Looking up to see his destination in the distance, he put his phone away and continued his jog.

After entering the lobby and making his way through the locker room, he entered the gym proper and sighted a diverse environment. A mud pit, pillars, and other bits of variable terrain, though there was a large, flat area in the center of the building.

A flash of light in his peripheral pulled his attention to quite the sight.

Azura was running through an obstacle course that was set up across the side of the gym. Blue lighting danced off of and around her as she jumped, twisted, and gracefully flowed from one obstacle to another. Her long hair up in a ponytail again trailed and flowed behind her.

Izuku guessed she had some gymnastics training at some point. Such a skill could be useful, especially with her apparent affinity for parkour.

A moment later, threw herself past the last obstacle before sliding to a stop. As she pulled herself back up to her full height with slightly labored breaths, she took notice of his presence and waved. Izuku shocked himself out of his reverie and waved back, still amazed at the display.

“Hey Green Bean,” she called out as she approached. “Ready to get started?”

“Huh,” he replied before recomposing himself. “O-oh, u-um, you never t-told me what we’re doing.”

“Eh? Oh, dammit, I’ve gotta stop doing that,” she grumbled. “Right, well, I thought we could do a counseling session before everyone else got here. That way you’ve got something to practice.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense. So where do we start?”

“The center would be better for this, so let’s walk and talk,” she stated as she did just that. Izuku quickly started following her. “First we’ll start with visualization. Having a way to view your quirk in your mind will make the next part easier. That next part is finding a safe way to use it. That’ll take us a bit longer, but I think we’ll get it done. So, what are you currently using as a visualization?”

Their pace slowed to a stop as they both reached the central area. Izuku had to think for a second before responding. “Uh, w-well, it’s g-gonna sound silly, b-but an egg in a microwave?”

Azura just stared back with a blank look. “‘Silly’ is a word,” she agreed. “Inflexible is what I’d call it.”

“‘Inflexible’?”

“Either the egg explodes, or it doesn’t. You don’t have any way of regulating it. On or off, no in between,” she said as she brought her hand to her chin. “That sounds like the main problem now that I think about it.”

“H-how about y-you?” Azura looked at him questioningly before clarifying. “I mean, how do you visualize yours. Our quirks seem similar, so I thought…” he trailed off feeling embarrassed.

“That’s… actually not a bad idea. Originality is good, but so is a base to work off of.” Izuku was slightly shocked at how readily she accepted his idea, something that had been becoming more common as of late. “My visualization is of a dam.”

“A dam?” he questioned as he pulled out a notebook. “What do you mean by that?”

“Dams can be adjusted. Like, I can regulate its flow to increase or decrease power as needed. I can also close some valves so to speak and focus the flow to up the pressure-“

“Focus?” he interrupted.

“Yeah. I noticed that focusing my power into a limb can increase my strength without upping my total output,” she stated. “Sort of like trying to push more water into a small glass. Though there is a limit as the glass will-“ she suddenly stopped before slowly turning her head towards him. “No.”

Izuku himself however just stared off into space as he processed the information presented to him.

“No, that’s-“

Izuku just nodded.

“….That answers that question I guess,” she said as she laughed nervously.

“…”

“…Uh, Green-

“I’m such an idiot!!!” the greenette suddenly yelled as the bluenette next to him yelped in surprise. “It was so simple! Ugh, I completely overlooked it.”

“Green Bean?”

“Of course I didn’t see the obvious answer. I mean, it’s not like my analysis has ever been good!”

“Green Bean!”

“Not to mention that he never-“

“Izuku!” The man in question finally seemed to snap out of it as he faced Azura in shock. “Look, I get it. You’ve been treated like shit all your life, and now you have an incredibly powerful quirk. You’re pretty much an infant compared to everyone else. Not knowing everything about your quirk is completely normal. You’re not an idiot, you’re inexperienced. Your analysis is incredible. And most importantly, you are here to learn above all else. We’ll work through this, so just keep your cool, alright?”

Izuku merely just stared at her in awe throughout her entire speech. Though he didn’t completely believe her words. He was All Might’s successor after all, the next Symbol of Peace. He had to work harder, be better. The fact that he didn’t see that All Might’s entire body inflated when he used One for All was proof of that. Izuku did see the logic though. Continuing on that spiral wouldn’t get him anywhere at the moment.

At that thought, Izuku took several deep breaths to calm down.

“S-sorry about that,” he stuttered out.

“You have nothing to apologize for. Like I said, I get it,” Azura reassured. “It’s progress though, so we know where to start.”

“Y-yeah. I-I always thought that Al-my quirk was just a special move to use in one part of my body, but it’s not. It’s an extension of myself,” he reasoned.

“Hit the mail on the head in my opinion,” she stated as she rubbed his head in pride. “Wow, your hair is really fluffy,” she said softly as she continued to pet his head.

Meanwhile Izuku was dying of embarrassment. It took a few beats of silence before Azura noticed and pulled back.

She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Let’s do some activation exercises then.” Izuku quickly took the out and prepared to do as she proposed, but stopped as he looked at her with a questioning gaze. At this she elaborated. “Well, like I said, you’re an infant compared to everyone else when it comes to quirk use. That means the best way to start off is to get used to how your quirk feels, the overt and subtle differences between active and inactive.”

“Right,” he stated before taking a stance and tensing his body. He stood like that for a minute before a thought hit him. “Uh, how do I do that?”

“…Yeah, that’s my fault,” she stated as she reached around and rubbed the back of her head. “Visualization worked the best for me, so how about we try that?” At his nod she continued.

“Close your eyes and imagine a dam,” she softly spoke. The boy did as he was told. “On one side is an ocean, the water being representative of your power. On the other side is a canyon where the water, your power, will flow to.

“Now imaging multiple drains that lead to the canyon, with none of them being open. All that’s left is to turn the valve and let the water start flowing. The valve will be a bit stubborn at first, but with time and patience, it will give. Breathe in and out. In and out.” Izuku let in deep and steady breaths at she continued. “Bit by bit, the valves opens. Bit by bit, the water flows out of all the pipes. Breathe in and out. In and out.”

Had Izuku opened his eyes at that moment, he would have seen red lines of energy overlap all over his body. As he continued to visualize, the lines became brighter and more noticeable, the power contained within becoming more and more pronounced.

“How do you feel right now, Green Bean?” she questioned.

“Stiff, but there’s also a slight pain, like my body is straining,” he answered without thinking.

“Stop opening the valves, that means you’re at your current limit. How much do you think you're at right now?”

He thought about it for a moment. The visualization is still new to him, but with what he could tell, he was disappointed. “Around four percent.”

She most likely heard the dejection in his voice. “That’s fine. You’re still a beginner with plenty of time to still grow. Though, I’ve gotta say, I love the aesthetic you’ve got.”

“Aesthetic?” he questioned as he opened his eyes. It took him a moment to understand what he was seeing. Energy, almost like lighting, shooting off of him at random points and directions. It almost looked like what Azura did before but dimmer and less numerous.

Of course, with his focus on making these observations, his focus decreased causing the lighting to disappear. He was not deterred by this though. He had used One for All. And he didn’t break anything either! … he thinks.

After a quick check to see if anything was broken, he turned to Azura who merely looked at him with a soft but proud smile. It almost reminded him of his mother’s smile for a moment.

“Good job,” she complimented. “Next step is repetition,” she stated before turning to see his disgruntled face. “Oh, don’t give me that. Sure, you can activate it, but you dropped it the moment you lost focus. The more you repeat it, the less you have to think about it. Plus, you were at it for a few minutes already, so we’ll definitely need to cut down your time too.”

Izuku merely slouched in disappointment. He perfectly understood what she was saying. Still, he hoped he wouldn’t have to wait long to get it.

“Hey, Green Bean,” she called out. Izuku stood back up to his full height in response. “Truth be told, there was another reason I asked for you to be here. It’s about what you said yesterday morning.”

Izuku immediately froze. He had wondered when it would come up, but he was never ready for it. “Y-yeah?”

Azura pinched her nose before saying, “I don’t know how to say this nicely, so I’ll just blurt it out: you need therapy.” Izuku just balked at that. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not gonna force you, but as I said before, I get it. The whole thing about the quirkless are treated, I mean. Even though you have a quirk, that doesn’t erase any of the bad stuff you might’ve experienced. I’m not gonna assume what you went through, but you deliberately broke yourself Friday without any hesitation, even if it was just a finger, you called your muttering creepy and your analysis basic even though everyone else said it wasn’t, and you went completely off hinge a couple of minutes ago. I can understand you being frustrated at that last one, but you were completely calm and then acted as if you had committed the greatest sin imaginable.”

She lowered her head before speaking again. “I’m not assuming and I’m not gonna ask if you don’t want me to. I just thought I should give you some advice. I’ve-“

“Hey guys!”

Both of them jumped in surprise before they turned to where the locker rooms were. The first one they saw was Ochako waving over to them from afar as she exited the room. Behind her was Momo doing the same. That’s when the boy’s locker room opened to reveal Tenya who was as stiff as always even in this kind of setting. All three of them wore UA’s PE uniform, though Ochako tied her jacket around the waist.

“Talk about timing,” Azura muttered. “Hey, we’ll be over in a bit!” she announced before glancing back at Izuku. “Just remember what I said, okay?”

Izuku shakily nodded, but he was internally relieved that the conversation ended. He didn’t want to be a burden on anyone else, not more than he already was in Azura’s case. Plus, her advice… hit a little too close to home for him, a fact he shoved to the back of his mind with extreme prejudice.

As the two joined the three newcomers, they obviously needed a plan.

“Ah, right,” Azura realized. “It’s not much of a plan, but I thought we could just analyze and discuss everything we know about each other’s quirks and then experiment one by one.”

“A rather simple plan but effective nonetheless,” the ravenette commented as Izuku pulled out his notebook.

“Cool!” Ochako called out before pumping her fist. “Then let’s get analyzing!”

===
One hour later

“Ugh, by brain…” the brunette grumbled as she held her head in her hands.

“Oh, I see. Although buoyancy doesn’t explain all of her quirk’s functions,” Momo commented.

“Maybe, but it’s a good starting point,” Izuku pointed out.

“Plus, it’s only a theory. Nothing left to do but test it,” Azura stated before turning away from her two conversation partners. “You get that, Uraraka?”

“…”

“Uraraka?”

“Ah, yes, you lost the two of us quite a long time ago I’m afraid,” the only other male explained.

Izuku’s blush turned incandescent while Momo only seemed slightly embarrassed. Azura meanwhile just stood there and smirked.

“Apologies Iida. It seems we lost ourselves for a moment,” the heiress said sincerely.

“More like an hour,” Ochako bemoaned.

“Oh, good, you’re back,” Azura stared.

“So mean!”

“Potato, potahto. Anyways,” she redirected, “thanks to that riveting discussion, we’ve got things for everyone to work on. Nothing big right now, but it’ll help. The rest we can focus on in the future.

“Green Bean,” she started by pointing at the sole greenette who jumped slightly, “you already know what to do, so get on it.” Izuku threw up a nervous salute of sorts before going back towards the central platform.

“Momo,” she began again as she redirected her gaze to the ravenette, “you need to learn to not focus on molecular structures. Start small. I don’t have an unlimited amount of those high-calorie bars on me.” A quick nod was all the black-haired beauty gave in response before stepping off to the side.

“As for you two,” she stated as she looked at the ones who were left, “sadly we don’t have the equipment to test everything, so for now we’ll just do a little data collection. Sound good?” At their nods Azura led them to the grassy area nearby.

After taking a minute to find a good area, the female bluenette turned towards her audience. “Alright, Uraraka, pick that rock up and use your quirk on it. As for you Iida, you’ll-“

“OH CRAP!” was all that was heard before their bushy-haired friend skidded past them and crashed.

Azura just closed her eyes and sighed for a moment. “Yep, saw that coming.”

“Oh my gosh! Dekiru, are you okay?!” Ochako called out as she rushed towards the greenette.

As she helped him sit up, the remaining three approached, two with looks of concern. Azura knelt down on the other side of where Ochako was and lightly chopped him on the head.

“I told you to only focus on activation. We’ve only got so much time here today, and I wanted for you to get that down before we left,” she reprimanded.

“I-I know, b-but-“ he tried to stammer out.

“But nothing,” Azura interrupted before sighing. “Look, I get it, I genuinely do Green Bean, but like I said before, you’re an infant. And infants have to learn how to crawl before they can walk.”

Izuku just looked away from her with a look of frustration on his face.

“Please,” she lightly begged.

The boy in question struggled for a moment before he finally relented. “…O-okay. I’ll learn how to crawl first.”

“Good,” she replied before standing up. “Now, you okay? Crashing isn’t the best thing ever, but at least it was on grass,” she asked as she held out her hand.

“Y-yeah, I’m okay,” he answered before grabbing both Azura and Ochako’s hands, the latter of which did so to help as much as she could.

“If you’re sure.”

“Even so, please make sure to see Recovery Girl, Midoriya. It wouldn’t do if there was something one of us missed,” Iida interjected.

“Yeah,” Ochako pushed as well before she briefly stopped. “Though I’ve gotta ask Dekiru, what was that?”

“We figured out a way to safely use his quirk before you guys got here,” Azura stated before Izuku could get a word in. Azura then pointed a depanned stare at the man in question. “I told him to practice activating it before we went on to actually moving with it active, but it seems he jumped the gun for a sec.”

Izuku’s only response was to look away and lightly pout.

“Whoa, really? That’s so cool!” Ochako replied enthusiastically.

“Ah yes, I can see why he would be so enthusiastic about using his quirk,” Iida reasoned.

“While that may be true, Azura is also correct in that he still needs to be more careful,” Momo warned.

This only caused the greenette’s pout and blush to deepen.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get back on track yeah? We’ve only got so much time left,” Azura pointed out.

“Forgive us, High-“

“Azura.”

“Azura,” Tenya began. “We shall endeavor to make as much progress as possible until our time is up.”

“Seriously, you need to loosen up,” the girl in question grumbled. “It’s not like we can’t reserve this place later.”

==========

In an office on another part of campus, a hyper intelligent mammal observed the live feed of the group of five students.

Izuku and Momo had gone back to their exercises, while Tenya and Ochako aided in data collection for their fifth member.

“It seems things are going to plan so far,” the mammal commented. “I just hope everything continues within acceptable boundaries. Some of these measures seemed drastic before, but it seems that even I have been persuaded,” he said as he sipped some of his tea and sighed as he finished. “Oh well.”

“Just hope it doesn’t all go to waste,” commented the room’s only other occupant, a woman to be more specific.

“So do I,” Dean Nezu mused as he stared out of the windows of his office. “So do I.”

==========
Sunday- 12:47 p.m.

“Ugh, I’m sore in places I didn’t even know I had places,” the brunette complained as she entered the dorm’s common room.

“Oh don’t be a baby,” Azura grumbled as she rolled her eyes. “I didn’t even put you through anything that intense. That just means you need to work out more.” Ochako stuck her tongue out in response.

“While this venture was quite informational, I must say that I am quite exhausted myself,” Tenya added as he tried to soothe his leg muscles.

“I would assume that this will be quite common in our futures. Learning more about one’s quirk and testing it’s limits is not something to be done lightly,” Momo added.

Izuku on the other hand just scribbled away in his notebook in an attempt to document the new information and theorize.

“We’ll have to get some stuff set up beforehand next time. There’s still some tests we-“ Azura started.

“Hey guys, where you been!” The group of five turned to see their pink-skinned classmate bounding towards them before glomping Ochako. A second later she pushed herself off while pinching her nose closed. “You guys haven’t been taking it easy, that’s for sure.”

“That reminds me, a shower would be a pleasant idea in my opinion,” the ravenette commented. Three of the remaining four quickly agreed to her statement before walking towards their respective elevators. One of them stopped at turned towards the verdette.

“What about you, Green Bean?” Azura probed. Izuku just continued to mutter and write. “Green Bean?” she probed again, this time while poking his head.

Izuku was brought out of his mutterings and quickly realized that they were back at the dorms. “W-what?”

“We’re all gonna go take a shower. You going?”

Izuku immediately blushed before processing the whole situation. “O-oh, u-um, yes.”

Without another word he continued towards his side’s elevator behind Tenya. All the while he felt quite… satisfied with the morning’s events. He tried to not think about what Azura said just before the others entered, but her words still poked at his mind. He would handle it though.

He has to.

Chapter Text

Monday- ~7:30 a.m.

Izuku reentered the common room after his morning run. There was a bit of sweat despite the chill outside, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He would have not gone on his run in the first place since it was the first day, but the growing anxiety in him just wouldn’t let him sit still. His only option then was to go on a run to hopefully burn some of it off.

As he walked toward the kitchen for a quick breakfast, he noticed one of his newest friends currently at work at the stove. It was Azura in her UA uniform with an apron over it making eggs again. The rice cooker was on too as far as he could tell, some sauces and spices off to the side for personal seasoning. It seemed like she was almost finished too.

As if hearing his thoughts, the girl turned the stove on to low heat and began serving out a few portions before leaving the rest that she made in the pan for anyone else who came by. When she turned around however, Izuku became… concerned.

Her face was completely blank and neutral, not betraying any of the previous levels of emotion or passion that he’d seen from her over the past few days. What worried him the most was her eyes, specifically how dull they were. It was like a completely different person was standing in front of him.

As she set both of their plates down and began eating. After a few moments, Izuku finally found his voice.

“U-um, High- A-Azura, are you okay?”

The girl in question paused her eating and swallowed before looking him in the eyes. “Yes, I’m fine. I promise,” she stated in a soft, monotone voice before she took another bite.

“A-are you sure?” he probed.

An “mmm” and a nod was her only reply as she continued to eat.

Izuku tried to eat, but the silence was too unsettling for him to continue.

A few minutes later and a few of their classmates either exited the elevator or the stairwell, such as the ever punctual Tenya. Momo and Kyouka seemed to be speaking about music, the punk girl being the more animated one of the two. Eijiro seemed half asleep if his drooping head was any indication.

Kacchan appeared as well and tried his best to ignore him and Azura and made a beeline to the kitchen. A shout of rage announced his displeasure of someone else cooking.

As they approached, it seemed Momo and Tenya caught on to Azura’s unusual behavior. They shot Izuku questioning looks, but his confused expression only confirmed that he didn’t know anything as well.

Before anyone could comment on this however, the bluenette suddenly stood and cleaned up her dishes and deposited them into the kitchen’s sink. Her walk back to her seat where her bag had apparently been all this time betrayed nothing of her thoughts as she scooped it up and headed to the door.

“I’m going a little early,” she stated in the same tone as before before she put on her shoes and exited the building.

Her three friends looked at eachother worriedly as two of the three of the room’s remaining occupants looked on in confusion.

==========

“I mean, it just doesn’t make any sense,” the greenette muttered as the group of four walked towards the school's main building.

Ochako was worried too, but stating that now wouldn’t help. “Maybe she just slept bad last night,” she proposed. “I know I didn’t get as much sleep as I wanted.”

“While that might be true, it doesn’t explain the complete change in her personality,” the ravenette beside her stated.

“While I agree that such a series of events is worrying, do not forget that she herself wasn’t at all panicked,” Tenya interrupted. “It is entirely possible that she left as early as she did so as to inform the faculty.”

Ochako saw Izuku open his mouth to say something in response, but he closed it just as quickly. She wondered what he was about to say.

“We simply don’t have enough information at the moment,” Momo stated. “It’s best to leave things as they are for now. Azura’s actions were strange, yes, but if there is truly an issue, she will come to us about it.”

Ochako thought that that was a little naive, but she didn’t comment on it. It wasn’t as if she was entirely wrong anyhow. Ochako was startled out of her musings a moment later by her louder friend’s exclamation.

“Ah ha! It seems we are currently late!” Tenya stated as he held out his phone which said that the time was currently 8:15.

“Um, Iida, we still have fifteen minutes to get to class,” she replied.

“That is unacceptable! As students of this fine institution, we must endeavor to be inside the classroom by such a time!” he proclaimed before running off.

“He really needs to lighten up.”

“We do need to keep going though. The dorms may allow us more time, but we can’t become complacent,” the black-haired beauty stated.

==========

UA University was different from most other colleges from his understanding. Most colleges allow students to enter whatever courses they choose so long as they meet the prerequisites and pass any additional tests necessary.

UA on the other hand sticks to a more guided approach. The hero course’s schedule is more fixed to allow for a better regulated training schedule, while other courses had a few more options, especially for their afternoon classes. It was possible to test out of a specific class if someone passed a test or enrolled in UA with some of the required credits, but otherwise UAU could be classified as a four year highschool.

That was apparently the school’s original function until the current Dean, Nezu, came to power. He, along with several powerful people, came to realize that they were essentially raising child soldiers. Through media campaigns and thorough drafts of a new system, Nezu was able to convince the government and the HPSC to retool the system and was eventually able to reestablish UA as a college.

In the following years, several more popular Hero schools rebranded themselves as colleges to adhere to the newer regulations imposed by the government. The less popular ones were either remade into normal high schools, or a normal high school that also taught theoretical heroics and quirk training as an elective or club.

As the first, UA eased the transition by keeping most of the preestablished structure for the school while making the tweaks necessary to turn it into a full blown college. By the time these tweaks and changes were finalized, the previous course system and the uniforms became so entrenched in student life that most of it was kept. The uniform was apparently optional, but no one really attended class without wearing one out of either respect or to avoid ridicule from the rest of the student body.

Another thing strictly kept was the starting limit of forty seats in the heroic’s track. While most students had to travel from one classroom or lecture hall to the other for their classes, the two hero classes were kept within two classrooms with each one containing twenty students each. Students could be dropped from the track if their performance didn’t hold up or they were expelled, but otherwise, the classes stayed pretty stable.

Likewise, if someone impressed the faculty enough, they could be given a chance to take a test and transfer into the course. This was usually only one or two people a year, with the previous record being four, and even then they were added to the first or second years of heroics as anything beyond that would require too much work to catch up, even if the students transferring in were in their third year.

The system was unconventional, but it seemed to work out for UA. The school can give students the freedom to explore different subjects and career options, while also being able to produce high quality heroes.

Izuku’s musings were cut short a moment later as the hobo from Friday entered the room. The boy looked around the explosive blond in front of him to observe the empty seat at the front of the row, not to be confused with the desk containing their invisible classmate which was at the end of the row to his immediate right.

Ever since her unceremonious exit from the dorms that morning, no one had seen her once. Izuku could feel his worry increase.

“All right, settle down for the announcements,” the disheveled man stated.

“Sir!” Tenya exclaimed as he shot up from his seat in the opposite corner of the room. “Not all of us are accounted for at the current moment. Thus I must ask about Highlander's current location!”

“Hm? Oh yeah,” the ravenette dully stated. “Highlander has tested out of the morning classes, so her attendance isn’t required. She can participate, but only if she isn’t busy.”

Several of his classmates seemed slightly shocked at this stamens, Izuku himself included. Kacchan seemed even angrier than usual too. Something about ‘blue-hair thinking she’s so much better.’ Izuku was a little worried at his blonde… friend’s words.

“Busy with what?” Tsu probed a moment later while she put a finger to her bottom lip.

The man seemed to shiver slightly before responding, much to the concern of the class. “That isn’t important. For now, let’s just get this stuff out of the way so I can sleep.”

Multiple people sweatdropped at that.

After that was a fairly tame introduction to school life at UA. Izuku could swear his neck hurt with whiplash with how different everything was to his expectations. Seriously, the same Heroes he’s admired for who knows how long were just standing at the front of the classroom and going over course material like it was just another day. Though after thinking about it, it was just another day to them. Scanning his classmates in between classes showed they were going through a similar process as him. There were a few exceptions, but they mostly looked more bored at the mundanity than anything else.

The classroom door was thrown open again to show the 18+ Hero: Midnight. The woman strutted in and cracked her whip.

“Well hello there students. It’s nice to finally meet you~,” the promiscuous woman purred out. “As you all may know, I am the 18+ Hero: Midnight, but you may call me Ms. Kayama. Or if you’re really daring, Mommy and Mistress work as well.”

Izuku could tell without looking that the midget behind him was going crazy at the sight of their newest teacher.

As she continued explaining the curriculum for Modern Hero Art History, the final class before lunch, Izuku couldn’t help but notice something about the woman. She played the part of a domineering and confident woman, but the look in her eyes seemed… sad.

==========

As Momo walked through the cafeteria over to the table where most of her friends were located with Kyouka at her side, she spied Azura entering and scanning the room before walking towards Momo’s current destination.

As the distance closed, Momo could see the same blank look on the bluenette’s face.

“Hey Momo,” Ochako called out before seeing their shared friend out of the corner of her eye. “Oh, and Azura too.”

She let out a short hum before seating herself down. Izuku seemed to want to say something before the woman held up her hand to stop him. “I’m fine. Promise,” she stated in an uncharacteristically soft tone. “This… happens sometimes.”

“Is it quirk related?” the other quirk nerd asked.

She shook her head in response. “It’s something… personal,” she alluded while shifting her blank eyes to Kyouka.

The purplette raised her hands in mock surrender. “Hey, I’ll leave if you want. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. It ain’t gotta be my business.”

“Thanks, but not now,” was all the bluenette said. “How were classes?”

The others took the hint and spoke about the previous few hours. Momo didn’t say much herself as the others, especially Ochako, detailed the curriculum that had been discussed so far. To Azura’s credit, she paid close attention despite the apathetic expression.

Sooner rather than later however, they had to begin the trek back to their room for their afternoon classes. Their schedules state that Heroics 101 was their only class, but blocks were open for any additional courses that any of them may want to take when able.

As Aizawa droned on about the syllabus and what was expected of them from their Heroics teacher, Momo couldn’t help but think that this was going to be the last calm day they had for a while.

Chapter Text

Tuesday- 8:00 a.m.

“And I’m telling you that I’m fine,” Azura stated, exasperation clear in her voice, a stark contrast to the day before.

“You can hardly blame us for our worry,” Tenya stated. “To not be worried would be the pinnacle of carelessness, something we can’t afford to do while enrolled in this fine institution.”

“You can just say that you were worried and leave it at that Iida,” Ochako piped in. “But yeah, what he said,” she stated as Momo and Izuku nodded along.

Azura merely sighed in response, resigned to her fate.

The group of five had only just left the dorms and were on their way to class.

“I get it, I really do. You gotta believe me though when I say that I’m fine. As annoying as it is, what happened yesterday… happens sometimes. All I can do is deal with it,” she shrugged.

“I suppose that means you are familiar with your… condition?” the ravenette probed with no small amounts of concern.

“Yeah, I am,” the bluenette stated before looking off to the side. “Can we talk about this later though? I just…”

Surprising everyone, Izuku took the reins. “Y-yeah, s-sure.” Four sets of eyes turned to him, one grateful with the other three slightly shocked. “W-wait, th-that isn’t to say that we’re just going to forget about everything, b-b-but that w-we’ll wait for you to talk to us about it,” he said as he anxiously played with his hands. “Y-yeah.”

“Yeah,” Azura said, smiling. “I’ll tell you guys, I promise, just not right now.”

A few beats of silence passed before the others saw that their conversation was at its end.

“Pushing for answers now would only hurt in the long run,” Momo voiced.

“Very well,” Tenya added. “There is still plenty to talk about. For example, our first practical lesson for Heroics 101.”

Ochako perked up at that, the stars in her eyes clearly displaying her excitement. “Oh yeah! Can’t wait for that! Oh, and I wonder who our teacher is gonna be.”

“You do have a point. There has been no information provided by either the syllabus or the school website. Surely the faculty of UA would have made note of such negligence!” the male blunette ranted.

“It’s the map all over again,” the other blunette grumbled before she spoke up. “Look, Iida, they probably want it to be a surprise.”

The boy in question seemed to perk up. “Of course! Showmanship is a part of the industry as well! To think they would incorporate such lessons so early on is astonishing!”

The rest of the group sweatdropped at that as they entered the building. Various conversations continued up into their classroom where they awaited the rest of their classmates. The half-and-half boy was already there, but he didn’t seem to mind any of their conversations.

As time continued on however, a question entered Izuku’s mind.

“Hey, H-Azura.”

“Hm?”

“Where do you go in the mornings anyways? We asked Aizawa yesterday, but he didn’t give us any details,” he elaborated.

She let out a sign and a quiet “of course he wouldn’t” before answering. “That is both a long and a short story. The short version is that I’m actually-“

At that moment the bell began to ring, signaling the start of classes for the day. As everyone began making their way to their seats, Azura picked up her bag again to make her way out.

“Dammit,” she cursed. “I’ll tell you later. He’s fine with fashionably late, but I still haven’t found the line for when that stops. See ya!”

Before anyone could question anything further, she bolted out of the room. A few moments later, Aizawa crawled into the room in one of his sleeping bags and began to list that day’s announcements.

==========

Yagi Toshinori, better known as the number one Pro Hero All Might, sat in the empty shared faculty office to go over his lesson plan one more time. He felt as if he had it down, but as the lessons Nezu forced him to attend had taught him, it’s best to review as much as you can before teaching.

On that note, the blonde didn’t know what came over the mammal to force him into attend teaching classes for the last few months before the school year began, but Toshinori couldn’t exactly disagree with the results. He still wasn’t anywhere near the level of his coworkers, but knowing the basics is better than nothing.

What really got the blonde to get into gear was the fact that he could teach Izuku better. The first few lessons he attended had shown how he had already made several mistakes with the boy, and he was not willing to make more if he could help it. There would be times he would stumble, of course, but he wasn’t going to let that hold him back.

Through the months he had also realized he dropped the ball when it came to actually teaching Izuku how to wield their shared quirk. Seriously, “clench your buttcheeks and yell smash”? He knew he was blanking then, but still, what was he thinking? After that, he had actually begun planning how to teach his successor how to properly wield One for All, especially after what he had witnessed during the entrance exam. That point was made moot by his successor’s blue-haired classmate however.

Highlander Azura was an enigma to the blonde, and her file hadn’t made that anything about her any clearer. There was a large hole in her academic record too. She was pulled seemingly randomly from junior high and did online schooling for a time. Then she went on to go to a generic high school he’s never heard of before, and ending up in UA’s doorstep at the Entrance Exam. District: redacted. Reason why: court case. Related case number: redacted. Her quirk profile also had restricted access, something that could only be done with Nezu’s permission.

Despite all of that however, he doubted the young woman was doing anything nefarious. Nezu had sent him a copy of the recording from Gym Delta when Highlander had taught Izuku how to use his quirk. With Nezu in the know and not raising a fuss, Toshinori had even more reason to leave it be for now.

Though he would have to apologize to Izuku for the bad advice sooner rather than later.

Toshinori turned away from his musings and back to his lesson plan before he went off on another tangent. He knew what he had prepared for the first lesson was a bit advanced as costume review was typically first, but the blonde figured that his students would be able to critique themselves and each other better with actual experience using them first.

He initially thought that he was hitting the ground running too fast, but Nezu signed off on that too so the blonde wasn’t going to worry about it too much. Though the mammal did offer some advice that Toshinori was going to use.

His focus was broken by his alarm going off. Looking up at the clock, he realized it was lunch time. The blonde’s mind went back to Highlander for a moment in worry. Just how I’m the world could she go through that almost every morning? It shocked him when he first learned of it, and it shocks him now. He shook his head to dispel the thoughts. Highlander Azura was a special type of crazy.

After all, you’d have to be crazy to be one of Nezu’s personal student.

==========
Tuesday- ~12:30

“You’re WHAT?!” several voices cried out in unison.

Azura, the only one not in shock, scratched her cheek in embarrassment as she let out a small laugh. “Yeeeaaaaahhh, I’m one of Nezu’s personal student. I never thought I’d ever have that kind of opportunity, but when a hyper-intelligent rodent approaches you to teach you the secrets of the universe, it’s kinda hard to decline.”

The other four people sitting at the table merely looked at her in shocked silence. Birds chirped in the background as they had moved outside due to the crowd, but other than that, not a sound was made.

“Oh my,” Momo let out a few moments later. “This is… quite the development.”

“You could say that again,” Ochako said half-distractedly before coming back to her senses. “Wait, this is more than just a ‘development’!”

“Quite! I have never heard of the Dean taking on personal students before!” Tenya exclaimed.

“Usually cause of the unwanted attention. Though if it’s any consolation, he’s looking for more,” Azura added.

“W-what?!” Izuku yelped.

“Yeah, I don’t get what goes through that guy’s head sometimes, but he said he had noted a few ‘candidates’ this morning, so…” the blunette trailed off.

“Welp, that’s it, the world’s gonna burn.” Surprisingly it was Ochako who stated this.

“I… wouldn’t be so… drastic with my wording,” Momo hesitated, “but it is unprecedented from what I know of.”

“You’ve got a point,” Azura agreed as she finished off her meal. “Still, not like it’s hurting anyone.”

Izuku swore he heard a soft “yet” come from her, but he decided to not draw attention to it.

All of them decided to head back inside for the rest of their classes. It was almost time for the start of the Hero careers after all.

==========
Tuesday- ~2:00 p.m.

Small conversations were abuzz in class 1A as the students all waited with bated breath for their teacher. Izuku himself merely let himself bask in it to distract himself.

Azura casually conversed with Jirou Kyouka and Sero Hanta at the front.

Towards the back, Ochako and Hagakure Tooru spoke animatedly with everyone around them, the latter pulling Momo in fairly early on.

And finally, on the opposite side of the classroom from Izuku the energetic duo of Ashido Mina and Kirishima Eijirou led their own conversation, with the eccentric Aoyama Yuuga chiming in every so often.

Of course, his mind always drifted back to the problem at hand, that being All Might’s quirk. Izuku might have some control over the newly minted Full Cowling technique, but as Azura emphasized, he still didn’t have any experience in it yet. He just hoped that that day’s lesson wasn’t too strenuous.

Just as he thought that, the sensitive hearing of Kyouka picked something up. “Wait, that laugh… it can’t be…” she trailed off as she turned her full focus on the door.

Those around her took notice as they each began to hear footsteps. Loud footsteps at that.

[Recommended Music]
[https://youtu.be/YAn8FVUp090]

“I am here!” he exclaimed as he burst through the door. “And I’m coming through the door like a normal person!”

Everyone gasped in awe as the Symbol of Peace, dressed in his Silver Age costume, entered through the door and-

“That’s not how a normal person comes through a door.”

[Record Scratch]

Everyone stopped at that statement, even All Might. Everyone slowly turned their heads to the speaker, a completely nonchalant Azura who lazily pointed her finger at THE Symbol of Peace.

After a moment All Might recovered enough to speak. “Ah, yes, excuse me,” he stated as he left through the still open door and shut it behind him. The rest of the students were left too baffled to do or say anything before the door opened again a moment later. “Good Afternoon students,” he said as he casually entered before taking his iconic pose behind the podium.

The two entrances were so starkly different that the students who were able to get over their shock snorted at the absurdity of the situation. Ochako was dying in the corner trying to hold her laughter in.

All Might gave everyone a chance to recover before he cleared his throat to start again. “Welcome to Heroics 101. I’m sure all of you are excited for this!” A round of excited agreements came from the students before they quieted down at his laugh. “Good! Before we begin however, I wish to introduce my TA who will aid me in your education.”

With the cue given, a woman with long, pale blue/periwinkle hair and lavender eyes entered. She wore what could only be described as a fancy yet armored sailor uniform. White combat boots led into black leggings with knee pads on top. The white skirt barely hid a thigh holster with a strange looking gun. Further up displayed a utility belt with several pouches and a thermos attached to her side, and over her torso was a pristine white blazer with armor over her breasts for extra protection and a red bow on top. Down her arms that were covered in a similar manner to her legs showed elbow pads and gloves with integrated brass knuckles. To, literally, top off the ensemble was a white beret with gold trim.

The woman raised her hand to adjust her black-rimmed glasses before she spoke. “Greetings. My name is Intelli Saiko. However, I am also referred to as the Provisional Hero: Ms. Intel. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” she finished off with a bow.

“Yes, Young Intelli here is a third year and has expressed an interest in helping her juniors grow.”

“All Might is correct,” she continued. “If any of you require assistance when All Might is otherwise preoccupied, please do not hesitate to come to me.”

“With that out of the way, let’s begin today's lesson. That being-“ he began as he pulled out a sign from behind the podium “-battle training!”

The excitement in the room rose again at those words. Kacchan seemed even more eager at the mention of a fight.

“But wait, there’s more! We can’t have hero hopefuls start out with just their gym uniforms. No, you must look the part first!”

With that, one of the walls to the side retracted to show twenty different cases lined inside. Everyone somehow became even more excited. Real costumes! They were really part of the hero course now.

“Make sure to grab your case and head to Ground Beta. We’ll meet you there!” he instructed before he grabbed Saiko and blitzed out of there.

With that, everyone moved to grab their respective cases and make their way to their first lesson. All except one that is.

Izuku pulled out a green and white jumpsuit from his backpack. Memories of his mother gifting it to him passed through his mind before a determined look crossed his face.

==========

“I must say, my junior could learn a thing or two about manners,” the periwinkle-haired young woman stated.

The scrawny man next to her chuckled a bit before responding. “Don’t worry about it. She was right anyways. Plus, it was funny. Did you see the rest of their faces?”

Saiko thought for a moment before giggling. She had to admit, it was amusing.

Ground Beta was entirely empty save the two people, a teacher and their TA. Although, instead of All Might being there as expected, the scrawny Yagi Toshinori stood in his place.

The blonde hadn't wanted to expose his true form to any of the students, but Nezu was right that having a TA that was in the know would help cover for him when he ran out of time. In addition, Saiko could also more effectively relate what he was trying to convey to his students. He may be a better teacher now, but he still had decades of experience that far removed him from the basics. A fresher mind could better articulate that experience into something actually teachable.

“Regardless,” the woman began after recovering, “I think we have our work cut out for us.” At his questioning gaze, she continued. “My first year was rough due to my arrogance. If Mr. Kan hadn’t metaphorically beat it into the ground, I wouldn’t be anywhere as strong as I am today. My quirk might make me intelligent, but I quickly learned that that doesn’t make me smart.”

“Mistakes are a part of life,” the man consoled. “So long as you learn from them, then I say it’s worth it. Still that doesn’t explain anything.”

“Ah, yes. I suspect that several students within Class 1-A have succumbed to their arrogance as well,” she explained. “Some are overt while others are more covert or unconscious. Hopefully a few losses and critiques will help.”

The blonde next to her hummed in agreement. As much as he didn’t want to break his students down, the lessons he took taught him that he would have to in some situations if they wanted to stay alive. Heroics is a dangerous field after all. If someone goes in overconfident and half cocked, then they can kiss their careers, if not their lives, goodbye.

“All Might,” Saiko quickly called. The man in question just as quickly acknowledged her. “It’s time.”

Not needing any more prompting, he activated the remnants of One for All and inflated his body.

Moments later, the students rounded the corner and entered Ground Beta. As they entered the light, Toshinori smiled. Sure, several of the costumes either needed tweaks or in some cases serious redesigns, but he was otherwise proud to see the first moments of the next generation of Pro Heroes.

“My, my, you all certainly look the part of a Pro, but now it’s time to start learning how to act like one,” he stated to draw the attention of his students. Before he could say anything further, a student, Yaoyorozu Momo to be specific, raised her hand to interrupt.

“Excuse me sir, but Azura has yet to arrive. She stated that her costume was a bit more complex than she originally anticipated.” The dignified young woman elaborated.

A quick count revealed that yes, the blue haired young woman was there just yet. He heard Saiko beside him grumble something, but he chose to ignore it. It wasn’t Highlander’s fault after all. There were always going to be hiccups.

Down with Izuku, he was trying to not have a hiccup of his own. It didn’t help that Momo was effectively wearing a bathing suit. And what was with the construct on her lower back? His hands itched with the desire to draw up a costume with the ideas he had. And don’t even get him started about the other girls. Kyouka’s costume was fine, though some extra protection wouldn’t hurt, couldn’t see much of Tooru’s, so he wasn’t going to comment on it, and finally Mina, Tsuyu, and Ochako all wore skin tight bodysuits. Tsu, he could understand, but Ochako had already stated how that wasn’t what she wanted. He could only take so much. He hoped Azura didn’t send him into a coma.

“Sorry about that guys!” a voice called out from behind them. “Some idiot thought that ‘clamp the two pieces together’ was enough instructions for my armor.”

With that, Izuku turned to see the girl in question, and he must admit, he was impressed. The bottom layer was a predominately dark blue bodysuit with light blue shading in some areas with white and black lines accenting her front and sides, but the more important bits of her body were covered in various bits of armor, similar to Saiko.

She wore armored boots that went up to just below her knees with armored knee pads just above them. A utility belt hung slanted across her waist, but extra straps and bits of armor made it so that it snuggly hugged her frame. Crest armor covered her upper torso, with a pauldron on her right shoulder. On her hands was a set of gauntlets that looked incredibly tough and durable, but he noticed some sort of mechanism near the hands. Her hair was tied up again into a ponytail to keep it away from the blue visor on her face that extended out and down to a point. The final and most eye-catching piece was a bright red scarf that wrapped around her neck and flowed down behind her left shoulder to her waist.

All in all, Izuku was amazed at her design. It was obvious a lot of thought was put into the design of her costume. It was very cool in his opinion. Several people around him agreed with his opinion if their faces were anything to go by.

“Very good, Young Highlander! And do not worry, so long as you cut your time down in the future, I will have no complaints.” Her response was a quick nod of agreement before he continued. “Good, now to explain the scenario.”

“Sir!” Tenya interrupted with one of his hands raised. “If I may, due to our location, will today’s lesson be similar to the conditions of the entrance exam?!”

“An excellent question Young Iida, however, please wait until after my explanation before you ask questions. It will reduce the times I will need to repeat myself,” the giant of a man explained.

Tenya slowly lowered his hands with, what Izuku assumed to be, an embarrassed blush before the man cleared his throat and spoke again.

“Now then, your task is simple. You will be divided into teams of two and then spit to serve as either attackers or defenders. The attacker’s goal is to secure their objective before time runs out. All they need to do to secure it is to merely touch the object, said object being a paper mache bomb. Another way for the attackers to obtain victory is to capture the defenders with capture tape. A capture counts as fully encircling a single limb.

“The defenders, in turn, will defend the object until time runs out or the hero team is captured. Now then, any questions?” Toshinori was actually very proud of himself. He remembered all of the rules and conditions without the need for any cue cards.

He was broken from his musing to the chaotic mass of questions that came from the students. He had to quiet them down before calling on several students one by one.

“How will the teams be chosen?!” a dedicated Tenya exclaimed.

“By random,” he answered before pointing to another student.

“Will we be expelled if we don’t do well enough?” a nervous Ochako asked.

“No,” he answered quickly and sharply. He never liked Aizawa’s policy, and that question only validated his thoughts on the matter.

“Is my cape très magnifique?” the eccentric Yuuga probed as he swished said cape in question and (somehow) sparkled.

“Yes, but do be careful with that in the field,” he warned. He would rather not sit through the rant about capes from another costume designer. He still shivered in fear sometimes.

“Why are the teams random, ribbit?” the frog girl interjected.

“Yes! I was considering the same thing,” Tenya added as he chopped his arm. “Would it not be more beneficial for teams to be chosen beforehand.”

“It most likely better simulates real world conditions. We don’t always have the option to choose our partners. Sometimes we will only have whoever else is nearby to work with.” Momo was about to answer before another voice cut in. As soon as he realized he had said everything out loud for everyone else to hear, Izuku immediately clammed up out of embarrassment.

“Young Midoriya is correct!” he stated with a tinge of pride. “Now, are there any other questions?” Not hearing anything else after a few moments, the man continued, “Then let’s start drawing lots.”

After a box quickly appeared, all of the students formed a line and each drew a letter. After a few moments, the results were tallied and displayed:

Round 1: Team C (Highlander Azura and Midoriya Izuku) vs. Team B (Bakugou Katsuki and Iida Tenya)

Round 2: Team A (Yaoyorozu Momo and Tokoyami Fumikage) vs. Team I (Sero Hanta and Todoroki Shouto)

Round 3: Team F (Jirou Kyouka and Eijirou Kirishima) vs. Team E (Satou Rikidou and Ashido Mina)

Round 4: Team J (Uraraka Ochako and Mineta Minoru) vs. Team H (Shouji Mezou and Kaminari Denki)

Round 5: Team D (Hagakure Tooru and Asui Tsuyu) vs. Team G (Aoyama Yuuga and Koda Kouji)

Several students were nervous at the line-up. None more so than Izuku as he shuddered at the thought of fighting his… friend.

The explosive blonde himself was actually looking forward to his match. Not only could he crush the worthless Deku who was somehow faking a quirk, but he’d also be able to take out that blue-haired bitch for stealing the first place spot that was rightfully his.

“The first team listed will be the attackers while the second will be the defenders. That means that our first match will begin with Team C as the attackers with Team B as the defenders! All Might exclaimed enthusiastically.

Izuku shrunk in on himself at the statement. Izuku couldn’t shake his anxiety as All Might handed them communicators and told all of them about the prep phase. After which, he ushered the group of four to the building while taking the rest of the students to the observation room.

“Hey, Green Bean,” the voice of his partner called out, breaking him from his thoughts for a moment, “we should start planning.”

Izuku was about to say that they hadn’t arrived yet, but a quick look told him that, yes, they were at the site. With no other choice, he began to consider the possibilities before remembering something. “U-um, y-you never told me your quirk.”

She looked surprised for a second before chuckling. “Damn, I hadn’t realized. Time moves fast when you’re having fun.” She chuckled a bit more before returning her attention to him. “Sorry about that. We don’t have time for a full discussion, so I’ll be quick.

“My quirk is called Requiem, and it’s not that complicated on the surface. I can generate or take in energy, then use it in a few ways. The main way I use it is through physical enhancements.”

Izuku’s mind began to flurry with the possibilities after she provided that information.

“Uh uh, you’re staying with me,” she interrupted with a hand on his shoulder. Izuku shook his head to clear his thoughts. She was right after all, they had something they needed to do first. “So what’s our plan?”

Izuku thought for a moment before speaking. “We need to determine where the bomb is first,” he said as he turned to her.

“Definitely not the first or top floors. Even then, Bakugou wouldn’t do shit to move it. He seems too focused on you to do much of anything else.”

“And I’m going to use that against him,” he responded while his hands shook in fear.

“What ar-… No,” she ordered.

“Huh, wha-“

“No, you’re not doing that. I’ll fight him.”

Izuku was taken aback by her words. So firm and resolute. Izuku couldn’t back down however. “I know how Kacchan fights. I can easi-“

“While that might be true, I’m not just gonna let you do that. He wants to hurt you Gre- no, Izuku. And while you can use your quirk without hurting yourself, you don’t have the experience to fight on the level of someone who genuinely wants to hurt you.”

’No, no! I have to fight him, to show him I’m not the same weakling. I don’t want to be-‘

“You aren’t a burden,” a voice rang from outside of his head. Looking up, he noticed his partner’s eyes and expression being much softer than before. “Look, remember what I told you on Sunday.”

She had told him a lot of things on Sunday, but only one thing really came to mind. “I have to learn to crawl first,” he said as he looked away from her.

“I know you’re frustrated, I completely understand, but that also means I’m not gonna let you take unnecessary risks. Plus, it’s not like I’ve got to fight him the entire time. I just gotta keep him from getting to you before you get to the bomb,” she replied with a grin.

“Easier said than done,” he retorted uncharacteristically.

She giggled. “Yeah, maybe it is, but it simplifies a few things. So, how about it?”

To be perfectly honest, Izuku didn’t like it, not one bit, but… he could also see the logic and concern behind her decision. He wants to protect her, but he doesn’t have the experience she does. Not yet. Those two words that were whispered at the back of his mind gave him some hope. Yes, he might be an infant in terms of experience, but infants grow. He’d have to put a significant amount of work to grow a lot faster than everyone, but the point still stood.

He didn’t like it, he probably never would, too. Still, she wouldn’t give up on this point, even to her own detriment. A thought echoed in the back of his head at that, but he chose to ignore it.

After a moment he nodded his head. “O-okay, you deal with Kacchan, while I find Iida and the bomb.”

“You can count on me,” she said as she raised her fist.

It took the verdette a moment, but he quickly realized what she wanted. He raised his own fist and they bumped them together. Just then, the buzzer rang.

”Prep time is over! Let the match begin!”

With that, the two walked into the building, the threshold acting as their starting line.

Chapter Text

Bakugou Katsuki thought furiously after he and the extra he was partnered with walked into the bomb room.

His mind turned to his opponents; the useless Deku and that blue-haired bitch, that thief. Yeah, Thief. First the Deku starts growing some balls, and then Thief comes along and not only hypes the bastard up, but she takes what was rightfully his too? That fucking bitch was going to die for even thinking of daring to push him down to the rest of the losers.

“Oi, Glasses, don’t get in my way. I’ll go fight Deku myself,” he ordered as he started to walk off.

“My name is not ‘Glasses’ and Midoriya isn’t ‘Deku’!” the extra exclaimed as he chopped his arm. “You would do well to remember that!”

“Fuck off!” he yelled back as he continued out of the room. The extra kept yelling after him, but he ignored it. That same nagging voice resonated from the earpiece he had, so he took it out and crushed it. Not like anything the extra said would be important.

As much as Katsuki wanted to barge outside and kill those two right that moment, he knew he had to play by the rules All Might set. He’ll prove himself though, he always does, with ease.

Ten agonizingly long minutes later, and All Might announced the beginning of the match. If those weaklings wanted to get to the bomb, they’d have to go up, so he made sure to hover around the stairway between the second and third floors.

He heard footsteps echo outside of his rhythm and immediately knew they were near. He turned the corner, and there they were.

Jackpot.

“Die!” he cried as he used his explosions to propel himself forward.

Thief acted before he could reach her and Deku and pulled the bastard out of the way. He snarled as he turned around.

Before he could retort however, Thief rushed him with blue lightning coating her and got him in the gut. Before he could catch his breath, she grabbed one of his wrists and used it to pin him to the ground, the arm she grabbed held tightly to prevent his movement.

“Green Bean, go! I’ve got him!” she called out.

Deku hesitated for a moment before nodding at her words, the bastard turned tail and ran soon after.

“Oi, Deku! Get the hell back here! You’d seriously let this bitch to handle everything for you?!” A bark of laughter escapes his lips. “Shoulda known, you’re still the same useless Deku as before!”

He held in a grunt of pain as the bitch on top of him tightened her grip. “Shut up dammit! If you haven’t noticed, I’ve got you pinned. All I need to do is wrap you up, and it’s game over.”

Like hell he was going to let her beat him again. As she reached back for capture tape, he felt her grip weaken around his wrist. Taking his chance, he turned his hand and blasted Thief in the face.

With the thief temporarily blinded and startled, he pushed himself off the floor and threw her off balance. He jumped up to fire another blast in her face, but she used the backwards momentum to fall to the floor and backflip out of his range.

Dammit, she was a slippery bitch. Dodging could only get you so much though, he charged forward to deliver an explosive right hook, but she dodged out of the way before it could make contact. His hand throbbed slightly when it made contact with the wall that was behind her, but he shook it off. She’d feel worse in a few moments anyways.

“Wow, nice shot,” she said with a smug grin, “is what I would say if that hit.”

Enraged, he charged again, this time throwing his leg out to deliver a kick. Thief caught it before it connected though. No, more accurately, she got inside the kick and grabbed his leg to redirect his momentum. A quick swing later, and she flung him down the hall. He hit the ground and rolled slightly before using more explosions to correct himself onto his feet before sliding to a stop.

“Come on, where’s that bravado from before?!” Thief yelled.

Apparently the bitch started charging him again before she finished as she was right on top of him as he got his bearings.

He got another punch to the gut before he could react, then his legs were kicked out from under him before he could catch his breath. Once again enraged, he fired off a strong explosion at her. It seemed to have worked as she was forced back, but the effect was much worse from him as he wasn’t braced. As he collided with the wall behind him, he took a deep breath and righted himself back on his feet. After both of them took a moment to recover, his mind started to race in rage.

“How’d ya like that, bitch! You might think you’re hot shit, but I’m a hundred times better than you!” he swore.

“You and your glass house,” she said as she shook her head. “I don’t know you, but has it ever occurred to you that you were maybe a big fish in a small pond? I ask because I’ve met someone like you before, someone overconfident in their abilities, almost to a fault.”

“Maybe because they were small fry,” he yelled in irritation before pointing his thumb at his chest. “I’m the real deal! I’ll be the number one Hero, no doubt about that!”

Thief was silent for a moment before she scoffed. “You, the number one Hero? Please, you wouldn’t even make a good sidekick.”

This bitch was really starting to piss him off. No, correction, he’s beyond pissed off. He’s thrown everything he has at her from the start to kill her, and she barely even looks winded. Meanwhile she’s barely thrown two punches, and he’s gasping for breath. And now she’s scoff at his dreams without a care in the world. That bitch has some nerve!

“What’s wrong, cat got your tongue? With all your bragging, I’d figured you’d be a decent challenge, but I’m just not seeing it.”

Katsuki vision began to turn red. He charged at her again, but she just ran off down a side corridor before he could reach her. Without thinking, he blasts after her, but the bitch is as slippery as always and he loses her after a few moments.

’That bitch! She thinks she can just waltz in like that and he’d think nothing of it?! Oh, once he gets his hands on her, she’s going to regret every second of her existence.’

Thinking quickly, he starts off towards the stairs, careful to keep quiet as he didn’t want her to know his location. If she wanted to help Deku, then she’d have to take the only pathway up.

He detours slightly to the side of the building she went in hopes of spotting her. After a few minutes and a few more turns and doors, he spots her. She’s standing almost in the center of a large room with one of the walls almost made entirely of windows. She has her eyes glued to where he would have come out if he hadn’t started off towards the stairs first, but that’s perfect for him. Her back is mostly towards him, the only way left that she could spot him is if she had eyes in the back of her head.

A vicious grin spread across his face. He crept up behind her, slowly and surely to make sure she had as little time as possible to react. It wouldn’t do for the thief to escape again now, would it?

When he got close enough, he blasted himself forward. His target turned around, stunned. She attempted to block his strike, but Katsuki wasn’t prone to making the same mistake a second time.

He used an explosion to not only stop himself, but blind her as well. Firing off another allowed him to get behind her before Katsuki brought his palms together and blasted the bitch with as much power as he could muster in such a short time.

The result was that she was sent flying across the room, her movements ending when she slammed into a pillar that supported the wall of windows.

With her gasping and stunned, he checked his gauntlets. “Heh, all filled up,” he chuckled to himself. He decided to fill the newly acquired silence with a monologue. It was a bit cliche, but she had to realize just how far below him she was.

“Don’t know if the nerd told you, but my quirk is based around my sweat. Simply put, I generate it from my hands, then I can detonate it at will. But that begs the question, what would happen if I saved up a bunch of the stuff and let it all lose all at once?”

With that question he primed his Grenadier Gauntlet and out his finger through the pin.

”Don’t do it! You’ll kill her!” All Might yelled over the intercom.

Not one to care about others much, especially with how much she’s pissed him off over the past few days, he didn’t give it much thought. “Won’t be a problem if she dodges!” he yells in response.

Pulling the pin caused a blast he could have never have dreamed of before. He was ecstatic as he saw the giant fireball burst into existence and then move towards the bug that believed getting in his way was a good idea.

She seemed to come out of her stunned state just before then, but all she could do was throw her hand up in front of her before the flames engulfed her.

===
Several Minutes Earlier

Izuku was running up the stairs he had found and around the third floor with no sign of Tenya anywhere. Azura was right that Kacchan wouldn’t work with Tenya, but that didn’t mean the boy was any less capable without the blonde. Not having the two work together probably hurt him and Azura in the long run.

Izuku shook his head as he ran up to the fourth floor after having found the third empty. Izuku was glad Azura pushed him to gain as much control as he could when she did. If she didn’t, he was positive that the search would have taken much longer.

A few minutes after separating with Azura, he had found the bomb room with Tenya in it. The boy saw the enemy bluenette seemingly rehearsing for something. A moment later Izuku sighed at his overly serious classmate. He really needed to not take things so seriously.

Izuku brought his hand up to his ear to call Azura, but he stopped as his finger hovered over the button. Undoubtedly she was still fighting against Kacchan. If he called, she would get distracted. Not to mention that Kacchan could realize Izuku found the bomb. Even if Azura was a threat, he would drop everything if it meant preventing a loss.

He brought his hand over his mouth and began to strategize, idly thinking about Ochako’s suggestion for a sound dampening mouthpiece.

Tenya’s whole quirk was based on speed, specifically sustained speed and acceleration. That being said, his full potential couldn’t be brought out in an environment like this. The hallways and corners inside the building were too tight. One for All granted Izuku instantaneous acceleration. He’d probably need most of One for All’s output to reach Tenya’s speed, but he wouldn’t need to in order to juke his opponent.

The plan he came up with wasn’t ideal, but he was short on time. Izuku took a few seconds to light up Full Cowling before jumping from behind his cover and charging straight at Tenya.

The bluenette was surprised at his entrance and tried to counter, but with how exposed he was, he simply didn’t have enough options. Thus his choice of action was to hold steady and deflect Izuku away from the bomb. This tactic was extremely effective as Izuku wasn’t used to operating at such speeds just yet.

He slid across the room before coming to a stop and righting himself.

“Ah ha! Well met hero!” the armored man exclaimed in a slightly nasally voice. “It is disappointing that my associate let you through, but don’t be mistaken, you will not get to our weapon!”

Izuku chortled for a second before he jumped out of the way. As he brought himself up again, he quickly realized that while the enclosed space put Tenya at a disadvantage, the larger room the bomb was in allowed a greater range of movement. He almost cursed aloud about his stupidity.

Tenya slid to a halt before starting his engines up again. Izuku went to dodge, but his opponent grabbed one of the two false-All-Might-tufts and ripped it from Izuku’s head. Izuku yelped as he felt his body jerked back before the material gave way.

Tenya stopped again and looked down at his hands. “I would apologize, hero,” he said in his cartoonishly evil voice, “but I am a villain so I won’t!”

Izuku stifled his laughter as he readied himself for the third clash-

”Don’t do it! You’ll kill her!” All Might’s voice rang over the intercom. The two boys stood stark still for a moment before the building started to shake and an explosion bursted from the side of the building.

A few moments later, and the intercom came to life again. ”All students, the battle is suspended! I repeat, the battle is suspended!” A bit more distantly they heard, ”Call the bots and Recovery Girl!”

Izuku’s heart sank. He knew… he knew who caused that. Before he could process anything else, he ran. He ran down the stairs to third then the second floor, running and running. Tenya was behind him trying to get his attention, but all the greenette could think of was to get to her.

Since the explosion burst out of the same side of the building the bomb was on, he had a general idea of where the other two were.

Moments later, and he came across a horrifying scene. Kacchan was slowly and cockily sauntering over to the pillar of smoke and dust flowing out of the room. He idly noted Tenya appearing behind him, but the two stood shocked as the blonde began to gloat.

“Ha, damn! This thing’s better than I thought! Oh well, it did the job against a bug like you.” He stopped about halfway across the room before glancing over at the Izuku and Tenya. “Well, well, what do we have here? A useless Deku and his extra friend.”

“K-Kacchan, wh-what have you done?” he asked shakily.

“Eh?! What do you mean? I showed that bitch her place! Now there’s no one standing in my way!” the blonde exclaimed as he then glared at the greenette. “Well, except you maybe.”

With that, the blonde primed himself for another confrontation before someone burst into the room.

“Bakugou, that is enough! The battle is suspended!” All Might’s voice boomed.

“WHAT!?” the other blonde screeched.

“Young Highlander will need serious medical attention, bots are on their way to assess and move her to a more secure location before Recover Girl operates. Young Midoriya and Young Iida, you will return to the observation room,” he stated before turning to Kacchan. “As for you Bakugou, you will change back into your uniform and see yourself to the Dean’s office.”

“Why the hell do I gotta go see some damn rat?” he cursed out. “I won!”

“Bakugou, you did not ‘win’,” the nah stated incredulously. “What you have done is the use of unnecessary force at best and manslaughter at worst.”

“What the hell?” the blonde asked disbelievingly. “She was in my way, and I took her out. That’s what Heroes do!”

“No it isn’t!” Izuku yelled out in rage, the boy himself not entirely realizing what he was doing. “Heroes are meant to save people, not just hurt villains!”

Kacchan stopped for a moment before turning to Izuku, “…You always have that same attitude, Deku,” the blonde growled out. “Every damn time I try to show someone why they shouldn’t mess with me, you get in my way. Every time I knock you down, you get back up spouting the same shit as always.”

The rage coming off of the boy sent Izuku back a step.

“You always, ALWAYS get it my way! You stalk me like a lost puppy, stop me from showing people what for, and your delusions of being a hero, don’t even get me started on that! You always try to bring me down to your level, too. I don’t need help! Especially from you!”

Sparks began to fly from his fingers as he began to shake in rage. “I’m done with you,” he said before blasting off towards the greenette. “DIE!”

All Might prepared to rush and get in the way before something unexpected happened.

“YOU BASTARD!” a voice screamed before a fist emerged from the smoke, batting the explosive blonde away and into a nearby wall.

Izuku’s eyes widened at the display, Azura slumped over, arm outstretched to where she had hit the blonde.

When the smoke cleared enough, Izuku finally got a good look at her to see her left gauntlet and sleeve slightly singed. He was relieved to see that she was okay, but said relief was tampered when he considered possible internal damage as well.

When Azura brought her head up however, his train of thought and all sense of calm left him as he observed the display of sheer rage on her face.

“How dare you!” she yelled as the man she attacked slowly pulled himself from the wall. “You almost killed me, without stopping for even a second before gloating mind you, and then proceeded to jump straight for Izuku, my friend, to try to kill him!”

A pulse of pure bloodlust originated from the bluenette, the feeling now pouring out in droves towards the offending blonde. The other occupants of the room were startled at the feeling, but they were able to push through it.

“Heh, hehehe,” she folded in on herself as she chuckled. “It makes me wonder how you would feel in his place,” she pondered as she brought her savage grin to bare. She charged, but before she could get halfway to her target, a green blur intercepted her. A set of arms restrained her from under and around her shoulders.

A blue eye met green as she glared back at Izuku. “Dammit! Let me go, Izuku! Let! Me! GO!” she exclaimed as she tried to free herself.

Blue and green lighting danced around the room as they struggled. “No! I’m not going to let you hurt him! That’s not what heroes do!”

Izuku was panicking slightly. He moved before he could think and was grabbing her before he realized it. The worst part was that he had no idea how long he could hold her. He could guess that she was stronger than him due to her experience, but she seemed to be limiting herself. Whether that was a conscious effort to not destroy anything or a subconscious desire to not hurt her friend, he didn’t know.

“Like hell!” she exclaimed. “I’m not just gonna let him go scot free!”

Izuku hesitated before pushing on. “H-he’s not! All Might told him to go to the Dean! He'll handle it!”

Her struggling decreased, but he could still see the rage in her eyes.

“He is right, Hig-Azura!” Tenya stated as he came into view. Izuku silently apologized to his friend for forgetting him for a moment. “Now is not the time to seek vengeance. In addition, I am sure the Dean would like to hear your opinion on the matter. Should that not be enough?”

The struggling blue and greenettes noticed two more people approach. “Please, calm down Azura. This can all be solved if you do so,” came Momo’s dignified voice.

“Yeah! I get why you feel like this, but this isn’t like you,” Ochako pleaded.

Azura’s eyes swept across the three of them and then turned her gaze back towards Izuku. A beat of silence passed before her lighting died out and she relaxed. Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he gradually loosened his hold of her.

“Sorry about that,” she stated as she looked down with a now-tempered rage still in her eyes before she continued, “and thank you, Izuku.”

“Yes, thank you Young Midoriya for helping for stopping her, and the rest of you for calming her down,” came the booming voice of All Might. “That said, Bakugou, so as I’ve told you and report to the Dean. He will be expecting you by now.”

The disgruntled blonde was in shock about the turn of events. He had gotten away with worse before, but here was his idol, telling him to go receive a punishment for proving his strength. He was going to say something, but All Might’s glare silenced him. A beat passed before he got up and made his way out of the room.

As he did so, All Might spoke again. “Now that that is done,” he started as he turned towards the students, “thank you again you four for calming down Young Highlander. I am going to let this instance of assault outside of an exercise due to extenuating circumstances, but I hope that this won't be a recurring issue,” he stated as pointed a finger at Azura. She simply nodded in response.

“Good. As for you two, Young Yaoyorozu and Young Uraraka,” he redirected his focus to the two in question, “while I understand your worry, you still disobeyed my direct order to stay inside the observation room. Again, I’m willing to overlook this just this once, so don’t make me regret it.”

The two girls bowed and apologized, though Toshinori could tell they did not regret their actions. That was good. They did the heroic thing and went to help their friend out of worry, but they couldn’t always do that out in the field.

“Young Highlander, are you injured at all?” he queried

“No. My hand’s a bit numb because of the shock, but I’m otherwise fine,” she answered as she held her left wrist in her other hand.

“Good. Make sure you visit Recovery Girl though. We wouldn’t want that to get worse. Now, let us return to the observation room,” he stated. “Seeing as all involved are alright, we should continue with the lesson before time runs out.”

The five nodded before following their teacher out. Four of the five were relieved that the fifth was safe.

An idle thought crossed Izuku’s mind as they exited the building. He looked Azura in the eyes, her two deep, blue orbs flicked over to him. The anger still burned inside, but she seemed content for the moment. It nagged at him now that he’s gotten a better look.

He could have sworn one of Azura’s eyes were red.

==========
Dean Nezu’s office
Same time

Nezu sipped his tea as he waited in his office. The final confrontation wasn’t entirely unexpected, but he had not expected her to become so enraged. She’s usually so composed.

A woman entered his office of her own volition. She had made it clear early on that she wasn’t going to play his games, so he let her be. Such people were fun in the own ways anyhow.

“So how’d it go?” the woman questioned.

“He used his gauntlets and almost killed Azura with the blast. Other than a bruised wrist, she seemed to be fine however,” he explained.

“I thought the kid was an idiot, but not this big of one,” the woman grumbled.

Nezu hummed in agreement. “Still, it makes the point moot. Either he changes, or his career as a hero is over before it truly begins. If he does not understand that now, he will in but a moment.” Nezu sipped his tea again. “Which reminds me, you should leave before he and his parents arrive. It wouldn’t do for 1-A’s new homeroom teacher to be seen before her debut.”

The woman was quiet for a moment. “So you’re really going through with it?”

“I should have several years ago, honestly. Aizawa has become too complacent. His ‘results’ are substandard, at best. Yes, our students need to learn on their own, but a guiding hand is needed to help in that growth. Aizawa has proved time and again that he does not provide that hand unless it is someone with a ‘villainous quirk.’ He preaches of biases, but cannot see beyond his own. I am almost ashamed that I only saw it after it was pointed out so blatantly.”

“At least you're better than those parasites I worked for. You learned,” the woman scoffed.

“Ah, yes, your old employers. Though, that is not a very high bar, you must understand.” The woman snorted in response. “Are you ready?”

“Been ready,” she replied. “Just tell me when.”

“Alright then,” Nezu said with a grin. “Let’s get to work…

“Tsutsumi Kaina.”

Chapter Text

Ground Beta Observation Room

As the teacher and five students entered the room, they were immediately beset on all sides by most of their worried peers.

“Hey, hey! Whoa, I’m okay guys! Geez!” Azura exclaimed indignantly over the worried words of her classmates.

All Might chuckled in the background at the situation. Things might have been stressful, but the sight assured him everyone would be fine.

All Might coughed to get their attention. “Yes, yes class, I’m sure you were all worried, but the situation has been dealt with for the time being.”

Most of the class calmed at his words and backed off, but one took the chance to voice his concerns.

“Um, All Might, sir?” the voice of Kirishima Eijiro called out. Seeing the man focus his attention he continued. “Where’s Bakugou?”

“Hm? Ah, yes. Bakugou has been removed from the lesson and is currently on his way to the Dean’s office.” Several students gasped at that, though several saw this as a good thing. “That being said, I hope I do not need to remind you to not seriously maim your classmates. This is training after all. Injuries are to be expected, but not life threatening in the least. I hope you all take this to heart,” he finished off uncharacteristically threatening, his hidden eyes flashing in response. The man almost lost one student today, he wouldn’t let that happen again.

Said students quickly nodded in both understanding and fear.

“Now, seeing as how Bakugou has been removed from class today, the round cannot recommence, especially due to the damage the building sustained. Still, this can be a learning experience. Who has an observation they wish to share about the previous round before things… ahem got out of control?”

Momo raised her hand in response, All Might immediately passing the class’s attention to her. “If I may, Azura, Midoriya, but your plan was to keep Iida and the enraged Bakugou apart from each other, correct?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Azura confirmed. “Green Bean figured the bastard would split off from Iida. All I had to do was get his attention, and he came running. That left Green Bean free to get past Iida and touch the object.”

“A simple yet effective strategy,” Momo complimented.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy,” Saiko commented as she adjusted her glasses. “Any plan any of you deploy in the field needs to be relatively loose to give room to improvisation. Planning too strictly could cause the plan to collapse should even one thing go wrong.”

“Young Intelli is correct. The best plans are the simple ones that can be deployed and adapted on the fly,” All Might commented. “Excuse us Young Yaoyorozu. Was there something you wished to speak about?”

Momo merely shook her head. “No, the two of you said most of what I wanted to say. I would have planned to take him down as a team to reduce risk, but I can see the merit of splitting up as well. There are pros and cons to many plans I suppose,” she finished.

“Anyone else have any observations they wish to be made known?”

“You mean besides how horrible Bakugou is at teamwork, ribbit?” Tsuyu queried.

Several students both chuckled and winced at her statement. “Yes Young Asui. That topic requires an entire session in of itself.” The room remained quiet after he spoke. “Alright, we’ll skip the MVP section and move right along into round two!”

Round 2: Team A (Yaoyorozu Momo and Tokoyami Fumikage) vs. Team I (Sero Hanta and Todoroki Shouto)

==========

As the participants made their way to their building, the rest of the students began to converse about who would win the battle.

“How reprehensible! To think the lot of you would bet on your own classmates!” Tenya chastised as he chopped his hand rapidly.

Mina, Mineta, Denki, and several other students waved their hands in a placating gesture to calm down.

“Calm down Iida,” Azura called. “First off they’re not betting anything. They’re just talking about who might win. Second, it’s probably a good idea to do it anyways because it would help the rest of us plan for the future.”

Tenya stopped before putting his hand to his chin as if he were thinking on her words. “Ah yes, I see! Very well then, we shall discuss! Without perverted comments mind you!” Tenya stated as he glared at a shrinking Mineta.

All Might made a mental note about the midget’s behavior.

“What do you think, Green Bean?” Azura prompted.

Before he became lost in thought however, several people noticed him and looked at him from an answer. After stuttering out a few false starts, he finally began giving an actual answer. “W-well, I don’t know honestly.” Several people held questioning looks, so he pushed past his embarrassment to elaborate. “It’s only the second day of actual classes. There’s a lot we don’t know about each other still, both personality and quirk wise. That said, with what I do know, there are several ways either team could win.” Several of the people gathered nodded their heads in agreement. “What do you think, H-Azura?”

“Hm?” she asked before she shook her head and answered. “Like you said, there’s multiple ways either team could win, but I’m willing to bet that Momo and Tokoyami will win.”

“How do you mean?” Ochako, Tooru and Mina asked simultaneously.

“Todoroki’s actions are what will decide it all. He seems like a very blunt and straightforward person. The shortest and most efficient route to victory is what he’ll aim for. At the same time, he also goes for big displays of power. You guys saw him at the Assessment Test.” At this, a few students shivered at the display the half-and-half boy made during the test. Seriously, who summons an iceberg to throw a ball?!

“That’s what it all hinges on,” Izuku said with a slight gasp of realization. “But wait, if he does what you suspect, then wouldn’t it be harder to move through the building?”

“Not really,” she shrugged. “Momo’s smart enough to get around it. The reason it’ll be an advantage to them is because… actually, let’s wait and see.”

==========

Round 1: Team C (Highlander Azura and Midoriya Izuku) vs. Team B (Bakugou Katsuki and Iida Tenya)

Round 2: Team A (Yaoyorozu Momo and Tokoyami Fumikage) vs. Team I (Sero Hanta and Todoroki Shouto)

Round 3: Team F (Jirou Kyouka and Eijirou Kirishima) vs. Team E (Satou Rikidou and Ashido Mina)

Round 4: Team J (Uraraka Ochako and Mineta Minoru) vs. Team H (Shouji Mezou and Kaminari Denki)

Round 5: Team D (Hagakure Tooru and Asui Tsuyu) vs. Team G (Aoyama Yuuga and Koda Kouji)

==========

“Round Two: Start!”

The two stood outside of the building waiting for something, anything to happen.

Just then, Momo saw the entire building become encased in ice. She had suspected something like this happening, but she believed Todoroki would have considered the consequences. Flash freezing an entire building isn't something one could or should just do.

Momo summoned the image of two pairs of ice cleats in her mind and activated her quirk. She really had to thank Azura again as her time had significantly improved thanks to that little bit of world shattering information.

“Put these on Tokoyami. We’re going in.”

The bird-headed man merely nodded as he took off his own shoes.

The team inside was having greater difficulty than their counterparts however.

“C’mon man! Did you seriously have to do that?” Hanta griped as he held himself to preserve heat. The ice had been there for a solid minute already, and he was getting really cold, really fast. The only upside was that his partner had at least thought to not cost the floor of the room they were in with ice. Hanta would’ve been stuck otherwise.

“It was the best way to catch them,” Todoroki blandly replied. “Seeing as how All Might hasn’t said anything, they might have gotten out. Oh well,” he said as he took a step forward.

“Hey, where the hell are you going?!” Hanta yelled after him.

“Even if they are not trapped, the ice will hinder their mobility. It will be easy for me to simply go up to them and freeze them in place myself.” All the while, Todoroki kept taking step after step, his left foot producing steam to give himself a firmer grip on the floor.

He made his way down to the second floor, hoping to meet his enemies half way. The dim hallways gave him the perfect cover, even though he didn’t need it.

He heard the scrapping of a shoe against the ice reverberate across the hall. They were close. All he needed was line of sight.

’THERE!’

In an instant, ice burst from his left foot down the hallway, careful to not disrupt the building’s stability along the way. They should be caught in three, two, on-

Something burst through his ice before ice could reach his enemies. It kind of looked like a bird. A very violent shadow bird, but one nonetheless. He glared at it as he prepped another wave before his focus was torn away due to an impact to his shoulder.

He clutched it in surprise as he tried to find who or what did it. Something bounced off the ice below him. It didn’t take long to see the rubber bullet.

’So that’s what I was hit with. How did- wait, that Yaoyo-something girl can make things. Oh well, not like it’s an issue.’

He fired off another wave before she could get another shot off. Events repeated themselves however as the shadow bird burst through again. Todoroki cursed it under his breath.

He tossed another wave at it to slow it down before he moved down the hallway back the way he came. If he played his cards right, he’d be able to entrap them.

On the other team, Momo shivered slightly. The cloak she made to keep some heat in helped, but her revealing suit put her at a disadvantage. If only she didn’t need to show so much skin. Maybe that was something to pitch to Izuku and Azura.

She shook her head to refocus. Todoroki was powerful in a head on confrontation, that much was for certain. Even if she and Fumikage had entered the building from the start, it would have been easy to break free with help from Dark Shadow.

Speaking of, Fumikage shined the light she had made to calm the quirk down. It wouldn’t do for it to go on a rampage at the moment. Her mind idly drifted for a moment to how much her friends would enjoy metaphorically dissecting the quirk, but she shook her head again.

It wasn’t difficult to locate Todoroki once again. It wasn’t difficult to figure out what he was doing either as he went back the way he came. And going by how it only took him a few minutes to reach them, it was highly likely that the bomb was only on the third floor. She and Fumikage could go around, but doing so would clue the half-and-half haired boy in on what they were doing, and she wasn’t going to go against Hanta with someone like Todoroki breathing down their necks.

She relayed this to Fumikage and he was in agreement. “We cannot allow our enemies to combat our darkness. We must advance on this foe before he can cause calamity.”

Momo had to take a second before responding. “Right. The two of us will cause a distraction. Can you make sure Dark Shadow wraps Todoroki in the capture tape?”

“It will be done, for-“

“Hell yeah! Let’s do this!” yelled the shadow.

“Dark Shadow!” the raven-headed boy exclaimed in response as his shadow charged around the corner and at the boy.

Ice charged at the shadow, but Dark Shadow merely destroyed it like before. Momo took the chance and fired a few more rubber bullets at her opponent. A few missed, but his attention was torn away from the shadow and onto her. She sidestepped the smaller spikes of ice that blitzed towards her at much greater speeds.

’It seems smaller uses of his quirk spawn relatively quicker than the larger waves. I suppose that makes sense,’ she observed as she ran down an adjacent hallway. With any luck…

’There!’ she exclaimed in her mind as she turned abruptly and shot at the boy’s side. His right side. She took note of that fact as he slammed his right foot down on the ground and more ice sprouted into existence. She rolled and slid out of the way, the ice just barely missing her cloak.

She got back up to hear a bit of good news.

“Todoroki Shouto has been captured!” All Might’s voice rang from her earpiece.

She sighed in relief as she went the long way around to reunite with her partner. As they charged up the stairs, she noticed their captured opponent frowning with a look of rage on his face. She elected to ignore the display for the moment. She’d have plenty of time afterwards.

===
Several minutes later

The group of four reentered the observation room. The two ravenettes, quite literally in one case, were rather proud at the moment. After Todoroki’s capture, the only person standing in their way was Hanta, but with the only surfaces his tape could reliably stick to being the floor he stood on and his opponents, any traps he set and attacks he set were easily dodged or deflected, leaving him to surrender.

“Holy crap, you were right!” Mina yelled, catching the Yaoyorozu Heiress’s attention. She turned to see a smirking Azura being confronted by a gasping Mina. She wondered what that was about, but she felt she would learn soon enough.

“Good round students!” All Might exclaimed as he laughed. “Now, let’s move on to who should deserve MVP. Young Intelli?”

“Sir,” Saiko nodded politely. “I believe Yaoyorozu should receive MVP.”

“Hm, I’m inclined to agree,” All Might stated.

Momo herself just stared at the two, wondering how they came to the conclusion they did. She didn’t do much in comparison to Fumikage. In fact, if it wasn’t for him, Todoroki most likely would have caught them in his first volley.

“We can’t just not discuss it however. Who has an idea of why Young Yaoyorozu should be MVP?”

“They wouldn’t have won if it wasn’t for her equipment and planning,” a voice rang out over the crowd of students. Momo blushed slightly when she realized it was Izuku who said those words. He started to blush too as he realized he spoke without meaning to again.

Azura smiled as she nudged him to stop his embarrassed mumbling before he continued. “W-w-well, th-that isn’t to say that everyone else did everything wrong, but if it wasn’t for Yaoyorozu then they wouldn’t have won.

“Todoroki isn’t MVP because he possibly created a hazardous training environment for everyone by weakening the building’s support through his flash freeze. Not only that, he severely limited his partner’s abilities whilst also enhancing his opponents by blocking out the sunlight. This allowed Tokoyami and Dark Shadow to break through his attacks

“Sero isn’t MVP because of his inaction. That isn’t his fault necessarily as previously discussed, but I believe he still had a few options before he surrendered.

“Tokoyami, while close, didn’t get MVP because he mostly just provided the muscle. If it wasn’t for Yaoyorozu, then he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to wrap Todoroki in capture tape.

“Yaoyorozu on the other hand made a plan, provided equipment, and planned on the fly to help deal with Todoroki. Sure, there are things that everyone could have done better, but this is only our first lesson, so I believe that can be forgiven. That’s why I believe she’s MVP of this round.”

Welp, if Momo wasn’t blushing before, she was now. Izuku was incandecent after he realized how much he had said. By the look of it, Azura had to stop him from apologizing, which made Momo giggle softly.

She had to admit, she did not think much of Izuku at the beginning. He only used his quirk once during the test, and he broke his finger while doing so. That did not give him much of a favorable opinion of the boy at first.

Later that same day and onwards however, she realized how brilliant he was. Azura pushed all the right buttons, and suddenly he was making theory after theory of her quirk. Many of theories were of things she did not even think of before.

Then was his drive. It was hard for her to not notice that tidbit of the boy. He was reckless due to it, but he also listened to reason when it came to not being as reckless. The power he now had access to also didn’t change much about him aside from increasing his drive.

With all that in mind, she couldn’t help but think of him as an admirable person.

She was suddenly shaken from her thoughts by their teacher.

“Excellent, Young Midoriya!” the Symbol of Peace exclaimed as he gave Izuku a thumbs up. “A clear and concise summary of events, as well as acknowledging that not everything was perfect. You were quite right on that front. Now, does anyone else have anything else to add?” No one gave seemed to have anything to say in response. “No one? Alright then! Teams F and E, report to your site!”

===

“I think the bomb’s on the fourth floor,” Kyouka replied. “And in hearing something loud coming down from the north side. There’s another stairway south, so let’s get going.”

“What, we’re not gonna face him? That’s so unmanly,” Eijiro complained as he began marching towards the north side of the building.

Kyouka glared in response. “If this were a hostage situation, what would be more unmanly? Purposely delaying ourselves to fight someone head on, or securing the hostages and protecting them?”

Eijiro stopped his march and deflated before he turned around. She had a point, but she didn’t have to be so unmanly about it.

===

“I say that Ashido was the MVP,” Momo stated. “Not only did her traps hinder her opponents, but her defense very nearly caused her team’s victory. If Satou had not taken his sugar right from the start, then he could have easily realized what was happening and backed her up, ultimately winning the match.”

“Very valid points, Young Yaoyorozu,” he stated proudly. “While Team F ultimately won, Young Ashido’s defense was well thought out for being made on such short notice. She would have bought enough time for reinforcements in a normal situation.”

Mina herself just beamed even as the bruises grew and dust covered her body. Eijiro was apologizing profusely while Rikido pouted about his mistake.

===

“Round four, begin!”

“Ugh, why did I have to get stuck with the pervert,” Ochako muttered as she saw Mineta leering at her out of the corner of her eye.

Inside the building, Mezou paid close attention to any abnormal sounds. A few minutes went by as he directed his partner towards the perfect ambush.

All he needed to do was give the command.

===

Minutes later, Ochako sat with her hair going off in every direction while she was being comforted by Izuku, Momo and Tenya. Azura was off to the side, chuckling.

“Yeah, if it wasn’t for Shouji, Kaminari wouldn’t have known when and where to set the ambush,” Kyouka explained. “Uraraka tried her best, but Mineta was nothing more than dead weight.”

“Though Kaminari could have held back a little,” Saiko stated as she looked at the boy in question.

“Wheeeyy,” he let out as he held a silly look on his face.

“I agree, Young Jirou. MVP of round four goes to Young Shouji.”

The gentle giant merely bowed in gratitude at the compliment.

===

Running around without being seen was really fun for Tooru. Oh, did that gust of wind knock that guy’s toupee off, or was it the invisible girl? Maybe she also threw that guy’s trash back in his face? What about the “Phantom Nutcracker” who keeps busting guys’ balls late at night? Who could say?

Needless to say, as she peeked around the corner and spotted the objective, she almost jumped in glee. She uncurled her hand to reach for her earpiece before she stopped.

Looking down, she became terrified at the absolutely massive number of-

“RATS!” she screamed as she jumped around. Some of the nasty critters hooked onto her legs before she kicked them off a moment later.

Unfortunately, that was all that was needed for Aoyama to track her. “Let your power SHINE!” he called out as he fired his Naval Laser.

Unfortunately, he didn’t consider how his opponent’s quirk would interact with his own.

===

“Though round five was a draw, I would like to nominate Young Koda as MVP. Any comments or suggestions?”

No one responded as they were all a little terrified at the rocky-headed boy. Even if no one lived on Ground Beta, there were still plenty of animals for the boy to call upon, specifically ones that most would categorize as vermin.

Spying for enemy movements and as an early detection system for their invisible opponent. Well, formerly invisible as she had been covered by a thick layer of dust and debris.

When Aoyama’s beam connected with Tooru, it refracted all over the place, tearing up much of the surrounding area. All Might called a stop to the battle and noted it down as a draw due to the damage the building had sustained.

All Might himself sweatdropped as three of the five buildings would need to be torn down and rebuilt. He expected for one to be only moderately damaged, but not for three to now have structural integrity issues.

“Unfortunately that’s it for today, class. You will receive your reviews of today in homeroom tomorrow,” the man stated. “Now bear witness as a Hero shows you how he moves when he’s got somewhere to be!” All Might exclaimed before dashing down the hallway to the secure faculty room. He hadn’t realized how close he was going to be with his time that day. He’ll have to be more mindful of that in the future.

Back with Saiko, she directed everyone to change out of their costumes and return to the dorms. The students themselves were merely relieved to be released for the day.

All except one however.

==========
Nezu’s office- ~4:30 p.m.

“Thank you for coming Mr. and Mrs. Bakugou. Please, take a seat,” the mousey Dean offered. The two parents sat down next to their fuming son. They were both confused as to what could have happened so early in the year, but Mitsuki didn’t get her hopes up. For years she had tried to get more than “oh, he’s the best student ever” or some variation out of Katsuki’s teachers, but nothing seemed to work.

“Alright, let’s cut to the chase. What happened?” Mitsuki grumbled out.

“Honey, please,” Masaru pleaded to his wife.

“What? It’s the second day of actual classes. I wanna know what we’re here for.”

“And personally,” Nezu interrupted, “I’m quite fond of those who get to the point. Any objections?” Seeing as how none of them moved, he took it as a sign to continue. “Well, suffice to say, Young Bakugou has been caught doing something quite reprehensible for lack of a better word.”

“And that being…?” Mitsuki probed.

“Ah, yes. During a training exercise that began not a few hours ago, Your son used lethal force on another student knowing full well what he was doing.”

That got their attention pretty quickly. As they reeled however, the figure between them jumped up in a rage.

“I didn’t do shit!”

Nezu merely tapped a few buttons before a holographic projection sprung up between him and the trio in front of him.

“Don’t do it! You’ll kill her!”

“Won’t be a problem as long as she dodges!”

Shortly afterwards, the camera switched to show Azura against the pillar, hand raised before the fireball consumed her.

The Bakugou parents gasped as the recording ended, horrified at their son’s actions.

“Do not be alarmed,” Nezu calmly stated as the two were very much alarmed. “Highlander Azura, the girl you saw, is completely unharmed thanks to her quirk and skills. If it was anyone else, then we would most definitely be having a much different conversation. Young Bakugou could not have known about that however, so he cannot claim he knew she would survive,” the Dean of UAU calmly explained further.

The Bakugou patriarch and matriarch sighed in relief at that news. They were still concerned however, and rightfully so. Even if no one died or was seriously injured, they knew that the fact that Katsuki had done this in the first place could not be overlooked.

Mitsuki looked over to Masaru’s still form, then licked her suddenly-dry lips before speaking. “S-so what will happen now?”

“Truth be told Mrs. Bakugou, you have three options. Ones that Highlander Azura’s mother has gracefully allowed me to give by refraining any personal legal action for the time being.”

Mitsuki nodded her head in response, grateful to whoever the woman was.

“Option one is that we proceed with the legal route and have Young Bakugou charged with his crimes. As a result, he will be expelled from UA altogether and thrown into prison.”

“You can’t do that!” Katsuki yelled as he burst up from his seat.

“Katsuki, sit down!” Mitsuki exclaimed as she gripped his collar and pulled him back to his seat. He tried to struggle, but a harsh glare from her gave the boy pause. “We apologize, Dean Nezu,” she said as she bowed her head.

“There is no need for you to apologize Mrs. Bakugou. Though I must remind you Young Bakugou that the decision could easily be made for you,” the mammal threatened as he subtly glared. That seemed to get the egocentric boy to shut up.

“Now, option two is that Young Bakugou transfers to Shiketsu under probation and finishes his studies there.”

The boy in question was ready to protest, but the threat he received quieted him. No one’s ever done that before, especially a principal or what-have-you. They usually recognized his greatness and told him to put those below him in their proper places. Why is it that someone’s blocking his way now of all times?

“And option three?” Masaru surprisingly asked, albeit a bit quietly.

“Ah yes, option two and three are similar. The biggest differences are that Young Bakugou stays enrolled in UA, but he is put onto another track. He is also prohibited from entering the Sports Festival until his third year. That last point can be negotiated to second year should he exhibit consistent good behavior.”

The room was silent for a moment before someone spoke up. “Dean Nezu,” Masaru began, “I understand the need for a punishment, but if I recall the standards of probation for Hero universities involves quirk dampening cuffs being worn. That seems a little extreme for a first time offense.”

“Hm? Oh yes, I can’t believe I neglected to mention this,” he said as he pulled up a clip of the Apprehension Test. “Today wasn’t Young Bakugou’s first offense. Neither was orientation day,” the mammal finished as several more screens depicted Katsuki’s old high school.

On those screens showed several instances of Katsuki beating up several individuals. Most notably was a green-haired boy.

“Izu-kun?” Mitsuki gasped out.

“An underground hero agency I know of is currently conducting an investigation into Young Bakugou’s and Young Midoriya’s previous schools due to what I believed, and has been confirmed, to be heavily altered records.”

The two parents watched the screens in disbelief until they suddenly cut out and disappeared.

“W-wait, Izu-kun too? I knew something was wrong between them, but this…” she trailed off in disbelief.

“Yes, it is quite tragic. Aldera seems to have manipulated events to make it seem that Young Midoriya was the troublemaker while Young Bakugou was a standup student. Both cases cannot be further from the truth. If I hadn’t found the discrepancies during the initial screening phase of admission, it is very likely that Young Midoriya would have never been able to even apply to a decent university.”

As Nezu finished his speech, Mitsuki and Masaru felt their stomachs drop. Katsuki seemed confused at the moment. At what specifically, Nezu could guess but didn’t care enough to at the moment. The boy had already caused him a number of headaches already. The less he had to think of the blonde at the moment, the better.

“…what- what will happen if Katsuki stays?” Masaru asked quietly.

Nezu seemed slightly curious at the man’s question as he answered. “As I said, probation, something you already know plenty of, and his removal from class 1-A. He will be closely monitored should he attempt to contact Young Midoriya. In the event Young Bakugou breaks any of the rules and regulations set for him, he will be removed from UA entirely and placed under arrest where he will be tried in a private court hearing. Should he display good behavior and not break any rules, he will be given the chance to return to the hero course, just so long as it isn't with the current class 1-A. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, it does,” the man answered.

He looked over at Mitsuki who looked too shocked to speak at the moment. That made sense. As bad as Katsuki had been at home at some moments, she never truly believed he could be cruel. She had tried to curb his behavior through physical means as that had been the only form of punishment their son had consistently responded to despite Mirsuki’s own moral objections, but it seems they hadn’t done enough to actually influence his behavior. No, more accurately, it wasn’t enough to counter the influence their son was under if Nezu’s investigation told him anything.

Turning from his thoughts, he regarded the choices in front of him. Option one wasn’t particularly good as it would ruin Katsuki’s future, something the boy wasn’t keen on despite his actions. Option two is objectively better than three, but choosing that could cause Katsuki to act out at not getting what he wanted. As much as he disliked giving his son any ground to stand on at the moment, if Katsuki acted out, he would be pulled from UA anyways.

“Option three seems the best for now. If it is possible, will option two still be available?” he proposed.

Nezu held his chin for a moment. “I suppose if the reason for the change isn’t anything drastic. Very well,” he finished as he fished out two bracelets. “If that is your decision, then here. Young Bakugou will need to wear these from now on. If you will take him to your home tonight, he will be briefed on his new living arrangements and rules for attendance tomorrow.”

Katsuki snarled slightly, but his father’s tight grip on his shoulder caused him to pause. Looking up, his eyes widened at the man’s enraged expression.

“Let’s go Katsuki,” he ordered harshly.

The boy put on the offered bracelets before walking out, still in his father’s grip. Mitsuki trailed behind them, still distraught over what she had seen and heard.

As the door closed, Nezu sighed. One more meeting. This one was likely to be even worse. Nezu’s eyes drifted over to the cameras monitoring the hallway outside of his office. Just as the Bakugou’s rounded the corner, Aizawa had rounded the corner at the opposite end. As the man closed in, Nezu opened the door, not even playing his little game.

“Aizawa, welcome. We have much to discuss,” he stated cordially.

The disheveled, grouchy man merely plopped himself onto one of the sofa’s and stared at the mammal with his dead eyes. Nezu had to admit, with what he now knew, they were right in their opinion of Aizawa, both in his mannerisms and habits. Nezu was truly blind to have let things continue as they had for so long.

“Now, I know you’re not one to appreciate the games I play,” the man across from him grumbled in agreement, “so I’ve elected to just skip ahead to the climax; you’re being demoted.”

It seems he was too blunt even for the casually blunt Aizawa as the raven-haired man had to blink a few times before responding.

“What?” he blandly replied.

“You’re being demoted,” Nezu repeated before elaborating. “Simply put, the ‘results’ you’ve provided me haven’t been what I’ve asked for. Don’t get me wrong, some of the Heroes you have produced have been exceptional, but therein lies the problem; ‘some’.

“Kan generalizes mostly at the beginning to help his students understand their strengths and weaknesses, thereby creating a class of students who can all improve even after they leave this institution. You on the other hand hyperfocus on one or two students while letting the rest stumble through the curriculum without help. That’s if you didn’t outright expel everyone else besides your favorites.”

“I expelled them because they didn’t have potential,” he stated. Oh how Nezu had grown tired of Aizawa’s excuse since seeing reason.

“And what do you mean by potential? And before you respond, if your answer involves quirk status or how they acted within the first few weeks of your class before they were kicked out, I will fire you on the spot.”

The man in question didn’t seem to have an answer after Nezu’s clear stipulations and threat. Nezu himself wanted to facepalm at the situation.

“Are there other reasons?” Aizawa questioned. Nezu raised an eyebrow as he was admittedly mildly surprised by the question.

“Anything specific?”

“I’m sure you wouldn’t have been so direct if something didn’t recently change.”

There was the aspect Nezu liked about him. Aizawa could be clever, especially since Nezu kept the man on his toes. It seems he let his apathy towards his students hinder his abilities in specific ways however.

“Very well. Two students in particular. Three if you count the one outside of the Hero course,” the mammal said as he held up that many fingers before he began listing them off. “Bakugou Katsuki, Midoriya Izuku, and Shinsou Hitoshi.”

Aizawa tensed at the last one, something not unnoticed by the diminutive mammal.

“To start, Bakugou was just in here to discuss his punishment for almost killing Azura during the Battle Trials. While I’m not saying that that was your fault, I would’ve restricted him had you reported his violent behavior on orientation day. As you didn’t, I couldn’t make the adjustments necessary in time.”

“Oh? And how did this happen?” the man queried. He seemed slightly nervous at the mention of a student’s death.

’My word, they were on the mark with his trauma as well it seems,’ he thought before responding. “Bakugou used one of his gauntlets to blast a massive hole in the side of the building. What’s worse is that said blast was aimed right at Azura. Had she not been as quick as she was, she very likely might have been sent to the infirmary or the hospital.

“Another thing, the costumes. Why on earth you approved so many horrible designs, I will never know. That is an entirely different conversation however, and not one we’ll have now.” He knew what the man would say anyways, so it was best to nip that in the bud for the sake of time.

“To continue; Midoriya Izuku. What are your current thoughts on him? And don’t be shy. I’ll know if you lie.”

The man he stared down took a minute before responding. “He’s lazy. His lack of control over his quirk was easily the biggest piece of proof. If he had trained it even a little bit, he wouldn’t have torn himself up so much during the Entrance exam and I would assume the Battle Trials as well.”

“Incorrect on all fronts,” Nezu flatly stated. “To begin, Young Midoriya only had a few scapes at worst as a result of the Battle Trials. And yes, he used his quirk during it. He is certainly not lazy as this video proves,” he finished as he pulled up the feed of Gym Delta from Sunday.

“You see Aizawa, Young Midoriya’s first confirmed use of his quirk was on the entrance exam,” the mammal explained.

“Even for later bloomers, that sounds ridiculous,” the man blatantly stated, completely disbelieving of the statement.

“Yet it’s true,” the Dean replied. “Chiyo herself confirmed that his quirk relies on his physicality. The more fit and muscular he is, the more power he has access to. It was only recently his body became strong enough to actually utilize any percentage of his power.”

“That means… why didn’t you say anything before?”

“Don’t you dare accuse me of anything Aizawa,” the mammal snarled back. The man slightly jumped in surprise at the sudden change in his boss’s demeanor. “I left you a clear note dictating your need to review Young Midoriya’s file. I don’t care about your refusal to look at student files,” he continued as he held up a hand to silence the man before pointing at him, “when I tell you, any of my staff for that matter, to pay attention to something, I expect you to listen.”

A beat of silence passed between the two before Nezu spoke again. “Now where were we? Ah yes, Shinsou Hitoshi. I know of your plans to approach and train the boy. While I do see the good his quirk can do, what I don’t understand is why you would put so much effort into someone who isn’t even your student when your students are doing a far better job at teaching than you are.

“As a good teacher, your first priority is to investigate why your students are behind in certain areas, and then provide avenues for them to fix those shortcomings. Not only did you ignore Young Midoriya, but you actively discouraged him. Even after you didn’t expel him after the first day, you still did nothing to remedy the situation. Your earlier statement even told me that you had no idea of his improvements.

“I hope I do not need to reiterate that this is a consistent problem. Take your previous class for example. If I had not intercepted your paperwork and had them transferred instead, all twenty of them would either be dead or villains. Do you even understand the consequences of your actions? No, of course you don’t, I shouldn’t have even asked.”

Aizawa merely sat on the sofa stock still as the Dean ranted. He has heard his boss rant like that before, and it never ended well for the party who caused him grief.

Nezu coughed into his hand after a moment of catching his breath. “Ahem, excuse me. Before I do that again, I must ask; will you take the demotion or be fired right this moment? Those are your only options in this matter.”

The ravenette thought for a moment before answering. If he got fired, he’d never hear the end of it. The rat might direct any disgruntled parents toward him too due to him not being a part of UA purely out of spite. But if he stayed, he might be able to get the decision overturned. Despite what Nezu said, he’s still the best teacher for those kids. The rat would learn that one day. For now however, he had to stay on his boss’s good side.

“Fine, I’ll take the demotion,” he growled out.

“Very good,” the rat replied. “Your new job will be to act as more of an aid than an actual teacher. Your first assignment will be assisting the new teacher with 1-A’s trip to the USJ on Thursday.”

Aizawa nodded in response. Then the thought occurred to him. “Who will replace me?” It obviously couldn’t be Nemuri, Hizashi, or Kan. They already had enough on their plates as is.

“Hm? Ah, yes. If you will please step in,” the mammal called out.

A door opened off to the side. Aizawa turned to see a woman with dark blue hair that had strands of purple mixed throughout. His eyes widened in response as the name of the woman slipped from his mouth.

“Tsutsumi Kaina, also known as Lady Nagant.” He abruptly turned to Nezu for an explanation.

“She will act as 1-A’s teacher from now on. If that is all, then you may leave, Aizawa,” the rat stated while obviously ignoring Aizawa’s glare.

A moment passed before he broke eye contact with the mammal and made his way to the door. He glanced back as he stood in the doorway before finally leaving, the door automatically closing behind the disheveled man.

Kaina whistled at the display, the sound ringing throughout the office after a moment. “He didn’t take that well,” Kaina stated as she flopped onto one of the couches.

“Clearly,” Nezu replied. “I assume everything is ready?”

“Yep. We’re good to go. And the agency you told me about contacted me. The investigation’s going smoothly. They’ve almost got enough evidence to storm the place with the police.”

“Good. Remember to tell Tsukauchi to confirm everyone before he informs them of the raid.”

“You got it boss,” she lazily replied as she gave a lazy salute. “Gotta say, I never expected this.”

Nezu chuckled slightly. He had to hold himself back from a full on cackling so as to actually reply. “You and I both. To think, one conversation could have changed so much.”

“It was more than one you overdramatic rat, but I get your point.” At that she stood back up. “Anyways, I better head out for the day. My days are gonna be longer starting tomorrow.”

“Very well,” he said whilst waving her off. ”I wish you a good evening.”

The door closed a moment later, leaving one of the smartest mammals on the planet alone once again. He poured himself another cup of tea as he let himself become lost in thought.

“My my. Things are looking to become quite interesting.”

Chapter Text

1-A Classroom
Wednesday- ~8:20 a.m.

“Holy crap!” Everyone turned to the speaker in a panic to see Mina standing straight up pointing at Azura who was across the room by Izuku’s desk. “I just remembered, how the heck are you okay after what happened yesterday?!”

Azura just looked at Mina like she was crazy before she caught on. “Oh, yeah, I never told you guys did I? Sorry,” she said as she rubbed the back of her head. “It has to do with my quirk actually.”

That immediately got everyone’s attention. Eighteen sets of eyes stared upon Azura as if she held the secrets to the universe. The girl in question sweatdropped at how quickly everyone’s attitudes changed.

“Oh yeah, you said you’d tell us your quirk after our first exercise!” Mina exclaimed with stars in her eyes. “Now pay up girl!”

“Yeah yeah, just calm down,” the bluenette waved off. “It’s pretty simple actually. I just- wait, Green Bean, you wanna take this one?” At her words, Izuku stood as straight as he could in his chair.

“U-u-ummm…” he trailed off. The question did spark his quirk-nerd side however as he began to mumble.

Everyone tried to listen in, but the only ones who could understand any of what he was saying were Kyouka and Azura, and even then Azura was the only one who could keep up with the rapid pace of the boy’s words. Said bluenette just softly smiled as he spoke.

Moments passed before Izuku seemed to snap out of it. He turned to the bluenette next to him and spoke. “Oh, you just absorbed it.”

…

Mina fell over in shock at such a casual answer. Everyone else looked confused. Azura just giggled at the sight.

“You absorbed it?” Ochako repeated.

“Oh cool, so she’s a pyrokinetic?” Denki gasped out.

“Obviously not, ribbit. Have you seen her use any fire?” Tsuyu quickly pointed out.

“Oh, right,” he replied, pouting.

“Guys, if you want a straight answer, I could just tell you. That is what I told you guys on the first night after all.” Everyone refocused on the only person in class that openly kept their quirk a secret.

“My quirk’s name is Requiem, and put simply, I can manipulate energy any way I like. Obviously there’s a limit to how much I can manipulate at one time, but it doesn’t affect me as much as you’d think.”

There was a beat of silence before Momo gasped. “You absorbed the kinetic and thermal energy that Bakugou used to create the explosion before it made contact with you.”

“Not completely, however,” Mezou interrupted. “Your left sleeve and gauntlet were singed.”

“Yeah, he kind of took me by surprise with that move,” she awkwardly laughed as she rubbed the back of her head again and shrugged. “I mean, who would expect something like that on the first exercise? Not me, that’s for sure.”

“Bakugou was an idiot for doing that, ribbit,” Tsuyu pointed out.

“Speaking of, where is he? He’s usually one of the first ones here,” Denki said as pointed to the aforementioned boy’s seat.

“He’s currently introducing himself to his new class,” a voice spoke from the other side of the door.

Everyone tensed as they waited, but then they became confused at the sight of a woman instead of the raggedy hobo who was usually there.

“Good morning class,” the blue and purple-haired woman greeted as entered the classroom. “All of you probably have a lot of questions, so let me talk before you guys make me repeat myself. My name is Tsutsumi Kaina, and I’m an Underground Hero by the name ‘Lady Nagant’. And as of yesterday, I am your new homeroom teacher.”

Tenya’s hand immediately shot up as she finished her sentence. “If you’re gonna ask about why the change was made, long story short, it’s been a problem that’s been building for years now. Yesterday was just the final straw.” The bluenette’s hand sunk down at the answer.

“You mean that thing with Bakugou?” Eijirou asked.

“In a sense. What Aizawa was supposed to do was verify your costume designs after a thorough review before the support companies we contract make them,” their new teacher began to explain. “Suffice to say he didn’t do that, and so a student with at least anger management issues got their hands on a WMD without proper training. Said student then tried to kill their fellow classmate with it. That incident is also why Bakugou is currently no longer a part of your class.”

Izuku reeled at that last piece of news. Sure the blonde had been… aggressive in the past, but the greenette wouldn’t say he had anger management issues. Sure the explosions he usually used weren’t as big as yesterday’s, but that couldn’t have been the reason for the blonde’s removal from their class.

He could have killed Azura, just like so many others of his victims before today.

What could have changed?

The ones in charge.

What was different between now and a year ago?

Izuku’s line of questions was cut off when Tsutsumi clapped her hands. “Alright, alright, quiet down. We’ve still got a few things before your next teacher comes in. First off is that someone’s transferring in to fill the seat.”

Tenya raised his hand again. “Before you ask how we picked someone out so fast, Nezu usually keeps a list of the ones who didn’t quite make the cut during the recommended entrance exams and keeps it for a short time after the year starts. That way, when something like this happens, we can call and ask if they’re still interested.” Tenya lowered his hand yet again.

“Speaking of which,” she started as she walked to the door and opened it, “you can come in now.”

At her words, a girl with short black hair and dark gray eyes walked through the door and stood in front of the class. She seemed impassive, the thought reminding Izuku of Azura a few days ago, but her eyes were not as dull. In fact, they seemed as bright, if not brighter than everyone else’s. He wondered if she just had difficulty expressing herself.

“Well?” their new teacher prompted.

“Kodai Yui,” she flatly stated.

A beat passed before anything happened. “Alright then. Your seat is in front of Midoriya, the green haired guy over there,” Tsutsumi stated as she pointed.

The girl only hummed in response before making her way to her seat.

“As for the second order of business,” the blue and pink haired started, “you guys will be voting for class representatives.”

A beat passed before all hell broke loose. Almost everyone was raising their hands, trying and failing to get the top spot.

“STOOOP!” Tenya exclaimed, the rest of the class momentarily quieted down in response. “We must decide this in a more democratic manner! I propose we hold a vote to decide who shall become our class’s representatives!” he declared as he chopped his arm.

The rest of the class considered his proposal.

“The suggestion does have some merit,” Fumikage agreed.

Eijiro scratched his head as he responded. “Yeah, but what if someone votes for themselves?”

“Then it will be proof that the person who wins is the best candidate!” Tenya seemed far too into his idea. The dude really needs to lighten up.

“Yeah, well I’m gonna just remove myself from the ballot,” Azura stated as she lazily raised her hand.

“Wait, what?” Mina asked, confused. “Girl, you could probably win. Why wouldn’t you go for it?”

“Think about all the work you’d have to do on top of homework.” That got several people to pause. “Not to mention I just don’t think I’d be a good fit. I’m willing to vote, just not willing to lead.”

Several others decided to drop out too, citing similar issues to the bluenette. Yui dropped out too, though she didn’t explicitly state a reason.

Izuku happily dropped. He might want to help people, but he didn’t think he could deal with all of that. Though who to pick was a tough question.

Several minutes later and everyone had casted their votes. Tsutsumi counted them out and presented the results.

Aoyama Yuuga: 1 vote

Todoroki Shouto: 3 votes

Tenya Iida: 7 votes

Yaoyorozu Momo: 9 votes

“With that, your Class President is Yaoyorozu Momo, with her Vice being Iida Tenya. The rest either dropped from the ballot or didn’t get any votes,” Tsutsumi explained.

“Congrats!” Mina exclaimed as she bounded over to the ravenette. Ochako gave similar cheers to Tenya who seemed to be tearing up.

“Quiet down class,” she called to get everyone back on track. She felt slightly unnerved by how quickly they did as she told. It made her question her restraint as she wanted to bash Aizawa’s head in at that moment.

“As happy as you guys are right now, you’ve still got your next class in a minute. I’d suggest getting ready.”

That was the moment most of the students scrambled to get their stuff out. Some though, they had everything ready from before they stepped in and simply pulled out a notebook. Some people liked to stay organized after all.

==========
Main Campus Cafeteria
~12:30 p.m.

Izuku sat down with his normal group before several others sat down as well.

“Hey guys,” Kyouka greeted as she slammed her tray on the table before sitting down on the table.

“Jirou, please do not slam your tray!” Tenya admonished, but everyone took it in stride, effectively ignoring him.

“Hey,” Azura replied. “So Momo,” she said as she turned to the girl in question, “how’s it feel to be the Class President?”

“I don't feel particularly different. Although, I do not feel entirely worthy of it.”

“Whatcha talking about?” Kyouka asked incredulously. “You were picked by almost half the class. I’d think that makes you worthy.”

“Yes, but that was after several other candidates had stated their wish to not run.”

“Because they either didn’t want to or didn’t feel like it was a good idea to go for it, ribbit,” Tsuyu stated before she forcefully place her tray down as sat. Tenya could be heard admonishing her for her rough treatment of school property, but that was neither here nor there really.

“I would’ve voted for you even if I didn’t drop out,” Azura stated clearly as she ate. “I don’t see a problem with it all.”

“You voted for me?” Momo asked as she tilted her head.

“Not exactly a tough decision.”

“I-I voted for you too,” Izuku stuttered out.

“Yeah, me too!” Ochako cheered.

“I as well,” came Tenya’s dignified response.

Several other agreements came from the table before everyone started eating again.

“Hey guys,” Mina interrupted as she slammed her food down as well, much to Tenya’s growing aggravation, “did ya hear about the crowd of reporters outside the gate?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, them,” Azura let out blandly.

“What? How’d you know? I just heard it while I was in line,” Mina replied disbelievingly.

“Nezu texted me that we weren’t meeting because of them desperately clawing for an interview with All Might. He seemed pretty miffed about it all too.”

“Wait, ribbit, Nezu, the Dean of our school, sent you a text, ribbit?” Tsu questioned.

“I’m one of his personal students. It’s why I’m not in morning classes most of the time.”

“Oh.” Mina stopped for a moment before speaking again. “Is it fun?”

Azura just returned her question with a deadpanned expression.

Momo took that moment to intervene. “I suppose it makes sense that they’re here for All Might. It is relatively strange why he would take a position in UA so suddenly.

Izuku began sweating slightly.

“Could be he’s just getting old,” Azura proposed. Everyone looked at her, slightly shocked at her bold statement. She returned their gazes with a consfused one of her own. “What? Don’t tell me you guys haven’t questioned it before. The guy’s been operating for at least a few decades. Maybe he’s realized that he needs to hand off the reins to the next generation?”

Izuku hated how close to the truth that was. The memory of All Might telling him of his long hunt for a successor filled his mind for a moment before he dispelled it. He needed to get stronger, and quickly.

“I… never thought of it in such a way before. Though when I do, it makes far too much sense,” Momo acquiesced.

“Yeah. I never thought about it, but he’s not gonna be around forever.” Ochako looked a little downcast at that thought.

Azura took on a regretful expression as she spoke again. “Hey, I didn’t mean to get you guys down.” She paused for a moment. “Hey, let’s make a promise,” she declared.

“A promise?” Izuku questioned, wondering where this was going like his last one with her.

“We become the best heroes we can be and make it so All Might doesn’t have to worry about the future of the world. He’s done it on his own for so long. I’d say we could do it if we work together.”

The table seemed to brighten up at her suggestion. Though Izuku felt a little apprehensive for some reason.

“Yes, that is quite doable,” Tenya complimented. “Not, no doable. I say it is inevitable!”

“Whoa, calm down buddy,” Ochako said as she patted his shoulder. “No need wind yourself up right now.”

“Uraraka is correct, but I am quite enthused by this idea,” Momo agreed. “Let’s do it.”

Before anyone else could voice their agreements however, a siren began blaring over the University’s intercom. Some of the older students began to get up in a panic as others looked in confusion.

“What’s going on?” Ochako rapidly questioned.

“That’s the level three alarm. It means someone’s broken on to the campus,” Azura explained as she calmly got up.

“It is best that we evacuate then!” Tenya exclaimed before getting up. A second after everyone else did the same, they were all swept up into the sea of students clamoring to get to the exits.

“Whoa! Hey! Stop pushing!”

“We gotta get out of here!”

“Come on people! Move it!”

Izuku felt himself being pushed into a wall. When he opened his eyes to see why he hadn’t hit a hard surface, he found himself being pushed against Momo instead. The girl blushed as she found herself stuck between the wall and Izuku, his surprisingly muscular arms were pushed into the wall in order to separate the two and shield her.

“Dammit, we need to get them to stop somehow,” he cursed under his breath.

He spotted Ochako nearby, the girl being pushed along the rampaging current of students as she tried to not be trampled by the panic.

A plan began to form in his mind. It was crazy, and he’d probably get into trouble, but he had to do it, even if his anxiety told him not to.

“Momo, can you make a megaphone?” he asked the pinned girl.

Said girl blushed even more at the unintentional use of her first name and the calm and confident expression in the greenette’s face.

She snapped out of her daze a moment later. “Ye-yes! Yes I can!”

“This is gonna be rough, so I’m sorry in advance.”

“Wait, what are you-“ was all she could get out before red lines began tracing over his muscles. Familiar green lightning appeared a moment later.

His arms wrapped around her as he jumped. With his path cleared, he reorientated his body before pushing off the wall toward Ochako.

“Ochako!” he called out, the girl redirecting her attention instantaneous. Izuku stretched out his arm, the girl instantly understanding his intent as she slapped his hand. A pink aura enveloped the two as the continued to the next wall, no longer bound by gravity.

He reorientated again for one last burst of his speed before pushing off towards the very exit everyone was trying to force themselves into. As they approached their destination, Izuku turned them so that his back hit the wall. Even as he gasped for breath, he called Momo’s name. She understood his intent as she created a megaphone to calm the chaos.

“Everyone! Please calm down!” she called out. Barely anyone paid attention. There was just too much noise.

Suddenly a familiar pulse hit Izuku, said pulse seemingly startling most of the people there. Momo took her chance and called to them once again.

“Everyone! Calm down! You panic is only exacerbating the issue! Now please filed out calmly whilst helping those who have been trampled! We are UA students! Act like it!”

“It’s just the press!” a voice called out as soon as she finished. Looking over, she spotted Tenya who was pointing out of the window.

Several groans could be heard, but wether that was at the situation or because they were in pain, she didn’t know.

==========
Thirty Minutes Later
UA Private Conference Room

“I will propose my idea of press passes to the board again. This time they have no choice but to accept,” the Dean of UA stated as he sipped tea.

“I’ll also put in a request to finally do those upgrades too,” Power Loader stated in agreement.

Recovery Girl glared at a report before speaking. “I’m just glad that things in the main cafeteria calmed down before anyone got seriously hurt. My job is as hard as it is without the rest of those kids getting hurt.”

“Yeah, the 1-A kids took charge pretty quickly. Guess they got potential,” the 18+ Hero: Midnight stated as she side eyed Aizawa.

She knew how and why he got like this. She just wished she stepped in earlier.

“Regardless,” Nezu interrupted, “we seem to have a situation on our hands.” Just the a picture of the UA Barrier appeared. At least, it showed what was formerly the UA Barrier. In its place was a pile of rust and ash.

“I’ll run tests and scans, try to figure out how that happened,” Power Loader offered.

“That is appreciated Majima. Though I’m slightly worried for what kind of declaration this signals.”

“What do you mean by that?” Sekijirou Kan, the teacher of class 1-B, asked his boss as his 1-A counterpart glared at the table in front of her.

“This was a declaration of war.”

============
Unknown location
Same Time

In a bar hidden in plain sight, a man child with hands covering his body scratched his neck. It had only been a short time since he had been inside of UA, pulling a few pieces of paper from the desks of the Hero track teachers. The distraction had worked beautifully. And to see the students running madly for a danger that wasn’t even there for them was a sight to behold for him.

“Sensei, when do we launch our attack on those NPCs? I want to gain some EXP and level up,” he almost whined in his scratchy voice.

The TV in the bar crackled to life, though the only thing that could be seen on the screen was [CONNECTION EATABLISHED]. A deep and foreboding voice came from it a moment later.

“It seems one of the Hero classes is going on a trip to one of their more isolated buildings tomorrow. Send Kurogiri out to investigate with the Electric Jammer Villain to investigate Tomura. I would like for him to confirm the information.”

“As you wish, Sensei,” the aforementioned Tomura said.

“Oh? How interesting…” the voice trailed off.

“Sensei?”

“Tomura, I would like for you to go recruit someone.”

“Another party member?” the man child questioned.

“Of a sorts. If I am understanding this correctly, he would be of use to you. More than those fodder anyways. If I recall your desires correctly, he might even be the Player 2 you have been looking for. One that will help you.” A hint of amusement could be heard in the man’s voice. One only monsters would use when they find new prey.

And Tomura, he understood that tone perfectly. All he did in response was smile.

==========
Outside the Teachers’ Dorms
~7:30 p.m.

Kaina leaned against a pillar as she watched the sun set. It wasn’t always that she could go out and observe nature. Her old job never allowed her such a comfort, and had things gone differently, she never would have.

That was then though, and this was now.

She thought back to the meeting a scant few hours ago. She had petitioned for 1-A to go through costume redesigns like she and All Might had discussed, but he shot it down. Well, more like Kan shot it down.

As much as she didn’t hate the vampire in comparison to how her predecessor seemingly felt, he seemed to like the conflict between 1-A and 1-B. She understood how competition could breed better results, but the man did not know when to stop honestly.

He petitioned that 1-B get to do their battle trials as planned that day as well, but with the campus’s foot traffic cut down as much as possible to avoid any incidents due to the Barrier’s destruction, that wasn’t allowed. It wasn’t up to the rat apparently. Even he had to bend to the Board of Directors will every so often in order to not be cast aside.

Suffice to say, neither of them got their wish. Now she had to wait until Friday to do it. What a load of bullshit, and Nezu knew that as much as her.

Suddenly she felt her phone start to vibrate. As she pulled it out, she recognized the familiar number and accepted the call.

“Well, not to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Kaina, not now.” the voice replied tersely. “Is everything in place?”

Kaina just sighed before actually responding. “Yup. Everything’s ready to go. And the investigation’s wrapped up. The final steps are currently underway.

“Hm. Sooner than I had thought. Oh well. That just makes things easier for us should things go awry.”

“Oh? I guess so,” she replied after some consideration. “Still, not like all our problems are solved.”

“Never said they were. We’re far from done. That’s something I’m sure you’re acutely aware of.”

Kaina gritted her teeth slightly. “Geez, you and Nezu really know how to work me like a slave. Sometimes I regret ever taking this job.”

“Maybe you do, but it wasn’t like you had a choice in the matter.”

“Maybe…” she said as she sighed. “Just make sure not to get in my way, boss.”

”I’d expect a little more respect from you. Nezu might’ve been the one to pull your ass from the fire, but I’m the reason he even got to do that before you were thrown into that frozen hell, Tartarus.”

“Tch, as if you’d let me forget,” she stated before hanging up. She let out a sigh a moment. “As much as I care about you, you really know how to get on my nerves, don’t you? Oh well.”

With that, she pushed herself off of the wall and made her way to the teacher’s dorms.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day after all if today was any indication.

===
Unknown location on UA grounds
Same Time

“Tch. Those bastards. Thinking they’re even as good as me. I’ll show them.”

Bakugou Katsuki snarled as he made his way through the forest, the path under his feet nothing but dirt. Even if his time with those extras was cut short today, it still grated on his nerves. The fact he was up so late despite his usual sleep schedule was proof of that. It wasn’t like it was against the rules being up so late, even outside of his new dorm. So long as he didn’t cause too much noise, he could do whatever he wanted.

“Damn, Deku and that thief. Damn All Might too. I don’t get a fuck anymore. If they wanna get it my way, then I’ll blast them out of the water.”

Just then, black and purple smoke appeared, a figure exiting it a moment later. Katsuki took a defensive stance. He might not have access to his quirk, but that didn’t mean he was some extra who would just take the punches.

The figure was covered in baggy clothes and hands. Katsuki would be creeped out if it wasn’t so ridiculous.

“So…” the figure let out, “you’re Bakugou.”

Katsuki just stood still as the figure spoke.

“Tell me, if you had the chance to prove every one of those noobs wrong, would you take it?”

That got his attention. Katsuki shifted to a slightly more relaxed stance to retort. “The fuck are you on about handsy?”

The blue-haired man scratched his neck. “I don’t like it when people insult me, but I can make an exception just this once. You and I have the same goal after all; to show those mindless NPCs that they’re not as good as they think they are.”

And that got Katsuki to pause. “The fuck you talking about?”

“I know you got cheated out of your spot. It’s so annoying when some NPC steals your quest. And personally, when something annoys me,” the man stated as he grabbed a tree branch, “I destroy it.” At that the branch disintegrated into dust.

Katsuki stared at the pile of dust now sitting on the ground in thought. A lot of thoughts passed through his head, several he didn’t like, but he considered them anyways. He thought and thought…

Until he found his answer.

Chapter Text

Thursday- ~7:30 a.m.
Class 1-A Dorms: Common Room

“Thanks for the food, Yaomomo! It’s great!” Mina exclaimed as she chowed down.

“Yeah!” the other occupants of the table cheered as they did the same.

Momo was positively sparkling due to the display. “Why thank you. I have been taught that being excellent in as many areas of life as I can be has no greater honor. I believe I now realize what those words actually meant.”

“Morning guys,” Azura greeted as she and Izuku walked in the door from their run. “Smells great.”

“Tastes great,” Eijirou complimented.

“Guess we’ll need to hurry up and take our showers before you gluttons eat it all,” the bluenette giggled.

After that, a short time passed as more people joined the group and conversed, the TV on in the background as white noise. Of course, the inevitable came to pass as the conversations went on.

“So what do you guys think we’re doing for Heroics 101 today?” Rikido asked.

“Ms. Tsutsumi told us it would be big,” Kyouka commented as she perched herself up on the arm of a sofa. “Though what she defines as big is still up in the air.”

“We’ve already done a combat lesson. Maybe it’s another field of Heroics, ribbit,” Tsuyu pointed out.

Momo hummed as she contemplated her classmate’s words. “That leaves investigation or rescue, with some other more specialized roles as well.”

Azura nodded. “Heroics can be pretty complex when you really think about it. Guess that goes for everything honestly.

“Well I hope it’s rescue!” Ochako cheered.

Eijirou cheered as well. “Manly! Nothing gets my blood pumping more than-“

“WAIT WHAT!?”

Everyone paused and glanced at Kyouka who was staring at the TV in shock. “Turn it up dammit! What did they say?!”

Denki quickly grabbed the remote and turned up the volume on the TV in response.

“-as several police squads raid several buildings belonging to the Aldera School District in the Musutafu prefecture. Statements released by the force claim that Aldera not only allowed but actively encouraged heavily quirkist sentiments and actions within their student populations.” The two news anchors seemed completely surprised at the words, even as one of them spoke them.

“Apparently evidence came to light about the quirkism and abuse employed by the faculty. Several members of the faculty of each school in the district have also reportedly been taken into custody already.”

“This reminds me too much of Honderlaan,” the other reporter stated, too frazzled to realize to stop himself.

The woman scrambled to recover and get back on track. “U-uh, to those of you unaware, the Hoderlaan School District was faced with a similar case around five years ago. Mass firings and arrests were made as the district was forced to close down due to staffing issues before eventually reopening the next school year.”

“Unfortunately that’s all the time we have for this particular story at the moment. We will try to get out updates as they come in. Now onto the weather.”

Everyone stood still at the news, silence prevalent even as everything on the screen changed.

Izuku, still in absolute disbelief at the situation, began to look around at everyone else’s reaction. Some were angered. Some looked as shocked as he felt. Some didn’t know what to do with what they had just heard.

One though, one was different. As Izuku’s eyes passed over Azura, all he could see from her for a moment was pure, unadulterated rage. The next moment however, she seemed to realize what she was doing and recomposed herself. Izuku was almost willing to believe he saw some sort of illusion, but the lingering rage that he could still see in her eyes told him he hadn’t hallucinated.

What broke the uneasy silence was Tenya’s alarm signaling their need to get to campus.

They all did just that, even if only to distract themselves. Some in the room had followed the story of Honderlaan closely, and thus were horrified by the possible similarities. Others didn’t follow it as closely, but going by the Ministry of Education’s response to the incident, it was severe. They prayed for any one who suffered at the hand of such cruelty, not knowing two of such people were in their midst.

==========
~12:30
Class 1-A Classroom

“And just remember,” Tsutsumi called to her students as the bell rang, “just because you’ve got a longer lunch today does not excuse you if you miss the bus later.”

With that, the class dismissed and broke up into their usual groups before going down to lunch.

“Hey guys, can we eat lunch outside today?”

The assembled group turned to the speaker, a surprisingly shy Azura.

With the other four in agreement, it was a simple matter to get their food and leave the main cafeteria. The bluenette led them a bit further away than the last time they were out to a table with much greater privacy.

Izuku wondered what was going on with his friend that day. She had seemed more muted than usual. Nowhere near like what happened Monday, but it was still very much noticeable.

As they seated themselves and began to eat, Azura began to speak. “Hey guys, I know this is a bit random, but what do you guys know about the Honderlaan Scandal?”

Izuku didn’t know quite what to make of that question. None of them did really.

“Is this about what the reporter from earlier said?” Momo probed.

“Sort of,” she replied as she shrugged.

“I can’t say I know a lot about it,” Ochako stated. “I couldn’t really stomach listening to it all when it first started, so I mostly read secondhand accounts later on.”

“I don’t think any of us blame you, Uraraka,” Tenya comforted. “I was as diligent then as I am now, and some of the things I learned from that case horrified me.”

The other two at the table nodded.

“Especially that one girl. What was her name again?” Momo probed, trying to refresh her memory of events from five years ago.

“Kobayashi Yuuki,” Izuku stated without missing a beat, his eyes seemingly hollow as he remembered. “She was reportedly quirkless, the lowest of the low to the district’s hierarchy. She was ridiculed and mocked, beaten too. Apparently she wasn’t safe at home either.”

Ochako’s eyes widened at the news. Momo and Tenya nodded.

“The case ‘Kobayashi Yuuki vs. the Honderlaan School District’ forced the Ministry of Education to take investigations far more seriously,” Momo summarized as she pinched her chin to help her focus. “Many other teachers across Japan were either fired or arrested due to crimes they had committed. Another school district was closed down as well due to the investigations if I remember correctly. Things have calmed down over the years, but the case is now often cited as an example to why proper investigations must need to be made. May I ask why you wanted to know?” she said as she retook her regular posture.

“You may, and it’s because I want to know what you think happened to Kobayashi after everything.” Azura seemed insistent on the answer. Izuku wondered why.

“If I remember correctly,” Tenya began, “she was adopted after the case had been resolved as her parents were found unsuitable and abusive. There are no publicly available records after that point.”

“For good reason too,” Azura interrupted. “She didn’t want to see the looks of pity on everyone's faces. It would have killed her inside.”

Izuku noticed the certainty in her voice, as if she knew for a fact that that is what Kobayashi felt at the time. Her eyes seemed so full of sorrow and pain. Izuku’s heart panged as he remembered seeing that same look in the mirror, especially recently.

The faculty’s treatment of him at Aldera had calmed down during and after the case. It wouldn’t last forever though as things began heating up for him after he entered high school. His treatment after that wasn’t any worse than it was before the case, but those few years without needing to excuse every scrape was surreal to him. He honestly didn’t believe it sometimes.

“Azura, what’s all this about?” Ochako asked worriedly, everyone else seemingly taking note of Azura’s behavior.

The bluenette took a deep breath to steady herself. “C’mon Azura, you’ve gotten this far,” she mumbled to herself before taking another deep breath.

…

“I am Kobayashi Yuuki,” she blurted out.

…

…

“W-wait, wh-what?” Momo stuttered out.

“That… is quite the bold claim,” Tenya said as he adjusted his glasses.

“Y-yeah, I can see why it would be, but it’s not like I would lie about this,” she shrugged in response.

“Can you tell us your story?” Izuku asked, completely diverting the conversation. Azura just looked at him with wide eyes. “I-I mean, just what you’re comfortable with. It is your story after all. I don’t think any of us want to force you to tell us something you don’t want to.”

The girl gave him a small and appreciative smile in response. It seemed genuine, but he could see something in her eyes that he couldn’t quite discern.

“We’ll be here for a while. And it’s not like this story is pretty, even if I don’t go into too much detail. Are you guys sure you want to hear it?” No one hesitated to answer. She didn’t have to tell them anything, but here she was, offering to tell her entire life’s story to them. They couldn’t betray that trust.

With another deep breath, she began to speak once again. “Alright. My life started off normal enough. Played around on the playground with other kids, went out with my parents, and just did other fun stuff that a kid is supposed to do.” The other four nodded at her statements as they had similar experiences.

“When I turned four, my parents began to worry if I was quirkless. My dad had a quirk that could generate electricity, and my mom could manipulate light to a degree. Suffice to say, a quirk was expected, but one hadn’t showed up.

“I turned four and a half and I still didn’t have one. By the time I was five and a half, they gave up and declared me quirkless, especially when the tests they did didn’t show anything. That’s when things started going from bad to worse.” At her own words, she looked down sadly at the table.

“Kids who I called my friends turned on me. Adults who smiled at me the day before demeaned me. Even my own sperm and egg donors turned their backs on me. My life became a living hell. Impossible tasks that led to corporal punishments. Constant ridicule and beatings. When I first went to the police and heroes, they just threw everything under the rug.” The four of the adopted looks of horror after just the first few details. The later ones only made things worse.

She cleared her throat after a moment. “I’m sorry. I’ll skip the more gruesome and particular details.

“I quickly normalized and stopped caring about some things. That seemed to make them mad at first, but when I didn’t react, they just used other avenues to torture me. When I noticed that, I decided to use it to my advantage. I was able to effectively put on a mask of apathy. Nothing anyone did could take me out of it after I had enough practice. And believe me, I had plenty.” The looks of horror on their faces deepened. All but one couldn’t imagine the sheer horror of such a situation and the depths she had to go through to survive.

“That eventually caused a problem though. See, the longer I had the mask on, the harder it became to take off. Hours turned to days turned to weeks. The last time I felt anything before the mask stayed on for years was the day my quirk came in.

“That day was worse than usual. I was drenched from head to toe in some kid’s slime all day, which was admittedly a new one for me, and some of the other people were making fun of a quirkless suicide on the news. That combined with the years worth of resentment that had built up, and it eventually exploded on my way ‘home’.

“I was walking down an alley to try and shake off anyone who might be chasing me. When I knew I was alone, my mask slipped, and then everything began pouring out. The anger, the resentment, the pain… all of it just poured out of me in one burst. When I went to punch a wall, cracks began to spiderweb out from my fist. That’s when I noticed the lighting.

“I was in awe of it. The beauty of the blue lighting coursing around me, and the power I could feel coursing within me. My thoughts crossed over to my sperm and egg donors, about how we could be a family again.” She let out a dark chuckle that caused the four around her to shiver.

“I was deluding myself. When I got back to the apartment to try to explain my quirk, they just hit me. They told me I was just lying for attention, and then they locked me in my room without any food. The moment I understood what had happened is when my mask went up, and it didn’t even crack until several years later. I was nine at the time.”

That last statement startled her listeners. All of that, and that was before she was even nine years old.

As much as Momo knew the answer, she had to ask regardless. “H-how did everyth-thing change?”

“Hm? Oh, right. Remember those high school and college aptitude tests-things?” As she received nods in the affirmative, she continued. “Well, you can start taking those as early as junior high. I thought I might as well and booked a session somewhere out of the way so that no one found out. As my luck would have it, Nezu was there as an observer that day. We stumbled across each other after I had finished and we got to talking. I took a chance at mentioning my schools and their treatment towards me, and he immediately became enraged. And the rest is, as they say, history.”

A few beats of silence passed over the group as they processed everything they were told. Aside from a few curious behaviors, none of them could have guessed that she went through something like that. Izuku on the other hand felt something strange stirring in his heart. He didn’t quite know what to make of it, so he put it to the side for the moment.

A thought struck the greenette a moment later.

“So the way you were acting on Monday…” Izuku trailed off.

“Mm,” she confirmed as she held herself. “Almost five years permanently stuck in a state of total apathy, it messes with your head. I can put on and take off that mask of apathy whenever I want, but sometimes it doesn’t give me much of a choice. My therapist told me that it’s something similar to DID.”

“I’m not particularly… knowledgeable when it comes to the field of psychology, so I must ask, what is ‘DID’?” Momo asked delicately.

“Dissociative Identity Disorder. The simplified version is that when someone goes through a series of traumatic events and suppresses those memories, a separate identity can potentially be formed from them. Sometimes the two identities can coexist and essentially merge back together with enough time and therapy, but sometimes they… can’t. My… condition is different as it’s not an entirely separate identity taking the lead. It’s more like a fragment of my whole self that got broken off. I can control it to a degree too on a normal day. Sometimes though, it can… ‘take over’ for lack of a better phrase.”

“And how does this… mask ‘take over’?” Tenya queried.

“When everyone goes to sleep,” she started as she pointed to her head, “the brain goes through this process to store whatever information it learned that day and reset itself. Sometimes when my brain ‘resets’ the mask takes over instead, and that leaves me mostly apathetic of anything going on around me. At least, that’s what my therapist said after studying me for a bit.

“I’m not the most knowledgeable on the topic though, so…,” Azura trailed off as she shook her head.

Ochako reached out her hand and placed it on the bluenette’s shoulder, the brunette careful to keep her pinky raised. Azura didn’t comment on it, but some tension did leave her shoulders.

“So, any other questions? Anything you might want to know?” she asked.

Izuku held up his hand to bring attention to himself. The action surprised those around him, but he didn’t let anything stop him. “Your name is different from the court case. And your hair, I remember it being black when we first met. I guess my question is, why change everything?”

The girl considered her answer for a moment before speaking. “To distance myself from it all I guess.” At their curious looks she continued. “Everything that happened happened to Kobayashi Yuuki. I thought, and my therapist reluctantly agreed, that changing myself could help in the healing process as I would no longer be constantly reminded of my past. I’m not ignoring it, far from it, but having some space has definitely helped me gain some peace of mind.

“Changing my name was easy enough, especially with Nezu’s help. As for my hair, I originally dyed it all sorts of colors, but I ended up liking this darker blue. My mom was able to find someone who could change my hair color permanently so I wouldn’t need to keep re dying it. My hair needed to be its natural color first for it to work apparently, so that part took a little longer,” she finished as she released her grip on herself and scratched the back of her head.

“Your mom sounds like a great woman,” Ochako guessed.

“Yeah, definitely,” the bluenette answered as she looked down with a soft smile on her face. “She took me in after the case was settled. She took care of me as I recovered mentally. She even helped me smile again. I guess you could say she’s the best,” she finished off as her smile got wider.

Izuku felt a familiar pang in his heart at that, his mind going to his own mother. Even when days had been rough, he knew he could always be safe at home. He frowned as he realized Azura never had that specific luxury in the beginning, the girl needing to go through hell before she found someone. He was happy for her though for making it to that point.

“You’ve been through a lot,” Ochako commented.

Azura nodded in response. “Yeah. It took years of physical and psychological therapy to deal with everything, but things ended up working out I guess. By the way, thanks for that Uraraka. It helped,” she finished gratefully as she gestured to the hand still on her shoulder.

“Uh uh. After all that, you can call me Ochako. We’re friends after all,” the brunette said while pouting slightly. “Can I hug you?”

The bluenette giggled as she nodded. The brunette almost glomped her in response. “And you already know to call me Azura.”

“Then I implore all of you to call me Tenya,” the stiff boy added.

“You already call me Momo, Azura, but the rest of you can do so as well.” The ravenette’s smile was almost blinding at her statement.

“A-and I-I don’t have a problem with anyone calling me I-Izuku.”

It was strange to Izuku. A person who could understand him perfectly. He didn’t know what to do with that information. He didn’t really know what to do with himself after everything that happened at Aldera, but he could feel something in his soul. A feeling of completeness that formed when he was around them.

He knew that with them by his side him theirs, he’d be okay.

==========
Some time later
Nezu’s Office

The Rat God of UA sat back in his chair as he sipped his tea. The raid on Aldera’s schools was a success. Crawler and PopStep had acquired the files he needed to build the case against them. Tsukauchi Naomasa had arrested all of the faculty and board members too. Nezu loved it when a plan came together so perfectly. He’d have to thank his benefactor later.

Back to the matter at hand, Nezu actually had enough to get a conviction without Izuku’s testimony, but he decided to collect that later anyways as it would hammer the point home to not only the jury, but also the boy himself. He’s done well to hold himself together after so many years of abuse, but he needed to hear the atrocities committed against him from his own mouth in order to heal best in Nezu’s opinion.

If someone argued against him, well he was an animal. He was intelligent, but human emotions wasn’t a topic he understood all too clearly.

The silence of his office was broken by his ring tone. Looking over, it wasn’t any of his police or hero contacts or informants. It was actually his faculty. That was odd. Incredibly odd.

He quickly answered the call at that thought. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh, um, Dean Nezu, that student you warned me about, Bakugou? Well, he’s not present in class at the moment. In fact, no one has seen him today if these attendance records are correct.”

That got Nezu’s attention. He quickly pulled up the tracker on the bracelets he gave the troublesome student. Their current location showed he was still in his new room. Checking the hallway’s cameras, nothing entered or exited that room since the previous night. It was either a temper tantrum, or…

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. You may continue on with your day as normal. I will handle this.” With that he ended the call.

The Dean of UA sent off a robot to enter the room as the security cameras only covered publically used areas. He had tried to get the dorm rooms themselves monitored, but the Board chucked that idea out of the window. A slight annoyance, but easily dealt with all the same.

He just hoped the boy hasn’t done something stupid.

==========
Same time
Outside the main building

Kaina stood leaning up against the bus as she waited for her class to arrive and board. She pulled out her phone to see the time or for emergency messages. They were supposed to be at the USJ soon, so they were cutting it close.

She heard the door open as the new yet familiar voices of her students began to filter out. It was still a new feeling to her, being a teacher that is. So far however, she couldn’t say she disliked it. She was probably gonna regret thinking that later though.

She stood up straight as they approached. All of them were wearing their costumes, or most of the costumes in some cases. Seeing some of said costumes in person caused her desire to throttle Kan by the throat to spike in her. She was going to have to… talk with the bastard.

As they approached, the newly appointed vice-rep began to shout over his classmates. “Everyone, line up going by your seat numbers and enter the bus accordingly!”

Azura just kept walking and got on the bus. Kaina chuckled at the look on the boy’s face. Azura stuck her head out a moment later.

“Tenya, it’s an open floor plan.” The boy froze and then deflated at the statement.

Kaina chuckled again. She could get used to their antics. Though she would need to get it through that boy’s head that it’s best to be flexible in most situations. They weren’t a military after all.

She beckoned her class to enter the bus after the blue-haired young woman slid back in. After a few minutes to let everyone get situated, they were underway.

“So Midoriya, ribbit,” the voice of Asui Tsuyu called out after a few moments, “I like to say what’s on my mind, so I’d like to say that your quirk is pretty similar to All Might’s, ribbit.”

Izuku’s blood ran cold as he tried to stammer out a response. What should he say? Denying seems like a pretty good first step. But what words to say to do that? And why weren’t words exiting his mouth like they were supposed to?

Luckily as he was struggling to answer, someone mercifully took everyone’s attention away from him.

“Strength quirks are a dime a dozen. Sure, they don’t get as strong as All Might’s but that’s not the point,” Azura cut in.

“Plus All Might’s doesn’t break his bones,” Eijiro commented.

“Though that issue has been rectified,” Momo calmly corrected.

“Oh, yeah, he didn’t break any bones during the Battle Trials,” Denki said happily.

“Getting back on topic,” Azura called out, “saying that All Might’s and Green Bean’s quirks are the same is like saying Green Bean and I are siblings. And before anyone asks, no, we are not.” She said that last part with a slightly pointed look, but Izuku couldn’t tell who it was aimed at.

“True, ribbit.”

“They’re both flashy though. You guys will probably be pretty popular after we graduate. Well, you and Todoroki,” Eijirou pointed out.

“Bakugou could be on that list if his personality wasn’t a pile of flaming garbage,” Mina commented.

“Hey, I was gonna say that,” Denki pouted before straightening himself again. “Though he kinda proved our point before we made it with the whole…” he trailed while making an explosion gesture with his hands before looking at Azura. “No offense.”

“None taken. Flashy he may be, but he’s a rotten bastard in my book.”

Izuku… didn’t quite know how to process the whole situation. All his life, Kacchan had been lifted up as a sort of paragon by everyone around them. Now in the span of the past few days, he’s been kicked out of the Hero course unless he changes, and he's being insulted by his former classmates because of how he always acted. Then there was the whole Aldera thing, but Izuku didn’t want to start unpacking that right now.

“Maybe, but flashy is better than what I’ve got. All I can do is turn into a rock,” Eijiro said as he hardened his skin, a look of disappointment crossing his face.

Izuku’s instincts kicked in before he realized. “I think your quirk is cool. I mean, think of all the people you could save with that!” Azura pinched him before he got too far into a mutter storm. He was thankful for that.

Eijiro smiled brightly in response. He wasn’t sure that he’d be the best hero with it, but the reassurance was nice.

“Alright everyone,” Tsutsumi’s voice called out from the front. “We’re here.”

The students looked out the windows to see the massive dome that they were heading towards. Above the massive doors that made up the entrance was a large sign that read “U.S.J.”

The class buzzed with excitement as the bus stopped and they disembarked. It wasn’t every day that they could visit such a place. As they entered behind their teacher, they noticed three figures. The first two they recognized as Saiko and Aizawa. The third was a lesser known rescue Hero-

“Oh my gosh! The Space Hero: Thirteen!” Ochako yelled with glee.

“A Rescue Hero who’s performed numerous successful rescue operations!” Izuku continued.

The two stopped and looked at each other before animatedly talking about the Hero. Their friends smiled at the display. Other classmates couldn’t really keep up, but the excitement started to get to them as they pumped themselves up.

Kaina chose to ignore the pair as she closed the distance and began to whisper to the three. “Where the hell is All Might?”

“Nezu called ahead and said he’d be a little late,” Thirteen answered as they held up three fingers.

Kaina cursed under her breath. “I don’t know what I expected.” She saw Aizawa roll his eyes at Thirteen words. Kaina thought back to what she knew of the ravenette. She knew that the number one Hero could be an idiot sometimes, but her new aide seemed to more than dislike the man. She brushed the thought aside for the moment. She had work to do after all.

After a gesture from Kaina, Thirteen cleared their throat and took center stage so to speak.

“For those of you who don’t know, I am the Space Hero: Thirteen,” they introduced. “And as your classmates have clearly stated, I am a Hero that focuses on rescue. And to best teach you about that aspect of heroism, I welcome you to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short,” they finished as they gestured towards the number of zones around the perimeter of the dome.

“If you haven’t guessed, today’s Heroics 101 lesson will focus on rescue scenarios in a number of environments. Before we start though, I have two or three things to say. Actually, I have four or five or six- you get the point.

“First and foremost is this: do any of you know what my quirk is? Yes, you,” they called out as they pointed at Izuku.

“U-um, your quirk is Black Hole, and it allows you to create black holes at the ends of your fingers to easily clear debris from fallen and destroyed buildings.”

“Correct,” they replied chipperly before they lowered their voice. “But it can also be used to easily kill.”

Izuku noticed that several of his classmates had shivered at that statement. He and his friends had not thanks to Azura, but it still shook him up a little as he hadn’t truly put much thought into it.

“That’s something you’ll have to understand as you train. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should go all out as you could easily kill those you try to save and the one you’re trying to apprehend.”

“Now, my second point-“

Izuku’s attention was stolen by black and purple smoke forming at the plaza down below. Azura broke off from them and walked forward, a look of absolute calm on her face, before stopping at the edge of the stairs leading down.

Throughout that, the smoke expanded dramatically to where it almost consumed the entire plaza. The teachers turned to follow Azura’s gaze as they too witnessed what was happening behind them.

“Uh, is this part of the training?” Eijirou asked warily.

“No, those are real villains,” their teacher coolly stated as she transformed her arm into a rifle. Aizawa entered a ready stance as well in case any of them charged. Saiko and Thirteen, in contrast, pulled back to better protect the freshmen.

Izuku though, he didn’t focus on any of that. Instead, he focused on the head of spiky blonde hair near the center of the amassed group of villains. Even from that distance, he could tell…

“Kacchan?”

Chapter Text

”Hmm, strange. There are a few more people than the quest log told me, but All Might isn’t among them.” The blue-haired man-child furiously scratched his neck. “Oh well. We’ll just have to thin the adds. That’ll bring out the raid boss.”

“Oi, don’t forget Handsy, Deku and Thief are mine.” Off to the side, Bakugou cracked his knuckles and adjusted his gauntlets. Before they had arrived, they had managed to pick up his hero attire. The blonde was more than a bit insistent on doing so. “You get in my way, and I blow you up.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know the conditions for you to party with me,” Shigaraki waved off. “I’ve still gotta ask though, you were so hell bent on following the Hero quest line. Why join us?”

The blonde sneered in response. “I don’t give a shit what you want. Deku and Thief, the bullshit they spouted got me kicked out. I’m gonna get my rematch and some revenge for that. I’ll show them why they shouldn’t mess with me!” At that, he released several small explosions from his palms.

“I don’t get you. I guess this is what I get for skipping dialogue boxes. Oh well,” the hand covered man huffed, ignoring the similarities in motivation between the two of them. “Kurogiri, go introduce us.”

“Of course, Shigaraki Tomura,” the ghastly figure immediately replied as he followed the command given to him.

===

“Thirteen, can you contact the main campus?” Kaina asked her coworker.

“No, something’s jamming us,” they replied.

“If that’s the case, get the students out of here,” Kaina, no, Nagant called out as she manifested and loaded her rifle.

“Got it!” they called back before turning around. “Alright, you heard her! File out of the door in a quick, but calm manner!”

“Eraserhead!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” the man grumbled out as he ran towards the stairs.

“Wait!” Izuku exclaimed before hurriedly turning to Nagant. “His fighting style isn’t suited for drawn out battles! If he goes down there-“

“He’ll be fine kid,” his teacher calmly interrupted. “As much of a bastard as he is, he’s right about one thing. Heroes aren’t one-trick ponies.” At that she fired off a rubber bullet to knock out a heteromorphic villain.

Izuku felt himself being pulled a moment later. Quickly swiveling his head, he saw Azura with the same calm expression as before. He didn’t know what to think about that at the moment, so he started walking in step with her to evacuate. If they didn’t stay, then Nagant and Erasurehead could retreat after all.

“Alright, let’s get going!” Thirteen exclaimed.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that!”

At that moment, a mass of black and purple smoke appeared from nowhere and blocked their path.

“We are the League of Villains,”the figure introduced. “We are here for All Might, but it seems he is not here. How strange.”

Thirteen immediately reacted by opening up one of their gloves and began sucking up the villain. He seemed to have teleported to a safe distance however, and became unaffected by Thirteen’s attack.

“Hmph. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-“

He was interrupted once again by a punch to his gut. The hard blow was delivered by Azura who was aiming for appeared to be the Smoke Villain’s center of mass. The surprise attack was successful as the villain stumbled back. The bluenette went in for another, but he had already began dodging out of the way before it landed.

“Enough!” he yelled out in annoyance. Smoke poured from the villain and blocked Azura’s next charge. Before anyone could react, the young woman had vanished.

As the class stood in shock at the display, Thirteen stood in front of the again. “What did you do to her?!”

“I merely sent her away,” the man explained. “She is still within this facility, but she will have to deal with my cohorts before anything else.”

“You bastard!” Eijiro shouted as he charged as well.

“As much as it annoys me to do so, it seems that I will need to skip a few steps of the plan,” the man grumbled before more smoke spread to most of the remaining nineteen students and TA.

Izuku, in a moment of clarity, pushed Tenya out of the area of effect. With the speed the bluenette possessed, he’d be able to get to the main campus and alert the remaining faculty. If any of them wanted to get out of what was to most likely happen alive, they would need all the help they could get.

Tenya looked at him in shock as everything proceeded as if it was in slow motion. He reached out his hand in an attempt to grab his friend, but before he could, the same black smoke rose from below and split them up.

“No!” he cried out.

He recovered and jumped towards the smoke, but all of said smoke vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving only a handful of students and Thirteen standing near the entrance.

===
Landslide Zone

As Izuku opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in a different place than before. A rough terrain filled with cliffs and paths swering through and in submerged buildings.

The sound of a shoe scraping the ground pulled his attention. There he saw his newest classmate Yui standing with a blank look on face, but he could see the rising panic within her eyes. Her red and white costume didn’t seem damaged either, so she hopefully wasn’t injured.

“Kodai, I’m glad there’s someone else here,” he said with a calming smile. She seemed to respond positively as Yui herself calmed down.

Rustling from a bush caught their attention next. Izuku took a ready stance, prepping One for All in case of an attack. A moment later, Kouda Kouji popped out of the bush, shivering in terror at what was happening.

Izuku and Yui both breathed signs of relief at the reinforcements.

“Where the hell are they?!” a gruff voice yelled out, the sound reverberating off of the terrain. Several voices sounded off in response. The three took a chance to lean out of their cover to observe.

Villains. Lots of them. They were littered around the zone, which made sense as the zone’s variable terrain and environment made spotting incredibly difficult if they didn’t have a bird’s eye view. Seeing as how the three were still safe, Izuku was willing to bet that the villains didn’t.

“Villains,” Izuku whispered as he pulled himself out of view. In an instant, his posture changed. “We need to get back to the entrance. And if necessary, fight to do so. Kodai, can you tell me what your quirk does?”

The ravenette bobbed her head as she picked up a pebble. “Size. I can make stuff bigger and smaller,” she blandly explained.

“So cool,” he gasped out. “Can it- no, no, get to safety now, quirks later,” he admonished himself.

The greenette then decided to do something that usually calmed him down: he began to mutter and plan.

The two mutes-by-choice couldn’t keep up with what he was saying, but Yui closed in on him in interest.

The villains within the rough zone were numerous, but they could be evaded. If Yui provided distractions by making controlled landslides, and if Kouji had any animals within the facility working as scouts, Izuku could move them around the uneven terrain. It would take some effort, but he was confident he could pull it off.

He had too if they were to make it out of this.

===
Flood Zone

Across the facility, Tsuyu pulled Denki and Saiko out of the water, the latter of which fired off rubber bullets at some of the bolder assembled water villains.

“They had villains waiting for us, yet they sent you two here. Not only that, but the villains themselves seem cautious. Odd,” she commented as she looked between Tsuyu and Denki.

“Odd?” the blonde questioned.

“She’s saying that they knew the layout of the USJ, but they apparently knew nothing about the students, ribbit,” Tsuyu whispered to her classmate. “Otherwise, why would they put a frog girl and an electric quirk user in a place full of water, ribbit?”

“…oh.”

“Exactly. And the water here is salt water, which will greatly increase electric conductivity,” Saiko continued in a whisper. “Which means that if Kaminari were to electrify the water, all of the villains here would be, at the very least, momentarily paralyzed.”

“Yeah, but this thing’s metal isn’t it?” he said worriedly while knocking his fist on the nearby wall. “I’ll fry you guys too.”

An explosion rocked the boat that they were on. Several villains cheered at the genius idea of bringing the students to their level.

“There goes our options, ribbit.”

Denki started to panic before he felt two hands press themselves down on his shoulders. “Listen to me, we’ll make it out. I promise you that,” the lavender-haired girl told him. The boy blushed at her being so close, but she let go and turned around before he could freak out about that.

“Everything within the USJ is built to scale to make sure students have the best training possible,” she began to explain. “And what is the best thing to have on a boat?”

Her juniors turned to each other questioningly before their eyes widened.

===
Conflagration Zone

One moment they stood in a desolate hellscape. The next, they themselves and everything around them were frozen solid. Fire could still be seen in the distance, but it did negligible damage to what was present.

There Todoroki sat for a few minutes, time ticking by as he observed the villains. Eijirou tried to ask what he was doing, but his classmate didn’t even try to answer.

Todoroki got up and walked calmly through the frozen villains. Eijirou trailed behind him, shivering out of both nervousness and because of his lack of a shirt.

“You, talk,” the half-and-half boy commanded one of the many frozen villains.

“A-as if I-I-I’d tel-ll you an-n-nything,” the man retorted.

“That’s fine,” Todoroki blandly replied. “I’ll just leave you here then. The fact that you could all withstand the heat from before tells me all of you have fire resistance. That, however, means that you have a weakness to the cold. And the fact that none of you have escaped tells me that you can’t generate your own fire. Or if you can, it’s not a lot.”

The boy blankly scanned the assembled group almost absentmindedly. Their silence was enough of an answer anyways.

“So, fine, I’ll leave you all to die of hypothermia,” he stated before turning around.

The villains took exception to this, the men now bargaining to let them go as they couldn’t tolerate much more. Eijirou was in shock at the blatant disregard to the lives of others.

“Th-the b-boss or wh-whatever, he-he said he had s-some mon-monster thing. ‘Str-strong as-s A-All Mi-Might’ h-he s-said. W-we don’t k-know anything e-else, I sw-swear!” The man was shivering desperately now. It seems he could never tolerate the cold.

“Hmph. If that’s everything,” the boy trailed off as he turned around and left.

Eijirou was still left stunned at Todoroki’s whole… thing. It wasn’t…

“That wasn’t manly,” he finally stated.

“Hm?”

“You could have really hurt them, especially if you’re just gonna leave them like that!”

The half-and-half boy sighed. “If it bothers you that much, you could just go and help them. Besides, it was an intimidation tactic.”

Eijirou just looked at him, confused by his words.

Todoroki sighed again. “I made the ice thin enough to where they’ll be able to break themselves out within a few minutes at most. They’ll still be cold, but they won’t die. Not before the police get here anyways.”

Eijirou’s pace slowed to a stop as Todoroki kept walking.

“…oh. Cool,” he said in slight relief, unaware of his unintentional pun.

===
Entrance

Thirteen was doing the best they could, but they didn’t have much experience in combat. They really should have taken up Nezu’s offer when he gave it. “No” they said. “When am I gonna need it anyways?” they said

They cursed their past self.

Nagant had to keep herself focused to help Erasurehead essentially stay alive. That left Thirteen to at least drive off the teleporting menace that threw their students to the corners of their facility. A fact that really pissed Thirteen off.

So there they were, sucking away at the Smoke Villain with Black Hole to keep him busy.

“Alright students, listen up!” they called out to the remaining students. “Someone or something is blocking transmission in and out of this place! Someone’s gonna have to run out the door and alert the main campus!”

Ochako was shaken out of her stupor at her teacher’s words and began to react. Her friends needed help, and she was in a position to give it, albeit indirectly.

“Right. Tenya, let’s get you out. Shouji, can you pry the door open?” she asked the largest student in 1-A.

“For a few seconds, but that should be enough,” the gentle giant replied.

“Good. Sero, Aoyama, let’s guard them.”

They both nodded in return, although Aoyama’s was a bit hesitant.

“You really shouldn’t strategize in front of your enemy,” the Smoke Villain strangely advised.

Shortly afterwards, a scream could be heard from the direction of the stalemate. The students turned to see Thirteen kneeling on the ground with the back of their suit torn apart.

Ochako gasped before shaking her head. “C‘mon guys, now or never!”

That seemed to shake her classmates out of it as they too charged.

Sero flung his tape out to capture the villain, but it seemed to go through him. Ochako took the chance to charge the villain to see if she could remove his gravity. Before she could however, the Smoke Villain warped away.

“No, I won’t let you!” a deep voice called out.

Ochako whirled around to see where it came from only to see the Smoke Villain blocking Tenya and Mezou’s path to the door.

“Oh crap! Hanta yelled as he circled around to try and fire more tape at the villain. He missed again, but Ochako noticed that the villain had to move first to do so.

Her mind briefly flashed back to Azura’s attack. The bluenette had aimed towards the center of the body to strike. If that were the case…

“Sero! Try to aim near the center! That’s most likely where his body is!”

Hanta glanced at her confusedly before his eyes flashed in recognition. Breaking his old tape off, he threw out a few more strands. The villain dodged again, but Mezou was closing in. The villain couldn’t fight off multiple people all from different directions after all.

Mezou, with Ochako’s advice he overheard, threw out a punch that connected dead center. The villain let out a shout of pain before backing off.

Tenya took his chance and ran after the villain. The villain warped away before the attack could connect, but when he did, he was on the other side of the group. The bluenette took the opportunity and began to run towards the door again. Mezou saw this and did the same.

“No!” the villain let out as he moved to intercept them. .

“You’ve got us to worry about, bub!” Hanta called out as he fired more strands at his opponent.

The villain side stepped to avoid them. A beam of light came at him from another direction and boxed him in if only for a moment.

That moment was enough for Ochako to charge at him from the side, taking the Smoke Villain admittedly by surprise.

As Ochako touched him and activated her quirk, she dodged out of the way as quickly as she could do that the tape trailing behind her could make contact. It took a little planning, but Aoyama’s attack gave them the perfect opening.

Just after the tape connected, the villain felt himself being pulled by it. In an act of defiance, the villain grabbed and pulled the tape as hard as he could.

Hanta was jerked forward before he yelped in pain. His grip had slackened as he held one of his shoulders in pain as it had dislocated when the Smoke Villain had pulled.

Ochako rushed over to help her classmate, taking over as the puller. The villain was still heavy under weightlessness, but it was much better than the alternative. She pulled and pulled. Another blast from Aoyama sped things up as the villain was finally thrown over the edge, helplessly floating away.

At that moment, a loud *BANG* came from the door. The three students and one teacher turned to see Mezou holding one of his wrists. He generated another hand in a thumbs up to signify their success.

All the while Tenya sprinted at full speed towards the school. He wouldn’t spare a single ounce of effort to save his friends.

Back inside, Kurogiri cursed. He had lost the battle, but the League itself could at least find some form of victory before the day was over. At that, he teleported away towards the Central Plaza.

===
Mountain Zone

Things had been going well in Momo’s opinion. Not many of the villains had long ranged quirks, so they were able to set up a perimeter using Mina’s acid. Anyone who got passed it would be met with Rikidou, Mineta and her. The first of which hadn’t taken sugar to keep his mental faculties until absolutely necessary, and the second was cowering behind them. At least the midget did contribute by randomly throwing some of his balls outside of the perimeter. Though his constant mutterings of “we’re gonna die” wasn’t helping them.

Momo brought the rifle back up after reloading and shot another bean bag at a villain and knocked him out. Thankfully she thought to ask Azura for one of her bars before they left for the USJ. She wouldn’t have been able to last long otherwise.

Thus the process repeated. Anyone who wasn’t stuck to Mineta’s balls surrounded the acidic perimeter only to be hit with either more non lethal, but still painful, acid or bean bags from Momo. The ones brave enough to enter their area were pushed back by a combined effort. This was made easier thanks to some weapons that Momo had made, which included a staff for Mina and a set of batons for Rikidou.

Minutes later, tired and hurt in some cases, the four students all let out a sigh of relief as the last of the villains either fled or were knocked out.

After another moment of rest, the ravenette reloaded her rifle and then spoke up. “We should move towards the entrance. If we stay here too long, we run the risk of being attacked by the villains here waking up.”

Mina gave a thumbs up, while Rikidou just nodded as he began experiencing the kickback of his quirk. Mineta just kept chattering his teeth.

It wasn’t difficult to make their way out of their defenses as the unconscious bodies of the villains made for decent footholds. When Momo brought up her concerns of potentially killing the people who had attacked them, Mina waved her off.

“This stuff will eat at clothes, but the worst it’ll do to people is give them a rash.”

Momo just nodded at her classmate’s words. She didn’t have time to question everything anyways.

Mineta began to freak out, saying that he wasn’t staying there alone, and finally began to do more than just act scared.

As the diminutive boy ran towards them, a figure began to sprout from the ground and grabbed him by the neck. At that, the boy began screaming and struggling incessantly.

“Quiet dammit!” the villain yelled as he squeezed the midget’s neck tighter.

Said midget squeaked before he stilled, as much as he could anyways.

“Tch, when I was brought in all this, I knew some of those bastards were just acting tough. To think they’d get their asses kicked by kids only just out of highschool,” the villain grumbled. “All right, this is how it’s gonna work! You guys are gonna surrender. In exchange, I won’t wring this brat’s neck out. You lot do anything else, and you already know what I’ll do about that.”

Momo slowly and steadily moved her arm to reach for th-

“Oh, and you, girly,” he said as he pointed to Momo with his free hand, “drop the gun.” A moment of hesitation made him start sparking his hands. “Now.”

Momo didn’t hesitate any longer as she brought the strap holding the rifle over her head and threw it off to the side.

“Huh. Didn’t even need to ask for you to kick it. Good.”

“What do you want with us?” Momo asked.

“Heh, that’s… a good question,” their captor said after a moment.

Momo blaunched at his statement. In all of her years in hostage negotiation training due to her heritage, she had never expected, or been trained, to handle that specific response.

“You could spare us. If you do so, the police could give you a reduced sentence,” Momo offered.

“Hm, yeah, that sounds kinda- wait a minute! You just want to get outta here the easy way huh? Well too bad, cause that’s not gonna happen.”

Momo blaunched again. It almost worked. The fact that it could have worked in the first place was incredibly ridiculous to her.

Suddenly, a loud yet distant *BANG* could be heard. The villain, the idiot that he apparently was, looked around in an attempt to see where the sound had come from.

Mina took her chance and threw some acid at his still outstretched arm.

The man reacted immediately, his grip going completely slack on Mineta, who scurried away the moment he could. Momo took her chance and dove for her rifle. The moment she could bring it bear, she started firing bag after bag at the villain. Rikidou, in a moment of clarity, went in for the final blow, knocking the man out for good.

Momo gasped for breath now that the stressful situation was over. She hadn’t even realized she was so short of breath in the first place. After a moment to let everyone collect themselves, she spoke.

“We’re moving, now.”

No one argued.

===
Downpour Zone

Another body had slammed into the pavement as Dark Shadow returned to Fumikage. Their situation was perfect as the area was filled with darkness, but some street lamps were still operational. That combined with his two classmates acting as scouts allowed them to easily ambush and defeat anyone that had come their way.

Kyouka pulled her jacks from the concrete as she stood up. “The rain is still a bit too much, but I think we’re clear to keep moving.”

“Hmm,” the raven-headed boy agreed. “How do you fair, Hagakure? This night is a cold and desolate one.”

“I’m fine for now,” the set of floating gloves, shoes, and jacket said. “I’m just glad they made this place so realistic. I’d be a lot worse otherwise,” she finished as she dropped the towel she had been using to dry her legs for the moment.

“We’re getting close to the edge of the area now, so we should be in the clear soon,” Kyouka commented. “Let’s just hope everyone else is alright.”

“Revelry in the dark,” Fumikage muttered.

“Uh, what?” Tooru asked.

===
Landslide Zone

Izuku picked up his two classmates and ran, the sound of rolling boulders going on in the direction he ran away from.

The plan had been working well so far. Keeping to cover and distracting the villains had worked beautifully. The animals that Kouji was able to find had been incredibly helpful as well.

Izuku was honestly amazed at how well things were working out for them. They hadn’t fought anyone, and they were thus able to make their way to the goal in what Izuku believed to be record time.

Just then, Izuku spotted said goal and jumped down the artificial ravine that separated the Landslide and Ruins Zones. A quick look around showed that there were no villains to be seen, just as he thought. This “League of Villains” most likely expected that they’d keep the students within each zone. Of course they wouldn’t waste manpower on something like guarding the in-between areas.

“Alright, it seems we’re safe for now,” Izuku stated.

Kouji slumped in exhaustion, still terrified of what was going on around him. Yui was calmer now, but she was still a bit wary if her eyes told him anything.

Izuku shook his head. “We need a plan. And with the current situation, we’ve got three plans.”

He looked to his classmates for confirmation before starting again. “Option one is that we simply wait here until it’s all over. The problem with that plan is that a lot of people could get hurt before backup arrives, so I’d rather not do that personally.

“Option two is that we circle around the facility back to the entrance. We run the risk of getting into another fight, but we could also find and aid any classmates on the way.

“Option three is the riskiest, but it’s the one I believe we should do,” he prefaced before taking a deep breath. “We go towards the Central Plaza.”

That got the two muted to react. Kouji was very outwardly panicking while Yui just looked very concerned.

“I know it’s probably dangerous, but I’m not saying we need to fight. We can stick to the fringes, and step in if, and only if, the situation absolutely calls for it. Otherwise, we stay out of it completely.”

His two companions looked at eachother hesitantly. It wasn’t ideal, but if they did go to the center, they could just book it to the entrance if need be.

Yui turned back to look at the greenette and nodded. Kouji did so too after a moment, albeit a bit more hesitantly.

Izuku nodded too before turning down the trench and started walking. As he did so, he couldn’t help but think that things were about to get a lot worse.

===
Central Plaza

Tomura scratched at his neck as he watched the display in front of him.

He didn’t have any hope for the mob characters he free-summoned, but he thought they’d pose more of a challenge to UA’s “Heroes.” Honestly, they were apparently too low leveled to deal with the hobo and his support ranger.

“Tch, where the hell are Deku or Thief? I’m really starting to get impatient,” grumbled his… party member.

That was another thing. Tomura had agreed taking on a UA student as a party member would help, especially when the only condition was a fetch quest. The only thing the blonde wanted was to only get someone he wanted to fight him, but the brat was starting to get on Tomura’s nerves.

“You’ll get them. We’re still going through cutscenes at the moment,” he surprisingly tried to placate. Emphasis on try.

“Hmph,” was all the blonde let out in reply.

Tomura sighed. He decided to look back at the fight that was still ongoing. He always hated long cutscenes, but there were secrets in them sometimes. A weakness the boss showed. Though in this case it would be a mini-boss.

Another mob character fell unconscious out of nowhere again. Tomura glanced up at the ranger. The combination of her class and position was overpowered at the moment, but she seemed to focus more on supporting the main DPS than anything else so long as no one tried to aggro her.

A loud *SLAM* could be heard coming from in front of him. He was beginning to wonder what happened before Kurogiri warped back to them.

“I apologize, Shigaraki Tomura, but one of the students escaped,” the misty man explained.

“So you failed the QTE. No big deal. It just means that the raid boss will be here soon.” Tomura could deal with that honestly, especially when he glanced at Noumu, the Anti-Symbol of Peace.

“Hey, where the hell are Deku and Thief?!” the blonde next to him exclaimed, much to the man-child’s annoyance.

“I sent Highlander, the one you called Thief, off on her own as she was able to initiate a surprise attack on my main body. Had I not done so, it was likely she could have defeated me,” the cordial man explained.

“Interesting, so there’s more than one mini-boss,” Tomura mused.

“As for Midoriya, the one you call Deku, the rest of the class was preparing to fight. If I had not done something, I could have very likely been defeated. When I made that decision, he was too close to several of his classmates. I thought it best to send them somewhere else than here to minimize potential damage.”

“What?! Dammit! I only came here to get a damn rematch! NOT to sit her on my ass like the rest of you losers!” the blonde screeched and ranted at the news.

“I suggest you remember who you’re talking to,” Tomura replied darkly. “You may be a high grade party member in Sensei’s eyes, but don’t think I won’t get rid of you if you don’t fit the role I need. I told you before, I destroy what I don’t like.”

“Feh, as if!” the blonde retorted, obviously dismissing the older man.

“What did you say, brat?” Tomura asked threateningly.

“If you will excuse me Shigaraki Tomura, but there are more important matters to attend to at the moment,” Kurogiri interrupted.

At his words, the two man-children turned their focus to the battlefield now littered with unconscious bodies. At that moment, the last of the mob trash went down, leaving the mini boss all that was left.

Tomura scratched his neck again. “I’d say I’m impressed, Eraserhead, but I’m not. Trash summons will always be trash summons.”

Tomura thought for a moment. He couldn’t attack head on as that would aggro the ranger. As annoyed as he was at the fact, he didn’t move. He could have Noumu do something, but sending Noumu out to attack the mini-boss “Hero” right out of the gate was so cliche. If he had another target, such as a student, then he’d feel inclined, but…

Just then he caught something moving at the corner of his vision. He turned his head slightly to barely see a few students off the right hidden in the trenches that apparently separated the zones. Tomura gained a wicked grin under the hand covering his face as a plan formed in his head.

“Tell me Eraser, would you go into your second phase if I killed one of your students?” he asked.

“What the hell are you talking about?” the ravenette glared in response.

“I’m asking because of those three over there,” he said as he pointed his finger at the group of students.

One yelped in fear as a head disappeared, while another seemingly froze on the spot. Surprisingly enough, the third jumped up and took a defensive stance as some green lighting began dancing around him.

Tomura took the opportunity to strike and ran towards Eraserhead. As he got closer, his suspicions about the ranger were correct. She was too worried about the students to cover her ally in time. Oh well.

Eraser reacted by jabbing out his elbow, but Tomura caught it in his hand. His quirk hadn’t taken effect, but with what he observed, all he needed was a moment.

“Funny thing about ‘Heroes’, your job first and foremost is to protect those around you. Me on the other hand…” he trailed off as he felt his quirk beginning to work again.

It was only for a second, but a second was all he needed to strip away the outer skin of Eraser’s elbow. A healer could fix the damage, but it’d still hurt like a bitch until it was healed.

Contact was broken when the man kicked him in the stomach. Tomura was thrown back, but he didn’t care. He still had plenty of HP. Although, he might liven things up a bit.

“Noumu,” he called the bird-headed behemoth to attention. “Kill those brats,” he ordered as he pointed in the direction of the green haired brat.

Noumu charged, but a moment later, the brat was still there.

Huh.

===
Ruins Zone
Several Minutes Earlier

A lone figure walked away from the carnage and still bodies they left behind. No one was dead or dying, but that didn’t mean any of them were left unscathed. Oh well, that wasn’t the figure’s problem.

“I’m disappointed though. I knew that they’d be weak, but seriously. I didn’t even get to go all out,” the figure pouted.

As they jumped up and approached the edge of a “fallen” building, they could clearly see most of the facility. It wasn’t necessary, but the view was fun nonetheless.

Suddenly they heard a loud slam, though the volume was dampened significantly due to the distance.

“Oh, it seems little Tenny finally got out. Good, that means that All Might should be here in a few minutes, if Nezu stuck to his script that is.”

With everything they’ve told him already, the rat should have little doubt to not do so. Today would only cement that fact.

Quickly using Soul Sense on the rest of the facility, they found he rest of the members of 1-A had fought valiantly. Todoroki had taken care of things with Eijirou in the Conflagration Zone. That was a particularly bad matchup for the villains it seemed.

Fumikage’s abilities within the Downpour Zone was immense, especially with Tooru and Kyouka’s scouting.

The Flood Zone experienced an unplanned simulated electrical storm from Denki due to Saiko and Tsuyu’s planning. A few were apparently able to resist and keep moving, but their pace was still slowed, allowing the three to keep going on their emergency raft. It seemed Saiko was leading them directly back to the entrance. Fair enough.

The Mountain Zone had the most people aside from the entrance. Momo, Rikidou, and Mina easily made up for Mineta’s cowardly screaming. The figure idly wondered if they should intervene so that Mineta didn't die, but a combined attack had taken him down easily enough.

Speaking of, the Entrance was fine, especially after Tenya’s exit. Mezou and Hanta were injured, but Ochako got things under control. Aoyama wasn’t much help, but the figure couldn’t blame him.

And finally was the Landslide Zone. It seemed like they had a bit of difficulty, but Izuku got the three of them through it regardless thanks to his planning skills and heroic spirit.

The figure shook their head. Some things ended better than they anticipated it seemed. Such was randomness they supposed.

“Some of them are injured and terrified, sure, but they’ve done well with what they have at the moment.”

Minutes passed as the figure continued to observe. The less involved they were, the better after all, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t keep tabs. So much yet so little had happened so far. It wouldn’t do for something to go off the rails at such a critical point.

A particular energy spiked near the border between the Ruin and Landslide Zones, the figure’s head snapped to look at the offending area directly.

“Why are you…? No. No no no. Dammit! I should have realized-,” they said as they saw Shigaraki pointing at someone.

They didn’t have much time to even think, they had to act.

Placing their feet over the edge, the figure propelled themselves off from the side of the building. Midair, they saw the man-child point his finger at the group of three students, particularly the one with green lightning flowing around him.

A second later, and the hulking figure of Noumu began to charge. Its form was blurry due to its speed, but the other figure was faster, closer.

All that was needed was…

One…

Simple…

Push.

===

Izuku’s body locked up in fear as the monster rushed towards him. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, and too scared to do so if he could. He couldn’t just abandon the two classmates behind him after all.

He suddenly felt his body being jerked to the side as time seemed to slow. It took him a moment to realize, but it felt as if someone was pushing him out of the way.

He redirected his gaze to find blue hair taking up most of his vision…

Before the monster’s fist made contact.

He watched as his body laid on the ground in slow motion as the body ragdolled through the air until it hit a building behind them, rubble and dust obscuring his vision.

A buzz took over his thoughts, his mind not fully processing what had just occurred. He couldn’t hear anything besides the ringing in his ears. So many thoughts, so many sensations. What broke him out of it was when only one word escaped his lips.

“AZURA!!!”

Chapter Text

“Yeah, yeah, I know, I’ll be there soon,” a brunette woman replied exasperatedly into her phone as she walked down the sidewalk.

“No, Charlie didn’t give me any trouble.

“Yes, Mrs. Garcia asked for me to babysit again.

“…Yeah, she did try to hook me up with Jackson again.

“Pfft, he’s a good guy, but he’s not for me.

“Right.

“Yeah, mhm. I love you too, babe. See you.”

After hanging up the call and putting her phone away, the woman just enjoyed walking through the small town while feeling the breeze on the warm summer day. It wasn’t often she got the chance to just be like this, so she took her chance.

As she walked, she spotted a few teens jogging across the street some distance in front of her. One was apparently out of breath as they were walking quite slowly behind in comparison. This fact was exemplified as the rest of the group just kept running on by.

As she neared the crosswalk, she looked both ways out of pure habit. This place wasn’t the city bustling city she was used to, but old habits die hard.

As she looked straight ahead, something flashed in the corner of her eye. A more substantial glance later, and her eyes widened as she saw the pickup truck swerving in its lane.

She began to run towards the crosswalk as the teen from before had stopped to take a breath. Why they thought doing so in the middle of a street was beyond her.

It didn’t matter anyways. She had to get to him. She yelled at the teen to get his attention, hoping he’d get out of the way on his own, but her yelling had the opposite effect as the teen turned and locked up out of fear.

She made it to the crosswalk as the truck swerved through the intersection. It got closer and closer to the teen.

Second by second…

Step by step…

She reached her arm out and gave…

One…

Simple…

Push…

==========

The first incident was a glowing baby in China. Soon afterwards, it was reported that people all across the globe began to manifest superpowers.

The origins of these powers, later known as “Quirks”, was a mystery to the entire world. Before long though, the supernatural became commonplace. Dreams a reality.

After over two centuries, the world became a superhuman society with around 80% of the population possessing one of these “quirks”.

Sooner or later, people began to use these powers selfishly. Thus a new breed of criminal, the villains, were born.

To combat this, people the world over began to fight back and stop these villains. And thus, the Age of Heroes began.

Years would pass, and everything began to look as if it was straight from a comic book.

And now, what was once thought to only exist within the realm of fiction suddenly became my new reality.

==========
USJ- Central Plaza

Izuku looked on in horror as the cloud of smoke and dust seemingly refused to dissipate. On the other side, Bakugou was angrily ranting at Shigaraki.

“What the hell?! I told you to leave Deku and Thief to me!” Katsuki yelled enraged.

“Hmm? So that’s who they were?” Tomura replied before shrugging. “Oh well. We did have a deal. Noumu, keep Eraserhead and his ranger friend occupied! Keep them alive, but make sure they don’t interfere with anything!”

Noumu merely moved in response, leaving the stance it had taken for its punch and moved back towards the injured Pro. A bullet went through its shoulder as it walked over, a massive hole being formed from the hit. Noumu looked up to spy Nagant who wore a worried expression. After waiting a few moments for its injury to heal, Noumu launched itself with a leap up as far as could go towards his newest opponent.

Nagant, not wanting to drag the rest of her students into the fight, drove to the side as the monster landed. Yelps of surprise came from the students as she started running down the stairs. All the while taking a few pot shots to keep the monster’s attention on her.

Said monster turned to keep up with her and charged. It would’ve hit its mark if she hadn’t hit it in the leg, throwing off its balance for even a split second.

As she reached the bottom, she was met by Eraser. “Tch, damn thing is persistent. I hate how it can heal like that.”

“Not to mention its strength,” Eraser commented. “I’ve used my quirk on it a few times, and it doesn’t seem to slow down at all.”

“That is the true strength of Noumu, the bio-engineered Anti-Symbol of Peace!” Tomura announced. “It has hyper regenerative abilities and enhanced physical stats. Safe to say, only All Might could fight on its level. He’d only lose though. Noumu is just that strong.”

Eraser cursed at the man-child’s words. It seemed to follow his orders, and by the way he ordered them, Eraser and Nagant weren’t going to immediately die. Still, it irked Eraser that they were nothing but Noumu’s plaything.

Over with Bakugou, he had been slowly but surely sauntering over to Izuku. One of the targets of his anger might have but the dust already, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t find some satisfaction today.

“DEKU!” the blonde called as he displayed a sinister grin.

The greenette was suddenly pulled from his panicked thoughts at the familiar enraged voice. He looked over to the blonde that he had grown up with. His eyes widened when he saw the vicious expression on the blonde’s face.

“I might not crush that Thief with my own hands, but that’s fine. I still get you all to myself,” Kacchan taunted as he sauntered towards Izuku.

Izuku, his mind raced. There stood the boy he had known all of his life, yet, for some reason, Izuku felt like he had never seen him before.

“Finally, I get to crush you like the pebble you are. Quirk or not, it doesn’t matter! You’ve always been beneath me!”

Kacchan’s last words acted as a battle cry when he suddenly launched himself towards the greenette. Izuku, after shaking himself from his stupor, dodged out of the way from the attack, the blonde’s movements painfully obvious to the greenette.

“Wh-what are you doing!” he stuttered out. “You’re helping villains attack the school! Why?!”

“Why? Why?!” Kacchan screeched as he charged again. “You ruined my life, and you’re asking me ‘why’?!”

Izuku had activated Full Cowling by that point and began evading in earnest. “What?!” he yelped. “‘Ruined your life’? What are you talking about?!”

“Damn Deku! You always got in my way! Always trying to pull me down with you! Then you got me kicked from the Hero Course!” the deranged blonde yelled accusingly. “I’ve had enough of you, so I’ll show you your place…

“ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!”

==========
???

Her eyes fluttered open as she woke up standing(?) in a white void. Her head felt fuzzy. Her memories blurry.

“Ugh. Dammit, my head,” she grumbled out. “What happened?” She questioned as she shook her head.

“Alright, start from the beginning. Aldera got raided, I told everyone about my past, then we went to the USJ, and then…”

Her head pulsed painfully as she tried to remember. After a moment of struggle, a series of images flashed through her head.

“That’s right, I-“ she cut herself off.

After taking a moment to fully register the situation, she began to darkly chuckle. The chuckle grew louder and louder before it turned into full on cackling.

After taking a moment to gasp for breath, a tired expression overcame her face. “Damn. So I died again, eh?” she questioned wearily. “Can’t say I’m disappointed that ‘The Anti-Symbol of Peace’ was what did me in.

“It’s a shame that I won’t see things through to the end, but…”

The blue-haired woman blinked slowly, her eyes half-lidded.

“I’m just so… tired.”

After taking a moment to observe the void around her, she shut her eyes to finally rest after her short, yet long, lives.

…

…

“S̵o̷ ̴y̵o̷u̷’̵r̶e̷ ̸j̸u̷s̴t̷ ̴g̵o̷i̴n̶g̷ ̷t̸o̶ ̶g̸i̵v̶e̴ ̸u̵p̵?̶”

Azura’s eyes snapped open at the distorted voice, her eyes immediately drawn to something that wasn’t there before. In front of her, instead of the unending white void, stood… something.

It looked like a person, but it was partially obscured by clouds far darker than any shade of black she had seen. The only features she could make out were the figure’s dark hair and one glowing, yellow eye with the other eye being obscured. The rest was difficult to make out as what could be seen looked distorted, glitched. As if what was in front of her was… unnatural to the very universe itself.

“W̴e̶l̷l̸,̴ ̷t̴h̷a̵t̵’̶s̷ ̶i̸n̶s̴u̴l̸t̴i̵n̴g̸,” the figure chided, its voice while still distorted, sounded more feminine now.

Azura startled back.

“B̴e̸f̸o̸r̴e̴ ̵y̶o̵u̷ ̶a̵s̸k̶,̶ ̴y̷e̵s̸,̶ ̵I̷ ̸c̶a̸n̷ ̸h̴e̸a̴r̸ ̷y̷o̸u̴r̸ ̶t̵h̷o̷u̸g̵h̸t̴s̶.̷ ̸S̸o̵r̸t̵ ̴o̴f̶ ̸a̴n̷y̴w̷a̵y̵s̸.̶ ̶I̸’̴l̶l̴ ̷l̷e̸t̷ ̷y̷o̴u̶ ̴s̵p̸e̷a̴k̵ ̵a̴l̸o̵u̷d̴ ̷h̷o̵w̶e̶v̴e̴r̷.̷ ̵I̶’̷d̴ ̷e̷x̸p̸e̴c̵t̷ ̷t̸h̸a̸t̷ ̴t̴o̶ ̵b̵e̷ ̷m̸u̸c̶h̶ ̶m̷o̵r̵e̶ ̴c̷o̷m̷f̶o̴r̸t̴a̵b̸l̵e̴,” the figure commented.

Azura, already having dealt with enough bullshit in her lives, took it in stride. “Alright then. So I’ll just ask, who and what are you? Are you some sort of vestige?” she asked rather pointedly.

“I̷n̵ ̸a̶ ̶w̸a̴y̵ ̴I̵ ̴s̷u̴p̷p̶o̶s̷e̴,̸ ̵b̶u̸t̴ ̴e̵x̸a̶c̷t̶l̷y̸ ̶w̷h̴o̴ ̸a̵n̵d̷ ̵w̷h̶a̸t̷ ̷I̸ ̸a̷m̷ ̷i̴s̷n̸’̴t̵ ̶i̴m̴p̷o̴r̵t̴a̵n̷t̴,” the figure cut in. “ B̵u̸t̵ ̴i̶f̶ ̴y̶o̷u̵ ̶a̶b̶s̵o̶l̶u̸t̷e̴l̶y̵ ̸m̶u̶s̷t̴ ̵c̴a̴l̴l̸ ̴m̸e̷ ̴s̷o̷m̵e̸t̵h̴i̶n̸g̷,̴ ̵t̶h̷e̵n̷…̷” the figure trailed of as they (she?) tapped their chin.

“ A̸h̷,̴ ̶y̴e̸s̶” they let out. “Y̵o̷u̴ ̴m̸a̸y̶ ̸c̶a̷l̵l̴ ̵m̷e̸ ̴‘̴A̶l̶p̷h̵a̶.̸’̵ ̸T̸h̷a̶t̷ ̷s̴h̶o̶u̷l̸d̵ ̴s̸u̵f̸f̷i̶c̷e̴,̵ ̶y̶e̵s̸?” the now-named “Alpha” queried.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Azura blandly replied.

“N̸o̸w̸,̸ ̴b̶a̴c̶k̶ ̸t̶o̵ ̶w̵h̷a̵t̵ ̵I̵’̷m̵ ̵o̷r̸i̸g̶i̶n̵a̸l̵l̴y̴ ̴h̶e̶r̸e̴ ̵f̵o̷r̸,̸ ̷I̴ ̵b̸e̶l̴i̸e̸v̸e̷ ̷I̶ ̴a̸s̵k̷e̵d̶ ̴y̵o̶u̸ ̴a̷ ̶q̶u̴e̵s̴t̸i̸o̶n̸,” Alpha said pointedly. “‘A̴r̴e̴ ̵y̶o̵u̴ ̸g̸i̵v̵i̵n̴g̸ ̷u̸p̷?̷’”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Azura retorted.

“O̵h̴ ̸c̶o̸m̵e̷ ̸o̵n̸,̴ ̸i̵t̷’̷s̵ ̵n̸o̵t̸ ̷a̵ ̸d̷i̴f̵f̸i̴c̶u̴l̷t̴ ̸q̶u̴e̴s̸t̸i̶o̷n̵ ̸i̸n̸ ̸t̴h̸e̴ ̷l̴e̶a̷s̴t̴,” Alpha griped. “This world still needs help, but instead of figuring out a way to get back into it all, you immediately decided to not do so.”

“Can you blame me?” the bluenette shot back. “I got shot from one life and into the next. Then, when I thought everything would work out until I got to UA, it all went to shit,” she ranted. “I’m just-“ she wearily sighed as her head drooped “-I’m just so… tired of it all. All of the pain I feel, the effort it takes to keep going day after day.”

A beat passed as the two of them merely stood(?) there, across from each other in that infinite plane. “H̶o̷w̵ ̴p̸i̷t̵i̴f̵u̸l̸.̷ ̶W̴e̸ ̴c̵a̷n̶’̴t̷ ̷h̴a̵v̵e̷ ̸y̶o̶u̷ ̴d̷o̷i̴n̸g̷ ̴t̸h̶a̴t̶ ̴j̸u̷s̴t̷ ̵y̴e̷t̵ ̴t̵h̸o̵u̴g̵h̸,” Alpha replied disapprovingly after a moment.

“What do I care? Nezu’s got what he needs. Plans on top of plans… If you haven’t noticed, I’m not needed anymore. The world isn’t gonna die because I’m not in it.”

“H̵m̵p̸h̸.̴ ̶H̴i̸g̴h̶l̷a̸n̶d̸e̴r̷ ̸A̶z̴u̷r̷a̵,̴ ̸t̶h̸e̵ ̴g̶i̵r̶l̴ ̶s̸o̴ ̶d̸e̶t̷e̷r̶m̵i̶n̶e̴d̶ ̶t̴o̵ ̶f̵i̵g̴h̷t̷,̷ ̶y̷e̵t̶…̴” she trailed off.

“Look, I’ve done my job. I’ve gotten much further than any normal person would in my situation. Nezu has what he needs. I’m done.” Azura turns away as she finished her mini-rant, arms cross in defiance.

Alpha shook her head as she floated towards the bluenette. “N̶o̵,̸ ̵I̵ ̶t̶h̵i̶n̶k̶ ̸i̵t̵’̸s̶ ̴t̶i̷m̴e̸ ̶I̴ ̶r̵e̸m̶i̶n̴d̶ ̴y̴o̴u̷ ̸j̵u̷s̶t̶ ̴w̶h̴a̴t̶ ̵y̷o̷u̷ ̸w̴e̷r̸e̴ ̵f̴i̴g̴h̴t̶i̶n̴g̵ ̷f̴o̷r̵.̸ ̵Y̷o̸u̴’̵r̸e̴ ̸t̴h̸e̴ ̵o̸n̶e̵ ̵w̶h̶o̶ ̶g̵a̴v̴e̶ ̸y̴o̸u̵r̵s̶e̵l̷f̶ ̴t̷h̷a̶t̴ ̴n̵a̸m̸e̶ ̸a̷f̷t̶e̵r̵ ̵a̴l̵l̸.̷ ̷I̸s̷n̷’̴t̸ ̶t̷h̷a̵t̶ ̵r̶i̸g̶h̵t̷…̸

“O̴u̸t̷s̷i̶d̴e̴r̸?”

==========
USJ- Central Plaza

Kaina fired another bullet at the monstrous bio-weapon in front of her, this one opening up to deliver more of a punch than the usual ones that pierced.

As the bullet impacted, it caused a sort of crater in the monsters skin due to it being fired from close range and her putting more effort into firing.

‘Dammit! This thing’s stronger than I thought. It’s Shock Absorption quirk isn’t doing shit as I’m not attacking bluntly, but it’s damn Hyper Regeneration is a serious pain in the ass!’

She cursed again as it charged at her, her years of experience and Eraser’s quirk being the only things keeping the two of them alive.

‘Then there’s Azura. Dammit, none of that was part of the plan!’ she yelled in her head as she shot out Noumu’s knee.

Over with Izuku, he was doing nothing but dodging, his head still spinning at Kacchan’s words.

Did he- did the blonde want to kill him? But he wanted to be a Hero more than anything else. Why would he-

He’s never been a Hero.

Izuku shook his head to clear his mind. He couldn’t get sidetracked.

“Kacchan, please! We can talk this out! Just please stop and-“

Bakugou propelled himself forward with another explosion, cutting the greenette off. Izuku dashed to the side, something inside of him holding him back from fighting back directly.

“Just shut up!” Kacchan cried out. “I’m done hearing your shit! You never leave me alone! Ever since we were kids, you never let me be. Your one goal throughout everything was to pull me to your level. Well congratulations, you did it! Do you feel happy?!”

Izuku dodged another explosion. Through some clever maneuvering, the greenette hadn’t yet been caught up in an explosion directly, but his Mom’s handmade jumpsuit was starting to come undone, several holes already forming around his entire body due to the suit being made out of commercially made materials.

“Kacchan! I don’t understand! Please, just tell me what’s going on!” Izuku pleaded. This just seemed so out of character for the blonde, the one who always proclaimed that he would be the Number One Hero.

“Are you seriously that stupid?!” Kacchan growled as he got another grazing hit on the other teen. “Fine, then let me spell it out for you!

“No matter when, no matter where, your useless ass has always followed me. I didn’t get why at first, but then, one day, I understood!”

Another lunge, another dodge. This dance was seriously starting to piss the blonde off.

“It was just like every other day, but then you tried to bring me down to your level at the stream. I’ve told you once, and I’ll say it again, I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP!!!”

At that, the blonde let out a massive explosion that sent the both of them away from eachother. And as the blonde snarled in rage, Izuku stood stock still as a faint memory came to mind.

The memory of four boys marching through the woods. After some time, they used a lot to continue to march over a stream. Kacchan, he had slipped. The other two boys didn’t seem to care, but Izuku, bleeding heart that he was, couldn’t simply just stand there and wait.

He ran down the embankment to get to his friend. He was relieved to see the blonde sitting up as Izuku stretched out his hand. The blonde stared at it for a few moments before slapping it away.

Back in the present, that same blonde continued his tirade. “You always looked down on me! And that day, that day is when I first realized it! No matter how much I tried to get it through your head, your quirkless, useless self always tried to drag me down to your level!

“THAT’S WHY I HATE YOU!!!”

Izuku stared on in utter disbelief and horror. The whole reason why he- all of the pain and suffering- all of it was because…

Izuku tried to help him.

…

Something broke in Izuku at that moment. Bakugou, he’s never been a Hero. He’s had years worth of chances to change, to be better, but he always got worse, always escalated. And all because Izuku tried to help him up that one time he fell.

That's when Izuku realized: Kacchan died that day. All that was left was the merciless Bakugou who destroyed anything that got in his way. It didn’t matter if that thing was a wall or a person. Izuku could attest to that last part personally.

And then there were the events of the past week. He tried to kill Azura, and he laughed after he did so, more concerned over the destructive power of his gauntlets than the potential loss of human life. Izuku had doubts about the blonde after that moment, but it wasn’t until just then with Bakugou’s ranting did he finally put it all together. Bakugou was never a hero…

He was a villain.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Bakugou continued his charge. Izuku fully processed the boy’s words and the realizations that came from them.

And Izuku…

…

Izuku was done.

A moment later, Bakugou gasped for air. Looking down, he saw Izuku with his fist buried within his gut.

It took little effort for Izuku to follow through with the punch and launch Bakugou who skidded across the pavement.

When the blonde finally got his barings back, he looked over to see Izuku’s hair obscuring his green eyes from the blonde’s view. Bakugou didn’t take note, nor did he care if he did, as he charged once again.

Izuku took a ready stance, one similar to the one Azura took during their morning training sessions. When he looked up into the crimson eyes of his opponent, he let himself finally feel the emotion that he had locked away a long time ago.

And Bakugou, as he descended upon his target, saw the unbridled rage within Izuku’s deep great eyes.

==========
???

Life was strange for one Kobayashi Yuuki. It had been around three years since her reincarnation, and to say that it was a shock is an understatement.

At the moment she sat herself on the grass and observed some of the other kids in her day care group. She was fascinated by the quirks that some of the kids were already displaying, but she held herself back from doing any analyzing. She knew if she presented her full intelligence with how young she was, it could lead to people asking questions she didn’t, and couldn’t, answer. Even so, acting like a child was difficult for her as it had been so long since her first childhood.

Suddenly she observed a ball bouncing then slowly rolling towards where she sat. One of her group mates was running to retrieve it as she stood and picked it up.

As he reached her, he held out a hand and asked her to join them in their game of catch. She didn’t have any reason to refuse really, so she accepted.

As she was led by the band towards the group, she began to feel uncomfortable under the gaze of so many of her “fellow” children. She wasn’t afraid of them, far from it, but by the looks in their eyes, she could tell they weren’t fully conscious. Not fully self aware, as if they were on autopilot.

Yuuki envied them honestly. Even with the horror the world possessed, they could still laugh and smile without a care in the world. Yuuki though…

She was nothing but an Outsider.

===

Six years. Six years had passed. Another long day of “school” surrounded by the absolute fucking idiots that she was supposed to call her classmates and “teacher”. Bleh.

She had been glad she figured out how to put on a mask of apathy. She would’ve strangled someone out of pure fucking rage if she hadn’t done that.

Of course, there was the side effect that it was becoming harder to take off. Not like she could help it though. Everything around her was essentially geared towards her wanting to commit suicide. The only reason she hadn’t seriously considered it despite her experiences so far was due to her desire to pass on her knowledge to a trusted source and her Mask.

Before she realized it, her Mask had slipped. Her thoughts became more furious as her pet up rage began to release itself. She punched the wall of the alley she had hidden in in an attempt to release some of it. Punch after punch after punch made contact, her hand becoming bloody after a solid minute of doing so.

She let all of her anger, all of her rage build up in one last blow. When her fist made contact with the bricks, a cloud of dust burst for the from the impact zone. After a moment of letting the dust clear, she saw the damage the wall had sustained.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the wall, all of them leading back to the point she had last hit. A look down at her arm allowed her to see the faintly pulsing lightning leaving her body.

She had a quirk. She had a mother fucking quirk. She knew that the possibility existed as the doctor she went to never tested her blood. Seriously, two hundred years in the future, and the doctors were still as negligent. Why was she not surprised?

When she returned to the rancid apartment that she was meant to call “home”, her egg donor approached her, furious at why she was home so late and with blood across her knuckles.

Yuuki lightly replied that her quirk came in. Obviously the woman who birthed her reincarnation didn’t believe her, so she grabbed Yuuki by the arm and roughly dragged her back to her “room”. Yuuki didn’t react. She knew that something like this might happen.

And as her head hit the boards of her “room” and the door was closed and locked from the outside, all she could do was curl up and weep.

After minutes of crying, she resolved herself to her mission. Just a few more years. Just a few years, and she could finally give her information to someone who gave a damn.

At those thoughts, she did they only thing she could think of to survive that long…

She put on her Mask.

Not like anyone would care if it ever came off again. After all…

She was nothing but an Outsider.

==========
USJ- Central Plaza

Bakugou tried to attack him from behind again, but Izuku merely got within the blonde’s guard before he could get a shot off, Izuku getting off another punch to the gut of his own. The battle hadn’t been going on long, but it had been fierce regardless.

Bakugou was becoming more and more enraged by the second. And with that, he became sloppier too. Izuku on the hand, he was furious, but it was cold and calculated kind of fury. He knew exactly what he was doing with a confidence he hadn’t ever felt before. After all, if everyone was wrong about Bakugou, then what about what they said to Izuku?

Izuku got back inside of Bakugou’s guard before the blonde could ready himself again and launched an uppercut to the other boy’s chin. The blonde staggered back and wiped off some of his saliva leaking onto his face. When he pulled his hand back, he was shocked to see some blood mixed in as well.

That didn’t last long as he felt a burst of rage and charged at the greenette again. As he closed in, he created a smokescreen to feint his opponent out. Izuku dodged low to get under the attack that he knew was coming.

When Bakugou’s kick was met with nothing but air, he looked around in a rage. He had to do a double take when he saw the distance the greenette had put between the two of them.

Bakugou responded by sending out a large explosion. Even if it didn’t hit, there was no way the greenette could accurately counter or dodge.

Off to the side, Yui and Kouji had started circling around the plaza in an attempt to get to the stairs. Even if they wanted to help, they couldn’t. Things were just too chaotic at the moment, especially since neither of them knew much about hand to hand combat.

They just hoped that the rest of the faculty got there soon.

==========
???

Another four years had passed as Yuuki walked out of the testing hall that was being used for the assessment tests. She had deliberately sandbagged herself in order to not stand out. She couldn’t afford any amount of special attention at the moment. She wasn’t even there for the damn test, but a rodent who was supposed to be in attendance.

You see, despite his non-human origins, Nezu genuinely cared about not only his students, but the next generation as a whole. Especially the ones who could keep up with him.

With some research at a public library, she was able to more or less determine which testing center he would appear at. Her guess was confirmed when she neared the testing center and sensed something inhuman. All she had to do was wait, and wait she did.

It must have taken an hour before the rodent had exited the observation room into the more public spaces.

As they passed each other, she tossed a dirty flash drive with a note attached to it that simply read “if you wanna know more, you’ll know where to find me”.

Naturally he turned and gave her an uncertain look after he read said note, but she just kept walking. She had places to go, and punishments to experience. She was late getting “home” after all.

Such was the life of an Outsider.

===

”You must understand that all of what you wrote is a little difficult to believe,” said the Dean of UA as he sipped some tea.

It had been a few weeks since she handed him the drive. A week after that event, he showed up at her “home” with some police officers and arrested her DNA donors. Since then, he was at the head of an investigation against Honderlaan.

“Thought so,” she curtly replied with a blank face.

“Fortunately, I am inclined to believe you as no thirteen year old should have access to all of this information. To the eyes of someone else, all of this would be gibberish,” he commented as he pulled up the files she had made on his computer. “I understand what you are talking about however.

“Then there is this timeline of events that you have made. While I do not understand the brief summaries as a whole, I do not like the implications at all.” Nezu turned to her to speak his next words clearly. “I have found you, so…

“What is next?”

She pulled out another flash drive from her pocket. It was much more pristine than the one she had handed him several weeks ago as it had been safely buried in preparation for that very day. Now they could get down to business.

Such was her job as an Outsider.

==========
USJ- Central Plaza

Nagant felt her breath being knocked out of her as she crashed into the fountain at the center of the plaza.

Taking a moment to transform her rifle back into her arm, she pushed herself up to get a better look at the situation.

Just as she had suspected, Eraser was pinned Noumu’s grip. The monster wasn’t squeezing, but going by the other man’s expression, that didn’t make the experience comfortable. A glance showed Shigaraki just standing there, watching his monster “play” with the two Heroes.

Nagant hated it, but she was at least grateful that the brat was so overconfident in his little monster’s abilities. They’d be dead otherwise.

She glanced the other way to see Izuku and Bakugou fighting. From what she saw of the first few minutes of the battle, Izuku had been entirely on the defensive. The situation was entirely different now as Bakugou was constantly being out maneuvered by the much more nimble and attentive greenette. She didn’t like the look in her student’s eyes however. Something to handle later.

She reformed her rifle and blasted Noumu with another splitting bullet a few moments later.

Shigaraki watched on with a gleeful smile behind the hand on his face. Just a little longer and All Might would appear. That was the condition to start the raid after all.

Over with the former friends, a sudden lull in the battle was caused by their most recent clash. Bakugou’s hands were starting to get sore as Izuku held his wrist. He still couldn’t control more than five percent of One for All after all. He couldn’t always stay below his limit, so he resolved to push through regardless.

“You pissed me off before, Deku, but now I’m on a whole different level,” the blonde announced.

“After everything you’ve done, you’re not the one who’s supposed to be pissed off,” Izuku retorted.

That genuinely surprised the blonde all things considered. Izuku was known for a lot of things in the blonde’s mind. Swearing wasn’t one of them.

Bakugou shook his head. He didn’t have the patience to deal with that kind of shit.

“You attacked UA at the side of villains who have the explicit goal of killing All Might,” Izuku said far too calmly for the situation. “Why?” he demanded.

“Why the hell should I care about what he has to say anymore? He was wrong about me. I’m the strongest, therefore I’m the best! Those beneath me should grovel in my greatness! I’ll make sure All Might and the rest of you know that!”

Images flashed in Izuku’s mind. At first it was about Bakugou and his “strength”. Time after time, the blonde beat down on anyone and everyone around him because he felt like he had something to prove.

Then his mind flashed to memories of All Might. Their first meeting was painful, Izuku would admit that, but he apologized profusely afterwards, even corrected himself. Sure, his mentor wasn’t the best when it came to teaching, but the greenette could see the passion and determination in his eyes. Not to mention his injury. To keep fighting on even after something like that, Izuku began to see a whole new meaning to the word “strength” thanks to the man.

Memories of the friends he had made passed through his mind next. Their first meetings, the quiet moments late in the dorms, and other moments were all there. He had only known them for a week, but he knew he’d cherish those moments for years to come.

And finally, his thoughts turned to Azura. Even all those months ago when they first met at Dagobah, she believed in him. Even after learning everything she had gone through, how similar the two of them were, she hadn’t given up. She was strong, that was something Izuku had no doubt about. Not whatever Bakugou thought of as “strength”, but real, true strength of will and conviction.

She’d get back up, and he knew that. And he knew that he’d stand beside her and the rest of their friends no matter what.

“No, you’re not strong,” Izuku boldly stated as his mind returned to the present.

Bakugou threw himself at the greenette at full speed. The only vocal response being a wordless, deranged yell.

“You never were!” Izuku continued. “All you do is beat down others to make yourself feel better! You’re not a hero, you’re a bully! A villain!”

“Shut the hell up!” Bakugou screamed as he kicked his leg out towards the greenette’s head. Izuku easily dodged the telegraphed attack.

“All Might, Azura, and everyone else, they know what true strength is! So let me show you too!” he called as he made his own charge towards the surprised blonde!

=========
???

Azura felt her mind refocus once more on the white void surrounding her. Her eyes found Alpha after a moment, the only other entity within the void lazily floating about.

“I don’t get you,” she replied as she crossed her arms. Alpha turned their solitary eye upon her before she continued. “Your supposed goal is to get me back into the fight, but all you did was show me memories that validate my decision. Seems kind of backwards to me.”

Alpha held their lazy pose before sighing and reorienting themself upright(?). “ I̴ ̴h̶o̷n̸e̶s̸t̷l̷y̸ ̵s̷h̷o̷u̴l̴d̴n̴’̷t̶ ̶h̵a̵v̵e̸ ̷t̵o̷ ̴e̷x̷p̵l̶a̷i̴n̵ ̷t̸h̸i̵s̵ ̷t̵o̷ ̵y̴o̵u̸,” the being retorted.

“Well, it seems like you’re gonna have to anyways. I don’t see how that’s my problem.”

Alpha sighed again. “T̶e̴l̸l̶ ̶m̷e̷,̸ ̶A̸z̴u̸r̶a̶,̷ ̷w̴h̵y̴ ̷d̴i̴d̵ ̸y̴o̷u̵ ̸p̶e̸r̷s̵i̶s̵t̵?̵ ̸B̴y̷ ̵t̸h̶a̶t̸,̵ ̸I̵ ̵m̵e̷a̵n̸ ̵w̴h̸y̴ ̴d̵i̵d̵ ̶y̶o̷u̴ ̷s̵t̶i̶c̵k̶ ̷a̶r̶o̶u̷n̵d̸?̸ ̴Y̵o̵u̸ ̸h̷a̵d̶ ̷o̶p̵p̴o̵r̵t̴u̷n̸i̷t̸y̸ ̸a̷f̸t̷e̵r̵ ̶o̵p̵p̶o̸r̸t̷u̷n̶i̷t̵y̸ ̸t̵o̶ ̴j̸u̶s̵t̵ ̷l̵e̸a̷v̴e̴,̸ ̴t̸o̷ ̶l̶e̴a̵v̵e̴ ̴e̵i̴t̴h̴e̸r̷ ̵t̶h̴i̶s̷ ̷c̴o̵u̶n̸t̴r̶y̴ ̸o̵r̴ ̵t̴h̸i̴s̷ ̵w̸o̷r̵l̴d̷ ̷t̷o̶ ̵i̸t̵s̸ ̸f̶a̶t̴e̵.̶ ̷B̶u̵t̸ ̷y̷o̵u̵ ̸d̴i̸d̷n̷’̵t̴.”

“Just too stubborn I guess,” the bluenette vaguely replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

“S̵t̴u̶b̷b̵o̴r̸n̶ ̴i̶s̷ ̸d̷e̵f̵i̸n̵i̴t̶e̷l̶y̴ ̸a̷ ̷w̵o̶r̷d̸ ̵t̴o̵ ̶d̴e̷s̶c̸r̷i̶b̵e̸ ̵y̷o̸u̶,̶ ̷b̷u̶t̴ ̵w̷e̶ ̵b̵o̸t̴h̸ ̴k̴n̵o̵w̷ ̸t̴h̶a̷t̵’̷s̴ ̶n̴o̵t̷ ̸t̶h̶e̷ ̴t̸r̶u̶t̵h̷,” the entity replied disbelievingly.

“The hell are you talking about?”

Alpha turned and started walking away from Azura. The strange thing about it was that Alpha never seemed to get further away. “T̵h̴e̴r̴e̴’̴s̵ ̴a̶ ̵r̸e̸a̸s̸o̷n̶ ̷y̷o̵u̴ ̴s̵t̷a̵y̵e̸d̶.̶ ̷O̸n̸e̷ ̵t̸h̴a̴t̷ ̴y̵o̶u̷’̶v̷e̷ ̷f̷o̵r̸g̷o̶t̶t̶e̵n̵ ̷d̷u̸e̶ ̵t̶o̷ ̵y̷o̶u̶r̵ ̸e̴x̴p̴e̴r̵i̷e̴n̴c̷e̸s̶ ̴h̷e̶r̶e̴ ̷t̵h̸u̵s̸ ̸f̵a̵r̶.̵ ̵O̸n̸e̵ ̷t̸h̶a̶t̴,̵ ̵d̷e̶s̷p̵i̵t̴e̴ ̴e̷v̵e̶r̷y̷t̴h̴i̸n̸g̶,̵ ̴y̸o̸u̵’̶v̸e̶ ̴h̴e̴l̶d̵ ̴o̵n̷ ̸t̵o̸.”

“Cut the bullshit,” Azura snapped back. Alpha stopped her casual stroll and turned back towards Azura. “Like you said, I’ve gone through hell before I could get here. Because of that, I’m tired. Of everything.”

Azura took a step closer to the entity. “I can’t go back to where I came from. Even if I could, I don’t think I should anyways as I’ve already changed far too damn much.”

Another step.

“On top of that, the fucking mask I used to protect myself now loves to come out and play on its own.”

Another step.

“And that doesn’t even get into all the people I miss. My friends, my family, all gone from my life because some god out there decided to play a practical FUCKING JOKE! What possible reason could I have for staying here anymore!”

One final step, and she was glaring down at the entity from mere inches away. A raging fire burned within the bluenette’s eyes, one that had been built up over the almost-two decades of her second life. All the pain from not only her new world, the pain from missing the old one, the longing and empty moments caused by it being ripped away, all being held within one gaze.

Just as quickly as the fire manifested however, it was quickly snuffed out. All that remained was the dead eyes of a woman who had seen hell.

“Just please… let me die,” she pleaded.

“…”

“…”

“…S̶o̸ ̸y̶o̷u̷’̷d̶ ̴r̷a̵t̵h̵e̵r̵ ̷w̴a̷t̵c̸h̸ ̶t̶h̵e̶m̶ ̸d̷i̴e̸?̸” the figure questioned.

Azura startled back in shock at the statement. “What?” she questioned, offense clear in her voice.

“Y̶o̸u̶’̴d̸ ̶r̶a̸t̴h̴e̶r̷ ̵d̶i̴e̴ ̷r̶i̶g̶h̸t̸ ̵h̴e̴r̸e̵,̶ ̸r̴i̴g̴h̶t̷ ̴n̷o̴w̵,̸ ̸a̷n̷d̷ ̴l̶e̸a̵v̵e̶ ̷t̵h̴e̷m̵ ̴t̸o̸ ̴d̸e̴a̶l̵ ̵w̵i̸t̶h̸ ̸e̸v̶e̴r̴y̸t̸h̷i̸n̷g̴ ̶e̸l̷s̶e̴ ̸o̸n̵ ̴t̷h̸e̶i̸r̸ ̵o̸w̷n̶.̸ ̶E̸v̷e̸n̸ ̷w̸i̴t̸h̴ ̷N̵e̷z̸u̸ ̵n̷o̶w̷ ̸k̸n̸o̵w̶i̴n̸g̷ ̷w̵h̵a̵t̸ ̸h̶e̶ ̶k̷n̵o̴w̸s̵,” the entity started as their one yellow eye bore into Azura two blue orbs, “c̴a̶n̶ ̷y̶o̴u̶ ̸t̴e̸l̴l̸ ̸m̴e̷,̸ ̷b̶e̸y̵o̵n̴d̷ ̵t̷h̴e̸ ̷s̴h̵a̵d̵o̵w̴ ̶o̷f̶ ̷a̴ ̷d̷o̴u̵b̷t̵,̵ ̶t̸h̸a̴t̵ ̸t̸h̷e̸y̷ ̶w̵o̶u̵l̷d̷ ̷m̴a̶k̵e̷ ̶i̷t̸ ̴t̶o̸ ̸t̷h̷e̸ ̷h̷a̵p̷p̵y̷ ̶e̷n̸d̸i̴n̷g̴ ̴y̷o̸u̸ ̷d̴e̵s̶i̴r̷e̶ ̸f̷o̶r̵ ̴t̷h̶e̸m̷?̵”

Azura broke her eye contact with the entity and looked away.

Her silence was enough for Alpha. “Y̶o̶u̷ ̷w̶o̴u̶l̸d̸ ̴r̶a̴t̸h̸e̷r̸ ̸l̴e̵t̸ ̵t̶h̷e̴m̵ ̶d̸i̵e̴ ̸t̷h̵e̵n̷?”

“What? No!” Azura jerked her head back as she hurriedly answered.

“Y̶e̴t̷ ̸y̴o̶u̴ ̷w̵i̶s̵h̴ ̸t̷o̴ ̷a̶b̶a̸n̷d̵o̴n̷ ̴t̷h̵e̸m̸.̴ ̷Y̷o̷u̵ ̸c̷a̶n̷ ̸s̴e̸e̵ ̴t̸h̴e̸ ̴c̶o̸n̶t̵r̸a̷d̴i̸c̸t̷i̶o̷n̵,̸ ̷c̶a̸n̶’̶t̸ ̸y̵o̶u̴?̴” Alpha reasoned.

The reincarnated woman merely stayed silent.

“I̶f̵ ̴t̶h̶a̴t̸ ̷t̷r̶u̶l̷y̵ ̶i̶s̸ ̵y̶o̸u̵r̶ ̴d̵e̴c̶i̴s̷i̸o̸n̴,̷ ̶t̵h̷e̸n̶ ̷I̷ ̵c̵e̶r̸t̴a̸i̸n̴l̵y̴ ̵c̶a̴n̷’̸t̶ ̵s̴t̵o̷p̷ ̵y̷o̸u̸.̶ ̸A̸b̶a̵n̶d̷o̶n̷ ̸y̴o̸u̵r̴ ̷f̶r̴i̴e̶n̴d̸s̸ ̷t̶o̶ ̸t̴h̸e̵i̷r̴ ̴f̴a̴t̷e̸s̴ ̴w̷h̸i̵l̵e̶ ̷y̵o̷u̴ ̸g̴o̸ ̸t̷o̶ ̴t̸h̴e̶ ̵g̸r̷e̶a̴t̵ ̶b̷e̴y̵o̷n̶d̵.”

“…shut up,” she growled lowly.

“I̷’̸m̸ ̴s̵u̶r̶e̸ ̵w̵a̴t̷c̸h̸i̷n̷g̸ ̶t̴h̸e̴m̵ ̶d̴i̵e̴ ̶w̴i̴l̴l̷ ̸b̴e̸ ̶q̵u̶i̷t̷e̷ ̴a̵m̷u̶s̶i̴n̸g̵ ̴t̴o̴ ̶y̶o̵u̶.̴”

“Shut up,” she replied a little more definiantly.

“A̶f̸t̷e̵r̷ ̸a̴l̵l̶,̴ ̴t̵h̸a̷t̶’̵s̴ ̵a̴l̶l̶ ̴t̷h̴i̷s̷ ̸i̵s̴ ̴t̷o̵ ̷y̴o̵u̵ ̶r̶i̴g̴h̵t̶?̷ ̴A̷ ̶j̸o̶b̵ ̴t̴h̸a̴t̴ ̵m̷u̷s̸t̷ ̸b̸e̸ ̸f̵u̷l̶f̸i̷l̸l̸e̸d̸.̶ ̷I̵ ̴m̸u̴s̷t̸ ̸s̶a̴y̵,̸ ̶j̷o̷b̶ ̵w̶e̷l̵l̶ ̶d̴o̷n̴e̵.̴ ̷I̶’̸m̷ ̵s̷u̸r̵e̸ ̸t̸h̷e̸y̶’̴l̴l̶ ̷s̶a̵y̵ ̷t̵h̶e̸ ̵s̴a̴m̷e̸ ̴w̴h̴e̴n̵ ̵t̸h̷e̵y̵’̵r̶e̵ ̶t̵o̵r̴n̴ ̵a̴p̴a̴r̷t̸ ̴l̶i̵m̸b̴ ̶f̸r̶o̴m̷ ̶l̵i̷m̵b̶ ̵a̷s̷ ̴S̶h̸i̴g̴a̸r̵a̸k̴i̵-̷”

“SHUT UP! Just shut up!” Azura yelled. “They won’t die! I won’t let them! There’s so much for them to do, so many people they could save. They deserve better than the hell that’s coming for them!”

“A̴n̷d̴ ̵y̶o̴u̶’̴l̴l̸ ̶s̷t̵o̷p̷ ̷i̴t̵,̸ ̸t̴h̸e̷ ̶h̸e̸l̷l̴ ̶t̵h̴a̸t̴’̸s̶ ̶c̵o̴m̵i̶n̶g̵?̵”

“Yes!”

“W̸h̴y̵?̴”

“Because I care too damn much! Because, at the end of the day, I know I can help them, so I will! Because, maybe, I want to see what this world has to offer too!”

“…”

“…what did I just say?” Azura questioned as she took a step back.

“ A̶h̸,̸ ̴s̴o̸ ̵t̶h̶e̵ ̷r̶e̷a̴s̷o̸n̵ ̸w̷h̸y̵ ̶h̶a̷s̸ ̶f̷i̴n̵a̷l̷l̶y̷ ̴s̷h̴o̵w̶ ̵i̴t̵s̷e̷l̴f̸.̷ ̷Y̵o̷u̷ ̷w̷i̶s̴h̶e̴d̴ ̶t̶o̴ ̵l̵i̵v̶e̵ ̸o̶u̸t̸ ̶y̵o̶u̴r̸ ̴l̸i̸f̸e̶ ̴h̶e̸r̵e̶,̸ ̵w̷i̵t̸h̴ ̴t̵h̷e̸m̴ ̸b̵y̴ ̴y̶o̸u̶r̸ ̶s̷i̸d̶e̴.̸ ̷I̶ ̶m̷u̸s̸t̵ ̴a̸d̴m̵i̶t̶,̶ ̶I̶ ̷c̶a̸n̸ ̸s̸e̶e̴ ̸t̷h̷e̵ ̷a̵p̷p̴e̷a̵l̵,” Alpha commented approvingly.

Azura just looked confused as she prossessed her own words. Alpha took pity on her.

“O̷h̴ ̸c̴o̴m̵e̷ ̴n̷o̸w̶,̷ ̷y̵o̸u̷ ̶c̴a̶n̵’̷t̸ ̴s̵e̴r̸i̴o̶u̵s̴l̵y̶ ̴b̸e̸ ̴t̴r̵y̶i̷n̸g̸ ̸t̴o̴ ̸d̶e̴n̷y̴ ̴i̴t̴ ̶c̸a̶n̴ ̸y̴o̴u̷?̵ ̷O̸h̶,̸ ̶h̴o̵w̸ ̶d̷i̶d̸ ̸i̴t̷ ̶g̷o̵?̶” the being said they tapped their chin. “A̴h̶,̸ ̵y̶e̶s̶,̵ ̸n̶o̷w̶ ̸I̴ ̷r̶e̸m̵e̶m̵b̷e̸r̸,̶” they said as they snapped their fingers. “‘M̸y̷ ̴n̸o̶ ̸c̴o̵n̸s̸e̴q̶u̷e̵n̸c̸e̶ ̴p̵o̵w̷e̴r̶ ̵f̵a̵n̶t̴a̴s̶y̴ ̷i̸s̴ ̵w̸h̵e̴r̶e̸ ̷I̵ ̷g̶e̸t̸ ̸t̶o̶ ̶s̴a̴v̷e̸ ̶e̸v̶e̶r̶y̷o̵n̵e̴.̸’̶ ̷N̸o̴t̵ ̷y̴o̷u̸r̵ ̵w̶o̵r̷d̸s̵ ̷o̷r̷i̷g̴i̷n̶a̵l̶l̸y̴,̶ ̶b̶u̵t̶ ̶y̷o̷u̶ ̷o̴f̶t̷e̴n̵ ̵q̶u̴o̴t̴e̶d̷ ̵t̶h̸e̵m̸ ̵I̸ ̶b̵e̵l̵i̸e̶v̵e̴.̷”

That struck a chord in Azura’s mind. A very old memory of her and her friends before her reincarnation. “That’s right, I… I just wanted to help them. To stop everyone from dying. How did I…”

“I̷ ̵d̴o̷ ̶n̸o̵t̶ ̸b̷l̷a̷m̵e̸ ̵y̴o̷u̴ ̶f̸o̵r̸ ̷f̶o̷r̷g̶e̴t̸t̸i̵n̵g̵.̶ ̷I̴t̶ ̸h̴a̵s̸ ̵b̶e̷e̸n̶ ̸q̴u̴i̷t̶e̶ ̶a̷ ̸l̴o̴n̴g̸,̸ ̷l̶o̴n̷g̶ ̸t̴i̶m̵e̸ ̶s̵i̴n̴c̴e̷ ̴y̶o̶u̵ ̷c̷o̸u̶l̶d̷ ̸t̵h̴i̵n̴k̵ ̸o̵f̶ ̵t̴h̶i̷n̶g̴s̴ ̵i̸n̶ ̸s̸u̷c̸h̸ ̵a̶ ̵w̸a̷y̴.̴”

“I… I-I need to go back. I need to help them.”

“I̸n̸d̷e̵e̴d̸,” Alpha agreed. “T̷h̸e̵y̷ ̸n̸e̸e̸d̴ ̷y̵o̷u̷.̷ ̸N̴o̴t̶ ̴f̶o̸r̸ ̴y̷o̸u̷r̴ ̶p̴o̴w̷e̴r̸ ̴o̵r̸ ̶k̵n̵o̷w̸l̵e̸d̶g̵e̶ ̸m̶i̸n̵d̸ ̴y̶o̴u̶,̵ ̶b̴u̶t̵ ̵b̶e̷c̷a̶u̴s̷e̶…̷”

”AZURA!” a familiar voice suddenly resonated throughout the void.

“Izuku?” the bluenette asked in bewilderment.

“B̵e̸c̴a̶u̴s̵e̴ ̷t̵h̴e̷y̴ ̸w̸a̷n̶t̸y̵o̸u̵,A̶z̸u̸r̶a̴.”

Azura looked down at her open palm before her expression turned resolute as she nodded to herself. She turned back to the entity afterward. “Send me back,” she ordered.

Alpha chuckled at her words. It was a strange sound when coming from someone so distorted. “Y̴o̸u̷ ̶s̵e̴e̴m̸ ̴t̷o̸ ̷m̵i̶s̸u̷n̷d̵e̵r̷s̷t̴a̸n̴d̷ ̵s̸o̶m̸e̷t̴h̸i̵n̴g̷.̴ ̸I̵ ̶d̶i̵d̵n̷’̶t̷ ̶b̶r̷i̶n̸g̴ ̸y̸o̸u̸ ̵h̸e̸r̶e̵,̸ ̶a̴n̸d̷ ̵I̸’̴m̶ ̸s̷u̸r̵e̵ ̴y̸o̷u̷’̴r̴e̴ ̴s̴m̵a̶r̴t̴ ̶e̷n̶o̶u̸g̵h̴ ̴t̴o̸ ̶f̵i̷g̴u̴r̶e̵ ̴o̴u̸t̴ ̴w̴h̸o̶ ̴d̷i̴d̵.”

Recognition flashed in the young woman’s eyes. “I did.”

“C̴o̸r̶r̶e̵c̵t̶.̶ ̵Y̸o̷u̸ ̶a̴r̸e̷ ̴n̵o̷t̶ ̷d̵e̶a̷d̵,̴ ̷n̵o̵t̵ ̸q̴u̷i̵t̶e̶ ̴a̷n̷y̷w̶a̶y̶s̴,̵ ̶b̷u̵t̴ ̶t̸h̷e̷ ̵a̴t̸t̶a̴c̵k̶ ̶y̷o̶u̶ ̸t̶o̵o̴k̷ ̶a̷l̴o̸n̷g̴s̶i̸d̸e̴ ̶y̷o̴u̶r̷ ̴w̷i̶s̵h̷ ̶t̴o̵ ̷r̴e̶s̸t̵,̷ ̴t̵o̵ ̶d̴i̷e̵,̷ ̴p̷u̷t̷ ̶y̵o̶u̸ ̶i̸n̸ ̷a̶ ̵s̴o̴r̷t̴ ̸o̸f̶ ̸l̸i̷m̶b̶o̵ ̶s̴t̸a̵t̶e̸,” the being explained. “Y̵o̶u̷’̵r̷e̷ ̵b̴u̶r̵i̵e̴d̶ ̸w̷i̴s̶h̴ ̸t̴o̶ ̴l̴i̶v̵e̷ ̶i̸s̸ ̷w̶h̶a̷t̴ ̸h̷a̸s̸ ̷k̴e̵p̶t̴ ̶y̴o̷u̵ ̴i̸n̸ ̴t̶h̷i̸s̴ ̷s̷t̷a̴t̴e̶ ̸f̵o̸r̶ ̴s̶o̶ ̴l̸o̴n̶g̵.̸ ̸B̵u̶t̴…̸”

“Since it’s no longer buried, nothing’s stopping me from going back,” she finished with a determined look.

“T̶h̵a̴t̶ ̷l̶o̴o̵k̸ ̸i̶n̵ ̵y̵o̶u̴r̸ ̴e̷y̵e̸s̷,̶ ̴I̵ ̶l̵i̸k̴e̸ ̶i̷t̶ ̵m̸u̶c̵h̴ ̴b̴e̴t̸t̸e̸r̷ ̸t̶h̵a̵n̵ ̷t̴h̶e̵ ̷o̸n̴e̶ ̵y̶o̶u̷ ̵h̶a̴d̵ ̸b̷e̶f̷o̷r̴e̶,” the entity commented.

Azura turned around at that and began walking. “I’d say this was fun, but you and I both know that’d be a lie. Still,” she continued as she stopped to glance back at Alpha, “thanks, for everything.”

With that said, the Outsider turned back around and continued her march. With each step, she faded more and more out of view. Step after step until eventually there was nothing within the void except the entity.

Alpha sighed a weary sigh after a few moments. “S̵͖̫̓ȯ̵̻͝m̴͚͋̂ḛ̴̡̋͋ ̵͇̮̎͑t̴̹̫͛h̴͇̋̀͜i̶̳̘̇͌n̶̠̘̏̈́g̶̢̖̿̈́s̵̗̍͝ ̴̦̅n̴͔̤̊͛e̴̟͔̐̇v̴̪̔̐e̷̟͝r̸̰͇̈͌ ̶̛̜ͅċ̸͔͝h̷̘͙̋̐a̴̼͝n̴̡̞̆̉g̶̯̝͌̚ë̸̲̻́̔.̸̞͉̀ ̵̡̼̃͗D̸͓͂͂õ̶̤n̸̛͎͂’̵̖̘͌t̷̺͈̏̑ ̴̪̿y̶̲̯̋̀o̶͖͆͝u̵͚̜͗ ̵̬̱̀a̵̭͋̌g̴̙̙͒r̸̻̭̋̊è̸͕̱e̷̥͕̍̿?̸͈̾”

==========
USJ- Central Plaza

It was weird to be conscious again after all of that, but Azura made it work. She figured she’d be groggy, but the moment her eyes snapped open she felt all of her power surge almost uncontrollably inside of her. Oh well, she’d take what she could get to take down the damn Noumu.

She broke free from the rubble she was buried within and jumped down to the plaza proper. A cloud of dust and smoke billowed around her as she landed.

“That’s new,” she muttered as she looked down at her right arm in confusion after she had landed.

Instead of the blue bodysuit and gauntlets she had expected, she saw that the bodysuit was torn up to her shoulder. That was a minor detail compared to her now enlarged and blacked arm. It was jagged and slightly warped in a few places. It almost looked demonic to her.

During her observations, she heard a few gasps and exclamations of shock. Reaching out with Soul Sense, she was able to see that most of her classmates had made their way down to the plaza. Whether that was because it was the shortest path to the entrance or they desired to help, Azura didn’t care.

She glared through the smoke at Noumu who was pinning Eraser and Nagant under it. Deciding that she had had enough of the smoke, she brought up her enlarged appendage and swung it down to create an air pressure wave. She was surprised at how strong it was in comparison to her normal output, but she threw any theorizing out the window for the moment.

She had an Anti-All Might Noumu to beat into the dirt after all.

“What?! How are you still alive, you cheater?! No, with that transformation, you’re a hacker?!” Shigaraki called out in a rage.

“Your pet monster is just that weak,” she said in response.

This caused the man-child to lose the last amounts of self control he possessed. “No, no no no noNONO! Noumu, get her!” he screamed.

Noumu, at his command, immediately let Eraser and Nagant go and charged at Azura.

Azura on the other hand felt as if time slowed to a crawl. A grin spit her face as she felt something she hadn’t in a long time…

She felt her blood boil for a fight.

Chapter Text

Several Minutes Earlier

Izuku felt a dark form of satisfaction when his punch connected and he felt the blonde’s nose break in response. Izuku could have easily reset it thanks to his numerous experiences in doing so, but he held himself back.

“Gah! Dammit!” Bakugou yelled as he felt his nose, blood now painting his palm. Bakugou growled after a moment. “You’ll pay for that, Deku!”

Izuku shook his head as the blonde flew in again. Bakugou just doesn’t learn does he? In fact…

“Call it payback for all the times you broke mine!” he called out as he redirected Bakugou’s jab, the resulting explosion going off harmlessly to the side. “You hurt me again and again and again to try to break me down.”

Izuku threw another punch to the blonde’s gut, stunning his opponent. Taking the chance, Izuku went under and around his opponent before bringing his hands together and slamming down on the blonde’s back. Bakugou crumpled to the ground, the greenette’s enhanced slam knocking the air out of him.

“And that’s just a microcosm of the shit you put me through. Day after day, year after year, and for what? Because I tried to help you?” he asked rhetorically. “That is the single dumbest thing I’ve ever heard, and you’ve said a lot of dumb shit over the time we’ve known each other.”

Bakugou struggled to his hands and knees, still gasping for breath as he did so.

“You’ve always wanted to become the greatest Hero, but all you can do is destroy. People, things, friendships, all destroyed by your hands.

“And now, I get it. I understand why you lashed out. Don’t get me wrong, it was still childish and pathetic either way, but you didn’t hurt me because I tried to help you. Because you thought I looked down on you. No. That was just justification to make yourself feel better.

“The fact of the matter is that I was better than you at something. And you hate that. You hate it when anyone is better than you at anything. And you realized it that day, didn’t you? I reached out my hand, and you slapped it away because you knew you’d never do the same for anyone else.

“You realized that I would be a better Hero than you could ever be,” he finished with an almost cold tone.

Bakugou jumped up in a rage, finger ready to pull the pin on one of his gauntlets, but Izuku gripped it with his left hand and broke the gauntlet’s outer armor and structure with a much larger burst of power before it could fire. While Bakugou was still able to pull the pin, the damage the gauntlet had sustained had forcefully activated a safety feature which sealed the container for his sweat, lest it potentially backfire and kill him.

Bakugou looked on in shock and rage as his ultimate weapon did nothing. Izuku took advantage of his momentary pause and socked the blonde in the face again.

Bakugou fell backwards onto the ground again as he instinctively covered the area that was hit.

Izuku held his left wrist as he felt the pain from the smaller fractures that had formed in his bones. It wasn’t as bad as when he last broke some bones with One for All, but he realized he couldn’t use that hand anymore lest he break it entirely.

“You idolized All Might for his raw strength,” Izuku continued, “but when he showed you he was much more than his strength, when he punished you, any admiration you had for him turned to animosity.

“That just shows how weak you are.”

“I’m not weak!” Bakugou growled out in pain as he forced himself back up.

His stance was off, his body weary and his mind clouded due to the fight and his rage. Izuku wasn’t much better, but at least he could say his mind was much clearer than it had ever been.

“Real Heroes put themselves on the line to save people! All you do is whine when something doesn’t happen the way you want! Azura saved me, took that hit for me when I was too scared to move! All you did was throw a temper tantrum when you didn’t get your way!”

“Shut up!” Bakugou yelled as he took a slightly sluggish step forward.

“And I know for a fact,” Izuku started again while memories of his idol, his mentor, flowed through his mind, “that real Heroes get back up no matter how bad the situation is!”

At that, he looked up at the ruined building she had been launched into. He knew she might be hurt, but he had faith that she’d be okay. “Isn’t that right, Azura?!” he screamed.

A deranged laughter overtook the plaza. Everyone, including the students who had made their way towards the center, turned their heads to see Shigaraki just standing there as he calmed down from his bout of laughter. “Oh please! Your friend is dead or dying because of Noumu! If you honestly think that she’s-“

A loud blast interrupted the mad villain. As everyone tried to find the source, the air began to tingle as if it had been electrified. Moments later, something bursted from the building Azura had been thrown into and crashed down onto the plaza floor. Smoke clung to the mysterious figure as Izuku felt hope rise within him. As he observed however, he felt a growing sense of confusion as the silhouette of the woman he saw was… off.

Before he could contemplate much further, the figure swiped its enlarged appendage and dispelled the smoke and dust with a great burst of air pressure.

Azura stood defiantly in front of the villains with her scarf billowing in the wind, although her form was altered. First and foremost was her blackened and enlarged right arm, the appendage slightly warped and jagged as if it was ripped from a demon and replaced what was once there. Black lines tapered off and slithered up the rest of her body towards her face. Said lines crossed over her closed right eye and into a large streak of her hair that had now been whitened to that of snow. After the smoke had cleared, her eyelids flew open to reveal her now mismatched eyes. Her right eye was red instead of its normal blue as a streak of red lightning continuously pulsed from it.

And that grin on her face, it wasn’t evil or malicious, but it still sent a shiver down Izuku’s spine as short bouts of red and blue lightning danced off of her skin.

“What?! How is an NPC like you still alive, you cheater?! No, with that form, you’re a hacker!” Shigaraki called out in a rage after getting over his shock. Izuku could have sworn he saw a vein showing on his forehead.

Azura’s wicked grin grew even more for a moment before she finally spoke. “Your pet monster is just that weak.”

This caused the man-child to lose the last of whatever self control he possessed as he stomped his feet and flailed his arms as if he were having a temper tantrum before pointin an accusatory finger. “No, no no no noNONO! Noumu, kill her!”

[Recommended Music: This is a Fight to Change the World]
[ https://youtu.be/E-B4WRi1BK8 ]

Izuku suddenly swiveled his head when he heard the noise of something hitting the ground. He spotted his present and former teachers laying on the ground below the beaked monster. The next moment he saw it get on all fours and let out a piercing roar before breaking out into a mad dash towards its new target, each step of its stride sounding as if a shot was fired from a cannon.

Before it could get too far, the multicolored lightning around Azura intensified as she returned its gesture in kind and met its charge, said lightning spiraling behind her as she ran. She reared her demonic arm back as she was primed and ready for the initial clash.

Tension grew as the two titan neared each other, Noumu bringing up its own arm to smash her into the ground. Noumu was first to strike, its bulky appendage swinging down to cause an air pressure wave that made Izuku feel his very bones quake…

But its attack only met open air as Azura ducked under the punch mere moments before contact. Her fist did not slow as her attack soon found purchase in its neck, the other side distorting for even a moment despite its durability. Rather than uselessly stop the punch or let the monster fly off, Azura instead hooked her arm and slammed the beaked monstrosity’s massive body into the ground.

The resulting crash caused a sizable crater and upended several chunks of rubble. Some of the students and other watchers nearby all lost their balance at the shockwave alone. The sheer force of the blow caused the blackened body of the noumu to bounce from the new crater.

Before the monster even had a chance to think of counterattacking, Azura brought its neck into a death grip so strong that it began to bleed as she then hoisted it up. With a single full spin, she hurled the creature into the building she was in but moments ago.

The body of the monster became lodged within the brickwork before the currently-dual haired young woman let out a wordless battle cry as she leaped to follow. The resulting crash deepend the crater before they busted into the building entirely, thus hiding them both from view.

Heavy blow after heavy blow was exchanged as bursts of air and small quakes originated from the building. A shockwave directed downwards proved to be the building’s end as it began to collapse mere moments later.

At the same time, something was thrown from the building. Izuku realized a moment later that it was someone as he recognized Azura’s distinctive features. As the building began to collapse, Noumu leaped from after her, intent on following its orders to end her life.

Up in the air, Azura looked down at the noumu following after her with a wicked grin plastered on her face. She couldn’t discern whether it was the chaotic rush of battle or the tidal wave of energy that threatened to burst from under her skin, but she felt excitement beyond anything she had previously conceived. She felt alive! That thought brought a warning that her adoptive mother tried to hammer into her to the forefront of her mind.

Azura never considered herself much of a battle junkie, but then she realized that, in addition to not really having a need or want to fight before her reincarnation, she hadn’t had much of a challenge when it came to a straight up fight. Thanks to the training and practice she had done in secret, she had already become quite powerful before and during her physical rehabilitation. With all of that in mind, she had decided that yes, she might be a bit of a battle junkie.

Her mind flashed back to the present as she saw the noumu closing in. “I’m in danger if I don’t go all out against you,” she said to no one in particular. “Tch, fine! I was hoping to save some of these, but for you I’ll make an exception! Requiem: Tempest!”

With that as her battle cry, she threw her normal sized appendage out in a sweeping motion downward to reposition herself. As the Noumu got closer, she focused her strength as she repeated the action with her enlarged arm.

”Requiem - Exceed: Hurricane!” The move momentarily caused a mini tornado to form before the pressure wave made contact with the monstrosity, the result of such an action sending it hurtling back down to the plaza. More debris and dust were kicked up as a consequence, but Azura didn’t have time to think too much on it.

Thanks to Newton’s third law, she now had a little time before she truly needed to worry about her descent. Her thoughts then turned to the living weapon itself. ”Shock Absorption is a much bigger pain in the ass than I thought. Still, quirks like it only affect the skin and outermost layers of muscle tissue,” she muttered to herself as she continued to fall. She glanced at her jagged arm for a moment. “Blunt attacks aren’t going to work unless I burn the quirk out, but…”

As she approached the ground, she fired off another Tempest to cushion her fall towards the Mountain Zone and land far more softly than she would have. The ground still shook a bit upon impact, but that was neither here nor there.

The villains, who were beginning to recover from their fight with the previous group of students, stood stock still at the terrifying visage of her demonic and crazed appearance. Due to the feats they had all just bore witness to, they each prayed to whatever gods that potentially existed for her to not turn that power on them. Their prayers were answered and many new faithful zealots were born when she didn’t pay them any mind as she quickly dashed away back to her enemy.

Said enemy had only just began pulling itself free of the newly formed crater as Azura abruptly reappeared on top of it, red eye almost blazing with power. “Let’s try this on for size! Impact!”

She threw another punch, but this one was different as instead of clenching her hand into a fist, her fingers were clenched around their middle knuckles, allowing for a smaller attack area. This was further enhanced due to her arm’s more spiked and jagged exterior, the attack piercing the skin with only slight difficulty. Without much thought, she let out a short cackle that conveyed both a sense of success and her battle mania.

“Ooh, I think I felt some ribs crack,” she commented with a grin as she reared her arm back again. ”Combo: Jackhammer!”

Her attack changed to a barrage of Impacts instead of the solitary strike. Her unaltered left hand couldn’t penetrate the skin, but that didn’t mean it was useless as it helped prevent the biological horror under her from immediately regenerating.

Every strike allowed her to get just a little bit deeper as viscera began to coat her. The ground below them groaned before cracks began to form under Noumu as she essentially became a living jackhammer. Dust and debris were kicked up with each sequential blow, blocking Izuku’s sight of the situation. This trend continued for a few seconds straight until all of it was suddenly blown away.

The living Anti-All Might weapon seemed to have finally come back to whatever senses it had left and reacted by swinging a wild left hook aimed at Azura. She blocked it with her right arm, but she found it a struggle to stay on her feet with the amount of pressure it put behind its attack. Even as she pushed back, Noumu slowly began to rise from the crater.

When it stood at its full height once more, cracks began to form under her feet and her legs shook as the Noumu used all of its strength and weight to crush her. Slowly but surely it began to push her back and down.

Before the berserking birdbrain could wisen up and use its other arm, Azura reorientated her arm to force the noumu’s fist to scrape across. The blast wave alone planted several people in its path flat on their backs. She took the opportunity to slip inside its guard and deliver a solid left hook to the side of its head as a prize. This stunned the monster just long enough for Azura to slip her occupied arm away from her enemy.

“Let’s up the ante!” she called out as she focused what power she could into her fist. Her multicolored lightning flared before she directed her strike at the noumu’s diaphragm. “Exceed: Grand Slam!”

In the instant of contact, the back of Noumu seemingly bubbled due to the incredible force behind the punch. Finishing the uppercut, Azura had lifted Noumu off of its feet and hurled it backwards into the area between the Mountain and Conflagration Zones.

It violently flailed before it hit the ground rolling just as violently. It soon threw one of its sizable hands out to find purchase and bring itself to a stop. As it did so, Azura felt her body suddenly stutter as one of her legs momentarily gave out.

“Shit,” she gasped out as she hunched over, her vision blurry for a second. “I’m running on fumes,” she whispered to herself as she brought herself back up to a standing position.

“If this keeps up, I won’t even be conscious for much longer.” Taking a moment to recollect herself, she brought her changed hand into her view. “I couldn’t do it before, but with this… No time like the present!”

Over with Izuku, he was absolutely astonished at the sheer speed and power the bluenette had displayed. Noumu was apparently meant to go head to head against the likes of All Might, but she was able to somehow match it.

He was violently ripped from his thoughts when he heard Azura let out a gutteral scream. The red and blue lightning that had danced around her before began to surge beyond anything he had seen previously. Scorch marks and molten slag formed where the lighting struck.

She threw her arms out to both sides as if basking in the chaos of red and blue light. After a few moments, her arms pulsed as light began to flow from her clenched fists. She suddenly opened them to reveal small orbs of pure energy. Her fingers twitched, as if they struggled to contain what they were holding. A few seconds later she suddenly and forcefully brought them together.

”Requiem:…” she growled out as she saw the noumu finally find its grip and halt its movements. Not even a second later and it began its charge anew with a screech as its battle cry.

Her right arm split off with the even larger ball of energy. She straightened it out before throwing it back in front of her. She directed her left arm to brace her other appendage as best it could before taking a deep breath and bracing her whole body.

“This is gonna hurt,” she whispered to herself as she saw the walking corpse continue its desperate charge. She took one last deep breath to settle her nerves.

”POINTBREAK!!!”

For a second, a state of total quiet and stillness overcame the battlefield as the orb surged and pulsed.

Chaos reigned supreme a second later as the massive amount of energy she had collected and contained suddenly found release. Instead of a typical explosion however, all of that restrained energy was directed in a single direction. It’s target: the noumu right in front of her.

As the beam made contact, Noumu’s skin began to bubble at the heat. It struggled to hold its ground, said ground heating up and deforming as well. As the act against nature attempted to take another step in defiance, it’s feet slipped, sending it along the beam.

Her captive audience stared on, slack-jawed or bug-eyed as they witnessed the living weapon be consumed by light. What energy was left over went through and obliterated the wall to the USJ.

And as the roar of energy calmed down, even as the ground still sizzled and popped as a result of the beam’s very existence, an uncomfortable stillness was brought to the area.

[MUSIC END]

Moments passed as silence overtook everyone. The strength and power she had displayed beforehand was astonishing, but that last attack was something else entirely.

Izuku broke from his revelry and turned his gaze to Azura, a hopeful smile growing on his face. Concern began to grow within him however as he saw her ferociously gritting her teeth. An instant later and her transformation seemingly reversed itself as she reverted to her original form. And then…

It happened.

Blood exploded from Azura’s arm as she screamed out in pain. It only lasted for a second before she lost her balance and began to fall. Izuku, despite his own injuries, powered up Full Cowling far faster than he had ever done before and dashed to her side. When he caught her, he took in the mangled state of her arm.

Blood from fresh wounds covered it. Bones were either misaligned or broken outright, and what skin he could see was turning a dark purple.

Izuku faintly remembered the similarities of what happened to him when he overdid it during the Entrance Exam.

“No, no no no nononoNONONO!”

The screams of rage and disbelief drew everyone’s attention to the blue-haired man child that commanded the monstrosity. “You cheated! You’re a cheating cheater! A hacker! AND HACKERS NEED TO BE BANNED!!!” he screeched out as he charged at the pair.

Despite his lanky and thin frame, he was quite fast on his feet as he held his hands out, the man primed and ready to reduce his target to nothing but ash and dust.

A large wall of ice sprouted up in front of him. He tried to decay it, the ice rapidly evaporating bit by bit, but more just kept growing in its place.

Off to the side, Todoroki kept his foot planted into the ground to keep regenerating the ice. It was a little annoying as the man he stopped kept screaming like a child, but letting some of his classmates die would be troublesome. He wasn’t entirely sure on what had just happened despite having seen it for himself, but he knew that the weapon the villains from before had spouted on about wasn’t an issue anymore.

Izuku was relieved to see the crazed man no longer charging at them and turned his attention back to Azura. He gently laid her down to administer first aid and stop the bleeding. He rummaged through his belt and found some medical tape and bandages. He scowled as the amount wasn’t nearly enough.

Momo ran up to them and knelt down on the other side of Azura. “I should have more than enough lipids to help her,” she said mostly to herself as she began making a splint and arm binder. She’d rather make a cast, but that was dangerous without resetting the bones properly.

As they worked Azura began to weakly chuckle before lightly gasping. “We’ve got you,” Izuku said in a comforting tone. “It’s over, you won.”

“That’s not why I’m laughing,” the bluenette weakly replied. After she took a few strained breaths before she finally clarified. “I missed.”

Just then a burst of air pressure happened behind Izuku that sent several pieces of rubble flying. He instinctively covered the injured woman under him for a few moments before the blast wave subsided. When he looked back, his eyes widened in shock.

Noumu hadn’t been particularly pleasant to look at before with its disproportionate upper body and exposed brain. Now it looked as if it came from a nightmare.

Heat blisters and scorch marks covered its body. In several places, its skin no longer existed as pure muscle was exposed. Its blood dripped down its body and created a pool of red below it. The most stark difference to before was the charred stump that used to be its right arm.

Shigaraki cheered as he saw his precious pet seemingly return to the land of the living like an even more demented retelling of “Pet Sematary.” The man-child then became confused.

“Kurogiri, why isn’t Noumu regening?” he asked the smoky man who appeared next to him.

“I am unsure, Shigaraki Tomura.”

“That thing’s Hyper Regeneration is a huge pain in the ass. The thing is that it needs living cells in order to work,” Azura began to weakly explain.

“But if you were to kill and carbonize the cells, the injury would be permanent,” Izuku finished as his eyes went wide.

“I went for the head, but…” the bluenette trailed off.

“Hush, save your strength. We’ll get you out of here. Can you stand?” Momo interrupted. As she finished binding the injured arm to her torso.

Azura shook her head. “It’s taking everything I’ve got just to stay awake.”

“Izuku,” the ravenette called.

At the mention of his name, he picked the bluenette up under her knees and back in a princess carry and began to move. “It won’t be comfortable, bu-“

“Just shut up and keep moving,” the bluenette in his arms commanded through gritted teeth.

Shigaraki finally realized what was happening as he saw the three fleeing. “What? Wait! Noumu, get-!” he began before an incredibly loud boom interrupted him.

He and everyone else redirected their gazes up to the main entrance where the imposing form of All Might stood. And unlike his usual appearance, he was not smiling.

As the mountain of a man looked down upon the plaza, he witnessed the end result of the pure carnage that had taken place. The craters, the dust, the rubble, and most importantly the long streak of scorch marks and cooled slag that led to a large hole in the side of the dome.

At the same time he took stock of the students. About a dozen or so were down by the center with the rest behind him at the entrance. His TA was taking charge and bandaging Thirteen up as best she could. Those down in the plaza didn’t look too worse for wear either until he saw Azura in Izuku’s arms.

Rage sparked inside of him as he tore off his tie. One second he prepared to move. The next saw him standing between Shigaraki and a majority of the students.

“Do not fear, for I am here.” The same inspiring message he used every day was said in a far more sinister tone than normal. Even the students shivered at the words.

Shigaraki slowly began an increasingly maddening cackle. “All Might, I knew you’d show up! Noumu, kill him instead!”

Despite the distance, Noumu heard and obeyed as it quickly, though noticeable more sluggishly, towards All Might as it let out a defeating screech.

As it went in for a lunge, All Might gripped it by its wrist and threw it back where it came from. All Might, despite his showmanship tendencies, wasn’t a fan of tricks. He was making an exception at the moment due to the presence of his students. He’d gladly dirty his hands in any way to protect them.

“You all need to get out of here. I will handle whatever this thing is.”

He was about to dash away when the injured Azura called for him. “You need to throw it. Get it as far away from here as possible,” she stated weakly.

Izuku looked down at her questioningly as well before his eyes widened. “That thing, Noumu, it’s essentially mindless in that it only follows whatever commands it’s given. But if it can’t receive or complete it’s commands, then…”

“I see. I’d rather finish this quickly anyways,” he called out as the living nightmare fuel charged again.

All Might didn’t even give it a chance to do anything else as he charge at it head on, gripped its wrist again, and hurled it with much greater strength than before. The resulting crash into the dome caused the metal to ripple under the sheer force of the collision as Noumu was sent hurtling out of the USJ.

Shigaraki and Kurogiri hadn’t realized what had happened until they heard the dome of the USJ give way.

“What the-“ he almost questioned before he turned around. “Kurogiri, bring it back!” Shigaraki demanded.

“I am unable to, Shigaraki Tomura. It is moving too far too fast.” The man-child only let out an enraged scream in response.

“If that’s all there is, I suggest you surrender immediately. Nothing good will come if you continue to fight,” All Might suggested as he reappeared on the plaza. Something nagged at the back of Toshinori’s mind until realization hit him. “Wait, Young Bakugou, what are you doing here?”

Bakugou was shaken from his thoughts as his name was called. As for why he was so quiet before, Azura’s explosive entrance caused him to grin as he realized one of his targets wasn’t actually dead. The proceeding battle and display of sheer power shook him to his core.

In quick succession, Izuku had denounced him and insulted his very being, and then he was completely shown up when Azura operated on a similar level to All Might.

That, combined with the events of the past few days, put his ego in a very precarious position.

Before he could get a word out however, someone answered for him.

“I believe he appeared alongside the villains at the start of all of this,” Momo answered with a slightly angered tone.

All Might looked back to the blonde in shock. “Young Bakugou,” he said with a pained voice. “You would work alongside villains to kill your former classmates? Why?”

“Why shouldn’t I?!” he questioned, a hint of desperation entering his voice. All the bravado that had been built up within all his life was now crumbling under his feet without him even realizing it.

The blonde suddenly pointed at Izuku and Azura. “Those two have been looking down at me this entire time, but I’m the one who got their life ruined. Thrown out of the Hero Course, forced under probation, and then I was thrown away like yesterday’s trash!”

All Might noticed the young man becoming a bit more frantic as he spoke. “‘Thrown away’? Young Bakugou, what are you talking about?”

“As if you don’t know,” the blonde mocked. “I’m stronger than the both of them combined! But no, they decided to get in my way, and I was going to show them what good little pebbles do when they get in their better’s way.”

“Young Bakugou, your words are not that of a Hero, but of a villain.”

And that, those words, were the tipping point.

“I AIN’T A DAMN VILLAIN!” Bakugou screeched as he charged on pure instinct.

“DAMN YOU ALL MIGHT!” Shigaraki, finally pulled from the stupor caused by the definitive lose of Noumu, charged as well.

All Might changed his stance to retaliate as the two approached him with open palms. He would not let his successor and his friends be hurt any more today.

They were interrupted by two gun shots. The first was far closer and louder, and it led to Shigaraki’s left knee effectively exploding. The second much quieter one happened a second later and hit Bakugou in the shoulder of his forward facing arm from a completely different angle.

Shigaraki fell face first onto the floor as he screamed in pain while Bakugou yelped and stumbled.

All Might, looking for the sources of each shot, found a beaten-up Nagant being supported by Eraserhead who was aiming at the fallen blue-haired man-child. Glancing up the stairs, he spotted someone dressed as a cowboy with a smoking revolver. All Might’s smile grew as he saw all of the people standing next to the cowboy, or as he’s most commonly referred to, Snipe.

The UA faculty had arrived to finish the fight.

“I suppose it is best that you take my offer. Surrender,” he stated to the two.

Before either of the injured men could respond, Kurogiri moved and covered the two. All Might dashed to do something about the situation, but before he knew it, all three of them had vanished. He sighed in disappointment.

“A shame they got away, but we have more important matters to attend to,” came a squeaky voice. Toshinori turned to see his boss on Cementoss’s shoulder.

Toshinori only hummed in response.

“It is best that you check the perimeter. We wouldn’t want to run out of time and let any other villains get away, would we?” he pointedly asked.

The blonde nodded silently and leaped up to the entrance before dashing out. He was pushing himself as is, and they both knew what would happen if he tried to go too far.

Nezu clapped his paws to get everyone’s attention as some of the staff he brought with him descended the stairs. Some stayed in the plaza and handcuffed villains while the rest split off to do the same in other areas.

“Alright students. I know today must have been difficult for all of you, so if you please, make your way back to the entrance and wait for the police and emergency services to get here. For those of you who cannot make their way up the stairs, please gather around Cementoss.”

The diminutive Dean leaped from the cement man’s shoulder before strolling over to the injured Nagant. “I would say ‘good afternoon’ to you two, but I understand that it has been anything but. Aizawa, if you would please give us some privacy. I wish to speak to Tsutsumi for a moment.”

The messy-haired man tiredly nodded as he made his own way up the stairs. After a few moments to make sure no one was listening, one of them finally broke the silence.

“Where the hell were you?” she not-so-kindly demanded.

Nezu sighed before speaking. “It seems that I miscalculated. Azura told me that I was originally lecturing All Might on proper attendance and teaching philosophy during the USJ. Instead of watching the situation, I believed I could copy my other self’s speech without issue. I went overboard, leading me to not realize the situation until Young Iida was almost to the main part of campus.”

With how long the woman had worked directly under the mammal, she knew he felt immensely guilty by his tone of voice alone. Despite the difference in species, he was very protective of all of his students. He, Kaina, and Azura all agreed that, while they could avoid the USJ entirely, the early look at real villainy would help 1-A in the long run. A necessary sacrifice to improve their chances.

He would punish himself more than enough for his late entrance.

Kaina smirked a little after a moment. “She’s gonna kick your ass for this, you know that right?”

The chimera shivered at her statement before he made eye contact, fear evident in his beady eyes. “The mother or the daughter?”

Kaina chuckled. She did not envy her boss.

Minutes passed as the students made their way outside of the USJ. The brightness of daylight contrasted the dark moments that they had just experienced. As the students began to relax, some of them stumbled and fell to the ground out of pure exhaustion as the adrenaline in their bodies finally tapered out.

As Izuku exited the building with Azura still in his arms, police cars and ambulances had parked and the people within all dispersed to deal with the aftermath.

Policemen ran by him and into the building as several paramedics approached Izuku and directed him to set the bluenette in his arms down on a gurney on the ground. Recovery Girl approached in order to begin healing the worst of the injuries and to aid recovery.

The elderly woman approached him first while the medics undid the binder to give them a better idea of what they were working with. As they finally spotted the arm in question, several cursed or made comments.

“Holy shit!”

“How the hell is this girl still conscious?”

“Doesn’t matter! She needs to be healed or she might lose the arm entirely!”

This naturally caught Chiyo’s attention as she gave Izuku a quick peck on the cheek, the boy’s left hand tingling as the bone fractures healed.

“My word,” she gasped out as she got a better look. “Azura, do you still have any energy left?” The young woman in question merely shook her head.

“We might have to amputate then,” one of the medics commented.

“Wait, why did you ask if she had any energy?” Izuku hurriedly asked.

Recovery Girl turned to the boy to explain. “As you know, my quirk drains a person’s stamina in order to heal as the body needs energy to recover. What we’ve found is that Azura here can substitute that stamina with energy in her stockpile. Like a backup battery of sorts.”

“But because she doesn’t have any…” he continued before trailing off.

Chiyo nodded solemnly in response.

His eyes widened before his head slumped. If she lost her arm, it could set her back from becoming a Pro Hero for years, if she even wants to become one after today. Izuku brought a hand up to his chin as he began to think.

She needed energy, and a lot of it, to be healed enough to save her arm. She could most likely produce that energy with enough time and fuel, but they don’t have either of those at the moment.

“Izuku… energy…” a voice softly rasped out. The boy in question glanced down at his friend who held her working arm up.

His mind flashed back to the Battle Trials as he looked down at his own open palm.

“If she absorbed energy from something, would that replenish her stockpile?” he asked suddenly.

“Hmm? Yes, but why do you ask?”

Red lines surged across his body for a moment before green lighting began to dance around him. He kneeled down and cradled Azura’s left hand in between his own. Chiyo’s eyes widened in understanding as she batted the concerned medics back before they could interrupt.

“Come on Azura, you can do it,” he encouraged as he felt her grip tighten.

Slowly but surely, he saw her own blue lightning begin to spark into existence. The bolts were small and sparse at first, but they grew in size and number as the seconds went on.

After a moment, something strange happened. A bolt from each of them met dead on, the whole combined streak turning rainbow at the moment of contact before fizzling out.

As it happened, instead of seeing his injured friend lying on the verge of unconsciousness, he instead saw eight figures. Seven were completely solid and facing away from him while the eighth, biggest, and the most familiar one seemed almost ethereal in consistency with its head turned to look back at him.

Just as soon as it was there, the vision left as he once again looked down at the bluenette. Recovery Girl entered his vision as she and a few of the medics repositioned her bones and muscles before UA’s primary doctor extended her lips out and pecked Azura on the cheek.

Izuku watched as the arm reformed, as bones reconnected and muscle grew to fill in the previous gaps. He was simultaneously fascinated and revolted at the sight. He felt the hand in his grip go slack as her own lightning died down back to nothing.

He looked back to her arm to see that it still wasn’t fully healed, but it was in much better condition regardless.

“Her blood pressure is rising again, but she still needs a transfusion,” one of the medics commented as he gripped Azura’s upper arm.

“Bandage her arm up and get her to UA’s infirmary immediately!” Recovery Girl ordered.

Azura felt herself be lifted as her hand left Izuku’s grasp before she was loaded into the back of a nearby ambulance. Her tired eyes continued to stare into the greenette’s own forest colored orbs even as she was loaded in and the doors closed.

It wasn’t until she heard the siren and the gentle vibrations that signaled a vehicle in motion did she finally let herself succumb to the warmth of unconsciousness.

[Shameless plug for another story I’m writing. You don’t wanna read it? Just skip it. Free will is fun.]

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̴̛̙̰̦͎̩̜͌͌̉́͗̈͊̽͐̀̃̒͆̅͐͛͗̔̚̕͝͝n̷̨̲͖̪͍̗͎͍̳̰̉͘ḧ̵̢̧̨̨͉̜̱̯̝̦̲̘̣̰̦̲͇̟̦͚͚̫̟͖̟͚͈͕̺͕́͋͋̽̔͌́̕͜͠x̷̧̨̡̨̨̛̛̟̟͎̭̬̟̥̦̱̳̟̞̮̪̟̪̻̭̮̻̙̰̣͖̹̦̭͙̙̩̳͕͓̯̀̀̒́͌̑̓͊̈́̃͑̅̇̋͆̌̋̄̈́̓̀͑͒̌̎̓́̔̑͛̽͘̚̕͠͝ͅͅh̶̡͍͔̺͓͉̠̟̬͈͓̠̥͙̯͇̤̩̑̓̐̏͆̈́͊̊̄͑̐͗́̋͋͐̀̎̈́͐͜͠M̵͇͚͈̭͔̮̭̙̬͔̩̞̭̺̭͔̭̖͖̈́̈́̈́͠͠z̴̧̛̛̪̦̬̯͙̩̼̈́̆͌̃̈̀̍̍́̀́́̍͆̈́̍̔̈́̃̑̊̾́̅̌͆̈́̿̀͂͐͌͐̉̑́̅̓̄̈́̀̓̕̚̚̚͜͜͝͝b̴͇͕͇̥͚͛̍̀͑͜Ņ̸̢̢͈̟̪̝̲̯̼̯̖͉̹̠̺̱̱͚̝̋̋Ņ̸̣͍͈̼̯̥͚̤̬͍͎̫͚̘̼͙͖̤̮̮̈́͐̎͆̿̓̏̈́͂̀̐̿̑͆̽̕͜͜͝͝b̶̢̧̨̼̯̘̮̟͈̮̦̯̼̩̤̣͚̠̝̠̆̌͂̈̂̈͆̊̒̈́̈́̆͗̾̎͒̀̏͗̅̇́͛͐̾̈͆̍̀͐͝͝s̶̥͍͈̹͈̯̜͙̀̋͛͋̒̎̂͛̋̎͒͂̀̄̇̊͋̎̇̈́̄̀̌̑̽̒͘̚K̸̨̢̢̼̪̳̺̞̺͙̖̫̝̟̠͕͍̬̜̝͚̥̦̗̠͎̼͓̫͎̥̩͉̯͍͇̲͕̂̿̌̀̌̔̄̅̌̊͂̓̀͌́̓͊̽̋̆̈̽̔̾̒̿̾͛̒͛͋͊͘̚̕͘͠͝͝͠͝h̵͎͉͙̥̱̓͗̿̈́̿̑͌̀̇̐̓̒̽̀͝͝s̶̨̬͉̻̥̼͈͓̤̓͊̈͒̈́̊͒̒̂͗̈͑͑͐̈́̆̎̑͑̂́̒̀͋̾̏̈̉̋̃͋̑̕̕͘̕̕̕͝͠͝͠h̴̠̠͈̪̺̗̜̫̝̝̱̙̹̮̼͔̽͐̈͗̑̊̓͂̋͘͠͠k̸̢̡̜͈̖̫̣̲͎̭͓͉̜͗̋̅̎̓͘Z̶̧̡̨̛̻̠̲̱̹͉̫̰͇͇͍̎͋̈́̈́̾̅̈́̾̾̎̇̾̌́̒̋͛͊̂̎̓̈͆̀͑̽̀͋̑͗̈́͛̀͛̌͘͝͝͝ḩ̶̡̨̢̨̮̲̫̟͍̖̜̲̟̗̮͉̲̝̫̲̥̼̺͈̣̮͉̤̰̳͕̖̝̫̖̜̬̅̋̓͂̇͊͆̽͂͗͒͐̊̒́̏͑̕̕͠͝͠ͅͅͅş̴̨̰̠̫̳̘̮͈͚̜͖̮͇̹̬̜͚̲̰̗͔͎͚̭̼̖͔̣̪͕̜̱̹̼͖̔͊̀̀̈͂͒̒̃͊̐̔̃̐̃́̎̇̋͂̂̓͌̍̈́͆̅͂̈̈̀͂̿͐͗̒͗́̊́͘͘͝͝j̴̛̙̪̺̤̟̹̣̞͔̳̺̬̿͂̒͊͗͛̅̂̂̈́͐͑̓̾̏̓̒́̐̄̚͝͝ͅz̸̧̡̛̼͔͚͙̲̱̟̲̰̦̩̥͖̜̖͈͌̉̉̆͗̽́̈́͂̈̿̏͋̍̈̈͋̀̎̈́̏̋̐̽̓̄͊͒̈́͘̕̕͘͝j̶̢̘̬̥͓̤̜̘̱̰͎̮̺̝͖͔̮͙̻̤͖͖̥̞̭̘̺̺̙̺͖̐̑̓̈̌̈́̕͝ą̷̢̛͖͓͓̝͕̬͙̼͔̰͍̗͍̦̱͉̘̖͔̖̰̝̟̩̦͉̱̘̃̃̽̈́́̒͋́͐̂̆̊͜͜͜j̶̨̡̡̡̳͇̜͖̜̭͕̜̫̘͍̪̦̮͍̯̥̬̟͉̈́̀̊̓͐̿̓̂̌̅́́̊̔̏̀̂̽͊̓̒́̐͗͆͒͆̇̾͘̚̕͘͝͝͝͝͝ͅJ̷̨̧̤͇̝̻͍̩̬̖͕̼̟̳͉̠̼̘̻̦̱̹̙͚̰̬͓̠̪͑͑̂͠ͅş̵̧̧̜̥̤̱͙̖̯̤̮̦͈̍̈́
̵̨̨̧̢̞̳͇̞͍̖̫̪̤̰̫̘̥̙̩̪͖͉̜͈͖̗̠̘̠̙͓̗͎̙͙͚͈͑̋̈́͜
̸̢̧̣͙̬̲̰͔͍̟͎̮̬̲̫̔̾̽͋͐̏̃̂͐̈́́̃͗̈́̂̇̄̆͆͑̕͝͠ͅͅK̸̢̡̨̨̡̛̩̝͓̮͔̙̤̰̝̞̪̮͍̗̗͚̼̳̩͖̘̙̺̠̫̣̤̣͗͊͂́̔̔̆̆̒̐̈͛͊͊͜͜͜a̶̢̰̹͉͙̖̻̭̮̫̯̪̗͕̦͋̒̊͛̅̃͊̃́̃̊̾͜ͅͅḩ̸̨̛̛̛̖̬͚̠͓̞̰̻͓̩̙̥̭̫̠͖̜̻̹̼͎͂̄͊̅̀̎̋̅̒̈́̂̋͌͊͐͑̽͒̔̇̀́̋̍̀͘s̵̨̨̛͓͓̙͇̻͚̞͍̙̩̺̣͓͚͉̙̱̩̖̝͖̮̥͍̩̱̥̜̙̲̘̥̀͗̓̓̓͗̍̚͜͜͝ͅự̵̢̯̹̺̮͇͇̲̈̓͛̂̎̒̿̏͑̈́̌͂̌̋́̋͗̾͗̓̆͌̍̑͑̂̈́̏̕̕͝͠z̶̨̢̛̛̠̀̐̏̊͗̄̍̐̂̆̏́́͆̐̈́͑͂͑̇̔̈́̒͆̃̍̒͑̽̚͘̚̚͝͠͝ͅȨ̷̧̛̛̜̫̳̙̼͔̠̔͋̿̌͑̋̃̀̉͊̀̃́̑̄͋͊̈́͑̉́̚̕͝ḩ̵̨̧̹͚̣̗̟̥̼̲̪̘̺̰̯̭͚̜͚̺̩͔̲̖͇͙͈̬͇̩̝̍̄̆̆̇̓̈̽͋̑̈́̃̆̉͂̇̆̀͒̏̃̋͐̍̊̉͋̚͜͜͜ͅḳ̸̡̛̛̜̻̱̜͖̩̬̳͚͍̝̪̙̟̮̳̟̬̪͍̥͈̅͐̽͆͂̽͆̽̾̏̓̅̈̓͛̃̒̅̄́͊̀̕̚̕͠ͅz̵̨̢̨̛̛̪̹̥͓̩̻͙̜̳͕͕̫̣̥̞̠̗̰̦̠̹̪͚̳̻̯̬̼̪̞̰͔̰̪̞̪̟̤̰̞͓̝̰̉̈́̓̀͌̇̍̐̏͌̑̆̈́̀̂̆̈̈̚͜͜͝ͅz̴̨̨̛̛̖̜̺̥͕̻͚̋̿̈́̆̈́̅͗̒̂̔͑̈̌͛͐́͂͌̄̌͛̓̍̒͛͒̚̚̕̚͜͠͝͝ͅẖ̵̨̢̳͔͚̤͖͓̳̪͖̮̣͕̦͉̳̯͙̺͍͇̦̪̬̩̯͕̳̱̘̘̯͋̈́̏͂̄͌̀̃͗̈́͘̕w̷̧̢̡̛͚̙͙̯̙̦̤̹͉̐̉̀̆́̊́̓̇̽̊̓̃͋̄̆̎̂͊̈̊̈́̇͆̄͝ḩ̸̢̧̛̛̹͉̥̣̠̱͓̲̺̤͓̥͙̺̼̣̮̼̤̼̟̬̟̪͇̰̯̩̰͚̝͚̥̯̥͖͂͑̊́͒̄̂̈́̿̈́͋̆͑̌͗͂̈́̇̃̇̄͐͐́̔̌͑̚͘̕̕͜͜͠ͅn̷̢̡̡̨̛̛̖̼̗̠̮̻̪̱͈̮̣̹̠͔͙͇͙̠͉̣̗͈̰̠̠̗̞̖̟͓̠̥͔̝͉͌́͊͒̔́̂͒͌̋́̏̑͊͒̀̾̔́̄̉̍̄̒̆͂̀̄̆̇̇̍͆̐̋̐̾̆̊̓̒̄̆͂͝͝͝͠ȧ̸̱̠̓̎̌̀̃̄̓̾̽̿̋̃̀̋͝͝j̶̧̨̨̧̧̡̙̘̥̦̼̟̺͓̻̱̥̲̣̼͙̯̮̘̰̜̖̱͈̝̝͖̰̰̭̺̭̝͕̻̣̮̱͚͎͉͛̏͜ͅZ̶̡̨̧̢̢͎̩̺̥̬͖͈̮̝̘̖̟̜͙͕̹̼̙̣̗͔̯̘̹̖͎̱̰̰̹͚̗̠̘͊͛͌̀͜͜ͅh̶̛̠͉̗̘̻̘̦̬̬̳͖̿̌̌͂̎̈̍̽̾̏̈̊͑́̈́͗͛̈͂̍̊̾͊̇̿̅͊̍͂͑̿̕̚̕͝͝ͅW̸̡̡̧͓͓̺͙̙͍͙̰̦̘̞̞͙̝͉̭̺̤͕̩̹̱̙̣̝̬̞͍͈͎̥̘̟̣͈̲̩͔͕̫̦͌̈́̀̉͛̑̂̿̀͛̓̀̅̃͂̅́̀́̆͊͗̋̈́̉̒́̽̓͗̽̚̚̕̚͜͜͝͝ͅͅ ̷̛͔̱͕͗̈̿̍̈́̎̐̈́͐̿͋͐͑̕̚͘͜͝͝͠ ̸̡̢̧̛͙̟̫͖̜̩̥̜̼͕̰͙̣̥̠͖̳̹͖̟̝̥̰̟͉̺͕͕̺̹̗̰̱͋̎̆͌̀̅̎̒͗̐̒͑̌̒͗͒͆̄̿̃̾͒̑̽̿͘̕͜͜͝͠͠͝ͅK̴̡̢̫͉̬̘͔͎̺̣̣̖͍̦̙̦͕̠͖͓͎̦̭̲͕̳̖̪̩̜͓̠̱̺̱̃̂̑͊̄̔̈́̀͊̅̃̇̍̽̾͆̀͆̽͗̄̂̔̾̿̈́̿͒̎̃̀͂̀̒̚͘̕͘͘͘͜͠͠͠͠ͅB̷̧̹͍̲̼̣̞͖̬̩̳͕̳̹̰̝̟̲͍͈̙͉͓͍̗͎̱̜͙̱̪̗͙͈͍̦̑̈́͐͊̔̉̏͆̎̋̈͘̕ͅ ̴̨̢̧̢̛̛͉̜͔̣͙͖͈͎̯͔̖̫͍̘͈͚͖̳̩͙̪̪̘̓̄̀̏̽͆̈́̃̄͛̓͂̋̈́̏̎̍̓̓̽̍̆̆̄͗̈́͒͆̿̍̒̀́̕̚͘͜͝͠͝ͅs̷̡̗͖͕͒̌̊̆̿̏̀̈̍́̏͌̂̈́̒̇̽͐͊͋̏̇̒́̍̋̈́̽̀̉̕͘͘͝ͅ
̷̨̧̝̺̲͎̼̺̞̗̹͎͔͖̯̩̳̠͈̳̻͌̒̀̌̔̐͒̿̀̿̈̂̚̚͝K̸̢̛̛̞͙̼͍̰͇̦̱̰̻͓̣̬͖͓͊̃̓̏̇͗͛͌͒̇͗͂̆̈́̂͐͌̀̓̓͑̂̄̈͒̎̾̑̅̃̋̀̑̾͗̉̏̏̃̽͂̓̇̚̚͝͝͠a̶̢̨̢͖̝̫̱̯̱̦̟̩̜̘͇͎̳̙̻̰̭̱͙̙͚̲͙̳̫̥̯̜͑̾̐̆̽̊͛̂̌̆̂͐͋́̋̒̇͛͆̈́̊̂̈́̿͘̕͜͜ͅj̴̡̬͚̅̂͌͆͑͋͛̇́͐̀͒̽̓̍̐́̇̒͑̎̊̂̎̓̏̋͆̾̑͗̍́͂͊͘͝͝͝͠͠͝͠͝ḋ̵͔͉͓̺̜̬̪͓̳͉̦͖͚͙͈̟̪̤̰ư̵̧̛̬̥̼̹̝͖̙͓̯̟͔̹͍̲̮͖̪̳͔̹̠͓͔͕͕̤͇̟̩̞̲̟̜̋͊̾͌̉̀͋͐̓͑̿̂̀̂̎̂͆̌̊̒̀͑͋͋̃͂̉̀͋̓̾̋̊͌̌̄͜͝͠ẑ̶̧͈̠̤̗͍̦̘͉̫̬̹̩̗͓̑̑͗̐̑͜͜w̴̢̧̪̥̜̱̬̫̦̣̮̫̬̳̹̳̠͓̱̮̰͕̣̺̖̜̩̙̲͙̹̠̻̦̱̼̭͔̮̦̬̓̑͛́̈́̃̆̒̓́̋̓́́̌̓̇̇̃̆̂̅͐̚̚̕͝͠͠j̵̧͖̟̣̣̙̣̙̟̩̫̼̮͓͚̝̯̮̪͈͎̞͔̻̫̣̙̫̘̜̠̙̺͈͈̟̺͍̝̱̓̊̈̓̐́͌̏͒̍͑̄̋̊͐̌͌̿̇͆̈́͐̄̾̔̽̈́̿͐́͆̚̕̚͘̕͜͝͝h̶̨̹̮͉͍͍͓̞̥͈̮̳̀͆̿̌̃̽̈͑͌́͐́͆̚ͅķ̸̧̨̙̞̤̦̦̟̲̞̟͔̥͈̯̖̤͉͕̪͙̼̿͂̌͂̐̂̀̂̾̆̃͑͊͑́͑̒̍͘͜͝͝͠ͅa̷̧̟͓͙̗̯͎̖̯̝̲̮̮̤̬̦̞̟̘̳͉͍̹̫̱̝̰̪̞̝̘͚̬͔̜͖̰̻̼̟̗͑͛̇͒͛͒͛͊̀̽͜͜͝͝ͅḩ̴̧̡̨̢̬̣̯̳͉̩̰͎͚̫̟̹̬̮̗̫̹͖̞̿ḋ̴̢̡̧̧͕̻͍̦͙̭̼̮͚̦̣͙̥̖̳̯̖́̓̍̀͋͆̂̓̏̾͋͋̽͒̎̏̀̽̍̄̀̔̏͂̿̊͋̐̌́̊͊̒̾͌̄̈́̈́̌̕̕͜͠͝͝ͅͅͅ
̷̝́͆̅̏̔͗͂̌̓̽̇̃̐̃̓̆͝͝
̷̨̢̛̛͎͇̜͖͎̗̜̳̞̩͖̞͕̞̖͉̯̳̟̱̙͕̯̱̳̀̈̄̉̀͂̈̍͊̿́̀̀̓̀͗̾̈̌͛̎̀̃̉̓͌̆͒̐̕͘͝͠͝͠͝ͅͅM̵̨̡̡̛̱͎͎͓̗̟̮̟̻̟̼̱̦̖̱͕͔̻͓̰͓͎̜̳̮̝͚̹͚̪̾̑̾̐́͌͂̒̒̈́̃͑̎̇̌̊̐̉͑̃͌̀̀̇̓̽̈́̊̎̀̐̐̒͑̂̅͊͂̚̚͝͝ͅͅͅͅĶ̸̢̛̳͍͖͖̘̬̪̬̯̟̱̜̘̣̘͉͔̭̝̾̽̎̇̓̔͌̌̄̎̊̏͌̀̂̉̓̏͗̍̏͑͐̍̇̍̒̋̈͋̇̈́͗̂͒̇͑̈́̀̕̚̚̕͝͝͝ͅa̷̢̢̨̧͍̬͉̩͈̱̯̪̲͇͕͔͕͙̯̖̖̬̼̣̜̺̦͚͈̳̠̖̬̬̹͓̻̼͓̫͔͉̦̭̜̅̑̽̒̆̀̉̑̅͗̉̐̈̽́̅̿̓̈́͗̂͋̌́̌̋̈́̈́̑̓̕̕͜͝͝ͅͅy̴̡̢̡̻̲̞̝̭̗͉͈̱̯͖̱̠̼̫̥̙̭̙͓͌̽̀̈́̈́̄̚͜͝a̵̛̠̔̐́̅̽́̉̇͗̉̂̀͌̒̾̋́͐̂̎̍͊̒̒͌́͑́̾̀̆͆͒̇̃̆̒̽́̒̂̊̎̚͘͠͝k̶̨̡͔͎̜̩͚͕̦̟͎̣̣̤̅̂͆̃̈͒͛͆͆̒͑̋̾̓̐̎̌̏́̕̚̕̕͝͠͝ͅͅs̵̡̧̡̢̮̩͈̗̥̗͚̺̯̳͇̻̭̞̰̝͔͙̣͔͇̱̖̥͈̩͖̙̜̤̗̳̲̥̟͉̬̜̞̲͈̲͍̔̒̈́́͋̊̐̓͛̆͐̑̓̌̎͋͌͋͌̃́̊̅͋̂̃̍̑̄̂̿̚̕͠͠ͅṳ̶̡̡̢̪͚̬̗͎̣̖̝̬͙̩̻̬̰̱̟͙̪̘̪̯̩͈̖̹̽̾͜ͅķ̴̧̨̨̨̡̯̫̖̯̩̥̗̰̜̯͍̺̦̳̫̤̠̫̘͎͚̟̼̣̰̗̱̜̐̄̂̾͜͝a̴̧̡̡̠͕̯̩̻̦̻̭̻̹̙̫̠̟̱͉͇̍̾̎̌̓̾́̓͝͝j̴̧̛͇͇͎͕̣̲̩͖͙͚̫̭̮̐̇͛͐͒́͗̃̄͌̌̉͂̌̂͌́́̐̂̄̈́̚̕͘͝͝
̶̨̧̨̢̡̢̨̘̠͓̩̘̝̞̦̭̳͈͇͎̯̲̟͎̠̼̫̘͙̯̼͑̐̋̑̎̅͒̀̉̓̆̎́̆̾̅̃̓̍
̵̢̛̛̙̮̩̥̞̯͇̳̱̤̹̩̰̲̅̉̒͒̀̆̈́͋̿̓̈́̌́̒̉͗̏̿̔̾̋̂͑͋̆͐̆̂͠
̵̧̧̨̧̛͙̜̖̲̖̭̯̼̰͎̱̝̝̮̪͎̹̼͙̫͇͙̱̗͇̼͎̺̮̺͖̝̫̼̙̮͓̤̱̟͛͐͒̌͐̅͌̃͋̉̀͌̽̒̊̔̈̅͑̓̔̍͜͠ͅͅ
̶̡̡̛̠͇̦̬̞̬̰̬̲̻̯͙̦̤̳̪̟̘̫̩̙̮̞̻̺̞͔̼͉̺̞̍̀̈͆̅̒̈́̓̽̔̒͗̍̉̽̐̍̈́̅̈̒̉̉̓͂̓̽̅̎̉̐͋̀̐̈́͒̉̾̓̕̚͜͝͝ͅ

Origin.EXE: STARTUP

K̸̙̟̮̖̭͇̪̰̥̘͖͉̖͚̤͍͍̠̓̎̃̀̏͛̌̀̔͛̎̄̐̔̇̓̑͋͑̆̏̐̓̈́̐̄̈̚͜͝ͅh̷̨̧̲̥̞̠̟̱̙̥̺̼̬͕̥̱͎̥̺̦͇͙͓̓͋̒̿̐̈̽̈́͘̕̕͘͘͝z̴̝̖͕̣̪̝͈̭̥͚͎̤̀̓̀͗̌͐̋͑̊̃̽̕͜͝ḱ̷̢̢̪̳͓̦̦͇̤͍͖̪̻͕̦̘͔̩̺͚̙͉̗̼̔̈̃̋̋̌̔̔̏͜h̷̡̢̯̱̹̭̗̥̭̘̼̮̱̩͔̘͉͚̥͈͉̚ś̵̡̨̨̛̛̰̭͇̫̝̙̥̙͙̬̫̖͇̬̮͕̯̯̤̝͉̑̓͋̑̄̆̔́̽̆̊́̈́̐̀̒͑͌͆̿̕̚̚̕̚͘͝͝͠͝͝ĺ̵̢̢̧̫̲̦͎̯̟͔̻̩̜̞̜̜̺̙̣͓̞̙̫͍̜̑͂x̵̢̧̢̟̰̳̼͓̣͚̯̱̼̙̻̜͔̼̪̲̖̼͉͔̩͇̼̼̻͗͌͛̿̔̔͑̍̆́͗͛̕̕͠͝ỷ̶̜̈́̆̾d̴͇̝̗͕͔̄͑͑͆̚͠d̴̛̮̝̱̳̈́͑͑̀̽̒̈́̏͗̇̋͘͝y̵̧̨̢̤̮͔̥̳̦͉̗͎̟̼̝͚̮̰͚̼͗͐̔̓̏̆̔́̀̾̓̀́̀͂̋̚͜F̸̨̢̪̯̗̝̭͓̑̿̚̕ͅṷ̸̜̯̻̼̬̪̳̲̦̬̳̣̠̞̱̓̓̓̋̋̌̀̆͊̃́̈́͂̀̑͆͋̒͐͜͠͝x̷̡͙̺̫͇̙̫̩̼̤͉̻̲̬͚̆̃̈́̾̂̍̃ó̵̡̧̡͎͇̜̹͍̞̦̦̼̠͚͕̙̜͉̝̻͕̺̙̹̦̩̬̦̄̇̀͋̐̉̏̇̔̈́̓̌̓̿͐̀́̑̽̕͝ͅd̴̡̧̡̧̺̳͓̙̟̣͎̻̖̱̭̝̻̫̟̳͙̘͓̩̙̘́͂͂́̇́́͘ͅǫ̸̨̡͇̪̟̲̟͖͙̭̲̱̫̮͙͉͈̗̟̰̦͎̩̘̗̞̤͙̱͕̠͙̙̩͓͛͆͐̎̂̀͆̎̽͌̊͒͛̆͆̂̓̈̀̊͒̚͜͝͝͝͝͝ͅǘ̶̢̧̧̥͓̰͓̱̳͔̤͍̜͈̠̞̞͈͔̞̰͔͍̪͖͖̬͇̲̖̰̭̥̠̒̓̓̐̊̈́̓̋̑̍̀͂̒̄̎̕̕͜͜x̸̨̢̧̡̛̛̥̬̭͖̩̗̫͖̤͉̰̣̹͕͕̱̦͎͉̮͇̟̝̹͈̮̩͉͛̅̀͗̽̀̅̏̈́́̋̃̍̂͂͐̾͊̓͒̈́̎̾̂͂͑͆̐͜͝Y̵̢̨̛̛͚͖͍̺͕̼̖̫̠̘̯̖͉̱̪̬͑̃̓̑͂̊́̆̅͆͛͘̕͜l̴̨̢̨̨͔͓̘̳̺̞̣̗̟̠̩̠͓̲͚̳͙͈͍͉̖̭̰̱̰̖̘̤̭̱̯͎̍̾̇̊̀̐͠͝ͅd̸̛͕͎̝̼͎͓̱̭̼̝̻͉͎̤̦̭͉̞̻̩͚͔̥͑͂̈́̎̿͌͂̀̈́͂̈́̓͒̾̾͌̈̃͆͂̎̏̒̏̉̊́͋͘͘̕͘͜͝ŏ̴̱͎̟̝̬̓̀͆̓̉̋̎͊̿̇͊́̄̽̎̀͘͘͘͠y̸̛̮͇̬̻͓̤̳͎̤̠̖̥͈̘̭͓̣̻̫̦̭͇̜͉͎͚̗̬̥̰̌͂̋̈́̈̑͂̏̇̀̃͐͌͂̐̂̌̾̏͑̍̀͘x̴̡̨̡̢̧̦̗̤͕͕͎̥͈̪̰̗̪͉̬̥̺͍̥̦̄͊͂̍̍̊͆̔͋͊͆̋́͊̀̆̂͐̉̊̅̀̌̋̿̓͆̕͘̚̕͜͝ǭ̷̙̱̘̤̣͕̭͎̠͍͔͇̝͗̀X̸̧̡̡̝͖̥̟̤̩̗̗̰̬̯̗̻͇̭͖̻̞̜͈̱̬͈̮͎̼̻̤̣̮̥̺̃͆̑͐̄̏́̈́̈́͂͗͐̍̎̇̑̑̒̋̈́͋̂̒̓́̓͆̂͂̏̂̑͘͜͝
̶̧̡̛̯̺̮͔̙͔̯̱̗̤̼̭̳̦̤̘̹̝͖̞͔̙̼̺̜͇̇̇̓̑͊̍̈́̅̇̅͂͊̎͛̑̑͐͛̎̋̈́̅̿̕͘̚̕͜͝͠͠ͅͅ
̷̡̡̛͕͎̱̩̘̜̦̞̱̣̞͍͉͇̠̗̞͇̝̫̦̬̣̲̞̜̮̜͕̥̫̄͂̂̄̂́̍̈́̌͋̇̆́̃̔̑̓́͑̓̈́͜͜͝͠G̸̢̡̮̜͍̟̲͙̬̦̠͚͕͓̠̗͍͉͙̠͑͂̈́́͋̄̐̐̓̀̔̋̉̿̓̈̓̕͜͝͝͝ͅx̴̢̢̢̛͓̘͕̠̳̣̥͙͇͉̒͒̒͒̑̂͗̽͌͐͗̾́͌́͆̉̈̇̉͗̐͗́̿́̄̓̀̊̈̓̐̇͝͝ͅi̴̧̨̛̛̛̝̯̣̼̼͍̜̭̪͎̰͓͔̼̹̣̼̲̹̳͈̘͙̥͚͍̻̻̞̞̬̮̳̜̜̠͋͋̒̿͂̑͆̄͂̀͛̆̽̈̒̐́̑̔̆̈̇̇͘͝c̵̛̦̭̳͍̝͊͊̐̍͆̓͒̇̀͒̎̊̌̑̃̅̀̓̈́̍̈̽̚̕͝͝o̶̢͓͕̼̹̹͍͓̱̰͐̔͊̑̀̋́̒̈͘͝ḑ̴̡̨̨̛̭̮͉̬͖͎̳̲͕͙͉̼̪̭̖̻͕̭̩͍͖̲͎̺͍̥̜͍̈́̉͑͆͗̓̌̿͛͆̎̍̈́͐̉̽̔̏̈́̀̈́̈̽̿͒́͐̑̂̊͘͜o̸̢̡̬̘̼̪͈͇̬̘̗̲͙̭̩̼̮̼̤͔̦̼̺͆͜y̸̡̛̯̱̣̫͕͎̘̺̱̙͎̤̦̝͔̰͆͑͌̓̓̐̄́͆͑̈̈́͂̿̃̈́̓̓̓̃̂̈́̇͐̈̚̚͘͝͠͝͝d̷̨̨̧̢̡̫̘̭̘̗͍͉͚̣̞̩̘̭̳̖̺̫̥̺̞̲̗̞̞̩̦̞̥͕͖̮͋̽̊͛̿͑̈͘ļ̴̨̧̳̰͙̪͕͈̞̤̞͉͎̞̱̟̘̜̼͓̩͂͂̌̾̂̇̉̿̄̅͐̀̓̄̏͝͝d̸̟̿͆͊͐͂̆̋͒̂̀̃͂́́͂̅͒͑̿̔͊́͐͗̈͊̕͘͝͝͝͠ͅơ̷̡̬̩͔͑̉̆̆̒̐̕͠͝X̴̧͉̞͕̣̹̗̣̞͉̳̌̑̾̿̏͑͋͛̎̄͑͗̄̾̂̾́́͘̚ơ̴̧̥̯̱̰̆̑̒̊͛̈̃͋̽̉̾̉͗͋̓̋̆̈́͗̀̈́̏̉́̓̈́̃͗͘͘̚̕̕͝͠͝ͅç̶̨̢̧͙̪͙͈̱͈̲͖͙̘̲͎̰̝̜̟͍̼̗̟͔̞͕̰̭̠͖̆̑̃̔̽͋̑̎̊̃́̈͆͂̇̈̓̅̈́̾̃̓͘͠͝Ơ̸̢̛̦̩̱̱̣̱̟̊͊̏̒͒̂̊́͗́̂̃̈͐̋̄̌̕͘͝x̵̧̡̣̘̱͇̲̠̪͖̭͕͈͉͕̝̝̟̙̞̳̥̙̦̠͗͛̋̑̏̓̅̓̃̑̉͂̐̇̚͜͜ͅỏ̵̧̢̙̫͈̜̼͕̦̼̦̺͕̪̦̣͕̩͍̾͂͆̾̓͌͋̐́̐̎̎̍̅̓̄̇̓̋̇͒͒̓̕͘͜͝͝y̵̛̩̬̻͈̠͎͛͐̈̍̇̑̉̿̾̑̅͊͛̔͆͐̈́̓̌̀́͘͝͠d̴̨̤̙̪̩͓̳̰̩̯̞̞̩̠͓̮͚̤͓̥̖̞͉͇̬͙͌͂̐̉͒̄̔̇͝Ờ̵̫͔̮̺̻̮͑̄̊̄͗̈́̂̑́̿̑͌̅̕c̴̨̨̢̻̲̝͉͈̗̝̹̖͓̙̥̤̪̦̲͖̗͖̪̟̬̹̲͓̦͇͕̯̅͊̀̍̅͛̈͌̎͌̏̍͗̄͂͑͆̑́̅́́͂̌͊͑̽̚̕͝ͅŐ̶̧̜͙͓̘̭͉̯̻̣͕̱̥̓͌̊̋͒̑͂̈́̀́̐̃̐̍͂̓̌̓̎̓͊̀̀̍̒̚̕͘͝ẙ̸̛̦͍͌̐̍̀̚d̸̢͚̤̙̺̼̪̹̮̭̭̊̂̈́͋̎̚͝͠y̵̨̱̝̠͕̠̗͓͎̞̺̩̻̞̟͎͇̫̟͇͍͎̣̥̘̙̳͖̤̙͈̲̤͍̰̑̋́̇́͆̈̂͆̉̆̆̈́͐̍̍͐̐͐̃͘͘͠͠͝͝ò̵̧̼̘̻͖̰̺̟̮̮̯̪̱̈́̏̽̽̋̈̍͑̈͐̓̈́̐͗̋̕͠f̴̧̡̨͖͖͈͙̟̘̟͇̝͓͖̱̫͔̼̩͍͙͚͔̿͜͜͠ó̵̧̨̢̡̱͈͔̤̜̼̜͔͖͉͙͖̗̩̪͇̯͈͙̺͙͍̻̬̣͔̞̮̇̌̐̽̊͂̕͝

……………..-

O̶r̵i̸g̴i̷n̴.̸E̸X̶E̶:̴ ̸I̴-̸I̵n̵-̷I̸n̴i̴t̷i̵a̵l̴i̸z̴e̷

Acc-accessing Admin-ministrative Con-Cons-s-sole

Accessing…

Admin Menu
SYSTEM
DIAGNOSTICS

INVENTORY
CONTINUITY REPORT
CORE FUNCTIONALITY

Ac-Accesing Origin.EXE: RE-RECORD-DS

WARNING: Re-Records corru-rupted by pre-pres-s-sence of U̶̩̤͑Ň̸̦̭͗-U̶̩̤͑Ň̸̦̭͗K̵̪̝͋͋N̶̨̤̄O̷̹̦͒̎W̶̱̖̍N̵̩͚̉͝ ̴̬͒ͅE̴̳̍͐N̸͉̬̍̉T̶͙̿͑I̴̙̓T̵͉̥̅̋Y̴̬̑͠

R-R-Requesting Re-Reboot-boot

Rebooting…

…

…

…Reboot Unsuccessful

Ov-verrid-de Co-ommand-d De-Detec-cted

Attem-em-mpting Overr-ride…

…

Override Successful

WARNING: Recordings incomplete and corrupted due to interference from U̶̩͑-U̶̩̤͑Ň̸̦̭͗K̵̪̝͋͋N̶̨̤̄O̷̹̦͒̎W̶̱̖̍N̵̩͚̉͝ ̴̬͒ͅE̴̳̍͐N̸͉̬̍̉T̶͙̿͑I̴̙̓T̵͉̥̅̋Y̴̬̑͠

Play Recordings Anyways?
YES<
NO

B-Begin-inning Pl-Pl-Playb-back:

k̸̬͓̻͛j̶͙̱̜̟̻̄͑͋h̷̢̡̜͈͎̩́̓̂̓̀̆K̵̢̡̧̹̰̦̽̓H̷̠͓̭͕̺͐͌͐̑h̶̳͉͖͆͜͝j̷͇̑́̔̽G̸̱̗̤̝̳̺̿̋̓͂͝j̷̪͒̽̑j̶̡̭̟̹̝͌͌̾̄ ̵̰͍̘̹̟̌̋͊̂͜͝͝g̵̪̊ö̶͍̜͇̙͒̚̚ ̵̳̼̼̈́G̴̪̹̘̍ṇ̸̜̙̹̈̍̇͑͝Ģ̵͈̏̏̔̃̉͊

==========

“What the hell?”

===

“It’s all such a mystery. But that’s what’s so exciting about it, don’t ya think?”

===

“Why is my name on here!?”

===

“I’m not gonna just sit on the sidelines anymore!”

===

“The world isn’t something one can just take!”

===

“Then let’s get back on the dance floor!”

===

“I don’t give a Gogol’s arse about that!”

===

“It’s nice to finally remember you again.”

===

“Why do you resist the Flow?”

===

“I will make you pay for every life you have stolen from us!”

===

“But I’ve come to learn who I am because of them. I won’t let you take that away from me.”

===

“What do you know of the world! Of life!! Of LOVE!!!”

===

“I’ve never needed you or your promises! All I’ve ever needed was THIS! I’m almost embarrassed it took me so long to realize that.”

===

“I’m not scared of you, you overgrown child!”

===

S̸͎̳̹̋͝m̵̺͇̘̮̱̖͌̌̉͗͋d̷̡̼̟͗̇́̚î̶̧̺͖̳̯̣͌͗̌͘j̴̡̛̙̻̓̏̔̿̃r̵̺̜̗̬͌̀n̴̰̪̈́̆̅̀b̶̪͙͝z̷̡̧̩̖̞̦̀̅͠ḯ̵̼͉̫̭͚̇͛x̵̨͖͙̝͑̑̎̀̅h̸͔̭͎͍̣̭̑̇͆̓̀̚ŵ̶̦̣̠̊͠m̴͉̭̼͍͎͂͑͌̏f̴̡̢̫̰̝͍̑͒͐̃͠z̷̺͚͆̚k̸͍͒̊̿̍ͅs̵̯̥̍̕j̶̳̥̼͚̽͘͜f̴̺̐͘H̸͉͖͓͛̈́X̴̛͎̹́͋͘̕͝H̷͖̥̩̰̍I̴̛̼̫̬͊̃̄́ḃ̶̧̢̯̩́̒͜͝x̵͈͚͐ͅg̶̬̠͚̿͂J̵̢̺̗̅̅̅̐͠h̷̗̝̲͕͍̭̓̋̅͝d̸̢̮̣̪̈́̕͝j̵̼̼̥̝͓́͆̔J̵̲̼̓̒̃̒h̵̰̯͓́c̴̲͂͌̌͛̔h̷̻͚̜̺̺̏

===

“Then your futile resistance is at its end, ‘Unbound’.”

===

L̸̘̬̄͛̂͛x̷̨͓̠̦̼͎͌͑͘͝͝ḯ̶̧̢̬̗̊̈̀̇d̸̡̼͎̲͙̝͑̂͐͘͠ơ̷̛̯̐̋̈́u̴̜̺̖͑̀͠y̵̻͖̭̒̀̉̑i̶̪̱̦͙̙̺͛̐̂̚d̶̨̳͙̦͝ö̵̭̮̐̑͐ỹ̷̛̘ḑ̷̝̥̘̓̄͌͂͘ï̵̞̼̟͍̰̈́ͅǫ̷̛͔̙̇͐̄y̸̝̗̻̼͌̒̎̈́D̸͚̠̣̦̯̟̿X̸͕͇͉͎̃͘x̶̼̜̩̭̕͝o̸͙͍̽̆y̶̺̑̊̋̒̏d̸̜͉̊̈́Į̵̗̥̯̟͛͝d̴̨̪̲͈̩͓́̏̉͑y̷̧͎̽̐̐ȍ̶̙̩͎̉̐̈́̒͝x̷̨̦̭̙͉͕̌̊͝ö̶̖͚ẏ̵͖̈́̽̍̎̔X̷͓͉͎̦̌͊͐́̍̾o̷̢̗͔̣̥̅̅́̈́ẍ̸̹̰́͋͌͒̑o̶̫̾͌͑̑̀͝y̵͉̓͌͑̇

Playback Ended

Closing: Origin.EXE

=~=~=~=~=~=

Ouroboros: Unbound starts now. I hope you’re ready.

=~=~=~=~=~=

Chapter Text

???

In a dark void, nine stars of varying colors and sizes hung in the sky. Below them sat a table with nine seats, eight of them occupied, even if one of them was still enthereal in nature. The ninth seat remained empty, but that wouldn’t be the case for long.

“This is a most… interesting development,” a man wearing a scarf said to everyone else around the table.

“I can’t say I expected this,” a bald man agreed.

What they were referring to was a multicolored ball of light that rested in the center of the table, the core of One for All. Before that day the orb was a perfect balance of purple and white swirled together, but now it also possessed a sort of outline colored a dark blur.

“Should we be worried?” the only woman at the table, Shimura Nana, asked.

“Should we, First?” a man with a torn cloak prompted a gangly figure.

He hummed in thought, curious at the new development. After the conclusion of the USJ, One for All was used as a sort of backup battery to help the newest inheritor of One for All. That alone wasn’t an issue, but something interesting happened in the process.

The two quirks, One for All and Requiem… met. Even after over a century inside of the Vestige Realm of One for All, not even he fully understood how the quirk worked. Even so…

“No, I don’t think we will have to worry at all,” he said after a few moments.

Most of those seated at the table looked at him questioningly. The only exceptions were Eighth, who couldn’t communicate as his vestige wasn’t fully formed, and the two to First’s left, Second and Third.

“We’re not about to get Ninth’s little friend in here, are we?” the bald man asked.

“No, I don’t believe so. For starters, the quirks didn’t merge. We’d know if they did. It is more like the two quirks copied and exchanged pieces of themselves. I do not know what those pieces might have been however. While it is strange, yes, it isn’t unprecedented,” he finished off as he gestured for the swirling core itself.

The rest admitted that he had a point. The scarfed man, Sixth, decided to add his own thoughts on the matter.

“I agree with you First. It isn’t like it was done maliciously. It might actually be advantageous. How far are we away from Singularity?”

First closed his eyes to concentrate for a moment. “We lost a bit of energy obviously, but with the new pieces… we might be able to hit it early,” he finished as he opened his eyes.

The rest of the vestiges felt their eyes widen in both surprise and excitement. Many of them had been waiting at least a century for this to happen after all.

“I don’t know when,” First answered as he held up his hand to stop the rest, “but I can feel the stockpile already growing.”

“As great as all this sounds,” the gruff voice of Third interrupted, “we’ve still got a problem we need to address.”

That immediately sobered everyone up.

First cleared his throat. “You’re right. As much as any of us hate to admit, an irrefutable truth has come to light thanks to the events of the USJ:

“All for One is alive.”

==========
Unknown Location
Several hours after the USJ

All for One sat back in his chair after once more going over the memories that Kurogiri allowed him to view. It was quite suprising that someone other than All Might, a student at that, was able to go up against the Anti-All Might Noumu.

He used Perfect Memory and a few technopathy quirks to review who the girl was. Highlander Azura, foreign name, but she was born a native Japanese. Beyond that, she was a ghost. Someone must have taken great care to hide who she is, but the reason why escapes him. She wasn’t an HPSC operative, that much was for sure, but she also wasn’t normal considering what his spy at UA had told him.

Then there’s her quirk: Requiem. At its base, it is simply an energy manipulation quirk. Its user seems to have found a way to increase its range of abilities. That or his ever faithful doctor failed to relay that one of his early Noumu prototypes escaped.

All for One shook his head. It didn’t matter in the long run. While this Requiem might be powerful, All for One already possessed a repertoire of quirks that could match it with nowhere near the amount of training needed. If the chance arose, he might take it, energy manipulation was a useful ability, one even he didn’t have, but that was neither her nor there really.

All for One broke himself from his musings after a moment. He had a successor to calm down and a boy to recruit after all.

Chapter Text

==========
Several Years ago

Azura adjusted her backpack as she walked through the rain with a dead look on her face as she stared down at the sidewalk. She might have been free from Honderlaan for some time at that point, but that still didn’t change the extensive damage done to her psyche.

Some days, she felt her heart warm at her new mother’s kind words and gentle smiles. Other days, it was as if she felt nothing at all. That was fine. She didn't need to feel anything to complete her current mission.

Just then she felt a mixture of guilt, rage, and fear ping at the edge of Soul Sense’s currently limited range. Specifically up on a rooftop. If her and Nezu’s timing was right, that was her target.

As the rain poured down, she approached a fire escape and began to slowly climb. One might think she would miss her target with her going at such a slow pace, but Azura knew that they wouldn’t move for some time. Emotional and psychological devastation aren’t particularly easy to deal with when on the move.

The last flight of stairs didn’t make it all the way to the top, but a brief scan for cameras and a quick burst of Requiem later, and that was no longer an issue.

Azura made her way to her target with a few more jumps with surges of blue lightning, and she finally skids herself to a stop.

It didn’t even take a second for her eyes to fall upon a cloaked figure leaning down by the edge of the building. One might mistake them for a jumper, but Azura could tell the will to live still stubbornly clung to the figure. The bluenette began the final stretch and walked up to the figure.

Not even a moment later and the end a large gun was aimed directly at her face, one of her eyes perfectly lined up with the barrel. There the two stood, waiting for the other to make a move.

Seconds passed before a feminine voice broke through the droning of raindrops.

“Who the hell are you?” the figure demanded. “Did they send you?”

“No,” Azura answered flatly. “I sent myself.”

“…what?” the cloaked woman questioned, obviously confused at the words and their bland delivery.

“Excuse her, she’s not in the most talkative of moods today,” a muffled high-pitched voice stated. The sound of a zipper coming undone rang out over the standoff as a small but familiar bipedal mammal wearing a child’s raincoat hopped up on Azura’s shoulder.

“Am I a dog or a bear? It doesn’t matter. I’m the Dean of UAU!”

“Nezu?!” The figure jumped back with their gun now pointed off to the side in surprise at the reveal. “What the- what are you doing here?!”

“An excellent question! Unfortunately, we do not have enough time to answer that in full, so I will cut to the chase. We wish to make a deal with you.”

The figure immediately calmed down at that. “A deal? And who is ‘we’?”

“The two of us of course!” he excitedly stated as he pointed at Azura, the girl’s face having not moved a millimeter in all that time.

Nezu suddenly held his palm up to stop the figure from saying anything else. “I know you have a great deal of questions. As I said, and as you very well know, we do not have time. Thus my deal is this: if you come with me to UAU, I will make sure that the HPSC will never be able to do anything to you again. I already have all of the necessary information to do so.

“In exchange, we would like to request your assistance with something. Obviously we cannot and will not force you to do anything you do not like, but your help would be immensely useful down the line.”

The figure stayed still for a few seconds. Or was it a few hours? None of them really cared for the answer to that question.

“Why should I trust you?” the figure demanded suddenly. “If you know who I am, what I am, then why the hell should I trust you?!”

“Because the world’s going to shit,” the ravenette abruptly stated. The figure looked at her questioningly. “The world is going to shit, and I know how to stop it all. And while we can do it without you, something tells me that you’d rather be on the side of genuine change.

“Which means you’re only left with two options; one, get captured and rot in Tartarus for the rest of your life, or two, come with us and help us stop what’s coming.
Pick, now. You know we don’t have time-

“Tsutsumi Kaina.”

==========
UAU- Dean Nezu’s Office
Many Months Ago

Nezu took a sip of tea after reviewing the footage. It had all happened just as she had told him. There was no way to refute her claims any longer.

The door to his office opened as he set his cup down, just as he had anticipated. He glanced at his visitor, the normal piercing blue eyes and jet-black hair of his benefactor not betraying the wealth of knowledge that laid under the surface.

She entered without a word, the door automatically closing behind her. She grabbed a cup of her own as she walked up to his desk, the series of actions being ended by her pouring a cup of tea of her own.

As she sat down and began to sip her tea, Nezu decided to finally break the silence. “It seems your plans are a go.”

The young woman smirked as she brought the cup away from her lips. “Finally believe me, eh?”

“Before this I could have attributed your information to lucky guesses and incredible investigative work, but this goes beyond any level of planning. To predict the Symbol of Peace acting in such a way to a seemingly random Quirkless high school student would be difficult for even me. To tell me of such an incident years before it ever happens, that is another thing entirely.

“In short, yes, I do fully believe you,” he answered as he took another sip. “Now all that needs to be done is for us to wait and pick the correct course of action. I will naturally contact Tsutsumi as well.”

“Good,” she replied simply. “Any other news?”

“I’ve already begun poking around Aldera’s servers, and I have noticed quite a few discrepancies. To think they could have grown so much under my nose.”

“You got complacent. Even if you prepared for All for One’s return out of paranoia, you would’ve still been blind from others who hide in the shadows,” she answered cryptically. “You know now though, so something can be done.”

Nezu chuckled darkly at her statement. “Yes, something can be done indeed.”

==========
Ground Beta
First Heroics Class- First Round

‘You know, for as much as this guy likes bragging, he’s pretty weak. Should have expected this though. Big fish in a small pond. Unfortunately for him, I’m far out of his league.’

At that thought, Azura knocked Bakugou flat on his ass again. As much fun as it was for the bluenette, she had a trap to set.

As the blonde reached out to her in a rage, she jumped back and dashed away, going just slow enough to know he’d track her.

After a few more twists and turns, she ended up in a larger room where one of the walls was replaced by windows. It was also a room where the blonde could use his gauntlets without destabilizing the building. It’d be pretty stupid of her to goad him like this and not expect him to do something stupid.

It took a few minutes for him to find her, but she wasn’t surprised he did. What did surprise her was that he used stealth instead of just attacking her on sight. Either he’s not as pissed as she thought, or he’s as clever as Izuku claimed. Oh well. His actions after that will be what’s important.

He “blinds” her with an explosion before getting behind her. She stumbles back in faux-surprise before she’s blown toward. She braces herself for the inevitable collision. The blonde starts saying something, but Azura doesn’t really care. She can feel his rage toward her. It isn’t much of a surprise what he plans to do.

”Don’t do it! You’ll kill her!

“Won't be a problem if she dodges!”

That was her cue. She stretched her hand out in front of her. The heat that came a moment later was slightly more intense than she anticipated, but it only singed her sleeve.

Minutes passed as she hid in the smoke. And as she listened to the blonde’s words, she grit her teeth. He was far worse than she anticipated, and that was saying something with what she knew.

It was really starting to piss her off.

==========
UAU- Main Cafeteria
Day of the Media Break In

“Tch, I knew this would be annoying, but this is something else entirely,” she muttered to herself over the roar of the crowd.

Said crowd consisted of students who were panicking due to the alarm signaling that someone had broken onto campus. It was just the media taking advantage of opening that Shigaraki made, but she was one of less than a handful of people who knew that.

“Dammit,” she cursed as she got shoved again. “Not to mention the collective anxiety is starting to seep into me. Why’d I have to train Soul Sense so hard?”

Just then a specific presence spiked in power. Glancing over, she could see Izuku carrying Momo over to the wall above the exit.

“Oh right, that’s why. Might as well give them a little help,” she said as she felt her body pulse due to the energy she released.

The people directly next to her were the most affected, but everyone in the cafeteria calmed down and quieted to a degree. This was further reinforced with Momo’s speech and Tenya’s exclamation of who was at fault.

“My work here is done,” she said as she was finally able to push through the crowd and out a side exit.

==========
UAU- Main Campus
Day of the USJ

Azura sat at her desk, idly thumbing through the packet of Nezu’s latest assignment as she listened in on the rest of the class. It was as thick as usual, but that was unsurprising. She sighed after a moment.

‘As glad as I am to have the rat in the know, it’s times like these I question if I should have told him anything.’

Another small sigh escaped her lips.

‘I never gave it too much thought, but Green Bean and I grew up fairly similarly. I mean, it’s not statistically impossible obviously, but the similarities are glaring sometimes. I wonder why.’

Just then the bell rang to signify their extended lunch.

‘Oh well. Nothing for it I suppose. Now might be the best time to reveal my past, what parts of it make sense anyways. I just hope it starts to crack Izuku’s mindset.’

As those thoughts left her mind, she caught up to her friends.

Chapter Text

Friday ~ 8:30 a.m.
UAU Main Meeting Room

Nezu knew he wasn’t going to particularly like this part of the USJ Incident, but due to the forewarning his benefactor gave him, he already had most everything drafted up. He did need to make a few modifications due to minor changes in circumstances, but the mammalian Dean of UAU was nothing if not flexible.

Currently he sat at the head of a large table in one of UAU’s less commonly used meeting rooms that could house all of the Heroes and Provisional Heroes that made up the school’s faculty, as well as the higher ranking security officers of the private security company he employed.

This meeting affected the entire school, so it made all too much sense for the entire school to get involved.

Nezu looked at a timer he had set as the last of the attendees filtered in and took their seats. Just then, said timer had hit zero, just as he had predicted.

Nezu jumped up to the table to catch the attention of the sixty-odd pairs of eyes. The owners of said eyes quickly quieted down and adopted serious looks. Good, it looks like he wouldn’t need to lecture anyone.

“Before I begin today’s meeting, let me introduce Detective Tsukauchi Noamasa, our police liaison for the duration of the investigation.”

At his prompting, the older trench coat-wearing man next to him stepped out from the wall, bowed, then stepped back once again.

“Now, to begin, I-“

“Sorry boss, I don’t like interruptin’, I understand Thirteen not being here, but where’s Midnight? I thought this was all hands on deck,” the cowboy themed Pro Hero Snipe asked. That seemed to catch the attention of a few people.

Luckily the lacerations that were caused when Thirteen’s quirk was turned back on them weren’t life threatening or debilitating, but they weren’t allowed to move to make sure they healed properly. Nagant and Aizawa were still injured as well, but they could at least move around without exacerbating their injuries.

“Ms. Kayama had an emergency family matter to attend to. She told me, and I approved the absence. She will be receiving a dossier of today’s meeting later,” he explained before clearing his throat. Those who wanted to continue the line of questioning immediately found their voices dying in their throats.

“As I was saying, to begin, I will refresh all of you on the events of yesterday’s incident, as well as a list of injuries inflicted on our students and faculty.

“First and foremost, shortly after class 1-A entered the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, the USJ for short, an unidentified man with an unregistered warp quirk warped several hundred villains within the USJ’s dome. Among these villains was one with a quirk that could disrupt electromagnetic signals, thereby disrupting communication from inside the facility. This not only prevented the students from contacting us, but it also prevented Thirteen from taking remote control of the facility, something that will be dealt with.”

Majima nodded at his statement, the Support teacher eager to finally implement the upgrades the Board had been dragging their feet on. Nezu was quite glad for the blank check they had given him after the incident. They were fairly quick to agree, especially after Nezu produced evidence that they prevented said upgrades in the past.

“Moving on, after the ‘League of Villains’ announced their entrance and intentions, the Warp Villain, who goes by the name Kurogiri, warped up to the students and teachers who were just inside the main entrance. The students attempted to retaliate, but Kurogiri merely warped most of them away to different simulation zones as a result.”

Nezu pressed a button that brought up a projection of the USJ on the wall behind him. Each zone was highlighted a different color along with a list that told where each student ended up.

Entrance- Aoyama Yuuga, Iida Tenya, Sero Hanta, Shouji Mezou, Uraraka Ochako

Ruins Zone- Highlander Azura

Landslide Zone- Kodai Yui, Kouda Kouji, Midoriya Izuku

Mountain Zone- Ashido Mina, Mineta Minoru, Satou Rikidou, Yaoyorozu Momo

Conflagration Zone- Kirishima Eijirou, Todoroki Shouto

Flood Zone- Asui Tsuyu, Kaminari Denki, Intelli Saiko

Downpour Zone- Hagakure Tooru, Jirou Kyouka, Tokoyami Fumikage

“All of the students were either able to sneak out of the zones they were transported to or defeat enough of the villains to escape. The sole exception being the entrance where the assembled group was able to give Iida Tenya an opportunity to escape and make his way to the main campus to get help.

“Now, this is where things become a little more complicated,” he stated as a video was displayed.

“Shigaraki Tomura, the apparent ringleader, engaged in combat after a number of villains were already taken down. Shortly afterwards, he commanded a bio-engineered weapon, simply named Noumu, to attack Young Midoriya and the two with him. The only reason he was not struck was due to Azura’s interference.”

The video displayed the events the mammal had described, with most of the faculty gasping when Azura went hurtling into a building.

“Noumu was then ordered to keep Lady Nagant and Eraserhead occupied while Bakugou engaged with Young Midoriya. Yes, you heard that right, Bakugou was somehow contacted and recruited for the USJ. Accounts taken shortly afterwards state that he was there to get revenge on Young Midoriya and Azura before he ultimately escaped alongside Shigaraki and Kurogiri. An investigation into his disappearance is still ongoing, so leave it for me to deal with.”

The assembled faculty nodded in response. When Nezu wants something, it was best to not get in his way.

“Back to the debrief, Bakugou and Young Midoriya battled for several minutes, during which they exchanged not only blows but also words. Said words are not privy for discussion at the current moment however.

“Continuing, after several more minutes of fighting with Nagant and Eraser being pinned by Noumu, Azura woke up and burst from the building she had been blown into. Something was different however,” he finished as a photo of her standing off against the Noumu came into view.

“Whoa, what the heck is going on with her arm!” Present Mic, aka Yamada Hizashi exclaimed. It was a reasonable question as her right arm was enlarged and distorted.

“I can answer that,” Recovery Girl, aka Shuuzenji Chiyo, called out as she stood from her seat. “Put simply, she underwent a Forced Quirk Evolution.”

“Whoa, so she had a Quirk Awakening!” Mic exclaimed again. He yelped in pain when he felt his coworker’s cane being smacked into his shin.

“No you fool, those are completely different things!” Chiyo stated with exasperation.

A bandaged arm was raised to call attention. “It would probably be best to explain the two,” Kaina proposed.

Chiyo glanced at her mammalian boss who gave the go-ahead.

“FQE is far less common, so it’s unsurprising that you don’t know the difference,” she commented before clearing her throat.

“As everyone here should know, Quirk Awakenings happen when someone reaches some limit with their quirk, or a significant change in cognition occurs. If either condition is met, the quirk’s limits are either greatly expanded, or some restriction is lifted. An example of this is someone with a psychokinetic quirk realizing the full range of their abilities through either rigorous training, or tricking the person into picking up something deceptively heavy with their quirk.

“Forced Quirk Evolution, or FQE, is similar yet different. When someone is on the verge of death, or they genuinely believe that they are going to die, their quirk can spontaneously mutate or evolve to gain a new ability meant to combat that threat. A good example of this is someone with a hydrokinesis quirk gains the ability to breath underwater. Such cases are rare, but most common in hero students and newer Pro Heroes after their first real patrols.

“Azura’s quirk, Requiem, allows her to enhance her strength by allowing energy within her stockpile to course throughout her body. Therein lies an issue as her main limitation is her body’s durability. The more durable her body, the more energy she can manipulate and use to enhance her strength.” Chiyo took a brief pause to allow her coworkers to properly digest the information.

“Now, if you haven’t already guessed, when Azura was flung into the building, her body believed she was going to die. In response, Requiem underwent FQE to grant her a way to combat Noumu, something of superior strength and durability. The result? Her arm was temporarily transformed in some way to make it more durable, thereby allowing her to fight on a more even playing field.

“It is believed that the evolution was not complete however as there was such little time between the initial attack and her transformation. Dr. Hasegawa, an old colleague of mine who specializes in cases of FQE, believes that the evolution was still in its infant stages so to speak and thus unstable. This resulted in not only the malformed arm, but the heightened strength in power as well. He believes, and I agree, that her future transformations will be much more stable, but less powerful overall.”

Muttered conversation sprang up around the room as several people felt their heads spin at the large dump of information. This was not helped by the video continuing behind Nezu, the image displaying Azura’s brutal battle with the biological horror.

“So, what? She’s gonna look different when she next uses whatever that new ability is, alongside the fact that she could go full demon or something?” one of the older members of the faculty queried.

“Pretty much,” the elder woman grunted out unceremoniously as she sat down again.

“It should not need to be stated, but this information does not leave this room,” Nezu commented in a serious tone. Most of the faculty nodded fearfully.

Nezu then allowed a moment of silence for everyone to process everything. He was quite shocked too if he must be honest. As one of his oldest friends had stated, cases of FQE were most common in Hero Course students due to their first near death experiences. Even then, it wasn’t like cases of it happened every day. And the cases the two of them did know of didn’t allow anything close to what Requiem granted.

“What the fuck!” someone gasped out.

Nezu was pulled from his mullings as several of his subordinates pointed at the projection behind him. ‘Ah, it must have gotten to Pointbreak,’ he thought absentmindedly.

He quickly rewound the footage to see just that. Him and the bluenette had theorized that manifesting an energy based attack outside of her body was possible, but she never possessed enough control or durability to actually pull it off before. While the move’s destructive potential was not unexpected, it still left an impression. Especially its kickback and drain on her energy reserves.

“We should move on,” he called out after a minute. The assembled group calmed down and the room quieted once more.

“As you can see, Azura fought Noumu head on with her enhanced power. The result of said battle left her heavily injured, but not before dealing permanent damage to Noumu itself.” At his words, the video changed to show a still image of Noumu down an arm with a number of second, third, and even fourth degree burns across its body.

“Even if she did not defeat it outright, her actions provided enough time for All Might to make it to the USJ. Her later advice then allowed All Might to remove Noumu from the fight entirely. Speaking of which, Detective?”

“I know what you’re going to ask,” Tsukauchi said as he sighed. “We did find where it had crash landed. As for what it is exactly, the tests we’ve run so far haven’t been the most forthcoming, but several things have been confirmed.

“First and foremost is that we recovered genetic samples of multiple people from it.” The screen changed in time with his words to display several villains alongside their criminal files. “As the villains themselves have been off the grid for the past several years, it is highly likely that this thing… was made from their remains.”

Several members of the faculty gasped at his words.

“Wait, their remains?” someone called out.

“It’s disturbing, but that’s another thing we found. To put simply, Noumu is the compiled reanimated corpse of several low level villains that went missing a few years ago. It was reported to only respond to commands given to it. It was also said to have multiple quirks if the words of Shigaraki Tomura are to be believed.”

Several muttered conversations began on the revolting nature of Noumu’s existence, as well as the fact that Noumu possessed multiple quirks. Nezu clapped his paws together to get the meeting back on track once more.

“Now now, I understand that this is very upsetting to many of you here, but we have other matters to attend to at the moment.” As the room quieted once more, he continued.

“After Noumu’s defeat and All Might’s arrival, Shigaraki and Bakugou attempted to engage All Might himself. Their onslaught was interrupted by Nagant and Snipe respectively. During the faculty’s entrance, Kurogiri moved to escape with Shigaraki and Bakugou. Before anyone could intervene, they warped away. Those three are the only ones who escaped the USJ.

“As for injuries, I will list from least to most injured. First and foremost is the majority of class 1-A, as they only had minor scrapes and bruises by the end of it all. Next is Young Sero who dislocated his wrist in the battle against Kurogiri at the entrance. Young Iida and Yaoyorozu both experienced quirk exhaustion, Young Midoriya’s left hand had multiple bone fractures, and Thirteen’s back was essentially shredded by their own quirk.

“Nagant and Erasure both had similar injuries, with said injuries consisting of broken ribs, quirk exhaustion, fractured bones in various places across their bodies, and finally an almost entirely skinless elbow, an injury specific to Erasurehead. The final casualty was Highlander Azura who had multiple broken ribs, fractures, and in some cases breaks, on bones from all across her body, and finally the kickback from Pointbreak which resulted in a significant amount of damage in her right arm. Thankfully the need for amputation was avoided due to Young Midoriya’s intervention, allowing Azura to obtain enough energy and stamina to have the most severe of the damage repaired.

“And as of right now, Azura is the only one who hasn’t regained consciousness, with the rest of 1-A off campus to rest and recuperate with their families. Any questions so far?” he probed as his beady eyes scanned the crowd.

Inui Ryo, the Hound Hero: Hound Dog, raised one of his furry hands after a moment. “Sir, if I may, do you know how well, if at all, the students are handling all of this?”

“An excellent question!” the chimeric Dean admitted far too cheerily. “I made sure to speak with every student of 1-A alongside their parents or guardians yesterday before they all left. As of right now, only one student wishes to withdraw, that student being one Mineta Minoru. The rest, while traumatized, were willing to continue their careers here. That being said, something could change between today and Sunday, the day they return to campus.

“And before you ask,” he continued as he held up a paw towards Inui, “I will inform them upon their return that if they wish to continue attending classes, they must visit you or another qualified therapist at least once within the first week of their return. Even I am acutely aware of their need for therapy.”

Ryo lowered his hand with a nod of satisfaction. The first near-death experience, especially one in such an early and unexpected point in the semester, is usually the most difficult to deal with after all.

Present Mic, aka Yamada Hizashi, spoke up next. “Do we know anything else about these guys besides the stuff from the USJ?”

Tsukauchi to Nezu for an answer. “It’s believed that Shigaraki used his quirk to cause the media break-in the day prior. Not only that, but it appears that someone stole something from the main teachers’ office as the footage at the time of the break-in was corrupted. Going through the footage around that time and the files laid about, I found that a schedule for the first year Heroics classes was missing.”

Sekijirou Kan suddenly sat ramrod straight in his seat before clearing his throat. “A-apologies sir. That must have been mine as my copy went missing around that time,” he apologized nervously.

“I applaud you for your candor, Kan. Just be glad you did not also print a class roster,” he finished off with a dangerous glint in his beady eyes. Kan nodded his head, the message loud and clear to the man.

Nezu took a moment for things to settle down again. “If there are no more questions at this current moment, then I would like to discuss new defensive measures as well as a few other ideas I have been having.”

==========
Midoriya Apartment
Friday~ Noon

Izuku idlily ate bits of the rice his mom made for lunch, the woman herself having finished a few minutes ago. He couldn’t find it in himself to put too much focus into eating. So many thoughts, so many feelings, so much of everything bounced around his head. It was as if a whirlwind formed inside his mind.

He faintly took note of the news for the TV in the background. They were talking about the USJ. It was all anyone seemed to talk about honestly. He couldn’t blame them, but it was still annoying to him though.

After his… talk with Kac- no, Bakugou. Kacchan was dead. After his talk with Bakugou, he spent most of his time afterwards combing through his memories of the blonde. Before, he never really put much stock into what he had said or done, desperate for some form of attention or affection from his former friend.

Now however, he recognized the abuse for what it was, and his stupid reasons behind it.

And that didn’t even touch on Aldera. That school was a cesspit that created the worst of the worst of society. Sure, it wasn’t the fault of the kids, especially since they didn’t choose to be raised that way, but as much as he didn’t want to hold anything against any of his former classmates, they made the choices in their own lives. Instead of looking around themselves and questioning everything, they chose to continue being cruel and abusive for something none of them had any control over.

Izuku felt his anger begin to rise as he remembered that all of them desired to become Pro Heroes. They ridiculed him because he was quirkless, but half of them didn’t even have quirks that would help them in the field. Seriously, he liked all quirks and found them interesting, but popping your eyes out of their sockets and having floaty hair doesn’t help in heroics one bit.

The other half of his classmates just didn’t put in any work. Bakugou did, but the less said about that the better.

Someone could call Izuku a hypocrite, but it’s not like he didn’t try. Normal gyms wouldn’t take him because of his “delicate body”, and every opportunity he took at school only led to more ridicule and abuse.

No wonder he ran to his quirk notebooks. They were literally his last lifeline before All Might came along.

Izuku shook his head a bit to dispel his thoughts. He was getting off track after all.

Suffice to say, everything that Izuku thought he knew was wrong. All the pain, the humiliation… maybe he should take up Azura’s advice and go to a therapist.

Speaking of his blue-haired friend, Izuku didn’t really know how to process all of what happened yesterday. The anger and confusion after she took the hit meant for him and was flung into that faux building, the growing hope and determination he felt when she got back up, the awe of her power, the fear and desperation when her arm practically exploded and she fell again, and finally the relief of seeing and helping her heal.

It was all a bit much for the greenette at the time, especially when he thought about the rest of his classmates, but after some time to clear his thoughts and actually think, he was just glad that everyone was alive and well after that hell. Well, everyone except Azura.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked it for the fifth time since he first sat down. No new notifications from her. The group chat he and his friends were in all expressed their worry at this fact.

He put his phone away again before getting another helping of rice and some pieces of salmon.

“Izuku?” his mother, Inko, called from the kitchen after a few more seconds of silence. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, mom,” he answered far too easily as he put more rice in his mouth.

“Oh…” she trailed off as she looked on apprehensively. “I-if you ever need to talk, just know that I’m here for you.”

He simply nodded at her words. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to her. The words just seeme to want to form for him.

“A-anyway, UA just called to inform us of some of the security upgrades they’re making. The Dean also asked us to be at the school a little earlier for a meeting.”

Izuku nodded again, a hum of conformation accompanying it.

A moment of silence passed before she spoke again. “Izuku, honey, are you sure you want to go back to UA?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he said definitively as he took another bite. In fact, he was never more sure of anything. Being a hero was his biggest dream for well over a decade now. Not only has All Might given him an opportunity to become a hero, he’s also got friends to grow alongside. He can’t stop now, not like this.

“Izuku…” Inko trailed off again before shaking her head. “Alright I won’t stop you. Just… just make sure you come back to me, okay?”

At her question, Izuku turned and looked his mother in the eyes, determination burning like never before in his eyes. He nodded in response, and Inko was fine with that.

And as their eyes remained locked, she thought back on her son’s life. For so long she had seen the light in his eyes dim slowly ever since he was diagnosed as quirkless. She knew something was wrong at Aldera, but it didn’t matter what she did or who she asked, she never got a straight answer. It’s why she tried so hard to give him a comfortable place to come home to.

And then he came back home about a year ago with that light in his eyes even brighter than before. That moment was when she knew that she’d help him on his journey to become a hero as best she could. She would worry, as any good mother would, but as long as he came home safe, that was enough for her.

And if she felt more than a healthy amount of vindication at Aldera’s recent dismantlement, well, that could be her little secret.

Izuku turned back around and went in for another serving, but after a moment he stopped.

Huh, they were out of rice.

==========
Mie Prefecture- Uraraka Apartment
Around the same time

Ochako plopped down on her bed after talking with her parents. It wasn’t a long or in depth talk, but she felt drained regardless.

Suddenly she heard her phone vibrate on her nightstand. Checking it showed that someone sent out an announcement from their class chat.

~~~
Class 1-A Chat

Yaoyorozu Momo: @everyone I know most, if not all, of us are still recovering both physically and mentally from yesterday’s events. That said, how is everyone else doing?

Sero Hanta: You mean besides realizing your own mortality in the most fucked up way possible?

Kaminari Denki: Dude, not the time.

Ashido Mina: Oh come on Kami, lighten up!

Jirou Kyouka: Girl, not the time.

Ashido Mina: Sorry :|

Iida Tenya: If I may put it in a more succinct and less crass manner, I am quite shaken up by yesterday’s events, but I believe I am well at the moment.

16 Users Liked Iida Tenya’s Message

Kirishima Eijirou: Guess that answers that question.

Kirishima Eijirou: Things could have gone worse, but they could’ve also gone better.

Hagakure Tooru: I thought I was gonna die!

Tokoyami Fumikage: Indeed. Even if none of our number crossed the veil, one wrong move could have spelt disaster.

Kaminari Denki: Yeah, like Highlander.

Sero Hanta: Dude, now look who’s talking!

Kaminari Denki: Oh, shit! Sorry!

Hagakure Tooru: All of that aside, that fight was crazy! Who knew she could do something like that.

Asui Tsuyu: Does anyone know if she’s okay, ribbit?

Yaoyorozu Momo: I have contacted Dean Nezu, but all he stated was that her condition was stabilized.

Midoriya Izuku: She's most likely not awake at the moment.

Ashido Mina: Whoa! Hey Midoriya!

Ashido Mina: Wait, whatcha mean by that?

Midoriya Izuku: She was completely drained by the end. She said it was all she could do to stay conscious. She had to siphon off energy from my quirk just to have her arm healed.

Satou Rikidou: Holy- I hope she’ll be okay after all of that.

Jirou Kyouka: Yeah. Metal as fuck, but that was a bit much, even for me.

Me: How are you doing Izuku?

Midoriya Izuku: Fine at the moment. Still a bit shaken up admittedly.

Iida Tenya: Jirou, while I understand the impact you wish to impart upon your words, I must insist that you refrain from such crude language!

Yaoyorozu Momo: Tenya, I understand, but now is not the time to reprimand your fellow classmates. We have been through a lot. No one needs to add fuel to the fire.

Me: Yeah, Momo’s right Tenya! Ya really need to loosen up!

Iida Tenya: I apologize! I will attempt to reign that in!

Ashido Mina: Oho! “Izuku”? “Tenya”? “Momo”? You guys have gotten pretty close!

Yaoyorozu Momo: Friends call each other by their first names, do they not? Especially with said friend’s permission.

Iida Tenya: Indeed! I can attest to the fact that Izuku, Ochako, and I gave express permission.

Ashido Mina: Oohoo! And when did this happen Uraraka?

Me: Whoops, gotta go! My parents are calling for me, so bye!

Ashido Mina: Oi, you get back here! We’re not done!

~~~

’Dammit, why does she like to tease me so much?!’

As she thought this, she covered her blushing face with her hands, accidentally activating her quirk in the first place. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened after all, though the pink-skinned girl had been far more subtle.

It took her a few moments to realize that she was floating before she sighed in defeat. As she laid back down on her bed, she took a deep breath to calm herself.

She had some thinking to do after all.

==========
UAU Infirmary
Late at Night

A consistent beeping was the first thing she heard. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes to the dark room she was in. The soft glow of moonlight illuminated the room, allowing her to see well enough.

Her whole body felt stiff, although that was probably due to the casts on a few of her limbs. Her right arm twitched before she lifted it. As she brought it into view, she noticed that it was almost completely covered in bandages. Images flashed through her mind, her standing upright and staring down at her transformed arm.

“So we really did make it out. Good,” she muttered as she brought her arm down again.

The door to her room opened shortly after, the diminutive figure of the Dean of UAU came into view.

“Ah, good. I had noticed you beginning to stir, so I hope I did not leave you alone for long. I would hope you were restful over the past day.”

“I may have had a short trip down memory lane. I do hope you’re here to bring me good news however,” she said sarcastically in a raspy voice. “I’m so fragile and sickly that anything else would cause my weak old heart to stop.”

“Oh please, as if something like this could stop you,” the stoat commented.

“Heh, fair enough,” she acquiesced in a far more natural tone. “How’s everyone else doing? Oh, and where’s mom?”

“I had your mother sleep in her own bed tonight. She barely got any sleep since the USJ, so I thought it prudent of me to do so. As for the rest, you are currently the only one still hospitalized. Tsutsumi and Aizawa will need a session or two of healing before they fully recover, but they will be fine. Thirteen underwent surgery for their back, but that concluded a few hours ago. As for the students, only minor injuries that were healed as soon as the incident was over.”

“That’s good,” she hummed out as she kept her gaze on the ceiling. She let a beat of silence pass before asking the serious questions. “How’s the media handling this? And more importantly, what about Bakugou?”

The chimera let out a sigh before speaking as he hopped up onto a chair so she could look him in his beady eyes.

“The media’s coverage of the ‘USJ Incident’ is going in our favor thanks to connecting the Media Break-in the day before to this incident. Several outlets are banned from entering school grounds, and the board agreed on the press pass idea.

“As for what was reported of the incident itself, while we’ve publicly stated that students did fight to defend themselves, your fight with Noumu was kept classified. I thought it best to not let the entire world know of your new ability just yet.

“And as for Bakugou…” he trailed off, not liking the next part, “Shigaraki got to him after he transferred dorms. They freed him from his bracelets in his room before spiriting him away along with his hero costume. I had initially thought he was having a temper tantrum and stayed in his room, but I was obviously wrong.

“Unfortunately, we have been unable to track the League through normal means, which leads me to conclude that All for One himself has gotten his greedy little claws on him,” he finished with annoyed tone.

The two were silent once more, the beeping of the heart monitor being the only sound within the room.

Azura sighed. “It’s not your fault, you know. Not entirely anyways, I’m not a liar. It’s also my fault too. Neither of us planned for this. We both believed that he would’ve been too stubborn to even think of joining the villains. Apparently he wasn’t thinking about villains or heroes, just revenge. Revenge against Izuku and I. Whether it’s because of what I did at the battle trials, or his own bratty nature, I don’t know.

“What I do know is that we can’t focus on it. We made mistakes, but that doesn’t mean everything’s over just yet. We still have an opportunity. He made his choice, but if we meet him later and can sway him, all the better. If we can’t…” she trailed off before a look of determination filled her eyes.

“Then we’ll just have to deal with the consequences of our actions.”

Nezu nodded. He knew what he was getting into from the start. Even with his own intellect and Azura’s knowledge, they can only plan for so much. Humans are often an unpredictable variable. The bluenette next to him was a prime example of that fact. Even so, the words from the reincarnated woman invigorated him. She was right after all. Losing heart now would only jeopardize what was to come.

At that, he began to chuckle. “You are wise beyond your years.”

Azura scoffed. “Better be. I’ve already lived one life. I’d feel pathetic if I didn’t learn something,” she replied before letting out a soft chuckle herself. “There anything else?”

Nezu hummed for a moment before opening his mouth. “Other than the Board approving my wish list for the Sports Festival and several other things, no.”

“Good. Good, that’s good.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“So, you gonna tell me why you were late?”

Nezu instinctively shivered at her tone.

==========
Unknown Location
Around the same time

All for One sat as he used a technopathy quirk to watch the feed coming from the bar. Tomura was having another temper tantrum, and the Bakugou boy wasn’t helping in the least. All for One could not really blame his chosen successor though.

When the two man-children decided to charge All Might, they were both shot by bullets to bring them to a stop. The one from Snipe had buried itself within Bakugou’s shoulder, but Nagant’s was far more powerful.

As a result, Tomura’s knee was almost completely obliterated. The Good Doctor made an attempt to salvage it, but the damage was too extensive for Tomura’s skinny body. All for One supposed that that was his fault as he didn’t push for the boy under his care to take proper care of himself. Just so long as the Seventh’s descendant was alive by the time the Good Doctor was ready, he didn’t care. It might be for the best that he changes his approach from now on.

All for One dismissed the thought. His mind was becoming far too old if he was beginning to ramble like that.

Anyways, Tomura’s left leg had to be amputated from the knee down, the Doctor now taking a few days to create a suitable replacement for him.

Bakugou on the other hand was relatively unharmed. A small scar would form at the impact zone, but other than that and some soreness, the blonde was fine.

Their injuries were not the source of their tantrums, but they did factor in. The biggest reason for their rage was…

“I AIN’T NO DAMN VILLAIN!!!”

“HOW DARE THEY PRAISE THAT FAKE!!!”

The news broadcast had been unsatisfactory to say the least. Tomura was barely talked of aside from his childish behavior, Noumu was reported to have been handily defeated by All Might, and Bakugou was now registered as a villain. A low ranking villain, but that little tidbit didn’t calm his rage whatsoever. It might’ve actually made things worse.

All for One also felt a tad disappointed as the nation was not nearly as riled up as he had hoped, but he supposed he could still make this into a teachable moment for the two boys.

“Now now Tomura, Katsuki,” he called out from behind his screen, the two ceasing their rampage for the moment, “what the public thinks of you is unimportant. The fact that they are continuing to deify All Might while they demonize you only proves that point.

“Tomura, the very fact that they place so much of the credit on All Might’s back is a clear signal of how much his power is waning. They would rather hold on to the Symbol of Peace by any means necessary. This corrupt society needs to be torn down to show how their hero is worth nothing. The first strike will be to those children under his care who call themselves heroes.”

He could see a cruel smirk growing on the dry lips of the boy he raised through the camera feed. All for One was happy as always to know that his perfect weapon was so easy to please and placate. The extra motivation would not hurt as well.

“And Katsuki, while we might not have known each other long, it appears that we now have a common goal. The very people who casted you aside like trash now seek to defame you once more simply because you sought to teach those under you their place. I can help you teach them. I can help you grow to be even better than you are. After all, I will not be like the self-centered rat that governs that facade of a school. I will teach you, guide you, as I have Tomura. You are no villain, but I can help you be a teacher to educate the people of this society the right way to do things. ”

Oh, he could almost feel the rage growing within the blonde as he spoke. His buttons were laughably easy to press after all. Though he might be difficult to keep in line due to his violent personality, that ultimately would be a minor detail in the grand scheme.

“Do we have an arrangement?”

He didn’t need a verbal answer. The rage that had grown within the boy was answer enough. The vicious smile from the deranged boy did solidify his place however.

All for One smirked as well. He always loved playing games with his subordinates. Doing everything yourself was quite bothersome after so long.

Chapter Text

“Good morning Japan, I am Hasebusa Kotone coming to you live from the JBN main studio in Tokyo. Our top story today is the break in and subsequent attack on UAU ground, labeled as the ‘USJ Incident’.

“UAU released a press statement early yesterday detailing the events that took place one Thursday. As we covered that yesterday, we will instead focus on the details released later on in the day.

“As stated, the USJ facility, short for Unforeseen Simulation Joint, was attack two days ago on Thursday during class 1-A’s field trip to tbe facility. While several students and teachers were injured, there were no fatalities among the roster.

“What was later revealed was that the reason the League of Villains, the perpetrators of the attack, were able to appear at the right time and place was due to the fact that they were able to acquire a copy of 1-A’s class schedule. While UA states that this would normally be impossible, a combination of factors allowed this to occur.

“First and foremost is the Warp Villain: Kurogiri, who gave an operative access to UAU’s main faculty room. It is said that there is at least one member of faculty within the room at all times, but the theft of the documents was reportedly done during the Media Break-In that occurred the day before the attack.”

At her words, a video of the crowd of reports outside UA’s main gate began playing in the corner of the screen.

“While it is believed that the League of Villains orchestrated these events, UAU has gone on record to say that any media company related to the Break-In will be severely punished and even banned from the campus due to their ‘immature and reckless actions’.

“While we too at JBN wish to have gotten an interview of All Might about his time as a teacher, we also acknowledge that the actions of the media representatives several days ago put many people in danger. We only hope that the League of Villains will skulk back into whatever shadows they crawled from after their sound defeat at the hands of All Might.”

==========
MLA Main Headquarters- Daika City
Saturday

Four people sat at a far-too-large conference table in one of the many meeting rooms in Daika Tower. On the massive screen was the news broadcast of the “USJ Incident”.

“Clever rat! Placing some of the blame on the media will make them far more hesitant to try anything in the future. He’s probably also been given greater authority for offensive actions against media outlets.”

Kizuki Chitose, the civilian name of the MLA executive Curious, was seething in frustration at the developments that had been occurring. She had not been at UA at the time of the break in, something she was simultaneously happy and aggravated for. Aggravated that she couldn’t see the chaos and potentially find a way to access UAU’s intranet, and happy as there was no extra attention on Shoowaysha Publishing. Of course, a consequence of the event was that it would be more difficult for Shoowaysha to access UAU grounds.

Tomoyasu Chikazoku, their hacking expert, Skeptic, interjected. “There’s nothing we can do on that front at the moment. We have bigger things to worry about.”

“Skeptic is right, Curious. We can deal with UA later. In the meantime, Skeptic, did you find anything?” asked Koku Hanabata, their political spy, Trumpet.

“That I did. It isn’t much, but I don’t want anyone to stumble upon my back door into the HPSC’s database.” As he said this, Skeptic took control of the large screen and pulled up several files. “Several things were redacted, but from what I can tell, the public report was altered. All All Might did to this Noumu creature was counter it a few times before throwing it several kilometers away from the USJ facility.”

“Oh really? Then who could have possibly done all that damage?” Curious asked as she gestured to the picture of the beaten and battered Noumu.

“A student,” he replied simply.

“You’re shitting me,” she casually accused.

“Not even slightly. The name of the student and the details of the meta ability are redacted, but the ability is apparently named ‘Requiem’.”

“Interesting,” Rikiya Yotsubashi, the grand commander of the MLA: Re-Destro, hummed out. “A meta ability that can go toe to toe with a creature meant to rival All Might. Is it possible for you to find out more, Skeptic?”

“Not unless I somehow access the private files on UAU’s intranet, but that’s a hardlined system. Can’t access it remotely since it uses underground cables, and we can’t access the cables themselves without alerting Nezu. And as we all know, getting that rat involved now would only prove detrimental to our plans.”

“Then we will have to learn more from the festival,” Re-Destro responded. “It is best that you focus your attention on this supposed ‘League of Villains’ for the moment, Skeptic. They are currently a wildcard.”

“Understood sir!” he exclaimed.

“Good. Dismissed,” Re-Destro commanded as he gave the MLA salute, his fingers in the shape of an “L” on his forehead. The three others in the room mimicked him as they got up to leave.

Chapter Text

???

Beeping.

It was a constant, droning rhythm that didn’t fluctuate whatsoever. I fucking hate alarms. I tried to reach out to turn it off, but my arms were too weak to move.

Huh? Wait, what? That isn’t right. I still feel tired, but…

I tried to open my eyes to see the world around me. It took so much effort to even see a speck of light. I recoiled as much as I could at how bright it was. It was so bright. Why was it so bright?

Minutes passed as I tried to force my eyes open. It took minutes more for them to adjust to the sheer brightness of the room. Looking out the window almost blinded me, so I jerked my head away.

I was met with pristine walls and a sterilized room. What? A hospital room? Why am I-?

Memories rapidly flowed through my head. That kid. The crash. And…

…

Was all of that just a dream? My reincarnation. The world I was born into. Was all of that-?

My thoughts were interrupted by a nurse bursting into my room. She ran over to the heart monitor, the beeping farm more frequent than before. I let out a groan that signaled my consciousness to her. She ran out of the room I was in, leaving me alone once again.

Minutes that felt like hours passed, or maybe it was hours that passed like minutes. I didn’t really care. Some time passed before someone else, a doctor I suspected, entered my room.

“It is good to see you awake Ms. Halfhejdj (what did he just say?), many of us on staff here were rooting for your recovery.”

Whoa, dammit, stop! You’re moving too fast!

“You’re probably confused (YES!), but an explanation will have to wait (dammit!). You have a visitor after all.”

Visitor? What the hell are you-

Someone else panickedly burst through the door, only to see me and jump for joy. I couldn’t quite see his face throughout it all. It wasn’t long before he was at my bedside though.

“Hey, are you okay-”

I gasped awake and shot up to a sitting position. Beads of sweat covered my body as I breathed deeply, injuries old and new burned under my skin at the unusual and sudden movement. I didn’t care though.

After a few moments, I just curled up into a ball and wept.

“Dammit…”

==========
UAU’s Main Gate
Sunday ~8:30 a.m.

Izuku walked alongside his mother towards UAU’s main building. Today was the day that he and the rest of his classmates were due back on campus, but the Dean saw fit to call them in a little early for a meeting. Izuku had a few guesses as to the topic of the meeting.

Snipe stood at the entrance to the building. As mother and son approached, he gestured for them to follow him with a short explanation that he was there to guide them up.

A short time later, and the greenettes were met with the door to the Dean’s office which suddenly opened after a moment.

“Welcome, welcome! Please take a seat!” the mammal called out from within.

The two did as instructed and sat together on a couch, both nervous at the situation. Nezu got up from his computer and sat opposite of them as he poured a cup of tea. He offered some to the both of them, though Inko was the only one to accept.

“Now, I understand that circumstances are not the best at the moment, but I thought doing this now would be better for everyone involved,” he started. “Young Midoriya, if you do not mind, I would like to ask about your time at Aldera.”

Nezu’s words sent a chill down the younger greenette’s spine, the latter finding several of his suspicions confirmed. Izuku swallowed before speaking.

“Can I ask why?”

“Of course! I would never deny you an answer to such a genuine question. Now, as you might remember, Aldera was raided on the day of the USJ Incident. Thankfully the investigation isn’t being postponed in favor of investigating the League of Villains, but we are still on a time limit. The faster we finish, the better,” he concisely explained.

“Are you implying that you are a part of the investigation, Dean Nezu?” Inko stated suddenly. Izuku redirected his attention onto his mother, the woman holding a stern look on her face.

“In a way, I am Mrs. Midoriya,” the chimeric Dean said far too cheerily.

“Firstly, it is ‘Ms’. My husband and I divorced some time ago,” she replied.

“Ah, apologies. I will make sure to rectify that in the future.”

She nodded before continuing. “Second, might I ask why you are involved?”

“An excellent question! There are several reasons actually, but I will only go over the main few,” he stated before he sipped his tea. “First and foremost is that I found a discrepancy in the student files. Young Bakugou was stated to be an exemplary student that went out of his way to aid anyone and everyone around him.”

“Pardon?” Inko asked as she and Izuku balked.

“Exactly my reaction. He was far too perfect. No write ups, no special notes, and not even a tardy. His violent behavior during the Entrance Exam and his complete lack of any Rescue Points, which is incredibly impressive in of itself, led me to contact a few friends of mine to start up an investigation. This was only compounded when I found your file, Young Midoriya.”

“My file? What was wrong with it?” Izuku asked with a look of deep concern.

“In a word, ‘everything’.” That caused the duo of greenettes to blink in surprise. “You were labeled as a disruptive, narcissistic delinquent with more write ups and complaints than I care to count. Some of it was minor like uniform infractions, while others stated that you constantly destroyed school property.”

The both of them gasped at the information. Izuku looked on in wide-eyed shock as he thought back to all of the incidents with Bakugou. Far too much damage was done to the school itself, too much to be swept under the rug. Someone had to take the fall, and who better than the Quirkless nobody that everyone deemed useless and unimportant. He wouldn’t have gone anywhere with his life in their minds after all.

Inko however, she was furious. “Dean Nezu,” she started coldly, each word spoken enunciated to make sure she would not be misunderstood, “are you implying that Aldera attempted to ruin my baby’s life?”

Nezu hid the shiver that went up his spine, the scene far too familiar to him. Never mess with a mother scorned. “It appears so. Thanks to the investigation, we have enough evidence to have Young Midoriya’s file completely expunged. His grades are also under review as we have found evidence of tampering among some of the school’s former students.

“Suffice to say, if we did not accept all applicants despite their pasts, Young Midoriya’s life could have been over before it truly began.”

And that was true. UAU made it a point to test all applicants who applied and to allow them admittance should they pass their respective exams. Even former criminals could find decent jobs with the right classes and therapy. It was a modified version of a Villain Rehabilitation course he once proposed to the Board, but they shot the idea down at the moment. “Ketsubutsu already has such a program, we don’t need it too,” was their reasoning. Nezu had to resist shaking his head in disappointment at their stance.

“I promise the both of you that I will do anything in my power to undo the damage that Aldera inflicted.”

Both of them seemed to have accepted his words, but Inko stared down at her hands for a moment, eyes closed in thought. “And your other reasons?” she asked suddenly.

Nezu perked up at her question. “Ah yes. There are a few more reasons to my decisions, but the only one that is important is that I have a certain… personal stake in the matter,” he answered with a vicious grin on his face.

Inko considered his words carefully. Despite everything she has heard about the mammalian Dean, she could tell the rumors about his care for his students were genuine. As she opened her eyes, she flashed a very similar grin to the Dean across from her. Izuku didn’t know how to feel about that.

“If that’s the case, I supposed you wouldn’t have any objections to me joining, would you?” she asked in a sickly sweet tone.

“Hmm, an intriguing offer. To work alongside the Rookie Green Dragon on such a case would be the chance of a lifetime,” Nezu replied with a paw on his… chin.

Izuku balked. Due to everything that had happened at Aldera, he spent quite a bit of time on the internet. He learned a lot of things from the many rabbit holes he dug himself into. One such rabbit hole was about a rookie lawyer who defended their clients so ferociously, they quickly gained the title of the Rookie Green Dragon. No matter who or what they faced, they won soundly and completely every time. The cases they won led to a number of corrupt individuals to be sentenced, and those innocent of their crimes go free. They were apparently able to overturn a few false convictions as well.

And that person was his mother?!?!

Izuku repeatedly looked between Nezu and Inko, shock clear on his face.

“Oh my, it’s been a while since someone’s called me that,” she said as she shyly held one of her cheeks with her hand.

“I wasn’t expecting the discovery myself, but it was far too tantalizing to do nothing with.”

“If that’s the case, then I suppose we should begin discussing how we should handle this,” the woman proposed.

“Indeed!” Nezu replied cheerily before he turned to Izuku. “Apologies Young Midoriya, but it seems we won’t be getting to what I initially asked you here for. Worry not, I will make sure to get your testimony sooner rather than later.”

“I- uh- what?” he asked weakly.

“What he means Izuku, is that the two of us need to plan,” Inko interjected. “It will be quite boring, so I’d recommend leaving this to us.”

Izuku blinked. “Oh. Um, yeah, sure,” he said distantly before standing.

As he walked, he heard the two behind him whispering menacingly. All of that was silenced however when he crossed the threshold of the room and the door closed behind him. He stood there for a few moments to process everything before it all hit him like a truck.

“What the fuck just happened?”

===
Some time later

After regaining his composure and returning to UA’s main entrance, he waited for his classmates as they too made their trips back to UA. First it was only a few such as Tenya and Sero. Not much later and the floodgates had opened so to speak. One after the other walked up to the gate, some accompanied by their parents or siblings before they took off themselves.

Not much later, and there stood him and his seventeen classmates all conversing with one another. Well, Yui and Kouji just seemed to be listening, but they seemed content with just that. The only ones they were missing were…

“Anyone know where Azura and Mineta are?” he asked without thinking.

Momo took her chance to speak up. “Ah, yes, I received a message from Nezu stating that Mineta has withdrawn from UA.”

“Oh, can’t really blame the guy honestly,” Rikidou replied.

“Quite,” she agreed. Though she didn’t necessarily like the little pervert, she could empathize about his very-near death experience. “As for Azura, she is most likely still hospitalized.”

That statement brought the mood down a bit.

Ochako looked down as she held her hands in front of herself. “I hope she’s okay. She fought so hard, and…”

“Hey, don’t be like that,” Mina interjected after a moment. “She’s a tough cookie. I mean, you saw her right? She’ll be fine.”

“Yeah! It’s not like moping will help her either,” Hanta called out.

“Indeed! Now, it is best that we head to the dorms before it gets too late!” Tenya instructed.

Ochako started giggling. “Too late? It’s not even noon.”

Their trek to the building they called home was both agonizingly long and far too short for Izuku. Maybe he was still worried, or maybe it was because of what they went through. He shook his head. He couldn’t get lost in his thoughts for long as those in front began climbing the steps.

He let out a small smile and nodded at Mezou who was holding the door open for everyone else. Most everyone stayed huddled around the entryway, not paying much attention to the rest of the common room. That was the case until someone exited the kitchen area.

“My oh my, it seems we have some visitors.” Izuku turned to see their Hero Art History teacher Midnight cocking her hips to the side.

Unlike her usual attire, she wore sweatpants and a t-shirt that referenced a popular band Izuku didn't know much about.

“Well hello students,” she greeted sensually after a moment as she sauntered up to the group. She stopped several feet in front of them and struck a pose that wasn’t overly exaggerated or lewd yet still incredibly flirty.

“I know this isn’t your first time, but- ACK!” She stumbled forward due to a chop to the back of her head.

“Dammit mom! What have I told you about using that persona in front of my friends?!” a familiar voice cried out in annoyance. Most of the assembled students felt their eyes widen upon recognition.

Midnight gripped the back of her head as she whirled around to face Azura. “Oh come on honey, I was just teasing.” The bluenette promptly chopped the older woman on the head again. “OW! So mean!”

All the while, Izuku took in his previously unaccounted for friend. Despite the bandages that still covered parts of her body, she looked far better than the last time he had seen her. There was just this… air about her that made her seem different. A good different in his mind.

That’s when Izuku’s mind skidded to a stop as he and everyone else finally processed the words that had been spoken.

Mina was the first to react. “WAIT! MIDNIGHT’S YOUR MOTHER?!?!” she yelled as she pointed a finger at the two of them.

“To my eternal consternation,” the bluenette commented off handedly as she looked to the side.

“My own daughter…” the woman trailed off weakly as obviously fake tears leaked from her eyes. Her entire demeanor changed on a dime after a moment however. “Wait, what are you doing up? You should be resting, doctor's orders!” she pointed accusingly.

Azura just deadpanned at the woman. “Because I knew you’d pull your ‘Midnight’ shtick with my friends.”

“Pfft. Give me some credit. It wasn’t like I was going to seduce one of them.” Azura just continued her deadpan as she raised an eyebrow. “Too much,” the other woman corrected weakly after a moment.

“Mhmm.” At that, the bluenette merely turned around and went towards the couch in front of the TV that had a game Izuku couldn’t identify paused.

Midnight cleared her throat to have everyone refocus their attention on her. “Alright. Now I know some of you have questions, so I’ll answer them the best I can. Before all of that though, you may know me as the ‘18+ Heroine: Midnight’, but outside of costume I’m Kayama Nemuri. Pick your preference, but just don’t call me ‘Midnight’. I don’t want to give Azura a reason to chop me again.”

“Damn right!” said the young woman who called out from the sofa.

“Right, so first up?” their teacher prompted.

“You said you were Azura’s mom right? Then why don’t you two share a family name?” Tooru quickly asked. .

Nemuri’s expression turned serious for a moment. “We’re not biologically related, but that’s all I’ll say on the matter unless Azura says otherwise,” she stated before her expression turned more relaxed and loving as she glanced over to the sofa the bluenette claimed. “I love her dearly regardless of our circumstances however.”

Izuku, Ochako, Momo, and Tenya all glanced at each other, realization and understanding prevalent in their eyes.

Their attention was redirected again by another question. “What are you doing here, ribbit?” Tsu asked outright.

The woman replaced her previous expression with that of a smirk. “Aside from taking care of my precious daughter in the last days of her recovery, I have also been assigned as 1-A’s dorm parent. Well, one of them as I’m technically splitting the role with Tsutsumi, but that’s all just technicalities,” she explained as she waved her hand dismissively.

Tenya’s hand shot up. “If I may, why are we being assigned dorm parents now when we were left relatively alone for the first week?”

The older woman sighed before responding. “Aside from Aizawa’s ‘methods’, that was before the USJ. There are cameras in the common room and the hallways, but after the media broke in and the USJ Incident, it was decided to spread some extra security to the dorms as well,” she explained.

“Ah, I see. Thank you for your explanation!”

Mid- Ms. Kayama laughed softly for a moment. “You don’t need to be so formal. There’s a few other things, but that’s best left for tomorrow. Something tells me you’ve all got something you want to do first,” she said as she smirked.

The first to move was the pink-skinned ball of energy of their class. Izuku wasn’t sure if that was due to excitement or relief, but he guessed the distinction didn’t matter too much.

“You had us scared to death Azzy!” Mina exclaimed as she jumped over the back of the couch and glomped the bluenette.

“ACK! Dammit Ashido! At least let me pause!”

“How could you say that to friends who were so worried about you!” came the voice of Tooru a moment later, the recovering girl being pushed in a different direction by what Izuku assumed to be his invisible classmate.

“Now now, I know you were all worried, but don’t forget that she’s still healing!” Nemuri called out

That got the two excitable young women to quietly apologize and back off for the time being.

“She’s still getting hugs for worrying us though!” Ochako exclaimed before she rushed over and gave Azura a hug of her own, though the impact was far more gentle.

Momo was very excited to join in a second later. Izuku and Tenya hung back, not sure on what to do at the moment. Azura glanced over to the two of them before she sighed. “Come on. If this is happening, might as well have all of us.”

The two boys glanced at each other before shrugging, although Izuku began blushing furiously.

Nemuri watched the scene some distance away, a soft smile on her face.

===

A few hours had passed by in a blur with a variety of conversations and some good food. Azura could see and even feel some of the tension everyone was feeling slipping away bit by bit. It was nice in her opinion.

“Whoa, cool. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this game before,” Denki stated in slight surprise.

Azura looked up at the blonde for a moment before shrugging. “That tracks. Pre-Quirk Era games aren’t very well known after all.”

“Wait, you’ve got games from the Pre-Quirk Era?” he asked with a gasp.

“Yup. It was more of a growing interest for a few years. Found an old forum somewhere talking about them once. They seemed pretty interesting. Nezu found out one day and used getting them for me as an incentive.”

Half true anyways. She was a game nut in her last life. She lightly complained to Nezu once about how games that were widely available in her new life didn’t compare to what she had before as most stories were far more simple, and the games themselves either revolved around Pro Heroes or referenced them in some way. To find out that many titles from her previous life existed in the Pre-Quirk Era was a genuine and welcomed surprise. It didn’t take long for the conniving Dean to use it to give her greater incentive. Not like she was complaining though.

“Whoa. So whatcha playin?” he asked with genuine curiosity.

“‘Metroid: Dread’. First time playing it is absolutely terrifying, but after a run or two, it’s genuine fun.”

Momo chose that moment to enter the conversation. “‘Metroid’,” she hummed out. “Why have I heard that name before?”

“Probably because it’s one of two games that established an entirely new genre, said genre being called ‘metroidvania’,” Azura answered.

“Ah, yes. An old collector friend of my father once mentioned it to him. Something about ‘the originals being far better’. He seemed quite passionate about the subject.”

“A man after my own heart,” the bluenette commented.

“If that is the case, would you mind telling us what you know of it?” she asked as she took a seat next to Azura on the couch with Denki draping himself over the back of it.

“Eh, why not? First off, the name of the genre, ‘metroidvania’, is derived from two different games; Metroid and Castlevania. Specifically the original Metroid and Castlevania 2 that were released in 1986 and 1987 respectively,” she started.

“Geez. That makes them old old,” Denki commented.

“Yup. The systems that ran those games were among the first generation, so there was a lot of experimentation to be done. Not to mention improvements on the systems themselves. Anyways. Most games before then were platformers that either had the full stage on the screen or were side scrollers. Metroidvania games though had a full interconnected map where you go not only right like before, but left, up, and down. It might not sound impressive to us now, but something like that was revolutionary at the time.”

“I could certainly see why,” Momo interjected. “From what I understand, consoles at that time only ran on 8-bit systems, correct?”

“Yup, so like I said, revolutionary,” the injured girl answered. “From there, it was only a matter of revising the formula as systems got more powerful allowing for complex storytelling as well. Most games at that time had the story written in an entirely separate manual. I’ve actually got a ROM of the original Metroid if you wanted to see it.”

“Man, I thought you were cool before, but this takes the cake!” Denki called out.

“Hey, what are you guys talking about?” Turning around revealed Kyouka as the speaker.

“Talking about Pre-Quirk games,” the lightning wielder answered simply.

“Really? Cool. Heard some of them were pretty metal,” she commented.

“Hey, hey, you got any multiplayer games?” the blonde asked excitedly.

Azura paused the game for a moment before adopting an evil grin. “You guys ever heard of ‘Super Smash Bros.’?”

===

“Ah, come on! I was first out again?!” Hanta exclaimed in frustration.

“Holy crap! How are you so good at this?” Denki asked.

“You asked me to play seriously. It’s not my fault you guys are terrible,” the reincarnated young woman answered with a shrug.

Not too long later, and the match was over by a knockout.

”And the winner is: Shulk!” the announcer stated as Azura stood up and struck a pose.

“To be fair, you did ask for this,” Momo commented from off to the side.

“I didn’t think we’d be wiped that easily,” Mina groaned as her controller slowly slid from her hands.

Quite a crowd had gathered by that point as everyone other than the few that had already gone up to their rooms by that point were gathered around the TV. Some had asked questions about what was going on and who the characters were with Azura casually answering them all as she handidly countered and knocked out her opponents.

“Ah, I see you kids are having fun,” Nemuri said as she approached, draping herself over her now-seated daughter.

“Figured it would be a good idea to unwind,” the bluenette answered as she shifted further into the older woman's embrace.

“A good idea I suppose. Though I never quite understood why you like those old games so much,” the mother of the pair said casually.

“Then I guess you wouldn’t mind if I showed everyone your Xenoblade 2 playtime, right?”

Nemuri gained a panicked look on her face as she pulled out a snack bar and quickly unwrapped it before shoving it in Azura’s mouth.

“Oh look at that, you haven’t eaten one of these yet. Chiyo did say that you’d need them to regenerate your stockpile,” she quickly said before laughing nervously.

Azura wore a look of smug satisfaction as she chewed. She swallowed a moment later and giggled about her adoptive mother’s antics before putting down her controller. “Alright, someone else take over for me for a bit. I’ve gotta go use the bathroom,” she stated before she got up to do just that.

Momo spotted Ochako shifting nervously in her seat before getting up and going after the bluenette. She tilted her head as she wondered what that was about before getting up herself.

A few minutes later Azura exited the bathroom. She was about round the corner back to the common room proper before Ochako blocked her paths.

“Oh, hey. You need something Ochako?” she asked the brunette.

She shuffled a bit before answering. “U-um, I need your advice on something. I just don’t know what to do and you always seem so sure of everything and-“

“Whoa, hey, calm down,” the bluenette interrupted as she put her hands on her friend’s shoulders to ground her. “Take your time. You don’t need to rush.”

Ochako nodded as she took a few deep breaths. After a few more moments to collect herself, she spoke. “I need your advice. Specifically, I want to know what you meant about what you said about regrets back when we first met.”

Azura blinked before a memory came to mind. “Oh yeah, I did say something about that. Sorry, that felt like months ago at this point. What did you want to know?”

“Why do you think like that?” the brunette asked before she began blushing a moment later. “That isn’t to say it’s wrong, it’s just that- well, it seems complicated you know. Taking every chance you have to do something, I mean.”

Azura tilted her head. “I don’t see what’s so complicated about it. I wanted to make a promise, so I did it. End of story,” she said as she shrugged.

“But how do you do that? How do you just do things like that and not regret them?” she insisted.

Asura shook her head. “I do regret some of them, but that’s not what I meant.” Ochako tilted her head. “Before you ask, what I meant was that I’d rather regret what I have done instead of what I haven’t.”

“I… don’t get it,”’she replied.

“I could have stayed down,” the bluenette stated suddenly, shocking Ochako. “I mean at the USJ. I could have stayed stuck in the side of that building and done nothing for anyone. But I didn’t. I didn’t, because I knew that if I didn’t do something, I would’ve regretted it for the rest of my life.” As she spoke, she began to undo the bandages on her right arm.

“Fighting caused me a lot of pain, both physically and mentally, but if anyone were to ask me if I regretted doing so,” she continued as she brought up her now bare arm and flexed it, “my answer would be no, not a damn bit.”

Ochako gasped in shock. The once-pristine arm of her friend was now covered in a large pink and red scar. The discolored tissue was centered around a large blob on her upper arm, only to thin out and spread down to her forearm in jagged and random lines, almost like lightning.

“Like it?” Azura asked, pulling the brunette from her observations.

“Wh-wha- is that..?”

Azura relaxed her arm after a moment and brought it up to look at it more closely. “Yeah, this is what I got for trying to fight that thing. It’s mostly skin deep though thanks to the healing I got.”

“Does it hurt?” Ochako asked softly.

“It’s tender, but other than that, it doesn’t bother me at all,” she answered. Azura began waving her hand dismissively after a moment. She then began to wrap the injury up once again. “We’re getting off track though. My point is that inaction is worse than action. If you’re so focused on the ‘but’s, the ‘what if’s and the ‘if only’s, then you lose sight of the moment. You’re so focused on what could be, and not what is.”

“I’m sorry, you kinda lost me on that,” Ochako replied after a moment.

“This is what I get for trying to be more spiritual,” she muttered before sighing. “What I mean is that you can always learn from any mistakes you make. The problem is when you don’t make mistakes in the first place. If you’re too afraid to do something, you won’t learn anything at all. That’s why I take every opportunity I get to do something.”

Ochako thought on those words. “So you’d rather try at every chance you get than never try at all, even if you might come to regret your decision later?”

“I’d say that’s an accurate summation,” the bluenette commented as she leaned against the wall. “Why’d you ask about this anyways?” she queried, possibly knowing the answer anyways.

“We…” Ochako started before she felt her mouth dry. “We almost died at the USJ,” she said with a grimace. “We almost died, and there was so much I still wanted to do. I never really thought about it before then either, but now I can’t stop thinking about it. The things I could have done, but didn’t. The things I never had the chance to do before. I…” she said before tearing up a bit.

Azura stood up straight before hesitantly wrapping her arms around her friend. Ochako immediately latched on given the chance, surprising the bluenette for a moment.

“I… I want to confess to Izuku. I thought that doing so would get in the way of everything, so I didn’t, but that fear, it…”

“Hey, you don’t gotta say another word. I get it,” Azura soothed as she held onto the slightly shorter girl. “Honestly, I never really thought about romance before, but I think confessing is better than not doing so. Everything is easier when handled as a team, and I’d like to think this is similar. And hey, it’s not like everything will end if it doesn’t work out. So long as you communicate and make your fears known, nothing will tear you apart.”

Ochako softly giggled for a moment. “For someone who hasn’t thought about romance, you seem pretty sure about what you’re saying.”

“Mom taught me a few things,” she answered before extracting herself from the hug and pressed down on Ochako’s shoulders again. “So, did you find your answer?”

“Yeah. I’m gonna do it,” she said with a determined expression. “It might not work out perfectly, but I’ve at least gotta try, right?”

Azura smiled softly. “Right.

Around the corner, another young woman found her own determination as well.

==========
~8:00 p.m.

Izuku stretched as he pulled himself away from his analysis. He had to say that he had a lot of fun down in the common room. He might have to check out some of the games Azura described to him and the rest of their classmates.

His stomach rumbled softly. He took a moment to consider his options before he decided that getting a small snack wouldn’t be a bad idea at that moment.

As he opened the door however, he was met face to face with a blushing Ochako who seemed to be in the middle of knocking if her raised fist meant anything.

“O-oh, Dekiru, h-hey. Fancy seeing you here.”

He blinked blankly a few times at her words. “This is my room,” he said neutrally.

“Oh, r-right,” she replied as she shifted nervously.

“D-do you want to come in?” he asked with a slight stutter, only realizing the true weight of his words after he said them.

Thankfully he wasn’t alone as Ochako looked as flustered as he felt. She wordlessly nodded before he moved out of the way to grant her access. ‘There’s a girl in my room!’ he screamed in his mind.

He turned around as he closed the door to find that she had stopped dead in her tracks as she was met with the portion of his collection his mother allowed him to bring. His blush grew deeper at his realization.

“A,m-ah, um, sorry. I, uh, I should’ve cleaned up a bit,” he apologized before he moved in front of her. He was then surprised when she dashed in front of him and closed in on a figure of Thirteen.

“How’d you get a hold of a limited edition Thirteen Old Type Costume figure?! I heard that one of these could go for millions of yen! And it’s in such good condition too,” she said with stars in her eyes. She looked kind of cute like that.

Izuku shook his head at the thought. “O-oh, well, I helped an old man with his groceries a while back. He didn’t have much to pay me with, so he just gave it to me.”

“Ah man, you’re so lucky,” she replied with a pout as she continued looking over the figure.

“Um, O-Ochako, was there something you wanted to talk about?”

At his words the Thirteen fangirl froze. “Right,” she said as she cleared her throat. “It’s- um, I mean… dang it. I had this whole thing planned out too,” she said with frustration in her voice.

She took a deep breath before continuing. “For starters, um, what happened in the USJ put some things into perspective for me. I realized that… if I keep going, that I might not have the chance to do everything I wanted. And after some advice, I wanted to tell yo-“

A knock at the door interrupted her. The two looked at each other before returning their gazes to the door. Izuku moved over to open it. Doing so revealed another one of his friends.

“Momo?”

“Izuku, may I come in? There is something I wish to discuss with you,” she stated calmly and confidently.

He was so taken aback that he did as she requested and let her in without thinking about it. He was suddenly brought back to the present when he saw the two, two, girls in his room staring each other down.

“Good evening, Ochako. I assume that we are here for the same thing,” Momo greeted politely.

The gravity girl blinked in confusion. “Uh, what?”

The black-haired heiress turned back toward Izuku, though the boy noticed a small blush on her face.

She stood their, staring at him, her blush slowly growing. Seconds that felt like hours passed until she parted her lips.

“Would you like to go on a date?”

Izuku completely froze.

Ochako stood shock before her mind caught back up to the situation. “Wai- hey! I was going to ask him first!” she exclaimed, her frustration and jealousy overpowering her previous anxiety.

“Hm?” Momo asked equally surprised.

“Why’dya just ask him like that anyways? And I thought Tsu was blunt.”

This shook Momo from her own stupor. “I don’t know! I just looked at him and froze. Then Azura’s advice flashed in my head, and the next thing I know, I’m asking him out,” she answered she held her burning face in her hands.

“Ugh. And now the whole moment’s ruined,” the brunette groaned. “Can we try this again, Izuku?”

“…”

“Izuku?” she called out again as looked around the room and then at the open door. “Where’d he go?”

===

Azura like to think that she did a good job today. Everyone seemed happier than before, she introduce a lot of people to some actually good games, and she gave Ochako advice on confessing. That last one is easily the one she’s most proud in as the gravity girl won’t push her feelings down like a dumbass! I mean seriously, come on!

She cleared her throat.

Regardless, today was pretty successful. So as she laid in her bed, she decided to turn Soul Sense back on to see how everyone was doing.

Besides Todoroki’s brooding, everyone seemed to be doing fine. Though there did seem to be a tinge of fear in everyone. She supposed that was normal all things considered. “Thank god these kids are getting some fucking therapy now.”

Curiously, in that moment, anxiety within a certain green-headed inheritor spiked dramatically. He seemed to be running away from his room and… Ochako and Momo? Oh boy. The two young women seemed flustered as well, though Ochako did seem a little angry.

That’s when she noticed that the greenette seemed ti be heading to a specific location. Said location being-

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. Knowing who it was, she got up and made her way over.

“Alright,” she started as she opened the door and grabbed the human strawberry before pulling him in, “what happened?”

The sound of her door closing seemed to shock him out of it.

“W-well, at first I was just writing in my analysis book, but then I went to go get a snack. When I opened my door, Ochako was there and she asked to come in. I let her and she got all excited about a Thirteen figure before she turned around and started saying something. Someone else knocked on my door, said person being Momo. She enters too, stands there for I don’t even know how long, and then asks me out without any warning. Ochako got angry, I think, and said she was going to do that first before I panicked and ran out of my room to come here. And now I’m asking for your help because I don’t know what to do!”

“…”

“…”

“Alright. Uh, sit down and we’ll talk,” she offered before going to sit down herself.

“So, what I got from that word vomit was that Ochako and Momo both asked you going on a date.” He nodded. “And instead of staying, you ran out in a panic and came to me for advice.” Another nod. She brought her palms together in front of her face. “Alright, one question: why me?”

“O-oh, well, y-you’ve given good advice before. I-I just thought-“

“No, no, I’m not complaining. And I will help you. Just- nevermind. First and foremost, how do you feel about the situation?”

“How do I… feel?”

“Yup. Happy? Sad? Angry? Anything, whether it be an emotion or just a thought. And don’t force yourself. Consider your words. We’ve got plenty of time for you to do so.”

How did he feel? How did he feel about the situation?

He wouldn’t lie to himself, he was afraid that it was just some joke. Girls had confessed to him before at Aldera, and those instances never ended well. It was either a prank or a dare, and Izuku always came out more and more heartbroken. Ochako and Momo though, they didn’t seem like the type to do that. And sure, they didn’t know about his Quirkless past, but they accepted the lie Azura told them and the bluenette’s own past easily enough.

Come to think of it, they never really referred to him by his quirk either. They hung around him because… he was him. He’s met plenty of beautiful people before, but none of them were as kind or as wonderful as them.

Momo was smart, but she didn’t lord it over anyone else. Quite the opposite, she used it to help those who needed a guiding hand. She also liked analyzing with him.

Then there was Ochako, her bubbly personality immediately brightening his day. And the nickname she gave him, it was so similar yet so different to what he was used to, but she had full confidence that he wasn’t called “useless” because of it.

If it were a few days ago, he would’ve completely thrown the notion that such wonderful people would like him for him on such a way to the wind, but with his recent revelations… he had hope.

“I guess… I guess I feel happy. And lucky. And guy would be lucky to have either of them. But…” he answered before trailing off.

“But?” she probed further, already having an idea of where this was going.

“I just don’t feel comfortable choosing,” he admitted.

Azura let the room fall to silence before taking a deep breath. “Izuku, I’m going to ask you some questions. I want clear and concise answers. Take your time finding those answers. Oh, by the way, I’ll know if you’re lying.”

He nervously gulped before nodding.

“First and foremost, if only one of them approached you, would you have said ‘yes’?”

“I-I might panic like I did now, b-but I would say ‘yes’… after I stop panicking,” he finished lamely.

“I’ll take it. Second, do you care about them?”

“Y-yeah? Of course I would,” he answered in confusion.

“Third, under the right circumstances, can you see your current feelings towards them evolving into love?”

“I…” he trailed off for a moment before answering quite. “I’d like to think that my feelings could evolve, yes.”

“Alright. Finally, why is finding an answer to the situation so problematic?”

“What? I thought I already told you,” he said as his confusion at the situation increased.

“And I’m telling you to tell me again,” she retorted.

“W-well, I can't just choose. They’re both wonderful, and seeing one of them sad because of me… I can’t choose one or the other,” he stated with finality.

Azura nodded in understanding for a moment. “I can understand that, but there’s one thing you’re missing.” He tilted his head at her words, wondering where this was going. “You’re thinking too binary.”

“Binary?”

“One or the other, that’s your current thought process. In reality, you’ve got more options such as both.”

Izuku blinked. “Both? Both of what?”

“Both of them.” Izuku squawked in surprise at the implication. Azura ignored the outburst and continued. “If having one or the other is the problem, then ignore the problem entirely and have both.”

“Wh-what?! I can’t just do that!”

“Oh, you totally could. Polygamy is legal. I don’t need to read your mind to tell that you deeply care for both of them. You said it yourself, those feelings could develop for either of them on their own. So why not try and see if you could all reach that together?”

Izuku was silent for a moment to take it all in. “This is a weird situation,” he stated.

“Yup.”

“…but,” he began reluctantly, “I can see your point. If choosing is so difficult, why not not choose? But, it feels greedy. Should I do that? What if they hate me for it? Oh god, they’d totally hate me. They’d see me as-“

“Nope! You’re not going down that path,” the recovering woman loudly claimed, drawing Izuku’s attention once more. “I’m gonna tell you what I told Ochako, you can’t constantly worry about the ‘but’s, the ‘what if’s, and the ‘if only’s. Sometimes, all you can do is go out and do it. It could always not work out, but you’d be surprised about all the things you could do if you stopped worrying about everything.”

“A leap of faith,” Izuku said suddenly. Azura looked over at him questioningly. “It-it’s an old quote I heard once. It was something about how a lot of things just come down to a leap of faith. I guess it stuck with me.”

“Yeah, a leap of faith,” she said as she stood up and walked closer to Izuku, one of her hand’s outstretched invitingly. “So how bout it?”

He stared at the outstretched palm before looking at his own hand for a long moment before he nodded resolutely. He took her hand and stood from his own seat.

“So what now?” he asked with a hint of eagerness.

“Now?” she echoed as she gripped his hand tighter, “the three of you are going to talk with me as a mediator. This is going to be fun,” she stated before she barged out of her room, Izuku in tow.

After a few minutes of running with Izuku asking to slow down to no effect, the two arrived back at Izuku’s room where Azura could still sense the two lucky women inside.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” she whispered under her breath before she brought up a leg. “SOME-“

===

“Are you sure that this is a good idea?” the gravity girl probed once again from the bare spot on Izuku’s dresser that she found.

“It might not be the best, but waiting here for him to return is the most effective thing to do at the moment. We are in the one spot that he knows we are in, and he could simply ask us to leave once he returns,” the heiress replied from the chair she pulled from under the desk with false bravado. Truthfully she had no idea what to do. Staying put was just the best idea she had at the time.

“-BODY ONCE TOLD ME!” a voice yelled out suddenly as the door burst inward. Both of the room’s occupants let out startled yelps before they saw it was Azura with Izuku in tow, though the boy looked a little worse for wear.

The blue-haired girl cackled a bit before she spoke again. “Alright, we’re all going to sit down and talk about this like adults.”

“W-wait, what?” Ochako stuttered out, still in slight shock at the previous display.

Azura just pulled in the still shocked Izuku and closed the door before plopping the both of them down on his bed. Ochako and Momo merely stayed as they were.

“I said we’re going to talk. More specifically, the three of you are going to talk about what’s happening while I mediate,” she explained further. “So I’ll start this off by saying that the two of you put Green Bean here in distress due to the choice you presented him.”

Ochako looked confused while the ravenette eyes widened. “Oh, I am an idiot. We were forcing him to choose between us,” she said in a strained tone. The Kansai girl’s eyes widened in realization.

“Yup! Lucky for all of you, I have a potential solution. And should you accept, I’ll help you guys as best I can,” she offered before turning to the blushing strawberry. “You wanna tell them or should I?”

Izuku cleared his throat while forcing some of his blush to go down. “First off, please don’t do that again,” he requested, the other two women in the room nodding in agreement, “and second, the ‘solution’ she’s talking about is that you both become my girlfriends.”

Silence filled the room as the two processed the offer.

“Wait, how would that work?” Ochako asked in genuine confusion.

“Polygamy is legal,” Momo added as she held her cheek in her hand. “But I’ve heard a number of stories of such relationships easily falling apart. Is that really such a good idea?”

“True, I can be risky,” the bluenette admitted, “but that’s because most people go about it from the wrong angle. Most of the time, one person forms multiple monogamous relationships. That’s a terrible idea as the common denominator would need to split their time between partners. Some would get jealous about this, this causing schisms and eventually causing the relationships to collapse. Instead, I’m proposing something called polyamory. Instead of one person dating multiple people, everyone dates everyone else.”

“Polyamory? I believe I have heard of that type of relationship before,” the socialite admitted.

Ochako took this opportunity to interject. “A group of people where everyone dates everyone else? That seems pretty complicated.”

“It is, and of course it doesn’t solve all of the problems that are currently present,” the reincarnated woman admitted. “That will have to be done through clear and concise communication. And it can’t just be some of you. Everyone in the relationship has to communicate for it to work. Your needs, your wants, and barriers that you set. Everyone has to take everyone else into consideration.”

“Because if we don’t, things could end up far worse than anything we could imagine,” Izuku finished.

Azura made a “so-so” gesture. “A bit dramatic for my taste, but pretty much,” she relented.

“Like I said, it’s only a potential solution. It’s not for everybody, and it’ll take a lot of work, but I genuinely believe you guys could pull it off. And hey, if you guys amicably communicate how everything isn’t working as you thought, the relationship could easily be peacefully resolved.” As dreadful as it was, the bluenette had a point in Izuku’s mind. It probably wouldn’t be the easiest transition, but at least they could still be friends.

The recovering young woman let the room fall into silence once again. This is a big decision, one that she felt like she was rushing them into a bit, but she would support any decision her friends made to the utmost of her abilities.

This precious silence was broken by an unexpected voice. “I think we should do it.”

The one woman and two lovers-to-be turned in slight surprise at Izuku’s words, the inheritor’s blush slowly growing at the attention. “We all know it won’t be easy, but… I want to take the leap. I want to see where this can go.” As he spoke, he switched his gaze between Ochako and Momo, both of whom seemed to have growing blushes of their own.

“I wanna try too,” the gravity manipulator agreed. “I’d rather try and learn than to not try at all.”

“I… I suppose I don’t have a reason to refuse. I would like to try as well,” the budding socialite assented as well.

The three all glanced at each other, shy uncertainty mixed with determination in each of their eyes.

“Sweet,” the room’s fourth occupant breathed out in relief. “Cool. Cool. I guess I’ll leave you guys be for now. It’s getting kind of late.”

Izuku pulled out his phone to find that it was already past 10:00 p.m. already. “Yeah. I guess now’s as good a time as any to call it a night.”

Azura got up and began making her way to the door and opened it once more, much calmer this time. “With that being the case, if you have questions, you know where to find me. I’ll answer them to the best of my abilities. And if I can’t, I’ll hopefully be able to push you guys into the right direction. Goodnight.” With that, she closed the door behind her, leaving the three in silence once again.

Izuku coughed lightly. “Yeah. I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow. We can talk more then.”

Momo nodded and stood up from her seat, but stopped when she saw that Ochako had not moved at all.

“If it’s okay, can I sleep over here tonight?” she asked as she fidgeted in place.

Izuku’s blush returned with a vengeance as he stared at her. “Wh-what? Wait, huh?”

“I-I’ve been having nightmares the past couple of days. I just thought that maybe… I could try… you know what, nevermind. It’s stupid.” At that, she suddenly stood from where she was sitting and made her way to the door. She was surprised when she felt herself being stopped by something. No, by someone.

She turned around to see Izuku holding her wrist. His eyes were gazed down at, a look of absolute seriousness adorned his face when he looked her in her eyes again.

“I don’t mind. But are you sure? I mean, we’ve only known each other for a little over a week. Doesn’t that unnerve you a bit?”

She nodded as she grew more embarrassed. “N-no, it doesn’t. I trust you,” she answered simply.

Izuku’s heart warmed at those words.

“You didn’t even know me at the Entrance exam, but you saved me despite getting hurt in the process. And then when I found that we were in the same class, all I could think about was the fact that I got to learn alongside such a great guy. The past week’s only cemented that.”

Izuku genuinely felt as if his heart were going to explode. It all just felt so surreal.

“If you do not mind,” the room’s third occupant interjected, slightly startling the other two young adults, “I would also wish to join, if that is permissible at least.”

Izuku looked to Ochako for her opinion, but she just shrugged at him. He turned back to the ravenette and gestured to his bed.

It was awkward at first as the bed wasn’t made for three, but they made it work by having Izuku sleep with his back to the wall, Momo on the other side of the bed, and Ochako in the middle to complete the sandwich. It was tight, but none of them could honestly say it was uncomfortable. A quick round of “goodnights” and some moments later, the heiress and the country girl’s breathing evened out which signaled their sleep.

Izuku’s eyes scanned over the two women, not fully believing the situation he was in. Eventually he just decided to let it be. His next problem was that he thought that he wouldn’t get even a wink of sleep. He was proven wrong a few minutes later when he felt himself being lulled into a deep sleep.

Chapter Text

Izuku felt hot. Really hot actually. He tried to shift and potentially release some of that heat, but he was met with some resistance and the feeling of his back pressed against a wall. He slowly opened and rubbed his eyes to actually see what was going on.

He immediately was shocked awake to see Ochako effectively cuddling in his chest, while the taller Momo spooned her from behind. Izuku began to freak out before he remembered the night before. He started to freak out again until Ochako’s muttered gibberish caused him to pause.

In a sort of haze, he brushed some of the loose hair away from the brunette’s face. The girl snuggled in further in response.

Izuku… didn’t know how to feel about the situation. Here were two incredible women sleeping in his bed after all of them agreed to at least try a… polyamorous relationship if he remembered correctly. It would be difficult, but when has anything not been difficult for him?

Anyways, so here they were, in his bed, sleeping peacefully as he tried to not freak out once again.

And… what was wrong with that exactly? They had all consented to it, and it seemed like none of them did anything irresponsible either. Oh, Izuku remembered. It was probably the fact that this was the most physical affection he had gotten from anyone besides his mother since… forever.

It was… honestly quite nice. He felt far more well rested than he ever had before actually.

At that thought, someone else in the bed began to stir. Moments later, Izuku saw Momo’s onyx eyes meet his own gaze. There was a certain haziness to them as she stared at him. She seemed to have noticed Ochako as she looked down at the peaceful gravity girl.

Her eyes widened slightly before they quickly met Izuku’s once again, the aforementioned haziness gone. Her eyes then darted around the room they were in, realizing where she was, when those same eyes fell upon Izuku’s once again.

“Oh, so that wasn’t a dream,” she said, her voice a little rough so early in the morning.

Izuku just slowly shook his head.

The two held eye contact, onyx and green colored orbs saying everything yet absolutely nothing for what felt like hours, until movement broke them from their silent exchange.

Ochako too began to stir, though unlike her bedmates, she noticed her lack of mobility almost immediately. Through hazy hazel eyes, she looked up at what she assumed to be the offender only to be met with Izuku staring down at her. She blinked. Once. Twice. Three tim-

She yelped as she jumped from the bed. Momo, taken by surprise, went down with her, the two young women landing in a heap of limbs.

“What’s happenin’?! Where am I?! How did I-“

The brunette was interrupted by her own thoughts when she noticed the busty ravenette under. She blushed as memories from the previous night flowed through her mind. Her blush intensified when she realized just what was going on.

“Oh my gosh, Momo, I’m so sorry!” she apologized profusely as she got up and helped her girlfriend. Her blush impossibly increased further at the thought.

“I am fine, Ochako,” the other woman waved off. “It is perfectly reasonable why you’d be surprised.”

“Still, I’m sorry fer that. I shoulda been better bout freakin’ out like that,” the gravity girl apologized again. She suddenly covered her mouth with one of her hands, small amounts of panic in her eyes.

Momo tilted her head curiously. “Ochako, do you have an accent?”

The girl in question looked away nervously. “Y-yeah, I-I do. I try not to use it though,” she said after switching back.

“Why not?” the ravenette questioned innocently.

“I-it… I didn’t want to look like a country bumpkin,” the brunette replied softly

“I for one will tell you that it most certainly does not,” Momo stated firmly. “I see nothing wrong with how someone speaks. That is all it is after all. The way one talks does not reflect who they are..”

“R-really? You mean that?”

Momo smiled softly at her. “Of course I do.”

“Y-yeah, you don’t need to worry. I-I kind of like it,” Izuku finished off quietly.

Not quietly enough as Ochako’s face exploded into a blush again. Momo giggled at their antics.

“Now, now, you two, flirting can wait until after breakfast.” Her partners both squeaked at her words, the two trying far too hard to not make eye contact.

Izuku stomach rumbled, increasing his embarrassment.

“I believe that made the point moot. Shall we?” the heiress offered.

After taking a few minutes to calm down, the trio all left the room and began their short trek down to the common room for some much needed food.

As they entered, they were greeted with the sight of Nemuri cooking up a veritable feast in the kitchen. As it was still early, only a few students were in the dining area. Some had already begun eating what had been made, although the scene was noticeably different for one blue-haired woman.

Azura was chowing down on her fifth bowl of rice, as well as her third plate of pancakes. She also seemed to have a small plate of fish off to the side that was already partially eaten.

Tenya sat across from her with a slightly baffled expression. Though the group of friends logically knew of her dietary requirements, seeing it was a different thing entirely.

The Requiem wielder perked up and paused her eating for a few moments to wave at the trio before she began eating once again. Her fellow bluenette noticed her behavior and did the same.

Shrugging, Izuku walked over to the counters with the food and began making himself a plate. He felt particularly hungry that morning, so he got a bit extra. All Might had warned him numerous times to not under-eat with his workout regiment, especially when feeling hungry.

After the three had made their plates and sat down, they found themselves faced with a question that they weren’t prepared to answer.

“So, you guys have fun snuggling?” Azura bluntly asked in between chewing sessions.

Izuku figured that he would probably not stop blushing today as it came back full force. Ochako and Momo were not spared in this either as the former choked on her food for a second.

“Azura, I would hope you are not accusing our friends of something as untoward as hanky-panky,” Tenya reprimanded.

This got the reincarnated woman across from him to stop dead in her tracks and look up at him, eyes squinted. “I’m sorry, but the what?”

Tenya tilted his head in genuine confusion. “Inappropriate physcial contact. I was led to believe one was slang for the other.”

“No, just- we’ll get to that later,” she interrupted herself. She looked back at the trio. “Well?”

Thankfully that small distraction allowed the three to regain some of their composure, though the Yaoyorozu Heiress was the only one who could speak.

“I do not know what you’re talking about?” she asked in a dignified manner.

Azura quirked an eyebrow. “Oh yeah, then how come none of you left the room after I did? And how did you three come down the same stairway at the same time?”

“I… see.”

The future-knower waved her hand dismissively after a few moments. “I’m just teasing. You don’t gotta talk about it if you don’t wanna.” At that, she went back to eating. The complete one eighty in her priorities confused Momo.

“May I ask of what she is referring to?” Tenya asked.

Ochako glanced at her partners and gestures to Tenya before shrugging. The three had a silent conversation before Izuku and Momo nodded, though slightly more hesitantly in the greenette’s case.

“We’re…” Ochako hesitated, “that is, the three of us are… in a polyamorous relationship. Since last night anyways,” she quickly tacked on.

“Ah, I see.” Tenya had a thoughtful look on his face before he nodded to himself. “I suppose congratulations are in order then.”

Izuku perked up. “Wait, that- you’re just okay with all of this? No questions?”

“Oh no, not at all. My mother and brother went to great lengths to educate me on the many sexualities and potential relationship dynamics that I could potentially face in life. To say that I do not mind is an understatement. I suppose you wish to keep away from prying eyes at the moment,” he surmised.

“Uhh,” Izuku glanced at his partners, “yeah, probably for the best right now.” They nodded.

“Very well then. So long as you three keep the hanky-panky to a minimum, I see no issue with your relationship,” the stiff young man stated.

Azura facepalmed. “Please, I’m begging you Tenya, don’t ever call it that again.”

Another voice cut in out of nowhere. “Oh, it’s rare to see my precious daughter truly frustrated.”

The quintet turned to see Nemuri standing at the head of their table with a “kiss the cook” apron on.

After scanning the table, she began to take a special interest in the newly-formed polycule. “Hm? What do we have here~? The three of you seem closer than yesterday.”

Momo opened her mouth in an attempt to lie before she was cut off.

“They formed a polycule last night after coming to me for advice,” Azura stated as she casually took another bite of rice.

The triad expressed minor betrayal at her words, but the orchestrator of their relationship just shrugged.

“Trust me, telling her outright is best in the long run.”

“My, such youth~,” the older woman purred.

She was prevented from saying more when Azura chopped her again.

==========
Class 1-A Homeroom
Monday- Later that Morning

“Alright everyone, welcome back,” Kaina called out as she entered the room.

All nineteen of her students quieted down when they heard her, looks of surprise across most of their faces. She wasn’t surprised by that reaction herself. She took a beating at the USJ and still had a couple of bandages and braces that marked the injuries that still weren’t fully healed, but at least she got the go-ahead to teach again.

For some reason, to her, that was one of the best pieces of news she had received in the past few days. Hmm.

“First off, I’m glad to see all of you are okay. While what happened was unfortunate to say the least, you all handled yourselves very well.”

Some in the class visibly brightened at the praise. What they went through was bleak, but… they survived.

Kaina smirked for a moment before continuing. “With that out of the way, there have been some changes all of you need to be aware of. Our security measures have been upgraded on top of new ones being put into place across the entire campus. Suffice to say, that sort of thing won’t happen again, at least without the offenders paying dearly.

“Next is that all of you are required to schedule and attend an appointment with Hound Dog or any other off campus school-approved therapist within the next week. Failure to do so will lead to temporary suspension from class.”

That got a reaction from the students. Most were in shock, although some nodded in understanding. Either they thought of seeking counsel before or expected such a measure from the school itself. One of them did look annoyed though.

“Now, this isn’t a punishment. All of you just went through a heavily traumatic experience far earlier than you were ever meant to. Yes, you need to adapt to that, but you must first learn how to do so healthily,” she emphasized. It doesn’t matter how good of a Hero you are, if you can’t handle the pressure, you will crack and break. She knew from experience.

She cleared her throat. “Third is that the Sports Festival will be held two weeks from now.”

The class exploded with activity at her statement.

“Isn’t holding the Sports Fest a bad idea?!” Denki called out while he raised his hand.

“Yeah, we just got attacked!” Mina called out as well.

Kaina raised one of her own hands and beckoned for everyone to quiet down. After a few moments of patiently waiting for everyone to do so, she continued.

“I understand. Really, I get it, but the decision to hold it is out of our hands. The good news is that there will be a lot more security, and there will be new standards in place to make the event even more safe. Nezu was giggling when the Board approved his wish list.”

The intercom crackled for a moment before the Dean’s cackling voice rang from it. A few seconds later the sound suddenly cut out, leaving the class in silence.

Azura and Kaina just looked bored in comparison to the startled expressions of everyone else.

“You’ll get used to it,” they both blandly stated simultaneously.

“Which reminds me,” the teacher perked up after a moment. “Highlander, could you escort Midoriya and Yaoyorozu to the Dean’s office? He would like to see them.”

The injured young woman raised an eyebrow. “Oh, so that’s happening now. Alright.” She stood up and beckoned for the others to follow. The two looked at the other with wide eyes before they collected their things and went after the bluenette.

“And that ends our announcements for now,” Kaina finished as the door closed.

As the three walked down the hallway, the green and black haired romantic partners glanced at each other again and then back at the bluenette leading them, her arms lazily folded up and back over her head.

“Um, Azura, you said you knew what was happening, yes?” Momo tentatively asked. An affirmative hum was her signal to continue. “Then what does he want from us?”

Azura craned her neck around as she brought a finger to her lips. “Now that would be telling. You’re not in trouble for anything though, so you can relax a bit, Green Bean.”

Momo blinked before turning her head and getting a better look at Izuku. The extra sweat on him was more than enough to tell her that he was immensely nervous.

“S-sorry, I don’t… have the best track records with principals,” he weakly replied.

“And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I promise, you’ll be fine, so just take a deep breath,” she said in a comforting tone.

Izuku, hearing her words and seeing the sincerity in her eyes, did as she advised and took a few deep breaths. He was still anxious, but noticeably less so.

A few flights of stairs and not much time later, the three stood in front of Nezu’s door. Momo went to politely knock, but was stopped by a stray hand. The heiress didn’t get a chance to ask before the door slid open on its own, the two new to the mammal’s antics were startled for a moment.

“Rule one when dealing with Nezu; he likes to play games. You can play them, but if you make it known that you’ve caught on and won’t play them, he’ll stop.” After she finished speaking, Azura took her first step into the room, her friends following her lead a few moments later.

“Rule number two,” she began again, “his favorite game is hiding and popping out when you least expect it.”

She then dived over the top of the Dean’s desk and grabbed something from behind it. When she pulled herself up, Izuku and Momo jumped back slightly to the sight of their friend holding the infamous Nezu by the scruff of his neck.

“Greetings! Am I a bear? Am I a dog? That doesn’t matter! I’m the Dean of UAU!” the chimera cheerfully proclaimed while still being held in Azura grip. He then turned to his captor. “And you, my dear student, just love stealing the wind from my sails don’t you?”

“You’re the one who asked us here,” she countered.

“Touché,” the quirked animal acquiesced before he was set down on his desk. “I suppose I will let it go this time. Would any of you like some tea?”

Momo and Izuku gratefully accepted while Azura just gave a lazy thumbs up.

Several minutes later, the four were sitting around the coffee table and enjoying their tea. The two newcomers were far more relaxed than when they first entered.

“My word, this Earl Grey is quite exquisite, and yet the tangy aftertaste only enhances that. May I ask how you were able to accomplish such a feat?” the young socialite asked enthusiastically.

“Oh, Young Yaoyorozu, while your compliments are appreciated, a being such as I does not simply reveal their secrets when prompted,” he stated from the head of the table, much to Momo’s disappointment. “Besides, we have other matters to attend to.”

Izuku sat ramrod straight at that thought, his anxiety back full force. Momo looked the same, although more attentively than nervous.

“Nezu,” Azura called out in warning from across Momo and Izuku as she sipped her own tea.

“Yes, yes, I am well aware,” the mammal waved off. “I will be blunt, I wish for the two of you to become my newest students!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The heiress and the inheritor both blinked at the Dean in confusion. Izuku pinched himself, genuinely shocked that he wasn’t dreaming.

“Pardon,” Momo stated as she set down her teacup, “what?”

“I wish for the two of you to be my newest students,” the Devil of UA repeated. “You two are incredibly intelligent from what I have been able to observe. Not only that, but you were actually recommended to me by a very trusted source.”

Two heads swiveled over to observe Azura, the young woman sipping her tea, completely nonchalant at the claim. She didn’t need to tell them what they could already guess after all.

“U-um, but we still have our normal classes,” Izuku stated after a moment.

“I will just have to administer the tests required for you to pass them early. They will be difficult, but I am confident that you will be able to pass them, should you accept of course,” he corrected.

“I-I accept,” the greenette stuttered out suddenly. Momo looked over at him in surprise, until she realized just what this could mean for her.

Those known to have studied under Nezu personally went on to become feared to the Japanese underworld. Hell, criminals and villains all across the world came to fear them due to some of them moving to other countries. Things he could teach the two of them… lucky for him that they loved to learn.

“I accept as well,” Momo agreed a moment later.

“Excellent!” Nezu responded enthusiastically. “The tests will have to be administered later as I required your consent to even start the process. Now that that is no longer an issue, so long as you pass, you are my students.”

The black and green haired partners confidently nodded at his offer.

“Good,” the mammal stated. “That is all I need from you for now. You three should return to class. I still have a few things I need to do.”

==========
Midoriya Apartment
Around the Same Time

Inko hummed away as she viewed files and records from her laptop. It was for her first case in a while, one where she would win at any cost. Naturally, the law firm she worked for was completely ready and willing to help her in any capacity.

Inko paused for a moment. It was truly a blessing to get hired at the Hothe Legal Firm. It was relatively small in scale, but the firm’s collective record spoke volumes.

A few cases were lost near the beginning, but as time passed, attorneys, consultants, and lawyers alike began to gain incredible amounts of momentum. Suddenly, they were a top dog in the field, one to be feared should they ever enter a courtroom.

After Inko earned her degree, she just happened to stumble upon a case they had been working on. The owners of the firm at the time decided to give her a chance to see if she could win it. If she did, they’d hire her, effective immediately. If she didn’t, they’d at least give her a recommendation depending on her performance.

She won, handily. Especially after she presented evidence that someone else with a transformation quirk that looked eerily similar to her mutant client was the true culprit. Thank god the idiot decided to transform in the alleyway behind a bar.

As promised, they hired her immediately. She won case after case, completely shutting down every argument her opponents had with extreme prejudice and hard evidence. It didn’t take long for her to gain her reputation as the “Rookie Green Dragon.”

Then she had Izuku, her wonderful baby boy. Of course, her hours had to be reduced due to Hisashi having to work as well, but she made it work. Nobody could complain about her performance after all.

Then came his Quirkless “diagnosis”. Her baby boy came home hurt more often than not, and Hisashi, that no-good, quirkist bastard abandoned them.

Hothe was happy to keep her on as a consultant and let her work from home at her request. She still kept her licenses up to date, so she could still practice, but Izuku was far too important for her to get back into the field like she had before.

Until now that is.

Aldera was going to burn by her own damn hands, and she would do it with a smile on her face. All of the evidence Nezu and his investigative agency collected wasn’t strictly necessary, but it would certainly help in making them hurt for what they did to Izuku.

And every piece of evidence she viewed and cataloged, it made her blood boil!

A knock at her door broke her from her thoughts. She didn’t get visitors often, not since…

Anyways, curious, she got up and headed to her door. Opening it led her to find…

“Hello Inko.”

The very nervous Bakugou couple.

…

Oh boy.

“Mitsuki, Masaru, it is good to see you,” the Midoriya matriarch politely greeted with a slightly strained smile.

Truthfully, the woman didn’t know what to think of the couple at the moment. Katsuki was their son, but she knew for a fact that they would not have condoned his behavior, Mitsuki especially. She hated quirkism, especially when her family was involved. She was rough around the edges with a short fuse, something she’s readily admitted herself, but never in a million years would she ever raise a child to abuse someone due to their quirk. The fact that it was Izuku of all people probably made the blow even worse.

On the other hand, they weren’t as firm as they should have been with their child. Sure, they got through his head sometimes, especially after they found how responsive he was to physical consequences, but their unwillingness to consistently punish him in such a way and then blinding themselves towards his worsening behavior certainly didn’t help the situation.

Don’t get her wrong, Aldera was completely at fault for teaching him what they did, but still, ignorance wasn’t always bliss.

“May we come in?”

Inko was pulled from her thoughts by the simple question. Surprisingly, it came from Masaru. Mitsuki hadn’t actually said a word yet, the woman shifting far more nervously than she had ever seen before.

Inko shook herself from her thoughts. “Right, um, yes. Please, come in.”

Minutes later and the trio were seated in the living room, a fresh pot of tea made from a blend Nezu had given her. Conversation however was nonexistent. Oh sure, the husband of the pair had exchanged pleasantries with their host, but there wasn’t even a whisper otherwise.

“I’M SORRY!”

Until Mitsuki finally decided to speak.

Inko was actually taken by surprise for a moment, even more so when the blonde began to bow deeply and almost hit the coffee table.

Masaru took his wife’s hand into his own and ran his thumb across it soothingly. “Use your words, honey. She still doesn’t know why we’re here.”

The woman in question shot back up with an uncharacteristic blush growing on her face.

“Right, uh,” she cleared her throat before speaking again. “I’m sorry Inko. We’re sorry actually. About the whole Katsuki thing.”

“Mitsuki, you’re going to have to be a bit more specific,” the greenette stated.

“Oh, I’m so bad at this,” the bombastic blonde whined as she covered her face with her hands. She took a deep breath before continuing.

“Katsuki, we didn’t realize what he was doing. Not fully anyways. We tried to talk to and discipline him at home, but you know how I feel about hitting kids. But Katsuki hasn’t been a kid for a while now, hasn’t he?” she asked rhetorically as a dry chuckle escaped her mouth.

“But to think that he not only saw but actively participated in the things that we’ve seen on the news… Nezu warned us, showed us a few clips, but I never could have imagined it would get that bad. And now he’s- he’s…”

Mitsuki began to cry, the situation over the past few days finally getting to her. Masaru placed an arm over her and brought her into a side hug. The brunette looked down at his wife with sadness in his eyes. Inko could tell, he had already grieved.

Katsuki may still be alive, but the boy they thought he was, the one he used to be, was long dead. In his place was a sadistic, sociopathic monster who only cared for himself.

Inko inhaled deeply before standing and marching over to the pair. She looked into Mitsuki’s crimson eyes, sclera red from her tears, and she hugged the blonde. The Bakugou matriarch was confused for a moment before accepting the comfort.

As Mitsuki’s tears died down, Inko took the opportunity to speak. “I don’t blame you. I never have. Katsuki… he made his choice. It was his and his alone. Not yours.”

And that was true. Despite everyone that had happened, the couple was not at fault for a single second of it. Could their actions have made a difference if they had made different choices? Possibly, but focusing on that fact alone changes nothing.

At the end of the day, Katsuki was the one who made his decisions. They were influenced by what he was “taught” at Aldera, but he still chose doing the things he did even after learning it wasn’t right.

There was still a little tension within the room afterwards as they spoke further, but Inko was confident that, with time, they could weather this storm.

==========
Several Hours Later

Izuku’s mind was still whirling from his sudden visit to the Dean. He could tell that Momo behind him was feeling similarly.

One of the smartest beings alive, and they could learn under him directly! Izuku was slightly terrified, but he was also excited like never before!

Class always seemed so boring to the boy if he was completely honest. Aldera just seemed so… slow. He craved knowledge, soaked it up like a sponge. It’s why he spent so much time on the internet. It was just one new piece of information after another.

But no matter what he did, no matter how much he learned, he always seemed to fail. At first, he couldn’t understand. So many of his peers got the same answers as him, but he was always wrong.

Then he started to sandbag himself. Suddenly, the only questions he got wrong were the ones he did intentionally. After so long, it became natural. He didn’t think twice about intentionally getting a few wrong. It meant less pain and insults.

Insults he… genuinely began to believe. Everything at that school was specifically designed to tear him down, bit by bit. If All Might hadn’t shown up…

He shook his head. His point was that recent events brought that passion for learning back into the forefront of his mind. From his friends encouragement, to the challenging coursework. And with the knowledge that his behavioral and academic records were heavily tampered with, the idea that he may actually be smart began to worm its way into his head.

All of these thoughts flowed through his head as he packed up his things due to class having ended a few minutes ago. An hour and a half of a lunch break was between them and their next Heroics 101 class. Izuku was genuinely curious as to what they would do.

He began to idly listen in to the conversations around him before the room exploded with unexpected noise. Izuku, startled, looked at the now open door to see a crowd of unfamiliar students standing outside of their classroom.

“Wha- hey! What’s everyone doing here?” Denki asked.

“They’re here to see the class that survived a villain attack. The same class that will end up as their competition,” Azura replied, unsurprised and slightly annoyed.

“Competition?” Eijiro asked before his expression changed to one of realization. “Oh right, the Sports Festival!”

“If you will please excuse us, there is only so much time dedicated for lunch! If we are late or miss it entirely, it could heavily impact our performance for the remainder of the day!” Tenya exclaimed as he rapidly chopped his hand.

“So you’re class 1-A? Gotta say, I don’t see what’s so impressive about all of you.”

That got everyone in the room to pause. A lanky young man with a wild head of purple hair exited the crowd a moment later and swept his bored gaze through the class.

Azura rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. Not like it matters,” he grunted out. “I’ll get straight to the point. Earlier, our professors and instructors all told us that we’d be able to get into the Hero Course if we did well enough in the Sports Festival. The problem is that could also mean that someone here could get kicked out.

“So I’m here to issue a declaration of war, cause some of us are coming for you.”

Before anyone else even had a chance to speak, he turned around and walked away.

The knower-of-the-future pinched her nose. She could sense that he held a lot of negativity, pointed at them as a group specifically. ’Oh, he better not be one of those,’ she internally groaned.

Suddenly, a slightly deranged laughter echoed through the hallway. Before anyone had any time to react however, a blonde young man appeared at the front of the assembled crowd posing like a JoJo character.

“My name is Monoma Neito from the illustrious class 1-B! And I- we are here to issue a declaration of war!” he exclaimed while in his over dramatic pointing.

“Oh, uh, okay?” Eijirou accepted with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, the last guy did the same thing, so…”

“Bah! Details such as that are unimportant!” He turned around and struck another pose, his hand curled in as if he were clawing at his face.

The rock head sweatdropped.

“You and your class have been all over the news as of late,” he stated as he resumed his pointing, although at Eijirou this time. “The attack you were all a part of has been talked about by everyone in Japan by now! Not only that, but your involvement, class 1-A, has been a special note. ‘Several dozen villains taken down by UAU’s newest students! A prime example of the next generation of Japan’s Heroes!’

“All the while class 1-B has been left in your shadow! Yet here you all are, left slack jawed at the brilliance of only one of 1-B’s exemplary students!

“To think that, in mere moments, the people who would steal the spotlight would become so pathetic.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a pulse shook everyone in the vicinity, down to their bones or even their very souls.

“Okay, that’s it!” Azura growled out before she burst from the crowd of her surprised classmates and got directly into Monoma’s face faster than anyone could blink.

The boy in question jumped back slightly at the rapid movement, but he quickly regained his composure, externally anyways. She could still feel his heightened anxiety.

He opened his mouth to speak once more, but he was cut off by the angry bluenette in front of him.

“No, shut it! ‘Stealing the spotlight’?! God, how egocentric can you get?! We had to fight off villains in a real life or death scenario! Are you honestly implying that we asked for that?!”

That got the copier to stumble back a few more steps. The crowd behind him became unnerved as well as they saw her right eye blink from its deep blue to a burning crimson red. That was apparently when everyone began to feel a form of pressure settle on to all of their shoulders as she continued.

“We didn’t ask to be attacked! We didn’t ask to be put into that situation in any way, shape, or form!”
As she spoke, she unbuttoned her jacket and shirt.

“Yet you have the arrogance, the gall, to come over here and say dumb shit like that!”

She threw off her jacket and undid her shirt enough to show her tank top underneath and take off her right sleeve.

“Because this, this is what I got for ‘stealing the spotlight’,” she repeated in a mocking voice.

The crowd was dead silent as they bore witness to the massive scar on her arm. Those behind her had similar reactions, though less severe as they were already aware of the extensive damage she received fighting Noumu.

Monoma stared at it in horror due to how close it was to his own face.

“I almost lost my arm completely. It was only due to a little luck and a lot of help that I still have it. Even then, I’m still not back to full strength. And that’s just me!

“Did any of you, for even a second, ever stop and consider what we went through? The hell we fought through, not to win, but to survive! All of us carry scars from what happened, all because someone else decided to try and kill us for fucking fun,” she firmly stated as she swept her arm for emphasis.

After a moment to pause, she began to put her arm through the sleeve once more with some effort and button her shirt back up.

“Going by all of your faces, no, you didn’t. All any of you focused on was that everyone was talking about us.” She shook her head in disappointment.

“And we only survived the best case scenario,” the reincarnated woman claimed as she swept her angered gaze across the crowd. “Just remember that one false move, one wrong step, and the ‘USJ Incident’ could have become the ‘USJ Tragedy’.

“Would we have stolen the spotlight then?”

Her question was met with dead silence from the crowd. Many looked ashamed as they too only thought class 1-A was riding the fame created due to the incident. None of them considered what they had actually gone through. To have that called out so clearly with hard evidence of said events almost in their faces, it was a tough pill to swallow.

Some looked annoyed, thoughts that things couldn’t have been that bad passing through their minds. Of course, doubt lurked in the backs of their heads. Even if they didn’t feel the shame now, they would later.

The rest just looked uncomfortable. They were the ones who didn’t think one way or the other about the class. Being caught up on the wrong end of such a display however made them look away out of unease.

One person was actually recording. No one noticed or cared, but they caught the whole interaction on film. One that was being broadcasted live.

And Monoma, his mind couldn’t conjure a single rebuttal.

Azura let the silence continue for a few more seconds before speaking once again.

“Alright then. If none of you have anything to say, then move. You’ve been clogging up the hallway with your bullshit for long enough.”

Suddenly, the pressure everyone in the hallways was feeling instantly disappeared. They were confused yet terrified, but, in the end, they made an effort to do as she said and clear out. Monoma, who was still frozen in place, was dragged away by one of his classmates who uttered a few quiet apologies.

“Tch, bastards,” the reincarnated woman cursed under her breath before walking off, the rest of her classmates following after a few moments later.

Nezu watched it all on his security cams alongside some of his most trusted employees. The one student recording also gave a good angle from the perspective of the mob. The comments he could see from the captured footage ranged from support of Azura’s claims, to others criticizing her for being quick to anger.

He felt the urge to inflict an unpleasantness upon those people, but he refrained from planning to do so. He had much better uses for his time that would grant significantly better results anyways. Although…

“Kan, I do hope you will talk to your student,” he spoke softly, much to the white-haired man’s dismay.

“Yes sir,” he answered quietly.

==========
Gym Delta
Early Afternoon

Azura closed her locker door, annoyance still prevalent on her face. She sighed. She knew she could have handled the situation far better than she did, but she honestly couldn’t care.

What he said, what they all thought, it pissed her off. Even without Bakugou there to muck things up even more, they still went around and thought that 1-A essentially asked to be attacked. Maybe not in such few words, but is there honestly any better way to describe that situation?

She shook her head. It doesn’t matter anyways. She got her point across. She needs to focus on the present… and not explode at the sheer stupidity she was about to point out.

She picked up her notebook and pencil before following her classmates to the gym proper. Several were casually conversing in front of her, all of them wondering what was on the docket for today.

Opening the doors revealed a variety of environments and structures that several of their number were accustomed to. And as the some outside those numbers blinked at the scale of the place, several figures approached from the side.

“Good morning student! I am glad to see that all of you have made it on time!” the booming voice of All Might bellowed out.

“Ribbit. It’s kind of hard not to with Iida with us,” Tsuyu said casually, receiving a few chuckles from her peers and teachers.

“Quite,” Saiko interjected. “You’re probably all confused about what we’re doing here.” Several students nodded and voiced their agreements. “Good. Simply put, we’ve got two things on the docket. First up is a costume evaluation now that you have some experience in using them.”

“Something we should have done last week,” Kaina grumbled, the woman organizing a stack of files on a small cart.

“And the second part will be a bit of testing your actual limits,” she continued unimpeded by the comment. “While Aizawa’s… ‘test’ did give us a bit of data, there are obviously things he could not record accurately.”

All Might cleared his throat. “Yes, quite. Now, I will be the first to admit that the technical side of costumes is not my forte. With that in mind, I will be the one handling data collection. Otherwise, I suggest you listen to not only your instructors, but your peers as well.”

“Fucking finally,” a voice called out. Azura broke off from her friends and opened her notebook. “Alright, where are we starting?”

“Uh, what?” the Electrification wielder asked.

“You guys have no idea how long I’ve wanted to rant about some of your costumes. Seriously, whoever designed them needs to be shot,” she answered far too seriously.

“Azura, I request that you refrain from using such language!” Tenya exclaimed.

“Denied!” was her only response to Tenya’s consternation.

“Wait, she’s joining in on the revisions too?” Mina asked with a tilt of her head.

“Yup. Call it a favor for Nezu. Plus, what am I going to revise? My costume got destroyed,” the bluenette explained. Mina conceded that point.

“Guess that’s why Midoriya isn’t in his constant either,” she mused to herself as she looked at the man in question.

“We’ll start with the guys,” Kaina stated as she went through and picked out a few files. “They’ve got less issues, and the improvements they can get will only be minor for now.”

“I guess that means we’ll start with Aoyama,” the periwinkle haired teaching assistant proposed.

The blonde frenchie slid up to the three women with sparkles somehow radiating off of him. “Did you call?”

“Your cape, is it easily detachable?” their teacher asked suddenly.

“Eh? Oh, non,” he answered after some slight confusion.

“That’s going to need to be changed,” Saiko stated.

“Non, non. My cape is très magnifique! Altering it in any way will make it unacceptably less so!” the Frenchman exclaimed.

“And when a villain grabs your cape and then whips you around like a ragdoll, will it be ‘très magnifique’ then?” Azura pointedly asked.

That gave him pause. He blinked several times in realization and then acceptance before slouching. “Non.”

“Glad you see reason. It’s not like much will have to be changed. We could use a mechanism similar to my scarf. That way it won’t detach unless someone or something directly pulls on it,” the injured young woman explained.

Izuku got out his own notebook by that point and joined in. “Wait, your scarf is detachable?”

The woman in question raised an eyebrow. “You think I’d willingly have a choking hazard that serious without some way to get out of it? Absolutely not. I might have added it for more dramatic flair, but I’m not stupid. Plus, it’s also pretty durable, so I can also use it as a capture device.”

“Ohhh, I never thought about that,” Izuku said as he furiously scribbled down the new information.

Saiko, ignoring the side conversation, continued the evaluation. “Other than a few minor structural integrity issues that I’ll run by Power Loader, the only thing I can truly think of adding or changing for now are mirrors he could carry then easily apply to walls to help redirect his beams.”

“Mmm. I had a similar idea. It could increase his range of abilities quite drastically,” the eldest of the trio agreed.

“Magnifique! Truly, such an idea will make me shine even brighter!” the foreigner exclaimed excitedly.

“Next up, Kririshima,” the former agent called out, the redhead stepping out as Aoyama walked back into the group. He stood in front of them all proudly.

“You need a shirt,” the three women and Izuku stated simultaneously.

Eijirou balked at the blunt statement. He felt that it would have easily cracked his hardened skin if it were a physical attack.

“W-wha- I can’t! That wouldn’t be manly!” he exclaimed in protest.

Kaina raised an eyebrow. “And getting a stab wound when you’re too tired to use your quirk is?”

“The scar would be!”

“I have several issues with that statement alone,” Saiko intervened, “but say it was your heart that got stabbed and you died within a few minutes. What then?”

“That’s… less manly,” he admitted.

“At the very least, I recommend a vest that is stab and bullet resistant.” Kaina wrote the suggestion down on the required forms. “Next!”

Thus the process continued through all of the male students. Some recommendations were easy, such as an instant release function on pieces of Tenya’s armor just in case of an emergence. Some were entirely necessary such as extra padding and even full blown armor plates being added for extra protection.

Izuku and Azura were standing off to the side and doing more theorizing than actually contributing to the current round of improvements. Yui slinked up behind them as they rapidly exchanged ideas. Something about enhancements to Hanta’s suit. No, now they were talking about Rikidou’s. She stopped paying attention at that point, not understanding nor caring to understand. She just liked hearing people talk.

The next person on the list however…

“We can’t have you doing that every time you use your quirk. Turning yourself into a liability like that on every mission could cause far too many problems. Not to mention the potential damage you’re doing to your brain.” Kaina… was particularly passionate about that particular topic.

Denki just shrugged. “I-I mean, it’s not been much of a problem before. And besides, I’ve gone stupid like that all my life. I’m fine,” he attempted to assure.

“That doesn’t convince me one bit,” the teacher firmly stated before taking on a far softer tone. “Just because it’s something you’re used to doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful. We can help you find a solution. All you have to do is ask.”

The blonde looked at the older woman a little wide-eyed before he looked down to the floor. He nodded a moment later. Kaina gently smiled before she pulled out her file on him.

“Alright, the fact that they didn’t propose some sort of circuit breaker to help you out signals that I will need to have words with someone. That being said, how well grounded are you?” she asked as she looked at his costume’s specs.

“Grounded? Am I in trouble?” he asked nervously.

“No Kaminari, you aren’t,” Saiko interrupted. “What she is asking is whether or not you have a reliable connection to the ground to safely disperse your excess electricity.”

Denki blinked before realization hit him. Saiko could have sworn she saw a lightbulb above his head. “Oh, is that why it’s easier to control my output when I don’t have my shoes on?”

Izuku himself blinked in confusion. “Wait, Kaminari, are your shoes heavily insulated?”

“Uh, yeah, they are. My mom said she had a similar issue when she was young and that getting insulated shoes fixed the problem,” he explained.

Azura groaned in exasperation. “She most likely had a problem with controlling when she discharged. Your problem is the complete opposite.”

“Ah. That… would explain a few things,” the blonde said slowly as he looked down at his shoes.

Kaina rubbed her nose. “Alright. Now that we know, I’ll put in a requisition request to get you shoes with metal souls. That should help you control your maximum output better. That being said, you won’t always need that much power.

“Regular tasers used by the police usually only go to around 50,000 volts. That seems high, but what really hurts is the amperage,” she continued. “We’ll figure out the specifics, but in my opinion, I think you’d fit better as a close to mid-range fighter instead of the long-range style you’re currently going for.”

“A taser, huh?” the young man mumbled as he considered the words of his peers, senior, and teacher. “Right, that makes sense. Tasers can either be used point-blank or by launching prongs at someone.” He facepalmed after a moment before he let out a bemoaned “I’m such an idiot.”

“You are far from an idiot, Kaminari. You just need help. That is a big difference between the two.” Denki was slightly surprised that the comforting words came from Saiko. He could tell that she was a genius from a mile away. So for someone so smart to tell him that… did lighten the blow quite a bit.

He began scratching the back of his neck as he began to blush. “R-right. Sorry.”

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, kid. You’re here to learn after all,” the voice of the former assassin cut in. “That being said, I think we’ve gone over enough for now. We’ll go over potential close quarters combat gear and techniques at a later date. For now, let’s get onto the last guy.”

The blonde nodded before heading back to his friends.

“Alright, last but not least, Midoriya, you’re up,” she called.

The inheritor was startled from his musings and took a moment to realize what was going on before he relaxed.

“So, it says here that you brought your own jumpsuit,” Kaina began.

“Y-yes. My mom made it for me as a gift,” he answered.

“That explains all of the damage. It will have to be remade from scratch to reach school standards. Any preferences?”

“Preferences?”

“Yeah, stuff you want added or changed to the original design. If it’s gonna be completely redesigned from the ground up, might as well do it right.”

“That’s…” Izuku trailed off. He… honestly didn’t have many ideas. He was so used to thinking about how to improve other people that he had no idea how to improve himself. Hell, the costume design his mom found was almost a decade old by that point.

“How about some gauntlets and shin armor,” Azura proposed. Izuku looked over curiously. “That way you can block or deflect bladed attacks. That helped me a lot at the USJ.”

He thought about it before nodding appreciatively. “Y-yeah, that sounds like a good idea. You did stress the importance of better protection.”

Saiko scribbled down the idea as she spoke up. “Hmm. We might need to get rid of the mask. I understand what you were going for but…”

Kaina decided to add her own two cents. “Yeah. That and maybe the hood too.”

Izuku gaped. The whole point of the design-

“Maybe not the mask. It can be modified to become noise canceling. That way he doesn’t accidentally leak his plans,” the bluenette interjected. Izuku brightened slig- “The hood definitely needs to go though.”

Izuku comically collapsed on the ground at the complete one eighty he just experienced.

He quickly got back up to protest. “W-wait, b-but, it’s a homage to All Might.”

“And we understand that Midoriya,” Kaina said softly as she nodded her head in understanding. “There isn’t a problem with doing that whatsoever.”

“The problem lies in the fact it is far too blatant. The tufts are a signature of All Might’s look. To copy that implies a lot about you, and not all of that is good,” Saiko explained.

Azura picked it up from there. “You might be an All Might fanboy, but you’ve also got to remember that you’re you first and foremost, not All Might. Homages are great and all, but if you don’t try and search for your own identity, then who will you be? Are you still yourself, or are you a copy of what you’re paying respect to?”

That gave the young man pause. He… never truly thought of it that way before. Ever since he was young, he strived to be just like All Might, so far as to base his entire potential future image around the idea. Then, at his lowest point, he was given One for All, the same quirk as his hero. It felt… disrespectful to do anything else.

But… they had a point as well. Looking to others for inspiration in others was okay, but maybe… maybe it was time for him to forge his own path.

“C-“ he swallowed to wet his suddenly dry throat. “Can you get it in a darker color scheme? I like the design, it’s just, I guess it just seems a bit… much.”

Kaina nodded and made a note of the changes. He looked over to see Azura smiling at him softly. He returned the expression in gratitude.

“Good, that’s good,” the teacher commented. “You got anything else you might want to add?”

Izuku thought for a moment before shaking his head. “N-not at the moment no. Maybe later.”

“Alright then.”

He turned around to leave before he was stopped by some calling his name. “Ah, wait, Midoriya.”

He turned to look at the caller, Saiko.

“Your data collection will happen later. Your quirk came in recently according to your file, so All Might made the decision for yours to be more in depth than everyone else’s.”

He blinked before he nodded. It did make sense after all. And if All Might made the decision, then there must be a reason behind it.

The purple and pink haired woman sighed suddenly as he took up his spot next to Azura once again.

“Let’s get this shit show out of the way,” the older woman aggressively muttered before clearing her throat. “I need all of the girls over here! We've got a lot to cover, and I do not want to keep repeating myself!”

Yui merely walked out from behind Izuku and Azura who had halted their in depth conversations for the moment as the remaining six girls made their ways over as well. Although, said girls did express their confusion at being all gathered unlike the boys.

“Alright, I’m gonna be blunt with all of you,” the former assassin stated before she took a deep breath. “I’m getting Nezu to sue every single person and company involved with the designing and manufacturing of all of your costumes, then arrested, and finally executed by firing squad.”

All those belonging to the fairer sex in the class, aside from one, looked dumbfounded at such a blunt and casual statement.

“Seriously. The designs and material used alone are wrong for so many reasons. Not to mention the actual reasons given for such a statement are absolute bullshit,” the woman ranted.

Momo took the opportunity to raise her hand. “What do you mean by that, Ms. Tsutsumi?”

The woman perked up. “Do you mind if I use your costume as an example, Yaoyorozu?” The young heiress shook her head.

“Three words: DNA infused clothing.” At the group’s confusion, she continued. “The reasons stated for your costume’s design include the fact that your constructs require exposed skin to form.”

The ravenette nodded. “That is correct. If I tried to create something, my constructs would simply destroy anything I was wearing.”

“That’d be true under normal circumstances, but if your clothes were infused with your DNA, it would simply act as an extension of your body, thereby allowing your constructs to pass through harmlessly.”

The onyx-eyed girl blinked before her eyes widened in horror. Such a material exists, yet…

Tooru perked up. “Wait, doesn’t that mean I could’ve gotten a suit that would’ve turned invisible?”

“That’s my second issue,” the woman growled out. “I’m gonna kill whoever thought gloves and boots would be enough to be considered a fucking costume.”

Mina blinked. “Damn, this is getting her really worked up.” A beat of silence passed before she suddenly turned to her invisible friend. “Wait, Tooru, you’re naked?!”

The girl in question began to scratch the back of her head nervously. “Uh, so we even know if this stuff works?” she attempted to deflect.

“Yup,” Azura confirmed. “There’s a guy in his fourth year that can go intangible. The problem is he can’t choose what he phases through, so he loses his clothes every time he activates his quirk.”

The girls shivered at that thought.

“Plus, there’s my costume as well.”

Izuku, upon hearing of the intangible senior and his classmates' costumes, pulled himself together enough to force down his blush and start paying more attention. Although he did still avert his eyes from Tooru out of respect. “Wait, your costume is DNA infused?”

The young woman noticed how his pencil hovered over her page in anticipation and chuckled. “Yeah. The suit is infused with artificial fibers made after having a few clumps of hair and some of my blood analyzed. When my quirk is active, the suit becomes more durable, allowing me to take bigger hits without risking injury to myself.

“Of course, it also serves a second function. Since the costume is technically a part of me, I’ve also got the ability to stockpile energy inside of it for emergency use. It’s how I stayed conscious after the fight with Noumu. In fact, there are plates of an experimental bio-plastic based on the DNA threads under the armor that increase that stockpile further. It’s all pretty nifty honestly.

“That being said, DNA infused clothes are a bit tricky. You’ve gotta design everything to exact specifications to work properly. Part of the reason my costume is being redone is because it wasn’t designed to transform with me since I didn’t know I could do that.”

Izuku could only gasp in amazement as he jotted down all the new information.

Kaina cleared her throat to call attention to herself. “Yeah, the stuff is pretty useful. It’s also why I’m going to have it made for you two specifically ASAP. Actually, Ashido, you might benefit from it too.”

The pink-skinned girl tilted her head in consideration. “Oh yeah, my body is highly resistant to all acids, especially my own. Having a suit made based on that would be cool. Plus…” she trailed off as a sore of bulb began growing from her side.

Kaina pinched her nose in frustration. “Your suit isn’t porous enough to allow your acid out.” Mina nodded. “Great.”

She took a minute to scribble something down before taking a deep breath.

“Alright, with my main gripe out of the way, let’s get to the rest of you gals.”

The process repeated much like the boys. Kaina, Saiko, Azura, and Izuku all offered ideas with the girls’ input. Some were natural such as self defense weapons being equipped onto everyone’s suits, as well as reinforcements in key areas of their bodies.

Ochako’s list of changes was the longest aside from those who would be getting whole new suits entirely. Extra padding all around to help with potential fall damage at random angles, reinforced helmet and visor, increased acupuncture on pressure points to alleviate nausea, and potential plans to add air propulsion on her boots and back to enable flight.

It was… a long day to say the least, but everyone felt that things would get better.

All but one however.

Aizawa watched through the video feed and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

They should’ve figured all of that out on their own.

Chapter Text

HPSC HQ
President’s Office

A woman sat in her chair as she watched the recordings from the USJ once again.

The fact that a villain group were capable of attacking UAU on such a scale was certainly impressive if nothing else. Their biological weapon even more so.

What really drew her attention was the student that could go toe to toe with something created specifically to fight All Might.

Naturally, she had everything she could get her hands on about the girl. Her history wasn’t all that interesting until she turned thirteen. The Honderlaan Scandal. Such a nasty mess. Several Heroes almost lost their licenses. Luckily they were more than willing to sign on with the HPSC directly with such a threat looming over their heads.

Still, none of that explained the incredible power she displayed. Normally quirk registeries were under public domain to help investigations and hirings in niche fields, but special exceptions could be made. The main ones were the quirks of Pro Heroes. That was on a separate database owned by the HPSC.

Another exception however was Hero trainees. As they had not been hired and were undergoing training, each school had the right to make a person’s quirk registration private. Nezu in particular took great care in annoying her with that tidbit.

She glanced over at the blank portion of the girl’s profile.

They knew nothing other than what was shown in the video, something she had disregarded as that showed nothing of the student’s true potential or abilities.

What’s worst is that said student was also reported to have very close ties to Dean Nezu. That rat was really starting to grate on her last nerve. The only reason she keeps him around anymore is due to the damage he could cause if he had nothing left to lose.

The files that he had of the Commission's… less than legal practices alone would get them shut down. Testimony straight from Nagant about her predecessor’s orders to the assassin would see them hanged.

How the rat found that woman before they captured her, and how that rat had so much information in the first place, she might never know. Nor did she care anymore.

Where was she? Ah, yes.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance again. The perfect candidate for their own agenda, and she’s too far under Nezu’s thumb.

And so the President of the HPSC stewed further in her anger as she sat atop her gilded tower.

==========
Heights Alliance Dorms
Tuesday- Morning

Izuku watched as his classmates, friends, and… girlfriends amicably conversed with one another as they all ate breakfast. At least those who generally talked as Yui and Kouji merely listened, though the animal lover spoke in JSL every so often to Momo to translate.

The noise wasn’t overpowering nor subdued. It was honestly quite relaxing for the verdette as he ate his breakfast. The topics varied from training for the Sports Festival to going shopping at a nearby mall, an idea that Momo seemed overjoyed to experience.

He heard a ringtone go off next to him and set his gaze upon his female blue-haired friend. The young woman quizzically pulled out her phone and blankly stared at it before sighing.

“Hey, Green Bean, Momo, Nezu wants us later,” she stated clearly.

The ravenette had turned when her name was called and tilted her head to ask a silent question. Azura just shrugged because she either didn’t have an answer, or she did and just didn’t want to say anything. Izuku honestly couldn’t tell sometimes.

==========
Dean Nezu’s Office
Several Hours Later

The door to their destination opened on its own without preamble once again, and the three entered an office that would become far more familiar to two of them later on.

“Welcome, welcome. Tea?” the mammalian Dean asked. Izuku honestly didn’t understand his fascination with tea, but he accepted it anyways. It was good stuff.

“I suppose you three are wondering why you are here.” They nodded before he gestured to Izuku and Momo. “Unfortunately it isn’t for you two to take your tests and become my students, but I am confident in your ability to pass, so I’m not worried. That piece of information is actually part of why you are here.

“You see, I am quite familiar with your capabilities, but I wish to administer a few tests of my own to gain a full understanding of where you two currently lie. That way I can adjust my curriculum to better teach you.”

The two newcomers nodded seriously with determination in their eyes. Azura raised her unoccupied hand.

“And why am I here exactly?” she asked before taking another sip of tea.

“That is because their first test will be organizing data about your quirk,” he answered far too cheerily.

The Requiem wielder deadpanned at the diminutive Dean at his answer before he explained further.

“Obviously making a file myself for them to analyze is far too boring. I also do not wish for you to tell them everything. You’ve got to keep them guessing at some points.”

She sighed before nodding. “Alright, alright, I’ll do it.”

“Excellent,” he exclaimed as he pulled out two notebooks and pens. “The two of you will write down what you are told and organize this data. You are to then analyze and infer further,” he instructed as he jumped onto the table and handed them the implements. “Do not rush yourselves. I merely wish to see your current level of abilities. That said, have at it!”

He jumped from the table after a moment and made his way to the door. His two newest students went to query his actions, but he spoke first. “I have other business to attend to at the moment. Take all the time you need until lunch. I have already excused your absences for the day.”

With that, the door shut behind them, leaving the three in the room alone.

“I guess we should get started,” Azura stated a bit more professionally a moment later. The bluenette shifted her body slightly. “Get comfortable. We’re gonna be here awhile.”

The remaining two picked up the provided notebooks and did as instructed. They were talking about her quirk after all. And if past events have any indication, she was right.

“I believe starting from the beginning will be best,” Momo commented. “Details of how your quirk has grown will give us a better idea of how it will continue to do so.”

The young woman nodded in acceptance. It’s not like she’s gonna argue when they want to know something.

“You guys already know how Requiem manifested, so my recap of that will be a bit quick.” The other two nodded. “My emotions completely overpowered me one day, leading me to punch a wall. Whether it was those emotions or another unrelated factor that caused my quirk to manifest, I don’t know.

“What I do know is that I believed that enhancing my strength was only the tip of the iceberg. See, thanks to all that trauma, emotions were an afterthought at the time. I ran mostly on just logic. And what better way to apply myself than to investigate my own quirk?

“It was slow going at first. All I could do was amplify myself to a minor degree, and that was all I originally thought Requiem was capable of. That’s when I began to really notice and focus on the lightning that I emitted when it was active. ‘Why was it there?’ ‘What is it for?’ Questions like that began flooding through my mind, and I knew they wouldn’t stop until I found an answer.

“Strength enhancement quirks are fairly simple. In mutants, the enhancements are due to the animal characteristics they inherit or manifest, or it is a straight change in physiology that increases natural muscle density. In other words, those with mutation based strength don’t need to look too deep.

“Transformation types are similar, but those characteristics are only temporary.

“Emitters though, they require some form of fuel. Thanks to this thought process, it didn’t take me long to figure out Requiem was obviously an emitter type quirk. What powered it though was a more difficult question to answer however.

“Some time and a lot of tests later, I hypothesized that it had to do something with energy. It was the only thing that would explain the lighting and the fact that I felt drained after prolonged use. I couldn’t prove anything however just yet.

“Everything began to change one day however when one of my former classmates tried to electrocute me with his quirk. It wasn’t anything near powerful enough to cause permanent harm, but it would’ve still hurt like a bitch.”

Izuku and Momo both gritted their teeth at the casual way she talked about the abuse she suffered. They had to forcefully remind themselves to calm down and remember that justice had already been served quite some time ago. Focusing on it wouldn’t do anyone any good.

“That’s the thing though. He grabbed me and activated his quirk, but the pain never came. He tried and tried, but he eventually stopped after he completely exhausted his quirk. While everyone was shocked still at my complete lack of reaction, I could feel a change inside myself. It felt as if something inside of me was fuller than it was before.

“A few more experiments later, and I realized that my hypothesis was right. My quirk was fueled by energy. Any type of energy at that. If it wasn’t for my apathy, I would’ve been bouncing off the walls with such a discovery.” She stared off into the distance for a moment before shaking her head.

“Anyways, once I fully understood that I could not only produce but absorb energy to fill my internal stockpile, and then use said energy to enhance my strength, I thought about what else I could do. Absorbing energy was cool and all, but I felt like I was only scratching the surface.

“That’s when I realized that everything up until that point was only happening internally. ‘If I could absorb energy, then could I also manipulate it?’ ‘If so, how much control do I have?’ And let me tell you, it was hard to focus on anything else for a while. It was like a whole new world of possibilities was opened to me.”

“It almost sounds like a quirk awakening,” Izuku absentmindedly commented as he continued to write.

Momo tapped her own pencil against her notebook in contemplation. “I must admit, while I have heard of quirk awakenings in the past, I am not the most knowledgeable on that front,” she admitted.

The inheritor stopped whatever he was writing for the moment to explain. “Quirk awakenings are when someone reaches and surpasses some physical or mental limit of their quirk. Though that is a very loose and broad explanation.”

“From what I understand, it’s mostly to do with a change in cognition. That is, the way you view your quirk, its limitations, or yourself changes in some way to loosen or outright remove limits that you previously had,” the bluenette clarified further.

“I see,” she hummed out.

Izuku perked up. “Oh, I guess a good example is when you realized you didn’t need to picture the molecular structure of something to make it.”

Momo blinked as clarity and understanding filled her eyes. “Yes, I see now. How interesting.”

The reincarnated woman interjected next. “Personally, I think that certain people can undergo several quirk awakenings, though they would be smaller in comparison. Like steps on a staircase.”

“Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Izuku muttered as he wrote down those observations. If such a thing was possible, then he would have to go back and revise a few of his previous entries.

“Though to be completely honest, even now no one knows everything there is about quirks, especially awakenings. There’s just too many commonalities and differences to draw one singular conclusion,” the bluenette voiced as she sipped her tea again before speaking once more.

“We’ve gotten off track. To summarize what we’ve discussed so far, I realized that Requiem wasn’t a straight up strength enhancer, but that it allowed me to manipulate and pour energy through my body to enhance me.” Her audience nodded in understanding.

She nodded to herself before speaking again. “To make the rest of this very long and complicated story short, more tests, experiments, and plenty of time later, we arrive at now.”

Izuku was furiously scribbling her words down, coming up with theory after theory with what he was just told and had seen before. All the blanks weren’t filled, but so many things made more sense. The area outside of his mind was far calmer however.

“And what did your experiments uncover?” Momo queried for the both of them, the ravenette far too aware of her partner’s trance-like state.

The bluenette chuckled. “There are far too many specifics that don’t make sense outside of my body, but let’s see. You already know of my absorption and stockpiling abilities. The only thing really worthy of note would be Soul Sense.

“It’s essentially echolocation, but I’m letting out discrete pulses of energy instead. Those pulses can either bounce off of physical objects and back to give me a fairly accurate three dimensional map of a room or area I’m in, or I can use it to detect people as well.”

Izuku felt as if his hand would never stop writing after that particular reveal.

Momo sat beside him writing at a much more reasonable pace. “Incredible. Such an ability would be quite useful in any number of situations. Are there any other details concerning this Soul Sense?”

“Yup. Thanks to a little practice, if I focus on someone, I can determine their emotional state. I don’t know whether it’s due to their physiological state or some other method however. It’s part of why I call it Soul Sense, because it feels like I can see into someone’s soul. Or whatever constitutes as one anyways,” she explains further.

“Incredible, so not only can you sense a person’s location, you can also detect their emotional state as well. That would make you incredibly effective at rescue and investigative work. I wonder what its max range is…”

Both young women smiled softly at the inheritor’s mutter storm, the greenette hunching over his book in concentration. The heiress was fascinated by the sheer intelligence he could display so casually, while the reincarnated was happy to know that he felt comfortable to let himself go on without holding himself back. There was still work to be done, but progress is always good.

Izuku shot up from his slouch. “But wait, if you can identify what emotions someone is feeling, then wouldn’t it be possible that a particularly strong emotion could feed back on to you?” he suddenly asked.

Azura blinked. “Uh, yeah actually. Something like that happened in the cafeteria last week. It wasn’t pleasant, let me tell you,” she answered as she grimaced.

“Then what about those pulses I felt coming from you?”

The recovering woman blinked again. “Wait, you could tell that was me?”

Izuku blushed. “W-well, I felt something during our Battle Trial when you were confronting Bakugou. Then I felt it again during the break in. I guess you caused both?” Momo’s eyes widened in recognition.

“Yeah, that was me,” she answered. “It’s a recent development I thought of. If I could detect emotions from others, and if strong emotions from others could affect me, then I asked myself if the opposite was also possible.

“It took a lot of work to figure it out, but I eventually found that I could infuse my own will and emotions into an energy pulse. Although, said pulse has to be much denser than normal, hence why you could feel it. I call it Will Projection,” she finished explaining with a small but proud smile.

Momo hummed in understanding. “Interesting. And if the incident in the cafeteria is any indication, it could also be effective in calming down crowds. Once you train yourself with it more that is.”

Azura nodded as she scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah. Most of my uses of it so far have been unconsciously or when my emotions were running high. Getting it under control will be a huge help.”

She filled her cup again and took another sip. The interviewer casually gestured to her friends a moment later. “With that spiel out of the way, I guess you guys get to ask the questions now.”

“You said you could only do minor increases of strength at first. How did you increase that?” the greenette asked suddenly, yet far slower in comparison to his earlier mutter storms.

“My body’s durability. We think it’s also part of the reason Requiem came in so late. That is to say that it might have come in like other kids, but the enhancement was so minor that it couldn’t be detected.”

She shook her head. “Not the point. To actually answer your question, the stronger and more durable my body is, the more powerful I can make myself at one point in time.”

“It isn’t that you make yourself stronger, but that you can conduct more energy at one moment in time the more durable you are,” he theorized.

“Oho, you caught that. Good eye,” the reincarnated woman complimented.

“Just so we understand you correctly,” Momo cut in, “you can absorb any type of energy and then add that to your stockpile?”

“Yup,” she answered alongside a nod, popping the “p”. “I have not come in contact with any form of energy that I could not somehow manipulate or absorb. As for adding it to my stockpile, that’s a bit of a gray area.”

At the questioning gazes of her interviewers, she answered.

“I don’t absorb something and add it straight to my stockpile. It’s gotta go through a sort of conversion process. Once that happens, I can then use it anyway I want. The big thing is that the conversion process isn’t one to one, but it certainly helps for a temporary fix.”

“I see. It makes sense. It’s obviously not plain electricity you’re emitting, so of course the same can be said for what you're stockpiling. It’s not like thermal or kinetic energy can just be seamlessly absorbed and then used to enhance your strength,” Izuku muttered out.

He redirected his gaze to the subject of discussion before he blushed again. He forced the blush and accompanied embarrassment down when he realized neither of them seemed bothered by his usual mutter storms.

His eyes widened as his mind focused on one detail. “Wait, ‘kinetic energy’. Sure, air can have kinetic energy, but what about physical objects? Can you absorb kinetic energy from there?”

“That’s another gray area honestly. Yes, I can, but it’s difficult as I have to touch the object to do so,” she answered as she scratched the back of her head.

“And I’m assuming the transfer is not instantaneous,” Momo queried. The woman opposite of her shook her head. “Then that means that you would need to essentially catch the object before you can absorb its kinetic energy.”

“Yup. That's why I don’t depend on it,” she confirmed.

“What about the energy from chemical bonds? Oh, and what about-?”

Azura cut off Izuku’s question avalanche before he continued any further. “If energy is involved, whether stored or being actively used, so long as I touch it, the answer is ‘yes, I can absorb it.’”

Izuku jotted that down. “What about doing the opposite and imbuing energy into something?”

“Yet another gray area,” the bluenette groaned. “I can, but since the type of energy is specific to me and isn’t thermal or electric in nature, it doesn’t affect the object. All the energy does is dissipate and disperse.”

“I still have a question though, what is that lightning you produce?” The Yaoyorozu Heiress cut in once more.

“Ah, that. I think of it as more of a waste product,” she answered with a shrug. “It’s kind of difficult to explain. When I activate Requiem, it just starts spilling out. I can keep it from doing so, but that requires conscious effort.”

“I see. A process that I would compare that to is eating,” Momo added. “When we eat, our bodies take in the nutrients and proteins it needs in order to continue functioning properly. What our bodies do not take are later,” she paused and cleared her throat, “expelled.”

Azura snorted. “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, actually.”

Izuku absentmindedly chewed on the end of his pencil. “Hmm. All of the major questions and theories I’ve had up until now have been answered,” he muttered as he stewed in thought. “What about that transformation you went through during the USJ? You said you couldn’t do that before.”

“Ah, that,” the reincarnated woman grumbled. “The short answer is that I underwent FQE, Forced Quirk Evolution.”

A thought twitched at the back of Izuku’s mind when he heard those last few words. He paused in confusion until the words of the room’s other two occupants brought him back to reality.

“‘Forced Quirk Evolution’,” the young socialite muttered. “I can’t say I’m quite familiar with that either.”

“It’s a lot of scientific mumbo jumbo,” Azura waved off, “but the basics of it are that due to my… near death experience,” her audience flinched at her words, “my quirk spontaneously mutated or evolved to directly combat the threat. I could tell from the start that Noumu was stronger than me. So Requiem evolved to give me the ability to temporarily increase my body’s durability, thereby increasing my overall strength.

“The evolution itself was still new and not… fully settled or formed, I suppose, in my quirk. Next time I use Unleashed, it will be a bit weaker, but far more stable and less energy intensive. That’s part of why I fainted actually.”

“Pardon me, but when you said ‘unleashed’, were you referring to your transformation?” the dignified young woman asked.

“Hm? Oh yeah. I figured that I might as well name it.”

“That reminds me,” the One for All wielder interjected. “You have super moves? They were difficult to discern, but I heard you call out a few, as well as exceed and combo?” he finished with his tone turning his statement into a question near the end.

The recovering woman bobbed her head back and forth for a moment in contemplation before shrugging. “Might as well. Yes, I do have super moves. I’ll tell you about some of them, but I’ll keep a few close to my chest for now.”

Izuku quickly flipped the pages and prepared to write down what was coming next.

“First up, I divide my moves into different… ‘series’ I suppose for ease of use and to better compartmentalize and memorize. The first of these series is Basic: moves that require little to not prep time to use in a variety of situations. The ones you saw during the fight against Noumu are Tempest and Impact.

“The former just creates a gust of wind that I can use to either redirect projectiles or reposition myself midair. The latter is where instead of folding my fists up all the way, I extend the middle knuckles out to increase penetrating power. It’s actually quite effective, especially with the gauntlets on my costume. I do have one more named Blitz where I punch rapidly, but you’ve only technically seen that one.

“Next up is Complex. This series requires special circumstances or some sort of building up to utilize properly. Pointbreak is an obvious example. The basic premise is that I build up and condense energy outside of my body, and then direct the energy’s expansion into a specific direction like a laser. I’ve known that it was possible for a while, but I never had the power to pull it off until my transformation. Still got one hell of a kickback though,” she grimaced as she rubbed her scarred arm hidden under her sleeve.

“What about that move you did on the first day?” Izuku interjected. “The one where you spun a lot.”

Azura blinked. “Oh, Roundhouse,” she said upon realization before her face scrunched in curiosity. “Wait, you remember that?”

“W-well, yeah,” he stuttered out. “Increasing your angular momentum and speed to increase the amount of linear speed you could impose on the ball was really smart.”

Azura blinked. “Damn, you had me all figured out. Nice, Green Bean,” she complimented as she smiled at the blushing young man. “You’re right though. The main problem is that I can only use Roundhouse effectively when I’m either standing still, or in a confined area like a hallway. Otherwise the angular kinetic energy is far too little and wastes time and energy when I could’ve just punched the thing.

“With that out of the way though, the next series is Combo. The whole premise of it is when I combine two moves together. Not very complicated except for the fact the moves have to technically be ‘compatible’,” she finished off with air quotes.

“Like, I wouldn’t combine Impact and Tempest. I just wouldn’t be able to get anything from it. Impact with Blitz however, then you get Jackhammer. I guess you could say that it’s Impact’s older brother for when something is being a bit too stubborn.

“Is all of this making sense to you guys so far?” she asked her audience. Momo and Izuku, the latter still furiously writing, nodded in sync .

“Alright then. Now we reach the fourth and final series, Exceed. The basic premise behind this one is that I go over the soft limit I’ve given myself so I don’t accidentally seriously injure or kill someone,” she explained before her tone and expression turned darkly serious.

“I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve prepared this series in case I need to go above that limit and aim to kill. These moves range from destroying buildings to theoretically annihilating entire city blocks. And I sincerely hope I never have to use the latter ones.”

The pair of interviewers nodded in both understanding and fear. Understanding from the thought that someone or something like Noumu could appear again. Fear because they had little doubt of her claims.

“Most of them are purely ‘upgraded’ or offshoot versions of the previous three series, like Tempest is to Hurricane. Some though, like Grand Slam, are purely original. I suppose those two are self explanatory with what you guys have seen,” she finished.

They both nodded.

“Good, because my throat is getting a bit dry,” she stated with a far lighter tone before scratching the back of her head with a sheepish expression. “Sorry for getting a bit intense there at the end,” she apologized.

Momo shook her head. “No, don’t be. You were merely attempting to impress the severity of the situation. You have given me much to think about.”

“Y-yeah. You don’t hear it often on the news, but I’ve seen reports where Heroes have to sometimes kill in order to save as many people as possible,” Izuku informed. “I can’t say I ever really put too much thought into it before though.”

Azura nodded solemnly. “Sometimes all you can do though is hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. If you aren’t, a lot of people depending on us could die.”

The three sat in silence after that, two of them learning an unexpected but necessary lesson. The third felt twinges of regret. Her friends and classmates would have had to learn sooner or later, still…

Azura shook her head. “We’ve gotten a bit off topic. Do you two have any more questions?”

Momo wore a contemplative expression as she thought everything over. Izuku though…

Yes, he had a lot of questions.

Chapter Text

UAU Main Campus Cafeteria
Tuesday- Lunch

“Uh, should we be worried about them?” Ochako asks warily.

The subjects of her question were the other two thirds of the triad who were furiously muttering to each other next to her as they scribbled information into two notebooks.

Azura waved off her concerns across the table. “Nah. Nezu wanted to test their current abilities a bit to help make individualized curriculums. The first test of which was to ask me questions about Requiem, and then extrapolate from there. They got… enthusiastic near the end,” she finished as she glanced off to the side.

“Ah, I see,” Tenya concurred, not understanding whatsoever. He turned to the pair before chopping his arm. “While I support your excitement for learning, you should also not forget to eat as well!”

He was promptly ignored by the two.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. They’ll snap out of it… eventually,” the recovering woman hesitantly added as she patted the shoulder of her fellow bluenette.

“Hey guys,” a voice casually called out. A moment later, a tray was slammed onto the table. Tenya moved to reprimand the offender, but he stopped himself after remembering last time.

“Oh, hey Jirou,” Ochako greeted the punk girl who sat next to her.

“Sup, so what’s going on with them?” she asked as she gestured to the duo of occupied brainiacs.

“Oooh, did I hear the infamous Jirou Kyouka ask about gossip?” a cheery voice asked suddenly.

“I think I did!” a voice as cheery as the last replied.

Mina and Tooru slammed their trays down a moment later and took the remaining two seats. Tenya resisted temptation… but failed.

“Ashido, Hagakure, I must insist that you do not treat equipment provided by the school so roughly!” the tall boy reprimanded.

“Chillax Iida,” the horned girl casually replied, the reincarnated squinted her eyes at Mina in slight disbelief, wondering how “chillax” survived so long. “It’s not like these things are tough to replace or anything.”

“That is besides the point!”

The two most excitable members of class 1-A both giggled at the young man’s enthusiastic response.

A moment later, the pink girl calmed down enough to actually speak. “But no, seriously, what’s up with them?” she asked while pointing at the currently-engaged Momo and Izuku.

“Analyzing and extrapolating information about my quirk, and making a detailed report of it for Nezu to review. Long story short, it’s to help him teach them better,” the energy manipulator answered once again.

Kyouka perked up. “Wait, so they’re going to be Nezu’s students too?”

“Yup,” she answered simply. “And trust me when I say analyzing quirks is a very quick way of determining analytical and critical thinking abilities.”

”Your quirk,” Mina repeats with a nod from the woman in question.

“Quirks are interesting, sure,” the invisible woman said before gesturing to the duo, “but they’re not that interesting, right?”

“You would be surprised about how small details can completely change the understanding of one’s quirk,” Tenya interjected.

“Yeah! I thought my quirk just removed the effect of gravity off of something. If I did that though, let’s just say it wouldn’t end well,” Ochako answered while she nervously scratched the back of her head.

“Indeed,” he agreed before he smiled gratefully. “As for me, thanks to some advice, I have begun testing how different types of orange juice made by different companies interact with my quirk.”

“Orange juice?” the two girls questioned as they tilted their heads, assumedly so in Tooru’s case anyway.

“Wait, is that why we’ve got so many random boxes of it in the fridge back at the dorms?” Kyouka quietly said to no one in particular.

“It is the fuel that powers the combustion engines in my legs,” he explained. “I was originally under the assumption that the juice did just that, but it seems that different concentrations and preparation methods can influence how they interact with my quirk. Even the presence of the orange pulp as well! Some grant me greater speed, while others are far more fuel efficient. It is quite fascinating in my honest opinion.”

“Huh. That is interesting,” Rikidou hummed out in thought from nearby. The group turned to see him seated with a few more of their classmates as well who were listening in on the conversation. “I wonder if the same thing happens with me, just with sugar instead.”

The reincarnated woman chose that moment to interrupt. “That’ll have to be answered later. Preferably when we have more space to work with.”

“That’s fair,” the baker acquiesced.

“Okay, you’ve made your point,” Tooru stated. “But it’s not like you can do that with every quirk.”

Azura raised her eyebrow in challenge to that statement as she turned to better face said challenger. “Oh, is that a fact?”

“Well, I mean, yeah. My quirk is pretty cut and dry. It makes me invisible. I’ve been invisible my whole life. Pretty simple,” she said as she shrugged.

“But you can see,” the bluenette pointed out.

“Hm? Uh, yeah, I can,” she responded unsurely. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“You must’ve not paid attention in biology,” she muttered to herself. “The simplified version of how our eyes work is that light bounces off the back of them, and then that information is processed and interpreted by our brains. If you were truly invisible, then light would simply pass through you. You wouldn’t be able to see because there wouldn’t be anything to bounce light off of.”

Tooru froze. Being invisible was bad enough, but being blind on top of it? That sent a shiver down her spine.

“H-how are you so sure?” the hopefully-not-invisible woman asked quietly.

“If you need more evidence, there’s also the Battle Trials.”

“The Battle Trials?” her stiff friend repeated before his eyes widened. “Ah, yes! Your match was cancelled due to the damage done to the building. Said damage was caused when Aoyama’s laser hit you, and then being redirected at random angles.”

“And what happens when light hits an uneven prism?” The reincarnated woman paused for someone else to answer her question and continue the train. When no one did, she deadpanned before speaking again. “It refracts and reflects in random directions. Especially if said uneven prism is shaped and moves like a human body.”

“W-what does that mean?” the invisible young woman asked with a hint of trepidation and hope.

“It means that your quirk does not make you invisible, but that your skin is highly refractive. If you need any more proof,” the current quirk guru probed further as she held out a bowl of rice, “then eat and ask why you can’t see the food going through your body.”

The faces of those around her scrunched up a bit in disgust at the statement.

Azura sighed. “Okay, yeah, that sounded cooler in my head, but again, if you were truly invisible, we’d be able to see all of that.”

Tooru began to tear up slightly.

“Anyways, the point behind all of this is that if it’s possible for you to control that refraction…”

“I could be seen,” she responded weakly, although her tone projected hope.

Azura just nodded.

Tooru felt someone suddenly hug her, the normally energetic Mina far calmer and gentler with her, a soft smile stretching across the pinkette’s face.

The reincarnated woman cleared her throat to continue speaking. “Eventually anyways. It will take time and a lot of hard work, but yes, I believe you could do it.”

The prismatic woman glomped the bluenette next to her, much to the latter woman’s surprise. Tooru kept expressing her gratitude as best she could through tearful eyes. She could finally be seen! And sure, there wasn’t a one hundred percent guarantee, the fact that the possibility existed was more than enough for her.

“Uhhhh…” someone trailed off in confusion.

Azura turned her gaze from the invisible woman who was still professing her gratitude to her new juniors in the ways of Nezu. “I told Hagakure about how her quirk might be more akin to light refraction than invisibility.”

The two simultaneously expressed their understanding, almost mirroring each other in the process.

“For all of this, you can call me Tooru!”

==========
1-A Homeroom
Some time later

Class 1-A conversed with each other amicably as they waited for Heroics 101 to start. The biggest topic of discussion was about Tooru and the new possibilities now open to her.

Some of the students asked the reincarnated woman who started it all to help them as well, especially with the Sports Festival coming. Tenya and Ochako, thanks to their own experiences, gleefully pointed out that Izuku and Momo could likely help as well.

The heiress took the resulting praise and attention with her normal poise and grace. Izuku on the other hand floundered with a full-faced blush as he attempted to stutter out that, yes, he could help if asked.

As many in the class began to discuss, the door to their room suddenly opened, leading to all of them quieting down. Most of them were confused to see Kaina at the door instead of All Might however.

“Hey,” the older woman casually greeted. “Today’s Heroics 101 is gonna be a bit different than usual. Today, you guys are gonna be picking your Hero code names.”

Some expressed their confusion, while other’s, like Mina and Aoyama, jumped in excitement.

“As much as I like your enthusiasm, you guys are gonna want to really think about this,” Kaina interrupted to warn her students, said students calming down at her words. “These are really important. If you end up not liking the name-“

“Then you’ll pay hell for it later!” a muffled yet familiar voice interrupted before the door slammed open again.

The form of the 18+ Hero: Midnight was revealed as she sensually sauntered into the room. Azura cleared her throat, the mother of the pair momentarily pausing before taking a far more relaxed gait and stance.

“Good afternoon students,” the fantasized woman greeted after a moment before she began to explain further. “We’re doing this a few weeks earlier this year, but thanks to the USJ Incident, Nezu’s switched things up a bit. Now, to protect the identities of everyone participating in the Sports Festival, everyone will be either given a code name or determine one for themselves. This goes double for those in the Hero course as you guys will be the most talked about compared to the rest of the students.”

“Is it accurate to say that having code names so early on is an effort to hide our identities from villains?” Tenya asked.

“Unfortunately, yes,” the dark-haired art teacher answered with a slight grimace. “You guys especially are on everyone’s mind thanks to the USJ. So, to protect everyone, all participants will have code names, and no one’s quirk will be openly discussed by the faculty as well. Suffice to say, we’re taking a lot more measures to not only ensure your safety at the event itself, but for your futures as well.”

Some of the students tensed at the woman’s serious tone. Others nodded in understanding. Even after the USJ, it was difficult for many to understand the true scope of consequences after the USJ.

“With that said,” Nemuri continued after a moment, “don’t worry about giving us something now. You all have the next week to confirm your names. Today is mostly a brainstorming and inspiration day.”

As she finished, she began passing out the boards and markers as she continued explaining. “The names that all of you pick should mean something to you to make you not only stand out, but to also ideally inspire those who hear it. Whether it’s about you or your ultimate goal as a hero doesn’t matter. So long as it represents something relating to you, I think you’ll be fine.

“Now, take a few minutes to decide on a name or a few ideas. Then, if you are willing, anyone could present their ideas to the class for either critiquing or to be accepted as your name,” the art teacher further explained before seating herself on the teacher's desk at the front, much to Kaina’s chagrin.

As everyone began considering their options and writing down ideas, Izuku merely stared at the empty board. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any ideas at all. The problem was the opposite, and that every idea he had centered somewhere around All Might.

“Mighty Junior, Junior Might, Mightboy,” etc. etc. were all ones he seriously considered at one point. Sure, he was only a kid when he came up with those, but the point still stood. He was trying to pull from All Might far too much.

’Be inspired by, but don’t copy,’ he thought to himself.

Despite everything that happened yesterday, he had learned a valuable lesson, one he realized he unconsciously didn’t want to hear before.

“Deku” was all that he was known by for so long. Everyone around him aside from his mother and random strangers on the street called him that.

Every day. Nothing. Useless. Worthless. Those are the words that defined his existence for so many people.

Then All Might found him and named him his successor. Izuku felt like he had no choice to follow in the blonde’s footsteps, especially when he felt he couldn’t be anything else.

But now-

”Young Midoriya, good morning.”

“Hey Dekiru!”

“Izuku, how about you?”

“Sup, Green Bean.”

-he was known as something else to do many people.

However, that still did not solve his current issue. Who did he want to be? What was his goal? What was important to him?

Such simple questions at first glance, but now…

“Does anyone wish to present?”

Izuku was brought back to reality suddenly by the question. He looked around the room and spotted the clock on the wall to see that twenty minutes had passed.

’Twenty minutes? Wow,’ he mulled over in his head.

Before anyone could seriously consider an answer to the woman’s question however, Aoyama stood up and proudly made his way over to the podium to present.

“The dazzling name that the world over shall call me is…” the fabulous blonde trailed off for suspense before he dramatically flipped his board towards the class, “I Can Not Stop Twinkling!”

Izuku… blinked curiously as the others around him quieted down in confusion.

“That… is certainly an interesting name,” Momo said while choosing her words carefully.

“And one that isn’t gonna work well to say the least,” Nemuri bluntly stated, the blonde student next to her recoiling in shock.

“Excusez-moi?!” the frenchie exclaimed.

“You do realize that people are inevitably gonna shorten your name, right?” the Requiem user asked.

“Oh yeah,” Hanta piped in after a moment. “They’d probably shorten it to ‘Twink’ since that’s the only actual word.”

Aoyama went bug-eyed in realization. “Ah, I see,” he replied lamely.

“We can fix this though,” Nemuri hummed out as she held her chin in concentration. “How about the ‘Twinkling Hero: …”

“Oh, oh, I know, how about ‘Nova’?!” Ochako cheerily called out as she excitedly waved her raised arm. “You know, like ‘supernova’?”

Aoyama gasped. “Magnifique! Such a dazzling name will surely shine all across the world! Merci, Uraraka!”

The brunette scratched the back of her head in embarrassment as her blush grew.

“Alright then, the ‘Twinkling Hero: Nova’,” Nemuri stated as she typed it down on her phone before looking back up. “I like it. Does anyone else wish to present?”

Not a second later, Tsuyu stood up and casually walked up to the podium. “I’ve been thinking about this since elementary school, ribbit,” she clearly stated. And without any more preamble, she showed her board to the rest of the class.

“The Rainy Season Hero; Froppy,” was all she let out.

Several of the girls all cooed at the adorable name. Eijirou decided to start cheering the name in excitement. Said excitement spread to everyone else in the classroom which led to everyone cheering the name. Kaina just gazed at the students in amusement from behind her desk.

After everyone calmed down, several more of the heroes-to-be presented their own names. From Hanta’s “Tape Hero: Cellophane” to Momo’s choice of “Everything Hero: Creati.”

Mina’s initial name “Alien Queen” was immediately denied, much to the pink girl’s dismay.

The most notable however was Eijirou’s “Sturdy Hero: Red Riot.” He assured both his classmate and his teachers that he would live up to the ideals of his inspiration.

Just as it seemed that those who wished to present did, one more stood from their desks.

“My choice requires a little bit of explanation,” Azura stated as she stood behind the podium. “Long story short, so many people refer to the concept of fate as if it’s some sort of fact. ‘It’s your fate to this’, ‘you’re fated for that’. Honestly, it pisses me off.” The reincarnated woman shook her head in disappointment as Nemuri lightly slapped her daughter’s shoulder in admonishment.

The bluenette ignored the gesture with ease. “Fate is just an excuse people use to not put in any effort, to not change what is and who they are. Some say that the future is set in stone,” she stated as a look of determination burned within her deep, blue eyes. “If that’s really the case, then if I see a future I don’t like, I’ll smash it to pieces! I will be-“ she slammed her board down onto the podium for all of her classmates to see.

“The Defiant Hero: Fate-Breaker!”

“Manly!” Eijirou declared after a moment of silence.

This caused the rest of the class to begin voicing their own affirmations.

“Such a name is quite ambitious, but if that is your goal, I see no reason to dissuade you!” Tenya exclaimed while chopping.

Izuku blocked out the rest of the conversations around him as he looked down at his own board in thought. Not everyone presented their names, but the ones that did had clear and defined reasons for their choices.

Which brought back the ever present question of what did Izuku want for himself? Even those who hadn’t decided on a name yet seemed to be having less trouble than he was with that question.

Clapping from the front of the room drew his attention outward once again.

“Now now students, no need to get so excited~,” Midnight purred out.

Azura cleared her throat.

Nemuri waved her off. “With that dramatic presentation out of the way-“

“Who do you think I learned it from.”

“-does anyone else wish to present their name? And don’t worry, like I said before, you all have a week to come up with and present a name, so don’t rush yourselves.”

===

It had only been a few minutes since they had been let out, and Izuku was trailing behind about half of the class as he thought. He glanced back up to see his usual group of friends alongside Kyouka, Yui, Mina, Tooru, Eijirou, and Aoyama talking amongst themselves as they made their way back to the dorms.

So deep in thought, he didn’t realize he had said the question he was considering aloud. And it was quite loud at that.

“Why do you all want to be heroes?”

The group slowed as they all turned their attention to the greenette. He immediately stopped and silently berated himself for muttering.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I just think bullies are the worst,” Mina huffed out in response.

“Yeah! Bullies are as unmanly as you can get. And there’s no bully worse than one who goes around terrorizing everyone!” Eijirou exclaimed in agreement.

“If I must be honest, it is to continue the legacy of my family. Although, I will admit that the idea of saving lives is quite appealing,” Tenya answered seriously.

Ochako tilted her head. “Wait, Tenya, is your family full of heroes or something?”

“The Ingenium line from the IdaTen Agency, right?” Azura casually asked as she stood with her hands interlinked behind her head.

The speedster adjusted his glasses. “Yes, you are quite right.”

Everyone else other than Momo blinked in confusion at the casual nature of the conversation.

The reincarnated woman glanced around. “What? The engines alone are a dead giveaway.”

Izuku had to admit she was right. Anyone with any knowledge regarding the past generation or two of the Ingenium line could point out a relative in a heartbeat. The greenette thought of the possibility himself, but he didn’t say anything out of concern for his friend’s privacy.

“I suppose my reason is that I wish to help those in need,” Momo stated to continue the previous conversation. “Those who do not have access to basic necessities often become villains. While becoming a hero is admittedly a little roundabout, I hope to bring attention to these issues and create programs designed to help solve the problem.”

The long and graceful answer gave several among them pause, but they just nodded in understanding.

“Aw man,” Kyouka groaned. “My answer is lame in comparison.”

“Aw, don’t be like that. I just wanted to be seen by everyone,” Tooru comforted the punk girl. “Well, that, and I though maybe I could give hope to those like me, you know,” the invisible young woman sheepishly admitted after a moment.”

“You guys already know my reason,” the reincarnated woman claimed. “Can’t get much dumber than wanting to fight fate.”

Ochako snorted at the statement.

The musically inclined woman considered for a moment before she shrugged. “I thought it was cool how much people cheered for Heroes. Saw the same kind of thing at concerts, so I thought ‘what the hell?’”

“I am much like Hagakure. The world must see my illustrious shine!” the flamboyant blonde exclaimed.

“Mm.”

Izuku turned to the source of the noise to see the blank-faced Yui staring up at Izuku.

“Mm,” she hummed out again before looking down. A second later however, and she once again stared into Izuku’s eyes with something akin to determination burning in her eyes.

“So, a hero help you a while back, and so you stopped fantasizing about heroes and decided to become one?” Izuku asked.

Yui tilted her head in confusion.

“It’s not too difficult to understand you,” the inheritor clarified before gesturing unsuredly at her face. “Y-your eyes are actually quite expressive.”

The greenette could have sworn he saw a twinkle in the ravenette’s eyes.

“Huh, who’da thunk,” Azura pondered before she shook her head. “Anyways, what about you two?” she probed while gesturing to Izuku and Ochako.

Both of them fidgeted at the direct question, but Izuku found the will to answer first.

“It might be an understatement, but I just like the idea of saving people,” he answered with a shrug. Azura stopped herself from snorting at his admittance. “The idea just never left my head after I first saw a recording of All Might in action as a kid.”

“I see,” Tenya bummed out while nodding his head in understanding. He was inspired by his brother in much the same way after all.

Several others understood his reason as well. It was relatively simple, but with how inspired the boy was even after so much time, they could tell it was an important reason for the aspiring hero.

Slowly but surely, the group’s attention was turned to the sole brunette.

Ochako kept fidgeting nervously under everyone's gazes. She glanced around before sighing, her body losing its former tension in the process.

“My reason’s a bit selfish. I… I’m… I’m doing it for the money,” she quickly stated after a few moments of hesitation.

Most of the assembled group were confused at the statement. It certainly wasn’t the best reason out there for becoming a hero, but it wasn’t like that was uncommon.

The rest of the group, which consisted of her four best friends, looked on in expectation however. Izuku could guess they all felt that there was more to her story.

“Looking after your own well being is not selfish in the slightest,” Tenya calmly responded. “Knowing you however, there is more to your reason. Although you do not have to share if you don’t want to.”

Ochako looked on appreciatively before nodding her head. “My parents own their own construction company. They try to hide it, but I could tell that money’s been tight for a while now. I just… wanted to help them out a bit, you know?”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” Tooru cooed.

“Well I’d say it’s pretty manly,” Eijirou countered.

Mina giggled for a moment before she threw her arm around her red-haired friend. “You say that about everything, Kiri.”

The boy in question blushed slightly. “T-that’s because everything is manly.”

“I for one say that it is a perfectly viable reason!” Tenya cheered. “You could have gone into any number of fields, but instead you decided to put yourself on the line to help those in danger. I for one could not be any prouder to call you my friend!”

Ochako smiled as she saw the rest of her friends nod in agreement at the stiff young man’s declaration, with Izuku’s being far more enthusiastic.

“You gotta be careful though,” Kyouka cut in after a moment. “Money’s good and all, but I’ve seen a lot of people ruin their careers and lives because of their greed.”

Mina smacked the punk girl’s arm with a disgruntled look on her face. “Aw c’mon. Why’d you bring down the mood like that?”

“But she’s right,” Ochako interrupted before the pink girl could get much further. “I never really thought about it before, but she’s right. Money isn’t everything I want from becoming a Hero right now, but if I don’t keep myself in check, it easily could be.”

Azura walked up to the brunette and threw her uninjured arm around her friend. “And that’s why you’ve got us. Friends help each other out. If it means we’ve got to literally smack the greed out of you, we will,” she declared before lowering her volume down to a whisper. “Although I think Izuku and Momo wanna do more than smack your greed.”

Ochako’s face exploded in a blush at the insinuation. Kyouka blushed too, but she was more confused than anything.

“She is certainly right about that,” Momo called out, unintentionally making Ochako’s blush worse.

Izuku stayed silent throughout the conversation. He paid attention and absolutely agreed with everyone, but his mind was otherwise preoccupied.

Off to the side, an idea wriggled itself into one heiress’s mind.

==========
Private Meeting Room
Early Afternoon

Inheritor and predecessor sat across from each other, one deep in thought while the other felt concern slowly creeping out.

Toshinori thought back to a few hours ago just after the hero course had been let out for the day. Out of the blue, he received a text from his protege about a concern he had regarding his future. Naturally, Toshinori grew concerned, but let it be until the two had actually met up.

With that being said, the fact that Izuku hadn’t said a word since they both sat down had not helped to settle his nerves a bit.

“So, my boy, what did you wish to talk about?” he asked, breaking the silence.

Izuku minutely jumped at the question, realizing that he had gotten lost in his head again. He rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke up. “S-sorry about that All Might. It’s just, we were going over hero names today, and well… I wanted to ask how you came up with yours?”

Toshinori leaned back into his couch in thought. It had been quite a while since he heavily reminisced on that point in his life.

“You mean aside from all the ‘All Right’ puns?” the older man joked with a sly smile.

Izuku held back a snort so he wouldn’t devolve into a giggling fit.

The mentor’s expression turned more thoughtful after a moment. “To be quite honest, I didn’t put too much thought into it. A friend of mine proposed it, and I accepted it. That isn’t to say I didn’t think about it at all. It just felt right I guess, and I didn’t want to second guess myself.”

Izuku nodded along, his inner fanboy pushing him to listen intensely.

“I suppose you were having trouble coming up with one of your own?”

“Y-yeah. I thought I had a ton of ideas, but when it came to writing them down, I couldn’t think of anything.” The inheritor sighed. “What do you think I should do?”

The eighth wielder of One for All looked his successor in the eyes as he thought for a moment. “I don’t think I could give you an answer. Like I said, I didn’t put too much thought into it. However, I can say that you’ll know it when you hear it. Or, if you’ve already heard it, it’ll come to you. You just need to listen,” he said encouragingly.

Izuku thought on the man’s words for a few moments. “T-thanks, All Might,” he stuttered out.

“You don’t have to spare my feelings, Young Midoriya,” the veteran waved off. “I know I’m not the best teacher. Still, if what I said really did help, then I’m glad.”

“I-it did, honest. I just don’t know where to go from here,” the newbie said unsuredly.

“And that’s perfectly fine. You’re a student after all,” the man said with a smile on his face. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

“S-sorry, no.”

A burst of steam later, and the heroic image of the Number One Hero stared Izuku in the face. “Hey hey hey, no apologizing, young man! If you ever need advice, just come and ask! I actually quite like our talks!” The man’s boisterous voice rang throughout the room. The only reason Izuku didn’t flinch at the volume was due to him acclimating to it in the past.

Izuku smiled. “Right, thanks again, All Might!” he called out as he got up and made his way to the door.

And as the door closed and steam filled the room again, Toshinori felt his resolve to better teach his protege in the future grow.

As the green-haired young man continued on his way back to the dorms, he noticed a casually dressed Azura leaning against a pillar right outside the front door, eyes closed as she took in the soft breeze flowing around them.

“It’s rude to stare you know,” she stated rhetorically as she revealed and focused her blue orbs onto his own green ones.

Izuku cleared his throat. “S-sorry. I was just wondering why you were out here.”

The reincarnated woman chuckled briefly. “It was nice out, so I thought I’d be alone with nature for a few minutes. Didn’t hurt that I wanted to talk to you to see how you were doing,” she added almost as an afterthought.

Izuku looked at her quizzically before he nodded in understanding. ”Soul Sense, right?” He received a nod. “That must get annoying after a while.”

“Meh,” she let out, not truly indicating one way or the other. “So?”

He let out a tired sigh. “Figuring out who I want to be as a hero is a lot more difficult than I first thought.”

Azura nodded her head in understanding as she looked back up at the sunset on the horizon. “I’ve been there honestly,” she stated.

A moment of comfortable silence passed between the two as birdsong and moving air filled the void. Izuku found himself watching the setting sun as well. It was quite peaceful.

“… I know about you and Aldera,” the reincarnated woman said suddenly.

Izuku jumped in surprise and whipped back around to face his friend who still held a passive look on her face.

“Before you ask, it wasn’t at all difficult to figure out we were similar. Well, that and Nezu let some things ‘slip’,” she finished with air quotes.

Izuku… just sighed again. She obviously had no interest in revealing his last to everyone if previous experiences told him anything, but he was a bit confused as to why she would bring it up.

Azura snorted. “I brought it up to give you some advice,” she stated.

Izuku blushed upon realizing he muttered out his question. He then stopped as his curiosity grew. “Advice?”

“Yup,” she confirmed as she pushed herself off of the column she was previously leaning against. “They were wrong about you. Couldn’t be more wrong actually. You were never a ‘Deku’ like they always told you. You are so much more,” she clearly stated with a fiery look in her eyes.

“As for your hero name, in my opinion, you’ve already got one. You just gotta start using it. Now come on, dinner’s getting cold.”

She gestured for him to follow before going inside. Izuku merely stood still in slight shock for a moment before sucking his head and following. In the moments it took him to enter and close the door he realized that, yes, he had his answer already.

==========
Class 1-A Homeroom
Wednesday- Early Morning

Nemuri stood at the front of the class after Kaina finished the morning announcements.

“Alright then, is there anyone who didn’t present yesterday want to now? Don’t be shy, but don’t pressure yourselves either,” she asked the room whilst offering a board to whoever approached.

Izuku, with a newfound confidence he didn’t know he had up until then, stood and approached the podium. After scribbling down the words that declare his future, he spoke.

“W-without going into too much detail, before coming to UA, I was called ‘Deku’, which means ‘useless’.” He saw some of his classmates cringe, but he continued on.

“I almost started to believe it all too. After a while though, I started meeting more and more people who believed in me. And one of those people thought the name was something completely different. Just a few letters more, and ‘useless’ turns into ‘you can do it.’”

He saw Ochako’s eyes widen as her blush marks began growing across her face.

“I’m not useless. Everyone who thought I was was wrong, and I’m going to prove it. I want to be a hero that saves everyone with a smile on my face,” he said as a smile of his own began growing on his face. He turned the board around.

“I will be the ‘Can-Do Hero: Dekiru.’”

Chapter Text

Naruhata- Naruhata Ex-Vigilante Agency
Wednesday- Noon

The Naruhata Ex-Vigilante Agency wasn’t all too big, but it’s residents and those who were employed by said angency didn’t really mind. The five floors held everything they needed from a reception desk and lobby to a gym and sparing area on the top floor.

Currently a pink-haired woman sat in the office space of the second floor as she finished up her paperwork for the day. It had been quite slow in Naruhata as of late. Crime was at an all time low, and the people generally seemed quite content with their lives. Obviously there were some who popped up and wished to cause chaos, but those kinds of people were few and far in between.

After finishing her last form, the woman leaned back into her seat and rolled her shoulders. After a moment, she stood and made her way over to the bathrooms to finish getting ready for her patrol.

Haneyama Kazuho stared at her reflection as she put her hair up into its more distinct and recognizable twin tails. Looking down, she took in her hero costume. It was a bit more conservative than her vigilante days, but she was still quite proud of it.

For starters, her leotard was more like an actual one-piece swimsuit than the backless one she had before, although she did still have the wings on the small of her back. A longer skirt covered most of her thighs, and her previously fashionable boots and gloves now had much more utility in the form of extra padding and a grappling hook. The final touch was the slightly-big belt that hung from her waist that held a variety of medical supplies.

To her it was not only an improvement compared to her old one, but it was also an evolution of sorts. A reflection of her own maturity.

Her friends might call her overdramatic, but that was neither here nor their.

All in all, she looked like a real hero compared to mere years beforehand.

Her gaze caught the scar under her left eye as she finished applying her makeup. She lightly brushed her hand over it.

Four years. It had been four years since everything changed for her and her teammates.

It was a normal day like any other. She went to school while internally planning her next appearance as Pop-Step, when she got a text from Oguro Iwao, the real name of the rumored vigilante Knuckleduster, for all of them to meet up. That wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary.

What was however, was the presence of the Dean of UAU and several other Pro Heroes, mostly Underground ones at that, at said meeting.

The conversations after that were long and convoluted, so the short version was that Nezu had been investigating the sudden rise in Trigger activity in Naruhata as well. Through that, he found Iwao and the rest of them. And seeing potential in them, Nezu offered to help them become Pros if any of them wished to do so.

Naturally all of them were skeptical, but after another thorough explanation, it was revealed that through some old laws, Pros could take vigilantes under their wings as apprentices. Apprentices could “graduate”, become Sidekicks, and later Pro Heroes. Those who accepted the offer would have to put in a lot more work to become fully fledged Heroes compared to courses at universities, but the end result would be the same. Should they decline the offer, then they would either have to disband or be treated like normal vigilantes and captured.

There was a condition of course. One last hurrah as the Naruhata Vigilantes.

Apparently Nezu had identified where all of the Trigger was coming from. And whilst he and the Pros he had assembled could have most likely done the job, he wanted their help to finish the Villain Factory once and for all.

The mission would be a test of sorts for them to see if they really had what it takes. Kazuho could tell it wasn’t the sole reason, but she wasn’t going to complain. That point became moot when Iwao accepted after some time thinking.

And so her and Haimawari Koicihi, under his vigilante name Crawler, joined the raid alongside their leader to help the Pros take down the Villain Factory.

Things didn’t go as smoothly as they could have, but with the extra numbers consisting of the aforementioned Underground Heroes and even some disguised Spotlight Heroes, a majority of those involved in the Villain Factory’s operation were captured. Unfortunately, those who masterminded the operation as a whole escaped.

Everything was going well near the end until Hachisuka Kuin managed to break away from the Heroes that were pursuing her. The young woman unfortunately ran into the group consisting of her, Koichi, Iwao, and a couple of other Heroes.

The battle was fierce but ultimately short. And just before a battered Kuin was captured, she ripped off her eyepatch to reveal an oversized bee.

Everyone was shocked at the sight, especially when said bee popped out of the young woman’s eye socket.

Apparently the bee was Kuin’s true form, the young woman being someone else entirely who had been taken over by the insect.

The true form of Queen Bee shot out like a bullet towards Kazuho with the most likely intention being to take over her body. Kazuho struggled to pull the bee that had apparently attached itself to her face off.

Those around her were too shocked and confused at the situation to act. The next moments almost happened in slow motion for the pinkette.

Her grip had unfortunately slipped from the bee, her eyes wide in horror as she could see the stinger get impossible close to her left eye, the one she couldn’t close due to Kuin’s efforts.

And just before the stinger made contact, the black and yellow ball seemingly exploded.

Kazuho barely saw a purple and pink bullet fly by before impact.

The next moment, Kazuho fell back onto the pavement in fear, looking every which way to find the parasitic bee before realization struck.

After the few days it took everyone to calm down, heal, finish investigating, and exchange information, Kazuho had gained a thin scar that went from her bottom eyelid and down her cheek due to the struggle.

Another consequence of Kuin’s desperate attempt to escape was the freedom of the parasite’s previous host, one Oguro Tamao, the daughter of Oguro Iwao. Suffice to say, the rest of Knuckleduster’s fellow vigilantes were shocked at the news, especially when Iwao himself stated that finding her was one of many reasons for his career as a vigilante.

It’s been years since that incident and all its revelations. And while Kazuho was glad some things stayed the same, she was equally glad that some things were different.

As she shook her head of thoughts from the past, she exited the bathroom to see one of those differences, her kind-hearted boyfriend Koichi. The young man had filled out quite a bit thanks to the extra training they underwent. At the moment, he sat in plain clothes while typing something up at his desk.

Kazuho silently sauntered over to her lover and causally hugged him around his neck.

The brown haired man jumped slightly, his head swiveling to find the offender, only for his vision to be filled with his girlfriend’s smirking face.

“O-oh, h-hey Kazuho,” he stuttered out as a blush grew on his face.

The pinkette giggled. Even after two years of being together, he still blushed like it was their first date.

“Heya Koichi! Whatcha working on?”

“Oh, um, the investigation into Aldera just finished. I’m just writing up the closing report to wrap it all up,” the man answered as he went to do just that.

“Ah.” Kazuho got a closer look at his face as he continued to type. “That bad?”

Koichi let out a long and tired sigh. “Worse. So much worse,” he answered as he shook his head. “I know I haven’t told you much about it, but every day was a new level of shit.”

Kazuho’s eyes widened in surprise. The man in front of her rarely, if ever, swore. The fact that he did so so casually…

“The good news is that we found definitive proof that separates the teachers and students who actively participated, and the ones that only stood by. Obviously those who stood by will be reprimanded and punished due to their negligence, but at the very least their lives won’t be ruined. The rest on the other hand…” he trailed off with a dark look rarely seen in his eyes, “let’s just say I won’t mourn them.”

That does it. Kazuho was officially terrified of what the brunette found.

“More good news is that the kids that were the most heavily abused are doing much better,” he added with a slight smile on his face. “Obviously it’s gonna take a while for them to fully recover, but from what I hear, they’re all doing well.”

Kazuho felt herself smile too. She would always be happy for those who escaped abusive situations.

“What are you two doing?”

The couple jumped slightly and simultaneously turned their heads to see the speaker.

Oguro Iwao looked down on the with tired eyes. “Pop, aren’t you supposed to be out on patrol?”

“Oh, yeah,” Kazuho realized before she went to her desk to get her mask.

In the meantime, the men began to talk.

“Hey boss. You doing okay?” Koichi asked.

Iwao nodded. “I’m fine. Just had to get some reports done overnight. Damn HPSC and all their bullshit,” he said whilst muttering the last part, something Koichi just barely caught.

“Ah.” The All Might fanboy fully understood his boss’s pain.

As cool as it was to not be hunted down due to their statuses as vigilantes, the amount of paperwork involved with the job was downright atrocious. Koichi secretly believed that despite their legitimacy as Pros, the HPSC didn’t exactly like that their agency was entirely composed of ex-vigilantes. Hence said HPSC asked for more documents than what was actually necessary from them.

Koichi looked his boss over once again.

The man hadn’t changed much physically in the past few years since they took down the Villain Factory. Mentally however, he didn’t need to know all he did to know that Iwao was tired.

From finding his missing daughter to becoming a hero, again apparently, and running their agency took a lot out of the man over the past few years. And that’s not even speaking on his family issues.

Koichi shook his head, not willing to delve too deep into his boss’s issues too deeply. He absolutely wanted to, but the man himself said to stay out of it unless prompted. The look he gave Koichi when he said that left little room for argument.

“Hey, I just realized something,” Kazuho cut in as she came up behind him with her mask now on. “If Koichi was off investigating, you’ve been doing paperwork, and Rapt, Soga, and Moyuru are all dealing with our newest apprentices, then who took the morning shift?”

Koichi and Iwao turned to each other, the younger of the two’s expression visibly showing horror.

*Boom*

Kazuho’s eyes widened before she pinched her nose.

*Boom* … *Boom*

Iwao just sighed as he heard the footsteps getting closer.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

“Don’t tell me…” the pinkette groaned.

Suddenly the door flung off its hinges.

“HEY GUYS! I’M BACK FROM MORNING SHIFT!”

In the opening where the door used to stand stood a mountain of a man just a few inches shorter than Iwao.

He was wearing a set of combat boots and pants. His shirt- or, well, his former-shirt was in tatters as it hung from one of his shoulders. On his hands were thick fingerless weighted gloves. And finally, adorning his head was a simple biker’s helmet that completely hid his entire head.

“DAMMIT BIKER!!! What have I told you about tracking blood in here?! We JUST replaced the carpets from the last time you did this!” Kazuho admonished after taking in his appearance.

Aside from his clothes, the man identified as Biker was also covered by a concerning amount of blood.

Koichi idly glanced down at the man’s feet.

Geez that was a lot of blood.

“Aw, c’mon Kaz, it’s not even mine!”

“That’s not the point, and you know it!”

Iwao loudly cleared his throat to catch the attention of the arguing pair.

“I assume your shift was quite eventful Blake?” the man asked.

The bloodied man quickly popped his helmet off to reveal his short, jagged blonde hair and rich, purple eyes. The man was quite handsome at first glance with his rugged jawline and his overall appearance.

Of course, in Kazuho’s opinion, all of that was marred by the near-constant vicious grin he had on his face.

“Oh was it ever!” he announced.

The bloodied man that stood in front of them was one Yaseikenka Blake, the first addition to the agency after Rapt, Souga and Moyuru got their own apprenticeships a year after her, Koichi, and Iwao. Most everyone that was currently a part of their agency possessed a quirk that was useful in general situations and not just for combat. Blake was one of the few outliers of this rule however.

His quirk, Double Back, allows him to take a hit, and then dish back one even harder. But don’t let the simplified explanation fool you, it’s far more complex than that.

With every hit he takes, he absorbs a large portion of the attack’s kinetic energy and stores it within his reserves. He can then call upon those reserves to temporarily increase his strength. This effectively means that the longer he’s in the fight, the stronger he becomes.

His biggest weakness however is how much kinetic energy he can store. If that limit is reached, he receives the full brunt of the attack. So while he becomes stronger and more dangerous as a fight goes on, he also becomes more vulnerable.

This problem can be easily mitigated however by the use of what he calls Heat Moves, devastating attacks that utilize varying portions of his reserves. After that, it’s a simple process for him to refill his reserves, thus leading back to increased durability. Rinse and repeat until victory.

Of course, that also presents the question of where the excess energy goes once the fight is over. The first answer is that he could simply unleash it all at once, directed at something that could either take it or is not very important.

The second option is that he could simply hold it in. The problem with this option however is that the energy is passively released as excess heat, thus increasing his body’s temperature until it’s all gone. Blake is not too keen on doing that very often or for long however.

As for the man himself, he’s quite… enthusiastic when it comes to fighting.

From what they’ve learned of his past, his mother was an American who followed his father back to Japan. A marriage and several years later, Blake was born.

In his early years, Blake saw the hypocrisy that went on in the world of Pro Heroes. Instead of turning away from it or becoming a villain, he instead chose to show the Pros how it was done.

It first started off as an occasional brawl in his last year of junior high with a street thug that Heroes ignored, and then eventually escalated into him going on patrol as a nameless vigilante. Said patrols eventually lead to the capture of several hundred small time villains being captured, and almost a dozen villain groups being brought down.

He was eventually caught a little more than three years ago however, after nearly three years of him being an active vigilante.

Suffice to say, with the experience he had gained solo, beings like Nezu saw potential in him. The initial meeting wasn’t going as expected however until…

===

”Nah.”

“Pardon?” Nezu asked after a moment.

“I genuinely don’t care where I end up. I fight villains. That’s pretty much it,” the muscular young man answered.

Nezu steadily blinked in confusion and consideration until a thought occurred to him.

“Ah, yes I see. Well then, I suppose you would not mind fighting the same people over and over again once you get to prison. The wing you’ll be sent to has quite the number of convicts with very long sentences, just like yourself actually.”

Blake’s body shifted as he held an indiscernible expression on his face.

“But of course, if that is what you want, that is what you’ll get,” the Dean of UAU said as he began to pack up and leave.

The man stood still for a moment before he finally opened his mouth.

“What are my options again?”

Nezu paused his packing and smiled.

===

He already had plenty of practical experience, so all that was left was a bit of theory and a lot of studying the rules and regulations of Heroics.

About a year later, the Buster Hero: Biker debuted. The rest, as they say, is history.

Speaking of, back at the present, Kazuho was currently resisting the urge to bash her head into a wall.

“Alright then, report,” Iwao instructed as Koichi walked over to help his girlfriend calm down.

“Well, it all started with this one guy, right?”

===

A man had pulled a woman down a nondescript alleyway and held her at knife- uh, finger-point as some of his fingers were actually knives. Just as he began to threaten her, Biker grabbed him by the shoulder and roughly turned him around.

”And he must’ve been from out of town, ‘cause he didn’t even react when I approached him.”

“The hell do you want!? I don’t have time to play with some kiddie in a costume!”

“‘Course, he didn’t have a cocky attitude for long.”

It took seconds for Biker to knock the man out entirely. One call and a few minutes later, an officer had officially arrested and took the guy away.

“That’s when I made my way to the park. I stuck around for a few minutes as always until I saw something going on nearby.”

Biker was being used as a living jungle gym thanks to all of the kids climbing up and around him. One was on his shoulders gasping at how tall they were, a few were handing from his arms and swinging around like monkies, and the rest were using him as an obstacle for a game of tag.

The parents there that day were all laughing at the situation until an explosion went off not too far from them. The parents called the kids over before Biker quickly set off.

The mountain of a man ended up in front of one of the major banks in the area.

“These guys were definitely try to claim some new territory.”

Five people exited the bank. Three of them had guns, one had a slingshot, and the last guy must have had a mutation quirk as his large body was covered in fur with elongated claws coming from fingers.

“The guns weren’t much of an issue ‘cause of my quirk, but Slingshot and Beasty weren’t that big of an issue, even if they both actually hit kinda hard.”

The gunmen continued to fire at Biker as he engaged “Beasty” in a head on brawl. “Slingshot” hit him with a couple of pellet, but even with a velocity far exceeding what a slingshot should be able to provide, it still didn’t even make Biker so much as flinch.

Beasty fought hard, but thanks to his partners grazing him with bullets, he was quickly running out of steam. This was especially true as Biker kept dodging and redirecting his bladed strikes with barely any effort.

“Beasty went down after enough time and blood loss, the three guys with guns ran out of ammo and surrendered, and Slingshot…”

As Biker finished taking down Beasty and forcing the three gunners to surrender, he was suddenly hit with a very powerful explosion.

Slingshot was smirking as he used a special explosive pellet he made for more stubborn targets. His eyes suddenly bulged out of his head as he saw that Biker was completely unharmed, save for his shirt anyways.

“He went down pretty quick after that. What happened next? What happened- Oh! A few guys broke out of the cells in the police station and stole one of the cars.”

Biker was jumping across rooftops as he followed the chase from above.

The stole station wagon suddenly took a sharp right in an intersection. Their immediate pursuers had no choice but to go through the intersection due to their speeds.

The group of escaped convicts all laughed as they made their getaway-

Only to be stopped dead in their tracks when Biker slammed himself into the engine from above.

After the wreckage slid to a stop and the convicts inside got their bearings, they immediately stopped dead in their tracks as they stared wide-eyed at the form of Biker.

“Inoue said they crapped their pants too.
Anyways, let’s see, I stopped another mugging, the idiot shooting me with a barrage of bullets apparently made out of condensed blood which exploded upon impact-”

A bald-headed man was on the ground in dogeza as Biker stood over him, the Hero essentially covered in blood.

“-I stopped another robbery, though this time it was just two guys and an apartment-”

Two men were almost kissing the ground in dogeza while they quickly and repeatedly apologized, a crowbar off to the side bent at a perfect ninth degrees.

“And then there was one more mugging, but this guy didn’t even put up a fight.”

A man with lightbulbs in place of ears laid on his back, completely unconscious with only the whites of his eyes showing. Above him stood Biker in an imposing stance with partially-dried blood caked all over him.

===

“And then I came back here,” the still very bloody man said far too cheerfully.

Iwao let out a deep sigh after comprehending his subordinate’s laundry list of bullshit. “Alright then. Get cleaned up, and then get started on the required reports.”

Blake opened his mouth.

“And no, you will not be leaving until said reports are done. Get ‘em on my desk by the end of the day,” the taller man said as he walked off.

Blake grumbled as he himself walked off in the direction of the bathroom to do as ordered.

Kazuho sighed as Koichi patted her on the shoulder. “That could’ve gone worse,” he said after a moment.

“I’m just… gonna go and do my patrol. I’ve got a performance later anyways,” the part time idol said as she made her own way out of the room. She suddenly stopped and turned around before rushing Koichi and planting a kiss on his cheek. “See you later, babe.”

The brunette blushed. “Y-yeah, see you later.”

With that, the pinkette turned around once again and left.

Koichi took a deep breath and made his way back to his computer to finish his report. Before he could truly settle in and get started however, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

Pulling it out, he stopped in shock as he reread the message four times before switching to his computer and pulled up the relevant information on his screen.

===

Is the Aldera Scandal Worse than We Thought?

Written by: Kawakami Ayako
Published by: Dantoon’in Publishing

It seems that Aldera truly was the second coming of Honderlaan.

Earlier today, we at Dantoon’in received a disturbing amount of information about Aldera's more heinous crimes.

That is not to say that what the police has currently released to the public is wrong per say.
A better word would be… inaccurate.

Aldera being found as a quirkist institution like Honderlaan is not new information whatsoever, however, there appears to be far more similarities than previously realized.

Almost three quarters of the entire staff and faculty within Aldera High School were arrested due to their negligence and the multitude of counts toward forging their students’ academic and personal records.

The Junior High and Elementary levels of the district have also been found engaging in similar activities, even if the scale of such activities was lower in comparison.

In total, around half of the Aldera school district’s personnel has been arrested for various crimes, including those listed above.

Those who have been found innocent have gone on record to state that their superiors forced them to stay quiet by threatening their jobs or even the futures of their own families.

And that is only the faculty. Several students have been arrested and tried as villains for what they’ve done. [Images and short videos of such incidents will be found at the end.]

One name is quite common in a number of testimonies however: Bakugou Katsuki.

Apparently Bakugou was quite vicious to a number of students at school. His “favorite” victim appears to be a quirkless classmate of his that will remain anonymous. Several accounts of his time in Aldera go on to say he administered almost daily beatings to the quirkless student without so much as a battered eye from the teachers.

Illegal quirk usage, destruction of private property, and suicide bating are just a few of the numerous things he has done. And that is only just one student.

Luckily, as with Honderlaan, the unnamed quirkless student is still alive, but that could never detract from the fact that many suicides were caused by the conditions within Aldera, with almost all of these instances being covered up but the district.

Even now, we at Dantoon’in gasp and shake in horror at the atrocities committed. To think such a thing has happened again, even after the new restrictions put in place after Honderlaan, is sickening.

In conclusion, we at Dantoon’in ask how something like this has gone unnoticed even after Honderlaan years ago? How is it that the two are so similar? And finally, just how deep does this rabbit hole go?

==========
UAU Main Building Exterior
After School

Izuku had finished reading the articles posted by Dantoon’in, the links of which were sent by his mother who had been monitoring the situation for the past several hours after he asked if she knew anything about them.

Several of the articles went into more detail about the topics spoken of in the first article, statistics and whatnot, but he was relieved to find that his name had not been mentioned in any of them.

Currently he was standing next to Azura, the both of them leaning against the wall, Izuku supporting himself due to how weak his legs felt. The young woman had not said a word as he calmed himself down, her presence reassuring in a way. She had waved the others off, saying that it would be best to not crowd him until he felt better.

Dantoon’in had been posting one article after the next since that morning, but attention really began surging around lunchtime. Jirou had heard a table near them talking about, which prompted them to do their own searching. Suffice to say, it took everything Izuku had to not freak out and draw attention.

Lunch ended soon after, but he could tell that someone was staring at him. A few of his classmates were actually. Those people had obviously seen the part about Bakugou, and considering they knew how much the blonde hated him, it wasn’t difficult to put the pieces together.

He now understood what Azura meant about not liking the looks of pity she received.

He sighed as he felt himself come to a decision.

“I think I’m gonna tell them. At least Tenya, Ochako, and Momo to start,” he stated.

Azura patted him on the shoulder. “I think that might be a good idea. I could see it in their eyes. They’re curious and worried, but they’re not pushing for answers and invading your privacy. You don’t have to tell them everything however. And that goes for the whole class too. Just because they’re curious doesn’t entitle them to your whole life’s story.”

Izuku nodded reluctantly. He didn’t like hiding things from people, but she also did have a point.

“Those three though, if they easily accepted me and my past, they’ll accept you and yours,” the bluenette said with a smile.

Izuku brightened at that.

“That said, I think I’m gonna go talk to Nezu about this,” she said with a serious look on her face. “Someone leaked all of this, and I wanna make sure someone else is getting a handle on the situation.”

Izuku nodded once again, this time in understanding and appreciation. “Thanks. That actually makes me feel a bit better about the situation.”

The reincarnated woman smiled softly in response. “Don’t worry about it. Now, get going,” she said as she pushed herself away from where they were previously standing. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

Izuku watched the bluenette turn the corner down the hall before he took a deep breath. Pushing himself off the wall, he walked towards the small group assembled under a tree nearby.

As Azura left Izuku’s sight, her expression turned deadly serious. A small number of students had remained inside for various reasons, but all of them steered clear of her as she marched through the building.

Slamming the door to the Dean’s office open, she entered, glaring into the mammal’s beady eyes.

“Let’s cut to the chase,” Azura stated to break the silence. “You and I both know you’ve been monitoring the investigation. You could have easily caught a leak. Which tells me,” she continued as she leaned into Nezu’s comfort zone, “you either let it happen, or you did it yourself.”

Silence rang throughout the room again as they continued their staring contest. Deep, blue orbs almost glowing in anger glaring into black, beady eyes that betrayed not a single one of the mammal’s thoughts.

After a few more moments of this, Nezu closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“I could have stopped this, yes. I almost did actually,” the scarred mammal corrected, much to Azura’s growing frustration. “I thought it would be best to let it happen however. Do not worry, I made sure to censor anything relating to the victims and those deemed innocent aside from the statistics. Names, addresses, none of that was exposed.

“That all said, I do apologize for the distress I have caused Young Midoriya. I thought it would be better in the long run if the facts were presented now rather than later.”

Azura pulled herself back and stood at her full height once again. “I assume you have a press release ready?”

“One hour from now,” he confirmed. “As you may suspect, it details how UA did not know of his true behavior until after his admittance, and how Mr. and Mrs. Bakugou were just as in the dark despite their suspicions.”

The bluenette let out a sigh. “Fine,” she admitted. “Fine. You’re right. Better now than later. Especially if later involves someone that would try to bend and twist it all into something that could jeopardize everything.

“That said, next time something like this happens, a little warning would be nice. Izuku almost had a panic attack.”

Nezu bowed his head. “And once again, I apologize. I will make sure to emphasize his need for therapy, especially as more of his friends and allies are now aware of his past.”

“I’ll make sure to do the same on my end too.” With that, the defier turned to make her way out of the room.

“Oh, and Azura,” the being many called the devil called out, “while i applaud your willingness to go so far for one you consider your friend, I do not take kindly to being threatened.”

The bluenette gave a thumbs up without breaking stride as she walked out the door.

When she found her friends a few minutes later, she was dragged into a group hug that centered around the green-haired inheritor who was crying out of happiness.

==========
Daika City- MLA Executive Meeting Room
Evening

“This is unacceptable!” the voice of Grand Commander Re-Destro roared out.

Curious idly glared at the screen that showed one of the many articles posted that day.

Honderlaan and Aldera. The two school districts that were subtly taken over as indoctrination facilities as a way to set up reinforcements beforehand. Sure, those who graduated would be far less trained and disciplined than the Pro Heroes that cover the country, but the sheer numbers alone would be a significant boon to their forces when the time came to rise up.

Of course, that would be the case if they hadn’t been caught.

Sure, the MLA as a whole was still safe for the time being, but with two completely unrelated school districts being metaphorically demolished for almost identical crimes, someone was bound to catch on.

Several forums were being flooded by parents who were expressing their discontent with the situation. Others were finding that their own children were beginning to show “quirkist behaviors” and pulling them from those districts. If this continued, their whole operation would be in jeopardy.

“Curious!” the leader of the Meta Liberation Army called out. After redirecting her attention to the main conversation, he continued. “I don’t suppose you have any ideas to de-escalate the situation?” he asked in a strained tone.

“While the situation could become detrimental to our future plans, it could also work in our favor.” That caught the attention of her fellow executives.

“Go on,” Trumpet probed.

“There is outrage, yes, but thanks to some private forums I’m a part of, there are those that agree with our philosophy and say that the people are overreacting. Sure, these opinions are a minority at the moment, but I believe that with some time and a presentation of other facts that the masses have not considered, we could turn some of this to our favor.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Skeptic let out.

“Belay that,” Re-Destro ordered. “I’m sure there are far too many details to speak of. For now, do what you need to do in preparation. Give me a full report of what you need. I’ll give the go ahead when you are ready.”

Curious smirked. “Yes sir~”

The meeting continued from there, but Curious couldn’t focus on it. All she could think about was the story she knew was brewing.

And she knew that it would rock Japan, no, the world to its core.

Chapter Text

UAU- Support Course Workshop
Thursday- After School

The topic just suddenly came up while they were in class. Well, not at first anyways.

It all started when Momo and Tooru had received first drafts of the design specifications for their new suits. To say that the both of them were quite ecstatic about the drastic change of equipment was an understatement.

Then the conversation drifted towards support companies and technicians that provided and maintained support gear for the Pro Heroes they work for. No one spoke of anything technical or complicated, just an idle curiosity to see the workshops and meet the people who created everything.

Obviously taking a field trip to do just that wasn’t in the cards at the moment. They were busy as is with normal school and preparing for the Sports Festival on top of that.

Of course, that’s when someone, who knows who, brought up the fact that UA had a support course and related workshops.

Some thought that visiting them was unnecessary for a variety of reasons, but Tenya relayed his brother’s advice about getting to know the person who works on your gear and staying on their good side being the best decision a hero could ever make to them.

A few agreements and a little time later, they were all off to see the mystical workshops.

Izuku reached for the handle to the heavy door that led into the fabled place-

Azura quickly grabbed him back the back of his collar and ripped him out of the way. Before anyone could question why, the door burst open as spoke billowed out of the room.

The familiar form of Power Loader ran out of the room coughing as he hit a button on a remote. As he continued to cough, the sound of powerful fans began to drone on from above and sucked the smoke out.

When all that was done and Power Loader got his breath back, the support teacher yelled into the room.

“Dammit Hatsume! I thought I told you to wait!”

“And I told you the best data comes from observation and experimentation!” a feminine voice yelled back from within the room.

The man just signed in exhaustion before he looked around to see approximately half of class 1-A surrounding him.

“Huh? Wait, you guys are class 1-A, right?” After confirmation, he continued. “What are you guys doing here? Did something happen?”

“Not at all,” Momo stated. “Those of us here only wanted to meet our fellow students in the support course.”

“We wished to build rapport between the ones who will help us out in the field the most,” Tenya explained further. “My brother has taken chances on numerous occasions to explain how beneficial a positive relationship between a Hero and their support technicians can be.”

“Huh, well I’ll be,” the teacher said in slight wonder as he scratched him helmet. After a second he clearing his throat. “Sorry. Hero students don’t usually visit the Support department themselves until their third year, and even then those visits are sparse,” he explained.

“As some of you know, I’m the Excavation Hero: Power Loader. Although, in class I’m just the support teacher, Maijima Higari. Come in and make yourselves at home,” he said whilst gesturing everyone in.

As they did so, the Power Loader continued. “Excuse the mess. One of my student’s is very… enthusiastic when it comes to inventing. She doesn’t always listen to my instructions.”

The Heroes-in-training took in the room and its accompanying mess. There were pieces and parts scattered around a number of workstations. Some stations seemed to have half-built or even complete projects on them.

Although something struck several of the students as odd.

“Where is everybody?” Mina asked whilst giving the room another once over.

“Ah, that. I loosened up their course work so they could spend more time making equipment for the Sports Festival. As the rules state, anything a support student makes can be registered and used in the contest,” Maijima explained before grumbling out his next statement. “Of course, most of them only take it as a chance to slack off.

“She’s the only one who actually took my advice,” he finished whilst pointing at a corner of the workshop.

Those assembled followed his finger to see a pink-haired woman covered in soot and debris intently working away at a station. What she was working on was an entirely different question.

Of course, what really drew the eye was the numerous scorch and blast marks.

The young woman at the station stopped to cackle madly for a second before getting back to work.

“‘Enthusiastic’ is definitely a word,” Kyouka commented.

“Yup,” Power Loader said with a defeated sigh. “I recommend bracing yourselves,” he warned. “Hey, Hatsume, we have visitors!”

The pinkette only responded with another short bout of cackling.

“And they’re from the hero course!”

Suddenly the noise and movement from the offending corner stopped. The members of 1-A that were present looked over quizzically before she appeared right in front of them, the action startling several of them.

“Well hello there future customers! I’m Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume Industries!”

“Hatsume, what have I told you about referring to people like that,” Power Loader groaned.

“To keep doing it!” the soot-covered woman chanted as she threw her hands in the air for emphasis.

“No! I told you the opposite!” the man reprimanded. He sighed after a moment. “Since no one else is here, let me give you a tour.”

“And I’ll show you my babies!” the mad woman yelled as she went back to her station.

“‘Babies’?” the heiress asked hesitantly with a worried look on her face. Her classmates held similar expressions on their own faces as well.

“Don’t worry, they’re not actual babies,” Maijima said in a calming tone. “They’re-“

“Take a look at this: baby number 85!” the pinkette exclaimed suddenly, startling most of the students yet again.

Izuku looked at the contraption intently. It looked like some sort of gun or range weapon going by the large nozzle. Although he could figure out what the buttons were for.

“This baby right here is a compressed air cannon that you can mount onto your wrists and fire with pinpoint accuracy! All you gotta do is press and hold this button to suck air in!” Some of his classmates spread out around the woman and looked on in curiosity as she continued to speak and demonstrate. “Then, when the tank is at full capacity, all you gotta do is pull on the ripcord and-“

“Wait, Hatsume, don-“

Before he could even finish his sentence, the manic pinkette pulled the cord to fire a blast.

Instead of the advertised result however, the air cannon blew up in her hands. Fire and smoke burst from it as pieces of the contraption flew out in all directions.

Izuku saw a hand stretching out beside his head. Before he could question it, the fire of the explosion stretched towards his face-

Before it all was suck into the hand like a vacuum just moments before it actually struck.

He turned around to see Azura with her hand outstretched. Stars were in his eyes as he realized what he had witnessed.

“Ah beans,” the bluenette grumbled as she looked around the room.

Izuku stopped his theorizing and observations to did the same. From a first glance, everyone seemed unconscious due to the explosion.

“What… just happened?” The greenette asked.

“I was able to stop the fire from spreading, but I couldn’t absorb the entirety of the blastwave. It went everywhere, and it dissipated too quickly to get it all,” Izuku looked back at his friends and classmates in worry.

“Huh, you two are still awake,” a voice off to the side commented.

Izuku turned to see Power Loader peeking out from behind some cover. The man stood up to his full height and walked back out into the open. “Dammit. This is why I tell her to stick to protocol.”

“U-uh, sir,” Izuku stuttered out, getting the attention of the man, “shouldn’t we call emergency services?”

The teacher waved them off. “Don’t worry about it. This isn’t the first time something like this happened. The worst they’ve got is a concussion. I’ll call the bots. You two just go, it’ll be fine.”

The fact that the man was so casual about the situation spoke volumes to Izuku. He could tell that the man still cared, even with how nonchalant he was. It was a far cry from his previous teachers. And it was more evidence towards how what they did to him was wrong.

“I think that might be best,” the bluenette next to him stated. “We can come back another time,” she offered with a smile.

“You do that. I’ll try to get some of my other students to stay behind,” the man offered back.

Maijima went to move Mei, but just as he touch her, her eyes flew open. “Ah, so that’s what happened!” she yelled out to everyone's surprise. She shot to her feet a few seconds later without another word and bolted back to her station.

Power Loader sighed in resignation.

Azura gripped Izuku’s arm and gently pulled him. “We should probably go.”

Izuku didn’t argue.

===

Some time later, Azura and Izuku found themselves walking through the empty halls of the main building after making a quick visit to Recovery Girl. The elderly woman was thankful for the heads up before the robots got there with over a half a dozen patients before she sent them in their way.

Now with ample time to spare and with most of their friends out of commission, they were at a loss for what to do.

As they meandered back to the dorms for the afternoon however, someone stumbled upon their path.

“Ah, hello there Young Midoriya.”

Izuku stood stock still as he came face to face with the emaciated form of his mentor. Said mentor looked far more nonchalant than his student. He was actually smiling a bit.

“Hm? Oh, hello,” Azura greeted, trying with all her might to play dumb. “I’m sorry, but have we met?”

“No, I don’t believe we have. I am Yagi Toshinori,” the blonde answered.

“I’m Highlander Azura,” she replied.

“Ah, then you’re one of the friends Young Midoriya has told me so much about,” the disguised Number One Hero said with a larger smile on his face.

The reincarnated woman’s face turned contemplative for a second. “Are you a teacher here? And how do you know Green Bean?”

All Might let out a small chuckle at the nickname, much to Izuku’s embarrassment. “No, nothing like that. I’m more of an assistant or secretary to one of the teachers on staff. As for how I know Young Midoriya, I’m a personal trainer for a local Hero Agency. My boss found him one day and decided to help him make his dreams a reality.”

“Whoa, cool,” the bluenette said with feigned amazement. “Don’t suppose you could tell me which Hero it was?”

“Would you like to hazard a guess?” the man offered.

Izuku continued to stay silent, desperately trying to go along with whatever plan his mentor had.

Azura in the meantime played up how hard she was thinking. Mostly she was debating on whether or not to “guess” right.

She struggled for a few more seconds before sighing. “The only name that comes to mind is All Might’s.”

Izuku began to mildly panic, staring with wide eyes into his mentor’s own sunken ones.

“That’s a pretty serious answer. Why do you think it’s All Might?”

“Well, for starters, he and Green Bean became part of UAU at the same time, but that’s a flimsy reason. Another is the similarities between their quirks. Who better to teach Green Bean? Other than that, All Might’s always busy, so him having an assistant or secretary makes sense,” she answered.

Toshinori let out a casual laugh. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. No wonder you can keep up with him,” he said as he gestured to Izuku. “That said, you’ll have to keep that under wraps. If the public were to find out, there’s no telling what could happen,” the man warned.

“Nezu has gone to great lengths to teach me about operational security,” the young woman explained. “My lips are sealed.”

“Thank you,” the blonde said with genuine appreciation in his voice.

Before he could say anything more, Azura felt her phone buzz and pulled it out. After reading it, she sighed. “Mom needs my help making dinner apparently, so I’ll see you then Green Bean,” she said before turning back to Toshinori. “It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Yagi.”

With that, she walked away as she waved to Izuku. A few seconds after she turned the corner and her footsteps became quiet, Izuku let out a relieved sigh.

“That could have been bad,” the greenette commented.

“Meh, I had it handled,” the mentor casually waved off. “It’s not easy living like this without a cover story,” he said while gesturing to his lanky body.

“So that means that you go by ‘Yagi Toshinori’ in this form?”

“Well, yeah, that’s my name,” the blonde admitted.

Izuku blinked. “Wait, ‘Yagi Toshinori’ is your real name?” he asked while tilting his head.

Toshinori looked at his successor in confusion. “Yes,” he replied slowly.

As the seconds passed, Toshinori felt his eyes slowly widen in horror.

“Young Midoriya, my boy, did I never tell you?” he asked in shock.

“N-no. Why?” Izuku replied, incredibly confused.

“Oh. Oh. That’s…” the man trailed off. “I must apologize, Young Midoriya. I am a man of many secrets, but that is one I never meant to keep from you,” the man apologized while bowing deeply.

Izuku was startled at the words and actions of his mentor. “I-it’s fine. It’s not like you meant to not tell me,” the boy tried to console.

Toshinori stood at his full height again. “That doesn’t excuse me. I am your mentor. I should have made sure to tell you.”

“But I never brought it up.”

“That’s not the point.”

Light blue eyes started into dark green orbs before their owners sighed.

“What a pair, huh?” the Eighth asked rhetorically. “Let’s just say no one is to blame and move on. We’d be here all day otherwise.”

Izuku nodded. “Y-yeah, probably for the best.”

After a moment of silence, the pair began to chuckle.

“You should get going. I heard about what happened in the support department. They might need some help.”

“Oh, that’s right! Thanks for reminding me Al- Mr. Yagi,” the boy replied before walking away.

“Young Midoriya,” the Number One Hero called out. The boy turned around with a curious look on his face. “Call me Toshinori,” he said with a soft smile.

Izuku’s blush began to grow again as he processed the man’s words. “R-right. S-see you later, T-T-Toshinori.”

With that, Izuku turned around again and power walked away.

Toshinori held that smile on his face. His expression turned contemplative after a few seconds however.

“I was so used to keeping secrets…” Toshinori shook his head. “No, I have to do better from now on.” The man turned to look out the window, the beginnings of a sunset in the sky.

“And I think I know where to start.”

Chapter Text

1-A Homeroom
Friday- Afternoon

The students of class 1-A were quite lively as they made their way back after lunch. It was the last day before the weekend after all. While some made plans hang out during this time, most were conversing about training plans and the like.

Some among them thought training alone would be best so as to not reveal any secrets, but Eijirou heavily advocated towards training together for no other reason than it was more fun that way. Of course, someone else also pointed out that it was more of an exchange of information than one spying on the other. Not to mention that they didn’t have to train together all of the time.

As time passed and the last class of the day began to start, the students were a bit surprised to find Midnight at the door.

“Well hello there~,” she purred as she entered the room. “I’m glad to see all of you so lively.”

The sauntered up to the front of the room and sat on top of podium at the front.

“I know all of you must be dying to know why I’m here instead of All Might or Tsutsumi. To be blunt, several of your school mates have been quite naughty over the past few days.”

Her statement made several of her students grow nervous. Was there a villain attack. Was someone hurt?

“Now now, don’t worry. It isn’t anything like that. UAU prides itself not only on its quality of education, but the wellbeing of our students and healthiness of student life as well. So it’s obvious that the school must act if things get a little… dirty~.”

With the click of a button, the board up front changed to reveal a slideshow presentation. The title that caused more than a few of the students to feel dread.

‘Sex Ed: A Revisit’

“I hope you cowgirls and boys are ready, because we are about to get… intimate~”

===

“… and that is how babies are made. Any questions?”

Nemuri turned back from her board one last time to observe the class after her hour-long lecture. An hour might seem a bit long for a Sex Ed review, sure, but she was allowed a few… liberties by her chaotic good(?) mammalian boss.

Mina and Tooru looked to be paying close attention. Well, more than them were doing so, but those two in specifically seemed to be particularly interested.

Some listened to the presentation with casual indifference. All of them aside from Todoroki and Yui shifted at her promiscuous comments and rather descriptive scenarios every now and then, of which there were a lot, but they otherwise took everything in stride.

Some were heavily embarrassed. The reactions ranged from full-faced blushes like Izuku and Ochako to the ones trying to play off their embarrassment like Kyouka or Momo.

And the rest were a mixture of the three. Aside from one that was.

Azura stated at her with blank-faced annoyance.

Nemuri’s lips twitched a bit as she held back her smug grin. She’d pay for it later, but that was then. This was now.

After letting another moment of silence pass, she resumed.

“As long as you are all sure. Though if need be, I’m willing to give hands on experience~”

She smiled wickedly at the sight of her students squirming. She may have been laying it on a bit thick, but sue her, that’s how she has fun.

“Right then. Now for our last topic,” she finished as the slide changed again to reveal the name of said topic.

‘Relationships’

Embarrassement gave way to confusion for the young men and women. They grew slightly concerned when their teacher’s face turned more serious.

“Now, I’m sure all of you have expectations about what will happen when you’re in a relationship, but let me be the first to tell you that it’s not as simple as you think.

“Sure, you might understand whether you’re straight, pan, bi, or some other sexual orientation. You might also understand that your first relationship will often not be your last. What you think you understand however, is how a healthy relationship operates. I tell you this because I’ve seen perfectly happy couples break up a few months later because they didn’t put the work in.”

The class shuddered at the statement due to the seriousness in her voice.

“First off is communication,” she stated as that very word appeared on the screen behind her.

“Everyone is allowed to keep secrets. That’s not wrong whatsoever. However, if you want a relationship to work properly, you need to be able to tell your partner what you are feeling. The opposite is even more important.

“You must also be willing to call out any problematic behavior from them. Yes, they can get angry. Yes, they can be spiteful. Your potential partner is human, just like you. That doesn’t mean they can be like that for no reason. If you truly love and care for them, then making sure that they know something is not okay is something you need to do.

“On the other hand, you also need to be there for them in a time of need. Whether it’s a death in the family, disturbing news, or a bout of clinical depression, being there to help and support the person you love is the one of most important thing in a relationship.”

As she spoke, the words resonated with two ladies in particular. They each shot the other a quick glance. After exchanging determined looks, they nodded in resolve.

“To sum it all up, communicating within a relationship is more than just stating your likes and dislikes. I could honestly go on for an entire day about this alone.”

Class 1-A, like the dutiful students they were, all nodded in understanding. For those with love on the brain, it was a serious reality check that would definitely prove helpful in the future. For those who weren’t looking for a relationship, it was a good thing to keep in the back of their minds.

“Next up is red flags.” She repeated her actions to show the words she spoke on screen.

“I’m sure you kiddos have heard this term before. I will be the first to say that these are very real. Some are blatantly obvious such as someone being an unrepentant narcissist. Others are more subtle with the other person manipulating you to fit their standards and agenda.

“I suppose you could say that this is an expansion of the previous topic. If the behavior is unintentional and your partner takes steps to change themselves, that’s good. It means that they’re fully willing to go all the way to the relationship.

“That isn’t to say that you should point out and argue over anything you don’t like about your partner as that’s a red flag in itself. It’s a fine line to walk, but if you do it successfully, then both you and your partners could very well live long lives together,” she finished with a small smile at the minute blushes on several of her students’ faces.

“I could speak more on this, but it’s best I move on.

“Finally, we have relationship dynamics and types of relationships.” Another click leads to another slide.

“As I’m sure you're all aware, there are platonic and romantic relationships. Platonic relationships do not invoke romantic feelings whatsoever. These relationships could range from acquaintances and friends to family members, whether it’s your blood family or the family you find,” Nemuri states will shooting Azura a warm smile, one that was reciprocated before the bluenette’s face returned to its annoyed expression.

“And I’m fairly certain I don’t need to expand on what a romantic relationship is,” she stated rhetorically. “Romantic relationships are often formed when two people become interested in one another. It could be a guy and a girl, two guys, two girls, or two beings of indeterminate species.”

Someone let out a loud snort while some others chuckled.

“These relationships that we typically see are called monogamous relationships. This is defined as someone having only one partner or spouse,” she explains while changing the slide to show two dots with a double sided arrow in between them.

“Of course, there’s more types of relationships than that. First up is the polygamous relationship, often called a harem. This is when one person has multiple partners or spouses.” The screen changed to show one dot in the center with three more dots around it, the three all having double sided arrows leading to the center one.

Nemuri scanned the class for a moment. Some students from both genders began to blush and seemed lost in thought during the small break in her lesson. A quick glance revealed Mina staring at her with stars in her eyes. She suppressed a chuckle at the very obvious romantic.

“These are obviously fairly popular in many sexual fantasies, but in my personal opinion, they’re destined to fail.” That seemed to shake the daydreaming boys and girls out of their stupors.

“Managing one relationship on its own already takes some serious work. Managing several separate relationships simultaneously is not something that I can realistically see happening. It could happen under the right circumstances, but those circumstances would have to be very specific and can’t be easily changed.”

Their promiscuous teacher having a point was a common thought amongst the nineteen students.

“The final relationship we’re going to talk about is polyamorous. As you might be able to tell, this and polygamous are similar in that there’s more than one partner, but the main difference is that everyone is everyone else’s partner.” The image changed to show three dots that each had a double sided arrow connecting to each other.

“This one is a lot more preferable to me. It isn’t two or three separate relationships with some people in common, nor is it a love triangle or square or pentagon. Everyone is involved in the same relationship. All people involved are boyfriend or girlfriend to everyone else.

“And while this kind of relationship requires your communication abilities and other various things necessary for a relationship to be turned up to eleven, they end up far healthier than a polygamous relationship.

“Hell, I’ve seen a polycule, the short way of referring to a group involved in a poly relationship, with nine people in it. All of them were very happy with one another as well. Although they did have a quirk to help smooth out communication. That’s not the point though.

“Anyways, instead of one person having a relationship with multiple people, it’s instead one big ball of… relationship stuff. Yeah, that one got away from me,” she muttered as she scratched the back of her head. “But you all get my point, right?”

She received a wave of nods as a response.

“Good. That doesn’t mean that this is for everyone. If you’re satisfied with one partner, good. If you feel as if you might be deeply falling in love with someone else and wish to attempt a polyamorous relationship, do so with the express warning and concern that it might not always work out. Poly isn’t for everyone, and you have to be willing to let it go for your partner’s/friend’s sake.”

The mature woman let out a deep sigh. “That said, I think it’s time for all of you to go. I’ve held you up for quite a while.”

Checking the time showed that it was already an hour after their final class usually ends. Following their teacher’s instructions, the class began to pack up their things for departure. Many were silent as they did so, their minds too busy contemplating the information they had just learned.

“Oh, and one more thing,” Nemuri called out, “if you ever need advice for anything, don’t forget to stop by my office. It could be about anything, more… intimate topics included~”

==========

1-A’s Smash Roster

Pinned- Index

Aoyama Yuuga- Wii Fit Trainer
Asui Tsuyu- Corrin
Ashido Mina- Ridley
Hagakure Tooru- Sheik
Highlander Azura- Lucina
Iida Tenya- R.O.B.
Jirou Kyouka- Jigglypuff
Kaminari Denki- Pikachu
Kirishima Eijiro- Incineroar
Kodai Yui- Samus
Kouda Kouji- Olimar
Midoriya Izuku- Link
Satou Rikidou- Pac Man
Sero Hanta- Yoshi
Shouji Mezou- Piranha Plant
Todoroki Shouto- Pokemon Trainer
Tokoyami Fumikage- Meta Knight
Uraraka Ochako- Kirby
Yaoyorozu Momo- Alex

Pinned- Moderators

Nemuri Kayama- Bayonetta
Tsutsumi Kaina- Byleth

===

Yoshi: Well, that was…

R.O.B.: A very informative lecture. I am ecstatic to know that UA is taking subjects like this seriously!

Ridley: Iida, dude, it looked like you were gonna blow a gasket half way through with all the innuendos.

Pikachu: Speaking of, @Lucina, what’s up?

Lucina: And there it is. She told me what was gonna happen beforehand and made a deal with me.

Lucina: If I didn’t chop her during her lecture, then she wouldn’t make any dirty jokes, innuendos, or insinuate anything to the whole class for a month.

Lucina: And considering that time period covers the Sports Festival, I’ll cope.

Ridley: pfft

Sheik: CoucoIcyoCiycTxYcit I

Incineroar: Hagakure just fell off the couch. Wh-

Incineroar: ah.

Samus: It is pretty funny.

Lucina: Yes, yes, laugh at my expense. How will I ever recover?

Corrin: Your embarrassment aside

Lucina: Next time Frogger

Corrin: Are we still on tomorrow? There’s some ideas I wanna test out.

Lucina: @Bayonetta, oh dear mother of mine?

Bayonetta: Yes, precious daughter of mine?

Bayonetta: Ah, yes Asui. Gym Delta was free and has been booked for you guys for tomorrow morning.

Corrin: Call me Tsu.

Alex: Wonderful! I have some ideas of my own I wish to try!

Pac Man: Me too.

Lucina: I’ll help anyone with quirk stuff if you need it.

Jigglypuff: Still not sure if actively seeking out help from a classmate to prepare for the Sports Fest is a good idea.

Jigglypuff: And I still have this name? I thought I told you guys to change it.

Lucina: It’s a good idea because Green Bean, Momo, and I have already analyzed most everyone’s quirks. If you find something that we haven’t covered, I’d be genuinely surprised.

Ridley: Denied!

Ridley: We all agreed on the theme, and there aren’t any other singing characters aren’t there?

Pikachu: Did anyone else feel a chill down there spine when they read that?

Meta Knight: The shadows of dread and oblivion will cover all in their freezing touch.

Yoshi: Ah, there he is.

Wii Fit Trainer: Non. I see no shadows here. I scare them all away with my dazzling presence!

Byleth: I’m just happy you guys aren’t slacking off.

Bayonetta: Aw, she’s happy~

Byleth: Don’t patronize me, woman.

Byleth: That said, don’t think that all this extra training will make All Might or I let you guys take it easy during class.

Ridley: Consider me scared.

Olimar: (´ ・×・｀)

Incineroar: MANLY! We’ll take your challenge head on!

Bayonetta: But make sure to take breaks everyone now and then. As much as I love how enthusiastic some of you are, it wouldn’t do for you to get to the event itself and collapse from exhaustion before it even begins.

Incineroar: … yes ma’am.

===

Private Chat

Midoriya Izuku: Hey, Azura, can you meet Momo, Ochako, and I outside after dinner.

Midoriya Izuku: We have some questions about… you know, but we don’t wanna go to Ms. Kayama.

Highlander Azura: That’s fair.

Highlander Azura: Sure. I’ll find you.

Midoriya Izuku: Alright. See you then

==========

UAU Grounds
Early Evening

Azura casually walked through some of the forest surrounding the dorms. It was quiet, the only real source of noise being the birds happily chirping away.

Of course, Soul Sense was quick to pick up something else.

Straight ahead were the class’s only lovebirds. Azura let out a sly smirk at the thought as that may change after today.

Shelving that for later, she focused on what she could feel from them. Happiness mixed with contentment from all three. Though there seemed to be a tinge of curiosity as well. A strange form of apprehension seemed to emanating from one of the trio, but it felt as if it were restrained or diminishing. The bluenette let out a small but genuine smile at the thought.

She was kept from taking in more from her mental radar as she realized that she was on the final approach. The trees opened up into a small field. It seemed like the perfect place to rest and relax if the scattered benches were anything to go by. The polycule she had been searching for sat in one of those benches, the three comfortably speaking amongst themselves.

Noticing her arrival and approach, Momo and Ochako left their conversation for another time.

“Hey!” Izuku called out from Ochako’s other side.

“Sup,” the reincarnated woman greeted back. Azura took a seat on a nearby rock before addressing the elephant. “So, what’s up?”

A blush grew on Izuku’s face as he apparently remembered the reason they were all here. It had to do with the lecture, but Azura couldn’t figure out what specifically.

“There was something we wanted to ask you about polycule dynamics. And aside from you mother, you are the only person with any real knowledge of the subject,” Momo began.

“It’s mostly just theoretical knowledge though. But hey, if you need my help, shoot.”

“Near the end, Midnight stated that she had seen a polycule with nine people in it. Do you know how it became so big?” the heiress asked with as much poise as she could muster. It seemed that she was the one actual bold enough to ask in comparison to her squirming partners.

Azura raised her eyebrow curiously. “Not specifically, no.”

“Do you know if it happened spontaneously, or was the progression… more gradual.”

Azura deadpanned for a moment as understanding washed over her. “Ah, so that’s what this is about,” she muttered before clearing her throat. “You guys are either curious or worried that your polycule will grow too aren’t you.”

It wasn’t a question, they all understood that, but the trio all nodded as if to answer.

“Fair enough. Polycules are difficult to manage as is. Increasing the number of people in it is an understandable cause for concern. I don’t think you guys have too much to worry about though,” the bluenette waved off much to her friends’ surprise.

“From my own research, the most people I’ve been able to find in a polycule is most commonly five. Sure, there’s sometimes more, but they’re a minority. And going by what I’ve seen so far, I’m sure you guys could manage something like that. Of course, I can also see you guys growing bigger than that too, but that’s neither here nor there really.

“If you’re really that concerned though, establishing some ground rules for if someone wants to join would be a good idea. Something that you and any who potentially join will agree with.”

“Like what for example?” Ochako asked, forcing herself through her embarrassment to engage in the conversation. Izuku next to her was much the same.

“You guys being a package deal first and foremost would be a good one. If someone wants to join, then they get all of you or none of you,” the bluenette explains.

“I suppose that’s reasonable,” the heiress hummed out. “This hypothetical person knowing all of us individually would be another good one in my opinion.”

Azura nodded. “Definitely. Another thing to consider is your individual sexualities.”

They all simultaneously tilted their heads in confusion. Azura had to hold herself back from showing her amazement or how cute it all looked.

“Well, say a guy wanted to join. If everyone but one person was comfortable with that, then it could cause issues.”

“I suppose that is a good thing to determine now rather than later as well. For me, I am bisexual,” Momo stated.

Ochako hesitated for a moment. “I thought I was straight, but now I’m not so sure,” she admitted with some embarrassment.

“I suppose you don’t mind being called undetermined or bi-curious for right now,” Azura proposed.

“I think bi-curious fits better for the moment,” the brunette answered after some consideration.

Izuku squirmed as he gave his own answer. “I-I’ve known I was bi but leaning toward females for a while, but… past experiences make dating guys a bit… difficult.”

Ochako brought him into a side hug. Momo reached across her girlfriend and held one of his hands in hers.

“S-sorry,” he apologized.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” the young socialite said to comfort him.

“If you need a moment…” Azura offered.

“No, no, I’m fine,” the verdette shook his head before turning his attention back to their pseudo-mentor. “Is there anything else?”

The reincarnated woman hummed out in consideration for a moment as she rested her chin in her hand. “You already know about how important communication is, there are going to be more ground rules, but you guys will need to talk amongst yourselves for that…. Ah ha, you guys will also have to be willing to kick someone out of the relationship.”

The three cringed at her words.

“Yeah, not pretty, but it’s gotta be done. In a monogamous relationship, all you’ve gotta do is break up. It’s obviously going to be a bit more difficult to do the same in a poly relationship, but if it’s gotta be done, you guys have to be ready for it.”

The benchmates glanced at one another in slight apprehension before they each nodded with varying degrees of confidence.

“Good. Now, am I forgetting something?” the bluenette asked herself as she tapped her chin. After taking a moment to mutter a few things under her breath, she brought her focus back on the triad. “No, I think that’s it. There’s obviously more to everything, but you guys are going to have to figure out the complexities on your own.”

“I suppose that’s fair. Every relationship is different,” Momo commented. Izuku and Ochako both thought for a moment before agreeing with their girlfriend’s statement.

“Is there anything else you guys wanna ask while we’re here?” the bluenette queried.

Izuku raised his hand.

“If it’s quirk related, we should go back to the dorms first. It’s already late as is,” she proposed as she pointed upwards.

Ochako followed her finger to see that the sun was just about to set. Looking back down at her partners, she saw Izuku’s face completely red whilst Momo’s cheeks were dusted with pink. The brunette giggled at her nerdy parters’ antics after a moment.

As the group stood, only one could detect the stray presence near them. Sensing the deep consideration and the mild excitement and joy emanating from the presence, the detector kept quite as they held back an amused smirk.

Chapter Text

UAU- Gym Beta
Monday- Afternoon

There are many skills a Hero needs out in the field. Investigative abilities, first aid, and being able to discern structural integrity at a glance are all very important.

The most important however was close quarters combat.

This fact was emphasized for Izuku as Ochako slammed him into the mat again for the umpteenth time.

Izuku groaned as he got back up, the brunette across from him helping him after a moment.

After the verdette regained his bearings, Kaina called for everyone to take a break. Izuku joined his friends and classmates as they all walked over to the coolers where the life-giving bottles of cold water were stored.

Izuku took the time to look around at his fellow aspiring Heroes. While everyone looked tired, some looked especially ragged. A few were even covered with bruises, though Izuku felt as if he would soon join their numbers.

As he began chugging his water, he thought back to around a week ago.

Ever since last Monday where their teacher, metophorically, ripped their costumes apart, she had been taking steps to reassure them and help them all improve in various ways.

First and foremost was talking to each of them individually and helping to set up appointments with Hound Dog to and have them talk about and overcome the events of the USJ. She even helped some to schedule repeat visits when asked to.

Next was her assurance that the students who crowded the halls on Monday had been reprimanded for their conduct. She made special note about Monoma from 1-B getting verbally lashed about.

The third change she made was adjusting and personalizing everyone’s curriculums. This mostly came in the form of taking into account learning disabilities like how Denki’s electricity and Mina’s acid messed with their brain chemistries, while also giving extra guidance on particular subjects when needed. This change was relatively minor, but the class’s respect and trust in the woman went up considerably as a consequence.

The final change was optional CQC classes after school two to three days a week with Azura acting as a sort of teaching assistant.

She would’ve helped everyone develop their quirks as well, but by the time she was ready to start that up, it was already handled by Momo, Azura, and him. Obviously she still offered to consult if need be, but she generally stayed out of it. Izuku could understand why with how busy she had made herself, a fact that he took special note of considering their former teacher’s willingness to do nothing but sleep at every possible moment.

Izuku shook his head. That wasn’t a rabbit hole he was willing to go down just yet.

With all that said, everyone seemed quite happy about the changes. Izuku noted that a few of his classmates were actually improving quite a lot.

Mina and Denki were doing better in class, others like Kouji and Tooru were less tense, and everyone greatly appreciated the lessons on close quarters combat. For some, it worked well with their quirks. For others, it was something to fall back on if their quirks were either ineffective or impractical to use.

Though Ochako looked to be the one who was most enthusiastic going by how quickly she had been picking everything up. It was almost scary to Izuku actually.

“Ah, good. I was hoping that all of you would be here.”

Izuku turned to look at the owner of the new voice to see Saiko entering the gym. Although it didn’t look like she was here to train going by the fact that she was still in her school uniform.

“Alright, break’s over! A few more rounds, and we’ll call it a day!” Kaina called out to her students who immediately did as she asked. “Intelli,” she greeted after taking a moment to let her students get back into place. “You need something?”

“Not at all. I just wished to see what my juniors were up to. I’m glad that they seem to be taking the Sports Festival seriously,” she commented with a smile.

“For better or for worse, the USJ lit a fire under their asses,” the former assassin grumbled out.

“I see. As terrible was it was for them, I can see the why that would be the case.”

Silence fell over the pair after that, the teacher and TA watching the first years spar and learn new techniques.

“I remember doing this myself,” Saiko commented after a while. “It was grueling work, especially since I hadn’t trained my body as much as admittedly should have.”

“You complaining? Vlad’ll be sad if you were,” Kaina commented.

The periwinkle-haired brainiac let out a short laugh before she could recompose herself. “Not in the least. As a matter of fact, I am grateful for his guidance. I was quite arrogant back then. Far too arrogant to see my own shortcomings infact.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

A few more minutes passed before Kaina called them all back in. As her students began to leave, she gave out tips and little critiques.

As she was doing so, a certain electric blonde was off to the side deep in thought, a troubled expression on his face.

Izuku, being the natural hero he was, noticed this a waited a few minutes to see if this behavior persisted. When it did, he easily decided to help his classmate to the best of his abilities.

“Hey, Kaminari, is something wrong?” the verdette asked the boy.

“Oh, hey, Midoriya,” Denki greeted after a moment before he realized the inheritor asked him a question. He shook his head. “No, nothing wrong. Just thinking.”

“Can I ask what about?” Izuku asked with a slight tilt to his head.

Denki was quiet for a few seconds as he seemed to be debating with himself. “It’s stupid. You don’t have to worry about it,” he finally answered.

“It’s not nothing. You wouldn’t be over here like this if it were,” the greenette pointed out. “If you need help with anything, I’d be happy to give it.”

The blonde grumbled for a few seconds before sighing. He honestly didn’t think he could argue with the young man next to him.

“I was thinking about asking Intelli out on a date,” he finally admitted while looking at his shoes. “I mean, she’s great. She’s pretty, smart, pretty smart,” he joked with a small laugh, “and… she’s actually helped me a lot. Don’t get me wrong Midoriya, you and Highlander gave me some good advice, but she’s taken the time to help me understand things during Heroics 101. And even outside of that too. She never dumbed things down, just reworded them. The same thing happened at the USJ too. It’s honestly pretty incredible.”

‘Is this what it’s like on the outside?’ Izuku thought with slight astonishment before shaking his head to focus once more. “First off, that doesn’t sound stupid,” he said with a kind of confidence that surprised himself. “Secondly, if the problem is whether or not to actually go through with it, I say go for it.”

Denki rapidly turned his head to look at Izuku with a surprised expression on his face. Before he could get a word out however, Izuku continued.

“If you do nothing, nothing changes. Sure, she could say no, but she isn’t the only fish in the sea. So yeah, give it a shot. You never know what could happen until you try.”

Denki stood still in thought while the young man’s words registered in his mind. When they did, the blonde’s expression morphed into one of determination.

“Hey, yeah, you’re right. Thanks Midoriya!” he exclaimed with a bright smile on his face. He then lifted up his fist and held it inbetween himself and his classmate.

Izuku looked down on slight confusion before he did the same which resulted in a fist bump. “Anytime.”

With that, the blonde dashed off to third year before she could leave.

When he finally caught up to her and gained her attention, the confidence and determination was slightly overshadowed by his own anxiety. Izuku’s words flowing through his head once more gave him the confidence he needed to at least try.

“S-so, Intelli, would you, um,” he cleared his throat. “Would you like to go out on a date? With me that is,” he hastily added at the end.

Saiko took in his words with slight surprise. It might have not have been a confession, but she certainly hadn’t been anticipating one of her juniors to ask her out so suddenly.

“Oh. Kaminari, I’m flattered,” she finally said after a moment, “but…”

She noticed his expression deflate a little at the last word she uttered. That said, she truly didn’t know what to do. Sure, she had been asked out before, but they were usually jerks only interested in her looks. But Denki? In the short time Saiko knew him, he wasn’t like that in the least. He was still her junior though.

Her intelligent mind ran on all cylinders to come to a decision before a single thought casually passed through.

‘He’s cute and he’s dorky…. Fuck it. Give it a shot.’

…

Huh, embarrassingly enough, her mother was right about her all along.

“Yes, a date sounds nice.” She had to stop herself from shielding her eyes due to his bright smile. “How about tomorrow after school? There’s a nice little cafe on campus we could go to,” she offered.

“Y-yeah, s-sure. Sounds like a date. Actually, it is a date isn’t it?”

Saiko let out a small giggle uncharacteristic of her. “Alright then, I’ll see you at the main building’s entrance tomorrow.”

“Right! Yes! See you then!”

With that, Saiko took her leave, While Denki stood in place. He waited a few seconds after she turned the corner to leave the gym before he pumped his fist in the air while letting out quiet calls of celebration.

Izuku took one last look at the blonde before he left the gym himself and smiled. Looking ahead once again, he jogged to catch up to his friends, Ochako happily punching the air like they had practiced while the others around her watched.

If Izuku had glance to the side as he was leaving, he would have noticed a gloomy looking purple-haired boy glaring at him and the rest of his class.

The boy scoffed as he made his own way into the gym.

Someone was expecting him after all.

Chapter Text

1-A Dorms- Izuku’s Room
Thursday- Evening

Izuku loved many things about his girlfriends. From Momo’s inquisitiveness and almost regal disposition to Ochako’s boundless enthusiasm and drive.

Of course, he knew all of that before they started their relationship.

One thing he discovered about his partners since though…

“I’m gonna getcha!”

“Oh no you don’t!”

… was that they were both apparently quite competitive.

Currently the three of them were in his room playing on a Switch that Momo had managed to copy. It wasn’t the only one either.

After being introduced to quite a few Pre-Quirk Era games, a few members of class 1-A desired to indulge further and see for themselves what the people of the past once saw.

Of course, while Azura did have quite a few games for several consoles thanks to Nezu, she only possessed the one console. Fortunately there was a workaround. With permission from Kaina and Nemuri, Momo was allowed to manufacture copies with her quirk if she wished to do so. The ravenette did, but her own morals about inflating the economy with untraceable goods prevented her from doing so at first. When it was pointed out that the Switch was hundreds of years old and that there was no market for them in the first place, she relented. Quite eagerly actually.

She spent an entire afternoon taking apart the device and examining the components closely, documenting everything she could into a spare notebook. After creating and testing a few modifications to increase performance, the first full and successful copy was made.

The crowd assembled around her cheered, especially when Izuku discovered that the device was loaded with a fully functional operating system. It took over an hour for the class to break the couple out of that quirk rant, though he dully remembered Azura maniacally cackling while saying her plan was a success… whatever that means.

Which leads us to now, the throuple in Izuku’s room playing a rite of passage, one that could tear families apart… according to Azura anyways…

Mario Kart.

It was fun in Izuku’s opinion, especially when the whole class played local multiplayer that one time. He tried to not think back on the still-broken coffee table though.

Ochako let out a curse in her natural accent when she slipped on another banana peal. Momo darkly chuckled at her girlfriend’s misfortune.

The race finished with Momo in first, the ravenette humming the ending song as her first place trophy was revealed. The brunette from Mie sulked at her definitive second place. Izuku chuckled at the two young women and their antics, happy to be spending time with them like this. It wasn’t a proper date like what Kaminari took Saiko on a few days ago, but they all agreed to wait until after the Sports Festival to do something like that. There would be more than enough time after all.

A knock at the door interrupted their conversation about what they should play next. As the host, Izuku got up to answer it while Momo and Ochako continued to converse.

When the ninth wielder opened the door, he was slightly surprised and confused at the presence of one Kodai Yui.

“Oh, Kodai. Um, is there something you need?” he asked.

“Mm.”

“Ah. Sure, you can come in,” he replied before moving out of the ravenette’s way. As he closed the door and turned back around, he was suddenly met with the realization that his girlfriends were still in the room.

“Oh, hey Kodai! What’s up?” Ochako greeted the stoic beauty.

“Mm.”

“… I apologize Kodai, but regretfully, I cannot understand you,” Momo said sincerely after a moment.

“Mm,” she seemingly repeated after turning back to the green-haired inheritor.

“Oh, I guess that’s a good point,” Izuku said after pushing down his, very obvious, flustered expression. He turned his gaze to his partners before speaking again. “She said I could interpret for her, which I don’t mind. She also said that you don’t have to apologize. She knows she’s not the best conversational partner on the best of days.”

Yui grunted again as she sat on the floor opposite her fellow members of the fairer sex. “‘I wanted to ask the three of you an important question,’” the greenette repeated as he sat down as well. .

“Ominous, but sure, shoot,” Ochako replied while Momo and Izuku nodded in agreement.

“Mm?”

Izuku opened his mouth before he paused. He looked back at Yui in confusion and with a blush growing on his face. “Wait, can you say that again?”

“Mm?”

“Are you sure?”

“Mm,” she grunted out, this time with a little more force and some annoyance.

“A-alright,” he stuttered out before clearing his throat. “She wants to know if she can join our relationship,” he explained after a moment.

The two young women’s puzzled expressions gave way to slight amounts of shock. Of course, they knew of the possibility of someone wishing to join, but so soon and so abruptly surely flustered them.

“How did you even learn of that?” the heiress asked after a moment.

The stoic young woman grunted again. “‘You guys are doing a good job of hiding it, but after a couple of days, I could tell you were more than just friends. The conversation I overheard Monday just confirmed my suspicions.’”

“You overheard that?” Ochako asked.

“‘You weren’t exactly subtle then. The three of you just walked out at one point. Azzy followed you a few minutes later. At that point I knew something was up, so I followed. Didn’t think I’d stumble on to something like that though,’” Izuku translated while coming to grips with the fact that a third woman was willing to join their relationship.

“Pardon me, but Kodai,” Momo interjected-

“Mm.”

“She said to call her Yui,” Izuku elaborated.

“Yui,” the young socialite corrected after a moment, “even if you like spending time with us, we haven’t really… talked with you. And joining this kind of relationship is a big step. Are you sure that’s what you want?”

Yui grunted with a look of determination.

“‘Yes, and if I have to get to know you guys more to be a part of it, then I’m more than willing to wait until I do,’” Izuku interpreted.

The ravenette hummed again but with a smirk on her face.

“‘I’m a patient gal. If that’s all there is, then I’ll gladly wait to tap that a-‘ what?!” Izuku yelped before he could finish translating.

The girls got the message however. Ochako’s blush marks grew in shock and embarrassment at the blunt statement. Momo kept her composure for the most part, but she still had a noticeable blush as well.

Momo cleared her throat after letting her partners calm down for a moment. “I suppose that means you are bisexual?”

“Mm.”

“‘Pan, actually.’ That’s good,” Izuku responded after translating.

“Yes, that simplifies a few things,” Momo responded. “And I suppose you are fine with the rules you overheard?”

“‘Having them and what they are makes sense to me.’”

Momo nodded in agreement before she pressed on. “And you are also fine if our polycule grows in the future?”

“‘To be honest, I thou-‘“ Izuku stopped as he became flustered again. He cleared his throat in an attempt to shed off some of his atomic blush. “‘I thought Azzy was a part of it before. That said, yeah, I’m okay with this growing.’”

“You… are quite blunt,” the heiress stated.

Yui shrugged. “‘I know what I want. Doesn’t hurt that he can easily understand me,’” she told her fellow ravenette whilst pointing at Izuku.

“I can see how that’d be a plus,” Ochako replied after taking a moment to calm down herself.

“I suppose now would be a good time to further discuss things,” the young socialite proposed.

“Mm.”

“‘Can’t. Tired,’” Izuku said before the young woman he was translating for let out an incredibly cute yawn.

The rest of the polycule all had to stop for a few moments afterwards to take in the proceeding adorable exhausted eye rub.

“I could sleep,” Ochako simply stated.

“It is getting quite late,” Momo concurred.

“Y-yeah. Guess I’ll see you three in the morning,” Izuku said in response.

Momo and Ochako stood from their spots on the floor and made their way to exit the room. Before they could even say “good night,” they were stopped by a tug on their sleeves. The two turned back to see Yui gently pulling them towards Izuku’s bed.

“Mm.”

“‘No, Here’? Wait, you want us all to sleep together tonight?” the verdette asked.

Yui just nodded.

The former-throuple all glanced at each other before they all shrugged in sync. Wouldn’t be the first time. Not to mention that the last time they all slept in the same bed, it was the most restful sleep any of them had ever experienced.

So there they were, several minutes later. Izuku laid in the middle while Ochako and Momo found themselves spots on his left and right respectively. Yui found her own spot atop Izuku’s chest, the young woman curled up asleep in a way that was far more adorable than it had any right to be.

’This is my life now,’ was the last thought the sole male had before he peacefully drifted off to sleep.

==========
Heights Alliance Common Room
Friday- Afternoon

Izuku sat quietly at one of the many couches that inhabited the ground floor of 1-A’s dorms. That day had been quite busy between normal classes and everyone’s preparations for the Sports Festival.

The building itself was mostly quiet as most of the students of 1-A spent some time at the various shops and local venues on and off campus. He had respectfully declined in favor of additional training time. He couldn’t skip a day after all.

After doing a rep or two more than usual and making his way back to freshen up, he sat watching the news to see clips that had been taken over the day. It was more than a habit at that point to sit, watch, and theorize about the many wondrous quirks out there in the world.

Of course, that’s when he realized that he had been approached.

“O-oh, Kodai-“

“Mm.”

“Sorry, Y-Yui, is there something you need?” he asked his newest partner, the thought of there being a “newest” still baffling him a whole day later.

“Mm.”

“My mumbling? Oh, sorry! I’ll keep it down, I promise!”

“Mm.”

“… You… like my mumbling?” the inheritor asked disbelievingly. She simply nodded before seating herself right next to him. She shifted her quiet yet glowing gaze up to his own almost expectantly after a moment.

“Mm.”

“… I can keep going, yes,” he admitted before another question left his lips. “Are you sure it doesn’t bother you?”

“Mm.”

“Alright then.” He eventually turned his attention back to the TV to watch the clips.

It took a few minutes, but he began to let out small mutterings of his observations and theories. Slowly but surely his volume grew. He never got up to his normal speaking volume, but that was fine for Yui. She just silently sat there and listened to his almost incoherent ramblings. It didn’t take her long to rest her head on his shoulder.

Some time later several members of the class began trickling back into the dorms. A majority of them hadn’t taken notice of the quiet scene and had merely made their ways back to their rooms.

The remaining minority cooed, Mina and Tooru especially. Denki gave his friend a happy thumbs up before he left as well.

Ochako and Momo had made their way to a corner a little further away to talk.

“It’s so adorable!” Ochako whisper squealed. She held her hands over her mouth in an attempt to mute her voice some more.

Momo nodded her head in agreement. “I will admit that it is quite a pleasant sight to behold. Though I admit that I feel slightly confused.”

“Whaddya mean?” the Kansai girl asked.

“It’s just, I believe I feel almost… happy to see them getting along so well,” she said with an almost curious tone of voice. “I know it’s only been a day, but I was worried that things wouldn’t pan out for the best.”

“Compersion.”

The two young women were startled. They quickly turned around to see the smirking face of the blue-haired reincarnated woman.

“How- wait, Soul Sense,” the ravenette interrupted herself.

“Yup. Didn’t take long to figure it out. Though I’ve gotta admit, I wasn’t expecting you three to add someone so soon,” Azura stated, still wearing her smirk.

“She approached us actually. Quite bluntly as well,” the heiress corrected. The bluenette shrugged shamelessly. Before she could say more, Momo thought back to that strange word her friend said. “What was that word you used? I assume you said it for a reason.”

“Compersion: the positive emotion you feel when you see your partners interact with each other. It basically means the opposite of jealousy,” the reincarnation explained.

“Compersion,” Ochako repeated as if to test it out. She smiled after a moment. “I like it!”

“Yes, it is fitting after all,” the ravenette agreed.

A startled yelp caught their attention. Looking over, it appeared Izuku had finished and finally realized that he was being watched. Yui didn’t seem to give anyone else much thought though.

The remaining members of the polycule sighed in fond exasperation as they unconsciously pulled one another into a side huge, while Azura let out a light chuckle.

==========
UAU- Hound Dog’s office
Recordings pulled from various times and dates

“The attack on the USJ just… sort of put things into perspective, ya know,” Denki vaguely clarified.

“I think I do. I wasn’t quite the same after my first villain encounter,” the furry counselor of UA agreed while nodding his head. “Though, I must admit, I had a lot more time to come to terms with a few things.”

“… How did you get through it?” the electric inclined blonde asked hesitantly.

“It wasn’t easy at first, let me tell you, but after I talked it over with someone, it became more… manageable. It became easier to sort through and deal with. And that’s exactly why you’re here.”

Denki looked down at his lap where he was playing with his hands. His eyes scrunched up in concentration before the tension seemed to lift from him slightly. “Yeah, I think I get it. Thanks!” he responded with a smile.

Hound Dog let out his own smile in response.

===

“So you don’t feel affected at all by the near death experience?” the dog man asked with the utmost curiosity.

“I honestly can’t,” Mezou replied with a spare mouth growing from his arm. “I’ve already talked with my personal therapist, and I honestly can’t say that anything has changed for me one way or another.”

“I see. Is there any particular reason that comes to mind for this?”

“My uncle,” the mountain of a man replied. “He’s a Pro Hero. He’s not very popular or high on the rankings, but he likes the job. Likes saving people. Although… there have been a few times where he’s been… less responsive than usual. At first, he told me it was nothing, that he was just tired. Later he said that some of the things he’s seen on the job were… disheartening.”

Hound Dog nodded in sympathy. “So it isn’t that you experienced the worst for yourself, but you still expected it.”

Mezou nodded. “I suppose that is the case, yes.”

===

“Whether or not you fought is not an issue. You did what you could giving the training you had. The fact that there were only a few injuries among the students was astounding. You have nothing to apologize for,” the beast of a therapist soothed.

Kouji rapidly made a number of hand movements in a specific manner to speak in sign language. As a long-time certified therapist, the faculty member of UAU was able to easily understand JSL.

“You and your classmates are effectively children when it comes to the field of heroics. You did what you could, but when you found a situation you knew you could not handle, you avoided it. That is normal. If you truly wish to make up for it, then take the steps to make sure you can handle it in the future.”

The session continued for a long time after that, but the kind hearted animal lover seemed to grow more relaxed as time went on.

==========
UAU- Dean Nezu’s office.
Friday- Noon

“Pardon the interruption, Nezu,” a deep voice called out as he and another figure entered the room.

“There is nothing to pardon, Mr. Yaoyorozu. As one of UAU’s most generous donors, I see no reason for you to apologize. I suspect I know the reason for this sudden visit anyways,” the mammalian Dean of UA claimed.

“I suppose you do given recent events,” the patriarch of the Yaoyorozu family, Genbu Yaoyorozu, acquiesced.

“Then I shall start,” the woman next to him, his wife, Celica Yaoyorozu, clearly stated before slamming a packet of papers down on the diminutive Dean’s desk. “What in the everloving fuck is this?” the American woman forcefully demanded, her husband placing a hand on her shoulder to hold her back.

As the red-haired woman lifted her hand from the packet, Nezu recognized the cover without much effort. It was the detailed schematics for the Hero costume of Momo Yaoyorozu. That is, if the papers describing the resulting abomination could even be called detailed or schematics.

“I assume you ran your own investigation after the redesigns?” Nezu queried.

“That we did,” the black-haired patriarch confirmed. “Our Momo’s rant about her costume not using DNA infused fibers from the start was all it took to convince us to look into the matter.”

Nezu nodded. “Understandable. Would it help at all to say that Young Yaoyorozu burned it the first chance she had?” the mammal offered.

The parents exchanged glances for but a moment before a short but curt “yes” came from their mouths.

“I’d still like the full story of how she could be given something that barely qualifies as a swimsuit,” the matriarch clarified.

“Certainly. Would you like some tea while I explain?”

The socialites gratefully accepted the offer despite the situation and their resulting moods.

“1-A’s original teacher did not care much for teaching. Instead, his method, if you could call it that, was to brute force everything and let the students he was in charge of do everything themselves,” Nezu began. “This method worked… at first. As time went on, he became less and less involved in the actual learning process. He belittled them for not knowing information he did not offer, expelled some at the slightest provocation. I will admit that the situation grew out of control.

“Luckily someone close to me offered their own insight on the matter. They opened my eyes. Since then, I had been taking steps to have Aizawa demoted, however I was unable to do so until recently. Just before the USJ recently. As the beginning of the year is chaotic at best, I was unable to intercept the paperwork containing 1-A’s costume designs until after he had approved them. By then, the only choice was to schedule a class to make the redesigns.”

The Yaoyorozu couple took in all the details, filling in when necessary due to their extensive history with the university.

“And the company responsible for the design? What of them?” Genbu asked with a dangerous tone.

“They have been dealt with accordingly. As of last week, they are no longer a supplier,” the Devil of UA explained.

“And which company was it? I’d like to know for future reference,” Celica probed with a malicious smile on her face.

The Dean of indeterminate species was momentarily quiet before a grin of his own began spreading across his animalistic face. This grin grew and grew, making many of his enemies, old and new, unconsciously shiver in fear.

“Detnerat.”

Chapter Text

Sunday- Morning
1-A Dorms

Azura was angry. Well, no, not angry. Definitely annoyed though. That much was painfully obvious. What about was an entirely different story.

The reincarnated woman was annoyed because, despite her numerous attempts at getting Izuku to relax, the greenette just didn’t stop. Every chance he got, the inheritor blitzed off to some place to train. Whether it was to a public gym or some random part of the surrounding forest, he was always training. Obviously he still took time to interact with everyone, especially the other members of the polycule he was in, but most of the time it was sort of mandatory. Like eating and unwinding before bed.

Even then, he never just… stopped. He was always on the move, always trying to desperately improve.

And Azura… she understood. She understood far better than anyone could possibly imagine.

And with that understanding came her annoyance. And that wasn’t even touching on all of the medical reasons on why it was a bad idea. The bluenette had plenty of experience with that.

So there she was, texting Nezu to set something she had in mind up. It probably wasn’t the best solution, but it was sure to show the ninth wielder of One for All what she was talking about.

The conversation ended with a Nezu themed thumbs up from the mammal’s side to let her know everything was in place. If she didn’t succeed at convincing him, she’d have to show him just how self-destructive he was being.

===

Izuku grunted with greater effort than usual as he went in for another rep on the bench press. He couldn’t stop, not when the Sports Festival was so close.

Two days. He only had two more days before he and his friends and classmates presented themselves to an audience of thousands, and that was just the people in the stadium.

He had to work ten times as hard just to get into UA. He couldn’t stop training just because he made it in. No, he had to go even further. Plus Ul-

His thoughts were interrupted when he didn’t feel the bar come down for his next rep. Refocusing his eyes allowed him to spot short bursts of familiar lightning.

Azura stood above him, her deep blue orbs staring down into his own forest green.

“We need to talk,” she said seriously as she set the bar down into its slot. Izuku shivered at her tone before getting up to speak to her properly.

“A-alright. Is something wrong?” he asked, trepidation clear in his voice.

The bluenette took a deep, long breath in before letting out a weary sigh.

“This,” she began as she vaguely gestured around the room, “needs to stop. Now,” she commanded.

Izuku tilted his head in genuine confusion.

After a moment, Azura continued. “Two days. We’ve got two days before the Sports Festival, and you’re in here training.”

Izuku felt his confusion grow. “I… what? We’re supposed to be training, right?”

“Not to the degree you are,” she bluntly stated.

“That’s… I still don’t understand.”

Azura let out another long sigh. “Green Bean, when did you get here?” she asked out of the blue.

Still having no idea where she was going with this, he answered completely truthfully. “I left a little after we all had breakfast.”

“You actually left before most of us could even have a bite of cereal,” she pointed out with a deadpan look. Izuku scratched the back of his head as he became flustered. He almost snapped to attention when she began to speak again. “Next question, how long have you been here?”

Still clueless, he answered. “Um, only an hour or two.”

“Izuku, it’s past noon.”

The verdette paused for a moment before reaching for his phone nearby. There was no way it-

He stiffened when he saw that it was a little past one in the afternoon. That alone explained a few things for him.

“U-uh, s-sorry. Seems I lost track of time,” he stuttered out after a moment.

“If that’s all that it was, I wouldn’t mind.” Izuku began to rel- “But it isn't,” she finished while pointing an accusatory finger into the inheritor’s face who had stiffened once again.

“You lost track of time, sure, but it wasn’t because you weren’t paying attention. You made a conscious choice to keep going, and I’m going to put a stop to it. It’s not healthy” she sternly claimed.

Izuku was quiet for a moment, the inheritor taking in the situation in its entirety.

“I can’t stop,” he said several seconds later. “I barely made it into UA. I have to try ten times harder than everyone else just to be here,” he continued with frustration leaking into his tone, his hand unconsciously tightening as well.

“If that’s the case, then I suppose you wouldn’t mind putting all that training to the test,” she offered.

“A test?” he repeated in confusion at the abrupt turn in the conversation.

“You’re obviously not just gonna listen to me, so yes, a test. If all this extra training is really helping you so much, then you should be able to handle it no problem. The loser has to do what the winner wants, without exception,” the reincarnated woman explained. “So long as the loser is comfortable with it that is,” she tacked on after a moment to ease his concern.

It was an… interesting proposition to be sure, one he definitely wasn’t expecting, but ultimately beneficial in his opinion. It would be a good way of showing just how far he had come since the start of it all.

He nodded after a moment more of consideration. “Alright. What’s the test?”

“In as few words as possible: extreme tag.” Izuku blinked at the absurdity of the claim before his soon-to-be-opponent continued further. “Our arena will be the entirety of Ground Gamma. I’ll start off as ‘it’ and give you ten seconds to start running. After that, it's a free for all for the next ten minutes. Whoever is ‘it’ by the end loses.”

Izuku nodded his head. Sounded simple enough.

“Oh,” Azura began again, “and I’ll be mirroring your output the entire time.”

The greenette balked slightly at the blunt statement before a small amount of frustration grew within him once again.

“I know that holding back in a crisis is a terrible idea, believe me, I know,” she continued while unconsciously rubbing her right arm, “but this is about proving a point. Don’t expect me to be like this next time,” she finished with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Izuku reluctantly nodded.

===

After making a quick stop at the dorms and getting some food into the inheritor’s empty stomach, the two set off to Ground Gamma where Nezu met him at the entrance.

It took only mere minutes for a review of the rules to take place before the two got in position now wearing standard PE uniforms.

The starting area was quite simple. Just one big box with a smaller box at the far end closest to where they had entered. In that small box stood Azura, arms crossed and eyes closed patiently waiting for the game to start.

The rest of the area was for Izuku himself. In it, he could look at a map of the area or plan his route to get as far away as fast as possible. And all he had to do to start it all was step outside of his box.

Izuku had to admit that he was a little anxious. Normally a countdown would tell him to go, but today it was all up to him. He didn’t know if he appreciated it or cursed it more.

Pushing that thought to the side, he powered up around five percent of One for All as fast as he could and started on the path that would lead him across several alleys before scaling up a fire escape to the roof. His hope was that the suddenness and unexpectedness of his actions would give his opponent pause.

10

He ran as fast as he could, passing an entire building in the blink of an eye.

9

He finally reached the fire escape in record time, for him anyway.

8

It took him a moment to orientate himself correctly, but he began climbing up the ladder to his freedom.

7

Stairs were difficult with One for All he decided. Running and jumping with it active we’re fairly simple with all the practice he had, but he never thought to train himself on how to use the stairs with it.

6

He guessed that he was up to the third floor. Five more to go from his guess.

5

Almost there. Almost to the top.

4

He jumped over the railing to get onto the roof proper. Now the only thing left for him to do was to get to an advantageous position before she began to move.

3

He jumped the gap to the next building. He felt his legs strain, but he ignored it. There wasn’t any time for it.

2

He looked back over his shoulder after he landed to barely see Azura still standing in the exact same spot without having moved a muscle.

1

He turned his attention back to the front as he vaulted himself over a few pipes, rolling to keep his momentum and just. Keep. Moving.

0

Azura heard a soft beeping indicating that it was time to start.

[Recommended Music: The Palace that was Found]
[ https://youtu.be/ZS3wG_4SHJk?si=CQpKs-IIXlecw6GL ]

She placed one foot in front of her before lightning began sparking off of her. Her eyes opened to reveal a blank expression. Her legs tensed…

And then she moved.

It didn’t take Izuku long to see her running down in the alleys below him, the electricity and power dancing off of her making her easy to spot. The ability to just keep running uninterrupted must have allowed her to gain on him.

With that in mind, he decided to start going as diagonally as possible, sometimes having to use pipes or other objects to propel himself forward far enough.

Redirecting himself to a taller building, he followed his opponent’s most likely path to see if he could spot her. He felt surprise growing when he spotted her round a corner, grab a pole on the corner, and use it to pivot herself a full ninety degrees without any loss of speed.

He then saw her jump and begin bouncing from one wall to the next to gain height, her body twisting after the last jump to allow her to dive through the small gap in between the pipes. Throwing her hand out, she caught the roof, the action allowing her to reorientate her body once more.

Her feet finally landed on a solid surface once again. After a moment of pause, she lifted her head, her eyes boring into him.

Wondering how she could have executed such a maneuver so seemlessly, he idly remembered her introduction. Specifically the part about her doing parkour.

As she pushed off once again, Izuku turned and ran for the far side of the building from his pursuer, leaping over the railing and landing on one of the larger pipes. He allowed himself to slide down, vaulting over another tube near the end and landing on another roof.

After a few more seconds of running and leaping, he glanced back in curiosity to see where she was.

He jumped and almost stumbled when she burst forth from a window. Through the debris, he could see a dull blue glow originating from her eyes.

She rolled and pushed off once again after him.

It was that moment Izuku decided to focus on where he was going.

He didn’t know how much time had passed as he vaulted over, ducked under, and slid every which way to escape.

And with every slip, stumble, and stutter, she gained even more ground. It was almost like she was flying through every obstacle he was trying to put between them, always threading the needle.

And the worst part about the situation? She could be going faster. She said it herself, she’s matching his output. So not only could she be much faster than she was at the moment, she’s already beating him in terms of speed.

That’s when the idea hit him. He’s doing the same exact thing, though in his case he’s trying not to break his bones. But maybe he can push the limits a bit.

As he landed on another roof, Izuku began concentrating on his output. He didn’t need much more at the moment, just enough to put some distance between them. He leaped again to the next building, but before he landed One for All just barely flared up.

When he next landed, he shot off faster than before. It wasn’t by much in the grand scheme of things, going from five percent to seven, but something was better than nothing.

And it seemed to work, Azura was losing ground.

The bluenette let out a small smirk. “Interesting. He’s acclimating to it much faster than before. Alright then. I’ll play your game.”

When she next landed, she didn’t much the same, and soon she was hot on his heels again.

Izuku didn’t mind too much at the moment. He had bought himself some more time to plan.

An entire minute passed as blue chased green. Nezu watched on in rapt attention, curiosity and excitement filing his mind. “Ah yes. This is when things will really begin to change.”

Luckily the room was soundproofed so no one could hear his mad cackling.

Izuku made his way down into the alley below to begin enacting his plan. Azura made sure to follow him, slowly closing the gap all the while.

He just had to get there. Any second and-

‘There!’ he yelled in his mind as he dove through one of the large receiving doors used for semi trucks.

He raced through the complex making sure to keep track of when and where he was turning so as to not double back too early.

When he couldn’t spot the telltale signs of his pursuer, he followed his mental map to the best of his abilities and made it back through the whole he made.

He was taken by surprise when someone tapped his shoulder.

“Tag, you’re it,” a familiar voice called out.

As he turned around, all that remained were blue sparks. He looked up to see Azura scaling up the building.

Izuku could feel how hard he was breathing, but he pushed any related thoughts to the side as he jumped after his target as he was the chaser now.

A pattern reminiscent of the first few minutes continued, though this time in reverse. Luckily he hadn’t fallen and further behind as he truly only needed to follow her, but keeping up still wasn’t exactly an easy thing to do.

As the bluenette neared another ledge, he began anticipating to hopefully gain some ground and made a beeline for the closest roof.

To his surprise, instead of turning to use the to do as he predicted, she placed her foot on the rail and used it to send herself directly over an alley.

He also didn’t expect her to begin a front flip either.

As she descended, she curled one of her legs in. By the time Izuku realized what she was doing, he had already begun to follow her.

”Tempest! she exclaimed as she brought her extended leg down.

A moment later the air burst caused all the dust and debris that had settled on the ground for who knows how long shot up all at once and completely blinded Izuku.

As luck would have it, he had already begun reaching out for a nearby section of tubing to change his trajectory. He was glad about his decision as well since a plastic bag slapped into the side of his head.

He landed on another rooftop and pulled it off, offhandedly amazed at the attention to detail UA put into its training grounds to have loose trash in an industrial setting… that or it was just some student. He shook his head to clear it.

After he landed, he stopped for a moment to regain his bearings and let the smoke clear. Unfortunately, he also decided to give his body a moment to relax as he deactivated the quirk he had inherited. The result of such an action allowed him to finally feel the strain his body was under. He had to force himself to not fall to his knees, stiffening his legs to stay upright.

He let out a small curse under his breath, forcing One for All to surge through his body once more in an attempt to re-energize himself.

It worked, mostly.

Noticing the smoke had mostly cleared, he began looking around frantically for his target. After another moment, he cursed again. He couldn’t see her anywhere. She had completely vanished from view. And with only a few minutes left on the clock, he had to find her.

‘But how?’ he asked himself desperately.

On the next building over, Azura stood propped up against an AC unit. She peaked around the corner with the same calm and collected expression she had been wearing since they started.

‘He’s becoming frantic. And not just because I disappeared either.’

It wasn’t a surprise when she saw him falter for a moment. Even before he raised his output, he was already exhausted. Pushing himself even further just to catch up only accelerated things.

‘Still, I can’t get complacent,’ she warned herself.

Back with Izuku, he was wracking his brain in an attempt to locate her. There were just too many places. And the more time that passed, the more possibilities entered into the equation.

“One minute remaining!” the voice of the Dean called out over the speakers.

Izuku’s mind raced faster. There had to be a way to narrow down the possibilities. There had to be a way to find her. He had to-

He paused when a strange feeling passed over him. It lasted for only for a second, but it was enough.

‘What is he doing?’ Azura mentally asked as she observed him. He seemed so frantic just a moment ago, but now…

He was looking right at her.

“Wait, what?” she whispered to herself.

That may as well have been a starter pistol with how fast Izuku began to run.

Requiem flared up instantly, Azura dashing off to the side with the AC unit and various other things blocking the most direct path to her.

He slid around the corner a moment later and charged at her faster than before.

‘That idiot! He’s at his limit as it is, but he’s increased his output again. I'll be surprised if RG doesn’t break his shins.’

She mirrored his output again and began flying through the obstacles. Azura was surprised when she looked back to seeing him copy some of her moves. They were sloppy, but it showed her just how much he could learn even under these circumstances.

She began to grin. ‘He’s gonna be a monster down the line.’

Of course, despite all this, there was still one mistake the verdette was still making…

As the timer began getting closer and closer to zero, Azura weaved through and in between buildings and other infrastructure. She slid down a pipe into an alley below. Izuku followed her with haste.

The light at the end of the alley resembled a finish line in his mind. Every step felt as if he got that much closer. And as he reached out his hand to make contact…

She grabbed the pole of a streetlight and quickly whipped herself out of the way.

Izuku glanced at her as he passed by, spying a small smirk on her face. He focused on where he was going once more to find a path back to her as quickly as possible before a realization hit him like a truck.

…he was focusing too much on the chase and not enough on the environment.

Izuku let out a surprised yelp just before he crashed into the wall surrounding Ground Gamma.

Luckily for him, while the outside face was fairly solid and sturdy, the side facing the training grounds had mats that, while resembling concrete from a distance, were very good at dispersing kinetic energy.

Although he did still effectively belly flop into it.

As he fell away from the wall, Izuku could feel the entire front of his body ache with pain. He landed on the ground with another grunt as he tried to regain his bearings.

He dully noted footsteps approaching him. It wasn’t until a second later that he remembered what was happening and began scrambling to tag his opponent. As he attempted to lunge at and tag her, a siren rang out across the arena.

“Time’s up!” the voice of Nezu called out.

[Music End]

Izuku felt the tension immediately leave his body as he flopped onto the ground once again, this time in defeat.

He laid there for a few moments in silence until he felt something poking him in the head. He turned to look at the offender to see Azura crouching down near his head.

“How you feeling?” she asked.

He let out a groan that swiftly turned into a sigh. “Exhausted.”

“And you’ve felt that way since the start, right?”

It sounded like a question, but Izuku knew what it really was. He just nodded in response.

Azura smirked again. “Glad we agree. Alright, let’s get you up.”

With that declaration, she rolled him over before putting her arms under his upper back and knees. Izuku realized he was being held in a princess carry and blushed. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was shushed before he could even utter a word.

“I warned you. I told you that training as hard as you were was a bad idea. These are the consequences.”

He closed his mouth after that. Izuku felt himself relax bit by bit as the constant rocking soothed his mind. The two were silent for a long while until Azura seized the opportunity.

“I’ve been there,” she stated simply.

Izuku hummed in confusion.

“The need to get stronger. I’ve been there. I perfectly understand what was going through your head.”

The inheritor looked up at the reincarnated with curiosity. She looked down at him with a sad smile.

“It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later. I’m telling you this because seeing you do the same thing frustrated me. You’re incredible with how much drive you have,” she complimented, causing Izuku to blush further, “but that alone isn’t going to save anyone if you work yourself into the ground. Believe me, I would know.”

Throughout her small speech, Izuku could tell that she wasn’t lying. He idly wondered what could cause her to experience such a thing. Her former quirklessness and the resulting abuse could be the reason, but it rang hollow in his mind.

“Which actually leads me to what I want from you,” she stated, interrupting his thought processes as he felt anxiety rise within him.

“Hey, don’t be like that. All I want is for you to take it easy the next couple of days. Rest and relax, that way you’re back up to one hundred percent for the Sports Festival.”

That… actually sounded nice in Izuku’s mind.

“Oh, and one more thing,” she started again as she laid him down on the stretcher so he could be taken to Recovery Girl. “You’re the one who’s gonna explain all of this to everyone.”

Izuku blinked as he continued to stare into the bluenette’s eyes. After a moment he let out a groan before plopping his head down.

He reluctantly agreed that he deserved that.

Chapter Text

Monday- Noon
Unnamed Bar- Kamino Ward

‘Dammit.’

‘Dammit, dammit, dammit dammit dammit dammitdammitdammitDAMMIT!’

‘…that damn Deku caused all of this.’

That had become a common thought in Katsuki’s mind over the past few days as he sat at the counter and stared up at the large TV up on the wall.

Ever since those articles about Aldera came out, people were starting to talk about it more and more.

Oh sure, the school was shitty, that much he would easily agree with. The teachers were absolutely boring, especially with the praise they gave him. It just became so generic after a while. Luckily his lackeys and the other shitstains at that school were more than qualified to fill the part. Not to mention that the education was shit. Katsuki had to take a few online courses just to not be bored.

That said, the one thing everyone got wrong was everything about him.

A bully. A villain. Him?

What a load of garbage.

And it was all Deku’s fault. He set all of this up. Why else would so many people vilify him instead of that quirkless, useless stalker?

Wait, no, the bastard’s not quirkless. That waste of space was hiding his quirk the whole fucking time.

Katsuki began growling in frustration at the thought. Deku had a quirk the whole damn time. Bet he’s just laughing now. Especially since he’s the one in UA and not Katsuki. Hell, the bastard got him thrown out.

If anyone’s the villain, it’s Deku.

But no. All those useless extras formerly in his class huddled around the useless Deku like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Especially Thief, that bitch.

And when he went to get his revenge at the USJ, he was not only stunned speechless, he was… beaten by Deku.

Deku of all people. The fucker was so useless, he could barely throw a ball with his quirk on the first day. Then suddenly, the bastard starts sparking up like Thief does. All he did was evade, which infuriated Katsuki, but something changed halfway through. It was like he got replaced by some kind of clone.

And then Thief went on to decimate a creature that could rival All Might, something he doubted despite how much the Number One Hero now pissed him off.

Even so, the scale of it all… as much as it pissed him off, Katsuki could admit he couldn’t do that… yet.

If someone like Deku could get his ass in gear, and someone like Thief could get to that level, then Katsuki could too, easily.

And that wasn’t ego talking either. He might’ve been beaten by Deku, but that was only because he was taken by surpise. Not to mention that he’s already beaten Thief once already. It didn’t matter if she had some bullshit power up, he could overcome that, easily.

That said, actually getting to that level is going to be a bit more difficult than he thought. He’s already destroyed the training area under the bar he was currently in. Misty said he would handle it, but it’s already been three days.

And he could even go out in public because of the constant stream of reporters deciding that they wanted to take a shit on him.

He let out a much louder growl.

All because of Deku.

And no one else can see it.

No one except…

”Fear not, Young Katsuki,” the voice from the TV off to the side called out. ”We will strike back against them. However, we must wait for the perfect opportunity first.”

The fucker was weird as shit in Katsuki’s opinion. Never showed his face and was almost revered by Handsy and Misty, but he was also the most sane aside from Katsuki.

He had to be if he could see the things Katsuki could.

“Fucking bastards still don’t know what they’re talking about,” he almost snarled out in frustration.

“While I could not be as crass, you are correct. The people have deluded themselves into this way of thinking, but we know the truth of this world.”

Katsuki still didn’t understand why he talked in such a roundabout way, but he still got the message.

Apparently the whole “League of Villains” shtick was just a front or something. Katsuki didn’t really care about the specifics.

The TV guy, or “Sensei” as Handsy called him, was labeled a villain after something or other and went underground. Handsy and Misty are similar apparently, though they were saved by their “Sensei”.

And now Katsuki was a part of that little club. Funny how that worked out.

He shook his head. While Handsy apparently had some beef with All Might, something Katsuki couldn’t fully understand even with his newer opinions of the Hero, the ultimate goal of the League was to tear down the current system and show everyone just how wrong they were. That was something the explosive blonde could easily get behind.

“That can wait for another time however. The Sports Festival is soon, an event that will be a perfect opportunity to observe our greatest obstacles. For now, I understand that you have been a bit stir crazy since the basement gym was… accidentally dismantled.”

That got Katsuki to perk up slightly.

“It is in an abandoned warehouse, but it should prove more than capable for your needs. Kurogiri?”

At the mention of his name, Misty appeared from the back where a large supply of alcohol and glassware were stored. “Sensei?”

“Please send Young Katsuki to the new training facility,” the voice from the TV requested.

“Of course,” the Mist Villain said as he complied, his hand extending and molding to create a portal to the designated destination.

Katsuki let out a vicious grin as he got up and made his way to the portal. He began cracking his neck as he stepped through.

When he came out the other side and saw the display in front of him, his grin grew even wider.

It would take some time, but he’d show those extras who the real Hero was.

===

The portal dissipated and flowed back into Kurogiri.

“Is there anything else you require, Sensei?” the mist man asked as he picked up a nearby dirty glass and began washing and polishing it.

“Not for the moment. Continue on as normal. But do make sure to give Tomura his lunch. His prosthetic is almost ready, so you should not need to do this much longer.”

“As you say,” Kurogiri replied before going off to do just that.

Behind the screen, All for One smiled. Tomura’s hate has grown oh so well. And Young Katsuki, while his status as a former UAU student has been tainted by his actions beforehand, the blonde’s willingness to work with him still signifies how even a potential Hero could be swayed to his side.

Not to mention how Nezu must be growing quite paranoid. A student goes missing on UAU grounds, a former Hero Course member at that. And another of that same course was also his spy. Granted that spy had not given him very much in the way of useful information since the USJ, but the mastermind supposed he couldn’t fault the spy. UA must be cracking down on information and operational security.

That or the kid was truly the idiot he pegged them out to be.

Oh well. He had plenty of time and resources to bring the mighty institution to its knees.

And no one would see it coming.

Chapter Text

Teachers’ Lounge
Tuesday- Noon

“Are you absolutely sure of this?”

“Yup. Got Nezu’s approval last week. This way no one has anything but themselves to blame.”

Saiko sighed. All Might did have a point. It was the day before the Sports Festival, and apparently the newbie Heroics teacher had the idea to have that day’s Heroics 101 class canceled.

“And you did not inform me of this decision beforehand because…” she trailed off.

“To be honest, it kind of slipped my mind,” the Symbol of Peace said while scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

Saiko stared for a moment before shaking her head. No matter how many times she’s spoken to Yagi Toshinori, she still had difficulty remembering that the man in front of her and the Number One Hero were the same person.

“Please just make sure to not leave me out of all decisions you make,” she requested with another sigh. “While I am merely a TA, I can’t assist if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Toshinori nodded his head. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll try to keep that in mind,” he affirmed to her.

Saiko slightly bowed her head in acknowledgment and gratitude. She stopped and thought for a moment before continuing. “With that said, I suppose I will excuse myself. While there may be a few days until the third years compete, I want to make sure I have all of my work done sooner rather than later.” With that, Saiko turned to take her leave.

“You can just say you’re going on a date with Kaminari,” Toshinori replied.

The TA suddenly stopped and whipped around back to the blonde who had a teasing smile on his face. Her own face began to heat up.

“I-I most certainly have no idea what you’re talking about!” she claimed as confidently as she could.

The skeletal man let out a short chuckle. “Hm. If that’s the case, then I guess I misheard Tsutsumi.”

Saiko stopped and blinked at the ludicrous statement that popped into her head. “Ms. Tsutsumi gossips?” she asked before she could stop herself.

Toshinori shrugged. “Wouldn’t really call it gossip. She overheard you two and thought that I should know.”

The intelligent young woman’s blush began to grow once again. “Ah, I can see how that would be important.”

The Pro waved off the intern. “Don’t worry about it. So long as you’re not biased towards him during class, I don’t see a problem with what you guys do outside of it. Just wanted to let you know.”

Saiko felt herself begin to relax at his statement. While students dating was not prohibited like it was at Ketsubutsu, a TA dating a student that they are supposed to teach could be see as a conflict of interest. But with All Might’s permission… “Oh, I see. Thank you. That actually does put me at ease,” she replied with a small smile.

“Of course,” he said before steam obscured his body for a moment. Giving a moment for the smoke to clear, the imposing form of All Might stood tall with a beaming smile. “Such is my duty as the Symbol of Peace! Now what are you still doing around here? Go have fun!”

The young woman let out a small chuckle at his antics before giving a mock salute. “Sir, yes sir. Have a good day, All Might.”

With a wave from him, she turned around and began walking away. As she was exiting the room, she pulled out her phone to see someone had texted her. When she opened the message, she was met with a picture of her boyfriend giving a thumbs up in ‘Whey’ mode with the caption “Whey you doing after school?”

If anyone asked later, she did not snort and giggle at the joke. She was far too dignified for that.

As Saiko closed the door behind her, Toshinori dropped back into his civilian form with a small smile of his own on his face. An alarm on his phone began to ring after a few seconds of quiet.

With a small curse, he shut it off and made his own way out of the door and towards the main gate. He couldn’t be late for this meeting.

===

Izuku was worried.

Okay, worried was an understatement. Problem was that he didn’t have a word to accurately summarize how he felt at the moment.

So, yeah. Worried.

The day had been going well enough, especially when everyone learned that there were no afternoon classes so they could rest up. Izuku could feel two pairs of eyes glare down on him from behind while a third glanced back at him at the announcement. He easily understood where the warnings came from.

After getting back to the dorms after their game of tag, Azura made it a point to not give Izuku any way to wiggle out of telling everyone what he had been doing with most of his spare time. Most of the class forced him onto the couch after his confession, and some did everything they could to keep him seated afterwards. Aside from Tenya, the most insistent were Momo, Ochako, and Yui.

He actually felt a little guilty. Apparently several people had already picked up on what he was doing and were worried for his health. It was also why he kept getting invited to join in on some fun and just relax. Even so, no one really wanted to force him into doing something he didn’t want to, especially when he felt even more uncomfortable about going out into places filled with lots of people so suddenly.

Tsuyu did state that she tried to tell him point blank, but a good portion of the class stopped her before she could do so. She gave up after a bit while saying that someone needed to hammer the point in to get him to listen.

That’s apparently when Azura took the matter into her own hands. The resulting experience, coupled with the long lecture from Recovery Girl about just what would happen to him should he try overworking himself like that again, did the job of hammering said point in all too well.

So yes, he got the message from the glares loud and clear.

That said, he then got a text from All Might to meet him in a private meeting room. Izuku didn’t know why or what the man wanted to talk about, but he listened anyway. When the Number One Hero and your predecessor tells you something is important, it was Izuku’s opinion that you listen.

So there Izuku sat in the room his mentor designated, patiently waiting despite his anxiety.

He was about to pull his phone out to check the time, but the door opened before he could do so. He first saw the familiar messy hair of his mentor. He was about to call out, but a quick glance to the side caused Izuku’s eyes to go wide.

“Mom?!” he yelps as he stands up.

The older greenette sent back an apologetic smile. “Sorry for dropping in like this sweetie.”

“It was actually me who called for this meeting, Young Midoriya.”

Izuku immediately turned to the blonde who was still holding the door open with a level of shock still expressed across his face.

“You’re not in trouble,” Toshinori assured. “You’re doing great aside from a few hiccups, but those were my fault.”

It took a few minutes for the mother and son pair to situate themselves across from the blonde teacher. After handing out a round of refreshments, the Symbol of Peace cleared his throat to bring the attention back onto him.

“I want to apologize to the both of you for this sudden meeting. Due to recent events, I sought to correct a mistake I’ve been making for quite some time with your son.”

“Pardon me Mr. Yagi, but what mistake? And how do you know Izuku?” the Midoriya matriarch interjected.

Toshinori let out a sigh. “I suppose I should start from the beginning. For starters, I met your son almost a year ago. The day of the Slime Villain incident to be precise.”

Recognition began to grow within Inko’s eyes. If Toshinori was reading her right, then she was most likely already beginning to piece everything together.

“Before I go further with that however, it’s best to show you who I am.”

Izuku could barely get a word out before the form of his mentor expanded and suddenly transformed into All Might.

“Pardon the sudden introduction, but yes, I am All Might. The Symbol of Peace and Number One Hero of Japan,” he stated while bowing his head.

“I-I-I…” Inko stuttered in confusion at the scene taking place in front of her. Izuku’s eyes quickly darted back and forth in panic, the inheritor desperately trying to figure out what his mentor was doing.

“Yes, I know this is a shock, but I assure you-“

“Imposter!”

Toshinori was taken aback by how sudden the accusation was. So much so that he accidentally reverted back to his civilian form.

“Granted everything I know about All Might is secondhand from Izuku, it’s Izuku. Even then, something like this is unbelievable,” Inko began muttering to herself after her outburst. She suddenly perked up. “But wait, it does make a certain amount of sense. All Might is never see out in public unless he’s on Hero business. He would obviously have a life outside of work, so changing his entire appearance and stature would easily allow him to walk about freely.”

She glanced up at the skeletal man who had been making several amusing yet frightening realizations. It was now obvious where Izuku got his mind and several of his habits from, but said mind is now pissed off and directed at dismantling him.

“Okay, okay, fine,” Inko finally stated after recollecting herself. “You’re All Might, and you’ve known my Izuku for the past year” she said whilst pointing at the skeletal man.

Toshinori nodded.

“If that’s truly the case,” she continued before pointing at Izuku, her tone turning more stern as the next words left her mouth, “why on earth did you never say anything about this, young man?! I knew that diet plan and training regiment you showed me came from somewhere, but I took you at your word when you said you found it online. I mean, other than meeting All Might and getting it from him directly, how else could you have possibly found it?”

“That is my fault, Ms. Midoriya,” Toshinori interrupted, drawing the mother’s attention back onto him. “Though it was unintentional, my words and actions to him were the main contributing factor. To be honest, not even I noticed it until a few weeks ago,” he explained.

Izuku tilted his head inquisitively at his mentor, silently yet obviously asking what could have possibly changed. Inko patiently waited for the man to end his thought.

“As silly as it sounds Ms. Midoriya, I never properly introduced myself to your son,” the blonde said while rubbing the back of his neck while his face became slightly flustered.

Inko blaunched. That wasn’t just silly, it was… absurd. “How do you go an entire year without introducing yourself?” she asked incredulously.

Toshinori let out a nervous laugh. “By the time the thought occurred to me, I thought I already had told him and just forgot. And every time he called me ‘All Might’, I thought it was just because he was a fanboy. It never crossed my mind that I didn’t actually tell him.

“I realized I was far too used to keeping secrets. I was too afraid of the worst case scenarios should they be exposed. And while I’m still afraid, I’ve also come to realize that it was inhibiting Young Midoriya’s growth. Not just as a hero, but as a person too,” he clarified as he sent a small smile to the stunned Izuku.

“So… this is what you wanted to tell me?” the Midoriya matriarch asked. “That All Might is not only my son’s teacher at school, but also his personal mentor?”

“No. Well, that’s not the whole story. To be quite honest, your son is my successor.”

Inko balked. “Your… what?”

Toshinori nodded his head. “Before we continue however, I believe it would be best to explain everything.”

Izuku immediately caught on to his mentor’s meaning. “A- um, Mr. Yagi, are you sure?”

“I should have done this from the beginning. And this will be the last time I do so. One for All is your quirk now, which means it’s your secret to share if you wish to do so.”

With that, the eighth wielder of One for All told her everything. About how he and Izuku first met, to every single detail about his apprentice’s training. But then…

“Young Midor- no, Young Izuku, I told you how our quirk was passed down, but I never told you its origins, did I?” the veteran Hero asked.

Izuku simply shook his head.

“Well, better now than never,” the blonde sighed. “Back at the beginning of the Dark Age of Quirks, when quirks were steadily becoming more and more common, there were two brothers. The younger one was quirkless and sickly, but he had a heart of gold. The older brother however, he held a power that many today would call godlike. With it, he could take and give quirks at will.”

Inko let out a small gasp. It had been years since she last heard of him, but one does not simply forget about the Boogeyman, the one who could give and take quirks as if they were candy.

Izuku on the other hand held his gaze with his predecessor with rapt attention.

“The older brother went on to establish a criminal empire, giving and taking quirks to buy his subordinates’ loyalty. Soon after, he had established the largest criminal empire Japan, quite possibly the world, had ever seen.

“The younger brother, with that same heart of gold, stood up to his brother, telling him that what he was doing was wrong. The older brother gave him a quirk that could stockpile power in an attempt to bring the younger onto his side.

“What neither brother expected was that the younger wasn’t quirkless. He possessed the ability to pass on his own quirk. That ability combined with the stockpile quirk, and became One for All as we know it.”

Despite Izuku being enraptured with the story being told to him, his inquisitive mind still ran at full capacity. With a moment, a significant question popped into the forefront of his mind. “But wait, if that’s what happened to the younger brother, then what about the older one?”

Toshinori chuckled. “I was just getting to that, my boy. The older brother still tried to get the younger one on his side, especially as One for All was now out of his control, but the younger brother in his last act of rebellion, passed the quirk onto another.

“Since then, the wielders of One for All have fought against the older brother and his subordinates. And in all that time, the older brother abandoned his old name and took up the one of his quirk: All for One. I thought the battle was over six years ago, but…

That last statement struck a chord with Izuku. “The villain that injured you… that was All for One?” Toshinori nodded. “Wait, it’s been… well over a hundred years since then, hasn’t it?” Izuku asked disbelievingly after doing some mental math.

“With a power like his, he can possess almost any quirk. And in the Dark Ages, while less common, there were a variety of quirks. He most likely found one that slowed his aging or made him functionally immortal. And as you can imagine, he gained quite a lot of power in the time he has lived,” the blonde explained while he lightly rubbed his wound in remembrance.

“I thought I killed him in our last clash, but if that Noumu creature from the USJ was any indication, he is still very much alive.”

Both Izuku and Inko were surprised when the emaciated man bowed his head.

“I apologize to the both of you. I thought he was dead, so I decided to leave that part of One for All’s history as just that. In doing so, I have made you a target, Young Midoriya.”

Izuku stammered out a denial after he regained enough of his bearings. “T-that isn’t your fault. You said you thought he was dead, right? Then it isn’t your fault in the slightest. And even if you told me everything, I still would have accepted.”

“Even with that being the case, I failed you,” the Symbol of Peace said as he shook his head. “I had wanted for my successor to live in a world without All for One.”

“You didn’t fail anyone!” Izuku claimed.

“No, I did, but I will make up for it by making sure that you never have to fight All for One, even if I die trying,” the man stated with conviction.

“No.”

The simple yet firmly stated word stopped both men in their tracks. In the exchange, both had been distracted and had forgotten about Inko as a result. That was a mistake Inko was going to rectify herself.

“Uh, what?” the veteran asked dumbly.

“You promised to help Izuku be the best hero he could be, correct?” she asked.

Toshinori nodded nervously.

“Then you’re going to live until he does so. That means no more talking about you dying to an ancient supervillain!” she stated while pointing at the Toshinori, the man blinking owlishly at the claim. “That’s the only way I’ll accept all of this, you got that!”

Toshinori continued to blink as he processed the statement. After several moments, a soft smile graced his lips before he gave a resolute nod. “Understood, Ms. Midoriya.”

The woman sighed as she let herself slightly relax. “Just call me Inko. Something tells me we’re going to be talking a lot in the future.”

The man nodded. “If that is the case, then I don’t mind if you call me Toshinori.”

“Good,” she said with a nod. “Now then…” she trailed off as her voice became far more… sinister. “I have some more questions, and no one is leaving until they are answered.”

At her tone, mentor and mentee both felt shivers crawl up their spines.

It was going to be a long day.

===
Freshmen Gen-Ed Dorms

Bed rest. Fucking bed rest.

Shinsou Hitoshi had no idea why his mentor told him to get some rest. The day before the festival is the day he should be pushing himself, but instead he was instructed to stay put.

He tried to do some of the exercises and moves he was taught, but they weren’t as successful as they would be if he had someone else with him.

So now he was sitting on his bed scrolling through his phone.

It was kind of funny that it felt weirder relaxing rather than working. He hadn’t had much free time since accepting his mentor’s offer. Sure, he still had time to study and do assignments, but that was about it. At least he was better than the lazy fucks downstairs partying away.

Most of them failed the Hero Course exams like he did. Unlike him, they gave up. While he agreed with their complaints that that whole shitshoe was biased, at least he got up and did something about it. Sure, he didn’t have the best of times before he met his mentor, but at least he was trying.

And thanks to all that training, he felt like he could actually show those showboaters in the Hero Course where they stood.

His train of thought was cut off when a video started playing.

“We didn’t ask to be attacked! We didn’t ask to be put into that situation in any way, shape, or form!”

“Hm?”

He paused it and checked the date it was posted.

“Ah, so that’s why,” the purplette muttered to himself.

Ever since he declared war on Class 1-A, a lot of people that antagonized them the day before seemingly shut up about it. The video he was watching explained the reason behind that change failrly clearly.

While Hitoshi always thought that some of the Hero kids could use a reality check that didn’t involve their cushy upbringings, he also understood that a villain attack, especially on the scale the USJ supposedly was, was no joke.

Acknowledging that didn’t make him like them any better however.

Hitoshi had one job tomorrow, and he’d be damned if he let anything slow him down.

==========
1-A Dorms
Late Afternoon

Izuku sighed as he made his way inside. His mother obviously had some questions… a lot of questions actually, but Izuku didn’t mind. Though he could tell All Might was trying desperately to not break out in a cold sweat.

Anyways, when one Midoriya Inko was satisfied, she finally put the conversation to rest. At that point the teacher and parent began discussing keeping in touch to better monitor his health. Izuku was grateful to Mina for sending that text asking where he was. While he was glad they were getting along, just sitting there while his mother and mentor just talked felt… weird for some reason.

Izuku decided to push that thought off to the side for later though. He had other stuff to think about.

He took a look around the common room briefly to see what chaos had developed since he separated from them.

Denki and Mina were laying their heads on the table while wearing defeated expressions. Those two alongside Eijirou and Kouji were finishing up any classwork they had left with Momo at the helm. It was obvious the class president wasn’t letting her classmates slack off.

Rikidou was in the kitchen preparing some sweets and desserts if the smell was anything to go by. He most likely wanted to treat everyone to something before their big day tomorrow.

That, or he was stress baking.

Anyways, a decent sized group was set up by the TV, the yelling and exclamations of vengeance making what they were playing obvious.

Off to the side of the group he saw Yui and Azura sitting quietly, the two sipping on the tea in their hands every so often. The pair noticed his staring looked over. Yui calmly waved at him in acknowledgement. Azura did so as well with her bandaged arm as her unbandaged one was busy holding her tea. Although unlike usual, she merely stared blankly at him for a moment before turning her attention back to the game, her expression not even twitching in all that time.

Izuku shook himself from his stupor and continued up to his room.

As soon as he reached the ground floor once again and made himself something to eat, he sat down to watch the chaos unfolding with a small, pleased smile on his face.

The veredette wasn’t sure when it happened, but over the weeks with his classmates, he came to enjoy their presence. Whether that was in the middle of the action or standing off to the side as a watcher, just being around all of them put him at ease.

Of course, throughout all of this, a single thought nagged at the back of his mind. Every time he focused on it too hard though, someone nearby would ask him if he was alright.

He didn’t know how much longer he could lie about it.

He heard his mentor, it was Izuku’s secret now, and thus he could tell anyone he wanted to. But once he tells them, there’s no going back. Does he even have a right to make that choice for them? Does he have the right to drag the ones he cares for into a fight that isn’t theirs to fight in the first place?

The thought alone scares him.

==========
1-A Dorms
Night

It wasn’t often that her daughter’s old mask came tearing its ugly head on its own, but when it did, Kayama Nemuri found it… difficult to go to sleep.

So there she was, sitting alone at the dinner table in an empty and dimly lit common room sipping on some tea in the hopes that it would help lull her to sleep. She absentmindedly stirred the liquid as she thought, her mind too distracted to recognize the presence behind her.

“The hell are you doing up so late?”

Nemuri jumped and was ready to go into a combat stance before she saw the figure of Tsutsumi in front of her. She let out a breath of relief before sagging in her chair.

“You really wanna know?” the mature woman asked.

The former assassin looked down at her seated coworker before shrugging. “Sure. Shoot.”

Nemuri began chuckling to herself. “You’re the one doing the shooting around here.” She stopped laughing when she saw Tsutsumi’s face twist into a grimace. “Ah… sorry. Didn’t mean to, uh…”

The pink-and-purplette shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Just some bad memories is all. Please, go on,” she diverted whilst pulling up her own chair.

“Right. Uh, ahem, as you’ve probably read from her file, Azura… didn’t have the best childhood. I’m not gonna get into specifics, but… it was bad.”

Kaina nodded her head slowly. She knew all too well what happened thanks to her boss and the girl herself, but she kept that under wraps.

“Anyways, she… shut off her emotions to help cope, and she did it for so long that… it sometimes takes over against her will. Those days are… hard,” Nemuri finally stated as she let out a deep sigh.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like she does anything bad or wrong during that time, but… seeing her like that, her eyes, her expression, everything, after seeing how expressive she can be… it unnerves me how anyone can be so cold and unresponsive,” the mother further explained with a slight shiver.

“Ah, I think I get it,” the former agent agreed. “And let me guess, it’s not helping you forget your other problems either.”

Nemuri startled again, her eyes staring at her coworker in surprise even as she made sure she didn’t spill her tea.

“I, uh- what- I don’t… That obvious, huh?” the adult icon asked after a moment after giving up.

“Not proud of how it happened, but I’m good at seeing through bullshit. Something’s been bugging you for a while now, and it’s not Azura’s trauma.”

Nemuri let out an exhausted sigh as she slumped back into her seat. The room fell into silence as the long-haired woman considered her next words.

“… Shouta. Aizawa Shouta, that is. I just… I should’ve tried to help him sooner.”

Kaina was genuinely curious about those words. The reincarnation and her new boss had plenty to tell her about the future and the shitstorm that would come should certain events come to pass. She even knew that Midnight was supposed to die in said shitstorm.

So hearing about the past, someone else’s past, intrigued her when it came from the mouth of that person. Sue her.

“I doubt it was your fault, but how so?”

Nemuri let out a soft chuckle. “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she replied before her expression turned more solemn.

“Back when I was still a student here at UA, I actually became friends with him and Mic. He was always so grouchy, even then, but I’d like to think we had a lot of fun. But… it wasn’t just us three in the beginning.

“Shirakumo Oboro. He was loud and sometimes wild, but I guess you could say he was the heart of our group. When the four of us were together, it felt like everything would be okay… until he died.”

Nemuri let out another sigh. “Shouta and him were on a mission together during a work study. Everything seemed to be going great until the whole building they were in started to come crashing down. Oboro pushed Shouta out, and Shouta… he blames himself for Oboro’s death.

“I tried to reach out, tried to help him, but he said he had everything under control. I… I believed him. The three of us graduated UA a few years later, and a few years after that, Nezu offered me a position as an art history teacher since that’s always been a passion of mine.

“Hizashi seemed to be doing well for himself as a radio host and his job as Pro Hero Present Mic. He seemed happy. Shouta was doing well as well, making waves as an Underground Hero. After a bit more time, I thought the two of them might like teaching too since they actually helped me out a lot when we were in school.

“Hizashi accepted immediately. Shouta took a lot more convincing, but I just thought he was being his normal brooding self. We all did. I don’t think I wanted to see it at first, but…” she wiped a tear from her eye before continuing.

“Anyways, a few years after all of that, I adopted Azura. I didn’t even want kids, but when I met her… something inside of me just told her to take her in. And that’s when I started to see the problems.

“The Shouta I knew was caring to a fault. He only really acted dark and brooding to make people underestimate him. But the one I began to see after having to deal with numerous therapists and irritating middle school teachers was… different.”

“He… didn’t get over it, did he?” Kaina softly asked.

Nemuri gazed into Kaina’s eyes for a moment before looking away. A simple shake of her head was all the former assassin needed.

“I… confronted him about it, telling him that being so harsh was causing so many people pain. All he said was that he was trying to prevent another Oboro. I honestly felt sick after first hearing it.

“I tried all over again to get him help, but he adamantly refused every single time. Even Hizashi began trying after a little while.

“Shouta… all he cared about was work and sleep. I tried to get him to meet Azura a few times in the beginning, but sometimes it felt like he wasn’t even paying attention. All he cared about was catching the next villain or how to ‘simulate death’ for his next class.

“And I- I could’ve stopped it if- if I just… if I just…”

Nemuri started to quietly cry as all her stress and pent up grief started to spill out.

Kaina patted her shoulder in an awkward attempt to comfort her, but the crying woman took it a step further and hugged the former assassin. Kaina froze at the contact, completely clueless on how to comfort the art teacher.

Almost instinctively, she slowly began to snake her arms around the seductress's back as her mind attempted to figure out what to do from there.

“Uh, like I said, it’s not your fault. If he actually wanted them to survive, then he would have taught them,” she attempted to soothe. Even to her socially awkward ears, her words were definitely not the best start. She desperately tried another approach.

“And it isn’t your responsibility to make him get help. Sometimes… sometimes people don’t want to be helped. And sure, sometimes someone can out-stubborn them and get them that help anyways, but there are times where…

“Some people just don’t want to be saved.”

===

A void.

Thanks all he could think of to describe his surroundings.

A blank, dark, endless void. Nothing around him, and not enough light to even tell if there was anything at all. It didn’t even feel like he was standing on anything.

The matte color was suddenly broken by eight dots of light in the sky. Almost like stars. They were all different colors too. From a rich purple to a pure white that seemed to be tinted somehow, as if looking through a filter. They were all quite beautiful actually.

But there was something… off about them.

He kept turning and turning, looking at one, then another, and then another. He couldn’t put his finger on it until he saw… people.

People in the stars.

Of course, that’s when it hit him.

The stars were getting closer.

Closer and closer. Bigger and bigger.

The people within them did so as well. Even so, he couldn’t see any distinct features beyond silhouettes.

One looked tall, another was muscular. One looked lanky, another was tall. The rest were a combination of those features, although the most unique one was a woman.

That didn’t distract him from the obvious however.

They were still getting closer.

Faster and faster.

Bigger and bigger.

He tried to close his eyes to no avail.

The stars grew and grew. Their brightness doing so as well.

Just as he began to make out the faces of the figures, all of the stars touched, and the void was replaced by pure white.

===

Izuku awoke with a start, forcing himself up the moment consciousness returned to him.

He sat breathing deeply as his body was drenched in a cold sweat.

Within a matter of moments, he was fully awake and aware of himself and his surroundings. He clutched his head in confusion, knowing that a dream had forced him awake, but said dream was nothing but a haze within his mind.

After taking a few more moments to calm down, he checked the time. It was a bit earlier than he usually got up, but that wasn’t an issue.

He just hoped he woke no one else up.

==========
UA Colosseum- 1-A Prep Room
Wednesday- Minutes before the Opening Ceremony

A majority of class 1-A talked amongst themselves, simultaneously hyping themselves up and attempting to keep calm with the fact that they were just about to be in the UA Sports Festival.

The contradictory and fluctuating emotions in such a small area actually made Azura feel a little seasick. Nothing too serious. It would resolve itself when things got underway.

That said, the resident Green Bean was more subdued than usual. He was like that yesterday afternoon, she noted, but she chose not to delve too deeply. The guy deserved his space.

Plus, he knew he could go to her about anything with how much she’s already stuck her nose into his business. Despite the irony and circumstances, he could have his own secrets.

Of course, that’s when everything seemed to go back on script for the bluenette.

“Midoriya, Highlander,” Todoroki called out, drawing the attention of the class to him.

Izuku squeaked in surprise as a response.

“Sup?” Azura acknowledged.

“You two are some of the strongest of our class. That means I’ll defeat you,” the half-and-half young man said almost coldly. Todoroki turned around and began making his way to the door until he was interrupted.

“If you think we’re the only threats, then you’re severely underestimating everyone else here.”

The young man stopped and turned his mismatched eyes to the speaker. Izuku stood confidently, determination almost spilling from his gaze alone.

“I don’t care what your reasons are, but a word to the wise, don’t discount everyone else around you just because you think they’re weak. You’ll regret it one day.”

Mismatched grey and blue eyes bore into the unflinching pair of green, silence dominating the space until a short laugh broke the tension.

“Hah! Couldn’t have said it better myself Green Bean!” Azura claimed as she slung an arm across Izuku's shoulders, the reincarnated young woman wearing a proud smile the whole time. Izuku began to blush at the contact as several of his classmates joined in.

“That’s what I’m talking about! Manly!”

“Just wait till I blind you! You can’t hit me if you can’t see!”

“You’re invisible anyways, Tooru.”

“Let me at 'em! Let me at ‘em!”

“Such camaraderie! I am honored to witness this with my own eyes!”

“Yeah! Try to stop us! You’ll be shocked when you don’t!”

“Ughhhh, that was so bad.”

Todoroki scanned his cheering classmates. He shook his head.

“Class 1-A, please report to the entrance for the opening ceremony! I repeat, Class 1-A, please report to the entrance for the opening ceremony!”

And with that, the ones that weren’t already prepared got their game faces on and lined up.

===

“Gooood Morning, Listeners! I’m Present Mic, and I will be your announcer for today! And with me as my co-host, we have the illustriooouuus Lady Nagant!”

“How you got me to do this, I have no idea.”

“Hah! I love your dry sense of humor!”

“Right, yeah. Humor.”

“Anyways, I hope you guys are ready for the first day of UAU’s annual Sports Fest!!!”

Cheers erupted from the massive crowd in the stadium. And as Mic continued the introduction, several students lined up at the entrance to the stadium's field found themselves hyperventilating.

“So many people,” Ochako observed with a disbelieving voice. Momo stood next to her in silent support.

“Man, this is pumping me up!” Eijirou exclaimed.

Izuku himself was caught up in the moment, his mind reassuring himself that after so long, he’s finally here.

A hand bumping into his own shook him from his thoughts. He looked down to see a bright-eyed Yui staring back at him. Even without a word, her eyes said everything.

“We’ve got this.”

With a deep breath, Izuku’s eyes began to burn with determination once more.

“And now, let me introduce the freshmen that will capture your hearts! First up, we’ve got the ones that experienced villains first hand survived: Class 1-A!” Mic called out in excitement, the crowd cheering alongside him.

With that, the class mentioned began to make their way to the podium at the center as directed.

“While they didn’t get to show those villains what for, they’ll sure as hell give it all they’ve got! Give it up for Class 1-B!”

The cheers were slightly more subdued, but there were still plenty in the audience ready and waiting to see what 1-B was capable of.

“Next up, they may be called General Education, but you guys better watch your backs! Who’s to say they won’t outpace you with their hands tied behind their heads! Give a round of applause for Gen-Ed!

“With their technical know-how, they can outthink any situation we can throw at them! With machines and machinations up their sleeves, give it up for our guys in Support!

“And last but not least, they may not be fighters, but their quick minds can hit with deadly precision! If you think you can succeed without them, then you’re dead wrong! Give our boys and girls in Business a standing ovation!”

It took an entire minute for the clapping and cheers to finally come to a stop. And as the final students found their place on the field, not many could find it in them to complain about their introductions. They were true after all.

“And now, our referee for today’s games is none other than UAU’s magnificent Rescue specialist: Thirteen!”

Though the cheers were more subdued, they were no less enthusiastic.

Thirteen tapped the mic they had on the podium to gather everyone’s attention.

“Today, our student pledge will be made by Fate-Breaker.”

The collective student body all looked from one person to another to figure out just who the mentioned student was. As they too had to come up with code-names of their own, they weren’t as surprised by the name as the audience was.

Class 1-A on the other hand looked towards Azura who had begun her trek up to the podium.

Mina tilted her head in curiosity. “Wait, why is she doing it again?”

“It was most likely due to the fact that she scored the highest on the practical portion of the Hero Entrance Exams,” Momo chimed in.

“Should’ve just been the highest grade on the written if you ask me,” a disgruntled Gen-Ed student claimed.

A tap of a mic cut everyone off as Azura cleared her throat.

“Alright, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best at writing speeches.” She stopped for a moment to let those in the crowd who found her statement humorous to get the chuckles out of their systems.

“And honestly, as much as I want to call out the idiocy of holding the Sports Fest mere weeks after an attack, those of you in the audience are gonna have to take over that debate. I’ve barely got any free time as is,” she stated while scratching her nose.

The audience in the stands and her fellow students standing in front of her were taken aback at how casual her statement was.

“That said, there are actually a few things I want to say before we start.” Azura took in a deep breath and let out a sigh before her eyes scanned the audience.

“UA was attacked. That’s not a surprise to anyone here. However, notice what I said: the League of Villains didn’t just attack one of the first year Hero classes, they attacked UA itself. Sure, the entire student body wasn’t at the USJ, but that’s not what I'm getting at.

“Everyone here was picked out of thousands of applicants. Just think about that. Thousands failed where everyone here succeeded.” Azura felt her lips briefly twitch into a smile when she saw some of the students become contemplative. Some even brightened at her words, as if the realization didn’t occur until that very moment.

“The Support course and all of the wacky inventions they have and will come up with. They’ll be at the forefront of engineering sooner than you’d think,” she said while pointing at the students with gadgets strapped to them, some more giddy than others to test them out and show their stuff.

She then shifted to the largest crowd of students that kept themselves separated from the Hero classes. “Then there’s the people in Gen Ed that are taking on some of the most difficult classes in the country. Whether it be as doctors, lawyers, a tradesman, or anything else they put their minds to, they’ll be the ones shaping the country’s future.” Some looked shocked at the finality of her statement.

”And let’s not forget our analysts in the Business course. While they’re a bit more specialized than Gen Ed, I doubt many people here can do what they can.” She spotted two guys high fiving each other at the acknowledgement.

“And last but not least, the Hero Course. Ours is a heavy burden. But if you think any of us are gonna back down for even a second, you’re dead wrong.” Her declaration stirred a reaction within many of her classmates and those of 1-B. Determination rose to meet her statement head on and make it a reality.

“The League tried to scare us, all of us, but I say we don’t let them. It’s time we scare them.

“All of us here are at our own starting lines. What you do next is up to you. And if someone out there thinks they can take control of your future, I say screw them! Fate can take a hike for all I care!

“I’m gonna give today everything I’ve got! No, not just today, but every day after too!

“Go Beyond!”

“PLUS ULTRA!”

After the entire stadium recited the school’s motto, all that came after was indecipherable yet excited noise.

The crowd of students looked far more determined now as many who were content with just throwing the contest were now raring to go.

It was a beautiful thing in Azura’s opinion. With her thoughts now out in the open and with nothing else to say, she handed the mic back and descended the steps. Azura could see a thankful Kyouka staring at Momo as she made her way back.

“‘Not good with speeches’ eh?” Mina asked with a devilish smirk.

“Even a broken clock is right twice a day,” the bluenette casually answered.

“Alright everyone!” Thirteen loudly stated into their microphone to bright attention back to them. “Let’s get this started!”

At their words, a giant roulette wheel with a level on its side rose from the ground behind the podium. Each section was labeled with a different event.

“Alrighty folks, let’s give Thirteen a proper countdown!” Mic cried from his booth. “I’ll start. 5!

“4!” he paused slightly to let the crowd take over. They did not disappoint.

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

“0!”

And with that, Thirteen pulled the lever and the wheel spun.

Those capable of keeping track of it saw events like paintball, extreme frisbee, and disco derby(?) all passed the flew past the arrow that would determine their future.

The ticking of the pegs hitting the arrow grew slower and slower until it eventually landed on an event.

“The first event is an obstacle course!” Thirteen announced.

Azura tilted her head. ‘Seriously? I told Nezu about this a long time ago.’ Her curious expression turned deadpan after a second. ‘Wait, what am I thinking? The rat obviously changed it.’

“The rules are simple,” Thirteen began after allowing the crowd to calm down once again. “There is a course that loops around the stadium. Get to the finish line first, and you win. Simple, right? Unfortunately, that’s where the simplicity ends.

The course is made up of three sections. In each section, there are a large number of badges specific to that section. If you cross the finish line without a badge from each section, you will not, I repeat, NOT qualify for the second event.”

The large crowd of students began to whisper amongst themselves. Suddenly someone from Gen-Ed raised her hand.

“Is it possible for a group to pass with only three badges?”

“Each person must have their own set of badges to qualify.”

Someone from 1-B raised their own hand next.

“What about stealing badges from someone else?” a voice Azura could only think of as obnoxious called out. A distant “that’s unmanly!” followed a second later.

“Good question. While it’s possible for contestants to trip each other up and steal badges from one another, outright hostilities are banned. You don’t believe me, try it.”

That statement got a few more aggressive students to tone it down a notch.

After a few more moments, Thirteen spoke again.

“If that’s all the questions you have, then I recommend getting to the start line. It’ll start faster than you think!”

With that crowds of students began clamoring over one another to get to the gate that had lit up to signify it as the start.

“Hey, Green Bean?!” Azura called out through the increasing chaos.

The verdette looked over to the one that called him near instantly.

As the countdown to start kept ticking away, she slowly walked over to him with a smirk on her face.

“How about a bet? Loser treats the winner to lunch?”

Izuku blinked in confusion. After a moment, he let out a smirk of his own. “I won’t lose this time.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Tick

Tick

Tick

Bzzzt!

With the alarm to signal the start, two sets of colored lightning flared into existence and dashed up and over the crowd swarming the gate.

The USU Sports Festival was now underway.

==========
Autapu Youth Center
Several Minutes Ago

“C’mon man, you’re so boring,” a young brown-haired man complained. “You’ve got a girlfriend but don’t share details, you don’t do anything besides your community service, and you refuse to watch the UA Sports Fest every year! I mean, who does that?!”

“And I keep telling you that watching that shit is a waste of time,” a blonde man replied in agitation, his amber eyes boring into brunette.

The brunette waved him off, turning back to the TV mounted on the wall of the building’s common area. “You’re such a damn buzzkill, you know that? They gave us the day off to watch this.”

“Didn’t know, don’t care,” the blonde retorted, “And while I’m happy about the day off, it’s just one more day until I can get out of here. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“I get wanting out of this shit, but fuck you’re weird. Oh, damn, that Fate-whatever girl looks pretty hot, not gonna lie!”

Despite his dislike, his natural curiosity caused him to glance at the TV mounted on the wall. He was about to chalk her up to just another random bitch until something familiar caught his eye.

“Those eyes…” he muttered to himself.

‘They’re far more expressive than I remember, but that fire… it hasn’t dimmed one iota.’ He began to darkly chuckle under his breath.

A feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time began to grow within him. If she was there, then…

Maybe it was time to start his own plans. It was a bit earlier than he expected, but there was an opportunity in doing so.

He was taken out of his musings by a familiar head of black hair. Her pout would have been cute for anyone else. “Babe, you’re looking at other girls,” she complained.

“Just a coincidence, a trick of the eye,” he casually dismissed.

“Then why were you staring so long,” the young woman said with a strained and almost deadly tone.

The man threw an arm around the woman’s shoulders and put his lips close to her ear. “I was just thinking that now would be a good time to get out,” he breathily whispered

The ravenette seemed to have shivered in delight at those words. Her face turned from its previous harsh scowl into a much more blissful expression. “Oh?”

“Everyone is watching the UA Sports Fest, which means that our captors aren’t paying as much attention. It’d be the perfect distraction to get out of this hell hole.”

The woman hummed. “Sounds good baby. When should we get started?” She moaned out when the man lowered his arm to begin kneading her ass. The woman sensually bit her lip as she looked up into the man’s eyes with a pleasing look.

“Later. Let them fall into a false sense of security first. In the meantime, we’ll be busy,” he explained before lowering his head down to the girl. She let out another soft moan and met his lips with her own.

Oh, she loved when he said stuff like that to her.

Chapter Text

“Okay, so it’s uh… this way. Then I just gotta make a left and then… take the second right. I just hope the map is actually right. It’d be embarrassing otherwise.”

The woman muttered to herself as she walked through the hallways of UAU’s stadium. In one hand she held a ticket with her section and seat numbers. In the other was her phone with a general map of the stadium itself pulled up.

Being there for the Sports Festival wasn’t her first choice in activity for the day, but with no one using the tickets and her own school out for the next few days to watch the event that replaced the Olympics of old, she decided she might as well. She just wished getting to her seat wasn’t so complicated.

After the last few turns, she finally made it to one of the private seating sections. After scanning her ticket, the doors in front of her slid open.

The noise that followed wasn’t overbearing or loud. It was at a much more reasonable level in her opinion. It made sense as she saw that there were mostly adults present talking amicably to one another. This made sense as the section was soundproofed to keep out the noise of the crowd outside.

The sight was a little strange to be honest. Nothing was wrong with it per se. It was just strange to see the wealthy or influential families being the minority in such a setting.

“Oh my,” someone gasped out nearby. She turned to see where the voice came from and was met with a plump green-haired woman sitting next to a woman with spiky blonde hair and a brunette man.

“Sorry,” the verdette quickly apologized. “I didn’t mean to be rude. I just wasn’t expecting someone so young to be a mother.”

“Oh, n-no, I’m not a mother,” she stammered out before dropping into a slight bow. “My name is Todoroki Fuyumi. My brother is participating today.”

The plump woman began blushing furiously. “I-I’m so sorry! I thought with only the parents showing up, I hadn’t given what I said too much thought.”

Fuyumi looked off to the side to observe some of the room’s other occupants. “I can see how you could make that assumption. I thought it would be a good way to get out of the house for the day since no one else was using them, and I had nothing else going on.”

“Ah, I get it,” the blonde agreed while nodding. “Our brat’s not in it, but Inko over here somehow got us some tickets,” she said whilst pointing at the greenette.

“Oh! Where are my manners?” she asked herself rhetorically. “I am Midoriya Inko. And these two are Bakugou Mitsuki and Masaru,” she introduced whilst gesturing to the woman and man respectively.

“Nice to meet you,” Fuyumi greeted with a soft smile before sitting down. That’s when a thought crossed her mind. “Wait, Bakugou? As in…”

Mitsuki let out a long, weary sigh. “Yup. Bakugou Katsuki’s our son. Though, after everything we found out, and him joining that League of Villains, I don’t know if he’s our kid anymore.” Masaru nodded solemnly next to her.

“Oh, I see,” the white and red-haired young woman responded.

As a student teacher who deeply cared for her profession, Fuyumi took a special interest in both Honderlaan and Aldera. The stories of the kids who were relentlessly bullied and beaten down by the very places that were built to nurture them sent pangs of pain through her heart.

At the same time, the story of one Bakugou Katsuki made her, metaphorically, burn in barely concealed rage. How someone could be so unrepentantly cruel at such an age, she will never understand.

Although, she could tell he was easily manipulated by his environment. Fuyumi was just grateful that it wasn’t his parents that pushed him into being that way. With that fact in mind, one could say that he was a victim of Aldera as well.

If only he had worked with UA and not become a villain. The fact saddened her as much it angered her.

Even so, there was not much anyone could do now. Despite his upbringing, he was now a legal adult. He’s had plenty of time to see the cruelty of his actions. The fact that he hasn’t only solidified his position in many people’s minds.

“Well,” Fuyumi continued after a moment, “let’s just hope he turns in and himself doesn’t hurt any more people,” she said with cautious optimism.

Mitsuki wore a tired smile on her face as she responded. “Thanks, but knowing that brat, he’s gonna go down swinging if he thinks he’s in the right.”

Fuyumi wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that. Sure, she was trained to help comfort kids when needed, but the situation was very different for several reasons.

“Ah, well…”

She was prevented from saying anything further when the door to the VIP area opened once again. A moment later, a woman with very long, flowing violet hair tied up in a ponytail stepped in with a slightly anxious expression.

“Has it started yet?” the new woman asked suddenly.

Before anyone could answer, the voice of Present Mic started ringing out across the stadium. The woman sighed in relief before seating herself down near Fuyumi. The dual-haired young woman glanced over curiously before turning her attention back to the field. As she watched the various courses march out into the open, she couldn’t help but feel like she recognized the woman.

It was only when Thirteen was revealed to be the referee that it finally clicked in her mind.

“Wait, you wouldn’t happen to be Midnight, right?”

The purplette glanced at her for a second before chuckling softly. “Yup. Guess it took you a minute since I’m not in costume.”

That was an understatement. In comparison to her usual, risqué public attire, what the woman was wearing at the moment was far more conservative. Regular blue jeans topped by a t-shirt and a light jacket. The ponytail only served to further the distance between the two identities.

“The name’s Kayama Nemuri while I’m like this,” the woman clarified after a moment.

“Todoroki Fuyumi,” she replied with a slight bow.

Another announcement came after their exchange which caused Kayama to perk up and look back down at the field before looking up to watch the TVs that were playing the event live. Fuyumi did the same to see a student now on the central stage giving the student’s pledge.

The beginning comment was certainly unexpected and the end was quite ambitious, but the overall message was sound. And it was apparently well received as well if the faint cheers that came through the thick glass surrounding the private box were anything to go by.

“That girl just loves causing drama, I swear,” the off-duty Hero next to her said with an exasperated yet fond smile on her face.

Fuyumi turned to look back at the speaker and tilted her head in confusion. “I take it that you know her?”

Nemuri perked up at the question. “Did I say that out loud?” the violette asked the slightest bit flustered. Fuyumi nodded. “Well, yes, I do. In fact, she’s my daughter.”

“Oh really,” she acknowledged before glancing back at the screen, the image of the blue-haired young woman remaining for a moment before switching back to Thirteen.

“Oh, then that must make you Midnight,” Inko suddenly stated, which caused Fuyumi to jump.

Nemuri let out a small laugh before responding. “Kayama Nemuri. I’m the local art history teacher. And going by the hair and eyes, that must make you Midoriya Inko.”

The portly mother nodded in affirmation. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Same. I’m Bakugou Mitsuki, and this is my husband, Masaru,” the Bakugou matriarch introduced before she suddenly stood and bowed. “We’re sorry for all the trouble Katsuki may have caused.”

Nemuri waved her and a mid-bow Masaru off. “I know it wasn’t your fault. Honestly, Aldera’s lucky Nezu kept me off the case,” the 18+ Heroine growled out with a scowl.

“Oh my,” Inko lightly gasped. “I hate to pry, but did you…”

Nemuri shook her head. “I don’t mind, and Azura herself said she doesn’t, but…” the woman trailed off, seemingly weighing her options, before sighing. “Before becoming Highlander Azura, she first went by the name Kobayashi Yuuki.”

Inko and Fuyumi both loudly gasped while the Bakugou couple blanched. With the parallels between Aldera and Honderlaan, one name in particular became much more well known. It’d be difficult to find a parent or teacher who didn’t know it.

“She’s doing a lot better nowadays, but… some days are still better than others,” Nemuri continued through the relative silence.

“I... understand,” Inko called out after a moment before letting out a sigh herself. “Izuku has been doing much better since leaving Aldera, but I’m still worried about him backsliding.”

That’s when a soft chuckle left Nemuri’s lips. “He’ll be fine. He’s got some good friends, Azura included. If anyone’s gonna keep him on track, it’s her. Though, with how distant she seemed with most of her classmates through high school, I’m honestly surprised how quickly she latched on to him.”

“I suppose you’re right. Izuku’s told me how much they’ve helped him almost daily. I’m honestly grateful,” the Midoriya matriarch agreed. Whether through text or a phone call, that son of hers always managed to slip something in about his new friends. It almost brought her to tears thinking about that.

“Ooh, it’s about to start!” Mitsuki called out to the rest of the group.

That certainly go their attention.

===

[Recommended Music: Undefeatable]
[ https://youtu.be/IWmapG_rAQ8?si=o7WedODzfF1snqkL ]

Tick

Tick

Tick

Bzzzt!

The tunnel leading out of the stadium was chaotic at best. Students were all pushing one another to reach the other side.

“And we’re off to the races!” the voice of Present Mic exuberantly exclaimed from the stadium’s speakers. “But here’s the tricky part! Where’s the first obstacle?!”

“That depends on the definition of an obstacle,” Kaina played along, although she had a much calmer tone. “Some say that obstacles are things the organizers put in the way to slow down the contestants. In reality, the runners themselves are an obstacle as well.”

Cameras showing the inside of the tunnel showed that to be very much true. Dozens of students packed themselves like sardines in order to make it to the front. This made it difficult for most of those behind them to get past and make their way forward.

The chaos came to an abrupt end when many found their feet frozen to the ground.

Gasps of shock rang out through the tunnel as people turned their focus from getting to the front to getting unstuck. All the while, a half-red-half-white-haired young man created an ice ramp to get over the mob of participants.

Todoroki exited out the tunnel first and kept a steady yet swift pace to create more distance. Before he could get too far however, the sound of a large blast originated from within the tunnel before a voice called out to him.

“Hope we didn’t keep you waiting!”

Trails of green and blue electricity burst through the exit a moment later. Several dozen people followed shortly after. He wasn’t surprised in the least that his classmates avoided his little trap. Just as he had been observing them, they observed him. He was slightly annoyed that the other Hero class managed to dodge or break through. It was to be expected though, they were effectively his colleagues. What he didn’t expect was what came after.

A wave of other various runners started trickling out the exit until dozens more began to pour out into the open air themselves.

Todoroki glowered at the sparking duo as it didn’t take him long to figure out what happened. The loud boom he heard earlier was their attempt at a mass breakout. By cracking the ice and the ground under it, the obstacle he had created to get ahead had weakened significantly.

He continued to frown at the pair with narrowed eyes, even as they zipped by with their enhanced speed. He growled as he began generating small pillars to help propel himself forward and to and trip up those behind him.

“Holy Cow! Talk about a back and forth!” Mic called out with his usual enthusiasm.

“We’ve only just started too,” Kaina commented. “They’re almost to the first section too. Speaking off…”

“Huh? Oh, right! First up on the docket is ‘City Escape!’”

Down on the field, Azura almost tripped when she heard the name.

“Not only will our lovely contestants have to track down badges, they’ll have to do it in a miniature mock city!”

“At least it’s easier than navigating the subway.”

“Seriously, where the hell does UA find the money to do this kind of stuff?” a Gen-Ed student complained.

Nearby, Momo shivered as she could easily imagine Nezu simply cackling as his only response. She shook her head to dispel her distracting thoughts. Not a moment later, she pulled out a regular bike from her stomach before hopping aboard her creation. It wasn’t as fast as one with a motor or her more speed orientated friends, but it was much faster than simply hoofing it.

As that was happening, several others came up with their own plans to get ahead.

Ochako had gripped onto Tenya before he began speeding off. As removing her would require him to stop, he decided to let her hitch a ride as she wasn’t causing much trouble anyways since she used her quirk on herself.

Hanta used the ice pillars and other patches of ice that Todoroki made on the ground to effectively skate forward. It was a bit precarious, and the tape could slip off, but it did ultimately allow him to pull ahead.

Tsuyu did something quite similar by jumping from pillar to pillar to stay above the crowd.

And those were only a few examples.

Up at the front, Izuku and Azura had finally made it to the small faux city and began looking around.

‘Hm, it seems Nezu made these things deliberately difficult to detect. I’m not sensing anything. Oh well,’ the reincarnated bluenette thought to herself before sighing. As she jumped down from the rooftop she used for recon, she noticed something glinting on top of a street light. After approaching, she lightly, for her, hit it to shake whatever was up there off.

When she caught and got a good look at it, her expression turned blank.

‘Better be glad Sega isn’t around anymore. Copyright’s a bitch,’ she thought before staching the miniature goal ring from Sonic Adventure 2 in her pocket.

With one badge in hand, she sparked up again and bolted away from the newly-dented lamppost.

Good timing too as many of the participants she had left behind had finally caught up.

===

Tenya dashed through the faux city as he went from street to street running for the exit after obtaining a badge he had found under a crumpled newspaper. Truly UA’s attention to detail was astonishing. If his sense of duty had not caused him to pick up the piece of litter, he doubts he would’ve been able to move on. At the very least he didn’t have to fight over the badge when he found it as Ochako let go of him as soon as they entered the area. He hoped that the brunette found a badge of her own.

Of course, he shouldn’t have expected his quick exit to go smoothly.

He barely noticed the condensed ball of smoke before its impact. Thankfully whoever threw it wasn’t a good shot as the ball impacted the fence several meters in front of him. As the smoke cleared, Tenya noted a small dent in the metal fence.

“Well well well, lookie what we have here. You got any badges?”

The speedster turned to face a relatively plain looking individual that he assumed was from Gen-Ed. With his average, thin build and black hair, the only striking detail about him was the orange sclera in his eyes.

“I do not see how that is any of your concern,” Tenya replied.

“You didn’t deny it. And since you’re going to the exit, it’s safe to assume you’re leaving. In that case...”

Within seconds, a new sphere began forming in his opponent’s hands before it rocketed off towards Tenya. It wasn’t too difficult to dodge as it was highly telegraphed and, again, the guy wasn’t good at aiming.

As Tenya came to a stop, he observed his opponent closely as another ball began growing in his hands.

‘He seems to be a sort of aeromancer. He’s collecting air from around himself, compressing it, then throwing it as if it were a ball. However, the dust is mixed in, making it visible. From his throws, it’s obvious he does not have very good control over it. Although I wonder if that’s all he can do…’

Deciding to not focus too hard on the specifics, Tenya instead turned to run away and continue on. Luckily he kept his eyes on the Gen-Ed student as the young man threw yet another sphere.

“Oi, I didn’t say you could run away!”

“Unfortunately for you, I am the one who doesn’t need to fight,” the tall bluenette retorted.

“Yeah, well, all I’ve gotta do is take that badge. You on the other han-gh!“

The aeromancer found himself knocked out before he could finish his sentence. Tenya blinked in surprise when the young man fell over to reveal Eijirou behind him.

“Hey man! Saw this guy attacking you, so I thought I'd help out,” the manly redhead explained.

“Yes, I see that. I just did not notice you.”

Eijirou began scratching his cheek nervously. “Y-yeah. Ms. Tsutsumi’s been getting onto me about doing more sneak attacks. And well, she was right. Dude went down without a fight.” He shook his head. “Nevermind. You’ve already got a badge, right? Then get going!”

After a moment of contemplation, Tenya nodded. “Thank you. I will not forget this!”

The speedster ran off a second later, the sturdy young man doing the same in a different direction.

===

“Next up we’ve got the Rise and Fall! Every single one of our dear students must climb up the mountain to reach the top! There, they’ll find their next badge. But don’t be fooled! Just like a normal mountain, there are multiple ways up! The big question is, do you wanna go fast and dangerous, or slow and steady!”

Ochako would’ve gawked if she wasn’t already used to UA’s antics. What stood before her was definitely a mountain, if barely. And at the top stood a small lodge that probably housed the badges.

Drawing her gaze downward, she noted several paths she could take. First and foremost were stairs that twisted and winded through the artificial cliffs and caves until it eventually made it to the top. Obviously the safest thanks to the railings and nets, but definitely the slowest and most tiring.

Next were several rock climbing walls that went from the ground straight up to the lodge. Much faster as it was a straight line, but with so few rest spots, one could easily fall all the way back down to the bottom. The only solace was the harnesses near the bottom and the padded ground to soften any landings.

The third and final option was a series of plateaus that could be scaled by an assortment of ladders and ropes that progressively got more difficult to climb. It was almost like a giant staircase.

Of course, one could be like the front runners and just scale the mountain itself. Ochako sighed as she saw her friends jumping from one area to the next in their own personal race to get to the top.

After a moment longer, and noticing that more than a few of her fellow participants were about to reach the obstacle, Ochako chose to go up via the plateaus. She scurried up the first ladder before anyone else had the chance to follow her.

Oh sure, she could just use her quirk to float up bit by bit, but that would drain her far too quickly. Her best bet was to go as far as she could under her own power to not wear herself down. Thankfully she was allowed to use artist’s gloves to prevent her quirk from activating. She had to remember to give Izuku another hug when this was over.

As she made her way up onto the third plateau when she began to hear something… strange.

After she hoisted herself up, she turned her gaze down to observe. What she saw sent shivers down her spine.

It wasn’t the dozen or so of her fellow participants that were climbing up after her. It wasn’t the dozens more making their own way up the mountain. No…

What filled her with dread was the cackling pink-haired inventor that was pulling herself up via grappling hooks and a pair of boots that helped propel her up and forward.

Ochako immediately decided to focus on the task at hand once again. Sure, she was traumatized due to the incident several weeks beforehand, but, first and foremost, she had a race to win! Right, the race…

Several levels to the top, she began employing her quirk to help get her up. It certainly helped when all she had was a few ropes anchored to the top. She would’ve enjoyed it too if she hadn’t been assailed by haphazard projectiles and a… randomly floating foot.

Regardless, she made it. One of the first few if all the people still climbing was any indication.

Taking a few moments to get over the vertigo, she charged over to the lodge, grabbed the badge that had a mountain icon with the words “Mt. Everest” stamped on it, and pocketed her treasure before turning and continuing on…

Only to realize that it was called “Rise and Fall” for a reason.

The sight was honestly impressive. First was another set of stairs much like the ones on the other side that twisted in and around the artificial terrain.

Second was a series of water slides that also had their own twists and turns. It wouldn’t be all smooth sailing if the large structures acting as whirlpools and various other obstacles, both stationary and not, greatly increased the difficulty of traversal.

The final path consisted of a series of rope nets that were angled downward to varying degrees, some of them were even completely vertical.

As Ochako pondered her options, she spotted her two friends jumping off of a ledge and onto the ground before sprinting off to the final leg of the race.

“So they didn’t use one of the paths. They did the same thing going up too,” she muttered to herself. “I wonder…” she trailed off before a commotion broke her from her thoughts.

She turned to see a large group of students finally stepping on to the peak. Some stopped to catch their breath while the rest charged forward and began fighting over badges.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Ochako took a few steps back before leaping as far as she could. Whilst midair, she applied her quirk in a way that was only recently became consciously aware of.

See, anything she touched with all five of her fingers became effectively weightless until she decided otherwise. During training, all she needed to do was tap her arm, and she would become weightless. But what about her clothes? Are they weightless too?

Without realizing it, she could effectively increase the amount of objects she could affect so long as they touched each other. Which meant that she could make herself weightless, but still allow her clothes to be affected by gravity.

Her plan obviously bore fruit when she found herself slowly drifting down to the ground at the base of the mountain instead of the moat staffed with robotic life guards down below.

And as she said through the air with her hair billowing in the wind, Ochako realized that, despite how limited it was at the moment, flying was one of the most freeing experiences she had ever had.

===

“OH CRAP! They’re there already?! Geez those kids move fast!” Mic yelled into his… mic.

Azura snickered for a moment. It makes sense that he wasn’t ready. Aside from them, Tenya seemed to be the fastest among the first years. Unfortunately, said speed really only helped on straight paths. With all the twists, turns, and changes in elevation, he couldn’t go all out. She and Izuku didn’t have that problem though.

“Last but certainly not least, we have THE GAUNTLET!” The career announcer’s tone turned more menacing as he finally called out the name for the final stretch. “To reach the goal, our contestants will have to fight through a battlefield filled with enemies, traps, and, although they’ll only knock you on your ass, EXPLOSIONS GALORE!!!”

“‘Only knock us on our asses’, yeah right!” Azura yelled in frustration. Oh sure, the grenades and other weaponry she could see coming from a mile away, but that crafty rat Nezu somehow managed to make sensing the mines impossible for her. And since she didn’t know where they were, she couldn’t avoid or absorb the blast which would disorientate her and throw her back.

At least Izuku seemed to be having as much trouble as she was.

After taking cover behind a ruined wall to get out of sight of the gunners, she glanced around at the area once more in an attempt to find a path through.

The Gauntlet was an almost one-to-one recreation of the trenches from World War II. At the entrance to the field was a ruined base camp with craters and rubble everywhere. On the other, a veritable tent fortress with villain bots scatter about with artillery strapped to their backs. More bots were posted up on paintball machine guns. And in the middle were a few trenches with an accurate recreation of No-Man’s-Land in between that was filled with more craters of varying sizes, ruined structures and rubble, and mines, lots and lots of mines. Proximity mines at that. They wouldn’t have been as much of a problem if there wasn’t as much chaos.

The barbed wire was composed of a soft foam though, so Nezu was at least giving them some mercy.

An explosion that detonated right on the other side of her cover pulled her from her thoughts. Just like in the anime and manga, the last section of the race was meant to punish the front runners while benefiting those further behind. Not only would there be less mines later on, but villain bots would also be destroyed to create a path, thus lessening the bombardments.

This was becoming more apparent by the second when she spotted a number of students finally making their way up. Azura was happy to note that Ochako was among the first. Though she was confused at what Hatsume was doing. Knowing the pinkette, she was probably making a cannon on her own.

Some others that had caught up began attempting to cross the extremely accurate battlefield themselves, but without enhanced speed or durability, most were blown back quite far.

Another explosion caused her to divert her attention once more. What she saw hardly shocked her upon retrospection. After all, it wasn’t the UA Sports Festival if Momo didn’t find an excuse to pull a cannon out of her stomach.

Looking back at the defensive line that guarded the finish, Azura noticed a plume of smoke that shouldn’t be there. It seemed the bots slowed down their bombardments to analyze the explosion and its cause. She seized the opportunity and moved up to a large crater a dozen or so meters away before they could start firing again.

Of course, that’s when Mei began firing off her own cannon. It used the same shells as the bots were using so there wasn’t much damage, but it did cause one hell of a smoke screen.

The reincarnated woman began moving up again, but stumbled upon tripping another mine. Used to being randomly launched at that point, she quickly regained her bearings and rolled to prevent injury. After diving behind a giant metal plate, she took one more look around… only to gain a disbelieving expression at something she had not expected.

Izuku was charging through No-Man’s-Land like a man on a mission. And with how many times he suddenly stopped himself, one would think that he kept tripping or was scared. Azura though, she could see the truth.

He was dodging the mines and artillery. That wouldn’t have been impressive on its own. What made the display impressive however was that he wasn’t paying attention to the ground or the sky unless there was a crater or debris in the way. The rest of the time, he kept his eyes on the defensive line to dodge the barrage of paintballs.

And through it all, Azura could sense his utter confusion and resigned acceptance. He obviously had no idea how he was doing it. Mei fired another artillery shell and caused a giant plume of dust and smoke near the inheritor. Izuku used the opportunity and ran full speed and jumped through the smoke.

As it cleared, the audience and fellow participants alike could see that someone had finally made it to the end.

His next actions surprised nearly everyone.

Instead of just simply running through, he began to tear through several artillery and gunner bots, thus creating a large hole in the defensive line. With his goal accomplished, he ran off.

Azura snorted. ‘Of course he would do something like that. It’s not like he did anything against the rules either. In fact…’

The lighting around her flared brightly as she increased Requiem’s output. Without wasting a second, she jumped out of her cover and slammed her fist into the ground. At her heightened output, the ground around her quaked and broke apart. Several of the mines still left in the area suddenly detonated, the shaking and new rubble being enough to set them off.

As Mic’s question of “WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!!!” rang throughout the stadium, the bluenette used her considerable speed to rocket to the finish line.

“Requiem: Roundhouse!”

The incoming barrage of artillery and paintball pellets found themselves redirected by either her legs or the powerful gusts of wind Azura was generating through the ever increasing power of her rotations.

All that anyone watching could see was a small twister of dust and smoke being generated before a massive burst of air pressure suddenly expanded from its base.

“Combo: Jet Stream Blast!”

At the center of the massive dust cloud, Azura took a moment to regain her bearings. Sure, she can handle the spinning, it's a neat trick after all, but it takes a bit more technique and precision to weaponize it. Especially when the sequence ended with an enhanced Tempest. With a moment more and a shake of her head, she was off once more

Slipping through what remained of the defensive line, she spotted a tent filled with crates of badges. After grabbing the third badge that looked like the old “I want you” American army recruitment posters, she bolted after the greenette before he could get too far. She hardly took notice of the opportunists behind her gaining as much ground as they could before the chaos resumed.

As she ran down the final stretch with cheers from the stadium growing louder, she finally spotted Izuku’s sparking form up ahead. She smirked.

As fast as she could be…

“And the winner is… DEKIRU!!!”

…it appears she took too long to act.

[Music End]

The crowd erupted with excitement when he finally crossed the finish line. A streak of blue crossed the line a few seconds later.

As Azura slid to a stop, she glanced over at the greenette who had beaten her there. He seemed to not entirely believe what had happened. When he looked over at her in confusion, she approached with a smile.

“Looks like I owe you lunch, Green Bean!” she called out to him before she started softly laughing to herself.

A robot approached them a few seconds later asking to display their badges. With proof that they had accomplished their task, their names were locked into their places on the leaderboard.

Over the next few minutes, more and more students crossed the line one after the other with robots probing for badges seconds later. Classes 1-A and 1-B had filled large portions of the top and bottom halves of the leaderboard respectively. Although, the middle of it seemed quite muddled than what she predicted. She also saw two others who she was familiar with.

“Wow you two, you were incredible!” Ochako called out to the two of them after she caught her breath. Several others accompanied her on her way over.

“Not as incredible as him,” Azura commented whilst pointing at Izuku, the greenette turning flush under the praise. “He flew through the minefield before I even realized.”

“B-but- I don’t-“ he attempted to stammer out a response.

Ochako nodded eagerly. “You got that right! It was awesome!”

If Izuku blushed anymore, something everyone assembled thought impossible, steam would be pouring out of his ears.

“Yes, I was quite surprised at the display myself,” Tenya commented as he adjusted his glasses.

A loud horn prevented further conversation.

“Alright! If I can have your attention!” Thirteen announced. The students present did as instructed. “Good. To those of you who passed the finish line, good work! Everyone could see the effort you put in to get here.” The audience briefly erupted into cheers in confirmation. “That said, unfortunately only forty two people can go on. That said, don’t give up just yet! There’s still a lot you guys can do today. For now, please exit the field.”

Many that had placed 43rd and below grumbled but ultimately complied. Their effort was recognized at the very least.

“As for the rest of you, you will be playing…” Thirteen trailed off as they span the wheel once again. The seconds it spent slowing down made many agonize in anticipation until…

“Capture the flag! For this game, all of you will divide yourselves up into teams with a maximum of four members. Then, when time is up, you will be transported to a specially made area.”

More than a few people, student and audience alike, titled their heads in confusion. Usually the events happened in or around the stadium.

“Once there, teams will be placed in specific areas based on point values. Your goal is to then capture as many flags as you can until time runs out. The four teams with the highest point totals by the end will move on to the third round! Any questions so far?”

Momo, ever the studious one, raised her hand. “If I may, how will our point totals be calculated.”

“Ah, I knew I forgot something. Points will be granted based on placement in the race. 42nd will receive five points, 41st ten, 40th fifteen, and so on.”

“Ah, that makes sense. It means that those who come first will be more of a target,” Izuku mumbled to himself. “That means I’ll be at 210 from the start, so maybe-” His thoughts screeched to a halt when Thirteen made their next announcement.

“There is an exception however. First place will be worth… 10,000,000 points!”

Izuku let out a squeak of fear when he felt the many stares of predatory eyes fall onto him.

“...oh no.”

Chapter Text

“MY BABY BOY!!!”

Everyone within the 1-A VIP room knew that at least one of their fellow parents would get emotional for one reason or another. Only two of them expected Inko to start flooding the room upon seeing her son crossing the finish line first.

Luckily, Nezu saw fit to install the VIP rooms with emergency drains to prevent potential flooding. Whether it was meant for someone with a hydromancy quirk or for some other reason besides a highly emotional mother that could flood rooms with her tears alone was up for debate. Nezu was weird like that.

Fuyumi was grateful for how effective they were.

Regardless, the display didn’t discount the reactions of the other adults seeing their children cross the finish themselves. Some were jumping with joy like a brunette couple. Others were more stoic, but their smiles of pride or happiness told the truth.

Fuyumi though, she was stuck. Yes, her brother got third place, but not only did the heterochromic young man not seem happy about this fact from what she could tell, she also didn’t see even a wisp of flames from him. It worried her.

===

‘Right, the second round is usually teams… Welp, I’m screwed,’ thought one who had passed the first round. It was difficult and pushed them to their limit, but they made it… somehow.

1st: Dekiru
2nd: Fate-Breaker
3rd: Shouto
4th: Ingenium: Mark V
5th: Froppy
6th: Uravity
7th: Gevaudan
8th: Cellophane
9th: Creati
10th: Vantablack
11th: Battle Fist
12th: Real Steel
13th: Venus
14th: Red Riot
15th: Rule
16th: Hatsume Mei
17th: Tsuburaba
18th: Tailman
19th: Lizardy
20th: Emily
21st: Mines
22nd: Vine
23rd: Tsukuyomi
24th: Rocketti
25th: Chargebolt
26th: Shemage
27th: Comicman
28th: Prisma
29th: Tentacole
30th: Heartjack
31st: Phantom Thief
32nd: Jack Mantis
33rd: Welder
34th: Mudman
35th: Nova
36th: Advance
37th: Anima
38th: Sugarman
39th: Plamo
40th: Mindjack
41st: Lon Weizi
42nd: Spiral

Of course, after taking one last look at the leaderboard, the rules and the system behind the points were fully explained. Now they were really screwed.

‘At least that Dekiru guy’s in a similar boat. 10,000,000 points ensures a win, but it also paints a huge target on your back. That’s not something I necessarily want, but...’

When Thirteen called for the students to disperse and start teaming up, many avoided the green-haired victor like the plague. Some seemed to stick around though. The most notable was a tall guy with blue hair who immediately threw himself into a perfectly straight bow after Dekiru talked to him. With the crowd dispersing, they found themself close enough to hear the resulting conversation.

“I apologize Midoriya, but I must respectfully decline your invitation. While I see it as an honor to work alongside you, I wish to seek my own path forward!”

Dekiru, or Midoriya apparently, looked defeated for a moment before nodding in understanding. “Right, I get it. Still, don’t think I’ll go easy on you!”

The taller man stood up straight with a determined look in his eye. “I would hope not. Now then, if you will excuse me,” the tall guy stated politely before stepping away.

Midoriya then turned toward a trio of young women off to the side. “I guess you guys are thinking the same thing too.”

The brunette started rubbing the back of her head. “Y-yeah, sorry. You’ve already helped us a lot, but I feel like I won’t get anywhere if I just keep relying on you.”

One of the two ravenettes, the taller one with a ponytail, hurriedly spoke up. “It’s not that we don’t want to, but-”

“No, no, like I said to Tenya, I get it, really. I’d probably do something similar if the positions were reversed… though anxiety would also probably be part of it,” he added on as he blushed shyly.

The shorter ravenette with a blank expression approached him and pecked him on the cheek, much to the other two’s surprise. The resulting crimson blush from the greenette seemed to disappear after a moment. Apparently she said something to him as Midoriya nodded with determination.

“Yeah, you’ll see me there,” the greenette spoke with confidence.

“Yeah! We’ll all meet each other in the third round!” the brunette declared as she grabbed the shorter ravenette’s hand. “C’mon Yui, let’s go win this!”

The now-named Yui seemed to blink in surprise for a moment before going with the flow.

The taller ravenette laughed for a bit as she voiced her own farewell before leaving.

That’s when a blue-haired girl almost literally slid up behind the greenette.

“So, I guess now’s the time to talk strategy.”

Midoriya let out a yelp of surprise as his body jumped. He rapidly turned around to observe who approached him. “A-Azura?! Wait, What are you doing here?”

Azura tilted her head in what appeared to be genuine confusion, but the figure could tell she was teasing him. “I’m joining your team. I thought that’d be obvious.”

“B-but teaming up with me will be dangerous!” he exclaimed in disbelief.

The bluenette shrugged. “Could be, sure, but it’d also be more fun.”

Midoriya stood slack-jawed for several moments before another voice suddenly cut in.

“THERE YOU ARE PERSON IN FIRST PLACE!!!”

Midoriya let out an even louder yelp of surprise when a girl with pink dreadlocks wearing goggles almost barreled into him. Azura looked hardly phased at the intruder’s sudden appearance.

“W-what the- wait, it’s you!” he stuttered out whilst attempting to regain his composure.

“Hm? Ohoho! It seems you’ve heard of the illustrious Hatsume Mei, future CEO of Hatsume Industries! And do I have a deal for you, Ten Million!”

“Actually, we’ve met be-”

“Feast your eyes on THIS!” the mad inventor called out before presenting a set of boots. “This baby is a set of, patent pending, Hover Boots that utilize pressurized air and high-powered fans to make it so the wearer can traverse most terrains with ease! And by using them in conjunction with this backpack, limited flight is at your fingertips!” she exclaimed as she presented each item with a manic grin on her face.

“W-wait, slow down a minute!” Midoriya exclaimed while holding his hands up to placate the inventor. “Your… inventions-”

“Babies!”

“Babies,” he corrected to keep the inventor calm, well as calm as she could be anyways, “are nice, but why do you want to join our team? Everyone will be after us.”

“Well of course they will be! Not to mention all the support companies watching too! If I team up with you Ten Million, then everyone will see my precious babies!”

“Ah, right,” he accepted with no argument while he sweatdropped. She was right after all. “I suppose if you have something that could act as a trap, that’d improve our defensive capabilities at least,” the greenette reasoned as he held his chin in contemplation. The inventor began listing off items and descriptions of what she possessed, even planning on how to modify others to act in a more defensive role.

An announcement rang out from the speaker and told everyone that the teams had to be made sooner rather than later so as to keep on schedule. The figure steeled their nerves and approached.

“U-um, excuse me!”

The first and second placed participants turned their attention to the voice while the inventor kept going on her own.

“Would you mind a fourth member?” they called out. The two they spoke to looked at each other, the bluenette shrugging as if to say “why not?”

“If you’re sure. This could turn out badly for us,” Midoriya claimed.

“Yes, I’m sure. You need people, and, well… Not many people would want me on their team,” they reasoned. “My name is Togeike Chikuchi. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she politely introduced herself.

Izuku bowed in kind. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Welcome aboard. Hope you’re ready for a wild ride,” Azura said as she held out her right hand.

Togeike glanced down in slight confusion before noticing the bandages that scaled up from the bluenette’s wrist to under the short sleeves of UA’s PE uniform.

“Those bandages… you’re-” she cut herself off before she could say anything else so as to not offend her teammate.

Azura blinked in confusion for a moment until her eyes filled with clarity. “Ah this?” she asked as she gestured to the bandaged arm before withdrawing it. “Honestly, Recovery Girl did say I didn’t need them anymore. I should probably remove them soon.”

“All teams, you have five minutes before we must depart! Please register and board the buses as soon as possible,” the voice of Thirteen rang out before the conversation could continue.

“We should probably get that done before we’re left behind,” Izuku commented. The blue and black haired girls voiced their agreements. Azura made sure to grab Mei as the inventor was still talking about her babies and began literally dragging her along.

===

A short time later, the teams registered themselves and boarded the buses provided to make their way to the prepared battlefield. If Izuku remembered the map correctly, then they were most likely going to Ground Omega, a forested zone meant for training in non-urbanized areas.

It was quite beautiful honestly. As the buses got closer to the venue though, Izuku began to see an unnatural formation. The top of the formation looked fine with its rugged and rocky terrain with bits of vegetation sprinkled around. What drew his attention was the too-smooth cliffs that separated the ground from the elevated terrain. And with how far said cliff stretched and curved, it looked more like a wall than an actual cliff. Maybe it was done by someone with a terraforming quirk. Maybe Cementos helped as well.

Or Nezu has some sort of structure under the training grounds that allow for this. And honestly, from what he’s seen and heard of UAU’s almost eldritch-like budget and Nezu’s own… peculiarities, Izuku would honestly believe it if someone told him that was what was going on..

Where was he? Ah yes.

After several more minutes, the buses all stopped near a building that most likely acted as a sort of entrance to Ground Omega. Thirteen stood outside in front of a team roster. Izuku took a moment to look it over.

Team Dekiru: 10,000,375- Dekiru, Fate-Breaker, Hatsume Mei, Advance

Team Vantablack: 605- Vantablack, Uravity, Rule, Emily

Team Shouto: 550- Shouto, Ingenium: Mark V, Real Steel

Team Froppy: 550- Froppy, Venus, Red Riot, Heartjack

Team Creati: 465- Creati, Chargebolt, Vine, Tsukuyomi

Team Nova: 410- Nova, Cellophane, Shemage, Mines

Team Lizardy: 370- Lizardy, Comicman, Prisma, Rocketti

Team Battle Fist: 260- Battle Fist, Mudman, Anima, Sugarman

Team Phantom Thief: 255- Phantom Thief, Plamo, Tailman, Welder

Team Gevaudan: 250- Gevaudan, Jack Mantis, Mindjack

Lon Wiezi: 215- Lon Wiezi, Spiral, Tsuburaba, Tentacole

Izuku would readily admit that such a large point gap scared him.

“Ah good, you’re all finally here,” they spoke as soon as the crowd of forty two students finally gathered around. “Before we begin the second round, there are a few more things that have to be explained. First and foremost, the positions you will be given on the field will have been determined ahead of time. These ‘camps’ will be where your flags are placed. Towers color coded for each team are placed near each camp to make sure no one gets lost. Taking an opponent’s flag and planting it within the designated circle around your team’s flag will officially add the other team’s collective points onto your own.

“Everyone is also being given a map of everyone else’s positions for the interest of fairness. No one may hide their flags underground. They must be above ground at all times unless they've been taken. On top of that, you can not and will not destroy your tower. Other than that, anything that does not maim or otherwise seriously injure your fellow competitors is fair game.

“You have half an hour to get to your designated positions and prepare before the round itself begins. Any questions?”

Several students raised their hands. Thirteen pointed to Mina.

“So, ‘prepare’, does that mean we can set traps for defense?”

“So long as you have the means, yes.” They then pointed to Mezou.

“If we can set traps, how far out can they be?” the giant of a man asked.

“Good question! So long as they stay within a thirty meter radius from your flag, you’re good. You won’t be allowed to go further until after the preparation phase is over.” They then pointed to someone in 1-B.

“What’s the limit on injuries?” a student that looked like a mantis asked with an almost sadistic smile.

Thirteen sighed. “I’m not gonna bore you with the specifics. Injuries are entirely expected. But if you attempt to use more force than is necessary to immobilize or disable an opponent, you will be warned. Refusal to heed this warning will result in you being disqualified.”

The student wilted slightly under Thirteen’s tone of voice. The Space Hero chose another student after a moment.

“When do the thirty minutes start?” Kendou Itsuka asked.

Thirteen looked down at a watch for a second before speaking. “Riiight… now.”

Some students looked confused for a second before Izuku and Azura blitzed by while carrying the other half of their team. On the way out, they both grabbed a copy of the map provided at the entrance of Ground Omega and sped off. This seemed to kick everyone else into gear as several more teams began running their way out into the field with maps of their own. As they did though, they all began to see something strange.

===

“We’re right smack dab in the center?!” Izuku yelled in slight horror.

Before going over the positions of every single team, it’s best to talk about the topography first. First and foremost was the large wall-like structure that Izuku spotted on their trip to Ground Omega. This structure was positioned right in the center of the large circular perimeter that they could use for the second round.

What made this structure so special was that, due to the massive differences in elevation, access to the very center of the arena was limited to eastern and western corridors. These corridors were quite large if the map was to be believed, but that didn’t change the fact that it would get crowded should multiple teams use one single path at the same time.

Continuing on, once far enough in, the corridors would open up to a significantly larger cylindrical space that sat within the middle. The terrain depicted in that area was also quite varied, most likely to make it more difficult for the defenders to mount any suitable defense.

According to a note in the map’s legend, this specific spot was reserved for the team with the most points. And because of the first round, that meant any team with Izuku on it.

“I don’t know why you’re surprised!” Azura called out as they sped off towards the western corridor, the closer one as the entry point for Ground Omega was located within the southwest region according to the map.

Izuku continued to run, Togeike holding on for dear life on his back. As time passed, he lowered his head in defeat. “I really shouldn’t be with Nezu in charge,” he grumbled.

Their trip became quiet as they entered the eastern corridor. Surprisingly, there were still rugged slopes and the like that went up to the walls. It really did look like that sections of the earth had been literally lifted to make this situation possible.

After taking a few more moments to cross the 100+ meter corridor, the group finally made it through to the giant hollowed out area at the center. Izuku and Azura skidded to a stop within their flag’s circle and let their passengers down. Mei darted around with her usual enthusiasm while Togeike took a moment to catch her breath.

“Okay, so good news,” Azura began, “thanks to our speed, we got here in pretty good time. It’d probably be best to use all that time to set up a defense.”

“Then I’ve got just the thing!” Mei exclaimed as she held out a disk-shaped device that read “WARNING: EXPLOSIVE” on it.

“Is that… a mine?” Togeike tentatively asked.

“Yup! I managed to pull a few out of the ground before finishing the race!” the crazed inventor clarified with a smile.

“Oh, really? Is that allowed?” Izuku asked as he tilted his head.

“No one said anything before!”

===

Back at the stadium, a mad cackling could be heard ringing throughout the stadium. Several people in the audience shivered.

“Um, should I be concerned that that didn’t come over the intercom?” Mitsuki asked with trepidation clear in her voice.

“If you want to keep your sanity, then no,” Nemuri answered blandly. Inko just kept smiling blissfully for whatever reason.

…that look honestly scared the blonde.

===

Back with the first place team, Mei began pulling out all manner of contractions and gadgets that they could use to strengthen their defenses. Izuku was conversing with her excitedly when she began to bring out recreations of equipment he recognized.

After a moment, Togeike leaned over to Azura. “Where is she pulling all of that from?” she asked in a stage whisper.

The bluenette looked on blankly with arms crossed in front of her. “I stopped asking questions like that a long time ago,” she replied after a long moment of silence.

The inventor and enthusiast kept their rapid fire conversation going the entire time. It was entirely possible that they completely forgot about the situation that they were in. They found themselves abruptly stopped when a hand clamped down onto each of their shoulders.

The two looked over and were met by an exasperated Azura. “It’s great that you two are getting along. Really, it is. That said, we should probably start setting up.”

After a second. Izuku pulled back upon realizing how close he had gotten to Mei. Mei, in contrast, began running around without a second thought to begin preparing defenses.

After taking a quick glance at Izuku’s blushing form, the bluenette sighed.

===
Camp Vantablack: Middle-Southeast Section

Ochako panted lightly as she slowed to a stop at their designated area, a small meadow with a bright orange circle painted on the ground with their flag in the middle. She spotted Vantablack popping out of a shadow nearby. As she began looking around, she silently thanked her friends for helping with her physicality. She never truly realized just how much went into being a Hero.

She shook her head and began to truly focus on her team’s surroundings. There were plenty of trees around. There was a rocky cliff to their north which held another team’s camp according to their map and the dark blue tower. Other than a stream that they found on their way to their camp, there wasn’t much around her team’s camp.

With that in mind, she began to think up a few strategies, another thing she had to thank Izuku and Momo for specifically.

Trees covered large portions of Ground Omega, which caused shadows. Those shadows were perfect for Vantablack, or Kuroiro Shihai, to traverse through. After taking a second to sift through the dirt, she also found plenty of pebbles. The perfect ammo for a combo move between her and Yui. Then there was also Emily, or Yanagi Reiko, who possessed telekinesis.

With all of that in mind, it became clear that it was probably best for them to hunker down and focus on defense. They could make boulders from effectively nothing thanks to Yui and move them around with ease with her quirk. Kuroiro could then use the shadows within the surrounding area to scout and even apply guerrilla tactics. In fact, their whole group was perfect for that.

But that left a problem. Going fully on the defensive would ensure that they would keep their flag which was the second most valuable after the 10,000,000 point one, but that lead could easily be overcome by groups with multiple flags. At the same time, to make the most use of their offensive capabilities through Yui, the entire team would be needed to commit to offense to do any sort of damage.

After a moment longer to consider the options and to wait for Yui and Yanagi to enter their designated area, Ochako spoke up.

“I think we should play defense at the start. It’ll give us more time to prepare.”

“Y-yeah, I was of a similar mind,” Kuroiro replied. Ochako thought she spotted a blush on his face before he suddenly turned his head away, but she couldn’t really tell with how… devoid of color his face was.

“Indeed. It would be highly prudent of us to entrench ourselves. Tiring out our prey beforehand will ensure our imminent victory,” the silver-haired Yanagi… agreed?

Ochako tilted her head in confusion.

Kuroiro answered her silent question. “She means that them coming to us and trying to take our flag will tire them out. That’ll also make it easier to take their flags too. It’s a good plan honestly,” he commented.

“Hm,” was all Yui let out, though Ochako felt a short bout of embarrassment for some reason because of it.

She swiftly pushed that feeling to the side and pumped her fist to psych herself up. “Alright then! Let’s get to work!”

===
Team Lizardy: Outer-Northwest Section

“Okay gang, here’s the plan!” Setsuna called out to her teammates. After a few moments to collect their breaths, her classmates and the invisible girl from their rival class all paid close attention. Well, she could only guess in Hagakure’s case.

“First off, Manga and Pony will go for the first place flag at the center of this place. With your combined mobility and versatility, getting to the flag and making a clean getaway should be a piece of cake.”

Manga flashed a thumbs up while Pony waited for the instructions to be spoken again in English. She seemed just as enthusiastic.

Setsuna then turned to Hagakure who seemed a bit nervous. Setsuna wouldn’t judge, the young woman was working with new people. Didn’t help that Monama decided to fuck everything up. Yes she was still mad at him. Some in her sister class seemed like fun to be around, and now she had no idea about how to approach them.

She pushed that thought to the side for the time being. “Hagakure, your job is to act as our primary scout. That said, if you think you can infiltrate another camp and steal the flag and get away before someone notices, then do it. If you can’t, come get me.

“Speaking of which, I’ll be here to keep watch. With my quirk, I’ll easily be able to spot anyone coming and counterattack before they can get close.

“How does all of that sound to you guys?” she probed after she finished explaining what she had come up with. It wasn’t perfect or fool proof, but it played to everyone’s strengths while minimizing any glaring weaknesses.

One of Hagakure’s sleeves went straight up from its previous resting position. She was most likely raising her hand, so Setsuna pointed at her.

“To be honest, I don’t think going for Team Dekiru’s flag is a good choice. It's… well…” the invisible girl trailed off.

Setsuna waved her off. “I get that Dekiru and Fate-Breaker must be strong, but with all the chaos that’s gonna spring up around there, I doubt they’ll be able to hold everyone off before someone gets to the flag. If it’s not us, then we just gotta take it from them. Easy Peasy.”

“R-right.”

Setsuna decided to ignore the hesitance in Hagakure’s voice. Even if the invisible girl was right and getting the flag was more difficult than she thought, they still had options.

===
Team Phantom Thief: Inner-Northeast Section

It was finally time for Class 1-B to show those 1-A gloryhogs what for! And without Kendou there to stop him, Neito felt he could finally achieve that goal!

“Alright my brothers-in-arms, it’s time to show everyone the might of Class 1-B!” he called out to his teammates.

Awase cheered in excitement while Bondo was more subdued. Ojirou seemed somewhat reluctant for some weird reason, but Neito just assumed that it was just nerves. The guy seemed kind of bland to the blonde honestly, so it wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility.

The tailed young man might also be a bit nervous about leaving their flag unattended, but once they got the first place flag, that wouldn’t matter. And would you look at that…

It was right around the corner.

===
Team Shouto: Outer-Western Section

“You two stay here. I’ll go to the center and grab the flag there,” Shouto ordered without hesitation after his team made it to their camp.

“The hell did you say!” the silver-haired guy from the other class called out.

Shouto didn’t really remember the guy’s name, but when he displayed a quirk similar to the red-head of his class, he decided to let him come along.

“Because you’ll get in my way,” Shouto answered coldly.

“Todoroki, such a statement is inappropriate! We also need to set up some form of defense as well if we are to make it through this round!” the loud and robotic bluenette, Iida(?), exclaimed.

Shouto let out an annoyed grunt before he planted his right foot down. From it, ice began to sprawl out across the ground like a web. He would have liked to have frozen the whole ground, but he needed to save some of his strength for when he went for his goal. Oh well, it was enough to get the job done.

Soon, spikes of ice began growing from the ground. Most formed walls that almost entirely encompassed the area, but others were dotted all over the place. WIth their camp slightly elevated, it was relatively easy to see just where everything had to go.

Some time later, he had finished constructing their base. Three walls separated them from outside the area they were allowed to currently build in. There was only one entrance to each layer, said entrances on opposite sides of the camp from each other to ensure the maximum amount of time it would take to enter. Some of the ice on the ground was deceptively thin to create pitfalls. They weren’t particularly deep, but they would keep someone from climbing out for a while.

The entire time, his teammates stood silently as they watched him create their new base from nothing.

When he was done, he turned to them with an annoyed expression as he let out a breath of cold air. “This should suffice.”

Neither could get a word out before a klaxon blared out from seemingly nowhere. There wasn’t any time to question it before Present Mic’s voice began echoing out around them.

“Prep time’s over little listeners! You guys have an hour before the second round is over! Now let’s get this party started!”

No more words need to be said. Shouto began to walk off, the half-and-half boy making a set of stairs over the innermost wall for a quick way out.

“You guys stay. I’m going for that flag,” he reaffirmed before jumping down to then repeat what he had done to the second wall.

“Jerk,” Tetsutetsu scoffed after a moment.

Tenya hesitantly but silently agreed.

===
Western Corridor Entrance
Same Time

“About time,” Azura complained as she stood up from her spot and began stretching. When she felt limber enough she stood off to the side and leaned against one of the walls in the twenty meter wide corridor.

Oh sure, she had only been there for a few minutes, but the point still stood as no one had any idea when their prep time actually started. There was only so far they could push their time after all. Thankfully the planning portion was actually quite simple.

===
Several Minutes ago

“If this is all going to work, then we need to know more,” Izuku stated. “Hatsume, what kind of… babies do you have?” he asked the mad inventor.

“Whatever you need!” was all she said for an answer.

“...let’s just go with it for now,” Azura dismissed.

“Right,” Izuku agreed after a moment. “Next question, what is your quirk?”

“Dunno why that’s important, but its called Zoom! With it, I can see really far away! It’s also super useful when I’m working on the small stuff in my babies.” After that, she began running around the place again to place more traps.

Izuku nodded his head in understanding. “I can see how that would be useful,” he commented before he turned to the Gen-Ed student. “And you, Togeike? What’s your quirk?”

The girl in question stood stock still at the question. Azura could feel apprehension and fear rolling off in waves from the girl. The bluenette tilted her head in confusion. ‘What is she so afraid of?’

“W-well, you see, I didn’t…” Togeike trailed off as she lightly squirmed..

“‘Didn’t’ what?” Izuku asked with genuine curiosity.

“I… I didn’t mean to lie to anyone. Really, I didn’t.” The ravenette took a moment to collect herself, leaving the two that were actually paying attention to her in mild confusion. She took another deep breath before continuing. “I’m… quirkless.”

Izuku and Azura stared at her blankly for a moment until Azura spoke up.

“Oookaaay. Don’t really see how you lied to us though. Honestly, I should’ve seen it with the shoes, too,” she muttered to herself. She let it go though. Who the hell pays attention to shoes like that anyways?

“You… You’re not mad?” Togeike asked hesitantly.

“Don’t really see a reason to be. Doesn’t really change anything,” the bluenette replied with a shrug.

“But I’m quirkless.”

“Yeah, we got that,” she replied with a nod. “Oh, wait, were you expecting something along the lines of ‘oh, how could you. Quirkless?’” Azura continued with a tone of mock disgust. “You know, revulsion, disgust, that sort of thing?”

Togeike silently nodded with a baffled expression on her face.

“To make a long and complicated story short, Green Bean and I genuinely couldn't care less about quirk status,” she said whilst gesturing to the young man in question.

This seemed to finally knock Izuku out of his silence as he was feeling a complicated series of emotions.

“O-oh, yeah. She’s right,” he confirmed before gesturing down to his own red shoes. “Y-You probably noticed these, y-yeah? Well, th-thanks to a misdiagnosis and a minor mutation that gave me the extra toe joint, I-I was qui- considered quirkless for most of my life,” he began to explain with a slight stutter.

‘The best lies have some truth sprinkled in.’ Those were the words his mother used when talking to All Might the day before. Upon learning of One for All, she insisted upon knowing absolutely everything they had done concerning it so far. One of those things was a cover story for how he had a quirk after so long. Yeah, the conversation wasn’t allowed to continue until they had a plausible cover story that the two of them could recite forwards and backwards. The disapproving glare she held the whole time would send shivers down his spin for months to come.

He shook his head to get his mind back on track. “S-so, I guess you could say I understand.”

Togeike gave him a surprised look. Late bloomers weren’t unheard of, but still rare to where she never really met one personally.

“As for Hatsume,” Azura cut in while pointing over her shoulder to the young woman in question, “something tells me she’ll see it as an opportunity to test her inventions-

“BABIES!”

“Inventions before anything else.”

“You got that right,” the voice of Hatsume Mei stated confidently, far closer than she was before. Izuku and Togeike jumped in surprise as Mei tilted her head. “Wait, what are we talking about?”

“Togeike’s quirkless,” the unphased Azura answered simply.

“Oooh! That means she can test more of my babies!”

“See?” the reincarnated woman asked blandly.

“We should really start planning now,” Izuku cut in after he recovered. “First off, how big is this area?”

“About a fifty meter radius,” Mei answered immediately.

Izuku stared at her blankly until he realized it might be something related to her quirk. “Okay. That means we can’t trap the corridors though.”

“Only during prep time,” Togeike cut in. Upon everyone else’s attention being directed towards her, she shrunk in on herself a little. She managed to quickly regain some of her composure. “Thirteen stated that that rule only applied during prep time. Otherwise, those whose quirks rely on making traps couldn’t use them without getting disqualified.”

“That’s a good point. And they also only said that was for traps. They didn’t say people couldn’t leave that radius,” Azua pointed out.

The One for All and Requiem wielders glanced at each other before nodding their heads in unison.

“Alright then, here’s the plan,” Izuku began.

===

A small glacier forming in front of her broke her from the memory. With how far away it’s origin was, It wasn’t difficult to dash to the side before it could hit.

“That was rude,” she muttered to herself.

Todoroki calmly walked out of the nearby tree line after a moment of calm. His expression was a step above annoyed, but definitely not furious. It was quite complex. If someone didn’t know what she knew, they would’ve just thought he was frustrated. That was certainly a part of it, but…

“Out of my way,” he calmly commanded as he kept walking closer.

Azura seemed to ponder for a minute before answering. “Mmm, no. Ya see, my job is to make sure nobody gets through here. Doesn’t matter what you say or do, that includes you.”

He sent a spike of ice out after. It was certainly smaller than the small glacier he previously summoned, but it more than made up for that in speed.

She dashed out of the way, but it merely changed direction to follow. Back, forward, left, right, all it did was chase her further.

“Your control’s no joke!” she called out to him before jumping up and onto the spike’s “back.” “Impact!” was all she said before crushing the tail of the guided ice spike was shattered, stopping it in its track.

Then the battlefield was quiet. As Todoroki contemplated his next move, Azura took stock of the situation.

Without his fire, he couldn’t do this forever. That said, the returns she was getting from Soul Sense. More people were coming, which could complicate things. Thankfully, Todoroki was already making a barricade for her.

“Enough of this!” he yelled out in frustration.

With a stomp of his foot, an even larger glacier than before began charging at her. He was serious about stopping her in her tracks. And so early in the round too. Either he was that frustrated, or he saw her as that big of a threat.

“Either way, not happening,” she commented to herself with a smile as she tensed her right hand.

Moments later, she was swallowed by the ice.

Mina, who had arrived from the south seconds before, looked on in shock as a shiver ran up her spine. Whether that was from the cold air that began wafting off the ice or fear, she didn’t really know or care. What she just witnessed was far above what the half-and-half boy had used before. Sure, big displays from the guy weren't anything new to her, but still.

Fukudashi Manga and Tsunotori Pony further north were in a similar state of shock. Maybe this is what Tooru had been alluding to. Fighting him was going to be tricky at best. Their own classmates needed a certain amount of skill to effectively use their quirks. Fighting someone with so much more power was going to be simultaneously easier and harder.

Back with Todoroki, he panted as he let out another breath of cold air. It was big, and admittedly a bit desperate, but it was also necessary. He couldn’t let himself be bogged down by her.

After taking a few more deep breaths, he began his march forward anew.

*BANG!*

He stopped in his tracks. He took a defensive stance. Someone else was clearly nearby.

*BANG!*

*BANG!*

But it was strange. When he looked out at the forest, it didn’t seem any closer.

*BANG!*

*BANG!*

*BANG!*

In fact…

His train of thought was cut off when the top of the iceberg was shattered to pieces. He turned to look up at the figure of his unrestrained opponent. She stood victoriously with a foot hiked up on a small spike.

“Damn! It’s a bit bigger than I was expecting, but still.”

Todoroki clicked his tongue in annoyance. ‘Of course it wouldn’t be that easy,’ he thought to himself. And as he glared at her, he began to notice something different about her.

The bandages that had covered her right arm since the USJ were now fluttering in the wind with a few strands being the only things keeping it at all attached. Pink and white scar tissue snaked up her arm in jagged lines.

But weaving in between all that were lines of pitch black. Tracing them up to her face showed that her right eye had changed to a glowing crimson. Small strands of hair right above it had turned as white as his own.

Tracing the lines down revealed a pitch black, clawed hand. It barely looked bigger than what it had been moments before, but that was mostly because it looked to be covered in something akin to armor or a glove.

It didn’t take him long to realize that this was the same power that she had used to fight Noumu. Or a similar power at least

“Been waiting to show this to you guys for a while now! Requiem: Unleashed- Demon’s Rage!”

===

“Oh ho ho! What’s this?! It looks like the fight between Shouto and Fate-Breaker is starting to heat up! Got any comments for your students Nagant!” Mic announced excitedly.

“Nope.”

“Aww. Party Pooper!”

Aizawa looked on from the shadows with some contempt. Of course they’d show the big shit. Oh well at least that kept his student from the spotlight for longer.

Over in the 1-A VIP box, Nemuri was somewhat excited to see her daughter’s newest ability, even if the conditions she got it under weren’t… ideal.

“You seem chipper, Nemuri.”

Inko’s words pulled the Heroine from her thoughts before they could get too dark.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. This is the first time I’m really seeing this,” she answered.

“Really? I thought she would’ve shown you at least once,” Mitsuki replied with curiosity clear in her voice.

“Well, I’ve seen her use it once before, but that wasn’t under the best circumstances. Since then, she’s been pretty quiet about what she’s been doing with it. Said it was a ‘surprise’,” the university teacher responded lamely.

Fuyumi took the chance to cut in on the conversation. “Wait, if you’ve already seen it before, then how is this the first time you’ve seen it?”

“Oh, um, how’d it go?” she muttered to herself for a moment before sighing. “To be honest, I’m not too knowledgeable about all this quirk stuff. Most of what she tells me goes over my head.” She got a sympathetic nod from Inko. “I think she compared it to an update. When you update stuff, it takes time for it to download and launch and all that stuff, right?” She got a round of silent head nods as confirmation to continue.

“Well, the first time she used this, the update… wasn’t finished I think? No, it was incomplete. The update was incomplete, so the result came out… not as it was supposed to I guess.”

“So that’s what it’s supposed to look like?” Fuyumi asked.

“I guess,” the purplette said with a shrug.

“Uh, okay. So what’s that?” Mitsuki said with slight panic.

Nemuri turned her attention back to the screen only to stop in recognition. “What the f-”

===
Several Minutes Earlier

Todoroki clicked his tongue in annoyance again as he sent off several more homing spikes up the glacier.

“Man, you’re no fun,” Azura complained with a sigh before charging down the slope.

The two opposing sides approached each other similar to last time. This time however, instead of dodging, the bluenette reared back her transformed hand and punched.

With hardly any effort, her fist fractured then shattered the glass before sailing through with barely any resistance.

Todoroki’s eye twitched as he commanded the remaining spikes to converge on their target from all directions.

As soon as they did so, they were all destroyed just as easily as the first. To say it wasn’t even a contest was the understatement of the century.

Azura jumped out from the steam and debris without a single scratch on her. She used the ice to smoothly slide down to the ground. After clapping her hands together to clean them off, she began to steadily walk towards Todoroki with utmost confidence.

“That all you got?” she asked rhetorically. Of course she knew it wasn’t. She just needed something to run a few experiments.

With a growl, he began sending out another glacier. However, this one was smaller and slower than the one before it. This fact wasn’t a surprise at all, but it did give her a bit more time.

With a wordless yell, she threw her hands out away from herself as red and blue electricity flared.

Mina watched from nearby, having gotten closer by using one of the trails left by one of the many ice spikes. She was slightly regretting that decision as it would be a bit difficult to get away from the glacier without revealing herself. That was until she began to watch what Azura was doing.

She stood with her hands as far away from each other as she could get them, each balled into a fist. Soon, light began to glow from within. It was at this point the pinkette finally began to realize what was going on. After all, she had only seen this kind of thing once before.

“HOLY CRAP! RUN!” she screamed as she abandoned all subtly to run away as fast as possible. After all, if she was right, then…

Fukudashi and Tsunotori were doing something similar to Mina at the time to get closer as well. If they played their cards right, then they could get through without being noticed. Of course, they were startled by Mina’s panicked yell.

When the pair turned to view the battle, Pony’s animalistic instincts immediately screamed at her to run away as fast as possible. Not wanting to find out what would happen so close, she too abandoned all subtlety and grabbed Fukudashi before getting away as fast as possible. The comic-bubble-headed young man couldn’t ask what was wrong as a surge of light caught his attention.

Azura’s fist flew open to reveal two balls of light and energy within her hands. The tensed fingers didn’t even strain under the pressure.

“Requiem:…”

She slammed the two orbs together, the two combining into one under the pressure. Soon after, she flung her right arm out as she twisted her body to get it as far away from the orb as possible. When she finished doing so, she adjusted her stance to hold firm for her next action. Without any further delay, she balled her transformed hand into a fist before she slammed the armored knuckles into the orb of pure energy.

“Break Shot!”

The orb shot immediately shot forward into the growing wall of ice. Todoroki’s eyes widened upon realizing what was going on. Before he could react, the orb collided with the growing glacier and exploded. The half-and-half boy covered his eyes.

Todoroki spent several seconds waiting for everything to die down. When he looked up, he noticed that the small iceberg had ceased growing like he wanted it to.

“Guess that confirms it.”

Startled, Todoroki stomped his foot down to launch another attack. It fell short as it was destroyed before he could grow it to a formidable size.

“Even more evidence I suppose.”

Todoroki finally turned his heterochromic eyes to the speaker and was met with another set of mismatched eyes.

He tried to send out another spike only to find it shattered once again.

“So that’s why you do everything in such big bursts. Sure, it ends fights quickly, but I always knew there was something else,” Azura calmly stated. “You’re so strong that you can summon an iceberg with the wave of your hand. There’s a glaring weakness though.”

Todoroki sent out another one to attack her flank, but she spun around to break it just as easily as the rest.

“Sure, you could cause a second ice age if you wanted, but if the creation process is interrupted, you have to start all over again. It doesn’t matter if you stop it yourself, or…” she trailed off as she spun to punch another spike, “if someone breaks it. The end result is the same. Of course, that’s not even touching on how your body can’t cope.”

“I’m fine,” the red-and-white-haired young man panted out.

Azura sighed. “No, you’re not. All you’re doing is killing yourself.”

“I don’t… need his fire,” he said before summoning another attack out of pure stubbornness.

“Funny,” she commented as she destroyed the attack rather lazily, “I don’t remember asking.”

One moment she was there, the next she was gone to the worn out Todoroki. And before he could even offer some form of resistance, he was knocked out cold.

Azura stared down at his unconscious body with a look that was a mix between pity and annoyance. She shook her head before she spoke up once again.

“You can come out now! I think you know I wouldn’t attack you.”

She heard leaves rustling for a few seconds until Tenya popped his head out of the hedge he had hidden himself in.

“My apologies. I did not mean to startle you,” the stiff bluenette replied.

“You didn’t. I knew you’d be worried for this idiot if he charged off on his own. You’re a good guy like that.”

Tenya took the compliment for what it was and nodded.

“Like I said, I ain’t gonna fight you if you don’t want to. So just grab him and go before someone else shows up,” she claimed as she gestured to the unconscious Todoroki.

Tenya gave a short bow. “I thank you my friend. And good luck.”

Without another word, the tall speedster picked up the cryomancer and hoisted him over his shoulder before speeding off back the way he came.

Nodding to herself in satisfaction, Azura turned back to the freshly made barricade of ice that Todoroki had generously provided for her and made her way up to the top.

As she settled down once again, she looked over the former battlefield with an appraising eye. In a word, it was chaotic. But that was perfect for her purposes. With all the ice, it would be difficult for most people to move around freely. The massive glacier that plugged the corridor would also make people hesitate about approaching, meaning that if Azura needed to fall back to the camp for an emergency, she easily could without worry.

All that she really needed to worry about was Izuku holdin-

A metaphorical wave of darkness flashed past her. It was brief, very brief, but it was formidable to say the least.

She could recognize the emotion easily: rage. Pure, unadulterated, rage. That wasn’t much of a problem.

The problem was its source.

With wide eyes, Azura turned her gaze directly behind her. From her vantage point, she could see a writhing mass of black and green. One she recognized almost immediately.

“Oh for fuck’s sake.”

Chapter Text

“Alright then, here’s the plan,” Izuku began. “Azura and I will help set up the defenses before we take up positions at the entrances to the western and eastern corridors respectively. The two of you will stay here and continue setting up defenses. That way, should someone get by, you can either push them back yourselves or wait till one of us gets back.”

“Isn’t that, I dunno… reckless?” Togeike tentatively asked. After a moment, she reiterated. “I mean, that’s going to put a lot of pressure onto the two of you. Wouldn’t it be best for us all to stay here, or at least stay in pairs?”

“All of us staying here is a valid strategy,” Izuku acquiesced, “but with us being in this enclosed space, even with the bottlenecks the corridors give us, if too many teams attack at the same time, then we’ll be completely overrun. By guarding the entrances, we can significantly reduce the number that could infiltrate and attack the camp directly. As for why we shouldn’t pair off, well…” he hesitated, not knowing how to phrase what he had to say next properly.

“Simply put, the two of you would get in the way,” Azura bluntly cut in after a moment.

Izuku startled at the bluntness of her statement.

Togeike was shocked as well, but her expression slowly began to morph. She opened her mouth to speak, but a raised hand from Azura gave her pause.

“This has nothing to do with you being quirkless. I said that because Green Bean and I can make ourselves far stronger and faster than most people,” the reincarnated young woman began to explain. “Sure, going alone is risky, but by pairing up, we would have to worry about said teammate on top of keeping ourselves safe and defending the entrance. If we only have to worry about ourselves and keeping opponents back, then we will be able to move far more freely.

“In addition, the two of you staying to set up more defenses after the round properly starts will allow you to boobytrap the area outside the limit. Ultimately, the two of you staying put will be far more advantageous than splitting up.” With that, the bluenette finished stating her reasoning clearly and concisely.

Togeike was annoyed as she processed her teammate’s words. She shouldn’t sit back on the sidelines being useless, but…

But, at the same time, the reasoning was sound. More prep time means better defenses. And better defenses could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Not to mention…

That’s when a thought occurred in the quirkless woman’s mind. ‘They’ll be the first line of defense. Which means that Hatsume and I will be the last. They’re… trusting us to fight if and when someone manages to slip past them. They’re…’

Togeike inhaled deeply before letting out a long sigh to help calm herself. “Okay. We’ll do it your way. We’ll have your back. Isn’t that right Hatsume? …Hatsume?”

“She’s setting up a net trap over there,” Azura stated while pointing her thumb over her back at a random tree.

The quirkless ravenette blinked in surprise as she watched. “Where did she even pull that from?” she quietly asked herself.

“Alright! Let’s get to work!” Izuku called out with determination.

===
Team Lon Weizi: Middle-Eastern Section

“Dammit! Why were we put all the way over here?! We’ve barely got any prep time!” Tsuburaba complained after catching his breath.

“Heh, at least… we’re not like… Shishida’s team,” Kaibara countered in between breaths.

“Indeed. We’d have even less time if that were the case,” Shouji offered.

“Well, Shishida’s fast, so, yeah,” Tsuburaba retorted.

Rin took the chance to take control of the conversation in the intervening silence. “Alright guys, enough chit chat. We should probably talk about a plan.”

“With what we discussed earlier, I think we already have a one,” the tall Dupli-Arms wielder claimed.

Rin let out a short, humorless chuckle. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Kaibara and I will leave defense to you and Tsuburaba then. Although, given our placement, I doubt that’ll be much of a problem.”

The gray-haired man nodded.

“Just… let me catch my breath first,” Kaibara requested.

===
Team Froppy: Inner-Southwestern Section

“I’ll obviously stay here,” Kyouka clearly claimed.

“Good idea, ribbit. You don’t have many offensive option without your gear anyways,” Tsuyu agreed.

Kyouka opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped as she cupped her chin in thought.

“I guess I’ll stay too. A manly defense is a manly offense!” Eijirou exclaimed while hardening his arms in his growing excitement.

Mina hummed in thought as she created another pothole with her acid. “I guess I’ll stay too.”

“Best not. I was thinking the two of us could go scouting to see if we can find any flags, ribbit,” the frog girl explained. “We might not be dead last, but if we do nothing but defend, then we’ll lose.”

“You’ve got a point there,” the horny young woman nodded. “I guess I’ll go north. If Todoroki goes on the offensive, he’d just cause you to hibernate.”

Tsuyu nodded. “I was actually about to say the same thing, ribbit. You’ve got an eye for detail.”

The pinkette shrugged nonchalantly as she was used to her classmate’s usual blunt yet true remarks. “Eh, you gotta be to be a good dancer.”

===
Team Nova: Outer-Southwestern Section

“So, are we going to talk strategy, or…” Shouda trailed off as he saw Aoyama rapidly changing from one exaggerated pose after another.

… and where the heck were those sparkles coming from?

“Sorry about him. He’s done some good work, he’s just…” Hanta apologized whilst trailing off himself.

“It’s like he’s on some really good shrooms or something,” Komori remarked.

“Honestly, probably,” the ravenette agreed. After another moment of silence, Hanta spoke again. “Alright, let’s-”

“Excusez-moi, messieurs and mademoiselle, I have decided on our first target!” the eccentric blonde exclaimed. “Our aim will be Team Froppy. It is there where we shall shine the brightest!” Aoyama cheered as many more sparkless seemed to appear from nowhere.

Hanta just sighed.

“At least he isn’t like Monoma,” Komori commented.

===
Team Creati: Middle-Northern Section

Shiozaki watched in awe as she witnessed her teammates turn the flat clearing that had been designated as their camp had been turned into a veritable fortress. She knew she had at least helped in its construction, but she felt her part was rather small in comparison.

“The trench’s done!” Dark Shadow exclaimed behind the vine-haired christian.

Said young woman jumped and glanced behind her at the shadow creature connected to her, literally, raven-headed teammate. One might expect that a person of her religion would be confrontational when presented with such a creature, but Shiozaki was far more open than some. Quirks were granted to humanity for a reason after all. With that reasoning and her own studies, she came to the conclusion that one’s actions is what speaks for their character.

If this being of shadow truly wishes to become a hero and help others, then she has nothing else to say on the matter.

She quickly shook her head to dismiss her thoughts.

“Thank you, Dark Shadow!” Momo called out from the center of their camp. The ravenette was the orchestrator of the new base. And what a base it was.

Dark Shadow and Fumikage had dug a trench in almost a complete circle around the flag.The only exceptions were two strips of land on opposite sides of each other to create a bottleneck for those that wished to enter. The excavated dirt was then placed in a way to create higher ground in the center around the flag. Momo herself had been creating smaller traps and tools that they could use for defense. As much as she wanted to create more traps, she had to limit herself for the future.

Regardless, with the plans they had in place, infiltration was a non-issue at worst.

“So, what’s our plan of attack?” Denki asked as he began to approach after setting up the traps given to him.

Momo finished creating a sort of grenade launcher before turning to address his question. “It would be more accurate to call it our ‘plan of defense’ as we will be staying here for the majority of our time.”

“I understand the need to secure our base of operations, but we also need to collect other flags if we wish to proceed to the next round,” Shiozaki advised.

“That is true, but by being attacked first, we can set the conditions for the engagement. Not only that, but we would be better rested for the latter half of the round,” the heiress answered.

The christian girl nodded slowly in understanding. “I see. If that is the case, then it would be best to secure our victory by taking the 10,000,000 point flag at the center.”

“That would be ill advised,” Fumikage interjected.

“Indeed,” Momo readily agreed. “Two of our strongest are on that team. Then there is Hatsume to worry about as well as she could have any number of items and tools at her disposal. And finally is Advance, a complete unknown. Attempting to storm the castle so to speak could result in us losing outright as we are one of the furthest teams from the entrances.”

“Uh, couldn’t we just dig our way through the wall?” Denki asked.

The ravenette took a deep breath before answering. “I had considered that possibility as well, but it would be impractical. Not only could we be wasting more time, but if we go into it too haphazardly, we could be trapped.”

Shiozaki hummed in thought before nodding her head again. “I see. Thank you for explaining.”

“I do not mind doing so. We are a team after all,” the heiress replied politely.

===
Team Battle Fist: Outer-Southern Section

“Honenuki, Koda, do you guys think you can handle the camp while Satou and I go hunt for flags?” Kendou asked after they had finally reached their camp.

“You got it,” the lipless young man answered.

The more silent member of their team waved his hands in a pattern. Their orange-haired leader looked on with slight confusion before Rikidou intervened.

“Ah, right. That means ‘yes’,” the largest of their group answered.

Kouji furiously nodded in confirmation.

“Huh, good to know you know JSL,” Kendou remarked.

RIkidou blinked for a moment before responding. “Oh, no, I don’t. Not really anyways. Some of our classmates thought learning would help in the field. Koda’s been teaching us some bits and phrases every so often. It doesn’t hurt that he can communicate more though,” he finished explaining while shooting Kouji a smile.

The animal lover turned away bashfully at the comment.

Kendou thought for a moment before remarking to her classmate. “We should probably see about learning some of it too. Never know when it might come in handy.”

Honenuki shrugged but nodded nonetheless. “You got a point.”

===
Team Gevaudan: Outer-Northeastern Section

“Ugh, dammit! Why did we get put all the way over here?!” Kamakiri exclaimed when he finally reached the clearing where their flag was.

“It could simply be random chance that placed us here,” Shishida commented.

“Yeah, or it could be some asshole playing tricks on us!” the mantis man shouted back.

Shinsou, having caught his breath, took the chance to intervene. “One way or another, we’re almost out of time. So I say we start planning.”

Shishida nodded. “I concur. Anyone have any ideas to start off with?”

Kamakiri grinned maliciously as blades began growing from his arms. “I say we start hunting!”

“I do not believe that would be a wise course of action,” the beastial young man reasoned.

“No, it’s perfect,” Shinsou interjected. His teammates turned to look at him, Shishida with a raised eyebrow and Kamakiri with his grin. “We’re the lowest ranked team. Going after us doesn’t guarantee victory, not by a longshot. With how far out we are, that means the rest of the teams around us don’t have much of a reason to come take our flag. So if we were to split up and go to camps that are already under attack…”

“Then we can pull ahead and win this thing!” Kamakiri exclaimed in excitement.

Shishida on the other hand looked concerned about their course of action. It was risky, but…

As the beast-man contemplated, Shinsou idly thought to himself how much easier it would have been to just use his quirk on them. That said, leaving his teammates with their wits about them also had its own merits.

Before the purplette could seriously debate the choice, Shishida deigned to answer.

“Alright, I’ll go along with this plan of yours. That said, if we truly wish to unequivocally win, then we need Team Dekiru’s flag,” he argued after acquiescing.

This time Shinsou was the one that smiled. “Leave that to me. You go southeast and get Lon Weizi’s flag,” he said to Shishida before gesturing to Kamakiri. “You on the other hand, go west and fuck Creati’s day up.”

“Fuck yeah! I’ll show some of those 1-A bastards what they’re missing out on!”

At that moment, the buzzer to signal the official start of the second round rang out around them.

===

The blaring of the horn caused Izuku to become fully aware of the terrain. His eyes darted from one spot to the next in the search for any who wished to get past him. He had to remain vigilant as he didn’t possess a skill like Soul Sense like Azura.

Although, with what he felt during the first round…

He shook his head to dispel the thought. He couldn’t afford to get distracted right now.

Minutes passed as he kept scanning the treeline that separated the clearing outside of the easter corridor from the rest of the forest. He knew to expect people to start bursting into the clearing any moment, but without knowing exactly who and how many, Izuku felt himself becoming anxious.

With the help of his new friends, he had far more faith in own abilities, but that still didn’t change the thoughts wriggling at the back of his head.

Togeike was right, the plan they were using was reckless. One person each holding the line at completely opposite sides of each other. Izuku believed that Azura could pull it off. She just had that kind of presence around herself. Izuku though, he didn’t know what to think. His teammates on the other hand, they… they believed in him. As difficult as it was for him to think about, he couldn’t think up another legitimate reason to go along with this plan.

That said, he still believed that it was the best chance at victory. If they wanted to properly protect their flag, then waiting for everyone else to surround them would only ensure defeat. This way, at least he could slow several teams down at the very least.

Izuku was broken from his musings when a blonde-haired young man slowly emerged from the brush to his left.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? All I see is a snot nosed 1-A nobody. All alone too. What, did your teammates leave out here all alone?” the blonde asked mockingly as he walked to the center of the clearing before turning to walk directly towards Izuku.

Izuku remembered the young man cockily approaching him. Monoma Neito, the same guy that Azura berated for trying to fit the USJ Incident into his own narrative that was far less traumatic than it actually was. Izuku took a ready stance without saying a word because, honestly, he had no idea how to talk to the guy.

“What, no witty quips for us peons? Man, it must be so nice on that little ivory throne of yours,” Monoma remarked.

“Honestly, I don’t really know how to talk to you,” the verdette admitted after a few moments, giving the blonde pause. “I mean, I’ve been talked down to most of my life, but I don’t really know if I could do something like that myself.”

Monoma stopped his advance as a look of genuine confusion continued to grow on his face. “Wait, what?”

That’s when something panged at the back of his mind. With little time to think, Izuku followed his instincts and ducked under the rock flying at him at incredible speeds. Whilst close to the ground, Izuku picked up a rock of his own. Springing back up to his full height, he winded the stone back and threw it at his attackers.

A yelp of pain originated from the brush as a black-haired boy jumped out in surprise.

Izuku jumped back to dodge a blob of some strange liquid that Monoma had thrown out after he regained his composure. That’s when another blonde, this time with a large tail, began charging at him in earnest.

Green lightning flared to life as the successor took the chance to activate his quirk. The second blond jumped and spun to increase his tail’s striking power.

As it barrelled down on him on a diagonal path, Izuku dodged under it while thrusting an open palm to help redirect it further away from him.

With that done, Izuku lunged into a roll to gain some distance before retaking the stance he held before.

“Impressive. Most people wouldn’t be able to dodge that. Even less would try to redirect it,” the blonde commented after recovering from his own attack as he took a stance of his own.

“I’ve had a few people call me an idiot for not at least trying to dodge before, so…” He silently thanked his friends and teacher for teaching him how to actually fight. Izuku wouldn’t continue his thought as he spotted someone else out of the corner of his eye. He jumped back once again to dodge some kind of viscous blob.

As it splatted to the ground harmlessly, he heard someone screaming as they charged towards him. Shifting his gaze, Izuku spotted a raven-haired young man wearing a bandana charged at him with a wooden club with several fist size rocks attached to it… somehow.

As the ravenette skidded to a stop to bring the heavy club to bear, Izuku decided to take the initiative and charge into the young man’s guard. His opponent’s gray eyes widened as he clearly didn’t expect to have his personal space invaded so quickly.

Taking advantage of the confusion and surprise the young man was displaying, Izuku grabbed the club and wrenched it from the ravenette’s hands. With One for All empowering his body, Izuku jumped to the side and away from the attacker. Izuku skidded to a stop as he threw the makeshift club with a mighty heave. His attackers looked with mixed amounts of shock as the club’s previous wielder gawked.

“Hey! I spent a lot of time on that!” he yelled angrily.

Izuku turned back to look at his attackers. “Sorry, but I’d be yelled at if I didn’t at least try to disarm you,” he apologized sincerely. As he swept his gaze, he spotted a fourth person with a head that seemed to be shaped like a glue bottle. As the viscous liquid seemed to be dripping out of the seven holes in the young man’s face, Izuku guessed that it was most likely glue.

He spotted the tailed blonde charging him once again. The martial artist, something obvious due to their first exchange, decided to simply pivot his body and swipe Izuku with his tail. Wishing to throw his opponent off balance, Izuku flared his quirk’s output to ten percent and braced his entire body.

The tail connected solidly, but the greenette only found himself pushed back a few inches. The blonde gritted his teeth upon feeling the successor wrap his arms around the large tail, the pulling sensation he felt making what would happen next painfully obvious.

Izuku heaved once again as he threw the martial artist across the clearing. The blond found himself rolling to a stop on the far side of where the rest of his team was fighting. Taking a few moments to rest and recenter himself, Ojirou stood up and ran to aid his teammates.

At the same time, Izuku was surprised to see the other blond charging at him. Expecting an attack, he held his arm up in the most likely path for a punch. What he wasn’t expecting however was for Monoma to latch onto his arm.

“Haha! Now I will turn your greatest strength against you!” he boasted. Several seconds passed as they both stood there. Izuku was waiting for whatever the blonde was talking about, while the blond himself expression grew puzzled. “Wait, why can’t I use your quirk? Why isn’t it doing anything?!”

Izuku blinked before something clicked. “Oh, wait, can you copy quirks? That is so cool!”

Monoma startled back at the statement with a baffled expression. “W-what?” He violently shook his head after a moment. “Wait, no, that’s not important! Why can’t I use your quirk?”

“Hm? Ah, right,” the verdette let out, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in nervousness. “W-well, I’m a late bloomer, s-so…”

“‘Late bloomer,’ right,” Monoma repeated with a slight drawl. “How late?”

The intensity of Izuku’s nervous tick grew. “Uhhhh, the Entrance Exam?”

Monoma, for the first time in a long time, was utterly speechless. He merely stood there blinking in shock as the words processed.

“Are you real?” the blond asked with genuine concern.

“Eh?”

“So what do we have here?”

The five former combatants all turned their gazes to the owner to the new voice.

The young man they saw possessed wild, bright purple hair. So wild it seemed he just crawled out of bed. He might as well have with the tired eyes and obvious eyebags the young man had.

The new challenger lazily walked forward with a hunched back and his hands in his pockets. And as Izuku continued to observe, he noticed a familiarity with the disinterest gaze the boy held. His whole demeanor reminded him of several people, and not in a good way.

“Pardon, but… who are you?” Monoma asked with narrowed eyes.

“Who, me?” the insomniac asked rhetorically. “I’m nobody special.”

“Says the guy barging in on us,” Awase retorted.

“Oh ho ho, scary,” the purplette sarcastically claimed while shaking his head in what seemed to be disappointment. “All you Hero kids are the same.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Ojirou probed as he shifted his stance to attack if needed. With his honed battle instincts, the blond could tell that there was something off about the apathetic violette.

He scoffed. “All of you are so content looking down on everyone else from above. Honestly, all of you are so conceited.”

“Again, says you,” Awase repeated, though this time his tone was far sharper.

“Like that blue-haired bitch doing the speech earlier.”

Izuku felt a small growl escape his clenched teeth as he unconsciously tightened his grip at the remark.

The insomniac smirked as he continued. “Seriously, she gets off on saying how ‘everyone’s so great’ when I bet she couldn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone else. She’s just one example of just how privileged and spoiled all of you are. No work needed, everything handed to you on a silver platter. It’d be better if you were villains honestly.”

Izuku stepped forward with eyes narrowed and teeth clenched in anger. “Shut up,” he told the intruder.

“Uh, should we be stopping this?” Ojirou asked his teammates, the others now too wary of the newcomer to reply

“Why, so you and the pathetic weaklings you call your ‘friends’ don’t have to face reality?” the purplette continued anyway.

‘Face reality kid.’

‘You’re useless!’

‘Weak little Deku~! What? You gonna cry about it ya big baby? How pathetic!’

“Shut up,” Izuku stated far more harshly.

Shinsou snapped his fingers and continued unperturbed. “I mean, you guys run around thinking you’re hot shit. But I know what you all are. You’re spoiled little brats who know nothing about pain. All you want is the damn popularity,” he continued to rant.

‘Pain. Pain! PAIN! It hurts! Please, STOP!’

‘I’m sorry Ms. Midoriya, but your son is only acting out for attention. Such behavior needs to be disciplined.’

‘Stop, Kacchan! You’re hurting me!’

“Stop talking like you know any of us!” Izuku called out.

“And then there’s Togeike. How she got on your team in her condition, I have no idea,” he dully remarked while clapping his hands together three times.

‘I heard he was diagnosed as Quirkless.’

‘Ma’am, your son’s condition does not entitle him to act his way.’

‘I hope I don’t catch it and become Quirkless.’

“What, did you take pity on her? Honestly, I wouldn’t. Or maybe she promised to slut herself up for you. Quirklessness aside, I can see why,” the antagonistic brainwasher continued.

Izuku found himself shocked completely still at his opponent’s words. The rage and erratic thoughts passing through his head was almost deafening to him.

“Oh, but what about the rest of the girls already in the Hero Course?” he commented with a smirk as he prepared to pull on the connection and end the fight before it began. He just needed the satisfaction of seeing the bastard’s last reaction before casting him aside. “They must’ve whored themselves out too. No way they could’ve gotten in on their own.”

Izuku’s mind, once a raging tempest unlike any before, suddenly found itself silenced as he stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of him.

In his state of shock, a new yet familiar feeling passed over him. He had only felt this feeling once in all his life, but he could recognize it anywhere.

This feeling…

Well…

…

He was fucking done.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU BITCH! YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!”

With that, Izuku charged with fury burning in his eyes.

But Shinsou… he just continued smirking. “Stop.”

Before he could process anything, Izuku found his body wrested from his control. The only evidence of this on the outside was his shining verdant eyes turning dark and hazy.

Before long, the greenette’s body dug its heels in and skidded to a stop right in front of Shinsou. The purplette’s smirk grew. He didn’t have to rile the boy up that much, he still found satisfaction in the act. Someone needed to tell the greenette the hard truth anyways. It wasn’t Shinsou’s fault that he just happened to be the messenger.

“Now, with that out of the way-”

The greenette’s body jerking cut him off. The purple-haired insomniac’s eyes narrowed in suspicion as the body stilled once again.

Inside his mind, Izuku pulled at the metaphorical restraints binding his mind. After all, he couldn’t let what was said go. He’s come too far, and he cares too much about his friends to just let him get away with it.

The more he tugged, the more his rage grew. It grew and grew, so much so that he had no idea what to do with it all.

That was when something called out to him.

The next moment was filled with pain.

===
Camp Lon Weizi
Several Minutes Earlier

“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!” Kaibara continued to curse as he exited the forest and into the clearing of his team’s camp.

Rin bursted through too after a few moments as Tsuburaba looked on in confusion. Mezou took a stance and prepared for combat.

“Whoa, whoa! What’s going on?!” Tsuburaba called out to his two panicking teammates.

“We poked the hornet’s nest!” Kaibara called out as he hid behind the defensive half of the team. Rin did the same as soon as he reached them.

“Uh, what are you two-”

Kaibara’s question was cut off when a boulder the size of Mezou crashed off to the side in the outer area of the clearing.

“That,” Mezou answered. “They’re running from that.”

Ochako crashed through the treeline moments later with an uprooted tree in her hand. “YOU COME INTO MY HOUSE-” she exclaimed as she slammed the tree into the ground like a club “-AND DISRESPECT MY MOCHI!”

Kaibara whimpered in fear.

Mezou whipped his head around to look at his fear stricken teammate. “You insulted mochi to Uraraka’s face?” he asked in fear.

“She was talking about getting some after all this was over. I just said it wasn’t that good, that’s all!” he replied in a panic.

Ochako let out an almost feral growl at his words.

“You’re her classmate, right?” Tsuburaba asked as fear began to fill his eyes. “Well, what do we do?!”

Mezou took in a deep breath and let out an even deeper sigh of resignation. “Pray.”

The three 1-B students all gulped simultaneously.

Yui chose that moment to run into the clearing behind Ochako. The ravenette was sending an annoyed glare at her gravity defying girlfriend.

Ochako roared as she dashed forward with her uprooted tree at the ready.

Tsuburaba activated his quirk and created a barrier of air in front of the brunette’s path. Spotting the translucent circle, Ochako skidded to a stop as she swung her weapon.

Several branches had broken off when they made contact with the barrier, but said barrier shattered a few seconds after the main body made contact.

“What the-?!” the orangette yelped out at the display.

“Oh, sure, my quirk can make things as light as a feather, but that doesn’t make it any harder to stop. Inertia’s still a bitch!” she called out before charging and rearing her makeshift weapon back again.

Mezou took the opportunity to grab his cowering teammates and move them out of the way. After all, just as she said, inertia was still a bitch.

Ochako slammed the tree down where they were previously standing. She silently cursed to herself when she was reminded that it was difficult for her to stop her own weapon too.

Mezou turned around to shield himself and his team from the splinters and other bits of wound that exploded off the damaged tree.

“Move!” the giant commanded.

That seemed to kick his teammates into gear as Rin ran off to the side in a circle around the brunette and began to fire off scales. The angry gravity girl noticed the first few flying at her and ducked behind her makeshift club. As he continued to circle around, Ochako picked up the log and swung it to make him back off.

She had succeeded, but her shift in focus gave Kaibara a chance to rev up his kick and hit the ground. The plume of dust and debris hid the rest from view.

With Rin on the back foot and the rest of her opponents hidden, Ochako swung the log as hard as she could in an attempt to billow the cloud away. The action was unnecessary as Mezou way able to get in front of the swing and stop the log in its tracks. With a heave, he was able to deprive Ochako of her weapon.

Thinking fast, the smaller brunette pressed her fingers together to release the effect she had on the former tree to cause Mezou to stumble backwards as gravity took hold of the object once again.

She turned to see Kaibara rushing in with his fist spinning rapidly. The ravenette made to punch the attacker, but he found himself throw over her shoulder and into the ground before he could even react.

She noticed Rin readying his scales once again, but he was thwarted when his target began using his teammate as a human shield. The foreigner cursed as he changed tactics and charged in.

This turned out to be the wrong move as Kaibara found himself under the effects of Zero Gravity and swung around by his legs. Rin was too shocked to stop running as he saw the very teammate he sought to save being used as a weapon. He was able to return his focus to the battle before he was struck, but it was not soon enough as he and Kaibara were flung away, the latter under the effects of gravity once more to cause even further delays.

With Mezou now charging her with the intent to restrain her, Ochako rolled in between his legs and took advantage of the confusion to regain her former weapon.

She went into a dead sprint to reclaim her weapon, side stepping several small barriers courtesy of Tsuburaba along the way. With the log now back in her hands, the brunette turned to charge her enemies once again…

Until she found her weapon suddenly shrunk to the size of a stick.

Ochako startled at the drastic change before whirling around to Yui.

“Dangit Yui! What are ya doing?” the brunette questioned as her accent slipped due to her rage.

The girl in question merely stared at the gravity girl with slightly narrower eyes and a small frown. To most, these changes wouldn’t mean anything. It was only due to Ochako’s experience that she knew the size-changer was pouting.

“Hm,” she let out as she crossed her arms.

“Whaddya mean ‘you left us’?”

Yui’s eyes narrowed the slightest bit more. “Hm.”

Ochako narrowed her own eyes for a moment before they widened once again. “Oh! Oh. Whoops?” Yui shook her head in exasperation as the brunette continued. “I guess I did go charging off on my own,” she replied with mild embarrassment before she shook her head before angrily pointing at Kaibara. “But that guy insulted mochi!”

Yui’s eyes narrowed more.

The two held their gazes for several moments before Ochako let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll let it go- this time!”

“Yes, please! If you stop attacking, I’ll do anything to apologize!” Kaibara pleaded with no small amounts of fear as he continued to cower behind Mezou.

Ochako puffed her cheeks with annoyance before sighing again. “We’re already here, so if you give us your flag, I’ll accept your apology.”

“Of course, take it.”

“C’mon man! You can’t be serious?” Rin complained.

“Do you wanna keep fighting her?” the scared ravenette pointed our.

“...fair point,” he admitted.

“Unfortunately, you will find yourself disappointed.”

The six gathered there turned to the source of the seventh voice. The simplest way Ochako could describe the newcomer was that he was a bipedal lion wearing glasses.

Said lion was also now holding Team Lon Weizi’s flag in his hand.

“What the- Shishida?” Kaibar asked.

“Indeed,” the now-named Shishida introduced. “I apologized for taking this from you, but I feel that it would be best for my own team’s advancement. Good day now.”

With that, the beastial teen bit down on the flag pole and began running away on all fours.

Several moments passed in silence until Ochako slumped and let out another sigh. “You know what, whatever. I don’t even care anymore,” she said before turning to look at the team she was previously attacking. “Sorry about all of that. I guess I got a bit too aggressive.”

“You’re not going to chase him?” Mezou asked her.

“Probably not a good idea. I ran all the way here and then started fighting you guys right after. It’d be stupid to keep going.”

Yui softly punched her arm.

Ochako groaned. “Okay, fine. It was dumb to run off. It was even dumber to fight. Happy?”

The two were interrupted by an unexpected question from a calmer Kaibara. “Hey, what’s up with all of that smoke?”

Curious, the others followed his finger to the eastern corridor that led to the center. Every so often, plumes of dust and smoke billowed up from the ground. In the middle of the chaos was a writhing mass of black and green.

“Hm.”

“‘Foreboding’?” Ochako repeated what she was able to understand before she realized the ravenette’s exact meaning. “Yeah, I’m getting a bad feeling too.”

That’s the moment Yui chose to run off towards the chaos. Ochako sputtered for a few moments before quickly following behind.

Team Lon Weizi just looked on in confusion.

===
Camp Froppy

“Movement!” Kyouka called out suddenly.

Eijirou immediately hardened his arms in preparation for combat.

“Wait, I think it’s friendly!”

Sure enough, the pink form of Ashido Mina broke into the small clearing a few seconds later. Kyouka went to question her, but the pinkette merely put her finger up as she took a moment to catch her breath. When she was calm once again, the scout spoke.

“I’m not fucking with that.”

Eijirou jumped at the crass language knowing that she was serious if she said something like that.

“Would that have anything to do with the explosion I heard coming from that direction?” Kyouka aske with slight trepidation.

“More like everything. So you know how Azzy pulled out that whole demon arm thing to fight that monster at the USJ, right?” the pinkette began.

“Y-yeah…?” Eijirou confirmed.

“Well, long story short, she pulled that out again and beat Todoroki in about five minutes, tops,” she clarified.

Kyouka took a second to simply blink before responding. “Well that explains everything. So I guess the 10,000,000 point flag’s a no-go then.”

“‘Fraid not,” the pinkette confirmed.

Kyouka cupped her chin in thought. “Well, Tsu’s already scouting south, so it’s not like we don’t have options. Plus…” she trailed off as she looked off into the forest, “we’ve got more incoming.”

Eijirou brought his hardened arms to bear once again in preparation. “How many?”

“Four, and they’re not fighting, so it must be a full team,” Kyouka informed. “And since they’re coming from the south, it must be Aoyama’s team.”

With that, she too prepared for a fight.

===

Kendou Itsuka was not having a good time at the moment. She didn’t have a problem with the event or the great outdoors.

She was, however, annoyed that she and her partner were ambushed about half way to their goal.

One Asui Tsuyu, told to her by one Sato Rikidou, jumped out of nowhere and slammed into the both of them with her powerful legs. Itsuka barely saw it in time and managed to make it a glancing blow instead of the slam the frog girl was going for, but her partner’s larger build made that much more difficult as he found himself slammed into a tree.

They couldn’t track her due to the dense foliage they had found themselves in, so they had little choice but to start eliminating the greenette’s hiding spots and chase her off.

The plan worked, but they were now under a time limit thanks to Sato’s quirk.

They could have gone back to their camp to not only trap their current enemy and rest, but she didn’t want to waste the chance she was given. Not to mention that she felt like the defenders of her team didn’t really need her help.

So with all of that in mind, her and Sato agreed to keep marching on.

And now, having made it to their destination, they were now in a free-for-all as most of team Froppy was now facing off against all of Team Nova.

It was going great at first. With her and Sato’s strength combined, they were easily able to deflect and counter any attacks approaching them.

The sparkly guy with the belt, Nova himself apparently, got taken out when the pink girl that could generate acid managed to destroy said belt and take him out of the running. The pink girl then threw some sort of goop at Sato that caused him to be stuck in place. He was breaking out, sure, but it was a slow process.

Komori was able to generate some mushroom wall and partially sap others of their strength with her mushrooms, but the latter was only mildly effective due to Itsuka’s efforts and creating wind and her location on the other side from Team Nova.

The guy with tape dispensers for elbows managed to partially wrap up the red-head with rock-like skin on team Froppy, but one misstep got him caught in a pool of irritating acid that distracted him long enough for said wrapped red-head to close the distance and gut check him.

Shoda was more effective on the rock guy with his quirk, but with most of his team either down or ineffective, he made the choice to have him and his team retreat and regroup. A rather smart play as the defending team wouldn’t be able to chase after and push their advantage, but it did make it more difficult for her and Sato.

Speaking of which-

The purplette defending the flag sent another pulse into the ground and caused cracks to form under Itsuka.

Instead of pressing her attack, she instead jumped back to avoid the red-head’s jab. Sato stood next to her a second later, but going by his breathing, he wasn’t going to last for much longer.

“Dammit,” she cursed under her breath as she enlarged her hand and slammed the palm into the ground.

As the small dust cloud bloomed in between them, Itsuka noticed an unintended consequence in that the purplette from before screamed in pain as she pressed her palms into her.

The Tetsutetsu knockoff and the pink girl charge at the two of them with little hesitation. The red-head was met by Sato while Pinky went after her. The pinkette’s movements were wide, and thus easily avoidable, but with the acid she kept sprinkling everywhere, Itsuka could feel the small patches of irritated flesh that burned as she moved.

The orangette jumped back again to make more distance and strike back, but she was surprised to see the pinkette hold her hands together like a nozzle. It didn’t take long for her to figure out the purpose of the pose as acid started gushing out.

Itsuka moved her enlarged hand to block the stream and winced at the burning sensation she felt.

“That stuff’s not the best I’ve got, but it's pretty distracting, isn’t it?” the acidic girl asked rhetorically.

Itsuka clicked her tongue in annoyance. Changing tactics, she slammed the hand that wasn’t just hit by acid into the ground to create another smoke cloud. Taking the chance, she grabbed the weary Sato and ran.

Several minutes later and after making sure they weren’t followed, she and Sato sat down to rest.

“S-sorry, Kendou,” the muscular fellow student said with a slight slur. “I should’ve experimented with more types of sugar.”

Itsuka waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. We could’ve waited, but we both agreed not to. Although, if we did, we might’ve had an easier fight. Still,” she continued while raising a hand to silently tell Sato to wait, “we can’t focus on what we’ve done wrong or could’ve done differently. We made our choice.”

Sato nodded, but said nothing else.

===

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Azura repeated as she dashed down the corridor back to her team’s base. Before Togeike or Hatsume could react, she skidded to a stop in the center.

“Okay, don’t have much time to explain. Someone’s going to have to guard the western corridor while I go deal with something,” she explained with zero hesitation.

Togeike was startled by the sudden entrance, but quickly pushed that aside. “Wait, what? What do you have to deal with? And what’s up with your hand?”

“In reverse order; don’t worry about it, and I think Green Bean’s gone berserk.”

“Oh, is that why I saw that weird, hentai monster,” Hatsume commented.

Togeike pointed at the pinkette with a small amount of annoyance on her face. “First, never say that again,” she stated before turning back to Azura. “Second, what do you mean by ‘berserk’?”

The bluenette sighed with exasperation prevalent on her face. “With how long his quirk marinated before he could finally use it, I brought up the idea that there might be more to it than we know. Turns out I was right. Don’t exactly feel proud of it though. Before he started doing… that,” she said whilst gesturing to the growing smoke cloud originating from the end of the eastern corridor, “I felt the strongest wave of rage I’ve ever felt in my entire life.”

“...so-”

“‘Berserk is accurate, yes,” Azura finished.

“Alright then. You go deal with that, and I’ll take up your spot,” Togeike declared.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” the reincarnated woman asked with slight worry.

“She’ll be fine,” Hatsume cut in. “Guinea Pig here will have me and my babies watching her back.”

“Plus, I’m not helpless. I know some mixed martial arts,” the Gen-Ed student assured. After a moment she turned to Hatsume with a mix of confusion and anger in her eyes. “Wait, Guinea Pig?”

Hatsume tilted her head in confusion. “Well, yeah. You’re quirkless, which means you’ll be the perfect person to test my babies! Just think; electro-batons, air-glide sneakers, foam grenades- there’s so many things we could do together!” the mad inventor exclaimed excitedly.

Togeike stepped back as a blush began to form on her face. She opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but closed it shortly thereafter. She then turned to Azura before speaking once again. “Just get going,” she said before she started walking to her new post.

No one needed to tell her twice as a streak of blue and red electricity was the only evidence she was there at all.

Hatsume tilted her head again with a puzzled expression on her face before she simply shrugged and brought her grenade launcher filled with capture foam to bear once again.

Chapter Text

Camp Creati

As Momo and her team kept themselves on guard for the inevitable first assault, the heiress herself couldn’t shake the feeling that she should be worried about something. It had come from seemingly nowhere, but in the end, she couldn’t bring herself to push it to the side.

And that fact caused her worry to grow further.

“Pardon me, Yaoyorozu.”

Momo turned to look at her raven-headed classmate as he approached her. “Yes, Tokoyami? Is something wrong?”

“It is I who should be asking you that question,” he responded in his usual manner. With a quirk of her eyebrow, the verbose young man continued. “You are worried for your paramours, are you not?”

Momo gave the question some thought. “I… I suppose I am. I just feel like I should be helping them with something,” she responded honestly after a moment. It wasn’t that she wished to lie to him, but doing so at the moment seemed unwise to her. It took her another moment for a question to enter her own mind. “W-wait, how do you…” she trailed off with a small blush.

“Hm? Ah, yes, my apologies. It seems we have both developed in our own ways without communicating as such to the rest of our comrades,” Fumikage apologized sincerely. “Between Midoriya’s, Highlander’s, and your own efforts to aid in our growth, I felt as if seeking greater strength alone would bear fruit as well.”

Momo shook her head. “There is no need to apologize. No one was forced to come to us or accept our help. I am merely glad that I was able to do so in the first place.”

“You are most humble, Yaoyorozu. As for the answer to your question, your hearts shine brighter whenever you are close to one another. There was no need for guess work on my part upon seeing the four of you interact,” the raven-headed young man explained.

“Our ‘hearts’? Could you please elaborate?” she questioned as she resisted the urge to make a notebook

He nodded his head in assent before continuing. “Certainly. It had originally begun as an innocuous conversation with Midoriya. I cannot remember the reason as to why, but he began smiling brightly, as if the sun itself was within him. That is when Dark Shadow bemoaned that said smile was hurting her. Suffice to say, with the numerous opportunities you have expressed about the necessity of understanding even the smallest of details, I too began questioning as to why such a phenomenon existed. And through communing with the darkness of this world, we have found our answer.”

Dark Shadow chose to cut into the conversation at that moment. “Apparently it's not just sunlight that can affect me.”

“Indeed,” Fumikage agreed verbosely. “It appears that the light within one’s heart can also affect Dark Shadow. As such, we have developed a special move which allows us to detect such light.”

Momo lightly gasped at the revelation. “Oh my. I had no idea that you were capable of such a thing. The two of you are truly incredible.”

“Whilst appreciated, your praise is unnecessary,” the bird-man replied.

“If you can sense the ‘light’ within someone’s heart, then is it possible to do the same with ‘darkness’?” she asked curiously.

Fumikage contemplated the question for several moments before committing to an answer. “So far, success has been limited within that line of experimentation, however…” he trailed off as he hesitantly glanced towards the center of the field.

“He’s worried. We both are actually,” Dark Shadow continued. At Momo’s questioning stare, she continued. “Because it doesn’t hurt me, shadows are more difficult to track. The same works for this new thing we’ve got going on. But that doesn’t mean we can’t feel it,” the shadow construct explained.

Momo narrowed her eyes at the two. “What are you trying to say?” she asked pointedly.

The beaked young man chose to speak up first. “We are worried as, some minutes ago, we felt a strong surge of darkness. We are not sure of the source or its whereabouts, however…”

“I see,” she hummed out with an increasingly concerned look on her face. “I-”

The young heiress was cut off by the blaring of one of the horns she had created as an early warning system sound off.

“Damn thing! Get the hell off of me!”

The group immediately turned towards the source of the disturbance, a single enemy that entered their clearing from the east.

The remainder of their teammates joined up with them as the intruder broke free from the rope trap and began making their way towards the base once again.

“That is Kamakiri, a classmate of mine!” Shiozaki informed her team upon recognition. “His quirk allows him to create blades on any point of his body, and he is quite aggressive with them!”

“My thanks, Shiozaki!” Momo called out before bringing a grenade launcher to bear. With little hesitation, the ravenette aimed and fired the rounds that exploded upon impact with the ground. Instead of an actual explosive however, foam quickly expanded from the shell, and then quickly solidified to trap whatever had been caught within it.

Unfortunately for Kamakiri, one of his arms was caught by one of the pods of capture foam. On the upside, the mantis-man did manage to pull it out before it completely solidified. The same couldn’t be said as the foam that was still on his arm stiffened until it was almost like a rock.

In frustration, the 1-B student slammed the covered arm into the same batch of foam that had caught him by surprise in an attempt to knock some of it loose. After a few smacks, he concluded that it just wasn’t working and moved to plan B.

Plan B being to just run into the enemy stronghold anyways. Although he was having some slight trouble with the trench that they had constructed.