Archive of Our Own ^beta

Title: Two Hopes

Category: My Hero Academia & Danganronpa

Pairing: Shigaraki & Midoriya Midoriya & Aizawa Midoriya & Class 1-A

Rating: T (Graphic Details of Death and crude language)

Summary: In order to help make their students into better heroes, to see how far they will go when the only options they have is to kill or be killed, to see how strong their beliefs are, UA has teamed up with the second most famous school in Japan - Hope’s Peak. Together, UA will be the first school outside of Hope’s Peak to do a Hope Social Experiment that has been ongoing way before quirks existed. However, Hope’s Peak will treat this as the same way they treat their own Hope Social Experiment, have the students volunteer to join the program after they watch snippets of past Experiments and have them sign a waiver. This time, for Class 1-A and Class 1-B, it hits a lot closer to home than what they would’ve thought.

Author’s Note: I have tried to write this story three different times before I gave up on it and said screw it. I’m glad my brain was like you need to write this one now because I am so proud of how it came out. I will say that if you know anything about Danganronpa, none of the characters except for Monokuma will be a major character. I did not give all the Ultimate Talent students names because one - I suck at names - two - my mind associates the person more with their talent and not their name plus it makes it easier in my mind to just say The Ultimate Cheerleader said or The Ultimate Football player did this. I only have one ultimate name and it’s mostly because someone had to say their name to help progress the story. 

This story is not completely kind to Bakugou or Shiozaki. Bakugou because of his huge ego and thinking that he’s the best. Shiozaki because of her strong faith in god and let’s be honest, if you kept that faith in God's teachings like Shiozaki does, she wouldn’t survive Monokuma. 

I also flipped the script a little bit with how the quirkless are treated in Japan outside of Aldera’s influence. 

Comment Moderation is on for everyone’s safety.

There are graphic details and descriptions of deaths in this story along with some crude language that I tend to avoid. This is not as sexualized as Danganronpa usually is nor filled with as much murder as Danganronpa as I skipped over a lot of the free time and investigation parts along with the class trial progress. During those times is when I have the brief intermission of the My Hero Academia characters talking.

Disclaimer: I own zero rights to the My Hero Academia franchise and Danganronpa franchise.

~~Story Begins~~

Free falling with nothing to grab onto to stop the fall, a mouth open in a silent scream only to have a pink liquid cough out as the fall ended with multiple sharp objects impaled through a small body. A tiny hand, just big enough to hold onto a rabbit, moved an index finger covered with the same pink liquid that was escaping their mouth so it was subtly pointing to a dark corner underneath a spiral staircase that lined against the wall.

~~

In the darkness of the early morning when the sun is still on the other side of the world and the insomniacs roam the halls, a first-year high school student woke up with a jolt. A cold sweat drenched green curly hair and the bedding as the student tried to regain their breathing. Emerald eyes looking all over the room in fear as a scarred up hand goes to rest against a muscle toned stomach, before the student falls back onto their bed their breaths still deep and erratic. The other hand moves to cover their eyes as they try to calm down, covering the freckles on their face, a short sigh of relief escaped into the night as the sensation of no sharp objects protruding through the skin touching the hand on the stomach.

“That nightmare again," the student whispered as they worked themselves to calm down. “Something bad is going to happen.”

A buzz came from the cell phone on the table nearby, the phone screen lighting up the room with a notification. The student, afraid to move their hand from their stomach, used the hand covering their eyes to reach for the phone and look at the notification with their heart dropping to their stomach as they read it. The phone screen changed once the student got to the end of the message to display an incoming phone call from a contact called ‘Strategist’. 

They answered the call and placed the phone to their ear.

“Yeah, I’ve read it. I don’t have a choice. I’m going to have to relive the experience again only as a movie.”

Since the student woke up, a tiny smile made its way onto their face.

“I’ll see you in action at the end this time.”

~~

“Listen up, hellions,” Aizawa said as he walked into the classroom. “Principal Nedzu would like for us to make an announcement.”

The class sat up in attention as he grabbed the red marker and started writing on the board. 

“Before any of you start asking questions, I want you all to listen,” Aizawa said as he turned around and stepped aside so they could read the board. “If you were in a situation to survive, would you kill a fellow hero or be killed?’

‘Kill or be killed?’ was written on a board.

“That is a question the famous Hope’s Peak Academy has sought an answer to for over three hundred years in a social experiment stimulation that they do with fifteen or sixteen of their own students each year. This year, Principal Nedzu has asked to collaborate with Hope’s Peak with this experiment in which you can volunteer for. Again, this experiment is 100% voluntary, but Nedzu believes that this will help those who are selected to be better heroes. Hope’s Peak, however, knows how mentally damaging - their words and their disclosure- this experiment is. So they are making it mandatory for Class 1-A and Class 1-B to watch bits of their previous simulations that have been most influential. Again, watching the previous simulations is completely mandatory and if you still sign up to volunteer for this experience, then you fully waive the rights to sue Hope’s Peak for any mental damage and emotional trauma. If you are selected to take part, then they will have you sign an agreement as well.”

“Sir!” Iida said, standing up. 

“Sit back down, Iida,” Aizawa said. “I’m not done yet.’

Iida said back down.

“After the viewing, there will be a sign up sheet for anyone who wishes to take part in it. From the sign-up sheet, Hope’s Peak will then choose fifteen to sixteen students to participate. Those students will again, sign a couple of waivers and contracts to clarify that they know what they are signed up for and will possibly be experiencing. Now, the questions and one at a time.”

Kaminari stood up before everyone else. “Is this the same Hope’s Peak Academy that only takes on the Super High School Level Student or also known as the Ultimate students?” he said with a shout.

“Yes, it is,” Aizawa said. “Next question.”

“Sir, is there any extra credit on signing up? How long will those who get chosen be gone from class? Will they be excused from homework assignments?” Iida said.

“This is more of a test to see how deep your heroic skill set is in your core. The experiment usually lasts for a week, but the stimulation will feel longer. They will be excused from class, but they will have two to five days to get caught up on the notes and homework.”

Naturally, the class went into an uproar.

“An opportunity this big shouldn’t be taken lightly,” Momo said. “It should even help us bond more as a class. I believe that we all should volunteer.”

Midoriya raised his hand and waited for Aizawa to look at him before he asked his question.

“When we watch this stimulation,” Midoriya said. “Do we have to sit with our class or can we sit elsewhere?”

“With your class unless stated otherwise by Principal Nedzu,” Aizawa said with a raised eyebrow. “Thank you for the reminder. Hope’s Peak Academy would like to inform everyone that their stimulation will contain disturbing images, motives, and crude language.”

“Tsk,” Bakugou said, clicking his tongue. “Hope’s Peak is a knock-off since they don’t have me in its class.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sero said, waving his arm in a loose wave motion. “We all know that Bakugou, Todoroki, and Midoriya will sign up so-”

“No,” Midoriya said with a shake of his head. “I’m not signing up for it.”

“Eh? Why not? Too much of a coward? Scared you’ll be the first one killed?” Bakugou said with a sneer.

“I don’t have to explain my reasonings for not signing up,” Midoriya said, “but it will be nice to not have to focus on trying to catch up on my studies for a change.”

“Midoriya, you’re literally two weeks ahead of the homework’s readings,” Todoroki said.

Aizawa blinked.

“You could be a better hero!” Urakara said.

“I’ll pass,” Midoriya said. “I already know what my answer to the situation would be.”

“Intriguing, please share,” Tokoyami said.

“Suicide. A death still happens and other people would be able to survive still,” Midoriya said.

“But, you wouldn’t survive,” Koda signed.

“That thinking is illogical,” Aizawa said, “when it comes to real life.”

“Real life or stimulation,” Midoriya said. “That is what my answer would be.”

~~

It was during lunch, well the beginning of lunch that the Heroic classes were talking about Hope’s Peak coming to UA in the cafeteria. Shinozaki was talking about how if she’s chosen she wouldn’t kill as it’s against God’s teachings, Bakugou was boasting about how he’ll defeat the stimulation in one day proving that he’s the best and Hope’s Peak ignored the Ultimate Hero, some members of Class 1-A were worried about Midoriya’s answer, and the self-proclaimed Dekusquad who was also worried about Midoriya. They were curious over where he was and if they could get more information over why he would pass up such a wonderful experience.

Midoriya was actually in the teacher’s lounge waiting for Aizawa to finish drinking his coffee before his teacher gave him his full attention.

“Does what you need to tell me have something to do with what you said in class today?” Aizawa said.

Midoriya shook his head.

“Okay, you know I’m going to have to talk to you about that at a later date, right?” Aizawa said.

“I don’t see why we would,” Midoriya said. 

“Midoriya,” Aizawa said before sighing. “Okay, we will talk about that later, but not now. Will you be okay watching the stimulation?”

“It’s mandatory, sir, and I’m not missing it for the world,” Midoriya said. 

“Midoriya, your mental health matters just as much as your physical health. I will talk to you more about that privately. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?” Aizawa said.

“I’m a late bloomer,” Midoriya said.

“Okay. I should’ve been told about this a lot sooner. When did you get your quirk? 10?”

“On the day of the UA Entrance Exam is when it first manifested. The first time I used it actually. It’s going to be mentioned here shortly, so I thought I would tell you before you learned about it via other means,” Midoriya said.

Midoriya ran out of the lounge before Aizawa could even blink or register the words.

“What the hell? Problem Child, get back here!”

~~

Aizawa knew deep down within his cold black void of a heart that today was going to be a terrible day. It was the day Hope’’s Peak was going to show snippets of one of their past stimulations, but he took one step into the main school building and he just knew.

Nedzu was not very happy.

Aizawa doesn’t know how he knows this, but he does,

Then when he goes to retrieve his class to take them to the auditorium where Hope’s Peak was going to broadcast the stimulation an hour early before school even starts so his class could get the best seats in the place, Midoriya who has kept avoiding him since his announcement of being a late bloomer, wasn’t there.

“Where’s Midoriya?’ Aizawa said.

“He said he would meet us there. Something about meeting with Principal Nedzu before class and yes it was meant before the extra hour you requested us to arrive here so we could get front row seats,” Iida said.

Scratch what Aizawa said earlier.

Today was going to be horrible. An angry rat with his danger magnet child was never a good sign when they were together. It’s why he did everything to keep those two apart.

“I was not informed of this,” Aizawa said.

“It was very impromptu,” Tokoyami said. “Principal Nedzu had called Midoriya’s phone for it.”

Someone or something was going to get torn apart this month. Those poor souls, poor him because he will be the one who has to clean it up.

“Very well then,” Aizawa said. “Let’s go. Once we take our seats, I’ll get Midoriya.”

“Yes sir,” the class said and together they started their walk to the auditorium. 

No one made a noise as they didn’t want Class 1-B to know what their plan was and Aizawa threatened to make them take extra stealth classes after school everyday. However when they reached the auditorium, they all took offensive poses just like Aizawa did before they peered around him to see what the trouble was.

There on the stage of UA’s auditorium were Hope’s Peak’s officials running around on the stage and backstage getting everything ready. Principal Nedzu was standing in the center of the stage, his white fur bristling and tail lashing, as he talked to Hope’s Peak Headmaster. Behind the Headmaster stood Midoriya, but next to Midoriya stood someone they were all familiar with too much.

Shigaraki. The leader of the League of Villains, but he looked more presentable now than what they were used to seeing. Even Midoriya wasn’t in the UA school uniform and if Shigaraki wasn’t there, Iida would be chopping his arm and lecturing Midoriya about this prestigious school.

“Ah,” Shigaraki said, noticing them. “I see one class has arrived.” He turned to face them with his crimson eyes looking at them with a gentle expression. “It’s even my favorite class,”

His blue hair was actually washed and pulled back into a small pony with a black ribbon, the tails of the ribbon brushing against his pale neck, a dark green hoodie covered his torso and black pants went to red shoes. He had shoved his hands in the hoodies front pocket,

“I guess I should properly introduce myself this time,” he said. “You know me as Tomura Shigaraki, which was my cover name. I’m actually Tenko Shimura, a graduate of Hope’s Peak Academy. I’m currently in college to learn more about villain psychology and I’m also the Ultimate Stragesist.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Bakugou screamed using his explosions to propel himself forward. “You’re a fucking villain so DIE!”

Bakugou hit an invisible wall and was thrown back into Class 1-A.

“You do know that we don’t have to do this project with UA,” the Headmaster said. “Especially if they are willingly to attack our graduates. Ever since Shimura and I have come here, we have been treated almost short of hostility.”

“Pardon us,” Aizawa said, letting the sarcasm flow. “Shigaraki has attacked us on many occasions, I think it is safe for us to get a little on edge.”

“You do bring up a point,” the Headmaster said. “However, Shimura is one of our own. He’s also an Underground hero focusing on Undercover missions while taking college classes.”

“He’s trying to bring awareness to our cause on how corrupt the Hero Public Safety Commission has become and how the media helps it stay in power,” Midoriya said.

“Deku,” Urakara said. “You’re defending Shigaraki?”

“Uh, yeah. I mean he’s my best friend,” Midoriya said. “I’ll defend all of you guys as well.”

“No! If I hear anyone call Midoriya ‘useless’ we will pack up and leave,” the Headmaster said, “I don’t want to hear any excuses. No graduate of Hope’s Peak is useless, no one is useless.”

“Say it louder for the asshole in the front,” Shigaraki said glaring at Bakugou who was wrapped up in a capture scarf. “Preach it louder for those in the back!”

“But,” Asui said. “Midoriya is our classmate. How could he be a graduate of Hope’s Peak? *kero*”

“Oh! I- uh - I wasn’t treated all that nicely in elementary and middle school. Some people would call it abuse but -”

The Headmaster scoffed at that.

“It was torture! The things that school district did to you is considered torture! Those in the military are subjected to that when they are trying to get information out of someone!” Shigaraki said.

“Mom couldn’t afford to send me to online school so I sold some of my analysis online which helped me pay for my online school! However, I couldn’t just stay at home and do online school so I still had to go to my school, but I graduated from online middle school in sixth grade and was invited to go to Hope's Peak in seventh grade,” Midoriya said.

“He speedrun the reverse course of Hope’s Peak for funnisies and still graduated before any of us did,” Shigaraki said.

“Okay, so Midoriya is super smart, but like,” Kaminari said. “Why are you up there with Shigaraki?”

“Like hell is Deku smarter than me!” Bakugou said.

“You know, he’s always like that,” Shigaraki said, turning to face the Headmaster. “Don’t punish them all. In fact, what you could do is-”

“Ban him from volunteering!” Midoriya said, finishing Shigaraki’s thought. “This project is supposed to help them become better heroes, right?”

“Without being able to do the project, then he will have that knowledge over his head that he can’t be the best hero there is because fifteen - sixteen other hero students from his grade have had the experience.”

“And Urakara has permission to call me Deku,” Midoriya said.

“That’s terrifying,” Oujiro said with Shinsou nodding next to him.

“And to answer your question, Kaminari. It’s because I’m here to support Shimura!” Midoriya said. “It’s what friends and best friends do!”

Shinsou nudged everyone out of the way as he yawned. 

“Okay, okay, I get it everyone,” Shinsou said. “You are all too much of a coward to ask the most important question here so I will. Midoriya, what exactly are you wearing?”

A white scarf made out of cotton was wrapped multiple times over Midoriya’s neck, a black long-sleeved skin tight shirt was laying over loose black cargo pants with his famous red shoes.

“A better version of Eraserhead’s hero outfit minus the goggles,” Midoriya said with a neutral expression.

Shinsou gave a thumbs up and went to his seat. “100% approve and agree,” he said. “Carry on.”

“Ooh, I like him,” Shigaraki said.

When Vlad King entered the auditorium with his class thirty minutes later, Class 1-A was already in their seats talking amongst themselves with Midoriya and Shigaraki joining in on the conversation. Aizawa gave one look to the Blood Hero.

“Don’t even start Vlad,” Aizawa said. “My class has already asked a million questions and I’m just ready to start this.”

“At least someone here is logical enough to accept everything,” the Headmaster said.

“Eraserhead is still so cool, isn’t he,” Shigaraki said which caused Midoriya to hide his face. 

“You need to stop,” Midoriya said with a whine that caused Shigaraki to laugh.

~~

“Okay, since everyone is here,” the Headmaster said. “We are going to show parts of a previous experiment so before you go to sign up in order to volunteer for the project, you will have an idea of what it you are signing up for. Consider yourselves lucky. This stimulation is mandatory for our Ultimate Students and it determines what side of humanity they believe in the most. This also allows us to see how far it will be for them to graduate in order to bring hope to the world.”

While the Headmaster talked more about the school, Aizawa walked to the front of his class where Shigaraki and Midoriya were sitting. He pointed to the empty chair on the other side of Midoriya.

“May I sit here?” he asked.

“Yes,” Shigaraki said. “Please do.”

Aizawa waited until Midoriya nodded before he sat down with his own nod.

“We have done these experiments for centuries, even before quirks were a thing, so some locations have been reused and we will see some ultimate talents arise again. We do these experiments to see which side will win. The hope to see a better future and faith in humanity or the fall of despair that the world is coming to an end, that they have no faith in their future?” the headmaster said.

“So, for you to understand some things before we start, you’d be introduce into class **476 by a little opening - sort of like what you’ll see at the opening of an anime or a cartoon. Class 476 was trapped on a deserted island and it was there they faced grueling climate and circumstances to see just how long it would be before someone would break and kill one of their friends or would they all die together? You will see the first days of their life on the island, the first class trial and punishment, free moments that the students used to help build relationships with each other, and the discovery of the last victim and that class trial. However, we will also play the victim’s final moments of when they were alive as it is crucial as to why we picked Class 476 to show instead of our usual showings of Class ‘76 or Class ’77.”

The Headmaster walked off of the stage and pressed a button on the remote getting the projector to play on the screen. A catchy tune started to play.

~~

“Man, all these Super High School Level students are so manly!” Kirishimia and Tetsutetsu said together.

“Shhh!” Mina said before gasping along with all the girls in both classes before standing up herself. “OMG! No way! Is that a little Midoriya? Our Midoriya?”

On the screen showed a younger Midoriya who seemed like he would’ve been in middle school. He was wearing a much longer white scarf, a baggy black shirt, baggy black pants, and was walking across the street on the white lines. A younger looking Shigaraki wearing the same outfit he is now wearing only with longer hair walked by the young Midoriya. When they were just about a step away from passing each other, they stopped and were in the process of turning around to stare at each other when the image flipped around. 

The image on screen now had a half black and white background that was splitted diagonally in the middle. In the upper part of the screen with the black background was ‘Tenko Shimura. Ultimate Strategist' in white kanji next to the image of Shigaraki holding onto a shoji piece in his hand that had two fingers cut off, leaning over a board that showed a bunch of bishops circling around a king.

In the bottom screen with the white background, the kanji ‘Izuku Midoriya. The Ultimate Analysis' was read in black. The younger Midoriya was holding onto an open notebook in one hand while a pencil was in his other hand, writing something down with his mouth open like he was asking something.

“Kid, why were you dressed up as me?” Aizawa said.

“Because you are simply so cool, Eraserhead,” Shigaraki said with a laugh.

“Well, Hope’s Peak never said what their uniform was exactly and the clothes were just really comfy,” Midoriya said.

“That’s not the full reason,” Shigaraki said in a little sing-song voice.

“Shut up! It’s stupid and embarrassing,” Midoriya said with a huff.

“Deku! What the hell? How did-”

“Quiet, Bakugou,” Nedzu said. “It would be a great disservice to UA for this stimulation to not go through. One more word and I’ll have you escorted out of the auditorium and moved to the Business Classes! I do believe those were your weakest scores on the Entrance Exam.”

“Principal Nedzu really wants us to push ourselves. How manly of him!” Tetsutetsu said.

((*Hello everyone! I do not usually leave an Author's Note in the middle of my stories, but this is a good spot to clear up any confusions this part may have. As I want this to try and feel like they are watching a movie and discussing the movie while the movie is being played, it will get confusing quite fast. So from this point on, when you read ‘Midoriya said’, I am referring to the Midoriya in the present time, the one that is watching the stimulation with everyone. If you read ‘Izuku said’. Then that’s the one in the stimulation. Shigaraki is the name that will appear to be used as the one watching the stimulation and Shimura will be used to refer to the one in the stimulation. Izuku doing something in the stimulation, Shimura doing something is in the stimulation. Midoriya and Shigaraki are in the audience.))

Shimura was walking on the beach trying to figure out where he was and if there was anybody nearby that he could try and communicate with. He was getting frustrated and found a seashell that he picked up. 

“No one is nearby, I haven’t seen any buildings that give a fraction of any signs of humankind here,” Shimura said, taking off his glove. “And I know better than to drink the ocean water, but I AM GODDAMN THIRSTY!”

He put the seashell, glittering white in the sun, within his ungloved hand and watched as the seashell turned into gray ash that fell from his hand into the golden brown sand. He glared at the ground before putting his glove back on and went to take a step when something caught his attention off to the side.

He turned to the side where the flora of whatever this place was, coconut trees, palm trees, grape trees -

“Don’t grapes grow on vines?” Kendo said.

“Plant mutation hybrids,” Shigaraki said. “This place was filled with them.”

“It was kiwi paradise,” Midoriya said. “Strawberries taste like kiwis, grapes tasted like kiwis, pineapples tasted like kiwis, and kiwis taste like -

“Kiwis, right?” Urakara said from her seat to the left behind Midoriya’s own seat.

“They tasted like pizza. Ham and pineapple pizza to be exact,” Midoriya said.

“This island ruined biology for me,” Shigaraki said. “I still can’t eat kiwis.”

“Same,” Midoriya said.

-and out of the bushes, something came charging at him. Shimura quickly braced himself only to get pushed into sapphire blue water.

“What the-” Shimura said.

Izuku lifted his head up, green eyes sparkling with excitement and a smile that almost outshined the sun. His body was physically vibrating.

“Uh, feral child? Do you know-”

“Your quirk is so cool! That was your quirk, right? You turned that seashell into dust! It was like disintegration or cremation but only without the fire! Five finger activated, correct? That’s why you wear artist gloves -”

Shimura blinked with his mouth open.

“You would make for an amazing Underground or Rescue hero! Thirteen would be the best mentor for you to study under. Can you make things turn into dust with both hands or just one hand at the time? Is there anything that your quirk doesn’t work on? Most quirks have side effects with the person’s body so does that mean you are easily dehydrated? Why did you come to Minotaur Island? Did you bring yourself any extra water? If not then -”

Shimura put a hand over the child’s mouth.

“Take a deep breath, shut off that analysis quickly, and please calm down. My quirk isn’t that cool for you to not get oxygen,” Shimura said.

Shimura watched as the child lost all of his excitement, his body curled up on himself like he was trying to protect himself. Shimura slowly moved his hand from the child only for the child to get off of him quickly and scramble backwards. It was almost like he was afraid of Shimura.

“S-sorry, I know it’s creepy and stalkerish and no one likes it. I try not to be too annoying with it but-”

“Kid, that is the point of analysis. They are supposed to be creepy and stalkerish. The more stalkerish it seems and the creepiest it sounds, the better the analysis,” Shimura said.

A little bit of the light had come back into those green eyes but it was heavily guarded and just a flicker. Shimura sat up and then stood up. He walked out of the water.

“Not going to lie, but the water actually helped calm me down, so thanks. Anyway, we started off on the wrong foot here,” Shimura said. “I’m Shimura Tenko, my quirk is Decay and it is five-finger activated. I was supposed to go to Hope’s Peak Academy as the Ultimate Strategist, but-”

“Wait? Hope’s Peak is real? They actually do look for high school students with an Ultimate talent?” the child said with wide eyes. “I-I thought it was a joke because I’m just a Deku.”

A flash of anger appeared in those red eyes which quickly transitioned into concern.

“Deku as in worthless? Nah kid, no one is worthless unless they are babies. Between you and me, babies terrify me,” Shimura said, which got Izuku to smile a little. “So, for now, I’m going to call you Izuku because Deku could be misread as Izuku plus your hair and eyes. So, come on, Izuku, what’s your introduction and how did you not know about Hope’s Peak?’

 “Oh! You’re right, actually! My name is Izuku Midoriya. I-I’m quirkless and I guess that Hope’s Peak says that I’m the Ultimate Analyst.”

Another flicker of emotion went through the red eyes, a little bit of fondness and pride, but that was quickly replaced with an impressive stare.

“You’re kidding me with the name, right?” Shimura said.

Izuku shook his head and showed him a tablet that he turned on. In pink holographic lettering with a picture of Izuku, Midoriya had his name for people to read.

“I was not expecting that. Your parents aren’t very creative, are they?” Shimura said.

“Dad wanted to keep my Mom’s family name for me and Mom wanted to name me a color,” Izuku said. “Oh! There are others here too! They were all super nice and said they were Hope’s Peak students as well. I just thought this was one big prank, but you weren’t with the group when we all introduced ourselves. They don’t mind that I’m quirkless too which is really weird, except for Ayumi. She’s the Ultimate Therapist and she strongly dislikes me.”

The two heroic classes watched as Izuku introduced Shimura to everyone.

“The Bodybuilder is so manly,” Kirishimia whispered in awe.

They watched as the Ultimate Therapist snarled at Izuku only for Shimura to step in front of her to defend Izuku.

“Why did you look at me like I was the creator of the universe or some other sappy person with power?” Shigaraki said.

“You were the first person to defend me from someone since I was four,” Midoriya said.

“That bitch!” Iida said standing up who was sitting to Midoriya’s right behind him. He had grabbed the back of Shigaraki’s chair in such a tight grip. “How dare she accuse you of all that and imply that you’ve done those ‘sexual favors’ to get accepted!”

“Iida!” Midoriya said, joining everyone in staring at Iida with a surprised look.

Todoroki sitting next to Iida and behind Shigaraki on the end of the aisle nodded his head.

“I’ll freeze her on point, no questions asked,” Todoroki said calmly. “Endeavour has more than enough money to bail me out if I get arrested.”

“Trust me, I’ve been waiting to find her and decay her since Day One,” Shigaraki said. “So, please get in line.”

“Settle down you three,” Aizawa said, slipping his phone away.

He had to tell Tensei about his younger brother cussing. Aizawa just won a bet and he deserved to have his bragging rights about knowing how much Midoriya has changed Iida for the better.

“Tenko,” Midoriya whispers to Shigaraki as Shigaraki grabs Midoriya’s hand. 

“What they did to her doesn’t compare to what she did to you,” Shigaraki whispered back.

Aizawa thinks he wasn’t supposed to hear that conversation. 

Something must have happened that they cut out because the Ultimate Therapist wasn’t in the restaurant with everyone else like she was earlier. 

“You know,” Shimura said, pointing his fork at Izuku. “You never did tell me how you didn’t know that Hope’s Peak Academy was real.”

“What?” the Ultimate Ice Sculptor said. “You didn’t know that Hope’s Peak was real?”

“Well, I’m just a deku at my school,” Izuku said with a shrug not noticing everyone’s confused looks to each other. “Teachers never graded my homework correctly because a quirkless kid can’t possibly know more than those who are quirked. I always got in trouble and blamed for everything. I have no friends at school, they all use me as a moving target for gym and quirk practice.”

The Ultimate Lawyer raised an eyebrow as the Ultimate Detective started to take notes.

“Everyone always says that Kacchan is the best and he is so when I didn’t hear him mention anything about Hope’s Peak or the teachers announcing it, I thought it was a prank.”

“Well, when we get back home, I’m going to find that school and burn it down,” the Ultimate Rioter said.

“But, if that’s the case then how did you end up getting to Hope’s Peak?” the Ultimate Lucky student said.

“I was kidnapped, I think?” Izuku said, playing with his food. “Mom was at work so I was home alone playing heroes and villains by myself which is why I’m wearing this.”

“Don't most people dress up or pretend that they are All Might when playing that?” the Ultimate Detective said.

“Yes, but I love Underground heroes the most. In fact, I was pretending to be Eraserhead when someone knocked on the door. I opened it because Mom told me that she was expecting a package. It turned out to be some teachers from Hope’s Peak stating that they were there to pick me up, and the next thing I knew was that I was here on this island.”

“So, who is your favorite hero,” the Ultimate Golfer said.

“My default and safe answer would be All Might because Underground heroes can do their job better the least people know about them, but honestly, it would be Eraserhead,” Midoriya said.

Aizawa was not hiding his blush behind his capture scarf. 

“Tch,” Bakugou said. “Hope’s Peak is such a stupid school. Everyone knows I’m better.”

~~

Somewhere a detective was getting ready to raid a whole school district. Next to him was a lawyer and they looked at each other with a nod.

“Are you ready for this?” the lawyer said.

“Yes,” the detective said, holding his fist up. “For Hope!”

The lawyer bumped his fist against the detectives. “For Hope. Let’s make them pay.”

~~

Izuku was looking at the notebooks at the abandoned Ma + Pa Shoppe that was on the island.

“I grabbed five of them yesterday,” Izuku said, staring at the full shelf. “I even made a note explaining our situation to the owners with a written promise of paying them back. The shelf is full of notebooks again, but the note is still there on the counter so-”

Ding Dong

A white and black bear with a red lightning shaped eye appeared on the screen of the monitor that was in the shop.  The bear was sitting on a lounge chair by a poolside with a neon purple drink in one hand with a blue umbrella.

“A body has been discovered! After a certain amount of time has passed, the class trial will begin. It’s investigation time everyone so get to sleuthing!”

Izuku stared at the monitor with horror.

‘No. So-someone gave into the bomb motive?” Izuku said.

Izuku left the store and looked around. 

“There’s no one here, Shimura said that he would be at the dog cafe, but he would’ve come and gotten me if he was leaving,” Izuku said. “The hotel. That’s where a lot of people were going to meet up later so I’ll head there. Maybe someone knows what’s going on.”

Izuku walked to the hotel, but he noticed the Ultimate Violinist and Magician walking (more like the Magician dragging a confused and scared looking Violinist) towards the back of the hotel. 

“Wait, wait, what do you mean she’s dead?” the Ultimate Violinist said. “She can’t be dead!”

Izuku quickly chased after them.

When the three of them got to the back of the hotel, everyone else was already there. Somewhere staring at the scene in horror, others were trying to keep their breakfasts in their stomachs, while others were already investigating the scene.

One of the ones who were investigating the scene was Shimura who noticed them.

“Izuku, go outside. You don’t need to see this,” Shimura said.

“Don’t baby him!” Ayumi said. “We need to figure out who did this or we are all dead.”

“Shut up,” Shimura said. “He’s still a child! He doesn’t need to have these images haunting his nightmares.”

“No, she’s right,” Izuku said, stepping forward. “Besides, I want to be a hero so I’m going to need to get used to these things.”

“Kid,” Vlad King said as Awase left his seat in a hurry and grabbed the nearest wastebasket. “Even we don’t see crimes this extreme.”

Izuku took a deep breath and with focused eyes, the eyes that everyone has seen when he’s devising a plan for his team, he looked at the body of the Ultimate Golfer.

The Ultimate Golfer was hung upside-down, bungee-cords wrapped around one of her ankles connected to a hook on the ceiling. A large deep gash going down the inside of both her legs, dripping pink blood. Her darker pink plaid skort was upside down, but it didn’t cover the big circle carved into her white skin with an ‘X’ inside the circle on her stomach. Her pink shirt was cut open, but the pink blood made it look like a darker pink color. Her throat had been slit, adding more blood to the giant puddle of blood under her body, dying her blonde hair pink.

“Very well,” Shimura said. “We decided on a buddy system and I called you as my partner for this investigation.”

“But, Shimura,” Ayumi said. “I want you to be my partner.”

“That is gruesome!” Shiozaki said, standing up. “That person should be brought down by God’s wrath.”

~~

At a hospital across Japan, a magician was doing a magic show for the children. She had asked a quirkless boy to come up on stage to be her assistant. The children loved it and the magician mentally frowned as this proved her point. 

The children HE went to school with were all taught that quirks are what is important.

It was after the show that the boy’s father walked up to her.

“Thank you for picking my son to help,” he said. “His cancer is getting stronger and his body is rejecting the medicine. I haven’t seen him be this happy in such a long time.”

“It isn’t a problem,” she said. “He reminded me of a friend of mine. My friend inspired hope in me, in a lot of people, but he’s quirkless. He didn’t think he was all that special, but I see that it was because he didn’t have a good childhood at school. He was taught that he was useless.”

The father blinked.

“Why? Japan is the second safest country for quirkless,” the father said. “Even our suicides for quirkless people are the lowest in the world.”

“I don’t know, but my friend is a hero to almost all of us. He made sure that we would always have hope for a better tomorrow,” she said.

~~

“Correct,” Monokuma said. “Ritza Uesigi, the Ultimate Violist is the blackened!”

“Why?” Izuku said. “Why would you kill her?”

“She refused me! We’ve been hanging out this entire time and I thought she liked me! No, she just wanted to be friends with me. She led me on only to push me away when I tried to kiss her! Didn’t want to cheat on her reverse course boyfriend. What does he have that I don’t?” Ritza said.

“A dick,” the Ultimate Rioter said without any hesitation.

“You’ve done this before,” the Detective said. “That’s why we couldn’t figure out what the murder weapon was.”

The Ultimate Violinist smiled.

“Of course,” she said with a flick of her hair. “I have never handled rejection well. So anyone who rejects me gets killed. They learn that together we just make even more beautiful music than if it was if I just did a solo.”

Izuku’s eyes widened in horror while Shimura narrowed his eyes.

“You’re a serial killer,” Shimura said.

“The weapon is your violin bow that you cherish,” Izuku said. “Your quirk could make anything into a sword.”

“Ten points to the future hero,” Ritza said. “Don’t lose that -”

“It’s punishment time!” Monokuma said laughing.

“-hope, little hero,” Ritzi said before she was surrounded by gates.

The screen went black, but cardboard letters dropped down with strings attached to them. 

Ritza Uesigi in The Great Showstopper!

“I hate those gates,” Midoriya said and pulled his feet up onto the chair.

A violin appeared in Uesigi’s hands as she was elevated onto a wooden stage, a bunch of Monokums appeared in front of the stage, acting like the audience. Ritza started to play the violin, beautiful music filling the air was quickly overshadowed by the boos of the Monokuma audience. Tomatoes and other food was being thrown onto the stage. Ritza continued to play as she dodge the food in a beautiful dance that seemed to be made for the music.  

A sword grazed Ritza’s dress which made her trip up with the dodging and playing. Strings revealed themselves and up above the stage was a bigger Monokuma holding onto control bars. Daggers, swords, spears, and more food were being tossed onto the stage. Ritza continued to dodge and play by Monokuma. Soon, the weapons that were getting tossed were getting faster and with more accuracy. 

A dagger had wedged itself into her leg, a knife went into her side. With a graceful bloody spin, a spear had embedded itself into her back and all into the front. Her eyes lost their color as she stopped spinning to the side, her violin and bow falling to the floor.

A zoomed out view of the stage showed that the weapons that had hit her were lined up in the wall spelling out ‘The End!’ with her body being the exclamation mark.

The Monokumas in the audience started to cheer.

The video on the screen paused and Hope’s Peak Headmaster came back out on stage.

Jirou had her hands to her mouth in horror as her skin had lost its color. “That’s gruesome,” she said.

“I-I can’t believe this,” Kodai said. 

“Go get your own wastebasket,” Awase said, slapping Pony away.

“What you just watched was their first days on the island, their first investigation, and class trial,” the Headmaster said. “We will now be showing you some scenes of their calmer days on the island. These are what we call Free Time within the stimulation and we have these days because we have seen it make differences between Hope and Despair. You will know when the Free Time ends quite easily, but I would like to warn you now. This Punishment is the tamest of the ones that happened on this island.”

The Headmaster walked back off of the stage and pressed play again but no one was paying much attention to the conversation going on.

“Midoriya,” Todoroki said. “Is this why you don’t want to sign up for it?”

“We have nightmares still,” Midoriya said. “And while I trust Hound Dog as a hero and teacher-”

“Ayumi made it hard for any of us to trust a therapist,” Shigaraki said. “I don’t know if they will show it or not, but Ayumi would refuse to listen to Izuku. She would listen to everyone else, but when it came to class trials and someone took her up on her offer, she'd talk about what they talked to her about. Even when it had nothing to do with the case and she just wanted to start drama. Soon, no one trusted her.”

“It’s not like you helped matters,” Monoma said.

“Small dogs like you shouldn’t be speaking unless spoken to,” Shigaraki said.

“Monoma has a valid point,” Momo said after giving Sero a wastebasket. “You fought against Midoriya during the class trial almost the whole time.”

“Izuku,” Shimura said walking to the beach where Izuku was sitting, his knees pulled up to his chest as he sobbed. The ocean water lapped at his feet gently, like the ocean knew the Ultimate Analysis needed comforting while the half moon watched over them with the stairs.

Shimura walked closer to Izuku and sat down next to him.

“I killed her,” Izuku said. “How can I ever call myself a hero? Heroes don’t kill.”

“Izuku, you didn’t kill her. We all share the blame, but the person who we should blame the most is Ritzi. She started the killing game, not us. We could blame Monokuma for putting us in this situation, but he never forced us to kill. His motive to get us to kill wasn’t even a factor as to why Ritzi killed her.” 

“Why are you comforting me?” Izuku said, lifting his face up to peek at his fellow student. Green puffy eyes stared at concerned red eyes. “You argued with me during the class trial even though you helped me with the investigation.”

“You had doubts,” Shimura said. “Doubts make us second guess ourselves. Doubts can ruin lives. And it wasn’t just you, everyone had their doubts. We had to clear the doubts.”

“We?” Izuku said.

“Yes, we. You and me, Player Two,” Shimura said. “I don’t like doubts in my friends. My opponents have lost to me because of doubts. My grandma had doubts about raising a family since she was a hero so she put my pathetic father up for adoption to try and protect him.”

Shimura looked ahead at the endless ocean.

“When my quirk manifested, I was in the middle of being punished for what my older sister blamed me for,” Shimura said. “The only person who tried to comfort me was our dog and she was the first one who turned into dust. Then it was my sister who was trying to apologize when she saw what happened, I reached out to her because I wanted comfort. She turned into dust too. I saw the fear in my mom and grandparents eyes, but I just wanted comfort. I was a scared five year old who didn't know what’s happening and just wanted to feel loved. My mom tried her best, but then I saw my father looking at me with fear and I realized something. They never loved me. If they loved me, then they wouldn’t stand by and let father abuse me for dreaming of being a hero just because Grandma gave him up. Mom would’ve done more to find out why skin was always so dry and itchy and my grandparents would’ve been more supportive of me.”

Izuku stared at Shimura. 

“Was your skin super itchy before it manifested?” Izuku said.

“Yes,” Shimura said.

“Maybe that was a sign that it was starting to form,” Izuku said. 

“It was,” Shimura said. “But I killed Mom because she wouldn’t protect me from my father. I killed my grandparents for the same reason. My father, I killed on purpose so he would never hurt me ever again.”

“My adoptive Dad, the man who I call Dad, is a supervillain who took me off the streets when no one would help me. Not even heroes,” Shimura said. “I had to be placed in a foster home for a little bit, but my Dad is a better father to me than what my actual father would ever be. He wants me to follow my dreams and to change society in some way. He’s the one who told me to clear up any doubts I have before ever making a decision on something so I won’t regret it.”

Izuku continued to stare at Shimura.

“He lost his younger brother to doubts because he didn’t have a clear idea of the future. His younger brother also had doubts about the future and they didn’t mix well, so the younger brother betrayed Dad."

Izuku lifted his head up more.

“I feel like my Dad would say in this type of situation it is better when you are 100% sure of the answer instead of having that one doubt, because they could latch onto that doubt as a lifeline,” Shimura said. “They can turn everything around with that one little doubt and with this being a situation of life and death, when we vote on who the killer is-”

Shimura looked back at Izuku.

“I'd much rather see your eyes clear with conviction than filled with doubts. Besides, being a hero means you’ll have to make hard decisions sometimes, but it is past your bedtime. Why are you still up?”

Izuku looked back at the ocean and Shimura followed his gaze.

“I keep seeing them when I close my eyes,” Izuku said. “Their dead bodies and I just think of what I could’ve done to save them.”

“Nothing,” Shimura said. “We cannot live in a what if scenario nor can heroes save everyone.”

“But All Might-”

“Isn’t your favorite hero so All Might is irrelevant, Also, the world is too big and sometimes, the heroes need to prioritize the victims that will have a better chance at survival than someone who got crushed within a building.”

It was quiet for a while, the sound of waves brushing against the sand and their feet being the only sound. 

“You know, I haven’t heard of Eraserhead before,” Shimura said. “Why don’t you tell me about him?”

“You just told me that your adoptive Dad is a supervillain!” Izuku said.

“And he won’t attack the heroes I like if they are doing their jobs properly,” Shimura said. “I’m sure I can put in a good word for Eraserhead to Dad.”

Izuku still looked uncertain.

“Fine. Don’t talk about Eraserhead,” Shimura said with a fake sigh. “He’s possibly not even all that cool. He’s just another hero who takes bribes from the drug gangs, he possibly lies about his arrest record, and he might even have a flashy quirk that he uses to attack some poor defenseless people on their way from work -”

“Eraserhead is not like that!” Izuku said flinging himself at Shimura. “He’s an amazing hero who stops crimes that others ignore. He’s the one stopping and reporting the heroes -”

Midoriya hid his face in his knees and whined as he felt eyes staring at him.

“Can’t you ever shut up, Deku?” Bakugou said. “Do you honestly think Shigaraki wanted to hear you mumble about quirks and heroes? No. No one does!”

“Actually, I do,” Shinsou said, turning around to face Bakugou. “I do love Eraserhead, but Midoriya mumbles and when he talks to himself it helps calm the buzzing in my head. It helps me sleep and I cannot tell you how comfy a pillow Midoriya’s body is.”

“I can concur with the pillow comment,” Hakagure said. “I have fallen asleep on Midoriya many times along with Oujiro!”

“Midoriya does provide good suggestions with our quirks,” Iida said.

“Father has agreed that if he wants me to take over his agency that Midoriya must be signed on either as a fellow Pro-Hero and or an analyst,” Todoroki said.

“Who asked any of you extras?” Bakugou said.

Izuku was asleep on Shimura’s chest. Shimura picked him up and started to walk back to the hotel cabins.

“Eraserhead does sound cool,” Shimura said, “but I don’t think any hero could ever match up to how cool you are, Player Two.”

“That’s adorable,” Hakagure and Mina said in unison.

“It’s a code, isn’t it?” Aizawa said, looking away from Midoriya and at Shigaraki.

Shigaraki shrugged. “In a way, it means that everything will be okay and that I’m here for here,” Shigaraki said before poking Midoriya’s cheek with a gloved finger. “He also gets flustered easily. See? Isn’t he adorable?”

“I’m going to stab you with a spork,” Midoriya said.

“Listen, I hate to be the one to break the adorableness here, but if the Headmaster said this was a tame ‘Punishment’ how bad were the other ones,” Vlad King said.

“Bad,” Shigaraki said. 

~~

They watched as the Ultimate Rioter and Ultimate Bodybuilder started a romance. They watched as Izuku was taught how to swim by the Ultimate Ice Sculptor while Shimura talked to the Detective. The Ultimate Lucky student was showing off his talent at the casino while the Ultimate Lawyer scolded Ayumi over her behavior with everyone.

However, those in the audience noticed something during the Free Time events. The Ultimate Lucky student, Ultimate Nutritionist, Ultimate Baker, and others weren’t on the screen as much.

“Why aren’t we seeing those students?” Shouji said.

“They’re dead,” Shigaraki said as the screen showed the remaining seven walking into the castle. “They were either killed or blackened.”

“Tenko,” Midoriya said in a whisper.

Shigaraki grabbed Midoriya’s hand and squeezed it.

“Don’t worry, we can make it through together,” Shigaraki said.

Midoriya nodded.

~~

In front of Aldera Hospital, a leader of a riot going on was standing in charge of a large group of protestors and fellow rioteers. Next to her stood a bodybuilder, both of them holding onto megaphones to make sure their message was heard while those behind them were holding onto signs that helped carry their messages.

“Quirkless are people too!” the leader said into the megaphone.

“Medical care is a right for everyone! For all the people!” the bodybuilder said.

“No quirk is villainous!”

“Make the changes today. For Hope!”

“Hope for a better tomorrow! Hope for everyone!”

The two leaders looked at each other and nodded for only they knew the secret behind their words.

~~

The Ultimate Magician, Rioter, Bodybuilder, Detective, Ayumi, Shimura, and Izuku were climbing up the stairs that spiraled around the white wall, everyone staying close to the wall as there was no railings to prevent them from falling onto the large spike pit the stairs were circling around.

“Did the A/C give out in here?” Ayumi said, fanning herself.

“Tenko,” Izuku said, being brave and running forward to walk next to Shimura being closer to the edge. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, brat. Get away from the edge before you fall,” Shimura said. “Besides, this is nothing.”

“But-”

“Ugh! You two are so annoying,” Ayumi said. “Always worried about each other. It’s disgusting. Honestly Shimura, how can you stand that Deku-”

Shimura growled and lunged for her only to get held back by Izuku and the Bodybuilder.

“Shimura, calm down. Midoriya would be lost without you,” the Bodybuilder said.

“-calling you by your given name? Worried about you? Doesn’t it make you sick?”

“I find it cute myself,” the Magician said. 

“Midoriya brings up a good point,” the Detective said. “Shimura does dehydrate faster than us because of his quirk’s side effect and not only that, since heat rises, the higher we go, the hotter it will get. It could be dangerous to Shimura.”

“It’s fine,” Shimura said. “It’s not like Monokuma is giving us a choice in this.”

“Whatever,” Ayumi said, rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe that no one has killed off the freak yet.”

“There is no way that is allowed!” Vlad King said standing up just as Aizawa did at what the teddy bear said on screen told the remaining students.

“If you kept them in that Fun House with no water at the temperature and raised it everyday, they would surely die!” Aizawa said. “That’s worse than torture. Does this stimulation really need to push their students this far?”

“I know how you two feel,” Nedzu said, “but, they had the bomb motive at the very beginning. Who knows what other motives they have faced before they got here.”

“Nedzu is right,” Midoriya said. “We did face motives in between days at Hope’s Peak.”

“I think,” Kuroiro said, eyeing Shigaraki, “they were more worried about who would crack first.”

“I’m not an egg,” Shigaraki said. “I didn’t crack!”

“Oh god,” Momo said, wrapping her arms. “They were expected to run in place for five minutes every morning in this condition?” 

“I-I couldn’t even imagine,” Kendou said.

“However, that explains why the heat in the summer with summer heroic lessons never affected Midoriya the way it does the rest of us,” Tokoyami said. 

“Or why he’s immune to most fire attacks,” Yanagi said. “Truly another mystery to Izuku Midoriya.”

“Midoriya,” Aizawa said. “Please tell me that past you isn’t going into the Death Room.”

Midoriya stayed silent as he watched his younger self open the doors,

“Deku-kun” Urakara said while Asui ribbited next to Shinsou.

Izuku walked into an escape room chamber, the door locking behind him. Izuku solved the puzzles quickly and reached the end only for the floor to open up and a pool of water revealed itself. Monokuma was in the pool with a pink inner tube holding onto a yellow leash that was attached to a black and white rubber duck. 

“Hello, hi. Welcome to the Ultimate Death Challenge!” Monokuma said. “I wouldn’t drink the water if I were you. Why, I have it filled with so much salt that even a saltwater fish would die!”

Izuku blinked at Monokuma.

“You also peed in it,” Izuku said.

Monokuma looked depressed as he kicked his feet in the water.

“You got me,” Monokuma said. “You know for being quirkless, you’re - HEY! HEY! Stop! You aren’t a lady so I don’t-”

“You wouldn’t have this here if you didn’t want someone to do a challenge in it,” Izuku said. “You would have it in front of us while we do our morning jog to torment us with the aspect of water no matter how salty it is. So, what’s the challenge?”

“You’re so impatient, but boy you are fast at analyzing. It’s amazing really. What happened to that scared little boy from the beginning of his adventure at Hope’s Peak?” Monokuma said.

“I have friends who I want to protect,” Izuku said. “So, the challenge?”

“Fine. Fine. To get access to some major secrets, you will need to be submerged underwater for five minutes.”

“I’ll do it,” Izuku said, getting into the water. “For once in my life, I’m glad that Kacchan and his friends bully me.”

“Hey! HEY! What does that mean?” Monokuma yelled.

“Yeah, Bakugou, what does that mean?” Sero said.

A whimper stopped Bakugou or anyone else committing on that. A whimper that had everyone focusing on Midoriya who had squeezed his eyes shut. Shigaraki gripped his wrist, using his thumb to rub circles into Midoriya’s wrist. Both of them had lost their color.

Aizawa felt his heart drop to his stomach. This was his student, his Problem Child that faced off against Muscular, Shigaraki, Nine, Humanrise with him being framed for murder, Stain, and All for One, not including the mess that was the raid battle with Overhaul and Eri being on his student’s back. Here he was, shaking in his seat with Shigaraki rubbing his thumb over his pulse point. If those two are barely holding it together, then what are they about to watch?

Izuku came up for air and Monokuma waddled over to him.

“Mwahahaha, I thought you were a goner, but you passed ten minutes,” Monokuma said.

Izuku pulled himself up onto the edge with concealer running down his back showing starburst explosion scars, deep cuts that would never heal properly, the word ‘Deku’ carved into one of his shoulder blades.

“Hey! You’re making a mess of my pool!” Monokuma yelled! “How is Monoduck going to enjoy her walk now?”

“That was your fault for peeing in the water first,” Izuku said standing up so he could walk over to grab his shirt and pants.

Monokuma went all depressed again. Izuku put his clothes back on before looking over at the murder loving bear.

“The secrets?” Izuku said.

“Here,” Monokuma said, tossing a binder at him. “You also have access to things behind this room. Unlimited access with unlimited resources. Take whatever you want to give me a good murder.”

Izuku caught the file.

“I won’t ever give you that satisfaction,” Izuku said,

Shigaraki started to laugh as he cried.

“So, I wasn’t dreaming,” Shigaraki said.

Shimura wobbled his way to the Death Room doors, leaning against the walls to help support him in staying upright. His skin was flaking and sunken in. He fell to his knees unable to support himself any longer.

“You need to get up, Tenko,” Shimura said, trying to get up. “You need to do this. Izuku already gave up his extra water that he always carries with him that he shared with everyone, not once taking a drink for himself. This blasted school has already taken so much away from him, and I refuse to let it take me away from him as well.”

“I’m going to find that Kacchan brat,” Shimura said as he finally managed to get up. He then started to laugh. “Hahaha, why should I do that when I can just ask my Dad to find him? Yeah, I’ll do that.”

He leaned back against the wall and slid down. “I’ll ask my Dad to take away Kacchan’s quirk. That’ll teach him.”

Izuku stepped out of the room with a backpack that was familiar to everyone.

“You kept the backpack?” Mina said in disbelief.

“It was free, better than buying a brand new for three times the amount because you’re quirkless,” Midoriya said.

“Kid, you do realize that what the store did is illegal right?” Aizawa said, clenching his fists.

“I’ll raze them to the ground myself,” Nedzu said.

"Midoriya, I will gladly buy you a new backpack," Momo said.

"I'll melt the old backpack!" Mina said.

“Let’s see how he could be a hero then?” Shimura said laughing. “He won’t be the smartest in class anymore.”

“Tenko,” Izuku said in a whisper as he walked over and carried a lot of water bottles with him. He sat the water bottles down on the ground except for one and went to Shimura. “Tenko, what are you doing up?”

“I thought you didn’t crack?” Monoma said. “That looks like cracking to me.”

Tetsutetsu elbowed him. “Not cool dude,” he said.

Izuku helped Shimura drink some water from the water bottle.

“Slowly, Tenko,” Izuku said.

“Izuku, you feel so cool,” Shimura said leaning against the small boy. His skin looked slightly better after drinking some water.”

“Of course I do,” Izuku said. “This is a dream. That’s why you’re imagining drinking water right now. Nice cold water.”

“Yeah,” Shimura said with a wishful sigh. “You’re right.”

“Now come on, let’s get you back to bed,” Izuku said, taking a quick look to make sure the water bottles were out of Shimura’s sight before wrapping his arm around his neck. “Here, I’ll help you to your room.”

“If I’m dreaming,” Shimura said. “Why aren’t I already in bed?”

“Because you sleep-walked out here and need dream me to help you back to your room,” Izuku said. “And because you want to continue feeling the coolness that dream me is giving you.”

When Izuku finally got Shimura to his room, he rushed back to look at the left behind water bottles. He looked at each bottle carefully, making sure that the seals weren’t broken. He then grabbed the water bottles and quietly distributed them to everyone’s room except for his own. After he did that, he looked at the files that Monokuma gave him as he walked to his room.

Izuku hid the files within one of his notebooks that he brought with him. He walked back to Shimura’s room and placed the notebook underneath Shimura’s blanket and hand before he left.

He went back to the doorway that the group had first entered. He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the entranceway door leading back to the stairway. He shut the door behind him, locked it, and then placed his forehead against the door.

“I’m sorry, everyone,” Izuku said in a whisper. “All of you are amazing, shining so bright with your quirks and talents. I got in by a fluke, I’m not supposed to be here. I will always treasure our friendships, but this is something I must do.”

‘Suicide. A death still happens and other people would be able to survive still.’

“Why does it sound like Midoriya is saying good-bye,” Dark Shadow said.

Urakara hid her face in Iida’s shoulder, his sleeve getting wet. “I don’t want to watch this anymore!” she yelled.

Iida had grabbed his pants tightly, his knuckles turning white. 

Izuku dropped the yellow backpack onto the floor, sticking the key back into his pocket, and then opened the backpack. He pulled out some rope, some nails, a hammer, and the stuffed panther that Shimura got him to hold onto while he slept at night.

Izuku gave the panther a tight squeeze before he got to work.

‘Suicide. A death still happens and other people would be able to survive still.’

“Ouch,” Izuku said after stabbing himself with a nail in an accident. He looked at his finger that was bleeding after he pulled the nail out. “I guess the nails are exactly like the package said. They will stab into anything or anyone with ease.”

Izuku then went back to work.

“You didn’t even try to stop the bleeding,” Mondo said.

“You had resignation in your eyes,” Tokage said, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Unbelievable,” Shiozaki said, flipping her vine-like hair. “God should have-”

“You don’t get it do you,” Shigaraki said, standing up and facking her. “There is no God in that world! There is no salvation in that world. The only god that exists in that world is Monokuma! You need to stop boasting about your religion!”

“Shigaraki,” Vlad King said standing up. “Stand down.”

“I would love to see you in it, Vine Girl,” Shigaraki said. “You wouldn’t survive it at all. We have deaths on our hands or did you not hear the rules!”

“Killing and suicide are against God’s teachings and should be punished!” Shiozaki said.

“Control your student, Vlad,” Aizawa said. 

“Shiozaki, the rules clearly state that if they didn’t vote, they would get killed. If they vote correctly then that person dies, if they vote incorrectly, then everyone else dies,” Kendo said. “They are trying to survive."

“When will you stop trying to be a hero?” Ayumi said.

Shigaraki spun around to face the screen.

“How did you get in here?” Izuku said, spinning around to face the Ultimate Therapist. He hid a paper behind his back, the finger that got stabbed earlier getting blood on it.

“Does it matter?” Ayumi said. “Not at all. However, I’m not going to let you die as a hero.”

Izuku narrowed his eyes. “You’re the traitor. You’re the one controlling Monokuma!”

“Would you like a gold star?” Ayumi said, stepping closer. “Not like it would matter. It would just turn pink instead.”

“Why would you torture everyone like this?” Izuku said, moving his fingers across the paper leaving a trail of blood in the shape of ‘MMI’.

“Entertainment,” Ayumi said. “And I just hate you and that ridiculous bond you have with Shimura. He should be focusing on me, not you!”

As Ayumi screamed ‘you’ she kicked the panther. That was when Izuku dropped the paper. She then lunged for Izuku, using both of her hands to grab Izuku around his neck.

“No!” Half of Class 1-A shouted.

“No,” Shigaraki said, staring wide-eyed. “I didn’t know that she grabbed you by the neck. If I did, then I never would’ve grabbed you like I did at the mall.”

“I know, your hands are different,” Midoriya said with a sniff.

Izuku held onto her wrists, his feet kicking wildly as she picked him up off the ground. The paper floating down into the spikes and landing underneath the staircase. 

“You know with you being gone, then he could start leaning on me! He always searched for you, never went too far from your side, but everyone did that with you! A quirkless, worthless, useless piece of trash who thinks they could make a difference. That they have the nerve to get more attention than me!”

“Let go of me!” Izuku tried to say through gasping breaths.

Ayumi took a step forward and smiled. 

“As you wish,” Ayumi said and then let go of Izuku, letting him fall into the center of the spiral staircase.

Izuku’s mouth was open in a quiet scream, the key he used fell out of his pocket, bounced off one of the spikes and slid against the floor until it was hidden underneath the impaled body of the stuffed panther. A spike went straight through Izuku’s stomach, the tip covered in pink blood. Izuku coughed up some blood, some of it trailing out of the corners of his mouth. His green eyes were fading quickly into a darker, lifeless green color, and with the last of his strength and energy, he lifted his index finger, the one covered in blood from earlier, and pointed in the shadow area of the staircase where a hint of white paper could be seen.

“I-it was a joke,” Kaminari said. “We-we”

“We honestly didn’t think to say it seriously,” Sero said. “We only said that Midoriya would die for us as a joke since he always tries his best to save everyone and make us feel included.”

Aizawa tore his eyes away from the screen as the Headmaster paused it, sensing things were about to escalate within the two viewing classes. Aizawa looked between Shigaraki who was crying with his hands clenched into fists and then back to Midoriya who was staring at Shigaraki.

“You really were going to commit suicide to save us,” Shigaraki said.

‘Suicide. A death still happens and other people would be able to survive still.”

All of a sudden, those words that Midoriya said at the announcement of this stimulation echoed back into Aizawa. Something in which he’s sure some of his class has already figured out, but Midoriya had already made the choice on what to do with this situation. 

“I thought it was something in which she said to throw us off. You made me drink the water you saved for yourself again. Why?” Shigaraki said.

“You know my dream, Tenko,” Midoriya said. “I always wanted to be a hero to help people.”

“You can’t be that kind of hero if you don’t ever help yourself,” Shigaraki shouted.

“I don’t know how!” Midoriya said, which caused the UA teachers to stare at Midoriya. “Ever since I was five my life was so much easier if I never helped myself!”

“Deku,” Bakugou growled.

“Not a word out of you,” Shigaraki said. “Or I really will ask Dad to take away your quirk.”

“Do it,” Bakugou said, crossing his arms. “I’ll just tell All Might that his successor is friendly with his rival's child. I’m sure he wouldn’t like that.”

“Bring it,” Shigaraki said, stepping forward. “Ever since I heard about you from Izuku, I’ve been wanting to kill you. Especially after you told him to take a swan dive off a roof!”

“Bro, you didn't,” Kirishimia said.

“But I haven’t because Izuku still sees good in you, because he has a pure heart!” Shigaraki said.

“Deku is nothing more but a coward!” Bakugou said.

“Excuse me,” Shinsou said, pointing at the frozen screen. “Explain to me what part of that is being a coward? Tell us something, anything that shows Midoriya as a coward when we all know he runs into trouble. I have a feeling that even when you two were younger, he always tried to save people and animals from bullies!”

“That’s enough,” Aizawa said standing up.

“Then give me a detention, in-house suspension, I don’t care,” Shinsou said. He turned to look at Shiozaki. “What part of that says he won’t be forgiven by God?”

“I-I don’t know how Vlad gave you this announcement,” Shouji said. “But Sero had made a comment about how we all knew that Todoroki, Bakugou, and Midoriya were going to volunteer in which Midoriya had denied saying he was going to pass.”

“We found it weird at first, but we know now that he’s already done this,” Oujiro said.

“His words in class make more sense,” Kouda signed.

“Mon heros Midoriya,” Aoyoma said. “He said that if he was in this type of situation that he would commit suicide, so everyone could survive one more round and no one would die because of him.”

Aizawa looked at Vlad King.

“Midoriya’s exact words were ‘Suicide. A death still happens and other people would be able to survive still,’” Aizawa said. 

“Remember how Midoriya looked? He was still terrified, he didn’t want to do it, but he was going to save everyone! And then that bitch killed him for what exactly? She’s quirkiest? Was jealous of Midoriya? The traitor? Because she had a crush on Shigaraki? It doesn’t matter!” Shinsou said.

Midoriya was sobbing into his knees and no one knew if it was from almost everyone standing up for him or because he had to experience his death again.

“Tell me Bakugou, how many times has Midoriya risked his life, his dream, his spot in UA, because of you?” Todoroki said. “Because I can think of 2 and a half. One being the training camp, the half being Kirishimia’s plan to rescue you from Kamino, and then that big fight after the Provisional Licenses.”

“And I hate to admit it,” Urakara said, finally pulling herself away from Iida’s shoulder. “I will agree with Shigaraki on wanting to see you do this stimulation Shiozaki. You do not force your views upon us or demand punishment and divine retribution. You have no idea what they went through. We are only getting a taste of it.”

“Everyone,” the Headmaster said. “I’m glad to see you all getting heated, but we still have more to show.”

Shigaraki sat back down in his seat and pulled Midoriya into his side, apologizing into his hair.

“Bakugou, Kirishimia, we will discuss all of this later,” Aizawa said before also sitting down.

“Shiozaki, how many times have I told you that while it’s fine for you to talk about your religion, you should never force the values down their throats. Especially since we don’t know about the circumstances,” Vlad King said. “After this, I expect a full 15,000 essay on the dark side of the Catholic Church without using the phrase ‘God’s mission’.”

“But-” Shiozaki said.

“No buts,” Vlad King said. “I expect it by the end of school on Friday.”

“Very well,” Shiozaki said.

“Now,” the Headmaster said. “I’m going to start the video again.”

The video started to play and the Headmaster went back behind the curtain. Midoriya wiped his tears away with his sleeve and focused on the screen.

“Where’s Izuku?” Shimura said. “He wasn’t in his room and he usually gets me up for the morning jog? The only place I haven’t looked is -”

“The Death Room?” Ayumi said curiously. 

“Okay, that’s concerning, but has anyone else have a bottle of -”

“Guys!” the Ice Sculptor said, interrupting the Detective as she ran to them. “The stairway door is open! Midoriya is dead!”

“What?” Shimura said.

“He’s dead. I’m so sorry,” the Ice Sculptor said. 

Shimura pushed past them and headed to the stairwell. Ayumi kept up with him with ease. 

“Shimura, calm down, she might be -” Ayumi said, grabbing his shoulder.

Shimura grabbed her hand and pushed her up into the wall. The Bodybuilder stayed behind to watch them while everyone else rushed forward to the stairwell.

“Don’t touch me,” Shimura said. “If you touch me again, I will kill you.”

“I should’ve killed her then,” Shigaraki said. “Start my villain story earlier.”

“Hey, hey, calm down,” the Bodybuilder said. “There isn’t a need to get violent.”

Shimura pushed himself away from Ayumi and continued on his way. He saw the Detective standing by the door while the Ice Sculptor and Magician were crying in the stairwell.

“I wanted to give you the choice,” the Detective said looking at Shimura. “Did you want me to cause the body announcement to be played or would you like it?”

“I will,” Shimura said. “And thank you.”

“It’s not a problem,” the Detective said. “Anything for family right?”

Shimura stared at the Detective who smiled a little at him.

“My talent of being the Ultimate Detective isn’t just for tricks,” the Detective said.

Shimura swallowed and walked into the stairway entrance, seeing the nailed down rope with the noose hanging in the air that was empty of a body. He took two steps past the Magician crying into the Ice Sculptor's shoulder and looked over the edge before he fell to his knees, tears running down his face.

Izuku’s lifeless eyes were staring at the ceiling, two dried blood trails went down his mouth and onto the bloodied spikes, the biggest spike protruding out of his stomach like Izuku was a part of a meat skewer. 

Shimura felt a hand, a gentle hand on his shoulder that gave it a squeeze as he shut his eyes, letting his chin rest on his chest as he tried not to scream in anguish.

Ding Dong! Dong Ding!

A Monokuma appeared on the monitor by the entrance door at the top of the stairs and bottom of the stairs. 

“A body has been discovered! You have a limited amount of time to find clues on who the blackened is. Good luck everybody!” Monokuma said.

“That bear is so unmanly,” Tetsutetsu said, mumbling through his own tears.

“But first thing first, a promise is a promise,” Monokuma said, physically appearing in front of them. “Here is a nice big jug of water for each of you. Come on, drink up! Especially the ladies, got to get the shirts nice and wet.”

“Perv,” the Rioter said before taking a drink of the water.

Shimura started to laugh as he grabbed the jug and opened his eyes. 

“Shimura?” Ayumi said.

“Do you honestly think that I would drink this water knowing whose life was taken for us to get it?” Shimura said, sitting the jug down and starting to pull off one of his gloves. He touched the jug and watched it decay.

“Tenko,” Midoriya said.

“I would never accept anything if it required you dying to achieve it,” Shigaraki said.

“Whoever killed him, you will pay. As of right now, I don’t trust any of you.”

“Why is he so important to you?” Ayumi said. “You ignore the rest of us -”

“No,” the Magician said. “We ignore you! He ignores you!”

“Fine! He ignores me for that Deku!” Ayumi said. “What does that Deku have that makes him so much better than me!”

“A better personality and a dick,” the Rioter said.

“Not the time,” the Bodybuilder said.

“That’s none of your business,” Shimura said standing up. “But I’ll make sure that Izuku gets the justice that he deserves.”

Midoriya wiped more of his tears away and rested his chin on his knees.

“Why do you care so much about me?” Midoriya said. “You practically threw a fit when I told you my hero name.”

“Because you hate that name, no matter the spin or take on it. It’s haunting you everyday when you look at your back,” Shigaraki said. He motioned his head in Bakugou’s direction. “Plus Bakugou over there knows that with that name, he still has power over you.”

“Tenko,” Izuku said.

“But why did she hate you so much?” Momo said. “It can’t be because you were quirkless - a late bloomer - through this. Japan is ranked third for having the most quirkless population?”

“Japan is also one of the safest countries for quirkless people,” Todoroki said with a nod. “Natsuo went to study abroad in England and was supposed to be there for two years. He came back after a month because of how the quirkless were treated.”

Midoriya and Bakugou faced Todoroki.

“Yeah, right. Quirkless people are nothing but Dekus,” Bakugou said. 

“No, it’s true. We have very strict laws to protect those that are quirkless,” Aizawa said. “It was our next section to cover in class.”

“Izuku?” Shigaraki said not like how Midoriya’s body was shaking.

“I-I was protected?” Midoriya said. “You mean to tell me that for twelve years, I didn’t have to get in trouble for scoring 100% on tests? That I didn’t have to tamper my own grades to pass? That I didn’t have to be a moving target for quirk practice? That my cries for help to my mom, to my teachers, to the police shouldn’t have been ignored? That I could’ve had medical care?”

Aizawa stared at Midoriya. How much did their society fail him? How does he still want to be a hero when the laws that were there to protect him weren’t ever enforced?

“Yeah, Problem Child,” Aizawa said. “Everything they did is illegal and we will be conducting a full scale investigation into everyone that ignored you.”

When he answered, he didn’t expect Midoriya to hug him or cry into his chest. He didn’t know what to do, so he just kind of did what he did for when his husband or Eri had a bad day. He hugged Midoriya tightly and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at Shigaraki who nodded at him.

“Dad is investigating Inko Midoriya right now. She’s a lawyer herself so there shouldn’t be a reason as to why Izuku’s mistreatment went on for so long,” Shigaraki said.

“You’re an only child,” Shimura said, catching everyone’s attention to the screen.

“Huh? What does that have to do with Midoriya’s death?” the Magician said.

“He’s finally cracked,” the Bodybuilder said. “Midoriya was keeping him sane.”

“No, that’s not it,” the Detective said.

“So, you know NOTHING about keeping a younger sibling safe,” Shimura said. “You also underestimated my Player Two because Ayumi, he outed you.”

“Huh?” Ayumi said. “I’m confused.”

“I cleared the Death Room and was able to get in the area in the back. A key was missing and when I asked Monokuma about it, he told me that there were two keys for the staircase. Izuku took one and I found that one under the panther that I gave him, the other one belonged to the mastermind.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ayumi said.

“Izuku also managed to clear the super salty death challenge,” Shimura said and held up the class files that Izuku had given him. He then held up the bloody piece of paper with ‘MMI’ on it. “He told us that you were the mastermind.”

“H-How? That makes no sense!” Ayumi said.

“We’ve been reading his final message wrong,” the Detective said, looking shocked. “We’ve been reading it as M-M-I instead of M-M-1!”

“Exactly, and the first student listed isn’t you, but in fact that golfer chick,” Shimura said. “But she was in seat 4. The student who is in seat 1 is you, Ayumi!”

Tears were rolling down his face as he sat the evidence down and the class trial went silent.

“That’s a lie! You’re just trying to blame it on me because I hated Midoriya!” Ayumi said.

“All the evidence points to you,” the Detective said. 

“I will never forgive you,” Shimura said. “I will never forgive you for killing my little brother!” Shimura said. “From now on, Izuku will always live in my heart as the ultimate hero.”

Midoriya pulled his face away from Aizawa to stare at Shigaraki before looking at the screen.

“We’re siblings?” Midoriya said.

“Half. Biological father had an affair with your Mom,” Shigaraki said.

“And I’m a hero to you?” 

“Since Inko and you first took me in while Dad was in the process of adopting me,” Shigaraki said. “You’re immune to my quirk somehow and you were the first one that loved playing with me and thought my quirk was cool. That I could do something amazing with it.”

Shigaraki tapped his chin. “Almost as cool as Eraserhead,”

Midoriya weakly kicked Shigaraki.

“Jerk! Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t Mom want you?” Midoriya said.

“Because I wanted you to be proud of your accomplishments and you Mom didn’t like it that I refused to let Bakugou play so rough with you. I mean, tackling is okay since apparently there’s a sport that is big in America where they tackle each other to get a ball,” Shigaraki said. “Dad is super big into it and I just don’t care. I wasn’t fine with Bakugou tackling you only to hold you down and use his quirk on you even when you screamed and begged for him to stop.”

“Dude, that’s so unmanly,” Kirishimia said. “Why would you ever do that to Midoriya?”

“For the inspirational hero: Hope!” Shimura said, pressing his button to vote for Ayumi.

“For Hope!” the Magician said also voting.

“He always made us feel better and to look forward to tomorrow,” the Detective said. “So this is for a brighter life for Midoriya and a better future for those who were mistreated just as much as he was. For Hope!”

“This is for Hope!” the Rioter said.

“For our own hero who inspired us to be better. For Hope!” the Bodybuilder said.

“Everyone,” Midoriya whispered in awe as he teared up again.

“No!!” Ayumi said as the votes came in. “He’s got you all fooled! He can’t be a hero!”

“He’s our hero, Ayumi,” the Rioter said. “Because he told us that you were the one who killed him and the mastermind! You’re the last one gone and we’ll be free of Monokuma! Of Hope’s Peak! And when we get back to the world, we will live on in remembrance of Midoriya, our Hope!”

“Tenko,” Midoriya said.

“Change your hero name brat,” Shigaraki said. “You aren’t the worthless hero or the you can do it hero. You’re the inspirational hero, you're Hope, the Ultimate Hero.”

“Can I or is it too late?” Midoriya said, looking at Aizawa.

“We can make it happen knowing what we know now,” Aizawa said.

“What is happening to her?” Monoma said.

“Every single banned and illegal act of counseling that therapists in the pre-quirk era used on their patients,” Shigaraki said.

~~

“Tell me, who inspired your ice sculptor,” a reporter said as her cameraman focused on the ice sculptor in between the reporter and the ice sculptor.

The ice sculptor had a young high school boy with curled hair in an action of jumping forward with his face looking to the sky. Lightning strikes across his skin as he holds onto a scared little girl with a small horn and a young boy with a horned cap. Circling around the boy in the icy mid-air, where podiums were each person that looked like Shigaraki, the detective, the bodybuilder, the magician, and the ice sculptor were looking upwards towards the boy.

“Oh. He’s an upcoming hero,” the Ice Sculptor said. “I’m not surprised that you haven’t heard of him yet. He’s just a first year hero student, but to those of us who knew him before. Well, he’s the Inspirational Hero: Hope. He’s going to make waves in society.”

“Now, I’m sorry if you didn’t mean it, but the main focus of the sculptor seems to resemble the student hero Deku from UA, was that intentional?” the reporter said.

“I’m sorry,” the Ice Sculptor said. “But I have never heard of this Deku hero. This was inspired by the hero that I know as Hope and some of his accomplishments.”