Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

First week back of senior year and already Izuku was done with it all. It's not like he really had anything to complain about, he knew that. He studied hard so school was never a struggle, he had a good place to live with people who loved him, had a great childhood friend. Really, he had everything going for him. Everyone was always so nice to him. Nice to the murder-

Slap! The sound rang out in the classroom as he smacked himself, trying not to let that thought finish. He knew it wasn’t exactly the best coping mechanism, heaven knows he’d been handed a hundred better ones already, but it worked, and he was going to stick with what worked. And ignore the voice in the back of his head that reminded him that it didn’t work, all it did was delay the thought. 

He was jolted out of his thoughts when a hand was thrust in front of his face, a small bottle of burn cream and bandage held in it. With a start, he saw the soft green glow in his right hand, the palm of his glove burned open, the pain on his cheek not fading as he expected and he realized he’d done it again. Once again, that fucking curse had gone off and flooded into his hand before he struck. He clenched his right fist tightly, angrily, but snatched the bandage and cream from the hand in front of him and began to apply it with practiced ease, keeping his gaze affixed to the desk in front of him.

He didn’t have to look up to see the looks he was being given…pity, concern, worry, everything he didn’t deserve . Killers shouldn’t get something so nice. Though it had startled the class for a moment, his teacher cleared his throat and went back into his lecture, as though trying to draw attention away from him and his stupid, foolish, useless antics.

The green surge in his hand faded away, the pain in his chest pulsing again and again, the ever swirling whirlpool of energy still straining against the walls he put up around it. He reached down into his pack and pulled out another glove, one of a half dozen spares he carried, and replaced the now ruined one on his right hand. Taking a deep breath, shoving back against the pressure in his chest, he picked up his pencil and tried to catch back up on his notes. 

“Hey!” a pair of hands slammed down on his desk, making Izuku jolt. He stared up into the red eyes of his best friend, the other teen looming over him. “You alright?” came the gruff question.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine Kacchan, don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me Zu,” he growled back. 

Izuku rolled his eyes. “It’s fine. I just had a bad moment, that’s all. I have it under control.”

Katsuki stared him down for a moment, before letting out an annoyed huff. “Fine, fine. Me and Tsubasa are gonna hit up the arcade. Want in?”

Izuku glanced over to the doorway, seeing Katsuki’s friend standing in the door, waiting patiently with his red wings tucked against his back. He smiled at him, getting a wave back, before turning to look at Katsuki. “No thanks, Kacchan. I’m just gonna head home.”

“Seriously? Come on Zu, you need to fucking get out sometimes.”

Izuku’s smile faltered for a brief moment, almost cracking as he kept eyes locked on Katsuki’s. “Not tonight.”

Katsuki let out another annoyed huff. “...fine. You’ll probably be passed out before I get home you fucking nerd, so don’t forget we got training tomorrow.”

“You’re more of a nerd than I am Kacchan. As for tomorrow, let’s be clear, you have training, I’m just there to help,” Izuku muttered. Katsuki growled for a moment, staring up at the sky as if asking the heavens for patience. 

“You are such a pain in my ass sometimes. We’re gonna train, we’re gonna be skilled as fuck, and we’re gonna get into UA, don’t you fucking forget it! I’ll see ya later.” With that, he turned around and stomped off, hands in his pockets as the other boy glanced back at Izuku for a moment, then followed him out the door. With a sigh, Izuku packed up his bag and left, walking slowly as he avoided following the same path outside as the other two had.

‘ Dammit Kacchan, stop saying we’re going to UA!’ Izuku muttered to himself, annoyed and frustrated. He’d made up his mind long ago, he was never, ever , going to become a hero. He couldn’t. You don’t get to be a hero when you’re responsible for what he was. But no matter how many times he had this same argument with Kacchan, it always turned out the same. One or the other would get too angry and stomp off to cool down, and never made any headway.

He knew it just came from a place of caring. He wasn’t going to lie to himself, a part buried deep within him still wanted to be a hero, still longed for it. He wouldn’t spend so much time on his hero analysis books if he didn’t. And the problem was that Kacchan knew too, knew what he wanted so deep within himself. But he couldn’t be trusted. He couldn’t trust himself. 

He wasn’t stupid. If he tried to apply and got in, even if he did it without his cursed quirk, they’d force him to use it. Because it was dangerous, and they wouldn’t trust that he could keep it contained. Not in such a demanding job, with so much energy around, so much power flowing through the air around him. Costumes got damaged. Skin got exposed. He could still absorb, and no matter how careful he was he knew that. So no, he was not going to be a hero, no matter how desperately he may want to. Because murderers can’t be heroes.

He hadn’t even really been paying attention to where he was going. He knew the way home by heart…well, ‘home’ in some ways. But since he wanted to avoid Katsuki and the others, he chose to take a shortcut, cutting through an old tunnel and heading back towards his house. So focused on walking, his head down, trying to ignore the pressure in his chest and the reminder of what date was coming up, he never noticed the strange swishing noise coming from behind.

What followed was made of nightmares. Sludge, filling his lungs, a voice in his ear cackling and bragging and thanking him as it tried to snuff out his breath, his life. He couldn’t focus, couldn’t hear, could barely see as the blackness started to close in around him. The pressure in chest roared, the whirlpool of energy becoming a fevered maelstrom, desperately trying to reach out and help him escape. 

But…he couldn’t. He couldn’t let it escape, couldn’t trust his monster of a quirk. Maybe he should just let go. What did it matter? He was a killer anyways, he should have been executed fourteen years ago after he killed so many and maimed his best friend. Maybe this was his punishment, karmic retribution fourteen years later. Tamping down on it with practiced ease, even as the sludge filled his lungs further, his vision fading, he just…let go.

As his mind fell into blackness, a manhole cover flung up into the air.

Izuku didn’t even know how to describe what the hell his life had become in the past few minutes. First, he gets saved by All Might , the hero he and Kacchan idolized. Then he gets his autograph! Then, because he’s an absolute idiot, he hitches a ride on the other man onto a rooftop to beg of him the answer to the one question that he pretended he didn’t want the answer to, only to find out All Might was…broken? Izuku wasn’t even sure if his mind could comprehend everything that happened if he had a week to process, much less five minutes.

But that wasn’t enough. He had to know. He had to ask. Maybe, just maybe, if All Might told him what he knew was the truth, then Kacchan would back off finally and let it go. Izuku knew what he’d say, he just needed him to say it out loud so it could finally snuff out that tiny spark of hope he never could get rid of.

“So kid, what’s the question you wanted me to answer so badly you almost got yourself killed over?” The shrunken All Might before him asked, eyebrow arched.

“...c-can…can a killer…become a hero?”

All Might blinked. Once. Twice. A third time. “...I feel like I’m missing context here, kid. Sounds to me like this isn’t a hypothetical…you know a killer?”

Izuku squirmed in place with his head down, his hands clenching repeatedly. He kept still, his form shaking slightly as the hero before him watched him appraisingly. All Might sighed. “And you’re not gonna answer me. Well, fine. You’re a fanboy, you should already know my answer. I’ve said it a million times, anyone can be a hero.”

“B-b-but not just anyone!” Izuku interrupted, snapping his head up to look at his idol. “That’s what you say on TV, but no cameras here! I want your honest answer! I know you have to play things up for the media, it's part of the job, but it's just me. I just…I need…I just need you to tell me the truth, okay? Please, just…just tell me the truth…” As his voice trailed off, tears pricked at the corner of his eyes, but he struggled, willing them not to fall as he closed them and waited for the doom he knew was coming to fall.

“Never been called a liar by a fan before, that's a new one,” came the chuckled reply from All Might. Izuku opened his mouth to apologize, but a raised hand from the older man cut him off before he could. “I’m not mad. You’re not entirely wrong, the media does require heroes sometimes…stretch the truth. But that one? That’s not a lie, kid. I do believe anyone who truly, genuinely, deeply wants to help people can be a hero. And! -” he raised his voice, cutting off Izuku’s interjection. “- And , I think that if someone did something bad in the past, that doesn’t mean they can’t do good in the future. That said…I’d like to hear more about this ‘killer’ you seem to know?”

Izuku was going to reply, say something to get the focus off of that, but an explosion a few streets over caught both of their attention. ‘Kacchan?’ Izuku wondered.

“...stubborn, annoying, fucking…” Katsuki kept muttering under his breath, the other boy with him staring worriedly.

“You alright, Bakugo?” Tsubasa asked. 

“No I’m not fucking alright! Argh!” he kicked his left foot out, hitting a nearby trash can with a solid ting, sending it flying. “He’s being so goddamned stubborn and I can’t get him to stop being stupid about this shit! It's senior year! He’s got the brains, he’s nearly as fit as me, he’s just got to train his fucking quirk and he’s a shoe-in! I know he can fight, we’ve been sparring each other for a decade. He has what he needs, he just won’t do it! ” 

“I mean…you’ve considered maybe he doesn’t want to be a hero?” Tsubasa asked.

“That’s the fucking thing, he does! He won’t admit it but I know he does! He’s just fucking scared of his quirk!”

“He has good reason to be. You know, after what happened…”

Katsuki rounded on the other boy, glaring at him. “It wasn’t his fucking fault!”

Tsubasa held up his hands placatingly. “I’m not saying it was! You of all people know we never blamed him! No one does!”

“...one person does,” Katsuki muttered, the anger draining from him as quickly as it had filled. This was an argument he’d had a thousand times over the years, and he worried he’d keep having it right up until it was too late. Still frustrated and with nowhere to put that aggression, he kicked at a bottle with his left once more, wishing he could feel something in that leg, just so he knew how hard he’d kicked. 

With a metallic clink, the bottle flew into the wall, the cap popping open and green sludge began to pour out. Katsuki barely had time to react before it lunged forward, wrapping around him and beginning to drown the young man.

All Might called out to him, but Izuku was already gone, running through the door and down the flights of stairs as fast as possible. Kacchan always had excellent quirk control, so an explosion of that magnitude was worrying. But it was worse than he’d imagined. Panting, he surveyed the scene of his best friend trapped in the same villain All Might had saved him from, the heroes standing around doing nothing ! 

Kacchan was there, right in front of him, buried in the sludge, what little explosions he could create slowly flickering into place. He could see it on Kacchan’s face… fear . Something that didn’t belong on that face, the friend who’d helped keep him from falling into despair, the equivalent of his brother, the one whose family took him in when his own was…gone. He could feel it boiling, roiling within him once more, the maelstrom of swirling force demanding he let it go for once . 

He didn’t remember moving. He didn’t remember shedding his backpack and throwing it. He didn’t remember the moment where he pulled at the sludge, shouting back and forth with Kacchan, his friend demanding he run and him refusing. None of that he could remember afterwards, it all fuzzy and muffled in his mind. Because at the moment where the villain gripped Kacchan tighter, where it began to flood his mouth with sludge…Izuku let the wall fall. 

A green glow showed up beneath his shirt, right in the center of his chest. Snaking trails of green shot out, trailing down his arms and legs, long-closed channels forced open within him, burning from the inside. The pain of disuse ignored in the moment as Izuku felt the energy flood him, granting him strength, granting him power, letting his hands finally grip onto the slimy bastard before him as green energy coated his hands, flowing over them like water.

Screaming wildly, torn between pain and panic, his hand finally grasped Kacchan’s arm. With every ounce of strength within him, he pulled as hard as he could, energy flooding out wildly, green rivers of it flowing through his hand and into Kacchan through the grip he had on his shoulder. A swirling torrent of green built up around him, making those nearby have to shield their eyes from the light. 

He felt more than saw the moment Kacchan thrust his hands up and slammed out the biggest explosion he had ever seen. Saw the sludge villain raining down in pieces , as the street they were on cracked and buckled beneath the force of the blast. Felt the tiredness begin to take hold of him as they both took in deep, gasping breaths. And felt nothing but fear as he saw the villain begin to reform, not even enough energy left within him to scream, much less move his feet. 

But there he was…All Might, there once more, shouting something as he pulled both boys out of harm's way and clenched his fist. Izuku smiled, eyes closing, knowing that with All Might there, Kaccan was safe. 

Kacchan screamed something in his ear, something he couldn’t hear over the buzzing as he felt his consciousness fading, his breath leaving him for the second time this day as the energy trailed off, trickling into nothing, the well running dry, and with it…his heartbeat. 

Yagi had seen many things, but that scared young man with the secretive words running in to save another, when the other heroes had been too afraid to do their duty, gave him hope and joy in equal measure. Here he was, the exact sort of person he needed, the one who drove even him to go beyond his own limit to help. But when the boy fell from consciousness, as he blew that damned sludge villain away, the way the other boy hovered over him in fear triggered the same response within.

“Zu! Zu! Fucking wake up dammit! Don’t tell me you burned it all you fucking idiot! Wake the fuck up!” the blonde boy shouted, his hands gripping the other one's collar tightly. When the other boy failed to respond, failed to even breathe, the blonde one tore at the collar, ripping at it and pulling it away, desperately even. 

“Young man, you must let the paramedic’s-” Yagi tried to interject, but was interrupted before he could finish.

“ No! They don’t know what to do! We need to get him into the sunlight or something! Or get one of those crash pad things, the defibrillators! He needs to absorb something, quickly!” 

Yagi had been a hero for many decades, and while Quirk’s tended to be at least somewhat unique, it wasn’t unusual to see many similar quirks over the years. While energy absorbing quirks weren’t commonplace, he’d seen enough of them to understand what the blonde boy was getting at with his hurried explanation. Likely his body required he keep some of that energy stored up somehow, which would explain why he was fading out. He’d used too much. Well, the two boys clearly knew each other, and the blonde one was panicking with clear worry, no reason to doubt the blonde before him.

He reached down, grabbing the one who had impressed him so and bolting over towards the nearest EMS vehicle. The blonde followed angrily, snarling at the reporters trying to get between them and the heroes trying to speak to him. 

“I gather he absorbs energy through his skin, young man?” Yagi asked as he laid the other boy on the stretcher the EMT’s had pulled over. 

“Yeah! And he needs that shit to live, else his heart stops! Get the fucking shirt off him!”

With practiced ease, the one paramedic quickly pulled out the fabric scissors they used and cut the shirt apart, pulling it open as she spoke calmly to the blonde. “Any particular kind of energy required?”

The blonde rubbed at his eyes, his hands sparking furiously. “No, anything, doesn’t matter. But sunlight isn’t enough right now, don’t you have one of those defibrillator things!? The ones that shock people?”

“We’re getting it ready right now young man, it'll be okay. We need to check you over too, would you please take a seat?”

“I’m fucking fine, worry about him!” he shouted at her, smoke floating up from his now clenched fists. 

Yagi wanted to stay and speak to the boys further, but the media began swarming and he knew they needed space. So he stepped forward, pulling them away from the two boys, hoping he could distract them and get all those eyes off of them. They were in good hands now, he’d just have to catch up to the green-haired one later. 

Later, however, was going to be an issue. By the time he could escape the reporters and get to a place he could let go of his form, the ambulance was long gone, off to wherever it was headed. Neither of the two boys was available, and per the law minors names wouldn’t be released to the public. His best chance was gone already. With a sigh, he pulled out his phone. 

“Yagi? To what do I owe the pleasure?” came the voice of his former sidekick, Sir Nighteye. 

“I found him, Mirai! I found him!” he exclaimed excitedly.

“The love of your life?” 

“No! My successor! The one I wish to pass One for All onto!”

“...oh. Well, congratulations?” Mirai asked, clear confusion in his voice. “...was this just to inform me, or…?”

“Well, the problem is I lost him.”

“...you lost him.”

“Yes.”

“You found him and then lost him.”

“...yes.”

“...what did you do, take him hiking and got turned around?”

“No, no, ugh, just, hear me out!” Yagi huffed. Taking a deep breath, he launched into the day's occurrences, up to just before he called Mirai. As he stopped to catch his own breath, he could almost hear the judgment in the other man's tone. 

“Well. I can’t say I have a firm opinion on your choice yet, but your methodology leaves much to be desired. That said, I assume you want me to help you track down this young man?”

“Exactly! You know that’s not my speciality, but I’ve always known how excellent you are at following leads!”

The other man sighed deeply, his sheer ‘I am so done’ expression visible to Yagi even from kilometers away. “Very well, give me what details you know.”

“Well, he’s in high school, and has green-black hair and green eyes. And freckles.”

“...please tell me you have more than that.”

“Um…oh, the blonde one called him Zu! And he called the blonde one Kacchan! The blonde one seemed to have some type of explosive quirk, and I believe the one I’m looking for has an energy absorption quirk of some kind that works through skin exposure. Err…they had on black uniforms as well.”

“Well, that’s significantly easier to track down. Where are you again?”

“Musutafu.” Yagi could hear Mirai typing away on his computer, humming to himself as he input the data and began searching. “Oh, one other thing that was a bit odd. He implied he knew a killer of some kind, or at least, someone who has killed. It was a bit concerning. He asked me if I thought a killer could become a hero…but it was like he expected me to say no. Of course, I told him anyone could if they were dedicated to doing right, but-”

“Yagi,” the tone of voice Mirai used cut through his rambling for a moment, a tone that he had only heard in the most serious of situations. “I think I know why he asked you that.”

“Why?” In lieu of response, the ding of a text message had him glancing down at his phone. With trepidation, he clicked it, opening up a news article from fourteen years ago. As he scanned over it, his eyes widened, widened further, over and over as he swiftly devoured every word. “...Oh.”

Chapter Text

Izuku came to slowly, an insistent beeping making him wince. His head was pounding relentlessly…actually, if he was being honest, his entire body felt like he’d gone ten rounds with Kacchan with Quirk active on a hot summer day and lost every single one. A gaping sensation in his chest rounded out the pain, as if he was…missing something. He was exhausted, every muscle sore, squinting against the bright lights shining down from above.

With a pained groan, he tilted his head around, blinking rapidly to try and see what was around, only to see Kacchan sitting next to his bed, staring at him with relief plain on his face. Struggling, he managed to croak out a desperate plea for water, watching as his friend crossed the room swiftly, filling up a paper cup and bringing it over to him. With a wince, he managed to down the entire thing, chugging it as if he’d been stuck in a desert for a week. 

Hissing against the pain, he managed to push himself into a seated position, Katsuki reaching out for him but pausing once he realized how unwelcome the help would be. As soon as he was at least slightly vertical, Izuku looked around, swiftly putting together his location as a hospital room somewhere. 

“Wha…what happened?” he managed to mumble out, head still pounding.

Katsuki’s eyes narrowed at him, arms crossing over his chest in judgment. “You, dumbass, rushed in to get me away from some sludge asshole. You used your quirk, and drained the full fucking pool. They had to fucking shock you back! How the fuck did you burn the entire thing in like, three seconds?!”

As Izuku tried to remember, sending his mind back to the fuzzy time where it all occurred, he snapped wide awake as Kacchan’s words registered. “...shocked? The defibrillator?”

“Yeah, that-” Katsuki was cut off as Izuku lunged at him, one hand grabbing him by the collar and dragging him closer.

“ You let them fucking shock me?!” he snarled, his face contorted in rage and panic.

Katsuki, once the shock wore off, snarled back, his hand grabbing Izuku by his collar and tugging the other boy off balance. “Of fucking course I did, your heart stopped beating you fuckwad! ”

“ So fucking what! What if they screwed up the voltage and I overcharged!?” he shouted back, his voice carrying into the hallways.

“ You weren’t gonna overcharge! You had nothing in the tank! We had to get you back you fucking moron!”

Izuku’s voice lost some volume, but none of it's intensity as he hissed “If it's between me and all those people, you should have let me go! Better I die than-”

Katsuki’s right swung out and punched Izuku across the face, almost sending him over the edge of the bed if not for the grip his left hand had on the boy. “Don’t you dare say that shit fuckwad, don’t you even fucking think it! I’ll kill you my goddamned self you say that again, then bring you back and do it again so you get the fucking point!” 

Further argument was interrupted as the door swung open, a tall blonde woman with spiky hair entering, followed by an already sighing brown-haired man who looked at both boys with an expression torn between worry, exasperation, and fondness. The blonde woman arched an eyebrow at them. “Ah, yes, looks like the boys are fine, already back to fighting. Let go of each other, damned brats.” 

The two held on for a moment, glaring at the other, a new bruise already forming on Izuku’s face, before releasing each other and falling backwards in a huff. With a sigh, Mitsuki Bakugo calmly took a seat in the chair her husband had pulled out, reaching up to grip the hand he’d placed on her shoulder. 

“Would one of you two mind filling us in? We got the report from the police, but it wasn’t clear exactly what happened with Izuku,” Masaru asked, his voice soft. 

“He used his quirk, like I knew he could, and got me out of that sludge bastard. But burned it all somehow, I still don’t fucking get that part.”

Izuku stared at his hands, gloves missing, able to see cracks in his skin as if something had erupted from his palms. “I don’t know either. I-I always assumed my cur…I mean, my quirk could enhance my strength and speed in some fashion, extra energy and stuff, but…not like that. It shouldn’t have taken all of it though, I just used enough to pull Kacchan out. I don’t understand where the rest went.”

“I think…it went Into me,” Kacchan mumbled, his comment causing all three to look over at him as he held up his hands, revealing red palms and small yet noticeable burn marks on them. “I felt it, from where you grabbed my shoulder. I think you shared it with me. I’ve never made an explosion that big before. Was kinda badass, but I don't think I was ready to handle it, since I blew through everything you gave me too. Yet somehow that stupid slime fuck still survived.”

“Yes well, good thing All Might was there as quickly as he was,” Masaru commented. 

“And good thing they had that defibrillator to keep your scrawny ass alive,” Katsuki snarked at Izuku, the other boy gritting his teeth and glaring back at him.

“He’s right, Izuku,” Mitsuki commented, trying to ease the tension.

“But what if I-”

“You didn’t ,” she interjected. “I don’t know the details of the machine, but there ain’t no fucking way it's as much as a bolt of lightning, not to mention that was years ago. Your limit must be much higher and you know that. When you’re done panicking about it you’ll know we’re right.”

“It is not remotely comparable,” came the voice from the doorway, a black-haired woman with oddly sharp teeth woman in a doctor’s outfit said as she entered the room, tapping away at a tablet she carried. “I imagine you’re concerned about how much energy you absorbed, but trust me when I say you’re nowhere near whatever your current limit is. We can’t measure it well with the equipment here, but you have quite a bit of room for more in you.”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, but the tension in his shoulders hadn’t left as he worried about what could have been. The doctor looked up from her tablet, meeting Izuku’s eyes. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dr. Kirishima.” Izuku just nodded at her, waiting for her to continue. She nodded sharply, her gaze oddly fierce. “I have a very important question for all of you…why are Izuku’s Quirk records blank? ”

“What?” the three Bakugo’s chorused, with a wide-eyed blink from Izuku. The doctor sighed.

“It has a very brief description of what it does, and absolutely nothing else . It has nothing in here about the capabilities, the activation requirements, the mutations-”

“What mutations?!” Izuku interrupted, his voice cracking in shock.

Dr. Kirishima stared at him disbelievingly. “Well, like most quirks, your body has some internal mutations that allow you to handle it.”

“Like how I don’t react to nitroglycerin?” Katsuki asked.

“I didn’t look at your records young man, but if I understand the implication your quirk has something to do with nitroglycerin, then yes, same principle.”

“I sweat it from my palms, and can ignite it to make explosions.”

She nodded at him. “Oh well then yes, absolutely. You likely ingest it all the time, which means your body would have to be adapted or something bad would occur. I also assume your arms are more sturdy than an average person, to deal with recoil.”

Katsuki nodded along. “Yeah, doc told me I got some extra reinforcement in my arms and shoulders, so it doesn’t hurt as much.”

She glanced down at her tablet. “Well, Izuku here has a few extra mutations that help him manage his quirk. First is an extraneous organ located beneath his breastbone, which is where his body processes and stores the energy. From this, there are ‘channels’ through which the energy would flow out from. These channels go to all four of his limbs and to his fingertips.”

All four people in the room looked over to Izuku, the green-haired boy frozen in shock at the idea of more to his quirk. After waiting a moment, the doctor continued. “However, due to you failing to utilize your quirk properly, those channels atrophied, and the organ which stores it was scarred from holding the energy improperly. You damaged not only your quirk but your body itself , young man. You ripped those channels open today, and this has caused a significant backlash. You’re going to leak energy now, at least until you can get those channels back into proper working order. Which means using them. Your body is designed around the energy being in motion . Flowing, as it were.”

Tapping again at her table, she let it drop to her side as she continued her lecture. “You should think of it not unlike a river in this case. You created a dam for it, but did not allow for any flow at all. I assume the scarring on your chest and back also comes from mishandling of your quirk.”

“...can we not talk about that?” Izuku asked quietly, his gaze dropping to stare down at the bedsheets.

Dr. Kirishima’s gaze softened. “Alright. I didn’t mean to upset you. I am just concerned about your health, young man. Do you have issues with your quirk energy leaking at times of great stress?” Izuku nodded, still refusing to look up. “It’s going to get worse. I have to ask, how did your doctor fail to address any of this with you?”

“It just…never came up? He told me what I had to do to hold it back and that was it,” Izuku replied softly.

Her eyes narrowed. “...I would like the name of this doctor, if you would please.”

“Tsubasa. Dr. Tsubasa,” Mitsuki piped in. “He handles all the neighborhood kids. But I mean, he gave you good advice didn’t he, brat?”

Katsuki scratched the back of his neck. “Not…really? Zu gave me most of the advice. Now that I think about it, I think Zu gave everyone in the neighborhood Quirk advice…huh. Shit. Never occurred to me the doc wasn’t giving good advice. That little fucking shit.”

“I’ll be reporting this to the board. That sort of failure could be catastrophic for powerful quirks such as these two young men here. Honestly Izuku, your quirk is fascinating. As it's clear you were not given proper counseling or information, I’ll be ordering a full diagnostic workup for you so we can nail down the way it works and we can come up with a proper plan to make sure you’re okay. That said, there are some things you need to do now . And the first is you must practice channeling that energy. It must flow, as I said. Do you understand?”

Izuku just nodded, refusing to look up at the doctor. She stared at him for a moment, before deciding to let the issue drop. “Hmm, well. Izuku can be checked out in a little bit, we’re just going to prescribe some simple pain medication and rest. You, young man, need to recharge, and I mean that quite literally. Let us finalize the paperwork, and you can take him home.” As the adults exchanged nods, the woman left the room.

Masaru sighed. “I’ll go handle the paperwork. I know if you do it you’ll just set something on fire, or ask Katsuki to do so.”

Mitsuki smiled up at her husband with a sharkline grin. “I knew I married you for a reason!”

“Yes, as I recall it's because you said I had a ‘nice ass’,” he deadpanned. 

“Oh gods kill me now,” Katsuki groaned, planting his hands in his face. Izuku glanced up and snickered for a moment, the tension breaking enough for him to giggle at their antics. “Yeah yeah, laugh it up jackass. You heard the doc. You gotta work on using that quirk you know.”

Izuku clammed up at that, his laughter disappearing as soon as it appeared. Masaru stepped forward to try to intervene, but Mitsuki stopped him silently, just shaking her head no. He looked down at her, before smiling and leaving the room. She stood up as well, reaching over and squeezing Izuku’s hand as her other hand squeezed Katsuki’s shoulder. “Behave, boys. I’ll be right back.”

As she closed the door behind her, Katsuki stared Izuku down, waiting for his argument that he knew the other one would have. Just as he assumed, the green-haired boy opened his mouth with a determined look on his face. “I’ll be fine, Kacchan. I just have to work harder to control it, that’s all.”

“No, you’re suppressing it, not controlling it. That’s two different things, and you know it, Mr. Quirk analyst.”

“Kacchan-”

“Don’t you fucking ‘Kaccan’ me. Mom and Pops are right. You keep this up and it’s gonna hurt you again, if not kill you! Auntie and Uncle wouldn’t have-”

Izuku cut him off with a snarl. “ Don’t talk about what they would or wouldn’t want!”

“...Izuku, they don’t need to be here for us to know what would have wanted for you. They loved you.”

Izuku stared at Katsuki, his green eyes shimmering with unshed tears as he whispered “And whose fault is it they aren’t here to ask?”

“...you know who. It wasn’t your fucking fault , Zu!” Even as he said the words, he already knew what the other boy's response would be. The same old song and dance, back and forth, a conversation the two had had hundreds of times since they were old enough to understand what happened. 

Izuku’s smile was cracked, broken, as much of a lie as the painted smiles upon store mannequins. “Agree to disagree, Kacchan.”

“...whatever you say, Izuku,” he sighed, already knowing he’d lost today’s argument once again.

Katsuki grumbled under his breath as he headed to homeroom. Izuku had been prescribed rest at home for a few days, until he ‘felt full’ as the doctor put it, meaning he would be missing Monday. At least Katsuki got a good laugh at how annoyed Izuku was at having to literally sit outside in the sun like a goddamned plant. He’d snickered and told him he finally was living up to his true purpose of being broccoli, the other boy throwing a book at him in retaliation as he ducked it with ease. 

However, even with that bit of cheer,he was having a very bad day. Or well, days if he was being honest. Being saved again by Izuku and it nearly killing Izuku was bad enough. He could deal with being rescued…he understood what happened and hey, he should get used to near death experiences if he’s gonna be a hero. It nearly killing his best friend to save him? That he wasn’t processing as well. Okay, yes, he knew this was survivors guilt, yes, he paid attention when his therapist spoke but knowing intellectually what was going on didn’t help how he fucking felt !

Not to mention his fucking leg was acting up. Something must have gotten into it, he’d need to take it in to get checked. Wished he could afford a backup but ones of good enough quality for him to pursue hero work were expensive as all hell, he was lucky that his parents could afford the first one, especially as it had to keep being replaced as he grew.

He just needed to vent to someone. Tsubasa was his best friend other than Izuku, he was looking forward to having a chat with him. He wasn’t going to bring up the stuff about his grandfather, not wanting to worry him or cause drama. Not to mention it wasn’t his fault if his grandfather was a quack. But he really needed to just get something out. He didn’t want to say anything around Izuku, he had enough going on and he’d fucking get all guilty too. 

Entering homeroom, he was a bit surprised to see Tsubasa’s desk empty, and a new desk set behind Izuku’s. The teacher nodded to him as he stepped into the room and made his way to the back, sliding into place in the desk in front of Izuku’s. 

“Well, now that we’re all here, I have some announcements to make. Tsubasa’s family apparently had an emergency and were forced to move over the weekend, so he has transferred out. He’s left his contact information for anyone who wants to keep in touch.”

Katsuki blinked. That…was weird. Tsubasa left and didn’t say anything to him? He thought they were pretty good friends. Ah shit. Not to be all self-centered, but he knew how he got if he didn’t vent. He was naturally an angry person, and his coping mechanisms did not do well when shit came out of nowhere. His confused train of thought was cut off as the teacher continued. “However, we had two late transfers in . Ladies, if you would please introduce yourselves?” he gestured to the door, where two young women entered.

One, with brown hair in a bob cut and blush marks on her cheek bowed, speaking up. “Hi, my name is Ochako Uraraka! Um, I like mochi and space and hope we’ll be good friends!”

The other girl smirked, lightly smacking the first one on the shoulder. As Uraraka straightened up, she glared good-naturedly at the blonde with her hair in buns next to her. She took a bow as well. “I’m Himiko Toga. I’m afraid I’m not as exciting as my friend here, but I also hope to make some friends and have a good time.”

The teacher nodded. “Uraraka, take the empty seat right there, and Toga, you go back to that one back there. We’ll be going over our work from last week. Bakugo, do you mind helping them catch up and showing them around later?”

Katsuki shrugged. Might as well. Just had to keep a lid on his emotions for now, he’d vent it out after school.  “Sure, teach, not a problem.” As the two girls took their seats, he gave them both a nod. He pulled out his notes and after a quick glance over, he handed them over to Uraraka. “Take a quick look over these, then pass them over to your friend back there. Not much happened week one, but we can go over it during lunch if ya need.”

The brown-haired girl smiled brightly at him. “Thanks!”

As the bell rang for lunch, Katsuki stretched for a moment, tamping down at the habitual annoyance within him at the ache in his leg. He was still a bit sore from being bounced around over the weekend, so sitting all day had made him a bit stiff. As he stood, he glanced back at the two girls who were finishing putting their own things away. “You two ready?”

“Yep!” Uraraka said, as Toga gave him an acknowledging salute. He snorted at that, jerking his head towards the door. With his pack over his shoulder, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and began strolling onward as the two girls came up beside him. 

“Gonna just run you around the basic shit real quick, like the lunchroom and shit. I figure you’ve seen enough of the offices by now. I prefer to eat up on the roof, but you can join me today if ya want. Or just stick to the lunchroom, whatever.”

“Roof sounds fun,” Toga remarked, her teeth…glinting? Yep, as he narrowed his eyes at her smile he could see fangs peeking over her lips. Huh. 

“Something the matter?” she asked him, arms behind her back and practically skipping.

“Nah, just noticed the teeth, was curious.”

“Oh, I have a blood quirk. Gotta drink it, and I can transform into someone! I don’t get their quirk though.”

Uraraka popped up into his vision, her gaze appraising as she looked at him. “Is that a problem?”

“Hell no. Quirks are quirks. Why?”

Toga’s shoulders slumped a bit and she looked away from him. “Some people don’t like blood quirks all that much…”

“If anyone has an issue with Himi’s quirk, I’ll punt them into the fucking sun,” Uraraka added, her smile wide and teeth bared. Katsuki looked over at her with an appraising eye.

“Huh. You got a protective streak dontcha?”

Uraraka’s smile lost its edge as she blushed a bit. Squirming in place, she looked away from him. “I don’t let people hurt my friends.”

“Tch. Good attitude to have. Fuck those sorta fucks. Anyways, what about you? What's your deal, Cheeks??”

Uraraka blinked at him at the nickname, but ignored it as she held up her hand. “Zero Gravity! Anything I touch with all the fingers on one hand loses its gravity! I can bring it back down by touching my hands together. I wanna be a rescue hero like Thirteen!”

“You two moved here to try for UA then?” Both girls nodded at that. “Fucking A, needed more people going for the top. Before it was only me and Zu.”

“Zu?” Toga asked.

“My friend, he sits in the seat in front of you. Dumbass got himself hurt Friday so he’s still on rest till tomorrow, but I’ll introduce you guys when he’s back. Just be prepared for a billion fucking quirk questions, and then a hundred suggestions on how to kick more ass with it.” 

“He got hurt? How?” came the worried tone from Uraraka.

“Some sludge bastard had me in a chokehold, trying to make me his meat puppet or some shit. The heroes on scene were doing jack shit, and Zu came over and managed to pull me out just in time. Then I blew up the alley. Stupid sludge freak somehow was still living through that, but All Might showed up and blew the fucker away. Zu burned all his pool though, so, yeah. Almost died.”

“Uh…what?” Uraraka blinked, confused.

“His pool?” Toga asked. 

“Ah, right, you’re not from here. Yeah, Izuku, that's his first name, has a quirk that lets him absorb and store energy. But he blew threw it all to get me out, using it to charge himself and me up. Didn’t know he could do that, heh. Anyways, if he uses it all, his heart kinda…stops. It's more complicated than that, but ain’t got time for the whole breakdown.”

“Um…that’s kinda scary…” Uraraka said quietly. At Katsuki’s glare, she held up her hands defensively. “I don’t mean I’m scared of him, I mean scared for him! That’s gotta be worrying. I can’t imagine how you felt about it.”

He snorted. With Tsubasa gone, he really didn’t have anyone other than Zu to talk to, and for some reason he was having serious issues keeping his mouth shut right now. Really felt like he was just…babbling at this point. Oh fuck, he was turning into Izuku. Eh. Pops was always going on about finding new friends, plus they were aiming for UA too. Maybe they could join him and Zu on training, the rest of the school was too scared for their routine.

The conversation had already taken them past the lunchroom, so he’d been leading the two young women up the stairs. As he pushed open the roof door, he strolled over to the corner he normally claimed and sat down, reaching into his bag for his lunch. With a gesture, he waved the two girls to claim their own spot. He rubbed at his left thigh absently as he thought about how to respond.

“I was pissed, if you must know. Fucking bastard nearly kills himself trying to save me, for the second time mind you, and it wouldn’t have had that bad a backlash if he’d actually been using his quirk, but nooo, I’m Izuku Midoriya and I refuse to use my goddamned powerful quirk my entire fucking life because of one bad day and…ah fuck it, that wasn’t fair.” How off-kilter was he, that he just blew up at these two brand new students just because they were willing to listen ? Katsuki sighed as he hung his head.

“Shit. Sorry. I got a bad temper. I just…I was worried, you’re right. And it ain’t fair to him, I know why he’s so hung up about his quirk. Don’t take it the wrong way, and don’t look bad at him, he’s got a…a reason. I won’t say it's a good reason, but he thinks it is.”

“No judgment here,” Toga said as she held up her hands. “My parents were awful to me because they thought my quirk was disgusting, but lucky for me they got caught and got in trouble. I’m lucky I found a new dad soon enough, and never been happier. I totally get quirk issues.”

Uraraka nodded. “Yeah, I mean, my quirk never caused me issues, but…my parents don’t make a ton, and it can be tough sometimes. That’s why we moved out here together, it's easier if we share an apartment! And Himi’s been a great friend!”

“Oh ‘Chako you say the nicest things,” Toga said, winking at Uraraka. Katsuki snorted, hiding his smirk behind his drink. 

“Stoooooppp,” Uraraka said, shoving Toga away from her with a grin. She turned back to Katsuki, her smile softening a bit. “It sounds like you and Izuku are good friends.”

“Basically brothers. He lives with me and my parents. His…passed away a while ago. It's a sore subject. Like his quirk. Err..His entire past is a sore subject if I’m being fucking honest. And uh…most of the school knows. So they kinda, you know, treat him different. So like, don’t go asking around, or looking, please? I think he’d appreciate some people not knowing, for once.”

Toga gave an exaggerated salute. “Aye aye captain!” Uraraka nodded, her smile still wide.

Katsuki snorted. “Alright, you two are chill. Me and Zu train for UA, once he’s back on his feet we’re picking it up again double time. You two want in?”

Uraraka’s grin turned a little feral as Toga’s smile widened so far she almost resembled the Cheshire cat. “Fuck yeah,” Uraraka exclaimed, pumping her fist. 

He smirked. Yeah, this’d do. Izuku would get along with these two, he was sure of it. And maybe with a couple more hero hopefuls on his side, he could finally get through to that dumbass. 

Chapter Text

After dinner that evening, where Izuku had been given the rather concerning news about Tsubasa’s sudden disappearance, Izuku had just settled down to finish up some homework when he was startled by his bedroom door slamming open. Taking a couple quick breaths to calm his now racing heartbeat, he glared half-heartedly at Katsuki as the blonde strode in and plopped on Izuku’s bed without a care in the world.

“I found us some training partners,” Katsuki began with zero preamble.

“What?”

“Two transfer students came in today. Ochako Uraraka and Himiko Toga. Teach had me showing them about. Turns out they came here to apply to UA. Got to talking and they seemed pretty badass, so I invited them to our training. Since we’re gonna have to pick it the fuck up, gotta get your quirk in working order and shit.”

“Oh for fucks sake Kacchan!” Izuku growled. He didn’t have time for this, he needed to finish his homework. He spun back around to face his desk, putting his back to his best friend.

“Look, you need to use your damned quirk. They need some fucking practice. I need more practice. We all get shit out of this, so it makes perfect sense.”

“Kacchan…I’m not going to UA. Can’t you just respect that?”

Katsuki stood up and crossed the room. Ignoring Izuku’s protests, he sat on the desk and looked down at the seated green-haired boy. “Then what the fuck are you gonna do?” 

“I don’t know. I have time to figure it out, it's not a big deal.”

“Bullshit. You’re gonna delay until the last second and then just grab something out of a hat, because you don’t fucking care . There’s one fucking thing you give a shit about and it's heroes! So just be a hero!”

Izuku slammed his hand on his desk, leaping to his feet and storming over to his bed, away from Katsuki. He dove into it, burying his head in his pillow to try and drown out the other boy's voice. Muffled, he replied. “Murderers don’t get to be heroes, Kacchan.”

“I’m not going to argue with you about that stupid shit again, Zu. But I am going to remind you that you have to practice with that quirk or someone else will get hurt. You remember what the doc said, right? You’re gonna have more leaks. Isn’t it better to practice now and avoid that shit?”

“You’re exhausting.”

“Besides, the girls could use more training partners. You’re not gonna make the transfer students upset, are you?”

“Oh get the fuck out of here with that Kacchan. I don’t need more pity or being treated like I’m made of glass.”

“...They don’t know about your past. I asked them not to look into it, or to ask about it. All they know is you don’t like your quirk.”

Izuku scoffed. “Understatement of the century,” he muttered.

Katsuki hopped off the desk and walked to the door, hands stuffed in his pockets. Without turning around, he walked out with one final comment. “Just think about it. A fresh start, Izuku. Maybe you’ll surprise yourself.” The door closed behind him.

“Hi! I’m Ochako Uraraka! You must be Midoriya, yeah?” the bubbly brunette said, sticking her hand out as Izuku stared blankly at the literal personification of sunshine in front of him. A nudge in his side from Katsuki broke him out of it, him taking her hand with a sheepish smile. A second later, she was shoved gently out of the way by a blonde girl with her hair up in buns.

“And I’m Himiko Toga! Hiya!” she exclaimed, her smile wide. Izuku had the odd thought that the grin she sported was somehow both dangerous and adorable at the same time. He shook his head out of that line of thought and took her hand as well. 

“Izuku Midoriya, but seems you knew that.”

Uraraka shrugged. “Bakugo talks about you a lot.”

Izuku gave the side-eye to his friend, who stood there with a shit-eating grin. “All good things, I hope.”

“Depends on if you consider ‘dumbass’ a good thing when he says it,” Himiko chimed in, snickering at the glare the brunette sent her.

“Coming from him that's high praise,” came Izuku’s dry response. 

“Whatever nerd. Anyways, kicking it back into training tonight, right?”

Izuku narrowed his eyes at Katsuki, the two glaring at each other for a few moments before Izuku let out a deep sigh that just screamed ‘done with it all’. “Fine, you explosive pomeranian, we’ll train. Just to get you off my back. But I’m still not-”

“‘Applying to UA’, I know I know. Ugh, you’re a fucking broken record Zu.”

“You’re one to talk Kacchan.”

“I thought you said you’re both going to UA too,” Uraraka asked, a little bit confused by the interactions so far.

“He is. I’m not,” Izuku replied.

“Oh he absolutely is going to UA, once he gets his head out of his ass. We just need to find the right proctologist since it's been stuck there for fourteen fucking years.”

“I swear to every god in existence I will end you, Katsuki Bakugo.”

“Best bring your A-Game then tonight Izuku, because I’m gonna end you !” Katsuki shot back, teeth bared in a terrifying grin.

A giggle from Himiko broke the tension as both boys turned to glance at her. “Oh you two are funny. I can’t wait to see what you guys can do.”

“Tch. That’s my line, Vamp. Hope you can keep up!” 

“Oh you’re so on , ‘Kacchan’,” she shot back. 

“Sorry Toga, but I am first in line to kick his ass tonight,” Izuku broke in, feeling a little bit more comfortable with the banter as he got more used to the two new students.

“I’m fine with that. And…Himiko, please. I don’t…don’t like my last name much,” she trailed off, looking away from the green haired boy. 

Well, Izuku had seen enough emotional minefields (most of them his own) to know when not to ask questions. He just gave a sharp nod. “Sure, Himiko. You can call me Izuku then, if you want.”

“Um, if we’re doing that, you can call me Ochako! Himi already does so if we’re going to be spending time together, might as well!” Uraraka chimed in with another sunshine smile that made Katsuki and Izuku wish they had a pair of sunglasses for.

“Call me Izuku too, then,” he offered.

“Katsuki,” he grunted, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“I’m glad the four of you are getting along, but it’s time for class,” their teacher announced as he walked into the room, heading to his desk. The four now suitably chastised students quickly went to their desks and gave the teacher sheepish grins (save Katsuki who just smirked). 

“So what kinda training do you two do, anyways?” Himiko asked as she took a drink from a thermos, the four enjoying the nice weather on the roof.. 

“Depends on the day and what we have to work on. Split pretty evenly between cardio and weights when it comes to workout days, but also some quirkless sparring. Quirk training twice a week for Kacchan, I just take notes and help him get better at aiming.” 

“Quirk training that you will be taking part in now,” Katsuki drawled. As Ochako noted Izuku’s fist clenching and him opening his mouth to retort, she tried to interject to stop another brewing argument.

“Is that all you guys do? Or do you have other hobbies?” 

Katsuki slurped at his noodles before responding. “Course we do. Zu here analyzes quirks like you wouldn’t fucking believe. Takes a ton of notes about them and draws people in those notebooks. He’s really good at it. As for myself, I like to cook. And we had all those other hobby classes Mom shoved us into to keep us from destroying the house.”

“Like what?” Ochako asked.

“We did dance for what, a couple of years or some shit like that?”

“Yeah. And you took drum lessons while I was doing guitar.”

“Oh, and the fucking singing lessons.”

“You’re still upset about that? You sound great!”

“Yeah and you sound like a fucking angel, it's annoying.”

“Yes, but I still can’t cook nearly as well as you do.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, you cook just fine. What you can’t do is fix an engine to save your goddamned life.”

“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with motorcycles anyways. You don’t even have one!”

“Cause the hag won’t let me get my license till we’re set for uni, but you best fucking believe once we’re in UA I’m getting my goddamned ride. And it's because they look fucking badass, thats why!”

“Kacchan, you can fly with your quirk! You don’t need a motorcycle!”

“I don’t need to drown my food in fucking ghost peppers but that hasn’t stopped me yet! Besides, you got all that computer geek shit going on in your head.”

“It's not ‘computer geek shit’, it's just knowing how to use them correctly and a little bit of software engineering. Besides, you’re an actual model .”

“If I’m a model so are you, Mom’s put you in a few ads too!”

“Not nearly as many as you, especially as I can’t do any of the shirtless ones.”

“You could , if you weren’t a cowa-...shit. Sorry,” Katsuki cut himself off as he set his empty bowl down. Izuku looked down at his food with now trembling hands, silence falling over the group as quickly as the back and forth between the two men had escalated. Himiko and Ochaka shared a look at how quickly their banter went downhill, souring the entire mood in moments.

“...you two sure like to argue, don’t you?” Himiko asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. Katsuki let out an indelicate snort as Izuku gave a sad smile.

“Yeah, that’s the main reason Auntie kept forcing us into all those classes, to keep us ‘occupied’ as she put it. Said we needed to get all that excess energy out somewhere.”

“Also because she claimed we needed to be ‘Renaissance Men” or some shit.”

“Well, it's your only redeeming quality soooo,” Izuku drawled as his attitude seemed to bounce back, getting a playful shove to his shoulder from Katsuki in response. He smirked. “Besides, you were quite happy during those dance classes when you realized how much it made the other guys drool over youuuuu-”

“Oh shut up you fuckwad, I will end you ,” Katsuki shot back with a growl, although the supposed anger was belied by the flush on his cheeks. 

“Is that why you learned to cook? I’ve always heard the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,” Himiko teased. 

“Shove off Vamp, I’ll rip your fangs out,” he mockingly snarled at her. 

“Kinky!”

Izuku and Ochako both choked on their drinks at Himiko’s reply as Katsuki burst into guffaws. The blonde girl just kept her cheshire cat grin plastered on her face, yellow eyes glinting in the sunlight.

‘ Okay. Okay Izuku, you can do this,’ he said to himself as he stared in the mirror. The girls had agreed to meet the boys down at Dagobah Beach, where they tended to do Kacchan’s quirk training since no one cared what happened down there. Kacchan had gotten changed and dashed off before Izuku could comment, excited for some reason Izuku still couldn’t fathom. Izuku though, he’d had to take a few minutes to steady himself.

Ever since their conversation the night before, Izuku was…off. No, if he was honest with himself, he’d been off since the day with the sludge villain. He hadn’t really had time to sit down and process it all. Between learning what he did about All Might, using his Quirk to its actual potential for the first time since he was four, and then Dr. Kirishima’s reveals about both his internal mutations and the fact his Quirk would keep causing issues if he didn’t get a proper handle on it, he was swamped in emotions he hadn’t really processed.

And now, Kacchan had just up and dragged two more people into his goddamn business! A part of Izuku was furious about what Kacchan was doing. It didn’t take a genius to see that he was trying to push Izuku out of his comfort zone with people who didn’t know anything about what he’d done. 

But he couldn’t ignore the other part of him that was just happy to talk to someone who didn’t know. Someone who really wasn’t judging him based on his past, like all his peers had. They’d never judged him harshly, but on some level, the pity felt worse. At least if they’d been cruel it would merely match the thoughts in his own mind, but instead they just…pitied him. 

He never wanted pity! He wanted…he wanted…fuck. He didn’t know what he wanted! Izuku stared at himself in the mirror, emerald eyes reflected off the surface before him, unable to really comprehend something so incredibly simple. He let out a rueful chuckle at his own foolishness. He hated the pitying stares, but it wasn’t like he wanted anger either. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted them to like him. He really had lived fourteen years and never once thought about what he did want…only what he didn’t want.

Maybe…maybe Kacchan had a point. All Might had even told him anyone could be a hero, even someone who’d made mistakes in the past. And it wasn’t like he never considered it. Hell, he considered it all the time. Hard not to when constantly around someone who was more hyped about it than a yapping puppy dog was about treats. He just didn’t know how to reconcile it! People had died because of him and his Quirk. So many had died . Even if he wasn’t held legally liable, the villain who called down the bolt was the one who the police said was responsible, it didn’t change what he’d done.

Then again, maybe…maybe if he saved enough people, it’d even up his crimes. Well, not even it up, but just balance it out a little. But how many is enough? He doubted there were enough out there, since lives weren’t some one to one commodity you could trade. Although…what if he just…kept saving people? He’d just keep saving people. He always wanted to help people after all. And if he died doing it, well, that was okay. That’d be penance for his crimes…he’d serve the world until he could no longer serve. Okay. He could do that! 

Izuku looked up at his reflection with a resolved glare, and then grinned. A bright, wide smile on his face, ready to face the world and repay it for what he’d done! He took a deep, bracing breath and exited the bathroom, heading down the stairs to meet his friends.

“Um…aren’t you going to be hot in that?” Ochako asked Izuku as she stared at him in the long-sleeved compression shirt he wore. Unlike him, the other three were all wearing tank tops and shorts, yet he was in both a long-sleeve shirt and jeans. Plus the green gloves. 

“I don’t really get bothered by extremes in temperature,’ Izuku replied with a shrug. “And it's better I don’t have too much exposed skin.”

“Take off the gloves, dipshit. Else they are just gonna be ruined again. Besides, if you use your Quirk it’ll drain so you need to absorb more anyways!” 

Izuku reached out and grabbed Katsuki’s arm. “Kacchan, can we speak alone for a moment?”

“Huh? The fuck for?”

“Just…please?”

Katsuki looked over at Izuku’s face, meeting the other boy's gaze for a good ten seconds before nodding. “Alright. We’ll be right back, feel free to break shit if you want. It's all trash anyways.” Izuku smiled distractedly at the two girls before pulling Katsuki away, the blonde swearing as he nearly faceplanted into the sand from the unexpectedly strong tug on his arm. After they were far enough away they couldn’t be overheard, he ripped his arm away from Izuku’s. “Okay, the fuck is this about?”

Izuku took a deep, bracing breath. “I don’t think I should practice today.” As he saw Katsuki’s eyes narrow and his mouth open, Izuku hurriedly interrupted. “I’m not backing down! I, look. Just…hear me out?” Katsuki’s mouth snapped shut as he gave Izuku an appraising glance. Izuku took another deep breath. “I think…maybe you were right. And maybe I should take my future seriously. And learn how my Quirk works.”

“Fucking finally ,” Katsuki exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “Took you long enough to get your head out of your ass! For fucks sake! Perfect, let’s fucking get started!”

“ Not yet!” Izuku hissed, bringing the blonde’s attention back to him. “At least…not today. Look, we don’t know what I can do with my Quirk besides…you know, the thing. So I think I should take a day or two to, you know…take some notes. On it. On me. On what I do know. And um…I mean…the girls just got here, and we haven’t seen their Quirks either and-”

“Oh my fucking god you dork, you just want to geek out over their Quirk’s don’t you?”

“I’m not wrong about my Quirk and you know it!”

“But you’re not denying what I said,” Katsuki smirked.

Izuku glared, but the effect was somewhat muted by the red staining his cheeks. “Fuck you Kacchan.”

“Nah, you’re not my type.”

Izuku rolled his eyes. “I hope you realize the day you find a boyfriend is the day I embarrass the ever loving hell out of you with all the baby pictures Auntie has .”

“You wouldn’t dare ,” Katsuki hissed. 

“Fucking try me,” Izuku shot back.

Katsuki sighed. “Oi, stop trying to change the goddamned subject. Going back to the whole Quirk business…fine. But next time we train Quirks, you train yours too. For your own safety.”

“...yeah. I will. I mean it, Kacchan. I’ll try. And umm…about the whole hero thing…I’m…considering it.”

Katsuki’s eyes widened. “You are? What changed your mind?”

“I thought you’d be happy?”

“I am! I just didn’t expect it.”

Izuku gave a shrug. “I don’t know if I can put it into words. I mean…you weren’t wrong about it being the thing I cared about the most. I guess I just…figure helping people is more important than my hang ups about it, you know?”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Izuku appraisingly, as if he was trying to solve a puzzle. He tilted his head to the left, then back to the right, scanning over the greenette’s body language and expression. But Izuku had spent over a decade figuring out how to keep his tells away from the surprisingly perceptive Katsuki, and knew his comment would pass muster. It wasn’t like it was untrue . He just was leaving part of it out. 

Katsuki shrugged. “Alright Izu, if you say so. Good enough reason I guess. Let’s stop keeping the girls waiting though. It's fucking rude.” Izuku snorted at Katsuki saying something about being rude, but chose not to comment as they walked back over. They approached while the two girls were apparently stretching, Ochako rolling her shoulders and Himiko currently leaning to one side to stretch out her legs. 

“Alright, so dumbass here hasn’t done enough studying on his Quirk to use it today, so we’ll be working on his later in the week. I don’t wanna tell you what to do with your own Quirks, but Izu here is pretty damned good at analysis, so if you wanna sit and chat with him about it you might find some new shit. I’m gonna be working on precision explosions, so just ignore the sounds coming around the bend.” Katsuki finished speaking and wandered off without waiting for a reply from the other three. Both girls just blinked at his abrupt exit while Izuku sighed at his mannerisms.

“That’s just how he is, don’t worry about it. But…if you’d be up to it, I really do like doing Quirk analysis? So…can I ask some questions?” Izuku gave a sheepish smile as he glanced away from the two in front of him, rubbing the back of his neck.

Himiko shrugged. “Sure, but my Quirk’s really not that interesting.”

“ Of course it is!” Izuku practically shouted back at her, making the blonde jump back in surprise. Seeing her reaction his blush returned full force and he hurriedly began to apologize. “Oh my god I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to raise my voice I just think it's a super cool quirk and youreallyshouldn’ttalkdownaboutitand-”

“ Breathe you damn nerd! ” came the shout from the other side of the nearest trash pile, cutting Izuku off from his rapid-fire speech. Izuku jolted for a moment, before taking a deep breath and glaring off in the general direction of the voice. He turned back to the two girls before him.

“A-anyways, I just mean, everyone's Quirks are interesting! You shouldn’t look down on it!”

Himiko tilted her head to the side curiously. “Don’t you look down on yours?” Ochako hissed at her and swatted at her shoulder as Izuku froze for a moment, looking away.

“It’s…a long story. But I shouldn’t be a hypocrite about it, you’re right,” Izuku replied sullenly. He perked up in an instant though, throwing a blindingly bright grin at the two of them. “Luckily my Quirk will be excellent for serving people once I get a hang of it!”

The two girls shared a glance at the sudden shift in attitude and strange wording, but shrugged it off. Izuku had been nothing if not strange, but it wasn’t like it was that odd. 

“Well, guess I could talk about it. So, my Quirk allows me to transform into-”

Ochako wondered if she could ever look at her hands the same way again. Much less at her roommate/friend/something Himiko, who looked as shell-shocked as the day her adoption went through. Within a half hour of the two of them explaining their Quirks and Izuku writing down notes on them on a notebook she still didn’t know where he pulled it from, he’d somehow come up with an entire Quirk training regimen for the both of them.

Which would have been fine, if A), he hadn’t completely flipped her understanding of her Quirk on it's head (she wasn’t negating gravity so much as matching it's effect), and B), hadn’t been right ! She tried one of his suggestions and found out she could add gravity onto something! She’d actually completely crushed an entire washing machine with her Quirk within seconds! Sure, it made her vomit and terrified her when she thought about that happening to a person, but he assured her she could easily figure out how to moderate how much she added. 

And Himiko, Izuku was absolutely convinced she could figure out how to call upon her transformed targets Quirk. Though she’d not succeeded at it when she copied Ochako’s form (and no, she was not elaborating on how Himiko already had her blood), Izuku already had an entire regimen setup for her to practice. 

Although Ochako was pretty sure what freaked Himiko out the most was entirely how nonchalant Izuku had been when he suggested she try his blood out so he could witness the mechanism. Not only did his expression not remotely change when she latched onto his right arm, he was taking notes with his left hand! When asked, he offhandedly said he’d taught himself to be ambidextrous for note-taking when his right was occupied. The entire time he just watched as Himiko literally was sucking his blood and not once did he falter, completely focused on his note-taking.

Ochako and Himiko’s adopted father had been the only two people in her life who hadn’t flinched at least a little at her when she used those fangs. Even when Katsuki came back around the corner, sweating but looking pleased with himself, he didn’t react at all to the sight nor to the blood spilling from Himiko’s lips when she released Izuku’s arm. He just looked at her with a studied curiosity, blinking only when she shifted into Izuku’s form. He shrugged and said he was headed home, giving both girls a wide, toothy grin at the shell shocked expressions. He clapped them on the back and said he’d see them tomorrow, gripped Izuku’s shoulder and told him he’d catch up with him at home, and then just began jogging off.

Ochako glanced over at Himiko as she dropped Izuku’s form, Izuku immediately touching the gray sludge and muttering about what kind of substance it had to be. She coughed lightly. “Maybe we should head home too? It's getting a bit late.”

“Oh, oh I’m so sorry, didn’t mean to hold you up!” he replied, looking away from them and rubbing the back of his neck again. 

“No no, it's fine! You gave us a lot to think about!” she replied, waving her hands quickly at the embarrassed boy before her.

“Well…I’m glad I could help a bit,” he replied, smiling and looking up through his bangs at her.

“Yep! Thanks a bunch Izu!” Himiko interjected, grabbing Ochako by the hand and waving at him with her other one with frantic energy. “We’ll see you in class tomorrow! Bye!” and began to drag Ochako away, the brunette sputtering a bit before waving back at the now somewhat confused green-haired boy. He shrugged and turned around, following the same path Katsuki had.

“The hell was that?” Ochako hissed at Himiko, trying to get Himiko to slow down and stop dragging her. 

“Who the hell is he ‘Chako? Like…I’ve never seen you do that before! How did no one figure that out before him?!”

“Well, to be fair, it’s not like we could afford to go to a professional counselor besides the school appointed one. And you know he wasn’t an expert, just a low level guy.”

“Yeah but I have been to one, and he didn’t think I could use other people's Quirk’s either.”

Ochako shrugged. “You haven’t yet, so maybe he’s wrong.”

“He seemed real sure I could.”

“Just cause he was sure doesn’t mean he’s right. He got mine right but that doesn’t mean he’s right about everything.”

Himiko hunched her shoulders a little as she refused to look over at Ochako. “I know, but…something about the way he looked at me, it felt like he was so sure . And…something about how he said it, I just get this feeling he’s right . I can’t explain it, but it feels like I could do it.”

Ochako hummed as they approached their apartment, a small one situated on the ground floor of the building they were in. Taking out her key, she unlocked the door and let Himiko walk ahead of her. “Maybe it's his Quirk? We don’t actually know how it works. Katsuki said it was ‘more complicated’ than just absorbing and storing energy.”

“That seems like a stretch,” Himiko replied, taking off her shoes as they walked in. 

“Well I don’t know, you’re the one freaking out!”

“I’m not freaking out, I just…he kinda…scares me. But in a good way?”

Ochako snickered. “Scared in a good way? Are we watching a horror movie now?”

Himiko gave a playful snarl, showing her fangs. “I am a horror movie, ‘Chako.”

Ochako rolled her eyes. She strode off to the kitchen, calling back. “So, we have instant ramen, instant ramen, or instant ramen for dinner? What do you want?”

“Well obviously instant ramen. Can’t believe you forgot about that one!” Himiko replied as she walked into their shared bedroom to get changed. 

“Of course, silly me.” Ochako bent over to grab a pot from under the counter, hissing slightly as she did so.

“What’s wrong?” Himiko asked, walking into their little kitchenette.

“I think I slept wrong, my shoulders have been killing me all day,” Ochako replied, frowning as she rotated her shoulder.

“Want a massage?”

“You just want to touch me with my shirt off.”

“Guilty!” Himiko sang out with no shame. Her expression turned pensive a moment later as. “But I also don’t like you hurting.”

Ochako flushed slightly, hunching her shoulders as she turned away from Himiko. “Well…maybe later. I’m okay for now.”

“Okay…then tell me, whatcha think about the boys, hmm?”

Ochako arched an eyebrow. “Whaddya mean?”

“Think they're cute?” Himiko smiled as she did, fangs glinting in the sunlight.

“Eh. Katsuki isn’t my type. And based on what the boys were saying earlier, pretty sure we’re not his type either.”

“And Izuku?”

Ochako flushed a little. “I mean…he was kinda cute when he got so excited.”

“I thought so too!” Himiko practically shouted, clapping her hands gleefully. “Also, if that shirt was any indication, boy be built .”

“Katsuki did say they train together, and he’s pretty fit too. It makes sense for Izuku to be as well.”

“Mmmhmm.”

Ochako sighed. “Himi, you’re not gonna hit on him when we see him next are you?”

“Next time? Nah. But maybe after a while we can see?”

Ochako turned away from the stove, glancing over at her blonde roommate's grin. “Why did you say it like that?”

“Well, obviously I’m not doing anything unless you approve too, duh.”

Ochako flushed again, feeling the blood rushing to her cheeks and turned back to the stove, mixing in the flavor packet to the noodles. “Himi, I’m still not sure it's the right time, with the exam coming up and all.”

Himiko stepped up behind Ochako and hugged her softly from behind, resting her head on the brunette’s shoulder. “I know. It's kinda hard with exams and what we have to work with. But that’s okay. I can wait.”

“You’re too good to me,” Ochako muttered.

“Nope, none of that. You helped save me, Ochako. You’re the one who's too darned good.”

Ochako rolled her eyes, her blush fading as she stirred the noodles once more, turning the heat off. “Okay Himi. Come on, lemme go, let's eat.”

Chapter Text

Izuku bolted awake with a scream choked off in his throat, covered in sweat and shivering in the cool night air. His entire body quaked, the pulse of energy in his chest choking him, making him drag in deep shuddering breaths as he curled in on himself. Sitting up in his bed, he pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, burying his head in his knees as he tried to calm his breath. 

He could barely remember the nightmare, but it was enough to make him mentally flee from the memories, practicing his breathing exercises as he pushed and pushed and pushed, trying to escape the feelings rampaging through his veins. A pain in his hand made him flinch, lifting his hand up to stare at his softly glowing palm, the scar tissue almost glistening under the glow.

He hated every second of it, this reminder of what he’d done. So much so he’d made it worse, when he was younger, when he couldn’t handle the nights he lay awake in bed feeling the guilt roar in his chest, the pressure of not knowing how he could ever manage his feelings. That same pressure that led to him making the scarring on his body even worse than before, pain and agony wrapped up into him as his best friends. 

Even though it had been months since he’d last done it, he felt the phantom sting on his upper thighs, the one place he felt was safe from the ever concerned gaze of the Bakugo’s. He glanced down at his legs, slowly laying them flat on the bed as he stared down. Pulling the edges of his boxers up more, he just kept his gaze locked on the scars, the mottled lines from both blade and burn that were scattered upon his skin. 

His gaze turned back to his hand, to his palm, where he’d carved out the most important number in his life, where he’d made sure that no matter what he did, he’d know , he’d remember , he’d feel his crimes. The number carved there was mocking him, mocking his belief he could ever make up for what he’d done. 

Glancing up at his phone, checked the time, seeing it was half past three. He couldn’t stay here, not right now. The room was too stuffy, too stale, he couldn’t breathe. With practiced ease, he silently rose from the bed, tossing on a pair of pants and whatever random long-sleeved shirt he found first. He slid open his window silently, carefully clambering out of it and looking down at the drop. The bedrooms were on the second floor, but it wasn’t like this was the first time he’d pulled this off.

He slowly lowered himself down, gripping onto the window ledge with his hands as he dangled. Once he was as extended as possible, he let go carefully, tensing himself up as he fell. With a quick roll, he was able to absorb the impact without too much pain, feeling the kinetic energy flow up his legs and into his chest with a familiar burn from the movement.

Taking a moment to collect himself, his feet already wet from the dew on the grass, he began to jog away from the house, heading to the one place he just needed to be alone. He ignored the pain as his bare feet went over gravel, over pavement, over uneven ground, jogging for fifteen minutes with a measured pace until he found his way to the beach he’d been at earlier that day. 

Avoiding the trash heaps, he stepped across the sand carefully to the area he and Kacchan had cleared for practice, where he knew the sand was safe for his bare feet. He kept walking across it to the edge of the beach, to where the waves were softly washing up against the beach with a gentle rustling. The water flowed over his feet, wrapping about his legs and then vanishing back, as if to teasingly pull him along towards it. 

For a moment, he stood there, staring out over the horizon. The skies above were mostly cloudless, only a scarce few wisps of clouds slowly making their way across the heavens. He took a deep, bracing breath of the air, tasting the salt on the wind, before unceremoniously flopping down onto the ground. He lay back on the beach, arms splayed out, half of him close enough to the water the waves were making their way up to his waist, soaking his lower back and clothes.

Why had he even considered listening to Kacchan? He knew what he was, and what he could be…and could not be. That nightmare was all the proof he needed. The scars that dotted his skin, both from his hands and from his Quirk, were proof that he was broken . Intellectually, he knew his thoughts weren’t the thoughts a healthy person had. His therapist had talked him through it time and again, but it didn’t change the fact the thoughts were there . 

He lay there, staring up at the stars above him, at the navy blue and black of the night sky, the faint lights of the stars seeming to look back down upon him. In judgment? In sympathy? In pity? He didn’t know which…and like most things in his life, he felt like he didn’t want to know. 

Laying there, the water slowly flowing around him, the only sound he heard being the waves, sometimes he wondered how easy it would be to just…walk out into the water, to see what lay beneath its surface. To just let go, let the waves come, let the ocean roll over him and be at peace. There was a sense, somewhere in him, that he’d enjoy that. More than he enjoyed the guilt, at the very least. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths in as he just lay in the sand, listening to the soothing sound of the waves.

He didn’t know how long he lay there, but he heard the sound of footsteps approaching after a while. He could smell the caramel wafting across the air, telling him who it was who was coming close. Izuku didn’t bother opening his eyes, still laying there, breathing deeply and calmly, waiting for Katsuki to say something.

But the other boy said nothing. He just let out a sigh, and seemed to walk away, heading towards the piles of trash laying about on the beach. Izuku didn’t bother moving, assuming Katsuki would come get him when he wanted to talk. He ignored the muted booms coming from over in Katsuki’s personal test range, just waiting patiently, letting his thoughts flow in and out, like the tides.

By the time he felt the warmth of the sun beginning to crest the horizon, the explosions had petered out and he heard the sound of footsteps crunching across the sand once more to stand just behind him, out of the water. 

“Schools canceled,” came the statement from Katsuki.

Izuku opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to clear the sudden blinding from the light of sunrise. Craning his neck, he looked up at Katsuki as the blonde loomed over him. “Why?” his voice came out, raspy.

“Villain attack on the main road leading in. Nobody got hurt but the streets all sorts of fucked, said it’ll be a day or two before someone gets it fixed.”

“Ah.”

Katsuki kept staring down at Izuku, letting out a long-suffering sigh as he collapsed onto the sand next to the greenette, knees pulled up. After a few minutes of silence, Katsuki broke it. “Nightmare?” Izuku didn’t bother replying out loud, just giving a small nod, his gaze having returned to the slowly changing color of the sky above. “Figured,” Katsuki grunted. The silence stretched on again for a while, before Katsuki broke it once more. “Brought your shoes. And gloves. And clean clothes. Because you’re a fucking idiot. Figured we could do some training today. Invited the girls too. They said they’d be here in a bit.”

Izuku was pretty sure whatever peace he’d managed to slowly piece together was already gone, but every word Katsuki said just added more weight onto his chest. So he did the only thing he felt he could…he asked Katsuki for the answer to a question that he always wanted to know. “Why?”

“Why did I want to train? Or why invite the girls?”

“Why do you bother?”

The blonde sighed. “Izuku-”

“I’m not being all self-deprecating or whatever, Kacchan,” Izuku interrupted. “I know you care. I know you just want me to be happy. But it has to be frustrating for you. How…how broken I am. It's one step forward and ten steps back with me, and I know that! And I know you know that too. Why haven’t you just…given up yet?”

Katuski took a moment to consider his response. “It frustrates the fuck out of me, you’re right. But Zu…you’ve known me since we were in fucking diapers. When have I ever given up on something once I put my fucking mind to it? I am the poster child for stubbornness. That’s my fucking legacy, it's written in the dictionary, you open it up and there’s my face plastered all over the fucking page. I don’t give up . And I won’t. So get used to it Zu, because I don’t care if I have to drag you to UA in a bag, I’m getting you to take that fucking test…because we both know it's what you want.”

“...alright. You are pretty stubborn. But just…let me lay here for a while still. I just need to…I need…I…” Izuku really didn’t know how to say what he wanted to say, he just needed more time . He wasn’t really…there yet. 

Katsuki stood up, brushing off the sand on his shorts. “Yeah, I getcha. Take your time. I’ma do some jogging. Join in whenever you’re ready.”

Izuku continued to lay there, the prior sounds of waves crashing on the beach being overshadowed by the occasional sound of Katsuki’s feet jogging past, doing a loop around the beach and through the paths they’d carved into the trash. After an indeterminate amount of time, as the sun had fully risen and he could feel the energy absorbing through his palms, he heard the soft footsteps of two others.

“Heya Izuku…” Himiko’s voice trailed off as she spied his prone form, arms akimbo, half in the water and looking strangely peaceful.

“Good morning, Himiko. Ochako. You guys sleep well?” he asked, not opening his eyes as the girls approached.

“Um…yeah? We slept fine,” Ochako responded hesitantly.

“That’s good, that’s good.”

Silence stretched on for a few moments longer, as the two stared at his form, still clearly confused. Finally, Ochako decided to just ‘go for it’, as her dad would say. “So…what are you doing?”

“Laying in the sand like an idiot,” came the deadpan reply.

“Smartass,” Himiko snarked back. “She means why ?”

“...had a nightmare. I come out here when I do. Just helps to think and process, ya know?”

“How long were you out here?”

“Dunno. Left the house a little before four. What time is it?”

Ochako checked her phone. “Umm, it's a bit past six.”

“Well there you go. Couple hours.”

“And you’re not cold? ” Himiko asked, looking at his exceedingly soaked clothing.

“Like I said yesterday, I'm not really bothered by temperature.”

“Part of your Quirk?” Himiko asked, Ochako’s eyes going wide as she tried to silence Himiko, remembering what Katsuki had asked of them.

A chuckle stopped her as she saw Izuku’s eyes open, his head tilted back as he looked at the two upside down. “It’s okay Ochako, I don’t mind that question. And yeah. It's cause of the energy I store. It regulates my temperature, so if I’m in a colder environment, it heats me up and vice versa. It's pretty nice for summer and winter. Bit of a pain in milder times though, cause it kind of switches rapidly and can throw me off.”

“Well that’s gotta be nice,” Himiko muttered, looking fake annoyed. “Winter suuuucks so much for me, it's always so cold!”

“If I’m around just sit near me, I can radiate energy and heat up the air. Not as well as a fire Quirk user, but good enough if you’re close.”

“Awww, Izuku gonna cuddle with me when I’m cold? That’s sweet!”

Izuku sputtered, eyes going wide as he sat up quickly, sand flying everywhere. “W-w-wait no, t-thats not, I mean, I wasn’t, I didn’t, I-”

“Pffft!” Himiko burst into laughter, bending over at the waist as she held her stomach. “Oh my god you should see your face !”

Betrayed, Izuku looked over at Ochako, who was trying hard to hold in her own snickering and failing miserably. With a huff, he flopped back down onto the sand, pointedly closing his eyes. “Hmph. Screw both of you, I’m going back to contemplating the mysteries of the universe.”

“Is that an offer?” Ochako asked in a saccharine tone.

Izuku slammed his hands onto his face to hide his quickly reddening cheeks. “I take back everything nice I thought about the two of you. You’re worse than Kacchan.”

“We’re just teasing, Izuku. Best get used to it, I’ma shark about these things!” Himiko snapped her teeth with a loud click.

“Pretty sure you have a cat mutation, not a shark mutation,” Izuku mumbled.

“Yeah yeah, it's a joke Izu, get a sense of humor.”

“I have a sense of humor, it's just buried under all this sand.”

“Hey Izuku?” Ochako asked, cutting into the banter between the other two.

“Hmm?”

“You uh…your gloves aren’t on?”

With a jolt, Izuku snapped up and clenched his fists to his chest, eyes wide. He glanced back to see Ochako looking away from him uncomfortably, Himiko looking between the two of them confused. He cleared his throat and said quietly “You saw?” At her hesitant nod, he sighed, unclenching his fists and looking down at his lap. 

“I’m not going to ask if that's what you’re worried about!” she exclaimed, waving her hands frantically. 

“You already saw it. You may as well get your curiosity out now.”

“No no, I don’t want to violate your privacy! I just noticed the gloves weren’t there and I thought you’d want them on and not have us asking questions and-”

“ Breathe , ‘Chako!” Himiko said, grabbing the other girl's hand in her own and squeezing, interrupting Ochako’s ever-increasing nervous babbling.

Izuku gave a sad smile, holding one hand out and opening it so it was clearly visible to the other two. Both of their gazes snapped down to it involuntarily. Across his hand were what looked like a series of scars shaped like a bolt of lightning that had split off in every direction, faint but noticeable. Underneath those scars however, they could see a series of very faintly glowing green lines coming from under his sleeve and reaching out to the tip of every finger.

The thing that caught their eye the most, the thing he’d been so concerned about, was the clear raised scar tissue that was above all others, a single number carved into his skin in such a way it was clear it was deliberate. After a few moments of them staring, his fist clenched shut as he opened the other. Same green lines, same lightning bolt scar, but a different number spread across that palm. He closed both fists and turned around to look up at them. 

“I won’t get into details…but it's the number of my crimes that I must pay for,” he whispered, his green eyes vacant. He watched the emotions flitting across their faces, Ochako an open book, Himiko better at hiding how she felt but still obvious enough for him to see. He awaited the pity, the questions, for them to change like everyone else once they heard the whole story.

They both clearly were struggling against the urge to ask, but Himiko kept her mouth shut and simply nodded at him. Ochako cleared her throat. “I won’t ask. You tell me when and if you’re comfortable.”

He gawked in surprise for a moment, a genuine smile crossing his face a moment later. The fact they’d respected his privacy enough to not ask meant a lot to him. With a grunt of exertion, he clambered to his feet, shaking himself off to clear some of the sand and water. He patted at his pants for a moment before realizing it was useless and let out a sigh. After a moment of looking about, he found the bag Katsuki had brought with his clothes and grabbed it, ignoring how the two girls kept watching him.

“I’m gonna go find a place to do a quick change. Then I guess more training today?”

“Sure!” Ochako added brightly, her smile a bit too wide for him to believe yet. Himiko gave another nod with a thin-lipped smile this time. He nodded back at the two and wandered off to find a private corner to change.

“So…you’re seriously gonna do this?” Katsuki asked, eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

“For fucks sake yes Kacchan!” Izuku groaned exasperatedly. 

“I’m just making sure!”

“I’ve got three theories about my Quirk’s applications, so I’ll test them out. I said I’d do it next time we did Quirk training and fuck it, today is Quirk training for me!” What Izuku was not saying is that his conversation with the girls and the memory of those numbers made him decide he had to pay for his crimes, and if he couldn’t kill himself to do it and they wouldn’t imprison him, he’d save people until he’d paid his debt. Which meant using his cursed Quirk.

“Okay okay, fine, fine, don’t blow a fucking gasket. Well, get on with it then!”

“First application is the one we know. Sending the energy through me like I did with the sludge villain.”

“Didn’t the doc tell you that’d hurt?” 

Izuku shrugged. “Yeah, but I can’t escape that part. Plus I think it’ll hurt less the more I do it.”

“Well, can’t fucking argue with that. Let's see what happens. Girls, step back.” Katsuki took a few steps back as well, letting Izuku concentrate.

It wasn’t like he didn’t know how his Quirk felt, he just tried to push it down rather than let it go. But he wasn’t the type to ignore the facts. The doctor had used the word flow for a reason. Which made sense, if he thought about it. Izuku had always liked water, liked watching it, swimming in it, being around it. Rain was his favorite weather, after all. Maybe that had to do with his Quirk…or maybe he was attributing something inherent to who he was to his ability, but either way, he figured that he’d follow the rabbit hole down.

He focused on the energy in his chest, the roiling, bubbling, barely contained pressure that he’d lived with his entire life. He reached for it, moving to hold it in his hand, to gather it together and instead of shoving it down into a box, prepare to push it out. Once he felt he could grasp it, like it was his, he simply did what he always avoided doing and…let go.

“ Fuck!” he shouted as he collapsed to his knees, teeth gritted in pain. The burning sensation he’d felt when he’d tried to rescue Kacchan was magnified a thousand times, energy roaring through his veins (or whatever they fucking channels were called) like a typhoon, ripping them open and making him feel like he was being ripped apart from the inside.

“ Izuku! ” came three shouted voices as he collapsed, all three rushing to his side. He quickly threw one hand up to halt them, wincing as every muscle in his body ached when he did so. 

“H-hold up. This…this is what she said would happen,” he managed to get out through gritted teeth. 

“How fucking bad is it?” Katsuki asked, kneeling next to him and looking at him with worried eyes.

“It fucking hurts! How bad do you think it is?!!” he managed to hiss in reply.

“Maybe you should turn it off?” Ochako offered meekly.

“N-no. I have to get used to this and force it, I think,” he said, wincing. “It’s…not as bad the longer it goes.” 

“Forcing it doesn’t sound good, Izu,” Himiko chimed in, worry tinging her tone.

“I just mean sticking with it! I… fuck !” he hissed out again as a fresh wave of pain shot through him. He clenched his arms around his abdomen, curling over till his head was nearly pressed into the sand. 

“Okay, okay, deep breaths Zu. Come on. If you’re gonna do this, deep breaths, come on,” Katsuki encouraged.

“I’m trying, I’m trying…shit. Fuck fuck fuck!”

“Remember what the doc said, flow, let it flow. It's gotta go through those channels, you can do this, come on,” Katsuki kept up a running commentary, his voice fading into the background as Izuku found himself unable to focus outside the pain thrumming through his body.

‘Okay, yeah, flow. Flow, right. Like water. Okay. Flow. So out through the channels, right?’ he thought to himself. He could feel it, pushing against his skin, demanding he let it out, demanding he release it, but that didn’t make sense! It was supposed to just pump him up a little, it didn’t need to leave . It just needed to…circulate! That was it! 

With a grunt of exertion, as sweat beaded on his forehead, he tried to send the energy back , make it start looping from his core out and then back, circulating it through his entire system. Out, then in, out, then in. Out. In. Out. In.

He took a deep, shuddering breath as the pain faded, only a small amount but enough to feel relief. Out, in. Out, in. A stream, a river, a water cycle system, flowing out and then in. Focusing on that helped, helped cool it down, cool him down. Where the energy had been burning, agonizing fire in his veins, now it was cooler, almost cold, bringing him some much needed relief. 

He let his arms hang loosely at his side, his muscle unclenching slightly as he gulped in air like he’d been suffocating. The pain was still there, but finally manageable, a bone deep ache that he could deal with. “Okay. Okay. I think…it's okay. I can handle this. This isn’t so bad,” he whispered, still trying to catch his breath. 

“Alright, okay. Good job Zu. Can you stand?” Katsuki asked, one hand hovering over his back as if scared to touch him.

“I-I think so. One sec,” he said softly. Wincing, he rose to his feet, the ache still present but fading even more as he moved. He turned to face the other three, opening his eyes to see their concerned gazes.

“Well. That’s…not something you see every day,” Himiko said, staring at his chest. He blinked, before glancing down, seeing the snaking green lines of energy pulsing through his shirt and all the way through his body, stretching out to his fingertips and back, down to his legs and back as well. 

“Huh,” he remarked. “Didn’t really have a chance to see how it looked before.”

“Looks pretty badass. You up to seeing what it can do?” Katsuki asked.

“No time like the present?” he shrugged, his lips twitching as he tried to avoid grimacing at the movement. 

“Are you sure, Izuku? You still look like it hurts,” Ochako said, stepping closer to him. She reached out as if to touch him, but stopped with her hands fluttering uselessly, worried she’d hurt him worse.

“It’s going to hurt regardless of what I do. I have to keep using it until it stops hurting, I think,” he replied. “Sooner I deal with this, the sooner it stops hurting me.”

“Well then…let's start lifting some shit!” Katsuki grinned. 

Further experimentation proved two things. One, it did start to hurt less the more he used it, and two, it was an overall body enhancer. From what he could tell from his very barebones math he scribbled in his notebook, it looked to be about a double increase in his strength and about one and a half times speed increase. Honestly, it was throwing him off, he wasn’t used to moving that fast or having that much force in his attacks. He’d need a lot of work to avoid screwing up his already established abilities.

He was pretty sure he could push more energy out and get larger bonuses, but this already seemed to be consuming a large chunk of his current pool and he didn’t want to take risks. As far as he could tell, it was basically using about half his total pool of energy at a time. It didn’t seem to get expended much by simply circulating it (which made sense since it was still inside him, just not in his core), but when he started hitting things, that seemed to expend from it. Not a ton, and he was returning some energy from the kinetic energy that rebounded back into him, but still was an expenditure of some kind.

“Okay. I think I got this. So…application two?” he said, glancing over at Katsuki.

“Right, the transfer thing. Go for it,” the blonde said, standing tall and ready.

“Are…are you sure? I could mess something up,” Izuku asked quietly.

“I’m abso-fucking-lutely sure Izuku. Give it your best shot! It’ll be fine.”

“Ooookay,” Izuku breathed. Reaching out with a glowing hand, he pressed it into Katsuki’s shoulder and focused, closing his eyes. The already flowing energy was coming right to his fingertips, like it was ready to be used, like it wanted to leap from him and out into the world. So he focused on the feeling of his best friend's shoulder, on the feeling of just sending a small dose, a small charge, from him into his friend.

“Holy shit!” came the shout from in front of him, making him jerk away and open his eyes wide. He panicked at the shout, reaching out quickly to check on the blonde.

“Kacchan!”

Katsuki leapt back from him, grinning widely. “I’m okay nerd, I just didn’t expect that. Holy shit, that’s a wakeup call. Better than a 12 shot of espresso, hot damn!”

“Wait, what?” Izuku asked, blinking rapidly.

“It was like a green glow surrounded him for a half a second and then he just…jolted,” Ochako added, her head tilted to the side as she looked at the two boys quizzically. 

“Yeah, it's like a fucking adrenaline rush. I feel like I can do anything! Fuck yeah, time for some training! ” Katsuki shouted, throwing both fists up in the air. 

“...huh. That didn’t really cost a lot of energy, either,” Izuku mused. He whipped out his notebook and began scribbling notes, muttering under his breath to himself. He cursed as his pen snapped in his hands, annoyed at how he still wasn’t used to how much stronger the channeling made him.

“Oh, oh, do me, do me next!” Himiko shouted, hopping up and down eagerly with one hand raised. 

“I wanna see what it's like too!” Ochako added, grinning. Izuku shrugged, gently placing his hand on both of the girls shoulders and focusing. This time, he kept his eyes open, wanting to witness it.

He watched as a green pulse flowed from his chest down his arms, swirling along and through the channels he’d seen already, reaching his hands and then flowing into his friends. The glow suffused their entire body for a brief moment, green energy flaring, before both of them jolted almost simultaneously.

“Woah, Kats is right, holy shit!” Himiko exclaimed, bouncing excitedly. 

“It's…wow. Seriously, I feel like I could train for hours!” Ochako said, clenching her fists with a toothy grin. “Izuku, this is awesome!”

Izuku grinned back, the energy coming off the other three infectious. “I can work with this. Second application confirmed!”

“What's the third?” Himiko asked, her voice coming out faster than before. She tapped her feet on the ground quickly, jittering back and forth like she couldn’t stand still.

“Well, I feel like I can do more with the energy I release out of my hands than just…you know, empower others. I just have this instinct that I can. But I’m not sure what yet.”

“Okay well, you work on that, I’ma blow some shit up!” Katsuki said, rolling his shoulders. Without waiting for a reply, he bolted off into the dump, heading for his normal blasting zone. 

“Blasty’s got a good idea! I wanna go practice my parkour! Bye!” Himiko shouted, running off in another direction.

Izuku glanced over at the practically vibrating Ochako, grinning at her. “You can go too. I’ll be fine now, I think I got the hang of it?”

“Are you sure?” she asked, biting her lip. It didn’t take a mind reader for Izuku to know she was torn, but he was actually confident for once. Seeing how he could help people with just a small boost like that? He was all for that! 

“Positive. Just give me notes on if and how it affects your Quirk, okay?” 

“You got it!” she saluted, running off towards the broken down vehicles she’d been training with the previous Quirk training day. He grinned ruefully, turning back to face the ocean and looking down at his softly glowing hands. With a deep breath, he began to focus again.

It took a good two hours and change before the ‘high’ that Izuku’s Quirk had given him had faded, but damn if he didn’t get some good blasts in. Though he felt amped up, he hadn’t lost his cool, so he managed to keep himself from burning through all that energy in only a couple of explosions. Instead, he’d spread it out, just letting it filter into his shots as he went along. It almost felt like it was supporting him, more than empowering him. Made the recoil from his blasts lesser, made it so his muscles got fatigued much slower, made it so he wasn’t as quickly empty. Honestly, if Zu could bottle this shit up, it’d be a goldmine.

Rolling his shoulders, he walked back around the area he’d been practicing in, finding Izuku seated on the sand with a notebook out, pen tapping against his lip as he pondered. He noticed Himiko was splayed out a few feet away, a wide smile on her face as she panted. Ochako was a couple meters back from them, sitting casually as she sipped from a water bottle, her face a little green. 

“Heya nerds, what's up?” he asked. 

“Izuku’s Quirk is fun , that’s what!” Himiko exclaimed. 

“Makes a difference in how much weight I can affect, but I still kinda went over my limit,” Ochako got out, wincing as she rubbed her stomach lightly. 

“Yeah, seems like it doesn’t stop me from going overboard either,” he added, sauntering over to plop down next to Izuku. “What about you?”

“Third application is confirmed!” Izuku said, still staring down at his notebook. After a moment of glaring at the notebook as if it offended him, he scribbled down on it again, before placing the pen in his pocket and slamming the notebook shut.

“Oh yeah? What’s the third application?”

Izuku grinned at Katsuki as he held a hand up in the air, palm facing the ocean. “Watch!” A moment of concentration passed, before the green glow lit up underneath Izuku’s skin as a shimmering green disc appeared in front of his hand.

“Huh. What’s that do?” the blonde boy asked, tilting his head to the side.

“It's a field of energy that I can add properties to! So far I’ve identified three properties! Diffusion, Attraction, and Repulsion!”

“...less nerd talk, more practical explanation.”

Izuku’s smile grew even wider. “Okay so, Diffusion acts like a normal force field, it causes whatever hits it to be broken up and scattered! It's not really the act of diffusion, I just call it that because it causes whatever hits it to kind of scatter. Attraction causes the field to draw in or grab and hold something! Like I can make the field grab onto my notebook and just hold it in place. Finally, Repulsion causes the field to launch whatever's in front of it away.”

Katsuki blinked at Izuku. “Okay, so…what can you do with that?”

“Watch!” Izuku leapt to his feet, standing still for a moment as he shook his hands out. “Watch my feet real quick,” he instructed, Katsuki looking down as the other two girls glanced over, curious.

A moment later, a green glow appeared, two small shimmering discs appearing beneath Izuku’s shoes. Izuku bent down slightly, the glow growing brighter, before launching into the sky, going up at a rapid pace. Five, ten, twenty meters up, reaching the apex of his leap and beginning to fall back down to the now worry of the other three teens. A second later however, two more green glows appeared under his feet and he landed on them after having fallen only a meter or two down.

Izuku looked down at the other three, hair tousled by the wind. “See, by combining an Attraction field to hold myself in place for a moment, and then switching it to a Repulsion field, I can launch myself like a rocket! And then just place another Attraction field beneath my feet to land on! It's not exactly flight but it's close!”

“Okay, that I’ll admit is pretty fucking useful,” Katsuki remarked. “How are you getting down though?”

“Oh that’s easy!” Izuku replied, hopping off the fields in the air. He began to fall once more, but created another set of fields beneath him, continuing this trend of dropping a single meter or two before generating another field until he’d gotten low enough to just hop down onto the ground. “See, no problem!”

“And your pool is good?” Katsuki asked, looking over Izuku appraisingly.

Izuku wiggled ungloved hands. “Kept the hands free and kept pulling in the sunlight. They do take a decent chunk of energy out of me, but it's not too bad with how much I’ve been absorbing. I think I’m good for now so long as I stick to smaller fields. Bigger ones seem to drain an exponential amount. I also tried making a different shape with the fields, but that drained a ton of energy. I’m not really sure that’s safe to do yet.”

“Fair ‘nuff,” Katsuki shrugged. 

He opened his mouth to say something else when a booming voice cried out, echoing across the sand. “I am here, for you are here!” Without warning, a figure slammed into the beach a few meters away from the group of teens, sending a spray of sand up and nearly blinding all four of the teenagers. As they all frantically tried to wipe the sand out of their eyes, they found themselves agog at the sight of the smiling, towering form of the Number One Hero, All Might, standing their pointing directly at Izuku.

“I have found you, young Midoriya! I have been loo-” his booming voice was cut off by a violent cough, blood spurting out as steam erupted from his body, obscuring his form before revealing the skinny form of Yagi Toshinori, blood dripping from his mouth as he coughed more violently. He blinked rapidly, looking up to see three teenagers frozen in place and the green-haired one he’d been looking for facepalming.

“...Oops?” 

Chapter Text

“...What…the…fuck,” Katsuki managed to choke out, his eyes wide. The girls were not much better, Ochako having plopped down on the sand in shock while Himiko scurried away from the suddenly deflated All Might before her. Izuku had his head in his palms, unable to fully comprehend how quickly this had all gone to shit.

“Well…not exactly how I intended on doing this, but I may as well move forward!” All Might announced, standing tall. This was ruined a moment later when blood came pouring out of his mouth as he fell into another coughing fit.

“Oh my god are you okay?” Ochako’s surprise broke the moment she saw someone in trouble, leaping to her feet and taking an abortive step towards him.

“Worry not young lady, this is normal for me! I’m perfectly fine!” 

“You just fucking deflated and are spewing blood like some sort of freak,” Katsuki deadpanned. “That doesn’t seem very fucking ‘fine’ to me.”

“All Might…what are you doing here? N-not that I’m unhappy to see you, but this seems…weird?” Izuku managed to stutter out, lifting his head out of his palms.

“Well, you see, I came here to speak to you! Mirai had informed me you frequented this beach, so I have been checking it periodically! I just was not expecting your…friends?” All Might spoke, placing his hands on his hips as he puffed back up into his muscle form.

“Okay what the hell?! You have a transformation Quirk too?” Himiko managed to blurt out, amber eyes wide.

“No no, young lady, tis…well…err…young Midoriya, these are your friends yes? Are they trustworthy?”

Izuku’s eyes went wide, unable to really comprehend that All Might was asking for his opinion on this matter. He glanced over the three before him…his oldest friend he absolutely knew he trusted. The girls were new in his life but…something about them just struck him as honest. He’d been feeling safe around them in a way he hadn’t around many people for years. He took a deep breath. “Yes. Kacchan is practically my brother, and Ochako and Himiko are our new friends who are going to UA with us. But um…why are you trusting me on this?” 

“Allow me to explain my current appearance first! We shall get into why I’ve come to you afterwards!” All Might spoke, his hands still posed on his hips heroically as he deflated again. The four young adults all shared a glance, before giving their undivided attention to All Might.

“...okay. That’s…more than mildly terrifying that someone could do that to you , All Might sir,” Ochako managed to get out, her eyes wide and jaw dropped.

“Fret not young…?”

“Uraraka, sir.”

“Uraraka! Villains as strong as those are few and far between, and he was stopped back then. You have nothing to worry about! And please, while I’m in this state, you may call me Toshinori. All of you, it is easier that way.”

Izuku vibrated in place, muttering under his breath “I know All Might’s name!”

Katsuki none too gently elbowed Izuku in the side, breaking the other boy out of his musings as he spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “Shut up nerd, before he gets freaked out by your fanboying!”

“Don’t pretend you aren’t fanboying as much as me Kacchan!” Izuku hissed back, returning the jab.

“Okay, before you two go off into another one of your bickering sessions, maybe we should hear out All-um…Mr. Toshinori?” Himiko interjected.

“Just Toshinori is fine! And you are? In fact, please introduce yourselves to me, the only one of you I know of fully is young Midoriya here!”

“Himiko. Himiko Toga, but um…please call me Himiko.”

“Ochako Uraraka, sir! I mean, uh…Toshinori?” Ochako managed to speak, wincing a little.

“Katsuki Bakugo. Uh…so uh, by the way. Thanks. For the other day, with the slime fucker,” Katsuki muttered, refusing to meet the taller blonde’s eyes.

Toshinori gave a rueful half smile. “I would say the thanks are more to your friend there. But you as well! Don’t discount the blow you struck that villain before I was able to step in! I believe with only a bit more training you would easily be able to strike down such a foe in the future!”

“We train every day we can out here,” Izuku added, nodding to the other three.

Toshinori took a moment to look around the area, nodding to himself. “I imagine it's easy to train Quirks here, when no one comes here anymore. Truly disappointing, that. This beach was once quite beautiful.”

“We’re getting off-topic,” Himiko said.

“Right! Good point young Himiko! I came here for a reason! And that reason is…may we speak privately, young Midoriya?”

“What?” came the reply from all four teenagers before him, deadpanned from two, worried from one, and utterly confused by the one being asked for a private conversation.

Toshinori paused for a moment, holding one hand under his chin. “Hmm…you know what, never you mind about a private conversation! They already know about this form, I’ll just explain why I’m here for you! Under two conditions: You all must understand this is a very important secret, and that it puts you in danger simply to know!”

“...then why tell us?” Katsuki asked.

“Because I believe young Midoriya will need support going forward, and you, young man, have already proven to be supportive! And if you speak of these two young ladies in the same vein, why, it’s more than enough for me! Also because I make snap decisions about who to trust so I’m sure I’ll be scolded for this later. Which comes to my second condition!...you must protect me from Mirai.”

“Who?” Himiko asked, still utterly confused.

“My former sidekick, Sir Nighteye! He’s going to read me the riot act for this stunt, haha!” Toshinori poofed into his muscle form once more as he gave out a great guffaw.

“...okay, yeah, I’m still trapped in a nightmare I think. That or All Might’s gone insane. Either way, I give up. This is too much,” Izuku muttered. Without fanfare, he collapsed onto the sand, laying down spread eagle in it once more and resolutely closing his eyes.

“...yeah. I’m with you,” Ochako said. She mirrored Izuku, flopping down onto the sand and closing her eyes. Himiko snickered and followed suit, as Katsuki just rolled his eyes and leaned back against the retaining wall that lined the stairs down to the beach. 

Toshinori looked at the four teens before him with an arched eyebrow, finally giving out a rueful chuckle. “I suppose this is a lot to take in. And I may be acting a little silly. I assumed it would be easier to absorb what I have to say if I kept things light, but I see this is just confusing you more. Very well then. In all seriousness…are you sure the three of you wish to know what it is I intend on speaking to young Midoriya about?”

“You’re my favorite hero, All Might. You kick ass and I intend on taking the same spot you have. But Izuku is my brother. You got dealings with him, you got dealings with me.”

“How is knowing this secret more dangerous than just being around Izuku anyways? If it's something that makes his life dangerous in some way, we’d be in danger just by being his friend wouldn’t we? So what’s the difference?” Himiko chimed in.

All Might raised his finger as if to dispute her, but paused after a moment to consider. “Hmm. You may have a point, albeit I don’t think it is quite correct. But still, you do seem determined…Very well. I shall explain what I came here for! Young Midoriya, I want you to become my successor and inherit my power!”

“ What ?” came the now screamed comment from the four teens.

All Might deflated once more, wincing at the sound as he coughed blood again. “Err…allow me to explain. Again.”

Toshinori stared at the muttering and rapidly note-taking greenette sitting on the beach, glaring at his notebook. He leaned over to whisper to the rapidly blinking Katsuki. “Does he always do this?”

“...yes. Yes he does.”

“Hmph. Well. It does not matter! Young Midoriya, do you accept my awesome power or not?” 

Izuku paused in his writing, looking up at the skinny form of Yagi Toshinori with haunted eyes. “All Might, sir, um…”

“Toshinori, please.”

“S-sure, Toshinori. Um…I don’t think I’m the right pick for that. You know, I just, y-you should get someone heroic to do it. Not some thing like me.” 

“Zu…” Katsuki began, narrowing his eyes at the green-haired teen.

“Hmm…You know, when we met on that rooftop, you asked me a question. Do you recall what it was?” Toshinori asked, his voice softer than before. Izuku nodded slowly, staying mute as the other three watched, confused. Toshinori continued. “While trying to find out who you were, I had to rely on Mirai’s help. He was able to find a lot out about you, young man. Including a series of articles from fourteen years ago.”

Izuku froze, eyes going wide with terror. Katsuki immediately stepped between the two, standing in front of Izuku’s seated form and glaring at Toshinori. He crossed his arms over his chest and ignored the looks the two girls were giving the three others. “What about it?”

“Calm down young Bakugo,” Toshinori said placatingly, holding up his hands as if to show he meant no harm, turning to address Izuku once more. “I merely put two and two together from your question, my boy. And after carefully thinking about it, I decided…there is someone I’d like you to meet. If you’d be willing?”

“Like who?” Katsuki asked in lieu of the still frozen Izuku, keeping his stance between the two.

“I’d rather keep that a surprise. But it would be at UA. You all could come along, in fact! Get a nice view of the facilities!”

Katsuki stood up straighter, trying not to let the fact that the idea excited him show too much. He turned around to glance down at Izuku.

The green haired teen took a deep breath, before clambering to his feet. “Y-you’re sure? This is okay? We won’t get in trouble or anything?”

Toshinori stepped forward, hands still outstretched before him. “Of course not. I just think meeting this person would be able to give you an even better answer to the question you asked me than I did. Someone who might understand you and how you feel better than I do.”

“How will we get there?”

“Why, my truck is parked only a few streets over. It’ll be a tight fit but I’m sure we can all manage just fine.”

“So let's just get this straight. We’re considering jumping in a mysterious truck with a mysteriously deflated All Might and go to UA so Izuku can meet some mysterious stranger about his mysterious past to convince him to accept a mysterious Quirk of mysterious power?” Himiko asked, hands on hips, having clambered to his feet.

“It’s alright, I don’t mind going alone if you guys don’t feel comfortable with it. I’m sure I’ll be fine, it's All Might ,” Izuku said quietly. 

“Oh hell no you’re not going alone Izuku!” Ochako snapped, her hands on her hips in a mirrored stance to Himiko. “Today has already been a lot , and considering how we haven’t even hit lunchtime yet, I think it's going to get even more crazy at the rate we’re going. I’m not letting you disappear like that after all of… this! ” she gestured wildly towards Toshinori.

“What Cheeks said. If this is what you wanna do Zu, let’s fucking do this.”

Izuku looked around at the other three for a moment, feeling just a little bit warmed by how willing they were to stand by him for what was objectively, a weird fucking day . He turned back to Toshinori and nodded. “Um…guess we’re going?”

Izuku was very confused as to what his life had become. Today had been one hell of a rollercoaster. First, a very bad nightmare that had him spiraling for at least a few hours and led him down some unfortunately familiar dark paths in his mind. Second, his Quirk experimentation which ended up being both painful and also…a little bit fun? Third, everything All Might had said and revealed and just…oh god how could he even begin to parse All Might wanting him , a murderer , as his successor? Especially as he seemed to know about it! Izuku was having a lot of trouble reconciling everything he’d thought.

But fourth, how come he had Himiko and Ochako in his lap?! Toshinori had slightly underestimated how much room four adult teenagers and one beanpole of a man took up in the cab of his truck, and it was quickly determined someone had to sit on someone's lap. Katsuki took the middle and growled that because he had to suffer in the middle, no one was sitting on him. Instead the girls had a quick discussion about who would sit where, but quickly it was noted that even if one of them sat in a lap, they still couldn’t fit properly.

And that led to this absolute nightmare of a scenario, where both girls had basically claimed one of his legs for her own and were perched on it. Izuku wasn’t the tallest man out there, but his growth spurt a year or two back had shot him up to nearly six feet tall, barely an inch taller than Katsuki was. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you viewed it), both Ochako and Himiko were shorter than he, and somewhat more slender. Unfortunately, he could tell that that was because both of them did not skip leg day, as he could very clearly feel the muscles in their legs as they sat on him.

Not that he hadn’t noticed before, when they’d stretched out before training began, with those tiny shorts and rather tight fitting tank tops. Himiko had a dancer's figure, all long lines and toned muscles, while Ochako was bulkier, her arms showcasing how often she’d manually lifted things without her Quirk as part of her training. Izuku was reminded that yes, he very much was weak to someone who was in shape and looked like they could snap him in half if they got angry. 

Someone had decided he was here to suffer, and that someone was definitely Kacchan, the little bastard who had silently cackled at him when their eyes met as the girls were situating themselves in his lap. Somehow, he didn’t know how, but somehow he knew this was all his friend’s fault. Even if it wasn’t, he was blaming him anyways because this was not a good way to keep his blood pressure under control!

He tried to keep his attention solely on the little stories Toshinori was telling them, small tidbits of some of his fights as Katsuki kept plying him for more tales of heroic missions he’d gone on. But Izuku was finding it very difficult every time there was a bump in the road and the girls were moved around on him. It didn’t help that while he was pretty sure Ochako was trying not to be too disruptive, he could tell Himiko knew exactly what she was doing with the smirk she had tossed back at him when she clambered into position. 

Mercifully, it only took a little over twenty minutes to make their way there, it being before lunch when the roads were mostly clear of students and workers alike. Toshinori pulled the truck to a parking lot a block away and proceeded to exit the vehicle. Himiko took her sweet time getting off of Izuku, which had the unwanted benefit of making Ochako wait as Himiko had been the one closer to the door. This also led to Izuku internally cursing the brunette as well as his prior belief she wasn’t trying to torture him went away at the grin and giggle she gave him as she clambered out, accidently pressing up against him when she ‘slipped’. 

As he finally managed to get out of the truck, very flustered and looking like a christmas tree between the red cheeks and green hair, he clapped himself on the cheeks to refocus. Ignoring the smirks from the other three teens and the raised eyebrow of Toshinori, he followed along towards the gates of UA. 

As the five of them approached, they were met by a small, white-furred mammal in a suit sitting on the shoulder of a shorter woman with short, light-colored hair and strange rings around her irises. “Hello! Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? I am the Headmaster of UA, Nezu! Here with me is Kurose, a teacher here. Also known as the Space Hero, Thirteen!”

“ Thirteen ?” Ochako squealed, eyes wide as she covered her mouth with her hands and bounced in place excitedly. 

Kurose smiled softly. “I see I have a fan.” 

“You’re my favorite ,” she managed to get out in an excited whisper, her hands fluttering in place. “I want to be a rescue hero just like you!” 

“That’s wonderful! I can’t wait to see what you can do,” Kurose replied.

Izuku, who had been silently fanboying right behind Ochako but was trying not to make a bad impression, managed to break through his own fan instincts and looked up at Toshinori. “Is-Is this who you wanted me to speak to?”

“Not so much young Midoriya, but it is someone she knows. Is he not here yet, Kurose?”

“He’s washing up, we’re going to meet him in the lounge. We just got back from a collapsed building a few kilometers away.”

“Oh well, then lead the way if you would!” Toshinori grinned. 

“Of course! It's wonderful to meet the four of you. While your friend is speaking to him, I’d love to hear more about your studies and plans,” Nezu said, grinning at the teens in front of him with a strange glint in his eyes. 

“Uh…sure, sounds…fun?” Himiko said questioningly, a little bit creeped out. The other three just shrugged and began to follow the adults before them. Toshinori had walked up next to Kurose and was speaking quietly to her and Nezu, the four teens unable to quite make out what was being said.

It did not take the assembled group long to reach the teacher’s lounge, them quickly following through the campus to the closed door. There, Kurose opened the door and glanced in. Seeing someone, she spoke quietly to them, nodding and then stepping back as the door opened further.

Out stepped a tall, slender young man, a few years older than the teenagers before him. Pale blue hair in a messy cut, red eyes, and pale skin were visible immediately. A pair of black gloves covered his hands, a black jacket over a white shirt and black jeans completed the ensemble. He ran one hand through his hair, mussing it up further. 

“Hey Uncle. One of these the kid you wanted me to talk to?” the man asked Toshinori, glancing over the teenagers assembled before him.

“That he is!” Toshinori reached over and placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder, gently pulling him forward. “This is young Izuku Midoriya, a young man I think would benefit from hearing from you. Kids, this is Tenko Shimura, also known as Chronos.”

“ Chronos? ” Izuku sputtered out, eyes wide. “Oh my gods, that’s so cool! You’re like, the most famous young rescue hero, and you’re Thirteen’s personal apprentice! Thirteen and Chronos and Headmaster Nezu in one day, this is so cool! Can I get your autographs?!” All four adults blinked in confusion at the notebook suddenly thrust out from Izuku’s hands, having no idea where he pulled it from.

“Just roll with it,” Katsuki replied in a deadpan voice and an eye roll.

Toshinori reached out and took the notebook, holding it as he gestured to the lounge. I’ll get your autographs for you, young Midoriya. Why don’t you and Tenko have a quick talk in the lounge, we’re going to take your friends on a quick tour while you do this.”

“Um…are you sure, Izuku?” Ochako asked quietly, looking between the various adults with some suspicion. 

Izuku gulped, also a bit concerned, but…this was UA! He was sure he was safe here. “I’ll be fine. You guys have fun!” He could tell his smile wasn’t very convincing to the other three, but they all followed the adults along as Shimura held the door open for him and gestured for him to enter. 

Izuku walked in, noting the varied desks covered in paper and boxes, the couches lining the walls, the office rooms in the back. One small coffee table had what appeared to be a handheld video game sitting on it, which was the one Shimura walked over to and plopped down on. Leaning back against the couch, the blue-haired man placed his hands behind his head and closed his eyes as if he was going to go to sleep.

After a few moments of silence where Izuku wasn’t sure what to do, Shimura spoke up. “Take a seat Midoriya, you’re not in trouble. My uncle just figured I had a…unique perspective on what you’ve gone through.”

“O-Oh, okay. Sure!” Izuku managed to sputter out, sitting carefully at the end of the couch. Silence stretched out into the room again for a good minute more, before it was broken by Shimura .

“So. Killed your family when your Quirk first went off, huh?”

Izuku jolted at the statement, nearly leaping to his feet as his eyes went wide with fear. He sputtered out vague vowel sounds as if trying to speak, but the sheer unexpected bluntness and how casually the hero had said it had his mind bluescreening, unable to fully comprehend the fact someone had just said it outright. No one ever just… said it .

“Yep, that’s about the reaction I expected. Guess we do have something in common, huh?” 

Izuku’s already spiraling thoughts, fears and worries and memories he wished he could forget, came to a screeching halt at the next thing Shimura had said. His gaze snapped to look at Shimura , really looked at him for the first time, not as a hero, but as a person, and in the now open, burning red eyes before him, he could see how fragile the facade of nonchalance was. Like recognized like, after all, and he’d had plenty of experiences with putting on a mask, one that could fracture at a moment's notice when pressed. 

Shimura let out a rueful chuckle at the gaping Izuku. “Yeah. Betcha didn’t think someone else had done the same, huh? Or become a hero? You’re looking at him. A familicidal murderer who became a hero. You know my Quirk, right?”

“Y-yeah. Five-point touch disintegration, right? You use it to clear rubble in seconds, or tunnel down into collapsed places to rescue people!”

“It can also kill a person in less than ten seconds,” came the quiet response. “I can’t turn it off. I wear these gloves to protect other people from me , not to protect my hands. Especially as I don’t need five finger’s anymore.”

Izuku turned to fully face Shimura , something in him telling him not to interrupt and just to listen. For perhaps the first time in his life, since he could remember, he felt like maybe, just maybe , someone got it. Shimura ran his hand through his hair again.

“My dad was a real piece of shit. He hated heroes with a passion, and got so pissed at me for wanting to be one, to be just like my grandma. His mom. She gave him up for adoption cause of her job, so he blamed the heroes for that. He’d beat the ever loving shit out of me and my sister if we even thought about heroes. But…I mean, he was still my dad, and I was a kid, and I still loved him. I never wanted to hurt him.”

Shimura looked up at the ceiling above, shoulders slumped. “I was holding my dog, Mon, when my Quirk decided then was a great time to turn on. And then I wasn’t holding a dog, I was holding blood and bits of fur. I had no idea what was going on, I was freaking out. My sister came running out to grab me when I screamed, and I lost her then too. I ran inside. I wanted help , I wanted someone to save me, wanted my dad or mom to fix it. But Mom grabbed my hands too.”

Shimura slumped further, head bowed down as he closed his eyes again. “It happened so fast. Next it was my grandparents, everyone so confused, so panicked, no one reacting right. I was so scared I ran at them, covered in blood and pieces of people and I just wanted them to save me, but…instead I killed them. And my father…he came at me with a weedwacker. Just grabbed it and started chasing me like he was going to kill me, screaming at me, threatening me. I just reached, grabbing the handle of it, and then…his arm. And that was it. Everyone. Gone. Just me, a five year old kid, in a house that started falling apart moments later when I touched the floor. Alone with nothing but blood and the knowledge I had killed them.”

Silence stretched out in the room, an oppressive, heavy silence as the two young men sat. It stretched on for an indeterminate amount of time…one…five…ten minutes…before Izuku finally spoke up, his voice raspy and quiet. “What happened after?”

“Uncle Yagi found me. I’m…not sure what would have happened to me if he hadn’t. I wasn’t all there, if I’m being honest. Pretty sure I’d gone batshit by that point. But he took me, kicking, screaming, trying to attack him too because I think it was all I knew. But he got me the help I needed.”

“...so you’re okay now?” Izuku ventured.

Shimura snorted. “‘Okay’ is a loaded term, Midoriya. If you’re asking if I still feel guilt, of course I do. Do I have nightmares? Weekly, if not nightly. I have trouble sleeping, and I’ve gone down some dark paths in my mind many times. It's not something that just goes away. It sticks with you. But…I made friends here. I have a life. And these people know everything I did, and they still never left my side. Hell, Kurose acts like she’s my mom half the time, making sure I eat right and everything.” He chuckled sadly, glancing over at Izuku.

“It sucks , to know your Quirk hurt someone you care for. To know something inherent to you caused others pain, even if it was outside of your control. You end up feeling selfish for daring to hope you could have your dream, to have happiness of any kind, when every time you think about it you think you’re a monster, a murderer, someone who should be dead. I still feel that way, sometimes. It still gets to me, on bad days. But you know…I don’t think that’s what they would have wanted for me, you know?”

“I…I…this…” Izuku tried to reply, tried to somehow choke something out, but he’d been hit with too many reality warping concepts in one day to really get his thoughts out.

“Midoriya, calm down,” Shimura ordered, smiling softly. “Chill. It’s all good. And don’t feel like you have to share your life story either. I know you just met me. Took me a good few years to be able to talk about mine after I got here, and I never tell strangers.”

“...but then why tell me? We just met, like you said.”

Shimura shrugged. “Cause Uncle asked me to. He handed me an article about what happened and told me he thought I’d get it, better than he could. Was he right?”

Izuku looked down at the ground, entangling his fingers together and squeezing his hands tightly. “...yeah. He was right. I…I do think you get it, in a way no one else did, not even Kacchan.”

“Kacchan?”

“The blonde boy I came here with. His mom and mine were best friends, and he and I were basically raised together, so after…after what happened, his parents took me in. He’s like my brother.”

“That’s nice. My grandmother’s best friend is the one who took me in, Grandpa Torino. And Uncle Yagi was always around too. I didn’t have many friends growing up though, I wasn’t, uh, that great with people. Mostly played games.”

“But it got better when you got here?” Izuku asked, tilting his head.

Shimura nodded. “Yeah. Not given much choice really, you end up living with a bunch of other hero wannabes for three years it's hard not to make friends. None of them gave a shit that I preferred to hide in my room with my games. They dragged my sorry ass out of the dorm over and over again. Mostly Keigo, to third wheel on his dates with Toya. Annoying bird boy, but still…good people. And look at me now.” Shimura tapped his hand against his chest, then held out his hand and swept it across the room.

“I’m here, at UA, a pro hero who saves lives. I help people. And I’m even here giving a pep talk to the next Symbol, to my uncle's successor. I think I’m doing just fine.”

“Wait, what? Y-you know?” Izuku blurted out.

“Of course! Uncle told me before he even asked you to come here. Hell, he asked for my advice about how to approach you. I know all about it, Midoriya.”

“...then do you think I’d be a good choice?”

“I don’t know you,” Shimura pointed out, not unkindly. “I can’t judge my uncle’s choice off one conversation where you’ve said maybe a dozen words. But I trust his judgment. And at the end of the day, trust in those we love is all we have, don’t you think?”

Izuku thought about Kacchan, his brother. About Auntie and Uncle, the ones who took him in and raised him from childhood. The faded, gray memories of his mother and father, their smiling faces and laughing tones ringing in his ears. The way he was warming up to Ochako and Himiko, his new friends who he could freely laugh with without the specter of his past choking him like it had with his other classmates. He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess I can see what you’re saying.”

Shimura’s phone rang a moment later, a little jingle Izuku recognized as a little music number from one of the oldest pre-Quirk gaming franchises. The blue-haired man checked his phone reading over a message, before nodding. He looked over to Izuku. “Uncle says they finished their little tour and are heading to the Headmaster’s office for a chat. You okay to join?”

Izuku took a deep breath. “Y-yeah. I think. Today has been a lot heh.”

Shimura let out an undignified snort. “Yeah, I can imagine. Here, gimme your phone.” As soon as Izuku pulled it out, a confused look on his face, Shimura snatched it up and rapidly typed something in. Handing it back, he nodded. “That’s my number. If you ever need to talk to someone who gets it, feel free to send me a message. I sleep odd hours so I can’t promise I’ll get back to you right away, but soon as I see it I’ll hit ya up.”

Izuku stared at his phone, wide-eyed. Taking another deep breath and shoving another fanboy moment back down, he gave a quick nod back. “O-okay, Shimura.”

Shimura winced. “Eh, just call me Tenko.”

“S-sure! Then you can call me Izuku!” 

Tenko smirked. Reaching out with one hand, he ruffled Izuku’s hair, making the green-haired teen go cross-eyed for a moment as he followed the hand. Tenko snickered. “Alright Izuku, let’s go see what the Headmaster wants.”

Chapter Text

Heading to Nezu’s office felt surreal to Izuku. He was walking beside Chronos , inside of UA , heading to see the Headmaster of the school and one of the most intelligent beings on the planet as far as anyone knew. His entire worldview had been, for all intents and purposes, upended beneath the day's revelations. 

Not that it magically changed his feelings or views on himself, nor fixed the part of him that wondered about walking into the water, but he couldn’t deny the fact it birthed an inkling of hope in his heart that he had managed to squash long ago. The idea that he could be a hero, someone who actually helped people, someone who could smile like All Might always did. 

He’d been considering being a hero because he felt like he could repay his debt somehow, or at least work towards it. And the fact Kacchan would not get off his ass about it. But now, now he had to actually wonder if it was possible for him to be one just because it was the right thing to do, not out of a sense of guilt or desperate need to prove himself. 

Of course, taking up All Mights mantle was a very different thing, and one he still wasn’t sure about. All Might was the Symbol of Peace, the man nearly single handedly responsible for the generally peaceful days that Japan experienced right now. No one had seen a supervillain rise to power for decades since All Might began his campaign against villainy. And adding his Quirk on top of it? 

Izuku’s analytical mind had gone overboard since All Might had mentioned what his Quirk did (not that it was very helpful information, but still). Stockpiling ‘power’ was vague as all hell, but it made him wonder, did that count as energy like his Quirk? Or was it its own pool of power? It didn’t seem like it got consumed, or else All Might would have had to have burned through it like Izuku did sometimes. So how would it interact with his Quirk? Could he manipulate that ‘power’ as well? Or would it be entirely separate?

“Uh…Izuku? We’re here. You wanna stop talking to yourself so we can go in?” Tenko’s voice cut into his thought process, making him jolt.

“...was I muttering again?”

“That’s what you call it?” Tenko arched an eyebrow at him. Izuku gave a sheepish nod. Tenko shrugged. “Couldn’t make out what you were saying, but you seemed focused. Anyways, we’re here.” He gestured to the door in front of them, which as he gestured swung open, revealing the visage of Thirteen once more.

“Oh, there you two are! I was just leaving. Are you coming, Tenko? We have yet to get lunch!” The smiling woman said, her eyes glinting as she looked over at Tenko.

He let out a long, annoyed groan. “I told you I ate this morning!”

“And that was five hours ago, Tenko. Besides, chips and soda are not an acceptable breakfast!”

“Yes mom ,” came the sarcastic rejoinder. Rolling his eyes, he turned and looked over at Izuku. “Well, this is where our quest lines diverge, I got mom aggro. Remember what I said, Izuku.”

“Y-yeah. I will. Thanks…thanks a lot, Tenko. It gave me a lot to think about,” Izuku replied softly. Tenko clapped Izuku on the shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze, then turned around and began walking off, shoulders hunched as he and Thirteen began playfully jabbing at each other. Thirteen looked back and gave Izuku a wave and a smile, before going back to scolding Tenko about his eating habits once more. 

“Come in, come in! We just got done discussing your analysis with your friends!” the voice of Nezu came from the doorway, bringing his attention back to the office before him. Steeling himself, Izuku walked into the office. Glancing about, he saw All Might seated on a comfortable armchair to the left, while Kacchan was lounging in another one in the middle. The only other available seat was a small loveseat to the right, where the two girls were perched, but had left enough room between them for Izuku to sit, once again making him narrow his eyes at his best friend who didn’t even have the courtesy to hide his smirk.

“Here!” Ochako said brightly, handing him his notebook as he managed to squeeze himself between the two girls. He was pretty sure it wasn’t his imagination that Himiko actually slid slightly closer to him, which he was starting to realize that ‘tease’ was her default state. Either way, he flipped open his notebook and barely contained his excited squeal at the signatures of Thirteen, Chronos, and even Midnight and Cementoss! At his look, Ochako grinned. “Yeah, we saw them while we were walking around! They were both happy to sign it!”

“Thank you!” Izuku smiled back at her brightly. He barely picked up on Himiko grumbling about needing sunglasses for some reason, which made him take a mental note to ask if she had some type of vision change due to her Quirk. His thought process was broken by the voice of Nezu from the other side of the desk.

“Well, it’s wonderful to see you again, Midoriya! We had a very productive time as you spoke to Shimura!” the white-furred mammal grinned as he took a sip of tea. With a small push, he moved another cup towards Izuku, waiting for the greenette to take the cup before continuing. “Now, before we get to the other reason you are here…what's this I hear about analysis notebooks?”

“A-ah, Headmaster Nezu, I don’t think that we need to go over that right now!” Toshinori jumped in, a wide, almost fearful smile crossing his face, confusing the four teens.

“It’s alright All-Toshinori, I don’t mind,” Izuku managed to get out quietly. He handed the notebook over to Nezu, somewhat confused why he didn’t see it before since he assumed that they had asked for autographs for him.

Nezu began flipping through the pages rapidly, his small black eyes rapidly flicking back and forth as he scanned through it. His smile grew wider and more toothy, sharp fangs glinting in the light. “Magnificent,” he whispered. When he stopped on his own page, Izuku watched as he read over it once, twice, then nodded. Nezu snatched up a pen and scrawled his signature at the bottom. “You are quite talented, Midoriya! You’re coming here to attend UA, yes?”

Izuku glanced over at Katsuki, the blonde arching an eyebrow at him expectantly. He cleared his throat. “T-that’s the plan.”

“Excellent. I look forward to it! Now, to the matter at hand…” Nezu turned to look over at Toshinori.

“Yes, yes. So, Young Midoriya…err…was the talk with Tenko helpful?” 

Izuku took in a deep breath, pausing for a moment to gather his thoughts as the other three teens looked at him. “Y-yeah. It was. You were right. He…he got it. Thanks…for um…having us talk. It helped.”

“Excellent!” Toshinori clapped his hands, smile wide. With a poof of smoke, his seated form changed back into the muscled All Might, his smile weirdly unchanging. “Then have you decided what you wish to do about my offer?” At Izuku’s glance towards Nezu, All Might waved his hand dismissively. “Oh the Headmaster is well aware of One For All, you may speak freely.”

Izuku looked at his friends. Ochako’s gaze was both curious and concerned, Himiko had a look almost of anticipation, as Katsuki’s gaze was steady, with no sign of judgment. After a moment of locking eyes with his brother, Katsuki gave a slight nod, something Izuku just knew meant he’d support him no matter what choice he made. Izuku clenched his fists slowly, cracking the knuckles as he looked over at All Might. 

“I’ll do it.”

“No time to waste then! We’ll need to get you trained up my boy!”

“Training?” Katsuki broke into the conversation, looking intrigued.

All Might nodded. “Yes. The amount of power in One For All is significant, as you probably all can guess from what you’ve seen me do. And transferring it will cause it to grow even further, meaning Young Midoriya will eventually surpass my strength as well. An unprepared body would mean your limbs would explode off your body, haha!”

Izuku and Himiko had been taking sips of their tea when All Might said that, and as if rehearsed, they both made spit takes at the announcement of his limbs exploding off. Nezu reached across the desk pushing a small stack of napkins to the two of them, shaking his head at All Might’s theatricality in his speech.

“Woah now, don’t you worry, that’s why you’re going to train! You’re already in good shape, so it won’t be that much more effort to get you in position! I even have the perfect idea to work on!”

“That is?” Ochako asked, eyes narrowed. Her expression had shifted ever since All Might commented about the limbs, face flat and eyes narrowed at the Symbol of Peace. 

“Why, that very beach you’ve been training at Young Uraraka! Many years ago, it was a beautiful place, but over time it has become the trash heap you’ve seen before you. Cleaning such a beach would be a great workout for Young Midoriya here, but not only that…there was a time that ‘Hero’ meant someone who did good things because they were right, not because it played well with the cameras. And I want to encourage that attitude of giving back to your community. I think it will be an excellent way to both do some community service and train your body!” All Might nodded sharply as he finished.

“...but what about them?” Izuku said, gesturing to his friends.

“What about them?”

“We…we train together. Kacchan and me always train together, and now the girls do too. It’s…our thing?”

“Zu, it’s all good. This is important, we’ll be fucking fine,” Katsuki said lazily.

All Might put his hand on his chin and hummed thoughtfully. “I see, that is a good point. And they know anyway.” He pondered for a moment, before nodding sharply once more. “I have it! We’ll simply put all of you on a training plan together! It would be good practice for you anyways, we need to see the limits of your current Quirk so we can figure out how it may interact with One For All! I’ll need to call a friend of mine and see if he can swing by and help, he’s very good with Quirk training.”

“A friend?” Izuku asked.

“You would know him as Sir Nighteye. He’s the one who helped me find you!”

“Sir Nighteye would help me train too?” Izuku practically squealed, eyes wide as he pressed his hands to his mouth like a fainting maiden. Himiko snickered at the mental imagery.

“That, and to grill you about my choosing you. I should warn you, Mirai is…well, he’s a bit of a strict man and very opinionated. But, if you can impress him, you can impress anyone. And he is an expert in helping people with complicated Quirks.”

“Speaking of your Quirk Midoriya, as a routine measure I hacked into your Quirk records. They are…distressingly blank,” Nezu interjected.

The four teenagers in the room blinked rapidly at the casual way Nezu admitted to hacking into medical records, but Izuku chose to ignore it as he replied. “Y-yes. It turns out the doctor we visited was, um…”

“A useless piece of shit, that’s what he was,” Katsuki snarled.

“Kacchan!” 

“What? That’s what Dr. Kirishima said!”

“She didn’t put it like that ,” Izuku hissed back.

Katsuki threw his arms in the air. “I simplified it!”

Izuku sighed and rubbed his temple. Looking back up at Nezu, he continued. “Our childhood Quirk doctor didn’t put much down for anyone. The doctor who helped me in the hospital the other day said she was sending his name to the board for negligence, but I guess he moved recently?” Izuku’s voice trailed off into a questioning tone as he looked at Katsuki for confirmation.

“Yeah…Dr. Tsubasa and his whole family just up and vanished. Was weird. Tsubasa, his grandson, was my friend and didn’t even say anything. It's fucking weird.”

“Hmm. Odd, that. Well, if it's being reported it sounds like the issue is being handled. Could you perhaps tell me about your Quirk then, Midoriya? I’m quite curious what you have discerned.”

“Oh, well, it's in this notebook!” Izuku produced a different notebook and handed it over as Himiko and Ochako gawked at him.

“Where did you get that one from?!” Ochako demanded.

Izuku blinked. “I had it on me?”

“You don’t have anywhere to fit those, they wouldn’t fit in your pockets!!” Himiko hisses, glaring down at his shorts. 

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to,” Katsuki muttered. Both girls turned to look at the blonde, the look in his eyes telling them not to question it. As they glanced between them at Izuku, all they saw was a look of befuddlement. Wisely, they chose to drop it.

“Hmm. Midoriya. You state here that you believe you are able to shape the energy, but fear it consumes too much to test, yes?” Nezu said, his eyes fixated on Izuku’s notes.

“Y-yeah. I can’t actually tell how much I have stored? There’s a sense of something…missing, and when I get really low the physical signs are noticeable, but it's mostly guesswork how much I have at any one time. And I still can’t tell the rate at which I absorb, nor how it converts or at what rate.”

“Why did you add a star to the word ‘rain’ right here? I believe I know the thought process, but I’d like a full explanation.”

“I think I absorb a lot from rain, which doesn’t make much sense? It’s hard to tell. I absorb the kinetic energy of the water impacting me, but it’s not like that’s a lot , so I’m not sure why it seems to convert at a much higher rate. It converts better than sunlight seems to, at least.”

“That is odd. But I’m sure we will find an explanation. Now, I believe we need to resolve the issue of you not knowing how much you have and how much you spend when utilizing your Quirk. Even if you were not to go to UA, this is something that you should have had access to much earlier in your life. After all, if you run out, you risk death. Support equipment like that is considered non-heroic and does not require any form of licensing.” Nezu took another sip of his tea, letting out a quiet hum as he did so.

“We’ll combine the medical tests the new doctor performed with a few specialized ones Recovery Girl will do for us, and then speak to Power Loader about designing something so you can better track your stored energy. You’ll need to take copious notes before you take on One For All, for we won’t know how they will interact until you do.”

“Y-yes sir, of course,” Izuku sputtered, his mind somewhat already in fanboy mode at the thought of doing tests with Recovery Girl and having something built for him by Power Loader. He paused for a moment, a thought crossing his mind as he glanced over at Katsuki.

“Um…any chance they could look at Kacchan’s leg too?”

“The fuck? Zu, I’m fine, the legs fine. It’ll hold up!” Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Izuku.

“You have a prosthetic leg, Young Bakugo?” All Might asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Yeah, but my parents spent a lot on making sure it’d be good for heroics. It’s fine!”

“It’s been giving you trouble since the sludge villain!” Izuku shot back.

Katsuki blinked rapidly and looked over at Izuku in confusion. “How the hell did you know that?”

“...Kacchan, we live together. I saw you nearly fall down the stairs yesterday, you never lose your balance! That leg has an internal stabilizer!”

“Bakugo, I would listen to Midoriya. Most of those legs listed as ‘heroics ready’ are in fact rarely up to the burdens of heroism. One of our instructors, Ectoplasm, has to get his custom built as the ones he purchased kept breaking,” Nezu interjected.

“Yeah but…it’s not a big deal, I’ll be fine. Worry about the nerd first!” Katsuki grumbled, looking away from the others.

“Now now, having you both fit for training would be best, would it not All Might? If they are all going to take part it would be prudent for them to all be at their very best. After all, you still have to earn your place in UA, you won’t just be given it.”

All Might nodded. “Yes, you should get that looked at Young Bakugo. I’m sure we can set something up soon. I’ll also need to give you all your customized training and diet plans, once I’ve written them up!”

“Diet plans?” Ochako asked quietly. Izuku looked at her curiously, her tone oddly subdued, missing the significant look Himiko gave her. 

“Why yes Young Uraraka! To be a hero one must be in excellent shape, both through exercise and diet! But worry not, my diet plan will be customized to each of you, every person is unique in what they need! I may not always sound like I know what I’m talking about, but I do understand fitness very well. It takes work to be in the shape I am after all!”

“You mean a twig?” Katsuki snarked, grinning at the Number One hero.

All Might slapped Katsuki on the shoulder with a guffaw. “You have a quick wit about you! You should hone that skill. Angering villains can be a useful tactic to get them to make a mistake.”

“But the diet plans, how strictly do we have to follow them?” Ochako interrupted, rather pointedly dragging the subject back. 

All Might blinked at her vehemence as Nezu let out a soft hum and sipped at his tea. “Why, I would expect you to follow them to the letter. It's best for you and your body after all, especially as I do intend on working you all very hard. If your goal is UA, you must be the very best to become part of the very best school after all.”

“...okay,” Ochako whispered, looking down at her clasped hands for a moment before glancing up and locking eyes with Himiko. The vampiric girl just nodded slightly to the question in Ochako’s eyes, the two having the sort of silent conversation only those who were truly close could.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the taller Izuku was holding a similar silent conversation with Katsuki over Himiko’s head, the two boys finding their new friends' actions odd enough to warrant further attention. 

Both conversations were put on pause as Nezu clapped his hands twice. “Well, we have a plan moving forward, so I think it is best the four of you head home and relax for a little while. You’re still students after all, with a day off from school, you may as well make the most of it!” The four in question accepted the dismissal for what it was, as All Might dropped his form and went back to being Toshinori, ready to give them a ride home.

As the four teens watched Toshinori drive away, they looked between each other, a little frazzled, a little worried, and a whole hell of a lot of sheer confusion. Katsuki rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, so…uh…training is off for today I guess?”

“So…we wait for his plan then?” Himiko asked.

Izuku shrugged. “I guess so? Maybe we just…head home?”

“Y-yeah, we should do that,” Ochako stuttered out. Again, Izuku and Katsuki shared a glance. Ochako had been acting odd the entire ride home, mostly silent and staring out the window lost in thought. She kept fiddling with her hands, clasping and unclasping them the entire time. Himiko had been less obvious about her withdrawal, but it was hard for Izuku not to notice how she practically curled into herself during the ride home.

“...you two okay?” Izuku asked, his gaze flitting back and forth between the two girls.

“Y-yeah, we’re fine! It’s just a lot to process, is all!” Ochako said, smiling brightly.

“That’s the fakest fucking smile you’ve put on yet, Cheeks,” Katsuki drawled, causing Himiko to glare at him and Ochako’s eyes widen in shock.

“It’s none of your business,” Himiko hissed. “We don’t pry into your guys’ past, so don’t pry into our personal lives!”

“Hey, hey, everyone calm down,” Izuku raised his hands placatingly. “We’re not prying, Himiko, we’re just worried is all.”

“Yeah and we’re worried about you but you don’t talk either, don’t be a hypocrite!” she snarled back. Izuku rocked back as if slapped, eyes going wide and hurt. 

“Oi, fuck off with that! I’m the one being a dick, don’t take it out on him,” Katsuki stepped forward, fists clenched at his side.

“Will both of you stop!” Ochako shouted, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. “This isn’t helping anything!”

‘But he/But she!’ The two blonde’s began to shout at the same time, before a sudden slam into the ground cut them both off as sand flew up into the air. They looked over to see the glowing green lines of Izuku’s Quirk active, his foot practically buried in the ground from the force of his stomp. 

His voice shaky, he spoke quietly. “Ochako’s right, this isn't helping anything. And Himiko’s right, I shouldn’t be a hypocrite and pry. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t say sorry. Himiko’s the one who overreacted,” Ochako said, glaring at her friend. The vampire gaped for a moment, before looking down sullenly.

“I’m just trying to protect you, ‘Chako,” she whispered.

“I know, but they were just worried. But we really don’t want to talk about it, okay?” she asked the second part as she glanced over at the two boys, one whose hands were sparking and the other with toxic green radiating from inside his body and setting his eyes alight with a glow.

“...I get that,” Izuku said with a sad smile. He turned to look at the explosive blonde next to him, his face flat as he looked over the three of them.

“I wasn’t fucking prying. I just commented on how fake the smile was. I don’t mind you keeping your secrets, but you don’t need to lie to us and pretend you’re happy when you’re not. I get enough of that shit from Izuku, I don’t need it from you two. If we’re gonna be training together and shit, we can at least be fucking honest if we’re not in a good mood,” Katsuki looked down, the sparks in his hands fading away as he kicked at the sand and muttered “It’s not like I had a lot of friends besides Zu and Tsubasa before, and Tsubasa fucked off on me. I…sometimes I’m a dick, but I just want people to be honest with me, that’s all.” 

“...sorry,” Himiko muttered back, grabbing her left arm with her right and looking away from the others.

“Okay. Okay. It’s been a lot today, so maybe we just all need to take a step back. It’s okay. You…have a point, Katsuki. So-,” Ochako took a deep breath in. “Yes, something is bothering me and I’m not sure how to deal with it. But I don’t feel comfortable talking about it right now. Okay?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m just being a dick as usual.”

“If I’m not allowed to be self-deprecating, none of you are,” Izuku deadpanned.

“Nah, Kats has a point. I was being a dick too,” Himiko chimed in.

Izuku rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in the air. “You two are impossible, martyr complex bullshit.”

“Oh you have no room to talk you fucking ass,” Katsuki snarked back at Izuku, glaring.

“Well, that’s at least back to normal,” Ochako snorted. 

Izuku facepalmed. “Okay. Nope. Today has been so weird, I’m so done with it. Can we just go get lunch and then relax? Like four normal fucking teenagers?”

“I thought we were all going to go home to relax?” Himiko asked.

“Auntie is doing designs for her next clothing line. There is nothing relaxing about being in that house right now.”

“Oh shit, you’re right. Yeah, me and Zu are not going anywhere near home, not when Mom’s doing that. She’ll rope us into it somehow,” Katsuki shuddered at the thought.

Ochako and Himiko shared another look. “I-I guess we can? Um, but something light and c-cheap? We didn’t bring a lot with us today, since we were going to train.”

Katsuki waved his hand dismissively. “It’s on us, we’re the ones dragging you two around. Besides, this is a chance to show you the best fucking spots to eat.”

Ochako went to speak, but Himiko cut her off with a wide smile. “Okay, that’s fine! It's a date!”

Izuku choked on air as Katsuki rolled his eyes and smiled indulgently. “Sorry ladies, but you’re not my type.”

“Aww, but we’re Izu’s type, aren’t we?” Himiko kept her wide smile on her face as she grabbed Izuku’s arm, making the choking boy sputter incoherently. “Ain’t that right, Izuku?”

“Himiko!” Ochako shouted, her face flushed. Himiko turned her head so that neither Katsuki nor Izuku could see her face, and her teasing smile faded to a significant look, communicating without words that she was trying to change the subject. Ochako gulped, willing her red cheeks to fade away and plastered her own teasing smile on as she grabbed Izuku’s other arm.

Katsuki snickered at the shell shocked look on his brother’s face. “Alright, this shit was worth it just to see the human equivalent of a fucking blue screen. Come on, let’s go, I know just the place.”

The two girls practically dragged the greenette with them, Izuku following along robotically as his cheeks burned, his mind successfully diverted from the worries he had had earlier. 

Chapter Text

Himiko sighed as she took off her shoes. Ochako had gone straight back to the bedroom, refusing to look her in the eyes. The lunch had been nice, the four teens had been able to move past the awkwardness earlier, but the moment the boys went to pay the bill she saw Ochako sink into her seat once more, her expression falling again. 

It didn’t go unnoticed by Izuku and Katsuki when they returned, but per her request at the beach, neither one brought it up. In their own ways, they tried to cheer her up: Katsuki started making snarky commentary on the people they passed, mocking their fashion choices, while Izuku had simply bumped his shoulder against hers, smiling brightly at her and dragging her into another one of Katsuki and Izuku debates (read: bickering) that they seemed to have every half an hour.

But all good things come to a close, and while the boys were happy to walk them home, Ochako and Himiko had broken off before getting to their neighborhood with an excuse about how it was the opposite way of where the boys were headed. Which wasn’t entirely untrue, it was at least not directly in the same path, but it was enough of a twisting of the truth that Himiko was entirely sure both Kats and Izu knew the girls weren’t being upfront. But they left well enough alone, and allowed the girls to wander off to their tiny apartment.

With a determined stride, Himiko walked to the bedroom, stepping inside the dimly lit room. The window was open to let the air in, getting some breeze to help clear out the perpetual musty smell the apartment had. Ochako was laying facedown on her futon, her head buried in her pillow with her arms beneath it.

Himiko sat down beside her, one hand gently rubbing Ochako’s back. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Not really,” Ochako replied, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“I really don’t think they’ll be judgey. You told Kats your family doesn’t have a lot of money already.”

Ochako rolled over, glaring up at the ceiling blankly. “Yah but there’s a difference, Himi. We’re living offa instant ramen, rice,  and dreams ‘ere,” she muttered, letting her accent slip out.

“‘Chako-,” Himiko began quietly.

“Himi, you know what it’s like! You know how people treat you different! I don’ want no pity and I don’ want no handouts! I worked hard to get ‘ere!”

“Sweetie…remember who we’re talking about. Izu has something in his past he’s ashamed of. Kats is missing a leg. He never talks about that either…honestly I didn’t notice till they pointed it out today. I feel like they understand what it means to be ashamed of something.”

“...I thought tha same about the kids at our old school. And lookit what happened! They all started mockin’ me…”

“Do you really think the boys are like that? The only thing Kats gives a shit about is how strong you are! He didn’t even flinch at me drinking Izu’s blood! And Izu? The only person he makes fun of is Kats, he’s too busy hating himself to be mean to someone else.”

Ochako closed her eyes and threw her arm over her face, sighing. “I know yer right. I know. But I just…I don’ wanna ruin what we got!”

Himiko lay down next to Ochako, resting her head on her arms and looking up at the ceiling. “It might already be ruined. Toshinori wasn’t wrong, ‘Chako. If we want to get into UA, we have to be fit and tough. And that means food. I just don’t know how we’ll pull that off.” 

“Ugh I know!” Ochako grumbled. She turned her head to look over at Himiko. “And don’t think I didn’t notice.”

“Notice what?”

Ochako arched an eyebrow. “You’re out of blood packs in the fridge. What happened?”

Himiko looked away from the brunette. “Dad told me yesterday. There was a major disaster on the coast, and a lot of the blood banks ran low on blood because they had to send it away. So he couldn’t send me any, and the nearby ones are also too low.”

Ochako thrust her arm in front of Himiko’s face. “Okay well, drink up then.”

Himiko shook her head. “I can’t. If we’re training, you can’t afford to be fighting off blood loss.”

“And you can’t afford to not drink!” Ochako sat up, glaring at the girl beside her as she shoved her accent back down.

“I’ll be okay!” the blonde replied back hotly, sitting up and mirroring Ochako’s pose.

“We’re not even going to actually do training for a week, Himi. I can handle a little blood loss till then. And I bet if you asked the boys they’d be fine donating some too.”

“Oh so it's okay for me to accept charity from others but not you?” Himiko shot back.

Ochako sputtered. “It’s entirely different! You need blood for your Quirk!”

“ And we both need food to live!”  

Ochako froze for a second, letting out a huff as she flopped back down again. “And what are you expecting us to do about it?”

Himiko sighed. “I don’t know. But maybe we should talk to the boys about it before it becomes a problem…or just ask to speak to Toshinori privately? I mean, maybe he can adjust his training program or something!”

“I don’t want them to look at us different…we just met them! We’re new to this! I don’t wanna just drop a bunch of crap on them at once!”

“You already told Kats that your parents don’t make a lot of money and that we’re sharing this apartment out of budget concerns. We just…didn’t tell him the extent is all.”

“And what about your blood problem, hmm? We gotta deal with that too! Which reminds me, drink !” Ochako shoved her arm in front of Himiko’s face again.

Himiko weakly batted at it. “Stop that!”

“We’re not training for a week! So just…accept it!”

“Dammit ‘Chako, fine, you stubborn-” Himiko didn’t bother finishing her sentence, glaring at the other girl as she chomped down on the brunette’s arm. Her annoyed expression vanished into bliss as she took her first sips of that lovely warm liquid, her tongue slowly moving over Ochako’s arm lovingly. The brunette squeaked for a moment, feeling her face flush as it always did when Himiko did this, before schooling her expression back into one of nonchalance.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Himiko broke off Ochako’s arm, licking her lips slowly with a sigh. Quickly, the blood ceased its flow after only a moment, but Ochako already had grabbed a small wipe to wipe off the excess and began trying to lay a bandage on her arm one handed. Himiko snatched up her wrist, her amber eyes nearly glowing in the low afternoon light as she gently lay the bandage down. Leaning down, Himiko gave it a quick kiss, making the brunette snort with flushed cheeks.

“You taste yummy as always, ‘Chako,” Himiko remarked, a satisfied hum leaving her lips.

“So you tell me every time.”

Himiko lay back down next to Ochako, spreading her arms out wide and nearly smacking Ochako in the face with one. Said brunette pushed it away, giggling lightly as the blonde grinned. As she lay there, Himiko sighed and spoke without looking at Ochako. “We still haven’t figured out what to do about the food situation.”

“...should we just, I dunno…decline the training?” Ochako asked quietly.

“...I really don’t want to do that ‘Chako. The boys will just be more curious if we do that, and I…I don’t want them mad at us. I didn’t like snapping at Kats today. And Izu wasn’t happy with me. I don’t like that.”

“I don’t think he was happy with Katsuki either. I wasn’t very happy with you. You didn’t need to jump to attack like that Himi.”

“I know I know, but it just made me think of back home! I just reacted…”

“Ugh, this is so much!” Ochako practically wailed, covering her face in her hands. “Why did today have to be… today?! ” 

“Cause nothing goes right in our lives?” Himiko drawled.

“Nuh-uh. I got you, and we made new friends too. That’s one thing that went right. And, I mean…training with All Might ? That practically guarantees we get in, right!...right?” Ochako’s voice trailed off softly.

“Nezu said we still had to earn it, but if anyone knows what we gotta do, it’d be the Number One Hero.”

Ochako sighed. “Maybe…maybe you’re right. But I’m really scared they’ll start treating us differently…”

Himiko rolled over, laying on her side as she stared at the brunette next to her. She propped her head up on her hand as she spoke. “If they do, they aren’t the guys we think they are and it wouldn’t be worth it to spend time with them anyways. And no matter what happens, you’ll always have me. I promise.”

Ochako let out a small, soft smile. “Yeah. I got your back too, Himi. Okay. I guess…we’ll talk to them about it tomorrow?”

“Okay. Well, speaking of food…” Himiko trailed off as Ochako rolled her eyes.

“Yeah yeah, I got it. Can’t let you do it, you’ll set the kitchen on fire somehow.”

“That was one time!” the blonde protested.

“That was seven times you little liar!” Ochako hissed as she clambered to her feet. She glared down at the blonde on the floor, the vampiric girl smirking cheekily with her fangs glinting in the light. Unable to hold the serious expression, Ochako giggled and rolled her eyes once more as she headed to their little kitchenette area.

“Class out again?” Ochako asked as Himiko and her ran into the boys standing on the corner they normally met up at before school. Katsuki shrugged as Izuku nodded.

“Yeah, Auntie got a call late last night saying it’d be a few more days before it was safe to return. I guess the villain had some kind of lingering Quirk that left dangerous residue or something.”

“And this nerd wanted to spend all day trying to figure out what exactly it fucking did, I had to drag his ass over here,” Katsuki drawled, jerking a thumb to his side to point at Izuku as he did.

“A Quirk that leaves a dangerous residue could be so many different things, I wanted to know what it left behind!” Izuku spat back, waving his hands around excitedly. Katsuki just responded with an eye roll and crossing his arms over his chest.

Himiko shared a look with Ochako, the brunette nodding at her slightly before taking a deep breath. “Hey, um…can we talk about something? It’s…kind of important.”

Katsuki turned to look at them as Izuku cocked his head to the side. Ochako opened her mouth to explain it as simply as possible, but the stress of the prior day, all the stress over revealing this, and the fact she still hadn’t had any caffeine had her just blurting it all out. Her family’s financial situation, how the girls were living off the cheapest food imaginable, how Himiko had run out of blood, how their apartment was in the worst part of town, how scared she was that they’d look down on her or pity her and how she wasn’t sure which was worse…

By the time she finished, Katsuki was staring at her blankly, blinking rapidly as Himiko facepalmed behind her. Izuku looked poleaxed, eyes wide and expression stuck in a strange place between an attempt at a reassuring smile and a vague sort of fear at her exuberance. She gasped for air, not realizing until now she’d basically said that all more and more rapidly without taking in enough oxygen and now had to catch up.

Katsuki shook his head like a dog trying to dry off, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Alright, let’s get this outta the fucking way…we ain’t gonna treat you different. You didn’t give me shit for my leg, you’ve left Zu’s past well enough alone, we’re not about to be hypocritical bastards here. So stop worrying about that shit.”

“But we should address your concerns,” Izuku jumped in. “We should start with the blood issue. How much do you need to drink a day?” he asked Himiko, his notebook suddenly in his hand to the consternation of the two girls.

She shrugged. “I never really measured…just till I felt full.”

“Sometimes I feel a little dizzy right after, but it goes away really fast,” Ochako added.

“Not exactly accurate data but we can work with this,” Izuku muttered, stroking his chin as he scribbled something down. “Well, it's no problem for the upcoming week since we’re not training, I don’t mind sharing mine too. If we trade off every other day it should be no problem.”

“Every third day. Fangs can have mine too,” Katsuki drawled.

“...you guys sure? I know it's kind of weird-,” Himiko began.

“Quirks are Quirks, nothing weird about that,” Katsuki cut in.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, nothing to worry about there! It’ll be fine, Himiko. We don’t mind! Just don’t use my face to commit crimes,” he joked, smiling widely as the blonde girl giggled. “As for during training, well, we’ll just have to talk to All…uh, Toshinori about it.”

Katsuki nodded at the green-haired boy. “As for the food thing…okay. I’m not good at gentle so just give me a sec and don’t get pissed, okay?” He waited for the girls to nod to him before continuing. “Physical training means a shit ton of food, and high in protein and carbs and shit, which yeah, is expensive. That said, and this isn’t some handout this is an actual fucking thing, uh…Zu and I are real fucking bad at portioning .”

“...what?” Ochako asked, blinking in confusion.

Izuku sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he spoke with a rueful tone in his voice. “We always make too much food. Even when Auntie and Uncle are there, we always have a ton of leftovers. We’re not very good at you know…calculating how much people will eat. Honestly, you’d be doing us a favor if you ate with us, because uh…”

“Everyone in that fucking house is a forgetful little shit and we always forget we have leftovers till it goes fucking bad,” Katsuki interjected. Ochako visibly flinched at the idea of wasting food, both boys not acknowledging it to avoid drawing attention to it. “Seriously, just…come eat with us, it’ll be fine, trust me. Plus the next few months Mom and Pop are gonna be so busy they’ll barely be around to eat with us.”

“But from what Toshinori said, it sounded like you’d have to change your diet anyways. Are you sure you’d still have extra?” Ochako asked quietly.

“Tch. Trust me Cheeks, we’ll have more. The food budget in the house falls under the ‘hero’ budget. We got plenty. Remember what I said about clothing lines yesterday? It's cause Mom’s a famous fashion designer, and she and Pops own their own company. We’re not rich, but we ain’t struggling either. I mean, this leg was pretty expensive but they managed it for me,” Katsuki said, slapping his left leg. 

“I…I don’t know…” the brunette looked away, shame coloring her cheeks. Katsuki chewed at the inside of his mouth for a moment, unsure what to say. He turned to Izuku, jerking his head at her, figuring Izuku understood emotional shit better than he did.

“Ochako, please, trust us. It won’t be a burden, I’m serious,” the greenette said softly, stepping forward with a smile. “Besides, you guys have helped me a lot , just by being my friends. You’re patient with my issues and neither of you gave me any problems nor have you pried, and I really appreciate that. This is what friends do, they support each other, right?”

“And we’ll talk to Toshinori. C’mon, he’s the Number One Hero, he’s gotta have some idea how to do this shit, right?”

“Well of course I was going to pay for the cost of food! The workout plan I was designing for Young Midoriya requires far greater amounts of caloric intake than you’d be used to, haha!” Toshinori’s voice boomed over the phone the four teenagers were huddled around. “Not to mention the other three of you! While your diets will be slightly different, due to body type and what we’re going to aim for, it’s still a similar diet plan! I want my successor and his friends in tip top shape for the exam!”

“Oh…okay,” Ochako muttered. It was clear by her expression she still was struggling with the idea of accepting any of this, but she wasn’t foolish enough to give up an opportunity like that.

“As for Himiko’s blood problem, I’ll give Nezu a call and speak to him and Recovery Girl. We need you boys to come in soon anyways, so we’ll be able to work something out I’m sure. One of the teachers at UA, Vlad King, also has a blood Quirk which requires some blood consumption. So it’s not going to be a bother. You said you’ll be alright for the rest of the week?”

Himiko nodded, a look of consternation crossing her face as she realized he couldn’t see her through the phone. Izuku and Ochako giggled silently at her as she puffed her cheeks in embarrassment. “Y-yeah, these three said they’ll help me for the week.”

“Excellent! Then we’ll be all set! I expect to see all of you bright and early Sunday morning down at the beach so we can begin! I must be off, good luck zygotes!”

‘Zygotes?’ The four teens muttered under their breath as the call cut off, leaving them standing together in front of Katsuki and Izuku’s house. They shared a glance between each other. Izuku shrugged his shoulders. “Um…so…what do we do now?”

“I guess…we can show them inside?” Katsuki replied, equally as unsure.

“We wouldn’t want to impose-,” Ochako began.

“It ain’t an imposition, it’s fine,” Katsuki waved her objection off. Without waiting for a response, he opened the door, ushering the two girls and Izuku inside. As he stepped in, he took a deep breath and shouted “ Anyone home?”

“ Stop yelling in the house you damned brat!” came the answering scream. The two girls jerked back in confusion, looking over to see Izuku in the middle of a deep, long-suffering sigh. 

“We brought friends over you hag!”  

“Oh, well, that’s new,” the voice that previously was screaming came around the corner, revealing a tall, young looking blonde woman with spiky hair and red eyes that clearly was where Katsuki inherited his looks from. She was scribbling something down on a small notepad as she approached, placing the pad into her pocket when she noticed the four teenagers before her. She arched an eyebrow at Katsuki. “Well brat? Introduce us.”

“These are our new friends Auntie! They are training with us for UA!” Izuku interjected, trying to cut off another screaming match.

“I’m Himiko Toga, but please call me Himiko!” the blonde said, bowing.

“I’m Ochako Uraraka! We moved here to take the test for UA, and met Katsuki and Izuku at school!” 

“I’m Mitsuki Bakugo, Katsuki’s mother and Izuku’s adopted mother,” she said, smirking as she ruffled Izuku’s hair and squeezed Katsuki’s shoulder. “So what made you two bring the girls back here?”

“We had to make a phone call together to our trainer and just ended up here is all,” Izuku shrugged.

Mitsuki nodded, having been made privy to the training plan the previous evening. Mid-nod she paused, her eyes narrowing as she looked over at the two girls before her with an appraising gaze. She let out a quiet hum as she looked them both up and down. “Say…what size do you two wear?”

“Oh…oh shit. Oh we are so sorry,” Katsuki said, taking a step back from his mother as fear spread across his face.

Izuku’s eyes widened as well, taking a step back with Katsuki. His expression morphed to a mournful one, as if he were bearing witness to the final moments of his two friends, the girls both looking at Mitsuki in confusion.

“Um, sorry for what exactly?” Ochako asked, side-eying Izuku. The boy in question merely shook his head sadly.

“We’ll…see you two later.”

“Huh?” Both girls chorused, before letting out simultaneous ‘eeps’ as Mitsuki grabbed them by the wrist.

“You two can try out my latest ideas! Come with me to the downstairs workshop! Oh I have so many ideas now!” Mitsuki began dragging both girls with surprising strength, the two teenagers looking back in betrayal at the boys, one wincing and the other giving a mocking salute.

“That…was… exhausting, ” Ochako moaned, flopped over the kitchen table in the Bakugo house.

“No kidding,” Himiko muttered, her head firmly planted facedown on the same table.

Katsuki snorted at the two of them and their dramatics. He wore an orange and black apron as he stood at the stove, carefully tending a pot and stirring in spices with the utmost concentration. Izuku was to his left at the cutting board, his own green and black apron tied around him as he rapidly chopped a pile of vegetables, pushing them over to Katsuki as he finished each one. 

“You’re being ridiculous, it’s not that bad,” Izuku protested to the girls, but the smile on his face gave away his amusement.

“Yeah, this was fucking tame for mom. You should see her during a new launch, she’s a fucking terror.”

“And I look fucking good doing it!” came her shout from the living room, where she was planted on the sofa looking over paperwork on the table before her. “Your father said he’d be out late by the way, so set aside some for him for later, okay?”

Katsuki just grunted in reply, taking a sip of the mixture in the pot and scowling at it. He held a hand out peremptorily to Izuku, the green-haired boy snatching up a bottle and passing it over without looking at the one next to him. 

“How could you just abandon us like that?” Ochako asked, lifting her head up off the table and trying to glare at the two boys, but with her exhaustion, she just looked like she was pouting cutely. 

Izuku glanced back at her, a little bit of pink staining his cheeks at her expression before he turned back to the cutting board. “We didn’t think about it. Besides, at least you’re getting something out of it!”

“She’s not really going to give us clothing once it goes to the factory, is she?” Himiko asked quietly, her eyes glancing towards the living room as she tried to make sure the boy's mother couldn’t hear her.

“Pfft. Oh you best believe you’re getting a full fucking line Fangs, that’s what mom does. You model for her and give her ideas, she throws fabric in your face and commands you to wear it. She calls it free advertising,” Katsuki replied. The blonde in question just groaned and lay back down onto the table.

“Anyways, here! Dinner! It's curry! And don’t worry, it's not Kacchan’s normal curry, he’s got a separate pot for that!” Izuku said as he set two plates down before the girls. 

“What do you mean his normal curry?” Ochako asked.

“Let’s just say he likes it hot and leave it at that,” Izuku replied with a shaky smile.

“I don’t like it hot, you all are just fucking wimps!” Katsuki shot back.

“Well I’m no fucking wimp, I wanna try it!” Himiko shot back, staring at Katsuki.

Izuku stepped forward to try and protect her, but the blonde boy simply cackled in return and began spooning out a portion of his curry for her. “Fuck yeah, go for it Fangs!”

Himiko snatched the plate up and dove in as fast as she could. As she closed her mouth over the food, she paused for a moment, her expression contemplative. “It tastes fine, I don’t know what you guys are talking about…” her voice trailed off as her eyes went wide, her pale skin suddenly flushing. Izuku sighed and opened the freezer, pulling out a small container of ice cream and sliding it across the table to the blonde girl. 

“Is now the appropriate time to say ‘I told you so’?” Izuku asked, crossing his arms over his chest as Himiko ripped open the ice cream container and began scooping it into her mouth in a panicked rush.

“Hush you,” she grumbled, her voice garbled and muffled by the food in it as she tried and failed to glare at the greenette. Ochako, little traitor that she was, was giggling at the teen beside her, covering her mouth with one hand as if it would stop the giggles from escaping. Himiko stuck her tongue out at the brunette, the girl in question returning the gesture in kind. As the two boys sat down at the table with the girls, they shared a smile. Everything seemed to be in order. They could not wait to get started training for UA.

Chapter Text

Sunday came around, and Toshinori had once again dragged the four teenagers to UA…three of them to spend time with Recovery Girl, while he sat down with Ochako to discuss his training plan for her. He explained he planned on doing one on one sessions with each of them, but since she was the only one who didn’t need to do any testing, he’d start with her.

“Alright young Uraraka, let’s take a look here. Now, I’m no Quirk expert, but I did listen to what young Midoriya said about how your Quirk functions, and you mentioned your goal of becoming a rescue hero like Thirteen. Taking that into account, I feel that heavy stamina training and upper body training will be most effective for you.”

“Um…why, exactly?” Ochako asked, tilting her head to the side.

Toshinori glanced down at his papers once more, as the two sat across a small table in the lounge. “Well, rescue heroes tend to do some of the most long term intensive work. Villain fights may be flashy, but they tend to be over quickly. Speed tends to be the name of the game when it comes to apprehension of villains. But rescue work tends to take hours upon hours of intensive work, dealing with the consequences of said villain attacks or natural disasters.”

“Okay, that makes a lot of sense,” she nodded, listening intently.

“Now a good limelight hero should still be helping with cleanup, and have good stamina, don’t get me wrong. But it’s more important for a rescue hero. As for upper body work, even with your Quirk, there will come times you need to be able to lift and move things physically. Especially if you’re already floating something and it’s hit your limit. Right now that’s about three tons, right?”

“I think so? It’s hard to really get an accurate weight, but Izuku says that’s what he estimates based on what we lifted when we tested it out the other day.”

“Alright. Well, I doubt I need to tell you that we’ll also be working on increasing that limit, I’m sure you already do that on your own,” he paused as she nodded at him. “Good, good. Well, the upper body workout will also be helpful for that I believe. Finally, combat. Even rescue heroes have to fight. And sometimes, they get some of the most dangerous battles, because a villain may decide to take advantage of a disaster and jump in to make things worse. Why, just last month Tenko had to fight off a villain duo during a rescue operation. So we’ll be working on that too.”

Ochako nodded again. She was listening intently, trying to ignore the pit in her stomach that kept roiling as she thought about the food situation, which she was still not entirely on board with. Something must have been visible on her face, because Toshinori paused and tilted his head to the side, his prior ‘All Might’ smile vanishing and a softer, warmer one crossing his face. 

“Is something the matter, young Uraraka?”

“I just…I dunno,” she muttered, shrugging her shoulders as she refused to meet his gaze.

“Is this about your financial situation?” Toshinori asked.

Ochako snapped her gaze to his in shock. “Y-you know?”

“Mirai did background checks on all of you. I didn’t ask for them, but he’s stubborn,” Toshinori sighed. Shrugging, he continued. “Considering the fact you flinch every time I bring up the diet plan, I assume it has something to do with that.”

“That’s…a really big assumption,” she muttered.

“You’d be surprised what tricks you pick up after four decades as the Number One Hero,” he replied.

“Okay I guess that’s fair,” she conceded.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly.

Ochako let out an annoyed huff. “Not really. I feel like that’s all I do lately.”

“I won’t force you to talk, kid. But it’s clearly bothering you still. Is there something I can do to help make you more comfortable? I mean it when I say I’m paying for it, after all.”

“That’s just it! I don’t want a handout or charity just because I’m-”

Toshinori cut her off with a raised hand. “Young Uraraka, this is not a handout nor charity. For one, I’m providing for all four of you after all, and I’m well aware neither of the boys need this at all. For two, this all has conditions. I need you to give it your all, to work your hardest, to go as plus ultra as you can. I expect to see the four of you taking the top four spots in the entrance exam!”

Ochako blinked at the tall, skinny blonde before her. He sighed, resting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it. “Uraraka, I want to do this. I want to help you achieve your dreams. For all four of you. Midoriya may be the one I’ve chosen to inherit my power, but I want each and every one of you to succeed. The more heroes we have with a true and righteous heart, the better. And I believe that you have such a heart. So please, perk up, and let your worries go. You’ll be fine.”

Ochako bit her lip, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap. What he said did make sense, and it wasn’t like he was treating her and Himiko differently from the boys. And Himi had been right…this wasn’t an opportunity she should miss. This was her chance , her best chance at making it into UA and becoming a hero that could help her parents and bring smiles to peoples faces. Squeezing tightly, she squared her shoulders and looked up at Toshinori with a determined expression. “I’ll go as plus ultra as anyone else! And then I’ll go beyond that! I’ll do it!”

Toshinori grinned widely. “That’s what I like to hear! Now, let’s finish reviewing this before your friends finish up!”

“Alright young man, how does it feel?” Recovery Girl asked, her gaze steady on Katsuki’s left leg as he stretched it out.

“Same as the other one. Lighter, though,” he replied, looking at the leg.

“It takes some getting used to when you’re used to mass-produced options. But once you do you’ll wonder how you ever put up with it,” Ectoplasm said, sitting a few feet away from Katsuki. 

Katsuki glanced up at the hero. Having been introduced to him when he came in for the change in his leg, he’d been unable to really comprehend having such a discussion with a pro hero. He wasn’t ashamed of his leg per se, he just…didn’t like thinking about it. And it wasn’t like his family or friends understood what it was like. But Ectoplasm, he understood better than the others, considering his leg situation. Katsuki nodded, standing up. “Can I go test this shit out or something?”

Ectoplasm looked over at Recovery Girl, the older hero sighing as she tapped her cane on the ground and leaned on it. “Yes yes, you hyperactive child. Go on. Ectoplasm, please make sure he doesn’t break anything.”

Ectoplasm nodded. “Come with me, Bakugo. I’ll take you to my favorite training ground, we can make sure it performs up to your expectations.” Katsuki nodded again, following behind the pro as they headed to the door. It opened before they reached it, revealing Toshinori and Ochako behind it. 

“Oh, hey Katsuki. Got the leg squared away?” she asked, smiling.

Katsuki rapped his knuckles against his left leg. “Yeah, about to test it out and make sure it doesn’t blow up on me or some shit.”

“That’s cool! Where are Himi and Izuku?” she asked, looking around.

“Zu’s with the guy with the weird helmet, and Fangs is just around the corner or something.”

“Miss Toga is currently resting, we had to draw a significant amount of blood to run some tests,” Recovery Girl interjected, pointing at the other side of the clinic where a privacy curtain hung. “Mr. Midoriya is in the Support Lab with Power Loader, who is finishing up the device that will allow him to better track his own energy expenditure. You can wait here with your friend if you wish, just make sure she stays in that bed for a while longer.”

“Yes ma’am!” Ochako saluted. She gave Katsuki a friendly pat on the shoulder, the blonde smirking at her and nodding as he walked out the door. 

Toshinori stayed at the doorway, smiling at Ochako. “I’ll go check on young Bakugo and discuss his training plan as well.” She smiled back in acknowledgment, heading over to the corner where Recovery Girl said Himiko was resting. As she stepped around the curtain, she opened her mouth to greet the blonde but paused.

Ochako’s bright smile morphed into a smaller, more warm one as she looked down at the sleeping form of Himiko, the blonde girl sprawled out with arms akimbo and mouth slightly open, her fangs glinting in the office light. Her blonde hair was slowly escaping her habitual buns she put them in, splayed around her head like a soft halo. Ochako pulled out the chair next to her bed and sat quietly in it, just looking over her friend with a soft gaze.

She wasn’t seated long, the sounds of footsteps interrupting her quiet contemplation. The messy green locks of Izuku’s smiling face came around the curtain, his own gaze shifting to a surprised one at first as he looked over the tableau before. Ochako quickly put her finger up to her lips with a grin, the greenette returning her gesture with a soft smile. He pulled another chair over and sat next to her.

“So, how did it go?” Ochako asked quietly, looking over at him.

In answer, Izuku held out his wrist. On his right wrist was a bracelet of some kind, made of a black, metallic looking substance of some kind. Where a watch face would be, instead, was a raised section of silver metal surrounding a screen, in which a green glowing bar was visible, filled from one end to the other with a series of notches set periodically around it.

“Looks like they were able to figure it out,” he replied in the same quiet tone she did. He pointed at the left side of the bar. “This is the upper end, and as I drain it’ll drop the bar. So I can see how much I use at any one time and get a better handle on it.”

Ochako noted a similar device on his left wrist, but instead of a bar the silver section had a series of small numbers. She pointed at it. “Same thing there?”

“Nah, that one is for data collection. They want to try and figure out how I convert and at what rate. So it's tracking when I absorb, what it is, and how many joules it has. Then we’ll be able to look at the data of how much I store from different sources and work out my conversion rate.”

Ochako brightened up at that. “Oh, so you can see if one source is better for recharging when you go low!”

He smiled back at her. “Exactly! And the right wrist should start beeping if I start going low, so I’ll notice quicker and be able to stop using my Quirk!”

She hummed contemplatively. “But what about when you get…you know what? Won’t that throw the data off?”

He shrugged. “I’m still not sure how the two will interact. I’ve got some theories, but until I actually get it we have no idea.”

“What theories?”

He placed a hand beneath his chin, cupping it in thought. “Well, the easiest one would be it ends up treated as the same source of energy I use, in which case I don’t think I could run out, seeing as All Might never did. Another possibility is they have no interaction at all, but that one seems unlikely because from what All Might said, his master’s Quirk changed when she got it.”

“Is there a third theory?”

“Kind of, but kind of not? I mean, the third possibility is it enhances it in some way, which is what it apparently did for the prior holders. But that’s very vague and not really helpful,” Izuku said, shrugging.

“Sounds hot,” came the murmured comment from the bed the two were sitting by. Startled, both looked over to see a yawning Himiko, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to ease the glare from the clinic lights.

“W-w-what?” Izuku stammered, flushing both from the comment and confusion at the apparent non-sequitur.

“Well, with how your Quirk does that cool rush when you give your energy to others, imagine what else you could do with it while… touching someone?” Himiko smirked.

Ochako pressed her face in her hands, groaning, as Izuku sputtered incoherently. Ochako just looked at him helplessly with a flustered grin, as the greenette shook his head rapidly to clear it. Trying to get a little bit back on her, he managed to speak through his flushed face. “Do you have an off switch or something?”

“Dunno, why don’t you look and find out?” she shot back, smirking even harder as Izuku realized that he’d walked right into that. She sat up in the bed, winking at Ochako as she did. “Or maybe you wanna find it so you can turn me on again?”

“Oh my god Himi, stop before you give him an aneurysm,” Ochako said, breaking into giggles as Izuku's head dropped to his chest, unable to deal with the situation.

“Hmm…nope!” Himiko giggled in return. After a moment to contain herself, she smiled sultrily at Ochako. “Besides, it's your fault I’m always…turned on, after all.”

Ochako’s face flushed beet red, matching the green-haired boy next to her as she squeaked. After a moment, she glared and smacked Himiko on the leg, ignoring the burning in her cheeks. “You stop that!”

“But ‘Chako it's fun to see you two turn pretty colors!”

“Alright, enough flirting you three, if she’s up I can make sure she’s doing alright,” the voice of Recovery Girl broke into their little playful conversation, pulling back the privacy curtain. She did an appraising look over Himiko, nodding after a moment. “Hmm. You look alright. Any dizziness or lightheadedness? You should be fine from the amount we took but best to be certain.”

“Nope! I feel great after that little nap!” Himiko replied.

“Very well. You’re free to go. We were able to determine you need to drink about a quarter to a half a pint of blood a day. This is one of the higher amounts on record, but nothing that can’t be managed. We’ll have the deliveries set up in a jiffy. Your friend will be returning shortly, so once he’s back you four can head back home and begin that oaf’s training regimen.”

“You mean To-All Might?” Izuku asked.

Recovery Girl snorted. “Told you his name, did he? Well, that makes sense with you being his successor.”

“You know?!” the three teens practically shouted at her, eyes wide. 

“Of course I do. I’m the one who helped stitch his sorry ass back together after his fight six years ago,” the older heroine said. “It's best I know anyways, young man. Who knows what backlash you might suffer while using it? I am already prepared to spend plenty of time smacking that man’s shins for inevitably failing to teach you appropriately.” The three teens shared a glance, but wisely decided not to involve themselves in what was clearly Toshinori’s problem.

“Yo nerds, what’s up?” Katsuki’s voice came from the doorway, stepping inside with Toshinori behind.

“Hey Kacchan, we were just finishing up! The leg good?”

“Yep, this thing can take a fucking pounding. I can’t wait to start some training with this thing.”

Toshinori placed his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder and smiled at the other three. “Well, if you are all ready, let’s finish up our training plan discussions and we can begin training this weekend!”

Two Months Later

“ Remind me why we wanted to go through this again?” Himiko moaned, collapsed against Izuku’s shoulder as he sat against the dumpster, draining a water bottle.

Somewhat used to her behavior by this point, he was only partly flushed from her and partly from the effort of the day. Capping the now empty bottle and tossing it over his shoulder into the dumpster, he sighed. “I mean, I’m doing it because I’m the idiot who said yes. I dunno what’s wrong with the rest of you.”

A hand swatted him on the shoulder, with no force due to her exhaustion. “You stop that,” Ochako scolded. It was a daily struggle to get Izuku to stop with his self-deprecating comments, but Ochako felt the training was slowly taking effect.

“Fucking wimps,” Katsuki muttered, the effect somewhat ruined by the sweat streaming down his face and the gasps for air he was taking.

“Fuck you too Kats,” Himiko shot back.

“I thought you and Katsuki were bad enough, but those two argue like cats and dogs,” Ochako sighed, slumping against Izuku’s other shoulder.

Izuku paused, humming thoughtfully. “Well…Himiko does have a vestigial cat mutation, and people always said Kacchan was like an angry pomeranian, so it fits.”

“If I could stand I’d fucking kick your ass for that Zu,” Katsuki said, having given up his fight with gravity and laying down on the sand.

“Wait, I have a what?” Himiko said, raising her head off where it rested on Izuku’s shoulder.

“A vestigial cat mutation, I assume inherited. You didn’t know?” Izuku blinked.

“No? How do you know?”

Izuku shrugged. “I just do? I mean, you have slit eyes like a cat, and the thing you do where you vanish from sight isn’t part of your Transform Quirk. I assume it’s related to how cats are ambush predators.”

Himiko stared at Izuku with wide eyes. Ochako shrugged, no longer surprised by his random bursts of insight. Katsuki snorted. “You’re freaking Fangs out there, Zu.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry Himiko!” Izuku gushed, his hands fluttering nervously in the air as he turned to her with wide eyes.

She shook her head for a moment, smiling back at him. “It’s fine Izu, I just get surprised at how your mind works sometimes. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”

“I ain’t used to it and we grew up together,” Katsuki said.

Izuku puffed out his cheeks in displeasure and pouted. “I’m not that bad.”

“Yes you are,” came the deadpan reply from the other three teenagers. Izuku crossed his arms over his chest and sank down, glaring at the sand.

“Ah, there you four are!” Toshinori’s voice echoed out, the skinny blonde stepping around the dumpster to loom over the disheveled teenagers.

“Toshinori? Where have you been?” Himiko asked, craning her neck to look up at him.

“Why, I had to go meet my friend, he finally had time to come down and see you! Kids, meet Sir Nighteye, my former sidekick!” Toshinori gestured to a slender, tall man with dark green hair and yellow streaks through it dressed in an immaculate suit. 

“Oh hello!” Izuku managed to get out, struggling to get to his feet. Unfortunately, he did not take into account the extra weight of the two girls leaning on him, and his feet slipped in the sand, sending him falling backwards and banging his head off the dumpster. The two girls shouted in alarm as they fell, both of them collapsing across his prone form and nearly knocking their heads together.

Nighteye sighed deeply and glared at Toshinori. “And he is your chosen successor?”

“I promise you Mirai, he is more than suited. He is a hero, through and through, even though he himself does not believe that yet.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Izuku muttered as he managed to unentangle himself from the girls, rubbing the back of his head as he sat up.

Nighteye sighed, pinching his nose. “Very well. I’ll speak to you later. Toshinori requested I come assist the four of you with your Quirks for your training. I have the notes he’s given me, based upon the ones you provided Midoriya, so I do hope they are accurate or else we’ll be wasting time.”

“We checked them over before he sent them, Sir Nighteye. He gets our Quirks, I promise!” Ochako said, smiling shakily.

“Good. You just volunteered to go first. Come with me,” he gestured peremptorily. Ochako gulped, sharing a glance with Himiko before struggling to her feet and following Nighteye around the corner.

“I’m given to understand you have misunderstood how your Quirk works, where you initially believed you removed gravity, what you actually were doing was matching the gravitational field on an object subconsciously to make it float, correct?”

“That’s what Izu thinks it does. I never tried anything but making things float before, but when I tried increasing gravity it crushed the dryer flat. Really tied my stomach in knots though.”

“Have you tried altering the gravity to the side? Or in other words, rather than vertical movement, horizontal?”

Ochako shrugged. “Not since the other day. Izuku suggested that too, but after how it made me react I’m a little hesitant.”

Nighteye nodded, scribbling in a tiny notebook. “Alright. And can you transfer the mechanics through a wire as he also theorized?”

“Also haven’t tried that yet.”

“Fine. We’re testing each of these scenarios today. We’re going to stick to very small objects just to see proof of concept, this should prevent the backlash you spoke of. Toshinori explained the wisdom in learning how to fight even a rescue hero, correct?” Nighteye waited for Ochako to nod at him before continuing. “Excellent. As a matter of course, I will suggest focusing on a fighting style that focuses on grappling, holds, and throws. Since your Quirk is reliant on your hands, we’ll prioritize defense of them because losing your fingers means losing your Quirk.”

Ochako’s eyes went wide at the clinical way he spoke. “I-is that something I should worry about?”

“A smart villain who knows how your Quirk works will prioritize your hands. However, you can take measures to protect yourself. Good gloves will help, especially ones that can cover your fingertips and retract with ease. Not an uncommon support item. But we’re going to learn how to fight without support items. You can’t become too reliant on equipment, in the field, the only thing you can truly rely on is yourself and the other heroes around you. Civilians will often be more hindrance than help. So.” Nighteye snapped his notebook shut, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “Let’s begin our tests.”

“Midoriya has it marked down that you have impeccable control over your explosions, yes?”

“I had to, else I’d blow up our fucking house on accident,” Katsuki replied.

“What do the two of you consider ‘impeccable control?”

Katsuki shrugged. “I never let ‘em off unless I want to. I adapt to my fights to only use as big a one as I need to win. Explosions can kill and I’m no fucking murderer.”

“And if you faced someone who has a weakness to heat or force? Would you be able to accurately gauge how big an explosion you need without this knowledge?”

Katsuki looked uncomfortable at that. “Well, I mean, I try to start out small and shit, and ramp up, unless I already know. And they don’t really have as much heat as it seems, it's more force and shit. Else I’d burn myself.”

“But you can burn someone, yes?” Nighteye asked insistently.

“I mean…yeah, I guess,” Katsuki muttered.

“And you can utilize it in many different ways, correct? Midoriya has written here that you can create bright flashes of light without heat, that you can use the concussive force to propel yourself around, and that you even have created a few supermoves.”

“Yeah, the flash is one, I call it Stun Grenade, and I have Howitzer Impact for someone big and tough.”

“Explain Howitzer Impact to me.”

“Err…so explosions and fire need oxygen, right? So I go into the air and quickly with my explosions to pull the air around me in, making like a mini tornado and shit. Then I can throw out one really big explosion with the extra oxygen to fuel it.”

“How well can you aim it?”

Katsuki shrugged. “I don’t use it till I got my target right in sight. Preferably upon hitting them directly. But it's hard to practice out here. So I’ve only done it a couple times and not at anyone yet.”

Nighteye scribbled down in his notebook. “How close to actual nitroglycerin is the chemical you produce, and is it as dangerous to consume as normal nitroglycerin?”

“Far as we can tell it's pretty much fucking identical in all ways. But I’m immune to consuming it. It’s why I’m always careful to wash my hands a lot while cooking for others though.”

“Very well. Your fighting style is fairly set I’m led to believe, but I’d still like to witness it in action so we can see what we can improve on. You have a similar weakness to Miss Uraraka in the fact that a smart villain will go for your hands. Granted you have better ranged options than she does currently, but this is still an important thing to take care of. Let’s see how well you do.”

“So Miss Toga-”

“Himiko, please. I don’t like that name.”

Nighteye glanced up at her for a moment, before nodding. “Very well, Miss Himiko. So. Unlike your companions, your Quirk is not a major boon in combat. You will be better off relying on your natural agility and ability to avoid detection when you must fight, but it would probably behoove you to consider weaponry. Do you have a preferred weapon?”

“I like knives!” she replied with a smile, her fangs peeking over her lips.

“A reasonable choice. Knives would give you a way to get blood, and are effective at stopping villains. However, if knives are your weapon of choice, we will need to spend some time practicing how to use them without killing or maiming your foe permanently. That’s a great way to end your hero career early.”

Himiko nodded. “Yeah, dad says the same thing. He also suggested I go into underground heroics, cause that’s easier to get away with using knives and my Quirk would work better in that.”

“Hmm, your father has the right idea. I was going to suggest the same. Your Quirk would be an excellent boon for infiltration, subterfuge, and investigation. And underground heroics could always use more heroes interested in it. They also operate with…I won’t say fewer rules per se, as they must follow the same laws, but less scrutiny on said rules.”

Himiko nodded again. “Yep, that’s what dad said too!”
Nighteye’s lips twitched upwards slightly. “That all said, I am not a true expert in underground heroics, although I’ve done some work in that area. However, I think what I can help you most with is twofold. One, we’re going to practice adaptability, especially your acting adaptability.”

“Huh? Acting?”

“If you’re going to infiltrate somewhere, you need to be able to act like the person you’ve mirrored. I understand there are some instinctual mannerisms that come through when you transform, but we’re going to hone those to a razor point so you would be indistinguishable.”

“And the second thing?”

In response, Nighteye reached one hand into his chest coat, spinning about in a flash as his hand flicked. A loud crack echoed from the retaining wall behind him, a stamp partially embedded into the stone. He turned back to Himiko. “I have no strength Quirk, or any physical enhancement Quirk. That is solely the province of a support item and my own agility. We’re going to practice something similar for you. You don’t need super strength to still be strong, and I’m going to make sure you can manage that and better.”

Himiko grinned widely at the image, and her grin stretched further as Nighteye pulled a knife from his pocket and set it on the dishwasher before him that he had been using as a desk. She met his gaze as he nodded towards the knife. “Alright Miss Himiko, let’s get started.”

Nighteye pushes his glasses up once more, sighing deeply. “So you’re Toshinori’s chosen successor.”

“Y-yes sir?” Izuku replied.

“I will make this clear. I’m not second guessing his choice. I believe him when he says you have the right spirit. What I am going to do is ask you if you believe you are the right choice?” Izuku froze in place for a moment, eyes wide as Nighteye seemed to directly pick the same thought that kept percolating in his mind every day. Nighteye’s eyes’ narrowed.

“As I thought. You’re not sure if you are either, are you?”

Izuku hung his head in response, refusing to meet the hero's gaze. Nighteye sighed once more. “Stop looking like a kicked puppy. Why aren’t you sure? Do you doubt Toshinori?”

“N-No! All Might’s been my idol since I first saw his debut video! He’s the greatest! And talking to Tenko helped a lot too…but…”

“But you caused the deaths of thirty seven people and injured two hundred and twelve others. Your parents included in that number of deaths, and your childhood friend’s leg included in the injury count. And you don’t believe this gives you the right to inherit One For All, correct?”

Izuku curled in on himself, refusing to look up. “If you’re reading my mind why bother asking questions?” he managed to mutter.

“I’m confirming my theory. And now for my next statement…why are you a hypocrite?”

“What?” Izuku gasped, finally looking up at the man before him.

“Tell me this, Midoriya. Tenko Shimura caused five deaths with his initial Quirk activation. Do you believe that is his fault?”

“N-No, he was just a kid!” Nighteye’s deadpan glare told Izuku exactly how he felt about that statement. Izuku shook his head rapidly. “It’s different!”

“Why? Because of the scale of the incident? What if I told you about a young man in Argentina whose first Quirk activation caused the nearby dam to break and flood his village, killing over one hundred people and injuring countless more. Would you blame that four year old child?”

“W-Well, no, I mean, if it was an accident-”

“Then it can’t be the scale that’s the issue. Is it because a villain was involved? Does that not mitigate it even further? It never would have happened if the villain hadn’t been there. Is it not the villains fault for putting you in that position in the first place?”

“W-well, I mean, he did, but, I-”

“Enough. Let's talk about your Quirk.” Izuku sputtered, the whiplash from the abrupt subject change leaving him flustered. Nighteye continued as if he hadn’t completely confused the greenette before him. “Here’s what we’re going to do today. We are going to experiment with each aspect of your Quirk and take note of every expenditure you make, of what amount was consumed from your reservoir and what the effect was. We’re going to write that all down. And then you are going to memorize every single one of them.”

“Um…why?” Izuku managed to get out, still reeling from Nighteye’s rapidfire subject change.

Nighteye pointed at the monitor on his wrist. “Because that can break. That can be stolen, or forgotten, or malfunction. We’re going to make sure you know every in and out of your Quirk, its functions, and its expenditures by heart so that no matter what situation you are in, you can manage yourself. Especially as even with that on, you won’t have the freedom to constantly be looking down at it. We’ll also use this as a comparison to when you do take One For All from Toshinori, to see how it and One For All Interact.”

“Y-yeah, that makes sense. I was tracking it before, but I haven’t really been doing a lot with my Quirk since we started Toshinori’s training plan.”

“You’re over a third of the way done, so it's time to mix in more Quirk work for you and your friends. We’ll spend the rest of the day on experiments, and I will be with you all once a week going forward to work on control and precision. Now, get up Midoriya. It's time to begin.” Nighteye paused as he stood, turning back to look at Izuku with a steely gaze. “And don’t think you can continue to be a hypocrite about your past. You will learn, Izuku Midoriya, or you will falter when it matters most. Let’s not waste any more time.”

Chapter Text

Three Months

Ochako gasped as she slammed her back into the barrier behind her. She rubbed at her eyes, hoping to clear up some vision from the smoke clouding them. Though she knew it an exercise in futility, she tried to listen in for sounds of another attack, but the distant sounds of shouts, screams, and the burning of flames kept her from being able to make anything out. Another muffled boom sounded nearby, sending sand spraying into the air as a static sounding buzz came out in reply.

She swiped at her brow, trying to brush off some of the dirt and sweat, but only succeeded at spreading it further. Inwardly, she cursed as she’d lost track of one of them. While she knew where the other two were, the most dangerous of them all was still on the loose and hunting. She carefully looked to her left, her right, and up just in case, as three of them could fight in three dimensions.

“Tag, you’re it!” a cheerful voice shouted as she felt a slap on her rear end, making her jump and yelp loudly. She glared at the smirking blonde, the wide fanged grin showing as Himiko giggled, before dashing off madly towards the sounds of Katsuki exploding the sand near Izuku as the two boys tried to keep track of who was it and who wasn’t.

“Quirk tag is more competitive  than I thought it’d be,” Ochako muttered to herself. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she clenched her fists tightly and tapped herself to lower her gravity. With a powerful leap, she jumped over the pile of trash behind her and shouting as she went, using the top of the pile to swing around and launch herself towards the trio that were now throwing sand and trash at each other to keep the other back.

Four Months

“‘Chakooooooooo,” Himiko whined, flopped across the couch at the Bakugo residence. Ochako arched an eyebrow at the blonde, comfortably curled up on the armchair with a book in hand. “‘Ckako I’m bored, entertain me!” the blonde commanded.

“We’re studying, Himi. We have to pass the written tests too, you know.”

“We’ve been at it for four hours! The boys already fucked off to do other shit, why can’t we?”

“They’re cooking dinner, Himiko. That’s not ‘fucking off to do other shit’, that’s important. Very important, because I’m hungry.”

“Hi hungry, I’m Izuku,” came the shouted dad joke from the kitchen, the annoyed groan from Katsuki echoing out a moment later. A loud smack was heard, followed by Izuku cursing and Katsuki guffawing in turn. A second later another smack was heard, the reversed sounds coming out from the kitchen in return.

“Don’t make me come in there!” Ochako raised her voice, unable to keep the smile out of her tone at the now familiar sound of the two boys fighting over something or other.

“Yes ma’am!” Izuku shouted back.

“God you’re so fucking whipped Zu,” Katsuki remarked, the eye-rolling audible from the living room.

Ochako’s cheeks pinked a little, but she was mostly immune to the various teasing Himiko and lately Katsuki had been throwing towards her and Izuku. Not that she was ignoring it, she knew there was a very good reason the two had been so pushy and she knew it was ridiculously obvious, but she wasn’t about to actually say anything. Not yet. Like she told Himiko, she wanted to get into UA first, anything else had to wait. 

But damn were those two making it difficult. Izuku had taken to wearing even tighter clothing since their training had kicked up, compression shirts especially because he mentioned it helped with his chronic pain (not that he’d explained what exactly that pain was, but she was patient. She knew he’d open up eventually), and it was very noticeable what the training was doing to his musculature.

Himiko hadn’t slouched either, her already toned form becoming tight like a dancer or a swimmer, an athlete known for their speed and agility. And it was hard not to notice when they lived and changed together! Sometimes she cursed being a bisexual disaster, at the same time thanking the gods she was because she was surrounded by eye candy and both loved and loathed it at once.

Annoyingly, while she knew she’d gained her own fair share of muscle and she was just as capable as the others, there was still that small layer of fat that stubbornly refused to leave. Toshinori did keep reminding her that that was, in fact, healthier in the long run for her. Being so visibly toned your abs were well defined was a sign of dehydration for most people. Izuku only got a pass because his Quirk caused his body to handle body fat differently than most people. 

Not that she was unhappy with where she was. Though the training was brutal and painful, there was something to be said for being able to see and feel the results as she went. She could run farther, lift more, and her Quirk was developing along with her body. She could see the results and it felt great . But it was so very very very tough to deal with how clingy Himiko was at all times, and when she trained against Izuku and was pressed up against him because she had him grappled or he had her in a hold…yeah, the stuff dreams were made of.

Physical attraction wasn’t her issue though. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen hot people before. It was how nice Izuku was, how smart he was without making her feel stupid. He was often quiet, almost shy, yet when he spoke to Katsuki he became far more confident, more teasing, more able to stand up for himself and she hated how much she loved seeing that side of him. A side that he was showing more and more about her and Himiko, the girl she already knew she had feelings for. 

Himiko made no secret of how she felt about Ochako, even if she hadn’t said the words exactly . She’d blossomed so much ever since she got her new dad, and now she was seldom afraid to just be herself. Ochako loved that about her, how much she teased, how funny she could be, how confident she was in who she was when she was around people she trusted. But that was confusing, having feelings for two different people, even knowing at least one of them shared her view. 

Izuku was much harder to read, he was so practiced at keeping his true feelings hidden that it was very difficult for her to figure out what he thought about the two of them, if his blushing was just his unfamiliarity with how forward Himiko (and sometimes herself…what, it was cute how flustered he’d get!), or if he had some feelings in return. It was…frustrating, but she was waiting anyway so she’d have to see what happened after the exam. Who knew what the future would hold for the four of them?

“Whatcha thinkin’ about, ‘Chako?” the questioning voice of Himiko broke her out of her musings. 

“Huh? Oh…nothing important,” she waved Himiko off with a soft smile. Any further conversation was interrupted by Katuski, yelling at them to get their asses into the dining room because dinner was ready. She set her book down and stood up, stretching slightly as she wandered into the kitchen with Himiko, ready for another day in her new normal.

Five Months

“Ouch,” Izuku muttered, holding one hand up to his temple. The three teens and their mentor turned to look at him worriedly.

“What’s wrong?” Toshinori asked.

“It’s nothing. I’ve just been getting annoying headaches recently,” Izuku said dismissively.

“Headaches? Perhaps I’m working you four too hard, hmm.”

“No, no, it’s not that! This is normal for me, they think I have a sinus issue or something,” Izuku quickly spoke.

“Yeah, nerd’s been having headaches and eye strain since we were little. Never could nail down what actually caused it. Fucking annoying.”

“Hmm, very well, if you’re sure. But if this is making it worse, be sure to speak up. I want you to stay in tip top shape after all!”

“How much more we got?” Himiko groaned, slumped.

“Maybe another month or two?” Izuku offered.

“You’re doing great, kids! I’m impressed! We’re nearing the home stretch for this beach, so don’t you be discouraged now!” Toshinori exhorted, smiling widely at the teens while he stood there, hands on his hips.

“Feels like we’ve been doing this forever,” Himiko grumbled, but her tone lacked any bite to it.

“I know, I know. But that’s part and parcel of being a good hero, training! And you’re doing excellent at it! You’re also coming along very well with your Quirks, Mirai’s training is certainly leaving its mark. I have high hopes for all of you when it comes to the entrance exam.”

“Yeah well, I was gonna be number one either way, but won’t say no to some more training to assure my victory,” Katsuki said.

“Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you,” Izuku deadpanned in response to Katsuki’s arrogance.

“‘Cause no one else would put up with you for eighteen years,” Katsuki shot back. As the two boys began bickering again , the other three simply tuned them both out, well used to their somewhat weird antagonistic relationship.

“So what happens after we finish this beach up anyways? I know you’re gonna give Izu the Quirk, but what else will we do for the last couple months before the exam?” Ochako asked.

“Well, we don’t have any more convenient beaches to clean, so we’ll be moving to a slightly more structured form of training comparatively. Once you’re in the right shape, it’s much easier to keep it so long as you keep up with proper diet and exercise. We’ll have to adjust your diet once more, and you’ll start doing more things like distance runs and weight lifting, but I believe we’ll focus further on your Quirk’s. Mirai has some more exercises he wants you to practice.”

Toshinori gestured to the greenette, the young man currently embroiled in an argument with Katsuki about…what wine to use when cooking Italian food? Ochako wasn’t entirely sure and at this point was too afraid to ask, much less how they somehow got on that topic in the last thirty seconds. “As for him, we’ll need to focus pretty heavily on One For All and how to properly wield it, and especially how much it’ll impact his existing Quirk.”

The girls nodded. As a momentary silence fell across the beach, (not including the boys now debating something involving jet engines), Himiko squirmed for a moment before reaching into her bag and pulling out a framed souvenir photo of All Might.

“Hey Toshinori? Um…my dad, he’s like…a huge fan. I know we’re not supposed to tell anyone you’re training us but I just…I haven’t seen him for a while and he’s done so much for me, so, could you, um-”

“Sign that? Of course! From what little you’ve said of him, he sounds like an excellent father, I’d be happy to sign!” Toshinori smiled as he took the photo from Himiko and the marker she had in hand, swiftly scrawling his signature across the bottom. Himiko’s smile was much softer than it’s normal smirk when she looked at the photo and gently put it back in her bag.

“Yeah. He’s been so good to me, ever since he took me in. I don’t know where I’d be without him. Things were…pretty bad, for a while, after my parents kicked me out. But he found me and did so much for me and then I got to meet Ochako, and then the boys, and you, and he’s just…the greatest. Thanks, Toshi, it’ll mean so much to him.”

“I hope I can meet him one day and then I can thank him for raising a wonderful hero to be,” Toshinori replied with a soft smile.

A gentle punch hit Himiko’s shoulder, making her turn to glance at the smirking face of Katsuki and worried smile of Izuku. “Yeah, maybe he can swing by sometime. And Cheeks parents too, Mom and Pop would happily host a dinner or some shit.”

“Why don’t you ask them if they can make it out here sometime?” Izuku asked. “We’ve got plenty of time before the exam, so it's no rush. Or if it's too much, maybe we should see about going to visit your home? I’m sure you miss it.”

Ochako shook her head with a sad smile. “I do, but…we wouldn’t have any room to really host. Himi’s dad isn’t well off either. But maybe they can come out here?” she asked, turning to look at Himiko for her opinion.

Himiko looked up contemplatively. “Your parents, maybe. I know Dad said he was going to be doing a lot of traveling while I was out here, so I’m not sure if he’s even going to be home anytime soon. Especially once I got the blood situation cleared up, he said he trusted I had that handled and would be working harder than ever.”

“Well, still. No harm in sending an invite, right?” Izuku said.

“Y-yeah, that could be fun! I’ll talk to mine about it tonight!” Ochako smiled.

“Okay, yeah, I was gonna call Dad anyways, I’ll see if he can make it,” Himiko added.

Six Months

“It's too bad your father couldn’t make it, Himiko, but we’re happy to have him over any time,” Masaru said quietly to the blonde girl as he set the table.

Himiko handed him another set of cutlery from where she was helping, long used to the layout of the drawers and cupboards in the Bakugo residence. “It’s fine. I expected he’d be busy. He was really sorry but said he had a really big project at work he had to finish.”

“Still, I’m sure it’s disappointing. I’m glad you’re here though.”

Himiko turned to look at the brown-haired man, blinking rapidly in confusion. “Huh?”

Masaru smiled gently at her. “You’ve been a wonderful friend to our boys. Mistuki and I were so happy when you and Ochako met them and got along so well. It’s nice to see them spending time with someone other than each other.”

“But, what about that one friend Kastuki mentioned, Tsubara?”

“Tsubasa. And while he was Katsuki’s friend, they weren’t very close. Katsuki is…an acquired taste, Mitsuki likes to say. Both he and Izuku were off putting to the other kids in different ways. Izuku had…issues with his past, as you know somewhat. And Katsuki is, well, Katsuki.” Himiko nodded along with Masaru as he spoke. “But the two of you changed things. The two of you not only are their friends, you challenge them. And they appreciate it more than you realize.”

Masaru quietly set the plates down on the table as he spoke, his voice falling even softer than before. “I think Katsuki had almost given up on pushing Izuku. Izuku gave up on his dreams a long time ago. But somehow the two of you managed to push Izuku just that little bit further, enough that he took that first step. And Katsuki…he needs a bit of a tempering influence. I can see it, in the way you challenge him and his assumptions, in how Ochako refuses to back down. He respects that. And what he respects, he listens to.”

“But he listens to Izuku too, isn’t that good enough?”

Masaru shook his head sadly. “The boys are a little too connected at times, we feel. Katsuki is very protective of Izuku, not that he likes to show it. And Izuku would be the same, if anyone hurt Katsuki. Izuku still feels guilty over what happened, and Katsuki just worries for his best friend. They need to be able to make other friends, form other bonds. Not that we want them to stop being friends either. We just want them to make room for other people. And they did…with the two of you. And hopefully more when they get into UA.”

“You’re pretty confident they’ll get in,” Himiko remarked after a few moments of silence.

“Oh of that I have no doubt. Nothing stops Katsuki when he puts his mind to it. And Izuku is just as stubborn, if in a different way. Those two are going to succeed. And so will you and Ochako. You’re cut from the same cloth, and I look forward to seeing you all as heroes in the future.”

Himiko paused for a moment to calm her shaking hands and blink back the tears threatening to fall. The only people who had ever believed in her before were her dad and Ochako, until she met the boys. To hear someone else, someone else’s parent, a father who didn’t abandon his child when times were tough, believe in her was overwhelming. She’d barely had time to speak to Masaru before, his wife and son often overshadowing him in conversation with their bombastic natures and aggressive gestures of affection.

But here he was, thanking her for befriending the two boys when in all honesty it had been as easy as breathing. Two people her age who weren’t afraid of her or her Quirk, who found it fascinating. Two people her age who didn’t look down on her for being adopted, or not coming from money, or not really being great with personal space. Like it was some great personal hardship for her to befriend them, when really, she was so thankful they’d accepted her. 

Not only them, but their parents, Mitsuki and Masaru had welcomed both her and Ochako in with open arms. Toshinori, the Number One Hero All Might, never once flinched around her when she opened another blood bag and downed it, nor found her mannerisms or weird questions off putting. Being here in Musutafu was a breath of fresh air. But she still had trouble believing it, believing people could see her for who she was, so she felt compelled to ask.

“You…really don’t mind my…everything? I know I’m not…normal,” she muttered, unable to meet the older man's eyes.

“The only thing I see here before me is a young lady, with a bright future, who has helped my sons be the best men they can be. Never let anyone tell you your value, Himiko. Only you get to decide that.”

“...thanks.”

He smiled at her once more. “Looks like we’re all finished up in here. I’ll let the boys know and we can start serving everyone. You go ahead and get Ochako and her parents.”

Seven Months

Yagi hummed to himself as he parked his truck in the nearby parking lot. He’d been absent for a couple of weeks, having to fly across Japan to help deal with a major catastrophe brewing in the north, a black market kidnapping ring run by a group of very dangerous villains. At this point, he had no worries about leaving the young adults to their own devices, they had been doing an excellent job at pushing themselves without him watching their every moment. If they had followed his schedule, they’d be done in just another couple of weeks, so he couldn't wait to see how far they’d gotten.

As he rounded the corner to the beach, his eyes went wide in surprise. Every corner of the beach was pristine, sparkling clean with the waves gently lapping at the sand. Not a speck of trash to be seen, not even the areas he hadn’t marked for them to clean! A giggle brought his attention to the right, making him turn to see the four teenagers.

At the top of the last pile of scrap metal waiting to go to the dump Katsuki stood, arms crossed across his chest and a proud smirk plastered on his face. Laying down, almost lounging on the flat piece just to the left of him was Himiko, the blonde teen giving off a smirk that looked like a cat who had gotten into the cream. Sitting next to her, smiling wide and eyes shining, Izuku was slouched forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked down at Yagi. Rounding out the four was the standing form of Ochako, her arms on her hips and pride radiating from her. 

“Oh, my… goodness!” Yagi exclaimed, puffing up into his muscle form in surprise. “Why, you cleared the entire beach ahead of schedule, even the parts I didn’t mark!”

“Plus ultra, right?” Ochako said, her smile growing even wider.

“Fuck yeah Cheeks!” Katsuki cheered.

Yagi nodded, his own smile threatening to split his face in half. His voice boomed as he spoke, internally glad no one was ever around the beach this early. “You four continue to surprise and impress me! Well, young Midoriya…you’ve done everything I asked of you. As have the rest of you. And that means, today is the day.”

Izuku blinked rapidly, his stricken expression making it clear he’d actually somehow forgotten what the end goal was. He gulped, but a gentle shove from Ochako on his back made him look back at her with a soft smile. She beamed down at him as Himiko poked him in the side, her own grin appearing in his view. A loud clang sounded out as Katsuk hopped down onto the surprisingly stable piece of metal the other three were resting on, his hand squeezing Izuku’s shoulder tightly for a moment, before shoving the greenette forward.

Expecting this, Izuku managed to avoid falling onto his face, landing heavily on the sand as he sent a mock glare back up at the blonde boy who was failing to hide his snickers. Shaking his head, he took a deep breath and turned back to his mentor. “O-okay. I’m ready.”

Yagi placed his hand on Izuku’s shoulder, squeezing tightly as he reached up and gripped one of his hairs, yanking it out. “You have done everything I asked and more. I am proud to have witnessed the growth you’ve undertaken these past months. You are an exceptional young man with a heroic spirit, and I am looking forward to seeing you and your friends surpass me. Now, today is your first step on your new path forward. So… eat this! ” he shoved the hair into Izuku’s face.

“... what?” four voices shouted.

After Toshinori had explained the reasoning and the four of them were able to set aside their disgust (well, the three who didn’t have to do it. Izuku was still displeased), he swallowed it down, grimacing the whole way as he drained the water bottle Toshinori offered. He’d informed Izuku and the rest it could be a few hours before he felt anything, so he suggested they head home and relax for a while. 

“The moment you feel it, be sure to call me and I’ll come pick you up so we can do some work with it,” Toshinori had stated. “For now, I need to set up a room at UA for practice, as well as do my normal day job. Lives to save, villains to stop, you know the drill! I’ll be awaiting your call, young Midoriya!”

With that, he’d driven off as the four teens collectively decided to just hang out at the Bakugo residence, where the girls had been staying so often that the guest room had practically become their bedroom at this point. They were so familiar with the house that they didn’t bother with niceties (which Mitsuki had insisted on either way and practically beaten it into their head to consider it a home away from home), causing Himiko to wander off into the kitchen looking for a snack while Katsuki went downstairs to the small home gym they’d setup.

Ochako settled on the couch, leaning back against it and grabbing the remote, channel surfing to see if she could find something to occupy her. Izuku had taken the seat next to her, but he wasn’t paying attention to the television at all, mostly scribbling in his analysis notebook as he always did.

After a little over fifteen minutes had passed, Ochako having settled on some old movie playing on reruns, she noticed that she hadn’t heard the scribbling of Izuku’s pencil for quite some time. Glancing to her right where he was sitting, she caught him staring down at his notebook in consternation, his eyes narrowed. Himiko had perched on the other end of the couch, quietly munching on some chips as she met Ochako’s gaze. The blonde girl jerked her head towards Izuku, silently telling Ochako to say something.

“Izuku? Is something the matter?” Ochako asked.

“Huh? Wha?” Izuku started, jolting up and staring at her with wide, confused eyes. After a moment he realized what she’d asked and let his tense shoulders relax a little. “Oh…no, not really. Just…nervous, I guess. And my headache is back again.”

“Well…why not try taking a nap? It’s not like we’re doing anything important until it kicks in,” Himiko suggested.

Izuku pondered for a moment, nodding a little at the thought. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Okay.” As he began to stand, a hand gripped his wrist and pulled him back down onto the couch with an oof. “What? I was going to go take a nap,” he asked, confused why Himiko had yanked him back down.

“Just nap here, dummy. We’ll keep you safe!” she smirked at him, fangs glinting.

Izuku glanced over at Ochako, the brunette giggling behind her hand with a playful gleam in her eyes. “Yep, listen to Himiko, we’ll keep you nice and cozy.”

Izuku, almost inured to their teasing, just rolled his eyes with an indulgent smile. “Fine, fine, whatever. Wake me up in a couple hours.”

“You got it capn!” Himiko said, saluting. Ochako shoved him with her shoulder as she grinned at him. With a sigh, Izuku leaned back against the couch, almost sinking into the plush softness. He couldn’t deny this couch was excellent for taking naps, his Uncle had apparently been insistent when they bought it that all their living room furniture was nice and cozy, specifically for naptime. 

He expected it would take him time to fall asleep, he was never really easily able to sleep, but for some reason it seemed to sneak up on him rapidly. The exhaustion from the mornings rushed work, the anxiety over what he’d accepted, the pressure behind his eyes from his annoying headache, all of that and more contributed to a level of tiredness he rarely felt all at once. He found himself drifting off to sleep within minutes, the quiet hum of the television and soft chatter of the two girls becoming a lullaby sending him off into dreamland, his breath evening out and slowing, his muscles relaxing and sinking into the couch. He fell asleep gently, softly, feeling safe and warm and comfortable…

…and woke up underwater.

Chapter Text

‘ Water?’ Izuku’s sleep-addled brain questioned, before it hit him. He panicked . It was dark, as if it were night, and underwater in the dark he couldn’t see anything . Desperately he began spinning around in every direction, looking for some light, some indication of the surface of the water, something to tell him where to go or how to get to air. Air! He needed air, he was holding his breath, he…wait. He…wasn’t holding his breath.

Izuku’s panic paused as his analytical mind took over. He realized he’d had his mouth open the entire time, his panic causing him to breathe rapidly and yet he felt fine? Nothing in his lungs, nothing in his mouth, he could breathe without issue. This had to be a dream, that was the only solution. That or some sort of Quirk, but dream seemed more likely since he just fell asleep. Taking a moment to calm himself, he tried to look around again, this time without the panicked motion. After a moment, he finally spotted a glimmering of light in a direction. 

He began swimming towards it, finding the movement almost too easy. He enjoyed swimming normally and thought he was decent at it, but he felt like he was moving far faster than he ever had before, as if the resistance of the water simply wasn’t there . As he swam, the glimmer he saw became brighter and brighter, until he could finally see the surface of the water, refracting the glow from above and scattering it across the surface above. 

He swam as fast as he could, desperate to try to understand what was going on and to get out from under the surface. As he neared it, his hopes rose, giving him a final burst of speed to breach the surface. Instinctually he took a deep breath, even though he hadn’t had breathing issues prior to that he simply couldn’t help himself. Eyes closed, he rested for a moment, laying back against the water and floating gently to try to calm his racing heart.

After a few minutes, he took stock of his situation. He was floating in some form of liquid (he was starting to doubt it was water), and as he looked around he could see almost nothing . Everything was pitch black on the horizon, only the light from above granting him any vision. Daring to glance up, he was nearly blown away by the vision above him. 

Where he expected to see the moon and perhaps some stars, or clouds, instead he was greeted by a massive glowing orb, predominantly green colored but with sparks flying about it of a myriad of other colors…white, yellow, purple, red, gold, and blue, all spiraling about it. Sometimes they seemed to fly into the green orb, the orb flaring into that same color for a moment, before appearing once more outside of it as the orb returned to the radioactive green shade that it was before. This orb seemed to be the only source of light around, illuminating as far as Izuku’s eyes could see which was…not a lot.

Although…he narrowed his eyes in one direction, almost feeling like he could see something that way. Something inside him felt compelled to head that way, and though he remained concerned, he figured he may as well find out where this was taking him. He was still pretty sure this must be a dream of some kind, since the last he remembered was falling asleep and this place clearly was no place on Earth, so he assumed the dream would end when it was supposed to. He may as well see it through.

He swam for what felt like an hour , the tug getting progressively stronger and stronger. It wasn’t until he’d been at it for at least ten minutes he realized he wasn’t feeling tired at all, and decided to kick up his speed to his maximum, zipping through the liquid surrounding him. As he went, his mind cataloged the strangeness around him…how the liquid wasn’t moving, as still as possible beside the disturbances he was causing, how he didn’t actually feel wet from it, almost as if the liquid was simply sliding off of him and his clothing. 

But as he neared what he felt was the hour mark (not that he could remotely tell time, much less the idea that dream time matched real time), he finally spotted something in the distance. As he got closer, it became visible to him a tower seemingly made of cracked and marred stone rising out of the water, a set of spiral stairs following around the outside of it, the end of them dipping into the water, a convenient place for him to reach. At the top of the tower it seemed to expand outward, some sort of platform visible up above, but not something he could see what was up there.

‘ Well, may as well see what's up there, ’ he thought to himself.  When he reached the base of the tower, he clambered out of the surrounding liquid and began to trudge up the steps. It wound along the tower, a simple stone stair with no railing that made him feel a sense of vertigo when he looked over into the placid, black liquid down below, it having calmed down and returned to a perfectly smooth obsidian looking surface once he exited.

As he neared the top, he noticed a sound, the first sound that he hadn’t been responsible for. It sounded like…voices? The low murmur of voices got louder and louder as he went up the stairs, his steps slowing involuntarily as he felt a creeping sense of dread. Was this dream a nightmare? He’d had his fair share, so it wasn’t something he was unused to. Being used to it didn’t mean he liked it though.

He took a deep, bracing breath and decided to just…deal with it. Better to just face the nightmare and have his nap ruined so he could get out of it than cower here. Although for a nightmare this was weird, he had a lot more control than he normally did, and it wasn’t like he was normally cognizant of his dreams to begin with. This was a very weird dream, but still…best to deal with it.

As he crested the final set of stairs, he finally could see the entirety of the stone platform. A series of throne-like chairs were arranged in a circle, nine of them at his hurried count. His gaze was stolen from them though to the seven, no wait, eight figures within said circle. 

The first he took note of was the one most different from the others, a towering figure made of yellow flame. It was the least solid one he could see, but something about it reassured him, reminded him of someone he trusted. However, it simply stood there, almost unmoving, it's glowing white eyes gazing upon the others before it.

Next his gaze was pulled to the trio in the middle, a pale, slender, white-haired young man who appeared to be arguing with another two men…one with short blonde hair with a massive x shaped scar on his face, and the other with a long ponytail pulled back, his forehead covered in a black bandana.

A tall, quiet looking man with a large scar running down through his left eye to his lower lip was quietly observing, his arms crossed as he cast his gaze over the arguing trio. Next to him was a shorter, bulkier man with large shoulders and an open vest, snickering as he murmured something to the quiet man next to him.

Seated in a chair was another man, a high collared jacket hiding his lower lips and short cropped dark hair upon his head. He had his legs pulled up, resting one arm over his knee as he looked almost bored at the happenings, occasionally glancing up to the one feminine figure in the room. 

She stood with her hands on her hips, looking exasperated, a white cape falling from her shoulders, her black hair partially pulled back in a bun. Large yellow gloves covered her hands, the same one gripping her hips as she glared at the arguing trio in the center. It was her who first noticed Izuku’s approach, her eyes going wide in recognition and shock while he remained confused.

Swiftly, she turned back to the figures in the center and raised her voice to say something but was drowned out by the three in the middle. Gritting her teeth, she pulled off her gloves, shoved her fingers in her mouth, and gave an ear-piercing whistle, causing the others to all turn to look at her.

“Look over there you idiots,” she said, exasperation clear in her voice. All seven turned to look at Izuku, the greenette losing all sense of bravery and now feeling like he should have just not approached the tower and stayed in the water.

“...well. This is…unexpected,” the white-haired man spoke, his voice thin and wispy.

“...the fuck kinda dream is this?” Izuku muttered to himself.

“Okay. Okay. Let me get this straight,” Izuku said, rubbing his temples. “You are the past holders of One For All, including Toshinori, who is over there somehow even though he’s alive unlike the rest of you,” Izuku pointed at the figure made of flame in the back, which gave a small wave in response. “And for some reason, you can talk to me , but not to anyone else before?”

“We could appear, but nothing so concrete at this, no,” Yoichi, the one who identified himself as the First, said.

“Then why now ,” Izuku whined. “I have enough to deal with, I don’t need to be haunted too!”

“Kid, chill out, it ain’t a bad thing,” the Fifth, identified as Daigoro Banjo, interjected.

“And why are those two refusing to look at me?!” Izuku exclaimed, pointing at the only two who hadn’t introduced themselves (although by process of elimination he could figure out they had to be wielders two and three somehow).

“Because they are children,” Seven, known as Nana Shimura, said in an exasperated tone.

“We’re both older than you, Seven,” the one with the ponytail growled, still refusing to turn around from where he’d faced away once they noticed Izuku.

“Which gives you less of an excuse to act this way!” she shot back.

“...It's nice you’re defending me but calling them children still doesn’t explain why ,” Izuku pointed out.

Yoichi ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “I’m sorry Nine. They are from a different time period and tend to be more critical of newer wielders.”

“Yeah, they give us shit too,” Daigoro added. 

“...but if you’re the First, aren’t you from that time period too?”

“Well, yes, but our experiences were very different. Give them some time, I’m sure they’ll come around.”

“ HAH! ” one of the two shouted in derision, both still refusing to turn and look at him.

Izuku rubbed at his temples again, his headache (how did he get headaches while dreaming ?) somehow getting worse. “Okay, whatever, moving on…what is this place?”

“Well, the orb in the sky is One For All,” En the Sixth spoke up for the first time since introducing himself.

“Yeah…got that. But what's with the weird lake? And this tower? And why did I wake up somewhere in that lake and have to swim here?!”

“Well, the tower is the manifestation of, well, where we vestiges stay,” Yoichi said calmly. “As for the lake…that’s your Quirk, Nine.”

“...what?”

“The energy you live off of, that’s what the lake is. As you theorized, One For All did have an impact on your Quirk, but while it is a source of power and strength, it does remain separate from the energy you absorb,” Yoichi explained, keeping his tone calm and level.

“Why is it so…so…placid? It always feels so active, like it's pushing against my chest!”

“Well, you’re sleeping,” Nana pointed out. “It mirrors your mood, like most Quirk’s do. If you’re feeling anxious or upset, it will react like you are and become more turbulent.”

“Oh so it's always going to feel that way,” Izuku muttered quietly. Considering he spent most of his life either anxious or upset in some fashion, it seemed like it’d always be disturbed unless he was asleep apparently. But as he considered the complexities of his Quirk, a sudden thought popped into his mind.

“Wait, do you know how it impacted my Quirk?” Izuku asked hurriedly, his inner Quirk analyst nature coming to the forefront.

“A little, but not the whole thing yet. You gotta experiment to see, we can only see the connections, not how the connections impact the usage,” Nana replied.

“Damn,” Izuku muttered, disappointed.

“Be honest with yourself, would you have been happy if we had all the answers, or would you prefer to figure them out on your own?” she asked, grinning.

Izuku flushed slightly, his shoulders hunching. “Y-yeah I guess I’d rather figure out the details myself…”

“However, that’s for your Quirk. As for One For All, we do intend on helping you with that, because otherwise, you’re just going to get hurt.”

“Oh. Um…okay. So…what do I have to do?”

“Well, it isn’t entirely different from what you do to activate the power up effect from your own. Spread the power evenly across your body. As far as we can tell, it appears to have supplanted that earlier ability since their activation mechanisms are so similar. But it does appear like you need to keep following the concept of it flowing in and out,” Yoichi explained.

“But keep the percent you use low kid. You’re in good shape, but Eight spent four decades adding power to it, so it's more powerful now,” Daigoro said.

“What’s the point if I can’t use it at its best though?” Izuku asked.

“We’re not saying stick to a low percentage forever. We’re saying to build up your ability to handle more over time. Besides, it's best to start there. You don’t want to punch someone with the full force of One For All if they can’t take the hit. Learn to use the weaker percentages and move up to the stronger for more dangerous foes,” Nana replied.

Izuku thought about that, thought about what he’d seen All Might do and flinched instinctively at the thought of hitting a normal person with a Detroit Smash. Okay, they had a point about starting smaller and working his way up. 

“You’ll need to work that out on your own though. We can speak to you here, but One For All hasn’t settled in enough for us to speak to you outside this shared dreamspace,” Yoichi gestured to the platform they were standing upon.

“So…you can’t watch me all the time?”

Daigoro waved his hand back and forth. “We can , we choose not to, not unless something pings with the hermit.”

“What?” Izuku blinked in confusion.

“My Quirk, Danger Sense,” Fourth, the one called Hikage, spoke up. “Even as a vestige, it's active for me, and I can tell when you feel like you’re in danger. Eventually, you should be able to access it yourself.”

“Wait, what ?” Izuku choked.

Yoichi rubbed his forehead. “Hikage, we were going to ease him into that over time!”

Hikage shrugged. “I see no reason to not inform him of everything.”

Yoichi sighed and turned back to the frozen Izuku. “This current transfer of One For All pushed it over the edge into its Singularity stage. I assume you’ve heard of the Quirk Singularity theory?” Izuku simply nodded, not entirely sure where this was going but having enough of an idea he didn’t want to interrupt. “Well, we’ve reached a point like that. Over time, you will gain access to the Quirks of the past users. Well, except Toshinori’s since he did not have one, and the stockpiling power is mine as is. So, six more.”

“...every day I wake up and think it can’t get any worse and it somehow does,” Izuku deadpanned.

“You’re asleep, so that statement doesn’t work here,” En interjected.

“Not to mention you can’t pretend you haven’t been happier these past few months!” Nana chimed in, grinning widely.

“How would you know that? I’ve only had this Quirk for…like an hour or something!?”

“Three hours and seventeen minutes,” Hikage said.

Izuku stared at Hikage, idly wondering if he was somehow more pedantic than Izuku was. He dismissed that after a moment to continue his line of questioning. “Fine, whatever! Either way, you haven’t been here long enough to know!”

Daigoro rubbed his head sheepishly. “Well, you see, we…err…well see, we kind of get to see your memories when you get the Quirk?”

Izuku stared blankly at the man, blinking slowly. He turned to look at the others one by one, his gaze studiously blank as they all either avoided his gaze sheepishly or matched it, unconcerned by his reaction. Izuku took a deep breath. 

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Well…fuck,” he repeated himself. The fiery figure of Toshinori’s vestige stepped over to stand beside Izuku, laying one hand on his shoulder and squeezing in such a familiar, comforting fashion that it nearly brought tears to the greenette’s eyes. Izuku quickly rubbed at his eyes and took another deep, bracing breath. “Okay. Okay, I’m okay. That’s not ideal, but I can handle it.”

“We’re not going to judge you, Nine,” Yoichi said warmly. “Well, except for Two and Three, but they don’t count.”

“Fuck you too First,” the short haired one said, although there was no venom in the voice.

“Oh come now, we get you don’t like Pro Heroes and such, but no reason to take it out on the kid,” Nana said, the earlier exasperation back.

“Ugh. Okay, I’ll say this now so we don’t have to say it a-fucking-gain. Nine, our problem with you has nothing to do with all that stupid guilt you’re carrying around. We have a higher body count than you do by a metric fuckton. So don’t go getting stuck in your head about that. We have other issues when it comes to Eight’s choice. Got it?” The ponytailed one turned just enough to meet Izuku’s eyes, a half-hearted glare in them. 

“Y-yeah, sure. Okay,” Izuku muttered, his gaze falling away from the vestiges searching gaze. With a ‘hmph’, the vestige turned back to the wall, going back to ignoring Izuku’s presence. 

“My point stands. We’re not judging you, I promise you,” Yoichi said into the silence that fell.

“Why not? You…if you saw, then you understand, don’t you?”

“Not really. Looked like an accident to me,” Daigoro shrugged. Izuku gaped at him.

“I wouldn’t be so flippant about it, but he is correct, Nine. Childhood Quirk accidents can be devastating, but that is rarely if ever the fault of the child,” Hikage said.

“Plus it was definitely that asshole's fault,” Nana chimed in. “If he hadn’t been some creep who was getting off on hitting kids with lightning bolts, none of that would have happened.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to him? Was he ever apprehended? Your memories aren’t clear on that.” En asked, tilting his head to the side.

Izuku shook his head no slowly. “No…no one has seen him since, but I don’t think I ki-ki-...got him. Everyone who was…lost, that day, left…um…left…”

“No need to struggle to explain, Nine. We understand what you’re trying to say,” Yoichi gently cut off his stuttering attempts at answering the question.” 

“Izuku…if you’re going to be stuck in my head, I’d rather you just called me by name,” he said quietly, still not meeting anyones gaze. 

“Very well, Izuku it is,” Yoichi smiled softly, although the effect was lost on the young man as he kept his gaze locked on the stone floor beneath him.

A small rumble shook the platform, sending ripples expanding outward from the tower's base. “Wh-what is that?” Izuku asked, eyes going wide in worry.

“You’re waking up, it seems. Looks like our time is cut short. Just remember what we said about being careful and using small amounts at first.”

“Oh and, I’d get some sunglasses for now,” Nana said with a pained smile.

Izuku went to ask another question, but the entirety of the world rumbled once more and he found himself yanked out of it, the tower, the orb, the lake all vanishing before him as he snapped into alertness, practically leaping up from the spot he’d been laying in. Unfortunately, Ochako had been leaning over him as he did, and the two smacked their heads into one another with a loud yelp of pain and confusion.

“ Fuck, ” he hissed as he held his head.

“You said it,” Ochako groaned, having partly fallen backwards and was now laying against the arm of the couch.

“Geez Zu, trying to kill Cheeks just for being nice enough to check up on you, what a guy,” Katsuki remarked with a wry grin.

“Oh shove it,” Izuku muttered, his eyes still closed as he rubbed at his forehead. “Someone call Toshinori, we have to talk .”

“Oh, can you feel One For All now?” Himiko asked eagerly.

“Something like that,” Izuku muttered. He lifted his hand off his head and began to open his eyes, but instantly yelped and slammed them shut again as a blinding flash of light seared into his eyes, making his headache a dozen times worse. “Fucking hell someone shut off the lights!”

“Um…the lights are pretty dim, Izu,” Ochako said, worry evident in her tone at his reaction.

Izuku paused for a moment, before remembering what Nana had said and groaned. “Oh…dammit. Kacchan, can you go get one of Auntie’s sunglasses? I…I think something changed.”

Katsuki arched an eyebrow at the prone greenette, but shrugged. “Yep, on it. Fangs, mind giving Toshinori a call and letting him know we need to see him?”

“Aye aye captain!” Himiko said, saluting as she pulled out her phone.

“Anything I can do to help?” Ochako asked quietly, laying her hand over Izuku’s and gently squeezing.

“If you could find something for headaches I’d love you forever,” Izuku muttered, not noticing  what he actually said as he rubbed at his temples. His closed eyes missed how Ochako’s eyes went wide and red creeped up her face, how Himiko’s grin expanded like the Cheshire cat, at how Katsuki managed to hide his snickering behind his hand as he was stepping out of the room.

“Oh, um, y-yeah, sure, I’ll go find some!” Ochako stammered out, practically leaping off the couch and dashing towards the medicine cabinet in the first floor bathroom.

Himiko giggled as hit the button to dial Toshinori, the sound reaching Izuku’s ears and making him wonder why she was, but dismissing it as another fresh wave of pain shot across his skull, feeling like his eyes were melting out of their sockets. 

“Okay. This is…manageable,” Izuku muttered, rubbing at his temples again as he managed to squint, the sunglasses helping dim the bright lights he was seeing somewhat. After having quickly downed the pills Ochako had given to him (and why she was acting so weird was something he wanted to ask her about when he didn’t feel like his entire brain was trying to escape from inside the prison that was his skull), his headache was, at the very least, tolerable enough to actually open his eyes.

And now that he could see, he was able to finally make some guess as to what was going on. The lights he was seeing were coming from the three teens in the room with him, powerful glows that seemed to shine from underneath their skin.

With Kacchan, it was a brilliant orange color that seemed to almost pop beneath his skin, most prevalent on his hands but circulating throughout his entire body. Ochako had a pink glow running through her, her fingertips shining orbs of pink that led small threads of pink up her arms and throughout her upper body, down to her abdomen and up her neck into her head. Himiko’s glow was nearly her entire body, a roiling, bubbling, shifting yellow that seemed to almost strain against her skin, like it was trying to escape at all times.

Izuku glanced down at himself to try to confirm his suspicion and yep, there it was, a brilliant green glow even without his Quirk active, the brightest spot smack dab in the middle of his where the organ that held his energy was. But now, he could see another glow, one that shifted through the colors just like the orb he saw in his dreamspace had, that one glowing as bright as the sun just below the green one he was somewhat familiar with.

Just to check, he ignored the questions the other three were asking him and went to the door, opening it and looking outside, just to see if he could see other people. Though the street wasn’t too busy, he could spot a few people around. The ones he recognized were awash in colors…dark red, navy blue, deep brown, etc. But strangely, anyone he didn’t know were all a simple soft white. 

The glow still presented itself differently, sometimes concentrated in their hands, sometimes in their feet or chest or not concentrated at all, but in each case, it was a soft, glowing white, with little to no details. He focused on the first person he saw with an obvious mutation, a young man walking down the street with a long, slender, scorpion-like tail and started considering what his Quirk was.

As he started to work through it, noticing the stinger at the end of it that was tightly capped with some sort of metallic device, the slight hunch in the man's gait which implied a different hip bone structure, the slight sheen of chitinous substance appearing on the man's bared wrists, the white glow shifted, changing, turning to a deep, vibrant purple.

“Holy shit,” Izuku murmured to himself, blinking rapidly beneath the sunglasses. A rough hand gripped his shoulder and practically yanked him back through the open door, a clearly annoyed Katsuki slamming the door shut behind him as he spun the greenette around.

“Izuku, fucking answer us!” he growled in the other boy's face, the two girls behind him both mirroring his annoyed expression.

Izuku blinked, trying to come to terms with what he was seeing, able to actually see the way the orange glow within Kacchan’s body was beginning to pop and sparkle more than before, at the same moment those sparks appeared in the blonde’s hands.

“I…I think…I think I can see Quirks?” Izuku asked as much as answered, confusion evident in his voice even as he said it out loud.

“...what?” came the deadpan reply from Katsuki. Izuku shrugged and opened his mouth to speak, but a rapid fire knocking on the front door interrupted him. Ochako stepped over to open the door, the skinny form of Toshinori in the doorway standing there, breathing heavily.

“What’s going on? Himiko seemed concerned when she called? Young Midoriya, are you alright?”

“Oh boy,” Izuku breathed. “Okay. Um…you might want to sit down for this…”

Toshinori’s jaw was slack, his entire expression so confused and almost in pain that part of Izuku regretted saying anything. From the moment Izuku had said the name ‘Nana’ he’d witnessed every ounce of strength vanish from Toshinori’s form, the hero looking more like a lost child than a grown man at that moment.

“Y-you…you saw…Nana?” he managed to get out, struggling.

“Y-yeah,” Izuku replied, wincing.

Toshinori gulped, his shoulders hunching as he spoke quietly. “H-how w-was she? Was she okay? Did she look okay? Was she happy? Was she-”

“Yo, chill, give Zu a chance to answer,” Katsuki cut off Toshinori’s increasingly frantic questioning. In a mirror to the gesture the older man had often done to encourage the teens before, Katsuki placed his hand on Toshinori’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. It wasn’t sitting well with Katsuki, witnessing the great hero All Might looking so lost and hurt. It bothered him, a lot if he was being honest. 

He’d accepted a while ago that Toshinori wasn’t infallible…the wound he’d suffered proved that before. But these past seven months his respect for the man only grew, how he remained such a beacon to people, a hero who always won no matter what the odds, even with his injury. And he knew, intellectually, that everyone had things that hurt them, that upset them. But witnessing it before him, with the man he looked up to more than anyone save his own father…he didn’t know what to do to help, so he did the best he could and tried to show his support, even while trying to reconcile the insanity Izuku was now spilling.

“She looked good, Toshinori. She’s very pretty,” Izuku tried to reassure the older man.

“Yes. Yes she was,” the blonde replied quietly. He took in a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and looking up to meet Izuku’s gaze with a steely look of his own. “Alright. That is enough of that. I should not be so surprised you were the one to see her and the other holders…you always impress me. I am just more impressed now, and I am even more confident in you as my choice.”

“I think it would have happened to whoever you gave it to, Yoichi said it’s because it hit the Singularity point due to the transfer,” Izuku protested.

“Perhaps, but I still believe in you and what you can accomplish. Seeing them so soon is a sign, of this I am sure. Let’s discuss what else you spoke about, and especially this new ‘vision’ you seem to have. You say it seems like you can see Quirks, but unless you know details it is only a white color?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah. I think I have to know the details of how it works for it to start gaining color, and then it seems to give me more…insight into it? Like…I can see how Kacchan’s Quirk actually runs throughout most of his body, not just his hand, and I think that means he can run it through his system?”

“Wait, what? Holy shit…what if I can explode from all over? That’d be fucking badass,” Katsuki pondered, his grin growing as he contemplated the thought.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea though!” Izuku protested. “It's…like, the thing I see implies you can but also that it can hurt you if you do it. Your arms are reinforced against your explosions but not all of you are.”

“Yes, let’s hold off on experimenting with turning you into even more of a walking bomb than you are,” Ochako deadpanned.

“Tch. Fine. But I’m not forgetting this, this sounds fucking cool,” Katsuki muttered.

“Wait…if that’s not something from One For All, then…that’s been part of your Quirk this whole time. Is that why you thought I could use other peoples Quirks when transformed?” Himiko gasped.

“Huh,” Izuku replied thoughtfully, looking up at the ceiling in contemplation. “Maybe this was always part of my Quirk and it was only when One For All integrated with me that it became so much more obvious.”

“Well, that’d explain those headaches of yours then,” Katsuki remarked.

“Maybe,” Izuku shrugged. “It's weird with you though, Toshinori…like, I see the same color-changing orb that I saw in my dream and in my chest, but it's much dimmer and seems to be slowly draining.”

Toshinori nodded solemnly. “Yes, a visual indicator of the remaining embers of One For All within me. It is interesting you’ll be able to see it fade. If I may ask a favor of you, please do keep me in the loop with how far it's fading. I can better prepare for my retirement this way, haha!”

“Um…yeah, sure, okay,” Izuku said.

“That said, it would probably behoove us to figure out how to manage it…chronic headaches and eyestrain is likely not good for you. Either another support item, or perhaps there is a way to turn it off? Have you tried seeing if you can…well, disable the effect?”

“Worth a shot, I guess,” Izuku muttered to himself. He closed his eyes and focused on his Quirk, trying to see if he could somehow find the mechanism that was controlling this new vision of his. Since he didn’t have any eye mutations he knew of, he was pretty sure this wasn’t directly related to his eyes so much as that was where the sense was being used. Especially as the colors didn’t make sense, unless he took his own biases into account. He was pretty sure what he actually was doing was sensing a form of energy (that of Quirk’s), and his subconscious was showing it to him through his eyesight and relying on his own thoughts of what color that Quirk would be . 

It was the fact that a color didn’t occur until after he puzzled out what the Quirk was that clued him into that. So if that was true, he should theoretically be able to turn the sense off, or at least, make it so it was dismissed, like how people could ignore background noise in their everyday life. He tried to follow the path of his Quirk through his body, following the channels he’d slowly been able to sense over time how they functioned and how well they could channel his Quirk. Using that as a basis, he figured he could follow the ‘sense’ that was showing him this and turn it off, or at least make it fade into the background.

Now that he thought about it, now that he witnessed how his mind had turned his Quirk into some sort of lake or sea, he decided to keep with that metaphorical reality. Concentrating, he could see it before him, and like the vestiges had warned him, while awake it was no longer placid. The surface was covered in waves and roiling currents, a constant motion that he could feel mirrored in his chest. It was almost hypnotic, how he could feel the pulses in time with the waves surging across the surface before him, how he could actually feel the currents tugging and pulling across his body.

He dove into it in his mind, swam deep down, seeking, searching, scanning for anything that indicated one of the powers of his Quirk hidden underneath the energy. And there , there, he could sense something. A spherical bubble, whirling and spinning beneath the surface, a swirling sphere of water that pulsed, ebbed, and flowed. That was what he was looking for. He could see a current spiraling off of it, carving through the lake towards the stone tower he’d witnessed before. 

He followed it, moving incredibly fast now that he knew he was within his mind, no troubles traversing it. And yes, there , it swirled about the bottom of the tower, deep under the surface, far deeper than he had initially been, almost as if it intended on grasping it and crumbling it into the lake. Izuku could only assume that the tower must also be the link between his Quirk and One For All, which explained why it seemed so supercharged if it was causing him headaches. He could see other currents wrapped about the tower, spiraling off into the distance…other aspects of his Quirk, he figured.

Now to figure out how to make it turn off without destroying it.Izuku pondered for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders mentally. Maybe just moving it? This was his mind after all, could he just…detach it? Or perhaps he could just lessen the control it had…hmm. Izuku focused on the current, all his mental strength pushing against it, trying to slow it down, to bring the current to a less drastic and fast speed. He could feel it slowing down, lessening, still there but far less drastic. Just to check, he spun it back up, letting it whip itself into a frenzy once more, and in no time it was back to full strength. Assuming he was right…this was how he could call upon it at will. 

Experimentation requires verification, he thought to himself. He pushed the current back again, slowing it down, and allowed his mind to fade back into his body. His eyes flickered open, the sunglasses still firmly in place, but no longer did he see the glow. He focused, calling upon the current again and wham , the light was back and he winced. Swiftly he shoved it back down again, breathing a sigh of relief as it faded and he reached up, snatching off the sunglasses.

“You got it?” Katuski asked, arching an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I can turn it on and off now. Pretty cool,” Izuku grinned to himself. He was starting to enjoy this, enjoy finding the little twists and turns in his Quirk. Something he’d avoided his entire life, but now he was actually…having fun. 

“Well done Young Midoriya!” Toshinori exclaimed, slapping the greenette on the back. Izuku jolted forward a step, turning to give a playful glare at the taller man who chuckled in response. “But that said, I think it's time we got you testing out One For All. Let’s head over to UA, Nezu has already set up a training ground for you! And Chiyo is there as well in case something goes wrong.”

“That is not encouraging, you know,” Izuku deadpanned. Toshinori simply chuckled again and led him and the other three teens out the front door.

“Okay young Midoriya, remember what the vestiges told you. Let’s start small and work your way up. Feel the core of One For All within you and channel it, just a little bit. You have to feel it,” Toshinori said, as they stood a few meters away from where Izuku stood in front of a series of punching bags, Principle Nezu and Recovery Girl also part of the observing group.

Izuku took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing on the orb he remembered floating in the sky. Ignoring the pulsing energy in his chest, he chose instead to reach for the burning sun, grasping it firmly and pulling on it. Remembering the words of the vestiges, he only grasped at a little. Easiest way to do it was to work in percentages, so he thought starting at ten percent would be fine, right?

He exhaled, letting the energy flow across his body like he would with his Quirk and holy shit , that was a rush. His entire body felt electrified, a surge of power unlike his Quirk and yet still felt familiar, somehow. His eyes snapped open as he glowed, red lines criss-crossing his body where his channels ran, a moment later vanishing as green lightning began to sparkle around him, crackling with energy.

“Woah,” Himiko said appreciatively, the other two teens mirroring her awestruck expression. 

“Alright, that looks pretty badass,” Katsuki said. He nodded once at Izuku. “Punch the thing, I wanna see what you can do now.”

Izuku nodded, turning back to the punching bag in front of him. Designed specifically to take on super strength Quirks, everyone was pretty sure it’d survive since he wasn’t trying to pull an All Might and go full out changing the weather with a punch. He squared up, planting his feet firmly and wound up, pulling back his fist and keeping his breathing under control. In, and out , throwing his fist forward. It slammed into the bag with a loud thud , the bag rocking backwards, the metal chains holding it in place shivering but not cracking.

Katsuki let out a low whistle. “Damn, that’s a hit. What percent was that?”

“Figured I’d start small, ten percent seemed reasonable enough,” Izuku replied. He shook his hand out. Recovery Girl immediately stepped forward and grabbed his hand, examining it closely with narrowed eyes.

“Any pain? Anything feel off?” she demanded.

Izuku shook his head. “Just the sting from hitting it. I didn’t think to wrap my knuckles first.”

Recovery Girl sighed. “Well, I can’t fault that, I didn’t even mention it either. If you’re going to try again, let's get them wrapped properly. Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Yes ma’am,” Izuku replied, accepting the bandages from her and wrapping his knuckles. Taking a moment to bounce in place, he rolled his shoulders. “Okay. I’ll try for twenty percent now?”

“A big leap, but go for it young Midoriya, I have confidence in you,” Toshinori replied. With another deep breath, Izuku reached to the orb once more, pulling on more to try and grasp the twenty percent he wanted to go with. The green sparks around him intensified, glowing slightly brighter and appearing more often, but otherwise he felt fine. He repeated his prior steps…planting his feet, pulling the strength up from beneath and swung .

“Owch,” he said, wincing as the bag shot backwards, the metal chains holding it cracking under the force. He gripped his hand, rubbing at it with a pained expression on his face.

“Let me see, let me see,” Recovery Girl had almost appeared at his side as if by magic, turning his hand back and forth and examining it closely. She poked and prodded at his hand, watching his reactions and humming thoughtfully to herself.  “Hmm. I can’t be entirely sure without equipment, but I don’t believe you broke anything. Perhaps a few microfractures, but even if you didn’t, it's clear twenty may be a little too much for you right now.”

Izuku shook his hand out as soon as she let it go, nodding along in understanding. “Okay…um…let me try fifteen then?” She looked up at him seemingly, before nodding.

“Alright young man, but punch with your other hand this time. I’ll heal you afterwards just to be safe, but it's best we not drain your stamina beforehand.”

Izuku nodded again, swiftly letting some of the power from One For All drain away until he held what he thought was about fifteen percent. Taking his stance again, he threw a punch with his left. This time, the pain was just the normal sting of knuckles meeting a solid object, the bag rocking back but still staying connected to the chains (although they weren’t looking that great). 

“Okay, yeah, that seems to be safe. It doesn’t hurt!” Izuku said, grinning widely.

Recovery Girl grabbed his right hand once more and planted her lips on it, the wash of her healing removing the remaining pain as Izuku wobbled for a moment, feeling his vision go blurry for a brief second.

“Oh, whoa. Okay,” Izuku muttered as he regained his balance. He glanced down at his wrist where the meter was, noticing that the bar was noticeably smaller than it had been before, probably about five percent drained away.

“Yes, my Quirk drains the stamina of people when I heal them. If I healed someone too exhausted, it's plausible it could kill them. That is why you cannot come to be reliant on my Quirk, young man. Or any of you!” Recovery Girl stated, as she turned to give her best nurse glare to the other three teenagers. Even Katsuki knew better than to annoy the nurse hero, and nodded along with the other three.

Toshinori clapped his hands. “Well, that settles it then! Now that we have made sure young Midoriya can handle this, we’re going to have to examine the impact on his original Quirk and work on getting him better with One For All. But that’s not all my young trainees…you must also work on your mind. You have three months to prepare for the exam, both the physical part and the scholastic part. Let’s get you four home and get you started on the final phase!”

Izuku clenched his fists, letting the lightning sparking fade away as he breathed deep. This was it. The final steps to his new start, the last stretch before he got to the next phase of his life. He exchanged a glance with his friends…Katsuki, the brother who had always supported him…Himiko, the fun and quirky woman who’d helped him rediscover what it meant to just enjoy things…and Ochako, the kind and yet fierce woman who had made sure he never got too stuck in his own head, that he could finally maybe accept a nice thing said to him or two…He was ready for the next step.

Chapter Text

Ochako would normally be much more nervous about tomorrow, it being the entrance exam and all, but right now? She really couldn’t find it in her to be nervous. The quartet of friends had decided to have a night hanging out together, the two girls crashing at the Bakugo’s for the night. Mitsuki and Masaru were out on business, so the four had the house to themselves. 

For all the fact they were unsupervised teenagers, they were dedicated to being prepared, so they hadn’t done anything wild. Merely cooked a lovely dinner (well, the boys did), and had sat down to watch some movies together. Katsuki had left earlier though, insistent on his bedtime being exactly nine like some old man, leaving the two girls and Izuku to watch a couple more before heading to bed themselves

Which was how Ochako found herself in the position she was. She was snuggled into Izuku’s side, her head resting on his shoulder as his arm was wrapped around her opposite one. Curled up on their laps was Himiko, the blonde girl's head laying in Ochako’s lap and her lower body over Izuku’s. Ochako had her free hand buried in Himiko’s hair, gently running her fingers through it as Himiko quietly purred. She noted Izuku’s free hand was resting on Himiko’s lower leg, nothing inappropriate, just simply laying there and holding it gently. 

Moments like this had somehow become more common over the last three months before the exam, times when the three of them found themselves tangled together. Sometimes they had Katsuki with them, but the boy wasn’t entirely comfortable with that level of touch and preferred his personal space. Though he’d often just be a foot or so away, still with them, still part of the group, just not quite as cuddly. 

On some level Ochako understood his reasoning. He never lied to them about how he felt about touch, the fact he was always cautious about it due to his sweat getting to places that wouldn’t be safe for others. But she also knew, from the way he’d look at Izuku and his gaze would soften just a tiny bit, how he’d study her and Himiko, like he was waiting for them to do something wrong, that he really was trying to encourage…whatever this was. What this was was something she wasn’t quite ready to say out loud, but…

“Hey Izu? Himi?” Izuku turned to her, arching an eyebrow as Himiko, eyes closed, gave out an assenting sound to indicate she was listening. Ochako gave a soft, small smile, one unlike her normal sunshine grins, and spoke into the quiet of the late night. “After the exam…I have something I want to talk to you two about, if that’s okay?”

Himiko’s eyes flickered open at that, rolling over slightly so instead of being curled inward towards the two of them and their body heat she was laying flat as she looked up at Ochako with a searching gaze. Izuku’s look was almost blank, but there was a sense she got from his wide, guileless eyes that he understood what she wasn’t saying.

“Okay ‘Chako. That’s good with me. I…wanted to talk to you two about something as well. After the exam,” Himiko said quietly.

Izuku nodded slowly. “Y-Yeah. Sure. We can talk. But it is kind of late. Maybe we should get ready for bed? Tomorrow’s going to be a big day.”

Himiko stretched, arching her back and spreading her arms and legs out wide, barely avoiding smacking the two others in the face. Her mouth opened in a wide yawn, eyes blinking slowly. “Fine, but only if you carry me!”

Izuku rolled his eyes fondly and shared an exasperated glance with Ochako, the brunette’s smile slightly wider. He lifted her in his arms with ease, the training he’d gone through making it so the fit Himiko was barely an afterthought of weight in his arms. Ochako stood with him, following behind him as he carried Himiko to the guest room that had been setup for the girls, already having some of their personal effects from how often they stayed over. 

As he lay Himiko down gently, the blonde smirked at him. “Gonna tuck me in too?”

“Behave,” he admonished her, tapping her on the nose with his own smirk. Ochako chuckled as Himiko playfully snapped at his finger, clacking her fangs together loudly as she did so. The brunette rolled her eyes as she clambered into her side of the bed, letting out a quiet ‘oof’ as Himiko immediately latched onto her side and cuddled her aggressively. She shared another commiserating glance with the standing Izuku, the green-haired boy taking pity on her and lifting the blanket she now couldn’t quite reach and placing it over the two of them. 

Himiko giggled, having gotten what she wanted, Ochako shushing her fondly. Izuku stepped to the door, flicking the lightswitch to turn off the lights and began to shut the door, but not before stopping and looking back at the two girls. “Goodnight, Ochako, Himiko. See you tomorrow morning. Sweet dreams.”

“Sweet dreams Izuku, see you in the morning,” Ochako replied.

“Mmhmm, g'night Izu. Get sleep, we’re gonna kick ass tomorrow,” Himiko muttered, her voice already muffled and fuzzy as she began to drift off swiftly. Izuku gave the two one last smile, before shutting the door and heading off to his own room.

Katsuki cracked his knuckles and grinned, standing before the testing grounds entrance. The quartet had arrived together and taken their test (with Katsuki still snickering at how Izuku had managed to trip within the first ten seconds of entering UA, saved from an embarrassing fall by Ochako’s Quirk), and then ended up in the auditorium with Present Mic explaining the rules. After breaking Izuku out of his fanboying over the hero, the four had compared cards and realized they’d all been sent to different testing grounds. Izuku figured this was to separate those from the same school, to prevent them from teaming up. Which was fine with Katsuki…he wanted them all to do their best, but he also wanted to shine by himself, and intended on it. 

Some uptight punk had yelled at them for talking quietly and lambasted Present Mic for the ‘mistake’ in the exam parameters brochure, but Mic had explained the premise of the Zero Pointer. Idly, Katsuki wondered how hard it would be to blow up, but dismissed that. Points were what mattered and he was going to get them. Not only that, with the opponents being robots, he only had to be careful he didn’t hit the other examinees…he could go all out on the robots. He was looking forward to showing off what he’d been able to learn over the past ten months, especially the final three.

Sir Nighteye may have been a slave driver, but damn if the man didn’t know his Quirk training. Between Izuku’s ideas and new Quirk vision (they really needed to come up with some badass name for it), Katsuki had been able to pretty much perfect his Stun Grenade and Howitzer Impact moves, and was working on a new shot he called AP Shot, something with a much smaller explosive radius but would drill through armor and shields much easier. And finally, he now could pretty much fly without issue, able to maneuver in the air quickly enough even Izuku with his barriers he flipped around on couldn’t quite match his speed (though it was close). 

And now, now he was ready to fucking prove himself to the world, to UA, and to All Might, making sure the hero knew he hadn’t made a mistake when choosing to train all four of them. They’d separated at the busses, and Katsuki demanded the other three promise him they’d pass. He intended all four of them to live up to his promise to Toshinori, top four spots in the exam. The written exam had been easy, the studying they’d done paid off. Now it was time. 

He glanced about, taking in his fellow competitors. None of them really stood out to him much, save the one redhead with the very spiky hair who was practically vibrating in excitement. He couldn’t see many details of the other boy, with his back turned, but the hair was rather eye-catching. He shrugged internally, dismissing him from his mind. He had a test to beat, just as soon as-

“And start!” came the shout from the proctor (Snipe, his mind reminded him). Katsuki wasted no time, throwing his hands back and rocketing into the air and over the other students. He’d let them have the first robots around the gate, he wanted to be free to let loose. He launched himself rapidly down the street, the sudden rush of other students fading into the background as he saw a group of bots just ahead. He smiled wide, his teeth bared, as he rocketed into the group of them.

Slamming into the ground with an explosion empowered punch, the concrete cracked around him and flew up, clipping some of the bots. He cackled and spun in place, arms akimbo, and blasted explosions out, breaking each one around him into scrap metal. “Pathetic,” he remarked to himself as he glanced about at the smoking ruins. “Too easy.” With a grin, he rocketed back up into the air, looking for his next victims.

Okay, this wasn’t actually that hard, Himiko mused as she ran across another rooftop, leaping down onto a crumbling fire escape. She bounced down to the ground, almost flipping from wall to wall, before she fell into a roll. Coming up from her roll, she threw two pieces of pointed scrap metal she’d grabbed early on, easily bullseyeing the two robots before her in the bright red ‘eye’ they had, sending them into shutdown mode. 

She’d been really worried when she heard the opponents were robots, considering her Quirk wasn’t really suited for it. But once she realized how weak they were, how easily she could break them just with her base strength and a couple pieces of scrap she grabbed as they went, she lost all worry. She was faster than most of the examinees by far , and her ability to scale the walls as quickly as she could let her get far ahead of them, finding groups by herself and tackling them without issue. 

And it wasn’t like her Quirk was no help, she just was…waiting until she needed it. Izuku had been right…kind of. She could use other people's Quirks, but it was very limited. She couldn’t use One For All at all , nor could she really use Izuku’s original Quirk because it required her to absorb energy, and by the time she grabbed enough, the transformation would time out. For Katsuki’s, it worked, but it was much much weaker than his. 

However…Ochako’s, that one she could use at about what Ochako’s limit was before they started their ten months of hell. Izuku had theorized on what the major difference was between Katsuki and Ochako, and he had come up with a theory…but when he’d said it, even she was too flustered to let him continue down that train of thought and no one spoke about it again. Not until after the exam, they were going to pack that away and not touch it until it was all done. 

She shook her head to clear it. Not the time to get wrapped up in her own mind. She looked around for her next bot, scanning quickly. Not seeing anything, and hearing some examinees approaching the area she was in, she ran to the nearest building and began to scale it again, looking to get a better vantage point.

Ochako was grinning widely, not entirely unlike Katsuki (although if you pointed that out she’d likely try to punt you into the stratosphere), but she couldn’t help it! This was actually fun! After ten months of training, now she was finally putting it into practice, and with the help of Izuku’s knowledge and Nighteye’s training, she had become an expert at using her Quirk in practically any direction, matching the force of gravity. Now she could even do it vertically, horizontally, diagonally, any direction she chose, she simply had to touch the object.

Since she couldn’t bring any items into the fray with her, she hadn’t been able to bring a rope or line of some kind to use the other technique she’d gotten a handle on, but she didn’t need it once she ripped a cable out of one of the two pointers (to the consternation of the examinees around her, witnessing the sunshine smiling brunette rip into a robot and pull out it's internals without breaking a sweat). Now she was flinging it about as she went, crushing robots left and right with simply the cable in her hands. 

Tapping herself on the wrist, she leapt up, getting to a higher vantage point. She didn’t bother landing on the nearby rooftops, instead, gripped the roof edge as she passed it and redirected herself, looking like she’d practically flipped over the rooftop as she spun to the other side. Though her stomach was getting nauseous between the spinning and her own Quirk, she only had to hold it for a few seconds at a time and she could manage that no problem. 

She spotted two three pointers by themselves. Grinning even wider than before, she snatched up a couple pieces of rubble on top of the roof and flung them at the two robots, launching herself off the roof and releasing her Quirk as she went. Though both robots noticed the coming rubble and shot it out of the air, they didn’t react in time to her falling on top of the one. She landed on one knee, inwardly wincing at the impact, but didn’t let it slow her down. She removed gravity on the one she landed one, grabbing it with her other hand and leaping to the ground with it in her arms. Spinning once for momentum, she smashed it into the other bot, giggling as the two broke into pieces. She rolled her shoulders, taking a quick breather, before running forward, looking for her next target.

Izuku wouldn’t be surprised to know that all four of them had been using the same basic tactic…get to a high point, find a space with few other examinees and more robots free roaming, and drop in on them to get the points. Nighteye had been very insistent about the idea of gathering intel in any battle, so it should have come to no surprise that they’d take advantage of that. And it being an urban environment would help Himiko immensely, as she’d been practicing endlessly her parkour abilities to traverse cities with ease.

He mused to himself that it almost felt unfair…few of the other examinees could keep up with him, and he assumed the same of his friends. Their training was showing, as very few others seemed to be keeping pace. The one blue-haired boy who’d shouted at them in the auditorium seemed to be doing fine (considering the engines in his legs that made Izuku want to reach for a notebook), but otherwise few were standing out.

Almost idly, he formed a glowing green disc in hand, the edges sharpened down to a millimeter, before throwing it like a discus at an approaching three pointer. The razor sharp energy construct cleaved through the metal like a hot knife through butter, dissipating into nothingness moments later at Izuku’s mental will. One of the new abilities he’d been able to unlock with Nighteye’s help, now that he understood how One For All impacted his original Quirk.

As far as the two of them could puzzle out, while he was still limited to his own energy pool (which he could grow slowly over time with effort, but it was still rather slow growth), One For All seemed to act as a cost reduction in the energy expended. Now, what would cost him a good five or ten percent would barely be half a percent at best, at least for smaller constructs like the disc. Making more complex constructs or larger ones drained a larger proportional amount, but he wasn’t in danger when he did it, only if he overdid it (which his three friends were very insistent he never do).

He still could only hold a few constructs open at once, which included the platforms he used for movement. Right now, he was limited to six total, but he was close to getting a seventh he was sure of it. And his constructs were pretty limited to objects that didn’t have moving parts…making a sword or staff was no issue, but he couldn’t form a launcher for the discs, and while he could form a ‘bow’, he couldn’t make the ‘string’ move which basically made the concept useless. But the discs were fine enough for a mid-range attack.

Not that he needed a ranged attack right now, considering what else the now eighteen percent of One For All he could use safely. His fists and feet were crumbling the robots within seconds, and while it was clear the engine boy was faster on the ground than him in bursts, he could outmaneuver him by using his platforms to launch himself about. A loud crash down a dark alley had him glancing to the left, seeing a trio of bots closing in on a tall, slender, purple haired boy holding a broken piece of pipe and snarling. He stood protectively in front of another examinee, a blonde boy with a weird grin and thumbs up who was swaying in place.

Izuku didn’t hesitate, slamming his foot down onto the ground and sending a line of green energy along the ground rapidly. As the line reached right before the purple-haired boy, he called up a barrier, a much larger one than normal, internally wincing as he felt his pool drain further, but blocking the multiple lasers that were being fired at the two boys. The bots apparently noticed him, spinning about and firing at him instead. He ducked beneath the shots as he dropped the barrier, rolling forward and leaping up at the tail end of the roll, spinning about with a kick as the green lightning of One For All sparked across his skin. 

He smashed one into the other, sending the two of them careening into the wall. A loud clang behind him made him glance back, seeing the panting purple-haired boy having slammed the pipe into the red ‘eye’ of the third bot, disabling it. Izuku took in a breath, swiping at his forehead. He nodded his head to the blonde boy still swaying in the back.

“What’s up with him?”

Purple hair shrugged. “No clue. Found him wandering around like this.”

Izuku wanted to try to puzzle it out, but the exam was still going on. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do though…he couldn’t just leave the blonde. And the purple haired boy had sacrificed his weapon to stop the third bot. Izuku switched on his Quirk vision…even if he couldn’t see the color, he could still see the ‘shape’ of the energy. And that was some weird energy he witnessed…sparking and cracking, reminding Izuku of lightning (and no, he was not internally cringing away from the thought). But weirdly, it seemed oddly faded, disjointed, dull. Hmm.

“Let me try something,” Izuku said. Purple hair just arched an eyebrow at him, his stoic expression slightly ruined by how hard he was breathing, but he made no move to stop Izuku. Izuku grabbed the blonde by the shoulder and tried giving him just a small jolt of energy. The jolt seemed to snap into the boy, his energy jumping into action and brightening up almost immediately. The weird smile and fogged eyes faded as the blonde shook his head rapidly, one hand reaching up to rub at his temple.

“Aww man, did I overdo it again?” the blonde said plaintively, almost whining.

“Hell if I know, you were just acting like an idiot and almost got hurt. I was trying to get you back to the gate but we got trapped by the robots, ” the purple haired one deadpanned. 

“Yeah, but he protected you! Good job, um…I didn’t catch your name?” Izuku said, grinning weakly at the purple-haired one. 

He stared back blankly at Izuku, before sighing. “Shinso. And you saved us, so don’t give me your pity. I couldn’t beat back all three of them.”

“I’m Midoriya! Don’t say it like that, I couldn’t do anything if you hadn’t kept him safe as long as you did.”

“I’m Kaminari! Thanks guys, I woulda been lost if it weren’t for you! But we should get back to blowing up these bots! We can catch up after the exams over!” the blonde boy interjected with a big smile.

“He’s not wrong. We should get going,” Shinso said.

Izuku nodded. He paused for a moment, before reaching down into the broken bot and pulling out the remainder of the broken pipe Shinso had been using. Concentrating, green energy flowed from his hands onto the pipe and beyond it, spinning about and spiraling until it formed into a blade-like shape, the pipe acting like a hilt. He spun it once in hand, nodded, then held it out to the confused Shinso. “Here! I’m guessing your Quirk isn’t super combat oriented if you were using this. Kind of unfair for UA to rely on combat tests for the exam, but whatever. This could help!”

Shinso’s confusion faded as he narrowed his eyes at Izuku. “I don’t need pity,” he said, his voice barely above a growl.

“It’s not pity. I know how much pity sucks. It’s just trying to even up the playing field…and you really were heroic, trying to defend Kaminari when he was helpless. No harm in accepting help, right?”

Shinso’s expression didn’t change much, but it softened just enough for Izuku to notice (well used to Katsuki’s resting angry face and microexpressions). He sighed and grabbed the pipe from Izuku’s hand. “Fine. Enough talk then. We have an exam to get through.”

“You got it Shinso! Thanks again, I’ll pay you back someday!” Kaminari shouted, running out of the alleyway into the fray. 

Izuku nodded at him. “Good luck with the rest of the test!” Not waiting for a reply, he forced a platform beneath his feet and leapt straight up, deciding to go back into the rooftops for a new vantage point.

“What an interesting batch we have this year, don’t you think?” Nezu said to his fellow instructors, taking a sip of tea as his eyes remained locked on the varied monitors.

“Hmph. Half of them stumbled over each other at the start. I’m not impressed,” Aizawa, known as the pro hero Eraserhead, remarked.

“Perhaps, but some of them have shown remarkable combat ability,” Cementoss said, pointing to the screen showing Katsuki currently wrecking another horde of robots with a cackle.

“That’s at best one tenth of what it means to be a good hero. We need to see much more to know how well he can do,” Aizawa shot back.

“Hmm, that young man there helped two other examinees in that one alleyway. Midoriya, was it?” Midnight remarked. “He seems to have decent instincts.”

“Perhaps. But it was also reckless, and he gave something to the one who looks like a purple Sho. I still can’t tell what it is though, looks like a support item, but he’s got no papers for any other than some type of monitor,” Present Mic commented.

“Oh it was no item, Mic. That is one aspect of his Quirk, the ability to form energy into small constructs,” Nezu replied. 

“Ah, you know him Principal?” Cementoss asked.

“Oh yes, he and his three friends, of whom you can see the monitors there, there, and there,” Nezu pointed to three screens showing Katsuki, Ochako, and Himiko, “visited UA a few months back due to extenuating circumstances with their education.”

“Oh that’s right, I remember them! We signed a notebook for the blonde boy and those two girls!” Midnight smacked her fist into her palm.

“Yes, it was for Midoriya, he likes to analyze Quirks. I found his ideas…interesting.”

A collective shudder went through the room at the small traces of excitement in the headmaster’s voice. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the white-furred mammal. “No taking over the world while I’m still teaching. At least let me quit before you start.”

“Now now Aizawa, no need to be so concerned. I have no intentions on such things. I simply would like to learn more about the boy, assuming he gets in.”

“He’s doing very well, all things considered. I don’t see many issues with his performance so far. Although, we haven’t begun the real test yet,” Cementoss said.

“Yes, that is true. Perhaps it is time to begin phase one of the new testing system, yes?”

“You’re sure about this, Principal? You know the Board will throw a tantrum if they realize you changed the test without consulting them.”

“Oh, I’m not worried. Our newest teacher gave me enough clout to let them have five minutes of fame and they will kowtow without issues just for the sake of looking like they were part of the decision making process.”

“Whelp, then guess it’s about that time to send in the ‘victims’. Hit ‘em up, Majima,” Snipe shrugged, looking over at the hero Power Loader.

“Sending the signal…now.”

‘The fucks that noise?’ Katsuki asked himself, confused. He’d taken a moment to stop breaking more villain bots, and somewhere nearby there was someone…crying? Did one of the examinees get hurt? Ah fuck, if he didn’t check on them Izuku would be on his ass for not ‘helping’. And he guessed it wouldn’t be heroic to ignore someone in trouble, even though it made little sense. This might be an exam but accidents happen.

He launched himself into the air once more, wincing slightly at the ever growing ache in his arms and shoulders. He’d been at this continuously for longer than he normally was, Nighteye tended to stop him to give pointers periodically. Orienting himself midair, he shot towards the noise, which was on the next street over. As he flew over, he noticed…the red-haired boy from earlier? Standing in front of a store front, arms raised, as multiple villain bots shot at him, their lasers seeming almost to deflect off his strangely angular shaped physique. 

Katsuki wasn’t the type to hesitate, and this was no exception. He rocketed out of the sky into the back of the bots, sweeping his arms out wide to use his explosions to clear some space, sending the ones directly to his left and right flying. The red head looked up at him in shock, his face angled and rocky, throwing Katsuki off but only for a moment. Swiftly, he leapt into action, demolishing another three bots.

He clocked the redhead taking up the other two on the left, covering his back, and decided to trust the other examinee for the moment, moving with precision, trusting him to have his back. It only took another thirty seconds or so before the remaining bots were thrashed, Katsuki letting his arms drop and breathing heavily. He wiped at his brow, annoyed at the sweat practically rolling off him as he turned to the redhead, only to freeze in place.

The redhead's angular face and arms had dropped, instead, leaving a brilliant white smile, sharp teeth, and red eyes the same shade as his brilliant red hair. His shirt was ripped open, revealing a washboard stomach and toned chest to rival Katsuki’s own. But it was the teeth , sharp and sharklike, with a sunshine grin that was somehow familiar and different. Idly Katsuki’s mind drifted off to those teeth biting- nope we are not fucking thinking about that right now!

“That was manly as hell, the way you shot in and blew up those bots! Freaking awesome man!” the redhead cheered, his enthusiasm practically rolling off him in waves. 

“Y-yeah, well, of course it was, I’m that fucking awesome!” Katsuki sputtered, trying to get his balance back. He didn’t know why this guy was throwing him off, he wasn’t the first hot guy he’d met but dammit he had to get his head in the game! Shaking his head to clear it, he asked “Were you the one crying?”

“Nope, it was this kid here!” the redhead pointed behind him, into the wrecked storefront he was standing in front of. Katsuki glanced past him, seeing a small, brown-haired boy in a white shirt standing there, crying, rubbing at his eyes.

‘Fuck,’ Katsuki cursed internally. He wasn’t great with kids. And how did a kid get here anyways?! Ugh. Okay, he had to deal with this asap.

“Hey uh, kid? You uh…okay?”

“H-hic, n-no, I got l-lost and I can’t find my mommy and there were these scary robots and and and-”

“Woah now there kiddo, it’s okay, we got you,” the other boy. “My names Kirishima, I’ll keep you safe!”

“Kirishima?!” Katsuki echoed, incredulous.

Kirishima turned back to look at him and blink. “Yeah?”

“That’s my best friend's doctor's name, the one who helped him after he got hurt.”

Kirishima grinned. “Yeah, my mama is a great doctor! I can’t believe you met her, haha! Small world!”

“Um, Misters?” the kid asked, his gaze affixed over the buildings down the street.

“Sup?” Katsuki asked, looking back at the kid. The kid didn’t speak, pointing in the direction he was looking. As Katsuki and Kirishima turned to look, their eyes went wide.

“That’s the fucking zero pointer?!” Katsuki shouted, jaw dropped as he saw the building sized robot begin to trample the buildings down the street. He picked up on screams from the other examinees, and the loud sound of stampeding people as they fled from the massive robot.

“Bro, we best get moving, and quickly,” Kirishima said, his body reflexively hardening out of concern.

Katsuki glanced at the kid, frozen in terror, and back up at the approaching robot. He looked back at the fleeing students, noticing some were moving very slow, clearly exhausted and unable to really run. With a deep sigh, he let a feral grin overtake his face. He looked back at the redhead. “Grab the kid. I’m gonna slow that thing down.”

Kirishima’s eyes went wide, his arm reached out to grab Katsuki’s arm, but the blonde took a couple half running steps away before launching himself off the ground, narrowing his explosions as tightly as he could to avoid sending any spray back at the two others. Not his best idea, but he didn’t need to defeat it, just delay it…okay who was he kidding, he wanted to blow the fucking thing up but he wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t go nuts if he couldn’t. But he sure as hell was going to try!

As he flew at the zero pointer, he took stock of his condition. His arms hurt, pain radiating through them in such a way he found himself flinching every time he launched another blast. He had sweat so much he was pretty sure he was dehydrated. His shoulders felt like they were going to rip off his body. He could barely catch his breath, his heart was beating as rapidly as he’d ever felt it. 

Katsuki had never felt more alive ! His feral grin stretched further as he saw the bot approaching rapidly, its glaring red ‘eye’ zeroed in on his form. Katsuki spared a glance back, making sure all the other examinees were out of the bot's range. Seemingly safe, he decided it was time, he could finally let loose .

His arms shot out to the sides and he began to rotate, blast after blast after blast propelling him faster and faster and faster, the winds picking up around him, drawn in by his motions and spiraling. His eyes were alight, burning red as he stared at the robot before him, teeth bared and snarling, rotating faster and faster and faster ! As the bot’s arm came up to try to swat him from the sky, he reared back with his right and thrust forward, every ounce of his explosive force coming to his call.

“ Howitzer…IMPACT!” he roared, the force slamming into the zero pointer, a massive burst of flame and smoke flaring out in all directions. The groaning of metal a cacophony of sound as he hit, his own eyesight practically blinded by the sunburst he’d just let off. But he never took for granted his strikes, and it was a good thing he didn’t. He felt the air moving rapidly, not caused by himself, and with his right currently in absolute agony , he used his left to launch himself higher, barely being missed by the bot's other arm swinging where he had been. 

He could see he’d nearly ripped the zero pointers left arm off, but the other one was still functioning. He snarled at the bot, rearing back to throw another explosion when the sound of a bell rang out across the battlefield.

“Nope nope nope nope,” Himiko chanted as she bolted across another rooftop, a small girl in her arms and a purple-haired examinee with earphone-like jacks dangling from her ears clutching her back. Himiko had stumbled across the other examinee while she was trying to carry the little girl to safety, having hurt her leg diving in between the child and a villain bot. Himiko had disabled the bots still there, and though they were about to begin introductions (and questions of how the hell that kid got there!), that's when they noticed the zero pointer heading towards them. 

“It's getting closer!” the purple-haired girl shouted in Himiko’s ear, the blonde gritting her teeth as she leapt across another gap.

“I can see that, thank you very much! ” she hissed back. Carrying two people and running full speed, even if one was a kid, was not exactly easy for her, even with all her training. Unlike a lucky, muscular, hot, green-haired boy she knew, she did not have any strength based Quirk powers, and she was already exhausted from the exam. She noticed a fire escape to her left and ran for it, figuring if they got to the ground maybe they’d find other examinees and be able to do something . 

She practically flew down the escape, skipping half the steps and just accepting the very painful aches in her knees as she landed roughly, almost falling down but managing to keep her balance. She spotted a tall, multi-limbed boy with a mask on his face staring at the zero pointer as he fled, and tried to catch up to him, shouting at him to get his attention. One of his arms popped open an eyeball on the end of it and turned to face her, another opening a mouth as it spoke.

“Are you okay?!” the boy shouted, still running as Himiko tried to pace him.

“I-I am,” she gasped, glancing back at the steadily gaining building sized robot. “B-but she hurt her leg and we found this kid! Can you take them?”

The tall boy reached out a half-dozen arms, snatching the child and the other girl off Himiko’s back. “That’s fine, do you need a lift as well? I can probably carry you too.”

Himiko waved him off, gasping for air. “No, no. I need to slow that fucking thing down before someone else gets hurt. Just run, I’ll try to distract it. Go!” Before either of the other examinees could speak, she’d already begun climbing up the nearest building to the roof. As she got to the top, she glanced over at the now very close giant robot. She bit her lip, unsure what she could do to distract it, but…she had to try. She glanced down to see the multi-armed boy running, now carrying a third examinee as the purple-haired one was apparently blasting  robots away with soundwaves (since the villain bots hadn’t stopped acting just because the zero pointer was moving, but with the fleeing examinees more people were getting hurt). 

Okay. They had this. She just had to somehow get a building sized robot to ignore them. Well…she was an expert at ticking people off after all…Himiko smiled, showing her fangs at the zero pointer, before running towards it, looking for the closest roof near it. 

As she got to the building it was about to pass, she glanced over to its swinging arms, mentally calculating the distance. She knew it was too far for her to leap, but …She bolted across the rooftop, calling upon her Quirk, upon the blood she’d tasted more than any other, that of a certain lovely brunette with a sunshine grin. She felt her form shift, her body morphing to match the blood of the first person she’d ever fallen for. With the patented grin of Ochako on her face, she tapped her arm, feeling the nausea take hold as soon as she did but ignoring it, launching herself off the rooftop and towards the zero pointer.

It didn’t even seem to notice her as she flew over the nearest arm, reaching out to latch onto its chest with one of the sharpened pieces of metal she carried, giving her just enough grip to catch it. She flung herself up its front, using the combination of Ochako’s Quirk and the sharp metal she carried to almost run up it. As she reached the head of the bot, she grinned at its glaring red eye. 

“Hey, anyone home?” she giggled, tapping on the optic. When it failed to react, she tapped harder, this time with the sharp metal in hand. She didn’t bother waiting for any further response, rearing back and with all her might trying to shove the scrap into the spot where the optic met the socket, feeling it dig in just enough to give a tiny bit of purchase. 

That seemed to get its attention, the massive machine groaning as one of its arms began to reach up to try to smack into her. Exactly what she was waiting for. She felt the familiar sensation of her Quirk sliding off her and shifted as quickly as she could into another form, the spiky blonde hair of Katsuki taking form. Though she could not use his Quirk well …she still could use it. And she had been sweating a lot .

The explosion she let off had little force or flame, but what it had was light and smoke and enough force to propel her up and over the robot's head, blinding it just enough that it smacked itself with its own hand. She giggled , her giggle sounding odd coming from Katsuki’s form, but it was enough for her as she landed on the back of the robot, just behind its head. She was about to dance around to the front once more to try to keep it focused on her, but a loud ringing bell made her wince and nearly lose her balance, the robot ceasing to move as the bell went off.

“How the hell do we distract this thing again?!” the pink-skinned girl shouted as she threw globs of some type of grayish fluid at her feet, skating along down an alleyway next to the fleeing Ochako.

“I don’t know but we can't let it reach the others!” the brunette shouted back. “I’ve no idea where those twins came from but those two boys should be able to keep them safe if we can keep the big one on us!”

“You’re nuts! ...which is kinda cool,” the pinkette said, a tired smile on her face. 

Any response Ochako wanted to give was interrupted by a loud crash behind her, the building to their right being smashed by the massive tank treads of the zero pointer. She wracked her mind for a solution, as while they had it's attention there was no guarantee they could keep it. 

She thought back to her friends and what they would do in this scenario…Katsuki would try to blow it up, Himiko would try to taunt it, and Izuku would do something self-sacrificial that she’d want to strangle him for. Yep. That’s who she chose to spend her time with. Okay, this wasn’t helping. She shook her head to clear it as she ran, breath escaping her lungs in puffs as she silently thanked Toshinori and Nighteye for their insistence on stamina training. 

As she scanned the area, she saw ahead of them one of the large pieces of a wall that the zero pointer had smashed, just off to their left. Glancing at it, thinking of her friends, thinking of how she needed to keep the zero pointer on her and not the others…oh fuck it. “You go on ahead, I have a plan!” she shouted to the pink-skinned girl with the glittering black eyes, the other girl opening her mouth to protest but not getting the chance as Ochako veered off towards the rubble.

She gripped it with her fingers, allowing her ‘normal’ method of force manipulation to take effect, reducing its gravity (yes she knew now that wasn’t exactly what she was doing but damn it, this was easier to think about!). It was definitely on the upper end of her limit, the familiar roiling in her stomach taking effect and making her clench her jaw, but it should be enough. With a loud growl, she spun about, the massive piece of wall she’d gripped following along as she completed a full rotation to gain momentum, and then launched it towards the zero pointer. 

The rubble smashed into the giant machine’s lower body, just above it's tank treads, and though it did not seem damaged, it sure got its attention on Ochako. Which she grinned proudly about for a brief moment, until she noticed it coming full steam ahead at her and her eyes went wide. Well, she accomplished goal one…what was goal two? Right…somehow delay it?

As she scrambled away from the machine, she tried to focus on what she could do. Launching rubble would keep its attention but not really do much to it. And it was way above her ability to float or crush it. She couldn’t even slow it down…or could she?

Even to this day and with Nighteye and Izuku’s help, her Quirk could stubbornly be inconsistent. Sometimes she could touch someone's clothing and only float the clothes, other times she was able to float the entire person without even touching their skin. Their best theory was it was all subconscious, that her desire was letting her selectively choose what she affected with her power. Nighteye tried desperately to train her to have conscious control over it, but at best she could just want it really really hard and it would maybe do what she wanted. 

But if she could choose what her Quirk was impacting…maybe…for the second time during this exam, she decided…oh fuck it. Instead of running away, she bolted towards the bot, grabbing the loop of cable she’d wrapped around her belt off it, letting it trail behind her as she prepared to try another crazy idea she was pretty sure her friends would strangle her for. Izuku was probably a bad influence on her.

As she neared its tank treads, she dodged to the side, wanting to be out of its direct path. She pulled her arm back, focusing, concentrating, demanding her Quirk work the way she wanted. She whipped her arm forward, the cable flinging out to touch onto the machine's treads and she pulled down , her will focused on the idea of increasing weight onto just the giant tank tread on its left that let it move about.

It was just like the first time she tried to increase force on an object. Her stomach violently rebelled and she felt bile force its way up her throat, practically spilling out of her lips as she trembled internally. But she refused to let go, she could feel it taking effect as the machine stuttered in place, the treads slowing, creaking, the sound of metal shearing and groaning echoing out into the air. The street beneath her feet crackled and grumbled, the concrete buckling. 

With a loud, echoing crash , the street beneath the zero pointers left tread broke , the machine tipping sideways as its ‘foot’ fell into the hole, sending the entire thing into the building next to it, the opposite direction as any of the fleeing examinees. Ochako fell to her knees, wiping at her mouth and the tears that had built up in her eyes, before shakily climbing to her feet. The fight wasn’t over.

A loud bell ringing made her pause, looking up as the announcement rang out over the battlefield.

Izuku wasn’t sure why there were children around, but he didn’t think there was time to worry about the why so much as the getting them the hell out of dodge. He’d already passed a couple off to various other examinees (namely, the blue-haired boy who had lectured him in the auditorium) as he went searching for more, his ability to see Quirk’s helping him locate them easier, but he had to assume there were others just in case. He was scanning about, not seeing anyone else, when he heard a loud exclamation of pain down the street to his right. He bolted down it, looking about for someone when he saw a brilliant white glow, a humanoid shape underneath that looked to be beneath some rubble.

Hissing in pain at the light, he flipped his vision off to see…nothing? What the hell?! He flipped it back on and…yep. Humanoid shape of glowing light. Off and nothing? Uh…”Hello? Is someone there?” he said, approaching the fallen piece of wall.

“Y-yes! My leg’s trapped!” the higher, feminine voice cried out. He saw the dirt move as if someone was there, and it clicked. He flipped his vision back on and the brilliant white glow shifted to a more crystalline one, shimmering and shining as he realized she was invisible . Wow, that had so many applications! You could do so much with- “Um…are you still there?” the voice said, breaking him out of the muttering he had begun falling into.

“R-right! Hold on, let me move that-”

“Look out!” she cried out as a shadow fell over them both. He looked up, seeing the zero pointer arm coming screaming down at the two of them, his eyes going wide in panic. He threw his right arm up, forcing every ounce of power he could into a barrier, a translucent green dome forming over him and the trapped girl, his arm the focal point. He hissed in pain as the fist impacted, feeling it shoving him down, pushing him back, the barrier already cracking beneath the force. 

He grit his teeth and poured more into it, the green dome now dripping , energy falling off it and his body like rain. He couldn’t hold this for long, but he also couldn’t lift the rubble like this…

“Hey!” shouted a voice, his gaze turning to see Shinso and Kaminari running towards him, the blonde waving rapidly.

He pointed to the rubble with his left, his teeth still grit and his voice strained as he held the barrier. “Help her!”

“Who?” Shinso asked, his worried gaze affixed to the machine Izuku was currently trying to hold back.

“Me!” the invisible girl shouted, scrabbling at the dirt again.

“She’s invisible! Just move the wall please! I can’t…hold this much longer!” Izuku shouted, straining, feeling the energy draining from his core. He could see his meter draining, ticking down, piece by piece. He poured One For All into his limbs, into his body, calling up the power over his whole body, green lightning sparking off his skin as red lines danced beneath it. He’d named the technique Full Cowling, which Katsuki had rolled his eyes at but said nothing more after it. It helped , a little, but he still knew the energy drain was going to get worse.

The other two boys were pulling, trying to lift the rubble as best they could but it was heavy , and neither of them had a strength based Quirk. Izuku noticed this, and realized this was not going to end well at this rate. He glanced up at the zero pointer, the machine still focused on him and trying to press him down. He felt his entire body creak with pressure, the pain he’d long dismissed from channeling his Quirk coming back as he snarled internally.

He cupped his left hand next to him and focused, creating a cylindrical barrier with a rounded bottom in his hand. The loud whistling of air caught the attention of the other three, visible signs of wind rushing into his hand and swirling at the bottom of the cylinder, the meter on his left wrist draining even faster . 60%...55%...50%...45%...

“The fuck are you doing?” Shinso shouted, his voice strained as he slammed his shoulder against the rubble, trying to leverage it up.

“Something really stupid!” he shouted back, focusing as much as he could on the barrier in his left hand. He’d tried smaller versions of this before, but nothing as focused and pressurized as this. With the way his Attraction property worked, he could choose what it attracted so long as he had a clear mental image of it. And he was choosing the air . By drawing in all nitrogen and oxygen around him, the most common gasses in the area and focusing it into a tiny area, not allowing it to spread, he was adding more and more and more pressure to it, giving it only one possible escape outlet once he released the attraction property.

When his hand began shaking from trying to hold the pressure, the barrier itself in his left cracking from the pressure, and the one above him even more strained, he thought this was probably his best chance. He lifted his left hand up, putting it just beneath the other barrier he had and mentally prepared. He had to change the Attraction property to Repulsion at the same time he dropped the Diffusion barrier he’d put up to protect him, and make sure the barrier in his left was very focused so it went the direction he intended. He didn’t spare a glance at the others, but managed to growl out “Take cover!” before letting go .

Multiple things happened at once. The zero pointer’s fist, clear from the barrier, came closer to him than he’d ever hoped. The pressurized air in his hand exploded out, the backlash dislocating his left shoulder and sending his entire body back, slamming him into the ground with an excruciating impact. He cried out in pain, nearly biting his tongue as he bounced off the concrete. 

The air that exploded out sent the other two boys back, skidding along the concrete. It blew clouds of dust and dirt into the air. But most of all, it shot the entire machine's arm off, shearing the metal at the shoulder and sending the broken arm flying off into the distance, a loud crashing echoing from far away as it landed.

But Izuku noted the machine was still moving, still capable, and its red, glowing optics were focused down on his prone form. Gritting his teeth, he leapt to his feet, ignoring the pain radiating from his left. With a grunt, he heaved the rubble off the invisible girl, making sure to turn his vision back on so he could see her. With one hand, he gripped her shoulder and helped her to her feet, his mind dismissing how odd it was he didn’t feel any fabric on her shoulder as he pushed her gently towards the other two boys.

“Take her and run. I got this,” he said to them, wincing as his left arm dangled helplessly.

“You saved her, let's go!” Kaminari shouted, the odd view of him crouched as if an arm was thrown over his shoulder without the arm visible.

“Thing still can move, can’t trust it not to trap someone else. Go!” he shouted. He didn’t wait for a response, forcing repulsion barriers beneath his feet and crouching. With a thought, he sent energy flowing up his left, wrapping around it and trying to hold it in place so it stopped moving about. He didn’t have the precision to shove it back in place, but at least he could hold it in place. 

He leapt up, the force of the barriers combined with Full Cowling sending him rocketing into the sky, just barely above the Zero Pointer’s head. He twisted in midair, forming a pair of vertical attraction barriers and letting his feet rest on them. He was now perpendicular to the ground, his knees crouched as he stared down at the glaring red ‘eyes’ of the massive machine. He noticed the machine's other arm moving towards him, almost as if in slow motion, but he did not care. 

He took one deep breath in, cocking his right fist back. Like his left, he wrapped green energy around it, spiraling the barrier like some sort of reinforcement cloth, tightly snapping it to his skin. He ignored the insistent beeping of his bracelet, the color on the meter in the red (20%...18%...15%...). 

He channeled every ounce of One For All into himself, the searing pain ignored in the moment as he shifted the attraction to repulsion and launched himself at the zero pointer. He smiled wide, a mental image of All Might in his mind as he decided to show homage to his mentor and the man who had slowly become another father figure in his life, roaring at the top of his lungs “ SMASH!” as his fist slammed into the Zero Pointer’s head.

The front of the machine bent inward, the entire upper body rocketing back as a multitude of explosions began to fire out from the robot, its internals overheating and reacting poorly to the impact. Izuku felt himself begin to fall, idly realizing that even with reinforcement, he’d definitely broken his right arm. The pain hadn’t quite caught up to his mind, adrenaline flooding his form somewhat mitigating it as he fell.

Gritting his teeth, he glanced at his meter. 12%. Oh no. He could feel the blackness creeping into his vision. Okay. He could land and stay conscious, he totally could do that. He just had to be sparing with the barriers. Okay…five meters down, barrier. He hissed in pain as his legs hit it, but let the barrier go as soon as his momentum stopped. 

Five meter fall, repeat, pain , let go, fall, repeat, more pain . 10%. Just a couple more, one or two more, fall, barrier, oh…he fell to his knees. Legs couldn’t hold anymore. Vision was going dark again. But it was okay, he was only a few meters above the ground now, he could just go.

Izuku’s body dropped from seven meters up, falling into the ground with a loud crash. He slumped to the side as his legs hit, managing to roll just enough to avoid breaking his legs. 9%. He let out a deep breath, hearing a ringing sound in his ears…oh wait, no, that was the sound of the test ending. That was okay. 9% wasn’t heart stopping, just not great. He could feel his hold on the waking world slipping, but he was sure he’d be fine. Well…until his friends found out what he’d done.

But he couldn’t let it go just yet. He had to know, had to see. He managed to lift his head off the ground just enough, eyes blurry, flickering his vision on and looking for the crystalline shimmer he’d seen before…oh, there it was, heading towards him, two more white glowing figures following behind in a hurry. And…ah, in the distance, the dark pink of Recovery Girl approaching him. Okay. He could let it go now…With that, Izuku slumped over, letting his head rest on the cool concrete and closing his eyes, falling into slumber…

Chapter Text

“...Three. Shoot!”

“Wait, I thought it was shoot on three?”

“Fuck no, it's one two three *then* shoot!”

“Wait, are you saying we shoot on shoot or do we shoot after shoot?”

“ Shoot on shoot dammit! ”

“Will you three quiet down? I don’t care if you wish to wait for your friend to wake, but keep it down while I’m working!”

“...sorry Recovery Girl.”
“Okay, okay, let’s just try this again.”

“I still think this is fucking pointless. I’ve known him the longest, I get first!”

“Hell no Kats, no way you’re as pissed as me! You’re used to this sort of idiocy, we’re not!”

“I’m pretty sure I’m the one pissed off the most, he promised he’d be careful!”

“Yeah well get used to fucking disappointment when it comes to Zu and taking care of himself.”

Izuku groaned as the voices filtered into his ears, echoing in his cranium with an annoying tinge of pain. He tried to move, but every nerve in his body erupted in pain, making him hiss in response and stop trying to make any sudden motions.

“Oh shit, Zu? You awake, dumbass?”

Izuku slowly opened his eyes, blinking blearily as he did so. The light was dim, so at least his eyes didn’t hurt more than expected. Although the act of opening them still took much more effort than he expected. He tilted his head to where he heard the voice, seeing Katsuki with a towel draped around his shoulders and water bottle in one hand glaring down at him with deep red eyes.

“Looks like!” the overly cheerful voice of Himiko brought his attention to seeing her amber colored eyes boring into his own, her smile not matching the clear anger bubbling beneath the surface. His eyes flicked to the third member of their group, the brunette simply staring down at him with a blank expression, her arms crossed over her chest as she arched an eyebrow at him.

“Uh…hi?” Izuku managed to croak out, wincing at the dry sound of his voice and crackling in his throat.

“Oh for fucks sake,” Katsuki growled. He uncapped the water bottle in his hand and shoved it in Izuku’s face. 

Izuku managed to sit up, aching the entire time, enough to grab the bottle and drain half of it in one go, the cool liquid soothing his sore throat. He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, looking at the other three tiredly. “What were you doing that required counting to three?”

“Oh, we were just playing rock paper scissors to see who gets to hit you first for being an absolute idiot! ” Himiko said, her voice dropping into a growl as she reached the last word.

“She was in danger, I had to-”

“It was a test , Midoriya. She was never in any real danger. Or do you think the staff her so incompetent that they couldn’t control the testing equipment?” Recovery Girl butt in, grabbing his wrist and examining the bracelet there. 

“I mean…accidents happen,” he muttered in response, looking away from her.

The older woman sighed deeply. “Trying to stop the zero pointer was not required to pass the test, but I’m not mad at you for doing so. What I am upset with is that you overdid it . However, your friends have little room to talk.”

Izuku blinked, looking up at the other three who suddenly seemed very interested in anything but looking at him. “Wha-what do you mean?”

“Oh, these three also all tried to stop the zero pointer and got themselves hurt in the process. They simply didn’t hurt themselves as badly . So I’ve already given them their lectures.”

Izuku went to cross his arms over his chest, forgetting the pain he was in and quitting while he was ahead. He settled for a disappointed look as he drawled “Oh how the turn tables.”

“That’s not how the phrase goes!” Ochako giggled.

Izuku’s stern expression shifted to a mischievous grin. “There we go, got the ‘Chako giggle. I win!”

“Oh stop it, I’m still mad at you!” she said, pouting as she swatted at his arm. He dodged away with a pained grin, both of them ignoring the loudly sighing Recovery Girl.

“Midoriya, you’re going to need to recharge for quite some time, you realize this, yes? Your upper limit has increased from your training. A few hours in the sun won’t be enough. The results won’t be out for a week, so take the time and rest . Understood?”

Izuku nodded sheepishly. “Yes ma’am. Will do.”

She took one more look over him, her lips pursed. “Hmm. Well. Best I can do right now, you don’t have the energy for me to heal anything further. Your shoulder and arm will be sore for a while, so try to avoid anything strenuous until you’re back to full functioning. The same applies to the rest of you, you all overdid it in various ways! I expect you to stay resting and recuperating for at least two days, no training!” She waited for nods from the other three, (a very reluctant one from Katsuki begrudgingly given), before nodding sharply. “Very well. Head on home.”

The four had settled down back at the Bakugo residence, it now being early afternoon. Katsuki had taken one look at the awkward air surrounding the other three and said “Fuck it, you three deal with this shit, I’m gonna go get stuff for dinner,” and left without waiting for a reply.

Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but he was so dead tired he didn’t even bother. He just sighed and sank further into the couch, the two girls seated next to him exchanging worried glances. 

“We don’t have to have this talk right now , you know,” Ochako said quietly. “Just ‘cause Katsuki left doesn’t mean we can’t deal with it later.”

Izuku yawned widely, but shook his head in negation. “I…I want to. I’ve been wanting to. But I just…I didn’t want to interrupt all of our training and stuff.”

Himiko nodded. “‘Chako asked me to wait to say anything until after the exam. I’ve been waiting for this day for over a year though. We really can wait, Izu.”

“Nope. I want to. Let’s talk,” Izuku replied. The girls nodded, but the room fell silent as neither Izuku nor Ochako seemed to know how to start the conversation. Izuku opened his mouth to speak but cut himself off, flushing slightly as he tried to puzzle out the best way to approach it. Ochako wasn’t much better, her head in hands, pinkes raised, unsure how to bring up what she wanted to talk about.

“Nope!” Himiko cheerfully said, drawing the attention of the other two to her just in time for both to go cross-eyed as she booped them on their noses. “You’re getting stuck in your own heads and I say no. I’ll talk, you two listen.”

Himiko stood up and turned to face the two of them. She knelt down before them, reaching out and taking Ochako’s hand in both of her own as she turned to look into her chocolate brown eyes. “‘Chako…I’ve been in love with you for years . You were the first person besides my dad to accept me for who I was, you never once thought of me as some sort of freak. You’ve given me so much more than you could ever know. I love everything about you, even the things you do that annoy the hell out of me. I have a million things to say to you still, but I need to make sure I get the basics out first…for both of you.”

Ignoring the scarlet cheeked brunette who appeared to be half comatose before her, she gently released her hand and grabbed the ungloved hand of Izuku, who was staring at her wide eyed after her confession to Ochako. She gently turned his hand up, palm facing her as she trailed her fingers across the raised scar tissue and spoke even softer than she had with Ochako.

“Izu, with you, it’s different. I don’t know you nearly as well as ‘Chako. You keep your heart closed to us in some ways and it frustrates me so much. The fact that I still don’t know what it is you so hate about yourself that makes you hurt so badly. I don’t know why you hurt so and I just want to reach in and help heal it and I can’t . But…but that doesn’t change that I do know who you are. I know the person you think you are, and I know exactly how wrong that is. Because at your core, at your heart, you’re the kindest, gentlest, most heroic person I’ve ever met. And I adore that about you. I’ve fallen for you as hard as I have for Ochako, and I don’t regret one second of it, no matter what we decide today.”

She lifted one of her hands off his, reaching out to grab Ochako’s again. She pulled them together, entangling their fingers as the two stared at her, their limbs limp and unresisting. “I’m selfish and greedy. Always have been. Always will be. I want both of you. I want you to be mine, and for me to be yours. I already have more than I ever thought I would…a great dad, you two, and I can’t forget how Kats accepted me too. He’s like a really annoying brother and I’m so happy I got both him and Izu in the deal…buy one awesome boy, get one for free.” She giggled to herself, the laugh trailing off as her expression went soft once more.

“But I need to know what you want. I’m not gonna be mad if it's too much for either one of you, and I won’t stop loving you or being your friend if you don’t choose me. I’m not gonna pressure either one of you. I just wanted to lay it out, and now you two decide what you want.”

Izuku seemed to be almost catatonic at first, but the blinking and how his expression shifted slightly told Himiko he was still listening. Ochako squared her shoulders, her limp hand gripping the other two tightly as she let out a shuddering breath. “You always know how to cut to the chase, huh Himi?” She didn’t wait for a response beyond Himiko’s soft smile. “I…I already knew how you felt. I felt the same. You know I wanted to wait and you did and I really appreciate how much you accommodated me and my needs. But yes, Himi, I’ve loved you this whole time too. You’re so mischievous and flirty and always know just how to make me feel better about anything, no matter how down I am. How could I not fall for you, when you were just too perfect?”

She turned slightly in her seat to look at Izuku. Reaching up to his face, she pressed her hand to his cheek opposite her, keeping her pinky slightly raised as she turned him to look at her. Green met brown as she looked at him. “Himi’s right about you. We’re not stupid, we can guess some of it based on what you’ve said before and what Katsuki lets loose. But we promised we’d never ask unless you wanted us to, and we’ve kept to that. But gosh it's so frustrating sometimes! Every time I see you flinch from a reminder, every time I see how you go blank when the memories of whatever hurt you surface and I can’t help it hurts . It hurts because I care about you, Izuku.”

She takes a moment to gather her thoughts, looking down at her lap, part of her wondering what was going through his head. She jolts for a moment when she feels a squeeze of her fingers that wasn’t from Himiko, looking back up at him to see his eyes clear and open, paying attention to what she said with a contemplative expression. She nodded, squaring her shoulders.

“But it doesn’t change how I feel. You’re so smart, and driven, and yet the sweetest boy I’ve ever met. You don’t have to make mochi for me when I’m having a bad day yet somehow you always know. You go out of your way to make Himi comfortable with her needs, you’ve never been judgy and you just are the cutest when you start muttering. Although I still want to know where you hide those notebooks…” she shakes her head to clear it, deciding that wasn’t important right now. “I…I’m with Himi on this. I’m not leaving you even if this isn’t something you want, but I want you. I want her. I want both. I’m going to be greedy too, because this is something I want.”

The two girls remained silent after Ochako’s confession, waiting to see what Izuku said in response. The boy’s previously shocked expression had morphed into a contemplative one they had rarely seen on him. It wasn’t his studious one, the one that made you think he was picking you apart in his mind to puzzle you out. It wasn’t the excited one he got when he was muttering about a new Quirk’s applications. No, this one was just…passive. Calm. The only indication of his emotional state now was the slight pink in his cheeks, but even that was only partly there as he looked between the two.

“I didn’t know it was possible to love someone the way I love the two of you,” he said softly. “I’ve always loved Kacchan as a brother…Auntie and Uncle raised me and are as close to my parents as they could be. I still love my mom and dad, even though they are g-gone,” he choked on the words, blinking back tears before shaking his head rapidly, continuing in the same quiet tone. “But it's different with you. Himiko, you’re not a breath of fresh air, you’re an entire hurricane of it, a force of nature of fun and cheer. Ochako, you’re so brilliant as well, you shine so brightly when you smile it's like the sun, bright and warm and lovely. I’m so lucky, because when I see you two it's like I’m seeing two brilliant stars, shining in the sky, lighting up my world. But…” he trailed off for a minute, looking down at his lap even as he squeezed the girls hands tighter.

“I can’t accept what you’ve said until you know what I did,” he finally managed to whisper. “It’s not fair to you. But-” he cut them off before either could interrupt him, raising his free hand up to ask them to wait. “That’s why I decided to tell you, today. I’ll tell you what I did. And if you still want me after, if you still can love me after what I’ve done…then I want to talk about us . Us as something more. But you have to know first. So just…let me talk, and listen, and…and yeah. Okay?”

Himiko and Ochako shared a glance, nodding to each other. Ochako squeezed back as Himiko quietly said “Okay. We’re listening, Izu.”

Ochako had her arms wrapped around Izuku’s arm as he finished telling his story, her head buried in his shoulder as she wept quietly. Himiko was mirroring her on the other side, but instead of crying she was simply stroking Izuku’s back with a soft look, her habitual smirk gone. For his part, Izuku’s expression was blank, almost emotionless, but tears slowly were dripping from his eyes as he sat there staring down at his hands, letting silence fall over the room.

“I’m going to say something you don’t want to hear, Izu,” Himiko warned him. He tilted his head ever so slightly in her direction to acknowledge her. Himiko took a deep breath. “I agree with Katsuki. It’s not your fault. ”

“But-” he began, but was cut off by Ochako’s one hand gripping chin tightly but not painfully, squishing his cheeks and muffling his reply. She lifted her head off his shoulder, eyes blotchy from crying but a fierce expression plastered on her face.

“No. I’m sure you’ve made up a hundred reasons why it's your fault, but we’re not hearing them. Because this is about what we think, remember? You wanted us to know before we decided, right? Well, we’ve decided.” She glanced over at Himiko, locking eyes with the amber catlike eyes of Himiko. At the blonde’s nod, she continued. “We still want this. Want you. Each other. All of us, together. That’s our decision. We can go over exactly what we think later, when you’re feeling better. And I swear to you I’ll listen to you, even when you say stupid things like it being your fault. I’ll correct you as many times as it takes, but I’ll hear you out.”

She loosened her grip on his face, but kept her hand on his chin as she turned him to look at her. She stroked her hand across his cheek softly. “But for now…you said you can’t accept it until we know. Well, we know. We accept you. So the question now is, do you accept us?”

“No pressure, Izu. If you say no it's okay. We’re still going to be here. We’re not leaving. And if you need more time we can wait,” Himiko added.

Izuku’s eyes cleared a little, almost as though he were exiting a daze. He shook his head slowly. “N-no. I don’t need time. I…still don’t agree about…about what happened. I can’t. Not yet. But…for us? I…I want it. If you still want me. Then yes.”

A wobbly smile crossed Ochako’s face as she wrapped her arms tighter around Izuku’s shoulder. With grabby hands, she tried to reach around him enough to grab Himiko and pull her closer, but Izuku’s broad shoulders made it difficult and she whined quietly. The blonde giggled quietly before wrapping her arms back in return, gripping Ochako’s arms beneath hers. Izuku let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and lifted his arms out from under theirs, wrapping them around the shoulders of the other two. He leaned back on the couch, the two following, Ochako burying her face back in his shoulder as Himiko tucked herself into his side. She reached one of her hands out over his chest, gripping Ochako’s dangling one and pulling it closer, lacing their fingers together.

“We should probably make sure we got it all laid out though,” Himiko said, her eyes closed.

“What do you mean?” Izuku asked.

“Well…we’re all together, right?”

Ochako nodded. “Yeah?”

“So that's polyamory. Which that can include others, or just us, or whatever. I just wanna know how you guys feel about that. Because…I mean…you know me. I kinda fall pretty fast for people,” she added quietly. “N-not that I’m not happy because I am! And if this is all we want I swear I’ll be more than happy! I just wanted to know what you guys thought, but if you’re not okay with talking abou-”

“Himi breathe,” both Ochako and Izuku said in unison, sharing a small grin as they realized what they’d done. Ochako shook her head, burying it back into Izuku’s shoulder to hide her smile. Emotional moments always left her feeling drained and exhausted, and made things that really weren’t funny become more amusing to her and she didn’t want to make either of her new (partners? Partners) think she was mocking them.

Izuku let out a quiet hum. “I mean…I don’t think I have a problem with it? I doubt I’d feel something for anyone else. I’m lucky as is just having the two of you, I’d be the luckiest man alive if I had one of you, and I get both of you so pretty sure my lucks maxed out for the rest of my life. But I won’t be upset if you fall for someone Himi.”

“People are hot, it’s okay,” Ochako said, her voice muffled in Izuku’s shoulder. “I don’t mind either. Same as Izu, doubt I’d find someone else, but if I did you’d be the first I tell.”

“...then how about that’s the rule?” Himiko asked. At the questioning hum the two gave her, she elaborated. “If one of us thinks somethings happening, or maybe someone confesses to one of us and we want to try, we tell the other two as soon as possible and decide together?”

“Seems fair,” Izuku said contemplatively. Ochako gave an affirming hum, snuggling further into Izuku’s shoulder. He glanced over at her as best he could without disturbing her. “You okay?”

“Mm. Just tired. Today was a lot. And now I’m happy and warm and cozy but still tired.”

Himiko snuggled further into Izuku’s side, her eyes still closed. She gripped the back of his shirt with her free hand. “Nap does sound good.”

Izuku smiled down at the two of them, a yawn escaping him unwillingly. “Not a bad idea.” He leaned his head back against the couch, relaxing his shoulders and letting the exhaustion of the day catch up to him, drifting off quickly.

Minutes later, Katsuki’s head appeared from around the door to the kitchen, having snuck into the house from the back door ten minutes ago because he hadn’t wanted to interrupt. Glancing at the three snuggled on the couch, he didn’t bother hiding the pleased smirk on his face. He turned back to the kitchen to finish putting away what groceries he’d picked up. He’d work on dinner later, he didn’t want to wake them. Plus they weren’t wrong about a nap sounding good, since he was also exhausted from the test. 

After he finished putting everything away, he checked once more on the three in the living room. Standing over his brother and likely one day his future sisters, he shook his head with a smile on his face. He grabbed the nearest throw blanket his mom kept around and laid it gently over them. Stifling his own yawn, he plodded off to his room. Not bothering to change out of the clothes he’d gotten into once he got home, he flopped onto his bed and set an alarm on his phone for two hours hence. A nice nap but not enough to throw off his sleep schedule, and still enough time to make dinner before it got too late. After setting the phone down, he let go of consciousness, taking to dreamland with his friends (family).

Five days later, the quartet of Izuku, Ochako, Katsuki, and Himiko were strolling down the street, trying to distract themselves from the tension of waiting for the results. Toshinori had informed them he’d been gone all week handling hero business, so the four of them really had no one to speak to about it. And Izuku was still on enforced ‘recharge’ mode, even though he’d managed to get back up to over eighty percent. Strangely, he felt like it was taking longer to fully recharge for some reason, even when he risked going out into the sun shirtless to have more surface area. But he dismissed it for now, figuring it was probably just a figment of his imagination. If it was an issue, it’d come up in his next checkup so long as he was careful.

So instead, the four of them had decided to hit the town up and wander the streets to look for something, anything , to distract them. There had been a short discussion back at the house, where Katsuki had said he was fine doing his own thing if they wanted to go on a date but the other three had insisted against that. Their relationship was still new, and Izuku’s nerves were still getting used to the idea. So he preferred not doing anything overly date-like yet. 

Plus, though none of them said it, they knew Katsuki was lonely. Ever since Tsubasa had vanished, he’d never quite been able to hide the fact that it hurt that his only friend besides Izuku (who was more family than friend), had just…gone. The three of them getting together would change things, all four of them knew it, but the three who were together now still did not want to lose what they had with the grumpy blonde. They also wanted to avoid making him feel like a fourth wheel, so Himiko kept her habitual overly close PDA under wraps while out, just her normal levels of touchiness and flirting.

As the four passed an alleyway a few blocks away from the city center, Izuku and Katsuki had just started another debate about the best pre-Quirk power ballads when a tiny body slammed full force into Izuku’s legs. He was unmoved by it, but the figure fell to the ground with a quiet cry. Izuku dropped to one knee immediately, Ochako following him as Himiko bent over to check on the figure. Katsuki looked down at the figure, eyebrow arched.

Izuku blinked at the dirty tan dress, the long, tangled white hair, the bare feet, the bandaged arms and legs, and the tiny horn poking out from the right side of her head. Every alarm bell in his mind was set off by this, and he spoke as quietly as possible as he held his hand out to her. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Are you alright?”

The small child looked up at him with fear filled red eyes, her head snapping back to look behind her in a hurry, staring down the dark alleyway as if she feared it would reach out and swallow her whole. She hurriedly clambered to her feet, ignoring his hand, and rushed towards him, latching her arms around his waist in what he recognized as sheer panic. “P-p-please, please don’t let him find me, please don’t let him, please please please.”

From the moment the others saw her, each of them had reacted differently. Himiko began looking around behind them, both looking for possible help and if anyone was watching them who shouldn’t be. Ochako’s eyes went wide at first as she saw the bandages, before her face settled into a determined twitch as she reached into her pockets to see if she had anything to help. Katsuki had uncrossed his arms and as soon as he saw her look behind her, he’d taken a step beyond them to stand between her and the alleyway as she clutched onto Izuku, his red eyes scanning the dark alleyway carefully, hands held open at his sides.

“From who? Who do we need to keep you from?” Izuku kept his tone calm and quiet, trying to keep her from panicking more. She huddled closer into his chest, the horn digging itself into his chest. He avoided showing any sign of discomfort, simply allowing her to hold on.

“C-C-Chisaki. Please, don’t let him, please…”

“Okay little one, let’s go find a nice police officer and-”

“ No! ” she shouted in fear, almost leaping out of his arms. She shakes her head violently, her entire body shaking with her as she looks at him pleadingly. “No, no, Chisaki has them, he has them!” She fisted her hands in her hair, squeezing her eyes shut as she shimmied frantically in place.

Izuku tried to calm her down by asking her name. “Okay little one, what’s your name? I’m Izuku, and these are my friends Katsuki, Himiko, and Ochako.”

“I-I’m Eri. And the police always take me back when I get out, please, I can’t go back!”

“I think she’s trying to say whoever this is has an in with the police,” Himiko whispered to Izuku, having turned back to look at the duo when the little girl shouted.

“What else can we do though?” he returned quietly, trying to reassure Eril at the same time. “We can’t just run off with a runaway.”

“We can’t ask Toshinori, he’s busy, but what about Nighteye? He might know what to do,” Ochako said, her eyes having followed Katsuki down the alleyway. Something about it felt off , as if they were being watched. She took a step to stand beside the blonde, flexing her fingers. 

“You feel it too, Cheeks?” Katsuki asked her quietly. She nodded, eyes narrowed.

“Let’s get out of here and make the call to Sir. We’ll work something out,” Izuku said to the other three. He looked down at the little girl, her eyes having gone disturbingly blank, almost as if she was going catatonic, something Izuku was far too used to. He held his arms out wider and spoke in as soft and reassuring a voice as he could. “Eri, will you come with us? We won’t call the police, okay? We’ll keep you safe.”

She said nothing, but walked forward almost absently into his arms, allowing him to lift her up with little effort. Adjusting her so she was fully encapsulated in his arms, he took a step backwards from the alleyway, feeling the same pressure of eyes on them the others had noticed. Carefully, he stepped back and back and back, whispering to the others to come. Himiko stood at his side, guiding him back carefully. Ochako went next, keeping her eyes behind her as she turned around. Katsuki waited until the others had reached the street, ignoring the hissed calls from Izuku until he could glance back and see them at the street from the corner of his eyes. He walked slowly backwards until they were as far from the dark alley as they could be, and they began walking quickly down the sidewalk towards the busier area of town.

“Are you kidding me? ” The annoyed growl of Sir Nighteye echoed out of the phone, Ochako wincing as she held it away from her ear. The quartet had found a small outdoor cafe and sat down at the table closest to the street, Himiko running in to grab some snacks for the girl. Katsuki didn’t take a seat, leaning against the railing and looking back at the way they had come from. The little girl had yet to let go of Izuku, so that left Ochako to make the phone call and explain, and Nighteye was not pleased.

“You four kidnapped a child!? I swear, are you trying to ruin your careers before they begin?”

“We didn’t! She’s hurt and begged us to keep her safe from someone!”

“Then why didn’t you take her to the police?!”

Ochako huffed, turning away from the others and taking a few steps away to make sure she could speak quietly. “She panicked the moment we mentioned them, said that the guy who had her ‘had them’. We think she means he had some sort of help from an officer or something.”

“And you can trust her word on this? How old is she?”

“Well, she didn’t tell us, but she’s small. Really small. I’d guess…four? Five? Somewhere around there.” Ochako could practically see the facepalm Sir Nighteye must have been making. 

“And you never thought perhaps she was wrong, or exaggerating? Did she even say who it was who was supposedly hurting her?”

“Yeah, someone named…um…shit. Izu!” She turned from the phone to call back to Izuku, the greenette murmuring sweet soothing words to the girl in his lap, absently stroking her hair as she shuddered and shivered in his arms. He looked up at her, keeping his hand moving softly. “What’d she say the guy's name was again?”

Izuku looked pained at the question, glancing down at Eri with a significant look as if to say he didn’t want to panic her by saying it out loud. Katsuki stepped over to Ochako and grabbed the phone, quietly growling into it. “She called the fuckward ‘Chisaki’. Dunno if it's a first or last-”

“...what?” Nighteyes whispered voice cut Katsuki off. “Did you say Chisaki? Kai Chisaki?!”

“Uh…well, she didn’t say anything about a Kai,” Katsuki paused as the little girl whimpered when he said that. He clenched his free fist and turned back to the phone. “...okay, yeah, that sounded like confirmation.”

“...fuck,” the sound of Nighteye cursing made both Katsuki and Ochako’s eyes go wide in shock, the two of them sharing a significant look. Their attention was drawn back to the phone. “Where are you? Right now, location.”

“We’re at a cafe. Himi just ran in to get something for the kid, she’s all skin and bones.”

“Get Himiko, and make your way to UA. Now. Take the girl. Do not stop, do not let anyone stop you, do not get distracted. I’ll call ahead and let them know.”

“Sir, what’s going on?” Ochako cut in, grabbing her phone out of Katsuki’s slack grip. Worry swam in her eyes as she glanced back at the interior of the cafe, seeing Himiko just finishing up at the counter.

“I don’t have time to explain. Kai Chisaki is a very dangerous man, and if she’s on the run from him it puts you in danger for encountering her. Do as I say and go to UA as quickly as you can. I will make my way there as soon as I can. There is no further time. If you see anyone with a bird mask, run towards the nearest hero. Now, go!” the line cut off, Nighteye’s command echoing in the air as Ochako and Katsuki shared another glance. They glanced back to the table, seeing Izuku looking back at them with a seeking glance, just as Himiko came out of the cafe with a small box of pastries and a cup carrier with a few drinks in it.

“Cheeks, help Fangs carry the food. Zu, Nighteye says we go to UA asap, no dawdling. If we see anyone with a bird mask, that's bad. Says run to a fucking hero. If there ain’t one around, you guys rabbit. I’ll hold the fucker off if it comes to that.”

“Shut up Katsuki, don’t even say that,” Ochako glared at him. “Most of that’s true, except him running off. No one splits off, we stick together. We’re not far from UA, let's just go.”

Katsuki didn’t bother replying to Ochako, knowing that if it came down to it, he wasn’t about to just run away while some bastard tried to chase his friends and that little girl. He’d blow the fucker up for even thinking about it if he had to. But for now he’d follow along.

For all the fear that Sir Nighteye had instilled in them with his cryptic messages, the four teens and one small child made it to UA without issue. As they approached the gate, they were greeted by a tall, slouching man with bedraggled looks and rumpled clothing. His black hair looked as tangled as the little girls, and his eyes were narrowed slits as he looked at them.

“Of course it's you four. I should have known,” he drawled. “Well, no reason to wait. Come in. We’re going to Recovery Girl.”

The little girl in Izuku’s arms, who had steadfastly made no noise since they’d picked her up, tugged lightly at his shirt. Izuku looked down at her, seeing her having looked up with wide, red eyes, fear still swirling within them. He spoke softly to her as he followed, ignoring how the other three were watching him carefully. “What’s up Eri?”

“I-Is he safe? He’s not with Chisaki, is he?”

“Oh no sweetie, of course not. He’s a hero named Eraserhead, he’s-”

“How the hell did you know that, kid?” the black-haired man said, narrowing his eyes.

Izuku flushed, wanting to rub at the back of his head but not able to let go of Eri in his arms. “W-Well, I’m just guessing but everyone we’ve met so far was a hero. I didn’t think you’d just be some random person. And when I looked at your Quirk, I saw it was focused in your eyes but had a negative feeling to it, so I just put the two together and when I guessed Erasure it shifted colors. I know about your Quirk because I’m a huge fan, I’ve kept up with what little there is about you! You have one of the best crime solving rates in the country, and are top of the underground heroes as far as I can tell with the basic math I’ve applied to-”

“Izuku, breathe!” Katsuki sighed, rolling his eyes as Izuku had devolved into muttering halfway through.

Eraserhead blinked at him, trying to process what he’d said before letting out a long-suffering sigh. “It’s Aizawa when out of uniform, kid. That goes for the lot of you. You can explain what you meant by seeing my Quirk later. For now, let’s get you to the old lady.”

Eri had been getting steadily more and more nervous in Izuku’s arms as they walked towards the nurses office. But once she saw Recovery Girl, she screamed in terror. Her horn began to crackle and glow, making the others around her panic. But Aizawa reacted swiftly, his eyes flaring red and hair raising up, cutting off the yellow lightning pouring out of her horn before it had even been five seconds. His hair fell back down a moment later, the red leaking out of his eyes as he looked at the suddenly calmed child. Eri’s scream cut short as she stared at him in awe, eyes wide and shimmering with tears.

“Y-y-you stopped my, my curse!” she sobbed out, still staring at Aizawa.

He arched an eyebrow at her, a significant look exchanged with Recovery Girl. She stepped away for a moment, picking up her phone and making a swift call the others couldn’t hear. She came back around the corner with no lab coat and a different cane, this one with no adornments, and smiled softly at the little girl. “Why don’t we do the examination in the lounge? It will be more comfortable there.”

Left unsaid was that both her and Aizawa had a sneaking suspicion they knew why she panicked at the sight of her in her lab coat and syringe cane. But they didn’t think they could go into that right now, not when the girl was still shivering. 

The group made their way to the lounge, Izuku sitting down on the couch in the center so Recovery Girl could look her over carefully. Though Eri was hesitant, the soft encouragement from Izuku and Himiko made her allow it. She flinched multiple times, every time Recovery Girl gently touched the bandages or her horn, but bravely didn’t stop her from moving. 

Aizawa crossed his arms over his chest as Recovery Girl stepped away to write some things down on the notepad she’d brought with her. “Curse, you say?”

“Uh-huh. I m-made my daddy disappear. Mommy left me because she said I was a c-cursed child. Chisaki says he can fix everyone's curses with me.”

“Eri sweetie, is there any chance you’d be okay with one of my friends holding you for a moment?” Izuku interjected, his smile wide and tone soothing. She looked at him with a bit of fear in her eyes, but meekly looked over the other three teens. She pointed at Ochako, ducking her head back into his chest when the brunette looked shocked. 

“O-of course, I’ll be happy to do it!” Ochako said, her smile mirroring Izuku’s. Himiko cooed at her as Katsuki rolled his eyes, a smirk quirking the corner of her lips up. Izuku carefully passed Eri to the gentle arms of Ochako, still smiling as he turned back to Recovery Girl. He stepped over to her and bent over to speak quietly, not flinching as Aizawa leaned back to hear him.

“Her Quirk signature is…really messed up, Recovery Girl. I’ve never seen something like that.”

Recovery Girl hummed to herself and cocked an eyebrow at him. “How so?”

Izuku paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain. “So…like, when I see them, the energy is always continuous. Like, there are certain parts of people that glow much brighter, like Eras-uh, Mr. Aizawa’s is mostly in his eyes. But Quirk’s are all over a body, so it's always the entire body, just certain parts are much brighter. And it's always connected.”

“Are you trying to say she’s not?” Aizawa asked. He wasn’t entirely sure what the green-haired boy was talking about, but he was able to pick up context clues.

Izuku shook his head. “It's like someone took a knife to it and cut it into a hundred pieces. It's still there , but it's broken . It's not one connected energy, it's a bunch of smaller ones that look brittle and smoldering. Like they are going to either fade away entirely or explode.”

Further conversation was interrupted by a loud, angry snarl from Katsuki as Himiko hissed. The three spun about to see Katsuki’s hands popping, his mouth moving like he was biting his tongue to avoid saying anything. Himiko had turned away from Eri, clenching her fists repeatedly. Ochako was still smiling, but Izuku could see how brittle it had gotten, the angry gleam in her eyes as Eri was looking around worriedly.

“I just asked Eri how Chisaki would fix the curses with her. Eri dear, could you repeat to the others what you just told us?” Ochako asked sweetly, gently rubbing Eri’s back.

The little girl in her lap nodded. “C-Chisaki used to t-take my blood with knives and needles, he s-said he needed it to fix curses. A-and when I’d get really sleepy and tired, he’d break me and fix me to make me less sleepy.”

“Does anyone know what she means by that?” Katsuki managed to growl out, looking over at Aizawa and Recovery Girl.

Aizawa looked over at the small child who had ducked her head back into Ochako’s chest. He took a deep breath. “According to Sir Nighteye, Kai Chisaki’s Quirk is called ‘Overhaul’. It allows him to deconstruct and reconstruct matter with a touch.”

Silence fell over the room as the four teens followed what he said, horror dawning on the face of Ochako and Himiko as the pops in Katsuki’s hands began to flicker faster. Izuku’s head was dropped to his chest, looking at the floor and refusing to meet anyone's gaze.

“I-I’m sorry,” Eri whimpered. “I d-didn’t want to m-make anyone mad.”

Katsuki clenched his fists, cutting off the explosions. He chewed on his lip for a moment before stepping to the couch, dropping to one knee before Ochako and Eri. “It isn’t you I’m pissed at kiddo. You did nothing wrong.”

“B-but my curse-”

“No such thing, Eri. No Quirk is a curse,” Himiko interjected, having sat down on the couch next to Ochako. Eri looked at her in disbelief, before the attention seemed to be too much and she snuggled into Ochako further. 

Katsuki gave the little girl a sharp nod and looked up at the teachers in the room, his eyes falling on the almost statue-like form of Izuku, head bowed, hands limp at his sides. “Izuku,” he called, waiting for the slight twitch of Izuku’s shoulders  to show he was listening before continuing. “Not now. Later. Now’s not the time.”

The eyes of the others in the room turned to look at Izuku, seeing his shoulders lift up as they heard him take a deep, bracing breath. He lifted his head, his eyes blank and expression flat. He let out the breath slowly, blinking as he did. He looked back at Katsuki. “You’re right. Later.”

Himiko leaned over to Katsuki and whispered quietly “What’s that about?”

Katsuki spoke back out of the corner of his mouth. “I’ll explain later.” Himiko nodded, accepting the response.

Recovery Girl pulled a lollipop out of her pocket and held it out towards Eri. “You’ve been a lovely little girl, why don’t you have one of these?”

Eri looked back at it, confused. She tilted her head to the side. “What’s that?”

Ochako was visibly struggling not to react while Eri was in her arms. Her face twisted like she’d just tasted something particularly sour, but she shifted it back into a smile as Eri turned to look at her for her opinion. “It’s candy, Eri.”

“Oh. What’s candy?”

“Food, it's very sweet and tasty. Why don’t you try it? You just suck on it over time.” She accepted a lollipop from Recovery Girl as well, sliding the plastic off and shoving it in her mouth. “See?”

Eri cautiously took the candy from the older woman’s hand, struggling for a moment with the plastic before Ochako helped her remove it. She carefully stuck it in her mouth the way Ochako did, experimentally tasting it the same way. Her eyes lit up as she continued, making a humming noise of happiness. Some of the tension left the room at her sounds of joy, a tiny smile making its way to Himiko’s face, Katsuki’s expression becoming less severe.

Aizawa’s text ringtone rang out, the man looking down at it and reading something for a moment. His face twisted for a moment, before shifting back to placidity. “That was the rat. Nighteye got held up by an emergency call and won’t be able to make it here, but he sent his files over. Is the girl okay to come with us Chiyo?”

Recovery Girl shook her head. “No, I don’t think it's a good time yet. I would like to run a few more tests if Eri can handle them. Can you be a brave little girl and put up with just a few more? I promise you it won’t hurt.” 

Eri looked up at Ochako and then back to Izuku, then over at the two blondes who stood protectively behind her. “C-can they come with me?”

“Hmm. I think that’s fine, but one of them needs to come with me to speak to Nezu. We need your statement on what happened.”

“I’ll do it,” Izuku said quietly. Though he had lifted his head and was looking at them, it felt like he wasn’t entirely there. Aizawa did not know the boy, but it wasn’t hard to tell he was not okay right now. But…well, he doubted any of the kids were. Might as well take the one who volunteered.

“You sure Izu? Me or Kats can go, I think ‘Chako has Eri all set up.”

Izuku shook his head slowly. “I can handle it. Thank you. Kacchan?”

“Yeah?”

“When we get home…spar?”

Katsuki nodded his head. “Yep.”

“Okay. Mr. Aizawa, would you lead the way? I don’t quite remember it.”

“Sure thing kid. Let’s go.”

Izuku stepped over to the couch and knelt down, slowly reaching out and gently laying his hand on Eri’s arm. “I’ll be back in just a little bit, Eri. Okay?”

“Mmmhmm,” Eri said around the mouthful of candy, nodding. Izuku gave her a brittle smile, standing up and following Aizawa to the door, not meeting Himiko or Ochako’s eyes.

“Can you explain now, Kats?” Himiko asked quietly, the two blondes staying far enough away from Eri as Recovery Girl checked a few more things with what she had on hand.

Katsuki ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up. “There’s a quote from an old, pre-Quirk book. It goes ‘There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in a storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man’. Well…Izuku’s your gentle man in this scenario.”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Look, you know how I got a fucking temper problem and had to take anger management and shit? Yeah, Izuku did too. He’s just got a better handle on it. Which is why when he gets pissed, he goes cold. Analytical. He doesn’t normally go feral like my dumbass does.”

“That implies he does go feral sometimes,” she pointed out.

Katsuki said nothing for a good minute, crossing his arms over his chest and staring into the distance. After a little bit, he let out a tch noise. “Just hope you’re not around when he does.”

“Hmm, I see, I see. Well, I can understand why you acted as you did, although it certainly skirted the letter of the law. Now, you say you saw no one witness you leave with her?” Nezu said, taking another sip of tea.

Izuku shook his head, his voice quiet and flat. “No. But Kacchan and Ochako both said they felt like something was watching us.”

“Concerning. Hmm. I received a communication from our counselor, Hound Dog, while we were going over your story. He’s spoken to Eri for a few minutes and it is clear she’s already somewhat latched onto you and your friends. Likely she’s associated you with her freedom.”

“Is that bad?” Izuku asked.

“Not necessarily. Well, to clarify, it isn’t healthy for her, but for now it's alright. We can work on creating a less unhealthy bond over time. But the now is the issue.”

Izuku seemed to have some small amount of life breathed into him at this time, tilting his head to the side. “What do we do then?”

Nezu steepled his fingers before his face, his claws tapping against each other with quiet clicks as he leaned forward on his desk. “Well…truth be told, I’d like to keep Eri here. Aizawa’s ability to stop her Quirk, whatever it does, seems essential. And both Recovery Girl and Hound Dog will be instrumental in her recovery I believe, especially considering the threat that Chisaki shows. I have reviewed Nighteye’s files and find myself…concerned. The implication I have gotten is that she was experimented upon, and as any teacher here would inform you, I have particularly…strong…feelings about such actions.”

Aizawa flinched, clueing Izuku to exactly how strong the Headmaster’s feelings must be to make Aizawa react in what looked like genuine fear. Nezu continued, his black eyes glittering as he spoke. “However, we run into the issue that she seems determined to stay by you and your friend's side. But I believe there is a simple solution to this conundrum.”

“That is?” Izuku asked, confused.

Nezu grinned widely. “Well, you see Midoriya…we already finished the scoring for the exam. And while you will still be receiving a proper acceptance letter shortly, it is my honor to inform you that you, and your compatriots, all passed the exam with shining colors. In fact…” Nezu gestured behind himself, where a cleverly hidden screen flickered on, showing a scoreboard.

1st Place: Izuku Midoriya

Villain Points: 68

Rescue Points: 80

Total Score: 148

2nd Place: Bakugo Katsuki

Villain Points: 77

Rescue Points: 60

Total Score: 137

3rd Place: Ochako Uraraka

Villain Points: 66

Rescue Points: 70

Total Score: 136

4th Place: Himiko Toga

Villain Points: 70

Rescue Points: 65

Total Score: 135

“As you can see, the four of you did exceptionally . In fact, you surpassed All Might’s previous record score of 145! And your friends managed to beat everyone but All Might’s score, giving them the records for third, fourth, and fifth places! So as you can see, you have all been accepted.”

Izuku stared at the screen in shock, blinking rapidly in shock. He couldn’t believe it. He’d taken first place? Beaten All Might’s record? What…what? But he’d just been running around like everyone else, how was this possible? It didn’t make any sense! And what in the world were rescue points?!

“It makes perfect sense. You see, being a hero is far more than just beating villains. That's why we have rescue points, points awarded for helping other examinees. And this year, for helping the staged ‘victims’ we had placed. The children you and your friends helped rescue? They are professional actors hero schools hire for examinations and rescue training. Not to mention your bravery in helping Miss Hagakure,” Nezu replied to what Izuku belatedly realized he’d been saying out loud. The name made him remember the fight against the zero pointer and he suddenly had to ask.

“Was that the girl with the invisibility Quirk? Is she okay?” he asked, realizing he’d never checked back in on her. Internally he berated himself for not making sure she was okay, much less the other two boys who helped him save her. 

“She’s doing fine, Midoriya. As are the others who helped,” Aizawa said.

Izuku leaned back in his chair, letting his shoulders relax a tiny bit. “Oh good. I completely forgot to check up on her. So stupid,” he muttered the last part to himself, still upset he hadn’t checked.

“We’re going to have to work on that self-flagellation of yours at some point,” Aizawa sighed, but didn’t respond to the questioning look Izuku shot at him. “Either way, you four made it in. So what’s the plan then, Nezu?”

Nezu picked up his tea and sipped at it. “Well, I think the most prudent thing would be to have them move into the dorms early. We’ll have Cemontoss set aside a room for young Eri, and simply place the four of the young adults in the same dormitory building. This way she’s with her rescuers as well as in the same building as you.”

“Wait, what?” Izuku asked, looking over at Aizawa, confused. The hero sighed.

“I’m the homeroom teacher for Class 1-A, which means Nezu intends on throwing you into my class.”

“Right you are, Aizawa!”

“I resign.”

“Denied.”

“Dammit. Fine. I want a raise.”

“Granted.”

“I’m still going to treat the four of them as any other student, you do understand this? If they can’t hack it, they aren’t staying.”

Nezu smiled over the rim of his teacup. “Oh, I know. But I’m not worried.”

“Um…what’s going on?” Izuku asked, somewhat confused by the back and forth between the two.

Aizawa waved his concerns away lazily. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Problem Child.”

“Of course, we need your parents' permission, and we still need to discuss it with the other three. However, the most important question is…are you okay with this?”

Izuku jolted in his seat, eyes wide again at the question. “What do you mean?”

Nezu set his cup down carefully and clasped his hands together, looking directly into Izuku’s eyes. “We are asking much of you. Eri is not someone you should be responsible for, and it was only unfortunate timing she latched onto you. We would not think less of you if you feel that it's unfair to be responsible for her safety and happiness after only a few hours of knowing her. We can figure out a way to manage her safety without you, if this is something you think would cause you undue stress.”

“Headmaster…that’s not even a question. I’ll do anything to help her and keep her safe,” Izuku replied, the most emotion filtered into his voice since he’d entered the office. 

Nezu chuckled to himself as Aizawa’s eyes narrowed at the greenette. “I thought you might say that. But you won’t be in the dorms for long without the others. The move-in date is next week anyways, so you’ll only be in there for a few days before the rest of your class arrives. So you’ll have time to settle. Let’s return to the teachers lounge and discuss it with your friends and little Eri and be sure everyone is alright with this solution.”

“Moving in early? I mean…yeah, that’s fine with us,” Himiko said, getting the nod of agreement from Ochako.

“Mom and Pop won’t mind us moving in early either I’m sure. Hell, they’ll probably be happy we’re not breaking shit at home,” Katsuki drawled. 

“I’m not opposed to watching Eri, but…um…I don’t know how?” Ochako said quietly, Eri having been passed back to Izuku’s arms as Nezu spoke to the other three teens.

“Oh we won’t be asking you to watch her alone. You have classes to go to after all. We just want you around to help reassure her she’s safe, as it seems she’s decided you four are what keep her safe. It’s a form of trauma bonding. We’ll be working to ease her from it to a healthier place, but at the start she merely needs to know you are there for her,” Nezu assured her. 

“I’ll be doing sessions with her as often as she’s comfortable,” the furred face of Hound Dog spoke calmly, his gruff tone belied by his friendly demeanor. “And like all students, you’re more than welcome to make an appointment with me as well. I’m here for everyone.”

“UA staff will be doing most of the work to keep her safe. An unknown, powerful Quirk is one we must keep an eye on, plus Nighteye’s reports imply that she is very important to the villain Kai Chisaki. But more than that…we would not allow a small abused child to continue to be abused if we have the opportunity to protect her. We merely ask for your assistance with her.”

“Of course!” Ochako replied instantly. She was all for helping, she just was worried she’d mess something up. Wasn’t like she knew how to deal with a traumatized five year old…she could barely deal with a traumatized seventeen year old who happened to be her boyfriend. 

“Zu said he saw our scores. Can we see them?” Katsuki asked, changing the subject.

“Of course! I thought you might ask, so I brought your scorecards with me!” Nezu grinned, handing a piece of paper over to Katsuki who cursed under his breath.

“Second? Dammit. Zu beat me on this one. Whatever, I’ll get him next time,” Katsuki muttered as he handed the paper over to Himiko who grinned widely at it.

“Fuck yeah! We kept our promise to Toshi!”

“Wait, we did?” Ochako stepped up behind her girlfriend to peer over her shoulder, looking at Himiko pointing to the numbers by their names. Ochako’s eyes widened and she shimmied happily in place, squeeing quietly.

“As I told Midoriya, he beat All Might’s old record of 145. While the rest of you did not, you did beat the next best record of 131 held by Endeavor. You’ve truly made your mark at the exam. I’ll be expecting much from you now that we’ve seen what you can do,” Nezu said, his teeth bared in a grin that was somehow both reassuring and somewhat terrifying.

Recovery Girl called Nezu and Hound Dog over to discuss something, the two of them taking their leave and leaving the three teens together. Himiko hummed to herself for a moment, before turning to Katsuki. “Could you take Eri from Izu for a bit? We wanna check on him.”

Katsuki blinked at her for a moment, before nodding. “Yeah, if she’s okay with it. Good luck with him though, he’s fucking stubborn.”

“Are you okay?” Ochako asked quietly. She knew how he felt about people asking him about his feelings, but he seemed calm enough to understand she was just checking on her friend.

Katsuki didn’t reply for a good thirty seconds, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared off into the distance. He let out a ‘tch’ sound. “I’m fucking pissed is what I am. We finally got ourselves into a good spot, you three were doing good, Zu was happy, and we got into UA, but some fucking villain has to be abusing this kid and I swear to every fucking god if I find him he’s dead .”

His growled statement was met with silence for a moment, before Himiko put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed. She knew he wasn’t a fan of comfort, so she just wanted to show him she understood. His shoulders slumped slightly as if all the fight had drained out of him, letting out a sigh. He uncrossed his arms and ran one hand through his hair, tugging at it softly. 

“But what about you ?” Ochako asked. He looked at her blankly, like he didn’t understand the question. “You spoke about us three, about Izuku being happy, and the kid, but not about how you were feeling.”

Katsuki shrugged. “It’s not some big deal. I was happy too. Now I’m pissed. I’ll get over it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. I’ll be fine, Cheeks. I promise. I’m no idiot like Zu, I’m not gonna lie. I’m pissed but I’ll manage it. Check on the nerd, I’m gonna watch the kid. Hey, Zu, pass her over, it's my turn to pet the unicorn!” He ended the last part with a raised voice, smirking at the confusion on Izuku’s face as he strode over to the couch.

There was some small concern with Izuku that Eri wouldn’t take as well to Katsuki, considering his relatively gruff nature compared to the other three, but apparently his clear annoyance at everything but her put her at ease. As well as the sweet scent he was always surrounded with due to his Quirk helped relax her, so Izuku was happy enough to step over to his girlfriends and finally, finally , let his shoulders drop just a bit, tension bleeding out of his form.

“You okay? And don’t lie to us,” Himiko asked, reaching down and taking Izuku’s left hand in her own.

Izuku sighs, his shoulders slumping further as he leans against Himiko bonelessly. Ochako steps closer and wraps one arm around his shoulder, the other around Himiko’s, and hugs them both tightly. “I’m just…tired,” Izuku mutters.

“You seemed pretty upset earlier,” Ochako replied.

“I was. I am. I’m exhausted and angry and sad and just…tired. Every time I see how her Quirk is, how…broken…it is, I can’t…I can’t concentrate. What must she have gone through? She’s just a child. I…I want to fucking kill that bastard for what he did. If I ever get ahold of him, he will regret it.”
“And here we are given the reminder that you and Kats are definitely related,” Himiko murmured to herself.

“I feel safe saying we all feel the same, Izu,” Ochako replied to him instead, gently swatting Himiko’s shoulder for her commentary. Himiko rolled her eyes, leaning further into the hug.

“I just want to go home and sleep,” he whispered, his voice so quiet they could barely hear it over the conversations the others were having. 

“We will, in just a little bit I’m sure. We’ll just have to figure out the stuff for the whole moving-in thing,” Ochako tried to reassure him. He gave her a look , eyes half-lidded from emotional exhaustion and face pale and blotchy. She smiled softly at him and, daringly, kissed his forehead. “It’ll be okay, Izu. We can handle this.”

Chapter Text

The spray of blood splattered upon the wall, making Overhaul internally wince beneath his mask. Punishment for failure was necessary, but the mess was annoying to deal with. He gave no further thought to it, knowing Chronostasis would handle the cleanup. He turned and walked away, casually replacing his glove with another one. This one had an entire two drops of blood on it…disgusting. 

“Get that cleaned up. The report?”

Chrono flipped the page over on his clipboard. “We were unable to identify where exactly Eri was taken to, but Mimic did catch a glimpse of who took her. It was a group of four teenagers, two boys and two girls. However, they did not take her to a police station according to our contacts.”

Overhaul sighed. “Tell me we have more information than that.”

“Mimic was able to give us fairly decent descriptions. Three of them did not seem incredibly unusual, but one had oddly green and black hair, which is a more unique hair coloration. We did not see any sight of their Quirks to track back from there, however. They took Eri to a small cafe, but shortly after speaking on the phone to someone, they left in a hurry. Mimic was not able to keep up with them.”

“Disappointing. Do you have anything good to report to me?”

“Not exactly good, no. We received another request for a meeting from that man, however.”

Overhaul paused in his stride for a moment, contemplating. “Hmm. Do you think they were part of Eri’s abduction?”

Chrono shook his head. “I don’t believe so, no. If they were I feel they would simply already be attempting to ransom her to us. As well as the four teenagers did not look like the usual members of the League.”

Overhaul waved that off. “Looks can be deceiving, but you have a point about the ransom. They have resources we could use…hmm. Very well. Set something up, soon. We need Eri…and I will be certain to make those who took her pay. I will not allow some teenagers to ruin everything we’ve worked so hard to create.”

“It will be done.”

Moving into the dorms wasn’t really that difficult, especially once you factored in some judicious use of Ochako and Izuku’s Quirks, with a little bit of help from Himiko transforming into Ochako to add more. The hardest part was taking turns staying at UA to keep Eri calm, as even if they weren’t right next to her, she had trouble staying calm if one of them wasn’t at least where she could easily find them.

Hound Dog assured everyone involved she would get past this eventually, that she could find a more healthy way of expressing her affection and worries, but for now they simply had to take turns going back to pack. It was easiest for Ochako and Himiko…their apartment was only paid up through the end of the month anyways, since whether they passed or failed the exam, they’d be moving out of it once they did. They’d kept most of their stuff packed just to make it easier, so it took little to no time to get them moved in. 

Ochako and Himiko were pleased they ended up rooming next to each other. Katsuki and Izuku were likewise pleased they weren’t next to each other, as while they loved each other like brothers, they weren’t unhappy having some space for once. The most difficult thing to move was moving Katsuki’s drum set into his room, since he was assured the rooms were soundproofed he decided to bring it. Izuku’s guitar was easier to bring obviously, but the two boys had already planned on playing together sometimes to relax.

Eri had been moved into the bedroom next to Izuku, as she seemed to like his presence the most. Cementoss had created a doorway between the two rooms specifically for them to pass through, so Eri could avoid the hallway if she wanted privacy to come see him. Hound Dog had sat down with Izuku and gone over techniques for dealing with nightmares and panic attacks (though Izuku protested he knew how to deal with them, Hound Dog patiently explained that knowing how to handle them himself was different than guiding someone else through it, not to mention the age difference meant they had to use slightly different techniques).

They had set up a special panic button just for Eri if she felt too overwhelmed or if her Quirk activated. Eri had her own, but the other four also had one just in case, which would summon Aizawa as quickly as he could make it to her and also page Recovery Girl and Hound Dog. With all that, they felt as comfortable as they could be. Aizawa informed them he had an apartment on the bottom floor, but if they were able to handle it, he’d be spending most of his time in the teachers dorm so he could better handle his lesson planning. The four of them felt they should be fine…it was just them and Eri for now, so they were pretty sure they could manage it for the next few days until the rest of their classmates arrived.

That was, until the boys checked the kitchen and realized it had nothing . Basic pots and pans, utensils, but absolutely no food and worst of all, no spices . This would not stand. Izuku and Katsuki went storming off to purchase everything they needed, both equipment and various foodstuffs (as the only real cooking equipment they brought were their aprons and the individualized knife sets the two of them got for Christmas one year). 

Himiko sighed fondly at the two idiots, watching them leave with a soft expression. She kept quiet though, as Eri had curled up next to her on the couch while watching one of Himiko’s favorite shows from her childhood, an old magical girl anime she’d watched religiously. She’d been trying to introduce Eri to all the things she’d missed out on (which she found more and more things every day, internally adding to her long list of reasons she intended on disemboweling this ‘Chisaki’ person), and getting her accustomed to quiet tv days felt like a safe thing to do.

Ochako stepped into the common room, her habitual sunshine smile softening at the sight of a sleeping Eri, her form curled up into Himiko’s side like she was the one with the cat mutation, not Himiko. The television was on, playing some old anime with the volume lowered as Himiko just gazed down at the sleeping unicorn child, gently running her hand through the white hair. 

The four had quickly realized Eri was touch starved, with how quickly she latched onto anyone who showed her basic human affection. But it was also overwhelming for her, the idea of soft, gentle touches rather than the pain she was used to, so the four had taken it slow. 

Katsuki, who was by his nature the type to show his affection rarely, simply allowed Eri to approach him how she felt most comfortable. It wasn’t as safe for him to rub her back or stroke her hair as it was with the others, so instead he allowed her to use him as a pillow at times, letting her rest in his lap or pressed up against his side, his arm wrapped about her protectively.

Ochako, on the other hand, was more aggressive in her affection. They noticed Eri was slightly more comfortable with women than men (likely due to the ones torturing her being all male), with the sole exception of Izuku, and so she took full advantage of that. Ochako would hug her unexpectedly, or lift her in the air and giggle with her as she ‘flew’. Eri took to it well when it came from her, rarely if ever becoming panicked by the surprise, rather more likely to give the tiniest of giggles instead.

Himiko and her bonded over the things Himiko was trying to show her. The wonders of television, music she’d play off her phone, little games the two would make up together. She’d carefully take Eri to the roof and show her the view from above, the campus stretched out as far as she could see, the numerous training areas and massive buildings looking so beautiful to Eri’s naive eyes. 

The way Izuku helped Eri was unique in its own way. Eri seemed to understand something about him she didn’t see in the others, seeing the pain reflected in his eyes. And it let her relax fully around him, being willing to let him handle her in ways she wouldn’t let the others. It didn’t hurt that he radiated heat and she always seemed to be cold, something Recovery Girl said could be attributed to her malnutrition and slight anemia from Chisaki’s actions. She’d seek him out during the day just for a hug, a chance to cuddle into his side and absorb the warmth he could push out. 

Ochako just gazed down at her girlfriend and the small child who had already wormed her way into their hearts, the four of them silently vowing to protect her no matter what came their way. No one should go through what she did, and they would make sure she never did again. Ochako had become a hero both to help her parents, but also to bring smiles to peoples faces. And Eri did not smile…yet. She’d find the way, with the help of those around her.

Himiko looked up at her, smiling softly in return, her fangs glinting with the low light from the television and the fading sunlight of sunset through the windows. So as not to wake the unicorn laying beside her, she lifted one hand and painstakingly spelled out the word ‘blanket’ in sign language. Ochako and Himiko had been learning sign language from the boys, since they had taken classes on it early due to concerns about Katsuki having hearing loss from his Quirk. 

Luckily for him, his hearing was reinforced similarly to his arms, and it could take more of a beating than the average person. However, he begrudgingly had admitted it still could be a bit much, and they knew Izuku had planned for hearing guards/aids to be part of Katsuki’s hero costume.

Ochako shook her thoughts off and nodded, quietly leaving the room to go grab one of Himiko’s super plush blankets that Mitsuki had gifted the girls when they moved into the dorms. No one ever mentioned to her or Masaru about the girls ‘situation’, but well…Katsuki got his brains from somewhere. They never said anything about it, but it wasn’t hard to notice how often they gently pushed new things at the girls: new clothing, blankets, a new phone for them both after a long argument over it, Mitsuki insisting they needed it if they were going to UA so they could more easily talk to their parents. 

Though Ochako felt incredibly guilty over it, she couldn’t deny how much more helpful it was. It helped her study better too, listening to music through a decent phone for once. The laptops the boys had gifted to them for Christmas also made the work easier to complete, not having to find a library to work from for some of the things required. She’d vowed the first chance she got, she’d find a way to spoil her boys back for what they’d done. But for now, her first goal was helping spoil Eri. And spoil her, they would.

She carried back the plush blanket with her, the color a deep navy blue, and gently laid it over the two of them. Himiko looked up at her and patted the couch on her other side, enough space for her to squeeze in without disturbing the two. Ochako rolled her eyes in mock annoyance and indulged her girlfriend, squishing herself between Himiko and the couch arm, snuggling under the blanket with her. While the temperature was pretty nice outside, Izuku ran hot and so they had set the dorm temperature a tiny bit lower to make it more comfortable for him (no, it had nothing to do with it encouraging snuggling, Himiko would argue, while she would sprawl over her partners laps happily or pounce on them from the shadows to cuddle against them. Nope. Nothing to do with that at all). 

Ochako reached over and tangled her fingers with Himiko’s free hand, sighing softly as she did so. Something about this felt right , ever since she’d fully come clean about how she felt to Himiko and Izuku. It wasn’t some mind-blowing change…the three had been fairly cuddly to begin with (especially with Himiko around). The flirting was also pretty normal, especially as Izuku got somewhat more comfortable with them, enough that though he rarely flirted back directly, it was more impactful when he actually did . 

Honestly, little had changed at all, save the occasional kiss on the cheek or how the underlying worries about how the others felt was gone. Ochako’s mind drifted off to other things they could do, and she was suddenly very happy her head was currently buried in Himiko’s shoulder so the blonde couldn’t see the flush in her cheeks as she considered… things . So far they had only cuddled and similar things, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t thought of other things…she was a healthy young woman with two exceedingly hot partners. She knew she should not be embarrassed by wanting to kiss them until she passed out but dammit, the idea was…was… dammit it was hot and she did not want to be thinking about it right now!

She shook her head slightly to clear it of such thoughts. Right now, she just wanted to enjoy the silence. Everything had been so gungho and loud and training and then the exam and their relationship and then Eri and moving in and…honest to god she was exhausted , mentally, physically, and emotionally. She just needed these couple days of calm, of relaxation, of taking care of this little girl who needed them, to just decompress and get back to her equilibrium.

She didn’t know how long she drifted off in the comfort of her girlfriends arms and the quiet breathy snores of Eri, but the door opening and the annoyed grunting of Katsuki and a murmured comment from Izuku had her lifting her head and blinking bleary eyes. As the boys stepped in, carrying god knows how many bags (seriously why did the boys demand everything take only one trip?), they froze as they noticed the tableau before them. Himiko put her finger to her lips with a smirk, pointing down at the napping Eri.

Izuku made a show of tiptoeing across the room with a goofy grin on his face, making the girls have to hush their sudden snorts of laughter. Katsuki rolled his eyes fondly and just stepped around the tiptoeing greenette, heading into the kitchen area to begin putting things away. 

Later, after a lovely dinner together with the four of them showing Eri the wonders of dessert, for all of the sleep she got earlier in the day, she still was exhausted and went to bed early. She asked Izuku to stick around, and he volunteered to read to her, having been handed a bunch of children’s books that Present Mic and Midnight had fetched for Eri’s use. Katsuki was cleaning up, but Himiko and Ochako pushed him out of the way like every time, the same tired argument about how the boys had cooked to let them clean up after (Katsuki was so overly particular about where things went he’d always go back and redo it if they didn’t get it perfect though). 

As the girls finished washing up the dishes, they left the kitchen together, about to head up to check on Izuku when they noticed Katsuki leaning against the wall next to the stairs, arms crossed and brow furrowed. 

“Something wrong?” Himiko asked, tilting her head to the side.

Katsuki pursed his lips for a moment, sighing deeply as he ran one hand through his hair and tugged on it. “So…listen. Like, just…hear me out, okay?” The girls shared a glance, but looked back at him and nodded. “...I’m not good at this sort of shit, but just, let me say this. Like…we’re here, at UA. Classes haven’t started yet but we’re here , and we’re going to be fucking heroes, right?”

“Well, yes, that’s the plan,” Himiko replied, confused.

“I know! I know, it’s what we wanted. It's what I’ve always wanted, since I was in fucking diapers. It's what Zu wanted too, even if he didn’t admit it for so long…” he trailed off for a moment, shaking his head a second later. “Whatever. Not the point. Or, well, it kinda is the fucking point.”

Ochako reached out and gently lay her hand on Katsuki’s tensed arm, squeezing softly. “Take your time. We’re listening.”

“That’s the problem! Or well…not the problem. Fuck, I can’t get this right,” he muttered as he stepped away from the wall and Ochako’s touch, pacing back and forth. “Look, you two got with Zu, and now we’re watching this little kid, and Izuku’s here, at UA, with me, with you. It’s just…you know. You know everything now. And you put up with his issues, but you didn’t make it a problem. You never cared. And you put up with me , and I’m a fucking jackass. You two just…fuck!” he growled, stopping in place. 

He turned to face them, his shoulders slumping, his head bowed for a moment. He clenched his fists, taking a deep breath and squaring up to his full height, an almost imperious look on his face as he looked at the two girls with a steely gaze. “I just wanted you to know…how thankful I am. What you did for Izuku. For me. For our family. Because I didn’t know how to push him any further. I didn’t know what to fucking do. I was at the end of my rope. I was watching my brother just slowly fade away and couldn’t do shit to change it. Then you two come around, and Toshi shows up, and we meet Nighteye and just…everyone helped. But you two most of all. So…thank you, Himiko, Ochako. I just…wanted you to know…” his voice trailed off as he looked away uncomfortably.

“Katsuki,” Ochako began, her voice soft.

“Don’t. You know I’m not much for mushy bullshit,” he muttered.

“Well too fucking bad you blonde bomb, you’re getting a hug. Deal with it!” she shot back, moving forward to hug his stiff form. He rolled his eyes, his attitude resetting itself as Himiko also stepped forward to hug him as well.

“You and your dad are more alike than anyone realizes,” Himiko says as she releases him. 

“Huh?”

She gives him a quick smile. “Your dad said something really similar, about how thankful he was to us, back when we had ‘Chako’s parents over. But I don’t think you guys realize how thankful we are.”

Ochako nodded. “You’re a pain in the ass, Katsuki, but we wouldn’t love you any other way.”

He rolled his eyes again. “Alright, alright. I don’t need to do the whole threatening brother thing, right?”

“Kats, if we hurt Izu, I’ll turn into you and blast my own face,” Himiko deadpanned.

“That seems a little extreme,” came the voice from the top of the stairs. The three looked up to see Izuku, his arms crossed and eyebrows raised as he looked down on them.

“How long were you there, fucker?” Katsuki demanded.

“Just the end. Eri fell asleep so I figured I’d come down and see if you guys needed help with the cleanup.”

“Yeah well, convo’s done, don’t eavesdrop,” Katsuki snarled.

Izuku waved his complaints off. “You were speaking in the common room, Kacchan. Not my fault I overheard.”

“Whatever.”

“I’m not saying anything about it, but Himiko, please don’t blast your own face. I happen to like it as it is.”

Himiko blinked rapidly for a moment, a slight pink coming up in her cheeks. Ochako giggled at the sight, happy to see the rare occasion where Himiko was on the other end of the flirtation. 

Izuku walked down the stairs, looking over the three before him. “Well…what now?”

“Movie?” Himiko offered, shrugging. Katsuki shrugged back, as Ochako headed to the large television to pick something out.

“Look alive problem children, you have a visitor,” Aizawa’s dry voice got the attention of the quartet. Katsuki was in the kitchen, contemplating a new recipe as Izuku and Himiko played a board game with Eri. Himiko was in the background, quietly taking pictures of the cuteness that was her partners and Eri together. The four glanced up as the pro entered the dorm, a mug of coffee in hand. Behind him stepped a familiar figure, the green-yellow hair of Sir Nighteye looking over them with a severe expression.

“Sir!” three of them chorused, Katsuki just giving a nod of recognition as he turned back to the stove, staring between three small bottles of spice. 

Eri shrunk back slightly, but she was very good at picking up context clues from those around her, and how none of them seemed to be worried had her relax just a little. Still, she tugged at Izuku’s sleeve and when he leaned over to her, she whispered quietly “I-Is he safe?”

“Very much so. He helped train us, and he’s the one who told us to bring you here. His hero name is Sir Nighteye. Are you up to talking to him?” Izuku replied.

Eri bit her lip, before nodding. “If you’re there…”

“Of course I’ll be there. We’re all going to be here for you Eri,” he gave her a reassuring smile.

“So this is Eri?” Nighteye asked, having taken a few steps towards the teenagers.

“Yes sir, this is her,” Ochako said, reaching over and gently stroking Eri’s hair in a motion she knew calmed the girl.

Nighteye looked at the floor, glancing about for a moment before taking a seat, folding his legs beneath himself. He looked over at Eri and spoke softer than the teens were used to. “Hello Eri, my name is Nighteye. I have been investigating the man known as Kai Chisaki and his organization for quite some time. My goal is to catch him and throw him into jail so he can never hurt anyone ever again. I was hoping you might be able to help me?”

“Y-you’re going to stop him?” she asked, her voice querulous.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to do so. Anything you can remember could be helpful. I know you told your story to these fine young heroes already, but do you think you could repeat it for me? I may have some questions if that’s alright.”

Eri looked up at Izuku, searching for an answer in his gaze. He smiled down at her and nodded, his hand on her back with a gentle pressure as if to remind her that he was there, ready to help keep her safe. Ochako scooted closer to her, flanking her on the other side, as Himiko hopped over the couch and sat down behind her. In the kitchen, Katsuki left what he’d created to simmer and walked to the fridge, pulling out an apple (it had taken little time to figure out how much Eri adored apples), and brought out one of his favorite knives. With a plate in hand, he strolled into the living room, plopping on the couch next to Himiko. He began to peel and cut the apple, placing each piece carefully on the place and handing them to Eri to snack on as she spoke.

Eri looked back at Nighteye and nodded. “O-Okay, I can do that!”

“You’re a very brave young lady. Thank you,” Nighteye said, a small smile crossing his face.

Though they had already gone over it once, the four were still visibly fighting back their own reactions to Eri’s story as she went over it with Nighteye. They kept Eri from seeing it though, well aware of how she reacted to perceived anger. Katsuki kept her supplied with small slices of apple, to help ground her as she went over it. Telling it once seemed to have made it a tiny bit easier for her to retell the tale, but it still was clearly upsetting her.

Nighteye asked pointed questions about specific details the others hadn’t known, apparently knowledge he’d gained from his investigation into Chisaki’s organization, which he called the ‘Shie Hassaikai’. He kept to the ones that rarely mentioned Chisaki directly, trying to pinpoint as much information as he could.

When the discussion was winding down it turned to the reason Chisaki wanted Eri and her Quirk. When she commented on it ‘fixing curses’ again, Aizawa (who had been standing silent vigil by the door, stepped forward and knelt down. “What does your Quirk do , that it helps him with that task?”

“It makes people disappear,” she whispered, looking down in shame.

“How does it do that?”

Eri shrugged. “C-Chisaki said it made things go backwards.”

Izuku blinked at that. As the gathered individuals tried to puzzle what that meant, he allowed his vision to shift, looking once more upon the broken remnants of Eri’s Quirk. The entire time, it had remained white to him, even with what he’d seen so far. But that was information he hadn’t thought of. 

His mind raced as he stared at it, ignoring the breaks and focusing entirely on the way it moved . It was focused in her horn, that much was clear, the brightest spot was there. He paused, tilting his head to the side as he tuned everyone else out. The horn was brighter today than before. Hmm. He thought about the brightness of his Quirk would shift, growing or shrinking over time. How One For All consistently gained in brightness, an Infinitesimal amount over time…stockpile? Or at least, some sort of energy gain over time before expenditure.

The color shifted slightly, leaving pure white to an offwhite. That was enough to tell Izuku he was on the right path. Okay, he knew what fueled the power, but what did it do ? Go backwards, go backwards…reversal? Some sort of movement? No, that wouldn’t have made her father disappear. Retreat? Also movement. Rewind?

The flare of color in his face almost sent him rolling back, just barely stopping from throwing off the little girl in his lap. A golden glow suffused Eri’s Quirk, the energy shifting as though it intended on circulating…counterclockwise. 

“Rewind,” he breathed out, looking down at Eri with wide eyes. The others looked over at him, his fellow teens confused, but by the sudden intake of air from Nighteye and the wide eyed stare from Aizawa, he figured they caught on to what he meant.

“Uh…what?” Himiko asked, confused.

“Eri’s Quirk is Rewind! She can rewind time! Or well…a person’s time maybe?” as he spoke the color dimmed for a moment when he said time, as if to say he wasn’t quite correct. When he said a person's time, that's when it flared back up.

“Of course…that’s what happened to her father!” Nighteye exclaimed, planting his fist in his other palm.

Eri whimpered at the thought, scrunching her shoulders and turning away from Nighteye. “I’m sorry, my c-curse hurt daddy…”

“No, you aren’t cursed sweetie. It was an accident. It happens sometimes with Quirks, it's not your fault,” Izuku assured her, not noticing how four other people in the room glared at him. Aizawa arched an eyebrow at the sudden hostility directed at the boy from the three teens and Nighteye, but chose not to comment on it. He swore he heard Bakugo mutter something that sounded like ‘hypocritical asshole’, but no one else seemed to notice.

“Yes, that’s very true, childhood Quirk accidents are no fault of the person who had the accident, it happens,” Ochako said with a biting edge to the sweet tone she used. Izuku turned slowly to narrow his eyes at her, seeing her far too wide smile and the clear dare in her eyes to try to argue about it in front of Eri.

“Well, that explains some things. Although I’m not sure how Chisaki wanted to use it to stop Quirks, but we should be glad his plans did not come to fruition. That said, he won’t give up on Eri, of that I’m sure. But she should be secure here on campus,” Nighteye remarked, climbing to his feet. 

“Unfortunately, I have pressing matters to attend to, and I should document these findings as soon as possible. You’ve done well. I’ll be in touch.” With a bow, he didn’t wait for a farewell, choosing instead to step out of the dorm as the four teens blinked at the abrupt exit.

Aizawa sighed. “Well. I’ll report to the rat what you figured out, Midoriya. You have a couple more days before the other students arrive. I’d suggest trying to help adjust Eri to the idea. If she needs anything, do be sure to reach out to myself or one of the other teachers. I have more lesson plans to go over.”

“Yup, got it,” Katsuki grunted, tossing the apple core over his shoulder into the open bin across the room. Aizawa rolled his eyes and left, knowing he already needed another cup of coffee.

The quartet had been getting Eri used to the idea of newcomers as best they could, but they had decided (with Aizawa’s help), to introduce Eri once everyone had moved in. For now, during move-in day, she was going to spend the day with Midnight in the teacher’s dorm, the heroine quite happy to watch the precious child. 

They four had decided they’d help out whoever arrived, between their Quirks and just Katsuki and Himiko’s physical conditions, they figured they could help others pretty quick. Until they saw their first arrival.

When the series of suited individuals with identical sunglasses arrived, all carrying various boxes, trunks, and in the case of four of them struggling with a bunch of pieces of a massive bed frame, Izuku blinked in confusion. He’d been the first down to help, and just watched as they struggled for a moment before sighing and walking forward.

“Could I help?” he asked, the four suited men looking at him in askance. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you from UA?” The clear tenor from behind him had him turning about, and blinking once more. A statuesque teen around his age stood there, long black hair pulled back in a ponytail with dark eyes and a hesitant smile painted on her face.

“Uh…I’m…uh, I’m in Class 1-A. Izuku Midoriya,” he offered, a bit stunned.

“Oh, then we’re classmates! I’m Momo Yaoyorozu! I thought I’d arrived early enough to be before everyone else, I didn’t want to interrupt others' move in time…” she seemed a bit upset at the thought, making Izuku hurriedly correct her.

“Oh, no, no, we’ve been here for a few days. It’s an…unusual situation, it’ll be explained later.”

She smiled brightly, clasping her hands before her. “Oh good, I’m glad I didn’t get in anyone's way!” A loud crash and yelp behind them had the two looking over to see that the four men carrying the bed frame pieces had dropped them on the one man's foot. The sound had Ochako and Himiko coming out in a rush, Katsuki standing in the doorway, confused. 

“Oh no, are you hurt?” Ochako asked, running over to the man and bending down. He tried to wave her off but Himiko had also approached. 

“Maybe we should ask Recovery Girl to take a look?” she asked, looking back to Izuku. He shrugged.

“Yeah. You know what, let me just take care of this. You guys check on your friend.” Without waiting for a reply, Izuku stepped over to the pallet holding the frame and bent down, gripping onto the edges. With a grunt of exertion, he lifted the thing up and began to step towards the doorway, leaving a series of dropped jaws from everyone but Ochako, Katsuki, and Himiko. Izuku turned back to Yaoyorozu. “Which room is yours?” 

“O-oh, it’s, it’s on the fifth floor, room A,” she managed to stutter out.

“K. Be right back.” Izuku stepped towards the doorway, Katsuki holding it open for him silently. As Izuku passed, Katsuki followed to give a hand in directing him. Himiko had stood up and looked at the four men with a glare, hands on her hips. 

“Now you four need to take your friend to Recovery Girl. I’ll show you where it is! Follow me!” As she walked away, she managed to get ten steps before she noticed none of them were moving. She turned back around and gestured at them. “Well, come on then!”

“Y-yes, go with her please,” Yaoyorozu said, her body language showing nothing but shock. The four men nodded, following Himiko, two of them helping support the one with the injured foot.

“Are these the rest of your boxes?” Ochako asked, looking over the pile of boxes and trunks and various furniture seated on the lawn.”

“Um, yes?”

“Okay! I’ll get them for you then!” with a bright grin, Ochako casually tapped each box one by one, all of them floating up a few feet off the ground. With practiced movement, she pulled out a length of string and tied each of them to her wrist, making a bunch of balloons out of the boxes and furniture, and began to happily step her way into the dorm before pausing. “Oh shoot, where’s the mattress?”

A loud ‘thud’ came from beside them as Izuku landed, having leapt out of the fifth floor window. “I can get it, where’s it at?”

“The fucking trucks just over there!” Katsuki shouted, pointing out the window in the distance. Izuku nodded.

“Okay, I’ll be right back!” the greenette jogged off, returning a moment later with the mattress on his back. “Kacchan’s almost got your frame setup Yaoyorozu, so you’ll be all set to unpack in just a few minutes!” He grinned at her again as he walked into the dorm, Ochako following with a skip in her step and two dozen boxes and furniture floating behind her like some strange balloon bundle. 

Momo just stood there, shellshocked, rapidly blinking, until she heard a voice from above break her out of her confused state. “Yo, Ponytail, get up here! Need to know where you want this shit setup!” 

“Y-yes, I’ll be right up!” she called, walking rapidly into the dorms.

The pattern continued throughout the day, a person arriving and being nearly bowled over by the speed and efficiency of the four friends. The only exceptions were the two-toned haired boy introduced solely as Todoroki who refused any assistance and glared at them for daring to help (nearly setting Katsuki’s temper off but the efforts of Izuku and Ochako kept him from losing it at his rudeness), and the multi-limbed boy Himiko had met at the exam named Shouji who had so little he carried it with ease. 

Izuku set down the last box in Shinso’s room, the purple-haired boy hesitant to accept the help but in the end had taken it. He wiped off his forehead with a rag he’d been carrying and grinned at the taller teen. “Well, there you go! I think that’s most everyone. Isn’t it?” his voice called out into the hallway and across the hall to where Himiko had been helping the purple-haired girl she’d met at the exam, introduced as Jiro, put her things away.

“That’s nineteen, we’re missing one!” she called back. 

Katsuki yelled up the stairs at them. “Just got word from Aizawa, the last ones on the way, I’ll help the slowpoke.”

“K!” Izuku yelled back, taking a deep breath as he stretched. He turned back to Shinso. “Well, you’re all set! We’re supposed to meet downstairs for dinner and some class discussion in a couple hours, but till then you’re good!”

“Uh…sure. Thanks,” Shinso muttered. Izuku gave him another grin and left the room, heading downstairs.

Katsuki stood by the door, arms crossed, tapping his finger against his bicep in impatience. His temper had been shot since that arrogant half and half bastard had been so fucking rude to them all just for offering to help, and he was just about done with this moving shit. But if he didn’t offer to help, the other three would do it without him and he could see they were getting tired by now. He wasn’t about to slack now, he’d do what he had agreed to do.

A loud voice called out to him in recognition, him lifting his gaze and eyes going wide as he saw the red-haired teen (Kirishima, his mind supplied) from the exam approaching, a sleeveless shirt stretched across his chest.

“Oh hey bro! Are you in Class 1-A too? That’s awesome!” the redhead cheered, dragging a series of boxes behind him on a pallet jack the school had provided to help move things in.

“Y-yeah, sure. I see you passed. Good job,” Katsuki managed to get out, his eyes tracking the exposed muscles in the other teens arms as they stretched and flexed.

“So…this the way in?” Kirishima asked.

Katsuki blinked rapidly and stopped leaning against the doorframe. “Yeah. I’m helping you move your shit. What room did you get?”

Kirishima pulled out a piece of paper, squinting at it. “Um…room 4B, looks like.”

“K. Let’s go.” Katsuki ordered, reaching out and grabbing the heaviest thing he could see, what looked like a metal crate of…holy shit this was heavy. He blinked down at it as he barely managed to lift it up, and he knew he was no slouch when it came to weight. “The fucks in this thing?”

“Oh, my personal weight set! I like to work out, you know, keep in shape! Gotta be in the best shape to be my best!” Kirishima’s smile grew wider, his teeth more prominent as he flexed, the visible musculature swelling as Katsuki found his eyes drawn to it again. Annoyed at himself, he bit his tongue to reset his mental state.

“Sure. Let’s go, it's getting late,” he managed to mutter, dragging the crate into the building as Kirishima followed. Most of the other students were still unpacking, so the common room remained mostly empty, except Izuku, the greenette in the kitchen washing his hands. Katsuki glanced at him, but didn’t comment or get his attention as they crossed the room.

Kirishima kept trying to start a conversation with Katsuki, but the blonde was having trouble focusing and responded mostly with grunts and one word replies, which didn’t seem to stop the redhead. 

“Oh, by the way, I never got your name! I’m Eijiro Kirishima, but you knew that! What’s yours?” he asked as they made their way downstairs for a second trip.

“...Katsuki. Katsuki Bakugo.”

“Well hey, you helped save me, you can totally call me Eijiro! And that kid! And what you did to that giant robot, that was manly as hell! How’d you do on the exam?”

“You can call me Katsuki, and I did fucking awesome because I am fucking awesome. C’mon, let’s finish this shit up.”

“Sure! This is gonna be awesome, I can’t wait!”

“Well now I’m fucking exhausted,” Himiko muttered as she slumped against the kitchen table.

“You and me both,” Ochako sighed, nursing a glass of juice she’d been sipping at. She’d overdone it with her Quirk, using it in rapid succession, and now her habitual nausea had reared its ugly head. 

“Hmm, yeah,” Katsuki muttered. He was leaning against the counter, looking out the window and not paying attention to the others, having the three other teens looking at him oddly.

“You okay Kacchan?”

“I’m fine. What now?”

Izuku didn’t believe him for a moment, but chose to let it go for now. “Well, everyone is supposed to be down in a couple hours so they can meet Eri. Maybe I can make dinner or something? I’m sure everyone could use a good meal.”

“ We will make dinner, I ain’t having you do all the fucking work,” Katsuki replied.

“...I’d offer to help but I don’t trust myself moving right now,” Ochako muttered. “And Himiko would just set the dorm on fire.”

“I’ve gotten better!” the blonde snapped back, sticking her tongue out at Ochako. Ochako rolled her eyes and patted her girlfriend on the head. 

“Sure you have sweetie.”

Himiko pouted, ignoring Ochako and choosing to watch the boys as they got situated. Tying their aprons around them, Himiko caught the sound of footsteps on the stairs and decided maybe they should make an even better impression. “Hey, boys?” Izuku turned around to look at her as Katsuki dug through a cupboard for a pot, but acknowledged her with a grunt. Himiko grinned. “Why don’t you show off a bit, for the new people?”

Katsuki paused, looking back at Izuku and arching an eyebrow. Izuku shrugged, a shy smile on his face at the excited look on Himiko and Ochako’s faces. Katsuki smirked, a dangerous smile stretching across his face. “Alright Fangs…Zu, let’s have some fun.”

“Sure thing Kacchan.”

Momo had already had her moment of shock for the day, and she had assumed that would be the only one. But stepping down the stairs to find half the class clustered around the entrance to the kitchen, silently staring, had her concerned she’d once again find herself in such a state. But curiosity was too strong a force, and so she stepped up to see what the others were looking at. 

As she neared, a heavenly scent wafted out from the room, the sound of sizzling and hissing carrying past the crowd. The glint of metal flying across the kitchen almost made her shout in alarm, but the cry in her throat was cut off when it was snatched out of the air by a hand which brought it down and began chopping rapidly. She found herself entranced as the two boys she had met earlier, Midoriya and Bakugo, were practically running around the kitchen, tossing pots and pans and utensils at each other without a word, managing multiple cooking stations simultaneously.

It was almost like a dance, the way Bakugo would hold out a hand and simply say ‘paring’ and watching Midoriya, with his back turned to the other boy, casually fling a knife backwards over his shoulder, which would be caught a moment later by the blonde who had turned his back before it even reached him. 

Or the moment Midoriya simply tapped twice on the counter and Bakugo ducked, as a fork whizzed past his head and landed in the sink, a small pile of dirty utensils already beginning to take hold of the one side of the sink. She could see dropped jaws and more than one person who looked anxious at the motions. A tall, blue-haired boy seemed almost catatonic, his hand up as if he intended on interrupting to stop them but appearing to hesitate so as to not distract them.

And in the midst of it all, seated amongst the chaos were the two young women Momo had seen earlier in the day, Uraraka and Himiko (as she insisted on being called by her first name). Both were unphased by this, almost as if they expected it, although the somewhat lovestruck expression on the blonde’s face and the soft smile on the brunette’s had Momo wondering exactly how these four knew each other, since they seemed to work together far too perfectly to only have met a few days before.

It was at that moment that Midoriya turned around to look at everyone, Bakugo slowly turning dials off and putting spices away. The green-haired young man smiled at everyone, nearly blinding them all from the sheer brilliance of it. “Well, dinner’s ready! We made enough for everybody, so please, feel free!”

Momo gulped, feeling slightly flushed. She gave a slight bow. “Thank you, Midoriya, Bakugo. I’m sure we all appreciate it. If I may ask though, do you two…know each other?”

“We’re basically brothers. Long story, but Kacchan’s parents adopted me,” Midoriya replied, still smiling, but the smile no longer reaching his eyes. 

“And we went to the same middle school as those two, for our last year. We trained together for UA!” Uraraka added, looking up at the dark-haired girl.

“Oh and Izuku’s our boyfriend too,” Himiko added, to the sudden sputtering of the greenette and the brunette letting out a loud groan as she slammed her head into the table.

“Wait what?” the pink-skinned Ashido shouted, darting through the crowd and practically diving into the chair next to Himiko. “Spill the tea!”

“Get your fucking food before we start the whole life story shit, for fucks sake,” Bakugo growled, pulling a set of plates out from the cupboards. “We made three variants, if you’re not a spice fan use the blue pot, if you like it hot use the red pot, and if you’re not a fucking wimp use the black pot.”

“Don’t listen to him, the black pot is as evil as his soul,” Himiko muttered, glaring at the other blonde.

“Cuz you’re a fucking wimp,” he shot back. The blonde on the table just flipped him the bird, even as he set a plate before her and she began to devour it. Another one slid over in front of Uraraka, the brunette giving a bright ‘thanks!’ before eating as well.
One by one, the class, some confused but grateful, decided to take their own portions. The only ones brave enough to try Bakugo’s black pot were Kirishima and Kaminari…the latter of the two instantly regretting it.

The room was mostly quiet as people ate, but quiet was not something Ashido was alright with. And this was an excellent time to grill the blonde. “So…we should introduce ourselves! Hi, I’m Mina Ashido!”

“That is an excellent idea! Hello fellow classmates, I am Tenya Ida! I hope we will become great heroes together! And speaking of that, I must apologize again to you, Midoriya, for my behavior at the exam! I should not have been so rude during the introduction, and clearly you saw more in the test than I!” the blue haired man spoke, bowing an almost perfect ninety degrees as he looked at Midoriya, the greenette and him having been introduced earlier.

 “No, no, it’s fine, I told you, it's all good,” Midoriya waved him off nervously. “And I didn’t see anything different in the exam, I just…wanted to help is all.”

“What does he mean? Did he also try to distract the zero pointer?” Ashido asked, tilting her head.

“No way, he was so much cooler than that!” the yellow haired Kaminari shouted, leaping to his feet. “Oh yeah, I’m Denki Kaminari! But forget about that, Midoriya here blew the zero pointer up! ”

“...what?” came the faint reply from most of the class, staring at the very uncomfortable greenette. Momo blinked a few times, before raising her hand.

“I’m terribly sorry, Momo Yaoyorozu here, but the recommended exams did not have this ‘zero pointer’ you speak of. Would someone care to explain for me?”

“Oh hell yeah!” Kaminari pumped his fist. He opened his mouth to tell the story, but he felt a slap on his back which interrupted him, making him spin around to see…floating clothes?

“I’ll tell it, he saved my life!” the floating clothes announced. 

“Oh, you must be Hagakure! Are you alright? I’m so sorry I didn’t check after!” Midoriya said, standing up and leaning over the table to look at the named Hagakure.

“Toru, you can call me Toru since you saved me. And yes, I was fine! Were you okay? You kind of…collapsed.”

“‘Kind of’ nothing, you straight up passed out and that bracelet of yours wouldn’t stop beeping,” Shinso muttered. As he looked up and saw some of the class staring at him expectantly, he sighed. “Hitoshi Shinso. And I was there with Kaminari and Hagakure. Midoriya is a nutcase, that’s what he is.”

“A nutcase who beat All Might’s record,” Uraraka said, smirking proudly.

“You what?! ” half the class screeched. 

“Zu beat All Might’s record by three points. Me, Cheeks, and Fangs here all beat Endeavor’s record too,” Bakugo said, pointing with his fork at the two as he spoke.

“Yeah, I can believe that, you blew the zero pointers arm clean off, that was so manly!” Kirishima shouted, pumping his fist.

“Himiko there somehow made the zero pointer punch itself in the face. And she carried me and a kid to safety before she did,” the purple haired girl said, pointing at the blonde.

“Uraraka made the zero pointer fall over! It was so cool!” Ashido shouted, shaking the brunette back and forth by her shoulders.

“Would someone please explain what a zero pointer is?! ” Momo raised her voice, somewhat frustrated.

“The exam had us fighting robots for most of it. There were varying levels of robots worth one, two, or three points,” Midoriya began explaining. “However, we were informed there was a 4th type that was to be treated as an obstacle more than an enemy and it would be worth zero points. They arrived in the last few minutes of the exam. They were the size of the nearby buildings, perhaps…thirteen to fourteen stories tall? Something like that.”

“My word,” Momo said, bringing one hand up to her mouth. “That seems…extreme.”

“Tch. They were pushovers,” Bakugo muttered.

“It seems not, if only the four of you managed to damage them, and only one of you destroyed one,” Momo replied back.

“Just ignore Kats. We all do,” Himiko said, smirking.

“I swear I’m gonna kill you one of these days, Fangs.”

“Kinky!”

At Himiko’s cheerful outburst, half the room coughed into their food, the other half began laughing loudly. 

“Okay, okay, okay, we never even finished introductions. We should do that before we talk more about the exam, everyone who hasn't introduced themselves yet!” Uraraka interjected. “I’m Ochako Uraraka!”

“Himiko Toga, but call me Himiko please.”

“I am Yuga Aoyama, you may now be dazzled by moi!” a blonde boy who was seemingly sparkling for no reason posed as he spoke.

“Tsuyu Asui, but just call me Tsu,” a girl with long green hair and wide eyes said.

“Eijiro Kirishima!”

“K-Koji Koda,” the boy with a rock-shaped head said quietly.

“Rikido Sato. I’d like to talk to you two about cooking later, I enjoy doing it as well!” came the statement from a tall, muscular, brown haired boy with big lips. Bakugo gave him an acknowledging nod as Izuku smiled.

“Mezo Shoji,” the multi-limbed boy Himiko saw in the exam said.

“Kyoka Jiro…and thanks for the assist,” the purple-haired girl said, not looking at Himiko as she spoke.

“Hanta Sero!” a young man with strangely shaped elbows and black hair said.

“Fumikaga Tokoyami, and this is Dark Shadow,” the raven-headed boy said, as a shadowy creature crept out from within him and leaned against his shoulder.

“Yep, I’m the fun one!” it cackled.

“Down, Zu,” Bakugo muttered to Midoriya as the greenette’s eyes went wide with excitement.

“Shoto Todoroki,” the deadpan voice of the boy with the dual toned hair spoke.

“Katsuki Bakugo.”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you all!”

“Momo Yaoyorozu. A pleasure to meet you all.”

“Well, good thing you got that out of the way,” came the annoyed tone from the entranceway. As the class turned to look, they spied Aizawa standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets as he glared at them with bags under his eyes. 

“Hey hobo, it that time?” Bakugo remarked, getting up and rinsing his dish off in the sink.

“Yes, and call me Aizawa or Sensei, anything else and I’ll string you up for the crows.”

“Sure thing teach,” Bakugo drawled. Aizawa rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Alright listen up. I’m your homeroom teacher, Aizawa. We have some things to go over before you begin your stay, so clean up and get back here in ten. I have better things to do.”

“Yes Sensei!” Ida said, bowing. He turned back to the class. “You heard him classmates, we should clean up swiftly!”

“Well, he’s energetic,” Himiko muttered to Uraraka, the brunette giggling.

“It’s fine. The discussions important. Let’s get everything cleaned up quickly.”

As the class all settled on various pieces of furniture around the common area, Aizawa stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. When everyone had finished sitting, he spoke up. “Okay. Midoriya, Uraraka, Bakugo, Himiko, get up here. This involves you.”

“You coulda told us before we sat down,” Himiko complained, huffing.

“I could have. But this is more amusing to me.” Himiko glared at him, but said nothing further.

“This year, we have to change things slightly due to circumstances beyond anyone's control. Class 1-A will be hosting a young girl in its dorms as well. Her name is Eri, she is five or six, she is traumatized, and she has decided she only trusts one of these four individuals up here. You are to treat her kindly, without smothering her, without asking her about her past or her Quirk. She will not be at the dorms at all times, but when she is, she has a room next to Midoriya’s as he’s the one she is most comforted by. Over time we hope to expand her circle of trust, but for now she will commonly seek one of these four out. Do not be surprised if she is unfamiliar with many things, she has gone through things no child should ever go through, and while we are slowly introducing her to things she should have had the opportunity to experience, it takes time.”

He paused to point at the four teenagers standing beside him. “If you have questions about her, or what to do with her, or see her upset, you may ask them. She has a small horn on the right side of her head. If it begins to glow, stay back . She has a panic button that will call me to cancel it. If she cannot grasp it, each of these four has one for her. You can also attempt to locate me or call me. My number will be pinned to the fridge, you may add it to your phone for emergency use only.”

“Staff at UA have ultimate authority with her, however, for minor things, you may ask one of these four for permission if you wish to spend time with her. However, I reiterate: she is emotionally unstable and we are trying to help her but it is slow going. Do not be offended by her actions or fears, and do not upset her if you can help it. Accidents happen but I expect you to be on your best behavior around her. Does everyone understand?”

Aizawa waited for the class to acknowledge him, before turning about. “I’m going to go bring her here so she can meet you all. Do not overwhelm her.” Without waiting for further response, he left the dorm, the rest of the class now staring at the four standing where Aizawa was. 

“Um…so can we ask you about her?” Ashido asked.

“I don’t think we’re really supposed to get into it, and honestly, it’s not super important to help her,” Izuku said, scratching the back of his neck. 

“It’s not something you wanna know about unless you wanna be really fucking pissed off,” Katsuki added.

“That paints things in a poor light,” Yaoyorozu mused.

“Just as a warning, she’s less trusting of men than women, and she has a fear of birds and masks…but we can make sure she knows you’re safe, don’t worry!” Ochako said, trying to reassure both Shoji and Tokoyami.

“I will not be offended. I understand fear quite well,” Tokoyami said in a low voice.

“I’m guessing the fear has to do with her past?” Shoji asked.

Himiko nodded. “Yeah. We don’t know everything about it ourselves, for the record. But some bad people had her captive, and well…they wore masks. Bird masks. So…”

“Understood. If she finds my presence difficult to tolerate, I shall make myself scarce,” Tokoyami said.

“We’re not saying that! No need for that! We want her to get used to all of you anyways. Just it may take a little bit of time for you is all,” Izuku said, waving his hands frantically.

“But why you four? Why does she like you?” Shinso asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “We’re the ones who found her. Hound Dog, he’s the counselor here, says it's a form of trauma bonding, she’s associated us with her freedom. More like she ran into us. So…yeah. That’s about all we can say,” Himiko said, spreading her hands in a ‘what can you do’ gesture.

“So…like, does she know anything fun? You guys made it sound like she knows nothing,” Hagakure asked.

Ochako shook her head sadly. “Not really. We’ve been teaching her some, but we’ve only known her a couple days. She’s very sweet though.”

The door opening closed off any further conversation, and the gathered class were witness to a small bundle of white hair and red dress came running in and nearly dive tackled the now crouching Izuku. 

“Izu! Izu! Miss Midnight painted my nails, look!” she held up her hand, showing bright green nail polish on her fingertips. 

“That’s wonderful, Eri. I’m glad you had a good time with her,” Izuku said quietly. It was at that moment Eri seemed to notice the rest of the room, all the students near silent, with both Ashido and Hagakure (seemingly) holding their hands over their mouths to avoid gushing. Eri’s eyes went wide and she stepped behind Izuku, using him to block the class's view of her. She gripped onto this shirt.

“T-those are your classmates?” she asked quietly.

Katsuki crouched down beside her. “Yep kiddo, that's them. You okay to meet them? We’re gonna be living with them for a while.”

“...y-yes. I can do it,” she said, nodding firmly. Izuku smiled softly at her and stood up, reaching one hand down for her to grab as he turned back to the class.

Izuku took his time introducing Eri to each member of the class one by one, making sure she could accept them without too much trouble. Though they had been worried about her reaction to Tokoyami and Shoji, she didn’t seem too bothered. The mask on Shoji apparently did not remind her of the Shie Hassaikai’s, and while she had a start at Tokoyami, the fact his beak did not, in fact, come off was a great reassurance to her. (It didn’t hurt that Dark Shadow heard the word apple and popped out to babble with Eri about how awesome apples were.)

“You seem set here. I’m going to head back to my dorm. I’ll see all of you early for class tomorrow. Come prepared…I won’t abide lateness nor laziness. If you can’t cut it, you will be cut.” With warning delivered, Aizawa left the dorm, the door shutting behind him loudly. 

“...well, that seemed unnecessarily harsh,” Himiko commented. “We should probably get ready for bed though-”

“Oh no, not till you explain what you meant earlier about Midoriya!” Ashido said, practically zipping to Himiko’s side. Todoroki took this as his cue to leave, and left for his room, ignoring any attempts to speak to him.

Himiko smirked at Ashido, reaching out and wrapping one hand around Ochako’s arm. “What’s there to explain? I’m greedy, so I got a perfect girlfriend and perfect boyfriend.”

Ochako giggled, slapping Himiko’s arm. “Shush, you’ll get Izu all flustered while he’s trying to get Eri to settle down.”

“I’m just telling it like it is!” the blonde replied, winking at Ochako.

“Oh my, a-all three of you?” Yaoyorozu asked, her gaze flickering between the two girls and the green-haired boy in the kitchen getting Eri a small bedtime snack.

“Polyamory! That’s us!” Himiko proclaimed proudly.

“That seems inappropriate!” Ida announced, his hand chopping in the air.

“Nothing against it in the student handbook, big guy,” Himiko replied, still smirking. “We checked. Just gotta be safe, and we’re always safe!”

“Okay Himi, no more taunting our classmates, it’s time to get Eri settled in. It's your turn to read to her tonight!” Ochako began pulling Himiko away from the others, the blonde giving a token resistance but giggling as she went.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get set up. Izu, babe, she all set?”

Izuku blinked. “When did you start calling me that ?”

“Just now!”

“...why didn’t I expect that answer?”

“You know she’s impossible to predict,” Ochako offered.

Izuku shrugged. “Yeah, let’s get Eri tucked in. Come on sweetie, it's bedtime.”

As the trio walked to the stairs, Katsuki finished putting the leftovers away in the fridge and followed behind them, hands in his pockets. 

“...they are really parental, for having only known her a couple days,” Jiro remarked as she watched them go.

“I still can’t get over the fact Midoriya beat All Might’s score! Like, how?!” Sero exclaimed.

“Oh right, we didn’t finish telling the story! Okay, so, here’s what happened-” Hagakure began, engrossing the remaining class members in the common area.

Chapter Text

“Kacchan?” he asked, seeing his childhood friend before him. The blonde smirked, but a flare of green light emanated from him and he watched, horrified, as his body flaked away, piece by piece, bursting into ashes and vanishing into the aether.

“Himi? Ochako?” his girlfriends, before him, smiling at him and reaching out their hands. But the green, the green leapt from his form, a roiling wave of green erupting and destroying and washing over, their bodies vanishing into the green piece by piece, cracked and shattered like his dreams.

Toshinori. Mitsuki. Masaru. Nighteye. Each and every person who helped him, who saved him from himself, every one of them swallowed up by the inexorable green tides, the crashing waves roiling out from him.

“Izu?” the sweet, sweet voice of the little girl Eri, her horn softly glowing. He turned, desperate, running, running, running away from her, he couldn’t hurt her too, he couldn’t, someone had to live, someone had to survive. “Izu?!” the voice called again, her image before him, red eyes alight with worry and fear, clutching a small plush in her arms. No, no, get away, get back, no no no no no NO-

“IZU!” the voice shouted in his ear, making him shoot up with a gasp, sweat pouring down him as he felt his chest pulse with energy, his entire body vibrating in fear and pain and a deep, thrumming ache. He pressed one hand to his chest, feeling the hammering of his heart, blinking rapidly in the darkness, his eyes adjusting to the low light.

A small, gentle hand touched the hand he’d left on the bed, making him jolt and turn to look, seeing the concerned gaze of Eri looking at him, her other hand holding the All Might plushie he’d gifted her the day before. “Izu? Izu are you okay?” she asked, her voice echoing in the silence of the night.

He gulped, trying to bring his heart back under control. He could hear its beats thrumming in his ears, pounding as if it intended on leaping out of his chest, as if it could escape the prison that was his body. With deep, aching breaths, he gulped again and tried to speak. “Y-yeah, Eri, I-I’m okay. I’m okay. Just…just a bad dream, it’s okay. I’m okay.” His voice was raspy, pained, his throat dry.

“A bad dream? You have those too?” she asked.

He nodded, his heartbeat slowing ever so slightly as he tried to banish the images burned into his retinas from his nightmare. “Most people do, sweetie. We all have things we’re afraid of, and sometimes it comes back when we sleep.”

“What are you afraid of?” Eri tilted her head to the side, confused.

Izuku froze for a moment, internally cursing himself. He didn’t want to lie to her, but he didn’t want to answer her either, because if he told her the truth about how he was afraid of himself, she might take that the wrong way. He knew it was hypocritical to tell her that what happened to her father was an accident and yet still blame himself for his mistake, but logic held little sway over emotion. He shook his head. Okay. He would not lie to her, he’d sworn to himself he never would do that to her. But he just had to explain this the right way so she didn’t take it as ‘permission’ to feel that guilt too.

Izuku patted the bed next to him, encouraging her to climb up on it. Without hesitation, the young girl managed to clamber onto it, snuggling into his side in her favorite position, her head tucked into the crook of his shoulder, her body flush up against his with his arm wrapped around her. She pulled the plush into her lap and gently squeezed it as she let out a quiet, content hum, closing her eyes and waiting for his answer.

His heart was slowly going back to normal, his breathing evening out. Partially from his own efforts, and partly because she did make him feel better too, as he did for her. He took a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking quietly. “Well Eri, you see, I’m a lot like you in some ways.”

“How?”

“My Quirk hurt people when I first used it too.”

“It did?” she asked, lifting her head up to look up at him, ruby eyes seeking out emerald in the dim light of her nightlight spilling over from her room.

He nodded solemnly. “It did. And sometimes, even now, it still hurts me to remember what happened.”

“But you said my Quirk’s not a curse?”

“Because it’s not, sweetie. It’s not. It’s okay to hurt, to feel bad sometimes. You just can’t let that rule your life.”

She looked down again, fiddling with the plush in her hands. She rubbed one hand against it idly, as if seeking the right words. “So…you don’t think your Quirk is a curse?”

He winced internally, but kept his expression and voice level. “I…when I was younger, I did. But my family and friends made me understand it isn’t.”

She looked up at him with a severe expression. “I don’t think you’re telling me everything, Izu. You shouldn’t have bad dreams if you don’t think that.”

He sighed, smiling ruefully. “You’re too smart for your own good. Okay. I promised I wouldn't lie so I won’t. Sometimes I still think that. Sometimes it still scares me. I scare me. I know, in here, that it's not right.” He pointed at his head. Then he pointed at his heart. “But in here, sometimes, it's hard for me to know that. Which is why I have my friends and family. They help me remember.”

Eri stayed silent for a few moments, contemplatively. She leaned back further into his arm, pressing up against him as if to ground both him and her. She looked up at him again. “W-will you help me remember when I can’t know that?”

Izuku wrapped her up in both of his arms, squeezing gently. “Anytime you need that reminder sweetie, just ask, and I’ll be there. No matter what.”

“Can I be a reminder for you too?” she asked, her voice muffled slightly as she ducked her head into his chest.

He let out a soft sigh with a smile. “You’re too sweet, Eri. Yes, yes you can.”

“Okay. You’re good, Izu. No more bad dreams. I say no.”

“Well if you say so, how could I have any? Your word is law,” he teased, feeling more like himself as he spoke to Eri.

Eri let out a small, huffed giggle, the sound warming Izuku’s heart. She stilled for a moment, as if thinking of something, before speaking quietly. “...can I stay with you tonight? To keep the bad dreams away?”

Izuku swore somewhere along the line Eri had decided that he must not need his heart, because she was determined to break it with absolute sweetness. “Okay,” he managed to choke out, feeling tears welling up from just how good this small child was, especially when considering what hell she’d come from. She allowed him to situate the two of them comfortably beneath the covers, letting out a breath of relief as she curled into his side, the plushie All Might tucked between the two of them. 

She was clearly exhausted, having woken up from his nightmare and worrying over him, falling asleep within moments of laying down. He simply lay there for a minute, just thinking about how she was just too pure for this world, and how the world had turned its back on her. Silently, he vowed for what must have been the hundredth time that he would not allow anything to harm her ever again, no matter what it took.

With that promise in mind, he let himself drift off to sleep, hoping it wouldn’t be obvious in the morning he’d had another nightmare.

Well, he was fairly confident in his acting. The others didn’t notice anything was off. Except he forgot one tiny, itty bitty detail…Eri knew. And he didn’t tell Eri not to tell. First thing the unicorn had done was inform Himiko and Ochako that Izu had a bad dream and did not sleep well. Which was a stretch, there was no way Eri could know he hadn’t slept well (even setting aside the whole nightmare thing). Even if she was right.

Izuku knew how his life worked. Any day where he had had a nightmare beforehand would always go badly somewhere along the line. It was like the universe would decide that specific days were ‘Fuck with Izuku’ days and just make sure he suffered somehow. He had hoped he could suffer in silence, because any time someone tried to make it better, it only got worse .

But nope, Eri told the girls, and they in turn told Katsuki. He also suspected Shoji and Jiro had known, because both of them had been eyeing him since they’d seen him making breakfast. Well, trying to. Somewhere in the middle of it, he slipped and knocked the pan over, splashing the partially cooked eggs onto him. He managed to avoid a burn thanks to the fact he had his gloves on, but there went his attempt at breakfast. 

Katsuki knew better than to try to interfere with one of his nightmare days. But the girls had yet to get the memo. Although they’d only seen it thrice throughout the time they’d known him, they had tried very hard to make his bad days less bad, to mostly disastrous effect. He understood it, of course…no one liked feeling unable to help someone they cared about. But over fourteen years of life, he’d yet to see any solution to the simple fact sometimes, he just had days that went to shit.

His tie was a mess, his uniform was rumpled, he had bags under his eyes to rival Shinso’s perpetual state of exhaustion, and he nearly forgot his bag before he tried to make his way to the classroom. Nightmares always left him feeling tired, exhausted, like he’d burned through all his next day before even going through it. But he made it into the classroom, only half-paying attention to Ochako and Himiko trying to cheer him up. He appreciated it, he did.

The problem was he wasn’t upset . They never quite got that. He wasn’t in a great mood, but it wasn’t bad either. He just knew that the day would suck and was resigned to it already. At some point, something was going to go wrong. He didn’t know when, he didn’t know what, but something was going to go wrong.

Aizawa slithered into the room in a hideous yellow sleeping bag, looking like a caterpillar about to morph into the most terrifying butterfly known to man. Though Izuku had known him now for at least a few days, this was not exactly how he expected his first class to go. Aizawa berated the class for how long they took to quiet down, and then tiredly held up a gym uniform and told them to go change into them and meet him at the athletic field. When the class stared at him confused, he reiterated his statement with an annoyed tone and made it clear there would be consequences if they failed to do it swiftly. 

And so Izuku found himself in the locker room and realized a problem. A very big problem. The universe fuckery had caught up to him, it seemed. In his rush to leave the dorms after spilling his breakfast and being too tired to really focus, he hadn’t put on one of his compression shirts beneath his uniform…and he had to remove his shirt to change. Katsuki noticed his hesitance and leaned over to him, speaking quietly.

“What’s wrong?”

“...I forgot my fucking compression shirt,” Izuku whispered back.

“If anyone says anything, I’ll kill them,” Katsuki said, letting off a few pops in his palm. Izuku sighed.

“Let’s not get expelled on day one, Kacchan. Just…I’ll just deal.”

Katsuki looked him over, eyes narrowed, before giving him one quick nod. He knew better than to argue with Izuku on a bad day. 

Izuku took a deep breath, pulling his shirt over his head and reaching for the gym top to hopefully not get noticed…but the sudden ceasing of chatter in the room had his shoulder slumping as he knew why everyone stopped talking. He knew they’d see it, the spiderweb of scars that crossed his back, spiraling out from between his shoulder blades like a hundred small bolts of lightning. He knew that if he had turned around and they could see his front, they’d see the same marks ripping across his chest, the same scarred skin, the permanent mark of his shame.

He decided to cut it off before anyone asked, hoping everyone respected him enough to keep quiet. He spun about to meet everyone's gaze, seeing all the other boys staring at him (save Todoroki, who glanced at him and turned away a moment later). Their eyes locked onto the scars that ran across his chest, down his arms, falling down beneath his waist along his legs, covering every part of his body in some various marks painted on his skin. He made sure to meet everyone's gaze with a blank look, before speaking. “It’s from an incident when I was a kid, don’t ask.” 

“No problem,” Kirishima said, holding his hands up placatingly. His reply was echoed by the rest of the boys, all of them turning back to their various tasks of changing. He let out a deep breath of air, turning back to his locker and angrily dragging the uniform on. He was already done with this day and it hadn’t even hit the test. 

Katsuki nudged his shoulder, giving him a significant look. Izuku just looked at him blankly, sighing when he realized the blonde wasn’t going to let it go. He shook his head in silent communication, trying to express that he did not want to talk about it or do anything about it right now, and he’d rather Katsuki not bring it up to the girls right now. It seemed the message got through to his brother, who gave him another nod of recognition and finished up switching his clothes out.

By the time Izuku had made it out to the field, he was the last one there, something which apparently annoyed his teacher(although it was hard to tell if he was annoyed, Izuku had picked up on a couple tells by now). He said nothing though, simply noting a time on his phone.

“Welcome to your Quirk Assessment Test,” Aizawa said, his tone bored.

“What about orientation?” Ochako asked, confused.

“You’re here to be heroes. You don’t have time to waste on things like that. You all did physical fitness tests in school, right? You weren’t allowed to use your Quirks there. It's not logical. Today we’ll see what you can do with your Quirks. Midoriya!”

Izuku jolted. “Y-yes sir?”

“You scored the highest on the exam. What was your best softball throw in school?”

Izuku thought back for a moment. “Um, 65 meters.”

Aizawa tossed him a softball. “Throw it using your Quirk. Anything goes so long as you stay in the circle.”

Izuku nodded, stepping into the circle. He thought for a moment, trying to decide the best way to do this. He rotated his shoulder, focusing inward as he called upon One For All, letting it flood his body. Emerald sparks scattered around him, his eyes glowing slightly as he focused. He channeled a field into his hand, one which held the ball tightly, pouring strength into it as he prepared to switch it right at the apex of his throw.

He reared back, pitching it forward and switching the attraction to repulsion at the very last second. The combination of One For All’s physical force and his energy field caused the ball to rocket away with a loud roar, the ball nearly vanishing from sight. The kickback sent sand and dirt flying away from him, Jiro covering her ears and wincing as Shoji shifted away all of the ears save one. 

“1027 meters. Not bad. This is what we’re here to determine. What your foundation is, to be built upon,” Aizawa said, holding up his phone to show the number.

“1027 meters? What the hell Midoriya?!” Kaminari said, eye twitching. 

“This looks like fun!” Ashido said, clasping her hands together.

“Fun, huh?” Aizawa interrupted further conversation, one eyebrow arching. “Alright. You want to have fun? The person who comes in last place on all eight tests will be expelled.”

“What?!” the class cried out.

“That’s unfair!” Ochako cried out, clenching her fists tightly.

“Unfair? The world is unfair. Natural disasters, accidents, villains…none of these things are fair. The world is unfair. It's a hero's job to combat that unfairness. Here at UA, we get to run our classes as we see fit. I’m training you to be heroes. I’m not training future corpses. If you can’t take it seriously here, you won’t take it seriously in the real world, and I’d rather not see you in a casket.”

His words sobered up most of the class, many of them contemplating his statement. Heroes did risk their lives daily, if not hourly, and his statement made it clear he didn’t plan on having them die doing it. Still felt a bit unfair to most of them, but at least they understood his point.

Aizawa gave them a creepy grin, the first smile they’d seen (and most of them now wished he never smiled again). “Welcome to UA’s hero course! Let's begin.”

Most of the tests went by fairly simply for Izuku. He was in good physical condition, and between OFA and his base Quirk, he had an answer to most of the tests without too much trouble. On most of them he was within the top three, if not the first place. The only one that he couldn’t really rely on a Quirk for was the seated toe touch, but at least being in good shape helped with that. 

Of course, even it being one of his bad days didn’t change his hyper focus on Quirks. He had pulled out a notebook and begun jotting down everything he noticed from the other students' Quirks (to the great confusion of everyone who didn’t know him). Most of them were fascinating , but he noticed a few students not really using theirs. He still hadn’t puzzled out Kaminari or Shinso’s yet. Yaoyorozu’s had him nearly salivating from how amazing the implications were, once he realized what she was doing. 

Himiko nudged Ochako in the side. “Think we should be jealous?” pointing at Izuku, the greenette staring at Yaoyorozu as crafted a cannon for the ball throw, the smirk on Himiko’s face making it clear she was kidding. Ochako just giggled, careful to go silent as soon as Aizawa’s eyes landed on her. 

The ball throw had been left for last, Ochako already cinching first place with a casual tap on the ball and toss upwards, the distance counter eventually giving up and just reading ‘Infinity’. But that didn’t lessen the others trying. Katsuki smirked, teeth bared, as he launched it, shouting ‘ Die!’ as he did so. Izuku just facepalmed at how extra his brother could be sometimes. And then smirked internally when he got 1024 meters, three shy of Izuku. 

So far Izuku hadn’t seen everyone’s Quirks, but Kaminari seemed excited as he stepped up, the last one to go. Izuku paid careful attention, curious about what he could do. The blonde smiled. “I always wanted to try this!” Holding the ball between his two palms, he began to separate them, crackles of yellow electricity beginning to spark between his hands. Izuku, whose vision was flipped on, witnessed as the white crackling within Kaminari’s body turned a brilliant yellow as his brain put two and two together… electricity .

Izuku collapsed like a puppet with his strings cut, falling to his knees as the world spun around him. Electricity. Electricity…LIGHTNING . He could see it, the clouds in the sky, the taste of ozone, the bright flash of light and the pain , the raging torrent of energy, the fear and anguish, the taste of metal and blood and the lack of sound, how the world fell away before it erupted from him, before the screams and cries and broken world shattered.

His vision went dim, a roaring in his ears as he felt dizzy, disconnected. Everything was too bright, too loud, yet sounds were muffled and fuzzy. He might have been interested in the dichotomy if he wasn’t currently unable to breathe. Somewhere inside, intellectually, he knew this was a panic attack. It wasn’t the first he’d had. It wouldn’t be the last. But oh god…in front of Aizawa. In front of the class. In front of his girlfriends, who had never seen this side of him. In front of everyone .

The thoughts just made it worse, every lesson on managing panic attacks slipping through his fingers like trying to hold water. He couldn’t do this, couldn’t show this, couldn’t be like this. Toshinori would never forgive him for being so weak, no one would, no one would want to deal with this, with him, with his fears and worries and hurt.

He felt more than saw the hand reaching out to him, the feeling of another hand holding his and pressing it to a warm surface. A moving one. Oh. Someone's chest. Trying to encourage him, he could barely hear it through the roaring in his ears, but someone was trying to get him to copy. Copy what? Oh. The breathing. Right. Breathing. That’s a thing he was supposed to do.

It was like everything came crashing back at once, sound and scent and sight all back at once as he gasped for air, tears falling from his eyes and blurring his vision. He finally could hear the voices, the questions, the worried tones as Aizawa stood before him, gripping his hand tightly against his chest. “Midoriya. Midoriya, can you answer me?”

Izuku gulped in another gasp of air. Shakily, he nodded, trying to croak out a noise. It was a struggle, but he managed to make some sort of acknowledgment. Aizawa nodded at him. “Okay. We’ll discuss this later. Bakugo. Take Midoriya to the old lady, you know the way. For the rest of you, I’ll be posting the results later. No ones getting expelled today, it was a logical ruse to make sure you performed your best. Your syllabi are on your desks, for now your day is over. Grab them and return to the dorms.” 

With careful motions, Aizawa helped the shaky Izuku to his feet, passing him off to Katsuki, the blonde solemn and silent. Izuku barely noticed how Katsuki had nodded to his girlfriends, Himiko and Ochako looking at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. The rest of the class looked at him with confusion, worry, and their own fear.

Izuku really hated his bad days.

Katsuki hadn’t wanted to leave, but Recovery Girl had insisted she had him well taken care of. She told Katsuki Izuku needed to rest, and she’d have Hound Dog in to check on him as soon as he was available, but for now, Katsuki should get changed and go back to the dorms. She knew the girls would be worried too, and assured Katsuki if anything came up, she’d be sure to let him know.

‘Fuck!’ he snarled internally, his hands in his pockets and shoulders tense as he walked back to Heights Alliance. He knew Izuku was going to have a bad day, but he hadn’t expected this sort of bad day. Now he was going to have to deal with the fallout…his classmates would want to know why Izuku had panicked, the girls would want to know if he was okay, and the moment Eri found out she’d want to see him and he knew Recovery Girl would not allow that right now.

This wasn’t fucking fair! Finally, finally , things were going right, they’d been going right for so long, and then the very first fucking day things to go shit! Hell, before the school day even started, Izuku had had another nightmare! And here Katsuki was, left to pick up the pieces and smooth things over and that was not what he did best. Izuku was the one who did the talking, the smoothing, with his brilliant smiles and gentle empathy. Katsuki was gruff and competitive and had to struggle to understand how other people felt. 

He clenched and unclenched his hands, taking in a deep breath, holding it, releasing. Repeated again. And again. He could do this. It was just a bad day, a bad set of circumstances. He’d settle Eri and the girls first, before the class. The girls would be easy, they knew this happened , they just hadn’t witnessed it yet. They were smart, they probably already figured out the trigger. They’d just want to know where he was and when he’d return. Which he could at least give the first.

He approached the dorms and steeled himself, knowing he’d get pestered as soon as he entered. And lo and behold, there was a wave of sound as he opened the door, making him clench his fists and jaw as he tried to pick out the important questions.

“Please, allow Bakugo a moment! We are overwhelming him!” Yaoyorozu called out. Huh. Katsuki reminded himself to make her something nice for dinner since they at least heard her out. He spied Cheeks and Fangs walking his way and let his shoulders slump slightly in relief. They leaned in close, shooing others away so he could speak quietly to them.

“Zu’s okay, he’ll be okay. Panic attacks suck but it's not something he’s not used to. The old lady is keeping him for now and the mutt’s gonna check on him when he gets a chance. He’ll be okay.”

“...was it Kaminari?” Himiko whispered as quietly as she could, hoping Jiro and Shoji were not listening in.

Katsuki nodded. “Electricity. It’ll be okay, now he knows it’s coming, he can cope. It won’t come up again.”

“What do we tell him?” Ochako asked, her gaze flickering to the worried Kaminari, the blonde talking with Sero and glancing over at their little trio over and over.

“I’ll handle it. It’s not his fault. We just got to make sure he knows. We can tell them a little…” Katsuki trailed off as he remembered a discussion he’d had with Izuku only the day before. Izuku had admitted that with him getting noticed for breaking All Might’s record, there was a good chance people might find out about the incident. He’d rather not just dump it on everyone, but he wasn’t going to try to hide it if they asked directly. He told Katsuki the same thing, his ‘permission’ to explain what he had to, and if it came to it, to just tell the story. He didn’t think it was necessary right now though.

Himiko nodded at him. Ochako nudged his shoulder with her own. “Thanks for telling us, Katsuki.”

“Don’t thank me for something stupid like that,” he growled out without heat. He ignored their rolled eyes and stepped past them to look over the rest of the room, the various students who were trying to act like they hadn’t been interested in the conversation by the door now dropping the act. “Oi. I’m only gonna say this once. In order, Izuku’s fine. He’s with the old lady, he’ll be back later. Second, this won’t happen again.”

“Yes but what did happen?” Ashido asked, her expression worried.

“Midoriya had a panic attack, did he not? Do you know what the trigger is, Bakugo? Perhaps we could avoid it in the future if it is something one of us did?” Yaoyorozu asked quietly.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about, he knows what the trigger is and it won’t catch him off guard again.”

“But what was it? Midoriya was fine until the end, when Kaminari-” Sero asked.

‘Shit!’ Katsuki winced internally as he saw the dawning horror appear on Kaminari’s face, watching the thoughts click into place for about a third of the class. He had to run damage control before the idiot went into some guilt spiral bullshit.

“Fine, yes. It was the electricity. He has…issues with electrical Quirks. But it’s fine , Pikachu. He just wasn’t expecting it is all. Moron had his Quirk vision enabled too which made it worse. I promise you, he’ll be fine going forward. He knows it’s coming now.”

“B-but I, I didn’t mean to-”

Katsuki strode across the room and grabbed Kaminari’s shoulders tightly, forcing him to look him in the eye. “Stop that bullshit. Zu would feel worse if he knew you were freaking out about this. Seriously, you had no way of knowing. Not your fault that’s your Quirk. Once he gets over it he’ll be pestering you about it, I’m sure.”

“Are…are there other triggers we should be aware of? So we avoid causing him any more distress?” Yaoyorozu asked.

Katsuki paused, letting go of Kaminari’s shoulders as he thought about it. “Don’t ask about his scars. Don’t ask about my leg around him. That’s about it.”

“Your leg?” Kirishima asked, confused.

With an eye roll, Katsuki bent over and rolled up his pant leg, revealing the silver-gray sheen of his prosthetic leg. Most of the class looked at him in surprise, a few confused and a few almost concerned from what little context they had. He let the pant leg fall again. “Yes, that's a prosthetic leg, yes I had an accident as a kid, no I don’t want to tell you the fucking details. Any other questions?”

There was a silence in the room for a moment, before being broken by Tokoyami. “You spoke of ‘Quirk vision’? Pray tell, what is that?” Tokoyami asked.

“Part of Izu’s Quirk is he can see the energy of a person’s Quirk within them!” Ochako said, grinning as she bragged about her boyfriend.

“Apparently it's kind of blinding though, so he doesn’t have it on all the time,” Himiko added.

“That is…interesting,” Yaoyorozu muttered, looking like she was considering something.

“If you want more details ask the nerd when he gets back. He’s probably already got a half dozen pages of notes written on you all by now.”

“Notes?” Sato asked.

“Izu likes to analyze people's Quirks! It’s super useful, he’s the one who figured out that I can use some other people’s Quirk’s when I transform!” Himiko gushed, her fangs visible as she grinned.

Ochako nodded. “Yeah, it’s because of him I figured out I’m not actually canceling gravity, I’m matching it's force, and if I focus, I can match it in other directions than just making things go up.”

“Analysis you say? Would he share that knowledge with the rest of us?” Yaoyorozu asked.

“Tch. You ask him to talk about your Quirk and you’ll be hard pressed to get him to shut the fuck up about it,” Katsuki drawled. 

“Kacchan? Where’s Izu?” The small voice of Eri interrupted everyone else, the young girl coming out of the elevator, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up.

“He’ll be here in a little bit kiddo, he’s had a long day,” Katsuki replied, his tone shifting so fast the room felt like they had whiplash from how much more gentle his voice had become. 

“Oh, okay. Can I have an apple please?”

“‘Course. Lemme cut one up,” Katsuki, happy for the distraction, strode off to the kitchen, the young girl following along behind him as he opened the fridge. 

“Oh, oh, can I have one too? Pleeeease?” the pleading voice of Dark Shadow rang out, zooming across the room while Tokoyami sighed.

“...fuck it, whatever. Sure. Want me to cut it up for you too?” Katsuki said sarcastically, but lost his smirk when the shadow creature nodded rapidly, a gleeful grin crossing its face(?). Katsuki just shrugged, pulling a couple apples out and reaching to his knife block to begin chopping them up.

“I’m sorry for the trouble-” Izuku began, but a swift whap of a cane to his shin cut him off.

“Stop that nonsense young man. You didn’t cause any trouble. You have some issues and that is okay. You’re not the first student in this school to have triggers and you won’t be the last. I imagine you’re not even the only one in your class,” Recovery Girl, a severe expression on her face.

Izuku dropped his head to his chest, sighing deeply. “They're going to look at me differently now.”

“Don’t make assumptions about future actions others will take. That’s an exercise in futility,” Hound Dog said, although he’d insisted Izuku could call him Inui, or even Ryo if he felt comfortable enough for it. “Besides, it's not fair to assume the worst of your new classmates, is it?”

“I guess,” Izuku murmured.

“I don’t want to pressure you, but if you gain any form of fame as a Pro, you’re going to have people digging up your past. Perhaps you could open up about it to some of your classmates as you spend time with them?” Hound Dog said softly.

“I told Kacchan that if they ask, I’ll just tell them the story. Or he can if they ask him. I already know someone will figure it out eventually…I may as well just get it out of the way,” Izuku sighed, defeated.

“That’s a very mature and thought out response, Midoriya. Don’t be discouraged. You must admit that statistically, the odds are good they will agree with everyone that it was simply an accident…just like little Eri’s was.”

Izuku clenched his fist but didn’t reply, well aware of the fact he was a hypocrite and that Hound Dog was needling him about that on purpose. He didn’t rise to the bait, keeping his mouth shut instead.

“Well, you seem to be recovered well enough I suppose. You may return to your dorm, Midoriya. It’ll be alright. Here, take a lollipop.” Recovery Girl shoved one into his hands, giving him a gentle smile and shooing him out of the room. 

Izuku slowly trudged back to the dorms, not looking forward to the third degree he expected to get when he arrived. Unfortunately, he arrived at it much sooner than he wanted to, and decided to just get it over with. He opened the door, a wave of noise and the smells of something cooking wafting over him. The noise pretty much stopped as he walked in, all eyes turning to him. He hated it. Felt like his skin was crawling and he wanted nothing more than to go to his room and pass out until everyone forgot about what happened.

He decided to just go for it, heading towards the stairs and hopefully up to his room. He wasn’t given the chance to escape, as Ochako’s arm reached out and snagged his own, halting his progress. 

“Oh no you don’t mister. You need to eat. C’mere,” she ordered, half dragging his limp form into the kitchen and shoving him into one of the stools around the table. Himiko was seated next to him, casually flipping through the syllabus with a bored expression. As soon as she saw him next to her, she abandoned her view and smiled at him brightly, leaning into his side. He instinctively put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in tighter and letting out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

Ochako plopped down on his other side, choosing to lay her head on his shoulder rather than lean the same way Himiko was. He relaxed further, letting his head rest upon hers for a moment, ignoring the rest of his classmates. He glanced up at the stovetops, somewhat startled to see not Kacchan, but the tall, buff boy who’d introduced himself as Sato there. He noticed the look and gave a grin.

“Well, it’s not fair for you two to do all the work after all! I figured I’d take over for tonight! Sero’s helping, he just ran out to pick up some ingredients for me. Bakugo went with him, saying something about not trusting him with vegetable selection.”

“Ah. Yeah, Kacchan’s picky about that sort of thing. Thanks, Sato,” Izuku muttered. 

“No problem man. Glad to see you up and about.”

“Hey uh…Midoriya?” Izuku managed to look up to see the guilty gaze of Kaminari looking at him from across the table, shifting in place. “Listen, I-”

Izuku cut Kaminari off with an upraised hand. Leveling him with a tired gaze, he spoke. “Kaminari, stop. Just…stop. It wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known. I’ll be okay, and I won’t be surprised again. It’s okay. We’re okay.”

Kaminari stared at him with watery eyes, before sniffling and bowing towards him. “...thanks man. I’ll try to make sure to warn you if I’m gonna use my Quirk.”

“No need. Like I said, I know now, I can adjust, it’s fine.”

“...dude, you don’t need to try to make me feel better. You uh…you look like you’re still not feeling great. You should take care of yourself better.”

Izuku scoffed, releasing Kaminari from his gaze as he looked down at the table. Muttering under his breath he remarked “Fuck that, just kill me already.”

He spoke so softly he was certain even Himiko, as close to him as she was and with her slightly above average hearing, still wouldn’t be able to hear him. But that didn’t mean no one did. Jiro looked at him as he slumped in the chair, all the good cheer and helpful attitude from yesterday gone from his body. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to Himiko, the blonde having exchanged numbers with her when she helped her move in, informing the blonde of what he’d said under his breath.

Himiko felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and opened it up, squinting as she read the message. Her mouth twisted as if she’d eaten something sour, and she forwarded the message to Ochako, making sure Izuku couldn’t see. Not that he bothered trying, he’d already given up on the world, laying his head on the table. 

The two girls exchanged an annoyed glance over his slumped form, but waited patiently. He needed to eat before they dragged him off. Luckily, moments later, Sero and Katsuki entered, the blonde looking utterly done as Sero cracked a couple jokes, chuckling at his commentary. Sato took the ingredients off the two, Katsuki taking a seat at the table and just opening his phone, scrolling through something on his feed and only sometimes glancing at the slumped Izuku. 

It took about five more minutes for Sato to finish, and he put the food before Izuku, moving on to announce dinner to everyone else. Himiko poked Izuku until he glanced up, and once he’d begun eating, went to get up to make her own plate. She was stopped by Katsuki, who slid a plate in front of her and one before Ochako, giving them a significant look. She nodded back at him, letting him know they were going to take care of it. 

After eating, Izuku went to go to his room, but found himself flanked by his girlfriends once more. The two steadfastly ignored his tired protests and simply pulled him along, everyone watching as they dragged him off to what they assumed was one of their rooms. Ida raised his hand to protest the impropriety of it, but thought better of it. Midoriya had been very understanding of his rudeness on exam day; he wouldn’t begrudge him some time to speak to his paramours in private. And to be honest, he knew he missed social cues sometimes, but he was pretty confident that Midoriya was most assuredly not in the mood for anything improper.

Kaminari watched them go with a conflicted expression. He was trying to listen to what Midoriya said, about how it was okay and all that, but he still felt terrible. The sight of Midoriya, the ridiculously powerful boy who helped rescue him and was the coolest person he’d seen yet just collapse to the ground with that expression of sheer, unadulterated panic on his face had completely shaken Kaminari…especially once he realized it was his fault . 

It wasn’t like he didn’t know what electrical scarring looked like. He hadn’t said anything about it in the locker room, but he knew what lichtenberg scars were. Granted, the ones on Midoriya were extreme, covering most of his body and some looked like they were from other sources, but still…he saw the fractal patterns. He’d accidentally caused a few of those on his parents when he was a child. 

He felt the couch next to him jolt as someone sat down on it, making him turn to look next to him and seeing the shaggy purple hair of Shinso beside him, the taller teenager looking at him with a deadpan expression. He opened his mouth to ask Shinso what he wanted, but found himself struck dumb when the other teen reached up and flicked him on the forehead, not hard enough to hurt but enough to make him rear back.

“Get out of your head, Kaminari,” Shinso drawled.

“What are you talking about?” he shot back in a huff.

“You heard Midoriya. You weren’t at fault. He’s just having a bad day. Shit happens, so stop moping. I’ve known you for a day and I can tell that’s not like you. It’s annoying.”

Kaminari crossed his arms over his chest and slumped back into the couch. “Well excuse me for feeling bad about making someone freak out because-”

“Because you used your Quirk?” Shinso cut him off with an odd tone of voice. Kaminari looked over at the purple-haired teen, confused. “Do you even know what my Quirk is ?” Kaminari thought about it, realizing…no. He’d yet to see him use it. He shook his head no, the purple haired teen continuing. “Answer out loud.” Kaminari opened his mouth to reply, but barely got a sound out before everything went blank .

After an indeterminate amount of time, he found himself standing in the kitchen, staring blankly at the fridge. “Freaked out yet?” Shinso said from behind him, Kaminari spinning around to see the other teen staring at him with tired eyes. Half the room was staring at him, the other half staring at Shinso. 

“Wh-what happened?” Kaminari stuttered.

“My Quirk. A nice villain Quirk that brainwashes people who respond to me. Freaky, isn’t it?”

“Shinso, I believe you’ve made your point,” Yaoyorozu interjected gently. 

“Nope, not yet. You want a freakout Kaminari, you should see how people look at me every time I show off my Quirk. Look at how you all are looking at me right now. Stop beating yourself up. At least you don’t have a villain’s Quirk.”

Kaminari sputtered for a moment, before stepping up towards Shinso, half flailing. “N-no, that’s not a villain’s Quirk! That’s pretty cool! You could do a lot with that, like, like…”

“Don’t strain yourself. I got over having a villainous Quirk a long time ago.”

“Forgive me Shinso, but it doesn’t sound like you got over it,” Yaoyoruzu interjected again. 

“Oh for fucks sake. No such thing as a villainous Quirk, it’s what you fucking do with it that matters,” Bakugo added his two cents, leaning against the counter as he scrolled through his phone.

“Easy for you to say, mister ‘I’m a walking bomb’,” Shinso shot back.

Bakugo looked up and arched an eyebrow at him. “That’s right. I am a walking bomb. I could kill everyone in this building in thirty seconds. Bring the whole fucking thing down on our heads. Or what about Miss Invisible over there? Bet she could slit our throats in our sleep before we could react.”

Bakugo straightened up off the counter, striding over to stare at Shinso. “Racoon Eyes could melt our limbs off. Who knows what the hell Ponytail over there could whip up. Most of us could kill people if we wanted without too much effort. I’m betting people gave you shit for your Quirk growing up, right? Well, fuck them. You’re in Class 1-A’s hero course, you’re gonna be a fucking hero and flip all those fucks off. And you!”

Kaminari squeaked as Bakugo turned on him, poking him in the chest. “You shoulda fucking listened to me the first time. Zu’s fine, it’s all fine, it wasn’t your fault, get your head out of your ass and go light up the fucking room or some shit. Eyebags got one thing right, and it’s that you moping is annoying.”

Silence fell over the room for a moment, before Kirishima stepped up with a worried smile. “Hey now, we’re all classmates, let’s back it down a bit.”

“...it's fine. The bomberanian has a point,” Shinso said with a straight face, enjoying how Bakugo’s expression twisted at the name.

Kaminari scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I guess you guys are right…I just feel bad…”

“...look, Pikachu, I’ve known Izuku since we were in fucking diapers. Trust me…he doesn’t blame you.”

“Oh right, he said your parents adopted him, right? So he’s your brother?” Ashido asked, half folded over the back of the couch as she watched the conversation in the kitchen.

Bakugo shrugged. “Basically.”

“What happened to his parents?” Hagakure asked, her attention also locked on the group in the kitchen.

Those more perceptive towards people watched as Bakugo froze ever so slightly, his expression twisting further as his hands clenched at his sides in internal conflict. Izuku had given him permission to speak if people asked, but he still didn’t think now was the time to tell the whole story. He struggled internally, deciding to give the barest bones reply he could.

“...they died. In the same accident that took my leg,” he muttered, looking away from the class.

“...Oh. I-I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories. I’m sorry,” Hagakure said guiltily. 

“Nothing to apologize for. It’s fine. I wouldn’t have answered if I had an issue with it.” Awkward silence fell over the room after Bakugo’s last comment, the blonde getting frustrated with it swiftly and sighing loudly. “Alright, listen up…Zu and I got some shit in our past. I’m sure most of you do too. It’ll probably come out at some point, and that’s fine . We’re stuck together for the next few years and then we’re supposed to work together as heroes. Don’t let it get you all bent out of shape, we’ll be fine, you’ll be fine, everything will be fucking fine. It's our first day, lets not angst over every stupid thing just cause Zu had a bad day. K?”

“Bakugo makes an excellent point! Perhaps not every event today went as swimmingly as we could hope for, but I believe we all still made an excellent showing at the Quirk Assessment Test, and Sensei was pleased enough with our performance! We should take this as a win!” Ida declared, standing straight and looking over the class. 

“Too much angst, that’s for sure,” Jiro muttered. She stood up and stretched, heading to the stairs. “Well, I’m gonna go to bed, catcha all tomorrow.”

“I believe I will do the same. Goodnight all,” Yaoyorozu said, smiling as she followed behind Jiro to the stairs. Various murmurs of people heading to bed entered the room, a few sticking around to watch television before heading off themselves.

“Girls, I’ll be fine,” Izuku tried to protest, half-heartedly digging his heels in as they continued to drag him towards Ochako’s room.

“You’re our boyfriend, we’re allowed to want to spend time with you when you’re having a bad day,” Himiko replied, not giving him room to argue. Izuku sighed, but stopped protesting, recognizing he was losing this argument and not wanting to make them upset with him. The girls pulled him into Ochako’s room, his tired eyes taking in the way she’d decorated it with some of the various gifts the boys had gotten her…a set of star themed bed sheets, little glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, a series of astronomy books she had carefully lined up on her small desk, a few various star maps and images from telescopes plastered on her walls.

Ochako gave him a gentle push onto the bed, the boy allowing it, finding himself seated on the bedspread. Himiko sat next to him, Ochako on his other side once more, flanking him as they tended to do recently. 

Izuku sighed once more. “Girls…”

Ochako’s finger was placed against his lips, silencing him. He looked up at her. “Izuku…please. Stop. I know you can handle it yourself. That’s not the point. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should . We’re here for you. You would do the same for us, so let us love you, okay?”

“...yeah. You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ve been really rude all day to everyone.” Izuku rubbed his face with his hands. “You’re such a huge part of my life now that sometimes I forget that you don’t know all that much about my stupid little hangups, like my bad days.”

“It’s not stupid Izu,” Himiko sighed. It was so back and forth with Izuku sometimes that she wanted to just reach back in time and strangle the villain that sent him down this path in the first place. “You should know, Kyo told me what you said at the table.”

“Huh? Kyo?” Izuku blinked in confusion.

“Kyoka! She said I get to call her that because I helped her at the exam! And this!” Himiko shoved her phone in Izuku’s face, his eyes going cross eyed as he tried to read it while it was far too close to his face. After gently pushing her hand back a little, he read over the message and growled under his breath.

“I forgot about her Quirk…didn’t realize it was that sensitive. I should ask her how far away she can hear from, and if she can hear frequencies beneath or above the audible human range, or-”

“Ah, there’s our boyfriend, I was wondering where he’d gone off too,” Ochako said, smiling softly at him beginning to mutter rapidly. He froze for a moment, before giving her a sheepish smile. She giggled and reached over to grip his hand. “And there’s the smile I wanted to see.”

“Seriously though, Izu…it’s okay, you know. It’s okay to lean on us. It’s okay to have bad days.” Himiko said quietly.

“I know you’re right, but I’m not great at hearing that on these days. But I mean it when I say I’ll be okay tomorrow. I just need some sleep, I’ll be more put together tomorrow,” he replied in the same quiet tone she used.

“Hmm. Okay. That’s fine. But we can spend some time together before bed, can’t we?” Ochako asked.

“Y-yeah, of course. You’re right that I needed to get away anyways.”

Ochako let out a quiet, contemplative hum as she considered something. She tilted her head to the side, deciding to firmly press the ‘fuck it’ button in her mind. “Himi?” 

“Yeah?”

Ochako stood up from the bed, stepping past Izuku and reaching out to grasp Himiko’s face in her hands. Carefully holding her pinkies up as she cupped the now confused and flustered blonde’s face, she leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, holding it there for only a few seconds before letting go. Ochako’s breath was escaping her somewhat more rapidly, and her cheeks were flushed, but she didn’t wait for a response as she turned to Izuku. Cupping his face the same way she had done Himiko’s, she leaned down and allowed their lips to meet in the same way, enjoying the startled squeak he let out far more than she’d ever admit.

As she released him and took a step back, witnessing the wide-eyed red cheeked Izuku and rapidly breathing Himiko staring at her, she planted her hands on her hips, ignoring the pounding in her heart. “Well? I think there needs to be one more kiss, don’t you?” she said, her tone more husky than normal.

Himiko swallowed, turning to look at the greenette next to her. She was not expecting bold Ochako today and while she certainly did not dislike it, she had been caught very off guard and was a little off balance. He was still staring unblinkingly at Ochako, but a gentle pressure on his side had him turn to look at Himiko’s amber eyes. An unspoken conversation was had between them, as their brains slowly rebooted from the brunette’s actions. Himiko leaned in, one hand on his shoulder and the other wrapped around his fingers placed upon the bed. Izuku leaned in as well, letting their lips meet with the same gentle pressure Ochako had given to the two of them.

They broke apart, breath coming more rapidly from them both. Himiko’s smile widened, as Izuku shyly returned it. Himiko pressed her forehead to Izuku’s, letting them rest against each other. Izuku gulped, gently squeezing Himiko’s hand. He turned away to look at the standing Ochako, a smug grin on her face. 

“N-not that I mind, but what was that for?”

Ochako leaned in and gently booped both Izuku and Himiko on their noses. “Because. I’ve been wanting to kiss the two of you for months now. And as your girlfriend, I finally have kissing rights…if that’s okay with you. I didn’t make either of you uncomfortable, did I?” Her confidence seemed to drain away a little as she spoke, shoulders shrinking as her actions caught up to her and she realized how it could come across.

“No!” The almost shouted reply came from the two on the bed, both of them shooting to their feet in unison. Ochako rocked back in surprise.

Himiko giggled as Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. “Um…yeah. It didn’t bother me. I um…I just wasn’t expecting it. But um, it was…um…good?”

“Oh my god Izu, it's a kiss, not that big a deal,” Himiko teased, ignoring her own racing heart. 

“You’re one to talk, you’re redder than me or ‘Chako!” he shot back, a wry grin crossing his face.

“Oh, you…shush your stupid handsome face!” she pouted, glaring at Izuku.

Izuku wasn’t entirely sure what made him say it, but without thinking, he just replied with a cocky grin and the words “Make me.”

He had a brief moment of satisfaction seeing the shocked look on Himiko and Ochako’s faces at his boldness, before Himiko’s grin turned sultry, her fangs visible in the dim light of Ochako’s desk lamp. He thought to himself ‘Oh, I’m in danger’, before being shoved back onto the bed as Himiko pounced on him, fusing their lips together. He automatically wrapped his arms around her, pressing her closer as he tried to return her very enthusiastic affection.

Ochako arched an eyebrow down at the two entangled forms on her bed. “Wow. You’re getting more action on my bed than I am.”

Her fake annoyance was cleared when Himiko, blindly reaching behind her, managed to (after flailing for a few seconds), grip onto her wrist. Ochako’s eyes went wide as the surprising strength of her girlfriend yanked her down onto the bed next to them. She bounced for a moment, not being given a chance to breath before Himiko broke her liplock with Izuku and practically leapt onto Ochako.

Izuku smiled over at the forms of his entangled girlfriends, his breath coming in short gasps as he tried to return to some semblance of sanity after the assault from Himiko. The blonde broke her kiss with Ochako after a moment, nuzzling into her neck softly. The brunette looked over at Izuku with a smirk, her lips slightly swollen from Himiko’s actions. Izuku rolled over and threw one arm over the entangled girls, pressing his lips to Ochako’s. 

Izuku hated his bad days…but if this was how they would end, he could get used to it.

Chapter Text

Himiko left Ochako’s room after a little while, headed to the kitchen to get a couple bottles of water for her and her partners. Their ‘activities’ had led to a slight bit of dry mouth, and she figured she’d grab something to drink for them all. There was no prohibition against spending the night together, considering everyone was adults, and Katsuki had taken Eri for the evening just in case she had a bad dream so the three felt they were safe deciding to just…stay together. 

As she made her way down the stairs, she noticed Kyoka leaning against her room door, as if waiting for someone. She looked up when Himiko came down the stairs and stood up straight. “Hey, Himiko,” she said quietly.

“Hey Kyo! Is something the matter?” Himiko asked, tilting her head to the side.

Kyoka’s cheeks pinked a little as she looked slightly to the left of Himiko. “No, nothing. I just…uh…wanted to check if Midoriya’s doing okay? I heard you leaving the room so I thought I’d wait and um, ask…”

“Oh, yeah, he’s much better now! Took some effort but ‘Chako and I got it through his thick skull it's okay to have a bad day,” as emphasis, Himiko rapped herself on the head with her knuckles in a fist and made a silly face.

“That’s good, that’s good. And um…are you okay? That’s gotta be rough, right?” Kyoka seemed to be refusing to meet Himiko’s gaze, which the blonde was a bit confused by but chose not to call attention to it. Maybe she just didn’t like showing this much concern for people she barely knew.

“Not gonna say I like seeing him like that, but I can manage. He’s always there for me, so, you know…returning the favor.”

“Right, yeah, okay. So long as you all are good,” Kyoka nodded. “I um, I’m gonna go to bed then. Just wanted to check up on you guys.”

“Thanks Kyo!” Himiko walked over and gave Kyoka a quick hug, letting go as soon as the purple-haired rocker froze in place. “Oops, sorry, didn’t mean to overstep!”

“N-no, it’s fine!” Kyoka squeaked out.

“Alright, I’ll leave you be! Goodnight Kyo!” Himiko hummed to herself as she walked away, Kyoka watching her leave in her Cheshire cat tank top and exceedingly short shorts. Her cheeks burned as she dove back into her room and leaned against the door.

“...Green and Uraraka are so lucky,” she muttered. The blonde had been stuck in her head since she’d had to be rescued by her, carried by this ridiculously fit flexible cheerful blonde badass who somehow made the damned giant robot punch itself in the face , and it did not help that she seemed to have little regard for how people saw her.

It also did not help that Kyoka was surrounded by a lot of hot people . Half the class were absolutely incredible looking, and she cursed being a bisexual disaster every minute she’d spent around them. But seeing how snuggly and adorable the trio was, how the two girls had helped cheer up the boy who somehow blew up a zero pointer , the same one who cooked that delicious meal with Bakugo while doing knife tricks and if she was correct, also played guitar considering what she heard the ‘brothers’ talking about the day before…ugh. 

She held her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream. She was okay. It’s fine. It wasn’t like she couldn’t manage. Just so long as Himiko stopped wandering around in her version of pajamas…

Izuku thought he might get embarrassed, having to leave his girlfriend's room in the morning and being seen by Ashido as he exited. But surprisingly, he really didn’t care. Ashido was practically vibrating in excitement when she saw him, but she was far too sleepy to comment beyond a sleepy, mischievous grin. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her, feeling far better than he had before. Who knew cuddling two incredibly beautiful women all night could make a bad day much better?

Getting ready for class was much easier this morning. He felt…lighter. Although he did notice Jiro was acting kind of weird when he saw her, she seemed a bit flustered and out of sorts. He shrugged mentally, giving Himiko a quick kiss on her forehead when she sleepily leaned into his side as he was throwing together a quick breakfast for the trio, Ochako seated at the table. 

Katsuki strode past, having been up since five in the morning since he went to bed so early. Eri was beside him, running about to give her morning hugs to the other three, before climbing up to the table to sit next to Ochako as Katsuki stepped up next to Izuku to throw something together for her. 

In no time at all, the rest of the students had made their way down in varied states of wakefulness, spending time making breakfast or in some cases just snacking on something easy. They trickled out of the dorms towards their classroom. The quartet walked together, Katsuki with his hands in his pockets, Izuku gesturing wildly as he spoke about some of the things he’d noticed during the test the day before. Himiko was only partially listening, looking at her phone as Ochako nodded along with the greenette.

“Hey, has anyone heard from Toshi lately?” Himiko asked, frowning as she checked the last message she’d received from him.

“Now that you mention it, no. He said he’d be busy all last week, but I really thought he’d say something once we got in,” Ochako said, tilting her head to the side as she thought about it.

“Must be really busy if he can’t talk to us,” Izuku mused. “It’s a bit concerning.”

“He’s All Might. I’m sure he’s fucking fine,” Katsuki said.

“Oh yeah, I’m sure, just wondering what kept him from replying to us. It’s not like him to leave us without replying for so long,” Izuku said. Katsuki just shrugged, walking over to his desk as they entered the classroom.

Morning classes were…distressingly normal. No one was expecting UA’s hero school to focus so heavily on things like English and Math, but there they were. The one saving grace in Izuku’s mind was each glass was taught by a different pro hero which had him squeeing internally, to the smirks of his girlfriends and snorted laughter of Katsuki. Lunch was also a moment of internalized fanboying; he was trying very hard to keep quiet so as to avoid more mockery, but it being Lunch Rush really made it difficult. 

As they returned to class after lunch, the class was abuzz since this would finally be something they were waiting for, Hero Basic Training. Izuku was excited to see which hero would be teaching them, and then he heard a voice he was all too familiar with.

“I am…coming through the door like a normal person!” Toshin-All Might stepped in, nearly ripping the door off the hinges as the class nearly leapt out of their seats in excitement (save the quartet who were in shock). 

Izuku missed half of what his mentor said as he realized the reason why Toshinori had been so cagey the past week. He wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or not, if he was being honest. But…wait, what about their costumes?

Katsuki grabbed him by his arm and yanked him up out of his chair, half-dragging the somewhat shell-shocked greenette out of the room towards the locker room to change. He gave a half-hearted glare, but the blonde was smiling too widely to care. He’d been smiling since he’d heard the word ‘Battle’, reminding Izuku that Katsuki hadn’t had a good spar in a week and he got very antsy if he didn’t. 

Izuku nodded as he looked over the costume the designers had finished for him. While he was pretty sure he’d need more later, this seemed to work out well. A dark, almost black, green jumpsuit, with strategic armoring over his shins and along his arms. A pair of sturdy gloves covered his hands and ran further up his arm towards his elbow. He wore a dark red utility belt, holding first aid supplies and odds and ends he thought could come in handy. 

The bracelets that tracked his energy levels had a slot in the gloves so they were visible, locking into place at an easily accessible location. His boots were covered in extra armor, which fit with his notes about trying to get more into utilizing kicks in his fighting style (based on comments Nighteye had made to him during sparring practice). Finally, a respirator that hung around his neck, one he could flick up to cover his mouth with ease. 

As he stepped out of the locker room, he noticed Katsuki latching on the gauntlets the two of them had come up with as children. He nodded absently, happy to see that had been approved. A way for him to store up extra sweat into a rotating chamber that would allow him to rapid-fire blasts just in case he was starting to run low himself or just as a more concentrated version. He shook his head out of his contemplation and headed out of the room to meet up with the rest of the class. 

He swiftly realized two things: One, his girlfriends were really hot in their costumes . Two, most of the costumes in the class were very impractical . When asked, pretty much everyone said the same thing: they made some requests and let the costume company handle it. Most of the boys were alright (save Kirishima’s, what the hell, he may be a walking shield but he was not always in his hardened state!), but between Ochako’s skin tight bodysuit she felt uncomfortable in, Yaoyorozu’s lack of any form of protection, and Hagakure’s…everything, Izuku’s eye was twitching in such a way Katsuki chose to step away from the muttering verdette.

“Yeah, I mean, you look great sweetie, but not sure that’s entirely safe ,” Himiko commented, looking at Ochako’s heels. Her costume was closer to what she’d asked for, a black gothic style dress that was inlaid with armored plates and was DNA encoded so she could transform and not be naked when she dropped it. Her gloves had retractable talons for both gripping and injuring her opponents, and when Izuku asked how many knives she was carrying, she simply looked him dead in the eye and said ‘Yes.’

Izuku whipped out his notebook, to the consternation of most of the students around him who did not see a pocket or pouch large enough to hold it, and began writing rapidly while muttering under his breath angrily. He was interrupted by All Might grabbing everyone's attention, commenting on how they all looked like heroes.

He explained they would be doing battle trials indoors, expressing how commonly villain fights take place within rather than without. He continued by explaining they’d be doing mock two on two battles, one side defending a ‘bomb’ as the villains and the other side as the heroes entering the building to try to take it. Victory conditions were the one of the teams capturing the other in the provided capture tape, or if the heroes successfully got to the bomb and touched it before time ran out. If time ran out, the villains would be victorious.

“Sir! How will teams be determined?” Ida asked, Izuku pleasantly surprised by Ida’s costume and how it looked to actually be practical unlike half the others.

“Random draw!” All Might replied with a big grin.

“Is that to simulate the fact you may never know who your allies are in a battle?” Izuku asked.

“Right you are, young Midoriya! In the field, you can never quite be sure who will be at your side, so it is best to be adaptable and prepared for all situations! Now, let’s draw our lots!” After the lot drawing, the teams were laid out as such:

Team A (Kaminari, Shoji) as Heroes vs Team B (Ashido, Sato) as Villains

Team C (Todoroki, Ida) as Heroes vs Team F (Aoyama, Tokoyami) as Villains

Team D (Shinso, Koda) as Heroes vs Team H (Uraraka, Asui) as Villains

Team E (Hagakure, Sero) as Heroes vs team G (Himiko, Jiro) as Villains

Team J (Kirishima, Bakugo) as Heroes vs Team I (Midoriya, Yaoyorozu) as Villains

“Now…let’s begin!”

Match 1: Team A vs Team B

“Hmm…normally I’d say the villains have the advantage, but in this particular case, the heroes have a big advantage here,” Izuku mused.

“How so?” Ida asked.

“The villains biggest advantage in this scenario is that the heroes do not know where they hid the bomb, as well as being able to set traps and funnel in the opponents where they choose. But Shoji’s ability completely negates that advantage. Neither Ashido or Sato are particularly stealthy nor do they have a good way to negate his ability. And they cannot afford to let Kaminari get too close.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Shinso remarked.

Izuku tilted his head to the side, looking up from his notebook. “How so?”

“I saw him use his Quirk at the exam…if he overdoes it, he goes all slack and confused, that’s why he needed help.”

“Hmm, I wonder why that is. What constitutes ‘overuse’ then? Is it simply accessing too much electricity, or does it depend upon the range he uses it? Does it-”

“Doesn’t your fancy vision tell you?” Shinso asked, arching an eyebrow at Izuku.

Izuku shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. When I look at someone with it on, the color is white and kind of flat, although I can see how it ‘moves’, for lack of a better term. Once I figure out the base power it gets a color. But it doesn’t necessarily tell me how it works. It just lets me examine it, I still have to figure out the way it functions, it's more just…a clue? Like yours. I know it has something to do with your voice and your mind because it's brightest at your throat and your brain, but that could be a hundred possible powers.”

“Oh, right, you didn’t see him use his power last night!” Hagakure commented, smacking her glove into the other one. 

Izuku’s head shot up from his notebook to look eagerly at the purple-haired boy standing beside him. “Oh you showed it last night? What is it? What does it do? How does it work? What-”

“Izu, breathe,” Himiko cut in, rolling her eyes fondly at him.

“Oh, right, sorry. May I ask what it does?”

Shinso narrowed his eyes at the verdette. “Why do you want to see it?”

“Well-” and whoosh , Izuku was frozen, eyes wide and blank. Everything was muffled, fuzzy, the world partially faded in the background. He could see it, the tower rising out of the ocean of his power, the vestiges looking at him curiously, looking like they wanted to speak but unable to be heard. A moment later it all vanished, him feeling like he’d been slammed back into his body with no time to catch himself.

“Woah, dizzy,” he commented, swaying as he held his hand up to his head. Ochako reached over to give him support, Shinso looking at him worriedly.

“Uh…sorry. People don’t normally get dizzy when I let it go…”

“No no, it's fine. But wow, that’s so cool! Holy shit Shinso, you could do so much with that! You’d be amazing at bringing down villains without collateral damage! Wow, no wonder you wanted to be a hero, that’s such a great Quirk for hero work!” Izuku’s grin was wide and shining.

Shinso blinked rapidly at the verdette, unsure how to respond. “Um…t-thanks, I guess,” he muttered, turning away from Izuku as the green-haired boy began rapidly writing in his notebook. 

“Is the activation requirement a response? Is that why you asked me a question? Does it work if you get them to laugh instead? Or perhaps a snort? Is it verbal responses of any kind or must it be language? Does it work in other languages? Can you use a microphone? Is there an upper limit on the number of people it can affect? What sort of control does it permit, or is it solely the ability to freeze their mental state? Does it-”

“Midoriya…I understood maybe a third of that,” Shinso cut off the rapid fire questions.

“Sweetheart, you can ask Shinso questions later. You don’t want to miss the match, do you?” Himiko interjected, gently trying to refocus Izuku before he got upset for missing the match.

“Oh, right!” Izuku turned back to the monitor, watching closely as Shoji unerringly led Kaminari towards where Ashido and Sato had the bomb ‘hidden’. Ashido was keeping an eye on the doorway, her hands flexing as she prepared to use her Quirk, which Izuku was still somewhat confused by exactly what it was beyond some type of viscous liquid (he really wished he’d had time to examine it during the assessment test). 

Sato, he had noticed his Quirk was food based, considering he’d eaten something right before doing the tests. It appeared to strengthen him in some fashion, but Izuku wondered what the exact mechanisms were. As it was, he didn’t appear to be using it yet. Izuku assumed it must be on a time limit, so he was holding off utilizing the power up he got from eating whatever it was (it was small, but he hadn’t been able to get a good look at it).

However, he didn’t have to wait long, with Shoji and Kaminari making it to the fourth floor room they’d barricaded for the bomb. Sato had, with some effort, found some large pieces of furniture and used them to block off the doorway into the room. It was clear they were banking on neither Kaminari nor Shoji being able to get through the clutter. 

“That’s gonna be hard for them to get through, right?” Ochako commented.

Izuku shook his head. “Nah. Shoji’s Quirk doesn’t give him super strength in the way a strength Quirk normally would, but due to him having denser musculature than a normal person to handle his mutation Quirk he has the equivalent of super strength as a side effect.”

“...what?” Sero asked, now interested in Izuku’s commentary.

Izuku gestured to the screen as Shoji’s arms split into a multitude and began to rip into the doorframe, slamming into it repeatedly and shifting the furniture back. “You see, he’s growing and removing extra limbs at will, right? Well, he’s not creating that from nothing. The skin, ligaments, muscles, nerves, etc, all are coming from him. But while he’s tall and fit, he’s not some hulking behemoth. This implies that he has more compact ‘extra’ various body parts, if you will, within him. Like he stores the extra within himself. For that to work and for him to be the size he is, he must have a much denser muscular structure. Which leads to more strength and speed than someone of comparable size.”

The rest of the students were half-listening to Izuku, half watching as he finally broke through the doorway, both Sato and Ashido squaring up to face off against them. But Shoji, after a quick nod from Kaminari, instead grabbed Kaminari by the back of his jacket, spun about, tossed him into the room towards Sato, and ducked behind the wall. The blonde boy shouted something as his body crackled with electricity (Izuku wincing a little but otherwise not reacting), and the room erupted into a storm of electrical discharge, shorting out the cameras and making the display of the room go blank.

“Oh wow! That’s gotta be the win for the heroes then!” Hagakure said.

Izuku nodded his head slowly. “Likely, but the villains do have one chance. It depends on how conductive the liquid Ashido produces and if she can produce enough to cover herself in time. I’m not sure yet how it functions, but if it's not conductive and she can cover herself with it, she could be safe from that discharge. Sato though is likely out.”

All Might was quietly muttering as he directed a drone up to the closest window to the room that just went out, as all they could see was Shoji diving into the room after the discharge faded. A moment later, the screens flickered back on, showing Shoji with a tired hand on the bomb, Kaminari giving a thumbs up with a blank grin on his face and the other two out cold on the ground.

“Hero Team wins!” All Might shouted. The class waited for the arrival of their classmates, Shoji returning to the room carrying all three of them carefully. 

“My apologies, Sensei,” he remarked as he gently set them down, Kaminari conscious but dazed. 

All Might nodded, before turning to Izuku. “Young Midoriya, do you think you could assist them?”

Izuku snapped his notebook shut and nodded. “Kaminari, yes, it worked at the exam. Not sure about Ashido and Sato, but I can try!” The entire class save Himiko, Ochako, and Katsuki looked over at him in confusion as he carefully placed one hand on Kaminari’s shoulder, the green glow shimmering beneath his fingertips and trickling into the blonde’s form. Kaminari shook his head rapidly, his eyes clearing as he noticed Izuku next to him.

“Oh, I went overboard again…did we win?”

Izuku nodded. “Yes, but I think that’s really dangerous. Do you do that every time you use your Quirk?”

Kaminari shrugged. “Only if it's a big area shock. Otherwise I’m fine. It’s the whole ‘million volts through the brain’ thing.”

“I see,” Izuku muttered, his hands twitching as if he were going to write something. He ignored the urge and knelt down next to Ashido and Sato, the class now very curious about what he was doing. He focused and sent the same small jolt of energy into them, the two of them groaning and snapping awake after a moment.

“Huh. That worked. Hmm, I wonder if it works for all forms of unconsciousness,” Izuku thought out loud.

“Wait, what happened?” Ashido asked, holding her head.

“You got knocked out cold by Kaminari!” Hagakure said with a teasing tone.

“Aww man, we lost?” she pouted.

“That you did, young heroes, but a loss is merely an opportunity to learn! Now, could anyone tell me who the MVP of the battle was?” All Might asked, looking over the class.

Yaoyorozu raised her hand. “That was Shoji. While the villain team's plan of hiding out and attempting a defensive fortification was sound on paper, Kaminari’s Quirk made that an impossible task unless they had a method to neutralize him first. Utilizing him as a form of living bomb after breaking into the room and locating it through judicious use of his Quirk made Shoji the clear leader. Kaminari’s part in the place relied heavily on a single area attack which left him helpless after the fact, and neither Sato nor Ashido had a plan to protect themselves from such an attack.” Izuku was nodding along with Yaoyorozu the entire time. 

All Might coughed into his hand. “W-Well yes, that is correct! Well done with your analysis! On to the next!”

Match 2: Team C vs Team F

“So who do you think has the advantage here, Izu?” Himiko asked her boyfriend.

“Aoyama's Quirk has an obvious weakness we all saw at the exam. Todoroki and Ida can capitalize on that with hit and run attacks. However, Ida may have issues utilizing his speed to its fullest potential in the narrow corridors. Tokoyami’s Dark Shadow is incredibly potent and has great offensive and defensive capability. As for Todoroki, well…” Izuku trailed off as the match began and Todoroki put his hand on the wall, the entire building freezing in an instant.

“He can do that,” he remarked, gesturing to the monitor.

“Oh wow, so…I guess they win?” Ochako asked.

Izuku shook his head. “Not against Tokoyami, not like that. Dark Shadow can break them out with ease,” as he spoke, the monitors showed the shadow creature smashing the ice around their feet with massive talons, Aoyama shivering in the cold and wrapping his cape tight around his shoulders. “Todoroki just made it more difficult for Ida. Now he’s in danger of losing his footing when they enter. And it’s going to take longer to reach the bomb. And…yep, there they go. Tokoyami is taking advantage of how far away from him Dark Shadow can go, they can continue to harass the hero team with impunity.”

“Huh. I guess even that much ice power can’t get past Tokoyami,” Sero muttered, as the monitors showed the truth of Izuku’s words, the shadow creature breaking through walls while cackling to swipe at the two ‘hero’ team members before ducking back into the dark. 

“Todoroki could probably do something about it if he used the second half of his Quirk. Dark Shadow seems to dislike light from what I’ve seen. But for some reason he’s not using it,” Izuku trailed off as he tilted his head to the side in confusion, frowning at the frustrated Todoroki.

“Second half of his Quirk?” Kaminari asked, having come to watch over Izuku’s shoulder as he scribbled in his notebook.

“He has some type of fire or heat related part to his Quirk. He’s used it to warm up after various parts of the exam, and I can see the swirling flames in his Quirk signature. If he can create light or fire with it, it would weaken Dark Shadow. But maybe it has a tricky activation or warm up period.”

“It doesn’t look like they will make it to the bomb in time,” Jiro commented.

“Perhaps…but we’ve yet to see Ida make his move…” Izuku replied, watching carefully. He couldn’t see the frustration on Ida’s face under his helmet, but based on the way his motions had become more robotic and how the two heroes appeared to be snipping back and forth, he could tell something would snap.

“ There it is,” Izuku breathed out, watching intently. The rest of the class was confused, as nothing on the screen seemed to change, but a second later Dark Shadow erupted from the floor, crashing through the ice and swiping at Todoroki again. At that very moment, Ida moved . Blue flames erupted from the engines on his calves, and he shot forward, leaping clear over the shadow creature and the now broken ice, running along the wall, his metal boots digging into the combined ice and drywall without issue. 

As he neared a corner, he leapt up and kicked off the wall, ricocheting himself down the hallway, dashing to where he believed the bomb was. The cameras could barely keep up with his blurred form, and when he neared the door to the bomb room, he leapt up and kicked through it, the door bursting from the scenes and flying across the room, Aoyama barely dodging it. 

The bedazzled blonde quickly fired a beam at Ida but the speedster managed to dodge to the side and ran straight for the bomb. Aoyama quickly adjusted his aim and fired right in front of Ida, cutting him off and making him bolt to the side rapidly. The blue flames sputtered and died, Ida no longer moving as if a blur. But he kept dashing around the room, the two in a game of keep away as the screens showed Dark Shadow brawling with Todoroki further down the corridor, a massive wave of ice filling the hallway and shoving the shadow creature away. Frost crept up the side of Todoroki’s face, his face twisted to a snarl.

“Wow, this is really close!” Ashido clapped, watching with wide eyes.

“Nah. Ida has this,” Izuku replied. Most of the class looked at him in confusion, but Katsuki and Yaoyorozu were nodding with him. The monitors reflected that a moment later, as Aoyama fell to his knees clutching his stomach, allowing Ida to bolt past and grab the bomb, just as Tokoyami came running back into the room in an attempt to give backup.

“Hero team wins!” All Might shouted. Once more, the four competitors came back to the room, this time with Ida and Tokoyami helping to support Aoyama as Todoroki marched back, his expression carefully blank. “So, who was the MVP this round?”

“That would be Ida, All Might sir. Todoroki did not take into account his opponents abilities when using his opening attack and made the fight more difficult for them. Tokoyami performed excellently as a distraction, but he got too focused on Todoroki and left Ida for too long once he took his chance to go for the bomb. Aoyama’s lack of stamina led to him collapsing too early, giving Ida the chance to take the bomb. Ida for his part showed patience and strategy by waiting for the appropriate moment to make his move,” Yaoyorozu dutifully recited.

“Excellent analysis once again, young Yaoyorozu! Let's move onto the next match!”

Match 3: Team D vs Team H

“Alright Midori, you’re our predictor person, who's the winner here?” Ashido asked, sitting beside Izuku.

“Midori?...nevermind. Well, I think it depends heavily on what Koda has access to around here. ‘Chako’s amazing and her Quirk is super useful, and though I didn’t see much of what Asui can do, if I am correct, she’s likely very agile and has powerful kicks. So the truth is, I think this is going to come down less to what they do and more to do with what Shinso and Koda do.”

“How do you figure?”

“Well, we know how Shinso’s Quirk works, but not replying to someone taunting you can be difficult, and um…’Chako has a temper if you press the right buttons,” Izuku chuckled nervously, Himiko nodding rapidly in agreement. “But if they can keep their mouths shut, Asui and Ochako have the advantage in a straight fight…which is why this comes down to Koda. It depends on what animals are around and what he can convince them to do.”

“Do we know what's around?” Ashido asked, looking around the room as if it held the answers.

Izuku chuckled. “Nah, if there are any animals they are probably hiding somewhere. We’ll have to see what Koda can call.”

“But what's your prediction?” she insisted.

Izuku paused for a moment as the five minute timer for preparation began to wind down. “Well, and I say this as unbiased as possible…with how up to chance Shinso and Koda’s abilities are, I’d put the bet on Ochako and Asui. Especially as unlike the past two teams, I don’t believe they’ll be as defensive. A simple surprise attack will take the heroes out, and Ochako knows how to be quiet. Quirk Tag taught us a lot.”

“...Quirk Tag?” Yaoyorozu asked, unable to keep quiet.

“Yeah! It’s Tag but…with Quirks? So it ends up being partially Hide and Seek too, since you don’t want to be caught and sometimes it's better to hide than to just run around.”

“Especially when everyone but you can freaking fly ,” Himiko grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. 

“Kacchan’s the only one who can fly by definition Himi, I just use force fields to throw myself around and Ochako is using force projection to alter her relationship with gravity, it’s not flight by the standard definition.”

“Izu, babe? It’s super hot when you get all rules lawyery, but it is also super annoying when you’re doing it while telling me I’m wrong!”

Izuku smirked, patting Himiko on the head. “Maybe be wrong less.”

She glared at him. “Oh just you wait mister, I’m so gonna kick your ass next spar!”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he shot back. 

“Ahem! Young Midoriya, Young Himiko, perhaps save the flirting for outside of class?” All Might interjected weakly.

“Oh, the timer’s counted down! Time to see what they do!” Izuku said loudly, trying to draw the attention away as he realized how bold he’d been in front of the class, his cheeks flushed. With his attention thus turned away from the class, he did not notice Jiro’s flushed expression at the blatant flirting between the two of them, nor did he notice how Ashido had a wide, almost manic grin on her face. 

Izuku’s prediction about the ‘villain’ team not resting on their laurels was correct. Ochako left the bomb room almost immediately, by leaping out the window and floating herself down to the ground floor, rushing over to the door the heroes had entered through and following behind quietly. Asui had the bomb in the corner away from the door, and had exited the room, leaping onto the ceiling and sticking to it. The watching classmates eyes went wide as she faded from view, almost completely invisible as she camouflaged herself against the ceiling. 

“Fascinating, I wonder what other properties of various frog species she has access to? Can she create toxins? I know her tongue is elongated but what's the maximum length, and how much weight can it bear? How prehensile is it, could she manipulate a handle with it? What about-”

“Izuku, ‘Chako’s about to kick some ass, focus?” Himiko said, drawing his attention back to the monitor following his girlfriend, the brunette carefully sneaking up behind the hero team. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the screen, feeling something was off, and it hit him just in that moment. 

“Oh, I see what Koda found-” he began to speak, just as the two heroes ducked beneath Ochako’s initial lunge with outstretched hands. They spun about to attack her back, Shinso shouting something, but Ochako’s feral grin didn’t change. Instead, she leapt backwards and slammed her hand onto the ground, a vibration following from it before it buckled beneath the hero's feet. She couldn’t quite extend the effect far enough or add enough pressure to make it collapse, but she could make it difficult to walk across as the concrete cracked and buckled. 

She swiftly threw out a cable at the two, it being stored within the pink bracelets she wore around her wrists. Koda and Shinso split off to other sides of the hallway, Shinso ducking down a hallway as Koda ran further down the initial hall. Clearly a planned split if they got noticed early, with how they did it by a single nod. Ochako chose to follow Shinso, running behind him as he messed with the strange black mask he had on his face. As he ran, no one in the room could tell what he was shouting, but for some reason Ochako seemed to not be reacting at all. 

“Wait, what did Koda find? I didn’t see anything!” Ashido remarked, staring at the screen as if it would show her the mysteries of the universe.

Izuku pointed along the walls. “I saw a flash of fur in one of the cracks. Looks like mice. He had them following them and moving ahead to scout and watch their backs, very clever use of them. Covered both their moving forward and kept their back safe too.”

“I’m kinda surprised at Ochako though, she’d not rising to any of his bait. You’d think she’d at least look annoyed,” Himiko remarked.

Izuku tapped his pencil against his mouth for a moment, contemplating as Ochako continued chasing Shinso, the purple-haired boy trying to throw a quick kick back at her that she ducked under with a forward roll. “I…I think she plugged her ears. Probably used a bandage or something from the small first aid kit she has in her belt. She’s not reacting to any auditory stimuli. Risky tactic. Koda could jump her if she’s not careful, and it looks like that’s their plan. See how Shinso’s leading her back towards where Koda headed? I think it's a pincer attempt.”

“So you think she’ll get caught?”

“Asui is the wildcard here. I don’t think anyone knew she could camouflage, and I’m not sure if she can move while doing it. If she can and she’s nearby, she could interfere. But depends on if the mice notice her through scent or something,” Izuku replied to Hagakure, the invisible girl having come closer as well. Izuku hadn’t really noticed that most of the class had gathered around him, listening to his commentary as the match went on, too busy staring at the screens and trying to write down as much as he could.

Back in the battle, Ochako managed to get ahold of a small piece of rubble and flung it at Shinso with Quirk active, the purple-haired boy managing to duck it but losing momentum, almost stumbling as Ochako leapt towards him with capture tape in hand. But as she did, Koda’s hand reached out for her, his own tape ready to grab her.

Ochako’s feral grin didn’t fade, as Koda’s body was suddenly yanked backwards by a now visible pink tongue, dragging him into the wall and slamming him against it. Before he could react, Ochako had abandoned Shinso and leapt onto him, wrapping the tape around his arms. As soon as she had, she jumped to her feet and darted towards Shinso, who was now trying to dodge the tongue of Asui. 

Ochako pulled the same trick as previously, increasing gravity on the floor and making it crack beneath his feet, throwing him just far enough off balance for Asui’s tongue to wrap around him, pinning his arms and allowing her to throw the tape around him.

“Villain team wins! Well done all!” All Might announced. The four competitors gathered back with the group, Shinso looking rather frustrated while Ochako had exchanged her feral grin for the normal sunshine one, taking small wads of bandage out of her ears, proving Izuku’s guess correct. “So, who was the MVP this round?”

Yaoyorozu, to no one's surprise, raised her hand. “The MVP this round would be Asui. Koda’s use of his Quirk was an excellent scouting tool and defensive tool, and their plan was sound, but they had no way to deal with the fact Uraraka is a better fighter in close quarters. While Uraraka’s plan to block her hearing to avoid being driven into a taunt was clever, it prevented communication with her partner, and if she simply were more disciplined it would not have been necessary, making it a risky strategy. Whereas Asui utilized the field and her Quirk to their best advantage, allowing her to sneak up on and capture Koda, leaving Shinso in an unenviable 2v1.”

“I should note that the entire idea was Ochako’s plan, ribbit,” Asui interjected. “She came up with the idea of me sneaking up on them while she distracted them.”

“And it was an excellent plan! But for now, let’s move on to the next match!

Match 4: Team E vs Team G

“Alright, Commentator Midoriya, what’s the lowdown this time?” Ashido asked in a terrible fake announcer voice, pretending to hold a microphone up to his face.

Izuku snorted, batting at her hand gently to push it out of his face. “Well, Hagakure’s best advantage is, like the earlier battle with Shoji, negated by her opponent. Jiro’s hearing will catch her, and there will be no sneaking up on them. However, Sero’s ability to move in three dimensions better than nearly everyone here is going to be a huge advantage. Even in a cramped space, he can easily go outside the building and reposition. Not to mention it’ll be difficult to dodge his tape in these narrow corridors. And though Jiro will know where Hagakure is, knowing and reacting in time are two different things. We saw in the assessment that Hagakure is fast , with excellent reflexes. Probably a defensive mechanism to keep people from running into her out in the streets.”

He paused to scribble something else down as the camera showed Sero listening to Hagakure, the invisible girl’s gloves gesticulating wildly as she tried to explain her thoughts. “That said, Himiko is there. She’s very very good at finding hidden people, and is likely the most or second most flexible person in the class. And she can hide herself from others as well…not like how Hagakure does or how Asui can camouflage, but she can vanish from people's senses. And in close quarters, she’s a demon in a fight.”

“Call me Tsu, ribbit,” the frog girl sighed as she sat down next to Izuku, peering at his notes.

“R-right!” he stuttered out, grinning sheepishly. “A-anyways, yeah, Himiko’s close combat skills are going to mean that if she reaches Sero, he’s going to lose.”

“Maybe he has some killer fighting moves too though!” Ashido protested.

“Tch. Nothing like Fangs over there, Pinky. Trust me, you don’t want to run into her in a dark alley,” Katsuki interjected. 

“Ah, the bell rang, here we go…” Izuku muttered, his eyes locked to the monitors. With a nod to her, Himiko ran out of the bomb room, leaving Jiro standing by the window, her earjacks plugged into the wall in two different places. She held her hand over her earphones and listened, eyes closed, her mouth moving as she reported back to Himiko. The blonde was heading unerringly to where Sero and Hagakure had entered, but the camera could not follow the invisible girl as she shucked her gloves and boots as soon as the fight began. 

Sero, for his part, was half-jogging along the corridor nearest the wall, his arm set in a way that showed he was ready to fire his Quirk as soon as he saw an opponent. The cameras could catch him muttering into his earpiece, no doubt talking with Hagakure who it appeared had split off from him if the way he was talking into the earpiece showed.

Himiko though, was not heading towards him. She was bolting down the corridor as if possessed, heading to a nearby window. With a push, she unlocked it and leapt out of it, the needle claws in her gloves extending as she rammed them into the building side and began creeping down the side of the building, carefully dropping one story and scurrying along the side of the wall. A drone followed behind her, the class only now noticing her boots had similar needle-like points on them to help with climbing as well. 

She paused by a specific window, waiting. She took a deep breath and seemed to almost shrink for a moment, the camera seeing her creep every so slowly back into the building. The internal cameras followed her movement, the blonde creeping along very slowly, one hand unfurling the capture tape as she stepped up against a wall, pressing herself against it as it opened into another corridor. 

Izuku nodded. “That’s it for Hagakure.” As most of the class looked at him in confusion, he pointed back to the monitor just in time for them to witness Himiko leap into the corridor, the tape wrapping around an invisible form as she rolled over, landing hard on her back with what they assumed was Hagakure now wrapped up. Izuku shrugged. “Hiding from Himi is nigh impossible once she wants to find you.”

“Yeah but now Jiro has to deal with Sero all alone,” Kaminari pointed at the monitor, showing Sero having found his way to the bomb room.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, this one I’m not sure about. I don’t know either of their combat abilities well enough to say which one wins the 1v1, but Himiko wouldn’t have gone off on her own if she wasn’t confident in Jiro. I think they have a plan.”

True to his statement, as soon as Sero opened the door and shot his tape into the room, it was stopped by a wave of sound from the speakers on Jiro’s ankles, her jacks having plugged into them and amplifying a noise that created powerful soundwaves. He grimaced against it, but ducked to the side and tried to get an angle on her, throwing his tape up onto the ceiling and swinging over the soundwaves, bringing his feet down to kick at Jiro.

The purple-haired girl rolled to the side, barely dodging his kick as he sent out another flurry of tape towards her. Her jacks flickered in the air towards him, forcing him back as well as she ducked under the tape. 

“Hmm, Sero has the advantage in a long range bout like this. If his tape gets onto her jacks he can pull her off balance easily, but she can’t repeat the same since he can cut it off at any time. That said…Himiko’s nearly there.” Izuku muttered, writing down another section on Jiro’s ability to create soundwaves, his mind wondering where the originating sound was coming from. 

Jiro slipped on a piece of rubble, giving Sero just enough time to lunge forward and get his tape around her midsection, pinning her arms. He bolted for the bomb, wanting the quick victory, but was blindsided by a sudden tackle to his side as Himiko finally made it back just in time. The two rolled over the floor, Himiko springing to her feet as Sero used his tape to yank himself backwards for safety. 

He launched another strand at her, the blonde girl diving over it and flinging a knife towards him, Sero’s eyes wide as it came spinning at him. He dodged to the left, then continued the dodge as she threw another one, and then a third, all forcing him further and further away from the bomb. She grinned at him, her fangs visible, winking at him. He held up his arm to send another shot of tape at her, but she just snapped her fingers and giggled as the buzzer rang, signaling the timer run out.

“Villain team wins!” All Might announced. The four came back in, Hagakure oddly subdued. “So, who was the MVP this round?”

“Himiko, sir. Not only did she successfully capture Hagakure, who even with Jiro pinpointing her location would be difficult to pin down, but she also managed to delay Sero long enough for the timer to run out. Hagakure relied too heavily on the idea of her Quirk protecting her from detection. Jiro did well, but she did not keep an eye on her surroundings and this caused her to slip and nearly cost them the match. Sero did well in capturing Jiro and fighting against Himiko, but he let her distract him for too long instead of ignoring her and going for the bomb, as his mobility in the larger room should have given him enough advantage to take hold of the prize.” Yaoyoruzu once again said, to the consternation of the competitors and All Might’s mental reminder that she could be a little bit long-winded. 

“Excellent rundown! Now, to the final match!”

Match 5: Team J vs Team I

“Best be ready, Zu. I’m winning this!” Katsuki declared, his grin wide.

“Oh we’ll see about that Kacchan,” Izuku shot back, his own grin mirroring his brothers. Yaoyoruzu tapped Izuku on the shoulder.

“Shall we go plan, Midoriya?” she said calmly. Izuku nodded, walking off with her as Kirishima clenched his fists in excitement. 

“This is gonna be awesome! I can’t wait to see how badass you are close up!” Kirishima said excitedly.

Katsuki’s face twisted for a moment as he clenched his fists. He hated how much he enjoyed hearing that. He shook his head to clear it. “Yeah, we’ll, let’s fucking do this. What’s your Quirk do, anyways?”

Kirishima held up his arm, the skin crackling and sharpening, looking almost rock-like. “It’s nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. I’m a lot tougher when it's active. I can do my whole body like this, but it's pretty hard to keep it up for long.”

Katsuki nodded absently. “Right. Okay. Well, here’s the thing…Zu’s a fucking genius, and as far as I’ve seen from Ponytail’s observations, she’s pretty damned smart too. I’m a genius too, but that’s still 2v1 in the brains department, unless you’re also smart as fuck?” he said the last part as a question.

Kirishima flushed a little as he looked away, grinning sheepishly. “Not really. I’m not like, a complete idiot, I got into UA, but I can’t do that sort of crazy analysis and stuff that Midobro was doing.”

Katsuki waved it off. “Yeah, sure. Okay. We’re not going to be able to outthink them if we play on the same level as they will. I know Zu will set up a shitton of traps to slow us down, and he knows how my Quirk works pretty damned well. The thing is, he doesn’t know yours yet, and that’s what we can take advantage of.”

“But what about Yaoyorozu?”

“I’m not really sure what all her Quirk does, except she can make all sorts of crazy shit. So if Zu and her are doing what I think they are, they’ll trap the shit out of every possible attack avenue.”

“So…we go through a way they aren’t expecting?” Kirishima said, tilting his head to the side.

Katsuki nodded. “Yeah…but not just unexpected. A stupid route. Zu will expect me to go for the windows or some shit, so I imagine they stuck the bomb in a centralized room. And probably have some decoy rooms or something setup. That’s why once we find the room, we’re not going in from the sides…we’re going in from above .”

Kirishima seemed confused for a moment, before his eyes brightened and he smiled excitedly.

“Are you sure about this plan, Midoriya?” Yaoyorozu asked, panting slightly as she’d apparently overdone it with her Quirk.

“Yeah, Kacchan’s not dumb, he already will be expecting the traps if not the specific kind we set up. He’s pretty smart, but he’s also straightforward and prefers to go straight for the goal. He’s adaptable though, that’s why I said we needed a bunch of different traps to force him to keep switching it up. I’m not entirely sure on how Kirishima’s Quirk works yet, but he seems to be a melee fighter, which I can manage.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” she remarked. She couldn’t help but smile a bit though. Midoriya had happily listened to her ideas, adding his own input when he felt necessary, but not once did she feel like he was condescending to her or pandering to her, like nearly everyone she’d dealt with her entire life. He seemed to genuinely believe in her and her abilities (he gushed about her intelligence and skill in using her Quirk for half their planning time before she’d managed to steer him back to the topic at hand) and that was truly a breath of fresh air for her experience. 

But seeing him in action, how he laid out his plan and thought process, she couldn’t help but be amazed. It was so intricate but not difficult to follow, a plan that he could have made even without his knowledge of Bakugo. She was rather excited for this trial, after the previous four where he had shown his analytical mind and she was able to give her summation, this was a chance to prove her mettle as well, and thus she would give it her all.

The sensor’s she’d set around the building started to ping, alerting her to the presence of the two foes. They had apparently gone for the sixth floor windows, like one of Midoriya’s predictions. He claimed Bakugo would not make the mistake of entering through the front door or the rooftop entrance, knowing they’d have trapped them, so he’d pick a floor and enter through the windows, carrying Kirishima…and based on the drone she launched just in time to see the remains of the broken window falling to the ground far below, she realized he was correct.

She rolled her shoulders, watching as Midoriya paced about, his hands softly glowing with his Quirk. He’d insisted they not go out, not wanting to take the risk of them getting separated, saying that though none of their traps would stop the opposing duo, the goal was to delay and reduce their stamina. Which, based on the muffled explosions they could hear, it appeared to be working.

What neither of them had predicted though, was Bakugo apparently not caring much about the structural integrity of the building…since he blew up the ceiling three floors up and dropped into the room with Kirishima in a cloud of dust and rubble.

Momo found herself on the defensive, a pair of heavy shields having been slammed into the ground upright so she could take cover when Bakugo unleashed an explosion. The room they’d chosen for the bomb had been much larger than most others, to give them room to maneuver, but it had the downside of giving the same to the explosive blonde. Midoriya was dashing back and forth between the two, trying to keep either of them from approaching the bomb they were defending. Momo had been supporting Midoriya from behind as much as possible, throwing various grenade-like bombs with a specialized foam designed to expand and restrict movement, in an attempt to capture either of the ‘heroes’.

However, Bakugo was just as quick to try to throw them away through the force of an explosion, leading to an uneasy standoff between the two as she was creating and throwing as quickly as he could get a good angle on her to fire from. Midoriya was managing to push Kirishima back, but the way he could harden his body prevented the other boy from damaging him enough to get around him to reach Bakugo. 

It wasn’t as if Momo could not fight in melee however, and the bo staff she had set by her side was ready for the moment one of the other two got within range. Unfortunately, she really couldn’t get out from her cover due to Bakugo’s constant pressure. It was at that moment a loud beeping noise sounded from Bakugo’s gauntlets, his grin turning feral as he reached up to pull the pin above the massive gauntlets. Midoriya had warned her about these, they could rapid fire his explosions and likely break through her shields, so she decided now was time to abandon the position and began strafing to the side, preparing another counter-explosive to try to blot out his vision.

What she did not notice was how Midoriya froze for an ever so brief moment, his eyes going wide in terror as he shouted at Bakugo. “ Kacchan stop!”

It was like a bolt of lightning shot through his body, giving him an instant headache and time feeling like it slowed down ever so slightly. 

‘Well…I wasn’t expecting this to occur right now…’ the quiet voice of the vestige of Hikage Shinomori sounded in Izuku’s mind, the first time he’d heard one of their voices since the day he received One For All. But he had no time to dwell on it, his eyes taking into account the thing that had been bugging him all day since he’d seen Katsuki’s gauntlets. 

When they designed the gauntlets as kids, the initial idea had been a single tank, for a singular massive explosion. But as they grew older, both realized that for all of Katsuki’s blustering and shouts of ‘die’...he didn’t intend on actually killing anyone unless given no choice. And the gauntlets could certainly do exactly that. So instead they’d created the rotating chamber idea, which would still give him extra firepower without the risk of death, extreme injury, or massive collateral damage. 

Izuku knew they’d submitted the correct design, because they’d scrapped the old one a decade ago. But as he looked at the gauntlets, as he contemplated how long it took for the indicator sound to trigger, as he felt the pain in his head intensify, he realized that somehow, someway, those gauntlets were designed in the old fashion…and were aimed at Yaoyorozu.

Izuku’s shout got through to Katsuki, the sheer terror in it making him try to stop. But the pin had already been pulled, and Katsuki felt himself rocketing backwards as the explosion erupted forth, a twisting whirlwind of flame and force.

Izuku moved . One For All snapping to the highest percent he’d used yet, emerald lightning burning off him as he leapt into the way and wrapped his arms around his teammate, turning his back to the explosion to shield her. An energy field erupted from his arms and wrapped around her, moving to wrap about his back as best he could…but it was too late. The explosion hit him square in the back and the two of them were thrown backwards, over the bomb and through the window, flying out into the sky as he felt his skin bubble and burn , his costume wiped away by the force of the blast.

The pain in his back made him unable to really react, feeling nothing but pure white hot agony as they fell, a muffled white noise taking his hearing. It wasn’t until moments later he realized someone was calling his name, and that the two of them were no longer falling. He blinked open pained eyes, seeing the panicked and worried gaze of Yaoyorozu before him, one of her arms extended up above her head, a steel cable partially melded out of her arm and leading upwards to the hole in the building.

He managed to crane his neck up enough to see Kirishima, his feet hardened and dug into the floor, trying to pull the two of them up as he gripped onto the grappling hook Yaoyorozu must have made swiftly as they fell. Moments later, Katsuki, with his gauntlets no longer visible, was there as well, pulling along with Kirishima. 

By the time they had gotten close enough to be pulled up, Izuku could barely move. Every scrape felt like agony, especially when the two boys had to grip him by the shoulder to pull him up since he could not let go of Yaoyoruzu since she had the cable.

“Shit shit shit shit, shit! Izuku, fuck, I’m sorry, shit, that’s not how those are supposed to work, shit-” Katsuki was babbling apologies as Yaoyorozu tiredly started trying to create something to help deal with the burns,

“Shut up Kacchan, you didn’t know,” he managed to hiss out, deciding that yes, laying facedown on the concrete was the correct solution right now.

“Uh…was that not supposed to happen?” Kirishima asked, scratching the back of his neck.

“No! We designed those for a bunch of smaller explosions, not…not that!” Katsuki retorted, sending a glare back at his own gauntlets.

“Well, I’m glad to know you don’t hate me that much Bakugo,” Yaoyorozu said quietly, smiling nervously as she tried to add some levity to break the tension.

At that moment, All Might zoomed into the room, kneeling down beside Izuku to check on him. “Well…that could have gone better,” he murmured. “How are you feeling, young Midoriya?”

“Like a million fucking yen,” he replied with gritted teeth, internally cursing every god who decided that pain nerves were a thing.

“...right. Kirishima, Bakugo, would you please help Midoriya back to the control room? The exercise is over. You all performed well, for the record. It was just an accident, those happen. We’ll go over how you did when you get back, but for now, let’s make sure he gets healed up alright?”

Kirishima nodded. Katsuki, unusually subdued, reached down to help Izuku up, but flinched when Izuku felt a whine of pain escape his lips. With effort, the two boys managed to lift up and start to walk the barely mobile greenette away, All Might and Yaoyorozu following behind. 

As they entered the control room, Ochako and Himiko rushed over but were stopped by the gentle insistence of All Might. A quarter of robots entered the room, grumbling quietly, dragging a stretcher behind them and making the boys lay the partly unconscious Izuku on it. The class was subdued after witnessing the event, none more than Katsuki, the blonde stomping off to the corner, arms crossed, looking down as he ignored anyones attempts to speak to him.

“Well, not the best ending to our day, but with the information young Yaoyorozu provided, I believe we can chalk that up to an issue with the support company not following instructions correctly. It is unfortunate Midoriya was hurt, but I promise all of you Recovery Girl is excellent at what she does and he will be fine in just a little while. I need to grade and evaluate your performances, so we’ll be ending class here. Feel free to change and head back to your dorms!” Without waiting for further conversation, All Might dashed off, only the trio who knew his time limit knowing why.

“...we’re gonna go change and check on Izu,” Himiko said quietly, gripping Ochako’s sleeve as she started walking out. She stopped by Katsuki and leaned over into his space, whispering. “It’s not your fault Kats, stop sulking and come with us.”

“...I’ll come by later,” he muttered back. Pushing off the wall, he stomped out of the room, ignoring Ochako’s attempt to grab his arm.

Kirishima stepped up beside them and smiled nervously. “I’ll keep an eye on him girls, don’t worry!”

“...thanks Kirishima,” Ochako replied with a soft smile. She left the room with Himiko to change as quickly as possible and check on their boyfriend. The rest of the class slowly followed suit, Yaoyorozu bringing up the rear as she nervously grasped her hands, her mind spiraling at the events of the past few minutes.

Chapter Text

“How is he?” Ochako asked Recovery Girl, her hand firmly clasped by Himiko. 

Recovery Girl rolled her eyes. “Calm down ladies, your boyfriend is fine. He had plenty of energy for me to heal him up, I just want him to rest here a bit before heading back to the dorm. He’s on the bed over there,” she pointed to a curtained off section. The two girls hurriedly walked over to it, pulling the curtain back to see an annoyed Izuku sitting up, scrolling through his phone with his hero outfit top entirely ripped off, leaving him shirtless with the bottom half of his jumpsuit around his legs. He looked up as they entered.

“Oh, hey, are you two-” He let out an ‘oof’ as Himiko practically dive tackled him into a hug, Ochako on his other side carefully wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing. Dropping his phone, he wrapped one arm around Ochako’s shoulders and placed his other on Himiko’s head, gently running his fingers through her messy blonde hair. “...I’m okay, girls. Really. Recovery Girl got me all fixed up, I’m fine .”

“You didn’t look fine when you left,” Himiko muttered into his neck, her breath fanning out against him and making him flush slightly as he comprehended the compromising position he was in with the two. He shook his head to clear it, trying to reassure his partners.

“I mean, it hurt, yeah. But Recovery Girl got me fixed up! Seriously, I’m okay. It was an accident! Kacchan’s gauntlets weren’t supposed to do that, probably some mixup at the support company or something,” he tried to reassure them.

“About that…” the high-pitched voice of the principal interrupted the trio, all three looking behind them to see him standing on one of the beds next to Izuku’s.

“O-Oh Headmaster, you’re here?” he stuttered in surprise.

“Considering what we heard from All Might, yes. I’d like you to run through what happened for me. I’m led to believe you helped Bakugo design those initially?”

“Yeah. When we were like…eight? Well, we made a rudimentary design when we were like three, but nothing solid till we were eight. The original design did have one big tank for one big explosion, but as we got older it occurred to us that could easily kill…so we decided on a rotating design, like a revolver! And I am absolutely sure we sent that one in, the original design is in crayon in a notebook I didn’t even bring to UA.”

Nezu nodded, listening carefully. “Yes, I see. That does make sense. I did notice something odd, however. After reviewing the tape, you seemingly knew before the blast went off. What tipped you off?”

Izuku paused as he thought back to that moment, his memory slightly fuzzy due to the pain. But after a moment, his eyes went wide and he let out a nervous giggle. “Uh…um…I…I think it was a new Quirk?”

“...what?” came the deadpan question from Ochako, Himiko, and Recovery Girl (who had been listening in from where she was filing some paperwork). Nezu merely tilted his head to the side questioningly.

“So…when I spoke to the vestiges, one of them mentioned I’d eventually get their Quirks, but we didn’t really get into it? And I…I think that was it? I heard the voice of the fourth wielder in my mind, he said something about being surprised it was happening right then?”

“And that ability is what alerted you to the gauntlet's incorrect design?”

“Not exactly? It's called Danger Sense, and basically it just gave me a massive headache when it went off. But I’d already had this weird feeling all day that something was off with Kacchan’s costume, and that combined with the headache and knowledge we were in danger made me figure it out.”

“Was there anything else off about what you saw? The truth is, if you had not done what you had, it is likely Miss Yaoyorozu would have been permanently injured if not killed, as she did not have any protective barrier like you were able to partly call upon. We have to be very thorough with our investigation, you see,” Nezu asked, explaining his reasoning for being so insistent.

“Nothing about the fight but…did the same support company do everyone's outfits?” Izuku asked.

“No, we contract with a few different ones. Himiko’s, for example, was done by the same one that did yours and Mister Ida’s, but many of the others were done by different companies. Why?”

“...why did no one else make a DNA costume for Yaoyorozu, Hagakure, or Kirishima? And who let Todoroki’s costume even make it off the drawing board?! And Ochako’s is way too tight with no body armor, not to mention heels? And the bookshelf for Yaoyorozu, like, that’s just asking to break her back. And-”

Nezu raised a hand to cut Izuku off. “I see what you’re getting at. I will personally review the costumes myself. You make some fine points. I suspect they did not think to offer DNA outfits since they weren’t explicitly requested, unlike Himiko’s. But a good support company should be offering alternatives. So we’ll review to see who and what designed them, not to mention why Bakugo’s was built incorrectly.”

“...okay. I was just worried. I know All Might’s got a tight costume too, but he’s also got enhanced durability and-”

“Oh, it has body armor woven into it as well. A lovely technology developed by one of his two sidekicks, David Shield, allows for body armor to be put inside a much tighter outfit so it conforms to you better. But it's difficult to synthesize, it's rarely used by anyone but the highest echelon of heroes who can afford the high cost. Most heroes rely on more standard forms of body armor.”

“More heroes should be using more armor, then I’d see them less,” Recovery Girl muttered from across the room.

“Well, either way, this information will help me greatly. I am surprised Bakugo isn’t here, however,” Nezu commented, glancing about.

“Yeah, where is Kacchan?” Izuku asked, looking at Ochako.

She sighed. “He…said he’d be by later.”

“...he feels guilty,” Izuku sighed in return, his shoulders slumping. “But it wasn’t hi-”

“We know , Izuku. We’re very familiar with an idiot raised by Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugo who blames himself for something not his fault, yes, we know people like that really well ,” Himiko drawled, not even bothering to hide her sarcasm.

“That is uncalled for,” Izuku glared at Himiko without heat. 

“Nope, you asked for it,” Ochako replied with that smile that terrified anyone who saw it, the one that said ‘oh you’re in trouble’. 

“Kirishima said he’d make sure he was okay,” Himiko said, taking pity on her boyfriend long enough to reassure him about his brother.

“Good luck with that, he’s more stubborn than me,” Izuku muttered.

“Yes well, time to finish up your healing, young man. Hold still!”

“Leave it, Eijiro,” Katsuki growled, slamming the locker door shut as he finished changing. The other boys had already left, but Katsuki took his time, wanting to be alone…but this blasted red-haired asshole refused to leave him be!

“Hmm…nope,” he replied, having finished changing already and following behind the stomping Katsuki. “I told Uraraka and To-uh, Himiko, I’d make sure you were doing okay.”

“Well I’m fine, so you can fuck off and say you did your duty.”

“Nah. You’re not fine. Wanna talk about it?”

“ Fuck no! Why don’t you get the point? I want to be alone ,” Katsuki hissed at the red haired bastard.

“Because, they asked me to, and they seem to be close to you, so I figure they know what’s good for you. It was an accident , Katsuki. And Midobro is gonna get fixed right up, so nothing to worry about! I’m sure the teachers will take care of the costume issue!” Eijiro grinned widely, bumping his shoulder into Katsuki’s in a friendly fashion.

“Oh for fucks sake!” Katsuki snarled. He fisted his hands in his air and took a deep breath…a second one…a third. Counted to ten. Counted again. Let out his breath in a deep, deep sigh. “Okay. I am calm. I am calmly asking you to please just fuck off and let me brood already!”

“Hmm…nah,” Eijiro said, his grin growing wider (how was that even fucking possible?)

“You are impossible !” Katsuki shouted. He spun about and started walking further away from the locker room, heading out the door and down towards the dorm, ignoring the footsteps following him. On the way to the dorm, he skewed off, heading off into one of the copse of trees that were scattered about the campus. With an annoyed huff, he collapsed next to one of the trees, leaning his back against it and closing his eyes, once again ignoring the sound of Kirishima doing the same next to him.

Silence stretched out for what felt like forever to Katsuki. He wanted to try and rest, to try and calm down, but the warm presence beside him was making it that much more difficult! He just wanted to be alone! It was like a clawing, cloying sensation in his chest, the pressure to just scream and shout and throw his explosions into the air. He just wanted to rage , rage against the world. Stupid shitty haired Eijiro didn’t get it! He wasn’t stupid, he knew it was an accident, that wasn’t the fucking issue!

“Then what’s the issue?” Eijiro asked, clueing Katsuki into the fact he’d apparently been muttering out loud. 

“Fuck, the nerds muttering rubbed off on me,” he groaned.

“Still waiting for an answer!”

“...if I answer you, will you fucking leave me alone?”

“Hmm…nah. But you’ll feel better!”

“I swear to every god I am going to fucking kill you, Shitty Hair!”

“Aww, you like my hair?”

Katsuki’s response was less any coherent word or syllable, and more an inarticulate jumble of sheer, unadulterated rage. His hands popped in response, the flare of light scorching the grass near where his hands were resting.

“Fine? You wanna know so bad? It’s because we’re lucky as fuck that Ponytail isn’t dead, and now Zu’s been burned by me! Me! He’s gonna have more fucking scars to freak out over. And didn’t you see what happened? Ponytail got lucky Zu was fast enough…and that he said something. I raised my arm when Izuku shouted! Do you understand what that means?!”

“...that you tried to keep them from getting more hurt?”

Katsuki groaned in exasperation. “No you flipping idiot, that they didn’t get a direct hit! Not only did I raise my hand so it only clipped them, not only did Izuku dive in the way with his heat resistant costume, but he also put up a partial barrier… and he still nearly died! ”

Eijiro scooted a little bit closer, putting his hand gently on Katsuki’s shoulder. “But it was because the gauntlets malfunctioned, wasn’t it? Or were built wrong or something?”

“No…I mean, yeah, but no. I can do blasts like that, Eijiro. The gauntlets are just supposed to lessen the strain. But I can do that. I can throw blasts so strong it would have killed them.”

“But you didn’t . You thought it’d be much smaller. It was an accident . If you want to be pissed at someone, be pissed at whoever built them wrong to begin with!”

“You don’t get it!” Katsuki shouted, slamming his fist into the ground and jerking away from Kirishima.

“Then explain it to me! Because to me, it seems like it was an accident and you’re hurting because you hurt Midobro, but it’s an accident Katsuki. An accident. I don’t get why you don’t get that.”

Katsuki’s head dropped to his chest and he pulled his knees up, wrapping his arms around them and looking more like a child than Eijiro had ever thought he could. “It’s gonna scar, Eijiro. He’s going to have a burn scar on his back now.”

“But scars are manly! Nothing wrong with that!”

“Not to him. Not to him,” Katsuki sighed, repeating the statement. “Now I’ve put scars on him too.”

“As an accident! I don’t know you guys that well, but he doesn’t seem like the type to blame you or get angry with you!” Eijiro said, trying to encourage Katsuki.

Katsuki scoffed. “Of course he won’t blame me. But he’ll still hate them. Every time he sees them in a mirror or someone else notices, he’ll remember. And he’ll get all mopey about how he looks. Especially now that he’s with the girls. You saw how he acted in the locker room. Now I’ve added to them.”

Eijiro was quiet for a moment, thinking. After a moment, he placed his hands down and levered himself around so he was sitting in front of Katsuki, legs crossed. He looked Katsuki in the eye. “We’re here to be heroes, Katsuki. We’re going to get scars, we’re going to get hurt. We’ll probably scar each other a lot, and the villains we fight will scar us too. I don’t know why Midoriya’s scars bother him so much, but I’m sure he understands that it's normal to get scars when training to be a hero.”

Katsuki didn’t reply for a while, just sighing and letting his head drop onto his knees. His hands reached up and slid into his hair, gripping the blonde locks tightly and pulling just enough to ground himself. Eijiro kept his tone quiet. “If you can’t tell me, that’s okay, but…do you want to talk about why he hates them so much, and why you’re so worried about this? I know it’s not my place, but maybe it’ll help to talk about it?”

Katsuki’s voice was muffled as he replied. “Zu said to tell if anyone asked, because he figured it’d get out eventually. So…yeah. I’ll talk. But you judge him at all and I swear to god I will end you.”

Eijiro held his hands up placatingly. “Hey man, whatever you wanna say it’s cool. I’m just here to listen.”

Katsuki was silent for a moment, before lifting his head up. He released his grip on his hair, let his legs collapse and leaned back against the tree. “It happened when we were four…”

“Well…yeah. Okay. I get why it bugs him,” Eijiro managed to say after Katsuki finished telling him the full tale. Katsuki nodded silently, looking for all the world like every ounce of energy was drained from him as he slumped against the tree. “And you don’t mind the whole leg thing?” 

“It’s just a leg,” Katsuki muttered. “Better than me being dead from the fucking bolt or some shit.”

“...that’s not really an answer,” Eijiro pointed out.

“What is this, an interrogation? I said I’d tell you the whole shitty story and I did!” 

“Woah man, chill. I was just asking how you felt, that’s all,” Eijiro said placatingly.

“I feel like shit, that what you wanna hear? I hurt and scarred Zu, panicked the girls, panicked the fucking class, and yeah, my leg fucking hurts because of the recoil! What else am I supposed to fucking say!?” Katsuki snarled without much energy. It seemed like even telling the story sucked all the energy he had to even be angry, just leaving enough to sound…empty.

“Why do you even fucking care so much, Eijiro ?” Katsuki asked quietly.

“...well…I dunno. I just want to help people, you know? I…when I was younger, I wanted to help people but I kinda…froze up when people needed me. I was a coward. It really bugged me, being so pathetic, you know? Especially when I saw Mina being a badass and helping so many people!”

“Pinky?” Katsuki asked. “You knew her before UA?”

Kirishima nodded. “Yeah, we went to the same middle school! We weren’t super close, but we knew each other. You know how it is. Anyways…it wasn’t just once. A bunch of times I saw her defending people, even when scared. I…I really look up to her, you know? I, uh, styled my hair after her.” Eijiro flushed slightly in embarrassment as he said that. 

Katsuki said nothing, but the way he cocked his head to the side and scooted forward a little told Eijiro he was listening. Eijiro nodded to himself. “But one night I saw an interview by an old hero, Crimson Riot. You ever heard of him?” When Katsuki nodded, he continued with a fond smile. “It…it really meant a lot to me, you know? He talked about being afraid and how it was okay to be afraid, just not to let that fear rule you. He said living a manly life was living one without regrets, and I want to do that! I don’t want to regret things! And you seem like a really cool guy, Katsuki…so I just want to make sure you’re okay, that’s all.”

“...thanks,” Katsuki muttered after a few moments of silence. The two sat in silence for a while longer, before it was interrupted by a quiet tone coming from Katsuki’s phone. The blonde looked at the message, nodding. “Fangs says Zu is on the way back to the dorms. I…I guess we should go there too.”

“Okay,” Eijiro said, hopping to his feet and holding a hand down to help Katsuki up.

Katsuki stared at it with a deadpan expression. “I can get up by my-fucking-self, you know that right?”

“Yep. But doesn’t mean you should ignore a helping hand now or then!” 

With a deep, deep sigh, Katsuki clasped hands with Kirishima and let the other boy haul him to his feet. “Whatever helps you sleep at night. C’mon, let’s go.”

Izuku hadn’t caught on to it while in the nurse's office, but as he walked back to the dorms he quickly realized he was exhausted . Apparently Recovery Girl’s healing took more out of him than he thought, and he was practically being dragged back by his partners. One step in front of the other, his eyes drooping as he yawned for what felt like the hundredth time. 

Which made the raucous shouts as he walked in even worse , mostly a blur of voices and colors and then blessed silence as Ochako glared them all off. Idly he mused that angry Ochako was pretty damned hot, to the consternation of the woman in question and the sudden giggles of half the class as he had not realized he’d spoken that out loud. But he barely managed to stumble his way to the elevator, leaning heavily against Himiko as Ochako hit the button for her floor, once again deciding he’d be spending the night with them.

It wasn’t until he’d managed to make it into the room, stripped off his shirt, and practically face planted onto the bed before he managed to mumble anything resembling speech. Though he was utterly exhausted, he couldn’t quite get to sleep while his stomach ached from lack of food. Ochako simply smiled down at him and quietly told Himiko she’d go fetch something for the trio, the blonde happily snuggling up to her boyfriend as she grinned at Ochako. 

“‘Chako,” Izuku muttered, his face still planted in the bed.

“Yes?”

“Ask Eri if she wanna stay with us, dun wanna make Kacchan do all the work,” he replied drowsily.

“That’s not a bad idea Izu,” Himiko cooed. She glanced up to Ochako, using sign language to communicate her worries about where Katsuki even was . Ochako nodded, replying that she’d check that out as well. She gently rubbed Izuku’s shoulder and gave Himiko a pat on the head, before stepping out of the room.

As she left the room, she nearly ran into the taller form of Momo Yaoyorozu, the dark-haired girl almost dropping the large platter she was carrying. Ochako quickly reached out to steady her.

“Oh I’m so sorry Yaoyorozu! I didn’t know you were there!” the brunette remarked frantically.

“No, it’s perfectly fine. I was trying to figure out how to knock on the door, but found my hands somewhat full…” Momo replied sheepishly. 

Ochako tilted her head in confusion. “Um…why are you…”

“Oh, silly me! I noticed none of you had eaten, and Midoriya seemed far too tired, so I thought I would bring something up for you three! Sato was kind enough to make a lovely light meal for us all, and I added some of my favorite tea as well!”

Ochako blinked in confusion for a moment before a soft smile crossed over her face. “You really didn’t have to go to the trouble-”

Momo cut her off. “No trouble at all!” Her bright smile faded a little as she leaned in closer and spoke quieter. “Is…is Midoriya okay? He took a very big attack for me and I just want to make sure he’s doing alright.”

“Recovery Girl fixed him right up, Yaoyorozu! He’s doing just fine. Her Quirk just uses your stamina to heal, so it made him very tired. I was just coming to get some food for him! But you saved me the trouble. Now I just have to go check on Eri…”

“She just came downstairs actually, I can go fetch her for you! I believe Kaminari and Sero were trying to teach her how to play a game of some kind,” Momo trailed off as she thought back to a few moments ago.

“That’s sweet of you, but I do want to ask her directly. And…” Ochako leaned in and spoke quietly as well, making sure the door behind her was fully shut. “We still haven’t seen Katsuki. Do you know where he is?”

Momo shook her head no. “No, last I saw he went into the boys locker room. Tokoyami said Kirishima was staying behind with him, but that’s all I know.”

“Damn it,” she cursed. “Izuku’s going to be far too worried if that idiot doesn’t get back here and stop moping.”

“Well, maybe he’s back by now?”

Ochako sighed. “Maybe. Do you mind taking the food into Himi and Izu? I’ll go downstairs and check on Eri and see if Katsuki is back yet.”

“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to, um…bother your private time?” Momo flushed slightly as she realized the implications of what she had said.

Ochako’s cheeks pinked slightly, but months of exposure to Himiko’s flirtations made her mostly immune to euphemisms. “Izu is far too tired for anything…energetic,” she smirked at the last word. Okay, maybe Himiko was rubbing off on her more than she expected, considering how inordinately pleased she was by the black-haired girl turning bright red from her implications.

“I-I’ll just go deliver it!” Momo managed to sputter, a nervous smile on her face. She’d already been internally panicking since the trial at how much she had enjoyed having Izuku’s arms around her, at how touched she was he protected her the way he did. It reminded her far too much of the chivalrous knights in the books she’d spent so many years reading in secret, away from her parents. She was just glad she’d been able to hold her own as well, to help rescue them both from falling, proving she wasn’t just a damsel in distress…although part of her kind of enjoyed being one for a brief moment.

And now the brunette was putting some welcome- unwelcome ! Unwelcome thoughts in her head, definitely not ones of the green-haired intelligent boy and his two very attractive girlfriends together in intimate moments, not like she’d ever read anything about that, oh no, definitely not. That was most assuredly something she’d never read about!

“So…gonna go in?” Ochako asked, quirking an eyebrow at the black-haired girl currently doing her best impression of a stop light. 

“Y-yes! Of course!” she sputtered, stepping to the door and then pausing as she realized…she still hadn’t addressed the opening the door part. The brunette took pity on her and with a giggle, opened the door to the room so she could enter. As she stepped in, the door closing behind her, she found herself freezing with wide open eyes as she bore witness to the scarring across Izuku’s back, the fractal pattern of scarred skin now marred with a series of shiny burn markings across them as well. The greenette did not react to her entry at all, facedown in the bed, but Himiko perked up from the other side of him, going still in her own confusion at the sight of Momo rather than her adorable girlfriend.

“I um…brought dinner for you three?” Momo squeaked, holding the platter up.

“Izzat Yao…Yaor…Momo?” came Izuku’s muttered voice.

Himiko gave a gentle pat to Izuku’s head, running her fingers through his green locks with a soft smile. “Yep, she brought us dinner. Can you sit up?”

“I’m up, I’m up,” he managed to get out, rolling over and slowly sitting up, eyes half-lidded. Himiko helped adjust him so he was leaning against the headboard, a couple pillows behind him for comfort. Momo swallowed thickly, her appreciation of the muscles overshadowed by the fractal scars and jagged scars from what looked like blades or claws across his front ringing a dozen more alarm bells in her mind. 

“I…I was worried, and noticed you hadn’t eaten, and Sato made a lovely dinner for us so I just put some together and brought it up. I also brought one of my favorite teas, it's excellent for relaxation, it's a lovely chamomile blend!” Momo managed to get out. 

“Thanks Yaoyorozu, appreciate it!” Himiko said, humming softly as she got up and took the platter from the heiress, placing it on the desk and beginning to organize it.

“You guys can call me Momo, if you’d like. We are classmates, and I think facing death today does put us a little bit closer,” she said with a nervous smile.

“Dat’s cool, that’s cool Momo. I’m Izzzz…Izuku,” the greenette said, yawning in the middle of his name with sleepy eyes. Momo was currently feeling extreme whiplash, because the confident powerful Midoriya from the battle trial, the scarred and wounded one she could see physically, and this adorably exhausted one were all the same person how was this fair?!

“It’s cute, right?” Himiko murmured out the side of her mouth to the black-haired woman next to her, making Momo jump. “Oh, and call me Himiko, or Himiko, or Ko, or whatever. Cute people get to call me whatever they want,” the blonde winked at her.

“W-well, you seem all set! I’m glad you’re okay Izuku, I-I’ll see you later!” she sputtered, making an undignified exit from the room as she almost ran into the door. It practically slammed shut behind her, the heiress taking a moment to catch her breath. She could not handle this, between Ochako making those comments, Himiko flirting (was that flirting? She was pretty sure that counted as flirting. She should check online if that counts as flirting. Some study may be necessary), and Izuku having earlier been like unto a valiant knight and now some sort of sleepy plush animal! Momo resolved to hurry back to her room and just…not think any further.

“Katsuki, where have you been?” Ochako demanded as he trudged in, Eijiro behind him. Eri was currently on Ochako’s hip, the little girl being quite excited to stay with the three of them for the evening. 

“Out,” he grunted. He went to step past her, but Eri reached up and gripped his sleeve, looking at him with wide, pleading eyes. He turned his red eyes to glare at Ochako, convinced she convinced the unicorn to do this to him, and was entirely vindicated at Ochako’s smirk and arched eyebrow. He sighed.

“What’s up squirt?” he asked Eri.

“Are you okay? ‘Chako said you were sad.”

His shoulders slumped and he sighed again. He had no desire to have this conversation again , much less in the fucking common room, but he knew Ochako better than to think she’d let him just run back to his room. He squared his shoulders and let out a small smile. “I’m fine. Shi-uh, Eijiro and me talked. He made me feel better, so don’t worry about me, k?”

“That true, Eijiro?” Ochako asked, looking over Katsuki’s shoulder to his muffled annoyance about her doubting him.

Kirishima gave a thumbs up. “All good, Uraraka! Katsuki’s outta his funk!”

“It’s getting late, Cheeks. You taking the unicorn with you tonight?” he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ochako nodded. “Yeah, she’s gonna stay with Izu, Himi, and me. We didn’t want to make you handle it two nights in a row, that’s not fair.”

“I’d be fine if Zu needs another night,” he replied.

“He’s just sleepy, Katsuki. He’s fine, just tired, that’s all. He’s fine ,” she answered his unspoken question. 

He let out an acknowledging grunt. He went to step by her, and this time she and Eri let him as he headed to the kitchen to grab a quick bite before bed. He paused halfway there, blinking rapidly as he looked into the common room. “The fucks with those two?” he asked, pointing at the weeping Kaminari and pouting Sero, with Shinso and Jiro cackling on the other loveseat.

“They decided to teach Eri how to play a game. Hero Fighter IX I believe?” Ochako said, looking down at Eri for confirmation. The little girl nodded rapidly.

“Okay, and-?”

“She kicked their asses!” Jiro said, her grin wide as she chuckled. “Absolutely destroyed them, it was hilarious! ”

Katsuki smirked. “Of course she did, she’s a natural. Just like me. Aren’t you, squirt?”

Eri nodded rapidly again, lifting her hands up in the air in a cheer. “Yeah! I’m awesome just like Kacchan!”

“Now that’s a manly attitude to have, Eri,” Eijiro said with a big grin on his face. 

Ochako rolled her eyes. “Alright Miss Awesome, it’s time for bed. Let’s go. Katsuki, want to walk with me?”

“...yeah. Sure.”

The trio made their way to the elevator, Eijiro splitting off to the kitchen Katsuki had abandoned with Ochako’s offer. Once the doors closed, she bumped her shoulder into his. “You sure you’re okay?”

Katsuki looked down, shoving his hands back into his pockets once more. “Yeah. Eijiro’s a pretty okay person. He heard me out. He uh…knows Zu’s story now.”

“Ah…well, Izuku did say to tell people if they asked. How did he take it?”

“About as well as you could. You know, like any logical person unlike the fucking nerd.”

Ochako let out a soft giggle at that, before her expression turned mischievous. “So Kirishima’s ‘okay’, is he? That’s high praise coming from you.”

“Shut it!” he barked at her with a glare. He cursed how his cheeks pinked a little bit, praying the light was too dim for her to notice, but by the way her grin grew he was pretty sure she saw. Mercifully, she said nothing, just walked to her dorm room and opened it up, depositing Eri as soon as they got inside. 

Eri ran over to the bed, leaping onto it and instantly snuggling into Izuku’s side. The greenette almost dropped his plate, but Himiko managed to steady it as he looked down at her and gave her a tired smile. His gaze lifted up, eyes slightly more lively now that he had some food, and he gave a weak wave to Katsuki.

“How’s the back?” Katsuki asked with no preamble, leaning against the doorframe.

“All good Kacchan. Recovery Girl got me all healed up. Just really tired is all,” he replied with a sleepy grin.

Katsuki let out a grunt of acknowledgement. He looked over the room, seeing the girls taking a seat on the bed with their own plates, and nodded. “Well, if y'all are fine, I’m headed to bed. G’night or whatever.”

“Are you okay, Kacchan?” Izuku asked softly, stopping the blonde from leaving.

“That’s the fifth time I’ve been asked today, fucking hell,” he muttered. “I’m fine, okay?”

“Kirishima, the pretty okay person, had it handled!” Ochako, little asshole that she was, said with a teasing grin. 

“Oh, he’s pretty okay? Or is he just pretty, hmm?” Himiko asked, her smile mirroring the one on Ochako’s face.

“I’m going to fucking kill all three of you! I’m going to bed!” he snarled, stomping out of the room with his ears burning. 

“G’night!” Izuku raised his voice as much as he could before Katsuki could slam the door. Katsuki grumbled under his breath about annoying people all day as he stomped to the boys side of the dorms.

“Alright. I’ve seen the battle trial results and videos. I’ll have detailed breakdowns for you later in the week. For now, you all did well, barring the incident in the final match. The Headmaster is looking into what occurred with your gauntlets, Bakugo. For now, they have been taken by the Support Department to see if they can be repurposed to your original request. Unfortunately, until they are done, you’ll have to do without them,” Aizawa said in a tired voice in the next day's class.

Katsuki nodded. He didn’t particularly want to use them after what happened anyways, but he knew the value in what they could bring. Aizawa continued. “I have two more announcements. One, the media got wind of All Might teaching here and are being bigger pests than normal. Avoid the front gate for now until they get tired of being annoying and run off. Two…it’s time to elect a class representative. I don’t care how you do it, get it done by day end.” Without waiting for a response, he collapsed into his sleeping bag, turning it away from the class and seemingly falling asleep in moments.

The room erupted into yelling, people talking over each other about wanting to take the responsibility. After a few moments of chaos, Ida stood up and chopped his arms to get the room's attention. “We should hold a vote! Resolve this democratically!”

“But we barely know each other. How can we decide?” Tsuyu asked, one finger up against her mouth.

“But then won’t everyone just vote for themselves?” Kirishima asked.

“Well…why not have everyone vote for two different people? You could vote for yourself and for anyone else you think might do well,” Izuku offered.

“That seems like an excellent idea, Midoriya!” Ida said. “I shall collect the votes then! Everyone, please write down your two choices!”

The class found themselves scribbling down their votes. Izuku had little trouble deciding…Momo was an obvious choice to him, her leadership and calm demeanor, and he felt Ida’s earnestness would also apply. They were the obvious choice!

Izuku regretted his arrogance later in the lunchroom, wide eyed at the knowledge the class had chosen him, along with Momo, to be their class representative and vice representative. “...what?” he managed to blurt out, staring in confusion at the rest of the class.

He found himself seated in the lunchroom with Ochako and Himiko, Ida and Tsuyu across from him. Katsuki and Kirishima were on the next table over, other members of the class having generally surrounded the same table he was at. “...what?” he asked again.

“Well, I mean, you’ve always been great at planning for us and our training, you’re really organized, so I thought you’d do well as class rep!” Ochako said, beaming at him while Himiko nodded along.

“I chose you as well, Midoriya! Between your excellent battle analysis and heroic spirit, both at the entrance exam and during yesterday's battle trial, as well as your quick thinking, I could think of no one better to represent us!” Ida said, chopping his hand rapidly and nearly smacking it off the table.

“You and Momo are both smart and are good at planning, that sounds like good qualities for a class rep, ribbit,” Tsuyu added.

“Course I picked you nerd, if I ain’t gonna do it, you’re the next best option,” Katsuki said, rolling his eyes. 

“The way you blew up that zero pointer was so manly!” Kirishima cheered.

Jiro, at the table behind him, spun her ear jack around in her hand. “I voted for Momo and you. Momo seems like she’s really calm and knows a lot, and you were pretty cool with the battle trial break downs yesterday.”

More members of the class remarked, the majority of them admitting to voting for one of the two if not both, leaving Izuku rather flustered. 

Ochako took pity on him and changed the subject. “Are you a rich boy, Ida? You talk like one,” she asked, a cheerful smile to show she wasn’t being judgemental.

“Rich?! I…well, I didn’t think it would be that obvious…I am from a long line of heroes, for many generations. I’m the second son, and I have come here to make my family proud! Do you know the Turbo Hero, Ingenium?”

“Of course! He’s a really popular hero who has sixty-five sidekicks working for him at his agency. Oh, you’re his younger brother, that explains why your Quirk’s are so similar!” Izuku gushed.

“Yes!” Ida said, standing up proudly and smiling. “I am determined to live up to my elder brother’s legacy! But I don’t think I’m ready to be a leader…I think you proved it at the entrance exam, Midoriya. And yesterday, your leadership and heroic actions in a crisis continued to impress. That’s why I believe you are the best choice to lead us.”

Izuku was floored by how highly Ida seemed to think of him, but a gentle hand tapping his shoulder had Izuku spinning about to see Momo’s smiling face looking down at him, her own cheeks slightly pinked. “Midor…um, Izuku? I thought perhaps we could sit together and discuss our duties?”

“I’ll move!” Himiko said cheerfully, hopping up and almost shoving Momo down into her seat. She immediately plopped down on the other side of Momo, almost squeezing Izuku and Momo between her and Ochako on Izuku’s other side, the brunette giggling at the poleaxed look on both of their faces. 

“Uh, yeah, sure, let’s do that,” Izuku managed to stutter out. He was basically finished with his lunch, so he shoved it out of the way and pulled a notebook out (ignoring the whispered ‘where did that come from?!’ comment from Kaminari) and a pen, opening to a blank page to begin taking notes. He noticed Momo had placed her own notebook down, also holding a pen at the same time. The two glanced at each other and down at their respective notebooks, even how they were practically sitting in the same position for note taking.

The laughter of their classmates as they flushed once more was suddenly drowned out by the immense pain that rocketed through Izuku’s head. His pen dropped from nerveless fingers as he reached up to grasp his head, hissing in pain. A second later, the lights flickered as the sky went dark, a thunderous crash sounding as a bolt of lightning suddenly struck part of the campus, the power flickering in response. Almost as if the bolt was the signal, an alarm began blaring.

“ There has been a level three security breach. All students, please evacuate outdoors promptly.”

Ida quickly asked a nearby upperclassman what that meant, and hurriedly he explained “Someone's trespassing on campus! I’ve never had this happen in the three years I’ve been here!” and then bolted from his seat.

The students were crowding each other in the hallway, pushing, shoving, nearly running over each other in a panic. Izuku, his head still blaring with pain, was being led by Ochako and Himiko, the other members of their class trying to keep together but the press of the crowd making it that much more difficult. The trio were pressed up against the wall, Ida and Tsuyu just behind them also being slowly crushed. As he looked out the window, he could see a mass of what looked like reporters running into the campus, being intercepted by Sensei and Present Mic. 

“It’s just the press,” he managed to get out, his classmates near enough the window able to look out and see the same.

“Well they need to chill the fuck out then!” Katsuki snarled, trying to shove people away from him, Kirishima, Shinso, and Kaminari.

A loud sharp cry and another spasm of pain in his head had him seeking out the voice he recognized. Instinctively he flipped his Quirk vision on, looking for the telltale crystalline light of Toru nearby. He could see her in the press of bodies, being trampled beneath them. He wanted to try to reach her, but the panicked students were making it too difficult, and Izuku was just done . The pain in his head, the loud screams of terror, the absolute stupidity of their actions, and the fact that now some of his classmates were getting hurt was really setting him off.

With a powerful thrust of energy, he formed a wall in front of him, shoving students away with loud cries to get a brief second of breathing room. He quickly turned to Momo and asked for a megaphone, the dark-haired woman reacting without hesitation to hand him one. With enough space now, he leapt into the air, landing on another platform above everyone's heads.

“ Stop panicking! It’s just the media! Are you UA students or not?!” he shouted through the megaphone, the feedback echoing in their ears and making them all wince and stop. With an annoyed huff, he sent another pulse of energy down as he landed and strode unerringly to where Toru was. As he went, he handed the megaphone to Ida. “Can you get them in order? I know you’re good at organization, I want to check on Hagakure.”

Ida nodded and slapped Izuku on the shoulder. “Of course!” With a shout into the microphone, he began getting people into an orderly line to exit, all the while Izuku had shoved past everyone to where he could see Toru’s prone form. 

He knelt down next to her, a green energy barrier forming around the two of them so he could be sure no one else stepped on her. “Are you okay Hagakure?”

“I-I’m okay,” she stuttered, her arms lifting up and trying to brush at her clothing. Izuku noticed her form shaking, able to make out her outline thanks to his vision.

“Let’s have Recovery Girl take a look at you just to be sure,” he offered with a smile. He held out his hand to her to give her a pull up, but as she took it and tried to stand she yelped and nearly fell over. He managed to catch her, her one leg being held off the ground as she whimpered. Izuku looked at her carefully. “Is your leg hurt?”

“I don’t think it's broken, but it hurts to put it down,” she replied, pain evident in her voice. Izuku glared at the students around the two of them, all of them looking away sheepishly as he sighed. With a smooth motion, he lifted her off the ground in a carry, the invisible girl letting out a loud squeak of surprise as she clung to his neck.

“Catching all the girls, huh Izu babe?” Himiko asked cheekily as she came up next to him.

Izuku, having been too focused on helping Toru to notice what he’d done, flushed as he looked away from her. “I-I’m just taking her to Recovery Girl!”

“It’s fine Izuku, she’s just teasing,” Ochako said, giving him a quick side hug. She glanced down at Toru. “Are you okay with this, Hagakure?”

“Yep! Totally fine! This is fine!” she replied quickly, her voice higher pitched than normal. Izuku shrugged at the tone, but began making his way through the crowd to take her to Recovery Girl, his girlfriends following behind and giggling. He steadfastly ignored the numerous people giggling as well, and especially the waggling eyes of Mina as he passed her. 

As he passed Momo, he said “Can we go over it later tonight? I want to be sure Hagakure is okay.”

“I told you to call me Toru!” the invisible girl said from where she was being carried, a pout in her voice.

“Err…yeah. Toru,” he replied sheepishly.

Momo just nodded at him with a smile. “Of course! We can sit down before dinner, if that’s alright with you.”

“No problem!” With that business settled, he pressed on, wanting to get Toru to Recovery Girl as soon as possible.

Nezu stood before the sparking gate, the mechanisms fried by the sudden electrical surge. Power Loader was running a diagnostic on it, reading the output and shaking his head in disappointment. “Cameras were shot by the surge. Nothing pointing to what caused that bolt of lightning, and the tapes are corrupted thanks to the power surge.”

“What was the point of this?” Midnight mused quietly. “I doubt any member of the media did this.”

“This was a declaration of war,” Nezu replied, his paws clasped behind his back. “And I intend on being prepared for the first salvo.”

“You don’t think this was it?” Thirteen asked.

“No…no, this wasn’t. I believe dangerous times are ahead…”

Toru was, luckily, okay, just a sprained ankle which Recovery Girl was able to fix up in no time. The rest of the day was basically shot due to the media invasion and random instability of the power system, so they got the latter half of the day off. Which worked well for Izuku, enabling him to have more time with Momo going over what they wanted to focus on as representatives. Specifically, after the analysis the class witnessed him do during the battle trials, numerous members of the class wanted his assistance, and so they began drawing up a schedule for training, since he, his brother, and his girlfriends were still doing their daily training regimens and it was noticeable to everyone else.

He happily invited others along, but Momo reminded everyone they also had plenty of schoolwork to do. She was more than happy to volunteer to help organize study sessions, Izuku backing her up on that as another assistant. To Momo’s surprise, Katsuki grumpily offered his assistance as well, surprising her once she realized the blonde was as good in class as Izuku was, if not better in some subjects. Between the three of them and Ida who offered his assistance as well, Izuku and Momo were able to parcel out time for both group study sessions and group training sessions, as well as time for Izuku to go over Quirk’s one on one.

But that was put on hold during the next day’s class, as Aizawa informed them it was time to start Rescue training, something Ochako was incredibly excited for and practically bouncing in her seat. It’s what she wanted to do more than anything, and knowing they were about to get hands-on experience with it had her giddy. 

They hurriedly got into their hero uniforms, as Aizawa offered them their choice (but all of them wanted to utilize their new costumes even if some of them needed more work), and went out to the bus. Ida tried to convince everyone to line up for boarding, but once he realized the seats were not organized in a conventional fashion, he gave up with a deep sign and accepted that his desire for perfection would not be attainable this morning.

Izuku was thinking deeply about the weirdness of Danger Sense. He’d hoped that since getting it he’d be pulled into the Vestige world at least once to speak to them, but so far nothing beyond that brief moment with Shinomori speaking to him. It was rather frustrating, because even now he felt a strange pressure in his head, not a pain so much as an annoying push against his mind that he was pretty sure was going to become a headache soon enough.

“Midoriya. I tend to say what’s on my mind, ribbit,” Tsuyu said as she sat down next to the other greenette, dragging him out of his thoughts. He glanced over at her with a nervous smile, wondering what she was getting at. “Your Quirk does a lot of different things. It’s like you have more than one.”

“Haha, yeah, it’s funny like that,” Izuku laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

“What even is your Quirk, Midori?” Mina asked, leaning so far out of her seat it was a wonder she hadn’t fallen from it.

Izuku held up his hand, a soft green glow lifting off it and shaping itself into a box, then reshaping into a sphere, before twisting into a series of concentric circles. “I can absorb, store, and manipulate energy. I can shape it into any non-moving shape, and create fields that can block blows, attract things to them, or repel them away. It also enhances my overall body, so I’m stronger and faster than normal when using it.”

“That’s pretty OP,” Mina said, giggling.

Izuku shrugged. “Yeah, but there are a couple big drawbacks. I have a limited pool of energy I can use, and if I go overboard, it can cause me problems.”

“He means it can stop his heart,” Himiko added.

Half the bus froze at the comment, staring at him in concern as he sighed. “Yes, yes. My body adapted to run off the energy I absorbed, so…basically, I need it to live. But that’s why I have this nifty support item, it tracks how much I have in the pool and warns me if I go too low,” Izuku said, holding up his right wrist and pointing to the device on it.

“Wait, was that what was beeping at the exam?” Shinso asked.

Izuku scrunched his shoulders up, looking down. “Yeah, it starts beeping if I hit 25%, and gets worse if I go below 10. I ended up at 9 from the exam, which really isn’t that bad-”

“Except it knocked you out,” Ochako chimed in drily.

Izuku waved her off. “Other than that, I have to absorb through my skin, and different energy sources convert at different rates.”

“Do you absorb kinetic energy as well, from blows against yourself?” Momo asked.

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, but I still take the actual hit full force. If I block it with a barrier, I don’t get a return. And different forms of kinetic energy absorb at different rates. Rainfall has a much higher conversion rate than nearly anything…still not sure why though,” Izuku muttered the last part, some frustrating leaking into his voice about the weirdness of it.

“That’s still a super cool Quirk, way better than my hardening,” Eijiro said, holding up an arm with a sad smile as it changed into a jagged form. 

“No way! That’s an awesome Quirk for a hero! You could do so much with it! I have a few pages of notes about it in my room, we could go over them if you’d like!” Izuku gushed, smiling brightly. 

“You don’t have them on hand? Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?” Himiko let out a mocking gasp, placing one hand over her heart.

“I have a notebook on me, just not the specific one his analysis is in!” Izuku shot back, rolling his eyes at Himiko.

“Eh, flashiness plays a part in being a pro still,” Eijiro demurred.

“My navel laser is both flashy and powerful! I shall sparkle amongst the greatest of the pro heroes!” Aoyama announced, posing. 

“Yeah but not if you get sick every time you use it,” Mina replied, giggling at the consternation on Aoyama’s face.

“I mean, if you wanna talk flashy and powerful, Todoroki and Katsuki got some pretty flashy Quirks!”

“I don’t know, Bakugo seems to have a temper. That could hurt his chances in the public eye,” Tsuyu remarked.

“I’ll show you a temper, Frogger,” Katsuki snarled, glaring at her. She pointed at him as if to illustrate her point.

“Kacchan, c’mon,” Izuku said, giving his brother a Look, with a capital L.

“Tch. I’m gonna be number one. Endeavor made it to number two and he’s even more of a prick than I am!”

Only Jiro was able to pick up on Todoroki’s muttered ‘mood’ under his breath in response to Katsuki’s statement, but as per usual when she heard something she shouldn’t, she chose not to call attention to it and just pretended like she heard nothing.

Aizawa interrupted further discussion, calling out from the front of the bus. “We’re here. Enough messing around.”

As they disembarked, Ochako was sent into ecstatic squeaks as she saw Thirteen, in her full hero costume, standing before them all, greeting them as they stepped off the bus. She proceeded to expound upon the building they had entered, split into various zones with disasters pre-set up for them to train in, proudly proclaiming it as the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short.

Aizawa stepped up to quietly speak to Thirteen about something, and looked annoyed at her response. He sighed and stepped aside as Thirteen stepped forward, saying she had something to say…or two somethings…three…four…five…

Eventually she broke out of her own ever increasing numbers and spoke frankly. “Some of you know of my Quirk, Black Hole. I can suck in and destroy anything.”

“Yeah, you use it for clearing rubble and disaster zones to rescue people!” Izuku excitedly recounted, Ochako nodding along beside him with a wide, excited grin. Neither noticed Himiko being both incredibly proud of her two dorks and incredibly annoyed she couldn’t kiss their stupid, adorable faces at tha moment. 

“It’s also a power that can kill with ease,” Thirteen replied, the mood becoming far more somber at her words. “I’m sure many of you have powers that can do the same, even if unintentionally.” With her helmet on, it was hard to tell where she was looking, but even so, Izuku was absolutely convinced she was saying that part directly to him. “You already had classes that showed you how to push yourself farther, as well as classes that displayed your prowess in using your Quirks to harm or stop a foe.”

Thirteen took a step back and spread her arms wide. “Here, you’ll learn how to use your powers to save people. That is the epitome of being a hero, saving others.” She took a moment to let out a bow. “That is all. Let your first day of rescue training begin!”

As the class clapped and cheered, Aizawa stepped up, hands in pockets. “Alright, now lets-”

A blinding headache ripped through Izuku at that very second, making him collapse to the ground in pain. The lights in the USJ flickered and sparked, the fountain in the center flickering and losing its flow. A swirling mess of oily black smoke ripped into existence right before the fountain, a single figure with piercing gray eyes and long white hair, his face partially obscured by a black metallic mask. As more figures began to step out of the portal, Aizawa ran forward, pulling his goggles up over his face as he swept his arm out in front of the class.

“Thirteen, protect the students! You all, get out of here!”

“Wait, what? Is this part of the-” Eijiro asked, confused.

“No…those are villains,” Aizawa replied in a low voice, one hand gripping the gray fabric around his neck. A large blue furred heteromorph exited, followed by a man wrapped in red bandages and a woman with long, brilliant red hair. Finally, a hulking black skinned figure with its brains exposed from its skull stepped out, the portal swirling and coalescing into a single yellow eyed smoke creature. “Students…go!” Aizawa snarled, running forward into the crowd of enemies down the stairs.

Chapter Text

“Hmm. Eraserhead and Thirteen. Where is All Might?” said a smoky, black figure who formed out of the purple-black smoke that the villains had stepped through.

“So it was you who broke in the other day?” Aizawa said, stopping his run at the words from the figure. He carefully lifted up the yellow goggles around his neck and placed them over his eyes.

The red-haired woman smirked. “We’re being rude, I suppose. Allow me to introduce ourselves. We’re the League of Villains. Now that we’ve introduced ourselves, could you kindly inform us of where All Might is? We’re here to have words with him.”

“He’s not available, so why don’t you leave,” Thirteen said, a growl in her tone as she stepped forward in front of the class, her hand held up threateningly. 

“Tch. No can do. Think he’d show up if we killed some of these kids, Nine?” the large heteromorphic man asked.

“Not the original goal. But it will be worth it if we can break the Symbol of Peace and end this pitiful society. However, let’s let our friends handle this for us. Go, my friends…enjoy,” the man identified as Nine said, waving one hand lazily. With a series of rumbling laughs and taunts, a few dozen various villains began to stalk forward towards the students up the stairs.

Aizawa cursed under his breath. “Thirteen, get them out of here!”

“Sensei! You can’t fight them all off! You’re more suited to ambushes and one on one fights!” Izuku managed to shout out, though his head was still pounding and he could swear he was seeing double.

“No hero is a one trick pony, Midoriya,” Aizawa replied, his gray scarf whipping out and wrapping around the arm of a nearby villain, standing in confusion as his Quirk failed to activate. Which gave Aizawa enough time to send him flying to his right, slamming into another. With practiced moves, Aizawa began dodging between attacks, his scarf flaring out and entangling foes in a deadly dance. Izuku wished he could focus long enough to watch, but the damned headache was killing him.

“Come now, do as your teacher said,” Thirteen said, trying to usher the students out. A swirl of black-purple smoke filled the space between them and the exit, the smoky figure appearing before them.

“I’m afraid I can’t allow that. I am Kurogiri, and as a member of the League, I must inform you that you cannot leave. You must be sacrificed, to make certain that All Might suffers for his failure and can be broken. I would advise not fighting back too much. It will simply make the pain last longer.”

“Fuck that and fuck you!” Katsuki shouted, blasting forward, Kirishima rushing up beside him. Thirteen had been raising her hand to trigger her Quirk at Kurogiri, but quickly had to drop it with a wordless shout of fear as the two young men rushed in her way. Kurogiri scoffed, a wave of black smoke billowing out from him to cover the various students.

Ochako grabbed the closest person to her, the pink-skinned Mina, and dove to the right. Shoji leapt backwards, his arms reaching out and yanking Ida to his side as Sero threw his tape out from both arms simultaneously, managing to grab Kaminari and pull the two of them to safety, but the rest of the class were dropped into the smoke, their cries swallowed up.

Thirteen quickly looked at Kaminari, the blonde tapping the side of his headset repeatedly. “Can you call for backup?”

Kaminari shook his head. “Nothings going through! Someone has to have an interference Quirk or something!”

Thirteen cursed under her breath. “Ida! You must run back to the school and get help as quickly as possible!”

Ida, having just been released from Shoji’s grip, rapidly shook his head in denial. “No! I cannot abandon my classmates now!”

“It’s not abandoning them, it’s saving them! You’re the only one fast enough to get someone back here in time!” she shouted back.

“Planning in front of the enemy? A foolish move,” Kurogiri stated, his form billowing wider as he loomed over the remaining students. A moment later though, a cord wrapped around the metal neck-brace, his form suddenly collapsing to the ground with a grunt of pain. 

Ochako gulped, the nausea roiling in her stomach but refused to release her hold over the portal villain. “Ida, go! Please!”

Ida froze in place for a moment, before letting out an angry shout as he turned towards the gate. Kurogiri snarled from where he was, his form sinking into the floor a moment later, Ochako’s cable snapping as the portal he dove into closed behind him. He reappeared between Ida and the door, black smoke pouring towards him once more. 

Ida’s engines burst to life with blue flame, the armored boy rocketing towards the door and directly towards Kurogiri. Thirteen stepped forward, her gloves popping open as her Quirk pulled at Kurogiri’s misty body, the villain snarling in response. But a brief moment later, a portal opened behind Thirteen, and before anyone could shout a warning, the back half of Thirteen’s costume ripped open, the teacher screaming in pain as her own Quirk was turned against her. She collapsed to the ground, her power sputtering out, as Kurogiri collected himself and sent a portal screaming at Ida’s running form.

Just as the portal had reached Ida, Kurogiri’s body was yanked to the side by Sero’s tape, the black-haired boy having noted what Ochako did to get ahold of Kurogiri and snatching the villain by the metal brace. Sero pulled with all his might, making Kurogiri fall off balance, just in time for Shoji to grab the brace and fling the portal villain down the stairs. 

Ida blasted past everyone, leaping into the air with one leg cocked. As he reached the gate, he kicked the door, the metal shearing apart as he rammed into it at an insane speed. Without letting it halt him, he used the metal piece that was flying away as a course correction, giving him enough of a platform to redirect his motion to the right, towards where UA’s main building was.

‘Just hang on! I swear, I’ll be back as soon as I can! ’ he thought grimly, wishing his thoughts could reach his classmates.

‘Well, the headache hurts less,” Izuku thought to himself as he fell, splashing into water and falling beneath the surface. The shock of the water mildly reduced his headache, but he was having trouble concentrating still. Not only was the pressure immense inside his skull, but his Quirk Vision kept flickering on without his permission, randomly shifting between his normal view and a series of bright, white lights. 

It made him think about the oddity he witnessed though, right before Aizawa rushed into the fray. From the ground, he’d managed to glance up at the villains who had entered the USJ, namely the ones that seemed to be in command. Though he couldn’t tell most of their Quirk’s at a glance, two things stood out to him.

One, the giant, black-skinned villain with the exposed brain was…wrong. Instead of the brilliant white he was used to of an unknown Quirk, or even the broken, cracked signature he saw within Eri, it was an oily black that almost seemed to boil and bubble, swirling and oozing like some sort of monster from a fantasy game. Even looking at it felt dirty, wrong…unclean.

But the other thing was the one that seemed to be in charge. The one who gave the orders. From the second Izuku saw him, something about him felt familiar . But with his vision flickering, he couldn’t get a good read on his facial features, only the long white hair and the strange black mask. However, his vision noted something…the man’s signature was not white . Part of it roiled and oozed just like the black-skinned creature, but there was one burst of color within the man’s chest, one that looked like a shimmering purple, sparkling and moving like the wind. The problem was he never even tried to guess the Quirk! So…why could he see the Quirk color?

His musings were cut short, reminding him ‘oh right, I’m in danger’ when a figure came swimming out of the darkness of the water, a villain with a massive shark head, teeth bared. Izuku tried to move himself in position to bring up a barrier to protect himself, the villain approaching from behind, but before he could summon it, a pair of legs slammed into the villain’s skull, knocking it off course. 

The lithe, green-clad figure of Tsuyu reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist, rocketing out of the water and depositing him onto the deck of the ship that sat in the center of the shipwreck zone. A second later, a purple-haired boy was deposited next to him, gasping for air and dripping just like he was. 

“Asui! Thank you!” Izuku said, smiling at her in gratitude. Shinso, coughing to clear his lungs, didn’t speak but gave a weak thumbs up in agreement.

“Call me Tsu,” she replied with a tone that made it clear she was used to repeating this.

“Right, sorry!” Izuku sheepishly replied.

“Is that really the most important thing right now?” Shinso asked, having finally cleared his throat enough to speak.

Tsuyu shrugged. “Eventually he’ll remember.”

Izuku grinned nervously. Shinso rolled his eyes before clambering to his feet and looking over the edge into the water. “What now?”

Izuku followed Shinso’s example, eyes going wide as a pain shot through his head a moment later. He grabbed Shinso by the arm and yanked him back, just barely managing to avoid what looked like an axe made of water careening out of it towards the two of them. 

“I would suggest we not stay long,” Izuku said as calmly as he felt he could.

“We’re in the middle of the lake, and while I can swim, I’m no Tsuyu,” Shinso deadpanned. “The villains would catch us for sure if we tried to escape.”

“True. I’m also not even sure why, if their goal is to kill All Might, they chose to attack us . Seems like a waste of effort, not to mention how do they even plan on doing it?” Izuku wondered, one hand on his chin.

“Does it matter? We’ve got to get to safety first, then we can worry about All Might,” Shinso shot back.

“You’re not wrong. Yeah. We can’t waste time on that. Our only chance here is to fight our way and win, then we can regroup with the others!”

“Fight and win? And how are we going to do that?”

“I can swim faster than any of the villains I think, but I saw at least a dozen in the water, maybe more. I don’t think Shinso can control that many, ribbit,” Tsuyu said.

Shinso shook his head no. “I can’t. I can get one at a time only. And the moment they get a tiny bit of pain it snaps.”

“Yeah…but they don’t know that, else they wouldn’t have sent Asu-err, Tsuyu here,” Izuku replied quietly. 

“How do you figure?”

“If they knew what your Quirk did, they’d send you somewhere else, like the conflagration zone. But they didn’t. I don’t think they know what any of our Quirk’s are. We’ve got the element of surprise. Especially you, Shinso. In fact…don’t use your Quirk here. I think Tsu and I can get us out of here. We may need you once we get to land.”

Shinso and Tsuyu blinked at Izuku in slight confusion. Shinso opened his mouth. “When we get to land? Thinking a bit far ahead don’t you think?”

As Izuku stepped towards the railing, he created a small field in his left hand, one not unlike the one he used at the entrance exam. The nitrogen and oxygen began swirling around him, coalescing into his hand, the green glow becoming more fierce as he focused. “The goal is survival. Our best bet for that is to win against whoever comes against us. We have limited options for flight with Kurogiri around. So no, it's not too early to plan our next move.”

“Won’t that hurt you?” Shinso asked, nodding towards the field in his hand.

“This isn’t nearly as big as the one I used at the exam. Just enough to displace the water. The recoil will suck but my arm’ll be fine. Once I fire it, we jump as far as Tsuyu can take us, and I’ll plant another platform. We should be able to cross it within one or two fields, while they get stuck temporarily. Then we approach the plaza and see if we can sneak past. If not, we circle into the other zones and try to make our way around that way.”

Tsuyu placed one finger against her lip, tilting her head to the side as she stared at Izuku with wide, blank eyes. “And you wonder why you were voted as class rep, ribbit.”

Izuku’s confidence vanished in a moment as he sputtered in surprise, his cheeks going slightly pink in embarrassment. Shinso snorted at him, a rare grin crossing his face. The brief moment of levity was broken as the ship cracked , the back half of it beginning to sink into the water as it split clean off from them, a massive wave of water shaped like a blade cutting the ship clean in half. Izuku’s expression hardened.

“Time to go!” he shouted, running towards the railing. A field appeared beneath his feet, launching him into the air as he aimed his left towards where the villains were congregating. With a deep growl, he shouted “Air Impact!” , releasing the stored pressurized air in a massive, directed burst. He winced as his entire arm ached from the sheer force, but with it not being nearly as much as the one he used at the exam, it didn’t dislocate…but boy did it hurt.

A brief second later, he felt Tsuyu’s tongue wrap around his midsection, yanking him along and towards her. With a tiny field to adjust his position, he managed to plant his feet right where the arc of Tsuyu’s leap ended and she began to fall, getting a field for her to push off of. She released him as she did, his own ability allowing him to bounce off the same field, the two of them landing nearly perfectly at the edge of the shipwreck zone, Shinso being released from Tsuyu’s grip a moment later.

“Awesome job guys!” Izuku gushed, smiling widely. Shinso rolled his eyes at the green-haired boy, Tsuyu just looking at him placidly. 

“It was well done, but we need to focus, ribbit,” she reminded him.

Izuku shook his head quickly. “You’re right. Let’s see…” he glanced around, trying to get a vision of what was going on. He could see some of his classmates still up at the entrance, but it was too far away to get a good view. Down in the central plaza, many villains were laid unconscious or beaten, Aizawa having brought most of them down. 

“Sensei is pretty badass,” Izuku mused. He looked about, trying to see what the best method would be for reaching the others at the top of the stairs, but had to clench his fists as he realized there was no clear way to get up there without crossing in front of the villains line of sight. “Okay, there’s no way to not get noticed. But if we cross carefully, maybe we can-”

“Nomu,” the white-haired man who seemed to be in charge said. “Kill Eraserhead.” As if in slow motion, the trio at the lake edge watched in horror as the black-skinned creature moved, so fast it practically blurred. It slammed Aizawa’s face into the ground, bones cracking as Aizawa shouted in pain. Blood ran freely as Aizawa’s arm was snapped, the cracking of bone echoing throughout the central plaza. Tsuyu’s placid expression broke, eyes welling up with tears as she gasped out loud.

Nine looked over at the trio. “Ah, I see we have some voyeurs. Slice. Dispose of them.”

They had little time to react, as the red-haired woman’s hair suddenly shifted, her smug grin becoming manic as she spun around, a barrage of sharpened red quills shooting out at the trio. Izuku’s vision changed as he internally thought about what her Quirk was, but he reacted out of instinct, his foot slamming into the ground, a green wall erupting between them, the quills shattering against it and falling to the ground. 

“Oh, little boy has some backbone. This’ll be fun,” she grinned. “But I have a better idea…Nomu, kill them.”

The black-skinned creature vanished from their sight, appearing behind the trio, its arm raised up above Tsuyu. Time seemed to slow down, Shinso opening his mouth to shout something, Tsuyu turning around and looking up to see the falling arm. Instinct took hold, Izuku reaching out and snatching Tsuyu around the waist, leaping backwards as he formed a disc with his free hand, launching it forward as quickly as possible to make the creature back off.

To his horror, the creature didn’t even try to dodge it, the sharpened disc carving through its arm, cutting it clean off at the shoulder, the dismembered limb falling to the floor with a disgusting squelch. Izuku froze in shock, Shinso recoiling back as Tsuyu shivered in Izuku’s grasp, eyes wide and panicked. 

“Aww, are the poor kids worried about Nomu? Don’t you fret, he’s got a few tricks up his..sleeve,” the red-haired woman, previously identified as Slice, smirked. As the trio watched, Nomu’s dripping, bloody wound in its side just started to bubble and roil, shift and surge, as a new arm burst forth in a spray of viscera. Nomu flexed its arm once, turning its eyes back onto the trio. 

“Nomu. Halt,” Nine called, the creature freezing in place as Slice turned to look at Nine in confusion. The white-haired man strode forward towards the trio, Izuku shoving Tsuyu and Shinso behind himself as he prepared to pull up another barrier. “Calm down. I want to speak to you.”

“I have nothing to say to you,” Izuku growled, the constant pulse of his headache that had been randomly flaring up as the villains moved starting to get to him. His vision flickered back to the energy seeking version, the strange inky darkness of Nomu’s and the flickering purple light within Nine flaring up and seeming to consume his vision. 

“You can speak to me, or your teacher can die here and now,” Nine countered, pointing towards the limp body of Aizawa on the floor. The Nomu vanished and reappeared next to Aizawa, one hand held up as if it were preparing to smash Aizawa into the ground once more.

“Okay okay, fine! What the hell do you want?” Izuku shouted, eyes wide in fear as he glanced over at Aizawa.

Nine tilted his head to the side. “You have a powerful Quirk, and good instincts. What you did was ruthless. I am almost impressed. Why don’t you join us?”

“...what?” came the confused, breathless whisper from Izuku.

“We will rebuild society, one in which the strong need not fear nor obey the weak. We are going to make certain that those will the will to power and the power to enact their will are the ones who make the rules. We could use someone with strength like yours. I can see it within you. Why not join us?”

Izuku's expression fell into a scowl, his eyes narrowed. “I will never join you.”

“Fine. Have it your way. Twas but a passing mercy I offered. I will grant you a swift death at least.” With those words, Nine lifted one hand in the air, the entirety of the USJ darkening. As they looked up, they could see clouds swirling above, blotting out the sunlight. The air became charged, the scent of ozone flickering into life, as the purple light that Izuku had witnessed within Nine’s chest flared into brilliance.

And Izuku remembered. As if through an old television, staticky sounds and sensations filling his senses, colliding and tearing, ripping at him from the inside out as memories flooded through his entire being.

The white hair.

…bzzt…

The gray eyes, fearful and panicked, locking onto Kacchan.

…bzzt…

The clouds roiling into existence, covering the sky, turning day into night.

…bzzt…

The scent of ozone in the air, the feeling of his skin prickling, the chills down his spine.

…bzzt…

The fear, the panic, the need to save Kacchan, his friend, his brother.

…bzzt…

Agony, sweet sweet agony, the roaring and ripping and freezing and burning, the channeling through his limbs, screaming and crying and begging it to stop.

…bzzt…

It bubbled and swirled, roared and reared, a maelstrom, a tempest, an entire storm system in his chest, desperate for escape, for release, he was no longer a boy, now a being of pure energy and anguish and pain , so much pain, he couldn’t hold it…

Izuku snapped out of it at the fearful whimper from behind him, only now realizing that the very earth beneath his feet was cracked and rippling, emerald lightning sparking off his body as Nine had paused in his motion, looking at him curiously. Izuku knew now who stood before him. The man who destroyed his life. The man who ruined everything, who took everything he held dear from him. 

A green glow began to emanate from him.

Kurogiri had blinked away after Ida escaped, leaving the other five to try to come up with a plan. Thirteen’s unconscious form lay on the ground, the back of her suit ripped open and exposing her bloody back, ripped and torn from the force of her own Quirk. Mina was on her knees beside her, eyes wide, desperately trying to figure out what to do. 

“I-I-I don’t know, what, what are we supposed to do? I never did first aid at school, i-it wasn’t an option, what-”

“Mina!” Ochako shouted as she slid to her knees beside the pinkette. Ochako reached out and grabbed her hands, forcing her to turn and look at Ochako. Ochako stared straight into the pink-haired girl's eyes and spoke quietly. “Calm down, take a deep breath. We can do this. Sero!”

“Yes?” the black-haired boy asked, coming over to the two as well.

“How tough is your tape?”

“Pretty tough. Holds my weight and then some.”

“Okay. We need to put pressure on these wounds, but if we just use your tape it could hurt her later when it needs to come off. Mina?”

“Y-yeah?” Mina asked, her eyes continuing to flicker over to the downed Thirteen.

“Can you make your acid really sticky? Like glue, kind of?”

“I-I can make it really viscous, yeah. It's not like real glue but it holds in a pinch. I can control the PH too, so it doesn’t hurt people.”

“Good. Here’s what we do. Sero, we’ll take your tape and press it against itself to create some bandages. We’ll use a little bit of your tape and some of Mina’s acid to make it adhere to Thirteen. This way it’ll hold for now but be easily removed later. Okay?”

“That’s some quick thinking, Uraraka,” Shoji commented, his gaze fixated beyond as he tried to get a read on where the rest of the class was, his arms extending up and shifting into extra pairs of eyes and ears.

“Nighteye made us go over emergency procedures repeatedly. Pretty sure we could do CPR in our sleep at this point,” she remarked, taking the makeshift bandages from Sero and placing them carefully but firmly, directing Mina in where to place her acid for the maximum effect without hurting the pro hero.

“Y-you’re really cool, Ochako,” Mina murmured, her shoulders trembling in worry.

“Hey…um…what’s that over there?” Kaminari asked in a worried tone, pointing.

Where Kaminari pointed, a green glow began to appear.

Dark Shadow slammed another villain through a wall, the shadow creature cackling madly as Tokoyami winced in strain, trying to control it through the dark, rain-filled storm that he and Koda found themselves in. They were nearly to the exit of the downpour zone, the few remaining villains mostly fleeing from them once they realized the sheer power Dark Shadow had. 

Tokoyami paused as Dark Shadow froze in place, before the shadow creature whipped back to his side, wrapping around him and placing its hands on his shoulders. “Fumi! Fumi, do you feel that?”

“Feel what? What are you sensing?” Tokoyami asked, confused.

“That! ” Dark Shadow said insistently, shaking Tokoyami by the shoulders.

“Speak plainly or not at all,” Tokoyami scolded. “We do not have time for riddles, we must locate our fellow classmates as soon as possible.”

Dark Shadow paused for a moment in contemplation, even while Koda and Tokoyami reached the exit. As they opened the door to escape, the shadow creature hissing at the brighter light, they bore witness to the sky outside the USJ darkening, as clouds began to cover the building.

“That!” Dark Shadow cried out insistently, pointing in the distance, where green began to glow.

“Pitiful,” Todoroki scoffed as the dozen villains came rushing at him. With but a touch of his foot upon the ground, a line of ice shot out in an instant, encasing them all from neck down in frigid ice. He strode up to the one closest, grabbing him by the chin and forcing the villain to meet his eyes. “I’m disappointed in how poorly you performed. How did you plan on killing All Might?”

“I-I-I’m not t-telling you a t-thing!” the villain replied, his teeth chattering from the cold.

“It takes less than thirty minutes for wind and cold alone to cause frostbite. But you’re encased in ice. It will take less than five minutes for it to set in. The odds of you losing a limb is high if I leave you here. I would rather not have that as the start of my hero career. So I ask you again: How were you going to kill him?”

“O-okay! I’ll t-tell you! The guy in the -mask, he had some sort of c-creature thing called a Nomu! It’s the t-thing with the brain s-sticking out! The guy cut off its a-arm and it just grew back, and it t-took a full powered punch from the b-blue guy without flinching! It’s some sort of crazy e-experiment! I dunno anything else man, w-we just signed up for this! N-now let us out!”

“Hmm. I can’t trust you not to-” as Todoroki spoke, he dodged, narrowly avoiding a spear coming from behind. Clasping it with his right, the spear froze as did the villain holding it. “Really? You continue to disappoint. There is no way you could have killed All Might, even with a monster like that. You can’t even hurt a college student.”

“Um…is now the time to be lecturing them, Todoroki?” The boy in question turned around to see the yellow-clad form of Sato clambering out of a nearby building, a pair of villains unconscious behind him.

“They had one job. And failed at it,” Todoroki replied.

“...Uh…okay,” Sato mumbled back. “Um…what do we do with these guys?”

“We cannot allow them to continue on. Knock them out and restrain them. We will return to our class in…wait. What is that?”

A green glow appeared in the distance.

“Shit!” Kyoka cursed, ducking under a swing by a villain, the metallic arm barely grazing her. Quickly she stabbed with her jacks and amplified her heartbeat, the woman screeching in pain and falling backwards. 

“Here!” Momo shouted, tossing a sword over to her, a moment later parrying a strike from another villain. She leapt up, using the staff as a pole to hold her up as she kicked the villain away. 

“What makes you think I know how to use this?!” she shouted back, barely managing to block a strike from another villain.

“Would you rather I left you helpless?” Momo shouted back.

Kyoka shot her earjacks into her boot speaker, amplifying the sound and sending an echoing sonic wave out, forcing multiple enemies back. “Okay, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” she managed to get out, diving to the side to avoid a series of quills being fired at her.

Momo cursed internally. There were far too many foes, and they didn’t have a good way to get them all at once. While Kyoka could create devastating sonic waves, she was limited in how much could be output from her speakers, and they seemed to go only forward, which meant they’d miss the other enemies. Unless…her eyes went wide

“I have a plan!” Momo shouted. “I need thirty seconds! Hold them off!”

“Oh sure, I can do that, no problem, just me versus twenty villains, I’m great at that!” the purple-haired girl snarked back, half-manic. Despite her sarcasm, she had confidence in Momo’s plan, and it wasn’t like she had any better ideas…the problem was she wasn’t confident in her own ability to hold them off.

“Close your eyes and ears!” Momo shouted, one hand holding up a small series of dolls. Kyoka reacted immediately, obeying the heiress and slamming her eyes shut while reaching up to grip at her ears. Forgetting she had the sword, she managed to get one covered, but panicked internally when she realized she’d have to drop the blade or fail to cover it.

Her panic did not lessen but did change to a very different kind when Momo’s free hand wrapped around her head, one hand covering her ear and pulling her into Momo’s side, her other hand and ear being pressed against something she was not going to think about right now or the fact Momo Yaoyoruzu was practically hugging her to her side!

At that moment, Momo’s free hand snapped down, the dolls exploding in a burst of light and sound, the pained cries of the nearby villains echoing even through the muffled noise Kyoka had with her current position. The light burned even behind her closed eyelids, and her hearing being as sensitive as it was still was painful, but she was able to blink away the spots and ignore the pain enough to see Momo move away from her, the telltale glow of more creation appearing around her abdomen.

“Still need thirty seconds, but that should help!” Momo gasped, stepping back unsteadily. Having covered Kyoka‘s ears, she wasn’t able to cover her own, and though her hearing was much less sensitive there were still trickles of blood dripping from her ears. Kyoka‘s eyes went wide with fear and guilt, but seeing Momo ignore the blood and focus back on her creations made her grip the blade in both hands and step forward to make sure any of the villains who could still move, would not reach her. 

Only a few were standing, all but one unsteady on their feet, which the one, a hulking behemoth of a woman with dark gray scales covering her arms and legs, bolted towards Kyoka , her size nearly three times the petite, short-haired girl. Kyoka‘s jack shot into her boot once more as she sent out another sound burst, wincing as she felt her own heart stutter as she forced it to beat faster once again. The behemoth winced, but fought through the sound, pushing forward one step…two…three…four…

Each step harder for Kyoka to keep up the wave of sound, her own breath coming in shorter gasps and her chest feeling pained. Her body was adapted to ramp up her heartbeat at will for short bursts of sound, but trying to hold it for too long would push back against her, her heart beating faster and faster the longer she tried to hold it. It hurt , both in her chest and her ears, as every time it would echo between the two, creating a reverb effect. 

But she just needed to give Momo thirty seconds, just thirty seconds, she got it, she could do it, she could-

“It's done…Jiro!” Momo shouted, a small explosive filled with an entrapment foam launching from her hand at the villain approaching the petite rocker, her arms raised to slam down on Jiro. The explosive erupted, covering the villain in the foam, freezing her in place long enough for Momo to yank Jiro to the side, canceling the sound waves and letting Kyoka take a much needed deep, painful breath.

Kyoka looked up at Momo, seeing the sweat covered face and how she looked a little thinner than before. She glanced behind the heiress, eyes going wide as she saw a trio of massive amps, half as tall as her, set in a half-circle facing the villains. Momo smiled down at her tiredly. “One more blast. You got this.”

“...okay,” Kyoka managed to whisper. Momo pulled her behind the half-circle, pointing towards a small device in the center with room for her jacks, connecting up all three amps. She connected her jacks, her chest still in pain but knowing that all she needed was one more blast, one more shockwave. She could do this. With a bracing breath, she closed her eyes and sent out one more sonic wave, the amplifiers turning a powerful sonic attack into a scream , a devastating wave of sheer force that ripped apart the terrain and sent the villains, most of whom were still recovering from the flashbangs, flying through the air, slamming into it with force, all unconscious and likely with broken bones.

She collapsed to one knee, chest aching , whimpering in pain as she held one hand over it to try to relieve some pressure, some pain, anything. Momo knelt beside her, one arm around her shoulder, the other one gently stroking her hair and she whispered how helpful and powerful she was, how she saved her, how good she had done. 

It took a good few minutes before she could stand to open her eyes, but once she did, Momo smiled down at her. “You back with us, Jiro?”

“Y-yeah,” she managed to croak out, wincing at her own voice crack. She cleared her throat, annoyed at showing weakness, standing to her feet on shaky legs. 

Momo opened her mouth to speak, “I…wait…what’s that?” she pointed towards the central plaza, her original thought thrown by what she could see.

“Is that…Green?” 

A green glow appeared in the distance.

“Nice try girly, but you can’t take on all of us!” the villain boasted, his fists covered in a molten, glowing ooze that seemed to melt anything it touched. Himiko smirked, one hand on her hip, the other one pointing at him. With a wink, she pointed down towards his crotch, snapping her fingers.

The villain went cross-eyed as he felt a force crash into his genitals, instinctively covering them with his hands. Which then led to him screaming in pain as the molten ooze touched them, falling over as even Himiko winced at the sight. The two other men with him looked at the fallen one wide-eyed, before bolting from the building and back into the searing heat of the conflagration zone. Himiko walked up to the in pain villain and kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold, before slapping her hands together.

“Nice move, Toru,” she remarked, beaming in happiness at how well they’d worked together.

“This is kinda fun,” the invisible girl giggled. “Watching them freak out as they think your Quirk is some kind of impact where you point is great.”

“Yeah, Nighteye said misdirection and keeping your Quirk secret is the best defense when you’re someone who wants to go underground and have a Quirk like mine.”

“How many is that, anyways?” Toru asked, looking around.

Himiko shrugged. “Half-dozen, maybe. Don’t know how many more are here. We have to get out sooner rather than later though, the heat’s getting to me. And I know it’s bothering you more.”

Himiko couldn’t see the full body flush that Toru gave, but it was somewhat obvious in her voice. “Y-yeah, just a little. The support department said they were working on my new costume, but it would take a few weeks, so…I’m still using my old one, and no clothes means no heat resistance…and the floor is really hot.”

“Sexy as the thought may be, it’s still impractical,’ Himiko mused, looking out the nearby window of the building they had taken shelter in.

“S-sexy?!” Toru almost shrieked, quickly covering her mouth in shock at her own volume.

Without looking in her direction, Himiko replied absently as she scanned over the area. “You know, no clothes. We know you’re pretty, not like we can’t see your shape in uniform, and with how fun and adorable you are, we already know you’ve got a gorgeous personality. So, you know…sexy.”

“...aren’t you with I-Izuku and Uraraka?” Toru asked meekly.

“Didn’t remove my eyes, you know. Oh, there! We can sneak along the edge there and get to the exit!” Himiko’s musings cut off as she spotted a narrow pathway between two nearby buildings. 

“Um, yeah, sure!” Toru piped in. She followed behind the blonde girl, creeping along quietly. A few times, she almost lost track of Himiko, the blonde’s ability to sneak almost surpassing her own. She thought she really should try to learn some tricks from her, because she didn’t have an invisibility Quirk and yet somehow was being even stealthier than she was.

They managed to avoid any further villains as they reached the exit. Taking a deep, cleaning breath as she got out, she was startled out of her enjoyment by a small black cloth being shoved in her face, the blonde girl holding it out to her. 

“I keep it with my first aid kit. Izuku suggested I should keep stuff like that around just in case,” the blonde remarked, shaking the cloth once more. Toru took it meekly, wiping away at some of the sweat and soot that had accumulated on her. She opened her mouth to say something else, but blinked in confusion and pointed, not realizing Himiko couldn’t see her hand.

“What’s that?”

A green glow appeared in the distance.

“Fuck off!” Katsuki snarled, slamming another villain to the ground with an added explosion for good measure. 

Eijiro blocked a blade coming swinging at him with his hardened arm, snapping it in half. As the villain rocked back in shock and fear, he shoulder checked him into the wall and then slammed him down with his fist, knocking him out. He swiped at his forehead. “Okay. We should go back and regroup with the others. If we’re here, I bet the rest of them are. I’m worried about those who don’t have Quirks for fighting.”

“Fuck that. I’m going after that purple mist fucker.”

Eijiro gaped at Katsuki, eyes wide in confusion and hurt. “And abandon the others?! That’s not how a hero works bro!”

“Idiot! While that fuckers on the field, we can’t escape! He’ll just keep sending us around, scattering us. Or worse, he’ll get bored of that and send us in the sky and drop us! You and me might live through that, but not everyone can do that shit! If we want to help, we have to stop him first. Not to mention he’s the enemy's way out. We stop him, we corner everyone else, we blow them the fuck up and everyone’s safe.”

Eijiro went to reply, but a sudden attack from behind Katsuki had him opening his mouth to shout a warning. Katsuki dodged with a bored expression, one hand gripping the revealed villain's head and smashing it down to the ground with another explosion. He sighed. 

“Besides, if this is the caliber of villain the others are fighting, they’ll kick the shit out of them in no time. Zu, Cheeks, or Fangs could probably beat them all with their hands tied behind their back, I’m sure the rest are just as fucking good. We all got into UA for a reason, Eijiro. Have some faith.”

“...that's the nicest thing you’ve said about the others yet. Believing in them is super manly!” Eijiro cheered, smiling wide.

“Oi fuck off with that shit,” Katsuki grumbled, cheeks flushed, turning away from the red-head with his too bright smile and very visible muscles and stupid sharp teeth and too much admiration in his eyes. “Let’s get out there and fuck that bastard up, then we’ll get the rest.”

“Yeah!” Eijiro cheered again, his smile even wider than before (to Katsuki’s extreme consternation). The two of them strode through the ruins zone, little to no fear of reprisal from any remaining villains since Katsuki just knew how weak they were. They reached the entrance, ready to exit safely, when Eijiro paused, blinking in confusion.

Katsuki glanced back at him. “The fucks your problem?”

“What’s that?” the red-haired boy said, pointing.

Katsuki followed his line of sight, able to just barely see the white-haired villain from earlier and Izuku facing off. The green glow was coming from Izuku, a crackling, swirling vortex of energy around his body that he’d never seen Izuku do. But he could see Izuku’s expression, and that’s when fear and rage both shot through his veins, his eyes going wide as he remembered the white-haired villain.

That horrible day, inscribed into his mind and heart and his very soul, carved into it by a storm, by white hair, by a bastard villain who would kill some kids just to make his escape. And Izuku was there, and Izuku was glowing, and Izuku had that expression…his mind was tossed back to the day Himiko asked him about Izuku’s temper.

Katsuki ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up. “There’s a quote from an old, pre-Quirk book. It goes ‘There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in a storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man’. Well…Izuku’s your gentle man in this scenario.”

“...I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Look, you know how I got a fucking temper problem and had to take anger management and shit? Yeah, Izuku did too. He’s just got a better handle on it. Which is why when he gets pissed, he goes cold. Analytical. He doesn’t normally go feral like my dumbass does.”

“That implies he does go feral sometimes,” she pointed out.

Katsuki said nothing for a good minute, crossing his arms over his chest and staring into the distance. After a little bit, he let out a tch noise. “Just hope you’re not around when he does.”

“...shit.”

Tsuyu was scared. Scared of the villains, scared for her Sensei, scared for her new friends and classmates, scared of the hulking black creature that had absolutely broken her teacher. But right now…she was scared of Izuku more than anything.

The green-haired boy had frozen in place when Nine lifted his hand, eyes wide and unseeing for a brief moment. His body had begun to shake, to shiver, his fists clenching at his sides. Emerald lightning lit up around him, red lines snaking through his body, the very concrete beneath his feet cracking and quaking. She felt , more than saw, the sheer anguish in him, almost as if she could feel his emotions. She felt pressure, like the weight of the world weighing her down. She felt fear , every instinct in her screaming at her to run, to hide, to flee as fast as possible.

Beside her, she could tell Shinso could feel the same she did, the purple-haired boy almost taking a step back at the sheer presence that was practically dripping off Izuku. This wasn’t normal anger, or sadness, or even rage. This was something else, something darker, deeper, more visceral. It wasn’t…it wasn’t right , to see it on Izuku. She’d only known him a couple days, but in that time he’d been kind, gentle, intelligent, and heroic to a fault. Even when he’d had that panic attack caused by Kaminari, he tried to make Kaminari feel better about it.

She knew something had happened in his past, Bakugo had made that clear. She knew that his girlfriends knew what it was, and all four of them had kept rather tight lipped about it, but even with that, his first instinct every time seemed to be to help . He’d helped Kaminari and Shinso at the entrance exam, saved Toru according to the invisible girl, apparently helped save that incredibly adorable child Eri (and every time she watched them interact all she could think of was how good a father Izuku would one day be), and then saved Momo when Bakugo’s gauntlets malfunctioned. 

And here, within moments, he’d come up with a plan to escape the villains in the water, one that kept them all as safe as possible. He’s protected her and Shinso with his barrier and then again against the Nomu creature. So why? Why was he so angry, so upset, what did Nine do just then that set him off? If anything, she expected another panic attack from the rumble of thunder, but this…this was no panic attack

It was almost more terrifying when the light faded. The lightning disappeared, the pressure on the air vanished, the cracking of the ground ceased as his head dropped low, looking down at the ground. Izuku’s shoulders slumped, his arms hanging limply. With a gulp, Tsuyu stepped forward to his side, ignoring the curious gaze of Nine and Slice, the two villains seemingly willing to wait to see Izuku’s next move. She tilted her head to the side to try to look into Izuku’s expression, but his voice froze her as surely as Todoroki’s ice would.

“You said your name is Nine, correct?” Izuku’s voice was quiet, cold, a whisper as smooth and frozen as the touch of death itself. She felt her body shiver, those instincts that had quieted down just a tiny amount flaring back into life. Izuku did not wait for an answer as his head began to lift from his chest.

Izuku’s head rose up to fully face Nine, and Tsuyu took an involuntary step back, eyes wide. His eyes glowed , a radioactive green, shadowed underneath the fringe of his unruly green hair. His expression was flat, blank, relaxed…and then he smiled , a smile that held no cheer, no joy, a smile that made her understand what feeling it was, whatever that dark sensation she could somehow feel flowing off of him. It was hatred . She wanted to stop him, to stop what he said next, but she couldn’t move in time, couldn’t escape her own fear, not fear of him, but fear for him, because she could tell he was going to say something he’d regret. And then he spoke, his voice somehow echoing throughout the area, every set of eyes snapping towards his calm voice.

“My name is Izuku Midoriya…I’m going to kill you now.”

Chapter Text

Slice snickered at Izuku’s declaration. “Aww, the poor boy is angry. I’ll handle this Ni-”

No one saw Izuku move. He was there, then he was gone , standing where Slice had been, his body twisted in position of having thrown a powerful kick. Following the trail of where he’d aimed, Slice had been launched all the way across the plaza towards the fountain, blood spurting from her mouth, her side looking like it had been half crushed. The only thing that kept her from slamming into the stone fountain was the blue heteromorphic man jumping in the way, barely managing to catch her and being driven back a few steps from the sheer force.

“You’re in the way,” Izuku whispered into the silence that followed the echoing crash. His body was alight with green once more, emerald sparks dancing, emerald droplets falling from his limbs to scatter upon the ground. His radioactive gaze turned back to Nine, the villain’s eyes wide at what he’d just witnessed. Izuku narrowed his eyes. “If you have a deity…I would suggest praying to it.”

He bolted towards Nine, his feet cracking the ground. Nine brought up both hands, a trio of circular yellow discs appearing before him as a barrier. Izuku leapt up, gripping the edge of one of the discs and flipping over it, bringing his foot down towards Nine’s head. The villain dropped the shield, leaping backwards, pink-purple blasts of energy firing from his fingers. Izuku brought up his own barrier, blocking the shots.

He spun about, putting his back to the barrier and launching himself towards it, the barrier folding around him, conforming into what looked like green armor, softly glowing and sparking. He gave another half spin, a disc within his hand flinging out towards Nine. Continuing his spin, he leapt up, rolling in the air as Nine fired another series of lasers towards him, the villain dodging the disc even as Izuku fired a second, and a third, all while rolling in midair to dodge the lasers.

“ Mummy! Chimera! Kill this kid!” Nine shouted, leaping up and back, another trio of yellow barriers blocking the next discs Izuku threw.

Izuku leapt in the air, front flipping, forming a massive blade of pure energy in both hands. With a blank expression, he brought it down at the apex of his flip, slamming into the barriers with a resounding crack, the yellow barriers holding for a moment before shattering at the same time the green energy did. As Izuku landed, he had to leap away, the blue-furred heteromorph identified as Chimera’s fist slamming into the ground where he was standing. 

A half-dozen red bandage looking materials shot at him, Izuku bolting to the left and then back to the right to weave through them. His eyes sought out the one manipulating them, the red-covered man called Mummy. With a burst of energy, he shot across the battlefield towards him, forming a pointed barrier in front, a cone shape that the bandages bounced off of. 

He spun as he went, using the field he’d wrapped around himself and shifting its form between attraction and repulsion on different sides back and forth, causing his body to rotate faster and faster. With the barrier in front of him and his spinning, he looked more like a drill than a person. 

Slice managed to get to her feet, gripping her side as blood dripped from her mouth. With wild eyes, her hair shifted into blades and stabbed towards Izuku as he went by her, forcing the greenette to cancel his current trajectory and throw a field in her direction, using it to both block the damage and shove off away from her. 

His blank expression twitched for a moment, eyes glowing faster as Mummy’s Quirk gripped onto a dozen trees in the back, the bandages wrapping about them and forcing them to move as if they were golems under his control. The trees came flying towards Izuku, the greenette landing long enough to launch himself into the air, bouncing off another barrier and rocketing back towards Nine. His target was there…and he would not be stopped.

Himiko was terrified . She’d never seen Izuku act like this, never seen him move or attack like that. This was a side of her love she’d never seen and she could only imagine what the villain must have done to set Izuku off. The only thing she could think of was he’d hurt someone…someone like…Ochako…

“Fangs!” The shout from her left got her attention, seeing Katsuki and Eijiro running over to her.

“Oh, Kats, you’re okay!” she practically shouted, throwing herself at her friend, the blonde catching her with a grunt. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Enough of this, we need to get to Zu asap,” he replied, prying her off him after a quick return squeeze that she knew he’d deny till the day he died.

“What happened?!” Eijiro asked, his jaw still dropped ever since he saw the red-haired woman be launched across the plaza.

Katsuki clenched his fists tightly. “You two remember what I said about the villain who caused all our problems?” Eijiro and Himiko nodded, Toru tilting her head to the side in confusion (not that anyone could see). Katsuki took a deep breath and nodded towards Nine. “That’s him.”

“Oh…oh no,” Himiko whispered, eyes going wide as she covered her mouth with her hands.

“We don’t have time to fucking panic. We…we can’t stop Zu, not when he’s like this, but he’ll get killed if he keeps fighting all of them. We need to get the rest off him, and let him focus on the fucker. Fangs, can you take on the bandage bitch? I’m going to take out the portal fucker before he makes everything worse. Eijiro, grab the furry.”

“What about me?” Toru asked, Katsuki and Eijiro jumping as they heard her voice. Katsuki stared in her direction for a moment, before shaking his head. “Get to the top of the stairs, tell Cheeks what's going on. We need her too. We need everyone we can, if you find the others in the other zones grab them too.”

“What do we do about the black creature? It’s still standing over Sensei!” Eijiro asked.

“It’s not moving yet. Maybe it's stupid or something. Invisa, ask Cheeks if she can maybe get it on the ground or something. Give someone a chance to get Sensei out. I have no fucking clue what these fuckers can do, but we have to be fast .”

All four cringed as they heard a snap , looking back to see that Izuku’s right was dangling oddly from his side, the blue-furred one having landed a powerful hit on it. Izuku did not look phased, his expression blank still. With his left hand, he planted it on the ground and dropped into a double kick that sent even the much larger villain flying, smashing it into the lake and sending it underwater. 

“Go!” Katsuki shouted, rocketing into the air with his explosions and heading towards the spot where Kurogiri had just materialized. Eijiro nodded absently, his arms crackling and hardening as he bolted towards the lake where the furred villain went, ready to intercept. Himiko took a deep breath, before patting Toru on the shoulder and squeezing it.

“You got this, Toru. Let the others know. We’re not dying here,” with that solemn promise, two daggers appeared as if by magic in Himiko’s hands, her form almost seeming to blur as she ran towards the bandage clad figure standing as far back from the main fight as he could while still using his Quirk.

Toru bit her lip, but obeyed the order, running as fast and as quietly as she could towards the entrance. In her head, she could only hope and pray they’d be okay long enough for her to get to the rest and get their help.

She ran into Sato, Todoroki, Tokoyami, and Koda as she tried to follow the treeline, wanting to avoid getting the black-skinned creature’s attention. The four didn’t notice her at first, eyes locked on the green figure that was Izuku with three confused expressions and one blank gaze.

“H-help!” she gasped out, skidding to a stop before them.

“Hagakure?” Sato asked, looking around him in every direction.

“I’m in front of you!” she gasped again, placing her hands on her knees. She gulped. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on for sure, but Izuku’s in trouble! A lot of trouble! Bakugo, Himiko, and Kirishima are going to help him, try and get the other villains off him, because Bakugo said something about them knowing the villain leader and that’s the one Izuku’s trying to get to. It sounded real bad guys, like…real bad. I’m going to the entrance to get everyone else’s help and maybe we can get Sensei away from the black creature!”

Tokoyami’s eyes narrowed as Dark Shadow peered over his shoulder, the Quirk’s yellow gaze affixed firmly on Izuku. “Midoriya is consumed by rage, it would seem.”

“He’s really angry, Fumi. But it's not just anger. It's hate. I can feel it. He wants to kill the guy. We should let him, we should. That guy’s bad news.”

“We have discussed this before, heroes do not kill!” Tokoyami shot back at his Quirk, looking at it over his shoulder. 

“ You’re the hero, Fumi. I just want to have fun. And Midoriya is fun like this. He should stay like this, it seems fun.”

“We don’t have time to argue! Are you gonna help or not?” Hagakure said, stomping her foot to call attention back to her.

“They are here to kill All Might. We cannot allow this. The black-skinned creature is their secret weapon. I will disable it. You four get back to the entrance, it isn’t safe here,” Todoroki commanded, walking off towards the creature hovering over their teachers.

“Todoroki!” Sato called, cursing as he was ignored by the other boy. “I’m pretty much tapped out, no more sugar left. I’d be a liability more than a help.” Koda merely gestured around at the lack of animals.

“Dark Shadow and I will do what we can, but the lights do hamper our abilities,” Tokoyami intoned.

“That’s fine. At least get to the entrance and tell Uraraka what’s going on, Bakugo said she might be able to do something about the black creature. I’m gonna go look for the others!” Hagakure didn’t wait for a response, running off to the next zone she hadn’t seen yet. 

It didn’t take long for her to run across Momo and Jiro, the two covered in dust, dirt, and leaning on each other heavily. Momo looked half-emaciated, and Jiro kept clutching at her chest and wheezing. Hagakure’s eyes widened at the sight, running up to them and shouting so they knew it was her.

“Oh my god are you two okay? What happened?”

“Hagakure? Oh, you’re alright, that’s good to know,” Momo said tiredly. “I am afraid we had to go overboard to stop the villains attacking us. I think Jiro hurt herself.”

“I-I’m fine,” Kyoka muttered, an annoyed tone in her voice. “It’s nothing I can’t deal with. Forget me, what the hell's up with Green?”

A massive crack resounded through the area, the three girls flinching as a wave of dust came flying at them from the plaza. In the center of it, Izuku stood, the jumpsuit covering his legs completely gone, his left leg visibly raw and red, with cuts oozing blood across it. His foot was embedded in a crater, pieces of concrete lifted up as if shields, one of them which he gripped and launched at the white-haired villain, the figure quickly destroying it with lasers that fired from his fingertips.

“Long story, all I know from Bakugo is that apparently they know that villain and Izuku’s not um…not in his right mind right now and he’s going to keep fighting until he can’t. Bakugo, Himiko, Kirishima, and Todoroki are going to help. I was going to ask you two but…um…I think it's best you get back to the entrance. I’m gonna try to find everyone else!”

Momo reached to her side and pulled out a pair of binoculars, looking up towards the entrance, her body shivering for a moment from the chill she felt, using more of her remaining lipid stores. After a moment, she nodded. “I think most of the class is up there. The only ones I don’t see are Tsuyu, Shinso, Aoyama, Ida, and the ones you mentioned.”

“Okay, you go there then, I’ll try to find the others!”

“Alright. Stay safe, Hagakure,” Momo said, her grip on Jiro’s worryingly more slack shoulders tightening. Toru nodded (not that anyone could see it), and began to run towards one of the zones she hadn’t been to. Momo, wincing at how weak she felt, kept pulling Jiro along, trying to get her to entrance as quickly as possible.

“Uraraka!” Ochako turned at the call to see Sato approaching, Koda following behind him. 

“Oh thank the gods, you two are alright,” she said, wiping Thirteen's blood off her hands.

“Bakugo said he needs your help. He said the villain is one he and Midoriya know? That’s why Midoriya’s going crazy! He and a few others are rushing to give Midoriya backup, but he said he needed you too, said you could do something about the black creature and retrieve Sensei. Todoroki is going after it too, ” Sato managed to say in one breath, gasping for air.

“...a villain Izuku knows? Wait…oh…oh no,” Ochako’s eyes went wide with terror. She’d seen the green glow, heard the crashes and impacts, but from her angle she couldn’t see what was going on, and Thirteen remained wounded. She trusted in her partners and in Bakugo, so she’d chosen to stay up there to keep the rest of the class safe. But if Izuku was confronting him …oh no.

“Mina, Shoji, go get Sensei and bring him up here. I’ll help Todoroki distract the big thing. Sero, if you see an opening, try to grab that bandage guy, I don’t think he himself is strong so you can probably trap him. Kaminari, if Sero gets him, shock him,” Ochako ordered, all of her lessons from Nighteye coming to mind. She was so glad he kept insisting on them all learning how to delegate, how to take charge during an emergency, how to keep others calm. 

Mina and Kaminari were halfway to hysterical before she managed to get them in order, and though Shoji and Sero were fairly level-headed, she could see both of them letting their worries take over, in the way Shoji kept rescanning even though he saw nothing new, in how Sero kept fidgeting. She had to get all of them in order and get them busy, so they didn’t have time to worry. The same thing she was doing to herself, compartmentalization. Izuku was in danger. Himiko was in danger. Katsuki was in danger. They all were, she didn’t know for sure where they were or what condition, but she had to stay focused. If Katsuki identified the creature as a target she could handle, she could trust his word…he wouldn’t let anything happen to Izuku. 

As soon as she was sure the others listened to her, she turned to Sato and Koda. “You two stay here and watch Thirteen. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Not waiting for a response, she bolted down the stairs, discarding her helmet so it didn’t get in the way. She grasped at the cables coiled on her waist, letting them trail behind her as she ran, eyes narrowed on the target. The black creature had yet to move, and wasn’t looking at her, just looking down at Sensei with a blank expression. This was her chance!

She whipped the cables out, both of them wrapping about its arm. Pulsing her power down the line as it seemed to ignore her, she reduced its gravity till it began to float. Now it seemed to fight back, almost frantically pawing at the air, but she ignored that. She spun about once, twice, thrice, getting as much torque as she could while it flew about her like a toy ball on a string. She released her grip on her cables at the third spin, launching it up into the air and over the plaza. It didn’t seem to have any flight abilities, so if she kept it locked in midair, it was out of the fight as far as she could tell.

A moment later, Todoroki slid to a stop next to her, looking at her. “I was coming to disable it,” he informed her as she winced at the nausea boiling in her stomach from its struggles.

“I got it. Go help the others if you can, I’ll keep this thing away from everyone,” she replied, keeping an eye on its form in the air. Todoroki stared at her blankly, before giving a single nod and forming a track of ice, sliding along it to approach the area where she could see green glows. Too much smoke and craters kept her from seeing the fight, but she had to trust in her partners. Izuku and Himiko wouldn’t give up, Katsuki would win . She believed.

“Stay the fuck down !” Katsuki shouted, slamming his hand into the furry fucker’s head. Chimera, as he’d learned his name was, just threw him off with a grunt of annoyance, catching Eijiro’s hardened fist and spinning to launch him away. Katsuki had tried to reach the mist fucker, but he had teleported to god knows where as soon as he saw Katsuki coming. 

“Pathetic!” Chimera roared back, his tail whipping out, Katsuki barely dodging it with a blast from his palms. 

Katsuki glanced to the side, seeing Himiko weaving between the bandages of the Mummy fucker. She hadn’t been able to get close enough to land a good blow, and every knife she’d thrown had been snatched out of the air by the bandages, but she was at least keeping him occupied. Which left…

“Got you now, brat!” Slice shouted, her hair, formed into blades, slashing through the air at him.

He pointed his palms down, launching himself upwards and over her. Completing his rotation midair, he brought both hands forward as she turned to look at him. “ Stun Grenade! ” he shouted, a brilliant flare of light blinding both her and the furry bastard for a moment. He caught a glimpse of something in the corner, and his eyes widened as he saw an opening. He launched himself backwards towards Mummy, sending a blast into the distracted man’s side. He shared a glance with Himiko, the other blonde nodding in understanding. 

Himiko vanished from view as Katsuki sent a second blast, a third, a fourth, pouring blast after blast into the bandaged man. His shoulders and arms ached, but he didn’t let up, sending so many that it tore up the ground and made it impossible to see through the fire and smoke and dust. Bandages rocketed out of the smoke, wrapping about his limbs as Mummy stepped out of the smoke, eyes narrowed and body smoldering a bit.

“Blocking your own eyesight? Stupid. Now you’re done,” the man said in a bored tone. “And don’t think your little blonde friend will get me, I know her tricks by now.”

Katsuki grinned at the bandage-covered man, his teeth visible and bared in a feral smile. “Yeah…but wanna know something?”

“What?” came the bored reply.

“Did you know frogs are ambush predators?”

Mummy blinked, confused, before a pink tongue shot out from the left and wrapped around both of his arms and his chest, snapping them to his side. His eyes widened as Himiko leapt into the air, her daggers slicing through the bandages holding Katsuki in place. In a single blast forward, Katsuki had his hand placed over Mummy’s face, eyes narrowed and his smile gone.

“Go to hell,” Katsuki said quietly, as he unleashed another blast, using the momentum to slam Mummy’s head into the concrete, the already damaged ground cracking beneath the pressure. He took a half second to take a breath, before giving a thankful nod to Tsuyu’s visibly shaking form and Himiko, the other blonde gripping his shoulder. 

Eijiro landed between the three of them, groaning in pain as he struggled to his feet. Katsuki rushed over to him, helping him up, turning to look over at Slice and Chimera, the two villains steadily walking towards the four of them. 

“Give him back,” Chimera snarled, his feet ripping through his boots, claws expanding, his chest growing as his body twisted and contorted, growing larger, stronger, taller. Slice’s hair was sharpened once more, fanned wide out, even as she snarled through one bloody eye. 

At that second, Todoroki slid up next to them, ice trailing behind him. Further back, Kaminari and Sero could be seen picking their way carefully around, trying to not be noticed as they approached. Katsuki wiped at his mouth, a small trickle of blood staining his glove from an earlier punch from the furred villain. 

“Where’s the other fucker, half and half?” Katsuki asked Todoroki, keeping his eyes on the villains before them.

“Uraraka had it under control,” Todoroki replies, pointing into the air over the fountain behind them. Everyone followed his finger, seeing the Nomu struggling futilely in the air. 

Katsuki let out a bark of laughter, before turning back to Slice and Chimera. “Give it up fuckwads. Your ‘weapon’s’ useless and it's just you two versus all of us. Zu’s gonna fuck your boss up !”

“...we’ll see about that,” Slice hissed, eyes narrowed as crouched down to prepare to attack them. 

“Chimera!” the voice of Nine called out from the left, making the villain look over and open his mouth to respond, before going still, eyes wide and blank. The gathered students looked over, seeing Shinso with his mask on, one hand over the side, making small adjustments. With a shit-eating grin hidden beneath the mask, Shinso spoke in Nine’s voice once more.

“Knock your friend out.”

“Wha-” Slice managed to get out, before Chimera’s massive fist slammed into her face, smashing her down into the ground and ripping her from consciousness. The red-haired woman lay on the ground, barely breathing, out cold from the strike as Chimera stood there, awaiting new orders.

“Nice trick eyebags. Good timing,” Katsuki said, nodding to Shinso.

“Might not work on robots, but it sure as hell works on villains,” Shinso replied, gathering with the rest.

“How long can you hold the blue fucker?”

“Until someone hits him or hurts him somehow.”

“Perfect. That’s all but one of the fuckers.”

“...yeah, but what do we do about the last one, ribbit?” Tsuyu asked. As if in answer to her, a flare of green light came from behind them, a loud screech as two massive blue dragon constructs sped out towards the green glowing figure of Izuku, the greenette carving them in half with a hastily constructed blade of energy in one hand and a powerful kick from his uninjured leg at the other.

Katsuki flinched as everyone looked at him. “The rest of you need to stay back…I’ll deal with Izu.”

“Hell no, he’s my boyfriend, I’m not just leaving him!” Himiko shouted, her fists clenched around her daggers.

Katsuki spun about to her. “You don’t get it, he’s out of control! He might hurt you if you’re not careful! He’d never be able to forgive himself if he hurt any of you!”

“Oh but it's okay if he hurts you ?” she shot back.

“I know how he fights when he’s like this, I’ll be fine.”

“He’s not fighting like himself! You know that as well as I do!” Himiko shouted again, pointing at Izuku, the boy in question standing with half his costume ripped off, his scars clearly visible. One of his arms hung limply, clearly broken, surrounded by green bands of energy, as his left leg was bleeding profusely from various cuts. His expression had not changed though, still disturbingly blank, uncaring, unflinching…very un-Izuku.

“Just trust me on this!” Katsuki shouted in her face.

“I do trust you, but this isn’t something only you have to do! I love him too, I should be able to help!” she stepped up to glare back at him, the two blondes locked in a staredown. Todoroki interrupted them by pointing at Nine.

“What is he doing?”

As the group turned to look at the white-haired villain, who sported his own bleeding mouth and had lost his facemask, they witnessed him lift up his right arm, holding a small tablet-like device in hand. Glaring at Izuku, he pressed a button on it and spoke, his voice echoing in the sudden silence.

“Nomu! Activate Imbuement: Rampage !”

A loud, piercing roar echoed throughout the USJ, making everyone turn to look at the now glowing, red-skinned humanoid creature called Nomu floating in midair. It bent and twisted, its back arching, as bloody skeletal spikes erupted from its spine, stretching out like disgusting bone-like fingers. Its arms grew longer, twice as long as before, till they appeared as if they would drag on the ground if it tried to stand upright. It's jaw unhinged, the bottom lip splitting in half and growing new, serrated teeth. As its head snapped about to look over at the gathered group, its eyes glowed with intensity…and it vanished. 

Nine was his . He would bring the villain down, he would stop him from ever hurting anyone ever again. Nothing would get in his way, nothing would stop his progress. This…this bastard, this creature, this monster had taken everything from Izuku, and he would take everything in return.

There was a strange stillness in his heart, where all this bubbling, roiling hatred seemed to emanate from it. It burned in his breast, yet the burn somehow felt good, felt righteous, felt freeing . He would not be shackled by anything else, he would bring him low and stand above the bastard's broken, beaten corpse and know that he finally had avenged his parents, avenged Kacchan, avenged all those who Nine had hurt indirectly through him. 

Yet for all the hate, the rage, the pain as he kept flashing in and out from his past…everything inside him felt calm. Collected. Dispassionate. On some level he thought this might be an issue. Pretty sure his therapist would say he’s disassociating. 

His arm was broken in multiple places, but he did not feel the pain. His leg was carved up from the release of energy and the flying shrapnel, but he did not notice. He had a half dozen small holes in him, from where the lasers managed to get around his barriers, but he did not care. There was nothing before him but the target. Nothing but his will. Nine wanted someone with will to power and power to enact their will? Well, he got what he desired. Izuku had the power, and his will was Nine’s defeat.

Idly he noted Katsuki’s assistance, with the arrival of the others pulling Nine’s allies away. He’d thank his brother later. He could tell Katsuki understood. There were times the two of them were on the same wavelength, and this was one of those. He saw it, the one time their eyes met, emerald green and ruby red. Katsuki had given him one nod, pained though it was, and that was enough for Izuku to know Katsuki understood .