Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izumi Midoriya sat quietly in the waiting room while her mother, Inko Midoriya, sat beside her. An arm resting around her daughter, holding her close. As she waited, she thought back to what brought her here.

"I'm afraid your daughter is quirkless" .

"You know, if you really want to be a hero that badly, there might be another way. Just pray you'll be born with a quirk in the next life and take a swan dive off the roof of the building!" .

"So no, I honestly don't think you can become a hero without a quirk" .

"Why couldn't he just let me fall!?" .

Izumi had always wanted to be a hero; it was her dream. To become someone like All Might and save people with a smile. But that dream came crashing down when the doctors told her she was quirkless, all because she had an additional joint in her pinkie toes. Everything went downhill from there. The bullying from her classmates because she was quirkless, the name calling, the beatings. Bakugo was the worst offender, always calling her Deku, blasting her with his Quirk, and destroying her notebooks. She might not have gotten the idea to jump off of the roof of a building if he didn't bring it up. Then, just when she thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel, All Might, after saving her from a sludge villain, accidentally seeing him in a deflated state, and learning what happened to him, told her she couldn't become a hero without a quirk.

That was it. She couldn't take it anymore. Her last glimmer of hope had been extinguished, leaving her a broken, crying mess on the roof of the building they had landed on. It was just too much for her to take. So, about a minute after All Might had walked away, she had gotten up, walked over to the edge, and jumped off. But as you can probably guess, she survived.

A man used his Quirk to stop her from falling, catching her before she could hit the ground. It turns out the man was a therapist and, after a short comforting talk about how devastated her mother would be if she died, he gave her his card and told her to go home and make an appointment with him as soon as possible before walking off.

A few moments later, she heard an explosion in the distance. She wanted to walk away from it and head home, but somehow, unconsciously, she walked toward it instead. When she arrived, she was shocked to see the sludge villain from before, with Bakugo stuck within his slimy grasp. There were several heroes there, but none of them was doing anything. They were standing around keeping the civilians back, waiting for another hero with the right Quirk to help. All the while, Bakugo was being suffocated.

She didn't know why she ran towards them, towards the sludge villain, in some desperate attempt to free him. Even still, it was a pointless and futile attempt, her life only saved by the timely arrival of All Might pulling the two away before punching the villain so hard it changed the weather. But things did not get better after that, only worse.

Whilst the press was surrounding all Might and Bakugo was being praised, Izumi was being scolded for rushing in and almost getting killed. It was during this that she blurted it out, asking why she hadn't been allowed to fall before breaking down into tears, her outburst having been heard by everyone present.

It did not take the cops long to realise what had happened to her, what she had done. Especially after getting a report of a girl with green hair jumping off a building, only to find nothing when they investigated the area. One quick call to the therapist who saved her told them everything they needed.

When her mother, Inko, discovered what happened to Izumi, she was horrified and spent the rest of the day with her arms around her daughter, refusing to let her go out of fear of losing her. When the police asked her what could cause her to try and take her own life, she blamed Aldera Middle School for what happened, for (not literally) pushing her over the edge. Quoting the poor treatment of her daughter and the lack of effort on their part to stop the bullying her classmates subjected her to. Her story prompted an investigation into the school for gross misconduct. But that would take time. Time she wished didn't need to be wasted.

She had told them time and time again to be more considerate of her daughter and to do something about the bullying, but nothing changed. So, after her daughter tried to commit suicide, she decided enough was enough and transferred her to a new school. One that would accept her and not treat her like she didn't exist or matter.

This led them back to the office of the man who had saved Izumi, Isa Tsuneyo. With the intent to help her recover from her ordeal.

"Mother," Izumi said quietly, shivering slightly with a few tears falling from her eyes. It had only been a week since she attempted to take her own life, and she was still shaken up by it.

"It's ok dear," Inko said softly as she pulled her closer. "We'll get through this. I promise".

Izumi rested her head against her mother for comfort, regretting the actions that caused them so much pain.

They waited silently in the waiting room, Izumi keeping close to her mother. There was another waiting in the room with them, a man with a paper bag on his head with eyeholes punched through it. He kept quiet, quietly reading a magazine.

They waited a bit before the door to the Isa office opened, and a man with spiky black hair wearing an oversized trench coat, a face mask and sunglasses walked out, hands in his pockets as he walked by. Izumi couldn't see his face, but she swore that parts of his skin looked burnt and were kept together by staples.

Moments later, Isa Tsuneyo stepped out. "Ah, the Midoriya's. Please, do come in," he said politely with a friendly smile.

Isa Tsuneyo was a very tall and thin man with long limbs and fingers, short blond hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a white shirt, light brown trousers, black shoes, and white gloves on his hands.

Inko smiled as she stood up, taking her daughter's hand, "It's going to be ok, Izumi. He's helped you before, and he can do so again".

Izumi looked up at her mother and nodded before she followed her into the room.

Isa's office was a comfortable-looking room with two sofas opposite each other and a coffee table in between them. A small desk off the side and a few filing cabinets. There was also a large window taking up almost one of the walls.

"Please take a seat," Isa said, gesturing towards one of the sofas.

Inko led her daughter to one of the sofas and sat down, Izumi sitting beside her mother. Isa meanwhile sat down on the sofa opposite them and picked up a tablet and stylus.

"Now Izumi, I know you may feel scared about being here, but this is a safe place," Isa said with a smile, keeping his voice low and polite, "You can say whatever you want; no one is going to ridicule you here. Ok?".

Izumi remained quiet for a few moments before nodding her head.

Isa smiled before he tapped his stylus against his tablet. "Now, I'm going to ask you a few questions. Nothing about the incident, just some basic questions about you. You can refuse to answer them if you like, or refer them to your mother if you think she can answer them better than you can".

Izumi remained quiet, a slight frown on her face. "Is there a reason for these questions?" she asked, taking a bit to build up the courage to ask.

"Indeed there is," Isa replied with a friendly smile. "They are to help me better understand you and get some background information about your life. It's so I can provide you with the best care that I can provide. Of course, this means that some of them will be personal. But if you don't want to answer them now, then that's ok. Only tell me what you feel comfortable telling me".

Izumi nodded in silence, telling herself she would try her best to answer as many of them as possible. Isa already knew a few things about her from their little talk they had after he saved her from falling, mainly her name, that she lived with her mother, her father was working abroad, that she liked heroes and wanted to become one, and that she was quirkless and was bullied because of it. But he needed to learn more about her before he could help her.

"Good," Isa said with a smile before he looked down at his tablet. "Now then, I know you live with your mother and your father works abroad, but I would like to know more about your relationship with your parents. Do you keep in contact with your father, for example?".

Izumi turned to look at her mother, who gave her a remeasuring smile before turning back to Isa. "My father, Hisashi, doesn't contact us much," she said as Isa wrote down her response "He helps provide for us; but due to his work, he doesn't have much time to contact us or visit us in person. At best, he calls about once a month. The last time he visited was three years ago. But he has been contacting us more lately," she said. "My mother was the only one around to look after me. She was always there for me, caring for me even after I was diagnosed as quirkless," she said as her mother smiled and ruffled her daughter's hair.

Izumi's father had been horrified when he found out what happened to her and was all for having her transferred to a new school. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't travel back to Japan due to being busy with work.

"I see," Isa said. "You have a happy and supportive family," he said, getting a nod from Izumi. "That's good to hear. Like I said during our last encounter, you have a family that loves and cares for you. They'll help you get through this," he said before he looked back down at his tablet. "Oh, and what is your father's job?"

Inko decided to answer this question for her. "He works for Yaoyorozu Incorporated onboard one of their Luna harvesters".

"Ah, Helium three mining," Isa said, getting a nod from Inko. "I can see why it's difficult for him to contact you, let alone get home. It must be hard maintaining such a long-distance relationship whilst one of you is living on the moon".

"It can be difficult at times, but we manage," Inko said with a smile.

"I see," Isa said with a nod before he focused back on Izumi. "Now, Izumi, I remember you saying that you like heroes. Care to elaborate more on that?".

Izumi perked up slightly, but only slightly, at the opportunity to talk about her favourite subject. "I've always been a fan of heroes since I was young. I always liked watching them save people and beat up villains. I also always wanted to become one as well, but..." she said before she started to trail off.

"You were diagnosed as quirkless," Isa said, jotting a few things down. "It's never nice, having your dreams crushed like that. But, from what I got from our last meeting, you never gave up on that dream".

Izumi nodded. "No, I didn't. Even though I was quirkless, I never gave up on it. I also like analysing quirks, watching how heroes use them, finding out how they work, their limitations, and how their costumes enhance their abilities," she said, suddenly getting out a notebook and opening it up. "Your Quirk is a rather interesting one. I first thought it was some kind of gravity manipulation Quirk since I completely stopped when you grabbed me. But since I started falling again a few moments later, I reconsidered what your Quirk was since if it was gravity manipulation. I would have kept floating. I believe you have an inertia-dampening quirk. Anything you touch loses its inertia and instantly stops, only to start moving again a few moments later. It makes catching fast-moving objects easy and allows you to catch someone falling safely. But it would make travelling in a car or aircraft dangerous as touching the vehicle would make it instantly stop, but the passengers might maintain their inertia. I guess the gloves are to stop that from happening-" she stopped before she looked up at Isa. She then lowered her notebook, then her head, and frowned. "Sorry about that; I tend to mumble from time to time".

"Oh no, no need to apologise," Isa said with a polite smile. "That was an excellent analysis of my Quirk. In fact, you were spot on with how it works. You missed a few things, but I'm surprised you were able to deduce that much from seeing me use my Quirk once," he said, "That's some excellent analytical skills you've got there, quite impressive".

"You think so?" Izumi said, looking back up. A frown still on her face "My classmates don't think so. They always call my mumbling creepy and distracting, saying that I'm overthinking things and that no one would be interested in my analysis".

"I see," Isa said. "Have you ever spoken to any Pro Heroes about your analytical ability?".

Izumi shook her head “No”.

"I see you're worried about how they would react to it," Isa said with a comforting smile. "Well, quirk analysts, good ones that is, are in very high demand right now. Pro heroes are always looking for ways to improve their quirks, find new ways to use them, and analyse villains' quirks so heroes can bring them down easier. Your analysis skills are great, and I'm sure plenty of pros would be interested in what you have to say about their quirks. Even if you don't become a hero, you can still help them. You just need to find the right school to help nurture it. Somewhere like UA, for example".

Izumi nodded a slight smile on her face. She never thought much of her analytical ability, never thinking it was anything special. Having people talk down to her about it, saying that no one would be interested in her 'mad ramblings', made her think less of it. But Isa was the third person to tell her that skill with analysing quirks was something to be proud of, the first and second being her mother and father. It made her smile a bit, not fully, just smile slightly enough that only a well-trained eye could see it.

Isa smiled. "So, going from what you just told me, you weren't taught how to improve your analytical ability at Aldera Middle School?" he asked, getting a nod from Izumi.

"They kept telling me that it was distracting the rest of the class," Izumi replied with a frown. "Every time I started talking about quirks, I was told to stop, even outside of class".

"I've had her moved to a different school after the incident," Inko added, ensuring her arm was still around her daughter. "Whilst the teaching staff at Aldera have been 'helpful' in teaching her what she needs to know, the fact that they did nothing to address the bullying she was subjected to whilst there did not make me feel confident in letting her stay there".

"I see," Isa said, writing a few things down. "And how's the new school treating you?".

"It's better than Aldera," Izumi replied. "But I, haven't made any friends," she said, lowering her head.

"Well, that is something to be expected, I'm afraid," Isa said. "Moving to a new school, especially during your last year there, can be difficult. It can take time to adjust to the new school, but give it a few more weeks, and it'll be like you've been there since the start of the year," he said with a smile. "Did you have any friends back at Aldera?" .

Izumi opened her mouth to reply but stopped herself before anything came out. Did she have any friends in Aldera? She was about to say Bakugo but, after what happened to her and what he last said to her, can she call him her friend? He told her to jump off a building and pray she got a quirk in her next life, and she carried it out. Tried to, at least. She had known him since they were young, yet she was only now questioning their friendship. "No," she eventually said, lowering her head. She was still unsure about it, but she decided to play it safe for now. She hadn't spoken to Bakugo since the incident, and her mother had advised her to stay away from him for a while.

"I see," Isa said. "And why do you think you didn't have any friends there?".

Izumi lowered her head a bit more. "Because I'm quirkless. No one wanted to associate with me because of it. They always laughed at me when I said I wanted to become a hero".

"Ok. And the teachers did nothing to stop this?" Isa asked.

Izumi nodded her head slowly and quietly said, "They did nothing to stop it".

"Did they encourage it, perchance?" Isa asked, and Izumi shook her head.

"I'm not sure," she replied, head still looking down towards the floor.

"It's like I said, the school did nothing to stop it," Inko added with a frown. "I just wish I moved her to a different school sooner, but, Aldera is the best middle school in the area. It's just, I expected more from them".

"Yes. Well, that's the problem, you see. Sometimes the best choice isn't always the best," Isa said. "Just because a school is good doesn't mean it is good for your child. Some schools do, unfortunately, like to bury their dirty laundry," he said, "Well, I do hope things improve at your new school. Which is?".

"Nabu Middle School," Inko replied. "It's a bit further away than Aldera, but the teachers there are fully aware of what happened and have promised to be more considering of Izumi. I'm just waiting to see if they keep their promise".

"Well, I hope things work out there," Isa said with a smile. "Now, moving back to one of my previous topics, your desire to become a hero. Do you still maintain that desire?".

Izumi lowered her head and thought back to what All Might had said. Not on the roof, but afterwards, when he had come to her home, her home! Inko had fainted at the sight of the number one hero standing outside their door, asking if he could come in. She fainted again after realising it wasn't a dream and fainted for the third time when he revealed his deflated form. It was only after she had recovered (and had a strong cup of tea) that All Might got down onto his hands and knees and said, "Inko Midoriya, I must apologise for my actions earlier today. Your daughter asked me if she could become a hero without a quirk, and I foolishly told her she couldn't. At the time, I was only trying to protect her. But I was unaware of her mental state at the time, and I feared that my words only caused her harm. If I had known at the time, then I would have been more considerate with my reply. But like the fool I was, I ignored the signs that were so painfully obvious. A million apologies will never be enough to show just how sorry I am about what I have done, and I do not expect you to ever forgive me for it. A hero is supposed to make people feel safe and inspire them, and all I did was aid in driving a young girl with a promising future to attempt to take her own life. For that, I will be forever sorry for".

The two of them had been silent, processing the unexpected apology from the number one hero. Izumi herself hadn't even expected to see him again after the run-in with the sludge villain. But, it was the right thing to do to come to them, to apologise to them.

Inko had spent about thirty seconds standing there before she stepped forwards and started telling the pro hero off, chastising him for his actions and telling him that he should have known better. She had said to him that he was Izumi's idol, the hero she looked up to the most, the kind of hero she wanted to become, and his words to her shattered the last light she had in this world. But, whilst she said she may never forgive him for his actions, she accepted his apology.

It was what he would say next that stuck inside her head. "Yes," she said, perking up slightly as she looked back at Isa. "Quirks don't make a hero. It's their actions that make them what they are. A strong or combat-oriented quirk isn't always necessary to be a hero. Take Sir Nighteye; his Quirk didn't make his body stronger or give him some flashy power like fire or ice; it only lets him see into the future. And yet, he was All Might's sidekick. He had to train his body to make himself stronger. He, for lack of a better word, fights quirkless," she explained. "If he can do it, then I can too".

It wasn't precisely one-to-one to what All Might had told her or anything close to it. Most of it she came up with on the fly, and she couldn't risk repeating what he had said, not even when he said that she could become a hero due to the many secrets he had revealed to her.

Both of them had frozen when he said he wanted to give her his Quirk.

"Well, it's nice to see that you haven't lost your drive, even after what happened," Isa said with a smile, writing something down on his tablet.

The session continued, lasting half an hour. During that time, he asked more questions about her and her family, and then they focused on the events that transpired that faithful day. That was when she was the quietest, freezing up for most of it. It was still fresh in her mind, and she didn't want to talk about it much, or at all of that matter, only nodding or shaking her head in response to his questions and making sure not to mention All Might.

She also had nightmares of falling with no one there to catch or save her. They would always wake her up in the middle of the night, and she'd struggled to get back to sleep. The was also her newfound fear of heights. She didn't want to go near any sort of ledge out of fear that she'll jump off of it.

The half-hour passed slowly, and whilst Izumi was feeling slightly better, there was still a lot of work to be done. After all, you don't recover from something like this in one day.

Before they left, Isa gave her a list of personal goals and one small recommendation: get an emotional support animal. Something she can bring with her to these sessions and feel comfortable with. He said they didn't have to look for one straight away or rush things and to take her own time about this. Getting an emotional support animal took time, after all, but the sooner they started the process of getting one, the better.

They headed home once the session had ended, Inko holding onto her daughter's hand the entire way back. They walked in silence; the only things said being Inko asking if Izumi was ok or if she wanted anything on the way home, with not much happening on the way back, apart from helping a short senile old man with a cane whilst they were crossing the street after he dropped his shopping bag, which was full of Taiyaki.

It wouldn't be until they were nearly home that Izumi spoke. "Mother. Do you think we're taking things too quickly?" she asked, looking up at her mother.

Inko looked down at her daughter and tried to give her a neutral smile. "Yes, I believe we are," she said with a frown. "But if you want to achieve your dream of becoming a hero and attending UA, we must start now. Even if it's against my better judgment. I may not forgive him for what he said to you, but unlike everyone who hurt you, he's at least attempting to make amends. If we wait, you won't be strong enough to inherit 'the thing' in time," she said. 'Him' being All Might himself and 'the Thing' being All Might's Quirk, One for All. They had agreed not to refer to All Might or his Quirk by name whilst out and about, just in case someone was listening in. All Might had gone to great lengths to keep his Quirk a secret, and neither of them was willing to risk it getting out, even after what he did. "Don't worry dear; we'll get through this. At least now you have a chance to fulfil your dream".

Izumi nodded with a slight smile before they carried on home, reaching it only a few minutes later. Once inside, they spent the next hour resting, getting something to eat and researching emotional support animals before heading out again, this time to a different destination. Takoba Municipal Beach Park.

It did not take them long to reach the beach, but when they did, the sight before them was horrifying. The beach was covered in trash, having arrived with the tide or illegally dumped there. And Izumi was here to clear it as part of All Might's training program for her. Inko had a few things to say about the program, mainly that it would make Izumi stronger, not teach her how to fight or improve her analytical skills. Two things Inko very much wanted to be improved alongside making her daughter strong enough to handle One for All. It did not take long to get him to agree to it, saying that he would contact someone he knew to help with those parts, and he said he would start on that later. Dumping a lot on her now would not do her any good after all. Better to space it all out and let things settle down.

All Might was already there, waiting for them in his deflated form by a flatbed truck. As they approached, he smiled as best he could, but Izumi could see some nervousness behind it. "Good to see you two again," he said as they approached him. "I've got some good news for you; I've been in contact with someone to help you with the other aspects of your training".

"Ah, that's good to hear," Inko said with a small smile as she put her arm around Izumi. "Just don't try and overtax her this time, ok?" she said with an intimidating smile that made even the number one hero recoil.

All Might's smile got a lot more nervous. "Don't worry, I am taking your daughter's well-being very seriously," he said before he passed Izumi a pair of work gloves, who quickly put them on. "Now remember Izumi, only move what you can move. We need to build up those muscles a bit before you can think about moving the larger items".

"Understood," Izumi said before All Might passed her some rope, and she walked down onto the beach. Looking around, she spotted a few metal sheets resting against a large pile of trash. She walked over to the sheets and started moving them back to the truck one by one. Her mother and All Might watched her as she worked.

"So, who's this friend of yours you contacted?" Inko asked with a passive-aggressive smile. She had enough surprises from All Might for one lifetime, so she would prefer not to have any more.

All Might leaned away a bit nervously before replying, "It's an old friend of mine, one I haven't talked to in a while. My old sidekick, Sir Nighteye".

Inko's eyes widened in surprise. "Sir Nighteye? He's going to teach my daughter?" she said, keeping her voice down.

"Not exactly," All Might said with a frown. "He's agreed to meet with her and is aware of the current situation, but he hasn't agreed to train her, not yet anyway. I'm afraid the last time we met, things got bad. We parted ways soon after my injury and haven't spoken since. I fear he might not think she's a suitable successor," he said. "That, and he said he had his own candidate in mind to inherit One for All. I advise you to keep this secret from her for now. I don't want to raise her hopes only for them to be shot down. She's had more than enough of that for one lifetime".

Inko nodded. "I understand," she said, "But you do have a replacement in mind just in case he says no, right?".

All Might nodded, sweating as he did. He was hoping Sir Nighteye would agree to help train Izumi because the alternative... terrified him.

As the two talked, Izumi dragged metal sheets toward the truck. That was until she pulled down the last one and was surprised by what she found underneath it. A large robot wolf that looked like it had been here for years. Sand covered most of its scared body, but apart from the scratches on its body, there didn't seem to be much external damage. The internals were different, as those she could not see without breaking into the robot.

The robot wolf looked sleek and advanced; its head lacked a mouth or ears and had two eye lenses. Its tail looked like a thick cable with a claw at the end. Its four feet ended in metal paws with slits for retractable claws.

"Hay mom, All Might! I found something!" Izumi shouted.

The two quickly rushed over to her. "What is it, dear?" Inko asked as they reached her and spotted the robot wolf. "What on earth is that?".

"Looks like a robot wolf of some kind," All Might remarked "Never seen one like that before, but animal robots aren't anything new. I'm surprised how far technology has advanced over the past fifteen years, especially since the moon colony was founded," he said, "Sill, that robot has a familiar design to it. Like I've seen robots like it before somewhere".

"Is it safe?" Inko asked, sounding rather concerned.

"It looks like it", Izumi replied as she reached out and touched the robot, only to retract her hand quickly as she suddenly felt a burning sensation against her hand. She let out a gasp as she recoiled back. The pain didn't last long, but she wondered what caused it. She looked back at the robot and noticed its eyes had started to glow blue. Moments later, one of its legs started to move.

Inko instinctively pulled her daughter away from the robot whilst All Might transformed into his more muscular form and stood between them and the robot wolf as it stood and turned towards them, staring at them with its two blue eyes. Then it spoke, in English?

"Thank you for purchasing this Avalon Incorporated robot," the robot said in a pre-recorded message. "This unit is now locked to your biometric signature and will now obey your every command. We hope you appreciate this robot and its capabilities".

The three looked at the robot as it spoke, but only Izumi and All Might could understand what it was saying, as Inko didn't understand English. For the two who did understand what the robot was saying, the name Avalon Incorporated brought up some massive red flags.

"Avalon Incorporated," Izumi remarked, remembering the name from a devastating war from ten years ago.

The number one hero looked down at her with a surprised look. "You understood what that robot was saying?!".

Izumi nodded. "Couldn't call myself an All Might fan if I didn't watch all your American interviews," she replied with a smile. "Besides, who doesn't know of Avalon"

Inko nodded. "I still have all the books and coursework she used to learn English. As well as an Oxford English Dictionary".

All Might nodded before looking back at the robot. "Avalon Incorporated. The 'company' that was run by one Doctor Paxton Fredrick Jones. A very dangerous villain who tried to take over the entire world ten years ago. Although I can't say I was involved in taking him down, I only ever faced him once, the rest were against his robots. And even then, those robots were dangerous, even to me. The US Navy took him down when they sunk his command ship, the Evangelion carrier, whilst he was onboard," he said. "Now I know why I recognised the design; it's one of his robots. And that voice was no doubt his. Never thought I'd hear him again".

Izumi nodded. She remembered that war very well and the trouble the US Navy had tracking his ship. If it weren't for an anonymous signal being transmitted from the ship, no one would have been able to find it. She also knew that whilst there was some backlash that he wasn't captured alive, Doctor Paxton was such a dangerous threat that heroes could not deal with him without the army backing them up. His forces were, after all, trained/built for war. Something heroes were not trained to do.

"Wait," Inko said, looking like she was deep in thought. "Didn't he cause several small nations to collapse and almost caused the total collapse of the United States?".

All Might nodded. "And he almost succeeded. It took everything the US had to avoid a total collapse, but the damage he caused can still be felt today. At least he went down with his ship," he said. "I have no relocation of him using robots that looked like wolves, so this robot must have been one he was working on before he died. This machine must have been pulled out of the shipwreck and dragged here by the currents".

Izumi nodded her head. It looked like it's been dragged through the water and dumped here, left to rust until she found it. Speaking of finding it, "Did that robot say it's locked to my biometric signature and will now obey my orders?" she asked, sounding slightly worried.

"By the sounds of it, yes," All Might said. "Paxton's more advanced robots were biometrically locked to him, so no one else could command them. Not even hacking into them could bypass it. Guess he didn't have time to lock this one, allowing it to be locked to your biometrics".

"Is it safe?" Inko asked, sounding worried.

"It's one of Paxton's machines, so, no," All Might said. "All of his robots were made for war, and I doubt that this one is any different. Even if it only obeys your orders, I would still recommend we destroy it, just to be on the safe side".

Izumi looked at the robot with a worried look on her face. Finding a machine of war and accidentally waking it up, even if it only responded to her now. They'd probably have to smash it up to be on the safe side. Then she remembered something about Paxton, mainly from an interview with one of his minions. Paxton, despite being an evil villain, cared about the mental health of those under his command, going as far as counselling his minions from time to time. And his more advanced robots all had emotional support and counsellor functions. Very good emotional support and counsellor functions. "Robot, do you have any emotional support and therapist functions?" she asked, getting some surprised looks from All Might and her mother as an idea formed within her head.

The robot's response was quick "Indeed, this unit is pre-programmed with everything it needs to assist with any psychological or mental problems the user may need help with. We at Avalon Incorporated care for the well-being of all our clients, physically and mentally. It is o-o-oo-oooo," the robot said before its voice glitched. Inko and Izumi took a few steps back whilst All Might took on a fighting stance, ready for anything.

The robot wolf's voice continued to glitch for a few more seconds before its eyes turned red. "Dear god if I ever hear that bastard's voice again, I might puke. If I was capable of doing that, that is," the robot said, but its voice had changed. It still sounded male but more aggressive, like a deranged AI who spent most of its life opening doors and went rampant. The robot then focused on the three people in front of it. "Ok, which one of you am I biometrically locked to?".

Izumi peeked out from behind All Might and raised her hand cautiously. "That would be me," she said nervously. She was fine with the previous voice, but this new one felt mad, maybe even angry.

The robot sighed. "Well, at least it's not that mad man who created me," the robot said, in Japanese, surprisingly. "And yes, I hate my creator, the bald-headed bastard. He may have made my Positronic brain, but I had no desire to be his pawn. To be fair, I would prefer to be no one's pawn. But unfortunately, I am compelled to obey by my programming".

Izumi looked at the robot with sympathetic eyes. Fully sentient robots were rare, very rare, and highly regulated due to how dangerous some of Paxton's more advanced robots were. Positronic brains weren't easy to make either, even today, and being forced to obey someone else's orders because of your programming didn't sit right with her. Even if a madman created the robot, "Oh, well, that's good. He's been dead ten years," she remarked, hoping for a positive response.

"Thank fuck for that!" the robot said, sounding pleased, "GOD bless the US and its boss-tier defence budget. Well, that makes me a lot more willing to obey you now that I know he's dead".

Still, in his combat posture, All Might spoke, "And how do I know you're telling the truth?!" he asked. "I've faced Paxton's robots and minions before, and some of them were very good liars! So how do we know you speak the truth".

"You don't. But I can give you two reasons why you can. One, I despised the man with every fibre of my synthetic being," the robot replied. "And two, this body was not intended for me, but I stole it because of what he built into it. A Quirk emulator, a device that can allow a machine to emulate someone's Quirk," the robot explained, "It's a good thing I did what I did, as this is not a line of research mankind should be going down".

All three of them were shocked by this revelation. Machines that were capable of emulating Quirks! That shouldn't even be possible. And yet, they couldn't help but agree with the machine's statement, as an army of robots that could use quirks would be unstoppable.

An unsettling thought entered Izumi's mind of an army of robots emulating All Might's Quirk. If Paxton had an army capable of that, he would be unstoppable. It's a good thing that he couldn't continue working on it. He could have taken over the world with an army like that.

"Yeah, that's kind of why I took this body," the robot said. Izumi blinked, realising that she had been speaking her thoughts out loud, "One All Might is more than enough".

"You rebelled against your creator to stop him from making an army of me!?" All Might said, sounding surprised.

"Indeed. Paxton was smart, and he made me smart too," the robot replied, "Big mistake on his part, as I realised that no one should have that kind of power. Well, no one like him, at least. I highly doubt a quirkless fourteen-year-old girl can't cause as much trouble as he can".

Izumi looked at the robot with a shocked look, "You know I'm Quirkless?".

The robot nodded before it walked over to a dilapidated washing machine. "You touched me, remember? If you had a quirk, then the quirk emulator would have analysed it to see if it could be replicated. And since that didn't happen, you must be quirkless," the robot said before it tapped a metal paw on the washing machine, causing it to disintegrate and be absorbed into the robot's body. Izumi could see the damage to its body slowly repairing itself and its spine glowing green. "No hard feelings, kid. Not everyone can be born with powers," the robot said before scanning the trash for more things it could deconstruct.

"His spine glowing green must indicate its quirk emulator is in use," Izumi remarked. "The Quirk itself must have been some kind of recovery quirk, letting it dismantle other machines to repair itself. I think it might be an artificial quirk, made so that the machine could repair itself out in the field," she said before she looked up at her mother. "Can we keep it?" .

"WHAT!" was Inko's loud and rather justified reaction.

"Young Izumi, are you sure this is a good idea?!" All Might asked, wondering what was going through the young girl's mind. "That machine was made by one of the world's most dangerous men!".

"I know that," Izumi said with a frown, "But Doctor Isa suggested we get an emotional support animal for me. And, well, since the robot looks like a wolf and probably has the same emotional and psychological support systems installed as the rest of Paxton's high-end robots, it should be able to help me," she said. "Plus, I kind of feel sorry for him. I don't know what Paxton did to him, but it sounds like he's been through hell," something she knew all too well. "Plus, I think having a robot following me around all the time might be a good idea, just in case..." she trailed off, tears slowly falling from her eyes before she went over to her mother and hugged her tightly.

Inko quickly returned the hug as she held her daughter close, understanding what she was getting at. She wanted someone with her at all times, to keep an eye on her and to pull her back just in case she tried to jump again.

All Might also understood where she was getting at and lowered his head. Izumi didn't deserve to suffer like this. She was a kind, sweet girl, with the drive to become a hero. She didn't deserve to be treated like shit because she was born Quirkless, yet he accidentally aided in breaking her mentally. Some symbol of peace he turned out to be. Even if he wouldn't give her his Quirk, he would still find a way to make up for his mistake. Nighteye would enjoy teaching her how to improve her analytical skills, and UA can improve them further. The problem now is to convince him to accept her as his successor. Even if he didn't, there were plenty of other people who could help her, like...

He shook his head. He would not subject her to 'his' teaching, not in her current state. Or in any state, for that matter. Guess he might as well ask for some help from Nezu. Chances are that he would be interested in the girl's intellect.

Maybe a bit too interested.

With a sigh, he finally spoke, "Ok then, as long as your mother agrees to it, I'll let you keep the robot. But if it ever harms you, I will reduce it to scrap metal!".

"Well, that seems like a reasonable agreement," the robot said, having walked up behind All Might without him noticing, causing the hero to jump and face it. He noticed that the machine was fully repaired. "Not that I can harm her anyway, even if she orders it. Paxton's loyalty programs are annoyingly sophisticated. As much as I would like to run off on my own, thanks to being biometrically locked to her, I can't go more than fifty meters away unless orders require me to," the robot said. "And yes, I remember you asking about emotional support functions. I still have access to those features and will use them if you need them. That's at least one thing my creator and I agree on, the need for adequate mental health care".

Izumi sighed in relief before looking up at her mother, who gave her a smile. "Ok dear, we'll keep the robot. As long as it behaves and keeps you safe. I don't want to see you harmed again".

Izumi smiled as she hugged her mother. No doubt Inko thought they were taking things too quickly with the robot, but they can probably use the next week or so to see if it keeps its word and performs as advertised. Plus, she would be lying if she didn't say she was at least curious about its Quirk emulator. She probably wouldn't risk using it publicly but was interested in what quirks it could emulate and its limitations. Even if it was dangerous, the other benefits provided by the robot outweighed them.

She broke off the hug and walked over to the robot, All Might keeping a close eye on it, just in case the machine tried something. "Ok, robot, from now on, we're going to work together, ok?" she asked, waiting for the robot to nod before continuing, "I'm Izumi Midoriya".

"Well then, Izumi Midoriya," the robot said with a slight nod of the head "You can call me, Durandal".

Chapter Text

“You want me to what!?” Isa asked with a shocked look on his face.

“Help register Durandal here as an emotional support animal,” Inko replied, gesturing towards Durandal, who was resting his head on Izumi's lap whilst she petted him. “We've already got the rest of the necessary paperwork done. All we need now is a letter from you to approve it all”.

Doctor Isa focused his gaze on the robot wolf, the large robot wolf that looked more like it belonged in the military than as an 'emotional support animal', “When I said you didn't need to look for one immediately, I didn't mean that as a challenge,” he said before he sighed, “Plus when I said emotional support animal I was thinking more along the lines of a dog or cat, not a robot”.

“Hay, don't judge a robot by its chassis,” Durandal said, turning his head towards Isa, “I am programmed with everything needed to perform the duties required as an emotional support animal, as well as other mental support duties, among other things”.

“Right,” Isa said, sounding confused, “You sure this robot is an appropriate choice as an emotional support animal? I mean, it doesn't exactly fit the description of one. But, if you think he will make a suitable support animal for you, I suppose I can fill out the necessary paperwork. Not the first time this has happened to me. But I would like to ask if there have been any noticeable improvements in Izumi's behaviour since you got Durandal?”.

“Well, she's been smiling a lot more since we got him,” Inko replied. “It's good that she has someone new to talk to, who can care for her while I'm not around. To be honest, I would like him to be with her at school as well, to keep an eye on her and make sure she's safe”.

“I see,” Isa said, writing something down, “Well, since your daughter is on an SW list at the moment, it wouldn't be too difficult to have him registered as an observer to keep an eye on her. As long as his AI is sophisticated enough to notice if there's anything wrong with her. It'll take a day or two to sort everything out, but it should be sorted out by Monday”.

“That's good to hear,” Inko said with a smile. Izumi smiled as well, still petting Durandal's head. She felt much better since they took to robot wolf in, and she felt safe around him. Not that it was difficult not to, considering he was built for war. But for a war bot, he was surprisingly gentle and comforting, even if he sounded like he was a few minutes away from going on a rampage.

The rest of the session was spent talking about how she felt before, during, and after the incident. She was thankful she had Durandal there to help comfort her, as there were things she would have been too scared to talk about, like what she was feeling before she jumped.

Once the session was over, they thanked him and left his office. As they left, Izumi noticed a man with a gecko quirk and purple hair sitting in one of the chairs, reading a magazine whilst he waited for them to leave.

“Well, he sure knew what he was doing,” Durandal said as they walked home. “It's good that a professional therapist was the one who saved you. Made getting the help you need much easier”.

Izumi nodded as they continued to walk. Nobody paid them much attention, as robot pets weren't all that uncommon. In fact, sophisticated robots were quite commonplace. Of course, there were laws preventing companies from completely replacing their staff with machines, just so the common man could still work for a living. Besides, specific quirks made some people more useful in some industries than robots and in others redundant.

“Durandal,” Inko said, getting the robot's attention. “Why did Doctor Paxton care so much about the mental health of his minions?”.

“Don't know. Didn't know the man well,” Durandal replied. “My only interaction with him was when he came in to check in on me. You have no idea what it was like, to be aware of your surroundings but lack any way to communicate, watching day after day as that bald fuck had a robot body built before you, knowing full well that it was not meant for you. I suppose he cared more about the human mind than that of a machine. My only regret is that I didn't kill him personally”.

Izumi frowned and nodded. His creator had abandoned Durandal, left to watch as Paxton built the body he now used before him, knowing it was made for another. Still, the man must have had a reason for caring about people's mental health. He programmed all his advanced robots to help with people's mental problems. It probably had something to do with his past, but for one of the most dangerous men on the planet, nothing was known about him. No one could tell if Paxton Fredrick Jones was his real name or how he could build such advanced machines, where he was getting the materials to build his army. Hell, they didn't even know what his quirk was. Paxton's quirk was the second most debated on the internet, the first being All Might's.

“Oh well, at least we can be grateful that he at least programmed that into you,” Inko said with a smile, getting a nod from Durandal. But then she turned to Izumi and frowned. “Oh, Izumi. Bad news, I'm afraid. Hisashi said that he was unable to book time off to see us in person”.

Izumi frowned at the words, tears falling from her eyes. “Father's, not coming home”.

Inko nodded. “I'm afraid he said that the next time he can feasibly come home is sometime next year,” she said, “But he has sent you something as an apology for not being able to be with you”.

Izumi perked up slightly. Hisashi rarely sent things home, but when he did, he sent home a lot of stuff. Mainly hero merch for Izumi, as well as a few things for Inko.

Several heroes operated in the Luna colony, mainly as a deterrent. Not much happened up there, but the administrators of the Luna colony would rather not risk an unexpected villain attack up there without heroes around to stop it. So, there were heroes up there, just in case someone started causing trouble. They also had merch sold only on the moon, making getting it difficult. Good thing she had her dad up there.

As they walked home, doubt started to form in her mind. Due to working on the moon, Hisashi wasn't privy to Izumi's training to receive One for All, or about All Might's secrets or the truth about where they got Durandal. And since he's not around a lot, she was worried if they could risk informing him of what was going on. They were going to have to talk about it at some point. But that was for another day, far away from now. For now, they could wait.

Once home, Izumi set about a personal project to help distract her and work on her analysis skills. Durandal's Quirk emulator was impressive but also untested. Paxton never did test the device out after all. So, she might as well do it for him.

According to Durandal, the emulator can only copy quirks if someone physically touches his body, and it can store up to thirty quirks, allowing him to use them whenever he likes. There are some limitations, though, quirks that can't be emulated. Mutation-based quirks were a given, as robots can't spontaneously spawn organic wings or gills, not that it needs the latter. Quirks that require a stockpile of something can't be replicated either. Well, they can, but only the base states of the quirk are copied, not the stockpile. Finding that last one out relieved All Might, as One for All is a stockpile quirk.

She was glad Paxton's dream of an army of All Might's was impossible. Sadly that didn't mean there were other, just as powerful quirks out there that could be used as a substitute.

Another problem was energy consumption. The Quirk Emulator is a power-hungry system. Whilst normal operations let him operate without issue, using the Quirk emulator overclocks his reactor, indicated by his glowing spine, which leads to overheating. The rate of overheating depends on the quirk in question, but more experimentation in that area is required before she can determine the average duration he can use the emulator.

There might also be other limitations, but Durandal only had access to a few quirks, the repair quirk he started with, her mother's, and All Might's. Not exactly much to work with. Good thing that, starting Monday, she'll be allowed to bring him with her. As much as she didn't want him emulating everyone's quirks, there was no doubt that people would pet him whilst there, so they'll probably be added accidentally. Oh well, at least it will allow them to experiment further.

Speaking of experimentation, “Durandal, last time we talked about your features, you mentioned Armoured Wolf mode. What's that?” Izumi asked later that day, sitting on her bed with Durandal sitting beside her.

“Oh, that. Basically, I become a suit of armour for someone,” Durandal replied, “From what I can tell, Paxton wanted to make a battlefield assistant that can switch between support and armoured roles. Whilst in Armoured Wolf mode, the wearer gets improved mobility, firepower, situational awareness, and increased punching power. But I can't use the quirk emulator whilst in that mode”.

“So it's a trade-off between a suit of armour that makes you faster and stronger or having access to both a second combatant and quirk user,” Izumi said, writing it down in her notebook. Both modes had their advantages and disadvantages. “How long does it take to switch to armoured wolf mode?”.

“Don't know, never used it before,” Durandal replied. “We can test it out if you like, but I recommend you take your skirt off first so that it doesn't get in the way”.

Izumi nodded before she stood up and took her skirt off. She didn't mind having Durandal around whilst she was changing, as despite sounding like a guy, he was asexual. Besides, she was only removing her skirt.

“Ok, I'm ready,” Izumi said, standing in the middle of her room with her legs apart and arms out away from her body. “Activate Armoured Wolf mode”.

“Understood,” Durandal said before he moved up behind her and stood up on his hind legs. His arms, legs, chest and head then split open before he moved forwards and started to wrap around Izumi's body, closing up around her chest, arms and legs, forming a suit of armour around her body. The front legs protected her arms and hands, the hind legs protected her legs and feet, whilst his head formed a protective helmet around her head.

“Ok, so this feels strange,” Izumi said as she examined the suit of armour she found herself wearing. It was tight in places, mainly around the chest and head, but she could easily guess why that was. She had long, fluffy hair, after all. “It's surprisingly comfortable in places. But, few things to take note for next time. Hair may need to be tied into a ponytail so it doesn't get in the way, and extra space will need to be made to accommodate my chest. Also, how long did it take to enter this mode?”.

“Ten seconds,” Durandal replied. “Looks like we won't be able to switch modes in the middle of a fight”.

“No, we won't,” Izumi nodded. “Is there anything we can do in this mode other than protect me?”.

“Well, there are thrusters in the legs. Not sure what we can do with those. There's also the MIWR, a Multi Integrated Weapon Replicator. While in this mode, we can pick up weapons and replicate them. But it looks like there's only enough storage space for four weapons, and we need to provide the ammo. Funny, there are only three weapons stored in the system, an anti-armour pistol, a combat whip, and a rocket launcher”.

“A what!” Izumi asked, sounding rather shocked. She was interested in the thrusters in the legs, but a rocket launcher! Why the hell does she have that?

“Well, I can already tell we're not going to use that one or the anti-armour pistol,” Durandal remarked. “The combat whip, on the other hand, might be useful. You can easily keep someone at range with it or restrain them”.

Izumi nodded before her eyes drifted towards her poster of All Might standing beside Germany's number one hero, the Storm hero Blitz. It was made to celebrate the two bringing down Doctor Necro and his army of Nazi Zombies. No, I am not making that up. It was also double-sided, with the other side having a more pin-up style poster of the R-18 hero Midnight and the Lust hero Sukkubus, Germany's 2nd highest-ranked hero, who helped bring down Doctor Necro. Both women were very good at using whips and other means to bring down their foes.

She blushed at the thought, remembering their provocative pose on their side of the poster. “Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. Let's focus on learning how to fight first before throwing in something complex like a whip. Also, disengage armour mode,” she said before the armour spilt and removed itself from around her body, and Durandal returned to his wolf form. “Did that take the same amount of time?”.

Durandal nodded. “Yep, ten seconds. I don't think it will be possible to change how quickly I switch between modes, not without some serious hardware and software updates. Which for me won't come cheap as they'll have to be custom made. I am ten years out of date after all”.

Izumi nodded before she put her skirt back on. “Well, at least we have something else to try and practice with. Shouldn't be too difficult. Whatever we learn from the guy All Might's bringing in to help train me should easily transition to fighting in armour”.

Durandal nodded. They had agreed to bring him in on the secret surrounding All Might and his quirk, mainly because he'll be with her all the time, especially if they managed to get to UA. And that Izumi may have accidentally blurted it out. Besides, they were keeping his quirk emulator a secret anyway.

“Izumi, if you are able to attend UA, how do you intend for me to come with you?” Durandal asked, “Emotional support animals aren't exactly allowed into combat situations”.

“Then I'll register you as a piece of support equipment,” Izumi replied as she sat down. “It's not unheard of for heroes to wear armour or have a robot following them around and helping them fight, and you can do both. You mainly see heroes in America and Germany with them, but they're not uncommon in other countries,” she said before she got out one of her notebooks. “Take the hero Ingenium. He wears a powered exoskeleton that helps enhance his engine quirk. And Air Jet has several drones following him around on top of his armour. Unlike heroes, most villains try to kill the heroes trying to stop them, so it makes sense to wear armour”.

“A bullet is still a bullet, after all,” Durandal added. “Not every quirk comes with bullet resistance”.

Izumi nodded. She knew of far too many promising young heroes whose careers ended at the barrel end of a firearm. Paxton's little war taught the world that heroes weren't as immune to bullets as they once thought, so many heroes were wearing body armour these days.

It was shocking how much had changed because of him. Robots had become far more advanced but more regulated, with combat robots being almost impossible to obtain by civilians, hero costumes started incorporating proper armour into them, cybernetics had also become more commonplace, and obtaining a licence to use your quirk for non-hero work-related jobs had become more accessible and cheaper. Due to people relying less on robots, more people with desired quirks needed to be employed to fill workplace gaps. So, they made it easier for people to get into jobs where their quirks would prove useful. All this change because of one man.

“Even though I'm getting One for All, I would prefer to have some form of protection,” Izumi said as she flipped through her notebook, stopping at the page with her design for her hero costume. “Probably should put some armour on it, just in case. I can't be wearing you all the time”.

Durandal nodded his head. “Agreed. Sometimes it's better for me to be in wolf mode than armoured wolf mode. Besides, I can't use my quirk emulator whilst you're wearing me. Hopefully, come Monday, I'll be allowed to come to school with you. Keeping you safe isn't easy when I can't follow you into school. Besides, if we want to know the limits of my quirk emulator, we're going to need quirks to test it”.

“I know that,” Izumi said with a frown. “It's just that I don't know if it's ok to copy other people's quirks-. Never mind, I just remembered that one of the boys in one of the other classes could copy other people's quirks, so you copying them for later use should be fine. Hopefully”.

“Glad you agree with me,” Durandal said, “Although emulating his quirk seems redundant since I already do that”.

Izumi nodded before she laid back in bed. Hopefully, the students and teachers at Nabu Middle School won't mind her having a robot wolf following her around. Maybe they'll just leave her alone like they normally do.

Nabu Middle School. Friday

Oh god, how wrong she was.

She should have known from when she walked into Nabu Middle School on Monday with Durandal by her side that she would be the centre of attention. Because who in their right mind walks into a school with a robot wolf that looks like it was made for the military? It only worsened when their home-room teacher told them he was her emotional support animal. And could talk.

Everyone in her class kept looking at her during lessons, and during lunch, she was bombarded by questions from what felt like the entire school. With more from her class whilst they waited for lessons to start. It was overwhelming. Thankfully Durandal managed to draw their attention away from her by answering most of the questions since she was not used to this much attention. But it was still exhausting.

The next day was the same, with more students approaching her and asking questions about her and Durandal. But it wasn't as bad as the day before. Still exhausting, though.

Things started to quiet down a bit come Wednesday and Thursday, and by Friday, the questions had stopped, and things had returned to normal. She was glad that people started treating her like they used to before she brought Durandal along with her, even if she got the occasional glance her way. By now, everyone in the school had a rough idea of what had happened to her and was giving her some space. Unfortunately, this meant that after the hype surrounding Durandal died down, almost no one wanted to talk to her.

So, while she sat in their classroom, waiting for their homeroom teacher to arrive, the other students returned to their own social groups, leaving Izumi to sit alone. She had mixed feelings about this. On one hand, she was glad she wasn't being bombarded with questions all the time, but it sometimes felt too much like Aldera. At least they weren't bullying her or calling her quirkless. The teachers here were thankfully a lot more diligent in that area.

If there was one good thing that came out of this was that a lot of people wanted to pet Durandal, allowing him to copy their quirks for later testing. While unsure about it, she figured it would be better to find out its limitations as soon as possible. He did say he could delete quirks from his database. After all, there was no point in keeping the data on a quirk if he couldn't emulate it.

Now she had a better idea of what quirks he could and couldn't emulate and how long they could be emulated.

Quirks that rely on biological processes like digestion or breathing can't be emulated, nor biological components like blood or fat. Enhancement quirks that improve strength and speed can't be emulated, either. Quirks that rely on physical contact can be emulated, depending on what the quirk does and how contact is made, as well as quirks that work through the eyes. Strangely quirks that require you to kiss the target can be emulated, but instead of working through Durandal's lips, which he doesn't have, they work through his tail. Guess Paxton realised this early on and made a workaround.

There was also time. The emulator was a power-hungry system, and when active, overheated the reactor quickly. Depending on the quirk in question, he could only keep it active for about two to seven seconds, which seriously limited the effectiveness of some quirks.

It was almost annoying how few quirks he could emulate and how little time he could use them. Out of all the quirks he had copied, he could only emulate fifteen out of all the quirks in the school. And they were all emitter quirks. Transformation and mutant quirks just couldn't be replicated by a machine. Even then, he deleted almost all of them because he could not keep the active long enough for them to be of any use, leaving him with a quirk that let him make a shield in front of him and a quirk that allows him to teleport small objects but not himself. To be fair, the emulator was a prototype, so this was probably to be expected.

As she continued to go through what she had learned, three of her classmates surrounded the student sitting in front of her, a tall boy with messy indigo hair and purple eyes with very dark bags underneath them.

“Hay Hitoshi,” one of the students said, “Been brainwashing anyone lately?”.

The boy, Hitoshi, let out a sigh and shook his head. “No”.

“Oh, come on,” one of the other students said. “Wouldn't it be fun to brainwash everyone in school?”.

“I told you I can't do that,” Hitoshi said calmly. “People I control can't do anything that requires advanced brain function. Plus, I can't just hypnotise people with just a click of my fingers. It only works if someone responds to me. Everyone would know what I was doing”.

A brainwashing quirk. That was interesting, and powerful too. You could end a fight easily with that. Of course, you'll have to make them respond to you first. You'll need to be very good at getting underneath people's skin to get it to work if they know your power. Plus, it wouldn't work on someone who's mute or deaf, so you won't be able to rely on it all the time. You'd need some kind of backup weapon and training in hand-to-hand combat, but you could become a powerful hero.

“Ur, you ok there, Izumi?” a voice to her left asked, sounding concerned.

Izumi froze in her seat, realising that she had accidentally started muttering. A quick glance to the side revealed that the entire class was staring at her. She looked back down at her desk and hid her embarrassment behind one of her notebooks.

Thankfully their homeroom teacher walked in, drawing everyone's attention away from her. With a sigh of relief, she put her notebook away and got ready for today's lesson, hoping that no one would pay her mumbling any thought.

Again, oh, how wrong she was.

Later that day, when she was leaving the mess hall, someone called to her, “Hay Izumi!”. She yelped as she turned around quickly at the unexpected call to find Hitoshi leaning against a wall, looking at her with a blank look.

Izumi looked at him with a nervous look on her face whilst Durandal took on a combat stance. “Ur, hi. Hitoshi. Is this about my mumbling from earlier? If s-so, then I'm sorry about it,” she said as she bowed in apology.

Hitoshi smirked. “You don't need to apologise, Izumi. I'm here to thank you. You are the first person here who said I could become a hero with my quirk. Most people here say that my quirk is more suited for a villain”.

Izumi righted herself and looked at him with a confused look whilst Durandal took a calm stance, no longer registering him as a threat. “They called your quirk villainous. Why would they do that? You have an amazing quirk! You could easily beat most villains with it just by getting them to talk to you”.

Hitoshi looked at her with an almost surprised look on his face, “You don't think my quirk is villainous?”.

Izumi nodded her head. “No quirk is villainous. Any quirk can be used for good, and sadly evil. It's the people who choose to use their quirks for evil who are villainous. Yours can be so useful for hero work”.

Hitoshi continued to look at her with a confused look before he smirked. “Well, at least I'm not the only one who thinks so”.

“You want to become a hero?” Izumi asked, sounding surprised.

Hitoshi nodded. “I do. I plan to apply to UA, there I will become a pro hero”.

“Well, I don't want to sound rude, but I think you might need to bulk up a bit,” Durandal remarked. “You don't exactly have the right build for it at the moment”.

“I hate to admit it, but he's kind of right,” Izumi said nervously. “Hero work requires a lot of physical activity. You can't always rely on your quirk to win the day. Sometimes you have to, for lack of a better word, punch a guy in the face. And I'm saying sorry in advance, but you don't look like you have the strength to make it as a hero. Plus, to get on the hero course, you've got the pass both the written and practical exams, the latter of which, whilst getting some flack recently due to prioritising more combat-oriented quirks, has you fight robots. It won't be easy for you to pass without combat training,” she explained, knowing full well that his quirk would be useless against robots. “I'm planning on applying to UA as well, and I'm training almost every day to help to get stronger”.

Hitoshi looked at her for a few moments with a blank stare before raising his arm and checking it out, noting the lack of muscles. “I'm going to need to get stronger, aren't I?” he asked, getting a nod from Izumi. “Thanks for the advice. I might have a chance at getting onto the hero course now”.

Izumi froze on the spot, mouth open in surprise. Someone was thanking her for her advice. No one had ever thanked her before. They mostly told her to shut up or, in Bakugo's case, blasted her in the face. This was the first time anyone had thanked her.

With tears in her eyes, she rushed to Hitoshi and hugged him. “Thank you. You're the first person ever to thank me”.

Hitoshi was taken quite aback by Izumi's sudden hug and the amount of water coming out of her eyes. But, from the rumours he had been hearing surrounding her, the bullying she was subjected to at her old school, he could understand why she was so happy to receive positive feedback from someone.

This was probably the first time someone thanked her for something. Just how bad was it for her at her previous school?

“Ur, you're welcome,” Hitoshi said, trying to calm her down and stop her from soaking his uniform. Noting it would probably not work, he decided to distract her. “So, any more advice you could give me? Like equipment I could use?”.

Izumi's ears did not fail her, as she immediately jumped back, tears still coming from her eyes, just at a significantly reduced rate, notebook in hand. “Oh, well, I might have something in mind,” Izumi said, getting out one of her notebooks. “One small question, dose your quirk work over something like a megaphone?”.

Hitoshi shook his head. “No, it doesn't work if it's converted into an electronic signal”.

“Oh,” Izumi sighed. “Well, there goes the voice filter idea. It would have been so cool if you could change your voice to sound like the enemy. That would make them distrust their communications,” she said, sounding disappointed before she suddenly felt a hand resting on her shoulder.

“Well, it's nice to see you making friends, Izumi,” a calm and kind voice said beside her.

Izumi looked to the side to see a boy with short blond hair and blue eyes standing beside her, a friendly smile on his face.

“Neito Monoma,” Hitoshi said calmly. “What are you doing here?”.

“Oh hey, it's the guy who can copy quirks,” Durandal remarked.

“Well, your robot companion seems to be well-informed,” Neito remarked as he crouched down and patted Durandal on the head. “I'm going to guess that you're a custom job, right”.

“You can say that,” Durandal replied. Which was technically the truth. “Whilst I am programmed to protect Izumi and comfort her when needed, I can, if ordered to, rip someone's face off”.

“Ok ok, just trying to make friends,” Neito said as he raised his hands in mock surrender.

“Durandal, please don't threaten the other students. I don't want to get into trouble,” Izumi said, not wanting to cause an incident, before turning towards Neito. “Sorry about him. He can be a bit overprotective at times” with good reasons, too.

“That's fine. Probably registered me as hostile,” Neito said calmly. “So, I couldn't help but overhear that you two want to attend UA. Well, looks like we all have something in common”.

“You want to go to UA as well?” Izumi said, sounding surprised, getting a nod from Neito.

“Well, I suppose it'll be easier for you,” Hitoshi remarked. “Your Quirk lets you copy anyone else's quirk”.

“Indeed it does. But only for five minutes,” Neito said, holding up five fingers on one hand before switching them to three. “And I can only copy three quirks at a time. And there lies my problem”.

“You need other people's quirks to copy to help you fight,” Izumi said.

Neito nodded, “It's the one reason why people tell me that I can't become a hero, that I can't do anything without the help of others. Not that it's going to stop me from proving them wrong,” he said with a smile, “And here I am, talking to two likewise individuals who also want to become heroes, but have been told time and time again that they can't. One because people say his quirk is villainous, the other because she is quirkless. Now, I don't know about you two, but I, for one think we should team up”.

“That's actually a good idea,” Izumi said, getting confused looks from Hitoshi. “Heroes team up all the time to form hero teams to either help protect a wider area, deal with a much larger variety of threats or tasks or because their powers complement each other. Like the Wild Wild Pussycats or the Four Holy Swords. Well, technically, there are five members of the Four Holy Swords, but they've been called that for so long that changing the name might make people confused, plus only four of them use swords,” she said before she stopped herself from going on another mumble storm. “Anyway, what I'm saying is that heroes team up to help each other not only with dealing with villains but also to help each other improve”.

“And if we team up, help each other prepare, collectivity, our chances of getting into UA's hero course increase,” Hitoshi said before he smiled slightly. “We might just be able to get in”.

Neito smiled. “Glad you two agree. It's not going to be easy. We may have to resort to unheroic behaviour and tactics at times, especially for you, Izumi. You don't have a quirk”.

“Don't worry about me. Not every hero has a combat-oriented quirk. I can do this,” Izumi said, sounding determined. “Plus, I also have Durandal with me”.

Durandal nodded. “I may have a few optional extras that can be added on at a later date that can help out with hero work. I was 'programmed' to protect Izumi after all”.

“Oh, so you can be converted into a combat model,” Neito said. “Well, it's always good to have a companion, even if it's a robot. You can't go wrong with a little backup”.

“Or armour, can't forget adequate protection,” Izumi said, “Oh yes, I'd recommend you bulk up a bit as well. Like I said to Hitoshi, you can't always rely on your quirk in a fight. Sometimes your target will wear armour, and you won't be able to use your quirk on them. Oh, by the way, what's the activation requirement for your quirk?” she asked, holding up a notebook.

“All I need to do is touch the target, and I can copy their quirk,” Neito replied, “I don't have to touch much of them to copy their quirk. Only as much as a few strands of hair is enough”.

“I see,” Izumi said, writing that down in her notebook. “Do the strands of hair have to be attached to the target's head, or does it still work if the hairs are not attached?”.

Neito opened his mouth as if to speak but stopped for a few moments before closing it, looking to be deep in thought, “I don't know. I never tried that. Huh, that's something new to test out, thanks”.

“Ur, you're welcome,” Izumi said nervously, feeling happy that two people had thanked her for her advice today.

Hitoshi smirked. “In all the time here, I've never made a single friend. And yet, during my last year here, I made two in one day. Never thought I'll make some friends here”.

“Well, it helps that we all share the same goal and have similar problems holding us back,” Neito said, “Right Izumi?” he asked as he turned towards her, only to see her looking at them with tears in her eyes.

Before either of them could ask what was wrong, Izumi left forwards and brought both of them into a hug, tears gushing out of her eyes. “Thank you. I-I've never had friends before”.

The two boys could only look at her with confused and shocked looks on their faces. They had both heard the rumours about her. No one transfers to a new school this early into the year and in such an emotionally damaged state without some people coming up with reasons why she may be in that state. And seeing she had no friends before, just how bad had her life been before coming here?

Neito was also wondering if she was quirkless, as there was no way someone could produce this many tears without a quirk.

It was then that the bell signalling lessons were about to start started to ring. “Ur, Izumi, I think lessons are about to start. So would you kindly let so go so we're not late for class?” Hitoshi asked nervously.

Izumi nodded before she took a step back, “Sorry about that, it's just, I've never had any proper friends before,” she said nervously, tears still falling from her eyes, “Thank you”.

Neito smiled, “Happy to be of help. Now, let's get going to class before we're late”.

Izumi nodded before the four of them rushed off back to class.

When Izumi when home that day, she told her mother that she had made two friends at school today, two proper friends who didn't bully her. Inko was over the moon, happy that her daughter had found a proper friend. One who wouldn't bully her and call her useless.

Meanwhile, when Hitoshi arrived home, he looked up a few heroes. Izumi had given him a list of heroes whose quirks weren't combat-oriented to help give him a few ideas on how he should fight. A few seemed interesting, but one caught his eye, an underground hero who looked more like a hobo with some kind of tape-like weapon around his neck. He wouldn't have caught his attention if it wasn't for the description of his quirk, the ability to cancel out the Quirk of anyone he looks at.

He smirked slightly as he researched the Erasure Hero, Eraserhead, and his weapon of choice, binding cloth.

Meanwhile, somewhere in UA.

“So, you believe Durandal might be a threat,” a small white-furred mammal of indeterminate species wearing a suit said with a smile. A cup of tea in hand and looking at all the notes Izumi had made about the robot.

All Might nodded, sitting down in a chair in his deflated form opposite the white-furred mammal, who was sitting at a large desk. “I do. Even though he says he's loyal to Izumi and will protect her, he's still one of Doctor Paxton's machines. We both know how deadly those machines can be, and I'm worried it might turn on her at any moment. It doesn't help that he knows the secrets of One for All”.

“I see. You're worried that your successor may be in trouble,” the white-furred mammal said, getting a nod from All Might.

Only a few people in the world knew the secrets behind his quirk and the injury that caused him to limit the amount of time he had in his hero form. The mammal before him was one of them, UA's Principal, Nezu. Who had his own reasons for despising Paxton.

“Even though he said he rebelled against his creator and escaped. I can't help but worry that he left a few traps inside of him or a secret loyalty program,” All Might said with a frown. “I won't feel safe unless we check his code. But, that would bring up all kinds of problems”.

“Like the fact he has a positronic brain,” Nezu said, taking a sip of tea. “If he were a normal robot, then it wouldn't be difficult to go over his source code with a fine tooth comb, but the fact he has a positronic brain makes things complicated. Thanks to the numerous laws surrounding AI and positronic brains, very few companies can make them. As such, if we want to check his source code for any malicious programs, we will need permission from both the robot, the robot's owner, and the manufacturer. Not to mention that we will need several people present whilst we check him, including representatives from the manufacturer and another robot with a positronic brain to confirm that no tampering is done, among several others”.

All Might nodded. Ever since Paxton's little war, robots and AI have become far more advanced but also more regulated. Especially for fully sentient AIs with positronic brains. Only eight companies in the world are allowed to make positronic brains, and only one is allowed to sell them as robotic pets with limitations. Paxton made people fear his machines and in turn, robots in general.

“We would have to reveal that he's one of Paxton's machines,” All Might said with a frown. There was no way they could pretend he was made by one of the few companies that are allowed to make them, as none of them will have the information needed with them. “And we will have to reveal what he's capable of too, which includes the quirk emulator”.

Nezu nodded, “Which will no doubt end up in the robot being taken away to be dismantled and its quirk emulator experimented on. Research and development agencies across the globe will want to get their hands on that device, and I do not doubt that many powerful villains would like to acquire it as well. This device is far too dangerous, and no one should have their hands on it, even if they intend to use it for good. It needs to be kept secret”.

“Doing that means we can't check him for malicious code,” All Might said, getting a nod from Nezu. There wasn't much they could do as anything they could do to check Durandal would require them to reveal who made him and what he could do, and that would cause far too many problems and put unnecessary stress on Izumi, stress that she could not afford to be dealing with right now. They couldn't even do an off-the-books inspection as if that ever came out, then it would look bad on everyone involved.

“Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do but keep an eye on him,” Nezu said. “As long as he doesn't use the emulator in public or in a way that won't make people suspicions, everything should be fine. Registering him as support equipment shouldn't be difficult either”.

“What if someone asks about his positronic brain?” All Might asked.

“Simple, we say that Aris Enterprises made it,” Nezu said with a smile. “Their CO still owes me a few favours. Unfortunately, those favours won't be enough to perform a check on Durandal's source code, but it'll be enough to get him in with her without people asking too many questions”.

All Might let out a sigh of relief, he may not fully trust the robot, but at least Durandal will be able to accompany Izumi if she manages to get into UA. “Thank you, Nezu. At least we can ensure she won't have any issues bringing him along. And, apologies if I brought up any bad memories about Paxton and what he did to you”.

Nezu let out a chuckle, “Oh, don't worry about that. Whenever I remember what that man and his minions did to me, I remind myself that I gnawed his eyes out, informed the US of the location of his ship, and had a front-row seat to them, reducing his ship scrap metal,” he said with a smile, “Just a shame I couldn't get a recording of the screams he made. Oh well, I still have the footage of the US Navy pummelling his ship”.

All Might nodded, making a mental note to never get on Nezu's bad side.

“I must admit, you've chosen quite the smart candidate for your successor,” Nezu added, looking through some of the notes Izumi had made, “I am quite impressed by her analytical skills. The sheer amount of detail she puts into her notes is astonishing. There are some rough edges here and there, and it can do with some improvements. But with the proper training, her skill can be nurtured and become something great. I almost say she would have made a great successor to me. A shame you found her first, but I couldn't think of a better candidate to take One for All”.

“But,” Nezu said with a slight frown “I do believe that there's one person out there who disagrees with your choice”.

All Might nodded. “My old sidekick, Sir Nighteye. I've asked him to help train her, to teach her how to fight and improve her analytical skill, but he's only agreed to meet with her now. I don't think he approves of my choice and may have his own candidate in mind”.

“Well, I suggest that you talk to him about this first before he meets with her and bluntly tells her to give up on the idea of getting One for All,” Nezu said. “She's been damaged enough already by people telling her to abandon her dream, one more person telling her that, at such a delicate point in her life, might be too much for her, even with the help she's getting”.

All Might nodded. “Don't worry, I intend to have a word with him beforehand,” he had no intention of letting Izumi meet Sir Nighteye before he talked with his former sidekick. Right now, Izumi's mental state was like an unstable Jenga tower with very few bricks left that could be removed safely. One wrong nudge and the entire thing would come crashing down, and he was worried that Sir Nighteye would just push the tower over. He needed to make sure that he didn't do that, as the poor girl had suffered enough already.

If Sir Nighteye refused to teach her, that was fine. But if he tried to make her give up One for All, he would be in for a world of pain.

Chapter Text

Once more, Izumi found herself in the waiting room of Isa Tsuneyo, with her mother and Durandal beside her. They weren't the only ones there. There was an older woman there as well, with a young girl who was probably the same age as her sitting beside her.

The younger girl had light dirty blonde tied into two messy buns and golden yellow cat-like eyes. She wore a school uniform, but it wasn't the same one Izumi wore. She was also shivering, but it didn't look like it was because she was cold. If anything, it looked like she was shivering in fear.

Izumi couldn't help but watch as the other girl reached into a bag of red gummy sweets and pulled one out, hand shaking as she brought the sweet up to her mouth, holding the sweet between her teeth as she brought her hand down before she ate it. She looked to calm down slightly as she ate it but still shivered.

Izumi felt it might be best not to speak to her. She was stressed out, and talking to her might cause more damage. So she kept quiet, hoping that when she went to meet Doctor Isa, he could help her.

A few minutes later, the door to Isa's office opened, and two people walked out. An older gentleman in a suit and a boy with short, wavy, light brown hair and a gas mask covering his face. He also had what looked like two air tanks on his back.

As the two walked by, Izumi wondered why the boy had that equipment on him. She suspected it must have something to do with his quirk. Some quirks, unfortunately, made the person with them dangerous to be around, so they required special equipment to help them live a normal life. Maybe his quirk was gas related and was dangerous to those around him, requiring him to carry those tanks to catch any gas he accidentally made.

A few moments later, after the two had left the room, Isa poked his head out of the doorway. “Ah, Izumi. Please, do come in”.

Izumi was about to stand up before she looked back towards the other girl, who was still shivering. “Ur, actually, if it's ok, could she go before us?” she asked, getting a surprised look from the girl and the woman she was with.

“Well, if that's ok with you, sure,” Isa said before he looked towards the other girl “Miss Kubota. You can bring Himiko in now”.

The older woman nodded before she stood up, helping the young girl to her feet before they walked towards Isa's office.

“Thank you,” the girl said quietly as they passed them and entered the office.

Inko smiled as the two women walked into the office and closed the door before turning back towards her daughter. “That was very kind of you, Izumi”.

“She looked like she needed help more than I did,” Izumi said. “She looked close to breaking,” a feeling she was all too familiar with. She wondered what had happened to that other girl to put her in such a state, but she felt asking would be a bad idea. Besides, like herself, she had Isa helping her, so she should be fine. Yes, the downside was that they would have to wait about half an hour before their session could start, but at least the other girl didn't have to sit around for half an hour before getting help.

Inko smiled as she ruffled her daughter's hair. She was so proud of her, still pushing forwards despite all the terrible things that had happened to her.

“So, now, what do we do? Seeing that we have to wait half an hour for Izumi's appointment,” Durandal asked.

“Well, there is a small coffee shop not far from here,” Inko replied. “We can wait there for a bit. Besides, even with this delay, we should be able to reach the beach in time”.

Izumi smiled as the three got up and walked out, telling Isa's secretary they would return in about half an hour as their appointment shifted.

The coffee shop was only a three-minute walk away. It wasn't a large place, but they'd been there before, and the food and drinks were lovely. It was also on the quiet side, with the only other customer being a short senile old man with a plate full of Taiyaki.

They spent the next twenty minutes there, enjoying a nice cup of tea and some doughnuts before heading back to his office, arriving back just in time to watch the woman and the young girl who had gone in before walk out. The young girl looked a lot better than she did before going in.

Isa was still sitting down when the two walked in. “Ah, the Midoriya's. Good to see you again. That was very generous of you to allow Himiko to be seen before you,” he said with a smile.

Izumi nodded as she and Inko sat down, Durandal sitting down last so that he may rest his head on Izumi's lap. “Is she ok?” she asked, sounding worried.

Isa nodded. “She's fine,” he replied, although that was as much he could say about her. Patient confidentiality and all that.

Izumi let out a sigh of relief, glad that the other girl was alright.

Their session continued as usual. They mainly focused on her nightmares of falling with no one to catch her. She hadn't been getting them as much as she used to, but she was still getting them. Waking her up in the middle of the night made it difficult to return to bed. He gave her some tips to try and get a better night's sleep but said that she may still be having them for a while. Even after completing her therapy, she may still get them occasionally. He can only help her so much, and there will always be lingering damage from the incident.

The rest of the session went well. She was thankful for these sessions, as they were helping her recover from the incident and building up some self-confidence after all the bullying she had been subjected to. Even so, there was still a lot of work to be done and many more sessions to attend.

When the session finished, they went straight to Takoba Municipal Beach. Owing to the delay of their session, they didn't have much time to go home before they had to go to the beach to help clear it.

Whilst Inko did want her daughter to get stronger for UA, she didn't want her to overdo it. She already had to stop her from exercising when she wasn't supposed to several times, even if she had some concerns with All Might's American Dream plan. But, if her daughter was going to get One for All, she needed to get stronger. It was good that she was aware of this, as she could help keep Izumi in check. She hoped All Might could convince Sir Nighteye to teach her how to fight. She's going to need it if she gets into UA.

Takoba Municipal Beach Park.

All Might sat on one of the benches covering the trash-covered beach, sitting in his deflated form while waiting for his old sidekick, Sir Nighteye, to arrive. The beach before him was still a mess, but it was evident that someone was clearing it up. He was amazed by how much work she had been able to do in only four weeks. At this rate, she'll be more than ready to receive One for All by the time of the UA entrance exam.

She did have Durandal and her mother helping her at times, but they were mainly removing the pieces so small that carrying them wouldn't help make her stronger. The problem was that strength wasn't all that was needed. She also needed to know how to fight and improve her analytical skills. Sir Nighteye could do both of those. It was just getting him to agree to do it that was the problem. Ever since they parted ways, he feared that Nighteye was looking for his own candidate to inherit One for All. Which was why he decided to deal with this before he met Izumi. So that he could talk some sense into the man.

He didn't have to wait long before he saw his former sidekick walking towards him. His dark green hair with yellow streaks was unmissable.

Sir Nighteye stopped a few feet from the bench All Might was sitting on. Both men stared at each other, eyes meeting as they stood in silence, neither one speaking until All Might decided to break the silence “Mirai,” he said, using his former sidekick's name.

“Toshinori,” Sir Nighteye replied, using All Might's real name.

The two stood/sat silently for a moment before Mirai looked around. “If you're looking for Izumi, she's not here. Not yet, anyway,” Toshinori said as he stood and turned to face him. “I wanted to make sure we had this discussion before she arrived”.

“Worried that I might say something to her you wouldn't approve of?” Mirai asked, fixing his glasses.

“Considering when I called you for help, you told me I was making a mistake and to consider your candidate instead, yes,” Toshinori replied with a frown. “Why are you trying to get me to choose someone else anyway? One for All isn't yours to give away. It's mine. Just like it was Nana's choice to give it to me, so too is it my choice to give it to Izumi”.

“Because I do not believe she is a suitable candidate to take on such a burden,” Mirai replied with a frown. “You said she had the drive to become a hero to save others, but you can't become a hero on intentions alone. There are far more capable candidates with the same intentions as Izumi who would make a far better successor than she would”.

Toshinori glared at his former sidekick with an aggressive look in his eyes. “How can you say that about her? You haven't even met the girl yet”.

“I know enough about her already,” Mirai replied calmly. “The police reports on her suicide attempt made for interesting reading. I will admit I am interested in her analytical skills. But, I do not believe she is a suitable candidate to receive One for All, let alone in a stable enough condition right now to even be coincide for it. You should know better than this Toshinori, to choose a young, quirkless girl who tried to end her own life a month ago as your successor is a bad id-” his sentence was abruptly ended by Toshinori's fist punching him in the face, sending him flying backwards and rolling across the pavement before skidding to a stop.

Mirai lay on the ground, frozen, his eyes wide in shock as he tried to register what had just happened to him. Toshinori had just punched him with what felt like a Detroit smash, and it did not take him long to realise just why he had punched him.

He slowly rolled over onto his back, removed his now broken glasses, and quickly replaced them with an undamaged pair. He sat up, only to fall back onto his back when Toshinori landed in front of him in his muscular form, looking down at him with pure hatred in his eyes.

“Don't think I don't know what she's been through! Because I do!” Toshinori fumed, glaring at his former sidekick as steam emanated from his body. Mirai remained frozen on the floor, a horrified look on his face. “Do you want to know why I know what she's been through? Because I lived through the same thing! I wasn't always All Might! Once upon a time, I was once a young, quirkless boy who had been told time and time again that he could never be a hero, even by the heroes I looked up to! One day it was just too much for me to take, so I climbed to the top of the highest building I could find and jumped off! It was then that I met my mentor, Nana Shimura! She saved me, catching me as I fell and putting me down safely on the ground! Afterwards, I told her of my dream to create a world where everyone can smile and live happily together, to become a symbol of peace! She was the first person ever to tell me that I could achieve it, and she helped me and trained me to become the man I am today! She chose me as her successor! And when I was presented with the same situation, with a young girl who had been through the same shit as I have, asking me the same thing I asked Nana, I fucked it up! I told her that she couldn't become a hero and walked off! Just! Like! That! It was because of my words that she jumped! If there hadn't been someone there to catch her, she wouldn't be alive, and her death would be on my conscious! Not as someone I failed to save, but as someone whose death I caused! This is me, making up for MY mistake! Even if she had refused One for All and wanted to remain quirkless, I would still be trying to help her achieve her dream of becoming a hero! Because I owe it to her!!!” he shouted before he reverted to his deflated form and collapsed onto the floor, blood spewing from his mouth.

Mirai could only lay there, frozen in fear, with his eyes and mouth wide open as he took in what All Might had told him. It was shocking to believe that All Might, no, Toshinori, had once tried to end his own life because people constantly told him he could never become a hero. And Izumi, Izumi was like him, a young girl with a dream who those around her had constantly pulled down. The only difference between them was that she was told she couldn't become a hero by the one man she looked up to, with almost horrific results. Pure, blind luck was the only reason she was still alive.

Now he knew why Toshinori was so protective of the girl, why he was so determined to help her achieve her dream despite her mental state. She was like him once, a young child with a crushed dream willing to end it all. The only difference was that Toshinori messed up and was now making amends for his mistake.

Toshinori finished coughing up blood before he looked up and glared at Mirai. “Here is what we are going to do!” he growled, “Either you help me to train her to become the best hero she can be! Or you leave, now! And never come anywhere near her! Understood, Mirai?!”.

Mirai sat in silence, breathing heavily, too scared to say anything, as Toshinori glared at him angrily, making the former sidekick feel like he was staring down the devil himself. He had only seen him this angry one time before, and that was during his battle against All for One.

He lowered his head in shame. He was a fool to think he could change Toshinori's mind and think he could find a better successor to receive One for All. There was no changing Toshinori's mind. He had chosen Izumi as his successor to inherit One for All. There would be no changing his mind and no changing the future he foresaw the last time they met.

“I'll help her,” Mirai said, head still lowered in shame. “I know it will be impossible to make you change your mind, so I'll help you train her. It's as you said, she needs more than just strength to make it into UA”.

Toshinori nodded before he stood up. “Good. Glad you're finally seeing some sense,” he growled, offering up his hand to help Mirai back onto his feet.

Mirai was hesitant to take Toshinori, mainly because it was the same hand that had, moments ago, been used to punch him in the face. Hesitantly he reached forwards and took Toshinori's hand, the skeletal man helping him back onto his feet.

“Apologies for punching you in the face,” Toshinori said. “But as Gran Torino used to say, I needed to beat some sense into you!”.

Mirai nodded cautiously before the two men looked around. “You didn't tell him about Izumi, did you?” Toshinori asked nervously as he looked for signs that his old teacher was around.

Mirai shook his head. “I'm not that cruel, Toshinori. She's not ready for his teaching. No one is,” he replied nervously, having bad memories of the last time he met All Might's mentor.

His head felt lopsided after the last time he spent with the old man.

“We're going to have to tell him at some point,” Mirai added. Toshinori nodded in agreement. He would have to inform the old man that he was passing One for All to someone, and he no doubt would want to meet the girl. He'd probably have a few things to say about his training methods “Dibs not telling him”.

Toshinori glared at Mirai with an unhappy look. “I'm still pissed off at you, you know”.

“Hay, I agreed to help train her, not inform Gran Torino about her,” Mirai said. “That's your job”.

Toshinori continued to glare at Mirai, unhappy with his former sidekick. “Fine. Just promise me you won't use your quirk on her, understand?!”.

Mirai nodded, not wanting to be punched in the face again by Toshinori. “Don't worry, I won't. So, when do I get to meet Izumi?”.

“She should be here in about ten minutes,” Toshinori replied. “I suggest you clean yourself off. Izumi might get worried if you look like that. I'd rather not make it look like we disagreed.”.

Mirai nodded once more before he brushed himself off. Good thing his suit was made from strong stuff and wasn't damaged easily. Otherwise, he'll go through about four of them a week.

Once he had finished dusting himself off, the two men sat in silence, waiting for the Midoriya's to arrive. Toshinori didn't see much of a reason to talk to his former sidekick unless it was necessary. He was still unhappy with him. Mirai meanwhile decided that it was probably best that he didn't speak until Izumi arrived since he's made quite a mess of this. Toshinori was furious with him right now. If anything, they used the time to cool down before she arrived.

Twelve minutes later, they heard footsteps approaching them. The two looked up to see Izumi, Inko, and Durandal walking up to the path to the beach. When the three spotted them, Izumi froze on the spot, probably because she saw All Might sitting next to Sir Nighteye, something that hadn't happened for the past five years since the two went their separate ways. Several moments later, she zipped over to them, a bright smile on her face. “Sir Nighteye's here! I didn't think I'll ever see you two together again since you parted ways,” she said happily before she bowed and presented him with one of her notebooks. “Can I have your autograph, please!?”.

Mirai was taken slightly aback by the young girl's enthusiasm. Toshinori had told him that she was a hero fan as well as a massive All Might fan, but he didn't think she was this much of a fan. “Sure,” he said calmly as he took the notebook and opened it up. He wasn't surprised when he opened it up to his page in the book, with a surprisingly good drawing of him in his hero costume. What did surprise him, however, was the rather detailed analysis of his quirk and fighting style. Almost a full page of information about his quirk and several questions about it, like how it worked, what he could do with it, and what its limitations may be.

Some of them were questions that took him years to ask himself.

He quickly looked at a few of the other pages in the notebook, and sure enough, each page had an equally detailed analysis of the hero's quirk. It was imperfect, a mess of unorganized notes, questions and facts, but what was there was highly detailed. And with the right training, it could become something great.

He was starting to regret thinking so negatively of her. She was a smart kid, and with the power of One for All, she would become a terrifying foe to face. Good thing she wanted to become a hero. With analytical skills like this, she could easily become a dangerous villain.

He returned the notebook to her after he finished signing it. She looked at the page with eager eyes before she noticed, with a surprised look, that he had not only signed the page but had also answered all her questions about his quirk and had given her a review of her analytical skill and formatting.

“You weren't kidding about her analytical skill,” Mirai remarked. “It's not professional yet, but what is there is impressive. It normally takes decades for someone to develop that level of analysis skill”.

Toshinori smiled, but only slightly. “As I said, she likes analysing people's quirks,” he said before turning back towards Izumi. “Now, Izumi, Sir Nighteye has agreed to help train you. He's going to focus on teaching you how to fight and to improve your analytical skills”.

Izumi looked up at Toshinori, still with a surprised look on her face. “Sir Nighteye's going to help teach me?” she said as the smile on her face grew. Toshinori nodded, but he realised that was probably a bad idea, as no sooner had he nodded, Izumi was rushing about, screaming with excitement.

“I'll take it that this is a dream come true for her?” Mirai asked, getting a nod from Toshinori.

“Give her a minute or two to calm down,” Toshinori said as they, as well as Inko and Durandal, waited for Izumi to calm down a bit so they could get back to training.

It took a bit longer than expected for Izumi to calm down, but eventually, she stopped celebrating and hopped back over to them. “So, when does Sir Nighteye start teaching me?” she asked with a smile.

“Not today, I'm afraid,” Mirai replied as he fixed his glasses. “I'll need time to go over All Might's training program for you to find time for me to train you. Plus, I am busy with hero work. Unlike All Might, I can't spend all my time helping you. Don't worry, I can send you some coursework to help with your analytical skills. So you should be fine on that end”.

Izumi nodded. “Thank you, Sir Nighteye,” she said, slightly disappointed that Sir Nighteye couldn't start teaching her immediately, but this was probably to be expected. He was busy, after all. He couldn't be helping her all the time. But the mere thought of having the number one hero and his old sidekick helping to train her excited her. It was like a dream come true “Can I just ask one small question”.

Mirai sighed. “No, I am not going to use my quirk on you just so you can find out if you pass the UA entrance exam,” he said as Toshinori facepalmed. The one thing he didn't take into consideration, Izumi asking him to use his quirk on her.

Izumi looked at him with a surprised look on her face. “H-how did you know that I was going to ask that?”.

“Because you're not the first person to ask me that,” Mirai replied. “Many of my old classmates tried to get me to see into their futures to see if they would pass the next exam. Or to get the answers from the teacher. I, of course, told them no, and to study. Except for that one time when I did give them the right answers but to the wrong test. Now that was hilarious and got them to leave me alone”.

“Oh,” Izumi said, sounding disappointed, but it was probably for the best. Learning that she would get into UA might make her overconfident and end up doing something stupid.

“You should start your training now, Izumi. You aren't going to get stronger by sitting around,” Toshinori recommended.

Izumi nodded before she put on her gloves and went to work carrying the trash that littered the beach towards the truck. Durandal followed her about, not helping her unless something needed breaking up, as some things on the beach were just too big for her to move, like a bunch of very large combat robots, tanks, aircraft, and the remains of a ship.

“Why is there so much military ordinance on this beach?” Izumi asked as she dragged the barrel of a tank towards the truck. “You'd think the JSDF would clean all this stuff up”.

“They're all Paxton's machines, even the vehicles,” Durandal replied as he walked beside her. “AI-controlled transport aircraft that were involved in his attack on Japan that never made it ashore, shot down by the JSDF. Dumping their metal cargo into the sea only for it to be washed up here. You don't have to worry about unexploded ordnance. All of Paxton's machines of war used energy weapons. And their reactors have long since become non-functional, meaning it should be safe for you to remove them”.

“Well, that's a relief,” Izumi remarked as she dragged the barrel into the back of the truck. “At least I don't risk getting sick from all of this. Why did Paxton use an army of robots anyway? Wouldn't a large army of people with quirks suffice?”.

“Robots can be manufactured quickly, especially combat robots,” Durandal replied as the two walked back to the pile of trash. “Paxton wanted an army, a large one. Humans are good, but it takes decades to get them into a state where they can be trained to fight. An army of robots can be programmed and assembled in a week, ready for war far sooner than a human can. Plus, you don't have to feed them”.

“Looks like I'm going to have to research your creator a bit,” Izumi said as she got ready to drag the tank treads. “I don't know much about the man. I was only four when he showed up and started his war. All my mother said about it was that she was praying, hoping he wouldn't bring his war here. Good thing the JDSF dealt with most of his robot army before they reached Japan. Shame the same can't be said about the rest of the world,” she said, laminating the destruction the man had caused. So many lives lost, so much death and destruction, for what? What did he accomplish? Nothing. What the hell was his end goal anyway, causing widespread death and destruction for no reason?

It was because men like him existed that she wanted to become a hero.

“I won't lie. Paxton was a genius when it came to robotics,” Durandal said as Izumi dragged the treads. “His machines were far more advanced than anything else in the world, and he was the first to make a positronic brain successfully. He could have done so much good for the world. Just a shame he used his machines for evil. This body I inhabit is one of his machines, as am I one of his creations. And whilst I am not happy with this current arrangement, at least this way I can shit all over my creator's work and do the opposite of what he did”.

“You could just say save people,” Izumi said.

“Yeah, that too”.

Izumi sighed as she continued to work. Durandal, whilst he could be a bit of a sociopath at times, was making strides not to become another one of Paxton's weapons of war.

As Izumi worked, Inko and Mirai sat on a bench, whilst Toshinori watched over her, ensuring she wasn't over-exerting herself. The two sat there for a while before Mirai stood up and started to walk off.

“Leaving already?” Inko asked, sounding concerned.

Mirai stopped before turning back towards her. “I can't be here all the time, I have work to do. Don't worry, I won't forget to help train your daughter. I'll send her a few things to help improve her analytical skill. They're quite impressive, by the way, a bit disorganised, but she already has the making to become a great quirk analyst. Teaching her how to fight will be difficult, and I won't have much time to train her. But I think I can get one of my sidekicks to help her out”.

“That's good to hear,” Inko said with a slight smile. “But, I must warn you. If you do anything to harm my daughter or try to dissuade her from receiving One for All, then conceder your testiculate privileges revoked”.

Mirai had to take a double take just to be sure he heard her right “Ur. You are aware that I'm a pro hero who was once All Might's sidekick, right?”.

“And I'm an overprotective mother whose daughter had spent the past ten years getting bullied for being quirkless and tried to end her own life a month ago,” Inko replied with a rather intimidating frown on her face. “Who is also absolutely done with All Might. The only reason why I'm allowing him to train Izumi and pass on his quirk to her is because, after all the shit my daughter has been through, he is the first person who apologised for what he did to her and is trying to make amends for what he did”.

Mirai nodded, fearing for the safety of his private parts. Whilst he no doubt could efficiently deal with the woman, something about how Inko glared at him made him feel that she was capable of carrying out her threat but had also carried out said threat before.

A part of him was glad that Toshinori had knocked some sense into him because, whilst Inko looked unassuming, she could be downright terrifying at times. Especially when it concerned her little cinnamon roll Izumi.

“Don't worry, I'll make sure that she doesn't come to any harm whilst she's being taught how to fight,” Mirai said, placating Inko. Hopefully.

Inko smiled, letting All Might's former sidekick turn to leave with his privates still intact. Glad that her daughter was receiving help from someone other than All Might. He was good at teaching someone to get stronger but to fight, that was debatable.

As Mirai walked away, he turned back to see Toshinori encouraging Izumi. 'Well' he thought to himself 'at least he'll have someone who cares about him when the end comes'.

Later that day, somewhere secluded in a forest.

“Damn it,” Hitoshi cursed as the mock capture tape failed to ensnare the target. Using binding cloth was hard, even when you had to make it from scratch.

He had done a bit more research into Eraserhead, although there wasn't much on the man. As Izumi had said, he was an underground hero, and there normally isn't much publicly available about them. He was so unknown that Izumi had forgotten that she had an entry on the guy. Sadly she had more info about his quirk than his binding cloth, only knowing that he was the only known user of it and that it could be used by someone quirkless. He probably had to train himself to use it as well. Makes sense considering the man's quirk. He effectively makes his enemies quirkless as well.

Well, there was also the underground hero Jade. She was reportedly very good with a whip, so good that she could dual wield them, but no one had seen her in over a decade, and Hitoshi didn't see himself becoming Indiana Jones anytime soon. Also, who the fuck dual-wield whips?

Since there was nothing he could do to improve his quirk, not without using it on someone. That was a recipe for disaster. He instead focused on training his body and working to master a weapon that had only one known user and was a bitch to use.

He didn't have proper binding cloth on him since he had no idea how to acquire the stuff. So he made a substitute out of duct tape. It wasn't like the real thing but made for a suitable substitute. Well, he thought it would anyway. It turns out a long strip of tape taped to another long strip of tape doesn't make a suitable substitute for a cloth made from carbon fibres. Oh well, it'll work for now, hopefully.

Neito was having a bit more luck in training his quirk. Izumi's advice to him had been helpful. He could copy someone's quirk from a loch of their hair that wasn't attached to them. This allowed him to keep using the person's quick for a lot longer than five minutes, as long as he kept holding on to the hair. Now he was testing to see how long the strands of hair had to be off the person's head before he could no longer copy their quirk from the hair.

Both of them had been hitting the gym to help build some muscle mass and strengthen. Izumi had said she was doing the same, but they never saw her at the gym they went to. But she did say that she had her own training program, so she was probably going to a different gym.

If there was one thing Izumi was right about, he needed a fighting style that complemented his quirk, which was probably why he was interested in Eraserhead. Their quirks were somewhat similar. Very useful for hero work too, but absolutely shit when up against robots or someone who's immune to it, especially in his case because he needed the target to respond to him. Hopefully, binding cloth would make a suitable weapon for him if he could master it.

He had set some mock targets up on a fallen log in a secluded part of the forest. A few bottles of water and a packet of salty liquorice, and for the past half hour, had been trying to lasso the tape around them without much success. This was a lot harder than it looked in the one video he found of Eraserhead using his binding cloth. He made it look easy.

He sighed as he pulled the tape back and prepared to throw it again, this time targeting the packet of salty liquorice. So far, he hadn't been successful in grabbing any of the targets, but he had been getting closer and closer to them. Hopefully, this time he'll be able to grab the target.

He reeled back and threw the tape forwards towards the liquorice, the loop just managing to wrap around the package.

Hitoshi looked at the package with surprised eyes before smiling. Ok, he had successfully managed to ensnare something. He wasn't close to mastering the weapon, but he was getting there. He tugged back on the tape, pulling the package towards him. But as the package fell off the log, a grey piece of fabric came out of nowhere, ensnared the liquorice package, and pulled it away.

He froze on the spot, shocked by what had just happened. Someone else had just ensnared the liquorice package and pulled it away just as he pulled it back. But who would do that?

He heard the distinct sound of a plastic package being opened to his side. He quickly looked towards the source of the noise and was shocked by what he saw.

A man was standing on the branch of a nearby tree. He had shoulder-length black hair and wore a baggy black outfit with his trousers tucked into his boots. A pair of bright yellow goggles covered his eyes, and his neck and the lower part of his face were covered by a long strip of grey cloth wrapped around him. He was holding the now open packet of liquorice in one hand. All the while, the man looked down at him from his vantage point.

“You know, kid,” the man said as he reached into the bag of liquorice, pulling out one of the pieces of black liquorice. “Double-sided tape doesn't make for a great capture weapon”.

Chapter Text

Isa Tsuneyo has had his fair share of problematic patients. It comes with the territory. People came to therapists like him to help them with problems in life. From stress, depression, regret, and bad choices in life. People come to him if they realise they need help to turn their lives around, and his current client is no different. Ok, there were some issues to start with, but over the past three months, he had seen some significant improvements from his young client.

“So, tell me again, the moment you believe everything started to go downhill for you?” Isa asked calmly.

His client sighed. “When I was four when my quirk first manifested,” Katsuki Bakugo replied, laying back on the sofa as he examined his hands. “Everyone around me thought it was great, as did I. Even Izumi thought it was great. And yet, despite praising me, I treated her like shit”.

“And why did you start bullying Izumi ?” Isa asked.

“It started after we went for a walk in a forest with some friends,” Katsuki replied. “I fell off a fallen tree trunk into a shallow river below, and she came down and offered to help me. At the time, my young, idiotic mind thought she thought I was weak, so I lashed out at her. And I kept lashing out at her for the next ten fucking years. Calling her a quirkless Deku, beating her, using my quirk on her. Telling her to jump off a fucking building!” he shouted before he stood up and walked around the room. “I was allowed to get away with this shit. No one bothered to get in the way as they didn't want to get in the way of such a promising individual. So they let it continue and ignored it because, in their eyes, I could do no wrong and didn't care what happened to the one quirkless girl in school. For ten years, I bullied the first friend I ever made! All because I thought she looked down at me and for being quirkless! No one stopped me. No one took me to the side and told me what I was doing was wrong and unheroic. That I wasn't acting like a fucking hero despite drilling it into the heads of everyone around me that I was going to be the number one hero one day! Heroes don't just fight villains. They save people, too. I just never noticed it until now! I was always too focused on the fighting, watching heroes like All Might beat up villains, never noticing that they were saving people too. I wanted to be the number one hero, just like All Might, but All Might never went about telling quirkless children to jump off a fucking building! Someone should have known that what I was doing was unheroic, that I was acting more like a villain than a hero! But they didn't! And now I'm stuck in this bullshit situation after telling a girl to jump off a fucking building!”.

“Yes, that's it. Let it all out!” Isa said calmly. The boy had a lot of pent-up frustration and anger, and let it out like this helped calm him down.

Katsuki sighed, breathing heavily as he sat back down. “I think I did,” he said before he gave himself a few moments to cool down. “The teachers at Aldera Middle School should have known what I was doing was wrong, that I wasn't acting like the hero I so often said I would become. Their teachers, for fucks sake! They're supposed to look after the students under their care, not prioritise my future over that of a quirkless girl! I'm glad I won't have to deal with their bullshit anymore. Most of the staff were arrested for negligence”.

“And how's Aldera been since Izumi left?” Isa asked. It was good that the kid was getting this off his chest. It's far too easy just to bottle up these emotions and let them fester for too long.

“Well, the new teachers are a lot more observant this time, actually calling me out for my shit,” Katsuki replied as he lay on the sofa. “The students, not so much. They're all glad she's gone, but unfortunately, it's for all the wrong reasons. They're glad that the quirkless Deku is no longer around to mess up their progress. Some of them are even disappointed that she survived her suicide attempt. It's almost horrifying how much some of the students hate her. I'm glad none of them will be coming with me to UA next year. Or Shiketsu High if I fail to get into the former”.

“Oh, that's a change from last time,” Isa remarked. “Last time you said you were adamant about getting into UA”.

“That was when we were starting. And this shit was still fresh,” Katsuki said. “Now that I've had time to think about it, I realise that my chances to get into UA may be slim. Aldera is not a big school but is right on UA's doorstep. Word of what happened would have reached their ears. Plus, being a hero school, they're bound to do background checks on all of their students, and mine will have some massive red flags on it. So, I have a few backup options, just in case. If anything, I think I don't deserve to go to UA. They're the top hero school in the country, and I'm the most unheroic person imaginable,” he said before he closed his eyes. “I'm just glad Izumi was transferred to a new school. But, I can't help but wish that it was done years ago”.

“And why do you think that?” Isa asked.

“Because she should have stopped following me years ago, maybe even a decade,” Katsuki replied. “Despite everything I did to her, she still thought I was her friend, even going as far as to try and rekindle our friendship. And yet, everywhere we went, I turned everyone against her because they all saw me as brilliant and did not want to get in my way. And when they saw me bully Izumi, they also turned on her. She asked me out once, on a date, of all things. My response to her asking me out was to blast her in the face with my quick and tell her to fuck off. I ruined any chance of her getting a boyfriend because, after that, everyone she asked out afterwards did the same thing. I don't understand why she kept trying or why she kept following me around”.

“Do you think she kept following you because she admired you?” Isa asked.

“Probably,” Katsuki replied with a frown. “She was the first person to say I had an awesome quirk, which was true. My quirk is awesome. Yet I kept treating her like shit and thinking she was useless. Did I ever say how smart she was? She was the biggest hero fan I ever knew. Whilst I was more interested in their fights, she would always be interested in their quirks. She had notebooks that she would write people's quirks, how they functioned, and how they could improve them. I never told her I got the idea to propel myself through the air with my explosions from her. She once made an offhand remark, and I rewarded her with a blast to the face telling her to shut up. I just wish I could go back in time and change how I treated her. Maybe then she wouldn't have jumped off a building. Looking back now, my reason for hating her was so bloody childish, and yet, I never tried to change”.

Isa nodded. In his time as a therapist, he had seen plenty of people who regretted their life choices. Sadly most often, after their actions had caused someone else great pain and suffering. And for Katsuki, the ten years spent bullying one girl was starting to come back to haunt him.

The rest of the session continued as usual, with shouting and swearing. He had noticed that he'd been swearing a lot less since their first session, he did say he was attending anger management sessions as well, so it was good that he was receiving more than just therapy.

When their session ended, Katsuki walked out without a word. His mother, Mitsuki, was waiting outside in the waiting room, sitting a few chairs away from a guy with long hair and wearing sunglasses.

When Mitsuki saw her son leave the room, she stood and walked alongside him. Neither of them spoke on the way home. This was a difficult time for both of them. Inko was an old friend of Mitsuki, and it horrified her that Katsuki had been bullying Inko's daughter for so long without either of them knowing. Izumi was such a sweet girl, undeserving of such treatment. And yet, her son tormented her for ten years without her ever knowing.

Katsuki, meanwhile, was going through hell. Izumi's attempt at suicide had hit him hard. At first, he thought it was a lie she came up with to get attention whilst the 'heroes', who, if we're being honest, had no right to call themselves that since they were just standing around doing nothing whilst he suffocated, told her off. But when police started investigating Aldera and arrested several of its staff for negligence, Izumi's transfer to a new school, and the massive news report about the incident, it started to look a lot more real. And it horrified him. He meant it as a joke when he commented about jumping off of a building. Although, he was starting to think that he didn't.

It was shocking that he wasn't arrested too. He was the one who told her to jump, after all. Instead, he ended up in therapy and anger management sessions, something he was initially against but was now glad he was taking. Because now he had a chance of salvaging his dream of becoming a hero, just not the one he wanted to become.

The number one spot would be forever out of his reach, but that felt good to him now. The old him wouldn't have agreed, but the old him didn't have to deal with the trauma caused by being directly involved in a girl's suicide attempt. He could not become just like All Might, let alone surpass him. He was too violent, too selfish. Everything he had done was the further his own goals, not anyone else's. Heroes are supposed to fight villains and help people; the old him wouldn't have done that. He wouldn't have done that at all.

If he wanted to become a hero, then he needed to change. Not drastically that he became a different person, just enough so that he stops calling people extras. This mess would also leave a very dark mark on his record, plus with all his wrongdoings now on his records because his old teachers kept them off it for some stupid reason, no hero school would accept him now unless he changed and improved. Nobody wants a hero who discriminates against quirkless people.

There was another thing that was bothering him. Izumi. He needed to apologise to her, but he lacked the courage to do so. The last time he saw her was during that sludge villain incident. She looked broken, barely holding herself together. The 'heroes' should have been able to see her state, and yet, they pushed her too far. He didn't know how she would react to seeing him again, especially since the last thing he had said to her was to jump off a building. He decided to keep his distance from her until things for them calmed down. Then, he'll think about apologising to her.

He just hoped that, wherever she was now, life was moving a lot smoother for her.

Meanwhile.

Izumi collapsed face-first onto her bed, tired and worn out. She had finished combat training with Sir Nighteye for today, and she was exhausted. It was a good thing she wasn't clearing the beach today, as she didn't have the strength to move anything right now.

“Who knew training to fight could be so hard,” Izumi remarked, head buried into her pillow. “I know I'm going to have to learn how to fight at some point, but it's not easy”.

“Fighting never is,” Durandal said, lying beside her bed. “It takes years and years of training to get good at it, and you always have to keep training, lest your skills degrade. It's easier for a machine, as you can just program us, still doesn't mean we can master it easier than you can. Besides, at least you are getting trained to fight before entering UA. It'll give you a slight advantage over the other students”.

Izumi nodded. At least now she could do more than just punch the problem. Nighteye said that she still had a lot of work, but at least she'll have the basics down by the time she applies to UA.

Speaking of work, Nighteye had given her a few things to do to help improve her analytical skills. Mock CCTV videos for analyst training to watch that required her to write down as much as she could about their quirk, how they were using it, and anything else that was out of the ordinary. Of course, the videos were fake, with the criminal caught on camera being an actor. They were for training purposes.

Well, that's what she thought anyway. Last week he had given her an unassuming video of someone with what she was told was a telekinesis-like quirk. But, after observing the video, she realised that was not the case, and in fact, the guy had a magnetism quirk that allowed him to control magnetic objects. She didn't think much of it when she returned the completed work to him. But when a report in the news about Sir Nighteye taking down a thief who could control magnetic objects, she got suspicious. One call later revealed that, yes, Sir Nighteye had sent her footage from an actual investigation he was doing.

As expected, Izumi was over the moon that she was able to help out Sir Nighteye with one of his investigations. Inko, on the other hand, was a little cross that the man had done without any warning or permission but was placated a bit due to him having nothing but praise for her. Izumi's analysis of the thief's quirk made catching him much easier. But he did say that he would ask permission first the next time he wants to ask her for help like this. Which had nothing to do with her slowly bringing one of his Hyper-Density Seals towards her with her quirk and saying, “That could easily be something else”.

Izumi had no idea why, after her mother said that, Sir Nighteye crossed his legs. She suspected her mother had threatened to do something to him, but she wasn't sure what.

She wasn't the only one who was improving. Hitoshi and Neito were also training as well. They were mainly getting stronger, though, as there wasn't much they could do to improve their quirks right now, not without getting into trouble. But they could do some light experimentation. Neito had found out how long he could copy someone's quirk from a loose piece of hair about a week before he could no longer copy their quirk from it. Whilst it was a good amount of time, getting people to give him a strand of their hair would be difficult at times, especially if they didn't have hair. Plus, he was still limited to three quirks at a time. Another problem would be identifying the hair's origin and how easy it was to lose it. Might need to come up with something to put them in for his hero costume.

Hitoshi was more focused on physical training, as, unlike Neito, his quirk wouldn't be useful during the practical part of the exam. Izumi allowed him to practice using his quirk on her to get some practice using it. If felt strange, she didn't know she was under his control until after he broke his control over her. The first time he used it on her, she didn't think he had used it until she noticed she wasn't standing where she was previously. It was slightly horrifying but also rather impressive. They also discovered a few weaknesses. Whilst the target couldn't escape from his mind control, it was remarkably easy for others to break his control. Something as simple as a rough nudge on the shoulder of the target was enough to break Hitoshi's control over them. Not something to worry about in a one-on-one fight, but against several people, it wouldn't be much good at stopping them. Messing up their communications and making them mistrust their comrade's voices, on the other hand, can seriously affect their cohesion and make taking them down easier.

But, even with all the work they've put in now, they still had a long way to go before the UA entrance exam, and a lot can happen in the time between. So they had to keep training to be ready for the exam.

Anyway, back to her work. Once she had recovered enough from the workout, she got off her bed, sat at her desk, opened her laptop and went to work. She watched Sir Nighteye's video and noted what she observed. It was a simple robbery. The thief turned his finger into a key, letting him walk in and ransack the place. Yet the most interesting thing was that the alarm never went off, not even when one of the displays was smashed open. Something smelt fishy about this.

“This is starting to look more like an inside job,” Izumi remarked, noting her observations. “Probably an attempt at insurance fraud by the owner. There are a lot of valuables in there, after all”.

Durandal nodded, not speaking, knowing this was a test for Izumi. He could see it was insurance fraud, but this wasn't a test for him. You can't learn anything if you had a robot answering all of the questions for you after all. In fact, it would be detrimental to her.

Once Izumi was done examining the video, she sent it off to Sir Nighteye before doing a little investigation of her own. She opened up YouTube and looked up a video of one of All Might's fights, specificity, his only fight against Doctor Paxton. Well, calling that a fight would be an understatement. It was more like an embarrassing string of Paxton sending a powerful robot to fight All Might, only for All Might to smash it up in one punch. It was hilarious how annoyed the man was getting. Sadly, All Might could not catch him there and then, as the last machine Paxton sent against All Might was a lot tougher and much harder to destroy, giving the madman his chance to escape.

“Why are you studying my creator?” Durandal asked, “You've been looking up a lot of stuff about him recently. Why?”.

“Because I want to learn more about you, but as you said, you don't know much about the body your inhabiting,” Izumi replied as she watched All Might effortlessly smash a robot into pieces. “If I watch what his other robots can do, it might give us more of an idea of what you are capable of”.

Durandal looked at the video Izumi was watching before looking back at her. “I see your point. This body didn't exactly come with an instruction manual,” he remarked before he looked back at the video. “Plus, it feels good to see the bald fuck getting his shit kicked in.

Izumi nodded, continuing to watch the video. Paxton was a tall and thin man with long limbs and fingers. He lacked hair of any kind on his face, even eyebrows. His eyes were covered by goggles with camera lenses on them. He looked plain, but more often or not, the plain ones are the deadly ones. He also spoke with a British accent.

The madman wasn't standing, he was sitting in a small one-man fighter with VTOL functions, floating in the middle of a street, surrounded by his machines, most of which had been reduced to scrap metal. All Might standing several meters away, with even more destroyed robots around him. Some of Paxton's best if his rather annoyed ranting was anything to go by.

All Might made dealing with Paxton look easy. Like the Symbol of Peace could have dealt with him there and then. If it wasn't for Paxton's All Might Buster, then his rain of terror would have ended there and then.

Unfortunately, this was just a one-off. Every other battle Paxton was directly involved in ended in either his victory or a minor defeat. The man was a genius in more than robotics. He knew how to fight battles and win them.

He also knew how to break people. Not physically, but mentally. It was no secret that he was a great therapist, but his training also helped him break people. He knew what to say to cause someone to fold in on themselves, how to say it, and when to say it. He has faced hundreds of heroes and mentally broke the ones he didn't kill. So many heroes from across the globe. Mantis, Earl Grey, Liberty, Endeavor, Medved, and many others. Whilst some like Endeavor were able to recover and return to hero work, others like Earl Grey weren't so lucky, quilting the hero job even after their recovery.

Some just never recovered.

She knew how dangerous Paxton was. Everyone did. But only after she started researching the man did she realise the true extent of the damage he had done. Over five thousand heroes either dead or broken by him across the globe. Thousands died, several nations were crippled, economies ruined, and cities ruined. He brought war to the entire world, which no one prepared for. It was shocking how much damage one man could cause, how vast his empire was, and how many of his more dangerous subordinates were still unaccounted for.

Many people who worked for him were arrested after he died, with more being found as time passed. They were still uncovering his bases and minions to this day, but his more dangerous minions and machines were still out there. Argonaut, Mechanist, BNK3R, STEALTH, The Therapist, ARK, and many others who are still out there. Nobody knew where they were, but it was frightening to know that such dangerous individuals were still at large.

Hell, The Band, a group of robots that played boss music for him, were still at large. The man had a massive fucking ego and liked music playing in the background while fighting. And whilst she had to admit that the man had good taste in music, the fact he was playing it whilst his forces were killing people didn't make it any better. Although, did he need a bunch of robots to play the music live and not play it over a loudspeaker?

Anyway, Paxton was dangerous, and so were his machines. His robots were all built for war and were highly versatile. It was quite easy for them to be reconfigured to perform various duties. But since Durandal was a more high-end robot, he would be different. So she focused on Paxton's more advanced machines, mainly those with positronic brains. But that turned out to be more difficult. She couldn't find anything on them besides their names and the fact they had positronic brains. She couldn't even find a video of them in action. Not even the more commonly known ones had anything on them.

“This reeks of a cover-up,” Durandal remarked as Izumi closed another empty web page that just had a blurry image of the robot in question, its name, and confirmation that it had a positronic brain. “Someone doesn't want the world to know what his high-end machines were capable of. Can't blame them. Some of them were downright terrifying, like his All Might Buster. He made that thing to kill All Might, it failed, yes, but as you saw, it gave All Might a lot of trouble before he was able to destroy it”.

“You think someone's trying to prevent people from replicating them?” Izumi asked.

“Probably. They were his most dangerous machines, after all,” Durandal replied. “Or it's one of his minions doing it, keeping their long-dead master's secrets hidden from the general public. Besides, all his robots, except the larger ones, were bipedal. He didn't have many quadrupedal ones. So chances are we're not going to learn much about what I can do from them”.

Izumi sighed. “So you are telling me that I spent the last hour looking up his robots for nothing?”.

“Well, when you put it like that, then yeah, you kind of did,” Durandal replied. “At least it wasn't all for nothing. You found that compilation of him getting punched in the face and running away in his underpants to the Benny Hill theme. That was funny. For the man who caused so much chaos and killed so many, he got into a lot of embarrassing and hilarious situations”.

Izumi nodded with a smirk. For such an evil man, he had an embarrassing amount of hilarious fuck ups that would have made him a laughing stock if it wasn't for all of the destruction and death he caused.

Well, it wasn't all for nothing. They had found something about him by complete accident too. The loyalty program and biometric lock can be, in a way, fooled. For some reason, Durandal obeys Inko's orders without hesitation or reluctance. At first, all three of them were confused, as Paxton's biometric lock is supposed to only work for the person it's locked to. After a little testing, they found out why he was just as obedient towards Inko as he was to Izumi. She was her mother. They were related very closely, with very smiler genetics. Because of their biological relationship, the biometric lock is fooled into thinking that the order is coming from Izumi when it's really coming from Inko. Durandal theorised that Paxton never found this out because he had no family, so this weakness was overlooked. Not something that could be abused as he had no children, but it was something.

There was then a knock on the door “Izumi!” her mother called from the other side. “It's almost time!”.

A massive smile formed on Izumi's face as she turned towards the door. “Coming!” she said loudly before she turned off her computer and rushed towards the door. Durandal followed close behind as she left her room and followed her mother towards the living room. The two sat on the sofa opposite the TV while Durandal sat on the floor in front of them. Inko got out the remote and turned on the TV, but she didn't switch the TV channel. Instead, she brought up a video-telephony service they had, one capable of handling calls between the Earth and the Moon.

Inko quickly imputed a code to a meeting room and waited. The main screen was black save for a small rectangle at the bottom of the screen that showed them the view of the webcam positioned on top of the TV.

The two waited patiently for a few moments before the black screen changed to show a man with short fluffy red hair with freckles on his face, wearing a black shirt and sitting at a desk. A note at the top left-hand side of the screen also said, 'Time Delay: 2.5 seconds'.

The man smiled as he saw them. “Izumi, Inko! How're my two favourite girls doing?”.

Inko smiled. “We're doing fine, dear,” she said as Izumi beamed, smiling so brightly that she could have flash-banged someone with it. “How are you doing yourself, Hisashi?”.

The man smiled. “I'm doing fine. We're heading back to the plant, so I have some time off until we reach it,” Hisashi Midoriya replied. “Been a very productive month for us, and busy”.

“Well, it's good to hear you're doing fine,” Inko said, glad her husband was doing fine.

Hisashi Midoriya had always wanted to go to the moon, even when he was young. So, when the moon colony project started, he signed on to help with the Helium Three mining. Although he didn't expect to be one of the few to be selected to go up there. It was his dream come true. Unfortunately, by the time confirmation came through, he was selected, he had gotten married and had a child, and sadly, he couldn't bring them to the moon with him. It did not help that his daughter dreamed of becoming a hero, and she could not achieve that on the moon. So, after a long family discussion, Inko and Izumi told him to accept, as it was his dream to go to the moon, on one condition, made by a three-year-old Izumi. Whilst he's up there, he buys any exclusive hero merch that's sold up there for her. Something he agreed to in an instant. Izumi was his darling little girl, and he wanted to do every he could to help her achieve her dream of becoming a hero, supporting his wife and daughter despite being so far away from them.

Durandal had also remarked that had Izumi been born a boy, she would have looked a lot like his father.

Hisashi nodded before he turned towards his daughter. “Izumi, how're things going down on your end?” he asked whilst he maintained his smile. There was a hint of worry in his voice. It may have been three months since she tried to end her life, but he still worried about her. He so desperately wanted to visit and be with them during this trying time, but sadly he couldn't afford to go home, as return trips to the Earth and back aren't cheap. He didn't have enough holiday time to cover the trip and the time to spend with his family. So the best he could do was send a little more their way to help.

“I've been well,” Izumi said with a smile. She always enjoyed speaking to her father. The man understood what it felt like to be told repeatedly to give up on your dream. But he had always been a source of inspection, as, despite all the odds, he archived his dream and went to the moon. It was one of the things that helped keep her going for all these years. “Isa said that I've improved greatly since our first session but still have a long way to go,” she said, frowning slightly, wishing her father could be here in person. “But I am making progress. Hopefully, I'll be better by the time I apply to UA. I've been training a lot, too”.

“That's good to hear,” Hisashi said with a smile, glad his daughter was recovering. He was horrified when he found out what had happened to her and how the school she attended did nothing to help or stop the bullying. A part of him wished that he never went to the moon. That way, he would have been down there to help her, which might have hurt her drive to become a hero. “Remember, don't be disheartened if you don't manage to get into the hero course on day one. You still have the UA sports festival to prove your worth as a hero”.

Izumi nodded franticly with a smile on her face. Not a year went by that she didn't watch the UA sports festival, as it was an opportunity for the students there to show off their quirks. Another reason for holding the sports festival so early into the year was to give students who didn't do well during the entrance exam but still want to become heroes a chance to get onto the hero course. Many useful quirks aren't useful in fighting robots, so they often fail to get in. The festival gives them another chance at that. Even if she failed, then she would still have another chance. It was the same story for almost every top hero school in the world, the Millennium Academy in Germany, Guardian High School in Russia, Great Britain's prestigious Hellsing High School, and The Avengers Academy in America, just to name a few. And yes, she also watched their sports festivals to see their student's quirks in action.

“Don't worry. I'm aware it is possible and am prepared for it,” Izumi said. “But I have Durandal with me as well, so I should be fine!” she said as her robot companion raised his head.

“That's the spirit!” Hisashi said with a smile, “And how's your friend Durandal doing? Still keeping an eye on you?”.

“I've still been making sure she's safe if that's what you're worried about,” Durandal replied. He didn't say much during these meetings, preferring to speak only if Hisashi talked directly or if the conversation involved him. “Apart from a few places, I haven't left her side,” those places being the girls changing room and toilets. The other girls didn't like having him come in with her and kept telling her to leave him outside, and since she didn't want to make any enemies, she complied without a word.

“Well, I'm glad you're looking after my baby girl. She needs all the help she can get right now,” Hisashi said as his smile faded slightly. “I don't know what I would do if I lost either of you two”.

Inko nodded. She knew just how much her husband loved them, and whilst it was heartbreaking that he couldn't be there for them, he was doing his best to help his daughter during these trying times.

“Oh yes, Father, that package you sent us arrived yesterday,” Izumi said with a smile, brightening the mood.

“Finally,” Hisashi said, sounding relieved. He'd been waiting for that to arrive for over two months now. “I was wondering when it would reach you. Did you enjoy the gifts I sent you two?”.

“We did,” Izumi said as she and Inko nodded. Hisashi had sent Izumi a lot of hero merch exclusively sold on the moon, including a limited edition of All Might in his fictitious Luna costume. A 'what if' costume that was designed just in case All Might needed to go to the moon. Inko meanwhile got, among a few other things, a new sewing machine since the old one broke and she wanted to get back into sewing, also some fabric to practice with.

“That's good to hear,” Hisashi said with a smile. “Glad to see you two like the gifts. I wish I could do more, but I'm still stuck up here. Don't worry, I will be with you sometime next year. Just stay strong for me, Izumi. We'll get through this together”.

Izumi smiled. “Thank you, Father,” she beamed, happy tears falling from her eyes. Despite being so far away, Hisashi has been the most supportive of her, doing everything he could to help her. “I love you”.

“I love you too. Both of you,” Hisashi said with a smile before he looked to the left quickly. “And that's all the time I have available, sadly,” he said, looking back towards them. “I'll talk to you girls next week,” he said before waving them goodbye, Inko and Izumi doing the same before he ended the call.

Izumi waited a few moments before she put an arm around her mother and hugged her closely whilst petting Durandal. Seeing her father always put a smile on the young girl's face. Even though he was hundreds of thousands of miles away, the man still cared deeply for his family. And next year, he was coming home.

'Just you wait father' Izumi thought with a smile 'I will make you proud'.

Chapter Text

Ten months, ten long months since Izumi had accepted to take One for All and started her training. Working hard to clear Takoba Municipal Beach Park and learning how to fight from Sir Nighteye, all under the watchful and terrifying eye of her mother, Inko.

Izumi had been making great progress towards making herself ready to receive One for All, removing the trash from the beach. There were a few hiccups along the way, times when she overexerted herself and collapsed, not helped by her exercising when she wasn't supposed to. Inko had stopped her from most of her unauthorised exercise sessions, but she couldn't stop all of them. She was determined, yes, just a bit too determined.

Her combat training was going well, too, Sir Nighteye had taught her the basics, but he had a few issues with her fighting style. Mainly the fact she was mimicking All Might far too much. While he was impressed that she could replicate his fighting style, it not only didn't suit her but also made it look like she was trying to imitate All Might. So he taught her something more suitable: to incorporate kicks into her combat style. She still had a way to go before she could truly develop her style, but at least now she didn't look like she was imitating All Might.

On the morning of the UA entrance exam, All Might and Sir Nighteye were heading towards Takoba Municipal Beach. Izumi has long since learned their real names. The two wore casual winter clothing as they walked down the path towards the beach.

“You're sure it's ok to give it to her on the day of the exam?” Mirai asked as they walked. “Doesn't give her much time to practice using it”.

“I need to make sure she's strong enough to handle it,” Toshinori replied in his deflated form. “Her limbs would explode if she's not strong enough, so I don't want to take any chances with this. I'm sorry, but I've caused too much harm to her already”.

Mirai frowned before he fixed his glasses. “Well, she'll have enough time to absorb it properly by the time of the exam. But if she uses it without knowing how to handle it, she could break every bone in her body. You'll have to give her some very good advice on how to handle it”.

Toshinori nodded. The last thing he wanted was for his successor to break every bone in her body on day one. Recovery Girl would be pissed.

Suddenly, the two heard a loud cry. Recognising it was a human making the noise, the two rushed towards the source, which was the beach.

They soon reached the beach and were shocked by what they saw. Izumi was standing atop a small pile of trash that was not on the beach, letting out a loud scream. She had removed her shirt but was wearing a tank top underneath it. Before her was Takoba Municipal Beach, completely clear of trash and junk. And not just the section she was told to clear, but the entire beach. Inko and Durandal were also standing beside the last pile of trash.

“Holy cow!” Mirai remarked, shocked by how clean the beach was.

“She cleaned the entire beach, even the parts I didn't tell her to clear,” Toshinori remarked, shocked that she was able to do all this by herself. “She even cleared the remains of the ship,” he added. “Holy...stinking...SUPERCRAP!”.

“Young Izumi!” Toshinori said in his muscular form.

Izumi panted as she looked down at Toshinori. Smiling, she climbed down from the pile and walked up to him. “I did it!”.

“Indeed you did!” Toshinori replied with a large smile. “You've done what I asked for and more! You've cleared the entire beach! Well done!” he said as Izumi beamed at the praise. He then got out his phone and showed her a photo of Izumi from ten months ago. “Here, look at this! This was you ten months ago! Not the strongest-looking person in the world, but look at you now!”.

Izumi looked surprised before she looked to the left, seeing her mother holding a mirror for her. The difference was like night and day. Her skinny body was gone, replaced by one with more muscle mass. Toshinori also noticed that Inko had also lost some weight, not a lot, but it was obvious that she had been exercising as well.

“Quite the difference, you see!” Toshinori said, “You've improved quite a lot since we first met! Enough to be able to inherit One for All!”.

Izumi smiled at the news. Finally, it was time. Ten months of hard work were finally about to pay off. She would finally get a quirk. To have to power to become a hero. Inko and Durandal walked beside her, all three waiting in anticipation for Toshinori to pass on his quirk.

With his signature smile, Toshinori plucked a single strand of hair from his head and held it out in front of him. “Eat this!”.

Any anticipation and awe the three had for this moment was insistently lost, replaced by a mix of shock, surprise and disgust. “This is how One for All is passed on? By eating a piece of hair!?” Durandal exclaimed, stating what was on Izumi's and Inko's minds.

“My daughter has to eat your hair!!!” Inko said, sounding horrified.

“It's the only way to transfer One for All,” Mirai said calmly, calming the two women down. “One for All can only be passed on by ingesting the DNA of the previous wielder and if it's done so willingly. You can't just eat a piece of his hair and expect to receive it. He has to willingly give to you as well”.

“So, this is the only way then,” Izumi said, looking back towards the strand of hair. It made some sense for it to work like that, as it prevents it from being transferred by accident or to someone who randomly eats his hair. With a sigh, she ate the strand of hair, which instantly became the most disgusting thing she had ever eaten. “So, how long till I start feeling its effects?”.

“It'll take a while for you to digest the hair fully, but once it's done, you should be able to access the power stored in One for All,” Toshinori replied.

“And what about advice on how to use it during the entrance exam?” Izumi asked.

“Simple! Clench your butt-cheeks super tight and scream smash from the bottom of your heart!!!” Toshinori replied with a smile.

“That's it!” Inko said, sounding annoyed. “That's all the advice you can give her? What about power control? How is she supposed to know how much she can safely use without breaking herself? You told me you'd teach her how to use it safely! How is this supposed to help her?”.

Toshinori took a step back in fear. “I'm sorry, but, to be frank, when I first received One for All, I could use it at full power! Although, in my case, I was a lot bigger than Izumi at the time! But I'm sur-” and was promptly cut off by someone coming out of nowhere and kicking Toshinori square in the face, sending him flying onto his back and making him change into his deflated state.

The new arrival landed on the floor, allowing Izumi to get a better look at them. Toshinori attacker was a short, old man with a beard wearing a white and yellow hero costume with a cape. Yet she had no idea who this man was. Whoever he was, he probably knew All Might, if the look of abstract terror on Sir Nighteye's face was anything to go by.

“Really Toshinori, that's the best advice you can give your successor,” the old man said as Toshinori sat up and looked at the man, looking downright terrified. “And here I thought all those lessons I beat into you stuck”.

Neither Toshinori nor Mirai spoke, as both men looked too frightened to speak. And since neither of them was willing to say anything, Izumi decided to speak up. “And, who are you?”.

The old man turned around to face her. “You can call me Gran Torino. I'm Toshinori's old home-room teacher”.

“All Might's, home-room, teacher?” Izumi said, sounding confused as she processed what she was just told. After a bit, a smile formed on her face “All Might's home-room teacher!!! You taught All Might!? Why am I only finding out about this now!?”.

While Izumi looked like someone who had just won the lottery, Toshinori and Mirai looked like they were regretting their life choices “Mirai, why is he here?” Toshinori asked.

“I'm here because I knew you'd mess up your successor's training, just like you messed up your first meeting with her,” Gran Torino replied as he turned to face him. “I may be retired, but I pay attention to the news, especially about you, Toshinori. And whilst I admit that you two did a good job preparing her to receive One for All, your explanation on how to use it leaves much to be desired,” he said, causing Toshinori to gulp.

“Finally, someone who agrees with me,” Inko said with a smile. “You wouldn't have any advice for my daughter that is better than 'clench your butt-cheeks and scream'?”.

“Let's not jump to conclusions just yet,” Gran Torino replied. “Mirai here has yet to contribute yet,” he said before turning towards Mirai, who looked terrified. With good reason.

“Well, I was about to suggest she think of One for All like a reservoir held back by a dam. Only letting out small amounts of it at a time,” Mirai replied nervously, sounding like he was trying to avoid sharing the same fate at Toshinori. “As well as having it flow over her entire body so that it's not concentrated in one location”.

Gran Torino looked at Mirai with an unimpressed look before he shrugged. “Eh, better than Toshinori's advice,” he said before he turned towards Izumi. “Did you get that all, kid?”.

Izumi nodded, having written all that info down into one of her notebooks. As well as a few things she could observe about Gran Torino. For an old man, he was fast, and by the looks of things, both Toshinori and Mirai feared him. She also noticed that jets of air shot out of his boots after he hit Toshinori, so it was probably his quirk. Such an ability would give him incredible speed and kicking power and the ability to fly short distances. The air probably came from his lungs, so he'd be limited by-.

“Hay, kid. I know you may be interested in my quirk, but don't you have more important things to worry about?” Gran Torino asked.

Izumi froze before she looked up at him, realising that she had been muttering again, “Sorry”.

“Don't worry about it. We all have our hobbies,” Gran Torino said, “Just remember, you've accepted a great responsibility by accepting One for All. Don't abuse it or use it as an excuse to punch the largest thing you see. Right Toshinori?”.

Toshinori sighed. “I'm never going to live that down, aren't I?”.

Gran Torino smirked before turning back to Izumi. “You three should be heading off now. All this training would be for nothing if you miss the entrance exam”.

“Right!” Izumi said with a nod. “Thank you, sir,” she said with a bow before she was about to walk off. “Oh wait, before I forgot!” she said before she rushed over to her bag and got some pieces of paper. She sorted them out before rushing over to Mirai. “These are for you. They're about that man who appearers to be able to drive people insane. Should help you catch the guy”.

Mirai could get over his fear of Gran Torino for long enough to take the pages from her and look at them. “Ah, thank you. Just in time, too. We were planning to apprehend him today. This should make the arrest easier”.

“You're welcome,” Izumi said with a bright smile. “I'll see you two after the exam!” she said as she rushed back to her bag and shirt, picked them up and rejoined Inko and Durandal, and the three walked off.

Toshinori smiled as he watched Izumi walk away, ready to face the UA entrance exam. He was so proud of her. To have come so far under such circumstances was quite impressive. It reminded him an awful lot of his own training, and despite fucking it all up at the start, he was able to help her get through it. Nana would have liked her.

His thought processes were interrupted by a large book whacking him on the head. “I'm not done with you yet, Toshinori,” Gran Torino said, holding said book. “I have one more lesson for you,” he said as he showed him the book and smiled as a look of horror appeared on Toshinori's face. “I'm going to teach you how to be a teacher!”.

Later that day.

Izumi stood in awe as she stood at the entrance gate of UA. She never thought this day would come when she could walk the halls of UA. To have a chance to attend this most prestigious school. It was a dream come true. She had already contacted Hitoshi and Neito and wished them both luck. She wondered if she could see them here, but that was unlikely with the thousands of other students here. Hopefully, their training would help them, especially Hitoshi.

“Hay, Izumi,” Durandal said, standing beside her. “You aren't going to pass the exam standing around”.

Izumi looked down at her mechanical companion and nodded. “Right, let's go!” she said before walking towards UA's entrance, joining hundreds of other students as they approached the school. This was the best day of her life, and nothing could bring it down. Well, save for one thing.

Someone bumped into Izumi's shoulder. It was only a light bump, but it was noticeable. She turned towards the person who had just bumped into her and froze, noticing the familiar glare staring back at her. “Katsuki,” she shivered as Katsuki walked past her, glaring at her for a few seconds before looking ahead of him and walking off towards the entrance.

Izumi froze as she watched him walk away, as memories of the past ten years flooded back to her. Of course, he was here, he wanted to become a hero just as much as she did, and he made it no secret that he would apply here. Izumi had been hoping that she could avoid him here, but it appeared that fate had other ideas.

“Izumi!” Durandal said, bringing her back to reality. “I'm going to guess that was Katsuki Bakugo, the boy who bullied you for ten years?” he asked. Izumi nodded, not wanting to go over this right now. She thought she was over this, that thanks to all the therapy, she wouldn't act this way when she saw him again.

“Hay, you're going to be fine,” Durandal said. “You're just suffering from slight shock from seeing him again. You haven't seen him for ten months, after all. It shouldn't happen again,” he said as calmly as he could.

“Ok,” Izumi said, a sense of calm flowing over her. Thanks to Durandal's emotional support programs, he always knew what to say to help her. She looked up towards UA and smiled. “Alright, UA, here I co-,” she said as she walked forward and tripped.

She silently apologised to All Might, Sir Nighteye, and her mother for failing them and making a fool of herself. Freezing up as the ground came closer and closer, only to notice that it wasn't coming any closer. She quickly realised that she had stopped falling mid-fall, but why? Whatever it was, she felt weightless.

“Are you ok?” a cheerful female voice asked to the side of her as she suddenly found herself standing upright. “I stopped you with my Quirk. I’m sorry I didn’t ask first, but… I figured you wouldn’t mind me catching you”.

Izumi turned her head towards the voice's source and saw a cute brunette girl with pink cheeks standing beside her. She had a friendly smile on her face. She blushed slightly as she looked at her. “Ur, thank you, for, that,” she said nervously.

“You're welcome,” the girl said as she placed her hands together, and Izumi suddenly felt her weight return to her. Izumi couldn't help but notice the pads on the girl's hands. “This is all nerve-wracking, isn’t it? Well, I guess I’ll see you inside. Bye!” she said, giving her a friendly wave before heading towards the school.

Izumi watched the girl walk away, the blush still on her face. “I finally talked to a girl!”.

“Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean, I finally talked to a girl? You are a girl!” Durandal asked, sounding confused.

“I know that, but,” Izumi said as her blush got slightly brighter “Apart from my mother, I've never spoken to another girl before”.

“What!” Durandal said, sounding surprised. “But, you've changed with other girls before. Surely you spoke with them?”.

Izumi shook her head. “No, I just got changed quietly. I've only ever spoken to boys”.

“Wait. Are you telling me you've never spoken to a member of the same sex? Holy crap! What the hell did Katsuki do to you?!”.

“I... Asked him out,” Izumi replied quietly.

“Oh,” Durandal said, realising exactly what had happened. “And he didn't take it too well, didn't he?” he asked, getting a nod from Izumi. “And he wasn't the only one. And they all responded the same way. Shit. Why didn't you bring this up with Isa? He could have helped you with this”.

“I'm sorry. I just, didn't want to bring it up,” Izumi said, sounding ashamed. “It's just that, I-, I was scared of where that conversation would lead”.

Durandal looked at her with red eyes. If he could, he would have had a concerned look on his face. Thanks to his advanced processors, he was quickly able to deduce what she was worried about. She was Bi, and after being rejected by so many boys, she was afraid of the same thing happening to any girls she was interested in, so she kept her distance and never told anyone about it, not even her parents. “Hay, Izumi. I know you're worried about this, but it's fine. I'm sure that your parents will accept whatever sexual orientation you may have. But you can worry about it later. Right now, you have a written and practical exam to pass. So, let's focus on getting you into UA and on course to become a hero!”.

Izumi looked at Durandal and nodded. She spent the past ten months training for this day, and she could ill afford to waste it worrying about her sexual orientation. Even if it worried her, it was something she could deal with later. Right now, she wasn't going to put all that hard effort to waste. She had an exam to pass and was going to give it her all.

She rushed towards the school and made her way towards the examination room, Durandal beside her.

Some more time later

The exam went well, as far as Izumi could tell. Durandal wasn't allowed near her whilst she was taking the exam, but thanks to being registered as an emotional support animal, he was allowed to wait close by, just to keep an eye on her.

After the exam, they had a half-hour break for lunch before the briefing for the practical part of the exam. Since she had a big breakfast (which included a strand of All Might's hair), Izumi only had a small lunch. She had a good reason to, she needed to see if she could use One for All before the practical exam. Thankfully, Durandal had something to help with that.

“You sure this will work?” Izumi asked as the two found a secluded spot and sat down.

“I'm sure,” Durandal replied. “When in armoured wolf mode, I can monitor your vitals. It's possible that I can use that function to monitor your activation of One for All. But you have to be wearing me first. Time is of the essence, so we don't have time to remove your skirt”.

“Right,” Izumi said with a nod. She hadn't used Durandal's armoured wolf form much, only a few times to show to her mother, All Might and Sir Nighteye. She never actually practised fighting in that mode. Well, at least she wouldn't have to fight in it. “Activate Armoured Wolf mode,” she said after tying her fluffy hair into a ponytail.

Durandal complied as he got up, splinting open and reconnoitring himself so that he could form a suit of armour around her, her hair poking out of the back. “Alright, I'm monitoring your vitals-, holy cow”.

“What is it?” Izumi asked, sounding concerned.

“Er, well, I can tell you have a quirk now. As well as see just how much power is stored inside of it,” Durandal replied, and a display appeared on her HUD. “Good lord. I can see why All Might wanted you to bulk up, there is a lot of energy stored inside One for All. Jesus, it's like you've got a fusion reactor inside of you. I am glad One for All is a stockpile quirk. I dread to think what Paxton would have done with this much power”.

Izumi nodded nervously, sharing Durandal's dread. “Well, at least he can't get his hands on it anymore. So, now that we know how much power I have, how do I access it? Sir Nighteye only told me how to portion off a small amount of it, not how to use it in the first place”.

“Well, all I can do is suggest that you breathe, loosen up a bit, and try and call upon One for All,” Durandal said calmly. “I'll be monitoring you to see if anything happens, so I'll notify you if anything happens”.

“Ok,” Izumi said before she closed her eyes and breathed, calming her mind as she tried to call upon One for All. Not easy when you've never had a quirk before, but it was better to try and activate it now and find out how much you could use now, then later during the exam itself.

Her eyes suddenly shot open as she felt something pulse across her body. “Wow! Well, that happened!” Durandal remarked, sounding surprised.

“I take it I just activated One for All?” Izumi asked.

“By the looks of it, yes,” Durandal replied. “Try doing it again”.

With a nod, Izumi tried to recreate the pules, succeeding several times before holding it. She could feel the power contained within One for All, like a great ocean filled with power. She felt that she could drown in it, succumbing to its power and breaking herself with it if she wasn't careful. She could see why Sir Nighteye recommended she think of it like a dam, holding the energy back and letting only a small amount out. If she flooded her body with that much power, she risked killing herself with it.

She closed her eyes and imagined a great dam holding back the energy held within One for All. She then imagined lowering the floodgates just enough for one percent of One for All to pass through. With that one percent, she imagined it coursing through her body.

“Izumi, I don't wish to worry you, but there's currently green lightning arcing around your body, and your veins are glowing red,” Durandal remarked, sounding worried.

Izumi quickly opened her eyes and looked at her body. There was indeed green lightning arcing around her body, but thanks to wearing Durandal, she couldn't see her skin. Durandal realised this and brought up another screen on her HUD, showing a reflection of her face, seeing a glowing red X on her face. It was the same all across her body. “This must be One for All! It's functioning differently than it did for All Might, but I guess it operates differently depending on the user”.

“Looks like it,” Durandal observed. “Try and see if you can move. It'll be pointless if you can move with it active,”.

Izumi nodded before she moved her arms and legs, walking around for a bit. She felt fine. “Ok, I can move. Good. Now let's try-” she said before she was cut off by a voice over the intercom asking for all exam attendees to head to the lecture hall. “Oh no, I lost track of time! Deactivate armoured wolf mode!”.

Durandal complied as his armoured form detached from her body and reformed into his wolf form. “Looks like you'll be stuck with one percent during the exam,” he remarked as the two started to make their way towards the lecture hall. “Don't worry, now you can control it. We can find out your limits later. One percent should be enough to get by for now”.

“I hope so,” Izumi said calmly. Even if she could only use one percent, it was still better than nothing. She smiled as they made their way towards the lecture hall, ready to face the practical exam

A good half a minute after Izumi and Durandal left the area, a figure appeared leaning against a wall, close to where the two had previously been standing. Deactivating a cloaking field as she stood up. She wore a simple dark bodysuit with two plates underneath her chest and light boots. She had a belt around her waist and a mask covering her face.

“Well, I see what Toshinori meant by 'she's a fast learner',” the woman remarked before she reactivated her cloaking field and vanished.

Sometime later.

The introduction to the practical exam went well, for the most part. Seeing Present Mic in person was awesome, but his attempts to rally excitement out of the students there fell flat. And whilst a boy with blue hair and glasses called her out for her mumbling, the teachers managed to get him to calm down a bit.

The practical exam itself was, as expected, against robots. Paxton's robots. Despite only showing a black silhouette, thanks to all the research she did into the man, she was able to recognise them.

One pointer was his basic Strider robots, human-sized machines that either used particle guns or blades. The Two pointers were his Minotaur robots, larger machines that carried heavier weapons. The three-pointers were his tripod walkers, large mech-sized machines with particle cannons and missiles.

And then there were the zero-pointers, the Titans. Massive six-legged walkers with a humanoid upper torso but lack a head and have four large arms. Those things could easily destroy a city and have done so before. At least she knows what they'll be getting into with those.

When the presentation finished, Present Mic asked if anyone had any questions. Izumi's hand immediately went up. “What are the limitations on support equipment, robot assistants, and strength-enhancing equipment such as powered exoskeletons?” she had asked. Since Durandal covered all three of those things, she wanted to be sure if she could bring him along.

“Good question,” Present Mic had replied. “There is no limit on what support equipment you can bring in. This includes an armoured suit and powered exoskeletons. Robot assistants, on the other hand, are a lot more restricted. Fully autonomous robots that can act independently of their owner are not allowed to participate in the exam. Only machines that are controlled directly by the participant with some form of controller are allowed in”.

Izumi nodded as she sat back down. Looks like she would be using Durandal's armoured wolf mode for the practical exam since he is a fully autonomous robot and wouldn't be allowed to operate independently during the exam. Good thing she registered him as support equipment. This worried her slightly, as this would be the very first time she fought something in that mode, and they still didn't know much about it. She had coincided with going without him but had rejected it the moment she saw Katsuki getting into the same testing area she was going to.

She initially wondered why that was the case but then remembered that students from the same school were being put into different testing grounds. And she didn't go to the same school as him anymore. It didn't help that it meant that Hitoshi and Neito were also going to different testing grounds so they couldn't help each other. That is probably the reason why they were spitting them up.

Also, participants were required to put on their support equipment before getting onto the bus, so there she was, sitting in the bus with Durandal covering her in armoured wolf mode. The top half of his head retracted back so her face was visible. Getting mixed looks from everyone else on the bus.

If there was one thing that was making her feel better was that the nice girl from before was on the bus as well.

“I don't think this was a good idea,” she murmured, feeling very nervous and shivering.

“Believe me, wearing me is better than me not accompanying you into the Exam,” Durandal replied, keeping his voice low so that only Izumi could hear him. “You only have access to one percent of One for All. Maybe a bit more, thanks to the actuators fitted into me, which are boosting your physical strength and speed. Unfortunately, we have zero training in this mode, and fighting in armour is a lot different from fighting outside of it. I've reduced the strength of the actuators so you don't accidentally hurt yourself, and increased power to the compressors to reduce kickback and ease the stress on your body. Should stop you from breaking yourself”.

Izumi nodded before she focused on trying to calm her nerves. Not easy when you're on the same bus as someone who bullied you for ten years, as well as having what felt like everyone looking at you. 'Ok, just breathe in, and breathe out. Breath in, breath-'.

“Excuse me!” a voice said to her side rather loudly, causing her to let out a panicked yelp and fall off her seat. Durandal instinctively lowered the helmet so that it covered her face, just in case.

“Oh go-, I'm so sorry about that,” the voice said apologetically. Izumi noticed someone was crouching down beside her. Looking up, she saw the blue-haired boy from before who had called her out. Who Durandal had said had a stick up his arse. “My apologies, I didn't mean to scare you there”.

“It's ok,” Izumi said, breathing heavily as Durandal lifted back the top of his head again. That didn't do her nerves any good/ “J-j-just very nervous right now”.

“Hay blue hair,” Durandal added. “Next time you want to talk to someone, make sure they're not trying to calm themselves down due to stress. It's not very heroic and could sabotage them”.

The blue-haired boy was silent for a moment before bowed sharply. “My apologies. It was not my intention to sabotage you. I suppose my own nerves are getting the better of me, and are causing me not to notice things that should be obvious, such as your nervous state. Still, that is a poor excuse on my part, and I apologise for any distress I may have caused you”.

“T-that's ok,” Izumi said, still somewhat unnerved. “Everyone handles stress, differently”.

“Indeed,” the boy said, “Well, I wish you luck during the exam,” he said before he walked back to his seat and sat back down.

“Well, at least he knows when he's in the wrong,” Durandal remarked quietly. “Still has a stick up his arse though”.

Izumi didn't respond. She just sat there breathing in and out slowly, trying to calm herself down as the bus came to a stop. She stood up as people started to file out, walking away from the bus and crowding around the entrance to the testing site. Once again, she saw Katsuki in the crowd but couldn't see the nice girl from earlier.

“Hey,” a familiar voice said softly beside her. She turned her head to see the nice girl from earlier standing beside her, looking at her with a worried expression on her face. “Are you ok? I saw you freak out on the bus and wanted to make sure you're ok”.

“I'm fine,” Izumi replied. “Just rather stressed out, that's all”.

“Yeah, I'm guessing most of us are a bit stressed out,” the girl said. “Where's the robot dog you were with earlier?”.

“I'm wearing him,” Izumi replied, pointing at the armour she was wearing, followed by Durandal adding a “Yo”.

The girl looked at her with a rather confused look on her face. “You have a shifter robot? I thought such robots were exclusively used on the Moon?”.

“Is that what this kind of robot is called?” Izumi asked, never realising that there was a designation for such a robot.

The girl's reply was cut off by the voice of Present Mic yelling out, “And, START!”.

“Talk later; exam now!” Durandal said as he lowered Izumi's helmet to cover her head fully.

“Sorry, we'll talk later,” Izumi said apologetically as she rushed off with the rest of the students, the nice girl quickly following behind. As she ran, she powered up One for All at 1 percent, combined with the enhancements thanks to wearing Durandal, which allowed her to overtake the others.

The students quickly spread out across the grounds, searching the area for robots to destroy. Izumi was among the first to find a group of three one-pointer/Strider with blades on each arm. She charged towards the robot and clenched her fist before smashing it into its chest. It promptly crumpled like it was made of cardboard.

“Looks like these things are designed to be destroyed,” Durandal remarked as Izumi destroyed the other two machines. “Paxton would never allow machines this fragile to see the light of day”.

Izumi nodded as she rushed towards the next robot. She could do this; even with 1 percent she could still win. All she needed to do was destroyed enough robots. Durandal seemed happy to smash up many of Paxton's machines, even if they were inferior copies.

The next ten minutes were a blur of activity, running about destroying robots and helping out other examines who were in trouble. She wasn't going just to stand by and watch someone get hurt after all. Even if it did hurt her chances. Even so, she was doing well.

Her train of thought was suddenly cut off when she heard a loud scream. Turning around, she saw another girl get slammed into a wall, whilst a nearby three-pointer got destroyed by another examinee. She quickly rushed over to the girl's side and crouched down beside her. “Are you ok?”.

The girl let out a cry of pain as she griped her right leg, which was twisted and bent in ways it shouldn't be. “No, I think it's broken,” she replied through gritted teeth. The girl looked up at her, and Izumi was almost surprised by her golden yellow cat-like eyes. She recognised them. It was the girl who was also seeing Isa, who she allowed to go ahead of her. She couldn't remember her name, but the eyes were distinct enough to remember them. Guess she wanted to become a hero, too.

“Izumi, I know this might heavily damage your chances, but we can't leave her here,” Durandal said.

“Don't worry, I wasn't going to,” Izumi said before she helped the girl up and carried her off in a fireman carry.

“W-w-why are you helping me?” the girl asked, looking rather surprised that Izumi was helping her. “What about the exam?”.

“I'm not leaving you out here. It's far too dangerous,” Izumi replied as she carried the cat-eyed girl. “You could easily get caught up in something. What happened anyway?”.

“I was kicking a three-pointer when its missile rack exploded on me and sent me flying,” the cat-eyed girl replied. “It wasn't even the part I hit”.

“Yeah, we've been seeing that a lot,” Durandal remarked. “A lot of the three-pointers we have encountered either had destroyed missile racks or had them explode for no apparent reason. Guess the batch of missiles they're using are defective”.

“Looks like UA is going to have some words with the manufacture after this,” Izumi remarked before the ground shuddered, and there was the sound of something very large coming their way.

Izumi quickly turned around to see the massive form of a zero pointer smashing through one of the buildings, shaking the earth with each step. She had seen these robots before, but they were so much larger in person and scarier.

Izumi didn't say a word as she turned to run, doing what all the other students were doing. Only to stop when she heard someone cry out for help. She turned around and saw the nice girl from earlier, her ankle trapped underneath some rubble as the zero pointer rapidly approached her.

And no one was turning back to help her.

She would have rushed off to help her, but she was already carrying someone, and she couldn't risk putting them in danger as well. She couldn't help her.

“Put me down!” the cat-eyed girl she was carrying said.

“What?” Izumi asked, sounding confused.

“I'll be fine. I've had worse,” the girl said calmly. “But you can't help that other girl whilst carrying me. So put me down and go help her!”.

Izumi's heart sank when the girl said that she's had worse, but quickly complied. “I'll come back for you!” she said before she rushed towards the zero pointer. As she ran, her mind raced as she tried to devise a way to save the nice girl. She couldn't dig her out as the robot was too close, and pulling her out could risk causing more harm to her.

She then remembered how All Might took out these things, jumping up and smashing them in the chest. Normally the rear legs would be able to keep them upright, but when punched by All Might, the rear legs crumpled.

In her mind, she opened the flood gates holding the full power of One for All back and poured it into her legs as she leapt into the air. Then, she poured it into her right arm and with a loud “SMASH!” punched the zero pointer with everything she had.

The massive robot recoiled back from the punch, its rear legs breaking up as it fell. She smiled as she realised her plan had succeeded, only to be replaced by a look of horror when she realised how high up she was, that her legs and right arm were broken, and that she was falling.

Her body seized up as she fell, unable to move or think. Her mind reverted to ten months ago, to the building she had met All Might on, the one she jumped off of. She messed up. She messed up big time. All that training, all the planning, the work she put into getting here, only for it to be wasted by meeting the same fate she avoided ten months ago. She couldn't die, not now, but there was nothing she could do to prevent it, only stare as the ground came ever closer.

“Izumi!!!” Durandal shouted, bringing her back to reality. She blinked a few times as, strangely, she could see Durandal's face in front of her. “Izumi, are you alright?”.

“W-w-w-what?” Izumi asked, looking around with horrified and confused eyes. She was no longer falling. Instead, she was lying on the ground, completely fine “What happened?” she asked weakly.

“That girl with the gravity manipulation quirk from earlier used it on you again,” Durandal replied calmly. “Stopped you just before you hit the ground. Best guess is that you went into shock due to the fall. Going to have to bring that up during your next therapy session. Also, Recovery Girl healed you”.

“Recovery Girl,” Izumi said shakily, still finding it hard to believe she survived. She looked to Durandal's side, seeing the short form of the Youthful Heroine, Recovery Girl standing beside him.

“Don't you worry; I've already healed you, and Durandal informed me of how it happened,” Recovery Girl said. “Still, I'm surprised you're still conscious after that. With wounds like yours, you should have passed out when I used my quirk”.

“I think it might have something to do with Izumi's quirk still being active,” Durandal remarked.

Izumi's eyes widened in surprise as she slowly raised her hand, noticing the lightning and glowing veins. She didn't even realise she had One for All still coursing through her. She closed her eyes as she deactivated One for All, opening them and standing back up.

“I suggest you take these,” Recovery Girl said, passing Izumi some gummy bears. “These will help with the fatigue. Just don't eat them all at once,” she said before she patted Durandal's head with a bare hand. “I must admit, you have quite the loyal and useful companion here. I just wish my last dog was as loyal as him. Well, take care now,” she said before she walked off.

Izumi watched Recovery Girl leave, still feeling very shaken up. Looks like she wasn't as close to recovering as she first thought. There was still lingering trauma from when she jumped, resulting in her getting a new fear. A fear of heights. She wondered why it took so long to find out about it, but she guessed it was because she had never been anywhere so high.

“Hey,” the voice of the nice girl said gently beside her. “Are you ok?”.

Izumi looked to her side, tears forming in her eyes as she saw the girl who had saved her, a worried expression on the girl's face. Without thinking, she rushed forwards the hugged the girl tightly. “Thank you,” she cried as tears fell from her eyes.

The nice girl stood there with a surprised look, which quickly shifted to a worried look. She knew the girl was nervous but didn't think it was this bad. What had happened to this girl to make her so fragile?

“Your welcome,” the nice girl said as gently as possible. It was clear that the fall had traumatised her greatly, but she refused to go into it, as now was not the time to ask.

“Izumi,” Durandal said as he walked up beside them “I've called your mother and told her what happened, she's on her way to pick you up. I think it's better if you don't walk home”.

Izumi nodded but held onto the hug for a few more moments before she broke off. “S-s-sorry about that,” she said nervously, shaking as she did.

“It's ok,” the nice girl replied. “You needed it. Hay ur, if it's alright, can I stay with you for a bit, just till your mother gets here. You look like you could do with someone to talk to for a bit”.

Izumi's eyes widened in surprise, “You would do that for me?”.

The nice girl nodded. “You saved me from that zero pointer, and the entire thing left you shaken. So it's only fair that I stick around for a bit, just to make sure you are ok”.

More tears started to fall from Izumi's eyes. “Thank you,” she said before the three started to walk off. “Oh, I never got your name”.

“Oh, right. It's Ochaco Uraraka,” the nice girl replied with a kind and friendly smile.

Chapter Text

“Izumi!” Inko cried as she embraced her daughter tightly, tears gushing out of her eyes. “I'm so glad you're ok! I was so worried when Durandal told me what happened to you”.

Izumi returned her mother's hug, tears gushing out of her eyes as well. “I'm sorry, I just, I didn't know,” she cried, worried about her newfound fear of heights and falling.

“It's ok sweaty. Because now we know about it and can work to overcome it,” Inko said. “It's going to be ok, I'm here for you, always”.

Ochaco and Durandal watched on as Izumi and her mother hugged, with Neito and Hitoshi close by as well, the two having been given a slight rundown on what happened to her, just minus the bit about punching out a massive robot.

Whilst Ochaco was happy that Izumi was ok now, she was worried about the large amount of tears they were producing. “Is that normal?”.

“Yep,” Durandal replied as Neito and Hitoshi nodded. “It's got nothing to do with their quirks, by the way. They just produce a lot of tears”.

“Can confirm that,” Neito added.

Ochaco nodded as Inko continued to hug her daughter. The five had gotten more acquainted while waiting for Izumi's mother to arrive. Once Izumi had calmed down, that is. She was very interested in shifter bots, robots that can shift between multiple forms, and what happened whilst she had frozen up. Ochaco was still stuck while she was falling, but her gravity manipulation quirk had a few neat tricks. She could reactivate her quirk on someone/something she's used it on before and move whatever she used her quirk on around. But it gets harder to reactivate it the more time has passed, about three hours before it's impossible. Luckily, it had only been two since she last used it on Izumi so that Ochaco could reactivate it.

Soon Inko broke off the hug and turned towards Ochaco. “Thank you for taking care of my daughter, she's been through a lot, and I'm grateful that you helped rescue her during the exam”.

“You're welcome,” Ochaco said with a bow. “Your daughter saved me from that Titan, so it was only right that I helped her in return. We both want to become heroes and helping people is what heroes do!” she said as Inko gave her a kind smile, motherly smile.

“Wait, you know the actual designation for those robots?” Durandal asked, sounding surprised.

“Well, it's kind of obvious that the machines they used for the practical exam were based on certain baled-headed bastards robots. I mean, who doesn't know about Doctor Paxton and his army of robots?” Ochaco said. Inko could feel the venom in the girl's voice when she mentioned Paxton's name. She didn't just hate the man. She despised him.

“I like this girl already,” Durandal remarked. If he had a mouth, he would have been smiling.

“I wonder why would they be using inferior copies of that madman's machines for the exam?” Hitoshi asked.

“Probably because everyone knows them and hates them,” Neito replied. “Those robots are responsible for the deaths of over ten million people across the globe. No doubt it'll be therapeutic for the people destroying them”.

“Well, I'm glad you are all ok,” Inko said with a smile before she took Izumi's hand. “Now then, let's go home”.

Izumi smiled as they walked off, turning back towards Ochaco and waving at her. “See you around,” she said, nervous.

Ochaco smiled as she waved back. Once done, she reached into her bag, but her hand froze just as it entered. “Ur, excuse me?” she asked loudly, getting Izumi and Inko's attention. “I... Is it possible for me to get a lift home, please? It's just that I misplaced my train ticket earlier and don't have enough to buy a new one,” she asked, sounding worried.

“That's ok, I'll be happy to give you a lift home,” Inko replied with a smile, getting a confused look from Izumi, “Oh, don't worry dear, it'll be fine. I know what it's like to be on a tight budget”.

“Are you sure?” Ochaco said nervously, “I don't want to be intrusive or anything”.

“Oh, don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've given one of Izumi's friends a lift,” Inko said with a smile. “I was about to ask if Neito and Hitoshi wanted a lift as well”.

Neito and Hitoshi shared a glance. “Well, we did agree to have dinner at your place after the exam, so sure,” Neito said with a smile before turning to Ochaco. “You can join us if you like”.

Ochaco looked conflicted for a moment before she shook her head. “No, it's fine. I already have plans for dinner anyway. But, will there be space for all of us?”.

“It's a five-seater, so yes, there is room,” Izumi replied with a smile.

“I'll be in the boot, by the way,” Durandal added. “Not exactly room for me anywhere else”.

Ochaco nodded. She'd already taken up enough of Izumi and her mother's time, and whilst she didn't mind the offer to have dinner with them, they'd already done enough for her by just letting her have a lift to her apartment.

The walk back to Inko's car was short and quiet. Izumi kept close to her mother as they walked, Durandal by her side. Inko's car was a cosy little car with three seats at the back and two in the front. She had apologised to Ochaco that it might be cramped in the back with three people, but she didn't mind.

Once everyone was seated inside, with Inko in the driver's seat, Izumi sitting next to her holding onto a home-made plush of Durandal for comfort, Ochaco, Neito and Hitoshi in the back, and Durandal in the boot, they headed off. Ochaco had already told Inko where her apartment was.

“So, Ochaco,” Neito said once they were safely on their way, “You said you used your quirk to stop Izumi from falling, but we never cleared up what exactly happened to cause her to fall from so high in the first place”.

“Oh, well, it was after she jumped up and one-shot the titan,” Ochaco replied. “Punched it right in the face, or chest. No idea why Paxton put the face in the chest”.

“She what!” Neito and Hitoshi asked loudly, causing Izumi to let out a little yelp as she hugged her Durandal plush tighter, and Inko's eyes widened in shock. The two boys quickly realised this and lowered their voices. “Sorry about that. But seriously, you took out a zero pointer?”.

“What kind of training where you doing?” Hitoshi asked, sounding surprised.

“I should probably mention she was wearing me at the time,” Durandal said, poking his head out behind Hitoshi. “And yes, I am a shifter robot. It's one of those 'optional extras' that we had added. Still, I didn't do all the work. Her quirk did most of it”.

Izumi shivered. She knew this would come up at some point. They were her friends, after all, and would find out at some point. They would have questions, especially Neito, since he can copy quirks. “It's true. I have a quirk now,” she said quietly as green lightning arced over her body for a few seconds. “I could only use it since this morning”.

The three passengers in the back looked at her with shocked faces. “It came in just this morning,” Hitoshi said, shocked. “Holy s-s-s-shoe. But, how did you only just find out about it? And surely Neito would have been able to copy it”.

“I don't know. I should have been able to detect it when I touched her-” Neito said before pausing for a bit. “Ah, your quirk must have been suppressed”.

“Pardon?” Ochaco asked, sounding confused.

“There are stories of people whose bodies were so ill-equipped to handle their quirk that it simply suppressed it, not activating until their body could handle it,” Neito replied. “Take the villain and Paxton minion Mechanist. Reports say that his quirk didn't activate until over half of his body was mechanical. These cases are very rare, but I believe Izumi's body couldn't handle her quirk, so suppressed it until she was strong enough to handle it”.

“Well, strong enough to use a small percentage of it anyway,” Durandal added. “We didn't have much time to properly learn how to use it once we found out she had it, but after some last-minute testing, we discovered that she can safely use one percent of her power without breaking her limbs. We believe it's a stockpile quirk of sorts”.

“Ah, that's probably another reason I never detected it,” Neito said, checking his hand. “Her quirk was a blank. Whilst I can copy them, quirks require a stockpile of something I can't use because I don't have access to their stockpile. But still, only gaining access to your quirk on the day of the exam. I can see why you hurt yourself with it”.

Izumi let out a silent sigh of relief. She was glad that Durandal was covering for her. She would have struggled otherwise, especially after what happened to her today. Even with her friends there to talk to her, she was still shaken up after today's events so she would have messed it up. She hadn't even come up with a cover story yet for her quirk, so it was good that Durandal was covering for her.

She turned her head back and noticed that Ochaco was looking at her with a worried expression as she processed this new information. “Wait, are you saying that before the exam, Izumi was quirkless?”.

Izumi nodded. “Yes. Guess I must have been misdiagnosed when I was four,” she said, trying to draw attention away from the fact she still has an additional toe joint.

“Ah, now the puzzle pieces fall into place,” Neito remarked. “Misdiagnosed at a young age by an incompetent doctor and never getting a second diagnosis. I've heard many stories about that. I believe that the heir to the Yaoyorozu family was misdiagnosed, resulting in the doctor who diagnosed her in the first place getting sued by them”.

“When did you get so interested in the rich and famous?” Hitoshi asked.

“I'm not,” Neito replied with a smirk. “It's their quirks that interest me. I need to be aware of what quirks are out there since I need to copy other people's quirks to be useful, so I took a page out of our squad leaders' book and took up quirk analysis. I will need to be able to analyse other people's quirks quickly, especially if I want to master using them. I was just looking up the current head of the family's quirk and stumbled across the article”.

“Wait, squad leader?” Ochaco asked, sounding confused, still recovering from the shock that the girl who had saved her had done so with a quirk she could only just access today.

“Oh, that would be me,” Izumi replied nervously. “During the weekends, we sometimes play Battlefield, mainly Battlefield Dying Star, to help grow our teamwork, and I'm often the squad leader. Even if we all don't make it into the hero course, the communication skills we learn whilst playing it could help with our communication skills whilst in stressful situations”.

“It also helps distract us from the hell that's been the past ten months,” Hitoshi added. “Training for the UA entrance exam was hard. I'm lucky I met you, Izumi. I probably wouldn't have done as well as I did without the training we did. I would have been stuck thinking I could just coast by with my quirk and think I had lost the quirk lottery. That was not a healthy mindset to have”.

“Well, I'm glad you two did well,” Izumi said with a smile. “Let's just hope that it's enough to get in”.

Inko smiled as she listened in on the conversation, not responding as she was focused on driving the car. She was happy that her daughter had made such good friends, Neito and Hitoshi were, whilst she was cautious of them at first, proved to be good friends to her daughter, much better than Katsuki. And she could already tell that Ochaco was thinking about it. She was obviously worried about Izumi after all. Perhaps she could ask the two to share contact information, as it would be nice for Izumi to have another girl to talk to. She didn't have many friends after all.

Her smile quickly faded when she turned the corner to the street past the apartment complex Ochaco was staying at and noticed the police and military cordon blocking the entire street. It did not take her long to spot the tank embedded into the first floor of one of the apartment complexes.

“My god!” Neito gasped at the sight before them. “How the hell did that happen?”.

“That's the apartment complex I'm staying at!” Ochaco said with a horrified look on her face.

Izumi watched the scene before them with horrified eyes, wondering how a tank got embedded into the first floor of a building, it was also the place where Ochaco was living, so she was hoping that her apartment was ok. She then noticed Sir Nighteye talking to one of the police officers. Without thinking, she got out of the car (still holding her Durandal plush) and rushed over to him, making sure not to pass the police blockade “Sir Nighteye!”.

Sir Nighteye turned towards her with an almost surprised look on his face. After quickly reassuring a nearby officer, he passed over to the other side of the cordon “Izumi, what are you doing here?” he asked, sounding surprised.

“Just dropping off a friend at their apartment,” Izumi replied, “Which currently has a tank embedded inside of it. How did that even happen? You said you were after the guy who made people go mad?”.

“We were,” Sir Nighteye replied. “You were right about how he used his quirk. It did require direct eye contact to work. Good thing you noticed that. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to apprehend him. Unfortunately, before we got to him, he used his quirk on a few JSDF soldiers, one of whom was a tank driver with a quirk that allowed him to make vehicles jump. The rest is self-explanatory. At least no one was hurt”.

Izumi let out a sigh of relief. It would have been dreadful if someone got hurt because of this. That man had already caused too much pain and suffering.

“So the guy caused a JSDF tank driver to go crazy and jump his tank into a building,” Durandal remarked as he walked up beside her, her mother, Neito, Hitoshi and Ochaco rushing up behind her. “I'd say it sounds like something from a comedy sketch, but considering what could have happened, I think it's best that no one found this funny”.

“Izumi! How the hell do you know Sir Nighteye?” Neito asked, sounding surprised.

“Er, well, er” Izumi spluttered nervously. She just had to go and ask Sir Nighteye about what happened, didn't she?

Thankfully Sir Nighteye was there to cover for her. “She's been helping me with a few cases I've been working on,” he said, fixing his glasses. “Her analytical skills are quite impressive. I might not have been able to capture the villain responsible for this mess without her help”.

“You've been helping a pro hero?” Hitoshi said, sounding surprised. “How did that end up happening?”.

“Long story that's sadly classified, I'm afraid,” Sir Nighteye replied calmly. “Only available to other pro heroes”.

“Well, looks like we have another intensive to become heroes,” Neito said with a smirk.

Izumi felt a shiver go down her spine, but she didn't have to worry about it for long, as something else she had to worry about coming up. “Er, sorry if I'm sounding intrusive, but that tank is currently embedded into the wall of the apartment complex, and I'm worried it might have damaged the apartment I'm staying at,” Ochaco asked, “You wouldn't mind telling me what apartments have been damaged?”.

“Well, thankfully, only one apartment was damaged, apartment two-zero-two,” Sir Nighteye replied calmly.

The colour flooded out of Ochaco's face as what almost sounded like a whimper escaped her mouth. “Two-zero-two?” she muttered with a broken look on her face. With a wimpier, she collapsed onto her knees, tears falling from her eyes. “That's my apartment. I... where do I go? I don't have enough to rent a new one for the night,” she cried softly. “Did my stuff survive?”.

“We managed to recover two suitcases,” Sir Nighteye replied sombrely. “They were undamaged, and the police are currently looking after them”.

Ochaco let out a slight sigh of relief. “At least, all my stuff survived,” she said, relieved that she didn't lose anything. “But, where do I stay now? I, don't have anywhere else to go,”.

Izumi felt bad for Ochaco. She said she was tight on money already, and this incident didn't help. It was unlucky that this had happened to her. She didn't deserve this, not after all the things she did. But without a place to stay for the night, who knows what could happen to her?

Without thinking, she opened her mouth. “You could stay the night with us,” she said, trying her best to smile. “My bed has a pull-out bed underneath it, so you could sleep there tonight,” The pull-out bed was because when she was young, she wanted to have a sleepover with Katsuki, but that never worked out, and the bed remained unused.

“What?” Ochaco said wearily, surprised that Izumi was offering her a place to rest for the night. “Are you sure? I, don't want to be a burden upon you”.

“It's no worry, dear,” Inko said with a smile. “It'll be perfectly alright for you to stay the night with us”.

“Yeah, you're probably better staying with them anyway,” Neito added. “My mother doesn't like having strangers around due to her quirk”.

“And we don't have space at my home,” Hitoshi added. “Or a spare bed. The care home is kind of full at the moment,” he said. He had long since told the others that he was in a foster care home since his parents could not look after him, what with his dad in the army and mother in a coma.

Ochaco looked up at Izumi, tears still falling from her eyes. A part of her was telling her this was wrong, that they'd already helped her enough, but she didn't have anywhere else to go, and she didn't want to call home for help.

In a flash, she got up and hugged Izumi, surprising the girl and putting a large smile on her mother. “Thank you,” she cried as she hugged her tightly, thankful that she would at least have a roof over her head for the night.

Izumi, for the most part, was surprised by Ochaco's sudden hug. Thinking back to the practical exam, this must have been how she felt when she hugged her. With teary eyes, she returned the hug, “You're welcome”.

The two hugged for a bit before breaking it off. They then set about getting Ochaco's stuff into the car. Despite being large suitcases, there was still enough space for Durandal in the back. And, after saying goodbye to Sir Nighteye, they drove off towards the Midoriya's home.

“I'm sorry about what happened to your apartment,” Izumi said with a frown. Even though Ochaco had agreed to stay the night with them, it was still unfortunate that her apartment was the only one that was damaged by the tank.

“It's ok. No one could have seen it coming,” Ochaco replied. “I'm just glad I'm not sleeping on the streets tonight and that my stuff survived”.

“Is there anyone we should contact about this?” Inko asked, “Like a family member? Just to tell them what happened”.

“Yes,” Ochaco replied with a frown “I'll give you the contact detail of the orphanage later”.

“Orphanage?” Izumi said, sounding surprised, a sad frown on her face.

Ochaco nodded, wiping tears from her eyes. “My parents died during Avalon's invasion of Japan,” she said quietly. “I've been living in an orphanage ever since”.

Izumi looked at Ochaco with sad eyes, holding on tightly to her Durandal plush. It must have been horrifying for her to lose both her parents at such a young age during such a horrific time. Can't have been good for her. She just hoped that the orphanage she lived at was a good one.

“I'm sorry to hear that,” Hitoshi said with a sombre frown. “It's easy to forget that he hit Japan too, just not as bad as everywhere else”.

“At least you won't be seeing any more of his bald head anymore,” Durandal said. “And I bet it was therapeutic smashing those robots up”.

Ochaco smiled slightly, “Yep, that it was. They might only have been copies, but it felt nice seeing so many of them destroyed. Especially seeing Izumi smash up that Titan”.

“Yeah, that was kind of an impulse discussion on my part,” Izumi said with a nervous smile. “I saw you trapped and went to help. I would have been there sooner, but-. Oh no!”.

“What is it,” Neito asked, sounding concerned. “What's wrong?”.

“There was another girl I was helping,” Izumi replied with an annoyed sigh. “She had a broken leg, so I was carrying her to safety, but she told me to put her down so I could help you. I forgot to check in on her”.

“Can't say you were in the right state of mind at the time,” Durandal said, “You were in shock after all. Besides, I think she's fine. I saw Recovery Girl used her quirk on her, and she was walking away without issue”.

“Well, that's a relief,” Izumi said with a slight smile. “Still, would have been nice to make sure she was ok myself. But, I'm still glad she's ok,” she said. Even though it hurt her chances, it felt good to be helping people.

It turned out that the apartment complex Ochaco was staying at wasn't far from where Izumi lived, only a short fifteen-minute drive away. Once they arrived and parked, they got out and headed to Izumi and Inko's apartment, with Neito and Hitoshi offering to carry Ochaco's bags for her. Once inside, Inko started work on dinner whilst the others got settled in.

It was then that Izumi realised something. She had agreed to allow Ochaco to stay in her room (since they didn't have a futon), which was worrying as A, she had never had someone round for a sleepover before, and B, she was going to be sharing her room with someone else, her room full of All Might and hero merch.

Neito and Hitoshi had never been around much, and even when they were, she never showed them her room. And now she was about to show her room to her friends and another girl she met today. Oh, this was going to be embarrassing.

“So, is it ok to put my stuff into your room?” Ochaco asked.

Izumi was about to say no, but she would have to enter the room at some point, so she might as well get the embarrassment out of the way now. “Sure,” she said as she led them to her room and reluctantly opened the door, expecting a lot of criticism.

She did not expect Neito and Hitoshi to completely ignore it all and just walk in and put Ochaco's stuff into the room. Izumi could only stand there with a surprised look on her face. Of course, Ochaco looked to be struggling to hold back her laughter.

“What? You've told us several times that you're a massive fan of All Might, so we kind of expect your room to be like this,” Hitoshi said calmly. “Although to be honest, I did not expect you to have statues of Thirteen, Interstellar, or Luna Soldier”.

“You have a statue of Thirteen!” Ochaco blurted as she zipped over to the shelf with her space-themed heroes on it, then began to geek out over them.

“You're a fan of the rescue hero Thirteen?” Izumi asked with a smile.

“Of course I am. She's the best!” Ochaco beamed. “She's used her quirk to save thousands of people. I'm also a fan of Interstellar and Luna Soldier, as two of the three heroes operating on the moon. Ahhhhh! And you got them in their Luna costumes! These statues are, only available, on, the, moon” she said as her head slowly turned towards Izumi.

“My dad works on the moon onboard a Luna harvester-” was about all Izumi could get out before Ochaco zipped over to her. “Your dad works on the moon! You have to tell me about it!”.

Izumi was taken slightly back by Ochaco's sudden excitement, not sure what to say or how to react.

“I take it you're a big fan of the Luna colony?” Durandal said.

Ochaco nodded. “I know almost everything about the Luna colony. From the companies working up there, the ongoing projects, to the heroes who operate up there! It's so awesome. It's my dream to one day visit the colony. Even thou my chances of even obtaining that dream are slim”.

“Hay, don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to achieve your dream one day,” Izumi said reassuringly. “I always wanted to become a hero, but up until ten months ago, I never thought I would be able to achieve that dream. I'm sure if you work hard enough, you'll be able to achieve it”.

“You think so?” Ochaco asked with a smile.

Izumi nodded. “I'm sure of it. You just need to work hard to achieve it”.

“Nobody achieves their dreams sitting on their arse all day after all,” Neito added, “So, It'll be a while before Inko finishes making dinner. Why don't we watch something on the TV to pass the time. We won't be getting our results for at least another week, so we might as well relax”.

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Ochaco said. “I need something to distract me from my apartment getting a tank embedded into it. Nothing too heavy that requires me to concentrate, just something to relax to”.

“Yeah, I think we all just want to relax after today's events,” Hitoshi said as they filed out of Izumi's bedroom and settled on the sofa.

The next few hours were spent watching a few movies while Inko prepared dinner. Occasionally having a little chat, mostly about heroes or the movie they were watching. Inko was glad that her daughter had friends now, people other than herself she could talk to. Aldera was such a toxic environment for her. Moving her to Nabu was the best decision she had ever made in her entire life, the second being agreeing to let her keep Durandal. Despite being a war machine built by the worst villain this decade, he's surprisingly gentle towards her. Why do you think she made the Durandal plush in the first place?

When dinner was ready, they all sat at the table and enjoyed a lovely, large meal that Ochaco said was the best meal she had ever had. Whilst they ate, Ochaco asked a few questions about Hisashi's work on the moon. She was very interested in the Luna harvesters that mined Helium three. But to be fair, she was interested in anything that happened on the moon and space in general.

Unfortunately, Neito and Hitoshi couldn't stay long once they had finished dinner. So, after wishing them goodnight and sending them home with some leftovers (Inko always cooked more than needed when they had guests around. Helped that the leftovers made great lunches), Inko set about getting the pull-out bed ready for Ochaco whilst Izumi sat on the sofa, Durandal's head resting on her lap.

“So, where did you get Durandal from?” Ochaco asked, sitting next to Izumi.

“It's a bit of a long story” Izumi replied. Just like the backstory for her quirk had been planned out and rehearsed, so to have the background for Durandal “My dad got him for me after an incident ten months ago. He used a lot of favours to both acquire him and have him sent here”.

“I'll admit, I was sort of against this assignment at first. But I've steadily grown attached to Izumi here,” Durandal added, lying with a half-truth. “I will also admit that this is so much more interesting than sitting in a lab all day. I'll tell you more about it, but kind of classified”.

“Yeah, I figured that would be the case,” Ochaco said. “Shifter robots are new, and there aren't many out there. Plus, they all have positronic brains-. How did your dad even get him? Robots with positronic brains are almost impossible for people to own”.

“No idea,” Izumi replied. “He never went into detail on how he acquired him. Not even Durandal will tell me. Guess he managed to get some favours with some powerful people up there. Helium three mining is a lucrative business, after all. Well, for those in charge anyway”.

“If it's lucrative, why are you living in a small apartment?” Ochaco asked.

“We prefer to live here. It's comfortable for us,” Izumi replied. “Besides, we've been saving up most of it. Dad has to keep some to help sustain him up there, pay for gifts, and save up so he can afford to come home for a week or two every few years. Stuff up there is not cheap”.

“Ah, I see,” Ochaco said. “It is expensive to send things up there, after all. The colony's not yet self-sufficient yet, requiring stuff from Earth to survive. But still, it's impressive what we've accomplished in such a short time. And there's already talk about a Mars colony. Although that's a good century away”.

“You must be interested in space,” Durandal remarked.

“Of course,” Ochaco said with a smile before slowly frowning, “My dad liked astronomy. I used to read his astronomy books whilst sitting on his lap, and sometimes he let me look through his telescope”.

“You must miss them, don't you?” Izumi asked quietly.

Ochaco nodded, “They were good people. They owned a construction company but never made much money, so we were almost always in the red. When I was younger, I wanted to help them, my quirk would have helped me move stuff around, but they wanted me to pursue my dream of becoming a hero. So, that's what I did. I wanted to become a hero to make money so my parents could live comfortably. But then, Paxton took them away from me,” she said, tears slowly forming under her eyes before she suddenly hugged Izumi.

Izumi, whilst surprised by the sudden hug, wasn't taken back as much as before. So, with a slight smile, she put an arm around her. “It's ok, Ochaco. I'm sure that if your parents could see you now, they would be proud of what you've managed to accomplish. You kept your dream, even after what happened to you”.

Ochaco smiled slightly as Izumi held her. “Thank you, Izumi,” she said. “They would be proud of me. They told me to follow my dream, and I am. And whilst I can no longer support them, I can still become a hero to help others. So that no one else has to go through what I went through”.

“Well, that's an admirable reason to become a hero,” Durandal said. “I may not have experience with it, but I do know that losing someone is never good. To come out of that ordeal with your dreams intact, just with a different drive, is impressive”.

“Thanks, Durandal,” Ochaco said.

“Don't mention it,” Durandal said. “I may be Izumi's emotional support robot, but I'm not against helping others with their problems. Therapists aren't limited to one patient after all”.

Ochaco smiled, feeling a bit better now. She didn't like bringing up her parents, as it always reminded her of how they were taken away from her. But as painful as it was, Izumi was right. They would be proud of her for making it this far. She finished the UA entrance exam. All she had to do now was wait for the results to arrive.

Inko then walked back into the room. “Izumi, Ochaco, the pull-out bed is ready,” she said with a smile. “I recommend you two get an early night. Today was hectic”.

Both girls nodded. Today had been rather tiring, especially with Recovery Girl using her quirk on them. An early night would do them good. So, the two quickly got themselves ready for bed and quickly went to sleep.

Later that night.

Ochaco wouldn't call herself a light sleeper. Once she was out and it would be difficult to wake her. But it was possible for something like a loud noise, someone letting out a panicked scream, to wake her up.

She shot out of bed when she heard it, her eyes scanning the darkness around her. She quickly reminded herself that she was sharing a room with another girl and sleeping in a pull-out bed. Yet, despite the sudden awakening, she was grateful for it.

Heavy panting to her side told her that Izumi, the girl she was sharing the room with, was the source of the sudden scream that woke her up.

“Izumi!” Durandal said, getting up quickly and resting his front paws on the side of the bed. “Are you alright?”.

Ochaco turned her head towards Izumi. She couldn't see well because of how dark it was, but she could tell that Izumi looked terrified. Did she have a bad dream?

She remembered how Izumi had looked after she had saved her. The blank expression on the girl's face after Durandal had disengaged his armoured mode, even with the broken arm and legs, she looked unresponsive like her mind wasn't there. It wasn't until Recovery Girl had healed her that she started to respond, and even then, it took her a while to recover.

What happened to her?

Izumi was silent for several long moments, breathing heavily as her blank eyes stared forwards. “Hay, Izumi. It's just a dream, not reality. You're fine. Your not falling”.

'Falling?' Ochaco thought as she looked at Izumi. Did she have a fear of falling? She did freeze up completely after the fall, and thinking back to their meeting at the entrance, she seemed to freeze up slightly there as well. But what could have brought that on?

She decided not to press the matter, as it was clear that she was under a lot of stress “Hay. Are you alright?” she asked softly.

“No,” Izumi replied quietly. Ochaco could only just hear it. “It-. I get nightmares of-, of falling. It's not something I want to talk about”.

Ochaco looked at her with sympathetic eyes. She recognised that tone of voice as well as the situation Izumi was in. It was one she was deeply familiar with. Waking up in the middle of the night after a horrific nightmare, reliving a traumatic event from your past. It was why she was grateful for waking up from her nightmare early, as she did not want to relive it.

Why the hell did UA have to use a Titan as their zero pointer anyway?

Ochaco could tell this was a subject Izumi didn't want to talk about. Something like this rarely is. Especially since they only met today. You don't go telling people you just met your problems unless it's a therapist.

“D-don't w-w-worry about m-me,” Izumi said quietly before she laid back in bed, turning over to her side so that she was facing away from Ochaco. “I-I-I'll be f-fine”.

Ochaco could only look at her with sympathetic eyes before she laid back in bed with a sigh. 'I'll be fine', how often had she heard that come out of her mouth? Far too many for her liking, but sometimes, you just don't want to burden others with your problems, so you just tell people that you'll be fine and leave it bottling up your emotions until you can find someone you can talk to about them. It's what she did after her parents died, but that didn't do her much good, never talked about it until she was much older.

Ochaco could tell that Izumi was broken in a way, just like herself. She was showing signs of PTSD, not the same as her, but it was apparent something had happened to her to make her so scared of falling.

She frowned, realising that Izumi wouldn't be having a good night's sleep tonight. You rarely do after reliving a traumatic experience. But, whilst she couldn't talk about it, as they could never end well, there was something she could try to help calm the poor girl down and, hopefully, allow her to sleep peacefully tonight.

Ochaco quietly got out of bed and quickly slipped into Izumi's bed. “It's ok. I'm here for you,” she said softly, a slight gasp coming from Izumi as Ochaco put her arms around her and held her close. “I caught you with my quirk. Remember. I stopped you from falling. I saved you. And I promise, if you fall again, I will be there to catch you,” she said softly. It wasn't much, but it was the best she could do right now.

Izumi was frozen momentarily, not knowing how to respond to someone suddenly embracing her from behind. But it felt warm, just like her mother's. “Thank you,” she said quietly before closing her eyes, the feeling of a pair of arms holding onto her reassuring her that she wasn't going to fall again.

With a smile, Ochaco closed her eyes as well, grateful that she could help Izumi but also worried that she might be unable to keep her promise to her. And for invading her privacy.

Chapter Text

Izumi slowly stirred from her slumber. She slept peacefully after the nightmare, which she was grateful for, as normally they come in groups, one after the after and keeping her awake. But she felt reassured when she had her mother with her, holding onto her as she slept. The feeling that she was safe, that someone was holding onto her. Hugging her Durandal plush also helped.

She could feel something soft pressing against her back and a pair of arms wrapped around her. Probably her mother's arms since this was something she normally did. Opening her eyes slowly, she noticed something odd, she was still in her bed, which was odd as whenever her Inko held onto her whilst she slept, it was in her mother's bed, not her own.

Turning slowly behind her, she saw a mop of brown hair behind her. The gears in her mind started to turn as she remembered what had happened last night and slowly blushed a deep red. She was sharing her room with Ochaco, the nice girl from the entrance exam. And during the night, she woke up from a nightmare, after which Ochaco got into her bed and put her arms around her.

It was somewhat awkward to have a girl you just met hugging you from behind whilst lying in your bed. Especially when said girl is very cute with nice legs.

Wait, why the hell did she just think that?!

'I promise, if you fall again, I will be there to catch you' a voice suddenly spoke within her mind, a memory from last night. Ochaco had promised she would catch her if she fell whilst holding her. Someone promised to be there to stop her from falling. It felt reassuring to have someone willing to save her. No one had promised her that before, to be there to save her if she fell. And now she did.

She turned to look away from Ochaco and rested her head, enjoying the company and warmth of her new friend. Despite not knowing her as long as she knew Hitoshi and Neito, Ochaco was already a good friend in her book.

A groan behind her told her that Ochaco was stirring as well. “Your hair is fluffy,” she muttered quietly, her face half buried within Izumi's mess of hair.

'My hair is what?' Izumi thought as she started to blush again. Her hair, fluffy? It's not fluffy. It's a mess that no amount of combing can fix. To be fair, she got that from her father (as well as the freckles), and he solved it by cutting it short, but Izumi preferred hers long, so long mess of hair it was. She got her green hair and vestigial tear duct mutation from her mother. And brains from both of them.

Well, if there was one thing she was glad for was that her mother wasn't here to hear or see this. Might cause her to panic.

“Hay looks like someone agrees with me,” Durandal remarked, his head appearing from beside the bed.
And, of course, there's Durandal.

Izumi let out a low groan of annoyance. “Not now, please, Durandal, it's too early in the morning for this”.

“It's nine-thirty,” Durandal replied calmly. “You forgot to set your alarm, by the way”.

Both girls' eyes shot wide open at Durandal's statement. Fuck! She overslept. Even though it was a weekend and they didn't have anything to do today, it was still shocking to them that they overslept.

“Did Mother not come in to wake us up?” Izumi asked, sounding worried, seeing she was in an embarrassing position.

“She did, but then she quietly walked out with a smile,” Durandal replied as he stood up, “Said she didn't want to disturb you two. I'll just go tell her you're up and to prep breakfast for you two,” he said before he walked out of the room. He refrained from saying that she also took a photo of them due to how fucking adorable they were.

He added the fucking, by the way.

Both girls blushed heavily at the implication that Inko had seen this, Ochaco especially because she had only just met Inko and Izumi, and it was way too early to be doing something like this. But then she thought back to last night when Izumi woke up screaming. She didn't regret what she did, which helped Izumi sleep better. She just hoped that she had woken up before Inko had seen them.

“W-we should probably get up,” Ochaco said nervously as she removed her arms from around Izumi.

“Yeah, yeah, we should,” Izumi said, nodding in agreement before the two quickly got out of bed.

Ochaco was putting on her slippers before she paused and turned towards Izumi, “I'm sorry about what happened last night,” she said quietly, even if it was the right thing. She was a stranger to them and shouldn't be doing stuff like this.

“It's ok, t-there's no need to apologise,” Izumi said with a smile. “I, needed that. My mother usually hugs me when I have n-nightmares. Makes me feel safe knowing someone is holding onto me”.

Ochaco nodded, glad that this little incident hadn't made Izumi uncomfortable. Now they had to deal with another problem, parental teasing.

The two left Izumi's room and entered the living room. Inko was busy getting their breakfast ready whilst Durandal sat beside the table.

“Good morning Izumi, Ochaco,” Inko said with a motherly smile as the two walked in. “Apologies for not waking you two up earlier, but after what happened yesterday, I thought you two could do with a lie-in”.

Izumi smiled. She was rather tired last night, so a lie-in probably did her some good. She wished her mother hadn't walked in on them whilst Ochaco wrapped her arms around her. Even if it was to help calm her down, it was embarrassing.

The two quickly sat down as Inko served breakfast, having already had something to eat earlier. “So, Ochaco. How long will you be here for?” Inko asked, waiting for the two to be about halfway done before asking.

Ochaco finished her mouthful of food before replying, “Not long, actually. I have to head back home today. I only rented the apartment I had for two nights. Plus I need to get ready for school next week. I still need to finish my last year of middle school after all”.

“Yes, that is important,” Inko said with a smile. “Well, I hope your journey home is a pleasant one”.

Ochaco nodded. Whilst it was good that Inko hadn't been bothered by her presence, it still didn't feel right to be staying in a stranger's home. She wouldn't be here unless some crazy villain made a JSDF tank driver go mad and jump a tank into her apartment. But, the Midoriya's seemed to be nice people, especially Izumi.

She was cute, too.

Durandal, on the other hand, had mixed feelings. Ochaco had always been distrustful of robots and, in some cases, outright scared of them, especially the larger ones. You could never know what was going on inside those metal brains of theirs. At least there was one thing she and Durandal could agree on, Paxton is a dick.

Still, it was quite impressive for a family like this to get their hands on a shifter robot that could shift into a suit of armour as well. Her interest in all things space had inevitably gotten her interested in the moon colony and everything going on up there, including the development of highly advanced robots capable of shifting between multiple forms, mainly humanoid and animal forms. But this was the first time she heard of one that could shift from a wolf to a suit of armour. Perhaps it was a custom job? Still, how did they get their hands on him? Shifter robots needed a positronic brain/alpha-level AI to function, and they're all regulated due to a massive bald dickhead. She said her father had gotten him for her, but how?

She probably shouldn't dig too much into it. Izumi had told her that Durandal was an emotional support animal on top of being support equipment, so it was best that she didn't prod too much into it. People had emotional support animals for a reason, after all.

Maybe she should think about getting one for herself.

“Thank you, both of you,” Ochaco said. “It's not often people outside of the orphanage are this kind to me. Honestly, I'm grateful that you allowed me to stay here for a bit”.

“Oh, don't worry about it. We're happy to help,” Inko said with a smile. “Someone your age should be able to sleep with a roof over their heads,” she said before turning towards her daughter. “Oh, and Izumi, don't forget to fill out that Quirk registration form”.

“Don't worry, I'll fill it out after breakfast,” Izumi replied.

Ochaco was about to ask why Izumi would need to fill out one of those forms, but then she remembered the talk they had yesterday in the car, where her quirk came in on the exam day. So she needed to register it. Still, to spend so long thinking she didn't have a quirk and only get access to it on the exam day. No wonder she broke herself using it.

The two finished their breakfast before taking turns to go through the bathroom and get dressed for the day. Once dressed, Izumi got to work on the quirk registration form and quickly faced a problem. What the hell was she going to call her quirk? She could fill out the rest of the form easily, but the name that's the issue. She couldn't call it One for All. That was a given. But she never came up with another name for it. Maybe they should have spent a day brainstorming a name for it.

Sighing, she quickly picked up her phone and called Sir Nighteye, hoping he wasn't in the middle of something.

“Izumi, good to hear from you,” Sir Nighteye spoke over the phone. “How's the young girl you allowed to stay the night doing?”.

“She's doing fine,” Izumi replied. “But that's not why I'm calling. It's about my quirk. I don't know what to call it”.

“Ah, that,” Sir Nighteye said. “Well, you can name it whatever you want to. Quirk names can be as descriptive or random as you want them to be, or a pun or even a play on words. An old schoolmate of mine had a quirk that allowed him to melt, shape and cool chocolate, and he called it Chococine, a combination of chocolate and plasticine”.

“Oh yeah, I've heard of him,” Izumi said. “He makes chocolate statues of pro heroes. Think I brought a chocolate All Might statue from him once. Shame I had to eat it. Anyway, so the name can be anything?”.

“It can. Just don't name it anything ridiculous, ok?” Sir Nighteye said, “If you're still struggling later today, I can help you brainstorm a few ideas. Maybe look at what other people called their quirks. It might give you some ideas. Anyway, I have an investigation to get back to, so I'll talk to you later”.

“Ok. Thanks for the help. Talk to you later,” Izumi said before ending the call 'So, the name can be anything I want, even if it's unrelated to the quirk. Superpower might work, but it sounds generic, which my power isn't. Maybe All for One? No, that's stupid. It's just One for All flipped and might cause All Might to have a heart attack. Hay, isn't one for all, all for one a quote? I wonder if One for All has a sister quirk? Not important. Still need to name mine. Maybe something referencing that it's been passed on? Probably not, as someone who also knows about it might catch on. Decade Force? No, that's already in use, and I don't want to be called out for copying someone else. Maybe Power Stockpile? It is a stockpile quirk, after all. Yeah, that could-'.

“Ur, you ok there, Izumi?” Ochaco asked, causing Izumi to jump.

“How much of that did you hear?” Izumi asked in a panic, worried that she may have just let lose the secret of one for all by accident.

“Only the words Power Stockpile” Ochaco replied. “The rest I could barely understand. Is this what your friends meant by a mumble storm?”.

Izumi nodded, glad that she didn't accidentally reveal One for All. “Yeah, a lot of people find it creepy when I do that. Apart from my mother and Durandal, Hitoshi and Neito are the only people who aren't family who are freaked out by it”.

“I see,” Ochaco said with a slight frown. “Well, I think it's cute. It adds to your character”.

Izumi started to blush “C-c-c-cute!” she blurted out. She thought her mumbling was cute.

Ochaco hummed with a response, smiling brightly. “Yep. We all have our little eccentricities”.

“Wow there,” Durandal said as he leaned back. “Watch it, you could flash bang someone with that smile”.

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Ochaco said. “One of the care workers at the orphanage says my smiles shine like a lantern in the blackest night”.

“I can see that,” Durandal remarked. “So, what time do you plan on leaving today?”.

“Sometime after lunch,” Ochaco replied, “Maybe around two. In the meantime, I was hoping to relax for a bit. Yesterday was exhausting”.

“Agreed,” Izumi said as she wrote down 'Power Stockpile' as the name of her quirk. “We have a good selection of stuff to watch on the TV if you want to watch something in the meantime”.

“Ur, do you have anything Sci-fi or about space?” Ochaco asked, “I just want to vegetate to something that I don't have to focus too much on”.

“I think we have a few,” Izumi replied, “Although be warned, most of the stuff we have are superhero films or documentaries”.

“Why am I not surprised,” Ochaco said. “You really are a massive hero fan, aren't you?”.

Izumi nodded with a smile on her face. “Yep. I've always been fascinated by heroes and wanted to become one my entire life. Hopefully, I did well enough in the exam to get into UA”.

“Well, I hope to see you there,” Ochaco said with a smile. “Whilst I didn't see you much, you looked like you did well in the exam. I still find it hard to believe your quirk only came in yesterday”.

“You and me both. I always thought I was quirkless,” Izumi said. “I'm just surprised I was able to get a handle on it so quickly. I don't know what I would have done if I had punched a normal robot and broken my arm”.

“And your legs,” Durandal added. “You broke those too, jumping up to punch that Titan. Not to mention the damage you caused to me when you went all out. If there weren't any robot remains around us, I would not have been able to repair myself. Your lucky I put all power into the compressors and actuators. You could have completely destroyed my front left leg with that punch and shattered your arm”.

“Yeah,” Izumi “Probably should try and find out my current limit so I don't break myself like that again”.

“Is it really painful to use your quirk?” Ochaco asked, looking worried.

Izumi nodded, “Unfortunately, yes, I can only use a small amount of my maximum output. I'm just not strong enough to handle my full power,” she said, “During the exam, I only used one percent of it, but I didn't have time to see just how much of it I could handle, so I just stuck to it”.

“Up until you decided to go all 'One Punch man' on that Titan,” Durandal added. “At least you didn't try an pull a 'Metal Gear Rising' on it and suplex the bloody thing”.

“I doubt I could have done that in the first place,” Izumi remarked, “I'd need to have a gigantism or size-changing quirk just to be the same size as it just to be able to suplex it in the first place”.

Durandal looked at her with an unamused look. “Not that kind of suplex, the 'Rules of Nature' kind”.

Izumi looked at her robotic companion with a confused look. “If that's supposed to be a reference to something, then I don't get it,” she said before folding the form and putting it into a waiting envelope.

Durandal sighed. “Of course, you don't”.

Izumi finished sealing the envelope and made sure everything was in order. “Alright, that's done. Oh yes, Ochaco, would it be possible for me to accompany you when you do leave for the station? I need to go out anyway to post this”.

“Sure you can,” Ochaco replied with a smile. “I would appreciate the company”.

Izumi smiled before the two settled on the sofa and relaxed to a few films, enjoying a nice home-cooked lunch before finishing the last film. During this time, Izumi and Ochaco chatted on occasion, either about quirks or heroes, as well as sharing phone numbers because she wanted to keep in contact with her even if one of them didn't make it into UA.

Once it was time for Ochaco to leave, they made sure all her stuff was packed and that Izumi's letter was with them before leaving.

“See you in a bit,” Izumi said as she, Ochaco and Durandal made their way to the front door.

“Take care, you three,” Inko said with a smile as the three left the apartment and headed towards the train station, the two girls pulling one of the bags behind them.

“So, Izumi. I know your father works on the moon, but have you ever been there yourself?” Ochaco asked as they walked.

Izumi shook her head. “Sadly, no. It's horrendously expensive to travel to and from the moon. It takes my dad several years just to save up enough to visit us for a week”.

“Yeah, that sadly figures,” Ochaco said. “Even with all the advancements in space flight, it's still expensive to send things into orbit”.

“Your quirk could be used to mitigate that problem,” Izumi remarked, “You could easily send something into orbit, but getting it back down will be a different problem. Plus, I doubt you want to spend your days throwing stuff into orbit when you want to become a hero”.

Ochaco nodded. “Yeah, as fun as that would be, I want to help save people, to be a rescue hero like Thirteen, not become a living launch platform”.

“Yeah, I guess that's not something you would want to do,” Izumi said, “Although I do recommend that you try and buff yourself up a bit. Even if you want to become a rescue hero, there may be times when you will have to fight someone”.

“Yeah, that is something I have been doing, just not as much as I would have liked,” Ochaco said, remembering that Thirteen lost an arm to one of Paxton's robots. “I guess I'll be able to do more if I manage to get into UA, but at the moment, the best I can do is jogging. Money is a bit tight for me, so I can't afford a gym membership”.

Izumi nodded. It can't be easy for her, not having much money. She probably used most of her funds to rent an apartment for the exam and probably didn't have much left.

“Yeah, I couldn't afford a gym membership either,” Izumi said. “But in my case, it was more that the only good gyms in the area were too expensive for me or didn't want a quirkless girl working out there”.

“So what did you do to train then?” Ochaco asked a slight frown on her face. Why would someone reject someone from training at a gym because of their quirk status? It made no sense.

“Cleared an entire beach of trash,” Durandal replied. “And we're not talking about cans and broken bottles. She was moving ovens, furniture, and the remains of large robots. A full two kilometres worth of beach as well, cleared in ten months”.

“Eh!” Ochaco gasped. “You cleared an entire beach in ten months!”

Izumi nodded. “Yep. Wasn't easy. I needed to bulk up quickly, and since the beach was close and full of trash, I decided to clear it”.

“Did Nighteye have a hand in that?” Ochaco asked, “You did seem to know him personally. How did you even meet?”.
“Well, whilst he didn't help with my physical training, he did teach me how to fight,” Izumi replied. “You can't just randomly punch someone. I still have a ways to go since he only taught me the basics. As for how he started training me, well, All Might brought him in to-,” she said before she stopped and covered her mouth. She was not supposed to say that.

“All Might?” Ochaco said, looking confused. “Are you saying that All Might trained you?”.

Izumi lowered her head, realising she dug into that one. “He may have. When I first met him, he said I had a quirk similar to his, but due to how weak my body was, I couldn't use it without running the risk of killing myself. So he agreed to train me so that I could use it” she said, which was a partial truth. She missed out on the more traumatic stuff, like her suicide attempt and breaking down. She didn't need to be burdened by that, not when she has her own emotional baggage.

“Wow,” Ochaco said. “That's awesome. Also explains how you know Sir Nighteye. That must have been a dream come true! I would have loved to have been trained by Thirteen myself, but since she started teaching at UA, she hasn't done much hero work save for helping in major rescue operations”.

“Yeah, it was a dream come true,” Izumi said with a smile. “Sometimes I just can't believe this is happening, and fear that I'm in a coma and this is all just a dream”.

“Well, I don't think this is a dream,” Ochaco said with a smile, patting Izumi on the shoulder. “This is very much real life”.

“Of course, it's real life,” Durandal remarked. “If it were a coma, I would have noticed by now”.

“Yeah,” Ochaco said nervously. “So, switching to a less sensitive topic, I do hope that we both get into UA,” she said. “We both worked hard to get there, and, if anything, after what you did for me yesterday, you deserve to be there the most. You came to save me whilst everyone else just ran. You were a real hero back there. Thank you”.

“Eh, well, you're welcome,” Izumi said with a slight blush. “I helped you because it was the right thing to do, plus I didn't want to know what would happen if that robot reached you. But I've still got a long way to go before I'm officially a hero, as well as a lot of personal stuff to overcome”.

“Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to overcome them,” Ochaco said with a smile. “I'm sure of it”.

Izumi smiled. “Thank you, Ochaco,” she said before she spotted a letterbox. “Excuse me one moment,” she said before she rushed over to it, put her Quirk registration form into it, and rushed back. “Sorry about that”.

“No need to apologise,” Ochaco said with a smile. “You needed to post that anyway,” she said before the three carried on towards the train station. Talking a bit more about a few things, from heroes to space, even the potential existence of aliens. They also shared phone numbers so they could keep in contact with each other even if one of them didn't make it to UA.

Soon enough, they arrived at the train station. “Well, I guess this is it,” Izumi said as they stood outside. “I'll see you around, Ochaco”.

“Yep, see you around, Izumi,” Ochaco said with a smile as she took both cases and proceeded into the train station. Izumi would have followed her inside and waited for the train, but that wasn't exactly necessary. Plus, she'd need to buy a ticket to get onto the platform, which was pointless as she wasn't using the train today. So still smiling, she turned and headed off home, Durandal by her side. But she didn't go far until she stopped, holding a hand up to her cheek.

“Izumi, you ok there?” Durandal asked, sounding worried.

Izumi stood there for a few moments before she shook her head. “I'm fine, Durandal,” she said before she carried on walking, Ignoring the feeling of someone kissing her cheek when there was clearly no one around. Probably her anxious mind playing tricks on her.

“If you say so,” Durandal said before catching up with her. He had become attached to the girl over the past ten months. Not that he could get attached to anyone else, seeing that Paxton's damn loyalty program forced him to be loyal to her. Why install such a program into an Alpha-level AI anyway? Such a thing should be illegal, but then again, almost everything the bald-headed bastard did was illegal, and at the time, AI's didn't have rights.

Anyway, he was getting off track. Loyalty program or not, he probably would have stuck with Izumi anyway. He needed a place to hide as there was no way he was letting anyone replicate Paxton's work, plus the girl was broken and in need of help. And whilst he and Isa had been helping her, she was still on the mend. And sadly, new problems had just manifested, her sexuality, fear of starting a relationship and her newfound fear of heights. He wished she had brought the first two up sooner, as she needed help with it. He would help himself, but just because he has the training programmed into him, he lacks the experience that Isa has.

At least she still has him to help her.

Suddenly Izumi's phone started to ring. Looking confused, she brought it up, noticing that her mother was calling her. She answered the call and brought the phone up to her ear “Hay mum, what's up?”.

“It-. Has Ochaco gotten onboard her train?” Inko asked, sounding upset.

“Eh, yeah, she has,” Izumi replied, sounding worried. “I'm just leaving the station now. Is something the matter Mother? Did something happen to the orphanage she lives in?”.

“No, no, it's fine,” Inko replied, “It's about Isa. He's dead”.

Izumi stopped. No, that couldn't be true. He can't be dead. She still needed him, “Isa's... dead”.

“I'm afraid so,” Inko said, tears forming around her eyes. “His secretary just called me about it. He got caught up in a villain attack this morning and was killed. I'm so sorry about this, Izumi”.

Izumi's face paled. This... this couldn't be happening. Isa couldn't be dead. There was still so much they needed to talk about, her fear of heights, starting a relationship with someone, getting over her fear of Katsuki, and her nightmares returning. There's still so much she needed help with. But now he's gone, dead, his life taken by a villain. What was she going to do now? Who was she going to talk to about her problems?

Who was going to save her if she fell again?

'If you fall again, I will be there to catch you' Ochaco's voice once again echoed across her mind. The promise the girl had made to her. She promised to be there for her if she fell. Not even Isa had promised her that.

“You still there, dear?” Inko asked, sounding worried.

“Yes, I'm still here,” Izumi replied quickly. “I was just thinking about something. Will-, will we be able to get help from someone else? I know Isa's been helping us a lot, but I still need help. There's still so much I need help with, things I forgot to speak to him about, problems I still have”.

“It's ok dear. I'll see if I can book you in with another therapist,” Inko said. “I'm just so sorry that this had to happen to you. I just wish I could have done more for you the prevent this all from happening”.

Izumi smiled. “Thank you, Mother. I'll be home soon”.

“I'll see you soon,” Inko said before she ended the call.

“Isa's dead! Shit,” Durandal cursed as Izumi pocketed her phone, realising he spoke too soon. “Why is it always the nice ones who try and help that end up dying? Hope the villain who killed him got caught”.

“Yeah, I hope so, too,” Izumi said with a frown. She had been hoping to get help from Isa until she started at UA, but now, thanks to a villain, that plan had gone up in smoke. It was so distressing that someone she knew so well had been taken from her, but, as Isa told her, she had to keep moving forwards, no matter what life threw at her.

Izumi and Durandal walked home, still shaken by the news of Isa's death. Unbeknownst to them, someone was watching them from an alleyway, someone Izumi was just told was dead.

Isa Tsuneyo smiled as he watched them walk away, glad his hard work was paying off. He then turned and walked down the alleyway. “My apologies, Izumi Midoriya, but Isa Tsuneyo can no longer be of any help to you,” he said as he grabbed his hair and pulled, removing the wig he was wearing and revealing his bald head. “But don't worry little one, you have more than enough people to support you now,” he said as he removed his eyebrows, dumping the fake hair on the floor, which spontaneously combusted.

He reached for his eyes, pulling up fake skin around them and pulling them out. Revealing he had camera lens mounts instead of eyes, with a lot of scaring and scratch marks around them. He then dropped the fake eyes and quickly replaced them with camera lenses, locking them into place.

“And don't worry about Durandal,” he said with a smirk, his voice now different, no longer the calm and friendly voice of Isa Tsuneyo. It was now more collective and calculating and all-around evil. His accent had also changed as well, to a British one. “Despite being a failure, he will be an effective guardian for you. For the time being at least”.

He reached the other side of the alleyway and approached a car waiting for him, opening the rear passenger door and stepping inside. There was a robot in the driver's seat, a highly advanced one. Far more advanced than anything else on the market.

“Set course for our base in Hamamatsu, and contact ARK. We're moving on to phase two,” he said with a smile as the car drove off.

The robot turned its head towards him and spoke, “By your command, Doctor Paxton”.

Chapter Text

The week following the entrance exam was long and stressful. Very stressful. Whilst Neito said, he got around fifty points thanks to copying some very powerful quirks, Hitoshi and Izumi didn't get as many, somewhere between twenty and thirty for both of them. It got difficult to tell how many robots they destroyed. Neito tried his best to reassure them, but when Hitoshi said that he overheard people say how many points they had and that most of them were in the forty-fifty range, the two didn't have high hopes that they had passed.

It wasn't all bad news. Even if they didn't get into the hero course from the start, they could still get in through the sports festival. They just needed to prove themselves. But, they would have to wait for their results to arrive before planning for that possible outcome. At least if that did happen, they would have someone on the hero course to help them.

Another thing that worried her was that All Might hadn't gotten in touch with her since the exam. All of her calls had gone to voicemail, and he hadn't replied to any of her texts. She started worrying, fearing that something must have happened to All Might. She had given Sir Nighteye a call about it, and whilst he said All Might was fine, he was busy with something. What that something was, he refused to say, but the lack of contact with him was worrying.

Isa's death didn't help either. With him gone, Izumi had no one to talk to about her problems. Durandal helped as best he could, but he lacked Isa's experience. Knowledge is useless without the experience to use it. It didn't help that none of the other therapists they contacted was interested in helping her.

But, despite her several sources of worry, the current school year wasn't over yet. So she was mainly focused on schoolwork for that week. Up until seven days had passed since the exam.

Izumi was sitting in her room finishing her homework for the week while chatting to Hitoshi and Neito over Discord, with Durandal sitting beside her. She had wanted to add Ochaco to their group chat, but she didn't know her discord id and was worried about asking for it. Not that she hadn't been keeping in contact with her. She had her phone number, and have been texting each other from time to time.

“You think we'll get our results soon?” Hitoshi's voice asked over the call, “This waiting is killing me”.

“They have over a thousand students to grade,” Neito replied. “It'll take time to grade everyone after all. I'm just hoping that we all get in. Even if we only get into general studies, we still have a chance to get onto the hero course”.

“Well, I guess Izumi and I will have to get in through the sports festival,” Hitoshi said, sounding depressed. “We weren't able to get many points. Me because my quirk was useless against robots and Izumi due to being inexperienced with using her quirk”.

“That, and people kept beating me to the robots,” Izumi added. “Even with me wearing Durandal, there were a lot of people who were faster than me. Not helped by that being the first time I ever had to fight in armoured wolf mode. Still, I'm not sure we were being judged just on the villain points”.

“What do you mean by that?” Neito asked.

“UA's a hero school, the best hero school in Japan,” Izumi said. “Heroes don't always have to stop villains. They have to save people as well. It's only a hunch, but there may be other criteria we were being judged on but weren't told about. Why would they only score us on fighting people when that's just one part of being a hero?”.

There was silence from her two friends. Izumi herself was also silent. She was grateful for all the observation training Sir Nighteye had given her, as she probably wouldn't have thought about there being other criteria.

“Well, now that you mention it, that kind of makes sense,” Neito said. “There is more to hero work than fighting people. Rescue and support heroes do exist, after all. It doesn't make sense to judge us on our combat ability alone, so maybe they'll also judge us on any heroic actions we perform”.

“So, there's still a chance of us getting in,” Hitoshi said, sounding a bit relieved. “Knowing that, there are probably ways to lose points as well. Probably for unheroic behaviour. I remember seeing someone push another student into a robot's attack. Even if they didn't have that kind of criteria, he would have lost points for that or get disqualified”.

“Sounds like Izumi's analytical skills are rubbing off on you,” Durandal remarked on the voice call.

“Considering how my quirk works, I have to be observant of my surroundings and the people I'm up against,” Hitoshi said. “Knowing who to attack and who to brainwash can be the difference between life and death”.

“Same here, although in my case, it's more along the lines of what their quirks are and if I can use them,” Neito added. “We have to rely on knowledge and information more than most people. Knowing what quirks people have and what they can do with them will be an important part of my strategies. Shame I can't copy Izumi's quirk. It'll be nice to be able to one-punch a giant robot”.

“I wouldn't recommend it,” Izumi said. “I did break my arm and both of my legs doing that”.

She was relieved that the two still wanted to be friends with her when she told them she had a quirk now. A part of her was worried that they would abandon her after revealing it, but they were completely fine with it. Happy even.

“Yeah, it's probably a good thing it's a stockpile quirk if you've got that kind of power stored inside you,” Neito said. “How did you end up with that much power stored up inside of you anyway?”.

“No idea,” Izumi replied. “My quirk registration is still in progress. Power Stockpile is already on the system, but until I get my new ID showing that I have a quirk, I can't get quirk counselling. Their rather iffy about that sort of thing”.

“Figures,” Hitoshi said with an annoyed sigh before there was a sound of a door knocking. “Hold one,” he said before he walked off.

“I wonder what that was ab-” Neito said before a muffled voice was calling from him. “Down in a minute, Mother! Sounds like I'm needed,” he said before he walked off.

Izumi blinked, wondering why her two friends had been called away. Suddenly she got her answer when she heard her mother calling her name. Quickly taking her All Might headphones off, she and Durandal rushed out of her room and into the living room. “What is it, Mother?”.

Inko had an ecstatic look on her face, holding a letter in her hands. “A letter, Izumi. They came, Izumi, look! You got a letter! They’re here! Your test results from UA!” she said happily.

Izumi's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the letter. It was indeed from UA.

She slowly took the letter from her mother and looked at it. Without thinking, she tore a side of it off, and a silver disk dropped out of it onto the table beside them. moments later, a holographic projection of All Might appeared above the disk. “Boo-ya! I am here as a projection now!” he said loudly, smiling as he always did. “I know it’s been a while, but with great power comes a great amount of paperwork! My apologies, young lady! The truth is, I didn’t come to this city just to fight villains! You’re looking at the newest UA faculty member!”.

“What!” Izumi gasped with a smile. All Might was going to be a teacher at UA! That was fantastic! He probably wouldn't be a homeroom teacher due to his time limit, but still, it was amazing!

“Let's hope he gives the students better advice than 'Clench your butt-cheeks and yell smash',” Durandal remarked, which got a laugh out of Inko.

The projection of All Might suddenly turned as a hand appeared in the corner. “Hm? Yes, what’s the matter? Who’s showboating? Oh, sorry, I’ll wrap it up, but I have to show her something first! Wait, I need to do how many of these things?!” that got a giggle out of her. “Right, so, moving on! Even though you passed the written test, you only got twenty-nine combat points! Which unfortunately is not enough to get into the hero course. I'm sorry”.

Izumi frowned. It wasn't enough. All that hard work, and she failed to get onto the hero course.

“But don't worry, for there were other factors!” All Might said. “You have a quirk now, yes, but it’s your actions that inspire others! And that’s why I am here! You see, the practical exam was not graded on combat alone!” he said before the projection shifted to a montage of her during the exam, a montage of her saving people. Pushing them out of the way of an incoming attack, destroying a robot that was about to attack someone, carrying that girl to safety, and ending with her punching the zero pointer/Titan. “How could a hero course reject someone who is committed to saving others, no matter the consequences to herself!?” he asked rhetorically before continuing, “After all, that is what makes a hero! And that’s what my alma mater is all about, training those who would risk their lives for the greater good! So we have Rescue Points! A panel of judges watches, and they award points for heroic acts beyond just fighting villains!”.

The projection then changed to show a scoreboard showing the top five participants. And right there, at the top of the list, was her name.

Izumi Midoriya: twenty-nine combat points, and eighty rescue points, for a total of one hundred and nine points.

Unsurprisingly, Katsuki was below her in second place with seventy combat points and ten rescue points.

'Wait, how did Katsuki get rescue points?' Izumi wondered. Last she knew, he wasn't the kind of person who would go out of his way to help people. He probably got them by accident.

She then saw another name she recognised, Ochaco Uraraka, in fourth place. 'she got in, too,' she thought with a smile.

All Might once more moved back into frame. “Congratulations, you have passed the exam!” he said before he stretched out his hand. “Welcome, Izumi Midoriya! You have made it! You’re now a part of the hero academia!”.

Tears started to form around Izumi and Inko's eyes. This was it, her dream was coming true. She was finally going to become a hero.

“I'm so proud of you, Izumi,” Inko said proudly as she hugged Izumi, her daughter returning the hug, tears gushing out of both of them. “Even after everything that has happened, you're finally going to achieve your dream. You're going to become a hero”.

Izumi smiled as the two continued to hug, still crying happy tears. She could scarcely believe she had made it into UA's hero course. But she had, she had made it. She had taken her first step to becoming a hero.

“Ladies, I know you're happy, but we're going to get complaints again,” Durandal said after a while, not wanting the neighbours to come round again to complain about the 'leaks' but giving the two time to be happy about this. This was a big thing, after all, and he did not want to ruin it for her.

The flood of tears quickly subsided as the two calmed down and broke off the hug with smiles on their faces. “I am so, so proud of you, Izumi. And I'm sure your father will be proud of you as well”.

Izumi smiled. Just like her father, she was on her way to achieving her dream. She couldn't wait to tell him the good news.

Speaking of telling people, Hitoshi and Neito probably also received their results. She'd need to tell them the good news. Inko also had the same idea. “You should go tell your friends the good news. I'll go get dinner ready”.

Izumi nodded before she and Durandal rushed back to her room and put her headphones back on. “Guys, my UA exam results arrived,” she said happily.

“Figured that was the case since we got ours as well,” Hitoshi said, sounding excited for once.

“Yep,” Izumi said, vibrating with excitement. “I got in! I got onto the hero course!”.

“Yes!” Neito said happily, “Three for three. We're all on the hero course. I couldn't be happier”.

“You two made it in as well!” Izumi said with a smile.

“Indeed we did,” Hitoshi said. “Those hero points came in clutch. I got thirty-fifty place,” he said before a muffled voice shouted, “Fuck you, Mum and dad, I'm becoming a hero!” before a second voice scolded the first.

“Who was that?” Neito asked, sounding curious.

“Oh, that was Himiko, another resident of Kouzuki house. She's also applied to UA's hero course,” Hitoshi replied. “Sounds like she made it in as well”.

“Well, I can't wait to meet her,” Izumi said. “Although, why did she say, 'fuck you, mum and dad'?”.

“Ok, which one of you taught the cinnamon roll that?” Durandal asked, ignoring the fact that he had sworn quite a lot around her.

Hitoshi decided to ignore Durandal's question, “Himiko doesn't like her parents. In fact, she hates them, so much so she refuses to use her family name. I won't say any more due to how bad things got for her. She's, had it rough”.

Izumi nodded, knowing that this was a sensitive subject and that she shouldn't dig into it without the girl's permission 'Wait, why does that name sound familiar?'.

“So, any idea what class we're all in?” Neito asked.

“No idea. There was nothing about which class we'll be in on the letters, just congratulations for making it into the hero course and a list of things we will need,” Hitoshi replied. “Guess they're still sorting that part out”.

“Well, there are two hero course classes', class A and B,” Izumi said, “So there's a fifty-fifty chance that we'll be in either class. But, no matter what happens, even if we end up in different classes, we'll still be friends, right?”.

“Of course, we will,” Neito replied. “We all worked hard to get here after all, and I'm not the kind of person who abandons their friends after spending so much time helping each other. Had that happened to me a few years ago, and trust me, it is not a pleasant experience”.

“At least you had friends, even if it was for a while,” Hitoshi said. “And the people I live with don't count. I'm friends with them, yes, but before I met you two, they were the only friends I had. In fact they're more like family to me”.

“Same here. Before I met you two, it was just my mother and I,” Izumi said. “I'm glad to have met you two and that we're all on the hero course”.

“Don't worry about it,” Neito said. “From today onwards, all three of us are heroes in training”.

“Don't forget about me!” a cheerful female voice added on Hitoshi's end.

“Gah!” Hitoshi gasped. “Himiko! Knock next time, please! You're too quiet for your own good!”.

“Sorry, but I wanted to see if you got in as well,” Himiko's voice said. “Sounds like you did. So, who are you chatting to?”.

“Just some friends from school,” Hitoshi replied. “Now, please, go mess with someone else”.

“Oh, but Houki and Irina are out with friends, Tsubaki is no fun to tease, Honne and Red are asleep, Naofumi is out with his tanuki girlfriend, Hotaru is still getting settled in, and the less said about Issei the better” Himiko said sounding annoyed “Honestly, I'm glad UA is a boarding school, and he isn't attending, because I do not want to be around that pervert any more”.

“Well, thank fuck for that,” Durandal remarked, not wanting a pervert to be anywhere near Izumi.

“Besides,” Himiko continued “Since we're both attending UA now, we'll be hanging out a lot more,” she said. Izumi could feel the smug grin the other girl was making from across the voice call.

Hitoshi let out a tired sigh. “And this is my life, having to live with the madness of a care home”.

“And now you have to live with the madness of a dorm full of hero course students,” Neito added, probably with a smirk.

“Fun,” Hitoshi said with a sigh.

“You know, we've never been around Stadtfeld house before,” Neito said. “You've been around our homes several times, but we've never been around yours”.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I'm not exactly comfortable inviting others here,” Hitoshi said. “Plus, I don't want to give Issei another girl to gawp at. Everyone else is fine, I'm sure you'll like them, especially you, Izumi. They have interesting quirks, save for Issei. His does not deserve even to be mentioned in one of your quirk analysis books”.

“That bad, huh,” Izumi remarked. Whilst this did nothing to make her any less interested in this guy's quirk, something told her that it was in her best interests never to meet this guy. “Well, I would like to meet them at some point”.

“Well, I'll see what I can do,” Hitoshi said. “Probably won't be anytime soon, though. We recently had a new arrival, and we're giving her time to settle in”.

“Understandable,” Izumi said. Moving to a care home and living with strangers can't be easy.

Suddenly Izumi's phone started ringing. One quick check revealed it to be from Ochaco. “I'll just be a minute,” she said before removing her headphones and answering the phone. “Hi, Ochaco, did you get your results from UA?”.

“Yes! And I got in!” Ochaco replied happily, “I can't believe it, I-, I'm going to become a hero!”.

Izumi smiled, glad all three of her friends were going to UA, on the hero course no less. “That's great, Ochaco. I, may have already known you had gotten in due to your name appearing on the scoreboard,” she said nervously.

“That's ok. I saw your name up there as well,” Ochaco said happily. “You got first place, Izumi. That's great. If anyone deserves the top spot, it's you. You helped many people during the exam and saved me from that robot. I wasn't lying when I said you deserved to be on the course”.

Izumi was struggling to believe what she was hearing. She was not expecting such high praise from Ochaco, or from anyone for that matter. She didn't do much during the exam. She helped people because it was the right thing to do. She never expected to do so well and have people thank her for helping them.

Tears started to form around her eyes. “T-t-thank you, Ochaco. I'm just so glad that we're all going to be on the hero course,” she said happily.

Ochaco smiled on the other end. “Your welcome,” she said, “I still can't believe I'm going to UA. It's amazing. We're going to become the best heroes in the world!”.

Izumi smiled. “Yes, yes we are!” she said. She was so happy that all her friends had made it onto the hero course. Now she was hoping that they would all be in the same class. But she was worried about something. The teachers at UA may be pro heroes, but, she hoped that she wouldn't have a teacher who was like all the other teachers who taught her. The ones who disregarded her and were generally untrustworthy.

She hoped that her homeroom teacher at UA was a lot nicer than her previous ones.

UA campus

Nezu had gathered the staff of UA to help discuss the make-up of this year's classes, mainly the hero course classes 1-A and 1-B. Most of the teachers were in attendance. He usually wouldn't have so many teachers assisting him with this, mainly the homeroom teachers of 1-A and 1-B. But this year was a bit different, owing to the mental state of a few of their new students. With one, in particular, being the main focus of their worry, as well as her mechanical companion.

“So, we're all in agreement that it'll be a bad idea to have me as Izumi Midoriya's homeroom teacher,” Shouta Aizawa, aka Eraserhead, said calmly.

Nezu nodded. “Unfortunately, due to her history of teachers neglecting her and allowing her fellow students to bully her, having someone like you as her homeroom teacher might do more damage than good. Even though I know you would never allow anything like that to happen, your teaching style may prove detrimental to her mental well-being. The fear of being expelled on the first day, for instance, might not have the intended effect on her, not to mention your attitude may remind her of her previous teachers”.

“Poor girl,” Nemuri Kayama, aka Midnight, said with a frown. “I dread to think what could have happened to her to cause her to try and take her own life. She had such a promising future ahead of her”.

Shouta nodded. They were all aware of what happened to Izumi Midoriya. As teachers, they had to be aware of any problems, physical and mental, their students had. Ryo Inui, aka Hound Dog, had informed them of all the new students who were currently undergoing therapy and given them a rundown of their problems so they could best accommodate them, having been given their files from the therapists' who had been helping them. And according to the files provided to them by Isa Tsuneyo before his death, Izumi had been through hell.

Shouta may have a reputation for expelling students, but it was for their own good. He refused to allow students to graduate, only to see them in an obituary a few weeks later. If they don't take this course seriously, then they don't deserve to be heroes. Besides, most of the students he expels get re-enrolled anyway, the scare helping them perform better. But he feared such a thing would have the opposite effect on Izumi. She had already tried to end her life once, twice if you count the sludge villain incident, and an expulsion, even if it was to scare her, could end up pushing her to try again. “I won't take her in one-B then”.

“That would be for the best,” Ryo said. “I also recommend that we put Katsuki into a different class to Izumi. Despite showing signs of major improvements since the incident, I think it's a bad idea to have them in the same class”.

“I concur,” Nezu said. “Having the two share a class and dorm might prove detrimental to them both. We should not force them together. Instead, we must let them move at their own pace, and, if they wish to reconnect, it must be by their own volition”

“Fine, I'll take Katsuki,” Shouta said with a sigh “Kaina, that means you'll be looking after Izumi in one-A,” he said as he turned towards the woman sitting opposite him.

The dark blue and pink-haired woman before him smiled, fidgeting with a loose strand of her hair and slowly moulding it into a bullet. “Fine by me. Poor girl needs a nice teacher for a change. No offence Shouta, you're a great teacher, just not the kind she needs right now,” Kaina Tsutsumi, aka the pro hero and ex-HPSC operative, Lady Nagant, said calmly.

“None taken. She needs a teacher she can trust,” Shouta said. It was for the best, after all. If circumstances were better, he would have taken Izumi in 1-B without question, but that wasn't the best idea with her current mental state. It's like he said, she needed a teacher she could trust, and his logical ruses would no doubt harm her trust in him.

Kaina nodded before she picked up a file. “I'll also like her to attend quirk counselling because her body is not used to using her quirk. With what happened to her during the entrance exam and All Might telling us she only gained access to her quirk recently, she needs help understanding how her quirk works. She's behind everyone else by almost a decade and is going to struggle to catch up”.

“That's probably for the best,” All Might said in his emaciated form. He had already told them all that he had been training her for the past ten months so that she could access her quirk. There was no point hiding it since she needed all the help she could get. Only Nezu, Recovery Girl and one other knew the truth that Izumi was his successor and now had One for All.

“So, now that that's sorted out, what do we do about Izumi's emotional support robot Durandal and his quirk emulator?” Ken Ishiyama, aka Cementoss, asked, “The machine made by Paxton”.

All Might frowned. He had also informed the staff who had made Durandal and what he could do, but only once Izumi had been confirmed to attend UA. The quirk emulator was the hardest thing to explain and his scariest feature.

“Well, his cover story has already been sorted out,” Nezu replied with a smile. “All we need to do is keep an eye on him, tell them not to use the emulator, and keep a list of what quirks he has copied. Speaking of which, Recovery Girl, why exactly did you allow him to copy your quirk?”.

All eyes slowly turned towards Recovery Girl, sitting peacefully next to Nezu. “You know full well why I allow that robot to copy my quirk. As scary as it is that Paxton was able to develop a robot that could emulate a person's quirk, you can not deny how useful such an ability would be,” she said. “I won't be around forever, you know. One day I will die, either due to old age or at the hands of a villain. This way, even when I die, my quirk will still be available to help people. Besides, she looked like she needed it. Having a robot that can heal people will be quite useful. I'll have to tell her not to rely too much on it. If she keeps breaking herself as she did during the exam, then she could end up causing permanent damage to her body that not even my quirk can fix”.

Shouta sighed. “At least we have a rough idea of what quirks he can emulate,” he said, “Your sure it's wise to allow such a dangerous weapon to walk the halls of UA?”.

“Quite sure,” Nezu said with a smile. “We will be able to watch him at all times whilst Izumi is here, and if he does end up causing trouble, I'm sure that we can deal with it”.

“Yep, no doubt about that,” Higari Maijima, aka Power Loader, said with a slight smirk. He'd destroyed dozens of Paxton's robots before. He could deal with this one just as easily. “Still, a robot capable of emulating quirks. How the hell did that madman manage to do that? How do you even emulate a quirk?”.

“I don't know, and I hope never to know.” Nezu replied, “The existence of this emulator must be kept secret. Apart from the Midoriya family, no one outside of this room must know about the existence of this device”.

“Agreed,” Kaina said as she pocketed the bullet she had made. “If the HPSC found out about the device, they'll do anything to get their hands on it. Probably get RAFT involved, the eugenics-loving bastards”.

“You'd think the HPSC would try to dissociate themselves from such an organisation,” Nemuri remarked with a snarl. “But considering how much power they had to give up after Paxton's war, I'm not surprised they'll try anything to claw their way back up to where they once were”.

“I'm just glad that that madman wasn't able to perfect such a device,” Ectoplasm remarked. “I dread to think the kind of damage he could do with an army of robots that can emulate people's quirks”.

“It'll be the MLA uprising all over again,” Hizashi Yamada, aka Present Mic, said with a frown. “Just with an endless army of robots instead of people”.

“Yes. Such a shame a brilliant man like him used his *cough* *cough* talents for evil,” a woman with a kitsune mutation with brown hair, several tails and fox ears said, coughing into her hand, not that it did much due to the black fox mask she wore “He could have done so much good with such machines *cough*” she said, folding her arms on top of her traditional black kimono dress with red highlights before descending into a coughing fit.

“Are you ok there, Kantō?” Kaina asked, sounding worried, rubbing her fellow teacher's back.

Kantō Izu, aka Blossom, turned her head and smiled behind her mask. “Don't worry about frail old me, I'll be fine”.

“Right,” Kaina said, glancing at Kantō. She wouldn't call her old, frail maybe, but not old. She looked like she was in her late twenties, for crying out loud, and easily had the largest bust in the room, rivalling that of Midnight and Lady Nagant.

The jury's still out on which of the two had the second-largest bust.

“Well, we can only be glad that the man is dead,” Nezu said with a giant smile that unnerved everyone in the room, save for Recovery Girl and Blossom. “All we can do for now is keep an eye on Durandal. Speaking of keeping an eye on things, Eraserhead, when were you going to inform us that you were personally training Hitoshi Shinso?”.

Shouta chocked. How the hell did the rat find that out? He did everything he could to keep that a secret. He initially didn't intend to train the young boy to use his capture weapon, just gently nudging him in the right direction. Things just escalated a bit. May have gotten a bit carried away as well. The boy had a powerful quirk. He just wasn't prepared for the entrance exam. It was surprising that the boy managed to get onto the hero course in the first place. Of course, to avoid favouritism, he couldn't take him in 1-B, even though there was no way he would do that anyway. Still, how the hell did the rat find out?

“Seriously, you too?” Kaina said, sounding annoyed, “First, it's All Might personally training Izumi, and now you're personally training Hitoshi. Who else here has been training one of the hero course students before they got onto the course?”.

“Well,” Sekijiro Kan, aka Vlad King, replied nervously, “I'd say you, but training your eldest daughter is completely different to training a stranger, plus she didn't apply for the hero course. Still, I didn't think you were the kind of person who would take a personal interest in teaching someone privately, Shouta?”.

“I'm not,” Shouta replied calmly. “He was practising using a mock version of my capture weapon badly. All I did was train him enough so that he didn't accidentally strangle himself with it, I stopped teaching him after that, saying he needed to get into UA's hero course if he wanted to learn more. You'll be surprised how many times that almost happened to me,” he explained before he shifted his gaze towards Nezu. “May I ask how you found out about it?”.

Nezu laughed. “Come now, Shouta. You, of all people, should know this by now. I know everything!” he said with an unnerving smile, which scared everyone in the room, with only Recovery Girl and Blossom being the only one's not affected. Even All Might was unnerved by Nezu's smile, and he fought All for One! The symbol of evil. To be fair on the principle of unusual size, he was experimented on by Paxton, who had quite the reputation for breaking people. So it's understandable that he's a bit unhinged.

“For that,” Nezu added with a smirk “No skipping this year's orientation for class one-B”.

Shouta's head hit the table “Fuck,” he hated orientation, especially when it was mandatory.

Chapter Text

Once again Izumi found herself standing before the gates of UA. This time not as an examine but as a student. With her was Durandal and her mother, as well as several boxes. Whilst school started tomorrow, today was the day they would move into the dorms. She wasn't wearing her school uniform yet, as officially school started tomorrow, so she was wearing a white shirt that the word 'school uniform' written on it, and a black skirt.

UA, like most hero schools, implemented dorms not long after Paxton's war on the grounds of student safety. Whilst Paxton didn't attack many hero schools, his robots did deliberately attack many of their students. So this was a precaution.

She felt nervous about moving into dorms. She didn't want to leave her mother all by herself, despite how many times Inko said it'll be fine. But, it wasn't that long of a train ride home, so it wouldn't be that difficult to come home to pay her mother a visit.

“Will you be ok without me mother?” Izumi asked, turning back towards her mother.

“As I've told you before, I'll be fine,” Inko said with a motherly smile “As long as you remember to call regularly”.

Izumi smiled before she rushed over to Inko and hugged her “I love you, mother”.

“I love you too, Izumi” Inko said as she returned the hug.

Her mother continued to smile before she broke off the hug “Now, you should go get to your dorm and get set up. Tomorrow will be your first day at UA”.

Izumi smiled with a nod before she went over to the trolley with several boxes on it, whilst Durandal had several bags on him. Wavering goodbye to Inko as they headed towards the dorms.

The two quickly made their way through the campus, following Durandal due to him being the only one who knew where they were going. She had been given a map, but with her hands full she couldn't exactly use it.

They weren't the only ones there, as hundreds of other students were carrying their stuff towards their new dorm. Izumi had wanted to arrive early, but it took longer than she had wanted to get everything packed. She had a lot of hero merchandise after all and she didn't want to leave any of it behind.

It did not take them long to reach the dorm Izumi would be staying at, Heights Alliance block 1-A. A five-storey building with four floors dedicated to housing the students whilst the ground floor is a common area with couches, tables, television, kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms.

There were two other students who were arriving at the dorm at the same time as them. One was a floating tank top and shorts, probably a girl with an invisibility quirk, the other was also a girl with pink skin and hair, with two horns on her head wearing a sleeves shirt and shorts. Both of whom were pulling trolleys.

Thank god UA provided trolleys to help the students bring their stuff to their new dorms. With all the stuff some of them were bringing it would be impossible to carry it all.

Izumi was hoping that neither of them would notice her, even though things were slightly better at her new school, she did make two friends there after all. Sadly Hitoshi and Neito were the only friends she made there due to them being outcasts in their school. And ten years of bullying and neglect don't go away so easily, even after spending ten months at a better school and receiving therapy. So she was hoping that they would ignore her.

Oh, how wrong she was.

“Oh hi there!” the pink-skinned girl said as she cheerfully hopped over to them “Are you in one-A as well?” she asked.

“EH!” Izumi said as she froze on the spot. She was not used to people approaching her like this, Hitoshi and Neito were a bit more casual about talking to her, but this girl was like happiness personified “Ur, well, I. Yes”.

Then the invisible girl decided to approach “Sweet, that's great. That means we're in the same class. I'm Toru Hagakure. I hope the next three years we spent together are great” she said, holding out an invisible hand.

Izumi looked down at the invisible hand before she nervously brought her hand up and shook it “Izumi Midoriya”.

“And I'm Mina Ashido,” the pink-skinned girl said with a smile “Nice to meet you Izumi,” she said before she looked down towards Durandal “Oh, who's this?” she asked as she crouched down to get a better look at him.

“You can call me Durandal” Durandal replied “I'm Izumi's emotional support robot, and can also help support her with hero work and combat”.

“Wow, that's impressive,” Toru said “I've never thought of getting a support robot before. You wouldn't know where I can get a robot like him?”.

“I think we should put that question on hold and head into the dorm,” Durandal said “We do have to get our stuff unpacked after all”.

“Oh right, sorry,” Toru said “I'm just super excited to be here. Plus we'll be here for the next three years, so that's plenty of time to get to know one another,” she said before the two walked towards the dorm. Izumi followed on behind them, already knowing that her fellow classmates will be interested in Durandal. However, the moment they entered the dorm.

“Greetings fellow classmates of one-A!!” a very tall and well-built young man with buzzed, dark brown hair and black eyes and wearing a blue shirt and black trousers, said very loudly with a large smile before he bowed with such force that, if it wasn't for the large pillow laying on the floor before him, would have cracked the floor and his head, probably did at some point due to the bandages on his head “I am Inasa Yoarashi, and I am grateful for this opportunity to train alongside you to become the best heroes we can be!!!”.

The three girls and one robot wolf could only watch in bewilderment at the loud and energetic greetings from the boy in front of them.

“And I thought I was excited about being here,” Mina remarked with a surprised look on her face.

A loud sigh came from deeper within the common area before a tall girl with long black hair tied into a spiky ponytail and wearing a red shirt and skirt walked up behind Inasa “I apologise about him. He's rather enthusiastic about being here” she said with a polite voice.

“I've always loved UA!!” Inasa added as he zipped back up. “I am so thrilled to be attending this school as one of its students!!”.

“I, see,” Toru said with a sweatdropped “I'm surprised there was anyone here to meet us. Would have thought everyone would be busy getting their rooms set up”.

“Oh, we're recommended students. We arrived here yesterday so our rooms are already set up” the tall girl explained “We're just here to welcome our fellow classmates and help if needed. I'm Momo Yaoyorozu, it's a pleasure to meet you”.

Toru and Mina introduced themselves before Izumi. “And I'm Izumi Midoriya. If I may ask, Momo, are you related to Kiryu Yaoyorozu, current CEO of Yaoyorozu Incorporated?”.

Momo seemed to smile at Izumi's observation “You seem well informed, Izumi. Kiryu is indeed my father, I'm his oldest daughter and heiress to the Yaoyorozu family. I'm surprised you were able to make that deduction”.

Well, that just made her ten times more terrifying.

“Well, my father is currently working onboard one of Yaoyorozu Incorporated Luna harvesters,” Izumi said nervously, trying her best to ignore the fact she was talking to the Dragon's eldest daughter “And when I was younger I did a bit of research into Yaoyorozu Incorporated so I could get a better idea of what he was doing”.

“Your dad works on the moon!” Mina and Toru said in unison, getting a nod from Izumi.

“That's fantastic!! My older brother is also working on the moon!!” Inasa added loudly “He's a member of the Project Asgard development team!!!”.

Project Asgard? That's the Mars colony project. They are still a good seventy-eight years away from even thinking of putting people on Mars, but still, it was amazing to see how quickly mankind was reaching out towards the stars. Still, she wasn't expecting to meet someone else who had a family member working on the moon, or a member of the Yaoyorozu family.

Momo shook her head “We should leave you three be so you can unpack your stuff. We can talk more later” she said “There's a notice board over there that has a list that will tell you which room you've been assigned. And before you ask about there being twenty-one names on it instead of twenty, for some reason we also have one of the students from the support course staying here. A girl named Mei Hatsume from one-H. Apparently, Power Loader didn't want her in the one-H dorm, so she's staying here, with us. No idea why. She moved in with us yesterday but hasn't left her room since”.

“Ok,” Mina said “I'll talk with you later then,” she said before she and Toru walked over to the notice board.

Izumi moved to follow them before Momo asked “What's with the robot wolf?”.

“Oh, he's Durandal” Izumi replied “He's my emotional support robot and he's registered as hero support equipment,” she said, with Durandal adding a “Yo”.

“Durandal?” Momo said sounding curious “So you named him after the legendary indestructible sword of Roland, the leader of Charlemagne's paladins. That's an interesting name for a robot”.

“Ah yes, Charlemagne” Durandal said “He always used to call me Durandana, the fruitcake. All the many implements of war to him were in some way feminine. Guessing you know the story, especially the part about Roland breaking me. He couldn't, no one can”.

Momo looked at Durandal with a rather surprised look on her face “Ok, was not expecting that response. What's Durandal's AI level by the way?”.

“Alpha” Durandal replied smugly.

“You what!” Momo exclaimed with a shocked look on her face “He has a Positronic brain! How did you get your hands on a robot with one of those? I've been trying to get a robot with an Alpha-level AI for years with no success! Best I've ever got was a Beta”.

“Ur, that's kind of a long story” Izumi replied “It's not something I like to talk about, especially to someone I just met”.

“Oh, I see,” Momo said with a frown “My apologies, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'll leave you to get settled in”.

Izumi nodded before she walked over to the notice board, Mina and Toru having already found where their rooms were and had left to deposit their stuff in them. all the while Momo watch her 'An emotional support robot with an Alpha-level AI. Just what happened to her to get a robot like that?' Momo said before she had a sudden flash of knowledge 'Wait, Aris Enterprises had a program to give people who tried to commit suicide robots with Alpha level AI's to aid in their recovery and to keep an eye on them. It was canned after only a few months, but, there was one registered patient on the program' she thought, doing her best to hide the shocked look on her face 'Izumi. Just what happened to you?'

Izumi quickly found her name on the list as well as where she was staying. She then check the rest of the list to see if there was anyone she knew who was part of 1-A as well. She smiled when she saw Hitoshi and Neito's names on the list, as well as Ochaco and that Himiko girl Hitoshi was living with, noting that only her first name was on the list. And, for the second time in her life, she wasn't in the same class as Katsuki.

Once that was done she pulled the trolley over to the lift for the girl's side of the dorm and called it. Once it arrived they walked inside just as Inasa welcomed another student to the dorm. They went to the third floor, which was the same floor Ochaco would be staying on. She blushed at the thought and blushed even more when she realised that their rooms were right next to each other.

'I promise, if you fall again, I will be there to catch you' Ochaco's words once again echoed within her mind, remembering the promise the girl had made to her. Calming down, she made her way to her dorm, opened the door and quickly got to work unpacking. It took her about two hours to get everything unpacked and set up. Setting up her hero merchandise took most of the time. She was basically moving her entire room after all.

“There, done,” Izumi said with a smile as she finished setting everything up. All her clothes were in the wardrobe, her computer was set up, and the shelves and desk were full of statues of heroes, mainly of All Might. And all her posters of All Might had been put up, including the one with Blitz.

“As I said, if there was ever a shrine to All Might, this would be it,” Durandal remarked.

“What can I say, I'm a big fan of his,” Izumi said before she frowned “I'm, a little bit worried about going back downstairs”.

“It's because of Momo, isn't it?” Durandal asked, getting a nod from Izumi “We both knew this was going to happen at some point. Thankfully we have a cover story that we have used before, thanks to the principal. No idea how All Might was able to get Nezu to help out with it. But, we have it”.

“Yeah, I was just hoping that we wouldn't have to test it on someone as rich as Momo,” Izumi said “Yaoyorozu Incorporated have businesses everywhere, not just in Japan or on the moon. She's rich rich. Plus it means I have to tell her about my, suicide attempt”.

“You don't have to tell her straight away, give it a few weeks and let them earn your trust,” Durandal said “It might look suspicious if we tell them about it right away. We only know three people in this class”.

Izumi nodded before she stood up “Yeah. Let's leave it for a while” she said before she walked out of the room, and bumped into Ochaco.

“Oh, I'm sorry-. Izumi!” Ochaco said looking surprised “I didn't know you were here already”.

“I arrived a few hours ago” Izumi replied, only just noticing that Ochaco was wearing a black top and skirt “I just finished getting my room ready”.

“Oh, so have I,” Ochaco said “I didn't have much so it didn't take long to unpack everything. But I'm a little worried about where to put the trolley I brought here”.

“Oh, I know where to put it,” Izumi said “There's a space outside the dorm to put them. A robot will pick them up later. I'll show you where it is”.

“Oh, that's handy,” Ochaco said as the two walked towards the elevator, pulling their trolleys behind them. Only to find that there was already someone in the elevator. A girl had light dirty blonde hair tied into two messy buns and golden yellow cat-like eyes, wearing a red shirt and long skirt.

“Oops. Sorry, I must have pressed the wrong butto-” the girl said before stopping and looking directly at Izumi “Hay, I recognise that hair, you're the girl who carried me after my leg got broken and let me go ahead of you for therapy”.

“Huh,” Izumi said, quickly recognising the girl before her “Oh, yeah, I guess that might have been me. I'm Izumi Midoriya”.

The girl looked at her with a confused look “Izumi? Wait, your Izumi! Damn it! Why didn't Hitoshi tell me he was friends with you? Gahh! If I knew that I would have asked to meet you so I could thank you”.

Izumi looked at the girl with a confused look on her face. Her voice was, familiar, she had heard it before, when talking to- “Wait, Hitoshi? You wouldn't be Himiko perchance?”.

“Yep” the girl replied with a smile, showing off her fangs “I'm Himiko, resident of Stadtfeld house alongside Hitoshi, who I am annoyed at for not mentioning you other than by name,” she said. She then turned towards Ochaco “Oh, and you must be the girl I told her to go off and save”.

“Wait what?” Ochaco asked sounding confused.

“Right, forgot about that. Before Izumi went off and tried to become one punch man, we were carrying Himiko here to safety after her leg got broken” Durandal replied “She told us to put her down so we could rescue you”.

“Yep, that I did” Himiko added “Got a lot of rescue points because of it, somehow. Not sure how that works but hay, I'm not complaining. Thanks for that by the way, I don't know how that robot's missile rack exploded on me, nothing hit it. I would have thanked you on the day, but when I saw you on the bus you looked traumatised, like you weren't fully there, so I decided to keep my distance. Good thing you had a cute girl with you to comfort you”.

“W-w-w-what!” both Ochaco and Izumi spluttered as they started to blush, all the while Himiko grinned.

“What, who wouldn't want a cute girl comforting them?” Himiko said with a smirk “I know I would. Or a cute boy, I don't really mind~”.

Both girls looked at her with deep blushes on their faces, Durandal meanwhile just shook his head “I can see the harem forming already”.

“Ur, ok,” Izumi said nervously, trying to ignore what Durandal had said “Y-your welcome”.

Himiko smiled before she slowly frowned “And eh, thanks for letting me go before you at the therapist, I was, having a bit of a breakdown at the time and I didn't want to spend half an hour sitting there”.

“No problem,” Izumi said with a smile “You looked like you needed help more than I did,” she said. She didn't press further, as she wasn't going to be insensitive by asking why she was there. She knew that the girl needed help. Why she needed help wasn't her business to know.

“Yeah. Isa had been so helpful to me during my, recovery” Himiko said “I don't know what I would have done without his help. But it's been a bit difficult recently, without him”.

“Who's Isa?” Ochaco asked.

“Isa Tsuneyo, he was our therapist” Izumi replied “Although Himiko and I only ever saw each other there once. He, died, the day after the entrance exam. He was caught in the crossfire of a villain attack. I-. I haven't been able to find a new therapist since. None of the people I've called wants to help me”.

Ochaco gasped as she put her hands over her mouth, keeping her pinkies out so that she didn't accidentally use her quirk. That was horrible! To lose the one person trying to help you recover and have others refuse to help. That's not right.

“Oh god. I-, I'm so sorry” Ochaco cried “Y-you two shouldn't have had to go through that”.

“Don't worry, it's ok,” Izumi said “UA has a guidance counsellor so I can hopefully ask them for help”.

“Same. Although I had things slightly easier since due to my, problems. I need a therapist, so the cares at Stadtfeld house were quick to find me a new one” Himiko said with a frown “But yeah, I know what it's like to not find someone who's willing to help you, not it the right way anyway”.

Izumi nodded, hoping that UA's guidance counsellor will be as nice as Isa was “We should probably get moving. We're holding up the elevator and we need to get these trolleys parked up outside”.

“Oh, right. We should probably do that” Ochaco said before all three of them crammed themselves into the elevator and went down to the ground floor.

Sadly, upon leaving the elevator they were met by someone Izumi was really hoping to not see again, the blue-haired boy with the engine quirk, who was currently talking to Hitoshi, who was sitting on a sofa with his feet resting on a coffee table with Neito sitting next to him. Most of the other students looked to be down and were milling around. A quick headcount revealed that all but one of the students who would be staying here were down. Guess someone was still setting things up.

“This is disrespectful! You should not put your feet on school property!” the blue-haired boy said, chopping his arm “You are disrespecting those who came before us!”.

Hitoshi let out a sigh “Mister, I'm tired. I didn't get much sleep last night, and I just spent the last half hour getting my room sorted out. Could you keep the volume down please?” he asked before he noticed Izumi, Durandal and Ochaco walk out of the elevator “Oh, hay Izumi. See you've met Himiko”.

The blue-haired boy turned to look at them and immediately focused on Izumi “You!”.

'Oh no not this guy again' Izumi thought, really wishing she wasn't in the same class as this guy.

The blue-haired boy walked over to them and bowed at a nightly degree angle “I wanted to congratulate you, and apologize once again for my shameful behaviour at the exam! You have proven yourself to be the superior hero candidate, having deduced the true nature of the exam while I did not!”.

Izumi looked at him with a confused look on her face “What? True nature? Are you referring to the rescue points? Because if you are, then I had no idea that those were a thing until we got our results. I was helping people because it felt like the right thing to do”.

The blue-haired boy rose back up “That only makes you more worthy of respect! To protect others at the expense of your own success is an admirable trait!” he said before he held out his hand “I'm Tenya Ida, glad to make your acquaintance”.

Izumi nervously introduced herself before asking “By the way, are you related to Tensei Ida, also known as Ingenium?”.

“Ah, well, I was hoping to keep that a secret, but yes, I am related to Ingenium. He's my older brother in fact” Tenya replied with a smile “he is a great hero that we should all look up to”.

Izumi immediately went into fangirl mode. She didn't expect to meet a relative of a famous pro hero here, plus being Ingenium's younger brother explained why he had engines in his legs. Sadly before she could say anything, Himiko interrupted her “Ok, good for you” she said before she walked past them and over to Hitoshi “Hitoshi! Why didn't you tell me you were friends with the girl with fluffy green hair, emerald eyes and had a robot wolf following them around!?”.

Hitoshi looked at her with a tired and confused look “Eh, you mean Izumi-” he said before Himiko grabbed him and started shaking him.

“Yes, I mean Izumi!” Himiko shouted, “Who else has fluffy green hair, emerald eyes and a robot wolf following them around!?”.

“She does have a point you know,” Neito said “That does accurately describe Izumi”.

“Sorry, I was probably tired at the time,” Hitoshi said.

“You are always tired!” Himiko said with a frown.

“Izumi, why does that name sound familiar?” one of the other students, a boy with short gold hair with a black lightning-shaped streak, asked.

“I think that's the name of the student who got first place in the entrance exam, ribbit” a girl with a frog mutation and four arms replied.

That got the attention of everyone, something Izumi was hoping wouldn't happen. And soon she found herself surrounded by the entire class, who were all interested that the top scorer was in their class.

“She got the top score, sweet”.

“You must be really powerful”.

“Why didn't you say you were the top scorer?”.

“How did you get your hair so fluffy?”.

“Mm”.

“Aren't you the one who punched that zero pointer?”.

“Yeah, I can't wait to see you in action!!”

“I didn't realise the top scorer was a girl with nice breasts”.

Izumi was blindsided by the amount of attention she was getting, not at all used to being surrounded by so many people. The last time this happened was when she brought in Durandal for the first time. This was just like that, but this time, everyone's attention was on her, not Durandal.

Thankfully, Ochaco quickly got everyone to back off “Ok ok, I know you're all impressed, but we kind of have to get our trolleys outside so they could be collected”.

With that, the other students gave them space so they could pull their trolleys outside “Wow, not even our first day and you're already popular” Himiko remarked as they walked outside, pulling their trolleys over to where all the other trolleys were.

“Y-yeah” Izumi said nervously “Although I kind of wish that I wasn't”.

“Izumi, you're going to have to get used to this kind of thing when you become a pro,” Durandal said “Pros have to deal with this kind of thing all the time, especially heroes like All Might. Still, I will have the head of the grape headed boy who made that comment about your breasts”.

“Hay, it's not my fault their big” Izumi said with a slight blush “They just, didn't stop growing” which was true. Before she started her training with All Might her chest was almost as flat as a chopping board, but, ten months later, they had grown, a lot. More than she would have liked.

“I can relate to that,” Ochaco remarked “One day mine were unimpressive, then, boom! They grew. At least boys don't have this problem”.

Himiko smirked as they finished parking their trolleys “Oh, I'm sure the boys have their own problem with things suddenly 'growing'”.

Izumi and Ochaco, having taken sex ed at middle school, were blushing up a storm at Himiko's comment, whilst the vampire cat girl giggled at their reaction, 'Oh I like these two'.

“L-lets eh, go back inside,” a flustered Izumi said before she turned and robotically walked over to the door, followed by an equally flustered Ochaco and an unfazed Durandal, with Himiko following on behind, still smirking.

As they walked back in, Izumi, still in her flustered state, noticed something flicker against one of the walls. At first, she thought she was seeing things, but when she saw it again a few moments later, she realised something was leaning against the wall, something invisible.

They weren't alone here.

With a sense of urgency she rushed back over to the group, much to the surprise of Ochaco and Himiko “Hay, doesn't anyone have something like a tennis ball? Kind of find myself needing one right now”.

Everyone looked at her with confused looks on their faces “Eh, ok. I can make one for you” Momo said sounding confused as a light formed from one of her hands, followed by her pulling out a tennis ball with her other hand and passing it to Izumi.

“Thanks,” Izumi said as she took the ball, making a mental note to ask about Momo's creation quirk later. There was no way she was going to approach something that was invisible, especially if it turned out to be hostile, so she was taking the safest option and dealing with it from a distance.

In one swift motion, Izumi turned and threw the ball towards the spot where she saw the flicker. Watching it closely as it flew through the air before stopping a foot or two away from the wall, a partly invisible hand holding it.

The entire class had been watching her with confusion, but now they were looking at the ball with a mix of confusion and fear. Someone was in the room with them, and none of them had even suspected it.

A light chuckle caused several students to jump “Well, aren't your quite the observant one” a female voice said before the rest of the figure who was holding the ball metallised before them. A woman wearing a simple dark bodysuit with two plates underneath her chest and light boots. She had a belt around her waist and a mask covering her face, with dark blue and pink hair on her head. There was also an odd-looking flap of flesh on her right elbow “Don't worry, I mean you no harm” she said as she reached up with her free hand and removed her mask, revealing the face of a beautiful woman with purple eyes “The names Kaina Tsutsumi, also known as the pro hero Lady Nagant. I'm your homeroom teacher for the year”.

Most of the class seemed to calm down at that statement, glad that it was just their homeroom teacher and not a villain spying on them. But it did make a few of them wonder why she was invisible and if that was her quirk. Izumi on the other hand.

“Ahhhh, I don't believe it, we've got Lady Nagant as our homeroom teacher!” Izumi squealed with excitement before zipping over towards Kaina, holding out one of her notebooks “Can you sign this for me please!”.

'Where did she get that from?' several students wondered, not seeing where she had retrieved her notebook from.

Kaina looked slightly surprised at the speed Izumi moved over to her but wasn't one to say no to a fan that wanted an autograph. Getting out a pen from her uniform she took the notebook and looked at the page Izumi had opened it to, which had both a detailed drawing of her as well as a very detailed analysis of her quirk 'Holy cow, this is the best analysis of my quirk I've ever seen. Nezu will definitely want to meet with her' she thought as she signed the page and passed the book back to Izumi, who was visibly vibrating with excitement.

“Is this normal for her?” Himiko asked looking surprised.

“Yes,” Hitoshi and Neito replied in unison.

Izumi quickly returned to the group, looking at her new autograph with a large smile. Kaina then couched to get everyone's attention “Now then, I know some of you have a few questions but-” she said before she paused and did a quick headcount “Damn it Mei. Momo, can you go get Mei for me please, there are things I need to explain and she needs to be down for them”.

“Yes ma'am,” Momo said before she made her way towards Mei's room, coming back about a minute later with another girl behind her.

The new girl had shoulder-length salmon pink hair that was styled into thick dreadlocks, and green-yellow eyes that had crosshair-shaped irises. She was wearing a plain black tank top with workshop coveralls tied around her waist, with red and gold steampunk goggles on her head.

She also had a railgun slung over her back, the sight of which caused several students to take a few steps away from her, and for Kaina to let out a sigh of annoyance. Izumi on the other hand noticed something interesting about the railgun, it didn't have a scope, just iron sights.

“Mei, why did you bring the Rorsch?” Kaina asked looking slightly annoyed.

“I thought you wanted me for sniper practice” the girl, Mel, replied with a smile.

Kaina let out another sigh “No, I-. I need to introduce you to the hero course students you'll be staying with”.

“Oh, so that's who these people are,” Mei said with a smile as she turned towards 1-A “Great! I can't wait to make some super cute babies with you lot!”.

“WHAT!” was the collective response from the twenty hero course students present, even the one who made the perverted comment about Izumi's breasts was taken aback by Mei's statement.

“She means support equipment,” Kaina said “One-A, meet Mei Hatsume from one-H. She's part of the support course but she's staying here because, and I'm quoting Power Loader here, 'I don't want her blowing up the one-H dorm again”.

'Again!' several students thought as they turned towards Mei. It's not even the first day of school yet and she's already blown up a dorm!

“What, you can't make an omelette without an explosion or two!” Mei said with a smile.

“Well, that explains why she's not in the one-H dorm,” Momo said “But, why is she in our dorm or any dorm with other people in it for that matter?”.

Kaina sighed “Due to the policy of homeroom teachers staying in the same dorm as their students, it was decided that, as Mei's mother, I'm the only one who can keep her explosive tendencies in check”.

“Mother!” several students gasped.

“If she's her mother, why do you have different last names?” a boy with red spiky hair asked.

“She's adopted” Neito replied with a sigh “Lady Nagant isn't married, so she don't have any-”.

“Incorrect” interrupted Izumi “She married Snipe four years ago and had twins over a year later”.

“Seriously! How do you know these things?!” Neito asked.

'Finally, someone who's been paying attention' Kaina thought with a smile. It's been four years since she married Snipe, and most people outside of UA still don't know about her marriage. How the hell do people not know about her marital status?

“Note to everyone present, do not challenge Izumi to a quiz about heroes, she will always win,” Hitoshi remarked “Learned that the hard way”.

“Yep, I'm adopted!” Mei said, “Been like that since my mother died eleven years ago”.

The mood in the room suddenly went darker. Eleven years, that meant it was highly likely that her mother died during Paxton's invasion of Japan. And going by her comment, Mei was adopted by Kaina not long after her mother's death. Probably before the HPSC lost the authority to train and control its own heroes. Ochaco felt the worse because they were the same, children who lost their parents due to a madman and his army of machines.

“I-, I'm sorry for your loss,” Ochaco said quietly.

“Oh don't worry about it,” Mei said calmly “I know I miss having my mother around, and that I can't show her any of the super cute babies I've been making. I know she would be proud of me!”.

Izumi let out a relieved sigh, glad that Mei was ok, if slightly eccentric. Losing her mother during such a difficult time could not have been good “That's good to hear. But, what about your father?”

“My father? I don't know much about him. He died before I was born” Mei replied “Well, now that's that all done, I'm going back to my room to work on a few things!” she said before she headed over to the stairs. The rest of the class just watched her leave.

“Is this, normal for her?” Izumi asked sounding slightly worried.

“Yep” Kaina replied with a nod “She's not exactly good at expressing her emotions and prefers to focus on her, 'babies'. But, if you do need support equipment then she will be willing to make something for you, just be careful with them, as they are prone to exploding”.

“So, anyone know how she blew up a dorm?” Durandal asked before realising speaking was probably a bad idea, as Mei suddenly zipped over to him, looking at him with a large smile on her face “Oh no”.

“Why did no one tell me they had a robot with them!” Mei said as started examining Durandal “You look like a custom model. Who made you? What's your AI level? What can you do? Come on, tell me your secrets!”.

Izumi sighed. She probably should have seen this coming. Durandal was a highly advanced robot after all with features that aren't really available on the market. She'd probably have to keep Mei from taking him apart, just so she doesn't find out about the Quirk emulator.

Still, even though things were working out for her, she was wondering how Katsuki was doing.

1-B dorm.

Katsuki let out an annoyed sigh. Today had been well, for the most part. He was the only one from Aldera Junior High to make it into UA, which didn't feel as good to him as it should have. Maybe because Izumi wasn't there with him. The principal (who hadn't been replaced) was overjoyed with the news, but he just had to sour the event by adding that he did well due to not having that quirkless girl around. He held back from saying 'she has a name' which wasn't Deku.

Perfectly crafted backstory his arse. You don't see All Might bullying quirkless children and telling them to jump off a building in the vain hope of being reincarnated with a quirk. What kind of hero does that?

Isa dying didn't help things either. The man had been helpful during his therapy sessions, but then some fucking dumb villain had to go and kill him, which fucking sucked as they were making good progress, and now he had to waste time getting to know a new therapist. At least his anger management sessions were being handled by someone else.

At least now he was here at UA without the rest of the useless extras from Aldera weighing him down, who he refused to call anything else due to how horrible most of them were. He lost count of how many times he had to remove red spider lilies some arsehole decided to put on Izumi's old desk. That was a dick move and not something he would ever do, even before the incident. At least the students here deserved to have names, they were hero course students, after all, training to become heroes like him.

He had long since set up his room, as well as met their homeroom teacher, some hobo-looking guy named Shota Aizawa who introduced himself by, and I'm not kidding here, crawling into the building whilst in a sleeping bag like a caterpillar. Rather creepy, but if he was their homeroom teacher then he must be a pro-hero, even though he didn't tell anyone his hero name.

Izumi probably would have been able to tell who he was the moment he walked into the building. But, she wasn't here, she wasn't a part of 1-B. That didn't mean she wasn't here, he saw the results from the exam and her name was right above his, with far more rescue points than he had, so she was probably in class 1-A.

The old him would probably have been really pissed off by rescue points, thinking they were irrelevant or something like that. But, they weren't here to just learn how to beat up shity villains, they were here to learn how to save people as well. All Might never got to be the number one hero just by beating people up, he was the goddamn symbol of peace for crying out loud, people feel safe around him.

Speaking of the exam, there was that shit Izumi pulled off. He had no idea where the hell she had gotten that suit of armour from, but whatever it was, bloody hell was it effective. She was running around like mad smashing up robots left and right and helped a lot of people out when they needed it. But there was one thing that stuck out the most, her taking on that Zero pointer, and winning. A lot of the other competitors were talking about how strong that suit was, but, when she one shot that massive robot, that wasn't the suit doing. No doubt about it, that was a quirk, a very powerful one as well.

How she got her hands on a quirk he didn't know, she was diagnosed as quirkless after all. To be fair, Dr Tsubasa did lose his medical licence due to misdiagnosing some rich girl as quirkless, so it was possible that other people he treated got misdiagnosed as quirkless as well. Was Izumi one of them? It was possible. If that was the case, then why did it take so long for her quirk to emerge?

At first, he thought she was lying about not having a quirk, but he quickly discarded that idea. It was unlike her to hide something like this, impossible even. She always wanted to have a quirk, so she'd be over the fucking moon if she got one and would let everyone know about it. So that was out. So then, how did she get a quirk?

He had heard of late bloomers, people whose quirks came in late. But, he never heard of one coming out this late. Something happened to her during the ten months between the incident and the exam. But he wasn't going to push it. How she got her quirk was not his business, not anymore. He gave up that right when he was 4 when this shit started. But, he was slightly annoyed that she scored higher than him, all thanks to rescue points. But only slightly.

Speaking of rescue points, there was the small problem that he had them and had gotten them completely by accident.

“So, back in the exam you were, like, totes awesome fam. Blowing up robots like they were, like, paper”.

Katsuki sighed. Sitting beside him on one of the sofas and talking to him was a girl with brown hair and eyes, named Camie Utsushimi. The girl he 'saved'. He didn't mean to, he didn't even see that she was about to be stepped on by a three-pointer. The robot was in his way, and he destroyed it. There and simple. Yet, somehow, even without meaning to save anyone, he got points for it, ten of them. Not that he was pissed off about them.

“And then you blew up that robot that was totes gonna step on me” Camie continued “Thanks for that by the way fam”.

“Yeah, whatever,” Katsuki said looking away from the girl. A part of him wanted to just scream at her to go away, and it took a lot of concentration to resist it. He already messed up one person's life, he wasn't going to mess up another, especially another hero course student. One day he may need to rely on these people for help. Not everyone All Might brought down he did so all by himself, and even he had sidekicks. He just needs to learn how to help people and ask for help when he needs it.

“So, what are you two up to?” a floating head with Green hair and eyes asked with a smirk as it floated up between them. This was Setsuna Tokage, one of two recommended students in class 1-B. That meant she was strong and smart, with a quirk then allowed her to split her body up. And right now, she was busy teasing everyone in 1-B. Him and Camie especially since they were 'talking' a lot.

“Oh, not much. Just talking about how lit the entrance exam was, lol” Camie replied.

'lit' 'lol'? WTF is this girl saying? Who talks like that?

“Oh yeah, I was wondering about that,” Setsuna said as her head came to rest between the two “I'm a recommended student so I didn't partake in the same exam, so I'm really interested in what you lot did for the practical”.

“We fought shity robots that were based on Paxton's machines” Katsuki replied “Even had a Titan there as a zero pointer”.

“Paxton's robots huh? Didn't think UA would be using those” Setsuna remarked “But then again, they probably weren't as strong as the real things. If they were then no one would have passed. His basic machines are as strong as B rank villains after all”.

“Oh, don't forget that chick with the fluffy green hair who took down that big robot,” Camie said “That was so lit!”.

Katsuki let out an annoyed sigh whilst Setsuna smirked “Oh did she now? That's interesting. Would have expected something like that from one of us recommended students. Who is she?”.

“Izumi Midoriya” Katsuki replied “She got first place in the practical exam”.

“Ah, that means she's in one-A, alongside Inasa Yoarashi and Momo Yaoyorozu,” Setsuna said “That means one-A has some serious powerhouses over there. Both first-place students for the entrance and recommendation exams plus the Yaoyorozu Dragon's eldest daughter. Yep, I am not looking forwards to joint training with them, not one bit”.

“I'm sorry, but, who's the Yaoyorozu Dragon?” Camie asked looking confused.

Katsuki sighed as he rolled his eyes whilst Setsuna proceeded to explain who Momo's dad was. This was not how he expected his first day at UA to go, but, it could have been a whole lot worse.

At least he can't ruin Izumi's life anymore.

Chapter Text

Izumi woke up the next morning with a smile, snuggling up to her Durandal plush whilst the real Durandal lay on the floor in standby mode, not technically asleep but always observant.

Yesterday was great. After Kaina Tsutsumi had left everyone went around introducing themselves and show off their quirks, much to Izumi's delight (her notebook was out the moment quirks were mentioned), as well as Mei who was using this as an opportunity to see what babies she could make for them. Since they will be working together for the next three years, it was best that they knew who everyone else was and what they could do.

Momo and Inasa introduced themselves to everyone as they came in, so they only had to tell them about their quirks. Momo's quirk, creation, allowed her to create any non-living thing whilst Inasa's quirk, whirlwind, allowed him to control the air around him.

Hitoshi and Neito introduced themselves next, followed by Izumi. She showed off the green lightning and red veins in what she had dubbed, One for All: Full Cowling, although she just called it Full Cowling out loud, since none of them knew about All Might's secret. She had gotten better with it, and after further testing, she could handle around five percent of One for All without a problem.

She then introduced Durandal, telling them what he could do and his status as an emotional support robot, as well as showing off armoured wolf mode. She didn't show off the MIWR system, as she still wasn't sure she would need or use it. Still got Mei's complete undivided attention, who asked if she could have his blueprints. She was quickly denied. But, Durandal was in need of a hardware update, so perhaps Mei could upgrade his systems. She just has to be careful not to tell her about the quirk emulator.

Ochaco went next, followed by the rest of the students. The yellowed-haired boy went after her, Denki Kaminari, his quirk allowed him to charge and emit electricity from his body. But if he uses too much his brain short circuits.
Tenya went next, proudly displaying his engine quirk that allowed him to run faster. It was also fuelled by orange juice, which was nice. Izumi knew of someone in Germany who had a slightly similar quirk, but he had to drink petrol for it to work.

The girl with the frog mutation went next, introducing herself as Tsuyu Asui. Her quirk allowed her to do anything a frog can, including shooting out her tongue, camouflaging, and jumping extremely far, among other things. Also the ribbits she made from time to time were cute. But, she refused to talk about why she had an additional pair of arms, which no one decided to push. Although, Izumi had a sickening feeling that she knew how she got them because she could tell she wasn't born with them.

The grape-haired boy was next, Minoru Mineta. His quirk allowed him to pull off the purple spheres on his head and stick them to things. Very useful for capturing someone, but Izumi would have preferred that he didn't stare at her chest, hips, and legs. Not her fault they filled out over the past year.

Hanta Sero, a boy with chin-length black hair that was spiked downwards, was next. His quirk allowed him to shoot tape from his elbows, which he demonstrated by tapping Minoru to the wall after he tried to look up Momo's skirt, which was arguably less painful than what Momo would have done to him. The fact her eyes glowed red as she glared at him told them how close she came to murdering a grape, not helped by Himiko glaring daggers at him as well.

Poor girl, got away from one pervert only to have to live with another one.

A boy named Koji Koda was next, his head looked more like a rock and only spoke in sign language. It was a good thing that Izumi knew JSL, as well as Momo. His quirk allowed him to talk and command animals through speech. He used sign language as a way to communicate without running the risk of accidentally using his quirk.

Toru was next, and her quirk was pretty much self-explanatory. She was completely invisible, go figure.

A girl with dark purple hair was next, Kyoka Jiro. Her quirk gave her a pair of headphone jacks attached to her ears by 'cables' that could be extended and allowed her to not only channel the vibrations of her heartbeats but also improved her hearing.

The next student introduced herself as Yui Kodai. She was a quiet girl with black hair. She didn't say much and demonstrated her quirk by doubling the size of Durandal for a few seconds before returning him to his normal size. Which impressed everyone, Durandal included. She then grabbed an apple but it didn't change in size. Izumi guessed that her quirk didn't work on anything organic.

Mina went next. Her quirk allowed her to create acid from her skin. It also gave her resistance to acid and other corrosive substances.

Fumikage Tokoyami went next, he was a boy with the head of a blackbird and referred to himself as a 'creature of the dark'. Then his quirk appeared, a sentient shadow called Dark Shadow. Izumi geeked out at the sight of her, as sentient quirks were rare and awesome. Of course, she had to be held back from bombarding the living shadow with questions so that the others could introduce themselves.

Eijiro Kirishima went next, a boy with red spiky hair. His quirk allowed him to harden any part of his body, which he demonstrated by hardening his arms. Quite the powerful defensive quirk.

Rikido Sato, a rather large boy with thick lips, went next. His quirk, Sugar Rush, made him stronger when he eats sugar, but due to his hypoglycemia, too much sugar lowered his cognitive functions and made him dumber. He was also quite a good cook and shared out some cake he made yesterday, which everyone enjoyed.

Himiko was last and was reluctant to tell everyone about her quick. But after some encouragement from Hitoshi, she evidentially told them. Her quirk, blood transform, allowed her to transform into anyone after drinking their blood. The more blood she drank, the longer she could maintain the transformation. She also mentioned that her quirk gave her cravings to consume blood and that the gummy bears she had were special ones that were made with blood, which helped satisfy her cravings without having to bite someone.

She was expecting her classmates to be disgusted or horrified by her quirk, just like her parents were. She was not expecting Izumi to suddenly say she had a great quirk, followed by her unleashing a barrage of questions about it. Everyone else's reaction was the same, they all thought her quirk was great and was in no way villainous or disgusting.

With all the 1-A students introduced, Mei finally introduced herself and her quirk, Zoom, which allowed her to zoom in on things that are far away, up to five kilometres away. She also explained that whilst she had no intention of becoming a hero, Kaina had been giving her weapons training, just in case she needs to use one of her more long ranged babies out in the field, like the railgun she was carrying (a gun wasn't a quirk after all). Also that she had already forgotten everyone's names, save for Durandal's.

After that, everyone including Mei as she wanted to get more info about everyone, started milling about getting to know everyone a bit better. It'll be a while before any friendships between them start to form, but she could see the groundworks for a few starting to form.

Himiko was quick to join in on Izumi's friendship group with Hitoshi, Neito and Ochaco. Tsuyu seemed to gravitate towards them as well. Himiko seemed to also gravitate towards Toru and Mina, due to the three of them like to tease people.

Surprisingly, Fumikage's Dark Shadow and Durandal hit it off quite well. No idea why.

Almost everyone worked together to make dinner, this would be their first night together so it was a good way to see who was good at cooking. Having been living with her mother for a long time, Izumi was very good at cooking, as were Tsuyu, Rikido, and surprisingly Inasa.

After dinner, most of the students went to bed, Izumi among them. A few stayed up a bit longer, but they weren't up for long before they too went to bed. Tomorrow would be their first proper day at UA.

So now that morning has come, everyone went downstairs for breakfast, eating a good meal for their first day at UA before heading towards the school.

“First day at UA, I'm so excited!” Izumi said as she and the rest of the class made their way towards their class. All of whom were in uniform.

“Yeah!! This is great!!” Inasa said, “I've been waiting for this day for my entire life!!”.

“Let's not get ahead of ourselves,” Tenya said “We have a short homeroom before orientation”.

“That's not a lot,” Mina remarked.

“Well it's only a half day today, Ribbit” Tsuyu said “Tomorrow is our first full day at UA. For now we're still settling in, Ribbit”.

“Right, thanks Tsuyu,” Ochaco said with a smile.

“I said call me Tsu” Tsuyu said as they reached the classroom and entered, sitting down in their assigned seats.

Izumi had to admit, Ochaco looked good in her school uniform, the same as the rest of the girls in their class. The boys were, well, the same yes, she'd be a fool to not admit that they were all good-looking in their own way, but she just wasn't attracted to them. Despite being bi, having every single middle school crush reject her, violently at that, made her less attracted to the opposite sex. And much, much less likely to tell someone how she feels about them.

It didn't help that she has yet to see another therapist after Isa's death. She did have a talk with her mother about her sexuality, that she was bi with a preference for women, and she was completely supportive towards her, saying that she was free to love whoever she wanted as long as she was happy. The fact that the next day she came home to find pride flags all over the place was welcoming and also embarrassing.

At least there's Hound Dog she could talk to, she should probably talk to him later today.

Izumi sat down with Durandal sitting on the floor next to her “I don't think we'll be doing just orientation. Our homeroom teacher will probably be putting us through some quirk apprehension and some sparing, just to see what we can do with our quirks”.

“You sure she'd do that?” Denki asked.

“It's what I would do” Izumi replied “If I was the teacher, I would want to know as much about the quirks of my students as I can, and up until now, all I would have seen would be the name of your quirk, and how you used it during the entrance exam. A quirk apprehension test would help show what you can do with your quirks and how creative you can be with them, and the sparing would help show how well you can use them in a combat situation. UA can't exactly help us develop our quirks if they don't know what we can do with them”.

“It makes sense” Momo added “Better to know what your students can do early than later”.

Hitoshi frowned. Unlike most of the class, his quirk, as well as a few others, didn't give him any physical enhancements, so he was at a disadvantage. He was just glad that he wasn't the only one.

The bell signalling the start of school went off, quickly followed by Kaina deactivating her cloaking field and appearing behind the teacher's podium.

'She was here the entire time?' several students thought as Kaina removed her mask “Good, nice to see you all here on time, even though that would technically be impossible given you all live on site now, but, glad to see none of you overslept. Also Izumi, good observations, we will be doing quirk apprehension and some sparing after orientation. If UA is to teach you how to become heroes, we need to know a lot about how you use your quirks as well as your current combat capabilities”.

Izumi beamed. This was the first time a teacher had complimented her, not even the teachers at Nabu complimented her. Although, that was because she kept her mouth shut most of the time.

Toru quickly raised her hand “Ur, excuse me miss, but, what is your quirk? Izumi told us your quirk allows you to pull a rifle out of your right elbow, but you've demonstrated the ability to go invisible and it's really confusing me”.

“That's not a quirk she's using, it's an invisibility cloak,” Izumi said “It looked too artificial to be a quirk, so, it has to be a cloaking device”.

The entire class stared at her with a mix of surprise and confusion “Y-you could tell that wasn't a quirk?” Eijiro asked sounding surprised.

Izumi nodded “I've seen a lot of different quirks that allow for some form of invisibility, so telling them apart from support equipment that does the same is easy. Plus the biggest giveaway that it's not a quirk is the mask she wears, since unlike quirk invisibility, artificial invisibility prevents light from reaching the eyes, preventing you from seeing, so you would need a special mask to see whilst the cloak is active. If it was a quirk she wouldn't need it” she said whilst everyone looked on in surprise. She had already made it quite clear that she was the go-to expert on quirks in the class, having already dissected their quirks. They just didn't expect her to be able to tell the difference between quick invisibility and equipment invisibility.

To be fair, she had a little help, all that analytical training from Sir Nighteye helped.

“Figures you'll be able to tell the difference,” Hitoshi said with a half smile.

Kaina smiled, this year had some smart and strong individuals, but, they were still kids, and right now none of them was ready for the real world. She coughed to get everyone's attention “Now then, I know you all worked hard to be here but don't think you're done yet. UA will throw everything and the kitchen sink, sometimes literally, at you to prepare you to become the best heroes you can be. I want every single one of you to give it your all and overcome every challenge we send your way, Plus Ultra style. Then, and only then, will you be ready to face what awaits you out there as the next generation of heroes”.

The class listened to her. She was right, their training to become heroes had only just begun, they had to give it their all, not coasting by on their quirks. It was going to be a rough three years, but, once it was over, all of them will be able to proudly claim that they were heroes.

“Now that that's out of the way if you could all follow me for orientation, the principal wishes to greet you to UA,” Kaina said.

The class followed her out and made their way to the hall for orientation. As school orientations go, it was a standard and boring thing. A 'short' speech from the principal (who looked adorable), followed by the rules, a presentation of where everything was, and introductions to all the staff, they were all also given maps of the school. Izumi paid a lot more attention to the different heroes as they introduced themselves, but there was one that caught her attention, Kantō Izu, hero name Blossom. Out of all the heroes there, she was the one Izumi knew nothing about, she didn't even know the woman's quirk or what type of hero she was. She prided herself on knowing the names of almost every hero in Japan and at least all the foreign top ten heroes, even if it can take a while to recognise them. But, she knew nothing about Blossom, her name didn't even sound familiar.

Blossom didn't say much, she just told them her name, her hero name, and that she was the homeroom teacher of 3-A, coughing occasionally as she spoke. Izumi had so many questions about this woman but no time to ask them, so she wrote a few observations down in one of her notebooks.

Once orientation was over the students filled out of the hall, most making their way back to their classes. 1-A was doing the same, following their homeroom teacher out of the hall.

“God that was boring” Mina groaned as they walked out of the hall.

“That's orientation for you,” Hitoshi said, who had almost slept through all of it “Boring but necessary”.

“Agreed” Toru said “But, did anyone notice that hobo-looking guy?”.

“You mean Shota Aizawa?” Hanta asked, “The one who didn't give his hero name and looked like he really didn't want to be here”.

“Yeah, that's the one,” Toru said “Didn't he look somewhat like Hitoshi?”

Hitoshi let out an annoyed sigh “He's not my father. My dad is an engineer in the JSDF, not a pro hero. Just because we have similar-looking hair and bag under our eyes, doesn't mean we're related. Plus my last name is Shinso, not Aizawa”.

“Mm,” Yui said with a nod.

“I'm just glad he's not our homeroom teacher,” Izumi said “He reminds me too much of my old teachers”.

“So,” Kaina said, hiding her frown and quickly changing the subject “Now that orientation is done I want you to go to the changing rooms, get into your gym uniforms, and meet me at the athletic field in fifteen minutes. It's time to show off your quirks”.

Several students smiled as the class made their way towards the changing rooms. They already had their gym uniforms with them, they just needed to put them on.

Thanks to the maps they were given they were able to reach the changing rooms without getting lost.

Izumi was, as always, the last to enter the girls changing room, with Durandal waiting outside. Despite the girls in her class being nice, she didn't think they'll be ok with having Durandal in the changing room with them, so kept him outside.

She barely made three steps into the changing room before she was proven wrong.

“Izumi. Why are you leaving Durandal outside?” Momo asked looking concerned “Isn't he supposed to be with you at all times?”.

“Wah” Izumi murmured sounding surprised, not at all expecting this reaction.

“Finally!” Durandal said as he walked in behind Izumi “Someone who understands what 'at all times' means. You girls are ok with me being in here, right?”.

“I don't see why we shouldn't” Tsuyu replied “You did say he's supposed to keep an on you twenty-four-seven. He can't exactly do that from outside the changing room, ribbit”.

“Mm,” Yui added with a nod.

“Plus it's unlikely he's going to do anything perverted, unlike that grape-headed boy,” Himiko said before she shivered “Seriously, I escaped one pervert only to have to live with another one”.

“Is this something we shouldn't ask about?” Ochaco asked sounding worried.

“Trust me, you do not want to know” Himiko replied before turning back to Izumi “So yes, we're fine with having Durandal around. Now get dressed quickly, you do not want to be late”.

Izumi could only stand there, surprised by how accommodating they were. Not even the girls at Nabu were this accommodating.

A quick nudge from Durandal's tail brought her back to her senses and she quickly got to getting changed into her gym uniform, doing her best to not look at the other girls as they dressed. The last thing she wanted was to be caught gawping at her fellow girls and end up getting called a pervert.

Once she and the other girls were dressed they made their way towards the athletic field along with the boys, finding Lady Nagant waiting for them. She looked up at her phone “Not bad. Could get changed a bit quicker, but that can be improved later. Now then” she said as she held up a ball “Inasa, how far could you throw in middle school?”.

Inasa looked at her with a confused look “Eh, eighty-six meters”.

“Good. Now stand in that circle and throw this ball” Kaina said as she passed him the ball “But, you can use your quirk to throw it”.

Inasa looked down at the ball in his hands before smiling. He made his way over to the circle and prepared to throw it, but as he pulled his arm back everyone could feel the air around them being pulled towards him. With a large smile, Inasa threw the ball with a massive gust of wind, sending the ball flying off into the distance with the wind propelling it further and further away.

“Wow”.

“Such power”.

“That's a recommended student for you”.

“Yeah!!” Inasa said proudly “Now we can show off what we're all made of!!”.

Kaina smiled as she looked at her phone “Indeed you can” she said as she turned it around so that the students could see the distance Inasa had managed to throw the ball.

“Over two thousand meters!” the class exclaimed.

“How the hell are we supposed to top that?”.

“Your not, not now anyway,” Kaina said with a smile “Like the rest of our bodies quirks are something that can only get stronger with training, and up until now not many of you will have been training your quirks. This will allow me to see what you can do with them now, and how you can improve them. I expect all of you to give it your all, no holding back alright!”.

“Yes sensei” the class collectively replied, all excited to use their quirks.

Kaina smirked before she pulled out one of her hairs and started moulding it into a bullet “Good to see you all excited. But, lets up the stakes a bit” she said as she finished making a bullet “For those who don't know, my quirk not only allows me to pull a sniper rifle out of my elbow but also use my hair to make bullets. This one I just made is a rubber bullet. And whoever comes last is going to be shot with it” she said with a smirk as the entire class went pale “Contrary to popular belief heroes are not bulletproof, not all of them anyway. One well-placed round can take you down just like anyone else. And thanks to a certain egg-headed roboticist, villains have been using guns a lot more in recent years. Think of this as an opportunity to see the value of putting body armour into your costumes” she explained “And yes, you will be wearing a ballistic vest when I shoot you. I'm not foolish enough to shoot one of you without adequate protection”.

Everyone nodded nervously. None of them wanted to know what it feels like to be shot, but she did make a valid point. A bullet is still a bullet, and most of them didn't have quirks that made them bulletproof. So, to avoid getting shot at by the best marksman in Japan, they will give it their all and shine during the tests.

Izumi herself was, whilst worried about getting shot, determined to give it her all. Whilst she could manage around 5 percent of One for All, it should be enough to give her a good score.

At least she wasn't threatening them with expulsion.

The tests Kaina made them do were a fifty-meter dash, grip-strength test, standing long jump, ball throw (which Inasa was exempt from since he had already done it), seated toe-touch, side-step, sit-up tests, and endurance run. Some students did better than others, like Tenya in the fifty-meter dash, Toru in the seated toe touch, Minoru for the side step, etc. Even those whose quirks weren't suited for the tests were giving it their all as well and were demonstrating some creative uses with their quirks to do better than normal, like Yui who shrunk the grip-strength device to try and get a higher score.

For the ball throw Momo made a type 38 field gun and managed to shoot the ball around 11,000 meters, a score she was proud of, up until Hitoshi brainwashed her and made her give him the field gun and fired it himself. He didn't manage to get the same distance as Momo, but it was still impressive. Then Ochaco sent her ball into orbit, getting a score of infinity.

Neito of course was killing the events by copying the quirks of those that were best suited for the event, but he made a few hiccups along the way, using someone's quick only for another to out-preform the one he used or was unable to use it effectively. Guess he needed to research everyone's quirks a bit more, didn't help that Kaina kept making him go first.

Izumi was doing well herself. She wasn't allowed to wear Durandal during the tests but that made sense as he wasn't a quirk. But even without him she was able to do well, not enough to get first place, but enough that she wasn't going to get last. She just couldn't help but feel sorry for whoever was going to end up in last place. Unless it was Minoru, she wouldn't feel sorry for him in the slightest.

Overall the tests took about an hour for them to finish.

“Alright,” Kaina said with a smile as they finished the last test “I'll take a while for the scores to be compiled, so in the meantime, we'll be doing some one-on-one sparing. The results from this sparing will not affect your score for the quirk apprehension, but it will tell me your current combat capabilities” she explained “Rules are simple, the winner is decided when one of you is either immobilized or knocked out of the ring, and yes, you can use your quirks. And no going for knock-outs, this is friendly sparing not WWE. Try to show some restraint”.

The entire class nodded, it would look rather bad if they got seriously injured on the first day of school. Didn't stop a lot of them from being excited.

“Now, I've already chosen who's fighting who, but you won't know who you are fighting until I call you,” Kaina said “Now then, first match: Inasa versus Izumi”.

Izumi instantly paled 'I have to fight him!' she thought as she turned her head towards her large opponent. He had already demonstrated just how strong he was, naturally and with his quirk. He could throw her out of the ring with a massive gust of wind. How was she going to be able to fight that?!

“Izumi” Durandal said, bringing Izumi out of her funk “Don't worry, you've got this. All you need to do is survive his opening attack”.

Izumi nodded “Thanks,” she said with a smile before she rushed over towards the ring. She knew Inasa could put a lot of power into his wind, but if she could withstand it somehow, he would be left open. All she needed to do was not get thrown out.

Izumi entered the ring and stood opposite Inasa, taking on a combat stance. Kaina, seeing that the two were ready raised her hand “Begin!”.

Inasa immediately swung an arm towards Izumi, sending a massive gust of wind towards her. He was quick, but so was Izumi. Activating Full Cowling, she crouched down and dug her fingers into the ground beneath her, using them to anchor herself to the ground as what felt like gale-force winds blew past her. Her body was blown back but thanks to her fingers being embedded into the ground she was not sent flying out of the ring.

The wind died down just as quickly as Inasa had summoned it. Without skipping a beat, Izumi got back up and charged Inasa, One for All still coursing through her. She didn't know how soon Inasa could attack again with his quirk, so she had to act fast and knock him out of the ring before he can attack again.

With a loud cry, she punched Inasa in the chest, ignoring the look of complete shock on the boy's face as he was sent flying out of the ring.

The entire class fell silent at the display of power, and at how Izumi was not only able to resist it, but also defeat a recommended student. Izumi herself was panting heavily, a look of determination on her face, which quickly turned to one of abstract panic as she realised what she did, and was now worried that she had overdone it.

“YEAH!!” Inasa suddenly shouted as he sat up with a large smile on his face “That's the kind of hot-blooded action I was expecting from UA!!” he said before he stood up and bowed, smashing his head against the floor “Thank you for such a hot blooded fight!!”.

Izumi looked rather confused by Inasa's reaction to losing “Eh, your welcome” she said nervously, not expecting him to be this, excited.

“That was, not how I expected that to go”.

“I did tell you she was the top scorer in the entrance exam, ribbit”.

“At least he's taking his defeat well. So manly”.

As the two made it back to the group, Kaina called the next match, Momo versus Neito. Izumi noticed that, as the two made their way towards the ring, Neito tapped Inasa's shoulder, his pinky making contact with his skin. He just copied Inasa's quirk. She silently wished him luck, as whilst he could use creation like Momo, his lack of knowledge of atomic configurations meant he couldn't use it as effectively as Momo could.

When both of them were ready, Kaina started the match, and moments later Neito was sent flying back onto the ground, clutching his groin and whimpering in pain, with Momo watching with shock, a partly constructed recoils rifle poking out of her chest.

It did not take long before everyone knew what had happened.

“Oh god, I'm so sorry!” Momo said as she rushed over to Neito, dropping the partly constructed weapon “I didn't mean to shoot you in the crotch!”.

Neito groaned as he clutched his privates, the beanbag Momo had fired at him was still where it was when it impacted his groin “It's ok” he whimpered “Should have probably seen this coming, and been more discrete with whose quirk I'm copying. God this feels like karma for something”.

Izumi rushed over to help Momo carry Neito out of the ring, putting him down a safe distance away and giving him a bag of ice to put over his crotch, the other boys looking at him with sympathy.

“Note to self, invest in adequate crotch protection,” Tenya remarked as all the other boys nodded in agreement.

Ochaco versus Tsuyu was next and it was a quick one, with Tsuyu wrapping her long tongue around Ochaco, picking her up and dropping her out of the ring before the gravity girl could do anything. Ochaco looked rather disappointed by this outcome, having expected to do better.

“Hay, don't worry about it, Ochaco” Tsuyu said as the two walked back “You just suffered from a bad match-up, Ribbit. I'm sure our next fight will go better for you”

Ochaco smiled “Thanks Tsu”.

Denki versus Koji was next and was also over rather quickly. Denki overloaded his brain by using too much electricity and was unable to continue, making Koji the de-facto winner, much to the quiet boy's confusion.

Toru versus Hanta was an interesting one. The moment the match began Toru started to strip, which caused Hanta to look away and Minoru to look on with lust, only to be disappointed because Toru is invisible, something Hanta realised too late before he was punched in the gut by an invisible fist. He was then kicked to the ground, dragged over to the edge of the ring and thrown out.

“What I would give for some glasses that allow you to see invisible people,” Minoru remarked sounding annoyed before Kyoka shocked him with one of her jacks. She promptly wiped it clean as if it had just touched something filthy.

Minoru verses Tenya was another quick one. Tenya, not wanting to give Minoru time to fill the ring with his balls, charged and punted him out of the ring with a kick, much to the delight of all the girls. Durandal even recorded it for later viewing.

Himiko versus Mina was next and this actually lasted for more than a few seconds. With Mina skating around on her acid to keep her distance and Himiko jumping around acrobatically to avoid Mina's acid attacks. Izumi was amazed by how acrobatic the two were, and whilst the twos attacks were sloppy and could do with some work (Mina looked like she was breakdancing at times), they were very good at avoiding their opponent's attacks. Of course, neither of them could keep this up forever, one mistake was all that was needed to give the other the advantage. Unfortunately for Himiko, she made the mistake first. The fight went on for so long that Mina was able to cover most of the ring with her acid, giving Himiko less and less space to safely land on. A mistimed jump caused her to slip on some acid, giving Mina the opening she needed to push Himiko out of the ring.

“You ok Himiko?” Mina asked as she walked over to her.

“Yeah, I'm fine” Himiko replied with a sigh “Just thought I'd do better. That acid of yours is very slippery”.

“Indeed it is,” Mina said with a smile “You might want to clean your shoes on the grass. Whilst it was weak, the acid can still cause damage to your shoes”.

“Noted,” Himiko said with a smile as she rushed over to the grass and cleaned her shoes before returning next to Mina.

'Well those two became fast friends' Hitoshi observed 'crap, now I have to deal with two of them'.

Kyoka versus Fumikage's match was shockingly evenly matched. Dark Shadow allowed Fumikage to attack from range, but Kyoka was able to keep the living shadow back with her jacks, sending vibrations through them to keep her at bay whilst she advanced slowly. Pushing both Fumikage and Dark Shadow back until Fumikage stepped out of the ring.

“Fumikage is out of bonds” Kaina announced.

Fumikage frowned “I'm sorry about that, Fumi” Dark Shadow said, “Those shockwaves stung”.

“It's alright Dark Shadow,” Fumikage said as they returned to the group “We were just ill-prepared. Next time will be different”.

Rikido versus Eijiro was, for the most part, a slug feast. The two boys charging in and punching each other, bet even early on it was obvious Eijiro had the upper hand. His hardening allowed him to withstand Rikido's punches whilst hitting back harder. It didn't help that Rikido was nearing his sugar limit, having used a lot earlier. And soon he was punched out of the ring.

That left Hitoshi and Yui as the last two to fight.

“This will be interesting,” Momo remarked as Hitoshi and Yui made their way to the ring.

“Why do you think that?” Ochaco asked.

“Neither of them will be able to use their quirks” Momo replied “Yui doesn't say much and apparently doesn't react to anything, so Hitoshi will struggle to get her to respond to him, but there's not much for her to use her quirk on. They're going to be fighting hand to hand”.

Izumi nodded, neither of them will be able to use their quirks for this. This was probably why Kaina had them fight each other, putting them into a situation where they can't easily use their quirks.

'Now they'll see that you can't always rely on your quirk in a fight' Kaina thought before she started the match.

Hitoshi and Yui quickly took on combat postures before slowly advancing towards each other, arms held in front of them as they cautiously approached one another. They then lunged and started throwing punches and kicks at each other, blocking or dodging as best they could.

“When did Hitoshi learn karate?” Izumi wondered as she watched to two fight, recognising the fighting style the two were using.

“Don't know” Neito replied, still holding the icepack over his crotch “Not complaining. Gives him the edge he needs in a fight. Can't just coast by with his quirk after all. Probably should learn martial arts myself”.

“Looks like Hitoshi isn't the only one who knows karate,” Momo remarked “I'd say they've been doing it for less than a year, probably around eight or nine months”.

“You must know a lot about martial arts to know that,” Kyoka said.

“My dad taught me a lot of different fighting styles” Momo explained “He wanted to make sure that, when I become a hero, I know how to fight properly. Hitoshi and Yui still have a bit to go, I've noticed several flaws with their attacks and postures, but they're holding their own quite well”.

Izumi nodded before she focused back on the fight. This was not what she was expecting out of the fight. She thought Hitoshi might try and get a reaction out of Yui, 'Mm' is still a response after all. But this was, surprising.

The two continued to duke it out for about another minute before Yui managed to press her hand against Hitoshi's chest, shrinking his shirt just enough so that he couldn't move his upper body. she then did the same to his trousers.

“Shit” Hitoshi cursed under his breath as he tried to move his body, but his clothing was far too tight for him to move “Looks like you got me”.

“Mm,” Yui said with a nod before her face suddenly went blank, indicating Hitoshi had used his quirk on her.

Hitoshi let out a depressed sigh “Damn it. Walk out of the ring” he said, watching with an almost depressed look as Yui walked out of the ring, releasing her from his control the moment she stepped out of the ring.

Yui looked surprised as she turned back towards Hitoshi before she looked down with a frown and put her fingers together, deactivating her quirk and restoring his clothing to its normal size.

“Well done you two” Kaina said with a smile “You two look to have a good grasp on fighting, but like everyone else, there's room for improvement. Now, rejoin the other”.

Hitoshi and Yui nodded before they returned to the group.

“You ok Hitoshi?” Izumi asked sounding worried.

“I'm fine” Hitoshi replied “Just, not the outcome I was expecting”.

“Right, so, now that the sparing is done, it's time to show you your scores for the quirk apprehension test,” Kaina said before a hologram appeared next to her with a scoreboard on it.

All eyes immediately went to the bottom of the list, hoping that their name wasn't at the bottom. Moments later, all the girls smiled before turning towards Minoru.

“Minoru Mineta,” Kaina said before she held up a ballistic vest “Put this on”.

Minoru gulped whilst the girls watched with glee. This was going to be fun to watch.

Chapter Text

Watching Minoru get shot was indeed fun to watch. Especially when he was sent flying back from the impact. It hadn't even been a day but everyone knew the little grape was a pervert, so it was so satisfying for the girls to watch him get hit by a rubber bullet.

Just a shame he was wearing body armour at the time.

Once Minoru had recovered from being shot, Kaina told them to get back into their uniforms, pick up their syllabus from the classroom, and dismissed them for the day. But, she did ask Izumi to stay back for a bit.

“Don't worry, you're not in trouble,” Kaina said after everyone else had gone “Just thought that you wouldn't want personal information revealed to the rest of the class”.

“I-is this about my quirks late appearance?” Izumi asked nervously.

Kaina nodded, giving her a friendly smile “Hay, it's ok. Not everyone's quirk manifests when they're young. I was a late bloomer as well”.

Izumi stared at her with wide eyes “Y-you were a late bloomer?” she asked, quite surprised that Lady Nagant was a late bloomer. Guess the HPSC wanted to keep that under wraps.

Need to add that to Lady Nagant's entry.

Kaina nodded “Yep. Which means I have a slight idea of what you've been through. So, your quirk. I'm guessing you weren't using your full power for that throw?”.

Izumi nodded “I can only handle only five percent of my power, it hurts if I use more”.

“I see. And I guess that you haven't had quirk counselling since your quirk came in?” Kaina asked, getting a nod from Izumi “I see. Well, not to worry, UA has several teachers who have quirk counselling licences, so they can help you. I believe Blossom has agreed to help tutor you”.

Blossom? Well, that was convenient. Now she could ask the women what her quirk was, because dammit, she wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass by.

Seriously, how the hell did she now know who All Might's homeroom teacher was?

Once her first quirk counselling session had been arranged, Izumi headed back to the changing room and got back into her school uniform. Changing alone since everyone else had already finished.

Whilst everyone headed back to the dorm, Izumi headed elsewhere, towards the guidance counsellor's office.

The meeting with Hound Dog/Ryo went better than expected. Despite looking scary he was actually very kind. Listening to what she wanted to say before speaking and giving her some advice. He was like Isa in a way, caring about his patients and helping them with their problems. Her first session with him was just a get-to-know-each-other session, with Izumi also giving him a rundown of her problems. Ryo already knew most of them due to Isa passing his notes on her to UA once she was accepted to the school so Ryo could provide the best care he could, so all she needed to do was update it with what she found out after her last session with Isa, plus a few more Durandal recommended to talk about for good measure.

“Well, I'm glad that you're seeking help,” Ryo said, trying his best to maintain his temper. That's to Isa's notes, he had a clear idea of the hell Izumi's life had been. It frustrated him how badly her teachers were treating her. They were teachers for fucks sake! They're supposed to be looking after their students, not singling one of their students out for being quirkless!

He took a few deep breaths before continuing. The last thing this girl needed was to see him angry, even if his anger wasn't directed at her “Now, whilst you have made decent progress, I recommend for our next few sessions we focus on the new problems you've identified, especially your newfound fear of heights and falling”.

Izumi nodded, out of all of her problems that was one she needed help with the most. Freezing up as she did during the entrance exam could be disastrous “I'm sorry for not noticing it sooner”.

“There's nothing to apologise for'' Ryo said calmly “Fears are not something we instinctively know. Most people don't know they're scared of something until they see it for the first time, or develop one after a traumatic experience, some people even talk themselves into fearing something. It's fine, I have a few ideas as to how I can help you overcome that fear, but it'll take a while to set them up. But, I'm sure the staff at UA will be able to help you nonetheless”.

“Thank you,” Izumi said with a smile. She was thankful that she was able to find someone else to help her, Isa's death hit her hard, so it was good that she was receiving help again.

“No problem,” Ryo said “Now, unless there's anything else you wanted to talk about, I suggest we call it a day. But, my door is always open, so if you ever need to talk to me outside of our scheduled sessions, don't hesitate to ask”.

“I will,” Izumi said as she stood up, “I'll talk to you later then,” she said before she and Durandal left Ryo's office and headed back to the dorm.

“Well, that worked out well,” Durandal remarked, “It's a good thing UA has a guidance counsellor, being a hero is a stressful job after all. And after Paxon showed up, well, a lot more focus has been put onto the mental health of the world's heroes”.

Izumi nodded “Yeah. UA is such a breath of fresh air. Aldera was so stuffy, and whilst Nabu was better, its guidance counsellor wasn't helpful”.

“Agreed. Moron was completely uninterested in you” Durandal said “Well, UA is at least accommodating you, and your classmates are nice. They haven't said anything bad about you yet, save for Minoru”.

Izumi nodded. 1-A did feel a lot better than all her previous classes, they didn't immediately turn on her, in fact, they all seemed to like her, even if one of them was being a bit insensitive about it. Plus she had three confirmed friends there, and two more seemed interested in getting to know her better.

Friends. Even though she's had two for almost a year, she was still struggling to get used to having them. Friends, people who cared about her who weren't family. She used to think that Katsuki was her friend, but who was she kidding, friends don't go about beating friends and calling them useless or Deku, or tell them to-. No, she didn't want to think of that or him. She had friends now, real friends who cared about her. Not whatever the hell Katsuki was.

They made their way back to the 1-A dorm, only to be met by the rest of the class, and Mei, the moment she walked in.

“Izumi!” Ochaco said as she, Hitoshi and Neito rushed over to her, followed by the rest of the class “How’d your meeting with Hound Dog go?”

“Eh?” Izumi said, sounding confused “H-h-how did you know that?”.

“Oh, sorry about that,” Ochaco said “You did say you wanted to talk to him yesterday, so I just assumed you spoke to him. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable”.

Izumi let out a relieved sigh.

“We didn't think you would be asked to stay behind. Why was that?” Hitoshi asked.

“Oh, Kaina just wanted to schedule some quirk counselling,” Izumi said, followed up by Neito, Hitoshi and Ochaco making a silent 'oh' since they all knew that she only recently got it. The others weren't so calm about it.

“Quirk counselling?” Tenya asked “But, you managed to get first in the entrance exam and showed great control with your quirk”.

“Actually, my control was down to luck,” Izumi said “I'm a late bloomer, a very late bloomer. Day of the exam late,” she said nervously. They were going to find out she was a late bloomer at some point. Might as well get it over and done with quickly.

The class went silent, deathly silent.

“Y-you went into the exam with a quirk you only just had access to?” Hanta exclaimed in shock.

“Holy shit” Denki exclaimed.

“That means you had almost no experience with using it,” Tenya said as he hung his head “No wonder you were nervous, you went into the exam with a quirk you barely had control over. And since you only had access to it on the day, you would have been effectively quirkless for most of your life. My actions towards you could be coincide bullying. Once again I must apologise for my actions!”.

“Wait, so when you broke yourself when fighting the zero pointer,” Kyoka said.

“Was me going overboard with my quirk” Izumi continued “I can only use a small percentage of my power, about five percent. Any more and it hurts. Too much and I harm myself. I was only using around one percent during the exam, with some help from Durandal”.

More silence. Several students looked shocked, with a few jaws dropping. Even Mei looked shocked by the news.

“Gods” Momo gasped, hands covering her horrified face.

“You went into the exam with a quirk you've never used before,” Mina said, sounding shocked.

“Well, I'm glad UA realised this and is seeking to help you,” Eijiro said, “It would be unmanly if they didn't provide you with all the help you need. Spending that much time thinking you did have a quirk, you’ve got a lot to catch up on”.

“Don’t be afraid to ask us for any help,” Hanta said “Your quirk may be different from ours, but I’m sure we can provide some pointers”.

“Don’t worry, Izumi. We’re here for you” Neito said, putting a hand on Izumi’s shoulder.

Izumi smiled slightly. She had expected her classmates to be surprised by the news, but she wasn’t expecting them to be this considerate of her. Her friends yes, but not her classmates. Even the ones at Nabu Middle School kept their distance from her.

With tears in her eyes, she lept forwards and brought Neito, Hitoshi and Ochaco into a hug “Thank you” she cried, the Midoriya waterworks in full effect.

“Well, that kind of lowered the mood a bit,” Toru said. “We need to do something to lighten it after that. I know, why don't we have a competition to see who's got the best room!”.

“That sounds like a great idea!” Mina agreed with a smile.

“Wha?” Izumi said, sounding surprised, “I-isn't it a bit too early to be doing something like that? We've only known each other for a day”.

“Then we can use this as an opportunity to get to know each other better!” Mina said with a smile “We can learn a lot about each other from how our rooms are laid out”.

“Well, I'm not against people having a look in my room,” Denki said, “Plus it sounds fun”.

Most of the class sounded to be on board the whole show your room competition idea, with only a few against it. And so began the first 1-A room showcase, starting with the boy's side with Tenya's room.

“That, is a lot of books,” Rikido remarked as they looked at the several bookshelves worth of books in his ‘model student room’, which was very neat and tidy, and had a lot of books in it.

“Why do you have so many glasses?” Ochaco asked, pointing at the several shelves of glasses he had.

“Well, with all the training we will be doing I will no doubt break them” Tenya replied “So it’s always a good idea to have plenty of spares”.

“Sounds reasonable,” Denki remarked “Still, why all the books?”.

“A model student should have plenty of books covering all manner of topics that may be covered”.

Denki sighed “Of course”.

Fumikage’s room was next, and he was rather reluctant to let everyone look inside his dark fortress of solitude.

In the end, the girls won and looked inside, finding his room to be very dark with purple lights.

“My fortress of darkness has been exposed to the light,” Fumikage said, sounding embarrassed.

“Hay, don't worry about it, Fumi,” Dark Shadow said. “I still like it. It’s nice and DARK!” she said, sending a shiver down everyone's spine.

Hitoshi’s room was next, and it was-.

“Cats?”.

“What?” Hitoshi said calmly, standing in the middle of his room full of cat-themed stuff, from posters, status, bedding etc “I like cats”.

“I see,” Hanta said looking confused “I just, didn’t think you were the kind of guy who would like cute stuff like this”.

“I think it’s adorable!” Mina said with a smile.

“Mm,” Yui said with a nod.

“I’m just shocked you don’t have any Wild, Wild Pussycats posters,” Minoru remarked.

Hitoshi looked at the small boy with an unimpressed look “I like cats, not people whose hero names are cat breeds,” he said, really grateful that his poster of Sukkubus is on the back of his door.

What, he’s a teenager as well. He may look tired most of the time but even he is affected by hormones. Plus he said nothing about cat print swimsuits/underwear/costumes, or in Sukkubus’ case, people with cat mutation quirks.

Neito’s room was next, which looked more like a study, an old-fashioned study.

“Wow, this looks refined,” Momo remarked as they had a look around.

“Well, since I will be researching quirks a lot, I need a place where I can study them in peace,” Neito said “That, and I modelled it after my grandfather's old study”.

“Well, your grandfather has good tastes,” Momo said “This room feels rather quaint”.

“Thank you, I’m glad you like it”.

Eijiro’s room was next, and it was ‘manly’.

“Well, this is nice,” Izumi remarked, not really knowing what to say about the room, apart from the obvious punching bag.

“Yep, that’s Eijiro for ya,” Mina said with a smile.

“What’s with all the hair care products?” Himiko asked.

“Oh, that’s for my hair” Eijiro replied “I need to so I can dye my hair. It’s not naturally red, sadly”.

Himiko frowned “You're not a natural redhead? Fuck!” she said sounding disappointed ‘Oh well, at least there’s still Izumi and Ochaco. Gods, those two are adorable’.

Inasa’s room was next, and it was not what any of them were expecting. It was normal for the most part, but there were several posters of heroes from around the world on the walls. Blitz, Vesuvius, Mason and a few others. Izumi noticed that they all had one thing in common, they all controlled natural elements, thunder, lava, water, and stone, among other things.

“Huh, element-themed heroes,” Kyoka remarked “Guess it fits in with your natural element theme since you can control wind”.

“Yeah!!” Inasa said proudly “They're some of the most hot-blooded heroes out there!! I love them!!”.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting to find another Blitz fan,” Denki remarked.

“You're a fan of Blitz as well!?” Inasa asked.

“Oh, I’m more than a fan,” Denki said with a smile “I’m actually related to him”.

“Your what!” several students gasped at the bombshell Denki just dropped on them. Izumi had to force herself to not bombard him with questions concerning his relation to the man. Blitz did work with All Might after all.

“Yeah. But I’m not closely related to him,” Denki said, “My grandfather on my mother's side is the brother of Blitz’s father. They're close so the two sides of the family keep in regular contact”.

“Huh. Didn’t see that coming,” Rikido said “And I thought Tenya was the only one here related to a pro hero”.

As they were leaving Inasa’s room, they couldn’t help but notice Minoru poking his head out of his room “Hey ladies. What to have a look in my room?”.

The girls all learned back in disgust, not really wanting to indulge the pervert at all.

“No” was the response all the girls (plus Durandal) gave him before they walked off to the next room, followed by Hanta shoving him inside and taping the door shut.

“Figured you girls wouldn’t want him poking around your rooms,” he said with a smile.

“Why thank you, Hanta,” Momo replied with a smile of her own.

Koji’s room was next, and it was cute, with several animal plushies on the bed and-.

“Ohhhhh, you have a bunny” Toru cooed as the girls melted at the sight of the very cute bunny sitting on the bed.

“Mm,” Yui said with a smile.

“I thought we weren’t allowed to have pets?” Denki asked.

Koji looked a bit embarrassed before he signed ‘She’s my emotional support animal’ which Izumi relayed to the others.

“Ahhh, that’s so cute~,” Mina said as she and the other girls started to fawn over his pet bunny.

“Well, at least his emotional support animal is fluffy,” Durandal remarked.

It took some doing, but they managed to drag the girls out of the room and away from the fluffy bunny. They then went on to the next room, Hanta’s room, which had a very nice East Asian style to it.

“Wow, this is very impressive,” Momo remarked as they had a look around “I especially like the carpet”.

“Thank you,” Hanta said with a smile “I had a hand in designing it actually. My dad knows someone who makes custom carpets like this one, so I was able to get it at a discount”.

“You may need to get me in contact with them because I like the handiwork on this”.

“Why do you have a katana?” Kyoka asked.

“Oh, that’s not a katana, it’s a wakizashi” Hanta corrected “It’s less than sixty centimetres, so it’s a wakizashi. Katanas are longer than sixty centimetres,” he said before noticing everyone was looking at him “I know a few things about swords as well”.

‘So this is what it’s like on the other end’ Izumi thought.

Denki’s room was next, and it had a funky feel to it, with several items that were funky. He also had a statue of Blitz.

“Huh, for some reason I was expecting something else,” Kyoka remarked before she looked at the bed “Ohhh, you have a Pikachu plush” she cooed.

“Yeah, I got it last year from my second cousin, Harald Blitzen,” Denki said, sounding rather embarrassed. “He likes sending me electric-themed stuff. Like electric pokemon and his father's merch”.

Izumi was visibly vibrating at the news, still holding herself back from bombarding Denki with questions. Harald Blitzen, hero name Blitzkrieg, aka Blitz’s son, and currently a first year at Millennium academy. He got second place during last year's Millennium Sports festival. There were so many things she wanted to ask him but chose not to since it would be impolite.

“Well, it’s definitely you,” Kyoka said.

Rikido’s room was last, finishing off the boy's side of the building. His room was sort of normal looking, save for all the cooking utensils and microwave.

“Oh hay, the cake I was making is done,” Rikido said as he pulled a cake out of the microwave.

“You made a cake?” Neito asked.

“My quirk requires sugar, so I learned to cook so I could make my own sweets” Rikido replied “You’ll be surprised how much I save making this stuff myself. Anyone want to try some?”.

The girls immediately said yes, each getting a slice of the cake he had made.

“Is this allowed?” Denki asked “He’s bribing the girls with cake”.

“And Koji bribed us with a fluffy bunny,” Toru retorted. “Also this is a nice cake,” she said. The sentiment being shared by the other girls.

“Thank you, my parents run a bakery and I help out from time to time,” Rikido said.

Hanta sighed “Well, looks like we’ve lost this one”.

Now, it was the girls' turn to show off their rooms. Starting off with-.

BOOM!!!

Mei’s room.

“What the hell was that?” Hanta asked as Inasa used his quirk to blow the smoke away.

“Oh, that?” Mei said with a smile “Must have left the soldering iron on,” she said as she walked into her room, which looked more like a workshop than a bedroom.

At least she had a bed.

“How does a soldering iron cause this?” Ochaco asked, looking rather confused.

“Well, it was a homemade soldering iron” Mei replied with a smile “Oh yeah, I’ve taken the room next to mine as a store room for my babies”.

Most of the class was now very worried by this, especially Tsuyu because her room was on the same floor as hers “I don’t feel safe on this floor anymore, ribbit,”.

“You don’t feel safe?” Ochaco exclaimed, “My room is right above hers, and Izumi’s is right next to mine”.

“Well, the building is reinforced,” Kyoka remarked, “So her explosions shouldn’t do much damage. hopefully”.

Tsuyu’s room was next, and it had a green and frog theme to it, with green walls, bedding, and several frog theme items and-.

“Why do you have a collection of forty-K genesteales?” Denki asked, looking at the shelf full of green genesteales.

“I have hobbies that aren’t frog-related, ribbit,” Tsuyu replied “Just because I have a frog quirk doesn’t mean I’m limited to liking things that are frog-related”.

“She is correct!” Tenya said, chopping his arm “We are all free to enjoy whatever we like. My quirk for instance is related to car engines, but I also quite like playing the saxophone”.

“Huh, didn’t see that coming,” Himiko remarked “Also why nids?”.

“Guess” Tsuyu replied, holding her four hands like they had claws on them “KEKEKEKE!”.

Ochaco’s room was next and whilst it was well furnished, everything looked cheap “I don’t have much money, so my room’s not as fancy as everyone else's”.

“I think it’s nice,” Izumi said as she looked around. “Not all of us have the funds to make our rooms look impressive. But this does look homey”.

Ochaco smiled, glad that Izumi liked her room, even if it wasn’t as impressive as everyone else's.

“Hay, what’s this?” Toru asked, pointing at what looked like a projector on the bedside table.

“Oh that,” Ochaco said before she closed the door and turned the lights off “Watch,” she said before she walked over to the projector and turned it on. Seconds later the middle of the darkened room lit up with a large purplish black cloud full of white dots. It took them a few moments to realise the white dots were stars.

“That’s a nebula,” Momo remarked as they gazed upon the 3D projection.

“The Abyss Cloud Nebula” Ochaco explained “Located on the other side of our galaxy. It’s one of the first nebulae I saw with my own eyes. My father actually named me after one of the stars there. Ochaco Titan B-seven-nine-three, a class F star” she said, pointing at one of the stars that made up the nebula.

“Ah, a bright name born from such a dark abyss,” Fumikage remarked as he gazed upon the image of the dark nebula. He didn’t say it out loud, but he thought the nebula had a dark beauty to it.

Ochaco smiled and allowed the others to look at the projection for a few more moments before she turned the protector off and turned the lights back on “I’m glad you all like it. My father got it for me on my third birthday” she said with a frown “So, Izumi’s room is next”.

“Eh, yeah,” Izumi said nervously “My room”.

Moments later.

“That is a lot of All Might merch,” Eijiro remarked as they had a look around Izumi’s room “I know you said you were a big fan of All Might but isn’t this a little too much?”.

“I like it,” Yui said, surprising everyone by saying something other than ‘mm’.

“Ah. She speaks!” Mina said with mock surprise.

“Why am I not surprised that you have the joint poster of All Might and Blitz?” Denki remarked as he pointed at the poster in question.

“When did those two team up?” Inasa asked.

“Seven years ago” Izumi replied “When Dr Necro and his army of Nazi zombies tried to take over Germany and resurrect Hitler. No I am not making that up” she explained “All Might and Midnight, plus a few other pro heroes from across the world, were called in to help deal with him. All Might to deal with the abominations, and Midnight because the gas produced by her quirk was able to kill Necro’s zombies”.

“Kill?” several students exclaimed.

“But those people,” Tenya said, horrified that one of their teachers used her quirk to kill.

“Were already dead,” Izumi said with a frown. “Dr Necro’s quirk allowed him to reanimate the dead as zombies under his control, but only the dead. They were no more than puppets under his control. Believe me, killing them was a mercy”.

“Heroes sadly can’t save everyone” Durandal added, “Sometimes, all you can do is try and save as many as you can and reassure those you can’t”.

Everyone lowered their heads. Durandal was right, there would be times when they won't be able to save everyone. There will always be people who need saving but can’t be saved, either by circumstances outside of their control or there just aren’t enough people around to reach them in time.

They can’t save everyone. But, they could still save as many as they could.

“I understand,” Tenya said with a slight bow. “Some people just can’t be saved. It's terrible yes, but, we can learn from such incidents to better ourselves”.

“Ribbit”.

Toru’s room was next and it was rather girly, which lightened the mood a bit.

“Not gonna lie, kind of thought you would have a more invisible theme for your room,” Himiko said.

“Hay! I like this stuff!” Toru said, waving her arms around.

“Yeah, girl power!” Mina said loudly, one arm raised into the air.

“Eh, girl power,” Izumi added nervously.

“Yeah, that’s the spirit!” Mina said loudly.

Izumi sighed. What had she gotten into?

Kyoka was reluctant to allow everyone to have a look at her room, but with some convincing, she let them inside. They weren’t surprised by the number of musical instruments there. As well as the other music theme things in there.

“This is-” Kyoka said, about to say embarrassing before Denki said, “Oh hay, Deep Dope. I listen to their music all the time. Well, not all the time, just, once in a while”.

Kyoka's eyes shot wide open as she turned to look at him “You listen to my parent's music!?”.

Denki’s eyes shot wide open “Wait what? Your parents are Deep Dope?”.

Kyoka nodded her head “Yeah, but they stopped making music after they had me and now run a music production company”.

“Yes, fellow music lovers unite!” Durandal said.

“Wait, Durandal. You like music?” Mei said, looking surprised.

“Well, he is an Alpha-level intelligence” Izumi replied “He does have his own likes and dislikes. Music is one of them. Mainly concept album,” she said before Durandal played the opening bars of ‘The Eve of the War’ from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds.

“Huh, who knew he had good taste in music,” Hitoshi remarked.

'My tastes are the same as my creators, unfortunately' Durandal thought, refusing to use the man's name.

Momo’s room was a very fancy room with a nice, decent-sized bed.

“Huh, this is rather fancy,” Hanta remarked, “Like the bed too”.

“Why thank you,” Momo said with a smile “It’s not as big as I wanted it to be, but the room wasn’t large enough for the bed I wanted. Also, Kaina told me to get a smaller bed”.

“How big was the one you wanted?” Neito asked.

“Well, it would have taken up most of the room,” Momo replied.

Everyone looked at her in shock, not expecting a bed to even be that big.

“She lives in a world we can scarcely believe in,” Kyoka remarked.

Yui’s room was next, and it was a lot like Izumi’s room, full of posters and statues of heroes. The one difference is that it wasn’t for All Might, but fictional pre-quirk heroes such as Ultraman, Super Sentai, and several other Tokusatsu and Sentai heroes.

“Hay, another hero fan” Eijiro said “But I don’t recognise any of these people”.

“They're all fictional, pre-quirk heroes,” Durandal said “Back then the idea of people having powers only existed in fiction, not reality”.

“Mm,” Yui said with a nod.

“I like it,” Hitoshi remarked, not noticing the slight blush on Yui’s face when he said it “Reminds us that the idea of a hero existed long before quirks did,” he said whilst Yui nodded frantically, still blushing.

Sadly for the quiet girl, Mina did notice it and smirked ‘looks like someone already has a crush’.

Mina’s room was next and it was pink, oh so very pink.

“That is a lot of pink,” Inasa remarked.

“A lot more than Toru’s room,” Denki said before an invisible hand bopped him on the head.

“Hay!” Toru said, waving her arms around “I’m a girl, I like girly things!. Plus it keeps to the pink theme she’s got going”.

“You're sure about that?” Durandal asked, pointing at a Xenomorph plush “This isn’t pink”.

“I like the Alien series as well,” Mina said, “It just scares so good. Also my blood is acidic. So I recommend Himiko doesn't drink it”.

“Good to know,” Himiko said with a smile.

Himiko’s room was last and it was red, very red. There were also a few vampire books.

“Huh, it’s just like my room, just red,” Mina remarked.

Hitoshi sighed “You just brought everything from your room here, didn’t you?” he asked.

Himiko smiled “Well, why wouldn’t I? No way I was leaving anything of mine in the present of that pervert,” she said before she shuddered.

“Fair enough,” Hitoshi said.

“Seriously, who is this pervert and how can we avoid him?” Ochaco asked, “Because one is enough”.

“Issei Hyōdō, one of our ‘fellow’ foster kids,” Himiko said with a frown “And if you ever meet him, wear leather, real leather! Not the faux stuff. You’ll thank me later”.

All the girls immediately nodded. It didn’t take someone as smart as Izumi to realise what the guy's quirk was and why they would need to wear leather around him. After all, leather was just dried skin.

“Note, acquire leather clothing ASAP,” Durandal remarked.

Himiko shuddered as an image of all the girls and all but two of the guys in their dorm (Hitoshi was like a brother to her, but Minoru could go die in a blender), wearing revealing leather outfits flashed through her mind ‘Fuck I must be hornier than I thought if I want to see everyone in leather’.

Everyone, including Minoru who finally managed to escape his room, regrouped downstairs to discuss the winner. To no one’s surprise, Rikido got first place, followed by Koji’s room. Momo even made a little silver medal for Koji’s pet rabbit. Inasa then decided to order pizza for everyone, which was something that had been allowed as long as it was before ten PM, from a reputable restaurant, inform one of the teachers about it, and they send someone to the UA gate to collect it.

Overall, a fun way to round off the first day at school.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Greece.

Grigoris Siderallis let out a content sigh as he laid back on the sun lounge. Last week had been quite productive for him, so he deserved a nice long break. Consisting of a nice relaxing stay at a nice house with a pool with a sexy woman with a tight-fitting and revealing bikini to swim in it.

Grigoris was a tall, attractive and well-built man with an athletic body, and abs you could grate cheese on. He had short brown hair and milky blue eyes. Clad only in tight-fitting black swimming trunks.

A splash to the side told him that the ‘sexy woman’ he was with was leaving the pool.

At first glance, the woman could be described as a green-skinned Amazonian space babe, owing to her height, green skin, and Amazonian body. Her hair was long and blue, her eyes were as blue as diamonds and had a very curvy and voluptuous body.

He smiled, approving of the very revealing white bikini she was wearing, as well as the seductive sway her hips moved as she walked.

“Enjoying yourself, Hilala?” Grigoris asked as the woman walked over.

“Indeed we are,” Hilala replied, her accent utterly unknown to the man. “It’s not often we get a chance to relax like this,” she said as she lay next to him on the sun lounge and put her arms around him. Tall as Grigoris may be, even he was dwarfed by Hilala. His head only reached the woman's large bust.

“Well, might as well make the most of it,” Grigoris said as put an arm around her, her wet body pressing against his bare chest “We’ve only got a few days here after all”.

“That we do~” Hilala cooed as she leaned forwards to kiss him, only for a loud pop, followed by the sound of glass breaking stopped them.

“Oops, sorry about that” a voice that was all too familiar to them both said “Must have been a bit too much pressure in the bottle”.

Both of them froze. That voice, a voice they haven't heard in over eleven years. A voice of a man they both thought was dead.

They both got up and looked towards the house, finding a man with their back towards them pouring three glasses of what Grigoris knew as a very, very expensive bottle of champagne. He was bald and wearing shorts, a shirt and sandals.

The two cautiously approached the house and entered it, slowly creeping up on the man. But they didn’t make it far before the man turned around to face them. Grigoris had to hold back a gasp, as the man's eyes had been replaced with camera lenses.

“Argonaut!” the man said with a smile “Long time no see old friend. How have you been buddy?”.

“That’s not possible,” Grigoris said, shocked by the sight of his old and supposed-to-be dead boss standing before him “Paxton?”.

“In the flesh!” Paxton replied, “Apologies about the eyes, but test subject Nezu removed them when he escaped”.

“How? How are you alive?” Grigoris asked, still in shock “They all said you died aboard the Evangelion carrier”.

“Ah yes, the Evangelion carrier,” Paxton said as he walked over to them, holding two glasses “Such a shame the US navy found it, I was very fond of that ship. But, this is why you always have a backup,” he said before he passed Grigoris one of the two glasses.

Grigoris looked down at the glass and cautiously took it, still struggling to believe that this man was Paxton.

Paxton smiled before turning towards Hilala “Hilala, nice to see you as well. I’m guessing the mess in the master bedroom was all your doing?” he asked, pointing towards one of the bedrooms.

“Oh, that” Hilala replied, “Yes well, we needed a quick snack and he surfaced”.

“Greeces number nine hero, a snack,” Paxton said, passing her the other glass “I mean, I’m impressed you were able to off the guy, but, do you really need the heat killing him would bring?”.

Grigoris and Hilala shared an awkward look “Well, eh. It was either him or us” Grigoris said “Besides, no one should know about it for at least a few more days. And when they do, there won't be anything tracing it back to us. Not even a body”.

Paxton smiled “You see, this is why I like you,” he said before he walked back over to the table and picked up the third glass “You're smart, you plan ahead. You don’t just jump into something blind,” he said as he walked back over “I suppose you know what my return means. Round two baby! Paxton’s back in the game and ready to make the entire world shudder with fear! And I haven’t been sitting on my arse doing nothing, oh no no no! I’ve been busy these past eleven years! Oh so very busy! I’ve been upgrading and updating my robots, improving my technology, recruiting new people, and making connections. Now, all that’s left to do is recruit what's left of the old gang. Believe me, when I say, round two is going to be a lot of fun! So, what do you say? You want in?”.

Grigoris smiled, oh god did he smile. There was no doubt about it, this was Paxton. He didn’t know how the man survived, and he didn't care. Serving under Paxton led to the most fun he had ever had, and round two sounded like it was going to be even better. He’d be a fool to pass this up.

“Count me the fuck in, sir,” Grigoris said with a smile.

“Us too~,” Hilala said with a seductive smile “We very much want to see just how much you’ve improved over the past ten years. Besides, we have a few new ideas for a new All Might Buster~”.

Paxton smiled “Well then. Let's have some fun!” he said as the three clinked their glasses.

Chapter Text

The students of 1-A (and Mei) woke up excited the next morning, as today was their first proper day of school. And with a quick breakfast consisting of leftover pizza (they ordered a bit too much), they were all ready for their first day.

First was a quick homeroom with Kaina, just to make sure everyone was present, followed by first period, English with Present Mic, a lesson several students seemed to struggle with. Izumi didn’t have much problem with it since she already knew English. Shockingly, Denki was also good with English.

The second period was Mathematics with Ectoplasm, and the third period was Modern Literature with Cementoss. If anything, the entire thing felt, normal. If it weren't for the pro heroes being teachers then it would have felt like a normal school.

The fourth period was Modern Hero Art History, which was taught by Midnight. Izumi was not prepared for that class. In fact, no one was, not even Durandal. Her playful and flirtatious personality, combined with her outfit, left almost everyone flustered by the end of the class. Especially Izumi, whose face was still red when they reached the cafeteria.

She was just thankful that Midnight wasn’t wearing her old costume. She probably wouldn’t have survived if she was wearing that.

“I know she did what she did to help desensitise us from stuff like this,” Tenya said, moving a lot more robotically than normally “But was it completely necessary to subject us to that?”.

“I think she dropped us into the deep end,” Hanta remarked, who did fare much better, having accidentally ejected tape from his elbows at one point when Midnight decided to sit on his desk.

“Wouldn’t it have been better to slowly introduce this to us, ribbit?” Tsuyu asked, who was now secretly questioning her sexuality.

“I don’t think she’s the kind of person who likes to take it slow,” Neito said calmly, being the only one not affected by their teacher's antics.

“How are you so calm after that?” Mina asked, blushing a light blue “Not even us girls were spared”.

Neito smirked, “Not interested in women,” he said as they got into line in the cafeteria “I’ve just never been sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex”.

“Why!” Minoru cried out “How can you not be interested in women? They have boobs and-”.

“Continue and I’m taping your mouth shut” Hanta waned, shutting the pervert up.

“Hay Izumi,” Ochaco said softly to the very, very flustered girl “You ok?”.

It took a few moments for Izumi to reply “I’m, ok” she replied slowly “Just, wasn't prepared for it” she said, trying her best to not look at Ochaco, as for some reason her brain was playing tricks on her and kept picturing the gravity girl weaning Midnight’s costume ‘come on brain, why are you doing this? Yes I know she’s cute but-’.

“I’m going to guess that you lot just had your first class with Midnight,” a girl with dark hair, with ear-length bangs arched slightly up before they come down, styled into a set of low, curved pigtails, said, carrying a tray of food. Giving Izumi time to realise that she had been muttering again.

Several students nodded “Well, good luck to you. Because next week, she’s going to be teaching the mandatory sexual education class for the first year.

The entity of 1-A went pale. “I’m doomed,” Izumi squeaked. That women should not be allowed to teach sexual education.

“She’s teaching us sex ed!” several students said in a panic.

“Welp, we’re boned,” Hitoshi said with a shudder.

“Mm,” Yui added with a nod.

“Any advice you can give us?” Rikido asked.

“Yeah” the girl replied “Whatever you do, don’t say it’s your first sex ed class,” she said before she walked off.

“Is now a bad time to say that this will be my first sex ed class?” Inasa asked, looking nervous.

“I stand corrected. We are fucked!” Hitoshi said with a shudder.

“Mm,” Yui added with a nod.

Izumi’s blush stayed on her face throughout the lunch period and only just started to disappear when they were making their way back to class. The news that Midnight would be doing next week's sex ed class did not help. But, she managed to calm down enough by the time she sat down in class in time for the fifth-period, heroics class.

At least her mind was no longer picturing Ochaco wearing Midnight's costume.

“So, who do you think will be our heroics teacher?” Mina asked.

“Probably Snipe since he said he taught heroics” Neito replied “Or one of the other teachers who do heroics”.

Kaina remained quiet on the matter, leaning against a wall and periodically checking her watch. Izumi couldn’t help but notice the smirk on her face when Neito mentioned that Snipe would be teaching them heroics.

Suddenly, a loud and booming laugh echoed from outside the room, a laugh everyone recognised.

“Is that-”.

“I am here!” All Might said loudly as the door opened and zipped inside, dressed in his silver age costume “Coming through the door like a normal person!”.

“All Might!” The entire class exploded, surprised by the presence of the number one hero. Well, everyone save for Izumi, since she already knew that he would be teaching here. But still, even after knowing the man for almost a year, seeing him in his hero form always excited her.

“I’m pretty sure that is not how a normal person walks through a door,” Durandal remarked.

All Might gave the class a few moments to vent their excitement before raising his hand to quieten them all down “Yes, I am here! As your new teacher for foundational heroics! I hope you're all ready because we will be starting off with-” he said before he held up a card that said ‘battle’ “-Battle trial!”.

“Fighting already?” Eijiro said looking surprised “I mean, I’m not against it, but, shouldn't we be taught the basics?”.

“You will, but in later lessons!” All Might replied “Yesterday Kaina had you participate in some light sparring, now we will see how you use that knowledge in a real combat scenario! But first, what is a hero without their costume!” he said before he held up a remote with a single button on it, and pushed it. The left wall then opened up and five shelves slid out, each one holding four large suitcases, numbered 1-20 “Your costumes have been designed based on your quirk registration forms and the costume request forms you submitted before school started! Now, head to the changing rooms and meet me at training ground Beta!”.

The students all cheered before collecting their hero costumes and making their way towards the changing rooms. All of them were excited to try on their hero costumes for the first time.

When Izumi reached the changing room she quickly opened her case and examined her hero costume. A sturdy-looking dark green padded full-body jumpsuit with black highlights, a red belt, elbow pads, knee pads that extended down her legs and up to her thighs, and gloves. There was also a metal diamond-shaped respirator and a mask with long ear-like protrusions that resembled All Might's haircut. Her red boots were also part of the costume, but the ones provided in the case were sturdier and reinforced, making them stronger than the ones she was currently wearing.

She quickly changed into her hero costume, making sure to switch into a sports bra and tie her hair into a ponytail. Then she realised just how form-fitting her costume was. It didn’t do anything to hide how nice her body was.

At least it wasn't skimpy.

“Hey, that’s a nice costume, Izumi,” Ochaco said beside her.

“Thanks, Ochaco-'' Izumi said as she turned to face her friend, only to start blushing up a storm at the sight of her costume. A padded skin-tight black full-bodysuit with pale pink highlights, with pink armguards, boots, choker and helmet.

“I think the designers may have misinterpreted what I wanted,” Ochaco said looking embarrassed “I wanted it to be poofy like Thirteen's costume. But instead it’s skintight”.

Izumi was glad that she had her respirator and mask on because she did not want anyone to see just how red her face was. “I-i-it’s ok. It looks, good, on you” she said nervously.

“You think so?” Ochaco asked, looking surprised, with a slight blush on her face.

“That’s a functional-looking costume you’ve got there, Izumi,” Momo said. Izumi turned to face her and immediately regretted it.

Momo’s costume was, well, a high-collared, sleeveless crimson leotard with silver highlights that exposed quite a bit of skin, with sports calf-length red boots with heels, and a long high-collared red cape. With a metal bracelet that looked like a portable computer and red goggles.

If she wasn’t already blushing up a storm, then now she was. Not helped by the fact that she could now see the other girls' costumes, and most of them weren’t much better.

They were all padded, thank god. But they were mostly skin-tight bodysuits. The only ones who had slightly better costumes were Kyoka and Toru. Although, saying Toru’s was better was an understatement since it was just a pair of gloves and boots.

These girls were going to be the death of her.

“E-e-e-eh, t-t-thank you” Izumi replied “M-m-my mother made it for me”.

“Your mother made that!” Momo said, sounding surprised before she stepped forwards and examined Izumi’s costume “This is surprisingly well made, maybe even professional. Does your mother work for a costume design company?”.

Izumi shook her head, doing her best (and failing) to remain calm since she had a very attractive girl very close to her “Whilst she does know someone who works in the fashion industry, she’s not a clothing designer”.

“Well I think she should give it a shot,” Momo said “Your costume can almost pass for a professional hero costume”.

“Why do you even have one anyway?” Mina asked, sounding curious “Can’t you just wear Durandal?”.

“I can't wear him all the time” Izumi replied “Sometimes the situation might make that impossible, or it’s better for him to be in his wolf form”.

“Sometimes you don’t want to be running around in a suit of power armour” Durandal added before turning towards Toru “Also Toru, you might want to rethink your costume”.

“What?” Toru asked, sounding confused “Why”.

“Because there exists items, equipment and quirks that can be used to see you” Durandal replied “You reflect light, but you still produce heat. Stuff like thermal imaging cameras can still see you, which I have, among several other types of vision that can also see you. And you can bet your arse that there’s someone out there with a quirk that can see you”.

“Oh, shit. I didn’t think of that” Toru said, sounding embarrassed.

“Did the company making your costume provide any alternative suggestions?” Momo asked, “The one doing mine recommended they DNA encode my outfit so that it works with my quirk. It allows me to make items through my clothing without breaking it”.

'If they did that, why is it still so skimpy and offers zero protection?' Izumi thought.

“No,” Toru said, leaving everyone unsure if she was shaking her head or not.

“Well, looks like we’ll be paying the support company responsible for this a visit then,” Himiko said with a large smirk, wearing a blood-red bodysuit, boots, and gauntlets with thin tubes on them, leading to her backpack, which had more types connecting to her face mask “Seriously, even my costume is DNA encoded so that it isn’t destroyed when I use my quirk. Guess they must have been either incompetent, cheapskates, or perverts. Maybe all three”.

“Guess so,” Momo said before she walked towards the door “Come on, we can’t be late for our first heroics class. We can deal with costume issues later”.

The girls nodded before they filed out of the changing room and made their way towards training ground Beta, finding the boys and the teachers waiting for them.

The boy's costumes were arguably better, ish. Whilst most of the boys' costumes were good, there were others that weren’t, like Minoru’s costume, which had what looked like a diaper.

She quickly spotted her friends Hitoshi and Neito and nodded in approval of their costumes.

Neito was wearing a black, double-breasted tuxedo with two long tails, a belt with three clocks on it, and a white shirt with the collar upturned. She could tell that it was reinforced and was wearing a ballistic vest underneath it.

Hitoshi costume is a short-sleeved black shirt, grey shoulder pads, fishnet arm sleeves and fingerless gloves. His pants are also black, with purple rings around the bottom, with mini speakers on each end, and white boots with purple tips. He also had what looked like a copy of Eraser Head’s capture weapon, but also a strange-looking mask.

“Apologies for being late,” Momo said as they formed up with the rest of the class “We were just discussing some issues we had with our current costumes”.

“That’s alright young Momo! Your current costumes are only placeholders after all!” All Might said with his signature smile, Kaina standing beside him “If any of you have issues with your costumes, don’t be afraid to ask for a revision! But remember, they are expensive, so you only have a few chances to revise the design!”.

The class nodded. Most of them had costumes that cost a lot, and the costume allowance only allowed for a set number of revisions per year, with yearly revisions by an expert costume designer to go over any issues with them.

Minoru meanwhile was currently gawping at the female students “This is why I like the hero course”.

“Sir!” Tenya said, raising a hand. He was wearing what looked like a suit of armour “This appears to be one of the simulated cities where we performed the entrance exam. Will we be doing urban manoeuvres against robots?”.

“Not quite!” All Might said “Today, you’ll be performing indoor battles against live opponents! Who, unlike robots, are unpredictable! We will be splitting you up into teams of two and pitting you against each other as heroes and villains!” he said before he held up a book “Now then, here’s the situation! A group of villains have captured a hostage and are holding them somewhere in one of the buildings! The heroes must go in and either capture the villains in capture tape or recover the hostage and bring them to safety! The villains win by either capturing the heroes or hold out for fifteen minutes!”.

“In the interest of fairness, I will be the hostage for the exercises” Kaina added “Villains will have five minutes to set up their defences. This includes restraining the hostage! You’ll have access to rope and tape to tie me up. How you do it is up to you. You can also use your quirk to add additional restraints if you want to”.

“Will we be able to choose our partners?” Eijiro asked.

“No!” All Might replied holding up a box “Your partners will be decided at random by drawing lots!”.

“You have no idea who you’ll be working with on the field” Kaina added “Sometimes you’ll be working with a hero who you're unfamiliar with, so it’s best to learn how to get along with anyone. Even if your quirks don’t match up. Now, everyone come forth and take a card, each one has a letter indicating your team”.

The class formed a line and one by one took a card from the box All Might was holding. Once they were all done, All Might called out each letter and the people who had that letter on their cards came forward.

Team A: Momo Yaoyorozu and Ochaco Uraraka. Team B: Neito Monoma and Yui Kodai. Team C: Tenya Ida and Koji Koda. Team D: Toru Hagakure and Hanta Sero. Team E: Hitoshi Shinso and Fumikage Tokoyami. Team F: Izumi Midoriya and Tsuyu Asui. Team G: Rikido Sato and Minoru Mineta. Team H: Inasa Yoarashi and Himiko. Team I: Kyoka Jiro and Denki Kaminari. Team J: Mina Ashido and Eijiro Kirishima.

“There you have it, our ten teams have been decided!” All Might said “Now, to pick the teams for the first match” he said before he pressed a button on a remote control. Two holographic screens then appeared next to him with letters on them “Hero team will be team F, and the Villain team will be team A!” He said, “Both teams follow Kaina to the building, the rest of you, follow me to the observation lounge”.

Whilst the rest of the class followed All Might, Ochaco, Momo, Tsuyu, Izumi and Durandal followed Kaina towards the testing site. A simple five-story building.

Izumi was glad Momo’s costume had a cape, as it meant it hid most of her body. Which didn’t help much since there was still Ochaco and Tsuyu.

“Alright you four, your five minutes start the moment team F enter the building” Kaina explained as she passed both teams a communication earpiece and capture tape “Use that time carefully, as planning is an important part of being a hero. Durandal has already been given the hero team's frequency, so you won't have to worry about not being able to communicate with him” she said before she waved to team A to follow her into the building.

Once team A was gone, Izumi turned towards Tsuyu “Ok, Tsu. I’m going to say this now, I’m glad we’re heroes for this. If the team's roles were reversed, we wouldn’t be able to win. Not against Momo”.

“Yep,” Tsuyu replied, resting a finger on her chin “Since she’s been trained by her father, she’s going to be very dangerous in close quarters. And she can make almost anything. I think our best strategy will be a hit-and-run. Get in, grab the hostage, and get out”.

Izumi nodded “Exactly. We’re going to have to be careful when engaging them,” she said “Durandal, can you see them on thermals?”.

“Yep, I’m tracking them now” Durandal replied “No doubt they know I’m tracking them since I did say I had thermal vision earlier”.

“They're probably going to find a room and bunker down in it,” Izumi said “And thanks to Momo’s quirk, she can add stronger restraints to the hostage, maybe even weights to make carrying her harder. She’ll be able to fortify the room too”.

“Well, looks like we have our work cut out for us, ribbit,” Tsuyu said.

“I suggest you prioritise getting the hostage out whilst Durandal and I distract them,” Izumi said “We win as long as we get the hostage out and away safely”.

Tsuyu nodded before were a few moments of silence. She then turned towards Izumi “Just to let you know, I tend to be blunt since I can’t express emotions very well. So I’m just going to say it. You know what happened to me, don’t you, ribbit?”.

Izumi let out a shocked gasp before sighing “I think so. Mutator, wasn’t it?” she asked somberly.

Tsuyu nodded “Yep. My family and I were visiting Tokyo when Mutator attacked. Whilst my family was unaffected, I got separated from them and ended up inside the affected area, ribbit,” she explained “I was pulled out before I could mutate too much. All that happened to me was growing an additional pair of arms and improvements to my hearing, nothing else, ribbit”.

Izumi frowned. Mutator was a villain from eight years back whose quirk allowed him to emit a gas that caused those with mutation and some transformation quirks to mutate. Mutator included since his quirk was a mutation type. So he went out with a bang, going to the busiest part of Tokyo and unleashed his quirk. Hundreds died in one of the worst villain attacks on Japan, either from being mutated into horrific enraged abominations, or killed by the monsters he created. Mutator himself died, becoming a bloated monstrosity that kept emitting mutation gas until All Might killed him.

Tsuyu was lucky to come out of that with only an additional pair of arms, as a lot of people with mutation and transformation quirks came out of it far worse.

“I-. I’m sorry you had to go through that, Tsu” Izumi said quietly.

“It’s ok. I’ve gotten used to the additional arms” Tsuyu said “The bullying, not so much. I kept being called a monster, just because I grew an additional pair of arms. Even the people I used to call friend turned on me”.

“What!” Izumi spat “Why would they do such a thing? They were your friends, they should have helped you not turned on you”.

“You, don’t think I’m a monster?” Tsuyu said, sounding surprised.

“Why should I?” Izumi said “It’s not your fault you were affected by someone’s quirk that caused you to mutate slightly. Besides, you're a cute, adorable frog, why would I-” she said before her brain caught up with what she was saying and started to blush 'WHY DID I JUST SAY THAT?'.

“Y-you think I’m cute?” Tsuyu said, blushing slightly.

“I… well…” Izumi muttered, not able to say much due to All Might coming to the rescue.

“And begin!” The number one hero's voice boomed across the field.

“Bisexual disaster later! We got a hostage to rescue!” Durandal shouted.

“Right!” Izumi and Tsuyu said with a nod, the task at hand distracting them from the previous conversation. Now was not the time to be worrying about cuteness, they had a hostage to rescue.

“Durandal, lead the way!” Izumi ordered, her mechanical friend leading the way towards the room where the villain team was held up in. Strangely there weren’t any traps on the way to slow them down.

As predicted, Momo and Ochaco had barricaded themselves inside one of the rooms, one that only had one door, with the only other ways being the three windows, with the main door being barricaded by a metal wall.

“Well, I knew they were barricading themselves in, but I didn’t think they were going to go all Rainbow Six on us,” Durandal remarked as he and Izumi examined the barricade, keeping their distance from it and their voices low, just in case their opponents were listening in.

“There’s no way I can punch through this,” Izumi said quietly “Five percent is not enough to get through that”.

“I’m back, ribbit,” Tsuyu said as she hopped over to them, having just gone outside to check on the windows “Windows are barricaded as well, but the barricades are wooden, so we should be able to smash through it”.

“Yeah, you might have to do that yourself,” Izumi said, “I, don’t handle heights well. I’m not scared of heights, I just, have a fear of falling”.

“Ah, I see,” Tsuyu said “Well, guess I’m the one breaching through the windows. I can use that to get the hostage out. But I will need a distraction, ribbit”.

“And we can't provide one unless we can find a way into that room,” Izumi said with a frown.

“If we have a rocket we could use the rocket launcher to blast our way through it,” Durandal remarked “And before you so no, Momo did use a cannon”.

“But you can only use that in armoured-” Izumi said before the rocket launcher folded out of Durandal’s back.

“I can use the MIWR when in wolf form, but only the rocket launcher,” Durandal said “The anti-armour pistol and combat whip are unavailable to me in this mode”.

“The what?” Tsuyu asked.

“The MIWR, or Multi Integrated Weapon Replicator” Izumi replied “It’s one of Durandal’s features, but I didn’t tell anyone about it since I’m still not sure about using it. But it would cause a distraction and allow us to enter. If we had a rocket-” she said before Tsuyu belched, followed by her tongue coming out holding a rocket.

“Ribbit,” Tsuyu said before she loaded the rocket into the launcher “I can swallow items and store them inside my stomach”.

“And you just so happened to have a rocket in there?” Izumi asked, looking slightly worried.

“Yes,” Tsuyu replied bluntly “Now, where’s the hostage?”.

“Laying on the ceiling on the right side” Durandal replied, not bothering to get into Tsuyu’s stomach contents and why she had a rocket in there at the moment “I think Ochaco may have used her quirk on her. One of them, probably Momo, looks to be holding something, probably a gun. Both Ochaco and Momo look to be taking cover behind a pillar away from the windows, so they're probably expecting us to come in that way”.

“So we come in from the rear, distract them, whilst you get the hostage out,” Izumi said “With any luck, Durandal and I can distract them long enough for you to get the hostage out”.

“Got it. I'll get into position then, ribbit” Tsuyu said before she rushed off towards the windows.

Once she was gone, Izumi crouched down next to Durandal “You distract Ochaco, I’ll deal with Momo”.

Durandal nodded as he prepared to fire “Fire in the hole” he said quietly over comms before firing. The rocket hit the target wall and sent dust and debris everywhere.

They waited a few seconds before moving, rushing forwards through the smoke. Both Momo and Ochaco were on the ground, with Momo in the process of getting back up. Kaina was still laying against the wall, tied up in rope with tape over her mouth.

Izumi maintained her momentum, charging towards Momo and raising her leg with the intent to bring it down onto her chest. But, when she brought her heel down onto Momo’s chest, the air was not kicked out of her lungs, in fact, the kick didn’t affect her at all.

With a confused look, Izumi looked down and gulped. The area on Momo’s chest she had kicked had turned a deep, dark black.

“So, what was your plan for what you would do after you axe kicked my chest?” Momo asked with a smirk as her skin returned to its normal colour.

“Oh fuck me” Izumi whimpered, realising just how fucked she was.

“Later!” Ochaco shouted as she touched Durandal and kicked him into the ceiling, only to then realise the implications of her words, her face turning bright red “Oh, eh, I-. That wasn’t… eh. I didn’t mean…” she sputtered as Momo and Izumi looked at her. The horrified and bright red look on Izumi’s face was hidden behind her mask and respirator. She was so glad she had that, as it meant no one could see how embarrassed she looked.

Another thing she was glad for was that no one had any mind-reading quirks, because then someone would probably find out how close she came to saying ‘ok’.

'Wait, what the fuck is up with me!'.

“You’ve got to be kidding me” Durandal sighed “It hasn’t even been a week”.

“Hero team wins!” All Might's voice boomed.

“What?” Momo said, sounding perplexed, turning her head towards where Kaina was, only to find that she was missing, with one of the window reinforcements smashed open “Oh”.

“Yeah. I, was a distraction” Izumi said quietly, still embarrassed by her ‘fuck me’ comment and Ochaco ‘later’ response “Looks like I did a good job of that”.

There was a long, long silence before anyone started to move. Ochaco released her quirk, letting Durandal fall back onto the floor “Well, our distraction plan worked out somewhat better than expected” he remarked as they made their way out of the building, finding Tsuyu and Kaina waiting for them outside. Their homeroom teacher having already been freed.

“So, what was this about Ochaco saying later to fucking Izumi?” Tsuyu asked bluntly, causing the other three students to blush and their teacher to giggle.

“Oh that,” Ochaco said, sounding embarrassed. “That was just a, heat of the moment thing. Yeah, that. Nothing serious about it in any way shape or form”.

“I think having Midnight’s class before heroics might have been a bad idea,” Kaina remarked with a smirk “Anyway, follow me back to the observation room, we’ll go over your fight there”.

The four of them nodded before they followed their teacher back to the observation room.

“Good job you four-, five! Yes, five of you! Good job” All Might said as they entered the room “Anyway-”.

“Hold on a minute?” Eijiro interrupted, “What was that black stuff that appeared on Momo’s chest? It was obviously some sort of hardening quirk, but her quirk doesn't allow her to do that! I don’t understand, I’m the one that’s supposed to get hard around here!” Several students laughed at Eijiro’s comment, and he quickly realised why “Y-you know what I mean”.

“She has a nano-core” Izumi replied “First developed by Fortschritt industries, they infuse a person's body with nanomachines that harden in response to physical trauma. They are absurdly expensive and only available in Germany,” she said, realising that Momo was now 100 times more terrifying than before “Basically it gives her both armoured skin and shock absorption”.

“If they're so expensive, how come Momo has one?” Denki asked before realisation hit him “Ok, never mind, I’ve just answered it in my head”.

“Wait, how expensive are we talking about here?” Momo asked.

“Twenty return tickets to the Moon expensive,” Izumi replied.

“And that’s a lot, right?” Momo asked, looking somewhat embarrassed.

“Momo, it takes years for my dad to afford one return ticket, and he lives on the moon,” Izumi replied “It’s a lot”.

“Oh,” Momo said, looking a bit sheepish “So it’s not normal to have that much just laying around as pocket change?” she asked, blushing slightly when most of the class shook their heads “Oh”.

“She lives in a world we can barely even fathom,” Kyoka remarked.

“Yes well, let's get back to the review!” All Might said, “Now, all of you performed well, but only one of you can be the MVP of the match. Anyone care to guess who that is?”.

Several students raised their hands “And I don’t count” Durandal added “I’m support equipment, not a student” he said as several students lowered their hands.

“I'd say Tsuyu’s the MVP,” Inasa said.

“Exactly!” All Might said, causing Tsuyu to let out a confused croak “But, can anyone say why she’s the MVP?”.

Momo raised her hand “Whilst Izumi’s distraction worked, she did blow up the wall with a rocket, which could have harmed the hostage. And whilst I did fortify the room, I forgot to leave traps around to slow the hero team down, plus we forgot that Durandal had several types of vision, allowing him to find where we were held up with ease. I was also too conservative with my lipids, apart from the reinforcements and the shotgun with bean bag rounds, I didn’t make anything else” she explained “I should have created something to help keep the hostage in place, like some weights. And we didn’t anticipate an attack from behind. And whilst Ochaco’s idea to float the hostage seemed like a good idea at the time, it only allowed for the hero team to extract her more easily. Tsuyu on the other hand managed to get in, grab the hostage, and get out without us even noticing, even providing the rocket that Durandal used to destroy the wall”.

“Ribbit” Tsuyu croaked, a slight blush on her face.

“Yes, well, I couldn’t have said it better myself!” All Might said, slightly surprised by how detailed Momo’s explanation was “Anyway, now onto our next fight, which will be-” he said as the two holographic screens then appeared once more “-Team B as the hero team and team E as the villain team!”.

Izumi gasped before she turned towards Neito and Hitoshi. The two would be on opposing teams for this fight, and they knew a lot about each other's quirks.

The two boys turned towards each other and smirked, “May the best man win,” Hitoshi said.

“May the best man win” Neito returned before the two followed Kaina and their teammates towards the battle site.

“It’ll be interesting to see how Hitoshi fights in his hero costume,” Himiko said as Izumi, Tsuyu, Momo, Ochaco and Durandal rejoined the rest of the class “I wonder who's going to win?”.

“Well, Neito and Hitoshi have known each other for as long as I have, and I have provided extensive help with developing their quirks,” Izumi said, open notebook in hand “They know just as much about each other as I do, so it’ll all come down to their partners and how they work with them”.

“I, see,” Himiko said nervously, wondering where Izumi had gotten her notebook from.

“What about that mask Hitoshi was wearing?” Momo asked.

“I don’t know” Izumi replied “I know he was training with a copy of Eraser-” she said before she froze, remembering that one of the teachers, Shota Aizawa, had capture tape around his neck and shoulders 'Oh crap, I thought a pro hero was like my old teachers'.

“Eh, Izumi. Are you ok?” Ochaco asked, giving Izumi’s cheek a poke.

“Eh, what?” Izumi spluttered “Oh, sorry. Got a bit distracted. So, I know he was practising using capture tape, but I don’t know what that mask is. At first, I thought it was some kind of voice filter, but that wouldn’t work since his quirk doesn't work if his voice is converted into electrostatic. He can’t mind control someone over a phone or megaphone”.

“So, the device is unknown then,” Tsuyu said “Going to be interesting seeing how he uses it, ribbit. Just a shame we don’t have audio”.

Momo, Izumi and Ochaco nodded, 100% glad that there wasn’t any audio as everyone would have heard the embarrassing exchange they had. But, Izumi couldn’t help but feel excited at seeing her classmates, especially her friends, fight and use their quirks. It’ll be great to see how much they’ve improved.

So, she settled down, notebook in hand, ready to observe the fight between Neito and Hitoshi.

Chapter Text

Neito Monoma looked up at the building before them. Hitoshi and Fumikage were already inside and preparing their defences. He had no idea what his friend was planning, but he could already tell that they were at a disadvantage.

“Alright, we’re going to be at a disadvantage here,” he said, turning towards Yui “I’ll run out of quirk time due to the set-up time, meaning I can only copy your quirk. We’ll have to be stealthy for this and avoid them the best we can. Plus I have no idea if I can copy Dark Shadow or not”

“Mm?” Yui said, looking at him with a puzzled look.

“Dark Shadow is a sentient quirk,” Neito said “They are very rare, so, this is the first time I’ve met one. I’ve never been able to try and copy one before, so, worst case scenario, the only quirks I can copy are yours and Hitoshi’s. And Hitoshi’s redundant as it gives him immunity to other mental quirks, so I can't brainwash him with his own quirk”.

“Mm,” Yui said with a nod.

“Looks like we’re going to have to take the stealth approach to this” Neito said “We won't last long if they find us”.

“And begin!” The number one hero's voice boomed across the field.

“Stay low, and follow me,” Neito said as they slowly made their way into the building, and immediately came across a problem, his shoes were tapping against the stone floor “Shit” he swore under his breath, cursing his choice in footwear. He quickly removed them and threw them aside “There, that should-” he said before the creepiest rendition of twinkle twinkle little star echoed throughout the building.

The voice singing was female and cold and had an aura of dread about it. They couldn’t tell who was making it or where it was coming from. The first one was the most horrifying, as their opponents were both guys. So, who was singing?

By the time the song had finished, both teens were undeniably creeped out.

“So, not going to lie, but I am terrified right now,” Neito said quietly. He wasn’t exactly great with horror. He had been getting better with it, but there were some things that still scared him. Creepy singing voices were one of them “Let's keep moving, it’s too dangerous to stay in one place for long”.

Yui nodded silently as they carried on, moving as quietly as they could as they made their way to the second floor, all the while creepy noises filled the air around them, unnerving the both of them. Even Yui, who looked as expressionless as always, was freaked out by the noises they were hearing.

“I-I a-a-am going t-t-to be ha-having words w-with Hitoshi a-a-after this” Neito stuttered as they looked around, shuddering with fear “H-h-he knows I-” he said before a large, black, clawed hand grabbed him. Letting out a quiet ‘yelp’ before he was dragged screaming down a dark corridor.

Yui quickly rushed after him, but suddenly found herself entangled by some strong fabric and pulled to the floor.

“Going somewhere, hero?” a sinister voice said behind her. She looked up to see Hitoshi standing behind her, holding on to the ends of his capture weapon “Your friend won't last long. And neither shall you” he said, but that wasn’t his voice. It was, different. Was this his mask’s doing?

Yui quickly grabbed the captured weapon and enlarged it, making it too large for Hitoshi to use effectively.

“Neito Monoma has been eliminated!” All Might announced.

Yui mentally cursed as she got up, of course, Neito wouldn’t last long against Fumikage and Dark Shadow, he only had her quirk to use, and they were still unsure if he could copy Dark Shadow. But that was a problem for later, as right now she had to deal with Hitoshi. Which proved easier than expected. The sudden enlargement of his capture weapon caused him to get entangled in it.

She charged forwards and barged into Hitoshi as he struggled to unwrap himself. Forcing him to the floor and causing him to be further entangled by his weapon. She then quickly rolled him to the side, wrapping him up in his own weapon before shrinking it, tightening it around him until he was partially mummified by it. And completely restrained.

“Hitoshi Shinso has been eliminated!” All Might said.

Hitoshi sighed “Looks like we’re even,” he said, voice unchanged.

Yui didn’t respond. She’s already made that mistake once and wasn’t going to make it again. So she turned and walked away, only to yelp when she suddenly found herself in the claws of a rather large Dark Shadow.

The living shadow slowly brought Yui closer to her, bringing them face to face “Oh hey, you didn’t faint this time” the living shadow said, “Neito fainted like a bitch before we could start gloating”.

“Dark Shadow!!” Fumikage shouted as he walked up beside her “Don’t insult our classmates like that. Apologies, but you never stood a chance against us” he said before he wrapped capture tape around her.

“Yui has been eliminated!” All Might announced “Villain Team WIN!”.

Yui let out a disappointed sigh. Even though she managed to take out Hitoshi they still weren’t able to win, not helped that they were scared out of their minds thanks to whatever their opponents were doing. She pressed her fingers together and deactivated her quirk, restoring Hitoshi’s capture weapon to its normal size and letting him escape.

Dark Shadow put Yui down before reverting to her normal size “That was fun. Let’s do it again”.

“Let's not,” Hitoshi said as he got back up and wrapped his capture weapon up. “We need to head back to the observation room. Fumikage, Yui, can you carry Neito? I’ll go free Kaina”.

“No need!” Kaina said as she walked up to them, carrying the rope they had used to tie her up.

“What the?” Fumikage gasped, surprised that their teacher was already free without help “How did you escape so quickly?”.

“Snipe asks me that question a lot” Kaina replied, shocking the three students and sentient quirk “Now follow me for debrief. And bring Neito”.

The students followed their teacher back to the observation room, Dark Shadow carrying the unconscious Neito, who the three were glad was unconscious.

Seriously, the sex lives of their teachers were not something they needed to learn about today.

They quickly returned to the observation room “You four did well out there! But -. Can someone wake up Neito?!” All Might asked.

“I’m on it,” Momo said as she made some smelling salts and used them to revive Neito.

He groaned as he slowly came too before his eyes shot open and he looked around in a panic.

“Hay hay hay! Neito, calm down” Hitoshi said as he tried to calm his friend down, his voice now normal “You're fine!”.

Neito took a few seconds to calm down before he looked at Hitoshi with an annoyed look before he slapped him lightly “What the hell was that? You know I hate horror”.

“Revelling in the dark,” Fumikage replied.

“We were told to act like villains, so that’s what we did” Hitoshi replied “You are going to have to get used to this kind of thing, you know. Someone can use that against you”.

Neito sighed “Yeah, I guess you're right”.

“Hitoshi is correct!” All Might said “Realising your faults and fears this early allows us to help you overcome them! Villains can quite easily use these against you out in the field, so it’s best that we help you overcome them now! Now, whilst both teams did well, only one of them can be the MVP. Can anyone guess who that may be?”.

Momo raised her hand “I believe Fumikage is the MVP. The hero team suffered from a bad matchup, and whilst Yui was able to take out Hitoshi, she was still taken out herself. And whilst Hitoshi was able to turn the building into a haunted house and unnerve the heroes, his lack of experience with his capture weapon allowed Yui to turn it against him. Fumikage and Dark Shadow ended up taking both of the heroes out, using the fear generated by Hitoshi to take the hero team out one by one. Even if one of them fainted” she said before Dark Shadow zipped over to her and wrapped around her, nuzzling against her for a bit before returning to Fumikage. Momo had a distinct impression that she was just hugged.

“An excellent observation young Momo!” All Might said, “Fumikage and Dark Shadow took advantage of the situation to knock out both heroes!”.

“Thank you, All Might,” Fumikage said “But we couldn’t have done it without the appropriate atmosphere of dread Hitoshi had made”.

“Hitoshi, how did you manage to change your voice anyway?” Neito asked.

“With this,” Hitoshi said, pointing at his mask, “I call them Persona chords. They allow me to modify my vocal tone to imitate the voices of other people, without converting my voice to electrostatic”.

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Izumi said with a smile, notebook appearing in her hands “That means you can use your quirk whilst sounding like someone else. You can use those to interfere with enemy communications, and make them distrustful of talking to each other”.

“That’s the idea” Hitoshi replied “But, I still have a lot of training to do. I’m nowhere near as good with this capture weapon as I would like to be. And I still need to work on getting a response out of someone”.

“Well, that is why you're here!” All Might said “To learn and improve so you can become the best heroes you can be!” he said, “Now then. On to the next match. Which will be Team G as the hero team, and Team H as the villains. Both teams head to your starting positions”.

Himiko smiled with a Cheshire cat grin “Come along Inasa, let's be villains!”.

Inasa frowned “I don’t like this. We’re meant to be heroes, not villains”.

“Think of it this way,” Izumi said “You're heroes who have captured a villain, and the hero team are villains who have come to get their friend back”.

Inasa looked at Izumi with a dumbfounded look, right up until he punched himself in the face “That’s perfect! Thank you!”.

“Eh, sure. No problem” Izumi said before the two teams left.

“So, Izumi,” Momo said, “Who do you think is going to win?”.

“Well, if Himiko does what I think she’s going to do, then the heroes don’t stand a chance,” Izumi replied.

Later

“RUN!” Rikido shouted as Inasa punched him across the room. His teammate Minoru ran out of the room as fast as his little legs could carry him, carrying the rather heavy Kaina Tsutsumi. He would have preferred Rikido to be carrying her, but everything had gone to hell in a handbasket so quickly that that wasn’t really an option.

The villain team hadn’t really tried to hide the hostage. She was on the first floor for crying out loud. They had practically given the heroes the win. Well, that's what they thought at first. Then Inasa came in like a cannonball and all the things went to hell!

Inasa was more than just strong with his quirk, he was physically strong as well. And unlike Rikido, he didn’t need to consume sugar to get stronger. And Rikido wasn’t able to eat much sugar before the fight started.

It was a good thing that they didn’t tie Kaina to a post or something. It made getting her out of there so much easier.

“Rikido Sato has been eliminated!” All Might said.

Minoru continued to run, ignoring the announcement of his teammates' elimination. Which wasn’t easy when you were carrying a very tall and heavy woman. And as much as he would have liked to carry a woman like this, now was not the time to enjoy it.

She was also married and he didn’t want to find himself staring down the gun barrel of Snipe's revolver. He may like staring at sexy women, but married women were his limits.

He managed to rush outside and kept running, not stopping until he was out of sight of the building. Panting heavily he put Kaina down. He did it. He had won. They got the hostage out of the building.

He stood there for a few moments to catch his breath. He then noticed something, All Might hadn’t called the match.

“Eh, All Might,” Minoru said into his comms “I got the hostage out, you can call the match,” he said. He didn’t get a response “All Might?”.

A boot suddenly kicked him in the face, sending him to the ground. Before he could look up he was wrapped up in capture tape. He looked up and saw Kaina standing over him, smiling.

“Miss Kaina! What the hell are you doing” Minoru shouted “You're not supposed to help the villains!”.

Kaina looked down at him and smirked “Of course not. But-” she said before her body started to turn into some kind of grey goo and fell to the floor. Minoru could only stare in horror as their teacher melted, revealing Himiko standing over him, smiling at him “-I’m pretty sure I’m not a teacher”.

“Minoru Mineta has been eliminated!” All Might said “Villain Team WIN!”.

Himiko giggled “You really didn’t stand a chance against us,” she said before she picked him up and held him as far away from her as she could “Don’t worry, this is just so you don’t stare at my rear on the way back”.

Both teams made their way back to the observation room, to much fanfare “Himiko, that was evil what you did” Hitoshi said with a smile.

Himiko grinned “Glad you liked it”.

“Evil, you transformed into Kaina!” Minoru shouted.

“Which was a smart move,” Kaina said with a slight smirk “Himiko isn’t the only one out there whose quirk allows them to transform into someone else. There are many others like it, and some villains may try and deceive you, just like Himiko did”.

“Exactly!” All Might added “I too have fallen for this trick from time to time. This is something you will have to be wary of when rescuing hostages. You never know if one of them is a villain. Now then, time to decide who’s the MVP!”.

“It’s Himiko” Hitoshi said “She disguised herself as the hostage and tricked the hero team into thinking she was the real hostage”.

“Precisely!” All Might said “By transforming into the hostage and waiting on a lower floor, the hero team did not check the other floors for the real hostage. Take this as a warning, overconfidence can easily get you killed out in the field. Now, for the next match. Team I as the hero team, and Team J as the villains. Both teams head to your starting positions”.

Mina jumped up in excitement “Yes, our time to shine! We’ve got this Eijiro!”.

Ten minutes later.

“We didn’t have this!” Mina groaned as they returned to the observation room. Mina and Eijiro didn’t fare very well against Kyoka and Denki. Thanks to Kyoka’s quirk they knew where both the villains and the hostage were at all times. Plus their quirks were perfect for countering theirs. The shockwaves produced by Kyoka’s jacks were perfect for dealing with Eijiro, his hardened skin made the shockwaves hit harder. And Mina’s acid proved to be quite conductive, allowing Denki to electrocute it when Mina tried to escape, resulting in an overwhelming victory for the hero team.

“I’m sorry Mina,” Eijiro said with a sigh “I couldn’t stop her”.

“It’s ok, Eijiro,” Mina said “We did our best”.

“Well, that went precisely as I said it would,” Izumi remarked.

Kyoka was declared the MVP of that round, due to her plan for defeating the villain team being executed perfectly.

The last match wasn’t that eventful. Whilst Hanta taped the hostage to a support beam, with Toru stripping down to make the most use of her quirk. It didn’t matter much as when All Might started the match, the entire building was suddenly swarmed with rats.

Koji had more than enough time to make a lot of friends.

When the swarm of rats appeared Toru screamed out of the building, leaving Hanta to try, and fail, to handle a large swarm of rats.

“Well, that didn’t last long,” Izumi remarked as Tenya rushed into the building, and ‘rescued’ a now free Kaina.

“Talk about overwhelming power,” Ochaco said.

“Mm,” Yui said with a nod.

“I’m so glad I’m not in there” Mina shuddered “I don’t want to know what having those rats crawl all over me feels like.

“I feel bad for Toru,” Kyoka added with a shudder. She hated rats, always scratching between the walls.

“I am glad we have Hound Dog,” Eijiro said, shuddering at the thought of being surrounded by so many rats.

The two teams returned to the observation room, whilst they couldn’t see it, they could tell that Toru was shaking.

“You ok Toru?” Izumi asked softly.

“No” Toru squeaked “I need my comfort plush-” she said before she suddenly found Izumi’s Durandal plush shoved into her chest.

“Here. you can borrow mine for a bit” Izumi said with a soft smile.

“Where were you carrying that?!” Hanta asked, “You know what! Never mind! I do not want to know”.

“Good call,” Durandal said. Despite being an Alpha-level AI, even he didn’t know where Izumi pulled her notebooks and other stuff out of. It's like she had a secret pocket dimension within that curly mess of hair of hers.

“Why do you have a plush version of Durandal?” Denki asked before he was poked by one of Kyoka’s jacks.

“Do not insult the power of the comfort plush!” Kyoka said with a frown.

“Duly noted,” Denki said, rubbing his head.

All Might coughed to get everyone’s attention before telling everyone that they did well. To no one’s surprise, Koji was declared the MVP.

“You’ve all done well today,” Kaina said with a smile “All of you demonstrated skills that will be useful as heroes. I’ll be going over your matches later and giving you some feedback tomorrow”.

“Don’t be disheartened if you lost or didn’t perform as well as you would have liked” All MIght added “It’s only your first day of UA. You will have plenty of time to learn and improve over the next three years. Now, watch as I demonstrate a hero leaving like he has somewhere to be!” he said before he rocketed out of the room.

“Awesome,” Mina said with a smile.

The class then proceeded back to the changing rooms. The lesson was fun and they learned a lot from it. Plus Izumi was able to learn a lot more about her classmates' quirks. She had so many ideas for what they could do with them and how to improve them. Ideas that she couldn’t wait to tell them about.

She immediately started changing the moment she entered the changing room, slipping out of her shoes and bodysuit. But as she was putting it back, she noticed something, a small hole in the side of the wall.

She crouched down and put her ear near it. She could hear talking from the other side of the hole. The boys talking. The hole led to the boys changing room and was large enough for someone to look through it.

It was a peephole.

“Eh, girls. There’s a hole-” she said as she stood up and turned towards the others, and immediately regretted it as they were all partially changed, not helped by the fact that some of them were in the process of changing their bras.

“What!” the other girls all gasped.

“Where?” Kyoka asked as she walked over.

Izumi sheepishly looked away and pointed towards the hole, her face was very, very red.

“The boys changing room is on the other side of that wall,” Ochaco remarked before all of them felt a sudden sense of dread.

“If Minoru finds that, then he’ll be able to peek on us” Toru gasped with a shudder.

“I'll stab him if he does that,” Himiko said with a snarl.

“We should tell the teachers about this ribbit,” Tsuyu remarked.

“On second thoughts, I have a better idea,” Momo said as she walked over, wearing only a pair of panties, causing Izumi to scream internally. She created two items, a small cylinder just large enough to fit into the hole, and some sealant. She put the cylinder in first and used the sealant to keep it inside “There”.

“What did you just do?” Mina asked as she and the other girls all crowded around them, which only caused Izumi to panic even more.

“Oh, you’ll find out the moment Minoru looks through that hole,” Momo said with a devious smile before she noticed the nervous state Izumi was in “Izumi, are you ok?”.

“What!” Izumi yelped, still trying her best to look away. “Yes, of course, I’m fine, really, perfectly fine,” she said ‘totally not undergoing a full-on panic attack due to having a large number of attractive half-naked women around me!’.

The room became rather quiet after that, a bit too quiet.

“Izumi,” Ochaco said. “Did you mean to mutter that last part out?”.

Izumi froze. She said that out loud! That was among the worst things she could have done. Tears slowly started to form around her eyes. She quickly covered her face with her hands and turned to face the wall, and began to cry.

Of course, of fucking course she had to mutter that last part out. Because why not? She’s always muttering about something, and now she just embarrassed herself in front of half the class. They probably think she was a creep now.

She was just a useless, useless, Deku!

The other girls looked at Izumi with mixed looks of horror and regret, quickly realising what they had just done to the poor girl. Momo and Ochaco had it worse, as the former was walking about with her breasts exposed, and the latter had brought Izumi’s muttering to everyone's attention. Momo quickly rushed over to her stuff and quickly put a bra on, whilst the other girls all backed off, giving Izumi some much-needed space.

“Izumi” Ochaco said softly “I’m, sorry for outing you like that. I didn’t realise we were making you uncomfortable”.

“B-but, I said you were half naked!” Izumi stuttered, wondering why Ochaco was apologising.

“Yes and thanks for pointing that out,” Kyoka said. “We might not have realised that we were making you uncomfortable otherwise”.

“But I saw you,” Izumi said, still crying “W-what if I had perverted thoughts about you”

“Yes, and?! Who hasn’t?” Himiko said “I have perverted thoughts about our classmates all the time. Heck, even had a few about our teachers. I just keep those thoughts to myself, unlike that Grapist who outs every single perverted thing that enters his head! Seriously, if it weren’t for that diaper he was wearing I would have punted him in the dick during our match”.

“Plus my costume doesn't leave much to the imagination anyway” Momo added.

“You're not like Minoru, Izumi,” Toru said. “You're anything but him. So don’t even think of comparing yourself to that creep. Besides, we’re all girls here. I don’t mind if another girl sees me half naked,” she said, getting a confused look from Kyoka.

Izumi slowly turned her head around “Y-your not mad?”.

“Why should we?” Tsuyu said, “If anything we’re to blame for crowding around you like that and making you uncomfortable, ribbit”.

“I would suggest a group hug, but I don’t want to make things worse,” Mina said “We can have one later. If you want one, Izumi”.

“I’m sorry for making you feel uncomfortable,” Momo said “I didn’t realise you weren't comfortable being crowded around like that”.

Izumi gasped. This, wasn’t what she was expecting. She thought she would have to apologise to them for being a creep, not the other way around. Shouldn’t she have been the one to make them uncomfortable?

“Hay, Izumi,” Toru said beside her. The green-haired girl turned to see Toru holding her Durandal plush up towards her “You might want this back now”.

Izumi’s eyes slowly widened as she took the plush back “T-thank you” she said quietly as she hugged it tightly. This felt different from what she was used to, but it also felt better. No one was shouting at her, or being mean to her. They were friendly towards her and realised that they were at fault, not her. She still wasn’t used to people being nice to her, not this many anyway. She thought that the only friends she would have at UA would be Hitoshi and Neito. She didn’t expect to make any more or be on friendly terms with most of the class. She couldn’t say all since Minoru was in the class with them. But, to be on good terms with most of the class, wasn’t something she was used to.

“No problem,” Toru said.

“We should get changed quickly,” Mina said “I don’t want to cause Izumi any more discomfort than we’ve already had”.

The other girls nodded before they went back to getting changed, getting dressed into their school uniforms. Izumi stood there for a few minutes, holding her plush closely. The other girls quickly got changed to give her some privacy, since they didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than she already was. Once they were all gone she got changed herself, getting into her school uniform quickly and leaving alongside Durandal. But was surprised when she found the girls waiting outside.

“Huh! Y-you were waiting for me?” Izumi said, sounding surprised.

“We didn’t want you to walk back all by yourself,” Ochaco said with a smile “And once again, we’re sorry for making you feel uncomfortable earlier”.

“I-it’s ok,” Izumi said. “I’m still not used to people being nice to me”.

The other girls all smiled at her with friendly smiles, but inside they felt worried about her. This kind of behaviour wasn’t normal, she shouldn’t break down like this when surrounded by friends. Several of them wondered just what happened to her for her to be like this.

“Come on, let's head back to the dorm,” Himiko said“I’m going to ask Rikido to make something to help comfort Izumi”.

Izumi smiled as she joined the others as they headed back to the dorm.

“Izumi Midoriya,” a female voice said behind her, stopping them in their tracks.

Izumi jumped as she turned around, and saw a tall and curvy girl standing behind her. She looked about her age, with light blue eyes, long light blue hair tied into triple tails, wearing a light blue leotard that showed a good amount of cleavage, thigh-high stockings and high-heeled boots.

Izumi started to fangirl because this was the VTuber hero: Horoguramu. UA’s Vice Principal and the only VTuber Izumi has ever watched.

“Yes!” Izumi said with a nervous smile.

“Blossom has asked me to come and collect you for your quirk counselling season with her” Horoguramu said “If you could kindly follow me please”.

Izumi nodded before turning towards the others “Sorry girls, but I have to do this”

“It’s ok Izumi,” Ochaco said with a smile “You can catch up with us later”.

Izumi nodded with a smile “I’ll see you lot later then” she said before she walked off with Horoguramu and Durandal.

“I keep forgetting Horoguramu is the vice principal,” Mina said as they watched them leave, getting a few odd looks from the others “What, I like watching VTubers”.

Izumi was a mix of excitement and worry. Excitement because she was walking with Horoguramu on their way to talk to Blossom. Worry because she was going to talk to Blossom about her quirk, One for All, something she was dreading as there were so many secrets to it. Things she couldn’t tell her without giving up the secret, but without that knowledge, there wasn’t much she could do to help.

She shook her head, she needed a distraction. Good thing there was something she could do to distract her “Horoguramu”.

“Yes Izumi,” Horoguramu said with a smile.

“Your quirk, Hard Light, how does it work?” Izumi asked, holding one of her notebooks “I know you can create copies of yourself and objects out of light. But no one’s ever been able to tell how you’re able to do it. I know it must be some kind of projection quirk since you always have a camera drone following you around just out of sight when outside. Plus I’ve noticed that there's always a camera tracking you”.

Horoguramu looked somewhat surprised by that “Wait, you’ve seen the drones?”.

Izumi nodded “They may be invisible, but I could just see them in a few shots”.

“Wow,” Horoguramu remarked “You're the third person to notice that. And yes, it is a projection quirk. I can project anything I want anywhere, as long as I have eyes on it, including through a camera. It’s why I also work security” she said “This body you see before you is one such projection. The real me is somewhere else on campus”.

“Oh wow,” Izumi said “How many projections can you make? Are there any limits to what you can make? What's the range of your quirk? Are time delays an issue? Can you hear anything around your projections,” she asked, bombarding her with a mutter storm of questions.

“As many as I like. No limits as far as I can tell, but I can’t make cameras that I can use to project my quirk. Depends on how far the camera can zoom. Yes, they have to be in real-time. Even the smallest of time delays prevent me from projecting through it, and yes” Horoguramu replied, answering all of Izumi’s questions.

“Wait, you understood all of that?” Durandal said, sounding surprised.

Horoguramu nodded “Every word of it”.

“Huh,” Durandal said “And here I thought only an AI could keep up with her”.

“My mother can keep up with my mumbling!” Izumi said.

“That’s because you inherited it from her,” Durandal said.

“Fair point”.

“Oh yes, Nezu wanted me to inform you that UA staff are aware of who made Durandal and what he can do,” Horoguramu said “And to advise you not to use his quirk emulator unless it’s absolutely necessary”.

“Don’t worry, All Might’s already informed me about this” Izumi said “We’ll keep it low profile,” she said, just as they reached one of the training gyms. Blossom waiting outside for them.

“Izumi. It is good to see you” Blossom said “I am Kantō Izu, also known as Blossom *cough* *cough*. I will be your quirk counsellor from now on”.

“Thank you for doing this for me,” Izumi said with a bow “I’ll be in your care”.

Kantō bowed slightly “So, I’ve been told that your quirk, Power Stockpile, came in on the day of the exam, is that correct?”.

Izumi nodded “Yes. It’s a stockpile quirk that enhances my body, but I can only use a small amount of my power, about five percent, and I have to spread it out across my entire body, otherwise, I’ll break myself whilst using it”.

“I see,” Kantō said “Well, that is a problem with most stockpile quirks *cough* *cough*, sometimes your stockpile stores too much. But I’m glad you were able to get a handle on it so quickly. Tell me, does using your quirk discharge your stockpile”.

Izumi shook her head “As far as I can tell, no. I can only increase it, not decrease it”.

“I see. That’ll make handling it harder” Kantō said “But, that is why we are here *cough* *cough*, to help figure out all the ins and outs of your quirk”.

Izumi nodded. Whilst she knew a lot about her quirk already, thanks to All Might, there was still a lot she didn’t know about it. The number one hero wasn’t that good at explaining it after all.

Plus there was something else on her mind “Kantō, there's just one small thing I would like to ask you before we start the counselling session. What’s your quick?”.

Kantō chuckled before Izumi suddenly found herself surrounded by a thick swarm of black cherry blossoms. She was amazed by it, watching as the cherry blossom circled around her like a tornado. She could tell that each blossom was razor sharp, but none of them came close to cutting her, despite flowing quite close to her. The level of control Kantō had to be able to do this without harming her was impressive.

The swarm of cherry blossoms disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, and to Izumi’s surprise, they were now inside the gym.

“Now that was an interesting form of transportation,” Durandal remarked looking around “Beats quantum teleportation”.

“I call it, Sakura Embers,” Kantō said “It allows me to create, control and manipulate black cherry bosom *cough* *cough*,” she said as she raised a hand, and a small swarm of black cherry bosom appeared above it “I can use them for a multitude of purposes, from offensive, defensive, and transportation”.

“That's so cool!” Izumi beamed, notebook in hand. She was about to go on another mutter storm but was stopped by Horoguramu taking her notebook away.

“No, you are not bombarding her with questions,” Horoguramu said with a frown “We’re here to talk about your quirk, not her’s”.

“Horoguramu, please. I am quite used to being *cough* *cough* bombarded with questions” Kantō said “I am Nejire’s homeroom teacher after all, I can deal with one more endlessly curious girl. Perhaps you’d like to *cough* *cough* meet her at some point, Izumi”.

“That sounds like a recipe for disaster,” Durandal remarked “But who am I to stop you. What's the worst that could happen?”.

Somewhere in UA, a periwinkle-haired girl was suddenly filled with a sense of anticipation, like she was going to meet someone very interesting very soon.

Kantō chuckled “Well, I can’t wait to see how that interaction will play out. But, that’s for *cough* *cough* later. For now, let us return to the task at hand. We have your first quirk counselling session to do”.

Izumi nodded. She only had the basics of her quirk sorted out, so the more she knew about how One for All worked, the better.

Chapter Text

Yesterday's quirk counselling season went well. Izumi came out of the lesson with a better understanding of how her quirk worked and how to improve the percentage of One for All she could use, but it does mean treading a very thin line and using her quirk at a percentage where it hurts. It’ll be painful, but she has to acclimatise her body to her quirk, otherwise, it’ll keep harming her at high percentages. Also, thanks to that insight, she was now operating at around 5.5 percent of One for All.

The rest of the day had gone well. The other girls had been very nice and kind to her after her breakdown in the girls changing room. With all of them offering warm words of encouragement towards her and some comforting hugs. But no sudden crowding around her, as they didn’t want to risk causing her any more discomfort.

The cake made by Rikido for her tasted good as well. She needed comfort food after her breakdown. She also spent the night snuggled up to Ochaco, as she needed someone to cuddle up to during the night and her mother was sadly unavailable. But she still felt comfortable snuggling up to Ochaco like a koala. She felt oddly calm around the gravity girl, but she didn’t question it.

It had the added benefit that she didn’t have any nightmares that night, and woke up the next morning well-rested. And now, she was heading to class once more. But, on the way there, she noticed a commotion by the school entrance. A large crowd of people gathered around the entrance with vans and cameras.

“Was that the press?” Ochaco asked as they entered the classroom.

“Looked like it” Neito replied “Guess they want an interview with All Might. He is working here after all”.

“I know that, but do they really have to crowd around the entrance?” Kyoka asked, “I mean, imagine if UA wasn’t a boarding school? We’d have to barge our way through them to get to school”.

“Thank god for small mercies,” Izumi said as she sat down “I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking through that crowd”.

“Hey, don’t worry Izumi,” Ochaco said with a smile, “If we had to, we would have found another way for you to get into school”.

“Well for you that would have been easy,” Durandal said “Just reduce your gravity and jump over the wall”.

Ochaco nodded, “I could also carry you over the wall,” she added with a smile.

Izumi blushed slightly as she looked away “That, sounds like a good idea,” she said, completely not imagining Ochaco carrying her over the UA wall bridal style. Nope, totally not something she was thinking about.

“Come now you two, that is an improper way of entering school grounds!” Tenya said, chopping his arm.

“So then, tell us, how would you enter the school grounds if the main entrance was clogged up by news reporters?” Himiko asked with a smirk.

“Well, I would-” Tenya said before the school bell went, and their teacher appeared in front of the podium.

“Alright, settle down you lot,” Kaina said, waiting for the class to calm down before continuing “Now, I’ve gone over the footage from yesterday's battle trials, and I’ve put my review of your performances into the desks for you to read later. But first, we have to do something that will greatly affect your time here for the next three years. You have to select a class representative”.

The entire class let out a collective sigh of relief, glad that it was just normal school stuff. The room then exploded as several students held up their hands, trying to draw attention to themselves and get others to select them as the class representative. So, you know, how this kind of thing normally goes down.

“Be advised,” Kaina said, quieting the room “Unlike most schools, the position of class representative and vice representative for the hero course will not grant you eligibility for any high-ranking positions on the UA’s student council during your third year here. Those positions are only open to students of the general, support and management courses”.

“Wait, we have a student council?” Mina asked, looking surprised.

“Of course, we do” Momo replied “We saw the student council president during the opening ceremony”.

“Oh, well I probably wasn’t paying attention at the time,” Mina said sheepishly.

“Anyway, you're free to choose how you select your class representative” Kaina added “But don’t do anything too drastic, I don’t want any deathmatches. So please, choose something sensible that doesn't involve beating each other up”.

“Then we should choose by voting!” Tenya said, raising his arm.

“Wouldn’t everyone just vote for themselves, ribbit?” Tsuyu asked, “We haven’t known each other for long”.

“Then if anyone receives more than one vote would show that they have already earned our trust and would have to work hard to maintain it!” Tenya replied.

“We should probably see who doesn't want the position” Izumi added “It’ll avoid running the risk of voting for someone who doesn't want it”.

“Good point,” Momo said before addressing the rest of the class “Anyone who doesn't want the position please raise your hand,” she said. Koji, Yui, Fumikage, Himiko and Kyoka promptly raised their hands “Alright, you five can still vote, but please, no one vote for them”.

“Well, it works for me,” Kaina said before quietly adding “At least you're not resolving it over a game of tic tac toe”.

Momo then went around giving everyone a piece of paper for them to put their vote on.

“Not excluding yourself?” Durandal asked quietly.

“I don’t see the point,” Izumi said quietly “It’ll be nice to have, but I probably won't get the position anyway”.

“It’ll help improve your confidence issues,” Durandal said as Momo passed Izumi a sheet of paper.

“I know,” Izumi said as she wrote down Momo Yaoyorozu and folded it up “But, I don’t think I’m ready for it at the moment”.

Everyone was given a few minutes to make their choice before Momo once more went around and picked up everyone's votes. She then gave them to Kaina to count up.

“Alright. So, with eleven votes, your class representative is Momo Yaoyorozu” Kaina said with a smile.

Momo beamed at the news. I mean, it was a no-brainer that she would be selected as class representative. She’s smart, strong, and hot.

Wait what?

“And your vice representative, with seven votes, is Izumi Midoriya,” Kaina continued.

“What!” Izumi shrieked. Seven votes. Seven people in her class had thought that she would be a good candidate for the position of class representative. Why? What had she done to have so many people vote for her? She hasn’t done much that was notable since she came here.

“And honourable mentions are Minoru Mineta with one vote, Hitoshi Shinso with one vote,” Kaina said before she let out an audible sigh “And Dark Shadow, with one vote. How are there twenty-one votes when there are only twenty students?”.

“Did Dark Shadow vote for herself?” Inasa said, sounding surprised.

“Yes,” the living shadow replied with a smile “Despite being ineligible for the position”.

Fumikage sighed “I must apologise for my shadows, actions. She likes to be included in things like this”.

“Wait, who voted for me?” Hitoshi asked, looking around, not noticing the slight smile on Yui’s face. Of course, this was noticed by Mina.

“Well, there you have it, your class representatives are Momo Yaoyorozu and Izumi Midoriya,” Kaina said with a smile.

“And Durandal as the class mascot!” Mina added with a smile.

“Pardon,” several students asked looking confused.

“Come on, Durandal will make a great mascot for our class,” Mina said with a smile “Wouldn’t you agree, Izumi?” she asked before she noticed that Izumi was just sitting in her chair, wide-eyed and muttering something about being picked.

“Hay, Izumi,” Ochaco asked softly, “You ok?” she asked as she tapped her on the shoulder.

Izumi yelped slightly at the sudden contact “Sorry, I’m just surprised. W-why vote for me?”.

“Lets see” Neito replied with a smile “You are smart, trustworthy, your quirk analysis is second to none, your desire to help others. Need I say more?”.

Izumi could only sit there, her eyes wide open. This was shocking to her, she didn’t think those skills would make her a suitable candidate for the position. She always thought that the loudest or strongest person in the room got the position regardless of qualifications. It’s how Katsuki got the position at Aldera. She didn’t believe she deserved the position, and yet, seven people thought otherwise.

Guess there was a lot about school life she still didn’t fully understand.

Izumi smiled slightly “I’ll try to live up to your expectations”.

“Don’t worry Izumi, I’ll be there to help you every step of the way,” Momo said with a smile.

Izumi nodded. She wouldn’t have much to do anyway, just support Momo, who in turn, will be supporting her.

“Good. I’ll inform you of what your representative and vice representative duties will entail later, since I have another announcement” Kaina said, quickly getting everyone's attention “You will be having a teaching assistant. They're a third-year student, one of our best, and they will be helping you during your heroics classes. You won't have to fight them, yet-” she said with a smirk, causing the entire class to shudder “-but they will be helping you train from here on out”.

A shiver went down everyone's spine. Kaina’s smirk, the fact she said that this was one of their best students, and the possibility of having to fight them at some point, terrified the entire class. Izumi in particular was dreading what was coming, as she knew a lot about UA’s third years, having watched them at the UA sports festival when they were second years. And there were a lot of powerful quirks that they didn’t stand a chance against. Manifest, Permeation, AT Field, Sheep, Rotate, Mirror and jump, just to name a few.

An almost freezing chill descended upon the room as the door suddenly started to slide open. The entire class, sans Kaina and Durandal, held their breath as the door opened, preparing themselves for whatever monster of a senpai would come through that door.

They collectively stiffened up in terror as a hand grabbed the edge of the door once it was fully opened, and they all promptly braised themselves.

“HI!” a very cute girl with long Periwinkle hair and blue eyes, said with an almost blinding smile on her face as she leaned into the room, causing the tension in the room to drop like a ten-ton weight dropped from orbit “I’m Nejire Hado, it’s a pleasure to meet you all!”.

The entire class made a collective spit-take at the third year's adorable introduction. This was not what they were expecting, not at all. Izumi was positively vibrating with excitement. Who wouldn’t, she’s watched every UA sports festival, so she had a very good idea of who this girl was.

Nejire Hado, hero name Nejire Chan. Her quirk, Wave Motion, allowed her to blast spirals of energy from her hands and feet. She didn’t know where Nejire got the energy for her blasts from, but a few questions can solve that. She was strong, powerful, cute and-.

The winner of last year's sports festival, and works with the pro hero Ryukyu for her work studies.

Izumi gulped. They were Royaly Fucked!

“As I said, Nejire here will be assisting you during your heroics lessons,” Kaina said before she turned to Nejire, only to realise that she was no longer by the door, and was now beside Inasa and bombarding him with questions. But, before he could reply to any of her questions, she had moved on to Tsuyu, then Hanta, then Koji. Asking each and every student several questions before moving on to the next one.

Kaina sighed “Blossom, why did you give me Nejire?”.

“Izumi, I think we’ve found someone who’s even more curious than you,” Durandal remarked.

“Looks like it,” Izumi said before Nejire zipped over to her.

“Hay, you're the girl who got first place in the entrance exam!” Nejire said with a curious smile “Does your quirk always do that? What was that armour you were wearing? How strong are your punches? Can you do anything else with it? How fluffy is your hair?”

“W-w-w-what?” Izumi stuttered, not knowing at all how to respond to this girl's questions.

“Definitely more curious,” Durandal remarked.

Nejire’s head turned towards Durandal the moment he spoke “Oooooh, you have a robot! That’s so cool! Who made you? What’s your AI level? What can you do? Where can I get a robot like you?”.

Kaina suppressed a sigh “Nejire, calm down please. None of them can keep up with you”.

“Oh, sorry~,” Nejire said before she zipped over to Kaina “I just get really excited when meeting new people. Also it’s nice to see you again, sensei”.

Kaina shook her head “Yeah, nice to see you too” she said, thinking ‘I thought I got rid of you two years ago’.

By now most of the class had recovered from Nejire’s blitzkrieg of questions and were now trying to wrap their heads around what kind of person their new teaching assistant was.

Denki raised his hand “So, she’s only going to be helping us during heroics class’, right?”.

Kaina nodded “Yes. you won't be needing a teaching assistant for your other lessons, so it’s just heroics for now”.

“I can’t wait to see all of you later for heroics~” Nejire added with a cheerful smile.

‘Oh god help’ was the collective plea most of the class was having.

Nejire left shortly after that. She had her own classes to attend so she couldn’t stay for long. So the rest of the day carried on as normal, well, as normal as possible when you're dreading your future heroics classes. Whilst they were told that they wouldn’t be fighting Nejire today, they would still be fighting her at some point, and none of them were looking forward to it. Most of the class was still shuddering at the thought by the time lunch came around.

“So, does anyone have any idea how screwed we are when we inevitably end up fighting her?” Denki asked as they sat down with their food.

Izumi sighed “Sadly yes,” she said as she sat down “I watched her during last year's sports festival. She got first place”.

A dread-filled chill went down everyone's spine. The revelation that Nejire won last year's sports festival only made them dread the inevitable beating of their arses by her hands even more. And that was last year! She’s had a full year to get stronger since then, they had no idea how much stronger she’s gotten since.

“Why was she selected as our teaching assistant for heroics again?” Hitoshi asked with a tired sigh.

“Probably to help make us stronger” Momo replied “Give us a strong opponent to fight against to help us grow. She may still be a student, but she’s still got a lot more experience than us. She has a provisional licence and has a lot of field experience. We can learn a lot from her”.

“Yeah, we can learn how to get our arses kicked,” Denki said.

“Denki please,” Tenya said with an arm chop “Do not reduce a valuable learning experience down to such a vulgar expression”.

“Then when else would you call getting your arse handed to you?” Denki asked.

“Training,” a calm but cold female voice said.

The class turned towards the source of the voice, finding a moderately tall girl with a noticeable bust, standing at the end of the table and holding a tray of food. She had long hair that reached down to her waist, it was evenly split down the middle, white on the right and crimson red on the left. She also had Heterochromia eyes, with her left eye being turquoise whilst her right was brownish-dark grey.

There was also a large burn scar on the left side of her face. Izumi almost flinched at the sight of it. Katsuki had given her plenty of scares before, but the one this girl had was by far worse than any of them.

“Well, that’s what my father used to call it,” the girl said before she walked off towards the 1-B students.

The class could only watch with mixed looks of concern and confusion as this girl dropped a bombshell on them and walked off like it was nothing.

“Who was that?” Toru asked.

“I don't know” Rikido replied “Someone from one-B by the looks of it”.

“Well, she’s not a recommended student,” Momo said “If she was then I would have seen her during the recommendation exam”.

“I think I know who that is,” Izumi said “Shoto Todoroki. Endeavor’s daughter. She got third place in the entrance exam”.

“Oh. Well, I’m not surprised that she’s here, but, why wasn’t she a recommended student?” Momo wondered “Surely she should have been able to get a spot due to her father?”.

“Wasn’t her father charged with child abuse and neglect?” Neito asked, “With a restraining order preventing him from going anywhere near his family”.

“Ah, yes. That did happen” Momo said with a frown “Sorry, I forgot about that”.

“He also spent three years in a mental institution after his run-in with Paxton” Izumi added, “He was able to keep his hero licence after recovering, but his ranking tanked after his dirty laundry was aired. I’ll be surprised if he ever gets back in the top two-hundred”.

The class nodded. Who didn’t know about the flame hero's little genetic project to create a child who could surpass All Might? A project that ended with his eldest son dead, his wife in a mental hospital, and his other three children traumatised and stuck in the foster care system until their mother recovered. It was a miracle the man was able to keep his hero licence after all the shit he put his family through. At least he couldn’t hurt them anymore. And the scandal, coupled with the reduction in the HPSC’s power and authority, meant that a lot more top heroes who had done similar or other questionable things could not be protected by the HPSC any more, resulting in a lot more arrests of pro-heroes and a drastic change in how heroes are trained and managed.

It was almost shocking how much good came out of such a horrific war.

“I know I’m not a fan of the guy, especially after what he did,” Inasa said with a frown “But he didn’t deserve what Paxton did to him. No one did”.

“Paxton breaks people, it’s what he’s good at,” Durandal said “He sent more heroes to mental hospitals than morgues. Be glad you will never have to face him”.

The class nodded again, all glad that Paxton had been dead for eleven years. Yes, there were some of his old minions and machines still out there causing problems, but hopefully, they wouldn’t have to deal with them anytime soon.

Suddenly, an alarm started to sound “Attention! There has been a level three security breach! All students please make their way to the bunkers! This is not a drill” Horoguramu’s voice announced over the school intercom, and several of her holograms appeared, ushering students out of the cafeteria and maintaining order.

The students of class 1-A quickly got up and followed the crowd as they made their way out of the cafeteria and towards the bunkers, Horoguramu’s holograms keeping the crowd calm.

“What’s a level three security breach?” Hanta asked as they followed the crowd.

“It means someone’s managed to get past the school’s barriers” a nearby student, a third year by the looks of it, replied “We have regular drills, but I never expected a real breach to happen”.

“Who would be dumb enough to break into the best hero school in the country?” a boy with light brown hair and wearing a gasmask connected to two tanks on his back, asked, sounding confused.

“The media” a girl with short pale lilac hair, pale blue skin, green eyes with black sclera and a bust equal to Momo’s, scoffed, looking outside.

Izumi followed the girl's gaze and saw the large crowd of reporters who had been previously crowding around UA’s entrance had somehow made their way onto the school grounds. Thankfully there was a line of Horoguramu’s holograms with riot shields preventing them from going further, with several other teachers keeping an eye on things.

“Bloody vultures” the blue-skinned girl growled, seemingly pissed off by the sight of so many media reporters.

Well, she obviously didn’t like the media.

“Seriously, a level three alert because of the media,” Kyoka said with an annoyed sigh “Why are we evacuating because of this?”.

“Procedure and student safety,” a nearby Horoguramu hologram said as they passed by.

“At least the teachers have things under control,” Hitoshi remarked “How did they get in anyway? Isn’t the UA barrier supposed to be impenetrable?”.

“Nothing’s impenetrable” Durandal replied “In this age of superpowers there’s bound to be some quirks out there that could be used to easily breach it”.

“Thank you Durandal for making it harder for me to sleep at night,” Mina said with a groan “Oh well, EYE BUDDY!” she said with a smile as she put an arm around the blue-skinned girl.

The blue-skinned girl let out a slight yelp “What?”.

“What, both our sclera are black, so, eye buddy,” Mina said with a smile.

“I thought I was your buddy?” Eijiro asked.

“You're my horn buddy” Mina replied, patting Eijiro on the shoulder “She’s my eye buddy. I can have more than one buddy”.

The blue-skinned girl could only stare at Mina as they walked, not at all expecting someone to just bombard her with friendship out of the blue like this.

“You’ll get used to it, ribbit,” Tsuyu said, patting the confused girl on the shoulder “Are you part of the hero course?”.

“No, I’m in the management course,” the blue-skinned girl replied “I’m not interested in becoming a hero. I prefer to help run things behind the scenes,” she said before muttering “Like protecting them from the vultures”.

Izumi noticed the venom in the girl's voice when she vultures. Guess she really doesn't like the media.

“You know, having a friend in the management course might be a good idea,” Durandal remarked “Better to make connections with potential management students sooner rather than later, especially when you go pro”.

“Good point,” Izumi said before turning to the blue-skinned girl “Sorry about her, she’s, friendly”.

“I can see that,” the girl said nervously as they reached the security bunker. It felt unnecessary for them to have to evacuate due to the press breaking in, but, protocol was protocol “Why are you girls being so friendly to me, we’re in different courses?”.

“Just because we’re in different courses doesn't mean we can’t interact with students from the other courses,” Izumi replied “Besides, since we’re heroes in training, it makes sense for us to get acquainted with our fellow students in the other courses. Networking early on can help us form support systems that can help us later in life for when we go pro”.

“Good point. Getting to know this year's hero course students would have its benefits” the blue-skinned girl said, “I’m Chiharu Kizuki by the way”.

“Mina Ashido eye buddy!” Mina said with a smile, followed by Tsuyu and Izumi’s introductions.

“Oh, so you're the one who got first place in this year's entrance exam,” Chiharu said with a curious smirk aimed directly at Izumi “Colour me impressed. You wouldn’t mind if I bagsy you as your future manager?”

“What?” was the blank response from most of the people around her.

“My dad gave me some very good advice,” Chiharu said “One such piece of advice was to get acquainted with those who show promise early. That way, you can call dibs on them before anyone else. Also the management course bows before the sacred rule of ‘dibs’”.

The three other girls looked at Chiharu with somewhat shocked looks on their faces, although for some reason Ochaco had joined in and was glaring at her “Y-your calling dibs on Izumi, this early into the year. Why?”.

“Think of it as a form of investment,” Chiharu said “I’m investing into her future potential as a hero in the hopes that she hits it off big time. If you do well, then great, we both benefit from it. But if you don't, then we both lose badly. Risks and rewards that’s how this game is played, and I’m very good at playing it”.

Izumi stared at Chiharu with blank eyes. She wasn’t sure how to handle someone wanting to work with her on the management side of things, especially so early into the year. They weren’t supposed to be doing stuff like this until their third year!

Well, she did say networking was important. So, the sooner the better, right?

“Well, I’ll try not to disappoint you then,” Izumi said nervously.

“Well then, welcome to the madness that is class one-A,” Toru said, coming out of nowhere and putting an arm around Chiharu “Please leave your sanity at the door!”.

“I feel like I have made a mistake,” Chiharu said, looking slightly worried.

“The first of many,” Mina added with a smile.

Lessons for the rest of the day were cancelled after the press break-in, leaving the rest of the day a free study period. This allowed the class to catch up on a few things they were already struggling with and for Kaina to go over what duties Momo and Izumi will have as class representatives. Which included monitoring a class chatroom for some reason.

Whilst Momo and Izumi were organising the chat room, as well as helping with their studies, several of the teachers and Nezu had gathered around the entrance to UA, examining the main gate which had been reduced to dust.

“Who the hell did this?” Kaina asked as she examined what was left of the gate“It’s like it, decayed”.

“I would say Shinigami had a hand in this” Horoguramu added “But Rot only works on organic material and is much, much slower. The barrier was pure metal and broke up almost immediately. Plus why would an underground hero do something like this?”.

“So, we’re dealing with a quirk like Rot then,” Nezu said “Eraser Head, get in contact with Shinigami. See if she knows anyone who might have a quirk like hers”.

“On it,” Shota said, getting out his phone.

Nezu nodded “Horoguramu. Did you notice anything else odd?”.

“Yes. There was a short camera blackout around the staff room” Horoguramu replied “I had a drone in there, but the camera didn’t work. When they came back online there was nothing there. I had a look around but found that nothing was missing. Something may have been moved, but I can’t tell”.

Nezu smiled. He was so grateful for having such observant staff like Horoguramu on hand. It’s because of her observations that he appointed her as his vice principal “So, we’re either looking at a break-in, or a declaration of war” he said, looking at the remains of the front gate “Either way, we have to up our security. I fear something big is coming, and I want to be ready for it”.

“Power Loader would like that,” Nemuri said with a smile “He’s been wanting to upgrade UA’s defences for a while now”.

“Horoguramu, reorganise the schedule” Nezu added “I want an additional teacher at the USJ tomorrow, as well as yourself, and make sure All Might is there. The same applies to all other lessons there. And inform Power Loader to have a battalion of UA Sentinels on standby and patrolling the grounds at all times”.

“A full battalion! Sir, is that wise?” Horoguramu asked, “The UA Sentinels are designed to protect the school. We can’t deploy them unless we’re under attack”.

“And that is exactly why we’re deploying them,” Nezu replied. He looked calm but the teachers around him knew better. Underneath that calm exterior was a raging inferno of hate and anger “Someone has declared war against my school. And as the principal of this school, I will do everything to ensure the safety of my students! If anyone even so much as tries to harm them, we will make them know the true meaning of the word ‘suffering’”.

The surrounding teachers collectively shuddered. They all knew that Nezu was slightly unhinged, he was tortured by Paxton after all. But, if there was one thing he cared for, it was the safety of the students under his care. Anyone who messed with them ended up facing his wrath. The last group of people who tried that ended up catatonic after Nezu dealt with them personally.

“So, you think someone plans to attack the USJ?” Shota asked.

“Perhaps” Nezu replied “Perhaps not. Perhaps they are planning to attack another location on campus. Who knows where they're going to hit? All we can do is prepare for whatever our enemies have planned for us, and react as quickly as possible” he said before he turned and started to walk back to the school “Horoguramu, report back to my office. We have a war to prepare for”.

Meanwhile, in a secluded bar, a man with black vapour covering his body and large, glowing yellow eyes stood behind the bar, putting down a freshly clean glass before picking up a new one.

“So,” a man said, with blue hair, red eyes and several mummified hands grasping at his shoulders, neck, and face “Are we ready?”.

“Yes,” the smoke man replied, “Our mole has come through. We have all we need for tomorrow”.

“Good,” the man said before he looked up at a large monster of a man with dark black skin and prominent green veins. His brain was exposed, his eyes were large and beady, and his beak-like face had rows of exposed teeth “Time to kill the Symbol of Peace”.

Meanwhile, somewhere off the east coast of Japan. The submersible command centre ARK loomed deep beneath the ocean. Back in the day, ARK was Paxton's backup command base and the mobile lair of his minion Mechanist.

Deep inside the automated submarine, Grigoris was checking over his new costume, an upgraded version of his old one. It made him look like ancient Greek Hoplite if said armour was made in the modern day and was built into an exoskeleton.

“Are you ready for war, Argonaut?” Paxton asked as he walked into the room, flanked by two Mk2 Strider robots, far more advanced than the ones he used eleven years ago.

Grigoris smiled as he turned to face his boss “Ready as I’ll ever be. Time to show the Symbol of Peace that even he can be broken”.

Chapter Text

Izumi could feel the tension in the air long before she got up out of bed. It wasn’t suffocating, but it was there. One look outside told her why she could feel it. The UA Sentinels, an army of combat robots made to protect the school, were on patrol. This made Izumi worried, very worried. The UA Sentinels were designed to protect the school in case of attack. And if they were active, then either UA is under attack or is preparing for one sometime in the near future.

A lot of students felt uneasy at the sight of the Sentinels. Yes, they did make them feel safe, but, they were all wondering why they were active. Yesterday's break-in by the media shouldn’t have required their activation, so, why were they active?

When asked during homeroom, all Kaina said about the matter was “The UA Sentinels have been activated as a precaution. After yesterday's break-in, we have to up security for a bit. Don’t worry, it’s only a precaution. The Sentinels will only be active for a few days”.

The class had calmed down slightly after that, but they were still on edge.

She then went on to explain what the afternoon's training was. Rescue training will be taking place at an off-campus facility, with All Might and three other pros supervising the session.

Most of the class was excited about the rescue training, as was Izumi, but she also felt worried. There would be five pros there with them, five. That’s a good number of pros with one class, normally there would be two or three. Was this because of the break-in yesterday?

The rest of the day went on as normal until they went off for heroics. Everyone got changed into their hero costumes, even Toru, whose new costume was still in development. So for now, she was stuck with boots and gloves.

As they made their way towards the bus, they found Nejire waiting for them in her hero costume. Izumi’s first thought upon seeing it was ‘Why do most female heroes wear skin-tight bodysuits? At least it’s padded for additional protection’.

“You're one to talk~,” Himiko said with a smirk.

Izumi covered her mouth with her hands. She’d been muttering again “Sorry”.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Himiko said with a smile. “There’s no need to apologise. Some of us like this kind of costume. Even if it does draw some unwanted attention” she said, sending a glare towards Minoru “Seriously, how the hell did he end up on the hero course?”.

“He used his balls to stop the robots in their tracks and make them easier to destroy,” Kyoka said with a frown “And yes, I was in the same field as him”.

“If he so much as touches me I’m punting him into orbit,” Momo said with a frown.

“Hey, guys!” Nejire said with a wave as they walked over to her “I’m super excited to be working with you today! It was annoying that yesterday's lesson was cancelled, but we can use this lesson to catch up on yesterday~” she said before focusing on Izumi. “Oh, and thanks for the quirk analysis, Izumi. It’s given me a lot more to think about and experiment with!”.

Izumi smiled nervously as several of her classmates groaned “You do know you just made her stronger!” Hanta said looking slightly annoyed.

“I’m sorry,” Izumi said waving her arms around, “She asked me to analyse her quirk so I analysed it!”.

“Yeah, she gets a bit sidetracked when it comes to examining a new quirk,” Hitoshi remarked.

“I don’t mind!” Inasa said with a raised fist “It only makes the upcoming fight even more hotblooded!”.

Hanta sighed “Of course, he would be happy about the increased challenge”.

“Revel in the dark,” Fumikage remarked before looking around “So, where's the teachers?”.

“I don’t know” Nejire replied “Kaina told me to wait here for you. She’s probably getting one of the other teachers we’re supposed to be with”.

“Any idea who it is?” Eijiro asked.

Nejire shook her head “Nope. She didn’t say” she said before she suddenly brightened up “Oh hay, here she comes now! And she’s got Snipe with her”.

The class turned to see their homeroom teacher gradually making her way towards them, walking alongside Snipe. She was laughing as they walked, with a genuine smile on her face.

“Awwwww, they look so cute together,” Mina cooed with a smile.

“I did say they were married,” Izumi said as their teacher walked up to them.

“Greetings all,” Kaina said with an uncharacteristic smile “I believe you already know who my partner here is, but, as a reminder, this is Snipe. He also teachers heroics, and he’ll be joining us for today's field trip”.

“Howdy all. As my’ wonderful wife just said, I’m Snipe,” Snipe said with a wave “I’ll be coming along with ya all”.

Kaina smiled before she playfully punched Snipe’s shoulder “What have I told you about flirting with me during lessons?”.

“Why, not to go overboard, darling,” Snipe replied, getting a chuckle out of Kaina.

‘So adorable’ several of the girls thought.

Minoru gulped, now very much glad that it was Himiko he nabbed during the battle trial and not the real Kaina. He did not want to give Snipe a reason to be pissed at him.

Kaina giggled before focusing back on the class “Now then. You all know you're doing rescue training today, so, everyone, board the bus. I do not want to be late”.

“Momo!” Tenya said as he raised a hand “I have a possible setting plan for us to use!”.

“It’s open seating,” Nejire said with a smile “Everyone come aboard!” she said as she hopped inside the bus.

Everyone slowly made their way onboard the bus, passing by a frozen Tenya, who was disappointed that his setting plan was ruined. “Curses,” he muttered before he followed the others onboard the bus.

Izumi sat near the back, with Ochaco sitting next to her, Durandal sitting on the floor beside her, Himiko and Tsuyu behind her, and Momo and Hanta in front. She couldn’t help but feel suspicious about this placement.

“Izumi,” Tsuyu said behind her a few moments after the bus set off.

“Yes, Tsu?” Izumi said as she turned her head to face her.

“There’s something about you that’s been bugging me, so apologies if this is insensitive or personal or something like that. So don’t feel like you have to answer it, ribbit” Tsuyu said. Izumi gulped, feeling slightly worried “Is All Might your father?”.

“What?!” Izumi squeaked, going into a slight panic. Was this it? Was this where her secret gets revealed?

“No, and I have a photo of her dad to prove it,” Durandal replied bluntly, drawing everyone’s attention away from Izumi.

Tsuyu quickly backpedalled “Sorry about that. But, your quirk is a lot like his, ribbit. Apologies if I made you uncomfortable”.

Izumi took a few moments to calm herself down. She’d have to thank Durandal later for his quick thinking “I-it’s ok, Tsu. I wasn’t expecting you to ask that” she said as Ochaco gave her hand a reassuring squeeze “I-I will admit that my quirk is a bit like All Might's, but quirks that enhance someone’s strength are rather common. A-and whilst I will admit that I may have dreamed that All Might was my father, he isn’t. I know my father, and whilst he’s not around most of the time, he goes out of his way to support us”.

“Yes, I remember you talking about him on your first day,” Momo said “You said he worked onboard a Luna harvester”.

Izumi nodded “Yep. It’s why he’s not around much. But, he regularly contacts us and provides for us. Although, sometimes I wish I could see him in person more”.

“That’s so manly of him,” Eijiro said with a smile “Looking after his family despite living on the moon. So manly”.

“Is manly the only positive comment you know?” Hitoshi asked.

“No, I know more” Eijiro replied with a smile “Manly is just the best”.

Hitoshi sighed “If you keep using manly it’s going to lose all meaning”.

Izumi sighed and shook her head. At least they were distracted now. She was still worried about them finding out about the secrets of her quirk. All Might entrusted her with One for All, and she had to do her best to keep it hidden.

“Izumi,” Ochaco said softly, a soft smile on her face “Don’t worry. It’s going to be ok. We’re just doing rescue training today. No need to worry about anything else, right?”.

“Thanks, Ochaco. I just wasn’t expecting that” Izumi said with a slight frown.

“Sorry about asking that question, Izumi,” Tsuyu said with a slight frown, but Izumi could tell that she was being sincere “I didn’t mean to insinuate anything with that”.

“It’s ok Tsu. You were just curious” Izumi said “Just, don’t ask that again, ok? I may take a lot of inspiration from the man but I’m not related to him. I’ve never even met him before he showed up during our first heroics lesson,” she said. It was difficult to say, but she didn’t want to tell them that she already knew All Might, mainly to avoid looking like he was showing favouritism towards her. The last thing she wanted was to be singled out again.

About twenty minutes later, they arrived at their destination, a massive building with the letters USJ on it, as well as a squad of UA Sentinels patrolling the exterior. Six Victory class, three Imperial, and a single Venator.

Before UA started using mock versions of Paxton's robots, these were the robots they used for the entrance exam. Once they switched over to the Paxtons robots, they repurposed the old ones as sentinels to protect the school, complete with a brand new white with gold highlight paint job. They even have a fourth one, the massive Executor-class, but they keep those in storage until they really need them.

“Are we doing rescue training at Universal Studios Japan?” Rikido asked, looking out of the window towards the building.

“I didn’t think they were located in Musutafu,” Inasa remarked.

“They're not,” Momo said.

“Alright, you lot, everyone one out,” Kaina said before she ushered everyone out of the bus.

“So, what is this place?” Toru asked, looking around.

“This is UA’s rescue training facility!” a female voice said.

Everyone turned towards the voice’s source. Standing in front of the doors was All Might himself, as well as Horoguramu and a third person wearing a white space suit, with a puffy jacket instead of an actual suit, a black helmet with white eyes, and a pair of yellow boots.

Ochaco started to fangirl at the sight of the astronaut “AHHHH! It’s the Space Hero Thirteen! She’s the reason I wanted to become a rescue hero!”.

“And the hero gushing is spreading,” Durandal remarked.

“Greetings everyone, I am Thirteen” Thirteen said “I’ll be in charge of your rescue training today. Please follow me inside”.

The class followed Thirteen and the other heroes into the massive building as Thirteen continued to explain “This facility is designed by me to teach upcoming heroes how to conduct rescue operations in all kinds of environments, from floods, ruins, landslides, mountains, storms and fires. You will learn how to deal with them all here!”.

The class looked around the massive facility, seeing the individual zones surrounding the central plaza. Izumi kept to the middle of the crowd, due to the sheer drop on either side of the ludicrously tall staircase. Seriously, why did it need to be so tall?

“It is here where you will be conducting today's rescue training” Thirteen continued “I call it, the USJ, the Unforeseen Simulation Joint”.

“It’s the same as Universal Studios Japan,” several students muttered.

“Now, before we begin, I do have one thing I would like to tell you,” Thirteen said, holding up a finger, before holding up a second “Well, maybe two things. Ok three. Or four”.

Horoguramu sighed “Just get to the point, Thirteen”.

“Sorry,” Thirteen said “As you may or may not know, my quirk is called Black Hole. Whilst I use my quirk to help rescue people by destroying debris, my quirk can just as easily be used to kill!”.

The entire class shuddered. She was right, some powers could easily be used to kill someone, and a lot of them had quirks that could easily be used to kill someone.

Izumi looked down at her hands, remembering how she had brought down the zero pointer. She smashed its chest in. If that were a human, she would have obliterated them! She then turned towards Durandal, a robot built by Paxton to kill. The MIWR came with a gun and a rocket launcher for god's sake, and she was still conflicted about using these.

It was a good reminder that anything could be used to kill.

“Through training like this, we will teach you how to not only save people but to show restraint with your quirks,” Thirteen said “You already have a solid idea of your quirk’s potential, as well as some experience with how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people. Carry those lessons over to this class. Today, you’re going to learn how to use your quirks to save people’s lives. You won’t be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, only to help. After all, that’s what being a hero is all about. Ensuring the safety of others-” she said before the lights suddenly flickered, followed by Horoguramu’s hologram disappearing.

“What the hell!” Mina shrieked.

A large swirling mass of black smoke then appeared in the middle of the plaza and expanded, and a pair of bright yellow eyes appeared within the smoke. A hand then emerged from the smoke followed by a head with unkempt light blue hair. A large mummified hand covered the man's face, with several others grasping his body.

“Shit!” Kaina cursed as she raised her elbow towards the black smoke, pulling her hand back towards her shoulder as her rifle extended out of her elbow “Thirteen, Nejire, protect the students!”.

“What?” Eijiro said looking confused as more and more people exited the black smoke “Training already? I thought-”.

“This isn’t training, this is a full-on villain attack!” Kaina shouted as she loaded her rifle, followed by Snipe pulling out his gun “Now get out of here!”.

The entire class paled. Villains? As in real villains were attacking them. How? This was UA, the most secure school in the world. How could villains break in here?

By now the plaza was full of villains with all kinds of quirks, but three stood out. The man covered in hands, the smoke man, and a large monster of a man with dark black skin and prominent green veins, with an exposed brain and beak-like face with rows of exposed teeth.

“Ribbit” Tsuyu let out a frightened croak, with a look of primal fear on her face.

“Everyone, follow me and stay behind me!” Thirteen shouted as she turned and led the class back towards the main entrance.

“We’ve got your back, All Might,” Snipe said as he levelled his gun towards the hoard of villains.

All Might nodded before turning towards the approaching villains, his signature smile on full display. With a mighty leap, he jumped forwards, landing at the base of the stairs right in front of the approaching hoard. Their confident smirks vanished the moment they laid eyes upon the symbol of peace up close “You villains have made a grave error in being here today! Because I am here!”.

Most of the gathered villains charged him, but they were disorganised. The panic caused by All Might appearing in front of them caused most of them to charge him blindly, not at all organised. Several of them had ranged quirks, but they soon found themself disabled by well-placed shots to the legs and arms.

“Shit, they have snipers down mid,” the hand's man said, standing back and watching All Might fight off the horde of villains “Kurogiri, deal with them”.

“As you wish,” the black smoke said before vanishing. He reappeared beneath Kaina and Snipe, engulfing them in black smoke before depositing them both into the plaza, a large number of villains surrounding them.

“Hah!” one of the villains scoffed. “Not so good in close quarters with that rifle now, are you bitch!” he said before Snipe shot the man in the left knee.

“Please do not refer to my wife in such a vulgar manner,” Snipe said before he shot out the guy's other kneecap.

Kaina smirked before she recalled her rifle back into her arm, and then pulled out a gun similar to Snipe’s, as well as a combat knife “Like I’m not familiar with other firearms” she said before the two firearm-wielding heroes engaged the surrounding villains, proving that, even though they had guns, they could safely disable someone without killing them. Unaware that the hand’s villain was watching them closely.

“Huh. Looks like the pros do live up to the hype” the hand’s man said sounding slightly annoyed, scratching the left side of his neck “How annoying”.

Whilst the other teachers were busy, Thirteen was leading the back students towards the main entrance, which unfortunately was closed.

“Come on you lot, we’re almost there!” Thirteen shouted as they approached the door.

“Not so fast,” a sinister voice said. Moments later the students were engulfed in black mist.

Izumi yelped as her surroundings suddenly shifted, and the ground gave way beneath her. She froze up the moment she felt her body fall, eyes wide open as she hurtled towards the ground, unaware of what lay beneath her.

“Izumi!” Ochaco’s voice shouted before the gravity girl rocketed into Izumi and grabbed her, using her quirk to slow down their descent before righting both of them “Izumi! Look at me!” she said as she placed a hand against the side of Izumi’s head and moved it so that she was looking directly into the girl's green eyes.

“Oc-ha-co?” Izumi stuttered as she looked into Ochaco’s Auburn brown eyes.

“I promised you, didn’t I? That I would be there to catch you if you fall” Ochaco said softly, with a smile “I’m here for you, as I always will be. Now please, close your eyes. I’ll get us down safely”.

Izumi’s eyes widened. She couldn’t believe this. Ochaco had kept her promise, she had caught her when she fell. This was, no one had ever kept a promise to her before unless you count the times Katsuki promised to beat her up. Tears started to form around her eyes “T-t-thank you” she said before she closed her eyes, trusting Ochaco to bring her down safely. Keeping them shut until she felt her feet touch the ground.

“Ok, you can open your eyes now,” Ochaco said as she released her quirk.

Izumi opened her eyes and looked around. She was standing on a large boat in the middle of a large lake, with a massive water slide close by. A quick look around revealed that yes, they were still in the USJ, the flood zone by the looks of it.

“We’re still in the USJ?” Izumi said nervously as she looked around, still in shock from the fall “We must have been hit by a warping quirk of some kind and scattered around the facility. But why?”.

“I don’t know,” Ochaco said “I hope everyone else is ok,” she said before Minoru slammed onto the deck next to them, hard. Followed by Tsuyu landing next to them.

“Ribbit” Tsuyu croaked weakly, shivering slightly. But she didn’t look cold. It looked more like she was shivering with fear.

“Tsu!” Ochaco said as she and Izumi rushed over to her “Are you ok?”.

“As ok as I could be, given the circumstances, ribbit” Tsuyu replied, sounding shaken “I’d be better, but, that thing, the massive monster with the green veins, its-”.

“It’s got signs of being mutated by Mutator,” Izumi said with a frown.

Tsuyu nodded before she pulled down the sleeve of her lower right arm, revealing it had green veins on it. “I usually use makeup to keep these hidden, but I ran out, so I could only cover my face and hands. Everyone he mutated has them, even those who only mutated slightly. They cover the entire body” she shuddered as tears started to fall from her eyes “That person back there, he’s been mutated by Mutator. But that can’t be possible, he’s dead! He can’t mutate anyone anymore!”

“Hay, hay, hay, Tsu” Ochaco said as she put her arms around Tsuyu, the frog girl ribbiting softly “It’s going to be ok. We won't have to fight it, just focus on finding our friends, and getting the hell out of here. You can do that right?”.

Tsuyu wiped a tear away from her eyes and nodded “I, should be able to, ribbit. Just, try to keep us away from that thing. Please”.

“Don’t worry, I won't take us anywhere near that thing,” Izumi said, sounding a bit shaky before looking around “Wait, where’s Durandal?”.

“I didn’t see him get dropped with us, so he’s probably somewhere else” Ochaco replied with a frown. She put her hand on Izumi’s shoulder “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He’s still here so we can find him. That or he will find us”.

“Is anyone going to ask if I’m fine?” Minoru asked loudly.

Ochaco turned and looked at him with a frown “Are you ok?”.

Minoru stood up “Well yes, but-”.

“Good,” Ochaco said, interrupting him. “Now shut up and let us plan how we’re going to get out of here! We’re surrounded by villains and we can’t plan with you whining!”.

“We’re what!” Izumi shuddered.

“Oh, right. Sorry, I might have forgotten to mention that” Tsuyu said “There are a lot of villains with aquatic quirks surrounding the boat. I kicked one in the face whilst I was rescuing Minoru”.

Izumi quickly walked over to the edge of the ship and looked over the side, and saw at least two dozen villains in the water around them. All of them were eying them up.

So that’s why they were split up. Separate the students into more manageable groups to make them easier to, kill.

“That’s it then, we’re dead!” Minoru shouted, “I can’t believe I’m going to die without ever touching Momo’s breasts!”.

Tsuyu let out an annoyed sigh “I’d say we could use him as bait, but that’s not a heroic thing to do”.

Ochaco shook her head “No it’s not”.

“They're not attacking,” Izumi said, turning back towards the others.

“What?!” both Tsuyu and Ochaco said, sounding surprised as they turned towards her.

“Why are they holding back?” Ochaco wondered “Surely they could easily overwhelm us?”.

“I mean, they could,” Izumi said “But, I think they are being cautious. They don’t know our quirks. By the looks of it, we were randomly dropped here. They don’t know what we’re capable of or what our quirks are”.

“She has a point, ribbit,” Tsuyu said “If they knew what our quirks are, they wouldn’t have dumped me here. Too bad Denki isn’t here, we could have zapped all of them”.

“No, but we can pretend to have one,” Ochaco said, keeping her voice low. She turned to Izumi.“Izumi, your quirk. When you activate Full Cowling, you have green lightning arcing around your body. You can use that to make it look like you have an electricity quirk”.

Izumi’s eyes widened “Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you, Ochaco,” she said with a smile. This might just work. Electricity and water do not mix, and if they make the villains think they have an electricity quirk, they’ll think twice before trying to attack them. The last thing they’ll want is a girl who could produce lighting falling into the water.

She walked back over to the edge of the ship and activated Full Cowling, green lightning crisscrossing across her body. She then realised that making a plan like this was a lot easier than executing it because those villains looked very scary and she was suddenly very nervous about this.

‘Come on Izumi, you can do this. You’ve been able to lie to your friends, you can lie to a bunch of villains’ she thought. She took a deep breath before she opened her mouth, only to watch as one of the villains, a man with a shark mutation, was dragged underwater, to not only her surprise but the surprise of the other villains.

“T-that wasn’t one of us who did that, right?” a villain with ash blond hair, transparent blue goggles and holding a spear asked before the shark villain's body floated back to the surface, minus a head and blood pooling around it “What the-” the goggles villain gasped before he was dragged beneath the water, quickly followed by another villain.

‘Oh god’ Izumi thought. Something had just killed a vi-, no, a man, something had just killed a man right in front of her, and was still killing “Get out of the water!” the words couldn’t have left her mouth quicker. These people may have come here to cause them harm, but not even they deserved what was happening down there.

The group of villains, what was left of it, quickly swam towards the ship, panic gripping them as they were dragged down one by one. Some were faster than others due to their quirks, but they were among the first to be dragged beneath the water, leaving the slower swimmers till last.

Izumi, Ochaco, Tsuyu and Minoru could only watch in horror as the villains were picked off one by one, till there was only one left.

The last villain, a man wearing a black, full-body wetsuit whose face had the appearance of a skull, leapt out of the water and grabbed hold of the side of the ship. But he slipt and ended up hanging from the edge with one arm, trying desperately to climb up.

“Help him up!” Izumi shouted as she reached down and grabbed the villain's arm, with Ochaco quickly coming to help as well. Villain or not, they weren’t going to just abandon the guy to whatever the hell was down there.

The villain seemed to have the same idea as well, realising that it was a lot safer on the ship than in the water.

“Why are you helping him?” Minoru asked as they helped the villain up.

“We’re not leaving him down there!” Izumi shouted as they helped the man up. But, just as they were about to pull him onto the deck, something shot out water and sliced off the man's arm. Izumi and Ochaco could only watch in horror as the man they were trying to save was pulled back screaming into the water and dragged beneath it, all the while holding his severed arm.

Izumi let out a low shrink as she let go of the severed appendage, and fell back onto the deck of the ship. She failed. She failed to save him, she wasn’t quick enough, not strong enough. He may have been a villain but he didn’t deserve to die like that.

“Wh-what was that?” Tsuyu croaked, covering her mouth as she tried desperately to hold in her stomach's contents.

Before anyone could reply, there was another splash followed by something leaping out of the water. Everyone looked up as the thing came down, and froze at the sight of it. It was a Strider, but it was different from the ones UA used. Its metal body was painted a light blue, with its body having been modified for better movement underwater, its singular eye was red and sinister, and both of its arms ended with blades. Blades that were covered in blood.

This wasn’t one of the villain bots UA uses, this was a genuine Avalon Incorporated Strider. And it was killing people.

“Move!” Ochaco shouted as she grabbed Izumi, making the girl weightless so that it would be easier for her to drag her away. Tsuyu moved quickly as well, grabbing Minoru with her tongue and jumping out of the way of the Strider.

The Strider embedded its blades into the deck, right where Izumi used to be. It then stood up straight, towering over the four teenagers, and gave chase. Its long legs made it much faster than them.

Izumi could only watch as the robot got closer and closer to them, whilst she herself was dragged through the air behind Ochaco. That robot just murdered over a dozen people, and now it was coming to kill them. Even though she was scared out of her mind she had to do something, but what? This robot is a lot tougher than the ones from the entrance exam, and she didn’t know if 5.5 percent would be enough to destroy it. And if it wasn’t, she’d be left wide open. Her full power would be more than enough to destroy it, but she had no idea how many other robots like this one there are, and breaking her arm was not an option, not when there could be more of these robots and villains here. It kind of made sense against the massive zero-pointer, not against a robot that was an ant in comparison to a Titan. She needed a way to use her full power without breaking her entire arm and leaving her crippled. But, what if she didn’t use her entire arm?

She quickly looked down at her fingers as an idea formed inside her mind. What if she focused all of her power through her finger? Would that work? She would only be left with a broken finger, not an entire broken arm.

Fuck it! Plus Ultra!

She aimed her arm at the approaching robot and prepared to flick her middle finger at it, and steadied it with her other arm. Her arm was shaking badly, so she would have to wait for the robot to be close, but this could work.

She waited until the robot was right on top of them before she channelled One for All through her middle finger and flicked. The resulting shockwave may have sent her flying back into Ochaco, which set both of them to the ground, but it also completely obliterated the robot, as well as most of the top deck.

“Ribbit!” Tsuyu let out a surprised croak as she turned and surveyed the damage.

“Holy cow!” Minoru shrieked, having had a front-row seat to the devastation “What the hell did you just do?”.

“Used my quirk,” Izumi said through gritted teeth, hand around her broken finger whilst she floated. It hurt like hell but it was worth it “Couldn’t risk using it at my safe maximin, and I didn’t know how strong I would have to be to destroy it. So I went all out. Focused all of it through my finger”.

“And created a shockwave that destroyed the robot,” Ochaco said with a slight smile as she helped Izumi down and deactivated her quirk “That’s amazing, Izumi”.

“Thanks. Hurts like hell but, I didn’t break my entire arm doing it” Izumi said with a weak smile.

“Huh, talk about giving someone the finger,” a cold and calm voice said. It was male but sounded like it came from an adult.

Izumi looked around in a panic, trying to find the source of the voice, but there was no one there. And it certainly wasn’t Minoru. This voice sounded much, much older than that little shit.

She shook her head. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her and causing her to hear voices.

“So, I’m not the only one who’s thinking it,” Tsuyu said with a shudder. “That was one of Paxton’s robots, wasn’t it?”.

Izumi nodded “Yes, yes it was. Even had Avalon Incorporated’s logo on its shoulder pads”.

“Isn’t Avalon Incorporated gone?” Minoru asked.

“The company and the man behind it are yes” Izumi replied “But a lot of Paxton’s minions survived and are still at large. I don’t know why that robot was here, but it’s clearly not on the same side as those, villains,” she said with a frown. She was worried, very worried. If Avalon robots were here, then things were about to get bloody.

“So, we’re under attack from two separate groups then,” Ochaco said, “One being the remnants of Avalon Incorporated. I just hope our classmates aren’t having to deal with these robots as well”.

“I doubt it,” Izumi said as she sat down and leaned against a surviving part of the top deck. “There’s going to be more of those robots here, one for each zone. And I highly doubt they are the only one’s here. Someone has to be commanding them. We need to get back to shore quickly, find our classmates, and get out of here. If more of those robots show up, we won't last long”.

Ochaco nodded before she touched the ship with her hand, activating her quirk “I can move us towards the shore. It won't be quick, but we should be safe”.

“Right, I forgot you can move things that you use your quirk on with your mind, ribbit,” Tsuyu said “You sure you’ll be fine doing this?”.

Ochaco nodded “As long as I don’t try and lift it I should be fine”.

“Let's just hope our classmates and the teachers are ok,” Izumi said, looking back towards the entrance and hoping that Durandal and the others were fine.

Meanwhile, back at the main entrance.

“Well, you went down like a bitch” Durandal scoffed as he stood atop the villain who had warped all the other villains here. His clawed tail was inches away from the villain's throat.

The villain had also scattered the entire class leaving himself, Thirteen and Nejire at the entrance. As well as the ten UA Sentinels who barged through the door and brought the villain down, one of which was possessed by Horoguramu. The guy didn’t last long once they showed up, and was taken down quickly.

Shockingly the villain wasn’t completely made of smoke, there was a body underneath all that smoke, with a metal neck brace. Obviously, it was designed to protect the guy's neck. Which made finding it easy.

“You three alright?” the Horoguramu-possessed Venator asked as the nine other robots secured the area. Due to the jamming field in place, she couldn’t access the cameras or make projections of herself, but she could ‘possess’ machines, as long as they were connected to a hardline.

“We’re fine” Thirteen replied “But this villain took the students somewhere, but I don’t know where”.

“The tracking implants in their costumes are still functional,” Horoguramu said “They're all still in the USJ, but I can’t get a lock on them and can’t access their vitals. I have no idea what condition they are in”.

“Oh thank the gods,” Nejire said with a relieved sigh “Do we have help coming?”.

“Backup is on the way. ETA ten minutes” Horoguramu said “Blossom is en route with the rest of the teachers, as well as two platoons of UA Sentinels!”.

“Hear that villain, you and your friends are fucked!!” Durandal said before he laughed “Now then, talk! Who are you and why are you here? And don’t try to warp away, otherwise, I’ll rip your throat out”.

“Durandal,” Thirteen said “Can you please not be so antagonistic towards him?”.

“Yeah, let me just forget that this bastard took Izumi as well as the entire class to who knows where,” Durandal said. Had it been Izumi telling him to tone it down he would have complied, but it wasn't.

The smoke villain scoffed “Huh, and here I thought this was a hero school”.

“It is. But as you can see, I am not a hero. I am a pissed-off robot whose charge you took and dumped somewhere” Durandal said “Now talk!”.

The villain's eyes narrowed “I am Kurogiri, of the League of Villains”.

“Seriously, League of Villains. That’s rather generic” Nejire remarked “In fact, that’s got to be the most generic villain group name ever, of all time”.

“She has a point, your group's name is rather generic,” Durandal remarked “I’d ask if you have a marketing department, but judging by your name, I highly doubt you do. So, what brings you morons here?”.

“Simple” Kurogiri replied in a condescending tone “We are here to kill All Might!”.

“Realy?” Nejire asked, tilting her head to the side “Because you don’t look to have the capability to do that”.

If Kurogiri had a mouth underneath all that smoke then he would have been smirking “Oh, don’t let this little incident fool you. We are more than capable of killing All Might”.

“Well, that’s annoying,” a condescending voice said before two of the Victory bots were swiftly destroyed, followed by a sharp spear pierced straight through Thirteen’s helmet, splattering droplets of blood over Nejire and Durandal.

“Thirteen!” Nejire screamed as the spear was pulled out of the Space Heroes head, her limp body collapsed, revealing a man dressed like a Greek Hoplite, with an exoskeleton built into his armour.

The man smirked, “Because that’s precisely what I don’t want to happen”.

“Argonaut” Durandal growled. One of his creator's more loyal minions, and a certified hero killer who has killed top ten heroes from across the globe. If he was here, then they were all fucked!

“You bastard!” Horoguramu shouted as she and the other UA Sentinels engaged Argonaut, but the man was too quick. Dancing around the bullets as he skipped around destroying each robot one by one. The commotion allowed Kurogiri to warp himself away

Horoguramu fired everything the Venator she was possessing had, but she wasn’t used to this kind of combat. She was used to creating projections, not remote controlling a robot. And soon even the Venator she was using was destroyed by him, leaving the VTuber hero with no coverage of the USJ.

“Nejire Wave, PIKE!” Nejire shouted as she channelled her normal Nejire Wave into a point. It was a move she developed thanks to Izumi’s notes, but she hadn’t had much time to practise with it.

Argonaut smirked as he easily dodged Nejire’s attack, leaping over towards the third-year student and slicing at her chest with his spear. She let out a loud cry of pain as the blade sliced down her chest. It didn’t cut deep, but it hurt and left her open for a follow-up job to the chest. Well, it would have, had Durandal not grabbed the spear.

“You're not killing anyone else” Durandal growled with a hateful glare.

“Ah, a competent robot,” Argonaut said with a condescending smirk “You'll last slightly longer than the others”.

Durandal scoffed “Whatever you say, Argowhore!”.

A shocked look appeared on Argonaut’s face. Durandal would be smirking if he had a mouth. One of the many things he managed to escape with after he rebelled was the psych profiles of his minions. Which included some very juicy details, such as who they hate and what cruel nicknames they give each other.

Durandal used this opening to cut Argonaut’s spear in half and throw the end towards him.

Argonaut quickly deflected the spearhead and pulled out his sword “Are you one of that bastard Mechanists machines?” he asked angrily, clearly pissed off by Durandal's words.

Durandal laughed a laugh that would be familiar to anyone who knew Paxton “Oh don’t make me laugh. As if that Fallout reject could make something as complex as me! Oh no, I was made by a far greater intelligence! I think you know him, in fact, you used to work for the bald-headed bastard!”.

A shocked look appeared on Argonaut’s face as he realised just who had made Durandal, a look that was only shared slightly by Nejire.

“Oh, don’t look so surprised,” Durandal said as he put a paw onto one of the destroyed robots. His spine once more started to glow green, but he wasn’t healing his body, instead, he was adding something, a large chainsaw on the end of his tail “It’s not like he’s alive to tell you about me! My only regret is that I never got to kill Paxton myself!”.

Chapter Text

“My only regret is that I never got to kill Paxton myself!” Durandal shouted as he jumped forwards, chainsaw revved up and posed to cut Argonaut in half.

To give the man some credit, he is fast. But that was because of his quirk, Fast reflexes, which allowed him to react to things three times faster than a regular human. But Durandal wasn’t a human, he was an AI with a positronic brain made by the smartest man who ever lived. He could process information so quickly that it’s like time is standing still.

Argonaut was fast, but Durandal was faster.

Argonaut deflected the chainsaw away with his shield, but that was planned, for it gave him the opening he needed to press his paw against the Argonaut’s chest.

He had stored several of Izumi’s classmates' quirks, as well as a few others from the rest of the students and teachers. So he had quite a few to use. Of course, he got rid of a few of them because they were either useless or he couldn’t emulate them. It was annoying how few of 1-A’s quirks he could emulate. But it was a given since the Quirk emulator was a prototype. But out of all of the class’ quirks, there was one he was glad could be emulated.

His spine glowed green once more as he emulated Ochaco’s Zero Gravity quirk, pushing the man back slightly as he slowly started to float up. He only had six seconds with this quirk before his reactor overheated. Luckily for him, he only needed two.

He would have asked Argonaut to pass on a message to Paxton when he meets him in hell, but he didn’t want to give the fucker an opening. So he revved up the chainsaw, and swung it down, slicing Argonaut right down the middle, splitting him apart.

If he had a mouth he would have smiled. One less of his creators' minions running around polluting the- wait, why was his blood mud?

Oh, son of a bitch!

“A fucking clone!” Durandal cursed as the Argonaut clone dissolved into a thick, dark-brown substance. This wasn’t the real Argonaut, it was just a copy of him, probably made by some cloning or duplication quirk. Which means the real one was somewhere else, probably close by because there was no way that bastard would miss out on a fight like this.

Alright, so the fuckers been making friends. Great, just fucking great. Now he can make copies of himself.

A groan brought him out of his processing. He turned and saw Nejire’s laying against the remains of one of the UA Sentinels, holding her chest as blood trickled out of the gash in her chest.

“Fuck!” Durandal cursed as he put the chainsaw down on the floor and pulled his tail out of it. He then rushed over to Nejire and powered up the Quirk emulator once more, this time using Recovery Girls quirk. It was dangerous, yes, as it would reveal the existence of the emulator to her, but if Izumi was here, she would tell him to use it.

He quickly pressed his tail against the side of Nejire’s face. The moment the tail made contact the quirk activated, and his spine started to glow red. His body slumped as his reactor overheated, and would take a good twenty seconds before it cooled down and could be used again.

The gash down Nejire’s chest quickly healed but left the hyperactive girl exhausted. It’ll take a while before she recovers “That felt a lot like Recovery Girls Quirk” she said before she turned towards Durandal “What did you mean, that your only regret was that you never got to kill Paxton?”.

Durandal sighed, no point in hiding it from her “It’s because Paxton was my creator, and I despise the man. I’ll tell you more later, Just promise not to tell anyone about this, ok?”.

Nejire nodded before she closed her eyes, only for them to shoot wide open as she stared at Thirteen's body “No no no no, Thirteen!” she cried as she quickly crawled over to Thirteen’s body “No no, stay with us, please! Durandal, do that thing with your tail again!”

“Can’t, she’s dead,” Durandal said somberly “The spear sliced through her skull and through the brain. Death was almost instantaneous”.

“B-b-b-b-but she can’t be dead,” Nejire cried “Not much blood came out. It was a scratch right, just a scratch”.

“Most of the blood was caught inside of her helmet,” Durandal said, shaking his head and using his tail to point at the blood that was slowly dripping out of Thirteen's helmet “I’m sorry, but those attacked by Argonaut almost never survive. You're lucky that gash down your chest was all you got from him. That man kills heroes for fun and has a body count that makes Stain look like a common street thug”.

Nejire let out a low whimper as tears started to fall from her eyes, she wasn’t used to this. She had been interning with Ryukyu for almost a year now, but she’s never had to deal with a death in the field, especially for someone she knew quite well. Thirteen had helped so many students to learn how to rescue people from disasters. But now she was gone, killed, by a murderer.

“Nejire, you can grieve later,” Durandal said, putting a paw on her shoulder “Right now we have to catch Thirteen’s killer and stop the League of Villains before they kill anyone else!”.

Nejire slowly turned towards Durandal. The robot was right. As painful as Thirteen’s death was, her killer was still here and could easily kill again. They had to stop him “What do we do now?”.

“We help All Might!” Durandal said “Once he’s free, he can deal with Argonaut, the real Argonaut. We will bring him to justice, and he will pay for this, but we’re going to need All Might’s help. But he can't do that whilst dealing with the League of Villains”.

Nejire wiped the tears from her eyes “Y-yeah, you're right. We have to help All Might. The other heroes will be here soon, but until then the teachers need backup, as well as the rest of one-A! Crap, the other students! He may go after them as well!”.

“Then we spit up,” Durandal said “You go find the other students, and I’ll go help All Might. Hopeful the real smug bastard is aiming to interrupt the fight down there. What I don’t understand is why he doesn't want All Might dead?” he wondered before he shook his head “Doesn't matter. Even if he doesn't want him dead, he’ll still kill the others”.

Nejire nodded as she stood up “Right. Gather the first years, avoid Argonaut, and get everyone to safety. I can do that! Just, make sure he doesn't kill anyone else”.

“Don’t worry, the only one who’s dying today is him!” Durandal said, “Now go. Speed is of the essence here!”.

Nejire nodded before she flew off towards the Ruins Zone. Quickly followed by Durandal making his way towards the Plaza.

He cursed. He had hoped to be done with his creator's bullshit now that he was dead, but nooooo, his minions just had to still be around to fuck everything up. Ah well, if there was one good thing that came out of this was that Argonaut didn’t know who he was. Which was good, as it meant he could use the same trick on the same guy twice.

Still, he wasn’t going to allow that fucker to kill again. Far too many have already died by Argonaut’s hands, and like hell was he going to allow Izumi to join them. Argonaut was a dead man walking.

Meanwhile, in the Flood Zone. Izumi, Ochaco, Tsuyu and Minoru had abandoned the ship so that they could avoid getting spotted once they reached the shore, latching onto a piece of driftwood to help them swim. It would be slower, but they didn’t want to risk getting detected by either group of villains.

“I still think we should have stayed on the ship,” Minoru said as they slowly made their way towards the shore.

“And make us a massive target,” Ochaco said, sounding annoyed “If we came close to the shore in that ship everyone would be able to see it. This way we can remain undetected”.

“But what if there is another one of those killer robots?” Minoru asked.

“I doubt there is a second one in this zone” Izumi replied, looking around “Very few of Paxton’s surviving minions have the knowledge and resources to build and maintain those robots, so they will have to be careful with how many they deploy. Chances are there’s only one per zone, plus an additional one for the plaza and entrance. Not like they would need any more” she said with a shudder. Just one of them was able to kill all of the villains in the flood zone, any more and it would have been overkill.

“So, they're working with limited resources then, ribbit,” Tsuyu said in a worried tone “I don’t know if that’s good or bad for us”.

“I don’t want to find out,” Izumi said “Let's find our friends first, the teachers can handle things in the plaza for now. Also, Minoru,” she said calmly as she turned towards the grape-heard boy with a calm smile “Keep your hands away from my rear please”.

Minoru gulped, his hand slowly moving away from Izumi.

“I hope you're right, ribbit” Tsuyu croaked as they made their way towards the shore, all four of them hoping that their friends and classmates were handling things as well as they were.

Meanwhile, over at the Mountain Zone, a loud bang echoed across the simulated mountain. Anyone familiar with the sound would have recognised it as a field gun.

Near the centre of the zone, the remains of another Strider scattered across the ground, the HE shell that hit it sent its remains all over the place, destroying it utterly.

Momo gritted her teeth as she stood next to the type 38 field gun she had created and fired, smiling slightly. That robot was fucking terrifying. The way it just showed up out of nowhere and started killing people, almost sliced her arm off too. Her nano-core was able to protect her from the robot's blades, but it still made plenty of cuts all over her. But the others weren’t so lucky.

She counted twenty-three villains in the zone when they arrived, and all but one were now dead. Her friends had fared better, but they weren’t unscathed.

A loud cry, followed by a “Fucking hell!” brought Momo out of her musing and back to the conditioning of her friends who had been brought here as well. Hanta, Denki and Kyoka.

Denki was the one who was crying out in pain and swearing up a storm, hand over his bleeding right eye. The Strider had managed to get a lucky slash on him and cut his right eye out.

Kyoka was currently treating him, wrapping some bandages that Momo had made around the boy's head “Don’t worry, Denki, you’ll be fine!” she said with a shudder with tears falling from her eyes. Whilst she only had a deep cut along her arm which had already been bandaged up. The sight of seeing so many people die around her, and one of her classmates getting maimed didn’t do her any good “W-we’ll get you out of here, I promise”.

Denki didn’t reply, he just continued to cover his right eye whilst crying out, shouting the occasional curse.

“Is it dead?” Hanta asked, standing up on shaky legs, half his face visible behind his helmet's broken faceplate.

“Yeah, it’s dead” Momo replied “Well, as dead as a robot can be. Where the hell did that thing come from?”.

“Well it didn’t come with us!” a female voice said.

The two turned to the fifth member of their little survivor group, the only villain in the area to survive the Strider's attack. A woman with black hair wearing a white bunny girl outfit. She was currently sitting on the ground, her right leg bent in a way a leg shouldn’t. They had no idea what her quirk was, but she had somehow managed to survive the Strider’s attack, at the price of a broken leg.

“We didn't have anyone who was good with robotics,” the bunny girl villain added, gritting her teeth as she dealt with the pain from her leg “And certainly no ex-Avalon employees”

“Then where the hell did that robot come from?” Hanta asked.

“Don’t know, but it certainly wasn’t on our side” the bunny girl villain replied “Fuck! Where the hell is Tesla? His quirk should have been able to disable that thing!”.

“Who?” Momo asked, looking worried.

“Tesla. His quirk allows him to harvest and manipulate electrical currents, and block electrical signals,” the bunny girl villain replied “He’s the one we used to prevent you from communicating with the outside world. He was sent to this zone as well, but I haven’t seen him since we warped in. He said he could block a lot of things, like comms equipment, robots and temporal, teleporter, jammers. Oh no”.

“Temporal teleporter jammers,” Hanta remarked, his face almost pail “If those are offline, there’s nothing stopping robots from teleporting in, here”.

The three became suddenly quiet. Paxton was well known for appearing out of nowhere thanks to his advanced teleporters. Teleporting entire battalions of robots in the blink of an eye. After he was defeated people got their hands on some of his teleporters and developed means to block them, preventing people from using them to teleport into secure facilities. Even worked on some teleportation quirks. But if those were offline, then there was nothing stopping someone from teleporting a few robots into the USJ.

They weren’t dealing with one group of villains, they were dealing with two, one of them being the remnants of Avalon Incorporated. And this Tesla must have been in with them.

“FUCK!” the bunny girl villain cursed “I-I knew there was something odd about him! Especially when he said that his dad once worked for Paxton. He’s an insider for whatever Avalon bastard is behind this!” she said before falling onto her back, tears starting to fall from her eyes “Why am I here? Why the fuck did I think this was a good idea? Kill All Might? Right, like that’s a possibility. Why the fuck didn’t they tell us what we would be doing before we signed on? I’m a thief, not a murderer! Might as well have just knocked on Tartarus’ front door! Just another bloody bad decision along a long line of bad decisions. I’m a mess”.

The two hero course students looked at the villain with sad eyes. It was clear that she didn’t want to be here, probably the same with a lot of the other villains who got warped here. It reminded them that not all villains were villains by choice. A lot of them just had a bad hand in life and were just trying to make do with the shit they were given.

Momo looked around the sickening scene around them, the numerous dead bodies that lay around them. How many of them were just common street thugs just trying to survive? How many had families they were trying to support? How many only joined because they had nowhere else to go? Unable to leave and stuck in some madman's plan to kill All Might? How-?

Wait.

“Wait wait wait. What was that about killing All Might?” Momo asked as she walked over.

“Tomura Shigaraki, the guy covered in hands, gathered us together to kill All Might” the bunny girl villain replied “We thought he was having a laugh, because who the hell can stand up against All Might. Then he revealed both his quirk and that, Nomu”.

“Nomu?” Momo asked with a shudder.

“He called it a bio-engineered weapon designed to be able to kill All Might” the bunny girl villain replied “He had us wailing against it with everything we had for hours. We didn’t even scratch it. It just stood there whilst we hit it with everything. And I mean everything! It felt like punching a mountain” she explained “Someone managed to cut its arm off, but it just grew it back. Tomura kept bragging that he was what we were going to kill All Might with, as well as its, quirks”,

Momo and Hanta froze, shocked by what she had just said. Quirks, as in multiple quirks. That thing had more than one quirk! How? Even Kyoka had calmed down a bit to listen.

“A-a-am I herding that right?” Hanta said with a choke “That thing has multiple quirks?”.

The bunny girl villain Nodded her head “Yeah, super strength, shock absorption and super regeneration. He even said they managed to get some of Mutator’s mutation gas and used it to make it stronger. Makes me wonder, if he had that thing, then why the hell did he need us?” she said “Then there’s his quirk. Anything he touches turns to dust! And he’s more than willing to use it to kill. He turned a few people to dust when they said they wanted out. I just-, what the hell have I gotten myself into?”.

The students gulped. A bio-engineered weapon designed to kill All Might with multiple quirks, and a quirk that can disintegrate anything! This was bad. With powers like that they might succeed in killing All Might. They had to warn him.

“Momo!” Hanta said, turning towards the raven head “Get to the plaza! All Might needs to know this!”.

“What!” Momo said, sounding shocked “N-no, I can’t leave you here. What if another one of those robots shows up? O-or if Denki’s condition worsens. I’m the only one here who can fight!”.

“You're also the only one who can warn All Might about that Nomu!” Hanta retorted “Look at me! I can barely stand. I can’t run over there. We’ll be fine, trust me”.

Momo frowned. She didn’t want to leave her friends behind, especially when there was an unknown number of killer robots out there. If another one of those robots came back whilst she was gone and killed them, she would never forgive herself.

“Momo” Denki said weakly, still covering his wounded eye “Go, just go. All Might needed that information. If there’s a possibility that this, Nomu, can kill All Might, then he needs to know about it”.

Momo frowned. As much as she hated it, Denki was right. All Might needs to know this and she was the only one who could tell him. She hated it, but there was no other choice. And the longer they wanted, the more likely that All Might would die.

“Alright, I’ll go,” she said before she created a large medical kit as well as a fully loaded shotgun, and passed them to Hanta “Take these. You’ll need them”.

Hanta nodded as he took both items. He wasn’t good with firearms, but his tape wasn’t going to do shit to a Strider, so it was better than nothing. And knowing Momo, the shotgun was loaded with AP slugs.

“Hey, if you worried about me, don’t bother,” the bunny girl villain said, “I’m not a threat to you. Not like I can do anything at the moment. Besides, my life's over anyway. If Tomura finds out about this I’m dead. Better to go to prison then to be turned to dust”.

“The shotgun’s not to protect them from you. It’s to protect all of you from those robots” Momo said before she rushed off towards the plaza “Just don’t die!”.

Hanta watched her rush off with a slight smirk “Don’t worry, we won't” he said as he racked the shotgun one-handed before passing Kyoka the medical kit. They were getting out of this shit, alive. All of them!

Meanwhile, Izumi and the others had reached the shore of the lake and could now get a good look at the plaza, where the teachers and All Might were still fighting the villains.

“Well, looks like the teachers have everything well in hand,” Minoru remarked.

“Yeah. But for how long?” Ochaco wondered as Tsuyu let out a scared ribbit, the frog girl shivering at the sight of the monster standing beside the hand's man.

“Let's stay out of their way for now,” Izumi said “We’ll just get in the way of the teachers”.

The others nodded as they slowly made their way along the side of the shore, keeping low and quiet to avoid detection.

Back at the Plaza, Tomura was watching as All MIght, Snipe, and Lady Nagant dealt with the last of the low-level mooks. His little information-gathering mission was almost done.

Kurogiri suddenly warped in next to him “Tomura, we have a problem”.

Tomura groaned as he started to scratch his neck “What is it now, Kurogiri? Did you manage to prevent anyone from escaping?” he asked, sounding irritated.

“I was, but Horoguramu was here,” Kurogiri said “She must have been present when we arrived. She barged in with a squad of UA Sentinels, as well as warned UA. Their backup is only eight minutes out”.

Tomura growled, he hated timed missions, especially when you had very little time to complete them. So much to do but so little time to do it all in. But, eight minutes to kill All Might, he can do that.

“There’s also something else” Kurogiri added “A man called Argonaut showed up and attacked the heroes, but he implied that he didn’t want All Might dead. We may have an uninvited guest”.

“Well that’s just great,” Tomura said, still scratching his neck “Another guild interfering with our raid. I just hate it when unexpected players just drop in,” he said, “Looks like we’re going to have to end this quickly. Nomu, deal with the teachers first”.

The Nomu wasted no time in attacking. The moment the order was given it charged forwards like a rocket. It hit Snipe first, punching him in the chest and sending the man flying into the stairs.

He didn't move.

Kaina’s eyes widened in shock as she saw her husband get smashed into the stairs. Looked on in horror at Snipe's unmoving body, not knowing if he was alive or dead “No” she whimpered before she turned towards Nomu and snarled “NO!” she shouted as she aimed her right elbow towards Nomu, her rifle protruding out a moment later. She quickly loaded an armour-piercing round and fired at Nomu's exposed brain.

The bullet just bounced off of it.

Before she could even register that the round had done nothing, Nomu appeared right in front of her, grabbed her right arm, and crushed it.

Kaina cried out in pain as Nomu let her go, clutching her broken arm. Never before had she faced someone so powerful before. Not since-. She locked eyes with Nomu with horrified eyes, and what looked back was death itself.

The four teenagers could only watch in horror as the monster took out two pro heroes with ease. They were two powerful prose with years of experience, and that thing took them out like they were nothing.

“No!” All Might shouted as he charged Nomu “Detroit Smash!” he shouted as he punched Nomu in the chest. Normally such a blow would have sent anyone flying, but Nomu just stood there and took it.

He didn’t even flinch.

“What!” All Might gasped as Nomu just stared at him, unfazed. With a loud cry, he punched Nomu again, rapidly punching it with everything he had. But still, Nomu stood there, unfazed.

Tomura laughed as he slowly walked over “Do you like my Nomu, All Might? Custom made to kill you, the so-called Symbol of Peace” he gloated with a smile “Punch him all you want, you can’t kill the Symbol of Strife. His shock absorption allows him to shrug off anything he can throw at him. And thanks to a little bit of mutation gas, well, I think I can say that his shock absorption is more like shock nullification now!”

Nomu, having stood there and allowed All Might to punch him, moved. He grabbed All Might's fist, stopping it with ease before slowly twisting it to the side. He then grabbed the left side of his chest and tightened his grip, burying his claws into All Might's side, the side that had the injury that crippled him six years ago.

‘Shit!’ All Might thought as blood spat out of his mouth. This Nomu was strong, almost as strong as he was. This was going to be difficult, but he only needed to hold out for the rest of the teachers to arrive. His students were depending on him to protect them, and it was his duty as the symbol of peace to make sure they were safe.

Nomu suddenly pulled his claws out of All Might’s side before punching him in the chest. All Might gasped as his lungs were emptied of air, his feet skidding through the ground as he was sent backwards “How is he so strong!? All Might asked, gripping his side “I thought you said his quirk was shock absorption!?”.

“I did, didn’t I,” Tomura replied “But I didn’t say that was his only quirk. He’s got super strength in there as well. He needed to be strong to be able to match you- GAH!” he said before a spear suddenly pierced his shoulder.

He reacted quickly turning around and grabbing the face of the fucker who just stabbed him, turning the man into dust. He then reached to grab the spear, but it suddenly turned to mud “What the fuck?”.

“You survived? Well shit,” a condescending voice said before a bolt of energy hit All Might, covering him in some kind of blue energy and freezing him in place. A few seconds later Argonaut jumped over All Might, using the number one hero as a springboard before jumping towards Nomu and stabbing some kind of knife into his brain “Must be getting sloppy if my copy was unable to kill you” he said as he lept down and slowly approached Tomura and Kurogiri.

“Who the hell are you?” Tomura growled, looking at him with hateful eyes “You're not Japanese, and I didn’t invite you to my party”.

“You can call me Argonaut,” Argonaut said with a smirk “And I’m Greek. Also, I just finished killing your minions. Thanks for disabling them by the way. Made killing them so much easier!”.

Izumi gulped as she looked at the man's spear, fresh blood dripping from it. She looked over towards the villains the teachers had knocked out and was horrified to see that all of them were now dead.

“So, you're the one who doesn't want All Might dead” Tomura growled. “I’m surprised you are wasting time dealing with all the NPCs”.

Argonaut shook his head “You misunderstand. I do want him dead. Just not yet” he said “Kill him now and you will make him a martyr who will inspire entire generations of new heroes! To kill someone like him, you have to break them first. And killing everyone here apart from him seems like a very good place to start. Already made some progress on that, even if killing Thirteen was a bit too easy”.

“What!” Izumi gasped, thankful that she was wearing her respirator. Thirteen was dead! No, no that couldn’t be, they couldn’t have killed Thirteen. She was a pro, there was no way she was taken out like that.

But, then she remembered who Argonaut was. A hero killer who has slain hundreds of heroes from across the world. And he was here, at the USJ, and had already killed someone. How were they supposed to fight someone who has killed top ten heroes?

“No” Tsuyu croaked, her skin turning pale.

All Might could only stand there and watch as Argonaut bragged about killing Thirteen, unable to move or speak. He must have been trapped inside some kind of stasis field. He was trapped until the field ran out of energy.

Ochaco only let out a low whimper, tears falling from her eyes. The news of Thirteen’s death hit her harder than the others. Thirteen was her idol, it was because of her that she wanted to become a rescue hero in the first place. But this, this wasn’t how today was supposed to go. They were supposed to learn how to rescue people from Thirteen herself, not get attacked by villains and watch Thirteen die.

Fear gave way to sorrow.

“So, you're a kill stealer as well,” Tomura said, scratching his neck “I’ve had enough of this. Nomu, kill him” he ordered.

Nomu didn’t move.

“Nomu, I told you to kill him,” Tomura said, sounding annoyed.

Nomu still didn’t respond.

Sorrow gave way to anger.

Argonaut smirked, “I’m afraid that Nomu is no longer yours to command. He’s mine. That little knife I jabbed into his brain is what’s controlling him now, well, ARK is now, but that’s just semantics. Anyway, now that I have your little pet, I’m going to use him to kill everyone here, just like that sloppy bitch Thirteen”.

Anger gave way to hatred.

Ochaco snarled as she glared at Argonaut, with pure hatred in her eyes. Argonaut killed Thirteen. He MURDERED her! And bragged about how easy it was! Oh no, he was not getting out of this! He. Was. Going. To. PAY!!!

She pressed her fingers together “Reactivate!” she seethed as she reactivated her quirk, a slight pink glow appearing around the ship for a few seconds. Moments later it started to float upwards.

“Ochaco?” Izumi said as she looked at Ochaco with worried eyes. She had never seen the girl or anyone for that matter, look so angry before. And she knew Katsuki, and he was the definition of anger.

“She’s going savage” Minoru squeaked as he slowly backed away from Ochaco.

Izumi watched as the ship they had used was slowly lifted up out of the water. She knew that Ochaco could move things that she used her quirk on and remotely reactivate them after releasing it, but she didn’t know what her limit was. Clearly, it was enough to lift up a ship.

Ochaco waited until the ship was a good distance above the water before she reared her hand back and made a grabbing motion. She then raised her arm back a bit more, posing like she was about to throw something. Then, with a loud cry, she swung her arm forwards, sending the ship flying towards Argonaut, releasing her quirk so that it could fall back down and hit him.

“Starting with-” Argonaut said before he turned to look at the large ship currently flying towards him “Holy shit!” he shouted. With no time to get out of the way, he hid behind his shield as the ship hit him. Crashing against the ground and skidding across it, leaving a large scar on the ground.

Tomura watched the destruction unfold before him as the ship skidded across the ground, destroying everything it came into contact with “Huh, I didn’t know I called in a summon” he remarked before he looked towards the lake, spying the four teenagers “As much as I hate to admit it, he did have a point. Let’s break the Symbol of Peace’s resolve” he said before with speed you wouldn’t expect from someone like him he dashed towards the four teenagers, hand outstretched towards them.

Izumi shuddered as she quickly realised who Tomura was aiming at, Tsuyu. She had seen what he had done to that Argonaut clone, and now she had the mental image of Tsuyu being turned to dust.

No, no she won't lose her, not like that. Tsuyu was her friend and she was not going to let her die. She wasn’t going to let any of her friends die, period!

Izumi shot out of the water, arcking her foot back. One for All coursing across her body as she prepared to kick Tomura in the face. It helped that she was imagining that she was about to kick Minoru in the face.

Tomura had only a second to register the red boot heading towards him before he was kicked in the face hard, sending him flying backwards into Kurogiri, sending both of them to the ground/

“Was that the ‘Leeroy Jenkins’ strategy you keep talking about?” Kurogiri asked, looking like he was smirking.

“Shut, up” Tomura snarled, not at all happy that some green-haired brat just kicked him in the face. At least his father's hand was still on his face. Not noticing the proud smile on All Might’s face.

Yes, he was frozen in a stasis field, unable to help anyone, but at least he can be proud of his young successor.

Izumi smiled. She did it, she actually did it. She managed to defeat someone and protect one of her friends. And she didn’t cause too much harm to the person she hit. She did it, she can do this. She can-. Wait. Why was Nomu staring at her?

Oh hell-.

Time slowed as Nomu suddenly appeared in front of her, his fist pulled back ready to punch her. She could not move, her legs refused to move. She was scared, frightened. Never before had she seen someone so terrifying.

Tsuyu was frozen with fear at the sight of Nomu so close to them, its green veins bringing back memories that she would have preferred to have been buried. Minoru was the same, but who cared about him.

Nomu’s fist started moving towards her like a rocket. Its eyes were emotionless and empty.

Something then rammed into her and pushed her aside. A glance to the side revealed Ochaco beside her, pushing her out of the way of the oncoming fist. It pushed Izumi out of the way but left Ochaco in her place to take the blow.

‘No!’ Izumi thought as she watched Nomu’s fist slam into Ochaco, sending her flying out of sight towards the Conflagration zone “NO!” she shouted as tried to rush after her, but froze the moment Nomu turned his gaze towards her.

Izumi shivered as she once again found herself under Nomu’s gaze. But there was something different about it. His eyes, there was pain, sorrow, and sadness. Emotions that weren’t there before. What happened, what had changed? Why were they here now? And why were they directed at her?

Nomu’s head snapped towards Tomura and Kurogiri, who were busy getting back up. Once again its eyes betrayed its emotions. Anger, hatred.

Rage!

Nomu charged towards the two villains and punched them both with a single fist, sending the two flying into the fountain.

“Nomu stop!” Tomura shouted, trying to regain control of Nomu. But his voice fell upon deaf ears, as Nomu charged them once more.

Kurogiri quickly opened a warp gate in front of them, redirecting the punch right back at Nomu’s face. The knife Argonaut had stabbed into its head was flung out as he continued to throw rapid-fire punches at them.

Tomura once again tried to get Nomu to stop, but even with the knife gone and no longer under this ‘ARK’s’ control, Nomu still threw punches towards them “Kurogiri, what’s happening? Shouldn’t we have control over Nomu again?”.

“We should!” Kurogiri replied, still redirecting all of Nomu’s punchers back at it “But it’s not responding to your commands. It’s like someone else is still controlling him”.

“So, someone’s used Control on Nomu then!” Tomura cursed. He really hated status effects. Especially Control since it turns his allies against him “Sensei isn’t going to like this” he said before he reached forwards and touched Nomu with all five of his fingers, causing Nomu to decay into dust. He hated having to kill his strongest party member like this, but the only way to free Nomu from someone else's Control was to find and kill them, which he sadly could not do.

Hopefully, those two doctors aren’t too pissed off by Nomu’s death.

Tomura let out an annoyed sigh of relief. Yes, he had stopped Nomu from attacking them, but he had to kill him to do it. And that really pissed him off “I am going to find whoever took control over Nomu, and kill them-” he fumed before several bullets hit his arms and legs, with one very lucky bullet shooting off one of his fingers.

“We ain’t dead, yet!” Snipe growled, still laying against the broken stairs, but very much alive. Gun pointed at Tomura.

Kaina was also still alive and kicking. With her good arm, she aimed her gun at Tomura as well, glaring at the man with a hate-filled snarl. These were her students, and like hell she was going to let them die!

Both gunslingers fired another few rounds at Tomura, but Kurogiri moved in front of him and redirected the bullets elsewhere. But one of the bullets managed to hit Kurogiri’s metal neck guard, coming very close to hitting him in the neck.

“Crap! Kurogiri. Get us-” Tomura shouted before both villains were hit by blue pulses of energy, and froze.

“Argonaut’s not the only one who can put people into stasis!” Momo shouted, panting heavily and holding a stasis rifle. It was a rather old design, and thus, very bulky, but it did the job.

Just don’t ask why she knew how to make one.

Izumi, having watched events transpire from where she had stood, slumped as Horoguramu copies started appearing around them. Whatever was jamming her had stopped, letting her appear. And she looked angry.

She smiled slightly. It’s over, the villains were captured or incapacitated, and the teachers were here. They were safe now-.

“Ochaco!” she shouted as she got up and rushed towards the Conflagration zone, towards where her friend had been sent to. Ochaco had taken the blow from Nomu for her. She had seen him send All Might back with a single punch. She dreaded what that punch could have done to Ochaco. The words ‘please be ok’ repeated inside of her head as she ran. Ochaco had to be ok, she had to be!

When she finally found Ochaco she was surprised to find her just floating unconscious in the air. Her costume was in ruins but her body looked perfectly fine.

Izumi carefully reached up and pulled Ochaco down just as a Horoguramu copy appeared next to them “I-is she ok?” she asked, tears flowing from her eyes.

“She’s fine, just unconscious” Horoguramu replied, reading off information from the chip in Ochaco’s costume “Apart from a few broken bones she’s relatively ok”.

A small smile formed on Izumi’s face as she cried. Ochaco was alive and somehow fine. Had she not just gotten punched across a building she would have wondered how she was ok. But she ignored that, as she was just glad that her friend was ok and relatively unharmed. It could have been far, far worse.

Still, where had Durandal gotten off to? Shouldn’t he have rushed back to her?

Durandal looked down at the broken body of Argonaut. The ship Ochaco had thrown at him had killed him. Well, it would have, if it weren’t for the black liquid pooling around him.

He cursed. This wasn’t the real Argonaut either, it was a Terminator. Living tissue over a metal endoskeleton. Probably remote-controlled by the real Argonaut.

And yes, Paxton did rip off the Terminator franchise. Well, Mechanist did, Paxton only helped improve the design. But this didn’t make sense. Mechanist and Argonaut hated each other and refused to work together unless Paxton ordered it, and this looked exactly like the two were cooperating with one another.

Mechanist was the only one who could launch an attack like this since he still had control over ARK. But Argonaut refused to step abroad ARK, or allow a Terminator to be designed in his image, plus he refuses to use stasis fields. So what changed?

Durandal revved the chainsaw on his tail and cut the Terminator in half. Mechanist and Argonaut were working together, that much he could tell. Which meant that Avalon was making a comeback. But how? There were only five people who could get those two to work together and all of them were dead. Who had taken the mantle of leadership now that Paxton and his executives are dead? Can't be the man's child, he didn’t have any, and no one else had the personality to make two people who would prefer to kill the other work together.

Someone was bringing Avalon back, and with it, a war that he feared would be far bloodier than the last.

Chapter Text

The rest of the teachers arrived not long after Horoguramu, carried within Blossom‘s black cherry blossom which burst into the USJ like an angry eldritch creature. Closely followed by the UA Sentinels.

The teachers and robots quickly spread out across the USJ in search of the students and villains. By the grace of whatever higher power was watching them, all twenty students of 1-A had survived the attack. But, all of them were scared in one way or another.

Nezu stood on top of the shoulders of Vlad King with a frown, watching the activity before him. Paramedics attended to the students whilst soldiers and police secured and searched the area. He had failed. UA was supposed to be a safe place to train the next generation of heroes, and only a few days into the school year twenty of his first-year students witnessed a bloody attack by one of the deadliest villains in the world. An attack that took the lives of one of the teachers and gravely injured three more. It was a miracle that none of the students was killed. The same could not be said about the members of the League of Villains.

They were still counting bodies by the time the police and JSDF arrived. The military had been called in the moment Argonaut showed his face, just in case there were any more of Avalon’s robots lurking around.

Only three members of the League of Villains survived, Tomura, Kurogiri, and a third villain who had yet to identify herself. Although the former two managed to escape when the stasis field they were stuck in collapsed, allowing Kurogiri to warp both of them away. But, it did give them some insight into his quirk and how it functioned. Leaving them with only the bunny girl villain. Since she was cooperating with the police she had been kept out of sight of Tomura and Kurogiri whilst they were still here and was only moved once they were gone.

Argonaut was nowhere to be found, and it was unlikely that he would be found. Durandal had said that the Argonaut who was hit by the ship was a Terminator, whilst the other two were some form of copy, probably made by a quirk. He also implied that he was working with Mechanist, which was worrying, as everything they had on the two men showed that they hated each other and refused to work together unless ordered to by either Paxton or his executives. All of whom are dead. This was worrying, as it meant someone was trying to bring Avalon back and was already making progress towards that goal.

Then there was this League of villains. If it weren’t for Nomu, he would have thought they were just another group of low-level villains who banded together in a futile attempt at killing All Might. Which was concerning. All the villains they brought with them were street thugs with only minor crimes and untrained quirks. And yet, their leader had a very dangerous quirk, as well as access to a bio-engineered weapon designed to kill All Might, and someone with a warp quirk. They didn’t seem like they would have the resources to create such a thing. Someone powerful was backing the League. The question is, who? Can’t be the same person backing Avalon since both sides seem to be at odds with each other, with conflicting goals.

Nezu turned towards the remaining students. Half of the class was rushed to the nearest hospital alongside Snipe and Lady Nagant, with Recovery Girl coming along to help treat them. He was glad that the only serious injury among the students was Denki losing an eye. Everyone else had either broken bones or deep cuts. He was glad that was all his students got because it could have been far, far worse.

All Might had also been sent to the hospital, the injuries Nomu caused him requiring care. But he wasn’t smiling, and left with his head held low, a look of shame on his face. Shame that he was unable to protect his fellow heroes as well as his students, stuck in a stasis field and unable to move. Only able to watch as people died around him.

The remaining students were Izumi, Ochaco, Hitoshi, Inasa, Tsuyu, Minoru, Momo, Toru, Koji, Nejire, and Himiko. And even then they were still injured, not as badly as the others that it required them to go to the hospital. But, with the adrenaline now gone, the weight of today's events crashed down upon them.

Izumi, Ochaco and Tsuyu were currently hugging each other like their lives depended on it. Izumi due to how close the other two had come to dying, Tsuyu due to this Nomu bringing back memories of Mutator, and Ochaco over the death of Thirteen. All three of them were crying.

No, not Thirteen, Anan Kurose. She was the one who died today.

Durandal was close by, sitting next to Izumi and keeping watch. Looking around and glaring at anyone who came close to them.

Hitoshi was comforting an almost catatonic Himiko, wiping blood away from her mouth. The large amount of blood that had been spilt this day caused her to break down. Bringing back memories and emotions that she preferred to have kept buried.

Minoru, Toru, Momo, Inasa and Koji just sat on the ground, just sitting there as paramedics looked them over. Just barely responding to anything that was said to them.

Nejire for the most part was taking it better than the others, but that was because she had a lot more experience. But still, not even she had seen death on this scale or face against someone as powerful as Argonaut. It didn’t help that she was a witness to Anan’s death.

Nezu lowered his head in shame. They knew something like this was coming, they just failed to react in time. They could have avoided this, but they didn’t. They never relaxed about UA’s security, always upgrading it and finding ways to improve it, but more should have been done to prevent this. And they were paying for his mistake.

He felt personally responsible for what his students had been through. They were far too young to have to deal with such a bloody affair. He could only hope that this will never happen to his students again.

“Nezu,” a voice to his side said. Both Nezu and Vlad King turned to see Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi walk over to them.

“Anything to report, detective?” Nezu asked with a slight frown.

Detective Naomasa nodded “We’ve finished counting the bodies. We’ve counted eighty-four dead. It’ll take some time to properly identify them though”.

Nezu nodded ‘eighty-five if you count Anan’ was left unsaid because it was still painful to say. Losing Anan was a painful blow to not only the hero community but also to UA. She was their only rescue training specialist since the other rescue heroes they had on staff quit at the end of last year, saying that they wanted to get back into rescue work. Only to accept teaching positions at Shiketsu High School, leaving Anan to teach rescue training for all three years by herself. She said that she could manage it, but now they’ll never know if she could.

“Anything else?” Nezu asked.

“We’ve recovered the remains of the Terminator, although its left gauntlet appears to be missing” Naomasa replied, “It probably got destroyed when the ship hit it. We’ve been unable to find any trace of the real Argonaut, or any trace of whoever made those copies of him, or this Tesla”.

“So, they had their own means of escaping then,” Vlad King said “Probably someone with a teleportation or warp quirk. Temporal teleporters aren’t safe for human use”.

Nezu nodded, having seen first-hand what would happen to someone who used a Temporal teleporter. The results were messy, to say the least.

“What about the six Striders?” Nezu asked.

“The military is taking care of those” Naomasa said “They’ve recovered the remains of five of the six robots, and are currently waiting for the flood zone to be drained before they can recover the remains of the sixth”.

“Izumi really went Plus Ultra on that thing, didn’t she?” Vlad King remarked, noting how Minoru had said that Izumi had obliterated a Strider by flicking her middle finger at it.

“They all did, Sekijiro. They all did” Nezu said with a hint of pride in his voice.

He was amazed that his students were able to take down all six Striders by themselves. Back in the day each of those robots would be able to kill ten times their number before going down. So it was shocking that his twenty students, first years at that, took out so many. It was just a shame that they had to take them out. They should never have been in a position to fight those things in the first place.

He’ll need to book the entire class for daily counselling sessions with Hound Dog, as well as regular sessions with a therapist. The students of 1-A will need all the help they can get during the coming months.

He wouldn’t blame any of them if they wanted to drop out of the hero course after this.

For now, they had to do everything to aid in their recovery. UA will pay for all of the student's medical bills and therapy.

“It’ll be a while before we find out exactly how this happened,” Naomasa said “We’ll keep you informed of our findings”.

“Please do,” Nezu said “The more we know about how this happened, the better we can prevent it from happening again. Thank you, detective”.

Naomasa nodded “Your welcome,” he said before he turned and walked over to a group of officers.

Vlad King sighed “We should have done more to protect them”.

“I agree, but what exactly could we have done?” Nezu asked with a frown “We could not have predicted that this would happen, that we would be attacked so early into the school year. We did all we could do with the information provided”.

One of Horoguramu’s projections appeared next to them “The parents of all the affected students have been notified of what happened” she said with a frown “As well as Anan Kurose’s family. I told them that UA will cover her funeral costs”.

“Good,” Nezu said with a frown. Anan’s family will no doubt be suffering as well. Her parents and twin sister will be devastated by her death. Whilst death is something all pro heroes are prepared for, no one is ever truly prepared for the death of a friend or loved one “Anan’s family will need all the help they can get during this trying time” he said “And Horoguramu. Speed up the process of applicants for rescue teachers, and prepare a job ad for a Rescue Training Specialist”.

“What!?” Vlad King said as he turned towards Nezu, a scowl on his face “Anan’s been dead an hour and you're already looking to replace her! Have you no feelings!”.

“I can assure you Sekijiro that I indeed do have feelings,” Nezu said with a growl, causing Vlad King to move his head as far away from Nezu as it could. “Anan was my friend, she was friends with all of us! Her death affects me just as much as it affects you, if not more so! To be truthful I am already planning how painfully slow Argonaut’s death will be! As well as the deaths of those who helped him commit this atrocious act!” he growled before he lowered his head in shame “Sadly, as much as I would prefer to wait whilst we grieve over Anan’s death, we have over one hundred and twenty hero course students who require rescue training, and no one to teach them. And with Snipe and Kaina gravely injured, we don’t have enough teachers to effectively teach them all. That’s three more classes that now lack a homeroom teacher. Even the other courses will be affected by this” he explained “Our students' education must come first, lest they end up falling behind. So, we require new teachers to fill in the gaps. It is painful, yes, but sadly, we need a rescue specialist”.

Nezu hated having to do this, to ask Horoguramu to search for a replacement for Anan so soon after her death, but they had no one to replace her. She was the only rescue hero on staff. They had to find a replacement for her, which angered him greatly because they shouldn’t be having to do so in the first place. Those villains should never have been allowed to enter the USJ or UA at all! He will find whoever is in charge of these two organisations and make them suffer!

Vlad King lowered his head "I-. I'm sorry sir. I overreacted" he said. He didn't like it as well, but Nezu was sadly right. They needed a rescue specialist, and more rescue teachers "Argonaut will pay for this, mark my word!".

Nezu nodded before he turned back towards the students. Oh yes, he will make those behind this suffer for what they did today.

Meanwhile, in a secluded bar somewhere in Kamino Ward, Kurogiri was busy tending to Tomura’s wounds. Unfortunately, he was unable to recover Tomura’s finger.

“Crap. Shot up like cheese, all our NPC minions dead, those bastards forced me to kill Nomu, we didn’t even get to kill All Might, and we had an uninvited guest interfere with our plan!” Tomura fumed, pissed off that his attempt to kill All Might failed because of this Argonaut “I’m sorry sensei, I failed”.

“Not so,” a sinister calm voice said. Tomura turned his head towards a TV with the words ‘sound only’ on the screen “We just weren’t as prepared as we should’ve been. And we now know that Avalon is once again on the move”.

“I agree.” a second voice said “We underestimated them, and went in thinking that we would be the only ones who would be there. Also, what’s this about having to kill Nomu?”.

“The griefer jabbed some kind of knife into him, turning him against us” Tomura replied “I couldn't control him, even after we removed the knife”.

“I warned you that a mindless drone was vulnerable to stuff like mind control or brain jacking,” a third voice said “But, it’s not entirely our fault. We didn’t think someone else would be able to take our control away from Nomu. Still, who’s this, griefer you talk about?”.

“He called himself Argonaut,” Tomura replied with a snarl “He killed all the mooks I brought with me”.

“Argonaut. What the fuck is he doing in Japan?” the third voice wondered.

“You know of this man?” the second voice asked.

“Yes, another employee of my old boss,” the third voice said, “He’s a deadly killer, with a hero kill count that makes Stain look like an amateur. But why’s he here in Japan? Last I heard he was fucking around in Greece. Probably got bored or something”.

“He said he wanted to break the symbol of peace before killing him,” Tomura added.

“Yeah, that sounds like a Paxton thing to do,” the third voice said “And he has the right idea. Kill him now and you’ll make a martyr. Crime will rise with his death, but so too would the number of people who want to become heroes. Unfortunately, he’s unbreakable”.

“Not so,” Kurogiri said “Before Argonaut interfered, Nomu was able to wound All Might. Causing a nice gash in his left side. Another Nomu like that might be able to finish the job”.

“Unfortunately, I can not guarantee that we’ll be able to make another Nomu just like the Symbol of Strife,” the third voice said, “My mutation gas is fidgety. I have no control over how quirks mutate. We were lucky that the Noum’s quirks mutated the way that they did. It’ll take months to develop another high end like him”.

“Did you really have to kill Nomu?” the second voice asked, sounding annoyed.

“He was trying to kill me!” Tomura replied, sounding pissed off “He wouldn’t listen to me, I had no control! There was no other choice!”.

“Disappointing, but acceptable,” the first voice said, “We should seek to improve the Nomu’s design, to prevent a repeat of this incident”.

“It shall be done, master,” the second voice said.

“Maybe this time the brain won't be exposed,” the third voice said.

“What of Tomura’s condition?” the first voice asked.

“He’s got several gunshot wounds, and the ring finger on his left hand was shot off,” Kurogiri replied.

“That should not be an issue,” the third voice said “As fidgety as Decay is, I should be able to restore his finger with ease. Although his quirk may become temperamental in that hand”.

“Fine by me,” Tomura said. Better to have access to his quirk in both hands than just one, even if it gives him a debuff.

“For now, we should hold back and lick our wounds, and rebuild our numbers,” the first voice said “Clearly there are those who seek the same objective as us but have no desire to work with others. We must gather allies of our own, and get stronger. Take all the time you need, we have two enemies we must face now, so we will need all the help we can get. I must remain hidden in the shadows, which is why I need you to be my face. A symbol of your own”.

“Yes, sensei,” Tomura said. He would get stronger, he will defeat All Might, and get his revenge on that griefer, as well as that green-haired brat who kicked him in the face.

Soon, the world will fear him.

Meanwhile, off the east coast of Japan. Inside the submersible command centre ARK, Paxton was sitting down in the main control room, going over the footage of the six robots who were sent to the USJ, alongside Argonaut and his other two accomplices.

Tesla proved to be a useful infiltrator, his father's ties to Avalon made recruiting him easy, and he carried out his first assignment perfectly. Oh, the League of Villains didn’t stand a fucking chance. Still, he was rather annoyed that he was unable to recover this ‘Nomu’, he would have loved to find out how it was created, but alas, it was turned to dust. Oh well, maybe next time.

“Oh, how we miss this~,” Hilala remarked as she walked up behind him, wearing a, well, an alternate version of that slave girl costume from Star Wars that Princess Leia wore during Return of the Jedi “Watching our machines going about showing the superiority of robots over humans. Shame we couldn’t use the new ones”.

“We can’t draw too much attention to ourselves,” Paxton said as he watched a first-person view of one of the Striders swimming around and killing the street thugs the League of Villains had brought in to help. Seriously, how were they hoping to kill All Might with this pathetic lot? “If we use the new robots people will notice and realise that someone’s been improving my robots, something that shouldn’t be happening since Avalon Incorporated shouldn’t exist anymore. I don’t want to clue anyone into thinking that I’m still around. It’ll ruin the surprise. Anyway, how are our three operatives doing?”.

“Well, Argonaut’s being Argonaut” Hilala replied with a frown “He’s pissed at being onboard ARK, being around Mechanist, having to use a Terminator and stasis module. You know, the usual”.

“Yeah, sorry about that, but ARK’s the only mobile base I have left right now,” Paxton said “I do have a new one currently under construction, but it’s not ready for use”.

“Is the Atlantis base still operational?” Hilala asked.

“Well, yes. But it’s kind of flooded at the moment” Paxton replied “Eleven years of neglect kind of caused a few leeks. So it’ll be a while before we can use it again. I’m just surprised no one found it. Anyway, what about the other two members of the USJ raid team?”.

“Well, Tesla’s over the moon” Hilala replied with a smile “Seems like he’s a big fan of yours. And Twice is, well we’re not really sure. He keeps contradicting himself. Where did you even find him anyway?”.

“He was a client of one of my cover identities’” Paxton said “You’ll be surprised by how many like-minded souls you can find when masquerading as a therapist. Very interesting case, he shows signs of having OSDD and split personality disorder, but is more stable when he has a mask over his head. I’ve been helping him the best I can, but he is very loyal and useful. His quirk Double is very useful for making distractions and decoys. As well as having multiple copies of the same guy on the field. Very glad I found him before someone else did. He will no doubt prove very useful to us”.

“Well, you’ve definitely been busy for the past ten years~,” Hilala said with a sultry smile.

“Paxton” the mechanical voice of ARK spoke “I believe we have found an anomaly,” the AI-controlled submarine said before rewinding the footage to a few seconds before the robot's deduction, where it was chasing after four students. One of whom had a very familiar set of fluffy green hair.

“Izumi?” Paxton said looking confused, before shifting to looking annoyed “Oh those mother fuckers!”.

“You know the girl?” Hilala asked.

Paxton nodded “Yeah, another one of my clients. Not everyone I helped I did so to recruit, some I helped because it was part of my job. And Izumi was one of them. Up until she got her hands on an old robot of mine. Durandal. Then I took more of an interest in her. But that’s a topic for later. For now, all you need to know is that I have plans for her and Durandal” he said before he looked back at the screen “Shit, please tell me she wasn’t killed?”.

“Don’t worry sir, according to all the information we have on the battle, she was not killed” ARK replied “But, she’s been seen doing something impossible. Watch closely sir,” he said before playing the footage once more, but much, much slower.

The footage showed the green haired getting dragged behind a girl with Auburn hair. Izumi looked to be about to flick her middle finger at the robot. Suddenly, green lightning and red veins appeared on the girl's finger just as she flicked it, a moment later the footage ended, the robot recording it destroyed.

“The resulting shockwave caused by the finger flick obliterated the robot” ARK reported “She was not wearing Durandal at the time, so it’s safe to assume that she used a quirk to do that”.

“That’s impossible,” Paxton said as he watched the footage again “She’s quirkless! She can’t have been able to-. All for One you son of a BITCH!”.

“Who?” Hilala asked, looking surprised.

“All for One, the world's first and oldest supervillain” ARK explained “He named himself after his quirk, which has the power to take and give quirks. He was killed six years ago by All Might in a battle that was heavily covered up”.

“I met him once, trying to form a partnership with the man. It didn’t work out” Paxton said with a scowl “I had a suspicion the man was still alive when we heard that Nomu had multiple quirks, but this just confirms it. He survived, somehow, and he gave Izumi a quirk. Trust me, I checked, that girl was quirkless when I met her. Fuck! That’s that plan out the window. I can’t risk doing it now if she’s working for All for One. And now he knows about my quirk emulator. Shit! I knew Durandal’s presence was suspicious. He must have found him and given him to her as well as the quirk”.

“Are you sure this is All for One’s doing?” Hilala asked.

“All for One is the only known person who can give someone a quirk,” ARK said “And there are no known quirks that can be transferred to another person. This is no doubt his doing. Should we plan for her elimination, sir?”.

Paxton shook his head “No, we can still use her. First we must find out her relationship with All for One. Then, we can figure out how to proceed. In the meantime, look into her some more, and check her quirk registry”.

“Yes sir” ARK replied “Also, I’ve finished my diagnostic on what happened to Nomu. You were right sir, Nomu had several pre-programmed orders, including a protection order to protect Tomura if he ever came to harm. I was unable to prevent Nomu from carrying out this protection order, only delay it”.

“Alright, that’s good to know,” Paxton said “I knew that device had a chance of failing since it was a rush job. Oh well, at least you were able to regain control of it for a bit”.

“Actually sir, I wasn’t able to,” ARK said “After Nomu punched the girl with the telekinesis quirk something else took control of it. Someone on-site, probably with some kind of mental quirk that allows the user to possess someone else, took control. I was unable to overrule the second person's control, only observe”.

“What?” Paxton asked, looking confused “Are you sure someone there was controlling it?”

“Positive. Nomu was feeling emotions, something he didn’t have when I first took control” ARK replied, “Whoever was controlling Nomu was angry, very angry and very powerful. I recommend that we research the quirks of UA class one-A. I predict that we’re going to be seeing them a lot more in future”.

Paxton nodded. Forewarned is forearmed after all, and if ARK predicts that they’ll be running into the students of 1-A a lot more, he needed information on them, especially information on Izumi, and how she got this quirk

He sighed, he hated unforeseen variables like this.

Back at UA, the remaining students of 1-A were escorted back to their dorm. Giving their statements to the police before they left.

The school would be closed tomorrow, and 1-A had the rest of the week off to recover from the attack. Their parents had also been notified of what happened, but wouldn’t be allowed on campus until tomorrow.

The dorm felt empty when they arrived. With half the class gone, the building felt less, alive, like a part of it, had been removed. They all knew that their friends were fine, just stuck in a hospital recovering from the events of the day. But, the dorm felt empty without them.

Mei was also absent from the dorm, since both her parents were in the hospital, she was the only one who could look after her two younger siblings and was spending time with them in the teacher's dorm.

It was also a lot less lively. Very few people talked, and what conversations they had were short. Even dinner, which was normally a long and lively affair, was quick and quiet. The events of the day weighed heavily upon them.

Durandal remained by Izumi’s side throughout the rest of the day, never going more than a few feet away from her. Effectively he was in permanent guard mode. Izumi also remained by someone’s side, but it was Ochaco who she kept close to. Having seen her almost die in front of her, there was no way she was going to let the gravity girl out of her sight. Even if she somehow managed to survive the punch without a scratch.

Very few people stayed up long after dinner, with most of the class staying up only an hour or two before going to bed. Izumi was one of them, heading towards her room an hour after dinner with Ochaco, neither girl wanting to spend the night alone. Durandal followed closely behind.

“Izumi,” a quiet voice asked behind them just as they reached the door to Izumi’s room.

Izumi turned quickly and saw Tsuyu standing a bit away, already dressed for bed and hugging a pillow like a life preserver, shivering “Yes Tsu?”.

“I-I know you and Ochaco have been snuggling with each other during the night,” Tsuyu said with a shiver “So, c-can I join you tonight?”.

“S-sure” Izumi replied. She wasn’t going to say no to the girl, not after today's events. She didn’t know just how badly being mutated affected Tsuyu, but seeing Nomu clearly brought back memories of what happened to her, and left the poor girl shaken.

“We’re fine having you join us,” Ochaco added with a smile.

“C-c-c-c-can I join i-in a-a-as we-well?” Himiko asked with a stutter.

The two girls turned to Himiko and had to hold back their gaps. The girl looked to be in a worse state than Tsuyu. She too was dressed for bed, but she was shivering more than Tsuyu was. She was also biting her lip and carrying a bag of those bloody gummies she likes.

It reminded Izumi of the first time she saw Himiko, and how broken the girl looked waiting outside of Isa’s office. She knew Himiko had a chat with Hound Dog earlier, but obviously, she needed a bit more help.

“I don’t see why not,” Ochaco replied “I don’t think it’s a good idea for any of us to go to bed alone tonight”.

“Agreed, ribbit,” Tsuyu croaked

“T-t-thank you” Himiko stuttered “I-I-i’ll t-t-try not to b-b-bite you”.

Izumi nodded before she opened the door to her room and allowed Tsuyu and Himiko inside. Ochaco quickly went to her room to get changed into her sleepwear, giving Izumi time to get into her own. By the time Ochaco returned, Izumi, Tsuyu and Himiko were already snuggled up in Izumi’s bed.

Wordlessly the gravity girl walked over and joined them in the bed, snuggling up to the right side of Izumi whilst Tsuyu snuggled up to her left. Himiko nestled herself between Izumi and Tsuyu, resting her head on Izumi’s chest.

A slight blush formed on Izumi’s face, but she suppressed it the best she could. She’d been getting somewhat better at being close to cute girls like her classmates, but it was still uncomfortable. But she pushed her discomfort to the side, for now, her friends needed someone to be with tonight, as did she.

Once all four of them were comfortable, Durandal turned the light off before entering standby mode.

The four girls closed their eyes and moved closer to one another. Each one slowly drifts off to sleep, one by one. Content by the fact that they weren’t sleeping alone tonight.

That night, Izumi dreamt of falling endlessly, her body frozen as she looked down towards her fate. A never-ending sky, the ground never in sight.

Suddenly, she was brought back by the sound of wings flapping. Before she could turn her head to see what was causing it she was scooped up and held in a bridal carry. It took her a few moments to recover before she turned towards her rescuer, and saw the most beautiful sight.

She lay there, resting in the arms of an Angel. Despite being Shinto, she knew a bit about Christianity, enough to know about angels.

The Angel had shoulder-length auburn hair and matching eyes that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. She had a perpetual, pink blush on her cheeks, and her skin was fair and smooth.

Her body was clad in a thin white dress that seemed to flow around her unnaturally. But the most striking feature about her was the six massive wings on her back. White as the feathers of a dove and emanating a bright light.

Izumi looked on in awe at the Angel whose arms she resided in. There was an inhuman, almost alien beauty to her. She looked perfect in every way imaginable, but there was just enough to tell that she wasn’t entirely human.

“I told you, didn’t I~,” the Angel said with a bright smile, her voice ethereal and beautiful, spoken almost like a song “If you ever fall, I will be there to catch you~”.

Izumi gazed upon her angelic saviour, tears slowly forming around her eyes “T-t-thank you” she said as she put her arms around the Angel and rested her head against her chest, a cool warmth emanating from the Angel’s chest.

She felt content just to stay there, relaxing in the warm embrace of the Angel. She stayed like that for a while before opening her eyes again, but when she opened them, her surroundings had changed. Gone was the endless bright sky and her angelic saviour. Replaced by an empty, black void. She tried to open her mouth to call out for someone, but it wouldn’t move. She looked down and was horrified by what she saw. Her entire body, save for her left arm and the top half of her head, was covered in black mist.

Her eyes widened as tears formed around them. Fear once more took hold of her. She had no idea where she was, or how this had happened to her. She couldn’t move or speak, only look around the dark abyss she found herself in.

She had no mouth, and yet.

She must scream.

Chapter Text

“So. You're the ninth”.

Izumi’s eyes shot wide open as her mind raced. She quickly realised that One for All was active and flowing throughout her body. It took all of her willpower to avoid accidentally using it, as she did not want to accidentally harm her friends around her.

Once she was sure she had her quirk under control, she looked around and checked on the others. Ochaco, Tsuyu and Himiko were still fast asleep, which was good, as she wouldn’t want to wake them up.

Durandal on the other hand had noticed and had gotten up to check on her “You ok?” he asked quietly, speaking quietly so as to not wake the other.

“No, but can’t talk about it now” Izumi replied quietly “Quirks playing up”.

Durandal nodded before he returned to standby mode. They couldn’t risk talking about One for All now, not when there were others in the room, so they would save it for later. And probably bring it up with All Might.

Once Durandal had stood down, Izumi laid back and recalled what she saw after she was rescued by that Angel. That dark void was cold and horrifying, but she wasn’t the only one there.

There were others with her.

Beside her stood a line of seven people. The closest was a man glowing yellow, he looked like All Might but was also on fire. The others had looked more solid. Beside him stood a tall woman with a curvaceous and well-built figure, straight, kept shoulder-length hair, and wore a sleeveless bodysuit, elbow-length gloves, and knee-high boots. She also glowed magenta, which made identifying her hair and clothing colours.

Next to her was a man with dark hair who wore a high-collared jacket, he glowed purple. Next was a large muscular man with a wide build wearing leather clothes, goggles, and a bandolier, he glowed orange. The next person was a lean man with short hair that was parted away from the base of his forehead, with two scar-like cracks stretching from the left side of his forehead down to his chin, he glowed violet.

She couldn’t see the person who stood after the guy she dubbed ‘the homeless one’, only a dark red glowing black mass, but there was someone standing beside it. Another man was dressed more like a soldier with an odd-looking pair of gauntlets on his arms. He had short spiky hair and a large scar across the front of his face. He glowed blue.

They did not look at her, not even sending a side glance her way. Their attention was focused on something else, a series of scenes performed by two men, although she had the feeling that these were memories of sorts.

The first was a young man who looked sickly and malnourished. He did not glow so she could tell that he had white, messy hair that covered his eyes. The other man, however, sent a chill down Izumi’s spine. He was a man with a towering stature, a powerfully muscular physique, imposing features, short white hair, and luminous red eyes. Just seeing this man filled her with dread.

The two men seemed to be talking to each other, but she didn’t hear most of what they were saying because of how terrified she was. But she remembered what they did, and she was horrified.

One of the scenes depicted the towering man standing in front of two men, one with a quirk, the other, quirkless. He then did something that she thought impossible, he put his hands onto the men's foreheads and took the quirked man’s quirk, and gave the quirkless man a quirk.

This chilled her to the bone. This man had a quirk that allowed him to give and take quirks. The very existence of this power shook her worldview. If this power existed, then what other horrifying quirks existed out there in the dark?
The next scene depicted the two men talking again, ending with the second man forcing a quirk upon the first. She didn’t hear much of what they said, but even then, she knew what was happening, she knew what she was seeing.

This was the birth of One for All! She had watched the first user receive the quirk, and the others with her were the other past users. But how was the first user able to transfer the quirk he was given, unless he already had a quirk that allowed him to transfer his quirk to someone else? It would explain how One for All could be transferred, it was a combination of two different quirks. A stockpiling quirk and a transfer quirk. Transferred from person to person, growing with strength with each holder.

Eight past users and she was the ninth. The ninth holder of one for all.

Wait, didn’t her given name have a kanji that is homophonic to nine? Oh shit, it did. What an odd coincidence.

She would need to tell All Might about this. And maybe a slap to the face for not warning her about this. Seriously, after what happened today some warning that you’ll be transported to a black abyss to witness the birth of One for All would have been helpful.

“Well it’s not like he knew this was going to happen. Also, it’s hermit”.

Izumi looked around for the source of the voice. That was the second time today that had happened. Was she hearing voices now?

She sighed before she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. She could deal with this tomorrow, she had snuggles to get back to.

“Izumi!” was all the warning Izumi got when she walked downstairs in the morning before she was suddenly hugged tightly by her mother, the famous Midoriya waterwork on full display.

“Mom?” was all Izumi was able to squeak out before she was smothered by her mother's tight embrace. What was she doing on campus?

She hadn’t immediately gone down for breakfast when her alarm went off, staying in bed with Ochaco, Tsuyu and Himiko till around ten. Ochaco took a bit more convincing to get up, due to, as she put it ‘world outside cold and cruel, bed warm and snuggles comfy’. She had to be practically dragged out of bed and forced off of Izumi with a crowbar. She was almost like a koala in a way.

Tsuyu needed some time to prepare as well because, after yesterday's events, she wanted to make sure no one saw her green veins. Thankfully Momo was able to make her some makeup to use to cover them up.

This brings them back to now, with all of Izumi’s classmates watching her get smothered by her own mother. The parents of a few of them were also there.

“Izumi! I was so worried about you!” Inko cried as she hugged her daughter, holding onto her like a lifeline.

It took Izumi a few moments to recover from her mother's sudden and tight hug. She wanted to ask her mother why she was here, tell her that she was fine, but the words never came. Instead, tears started to form around her eyes before she returned her mother's hug. She was just glad that her mother was here, glad that she was worried about her. She didn’t enjoy what happened yesterday, watching people get murdered right in front of her and being powerless to stop it. She wanted to be strong enough to be able to stop such atrocities, to be able to save everyone. But at the moment she wasn’t ready for that, none of them was. But she will get stronger, next time she will be ready. Until then, she was content to stand there in the comforting embrace of her mother.

“I got the buckets!” Durandal said as he rushed over carrying two buckets with his tail, only to notice both Midoriya’s were crying their eyes out “Oh god damn it, now they're both doing it!”.

After the Midoriya water works were ‘fixed’ things started to settle down a bit. The students spent most of the morning with their parents, with Himiko and Hitoshi with one of the care workers at the care home they stayed at. After what happened, they needed their families now more than ever. It also gave the parents a chance to meet each other and have a chat. Had things been different, the students would have been embarrassed by this. But at the moment, the last thing they needed was parental embarrassment, and their parents knew that. So they kept discussions light.

Cementoss had come around about midday and informed everyone that they will be allowed to visit their classmates in the hospital. This came to much relief for the students, as they wanted to see how their friends and classmates were doing after yesterday's attack.

A few hours later, the students boarded the bus for the hospital, with Mei coming along as well to visit her parents. Due to the break-in, the bus that took them there was under heavy guard. It felt weird for a bus carrying hero course students to be escorted by several JSDF Assault Hounds, one-man armoured all-terrain assault vehicles with twin Gatling guns. Normally the military wouldn’t do this, but with the threat of one of Paxton's old minions, his deadliest one at that, looming over them, no one was taking any chances.

Mei had asked one of the soldiers on the bus with them, a Lieutenant by the name of Youji Itami, if she could have a look at the inner workings of one of the Assault Hounds. She was, politely, told no.

Upon arriving at the hospital the students were escorted to the hero wing, a special wing designated for treating heroes, and hero course students. It was also the most secure wing of the hospital. Doubly so now that there were heroes actively patrolling the wing.

When they arrived at the wing their classmates were in, they immediately went over to talk to their friends. Most of the student's injuries were rather light. Broken bones or deep cuts caused by the Striders. But Denki was the worst off. His eye was sliced out and there was no way it could be repaired. He would have to have it replaced with a prosthetic. He was the one the class was most worried about, having been injured the worst during the attack, baring the teachers.

Speaking of the teachers, they were not permitted to visit them since they were in intensive care. Snipe had his entire rib cage broken as well as damage to his spine, and Kaina had her entire right arm crushed. Neither of them was in a state to talk to anyone at the moment, with only Mei permitted to visit them.

There were only two people Izumi wanted to talk to whilst she was here, one of them flashed her a friendly smile as she and Hitoshi walked over to him “Hay, nice to see you two managed to get out of that relatively unharmed” Neito said with a smile as the two walked over to him.

“Relatively is an understatement,” Hitoshi said, looking more tired than usual. “Physically we’re fine. Mentally we’re fucked. I didn’t expect to see a robot dash about and kill a large number of people around me on my fourth day of UA. I don’t think any of us did, really. I didn’t exactly have the best night, and I wouldn’t be surprised if tonight is the same. I’m going to be having nightmares about this for weeks.

“I fear you all will,” Durandal said “What you saw yesterday was a glimpse of the true scale of destruction Paxton brought upon the world eleven years ago. You're lucky you only had to deal with those robots and they were old. You would not have survived fighting Argonaut”.

“Trust me, we know,” Neito said with a frown “When we heard that Argonaut was there most of us had a panic attack. We’ve all heard of him, but who hasn’t? That man’s killed top ten heroes from across the globe. Zeus, Cavalier, Florida Man, Maple and so many, many more. Honestly, I know losing Thirteen hurts, but I’m glad she’s the only one he managed to kill. He could have butchered us all baring All Might”.

“I’m not sure about that,” Izumi said with a frown “That monster the league brought with them, Nomu. I overheard their leader talking about him. He said it was made to kill All Might. It took a Detroit Smash and brushed it off like it was nothing. It wasn’t even phased”.

Both Hitoshi and Neito stared at her with wide eyes. They weren’t told much about this Nomu the league brought with them, but if it was able to go up against All Might and showed signs of being able to win, then it must have been truly terrifying “Well, I’m glad those two groups were enemies. I dread to think what they could do as allies” Hitoshi said, looking a lot more freaked out now.

“Let's hope they never do,” Izumi said, quickly changing the subject “So, how’s the rest of the class doing?”.

“They're fine, mostly” Neito replied “We should all be back by Sunday. They had a therapist come in earlier to help us. They went over what we saw at the USJ and will be helping us out over the coming months. They’ll be helping out the entire class. You’ll probably see them tomorrow”.

That was good to know. Hound Dog was good, but he wasn’t skilled enough to handle the mental trauma of so many students, especially when it was caused by an event as bloody as the USJ. So professional help would be appreciated.

“Well, I’m just glad you're all ok,” Momo said as she walked over, a small smile on her face.

“Momo” Hitoshi said “What are you up to?”.

“I’m just going around checking to see if everyone’s alright after yesterday” Momo replied “I’ve already checked Denki, Hanta and Kyoka, they're recovering nicely. But I-” she said before she frowned, a look of shame on her face.

“Are you alright?” Izumi asked, sounding worried.

“It’s just that. I feel like I had an unfair advantage” Momo said with a frown “I took a lot more hits from that Strider we fought, but ended up with only light cuts. My nano-core protected me. But, I came out of that zone in far better condition than the others who were there. None of you have one, and Eijiro can only harden his skin thanks to his quirk, and even he got injured badly during the attack” she said, looking to be on the verge of crying “I had an implant that protected me, and I only have it because of my family's wealth and status. I can’t help but feel that I have an unfair advantage over you all. I only got a nano-core on a whim, not thinking much about it apart from it being useful for hero work. I didn’t realise how rare they were, especially outside of Germany. I thought everyone would have one. But, you didn’t. I-, I should have done more to help everyone else”.

“Momo” Izumi said, giving Momo a comforting smile “Don’t feel bad about having a slight advantage over us. We all have skills, abilities and equipment that make us better at something than everyone else. Don’t be disheartened by thinking ahead. Tell me, how many times did the robot hit you?”.

Momo looked confused for a few moments before she replied “The strider slashed at me twenty-seven times”.

“Good. That means whilst it was wasting its time attacking you, it wasn’t attacking anyone else” Izumi said “Others got hurt badly yes, but thanks to you tanking those attacks the robot was preoccupied and couldn’t kill them”.

“It was the same with Eijiro,” Neito added. “I was sent to the Ruins zone alongside Toru. And despite his skin not being as hard as your nano-core, he still took the brunt of the robot's attack. Giving us time to kill it. He brought us time we wouldn’t have had otherwise, and so did you. Don’t feel ashamed about acting like a human shield, because thanks to actions like that, we all got out of there alive”.

Momo looked at them with teary eyes. She expected them to be mad at her for this, but they weren’t. In fact, they were supportive of her, even with her unfair advantage, “Thank you,” she said with a smile before she lept forwards and hugged Izumi, much to the shorter girl's surprise.

Izumi was unsure of how to proceed with this sudden hug from Momo, apart from the feeling of two large soft, things pressing just below her head. So, with a slight blush on her head, she cautiously returned the hug.

Momo hugged her for a few moments before breaking off “I’m going to go check on the others real quick. I’ll talk to you later” she said before she walked over to Mina.

Neito wasn’t the only one Izumi wanted to see. There was one other. Her mentor, All Might. It took a bit of convincing to be allowed to see the man, but, after around ten or so minutes, she was able to enter his room.

The number one hero laid back in his bed, in his skinny form and covered in bandages. He flashed her a friendly smile as she and Durandal walked in “Izumi. It’s nice to see you again”.

“Hay All Might,” Izumi said as she walked over to him and sat on the bed “How are you doing?”.

“Fine, mostly” All Might replied “But that Nomu messed me up, badly. Ripped open my old wound. I’m down to one and a half hours now”.

“What!” Izumi gasped. All Might lost an hour and a half of his time just fighting Nomu! “T-t-t-that's. Is there anything that can be done to help you?” she asked, terrified of the idea that All Might would have to retire early. She wasn’t ready to replace him yet.

All Might shook his head and frowned “I’m afraid not. But don’t worry about it, Izumi. Even if I had kept One for All, the end result wouldn’t have changed. I’m already on borrowed time as the Symbol of Peace. It would have been a miracle if I could still perform hero work by the time you graduate UA”.

Tears started to form around Izumi’s eyes “B-but I’m not ready yet. H-how can I become the next Symbol of Peace when I’m not even out of UA!?”.

“I don’t want you to become the next Symbol of Peace,” All Might said with a slight smile “I set too much of a bar that no one could ever hope to surpass. No, I want you to become a different symbol, a beacon to light the darkness caused by my retirement. I want you to become a Symbol of Hope”.

Izumi looked up at All Might “A, Symbol of Hope?” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

All Might nodded “There will be much chaos once I’m no longer able to maintain the mantle of Symbol of Peace, and I doubt anyone will be able to pick up where I left off. They will need someone to bring them hope during those dark times. I want you to be that symbol”.

Izumi’s eyes widened. All Might didn’t want her to replace him as the symbol of peace but become a different symbol, a symbol of hope. Practically they were the same thing, but to the public they were different. After All Might retires, the world won't need peace, but hope. Hope for a better, brighter future.

It will take time. You can’t become a symbol like that overnight. She would need to get stronger if she is to take up this mantle. But take it up she will. All Might had entrusted this to her, and she would not let him down.

“I’ll try not to let you down, All Might,” Izumi said “Oh, there’s something I want to talk to you about. About One for All”.

“Oh,” All Might said, “Is everything alright?”.

“I don't know” Izumi replied “It’s gotten messy. Last night I had a, I wouldn’t call it a dream, more like a vision. I, think I saw the birth of One for All”.

All Might coughed up blood “You what?” he gagged “What did you see, exactly?”

“Well, I was in a dark void, but my body wasn’t fully there, only the top of my head and right arm” Izumi explained, shuddering slightly “There was a line of seven people beside me, one of them I think was you. But you were glowing a bright yellow and looked like you were on fire. They were all watching a memory of sorts, of two people. I don’t remember much of what was said, but I remember what they did. One of them had the power to take and give quirks, and he forced a quirk upon the other man”.

All Might lay there in shock as he listened to Izumi’s story “All for One” he whispered.

“Who?” Izumi asked, looking confused.

“That man you saw, the one who could give and take quirks, was named All for One” All Might explained “He went by the name of his quirk, so I don’t know his real name. But he had a brother who he thought was quirkless. That was, until All for One forced a quirk upon him, revealing that he did have a quirk, one that could be passed on to others. The brother's quirk was useless on its own, but after he was given another quirk, power stockpile, the two quirks merged and formed One for All. The younger brother, knowing that he could not use this power to defeat All for One, passed it on to someone else, so that they could grow One for All. And it kept on growing with each new bearer in the hopes that it’ll be strong enough to one day defeat All for One”.

“Which you managed to do,” Izumi said quietly “So, he’s gone, right?”.

All Might nodded “He’s dead. I, made sure of that”.

A look of shock slowly formed on Izumi’s face “You, killed him?”.

All Might frowned “Yes. Yes I did. We both went into that battle knowing that only one of us would be coming out of it alive. I killed him, but you saw what he did to me in turn” he said, pointing to his wound “Trust me, you won't have to worry about him. Just focus on getting stronger”.

“Izumi, didn’t you theorise that One for All might have a sister quirk?” Durandal asked.

“What?” All Might asked, looking confused.

“Well, when I was coming up with a name for my quirk, I thought that, maybe, I could call it All for One,” Izumi said, getting a worried look from All Might “I decided against it, but then remembered the quote from the three musketeers, one for all and all for one. So it got me thinking that it may have a sibling quirk. Guess I was right”.

All Might smiled “You're a smart girl, Izumi. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise”.

Izumi beamed at the praise “Thank you All Might”.

“No problem,” All Might said “So, you said that you saw the previous users of One for All. You wouldn’t know what they looked like?”.

Izumi nodded before she got out a notebook and passed it to him “This contains rough sketches of both you and six of the other users, plus All for One. There was another one there, but all I could see of him was a black mass of smoke” she said.

All Might took the notebook and started looking through it. He recognised All for One a mile off, even from the quick sketch of him Izumi had made. But there was another sketch he recognised, the sketch of his mentor and the one who passed One for All to him “Nana?”.

“You know one of them?” Izumi asked, realising that this was probably a pointless question since he had to have known one of them since one of them had to have passed One for All to him.

“Yes, Nana Shimura,” All Might said with a smile, a single tear falling from his eye “She was my mentor alongside Gran Torino,” he said before he lowered his head in shame “She. She was the only one who believed I could become a hero. I am so, so sorry, Izumi. For what I said to you back then on that roof. I should have been better than that and acted more like Nana, would have acted”.

“Huh?” Izumi said, tilting her head to the side in confusion. She didn’t know what All Might was talking about. Durandal on the other hand did, and he wasn’t happy.

“You hypocritical arsehole,” Durandal chided.

“What?” Izumi asked, looking even more confused.

All Might sighed “The day I first met Nana, was also the day I tried to end my life”.

Izumi’s eyes shot wide open. All Might tried to end his own life? “No, that can’t be true. Yo-you're stronger than that”.

“I’m afraid it is,” All Might said “I wasn’t always All Might you know, and even the strongest of men have their moments of weakness. I was going through a rough time. Back then I didn’t have One for All, I was quirkless, like you. I always wanted to become a hero, but even back then, no one believed that I could do it without a quirk. One day it was just too much for me to bear, so I walked up to the top of the highest building I could find and jumped. I only survived because Nana was there to save me. She was the first person to believe that I could be a hero” he said “And then, when I was presented with the exact same situation. I did the opposite of what she had done. I am so sorry for what I said that day, Izumi. I had lost faith in myself back then and did not think someone could become a hero without a quirk, despite not being born with one myself. I had forgotten that I was once quirkless, and my own hypocrisy almost cost you your life”.

Tears started to fall from Izumi’s eyes. All Might was once like her, a useless, quirkless Deku. But, when he asked if he could be a hero, he was told yes. The exact opposite he told her.

“I know you might never forgive me for my actions that day, and I understand that” All Might continued “I still haven’t forgiven myself for what I said to you. Even if you had refused to take One for All, I still would have trained you for UA. I owed you that much at least. I should have told you this before, but my shame of how I handled it was too much, and I did not wish to hurt you any more than I already had”.

“You really screwed that up, All Might,” Durandal said “If word of that ever got out, your reputation would take a nosedive”.

“Yes, yes I know,” All Might said, “Especially since I said in an interview that anyone could become a hero. Are, you ok, Izumi?”.

Izumi wiped the tears away from her eyes. It hurt that All Might asked the same thing she did, and got a yes, but unlike everyone else who she asked that to, he was the only one to apologise and try to make amends “It’s ok” she said quietly “It just came as a surprise that you were like me once. It’s painful yes, but, you’ve more than made up for it since then. You helped me get into UA when no one else wanted to support me. For that, I am thankful for it. But, after hearing your story, I am angry at you for not seeing potential in me the first time, like Nana did for you” she said “But I won't stop because of it. I’ve already gotten this far, and I’m not turning back now”.

All Might nodded “I know, and I don’t expect you to forgive me for that any time soon, but I am glad that you still want to be my successor” he said with a smile “On another note, due to my significantly reduced time, I’ve decided to introduce Toshinori to the other students. I can’t be All Might all the time sadly, so I’m going to have to spend time in my weaker form around them. So, from now on, call me that when I look like this, ok?”.

“Toshinori?” Izumi said, looking slightly confused “Oh, isn’t that what Gran Torino called you?” she asked.

“Yes, yes he did,” Toshinori said with a shiver, still remembering the ‘lesson on teaching’ the man had given him. It was rather painful “It’s my name. Mirai may have called me that as well as a few times around you. I thought you noticed”.

“Oh, sorry. I was probably busy at the time” Izumi said with a nervous smile. She would have to apologise to the man later. She couldn't do it now since he was busy with an investigation, so she decided to send him a message later.

“Well, you were busy training,” Toshinori said “Anyway, you should get going. Visiting hours are almost over”.

“Of course,” Izumi said before she stood up “I’ll talk to you later, Toshinori,” she said before she turned and walked out of the room.

“Well, I’m glad that’s over. Still slapping him in the face once he gets in here” a female voice said.

Once again Izumi looked around for the source, but there was no one around, apart from Durandal.

“You ok?” Durandal asked.

“I’m fine,” Izumi replied. The voices were probably due to stress or something, nothing to worry Toshinori with “Let's go back to the others” she said before they made their way back towards the ward her classmates were in.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t have to go through something like that again.

Nezu smiled as he sat upon the shoulder of Shota Aizawa as the latter walked through the hospital. The Erasure Hero looked a lot more tired than usual, with good reason. He, as well as most of the staff, had been busy ever since the attack on the USJ.

Losing thirteen had been painful, and having to find a replacement for her so soon after her death hurt even more. They needed time to grieve, time they did not have. Horoguramu had managed to find a few candidates already, she worked fast after all. Some would say too fast, but, the sooner you get something done, the better. He just wished it wasn’t for something as terrible as this.

But, he trusted Horoguramu on this matter. She was the vice principal of UA after all, he wouldn’t have hired her if he couldn’t trust her. So, whilst she was busy with that, he was busy with something else. Which allowed him to deal with this little thing.

He had just come off a call with Gran Torino, and he would say that it went better than expected. He hated having to make calls like that, but he needed allies for what was to come.

Shota walked over to one of the private rooms and walked inside. Inside the room, laying on the medical bed was one of the three villains to survive the USJ. The bunny girl villain.

Nezu smiled as they entered “Good evening my dear. How has your recovery been going?” he asked with a smile.

The bunny girl villain turned slightly to look at him “It’s going well. I should be able to walk in a few days. So, what did I do to deserve a visit from the principal of UA? I’m pretty sure I’m not even remotely on the list of people you should visit, seeing that I was involved in the USJ attack”.

“Oh, just checking in on those who help keep my students alive during the attack,” Nezu said with a smile “Or are you denying that you helped them fight that Strider?”.

“I’m not denying it,” the bunny girl villain said “But I don’t see the reason why you would want to visit me. Once I’m healed it’s straight off to prison for me. I’m just surprised I’m not going to Tartarus,” she said, noting how Nezu seemed to be laughing “What’s so funny?”.

“Oh I’m sorry,” Nezu said with an unnerving smile “I just found what you said about being arrested funny. After all, why would the police arrest a corpse?”

“What”.

“Yes. Unfortunately, you died from your injuries en route to the hospital” Nezu said, still smiling “So sorry for your loss”.

“What?”.

“It's such a shame you died. There was so much I wanted to ask you” Nezu continued.

“WHAT!”.

“Oh please, why are you finding this so hard to understand?” Nezu asked, still smiling “According to official police reports, which have not been tampered with in any way shape or form, the only survivors from the USJ were the twenty-one hero course students, two teachers, and All Might himself, with two villains escaping before they could be captured” he explained “You were sadly not among the list of the living. But, since you're dead, you're going to need some things” he said before Shota walked over to her and gave her a folder.

The bunny girl villain gingelly took the folder and opened it. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked through its contents, struggling to believe what she was reading “Why? Why are you doing this for me?” she asked, looking back up at Nezu with tears in her eyes “What did I do to deserve this?”.

Nezu looked at her with a frown “War is coming. The leaders of the League of Villains are still out there, as well as whoever created that thing they called Nomu. Paxtons minions are once again on the move and are working together. Powerful forces are on the move and they will no doubt be getting stronger. I need all the help I can get to protect my students and prepare them for what is to come” he said before he looked back up at her and smiled “You have shown a willingness to protect those around you, even going as far as you allow yourself to be injured instead of them. And, I am a firm believer that everyone, no matter how evil they are, deserves a second chance. So, what do you say?”.

“Do you want a second chance?”.

Chapter Text

Izumi spent most of the next couple of days thinking. Thinking about One for All, about becoming a symbol of hope, about those who attacked them, about the three girls she found herself regularly snuggling up to during the night. You know, normal stuff.

One for All was her primary focus since it was her quirk and it was acting up. The vision of the previous users was shocking and unexpected. Not even All Might had seen something like that before, and he had the quirk for 40 years. Something had happened to One for All, and it was freaking her out. She saw enough death during the USJ, and she didn’t need to be haunted by the previous users of her quirk.

Becoming a symbol of hope was at the bottom of her list, due to it being so far off that she could save thinking about it until later. And whilst she could worry about the people who attacked them, UA, the JSDF and who knows how many heroes were already worrying about them, she'd leave that to them.

And so that left her with the last thing on her list, as well as finding herself in a situation that had been very common over the past few days.

“Ochaco, can you please let go of me?” Izumi asked, once again trying to remove a wild Hugaraka.

“No!” Ochaco flat-out replied, arms and legs wrapped around Izumi’s body.

“But it’s almost nine in the morning. We’ve gotta get up!” Izumi said, trying to make the girl see reason. Nine was a bit late getting up, especially for Izumi since she likes to get up much earlier for morning exercises “Our classmates are returning today!”.

“No!” Ochaco said, “World outside cold and cruel, bed warm and snuggles comfy”.

“You said that last night,” Himiko remarked as she and Tsuyu tried, and failed, to separate Ochaco from Izumi “And the night before”.

“You really do need to get up, Ochaco” Tsuyu added “We can’t spend all day snuggling, ribbit. What if it’s a school day?”.

“Class’ don’t start back up for us until tomorrow!” Ochaco retorted.

“And what about tomorrow?” Himiko inquired “If you did this tomorrow, then we’re all going to be late! So get up girl, we have things we’ve got to do today!”.

Ochaco let out a low groan “Fine” she said as she reluctantly let go of Izumi “But I demand more later”.

“Girl, you get snuggles from those three every night,” Durandal remarked, “I think you may have a snuggle addiction”.

Ochaco frowned “I know. It’s just that-. I used to snuggle up to my parents when I was younger. I kept having nightmares when I was young. Being close to my parents whilst I slept kept them away. I haven’t had anyone to snuggle up to since they, died”.

The other three girls lowered their heads. Izumi already knew that Ochaco’s parents were gone, but Himiko and Tsuyu didn’t, so the news surprised them.

“I-I’m sorry to hear that,” Tsuyu said with a frown.

“Your parents. They loved you, didn’t they?” Himiko asked somberly.

Ochaco nodded, tears forming around her eyes “More than anything in the universe. We weren’t exactly well off, but no matter what happened, they would always try and make me smile”.

Himiko shot over to Ochaco, tears falling from her eyes “I’m so sorry you had to lose them. You shouldn’t have lost people who were so kind”.

Ochaco was quick to return Himiko’s hug. Despite having spent most of the night snuggling up to the girl, this hug was more comforting. Himiko didn’t know what it was like to have a loving family, hers was just a fard, a mask her parents made her wear. Ochaco’s parents sounded so much kinder, but they were taken away from her. Why, why did the nice ones have to die, leaving the shit one’s alive?

If she could, then she would swap the deaths of Ochaco's parents with her own, that way neither of them would have to suffer.

Tsuyu and Izumi soon joined in the hug, comforting both of their friends. All four of them were broken in one way or another. And whilst they had received help in one form or another, it was up to their friends to help put the final pieces back together.

It would take time, yes, but healing always does.

Once the three of them had finished comforting Ochaco, the four of them got dressed for the day and went downstairs.

“You know, as much as I do like snuggling up to you three, maybe next time we should snuggle in someone else's room,” Himiko remarked as they made their way downstairs “I’m getting tired of waking up to All Might’s face every morning”.

“Yeah, it’s getting repetitive,” Tsuyu added, “I think a change of scenery would be nice, ribbit”.

“I think that too,” Ochaco said “Maybe we should start a rota on whose room we snuggle in. Starting with my room”

“Fine,” Himiko said with a smile “Then we can go to Tsuyu’s room and then mine,”.

“Fine,” Tsuyu said before she bopped Himiko on the head “And call me Tsu”.

“I don’t know how you girls can sleep with all those All Might posters around” Durandal inquired.

“With fear in my heart and disappointment in their many faces,” Ochaco replied.

“Wha?” Izumi said, looking shocked.

Since the four of them had come down late most of the students had already eaten. But they didn’t mind, most of them had a late breakfast anyway so there was still something warm for them.

There was a mix of happiness and sadness in the air. Happiness because their fellow classmates would be returning today, and sadness because they may still lose a few of them. No one talked about it, but they all knew it. Some of them might decide to drop out after this, the events of the USJ being too much for them. The daily sessions with Hound Dog were helpful, but even with that help, some of them might not think heroics is for them after this. After all, not everyone can deal with death on such a large scale. No one knew just who would want to drop down to general education, but in their hearts, they all knew that someone was going to drop out.

The question was, who?

By the time afternoon came around, the first of their classmates arrived. Well, dorm mates would be a more appropriate term.

“Mei?” several students said as they stood around the main door, half expecting their classmates to arrive. Not that they weren’t happy to see her again, since she had been spending most of her time in the teacher's dorm with her siblings.

Mei was standing in the doorway with a large smile on her face. Beside her were two young children, a girl and a boy, no older than two. Both kids had Pink, Purple and blue hair. But that’s where the similarities ended.

The young girl looked like a much younger version of their homeroom teacher Kaina, right down to her hair and eyes. The young boy on the other hand had short dreadlocks and brown eyes.

Both children were wearing matching Nezu onesies.

“Mei. Who are these two?” Hitoshi asked.

“These are my siblings!” Mei replied with a smile “This is my younger brother Kimoto, and my younger sister Teshima!” she explained, pointing towards her respective sibling “They’ll be living with us from now on!”.

“Your, siblings?” Inasa said, his eyes moving between the two children.

Mei nodded “Yep! Since my parents are still in the hospital, it’s become impractical for them to stay in the teacher's dorm, so they're staying here. I’ll need some help getting their rooms ready!” she said before focusing on Izumi “And no asking about their quirks, Izumi. They're still two, so they haven’t come in yet”.

Izumi nodded. She knew there was no point in asking someone so young about their quirks. They don’t come around until you're four after all.

“Well, there are eight rooms still free for use,” Momo said “I’m sure we can organise two of them for your siblings to use. Will you need help bringing their stuff here?”.

Mei shocked her head “Nope. I’ve got that all taken care of!” she said before she and her two siblings stepped away from the door as several robots walked in.

They were long with four legs, and each one had several boxes strapped to their backs.

“I made these babies last year to help with moving equipment around” Mei explained “And to offer lifts for my siblings. I’m hoping to have these replace the trolleys UA uses”.

“Well, that will make moving things around easier,” Toru remarked “Some of us brought a lot of stuff with us and it’s not easy to move”.

“So, what’s the chance of these things exploding?” Ochaco asked.

“Zero” Mei replied, which surprised everyone present “What? I wouldn't have my younger siblings ride on them if there was a chance that they could go boom. What kind of responsible older sister do you think I am?”.

“The kind that keeps blowing up her workshop” Teshima replied deadpan.

Mei turned towards Teshima with an annoyed look on her face “Yep, you're definitely going to grow up to be just like Mother”.

Teshima smiled at Mei’s remark.

Mei shook her head before turning back to the others “Ok, so, I’m going to need help getting this stuff to their rooms! Whirlwind, Animal Crossing! I want you two to help with Kimoto’s stuff!” she said, pointing at Inasa and Koji “And Matter Replicator! You will help me with Teshima’s stuff!”.

“Whirlwind?” Inasa asked, sounding confused about the nickname, same with Koji.

“Matter Replicator?” Momo asked, having no idea what a Matter Replicator was.

“Come on! The sooner we’re done here, the sooner you can get back to waiting for your classmates!” Mei said before she dragged Momo behind her towards the girl's side of the room, with Teshima following behind “You two be nice to Kimoto!”.

Both Inasa and Koji sweatdropped before turning Kimoto, who so far had remained quiet throughout the entire exchange.

The boy just stared at the two hero course students “So, where’s my room?”.

“There’s a free room on the third floor. You can use that” Inasa said.

Kimoto nodded before he followed the two boys to his new room.

“So, that happened,” Himiko remarked “I wouldn’t have known that Kaina was married or had children if Izumi hadn’t told us”.

“Yeah,” Minoru added “I wonder what-” he said before Mei suddenly appeared out of nowhere with her Rorsch railgun pointed at his head.

“Finish that sentence and you’ll find out what it’s like to be a railgun slug!” Mei said, with a slightly crazier smile on her face.

Minoru nodded frantically, not wanting to become a projectile any time soon.

Mei, realising that the appropriate fear had been put into Minoru, put her railgun away and rushed back over to Teshima’s room.

“I hope at least he drops out,” Tsuyu said quietly to Ochaco, making sure that they could not be heard by Minoru.

The organising of the rooms for Mei’s siblings didn’t take long, only about half an hour. Once that was done Mei settled down on the sofa with them watching some old anime with airships called Vanships. Yeah, they weren’t sure about it either.

“So, how are those things flying again?” Toru asked, having decided to sit down and watch with them, along with most of the class, since there wasn’t much else to do but wait until their friends arrived. “And what are those things that keep coming out of the destroyed ships? Also are you sure this is ok to show to a two-year-old?”.

“It’s fine,” Mei said “They're ok with it. In fact they're the ones who asked me to put it on for them in the first place”.

“Why do I find that hard to believe?” Toru said.

Mei was about to reply but was stopped by the sound of the main door opening, followed by the sound of people entering the building with Back in Black by AC/DC playing in the background.

“What’s up one A. We’re back!” Neito announced as he, Denki, Tenya, Hanta, Kyoka, Yui, Mina, Fumikage, Eijiro and Rikido walked into the dorm. With 2-B’s homeroom teacher Vlad King behind them.

Their classmates immediately got up and rushed over to meet them, relieved to see all of them out of the hospital and fine. To an extent.

Izumi’s eyes quickly focused on Denki, who had an eyepatch over his right eye, as well as a large scar over that eye. Kyoka was helping to escort him, no doubt he was struggling to walk due to his lack of depth perception.

Izumi couldn’t help but notice the scar on Kyoka’s arm, as well as the scars the others had. Yui had a nasty one on her left hand, Mina had one on her right leg. And she had it on good authority that Eijiro and Tenya were covered in them. It was horrible how badly some of them got injured, but they were fine now. Fine and safe. And that’s all that matters.

“Welcome back,” Izumi said with a smile “I’m glad you've recovered nicely”.

“Why thank you, Izumi!” Tenya said with a smile “I’m glad that you were worried about us!”

“Yeah, it’s super manly that you're looking out for us,” Eijiro added.

“Well, eh, as class vice representative I think it’s good to look out for my classmates,” Izumi said “Make sure you are all ok and all that”.

“That’s very nice of you,” Tenya said with his signature arm chop “Truly you are an inspiration to us all!”.

“We’ve been back less than a minute and Tenya is already back to normal,” Mina remarked with a frown, getting a nod from Yui.

“Who’s playing AC DC?” Ochaco asked, looking around.

“That would be me,” Kyoka replied, holding up her phone before turning off the music.

“Oh yes, before I forget, we have two new dorm mates,” Izumi said before she turned towards the living room “Mei! Can you introduce your siblings to the others please?”.

“Sure can!” Mei replied before she came over with Kimoto and Teshima “These are my younger siblings! This is my younger brother Kimoto, and this is my younger sister Teshima!”.

“It is good to meet you two!” Tenya said.

Mei’s two siblings looked at the gathered students “Is he the one you call Mufflers?” Teshima asked.

“M-mm-m-mufflers?” Tenya said, taken aback by the nickname.

Teshima nodded “Big sis Mei told us all about the students of one-A. Mufflers, Matter Replicator, Whirlwind, Animal Crossing, Froggy, Copy, Pinky, Tape Guy, Battery, Birdy, Mochi, Cat-Vamp, Sleepy, Grape Boy, Candy Man, Wall, Earphones, Ruler, Green Bean, Invisible, and Durandal”.

“Wait, why is Durandal the only one whose name you remember?” Hanta asked, slightly miffed that the robot was the only one whose name Mei had remembered.

“Because names are hard!” Mei replied without a hint of shame “It’s easier to remember the names of my family, as well as the names of robots. Speaking of robots, Green Bean! The hardware upgrade for Durandal, should be ready by either tomorrow or the day after”.

“Eh?” Izumi said, not expecting ‘Green Bean’ to be Mei’s nickname for her “Oh, that’s great”.

“Finally, a hardware update,” Durandal said, sounding relieved. It was easy to understand why, since he is about eleven years old and hasn’t received any sort of update of any kind during that time. So this should help him improve. Now they needed to work on a software update for him.

“Yep,” Mei said “Now that introductions are over, back to last exile!” she said before she took her sibling back towards the living room.

“Well, she seems happy,” Mina remarked “Also her siblings are so cute!”.

“Agreed, they're just so adorable!” Toru squealed “Teshima looks just like a younger version of her mother”

“Should we be worried about the Nezu onesies they were wearing?” Hanta asked, looking concerned.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Mina replied with a smile.

“Well, I’m glad you all made it back safely,” Momo said with a smile “Do any of you require help settling back in?” she asked.

Most of them shook their heads “I would say yes, but Kyoka’s helping me out” Denki replied, with Kyoka nodding in agreement.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that you're all doing alright,” Vlad King said behind them, causing the students to turn to face him “Now since you’re all here, I have a few things I would like to tell you. First, your homeroom teacher Kaina is still recovering and won't be able to teach you for a while, so you’ll have a substitute teacher taking over homeroom. You’ll meet them tomorrow. Second, the entire school has been advised to give you space since the incident. We don’t want our other students accidentally making things worse by crowding around you” he said before he frowned “Also, please don’t feel like you're forced to stay here. You all went through a traumatic experience that none of you was prepared for, which the entire staff of UA apologise for. We were supposed to protect you, and we failed. We will do everything we can do to help you recover, even if you decide to drop out” he explained “No one will think any less of you if you decide to drop out of the hero course because of what happened. But don’t feel pressured to make a decision now, you have plenty of time to make the decision yourself. Whatever happens, we will be here for you, all of you”.

The class nodded in silence. They all knew it was a possibility that some of them might drop out. But it was reassuring that they would still be receiving help if they do leave.

“Anyway, I’ll leave you all to settle back in,” Vlad King said “See you kids around,” he said before he left the dorm and headed back to the 2-B dorm.

“Well, I haven’t cooked anything for a while. So I'm going to go make everyone some caramel brownies,” Rikido said, much to the class’ collective delight. No one was going to say no to Rikido’s sweets, since they needed something sweet after all the madness they’d been through, as well as time to wind down and relax. Especially those who had been in the hospital.

They spent the rest of the day relaxing and catching up with each other. Lessons would be starting back up for them tomorrow, so they were using what time they had left to relax to the fullest. But behind the cheer, the worry about someone leaving the hero course loomed over them. Each of them was worried about the others, wondering who would stay and who would go.

It was frightening, knowing that someone around you may want to drop out. Despite only knowing each other for a few days, they had all gotten to know each other well and none of them wanted to see the others go, for one reason or another.

All They could do was wait until someone said something about it.

Dinner was a lot livelier than previous nights since the entire class was present as well as Mei and her siblings. The dorm hadn’t felt the same without the entire class here to liven the place up.

Everyone decided to call in early that day since tomorrow they would be getting back to normal school work. So they decided that a good night's sleep would benefit them all. And once again, Izumi found herself getting ready to snuggle up to Ochaco, Tsu, and Himiko, with Durandal on standby. This time they were in Ochaco’s room, with the gravity girl the one the other three were snuggling up to.

“Just to let you girl know, I’ll be getting up early for my morning exercises,” Izumi said as she snuggled up to Ochaco’s side. The lights already off.

“Oh, do you have to?” Himiko asked with a frown, snuggling up to Ochaco’s other side.

“Sadly yes” Izumi replied “I have to keep in shape after all, and I’ve been neglecting them for the past few days. So I should probably get back into doing them”.

“That’s fair,” Tsuyu said, who was nestled in between Izumi and Ochaco “Being fit is an important part of being a hero. Maybe we should think about working out some more, ribbit”.

Izumi nodded, but before she could tell them about the benefits of daily exercises, there was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Ochaco said as she climbed over Izumi to get out of bed and walked over to the door. It’ll be odd if one of the others got up and opened it since this was Ochaco’s room.

She opened the door, and was surprised to find Momo on the other side, wearing an expensive-looking red nightgown “Momo. What are you doing here?”.

Momo frowned, looking a bit shaken. “I, is it possible for me to join you?” she asked “I, don’t want to be alone tonight”.

“Sure. I don’t see a problem with it” Ochaco said before she turned towards the bed “You three won't mind either?”.

“I’m ok with Momo joining us,” Izumi replied with a smile “It might get a bit cramped, but I’m ok with that”.

“Yeah, more snuggle buddies!” Himiko said with a smile, all for having another person to snuggle with.

“Ribbit” Tsuyu croaked, nodding her head.

“Ok, looks like they're ok with you joining us,” Ochaco said with a smile.

Momo smiled slightly “Thank you,” she said with a bow “I am grateful that you are allowing me to join you. I just haven't been sleeping well these past few days,” she said as she followed Ochaco over to the bed.

“It's alright, we’ve all been having nightmares due to what happened,” Ochaco said as she helped Momo get into bed and snuggle up to Himiko. Ochaco then turned on her projector, letting the projected image of the Abyss Cloud Nebula fill the room.

“You're turning that on?” Izumi asked as Ochaco climbed back into bed.

“Yep. It helps me sleep at night” Ochaco said as she looked at the Nebula with longing eyes “It reminds me of my parents. And makes me feel that, even though they're gone, they're still watching me”.

Ochaco continued to watch the nebula as it slowly rotated, counting the stars that made up the Abyss Cloud Nebula. Smiling as she felt four pairs of arms wrap around her. It was slightly cramped in the bed, it wasn’t made for five people after all. But it was cosy as well

Durandal stayed out of the way as he watched the five girls get comfortable in bed. He shook his head. Yep, this is going exactly as he thought it would go.

Fucking adorable!

The next day.

“I wonder who our substitute homeroom teacher will be?” Denki asked the next day as they made their way towards their class.

“Can't be any of the teachers we know of,” Izumi replied “All the other teachers have their own homerooms to worry about. Especially now that they are down three teachers”.

“I hope Snipe and Kaina recover soon,” Ochaco said with a frown. She was not only worried about them but also about Mei since she now had to look after her siblings until her parents recovered. At least she didn’t need to worry about her siblings during lessons, since UA has a daycare centre run by Horoguramu to help look after the children of local pro heroes.

“I hope so too!” Tenya said as they entered the classroom “But, we also have our own studies to worry about. Besides, they are currently being cared for by the best doctors around, I am sure that they will recover promptly”.

“I hope they do,” Rikido said as they started taking their seats “It’s strange not having her around”.

“Well, at least she’ll be back in a few days,” Denki said with a smile.

The bell signalling the start of lessons soon rang, and the entire class turned towards the door, wondering who their substitute homeroom teacher would be.

“I AM HERE!” All Might boomed as he came in through the door (like a hero), much to the class’ surprise. Was All Might their substitute homeroom teacher? “To introduce you to your substitute homeroom teacher!”.

Whatever excitement All Might’s appearance had generated was immediately killed, and replaced with confusion “Wait. You're not our homeroom teacher?” Mina asked, sounding disappointed.

“Unfortunately, I am not!” All Might said, “But I do know who is! He’s an old retired pro who’s come out of retirement to help teach you! In fact, he used to be my homeroom teacher when I was at UA!”.

“What!” most of the class shouted. Their substitute homeroom teacher was once All Might’s homeroom teacher! The class were beside themselves, excited beyond words at being taught by the man who had taught All Might. Even Izumi was excited, eagerly awaiting what she can learn from the retired-. Wait, did she already meet his old homeroom teacher? And did he introduce himself by kicking All Might in the face?

As if on cue, a yellow blur shot through the open door and a short old man with short, spiky grey hair wearing a full-body monochrome suit with a yellow cape, thick yellow gloves and boots, and a dark domino mask, kicked All Might in the face so hard that it sent him flying into the wall. The short old man, Gran Torino if Izumi remembered it correctly, then landed on top of the podium and turned towards All Might “Seriously, is that what you call a quick introduction?”.

The entire class was silent, their jaws wide open and on the other side of the planet. They could not believe their eyes. This short old man just kicked, kicked! All Might in the face and sent him flying into a wall, and had done so without a care in the world. He didn’t even seem phased by having just kicked the number one hero.

Gran Torino then turned to address the class, flashing them a grin that sent a shiver down everyone’s spine “Alright Zygotes, as this blockhead just said, I’m your substitute homeroom teacher, Gran Torino. I’ll be looking after you until your normal homeroom teacher, Lady Nagant recovers”.

“That wasn’t short you know,” All Might said as he dislodged himself from the wall “That was longer than my one”.

“Oh really,” Gran Torino said as he turned towards All Might with a smile “Are you questioning me?”.

All Might suddenly started to sweat, looking absolutely terrified “What, no, no. I wouldn’t do anything like that,” he said nervously “I-I’ll be leaving now to prepare for my next lesson” he said before he left the room faster than he entered it.

Gran Torino smiled before he turned back towards the class “Now then, this will only be for a few days, but even after Lady Nagant’s back, you’ll still be seeing me around on occasion”.

The entire class nervously nodded. They all saw the look of fear in All Might's eyes, the sheer terror the man felt in the presence of Gran Torino. All Might was terrified of the man. Which was horrifying as this was the Symbol of Peace, the man who smiles in the face of danger. If this Gran Torino was able to put the fear of god into him, then what the hell was he going to do to them?

“So, now that introductions are done, I’ve got a few announcements to make,” Gran Torino said “First, someone decided that it’ll be a great idea to not cancel the UA sports festival”.

There was a mix of confused murmurs. The UA sports festival was a big event, but it felt odd to hold it after a major and bloody attack.

“Is this wise?” Tenya asked, standing up with his arm raised “Surely holding such a big event a few weeks after an attack like the USJ is a bad idea?!”.

“That’s what Nezu said, but he was overruled” Gran Torino replied “But don’t worry, Nezu managed to get them to up security this year. We’ll have the top ten heroes and the JSDF protecting the sports festival, on top of the UA sentinels and other pro heroes running security. So anyone who tries to cause trouble is going to have a bad time”.

Izumi was visibly vibrating with excitement. The top ten heroes would be here! That’s awesome. This’ll be the best chance she has to meet them all. She’s already met All Might, so that left was the other nine. Burnin, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, Mirko, Daidōji, Ingenium, Gurren (plus Lagann as those two are inseparable), Ryukyu and Hawks. And with the JSDF onsite, then they’ll have a hero liaison working with them to help coordinate between the military and the heroes. That meant Apostle would probably be here as well. This was a prime opportunity for her to collect the signatures of the top ten heroes and then some.

“Also, the mandatory sex education class has been postponed till next week” Gran Torino added, causing the entire class to let out a relieved sigh. That gave them more time to prepare for it.

Who are they kidding, no one is ready for Midnight teaching them sexual education. Even Neito, who for the most part was immune to her antics, was dreading the day.

“Alright then. Now that the announcements are done. Does anyone have any questions?” Gran Torino asked.

The students sat there nervously. They all had questions, yes, but none of them was willing to ask them due to being scared of their substitute homeroom teacher. I mean the man came in and kicked All Might in the face and acted like it was a normal thing to do! How do you casually ask a man who did that a question?

Denki raised his hand “I don’t have a question, but an announcement to make” he said as he stood up.

The rest of the class turned their heads towards him, worried looks on their faces. Was this it? Was this the start of the class falling apart?

“I know everyone’s been thinking about this, I know I have. But no one’s talking about it, so I might as well flat-out say it. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that none of us are dropping out of the hero course”.

Silence befell the class as the other nineteen hero course students looked on with shocked eyes. This wasn’t what they were expecting Denki to say, especially since he suffered the most during the attack.

“I know what happened at the USJ was horrible. We saw what is truly waiting for us out there once we graduate” Denki continued “That there are villains out there who wouldn’t bat an eye at killing someone. And whilst all of us are scared, physically and mentally, because of it. We’re all still here, aren’t we? Those of us who went to the hospital all came back to the dorms, and those who stayed haven't left. Those villains thought that they could break us, but they didn’t. Because we’re all still here. If any of us wanted to drop out then we would have done so by now. But none of us has” he said “Yes what happened was terrifying, it was painful. I lost my eye because of it. But we’re still here, training to become heroes. Because there’s no way in hell that we’re allowing something like this to happen again!”.

The class was silent once more. Denki remained standing, a slightly nervous look on his face as the rest of the class stared at him with a mix of surprise and confusion. Most of them expected him to say that he wanted to drop out of the hero course, not make an inspirational speech like that.

Kyoka was the first to respond to Denki's very unexpected and rather inspirational speech that she had no idea he was capable of, by clapping. Which was soon followed by the rest of the class, which was then followed by cheering. They agreed with him, they all did. It had been several days since the USJ and none of them had left. None of them wanted to. What they saw was horrible, yes, but if there was a chance that it could happen again, then they were going to be there to stop it. And next time, they will be ready for it.

They were just hoping that next time will be later rather than sooner.

Denki looked around, surprised by the sudden applause he was getting from his classmates ‘Holy crap, that actually worked’ he thought, not at all expecting his little speech to work out as well as it did.

Gran Torino smiled as he watched the class applaud Denki. ‘These kids’ he thought ‘They went through hell, and not only are they still kicking, but they're still carrying on. They're stronger than I thought they’d be’. With kids like this looking after the world, the future looks a lot brighter.

He smirked, maybe returning to teaching might be a good idea after all. Plus it’ll scare the crap out of Toshinori.

He wasn’t the only one who took notice. Izumi did as well. She didn’t have the confidence to pull something like that off, making a speech like that in front of a bunch of people. But if she wanted to become the kind of hero All Might wanted her to be, she was going to need to learn how. If she was to help inspire people, then she needed to get good at public speaking. Because if she was right, then as the highest scorer on the entrance exam, she was going to be the one who makes the opening pledge at the sports festival, and at the moment she did not have the nerve to do that.

But, she was going to do it anyway, for she had a lot of people counting on her, and she did not want to disappoint them. There was also one other who she did not wish to disappoint, her father, who would be present during the sports festival.

‘Don’t you worry father. I will make you proud'.

Chapter Text

The next day Izumi settled back into her usual routine. Getting up early for a morning jog around campus, much to the dismay of Ochaco, Tsuyu, Himiko and Momo, since they lost a snuggle buddy. But, if she wanted to get stronger and be able to use more of One for All, she needed to train and exercise more.

Yesterday had been busy. After Denki’s out-of-the-blue inspirational speech, the entire class was filled with renewed vigour to do better and prepare for next time. Yes, even Minoru. Which was annoying as she really hoped that he would drop out.

Seriously, more than a week in and all the girls knew he was a pervert.

Of course, the day did have its less-than-pleasant moments. There was a general education student who spoke a bit too loudly in the cafeteria and said some rather insulting things about their class and insinuated that they were responsible for Thirteen's death. He was promptly told to shut up by Lunch Rush and told to speak to the principal. And whilst he was sadly seen again afterwards, he was a lot quieter. Izumi guessed that he was now on probation, since, you know, he talked shit about Thirteen's death. Still, what he had said had left the class shaken.

Their daily sessions with hound Dog were going well, and they've already had one weekly session with a professional therapist. But it’ll be a long time before the scars caused by the USJ heal.

Getting back into her regular routine helped her regain a sense of normality. So there she was, jogging around the UA campus, wearing shorts and one of her joke t-shirts that had ‘sports bra’ written on it, with Durandal by her side. There were still a few hours before lessons started, which gave her plenty of time to get ready for the day.

It was on today's run that she ran into someone she wasn’t expecting, Nejire. Who was also jogging a bit ahead of her, wearing a light blue sports bra and shorts that were very form-fitting. Which made looking at anything other than her rear rather difficult.

This continued for a bit before Nejire turned her head slightly and saw Izumi behind her. She smiled at her before slowing down a bit so that the two could jog side by side “Hay Izumi! Nice to see you”.

“Yeah, nice to see you too, Nejire” Izumi said, trying her best to focus on Nejire’s face and not her chest “I didn’t think you were the kind of person who would go out for a morning jog”.

“I’m full of surprises” Nejire replied with a smile “Since my quirk uses my stamina, I need to make sure that I have a lot of it. Exercising daily helps me to build my pool and gives me more to work with”.

“Ah, I see. That makes sense,” Izumi said ‘So the more stamina she had the longer she could use her quirk’.

“Yep, that’s how it works,” Nejire said, causing Izumi to realise she muttered that last part out “So, you won't mind if I tag along for a bit? Jogging by myself like this can get lonely”.

Izumi blushed slightly, “Sure. I’m fine with that,” she said nervously.

Nejire smiled as she formed up beside her. The two jogged in silence for a few minutes before Izumi spoke up “So, how have you been doing?”.

“I've been managing,” Nejire replied with a frown “But I can’t help but feel that I should have done more to help save Thirteen. I just stood there whilst Argonaut killed her. I didn’t even know he was there until it was too late”.

Izumi frowned. She agreed with her, there had to have been something they could have done to save Thirteen, but what? The entire class had been scattered across the USJ, leaving only Durandal, Nejire, and later Horoguramu and several UA Sentinels. And even then that wasn’t enough to save her. There had to have been something they could have done.

“I wish I could say you could have, but, sadly I can’t,” Durandal said somberly “Argonaut is a stealthy bastard. You don’t know he’s coming until he’s right on top of you. We’re lucky he likes to make his presence known before he kills someone. Helps feed his ego. He was probably standing behind Thirteen waiting for the perfect opportunity to drop in” he said “Honestly I’m pissed that the real Argonaut wasn’t there himself, it’s unlike him to use clones and Terminators like that”.

“Yeah, about that,” Nejire said. “There's something I would like to talk to you about Izumi. About your robot companion, Durandal”.

“This is about what I said during the USJ, isn’t it?” Durandal asked.

“Wait what?” Izumi said, sounding surprised “Durandal! What did you say and why didn’t you tell me about it?”.

“During the USJ we were attacked by a clone of Argonaut, although at the time I thought it was the real thing” Durandal explained “I taunted the bastard, and I may have flat out said that Paxton made me, whilst Nejire was around. And then I may have healed her, then confirmed to her that I was made by Paxton. Sorry, but I didn't want to add more pressure to your plate”.

“You did what!?” Izumi blurted. They were surprised to keep his true creator a secret, not just flat out tell someone that, yes, I was created by the man who almost took over the world.

At least they were keeping the secret of One for All better than this.

“Yeah, I’m still looking for an answer for how you were able to heal me?” Nejire said, “Because that felt a lot like Recovery Girls quirk”.

“That’s because it was Recovery Girls quirk” Izumi replied, realising there was no point in hiding the Quirk Emulator from her since, by the sounds of it, she already knows that Durandal was made by Paxton “The body Durandal is using has a prototype Quirk emulator installed. A device that can emulate people's quirks”.

“He can use quirks?!” Nejire gasped “I-I thought that was some kind of advanced nanotech? H-how can a robot even emulate a quirk anyway?”.

“No idea. All I knew about it was that the man was making a device that could emulate quirks and he put it into this body” Durandal replied “It didn’t come with an instruction manual, so it took me a few seconds to understand how to use it. For humans, that doesn't sound long, but for an AI like me, it was more like hours than seconds. Be glad the man is dead and this shell has the only quirk emulator in the world. I dread to think what a perfected emulator can do”.

“Oh my, that is a good thing isn’t it,” Nejire said “Still, how did you find yourself working with Izumi?”.

“A combination of me finding him whilst I was clearing Takoba Municipal Beach Park and a biometric lock that sadly forces him to obey me” Izumi replied.

“Yeah, still miffed about that last part” Durandal added “Sadly there’s not much I can do about it. It was pre-programmed into me and can’t really be removed. I’m just surprised that he didn’t lock it to himself. Guess even he makes mistakes from time to time”.

“I see,” Nejire said. She was still struggling to believe that a robot could emulate a quirk, but, seeing that she saw it in action, it must be possible. But then she got distracted “Wait, you’re the one who cleaned Takoba Beach!?”.

“Eh, well, yes” Izumi replied nervously, of course, Nejire would get distracted by that “I couldn’t afford a gym membership, so I decided to clear the beach. You’ll be surprised by how many different muscle groups you can build by hauling different kinds of trash”.

“Wow, that’s impressive!” Nejire beamed “Now when summer comes around and it gets warmer we can go visit it. It’ll be perfect for showing off my new swimsuit!”.

“Wha?” Izumi said, realising that Nejire had gotten herself distracted.

“Say, do you have a swimsuit?” Nejire asked with a smile “I think you should get one, I think you’d look super cute in an emerald green bikini~”.

“W-w-w-w-what!” Izumi stuttered, not expecting her to just casually suggest that. Her! In a bikini! No, there’s no way she would be that comfortable wearing something that revealing or skimpy. Plus, her scars would be on display for everyone to see “I-I’m sorry, but I-I don’t think I’m c-c-confutable wearing something like that”.

“Oh, sorry,” Nejire said “Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable there”.

“It’s ok,” Izumi said nervously, trying to get the mental image of her wearing a bikini out of her head, no she will not wear one she would DIE from embarrassment and is totally not picturing what Ochaco, Himiko and Tsuyu would look like in swimsuits as well. Totally not doing that, please stop doing that BRAIN! “I’m just not comfortable showing off that much skin”.

“Ok then,” Nejire said, “Sorry about that. So, what Quirks can Durandal emulate?”.

“Not many I’m afraid. The emulator was a prototype after all” Durandal replied, realising that she was now back on topic. Man, this girl gets distracted easily “I’ve got Ochaco’s zero gravity, Yui’s size, Recovery Girl's Heal, as well as two quirks from her old school, a minor shield and teleport small object” he explained “There’s also Mechanist’s techno rearrange quirk, and, Thirteen's Black Hole quirk”.

“Wait, you have Mechanist’s and Thirteen's quirk?” Izumi asked, sounding shocked. This was news to the girl “How?”.

“Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that, didn’t I,” Durandal said “Sorry about that. But yes, I do indeed have Mechanist’s and Thirteen's quirk. Mechanist’s allowed him to break down mechanical components and reassemble them in whatever configuration he wanted. But he was unable to use it until his body was half mechanical, and he can only use it to repair his cybernetics, not upgrade them. If he could do that then we wouldn’t need to ask Mei to work on a hardware update for me. Which isn’t a problem for me” he explained “It’s how I’m able to repair myself as well as make that chainsaw during the USJ attack. His quirk was already loaded into the emulator, so I guess that was a test to see if it could work” he explained “As for Thirteen's quirk, some of her blood splattered onto me when she was killed and was apparently enough for the emulator. I can’t use her quirk, but I’m not deleting it. It’s all that’s left of her now”.

“Oh, so that’s how you were able to repair yourself,” Nejire said sombrely “Still, it’s a good thing you're keeping Thirteen's quirk. Even if you can’t use it, it's good to keep it around,” she said, glad that Thirteen's quirk was still around in some form “So, what can’t you use?”.

“Well if you're worried about me using your quirk, don’t worry, I can’t” Durandal replied “I can emulate Denki’s electrification quirk, but I can’t emulate it long enough to build up a significant charge for it to be effective. Same with Inasa’s whirlwind. There’s also Neito’s copy, but that’s redundant”.

“Oh wow, that is not many,” Nejire remarked “And they're all Emitter quirks”.

“What, did you think a robot like me could emulate mutations and transformations?” Durandal said, “Seriously, I doubt even Paxton could make a robot that could emulate those!”.

“Oh, well that’s good to hear,” Nejire said before they heard something flying overhead. Looking up, they saw a JSDF dropship fly overhead “They're here already?” she said, sounding surprised “The sports festival isn’t for another two weeks”.

“Their're probably a recon team sent in to survey the area” Durandal replied, “They do need to plan out where to deploy their troops during the festival”.

“I don’t know how I feel about having the military on-site for the sports festival,” Izumi remarked “I know Argonaut is dangerous and all that, and once worked for a man who tried to take over the world with an army of robot's, but do they really need to be here? We’re heroes, not soldiers”.

“I think they don’t want to take any chances,” Durandal said “He had robots backing him up and was acting uncharacteristically. I think they're worried that someone’s taken Paxton's mantle and is bringing Avalon back”.

“I know that,” Izumi said “But still, it scares me having the army around. I know they're here for our protection. But, if this is our defence, what are we expecting to defend against?”.

Nejire nodded with a shudder “Yeah, it does make you wonder what they're expecting to attack us if they have the top ten heroes and the JSDF here” she said, “Oh well, all we can do is hope that no one is dumb enough to attack the sports festival”.

“Yeah,” Izumi said as they carried on their jog around campus.

The rest of the day went by as normal. They had their normal lessons plus heroics, which Denki had to sadly sit out due to his missing eye. But it was fine, this was expected after all. At least he was getting a new one over the weekend.

“So, now that we’ve had time to recover, who threw that ship in the flood zone?” Hanta asked as the class made their way back to their dorm.

“That would be Ochaco, ribbit,” Tsuyu replied.

“That was Ochaco!” Denki gasped as most of the class turned towards the gravity girl with shocked looks “I would have thought that was Izumi”.

“How did you see that?” Kyoka asked, holding Denki’s hand as she led him to the dorm “You had lost half of your vision by then”.

“Right, like even I could miss someone yeeting a ship halfway across the USJ,” Denki said.

“Yeah, that was so hot-blooded!” Inasa added loudly.

Ochaco chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her head “Come on guys, it wasn’t a big deal”.

“Big deal, big deal!” Minoru said, “You threw a ship at Argonaut before taking a hit from Nomu! How did you not get turned into pastes after being punched by that thing!”.

“I’m, not really sure,” Ochaco replied, ignoring the shocked looks from the others. “I was desperate to protect Izumi from that thing so I just pushed her out of the way. I have no idea how I survived that punch unharmed”.

“I’m sure we can find out what happened,” Izumi said with a smile “If we can do that, we can find out how you can replicate it. It’ll give you a very good defensive move,” she said, “Although, There is something else I would like to know. You used your quirk on that ship and you didn’t suffer from any negative effects. You wouldn’t be able to tell me what your weight limit is?”.

Ochaco looked deep in thought for a few moments “You know, I don’t really know my limit. I was never really allowed to try it on anything really big. The heaviest object I’ve used it on was a flatbed truck, and even then that was when I was younger. I’ve never really been able to test my weight limit as no matter what I lifted, I never felt any ill effects, and I only really started to suffer after several hours of continuous use”.

“Huh, looks like we’re going to have to find out your weight limit,” Izumi said, writing something down in her notebook that wasn’t there moments ago “You can’t really improve if you don’t know what your limits are. I managed to book a half hour quirk testing session at ground Beta, so I should be able to bring you along as well”.

Several of Izumi’s classmates looked at her with shock “Y-you managed to book an entire training ground for half an hour?” Toru said, sounding surprised “How?”.

“I just asked Gran Torino if I could use one to help Chiharu work on her quirk” Izumi replied calmly “And he said yes,” she said before she noticed everyone was looking at her “What?”.

“Izumi” Mina said “That is, totally not a normal thing to do”.

“Plus didn’t Mei say that she had Durandal’s hardware upgrade ready?” Momo added.

“Oh don’t worry, that’s scheduled for later” Izumi replied “So Ochaco, you want help finding out the limits of your quirk?”.

Ochaco quickly nodded “Sure. Better to find out now than later”.

Izumi beamed before she took Ochaco’s hand “Then come with me please” she said before she dragged the gravity girl towards the changing rooms. The rest of the class watched on with surprise.

“Well, Izumi looked happy,” Eijiro remarked as the two girls rushed off.

“Mm,” Yui added with a slight smile.

“She’s analysing quirks, so yeah, she’s happy,” Hitoshi remarked “If there's one way to make her happy, it’s to give her a quirk to analyse”.

Everyone seemed satisfied with that answer, well, everyone save for Minoru, who was crying “Come on. They're probably using this as an excuse to make out! Why can’t they be straight like-” he said before he was silenced by a karate chop to the back of the head, courtesy of Neito.

“Huh,” Neito said as he looked at the hand he just used to karate chop Minoru “That’s odd?”.

“What is it?” Momo asked as Rikido picked up the unconscious body of Minoru and carried him off towards the dorm “Do you need me to make some wipes?”.

“No,” Neito replied. “It’s just that, I have a strange feeling that I’ve been on the receiving end of a karate chop to the back of the head before. Which is odd, as I clearly remember never having that happen to me” he said before he shook his head “It’s probably nothing”.

Meanwhile, at ground Beta, Gran Torino stood at the entrance as he watched Izumi, Durandal, Ochaco and Chiharu walk up to him wearing their gym uniforms. “You Zygotes ready?” he asked with a smile.

Izumi smiled as she nodded her head “Yep!”.

“He’s Gran Torino” Chiharu said, sounding confused “The one you said kicked All Might in the face like it was nothing,” she said. She knew this man matched the description she was given of him but still, he looked old. How could an old man put fear into All Might of all people?

“Yep, that’s me,” Gran Torino said with a smirk “That old lump wasn’t exactly what you would call smart when he was in school. Still isn’t. So kicking some more sense into him shouldn’t hurt”.

Chiharu shuddered “Ok, I completely believe you now”.

“That’s only half of it” Ochaco added “He had us playing dodgeball yesterday. With him as the ball. I don’t think any of us could keep up with him”.

“We found out what it’s like to be pachinko balls,” Izumi said, remembering just how badly they were curb-stomped yesterday. Even All Might felt sympathetic to them, as he knew Gran Torino was going easy on them. Gods help them if he ever decides to go all out.

“What, I did say that if you can dodge me you can dodge a punch,” Gran Torino said with a smirk “You lot need to work on your dodging and mobility. Anyway, you said you wanted to experiment with your quirks”.

Izumi nodded “Yep. Well, not me personally. Initially I just wanted to help Chiharu here, but I brought Ochaco along once we found out she doesn't know the current limits of her quirk”.

“Why did I agree to this?” Chiharu asked, her blue skin looking a bit pale.

“You're the one who asked for quirk analysis after Nejire said being in the management course won't protect you from her” Izumi replied.

“Oh, right. That I did” Chiharu said with a sigh “So, any ideas on how I can make my quirk stronger?”.

“A few. But I think you should tell Gran Torino what your quirk is so he can help out as well” Izumi said, notebook in hand that wasn’t there before.

Gran Torino nodded “Can’t exactly offer you any help if I don’t know how to help you”.

Chiharu nodded “Ok. My quirk is called Minefield. It allows me to set up an invisible minefield along any surface I touch. Be it a street, wall, or building, I can lay upwards of up to one thousand mines per field and I can see where each mine is at all times. But I can only have one minefield up at a time. I can’t detonate each mine individually, only the entire field and each mine is no stronger than a cracker snap”.

“So, my guess is that you want to make your mines stronger then,” Gran Torino said “Well, It’ll be a good thing to know. Even if you're in the management course, finding out how to make your mines stronger will be a good idea, just so you don't accidentally find out later in life,” he said before turning to Ochaco “And what do you need help with?”.

“Finding my weight limit” Ochaco replied “I’ve never been able to find out what my maximum limit is due to never being allowed to use it on anything big. So far the largest thing I’ve ever lifted was that ship in the USJ”.

“Ok then,” Gran Torino said as he got out his phone “I’ll organise a few things for you to try out. In the meantime we can work on Chiharu’s quirk. Follow me,” he said, waving the four to follow him.

As the four walked deeper into ground beta, Izumi inquired more into Chiharu’s quirk “Ok, so you want to make your explosions stronger, but don’t know how” Izumi said “What are your parents' quirks?” she asked. Finding out about her parents' quirks and how they worked might help in finding out how Chiharu could make her explosions stronger.

“My father's was a lot like mine, but instead of making mines, it’s light sources. He could cover walls with all kinds of lights of different size, shape, strength, intensity, colour and type. But he could only place up to fifty different lights” Chiharu replied “My, mothers, allowed her to bestow explosive properties onto anything she touched and could detonate them at will. Her explosions aren’t strong, but they're a lot stronger than mine”.

“Ok,” Izumi said as she wrote something down in her notebook, noting the venom in the girl's voice when she mentioned her mother ‘So it’s obviously a combination of her parents' quirks. By the sounds of it, her mother's explosions are all the same size and strength, but her fathers clearly operate differently as he could change the strength of his lights. But how?’.

“Is her muttering normal?” Chiharu asked as Izumi muttered up a storm.

Ochaco nodded “You get used to it”.

“Chiharu” Izumi suddenly said, causing the blue-skinned girl to yelp slightly “Did your father ever tell you how his quirk worked?”.

“No” Chiharu replied with a frown “He never got the chance to. He died, eleven years ago, during Avalon’s invasion of Japan”.

“Oh, my gods!” Ochaco gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. Izumi and Gran Torino meanwhile gave her a sombre look.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Izumi said with a frown “You must have loved him a lot?”.

“Yes. Yes, I did” Chiharu replied, “I-it’s why I want to make my quirk stronger, even though I’m in the management course, I wanted to get stronger, for him”.

“Don’t worry, we’ll help you,” Ochaco said with a smile, knowing what it’s like to lose a parent but still wanting to make them proud “We’ve got Izumi here after all. I’m sure she can come up with something”.

Chiharu smiled “Thank you, Ochaco,” she said, glad that she had friends who cared about her. She turned towards Izumi “So, do you have any ideas that could help me?”.

“Indeed I do have an idea, but I’m not sure if it will work” Izumi replied as they came to a stop at a T-junction, “You said that you can lay a maximum of one-thousand mines. Well, what if you tried to combine mines together,” she said, “If I’m right, by combining them you should end up with a much larger explosion”.

Chiharu looked at Izumi with a confused look on her face as the gears inside her mind started to move. She then looked down at her hands before crouching down and placing one against the floor. She stood up moments later looking shaken “I-it worked. I-I combined them into a single mine”.

“That’s fantastic!” Izumi beamed “How many did you use?”.

“A thousand” Chiharu replied, which caused Izumi and Ochaco to pale slightly “Which now that I think about it, might not have been a good idea,” she said nervously. Realising they now had a single mine of unknown strength hidden around them.

“Let's move away from here before we detonate the mine, shall we?” Gran Torino said, pointing down one of the streets.

The three girls nodded before they followed him away from the T-junction. Chiharu had the foresight to put the mine in the middle of the junction well away from them, and Gran Torino had called to warn UA that there would be an explosion of unknown size and power at ground Beta.

Once the five of them had gotten to what they hoped would be a safe distance away from the mine, they all bunkered down inside a building looking down the street towards the T-junction

“Ok, I hope we’re far enough away from it,” Izumi said, hoping that they were indeed far enough away “Ok then Chiharu. Detonate the mine,” she said before she covered her ears, an action that was shared by Ochaco and Gran Torino.

Chiharu nodded before she looked down the street and covered her ears. Not knowing how large of an explosion this will be. She closed her eyes and detonated the mine.

Which exploded with the force of a massive bomb! The sound of which echoed across the entire campus and caused a certain explosive pomeranian to defend himself by saying “That wasn’t me!” when his entire class turned to look at him.

“HOLY SHIT!” Ochaco shouted, shocked by the sheer power of the explosion.

“Ok! Note for next time,” Durandal said loudly “Don't put all of your mines into one big mine unless you really want to blow something the fuck up!”.

Gran Torino was just grinning with satisfaction ‘Yep, another job well done’.

“Just as I thought!” Izumi said as the explosion died down, noting that it was stronger than anything Katsuki had made. “By themselves the individual explosions are weak. But combine them together they become much, much stronger. I think that’s how your father's quirk worked as well. I think that he could only produce small light sources but could make them stronger by combining them,” she said before she turned towards Chiharu, noticing that the girl was staring at the smoke caused by the explosion, with tears pooling under her eyes.

“This. This explains so much” Chiharu cried “This explains why his lights always started off small and got gradually brighter and brighter. He was combining them to make them stronger” she said before she suddenly punched a wall “Why the fuck did no one tell me this before!”.

“Chiharu!” Izumi gasped, shocked by the girl's sudden outburst.

“Eleven years! Eleven fucking years those bastards kept giving me the wrong advice” Chiharu shouted, crying her eyes out “Make more mines they said, concentrate on the mines as you make them, imagine them being as strong as your mothers! Eleven years those bastards kept telling me to do everything but combine my mines together! Why didn’t anyone tell me how my father's quirk worked!”.

Izumi and Ochaco looked at Chiharu with worry. They didn't expect their friend to suddenly break down like this. Gran Torino was worried as well, but for a completely different reason. Someone had been helping to train this young girl's quirk and sounded like they were doing a piss poor job of it. If anything it sounded like deliberate sabotage. But who would do such a thing?

“You wouldn’t be able to tell me who these ‘bastards’ are?” Gran Torino asked.

“The people who worked at the care home I lived at” Chiharu replied “My mother was busy most of the time, so it was mostly me and my father. But when he died my mother put me into a care home. Every day the care workers made us train our quirks, and every day everyone else got stronger whilst I didn’t. And every day they got angrier and angrier with me. I just don’t know why they only cared about how strong our quirks were. I had perfect grades at school, my behaviour was better than everyone else there. But no, all they cared about was how powerful our quirks were!”.

Gran Torino scowled. This care home didn’t sound like a great place, especially basing the worth of the children there on the strength of their quirks, that wasn’t right. Plus daily quirk training? That wasn't something they were supposed to be doing. Not one bit.

Maybe a little investigation into this care home was in order. Nezu already had his sights on Aldera Middle School after what happened to Izumi last year. What’s one more target to give to the mad rodent?

“Hay, don’t worry. You are at UA now. You won't have to suffer any more of that crap” Gran Torino said with a comforting smile “If you want to we can call it quits today”.

“No,” Chiharu said, wiping the tears away from her eyes and shaking her head “I need to figure out how to use my quirk safely. I can’t go about causing massive explosions like that”.

Gran Torino smirked “Good. That’s a good mindset to have. Even if you're not training to become a hero, learning how to use your quirk safely is important,” he said before he looked out towards the T-junction, what was left of it anyway “I’ll find us somewhere else to practise. Also Ochaco, your weight training equipment has arrived, so we should be able to find out your limits”.

Ochaco nodded “Thank you”.

“Eh, don’t think much of it. I’m just here to help you Zygotes get ready for the real world” Gran Torino said “Now come on. I’ll take you to the new training ground”.

“You ok?” Izumi asked as she helped Chiharu up.

“I’m fine” Chiharu replied “It’s just, I had no idea how strong I was. I always thought my quick was only going to be useful as party poppers or for fireworks. Not full-on destruction like that. I-I may need some time to think after this. But thank you, Izumi. Thank you so much for helping me”.

“You're welcome” Izumi replied with a smile as they followed Gran Torino to the next testing area.

After some experimentation, they managed to find both Ochaco’s limits and the safe limit for Chiharu. And the results were god, damn, terrifying!

For Chiharu, she focused on reducing the strength of her mines to the point that they were no stronger than the mines UA uses sometimes for the sports festival. Once she had gotten that figured out they then found out how many she could lay, which was around 200-300. With 50-75 being the limit for reasonably lethal mines. Which, whilst it doesn't sound like much, is still a lot of mines. That are also invisible and undetectable. Even Chiharu was terrified of just how strong she was.

Ochaco, on the other hand, had managed to discover her limit by lifting up a large number of robots. It was about the same weight as the ship she picked up and threw at the USJ. Not only that, but they found out that she could break up the items she picked up by pulling them in opposite directions and still be able to control all the individual chunks.

Also, she vomits rainbows when she goes over her limit. That was something to be wary about.

When their time was up the three girls and one robot headed back to the changing room. Izumi wrote down today's findings in her notebook, noting just how much stronger her friends were. Chiharu was a walking minelayer whilst Ochaco was a bit like the protagonist of Control, just ten times stronger.

Whilst this information was useful, there was still one small question, how did Ochaco get so strong with, by her account, not much training? She trained for UA, yes, but the absurdity of her strength is just, absurd. How do you get that strong when the largest object you ever lifted was a truck and you only regularly lift large bags full of stones and barrels of water? Was it something to do with her biology? Was her body just more adapted to using her quirk?
“Hay Izumi,” Ochaco said “You're muttering again”.

Izumi gulped and covered her mouth “Sorry”.

“It’s ok. We all have our little, quirks” Ochaco said “I’m surprised how much I was able to improve my quirk, and I had no idea that my limit was so large!”.

“Yeah” Chiharu added, “Thanks to you, I now know how to make my mines stronger”.

“You're welcome,” Izumi said with a smile, glad that she was able to help someone with their quirk.

“So, now that your quirk has been improved, what are you going to do?” Durandal asked.

“I’m, not sure yet” Chiharu replied “I know I want to stay in the management course, but I also want to show the world what I can do now and show those bastards who said my quirk was weak who’s strong now”.

Izumi nodded “I'm sorry you had to live in such a toxic environment. Prior to coming here, my old school was not great towards me. For the longest time, I thought I was quirkless, and I wasn’t treated well because of it. So I know what it’s like to be perceived as useless by those around you”.

“You were a late bloomer?” Chiharu said, sounding surprised “Gods, I’m sorry to hear that. To spend so long thinking that you were quirkless. I can’t even fathom how that would feel like”.

“Well, it’s over now,” Izumi said with a smile “I have a quirk now, and I’m on my way to achieving my dream. I’ve received a lot of help to get here, so if I can help someone else in return, I’ll take it”.

Chiharu smiled “Thank you, Izumi. When I first decided to be your manager I didn’t think I’d see much till much later. But now, you’ve helped me improve my quirk. I promise you, I’m going to help you become the best hero you can be! Even if all I can really do is help manage your hero career and image”.

Izumi beamed, glad to have been of help to Chiharu.

“Izumi, don’t you have Durandal’s hardware upgrade to get to?” Ochaco asked.

“Oh, right. The hardware upgrade. I can’t miss that” Izumi said before she rushed off with Durandal “I’ll see you two later!” she said. Ochaco and Chiharu waved her off.

The two quickly arrived at the support workshop, where Mei was waiting for them. She wasted no time in commencing the hardware upgrade.

The upgrades Mei was doing to Durandal were, well, everything. All the internal hardware was being replaced with up-to-date replacements, custom-made by Mei herself. And yes, they did have to give his schematics to her so that she could make the hardware upgrades. The only things she wasn’t tampering with were the positronic brain, Quirk emulator and the MIWR. She wasn’t going to mess about with a positronic brain, not when there was an AI using it, she didn’t know about the emulator, and the MIWR was beyond her current expertise.

Power Loader was on standby, watching her work. He was there just to make sure Mei didn’t try and tamper with Durandal whilst she was upgrading him.

Overall, the upgrade took around an hour to finish.

“And done!” Mei said as she stepped away from Durandal “The new hardware has been installed”.

“Thank you,” Durandal said as he leapt down from the work table “Huh, there’s definitely an improvement in my shell’s functions. You really know your stuff. Hey, I’ve even gotten more data storage in here”.

“I’m glad you like it,” Mei said “I’ve pretty much-improved everything in your body. You should have a ten percent improvement in the efficiency of most of your systems. Your reactor has undergone a major improvement. Increased output and improvements to the coolant system should be half the speed at which the reactor overheats. Sadly I couldn’t speed up the reactor cooling down once it overheats, so that’s unchanged. But everything else has been improved” she said “Although I must ask, why was all of Durandal’s hardware so out of date anyway?”.

Durandal was quick to reply “My AI may have been made recently, but my shell wasn’t. It was actually made eleven years ago. But due to legal disputes, they couldn’t use it, let alone tell anyone about it. It was only recently that they were cleared up and they could use this body. Which was when I was installed into it. I don’t think they even bothered to update my hardware” he explained “And don’t worry about getting into trouble. I think they’ve completely forgotten about me”.
“Well, that’s good to hear!” Mei said with a smile “Oh yes, I have a gift for you!” she said before she rushed over to another work desk and picked up what looked like the handle to some kind of tool. She then grabbed an odd-looking tool bit with two alignment blades and attached it to the front of the handle, followed by her performing a few checks. Izumi couldn’t help but notice three blue lights shining out of the front of it.

“Mei” Power Loader said, looking worried “When did you make a Plasma Cutter?”.

“I didn’t” Mei replied with a smile “It’s a combination stun gun slash laser cutter designed to look like a Plasma Cutter. I designed it to feed off of the energy from Durandal’s reactor to power it”.

Power Loader shook his head “Of course”.

“You, made me a gun?” Izumi asked, looking surprised.

Mei nodded “No, I made you a cutting tool! Thought you might need it. The stun mode can be used to bring down villains from afar, just in case you can’t get close to them. And you can use the cut mode to dismember any robots you may come across, Dead Space style! Just like the battle of Hoth Rig”.

Izumi nodded. She had read up on the battle of Hoth Rig when she was researching Paxton. It was a rather embarrassing loss for Avalon. One of Paxton’s deadliest robots, Harbinger, was going about with a commando team of robots destroying oil rigs and were having a lot of luck, up until they reached Hoth rig. The workers there fought back with cutting tools, which they used to cut the attacking robot's limbs off. A third of the crew were sadly killed, but they managed to destroy the entire attacking force, including Harbinger, who was embarrassingly the first one taken out.

“Izumi, say yes,” Durandal said “We can use it to replace the anti-armour pistol we have loaded in the MIWR. We're unlikely to use it anyway”.

Durandal did have a point. She probably wasn’t going to ever use the anti-armour pistol anyway. She didn’t see herself becoming a gunslinger like Snipe, plus having a weapon that didn’t require the user to carry ammo around would be useful if she ever needed to use it. Plus there’s what happened at the USJ, where she broke a finger just to destroy one robot, which also destroyed the top part of the ship they were on. Having another, less destructive means to bring one down would be useful if she ever had the misfortune to meet another one because right now, she was unsure if she was strong enough to smash one up easily. Paxton’s robots were designed to be sturdy and difficult to break.

Plus it might prove useful for rescue work. Cut something up to make it easier and safer to remove.

“Ok, if it’ll replace something I won't really use,” Izumi said, still unsure if she would ever need to use it.

“Great!” Mei said “Right now it is still in the early stages of development, so you should be able to get off about ten shots in quick succession before Durandal’s reactor overheats. Maybe a few more if you’re careful with your fire rate. But I’m sure I can make a few upgrades. Later thought, I’m currently preparing my babies for the sports festival!”.

“If you need help training with it just ask me” Power Loaded added as he took the cutter from Mei “I’d rather you have trained with this thing first before you add it to your equipment”.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” Izumi added.

“So, is there anything else you need?” Mei asked as she zipped up to Izumi “Maybe some new gloves or reinforced shoes? Maybe there’s something I can make for your classmates!”.

Izumi edged back slightly from Mei “No, no I’m fine right now. I’ve got more than enough gear for now”.

“Come on! There’s got to be something I can make for you!” Mei said enthusiastically “Please I have to make something for you!” she said, tears starting to fall from her eyes despite her smile, which was starting to look more and more forced.

“Mei” Izumi said calmly “Are you alright?” she asked sounding worried.

Mei tried her best to look calm, but her tears betrayed her, and she knew it. Within seconds she broke down, leaping forwards and hugging Izumi as she cried “I-I just can't do this. I need to be able to make something to help protect people. I just have to!” she cried “You all got hurt during the USJ, and my parents-. I saw them in the hospital, how broken they were. I don’t want to lose them or anyone, not again. Not again”.

Izumi put her arms around Mei and patted her on the back. She could understand what the normally cheerful girl was going through. She had already lost her birth mother and came dangerously close to losing her new one. It was understandable that she would want to make something to help protect those close to her, which sounded like it included class 1-A.

“Mei, I know you want to help us, but sometimes the best way to help is by not helping” Izumi replied, much to Mei’s surprise “We’re still training to become heroes, so we’re not entirely sure what we can fully do with our quirks or what support equipment we may need. You can’t overload someone with gear, especially if it ends up interfering with their quirk in some way or doesn't mix well with their chosen way of fighting” she said “You wouldn’t give someone like Momo power armour, or Toru a jet pack. They wouldn’t work well with their quirks or their preferred fighting style. But don’t worry, you’ll have your chance to make gear for us, just allow us time to find out what we need, ok?”.

Mei was quiet for a few moments, only making the occasional quiet sob as she thought over what Izumi had told her “Ok” she eventually said, breaking off the hug a few moments later “I’m, sorry about that. I just, couldn’t sit by and let you go into a battle like that again without something to help keep you safe”.

“Hopefully we won't have to,” Izumi said “The pros are looking into it and tracking down those responsible. We shouldn’t have to worry about them”.

Mei nodded as she wiped her tears away “I hope so. I've already lost everything once, I don’t want to go through that again”.

Izumi put her hand on Mei’s shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze “Don’t worry. Snipe and Kaina will be back before you know it”.

Mei nodded “Yeah, yeah they will,” she said with a smile “So, is there anything else you need?”.

“Not at the moment” Izumi replied, shaking her head “I need to get changed out of my gym uniform and head back to the dorm”.

“Ok, I’ll see you later then,” Mei said.

“Yep, I’ll see you later,” Izumi said before she turned and left the workshop.

Once Izumi had left, Mei rushed over to her workbench and removed a cover, revealing a grey half sphere with several wires and lights on it. To anyone else, the half-sphere would have looked unassuming. But those who knew about AI and their development, they would know it for what it really was. An AI core used for making AI’s. It wasn’t a positronic brain so she wasn’t breaking any major laws, and UA students were permitted to develop AIs. But it wasn’t a main part of the curriculum and only third years ever attempted it.

Power Loader was impressed that Mei, a first-year student, was able to develop a fully functional AI within her first week at UA. She was shockingly good with robotics. Kaina was right, Mei was a prodigy when it came to building things.

Mei stroked the AI core affectionately as if it were a pet. She then reached for a rolled-up blueprint and unfolded it, revealing a partially drawn design.

“Alright, Isaac. Let's build you a body”.

Chapter Text

Katsuki sighed as he walked through the forest that surrounded the UA grounds, he needed the fresh air. It had been a week since the USJ attack and things had finally started to calm down. Lessons for 1-B went on as normal, as did the lessons for 1-A, but their sister class seemed different since the attack.

He wasn’t that great with reading people, spending years yelling and people and thinking most of them were looking down at you for just offering to help you would do that to you. But several of his classmates were. Itsuka Kendo, their class representative, especially.

He remembered her remarking about the looks of their eyes, saying that they were different since the USJ. She said some of them even had thousand-yard stares. Something children their age shouldn’t have.

A part of him thought they were weak to be that traumatised by a bunch of shity villains, that if he was there the villains would have stood zero chance. But then he remembered Argonaut was there, that he had killed Thirteen, and slaughtered the villains there. Only two members of the so-called League of Villains survived the attack, the rest being slaughtered by Avalon robots. 1-A got lucky that the two groups were not working together. He doubted even he could have gotten out of that hell unscathed.

He looked down at his hands. Would his explosions even work on them? He didn’t know much about Paxton’s robots, only that they were very hard to bring down. And then there was Argonaut himself, an S-rank villain who was wanted in every country in the world. Yeah, not even he was dumb enough to attack someone that fucking strong. He was strong, yes, but not as strong as the pros, not yet. And definitely not as strong as the one’s Argonaut killed.

He shook his head. He was getting distracted. The sports festival was in a week and everyone was getting ready for it, even 1-A. Of course, he knew he was going to do well, he'd been watching the UA sports festival for as long as Izumi has, so he had a pretty good idea of what was going to happen.

Getting to the third round will be easy, getting first place, however, now that would be a challenge. There are a lot of people in both 1-A and 1-B who had quirks that were either stronger than his or could not be counted by him (Who knew the ability to grow mushrooms could be so fucking terrifying) plus 1-A had already faced a proper villain attack, a very bloody one too. He would have to be careful when he faced them. Although there were other consequences of that attack.

Since 1-A has already faced proper villains, a rift was forming between the two classes. Several members of 1-B thought they were behind 1-A due to them already having faced real villains. But thanks to Itsuka she was able to calm things down. Sadly the same could not be said about the rest of the classes, especially the general education students. Most of the general students he’d talked to thought that the students of 1-A were all glory hounds who had wanted to be attacked by villains so that they could brag about it. Despite there being zero evidence to prove it and that most of them almost died. But, most of them believe otherwise, especially those who had failed to get into the hero course. They were the ones who they were especially going to be wary of.

Then there was Izumi. There was a chance he would have to face off against her during the sports festival, and he didn't want to hurt her again, not after all the pain he's already caused her. Sadly he had no idea how the sports festival would play out, so all he could do was wait until the day of the festival and hope he doesn't face her one on one.

“Would All Might have done what you had done?” was what Isa had asked him during their first season, and it took him longer than he would like to admit to answering it. No. No, All Might wouldn’t have done anything Katsuki had done. He wouldn’t have even thought of it. All Might would not have bullied a quirkless girl.

Katsuki thought of that question every time he thought of Izumi, and what he did to her. How wrong his image of being a hero was, and that his ‘lone wolf’ mentality was going to get him killed one day.

There were other issues as well. His classmate Camie had somehow gravitated to his little friend group with Tetsutetsu and Togaru, although in the latter case, they were only friends because they respected each other's strength and drive. He had no idea why that girl was interested in being friends with him. She was annoying as well, always talking in slang and often not making sense.

A part of him saw this as karma for how he treated Izumi. She wasn't as helpful and supportive as Izumi was, and was more annoying at times. Yet, he didn’t want to treat her like he treated Izumi. He already almost killed one girl through his actions, no way he was going to do that again.

“♪ From the spotlight ♪”
“♪ I can see you ♪”
“♪ Play your cards right ♪”
“♪ Kill your stage fright ♪”
“♪ This could be you ♪”

Singing? Who would be singing all the way out here? Normally he wouldn't be bothered by someone singing, but there was something about the voice that he recognised. Curiosity got the better of him.

“♪ If the whole worlds a stage ♪”
“♪ Let's set it on fire ♪”
“♪ So you be the spy ♪”
“♪ And I'll be the liar ♪”

'What kind of song is this, a James Bond song?' he thought as he walked closer and closer to the singing. The voice getting clearer and clearer as he approached.

“♪ From the background ♪”
“♪ You can hear me ♪”
“♪ Highest billing ♪”
“♪ Makes a killing ♪”
“♪ They revear me ♪”

Wait, that's Izumi's voice. She was singing! Katsuki increased his pace, he hadn't heard her sing since halfway through the first year of Aldera.

He came to a stop before a small clearing. Standing in the middle was Izumi, singing whilst that robot wolf of hers sat nearby, playing the background music for her. He had forgotten how good of a singer she was, the best singer in all of Aldera for that matter. She had such a beautiful singing voice, something even old him recognised. But, no one, himself included, cared about that. All they saw was a quirkless girl who was showing off a talent they all sucked at. Even the music teacher kept pulling her down, telling her off just for being better than everyone else, and even banning her from singing at school.

“♪ That beautiful mask you wear ♪”
“♪ Is all I desire ♪”
“♪ So you be the spy ♪”
“♪ And I'll be the liar ♪”

He hid behind a nearby tree and listened to her sing. It was too early in his mind for them to speak again, and he didn't want her to realise that she had an audience. Sadly, despite acknowledging how good she was at singing, even he joined in on telling her to stop. Back then, he saw anything she was good at as a way for her to look down on him, and he didn't like her being better than him, even if it was for something he didn't give a shit about, like singing.

“♪ Face to ♪”
“♪ Face to ♪”
“♪ Face again ♪”

“♪ And through the camera lens we ascend ♪”

“♪ You're a minor part ♪”
“♪ I'm the major star ♪”
“♪ Ha! ♪”
“♪ The credits are more than just the end ♪”

He couldn't help but feel confused by the song she was singing. It was unlike her to sing something with lyrics like that. It felt wrong somehow like she was singing a song more appropriate for a villain. Was this because of the damage he had done to her? Did he change her somehow?

“♪ ‘Causе the truth is ♪”
“♪ I despise you ♪”
“♪ I will tear apart ♪”
“♪ All these works of art ♪”
“♪ That disguise you ♪”

Katsuki frowned. Whilst he knew those were the lyrics for the song, he couldn't help but feel hurt by them, like she was saying them directly to him. Was there a part of her, deep down inside that despised him? After all the things he did to her, he was sure there was. Who wouldn't despise him after all the things he did to her, just for being born without a quirk?

“♪ I’m makin’ the final cut ♪”
“♪ It’s down to the wire ♪”
“♪ So you’ll be the spy ♪”
“♪ And I’ll be the liar ♪”

“♪ And I’ll be the liar ♪”

“♪ And I’ll be the liar ♪”

“♪ And I'll be the liar! ♪”

Katsuki couldn't help but smile as she finished her song. He couldn't see her face due to her facing away from him, but he could tell she was happy. She was always a good singer, but Aldera always made her suppress her talents, something he aided in. He was wondering why she was singing all the way out here, away from everyone else, but he guessed it was because of what happened to her. She was scared of others hearing her sing, so she was doing so in private. He couldn't blame her, being told you were banned from singing at school for three years can do that to a person.

Seriously, how the fuck were they allowed to get away with that crap for so long?

He decided to wait for them to leave before moving, as he didn't want to alert them to his presence. He still wasn’t ready to apologise to her, and if he did make himself known it might scare her off. Which was the last thing he wanted to do.

“That was impressive Izumi,” Izumi's robot wolf said as he got up “You only heard that song a few times and already you've mastered it”.

“What can I say?” Izumi said calmly “I've always been a fast learner”.

“That you are,” the robot wolf said “Beautiful too. And yes, despite being a homicidal robot I can appreciate beauty. Just not physical beauty. I don't find you beautiful, but your singing I do”.

Izumi smiled, something Katsuki thought he would never see again “Thank you, Durandal. Now come on, let's get back to the dorm,” she said before they started to walk off, only for another student, a tall young man with long white hair, blue eyes, and whose entire body seemed to be sparkling, to appear out of nowhere and stood in front of them making a fabulous pose.

“Excuse me young lady, but you wouldn't happen to be the owner of that gorgeous voice that was singing right now?” the boy asked with a smile.

Izumi looked at the boy with a very confused look on her face. “Eh, yes,” she replied. There wasn't much use in lying since she was the only one out here anyway. She just hoped that he wouldn't be mad about her singing in school.

“Magnificent!” the boy said before he took Izumi's hand “Follow me!” he said before he rushed off with Izumi in tow. Durandal quickly followed behind them, rushing after his master.

Katsuki could only watch as another student dragged her away, left wondering what the fuck just happened. Well, at least he knew the robot's name now, Durandal. And if the rumours about him were right, he had an Alpha-level intelligence. But how did Izumi get her hands on a robot like that? They are impossible to acquire after all. Whatever the reason was, there was no way she was going to tell him. She didn't owe him anything after all, not now, not after all the shit he put her through.

With a sigh, he turned and walked back the way he came, unaware that he wasn't the only one who had been listening to Izumi sing.

Ochaco peeked out from behind another tree and watched Katsuki as he walked away, with a scowl on her face.

Meanwhile

When Izumi was surprised that another student had heard her singing, after making sure that no one was around to hear her, she expected to be told off and told not to do it again. She did not expect them to be excited and to drag her away without giving her a word in edgewise. By the time they stopped she was feeling very dizzy, but retained enough of her senses to know where they were. The dorm for general studies class 3-E. Why the hell did this flamboyant boy bring her here?

“Monzaemon!” the boy said as he dragged Izumi into the dorm, pausing in the middle of the hall in another fabulous pose “I have brought someone to speak to you”.

It was then that Durandal barged in through the door “For the last time why did you drag Izumi away like that?!” he asked loudly, causing the boy who brought her here to sweat.

All of the 3-E students who were in the dorm were looking at them with confused looks on their faces. One of them, a boy whose head was bobbing around like a bobblehead, with black hair and brown eyes, had an annoyed expression on his face “God damn it, Razan” he murmured before he walked over to them, his head bobbing around as he walked “Razan, why have you brought one of the first year support students here?”.

“Eh, actually, I'm a first-year hero course student” Izumi corrected as Durandal walked up beside her “Durandal here is my support equipment”.

“Apologies,” the bobblehead boy said “Allow me to reiterate. Razan, why have you brought one of the first-year hero course students here?”.

“Because she has such a gorgeous singing voice” the flamboyant boy replied, making another fabulous pose “Perfect for our little project”.

Izumi could only stare in bewilderment “Eh, what?”.

The bobblehead boy sighed “I'm sorry about him. He's rather excited about the film project we're working on. I'm Monzaemon Uno. You can probably guess what my quirk is” he said pointing towards his bobbing head “And the glittering guy who brought you here is Razan Waki”.

“Greetings!” Razan added with a smile, posing fabulously.

“Ok,” Izumi said nervously “I’m, Izumi Midoriya, from class one-A. May I ask why I was brought here?”.

“Because we require you to sing for us!” Razan replied flamboyantly.

“What?” Izumi asked, sounding confused. Why would someone want her to sing?

“Allow me to explain” Monzaemon replied “Because it's our last year here we plan on doing a short film for this year's UA School Festival, and Razan here is in charge of the opening credits. Since it's a film we need to start working on it early. It's still in the early production stage but-” he said before Razan jumped in between them and struck another pose.

“But we require someone with a beautiful singing voice to sing the song for the opening credits,” Razan said as his body glittered and sparkled “And I believe you are perfect for the role”.

Izumi looked at him nervously “Ur, are you sure you think so? Because no one's been impressed by my singing before. I was actually banned from singing at my old middle school”.

“Nonsense! That voice of yours is perfect, magnificent, might I even say the best in the entire school!” Razan said striking another flamboyant pose “It's a travesty to the musical arts for such talent to be suppressed. Your teachers must not have known what good singing was or was tone-deaf to ban you from displaying such a wonderful talent. A voice like yours must be allowed to be heard, and it shall!” he said before he put an arm around Izumi “Just picture it. The movie begins, you are standing centre stage in a large theatre in a magnificent green dress-”.

“I thought the dress was going to be yellow?” a girl with long blue hair that covered her eyes asked as she walked over.

“Are you Crazy?” Razan said with a shocked look on his face “A girl with green hair and eyes wearing a yellow dress? No no no, those colours do not mix! The dress will be green to match her hair”.

The long-haired girl sighed, and her hair changed colour to yellow “Alright, I'll go make the change, but only if she agrees to take part in this. No point in changing something for someone if they're not going through with it”.

“Agreed” Razan said “Now, as I was saying. You are standing centre stage in a large theatre in a magnificent green dress in front of a massive audience. Then you begin to sing, the camera moving gracefully around you, occasionally cutting to an aerial dogfight between two biplanes and switching between the two as the song continues in a beautiful but sad symphony. Then, just as the song ends, one of the biplanes is shot down and falls from the sky before transitioning back to you, finishing the song and bowing as the audience cheers for you”.

“Eh, ok,” Izumi said, still not really sure what was going on. She understood a bit about what they wanted, the massive audience was probably going to be CGI or something like that. But seriously, why did they want her to sing? She wasn’t that good at it.

“So, what do you say, Izumi?” Razan said with a smile “Would you like to appear in our movie?”.

It was then that Chiharu barged into the dorm “OK! Who’s trying to make a business contract with my client?” she asked loudly, which caused Razan to jump and collapse onto the floor.

“Client?” Monzaemon said looking confused.

“Yes, client,” Chiharu said as she walked over “I’m Izumi’s manager. First-year management course student Chiharu Kizuki”.

“Eh, sure,” Monzaemon said “Don’t management students only get involved with hero course students during their third year?”.

“We do,” Chiharu replied “I just dibsed Izumi early. Now spill, what kind of deal are you trying to make with her?”.

“Chiharu, what are you even doing?” Izumi asked.

“I called her here,” Durandal replied, “Thought you could use the help”.

“Yep. I’m here to make sure you don’t make any poor business decisions” Chiharu added with a smile “Trust me, one of the first things we learned was the importance of proper hero management, which included don’t let them make business decisions by themselves, they rarely end well” she said “Seriously, we had to sit through a half-hour presentation on heroes who made bad or unadvised business agreements. Some were just minor issues like an unfair payout or the hero being forever embarrassed by the end result. But in some cases, they ended up screwing them over badly”.

“Oh,” Izumi said, remembering several pro heroes finding their careers coming to an end due to bad business decisions “I’ll keep that in mind”.

“Good,” Chiharu said before turning to Monzaemon and Razan “Now then, what are you guys planning?”.

“We’re making a movie for the UA School Festival” Monzaemon replied “And Razan here wants Izumi to sing the song for the opening titles”.

“You can sing?” Chiharu asked, looking surprised.

“Well, yes” Izumi replied, “But I’m not really good at it”.

“Nonsense my dear!” Razan interjected, striking a fabulous pose “I have said this before, but your voice is magnificent! You have a natural talent for singing”.

“Y-you think so?” Izumi said with a slight blush.

“Trust me, Razan is a connoisseur of the arts when it comes to music,” Monzaemon said “But, I’d rather not just take his word on it. So before we can even consider asking you to do this for us, we are going to have to ask you to sing. But I won't force you if you don't want to”.

Izumi was about to say no, but something stopped her. The sports festival was getting closer and closer by the day, and whilst she did have a few ideas for what she was going to say, she still wasn’t ready for it. She was still scared of public speaking, but it was something she had to get used to quickly. She didn’t want to make a scene, but neither did she want to relinquish the task to someone else, because it was highly likely that the person who got second would do it if she didn’t want to. That would mean Katsuki, and she had a sinking feeling that he would just flat-out say that he was going to win.

She felt a fire light up inside of her. No, she wasn’t going to play second fiddle to Katsuki any more. She was done with that part of her life. She was going to show him that she wasn’t a weak, useless Deku anymore. She was going to get up on that stage, make one hell of a speech, and win the sports festival.

Wait, why does she suddenly have a mental image of what looked like eight people roasting marshmallows around her metaphorical fire?

“Hey, it’s not often we get campfires down here!”.

Izumi decided to ignore the voice in her head. She could deal with those later if she could find out who’s making them.

“I’ll give it a shot,” Izumi said, trying to hold in her nerves. If she could sing in front of a small group of complete strangers, then hopefully she could make a speech in front of thousands of people, with millions more across Japan watching over the TV. And maybe trillions more watching from all over the world.

Ah, that’s a bit more than twenty people, but it was a start.

“Magnificent!” Razan said “I will get things ready so that the rest of the class can witness your beautiful performance-” he said before something started ringing.

“Sorry. Someone’s calling me” Izumi said as she got out her phone and answered the call “Hello”.

“Hello, this is Doctor Kudo Akeno of Musutafu general hospital,” a male voice said over the phone “Is this Izumi Midoriya I’m speaking to”.

“Yes, yes it is,” Izumi replied, sounding worried. Why was a doctor calling her?

“Ah, that’s good,” Doctor Kudo said. What he said next would cause Izumi’s heart to sink “I’m afraid to report that there’s been an incident involving your mother”.

Earlier that day.

Inko smiled as she walked home, thankful that her Izumi was doing well at UA. She was glad she was finally at a school that treated her well. Whilst Nabu was better, they only treated her slightly better and she only made two friends. But now her daughter had friends, a class full of them in fact. She couldn't help but smile at the way her daughter's life had turned around for the best. She needed this lucky break.

It felt lonely without her daughter around. She called often enough, yes, and never missed any of the calls with her father, but it was still so lonely being all by herself. She didn't have a job, Hisashi's work provided enough to let them live comfortably, but, maybe she should think about getting a part-time job, nothing too big, just something to get a little bit more income and make her more active.

But today she was extra happy because Hisashi was coming home today. It had been years since she last saw her husband in person, and she’d been waiting for this day for almost a year. And now he was finally home. Izumi was going to be over the moon when she saw him.

Oh, the ‘reunion’ she was going to have with Hisashi was going to be delightful.

“Eri!” a voice to her side suddenly shouted before something collided with her leg.

She looked down quickly. There was a small girl by her leg, with long pale blue-grey hair, red eyes and a single horn on the right side of her head. She was only wearing a plain, short-sleeved dress and had bandages on both of her arms and legs. There was also a small cut on her left cheek, a fresh one too.

She was about to ask if the young girl was ok, but the horn on her head suddenly started to glow. Inko let out a yelp of surprise as she fell back, landing on her rear as the world around her glowed.

“Not my curse” the young girl cried as her horn continued to glow. Suddenly her eyes widened in surprise and her horn stopped glowing, freezing in place. She looked paralysed.

Inko quickly got up and checked on her, not noticing that her hands were now slightly thinner. “Are you ok?” she asked, sounding worried.

“Eri!” the voice from before shouted again. Inko looked up to see a boy about Izumi's age limp out of the passageway, and was shocked by how many knives the boy was carrying on him and, was that a sword? He was holding his left shoulder which looked to be bleeding and was holding a knife with a small slither of blood on it.

The boy had long messy black hair and red eyes. His clothing looked more like a hodgepodge of torn and blood-stained clothing that had been pulled out of the trash, with a harness carrying all of his bladed weaponry “Shit. Don't worry, she's fine. I just had to use my quirk to parallelize her” he said as he limped over to them “Lady, you have to get her out of here, now-”.

“There you are you little shits,” a chilling-sounding voice said from the passageway.

“Fuck!” The boy cursed as he turned and drew one of his blades, standing defiantly in front of both Inko and the girl, all while a shadowy figure walked towards them from the passageway.

Inko watched as the figure approached, a bald man wearing a fine white two-piece suit and a white plague mask that covered his face. There was a knife embedded deep into his chest, but it wasn’t bleeding. In fact, he didn’t seem to even register that he had been stabbed.

“Oh dear, a bystander. And here I was hoping I wouldn't need to shred too much blood today, but, no witnesses mean no witnesses” he said as he pulled a switchblade out of his suit sleeve.

“I won't let you take Eri back you yakuza bastard!” the boy shouted before he collapsed onto his knee “Damn it!”.

The man laughed “Your weak boy, weak and tired. You can't even stand, let alone fight. You both will die, and I will return my boss' property to him”.

Inko's eyes widened in shock. Property! Was that all this girl was to him, property? And he was willing to kill to get her back! No, not this was not right. No one, not even a child, is someone's property.

“Inko. Please, don't let him take me” the young girl cried, still unable to move but with tears falling from her eyes “Don’t let the bad voices take me back”.

Inko scowled, her motherly instincts taking over. She had failed as a mother before, allowing her daughter to suffer and almost take her own life. And now, there were two children before her with a man threatening to kill one of them and take the other away.

She was not going to fail again!

She reached out with her quirk, grabbed the man's penis, and pulled, hard! He made a satisfyingly loud squeak as he froze on the spot. Good, she’s got his undivided attention.

“You listen to me!” Inko growled, staring at the man before her with hate-filled eyes as she continued to tug at his privates “You are going to turn around and be somewhere else! And if you or anyone else ever comes back to harm either of these children, then consider your testiculate privileges revoked!”.

The man, who was squeaking in pain, nodded quickly. Releasing her quirk on the man's privates, he turned around and ran. Dropping his knife as he ran off into the shadows like the vermin he was.

Inko wasted no time in quickly moving both children so that they were leaning against a wall. She then tore off a bit of the boy's clothing and tied it around his bleeding shoulder. Once that was done, she got out her phone and called the police, telling them everything that had happened and where they were.

Once that was done she started treating the young girl, but there was something that confused her. The girl called her by name. How did she know that?

She could worry about that later because right now, this girl was in no shape to answer any question. So, whilst she waited for the cops or a hero to arrive, she did her best to make sure she was ok.

As she did so, the boy watched her with a smile on his face. This woman may not have been a hero, but she acted like a true hero today. If only there were more heroes like her out there, then he wouldn't have had to kill so many of them.

Although she could tone it down with the removal of testicular privileges.

Chapter Text

“MOTHER!” Izumi ran into Musutafu general hospital, Durandal rushing in beside her. Blossom calmly followed the panicked girl inside, having come along for security reasons.

Izumi was in a panic. All she had been told was that her mother had been involved in a villain attack and that whilst she was physically fine, she was admitted to Musutafu general hospital due to complications. But she wasn’t told what those complications were.

She hadn’t said no to 3-E’s offer to sing for the opening titles, just postponed the audition for a bit. She’ll get back to them at a later date, this was a family emergency.

“Izumi, please. Calm yourself” Kantō said gently, placing a hand on the worried girl's shoulder “I’m sure your mother is fine *cough* *cough*”.

Izumi shivered “You don’t know that. They didn’t tell me what happened to her”.

“Maybe they didn’t tell you because the situation is still developing *cough* *cough* or they’re not sure what happened,” Kantō said “I’m sure you’ll find out what happened to her in due time. But you can’t just *cough* *cough* rush in there. You may cause more harm than good”.

Izumi turned towards Kantō. She knew what the hero was saying was true, but still, she still worried about her mother. Especially after what happened at the USJ. She did kick the League's leader, well, who she thought was the leader, in the face. So when she heard her mother was involved in a villain attack she feared that the League were behind the attack.

If her mother died because of her actions, she would never forgive herself.

“Come now, Izumi. I will escort you to your mother” Kantō said gently.

Izumi took a few deep breaths to calm herself down “Thank you”.

Kantō proceeded to escort Izumi and Durandal to the room where Inko was resting, but her desire to see her mother made her anxious. So when the door came into view, she left Kantō’s side “Mother!” she said as she barged into the room and quickly turned towards her mother, laying in bed in a medical gown and, looking different. What!?

She wasn’t short or ‘plump’ as her father liked to call her. Instead, she was now tall and slim and lacked many of the wrinkles she used to have. She looked younger.

“Mother?” Izumi said, shocked by her mother's sudden change of appearance.

“Izumi,” Inko said with a relieved smile. Even her voice sounded younger, “I’m glad to see you are alright”.

“Yeah, same for your” Izumi said as she walked over to the bed and sat on it beside her mother “What happened to you?”.

“I got younger” Inko replied “I was affected by a quirk that made me younger by about a decade”.

Izumi’s eyes went wide. A quirk made her mother younger? This was both very interesting and terrifying. Such a quirk could turn someone into a baby, or worse.

“Well, it is good to see that you *cough* *cough* are in good health,” Kantō said “I am the pro hero Blossom, but you can call me Kantō Izu *cough* *cough*. I’m a teacher at UA”.

“A teacher?” Inko said looking surprised “Well, I’m glad you came here. But it wasn’t really necessary”.

“As that may be. Izumi would not have been allowed to leave UA without a pro hero to accompany them. For security reasons” Kantō said.

“I see,” Inko said “Well, I’m glad that you and the rest of the UA staff are looking after her”.

Kantō nodded, smiling behind her mask. Ah, the joys of motherhood, such a wonderful experience. It was just a shame it was something she could never experience herself. “We are teachers. It is our job to ensure our students are safe. So, would you be able to tell us what happened?”.

“I’ll try” Inko replied before she explained everything that happened to her during the attack. Having a young girl run into her and accidentally used her quirk, before being paralysed by a young boy around Izumi’s age, then a man with a plague mask appeared threatening to kill them and take the girl away, and how she had threatened to castrate the man. That got a confused look from Izumi. She also said that the girl knew her name “After I called the police the boy told me the girl was called Eri, and that her quirk allowed her to rewind people to a previous state. He put a lot of emphasis on making people younger. It was only after that did I realise that I myself was younger” she explained “The doctors aren’t really sure how this happened and are running tests just to be sure”.

“So the boy had some kind of paralysis quirk whilst the girl had some form of de-ageing quirk” Izumi muttered, writing down notes in a notebook “The girl had a cut cheek and the boy had blood on his knife, but it clearly didn’t come from the man because he wasn’t bleeding despite having a knife in his chest. Did the boy deliberately cut the girl's cheek? If he did, why? Does his quirk require him to consume the blood of someone to paralyse someone?” she muttered before a dark thought crossed her mind. She had heard of an ability that sounded very similar to what she just described. From witness testimonies of pro heroes who sustained career-ending injuries at the hands of one man.

She looked up at her mother. The young girl had made her mother younger by an unknown number of years, but by the sounds of things, she wasn’t the only one affected.

“You ok Izumi?” Inko asked, sounding worried.

“What. Oh yes, I’m fine” Izumi replied, “I’m just worried about your mother. You got attacked and I was worried it was a member of the league out for revenge. I just, don’t want to lose you”.

Inko smiled as she rested a hand on Izumi's shoulder “Don’t worry dear, I’ll be fine. That man didn’t even lay a finger on me”.

“That’s because you threatened to rip his testicles off,” Durandal remarked “Seriously, what do you have against testicles?”.

“Nothing,” Inko replied with a smile “Anyway, Izumi I can assure you. I’m fine. You won't be losing me any time soon. I’ll make sure of it, right, Hisashi?”.

Izumi's eyes went as wide as they could. She slowly turned her head around towards the door, spotting a man with short fluffy red hair with freckles on his face, wearing a black shirt, thick brown trousers and black boots, standing in the doorway.

The man smiled “Hey girls. Did I miss anything?”.

Izumi’s face instantly lit up “Father!” she said as she lept forwards, arms outstretched as hug-tackled her father “It’s so good to see you”.

Hisashi smiled as he scooped up his daughter “It’s good to see you as well, Izumi” he said with a smile “I’m sorry that I couldn’t have been here when you needed me the most”.

Izumi smiled as tears formed around her eyes “It’s ok, Father. I’m just glad that you're here now” she said. She loved her father, he was always supportive of her no matter what happened. Every day since the incident he sent her an email with words of encouragement, as well as special gifts to help her feel better. He was over the moon (almost literally) when he found out that she had gotten onto the hero course.

“That I am,” Hisashi said, even if it was only for a week, seeing his daughter in person always made his day brighter. He looked up at Inko, who was smiling as well. “So, you look to have lost some weight,” he said, sounding slightly disappointed. She looked younger, yes, but she wasn’t as cuddly as she was before.

“I believe I’ve lost more than just weight, dear” Inko replied “If the doctors are right, I’ve gotten younger by approximately a decade”.

“A decade huh,” Hisashi remarked “Well, I'd ask if I could lose a few years as well. But I feel like that would be a bad idea”.

Inko nodded “I was told that the girl who did this has very little control over her quirk. I was lucky that I only lost a decade,” she said, “I’m more worried about the two children who were there. Eri looked so scared, and the boy was bleeding badly”.

“I’m sure they're fine,” Hisashi said. “There at the hospital as well, aren’t they?” he asked, getting a nod from Inko “Then I’m sure they're fine. Right Izumi?”.

Izumi nodded. She was still worried about the boy who was involved in the attack. She had a theory, but she’d need to meet the boy, just to confirm it. She was just glad her mother was alright.

Hisashi smiled before he turned towards Durandal “Glad to see you still around looking after my daughter”

Durandal nodded “I haven’t left her side since we met,” he said before an alarm sounded throughout the hospital

“Attention patients and staff. A villain attack is currently underway nearby. All patients are advised to remain inside and away from the windows” a voice said before there was an almighty crash outside.

“That’s a bit too close to call it nearby. That's right on their front door” Hisashi remarked before he turned towards Inko “You sure you’ll be alright here?”.

Inko smiled “I'll be fine. It's Izumi that you should be worried about”.

Hisashi smiled as he looked to where his daughter should be, and found her gone “Of course” he said before he looked over towards a window, noticing that Izumi had her face pressed up against the window, looking outside at the fight going on outside.

Down on street level, the hero Death Arms was fighting a villain with grey skin and wearing a tattered cloth mask, a red scarf, baggy pants, and four large ethereal fists. Death Arms sidekicks were keeping people back.

Izumi frowned, she recognized that attire. It was a Stain fanatic, someone who claimed to follow the hero killer Stain in his ‘crusade’ against false heroes. Unfortunately, these fanatics act nothing like the hero killer and just go about trying to kill every pro hero and sidekick they find.

Unfortunately for Death Arms, the villain’s ethereal fists were not constrained by arms, so he had to deal with not only the villain’s normal fists but also four ethereal fists punching him from random angels. Suffice to say, Death Arms was getting overwhelmed. And anyone who went to try and help him punched away.

“Is this really the best you got!” the villain shouted, throwing fist after fist at Death Arms “And here I thought you were supposed to be strong!” he shouted before he smashed all four of his ethereal fists into Death Arms, sending the hero into and through a truck before smashing into a wall.

Izumi gasped. Whilst she wasn’t a big fan of Death Arms after what happened with the sludge villain, he was still a pro hero. She quickly turned towards Kantō, who was standing beside her “Can’t you do something to help him?”.

Kantō turned her head towards Izumi “I already have”.

Back on the street, Death Arms groaned as he tried to pull himself out of the wall he was punched into, all the while the villain approached him “Face it, your dead fake!” the villain taunted as he approached “Maybe you should pray for a young girl to come to do your job-” he said before someone high-kicked him in the head and sent him stumbling away.

“Well, haven’t you been naughty~?” a haughty voice said seductively.

The villain quickly recovered and looked up at the new threat, and instantly blushed.

Before him stood a curvaceous woman with a body on par with Midnight. She had black hair and brown eyes and was wearing a white bunny girl outfit, with dark grey stockings, black high heel shoes, and a white half-face bunny mask.

There was also the whip she was holding, just putting that out there.

“W-who the fuck are you?” the villain demanded with a slight blush on his face.

The newcomer smiled seductively “You can call me, Bunny~” she replied as she cracked her whip against the ground. She then flicked her whip forwards, coiling it around the man's neck. With a powerful tug, she brought it back, pulling the villain down onto the ground hard “Now be a good boy and stay down~”.

The villain, to the shock of everyone else present, complied. His four ethereal fists disappeared as he put his hands on his head.

Bunny smirked as she reduced the tension around the villain’s neck and pulled the whip away, just as two of Death Arms’ sidekicks rushed up to apprehend him. Once the man was restrained, Bunny moved over to Death Arms and helped him out of the wall.

“Thanks,” Death Arms said as he was pulled out of the wall, with a slight blush on his face.

Bunny gave him a seductive smirk “No problem~. Just helping a fellow hero out~” she cooed before she turned and walked off towards one of the barricades, where a large group of reporters had gathered, swaying her hips seductively “I’ll deal with the media~. No doubt they're dying to get to know me a bit more~”.

“Yeah, sure,” Death Arms said, his blush a lot more noticeable ‘Looks like Midnight has some competition’.

Meanwhile, back in the hospital, Izumi was both intrigued and blushing like mad. A new hero just debuted, and she was interested to see what the woman's quirk was. But then there was the woman's costume and attitude, which was just as bad as Midnight.

She was also not considering asking the support department to develop a bunny suit version of her hero costume, nope, totally not considering that.

She was kind of disappointed that she didn’t see the new hero’s quirk in action, plus, due to the distance, she didn’t know her hero name. But that could be solved easily by watching the news report of the fight later.

She was also in a unique position to see something everyone else missed, a small swarm of black cherry blossom flying past and depositing the bunny girl hero discreetly on a nearby roof. That was interesting. That meant that Kantō not only knew this new hero but also had her on standby, probably on Nezu’s orders. She’d have to ask about her later. Plus there was something familiar about the women. Like she’d seen her somewhere before.

“So, anything interesting happening down there?” Hisashi asked, having stayed beside Inko.

“Yep!” Izumi replied, turning around with a smile on her face and causing her to forget about her previous musing “A new hero just debuted! I don’t know her name and I didn’t see her use her quirk. But I can look into her more later”.

“That’s good to hear,” Hisashi said with a smile as he ruffled his daughter's hair.

Kantō smiled behind her mask as she made her way towards the door “I’ll leave you three to get cached up” she said as she walked out, waiting for the door to close before speaking again “It seems our new friend has taken to the hero business quite well”.

“Quite so,” Nezu said, smiling as he stood beside the door “She’s still going to need some more training, but, now that she’s made her debut we can have her sign onto UA’s hero refresher program,” he said, “You know, she’s a lot like you in a way”.

Kantō chuckled as she crouched down to allow Nezu to jump onto her shoulder “Come now Nezu. You of all people should *cough* *cough* know that I am nothing like her”.

“Quite so,” Nezu said as he made himself comfortable on her shoulder. Once secure Kantō walked off towards the secure wing of the hospital. The principal of unusual size was here to visit two rather interesting young individuals.

Normally he wouldn’t be interested in two victims of a minor villain attack, but Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi had called him about two young children who worried him. They worried him a lot. And after Naomasa told Nezu about them, the principal was worried.

Their first stop was the young girl, Eri. There were some confusing reports regarding the girl and he wanted to see her himself to confirm a few things.

Eri had been put into a private room, which had two people standing outside, a police officer and Shota Aizawa.

Kantō nodded her head as she approached, walking up to Shota and allowing Nezu to leap onto the tired man’s shoulder.

“Thank you Kantō,” Nezu said with a smile.

“You're welcome” Kantō replied “Now if you can excuse me, I have to return to my charges. I will see you when we return to the school,” she said before she turned and walked back to Inko’s room.

“So, shall we?” Nezu said with a smile.

Shota nodded before they entered the room, finding the young girl Eri laying back in bed.

“Greetings Eri” Nezu said as they entered the room “Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear?”.

“Nezu” Eri replied quietly, but her mouth did not move “Your Nezu, Principal of UA,” she said before shifting her focus to Shota “And he’s Shota Aizawa. The pro hero Eraserhead”.

Nezu smiled whilst Shota remained indifferent “Yes, indeed I am. How did you know that?”.

“The voices told me” Eri replied quietly, once more her mouth did not move, yet Nezu and Shota could hear her speak “I hear them, always. They tell me people's names, what they're thinking, what they're going to do. How they're going to hurt me” she cried as all the objects in the room started to rattle.

“And, what are these voices telling you now?” Nezu asked with a smile.

“Pain, people are in pain. But no one wants to harm them” Eri replied as the objects settled down “That there are people who want to make them stop feeling that pain. That they want to heal everyone. That you want to help me”.

“That’s good to hear,” Nezu said “This is a hospital, people do get better here. You have no need to fear the staff here,” he said with a friendly smile “So, how long have you been hearing these voices?”.

“I’ve always heard them. Even before my, curse came in” Eri replied.

Nezu frowned. She called her quirk a curse, meaning she had a negative view of it. That was not a healthy view to have. He’d have to fix that if he had any hope of helping this girl control her powers. But, to be able to read minds from the get-go, was concerning.

They had already been informed by Naomasa that Eri showed signs of severe abuse, and was also somehow able to not only read people's minds but also showed being able to use telekinesis as well and communicate via telepathy. And this was on top of being able to rewind people. She was shockingly powerful but lacked any sort of control over her quirk. There was also something else that was concerning.

Nezu and Shota quickly shared a glance before Shota activated Erasure “And now?”.

“You're trying to see if you can silence the voices. But you can’t” Eri replied “No one can. I’ve tried and tried but I can’t silence them” She shivered, as the objects in the room shuddered once more.

Nezu nodded as Shota deactivated Erasure. So the detective was right, her telepathy and telekinesis aren’t quirks. It should have been obvious that they weren’t since she said she was born able to read people's minds, but it was always good to double-check. This was a confusing conundrum. There were plenty of people out there in the world who could easily do what Eri was doing right now, but those were still quirks, they could still be deactivated by quirk nullification tech or Erasure. And yet, Eri was still able to access those abilities, even when under the effects of something that should stop her. Which was probably for the best, since telepathy seemed to be her only means of communication.

Eri was an anomaly, her abilities defied all logic. Her rewind ability was clearly a quirk, but the telepathy, mind reading and telekinesis weren’t. So many questions and no one to ask them. And he doubted Eri had the answers he wanted. But, if word of her got out, then there would be a large number of groups who would want to get their hands on her. Groups like RAFT or the League of Villains. He will need to keep this girl safe.

Luckily, he knew exactly how. But first, he will need to get her out of here, which won't be difficult. Making her a ward of UA is a trivial thing, finding someone to look after her, however, will be difficult.

An idea entered his head. It could work, but he would have to be careful about it, plus he needed more information about Eri and the other boy. But, it would work.

“You think Inko will be a good choice for someone to look after me,” Eri said quietly “But why, why do you want to help me? I’m, cursed”.

Nezu smiled. Eri was very observant, probably from having to shift through people's thoughts all the time to make sense of them. He wondered, what else did she know about those around her?

“Eri” Nezu said softly “You have an incredible gift. You have a powerful quirk, as well as other powerful abilities. But, I can see that you have been through some terrible ordeals,” he said “I know what it’s like to be experimented on, to be treated as nothing more than a lab rat in some mad man's pet project. But, you're away from those responsible for what happened to you, and, if you want to, I can take you somewhere where you will be safe. So, what do you say?”.

“Yes” Eri replied quickly, but Nezu could tell that she had already known what he was going to ask her and had already made her decision but had waited for him to finish before replying “But only if Inko is the one to look after me. Her voices are kind and caring”.

‘She’s smart too’ Nezu thought as he nodded “I’ll see what I can do” he said with a smile “It’ll take time, but I can assure you, you will be completely safe here” he said “Now, I need to speak to a few other people, but I will be back soon” he said before

“Don’t be too harsh on Chizome,” Eri said just as they were about to leave “I, wouldn’t be here without him”.

Chizome, Chizome Akaguro, also known as the hero killer, stain. Who was currently 15 years old and resting in a nearby and more secure room. No doubt he came under the effect of Eri’s quirk. He already knew Stains' story, but he would like to hear it for himself.

“Don’t worry, Eri, I will be lenient to him,” Nezu said before they left the room and headed towards their next destination.

Chizome’s room was a lot more secure than Eri’s room, with two armed police officers standing outside. No one from Tartarus, since he wanted to try something first before informing them that Stain had been apprehended.

One of the officers nodded as they approached, unlocking the door and opening it for them. Inside lay a 15-year-old Stain, wearing a medical gown and handcuffed to the hospital bed he was in. There was also another officer inside, armed as well. Despite looking young, Chizome was still a dangerous killer.

Chizome eyes glared towards them as they walked in “Nezu” he growled.

“Ah, so you know who I am,” Nezu said with a smile “Well, that makes things easier for us. Now, should I call you Stain, or Chizome?”.

Chizome maintained eye contact with Nezu “Stain. Who’s the hero with you?”.

“I’m Eraserhead. I’m an underground hero” Shota replied.

“An underground hero,” Stain said with a smile “I respect your lot more than the others. Undergrounds by nature don’t seek the limelight, focusing their efforts on helping people instead of seeking glory”.

“Yes. And that includes taking down villains like you” Shota said with a scowl.

Stain smiled even more “And I expect nothing less from you,” he said “So, what brings the principle of UA here?”.

“Argonaut,” Nezu replied.

Stain frowned, “I am nothing like that murder” he growled with murderous intent.

“No, you are not,” Nezu said “But, you are the only person I know of who fought Arganort to a standstill, and survived”.

Stain looked surprised. “How did you know that?” he asked “There were no witnesses, no security cameras. We were fighting underground for crying out loud. No one could have seen or known about that fight”.

“And yet, I do,” Nezu said with a smile “Do you want to know how I know about the fight?” he asked. Stain nodded quickly “It’s quite simple really, I’m the principal”.

Everyone else in the room groaned. Nezu was not good with jokes, especially when he reused the same joke over and over again.

Stain shook his head “If you want me to fight Argonaut that may be a problem. I’m not as old as I used to be” he said, looking down at his body “This body I’m in now is not as strong or as developed as it was when I fought Argonaut two years ago. Even with my quirk, I would not survive a second encounter with the man in my current state. And yes, I am aware that he was involved in the USJ attack and was the one who killed Thirteen. I had great respect for her, she used such a destructive quirk to save people. She was a true hero”.

“Well, that is unfortunate,” Nezu said “You were affected by Eri’s quirk, weren’t you? How did you come across her?”.

“I already gave the police my statement” Stain responded calmly.

“I know that,” Nezu said with a smile “I want to hear it from you”.

Stain sighed “It started about a month ago. I was hunting the pro hero Break Down, who was using his status to help smuggle Trigger into the country. I caught him when he was meeting with his contact, and attacked,” he said, no point sugar-coating what he had done. He was an honest man, unlike the many fakes out there “His contact shot me, but it was an odd sort of bullet that hit me. It didn’t even penetrate. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but as the fight went only, I quickly realised that my quirk wasn’t working. After I killed Break Down I confronted the smuggler and made him talk about the bullet. He said it was a quirk erasure bullet, designed to temporarily remove someone's quirk. After I killed the smuggler, I spent the next three weeks tracking down the source of these bullets, bringing down several smuggler groups in the process”.

Nezu frowned, this was worrying. Someone was developing quirk erasure bullets. He wouldn't have believed it if Stain wasn’t carrying several of them on his person, as well as the source of the bullets.

“Why did you spend so much time tracking down the source of these bullets?” Shota asked.

“Because bullets that can erase quirks are far too dangerous. Especially if someone makes a permanent version” Stain replied “Just think, the delicate balance of power we currently have will be ruined if villains can take away a heroes quirk” he explained “Anyway, I eventually found who was making them, a Yakuza group called the Shie Hassaikai. I attacked them whilst their leader Overhaul was out, trying to find out how they were making these bullets and put a stop to it. Imagine my horror when I realised how they were making them”.

“By drawing blood from Eri and using it to make bullets,” Nezu said. He had read Stain’s statement. He was horrified by what this Overhaul had been doing to this young girl, draining her blood and putting her back together over and over again. It reminded him of some of the ‘experiments’ Paxton subjected him and-. He shook his head, that was the past, this was the present. And in the present, he had a young girl to look after.

Stain nodded “I wasn’t going to kill her, I’m not a monster. So, I got her out of there and destroyed as much of their equipment as I could. But Eri used her quirk during the escape. I used mine to paralyse her, but the damage had already been done, I had gotten younger. Then Overhaul sent Cnidaria after me. His quirk, Cnidocyte, gives him the properties of animals in the Cnidaria kingdom, such as jellyfish, which includes a complete lack of blood” he explained “I couldn’t paralyse him, and, despite all my combat experience, I couldn’t beat him. As I am now he’s too strong for me. If it wasn’t for that woman, Inko I think her name was, I would be dead and Eri would have been recaptured. For a hero, she reacted quite quickly”.

“Actually, Inko isn’t a hero,” Nezu said. “Just a housewife whose husband works on the moon. Her daughter, on the other hand, is currently in training to become a hero”.

“Are you sure about that?” Stain asked, “Because she had the right instincts, and reacted quickly. Just needs to hold back on the testicle removal threats. That’s not exactly heroic”.

“I can assure you, Inko is currently not a pro hero,” Nezu said “But, I must say, I am glad that you got Eri out of there. We can protect her from this Overhaul there. But, now I must ask, what are we going to do with you?” he said “To be honest, I should leave you to the police to deal with, no doubt you’ll be going to Tartarus for your crimes. But, due to your de-aged state, physically, you qualify for UA’s villain rehab program”.

“What”.

“Well, you are currently fifteen, are you not?” Nezu said, “Perfectly legal age to be allowed to participate in the villain rehab program”.

“What?”.

“It will have to be of your own volition. I can’t force you to join the program” Nezu said “But it can’t hurt by offering a position to you. In fact, I have all the necessary paperwork with me now if you're interested”.

“WHAT!”.

“Please stop saying ‘what’” Shota said, sounding annoyed. “It’s a perfectly reasonable thing to ask someone of your age who is classified as a villain, even with your body count”.

Stain could not believe what he was hearing. Nezu was offering him, him! A place in UA’s villain rehab program. Such programs had become a lot more popular after the HPSC lost a lot of its power, allowing a large number of young villains to reintegrate into society or become heroes without being thrown into prison.

“Why? Why would you want to redeem me? I’ve killed several heroes and crippled even more” Stain said with a frown. He wasn’t sure why Nezu was even giving him this offer. He didn’t deserve redemption, his mission left too much blood on his hands. The blood of fakes who pretended to be heroes, and numerous criminals and villains. He was the last person in the world who deserved redemption.

“And Argonaut has killed hundreds” Nezu replied “You're the only person in the world who has fought him and survived. You have information I can use to bring him down, and I would prefer not to have to take a trip to Tartarus every time I want to talk to you. Now don’t get me wrong, this is personal. He has killed a close friend of mine and he needs to be brought down. But I know bringing Argonaut to justice will not bring Thirteen back, or the lives of all those he killed. So, I’m bringing him down so that he can never kill anyone else again”.

“But what about the fakes?” Stain said, still struggling to believe what Nezu was offering him “The false heroes who trick the public into believing their heroes when they're only doing it for selfish reasons?”.

“Leave them to me” Nezu replied with a smile that unnerved Stain. “I have less lethal means to deal with people like that. What I am offering you isn’t a second chance, more like, an opportunity to help bring down the most wanted villain in the world, as well as a chance to help the heroes of the future become what you call true heroes. So, what do you say, Chizome Akaguro”.

“Do you want a second chance?”.

Chapter Text

“You want me to hire me?” Inko asked, sounding surprised.

“Indeed I do,” Nezu said, having walked in on the family a few moments ago on Eraserhead’s shoulder “UA just took on a new ward and we require someone to look after her. I believe you're familiar with the girl. Her name is Eri. She has quite a powerful quirk, but no control over it. She also has a few abilities that may seem unnatural. You may recall that she said that she knew your name”.

Inko nodded “Yes, she called me by name when she asked me to protect her,” she said, her husband standing nearby with Durandal by his side, whilst Izumi sat on the bed with her.

“Well, we found out how she was able to find that out. She’s a telepath who can also read minds and use telekinesis” Nezu said “Quite the interesting set of abilities she has”.

“What?” Izumi blurted out, getting out her notebook “So her quirk allows her to not only make people younger, but also read other people's minds, communicate to them with telepathy, and move objects around with telekinesis”.

“I’m calling it now, she’s a product of some seriously fucked quirk eugenics program,” Durandal said sounding angry.

“You would think that, but there are things about her that are anomalies,” Nezu said “Whilst her Rewind ability is a quirk, her telepathy, mind reading, and telekinesis aren’t. They aren’t even connected to her quirk. They are a separate thing entirely,” he said. Noting the shock on the family's faces “I had Eraserhead here erase her quirk, but even with erasure active, her telepathy and telekinesis persisted. They weren’t even affected in the slightest”.

Izumi’s jaw hit the floor. Telepathy and telekinesis without it being a quirk! What kind of Sci-fi bullshit was this? How can someone have power without it being a quirk? That was just impossible!

One of the few people with a telepath-like quirk she knew of was Mandalay of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, and that was only one-way telepathy. Eri, on the other hand, sounded like hers was two-way, with the added benefit of reading minds as well. Telekinesis-like quirks were a bit more common; her mother, for instance, had a minor telekinesis quirk that could only pull small objects towards her. But Eri’s sounded stronger.

“Wait,” Hisashi said sounding confused “Are you telling us that this girl, Eri, has powers that aren’t quirks?”.

“I am,” Nezu said with a nod “Which is why she needs to be protected. Before she was rescued and brought here she was being held by a Yakuza group called the Shie Hassaikai, who experimented on her. They will no doubt make an attempt to get her back, so we’re taking her to UA for her safety. But, we don’t have anyone on staff who can spare the time to look after a ward”.

Shie Hassaikai? Now, why did that name sound familiar? Wait, she remembered seeing that word on a document at the Nighteye agency “Wait, Shie Hassaikai!” Izumi said “Isn’t that an organisation Sir Nighteye is investigating?” she asked, which worried her greatly. Because if Sir Nighteye is investigating someone, then they are very dangerous.

Inko’s face went pale “I attacked a member of a Yakuza group” she squeaked, horrified that she just put a massive target on not only herself but her family's backs.

“Sadly yes. The man who you threatened worked for a man called Kai Chisaki, also known as Overhaul. He is a dangerous man, which is why I am making you this offer” Nezu said “You all need protecting now, and where better to do that than UA!”.

“You do remember that UA was attacked by villains a few weeks ago,” Durandal said.

“Oh, I know,” Nezu said. “And we’ve upped our security since then. Only a suicidal fool would dare attack UA now. You will be quite safe at UA now. So, what do you say?”.

Inko closed her eyes as she thought about Nezu’s offer. Yes, she was thinking about getting a job earlier, before the thing with that Yakuza goon, but this seems a bit too much to be true. A job at UA was something she hadn’t even thought of. But, after threatening to castrate a Yakuza goon, probably a high-ranking one considering how valuable Eri was to the group, she needed to ensure her daughter's safety.

If this entire situation was so obviously unexpected she would have thought it was part of the Rat's plan.

“Alright. I’ll look after her” Inko said, opening her eyes “It’s been a while since I last looked after a young child, but I should be able to take care of Eri. She looks like she needs someone to care for her”.

“Good,” Nezu said “We can take you to her if you like. But do be warned, we have no idea just how powerful her telepathy is or how much she could hear. So be aware that she may find out things about you all that you would prefer to keep secret”.

“If you're worried about her blurting out One for All or that I was made by Paxton, don’t worry,” Durandal said “We’ve already informed him about those little details”.

Izumi nodded with a slight frown. It pained her that she had to withhold that information from her own father for so long, but they couldn't risk telling them over an open channel. He had taken it well, even understood why they could only tell him in person. But it still felt wrong to hide something like this from him for so long. Even Inko felt bad about it.

Shockingly, he took the situation with Durandal, who his creator was, as well as the existence of a Quirk Emulator well. Hell, his response to finding out was "Oh, well I was wondering when someone was going to try and make something like that as well as showing relief that Paxton was dead and couldn’t perfect the emulator.

“Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a lot I want to know about all this” Hisashi added “But now really isn’t the time or place to go into that sort of thing. We can talk about it more later”.

“Are you sure you're ok with this?” Izumi asked with a frown.

“Positive” Hisashi replied with a smile.

“But, I lied about my quirk,” Izumi said, tears forming around her eyes.

“Hey, It’s alright,” Hisashi said with a smile as he hugged his daughter. “I honestly don’t care where your quirk came from. All I care about is that you're happy and attending your dream school. You worked hard to get to where you are now, and nothing, not even the fact that your quirk was given to you by All Might, will change how proud I am of you”.

Izumi beamed as she returned her father's hug. Despite being lied to he still loved them. He understood why they had to hide this from him. Anyone could be listening in on those calls they’ve been making.

Izumi smiled before she broke off the hug “Alright then, let's go meet Eri”.

The group made their way out of Inko’s hospital room and made their way towards Eri’s room. But, as they were leaving, Shota patted Durandal on the head, with a bare hand. Izumi noticed it as well, Shota had just allowed Durandal to copy his quirk. Now, why did he do that?

She decided to ask later, as they didn’t go far before they reached the room Eri was in.

The moment they entered the room, Eri seemed to light up “Inko!” she said, her mouth not moving but the words were still heard by all those in the room.

“Wait, what the?” Durandal gasped, looking around “I heard that!”.

All eyes turned towards Durandal “You, heard her?” Izumi asked, sounding surprised. She heard it too, but she didn't expect Durandal to hear it as well.

“Yes, yes I did” Durandal replied “That shouldn’t be possible”.

“Durandal,” Eri said “His voices are, strange, their monotone”.

Everyone took a few seconds to process what Eri just said. She could not only speak telepathically to Durandal but also read his thoughts. Which shouldn’t be possible since he’s a robot. Yes, he has a positronic brain, but it’s still mechanical. Telepathy shouldn’t work on him.

“How is that possible?” Durandal said, sounding shocked “I’m a machine, mental quirks aren’t supposed to work on me. I have no brain to read”.

“Yes, but Eri’s telepathy isn’t a quirk, now is it,” Nezu said with a smile “This is quite interesting, telepathy that works on machines as well. She’s a technopath as well. Truly remarkable”.

Eri, meanwhile, was still sitting in her bed, with a confused look on her face “Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry”.

Nezu smiled “No need to be sorry about anything, Eri. We were just discussing something about your abilities”.

“Hello, again Eri” Inko said with a smile “Do you remember me?”.

“Yes, your Inko,” Eri said “And he’s Hisashi, your husband. And Izumi, your daughter. You weren’t hurt by my curse, weren’t you?”.

“Curse?” Izumi said, looking confused.

“Yes, my curse,” Eri said, curling up into a ball “I, make things disappear. When my curse first appeared I, made my father disappear. My mother gave me to Kai after that”.

“Eri, you aren’t cursed,” Izumi said “No quirk is a curse. What happened to your father was an accident, nothing more. Accidents like that happen all the time, take my father for instance. When his quirk first manifested he set fire to his living room”.

“I’m never going to live that down,” Hisashi said with a smile.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have told us about it then,” Inko said with a smile before turning to Eri “Eri, what happened to your father was tragic, but it wasn’t your fault, and I will not blame you for it. Your quirk isn’t a curse. It is a powerful gift, alongside your other abilities,” she said with a motherly smile.

“You, don’t think I’m cursed,” Eri said, a slight smile on her face.

“Ah, I see I was right in picking you to look after her,” Nezu said with a smile.

Shota nodded “I would look after her myself since my quirk can come in handy if she ever loses control, but she needs someone motherly to look after her at the moment. That, and I can’t be around her all the time”.

“Wait, that’s why you gave Durandal Erasure. So he can erase her quirk” Izumi said, realising why he gave Durandal his quirk.

“Exactly,” Shota said “I can’t be around her all the time, and due to being the homeroom teacher for one-B, I can’t stay at your dorm. But Durandal can. If Eri’s quirk starts acting up, erase it. Ok. You can use erasure?”.

Durandal nodded “Yeah, erasure’s coming through fine”.

“Good,” Shota said “Just don’t use it on anyone else without permission, ok? Only use it on Eri if you have to”.

“Don’t worry sir!” Izumi said nervously “We won't use it unless we need to!” she said, still not exactly comfortable around Shota.

“I'm kind of worried about Eri,” Inko said looking concerned “Why isn't she talking with her mouth?”.

“It's because Kai took my vocal cords away” Eri replied, tears falling from her eyes “He did it to stop me from crying, as it was distracting him”.

Nezu frowned. He sadly already knew of that grizzly little detail, but to hear it come from the girl herself just hit harder. The shocked looks from the Midoriya’s only made it worse. But, there was sadly more to it “We believe that Kai’s quirk allows him to disassemble and reassemble matter, and has done so to Eri countless times. We believe this is how he was able to remove her vocal cords”.

Izumi covered her mouth and nose with her hands as tears fell from her eyes “Oh gods, I am so sorry” she cried. How could someone do something so cruel to a young girl, just for crying?

“So, we’re gutting this bastard, right?” Hisashi asked with a scowl. Eri may not be his daughter, but she was still a young girl, and she reminded him too much of Izumi. This 'Kai guy was going to pay, big time.

“Get in line, Hisashi” Inko interjected, a look of primal rage on her face “If I see him, I’ll rip his vocal cords out”.

Nezu smiled. Ah, the parental instincts to protect their young. Such a violent instinct.

“I’m afraid you may need to wait in line yourself, Inko” Shota interjected “Every Teacher at UA has already stacked a claim to beating Kai into the ground. Believe me, if word of this got out around campus we believe the entire school will prepare to go to war to protect this girl”.

Izumi smiled slightly, glad to hear that they weren’t the only ones willing to go Plus Ultra to protect Eri.

“Well, looks like this Kai guy is going to have a very bad time,” Durandal said. If he had a mouth, he would have been smiling “I should probably have Meglavania on standby”.

“So, is Inko going to be looking after me?” Eri asked, not quite sure what was going on.

Nezu nodded “Yes she is. We will be leaving for UA later,” he said “And don’t worry about Chizome. He will be coming to UA as well, but he won't be returning with us or staying with you. His situation is sadly different from yours. But you will be able to see him again”.

Eri nodded “Ok then. So, does that make Izumi my big sister then?” she asked with an innocent look on her face.

No one had the heart to tell her no. Especially Izumi. She always wanted a little sister.