Hey guys! Sorry about leaving you guys in the dark for so long! With my college exam coming around the corner and having several family issues, it's kinda hard to find the time to continue this story. Luckily, I've managed to get some parts of this story ahead of time and the next chapter as well, so that's good!

Fortunately, those are done and I'm able to continue this story!

Unfortunately, I won't be able to post the next chapter on the holidays as I will be spending some time with my family. Hopefully, those family issues that I've mentioned earlier have passed permanently and that it won't be a terrible holiday. Here's to Christmas and to the New Years! Happy Holidays everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this story!

See you guys in the next one!

As time went on during Izuku's training, he felt his bones ache and his body bruise His mother was worried that Izuku might've got himself into trouble, but she was even more worried that he told her that he was training with someone more violent. Inko might have almost fainted on the spot if it wasn't for Izuku's quick thinking. He told her that he'd be even more careful during their training sessions and that he'd bring the person that took him in as his student. It did the trick, calming his mother down significantly.

"I just don't want you to get hurt is all Izuku dear. I know that out of everyone, you wanted to be a hero the most. I just want you safe."

Izuku didn't stop hugging his mom after that.

After dinner, Izuku said his goodnights to his mother and went to his room. He then took out a small disk from his bag and set it aside while getting his computer out from his desk. Izuku looked at the disk that was besides his computer as his thoughts wandered back training.

000

With training regiment done for the day, Izuku was sore to the bones as he laid there on the ground breathing heavily as he tried to regain his breath. Jack left not too long as he went to go grab that footage he'd promised him. Izuku used this time alone to sort out his thoughts. 'If what Jack-san said is true, then why hasn't anyone said anything? Surely, there must have been someone out there that reported this. Unless the hero in question somehow has more influence on the people than we'd thought before. Then again, there's been no cases being made public, so how would they able to get any footage of this happening? Or… maybe he could lying about it. No, that doesn't make sense. They wouldn't just told me for the heck of it. It's true that they did told me the reason why they decide to tell me their secret. A dangerous secret, no doubt, unless-'

"Hey, you gonna lay there mumbling to yourself or do I have to knock some sense out of you again?" Izuku shot straight back up and turned to see Jack looking at him like he was crazy. In his hand, he could see a plastic disk in his hand that had 'SECURITY FOOTAGE' written on the disk. "Anyways, here's that proof you want. Just a little warning though, you might not like what you see in this here disk, but it's the truth."

"I just want to know what you said to me was real or not. I… I just don't want to believe that the heroes that inspired so many people to become heroes as well would do something like this! I… I…"

Jack didn't say anything as he watched Izuku looked down at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing to look at. He then sighed like he'd expected this. "Look, I know that you like heroes a lot. And I do mean a lot, but you should know that the world we live in isn't like that. Heroes aren't all sunshine and rainbows, they don't help out with the little things, the world's cruel like that. Anyways, my point is, sooner or later, you'll find out what the real world is like. And until then," He tossed the disk to Izuku and he fumbled with the disk before he finally got a hold of the disk. "In any case, don't say I didn't warn you."

Izuku look at Jack as he was walking towards the stairs, mumbling something about beer. After that, he gathered his things from the locker room and went home.

000

Izuku knew that the world wasn't what it seemed since he was a victim of bullying, but the world of heroes…he didn't want to believe what Jack had told him. He wanted to deny the facts that was presented to him, to deny what he had been told by Rex and Jack. Yet here he was, with his computer in front of him and the disk that Jack gave him playing on his computer. He looked at his computer for what seemed like a long time until he mustered up his courage and clicked on the play button.

He didn't get that much sleep that night.

Next day came rolling by and it was the same routine that he'd been accustomed to ever since he was hired. As he came into the restaurant, he would go down to the locker room, change into his uniform, go into the kitchen, get started on the dishes as quickly as he could do before the next wave came in, get the dishes from the kitchen to the customers, etc. Everything would be fine at first, but once they thought that they were in the clear, things would eventually descend into chaos. At some point, more and more customers would come for some reason and the chefs and waiters had to work a lot harder than they did before. Next thing they knew, they were out of ingredients to make the dishes, so they had to close the restaurant early. Once that was done, every employee, including Izuku, went over to the dining area and slump down onto the chairs or onto the floor.

Afterwards, Kozato would come by and they would talk (In this case, Izuku would listen politely and Kozato would talk his ear off) and it would go on until Rex or Jack appeared to take them back to the roof for training and have everyone count the money. Once they got to the roof, they would explain each of the courses that they went through and have Izuku go through that course until it was time for him to go back home.

That is, until…

BAM! POW! WHA-POW!

"Come on! Is that all you got!?"

"Not done yet!"

Two figures were fighting against each other head-to-head as they were locked into battle. Izuku didn't mind watching from the sidelines, but he wanted to know why he was observing two of the employees fighting against each other. From what Jack told him, he said that he would gain a better understanding on what one should do when faced against an enemy that had the advantage.

"What happens if you're facing someone stronger, faster or smarter than you? You have to use whatever you got around you to gain the upper hand. See that person there?" Jack pointed to the one that was getting tired and was slowly losing ground. "Now that guy over there," He then shifted his finger to his opponent to see that he wasn't tired at all and seemed to be hitting all the right places. "He's using his surroundings to gain the upper hand, but if you're not careful enough…" The one losing the battle was about to lose all hope of winning until he saw something in his vision and went for it.

"You could lose everything."

The one that was losing the battle previously somehow managed to turn the tides against his opponent, causing him to fall on his butt. The one that was once losing the battle had somehow turned the tables on his opponent during that moment of distraction. Izuku knew immediately what Jack was talking about the second the one that was losing the battle won. He was able to use his surroundings to gain the upper hand during the battle and used it to its full potential, making him win the battle. Izuku mentally made note of this before he was once again thrust back into training.

"So, how goes that training of yours Izuku? Getting any better?"

"Um, i-it's going well… To say the least…"

"Man, if what Jack and Rex said is true about you, then it's no wonder why you're the only one trying so hard during training."

After Izuku's shift had ended and the day was over, Rex had everyone go to the roof, find a partner and spar against each other. While everyone was able to find a partner to spar against, Izuku was left alone with no one to train with. However, Kozato came up to him and asked him wanted to be partners for today's training sessions. Before Izuku could agree, Kozato grabbed his hand and dragged him towards an empty field and both of them stood on opposite ends of the field. Heeding Jack's advice about using his surroundings, he used the dirt from the field to blind Kozato in the eyes before rushing to him with the intent of knocking him out. What didn't know at the time was Kozato was smirking when Izuku did that. Instead of Izuku hitting him in the head, Izuku's fist went straight past Kozato's head and he appeared right behind him. Before Izuku could do anything, he was immediately on the ground with Kozato's foot on his chest.

"Didn't expect that, did ya?" Izuku just groaned in pain, confirming Kozato's point.

Few hours went by and everyone who had trained ended up going back to the locker room to change and call it a day. Two individuals, however, sat down on one of the benches and were talking to each other about their techniques. "So, how long have you been working here Kozato-san?"

"Well, I've been for about… maybe four, five years? I've lost track of how long I've been here. But anyways," Kozato shifted his position to where he was looking at Izuku. "Tell me how Rex employed you. How'd you get into this business?"

Izuku shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he was weighing his options before him. "W-well, I was in a mess and Rex came to save me. After that… he offered me this job, along with the training."

"Well, that does sound like Rex after all. He always comes in whenever he can. That even happen to most of the people that worked here. Hell, even some of the employees that worked here even lived in this building."

"Wait, there are people living in this building? How many of them are living here?"

"Well, let's see…carry the two…about a thousand?"

Izuku looked at Kozato with a shocked expression on his face. At first glance, he didn't look much, just someone that was making a living. Instead, he was the sole reason why there are so many people working at the restaurant. When he first entered the restaurant, he didn't see that many people working at the time. He'd only assumed that most of the employees were off for the day, but to learn that there were people living in a restaurant was surprising. It's not uncommon to hear that most people that worked in certain business would often live in the places that they worked at, but never did he hear that this many people were all living under one roof.

It was a lot to think about.

"There's that many people living here?! But, but this building doesn't look like it can hold that many people!"

Kozato looked at Izuku as if he'd just seen something really incredible and had already forgotten. "You serious? You've been working here for how long again?"

"Um, about a month so far? Why?"

Kozato just groaned in pain, leaving a very confused Izuku. "No wonder Rex didn't tell you everything…" Kozato muttered to himself before addressing back to Izuku. "I don't know if you noticed or if Rex told you this, but some of the employees here don't have a home to go to. Not because they don't want to, but because a hero that wasn't decent came into their lives and made it miserable." Izuku knew what Kozato meant when he meant 'decent'. Izuku remembered the talk between him and Rex when he asked Rex about what the difference between decent and good heroes. Apparently, decent heroes are people that would go above and beyond the call of duty and help those in need during desperate times. Good heroes are those that do whatever is necessary to rise the ranks, no matter the consequences. "It's sad really. Many people that looked up to heroes don't know the cold reality that is right there in their faces. Hell, even the new heroes that are starting to become popular are using these tactics for their own purposes,

"Not only that, most of the employees here are people that were caught in such tactics themselves. It's harsh, but that's life, I guess. If it weren't for the boss though, we wouldn't be here right now talking to each other right now."

"You really respect Rex and Jack that much, do you?"

Kozato nodded solemnly at Izuku. "Yeah, they go so far for other people, whose lives were ruined by the very heroes that help yet destroy us. For me, I consider them true heroes." Izuku could see that Kozato was talking about Rex and Jack in admiration. However, he did wonder when Kozato joined them and if he was one of the victims of these 'hero tactics', as Rex would call it, but he didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable by making him tell all of his childhood, so he didn't. As the two continued to talk, they left the restaurant after the sun had set and they soon parted ways.

The Second month

It was another day at the restaurant and there were a lot less customers than before. Not saying that there were no customers at all, just saying that there were some customers to make a slow day today. Izuku was serving the dishes to the customers, Rex was working in the kitchen; explicitly telling everyone to stay out. Izuku didn't know why he told everyone to stay away, but his fellow employees knew what he was talking about, so he followed their lead as to not get in Rex's way. Sano was back at the counter, leading customers to their tables and taking their orders. Kozato was also helping Izuku serving dishes and taking orders with Sano, where he would sometimes make some sort of cheesy lines to her and Sano would often bonk his head, leaving a goose egg on him. Everything was fine until…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A loud explosion could be heard from the entrance. Everyone looked towards the source, curious as to what made that noise. Izuku, on the other hand, was scared shitless and immediately froze upon seeing who was at the entrance. Once the smoke cleared up, everyone in the restaurant could see several figures holding an arsenal of weapons and a few that didn't for some reason.

The leader, the one who had a shark mask on his face, strutted his way up in front of the group while holding a heavy artillery weapon. "Alright, listen up everyone! What you're witnessing right now is a robbery! Stay where you are and no one gets hurt!" No one in the restaurant moved an inch. Actually, now that Izuku had gotten a clearer look at the situation, it seemed that no one is scared, just a bit peeved.

This only angered the leader as he shouted to his men to ready their weapons and open fire at the people. Izuku's eyes widened in shock and just when he was about to run, something pulled him out of his shocked state. He looked to his right to see Kozato holding onto his arm and smiling. "Kozato-san?! W-what are you doing?! We have to-!" Kozato's response was to place a single finger up to his lips and point over to the commotion. Izuku didn't know as to why Kozato wasn't freaking out, but when he looked back to where those men were, he saw his answer. Rex had somehow made his way over to the group and knocked out several members of the group, leaving only the leader and several others to see the carnage.

"Wha… what are you!?" the leader shouted in fear.

Rex took the time to take out a cigarette from his pocket, light it up and take a long drag. "First, I want to ask you something. What makes you think you can just order around like you own the place? Last I checked, this isn't your place at all!"

"So what?! I'm going to rob this place blind! Once I'm done robbing this place, I'm going for you next!" The leader pointed his weapon at Rex as he plastered a maniacal grin on his face, "So, do you have any last words you want to spill before I blow your fucking brains out?"

Rex just stood there with his cigarette in his mouth as if nothing happened just now. He exhaled the smoke cloud from his cigarette and looked up to the ceiling. "Tell me something. Do you know what's the difference between you and me?"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" The leader exclaimed.

"The difference between you and me is simple really." Rex suddenly ran over to the leader in a breakneck speed, stunning the leader in the process. However, that only lasted for a few seconds before the leader regain his wits and ordered his men to kill him. The leader's men charged at Rex with their weapons drawn at him and opened fired. Like when Rex first saved Izuku, he miraculously dodge the bullets and slowly made his way towards them.

"First off, you really can't fire for shit." Rex jumped up towards the ceiling and planted his foot firmly on the roof. He then push off the ceiling and gave one of the leader's men and nasty kick to the head.

"Second, you threaten my customers with your weapons. That's a big no-no in this restaurant." Rex jumped onto a random empty table and pulled out two handguns from the inside of his jackets. The leader immediately knew what he was about to do and quickly ordered his men to fire. Rex quickly flipped the table he was just on and took cover before the bullets came flying. One by one, the bullets hit the table, but what was strange is that the bullets aren't going through the table and are merely hitting the table. From the other side of the table, Rex pulled out his guns and started firing at the men. Each shot from Rex's gun came closer and closer to the men until…

PING! "Gah!"

One of the shots managed to hit one of the men in the head and it knocked him out cold. The others that were firing at Rex saw this and panicked a bit. Soon after the first one, several others followed suit and were knocked out. Only one remained and that guy was on the verge of pissing his pants. "Fuck this! I'm out of here!" The guy threw away his weapon, ran past his leader-who was yelling profanities at him-and was never seen again. The leader looked at his men who were all knocked out from the firefight with disgust.

"You fucking idiots! Do I have to do everything myself!?" The leader fired his weapon and while he was firing, he took cover near one of the tables that had been flipped over during the initial encounter. Rex returned fire. The leader returned fire. Not one of them managed to hit one another and while the audience did like a good firefight, they were quickly getting bored.

Izuku looked at the gunfight with awe in his expression, but that soon morphed into fear as he soon realized that a stray bullet could accidently hit one of the customers. "K-Kozato-san! We have to get the customers out of here! Wait, in fact, why are the customers still here?! Shouldn't have we evacuated before all of this happened?"

"Geez, you really need to lighten up Izuku." Kozato picked his ear and fling whatever gunk was in his ear, "First, I need you to look at the customers for me real quick. See how they're not panicking?"

"But Kozato-san-!"

"Trust me on this. Now, look closely at the customers. Now, same question as before."

Izuku reluctantly looked at the customers, but what he saw shocked him. The customers were looking on the incident sure, but what was different about the usual panic and scramble, he found that the customers were looking at the incident with glee. Even the children the customers were looking at the incident with excitement.

"Mommy, mommy look! Rex is winning!"

"Now now dear. You mustn't go outside the bubble. You could get hurt."

"Yes mommy, I know."

At another part of the restaurant…

"So, who do you think's going to win this one?"

"Rex. Hands down, no questions ask."

"Yeah, kinda of stupid for me to ask. Still, you gotta feel bad for that dude, right?"

"Who, the guy that just broke into this restaurant? Please, he should've known what was coming to him."

Izuku couldn't believe what he was seeing and hearing. All of the customers were just talking to each other as if nothing noteworthy happened. "You see? No one's panicking at all. So don't worry about it."

"But- but how can they not be panicking at all? There's a shootout happening right before their eyes! What if a stray bullet comes through?"

"That's where those," Kozato pointed at one of the tables and upon closer inspection, Izuku could see something shimmer around the table. "Come in. There are protective bubbles surrounding each tables in the restaurant. I'm not sure how they work, so don't ask. In any case, back before you came were hired, the restaurant's been hit by all sorts of criminals. Quirk users, regular criminals; you know, the sorts you find in a dark alleyway. Each time someone attacked the restaurant, one of the customers either gets taken as a hostage, used as leverage to get our money or used them as getaways. Rex decided that enough was enough and had some people of ours installed these bubbles to prevent the criminals from using the customers as a tool. That way, the customers can enjoy watching something like what we're watching right now and prevent any villain from using the customers. Pretty neat, huh?"

Izuku didn't answer Kozato's question as he was in awe that such a device existed. For all he knew, those bubbles could be used by pro heroes as a shield that can prevent them and the civilians they saved from getting any further injuries. Just as Izuku was thinking about the bubble's most effective use, he could hear the gunfight slowly ceasing. He looked back to the fight to see Rex fighting against the leader up close. The leader had taken a shark-like form, which Izuku immediately mentally categorized in his mind, and was trying to land a hit on Rex. 'Trying' being the key work as the leader couldn't get a hit on Rex at all. Rex would dodge almost every attack that the leader would make, only getting some scrapes and bruises.

"God fucking damn it! What the hell are you?!" It was easy to tell that the leader was getting frustrated, despite having a Quirk. The leader looked around to see what he could use against Rex and spotted Izuku with Kozato. "You there! You're mine!" The leader shot towards the two with incredible speed. Izuku barely registered what was going on until it was too late. Izuku closed his eyes and screamed as he was about to get hit until-

POW!

Without any warning, the leader raised his arms to block the incoming attack, but that didn't stop the force of the attack sending him up in the air before landing back down. Izuku still prepared himself as he screamed, but when nothing happened, he slowly opened one eye to see Kozato in front of him. "Damn kid. You really need to prepare for something like that." Kozato stood there with his eyes on the leader and while holding his fist up to him.

"Hey, you guys alright?" Rex called out from where he was.

"Yeah, we're fine boss! The usual as always?"

"Yeah!"

Kozato smirked at that and bend his knees down a bit before getting into his ready position. "Alright! Here I go!"

"Wait, what the hell are you-?!" The leader didn't get to say much as his face suddenly morphed into a pained expression with his eyes bulging out and him spitting saliva when Kozato suddenly punched the leader so hard that the leader flew to Rex.. Rex then pulled his right leg back and slammed into the leader's stomach when he came into his range and sended him flying up towards the ceiling. Kozato later came running and lept up about the same time as Rex did, only Rex jumped a bit higher than Kozato.

"Finally, here's the third thing that's different between you and me. While you sacrifice your men to fulfill your goal and cowardly hide behind them, I work together with my people on the frontline and make sure everyone gets out alive. Oh, and here's the real kicker." The leader looked like he was about to pass out if it weren't for the fact that Rex slammed his leg at the leader's stomach.

From there, Rex moved.

After the first hit, Rex hit another part of the leader again, again and again. It was at that point that Rex was going faster than he was before, only leaving behind afterimages of himself. Whenever the leader was about to blackout, Rex would kick him hard enough for him to regain conscious. The kicking kept going and going until Rex slammed the leader's stomach towards the ground. By the time the leader was nearing the ground, Kozato appeared out of nowhere, ramming his fist into the leader. The leader yelled out in pain before passing out from the excruciating pain.

As soon as Rex landed, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it and started inhaling the cancer stick.
Then… Rex spoke.

"No one fucks with my family."

No one said a word after that, not even the customers that were close to Rex. After a few minutes of silence, someone in one of the bubbles started clapping, followed by another and another and another. Seconds later, everyone was clapping at the end of the fight and what Rex had just said.

"Bravo! Bravo!"

"Yeah! You the man Rex!"

"Woooohooo! That was awesome!"

Izuku couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. From his point of view, it looked like the leader had the upper hand due to him having a shark-like form from his Quirk. Instead, Rex was able to turn the tide with only his wit and his strength. And to boot, he was also Quirkless!

Just what was Rex?

"Hey, you alright there kid?"

Izuku jolted in shock as Rex suddenly appeared in front of Izuku. "I-I'm fine Rex-san. I-It's just that you've managed to beat him so quickly. How did you do it?"

Rex just smirked at the clueless Izuku and rubbed his head. "That's something you'll learn during your training. Now, if you'll excuse me." Rex walked past Izuku and towards the kitchen. "I need to get back to work. Same goes for you too kid." Izuku watched Rex move towards the kitchen entrance before disappearing out of sight. Izuku wanted to ask Rex more about what kind of techniques that he used during that fight and what did he use during that fight. But he knew that all the answers would eventually be answered for him within due time.

And so he went back to work.

The Fourth month

After the battle between Rex and the gang leader, the day was cut short due to the police arriving on the scene. Rex explained to the police everything that had transpired and the police took the leader along with his gang away. A random police chief came up to Rex, asked him basic question and soon enough, the police were on their way with the criminals in tow. Izuku went back home and upon returning home, Inko came running towards him with a worrying expression plastered on her face.

Apparently, word got around fast as news from before was appearing on screen. Inko frantically checked Izuku once over to see if there were any injuries on him and while she was doing so, Izuku was also frantically telling his mother that he was fine and that Rex was able to keep it that way.

Needless to say, that didn't detract from Inko making sure Izuku was alright.

A month rolled by and Izuku's training was going smoothly. During training, he'd noticed that he could move a bit faster than he did before and that he was more aware of his surroundings. Even after training was done, whenever Izuku would almost slip on the floor while carrying the food, he would managed to balance all of the dishes on him before falling down. Rex reprimanded him for wasting food like that and docked his pay for the week.

"It's just Rex being himself, Izuku. No need to worry about it," Kozato said to Izuku one day in the locker room.

"But why would Rex-san do that? We could make more of it if we wanted to." Izuku wondered as to why Rex would make that face whenever someone wasted food.

"Well, from what I heard is that Rex was taught by his old mentor about food and apparently, his old mentor drilled into Rex's mind that food is sacred and that no one should waste it." Kozato shrugged as he tried to recall the memory. "Either that, or something else. I'm not entirely sure." Izuku could only nod at that explanation.

On the next day, Izuku was training with Sano for the day as Rex wanted to Izuku to do some kicking exercise. Sano volunteered for this as she wanted to see how Izuku was progressing with his training. So far, it was…

BAM! POW! WHAM! "Oof!"

Izuku slammed onto his bottom as he just got his ass whooped by Sano. Sano, on the other hand, still had her leg up in the air and watched as Izuku fumbled down. "Well, your kicks are getting to a point where you can hit," Sano let her leg back to the ground and walked towards a nearby bench where a couple of bottled waters are sitting. "But they lack the aim and control of a good kick."

"Haa… what… Haaa… do you… mean…. Sano-san?" Izuku wheezed while still sprawled on the ground.

"For instance, your kicks do have the sufficient power they need in order for you to damage your opponent, but they lack the precision they need in order for your kicks to work."

"My… precision?"

"Yeah. If you're aiming to to knock someone out, you'd aim for the weak points on their body," Sano said as she took a sip of water from her bottle. "Every kick that you make has to aim at exactly where you want them to hit. You can't attack wildly, less you die because of your aim." Izuku nodded at Sano's words. It was true to what Sano had said. Hitting someone wildly wouldn't do anything to the person since that person may have a Quirk. Since the person's biology may be different due to their Quirk's, it may be possible that they don't have the same biology as a normal human. Which is why Izuku was taking this part of the training, to see if he could apply whatever knowledge he has on Quirks and use them to his advantage.

"HEY SANO-CHAN! THERE'S TROUBLE!"

A voice suddenly yelled out, making Sano and Izuku to turn their head towards the source of the voice. Upon seeing Kozato running up to them, it was clear that Kozato was out of breath by the time that he'd approached them. "Haaa… there's… Haaa… trouble…"

"Huh? Trouble? Is it more burglars again, 'cause we just-"

"NO! It's… it's worse than that… 'She's' here."

Izuku didn't know why Sano had a scared look on her face, but he didn't question it as she grabbed his shoulder and started making their way towards the elevator. "Ow ow ow ow! Sano-san! What are you-!?"

"We have to go, now!"

"Wh-what? What do you-!?"

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!

Something landed in front of Izuku and Sano before they could take another step, creating a huge crater in front of them.

"Well, well, well…" Sano was shocked to hear such a melodic yet frightening voice while Izuku was confused out of his mind. A figure can be seen in the smoke as it slowly walked the duo. When the smoke cleared, they could see the figure clearer than before. "Who do we have here…?"

Izuku's eye almost bulged out of their eyes when he saw the figure partially wearing anything at all and immediately covered his eyes. From what he saw of the figure was a girl that looked to be twenty years old, flowing long red hair, wearing clothing that covered parts of her body, blond hair with various of accessories and to top it off, she was wearing sunglasses while holding an umbrella. "My, my! Who's the cute one?" Izuku didn't realize, but by the time Izuku opened his eyes, he could see the girl was right up on his face, making him fall back down. "Huhuhu… you're cute. I like that." For some reason, Izuku felt a bit of fear when the girl looked at him, almost as if…

She was the predator and Izuku was the prey.

"I wonder how you would taste…" SLURP

"..!" Izuku frantically looked around to see if Sano or Kozato were around, but he couldn't find them anywhere. The most logical reason would be that the impact of the shockwave was strong enough to have pushed both of them in opposite directions. Even if they were conscious, they wouldn't be able to get to Izuku in time. And so, it was that Izuku knew that with every minute that the girl slowly gains her distance towards him, Izuku couldn't help but reflect back into his life as-

WHA-BAM! "OI! DAMN WOMAN! CONTROL YOUR GOD DAMN APPETITE ALREADY WILL YA?!"

A leg suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision as he saw the girl's head hurtle downwards towards the ground and as soon as it made contact, a small crater was formed. When Izuku managed to calm himself down by a margin, he looked towards to the person that had just saved him. He saw that it was Rex that had came to save him, but what was surprising was that Rex actually hit a girl. Rex didn't seemed to be the type to actually do something like that to a woman. At all.

"OOOOOOWWWWWWWWW! That hurts! Why did you have to hit so hard?!"

"Shut up! You were about to attack one of my employees! You don't get to say anything!"

Izuku was confused by this turn of events. One minute he was about to be killed by an unknown girl, the next thing he knew, Rex was giving the girl a scolding. What was even happening anymore? "Izuku, you alright? She didn't hurt you or anything, did she?"

"N-no. She didn't do anything at all…" Izuku said numbly.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to punish someone who tried to suck out your blood!"

"Aw, but you don't need to do that!" Rex quickly turned around to see the girl no longer where she had been and instead right in front of Izuku's face again, "After all, he looks really cute~!" Izuku could only blush in embarrassment as this was the first time anyone made that sort of compliment to him.

Even if it was a girl.

"Haaaa. Nevermind that for now. Mom, I thought that your flight wasn't until this afternoon!" Rex exclaimed to the girl as she turned towards him.

"Well, I didn't want to wait in a stinky airport where I had to suffer disgusting men trying to touch me. So I flew." The girl said to Rex as she was googling over Izuku.

Once Izuku managed to gather his wits, he finally managed to ask Rex something. "R-Rex-san. Who… who's she?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. Forgot to mention this to ya. God, the one thing I forget to mention and it was this…" Rex muttered the last part to himself before clearing his throat, "Right, This is my mother, Rose Thunder."

"Hai, hai! It's a pleasure to meet you~!" Rose made a cute pose with one eye closed, tongue out, one hand on her hip and the other making a sideways L-shape on her forehead.

"..."

"..."

"...Huh?" Izuku was kinda dumbfounded as to what he had just heard from Rex.

"Don't go freaking out on me kid. This here is the result of a Quirk she has." Rex hastily informed Izuku.

"A Quirk?! What kind of Quirk does she have? I've only seen people with an age-reversing Quirk that allows the user to reverse their age at will and a Quirk where the user can steal someone's life force in order for them to sustain their current form! I've never heard a Quirk that actively stops the user's form! Oh, could this be a rare Quirk where the users can retain their life force from the sun or it could be a Quirk where-!"

POW! "Ow!"

"Will you calm down there?! You're starting to freak my mom out!"

"Actually…"

Izuku and Rex turned towards Rose to see that her face was flushed with red. "It's kinda making me hot to see the boy talking like that~. Keep going~!"

Izuku felt a shiver down his spine and just backed away slowly from Rose. "Oi! Don't go flirting with my employee!" Rose just did the same face, to Rex. Rex just huffed in frustration and continued his explanation. "Izuku, my mom's Quirk is rare in a sense that no one has ever seen before. That Quirk's called…Vampirism."

"Vampirism? What kind of Quirk is it?! What can it do to the user!?"

"Settle down, will ya!? I know that you're excited and… where did you get that notebook!?" Rex was in shock that Izuku had a notebook in hand and was looking at Rex with a starry-eyed expression. Rex just sighed as he pushed Izuku away from his face. "Nevermind that. Anyways, like I was saying, Vampirism allows the user to gain the features of a vampire, immortality, suck out blood, transform into a bat and can only move during the night. However, that's not the case as evident that my mother can walk during the day, yet she walks with an umbrella. Why, you ask? Well, it's simple really. While the sun won't automatically kill her, she does feel irritated and if she were to stay in the sun for too long, it kills her. Which is why she was an umbrella with her."

"A-and the o-outfit?"

"The outfit… that's just her thing." Rex could actually feel Izuku sweating along with him as they both turned to see Rose just polishing her nails with a nail polisher that she pulled out from who-knows-where. When she turned her head, she saw both Izuku and Rex just staring at her and just waved and smiled at them. After that, she went back to polishing her nails. "...anyways, she doesn't have immortality like the vampires do in the myths, she just ages more slowly than others. That's the basics of her Quirk. Anything else, you're gonna have to talk to her about it." Izuku nodded as he finished writing down that last bit of information into his notebook.

"If you're done Rex, introduce me to your new cute employee~! I'm dying to know who is this~!" Rose squealed in delight as soon as Rex was done introducing Rose to the boy.

Rex can only sigh at the display before hovering his hand over to Izuku. "Mom, this is Izuku, the newest employee to work here for the last few months. Now please don't suck him dry like you did before."

"Wait, what?!" Rex bonked Izuku's head before he could say anything else.

"Don't ask. It's not worth it. In any case, I'll let the old man know that you're here, Mom. Just… don't drink him dry, please." Izuku could hear the desperate tone in Rex's voice before he made his way towards the stairs.

Meanwhile, Rose glomped Izuku's side once Rex was out of sight. "Ah~! Izu-kun! You're just so cute to hold~!"

"Ah… ah! R-R-R-Rose-san! T-T-That's-!"

"What, Izu-kun?" Izuku was shocked to hear Rose change the tone in her voice of a sudden. It was kinda scary. "Why did my son hire you? From my own initial observation of you, you look pretty weak."

Izuku would've face-planted into the ground if Rose wasn't holding onto to him, so instead, he jerked his head downwards. "W-well, Rex-san offered the position to me and I just accepted it on a whim."

"Huuuuh? Is that so…?" Izuku can only nod as he didn't know where Rose's line of questioning was going, "Then, can I ask you something important?"

"Wh-what's that?"

"What's your dream?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, what is it that drives you to be where you are right now? The only reason I'm asking you this is because not only you are weak, but you've been through a lot, haven't you?"

Izuku immediately knew what Rose was talking about and looked down at the ground as he reminisced about the past. It was true that ever since childhood, Izuku was the victim of bullying and was targeted by most of the people that he once knew. Before everyone in his class had Quirks, Izuku would always help his fellow classmates and anyone that needed help with a smile, just like All Might. That changed when everyone had Quirks at the age of five and Izuku was the only one that didn't have one. The people that he once helped out made fun of him and occasionally would beat him up, just to show off their Quirks.

To everyone around him, he was Deku, the worthless one without a Quirk.

"Uh… Mmn! I… Back during my childhood, I was the one without a Quirk." Izuku didn't know why he was telling Rose his past, but for some reason, he felt that he could trust her, "Everyone had a Quirk that was amazing and useful. Even my best friend, Kacchan, had an explosive Quirk. I didn't have one and as soon as everyone heard that I was Quirkless, they made fun of me. I was… bullied for not having a Quirk like everyone else. They called me names, picked on me, even used their Quirks on me. Kacchan… he and I used to play together when we were kids, but… ever since he had his Quirk, he's been picking on me as well. Even gave me the nickname, Deku. Even during middle school, it followed me everywhere, the bullying. Before I meet Rex-san, during one of my class, Kacchan came up to me, used his Quirk on one of my notebooks and said that 'I should jump off the roof and hope that I get a Quirk in the next life.' At that point, I...I was tempted to follow his advice, just so that I could end it all…"

For a while, Rose didn't say anything, her eyes shadowed by her hair. Izuku could only look at the ground, having just told her the basics of his past, but it was enough for him to shed a single tear. Suddenly, Izuku could feel Rose's arms letting him go and heard her footsteps receding away from him. Confused by this action, Izuku looked away from the ground to see Rose heading towards one of the benches that didn't get destroyed when she first came and sat down. Once Rose sat down, she motioned Izuku to come sit next to her with a smile on her face. It wasn't like the smile from before, this one seemed to be… kind, in a way. Seeing no options, Izuku cautiously made his way over to Rose and sat beside her. Before Izuku could do anything, Rose wrapped her arms around Izuku's head and brought it closer to her chest. "R-R-R-R-R-R-R-Rose-san! Wh-wh-what are you-!?"

"Shhhhh…" Izuku gasped in surprised as Rose took in a motherly tone. It was like his own mother would always comfort him whenever he had a bad day at school or when Kacchan would bully him with his friends. This was… eerily similar. "It's alright… you've been through a lot. It's alright…"

"Ah... " Izuku could feel a few little tears coming out of his eyes when Rose spoke those words. Soon enough, streams of tears came flooding down from his eyes as he let a small noise from his mouth. Rose didn't say anything else as she let Izuku just cry his heart out once again. After about three minutes, Izuku calmed himself down and moved away from Rose's chest. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry like that."

"Oh, it's fine. I've seen children who had so many things going on in their lives that they needed someone to talk to. You're not the first, don't worry." Rose giggled.

Izuku sheepishly rubbed his head as he blushed in embarrassment. 'Hehehe… I don't know what to say to that…"

"Well? Your dream, what is it?"

Izuku pondered that question for moment. Most of the employees don't know him very well on the account that Rex told him not to tell his dream nor tell them that he was training to become a hero. He didn't know Rose as she literally fell from the sky. He didn't know what her reaction would be if he just told her his dream. It also didn't help that most of the employees that were employed here have a bad history with pro heroes and would most likely have a negative reaction to his dream. "I… I'm not sure if I should tell you. I-It might upset you…"

Rose patted Izuku on the head as if to comfort him. "If you don't want to tell me, that's fine, but I'd rather know what that dream of yours is before I fully accept you."

"Eh? I-If I may ask Rose-san? Why do you want to know my dream? Is it… really that big of a deal?"

Rose hummed in thought before addressing Izuku. "You could say that. You may not have known this, but in this establishment, our employees have dreams. Dreams that they want to fulfill with their own two hands. Some have Quirks, but only see them as a tool to accomplish their dreams. You could say that dreams are a source of motivation that drives people to do amazing feats." Rose looked up to the sky and smiled. "Seeing people achieving their dreams like that… it makes me feel like I've been a part of something great."

Izuku can feel something resonating in his chest what Rose said. Something he'd never felt before…

Hope.

"So," Rose turned back to Izuku, still having that smile on her face, "What is your dream?"

Izuku looked a bit unsure whether or not he should tell Rose what his dream was, but after hearing Rose's speech on dreams, he felt that he could trust Rose just a bit. "O-Okay! I'll tell you what it is, j-just promise me that you won't suck me if it's bad?"

"Well.. I can't promise you that last part," Rose licked her lips sending Izuku the shivers. "But I will promise you that whatever your dream is, it won't be bad."

Izuku gulped before speaking. "Mmn! My dream…is to become a hero."

Rose didn't say anything for a while, which really concerned Izuku. Was it wrong for him to say his dream to Rose? Rose might have a grudge against pro heroes or something relating to heroes may have traumatized her in the past. Whatever it was, it was too late to take back what he said.

"So…" Izuku jolted when Rose spoke in a soft tone, "That's your dream? To be a hero?"

"Y-Y-Yes. Th-That's my dream. Ever since I was a child, I dreamed of becoming a hero like All Might. I wanted to be a hero that saves people with a smile. But that never came true. Instead, I was born Quirkless and was told that I couldn't be a hero and that I should give up on my dream. Everyone soon found out that I was Quirkless and made fun of me for being Quirkless and-!"

Before Izuku could say anything else, Rose suddenly chopped Izuku's head, leaving a goose egg. Izuku was holding his head in pain as he contemplated what just happened. "Izuku-chan?"

'H-Hai!" Izuku jolted up standing in fear when he heard Rose speak to him. Just then, he heard Rose giggled in amusement, making Izuku blush in embarrassment.

"Don't worry. I'm not mad at you. Just surprised is all." Rose explained.

"B-But, doesn't everyone that's working here hate heroes?"

"Yeah, they do. To some extent."

"EEEEHHHH?!"

"Don't worry Izuku-chan! I'm not saying you should abandon that dream! I'm saying you should pursue it! It's why you have my son training you, right?"

"R-Right! ...Wait, what?!"

Rose just bursted out laughing at Izuku's expression. "S-Sorry, but… PPPPPFFFFTTTTTHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Izuku's face turned even redder as Rose just laughed. Five minutes later and Rose had managed to calm herself down. "S-Sorry about that Izuku-chan. Yeah, I knew what your dream was from the beginning. My son told me all about you, saying that you're one of a kind. It seems like that's the case for you, isn't it~?" Izuku just rubbed his head sheepishly. "He'd even told me that fighting spirit of yours. How you went to rescue your friend when every hero that was on the scene couldn't do anything. You, a Quirkless child, moved when no one else did. My son told you that you can become a hero, correct?" Rose fully faced Izuku and pointed at him with a fiery expression on her face, "Then let me revise that statement for you! Izuku Midoriya…"

"YOU WILL BECOME A TRUE HERO."

Izuku felt something in his chest, something that was beating so hard even harder when Rex told him that he can become a hero, something that he'd never felt before in his life.

Faith. He had everyone's faith in him.

"And that's why I'm going to help you on your training as well! Can't have my favorite cute boy dying on me, can't we~?" Rose blew a kiss to Izuku, but Izuku just laughed nervously as he didn't know what to say at that.

"Huh, so that's why you're training harder than the rest of us." Izuku was shocked to hear something other than Rose's voice and turned around to Kozato and Sano walking up towards them. The former looking a bit worse than wear while the latter looked a bit bruised, "And I was wondering why Rex was paying attention towards you. You trying to make me feel jealous here?"

"Kozato-san! I-It's not like-!"

"Ah, don't worry about it." Kozato waved his hand dismissively at Izuku, "Rex already told us the whole story. Especially to Rose. Seriously, when Rex told her that he'd taken someone under his wing, she was begging to come over just to see who that person was! See, one time-" Izuku didn't hear the rest of what Kozato was saying as his mind just shut down.

Apparently, Rex told everyone.. Everyone knew what his dream was…

Ohhh boy.

"Huh? Yo Izuku. You alright there? You don't look so good."

Izuku jolted as he felt something shake and saw Sano looking at him with a concerned look. "Ah, I-I'm fine! It's just… I never did expect everyone to accept my dream, let alone just let me continue my training. I'd thought you would've stop me…"

"Well, that last part on what you said was true. A lot of people, whose lives were ruined by fake heroes absolutely hated the idea of you becoming a hero, despite not knowing you. In fact, just last week, a group tried to dump a bucket of hot oil on top of your head while you were working on the dishes. If Rex hadn't checked in on you, you would've gotten a third-degree burn on you."

"Ah, so that's why…"

Sano nodded. "Yeah. The people that tried to harm you had been dealt with accordingly. They won't try to harm you ever again."

"Y-You mean…?! You… killed them!?"

"What, no!" Kozato decided that it was the best time to intervene, "The people that tried to harm you weren't killed or anything! They're just… uhhh…"

"Basically, I had them do a 100 page essay on how wrong it is to attack an employee like that." Kozato gave Rose a sigh of relief and a thumbs up.

"Oh, is that so?"

"After that, I had them go down the street and read it out loud to the public. All while they're in the nude."

"O-Oh…"

Apparently, no one had the courage to say anything after that. Kozato and Sano just back away slowly from Rose, Izuku felt as though this was his fault to begin with and was likely wanting to find those people and apologize to them and Rose just had a lewd thought in her head and was drooling just by the thought of it.

"A-Anyways, I'll support you however I can Izuku-kun." Sano said.

"Same here Izuku! I don't like heroes that do anything for fame and popularity, but if it's you becoming a hero, then I'll do whatever I can to help you succeed!" Kozato added with a grin.

"Everyone…" Izuku felt his eyes getting a bit wet after hearing something that he hadn't heard in a long time.

Rose just chuckled under her breath as she just sat on the bench, watching the three, now talking about random stuff. In her mind, Rose could already see Izuku fitting in with Kozato and Sano, how they were acting around him like he was their little brother. It lifted her spirits a bit to see the three of them talking like nothing's wrong with the world. It reminded Rose of something from the past. A group consisting of her, Jack, Rex and someone else in their group, laughing without a care in the world. It made Rose sad a bit before she looked back to the group with a determined look on her face.

If there was one thing right now, it's that she swore that she would not let any harm come to her new family. Not now, not ever.

On the other side of the roof where two figures were standing beside the entrance to the roof. Rex was standing behind a window, smoking his cigarettes and watching the event unfold in front of him. Jack, on the other hand, was leaning on the door frame and was watching Izuku with interest. "So, that's why you wanted to train him personally. Heh, if I had known, I would've upped his training."

"Well, excuse me for not finding the right time for telling you." He took a minute to inhale the cigarettes, "Haaaaa… Besides, if I had told you about his dream in front of everyone, how would everyone react to that?"

"Fair point. Still though, he's improving, just like you said he would."

Rex look at the sight in front of him. Izuku was getting his head nogged by Kozato and Sano was just laughing at the sight. Something flashed in his mind when he saw them having fun. A person laughing beside him and were just having the time of his life. Rex couldn't help but have a small smile on his face as he was reminiscing the past. "So… what do you want to do now?"

Jack didn't say anything else and stood up from his position. "Well, one thing's for certain now…" He then walked back downstairs as he said one last thing to Rex.

"I'm getting fired up!"

Rex knew immediately what was about to happen as he saw Jack's retreating form going down. He then look back at Izuku as he was now just sitting back down on the bench and just talking in general. 'If the old man is getting all fired up just because of Izuku, then…' Rex blew a cloud of smoke from his mouth as he finished his thoughts. 'Things are really going to get harder for Izuku as of today. Although, I doubt that Izuku will give up just because of some upgrade to his training regiment. After all…'

'I believe in him. That and the fact if he goes rogue, we'll have to kill him… Hopefully, it doesn't come to that.'