AN: So, I'm done with classes for the semester, so woohoo! I have an entire month to do nothing. Which is great. Gives me a chance to get some writing done! I'm super excited for this chapter so I hope you enjoy it: :DD
Also, WARNINGS: Minor character death in this chapter. It's not super graphic or anything, but I think it warrants a warning all the same.

well, anyway, ejoy~ :D


"We didn't come here to fight monsters. We're not equipped for it. We came here to find fossils."


"We have to sign waivers?" Someone sitting behind Izuku—by the pitch of their voice it sounded like Mineta—asked despairingly as their teacher, Aizawa, passed back the forms.

"They're liability waivers. Since we'll be going to the Unexpected Simulation Joint, we need to, by law, have you sign these waivers. It's just a precaution, I assure you," Aizawa droned on unenthusiastically.

This knowledge eased no one; they had never expected to have to sign any kind of liability waivers, but still signed it regardless. There wasn't any getting around it, and as Aizawa said, it was just a precaution, none of them would be in any actual danger.

Besides, Izuku thought, it made sense; if anyone got hurt while they were training the school didn't want to be held accountable for it. It was just a precaution for something that could happen, not something that would actually happen.

A nervous knot formed in his stomach, it twisted about before settling like a cold, dead weight. He tried to ignore it, but it almost felt like a warning… one he would be wise to heed.

He turned his attention back to Aizawa as he spoke up again, "Alright class, listen up. As you already know, we'll be going to the USJ. As such, it has been decided that you will be supervised by three heroes: All Might, myself, and a specialist in the field that we'll be covering today."

He paused for a moment, letting the excitement and anticipation build. "It'll be a trial of rescue; we'll be going over rescue simulations and proper ways to deal with different scenarios."

Rescue simulations… he was going to learn how to use his quirk for good, to help people… he just hoped that was even possible with bad luck. He knew Uraraka had said it wasn't bad luck, just luck in general, but she hadn't seen the destruction his quirk could cause. She didn't know what his quirk was capable of.

He was pulled from his reverie by Aizawa telling them all to put their hero suits on. Unfortunately, his suit had been damaged fighting Bakugo meaning he couldn't wear it, and so, he just put on his gym uniform, with a few additions from his suit such as knee and elbow braces, his belt, and his gloves.

After everyone had put on their hero suit, they congregated outside, waiting for the bus. As they waited, Izuku caught sight of Uraraka making her way over to him. "Hey Uraraka," he waved slightly at her.

She waved back, "Hey Deku, what's up— oh, hey you're not wearing your hero suit?"

"Nah," he shrugged, "it was damaged from the fight the other day, and the support crew hasn't finished fixing it yet." He didn't think it was a big deal, and it wasn't really, so he had no problem shrugging it off.

"Just your luck I suppose?"

Izuku stared at her, not sure how to respond before she gave a knowing smile, and they both broke into a laugh.

It was nice, being able to laugh off the inconveniences of his quirk with someone else for a change. Usually, he was scolded for any infraction or disturbance his quirk caused, but sometimes, he just wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. Now, because Uraraka and Iida knew about his quirk and hadn't held him in contempt for it, he could. It was relief he didn't know he desperately needed until he had it.

"Yeah, I suppose it is," he grinned.

Uraraka's face lit up, "Oh, speaking of…" she quickly took a simple threaded necklace from her neck and held it out for him, "I had some time last night, so I took some time to research some good luck charms and decided to make one for you!"

She smiled brightly, leaving Izuku to stare at the charm, it was relatively simple, an Omamori, red in color, but there were little designs in blue around the edges, and the kanji written for it was kaiun, a symbol of luck. So, it was just an overall luck charm, Izuku deduced.

"I know it's not amazing or anything, and the workmanship is kind of sloppy—"

"I love it," Izuku cut in, tying the string around his neck and carefully tucking the omamori inside his shirt to keep it close to his person. "Thank you, Uraraka," he said genuinely. It wasn't fancy, nor was it expensive, but she had made it for him, she had put effort into this, just for him. She didn't have to do that, and it meant a lot that she did.

Uraraka looked relieved, "Oh good, I'm glad." She then looked behind him, "I also made something for Shichi… though it looks like she isn't here…"

"Oh, no, I didn't see her this morning on my way to the train station, so I figured her owners must have kept her inside," Izuku stated nonchalantly.

"Oh," confusion lit up Uraraka's features, "Shichi really isn't your cat then? I know you said she wasn't and that she had owners… but she's always with you so I figured that she was, like, actually a stray or something…"

Izuku shook his head, "It's… kind of complicated actually," he sheepishly scratched his neck, unintentionally tracing his scar, "She was a stray, but after she got hit by a car—"

"She got hit by a car?!"

"Uh, yeah, she did.. That's why she's missing a leg. Anyway, so after that, I wanted to take her in, because I was the one who found her and took her to the vet… but, the thing was… we, my mom and I, the vet bills were expensive, and we couldn't really pay for them let alone everything else she would have needed…" He trailed off, a little ashamed of his economic status.

However, rather than giving him any judgment as others had before, she nodded understandingly, "I get that… My family is the same way. I hope that by becoming a hero I can help them out a little." She smiled sadly.

"Is that why you want to be a hero?" He questioned.

She nodded. "I know it's kinda selfish and—"

"No, not at all, I think that's really admirable."

The rest of their conversation was cut off by the bus arriving.

Iida made a show of keeping everyone in line and trying to make getting on the bus easy, but in the end, it hadn't mattered as they all just barreled into the bus. Izuku ended up sitting next to Asui, which he didn't mind at all, she was nice enough. He just didn't know her all that well.

All around him people were engaging in small talk, while he sat idly, not actively saying anything, but listening contently. Someone tapped his shoulder, and he turned to Asui.

"Oh, hey, Asui…" he sputtered out a little too fast to be considered casual.

Without missing a beat, she responded, "You can call me Tsuyu. Midoriya, your quirk seems to be a lot like All Might's… but you don't use it often. Why is that?"

Izuku blanched… oh. He knew why he used it sparingly—he couldn't control it, and thus, it broke his bones, but they didn't know that. They knew he had broken his finger using it during Aizawa's test, but he didn't actually use it during his battle with Bakugo, so they hadn't really seen what it could do… just a preview.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," Kirishima cut in, "he didn't even use his quirk against Bakugo."

Nervousness overtook Izuku, and he warily cast his gaze to Bakugo, expecting an outburst from him at the comment, but Bakugo just sent a heated glare his way and turned to look out the window. Come to think of it, Bakugo had been awfully quiet lately, he hadn't said anything to him since they last spoke after their battle, and even then Izuku had initiated that conversation.

"I-well, um…" He stuttered out haphazardly as Kirishima and Tsuyu waited for an explanation.

Thankfully, Iida came to his rescue, "I think, considering how damaging his quirk can be, Midoriya decided it would be in his best interest to withhold using his quirk unless it was absolutely necessary."

Izuku quickly nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that. I'm not— I can't really control my quirk that well either, so I didn't want to use it if I could help it…"

"Is that why you broke your finger during Aizawa's test? Because you couldn't control your quirk?" Kaminari added in thoughtfully.

Izuku nodded slowly. He couldn't reveal too much, lest he gave away his relationship to All Might, but it wasn't like it was a secret that he couldn't control his quirk—there were a lot of people who had quirks that were difficult to manage, so it really shouldn't have come off as so strange… right?

"I see," Kirishima nodded in understanding, "I guess that makes sense, still dude, that sucks that you break bones just by using it."

"I guess you could just say I'm rather unlucky," he chuckled.

Izuku noticed how the rest of the class seemed to nod their heads in agreement, and for once, he didn't feel condemned by them for it.

It was weird, but now that he had told people, even if it was only his two friends, about his quirk and they had accepted him, it came more natural to joke about it. There wasn't a crushing guilt that weighted down on him, or at least, it was more manageable now.

Something told him this feeling wouldn't last long. Sooner or later, his luck would run out.


The USJ was enormous, with a plethora of different rescue scenarios within its confines. Izuku, as well as the rest of the class, looked at it in awe. He couldn't believe this was something he got to train in, that this was a facility built specifically for them to train in.

There was a hero standing to the side, at the top of the stairs that led down to the plaza, the Pro Hero No. 13. They were wearing their hero suit and looked totally cool. He looked around the facility, taking in every aspect that he could, extremely excited to be working with one of the best-known rescue heroes in this day and age.

"This is the USJ." Izuku turned to see the Pro Hero, No. 13, speaking up. "This is the practical training area I made; it was made with multiple different disasters in mind."

Besides Izuku, Uraraka was gushing, "It's No. 13!" She looked ready to explode with enthusiasm—it was probably very similar to how he felt when he first met All Might.

"You a big fan as well?" he inquired, trying to quell his own fanboy-ish nature. They were in class, now wasn't the time to nerd out.

She nodded, "Yeah! No. 13 is one of the best disaster relief heroes. I want to be like them when I become a pro."

Izuku nodded his head in understanding.

No. 13 was about to continue their speech, when Aizawa cut them off, "13, All Might was supposed to be here with you by now… care to tell me where he's gone off to?"

Izuku whipped his head around, searching for the number one hero. All Might was supposed to be here? He noted how No. 13 was holding up three fingers… which in all honesty, really shouldn't have meant much, but it reminded Izuku of something All Might had told him.

A while back, not long after he had started training with All Might, Izuku had wondered why he never stayed in his hero form for a long time. Although reluctant to tell him, All Might had eventually caved, realizing that it was something he wouldn't be able to keep from his successor for long.

It had been explained to him by All Might then, that because of his grievous wounds from five years prior (six years now) he couldn't maintain his hero form for longer than three hours.

The thought was fleeting, but there nonetheless. There was a chance that wasn't what No. 13 meant when they held up their hand in a three, but then again, when was Izuku's luck ever in his favor? Still, it was a long shot, and there really wasn't any noteworthy reason to be worrying over it. They still had Eraserhead and No. 13, two pro heroes, here just for safe measure.

His attention was brought back to reality by No. 13 addressing the entire class, "Before we get started there are a few things we need to go over. As you are all more than likely aware of, my quirk is called Black Hole; anything, and I mean anything, that gets caught in its suction will turn into nothing but dust."

It was a crazy strong quirk, they all knew that. Izuku would never admit it, but he was a little jealous of it, compared to his own quirk (not the one given to him by All Might) it was truly spectacular.

"That quirk is perfect for rescuing people and removing wreckage from a disaster zone," Izuku idly commented, his mind having already come up with various uses for such a quirk.

"Yes, that is true," No. 13 started, "however, one must keep in mind that a powerful quirk like this could easily be used to kill people. One slip up or mistake is all it would take to end someone's life."

This caught Izuku off guard. Of course… he knew that… he knew that any quirk could, potentially, be used to harm someone else, to kill them, but… to hear that same line of thinking coming from a pro with an undoubtedly great quirk and not from bullies who wanted him to suffer was… well, it was different.

Izuku took a moment to reign himself in, looking at his hands he thought about the quirk he inherited. It could easily kill someone—hell it could kill him if he wasn't careful while using it. Not to mention how dangerous his natural born quirk was… he was already well aware of how deadly it could be.

His unease was not isolated to himself as he noticed several people were regarding themselves with a newfound perspective on how dangerous, how harmful their quirks could be.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, No. 13 continued, "With Aizawa, you all learned of the potential of your quirks, and with All Might you came to understand the repercussions and dangers of your quirks. Now, today, we'll start studying how you can use your quirks to aid people."

Could his quirk really be used to help people?

"Your quirks are not meant for you to hurt others with them; please, if you only learn one thing today, know that your quirks exist to help people," No. 13 finished confidently.

Quirks… exist to help people? If that was true… then… his quirk was meant to help people. That didn't make sense though—bad luck only ever hurt people. "Wouldn't that mean it brings about good luck as well? I mean, what's unlucky for you must be lucky for others right?" Uraraka's words poked at the back of his brain. Maybe his quirk wasn't all that bad… at least, some good could come from it… right?

Quirks existed to help people… so, there had to be more to his quirk than mere bad luck. Because his quirk could help people, it would help people. He was going to be a hero, and he was going to use his quirk to save people. No. 13 had even said that all quirks existed to help people… and he wanted to believe them desperately. He really did.

He had people that believed in him now… so maybe he should start believing in himself as well.

No. 13 had finished their speech and was giving Aizawa the reigns to take charge. Something twisted in Izuku's gut; he could feel it, a bad omen or something… something terrible was going to happen.

Izuku swallowed thickly and looked around, he knew to trust his instincts on this type of thing. If there was one aspect to his quirk that he was grateful for, it was that he typically knew when something unfavorable was about to occur.

The scenery before him looked fine though. Nothing looked as though it were about to break, there were no telltale signs of distress.

Then… behind Aizawa, he saw something askew, by the fountain in the main lobby. It seemed as though his teacher noticed it too because he whipped his head back and took up a defensive stance. Izuku, as well as the rest of the class, took notice of his posture and became uneasy.

The air stilled, before coalescing near the center, where the disturbance had first been. Slowly, a black hole formed, well not a black hole, more like an expansion of the blackness.

Izuku had thought that this might have been part of their training, but then he saw the edge in Aizawa's gaze as he put his goggles on and readied his capture weapon.

From the blackness, people emerged.

They didn't look friendly. They looked… they looked almost like villains. That was impossible though. This had to be a part training exercise or something…

There were so many. They were far outnumbered as even more people clambered out of the gate.

This wasn't training.

This was real.

Finally, one more person came out… he looked like the leader, with the way he sauntered through the… black gate-like quirk or whatever it was. He was covered in hands, and his entire demeanor screamed insanity. There was a strange aura leaking from him… something that dared him to try and fight it; Izuku hoped he would never have to experience his quirk if this was the aura he gave off.

By his side was some sort of… well it wasn't human, of that Izuku was sure. Its brain was exposed, and its eyes, though it was a fair distance from Izuku, he could tell, they were hollow, empty.

Aizawa took up a defensive battle stance. "No. 13, protect the students! Stay together and don't move!" he urgently yelled, barking the orders at everyone.

Around him, Izuku's classmates looked confused and in some cases, a little terrified. He didn't blame them, he was confused. Why were there villains here? Just what was going on?

"Class!" Aizawa snapped, "Stay back, those are villains."

A chill webbed its way through Izuku, paralyzing him.

They all watched as the gate, or portal or whatever, closed, disintegrating into a person… another villain.

Said villain spoke calmly, "Pro hero No. 13 and Eraserhead, but where is All Might? Our sources told us he would be here today."

Another villain spoke up, the one with all the hands, his voice was gruff and scratchy, "After we went through, all the trouble of finding these villains… and All Might doesn't even bother to show up… pitiful. Do you think he'll show up if we kill a few kids?"

In the silence of the plaza, their words were a knife, slicing everyone with the echoes.

The room chilled with malicious intent.

It all happened so fast.

The villains were making their way towards the group of students now.

Beside him, Izuku heard someone whisper, "This can't be happening."

He turned to see his classmates, frozen in fear, standing on edge. This was actually happening. They weren't even a week into their school year and villains were attacking them. Real, actual villains. Of course, Izuku had a run-in with a villain before, the sludge villain… twice, but this was different.

That had been an accident, a coincidence, an unfortunate circumstance (because, honestly, when did Izuku ever get a lucky break), but this… this was calculated.

They had been in an isolated facility, away from the school. This was the only time a class had been scheduled here. This, for once, wasn't a stroke of bad luck, Izuku concluded. It had been calculated.

To his right, he heard Yaoyorozu, "Shouldn't there be an alarm system—"

"We do… but—" Fleetingly, he saw No. 13 shake their head.

"If the sensors aren't responding, then that means they have someone with a quirk who can disrupt them," Todoroki cut in.

Aizawa had already started to move. "No. 13, protect the students, proceed with the evacuation procedure, and try to contact the school. If the villains know how to get around the sensors, then there's a chance you'll meet some interference."

He barked out orders, his demeanor completely different than before, "Kaminari, you too, use your quirk to try contacting Yuuei!" Kaminari startled at the command, but immediately did as he was told.

Aizawa looked ready to fight the army of villains in the plaza, something that both amazed and terrified Izuku. There were so many villains. Izuku knew Eraserhead's style of fighting, it was suited for one on one combat…

He didn't really think about it before he shouted, "Wait! Aizawa, you can't seriously be thinking of fighting them… your battle style is to capture after erasing quirks. That doesn't work when there are so many villains in the area!"

Aizawa paid him no mind, "I couldn't be considered a pro if I only had one trick, now could I?"

Maybe it was the direness of the situation, but for some reason, Izuku still found himself doubting his teacher.

Before Izuku had time to even think about what was happening, Aizawa had lept into action, his capture weapon striking out at enemies as his hair defied gravity, signaling the use of his quirk.

For a moment, Izuku was caught up in awe as Aizawa battled the villains. It was clear that even if he was the one outnumbered, the villains were the ones who were outmatched.

Seeing his teacher in action washed away all his doubts from before.

Aizawa was a master at hand-to-hand combat, and it showed—the way he dealt with the villains made it obvious. They weren't up to par with him. They stumbled and faltered over themselves, unsure who he was using his quirk on—his goggles hiding his line of sight—while they feebly attempted to attack him.

All in all, it was sort of mesmerizing, reminding Izuku of when he would search out villain fights to analyze them. He kind of lost himself in the fight, watching it with fervor until he was pulled from his trance by one of his classmates.

"Midoriya! Now isn't the time to gawk, we need to evacuate." It was Iida, pulling him from where he was standing, staring. He shook his head, Iida was right, now was no time to be watching the fight, they were in danger.

Izuku turned and started to advance towards the exit with the rest of the class when something blocked their path. No, not something… someone. It was that black misty villain.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave," the villain leered.

Everyone stopped in their tracks, fear overwhelming them.

The villain didn't appear to have a physical body, only a black veil of a thick mist that permeated the area around them, caging them in.

"Greetings," the villain shifted through the air, never staying statuary, "we are the League of Villains. I wish to apologize for the inconvenience, but you see, our objective for today is to extinguish your so-called symbol of peace… All Might. However, it seems as though he is missing from the premise today; was he not meant to be here today? Was there, perchance, an altercation that led to him not being here?"

There was a beat where no one said a word.

The villain waited patiently, knowing they had the upper hand in this situation. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw two people jump out, attacking the villain.

It was a futile effort, they—Kirishima and Bakugo—realized soon enough, when their attacks landed on nothing but air. If anything, their advancements served to do nothing more than anger the villain before them. The aura around the villain darkened, and a sinking feeling fell in Izuku's gut.

The villain warped around them, confining them in the small space. Something pulled at Izuku, some intangible force that separated him from his peers. He wasn't the only one being pulled; his classmate were all being pulled, forced into separate directions, towards the inky blackness that surrounded them.

A deep rumbling saturated the area, filling everyone with a deep sense of terror, "YoU wiLl bE sCattERed anD TorTurED… yOu wiLL All be KilLeD."

Izuku's blood ran cold as the villain's smoke engulfed him.

The sensation wasn't... abnormal, but the absolute black that surrounded him was unnerving. The moment only lasted a second though, before he was falling. It took him a second too long to comprehend the situation as his back and shoulder hit something roughly.

Izuku let out a pained gasp before he found himself submerged in icy water. Despite the throbbing that rang through his shoulder, Izuku assessed the situation as best as he could.

He didn't get a chance to take a deep breath before the water had inundated him. He knew he needed to breach the surface quickly, lest he run out of air.

So his quirk must be some kind of warping. I hope everyone is okay… that villain must have split us up and thrown us all around the USJ. This doesn't bode well… and their objective seems to be All Might himself…

Izuku was, quite literally, shaken from his thoughts by something running past him. He turned in the water, trying to get his bearings as well as reach the surface—his breath was running out.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something; twisting his features his eyes met those of another villain, this one with some kind of aquatic, shark-like quirk. The villain gave him a toothy grin, showcasing all of their razor sharp teeth, "Looks like the chum has arrived. Don't take this personal kid, but—"

The villain was cut off by something—someone—slamming into their side. Before he could even react, something wrapped around his torso, expelling the air from his lungs simultaneously, and launched both of them to the surface.

It was Asui, Izuku noted once they were above the water's surface.

The moment he could, Izuku took a deep breath of air, filling his burning lungs with it. Once he had caught his breath, he noted that Asui had not only rescued him from the shark villain, but was also carrying Mineta in tow with her.

He didn't quite catch it, but he thought he heard Mineta mumbling something to Asui—he decided he didn't really want to know the details of his mumblings.

There was a boat of decent size placed perfectly in the water before them. Izuku was about to suggest they collect themselves there when Asui unceremoniously threw him onto the deck of the boat.

His shoulder slammed hard into the wood, and he knew without a doubt that it was dislocated. He'd dislocated his shoulder enough by now to know what it felt like… and right now the immense pain burning through his shoulder told him he had done just that

It didn't take long for Asui and Mineta to both clamber into the boat. For the moment, everything was calm, or well, calmer.

"Thanks, but, uhh… next time can you maybe try and not dislocate my shoulder…" he said weakly, clutching his shoulder. Honestly, at the moment it throbbed more than anything, but he knew that it would hurt, really hurt, later on… Though he couldn't really dwell on that right now, they had bigger problems.

Asui looked horrified, "Midoriya, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine, really, just… you know, don't do it again if you can help it, Asui—" he finished rather lamely.

"You can just call me Tsuyu, and still… I'm sorry I hurt you."

Izuku clutched his dislocated shoulder, "Yeah… it's..." he bit his lip, a mirthless light floating in his eyes, "just unfortunate."

He glanced out of the boat, noting that the shark villain wasn't anywhere to be seen, "Um, actually, Tsuyu, would you mind popping my shoulder back in place." He said it nonchalantly, as if it wasn't a big deal, because, to him, it really wasn't… but apparently, Mineta thought otherwise.

"H-how can you be so casual about something like that?" Mineta stuttered out, unconsciously rubbing his own shoulder for comfort. "There are villains here… we're all going to die… and you're just standing here. Talking about dislocated shoulders as if it were normal!" Horror reflected in his face as he said that.

Tsuyu, though she didn't look exactly confident, was more put together than Mineta, gripped his shoulder, sending a white-hot flare through his arm. He grunted, but said nothing else as he nodded for her to pop his shoulder back in its socket.

"On three." He tensed at her words but gave a weak smile.

Mineta looked more concerned about the state of his shoulder than Izuku did, though, maybe it was because Izuku had dislocated his shoulder multiple times before… it always hurt, but each time it got a little more manageable.

He heard Tsuyu count to two before snapping his shoulder back in place. A thrill of pain sprinted up his arm, ripping at the nerves for a moment before settling down. He grit his teeth to keep from letting out any sound as the pain rolled over his shoulder. It only lasted a few moments before subsiding. Not too bad, could have been worse.

He made sure his shoulder was secure and in place, or at least good enough for now. He would have to check it out later, after all of this was over, because he knew there could be possible damage to his nerves, even if he couldn't exactly feel it now.

Instead of dwelling on the possibilities of his shoulder injury, Izuku thought about their predicament. "If you think about it, yesterday's break-in was extremely odd. There wasn't really any reason for it unless of course the villains broke in and used the news reporters as a cover-up… in which case, it makes sense that they knew exactly where we would be and when. And if All Might is their objective then—"

"But they couldn't kill All Might! That's impossible. Once he gets here, this nightmare will be over." Mineta was shaking as he spoke.

It briefly made Izuku wonder if maybe Mineta was the only one acting sane in this situation… they were kids. They shouldn't have to deal with villains who were trying to kill them, not yet at least… and yet, both Izuku and Tsuyu were holding themselves together quite well. Maybe it was shock that kept them from having an appropriate reaction, but whatever it was, they needed to keep their heads calm and collected if they wanted to get out of this unscathed.

Tsuyu broke Izuku out of his train of thought when she spoke to Mineta, "Whether or not the villains can kill All Might is inconsequential, because if they're here then that means they must have some type of method to kill him ready. No matter how great a hero All Might is, he's still human and can be killed."

Izuku couldn't help but agree with Tsuyu on that point. All Might was powerful, very powerful, but he was human too. Izuku knew things the rest of his class didn't; All Might was injured, whether he looked it or not, and therefore, he wasn't as powerful as he used to be. He had a time limit to his power…

"Mineta," Izuku cut in, grabbing Mineta's full attention, "we're fighting villains, real villains who want to kill us. We can't afford to sit back and wait for a hero to save us… if we do that, we may just end up dead before the heroes get a chance to rescue us."

Mineta just stared at him, shock and despair running through his features.

They were brought out of their stalemate by the sound of the villains growing restless. "COME BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YA PROPERLY!" a villain screeched.

From all around them, Izuku could hear the cackles of more and more villains as they were slowly but surely surrounded. This didn't bode well for them.

"More and more villains are coming… at this rate, we're gonna need a bigger boat." Izuku mumbled out, trying to think of a way out. Besides him, both Tsuyu and Mineta looked concerned, Mineta more so than Tsuyu…

It's true that they must have thought of a way to kill All Might. They were so confident. But we don't know what that plan is… and furthermore, why do they want to kill All Might? Is it because he's the symbol of peace? The number one hero? Or… do they know of his quirk? No, that's impossible, only a select few people even know of his quirk's existence.

The pressure was slowly building in his gut. Their situation, and all that entailed, was swallowing him up in a wretched fog. "There's really only one thing we can do now…"

What are their motives… does it even matter? If they're set on attacking us, on killing us then we really only have one choice. If we want to survive… "We have to fight, and win, if we want to survive."


Chaos.

Everything was in anarchy, as soon as that villain separated the class, Tenya knew they were in trouble.

"Is everyone still here? Can we get a confirmation on that?" Tenya cried out in as orderly a fashion as he could, though internally, he was slightly panicking.

Villains had come out of nowhere, literally, and attacked them without warning. This was troubling. Why here? Why now?

No. 13 was, luckily, still with the remaining students in the entrance of the USJ. This gave them a chance, at least, if they were indeed up against skilled villains.

"We're scattered, but everyone is still in the vicinity." No. 13 confirmed. "Please, class president, your quirk is that of speed, correct?"

Tenya nodded, before realizing that in the tense atmosphere, No. 13 didn't have the luxury to turn their gaze away from their enemy. "Y-yes, my quirk is Engine."

"Then I'm entrusting this with you. Please, use your quirk and run back to school and relay the following message: the alarms and triggers have failed to go off, villains have infiltrated USJ, and the students are in immediate danger; Pro hero's Eraserhead and No. 13 request back up as soon as possible."

Tenya understood that he would be the person most suited for this… but, that would mean running away. He didn't want to abandon his classmates, his friends. That felt cowardly, and he was training to become a hero, he couldn't run away and leave his friends alone to face villains.

"It would be unbecoming of the class president to—"

One of his classmates, Satou, he believed, interrupted him, "Go on man, we can't possibly take them on our own. We need you to bring us backup. We're counting on you, class pres."

It took a moment for the words to sink in. As much as Tenya didn't want to run away from the fight, and leave his classmates, he understood… He was their only chance at safely getting the backup they needed.

"Please," No. 13 said, "use your quirk to save people."

Tenya nodded. It was selfish of him, he realized, to put his own concerns before the good of the class. He didn't want to leave them, but he needed to, because, if he wanted to help them, then they needed backup, and he was the quickest way for them to get that backup.

"You can count on me," he stated.

The villain, which had been watching idly before, now blocked their path with an expansive blackness, twisting and warping like flames in the air.

"Interesting that you let your enemy hear your plans… Regardless if I can actually stop him or not, I can't believe you simple minded fools wouldn't try to hide your plans instead of spewing them right in front of me."

No. 13 activated their quirk, a black hole sucking everything in from their fingertips, as they spoke, "Isn't it rather obvious. If you heard our plans, it's because it does not matter to us if you hear them."

Tenya took that as his cue to run.


"W-what do you mean we have to fight? Are you crazy? If these villains can fight against All Might then what chance do we have?" Mineta was full on blubbering, tears having sprung from his eyes as he stuttered out his pleas.

Izuku shook his head, trying to contain his own fear, which he was doing much better at than Mineta, "We don't know that these villains," he gestured to the multitude of villains waiting just beyond the safety of their small boat, "could take on All Might and besides, we don't have a choice. If we do nothing, we will die, no question. Fighting gives us a chance."

Tsuyu nodded her head in agreement, but Mineta still looked beyond perturbed at the idea of actually fighting the villains.

Still, something about this situation bothered Izuku.

"These villains that are here are all water-based, or at least their strength seems to be in underwater combat," he was just thinking out loud now, "So they must have known the layout beforehand, but then," he turned to Tsuyu, "why would they put you in the flood zone? You're probably the only person in our class with a water-based quirk who can move freely in the water as you please, so why would they put you in your strongest element? It doesn't make sense."

"You're right," Tsuyu added thoughtfully, "The water is where I thrive, but say, to me, that fire zone didn't look all that fun, because the heat would have dried me up… what are you getting at Midoriya?"

"They don't know our quirks."

"They don't?" Mineta chirped in, still a sniveling mess.

Izuku nodded confidently, "No, that's why they split us up. They don't know how much of a threat we pose to them. That being said, the villains here outnumber us and have more years of experience than us… so we need to play our cards right because our only advantage is the fact that they don't know our quirks."

Both Mineta and Tsuyu nodded in understanding. Izuku noted that the villains hadn't made any attempt to chase after them… yet, but that also meant they wouldn't be underestimated.

It's okay. We got this, we just need to strategize first. The glass is half full right now. We have an advantage, we better use it to its fullest.

"I can leap fairly high," Tsuyu started, gaining curious looks from both Izuku and Mineta. "For my quirk, I can climb up walls, and my tongue can extend about twenty meters out. I can also inflate my stomach outwards and it's lined with a poisonous mucus, or well, not poisonous so much as it stings… and I can, uh, secrete it."

Besides him, Mineta whispered out "secrete it" in a lewd manner, earning a smack from Tsuyu's tongue.

"That's pretty impressive… as far as quirks go." Izuku commented, "What about you Mineta? What can your quirk do?"

Mineta, without batting an eye, in the most deadpanned way, took one of the purple balls on his head and stuck it to the side of the boat, "They're super sticky, and depending on my health they can last up to a day. They just grow back when I pluck one, but too many, and I'll start to bleed. Also, I'm immune to their stickiness, so I just bounce off of them."

There was a pregnant pause.

"W-why are you all quiet? I told you we should just wait for the heroes to arrive—"

"No, it's a great quirk, we just need to think of a way to use it." Izuku eased.

Tsuyu broke into their conversation, "Say, Midoriya, what about you? We know you have a strength quirk, but is there anything else you can do?"

Izuku gulped. "Yeah, actually, um, well, you see, since I can't control it very well, whenever I use my quirk, my bones usually shatter…"

"Oh, I see." Tsuyu quipped, "So it's like a glass cannon then."

"That's kind of useless to us then if you can't use it.." Mineta chirped up.

Izuku duct his head, he knew Mineta was right, but it still hurt to have his own uselessness being thrown back at him. He knew Mineta didn't mean any harm, he was just scared, like the rest of them, but that was the thing, they didn't have the luxury to be scared right now. They had to act.

He looked at both Tsuyu and Mineta, "Yeah, I guess so, but uh…" it wasn't the ideal situation, which meant that he couldn't hold back any information, so no matter what his reservations were, he had to tell them."I uh, actually do have one other quirk… I don't think it will help us much, but you guys should know…"

They stared at him, curiosity bubbling in their eyes.

He took a deep breath, "I cause bad luck to myself and my surroundings. Sometimes, I can direct it, but mostly it just kinda happens… I can't control what happens per se, but I can kind of direct it one way or another…" he closed his eyes and turned away from them, waiting for the backlash.

He didn't have to wait long, as Mineta screamed at him, though it sounded as though he was mostly afraid, which was somehow worse, "So you mean to tell me that anything bad that happens is because of you?"

Izuku flinched… that wasn't, that's not—

"So then, this is your fault!" It was accusatory, and something in Izuku broke at that. This was the reply he expected, but it still hurt… it pained him more than he was willing to admit, maybe it was because he had told people, and they had accepted him that made this vehement denial so much harsher.

"Mineta!" Tsuyu reprimanded, "That's not true, and you know it. This wasn't due to bad luck or anything, no quirk caused this, especially a quirk from a classmate. This was a calculated strike. No one but the villains are responsible for this."

It made him feel slightly better, to hear Tsuyu stand up for him, but maybe it had been a mistake to tell anyone else of his quirk. Obviously, even if these classmates were leagues better than his previous classmates, they wouldn't take too kindly to a quirk—a curse—like his.

"You kids are annoying! Come out already so we can kill you!" one of the villains shouted right before something struck the ship, slicing it in half (no amount of flex tape could seal the disarray the boat had been left in).

In his panic, Mineta haphazardly started to throw his balls into the water. Izuku was about to yell at him, but stopped short… What right do I have to yell at Mineta for panicking when I'm the one at fault…. Right? Mineta was right, he has to be. It's, in some way or another, my fault that the villains attacked… It has to be… It's always my fault.

Though, Izuku quickly noticed that the villains weren't going near the balls as they floated by… They weren't taking any chances it seemed. Izuku didn't have time for self-depreciation at the moment, because they needed to act, fast, before the villains figured them out.

"We don't have long until the ship sinks… and then we'll be forced to enter the water… which won't end well," Izuku commented, trying in vain to think of something, anything. His body was trembling, because this was real, this was actually happening. Villains, with the intent to kill, were attacking them. They couldn't be freaking out like this if they wanted to survive.

Tsuyu turned on Mineta, "Did you really come to Yuuei to be a hero? Because you're freaking out and acting on impulse instead of thinking through your actions."

"Are you kidding!? These are actual villains, it's crazier that you two," he pointed an accusing finger at the both of them, "are as put together as you are! It wasn't too long ago that we were just middle schoolers. You can't expect us to handle this well… at least let me feel the warmth of a woman before I die," his voice was so broken it was difficult to discern some of the words, but Izuku got the gist.

Izuku was scared too… didn't Mineta understand that? He wasn't taking this well because it was easy for him. He was trying to maintain some semblance of control.

He didn't have any other choice.

If he didn't get his shit together, they could die, no, they would die.

His quirk already put them at a major disadvantage, so he had to keep calm, lest he repeat—No, he wouldn't let that happen, never again.

"Mineta," somehow, though his body was quaking, he held his voice steady, "don't you understand our situation. I'm terrified, shaking even, but I can't afford to let that cloud my judgment. We could die here, Mineta… and that's petrifying, it really is… but if I just sit back and don't do anything… then how could I ever call myself a hero? But… I can't do a lot. I'm not… I don't have control over my one quirk and my other is…" he paused, because his other quirk… could it really even be called a quirk anymore?

Quirks existed to help other people, bad luck didn't help anyone, it only hurt people. It only ever hurt people. No, it couldn't be called a quirk. "It's a curse, but even so, I don't want to die. So my only option is to fight, and to live and become stronger… until I can do something."

"Midoriya…" Tsuyu looked at him, there was… something in her gaze, maybe hurt or possibly pity. Either way, Izuku didn't have time to dwell on it.

"So, we uh, we need a plan." He averted his gaze from her and looked upon the water below them. The villains looked restless with a gleam in their eyes.

Mineta remained quiet while Izuku and Tsuyu tried to figure out how they were going to get past the villains. They had come up with a plan, it wasn't great, and Izuku was positive they could have come up with a better one had they been given more time, but they weren't, and this was what they had to deal with.

The last thing he wanted to do was use his curse (their situation was already unfortunate enough without him adding to it), which left him with his natural, first quirk. He still couldn't control it, but he could direct it, and that was what he was going to do.

The villains were done waiting though, and one of them threw something at the boat. Izuku noticed it a split second before Mineta, but that was all he needed to jump in the way and protect Mineta from getting hurt. The spear, or whatever it was, looked like a dagger made of bone or something, possibly a quirk, dug into his shoulder. At that moment he hadn't even been thinking, all he knew was that someone was in danger, and he could save them. Even if Mineta had said those things, he didn't hold it against him… He was just glad he was okay.

Mineta just gaped at him, seemingly surprised by his actions, but Izuku shrugged it off. Someone was in danger, and he was able to save them, that was all there was to it—it wasn't personal or anything, he just didn't want anybody to get hurt if he could help it… especially if the entire situation was his fault.

Izuku wasted no time yanking the bone-dagger out of his shoulder, hissing from the pain. His shoulder was bleeding, but not a lot, and it would heal on its own, he knew, so he let it be.

There just wasn't any more time to waste. They had to act, now.

Izuku grabbed the attention of the villains by jumping onto the railing of the boat, finding purchase on the fact that the boat was tilted as it was sinking. He didn't give the villains a moment's notice as he jumped, preparing to sacrifice a finger in exchange for One For All's power.

The scream he let loose was only half meant to distract them from Tsuyu and Mineta following suit. The other half was because it hurt… a lot. He could feel the bone in his finger crumble beneath the skin—Recovery Girl was not going to like seeing this injury if he survived long enough to see her again.

The impact of his quirk's power hitting the water created a whirlpool that sucked the villains in. If they were strong enough swimmers they could swim away, but that was why he had planned ahead. Mineta's quirk was the perfect weapon to clump the villains together as they tried to escape the current. Mineta threw the balls in haphazardly, scattering them about the whirlpool and meshing with the villains, who couldn't escape the strength of the water's flow.

Tsuyu, having the longest leap out of the three of them, was their escape route—she carried Mineta in her arms while she used her tongue to wrap around Izuku. Unfortunately, having her tongue out at such a length made it an easy target. That same villain who had thrown the bone-dagger at Mineta threw one at Tsuyu's tongue, slicing the side and causing it to immediately retract… dropping Izuku into the water below.

Tsuyu looked mortified, but Izuku was more resigned than anything. He should have known, everything was going too well. His curse—because it wasn't a quirk, it couldn't be—just couldn't give him one win, one measly win. Nope, that was asking too much.

Izuku was a good swimmer, really, he was, but when one had a broken finger, recently dislocated shoulder that also just happened to have been recently impaled as well, and a whirlpool acting against you, it, well, it really made swimming difficult.

Still, Izuku refused to give up. He saw Tsuyu and Mineta had made it to the edge of the flood zone, they were able to stand in the shallow water. He wasn't that far off from them either. It would only take a minute to get to them, possibly a little longer considering his condition. His shoulder ached miserably—he could ignore that—and his finger was a throbbing bundle of raw nerves, but he could manage. He would have to.

Surprisingly, or well it surprised Izuku, both Tsuyu and Mineta had started running after him, trying to help him. He was about to wave them off, because he could handle it, when something grabbed his leg, and he was pulled under.

The next few seconds were a haze of scrambled limbs entangling in themselves, and an aching chest that longed for oxygen. He couldn't see anything, the water blurred his vision and something whipped him through the water too fast for him to get his bearings.

It was a villain, he knew, but which one he wasn't sure… that was until he felt something sharp brush up against his side before it chomped down. He let out a gasp, before immediately regretting it, and thrashing around ever more desperately.

Within the murky depths of the pool they were in, something mingled with the water, staining it a dark brown.

A fire burned through his chest as water met the empty caverns of his lungs. His side was flaring with that same intense blaze, but the fight was leaving him. It was swallowing him, and he couldn't escape.

His limbs filled with lead and white splotched out his vision. Something flashed across his fogged out vision before he felt the tension leave him, and he was rising to the surface.

Cold air slapped his face, as the water faded away. The fire that had burned his lungs fled up his throat before he was coughing. They were harsh hacks that racked his body painfully, but he was forever grateful either way because it meant he was alive.

"...ya?"

Someone was calling out something, but his ears refused to hear anything.

"...oriya?"

It sounded like his name. Something was shaking him then, trying to gain his attention. Cautiously, he looked up, blearily seeing a face… it looked similar to Tsuyu…

"Tsuyu?" he slurred in between coughs.

"Midoriya, are you alright?"

He nodded, not really even sure what the question was asking. His side felt… funny. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't be bothered to figure it out right now, everything was too jumbled for him to understanding.

Someone shook him, presumably Tsuyu. "Midoriya, I need you to stay awake. We're gonna swim to the edge of the pool, it's not too far off," their voice was direct, but soft.

"Mmhm, sounds good," he said sluggishly. "What…" he paused, forgetting what he was going to say before it came back to him, "What happened?"

Something was pressing against his side, it didn't hurt, but it felt… wrong, like it shouldn't be there.

"Midoriya," he heard a loud cry from his side, and he turned his head to see a purple outline, "are you alright? Oh my god, you're bleeding!" He squinted, wincing at the shrill voice.

"Mineta, I need your scarf. We need to stop the bleeding and we don't have much to work with." Tsuyu demanded, leaving no room for argument.

It took a moment, but after a bout of concentration, the events started to float back into place for Izuku, and his lucidness began to come back to him. He had fallen into the water… and then a villain had attacked him, bit him. He winced at the memory. He had been saved, he realized.

Though it looked like they got out, mostly unscathed?

"Wh-what happened to the villain?" he questioned.

"I trapped him with my quirk," Mineta beamed proudly, for once, the fear was gone.

"R-really?" Izuku flinched, letting out a rasped, muffled scream from the fire that flared to life as Tsuyu tightened Mineta's scarf around his abdomen in an attempt to stop the blood flow. It worked, mostly, but Izuku still felt woozy from blood loss. "How'd you manage that?"

By now they had made it to the edge of the pool and were just trying to catch their breaths, something Izuku desperately needed.

"I just asked myself 'what would Midoriya do?' and then I threw some of my sticky balls at him until his hands had gotten stuck—you'd be surprised how smoothly they glided through the water." Mineta spoke with vigor, his chest puffed out as if he hadn't been cowering only minutes earlier, before he seemed to catch himself and gave Izuku an apologetic look, "Hey, Midoriya… I'm sorry... For what I said earlier… That wasn't fair of me. Even though you're seriously the most unlucky guy I know, and I said those nasty words to you, you still saved me earlier on the boat. You're a real hero…"

It was a genuine apology, there was no malice or ill intent in it or anything, which surprised Izuku... He hadn't thought Mineta would apologize, or that he even had any reason to either.

He wasn't wrong, Izuku could very well be at fault for this whole mess, because of his quirk, but the thing was… he didn't know for sure. He would never be able to know for sure, but for Mineta to admit that he had been wrong and that Izuku not only could be, but was a hero, was beyond him.

It was stunning and unexpected. He really didn't know how to respond.

"I uh… thanks. It's not-It's not a big deal, but I uh, I really appreciate it." He smiled weakly, heaving a sigh.

"I wonder how the rest of the class is doing?" Tsuyu wondered out loud.

Izuku didn't want to think that the rest of the class was facing off against villains too, he was sure they were doing fine, he had nothing but faith in them, but still, the thought was harrowing.

He turned his attention to the middle of the plaza and froze.

There were so many villains, laying on the ground, but that wasn't what caught his attention, no, what he saw utterly horrified him. A chill spider webbed its way through his bones and up his spine until he was completely paralyzed.

His teacher, Aizawa, was lying, unmoving, face in the ground, with some kind of monster holding him down. Izuku couldn't see it properly, but he was sure there was blood pooling under the limp form.

"Hmm, you put up a good fight, but you're no match for my Nomu…" the villain covered in hands idly commented as if he were talking about the weather.

"We're so dead. We're dead." Izuku heard Mineta sob, completely forgetting his facade of bravado from earlier.

They were still half submerged in the water, just at the threshold, but they were fully out in the open too.

The villain took notice of them after Mineta's sputtering, causing Izuku to internally scowl while on the outside his face contorted into fear.

Before he could blink, a person—a villain, the leader—was in front of his face, smiling a crooked grin on cracked skin.

"Well, well, it looks like we have an audience… maybe I should make a show of dominance by killing these kids here, right in front of their teacher?"

The villain wasted no time, his hand reaching out for Tsuyu. Izuku watched in mute agony, unable to move as his hand clasped around her face… but nothing happened.

The smile only grew on the villain's face, "Well, well, aren't you a cool teacher, Eraserhead, using your quirk in that condition?"

Behind the villain, Izuku noticed the strained face of Aizawa as he forced his quirk to activated before the monster—the nomu or whatever—smashed his face back into the ground.

"That was all well and good, but I still need to make a show of you brats." The villain had removed their hand from Tsuyu's face and held it out in front of them tauntingly. "Now now, which one of you should I choose?"

It just had to be his quirk—his curse—because the next thing he knew he saw the hand coming for his face. He didn't have time to move, didn't have time to think before he felt the smallest prick on his cheek.

It stung, gradually burning worse until he felt the blood trickling down his cheek. The numb sensation ebbed away to a slow burn. It was agonizing, his skin cracked and blistered in seconds. This was it, he knew that. The villain had them in his grasp, but Izuku refused to just… die. Purely on instinct, he pushed away from the villain, earning a stabbing pain in his side, but the instant relief he felt in his face proved that it was the right idea.

"Now that wasn't very nice of you… I guess I'll just have to murder your friends here instead." The villain's hand went towards Mineta.

Both Tsuyu and Mineta were trapped, the villain was too close to them for them to try and escape, but Izuku wouldn't, wouldn't let them die. He lurched forward at the same instant that the villain muttered something.

He closed his fist and focused all his power into it. His limbs be damned, he wasn't about to let a classmate die because of him. He felt the power surging through him, but it wasn't… hurting him—that wasn't to say it didn't hurt at all, because he couldn't help the twinge of discomfort roll through his shoulder, but it was miles better than his bones breaking. It was still that same fire through his veins, but there was no crumbling feeling that accompanied it, signaling the end of his bones.

I might actually land a punch without breaking my hand!

His fist landed, but instead of the satisfying feeling of impacting something and destroying it, it felt like he hit a wall. He looked up and noticed that the monster had come forward and blocked him from hitting the villain.

When did-when did that monster get here? He was just over there a second ago. Izuku's eye's drifted over to where the monster had been and saw Aizawa lying pitifully on the ground, moving very faintly.

His eyes didn't get to linger much longer as the monster had grabbed his fist, which was still up against its stomach, and threw him like a ragdoll.

He hit a wall.

Hard.

And fell limply on the ground.

Everything hurt, his bones felt shattered, though he knew they were all intact. To his horror, he saw the monster grab Mineta.

He gulped, hoping the monster would just throw him as it had done to himself, and be done with him and leave them alone, but much to his ire, the monster did no such thing.

He willed his body to move, to get up, to help, but it simply lay there limply, not moving at all. He wanted to reach out, help his classmate, but couldn't. His body wasn't responding to him.

The monster, the… thing, held Mineta above him—in that instant Izuku wasn't seeing a monster attack his classmate, he wasn't even at the USJ, he was back at that day. There was no monster, only a building, collapsing… because of him.

Mineta was flung through the air, slamming into the ground like a dead weight—it wasn't Mineta lying unmoving on the ground now, it was a little girl, no older than ten, with an innocent smile and fear wrapped around her eyes as she bled out, support beams crushing her small figure.

Right now he wasn't seeing a villain attacking them, using Mineta as a plaything, no, he was back at that time, when his quirk ruined everything.

It was his fault then, it was his fault now.

It was always his fault.

He had to look away, closed his eyes even, not able to stomach his lunch any more as he heard bones crunch and an ear-splitting screech.

This was all too real; he hoped beyond hope that this was just a nightmare, but when he opened his eyes and looked ahead of him, he knew it wasn't.

Mineta lay on the ground, unmoving, not breathing, utterly dead to the world.


AN: :)
until next time,

Vera~