I own only my plot.

"Bidaya!" Both figures, clad in their dark blue robes, faded into the rows of similarly clad students. Ra's smiled from his vantage point. Midoriya had done exceptionally well in the half a year Ra's had been training him. His only flaw was his foolish notion of heroism that limited him so drastically. As Ra's watched one of the two blue clad figures hunt the other, he wondered which it was. Midoriya was far more likely to play defensively, but the boy had become much more assertive as of late. Suddenly there was motion and the hunter attacked, his scimitar nicking his rival, before the injured man disappeared in the crowd. Grinning, Ra's watched the injured man copy his injuries onto other students. Soon enough, the hunter placed his blade at the throat of an injured man, only for a man behind him to place his blade on the hunter's throat. Ra's laughed at the brilliance of the move, and clapped the entire duration of his descent down the stone stairs. Walking up to the victor, he smiled. "Remove your mask, so we may see the victor." The man in blue complied, removing his mask, Ra's was confused when suddenly a blade was at his throat.

"You never said the exercise was over." Came the masked growl of Izuku Midoriya.

"No. I didn't." Came Ra's even reply. The blade at Ra's throat clattered to the ground, surprising some of the students and making them lose their neutral expressions as Izuku fell to his knees, Ra's blade still in his chest. "And no one who raises a blade against the Head of the Demon can live. Alnihaya!" At that the blue robed students filed back to their chambers, while Ra's held the dying boy. When they had all left, he gently tugged the mask off of his prize pupil. Betrayal, fear, and acceptance lined Izuku's face as he stared into his master's eyes as if to ask what did I do wrong? Ra's chuckled. "You became arrogant. You did beautifully in the exercise, and had you not tried to put yourself in a position of power over me, you would have been given the highest honor. You must remember this Izuku, the next time you raise your blade to me will be when you are ready to take my place. Do you understand?" Izuku's face was wracked with pain, and the words made no sense to the dying boy, but he nodded. Ra's chuckled again, pushed the sword further, and Izuku Midoriya's life ended.

Talia twirled her scimitar before re-engaging her opponent. Steel clanged and sparks flew as the two came together again and again. Sweat glistened off of her forehead as she stared into the emotionless green orbs of her opponent. She went for a lunge, and as he stepped to the side, he smiled at her. Genuinely, and carrying every bit of the warmth she knew him for. Warmth spread across her, and she tentatively smiled back… until he swept her feet out from under her.

Ra's laughed and applauded as he walked towards them. But her opponent wasn't smiling with him. He looked torn, as if what he had done had hurt him as well. He didn't offer his hand, he knew what Ra's would say and he knew what she was feeling. Or thought he did. As her father congratulated him, they walked away from Talia as she picked herself up. She smiled to herself as she sheathed her blade. He looked so vulnerable in the moments following his victory, and Talia felt her affection for the boy deepen. Smiling, she headed to the meeting spot they had agreed upon, and began an important debate with herself.

How long should she pretend to be upset with him?

"You did marvelously my boy." The praise felt hollow, as Izuku numbly nodded. Ra's noticed his protege's discomfort and smiled deeper. "Yet despite my praise, which is normally more than enough for you, you look as if I had struck you."

Izuku frantically tried to wipe the dejected look from his face. "I-it's not you master."

Ra's smile turned to a glower. "Your stutter is back."

Izuku's gaze filled with resolve. "Apologies, master. I meant to state that it was something personal. No connection to you or the outcome of the match."

Ra's turned away before letting his smile return as the two continued walking the stone corridors of Nanda Parbat. "You lie to me. Unintentionally, but the lie remains."

Izuku looked confused. "Master?"

"You are upset about the outcome. Not your victory. The means of your victory is what upsets you." Izuku lowered his head in acceptance, he had known that everything Ra's asked of him was a test, and ever since the match had ended, he felt as if he had failed. "This is a good thing." Izuku's eyes went wide, and he couldn't understand what his master was saying. Ra's stopped him in front of a door, before turning to the boy. Locking eyes with Izuku he said "I want you to be willing to do what is necessary. That is what it means to command the demon. You have proved that when you harmed fellow initiates to win one of my tests. You proved it further when you indirectly challenged me. This is why I brought you back. This is why I have named you my successor. This is why I have given you my daughter. The test today had nothing to do with your resolve."

Izuku's mind was racing, trying to put the pieces together in some order that made sense. "Then why make me act so dishonorably towards the woman I l-care for." He corrected himself.

Ra's wasn't fooled in the slightest however. "I have entrusted you with the greatest honor I could bestow in naming you my successor. Can you blame me for ensuring that the person more important to me than any of that would be cared for after I'm gone?" Izuku stared dumbfounded at his mentor. This legendary man's admission of viewing him as worthy not only of his life's goal, but of his daughter would have sent him crying if he was the same as he was a year ago. But he was not that Izuku. Ra's put his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "I told you that everything here was a test. How you treat my daughter when she is home on break is observed and reported to me. Your calls when she is at that school are monitored. How you fight her is monitored. You care for my Talia, and the pain in your heart for using those feelings to win, and your actions when I am not present have shown me that you are worthy of her as well. Now, Disambir, don't keep her waiting." With that he opened the door, and Izuku saw Talia waiting on their usual rock, staring at the starlight sky. Without a word, Ra's shut the door behind Izuku and walked away.

Talia smiled as she idly ran her fingers through Izuku's hair. She hadn't had the willpower to pretend she was mad at him, instead wanting to spend as much time together as they could, she assured that she wasn't. Which is how they wound up here. Izuku's head in her lap, looking up at the stars…...and her, when he didn't think she was looking. His hair was growing back now that he no longer had to look like the rest of the initiates, and she was almost as glad as he was about that. His hair had grown back much darker through, closer to black than the green it had been originally. He was telling her about his home, and his past, and she was enraptured by the zeal and energy he described it with. The way he talked about Katsuki was always what surprised her though.

Attending UA with the obnoxious braggart was barely tolerable, due to the fact that she rarely had to deal with him. Yet Izuku, and other friends of hers that hung around Bakugou described an almost different person than the one she saw every day. Eventually, though he got to his mother and stopped. He always stopped right here. She prepared to switch topics, when he shakily continued. "Mom was….. Mom was the best… She never let what I was bring either of us down for long. And…." He paused, struggling to keep his composure. Talia lifted his head, and as he sat up, she wrapped him in a tight hug.

"You don't have to keep going."

"Yes… I do."

"No you don't. You're hurting yourself."

"I want to share it with you. My pain, my past, I want you to get it all Talia." Her eyes moistened at that, and as they seperated he took both of her hand's in his. "I…. I love you Talia, and if I can't share this with you, then who could I share it with?"

Talia choked up at his declaration. Pulling him in they shared their first kiss. It was short, and sweet, and sent electricity through the both of them. As they broke apart she said "I love you too….. But that's not going to change, so there is no rush to push yourself through this, okay?" He tried to answer, but his mouth wasn't working and with a giggle Talia intertwined their fingers, and laid back down on the rock dragging him with her. As they lay side by side, she repeated herself like it was a promise. "There's no rush. We have all the time in the world."

Ra's sat in a throne like seat made of stone, Izuku standing by his side, when two robed individuals brought a man in shackles in. They kicked the man's knees, forcing him to kneel as they did the same. The man was Japanese, and as he pleaded in his and Izuku's language, Izuku turned to Ra's. Ra's smiled to his protege before standing abruptly. The man continued pleading until Ra's bellowed "SILENCE!" The man's shaking form did so, though Izuku noticed the man's pants darkened at the command. "Speak my student. The question is almost screaming at me."

Izuku bowed his head before asking "Why is he here?"

Ra's eyes glinted. "He is a criminal. Do we not deal with criminals?"

Izuku bowed. "Of course we do Master, I meant no disrespect, I simply wondered what he had done so special to deserve your personal touch.

Ra's laughed. "No disrespect exists in a good question. This man has done nothing to deserve my attention. He deserves yours." Izuku looked startled, and Ra's continued. "A criminal is not complicated. They feed on the leniency of corrupt legal systems, and strive for their own man was a thief, he stole from a man, and when the man returned in the middle of the heist, he became a murderer and a thief."

Izuku stiffened. "You are testing my desire for vengeance."

"No I'm testing your resolve to end the problems this world faces. Crime cannot be tolerated, it feeds on the understanding of good people to strengthen the bad."

Izuku stared at the man, now whimpering, and drew his scimitar. The man began pleading again but Izuku looked only at Ra's. Ra's nodded and Izuku took a single look at the pleading man. Then he swung. A small thud and larger one followed the swing, and Izuku wiped his blade before returning it to its scabbard.