Welp, it seems you guys liked Chapter 18 about as much as I did. In my defense, I warned you. Least we can get back to the plot.

Side note: After the shit taste that 'Heroes Rising' and 'Rise of Skywalker' left in my mouth, I can safely say that 'Weathering with You' and 'Little Women' have reinvigorated my appreciation for cinema. That's been your chapterly Author-kun recommendation.

Also quick recap for those who – understandably – skipped the last chapter: nothing interesting happens with Class 1-A, the author realizes maybe he was the problem, and Deku manages to talk to a girl about serious business.

Q/A

Man, it's been forever since I did this. Then again, the last few chapters had like hundreds of reviews, so it was kinda hard to answer them. Luckily, the last one was a bit more accessible.

- I don't remember if I even addressed this officially (and I cut the segment from Author-kun's tirade) but I'm still getting comments for that weird preliminary tournament thing I did after the Cavalry Battle. And fairly so; it was a dumb idea then and it's a dumber idea now. But I have no regrets! I wanted more fights and I had fun writing it. If you don't like it, I hate it probably more than you, but part of this story will always be about indulging my stupidity. So I offer you my nuts upon which you may suckle.

- I (weirdly) got requests to write more chapters high. I'm not entirely opposed to it since it was fun to do (dopamine wise) but it will never be like the last one. I just don't want to involve actual story beats with that kind of nonsensical humor, especially if it means turning off people who've been supportive of the story otherwise. Maybe I could do something like an omake? Depends on the demand, but I'll leave a sample of what I'm thinking at the end.

- For those who thought the lemon chapter joke was real, I want it to be said that I will probably never write a lemon. This is a family show.

- People still asking about the Mangekyō, hear me now: I have a plan and if you want to know, you'll just have to read and be patient (hint hint, you won't have to be that patient).

- I don't use really use Discord but if you guys actually wanna engage on there, I'm obviously down. It's just another question of demand.

- I get a couple questions like this every few months so I'll make it clear in public: I do not own the idea of Izuku with a Sharingan. I'm sure it was done before me and it'll be done long after me. If you want to write a story with that premise, I do not mind in the slightest. In fact, please share it with me!

Chapter 19: Hero Marketing

"Hello?" Izuku yawned into his phone, still rubbing the sleep from his bleary eyes.

"Midoriya? It's Recovery Girl. All Might gave me your number."

He instantly stood at attention, any remnant of his rest gone, "Y-yes ma'am?" Ohmygod Ohmygod Ohmygod I'm getting a phone call from a Pro Hero...besides All Might...wow that's really lost its splendor after a year.

She cleared her throat across the line, "Can you bring Eri in again? I was hoping to do some Quirk analysis and figure out what happened on Friday."

He looked to his side at the young girl slowly stretching herself out on the bed she wasn't in when he fell asleep. Huh, I completely forgot that she healed me with all the stuff that happened after with Todoroki and Iida…when did I start living such an interesting life? "Okay, I'll just let my mom know."

"Excellent. I'll be by your apartment shortly."

"Eh?"

Theoretically, getting to ride shotgun with a Pro Hero, especially one as legendary as Recovery Girl, sounded impressive and was certainly preferable to taking the train with the current stormy weather.

Theoretically.

"Y-you know…the train – gulp" Izuku stifled the vomit that threatened to spill out, " – would've been r-really fine."

Eri tried to nod, but that only made things worse.

Recovery Girl popped off her booster seat – which would've been adorable under different circumstances – and waved her hand dismissively, "Nonsense! Can't have my precious Eri-chan walk around in this unholy weather." She smiled as she patted the child's head, which only worsened the nausea, "Huh, looks like she's coming down with something."

Izuku rubbed the child's back. After that drive, I wouldn't rule out a concussion.

The Youthful Heroine locked her vehicle and took Eri by the hand, "I'll take her to my office now, if that's alright with you. We'll probably be finished after lunch if you want to get her then."

He tried to nod but the motion made the encroaching bile come back with a vengeance, so he settled for a thumbs-up. Well at least I have plenty of time to settle down before class starts. He made his way, slowly, to the lockers and began gingerly bending down to swap shoes. Oh god, bending over makes it worse. It's so much worse!

He was stuck in that position for a while until a familiar voice called out– and a familiar hand chopped him – "Up and at it, Midoriya! Only ten minutes until class starts."

"Iida?" Izuku leapt up, ignoring his inner-ear canal's screaming to address his formerly-MIA friend, "Hey, how have you been? How's Inge- I mean your brother?"

The taller boy smiled reassuringly and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, "I'm well, thank you. And he's in stable condition. But how was the class party? I haven't had the chance to look through my messages."

Izuku blushed and grinned sheepishly, avoiding eye contact, "W-well…nothing interesting happened. Don't worry about catching up." Though maybe he can help me find out what happened to Mineta.

"Ah, well as long as you all had fun. Anyways, I'll go make sure everyone else is ready for class. Sorry again if I caused you any undue worry over the last couple days." Iida waved off, leaving Midoriya to his thoughts.

He…he seems fine. Completely normal. Totally back to the way things were.

Then he saw a slight tremor in his friend's posture. A quiet change in his position, as if something threatened to bubble up and spill out. Or maybe erupt forth. It was the tremor of someone forcing something back down, trying to maintain a semblance of outer peace at the cost of inner turmoil. Basically, it had been Izuku's default state from ages four to fourteen.

He's not alright.

Iida's evidently poor handling of his brother's injury would've weighed much more heavily on Midoriya's mind if Aizawa hadn't entered homeroom both bandage free and bearing news of internships.

Gesturing to the data on the screen, Aizawa deadpanned, "There's a bit of an outlier – or three – this year but a fair few of you still got offers." Behind him, the blackboard screen flashed a bar graph showing all the students with formal offers.

Todoroki: 3,123

Bakugou: 2,303

Midoriya: 2,286

Tokoyami: 323

Iida: 301

Uraraka: 200

Kaminari: 172

Kirishima: 68

Yaoyorozu: 28

Sero: 11

Ashido: 3

"I…I got offers!" Izuku nearly leapt off his chair but settled on turning around, "Mineta, did you see? I got of…fers…"

The shortest student in Class 1-A stared back at Midoriya with eyes deprived of soul or life and flashed a thumb in the most asinine of manners. His skin was sallow and taut while his hair-like balls, normally a rich violet, were shriveled and colored a sad, faded lilac.

Asui…Jiro…what did you do to him?

Uraraka shook Iida vigorously, nearly sobbing, while Kirishima was somewhere between furiously high-fiving Kaminari and comforting Ashido. "Come on, three's not bad! Some of us didn't get any offers!"

Kaminari interjected, "Yeah. And besides, it's not like you could've done anything against Todoroki in the fir-YEOW!" He was cut short on account of Jiro stabbing his ears and blasting him with sound.

Todoroki only shook his head, "I'm pretty sure most of them are because of my father's connections," which earned the ire of more than a few students who remembered a series of giant ice walls that would suggest otherwise.

"I guess I should be grateful I got any at all." Yaoyorozu sighed a breath of relief. When Aizawa announced the internships, she felt a momentary twinge of panic that she would be left in the dust after the abysmal showing against Tokoyami (and getting drowned out by everything Hatsume was showing in the match before). This is my starting line. I'm going to stop second guessing myself and

Scratching his cheek, Sato commented, "Huh, it's weird that Midoriya got less offers than Bakugou."

"I guess those last few minutes against Todoroki must've spooked some of the pros." Sero attempted to explain, thankful to every god that nobody was commenting on his showing. Least I'm not last.

"Ribbit. Also Midoriya isn't nearly as memorable as Bakugou. He also tends to fade into the background when grouped up so his performance in the cavalry battle might've gone past some heads. It's not unlikely that some of the pros just forgot."

Izuku sweatdropped. I thought we were friends, Asui!

Luckily, his – literal – knight in shining armor came to his defense, "Ces mensonges. Monsieur Midoriya is an icône!"

Aoyama! I won't forget this kindness.

The dazzling Frenchman held up his phone, "Regarde. Midoriya and Awase are famous! There's enough fanart to fill the Louvre." The screen was far away, and the images were too numerous to count, but Midoriya had a sinking feeling about who was to blame for starting the trend.

Dammit, Midnight-sensei.

"I'd save those pictures if I was you. No telling when I'll have to take mine down."

Speak of the devil.

The R-Rated Hero strolled in through the door, stroking her whip and smiling with a sadistic flavor. "Her penchant for underage yaoi aside, Midnight's here to make sure you all are ready for your internships next week," Aizawa explained.

"Ready how? We already fought villains at USJ", Ojiro slightly shuddered as he spoke, recalling the especially stressful event.

Midnight answered with surprising confidence and seriousness, "You might be relatively ready for the rigors of your internships, but something just as important as being able to apprehend villains – which none of you should really be doing without your license anyways – is your identity."

A wave of silent confusion washed over the class, prompting her to elaborate, "This will be the first time you appear in public wearing your costumes. To the average citizen, that means you'll be seen as a hero. While you don't have the responsibilities of one yet, you should have certain elements for practicality's sake. Most notably, your hero names."

It was like a bomb went off; the class erupted into cheers and whoops of excitement at the prospect of further legitimizing themselves as proper heroes(-in-training).

"Of course, I'll have you read them out loud to the whole class. Just so you have an idea of what public perception to your name'll be." It was hard to ignore the traces of sadism on Midnight's face, her smile twitching ever so up.

The class unanimously agreed on one thing: She's looking for public humiliation, isn't she?

The process was arduous for everyone – save Aizawa who curled up nearly immediately – though some struggled more than others.

"For the last time, Bakugou you cannot call yourself anything with 'murder' in it." Midnight pinched her nose, evidently not used to the torture being turned around.

"Then what am I supposed to say?!"

"How about just 'Lord Explosion'?"

"…my hearing cut out for a moment there. What did you say?"

"You can also call yourself 'King Explosion' or something along those lines."

"…nah it happened again. It's like whenever you open your mouth, I'm filled with so much rage, my hearing cuts out."

The R-Rated Hero's eye twitched maliciously, and she stretched her flail out, fully prepared to beat the boy within an inch of his life. Luckily, Aizawa's danger sense went off and he sprang to action, wrapping Bakugou in the capture weapon and dragging him back to his seat before falling asleep then and there. Sweatdropping, Uraraka approached the podium and presented her name.

It's just me and Iida now…and Kacchan I guess. I have so many ideas but now that I actually have to decide, I'm drawing a total blank. Midoriya looked at his hero notebook in his bag, recalling the dozens of derivations of "All Might" that he came up as a child – and last year if he was being honest. But I'm not ready to inherit his mantle just yet. I'm not a hero like him…and maybe I never will be. I can't defile his legacy like that.

On the other side of the classroom, Iida gazed at his own blank slate, his mind flashing back to the events of the last few days.

Three days earlier

Iida burst through the doors of Tensei's hospital room, his sobbing mother trying in vain to calm him down. He immediately felt his breath catch as the world around him disappeared, leaving just him and the sight of his brother's shivering, broken form.

Ingenium was bandaged from head to toe, especially his arms. Poking through the gauze, Tensei's once shining and robust golden mufflers were cracked, bent, and broken. One eye was swollen shut while the other was glazed over. His breathing was ragged and frail, broken only by the occasional softly whispered word, "s-s-stain."

Tenya rushed to his brother's bedside, "Tensei! Tensei, look at me! Snap out of it! Tensei!" He could feel his mother's arm on his shoulder, gently urging him back, as well hear as the doctor speaking to him but none of that registered with him. The only thing Iida felt in that moment was the soul-crushing realization that Ingenium, his ideal and reason for becoming a hero, was gone.

And that made Tenya's blood boil with impossible fury.

Present

Don't worry Tensei, I'll make things right as a son of the Iida family and the brother of Ingenium. No matter what, I'll return the favor. Strolling to the front of the class gave him the chance to calm himself before presenting his hero name, "Iida."

"Your surname? Are you sure you want to go with that?"

The class president nodded with a slight smile, "This is the hero I want to be. I want to do right by my family."

Midnight's face erupted with steam, "Oh how joyous! I just love a family man."

Aizawa propped his head off the ground, "He's 15."

"You know what my deal is," she retorted without hesitation, "Approved!"

Iida nodded and went back to his seat, oblivious to the gaze fixated on him. Do right by your family, huh?

Midnight regained her composure and cleared her throat, "Ahem. Midoriya, we're just waiting on you."

"The fuck? I still haven't gone!" Bakugou growled.

"Only one to go."

"Don't you fucking ignore me."

"Just. Midoriya."

Shyly shuffling past the warring duo, Midoriya gave a deep breath before revealing his board, "I didn't really have an idea of what I wanted to be called until Iida went but if my name should represent the hero that I want to be, then I think this is the only choice."

"Are you sure dude? Isn't that an insult?" Kirishima scratched his head, cautiously playing devil's advocate.

Izuku nodded, "It started like that, sure, but lately I've been hearing it in a different context a lot more and…well I think I'd like others to see me the same way."

'Deku'

"So you're going to Gunhead's agency?" Izuku looked up from the printout Aizawa handed him with all of his offers listed in order of rank alongside notes on the agency's locations, specialties, and notable feats. Unfortunately, the list was as thick as a book, which was also impressive considering Aizawa had done that for all the other students within two days. No wonder he sleeps so much during the day.

Uraraka nodded passionately, "Yup!"

Izuku put his hand on his chin, "Hmm, he specializes in close-quarters combat so I guess it matches your Quirk but did you not get any offers from a rescue-oriented agency? I would've thought they'd line up to borrow you for a week considering how useful cancelling gravity is."

Blushing through the compliment, she rubbed her arm, "Well that's my goal, but after fighting Kirishima, I realized that I might have a knack for martial arts. Then Bakugou showed me just how much farther I have left to go." The latter snickered proudly from the seat in front, "Besides, getting stronger can only give me more options as a hero, right?"

Midoriya felt his heart squeeze. Such passion!

"Oh hey it's that ugly face you make! I feel like I haven't seen it in a while."

Now it was his turn to blush, "S-sorry. I can't help it."

She peered over his shoulder to look at his papers, getting close enough to deepen his blush, "So what about you? Any agencies you're leaning towards?"

"I mean, there are so many that sound amazing! Ranking-wise, it makes sense to stick with Edgeshot. Beyond that, he also has a similar combat style to what I'm building towards. But then if I use that as a metric, maybe I should choose Death Arms and get better at brute force. That'll also give me the chance to work with Kamui Woods since they team up so often, and that'll afford me a chance to see Pros work together up close. Of course, I also want to address my weaknesses so maybe I should take up Wash's offer-"

Bakugou nearly spit up, "THE DAMN NERD GOT AN OFFER FROM WASH?!"

Even Todoroki looked surprised. Wash-sama? Endeavor fears no man but that hero…he scares him.

"-but Backdraft is more local and has a similar focus on mid-to-long range so that might be more convenient. Additionally, Asui made it clear I lack presence so a hero like Shishido or His Purple Highness might help me get better at that-"

Yaoyorozu flashed back to a meeting she had with His Purple Highness through her family connection. For some reason, I have a feeling that won't end well…anyways, Uwabami sounds promising!

"-and I really need to focus on my appearance more so I can capitalize on the momentum after the Sports Festival and my new name." Izuku took several deep breaths before reddening with realization, "S-sorry. I didn't think I'd get that far. People usually stop me before I finish."

"Me too." Midnight groaned.

Aizawa pulled out a spray bottle with a cat logo on it, "I reiterate: they're children."

While Midnight was made even wetter (AN: I'm not sorry), Uraraka was in a stunned silence. He's so focused on being a hero. It's like whenever I think I'm giving it my all, he shows me just how much further I have left to go. "Man, that was really cool sounding, Deku!" Uraraka beamed and punched his shoulder, which hurt more than he was comfortable admitting (Gunhead's definitely the right choice), "I'm really happy you're so gung-ho about this! And that I got to help you pick your hero name!"

"…yes. Definitely. Glad you caught that." I don't have the heart to tell her I picked it cuz Eri calls me Deku-nii.

"But Iida, I'm surprised you went with something so basic as your hero name. You're normally so flashy!"

From across the room, Iida gave a small smile as his friends walked over, "Well it felt like the best way to honor my family's legacy. Especially with…" The smile faded and his expression darkened. He quickly averted his gaze, but the gesture wasn't lost on his friends.

"Because of your brother?" Uraraka said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder only for him to shrug it off.

Iida hesitated before turning around again, the same smile plastered onto his face, "Sorry I lost my train of thought there. I suppose you'll hear it on the news at some point but…my brother's injuries were pretty serious. He'll be out of commission for a while."

The trio was stuck in an awkward silence for a while, even as the lunch bell rang, each unsure as to what to say next. Luckily, the tension-breaker of all tension-breakers came bursting through the classroom, "I am opening the door like a normal person!" All Might threw open the sliding door so hard that the building must've shook, "Sorry to disturb you during lunch kids, but I need to steal Young Midoriya!"

"Huh? Right now?" Izuku pointed to himself as if he forgot whose successor he was.

"Indeed! Recovery Girl asked me to get you so here I am fulfilling my obligation to a colleague!"

"Oh right. Gotta get Eri."

It was like a bomb went off in the class, even though Bakugou barely made an explosion in response, "SHE'S HERE?!"

"…y-yes?"

Like a regimen of soldiers, they wolfed down their food in record time before assembling all the components of a solid play date; Aoyama dug up some fairy tales, Koda summoned his animal friends, Yaoyorozu researched the chemical formula for assorted candies, and Aizawa started stuffing Midnight into his sleeping bag ("I won't let you corrupt this one").

"Deku, huh? I like it. It's snappy and easy to remember!"

Izuku smiled at the praise of his mentor, "Thanks. It was the only thing I could really think of though, to be honest."

"Really? I would've thought you had a million ideas in those notebooks of yours."

He blushed deeply, "W-well…"

All Might raised an eyebrow before he remembered who his student was, "Right. Fan boy. Got it."

They continued walking in a comfortable silence before the larger also remembered his second purpose for pulling the boy, "By the way, you got some more offers earlier today." He handed Izuku another sheet with several hero stats on them.

Sighing, Izuku accepted the offer list, "A couple months ago, I would've been thrilled to be acknowledged by just one hero. But now that I have to make a decision, I sorta wish I had fewer choices."

"The struggles of popularity! Well on the bright side, I stole a peek at your list so I can offer some recommendations!"

"Really? What do you think I should do?"

"Well Edgeshot is in the Top 5 for the whole country so working with him would help prepare you for what you'll be dealing with in the future. Of course, it's never unwise to focus on the smaller, more local heroes who you'll be teaming up with from time to time. In that category, I personally recommend Pankration. But then you could also go against the grain and choose…grantorino

"Sorry, who?"

All Might meekly looked away, feeling a great deal of nausea at the prospect before him, "I-i-f y-you'd like to…my old homeroom teacher, G-gran T-t-torino has…um…he req – dammit Toshinori, stop shaking! – he sent you an offer earlier today."

Many things made Izuku Midoriya panic but perhaps nothing more than seeing his mentor – and the most powerful person on the planet – shiver in complete fear. What the hell?!

"He was my mentor's sworn friend and helped t-train me after she passed. I told him about you and how I've been working with you and…oh god he thinks I'm a failure of a mentor! He's going to hurt me again!"

All Might practically fell into the fetal position and started whispering "No Sorahiko-dono, yamate," over and over.

…I should go. Izuku decided to enter the nurse's office, partly because it was only a few more steps, partly because the other students were staring at him and All Might – especially now – and because the more he heard about Gran Torino, the more he wished he hadn't.

"Deku-nii!"

Ah, my strength returns. "Hey, how was it?" He patted Eri's head affectionately.

"I got my horn shaved!"

"…eh?"

Recovery Girl chuckled from her desk before holding up a small vial containing a little bit of a yellow-white powder, "I use a file to take a sample of her horn. I'm running mass spectrometry on it now to determine its makeup."

He lifted his sister into his arms and allowed her to play with his phone, "Why? Is there something abnormal about it?"

The heroine shrugged, "No idea. With all the quirks in the world, so many people have horns with unique chemical structures. Ashido in your class, for instance, has horns with a separate function and composition than someone with, let's say, a Rhino Quirk. Since we already know her Quirk factor is concentrated around her forehead, we can narrow it's possible mechanism through analysis."

"So by findin-wait there are Rhino Quirks?!"

"Focus!"

"S-sorry! So by finding out the structure of the horn, you can maybe narrow down what her Quirk could be?"

She beckoned the siblings to her desk and pulled up two pictures of Eri, one from today and the other from her first visit to UA several weeks ago, "That's one reason but also I have a suspicion that her horn is the source of her Quirk. See the difference between the pictures."

"Ooh I like this game!"

The grown-ups looked down at the child in surprise, "Really?"

Eri nodded vehemently, "We would play this at the…umm…sorry." The child suddenly withdrew and resumed the meek posture from when she met Izuku.

"Hey, are you okay?" He knelt down and patted her head, but she flinched at the touch before shifting away slightly. I'm guessing she's still touchy about the past.

Recovery Girl was a consummate professional, however, "Eri, I actually bought a treat for you. The fridge in the back has some apple-flavored popsicles if you'd like one. Midoriya and I can continue."

Silently, the child nodded and moved towards the back room.

Izuku immediately whispered, "What was that? I haven't seen her shut down like that in a while!"

She sighed and leaned back in her chair, "She's done that with me a few times, but always when I ask about those scars on her arm or anything about her history. In kids, this behavior is almost always correlated with some types of traumatic stress disorder."

"Like what soldiers get?"

"Similar, yes. It's exceedingly rare for kids though and it tends to present differently in these cases, so I don't want to assume hastily. However, she does show a strong connection to her caregivers – you and your mother – while also presenting a simultaneous aversion to painful stimuli, which practically confirms our suspicions of mistreatment."

Izuku was somewhere between disgusted, depressed, and pissed, "So her guardians before us…they really did abuse her."

Nodding solemnly, Recovery Girl explained, "That's actually the third reason I've been examining her so thoroughly: to see if anything about her matches any child on record. Not only could we better identify her Quirk if we have a family history on record, we could find out what her background is and ID her."

"I thought All Might already had his friend in the police work to match her to missing persons though?

"True, we found no matches. Now, we're just trying to determine if she exists at all."

"…what does that mean?"

Several screens of data appeared on the screen, not dissimilar to the hero registry that Izuku was fretting over before this, "When your mother took in Eri, we treated it like a foreign adoption. It made for a quicker process and asked fewer questions. Now that your family has a claim to her, it's important we find out if anyone else does. Beyond identifying her background, we want to make sure nobody can enforce a legal argument for custody."

"And have her go back to her abusers…" Izuku sat down and exhaled deeply, "That's…that's a lot to think about."

Recovery Girl put a comforting hand on his knee, "Don't fret over it though. We have enough evidence to fight any custody battle. It's more about preparing than anything. The really pressing issue is her Quirk."

"Oh right! So what's the difference in that photo from earlier?"

She pulled the images back up, "Her horn shrunk."

It was true: though a slight change, Eri's horn was visibly a bit shorter than before, "But how? Why?"

"I have way too many theories, but the two prominent ones are that her horn is either tied to stress, which raises unneeded connections to Destro, or it represents her ability to use her Quirk itself."

He paused for a moment of thought, "So it's like a pool that she can draw power from? Since her Quirk is some kind of healing, her horn shrank because she used her power on me at the festival!"

Man if he wasn't so hellbent on being a hero, I'd have him go into research. "Right. I think Eri's horn stockpiles power that she can use to power healing, not dissimilar to One For All, though I don't think your power regresses with use." The Youthful Heroine removed her glasses and smiled, "If I'm right, Eri would actually have a much more robust healing Quirk than my own." If the timing was different, she might've even been able to save All Might.

"So if she could control it, she really could heal All Might?"

Heh. Yup, the kid should be a doctor. "I don't know about now. We've had to remove entire organs and healing that would require regeneration, which hasn't been seen in any generation so far. Even if Quirks get stronger with our descendants, it would be a hell of a mutation for someone to be able to do that. Granted, though, we already determined her Quirk is mutagenic in nature so I can't rule out that maybe she could help manage his symptoms and buy him more time in muscle form."

Izuku jumped up with an excited grin, "Then let's get them both in here and-ow!"

Recovery Girl angrily waved her cane, "Think boy! She can't control it yet and even then, don't put that on her."

He sat back down sheepishly and looked away, "S-sorry."

"Your master has a terrible habit of forcing responsibility onto you - speaking of which, I have your pain medication - and you'd be wise not to inherit that from him."

"B-but…I do want to live up to his expectations! I wanna be his honest-to-god successor."

She sighed, "You idolize the man too much, though I suppose Sorahiko will beat that out of you soon enough."

Izuku cocked his head, "Sorahiko? That's All Might's old teacher's real identity, right? Gran Torino?"

The old doctor smiled at the mention of her old friend, "Indeed. A real troublemaker, but a good man. Better hero, too! All Might likely would've died a long time ago if Torino hadn't taught him so well. I guess he followed through on sending you the offer then?"

He nodded and pulled out the form All Might gave him, "Yeah he sent it earlier today I guess, but I've never heard of Gran Torino," And I'm the biggest hero fan in the world!

"Yeah he only taught for a year at UA for All Might's sake and stuck mostly underground otherwise. But he was sworn friends with All Might's mentor, studied under her mentor for a bit, and made All Might into the Symbol of Peace. There's probably nobody alive with a greater understanding of One For All." Save for one.

The warning bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, "Oh, there I go running my big mouth! Why don't you take a popsicle for the road and head back to class with Eri?" She held out another pill bottle, the remainder of his prescription.

Izuku accepted the medication, stood up and bowed, "Thanks for everything, Recovery Girl."

She smiled as he left, sister in hand. Can't argue that at least he's made life at UA more interesting. For all his blithering and reckless abandon, he'll be a fine hero…or at least he will be once Sorahiko beats the stupid out of him.

Outside the clinic, Izuku sweatdropped to see his mentor still curled up and muttering to himself. Is that what I look like? "All Might, I think I'm going to Gran Torino's for the internship."

That snapped him out of his stupor, "R-really? Excellent. Good for you. I'll remember you fondly."

"R-right. Anyways, I gotta head back so I'll see you at training later."

"Bye Mr. Might." Eri waved with her popsicle stick as they walked back to the classroom.

"Yes. Good talk, Young Midoriya…wait, you didn't get to eat lunch...again! Unacceptable! Hold on, my boy; the bentos are on the way!"

A week later

In the sunny streets of Hosu, Tenya Iida closely followed his temporary mentor, the Normal Hero: Manual, as they patrolled among the smiling citizenry. "You know, I was actually really surprised to receive your acceptance Iida," the affable pro mused.

The armored student looked up from his thoughts, "Yes well I found your agency to be the most ideal choice for me and what I hope to do over this week." Technically true.

Manual stopped and turned to the boy with a small and understanding smile, "You mean find the Hero Killer?"

That made Iida flinch more visibly than he was comfortable with, which was a lot considering his default state, "...I don't know what to say."

The older of the two placed a hand on his intern's shoulder and patted it, "I see a lot of myself in you, Iida. I've been vengeful before and let me tell you, it's not worth it. Moral reasoning aside, you're also still a student and unauthorized to act independently."

When he got no response from the boy and gave up trying to determine his emotions through the armor, Manual turned around and added, "Just...think carefully about what kind of hero you want to be. But that's enough heavy stuff for now. Let's get on with the patrol!"

Resuming their casual stroll, Iida couldn't help but clench his fists in a flash of rage. It doesn't matter what kind of hero I want to be. Not anymore. Not after what he did.

Said 'he' was actually not far off from the duo, perching atop an obscured water tower in broad daylight, his face scrunched in some twisted smirk.

"To sit so casually during the noontime, you must be every bit as capable as the reports say." A black swarm of mist appeared behind the Hero Killer, swirling around and around until it took the general silhouette of a man wearing a bartender's ensemble and a metal neck brace of sorts. That or he's completely detached from reality. Both are highly probable.

Stain barely shifted his position though his eyes darted energetically to the side while his fingers tensed, ready to draw one of his many weapons, "I've heard of you. Last I checked, you were even more wanted than me."

Kurogiri chuckled dryly, "Perhaps at one point but your more recent moves have made you quite the figurehead in the public's eye. A mystery man moving from place to place across the region, crippling and killing heroes left and right? That's certainly more terrifying than a ragtag bunch of lowlifes that got dismantled by a few kids."

"Sycophant all you want, I didn't call myself the 'League of Villains' like some comic book character."

"Touché."

Twisting his head around, Stain put a hand on one of his knives, "But is that why you came here? To join my quest of 'villainy'?" With a flick of his thumb, the blade popped out of its sheath.

He phrases that like it's a bad thing. Best play it safe. "I just want to talk. We can return to my hideout if you'd like. Get you out of the open and discuss things over drinks."

Stain tightened his grip on the blade before sighing and resheathing it, "Lead the way."

As Izuku walked to the address listed for Gran Torino's agency, his thoughts drifted to Iida and the curt goodbye they shared at the train station. He's still so stiff and disingenuous. But I can't get through to him if he won't let me in…heh, maybe I should fight him. I'm two for two on that front.

He took a quick look at the scars on his hand and the memory of taking a Howitzer to the face.

…nah I'm good.

Finally, he came to the correct building, if one could call it that. A more appropriate description would be cobbled-together-hodgepodge-of-brick-and-mortar-that-also-survived-a-nuclear-attack-but-poorly.

…this guy made All Might the Symbol of Peace?

"Hello, this is Izuku Midoriya from UA. I'm here to intern under Gran Torino." Knocking lightly was enough to open the shoddily built door, revealing a small elderly man with a blank expression in oversized yellow spandex sitting in a pool of some red liquid.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Toshinori?"

"…excuse me." Izuku moved to close the door before a sudden blast of rock-hard wind kicked him in the chest and sent him flying off of the stoop and onto the street below. Or maybe it was a small leg moving at the speed of sound. His thoughts weren't very conducive at the moment.

Umm…what?!

"Hmm, he told me you had enhanced perception and good reflexes. Guess he's mistaken. Go figure."

Looking up, ignoring the searing pain in his sternum, Izuku looked at a proudly posed hero, a far cry from the simple old invalid act from earlier, "G-gran Torino?"

The old man smirked and dusted himself off, "The one and only. Now come on, show me what you got, neophyte!"

Omake

"Okay students. We all know why you're here tonight so let's just own up to it." Nezu looked to the first troublemaker, "Nemuri, do you want to tell us why you're here?"

The heroine fidgeted uncomfortably, refusing to make eye contact, "Because I acted inappropriately around the students?"

"Are you asking us or telling us?"

"I acted inappropriately with students."

"Is that it?"

"…I might've also posted some unprofessional images of the students on private social media accounts."

"…"

"…And I needlessly dragged out the tournament by forcing some students to participate in unnecessary preliminary matches, thereby placing many of them at a competitive disadvantage for the remainder of the finals."

Nezu nodded with a kind smile, "Thank you for your candor. Now, what about you, Hizashi? Would you like to admit what you did wrong?"

The leather-clad hero put his legs on the table and inhaled sharply, "…nah."

"Are you sure? Because I have it on good word – and tape – that you said some pretty unbecoming things as commentator."

"That wasn't me."

Midnight nudged her colleague, "Just fess up so we can go."

Present Mic pushed her back, "Screw you! I did the job I was asked to do."

"Hizashi, nobody asked you to insult half of the freshmen on international television," Aizawa deadpanned from under Nezu (the principal was perched on his shoulder).

"I'm sorry, I thought I was supposed to ENTERTAIN the crowd! Our ratings have never been better!"

"That's because someone posted the video of Endeavor chucking fireballs at the announcer's box."

"You're welcome."

Midnight groaned, "God, I can't believe you actually graduated."

"I can't believe you got rejected by a bunch of repressed teens."

"Oh, so you're ready to die?"

"SQUARE UP BITCH, I'VE BEEN READY! HOLD ON OBORO! I'M COMING!"

Watching his two oldest friends tear each other apart, Aizawa sighed exasperatedly, "Principal, what's the point of this anyways? They're not gonna change."

The mouse-bear-dog's thoughts flashed to a world on fire, chimeric beasts rampaging through the streets, slaughtering not just the men, but the women and children too, like animals. A glorious army of super-powered animals stood in uniform blocks, marching down the streets of the society they reclaimed under the glorious flag of the Fourth Reich while their ivory leader cackled maniacally over the bones of the fallen masters.

"Justice," Nezu said with a smile.

Honestly, this is one of the tamer omakes I have in mind and it's not even my idea. Think of that what you will.

Also sorry for the dialogue heavy chapter but plot threads are a bitch. Ne

I decided that it didn't make sense for Iida to go with 'Tenya' since in canon, he chose that out of insecurity of inheriting 'Ingenium.' Since he isn't having that thrust on him in the story, I'm having him just go with 'Iida' so it's more obviously a pride thing. More on that later though.

As for Midoriya going with 'Deku,' I thought about changing it, but I settled for changing the rationale behind him choosing it instead. If it ain't broke after all. Besides I kinda like the idea that he picks 'Deku' because he wants to be the hero that helped Eri.

And again, I considered sending him to another hero besides Gran Torino but there weren't any that had both character development needed to write well and a compatibility with the direction I'm taking Midoriya in. Besides, he still values All Might's opinion so much (which, again, more on that later) that it makes sense he'd go where All Might wanted him too. Also, the arc has logistical issues if I couldn't find a way to get Deku in Hosu so…