Before we begin, I want to give a big thanks to Scotken, for not only be kind enough to edit for me, but for also allowing me to use a couple of his OCs in this work.

As always, I hope you all enjoy

Rei

Later that Evening

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you're ok." Cheered my Mom as she embraced me tightly in front of my dorm building.

"I am too." I said, holding her tight. "Where's dad?" I asked.

"He couldn't be here. His work wouldn't let him leave."
"Even for his injured son that's been all over the news?"

"I know right." Agreed my exasperated mom.

"Here, let me show you around." I said as I began rolling towards the park.

"Oh wow." Gasped my mom as we passed through the gates, the bricks were covered with purple orchids, just like they had been when I came in for the first time. "You told me it was beautiful, but I didn't think it would be this stunning."

A smile crept across my face. I looked out over the lake where we had a small sailboat race. The massive oaks that still shade the winding path where I introduced my friends, and I was reintroduced to Mr. Tallgrass. I remembered later during Christmas, when Gale had run off and hid in the woods. I remembered the great little food carts and cafes scattered around the large park. So much had happened since then, and I wondered how much of the same person I was.

"Yeah. I love the park." I began rolling towards the great noodle cafe on the far side of the park.

"How are you doing?" She asked. "I watched both press conferences. The things that you went through, it makes me want to pull you out of this whole thing. But I know that this is what you've wanted your whole life. And now you're at the school of your dreams, meeting extraordinary people."

"Thanks for understanding." I Said. "Now, let's get some dinner."

We ordered and took a seat, well my mom did anyways, at a nearby table.

"You know. I firmly believe that you will be wearing that Excelsior uniform one of these years." She said nonchalantly.

I let out a slight chuckle. "Me, no way. Not when I'm up against so many people. There are forty plus people between me and one of those jackets. And right now, the kids that wear 'em earned em. Asher's quirk is absolutely insane, it's like jumped out of a comic book or something. Tyler came out of left field to take the next spot, which I thought was going to go to Kendra, the girl that could create energy shields and beams and whatnot. Tyler has some serious power, he literally moves the Earth without any effort. Then there's Moriko. She's the daughter of one of the best and strongest heroines on the planet. How's a kid from Bellingham with a horrible quirk supposed to rack up against that?"

"Your quirk isn't horrible." Interjected a familiar and comfortable voice. "It's just strong its own way."

I turned around with a smile. "Hey Iz."

She was dressed beautifully, per usual. A white sundress let her tail hang freely, matched by a set of white tennis shoes, her short hair had grown out a bit, and she had a small braid tucked behind an ear, on the end was a single white ribbon.

"Let me introduce to you my mom, Kim Greenwood."

"Nice to meet you." Said Iz with a cheerful smile. "I'm Izabela Beljan, but most people call me Iz."

"It's good to finally meet you." Said my mom. "Have a seat."

"Oh no I couldn't."
"Come on sit down." I insisted.

Iz let out a sigh with a smile on her face before sitting down next to me.

"So, what is my son really like?" My mom asked with a mischievous smile on her face.

I cast a glare at my mom, who casually ignored it.

"He's a good fighter, for sure." Began Iz. "One of the best in our class."

"I expected nothing less." Cheered my mom, as I cast another glare.

"He's always kind, and supportive, no matter what. He truly sees past the surface, and takes a person for who they are. He doesn't tolerate his friends getting pushed around. But he also knows how to guide his friends. Mainly keeping Ayden and Johnny out of trouble."

I let out a slight chuckle. The trouble those two would land themselves in was something else.

My mom let out a slight 'hmm.' "You seem familiar somehow. Like I've seen you as a pro hero."

"Oh, you must be talking about my grandfather." Iz's face lit up.

"You're the granddaughter of the Scorpion?" Asked my mom. "I don't know how I didn't see it sooner."

"It's alright."

"Good grief, Rei. Tell me when you're fighting against the descendants of legends."

"I'm sorry." I defended. "It just never really came up, and after a whole year, they're just people."

As the server brought us our noodle bowls, Iz stood up. "Well, this was a good talk. And it was nice meeting you Ms. Greenwood."

"It was good to meet you too, Iz."

"See ya later Rei." She waved before walking off into the park.

When I turned back my mom raised an eyebrow and was giving me an inquisitive look.

"What?" I asked.

"Ah, so there is something."
"What?" I asked again.

"You like her."

"No I don't." I could feel my face flush in an instant.

"Does she know?"

"That I'm asexual?"

"Yeah."

"I haven't told anyone."

"Why not?" She asked sternly.

"I'm afraid."

"Why?" My mom shook her head. "You have been through so much, they wouldn't care what you were."

"I know. I keep telling myself that, but I'm still worried that something will change."

"You think Iz likes you, too?"

"I never said that." I protested.

"Not in so many words."

I let out a sigh before taking a bite of my noodles. "Yes. I think she might like me back."
"You're worried that you being ace might change things."

"Yeah. I know everything would turn out fine, but that fear is just so, so overwhelming, even with everything that I've been through."
"Well, from what I gathered today. I think you'll be just fine when you tell your friends, and her."

"Thanks mom."

"Of course. Now let's eat."

The Next Day

Medical Building

"Thanks for coming in so early." Said Sylvia with a yawn as she took off the arm and leg brace I had been wearing for the past few days.

"No problem." I said, holding up my now freed arm. I flexed my fingers, enjoying the feeling of moving them.

"Can you stand for me."

I jumped up and felt my feet hit the floor.

"Your bones have healed up nicely." Noted Sylvia. "Any pain?"

"No. None." I cheered.

"Great. You can start walking and running again, and start harder training. But go easy on yourself."
"Yes ma'am." I said, raising a mock salute.

"Can I ask you to come in later today, after school."

"Yeah, why?" I asked, looking up from my shin, seeing a long scar where the bone had punctured my skin.

"Just some quirk health testing. When we picked you up, you were bleeding profusely from your nose, and that you had coughed up blood. We were massively concerned, so we called for some outside help. He's arriving today to run some tests and do a check up. Have you had any breathing problems or headaches?"

"No, my breathing has been fine. But I'll get light headaches every now and then."

"Well. I've got nothing else for you to do, so I guess get ready to head to class."
"Thanks, Doc."

"No problem."

I walked into class without my wheelchair, and I loved it.

"Rei." Cheered Iz. "You're out of the chair."

"Awesome." Said Johnny. "My man is back in action."
"It feels good to walk." I said with a smile. "And I'm beyond ready to begin training."

"It's good to have you back." Said Ayden as I walked to my seat.

I let out a long sigh as I took my seat behind Orochi, whose tail was stretched out towards the engineering section. It had me worried about being a tripping hazard. I had worn my uniform for three days in a row now, twice for a press conference, to say that I was looking forward to a causal Thursday was an understatement.

"It's good to see you back on your feet." Said Orochi, turning around in his seat.

"Thanks." I said as I gave him a fist bump.

I looked over to where Valerie was sitting -right behind Hoseki- she wore her usual expression of a blank face, and she had tied her brown hair back into a braid that fell over her shoulder, and her gloves were a nice turquoise color, both were stark changes to her appearance, and I liked it.

Sprinkled around the class were our new members. Steven and Ion were sitting close to me. The grey-blue skinned boy was actually right next to me, fiddling with a battery he appeared to be snacking on. Steven was idilly weaving a thread between his two-toned fingers on one pair of arms while the other was busy writing. Cheyenne was sitting right behind Caleb, who she was talking to. Right in front of Hoseki was the new addition to the hero course, a blonde haired girl named Charlotte Bryant. She was admiring the gold cuffs on her uniform, and I didn't blame her. The long black haired and blue eyed Airion was busy retiring his hair, a black hair tie in between his teeth. The last new member was Lei, who still was maintaining the lilies in her hair, she was chatting up a storm with Alyss, about what, I had no idea.

"Alright, here we go." Said Mr. Tallgrass as he stepped to the front of the class. "This year starts similar to last, hero suits. It's time for some redesign and rethinking. You will be using your quirks, doing your personal quirk workouts and thinking about how you can improve them, watch footage of last year, find what worked, or what looks bad. Engineers, think about your support equipment, what can you do to make everything lighter, yet stronger.

"But before we begin, there are some announcements that need to be made. Regarding Valerie, she is still human, she had owned up to her past and her mistakes. I don't want anyone in this class harassing her for it. If I see it I will take you straight to Vendetta. The second is that this year, the second year classes were chosen for the excursion training."
My heart rate jumped up a bit. The excursion training was something I had been looking forward to, if our year had been chosen, but now, with current events, I didn't want it as much. I wanted to stay here, supporting my friends.

"And, someone from our class was randomly selected to go." He continued. "That person is Ayden."

I heard her let out a loud sigh as she slumped into her seat. "What hell am I condemned to?" She asked sarcastically, earning a little chuckle from the class.

"California School of Heroes in northern California."
"Great, only one of the schools that hates our guts." She sighed.

"You'll be fine." Said Johnny. "Just don't punch anyone, too hard."

"Mr. Chicas." Began Phoenix. "Just because we are at a hero academy does not mean we should condone pointless violence. However, knocking some of those Cali kids around during training couldn't hurt."
A mischievous smile crept onto Ayden's face. "Will do."

"Thankfully, you don't leave for California till the end of the week. So you'll have plenty of time to get ready. All right, you guys know what you need to do, so let's get to work."
The class broke apart, many headed to the locker rooms while others headed for a computer. I saw Valerie as she basically ran to the computer farthest away from everyone else. I felt a twinge of sadness at the action, but I guess time was the only remedy for her.

After I went to my new locker number, number twelve, and got changed into some PT gear, I was ready to tackle the day.

"Hey, Johnny." I called. "Can you help me with this mat?" I said as I tried to pull the thick gym mat out.

"Sure." He said jogging over. "But what are you gonna use it for?"

"You'll see in a second." I answered.

I jumped into the air and enjoyed the familiar feeling of my gravity reversing, hanging weightless for a split second before I felt the roof tiles press against me.

"Seriously?" He asked, looking up at me.

"Yeah. I wanna see how long I can hold this, and I always like seeing the world a little differently."

Johnny shook his head before heading away.

I reflected back on my year. So much had happened. How could I reflect that in my hero suit?

A lot of ideas flashed through my mind. A scar on the metal of the helmet seemed too edgy, changing the color just felt wrong somehow. The breathing system was perfect and sleek. The helmet design itself was quite unique, so that would stay the same. But a logo wouldn't hurt.

I began thinking up logo after logo, trying to find the perfect one.

I dropped onto the mat below before running to a computer and got right to work.

"You came over here quickly." Said Haru as she sat down next to me.

"Yeah. I wanted to try and sketch a logo design that I just came up with."
Haru was slumped in her chair, her wings seemed to have lost some color and clarity, she seemed less energetic, and I knew why.

She looked up at me. "How did you cope with the vision? Cause you have stayed strong for months, walking around with that horrible sight in your head. I watched as Alana…" She paused, collecting herself. "I could do nothing as she reached out to me." She was fighting back tears as her emotions leaked into her words. "I had her hand, I pulled her out, but it didn't matter, the flames had already consumed her. She died right in front of me, and all I've been doing is beating myself up for not being good enough for days." Tears fell freely from her eyes.

I wrapped her into a hug. I had been a horrible friend. All my time focused on Valerie and my own grief that I had barely even considered Haru, one of my best friends.

"I don't have an answer for you, Haru." I admitted. "But I will say that you are already on the right path, showing your feelings instead of hiding them."
"Do you think I could go with you, or at least use, your counselor?" She asked timidly.

"Yes, anytime." I answered.

"Thank you." She said in Japanese. "Thank you." She looked back up at me. "Now, let's get some work done."

The morning was a rush as clacking keyboards and whirring machinery filled the classroom. I overheard Alyss and Johnny talking about a new mecha suit for her, one that would be used for some serious heavy lifting. I saw Ayden having too much fun using a metal cutting machine, and began to worry for the general health and safety of the class.

I messed around with the drawing tool before settling on a logo. I used two interlocking ovals, one dark blue, the other black. On each oval, I added an arrow, making them point inverse directions.

"I think that'll do just fine." I muttered to myself, clicking the save button before going into the 3D design software.

I opened my helmet file and brought up the logo design in the same window. I copied the logo before taking it and placing the copy over the side of my helmet, I removed the colors and turned the logo into an outline form.

I positioned the outline where I wanted and got it sized properly, and saved the file before opening up the top part of my hero suit. I got the logo placed properly on my left shoulder, and saved the file.

I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Kana. "Hey, can you help me get some stuff done with my helmet. I just need to get a logo engraved on it."

My phone buzz within the minute. "Yeah. Send the files and come right over."
"Will do." I sent back before exporting the files to Kana's computer.

"Mr. Tallgrass." I called. "Can I go to the engineering building to work on some hero suit changes?"

"Yes. Go right ahead."

"Thank you." I ran into the locker room and grabbed my new case and helmet bag, both emblazoned with a gold number twelve.

After a quick run, which felt amazing, through the interconnecting halls of the nine central buildings, I arrived at Kana's desk.

"Heyo." I said, breathing hard.

"You okay?" Asked her screen.

"Yeah. I was just running."
"I'm glad your enjoying being out of the chair."

"You have no idea." I answered.

"Okak, so I have the files." Read Kana's screen. "And everything is ready for the engraving, we just need the helmet."
"Got it right here." I patted the helmet bag.

"Then follow me." Kana stood up and walked over to a large machine. "Pass me the helmet."

I pulled the helmet out of its bag and carefully placed it on its side in the machine.

Kana pressed a few buttons and the machine came to life. The laser emitter came down and centered itself over the starting position. The machine fired a brilliant blue laser onto the metal, and in a few minutes the logo was engraved into the metal.

"That looks nice." I whistled, admiring the new engraving,

"I like the logo." Read Kana's screen.

"Thanks." I said with a broad smile. I pulled the helmet over my head and popped up the visor. "How's the logo look?"

Kana gave me a double thumbs up.

"Great. Thanks for your help." I said after pulling off the helmet.
"No problem."

"See you later."
"Bye." Read her screen before being replaced by her usual happy face.

I arrived back in class with a few minutes to spare. I ran into the locker room and shoved my hero suit into it before changing back into my uniform.

As I walked out of the locker room, Ayden came up to me. "What do you think?" She asked. She had placed a metal circlet around her head that came across her forehead just at her hairline. The front pointed up in a shallow triangle, in the center was an eight pointed star, the bottom point longer than the rest. She had her hair down, and the circlet was doing a good job of keeping her hair back.

"I think it looks good."

A broad smile came across her face as her brown eyes lit up. "Now watch this." She closed her eyes and concentrated. Blue flames caught along the top edge of the circlet before traveling into the first part of her hair.

"Am I doing it?"

"Yes, your hair is on fire."

She let out a tense breath as the flames went out before letting out a cheer. "Yes. Now I'm gonna even look cooler in action."

"Maybe when you can do it without closing your eyes." I teased as I walked towards the elevators.

"Hey. I'll get there." She fired back, crossing her arms.

I sighed as I walked into the campus doctor's office for the second time that day. Just because I had to go didn't mean I had to enjoy it.

"Mr. Koizumi?" Asked a chipper voice.

"Yes." I called.

"Thank you for coming by." Said the voice as its owner came around a corner. "I'm Doctor Ellington." The Doctor was a shorter man, and had retained much of a youthful look, but it was clear that he was much older than what his body displayed. He had his corn silk blond hair swept to his left side. He was wearing a pair of khaki pants and a nice button up shirt. "Please follow me." He turned and went towards a door that led into the depths of the building. "I heard what happened last weekend. I'm terribly sorry." He began as we walked down the halls. "I heard that during your combat, you used your quirk a substantial amount."

"Yes. The situation was dire, and I used to keep my friends alive."

He let out a 'hmm'. "What are the usual effects of overuse for you?"

"Nausea, vomiting, massive headaches."

"And you start bleeding after you used your quirk this time?"

"Yes. From my nose, and I remember coughing up some blood."
"That is not good." He opened up the door to an examination room. "Please, come in."

I walked into the exam room, hoping that this would be over soon.

Doctor Ellington shut the door behind him before facing me and looking me over. He let out another 'hmm'.

"Are you going to start the exam?" I asked, confused as to why we were just standing here.

"Oh, I already have." He looked me up and down once again. "Quirks are a beautiful thing. And yours is quite remarkable. I've never seen anything quite like it."

"Couldn't you say that for every quirk?" I joked.

"Oh no, not at all." Countered the Doctor. "Some quirks can be vastly similar, take Moriko and Lei, they both deal with plants, yet they have different quirks. And I've been all around the continent. Trust me when I say you have a unique gift."

"Uh, thanks, I guess."

"You're quite welcome. I would find that being able to breathe CO2 and switch your gravity could be quite useful at times. But it seems it is not without drawbacks, my goodness." He shook his head. "How long did you use your quirk last weekend?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I was fighting, not counting."

"Give me a rough guess."

"About two minutes consistently, maybe more."
"How much power did you pour into those two minutes?"

"What do you mean?"
"How much power did you put into the quirk, did you push yourself harder than ever before, did you do something you never thought you could do?"

"When I broke free of Soren, I jumped, and I landed so hard that I snapped my shin."

"It takes almost nine hundred and seventy newtons to break the average tibia. You reversed your gravity mid jump, held it to a point where you neither fell nor rose, before crashing back to Earth all in the blink of an eye, landing with an insane amount of force."

My mouth dropped at the Doctor's statement. I have never even considered using my quirk like that.

"Not to mention you reversed the effects of a poison so deadly that even with the effects reversed it caused damage to lung tissue. You kept Nascha alive for over a minute before you permanently reversed the poison by touching her. But that also drains your energy. You might not realize it, but when you touch someone to reverse their quirk, you are still expending quite a bit of energy. The more people you reverse, the greater the toll it takes on you. If you use the same amount of power that you did last weekend a few more times, you will cause irreversible damage to your body, and you could very easily lose your life. Your abilities are special, and powerful, but that means they come with a heavy price tag. So, please, for the sake of everyone, be careful."

I gulped. I never thought of my quirk as something so destructive, so detrimental to my own health.

"But worry not, my young hero." He said with a smile. "Your quirk is just like any muscle in your body. The more you train it, the stronger it becomes. So, in time, you will be able to handle a greater strain with less consequence."

"Thank you." I said with a nod.

"Right now, you are quite healthy and in great physical shape. I'll be visiting again in three months to check up on you, and I'll return every three months until you graduate. That is a doctor's order"

"So, am I free to go?"

"Yes. See you again in three months."

"See you then, Doc.

I walked out of the doctor's office, my mind brewing with things that I have never really considered. My quirk was more dangerous to me than I had originally thought, and I began to wonder if people I used my quirk on were at risk, that they could be adversely affected. And I thought about Iz, and worried that this would be another obstacle to climb over, and possibly one that shouldn't be climbed over, for her sake.

I ran back towards the Doctor, and caught him walking down the hall.

"Doctor Ellington, is there any chance that people that have been exposed to my quirk could have serious side effects?"

He furrowed his brow. "I don't think they would be too badly affected, besides temporary 'loss of control' of their quirk. I don't foresee any ill effects. In order for you to cause damage it would take decades, if not centuries of exposure before something small like a headache or nausea came up."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you so much." I said before heading back towards the door.

Vendetta's Office

"Thank you for stopping by, Doctor Ellington." Said Vendetta as she faced the doctor. She knew that he could tell her gender, and her quirk, and everything he wanted to biologically.

"No problem, sir." He kept up the facade. He understood doctor-patient confidentiality very well, especially when dealing with Vendetta.

"How was young Mr. Koizumi?" Asked Vendetta.

"He was well. I told him about the danger of overuse beyond normal." he shook his head. "It's got some nasty consequences that's for sure. I didn't even tell him the horrible bits, just that he would lose his life."

"And what are the horrible bits?"

"Well, for one, he could never reverse his gravity and fall forever through space before dying and being pulled back to something, or hit something on his way up. There is also the distinct possibility that he could rupture key blood vessels in the brain, or he could drown in his own blood after the tissue strength can't handle the strain of using the reversal power. Of course, I have no idea why it does this, it just happens, and I diagnose it."

"Is there anything else you noted?"

"That he has a high pain tolerance. I can see that, genetically, he is more tolerant to it, but I see that all the time. And his brain is still sound, despite having gone through so much. He is quite the durable lad."

"Anything else? Like a behavior that made you think, or a certain reaction?"

"It was actually after the check up. He ran back to me and asked if his quirk would affect the people around him."

"And would it?"

"I passed several kids that have been exposed to his quirk. I see nothing wrong with them, nor can I tell that they have been affected in any permanent way by the power. I do have to say that in all the years of being an examiner, those that have come back always ask about their friends, and those few that did have turned into some of the best heroes, whether ranked as the strongest or some local hero."

Vendetta let a smile break over her face behind her mask, and she knew that the Doctor could see it.

"Keep an eye on Rei Koizumi. That kid is going places." Declared the Doctor as he stood up to take his leave. "I wanna see how he turns out."

"Will do, Doctor."

Friday Morning

Ayden

"Well. Here we go." I sighed as I stepped out of Johnny's old Riviera and onto the familiar pavement of Denver Airport. I had packed everything I could that screamed Defender High in my bags from my school uniform, sleeping clothes, casual wear, and even a set of Defender High purple sports bras. My bags had Defender High luggage tags, and my backpack even had the logo on it. Was I being petty about being transferred? Yes I was. Was I enjoying the hell out of it? Also yes.

"You show 'em what we're made of." Called Johnny as he gave me a fist bump. "Will do."

"Show those guys that we can hit harder." Cheered Iz as she wrapped me into a hug.

"Wouldn't do it any other way."

"Try not to actively piss people off." Advised Valerie, who I noticed was becoming a lot less tense recently."

"But that ruins the fun." I grumbled.

"Seriously though. Make us look good." Added Rei.

"Trust me, I will."

"Let us know if you find a cute guy while you're over there." Teased Haru.

I gave her an annoyed glance. "Seriously? A decent guy, in Cali?" I joked. "I have a hard time finding one here."

"Hey." Protested Johnny. "I take offense to that."

"Good." I quipped, earning me a classic shocked expression.

"Make sure you have a good time though." Said Ryan. "I wanna hear some good stories when you get back."

"Trust me." I began. "The first story you'll hear is how I pissed over the entire school by wearing the wrong color clothes when I show up."

"I guess we better let you go." Sighed Rei. "Don't want to miss your flight."

"I'll see you guys in two weeks." I called walking towards the door.

"Kick some tail for me." Cheered Haru as I entered the massive airport.

After a five and a half hour long flight and and a two and a half hour car ride from Redding up to Scott Bar, I was thoroughly wiped. Even being a seasoned traveler, nine plus hours of constant travel still took quite a toll.

I stepped out of the car and onto the campus of the California School of Heroes. It was late in the evening, and there were only a few students milling about where the car had dropped me off, which was… frankly, I had no idea where the heck I had been dropped off.

"Ms. Clark." Called the driver. "Your bags will be taken to your new dorm room. You'll have a campus guide for the first couple of days as you get used to the campus. He will have more details for you."

"Thanks." I said, the word seemed to fall on uncaring ears as he rolled up the window and drove away promptly after delivering his message. 'Did he say that I would have a male campus guide. Great, just what I needed.'

The campus was quite nice. The buildings looked more like a traditional high school, but still like a college campus. There were large oaks growing by the roadside. Large spacious lawns between buildings, interrupted by sidewalks and roads. Blue and orange banners were displayed on the lamp posts, flashing the school's mascot, a snarling bear.

I looked back towards the student milling about, who kept giving me weird glances, and I began to wonder why, until I remembered that I was wearing my tee shirt from last year's sports festival, which was emblazoned with a large Defender High logo and the number one-oh-three on the front and back. The uniforms were quite nice though. A simple pair of black or khaki slacks with an orange polo shirt displaying the school's mascot on the breast. I was kinda jealous, for an instant, before I remembered that they also had more formal uniforms like ours did, today, being Friday, was apparently more casual.

"Ayden Clark?" Called a strong, yet kind voice. The accent wasn't quite Australian, but it wasn't American or British either. I honestly had no clue what accent it was.

I turned to face the voice. "Yes." I turned to see a young man who stood about a head and a half taller than me. He had mismatched eyes, one blue, the other brown, each with a thin band of gold around the pupil, and I found them quite intriguing. His hair was a light, platinum blond and was quite curly, reminding me of sheep's wool. His light olive skin was beautiful in the evening light, and the polo shirt made it quite clear that he was in great physical shape from the tone of his arms. He wore a bright smile and seemed almost vulnerable from how sweet he appeared.

"Yes, that's me." I offered my hand for a handshake, which he obliged. I could feel a calloused hand and a strong grip.

"I'm Hadrian Black. Welcome to the California School of Heroes."

Betaread by Scotken