Chapter 44: heart of a hero

"Alright class. We're having a school festival."

Three deadly silent seconds passed. Chaos ensued.

"WHAAAT?!"

"WE'RE ACTUALLY HAVING A SCHOOL-LIKE EVENT?!"

"FOOD!"

"You have exactly one second to calm down or you're not going to be a part of it." Never had Aizawa shut his class more effectively. "Naturally, the hero course shines brightest at the sports festival, so this is an opportunity for all the other departments to show their talents. It doesn't draw the same amount of attention, obviously, and it's more to elevate people's spirits. Thanks to all the incidents of the past few months though, the festival will only be open to the students, the school staff and a few selected outsiders, not the public as usually. Furthermore, every class is obligated to offer something. Today you'll be deciding what that is. That being said," the teacher took his sleeping bag out of nowhere and started zipping himself in, "I don't really care as long as it stays within the rules." With that the yellow caterpillar that was their homeroom teacher disappeared behind his desk.

The discussion was heated, to say the least. In the end, they didn't come to a decision despite Iida's and Yaoyorozu's best efforts, and they were given an ultimatum.

"Hand in your outline until tomorrow morning, or we'll be having a regular class instead. Open house."

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. It was time for Shinsou's training but… The student hadn't come alone. No, Shikogane was standing there with him, in her gym uniform, looking ready as ever.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"E-extra… Class," the girl croaked nonchalantly. Aizawa only rubbed his front and gave off a deep sigh. This couldn't be happening. He didn't take Shinsou for the type to agree with any of Shikogane's rash, stupid plans. And yet, she had somehow convinced him to help with whatever this attempt was. He didn't like that change in their dynamic. Not at all.

"Shikogane, one week of detention, Shinsou, two days of detention."

Shinsou looked taken aback. He threw a nervous glance at his sparring partner, but the girl didn't back down. Instead she held up a hand and whispered, "A-accepted. But w-we have a pro-prop-os...al."

This could only get worse.

"O-one m-at..ch. "

What were they hoping to achieve through that? Especially Shinsou. Aizawa had just gotten him detention for doing nothing but letting the other student stand by his side, so why wasn't he speaking up?

Whatever, the hero sighed internally. If they weren't going to listen, he would have to show them. "Fine. One match. But my rules."

The students exchanged another nervous glance

"If I win, you both get the double amount of detention. If Shikogane manages to throw me on the ground, I promise to carry on with her training. If it's Shinsou who succeeds though, he will be freed of any consequences and I pretend nothing happened."

The boy was visibly torn. Shinsou's eyes darted from Aizawa to Shikogane and back. Shikogane on the other hand didn't waver, no, she clenched her fists and pierced the teacher with her determined gaze before offering Shinsou a nod, as if to signal him that she was alright if he fought for his own sake. Shinsou seemed torn for a few seconds before he at last returned a hesitant nod.

There was nothing Aizawa didn't expect. The gen ed student was attacking the same way as always, and Shikogane moved a little clumsier than usually. It was to be expected after taking a break. Aizawa pushed his palm into Shinsou's chest, hard enough to send him back gasping for air, but not hard enough to leave more than a bruise. He saw something move from in the corner of his eye. He didn't even need to look to know what was coming. Shikogane always came for the exact same angle. All he needed to do was to pull his shoulder down by a few degrees to send her stumbling past him-

An elbow was rammed into his side. Golden eyes furiously flashed up deep bellow his left arm. That was not-

He barely avoided Shinsou grabbing hold of his other arm, the boy recovered faster than last time. Or maybe Aizawa just didn't hit hard enough. The attacking teens almost crashed into each other, giving him enough time to think about what just happened-

Except, it didn't. Instead of crashing into each other, Shikogane grabbed Shinsou by the forearm, spun him around and sent him at back at Aizawa, using the already present momentum so add to the boy's speed. Shinsou, not acting surprised, just rolled with it, hooked his arms around Aizawa's right shoulder and pushed the teacher back. The pro only managed to stay on his feet thanks to his sturdy stance, but as soon as he tore his eyes off Shinsou, Shikogane was in front of him, coming unusually low again. He pulled Shinsou off his feet, meaning to send him into the girl, but Shikogane used his own knee as a steppingstone before he could do so. She narrowly evaded her partners body by wrapping her legs around Aizawa's throat. The sudden shift of weight and loss of oxygen sent the teacher stumbling, he lost balance and crashed onto the floor with both students on top of him.

No, this was not going to let them win that easily… Aizawa reached for the girl, but she used her unoccupied hand to twist his arm in a very painful way. He wanted to use his other arm, but Shinsou was still tightly holding on to that. His legs were still free and technically, he could throw them both off, but… They did throw him on the ground. That had been his condition. Neither managed to do it on their own, but they had worked together as a team. He didn't like to admit it, but that outcome was far better than anything he could have hoped for.

Aizawa stopped struggling. He waited. His students exchanged a confused look, then a nod, before getting off him. He took his time getting back on his feet and stared them dead in the eye.

"That's not what we agreed to. One of you should have been the sole victor."

Both students gulped in unison. Neither of them backed down. This time, Aizawa let an audible sigh escape. "Then again… We all know neither of you could have done it on their own. But you did manage to fight as a team. So, for this once, I'm going to let it slide. New terms: You're both getting detention, but I will be training Shikogane again. End of discussion."

The students stared at him in disbelief. It took a moment for the information to sink in, but their reaction told him that they hadn't overheard his underlying compliment. Shinsou scratched the back of his head, seemingly embarrassed. He averted his gaze but couldn't fully hide the way the corners of his mouth twitched upwards. Shikogane blinked at Aizawa completely baffled. It took a moment before her eyes widened and lit up. She bowed low, "Th-ank you, s-sen… sei…"

He had underestimated them. It was as simple as that. They still had so much to learn, but they were progressing, quickly. He especially noted Shinsou's growth. He had gained nothing from this incident, no, even got detention, and yet he seemed happy with the outcome. Already by agreeing to Shikogane's offer he had shown that he was ready to risk his own reputation to help someone in need. He truly had the heart of a hero.

At least Aizawa was encouraged to finally hand in his request regarding his two special students.

"We're doing a live show with music and dancing!" Iida announced, a hundred percent into this idea. "Jirou, is the singer and bass player! On the guitars: Kaminari and Tokoyami! Piano: Yaoyorozu. Drums: Bakugou! The sage crew consists of Todoroki, Aoyama, Sero, Kirishima and Koda! Everyone else will be part of the dance group!"

Izuku's jaw dropped "Did you seriously come up with all of this while we were away…?"

Uraraka appeared at his side, her face dangerously close to his. "Don't you like it, Deku-kun?"

"N-no! I m-mean, of course I like it! It's a brilliant idea!" Izuku stammered, waving his hands in front of his glowing face. "Ashido-san is a great dancer and Jirou-san an amazing musician! I'm sure this is going to be wonderful!" He just wasn't sure about his own role. Dancing? Him?! Although, Ashido's command over her body was incredible. Maybe he'd learn a few useful things through this.

"Ah, he's muttering again," Asui noted at Uraraka's side, causing Izuku to blush even harder.

"So-sorry!"

"We thought it would be great to offer something for the other courses to enjoy," Jirou joined them and started explaining, while Kacchan screamed something about destroying the other classes with their performance in the background, "sorry we didn't wait for you when we made the decision."

"It's fine, don't worry," Izuku reassured her and placed his sports bag on the floor, "I think it's a great idea!" Jirou looked relieved.

"Yeah, you should have heard her, Midoriya," Kaminari suddenly chimed in, "she's got such a beautiful voice, I wanted to cry!"

"Ka-kaminari!" The musician cut in, her face glowing red. Asui patted her arm, while Uraraka went on, "We're going to blow everyone away! Ashido and the others are already looking at some videos for inspiration! This is going to be so much fuuun!" She was really into it. The whole class seemed to be, even Todoroki sat in front of the laptop with the others, watching some videos.

But wait… Fun. Fun. Fun included laughing, smiling… What if…?

"Hey, Hikari, you have Aizawa-sensei's phone number, don't you?" Izuku turned to the girl at his other side who had watched the whole exchange silently. She seemed surprised.

"Could you maybe send it to me?"

She raised an eyebrow at him but nodded, "S-sure…"

"Great, thanks!"

Hikari nodded again before pointing to the ceiling, before disappeared in the direction of the stairs. Izuku needed a shower, too, but he first needed a drink. He rolled his shoulders. His whole body was sore again, she wasn't going easy on him during their sparing. But he already made progress. He couldn't wait to see if it helped him during hero class tomorrow.

"You and Hi-chan are very close, huh?" Uraraka suddenly popped into his view, again, very close.

"Eh?" Izuku jerked, not following.

"Ah, it's nothing," she waved it off, "what do you need Aizawa-sensei's number for?"

"It's… A surprise!" To be honest, Izuku didn't want to give his friends false hope. There was no telling in whether the Aizawa-sensei would agree and even if he did, he wasn't the one making the decision. Nevertheless, Izuku thought it was a good idea. He would also ask Togata to support him, maybe they would listen to his senpai.

Ground gamma, an industrial setting. They had used it for several of their training exercises, including the...

"...Rescue training race," Aizawa-sensei finished Izuku's thoughts out loud, "We'll be evaluating your progress by repeating the same exercise as a few months ago. There will be five teams. You'll be drawing lots."

It was time for hero class. Izuku felt like he was going to explode, in, like, a good sense. An extremely good sense. The icing wind slapping him into the face didn't bother him at all. His eyes began to water from the cold, but that was fine, too. Because he felt completely free, more than ever before.

Ashido's dancing lessons over the past week had given him better control over his body, it had opened his eyes to new possibilities. Hikari's sparing taught him how to minimize the input while maximizing the output. It felt so different, using all of his body to move around, not being limited to either his feet or hands. His whole body had become an instrument.

The hero in training soared through the air, a quick glance told him that there was no footing ahead. It didn't matter. Checking that nothing was on the ground underneath, he pointed his hand towards the asphalt and flicked his fingers. The sheer force created enough air pressure to send him flying ahead, towards his next secure landing spot.

Force… Air pressure…

Air Force.

The name he gave his new move brought an excited grin to his face.

"Dude, what the heck was that?!" Kirishima breathed at Izuku as he arrived last. His quirk didn't help him at all, he basically had to run, jump, and climb his way up to the finishing line on top of a building. The others in the group, Iida and Uraraka had a bit more of an advantage there, they arrived shortly after Izuku, the later taking some more time than her two friends.

"Uhm, what do you mean?" The freckled teen scratched the back of his head, completely oblivious.

"Kirishima-kun is right," Iida added to compliment him, "that was very impressive, Midoriya! You moved completely different from last time!"

"Yeah, you were so fast, I barely pushed myself off the ground and whoosh you were already half across the field! You were amazing, Deku-kun!" Uraraka was the last to wave her arms around excitedly. It was too much for the awkward teen to take. As a stuttering mess, Izuku thanked them while trying to direct the conversation somewhere else. Everyone had made such great progress, in their very own way. They were all improving their moves and their technique, and judging by the expression of All Might, who stood by the rest of the students, he was more than just proud of them as well.

The euphoria didn't last for very long, though. Just after sending them back to the bus, Aizawa-sensei held him back, "Midoriya."

His happy bubble burst.

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble. For once."

Relief replaced the tension. Izuku sighed. Taken over by curiosity, he inquired "What is it, sensei?"

"Great news," All Might joined in, "We've talked to the commission about your request. They agreed to let Eri attend the festival, since she is staying at U.A. anyway. She will see your performance, so you better give it your plus ultra, young Midoriya!"

Izuku's jaw dropped so low, he couldn't even thank them. His class would go absolutely nuts at the thought of meeting Eri.

And they were. No one shied away from bombarding Izuku with questions like, "what does she like?", "Is she as cute as Tsu-chan said?" or "can't we meet her beforehand?". While he still felt excited and overjoyed, it all became a bit too much. Especially after all the attention and praise he already received after hero training. So, Izuku excused himself and went up to his room.

He still felt overly energized. Overjoyed by the facts that he had done good, and that Eri was going to see them, but with low social batteries, he decided to let some steam off by jogging for a bit. Maybe that would also help his arms. They started itching somewhen during practice and had been doing so ever since. Maybe it was his blood circulation? His newly refound quirk affected his body in many ways, some still unknown to him.

Izuku ran across the school ground, unbothered by the cold that kept most students back in their dorms. But the itch only grew stronger. Strangely the only area affected his seemed to be his lower arms. Did he accidentally get into touch with stinging-nettles or something? Did-

Izuku froze in his tracks. It was just an uneducated guess that crept over him, but what if…?

He stumbled onto the clearing, his safe haven. No one was here. No one would see. No one would get hurt. He could let it out without consequences.

Let it go, he tried to calm himself down, it's going to be fine. It's going to be…

Fire drenched the clearing in green light. A hissing sound came from his skin where all cold sweat evaporated in the blink of an eye. His lower arms were ablaze, but… It was different. Different from that time he accidentally activated it when trying to repel Todoroki's fire. The flames barely even resembled fire, they behaved a lot calmer than expected, their shapes rounder, the flickering less aggressive to the point they almost looked like some wavering blueish-green shining liquid…

Take a deep breath, don't panic. Clear your mind, just like All Might said, Izuku instructed himself. He closed his eyes and forced this breathing pattern to become even, until his muscles relaxed somewhat. When he opened his eyes, the view hadn't changed. The liquid fire still came out of his lower arms.

How could this be? How did he activate it? And why was it different? Which factors had been present both this evening and the first time he activated it? He was over the moon thanks to his progress, but what did that have in common with being able to withstand Todoroki's fire-

Excitement. His heart was beating twice as fast as normally. Those incredibly over-the-top feelings had been present during both incidents, but that couldn't be it. It was too simple. Too easy. Too... Right. Izuku always tended to overthink. He mulled over every possible outcome, set up emergency plans whenever possible… Maybe it was just that easy, and he had been too dumb to realize it. Maybe there was no complicated ritual or whatever, maybe it was enough to simply channel those feelings…

The flames died out, and with them, all the excess energy that had driven him outside. Izuku collapsed onto his butt, engulfed by sudden darkness. He was an idiot. Nothing but a stupid, overly complicated idiot.

Before he knew what he was doing, All Might's concerned voice came from the speaker of his phone, "Young Midoriya? Is everything alright?"

"I did it," Izuku breathed heavily, "I did it. I think I know how to activate my quirk."

Yotsune Maki had never been more afraid in his life, and that meant something, because he was always afraid of something. The files dreaded to fall from his shaking hands. He tried to steady his breath while listening to his ex-Seishin classmate, Endo Tomomo.

"Our latest test was a complete success. None of the quirkless were affected in any way. If our next two test result in the same, I would like to see for myself." His voice and stance were full of pride, even though he had nothing to take credit. He simply delivered the message. And yet, Dragon didn't care. Instead, he pushed the ego of his quirkless subordinate even further, "Those are exceptional news. Leave the files."

Yotsune couldn't move. Strong fingers buried themselves into his shoulder and yanked him forward. The boy stumbled before picking up his pace. He left the folders on Dragon's desk, the proximity sending waves of panic through his body. He didn't even look at his new boss. As soon as the files were safely on the table, he hurried back to Tomomo's side. His old classmate might hurt him, yes, but he would not kill him. Dragon on the other hand, would not hesitate to burn him alive, that much the previous Seishin attendee knew.

"Shockwave," Dragon called for the other villain standing in the room, "tell Coldhands to get back to work. We need more recruits."

The villainess bowed, "As you wish, Dragon." She strode off, throwing a last disgusted look at the two teens. While Yotsune flinched, Tomomo only flashed her an unimpressed grin.

Dragon waited until the door fell shut behind Shockwave before picking the word up again, "It is as you predicted, dear Tomomo. The future lies within the hands of the quirkless."

He's using you, Yotsune wanted to scream, he has a quirk himself. As soon as you've done what he needs you to do, we're both dead.

But he kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to die, at least not yet, he still had two and a half months left before…

Unless… Unless…

No. He could not do that. If they found out, they would kill him immediately. Then again… Was it worth living this life? He couldn't do anything. He woke up, assisted in their experiments, wrote his reports and went back to sleep. He hadn't seen the sun since being dragged here, at least not without four layers of safety glass between him and the outside world. This wasn't what living meant.

But… Could he pull it off? Could he do it? Would his death be at least instantly if they found out?

A/N:

Thanks so much for the follows and favourites, Filipe151, flublord, Piyot, Helen praspro and 3ldr4g0n.k1m3r4!

If you're up for it, leave a review and tell me where you expect the story to go 😉 I hope ya'll are having a nice holyday, whether you're celebrating something or not, and happy new year!

(Also, I hope this chapter is a bit better than the last one orz)