Chapter 49: Trade & Overload

Her bangs stuck to her forehead. She was breathing heavily. Midoriya had gotten a lot faster during the past two weeks, she was struggling more and more to take him down. It still ended with her winning about seven out of ten matches, but that was less than she was comfortable with.

"One more?" Midoriya heaved. At least they were both exhausted. She accepted the challenge with a grin, "Don't get your hopes up."

His legs were strong. Hikari always had to stay aware of their position, one kick could knock her from her feet with ease. Dodging the moves she had helped him refine was no problem at all, but the new ones he learned during his internship were hard to counter.

A foot closed in. The girl ducked, brought up her own leg and crashed it into the back of her friend's knee. With the only leg supporting his stance swapped from under him, Midoriya fell. He tried to turn his body mid-air for a faster comeback, but Hikari hooked her elbow with his and forced him down. With her kneecap pressing into his chest, he was secured.

Midoriya gasped. With just a bit of struggling he would have managed to free himself. Instead, the boy let his head and arms plop down on the training mat.

"I thought I'd gotten the hang of this."

"You have. But you're not the only one who interned under one of the top heroes." Smiling, Hikari released him and extended a hand, which he gratefully accepted.

"You did improve a lot. I'm honestly a bit jealous you're such a natural."

"I wish that were true." Sometimes, Hikari didn't know whether to find his modesty annoying or endearing.

Having the small gym of the hero apartment complex at their disposal came in handy. Especially since both All Might and Aizawa-sensei didn't want to pick up training before the day after tomorrow. It was completely understandably why their homeroom teacher was hesitant, he wanted to give her more time to sort things out. And she still had a lot of that to do. But sparing and exercising kept her mind off things, and her constantly overworking brain needed rest. But the one thing she didn't understand was All Might's hesitation.

"Hey, Midoriya?"

The boy snapped out of his thought, "Yes?"

"How are things with your quirk? We haven't really talked in a while, even though we promised we would, so I was wondering…"

In the blink of an eye, turquoise flames licked at his lower arms. Hikari almost jumped at the sight. Didn't he have trouble activating it before?

"Once I found out where and how to start, it became quite natural to me, I don't have to think about it anymore, but… Controlling those flames, that's a different story. Especially the extinguishing part."

"Extinguishing?"

"Ah, you probably didn't notice since you were, uhm," he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "a-anyway, you see, once I take over the fire, I can extinguish it. I haven't quite figured out how it works, though. It will be super useful, but the bigger the fire, the harder it gets, and I only managed to really do it twice, not counting the fire that's generated by my own body…" He started rambling, thoughtfully pressing his fist against his chin.

"That's," the girl took a deep breath, "awesome! Imagine all the things you could do, all the people you can save! The firefighters are gonna hate you for taking away their jobs, though."

"Wha- That's not going to happen! I would never-"

The girl chuckled and waved it off. Midoriya was just so easy to tease, and she was starting to find a bit of joy in that, especially since he would never resent her for doing so. All he ended up doing was putting up the biggest, most unironical pout she had ever seen. She couldn't help but ruffle his hair before getting back on her feet.

"He-hey!"

"Alright, break's over. Still up for a few more rounds?"

His eyes lit up but before he could respond, a loud buzz caught their attention. Both teens turned to their bags at the back of the room.

"I think it's mine?" Midoriya swiftly hopped over and rummaged through his belongings. Once he found the phone, a frown replaced his curious expression.

"What is it?"

"It's... Endeavour's agency."


Fifty minutes later, Izuku aimlessly paced around his room. His hair was still damp from the shower. There was going to be a meeting of sorts. They didn't tell him much, which only boosted his worry. He thought of the last time he attended a hero meeting, and how that mission ended. He wasn't ready for another Nighteye situation.

All kinds of scenarios ran through his head. Was it about that new nomu? No, they wouldn't need him to be present, he hadn't even been there. And there was the fact that he was also told to bring Hikari along, so this could only be about one thing: Onderon, or more precisely, Dragon.

A shiver ran down his spine. No, that had been months ago. That didn't make sense unless there was a new development, unless his father had shown up again…

A knock nearly sent him tripping over his own feet.

"Midoriya? May I come in?"

Izuku strode towards the door and let his friend enter. She was also wearing her school uniform for the first time in days, he could see a few wet spots where her hair lay on her shoulders. She wore it half up, like she always had back at Seishin Academy, only that it had grown longer since then.

"Midoriya-kun?"

"It's nothing," he quickly said and closed the door behind them.

"It's… Gonna be okay."

Izuku gave a jerk. Was his restlessness that obvious?

"Whatever this is about, I'm sure you can take it. And you're not alone, I'll be there. And - Wait, what is that. Let me fix it."

His eyes followed the hands extended towards him. With a swift motion, the girl untied the wobbly knot supposed to be his necktie which thanks to his nervousness looked even worse than usually. Within a few seconds it was fixed, neatly tied around his neck.

"Seriously, were you going to walk into the number one's agency like that?"

"Yes? I always do." What was wrong with that? There wasn't a dress code or anything. They'd only catch one glimpse of him before he changed into his hero gear anyway.

Hikari shrugged and stepped back. "I can show you how to properly do that later, if you like. We do still have some time before school starts again."

A small smile snuck on his face. It was going to be fine. Hikari was there, and he was pretty sure Todoroki-kun would be as well. Kacchan, too, if it concerned all the interns. The queasy feeling in his stomach remained but thinking of his friends spent comfort. He grabbed the uniform jacket lying on his desk chair and agreed, "I would like that."


He couldn't place the look Endeavour gave them, and he tried his best not to stare at the long scar running across the left half of the man's face. After a short, formal greeting, they hopped into the car, glad he had been right about Todoroki-kun being there.

It had only been four days since the crazy fight with the nomu, and Endeavour, completely fine except for his scar, strut into the agency like nothing happened. He wordlessly led them up to the meeting rooms. A handful of heroes were standing in the hallway, he offered them a nod but didn't halt.

Izuku had only seen these rooms once at the very beginning, when one of the sidekicks showed them around It didn't differ much from the one at Nighteye's agency, aside from being much more luxurious, with the white tiles on the floor, the huge window facade and the unproportional waste of space. About twenty heroes were already inside, sitting at the tables or standing in small groups. Izuku recognized most of them at first sight, like the newly announced team consisting of Edgeshot, Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. He even knew some of them in person like Gang Orca and Ryukyu, who offered him a short wave when their eyes fell on them. Aside from these high-ranking pros, most others were in the top two hundred. This had to be huge.

While Endeavor point blank moved to his seat, closely followed by his son, Izuku stopped in his tracks. His nerves were blank. Maybe it was just him, but there seemed to be an odd sense of dread hanging in the air. He tried to steady himself with a few deep breaths, until he felt a nudge in his side. Hikari nodded back to the entry where his eyes landed on a familiar figure.

"Psy Doc?!"

"Ah, Deku, nice to see you," the peculiar hero he interned under in Onderon welcomed him. This could only mean that Izuku's worst fears were coming true.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to check on you after the incident, but our hands were full," Psy Doc apologized. With his very mundane looking costume, the dress shirt and the west, he looked extremely out of place. At least he almost fit in with their school uniforms.

"It's fine," Izuku reassured the man, "I'm glad you're alright. How is SingSong?"

"Talkative as always." At least the meeting started with good news. "Who's your friend?"

Izuku, too delighted to find someone he knew personally, totally forgot he didn't come alone. "This is my classmate, Shikogane Hikari, she was at Onderon too during the incident."

"Uhm, hello," Hikari bowed, "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine-"

"Oi, nerd! What is Scarface doing here?" Ah, there he was. As expected.

"Kacchan!"

With both hands in his pockets, Bakugou scuffed inside, narrowing his eyes at them. He had no relation to Onderon at all. Then again, Endeavour and Todoroki-kun hadn't either. Did that mean they were continuing the internship? Izuku didn't get to ask, because the hero in the seat next to Endeavour spoke up, "Welcome, heroes. Please let us begin the meeting!"

Izuku promptly identified him as Melting Point. A hero with the ability to melt any type of matter, no matter how high or low its melting point was.

The teen panicked for second, whipping his head around trying to find out where to sit, until Bakugou roughly pushed him towards the tables. The students found their places at Todoroki's side, who sat next to his father. Right at the centre of attention.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice. But our investigations have reached some very… Unsettling results. I've assembled you to bring light into this whole ordeal and to discuss our next steps."

The door fell shut and the last people sat down. Melting Point went on, "The points we will be discussing are the current situation in Onderon and what is to come, as well as Dragon and his involvement in the distribution of two newly created drugs."

Izuku stiffened. He wasn't ready for this conversation. He doubted he would ever be.

"As most of you know, a large commemoration will take place in five weeks. We tried our best to convince the officials to postpone this event, at least until we know Dragon's next steps, but it was futile. Their decision left us no choice but to start preparations of our own to make sure the tragedy will not repeat itself. Never again."

A few attendees shifted.

"A lot of us were invited to this even to give people a sense of security. But we all know that didn't help last time, so we're preparing everyone to react to possible scenarios accordingly."

"Possible scenarios? You really think he's gonna try that again?", a female hero threw in.

"Not the same, but," Melting Point's fingers darted across the keyboard of the laptop in front of him, "it pains me to admit that he most likely has the means to cause another catastrophe. Which leads us to our first point."

The projector hanging from the ceiling sprung to life. A document, looking like a medical report, flashed up.

"Within the last months, two new quirk affecting drugs appeared on the black market. We were able to prove that one of them was used by Dragon's men during the incident, while we could only trace the other back to the city, but not connect it to Dragon. At least not yet. Concerning the first one, let me introduce you to Trade."

Something in the corner of his eyes twitched. He turned his head to his right where he found Hikari sitting completely stiff, eyes wide.

"It's a drug mainly acting as quirk suppressant. Many of our friends fell during the battle because they were stripped off their quirks. Luckily, some survived and brought that knowledge to us. And this isn't everything. It seems that the drug is still incomplete. Far more concerning than quirk cancelling effect, which lasts roughly six hours, are the side effects. The drug directly affects a person's quirk factor, meaning the quirk itself. Many survivors had trouble controlling their quirks after being infused, others manifested a completely new form, few stayed unaffected and, in some cases… People lost the ability to use their quirk altogether. All in all, its effects are unpredictable and can change a life forever."

Izuku purposely bumped his knee into his friend's. Hikari turned to him, and he mouthed her a silent breathe.

"The other drug suspected to be distributed by Dragon is called Overload. As of today, none of the people fallen victim have survived."

"W-wait what do you mean non have survived?" Mount Lady questioned.

"The drug itself isn't lethal," the projection flipped to another report, "but it forces a quirk to activate and as the name suggests, to overload. For a short moment, it increases a person's power, until it eventually becomes too much for the human body to handle."

"People are being killed by their own quirks," Edgeshot concluded, spiking the dread of the assembled. Melting Point nodded. "That is the case. It might not affect people with weaker quirks or none at all, but since most of us heroes do possess a lot of raw power, it's extremely dangerous for us."

"It's a weapon developed to kill heroes," Endeavour finally spoke up. All attention shifted to him, but no one dared to say anything. They were all struck by the sheer horror it suggested.

"Yes. That's what we fear and eventually led us to connect it to another series of incidents. You might have heard that there have been many incidents involving quirkless people, enough that one might think they're being targeted. A lot of missing persons' reports, and many times it's just people that were found passed out in dark alleys, missing a whole day's memories. As you probably already guessed, our assumption is that Dragon is trying to recruit them. Recruit people immune to his drug."

"The perfect combination," someone muttered, but Izuku couldn't identify the source. A shiver ran down his spine. Even after losing the battle in Onderon, Dragon continued to terrorise society, he still managed to hurt and kill people without lifting a finger...

"But why would they follow him?!" He again missed where the question came from.

"Our society is not… As progressive as we'd like to think. It's a fact that these days, people without a quirk are often looked down upon. They don't get the same opportunities. And many of them are understandably angry about that. I imagine it's very easy to tempt them by presenting them a future where everyone will be treated equally. Especially after losing such a focal point of the quirkless community as Seishin Academy, their riot is long overdue."

Izuku never thought of it that way. For quirkless people, the closing of Seishin equalled the closing of U.A. for the hero society. No, it was worse. There were more prestigious hero schools in Japan, but Seishin had been the only strictly quirkless school with such a good reputation. All other schools allowed people with considerably 'weak' quirks, because they didn't get enough funding otherwise. What a cruel society they had.

"What I'm saying is, we have to expect the worst," Melting Point went on, and began explaining how they intended to fight further distribution of the drug and prevent more people from being swayed by Dragon. But that was pointless. A few nice words and empty promises were not going to undo decades of inequality and torment. He knew that better than anyone else in this room.

Questions were answered, measures discussed, until everything became a blur. Why was he even here? Endeavour had obviously been invited to the commemoration, did he plan on bringing his interns?

"Our biggest problems remains Dragon's unpredictability. Which is why I would like to hear your statements, Deku and Kumogane."

Izuku's head snapped up. His wide-eyed stare found Melting Point's welder's helmet.

"You two are the only people known to us who have survived a direct encounter with Dragon. Thanks to this miracle, you are our best shot at finding the villain, the key to his plans and personality."

It was everything but a miracle. Dragon let him live because he thought Izuku would eventually join him. The freckled teen clenched his teeth.

"I already gave detailed reports on both events, so I'm not sure how we could be of help," Hikari spoke up, her eyes darting towards Izuku, then to Melting Point. Everything about her posture was tense, he could almost hear her scream at the pro hero to stop asking for more. He did anyway.

"Yes, we read the reports. But sometimes, things get lost and certain memories, especially painful ones, can reappear after time. I would like to particularly hear something from you, Deku, since you were unable to give a statement after the incident."

There it was. The thing he had been silently dreading for months. They never came back to ask him about it, and this was the result.

"I…" Izuku began, staring blankly at the expectant hero.

"I know, this isn't easy, you were severely injured back then, but anything you remember could save dozens if not hundreds of lives."

If only Melting Point knew. Izuku could feel Todoroki's concerned stare and Bakugou's squinted side glance on him.

"All I can say is that Dragon, he's… He's crazy. He burned me as soon as I spoke up, he almost killed my friend trying to convince me-" he said too much, but what could he do, "he's a narcissist. He deliberately told us about his plans because he thought he had already won."

"What do you mean he tried to convince you? We know Dragon apprehended you after you got into a fight with Neo Kumo, but Kumogane's report is understandably patchy towards the end."

Was that what she told them? That Dragon took them because of her brother? Izuku tried to calm his breathing, he couldn't panic now. The heroes, save for Endeavour, didn't know, which left him with two options.

One: He could try talking himself out of this, with his classmates and Endeavour knowing what he was doing, but the heroes would figure out eventually and think of him as a liar... So, no, he did in fact not have options. He could only do one thing: Tell them the truth.

His throat felt dry. All eyes were on him. His hands were trembling under the table, cold sweat drops ran down his back. This was so much worse than telling his class, because deep inside, he had known they wouldn't blame him. Those heroes, no matter how much he admired them, they didn't know him, and they wouldn't trust him ever again…

A knee bumped into his tight. Only softly, but enough to shake him out of whatever that was. Two seats to his left, he saw Todoroki getting ready to say something, but he didn't let him. Izuku had to handle this himself.

"Dragon, he… He tried to convince me to join him."

The statement was met with silence. Tension filled the room and it became even harder to breathe. At last, the hero leading the meeting inquired, "Why would he do that?"

"Because he… He is my biological father."

The bomb hit. Izuku averted his eyes. He couldn't look at them. Bakugou to his left clenched his fists, and the grim expression on his face told the freckled teen that he was about to blow up any second.

"Deku, this is a serious matter-"

"I know how it sounds," he interrupted the hero, "and, I swear to you, I didn't know, he was out of the picture since I can remember and my mom raised me by herself- But back then, he told me, and I knew he was telling the truth… And it's not just me, he kidnapped my mother, but they managed to escape and she's under protection now, but… He attacked me when I refused, he tried to force me by torturing Hikari, if the darkness surrounding the city didn't disappear in that exact moment… I think he would have burned us both alive. It's the only reason we're not dead. I don't… I don't know if he's going to try again, or if he just decided to kill me next time, but-"

"So, that's what U.A. is up to these days," a harsh voice interrupted his stammering, "rescuing villains' fledglings and putting them into the hero course?"

A hero, Izuku for once didn't recognize, spoke up. He was broad shouldered, half of his face was hidden beneath a mask as grey as his slicked back hair. Still, his gaze pierced the poor student, and Izuku was glad looks couldn't kill. At least this man's didn't seem to, or else he would be a goner by now. The woman next to the hero hissed something, her look stern.

"Here we are, here discussing how to stop Dragon, but no one thought about informing us that his son was sitting in our own rows? And your friend over there, you're Neo Kumo's sister, right? You gave a detailed statement but did not think of telling us about any of this? That sounds just wonderful, doesn't it?"

The next thing happened so fast, all Izuku heard was a crashing sound before hands were slapped on the table with an ear-piercing clap right next to him.

"You don't get to say that," Hikari was on her feet, face twisted, "do you think we wanted this? Do you think I enjoyed being held captive, kidnapped and tortured?! They took and altered my quirk, I had to watch my mother die in my arms because you heroes failed again and again to show up in time, so you don't get to say anything! Do you think we chose this?! Do you really think for one god damn second that we want to be constantly judged for crimes we didn't commit? For actions of other people, actions we tried to prevent and that scared us for life?! Is that what you think?!"

"Hikari, calm down!"

"Midoriya and I, we chose this path! We're at U.A. because we want to become heroes like everyone else, we want to save people from monsters like Dragon and Neo Kumo! Do you think we don't deserve a chance or equal treatment because we were born into the wrong families? Is that what you all think? You're heroes! You're supposed to protect people, not to judge and throw accusations around!"

For a second, not a single soul dared to breathe. Although… Something inside Izuku shifted. Because he understood. He was upset, too, and her words spoke what his heart felt. No, he didn't need to defend himself, he didn't do anything wrong. His blood or not, the only thing Izuku wanted from Dragon, was to bring the man behind bars, so he could never hurt anyone ever again. The teen came to his feet at his friend's side.

"Hikari's right," he finally found the strength to look the hero in the eye, "it doesn't matter what you think or say. We will become heroes, better heroes than those before us. Because," he took a deep breath, "we are not like them"

He raised his fist, challenging everyone in the room, "So, watch us. And I promise you, we won't disappoint."

Every bit of doubt he had had minutes ago was gone. His resolve was absolute. It didn't matter what they thought of him, to them he was still the mad-finger-breaker-kid from the sports festival anyway. All he really had to do was to prove them wrong. Show that he was a hero and would not have his resolve broken by anyone, villain or hero.

The masked hero was still shooting daggers at them. He leaned back into his chair, expression grim but the tiniest bit intrigued.

"Watch you, huh? How are you going to show us? Now that we know, who will-"

"They're my interns," a voice, not loud but strong, announced. The shock on the hero's face was almost priceless as he turned to Endeavour.

"I'm only interested in what they have to offer. I will accept them as interns as long as they produce results, if they don't, then they can leave, like everyone else. That will be the end of this discussion. Sit back down."

The number one didn't look at them. His eyes darted across the room, arms crossed in front of his chest since the beginning of the meeting. Izuku couldn't believe his ears. Did Endeavour just defend them?

Something pulled at his sleeves and reminded him he was supposed to sit back down. With a tight feeling in his chest he ignored the frowns the heroes occasionally shot him and sat through the meeting with his nerves blank. What he took away in the end was that Endeavour himself was not part of the group dealing with the drugs, but he would have to hold a speech or at least show up to the commemoration. And he would take his interns with him.

When the meeting finally came to an end, all he wanted to do was storm out of the agency, go home, crawl into his bed and hide underneath at least six covers. His emotions were running wild, one second, he felt determined, almost angry, the next he wanted to cry and disappear from this world.

"Better than the heroes before you? Still not gonna fucking beat me, nerd," Bakugou declared roughly as he got up from his chair. Izuku blinked at his childhood friend in confusion until it clicked. That was Kacchan's way of telling him he was rooting for Izuku, obviously by challenging him.

"We'll see about that." It came out weaker than he liked, but it was an approval nonetheless. On his other side, Hikari clapped her hands together and leaned her front on them as if praying, but instead, she muttered, "I so want to punch that guy. Into the face. With a chair. With spikes."

"That's the best fucking thing that ever came out of your mouth, scarface."

"Shut up, Prince detonation killer."

"Hah?! What did you just call me?!"

Izuku almost chocked on his own salvia. "Ka-kacchan! Hikari! Please stop!"

"Just ignore them," Todoroki joined the trio while his father walked past them, not sparing them a glance, "they'll stop eventually."

Wait, was that some kind of remedial-class-buddy-thing he didn't know about?

"My sister, Fuyumi, just texted me. He asked me to bring my friends over. Natsuo, my brother, will be there too. Are you three coming?"

It came a bit out of the blue. Izuku had never been at any of his friends' homes before. But after all that fuss, he would surely enjoy a nice dinner with his friends. He exchanged a short nod with Hikari before informing Todoroki, "Sure, we would love to! Thank you very much, Todoroki-kun! I just have to call mom very quick."

At his side, Bakugou yelled something about not being their friend. Obviously, he still got into the car.


Thanks for the follows and faves, InconspicuousRock, Hayzark, Tjonner, RandoFoy, Lucifer's Remnants and invictus113!