"There's our superstar!" Kaminari shouted once Izuku entered the homeroom. "How does it feel being famous? Oh man, I'm so jealous!" he continued, causing Izuku to quirk an eyebrow in confusion.

"Uh, thanks I guess? What are you talking about?"

"Haven't you been watching the news?" Kirishima asked. "For the past few days, all they've been talking about is us getting attacked at the USJ and the video of you fighting that one villain. They're saying you were really brave holding that thing off until All Might showed up and defeated it."

That was the official story that UA, All Might, and the police had settled on when asked by the press. No one had told reporters that it was actually Izuku who had defeated the villain, or how he had defeated it. Doing so would've likely ruined his reputation and future career, and some of the public may have tried to petition UA to kick Izuku out and maybe even arrest him. Some people, even after all this time, were still not keen on killing villains.

"Oh, no, not for the last few days. I've been busy doing stuff." He shrugged while walking off to his seat.

"I'm 'stuff,'" Mina whispered to Kirishima, causing the redhead to splutter and blush.

The bell started to ring, and the students who weren't in their seats were quick to get to them. The door to 1A opened soon after, and in walked their mummified homeroom teacher, Aizawa. It still amazed everyone how dedicated he was to teaching, even after being brutalized in the fight at the USJ.

"Morning class."

"Morning, Mr. Aizawa," the class said as their teacher walked up to his desk.

"I wanted to remind you all that the sports festival is still happening this week. Use this opportunity to show UA and the people watching what you're made of. You'll only have two other chances after this one, so make this one count and 'wow' the crowd. Got it?" he asked, causing the students to nod. "Good. Now get going. Class dismissed," Aizawa said before exiting the classroom without a word. The students started following his example, with some packing their belongings back into their bags.

"I'm so fucking hyped for tomorrow. Finally, I can get my hands dirty!" Bakugo exclaimed with a vicious grin as his palms sparked.

"I won't lie, it does feel weird having the sports festival so soon after, ya know, we almost died. But I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited for it," Izuku said with a smile. "Just, try and keep up, okay?"

"Fuck you! You calling me weak?!"

"Not calling…more like implying," Izuku teased before accepting the punch to his arm courtesy of his friend.

"Hey, uh, class pres? You might wanna come check this out," Kaminari said as he walked over to the two and gestured to the door. Izuku and Bakugo gave each other confused stares before following the electric quirk user.

"Why the heck are you all here?!"

"Do you students have some sort of business with our class?"

"I won't let you hold us hostage!" they heard Mineta shout as they got close, and Izuku finally saw what Kaminari was talking about. Roughly 50 students were currently gathered in the hallway, blocking 1A's path.

"Tch, they're obviously scouting out the competition, idiots," Bakugo said, unimpressed, as he walked past Uraraka, Iida, and Mineta. "We survived a real villain attack, remember? They wanna see us with their own eyes," he informed his classmates while staring down the gathered group of newcomers. "At least now you know what a future pro looks like. Now move it, extras!" he commanded before Izuku came from behind, slapped his hand over his friends' mouth, and pushed him back towards Iida and Kirishima.

"What my friend was trying to say is that it's nice to meet you all. But it's lunch time, and we'd like to go get food. If everyone could please form a path for us to get through, that'd be lovely." Izuku smiled politely, trying to undo the damage Bakugo had just caused. When would he learn that you couldn't just call people extras?

"So, this is class 1A, hmm?" a voice asked, and Izuku watched as a boy with tired eyes and untamed purple hair pushed his way through the crowd. "I heard you guys were impressive, but all I'm seeing are fake smiles and a couple of assholes. Is everyone in the hero course delusional? Or, is it just you?" he asked.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Bakugo growled.

"Hey, you're the class rep for 1A, right? Do us all a favor and muzzle him, please," the boy requested.

"You little fucking twerp! I'll-" Bakugo began to say before Izuku stepped forward, hand latched onto the left side of the doorframe.

"I don't know who you are, but no one talks badly about my class or my friends like that," Izuku growled, his irises turning to slits, the part of the doorframe where his hand rested started to crumble as he unknowingly started to crush it with his strength. The purple-haired boy looked unimpressed.

"If you people don't bring your A game, we will steal your spots out from under you. Consider this a declaration of war," the boy warned before walking away, with many others following out of fear.

"Hey, you okay?" Bakugo asked as he walked forward and placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. That was all it took for the greenet's eyes to turn back to normal and for him to stop crushing the doorframe.

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just…blacked out for a second." Izuku shook his head to get his bearings straight. 'What just happened? Did-did the dragon quirk start taking control?'

"Izuku!" Mei exclaimed as she rounded the corner and smashed into her two friends. "C'mon, you two! Me, Kendo, and Shiozaki have been waiting for you guys! We saved you seats!" Mei exclaimed before grabbing their wrists and dragging her two friends to the lunch room. While this happened, it was observed by a certain violet-haired boy.

'So talking badly about his friends is what triggers him, and he seems close to the pink-haired one,' the boy thought. 'Interesting.'

(Several hours later: Night time. Location: Izuku's mind)

When Izuku opened his eyes, he found himself in the dark void that was his mind once again. He looked around before there was a flash and an open field of grass and flowers replaced the blackness.

"Welcome back, Izuku. It's been a while." Izuku turned and stared at Tatsuo as he sat under a large shady tree, a bunny cradled in his one buffed arm as he pet the animal's head.

"What happened to me earlier?" Izuku asked, not returning the greeting. "I came this close to tearing that one kid's head off from talking badly about my class and Kacchan. I thought you said my dragon side would only come out when someone's in trouble!"

"I also said certain things that didn't make you snap before will make you snap now," Tatsuo said as the bunny disappeared. "You're part dragon now. When you're close to someone and love that person, anything that happens negatively to that person will set you off, whether it be something physical, like getting hit, or if they're disrespected by someone you don't know. The dragon felt as if your friend was being threatened. That boy mocked and disrespected your friends, so our quirk made its presence known to try and make that boy cower. To our dragon side, we're the alpha, and everyone else is a beta. It's why I told you to get better control of your emotions."

"So what? If someone calls Mei ugly or Iida annoying, my dragon side will flip out?"

"Yes, unless you control your emotions and remind yourself that the thoughts and words of others mean nothing. You cannot let people like that boy get the better of you; otherwise, it may cost you, or someone you know, their life," Tatsuo informed the current One For All user. Before he could continue, a ringing sound started playing through the landscape, and the old dragon user started turning to dust. "It seems you're waking up. Don't forget what we've talked about."

"Who would call this late at night?" Izuku asked, before a flash consumed him.

(Real world)

Izuku's eyes fluttered open as he was woken from his phone ringing on his nightstand. Rolling over, he grabbed it to see who was calling.

"Mei?" he said, confused, before answering. "Mei? It's like midnight, what's up?"

"Izuku?" Mei whimpered from the other end of the phone. "S-someone broke into my house. I-I'm hiding in the panic room and I-I can hear them ransacking the place. I-I need your help; the-the police are busy and couldn't pick up my call, and-and I'm scared. I didn't know what else to do and calling you seemed logical and-"

"Kacchan and I will be over as soon as possible," Izuku said as he hurriedly slipped on his shoes before opening his closet and grabbing his shield. "Just stay hidden until we get there. Everything will be okay, Mei, understand? Just keep calm." The girl whimpered again but agreed before hanging up. After doing so, Izuku dialed Bakugo, as he rushed out the door and down the street.

"Ugh, Deku? What the fuck-

"We have a problem. Get to Mei's house, now!"

(Hatsume Residence. 12:10 am)

When Izuku, with his shield, and Bakugo, with a baseball bat, arrived at Mei's home in her quiet neighborhood, they could clearly see the front door wide open. They walked up the stairs and entered quietly before hearing footsteps coming from upstairs. Izuku held his finger to his lips to tell Bakugo to be quiet before the duo made their way up.

They listened carefully and looked down the hallway, seeing that out of all the closed doors, the door to Mei's room was the only one that was opened. They nodded to each other and walked slowly to the door, before peaking inside.

Inside the room were two masked men who were looking through drawers and tearing them out before tossing them onto the ground. They were clearly looking for something, but what that thing was, neither of the boys knew. Izuku signaled for Bakugo to take out the man closer to the door, while gesturing that he himself would take care of the man that was searching through the closet. Izuku held up three fingers, and started counting down.

Three, two, one…

With a battle cry that could rival a Spartan, Bakugo ran forward with eagerness and smashed the bat over the one robber's head, knocking him down to the ground, unconscious. Robber two turned and was thrown against the wall after Izuku threw his shield and smashed it against the man's stomach. Izuku rushed forward and held the man tightly by the neck, while using his shield to keep him pinned.

"Who are you? Why are you here? And what the fuck are you looking for?" he growled menacingly, grip tightening as his iris' turned to slits.

"Lass mich los! Ich werde nie reden!" the man shouted as he struggled against Izuku, his speech confusing Izuku and Bakugo.

"Is-Is he speaking German?" Izuku asked his friend.

"Why would some German fucker be in Japan burglarizing Sume's house?" Bakugo growled as he got close to the man, palms sparking in anger. "Talk in Japanese, fucker! Who the fuck are you?!"

Before the man could utter another word, a red void appeared below him and started pulling him in. Izuku and Bakugo held on tight, trying to keep him from disappearing, but the void was too strong and it sucked the man through. Turning around, they noticed that the man Bakugo had knocked out was gone too.

"Goddamn it," Bakugo growled before realizing something. "Sume! Sume, it's okay! They're gone, it's safe now!" he shouted.

A doorway started to form in the wall next to the closet before the area dropped down to reveal Mei in her panic room. Various gadgets were spread across the metal table on the inside, all of which she had built to fend off the burglars in case they had found her. She looked relieved upon seeing her friends before running forward into Bakugo's arm.

"It's okay, it's okay, those fuckers are gone," he tried to comfort as he hugged his friend, his 'little sister,' tight.

"I-I was so scared! Originally I thought mom was having trouble with the front door again, but when I went to check it out, I watched them bust in."

"What were they doing here? Do you know?"

"N-No, all I know is that they were speaking German, and that they were looking for something. 'It must be here' they kept saying."

"You speak German?"

"Hmm mmm. W-When my family went to work for the agency, they made us learn several languages, with German being one of them," she informed them. "I-I'm scared. What if they come back?!"

"We won't let those fuckers get near you or Auntie Hana. You can stay with us while the police and heroes sort this out. Deku and I will make sure nothing happens to you. Right, Deku?" Bakugo asked, but after a few seconds, received no answer. "Deku?" he asked again, and he and Mei turned to see Izuku staring at something in his hand.

Izuku stared down at a patch that had fallen off of the man he had attacked. It was round with a red background. In the middle sat a black skull with six octopus limbs circling it.

'Who the fuck were those guys?'

Today, August 11th, I finally had all 4 wisdom teeth pulled. So far I'm okay but I'm gonna try and take it easy, so uploads might be a bit slow until I'm 100% again. I've started chap 25, so I'm gonna try and have it done by this weekend. I have 7 days before I start my senior year at college (still in person classes sadly) so I'm gonna try to push through the pain and get 1, hopefully 2 more chapters out before then. Wish me luck, and see ya in chap 25!