Izuku and Bakugo walked towards the stadium exit side by side, both covered in bandages and partaking in their favorite pastime.

Heckling each other.

"You got lucky shitty Deku!" Bakugo said gruffly, 'Next time I'm gonna blow you out of the ring!"

"I remember you saying that before and, oh! Would you look at that! You're still number two!" Izuku drawled, holding up his first place medal and making Bakugo grit his teeth.

"YOU GOT LUCKY NERD!"

"Apparently that's all I need to beat you." Izuku laughed as they reached the exit, "come on man, just admit that i'm…" Izuku trailed off as he saw a familiar form standing beside Aizawa, talking amiably with him, 'Uncle!" Izuku called, taking off at a jog, Bakugo followed with a confused expression.

"Izuku!" Iroh exclaimed, laughing as the boy wrapped him up in a hug, and returning it happily, "I'm so proud of you!"

"How'd you get out?" Izuku asked him, pulling back, "Tatsumoto said it would be at least a few years!"

"It seems my parole paperwork was pushed through early!" he said with a grin, "all i have to do is wear these cuffs for the next few months and i'll be a free man again."

"That's...that's great." Izuku said, tears glistening in his eyes, "I really missed you uncle."

"And I missed you my boy." Iroh said, his grin softening into a small smile as he put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "you have done everything you said you would and more, and I can not be more proud of the man you have become."

Izuku sniffled a bit, wiping his eyes quickly, "Uncle, this is my friend Bakugo Katsuki, I knew him from before the incident." he said, stepping to the side to introduce Bakugo, who looked the man up and down.

"Who's the geezer?" Bakugo asked, making Iroh laugh and AIzawa glare at him warningly.

"I may be old, but I wouldn't describe myself in such a way." Iroh said good naturedly, "I am Iroh Sawron, I was Izuku's Foster Father for a time."

"He's also the one who trained me." izuku added, "I wouldn't be nearly as good as I am now without Uncle's guidance."

Bakugo scowled, but politely bowed to Iroh, "It is an honor to meet you sir."

"And what an honor it is to meet you as well young man! I was very Impressed with the control you had over your quirk! You must have put immense training into it."

"Ever since it manifested." Bakugo said proudly.

"Well, why don't we all go and celebrate your placement in the festival?" Iroh asked, "I believe there is a good Yakiniku joint close by! If that's alright with you Aizawa."

"I still have some things to take care of before I can go home." Aizawa droned, giving Izuku a nudge, "congratulations son, you really stepped up today, and Bakugo, I'm sure it won't, but don't let this discourage you from getting better."

"I'll crush him next time!" Bakugo huffed out, making Izuku roll his eyes good naturedly.

"I'm sure,' Aizawa said dryly, walking away.

"Well then, let's get going!" Iroh said cheerfully, "it's all my treat!"

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Izuku laughed alongside Bakugo as Iroh finished telling his story about the first time he and Former Pro Hero King Bumi had celebrated a successful villain take down.

"The way I hear it, All-Might Tower is still crooked by a few degrees." Iroh sighed, peacefully drinking his tea, they had finished eating over an hour ago, and had mostly been sharing stories of their escapades.

"Can't believe you knew King Bumi." Bakugo said, impressed, "the way Deku talked about you, I thought you were just some small time tea shop owner."

"Oh I am." Iroh chuckled, "but in my youth I played being a vigilante when the fancy struck me, and Bumi was usually at my side."

"What's he up to these days?" Izuku asked, leaning forward alongside Bakugo as Iroh looked contemplative.

"Last I heard he was somewhere in China," Iroh said, "he was on the trail of a Yakuza group he said was up to no good; If I know him, he's already taken care of them."

Bakugo leaned back and checked his phone, "I gotta get home, Old Hag's gonna ride my ass hard if I stay out any later." he sighed, standing up, "it was an honor meeting you sir." Bakugo said, bowing to him.

"Likewise young man, don't be a stranger! Anytime you're around the shop i"ll treat you to my best Jasmine tea."

Bakugo nodded, then bumped fists with Izuku, "later Deku."

"See ya Number 2."

"JUST YOU WAIT NERD!"

Izuku laughed as Bakugo kept walking.

"A strong friendship between you two," Iroh said jovially, "and an even stronger rivalry."

"Yeah, he's adamant he's gonna take the number one spot, but I trust him with my life."

"That's good, true friends are hard to come by. And should be cherished." Iroh checked his watch, "let's head home."

Iroh paid for the food and the two walked towards Izuku's apartment, "will you be reopening the tea shop?"

"Of course! How else will people be able to taste the wonders of tea!"

"Will you be needing help setting it up again? I can go after school-"

"No." Iroh said, cutting him off, "you need to focus on your schooling, besides; I have more than enough friends who will help me get everything I need to get the old place back up." they stopped in front of Izuku's apartment, "but that can wait until the week, tomorrow, we get back to training!"

Izuku grinned at that, "see you in the morning then," he said, giving Iroh one last hug before going into his apartment.

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The next morning had Izuku going through a new form, his body slick with sweat while Iroh and Aizawa critiqued him from the side lines.

"You must flow through the transitions Izuku." Iroh commented, "you're too jerky and stiff."

"It's because he didn't stretch after his run." Aizawa stated, giving Izuku a glare, "I've told you before, running doesn't count as stretching. That's how you strain muscles."

"Yes dad." Izuku grumbled.

"I think we can add some extra cardio at the end of this workout, don't you Iroh?" Aizawa asked the retired villain.

"It will definitely help his stamina in a fight." Iroh nodded with a genial smile.

Izuku sighed, "I've brought this on myself." he grumbled as he once again began the Kata.

"What are the other students doing this weekend?" Iroh asked, taking his focus off of Izuku.

"More than likely? Relaxing and healing up so they can get to class on monday...though I know one of my students is currently dealing with a family tragedy.'

"Family tragedy?" Izuku asked as he finished the set and walked over, picking up a water bottle as he did, "what happened?"

"The Pro Hero Ingenium was permanently disabled by the Hero Killer." Aizawa sighed, looking at Izuku, "Ingenium is Iida's older brother."

"Oh man, poor Iida…" Izuku said softly, "I hope he's doing alright...is that why he wasn't at the awards ceremony?"

"He left early to go see his brother." Aizawa said with a nod, "his parents say he's taking this hard...so be sure to look out for him when you return to class on monday."

"Of course."

"Good...now back to work, we still have daylight to burn."

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The remainder of Izuku's weekend was spent training with Iroh and Aizawa, going through new forms and more extensive workouts until it was time to return to UA.

Izuku walked down the street, leather jacket keeping his uniform dry, "I hope Iida's okay…" he muttered, thinking of his robotic-like friend.

"MIDORIYA!"

Izuku turned around, surprised to see Iida running down the street in a yellow rain jacket that went down to his ankles, "We're late! Lets go!"

Izuku instantly began running when Iida caught up. "What are you talking about? We still got thirty minutes!"

"Good students arrive fifteen minutes before class! Now lets go!"

Izuku laughed and kept pace with Iida until they were running into the front hall, pulling their shoes off as they went, Iida pulled his rain jacket off while Izuku shook the rain out of his hair.

"Now, let's get to class!" Iida proclaimed.

"Hold on Iida,' Izuku called, walking up to his friend, "you alright?" he asked quietly.

"Of course!" Iida said, giving his friend a smile, but it was just a little too wide to be believable.

"Iida cut the bullshit." Izuku said quietly, "look man I heard about your brother-"

"-yes that was a bit of bad news." Iida sighed, his smile falling, "but I know that right now is not the time to be talking of such things. I'll be fine Midoriya, I promise."

Izuku hesitated, but gave a nod, putting a hand on his shoulder, "you can talk to me about anything man, I hope you know that.

"Of course Midoriya." Iida said with a smile, "Now let's get to class!"

"Yo Midoriya!" Kirishima called as the fire user stepped into the classroom, "how you doin' man?"

"I'm doin' good." Izuku said easily, bumping fists with the boy, "feel refreshed and ready to take on anything."

"That's' manly!"

"Hey Midoriya!" Mina called, "what was that move you used on Iida during the sports festival!?"

"Just something I came up with on the spot." Izuku said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Well it was awesome! You got some breakdancing moves!"

"As apt a description as any." Izuku said while sweating, hoping she didn't find out that he had learned that move from the Step Up movies.

"EVERYONE! CLASS IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! RETURN TO YOUR SEATS!" Iida proclaimed from behind Izuku, who chuckled and nodded to his classmates before going to his seat.

Fifteen minutes later Aizawa was walking into the room. Scratching his cheek as he went.

"Mr. Aizawa! Your bandages are gone!" Tsuyu said in surprise.

"The old lady went overboard with her treatment." he grumbled, walking to his desk, "first off i'd like to congratulate everyone in this room. You all did great in the sports festival; and have all improved on your weaknesses. But now is not the time to get complacent, it's time to talk about your Internships."

"Internships?" Kaminari asked.

"Yes, this is related to the draft pick I was telling you about, hundreds of agencies watch the sports festival, and will send requests for internships in on the ones who they want to have in their agency. Don't worry if you didn't get any offers, all of you will be doing these internships." he turned to the black board, "i'll be writing the number of interns each person has received."

The class was amazed, Bakugo and Todoroki had received the most offers by far. With Todoroki outranking Bakugo by over a thousand, Tokoyami got over 300, the same as Iida. The top five so far had the highest numbers.

Izuku had received a measly ten.

"How!?" Uraraka cried out in surprise.

"Midoriya deserves more recognition! He won the sports festival! How did this happen!?" Yaoyorozu shouted, "there has to be a mistake!"

"No mistake." Aizawa sighed.

"But this doesn't make sense!" Yaoyorozu said strongly, "If anyone deserves recognition it's Midoriya!"

"Drop it Yaoyorozu." Izuku said pointedly, making her look at him in shock.

"But Midoriya-"

"-they probably didn't send anything because of my Record." he said, making everyone look at him in shock, save for Bakugo. "So drop it...please."

Aizawa gave him a sad look, "now, for the rest of the day, we will be having a special class. As you all need to pick code names."

The mood instantly lifted.

"Remember that while the names you choose today won't be official. There's always a chance that they can become permanent, so choose wisely or-"

"-there'll be hell to pay!"

Several of the males in the room (and a few of the females) perked up as Midnight stepped in, hands behind her head and hips sashaying as she walked to stand with Aizawa.

"Midnight here will help you choose an appropriate name. I'm going to take a nap."

Izuku chuckled as everyone began presenting their names; Izuku was idly drawing little designs on his whiteboard, chuckling when Bakugo's name 'King Explosion Murder' was dismissed as too violent.

"Did you really think that would work?" Izuku asked.

"Shut it Deku." he grumbled.

Izuku gave him a shit eating grin while thinking about his own name.

I don't want to use Akuma, that's a name that doesn't belong to a Hero...and calling myself Agni feels sacrilegious…with a slight grin he wrote down his idea, and raised his hand, "I'd like to present." he said.

"Come on up then Midoriya."

Izuku walked up, then held his white board up, 'the Firebending Hero: Kojin."

"God of Fire! I like it!"

Izuku gave another shit eating grin at Bakugo who grumbled angrily as he sat down.

"Well, that leaves Bakugo, who still has to tweak his, and Iida." she looked at the stoic boy. Who slowly stands up and walks to the front, holding his white board up.

"You'll be using your first name as well?" she asked in surprise, Iida just nodded. Making Izuku share a concerned look with Uraraka.

Bakugo angrily wrote on his whiteboard, then stormed to the front, "LORD EXPLOSION MURDER!"

"Yeah no."

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Izuku sat on the rooftop, looking at the ten agencies who had sent him an intern request."

"Edgeshot, Best Jeanist, Gang Orca, Endeavor, Hawks, Death Arms, Mt Lady, X-Less, Rock-Lock and Fat Gum." he sighs, "only ten…" he folded the paper up and put it in his pocket as Yui appeared. Looking at him curiously.

"You look troubled." she commented as she settled beside him, quietly eating her food.

"Just thinking about this intern thing…" he muttered, slowly pulling the paper back out, "who did you choose?"

"I'll be working with Native, mostly because he's the only one to send me an offer...How many offers did you get?

"Only ten."

She raised an eyebrow at that, "but you won."

"Yeah..I'm surprised I only got ten…" he sighed, "but it seems people are still wary of my past…"

Yui stared at him, she knew next to nothing about Izuku's past, but by his demeanor she figured he wouldn't tell her about it just yet; slowly she reached out and took his hand, "you're warm." she observed, looking up at him.

Izuku smiles back and intertwines their hands, giving hers a soft squeeze, "Yeah, it helps in the winter."

Yui gives him a small smile, before looking across the grounds, leaning into his side, "I think you should go with your head,' she says softly, "and choose someone who has a past like yours, someone who understands."

"...you may be right, thank you Kodai."

"Yui." she says, making him look at her, "call me Yui."

Izuku grins, "Then call me Izuku."

Yui hummed happily as they both looked at the horizon, spending the last few minutes of lunch in a comfortable silence.

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Izuku walked with his classmates, all of them were in casual clothes and holding their hero costume cases.

"Everyone remember, this isn't a break." Aizawa called to all of them, "you will essentially be heroes this week. So carry yourself appropriately, and don't give your heroes any reason to report you for bad conduct."

There was a chorus of agreements before everyone began to disperse to catch their trains, Aizawa put a hand on Izuku's shoulder before he could follow Iida onto the train, "keep an eye on Iida for me please." Aizawa said, "I'm worried he chose Hosu because of the Hero Killer."

Izuku nodded, "I'll do my best dad, I'll see you in a week."

"Take care of yourself." Aizawa said as he walked to the train, "No unnecessary risks!"

Izuku chuckled and waved goodbye as he stepped onto the train as the doors closed, with a stretch he walked over to where Iida was sitting and plopped down on the free seat beside him.

"How's it going Iida?" Izuku asked him.

"Good." Iida said firmly, not looking at his friend.

Izuku raised an eyebrow, "you sure? You don't sound fine."

"I promise you I'm fine." Iida said curtly, looking away from Izuku; Izuku sighed as he realized that Iida was done talking, so instead pulled his phone out and texted Yui.

The two had gotten closer over the last week leading up to their internships, small touches and handholding was common amongst the two even in the halls; and had been the result of one or more of Monoma's rants against 1A. The first time he had begun to rant against Izuku and implying he was a criminal neanderthal Izuku knocked him out with a punch; possibly confirming Monomoa's accusations? Probably. Feeling satisfaction and seeing class 1B laughing at their 'friends' pain? definitely.

Soon they reached Hosu and Iida was the first one out of the doors, leaving Izuku behind as he watched his friend walk away sadly. "Definitely not alright." Izuku sighed, before heading towards downtown,suitcase slung over his shoulder, taking in the sights before reaching X-Less agency.

He looked at the small card that had the agency's address on it, then up at the plain white building in front of him, "inconspicuous." he said softly, before stepping into the agency.

It was as plain on the inside as it was on the outside, with simple cushioned chairs lining the walls and a single cheap desk in between two doors; sitting at the desk, was a young black haired woman dressed in a business suit, busily typing away at the old computer that sat on the desk.

She looked up as he entered, her hand unconsciously flexing and revealing sharp claws before quickly retracting them, "How can I help you?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm Izuku Midoriya." he said, slowly setting his case down beside him.

Her eyes lit up with recognition, 'oh! You're the intern!" she said, standing up and holding her hand out, "I'm Mia Watanabe, otherwise known as the Sidekick Scratch. Go ahead and get into your hero uniform, X-Less will be back in five minutes to pick you up."

Izuku nodded, looking at the doors, "uh...which one is it?"

Mia motioned to the door to his right.

"Thank you." he said, entering the room, surprised to find a locker room.

A few moments later he was back outside in his hero uniform, "How many heroes work here?" he asked Mia, who sighed.

"It's only me and X, but we have several applications for side kicks." she said.

"Several from last year's third years.' a new voice said, making Izuku look to the entrance, where X-Less was waiting with his arms crossed, already clad in his uniform. Grinning at the boy, "Good evening Midoriya, I'm X-Less as you probably know, and I will be your boss for the next week."

"I look forward to working with you." Izuku said easily.

"First order of business is patrol, so come on, we're killing daylight."

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"Just give up the bag and no one gets hurt."

A middle school girl with green skin and red hair cowered against the wall, several thugs around her with their quirks active, their leader; a hulking man with alligator like skin and looks was holding his hand out, "stall any longer and i'll let my boys have some fun with you as well."

"Not on my watch."

A burst of fire made the thugs jump away, looking up in shock as Izuku jumped into the alleyway, fist lashing out and engulfing one of the guys in a fireball. The guy was screaming for a few moments before he realized the fire wasn't burning him.

By that time Izuku's knee met his chin and he was flying back into the wall, unconscious.

"And who's this?" the boss growled, "some jumped up new hero?"

Izuku smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest, the girl quickly hiding behind him, "you're partially right." Izuku said, sinking down into a defensive stance, "i'm the Firebending hero: Kojin."

"Boys, show this upstart what we do to new heroes who interrupt business."

The last three of the thugs charged forward, Izuku darted between them, rolling forward and landing on his hands before spinning, fire shooting out of his feet and burning the guys around him before he pushed himself into the air and unleashed a torrent of firebreath, making them fall back as he fell back to the ground, an axle kick slamming into ones shoulder and making him crumple; the other two tried to use their quirks against him, clawed beastial hands darted out from one of the guys, while the other pulled a knife and tried to stab him, the blade elongating further as he did.

Izuku easily evaded their attacks. Spinning between the attacks and landing with his fists against their chests, "goodnight." he said before unleashing a torrent of flames. Cutting them off a few seconds later, revealing the two had slumped over unconscious. "Are you alright?" Izuku asked the girl, who nodded slowly before her eyes widened.

"Look out!" she called, making Izuku dodge to the right, narrowly missing the fist that shattered the concrete where he was just standing.

"You think you're hot shit!?" the leader roared, 'Now you have to deal with Killer Croc!"

A red beam suddenly shot through the air, lancing through Killer Croc's shoulder and making him cry out in pain.

Izuku used the distraction to engulf the man in flames like he had his cohorts; when he ended the flames, the reptilian villain was passed out on the ground. His skin smoking.

"Good job Kojin." X-Less said with a nod as he walked into the alley, two police cruisers pulling up. "Though next time, wait until I give you the go ahead." he whispered to Izuku.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself.' Izuku huffed out. Looking at the victim with a tired smile, "you still okay kid?"

"Uh...y-yes." she stuttered, "t-thank you for saving me!"

"It's what heroes do." he said, his smile widening into a grin and making the girl blush a deeper green and a small flower to bloom on her head.

"Come on Kojin, we still have more ground to cover before patrol is done." X-less said, the two walking away from the scene as the cops began taking statements and restraining the thugs.

"You're pretty good in a fight kid," X-Less praised him, "you took those guys out before I could even round the corner.'

"My uncle's been teaching me for years, we have very similar quirks so he showed me everything he knows."

"Stroke of luck." X-Less said with a nod of his head.

"Yeah...so, what made you think of sending me an offer?" Izuku asked curiously.

"I don't usually go for Interns." X-Less said with a shrug as they passed a few shops, "but when I saw your performance at the festival I figured I had to send an offer to be polite; Then I saw your record and knew I had to send you an offer." he looked at Izuku, "you see, in my youth I spent many days in the JDC, for many of the reasons you did even...when I told people I wanted to be a hero they laughed at me; saying a delinquent can't become a hero. But Shiketsu took my application and gave me a chance and now here I am, I want to make sure you get the same chance I did kid.'

"That's one of the reasons I chose your agency." izuku admitted, "everyone I talked to mentioned your past; of course that just solidified my decision.

X-Less laughed at that, "tell us it's bad and we usually want to do it more." he chuckled, making Izuku crack a grin. "Alright kid, so usually I have two or three sidekicks to help with patrols, But since most of my sidekicks are trying to strike out on their own; I've had to collaborate with other heroes in the area. Tomorrow we'll be patrolling with Native."

"Native? One of my classmates is interning with him!" Izuku said excitedly.

"Good, that should make it easier to build a good alliance with them-" X-Less stopped talking as a guy who looked like a humanoid lion burst out of a corner store, three purses and a register in his arms.

"HELP! HE ROBBED US!"

"-we'll talk more about it later, let's get to work Kojin!"

"On it!"

Later that night Izuku crashed in one of the beds X-Less had set up for his sidekicks, Izuku had texted Yui about the team up the next day and the girl had expressed excitement in seeing him, making Izuku's heart flutter.

He frowned when he looked to see if Iida had answered any of his messages. But the class rep had ignored all of them.

"Don't do anything stupid Iida...please…"