Surprise! this story isn't dead. I'm sorry for the long wait but here it is the latest chapter of this story. If you're wondering about the long wait well I've had a stressful few months beginning and losing a new job. 2020 in general (Rest in Peace Eddie Van Halen) to make matters worse I've had severe writers block and to make matters worse my family has all collectively decided to say eff it to quarantine and decided to visit every single weekend over the summer. But I've ranted enough on with the story.

Chapter 9: A New Rival

Ochaco groggily woke up and looked around the room. She was momentarily confused when she looked around and saw Mei sleeping in the same bed. The walls completely covered in All Might merchandise was a dead giveaway that the two were in Izuku's room. After a moment, she remembered what happened the previous night and blushed. Ochaco looked for Izuku, but she could not find him.

Turning her head, Ochaco saw that Mei had gotten up while she was thinking about Izuku. The pink haired girl was standing at the dresser with her back turned. Ochaco was looking a bit lower because neither girl was wearing any clothing. Mei stretched and turned around and gave Ochaco a full frontal view.

"See something you like?" Mei asked with a smirk after noticing Ochaco's wandering eyes.

"Nothing I haven't seen before." Ochaco playfully teased before getting up herself although the pain in her legs made that difficult. "I'm surprised you're so energetic. I can barely stand up."

"You know me 'Chaco. I can go days without sleep. A little soreness is nothing to me." Mei finished stretching before continuing. "Plus he was a lot more rough with you."

"Well you aren't wrong. He always is a bit more rough with me because he knows what we each like so well now. Have you seen him by the way?"

"No I haven't, but I also haven't really been looking. He's probably out jogging."

"That seems likely. Knowing him, he's out training at the beach. He probably left us a note."

Mei agreed and looked around Izuku's room with Ochaco. Ochaco soon found Izuku's note. She was about to read the note out loud, when she saw Mei staring at one of Izuku's notebooks with her eyes glowing. Ochaco was curious because she had never seen Mei get excited over one of Izuku's hero notebooks in the past. Ochaco picked up the notebook, ignoring Mei's complaints, and read the title: Support Equipment and Costume Blueprints.

"Come on Mei this is just Deku's design documents for our costumes. We can look over them later. I already found his note."

"Ugh fine. Just read it."

Hey girls. I woke up pretty early this morning, and after how "eventful" last night was, I did not want to wake you two up. If I am not home while you two are reading this, I am at the beach doing some training. Please come by. I might have a few new tricks to show you two. Ochaco read aloud. She smirked at how well she knew her boyfriend.

Soon after Ochaco finished reading the letter, Mei dove at her in an attempt to grab Izuku's notebook from Ochaco's hands. Ochaco was able to keep the notebook out of Mei's reach the entire time. Mei kept going for the notebook for a few minutes. She tripped over her own feet and fell on top of Ochaco.

The two locked eyes, and each thought I guess we don't need him to have fun. The notebook was completely forgotten as the two began making out on the floor.

Dagobah Municipal Beach

Izuku continued practicing One for All at three percent. He stopped suddenly when he felt a chill go down his spine. Both adults supervising the young man were surprised by this. Yagi got up to talk to his successor.

"Why did you stop, young Midoriya? Is the strain getting to be too much for you?"

"No. I'm not in any pain at all. In fact, I think I'm getting a handle on this." Izuku paused for a moment while Yagi looked at him with concern. "I just got this weird feeling."

"What do you mean by weird feeling?"

"I can't explain it, but for some reason I feel like I missed something kind of important."

Yagi was about to ask what Izuku meant, when they heard a voice call out to them. The two turned towards where they heard the voice and saw Izuku's girlfriends. The young man greeted the two with a hug each.

"Deku, we found the note you left us this morning and left as soon as we could. Sorry we couldn't be here earlier. We had to get cleaned up before we left." Ochaco said with Mei standing behind her.

"Why do I feel like there's something you two aren't telling me?" Izuku said, causing both girls to blush.

"We'll tell you later 'Zuku." The boy in question immediately understood what Mei was referring to and dropped the subject for now. "Now for the important thing. You said you had some new tricks to show us."

Izuku smiled at his girlfriends and walked away from them. His smile turned into a smirk as he took off his shirt. One of Izuku's favorite things to do was tease the girls. He ignored the slight blush on each of their faces as he took a deep breath.

Much to the shock of the girls, red veinlike lines began forming around Izuku's entire body before quickly fading. A faint green glow surrounded him as green sparks flew off his body. He began shadow boxing at a noticeably faster pace than both girls were used to. They wanted to ask him what was going on, but were too distracted by his bare chest. After a few minutes of showing off, Izuku put his shirt back on.

"So, what do you think?" Izuku asked, ignoring the girls' pouting faces.

"Since when can you do that? Your quirk is just learning other people's quirks. How in the world do you have super strength now?" Ochaco said in confusion. Although Mei said nothing, she was having similar thoughts, but she was trying to figure it out herself. She looked towards Yagi and felt he had something to do with it.

"I was training here today with Mr. Yagi when this power suddenly surged throughout my body. I don't know why this happened. I think my quirk just suddenly mutated." Izuku told them the cover story he and Yagi came up with, but he felt upset that he just lied to them. Izuku could tell from the looks on their faces that neither girl believed him.

Mei rolled her eyes and finally decided to speak up. "That's a pretty good cover story, and you might be able to fool other people. The problem is we know you too well for you to fool us. Now what is the actual story 'Zuku."

"Yeah… I figured that story wouldn't fool you two, and I felt really bad about lying. The truth is I'm kinda supposed to keep the real story a secret." The young man said while rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't you trust us Deku?" Ochaco said, feeling a bit hurt.

"Of course I do. I'm just not sure I'm ready to tell you. This is very important, and not just for me, but several others as well. Just knowing this could put both of you in danger. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if either of you got hurt because of this secret." The girls nodded in understanding. "Believe me once I'm ready to share this secret, you'll be the first to know. I won't keep you in the dark about this forever."

"That's fine you can tell us when you're ready." Mei said before joining Izuku and Ochaco in a group hug. Yagi was proud of how his successor had found happiness. Chiyo felt like she was no longer needed and left.

With how close those two are with him, l feel like I'm going to have to buy more pregnancy tests for this upcoming year. Chiyo thought with a groan.

Elsewhere

Two third year middle school students, from Mustafa Junior High, were on their way to Dagobah Municipal Beach. The boy, Eijiro Kirishima, had recently dyed his hair red and spiked it to emulate his idol the Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot. The girl, Mina Ashido, had short and messy pink hair, two small horns, and pink skin.

"Why did you drag me out here, Ashido?" Kirishima said with a slight blush.

"Oh come on Eijiro. First off, I told you to call me Mina. We are on a date after all. Second, I heard that this beach was cleaned recently, and I wanted to see it myself." Ashido said giggling at the boy's nervousness.

"I get that. The thing is when I asked you out, l wasn't expecting to go to a beach in November. I thought we would see a movie together or go to a restaurant."

"Didn't I say I would handle all the planning for this date?" Kirishima nodded in agreement while rubbing the back of his head. "Besides, isn't walking along the shore of the beach romantic?"

"I guess so, but I've never really been on a date before. I'm still surprised you agreed to go out with me in the first place. I'm sure there are plenty of guys who are better for you than me."

"Oh come on Eijiro. I told you before that you have got to stop this self loathing. You'll never make it into U.A. if you're always doubting yourself."

"Yeah, I guess you're right Mina."

"Now hurry up." she teased before running away.

"Wait hold on Mina. You know that I'm not as fast as you."

The two arrived at the beach soon afterwards. Much to their shock, there were already people at the beach. They saw one boy and two girls that appeared to be their age and a skinny older man. Ashido decided to introduce themselves to the group as Kirishima followed nervously.

"Hey!" Ashido called out waving while Kirishima stood by her with a smile on his face. The group turned their attention towards the peppy voice. Izuku was the first to greet them. She walked up to the duo with a smile to match Kirishima's. Kirishima did a double take at seeing Izuku's face. He felt like he had seen the other boy before, but he could not remember where.

"Nice to meet you two. My name is Izuku Midoriya. What brings you two to this beach? After all, it's too cold to swim." The green haired boy questioned.

"We could ask you guys the same thing. Anyway, the name's Eijiro Kirishima, and Mina here decided to stop by here for our date." The redhead said while gesturing to the girl standing next to him.

"Hi my name is Mina Ashido," She said to Mei and Ochaco.

"I'm Ochaco Uraraka. This beach has sort of become a meet up spot for the three of us."

"And I'm Mei Hatsume, and I enjoy making…" Izuku was quick to cover her mouth before she could say anything embarrassing or give away their relationship.

"Why did you do that, Midoriya?" Kirishima asked.

"Sorry about that. She tends to get excited about meeting new people and will often speak without thinking. Which tends to result in her saying some embarrassing stuff."

"Okay, but what was she going to say?" Ashido asked while tilting her head.

"I'm going to put it as simply as possible. Mei loves to invent different gadgets and make various support equipment, and she calls them her babies. Deku stopped her before she could use the phrase 'making babies.'" Ochaco explained as Izuku removed his hand from Mei's mouth, but not before Mei pinched his buttcheek. An action that was unnoticed by Ashido and Kirishima.

"Does this happen a lot?" Ashido asked. Izuku and Ochaco answered her question with a nod. The pink girl turned her head towards the older man standing with the teenagers. "Sorry sir I didn't notice you there."

"It's quite alright young lady. My name is Toshinori Yagi, and I've been overseeing these three's training for the past few months."

"Training? No offence sir but, you don't look like the kind of person who would be good at that." Ashido said with confusion.

"It's quite alright. I'm well aware of my appearance." Yagi said before clearing his throat and continuing. "I may not be the healthiest looking person ever, but back in my prime I was in excellent shape. I may not be able to do nearly as much now as I could when I was younger, but I certainly can train others without much trouble."

"What kind of training were you doing?" Kirishima asked, hoping to get some tips for his own training. The redhead still could not place where he had seen Izuku before.

"Muscle building mostly. Though we all had to push our quirks to their limits." Izuku said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"The three of us are the ones who cleaned this place. Though Mei usually sat back and tinkered with the junk instead of helping Deku and I."

"'Chaco we've been over this. I'm not going for the hero course like you guys, so I don't need to train as hard."

"That may be true, but you not working your hardest made the clean up take longer."

"Do they fight like that often?" Ashido asked about the two bickering girls.

"Not as often as you would think, but yes they do." Izuku answered with a sigh.

"You three really cleaned this whole beach by yourselves?" Izuku nodded and waited for Ashido to continue. "How long did that take you?"

"About seven months. We started around the time the school year did." Kirishima and Ashido were at a loss for words, so Izuku continued his story, "I brought those two here so we could train for the U.A. entrance exam in a few months. Plus we had the added benefit of Mei getting extra pieces to work with for her support equipment. On the day we started Mr. Yagi saw us and offered to oversee our training."

"You guys are trying for U.A. as well?" Ashido asked which caused Ochaco and Mei to stop fighting.

"Yeah. Deku and I are going for the hero course, but Mei here is going for the support course."

"You three seem close." Mina said with a smirk.

"Why wouldn't we be close? Ochaco and I have known each other since we were four, and we've known Mei since fourth grade." Izuku said with a slight blush.

"That isn't what I meant. Are you dating those two?" Izuku flinched for a brief second which Ashido noticed.

"Ochaco and I started dating about two weeks after we started cleaning the beach." Ochaco nodded in confirmation. "Mei's been our best friend for years now, so the three of us always hang out together."

"Just you two? Don't you ever feel like a third wheel?" Ashido asked Mei.

"At times, but they usually only act like a couple when I'm not around. Plus when all three of us hang out, it's like they aren't dating and we're just a group of friends." Mei answered with the cover story all three of them had already given over a dozen times.

"I finally realized where I recognize you from Midoriya." Kirishima interrupted while pointing at Izuku. This confused everyone other than Kirishima himself. "You're the guy from that sludge villain fight. Your speech was a huge inspiration for me to turn my life around and go for my dream of being a hero just like Crimson Riot. It was so manly. If it wasn't for you and Mina, I wouldn't have the confidence to attempt the U.A. entrance exam."

Izuku was a bit off-put by the praise. He had not forgotten about the video of his speech, but he was not expecting to be recognized by a stranger. Out of curiosity Izuku used his quirk on Kirishima.

Okay Kirishima's quirk is Hardening. He can make any part of his body as hard as stone, and the parts he hardens become sharp and jagged. His biggest weakness is exhausting himself from overuse of his quirk, and he has no heat resistance. Izuku began muttering and did not notice the strange looks Ashido and Kirishima were giving him.

After taking note of Kirishima's quirk he began taking notes on Ashido's quirk. Ashido's quirk is Acid. She can secrete acid from any part of her body. She can control the viscosity of the acid. It seems like her skin color is a result of her natural resistance to the acid.

Ochaco and Mei were starting to get annoyed with Izuku's muttering when his notebook seemed to materialize in his hands. Ashido and Kirishima got confused about the notebook, but decided to ignore the boy and talk to his friends.

"Does he do that often?" Ashido asked them tilting her head.

"Yes he does. Don't worry he'll stop soon enough. He's the type of person who needs to speak his thoughts in order to sort them. Mei and I have learned to tune him out when he does this. Plus if we let him finish his train of thought he may offer up some insight on how you guys could improve your quirks." Ochaco explained while moving away from Izuku.

"Okay then." Mina was at a loss for words.

"How does he know what our quirks are in the first place, and where the heck did that notebook come from?" Kirishima asked, confused by the situation.

"'Zuku's quirk let's him learn other people's quirk by looking at them. He probably knows more about your quirks than you do."

Kirishima and Ashido both said "Oh" to Mei's explanation.

"As for the notebook, none of us know where he keeps it. The thing always just appears in his hands when he needs it. 'Chaco and I have known him for years, and he still hasn't told us."

"You've never asked him?" Ashido said, trying to figure it out for herself.

"We have, but he never answers us directly. He always avoids the question for some reason." Yagi was shocked that even the girls had no clue about his notebook.

Izuku stopped muttering and finished the notes on his new friends. "Sorry about that. I tend to get a little lost in my thoughts when talking about other people's quirks. If you guys want I could give you some advice for improvements."

"It's alright man. You're just passionate about something you love. There's no reason to apologize." Ashido nodded in agreement.

"And to answer your question. No, we don't need any advice on improving our quirks. Not right now anyway." Ashido politely declined.

"Speak for yourself, Mina. I would love some tips. You got any ideas."

"Actually I do. Can you spread your hardening throughout your entire body?"

"I can, but I can't keep it up for nearly as long."

"I figured as much, but have you tried pushing your hardening to its absolute limit?"

"I never thought of doing that. That's something I'm going to need to try in the future, but I didn't start training my quirk until recently. Before I saw you and Mina jump into villain fights, I could only get my skin as hard as tree bark. I was hoping for something I could do now rather than something to work at later. Got any other ideas?"

"How about a quick spar? I recently learned some new moves, and someone with your quirk would be an excellent test. Plus the fight will strengthen up your quirk as well, so it's a win-win scenario."

"I game, but let's keep it short. Mina and I are still on a date, and I heard about this great ramen place around here. I thought it would be nice to stop by there after this beach trip." Kirishima said ignoring the girls' sigh.

Both boys took off their shirts and got into their fighting stances. Yagi walked up to the two boys and explained the rules they should follow. The first rule is that the two were allowed to use their quirks. The second rule is if either of them gets seriously injured the match will be stopped immediately. The third and the final rule was to keep the fight clean.

Izuku got into his typical fighting stance while opposite him Kirishima did the same. Izuku observed the redhead's stance. It was a basic boxing stance with both hands held in front of his face which meant Kirishima used the Peek-a-Boo style of boxing, a style based around heavy defense and counter attacking.

Izuku made the first move with a roundhouse kick. Kirishima blocked the kick by simply raising his left arm. His initial victory was cut short by Izuku grabbing a hold of Kirishima's arm and vaulting over him. Izuku delivered another kick to Kirishima from behind. The redhead only had enough time to harden his body in reaction.

Knowing his previous trick would not work a second time, Izuku tried a more direct approach. Instead of a broad roundhouse kick, Izuku used a low kick aimed at Kirishima's shin. Izuku's intent was to knock the other boy off balance, but Kirishima once again hardened his body at the point of impact. Izuku knew that if their fight continued like this no progress would be made. Izuku's kick focused fighting style made it impossible for Kirishima to counter attack. On the other hand, Kirishima's quirk rendered all of Izuku's attacks worthless.

Izuku decided to change up his tactics in order to scout out Kirishima's fighting style. Izuku shifted his stance and threw a right hook at Kirishima's face. Kirishama blocked Izuku's punch with his left arm and punched Izuku in the gut with his hardened fist. Izuku continued this exchange for a few seconds and was on the receiving end of several counter attacks. Despite taking more damage in the fight, Izuku never stopped smiling.

Izuku took a step back to catch his breath. "You're a lot tougher than I thought Kirishima. At the rate this is going, I don't think I can win this." He said in between breaths.

"What are you giving up, Midoriya? I'm just getting started." Kirishima taunted, but was lying through his teeth. Izuku's punches and kicks were doing a number on his Hardening, the other boy's superior speed made it impossible to dodge.

"Not at all, but I think it's time I step things up a tad." Izuku took a deep breath and let One For All flow throughout his body. Kirishima and Ashido were shocked by the boy's sudden change. Izuku smirked when Ochaco and Mei began cheering him on.

Izuku dashed towards Kirishima at a much faster speed than before. He aimed an axe kick at Kirishima's head. The redhead barely had enough time to react by crossing his arms and hardening them. The block was successful, but Kirishima felt pain from the attack and was pushed back a few feet.

Izuku did not feel any backlash at all, but he could tell his leg was going to be bruised. Whether it was One For All dulling his pain or the adrenaline letting him ignore it, he could not tell. Kirishima's wide eyed look quickly turned into a determined one as he locked eyes with Izuku.

Izuku continued his barrage of heavy kicks, and he kept Kirishima at enough of a distance to prevent the redhead from counterattacking. After a bit Kirishima shifted his strategy and went on the offensive. His hardening was beginning to feel overtaxed, and he was getting close to collapsing from exhaustion. Izuku was not in a much better shape. His constant kicks and punches into Kirishima's hardened skin resulted in several bruises along his legs, and the skin on his knuckles was close to tearing open.

Yagi could tell both boys were at their limits, so he stepped in to end the fight before either boy could get seriously injured. "You both fought well, but I'm ending this now."

"Yeah you're right. That was quite the match, Kirishima. I don't know how much longer I would

have lasted." Izuku said while putting his shirt back on.

"No kidding. When you busted out that strength booster I was backed into a corner. I wouldn't mind doing this in the future." Kirishima said as he did the same thing.

"Neither would I. My normal training partner has decided to train by himself anyway." The five teenagers gave each other their numbers before leaving. Mina promised to meet them at the UA. entrance exam before she and Kirishima left to continue their date.

Author's notes. Sorry for everyone who wants the harem to grow but Mina is not part of Deku's harem. I like Kirimina too much to not include it, and i've always felt it was unfair to other guys if Deku gets all the girls. Now onto actual suggestions and I ask should Deku use One for All during the entrance exam. i'm not spoiling but it will be different. The reason I ask is that Deku would likely try to see if he could pass without the power.