The Reflection in the Viridescent Mirror

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Chapter Ten

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Tears

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The energy in the room felt different than it did yesterday. The excitement shared by the students was laced with apprehension. What would they see today?

Mina nervously sat with her two newest friends again, though this time, Momo and Ochako were already seated next to Tsuyu and Kyoka. Mina sat on the edge of the group next to Tsuyu, putting her one seat away from Ochako.

She fidgeted, leaning in to speak before sitting back. She couldn't find a way into the conversation already underway. The four of them were discussing tips Deku shared earlier that day during lunch. Mina missed out insightful advice they each received about how to use their Quirks more effectively.

It hurt to admit it, but Mina missed a lot by sitting out.

After she leaned in and backed off a second time, Tsuyu turned and addressed her. "It's alright, kero. You can speak freely."

Ochako leaned over. "We missed you during lunch, Ashido."

Mina smiled, but for once, she wasn't sure she felt like smiling. "Guys. Did Midori seem weird today? Like, did he seem like himself to any of you?"

The group of girls didn't reply immediately. Instead, they each absorbed the question silently; their earlier conversation set aside for another time.

Ochako's lower lip quivered.

Momo, though, was the one that spoke up. "Midoriya isn't himself. He's changing faster than any of us thought he would." She spoke slowly, somberly, giving the situation the concern it deserved.

Mina gasped when a tear crawled from Ochako's eye before slowly winding down her cheek. "Uraraka," Mina whispered.

"I'm scared," Ochako confessed to the others. "Deku knows who we are, who I am, that we're not the people from the other world. He's not lost like he was last night. But," she hesitated.

Kyoka leaned in from the far side of the group. "He's acting older. Mature, even," she said. She blushed, betraying what she thought of Deku's new attitude.

"What are you ladies talking about, hmmm?" Midnight spoke up from behind them.

The rest of the girls hesitated. Mina saw doubt cloud their eyes. She sat straight, eyes forward as a pit lodged in her stomach.

Then Mina saw Eijiro turn a few rows ahead to look back at her. The concern in his eyes felt like she was staring at a wounded puppy in the middle of the road. Mina had to act.

"Midori's mind is getting affected," she said while turning around, making eye contact with Midnight. "He's downloading the memories in that device, and it's changing who he is."

Ochako squeaked before smiling. "Thank you," she whispered, reaching across Tsuyu's lap to transmit affection through her fingers.

Mina caught Ochako's hand instinctively but didn't break eye contact with their teacher. "If we don't figure this out, Midori's going to get replaced by the Midori in these films. It's already happening."

The lights dimmed. Conversations across the auditorium trailed off, each dying into silence slower than the one before. Midnight didn't let that deter her. "Let's talk at the first break, Ashido. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Ochako spoke up for her friend. "We're all in this together." The others nodded, volunteering so that Mina wasn't facing the task of updating Midnight on her own.

Midnight broke decorum by getting out her cellphone. She texted rapidly, her fingers dancing across the screen. The girls wondered just who she was reaching out to when, off to their left, Aizawa reached into his pocket and checked his phone.

If not for the severity of the situation, the look of unforeseen exasperation on his face would've made Mina laugh. She sat back with a feeling of accomplishment, and from the gleam in Eijiro's eyes, her friend was proud of her. Even Bakugou offered her a smile, though it looked closer to a smirk. He desperately needed to exercise his smile muscles.

Better still, Ochako glowed with gratitude and hope. Mina felt proud to pull her friend into the light, to cheer her up. Maybe that's what Mina needed all day without knowing it.

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"Are you ready, Deku?" Mei spoke up as she sat next to him by the projector.

"As ready as always, Mei," he said with a winning smile back to her.

Wait. Mei? Midoriya never called her Mei. He called her by her family name, Hatsume.

Then she noticed that the machine was set up, every dial in position. Midoriya was turning the knob that she used to stabilize the transmission. "Um, Midoriya, when did you learn how to operate the machine by yourself?"

The way he upturned an eyebrow at her felt wrong in her gut. "Mei, what are you talking about? I'm the one that taught you how this technology worked. Did you check the geothermal line we installed?"

Mei stared at Midoriya. She never told him this thing operated off wireless geothermal power. How did he know the power transmission system needed a daily checkup?

"You're… not Deku, are you?" she asked, her heart trembling in her chest like a butterfly clinging desperately against an oncoming storm. Still, she insisted on using the name unique to their version of Midoriya, on holding onto some small hope.

"That's not a yes or no question, Mei. Come on, let's get this show going for everyone," he gestured to the seat next to him.

She hesitated before sitting down. Izuku's eyes glowed with green fire when he laid his hand on the memory stone, igniting the inner fires within the projector.

Mei reached forward hesitantly towards the device.

"You don't need my permission to help, Mei. I appreciate it," he smiled at her, but in that smile, she didn't see the boy she'd befriended, the aspiring hero she wanted to use her babies.

Mei tried to focus on the work but couldn't shake the feeling of dread as she sat next to a stranger in her friend's body. Together, despite their unfamiliarity, the two of them moved in sync, illuminating the giant mirror that served as a screen for the film.

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The logistics of this operation required perfect precision. It would be impossible to crack open the "Kumiko Shell" without putting both the building it rested on and the inhabitants of the surrounding city block at risk. Therefore, they had to transport it to a safer location, and only then could they crack it open to rescue the young man inside, who they temporarily named Yamada Taro.

They also needed to keep information packed down tightly, thus the name "Kumiko Shell" as opposed to what they initially labeled it: Nuclear Shell. They could not hide that it existed, and thanks to the video going viral around the globe and broadcasted on international news, could not contain the story of the hostage inside of it. Thankfully, there was no suspicion of the nuclear nature of the Shell. At least not yet. They knew that doctors at the local hospital were already following radiation protocols while trying to prevent a panic. The clock was ticking.

To make matters worse, the Shell seemed to have some form of awareness. It set off smaller explosions around itself at their prior attempts to move it. This was not only dangerous and frustrating but mystifying. The Shell didn't eject any material, nor did any opening appear to vent any explosives. Sand simply coalesced into the air around it before exploding with green fire, sending burned brass shrapnel in all directions. Their only relief was that the explosions only occurred when someone tried to push or otherwise disturb the Shell. Gang Orca's sonar did not seem to trigger the reaction, and he confirmed the boy inside was still alive even after the most recent of the explosions.

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"That's not manly," Eijiro muttered. "Hiding that kind of information from civilians isn't manly."

Katsuki merely grunted in agreement.

Tenya sat only one row behind them, and being so close couldn't help interjecting. "They're trying to avoid panic. If the public knew the nature of the threat, they might flee in a rush, clogging up the roads and colliding with each other, leading to more emergencies that the heroes would be too busy to resolve."

Katsuki grunted in agreement, annoyed yet swayed by the argument.

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Aizawa, meanwhile, was texting back and forth while sitting next to All Might.

"What happened to setting a good example for our students?" the blonde pro-hero asked.

Ever tired as always, Aizawa shot his fellow teacher a sideways glance. "You never told me how your talk with the Problem Child went. Either you know a lot that you're not telling, or you failed to ask any important questions. Either way, cancel any plan you had the rest of this evening, even if it was to dine on ramen in your room."

Aizawa showed the number one hero his phone.

"Oh shit," All Might said under his breath. A trickle of blood crept from the corner of his mouth.

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"I wonder what the Shell is made of," Nejire wondered aloud. "Do you think the metal is an alloy or an element? Oh! Maybe it's more than one kind of metal. After all, there are different colored sections, and the spikes don't match the color precisely, either. I wonder if the radiation is from the metal or something inside it. Oh! Do you think the explosions are a kinetic reaction?"

Tamaki sighed and looked over Nejire's head to see Mirio smile and offer a shrug.

Nejire was Nejire. She would never change. That's what they loved about her.

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Despite the information pouring in through audio and visuals on the mirror ahead of them, Itsuka couldn't stop herself from stealing glances down towards Izuku. He was working tirelessly on the machine. Yesterday, he and Mei seemed like a team of equals, but now he was the leader, and she was following. The juxtaposition was jarring.

"Mmmm," Yui wordlessly questioned what Itsuka was looking at.

Itsuka pointed down to Izuku as stealthily as possible, but the movement still caught Setsuna's and Ibara's attention. The detachable girl smirked but resumed watching wordlessly.

Ibara, from the way she furrowed her brows, understood Itsuka's concern. The two glanced at each other, wordlessly agreeing to remain after the evening's presentation ended.

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The first phase of the plan relied almost entirely on Cementoss, the Cement Hero: Ishiyama Ken. With his unique geological Quirk, he was to build a sphere of reinforced cement around the Shell so that they could transport it safely. The casing would need vent ports so that if the Shell released another explosion, it would not send the cement sphere outward as shrapnel. Unfortunately, this would massively increase the weight of the Shell and likely cause the collapse of the building. Therefore, the plan called for a pillar of cement underneath the Shell. They needed to build it in advance of the sphere's construction.

Once surrounded, it would be up to Mount Lady, Takeyama Yu, to lift it and transport it to the harbor. Indeed, there were other heroes strong enough to lift the Shell and the concrete around it, but Mt. Lady would be the only one who could both lift it and avoid putting too much stress on the building. During transport, they expected that the Shell would release multiple explosive rounds. The Fire Supporters, led by the hero Backdraft, would be on standby throughout transportation to prevent and mitigate damage on the route. Thankfully, the entire course was evacuated in advance with a series of road blockades, to avoid any traffic or civilian casualties.

Once at the harbor, they would load the concrete sphere onto the Oki Mariner along with two more passengers: Gang Orca and All Might. Then they planned to take it to one of Japan's most remote islands, and there All Might would crack open both the cement sphere and the Shell in an attempt to rescue the lone hostage. If the Shell's defensive behavior was any indication, the explosion unleashed once the surface was cracked open would be significantly worse than the initial detonation when it formed earlier that morning. No one wanted to think over what that could mean for the passengers or the crew of the Oki Mariner.

However, there was another set of complications that none of them could have foreseen.

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Mount Lady slapped her thigh before pointing forward. "Called it, I'm vital to the plan," she called out proudly. Several third-year students smiled, some laughing, at her outburst. The attitude in the room was upbeat. The top heroes were on the case.

Cementoss, sitting among the other faculty near the second-years, nodded in approval of the plan. Thirteen offered a thumbs up to him, silently commending him. They both knew that the plan wouldn't have taken such careful consideration of private property into account if not for heroes as calm and willing to remain outside the limelight as Cementoss.

Gang Orca, though, stroked his chin with a pensive expression. "This seems too easy," he said, benefitting from the advantage of hindsight. He wondered if his counterpart felt this uneasy during this operation.

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"That's a solid plan," Shoto said out loud. "It reduces damage to the infrastructure and maximizes their ability to rescue the hostage undisturbed."

"No," Fumikage said grimly. "It merely allows them to reduce the risk to the surrounding area and the heroes. It doesn't increase Midoriya's odds of survival. If he was drowning inside, this plan would take so much time that he'd die before they made the first attempt to crack open his prison."

Other students heard that but didn't comment. The idea that heroes would sacrifice a civilian that way disturbed them all.

"Kero," Tsuyu said from her seat. Kyoka rested her hand reassuringly on top of her newest friend's seat-gripping fist.

Tsuyu relaxed her grip. "Kero," she said again, but this time Kyoka knew the sound had a different meaning.

"Deku," Ochako whispered, concerned for both the version trapped in the Shell and her friend working at the projector.

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The van was marked NHK. There were several other news crews, but this was the news Inko turned on every night. She marched right up to a crewmember of the news team. There were no cameras on at the moment. They all seemed to be waiting for something exciting to happen or to get any updates from the professional heroes, but they certainly weren't waiting for a civilian to march up to them. They had finished collecting eyewitness accounts quite some time ago.

Inko simply held up her phone. It displayed a paused video, focusing on a fairly close up image of Izuku climbing the safety fence before that woman appeared. "This is my son in this video." She kept the message simple and direct to gauge their reaction.

At first, the camera and sound men barely seemed to understand her. Then a woman opened the front door of the van abruptly and almost jumped out. She was dressed professionally, which contrasted with her rabid eagerness. "You're the mother of the boy inside the Shell?"

Inko nodded. "I want to be able to get closer to the Shell, but for now, I'm excluded to the general population from the evacuation. My son is inside that," she paused, considering her next words. Each word felt painful to say. "He's trapped in that thing, and I want to know if… I want to know that he's alive, and I want to know what the plan is to get him out."

The newswoman outstretched her hand with her business card. "I'm Toyo Airi. It's a pleasure to meet you. Let's take a seat together and do a dry run of an interview. What's your name, ma'am?"

"Midoriya Inko. Thank you for your help. Please take care of me." Inko bowed, and the reporter returned the gesture. "After the interview, will you be able to get me up there?"

Airi gave the older woman a comforting smile. "We can try, Miss Midoriya. We can try."

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Mei picked up the slack when Izuku paused from his work to glance up at the screen. Unlike the day before, he didn't have a notebook next to him. That was another fact that concerned her. She glanced over to Principle Nezu, who was scrawling notes almost constantly, though at varying paces depending on what was occurring. Earlier, during the outline of the heroes' plan, Nezu's pencil practically burned the pages with his speedy drafting. Now, the graphite device moved languidly across the parchment.

Though Nezu's wrist took this scene as a moment to relax, Mei felt tenser as the scene progressed. Izuku's smiling sadness tore at her. She wished she understood social cues better. Did he miss his mother? Which version of her was he thinking of? Mei couldn't be certain.

All she knew, at that moment, was that her theories about his mental degradation were off by a fatal margin.

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"Oh god," Ochako breathed a sharp intake of air.

"What?" Momo and Tsuyu each asked her.

"His mom. Deku's mom doesn't know that her son's mind is," she couldn't finish saying it out loud, fearing what the thought would mean.

Momo's hand shot upward to cover her mouth. "Oh, no," she uttered. "This is even worse than I thought it was."

Tsuyu, though, upraised a finger, cautioning the others. "She deserves to know, but that's not just the delivery of bad news. He'll need mental therapy to recover from these memories. I have no doubt that if she's anything like the woman on screen, she'll help her son heal."

Mina leaned in, invading Tsuyu's personal space. "This sounds like an excuse for us to visit Midori's place," she said with a grin.

"All of us," Kyoka chimed in, eyes never leaving the screen. "We're not letting the harem club go on their own. You three need chaperones around Midoriya."

Ochako smiled when Momo squeaked with alarm at Kyoka's remark. Were they rubbing off on each other?

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Katsuki found his mom. They hugged without any of the awkwardness he had felt about it since growing to be a young man. There was unspoken gratitude between them that both of them were still alive and well, that they were lucky to still have each other. Neither of them wanted to continue dwelling on Katsuki's responsibility for the mess they were in.

"Are you ok? You were in there a long time." Mitsuki's warmth and concern sharply contrasted with the tough love she administered earlier that day.

"It was weird. I think that the explosion earlier caused tricks in the way shadows look in the building. It was creepy." He did not elaborate. "And then Kamui Woods found me."

With a sad expression, Mitsuki handed her phone over to her son. "We found Izuku… sort of."

Katsuki was shocked and briefly was relieved. However, when his mom didn't elaborate further, he feared the worst. Holding the phone up, he pressed play on the video. Katsuki recognized Deku on the roof above. Cold dread spread through him as he watched his friend ascend the fence on the outside perimeter of the roof. His fears became muddled, then replaced with confused arousal.

Yeah, he was supposed to focus on Deku, but that woman that appeared was smoking hot. Every curve of her body was a fantasy that played across the back recesses of his mind. With a body like that, he did not care that she was bald. And then, when she transformed, it opened whole new worlds of possibilities in the hormonal crevasses of his imagination.

All of that was drowned out with stunned shock when she began to tear Deku's clothes from his body and administered soul-scorching kisses across his lips and his face. Just as he started thinking that stupid Deku was the luckiest bastard in the world, shit got weird. "Holy shit…." He uttered as she melted across Deku's body, trapping him beneath her.

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Katsuki sat to attention, taking in the interaction between his older self and their mother. Their mother? His mother? He shook the confusing thought away.

"Tough love, but it's still love," Eijiro pointed out.

Denki shrugged. "Yeah, I mean what she did yesterday, er, earlier wasn't cool, but I understand," he suddenly cut himself off, refusing to finish what he was going to say when he felt Katsuki's eyes turn on him.

"There's not going to be even one titty today, is there?" Minoru grumbled, sitting low in his chair next to Denki. If anyone looked for him from the rows farther back, they wouldn't find him. After yesterday's embarrassment, he wanted to sink lower into the floor and disappear.

Hanta chuckled from where he overheard the purple pervert. "I don't know if any are getting exposed, but Mrs. Bakugou certainly," he stopped talking when he heard Aizawa cough. It was as if their teacher warned him about Katsuki's death glare.

"She seems like a nice lady," Hanta said while sweating up a storm.

"Nice save," Toru said before giggling.

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"Normally," Setsuna observed, "Bakugou is such an asshole that you forget he crawled out of a womb just like the rest of us. Here he seems vulnerable, human. It's the first time I've allowed myself to admit that he's good looking."

"Oh, ew," Itsuka blurted out. "Um, you're not getting feelings over there, are you?"

"Oh, hell no," Setsuna waved the idea off. "There's no way I'll ever meet this older, more mature version. The one we have is as attractive as an angry Pomeranian. Cute, but you don't think of it as more than a dog."

Yui chuckled but said nothing.

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Katsuki's breathing became more rapid as his lungs demanded more air. He felt like the Sludge Villain that had attacked him just the day before had wrapped around him again, suffocating him, paralyzing him. He watched Deku go limp under the translucent fluid and could easily see himself in that situation.

"Can't breathe," he muttered. Katsuki thrust the phone back into his mother's hands as he turned to walk away, unable to finish watching. He did not look back as she called out to him and did not see as she stretched out an arm towards him.

He didn't come back for over an hour. Katsuki didn't say where he had gone or what he had been doing, and she did not ask. There was no way he could confess that he found a dark alley and cried. He could not explain his bloody fist from punching the brick walls in that alley. He could not find the strength to admit how guilty he felt, how terrible. He did not cling to the same hope that Deku's mother was holding onto, the vain belief that Deku was alive.

Instead, Katsuki stubbornly finished the rest of the video when he got back. However, he found no real hope in it. His friend's body was trapped in there, but the Shell had formed around a liquid core. There was no way after this much time that Deku could still be breathing.

The shadows that haunted him were right. Deku was gone.

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Katsuki saw Deku drown on film yesterday, so watching himself react to it was surreal but nowhere as disturbing as the shock of his first exposure. However, he didn't expect the film to follow his older version's memories after he isolated himself and vented his emotions against a brick wall.

Sighing, the blonde prepared himself to fend off teasing from his classmates for being soft. Weak. Vulnerable.

It never came. No one jeered. No one called him a dorky name. Nothing.

Then he felt something strange. Looking down, he found Shitty Hair's hand resting on top of his.

"What are you doing, Shitty Hair?" he growled.

"Consoling you?" his friend quirked his head to the side.

Katsuki pulled his hand away as if he needed to wash the disgusting emotional contact off. "Don't."

Shitty Hair smiled, showing more cheer and teeth than Katsuki liked. "You'd miss him if anything happened to him."

"Who?" Katsuki glared.

"Midori," the redhead leaned towards the explosive blonde, undaunted as Katsuki leaned away. "Admit it. I heard the audio of your thoughts. You thought of him as your friend."

"I don't have to admit shit," Katsuki barked back.

"Quiet, both of you," Aizawa loomed over from behind their seats.

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"That's not the reaction I expected, kero," Tsuyu admitted.

Ochako folded her arms. "He's still a jerk. A few tears don't mean he's forgiven. Even if Deku forgives him, I won't."

Mina, however, started giggling, causing the other girls of 1-A to turn and wonder at her reaction.

"Should we be worried?" Kyoka whispered to Momo.

"Yes," Momo replied.

"Oh my god, Bakugou is like a sea urchin. He's all spiky and hard on the outside, but his interior is made of mush. Just look at him. He's crying, but only when no one can see him," Mina giggled. "I mean, yeah, he's an ass, but at least he's not a complete monster."

Kyoka toyed with one of her ear jacks, twirling it around her finger. "I'm still not a fan."

"He's still a monster for what he put Deku through," Ochako said while her cheeks puffed up with rage.

"That monster figured out that something was wrong with Midori before any of us told him, and he even started calling him Midori when I told him it might help," Mina supplied the new information while leaning in to obtain eye contact with Ochako, invading deep into Tsuyu's personal space in the process.

"What? He did?" Ochako couldn't formulate anything more articulate. She repeatedly blinked in confusion.

Momo was caught flat-footed as well. "Are you suggesting that Bakugou Katsuki is willing to help us deal with… Deku's mental dilemma?" She stumbled on calling their friend by his hero name but trudged onward.

Everyone noticed that she called it a mental dilemma, though. That was the closest any of them dared get to calling the problem what it truly was.

Tsuyu nudged Mina back, restoring her dominion over her seat. "His help, while unexpected, would be valuable. No one here knows as much about Deku as he does. If anyone can help us remind our friend of who he is, then Bakugou certainly can."

"I don't like this," Ochako fumed. "I don't like him."

"Yesterday, you almost gave Deku to Tsuyu on a silver platter," Kyoka observed. "Working with tall, blonde, and angry can't be anywhere near as bad by comparison."

Ochako's cheeks puffed up even more. After stealing another glance at Deku down below them, she reminded herself of why they were doing all this. "Fine," she said while folding her arms across her chest.

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Yagi Toshinori had not felt guilt this palpable in a very long time. All Might, the Symbol of Peace, the Number One Hero everyone looked up to: at this moment, he felt like a fraud. Yesterday he had a choice to encourage a young man with true heroic spirit and potential, to do for him what his predecessor had done and to make him the next recipient of One for All. He considered it, tempted by the prospect. Midoriya Izuku had shown the correct moral fiber and indomitable spirit needed to be the next Symbol of Peace.

However, he held back and instead told the boy to give up on his dream.

At the time, he told himself it was a necessary sacrifice. To choose a successor whose Quirk would one day incorporate itself to One for All, he decided to let Young Midoriya down. Unfortunately, it wasn't until now that he saw the inherent selfishness of that choice. He chose to sacrifice the hopes and dreams of a young man who had nothing but hopes and dreams to hold himself together. For what lofty greater good did he sacrifice Izuku on the altar? Simple: to favor a sight-unseen youth who had been lucky enough to be born with the right Quirk.

Watching the Youtube video and recognizing Izuku from yesterday was painful enough. That, though, was nothing. Watching his mother's dry run interview tore Toshinori's heart out.

"All Might was his inspiration, the man he most wanted to be like," she said.

"Was?" Airi asked in response.

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This other asshole isn't me, All Might told himself. He made the wrong choice, and I made the right one. As comforting as the thought was, it still left Toshinori feeling empty, seeing the damage that he almost caused.

That, unfortunately, wasn't the only thing on the number one hero's mind.

All Might glanced about nervously. Endeavor sat up, paying rapt attention to this. No doubt other heroes were catching on that there was something to this. The most intelligent were likely piecing his secret, no, Midoriya's secret together in their heads.

It wasn't all laid bare, but the secret of One for All was dangling in front of everyone's faces, taunting them, raising their curiosity.

"You're turning your head this way and that as if you're a shoplifter, and not even a good one," Aizawa observed quietly, yet to Toshinori he might as well have shouted.

"That bad, huh?" he laughed a bit as several students looked their way. Among them, Young Todoroki stared the longest, though Young Bakugou and Young Kirishima also allowed their eyes to linger.

"Look, I don't know the nature of your secret, but by now it's clear you have one. I'm not going to pry, but you and Midoriya need a good cover story to avoid the worst of this. If I were you, I'd go with the fact that we're watching an alternative version of our world. Try chalking it up at just a facet of difference," the other teacher offered.

Toshinori was shocked. It needed polish, but the core of this suggestion was solid. "I," he started.

"Don't," Aizawa cut him off. "Helping you is exhausting. I have enough problem children without having to worry over the adults in the room."

All Might stared forward at the screen, grateful despite the insistence that their conversation end so abruptly. "You're a good man," he supplied under his breath.

"I know," Eraserhead sighed with exhaustion. "I pay for that every day."

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Katsuki turned back to the front after stealing a glance at All Might, but on the way, his eyes locked with Shitty Hair's. The guy was leaning in too close, like a girl wanting a kiss in a theatre. It freaked Katsuki out.

He recoiled backward, almost falling out of his seat. "What?"

Shitty Hair had a determined look on his face. "I have questions."

He shoved his friend back so he could sit normally, then crossed his arms and stared forward at the screen. "No, you don't."

"But," came the objection.

"Nope," was the only reply.

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Shoto couldn't stop staring at All Might. He stole glances at Midoriya, at other pro heroes, at his father, Endeavor, but his eyes always tracked back onto All Might. The man was a nervous wreck.

Shoto's theory regarding Midoriya's illicit ancestry found itself dislodged. What Shoto slowly puzzled into its place was no less strange, no less outlandish.

Did All Might have the power to give people Quirks? Was that possible?

His eyes tracked Bakugou turning in his seat, distracting Shoto. What did the blonde disaster know?

"You're so close to figuring it out," Aoyama said next to him.

"Figure what out?" Shoto asked.

Aoyama stared off into a random corner of the room. "The secret," he replied, either mysteriously or nonsensically. Shoto couldn't be sure.

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Midoriya Inko's eyes darkened. Toshinori knew that look. The anger and rage of those eyes were unmistakable, all of it caused by deep intolerable pain. "That was before he met All Might yesterday."

The look on Airi's face was one of deep concern, but Toshinori caught the worry in her eyes. "What happened when your son met All Might?"

Fresh tears wet her cheeks as she spoke. "You have to understand that my son is Quirkless. He's been bullied all of his life. Still, he never got angry, never wanted to get back at anyone, never allowed himself to be beaten down."

Inko paused with a moment of horrifying self-reflection. "No, it's worse than that. No one encouraged him to chase his dream. The one thing he always wanted was to be a hero and to save people. Somehow, he even endured it when I would tell him that being a hero wasn't possible for him. He kept on believing in himself and his dream."

Toshinori's heart broke when he heard what she said next. "There's no way All Might knew any of that… but when he told my son that he couldn't be a hero… my son broke. The boy that came home no longer wanted to be a hero. He was just… all he wanted was to die." She broke down crying, and Airi moved to comfort her.

"Are you sure you want to see the rest of this?" Airi asked him over his shoulder as he stared into the abyss of her phone's screen.

"I have to. I owe it to that young man… and his mother." He was stern, yet it was clear that his anger was self-directed. Toshinori watched the horror unfold. He learned about the notes. He realized that Izuku planned to jump off the building after Toshinori told him he would never be a hero. Too late, he knew in the depths of his soul that he had made an irreparable mistake. He had broken an unbreakable spirit, and he had done it for a selfish desire to see One for All grow more powerful.

Toshinori grimaced when it occurred to him that All for One would have been "proud" of his decision.

"Airi, I need a favor."

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Ochako's jaw clenched so tight that it hurt. She wanted to reach out and hug Midoriya Inko. She wanted to hold Deku close.

How could All Might hurt Deku so much? What horrible things did he say to her Deku?

Wait. Did he say all that to her Deku? This was confusing.

She glanced over to Deku, watching him work on the projector. His hands moved swiftly, deftly, like a pianist playing a solo.

He didn't seem nearly as absorbed in the film as everyone else. Yesterday, he watched it while working. This time, he seemed so detached. It unnerved her.

Meanwhile, All Might looked like a bottled-up emotional wreck.

{}

All Might kept reminding himself that this wasn't him, wasn't his mistake. However, it was difficult.

"There but by the grace of god, go I," Aizawa supplied.

"Excuse me?" All Might asked.

"It's an old quote. You might want to look it up. You'll find it helpful. Now stop looking like an injured puppy and stop annoying me with your unending waves of emotion," the tired teacher lamented, never turning his eyes from the screen.

"We have a lot to do after this. We can't worry about what could have been or problems we narrowly avoided," was his only explanation for all the help he offered.

{}

"Hello, I'm Yamada Ken with NHK. Welcome back, those of you who have stayed with us on this story. And for those of you who are just tuning in: an unknown Villain Attack has devastated the city of Musutafu." Segments from the now-trending Youtube video filled the screen as the narration continued.

"What began as an act of desperation was thwarted by an unknown pursuer. Two eyewitnesses corroborate that the woman with the teleportation Quirk seen here was pursuing the young man through the streets of Musutafu below before his ascent to the roof of this apartment building," he began, stating a neutralizing spin on the events of the day.

"Here, the young man is seen desperate to escape his pursuer, yet chose to surrender rather than risk his life by extending the chase," he continued, showing a short excerpt of the video. "Her subsequent conversation with him, where she talked him away from the roof's edge, was short-lived, however, as the unidentified woman attacked the young man."

The video shifted, skipping the erotic nature of the woman's "attack" to focus on her melting across Izuku's body. "She then, through the use of an as yet unknown Quirk, liquified and trapped him inside a metallic shell. Upon formation, the Shell unleashed a series of explosions into the area, raining down fiery shrapnel onto vehicles and pedestrians below. Heroes assisted the authorities in the evacuation of all buildings within a city block and are hard at work to resolve the situation."

The video shifted to drone footage of the Shell itself. "We have learned that fifty-three people have sustained injuries. Hospital authorities have deemed seven such cases to be critical, but have reported no fatalities at this time. The young man in the now-trending video has been identified as Midoriya Izuku. He is a senior at Musutafu High School. He is registered as Quirkless but is an applicant at six different Hero Programs, including the prestigious Yuei Daigaku Hero Program."

{}

"They're suppressing his suicide out of the airwaves," Fumikage observed.

"That's for the best. They don't want the public blaming the victim for the attack, especially with the awkwardness he'd face after rescuing him," Yuga replied.

"No, it's more than that," Shoto said, surprising the others around him. "There's no doubt in my mind: they're hiding his shame at All Might's request."

"Oh?" Mezo spoke up through his mask. "What makes you think All Might is behind this?"

Shoto sighed. "The top heroes have friends in the media. That much isn't a secret. The news doesn't benefit from hiding anyone's shame. If you really think about it, it's against their agenda to do so. Unfiltered truth and objective reporting are phrases they use to excuse smearing people with their honest mistakes. They demonize anyone whose mistakes remind everyone else of their human frailty. If there's one thing you can count on, it's hypocrisy on camera."

Fumikage leaned towards the ice-and-fire hero in training, whispering. "Todoroki, people say that I'm dark and brooding, but that was cynical even by my standards."

"The truth is often cynical," Mezo said. He didn't elaborate.

"Even when covered up, the truth eventually shines through," Yuga said, trying to steer the conversation away from the shoals of despair.

"The light of truth burns the darkness," Fumikage said with too much drama injected into his voice.

Aizawa groaned. "Just watch the film, everyone."

{}

"Did they have to mention that he's Quirkless?" Nejire wondered aloud. "What purpose does that serve? It doesn't highlight anything related to the story. Oh! Maybe they're trying to figure out a motive for the attacker."

"No, Hado, I don't think that's it," Tamaki said hesitantly. "They're just trying to build up human interest, get the audience to identify with him."

"The main reason to point out that he's Quirkless is to paint him as a victim to an aggressor by highlighting that he doesn't have a Quirk to defend himself with," Mirio said, struggling to find the most polite way to phrase what he was thinking.

"I wonder what Yuei Daigaku is like. I wonder how it, a University, compares to here, a high school. Do you think we're students there? If Midoriya is a high school senior there and a freshman here, then we'd be Juniors at that University, wouldn't we?" Nejire pondered, already moving on to the next object for her curiosity to pore over.

"I guess so," Mirio said with a chuckle.

{}

"We have an exclusive interview with his mother, Midoriya Inko, conducted by Toyo Airi."

The view shifted to a camera at the park near the incident, where Toyo Airi help a microphone out towards Midoriya Inko. The bottom of the screen identified her with the subheading: Mother of Midoriya Izuku (Trapped in the Uknown Shell). "Miss Midoriya," Airi began. "Thank you for joining us today. Is there anything you'd like to share with us regarding your son?"

Inko took a calming breath. She had been prepped just beforehand by Airi about the eyewitnesses accounts of Izuku flight from his pursuer. This was the first she had heard of it, and it caused her to lose her emotional balance. She lost track of every talking point they had discussed during the dry run interview. "Yes, thank you. I came here today hoping to find my son after he... ran away from home." She paused on her words, finding it impossible to admit her son's suicidal ideation on national television. "I know from a letter he wrote that he came here because this is where he met All Might yesterday." Again, a calming breath. "I'm glad that he didn't jump, no matter how much he needed to escape. This is terrible, not just for us but for all of these people. I know that it's selfish, but I just want to know if my son is alive and what the plan to get him out of that thing is."

Airi gave her a conciliatory smile. "I'm sorry for what you are going through, Miss Midoriya. You'll be pleased to know that we've received a statement from the Professional Hero Association that Gang Orca has conducted a sonar investigation of the Shell and that your son is, in fact, alive." She placed a reassuring arm out to lightly touch Inko on her arm. That light touch became a steadying arm as Inko seemed to lose balance.

"Oh, thank God. Oh, thank God." Tears visibly washed down Inko's face.

Airi continued. "We're also being granted permission to have you come with us to the temporary headquarters for the rescue operation with a correspondence pass. It seems All Might wants to have a word with you personally."

At this, Inko seemed genuinely shocked. This woman must have taped the dry run of their interview and sent it onward to the Hero Association. She could have had a salacious story with a grieving mother placing at least a chunk of blame at the feet of All Might, the Symbol of Peace. Instead, she chose to maneuver this situation to be helpful and to get Inko the one thing she wanted most: involvement in her son's rescue. "Thank you…" She cried. "Thank you so much."

She lunged forward, hugging the other woman tightly.

"Back to you, Ken." Airi signed off.

{}

Mei reached forward to grab at the controls when she saw Midoriya slow down. He leaned back to look up at the screen, staring at his crying mother.

Yesterday he instinctively reached up when he saw his mother in tears. Today, he sat there and stared silently, rooted to his chair. One lone tear trailed from his eye, then another. They broke a dam and were soon followed by a deluge.

Instinctively, Mei reached into her pocket to pull out a rag for him to use. She made sure to give him a clean one, or at least cleaner than average. "Here you go, Deku," she said quietly.

The look of shock and surprise on his face gave her pause. He took the rag hesitantly as if he couldn't understand why she was giving it to him. "Thank you," he whispered.

He dabbed the tears away before gawking at the moisture on the cloth.

"You don't," Mei ventured, pausing, unsure how to proceed. "You don't cry, do you?"

"No," Midoriya answered her, confirming that it wasn't the boy in control. "At least, I normally can't."

Another difference, Mei thought, cataloging this in her head. She pressed on. "You can't, or won't?"

"Can't," Midoriya replied, resuming his role at the controls.

Mei bit her lip. She wasn't great at reading social cues but knew that their conversation was over. Still, this was valuable data. Crying made the other Midoriya, the not-Deku, uncomfortable. There was something valuable hidden here. She could almost taste it.

{}

Mitsuki almost fell over at the receipt of a simple text. "He's alive," was all it said. Inko then continued. "Gang Orca's sonar proved he's alive. I'm being allowed into Hero HQ to learn about the rescue plan. Thank you for helping me today. I will never forget this for as long as I live."

"Mom?" Katsuki grew concerned watching his mother almost cry while reading her phone. He came over and read over her shoulder. In a move that surprised her, he embraced her tightly. She could tell that he was having trouble holding back tears of his own.

Deku was alive.

"You're going to get my blouse wet," Mitsuki teased, still holding onto her son.

"Shut up," he said, holding her tighter.

{}

Katsuki flinched before rubbing something that got in his eyes, a speck of dirt that bothered him.

"You need a tissue, bro?" Shitty Hair asked.

"It's just some dirt or something, I got it," Katsuki said.

"Sure thing, bro," came a smirking reply.

Jerk, Katsuki thought. He transmitted his rage with a hateful glare, but somehow that made the guy's smile even bigger.

{}

"This is getting more and more interesting," said a tall, well-dressed figure standing behind a bar. He was mixing a martini as he spoke. His shadowy features flowed smoothly as he worked.

"Annoying, but interesting," the ashen-faced man sitting near him spoke up. Even though the conspirators were safe in their hideout, he obscured his features with a hand that clung to his face. "I want us to learn everything we can about that Purple Woman. From what I can tell, she has at least three Quirks. Teleportation, Transformation, and then that Shell Bomb trick. For now, the Midoriya family is the only lead we have on her." He lifted the palm of his obscuring hand-mask to sip at the martini once he said his piece.

The shadow behind the bar countered with his observations. "The fact that she targeted a Quirkless teenager is odd. Even stranger is she targeted one that was about to commit suicide," he said, slicing through the official story with nonchalant dismissiveness. "Why would she do that? To what end?"

The pale-faced man smiled. "Maybe it wasn't his demographic profile… maybe it was something specific, or even personal. Either way, let's do our research. I want to know everything there is to know about Midoriya Izuku," he paused, taking another draft of his beverage. "He's the bread crumb trail that will lead us to the Purple Woman."

The shadowy figure did not bother correcting his companion regarding his overly simplistic view of the color spectrum or how to apply it when naming a stranger.

{}

Tensions rose across the entire auditorium. These were faces everyone in the room knew, but none felt good about seeing. Shigaraki and Kurogiri. The League of Villains.

All Might leaned forward, his muscles tense, instinctively increasing in size. He stopped himself before crowding Aizawa from his seat and restored himself to his gaunt, compact form.

He hadn't considered the thought that these events, televised as they were, would attract the League's attention. What would All for One do if the world faced a threat from the outside? A pit formed in his gut, a knot that already knew the answer.

"Interesting," Aizawa mused aloud, breaking Toshinori's thought process. "They're so focused on the woman that initiated contact that they see Midoriya merely as a means to learn about her. From the outside in, with our Quirk-obsessed perspective, I can see why they'd tune him out to zoom in on her. However, after hearing the conversation she had with the Problem Child, it's clear that she sees Midoriya as central to her mission."

That thought caught All Might off guard. Still, he caught on fast. "If the villains misunderstood the situation, then that meant the heroes probably would as well."

"Exactly," Eraserhead said. "They're all in uncharted waters, but they don't even know it. We're being given an extreme advantage here."

The unsaid message was obvious: Let's not waste this opportunity.

{}

"Fuck those fucking fuckers," Katsuki hissed while small pops of explosive power crackled out from his palms.

"Chill, bro, chill," Shitty Hair leaned in to place a hand on the blonde's back. "We'll get them, and we'll knock 'em flat.

"Yeah," Spark Plug chimed in, all smiles despite the moody atmosphere. "Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a few tips on how to beat 'em from our other-selves. That would be cool, right?"

"Wait, what if we learn where their hideout is by watching these?" Toru chimed in, bouncing in her seat with vengeful excitement.

"Those stupid fuckers are after Deku," Katsuki grumbled. "They might even go after Mrs. Midoriya."

"Hey," Shitty Hair rubbed Katsuki's back in slow circles. "They'll have to get through you first. You're still over there in that world. If he's anything like you, he'll blow their faces off."

Katsuki chuffed out a laugh through his nose. "He'd better."

{}

The command center was a converted apartment in the building across from the rooftop where Izuku was trapped. From here, Inko had a clear view of the Shell, even though it was still far away. Seeing it with her naked eyes rather than through a screen was horrifying. It was massive, far larger than her tiny phone earlier would have let her believe. The thing had to weigh several metric tons at least and was approximately three meters and almost as wide.

She'd heard it described as having some similarity to a conch shell, but this twisted metal structure was far more nightmarish than that description would have suggested. It twisted at painful-looking angles, appearing both huge yet tightly cramped. It was almost physically painful to look at, forcing the eyes to trace along sharp edges and unnatural bends. Jutting out from it at odd angles were green-hued metallic spikes. Each seemed to glow with malicious energy.

"Miss Midoriya, thank you for coming," a deep yet calm voice spoke behind her. She turned away from the monstrous cage that trapped her son and looked at the tall, muscular figure of the man he had idolized his whole life. She wanted to hate him, wished she could slap him, or even to blame him. However, she couldn't.

Inko knew deep down that All Might's words, whatever he'd said that hurt Izuku, matched her own, words she had spoken far too often to her son. He was just the last straw that broke her son under the weight of the world. She, as his mother, was a whole metric ton of that weight.

Inko extended a hand in greeting, choosing to look him in the eye. "Thank you for having me."

To her surprise, the Symbol of Peace bowed low to her, his face downcast to the floor. "I apologize, Miss Midoriya, if my words to your son yesterday caused him or you any pain. It was not my intention, and I accept responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I am truly sorry."

Inko suddenly knew without a doubt that Airi taped the dry interview and that All Might had seen all of it. All the same, she was somewhat grateful that he was willing to take such responsibility like this wholeheartedly. Even so, it still didn't seem right. "Please, stand," she said. "Let's just talk for a bit."

{}

Although Nezu sketched as the Shell as carefully as his skills would allow, he found it wasn't accurate at all. The angles that hurt to look at on-screen weren't achievable on paper. The heroes and faculty members around him recoiled from the image, but Nezu bore through the pain to study the artifact as closely as he could.

"My god," the small anthropomorphic creature uttered in awe. "No wonder it's not possible to draw it accurately."

"Principal?" Lunch Rush raised an eyebrow. "I take it you've figured something out."

"It's a four-dimensional object. No wonder it hurts us to look at it. We only see how it protrudes into three-dimensional space." He drafted a mock-up of four-dimensional space using the box-within-boxes method, and when he superimposed the image of the Shell onto one of those boxes, the image flowed more natural.

"It's the jagged tip of a larger iceberg, so to speak," he explained. "We can only see the portion in the air. The rest of it, underwater, is beyond our senses."

"That's amazing," Lunch Rush replied.

"No," Nezu said somberly. "It's terrifying. What kind of civilization are we up against if they construct artifacts like this in the fourth dimension beyond our reach?"

Endeavor overheard the entire exchange but said nothing. He did, however, lean forward to study the object on the screen while others squinted to avoid hurting their eyes.

{}

"It's nice to see you act like a responsible human being," Aizawa said.

That comment caught Toshinori off guard. "What's that supposed to mean?"

For once, Aizawa chuckled instead of sighing. "Your usual method of interacting with people involves loud laughter, deflecting questions, and repeatable slogans."

"Now wait just a minute," Toshinori kept his voice low, but his tone was unadulterated objection. "Do you have any idea how many social interactions I have every day, wanted or not? Imagine being in my shoes, and you'd likely get repetitive as well. Likely you'd do worse since just with your students alone, your defining feature is exhausted impatience."

For once, Aizawa's eyes widened as he regarded the gaunt figure sitting next to him. He studied him, scrutinizing him. "I apologize. I went too far."

All Might returned his gaze to the front. "I did, as well."

"I guess under all that noise and bravery, you're also genuine," Aizawa observed.

"I just hope the other version of me stays that way and corrects his mistakes," Toshinori said grimly.

"I'm sure he will," Eraserhead said with a shrug. "After all, 'I am here' and all that, right?"

"Right," All Might said with a smile so large it threatened to split his face in two.

{}

The fact that she had to crane her neck back just to look him in the eye annoyed her, but it was basically what she had asked for. "You're far from the first person to tell my son not to pursue his dreams. The truth is, I'm the worst offender. You didn't know him. To you, he was a fan, just a kid, but I don't have that excuse. I'm his mother, and I should have encouraged him. I only found out today that he applied to those Hero courses. Oh yes, he also applied to the universities that I hoped he would go to, the ones where I helped him with his essays and his applications… but those he did on his own without me knowing. That was the kind of young man my son was: someone who never was going to give up…"

Inko took a long breath to steady herself, to avoid crying. "Help me bring my son home safely, and I will finally give him the encouragement that he's needed his whole life."

With grim determination, All Might placed a hand on her shoulder. The sheer mass of his arm should have weighed her down, but his touch was light and careful. "I promise to bring your son home to you no matter what it costs me. You may be very forgiving of me, and I thank you for it, but I will bear the responsibility of my words."

She had to wipe a tear away. "Thank you… for being a good role model for my son for so many years." Inko could not bear to share the pain she felt when she found her son the night before destroying everything that reminded him of All Might.

"I'll try to be a better one for him. I promise." He seemed deadly serious. She had to wonder why he was regretting this so much. Did Izuku downplay just how harsh All Might had been to him?

{}

"Are you guys sensing any chemistry between them?" Mina asked.

"No," Tsuyu said flatly.

"Not one bit," Kyoka tossed her thought in. "Unless you think every weeping mother All Might's ever met makes a pass at him, then no."

"Yeah, she's only thinking about Deku," Ochako said.

"We're doing the same thing," Momo observed. "We're supposed to be studying this to prepare for a possible invasion, but all we're thinking about is how to contrast Deku's experiences here with what he went through there."

"We can do both," Ochako said, her fists clenched, signaling the other girls to fill their hearts with resolve. "We have to do both."

The other girls nodded, their team reaffirmed.

Tsuyu hummed while thinking. "If I remember correctly, the machine down there is transcribing copies of these films so the heroes can review it all again. We should talk to All Might about showing the film to Midoriya's mother, kero."

Mina leaned in with a mischievous smirk. "What? Alone? The two of them?"

Tsuyu gave Mina a dead-eye stare. "Would you like to be the one to show her the film, kero? Even if it's censored, knowing that you're sitting next to her when an intimate scene comes up between you and her son would be mortifying, kero."

Mina sharply inhaled, holding her breath at that terrible thought. "I'd probably die of embarrassment."

"She'd probably revive you so you could die of embarrassment again," Kyoka observed. She gestured up to the screen. "If Midoriya Inko is anything like her counterpart, she's full of determination. She'd be scary to face as an in-law, at least until she accepted you."

Momo raised an eyebrow before turning her head slowly to face Kyoka. "What prompted you to think of her as a scary in-law?"

Kyoka didn't respond, but she did blush.

{}

"Ouch, that's rough," Itsuka sighed. "I feel bad for both of them."

"All Might and Miss Midoriya?" Ibara asked.

Itsuka shook her head. "No, not All Might. Midoriya and his mother. He needed encouragement his whole life, and she was afraid of giving it to him."

"What made you think she was afraid?" Setsuna interjected. "There's not enough context here to figure that out."

Yui, however, disagreed. "There is enough," was all she said.

Itsuka smiled at their quiet classmate and continued. "We know that this other version was Quirkless, but still wanted to be a hero. His mother was afraid of her only child getting hurt or worse. His career choice is dangerous even if you have a useful Quirk."

Ibara chimed in. "There's not just physical danger. Don't forget the discrimination that the Quirkless face. I mean, we all know that Bakugou bullied him in that world for being Quirkless."

Yui hummed in thought but didn't share what the inner gears were mulling over.

As Itsuka turned to ask Yui a question, she saw movement down below. Midoriya's posture seemed tense. Hatsume, next to him, seemed nervous. Was he getting angry over something while watching this scene with his mother in it? "He's getting worse, much faster than anyone would have guessed."

"As charming as he was during lunch," Ibara said with a blush, "I agree. It's going to take an extreme intervention to free him from the effects of these memories."

"Unless you have ideas, you're just spinning your wheels," Setsuna said. "In the meantime, we can appreciate that the new Midoriya is hot. That confidence is," she trailed off, smirking.

Itsuka sighed. Then, a sudden idea caused her to draw her breath in. "What if he's flustering us, seducing us with his words, so that we don't help free Midoriya?"

The others regarded Itsuka with wide-eyed shock. Yui, though, nodded. "Hmmm," she affirmed the theory in her unique and subtle way.

{}

The intercom near them suddenly blared to life. "This is Cementoss. I am in position at the lowest survey marker, directly below the Shell. I am ready to begin."

Again, it buzzed to life. "This is Mount Lady in position west of the Shell."

Another pause. "This is Gang Orca, in position with the Fire Supporters. We're on the roof, ready to begin."

All Might picked up the intercom from the Support crew and gave the order himself. "Cementoss this is All Might at Temporary HQ. You are cleared to begin the operation. Operation Eggshell is go."

Inko looked up at him. There was so much hope emanating from him it seemed to fill the room. She had heard some of the details of the plan. She knew they were going to make a concrete sphere around the Shell before picking it up and moving it elsewhere to crack it open. It was cautious, but that only made her feel better. It was a good plan. It was going to work.

Izuku was going to come home. Everything was going to be alright.

{}

The auditorium bristled with enthusiastic energy. The students eagerly awaited seeing professional heroes in action. The heroes were amused, ready to see themselves in action. The general mood was high.

The heroes all agreed it was a good plan, methodical, but good. Though some dissenters in the room were concerned at how low a priority the plan gave to the hostage, everyone agreed it reduced danger to human life overall.

"Oh man, this is going to be so hype," Eijiro said, unable to contain all the energy welling up inside him.

"I know, right?" Denki replied. "Three top heroes in action, with All Might in command. You don't get to see an operation this coordinated often, and from such an up-close view!"

"You sound like Midoriya," Shoto observed from behind them.

The cluster of like-minded friends paused at that. They turned to look at the calmest of their classmates before he continued. "The only thing you all are missing is some notebooks," he said with a smile so subtle most of them missed it.

One of the boys didn't miss it, though. "Anything wrong with them sounding like him, Half and Half?"

His smile grew just a bit bigger. "Not at all."

{}

In less than a few minutes, everything had gone horribly wrong.

Once signaled to proceed, Cementoss created a base for the cement pillar that would eventually extend up through the building. It would cause a great deal of structural damage on the way, but he could account for that and have the pillar act as temporary support for the surrounding structure. He felt terrible about the possessions within the apartments that the pillar would tear through, but given that this was a rescue operation that could not be helped. He spared a glance at family photos on the wall of the apartment he was currently in and prayed that nothing irreplaceable would be lost.

Unfortunately, he never got it tall enough for it to extend past the third floor. Thankfully his instincts were good because he was suddenly in genuine danger. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw wisps of green energy and whirling sands solder together. Unfortunately, it was not some lavender skinned beauty that coalesced near him but a hulking brutal creature. It was ape-like, with tough red leathery skin and dark coarse hair on its long arms. It uttered a deafening dual-tone roar at him, both a piercing scream and low rumbling at once. Just as quickly as it formed, it began to attack. He threw up concrete barriers, and it tore through them like fire through paper. Over and over, it continued the assault as he beat a tactical retreat.

"This is Cementoss. I have enemy contact. I repeat enemy contact," he shouted into the comm system. Cementoss ran outside only to see more sand floating through the air. Mount Lady was running towards him only to trip as another creature like the first formed at her feet. It stood its ground and used itself as a falling hazard. No sooner had she braced herself to fall onto her hands and knees, the creatures swarmed around her. Seven more monsters appeared to join the previous two.

Cementoss finally got a good look at them now that he was out in the sunlight. Their eyes were as red as their skin, and their fur was composed of small sharp quills. More alarmingly, they were armored and armed. Their backs and chests displayed tough-looking green-hued brass breastplates, and they wore some form of gauntlet or vambrace on each arm. These ended in long punch-daggers. Worst of all, they were huge. Each creature had to weigh half a metric ton.

{}

Many in the auditorium leaned back when the monster on screen roared, some covering their ears.

Cementoss fought the urge to stand. "My god," he uttered, gaping at the enormous monsters appearing on the screen. "They teleport, oh my god," he whispered.

Mount Lady, all confidence up till now, inhaled sharply. She didn't get to see how her share of the fight started, but it was obviously not going well. She winced when one of the beasts tripped her counterpart. "Come on, Mount Lady," she cheered on like a concerned parent. "Get up! You can do this!"

She almost cried when some students echoed her, encouraging her alternate to rise and fight. "We believe in you, Mount Lady!"

"Come on, Cementoss!" another cried out. "You got this!"

Endeavor and most of the heroes around him, though, were almost completely silent. They stared at the screen with growing concern.

"Those things might come here," Endeavor uttered, studying the creatures. "No. They most likely are on their way. Why else would someone warn us with this?"

Nezu sketched one of the monsters, quickly determining its approximate size and mass compared to an average human. Thanks to his familiarity with Cementoss, the ratio was easy to conclude. He found it more difficult, though, to figure out just what their weapons and armor were. Why would an advanced civilization, capable of invading another world, use such primitive-looking armaments?

All Might and Eraserhead each leaned forward, watching the fight closely. Neither man said a word, though concern etched across their features.

{}

"What the fuck is that?" Denki asked aloud when his friends were shocked into silence.

"I don't know," Toru replied, "Holy," she trailed off, unable to find the right words.

"Shit," Katsuki muttered. "There's more of them. It's not a unique Quirk."

"Are they like those Nomu? Maybe they're manufactured," Hanta leaned forward, marveling at the destructive power and teamwork these things displayed.

"They can tear apart concrete, bro," Eijiro sat back, wide-eyed. "Imagine what they can do to people. Not even my Hardening would work against them. Fuck. Concrete. Fuck," he held a hand over his mouth to stop himself from uttering everything he was thinking.

"Shit, they're organized," Denki gripped onto his chair tightly, his palms sweating.

"Watch them carefully," Katsuki calmly reminded the others. "Look for weaknesses. Watch what the heroes did and figure out what worked and what didn't."

"What?" Minoru asked. "What are we supposed to do if things like that show up here?"

"Survive," was all the blonde said in reply.

{}

"Ah!" Kyoka screamed while covering her ears.

Momo lunged for her friend, wrapping her arms around her head protectively. Her palms glowed as she made earplugs on the spot.

"Thank you," Kyoka whispered once the makeshift wax was in place. "That sound was awful."

"Will you be alright?" Ochako got up from her chair and knelt next to Kyoka, wedging herself between two rows of chairs.

"Do you need to see the nurse?" Mount Lady leaned in to ask.

"No, not right now, but I might go later," Kyoka insisted. "I don't want to miss this."

"This is awful," Momo said, looking up to the screen then back at her friend. "What they're up against and how it's affecting us, it's all terrible."

"Will she be okay?" Mina asked.

"Kero?" Tsuyu added.

"I'll be fine, everyone," Kyoka insisted. "That sound caught me off guard, though. I've never heard a scream like that."

"Are you sure?" Ochako asked, looking her over. "Your ears didn't bleed, did they?"

"No, no," Kyoka said, embarrassed by all the attention. She never got to finish, though.

Mina turned back to look at the screen. "Oh, shit," she blurted out, uncaring that a teacher was right next to them.

The others looked up. "Oh shit," Midnight repeated, uncaring what kind of example she was setting.

{}

While the beasts swarmed he and Mount Lady, Cementoss was grateful that All Might was nearby. However, his earpiece lit up with more unwelcome news. "This is Gang Orca. We also have enemy contact."

Cementoss cursed under his breath. Everything was going from bad to worse. Thankfully, Mount Lady was strong enough to be a significant threat to these things. He moved to support her, but one of the beasts flanked him to cut off his aid to her.

That's when one of them barked out orders to the others in a language he had never heard before. He knew then that these attackers were sentient and organized, a dedicated military unit. This realization was terrifying when he saw what they were doing: as more sands floated through the area, a team of the beasts reached out to grasp at it as links of a long and terrible chain formed in their outstretched paws. Cementoss knew he had to do something, or else they would use that to restrain Mount Lady.

Thankfully, a large oak branch reached forward to grab one of the creatures out of nowhere, chain and all, flinging them to the side. Kamui Woods had been waiting in the background and chose now to enter the fray. His actions bought enough time for Mount Lady to stand up while Cementoss used his powers to repel several of the creatures. However, the fight was far from over.

"This is All Might. I can see the enemy leader from here standing next to the Shell. Unless anyone has an objection, I am moving to engage." He spoke to all of them via intercom.

Mount Lady didn't even use the com system. She simply shouted. "Go kick some ass All Might. We'll do the same down here."

Cementoss noted there was no reply from Gang Orca or the Fire Supporters. If the enemy leader was near the Shell where they were, then All Might had to have determined their need for aid was significantly greater than the heroes here on the ground. It was a sobering thought.

{}

Subtitle-text appeared at the bottom of the screen, first in an alien language none of them were familiar with. That faded into Japanese. "Bind the giant," it said.

Upon seeing that harsh looking chain, Mount Lady stood up, instinctively wanting nowhere near that thing.

Her heart raced. She felt a strange itch, a desire to grow to her maximum size and run.

"Yu," Kamui Woods said as he gently took her hand, guiding her back down into her seat. "That's not you. That's someone else. This already happened," he reminded her.

"Kamui!" a student shouted. "Get 'em Kamui!"

The two returned their eyes to the screen, each relieved that the comments were about the action there and not here.

"I guess that means I don't need to thank you for saving me, huh?" she teased.

"I never said that," he replied.

Despite their levity, each watched the events unfold with a growing sense of dread.

{}

From the moment the first ape appeared, Nejire's mouth moved nonstop. "Those apes sure are strong. I wonder what language that is? The subtitles looked like a pictographic script. Maybe it's similar to Egyptian? The metal they're wearing for armor looks strange. Do you think it's the same composition as the Shell? Oh, I bet it's durable. That could be a problem. Do you see any insignias on their armor? I wonder which one is in charge. Are they a hive mind? They're trying to bind up Mt. Lady. Do they want to capture her like they did Midoriya? Is that what they do, capture people? I wonder how their teleportation works, and why it makes so much sand."

Neither Mirio nor Tamaki were smiling anymore. The film no longer was about a rescue. Now it was a battle, and things didn't look good for the heroes.

"We should talk to Midoriya and get more answers," she said, slowing down while considering the logistics of her idea.

"For now, what if we ask if we can extend today's viewing?" Mirio supplied. "We don't even know Midoriya yet, we should," but he never got a chance to finish.

"Let's introduce ourselves after the film ends!" Nejire said excitedly. She immediately resumed pondering everything she saw out loud. "Do you think they're fluffy as in huggable or fluffy as in mangy? I wonder if they smell bad."

{}

Inko watched the proceeding alongside Airi and her news crew with paralyzing horror gripping their spines. Far below them, the indomitable Mount Lady had been tripped and found herself swarmed by monstrous ape creatures. Cementoss and Kamui Woods came to her aid, but they were all significantly outnumbered.

All Might was shouting orders to the Support crew to "Bring everyone: every hero in range. Call every agency if you have to one by one." The urgency in his voice was frightening to hear.

Despite their dire need, All Might couldn't just jump down there to help them, as one might expect. On the roof, Gang Orca was caught entirely by surprise, as were the entire Fire Supporters team. Creatures manifesting from thin air is not something they had ever thought of, much less prepared for. Due to this unexpected catastrophe, they were outmuscled and outmaneuvered on the rooftop of a seven-story building. Backdraft and the Fire Supporters were ill-equipped to handle the creatures emerging from nowhere, and Gang Orca was also faring poorly. Although there were five heroes on the roof, the seven creatures that manifested were organized and well-armed.

That was when She appeared.

Though imposing, she was small compared to the creatures at her command, no taller than perhaps two meters in height. A wispy cloud of black hair trailed behind her, which she capped with a golden wolf eared crown. Below that was a pale face with blood-red eyes similar to the creatures at her command, an eagle-like nose, and a grim set of lips painted a reddish-brown by dried blood. Her armor was black and hugged her body protectively, tightly. At her sides, a great sword and broad ax hung on her hips. Where the woman that assaulted Izuku earlier was a figure of eroticism, this woman, by contrast, was a pure terror.

Immediately upon stepping forward from the sands that formed her, she raised her hands to either side and unleashed two explosive blasts towards the heroes where they stood, corralled by the hulking brutes surrounding them. Shrapnel and green fire rained down on them with enough force that Inko feared them all dead. They fell to the rooftop and did not stir.

{}

All Might gripped the armrest on his chair, breaking it. He was grateful that only the outside seat on each row had such an armrest, and that he at least hadn't inconvenienced anyone else.

Still, seeing Her on screen, knowing a taste of what was coming, was unsettling him to his core. However, watching her attack his fellow heroes stirred rage inside him that he didn't expect.

Aizawa glanced over to the destroyed armrest and then promptly turned back to the screen, saying nothing. He knew better than to poke at a sore spot like the one Toshinori had on display.

{}

Gang Orca slumped back into his chair, amazed that he'd been taken out of the fight in just one move. He knew his strengths and weaknesses and knew just how much damage he could tank without falling over.

Whoever that woman was, he concluded, she was not an opponent to take lightly.

The heroes around him were stunned into silence, each aghast that one of their own was likely defeated if not dead.

"Get up, Orca!" a girl with pink skin and hair stood on the opposite side of the auditorium. "We believe in you!"

"We believe in you, Orca!" echoed a young man much farther back. "Get up! You can do it!"

More students echoed the sentiment. Their teachers didn't silence them.

The cetacean hero had to wipe sweat from the corner of his eye. Yes, it was just some sweat. That's all. "Everyone," he spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. "Thank you."

He prayed these words of encouragement would reach his fallen brother, his copy in that other world. He prayed the man was alive and well, and still fighting.

{}

"Holy shit," Katsuki breathed.

"She causes explosions just like you, bro," Eijiro supplied the obvious.

"No," Katsuki rested the fingers of one hand around his clenched fist. "No, not like me. She may have gestured, but the point of origin wasn't from her hands. Each detonation happened maybe a meter or two away from her. I make explosions, but that bitch can summon them at range."

"That's why the heroes were caught off guard," Hanta said aloud as he realized it. "They faced her, not expecting the attack to originate from their midst like that."

"Dude," Denki said. "If she can cause Bakugou-like explosions but decides where they start, your back is never safe. How do you fight that?"

"You just do," Katsuki said, not liking that that was the best answer he could come up with.

{}

Mina felt nervous about starting the wave of encouragement sent towards Gang Orca. Would she get in trouble? She sat down, hoping that she hadn't gone too far. After all, Mineta got kicked out yesterday for a stunt that disrupted everyone, but Mina started a whole series of disruptions.

"That was awesome," Ochako said before anyone else said anything. She was back in her seat next to Tsuyu, leaning over to look Mina in the eye as she spoke.

"Agreed, kero. You should be proud," the frog girl chimed in. Tsuyu winced at the sight of Gang Orca on the ground. "I hope they recover," she muttered, halfway between a hope and a prayer.

Momo held a small matryoshka doll to her chest. Mina didn't remember when the taller girl made it.

Ochako reached over to take Momo's hand. Kyoka took the other one. The doll rested on Momo's lap, no longer acting as a supplement to her comfort.

After looking over to where her friends consoled each other, Mina locked eyes with Midnight. Her teacher smiled at her. Mina took solace in that, and that strength helped her endure what they were seeing together.

{}

"This is All Might. I can see the enemy leader from here standing next to the Shell. Unless anyone has an objection, I am moving to engage," he spoke to the heroes below by comms. He did not share that Gang Orca and Backdraft were down and possibly dead. The blow to their morale would be lethal, that much was clear. The loud roaring response of encouragement from Mount Lady did not stir the confidence of the Support Crew the way it should have.

Inko watched helplessly as the red-eyed woman pointed through the window towards All Might from the rooftop across from them, then gestured for him to approach. She was smiling, and the facial expression seemed predatory. It was clear that even though they were across an entire street and in an apartment that she knew exactly where the temporary headquarters were.

"Help will be here soon. I will keep my promise. Your son is coming home to you," All Might spoke to her reassuringly. Before Inko could reply, he ran through the glass of the balcony before jumping across the street. He jumped towards the creatures, the red-eyed woman, the fallen heroes, and the twisted Shell where Izuku was trapped.

With a lead weight in her heart, Inko remembered that All Might promised to bring her son home. No matter the cost to himself.

"No matter what it costs me," she whispered his exact words to herself as tears streamed down her face.

{}

"So manly," Eijiro uttered as he watched All Might soar through the air towards the enemy.

"That's our number one hero," Katsuki agreed. "If anyone can kick their asses back to their home planet, it's All Might."

The thought brought an aura of comfort to the entire group. Hanta turned to say something, wanting to jump onto this feelgood bandwagon, when he saw their teacher Yagi Toshinori. The man's visage was grim.

Why was All Might, the strongest hero ever, looking so grim? That question haunted Sero Hanta to his core.

{}

"I still say they have chemistry," Mina said. No one responded to her, so she pouted.

"I hope All Might brings Deku home," Ochako said.

"It's All Might, kero," Tsuyu said. "I'm sure he'll keep his word. He'll bring Deku home."

"And we'll remind Deku of who he is," Momo said with obvious resolve, drawing strengths from Kyoka and Ochako on each side of her.

{}

Nezu walked up to where Midoriya and Hatsume were working on the machine. In his hand was a detailed sketch of the female leader near the Shell.

"Are you doing alright, lad?" the Principal asked.

"I'm fine, Principal," the young man smiled charmingly. "Unless you have any objections, I'm ready to power through."

The principal caught the Support student's worried glance. He knew immediately that something was off but wasn't sure what to do about it.

"You have some idea what happens next, yes?" the Principal asked politely, but his tone betrayed some tension.

"Yes," was the only reply he got.

"Do you advise people to relieve themselves before they see what's coming?" he said, no longer seeming so cute and innocent despite how diminutive and furry he was.

With a sigh, the young hero in training relented. He powered down the device.

The Principal turned towards the audience. "We'll take a short break then carry on through! Everyone, come back within fifteen minutes, please. Thank you!"

{}

Izuku barely hid the snarl of disgust that formed on his lips. They needed to prepare for what's coming. How could they think there was time for breaks?

Still, if they all needed to…

An uncomfortable feeling gargled and rumbled in Izuku's midsection. He stood in a moment of confusion before rushing from the auditorium.

"Stupid mortal body and it's stupid limitations," he muttered as he strode out to the hall, outpacing anyone else that might try to keep up with him.

One person, however, overheard him. Back in her seat, Kyoka finished taking off the wax earplugs just in time to pick out Izuku's voice just before he left the room.

"Everyone," she said in a quiet voice, gripping harder onto Momo's hand. "We have a serious problem."

"Deku?" Ochako asked.

Kyoka nodded, but then wished she hadn't. "Uraraka, wait," she reached out to grab her friend's wrist before Ochako could finish standing up.

"You can explain on the way," Ochako said, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. "But, you can't stop me from going to Deku."

"Then we'll go together," Momo said from in between them. "First, though, Jirou, what did you hear?"

Kyoka inhaled a long, steadying breath. Was she sure of what she heard?

Yes, she was, and this wasn't the time for doubts.

{}

A Note from the Author

{}

After a great trip and then too much work with many deadlines, we have returned!

Well, it's time for a confession. Writing this chapter was rough, not because of the writing itself, but because going back to my older work made me wince. Chapter three of My Green Sun Prince Academia, even after I edited it again, is nowhere near as polished as my more recent work. I hadn't found my writer's voice yet, and it shows. This also displays the advantage of full-volume publishing vs. serial publication, that you can go back and edit the entire volume after drafting the entire thing so it's all equally polished.

If I ever get a chance to redraft all of "My Green Sun Prince Academia," this part will get major changes. In the meantime, my intent is to carry on and finish my stories, rather than let my perfectionism slow me down.

Regardless, we're also updating the summary for "The Reflection in the Viridescent Mirror." This is no longer "just" a watch-it fic. This fic has a plot and consequences, including altering canon events.

Now that this chapter is up, it's time to continue on and write another chapter of "Izuku's Time Traveling Babysitting Service" before we finish off the rotation with "Midoriya Izuku vs. the Women of Sigma Epsilon Chi (S.E.X.)"

For clarity, the rotation is "My Green Sun Prince Academia," then "The Reflection in the Viridescent Mirror," then "Izuku's Time Traveling Babysitting Service," and finishes with "Midoriya Izuku vs. the Women of Sigma Epsilon Chi (S.E.X.)"

Feel free to stop by our Discord! discord . gg/25BTet3 (remove spaces) will get you there. I drop updates there frequently, such as my current word count on whatever I'm writing at the time. It's also where, soon, I expect to discuss the progress on my original fiction.

As usual, I reply to all comments on AO3 directly. I reply to FFN comments in the review section by posting a review of my own several days after the chapter is posted. Please feel free to comment, critique, or just say hello, and if you're not rude, I will give you a reply.

Be well, and I'll see you at the next chapter!