"Huh, Summer vacation is soon," Aizawa grumbled as he looked at the class roster, the students freezing as they all stared at him in anticipation, "Of course it would be entirely illogical to give you all a full month off."
"Wait, don't tell me…" Deni gasped.
"You'll be doing a Summer Training camp in the woods," the teacher stated as the class erupted into cheers.
"Truth or dare!" "Fireworks." "Curry!" the students called happily.
"However," Aizawa muttered, the class falling silent as he activated his quirk, "Anyone who fails the end of term exams will be having remedial classes here at UA."
"Let's do our best guys!" Kirishima roared as the rest of the class talked excitedly.
"So, Midori," Mina hummed as she sat beside him, most of the class gathered in the viewing booth as they watched the other team do the exercise, "How've you been?"
"Good," Izuku replied, scribbling in his notebook as he looked up at the screens.
"Any big changes in your life recently?"
"Not really."
Mina pouted slightly as she looked at the boy, Izuku all but ignoring her as he wrote in his notebook.
"You smell really good today," she hummed, leaning in a little closer to him.
"Thanks," Izuku replied.
"Is it a new cologne? Deodorant?" she asked, her shoulder pressing against his as she glanced down into the notebook.
"Nope."
"Well then, what is i-?" she was cut off as the hand landed heavily on her shoulder, pulling her firmly away from Izuku, the girl looking up in surprise at the heterochromatic eyes of Shoto, "Huh?"
"You were…getting too close," the two-toned teen muttered, his face as placid as ever.
"Aw, Shoto," Izuku laughed, smiling up at the boy, "I didn't peg you as the jealous type."
"Jealous?" he asked.
Nedzu chuckled to himself.
It hadn't been hard to gather all the information he needed. In fact, it had been almost insultingly easy, the lawyers of the Toga family barely doing anything to cover up the reports of abuse. Now all he needed was the final piece, and he would have everything he would need to systematically destroy them until they were little more than a footnote of a footnote. The only problem was how to get to that piece, even when the answer was, quite literally, standing in front of him.
"No," Izuku Midoriya said, "I won't bring Himiko here until she's ready."
"I understand your concern for your friend, Midoriya-san, but the sooner we-," the chimera started.
"No," Izuku cut him off, making the Principal blink, "I already told you what's going to happen."
"And I said that I understand, Midoriya-san," Nedzu repeated, smiling gently as he sipped his tea, "But I would hate for the younger Toga sibling to face a similar fate to young Himiko."
"Ojoko," Izuku hummed, looking away.
"So, Himiko has told you about her?" Nedzu asked, watching the teen's eyes as he spoke.
"Yes, she did," Izuku sighed, looking back at the chimera, "She told me a lot about her life. Her sister, her friends, her…parents. And the things they did to her."
"I'm sure that must have been disturbing for you," the Principal said, the teen nodding, "I apologize that you had to hear that. Am I correct to assume that it was your mother that sent that highly detailed email of the, quite frankly, atrocities the young lady was put through?"
"Yes sir," Izuku mumbled, "Sorry, she was very insistent."
"That is quite alright, young man," Nedzu chuckled, "It was very useful in assisting me find the official reports. Though I must say, I was amazed that so little had been reported if what she has told you is true."
"Rich people," Izuku shrugged, "They like to hide stuff. Like Endeavor."
"Ah yes, the case of young Todoroki," Nedzu hummed, "Suffice to say, I have a detailed folder on that matter as well. All I need is for someone to officially report the matter for us to begin the investigation. Just like with Himiko-san."
"Can I ask you a question sir?"
"Go ahead, Midoriya-san."
"Why are you trying so hard? It's not just for Himiko or Shoto, otherwise you'd have gone after Endeavor almost as soon as Shoto walked through the gates," Izuku hummed, "So why are you so interested now?"
"Well, young man, there quite a simple answer to that question," Nedzu replied, "You showed me the error of my ways."
"I did?"
"Yes, in your fight against Bakugo-san," Nedzu noticed the way the teen flinched at the mention of the fight, noting that down in the back of his mind for later, "I came to realize that perhaps the way I had been going about things had been…wrong."
"The great Nedzu, Principal of UA and well-known Intelligence Hero, wrong?" Izuku chuckled, "Well, that's something I never thought I'd ever hear."
"Anyone can be wrong, young man," Nedzu chuckled back, "Especially when they don't have all the facts. Now, there is something else I want to ask you."
"Yes sir?"
"How are your extra studies with Aizawa-san going?"
"You're distracted."
The words made the teen flinch slightly, turning to glare at the older man standing opposite him.
"No, I'm not," Shoto replied as he slid into a combat stance.
"Tell me again why you didn't accept my internship offer, Shoto?" Endeavor growled, glaring at his son.
"I wanted to learn about paperwork."
"Don't lie to me!" the man yelled, Shoto flinching back again as Endeavor's flames surged, "Why didn't you come to me? You finally started using your fire! You needed to learn how to use it!"
"To what?" Shoto muttered, "Burn all the bad guys? I can already do that."
"What was that?" Endeavor hissed, stepping closer to his son, "Don't you dare talk back to me, Shoto! You are mine! My son! My masterpiece! You will do as you are told and-."
"Shut up."
Enji Todoroki stood stunned for a moment, staring at the teen standing opposite him, the defiance burning in his eyes.
"I don't belong to anyone except myself, Midoriya said that," Shoto growled.
"Midoriya? That brat with the copy quirk?" Endeavor growled, "The one that tricked you into losing?"
"You mean the one who got me to use my flames?" Shoto shot back, "The one who did what you couldn't? The one who has been the first real friend I've ever had?!"
The two glared at each other angrily, before Shoto turned away, walking towards the door.
"I'm done training for today."
"No, you are not!" Enji roared, stomping forwards, "You will not leave this room until you can show that you are able to use your fire appropriately!"
"Like this?" Shoto hummed as he held up his left hand, his palm igniting as the flames coalesced into a small ball, Enji stopping dead as he stared at it, "Midoriya has been teaching me all I need to know about my quirk. I don't need you anymore."
The door slammed shut behind him as Shoto left, his heart beating in his chest as he heard his father give a shout of rage behind him, starting to throw objects around the room. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he headed to his bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him. Then he smiled.
"Operation "Snoop into Midori's love life" is go!" Mina whispered as she dragged the two girls behind her, looking at each other as the pink-skinned girl pulled them to the corner of the building.
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Mina?" Toru asked as they peeked around the building to watch the green-haired teen that was their target, "I mean, Yaomomo was kind of right. It is his private life."
"Aren't you curious though?" Mina giggled, "What kind of girl does Midori like? Is she cute? Is she smart? Are they-?"
"Why am I even here?" Jiro interrupted, shaking her hand free from Mina's grasp as she leaned against the wall, "I have no interest in spying on anyone. Least of all Midoriya."
"Izuku shirtless," Mina grinned as the punk girl's ears suddenly went bright red, "You like him just as much as the rest of us, Jiro!"
"Can't you just like…ask him?" Jiro muttered as Mina continued to grin at her.
"Where's the fun in that?" Mina laughed.
"Wait…As the rest of us?" Toru asked, looking at Mina, "Does that mean you also lo-ff hmm?"
Mina slapped a hand over the invisible girl's mouth as her cheeks turned purple, coughing slightly.
"Be quiet or he'll hear us!" the acid quirk user hissed, glancing back around the corner, "We have to be sneaky about this!"
"Then we've already failed at that," Jiro sighed, giving Mina an unimpressed look when she stared at Kyoka in confusion, "Did you forget about his quirk?"
"Huh? No? He can copy other quirks," Mina said.
"At a distance."
"Yeah, but only 10 meters."
"And he can sense quirks…" Jiro continued, lifting an eyebrow as she watched Mina blink.
"About 1 kilometer…around…him…" the pink-skinned girl trailed off, "Oh…"
"Yep," the voice made the three of them jump, "I noticed you three following me about twenty minutes ago. What's up?"
"Who's your girlfriend?" Toru blurted as they all stared at the young man standing beside them.
"I…don't have one?" Izuku replied, a look of confusion on his face.
"But then why do you smell like perfume?!" Mina gasped.
"That would be Himi-chi," Izuku replied.
"Wait…you mean that girl from last week?" Jiro asked, "The blond who ran away after…whatever that was?"
"Yeah," Izuku nodded as Mina stared at the two of them in shock.
"Jiro! You knew?!"
"What?" the punk girl hissed at the shout, rubbing her ear, "No? I didn't know it was her, she just came to greet Midoriya last week and we went for ice cream."
"A date?" Mina gasped, "Without me?"
"No!" Jiro shouted as her blush started to spread to her cheeks, "It was just a few of us going for ice cream!"
"Who? Where? What happened?" Mina said rapid fire as she stepped towards the girl, her eyes burning with curiosity, "What's this Himi-chi like?"
"Sorry ladies, but I have something important I have to get to," Izuku suddenly said, checking his phone as he turned to walk away, "Talk to you in class tomorrow!"
"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Izuku asked as they stood outside the gates to UA, Himiko fiddling with the lanyard around her neck.
It was late in the evening, all of the students having already gone home, leaving the school grounds strangely silent and dark.
"No," the girl muttered, "But…you promise they won't try to…you know?"
"Yes, I promise," Izuku said softly, pulling her into a gentle hug, "This is all to help you, Himi-chi. I promise."
The two walked onto the campus, heading slowly through the silent grounds. They entered the main building, Izuku leading Himiko through the unfamiliar corridors and halls until they stood outside of a door, a small sign above it reading "Recovery Girl".
"We're here," Izuku hummed, gently taking, and squeezing Himiko's hand, "We're going to go inside now, okay?"
Himiko nodded as Izuku slid the door open to the brightly lit room, leading her in.
"Hello, dears," the old voice said as Himiko looked down at the elderly woman, "I take it you're Himiko Toga? Good. Let's get started on your check up."
"Are you sure about this?" the first figure grumbled as they stood outside the large warehouse in the Kamino Ward, staring at the strangely intimidating door.
"Shut up and get in there," his partner growled, shoving the other man forwards, "They're offering too much to not take this job!"
"Yeah, but this place gives me the creeps."
"I said shut up!" the first man growled as he shoved the second into the warehouse, both stopping as they looked at the softly glowing vats that surrounded them in surprise.
"Gentlemen," the voice made both shiver as they looked at the seated man in the center of the room, his face hidden beneath an intimidating black mask, "So good of you to join us. Now, I have a very special offer for both of you."
