The Hero Course students sat in the large classroom next to the nurse's office, in complete silence for what felt like hours. Principal Nezu, Recovery Girl, Aizawa, and Vlad King had arrived at Training Field Gamma when they saw the explosion, and were shocked by the sight of not only an unconscious Hiroshi and a injured Shihai, but also a downed All Might in his true form. The three were moved quickly and silently, using the school's special tunnels to get there, with all of the students following them.
No one had spoken a word to each other since Virus utterly dominated the fight between him, All Might, and Hero. Izuku had especially been quiet, staring into space in the chair he was sitting in. Aizawa and Vlad King went to discuss what happened with the rest of the faculty while Recovery Girl stayed behind to look after the three, and Principal Nezu had gone to make calls (Fuka and the others had explained to him what happened after Aizawa and Vlad King were gone, and out of earshot from the rest of them). The teens didn't bother changing out of their costumes, being too shocked by everything that had just happened.
"... So," Togaru said, finally breaking the silence. "When were you all going to fucking tell us about Midoriya's Quirk? That he got from All Might!?"
"Kamakiri, this isn't the appropriate time for-" Itsuka said, before Neito interrupted her.
"No! This is the perfect time to talk about it! How on earth did you get the Number 1 Hero's Quirk!?" Neito said, pointing at Izuku. "Is it your fault that the man's weakening!? What makes you so deserving of his Quirk when you had none!?"
"Whoa, Monoma, that's crossing the line!" Setsuna said, getting up to protect Izuku. "There's way more to this than you think!"
"Yea, you don't understand this at all! There's a lot of complexities about this entire situation!" Fuka added. "We didn't really have the liberty to tell everyone!"
"But don't you trust us!?" Kinoko said, her hand over her heart and tears streaming down her cheeks. "I thought we were all friends!"
"... Some secrets should be kept secret," Yui whispered, looking to the ground. She felt bad for being relieved that none of hers were shared.
"Yea, this is something I don't think we should know," Manga said, as a stop sign appeared on his face. "Knowing something as big as All Might's Quirk being inheritable is serious stuff-"
"Oh, come on!? Really!? We're all classmates here, so why shouldn't we know!?" Sen said, scowling. "Especially with something as important as All Might getting weaker and that his Quirk's someone else's now!?"
"Guys, guys, let's calm down!" Denki said, sensing the rising tension. While he was upset about yet another secret he was being kept out of, he decided to try getting everyone to calm down, with Kosei following his lead.
"We're all just a little rattled by what happened, let's not turn on each other-" Kosei said.
"Kaibara's right, we're all heroes-in-training here!" Tetsutetsu shouted, pointing to the SiDE Team. "How came you all got to be in on this secret!? What makes you all so special!?"
"Hey, leave them alone!" Eijiro said, the two activating their Quirks so that they can butt their heads together hard. "Not everyone needs to be in on secrets! There's a reason secrets are secrets! We have to respect that!"
"Oh, looks like we finally found something different between the two of us!"
"Yea, looks like we do! I only wish it was something trivial rather than this!"
"It's kinda true. I mean, Virus was just revealing stuff that we didn't want the others to know," Kojiro sighed. "I mean, I'm glad that he didn't reveal everyone's secrets when he could've have, but still, it was enough..."
"I think something as important as this should've been told to us all, though," Mashirao said, crossing his arms. "I mean, Hiroshi was honest about Hero and aliens..."
"Speaking of which, he lied!" Yosetsu fumed. "For a guy who said that 'honesty is his policy', he lied to us about this, and what happened at Hosu with you guys! What a hypocrite!"
"It wasn't a lie, it was keeping a secret!" Kyoka said. "And it wasn't even his secret to begin with!"
"Indeed, and with the Hosu Incident, we had to keep it under wraps for the legality issues-" Tenya started to say.
"But we're your classmates! We all worked together at the USJ Incident! Why couldn't you trust us with any of this!?" Hanta said, frowning.
"There are just some things we're not suppose to be privy to," Mezo said, his arm's mouth sighing.
"I disagree. Something as important as this... it should be discussed with all of us, I think," Jurota said, adjusting his glasses.
"Why are we all arguing about this!? I wish we didn't know any of this!" Minoru said, chewing on this gloves' fingertips so much that he could break holes into them. "The Hosu Incident was one thing, but this is even worse! What kind of crazy shit are we going to get pulled into now that we know!?"
"I understand that Midoriya and you all had your reasons for keeping it secret," Tsuyu said, looking at the SiDE Team members. "But... I wish you could've at least given us a chance."
The Hero Course students bickered and bickered, until they all heard the hiccups of Pony's tears as Mina and Ochako patted her on the back. Koji meanwhile had managed to find a mouse from outside and gave it to Pony for her to pet. They slowly stopped, as some of them wiped their own tears away, whether they were of frustration or sadness.
"Guys... guys please..." she said, rubbing her eyes. "I... I know that you're all upset, but All Might... All Might asked us to stay quiet..."
"... Are you alright, Tsunotori?" Juzo asked, getting closer to the horned girl. "What Virus said... do you really think that we don't accept you because you're half-American?"
Pony nodded sadly. She struggled to find her words again, though in Japanese this time. "I... I know I'm not the best at speaking Japanese... I'm... I'm probably-"
"Hey, don't talk like that," Ochako said, looking at her. "We're your friends, Tsunotori. Virus might've exposed your secret fear, but we all want you with us! And you too, Aoyama! It doesn't matter if you have a birth defect that affects your Quirk!"
"... Really?" Yuga whispered, having sat on the ground, hugging his knees to his chest.
"Really," Tenya reaffirmed. "I'm deeply sorry that I or anyone else involved with the Stain fight how deeply involved we actually were in, but the law-"
"We get it," Hanta said, rubbing the back of his head. "We... probably will need to keep quiet about it too, huh? Just about everything we learned today, I guess."
"... So you're nervous about your height?" Kyoka said, looking at Minoru.
"So what if I am!?" Minoru replied. "It's- It's not fair that I'm this short! I love girls, but I'm never getting a date, so why not indulge in looking at cuties!?"
"At least we understand why you go all in on the pervert thing," Fuka said. "Honestly, can't blame you for feeling like you'll never get a girlfriend 'cuz of it. Just... go a little lighter on it."
"My secret was probably obvious to begin with," Mashirao said, looking to the side. "Compared to everyone else, I've probably got the most boring Quirk. Just a tail, and nothing else."
"Hey, I think you're pretty stand out!" Toru said, sitting next to him now, with only her gloves and shoes being evidence that she was there. "Meanwhile, I can't even be seen thanks to my Quirk. Sure, it's great, but Virus was right, sometimes I do wish I could turn it off..."
"I guess this was why Hiroshi wanted to make that mini student council for our class, huh?" Hanta said, remembering back to that day. "It was probably to work together on ideas about Midoriya and his Quirk."
"Yea," Ochako said, nodding. "It was a smart idea at the time... don't know if there's going to be a point of it existing now that everyone knows..."
Shoto looked away, ashamed of his scar and his family's secret being exposed the way it was. By a stranger, no less.
"Todoroki..." Momo said, as she, Tenya, and Denki approached him. "Are... are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened?"
"Yea, is... is what Virus said the reason why you didn't like using your fire?" Denki said, as he thought back to Shoto snapping at him about the question he gave at the Sports Festival. "Because of your family?"
"... Yes," Shoto said softly. "I... I told Midoriya and Hiroshi about it as a declaration that I could beat either of them without using my fire, but in the end... they proved to me that I was holding myself back. Midoriya by besting me, and Hiroshi showing off Hero's Burst Helios form, meaning if I did beat Midoriya, that those two would've beaten me..."
"Shoot man, I'm... I'm really sorry that I asked that before," Denki apologized.
"No... it was a secret that I wasn't ready to tell others... Even now, I'm not sure if I was ready..."
"The only person here to blame is Virus!" Mina said, getting up, indignant about everything. "Secrets aren't wrong to have! We all have our reasons to not tell anyone anything! And he- And he has no respect for that!"
"Yea, we shouldn't be getting mad at each other!" Eijiro said, nodding in agreement. "We should be getting mad at him-"
The door slid open, and Hiroshi stepped inside, his eyes pointing to the ground as he entered. Everyone stopped and looked at him.
"What are you doing!?" Recovery Girl said, whacking him on the calves with her cane to stop him, though his stride went uninterrupted. "You need bedrest!"
"Well, look who finally decided to join us!" Neito said, crossing his arms. "So what do you have to say for Midoriya and yourself-"
"I'm sorry," he stated, bowing his head.
Everyone raised an eyebrow at Hiroshi. "I'm sorry that I failed you guys."
"Whoa, Hiroshi, what's this about?" Setsuna said, looking at the steel blue-haired teen.
"I couldn't stop Virus. I couldn't stop him from exposing some of your secrets. I couldn't stop him from hurting All Might and Kuroiro," Hiroshi said, his fists tightening. "He... he was so much stronger than Hero and me. I... I thought we were able to fight him on equal ground, but he... he was just toying with us. If only I was stronger... If only I was faster..."
"I knew I should've kept on training. I'm still weak. We need to train more and more, Hiroshi," Hero said gravely.
"Hiroshi, it's not your fault-" Ochako said, though Hiroshi cut her off.
"No. It is. There's so much that I need to do... I need to get stronger... I need to get faster... I need to get more power... I need so much more... I can't let him get away with any of this-! I'll never let him get away with this-"
"We won't."
Hiroshi turned around, and saw All Might hobbling in, clutching his side, with Shihai following him, his arm and leg bandaged up.
"Kuroiro, you're alright!" Kinoko said, smiling once again.
"Y-yea, I am... Recovery Girl's treatments helped heal most of my broken body, so only small fractures remain," Shihai said, his eyes on the ground.
"All Might," Katsuki said, finally stepping up from the corner he picked to seethe in. "Tell us, why did you pick Deku of all people to inherit your Quirk!? There're more people who deserve it! When did you do it!? Since the Sludge Villain Incident!? So why-"
"I... I suppose I saw myself in Young Midoriya. How he leaped into action to help you, despite having no Quirk himself. I wanted to give him a chance to become a hero, like how I was," All Might said, as Izuku perked his head up, finally paying attention to what was going on. "You see, I was Quirkless like him."
The Hero Course students stared at him, astonished at this admission. "And as a young man his age... burned a fire for justice and peace. My predecessor saw that, and she chose to give me the chance to chase my dream, all so I can make this world a peaceful one. So that I could take down a villain hidden in the shadows. Since you all know now, I'll come clean about it all. But please, if you want to blame anyone, don't blame Young Midoriya, Young Hiroshi, or any of them. Blame me."
"This Quirk of mine... came from the beginning of this era of Quirks. It's quite possibly one of the first Quirks to have manifested in the world, in fact. I've told them all the name, One for All, and how it worked, but... I had yet to tell about its origins, and why secrecy was needed."
The SiDE Team teens raised their eyebrows, realizing that he never did really elaborate on One for All to them. They listened closely as the weakened man sat down on a chair.
"At the beginning, there was a man with a Quirk known as 'All for One', who chose to embrace it as his name as well. In the era where the meaning of 'human' became unclear, he took advantage of the chaos to instill 'order', gathering followers who he manipulated into committing wicked deeds for him. He would take Quirks that he wanted, and could give Quirks others. With that power, he could give multiple Quirks to people, but the strain of having more than one Quirk would be too much for many of them, turning them into mere puppets, unable to even speak for themselves-"
"Like the Nomu!" Fuka said, connecting the dots.
"Exactly. But there was a time where the Quirk he gave blended with another, creating a new one altogether. You see, All for One had a younger Quirkless brother. He was frail, weak, and small. But in his heart, was an indominable will and thirst for justice. He opposed his brother, seeing his acts as the ruthless deeds they were. One day, All for One imposed a power accumulation Quirk onto his younger brother. Whether it was out of kindness and love for his brother or an attempt to make him submit, I don't know."
"Accumulation?" Neito said, recalling how when he attempted to copy Izuku's Quirk, he realized that it was based around accumulating power, making it useless to him.
"Indeed. But a miracle happened! For the Quirkless brother wasn't actually Quirkless, but had one that could transfer itself to others!" All Might said, to everyone's shock. "This nigh useless Quirk and this power accumulation Quirk fused together, creating the power that I once held that I entrusted to Young Midoriya. This Quirk came to be known as One for All. On his own, he realized that he, as the first user, could not make full use of his Quirk's own potential, so he entrusted it to another! And then that user entrusted it to another! Thus began a legacy that All for One himself created, a legacy that was formed to beat him! I was the eighth holder, and Young Midoriya is the ninth."
"If he was from the beginning of the Quirk age, he must be super old!" Denki said, trying to process what All Might had said. "And you said you're the eighth! How could he be alive by then!?"
"All for One is a man who could take Quirks from others. He had gotten his hands onto a Quirk that stopped his aging process, making him almost immortal. Years ago, All for One and I clashed. He injured me, taking out a large portion of my digestive and respiratory systems, making me waste away to what you see now..." All Might said, pointing to the spot that Virus had been attacking. "But I struck him down for good. Or at least, I thought I did. With what I've seen of those Nomu, and from what Virus had said, I have no more doubts that he survived our battle."
"Wait, do you mean you tried to-" Toru said, picking up on the word choice.
"Kill him? Yes," All Might admitted. "I know that in this age of heroes, that killing someone is taboo, but someone like All for One... couldn't be left alive. And sometimes, ending a villain's life is the only course of action to take..."
"That is true, since Hiroshi and Hero had to do that with all those aliens," Tsuyu said, reminding everyone about how the two had taken down alien threats without hesitation.
"So why keep it secret?" Mina asked.
"Think about it, guys. This is a Quirk that gains power over time and grows with each passing user," Fuka said, pointing at her brain. "If everyone knew that the Quirk of the Number 1 Hero could be passed down to others, don't you think that there'd be people attempting to force him to give it to them?"
"And the world needs to think that the Number 1 Hero is a natural born Quirk user, too. Knowing that by technical artificial means that I gained my position could throw everything into chaos," All Might elaborated.
"Much like how it did with us..." Yosetsu said, growing ashamed of what he said earlier.
"Not to mention the dangers of knowing about One for All's existence. This Quirk's unable to be taken by any means unless willingly and knowingly by the current holder, and it must be through consuming something from the previous one, like a hair or blood-"
"Wait, Midoriya, you got your blood licked by the Hero Killer!" Kosei said, his elliptical eyes wide. "Does that mean that-!?"
"That he's got it now!?" Izuku said, standing up from his chair. "I didn't-"
"Don't worry, you didn't want to pass it, right? Like I said, it has to be willingly and knowingly given. Though it can be forcibly given, too. Like, say, a girl forcing you to take her Valentine's chocolate that you don't want," All Might said.
"What an cute metaphor to go with for something as heavy as this..." Ochako whispered.
"As I was saying," All Might said, coughing into his hand. "Knowing about One for All's existence is dangerous. All for One seems to be... particularly drawn to it, as its nature makes it the only Quirk that he can't take. There's always a chance that All for One would go after those secret keepers to get to Young Midoriya, which was why for my time, I kept it only to a select few-"
"Such as myself," Principal Nezu said walking in, with Detective Tsukauchi and Gran Torino following him.
"Hey, it's that detective from the USJ Incident!" Kinoko said, recognizing him.
"Seems like all of your students have a good memory, All Might," Tsukauchi said, lifting his hat politely at the girl.
"So the principal's been in on this!?" Sen said, staring at the small white creature.
"Who's the old guy?" Yosetsu asked.
"That's Gran Torino, Midoriya's workplace mentor," Kosei said.
"Yea, he was All Might's mentor," Setsuna said. She added in a whisper to the others, "Apparently All Might's afraid of him..."
"I am. Recovery Girl, Detective Tsukauchi, and Gran Torino are also some of the few who know about One for All. I actually suggested to All Might to work here as a teacher so that he could find a worthy successor to One for All," Principal Nezu explained. "It would explain why he wasn't working as often, since his power has been weakening for some time. He just happened to find Mr. Midoriya before then."
"Yes. Don't blame Young Midoriya for me becoming weaker," All Might sighed. "My power had been weakening since that battle years ago, to the point where I can only work for a limited amount of time now. Even if I had kept One for All, I wouldn't be able to draw out any more of its power like before-"
"You idiot!" Gran Torino scolded, smacking All Might in the leg with his cane. "I could handle that Furinji kid and the rest of their friend group knowing about One for All, but then you had to go and let the entire UA Hero Course kids know about it!"
"I-I-I'm sorry, Gran Torino!" All Might said, as the kids watch the Number 1 Hero grovel a bit at the small old man, who kept smacking his leg with his cane. "I didn't mean to, I-"
"No, don't," Gran Torino sighed. "Honestly, I should've figured that Virus guy knew about One for All already. He knew my real name, after all, and I haven't even been active for some time before taking the kid in. We're just lucky that he's not out there right now exposing you."
"Still, this is unprecedented," Detective Tsukauchi said, shaking his head. "The fact that Virus can slip through UA's security like that with his powers isn't good. And the fact he actually injured a student unlike last time is much worse, since that means he can and could target you all."
"I believe I have an answer for that," Principal Nezu said, as he looked at his students. "You see, for quite some time, I've been discussing with the faculty about possibly turning UA into a boarding school rather than a day school, ever since the USJ Incident, in fact. It wasn't until today that I've decided to take the plunge for it."
"So we're gonna be living at UA now?" Setsuna asked. "That's... kinda cool! Makes it easier for you to hang out with Mr. Bubaigawara, Hiroshi."
"We'll roll this out slowly, starting with only the Hero Course students, before making our way through the rest of the school. It'll take some time to build the dorms, even with Cementoss's assistance. Of course we'll be asking your parents' permission for this, since this is very much on short notice. This way, we can keep an eye on all of you. Mr. Hiroshi, would it be alright if Hero can provide some advice on how to upgrade our security against aliens?"
"Of course," Hero said. "I can provide at least some amount of alien technology for security."
"Hero's alright with it," Hiroshi answered, though he began to think about something.
"But wouldn't us being all in one place make us even more of a target!?" Minoru said, still trembling.
"Perhaps it can, but it will be easier to protect you all in one place instead of being spread out across the city," Principal Nezu said. As the students murmured amidst themselves, Hiroshi looked at Detective Tsukauchi.
"Detective Tsukauchi, about what I asked you after the Alien Barossa and Autogedon attack-"
"I'm sorry, Hiroshi, but you know the answer is no-"
"Are you kidding!? We all just faced against Virus!" Hiroshi said, motioning to all of his classmates. "He said that he's not going to fight us again any time soon, but that doesn't mean that he won't be sending other aliens after us, right!? It's like I said, everyone's... everyone's a target here. Whether it's because of me being around, or it being entirely coincidental, we need to be ready to use our Quirks against aliens wherever we are! I don't know if they could've made a difference against Virus, but at least let them help me fight other aliens, especially if there's a giant one that I need to fight while there's a small one around!"
Detective Tsukauchi closed his eyes as he thought long and hard about this. "... I'll at least bring it up to the police chiefs and government officials the next time we meet about you and Hero."
"I'll join you," All Might said, getting up. "Maybe they'll be more agreeable if I'm with you and vouch for it."
"I as well," Principal Nezu said, nodding. "We won't be revealing what happened today to the public, since that could cause too much worry about the possibility of Virus and his allies attacking anyone at any time. Only us and the government will be aware of this. With the fact that there were zero witnesses besides you all, we can write this off as a training exercise that got too intense."
The Hero Course students turned to each other and murmured, wondering how to feel about all of the things they had just learned today.
"I'm... I'm sorry," Izuku finally said, softly. His hands balled up tight, as tears streamed down his face. "I'm sorry I never told anyone else in our classes about One for All... I... I'm sorry that I lied about my Quirk, and that I'm actually Quirkless, I... I-"
"It's alright, Midoriya," Itsuka said, lowering herself to look at the green-haired boy in the eyes. "You had your reasons not to have told us, since All Might did ask you to keep it a secret. And what everyone said about Hiroshi during the Heroes vs. Villains exercise, it probably stung you a lot deeper than we thought, huh?"
"Yea, that must've... really hurt, huh?" Denki said. "I guess I should say sorry to you too about it."
"It isn't like you didn't earn your place, Young Midoriya," All Might said, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Remember, you spend all those months working nonstop to turn your body into a proper vessel for One for All, and you've earned your entry into UA fair and square."
"But what about him breaking all of his bones? You never broke any of your bones, All Might!" Eijiro said, remembering when he saw Izuku destroy the Zero Pointer.
"Well, that's because I sorta just finished my training right before the exam," Izuku admitted. "I hadn't had any time to actually train using One for All, since I had to focus on making my body stronger... Otherwise, my limbs might've exploded off, period. It's only thanks to Hiroshi and the others that I learned how to use it across my body evenly, and even then it's only at percentages rather than full strength. Right now it's like, 18%."
"I think the 'bones breaking' thing is pretty close to that," Tsuyu pointed out.
"Sorry we said all those things, Midoriya," Kinoko said, looking ashamed. "I guess... a lot of us were just hurt that something this big was kept from us for so long."
"Yea, a lot of it was uncalled for..." Mashirao added, as those who were angry about being kept out of the secret of One for All followed with their own apologies. Even Neito apologized, especially when he saw Itsuka's hand raised to chop him on the neck.
"I suppose my guess that you and All Might were related wasn't far off, then," Shoto said, as Hiroshi and Izuku thought back to their conversation at the Sports Festival, and Hiroshi held back a snicker at the memory of Shoto asking Izuku if he was All Might's secret child.
"It's... it's alright, I understand you all," Izuku said, smiling sadly. "I wish I could've told you all earlier..."
"What I want to know still is why Hiroshi and your friends got to be in the know, still!" Tetsutetsu said, pointing to Hiroshi and the others.
"It's because Midoriya mentioned how he was Quirkless for a long time before his manifested recently," Hiroshi explained. "Setsuna, Fuka, and I are extremely familiar with the ins and outs of Quirklessness because of me, remember? Quirk manifestation in later life is almost unheard of, which is why we spied on Midoriya when he went to talk to Bakugo after the Heroes vs. Villains exercise, since Fuka realized that the two might've been friends 'cuz of Midoriya's nickname for him."
"Yea, and with my Quirk-" Setsuna popped off her right eye and ear, "- it was real easy to overhear what they were talking about."
"We... just came across them while we were walking to the shoe lockers," Ochako admitted, scratching the back of her head. "Yaoyorozu and Jiro were getting along after the exercise since they were on the same team. Same with me and Tsunotori. Iida was walking with me since we're friends, too. It was by total accident that we found out."
"Wait wait wait wait," Denki said, holding his hands up. "Are you saying that Bakugo knew about this, too!?"
"Not like he believed Midoriya," Setsuna said, shrugging. "He pretty much wrote off what he said as a lie at the time."
"Yea, I just... I just wanted to let him know that I was similar to Hiroshi," Izuku admitted. "All Might entrusted me with his power like how Hero entrusted Hiroshi with his, and I just thought... that we were really similar because of it."
"When you put it that way, you two are way more similar than we thought," Hanta said. "Quirkless guys proving themselves to powerful beings? No wonder you guys get along so well."
"I guess that you telling Bakugo makes sense now," Hiroshi said. He stepped forward, and looked at all of his classmates and friends. "Listen, I know that this is something bigger than any of us really planned for our hero careers. Hell, it's even bigger than what I expected myself. I don't blame you all if you don't want to be a part of it, but now that you do, all I can ask is if you want to join our SiDE Team."
"What's that?" Ibara asked, confused. Pony perked up a bit, and handed the mouse back to Koji.
"It... it stands for Situation Defense Emergency Team," she said, scribbling it on the dry eraseboard to show them how to write it. "I... I came up with it on the day Alien Barossa and Autogedon attacked. I was inspired by the names of the defense teams that Hero and Hiroshi told us about, since a lot of them had acronyms for something."
"Yea, it's our unofficial alien defense group," Setsuna said, nodding. "I mean, initially we were just planning on keeping an eye on aliens so that Hiroshi can take care of them later, but if this plan does go through, I guess we can start doing 'official' alien defense stuff!"
"You can count me in!" Eijiro said, grinning as he pointed to himself with his thumb.
"Me too!" Mina followed. "Virus and aliens like him won't get away from us!"
"Same here!" Denki added. "I was ready to jump in to help Iida, so why not jump in to help with this!?"
"If it weren't for my impromptu trip into the dark that Virus and his kin use, none of this would have happened. It is my responsibility to use this new ability of mine to help," Shihai said, feeling guilt about how he found out about everyone's secrets. "Though I'm not quite sure if I can manifest that ability consciously, since it was an accident..."
"I... I want to help," Yui said, looking at the SiDE Team teens with determination.
Shoto silently nodded, his fists tightened. He wasn't going to stop until Virus was punished, for stabbing at the old wounds he thought he was growing over. Soon, everyone began affirming their membership into the SiDE Team.
"No."
The room turned and stared at Katsuki, who glared at Hiroshi and Izuku.
"Bakugo, what are you saying-" Eijiro began to ask.
"I'm not going to join this dumb SiDE Team of yours. Not until I have a fight with Deku or Furinji."
"Are you seriously trying to pick a fight now!? Of all times!?" Denki said, exasperated.
"I want to know what makes Deku so special to get All Might's Quirk," Katsuki said, calmly. "I'm not satisfied with that answer. I want him to prove that he deserved it. And I still haven't gotten that fight from Furinji using all of his power."
"Bakugo, this isn't the time," Hiroshi said, narrowing his eyes at him. "If need be, I can ask my parents if your punishment can be shortened even quicker-"
"It's not about the punishment!" Katsuki shouted. "I- I need to know if my way is the correct way! I don't care about whatever dumb consequence I'm dealing with! If Deku's way is better than mine that All Might is backing him up on it, then he needs to prove it to me!"
"He doesn't need to prove anything-"
"I'll do it," Izuku said, cutting Hiroshi off. "I'll fight you."
Hiroshi raised an eyebrow, as the others stared at him. "Really? You sure?" Hiroshi said, slightly confused.
"Yes, I am. I... I want to truly prove that I'm worthy of One for All. I know you all apologized for what you said, but I... I still need to show you all my worthiness," Izuku said, firmly. "All Might, Principal Nezu, I know that Kacchan's barred from combat training and sparring, but do you think-"
"Hm... Perhaps," Principal Nezu contemplated. "Considering the circumstances behind what happened today, I suppose showing your fellow classmates your worthiness of being All Might's successor can be done. We can take you to Gym Gamma for it."
"I'd argue against it, but I know that it'll be useless arguing against two boys who made up their minds," Recovery Girl sighed. "I better come along with you all so I can heal any of your injuries quickly there."
"Let's go," Katsuki said, walking past everyone and out the door. The Hero Course students all glanced at each other before following him out.
"Are you nuts, Midoriya!?" Fuka said, looking at him. "Neither you nor Hiroshi owe Bakugo a fight!"
"I know," Izuku answered. "But this is something that the two of us had needed to do for a long time. I want to show him that I've grown strong, and that I've caught up- no, that I've been his equal for a long time!"
"I think I understand it a bit. I have zero intention of fighting him again any time soon, but you're free to do it," Hiroshi said, shrugging. He held out his right hand for a fist bump. "Just give this your best, alright?"
"Of course," Izuku replied, as he returned it.
Gym Gamma
"Since it was Mr. Bakugo who challenged Mr. Midoriya, I think it should be him who chooses the rules of the match," Principal Nezu said, as everyone stood to the sides, with Katsuki and Izuku in the center of the gym in a ring with some rock formations around and in the ring.
"Fine by me," Katsuki said, readying himself. "Doesn't matter what rules we'll do, I'm going to win this."
"I-I guess we should have a time limit? 3 minutes max? Ring outs count? And whoever's down for longer past a 10 second count before the timer ends loses?" Izuku said, listing off potential rules. "Only one round?"
"Whatever," Katsuki said.
"Alright," Principal Nezu said, setting the timer on his watch. "You may start... now!"
Katsuki launched himself towards Izuku with two powerful Explosions propelling him. Before he could swing his right hand into him, however, Izuku had disappeared from his sight. He grunted as he felt Izuku's foot make contact with his back, pushing him towards the edge of the ring before using an Explosion to reorient himself away from the edge. Izuku sprinted towards Katsuki, who threw off a series of Explosions, creating a smokescreen. He turned towards his side, using his Explosions to spin himself around like a wheel of fire towards Izuku, who leaped towards the side to dodge him. Katsuki followed up with an Explosion to fly to the side, aiming to slug Izuku in the face with a right hook.
"Damn, I forgot how much of a fighting genius Bakugo is..." Sen said, as Explosions filled the air.
"Even when he hasn't been allowed to fight, he's still really strong!" Mina said, clenching her teeth.
"Don't you guys notice, though?" Hiroshi said, as Izuku dodged Katsuki again, moving behind him and punching him in the back before leaping towards a rock pillar to jump off of, landing a kick against Katsuki's back. "Midoriya's a lot faster than him. Bakugo's not landing any clear hits."
"Dammit! How is Deku fast enough to dodge my Explosions!?" Katsuki thought, as he launched several Explosions, though once again Izuku had moved out of the way, and landed a kick against Katsuki's arm. "How did he get this strong!?"
"Ever since I got One for All, I've been training hard to catch up to you!" Izuku said, as Katsuki landed on the ground. Katsuki held his hands together, forming a sphere of light and fire, before releasing it.
"STUN GRENADE!" he yelled, as light and smoke flooded the gym. Everyone covered their eyes, while Hiroshi had flipped his helmet's visor down to filter the light. This didn't stop Izuku, however, who tackled the explosive boy.
"You were always so strong! So I chased after you! I chased and chased! But now! Now I've passed you!" Izuku cried, as Katsuki landed against a rock pillar. "I'm not the weakling that I was before!"
"You haven't passed me at all!" Katsuki shouted, as he blew Izuku away with an Explosion. He propelled forward with his Explosions, landing a kick in Izuku's gut. "I'm no one's second or third best! I'm the best, period! I'll beat you, and then I'll beat Furinji!"
"That's what you think! But I'm not about to let you do that easily!" Izuku cried, as he grabbed Katsuki's leg, and tossed him up into the sky. "I'm not the weak and worthless Deku you knew! I'm the Deku who can do his best!"
"If you can do your best, try stopping this!" Katsuki yelled, as he blasted himself upwards towards the ceiling. He angled himself towards Izuku, and started to launch Explosions, spinning around until a tornado of smoke formed around him. "That alien might've stopped it, but I doubt you can! Take this! HOWITZER IMPACT-"
But before he could finish gathering up the power he needed to release his Explosion, Izuku had appeared in front of him, his right leg above his head.
"MANCHESTER SMASH!" Izuku cried, bringing his leg down onto Katsuki's back in a powerful axe kick. His attack interrupted, Katsuki fell to the ground, the amount of power he gathered for his Explosion immediately released, creating a small crater and a cloud of smoke around the two. When it cleared, Izuku had pinned him down with his foot square on his back, while Katsuki struggled to push himself up from underneath him.
"Dammit, no! I haven't lost yet!" Katsuki shouted, trying to push himself up. "I can still-"
"Time's up, Mr. Bakugo," Principal Nezu said, as his watch's timer went off. Izuku lifted his foot off of his back. "And from the looks of things, I'd say that this is Mr. Midoriya's victory."
Katsuki stared at Principal Nezu for what seemed like hours, before he let his head down onto the ground, defeated. Humiliated. He... he really was weak.
"You're nothing compared to All Might's heir or Ultraman Hero's host. You want to be strong, but you're not. You'll always be second best. Or rather, third best now."
Katsuki screamed as Virus's words rang in his head, gnashing his teeth and pounding the ground. "He was right! He was right! Dammit! Dammit dammit dammit! I- I really am weak! First I couldn't beat Furinji and his alien without him using his full strength, and now I couldn't beat Deku without him using his full strength, either!"
Everyone watched as Katsuki broke down, tears dripping onto the ground. "I- I won't let this stop me! I'm going to catch up to you two! I'm going to get stronger and stronger until I don't lose ever again! Not even to that Virus bastard! I'm not about to let you all pass me!"
Izuku smiled a bit as he looked at his explosive childhood friend. "That's... that's one of the things I still like about you, Kacchan. Your determination to be the best, to win... that's the greatest thing about you."
"It is certainly your best quality, Young Bakugo," All Might said, as he and Recovery Girl walked over to him. She healed his injuries, and the boy got up, reluctantly taking All Might's hand to help steady himself. "As much as saving people is important, the drive to win is as well. To stop villains from winning, you need to want to win even more. Without both, I could've never become the hero I am. And I think that you, Young Midoriya, Young Hiroshi, and all of your classmates can become the greatest heroes, greater than me. Heroes that can save by winning, and win by saving."
"Fine by me," Hiroshi said, sighing. He looked at Katsuki. "I can at least respect that determination of yours. I... still don't know if we'll ever actually like each other, but with the things the way they are now, we'll need to help each other out as much as we can. So if you want to be stronger than me, than I want to be stronger than you."
"... Hmph, fine by me," Katsuki said, begrudgingly. "I guess I'll join this... SiDE Team of yours, then. I'm not about to let you all leave me behind in the dust ever again."
The two nodded, and walked off in separate directions from each other.
"So... I guess everything is good between them now?" Denki said, trying to make heads and tail of what happened.
"Probably as good as it'll get between them," Setsuna shrugged. "They definitely won't be hanging out any time soon."
"Does this mean we can lift that 'excommunication by spirit' thing we were doing with Bakugo?" Eijiro said, reminding everyone about what they did at the Sports Festival.
"Considering the situation we're now all in, yea," Setsuna said. "Can't really work together if we're 'excommunicating' someone."
"Oh thank god, I was feeling way too guilty about it..." Eijiro said, sighing a breath of relief.
"You're really got a good heart, Kirishima," Fuka complimented. "The whole thing was an accident to begin with, and just bad luck overall. Hopefully with everything that's happened from then to now, Bakugo's attitude will be better. Or more bearable."
As the teens dispersed, heading out of the gym, All Might and the rest of his secret keepers remained inside to talk for a bit more.
"That Midoriya kid really got strong, huh?" Detective Tsukauchi said. "I bet he could give Hiroshi and Hero a better run for the money now."
"Feh, he's still got a long way to go," Gran Torino mumbled. "He's only scratching the surface of One for All with that 18% of his."
"He's made great progress, though," Principal Nezu stated. "Thanks to Furinji and his friends, and yours and All Might's guidance, he's becoming a spectacular hero."
"Those boys are going to be something else," All Might said. "I wonder if this will be the start of them fixing their relationship..."
"At the very least Mr. Hiroshi is willing to work with Mr. Bakugo compared to before," Principal Nezu said. "Now, let's go to the faculty and help finalize that dormitory plan..."
At the seedy bar in a suspicious alley
"So where have you been all fucking day?" Tomura muttered as Virus stepped off the wall. Illne had been sitting at the bar, staring at the bottles on the wall while Kurogiri stood behind the counter. "Was enjoying my time before you came back, even if she was here..."
"Oh, just went on a little detour on my way here," Virus said, taking a seat at a table.
"What would you need to take a detour for?" Kurogiri asked, as he picked up a towel and wiped a glass.
"Just for a little fun, nothing else," Virus answered. "Nothing that you need to be concerned with."
"Really? Because one of my insiders has told me that you had paid a visit to UA," Tomura's Teacher said through the monitor. Kurogiri and Tomura stared at Virus, shocked at what he did. "Care to explain?"
"Ooooh, sounds like you got me," Virus laughed, pretending to have been shot in the chest. "For your information, it really was a detour. I was on my way here when I saw that one of those UA students in the world of shadows my kin and I use to travel through."
"What!?" Illne said, snapping her away to face Virus.
"Holy shit, you can talk," Tomura snickered, when Illne instantly appeared behind him and smacked his head against the counter before reappearing in her seat. "GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! Stop doing that!"
"So some earthling got their way into our world of shadows!? Did you at least kill them!?" Illne said, ignoring the fact that she had just slammed Tomura's head against the counter.
"Oh no, I left him alive. Broken limbs, but alive. I think he gained that ability thanks to us using our own ability so many times on Earth, which weakened the boundary between the world of shadows and how his Quirk operated," Virus dismissed. "Ended up confronting them after launching him out. Fought Ultraman Hero and All Might, but left them alive, just for you and your plans. Revealed some pretty big secrets to them all. Especially All Might's."
"Hm? So you told them about the true nature of his power?" Tomura's Teacher said.
"What? What about that hypocrite's power?" Tomura said, confused.
"Nothing that concerns you for now," Virus said. "After all, Mr. Hero and his host impressed me today, so I gave them my word that I wouldn't say anything else to anyone about the secrets I know of those students."
"Why not!? We can reveal to the world the truth about those hypocrites!"
"Because that won't be any fun," Virus said, shaking his head. "Revealing secrets with zero flair like that won't bring enough despair. It'll just be a rumor, gossip, hearsay. His secrets will be revealed in due time, but in an extravagant way! A way that I'm sure your teacher has ideas for!"
"Indeed," Tomura's Teacher replied. "The knowledge that those children know changes nothing. All you need to do Young Tomura is destroy."
"Forgot any of that!" Illne said, still annoyed with Virus. "The fact that they have someone that can move through the same world of shadows means that this person's a threat! Why would you-"
"Illne," Virus said, his hands together and his voice a low tone. Illne stopped talking immediately. "Nothing's changed. Just because one of them has attained our ability doesn't mean anything. Remember, we've had this power longer than Quirks on Earth. This boy just got his recently through happenstance. He's not going to be able to utilize the power nearly as well without guidance, which none of us will provide him. So don't waste time worrying about something inconsequential."
"... My apologies, Virus," Illne said, bowing to him with her left arm in front of her chest. Tomura grumbled and got up, storming towards the backdoor.
"Going to your room, Shigaraki?" Kurogiri asked.
"Yea, I need some more time to myself," he muttered as he shut the door behind him. "Stupid fucking aliens... Just what the hell are they planning?"
Virus watched as the door slammed shut, as a thought occurred to him. "Illne, I think you should go join our allies in the mountains. I'll be there later. I just... need to take another detour."
A While After the Fight, in UA's Conference Room...
"So that Virus guy can break in any time he wants!?" Present Mic said, after being caught up with what happened at Training Field Gamma. Principal Nezu, Detective Tsukauchi, and All Might joined them shortly after Aizawa and Vlad King finished talking to them, with All Might confirming everything, though he left the parts about One for All and All for One out. "All that money we spent on upgrading the security's gone to crap, then!"
"This is... This is even worse than we could've imagined," Cementoss muttered, his fists tightening. "To think, that even with our security upgrades, this alien can come in and out any time he wants!"
"We're lucky that varmint has some sort of nebulous alien plan that requires people alive, even if he's been sendin' out those giant aliens," Snipe said, crossing his arms. "I don't buy that it's just some sort of 'show' or that he simply wants to 'indulge in world's darkness', though. A scoundrel like that has got to have something bigger in mind."
"I know that he would've gone after the students after the USJ Incident..." Midnight whispered. "I... I just didn't think he could do it at any time."
"This just means that the proposed plan of making UA a boarding school rather than a day school needs to be a reality," Principal Nezu stated plainly. "We'll start off with only making it required for the Hero Course students, under the premise that we're testing it, before fully implementing it for the rest of the school. We can protect and keep an eye on the students more easily this way."
"I'll get to work on that as soon as possible," Cementoss stated, knowing that his Quirk will assist the creation of these dorms greatly.
"And Furinji raised a good point about the First Year Hero Course students being a target for aliens," Detective Tsukauchi sighed, shaking his head. "I hate to admit it, but he's right that they're going to need special alien defense licenses or something to at least protect themselves legally. The fact that two of the four past attacks involved the UA students, and counting today's attack, shows that Virus has a vested interest in them for whatever reason. They can't afford to really wait for the Provisional License exam in September, and the one in June would be too close for them to get reasonable training done in time..."
"And he knows about All Might's injuries and weakness, so that's a big concern," Vlad King grumbled. "This bastard's got way too many aces in his sleeves..."
"At the very least, he's holding off on telling the world about my secret," All Might said, not knowing whether or not to trust the alien's word. "I suppose that he's just waiting for the right opportunity for it..."
"I hope that opportunity never comes, who knows what it'll be..." Midnight said, her brow furrowed. "But the safety of our Hero Course students comes first for now."
"I'll get to sending emails to the parents of all students across the Courses about the change to a boarding school," Principal Nezu said. "It'll be good to let every student know about this, even if we're only testing it with the Hero Course students for now. Eraserhead, Vlad King, you'll handle meeting with their parents to get their approval-"
"I'll go with them," All Might said, as he shifted into his muscle form. "After all, I'm sure that that they'll be won over with my winning smile!"
"Fine with me," Aizawa sighed. "This is going to be troublesome..."
"No doubt," Vlad King agreed.
In All for One's Lair...
"So that fool All Might got his secrets exposed, did he?" All for One said, as he rapped his fingers against his armrest. He smirked, or at least, as much as his massively scarred face would allow him to. "How amusing. Those aliens are certainly proving to be a useful toy."
"That they are, but I'm becoming... concerned," the Doctor said, as he observed the alien Nomus, who were developing faster than any human Nomu would normally develop. In fact, there was a chance that they could become High Ends, though they'd have to make sure that they cut their development before then. Having potentially disobedient High End Nomus would be disastrous after all. "If he could see that man's secrets through this world of shadows, then what are the chances that he'll know ours-"
"Hmph, don't worry about it, Doctor," All for One replied, shaking his head. "I've taken a few shadow-based Quirks over the years. They should be sufficient enough to block him off from our shadows. While I'm not a fan of their more technique-based abilities, I knew they'll be useful one day."
"I suppose so," the Doctor mumbled, though he wasn't entirely convinced. If observing the aliens and how their powers and abilities interacted with human Quirks told him anything, it's that there's a strange unpredictable reaction between them all. Tomura's Quirk didn't work on Virus or Hero after all (or at least didn't disintegrated either of them, since Hero reacted with pain instead of Virus's ambivalence), and Stain couldn't ingest Virus's blood for his Quirk, as it forced him to vomit an inky black fluid (Kurogiri was still struggling to remove it from the floor). And while creating the alien Nomus was going smoothly, it frustrated him that he couldn't insert any advanced Quirks beyond super regeneration. It seemed like the most basic of Quirks, such as enhanced physical perimeters or claw generation, were compatible with alien bodies. When he tried inserting a bio-rocket mutant-type Quirk into the Alien Boze Nomu, the cloned Quirk disintegrated instantly. He repeated the process with a blade-whip arm transformation-type Quirk, only for that to also disintegrate.
So the chance that Virus could be stopped by shadow-based Quirks wasn't necessarily comforting. Hopefully with All for One's ability to combine them they'd get something strong to stop him, though.
Tomura's Room
Tomura grumbled as he browsed the internet. Any article or video he saw 'involving' the Unearthly League was really just about Stain or those damn aliens. It was frustrating. Sure, the aliens were useful for upending this dumb hero-obsessed society, since he's been seeing more people questioning the effectiveness of 'heroes' thanks to the giant alien attacks, but Stain... Stain was just there stealing credit! He didn't even want to be a part of the Unearthly League!
"Sulking, aren't we?"
Tomura swiveled his chair around, and saw Virus stepping off his wall. He grabbed an empty coffee mug, and threw it at the alien. "Get out of my room!"
The cup shattered upon impact. "You know, if simple metal knives didn't work on me, a porcelain cup wouldn't either."
"What do you want!? Don't you have some mysterious shadowy alien shit to get to!?" Tomura hissed, as Virus took a seat on his bed.
"Nah, that can wait for a bit, I just want to talk for a while," Virus said, as he picked off a coin from Tomura's nightstand and started to roll it against his knuckle. "We've never had a one-to-one chat, after all."
"I'm not interested," Tomura spat out, swiveling his chair around to face away from Virus. "Not since I lost my fingers to you fucking aliens."
"Oof, still sore about that?"
"I can never use my Quirk again, asshole!"
"At least you can hold things now without worrying about disintegrating them."
"What's the point if I can't take this shitty society down without it!?"
"Sounds like you can emphasize with Quirkless people now."
"I- I..."
Tomura trailed off. Why did that sound familiar? Why did something tug at his heart? He shook the feeling off. "I don't care about shitty Quirkless people! I just want to destroy this dumb world!"
"And that's it?"
"Of fucking course! That's the only thing I want! Just what else is there!?"
"That's what I like you," Virus chuckled, rolling the coin onto his thumb and started flipping it. "Destroy, destroy, destroy. Nothing more, nothing less. Just like the puppet you are."
"What did you just call me!?" Tomura spun around in his chair to glare at Virus.
"Oops, you weren't supposed to know that," Virus said, pretending as if he said that by accident. "Well, I suppose that if you want me gone, I'll just go-"
"No. Tell me exactly what you mean by calling me a puppet!"
"It isn't anything important that you need to know. Your Teacher and the Doctor know what they're doing, so all you need to do is trust them, right?" Virus said, as the coin spun in the air. "You know enough as it is, don't you?"
"Are you saying that I'm nothing but a puppet to them!?" Tomura growled, furrowing his eyebrows.
"Isn't that what you basically are? Have they told you anything else?"
"Of course! They... I..."
"Oh, let me guess, they don't tell you anything else because you 'won't learn' that way. That the only way to learn is to come to the conclusions yourself. Is that it?"
"Like you're any better! You're keeping fucking secrets too! You're not telling anyone anything-"
"That's because my plans don't genuinely involve you, your Teacher, or the Doctor. You don't need to know anything about my plans. We may be allies and our methods might align, but our plans can't be anymore different," Virus justified. "But I'm pretty sure that whatever they have in mind does involve you. So why don't you know any more?"
Virus flipped the coin hard, embedding it into Tomura's ceiling. "I think I'll let you think on that now, much like your beloved Teacher and Doctor. After all, they're the only ones who know what's best, right?"
Virus got up and stepped into the wall, disappearing in a shadowy mass. Tomura began scratching at his neck, the itch growing intense. What did that alien know!? His Teacher and the Doctor trusted him, he wasn't some puppet. Just because Virus could see secrets-
He paused. Virus could see secrets through that weird shadowy ability of his. So he does know more than he lets on. Does... does that mean he's right? Is he just a puppet? He scratched and scratched at his neck. What a pain! Aliens are a pain!
ORIGINAL AO3 NOTES:
- Very dialogue heavy chapter this time, isn't it? Kinda had to be, considering what happened the last chapter.
- I figured that some of them would at least feel a little betrayed by not being let in on the secret, so I hope the choices I made make sense with who'd be upset and who wouldn't.
- That's right, we're getting the Izuku vs. Katsuki fight that was in between the Provisional License Arc and the Shie Hassaikai Arc early! Makes sense, since that fight was about Katsuki realizing that Izuku got One for All from All Might and wanting to see what made him so worthwhile for All Might to back him up. And we're also getting the dorms early! Well, at least for the Hero Course students as a 'testing phase' before they implement it for all courses.
- Also, this time around Izuku pretty much dominated the fight against Katsuki, since in canon Katsuki had to push himself to his then-current limits to keep up with Izuku at 8%. And Izuku in UHA has stated that he's reached about 18% percent of One for All now.
- So I finally got some of the MHA manga volumes I hadn't gotten since the beginning of 2020 because of lockdown. Been reading them online for free, so I mostly got them for the informational bits. I completely forgot that Jin wore a paper bag over his head instead of a mask, and according to the informational bits, he got his mask and bodysuit after joining the League of Villains. Oops. Well, let's just say that in UHA canon he managed to scrape together a homemade mask.