Maybe getting Yakitori was a mistake.

FUCK YOU, RAMEN FOR LIFE.

Look, I didn't want Ramen, but I could have gone for Udon...

SHUT UP, ME. I LIKE MY WOMEN THICC, NOT MY NOODLES.

He sighed.

If there was one constant annoyance in Bubaigawara Jin's life, it was his indecisive nature. He'd freely admit, even before his existential crisis he never was the easiest man to live with, and nothing was worse than living with yourself. He just second guessed himself far too often. Quite literally too, which was something he sometimes suspected other people didn't do.

For example, right now he wasn't really in the mood for yakitori but at the same time, it was the only thing he could agree on. Funny how life worked out sometimes.

Now he was just waiting for the delivery guy to show up. After all, he didn't like to go out in public. People tended to stare at his scar, and hide their children when he talked. So what if he could be a little exuberant sometimes? There was a lot of him and he always had a lot to say. Nothing wrong with people speaking their minds, right?

He sighed as he felt a gentle rap at the door. Looked like the delivery guy was here.

Time to eat his chicken and like it. It wasn't that he disliked chicken, it was just the only thing he could ever agree on and he was kind of getting tired of it. Would some pork or some beef really be that bad?

With a groan he stood up and walked over to his cash box, pulling it out from under his bed. It was starting to run empty, but at least for the moment his last couple hauls still had enough in them to keep him in rent, takeout, and the occasional trip to the beer vending machine around the block.

He'd need to look into work though, and soon. He didn't want to end up on the street or getting arrested by some hero. After all, he was technically a villain even if he'd never done much besides petty larceny and robbing a couple convenience stores.

With a sigh, he pulled out the yen, only to hear another knock.

"Just give me a moment - I'M GETTING YOUR FUCKING CASH!"

Taking a breath, he walked over to the door and opened it.

"Alright, here's the-" He blinked. That wasn't a delivery guy costume, that was someone's pecs. Someone wearing All-Might's Costume pecs.

He looked up.

And up.

...And a little more up.

The titanic figure, who was indeed gently holding a small takeout container in one of his massive hands simply smiled down to him, his bangs scraping the ceiling as he did.

"...Hi?"

"I am Here! To punch you in the schnoz!"

And then Jin saw stars, and felt pain.

Turns out getting punched in the nose by All Might hurt.

Who'da thunk it?

Eri quietly ate her curry as she lay sprawled out on the couch, fighting for space with several lazy, sleeping cats.

She wasn't at her room in Might Tower, but rather she was home. For the first time in almost a decade, she was home. Or the first time in her life, depending on how you looked at it.

Aizawa Shota's shitty apartment was home to her the way no other place had ever been. It was where she was accepted. It was where her father lived.

Though, admittedly, he wasn't around right now. While they'd decided to spend a few days living together to get to know each other; Her to remember what it was like to have a dad, him to learn what it was like to become father to a prepubescent teenager at age thirty, the fact remained that her old man was a hero. An active duty underground hero who had a job to do. That job being to beat the hell out of villains and bring them in. It was a dangerous one, but she knew he was capable so she didn't worry.

Much.

She really didn't want to lose her dad again.

Yawning and giving her belly a scratch, under the T-shirt she'd borrowed for use as a night dress, she lifted the remote and lazily changed the channel.

It was funny. Her father hated watching TV but had cable. Strange for him, but convenient for her.

"I am Here! To save the day!"

"Next."

"Welcome to Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax!"

"Next..."

"...And now for Shoowaysha News Hour's big scoop of the day..."

She yawned and put down the remote. She couldn't be less interested in watching the news but at the same time she really needed to get up to date with current events so, she guessed it was time to watch the tabloids then...

Rolling on her back as she finished a plate of spicy stew sized for someone twice her size, she rubbed at her full tummy. One she knew would feel empty again in an hour or two as her body struggled to refill her reserves, but at least now she could afford to wait for it and enjoy her meals rather than trying to shove as much down her gullet as quickly as possible.

Thank god she had All Might picking up the tab!

She closed her eyes. She'd have to plan her next gorge sessions with Aunt Nemuri. She was sure the woman would want to be back in the springtime of her youth before the beginning of classes, if only so she could give her male students the bluest balls one and all.

She closed her eyes and loosed a sigh. It wouldn't be the first time she rewound the woman. She'd been in pitiful shape when they'd eventually recovered her after her 'death'.

Eri didn't bother fighting the scowl that came onto her face. She'd been kept as a lab rat for most of her early childhood and understood all too well what kind of hell the woman had gone through.

She wanted to tell her aunt the truth, but at the same time didn't want to worry her about going through what she would have otherwise.

The time traveler glanced at her phone. She wouldn't have to. Eri would make damned sure she never went through that again.

Slowly she reached over, trying to pick it up off the low table without having to stand.

She cried out as she slipped off the couch and landed with a tumble, disrupting several sleeping cats in the process.

"Owie," she grumbled as she recovered herself from a pile of writhing fur and tumbled limbs, to snatch the smartphone off the table.

"Moshi-Moshi, Eri-chan."

"Principal Nezu," she said, "I need to talk to you about something important."

"Hmn? How can I help you, young lady?"

"It's about Midnight."

"Yes?"

"I want to tell her the truth," she said after a moment, "I know the importance of secrecy but she was very important to me and..."

"You don't want to lie to family."

"...Yes," she said after a moment.

"You might want to check with All-Might-san, but I trust Midnight-san's ability to keep a secret."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"Is that all?" he asked cheerfully.

"...No," she said after a pause, "There's something I need to discuss. Something important that isn't written down."

"Yes?"

"I wrote about the PLF uprising. What I didn't mention is... she was captured during it and spent two years in bondage."

The other side of the line was complete silence before Nezu spoke up with an overly saccharine cheer that somehow made her think of frozen sugar. "Please, do continue..."

Eri took a deep breath. Okay. How to phrase this...

"Hold still, and I'll straighten that for you."

"Wait, what's going..."

Toshinori gave the man's nose a quick twist, and with it there was a wet crack and a whole lot of screaming and whimpering .

As much as he hated doing this, sometimes tough love really was the most effective option. Still, he felt a little bad about suckerpunching the poor guy in the nose.

"Owwww..." Bubaigawara Jin, the petty crook and future villain known as Twice, whimpered as he held his bleeding nose. "Are you going to arrest me? But why did you break my nose - THAT WAS A DICK MOVE, YOU PRICK!"

"Ah, yes, Bubaigawara-san," he said loosing a boisterous laugh, "I do apologize for that but I have my reasons! A quick question..."

"Whaaat?" he whimpered. "I need to get some tissue paper..."

All Might smiled and held out the napkins that had come with the man's dinner. That delivery guy had been quite shocked to run into him on the way to the door. He'd paid the young man and promised to handle the delivery himself. One fast signature and a selfie later and he was left quite literally holding the check,

"Tell me, Bubaigawara-san, what normally happens to your clones when they break a bone?."

There was a long pause as the man stopped stuffing paper into his bloody nostrils. "They... they melt." His comprehension shifted to incandescent joy. "I... I didn't melt! I'm real! I'm the real me!" he laughed as he hugged the large man, crying tears of happiness.. "Thank you! Thank you so much! YOU FUCKER, YOU COULDA KILLED ME!"

"Of course not," Toshi waved it off. "I had complete faith that you were the real you."

"But how..." Bubaigawara paused and slumped in his seat. "How did you know... about any of this..." he looked up to Toshinori utterly confused. Then his face fell. "Oh. You came to lock me up. Okay then. I won't fight you. ... I AIN'T GOING QUIETLY!"

"No," Toshinori said quietly as he pulled over a seat to sit across from the man, "You need help, not prison time. And as for why I'm here..." he smiled, "You needed help."

"But... you're you and..."

"I'm the Number One Hero and you're just you?"

He nodded.

Toshinori laughed. "That is inconsequential. All that mattered was that you were lost, frightened, and needed to be saved. I'm a hero. Heroes save people. Sometimes that means fighting a villain. Sometimes that means carrying someone from a burning building. Sometimes that means telling a silly joke to lift someone's spirits. And sometimes that means punching a man in the nose to give him faith in his own existence."

Bubaigawara went silent for a long moment, looking up at Toshinori in utter bewilderment.

"Has... this happened before?"

"You're an interesting case," Toshi replied. He'd had to punch a couple people for their own good a couple times, but this was a new one, even for him.

"Oh..." Bubaigawara went silent before smiling weakly. "Thanks?"

"Haha!" Toshinori laughed, patting him on the shoulder, "All in a day's work."

"So uh… what now?"

"Now we discuss what to do with you," Toshinori replied. "After all, I don't believe prison would help you."

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" the scarred criminal blurted out.

Toshinori chuckled. He had to admit, even though he didn't want to, he was a funny man... even if it was rather sad.

"Tell me, why did you commit your crimes?" Toshinori asked. Here was the big part. The question. He found himself hoping that Twice had a more acceptable logic than Magne. Then again, he also wasn't a murderer.

He shrugged, "Guy's gotta eat?"

Toshinori peaked an eyebrow. "And that's it?"

Bubaigawara nodded. "The world's hard - AND NINE TO FIVE'S A SUCKER'S GAME."

Toshinori paused. "Why do you say that?"

The man took a deep breath. "Because it's not fair. You work yourself to death to make your boss rich while they toss you the scraps. What's the point of even trying?"

Toshinori's smile faded. He wasn't going to pry. He had a feeling there was a story there, and not a pleasant one. He'd have to ask Mirai for more information on his background.

"I see." Toshinori took a breath, "You're not a villain. While you've made a number of mistakes and committed some crimes, you never hurt anyone. What you did, while unacceptable, was done without malice."

While not technically true according to Japanese law, he found himself agreeing with the brief overview he'd been given by Eri. This man was damaged, not evil, and he deserved better than to be extrajudicially executed by Hawks because his quirk was dangerous.

That was something that he found completely unacceptable, and if he caught the younger man pulling that sort of nonsense under his watch, he'd be forced to destroy him.

He pursed his lips. While sometimes heroes might be forced to kill, that sort of behavior was the antithesis of everything heroes were intended to stand for. It both disgusted him and the fact that he was even capable of it as much as so quick to resort to it made him question the number three's suitability for the profession as much as his high placement in the rankings.

"What I'm thinking is we start with therapy," he said after a moment. With Twice's issues, court mandated psychiatric care would be easy to swing, and with the power of his quirk, it would be very easy to justify keeping him well away from prison. The man was vulnerable and easily influenced. All it would take would be one bad influence for him to go from petty criminal to major threat.

"...And find you a paying job. A fair and equitable wage for an honest day's work. Help you get your head on straight and keep you away from criminality."

"Where would I find that?" he asked. "AND WHO'D HIRE A GUY LIKE ME, ANYWAYS?"

"I would!" Toshinori replied, causing the man to blink.

"Wait, what?"

"I have a building. How about a place on the custodial staff? Work's hard but the wage is fair. That I will guarantee."

"Isn't Might Tower in Roppongi?" Twice asked. "THAT'S LIKE AN HOUR ON THE TRAIN EACH WAY!"

Toshinori shrugged. He had a point... then again...

He glanced around the small, cramped apartment. It was livable, but that was the kindest he could say. The furniture was ragged and ratty, the table and few rugs worn, and the fixtures were covered in a layer of grime with spots of rust that he could spot from here. He'd give the stove even odds on whether or not it would turn on, really.

Livable. If you were generous, and he knew it wasn't just this one. Entire building was crumbling both outside and in.

"How attached are you to this apartment?"

"It's all I can afford - IT'S A DUMP, BUT IT'S MY DUMP!"

"How about I give you a place to stay? There are some small suites in the tower I could lend you until you could find somewhere better. No charge."

One of the smaller hotel rooms maybe? One of the condos would be too suspicious.

"Wait, you're offering me a place to stay - FUCKIN' SOLD!"

Toshinori chuckled. "Well, we'll need to discuss things with your caseworker. But once the legal side of things is handled, I am sure everything will turn out alright. And who knows... maybe one day, when you've sorted yourself out... if you find the will within you, you might even become a hero someday! You certainly have the Quirk for it."

Better a hero than a villain after all.

Izuku absently chewed at the eraser of his pencil in thought as he looked over the various sketches his mother had helped him come up with. Image was important to any hero, but before now he'd been more interested in being like All Might than being a hero in his own right. Even as All Might's successor he'd just wanted to be more... All Might-y.

But now that wasn't an option. He wasn't All Might's successor anymore. One day, he was going to have to step up and be able to stand by his side. Instead of having to fill the world's largest pair of shoes, he was going to have to stand on his own and become a hero in his own right. Not All Might's replacement, but All Might's equal.

The idea alone was terrifying, but he wasn't at all scared. After all, he'd done it once. Eri had told him that he did in that dark future they were going to prevent - and they would prevent it. It was scary, but this time they knew it was coming. This time the world would be prepared. They were going to have not only the Symbol of Hope, but the Symbol of Peace as well.

He had faith. He had to.

But there was his problem. If he was to become the 'Symbol of Hope' he needed to shine on his own, to be identifiable as his own hero and not just some... kid trying to ape All Might, no matter how awesome and thoroughly ape-able the man was. He needed to be his own sort of hero, strong, inspiring, and impressive.

Or at least he needed to not just imitate him superficially, he needed to draw inspiration from him on a deeper level. Not just name and style like he'd done in so many childhood fantasies and drawings, but instead he needed to capture the essence of All Might, that amazing inspirational strength and power his mentor possessed, not just the superficial trappings.

He sighed as he looked down at the drawing on the page and drew an 'X' through it before turning to the next page.

He was lucky he'd dedicated an entire notebook to costume design concepts otherwise he'd have completely ruined one of his beloved record books...

"This is a lot harder than it sounded in my head," he muttered to himself as he turned to the next page. "Maybe I should start over with one of my original concepts and work my way from there..."

Or maybe he should just ask Eri about his future self and figure out what costume he'd worn and go from there. But then again, that almost felt like cheating. Being his own hero meant not only not copying All Might but also meant not being a carbon copy of his once and future self.

"Izuku!" he heard his mother excitedly yell from the other room, before he heard the sound of someone rapidly approaching his door "Izuku!" she exclaimed again as she began to rapidly knock on his door. Not quite pound, mind you, but it was close.

Quietly he stood and walked over to the door, opening it with a confused expression. "Mom? What is it?"

"It's here!" she cried out as she held up a thick envelope in two hands. "It's from UA! It's here!"

Izuku gasped as he felt pins and needles run down his back. On an intellectual level he knew not to be worried. The Principal had outright told him that he'd made the cut, but hearing it off the record and seeing it officially were two different things. Two fundamentally different things.

"Come on in mom," he said as he loosed a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding in with a deep, slow sigh, more to calm his own excitement than anything. His mom was excited. He was too, but he wanted to be the cool and collected one. After all, he was already in. He knew it. That much alone was a dream come true. All this letter would do is tell him his rankings and he was fine with that. He really didn't care over-much about his placement.

All he wanted was to be a hero...

But at the same time, he was maybe just a little bit curious to see how he'd done...

"Come on, mom!" he said with a smile as he gently accepted the letter from her. "Let's sit down and open it together."

She smiled and nodded as he exited his room with her and sat on the couch.

Carefully he opened the wax seal holding it closed. It was cool that UA used such an archaic way of sealing their test results and it would make a really awesome piece of memorabilia some day! Maybe one day it might even be in a hero museum! The envelope from the Symbol of Hope's UA entrance results! How cool would that be? It wouldn't do to damage something like that!

Oh, what he'd do to see All Might's envelope!

Did he still have it?

Would he let him see it!?

Midoriya shook his head from that line of thought and withdrew a standard single media prerecorded holoprojector from the envelope , causing his eyebrow to peak. Such devices, while not exactly expensive, weren't cheap either. He had a number of them himself, most featuring various examples of heroic media such as his prized copy of All Might's Greatest Battles.

That UA would spend the money on something as simple as an acceptance letter said everything that needed saying about their operational budget.

This one would be going on the shelf.

Taking a deep breath he slowly placed it on the table and pushed the top to begin the recording.

"I AM HERE, AS A RECORDING!"

It was All Might standing strong, proud, and youthful dressed in a ridiculous golden pinstripe suit that even the Symbol of Peace couldn't pull off without looking kind of like a … well…

A Dweeb.

He looked like a dweeb.

Not that he was a dweeb! Not All Might, no way, but he kind of looked like one, which really just sold his acting abilities more than anything else.

Yeah, that had to be it.

"Greetings, Midoriya-shonen! I do apologize for not spending any time training you since the exam, but I have been rather busy, both with my heroic duties as well as my preparations for the upcoming semester..." he learned in and made as if he were doing a stage whisper, "Plus they're making me do one of these for every applicant..."

Izuku couldn't help but flinch. There'd been hundreds of applicants. For quite possibly the first time in his life, he was kinda-sorta glad that he wasn't All Might.

"But nonetheless, I..." he glanced off to the side at some unseen figure who was apparently trying to get his attention. "Yes, citizen? I was in the middle of speaking to the... turn to Camera two?" He rotated in place. "Alright. We'll fix it in post. Now, where was I?" he paused as he glanced down at a binder and looked back up with a smile. "Ah yes! Your results!"

He grinned widely, that cheesy grin he always had. "Well, you passed, that much is for sure, and what a pass!"

Next to Izuku, his mother squealed in excitement.

"My baby!" she cried out, "My baby is going to UA!"

"Your written results were quite good. Not exceptional, but easily within the top twenty percent of applicants. A solid academic foundation to begin your future as a hero!"

All Might's smile grew as he continued, "Which is going to be quite bright considering your placement in the practical exam! You managed to accrue thirty-eight villain points which alone would have been more than enough to see you enter these halls!"

Izuku couldn't help but smile. He'd done it. He'd done it!

"But as a hero, you're judged on more than simply your ability to defeat villains. No! You're judged on far more..."

He laughed and posed, pointing at a holographic screen inside the holographic scene. "Behold, Midoriya-shonen."

He saw the image of the tall kid with the pompadour he'd punched at the beginning of the exam.

"Hey, you know that kid who gave that speech? There something I can do to give him a leg up? I'd never have been able to pass without that pick-me-up he gave me, and ya know, man's gotta repay his debts...!"

It then cut to an image of a tired looking boy with purple hair looking at the screen.

"I don't know if I passed, but... that green haired boy with the freckles who gave that speech? Look, I don't know how you judge this or even if he was right, but I don't think I'd have had a chance without him." He paused for a moment, "Could you just... tell him thanks for me? Please?"

"There's much more to being a hero than simply defeating villains. True heroes possess a certain quality of character..."

The screen then cut to show him in battle. Even having lived it, it was hard for him to believe that the figure in those clips was him. The recording showed someone who moved with purpose, not a movement wasted, brow furrowed and face set with determination, literally crackling with power while leaping into danger without a moment's hesitation. First it showed him defeating the villain that had threatened Iida then it moved onto him punching another that had been almost about to flank a girl with bunny ears, and then deflecting a missile fired at another student with a pressure wave.

"Izuku..." His mother whispered with a quivering voice as she saw image after image of him charging to the aid of another, or even jumping into possible danger for someone else's sake.

"...And they dedicate themselves to the service of others..." All Might's smile softened, "And that, my boy, is why we also grant two other types of points! Hero points and Rescue points! Rescue points for actively aiding your fellow students in moments of need, and Hero points for showing a properly heroic character!"

Izuku's eyes slowly widened as his mother sucked in a breath.

"We rewarded you sixty-four Rescue points and forty-five hero points for a total of one hundred and forty-six points!"

Izuku sucked in a slow, ragged breath as he felt his world begin to spin around him. So... so many... it was...

"And of course, we can't forget your friends..." he glanced over. "You know what, just put up the top ten rankings!"

1st) Midoriya Izuku: 38 Villain, 64 Rescue, 45 Hero: Total: 146

2nd) Tenya Iida: 35 Villain, 50 Rescue, 25 Hero: Total: 110

3rd) Kendo Itsuka: 35 Villain, 41 Rescue, 20 Hero: Total: 96

4th) Kirishima Eijiro: 38 Villain, 36 Rescue, 20 Hero: Total: 94

5th) Uraraka Ochako: 28 Villain, 45 Rescue, 15 Hero: Total: 88

6th) Bakugo Katsuki: 77 Villain, 0 Rescue, 3 Hero: Total: 80

7th) Shiozaki Ibara: 36 Villain, 34 Rescue, 8 Hero: Total: 78

8th) Tsunotori Epona: 25 Villain, 26 Rescue, 25 Hero: Total: 76

9th) Ashido Mina: 38 Villain, 15 Rescue, 20 Hero: Total: 73

10th) Mineta Minoru: 15 Villain, 39 Rescue, 15 Hero: Total: 69

"As you can clearly see, you are at the head of the pack! What you don't know however, is that many of these very points were earned by those who, after hearing your words, decided to set aside their concerns about exam results and instead simply act as if they were true heroes. Such a mindset is to be richly rewarded in an exam created to judge potential heroes! Even more so to one who encouraged it. Because of your words, they gave it their all and then some. They were willing to fight and to sacrifice as true heroes should... they went Plus Ultra...as did their point totals!" All Might's boisterous laughter filled the room. "So let it be with my greatest pleasure, Midoriya-shonen that once again I say..."

All Might stepped back and spread his arms wide. "Welcome to your Hero Academia!"