He was back in the classroom. However, this wasn't the 1-A's home room that he had become familiar with over the past year. Instead, it was his middle school. Flanking Bakugo, were two of his middle school cronies jeering at the green haired student, who sat quivering on the floor. Bakugo himself had pounded his fists into tight balls and began beating at the frightened child.

The child cried out in pain, the tears streaking down his face. However as Bakugo looked down, he realised he wasn't just using his fists, but had his gauntlets attached. He was horrified at what he was doing, but his body wasn't listening to his brain. Around him, his young classmates, and teacher laughed at the crying mess in front of him. Bakugo wanted so desperately to stop, but that only made the punches harder.

He blinked and suddenly he was in the UA Sports Arena. All around, various classmates and heroes sat in the tiered seating and watched him on the podium. The bloodied child in front of him had his arms and legs broken, and he no longer tried to defend himself. Behind the child stood All Might, his skeletal form standing tall over the broken body. The stadium erupted into laughter, not at Bakugo, but at the small suffering form on the floor. However there was no trace of laughter in All Might's sunkern eyes. He carefully scooped up the child and walked slowly out of the arena. Bakugo tried to follow, but it felt like he was running in quicksand. No matter how fast he tried to move, he stayed in the same spot.

He wanted to reach out so badly, to the skeletal man carrying the child. However no matter how far he stretched, his hand could not reach.

"I'm sorry Kacchan."

Bakugo woke up in a cold sweat, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. The dream had felt so real. Him lording his quirk over the quirkless Deku. Backed up by a motley student crew and being the teacher's pet had granted him such an ego at such a young age. However since starting at UA, his beliefs had been challenged thoroughly, and he had come to realise how much of a bully he had once been. And he felt so ashamed at how he reacted. All of his life, his peers had praised him endlessly about how incredible his quirk was, which had only fed his inferiority complex later in life.

He hated how violent he had been towards Deku. No way for any wannabe pro hero to behave. Dreams like this had haunted him ever since he had woken up and read Deku's letter. Part of him wanted to shake Deku for being a coward and not talking to him face to face. But more so he felt like a hypocrite for not apologising to Deku about the way he treated him. Now that he had left UA, Bakugo had finally come to an understanding of how much anguish he'd caused. They were once good friends as children, but when their quirks manifested, Bakugo had pushed him away, thinking that Deku was nothing but a hindrance. Which only drove Deku harder into wanting to prove his worth to everyone, now that he had a quirk.

And it was only when Deku was gone, that Bakugo realised that he should've spoken to him sooner. Apologise profusely for everything that had happened. He desperately wanted to patch up their relationship, to tell Deku that he had done more than enough. To tell him to come home.

Checking the time, he saw that his alarm read 5:30am. Groaning to himself, he rolled over and tried to fall back asleep, but none came. After what seemed like an eternity, he eventually gave up and got up, not wanting to be plagued by these thoughts any further. Maybe some fresh air would do him some good.

He was surprised to see Uraraka sitting out on the porch, a steaming mug of coffee being cradled in her hands. It was not yet 6am, but she had an alertness about her which meant that she must have been up for a while. The morning mist hung around the campus, making it hard to see the other buildings in the nearby vicinity. He wasn't sure how to break the conversation, so eventually decided to sit down next to her, and enjoy the early morning peace.

"Oh hey Bakugo, what brings you up so early?" she asked, scooching over to make room for him.

Bakugo wasn't sure how to answer. How was he supposed to tell anyone that Deku's child-like figure had been haunting his nightmares? "I couldn't sleep," he eventually replied. Uraraka simply nodded, not pressing him any further.

"Figures, I don't know anyone at the moment who has been sleeping well."

"Yeah, I guess it's hard when you have shit bags terrorising the city," Bakugo replied, "and the fact that 99% of the public have been forcibly evacuated inside the campus, you can just see the tension inside here has been running sky high."

"Mmm," Uraraka agreed. She took a couple more slow sips from her coffee. Over the past few weeks, the pro heroes had been working hard to move the public inside of the campus. And for the most part, they had agreed after seeing the mass villain jailbreak. However there was an ever growing anti-hero sentiment spreading among themselves, with the more extreme groups outright refusing their help, instead deciding that arming themselves was the safer option than accepting aid.

"Well at least we won't have to worry too much about villains attacking civilians on the streets," she continued, "although it's annoying that they don't see it that way."

"It's one thing or another with these people," sighed Bakugo, "can't they see that we are just trying to help them?!"

"Yeah, though it's not their fault. They are just as scared as we are."

Uraraka was trying to be reassuring, which is something that Bakugo used to hate. He believed that the best way was to physically bulldoze through any problem. However being a hero wasn't just about throwing punches at villains. It was about bringing calm amongst the chaos. Her quiet resolve was something he'd slowly begun to admire.

"Well tell that to the media,"

Now that the mist had slowly cleared over the course of their conversation, his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the tall imposing walls surrounding the campus. Nezu had proclaimed that their new security system had been working well against all the mass villain breakout. Yet, Bakugo couldn't help but feel a sense of dread every time he looked at the protruding structures.

"How did your patrol go last night?" she asked, changing the subject of conversation.

"Very dull, the streets that we patrolled were pretty fucking empty."

He and Ida had been paired together, and they had scoured the streets with Ida's utmost efficiency. Bakugo remembered when he first started at UA, they had got off on a terrible footing. Their personalities clashed horribly, with him hating how snobby and privileged Ida was. Whilst Ida in turn constantly reprimanding him on his 'improper' behaviour. On reflection, Bakugo also realised that Ida was one of the first people who had befriended Deku, which was another reason Bakugo had initially dismissed Ida. Yet, Bakugo had come to like and even respect Ida, after he very uncharacteristically helped rescue him at Kamino.

"Well, I guess that's good news at least," Uraraka said, "Me and Shoto bumped into one of the villains from Tartarus, turned out to be a bit more hairy than I would have liked."

"Jesus," he replied, "at least you're okay."

"Luckily Kirishma and Shinso from my team were nearby, and managed to help subdue him."

"What about anyone else? I know I got back a lot later than everyone else."

"Yeah, talking to the others, it sounds like only my group encountered any villains."

"Really? It seems odd considering that there were twenty of us spread out across the area."

"Not to mention, that it's taken the school and the police all of this time to finally allow us to go on patrols," Uraraka mused.

"It's weird," Bakugo also pondered, "we've had this mass villain breakout. Our teachers have been super reluctant to send us away from the campus, and apparently all the pro heroes have been stretched too thin."

Uraraka put down her coffee and looked at Bakugo, wondering what he was trying to get at.

"The villains have inflicted so much damage across the city, and probably the rest of Japan." he continued, "Yet, apart from your patrol, the rest of the class didn't bump into anyone."

"I don't like this," Uraraka said grimly, "Not to mention UA's security system hasn't seen as much as a scratch since we've started moving people here on masse."

Bakugo could slowly feel the sense of dread building up in his chest. He didn't like the implications of their conversation, "I can't put my finger on it, but we should definitely be seeing more villains than just one. I dread to think what the League is planning."

Uraraka shuddered at the name of the group being spoken out loud. The civilians inside of the campus had started to refer to Shigaraki as The Almighty with a hushed reverence, instead of referring to the villain that he was. This didn't phase Bakugo that much, as he was used to people worshipping the ground that All Might used to walk on. However, it was hard to see them give the same attention to Shigaraki, albeit even if it was in fear.

"Oh," she suddenly proclaimed, "There was one more thing that I forgot to mention."

"Hmm?" Bakugo responded.

Uraraka looked concerned, as if she wasn't sure how to reply, "Well you see the thing is, one of the police officers mentioned there had been reports of a green hooded vigilante roaming about. Apparently he's been clashing with various villains a lot recently, leaving them for the police to find. I mean, it's not too hard to guess who they might have been referring to."

"That bastard! Seriously?! Did they say anything else?"

"They refused to say much else in front of us, but it sounds like that hadn't been the first time the police have come into contact with him."

The dread that had been building up, felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. It was the first time that they heard of Deku. So he had become a vigilante. But why? Despite their shortcomings, Bakugo knew that Deku was one of the smartest people that he knew, always strategizing his next move. Attacking at random did not seem like his forte.

What could Deku be planning? Moreover, what were the villains plotting?!

Tsukauchi rubbed his tired eyes and leaned back in his chair. It had been a hell of a few weeks. He felt like he'd been run ragged and their troubles seemed to have no end in sight. He sat in Tokyo's police headquarters, mountains of paperwork piled up at his desk. Ever since the Tartarus jailbreak, -no the raid on the Paranormal Liberation Mansion -, society had been turned on its head.

With over 10,000 criminals on the loose, the police force had been forced to work overtime. The villains had attacked pro heroes, devastated buildings, and incited public riots. It didn't help that many of the heroes had decided to quit because the stress had been too much. Which had annoyed Tsukauchi more than anything. Being a police officer, you didn't get nearly the equal amount of fame or recognition as being a pro hero. Hell, it was a very thankless position that carried the same risks and responsibilities. But he did it anyway. Not for fame or glory. But because he had no quirk.

He never let it get to him though. Rising very quickly through the police ranks, he was promoted to one of the senior detectives. With his position and quirklessness, it was the reason he had become close friends with All Might. Tsukauchi had also been the only one in the police that All Might had trusted fully. And in all of his fifteen years on the force, they had never once dealt with a criminal outbreak on this scale.

It had taken weeks just to move the general populace to the safety of the hero schools. He had to admit, it was genius on the part of Nezu. With their new security system, and so many student heroes gathered in one place, it had made sense to build the evacuation centers there. It hadn't been easy, the newly freed villains had made it their utmost job to disrupt the evacuation process. They had been attacking constantly around the clock, never giving the force a moment to rest.

But then, apart from the odd rogue villain sighting, they had suddenly gone silent. And that had confused the shit out of him. The police had been overburdened with trying to clean up after the mess that the villains had created. Their force had been spread so thin that they'd petitioned UA and the other hero schools to help. Tsukauchi hated the idea that they had to rely on kids, but desperate times had called for desperate measures. Normally they would work alongside the Hero Network, but many of them were either out of action or scattered across the country trying to stabilise the situation.

The door burst open, interrupting his thoughts. In bounced Kaniyashiki, and she immediately sat on his desk, sending pieces of paperwork fluttering to the floor.

"Kaniko?"

"Surprise! Did you miss me?"

Tsukauchi sighed, leaning over to pick up the rogue sheets from the ground, "I saw you yesterday after the student briefing, it's not like it's been that long."

"You are no fun Tsukauchi!" With that, she hopped off the desk and walked over to his note board, "I see that you've been working hard on the League investigation".

His board was filled with various files on the prominent League members and fellow henchmen. Of them, Shigaraki and Dabi's had the most information, the shocking revelations being that they were descended from legendary heroes. The others, such as Spinner and Toga, had less. Most frighteningly of all, was All For One. Apart from the information that All Might had given Tsukauchi, he was a relatively unknown entity, having stayed silent over the past century. It scared him to know that All Might had carried the burden of fighting him all alone for so long.

"So you had any breakthroughs with finding their new hideout?" Kaniko asked, taking a closer look at the photograph of Shigaraki.

"Nothing so far, after the raid on Tartarus, they've been pretty radio silent, which doesn't make much sense."

"Mmm," replied Kaniko, her finger tracing the red ribbon that connected Shiragaki's photo to All For One, "What about your little hero squad, have they been able to get any clues?"

"You aren't supposed to know about that!"

"Relax Tsukauchi, I'm not going to tell anyone! Besides, it doesn't help that you've got little Midoriya running himself ragged all over the streets of Tokyo, playing at being a hero."

"I mean I uh-" said Tsukauchi frowning.

"He's not exactly been covert. Half the citizens of Tokyo have been spreading rumours amongst themselves about a crazed green hooded vigilante whose apparently a secret Nomu experiment for All For One."

"Wait, what?"

Kaniko turned to him and sighed, "Have you not heard? People will believe anything these days. Sooner or later it's going to come out that he's inherited All Might's quirk."

Tsukauchi put his head in his hands. Great, just one more thing to worry about. He and a select few police detectives had been sworn to secrecy about the true nature of One For All. Of course, he had known for a long time about the situation, but given that Endeavour, Hawks and Jeanist wanted to use Midoriya as bait to lure out the League, he had to at least tell them about what Shigaraki was after. And now his little sting operation wasn't so secret anymore.

"Not to mention Lady Nagant's bomber attack downtown and some random assassin taken out by this villainous black tentacled fiend, it's no wonder people are talking."

"This is wonderful, just what I needed to hear," he complained sarcastically.

Kaniko tutted, and put her hands on her hips, "Yeah it's a bummer for sure. But we're all sharing the same goal. This is much bigger than busting some underground criminals, this affects the whole of Japan."

Tsukauchi smiled weakly. He remembered back to the days where he and Kaniko used to be on the same squad, working alongside the Underground Hero Network on a variety of cases from drug trafficking to illegal fight clubs. It felt so much simpler. They'd even requested the assistance of the Naruhata vigilantes, not that they'd ever admit it though for legality purposes.

"Sometimes I miss doing drug busts, the criminals seemed so much easier to handle."

Kaniko gave him a small smile in return, "Me too Tsukauchi, me too. Now the question is where are they hiding, and what are they planning next?"

Tsukauchi stood up and joined Kaniko at the noteboard, "Well something doesn't make sense. The League breaks out all of those villains, and they go on a crazy rampage for several weeks, making it incredibly unsafe for the civilians. Suddenly the attacks stop, and the only time we've seen any villains recently is around where Midoriya is located."

"I don't like this," Kaniko replied, "We've interrogated all the criminals we've caught, but none of them have any information on the League. Yet, just like you said, they all stopped attacking simultaneously."

"Yeah, pretty much since Nezu told me that most of the civilians have been moved into the schools, it coincides with the time when the villains stopped most of their assaults."

"Hmm. These past couple of days, we've been more pressed in trying to suppress civilian riots than we have been in catching criminals," Kaniko said worryingly, "And the fact that All For One hasn't outed Midoriya yet as All Might's successor makes me nervous. Surely it would have been easier for him to paint a public target on his back?"

"I agree. I'm not sure what angle they are trying to go for."

Tsukauchi felt vexed at the situation. They were still fumbling around in the dark, always three steps behind the League.

He sighed deeply, "I think I need more coffee."

Kaniko grinned at him, "Now that is something we can both be certain on."

Toshi couldn't believe how quickly it had been over. One moment, the assassin had attacked them from above, and the next, he had been knocked out cold over the stair railing. He and Izuku had taken refuge in an abandoned art gallery. They had been jumping from one location to the next. Or more accurately, Izuku was following the source of his danger sense quirk, and Toshi was left attempting to play catch up in his car.

However what distressed Toshi wasn't the attack from the second assassin. Instead, it'd been the cold and calculated grace in which Izuku had taken him out. Something had changed over the past couple of days. Initially, Toshi couldn't get over why Izuku was always trying to figure out the criminal's motives, to see what drove them. Toshi thought it was a waste of time trying to reason with the people hell bent on destroying their society. Still, he knew that Izuku had a big heart, and it was his way of coping with the situation.

Now it was just ruthless efficiency in which Izuku dealt with the villains. And that scared him more than he realised.

"Kid…" Toshi said. Izuku stood over the assassin, his black whip extending out from his palm and his tattered costume fluttering in the breeze. He was caked in blood and filth, not to mention the numerous scars that criss crossed his face.

"-That one didn't have any intel. Be careful, he might explode too," interrupted Izuku. He squatted slightly, before pushing hard off the ground and jumping through the smashed window, Gran Torino's cape flaring out behind him.

That was not the point, Toshi yelled at Izuku's retreating form, "WAIT JUST A MINUTE!"

Izuku stopped, coming to a halt in the empty park that was in front of the art gallery. He didn't turn to face him, but Toshi could tell that he was feeling exasperated at being forced to pause for him. The rain pelted down relentlessly, soaking the pair of them. Toshi felt cold and dishevelled, not to mention hungry. He'd made Izuku stop in the gallery, so that they could take a break to eat, but instead they had been attacked by the second assassin.

And now Izuku wanted to run off again. Toshi could see that the boy was clearly burnt out and running on fumes, pushing his body beyond normal human limits. He knew himself that he'd been guilty of doing that in the past. After all, he had the burden of being Japan's Symbol Of Peace. But he was now the mentor to One For All, which meant he had a duty not just to the public, but to Izuku personally.

"You haven't been eating!" he said, stuttering. He didn't sound very convincing however. He pulled out a bento box and held it forward, almost as if he was holding a peace offering.

"All Might," Izuku responded slowly, not bothering to turn around, "You don't have to tag along anymore. I'm fine."

He was not fine. Izuku was hiding his emotions away again. He might fool the other heroes, but he wasn't fooling him.

Now it's your turn.

Those four words were what he had once iterated after he had defeated All For One; replayed countless times over various media outlets and online. They had all tried to guess the meaning behind them, but he knew that Izuku was the only one that understood the truth.

"Really. I'm fine," Izuku said calmly, taking several steps forward.

Continue down this path, and what awaits you is an unspeakably gruesome death!

Nighteye's words continued to haunt him, even now. He was right though, the only reason that he finally stopped was because he had been forced to hand over the burden to Izuku. However, he had personally made a promise to his mother that he would look after him, and that's exactly what he planned on doing.

"No, I can't just-"

"Listen!" interrupted Izuku coldly, "What I'm capable of now is on par with you at 100 percent, and no recoil to boot!"

This was correct. It had taken so long for the sobbing little quirkless boy to learn to utilise the power that had been bestowed upon him. But now he used it in ways that Toshi had never even dreamed of. He thought back to his mentor, Nana. What would she do in this situation? Would she force Izuku to take a break, or tell him to smile and keep going? He hated to admit that Izuku was more like her than he liked. Both liked to think about the others before they thought about themselves. After all, she had sacrificed herself to keep him and the secret of One For All safe.

And where had that secrecy got them? Her closest friend Gran Torino was now struck in critical care, because her grandchild was the inheritor of All For One, and had been groomed into hating hero society. He remembered when he had first told Izuku behind the existence of All For One. Izuku had taken it in his stride, optimistically claiming that he would do his best. But now he was standing with his back to Toshi, trying to shut him out.

I need you to tell the world, I am here!

Those were the very words that Toshi had said to Izuku, just before the school festival. He wanted Izuku to make a statement that he was worthy of inheriting the mantle. Toshi had seen something very special that day, when Izuku had tried to rescue Bakugo from the sludge villain. The constant grind of fighting villains had slowly worn Toshi over the years, no matter how much he tried to mask it. Yet seeing young Izuku dash so valiantly into battle had rekindled the fire inside of his chest. It was for that reason he had chosen Izuku as his successor, despite the protests from Nighteye and Nezu.

You're dead set on keeping me out of harm's way. And you have your duty, as a wielder of One For All.

A burden that only the two of them had shared. A bond like no other. Yet he could feel the distance growing wider between the two of them.

You don't look back at me anymore.

"So don't worry about me. Really." Izuku finally turned his head around to look at Toshi, as if to reassure him. His sunkern eyes betrayed him though, the spark that had once been there, had been extinguished. Devoid of any life.

I swore I'd raise you up and protect you. But I know how it is!

Being the Symbol of Peace had been a lonely job.

You're the only one who can bear this burden, and I know how crushing it is.

Although he had told a few close confidants about his power, nobody really understood what it had been like. To feel like you have the whole world dependent on you. To push yourself harder than any hero ever did. It was an incredibly isolating feeling. Often Toshi had felt suffocated by the weight of Japan's expectations. After all, they had demanded nothing shy of perfection from the number one hero. The media made sure of that.

I need to tell you that…

However it was not a fate he wished upon anyone. Although Izuku may wield the power of One For All, the media did not know who would be fated to bring down Shigaraki and All For One. And he had planned to keep it that way, to protect Izuku from the public. Or so he wanted to. But with each villain encounter, Izuku seemed to be slipping further and further away from him.

Kid…

Without warning, Izuku lept away. Toshi ran forward, his hand outreached. But Izuku was too far ahead and he could not reach his hand before he jumped. Toshi's hand was met with the empty air and he fell forward; dropping the bento box, the contents spilling on the grass.

I…

For the first time in a very long time, tears began to well up in Toshi's eyes. He lay on the floor, the bento box discarded off to the side. The rain continued to pelt down, but he no longer cared. Even though he knew that Izuku only wanted to protect him, it didn't hurt him any less.

Ochaco lay on her bed, after a gruelling day of training and patrolling. Despite the fact her body was aching with tiredness, sleep would not come. That evening, she'd been paired with Mina, and the two of them had spent several hours walking around the UA perimeter. However compared to last night's brush with the Minotaruas, today's patrol had been pretty lackluster. The city had been so eerily desolate, putting them both on edge. It felt so unnatural to be walking the empty streets, not seeing a single soul in sight. Mina was normally super talkative, but even she seemed quiet and reserved tonight.

She rolled over and saw Deku's crumpled letter on her bedside table. She had read it at least half a dozen times. Ochaco was not the only one to get a letter, everyone in their class had also received one. In it, he'd detailed about receiving his quirk from All Might, and that was the reason that Shigaraki was after him. She knew that he had written them, to tell them not to worry. Just to get on with their lives.

But how could she? She couldn't get the image of his broken body out of her head. The last time she had seen him, he'd been lying in a coma on a hospital bed. At that moment, she could not help but be stricken with anxiety about his situation. She hadn't even got a chance to talk to him before he left UA. And that had stung so hard. Did he think that leaving a letter would just make everything better? It had just raised more questions. After all, he was the very first friend she had made at school, and had always been there for her. So why couldn't she be there for him?

She remembered their very first training exercise they had been paired together, against Bakugo and Ida. She had not fancied their chances, especially seeing how scary Bakugo was. But Deku was ever the optimist, and the two of them had won through sheer determination. His perseverance and gentle friendliness had inspired her, the way he always tried to help people no matter the odds.

Ochaco ignored the letter and instead reached for her phone, and began lazily flicking through it. Most of her social media was full of doom and gloom, complaining about how shitty it was to be living in an evacuation centre. Various online newspapers had done well to capitalise on the people's fear, spreading nothing but misconceptions and negativity about the heroes. Several hero agencies had tried to tweet out positive stories, but had been met with a wave of hostile replies.

One story caught her eye in particular. It was about one of Japan's top heroes turned criminal; Lady Nagant. Ochaco remembered several years back, she had made the headlines after she had murdered another pro hero.. Heroes very rarely died to villain attacks these days, so the fact a hero had killed another hero in cold blood, had shaken the community to the core. Not much had been heard of her after she had been locked away in Tartarus, which was why Ochaco had been intrigued by the story. According to eye witness reports, she had been seen battling a green hooded vigilante. And not just any vigilante, but one that apparently possessed a multitude of quirks. A demonic figure who then apparently had exploded Lady Nagant.

It was definitely not a good idea after all to look at her phone before she was going to sleep. She threw it to the side in frustration.

If you define a hero as someone willing to suffer in silence, then who's there for them when they're in pain?

Stupid Deku! Did he not know that he was causing her more pain by staying away? The whole world was a mess at the moment, and the one person she desperately wanted to talk to about it was gone. Ochaco felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She rolled back over, planting her face into her pillow.

She was not okay.

Hey guys, I'm slowly getting into the swing of writing my chapters. When I first started this fanfic, it had been as a reaction to chapter 316, and was originally just going to be following Izuku's storyline. However as the way of writing, the story took on a life of it's own. It's been pretty fun to write various character's perspectives. As of the time of writing, chapter 324 has been the latest one to come out and it explores the public's reaction to Izuku. This chapter has a heavy focus on trying to shield Izuku from the public, but obviously his vigilante status is slowly trickling into the public knowledge. Also I wrote Kaniko as a one off cameo, but she's somehow weaselled her way back into the latest chapter of this fic. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you in a few weeks for chapter 6! ^_^