Final chapter of the Arc has finally come! Next time, OMAKES. Which you SHOULD read if you want to know what Iruma is doing at the moment.

blackpackager-Uh, because Izuku being a hero is his whole thing? Don't know what you mean by obsessive, we've only just started exploring Izuku wanting to be a hero last chapter. Demons won't fully understand WHY he wants to be one, which is something of a lingering plot thread that's keeps going on down the line.

HLBRS-H-Wait for the omakes. You'll see how the MHA world is going without Izuku's presence eventually.

GBAC77-I was hoping for that reaction.

Kalego watched as the misfits, the secondary bane of his existence, lined up in a row as they chatted. The fact they could line up at all was a miracle, so he gave them a solid five seconds of talk time before he spoke again. "Silence."

They immediately quieted down, after which Kalego began to speak once again. "Now then, we'll go over the rules." And thus came a part of his job he despised violently, summoning that little nuisance of a screen that made his headache grow with every syllable.

"Time for a super easy Execution Cannonball explanation!" The annoyance spoke, as Kalego's urge to murder jumped tenfold. "One, each team should have one person outside of the field. Two, everyone else will be within the field. Three, those hit by the ball must exit the field, you can continue to attack from the outside. But please note, even if you hit someone, you cannot return to the field." Hurry up, hurry up, let me blast you to bits! "Four, you may only use magic on the ball, you may not attack your opponent with magic directly. Okay, let's all play-ow!"

It shouted in pain as he threw it onto the field, which must have been a new feature to try and gain sympathy. Jokes on it, he reveled in its agonised screams. "That basically sums it up."

"He sure does hate the thing." Obviously, he'd torture whoever made these things if he knew were they were.

"We're not even being watched down here, why would he show us where nobody would tattle on him not showing it?" Sadly his duty as a teacher prevented setting a bad example, so Kalego continued on.

"Your promotions will be determined on which team wins, along with the rank of any opponent you hit," he explained to the class. "Now then, I will be handing out arm bands for team A and team B." He showed them all the red and yellow bands. "A is yellow, and B is red. I will be dividing you based on balancing out powers and skills. So no complaining …" He sent a look out to Kamui.

"As long as I have simply one of these lovely ladies, I'll be content with the team I'm on." The bird-like student bowed, moron.

"We've wasted enough time, get moving." The class formed a simple line and moved up one by one, the last three in line being the idiot trio of Asmodeus Alice, Clara Valac, and their troublesome ringleader Izuku Midoriya, except, something seemed off with the bushy hair boy.

'He's not smiling. He's not even doing that infernal trembling he's done on habit up to this point. Come to think of it, he hasn't even said a word to his lackeys since the beginning of class.' He looked deeper into the green teen's face. 'Is he actually angry at something? I assumed he was like Valac, never knowing when to take anything seriously.'

Speaking of which, the imp-ish annoyance was clinging to the boy's arm as usual, but her face was less of an obnoxious smile and more of concern. It freaked him out in all honesty, but at least she wasn't being a distraction.

As for Asmodeus, his face was still the same level of puzzlement he held since the start of the school year, and it was still geared towards Midoriya, except he seemed to be more at a distance, looking almost, afraid? 'No, that can't be right. He's never shied away from confronting the little fool. Did something happen between them?'

Whatever, it didn't matter. If their little group was crumbling from within, it would ease his headache all the more. It wasn't long afterwards for the teams to be evenly divided. On team A, there was Sabnock, Picero, Clara, Jazz, Elizabetta IX, and Izuku. Team B, likewise, consisted of Goemon, Kaumi, Keroi, Schnider, Sol, Lied, and Asmodeus.

"Whoa, Asmodeus and Izuku are on opposite teams!" Lied shouted as both teams walked to their side of the court. "This is the first time they'd be against each other since their first fight!"

"Yeah, except this time, there's no room for a draw!" Sabnock yelled, patting his supposed rival on the shoulder. "Thou hear that, thou pink haired bastard! Today, a clear winner and loser will be decided!" That was going to be annoying.

Kalego sighed, making sure nobody was where they shouldn't be, before raising his hand. "Let the match … begin!

Picero yawned, this was going to be annoying. He just wanted to take a nap, but this promotion exam was getting in the way of that. Ranks were important, but how could he care about that if he was so tired right now? He'll just wait until the next exam later in the year, or maybe even next year, he was too tired to decide on anything right now.

But apparently everyone else was pumped up as hell. Screaming as they took shots, stole, and caught. Kamui got beaten up for giving the ball to Elizabetta, but that was to be expected. He watched them all, and noticeably Izuku, who moved and refused to be hit when a volley came after him. This ended when he caught the last ball. Huh, he expected him to enjoy getting hit. Maybe he was too tired to enjoy the adrenaline rush right now?

"Alright, now to return-" The boy froze, looking down at his hands, then back at the enemy, then at Clara. "Hey Clara … Did I ever train on how to throw the ball?" he asked tentatively.

"Nope," she replied in a happy and oblivious tone. The boy's shoulders noticeably sagged, and he could see why. Well whatever, as long as they could get this over with and sleep, it didn't matter either way.

"Clara, do you still have the soccer-" Izuku bit his tongue a bit. "I mean, the super duper kicker ball launcher?" Huh, what was that?

"Oh, I see what you want to do…" Clara dug something out of her pocket, what it was he didn't know, he was closing his eyes now. Maybe he'll get out, maybe he'll end up being the last one standing, it didn't matter. It was time to sleep.

He then heard screaming, dang it, let him sleep! "Valac is out, some of the balls she shot weren't from the game itself, and count as using magic on an opponent," he heard Kalego-sensei call out.

He then heard them speak up about balls being around as they tried to find something, too annoying. He shot at the ground, magic shifting it into edges and pillars. "Agares is out, your magic hit another student." Finally, he could sleeeeeep.

Asmodeus was truly at a loss for words right now. He thought he finally got the whole picture, but once again, Izuku Midoriya managed to shatter his entire perspective, but this time, he wasn't angry like before, just confused. Not confused frustration, just confusion.

'Was Midoriya just trying to get me to pity him? No, that's not his style. Even when someone doesn't like him, he just tends to do what he wants. He's never actually cared about what everyone thinks of him, me in particular. That's probably how he befriended Sabro despite his personality.'

He was drowning in these thoughts, unaware of the world around him since yesterday. He barely got any sleep, simply going with the motions. He knows he walked a lot, grabbed something, and threw a ball of sorts. But that didn't matter.

'Why do I even care about this? Why do I care about Midoriya? Do I want revenge, do I want to beat him, do I want to care about him?' That was ludicrous! This was Bablys, the most important rule of Bablys was to rank up, and Izuku was at the bottom! Making friends has only made him weaker!

'But he's rallied the entire school to his side more than once, he's helped the likes of Valac improve her natural-born magic in ways she's never thought of, he's tamed the untamable guardian of Cutthroat Valley, he even has the Student Council President in his corner!' How could anyone ranked so much lower than him be this strong!?

One by one, he heard the names of his classmates be called out by Kalego-sensei, but that didn't matter. Those people didn't matter to him in the slightest!

'But they probably matter to Midoriya, for some damn reason these nobodies matter to him!'

He felt something on his foot; looking down from his thoughts, he noticed something had rolled into it. "What is a ball doing here?" he thought, before realizing he was no longer in his home, or even in class. He was in the field, and the only two competitors left were him and Midoriya. "The only ones left," he muttered.

This was it, he could win! He could get Midoriya out of his head. All he needed to do was make him lose … and reduce all those hours of training to nothing … all the time they've spent together to nothing. "I hope you don't expect a sob story will make me hold back against you." He ignited the ball, making it burn with a blinding blaze. "In fact, I'm more motivated than ever to end this rivalry between us. Once I throw this ball, it'll all be over."

"You're holding back." The voice of his supposed rival interrupted him, and he stared at the eyes. The determination was there, but there was something else. The eyes he had when he saw that blonde about to be attacked. The eyes that stared at Valac when she seemed sad. The eyes that looked at Sabnock when he mentioned going through Cutthroat Valley. "You're amazing Asmodeus … don't let me hold you back, or it'll mean nothing."

The boy was concerned for him? He was concerned for HIM, the man who battled and injured him on day one, who stayed by his side for nothing other than curiosity, who called him a moron, who ruined the term friend … did he ruin it? He stuck by the boy's side. The one calling out for him. He … he ...

"IZUKU!"

Of course it had to be him, OF FREAKING COURSE THE DERANGED HONOR STUDENT HAD TO STEAL EVERYONE'S ATTENTION AGAIN! WHY IF IT WERE HER OUT THERE, SHE WOULD IMPALE HIM ON A PIK..

"IZUKU!"

Then the representative shouted the boy's first name, everyone gaping. He never referred to anyone by their first name, ever. That was a sign of familiarity he refused to show anyone. "I don't get it, I still don't after all this time!" he shouted, something welling in his eyes. "I don't get why you care about others, I don't get why you're risking yourself every second for them, I DON'T GET WHY YOU'RE ALWAYS SMILING IN THE FACE OF DANGER! WHY ARE YOU SMILING WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET KILLED! AREN'T YOU AFRAID!?"

"OF COURSE I'M AFRAID, YOU IDIOT!" Izuku shouted back with more fire than Asmodeus could ever produce. "I'm afraid everyday! Every single day of my life for the past ten years has been like living in my own personal hell! I'm afraid that everything I've worked for, that everything that the people I love give me will all be in vain, and I'm afraid of demons like you are going to kill someone like me just by accident and no one will bat an eye!"

"Then why do you keep doing it!? Why do you keep going on trying to concern yourself with others even with all this fear?"

She would be angry at him stealing the spotlight, but she was too caught up within the two demons screaming at each other with rare raw emotions displayed between them.

"BECAUSE I WANT TO BE A HERO THAT SAVES EVERYONE WITH A SMILE!" he screamed, with the most passion she's ever heard one demon scream. "I want to smile so brightly that it'll tell everyone it's okay, because 'I AM HERE!" He barely stopped for a breath. "I've learned from the best that those who can keep smiling, even in the darkest of times, are always the strongest!"

"... A hero that saves people with a smile … I've never heard anything so ridiculous in my life …" Asmodeus let out a laugh, sounding both broken and passionate at the same time. "However … I'd like to see it. I want to see that crazy ambition, I want to see it with you. Please … let me be your friend!"

Izuku let out a weird expression he hasn't done before. A mix between a smile and a smirk, as tears ran down his face. "Of course … Alice … and as my friend … don't hold back!" he shouted, of course, now the danger-junkie wanted an even worse situation, and dragged Asmodeus into his situation.

"Understood … but from now on, call me Azz." He laughed again. "Wow, from where I'm standing, you don't even have a chance in HELL to win!"

As an ice user, Kerori had a specific knack for feeling temperature. She could feel the flames rise even though there was nothing growing, but she could feel them, as they slowly turned blue, looking more unstable as flames compressed into a denser, highly combustible sphere. It became brighter and stranger, until it appeared as if a massive wing from Satan himself seeped out of Tartarus. "I swear on the honor of the Asmodeus household, this is the strongest I can muster, and I will hit you with everything I have!"

Izuku meanwhile, began trembling, but behind him his shadow was extended from the light, looking as if it was a dancing devil laughing in joy. "Give it to me then! COME AT ME WITH EVERYTHING YOU GOT!" And with that, Izuku began closing the distance. He was a fucking madman, that would kill anyone at a distance, let alone point blank!

..and the ball left Asmodeus' grip. It was comparable to a mini sun, shining brighter and scorching with more heat than any star..

And the little maniac caught it in his hands.

"Thank you!" Izuku screamed in both joy and pain, the ball twirling his little body around, threatening to push him out of bounds as the very ground cracked under the pressure of flames, rocketing Izuku back, but somehow, he still stood his ground. "I know it looks impossible, I know it looks like I'm going to lose, but right now, I can't focus on my limits!" A bright, rainbow-like glow covered his hand, and then the ball, masking it in a symphony of colors. "Right now, it's time for me to break those limits...AND GO BEYOND..." Izuku leapt in the air, keeping his aim right at Asmodeus. "...PLUS….ULTRA!" Spinning and using the very force of the flames as a propulsion, he threw it right back, lobbing Asmodeus in the face and sending him flying.

Asmodeus caught the ball, however … "Asmodeus is out of bounds, Team A is the winner." Damn it, not only did she lose, but Midoriya gained all the glory as well! CURSE YOU AND YOUR GRANDCHILDREN, IZUKU MIDORIYA!

He won, he actually won! Sure his hands were smoking and burnt badly, and his legs felt like jelly from that last maneuver, but that was all minor compared to the fact that he won! And Asmo-no, Azz was now his friend!

"HA! I totally called it!" Jazz held up a stack of bills in the air. "Don't be disappointed people, you know the rules." About half the class sighed in disappointment, while the other half held their heads up high in satisfaction.

"Wait, did you guys bet on the fight?" Izuku didn't know what to expect, except maybe be a bit flattered if someone actually threw money at the thought of him winning anything.

"Oh what, nah. We all knew it was probably between you and Asmodeus, so we didn't bother," Lied explained. "So we betted on whether or not Asmodeus would be your friend." Everyone else nodded, even Clara!

"I knew you'd be okay! And Azz Azz was just being really stubborn about it, so I thought it was only a matter of time." She squeezed right next to him. "He was like, super jealous of me."

"You guys …" Izuku started, tears forming in his eyes.

"Seriously, how much can one guy cry!?" Leid shouted, staring at the seemingly endless well of tears known as Izuku. "Do we need to call a plumber or something to keep your eyes in check or something?"

"No, I'm afraid it's hereditary." Azz came up, stumbling, and more than a little blue in the face. "I guess it's one of those little quirks we just need to get used to."

'Wait, was that my quirk?' No, mom was still telekinetic, it had to just be a superhuman thing unrelated to quirks. He wouldn't have thought it possible, but hell apparently existed and he beat their version of dodgeball, so go figure whatever would happen next.

"Haha, as if I expected nothing less from my rival! I was wise to choose the superior classmate!" Sabro patted his back a little too hard. The boy trembled in internal agony. Everything was on metaphorical fire.

"Silence." Like clockwork, they all shut up and turned to their teacher. Kalego-sensei looked over the group. "Midoriya, you took out a Dalet (4), and for that, earned your first promotion. Take pride." He pointed a finger at Izuku, magic beam moving to his Aleph (1) badge, the symbol shifting and revealing a new Bet (2).

"Bet (2) …" Izuku muttered, feeling something well up in his chest. A great sense of pride blooming. "I did this, I earned this."

"Way to go, Izuku-kins!" Clara cheered.

"Nice job kid, first level up," Leid complimented.

"So we've finally reached the same level, rival," Sabro chuckled.

"A step closer to being with the ladies, you bastard," Kamui … encouraged him.

"A lovely little addition to yourself," Ellizabetta murmured in a way that made him feel like prey.

"How lovely," said Kerori, her fingers gripping hard enough to draw blood.

Oh well, even if half of his class still made him feel like in constant danger, it didn't matter. He had it now, a path to run down. And he took the step to confirm it wouldn't break under him. He was on his path … to be a hero.

Ameri watched the boy cheering with his classmates, quite frankly looking the most elated she's ever seen him in the short amount of time she's known him. In all honesty, hearing what the honor student and Asmodeus had to say to each other was very enlightening, as well as a bit embarrassing for herself in retrospect.

Did he really think she was going to murder him on a whim? Worst case scenario she sends him to papa so he can put Izuku in the right place in the human world. She wasn't an active and scary threat to him, at least, that was what she assumed.

'By the great Devi, I'm an idiot. All that shaking and trembling? Of course it was him being afraid! Why did I assume he was getting aroused?' Her face glowed a bit pink, realizing that in all that time she's seen him shake and tremble, she found it pretty cute.

"Madam president," stated Grave. "It seems Asmodeus has gone through significant improvement since day one, he never displayed that much power into a single attack before." She sighed, he was such a factual man. Rank means strength, gravity goes down, well we don't all live by those rules.

"Are you so dense by rank that you're completely blind to everything that just occurred?" She stubbornly planted her foot down. "Think about it. Even without all that heat building up, the force of Asmodeus's throw was enough to send anyone else out of the field. Think about how much strength and quick thinking it must've taken to not only catch the ball, but to use it's own momentum against it to fire it back at twice the power."

The man actually paused to consider it before his eyes widened. "That kid's bones must have been broken by sheer force, yet he's still standing," he muttered

"I wouldn't say they're broken." Ameri retorted, noticing Izuku's wobbly walk. "... At least not entirely." She fixed at the end, considering how much the school would have to invest in recovery magic at this rate. "He may not have as much magical potential as Asmodeus, but he's shown more cunning, fortitude, and ambition than any first year I've ever encountered, maybe even rivaling the second and third years."

Grave took another look down at the boy, now climbing the stairs with his group. "... are you considering inviting him into the student council battler?" he inquired after a few seconds.

Her mind actually paused on that one. If he was in their battler then that would mean more time around him, she could keep an eye on him, train him up, learn more text, and chat around his cute face. Her face went red, turning away to keep her dignity in front of her fellow battler. "He has potential. It'd be a waste not to consider it." This was for purely practical reasons! Izuku wanted to be a hero, being in the student council would prepare him for such a role!

"Very well then, I'll get the papers ready at once. Should I extend them to anyone else?" he asked her.

She thought about it for a few seconds. "Two more, but leave them blank for now, I'll see what to do afterwards." With a nod, the member left her alone with her thoughts, thinking about that grin as he ran at Asmodeus, and when he shouted 'plus ultra', it was incredible!

"Izuku, you truly have the makings of an outstanding demon." Plus Ultra, huh? Maybe she'll save that line for later. Try it out in combat and see how it plays out. In any case, she was proud to see that spark burn like a wildfire, armed with a smile that can light up the sky. "And when you finally reach the ranks, I'll be waiting for you to stand by me."