My Hero, Shinji Ikari

by Traitor of All Traitors

My first attempt at this crossover, so endure its potential might. First he dreamt of a little girl suffering at the hands of a man full of hate, and then he is told that the girl is someone that needs a hero, and he can be the hero she needs. Shinji ends up being taken from the life he was forced into by his father and put into a life where he needs to stand up for those in need.

11. Uptick

Creation began on 06-27-21

Creation ended on 07-25-21

Neon Genesis Evangelion

My Hero, Shinji Ikari: Uptick

"…Seriously, girl, can't you use your Quirk to keep tabs on Deku and your boyfriend?" Bakugo asked Rumiko as she sat against the wall in the room they were in.

"Weren't you paying attention to the limited information on my Quirk during class earlier?" She responded. "Unless I have a stable relationship with someone I have known for a certain amount of time, I can't use Maternal Devotion to find them."

"Why do you have to have such a pathetic Quirk?"

"Hey, not all Quirks are created equal, Mr. Bad Guy. Since I don't know you or Midoriya or any of your other classmates, I couldn't find you in a crowd of people for anyone asking me to look in a large city, even if I wanted to."

"Then what about Ikari? You know him well, don't you?"

"That's complicated."

Since they were together much of the time, Rumiko didn't need to use her Quirk to find Shinji. They always informed each other of where they would be if separated, and now they were in the same school and class as these other heroes-to-be that faced similar circumstances due to villains that were not in check. And as of late, she hadn't tried to figure out why, when using Maternal Devotion that night, the color that identified Shinji was blue instead of pink or green like it was with people she cared about.

"Then I'll make this simple for you," Bakugo told her, "use your Quirk to find that boyfriend of yours so I can blow him away!"

Rumiko's eyes narrowed down on him in offense of his demand to her. This might've been a class session going on, but this young man was clearly not a social person that would tolerate others if they didn't meet his standards of them. She was already certain that if they had a relationship, the color he would give off if she had to look for him would've been black because she didn't like him.

Mineta would've been red due to just finding him perverse.

"Fine, but I can't point you to where he might be," she replied. "In this scenario, I'm just the compass…and you have to follow wherever I point in the direction he is."

"Just find him."

She stood up and her eyes glowed the color of the person she knew and was trying to find, seeing Shinji with Midoriya walking down a street. However, because she was inside a building, she didn't know where they were outside.

"He's outside on the street," she told Bakugo. "That's all I know. If you want to find them, you have to either do so on your own…or follow the compass."

Bakugo found the girl to be rather pathetic due to her Quirk being so lame. If she couldn't find people due to not knowing them very well, what good was she? She didn't even look like she was a fighter, either. In his eyes, she was just some girl in a man's world and would never measure up to those like himself.

"Lead the way," he ordered her.

-x-

"…A reluctant villain?" Midoriya questioned Shinji's suggestion on what Rumiko was likely to be in this exercise as they walked down the street to a possible location for where the explosive was hidden.

"She's not out to hurt anyone, but the people she's with, depending on their intentions, are most likely out to harm as many people as they can. If she's been paired with Bakugo, based on his attitude, he'll most likely use her to find someone he can attack and be done with her, since all Rumiko can do is find people she cares about. He'll probably have her search for me, since I'm the most likely to be sought after."

"But what makes you think Gaidoku's a reluctant villain and not a real one?"

"Because real villains don't have certain limitations to keep them in check. Reluctant ones are like reluctant heroes; they don't want to be involved in something that's going to cause problems to whoever is caught in the crossfire between heroes and villains. You put her before the police, she'll surrender without a fight, but if you put her before a hero that's looking for a fight, even if the villain willingly surrenders, she'll try to flee out of fear of conflict."

"If she's with Bakugo, he's likely to complain about how useless he finds her to be."

"If he's with her, and he hurts her, it'll be the last mistake he makes when apprehended."

BOOM! An explosion was heard and they saw a side of a building get destroyed above them, and out of the smoke came Bakugo, looking for a fight.

"I will blow the both of you away!" He shouted at them.

-x-

"…Aah!" Rumiko coughed as she backed away from the destroyed window that Bakugo used his Quirk on. Does he have no restraint?! Does he have to blow up everything?!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! She heard several more explosions from outside, hoping that Shinji was doing his best to dodge and evade Bakugo's attempts to harm them.

"Just judging on his appearance alone," Toya had told her as they looked at Bakugo's picture, "this is a man that is constantly looking for trouble, no matter who he has to hurt."

"If he wants to hurt others," went Shado, "even when he doesn't have to, then that makes him the bad guy, right? He's the bad guy. No remorse or…a shred of compassion."

Rumiko found Bakugo to be just as every bit of what her and Shinji's children had pointed him out to be, even what Mr. Aizawa had mentioned about him.

"Found you," she heard Midoriya's voice as she saw him standing in front of her. "Do you surrender, villainess?"

Rumiko raised her arms up and sighed, "I won't resist."

Midoriya had to give Shinji credit for stating how Rumiko was a reluctant villainess; she didn't even try to resist.

BOOM! An explosion, much louder than the earlier ones, was heard and both teens looked to where the smoke had cleared.

Rumiko ran back to look outside the hole, seeing Bakugo engaging Shinji with a barbaric fighting style that focused on creating explosions at close range and going for wherever he could cause the most damage to Shinji, including his waist, face, legs and back. Even though this was a practice exercise, she didn't like how Bakugo was just fighting Shinji, who was trying to get away from his explosive fists.

"Is this part of the exercise?" She asked Midoriya, who came by her side and saw Bakugo attack Shinji in his waist, sending him flying backwards onto the ground.

"Wait a minute," Midoriya went, "this isn't like Bakugo most of the time, even during a practice session. He's really attacking Ikari! He's not holding back at all!"

"Shinji barely knows how to trigger his Quirk, so he's at a disadvantage!"

-x-

Shinji had been hurt before, but with Bakugo, it was like being abused by a male version of Asuka that had gotten a taste of firepower and knew not to be conscious of her enemy's vulnerabilities and just to cause as much harm as possible. Also, this boy was like a force of nature when fighting Shinji, like he was taking this serious or something else altogether. As he got back onto his feet, he found that his gym uniform had been seriously singed, and he only wore it today. If this was how every simulation of a situation involving heroes and villains was, the school probably needed a large budget all the time.

"Maybe your victory over your old man was nothing but a fluke!" Bakugo yelled at him, charging towards him with his hands throwing small explosions. "You're not so tough!"

Punch! Punch! Wham! Bakugo wasted no time to deal major damage to Shinji's shoulders.

"You're probably just as lame as your girlfriend and those kids of yours are!" Bakugo expressed. "At least with the little girl, I feel like she's a threat to my goals of being a hero because she caused your old man to be hostile towards her!"

Shinji felt crossed by him now. It was one thing to embrace the villainous behavior during a practice session, but it was another thing to sound like you meant every word you said to someone that you were up against. As he thought of Shado and how she would be heartbroken if something happened during this session and he was no longer able to protect her, Shinji's body started to glowing the bluish-purple aura that he hadn't used since the night he fought his father and the first night at U.A. The mere fact that Bakugo had stated that he felt threatened by Shado had made Shinji suspect that the boy was clearly not going to be subtle in any way with any of them, no matter who was asking him to be tolerating of the quartet or ordering him, and that meant he needed be prepared to fight back against the villainous-looking wannabe hero if he made any attempt to be violent towards them.

"Is that how you feel about Shado?" He asked Bakugo, his voice tone shifting to sound angrier than a teen with a tantrum all day every day. "You feel threatened by my daughter, who's more afraid of people like you because of your attitude and the fact that you use your Quirk violently…when you should probably be afraid of me right now?"

-x-

"…I don't like this," Kon told Nezu, suspecting that Bakugo had been deliberately trying to harm the Ikari boy with his Quirk, trying to make it look like an accidental assault while masking an actual one. "That Bakugo student is too violent. He's looking for a fight with anyone he can use as a punching bag."

Nezu noticed how Shinji was standing up to Bakugo while it appeared his Quirk acting up at will ever since that night in Sapporo.

"Looks like Ikari's taking what Bakugo has done personal," said Midnight as she was also watching the scene take place. "He almost looks like a force of nature."

-x-

Bakugo unleashed another explosive bang against Shinji with his right fist…and while it looked like it was effective against the left side of his face, all he managed to do was leave a scrape on his cheek.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," he reacted.

"No," Shinji responded, and shoved him eight feet backwards, "I'm not kidding."

Bakugo landed on the ground, feeling like he had just dodged being hit by a car or something, but feeling like his entire torso had gotten bruised by being shoved by Shinji. Getting back up, he smirked at how the kid gloves were now off, meaning he could take this training session serious, just how he liked it. He wanted to see just how strong this punk was, and if provoking him was what it took, then that was a price he was willing to pay.

"Let's see how good you are when you're one arm short!" He told Shinji, charging towards him again, raising his left arm up and pulling the pin out of his grenade-shaped gauntlet.

"No!" They heard Midoriya yell. "Ikari! Get out of the way!"

But it was already too late.

BLAST! Bakugo's stored-up sweat had been unleashed from his support item and directed towards Shinji, enveloping him in intense flames.

"Shinji!" Rumiko cried out. "Someone end this!"

Suddenly, the flames dissipated…and standing in the midst of scorched ground…was Shinji, still aglow…and only slightly singed on his gym uniform.

"Aaaurgh!" He groaned as he had used his arms to protect his face and much of his front from the force of the blast, moving them away from his face to his sides. "Not cool, Bakugo!"

Either Shinji's Quirk gave him enhanced durability that was more than what Bakugo had expected…or he had a high tolerance to pain. Either way, Bakugo wasn't going to back down just because some teenage father didn't get knocked down to his feet. If at first you don't succeed, then try again and make sure they were down for the count. Luckily, he had the other Grenadier Bracer on his right arm.

"Aaaaaaurgh!" He growled as he ran up to Shinji and kneed him in his face, sending him flying into the air.

-x-

"Holy grapes!" Mineta gasped as he and everyone else nearby saw Bakugo blast Shinji with one of his grenade-shaped gauntlets. "This just got real!"

Ida saw Shinji land on the ground and got back up, partially burnt, his uniform damaged by Bakugo's Explosion, and his body still aglow like it was that night.

"How can he still get up after taking a blast up close and getting hit in the face like that?!" Sato questioned; most people had a hard time dealing with Explosion if they barely knew how to face Bakugo whenever he used it.

"What's with Bakugo?" Jiro asked. "Doesn't he know that this is just practice? He looks like he's being for real."

"He might be for real, everyone," went Shoji.

"If he's not holding back, this simulation has to stop," said Uraraka to them.

On the ground, Shinji brought his left hand to his face…and felt something wet under his nose. He pulled it away to reveal that it was blood. Not much…but just enough to know that he was injured by the assault. And then he looked at Bakugo with a frown.

"Just like a villain," he uttered, "you take potshots at your enemy. I'll take those grenades you're wearing and feed them to you before I hand you over to the police."

Up above, Rumiko, relieved that Shinji was still alive, was surprised to hear him treat this as though it were still a training session. If this were a real situation, which was seeming more likely because of the way Bakugo was treating Shinji, the class would've ended right there and then and the students would've been questioned about what happened.

"Not if I destroy you first, you wannabe hero!" Bakugo declared; either he was aware that Shinji was aware of his intentions…or simply chose to overlook them, this battle was not to end until one of them fell. "Eat this!"

He raised his other bracer up and pulled the pin out.

Shinji, moving from several feet away to being up close and in front of Bakugo, grabbed his arm and redirected it up into the air, separating it from his bracer as it went flying.

BOOM! It exploded and what was left of it fell onto a nearby rooftop.

"Grraugh!" Shinji grunted, head-butting Bakugo in his face.

Blast! Explosion, reduced to small blasts until he had refilled his remaining bracer, left Bakugo trying to escape from Shinji.

And then, Bakugo kicked Shinji in between his legs, causing the boy to release his arm to catch his breath while he fled the scene, taking flight into the air and jumping over pipes. He had to wait until he was a better advantage against Shinji.

Shinji took another step forward and looked down at his legs. The blast Bakugo hit him with had destroyed his footwear and the bottom of his pants, leaving him barefoot.

I'll chase him, even it means without shoes, he decided, taking in a new breath as he felt the power that had surged through him flowing out through his entire body, his dark veins under his skin shifting to a grayish color. Stay in control, Shinji. Stay in control.

He jumped into the air…and was above the five-story buildings within the industrial training grounds, hurtling forward. He lowered onto a large pipe and leapt again, going higher. Just a yard or two away, he could see Bakugo still running from him.

-x-

All Might and Aizawa ran into the training ground where the other students were and assessed the damage caused by Bakugo when he went up against Ikari.

"What's with Bakugo right now?" Aizawa demanded.

"We don't know for certain," went Midoriya in response, "but he seemed to be…deliberately engaging Ikari hostilely."

"Very hostilely," Gaidoku expressed. "That's not even a tantrum! That's just over-the-top hostility! Is he always like this with anyone?"

"Yeah, but not like this," Uraraka claimed. "This is the first time he's ever been outright hostile towards someone like this before."

"Suspend the training session," All Might told them. "This class is over. We need to talk with Bakugo and get to the bottom of this."

"Uh, they're on the far side of the western part of the training ground," revealed Gaidoku to their teachers, surprising them.

"You just found out where they are?" Midoriya asked her.

"Bakugo made my opinion of him easy to address while my opinion of Shinji was already not as complicated. Bakugo doesn't tolerate anyone with Quirks that he perceives as being useless and moves only at one speed: His own. So, he registers as a black color to me because I don't like him. Shinji's a blue color due to a complication that has yet to be resolved, but doesn't hinder my ability to find him."

-x-

Bakugo couldn't believe that Ikari was able to keep up with him, even after getting hurt the way he did by him. Jumping over the pipes and rooftops, he looked for a place to hide and catch the enemy at a disadvantage. He looked to his right and saw a shadowed spot that held a lot of places for one to hide, and propelled himself towards the ground.

Shinji saw him land on the ground and run into the darkness of the shadow spot.

If he thinks he can hide from me, he's got another thing coming, he thought as he leapt to the ground below. "Bakugo! Coward! Come out and face me!"

Bakugo hid behind a wall and caught his breath. Checking his remaining bracer, it was almost filled to capacity with his nitroglycerin sweat from his arms.

"If you can't face your opponent, you're no better than a villain afraid to stand in the light!" He heard Shinji say to him. "What kind of hero do you aim to be, anyway?! What do you want out of this?! You want to be respected?!"

Bash! He heard a pipe getting dented.

"You want to be famous?"

Crush! Another pipe was deformed by Shinji as he walked down the darkness that was illuminated by his glow.

"Or do you just want to be feared?" Shinji asked him as he came to a stop. "What kind of hero do you want to be and why? Because right now, you're anything but a hero! You're more like a villain or antihero, willing to cross the line in order to succeed. How about this, you surrender peacefully and I won't break your arms…which is more than what you deserve right now."

When his breath was finally caught, Bakugo stepped out into Shinji's illuminated path, raising his weapon at him.

"I'll be the greatest hero the world has ever known," he told him. "I'll be greater than All Might ever was! What kind of hero will you be?! The kind that gets overlooked because you're directed towards protecting little kids?!"

Shinji wasn't intimidated by his direct approach, even though he should've been.

"My daughter's safety comes first and foremost," he told him. "The kind of hero I want to be, that I need to be…is one she can look up to. Not someone powerful or famous…but reliable and always has her best interests at heart. I'd rather be the protector instead of the destroyer. I've seen what Quirks are capable of and how they affect people, and you're an example of how negatively they cause others to feel. Quirks that can gather information on people or find them in places other people overlook or disregard, Quirks that can heal people of their injuries or ease their suffering are the benevolent kind of Quirks. But what do you call a Quirk that is used specifically for violence? What do you call your Quirk? Explosion? It's violent and you indulge in violence more than necessary. Heroes are supposed to use their powers to inspire people and make themselves be seen as benevolent crusaders of justice and peace, but all you've done is shown me that you're angry and full of pent-up brutality, represented by a power that can barely be used to help others. You want to be a hero? Show more self-control and less rage."

But Bakugo didn't need a pep talk from some punk that had an official excuse to bring his own child to school with him on his first day of his return to pursue his education. This kid was an obstacle and needed to be removed from his path.

"I don't need self-control," he told him. "I am in control!"

He pulled the pin from his weapon and fired again!

BLAST! The fire enveloped Shinji as it spread across the confined space.

"I'm the best!" Bakugo yelled as the flames dissipated. "I'm superior! I'm…"

"You're a real pain in the ass right now," he heard Shinji utter, looking unchanged from the last time he was exposed to the full brunt of his attack. "Feel free to either surrender or flee like you did earlier."

But Bakugo didn't turn to flee. He needed to defeat this punk, to prove that he was better than he was. If he fled, there was a chance it would reflect badly upon himself. To win was to defeat this guy that was so much similar to Midoriya…and how it disgusted him to know that he defeated a man that was almost as dangerous as other villains like All For One or Overhaul.

"Rrrraaurgh!" He growled as he ran over towards him and had an explosive ready in his right hand. "Take this!"

Shinji braced himself and felt Bakugo grab his right shoulder, letting the explosion go off where the joint was.

Boom! It was worse than the previous explosions had been.

Unlike the last few times, Shinji wasn't burnt or had his uniform damaged further. No, this time, it was more devastating. His right arm…was blown off his body.

"Aaah!" He yelled in agony as he fell backwards.

Bakugo couldn't believe that he had managed to injure the guy like this.

-x-

Recovery Girl quickly turned off the television in front of Shado and Toya when the sight of Shinji getting his arm blown off came into view.

"Did…did that boy, Bakugo," went Toya to the woman, "just take Shinji's arm off?"

"No, no," she lied. "It's probably just an effect from the cameras monitoring them on the training ground. It's nothing serious."

"Then why did it look like my daddy was really hurt by that boy that seemed very angry with him?" Shado questioned. "Bad people only hurt you if they really mean to, and it looked like that boy really wanted to hurt Daddy."

"Dramatic effect," Recovery Girl continued to lie. "Haven't you kids ever seen a movie where a hero gets hurt sometimes?"

The toddlers looked at each other and then back to Recovery Girl, their expression a clear answer that they haven't seen much television in the short time they and their parents have been rebuilding their lives.

"Oh," she responded to their lack of attention to television.

-x-

This was an act that would most likely guarantee Bakugo being kicked out of U.A. as he watched Shinji cover his injury. He was informed that Recovery Girl was not capable of healing people that had their limbs damaged to the point of being lost.

"You're not so tough," he told Shinji, noticing that there wasn't any blood pooling under him. "I was expecting a real challenge."

Shinji looked at him and frowned.

"It's only my first day back in school, and already, I don't like you very much, Bakugo," he told the violent boy as he got up to his feet. "You clearly had to go and make this personal. It ends here…for you."

Seconds later, a part of the ground atomized around Shinji, along with his severed arm…and the limb reformed…attached to where it had been blown off by Bakugo!

"You can regenerate?!" He demanded to know.

"I'm surprised, too," Shinji told him, raising his arm and finding that, despite the feeling of soreness where it connected to his body, it still worked like it always had, and was devoid of any scarring. "Surrender and I'll be merciful."

"I'll never surrender to you!"

"Then prepare for defeat."

Bakugo charged towards him again, and Shinji countered in the most spectacular fashion. The pipes around them slammed into Bakugo, as if responding to the will of Shinji (or just the way his arms moved when he brought them together in front of his face. His right arm, the only part of him exposed to Shinji, twitched slightly to show that he was still alive.

"Unlike you, Bakugo," Shinji uttered, "I'm not willing to violate the code of conduct that is taking one's life unless I have no other choice. What kind of hero considers murder when it tarnishes the soul if committed at times where it's unnecessary?"

He then pulled his arms away…and the pipes atomized, revealing Bakugo, bruised and with a bloody nose, feeling like he was run ragged by Shinji, cough out blood and collapsed onto his knees in front of the new guy.

"Aaurgh…" He groaned.

"You claim to feel threatened by Shado?" Shinji questioned him, and picked him up and carried him over his shoulders. "Believe me, the only person that's threatening right now are those that refuse to see Shado as a victim that deserves to smile and laugh. If you can't look at her and see her as one of the most sensitive and precious little girls the world has ever known and should be tolerated and kept safe until she can put her pain behind her…then the problem isn't really a little girl with an unknown ability that she has yet to control, is it? The problem is those that can't look past what she could do one day once she has had time to adjust. The problem is people like you…that feel like you're living next to a timebomb or a building waiting to collapse."

"You…you coddle…someone dangerous," he heard Bakugo groan.

"She's not even six years old yet," he responded. "Don't instruct me on how to deal with my child. When you have kids of your own, you can share your advice, but until then, stay in your lane until you're ready to change."

He carried him out into the light, in front of All Might, Aizawa, Rumiko…and Recovery Girl, who was a surprise to Shinji; he had expected her to still be watching after Shado and Toya.

"You're still breathing," went All Might to Shinji, sounding relieved.

"Yes, sir," he responded, then sighed as he put Bakugo down. "But he's not going to be walking for a while."

Aizawa looked at Bakugo and wondered, Did Ikari go and drop a wall on him?

"Shinji," Rumiko uttered, "was Bakugo…trying to harm you…in a bad way?"

"It really depends upon your interpretation of what one does to hurt someone else that is considered 'a bad way'," he replied.

"She means was he trying to kill you," All Might verified.

Shinji sighed and told them, "It's nothing I'm not used to by now. All he managed to do was tear my right arm off…but I'm fine. Nothing severe. Just…a little sore."

"He blew your arm off?" Recovery Girl questioned. "I just had to lie to your kids and claim that you were in one piece because they were watching the class training session you two were involved in."

"You had our kids watching us?" The teen parents reacted to this in surprise.

-x-

Shado was relieved to see her father in one piece when he showed up to Recovery Girl's office with said woman, who claimed to want to evaluate him to make sure he wasn't under stress because of how the training session he was involved in ended prematurely. In her eyes, her father looked a little bruised and like he had faced a foe that was anything but subtle.

"Show me your arm, please," she told Shinji as he removed his coat and took off his shirt; all he really felt was a slight soreness from where Bakugo attacked him, but was otherwise fine. "This is unusual. Bakugo should've seared your shoulder right here, but…there's barely a bruise where he hit you. Are you sure you're fine?"

She was speaking in code to protect Shado from knowing the truth that Bakugo had severed her father's arm off deliberately, and Shinji replied that he was fine. It was also a shocker that he wasn't looking to see that Bakugo be charged for something that was clearly due to the boy not adjusting to the presence of the four newbies. While All Might and Aizawa had to inform Nezu about this issue, it was likely that Bakugo would face expulsion because of his unprovoked assault on Shinji, but because Shinji refused to press charges against Bakugo, and because Shinji was a ward due to his father being in prison for the rest of his life, it was anyone's guess as to what would be Bakugo's fate until later on.

"Shinji, you were glowing like a man on fire, and you went up against that boy playing bad guy like a real hero," Toya told Shinji. "What do you call that move?"

"Huh?"

"Heroes have special moves that are an extension of their Quirks. That looked like an extension of your Quirk. Does it have a name yet?"

Unfortunately, Shinji had barely any time to explain his situation with his Quirk. He looked at Shado, who seemed relieved that he was still around.

"Shado, you're awfully quiet," he expressed to her.

"I really don't like that boy that attacked you today, Daddy," she explained to him.

"I don't like him, either, Shado, but it's not our fault he's unfriendly towards most people. He wants to be a hero like a lot of people here."

"But…he…doesn't seem to have that drive to…want to protect others, does he, Shinji?" Toya asked, understanding better than Shado did at the moment.

"No, he doesn't," he answered the boy.

"That's awful," Shado claimed.

"Not everyone that has the dream to become a hero do so to protect the people around them."

"Will you do that, too, Daddy?"

"No. I don't want to be the hero that chooses not to protect the people in favor of pursuing the bad guys, Shado. I'd rather be the hero that protects the people that get hurt because of the bad guys. Aah (he moves his right arm due to the soreness he feels in its shoulder joint)… And the only reason I hope Bakugo gets off with just a warning is because unlike him, I don't feel threatened by anyone that possesses a power I feel is dangerous to me or others because it's not understood completely."

"He feels threatened by someone?"

"That's how he stated it with me."

Shado pointed to herself in front of her father.

"That fear is on him," he told him. "You're not out to get him, are you, Shado?"

"No, I don't even know him or want to be in the same room with him. He reminds me of that man, always quick to anger and blame."

"He's never going to lay a finger on either of you. Not if he can't be friendly or keep his attitude in check."

-x-

Bakugo wasn't seen in school for the rest of the day, the result of his unprovoked attack on Shinji during the training session. When Shinji was asked to come into the principal's office to give his statement about the incident, Nezu was surprised that Shinji wasn't vindictive towards Bakugo or even wanted to see him removed from the school, even though he had his arm blown off by him (since Rumiko was with the kids, Shinji didn't need to lie to the principal about the fact that he was able to reattach his limb to his body) and that Bakugo had demonstrated outright hostility towards him.

"Can you explain why you feel he should let off with a warning over expulsion?" Nezu asked.

"If everyone decided to come after me or Shado or Rumiko or Toya because they felt threatened by us, they should at least explain why they feel that way and try to resolve it without being aggressive about their reasons," he had responded. "Honestly, I can't even see Bakugo or any of 1-A as rivals because it's only the first day back for me, but I don't want to cause trouble, directly or indirectly, for any of them."

"And you don't have a personal opinion regarding Bakugo's actions against you? Or Ms. Gaidoku, as she was paired with him during the botched training session?"

"Personally, Bakugo strikes me as an offensive person; if what the person can do doesn't include some form of harm to his opponents, he treats them as though they're inferior to himself or something else negative. He only needed her to find someone he could take on, and didn't consider her limitations so long as she could find whoever was close by that she knew well enough to find them with her Quirk. In terms of combat, he's very aggressive, trying to cause the most amount of harm to whoever he could go up against…but his ego…could almost border on psychopathy…or a complete lack of remorse. He reminded me of my father in that sense, but professionally, he could become a better hero if he had more restraint."

"And…your arm," went All Might to him, pointing to his right arm, "are you sure you're alright? We saw on the nearby cameras that he blew it off when he approached you."

"I won't lie, it did hurt, but I was fortunate that I could put it back on. It's just a little sore."

They had gotten the medical report from Recovery Girl, and she was positive that his originally-severed limb was perfectly intact when Shinji affixed it back onto his body, confirming that his Guardian Quirk demonstrated some measure of his father's Wrath Quirk.

"Well, we've heard from Rumiko earlier, so we'll be able to decide how to best handle Mr. Bakugo," Nezu informed Shinji. "You may return to your dorm until tomorrow."

"Thank you, sir."

As Shinji got up and turned to leave after bowing to the two, Nezu turned to face All Might.

"While your class didn't progress as you had intended today, All Might, it seems Mr. Ikari doesn't have it out for Mr. Bakugo," he told the former Symbol of Peace. "Even after being harmed by him, he prefers to let him go with a warning."

"If his Quirk hadn't been able to restore his arm, he could've ended up being short one arm," All Might accepted. "Worse, he could've sued Bakugo."

"I think we know enough about Ikari to know that he wouldn't have done that unless it was about his daughter getting harmed by him or another student. He's clearly not vengeful. We'll let Bakugo off with a warning and a week's suspension, but if he does something like this again, he'll have to leave."

"Understood."

Then Nezu had to ask something different regarding Shinji Ikari.

"What do you think of him so far?" He asked All Might.

"So far, he's still rebuilding his life with his daughter," the former Symbol of Peace stated, "but what surprises me about him is how powerful he already is…and could become further down the line. He could become a target of other villains that see him as an attempt to grab power. Or worse, they could target his daughter to get to him."

"True. All the more reason they should be here for the time being. And the fact that he's from another universe and committed to this one's deceased counterpart of himself that was murdered by Gendo instead of looking for a way to return to his own?"

"Just another example of how a hero sometimes gives up everything to do the right thing…and all he really gave up was just trying to return to his universe because he made a promise to himself to look after the three people his other self could no longer protect. It'd be surprising if he found himself met with a situation that he couldn't handle and decided to walk away from everything, including the little girl."

"I think if he did that, he'd be met with regret over leaving her of all the people he promised to look after. He can't walk away from something as important as this to a version of himself that had his life taken trying to stand up to a man that was as heartless as most people can be these days. It shows cowardice when he wants to show conviction to what he is committed to."

"It's probably not any of our business…but have you been in contact with the people from the prison his father is in?"

"I receive daily updates on Gendo, and so far, all he does in his prison cell is exercise."

"Exercise? But doesn't he have prosthetic arms in place of his ruined ones? Why would he need to exercise?"

"Why does anyone do anything, All Might?"

-x-

It hurt like a mountain of knives, but Gendo pushed through the pain to strengthen his leg muscles. He couldn't afford to be weak now. There was a time for anger and a time for vengeance…and soon, he would express his contempt once more. All he needed to do was be patient until he was strong enough to make his move.

Even if they're watching me, he thought, hanging upside-down in his cell, they don't know what I'm planning. Let them watch from their hidden cameras all they want. I will not be stopped.

-x-

"…You were being careless and cruel, Bakugo," Ida informed the suspended boy as he sat in the dorms that night. "I mean, you were intent on doing worse than attacking Ikari! You were going to put him in the ground! What's wrong with you?!"

"You're lucky you were let off with just a week's suspension and a warning not to repeat what you did today!" Uraraka reminded him. "What were you thinking?! I mean, what, do you feel threatened by Ikari's daughter enough to try and take her father from her?"

But Bakugo said nothing to them.

"The girl doesn't even live in our dorm," Midoriya stated. "She lives down the street from the other dorms with her father and friends. She probably can't even stand to be in the same room with most of us."

"What's with coddling the brat?" He finally questioned.

"She was abused, man!" Sato groaned at him. "Her own grandfather tortured her for over two years! She's terrified of anyone with a Quirk that requires their hands and is violent! And right now, you fit that mold more than anyone else here in U.A.! Even Ikari was in the right to question what kind of hero you want to be because you weren't acting like a hero! You were just being a real villain to someone that was studying to be a real hero once he got his license."

"He probably doesn't even believe half of what he says!"

"You don't know that!" Asui told him. "You were fortunate that even he doesn't want you kicked out of U.A., but he and Gaidoku look at you and see…well, they see what we've seen ever since the year started."

-x-

"Gah!" Shinji gasped, waking up in the dead of night again, narrowly escaping a nightmare version of what happened the day before, looking at his right hand.

Knock-knock. A knocking came at his door.

"Aaah!" He gasped again. "Who is it?"

"It's Rumiko," he heard the teen mother outside utter. "Can I come in?"

"Just a moment, please," he responded, getting out of bed and walking over to the door.

He opened the door and looked at Rumiko, who seemed bothered by something.

"Yes?"

"I just…needed to make sure that you still have your arm attached to you."

"Yeah, I do."

"Still sore?"

"No. No, it's all good now."

"Shinji, you scared me, facing Bakugo like that. He could've put you in the hospital, he could've caused you to… Please, don't do that again, Shinji."

He nodded that he understood what she was saying to him. It wasn't just Bakugo that was being careless and cruel yesterday, but he was also being careless, and because he didn't know anything else about his Quirk.

"I led him to you with Maternal Devotion, but I didn't know he was going to… I didn't know he was going to attack you like that, Shinji." Rumiko expressed. "You may have a Quirk that enables you to do what you can do sometimes, but you're not invincible. Until you can master all that Guardian is capable of, be mindful of your limits, Shinji."

And he knew she was right. Until he knew all of what Guardian was able to make him do, Shinji couldn't be reckless with anyone. He needed to know as much as he could about his Quirk, how to trigger it, how to control it, everything he needed to know.

"And one more thing," Rumiko told him. "Even though the class was ended because Bakugo went rogue in his behavior… Good job bringing him down while he was acting the role of the villain from earlier."

"Thank you, but I need to be a better hero than what I was yesterday," he replied. "I'll ask if there's an afterschool session for learning more about my Quirk so that there's no repeat of what happened during the botched session."

"Thank you, Shinji. Good night now."

She turned to return to her room and he turned to close the door to his own…but stopped to ask her something.

"Rumiko," he went, "did you have a nightmare earlier, as well?"

She stopped and turned to face him.

"Yeah," she answered. "My parents…and my brother…coming to take me and Toya away…and feeling like I had to run just to keep my son away from them."

He sympathized with her.

To be continued…

A/N: Even though it wasn't named, you got a glimpse at Shinji's first Super Move: Guardian: Protector Unleashed. And I had to put Bakugo in a bad light because he was being a delinquent and out of control, but now he's in a bind where if he crosses the line again, he can kiss his dreams of becoming a hero goodbye. And as for Shinji, now that he has realized another facet of what his Quirk can do, he needs to get a better understanding of it. Reviews are welcomed.