One Year Later

Inside the training area for his hero training, Zeke was facing off against Keigo in a rescue style scenario with him as the hero and Keigo as the villain.

"Cmon, Zeke pick up the pace!" Keigo called out.

"Don't you think I'm trying, bird brain!" Zeke yelled back.

Whooshing through the air with the newly finished ODM gear he'd been waiting for had originally been a dream come true for him...unfortunately for him his senpai and the commission decided that today of all days would be the best time for him to learn how to use it properly in combat.

Keigo flew through the air with a feather sword in hand currently aiming to take the fight to his pupil. "You better start taking this seriously!" he shouted once again. "I'm not holding back just because I'm your senpai!"

Picking up speed, he began searching through the area they were located in for any signs of movement hoping to ambush him the moment an opportunity presented itself. "Now where oh where could you be…"

Hiding behind one of the buildings, Zeke muttered a string of curses before readying himself to move again. The goal today was simple. The area in question was structured similar to a city block and inside the faux city, there were people located in certain parts of the area that he had to touch to signify that they had been saved. Along with that he had to land five consecutive hits on Hawks in order for him to win today which if he's been honest is total bullshit.

"First they want me to move through a place this big unseen while being chased by someone who's entire quirk gives them eyes in the sky, save people and fight him all at the same time…", Groaning internally he checked his fuel tank to make sure he was still good to go. Noticing it still full, he figured now would be as good a chance as any to begin prioritizing what he should do first.

"Hawks is incredibly fast, agile and much much stronger than me so he's obviously at the bottom of the list. He'll be somewhat easier to deal with even if that's still no easy task. The people would obviously come first if I look at it from a logical standpoint," he thought.

His ODM support gear had been built with a good amount of thought put into it as all he had initially brought them was a rough draft of what he wanted. The gear in question was equipped with electric stun batons that could be recharged in the holding carriers near the sides of his thighs. The gas tank was running off an engine that would recharge automatically once it dipped below a certain threshold, but required still movement to fully refill properly and the grappling hooks were made with a very similar alloy that Eraserhead's capture devices were made from.

The final and arguably most intuitive choice that was made is that Zeke was given specialized clothing that would camouflage itself while moving which would help him blend in with whatever environment he's in. Overall the gear itself was phenomenal, but Zeke had his doubts about getting it to work properly.

Fidgeting around with it one more time before taking off, he pulled his hood up and turned on his quirk to check his locations to see where Hawks was at the moment. "Ok, so right now he's…", Spotting him walking around a current apartment complex on his left, Zeke sighed in relief realizing he really had no idea where he was.

Looking through the area, his quirk allowed him to feel many different aura's although Hawks was the only one with any sort of color to it. "1,4,8,10...so there's 10 people in total I need to get to and tag. Won't be easy, but with this sick gear they gave me, it'll make things a helluva lot easier to manage."

Launching himself through the air to the first building on his list, he landed near a door that was already halfway propped open. Walking inside while treading cautiously, he saw the first person and tagged them immediately. Seeing the suited man nod at him gave him the validation he needed and continued through the house.

"There's one more person upstairs that I've gotta reach and save," Zeke thought.

Making his way upstairs with his weapons out, he came across a woman who'd been tied up to a chair and gagged with what looked like cloth. Tagging and untying her wasn't a problem in the slightest, but what caught him off guard was her aura. Instead of only being able to feel it, hers began to change shape and manifest itself into a brown and blonde color which covered her left and right halves completely.

"What the-" Unable to finish the thought, the woman leapt at Zeke with a sharp weapon in hand hoping to cut him. "What are you doing!" he shouted, still dodging the strikes, "I'm trying to save you!"

Fighting back with his stun batons, he tried to land a hit on her hoping that he'd be able to electrocute her and momentarily find some reprieve to whatever the hell is happening. She had foreseen him trying this and gracefully leapt over him while managing to nick him on the neck. "Hehehehe" the woman began.

Watching the woman seemingly begin to emit a strange gray liquid and melt while sending him a bone chilling smile set Zeke's mind ablaze wondering who this person was and why is she attacking him with killing intent. "I don't wanna do this Zekey-kun. My bosses say I've gotta make things harder for you and that other boy today. I promise just lemme drink some your blood and I'll be outta your hair. Promise!"

A semi naked girl that had to be around his age if not a bit older was now standing where that businesswoman used to be which made Zeke extremely confused and a bit creeped out by what he was seeing. "Who the heck are you and what did you do to that woman?" he asked. Keeping his quirk turned on her aura now had hints of a bloodshot red around where her eyes should be. "I've got a bad feeling about this… maybe I should ru-"

My name is Himiko Toga and I've been wanting to meet you for so long! You may not realize it, but because of you, I was stopped before I could keep going down the wrong path," Toga exclaimed.

"Is she talking about the incident downtown last year?" Zeke wondered. "I don't even know who you are, why are you telling me any of this? Are you with the commission too and if so how come I've never seen you before?"

"Well it's a long story, but to sum it up, your little explosion last year caused my plan of living while on the run to end early and those pesky heroes caught me. Afterwards I was sent away for "quirk counselling" if you could even call it that…", Trailing off Zeke saw her falter slightly before perking back up again almost as if to convince herself of something.

"Anyways, once I was "cured" I was sent here and have been here ever since. It's been hard, but you've been on my mind for such a long time, I knew everything I've gone through would be worth it to see the one I love before my very eyes," she delighted.

"I don't know whether I want to stab you or hug you so for now I'll have to settle with just taking you down!"

Running towards him and swiping at him once again, caused Zeke to intercept the knife with his stun baton. The knife was flung out of her hand and he put one baton on her neck while having the other charged and ready for discharge near her exposed stomach.

"Make one more move and I won't hesitate to use this. I don't really get why the commission felt it was necessary to bring you here today, but I will complete my mission and keep moving forward." Bringing the weapon even closer to her stomach, Toga could almost feel the sparks coming off it and knew he was serious about hurting her.

Smiling another sadistic smile while blushing, Toga felt like she'd found her new "love" in Zeke and wouldn't...no couldn't let things end here. "You're just so interesting! Not a goody two shoes like everyone else I've met and you always stick to your goals. No wonder Kyojuro-kun hates you so much," she delighted again while squirming.

"Kyojuro! Where is he and why would he be here today?" Zeke asked.

"Oops, I think I just spoiled the surprise, Takami-san. Well it doesn't matter now anyway, you may not realize it, but you've already lost," Toga replied. "Both your fates were sealed the moment I was assigned here today."

Forcing the baton near her throat even closer until it was pushing up against her, Zeke wanted to know what she meant by him being here. This was supposed to be a private training session.

"You are going to answer my question, I'm not playing games here and don't have time to mess around. What did you mean he's here too? I haven't seen him in weeks."

Her expression turned serious and sent chills down his spine once again, "Who said anything about messing around?"

Without warning the wall near both of them was blown away and a figure was sent crashing through it. This was the momentary distraction Toga needed as she'd wiggled out of his grasp and jumped away into the dust that was now covering the room. "Ugh...that hurt," Zeke heard someone say.

The dust went away and it soon left Kyojuro standing in its wake and Zeke as confused as ever. "What are you doing here!?" he growled. "I thought you made it clear you didn't want me as a training partner anymore."

"Not this again! We don't have time to argue, when right now I'm being chased by Takami-senpai and the whole rescue mission is a sham. With the way he's been fighting me, there's no way we stand any chance if he gets serious," Kyojuro shouted back.

"I don't know why both our missions interlapped, but I was fighting some girl before she ambushed me and knocked me out. I have no clue of her relation to Takami-senpai, but from what I could tell, the girl knows how to handle herself in a fight. I could barely touch her before getting knocked out."

"She says her name is Himiko Toga and I don't know why she was here either," Zeke said.

"She was HERE!" Kyojuro shouted while taking his stance and looking around the room. "She's incredibly dangerous so we should get outta here while we still can. I'll watch your back and you watch mine, but stay cautious."

Turning around while still in his stance, Zeke figured even though they weren't on the best of terms right now, Kyojuro would at least be determined when it came to coming out on top.

"Jeez, could things get any worse?" he muttered.

"Oh it most definitely could, Zeke," Hawks answered now standing in the giant hole in the wall that had been made moments ago. "You've already let your guard down even after knowing what your enemy could do. Such a shame, but you fail."

"What are you talking about, I haven't done anything like that. You threw Kyojuro through the wall which led to me meeting him again. If we team up I'm sure we can pull off a victory here."

Smirking, Keigo could only imagine the confusion that's about to run through his head when he reveals the surprise. "You might want to rethink that. Where is Toga-chan?" he asked, wanting to know the answer Zeke would give him.

"She's…", Not seeing her anymore, he didn't realize a knife was being held against his throat.

"I'm right here, Zekey-kun," Toga replied.

Toga had shapeshifted into Kyojuro during the chaos and managed to sneak up on Zeke signaling the villains had gained the upper hand.

"How did you-"

"Her quirk isn't important right now, but do you remember when Kyojuro was flung through the wall? You might want to look and see what I actually flung through the wall instead," Hawks said.

Taking a second look, he noticed that a metallic doll had been thrown instead of an actual person and now another question popped into his mind. "Where is the real Kyojuro then?" Zeke asked. "If she's shapeshifted into him, then that dumbass has gotta be here somewhere."

"Correct," Hawks stated while still floating in midair. Calling one of his wings back from someplace, Zeke saw a passed out Kyojuro being carried by it. "It wasn't his fault that he ended up in this situation nor was it yours that you ended up in your situation. It's a combination of both of your unwillingness to train together or get along that resulted in this loss."

Expression darkening, Zeke could see that Keigo was actually angry for some reason. "If this had been a real fight, Kyo-kun would've been dead and you would've followed him shortly after once that knife had been plunged into your throat."

"The reason I brought this girl in was to demonstrate real teamwork...and to show you that sometimes you have to work with people you dislike in order to get the job done. While I don't agree with her methods, I cannot find myself to say she was inadequate with her job. On the contrary, she's a brilliant fighter and there's a reason the commission chose her for today."

Setting Kyojuro down on the ground near Zeke, Hawks used another wing to allow Toga to grab onto, while using many more to cover her now almost naked body. "You and Kyojuro need to have a serious heart to heart before attempting this mission again. Next time, I can't guarantee the consequences for failure will be so light...I can't save you from the higher ups' wrath, remember?"

Oh make no mistake about it, Zeke remembers all too well some of the nastier secrets the HPSC loved to hide. Lady Nagant and her story being the main one his senpai loved to use whenever he talked about the darker side of this place. It was extremely unforgiven towards failure or rebellion and that was enough motivation anyone needed to not piss these people off. It never ends well for the person at fault.

"Right, we'll talk." Glancing at the boy on the floor next to him and internally groaning, "It'll have to be when he wakes up first."

"Toga, just what did you do to Kyo-kun anyway?" Hawks asked.

"I just bonked him over the head with something heavy. I made sure once he was out to carefully and gently drink his blood. I was taught how to do it safely. Well...as safe as you could be drinking someone's blood."

"Although if I must say, that boy should've definitely put up more of a fight from what I've heard. It felt like he was subconsciously holding himself back which sucks!" Toga said. "Once I realized he wasn't playing for keeps like me, I did what needed to be done and moved on to him."

Pointing at Zeke with another smile on her face, "I promise we will meet again. Fate must've brought you and I together. I'll definitely drink your blood the next time we meet. Whether that's now or down the road."

Rubbing his temples, Keigo could only imagine just what the hell was going on in this girl's head. "Alright, alright that's enough of that. Zeke, you already know what to do. Make sure you and him come to an understanding about certain things and let's move on already. You've got a little more than two years before trying out for UA and unless you want your future senpai here to feel sad, it's best you keep growing stronger."

"Wait, what do you mean, "senpai"? You're not implying what I think you are right?" Zeke asked nervously. The last thing he wanted was more weirdos interjecting themselves into his life when he already had enough on his plate.

"Afraid so. This girl will be starting next year and if I'm not mistaken, she's the only one of you three that's getting in purely on recommendations. The higher ups believe she can be an absolute force to be reckoned with and have decided that school would be the best place for her to develop mentally since…"

"Well, you've seen how she can be. Social interaction with kids her own age may be the best thing for her."

"This girl is going to UA? You can't be serious." Zeke thought.

"If everything goes well, she'd be a second year student by the time you two start your first," Hawks stated.

"Anyway, I've gotta go report this and let them know that you two will be getting back on the same page." Flapping his wings and readying for takeoff, he looked at the two somberly one more time before leaving.

"Please, just do what you must until these two years are up. Afterwards you and him never have to interact outside of this place ever again."

"I pray you and Kyojuro make the right decision," he finished. Lifting off the ground and flying away from the faux city, left Zeke feeling conflicted, confused and a tad bit angry as he still had no interest in speaking with him again.

"Why should I have to apologize when I wasn't the one who had the bad attitude and got us locked in solitary confinement for a whole week, two months ago!"

Taking a seat in one of the non destroyed chairs left in the room, Zeke decided to wait until Kyojuro wakes up so they can have their much needed talk. It seems like this stalemate they had was about to forcefully come to an end much to his displeasure.

Opening his eyes and staring at a ceiling above, Kyojuro tried to sit up and noticed his head was throbbing. "Damn it, what the hell happened?" he muttered, completely unaware he wasn't alone anymore.

"You got caught slipping by that half naked girl, you dumbass," Zeke answered half caring.

Both boys making eye contact with each other immediately shifted the tone in the room to almost completely negative and the air around them grew with anxiousness and annoyance. The incident from two months ago was still fresh in each other's mind and although Kyojuro was truly the one at fault, Zeke never let him off the hook for not telling him why he went off like he did.

"Of course, I wake up and you have to be the first thing I see," Kyojuro muttered. Clutching his head and now fully sitting up, he wondered just how his mission went so bad so quickly.

"Cut me some slack, Zeke. I had no idea who she was until after she had already tried to cut me. Had I known about her true nature earlier, I wouldn't have lost like I did."

"That's a lie and we both know it. With a quirk like yours, you should've been able to easily dispatch her if I was able to subdue her with my gear. Let's face it, all these secrets you continue to hold back keep dragging you and others around you down."

"...That's none of your business, Zeke. Just drop it already," Kyojruo half heartedly replied.

Zeke by this point was thoroughly upset with how his supposed comrade had been acting and decided he would get some answers out of him even if he had to get physical with him. Walking up to him and yanking him by the collar, he got almost nose to nose with him.

"What do you mean it's none of my business!" he shouted. "Because of you attacking one of the higher ups, we both got thrown in solitary confinement for a full week and to top it off you wouldn't tell me shit about why you flew off the deep end!"

"Because like I said it's none of your business!" Kyojuro went to break free from his grasp, but the head injury still left his balance off so the attempt was made futile and he was left in the boy's tightening grip once again.

"Look I get the fact that you wanna keep secrets, I really do. Hell even though I kept nothing from you against my best judgement, I decided to go out on a limb and trust you with the details of what I remember that day I arrived in Japan and the shitshow with those villains a few weeks later."

"But you…"

"You just keep hiding stuff and holding things back even after we were informed of how dangerous things can get if we can't trust each other."

Looking away from Zeke, Kyojuro found the words he wanted to come out stuck in throat and his eyes felt hot with tears that were filling to the brim about to overflow if he wasn't careful with his emotions.

"I don't know a damned thing about my past or where I came from, but you have someone waiting at home for you," Zeke said. Instinctively, an image of his father popped into Kyojuro's head and his heart began to fill itself with sadness thinking of him once again.

"For all I know my family could be dead and gone or maybe they never really wanted me to begin with. It's so many potential answers to the questions I have and it scares me, but what choice do I have but to keep moving forward!?"

Letting him go and calming his breaths, Zeke walked over to a wall and leaned against it hoping some of what he said got through to Kyojuro. "I didn't mean to get so mad, sorry."

"I just-" Pausing to choose his next words carefully, "I just wanna be able to understand why you flew off the handle like that. Normally when you're not fighting, your emotions never run that hot, but what exactly did he say to you that set you off so badly?"

Clicking his teeth and turning around to face the hole in the wall overlooking the faux city, Kyojuro felt the tears that had been building up fall. "He mentioned my dad," he muttered, while it sounded much more like a whisper.

"Huh."

"I said he mentioned my dad!" Kyojuro shouted back, still turned away from him. His quirk subconsciously activated and the anger he had been building up filtered through.

"I never told you, but he was quirkless and people always gave him shit for it even though he was the kindest man I've ever seen. He was always brave in the face of danger and never turned his back on anyone in need of help."

"People always thought because my dad was quirkless he was weak and needed saving when this couldn't be farther from the truth. He was a boxer who in his prime was quite the champion. You may not believe me, but he used to moonlight as a vigilante and he would take down criminals with just his fists."

Sniffling and yet smiling at the same time, the memories he held onto were still fresh in his mind and brought him some comfort. Although this was always followed by more sadness once he couldn't fool himself any longer to how his story ended.

"All in all, he was a great man who I thought was invincible."

"Why would you get so upset about him mentioning your dad unless-", He stopped mid sentence when he realized he had been talking about his dad in past tense. Meaning only one thing. "He's...he's no longer here, is he?" Zeke asked.

"No," Balling his fists and letting more tears flow freely, Kyojuro hated whenever he stopped to think about the answer to this question. "He's dead and it's all my fault."

"What do you mean it's your fault?" Zeke asked. In the past year he's known him, he has never seen Kyojuro get this emotional about anything. He'd always been so stoic so the fact that he was letting all this out was quite the shock to him.

"About a year before I showed up here, there was an incident with a building burning with blue flames and a few scattered villains causing havoc. My dad being the person he was, intervened and rescued every civilian out of the building with nothing but the clothes on his back to aid him."

"This was nothing more than a distraction to get to me as they'd managed to uncover his identity and tracked me and him down. When he was dead tired and bringing the last civilian out of the building, there I was being held by some freak with a gun to my head and the look on my dad's face said it all. It was the first time I've ever seen him scared."

"Eventually the villain released me and took aim at my dad…" Closing his eyes, he could still hear his dad's declaration to the man while attempting to fight him, "I won't let anyone here die today! Especially not my own son! I will defeat you!"

"He shot my dad over and over until blood was pouring from everywhere on his body and yet he refused to stop moving. Something kept him going until he accomplished his goal and I think that was because of me. I was so important to him that he would sacrifice his life to protect me and that he did."

"Eventually he managed to knock the villain unconscious and I was left alone to witness his final moments. Even while he was bleeding out and the only thing I could do was watch knowing, help wouldn't get there in time, he still smiled knowing that I was safe and out of harm's way."

Zeke couldn't even find the courage to speak as any attempt too was buried by sheer curiosity. Kyojuro's dad was dead and more importantly he was a vigilante. Suddenly Kyojuro ending up under the HPSC's care and watch made much more sense than a father throwing his son to the wolves by himself. It wasn't a choice and knowing them, they probably erased any and all traces of that incident that night along with bribing any civilians he saved to not speak on it.

It made Zeke sick to his stomach that instead of allowing him time to grieve, they forced him to train this hard when he probably doesn't even want to become a hero in the first place.

"That's the main reason why I wear my hair like this," he said while pointing to his hair. "People may call it lame or outdated, but who cares. He always took care of it no matter the situation and ironically the only time he couldn't keep it up anymore was when he...died."

"During his time as a vigilante, he'd met many people along his journey and a few of them had enough pull to get me admitted to this place should something happen to him before I turned 18. If I'm being honest, I still have no idea why I even agreed to come with them to begin with. Maybe it was just them exploiting a talented kid with a good quirk or maybe there was another part of me who felt I had nowhere else to go except with them."

Regardless of my choices, I willingly came with them because deep down, I wanted to understand why he risked his life in the ring and fighting crime when he was so fragile. Now I don't mean fragile as in weak, but he was quirkless and fighting villains whose quirks could vary from weak to monstrous is scary to think about and yet he never hesitated when someone was in trouble."

"I...I…" Unable to force the words out of his mouth, he wiped more tears from his eyes before noticing a hand being stuck out towards his shoulder.

Unbeknownst to him, Zeke had heard all he needed to hear and decided to be the first one of them to reach out and make that connection. They were a lot alike in some ways and differed in others, but it seemed like Zeke wasn't the only one fighting some heavy demons while in this place.

"You are an arrogant, annoying, know it all who tries to place the blame and far too much else on your shoulders. There's nothing more I wanna do right now, than punch you right in the face." Smiling to Kyojuro, he noticed his expression relax while still holding his hand out towards him.

"And yet...I can't leave you alone no matter how much I want to. I always felt like there was this odd connection between us and I could never figure out why. At least until now. You had so much shit thrown at you along with how volatile your quirk can be, you probably stayed away in fear of getting others dragged into your mess, huh."

"I'm the same damn way so there's no reason why you have to go through all this shit alone. You may hate my guts, but I've got your back as long as you've got mine, Kyojuro."

"So, you gonna take my hand so I can help you up or are you gonna keep leaving me hanging?"

"Is this guy serious?" Kyojuro thought. "We both severely dislike each other and here he is with this goofy looking smile on his face with his hand reaching out to me like I need it."

Scoffing at the thought, he noticed that although he disliked the smile he was being given, he found himself unable to truly dislike it. It reminded him too much of how his father used to smile at him. He hated the thought of this prick having the same smile as him, but there was no denying the sincerity in both of their facial expressions.

His eyes also showed a similar warmth and truthfulness to them that his father used to display. As much as he hated to admit it, he believed Zeke wasn't lying moments ago and truly wanted to extend the first olive branch to their fresh start.

"You're...such a strange person, Zeke." Wiping his eyes again before making his decision, his thoughts passed on his dream and he knew what had to be done in order to keep moving forward with his life.

"I…I want to see the same heights that my father did. He was able to reach the pinnacle in boxing and was the greatest hero I've ever seen even though he possessed no quirk. He wasn't the strongest, but his determination was a sight to behold. Even if it's an unattainable goal, I want to give it my all to surpass him. I'll become someone who won't let anyone die just like he did."

Grabbing hold of Zeke's hand, he was pulled up and both boys locked eyes with a similar determination rippling through them. They didn't have to say anything to know that they finally made some sort of breakthrough with each other. It's taken a full year, but progress had finally been made and now they could focus on getting strong to lead themselves down their own respective path. Whether it's filled with happiness or heartbreak is anyone's guess, but at least they would have someone they could depend on when things looked grim.

"Well now that that's out of the way, we should probably start making our way through the city. We've got a lot of ground to cover and you've probably got a nasty headache right now. The sooner we move, the quicker we can get some rest before Takami-senpai inevitably works us to death in the next few days," Zeke said.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that asshole. He's the whole reason that girl was even allowed in here to begin with," Kyojuro muttered.

"Yeah about that...he may have...sorta mentioned that she's gonna be our senpai once we start UA in two years." Zeke immediately saw a vein pop up around his forehead and could almost feel the anger and annoyance seep off of him.

"*Sigh* Of course that would happen. Why do I attract so many weirdos?"

"Says the one who's entire quirk is hulking up by getting angry. You should be the last one to complain about people being weird," Zeke retorted teasingly.

"Hmph."

Finding no other things to talk about, Kyojuro propped himself up on Zeke's shoulder to gather himself before they made their way back to the base.

"Don't worry about us walking back. With my ODM gear, it'll only take us around 10 minutes if we don't have to stop every couple minutes because you get motion sick."

"Haha, very funny. Let's just get this over with. My head is killing me."

Climbing on his back, Zeke gave him instructions on how to not fall off while in the air as the maneuverability and speed this thing possessed was still extremely hard to predict half the time.

Aiming for the first building, he shot out the grappling hook and was whooshed along the path heading back to their home, ready to get some much needed rest.

"I told you all they needed was a little push in the right direction," Keigo stated.

He'd been watching their talk along with the higher ups in the HPSC to evaluate whether they needed to take...extreme measures to ensure they work with each other from here on out.

"It was just kids needing to talk out their issues and they have done that, so there's no need for any more of your ludacris solutions to the problem. Like I said a month ago, I'd handle it and it resolved itself."

The president of the commission had watched the entire thing through the same monitor that Keigo did and while was unhappy that these boys were being given far too much free will to just do what they wanted, he was pleased that they finally made some sort of connection in order to find some middle ground.

"Alright, Hawks you already know I trust your judgement on matters like this and even if I find legitimate fault, you still manage to turn the odds to your favor regardless of what they may be. These two along with the girl will become promising candidates to attend UA in a few years time and once that happens, they'll receive all the experience they need."

"Losing someone as useful as Nagant was a setback, but her replacement in one of these three will make up for our loss nicely."

"Damn, he's still on this!" Keigo thought angrily. "Why can't you people just let them be kids instead of tools?"

Tapping his fingers along the desk, the president seemed especially pleased with Zeke's progress. "That German boy should be quite useful once he gets a bit older. A quirk like that which allows him to distinctly single people out along with their aura should come in handy when it comes to confirming a target before eliminating them."

"Sir with all due respect, I don't think that-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion, Hawks. The only requirement you have at the moment is to watch over them and to train them to their utmost potential. Until their day arrives the main things you should worry about is to keep climbing the hero rankings until you hit the top 5. Of course with heroes like All Might and Endeavor you won't reach the peak, but at the very least those wings of yours should carry you far enough, don't you think?"

Seeing no opportunity to retort, he found himself unable to say much else to the president.

"Y-yes sir. I'll do my best to accomplish the goals set for me," Keigo replied.

"Right, you're dismissed then," The president stated with finality in his voice. Keigo turned to leave the room, but was stopped by his voice.

"Oh and one more thing, Hawks."

"If you ever step out of line with telling them things they have no right to know about, things won't be kept as cordial between you and I the next time we meet. Are we clear?"

The tone this man was using was one Keigo knew all too well. Whenever it was used meant the offender was on very thin ice with these people and stepping out of line again would result in heavy consequences that are best left unsaid. The thought sends a chill down his spin.

"My apologies sir. I'll make sure my actions won't repeat themselves," he stated with a respectful bow.

"That would be wise on your part. You're dismissed."

Leaving the room, Keigo was filled with all sorts of amounts of dread thinking of how close he just came to screwing things up for everyone. The President wasn't a kind man who tolerated failure or mistakes much if at all. For all he knew, Keigo could've been taken out of action for that alone which scared him. Without him there, who would look after and protect Zeke and Kyojuro? Nobody that's who and the thought terrifies him.

"I had nobody to look after me or watch my back in this hellhole. That's why I promised myself that I wouldn't fail in protecting them and watching over them," he thought.

"I swear on my life, you two will make it out of this place ok even if it costs me my life. I won't stand by and watch them create another Nagant or Hawks in my case."

The Hero Public Safety Commission's board room was filled out with its most important members who felt like a meeting was in order to determine what was to be done about a future test

"This is troubling," one of the board members stated. "I can see Kyojuro getting into UA with how his quirk functions. The robot test would be no problem for someone like him. The German child is the one who I see having problems passing the exam in any fashion with a quirk like his."

"She's right. Unless things change, all of our hard work would be for naught as he'd fail and be put into General Education. What a waste that'd be," another board member answered.

"What about getting him in through recommendations? We're doing it for Toga so I fail to see why it'd fail to work on Zeke," someone else interjected.

"Do you know how suspicious it'd look to people if we were giving out these recommendations willy nilly? We already have taken some serious heat for even taking in Zeke to begin with. The last thing we need is any more bad publicity for us after the past year and a half. Playing it smart is the best thing to do here," another replied.

The President had been listening to suggestions for over an hour and was in all honesty tired of the constant back and forth. "I agree with playing it smart, but to go about that, what would any of you suggest we do? We have a little over two years before those two take their exams so we need to come up with something that will help Zeke in that timeframe."

Silence filled the room as nobody had an idea on how to go about getting him into UA with a surefire method. That is until a certain winged man poked his head into matter that shouldn't concern him.

"Why not change the test?" Keigo replied.

Murmurs filled the room and everyone turned their heads before noticing Hawks dressed in business attire and had completely blended into the room unnoticed by anyone else other than the President. He always was damned good at espionage.

"If you manipulate the test in a way that hides your favoritism, then I don't see the problem with it. Just create another version of the test that is suitable for people who's quirk may not be explicitly suited for combat and your new golden goose should pass with flying colors. No test would be able to stop him from attempting to pass anyway, but I'd rather him not be squished by a giant metal robot on his first unofficial day, wouldn't you?" Keigo said.

"I also put together a list of potential candidates who I think would fit the faux exams quirk standard while taking into account how valuable they might be to you guys in the future."

He'd put some thought into their future and figured this would be the best thing he could do to make sure they leave this place and never turn back once they acquire everything they need from here.

"That's actually a good idea, Hawks," The President replied. "It seems you always manage to get back into our good graces without much effort."

"Nah it was no big deal. I'd just hate to think about wasting his potential. That's all sir," Hawks stated knowing he was lying.

"Does anyone else object to this idea of creating an entirely separate test for Zeke and a few others like him?" The President asked.

Seeing no objections, he then moved on to their next phase of questions that would be had. "So who do you think would be a decent choice from this list?" Shuffling through the many papers Hawks brought him, he didn't even know where to begin in determining the proper candidates.

"There's many good eggs in this basket if I must say. Quirks varying from good to extremely resourceful fill the list out completely, but there are a few standouts that I think you should take note of." Pointing to the top of the pile, he brought attention to a purple haired boy whose eyes looked extremely similar to Eraserhead and quirk didn't leave much to imagination.

"His name is Hitoshi Shinso and his quirk is called Brainwashing. Basically whenever he speaks to someone and they respond back, it allows him to mentally grab hold of them to make them do whatever he wants. The boy from what I've been able to observe has been ostracized from his peers due to the nature of his quirk."

Murmurs broke out through the room once again, "Interesting, but who says this child wants to go to UA?" Keigo heard someone ask.

"Well I have been observing him after all so I think I'd know something about that. Make no mistake other than his quirk being deemed evil by most others, he certainly has that gleam in those sleepy looking eyes of his to be one. Without us though, his potential and his quirk may fall to the wasteside unless someone were to intervene…" Keigo answered.

"Alright, I think I've heard enough," The President interjected. Everything he's heard from Hawks so far has been nothing short of spectacular and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't intrigued by this brainwashing boy too.

"Hawks, I'll let you continue to observe Shinso until I give you the ok to approach him for the faux exam. I will reiterate however that this should be kept extremely confidential as I'll be the front of this attempting to push for change to the testing at UA which hasn't been changed in decades I might add. In order for this to work it'll take all of the power the HPSC has along with a good bit of luck to pull this off."

"No doubt about that sir," Keigo replied back with a fake smile. Silently he hated using this boy as a stepping stone to further his own agendas, but he knew he'd have to break a few eggs somewhere down the line.

"The details of the test are inside the folder to your left and I'll let you modify it to your whim, sir. I think I made it especially challenging, but then again we may have two completely different standards when it comes to that."

"Alright well I think we've reached an understanding of some sort. We'll work over the next two years in order to force the school to accommodate the testing if only for a year or two in order to get Zeke admitted. Once that happens the rest is up to him to do his part and not get expelled."

"Meeting adjourned." The room soon cleared out leaving only the president alone with his thoughts.

Sitting back in his seat and sighing, he wondered how any or all of this would play out when Zeke was such an enigma in terms of his unique origins.

"Well at the very least, we won't be going in blind for much longer," he thought to himself.

"Losing someone as valuable as Lady Nagant slowed us down tremendously, but we are finally starting to get things going again. All we need to do is stay the course and things'll get better with time. Hero Society must be protected at all costs, even if a few people get swallowed in darkness in order for that to happen."

Two Years Later

"Move Forward"

"Don't Go"

"Fight"

"Give Up"

"You are free"

"You are MINE!"

Awakening in a cold sweat Zeke realized once again he'd had the same dream for almost two weeks straight. "Damn, what the hell is going on with me lately?" He thought with the same puzzled look that was surely forming on his face for yet another restless night.

"You cannot be serious!" He all but shouted soon realizing it's now 7:45 and he'd now spent the past few hours in God having nightmares about something he can't even seem to remember anymore.

"This always happens when I wake up. It's like the dream fades away and it's so annoying," he groaned to himself.

"No use in crying about it now," he muttered and rubbed his face, "I've gotta get ready for the exam."

Stretching again and making his way to the bathroom he took a good look at himself in the mirror noticing the drastic changes he'd made to his appearance in the past two years. For starters his hair had grown to his shoulders and while his senpai thought it'd be better for him to cut it, another part of him grew to love its length so he tied it back in a man bun and figured no one could complain about it anymore. His body and muscles had become more defined while retaining his overall slim physique no doubt due to the specialized training that he went through due to the commission.

No longer could he be considered small either as now he'd shot up to around 5'7 and wore his height well. It doesn't help that he never was considered ugly so overall he'd say his heritage along with his body now made him look extremely handsome. He'd never hear the end of it if Keigo could hear his thoughts. He could practically hear the teasing.

Luckily for him, Keigo would be unavailable for the entire day due to the commission coincidentally assigned him a mission on the day of the test.

"At least that's one less thing I have to worry about." His entrance exam wouldn't be for another few hours and he already felt butterflies in his stomach.

It's been four long years and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't anxious to see everyone again. Aizawa and Toshinori came to the forefront of his mind as he wondered how much they'd changed as well. Keigo had informed him that during his entrance exam today, he'd be able to see both of them and that made him tremendously excited even if he tried to hide it from him.

"I wonder what they would think if they could see me now, '' he happily stated.

Glancing out of his window, Zeke looked at the rising sun and the beauty of it captivated his attention. Today of all days felt like something spectacular was about to happen and the thought of him making potential progress on his journey to regain his memories filled him with determination. "This is gonna be big. I can feel it."

"It took four long years, but I finally am gonna start making good on all the promises I made all those years ago." Remembering back to his talk with Aizawa, he grinned and continued to look out his window with hopefulness in his eyes. "I'll become a hero that'll make you eat your words and acknowledge my potential."

Steeling his gaze while retaining the same hopeful expression, he relented to thinking so seriously this early in the morning and decided to hop in the shower and get ready for the long and surely eventful day ahead of him.

What he doesn't know however is just how big of an effect today will have on any and everyone connected to him. All Might finding his successor months earlier in a green haired teen named Izuku Midoriya is among the many changes society has undergone in his absence, but while the heroes have continued to move forward and change with the seasons, the villains have done the same.

And he hasn't even begun to comprehend just how wild and out of control things are about to get for everyone involved with him. For better or worse, this'll be a turning point that no one will be able to turn back from and moving forward will be the only thing anyone can do.

So the Shifuku style summary will definitely be next I promise lmao. I realized I had to write this chapter in order for the details of it to accurately represent how they are now. Also the specialized exam will only cater to kids whose quirks are really not suited for combat, but would still be invaluable for hero work. Also the revamped ODM gear has a few more hidden functions that I won't reveal until later in the story, but just know that it'll be allowed for his entrance exam. He's gonna be put through the wringer and he'll need all the help he can get.

PS: I wonder what Stain has been up to for the past 4 years...I hope he's ok lol.