The classroom was relatively back to normal after the unfortunate incident at the DSA. Class 1-A were all patiently waiting in their seats while Iida was dutifully accomplishing his work as the class representative in a fruitless manner.

"Okay, everyone! Be seated already!"

Nobody but him stood out of their seats. They didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise since his effort was rather endearing, so they let him have this. Aizawa walked into the room in his usual manner of being excessively exhausted.

"Class, g'mornin."

A return greeting from the entire class as per usual in response to their teacher's. Everyone but Izuku didn't know about the teacher's rather uncharacteristic fighting style from a few days ago. It felt like he was keeping a secret, but it wasn't his place to start such rumors behind his teacher's back. He was taught better than that. Though now it was hard to forget the cruel and calculated takedowns of all those villains by Eraser Head's hands. Aizawa kept going like business as usual and announced to the class the next agenda on the docket for them.

"Alright, now that we got attendance out the way; I got some news for the lot of you…"

Their homeroom teacher took a bit of a dramatic pause to draw in the class ever so slightly.

"... This year's UA Sports Festival is coming up. So you all better get ready for the competition ahead."

An underwhelming delivery on one of the year's most important events that will dictate their paths as heroes. Still, there was some buzz going on between the students at the news that the UA Sports Festival was right around the corner.

"Damn, I keep forgetting sometimes that this is a school sometimes."

"Wait, won't the villains take advantage of that too? Like what happened at the DSA?"

Their homeroom teacher had a response for the concern of not only their own, but the safety of those at the public event that UA Academy hosted every year.

"I've been instructed to not share too much; but the gist is that the ESD will be at the sports festival alongside the police to act as security for the event. That is the extent of the knowledge I have on that."

It was still hard to feel at ease as if those villains were to strike again, then it may end up in that same bloodbath that the botched attempt of an assassination was for the villains. Not a single youth there wanted to see something so gruesome in their lives ever again. Distracting the class; Aizawa kept the conversation going with the next topic of discussion.

"What you guys should be focused on is what sort of opportunity this festival could present to all of you as heroes."

Izuku could hear Mineta voice his dissenting opinion of the festival at the first sign of villains attempting to repeat their previous misgivings. A question was aimed at the purple haired boy over such a contrasting opinion from the rest of the students there.

"Mineta; have you never seen the UA Sports Festival?"

"Ah, well no… It's just…"

More information steamrolled the side conversation as Aizawa kept passing on more knowledge of the event coming up for them to attend.

"In the past; the only sporting event that could rival this event was known as the olympics! Do not underestimate the importance of something that will only come once a year and help you get your name out to those that matter."

Momo spoke up and further elaborated on the tidbit of info that Aizawa shared with everyone.

"There will be all sorts of recruiters and hero agencies there to assess all of us there. Many of them will be from some of the most elite agencies out there."

Now everyone was joining in on the conversation over their idea of an ideal start to their actual careers. Kaminari was a rather complacent teen with no real ambition of taking on hero work on his own. Being a sidekick for another much more successful hero was his idea of a good enough life. It wasn't a well shared opinion as many of them were actually fearful of being stuck in such a role for their lives as heroes. The homeroom teacher cut their discussion short with one last piece of advice.

"All of you show promise; but promises can be broken if you don't follow through. Don't let yourselves down with any sort of half assed attempt. Show the world what you got is worth investing in!"

Moving words for everybody there. Especially since Izuku felt the weight of responsibility he had from those who had worked hard to help him get here. It both exhilarated and frightened him to his core.

Lunchtime

At the start of the break, everybody began to group off and start gossiping over what was to be expected from the UA Sports Festival. The boy's were clustering over at Bakugou's desk as Kaminari was excitedly expecting once they got into the nitty gritty of it. He wasn't as apathetic to the conversation as one would expect, but his answers were gruff and short whenever he rarely spoke.

"Wow, it's really intense now that the festival is near…"

"Of course; this is UA Academy! Getting fired up like this is only par of the course!"

Iida was intensely clenching every muscle in his torso out of his own barely contained excitement. Iida at times tended to be a walking contradiction for the most part. His clean cut look and glasses would make one assume he was a calm and stern person at all times. Even Tsuyu couldn't help commenting on how odd Iida was at times. Izuku was trying to agree with Iida when they were called out by Ochaco. Turning to face the ordinarily bubbly girl; they saw a look of intense sportsman-like energy they weren't aware she was capable of conveying. Mina entered the conversation just then and gently got her hand under Izuku's left arm. It was amusing as well as slightly off-putting to see such intensity from Uraraka.

Without even realizing; Izuku put his left hand in his pocket to create a loop for Mina to rest her arm. She didn't quite loop her arm around his; it was her hand that rested on the inside of his forearm. Some jealous boys knew what Izuku and Mina were and it filled them with no shortage of disdain for their classmate. They weren't people to act all mushy with one another, so the physical affection went almost unnoticed by the rest of the group.

"Woah, super not-Uraraka."

"Maybe it's that time of the mo-"

Tsuyu was quick on the uptick and used her tongue to whip the boy across the face and onto the floor. Haru would have been proud of the sound it made as the appendage sent the inappropriate boy towards the floor. The only person more bubbly than Ochaco even happened to be approaching the conversation and 'accidentally' kicked the boy while he was sprawled out on the floor. His self-destructive way of thinking was by far the most painful thing about UA so far.

"Time to crush it… The sports festival!..."

Her head snapped to the right at everybody else; who were all just nervously staring at her.

"I'm gonna do it!"

That growl of a battlecry got everyone's attention and even had a few of them copy Uraraka's raised right fist out of confusion as to whether or not they were supposed to copy her. The classroom eventually emptied itself and the group of the usual six were all migrating to the cafeteria. It made Midoriya very curious that somebody like Ochaco seemingly had quite the reason for being here at UA Academy. He decided to take a shot at it and ask her the reason for her attendance at this school in particular.

"Hey, Urara-"

"Ochaco; why are you here at UA? Just wanted to ask!"

The ball of pink energy hanging off his left arm chimed up about her curiosity before Izuku and beat him to the punch. Ochaco began to act rather sheepish at the sudden question being tossed her way. None of her previous out-of-character confidence was present as she answered the question with honesty over her intentions of attending such a well known academy such as UA. Her answer managed to surprise almost everybody in the group traveling towards the lunchroom.

"Money? You're being a hero for money?"

"Uhhh, I guess; yeah…"

It made Ochaco a little uncomfortable to just come out and say her reason.

"Ahhh, it's so embarrassing! All of you are being heroes for such noble reasons; meanwhile I'm here for something so straightforward."

It was again the appointed class representative who felt it was necessary to help the girl be at ease over telling everyone her reasons for being here.

"Nonsense! Somebody who wishes to provide for themselves and be financially independent has nothing to be ashamed of!"

He almost hit Momo and Izuku with his arms several times with how wide he was swinging them to help illustrate his point. Momo chimed in with her own take over what she thought about Ochaco's reason for being at UA.

"You shouldn't feel ashamed for a reason such as that. You have every right to become a hero for your own reasons and achieve what you set out to be to obtain such goals."

Everyone there nodded in agreement and thought that Momo couldn't have put it better. It certainly helped Ochaco feel more at ease over feeling judged. It certainly was effective as she elaborated on what she meant when she said she was after money as a hero.

"To be perfectly honest; it's more than just that…"

Her family's struggle to be financially secure was shared with the others in the group. She elaborated that as a child she wanted to help her parent's in the family business to help them overcome their financial situation. It filled her with guilt as a child that she couldn't help her parents with how hard they worked to provide for her needs. The look of silent stress and concealed exhaustion that a child from a family such as this would notice; even when the parents did all they could to conceal such truths for their child's sake.

Her father reassured her that it was her dream that he wanted out of his child. It was her happiness that took priority over his or her mother's. To this day, that memory is one of the most prolific in her mind. It set in motion her will to help her parents achieve a life that they deserve.

"I'll become a hero to help them live the life of happiness that they deserve. I won't give up until I return the happiness they gave me."

Such a stalwart and noble spirit from a girl that simply wanted to make sure the people she loved most were taken care of. Iida and Izuku were left speechless in admiration of Ochaco's selfless and charitable intentions. What got them to snap out of their daze was the increasingly louder sound of sniffling and crying around them. They were startled to see Mina and Momo openly choke on sobs while using their handkerchiefs to wipe at their tears. Kyoka had been more reserved in her reaction; her eyes were still wet with tears but didn't quite turn into the open sobs Mina and Momo were expressing.

"Ochaco!"

Mina launched herself at the girl and buried her face into the girl's neck after Izuku exchanged her soaked handkerchief for his own. He gingerly folded it and placed it in his coat pocket for washing later that day. At least his pants were spared from being soaked by the tears and mucus soaking the fabric. Ochaco began to stumble over her words as Ashido warmly and intimately embraced Uraraka with her hug.

"Y-you're so brave! How on earth would you think you're less than us?! You are so strong and great for why you want to be a hero!"

Her face was now clasped in Mina's very soft palms. In a panic the youngest Uraraka tried to calm down the pinkette; but her attempts were ignored as the two of them were staring into each other's eyes with only centimeters separating their faces. It was beyond confusing as it felt like Mina was about to kiss the other girl. Everybody except Iida had hopes that something like that would be what happened then and there. To see something like that would certainly be something they wouldn't forget.

"Ah, there you are! Midoriya, my boy!"

The two girls were separated and blushing over the atmosphere being blown to smithereens by the sudden appearance of one of their teachers. All Might had no clue as to what could have happened had he not interjected.

"Would you… Like to have lunch with me?"

They all couldn't help but think how ridiculous it was to see the great All Might shyly ask for time to eat together with Izuku like a shy maiden confronting their crush. Ochaco was far less subtle and openly failed to contain her initial laugh at such a ridiculous premise. It disappointed Mina again to be deprived of time with Izuku after everything that had happened. She gave Izuku a firm kiss on the lips that everyone except Iida openly stared at. In all his years of being a hero, he was rather proud of Izuku for having such a well adjusted relationship with the pinkette at such a young age. People several times their age often acted with far less maturity than they did.

"Ah, that sucks! What on earth would he want with Izuku?"

Mina elected to loop her arm with Momo as they all made their way to the cafeteria.

"Yeah. But why is All Might asking for him? Could it be over their similar quirks?"

Kyoka voiced her observations on the possibilities of why one of history's greatest heroes asked for a private audience with somebody like Izuku. It wasn't just the group that was listening in on the girl's theories over the mystery of Izuku's involvement with All Might. A boy with noticeable facial scars happened to be two or three meters away when the discussion came across the subject. This would instigate an interaction that would not only complicate Izuku's life; it would drag in those he looked to for guidance in a drastically sordid history only one of them had been acquainted with before now.

Just when Momo had excused herself to retrieve her lunch from Haru as she usually did before; a masked ESD officer that towered over her suddenly appeared next to her and stared down at her through the tinted visor of the gas mask hiding his face. It was an awkward and silent beat before the officer spoke to the startled girl.

"Yaoyorozu Momo?"

"Um, yes?"

A neatly tied bento with a silk sheet was presented to the girl. His uniform and gear was a harsh contrast with the light and colorful silk of the fabric protecting the lunchbox. Momo gingerly took the lunch as she still was a little bewildered by the interaction.

"I was requested to drop that off to you. Have a pleasant lunch period."

The officer bowed to the girl and left without another word. Nobody knew what to say after such a bizarre interaction, so they elected to pretend that it never happened. Curiously, when Momo looked at the box after untying the silk sheet, she took one look at the note stuck to the top of the box and uncharacteristically shoved the piece of paper into her mouth and began rapidly chewing. Her face was bright red as she completed her mission in eating the note left for her on the bento. The bewildered group eventually forgot the incident as the note had Haru's handwriting on it.

She would be dead before she let the others know that she was suffering from a slight case of indigestion that her parents requested that Haru help with by adjusting the lunches he gave her. The positive of eating a piece of paper while suffering from indigestion was that there was only additional fiber on top of everything she ate, at least.

UA Teacher's Lounge

"An hour and a half?!"

Izuku could only voice his surprise at the information that All Might let Izuku in on.

"Yeah. If I'm careful; I could probably stretch it out to two. Right now my window of time is slowly closing with every day that passes."

It was just another reminder for the junior hero of the reality that faced his situation. Since the passing of All Might's quirk; it was likely his involvement with the hero that was continually draining the hero of his time period of available power. Izuku was close to apologizing when somebody stopped him from doing just that with the door sliding open and alerting the two lone occupants of the break room.

"You're doing it again. Seriously, you suck at this mentor thing."

It almost floored Izuku as he was sure that the person about to enter was somebody who was about to reveal All Might's secret to the world. A ridiculous assumption out of paranoia, but an assumption that was thankfully debunked of it's validity with Haru's presence.

"Stop bringing him down with things that don't concern him. That's your business, not his!"

Haru was stern but reasonable with his rebuke against All Might. The door was locked behind Haru as he sat next to All Might on the couch. He gave the boy a look of warmth and greeted Izuku the way he knew was appropriate.

"You look good, kiddo. How are you?"

"Uh, g-good. How're you?"

Quite perplexed by Haru's presence inside the school, Izuku looked questioningly at All Might. Haru was already pouring himself a cup of tea as All Might eased Izuku with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry, Midoriya; I asked him to show up today. He and I have some important things to say about the UA Sports Festival coming up."

To his left; Haru was already sipping away at the piping hot tea as he waited for the appropriate moment to speak. It wasn't quite right then as All Might continued elaborating the purpose of this private meeting.

"Right now, the major issue is that you can only stand a very low amount of One for All's power before you severely injure yourself. Your vessel is still not stable enough to utilize the quirk I passed to you to any significant capacity. You'll be up against some serious contenders and this event will be significant in introducing you to the heroic community!"

A rather tall order for the recently initiated Izuku to come to terms with. Haru placed his tea down and interjected All Might's passionate declaration of independence for Midoriya by winding down the conversation to a level that Izuku can grasp onto currently.

"What he means to say is that this is a good opportunity for us to see what sort of progress we can make at this rate. You'll be pitted against some serious contenders aiming for what you want as well; so right now we need to see what it is we can do to improve your odds."

It wasn't the clearest explanation of the scenario happening right now; he left it slightly foggy on purpose to let Izuku stew in his own head. The teen had a rather predictable habit of trying to analyze everything that came his way that caused him to be withdrawn and vacant to what was happening around him. On cue the boy retreated into his own headspace. It was then that All Might was shocked to feel his lapel being violently yanked towards Haru and face the man who was looking rather agitated with the emaciated hero.

"You have got to stop it with the whole impending doom act! There's a time for a reality check when it's warranted; but right now he needs us to help him, not drag him down!"

This was all said through his teeth as Haru was getting fed up with All Might just pouring out his own problems onto the boy. Just above a whisper right into the hero's ear while Izuku was thinking in his own headspace. He genuinely thought that he was building towards something that would help the young Midoriya stay motivated through his affairs. As Haru released All Might's currently oversized jacket; Izuku came to and stared at the pair of adults with some curiosity as to what he thought they were talking about.

"Izuku, are you aware how the UA Sports festival is structured?"

After some thought; Izuku was able to cobble together a rough outline of the event's structure.

"UA Sports Festival is organized as several trials dictated by the department's of support, management, general education, and heroics. They all work together in organizing exercises that funnel contestants through all the required challenges to decide a singular champion each year…"

That felt like the end of the discussion for Izuku to stop at; Haru was still looking expectantly at Izuku like he was expecting more to the teen's explanation. There was a spark of memory that caused Izuku to remember the rest of the festival's activities.

"Oh, right! The, uh, the… The festival has included individual categories for students who want to qualify in their specialized categories!"

Now Haru was satisfied with Izuku's answer to his question. A simple lean back into the couch gave All Might the floor to speak once more. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the subtle poignant stare of Haru that was asking him to not say anything that would only do the opposite of what they wanted from Izuku. Some moments passed before All Might settled on what he wished to say to the young Midoriya.

"... Young Midoriya, you know that I chose you as my successor for a reason. I believe that what I saw in you was something that could grow and be nurtured into something that would be worthy of my quirk. Don't worry for me, but focus on being the hero you wish to become! I wouldn't have chosen you otherwise."

Haru could only give a barely passing confirmation to the experienced hero that somehow completely lacked any sort of tact in guiding the youth of today. It made sense in a logical sense since All Might had been the hero of his own story for the past twenty or so years. Being in the role of somebody passing on the mantle of their role wasn't something anybody wanted to face; let alone do. While it was a valiant attempt; there was still the matter of the purpose of this meeting. All Might cleared his throat before speaking once more.

"Regardless; there's something we wanted to tell you before the festival arrives…"

The atmosphere had a bit of tension as it was clear to Izuku that there was something that All Might had to say to the boy before the end of this meeting. He listened intently as All Might shared the news he wished for Midoriya to know.

After School

The sun was setting out in front of UA Academy, marking the end of another day at the widely acknowledged top hero school in the country. It was a rare sight to see an instructor take the front entrance off of school grounds; seeing a teacher who most thought would never take the front entrance was by far a recipe for nothing to happen. If nobody saw who it was it only made sense that nobody would be aware who it was that was walking out the front door. AIzawa valued his privacy and it paid off when he walked right out the front door with nobody pestering him for attention. It felt good to be left to his devices and at peace with his identity being one of obscurity.

While there was an entrance that the other heroes serving as instructors at UA took to enter and exit the academy; the hero had an agenda for taking an alternate route for that day in particular. It was something he had already confirmed a few days ago; it was now he was going to act on his intention to address the presence sitting out front of the school. A presence he met quite some time ago that suddenly came out of a ten year hiatus serving cheap and delicious food to the student body he was an instructor for. Such an aloof and carefree presence was something he should have expected from this man, in hindsight.

The food truck that somehow had the right to serve food to the students of UA; with permit's that shouldn't have existed, was still parked in it's usual space while it's owner waved goodbye to his most recent patrons with a cone of ice cream in each of their hands. That very owner looked right at Aizawa and gave the man a familiar look that only he and Haru would recognize.

"Well, well, well. Was wondering when you would come out to say hello."

There wasn't a single beat missing as Haru retrieved two beers from the fridge for both himself and the UA instructor. He popped off both caps with a bottle opener he kept stashed in a convenient place in his kitchen and placed one of the bottles at the bar. It was an invitation from an old acquaintance of sorts that had assisted him in more ways than one. He decided to take the initiative and said yes to the invitation of the drink that Haru enticed Aizawa with.

It wasn't a bad relationship. Neither was it good. A rather complicated history between them continued once again as Aizawa took the chilled alcoholic beverage in his hand and enjoyed the first few swigs of the carbonated drink burning so good as it made its way down into his stomach. From ten years ago; the day that Eraser Head's Legacy as a hero should have ended.

Ten Years Ago

It was in a back street area of the city that Eraser Head had been ambushed by a group of thugs that lured him there to take him down. He was pursuing a group of three or four villains into the alleys of a more remote location as they had committed larceny from a local jewelry store for the precious stones lining their glass cases. The first and second villain he apprehended had been a cakewalk and it convinced him that pursuing the other robbers in the group would end up in his favor. This was exactly what the larcenists were counting on.

Theft of the jewelry was never the focus of this particularly nasty group of villains. It was still a bit of a minor operation; it still had people coming in to recruit themselves to be a part of what they wanted to become. Their primary focus was not to be another gang that would eventually fail due to legal troubles or financial destitution; it was to claim a stake in the world and claim the city with one piece of territory at a time.

The leader of such a group was one who could recognize the threat of heroes and their presence in their territories. He systematically pursued heroes who happened into his areas and hunted them down after seeing them stop operations of his gang repeatedly. This method of operating made it difficult for agencies to employ heroes in the areas as the gang would only strike after hero presence would diminish after a certain period of inactivity. It became a reality that this group of criminals was going to succeed in their mission to take this part of the city as their own.

Eraser Head had been a hero-on-loan from another agency and it was no shortage of challenge for the hero to constantly neutralize and fight back against the mounting threat. These villains were smart to lure him into an isolated area down an alley and beat the ever living shit out of him through sheer numbers and brute force. It was a single moment of realizing that he was lured into a trap that Aizawa realized he had been cornered that it became too late for him to escape.

Lying on the filthy asphalt and broken beyond belief; Eraser Head was certain that he would be dead in the next few moments. Some sort of muffled villainous speech from the group's leader fell onto his almost deaf ears as he was beyond caring for his own life. If he were to die; he wanted it to be an experience worth forgetting. So withdrawn and resigned to their fate; a voice from the opening of the alley cut the tension and called for every individual's attention in that dark alley.

"Jesus Christ. You villain types really need to operate out of other avenues if you want a better public image."

It was a startling moment for those seeking to end the life of the hero in the dark alley that they chose for this particular hero. Through the legs of the crowd ready to take their time beating him to death; Aizawa saw a lone silhouette of a man with a small case of some kind hanging from his right hand with his left hand tucked into his left pocket.

"Who're you?! Another hero?!"

The gruff voice of the group's strongest echoed against the walls of the alley Aizawa was lying at the bottom of. Each one of these men were physically imposing in their own right with massive physiques seemingly being the qualifier to join the group. This wouldn't have been as much of a problem for other heroes as qualified as him; had they not been as unfortunate to inherit his quirk of cancellation that was useless against these sorts of quirk users.

"Honestly? I'm just a small business owner trying to make his way through the world."

It was such an honest answer from somebody who seemingly was the working type. The leader didn't hesitate in pointing to three of his physically gifted men to address the annoyance that had interrupted their fun with the beaten hero. They were all too eager to do as they wished to the stranger while the gang leader continued his villainous monologue meant for Eraser Head.

"Pardon the interruption; now, where were we?... Ah, yes! It was about how you heroes wer so content on-"

A sickening crunch sound reached the ears of everybody standing in that alley that night. Some were looking around for a few seconds to identify the source of the noise; eventually everybody identified the source of the noise coming from the alley that the stranger that temporarily interrupted them entered from. The collapsed forms of the three men who were sent to kill him fell limp to his head as the stranger set the case down next to him as he tore the cardboard of the box open to then retrieve some beer bottles from the opening.

"Sigh… I guess you fucks are as stupid as you look."

The white haired man popped the caps off of the two bottles hanging from his right hand and downed their contents in seconds before belching and speaking to the group with one last scathing comment.

"Fucking idiots. I wonder how many of you aren't doping and carrying baby dicks between those fucked up, oversized thighs?"

Safe to say that quite a few individuals in the group of criminals sent in to deal with Eraser Head didn't take kindly to the stranger's unkind jabs at their masculinity. About eight of the most imposing in the group charged the stranger with the might of both their natural gifts and the power bestowed to them from their quirks. Aizawa could only describe what he saw as a flurry of movement and murderous intent doing what it had intended to do. Thankfully, nobody ever questioned him about what had happened that fateful night.