Author's Note: This chapter is has a bit more focus on 1-C, and we get a better introduction to the students who sit around Shinsou.

Chapter 10: The Breaks

Toshinori Yagi felt exhausted even though he was sitting down. The feeling was not unknown to him, though it once had been. The bone deep weariness that was his constant companion had been with him since his fight with All For One. As if to remind him of the fight he was wracked by a cough, and the tissue he covered his mouth with came away red with blood. If his younger self could see him now he'd be horrified, but at least it had been worth it.

He should have gone to bed hours ago, but sleep felt far off, an additional weight sat on his shoulders. The class 1-A roster sat in front of him, but only two names were of consequence right then: Midoriya Izuku and Bakugo Katsuki. He already had his lesson for the following day, combat training, planned out. It would let him get a grip on their combat abilities, fighting styles, thought process, and attitude in one neat session.

But there were voices inside his mind that drew him to stare at those two names. His pupil's concern echoed inside, growing louder every time. Shinsou had been concerned for Izuku's safety since the first time they'd met. The boy's dedication to his friend reminded him of so many close partnerships he'd witnessed while working as a hero, maybe even some siblings. And that worry was difficult to dismiss in light of young Bakugo's reaction to his successor in the quirk assessment. And then there was the time the boy tried to warn him off training either of his students. There was an animosity there that felt deeper than it should, but how it started or why it had formed was beyond him.

If that wasn't enough, Aizawa and Chiyo's words also weighed on him. He had no doubt that Aizawa would cast his student out of the hero course if he thought that he would permanently harm himself or make himself a hindrance to others in the field. And the excoriation he had received from Chiyo, which still made him wince when he thought about it too deeply, on putting his student in dangerous situations without him being prepared.

A part of him rebelled against those concerns. He'd be showing favoritism if he made sure Midoriya didn't face off against Bakugo. He'd also be sheltering the boy, which was no favor. The world was dangerous for heroes, he had personal experience, and it wasn't just All For One who killed or maimed heroes. There were names, forgotten by most, which were forever seared into his memory. Had their teachers taken it easy on them?

But once again Shinsou's words came to make him question himself. He'd thought he'd given a good speech, and to most of the students of UA he had. It was obvious that he was here to teach the hero course, but he'd made sure to note the contributions of the support and business courses. Many heroes would have been lost without support, and he would have neither the reputation nor influence he did without the business side of his agency. But with general studies he'd floundered. Their goals were so varied that he hadn't been able to peg them down, and so he'd failed to reach them.

And that wasn't even the only time he'd tried and failed to reach Shinsou that day. After training the boy for nearly a year, he'd learned that when he changed subject to something that needed a better explanation or an example that he couldn't provide, his student had thought it necessary to search for outside sources. Would his fellow UA teachers have to teach his students how to be a hero behind his back if he failed to? Had he signed up to teach heroics in UA only to learn a lesson on hubris?

"Ready?" Izuku picked up Hitoshi's bag as his friend pulled on his jacket.

"This thing's going to get uncomfortable, I know it." His friend groused before taking his bag back, "Alright, lets head out." He leaned back inside shouting a farewell to his father and shut the door behind him.

Izuku relaxed a fraction, glad Yawarakai hadn't come to the door, "Thanks for covering for me last night."

"Hmm?" Hitoshi arched an eyebrow, but then shrugged, "I'm glad you moved your hand out of view. Your mom looked upset every time she saw it."

Izuku nodded. He hadn't been eager to explain what happened to either adult, but his mom had invited Hitoshi and his dad over for dinner to talk about their first day. Hitoshi had managed to grab his mom's attention repeatedly, suddenly talking about some new aspect of UA, good or bad, whenever he had been indiscrete with his bandaged digit. "Did they really sit you next to the guy who blew you up during the entrance exam?"

Hitoshi nodded lazily, "And he was as big a jerk as I said. S-Effect is pretty cool though." Izuku nodded in agreement, the number of applications for such a quirk were frankly staggering. It was a pity she wasn't more well known, he could only remember reading about her twice, which was even less than the amount of times he'd heard of Eraserhead.

"If it happens again, you'll let me know right?"

Izuku caught the comment and it reeled him back in from his train of thought, "Huh?"

"If you break your finger again," Hitoshi said pointedly, "Or any other bone using your quirk Make sure you get an x-ray before she heals you, maybe it'll help us figure out just why your bones are breaking in the first place."

"How would-" Izuku stopped himself and shook his head, "What have you been reading."

"Medical textbooks," Hitoshi placed his hands behind his head in relaxation even though he kept walking, "Different types of fractures mean different types of things. Once you get the x-ray though, we can take them to a specialist. He might be able to explain it even better than Recovery Girl."

Izuku nodded slowly, "I'll keep that in mind."

Hitoshi chuckled, and let his hands drop, "Besides, it'll save me time on first aid studies for when I get into the hero course." Izuku watched his friend smirk, "Now start telling me about your classmates quirks and what you think they can do with them."

Hitoshi lapsed into silence as Izuku smiled and began talking, at length, about the quirks displayed by his classmates and the applications he had thought up for them. It was an old conversation, just with new subjects. Hitoshi nodded along, knowing that he'd hear new and revised information the next day, but didn't tune him out. Instead his stomach sank bit by bit as they approached UA. He waited until they were at the gate before slowing enough for Izuku to notice.

"Hitoshi?"

Izuku watched as his friend stopped and scratched the back of his head, focusing on the ground instead of looking at him. "I hate to ask, but… can we split up when we get inside?"

"I thought you said 1-C is close to 1-A."

"It is. I just… don't want to walk past 1-A." Hitoshi cleared his throat. "When I get in, I'll be there with you though. I just…" He trailed off and gave a helpless shrug.

"Oh." Izuku stared for a moment, and nodded slowly, "Would you like me to walk you to 1-C instead?"

Bakugo frowned as he looked around. Nineteen seats were full, and it seemed like eighteen sets of eyes were glued to the clock. Their teacher hadn't arrived and neither had Deku, not that he deserved to be here in the first place, certainly not with that freak, self-destructing quirk. But everyone staring was getting annoying. They shouldn't want him to arrive. Even though they were all extras every single one of them was at least better than Deku. He let out a tch and leaned back in his seat, waiting for their teacher who had made the right decision in expelling that useless minion from his class.

"I'm not late am I?" Bakugo snapped out of his reverie as Izuku rushed into the room. For a second there was silence, and then chaos.

Izuku blinked as half of the class got out of their seats and he was barraged by questions, almost too quick to follow. "You're still in the hero course?" "Why are you so late?" "We thought you were kicked out for sure!" "If he wasn't expelling you, why did Aizawa-sensei take you to his office?" And then the brown haired girl was in his face, smiling, and it all seemed to settle just a little.

"I'm glad you weren't expelled."

Izuku opened his mouth, he could feel heat rushing to his cheeks.

"If you don't return to your seats immediately you will all be receiving detention." Aizawa's voice was tired, but it cut through the class. There was a second as they processed this, and then there was a mad dash as his classmates ran back to their desks.

S-Effect blinked, halting in the middle of her review of the syllabus. "Excuse me." She held a hand up, "I'll be right back." She put her lesson planner down and walked to the door, opening it and slipping outside just before All Might could knock on it. "A-All Might," She couldn't help the stutter, not with actual spoken words. He was there, in a garishly mustard colored suit, pearly whites flashing, but why he was there was beyond her. "I'm sorry, I know this is your second day here, did you perhaps get turned around?"

"This is class 1-C, correct?" She nodded and he somehow beamed even more forcefully, "I was just hoping to speak to your class briefly."

S-Effect paled, "That really isn't necessary. We're about to start, and the class needs to-"

The greatest hero on the planet bowed his head and nodded, "Yes, I understand, but I was hoping you would give me the opportunity to correct the mistake I made yesterday."

She coughed, "Mistake?"

"S-Effect, correct?" She nodded dumbly, flushing slightly in spite of herself. She was inordinately pleased he knew her name. "Well, I was informed after the fact that the speech I gave yesterday could have been a lot better if I gave more due to the general studies course. I was hoping you'd give me the opportunity to speak to your class this morning so I could make it up to them."

Alarm bells went off in her head, "Are you going to talk to all of the general studies classes?"

"Of course!" He laughed, "Though it may take a day or two to get through all of them."

"Perhaps you should let them know ahead of time then?" S-Effect made a little laugh to hide her frustration and glanced at the door behind her before looking back at the number one hero, "I was just…" Oh hell, there was no way around it after yesterday's performance, "would you mind telling me what you're going to say?"

"What's your quirk?"

Shinsou sighed and leaned his head back, trying his best to ignore Hatsuhara. His classmate was staring at him and had been since the moment the door had closed. "So, we're going to get to meet the rest of our teachers today."

Kirunshun glanced over her shoulder, "I'm sorry, were you talking to me?"

"It's not fair that you didn't tell us what your quirk is!" Hatsuhara blustered, "And you're going for the hero course so you gotta have something good."

"Better than talking with him." Shinsou replied, and she shrugged it off, deciding her phone was more interesting.

"Hatsuhara, if he doesn't want to say it, he doesn't have to." Sadaharu said, and was flatly ignored by Hatsuhara who continued to repeat his question. Shinsou turned and looked over his shoulder to get a good view of her and offered a warm smile, which she quickly returned.

"Thanks for the effort."

"No problem. So you're going to try to get into the hero course too? How'd you do in the exam before Hatsuhara blew you up?" The words were sweet enough that it almost took the sting out of them for Hatsuhara, but not quite.

"I just apologized for that yesterday." He groused.

Shinsou shrugged, "I wasn't doing well enough."

"I destroyed more than enough to qualify." Hatsuhara added with a bit of bravado.

She turned to look at him, her smile fading, "Yes, but you hurt people while doing it."

Shinsou glanced Hatsuhara as he came up short and looked back to Sadaharu, "How'd you do?"

She winced and looked at her desk, "Zero points. I could stop them, but I couldn't destroy them. It was really frustrating."

"I know how you feel." She glanced at him and he let out a breath, "My quirk didn't really affect them."

"Speaking of your quirk…" Hatsuhara cut in again and Kirunshun put her phone down in exasperation and turned towards him.

"If you are going to be like this all semester I'm going to ask to switch seats."

"Hey, I only want to know what his quirk is. Everyone else said what their quirk is; I don't see why he gets to keep his secret."

Kirunshun sighed and massaged her forehead as Sadaharu tried to explain the meaning of the word voluntary to him. Shinsou just tried to drown him out, looking at the wall since the windows were on the other side of the classroom. Her explanation was cut short when the door opened and their teacher slipped back inside, a flat expression on her face, "Class, we have an unexpected visitor. I'd like you to all remain respectful." She waited; searching the class then let out a small breath, stepping away from the door and motioning someone inside, "Please come in."

All Might stepped into the classroom and there was a beat as the class processed it, barely able to start a flurry of hushed whispers before he reached the front of the class. "I am here!" He boomed, and whatever nascent conversations had started ceased, the class held in rapt attention, "I came here to apologize." From his point of view there was scarcely a jaw that remained undropped, "Perhaps I should explain." He inclined his head, but not towards his pupil who looked more startled than stunned.

"The speech I gave yesterday was meant to be inspiring for the entire school, but I fear that I failed to give general studies adequate credit, and for that I apologize. I should have made it clear that you are every bit as critical to society as the hero course, support classes and business course. A society built solely around heroes would be no society at all." He said, shaking his head to reinforce his point.

"UA is a fine institution, and the education you will receive here will open many doors for you in the future, but only if you work hard and pay attention. You are the future of Japan, so do your best! Plus Ultra!" He thrust his fist into the air, his catchphrase echoed by virtually the entire class. It was a raucous cacophony, and the students were practically falling over each other to gush at the number one hero in the world.

It was only when it didn't wind down after nearly a minute, and All Might looked chagrined that it hadn't that S-Effect stepped in, moving to stand next to him and making a chopping motion that cut off all sound. All Might gave a rueful chuckle, "Useful quirk."

"It has its advantages." Her voice echoed into his ear, or rather, the ear on the other side from where she was standing. She gave a smile to her class, "I'm sure all of you are grateful that All Might came here to clarify that," silently adding herself to that grouping, "but I'm sure that he has classes to teach, and we have to finish up with homeroom ourselves. So let's all thank him before he goes."

There was a chorus of thanks and All Might gave a slight bow in acceptance. S-Effect gave an internal sigh of relief that she'd be able to move on when she saw a hand shooting up, just as All Might rose. "Hmm? Do you have a question?" He asked before she could figure out what to say to avoid turning this into a Q&A session.

"Y-yes." Shinsou's eyes widened and he turned to look over his shoulder at Sadaharu, joining the rest of the class in doing so. The girl looked like any courage she had mounted was waning quickly, and Shinsou felt like a heel, turning back to his desk and focusing on All Might. Behind him he could hear her take a breath, "D-do you have any advice for someone in general studies that still wants to get into the hero course?"

"I suggest," He said, dragging the attention to himself and giving the girl a much needed reprieve, "that anyone still trying to join trying to join the hero course should begin physical training now, if you haven't already." He shook his head, "You may have an excellent quirk, but heroes need that and more. Physical strength, agility and stamina are all very important to heroes."

S-Effect's smile nearly curdled, "Yes, and for other careers as well."

Thankfully he either meant to continue or took the massive hint she'd dropped like an anchor on his head, "Indeed. It's important for police as well, and they are no less important to society." If less glorious, S-Effect thought to herself, "And it's not bad advice for students who aren't interested in the hero course. There's nothing more important than your health." He finished, and nodded to the girl who drank in the advice eagerly.

"Well then," S-Effect cut in neatly, pre-empting any more questions, "We have to get homeroom finished before the next bell is rung. No more questions right now, I'm sure you'll be able to ask All Might questions if you see him in the halls."

"Man, I am starving." For the first time that day Shinsou had to agree with Hatsuhara, even if he didn't say it out loud. Going to a lunchroom was novel, he was used to eating in class, but finding out that Lunch Rush was the school's chef had made it easy to abandon his prepared lunch. His dad would probably be relieved that neither of them would have to whip something up the night before while he was at school.

"I can't believe that even the lunchroom staff has a hero on it." Kirunshun murmured,

"Doesn't that seem odd to anyone else? What exactly does he do that's heroic?"

"Primarily he feeds people at natural disaster areas." Shinsou said with a shrug, "He fed ten thousand people in a day by himself at least once."

Kirunshin blinked, and Hatsuhara snorted, "Fanboy."

Shinsou smirked, "No, but my best friend is. I'm just a good listener."

"My dad's a good listener." Sadaharu said with a smile, "He's a therapist."

"That's cool." Shinsou smiled in agreement, "My dad does massage therapy."

Hatsuhara grinned, "My father is the CFO of Mitsuwa Support Industries."

Shinsou's eyes widened as Sadaharu blinked in surprise, "Wait, isn't that the third largest support company in Japan?"

"Yup." Hatsuhara preened.

"Wow, he must be pretty important." Sadaharu murmured, and Hatsuhara looked even more smug.

"What about you Kirunshin?" Hatsuhara asked, and she glanced him up and down.

"My father is a salaryman."

Hatsuhara was all grins, "That's nice."

Kirunshin shrugged looked back at her phone, "My mother is the CEO of the Kasa Zaibatsu." Hatsuhara made a choked noise as Shinsou and Sadaharu gaped. Kirunshin looked at them levelly, "We should get on line before it gets too long."

"R-right." Shinsou murmured, recovering first and tapping Sadaharu on the shoulder guiding her on. "That's… impressive." He said after a minute and Kirunshin shrugged.

"Money isn't everything. Personally I agree with All Might."

Sadaharu finally recovered from the shock, "About what?"

"There's nothing more important than your health." Kirunshin deadpanned, and went back to looking at her phone.

"Shinsou!" Izuku rose from his seat and waved, catching his friend's attention. He got a wave in return and his friend started heading his way, three other students following along with.

"Is he a friend of yours?" Uraraka asked, having caught Midoriya looking around rather than eating.

Izuku nodded with a wide smile, "My best friend." He got out before Shinsou arrived.

"Thanks." Shinsou put his tray down as his classmates went about filling in empty spots, "These are Kirunshun and Sadaharu. Kirunshin, Sadaharu, this is my friend Midoriya. He's in the hero course."

"Hey," Hatsuhara bleated, "What about me?"

Shinsou arched an eyebrow, "What about you?"

Hatsuhara huffed, ignoring Kirunshin and Sadaharu exchanging pleasantries with Uraraka and Iida, "Well my name is Hatsuhara, and if you're in the hero course you'll be seeing a lot more of me soon."

"Oh?" Iida asked, looking the boy over, "Are you trying to join the hero course?"

"Trying isn't the right word. If it weren't a fluke I would already be there."

"Flukes," Shinsou corrected, "If that's what you call injuring people."

Hatsuhara watched the expressions on the three hero course students sour instantly, "I thought you accepted my apology already!"

"That doesn't mean I forgot." Shinsou shot back and tried to drag Midoriya's attention to him before he shattered his chopsticks, "Eat, you have your first hero course today."

Midoriya kept a gimlet eye on Hatsuhara for a second longer before returning to his meal, "Right."

"So all three of you are in the hero course?" Sadaharu asked, a forlorn look on her face, "I tried out, but couldn't destroy the robots."

Ochako gave her a sympathetic smile, "What's your quirk?"

"I call it halt. If I touch something with my hands they stop moving, but I couldn't destroy the robots."

Izuku lit up, "That's really interesting. It could be really useful. Does it have to be your whole hand? Or can it be just your fingertips?"

Hatsuhara's glum expression shifted and he grinned, "Mine is missile barrage. I can fire off a bunch of missiles from my shoulders." He took the restrained silence in stride, and pointed at Shinsou, "He still hasn't opened up about his quirk. You're his friend, right? Why don't you let us know?"

The enthusiasm drained from Midoriya's face and he placed his chopsticks down as he turned to stare at Hatsuhara, "Please leave my friend alone."

"Izuku-" Shinsou tried to cut in, but Midoriya shot him a glance before returning his gaze to Hatsuhara.

For his part Hatsuhara seemed to brush it off, "I just want to know what his quirk is. Everyone else was fine with telling us what their quirk is."

"If he wanted you to know he would have told you. If he doesn't want you to know, I'm not going to tell you." Midoriya said coldly, "Please don't ask him again."

It seemed as if the table dropped by a dozen degrees in seconds before Hatsuhara finally huffed, "Fine."

Midoriya continued to stare at him until he shifted uncomfortably before smiling, "Thank you."

"Uh…" Shinsou tried to resurrect any sort of conversation, coming up blank for a moment before nearly slapping his forehead, "All Might visited our class today!"

Midoriya's snapped to attention, "Really? What did he say?"

"He came to apologize for his speech yesterday." Kirunshun said, completely unphased by any of the previous tension.

"W-what?" Midoriya's moment of seriousness came crashing down as he looked between her and Shinsou, "Why? What did he say?"

Sadaharu cringed, "He kinda made us feel unimportant."

Shinsou nodded, and sighed, "Our teacher was really annoyed; I even mentioned it to Toshinori."

Izuku nearly choked and Hatsuhara grinned, "Ah, so he is the fanboy." He chuckled and returned to eating, ignoring Shinsou's unamused look.

"Anyway, he really made up for it." Sadaharu offered to Izuku, "He even gave us advice on what we should do if we're serious about joining the hero course."

Shinsou nodded, "Seems to fit what Toshinori was telling me."

"Uh… yeah. Right." Izuku laughed nervously.

Sadaharu glanced at Shinsou, "Is that a friend of yours? Toshinori, I mean."

"Huh? Well, no. I…" He saw the pleading look that Izuku was giving him and gave him a helpless little shrug, "Well, last year one of our classmates was kidnapped by a villain and Midoriya tried to save him. That's when he first met All Might, and he was so impressed with him that he sent someone to train him."

Uraraka lit up, "Wow, you impressed All Might?"

Iida frowned, "You really shouldn't have done that though, you could have been hurt."

Midoriya's face went flush and he bent over the table, hovering over his food, "Y-yeah. That's what the other heroes said Iida."

"I was sick at the time or I might have helped," Shinsou continued and Iida shot him an disapproving glance, "or talked him out of it." He looked back at Sadaharu, "Anyway, Toshinori was the trainer that All Might sent. After I got better Midoriya was distracted because we usually do everything together, so he invited me along to train with him."

"You've been training for a year?" Sadaharu's eyes widened, "What have you been doing? Do you think he would be interested in a new student? I should get a notebook."

"Or maybe two?" Hatsuhara chimed in, and when Shinsou looked at him incredulously he shrugged, "You heard All Might. Training is a good idea, and even if he didn't get you in your friend did. I'm sure my dad would pay for that kind of service."

"I'll ask him." Shinsou conceded, looking far from pleased.

Lunch was over far too soon for Hitoshi. Spending scant minutes with Izuku didn't feel like enough, especially with Hatsuhara needling him half the time. There wasn't much to talk about, the hero course hadn't even happened yet, but watching Izuku getting ready to leave, Hitoshi couldn't help but feel a pit forming in his stomach. "Hey, uh, good luck today."

Izuku blinked and looked at him, then smiled, "I'll see you after class."

"Sure." Hitoshi felt his mouth going dry. "Just… stay safe. And let me know if, you know."

Izuku sagged just a little, "I know. I'll let you know. And I'll ask for an x-ray if it happens."

"Alright." Shinsou walked with him to the door, only splitting off from him when they were about to pass his class on the way back to 1-A.

All Might sighed as he headed inside. He'd sent the students to a different monitoring room than the one he'd be staying in. It was wrong, and he knew it, but he didn't have much choice. He'd used far too much time talking to the three general studies courses. He'd be able to speak to them between fights and give orders without drawing on his limited time.

But that wasn't what was bothering him most, and he could only lie to himself for so long. He'd played favorites. He'd bowed to pressure, and fear, and set aside his first draw. He might have resisted the urge, but the look Bakugo gave Midoriya when asking if how much they would be able to hurt the other team had driven the final nail into his resolve. Bile filled his throat as he sat down at the controls, and he prayed in silence that he had done the right thing for his successor.

He watched the clock counting down, resting in his wasted form as Team C, Yaoyorozu and Mineta, finished their preparations. It gave a small buzz as time ran out. "Team D, you may enter."

Bakugo's visible annoyance faded into a feral grin as he and Iida headed for the building.

Author's notes: Next chapter: Creation vs Destruction.

So, those of you waiting for a large change? Well, here's your first one. All Might buckled and gave Izuku a break. I originally intended to have him drawing lots before class even started, but it felt a little stronger with him finally making a decision after drawing. I played with that last bit for nearly a week before moving it out of the moment. Momo, if you didn't notice, is going to have a bit more screentime in this story in comparison to canon. Sadly, that means we're going to have to spend some time with Mineta as well. *sigh* Can't win 'em all.

Don't expect to see a lot of 1-C or Shinsou next chapter. I hope my combat will be up to par. On the bright side, it shouldn't be nearly as dialogue heavy as this chapter was. I hope someone gets the Easter egg I left in this chapter.

Character Profile:

Name: Sadaharu Ume

Age: 14

Gender: Female

Height: 5'1''

Hair Color: Black

Eye Color: Brown

Blood Type: A

Quirk: Halt

Description: Sadaharu Ume is bound and determined to become a heroine, studying them in her free time for years in the hopes of improving herself. She visits fanboards and has unwittingly and unknowingly conversed with Midoriya at least a few times. Her quirk, Halt, negates forward momentum of people or things she touches. That does not actually pin objects, as they can start moving forward again, move backwards, or move in other directions. Continuous use of her quirk causes immense strain and can leave her hands and arms immobile for a period of time. She doesn't think she'll ever get to number one, but she desperately wants to become a hero. She hopes her soft, calming demeanor will help comfort people in distress.