Hello people and welcome to another chapter! One thing I forgot to clear up in the last chapter was the seating order in Class 1-A. Here, Iida and Izuku have been swapped around, so Izuku is in front of Ochaco and Iida is behind Bakugou.

Other than that, I just want to say thank you! This story has already reached over 500 followers in only 8 chapters and 4 months. That's crazy to think about, so thank you to everyone who has supported the story thus far! It really means a lot to me. Anyway, enough of that, let's get into the chapter!

I do not own My Hero Academia or it's characters, the franchise belongs to its respective owners!

Gravitational Sorrow

By Kokoyori

The day seemingly went by in a blur. Izuku eventually found himself with his head on his desk, contemplating many things, while also holding back his negative thoughts from leaking out. It was difficult, having to concentrate on what's going on around you while also trying to stay as positive as possible. With everything that has gone on in the past few days, Izuku found it almost impossible to do so. Hence why he was not looking forward to his next class.

'Funny, isn't it? The hero in training is dreading going to a lesson entirely based on the foundations of a hero' Izuku thought to himself, letting out a small laugh as a response to his thought.

'Pathetic'

'You can't do anything'

'Give up'

Izuku flinched upon hearing the voices in his head finally speak up, 'I guess I lost concentration for a second there' he realised. Surprisingly or not, unfazed by the voices taunting him. Or was that just an act? Even Izuku didn't know at this point.

Izuku could also feel the concerned gazes he was getting from behind him and across the room. Each respectively coming from Ochaco and Iida. Was it because he randomly laughed? Because his head is on the desk? Or were they just genuinely concerned? Although he couldn't know for sure he was being looked at, he could tell thanks to the many insecurities he has gained as a result of his childhood.

But before he could dwell on the past anymore, the sound of the door abruptly sliding open made Izuku jolt his head up.

"I am…" was all that was heard at first, before, "Coming through the door like a normal person!" All Might shouted as he came through the door in an awkward pose.

Apart from a few people, including Izuku, who gave his Dad a deadpan expression after noting how his pose was the opposite of normal. All Might received excited responses from the rest of the class.

"It's All Might!" Kaminari shouted cheerfully.

"I can't believe he's actually teaching here!" Kirishima said, raising his fist.

"Isn't that a costume from the silver age?" Asui questioned rhetorically.

"I'm getting goosebumps!" shouted Ojiro.

After the excitement ended, All Might spoke up, "Hello young heroes! I teach Hero Basic Training. This is where you will learn the basics of being a hero"

After receiving nods from around the class, All Might felt satisfied and started explaining what they would be doing in this lesson, "So let's get right into it! Today, you will be doing… Combat training!" he finished, earning mixed responses from the class.

Ochaco nervously gulped, Iida nodded with confidence, Bakugou grinned like a maniac and Izuku… Well…

'Great. This is just what I need right now' Izuku thought sarcastically before he started to think about how he would manage to get through combat training in his current state.

All Might took notice of his reaction, 'Sorry, Son! I couldn't change the lesson plan last minute!' he thought, before carrying on, "And to go with that are these!" All Might shouted, pressing a button which made columns in the wall start to appear. "Costumes based on your Quirk registrations and the requests you sent in beforehand!" he said as he pointed towards the columns, each containing cases with numbers on them.

'Oh yeah, I forgot about costumes. I just hope I get what I asked for. Though I doubt I will be disappointed thanks to Dad's connections. Mr. Shield really does an amazing job' Izuku concluded.

"Please get changed into your costumes and go to Ground Beta asap!" All Might told the class, who immediately raised from their seats and swiftly grabbed their cases.

Izuku and Ochaco were the last to leave, with Ochaco being as worried about Izuku as ever. Before they could both leave with their cases, Izuku was stopped by All Might.

"One moment Son, I just need to speak with you for a second" All Might told Izuku, motioning for Ochaco to go on ahead.

"I'll meet you there Izu" Ochaco said, before giving him a quick kiss, causing him to go into a blushing fit, something she giggled at.

After she left and Izuku managed to compose himself slightly, he turned towards his Dad who had his usual bright smile.

"Ah, young love" All Might suddenly said, causing Izuku to become embarrassed.

"S-Shut up Dad" Izuku said, lightly punching the muscular man.

Izuku's reaction earned him a laugh from All Might, "I'm just joking around with you! I'm glad to see you're better now"

Izuku put his head down slightly, "Y-Yeah…" he responded, his mood seemingly dropping in an instant.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up, but it ties into what I wanted to talk about" he told Izuku, who gave him a confused look in response.

All Might's expression changed to a serious one, "What I want to say is that I'm not forcing you to do this lesson. We still aren't 100% sure on how potent Midoriya is, so I don't want to put any pressure on you"

Izuku had to contemplate what he had been told for a moment, 'It's true. Even I don't know the full extent of what Midoriya can do, and his appearances have seemingly no correlation. After last night, I'm not even sure myself if I'm in the condition to do an exercise like this, I feel like I might just hold people back…' he thought to himself.

But the more he thought about it, the more he disagreed with the idea of not participating, 'No. If I want to carry on down the path of heroism, I can't back out now. If I want to save others, if I want to protect people, then worrying about myself comes last. I have people in my life who I need to keep safe, and I won't be able to do that if I don't gain experience and get stronger. There's no turning back now' he finally concluded

Izuku then put his head up strong, determination written on his face, "I'll do it. I've worked hard to get where I am now, so I won't slack off at the most important point"

All Might took immediate notice of the determination in his son's words and face. It was a sight that made him smile with absolute pride, "That's the spirit, Son!"


Thanks to his chat with All Might, Izuku was running quite late behind the rest of the group. Once he eventually made it to the changing rooms, most of the people were either done changing or just about to finish.

Izuku swiftly walked to an unoccupied space, still feeling the judgemental eyes of the people around him, like they were peering in on his soul. He hated it. It being his insecurities and the constant anxiousness that someone, anyone, was judging him, even without the basic knowledge of his life. Izuku always shrugged it off, however, he knew that it slowly ate away at him.

To distract himself, Izuku turned his attention to his new hero suit, before starting to get changed out of his school uniform. Upon taking his shirt off, it revealed his muscular, yet scarred body, something that caught the attention of everyone in the room. Across his body, there were multiple cuts and burn marks. Each of them represents the trials and difficulties Izuku has gone through to get to where he is now.

Though, to those around him, it was quite concerning. Yes, things like cuts could be seen as normal if you trained with sharp objects. However, burn marks? No. That wasn't normal, not unless you had a quirk that could inflict such injuries, which Izuku didn't have. The students were then reminded of what Ochaco said to them.

'Izu has had such a hard life'

Those words repeated in their heads like a broken record, almost like it was taunting them. Though one idea as to how Izuku got those marks was constant: Had he been bullied? Abused? Two people amongst the group needed answers. But not out of curiosity, because they were actually concerned for Izuku.

Almost like they planned it, both Iida and Kirishima walked up to Izuku simultaneously. Nothing needed to be said between them, they both knew they had the same question.

Iida decided to initiate, "Excuse me, Yagi. But do you mind if I ask where you got those marks?" he asked, awkwardly pointing at Izuku's body.

Izuku raised an eyebrow at this, "You mean the cuts? I got them from my training" he finished before turning around, trying to stop the conversation.

Both Iida and Kirishima were glad that at least the cuts were sort of normal, but that wasn't what they wanted to know.

"That's not what we mean, man. How did you get all those burn marks? Those definitely can't be normal" Kirishima butted in, not letting Izuku escape. He may not know Izuku, and they even got off on the wrong footing, but Kirishima was not about to turn an eye at the possibility that Izuku had been bullied. He hated bullies more than anything, in his eyes, bullying is one of the most unmanly things anyone can do.

Iida wanted to know for similar reasons, he despised the idea of bullying. But not only that, he swore that he would get to the bottom of why Izuku had suddenly lost his spirit. As his new friend, he felt that it was his duty to help Izuku.

Izuku was taken aback by the question, but also confused. Were they curious? Were they judging him? Or were they asking out of worry? He hesitated for a moment, not wanting to tell them about how he actually got his burn marks.

"O-Oh, ummmm… It's nothing, really. Just training like the rest of them" Izuku lied, trying his best to sound as convincing as possible. What he did do though, was unintentionally glance at Bakugou, something he hoped that the two heroes in training in front of him didn't notice.

Unfortunately for Izuku, both Kirishima and Iida didn't let that glance go unnoticed.

"It's fine, trust me. Both of you should head to Ground Beta, you don't want to be late" Izuku told the pair, who reluctantly agreed, but not without mentally noting down how Izuku glanced at Bakugou.

Izuku sighed in relief once he saw everyone in the class had left the changing room, 'That was close. I don't want people to get suspicious of me in any way'

Back with Iida and Kirishima, who were on their way to ground beta, Iida decided to try and figure out what was going on, "Did you also notice the way Yagi glanced at Bakugou when we asked about his burn marks? He was very nervous as well, he even blatantly lied about the origins of his burn marks…"

Kirishima nodded at what Iida had deduced, "Yeah, I noticed it as well. But do you really think Bakugou did all that? I mean, those marks were bad" he said, putting lots of emphasis on the last word.

"I can understand thinking against it, but the evidence is also there. First off, Bakugou is very aggressive and he's already tried to attack Yagi twice. They also clearly have some sort of history, with Yagi saying that he wasn't scared of Bakugou anymore, implying that Yagi used to be scared of Bakugou, possibly because he gave him those marks" Iida finished with pride.

"Now that you mention it, there really is a lot of evidence for it…" Kirishima said, rubbing his chin, before sighing, "I just hope that Yagi opens up to us eventually. We all got off on the wrong footing with him, and he definitely seems like he needs help right now" he concluded.

"Yes, I agree. I was able to befriend him earlier, but I couldn't help but notice his lack of spirit and energy compared to yesterday and the entrance exam. He even doubted his own abilities at one point" Iida explained to Kirishima, who was completely shocked by the information.

"He doubted himself?! He came first in almost every event yesterday!" Kirishima exclaimed, growing even more concerned for Izuku. He then pondered for a moment, "Maybe he has self-confidence issues?" Kirishima questioned.

"That is what I was wondering as well. But that just doesn't add up to what I've seen of him prior to today". Iida sighed, "He is currently shrouded in mystery, I just hope we can find out more about him soon" he finished, earning a nod of approval from Kirishima.

Before the unlikely duo finally reached Ground Beta, they both had the same thought.

'I will help you, Yagi'


The sound of distant footsteps could be heard from the gate leading into Ground Beta. One by one, each student started walking into the huge city, all with determined looks on their faces.

"They say the clothes make the hero, young men and ladies!" All Might shouted, looking at each of the student's hero costumes. He nodded in approval, "You all look amazing! And remember, from today onwards, you are heroes!"

The shadows cast on the students eventually dispelled, revealing an assortment of different costumes. Flashy, discrete, simple, convenient, you name it.

"Now then, young heroes. Shall we begin?" All Might questioned the class, who all nodded in approval, well, except for one.

Ochaco slowly raised her hand, "Um Sir? Iz- I mean Yagi still isn't here yet" she told the bulky man, almost slipping up. She mentally sighed in relief, 'To our classmates, All Might shouldn't know who I mean by Izu as it's our first class. I don't want to make it seem like we know each other'

"Ah yes! Sorry about that!" All Might apologized, mentally facepalming for forgetting that he held Izuku back.

After 2 minutes of waiting, the sound of iron clashing against concrete could be heard from the gate leading into Ground Beta. Upon closer inspection, Izuku was seen walking through the gates in his hero costume.

"Sorry I'm late!" he called out, finally coming into the light, revealing his costume to the class. Izuku's costume consists of a slick black bodysuit made of kevlar, just to be safe. Covering his thighs and down to his feet are black knee pads, which connect to his signature red shoes that now have iron soles at the bottom for extra power and stability. On his arms are a pair of white braces running from his shoulders to his hands, which are contained in a pair of white gloves. Around his waist is a red utility belt to match his shoes, which contains a few pockets and a strap holding a hunters knife. Around the bottom of his face is a respirator that covers his mouth, but also leads around the back of his head and over his ears. This respirator not only helps with breathing, but it also has a built-in AI that is capable of reading the user's vitals, etc. Though, it only speaks up when it needs to. The only part of Izuku that isn't covered is the upper part of his face and his messy white hair.

Izuku was considering having a helmet or visor like Ochaco, but in the end, he decided he wanted to show his hair and eyes as a tribute to his past. As he walked closer to the group, he could hear whispers about his costume.

"Damn, that's a cool costume"

"Yeah, and the black doesn't make it stand out too much"

"Wait is that a knife?"

Izuku smirked under his respirator at his classmate's reactions, 'Mr. Shield did an amazing job with this, I'll have to make sure I thank him and Melissa when I next talk to them'

His thoughts were interrupted by a call for his name from a person he would never grow tired of, "Izu! Your costume looks so cool in person! Definitely better than in a notebook!" Ochaco said with her usually bubbly attitude.

"Yeah, I'm just glad it turned out so well. You look great as well, Ocha" he told her, a slight blush forming on his face thanks to Ochaco's costume.

"Thanks, Izu! Though it definitely could have been less skin-tight, I should've been more specific" Ochaco said, laughing awkwardly at the thought of people looking at her.

Izuku was about to respond, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw the kid with the weird purple balls raise his thumb with a perverted face and say: "The hero course is the best". Izuku's blood immediately boiled at what he heard. He proceeded to walk over to where the midget was and grab hold of his head.

"Oi" Izuku spoke menacingly, giving off an aura that sent chills across everyone present. "Look at Ocha like that again. I dare you" he told Mineta, who you could only assume was wetting himself at this point.

Even All Might got a few chills down his spine, 'Jeez, I forgot how scary Izuku can get when it comes to Young Uraraka' he reminded himself, recalling the times when Ochaco would explain that she had to literally hold Izuku back from getting too hostile on people who would leer at her. All Might sighed, 'I should probably step in, I am a teacher after all. But as a human, I can't accept that type of behavior. Anyway, Izuku isn't as rash anymore, he will show restraint. I hope' he concluded.

Back with Izuku and Mineta, it seemed like Izuku's method at scaring the smaller boy was working like a charm. Izuku decided to tilt his head and give Mineta a look that said: 'What have you got to say for yourself?'

Mineta instantly responded, "I-I'm s-sorry! I-I won't do it again!" he screamed, tears forming in his eyes out of fear.

What All Might and Ochaco expected Izuku to do was not let Mineta off easy, however, they were completely surprised when he did the exact opposite.

Izuku loosened his grip on Mineta, before putting him down, "Well, that's fine then. Do it again and I won't hesitate to teach you a lesson" Izuku said as he walked back to Ochaco while glaring at Mineta.

Ochaco stared at Izuku, confused, 'That was… Unusual? I usually have to step in… Is Izu alright?' she questioned in her head. To answer her question, she decided to just ask Izuku, "Izu? You okay?" she questioned, slightly concerned by Izuku's odd behavior.

"No. I'm really pissed off" Izuku answered bluntly, before carrying on, "But… I don't want to burden others with my actions, so I decided to let him off this time" Izuku told her, lowering his head slightly.

Shock overcame Ochaco after hearing Izuku, 'Why would Izu think he's a burden to others?' she questioned. Then, it hit her.


Flashback -

"How are you feeling Izu?" Ochaco asked her boyfriend, who was staring in awe at the Katsudon in front of him.

When he heard her question, he turned his attention from his food, "I'm feeling better now, just still a bit discouraged after what you told me our classmates said" Izuku explained, then noticing Ochaco's expression change to one of anger and sadness.

Before she could even say anything, she felt Izuku's hand on her shoulder, "It's fine Ocha. As long as I've got you, I couldn't care less if it was the whole world against me" he told her with a warm, genuine smile.

Ochaco felt like someone just shot an arrow through her heart. She smiled warmly at him, "Stupid Izu, I'm trying to make sure you're okay and you go and make me feel like the most important person in the world" she said, wiping away a few tears from her eyes.

"That's because you are, Ocha. I'd do anything for you" he told her with the same smile from earlier.

Ochaco was overjoyed by what he said, but she decided to tease him a little bit, "Oh~? You'd do anything?" she asked mischievously.

Izuku then realised how their faces were inches away from each other, what Ochaco could be implying, and that they were probably getting looks from everyone around them. To cut it short, Izuku blushed like crazy.

Ochaco giggled at his reaction, surprisingly not caring if people heard or saw what just happened.

Luckily, Izuku's savior came in the form of a boy with dark blue hair and glasses, "I'm sorry if I am interrupting, but I would like to talk to Yagi about something" Iida said after appearing out of nowhere, startling both Izuku and Ochaco.

Iida felt a bit awkward talking to them after what he'd just seen and heard, but he wanted to make something clear with Izuku as soon as possible, "May I sit?" he asked politely.

Coming out of their trance, Ochaco looked at Izuku as if she was saying 'You decide', which Izuku swiftly did, "Yeah, sure Iida"

"Thank you" Iida said as he took a seat in front of the couple and set down his food. He then focused on what he wanted to talk about, "First off I just want to say that I'm sorry" he apologised.

Izuku was confused by his apology, "What for?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Although I never said anything this morning like the others, I will admit that I still had ulterior thoughts about you, Yagi" he admitted with shame. Iida then bowed his head slightly, "I am very sorry for that. I didn't think to consider how you would feel" he finished, waiting patiently for a response.

Izuku was speechless. Nobody has ever apologised for judging him, not anyone he isn't close to anyway, 'Maybe this school is different, huh?' he thought. After composing himself from his shock, he finally responded, "It's fine, Iida. It's only natural to have thought's like that with everything that's been going on the past few days, I can't blame you for it. Besides, you actually apologised, even if you didn't say anything, so thanks for that"

"Please, don't thank me. I should be the one thanking you for your forgiveness" Iida stated, slightly shocked that Izuku actually thanked him.

"It's fine, forgiveness is just something that comes naturally to me" Izuku told him with complete honesty.

"Izu, you're way too kind" Ochaco said, joining the conversation. Izuku looked at her perplexed, "But that's just one of the reasons I love you" she told him cheerfully while pulling him in for a hug, much to his embarrassment.

Iida looked on awkwardly, probably because he felt a bit like a third wheel. To make himself known, he coughed, causing Ochaco to quickly pull away from Izuku.

"You're being quite bold today Ocha" Izuku pointed out, slightly teasing her as revenge for before. Ochaco just sunk further into her seat.

Iida decided to change the topic, "Are you both prepared for our first Hero Basic Training lesson?" he asked the couple.

Ochaco instantly took the opportunity to talk about something else, "Mhm! It's gonna be so cool! I hope we get to wear our hero costumes, I can't wait to see how mine turned out!" she shouted, her embarrassment instantly replaced by her usual bubbly attitude.

Iida nodded, "I also look forward to seeing my hero costume. What about you, Yagi? What do you think about our next lesson?" he asked Izuku, who seemed lost in thought.

"O-Oh, it'll be fun I guess, I just hope I don't hold people back" he stammered, chuckling awkwardly while scratching the back of his head.

Iida raised an eyebrow at this, "Hold people back? You're the last person I would think to hold people back, Yagi" he told the white-haired teen, who's mood had instantly dropped when the topic of their next lesson was brought up.

"Thanks, Iida" Izuku responded, though it was hard to tell if he actually meant it.

Both Ochaco and Iida silently decided to drop the topic as Izuku clearly didn't like it. Ochaco looked at Izuku with worry, not understanding at the time why Izuku would doubt himself.

Flashback End


But now she knew. When Ochaco thought about it, she realised she never really thought about how Izuku would feel in response to his dream. Yes, she had asked him if he was alright, but she was so stressed and worried by the situation that she never actually took the time to step into Izuku's shoes and look at it from his perspective.

'Of course Izu would be doubting himself, he had to watch his loved ones die over and over while he could do nothing about it. I knew Izu would be saddened by it, but I never even thought to consider how it would actually affect him. Stupid Ochaco, I was being so selfish that I ignored how Izu is actually feeling' she scolded herself, immediately regretting how she handled the situation.

Even though they were in the middle of the lesson and All Might looked like he was about to continue, Ochaco brought Izuku's head down into a gentle hug, "I'm sorry I didn't realise, Izu. I was so stressed by the whole situation that I never actually stopped to think about how it would affect you, I'm really sorry about that. But I understand now, you aren't a burden to anyone, Izu. You're really strong, and you definitely won't hold anyone back. What happened in your dreams wasn't real, and I know I can trust you to get to me or anyone else before anything like you were shown could ever happen. So please, Izu, don't ever think otherwise" she whispered in his ear, tightening her hold on him.

'W-What?' Izuku thought weakly, utterly shocked by what Ochaco just said. Although Izuku wasn't the type to lie about his mood, he preferred to hide his internal battles from others. So the fact that Ochaco had figured him out was surprising to him. But above all else, her words soothed his soul. They were like a blinding light that no level of darkness could stand against. Surprisingly for Izuku, he could feel a sense of relief wash over him as his self-confidence finally made itself known again. All of this, just by a few words from Ochaco. In the back of Izuku's mind, he heard an annoyed grunt, but he ignored it.

"You're incredible, Ocha" he finally spoke, making Ochaco release her hold on him before staring at him with a bewildered look on her face. He smiled brightly at her, "Thanks to you, I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. Sorry for doubting myself like that"

Ochaco couldn't help but blush at his smile, "I'm glad I could help, Izu" she said with a huge grin plastered on her face.

It was then that they realised literally everyone in the class was staring at them. Luckily, nobody had actually heard them, but they all formed their own reactions to their open affection.

Most nodded in approval of their relationship. Mina and Toru were squealing like a bunch of fangirls at a concert. Kaminari and Mineta were practically crying with how envious of Izuku they were. Some, like Momo and Jiro, were feeling quite awkward. Bakugou had visible veins popping out of his head, cursing and saying things like 'Stupid Deku and Roundface' and 'Wasting my time with their shitty love'. Todoroki looked as uninterested as ever, probably in his own world. Iida was muttering to himself, with Izuku only being able to make out 'bold' and 'public affection'.

The couple became blushing messes at the realisation that if everyone hadn't already guessed they were a couple, they could now tell for sure. Izuku quickly turned to Ochaco, "I blame this one on you Ocha"

Ochaco pouted, "Hmph! You accepted it"

Izuku laughed at her reaction, "I can't argue with that" he admitted.

Finally, All Might butted in by coughing to get everyone's attention, which worked like a charm. He would have interrupted before so they could get to the lesson, but with all that's happened in the past few days, he felt like there was a good reason for Ochaco to hug Izuku. All Might also knew that she wasn't the type to praise Izuku after he threatened somebody, in fact, she would usually do the opposite.

"Now then! It's time to commence the combat training!" All Might shouted, making everyone present stare intently at him.

Though, before he could continue, Iida raised his hand, "Sir! Will we be conducting urban battles like in the entrance exam?" he asked.

Izuku got a proper look at Iida's hero costume, 'Iida looks really cool in that, it's very similar to his brother's. I wonder how Iida would react if he found out I knew his brother?' he contemplated.

"Nope! In this training exercise, we will conduct combat indoors! When you look at the numbers, most dangerous and intelligent villains fight indoors rather than outside. To sum it up, they fight in the shadows, not the light!" All Might explained, earning nods of approval from the class.

"In this exercise, you will fight in teams of two. One team will be the villains, while the other will be the heroes" All Might told the young heroes in training.

"We will be fighting without basic training?" Tsuyu asked, a hint of worry detected in her voice.

"To understand the basics the best, real combat is the way to go! But this time, there won't be robots to fight like in the entrance exam" All Might finished explaining.

He wasn't ready for the onslaught of questions he was about to receive.

"How will the winners and losers be determined?" Momo asked.

"Can we crush our opponents?" Bakugou questioned viciously.

"Can we be expelled like with Aizawa's class?!" Mineta screamed, fearing for his high school career.

"How are we going to be split up?" Iida asked.

"Isn't my cape dazzling?" Aoyama questioned, showing off his cape to everyone present.

All Might looked panicked, "I will answer all of your questions!" he shouted, before pulling out a small notebook from his pocket.

Izuku held back his laughter, 'A script? Seriously Dad?'

"The situation goes like this! The villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout. The hero team's goal is to foil the villain's plans by either capturing both villains or retrieving the weapon within the allotted time frame. The villains will succeed if they defend the weapon before the time runs out, or they capture both of the heroes" All Might explained, literally reading from his notes.

'This is just like a standard hero vs villain set' Izuku deadpanned. All Might then pulled a box out of… Thin air? What's up with that?

"The teams and your opponents will be decided by drawing lots" All Might told the class.

Iida once again raised his hand, "This is all being decided so haphazardly?"

Izuku butted in, "Think about it, Iida. In the world of heroes, you can't always decide who you work with, and you especially can't decide who you go up against. This way of deciding makes things much more realistic" he explained.

Iida pondered, "I see… You are correct, Yagi! I am sorry for interrupting!" he apologised, before bowing.

"It's all good! Now, let us decide the teams!" All Might shouted, a strange amount of excitement in his voice. He then started drawing names from the box.

Team A - Izuku and Ochaco

Team B - Shoji and Todoroki

Team C - Momo and Mineta

Team D - Bakugou and Iida

Team E - Mina and Aoyama

Team F - Koda and Sato

Team G - Kaminari and Jiro

Team H - Tsuyu and Tokoyami

Team I - Ojiro and Toru

Team J - Kirishima and Sero

Ochaco turned to Izuku, "Wow Izu! This must be fate!" she exclaimed, getting really close to him.

"It has to be. Or the devil really wants to punish whoever our opponent is. Not to toot our horns or anything, but I honestly think our teamwork has far surpassed the levels of even most pros" Izuku said with honest belief in his words. He wasn't even being cocky either, he and Ochaco had an inseparable bond, their trust in one another only going to prove that. So naturally, their teamwork is in a league of its own compared to everyone present.

"I don't like to act cocky, but I can't say you're wrong, Izu" Ochaco told him, happy that Izuku praised her so highly.

Izuku smiled at her, "Let's crush them, Ocha" he said, raising his fist.

"Yep!" Ochaco cheered, matching his fist with her own.

Most of the class had the exact same thought: 'What a scary couple…'

All Might shivered, 'May God have mercy on whoever those two go up against' he prayed, something he never does, but he thought this situation called for it. He then remembered he had to draw the matchups. All Might reached his hands into two different boxes, pulling out a white ball and a black ball.

The black ball read: 'D' and the white ball read: 'A'

"Team D will be the villains and Team A will be the heroes. Everyone else is to head to the monitor room" All Might finished.

Izuku and Bakugou instantly made eye contact. Izuku would have originally hated having to go up against one of the strongest in the class, but thanks to Ochaco, Izuku was really looking forward to putting the explosive blonde in his place.

"C'mon Ocha, let's go prepare" Izuku said, breaking the staring competition he and Bakugou were having. Ochaco nodded and followed Izuku, Iida and All Might.

Bakugou was the last to leave, probably because he was annoyed that Izuku looked so confident, 'Don't look down on me, shitty Deku!'


Upon arriving at the building the competition would take place at, Izuku and Ochaco took their maps of the building and started to memorise it. They could hear All Might explaining to the villain's team that they need to think like a villain in order to win. Iida didn't seem too pleased by the idea, while Bakugou just continued to glare at Izuku.

After the villains left to prepare, All Might announced that the hero team will have 5 minutes to prepare. Izuku wasn't going to waste the time they were given.

"I've got a plan, Ocha" he informed her.

"Already? Well done, Izu" she praised him, though not too surprised that Izuku managed to come up with a plan that quickly.

Izuku blushed at her praise, "Thanks, now onto the plan. I know for sure that Bakugou will head straight for me, all he was doing was glaring at me just now. If Bakugou does go after me, then Iida will be left alone to defend the bomb. We will use that to our advantage. As soon as we find Bakugou, you run off to find the bomb while I take him on. I don't know how much he's improved since we last saw him, so this is where the main part of the plan comes in. Once you find the bomb, tell me where it is so I can slowly lead Bakugou towards it if I haven't already taken him down. If all goes well, then I can set Bakugou up so you can surprise attack him for an instant take-down. As we will know where the bomb is, we can quickly get to it and easily distract or capture Iida. You got all that?" he finished, making sure Ochaco understood the plan.

Ochaco nodded nervously, "Yep, I got it" she told Izuku.

Izuku immediately noticed her nerves, "Hey, it will be fine. I know you have the biggest role in the plan, but that's because I know you can do it, Ocha" he told her with sincere honesty.

Ochaco's spirits instantly lifted in response to Izuku's words, "Thanks, Izu. I feel much better now! You can count on me!" she said, giving him a warm smile.

Izuku smiled back, "Just returning the favor"


The villain team had just finished setting up where they're putting the bomb, which Iida noted to be made out of paper mache.

Iida sighed, "Even if this is just a lesson, it still pains me to have to become a villain" he said, before observing the room they were in. He was interrupted by Bakugou.

"Hey! You've become all chummy with Deku right? What's going on with him and that quirk of his?!" Bakugou furiously questioned Iida.

"By Deku you mean Yagi? I am quite concerned about him, especially after noticing the marks on his body. You wouldn't happen to know how he got all those burn marks, would you? You clearly have some sort of history with him" Iida accused Bakugou, gaining a higher level of confidence with the explosive blonde.

Bakugou flinched at the accusation, "Like hell I care about him! I just want to know how he's gone and got himself another quirk!"

Iida raised an eyebrow at this, "What do you mean another quirk? I thought Yagi just had his strength-enhancing quirk?" he asked, his suspicion growing.

'Shit' Bakugou though, "Nothing okay! I'm going alone, defend the weapon by your damn self!" he shouted, before stopping off.

Iida felt like he should have protested, but he didn't think he would be able to change the angry teen's mind, and he might have just been given a few more pieces of the puzzle that is Izuku.

'Interesting. If what Bakugou said is true and Yagi does have a second quirk, then that links him even closer to the boy shown on the news 2 days ago… Thought that wouldn't explain why his spirits were low today, he was perfectly fine the day after the news broadcast…' Iida speculated, before realising what he was doing.

'No. I shouldn't speculate like this, I need to respect the boundaries Yagi has put up. If he doesn't want people to know stuff like this, then I shouldn't try to piece things together' he concluded. Then, he heard All Might's voice through a speaker.

"Now, let us start the first indoor, person-on-person combat training!"


Inside the monitor room, every student watched the screen patiently, waiting for the action to begin.

"Now, everyone. You should watch this carefully to get a good idea of how you can plan out your attack or defense" All Might told the class.

'Son, in this school, you are my student. So I won't play favorites and I will grade you strictly' he concluded.

On the monitor screen, Izuku and Ochaco are shown to have infiltrated through a window, before slowly walking through the tight hallways of the building, checking every corner.

'Now, Son. Let's see how you do' All Might thought while wearing his usual grin.


"This way's clear" Izuku informed Ochaco after peeking around the corner. She nodded in response.

They continued to walk through the narrow hallways, impatiently waiting for an inevitable attack from Bakugou. After a few more seconds of walking, Izuku heard an incredibly quiet shifting sound from around the next corner. But that was all he needed.

"I know you're around that corner, Bakugou. Don't hide" Izuku taunted from the hallway, knowing that it would annoy the explosive blonde.

And oh boy was he correct. Bakugou stepped out from the corner and into the hallway with a furious expression on his face, "The hell did you say Deku?!"

Izuku smirked, 'Get Bakugou angry, check' he thought, going through the list of things he needed to do for their plan to succeed. He then observed his surroundings, 'We just came from a hallway that split two ways, Bakugou was waiting on the right path. Knowing him, the left path is probably the fastest way to where the bomb is. I know he isn't stupid, and anyone smart wouldn't approach or hide from somewhere that leads to the bomb. Unless they formed a plan, which I highly doubt since Bakugou has no teamwork whatsoever, then the quickest way for Ocha to get to the bomb is left' Izuku finally concluded.

He took a step back so he was directly next to Ochaco, "Ocha, you go left, that's probably the quickest way to the bomb. Follow the plan and report back to me when you find the bomb. I believe in you" he whispered to her.

"Okay, you can count on me. Just don't do anything reckless, okay?" Ochaco told him, although she knew there was no point in saying anything.

Izuku smirked at her, "No promises"

Ochaco sighed, before running off down the path opposite to Bakugou, a gesture that clearly annoyed him.

"You think you can beat me alone, Deku?! Are you looking down on me?!" Bakugou roared aggressively.

"I'm not looking down on you Bakugou. I know you're strong" Izuku told him, before activating Full Cowling at 35%. The green lightning jumped around his body, power coursed through his veins. To put it simply, he felt alive.

Bakugou was about to respond, but faster than he could even blink, a knife came flying past his face, slightly grazing his right cheek. This startled him, making him lose his balance slightly, 'What the?! Did he miss? No, it's a distraction!'

One second, Izuku was on the other end of the hallway. The next, he was directly in front of Bakugou, his leg extended out, ready to kick Bakugou in the left abdomen.

"But I'm stronger" Izuku finished his sentence from earlier, sending a devastating kick at Bakugou. The explosive blonde could feel the air escaping his lungs, an incredibly sharp pain overcoming his chest.

Bakugou was sent rocketing into the wall and out through the other side, his entire right side feeling the pain of getting smashed through a concrete wall. He was infuriated by Izuku saying that he was stronger than him, but he couldn't think about that right now. Looking up from his position on the ground, he saw Izuku slowly walking up to him from the hole he made in the wall.

Bakugou made the effort to get up, his body screaming in pain, 'What the hell is that power?! That was just one attack!'


Over in the monitor room, there was an uproar in response to what Izuku just did.

"What the hell was that?!" Kaminari asked, completely shocked by what just happened.

"That was so fast, I could barely see it!" Sato shouted.

"What the heck man? That was just one kick!" Kirishima exclaimed, wondering how Izuku had gotten so powerful.

"What a powerhouse…" Mineta stared in awe.

All Might smiled upon hearing the students praising his son, 'Well done, Son! You've even impressed your classmates! I just wish you'd get along with them…' he sweatdropped.

Momo stepped in to explain what happened, even if she herself was shocked, "Did any of you see what he actually did?" she asked, earning shaking heads from most of the class.

"Even if we didn't know what they were saying, Yagi clearly angered Bakugou, making him more reckless. He also sent off his partner, possibly to locate the weapon. While Bakugou wasn't paying attention, Yagi threw his knife as a distraction so he could get in close and hit Bakugou. I'm honestly just surprised he could think of something like that on the spot" Momo concluded, looking around and seeing that everyone was now nodding in understanding.

Todoroki then spoke up, "You're right, but he might not have even thought about it. I can clearly tell that he is very much combat-trained, and at a certain point, stuff like that becomes natural. One thing I can see is that he is dangerous, definitely better than your average pro, maybe even better than that" he finished.

Everyone in the room was shocked. Firstly, Todoroko was yet to utter a single word before this, so him saying so much was new. But also what he said was surprising. Getting praise like that from the Number 2 hero's son was not something to gloss over.

Before they could say anything else, they saw Izuku's silhouette appear through the dust the broken wall created. Everyone in the room instantly turned their attention to the monitor screen.


"I'm a bit disappointed. I thought you would have been able to dodge that, Bakugou" Izuku told him, adding: 'And I was only going 35%' in his head.

"Shut up!" Bakugou shouted, his anger rising by the second.

Izuku observed his new surroundings, noticing that they were now in quite a large open room, 'I need to try and lead Bakugou towards Ocha. He's in pain now and his anger is rising, but I can't be reckless. If I make a sprint now so I'm closer to Ocha, then he will probably get so angry that he will start to make irrational decisions' he concluded, before proceeding with his plan.

In the condition Bakugou was in, he really should have been relieved upon seeing Izuku bolt out of the room. But in Bakugou's eyes, it was like Izuku was taunting him. It was like he was saying: 'I don't even need to finish you off to know that I'm better than you' to Bakugou.

"GET BACK HERE DEKU!" Bakugou yelled as loud as he could, sprinting after the trial Izuku left behind.

You could hear his scream from a mile away. Izuku smirked upon hearing it, 'I guess I was correct, huh?'. Izuku dashed around the hallways for a bit, before finding the stairs that lead to the next floor. He decided to check up on Ochaco.

He talked into his earpiece, "Ocha? You there?" he asked.

"Mhm. I hear you" he heard from the other end. It sounded like she was trying to be quiet.

"Have you found where the bomb is?" Izuku asked while looking around his surroundings.

"Yeah, I just found it, middle of the fifth floor. As you said, Iida is here by himself. How's it going with Bakugou?" she asked.

"Well done Ocha, that was really quick" Izuku praised her, honestly surprised that she managed to find the bomb so quickly. He then got onto answering her question, "I managed to get a good hit on him, I could tell he's hurt. He's also very angry, so he won't be thinking rationally. I ran off from him so I could draw him closer to you, I'm waiting by the stairs of the floor we were first on now. If you get to me quickly, then I can distract him so you can surprise him. I'm 99% sure I can easily take him down, but he always has something up his sleeve. Also, I've shown him that I'm strong, but he still thinks you're weak, and I'd love to change that" he finished, then hearing Bakugou's screams getting closer.

"Are you sure we have the time? If you think you can take him on, then do it. I don't mind if he thinks I'm weak" Ochaco told him.

"But I do, Ocha. You're incredibly strong. I don't mind if Bakugou looks down on me, but I won't have him doing the same with you. Besides, I've been keeping track of the time and only 5 minutes have passed so far, so we still have 10 minutes left. We should be able to take down Bakugou within 5 minutes, maybe even less. And if you managed to find the bomb in 5 minutes, then we can definitely take Iida down in the remaining time thanks to knowing where the bomb is already" Izuku finished with full confidence in his words.

Ochaco blushed at Izuku's words, though he didn't know, "Thanks, Izu. I'll make my way to where you are now" she told him.

"Okay" was all he said, before starting to patiently wait for either Bakugou or Ochaco to make an appearance.

After 2 minutes of waiting, he heard a whisper from the stairs. Upon turning, he saw Ochaco, who ran quickly from the stairs to around the corner by Izuku.

"I'll wait here, Izu" she told him, earning a nod from Izuku in response.

Then, Izuku heard the shouting from Bakugou finally getting really close, 'Perfect timing' Izuku thought.

Bakugou stepped out from around the corner on the opposite corner of the hallway, "I finally found you, Deku!" he shouted. Bakugou realised they only had around 7 minutes remaining, so he wasted no time blasting himself towards Izuku. What he didn't expect though, was a smirk from the white-haired teen.

"Ocha!" Izuku shouted. Before Bakuogu could react, Ochaco stepped out from around the corner and grabbed Bakugou by his wrists. Sadly, the explosive blonde could still use his quirk fully, which he didn't waste any time doing.

Bakugou sent an explosion in front of him, sending Ochaco to the floor and him further back in the hallway. Bakugou's anger reached its limit.

"Sorry, Izu! I couldn't restrain him quick enough!" Ochaco shouted, slightly frustrated.

"It's fine, Ocha. I should've thought that restraining him would be difficult" Izuku responded.

Before Ochaco could protect, Bakugou spoke up.

"So this was your plan, huh Deku?! You just wanted to embarrass me?! I've had enough of it!" Bakugou yelled, before raising his right gauntlet up, "If you think you're both so amazing, then how about dodging this?!"

Izuku immediately recognised the gauntlets, 'Those were the gauntlets we designed just after he got his quirk! If that's the case, then thanks to Bakugou running around and sweating a bunch, then the explosion from it will be huge!' he realised.

Izuku surveyed his surroundings, noticing that he would be able to dodge in time, but not Ochaco. Every fiber in his body immediately responded to the message he was screaming in his head.

Save her.

"Young Bakugou stop! You will seriously hurt them!" All Might shouted through a speaker.

Bakugou grinned maniacally, "Not if they dodge it"

And then, he pulled the pin, releasing a huge explosion that was hurling straight towards Izuku and Ochaco.

Ochaco knew she couldn't dodge in time, the explosion covered the entire width of the hallway and she was too far from any corner. She braced for the impact.

It never came.

She opened her eyes, confusion washing over her. Then, she saw somebody covering her body from the explosion. It was Izuku. When she looked up at his face, he was smiling at her, but she could easily tell he was in a lot of pain.

"You okay, Ocha?" he asked her.

Tears escaped her eyes, "I-I'm so-" she was cut off by a warm and gentle hug.

"What did I say, Ocha? I would protect you no matter what. So don't apologise, it wasn't your fault" Izuku told her, his voice calm and soothing. She nodded slowly into his neck

Izuku, feeling satisfied, released himself from the hug and stood up. Luckily, thanks to his suit being made out of kevlar, it wasn't damaged by the explosion. However, Izuku was still in a world of pain.

More than anything else though, Izuku's anger boiled. Slowly, he turned around to look at Bakugou, releasing an aura that could scare even the bravest of people. The explosive blonde looked at him with an expression of both shock and fear, two emotions that he rarely felt.

Even faster than the blink of an eye, Izuku appeared in front of Bakugou with a fist inches away from his face.

"Sleep" was all that Bakugou heard before the fist connected with his jaw, sending him flying through the hallway and into a wall, immediately knocking the teen out.

After noting that there was no way Bakugou was getting up from that, Izuku walked back over to Ochaco.

"C'mon Ocha, we need to go and retrieve the bomb" he told her, noting that they had around 4 minutes remaining.

Ochaco wanted to apologise again, but she knew it was no use. Izuku was stubborn and although she didn't like how selfless he was, especially when it comes to her, she didn't want to belittle his heroic act. She made a mental note that she owed Izuku big time, even if he would say otherwise.

"Okay" she responded.

"You said the bomb was on the 5th floor, right?" Izuku asked her.

She nodded to him, noticing that he had started to power up Full Cowling once again. Before she could even react, she was swept up into Izuku's arms bridal style, causing her to become very flustered.

Although he was also very embarrassed by what he was doing, Izuku tried to ignore it. He sped off to the nearest window.

"Izu? What are you doing?" Ochaco asked, still a bit flustered.

"You'll see" was all she got, before Izuku literally jumped out the window. Luckily, they weren't high up, so the landing wasn't painful. Before Ochaco could question Izuku's action, he bent down and shot up with Full Cowling, arriving right in front of the window to the 5th floor.

Thankfully, the window was already open so Izuku just went straight through. He then placed Ochaco down carefully.

Ochaco nodded in understanding of what Izuku's plan was. He didn't need to ask her to lead the way to where Iida was.


Iida was currently practicing his villain persona, while also waiting for some sort of attack. He could hear Bakugou screaming even from a few floors up, something he noted to be quite impressive.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the building shake from a huge explosion going off. He immediately took action and spoke into his earpiece.

"Bakugou?! What was that?!" he shouted, growing slightly worried for the other team if that explosion had hit them.

He received no response, "Bakugou? Can you hear me?" he asked, but again, getting no response.

'Has Bakugou been taken out? If his earpiece broke, then I wouldn't be getting any connection' Iida thought.

He waited for a bit, before coming to a conclusion, 'Bakugou was clearly taken out, so now Yagi and Uraraka will be heading towards me. I need to prepare myse-'

His thoughts were interrupted by a loud cracking sound, followed by a hole forming in the wall to his left. Izuku flew out of the hole, green electric dancing around his body, swiftly followed by Ochaco.

Iida was shocked by their sudden appearance, but he knew couldn't falter. He put on his best villain impression, "So you have finally arrived, heroes. I see that you have taken out my partner, but no matter! I will take you down!" he shouted, impressed by his villain persona.

He noticed Izuku whisper something to Ochaco before she started to run towards the bomb.

Iida immediately sped towards her, "Oh no you don't, hero!" he shouted, but was quickly blocked by a powerful kick to his side.

"You got distracted, Iida" Izuku told him bluntly, glancing towards Ochaco, who was meters away from touching the bomb and therefore winning them the exercise.

Iida got up quickly thanks to his protective armor taking most of the damage from Izuku's blow. He immediately put all of his power into his legs, blasting off towards the bomb at his fastest speed.

What shocked him was the fact that Izuku not only matched his fastest speed; he far exceeded it, easily getting to where Iida wanted to go before him.

"Sorry, Iida. But we're winning this one" Izuku informed him. Iida could tell by the way Izuku said it that he wasn't stating an opinion, he was stating a fact. He knew he couldn't get past Izuku, so he opted to move him out of the way instead.

Still at his highest gear, Iida sent is right leg straight for Izuku's side, only for it to abruptly stop thanks to Izuku catching it.

'He caught it?!' Iida questioned, completely surprised that Izuku managed to stop his foot's momentum in an instant.

But Izuku wasn't done yet. To ensure that Iida had no chance of stopping Ochaco, he picked up Iida with his leg and swung him around, eventually throwing him into the wall.

Satisfied with his work, Izuku looked towards the bomb, finding that Ochaco had successfully reached it.

"Retrieved!" she shouted, happy that she and Izuku had managed to win.

"H-Hero Team wins!" All Might shouted through the speaker.

Izuku smiled, before going over to make sure he didn't hurt Iida too much. He noticed that Iida looked like he was in pain, but wasn't knocked unconscious like Bakugou.

Izuku extended his hand out, "You okay, Iida? Hope I didn't go too hard on you" he smirked.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I was fine, but it's all fair game, Yagi" Iida said, extending out his hand and grabbing Izuku's. After being pulled up, he smiled at Izuku, who was a slight bit taller than him, "It was a good match" he told Izuku.

"That's all I wanted to hear" Izuku told him, before being tackled to the floor.

"We did it Izu!" Ochaco shouted excitedly, hugging the now flustered teen.

"Yep, we did great, Ocha" Izuku said, smiling at his girlfriend, proud of their victory. He then noticed he was being suffocated, "O-Ocha, a little breathing room?"

Ochaco jumped away from him, her face as red as a tomato, "S-Sorry!"

Izuku chuckled at her reaction, "It's fine, Ocha. Like I said before, I don't mind you hugging me, I just think you need to know the difference between a hug and a bear hug" he teased her.

Ochaco grew even redder than before.

Iida smiled at the couple's interaction, 'Yagi seems a lot better than earlier, I guess Uraraka was able to cheer up. Maybe I was just overthinking things?'


Back in the monitor room, everyone was speechless at what they had just witnessed. At first, they were all confused when Izuku ran away from a very weakened Bakugou. Though that confusion was cleared when they saw Ochaco come back and hide so she could surprise attack Bakugou. However, they definitely weren't prepared for what happened next.

They all quickly came to the understanding that Bakugou was crazy to pull a stunt like that, but above all else, they recognised Izuku as an actual hero. To jump in front of an explosion that size without even flinching was an incredible deed, no matter how you looked at it.

All Might was beaming with pride. He never doubted Izuku as a good successor, but he knew that he couldn't say the same about Izuku. But right then, Izuku had easily just proved himself. All Might didn't even need the words out of Izuku's mouth to know that he moved on pure instinct. He could tell from how quickly Izuku got there that his body moved on its own, there was no doubt about it.

All Might also thought that he would have had to scold Bakugou for what he did, but Izuku swiftly knocking him out was enough of a punishment, along with whatever Aizawa was inevitably going to say.

The class had their own reactions to Izuku knocking out Bakugou.

"Ouch! That must have hurt" Mina flinched upon seeing the devastating punch.

"Can't say he didn't deserve it though" Sero butted in.

"I agree, ribbit. Also was Yagi faster than before?" Tsuyu questioned, tilting her head slightly.

Shoji nodded, "Yes, I think he was. Perhaps he was holding back the first time?"

"If he was, then that's some scary powe- Wait what is he doing?" Ojiro said, what he was originally saying being interrupted by Izuku jumping out of the window and then up into the window of the fifth floor.

Nobody responded, the question seemed rhetorical and they were interested to see what Izuku was planning. They became very confused when Izuku randomly smashed through a wall, revealing the bomb on the other side.

Then it clicked for Momo, "I get it!" she exclaimed, earning the attention of every student. She carried on, "Yagi sent Uraraka off to locate the bomb, so when they both took out Bakugou, they knew exactly where to go to find it. So this entire time Yagi was delaying Bakugou so both he and Uraraka could take on the villain team members separately, that's actually really smart"

All Might sweatdropped at her explanation, 'She is very analytical, isn't she?'. He then noticed that Ochaco had already touched the weapon and therefore won them the exercise, "H-Hero Team wins!" he blurted out, before noticing that they still had a minute remaining.

The class smiled at the sportsmanship Izuku showed by helping Iida up, followed by him being tackled to the floor by Ochaco.

All Might turned towards the class, "Well then class, that wraps up the first battle! I will have to go over now to retrieve everyone and make sure Young Bakugou is okay. While I am gone, think about this match as we will be reviewing it once we get back. Do you al-" he went to finish but was interrupted by Kirishima.

"S-Sir! Yagi just collapsed!" the red-head panicked.

Upon All Might and the rest of the class looking at the monitor screen, they saw Ochaco holding Izuku and trying to shake him awake.

All Might wasted no time in rushing towards his son.


And it's finally done! Jesus this took so damn long to write, probably because it's over 10000 words long. I could have easily split this into two chapters, but that wouldn't have made sense with what happens in this chapter, and I already left you on enough of a cliffhanger.

Now to clear some things up. First of all, Izuku's hero costume. Yes, it is basically his costume gamma, but with a few more details. There is no green on the costume, as the only part of Izuku that is green in this story is his eyes, which don't even stay green when he uses his gravity quirk. And I just wanted to switch some things up a bit. Now with the respirator, it does have a built-in AI, but it won't play a huge part in the costume, it's mainly there for USJ. Also, yes, Izuku knows Melissa and David already in this story, so expect the interactions in the first movie to be different when I write that chapter/s.

Secondly, onto Izuku's scars. I never mentioned it before, but Izuku's bullying was much worse than in canon. So much to the point that he actually got burn marks from Bakugou. So yes, it was Bakugou who gave him the marks, if it wasn't already obvious. With the cuts, that was from training with knives, etc. Basically, a real knife is MUCH different than a fake one, aka it can actually hurt you. So if you get into a scenario with real knives and you've only trained with fake ones, then the realisation that you can actually be hurt will dawn on you and you might end up, well, dead. So training with actual knives was a part of Izuku's training.

Thirdly, one of the main points I want to get across with this chapter is that Izuku can get angry and not use his gravity quirk. It may sound obvious, but confusion is something that is easily created with how I've presented Izuku's emotions.

Next, I actually did a coin flip to decide if I would follow canon with the teams or randomise them myself. As you can see, I got the canon teams, which is what I wanted. I hope I've satisfied you all with the battle and my own twist on it.

Finally, I know that the fluff at the start of Ochaco's flashback actually has nothing to do with what she was thinking about, but I decided to add it as a little bonus. The same goes for Iida befriending them, but after a reviewer said that I should have fleshed out that scene properly, I realised that it was the perfect opportunity to do just that. So thank you to that person, you know who you are.

Even though I just wrote an extra like 500 words there, I still think I missed something out. So please, if you have any questions, don't hold back. Like the last chapter, I wrote this one over more than a week, so it's hard to tell if I've covered everything without reading it. Since it's 2am right now, I don't really have the time to read 10000 words, and I don't want to delay this chapter any longer. I no joke said this chapter would be out Tuesday to the people in the discord at one point, so delaying this any longer isn't really an option.

On that note, once again feel free to join the discord if you haven't already. I actually posted the sports festival tournament bracket on the server, which is much different from canon. So if you want to see that to get an idea of what could go down, then join the server. I was going to post it on my twitter, but I'm feeling evil so the discord server is the only place you can find it now. Same as last time, the link to the discord is in on my profile.

Damn that's a lot for an AN, but I feel like this chapter needed it. Anyway, enough of me rambling. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, please feel free to review, even if it is only a few words, they are always appreciated. Even the bad ones, I know that I've gotten someone invested enough into my story that they would write a review, even if it is bad, which makes me happy. So, jokes on you to the people that leave hateful reviews, I guess?

That's all for this chapter, see you in the next one! Check your PMs if you review!