Izuku trudged into class, yawning as he gave a half-hearted wave to Uraraka.

"Hiya Midoriya!" she greeted, "you look tired.'

"Train was stopped for two hours last night when I tried to head home.' He mumbled as he sat down in his chair, "I didn't get to sleep until one."

"That's bad luck," she winced, 'will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine." he said, giving her a tired smile.

The conversation ended as more people began walking in, Bakugo was one of the last, giving Izuku a small nod before sitting down in front of him. Soon classes started, and Izuku did his best to stay awake; during math he ended up dozing off, to be awakened by a less than impressed Ectoplasm.

Thankfully it was soon the afternoon, and the Foundational Hero class was guaranteed to wake him up.

"I am coming through the door like a hero!" All-Might exclaimed, entering the room in a spectacular fashion as his class began to gush.

"It's All-Might!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"Wicked cool," Kaminari agreed, "isn't that his silver age costume?"

"Welcome young heroes! To the foundational hero class!" The pro hero boomed, posing with his fists on his hips, "in this class you will learn the Fundamentals of what it takes to become a hero! And todays lesson: Battle Training!"

Instantly Izuku and Bakugo sat up a little straighter, "You're going down today Deku!" Bakugo laughed, "this kind of training is what I live for!"

"Whatever you say, second place," Izuku smirked as Bakugo began to angrily splutter.

"Looks like we already have some eager players in the room! Don't worry young men you'll get your chance to shine! HAHAHAHA!" All-Might laughed, "Of course! One part of being a hero is the uniform!" He pulled a remote out and clicked a button, making two rows of suitcases slide out of the wall. "Get changed and meet me at training ground Beta!"

Soon everyone was grabbing their uniforms and heading towards the locker rooms, only Izuku remained seated, waiting until everyone was out before grabbing his costume.

"Hmm? Young midoriya, head to the locker room, you don't have much time." All-Might said to the young man.

"I was going to change here All-Might." Izuku said respectfully, opening the case and looking inside.

"I...don't think that's allowed young man." All-Might began uncertainly.

"We did it yesterday...please All-Might."

All-Might sighed, then nodded, "i'll allow it for today, but next time you'll have to change out with the others, understood?"

"Yes sir." Izuku said, nodding his head to the man.

With that All-Might walked out, leaving Izuku to change out of his uniform, revealing the scars of his childhood.

Many scars, especially those on his arms, were the result of training. Small uneven scars from tumbling through all kinds of terrain, and burn scars from when he had practiced with his quirk. Others were from the various fights he had gotten into; wounds from knives, and people who had a ballistic type quirks.

But on his back were wounds of a different kind, lacerations made by a whip and switch, leaving long scars along the left side of his back, the Kanji for 'demon' and 'monster' had been carved into his shoulder blade, the clean lines speaking of someone who had done so many times before; and on his rib cage, just under his arm, a brand had been pressed into his body, depicting the christian cross.

Izuku sighed as he pulled his costume out, staring at the simple green colored robes; he had taken inspiration from Uncle and based his costume on the robes that the Shaolin Monks wore. Quickly he put the robes on and looked down. His right arm and left shoulder and pectoral were uncovered, while his left side was completely covered, keeping his more horrendous scars from being seen, his ankles were wrapped tightly with a lighter shade of green cloth, which also covered part of the pointed black boots on his feet. With a roll of his shoulders Izuku gathered up his clothes and headed for the locker room. Wincing when he entered and noticed that there were still quite a few students still changing.

"Already changed/" Kirishima asked in surprise.

"Yeah." izuku answered, placing his clothes into one of the lockers.

"He must be shy about changing around other guys." Mineta snickered, shrinking when Izuku fixed a glare on him.

'Cool costume though," Kaminari said, looking Izuku over, "man, look at those scars, must have been a rough training course for you huh?"

"Yeah...training." Izuku mumbled, walking towards the exit, "see you guys out there."

"Later Midoriya!" Kirishima called, "man, guys kinda cold ain't he?" he asked the others after Izuku left.

"Not like we actually know him." Ojiro pointed out, "I mean we barely know each other as it is."

"True, but you'd think he'd open up more since we're all gonna be around each other for the next few years."

"Give him time." Sato said, pulling the cowl of his uniform over his head, "I'm sure that's all he needs."

Out on the training ground, Izuku and Bakugo were the first to be waiting alongside Iida, "Nice pajamas hothead." Bakugo snickered.

"Says the guy who put giant tacky grenades on his arms and honestly thought it made him look cool." Izuku shot back with a grin.

"Oh just wait, these got a surprise in them." Bakugo said with a malicious smirk.

"You two are strange." Iida commented, "but I'm assuming all this talk is simply just another form of your rivalry."

"Got it in one Iida." Izuku said, looking the boy up and down, "nice costume by the way."

"Thank you! It's designed to be much more aerodynamic, though I could have done without these decorational pipes." he said, tapping on said pipes that were jutting out from his stomach.

"Adds character." Izuku said as more of their classmates appeared.

"Wow! You guys look so cool!" Uraraka gushed as she walked over, "I wish i had been more specific in my costume, this suit is skin tight!" she whined, wiggling from side to side.

Izuku blushed and averted his eyes alongside Iida, while Bakugo continued to stare at her.

"It won't snag on anything if it's tight." Bakugo pointed out, doing his best to keep his gaze firmly on her face, "don't complain Round-face!"

"Round face?" she asked, looking slightly insulted.

Before anything else could be said, All-Might landed in front of them, "Look at all of you!" he boomed, "it's important to look the part, and right now, you all look so cool!" he laughed before posing once more, "Now it's time to see if your skills match up! I hope you're prepared, you zygotes!"

"All-Might sensei!" Iida called with a raised hand, "this area is much like the combat areas we were in during the entrance exam, will we be conducting urban battles!"

"Sort of, today you'll be conducting an Indoor Battle Scenario!"

"But what about basic training?" Tsu asked curiously.

"The best teacher is experience! Having said that, today you'll be going up against your own classmates! No easily defeated mindless robots here!"

"Isn't that dangerous?" Uraraka fretted.

"How bad can I hurt the other team?" Bakugo asked.

"Doesn't my cape look magnifique!?" Aoyama purred.

"Let me explain!" All-Might exclaimed, before pulling a small handbook out, "alright! Today's battle scenario is this! A team of villains have procured a Weapon of Mass Destruction, and the heroes have to stop them; Heroes win this exercise by either securing the weapon, or capturing all the villains; while the villains win if they manage to keep the weapon out of hero hands or capture the heroes! And to decide the teams-" he pulls out a simple box, "you will be drawing lots!"

"But sir! Wouldn't it make more sense to pair us up yourself!?" Iida asked.

"Think about it Iida," Izuku started before All-Might could say anything, "a lot of times Heroes have to partner with whoever is on scene."

"Right you are Young Midoriya! Now everyone line up and grab one piece of paper out of the box!"

Soon everyone pulled the paper and paired up, Izuku smirked as Uraraka walked over to him, "looks like we're partners!" she cheered.

'Yep." Izuku grinned.

"Alright! Now that you've formed your teams! It's time to draw for the first match-up! Which will be-" he reached into two boxes that were now beside him, pulling out little white balls with letters on them "-Team A vs Team D!"

Bakugo grinned, "finally!" he laughed, giving Izuku a side glance as the other boy chuckled.

"Hey Bakugo look, I'm on team A, second place for you again."

"DON'T THINK YOU BEING ON TEAM A HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS FIGHT DEKU!"

"Team A will be the heroes, Team D, you're the villains, so go into the building, you all have fifteen minutes to plan for the exercise, everyone else, follow me to the observation deck!"

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"I can barely make sense of these blue-prints." Izuku sighed, looking over the several sheets of paper that All-Might had given them, "I think it's showing the first few floors being a mix of twisting hallways and small rooms?"

"Yep!" Uraraka chirped, "but after the third floor the hallways disappear and you wind up with two floors that are simply full sized rooms, with another winding hallways floor at the very top!"

"Cool...your quirk is Zero Gravity right?"

"Yep!"

"Okay, so I think we should float up and enter into the third floor, I doubt they're gonna put the bomb on any of the hallway floors.' Izuku said, "especially with Iida's quirk."

"Sounds about right!" she agreed, "So what's the plan beyond that."

"If Bakugo's going to do what I think, then he's gonna come straight for me." Izuku said, rolling the plans up, If that's the case then as soon as he engages I want you to slip away and head for the bomb room."

"What if it's Iida?"

"Then we're kinda screwed since he's faster than my flames." Izuku sighed, "but I'm almost certain that Bakugo will be coming for us."

"Alright then! Let's get into position!"

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"As soon as we get the go ahead I'm gonna go down and blast Deku and round face out the building." Bakugo stated to Iida.

"Don't you think I would be better off patrolling?" Iida inquired, "I'm faster-"

"-and you don't have very good mobility!" Bakugo interrupted, "you can't make sharp turns and Deku will take advantage of that! I can easily wipe the floor with that nerd! Got it!?"

"START!"

Instantly Bakugo shot out of the room, leaving Iida behind.

"Wait! Shouldn't we have an actual plan!? WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PARTNERS!"

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Izuku and Uraraka quietly stepped through the window, Izuku already in a defensive stance as he looked around, "infiltration success!" Uraraka quietly cheered.

"Remember the plan." Izuku whispered as they began walking down the hall.

"Stairs should be right around this corner, maybe we should-oh!" Uraraka gasped in surprise as she stumbled slightly, Izuku steadied her, then caught movement out the corner of his eyes, pushing Uraraka away he quickly fell back, easily dodging the explosion Bakugo sent his way, 'Uraraka move!" he commanded, rolling forward to her side as he sent several fireballs at Bakugo, who dodged as best he could, with a sweeping wave of his arm Izuku erected a wall of fire between the two, absorbing an explosion. "GO!"

Uraraka took off up the stairs as Izuku dropped the wall of fire, staring Bakugo down in a low defensive stance.

"I told you that you wouldn't be on the top forever Deku." Bakugo sneered, stalking towards his friend/rival.

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"Come on Bakugo! A sneak attack is so not manly!" Kirishima whined.

"Manly or not, it's still a viable strategy, and don't forget! Young Bakugo is in the role of the villain!"All-Might boomed.

"Did you see those reflexes on Izuku though?" Kaminari asked, "dudes skilled."

"His style is heavily influenced by Northern Shaolin Kung Fu." Ojiro commented, "from what I can tell it's several different styles, but well rounded altogether."

"Okay, but was it really smart to split up?" Mina piped up, "wouldn't they be better off trying to take Bakugo down together?"

"Midoriya has already shown some form of control over fire that's not his." Todoroki said plainly, "Bakugo's explosions may not be full fire, but it would stand to reason that Izuku could lessen their effects."

"Unless he has a limit." Yaoyorozu said. "He may not be able to control a certain amount of fire, or be able to produce fire over a certain temperature."

"He might not." Todoroki countered, "These last two days Midoriya's consistently produced fire without any adverse my father who'll overheat after using his quirk too much."

"Couldn't he just use that lightning move Uraraka told us about?" Mina asked, "I think that'd be easier than actually fighting.

"Young Midoriya was warned against using that attack." All-Might said, gaining his students attention, "It's too powerful and could lead to serious injury in this scenario."

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Izuku grunted as he pressed the attack, quick jabs and kicks sending fire at Bakugo, who easily dodged the fire and sent his own explosions back at Izuku.

Izuku weaved between the explosions with nimble footwork, eyes widening when Bakugo suddenly appeared in front of him. "Game over Deku!" Bakugo snarled, only to growl in anger when Izuku easily blocked his attack. Producing flaming daggers from his hands and slashing at Bakugo. The two traded glancing blows until Bakugo kicked Izuku back. Grinning as one of his gauntlets flashed red. "It's ready."

"What's ready?" Izuku questioned, tense and ready to counter anything Bakugo sent after him.

"You were making fun of these gauntlets before we started." Bakugo sneered, "but if those nerds in the Support Department made these right, then they've been storing up my sweat for one big explosion." he levelled the gauntlet at Izuku, who tensed further as a small pin sprang out.

"No Bakugo! Don't pull that pin! You could kill him!"

"He won't die so long as he dodges!" Bakugo laughed as he pulled the pin and sent a powerful explosion at Izuku, who quickly conjured a shield of fire in front of him, only for his defense to be overwhelmed; sending him flying back as the explosion tore through the side of the building.

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"What the hell was that!?" Iida questioned, broken from his monologue as the building shook, Uraraka quickly turned on her radio, "Izuku, what happened!?" she called over the radio, "Izuku?"

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"Young Midoriya are you alright? Midoriya come in!" All-Might called into the radio as Kirishima shook his head.

"Man that was powerful, there's no way Midoriya's walking away from that without an injury." Kirishima worried.

"Why would Bakugo even use that? He could've killed him!" Kaminari exclaimed.

"Put the rest of the building in danger too, what if he had hit a load bearing wall?" Yaoyorozu fretted.

"I don't think he cares so long as he wins." Tsu said bluntly.

"He had faith that IZuku would be able to counter the explosion," Shoto said, "at the very least he should be safe from any severe burns...but that's not what he should be worried about, that concussive force in such a small space would still injure Midoriya."

"Bakugo, use those gauntlets again and you're disqualified! Attacks destroy the stronghold and risk damage to the weapon you're supposed to be protecting!"

"Are you shitting me!? Fine. hey, shitty Deku, you give up!?"

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A high pitched ringing echoed in Izuku's ears as he slowly opened his eyes, finding himself lying face down on the ground. With a groan he forced himself up to a standing position; his costume slightly tattered and soot covered, but none the worse for wear. Slowly he turned to look at Bakugo, frowning in confusion as the boy seemed to be yelling at him; his voice sounding muffled and far away.

The ringing died down and he was finally beginning to hear what was being said.

"-up Deku! Submit!"

"Young Midoriya? Are you alright? Stay still I'm going to stop the fight."

"M'fine," Izuku slurred out, "Don't stop the fight."

"You don't sound too well Midoriya!" Uraraka said worriedly over the radio, "maybe you should listen to All-Might."

"I said don't stop the fight." Izuku ordered, getting into his stance as Bakugo exploded towards him.

"You need to learn to stay down, Deku!" Bakugo snarled, fist cocked back. But a sweeping kick from Izuku sends him crashing down, tumbling across the ground, his eyes widened as he quickly rolls away as Izuku was suddenly jumping towards him, stomping his foot down where he had been before sending more fire his way.

Izuku gave him no breathing room as he pressed the attack. A righteous fury alight in his eyes as he allowed his anger to fuel his fire.

Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself away from Izuku, flying backwards up the stairs and into the larger fourth floor room, Izuku hot on his heels and forced back into a defensive position as Bakugo begins to use the extra space to his advantage, dancing around Izuku and hitting him with ranged attacks before moving again.

Frustrated, Izuku lets a puff of fire escape his mouth before he suddenly rolls forward, spinning around on his shoulders and twisting his hips, sending flames spiraling out around him as he spun. Bathing the room in fire and clipping bakugo in the side; sending him tumbling to the ground as Izuku springs back to his feet, a flick of his wrist sending a flaming whip at his opponent. The fire warm to the touch as it lashed towards Bakugo's neck.

Bakugo Narrowly avoids the whip and raises his arm, eyes widening as he sees a crack in his gauntlet, already leaking nitroglycerin as Izuku sends his whip forward again.

"DEKU WAIT-" Bakugo started, his warning coming too late as the flames touched the liquid and an explosion shook the very foundation of the building.

As the building shakes it gives Uraraka the edge she needed to finally grab onto the bomb, "I GOT IT!" She cheered as All-Might proclaimed the heroes the winners, Uraraka celebrated as Iida walked towards her, pulling his helmet on.

"Congratulations," he said warmly, "you did good today-"

"We need medical bots to the fourth floor, stat!"

"Oh no." Uraraka whispered as she and Iida shared a look before running towards the stairs, thundering down them in time to see the state of their friends.

Both were barely conscious on the ground, Izuku was lying back against the wall, uniform covered in dark soot, and several new lacerations and cuts from the now destroyed Gauntlet, Bakugo himself was lying face down on the floor, covered in burns and weakly coughing as he forced himself to crawl towards Izuku.

"Deku…" he rasped out, "Deku! God damn it Izuku answer me you idiot!" he snapped, body beginning to tremble at the sight of Izuku, Unmoving and eyes closed, "I tried to warn you, you dipshit, I tried!...fuck…"

Izuku coughed, making Bakugo stop, "I didn't know what you were yelling…" Izuku whispered hoarsely, cracking an eye open to glare at Bakugo, "ears were still fucked from the first explosion…" he gave a harsh cough, "you're lucky your gear kept you from third degree burns…"

Bakugo let his body collapse, giving a weak chuckle, "Yeah...guess i'm lucky huh...fuck me i'm tired…" he groaned as he forced himself to roll over onto his back, staring at the ceiling as Uraraka and Iida began to fuss over them. "You still ain't shit Deku…"

'heh...I know Kacchan…"

Soon the medical bots arrived and loaded the two onto stretchers, Iida and Uraraka accompanying them to Recovery girl.

"You got lucky." The older woman chided as she kissed Bakugo, making the young man sigh in relief as his burns disappeared, "minor burns and exhaustion for you Bakugo, But Midoriya, those lacerations won't be healing completely." She tutted as she kissed Izuku, who grimaced in discomfort as skin knitted itself back together; soon the worst of his wounds were healed, leaving behind a fresh new scar that started at the left corner of his jaw and went up to his nose.

"That's a downer." Izuku sighed, wincing when the old lady and Uraraka glared at him, "what? It's not like I intended for that grenade to blow up."

"Yeah," Bakugo agreed, "Don't even know how the leak happened."

"Be that as it may I want you two to understand the severity of these wounds, you could have easily lost a limb from this."

"But we didn't." Izuku muttered, wincing as Recovery Girl smacked him on the back of the head, "okay, ow."

"She's right Midoriya," Iida chimed in, 'you shouldn't take this so lightly."

"Yeah!" Uraraka echoed.

Izuku and Bakugo shared a look, "we'll be more careful in the future." Izuku said.

"Yeah, what the nerd said." Bakugo scoffed, cringing as Recovery Girl smacked him as well, "YOU OLD HAG! I AGREED!"

SMACK!

"Don't disrespect me sonny!" Recovery Girl fumed as bakugo rubbed his head, "Now, you two should be fine to head back to class."

"Thanks recovery girl." izuku said, standing and walking towards the door, Bakugo grumbled as he followed his friend with Iida and Uraraka bringing up the rear.

"That fight was intense." Uraraka sighed, bumping into Bakugo's side, making the boy tense, "Oh sorry, did that hurt?"

"No!" he said defensively. Making Uraraka giggle nervously.

"You two truly are tenacious if you're able to walk away from injuries like that." Iida commended them both.

"I've had worse." they chorused, making them glare at each other, "quit copying me!" they chorused again, making tick marks appear.

"You're copying me Deku, just like when we were younger!"

"Like I'd want to copy you Second Place."

"YOU WANNA GO AGAIN NERD!?"

Uraraka and Iida sweatdropped as the two bickered all the way until they entered the observation deck.

"Midoriya! Bakugo!" Kirishima shouted, running up to the two, "that was seriously an epic fight! You guys had us on the edge of the seats the entire time!"

"Yeah!" Mina gushed, "you guys were awesome!"

"Honestly thought he had you for a second there Bakugo." Sero said, 'but you were matching him blow for blow!"

"And you both looked awesome!" Mina shouted again.

"You Both looked fabulous-" Aoyama started, only to be to the side by Mina.

"You guys looked so awesome!"she exclaimed.

All-Might chuckled as he watched the class interact, "Alright students! Let's continue on with the lesson!" he called, making them settle down, "the MVP for that last match was Iida Tenya, can anyone tell me why!?"

While Yaoyorozu explained why Iida was the MVP, Izuku found a spot to sit down, wincing slightly as he did.

"You did good out there." Todoroki said stoically, making Izuku jump, having not realized the boy was beside him.

"Thanks," he said sheepishly, "all honestly i'm surprised things didn't turn out badly…"

"It usually does with Fire." Todoroki said, walking away before Izuku could say anything.

"Guess he's had bad experiences…" izuku mumbled, his hand unconsciously going to a small burn he had on his forearm.

'You okay Midoriya?" Iida asked him as he walked over with Uraraka and Bakugo.

"Fine, tired." Izuku said with a strained smile, "who's up next?"

"Team B versus Team I." uraraka said, "kinda worried, Todoroki gives off a very...indifferent vibe."

"He's definitely confident." Bakugo sneered, looking at the monitors. "Smug, Icy-hot bastard."

"Insulting another student is unbecoming of a hero!" Iida started.

"Can it Four-Eyes!" Bakugo barked.

"Four-Eyes!?"

"Enough," Izuku commanded, making both boys look at their irritated friend sitting against the wall, "sheesh, my concussion isn't even fully healed and you're both yelling right beside me."

"Apologies Midoriya.' Iida said with a slight bow.

"Wuss." Bakugo scoffed, but didn't try and restart the fight as the next battle began.

Izuku watched as Shoji stepped forward and began monitoring the building with his other arms. There was a pause as Shoji informed Todoroki of something. Then Shoji left the building, "what are you doing…" Izuku muttered, eyes narrowing when Todoroki froze the entire building;memories of unrelenting cold flashed through his mind and he shivered before looking over to Bakugo as everyone gaped, and Bakugo met his stare, both had recognized the display of power and it's message.

"Holy-" Kaminari started.

"That's overkill…" Jirou muttered.

"He's completely immobilized Ojiro and Hagakure!" Mina shouted.

"Not true." Izuku spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "his plan is flawed, he only froze their feet, so if he gets too close to one of them they may be able to get capture tape around them; not only that but Ojiro's tail is unfrozen, and has an even farther reach than his arms." he scoffed as Todoroki walked within three feet of Ojiro, "all Ojiro would have to do is gut check him with his tail and wrap the capture tape around him…"

They all turned back to the monitors, watching as Todoroki simply walked past Ojiro and touched the weapon, "he got psyched out." Izuku sighed in disappointment.

"Sometimes that's all that's needed." Yaoyorozu said, giving Izuku a measured glance, "as heroes, if we can psyche out the enemy, then we have a chance to end a confrontation before any lives are lost."

"And on the flip side, if that wasn't a weapon, but a VIP, then a psyched out hero gets people killed." Izuku drawled.

Everyone looked stunned, most having not thought of the other side of the battle trial, "dude...you're smart." Sero said.

Izuku shrugged, 'I used to psyche out people all the time, a bit of flame and an intense stare tends to get results."

"And what results were you trying to reach?" Yaoyorozu sniffed disdainfully.

"Whatever was needed Princess." Izuku muttered, looking away as Todoroki and the others came back. From here Izuku simply watched the battle trials. Wincing in sympathy as Yaoyorozu basically had to fight Jirou and Kaminari alone as her partner was simply content to watch her work and leer at her.

After the last After Action Report was finished and All-Might took off. Everyone walked to the locker rooms, Izuku followed, but didn't change, simply sat on one of the benches as everyone talked. As soon as the last person left the shower he stood and moved that way.

"Shy Midoriya?" Mineta tried to heckle him as he passed, "Strong, but worried about size, knew you were over compensating."

Izuku turned his eyes to Mineta, who froze under the surprisingly cold glare, "Careful Mineta," he sneered, letting a flame sprout from his fingertips, "playing with fire is dangerous." with that he cut the fire and kept walking.

"Dude...you have like...no preservation skills." Kaminari said as Kirishima and Bakugo laughed at the pop-off student.

"S-s-s-shut up! It's just posturing!" Mineta whined, trying to hide his fear.

"No, he psyched you out...DUDE! That's what Midoriya was talking about!" Kaminari said with wide eyes.

"No shit sparky." Bakugo scoffed. Shouldering his bag as he walked out.

"While I won't condone your distasteful and rude comment-" Iida began, glaring at Mineta and making him shrink, "I also can't just let Midoriya's actions slide, that could have been perceived as a threat!"

"I think it was merely a warning." Tokoyami said as he buttoned up his shirt, "our school mate is a secretive one, with many scars...both physical and mental."

"So deep." Kirishima said with a grin, "and I agree, if Midoriya doesn't want to undress or shower with us, then that's his choice, not like it's against the rules right?"

"Still a little weird." Mineta grumbled.

"At least he's not a perv." Sato said, following Sero out; soon the locker room was empty, the only sound was the shower running.

A few minutes later it shut off and Izuku walked out, looking about as he went before heading to his locker, unlocking it and pulling his things out; pulling his pants on as the door opened and Todorki walked in, already dressed and looking at his phone.

"Midoriya, I forgot that I wanted to ask you-" he stopped as he looked up and saw the marks on his back.

Izuku turned around quickly, 'Shit." he said under his breath as he grabbed his undershirt and put it on, "thought everyone was gone, Sorry.' he muttered. Turning away from Todoroki to continue changing.

"Midoriya...who...why…" Todoroki started, unsure of what to say as the boy finished getting dressed.

"Forget it." Izuku said curtly, throwing his jacket on and walking past Todoroki, who shook his head and quickly followed him.

"How can I forget that?" Todoroki demanded to know, following Izuku down the hall, "Midoriya, Is everything alright at home-"

"Everything's fine." Izuku snapped, not looking back at Todoroki, "Look, this happened a long time ago...the people who did it aren't on the street anymore, so just drop it."

"But-" Todoroki started, stopping when Kaminari and Ochako came around the corner.

'Oh hey guys!" Ochako chirped, "was wondering where you guys were. Everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." Izuku said with a tired smile, "just had a bit of trouble getting dressed, muscles stiff and all you know?"

"A good massage would help you bro." Kaminari said wisely, "there's a good spot in hiyashi-"

"-i'll be fine." Izuku dismissed, "but it looks like you guys were busy so I'll see ya." he said, going around them and into the classroom.

"A little squirrelly isn't he?" Kaminari asked as he and Ochako kept walking.

"Yeah, but you can't fault him for it."

"True…"

Todoroki stood in the hallway for a while, doing his best to keep his emotions and thoughts under control as he walked into class. He looked at Midoriya who was half-listening to a story that Kirishima was telling. His gaze far off.

Todoroki sat down at his desk, filled with a nervous energy as he resolved to at the very least, let their homeroom teacher know about what he saw.

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When the bell rang Izuku was one of the first out of the room, giving his friends a quiet excuse before leaving. While they were rightfully confused, they brushed it off as their friend simply being tired from the day.

But Todoroki knew better. As soon as he was able he was walking down the hall towards the teachers office, pausing only for a moment at the sliding door before knocking.

"Come in!" Present Mic's voice shouted as Todoroki stepped in, looking from the loud-voice hero to his homeroom teacher.

"Todoroki, what do you need?" Aizawa asked tiredly, eyes noting the boys awkward and hesitant stance.

"I...I saw something today, and I think I need to inform you about it...it's about Midoriya…"

Aizawa shared a look with Mic before looking back to his student, "Go on." he said.

"I...Midoriya waited to change until most everyone was finished," Todoroki began, "and I was needing to ask him a question, so I returned to the locker room...and well...i saw...s-scars on Midoriya's back, whip marks and carvings and...and a brand…"

"I'm...gonna head out," Mic said uncomfortably, "you got this one shouta?"

'Yeah i got it." Aizawa said, not looking away from Todoroki as Mic left, 'have a seat Todoroki." Aizawa said, motioning to a chair across from him, the boy gratefully sits down. 'Now, only a few people know of Izuku's past." Aizawa begins, Todoroki raising an eyebrow at the familiarity, "most of them are officers in the Correctional field, the Hero Association, and the teaching staff here at UA; the only reason i'm telling you is so you don't disturb Izuku with your questions, understand?"

"Yes sir." Todoroki said dutifully.

Aizawa sighed, leaning forward, "Izuku has been in and out of the Juvenile Detention Center his whole life, usually problems with his foster families have landed him in the facility-"

"Wait, Midoriya is in foster care?" Todoroki interrupted in shock.

'Since he was five, yes, one of these foster families believed him to be a demon, and sought to purify him of it."

"They..did all of that to him?" he asked faintly.

"Yes, we only know so much; bastards were tight lipped about their treatment and Izuku has only said so much about it...I didn't know about the brand for one thing...but I know it was a traumatic experience for him. So I want you to promise you won't bring this up again unless he broaches the subject himself, understood?"

"I...yes sir, I understand."

"Good." Aizawa said, giving him a tired glare, "I'm trusting you to keep this a secret Todoroki, if it gets out, then I know who to look at."

"I...I promise I won't tell anyone...thank you Mr. Aizawa."

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Izuku burst into his apartment, breathing heavily as he slammed the door behind him, he had managed not to be cornered by Todoroki; surprising, since he had seen him jump up not long after he had. With a shaky breath he slowly lowered himself to the ground, crossing his legs under him and settling into a meditation stance that Uncle had taught him. Struggling to clear his mind as visions flashed through his mind of a knotted whip slashing across his back; the screams of pain as they dug a sharp knife into his shoulder, the smell of burning flesh as a branding iron was pressed into his side.

The freezing cold of a metal room with a locked door.

A few hours later, Aizawa opened the door to the apartment, eyes immediately training on Izuku, passed out on the floor, deep in a restless sleep. With a sigh Aizawa picked the boy up, carrying him to his room and placing him on the bed; not daring to put the covers over him for fear of the small sparks igniting on his fingers, "get some sleep son…" he mumbled as he walked out, heart heavy and head hung low.