Float With Me

by WhiteRosePlanter

Izuku can't handle the power of One-For-All, so his body reaches deeper and pulls out the next power in the cycle first. How will he learn to use this power, when his only teacher is so very pretty and so very inexperienced herself?

20. June Arc, pt 2 Dekusquad

Warning: Coldplay Lyrics and Iron Giant spoilers inbound.

I do not own the rights to "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall" nor any other Coldplay song, and I do not own Boku no Hero Academia.

Look away if you must.

---

(4 am)

The second alarm on Izuku's phone went off just as he pressed his thumb down to catch it, not wanting to wake his mother. Inko needed more rest, what with how stressful both of their lives had become, and he wouldn't have something as insignificant as his backup alarm bothering her sleep.

Pocketing his phone and the little box his headphones charged in, Izuku eased himself out the door of their apartment. The sun was already up, but only just, and the world seemed relatively still. Peaceful, even.

Inhaling, Izuku started his stretches as he carefully eased himself over the barrier and drifted towards the ground. Sure, he could get in a bit of trouble for using his Quirk like this, but… well, he was still waking up and his sense of logic was kind of burnt out after yesterday. He probably should have let Yaoyor- er, Yaomomo, help with some of the analysis and training.

Gran Torino would whack my shins for getting so excited without thinking, Izuku chuckled to himself, glad the support department had informed him the new rings had been added to his gear. As he'd promised, a medium yellow step was now at the base of his stack, the group much closer than before. Following it: a single string-width of maroon for Edgeshot, a thin violet for Jiro, and on the other arm, replacing the plain stripes: a blood-red, jagged band to mark his first real villain encounter. He would never forget how far the gap was between himself and the top.

Finishing his stretches, Izuku placed his feet on the ground and got ready for his jog. He had to consciously turn off Float while he ran or walked now, since otherwise he'd equalize his weight and actually just be flying the whole time and only getting part of his workout. The downsides of his power were becoming evident, which was a long awaited triumph. Once he had a better knowledge of his Quirk, he could begin to compensate for it more readily. He'd already planned to rename Float once he could check with Nana, to truly make it his own.

Ukiyo was what he'd settled on. Rather than "Float" it was more akin to "The Floating World" or "To live in the moment." Really, it described the power's controls more than anything else he could think of. When he didn't think about it, or focused solely on it: Float was perfect, polished to a gleaming sphere of power within One-for-All. However, if he was distracted by the past or the future in a negative way, it would fail him, or perhaps he would fail it, and he would fall.

Slipping in his earbuds, Izuku waited for the soft chime of the wireless connection before opening his phone and scrolling to find himself something to listen to. The All Might OVA & Documentary soundtracks were there, of course, but something else caught his eye. A new tab labeled "sample".

Ah, that was right. Shiozaki had offered him some pre-Quirk music that she and Jiro had been chatting about yesterday and forwarded him a sampler of her favorites. He'd heard some of the songs, and they weren't the hymns he'd expected. There'd been a wide range of themes and styles, even a few soft rock tunes which had made him blink out of sheer confusion at the vine-haired girl.

Shrugging, Izuku hit the shuffle icon and began to make his way to Takoba Beach. It was a good run for a warm up, and there he could practice his martial arts and maybe Full Cowl in solitude. Despite the recent cleaning, people were still tentative to visit, especially during the sunrise hours.

Izuku stumbled as the first song started going. It seemed like techno, of all things. It seemed to be in English, which confused Izuku for a moment. While he could speak the language, he had to throw a mental switch in his brain to translate it. Unlike Float, it was only active when he called for it. He hit the back key through his shorts, ready now for the music to wash over him as he warmed up.

[I turn the music up, I got my records on.

I shut the world outside, 'til the lights come on.

Maybe the streets are light, maybe the trees are gone.

I feel my heart start beatin' to my favorite song.]

The singer was pretty good, though Izuku didn't really know if he was a great judge. He certainly had passion, and it was making Izuku's skin shiver with anticipation. Picking his knees up a bit, he started to jog to the off-beat, guessing he'd probably have to be in a full run to catch the primary beats, which wasn't what he was aiming for right now.

[And the kids they dance, oh the kids all night,

Until Monday mornin' feels another life.

I turn the music up, I'm on a roll this time,

An' heaven is in sight…]

It surprised Izuku when the acoustic guitar kicked in, nicely coinciding with the tree cover as he hit the main street. It somehow fit pretty nicely, and helped the transition into the electric riff. More importantly, it begged the question: how in the heck did this song come from Shiozaki?!

It wasn't talking about God or Angels or the destruction of sins, and it most certainly wasn't a hymn, so why was the ever-religious Shiozaki recommending this song? It was almost like a modern pop song, something he might listen to while doing his workouts. Scratch that, he was going to keep this one if it didn't trip at the finish line.

[I turn the music up, I got my records on.

From underneath the rubble, sing a rebel song.

Don't wanna see another generation drop.

I'd rather be a comma, than a full stop.

Maybe I'm in the black,

Maybe I'm on my knees,

Maybe I'm in the gap, between the two trapezes.

But my heart is beatin', and my pulses start:

Cathedrals in my heart!]

The base drop wasn't something Izuku had ever really understood before. Sure, it was a catchphrase for things getting serious, he grasped that much, but he hadn't really experienced a song that connected that with music before. He supposed it was probably because he never heard the cool songs with any of the friend groups he was kept away from. He might need to fix that.

Jiro (and evidently Shiozaki) would probably have to be his guides to the world of "the cool" Izuku guessed. At the start of the year, he would have been terrified of the prospect. In Jiro's case, he still kinda was, especially since she hadn't said a word about the kiss a month earlier; instead simply teasing him with winks when she felt like it. But the idea of hanging out with Shiozaki or a little group of his friends just… seemed like something he could do.

Ukiyo indeed, he mused to himself, I just need to let it happen.

[As we soar!

Whoa this light!

I swear you, emerged blinking into,

To tell me it's alright.

As we soar!

Whoa!

Every siren is a symphony,

An' every tear's a waterfall.

It's a waterfall!]

As the lyrics repeated themselves a little bit for the instruments to play around a bit, Izuku found himself muttering along, barely noticing where he was going anymore. It felt kinda fun to sing along to music, even though he doubted his voice was any good, especially compared to some of the girls in yesterday's study group.

[So you can hurt!

Hurt me bad!

But still I'll raise!

The Flag!]

Getting into it, Izuku began to feel his arms moving out of sync with his legs, instead bouncing with one of the rhythms. It wasn't exactly air drums or guitar, and he bet he looked absolutely ridiculous, half-conducting/half-playing along to an inaudible song wrong (even someone who couldn't hear would know he sucked at it), but it just felt… it was a feeling, and he couldn't resist it.

This is the power of music? Jiro's Quirk suddenly became a lot more terrifying. I have to write about this when I get home!

He was about a third of the way to his stop when the music came to an end, and Izuku's Otaku instincts had kicked in. He drew out his phone, not stopping as he continued on, turning the song back around and selecting the loop option. He wanted to really get those lyrics this time, especially since he was pretty sure he'd mistranslated a few thanks to style and his own ineptitudes.

Once he had a better grasp on just what the singer was talking about, Izuku realized a bit of why Shiozaki might like the song. It wasn't necessarily about anything stereotypically associated with her, but he was starting to see a bit deeper than her persona.

It wasn't that Shiozaki was faking her religious devotion, not at all: she was full tilt ready to start dealing out divine retribution or forgiveness at the drop of a hat, but she had more to her than just devotion. Shiozaki had a bit of a heartsick side to her; a longing for something she didn't have and soothed with what she could. Gardening was an obvious skill, but she evidently enjoyed it for its own sake, alongside listening to music, and (if Jiro was to be believed) most scandalous of all: literary romance.

Izuku was sure there was more to his new kinda-friend, but even seeing that much further into her was a gift he wouldn't want to sully by greed or over-eagerness. It had made him feel unexpectedly happy when she'd complimented his drawing skills, and it was only now that he realized her sharing this playlist with him was probably her way of placing the same trust in him that he'd offered her by showing off his notebook.

The third repeat of the song finished out, and Izuku came to a stop on the sands of Takoba. He guessed it was Parkinson's Law setting in, but he didn't really know. It might have just been chance. He quickly cut the loop, going onto one of her other songs in the shuffle as he began his actual morning. Vaguely, Izuku noticed he'd arrived early, spurred on by the tune.

As the lyrics of Paradise began to feed into his ears, Izuku switched his brain back to Japanese. He'd figure out what it was about later. For now: he needed the music but not the song. It was distracting, and he had to work on tuning it out while also knowing it was there. If he zoned out like had at Edgeshot's place… in combat, that could prove fatal.

Izuku began with his basic martial arts routine, letting his limbs remember the now familiar forms. He would complete four or five circuits normally before powering up to his 5% limit and getting to the actual work. Usually nobody noticed, and those who did usually assumed he either had permission or that the lightning was incidental. He'd never had to answer any police questions about it, at least.

The sand proved interesting as his feet shuffled around on it, especially when he went for kicks or a crouching action. The uncertainty of the terrain proved to be an extra layer to his training he'd enjoyed having, even if it meant he had to take things a bit slower. Izuku wondered if Gran Torino would approve of his going a little above the requirements in this, or if All Might would have comments on his developing fighting style. He hadn't mentioned anything in class, but…

Getting lost in his thoughts, Izuku let the music overtake him as he continued his practice. He'd been watching the Edgeshot Martial Arts workout videos the man had sent him during the internship, and without thinking, he began to attempt some of the moves. They felt like an extension of what he already knew, as opposed to fresh material.

"Quite the interesting form you have there, Young Midoriya."

Twisting on his grounded foot just so, Izuku rotated and planted his other leg, getting down into a combat pose right out of the kick he'd just been practicing. He caught sight of who'd spoken, and lost balance, faceplanting in the sand.

"All Mi- mmph!"

"Easy there," the skeletal Hero chuckled, "Don't want to go giving away my secret, now do you?"

"S-sorry, A- um… Yagi-sensei?" Izuku tried, getting back up, "Gah… that feels so weird."

"Indeed. Perhaps you should call me Toshinori?"

"B-but that's your given name!"

"Young Midoriya, the ties that bind you and I are far deeper than even blood," All Might reminded him, "You could even call me by my nickname, and I wouldn't stop you."

The viridet boy blinked in surprise, before panicking and waving his hands wildly as he was want to do when he wasn't sure what to do with them.

"I-I-I couldn't do that! I'm already having a hard enough time not calling Aizawa-sensei, Eraserhead every day!"

All Might coughed up his usual stream of blood as he laughed, patting Izuku on the back as he dabbed at his lips.

"You need to get that fanboyism of yours under control, my boy!" he reminded him, "The only reason I don't call you by your name is because I'm an old man."

"You're not-" Izuku tried, before cutting himself off, "Well, I guess Gran Torino agreed with you on that. He made fun of me after we first visited Edgeshot…"

"Ah yes, he's a bit of a cantankerous old fellow, isn't he? But, he helped you more than I have, so I don't think either of us can really complain."

Izuku nodded, his hand unthinkingly sliding down from his neck to itch at the spot Gran Torino had liked to kick. He could understand why his mentor was afraid of the old fellow.

"Well, I'll leave you to your morning routine," All Might apologized, patting his shoulder with understanding, "I was on my own jog, and happened to see a familiar flicker of green lightning. How's that feel, by the way?"

"Hm… it's hard to say. The electricity doesn't hurt, but it kind of tingles when it starts up. It's not as painful as the dark energy stuff, though, so that's good."

All Might frowned in confusion, to which Izuku revealed the little dark tendrils he could sprout from his fingers, reminding the teacher. His expression lit up, and he nodded, clearly remembering the hospital bed.

"They seem more under your control now. Can you reinforce your body with them like before?"

Sighing, Izuku shook his head.

"They hurt if I try to make them that long or inside my arm, and it didn't really reinforce, more… held me together?"

"Well, something to keep in mind, anyway. Who knows, maybe it'll turn out to be something else entirely?" the veteran Hero mused.

"Ah well. Regardless, have a nice morning. I'll see you in class today. And, ah…" All Might lowered his voice conspiratorially, winking, "You might want to look up some quick videos on international team ups."

Izuku felt his eyes go wide, and he grinned hopefully.

"Are we doing silent rescues?! To practice our ability to communicate non-verbally to Heroes or citizens who don't speak languages we do?" he asked, positively giddy at the prospect.

All Might seemed a bit taken aback.

"How did you guess that so fast?!"

---

(7 am)

"Welcome back, Todoroki-san!" the receptionist at the desk greeted Shoto, waving him to the usual hall, "She's already up and waiting for you."

Nodding back his thanks, Shoto decided to take the stairs today, getting in a bit of a leg workout as he ascended to her floor. Really it wasn't much more than the elevator, even if he did take them three at a time at a sprint, but Midoriya never gave anything less than his best.

Knocking gently on the door with his family name on it, Shoto waited for the soft voice of his mother before taking the handle. If she'd been too tired to see him, or otherwise been unable to, he wouldn't want to be presumptuous. Opening the door each time felt somewhat like… a finality. An action that firmly said: "this cannot be taken back. I've come to see you."

"Come in!" a gentle voice called.

Stepping inside, Shoto slid off his shoes, giving the usual reply of "Please forgive the intrusion." As always, his mother had a counter.

"Oh, you're never intruding, Shoto. I'm always happy to hear about your day," his mother beamed at him, sitting in her usual spot on the bed.

He wasn't really sure how to answer that, so Shoto just nodded and walked over to his traditional seat as well. It was kind of still hard to talk to her, but he really wanted to have Rei as part of his life. She was his mother, and no matter what had happened in the past… he'd forgiven her long ago, and she knew that.

She'd evidently noticed his moping face, because her hand had come up to cup his cheek. He was too surprised to even flinch. She'd started to be more physically affectionate recently, which he was happy for. He'd missed her hugs.

"There we are," she praised, seeing him smile a little at the contact, "Now we can have our chat. Always have to take care of touch-starvation before settling in to talk."

"Mhm."

So they talked. They talked about… nothing. And everything.

Rei wanted to know how school was going, so he told her about the classes he thought were interesting. She remembered how her own high school had been, lamenting she had no pictures.

That led her to ask about his friends, and he explained how he'd been… somewhat adopted by the other students who hung around Midoriya. Uraraka, Ida, Tokoyami, and Jiro, mostly. Ashido had jokingly referred to them as the "Dekusquad" which had earned a "truly, an unbridled badge of honor" from the bird-headed Hero student. So he liked it, at least.

Of course, once he brought up how Yaoyorozu and Asui were starting to look like honorary members, thanks to how often they hung around Jiro and Uraraka respectively, his mother got that look on her face. She naturally wanted to know who he found attractive at the moment, so she could tease him or give him advice.

"I think I've heard you mention this Yaoyorozu girl before, dear," she smiled a bit teasingly, "You voted for her as class president, and sit next to her, isn't that right?"

"Yes. Both of those things are true," he answered cautiously.

"And I seem to recall you said you admired how creative she was, right? How she was able to take the top place in your first test or something?" Rei pressed.

"I did say those words at one time."

"Then… should I expect you to bring her along one of these times?"

"I doubt she would want to impose. She's very polite about these sorts of things," Shoto tried to shut her down gently.

"Is there someone who you'd ask to accompany you, then?"

Shoto had to give it to his mother, she was persistent.

"I don't think I'd feel comfortable asking someone to come see you," he admitted, "these are… special."

"Well, don't you have someone you trust to share special moments with?" Rei asked, her tone shifting to one of more concern than of poking fun, "One of your friends maybe?"

Considering, Shoto thought through his list of friends. Ida and Ojiro were certainly in the running for such a trust. Yaoyorozu was probably the one who'd have the easiest time achieving it if she wanted to, what with her access to him. Then again…

"I suppose… Midoriya might be alright to come along, if you wanted to meet him," he settled on.

"Midoriya? The boy who kicked you around at the Festival?"

"The boy who helped me work up the courage to come see you."

Shoto didn't often get to see his mother truly surprised, especially when the reaction after was positive. It was quite special to see her heart-warmed grin.

"Well, if he did that for you, I think it would be wonderful to have a chance to thank him."

"Hm…"

They lapsed into a tentative silence, with Shoto wondering how Midoriya might react to such a suggestion. He wasn't entirely sure how he'd react to offering it.

"You know… I think Fuyumi's seeing someone," Rei prompted, trying to resume the conversation, "Although, I might be wrong."

Rather than say anything, Shoto simply raised his eyebrows, silently allowing her the room to explain. It was easier to be quiet than to talk, and he found most people enjoyed having someone who could listen. So, if it helped his mother, he could be that person.

"Well, she doesn't say too much, but she's mentioned that she thinks your brother has a girl at his college. She brings it up rather… out of nowhere, and sounds a bit critical of him. I feel as though she might be projecting just a touch. Fuyumi even brought it up when I was discussing my view of the moon the night prior."

Rei smiled to herself, looking down at her hands.

"It makes me… oddly happy, to think of my children finding loving partners to take care of them. I know my own marriage wasn't exactly the model of a loving home, but… I have faith you'll all choose well."

He could honestly say, he hadn't given much thought to a partner. Someone to… share his life with? It wasn't a part of his future he'd looked to with any real intent, but hearing his mother's dream…

"Has Fuyumi- That is, have either of them ever discussed how one goes about… picking someone?"

Easing herself off the bed, Rei crossed the small gap between them and gave her boy a hug, just like she once had when he was small. Shoto returned the embrace instantly, missing it before it had even ended.

"I know I like to tease, but if you really want to know how to find someone; I'm more than happy to help you figure things out, Shoto," she promised.

"Thanks, Mom…"

They stayed like that for a while, just allowing themselves to feel one another's presence. It was nice to be hugged. He should get more of these. Maybe he should ask his friends for hugs? It shouldn't be too awkward. Jiro and Yaoyorozu hugged all the time, and so did Asui and Uraraka. Ashido hugged just about everyone, so he could totally ask Midoriya for a hug next time he saw him.

Parting, they each sat back down. His mother watched him expectantly, but not intently, so he guessed it was his turn to talk. Darn.

He wasn't really in the mood for a talk on dating, so he decided to try changing the subject. Shoto tried to think of something that wouldn't bore her or bother her. Most things regarding Hero work were out (thanks dad), and that was really most of what he knew how to talk about. He didn't really have… hobbies.

"I've been thinking about my Hero Name," he confided, finally, "But I… don't really know what it should be."

Rei seemed to think back, sighing a little as she nodded.

"Somehow we never seemed to settle on any," she agreed, "None of your teachers had any ideas? Or your classmates?"

Shoto shook his head.

"Nothing significant. Jiro named herself after her Quirk, and one of my friends calls me by something close, periodically. But somehow I don't think "Half-n-half Bastard" would be a good name. Then again, Midoriya took his nickname as his Hero name, so it's not unprecedented."

"And you're… sure he's not bothering you by calling you names?"

"He does it to everyone. He's rather creative, usually. Even when the name is obvious, it's something that he knows they won't ignore when he uses it, so he doesn't have trouble getting people to answer his questions or breaking through cold shoulders."

His mother seemed to mull over his words. He could admit, Bakugo was one of his more… interesting friendships, but he was pretty cool.

"Well, did anyone use a name that wasn't directly related to their Quirk? Maybe you could do something significant to you?" Rei wondered.

"Midoriya went with "Deku." It doesn't really have much to do with his powers, but he says he likes it. And Mineta went with "Grape Juice" which only vaguely connects to his powers. Sort of a visual pun, I think? Most of them put any special meaning into their subtitles."

Rei clapped her hands softly, beaming at him.

"Then why don't you make it funny too? You can use your Quirk for the descriptor, and then you can have any name you like."

Shoto considered. It was an interesting idea. Admittedly, "Night-time Pillow" might piss his father off, as would "AC," but… really, he didn't want to be chained down by Endeavor for the rest of his life, even in rebellion. He had to go for something… uniquely himself.

"I like the idea of being "Soba: the Cold or Hot Hero"…" he hummed, almost jokingly.

"If that's what you want, dear, I'll support it 100%," Rei assured him, her sincerity almost literally glowing, "And it certainly seems like a very unique name."

"It is better than "TV Dinner: the Frozen and Scorching Hero," he tried again, this time really trying to get across that it was a joke.

Luckily, it worked that time. His mother giggled, shaking her head a little.

"I'm not entirely certain how you know that reference," she admitted, "They aren't nearly so bad these days. They weren't even so bad in my day, and I'm quite sure you've never had one to eat, unless you did it to rebel against your father when he had guests over?"

"Setting aside the Team Avalon incident," Shoto brushed past, "Ashido likes to make sure everyone is up-to-date on the most ancient jokes and references that have become popular again."

"I see. Well, I suppose it all comes down to the question: who do you want to be as a Hero?"

Want. There was that word again. Midoriya used it, and even the waiters at the restaurant. He had to choose, to seek something for himself. It was still a hard question.

"I don't know…" he admitted.

"And that's okay," his mother assured him, "You're only just into your first year of high school. You don't have to have your whole life planned out today."

---

(9 am)

"Faster you pansies!" Katsuki called, blasting off a wall and kicking Ashido's -s.

She fell right onto her face, groaning in pain.

"Whhhhy?" she whined, trying to get up.

"Where's your dodging?!" he roared, bouncing off to try and hit Sero this time, "You were all flash the other day!"

"Dude, where is your chill?" the tape-user asked, firing and missing him completely.

"Where's your aim?! HOWITZER-!"

Kirishima slid between them, bracing his feet into the ground and crossing his arms defensively. As Sero tried to get away, Katsuki impacted at full power, his supermove sending his best friend flying, but not injured. Good. Guy needed to get tougher if he was gonna be fighting villains full time. At least… five? Yeah, seven Howitzer Impacts before he cracked and he'd be good.

"Stop losing your footing, -tty Hair!" he screamed after Kirishima, "How are you gonna fight me from over there?!"

"He was distracting you from meeeeeee!" Kaminari called, running up from behind.

Katsuki didn't even bother using his Quirk. Instead, he just kicked the moron in the chest and watched Kaminari hit the floor.

"It's not a sneak attack if you scream like an idiot, Dunceface."

"Huh…"

A hand-shaped light came from nowhere, crackling with explosive power as the fingers became visible. Katsuki dropped to one knee, gripping the wrist and letting Monoma's blast fire off into the air above him.

"I'd say like that, but Mouthy didn't get his angles right," he grumbled, tossing the 1-B boy across the room into what looked like empty space.

A squeak of surprise came from something he ran into, finishing returning to visibility as Hagakure crumpled under his weight. The rest of the 1-A students glanced over at her, then to Katsuki.

"Why is he here again?" Ashido asked, jerking a thumb back at Monoma.

"I don't know!" he growled at the acid-user, "Mouthy just kept following me around after the internship and he won't stop!"

"C'mon man," he whined, getting up and smirking at him, "I thought we were buddies."

"HA!"

Bouncing off a nearby wall, Katsuki started heading towards the other two wackadoos who were following Monoma around and were… present. Both of them were kinda plain by the standards he'd seen in the Hero Course, but one of them had that Air shield he liked to beat on, and the other one had some nice attack power with his spinny stuff.

"Come at me!" the first one called, standing way too confidently as they waited for him to hit them.

"Not fallin' for it a second time!" Katsuki roared, taking the same midair stance as his Howitzer but giving himself more time between blasts as he started making a spiral pattern.

As his explosions gave him some light and spin, he caught glimpses of the air shields' edges, avoiding them and watching with glee as their producer started getting more and more worried.

"Nice maze, Huffy!" he shouted, getting around the last and sliding to a halt with his hand behind the guy's head, "Mind if I blow it down? That is, if your boyfriend hasn't called dibs?"

The spinny one was charging, but the way his face turned crimson at the little jibe was all the distraction Katsuki needed. The student stumbled, his hands still whirring like drill bits as he approached. Sidestepping, Katsuki grabbed his shirt and slammed him into Huffy.

"As much fun as it is seeing Pretty-Boy drill your back side, we're here to work," he laughed, dropping them both and launching back around to knock Kirishima through another wall.

"Alright! That does it!" Huffy roared, getting up and cupping his hands around his mouth, "Kaibara: SCREWATTACK!"

Pretty-Boy leapt into position as a new wall of Air was fired after Katsuki, propelling him and his extended drill arms quite nicely. Sadly it was very projected, so he just let himself fall for a second and Kaibara overshot, hitting a wall and spinning in it for a moment before realizing he was stuck.

Grabbing Kaibara's belt, Katsuki pulled him out of the concrete and dropped him to the floor, dazed.

"This is why you train your supermoves on weekends and not go to orgies you saw on handwritten fliers," he deadpanned.

"How in the h-"

"I was the one who stopped Trashcan from going. Luckily for everyone; only you, Huffy, and Soy Sauce Face were dumb enough to believe it."

Kaibara slumped against the ground, all the fight going out of him.

"Oh stop pouting," Katsuki groaned, tugging him towards the rest again, "I won't tell anyone. I'm a jack-s, not evil. Just stop acting like your boyfriend's a guilty pleasure or something. Half the classes are dating someone by now, just own it for Kami's sake."

"He's not… well we… ugh, why am I talking to you about this?" the poor guy groaned.

Katsuki wasn't really in the mood to play therapist, so he just shrugged.

"I think you have… seven more seconds to confess your sins and whatnot," he offered, glancing over at the charging students ready to get pounded some more, "After that everyone else will hear."

He seemed to weigh his options before shaking his head.

"We're not dating," he admitted, "But we are… together."

Oh. Oh -t.

"Ah… -k, I don't know how to insult you for that without sounding worse than Trashcan," Katsuki admitted, stunned, "-kin', why'd you have to shove that on me?! Now I've gotta- d-it, wait here, Handyman."

Leveling his hands and straining them as far as they'd go, he let out a concussive blast to crack the ground and send a wave of artificial rock tumbling at the others to hopefully buy himself some time. The shrapnel dissuaded most, while the pit stopped the others.

"Five minutes break!" he shouted to the "Bakusquad" as Ashido had named them.

"Handym- wait, you're saying those nicknames are intentionally calling us out?" Kaibara asked, appalled.

"It's how I show I care," Katsuki smirked, only mostly sarcastic, "Now: explain to me in the next ten seconds why I shouldn't boot you out of this training right now, yeah?"

Kaibara looked affronted.

"I don't even want to be here!" he complained, "Monoma dragged us here!"

"Then let me put it another way," he said, placing his hand on the guy's shoulder and letting off a few crackles to make sure the guy was paying attention, "You're not gonna be a Hero. If you spend your free time screwing somebody, that's your business. But if you think you and your buddy can just get together when it's convenient and hope nothing goes wrong, you're more of an idiot than Dunce-face."

"Which one's-"

"Stun-boy McZappy!" Katsuki shouted, not in the mood to explain his nicknames to everyone, "It doesn't matter! Just tell me why you think this can end in any way but your dumb-es getting expelled or quitting?"

Kaibara frowned, folding his arms and looking pretty high and mighty offended for somebody who thought he could make -kbuddies work in the Hero Course.

"Tsuburaba and I are friends, and if we want to do… that when we hang out, then you have no right to even know about it!"

"No, I don't," Katsuki admitted, smirking, "But I was stupid like you once, so I'd hoped you'd be able to learn from my mistakes and not your own. If you're really gonna be a Hero, you need to be willing to commit! -buddies end badly for everyone. You ever wonder why sex isn't an olympic sport? It's more intimate than a good spar, and it's more personal than any speech. Say you make it work for a bit. A semester or so. Then one of you will catch feelings, and the other will fool around with someone else. Then you'll have all your feelings hurt, and something's gonna give. And you won't just kill your own career then. Some important training's gonna get screwed up because you've got a grudge. A mission's gonna end up with someone dead because your mind was on your hurt feelings. You'll take down the others in 1-B because you couldn't keep it in your pants. If you and him aren't willing to at least make the poor -er your official and public boytoy, bare -ing minimum, then get out of the Hero Course right now so someone who's willing to sacrifice can get in."

His tirade over, Katsuki turned to leave.

"It's too late."

Freezing, he turned back, raising an eyebrow rather than asking.

Kaibara sighed, rubbing his forehead and shaking his head.

"About catching feelings and things going bad," he clarified, getting to his feet, "You might be an unbearable -hole, but you're not wrong… I just- I know he won't feel the same way, and it'll go away sooner or later, so while it lasts-"

"Don't be a coward either. There are villains who'll kill you for that alone," Katsuki whispered, feeling himself grow cold and looking into the distance.

"Monoma said you fought a bad one, but he wouldn't say who or how. Was it really that bad?"

Coming back to himself, Katsuki shook his head.

"He was a prick," he insisted, "But he… he had conviction. He froze an entire street of pros with just his words. I clubbed him over the head with my gauntlets, but it was a lucky hit. Bastard killed without hesitation or remorse, and he took any excuse for it. Not strong enough, not dedicated enough, probably even if you aren't grimey enough."

Kaibara's forehead scrunched up, confusion radiating off his shoulders as he pieced together who the villain could have been.

"That sounds like… but I thought the news said Stain got taken down by a group after he took out a train?" Kaibara said, shaking his head, "Like, some retired Hero and his sidekicks and some civilian who saved someone's life when he held them hostage? They said that they couldn't legally release any names, or some bureaucratic bull like that."

"Psh. How would Stain hurt a bullet train? Are you half-baked? Endeavor was trying to beat him and crashed a helicopter into it 'cause he was pissy he was losing. Some old bugger and Deku ran into him later," Katsuki spat, thinking of his old friend, "Ears and Deku managed to beat him around until he got tired or something. They didn't tie him up properly though, and when all the Pros got there: he broke out and I had to club 'im. There wasn't anything flashy about it, and if any of us had been wishy-washy about it: we'd be dead."

Turning, Katsuki crackled his hands and launched back into the air.

"Break over! Training begins now!" he shouted, flying down and kicking Monoma's shins, "I'm done playin' therapist for the day, so don't come whining to me if you hurt!"

Grabbing the hunched over 1-B ring leader by his shirt and belt, he slammed Monoma's head into Tsuburaba's gut, winding the guy and rendering him useless.

"Rush 'im!" Kirishima screamed, hardening up and starting to box at him.

The others came in at dead sprints, with a pair of gentle arms wrapping around his torso. Grabbing Hagakure's wrists, he twisted and tossed her off, deftly dodging each attack as they fought to catch him. None of them had the maneuverability to tag him easily, which was the whole point of the exercise.

Yawning for dramatic effect, Katsuki showed that even with one hand he could play keep away with the best of 'em, evading each acid toss, tape shot, punch, shield, and even the rocks Hagakure was tossing periodically. The real difficulty was in not hurting them. He had to avoid hitting any of them with a blast (aside from Kirishima, who could take it like a champ), and his Judo was a little… out of practice.

"How… how do you find this fun?" the invisible girl asked, again visible as she'd put her jacket back on.

"Training is not supposed to be fun!" he shouted, before catching himself and swallowing his anger.

Best Jeanist had been tough on him, but one thing he had noticed while they were patrolling was… no one cheered for him. They were all scared of him, or seemed to despise him. He had to find a way to make people confident he would save the day; that he was the best of the best, which meant… talking their language.

"If you're here to have fun, you'll never get better," Katsuki tried again, clenching his fists a little to keep calm, "And that's why I train. I might not have trouble pounding all of you into the dirt, but it's not exactly a cakewalk kickin' your -ses without blowing you to the moon."

"That… and… you want us to make it to the summer camp… right Bakubro?" Kirishima asked, out of breath.

"Shut your hole, -ty Hair," he snapped, "I'm only keepin' you around because I can actually blast you. You're the only one here who can take a hit and not whine about it."

"Thanks, Best Buddy!"

Ashido seemed to pout at that.

"B-but I thought I was your bestest buddy?" she asked, her lower lip shaking with anguish.

While the horn couple babbled apologies and almost cried, Katsuki turned to check on the others. They were at least improving, and he didn't have time to correct every little mistake. He wasn't a teacher for crying out loud! It wasn't his job to make these morons better heroes!

"Soy-Sauce Face! Streaker!" he called out, gesturing for them to attend to him, "You two need to stop trying to hit me. You're not going to, and you're too predictable. Figure out what you gotta do."

He turned to the not-couple.

"Handyman, Huffy: get some actual teamwork next time, and maybe you'll be a threat. You got good offense and good defense, but only if an idiot comes who can't dodge. Sort yourselves."

Finally he checked on Monoma.

"Mouthy-"

"Since when are you in charge?!" he asked, folding his arms and glancing around, "And what makes you think your advice is worth anything? You're always like "Grr, Deku Deku Deku, grr, Imma kill you all! Blam Blam! I'm the bestiestest ever! Arg! Die Die Die!""

A couple snorts and chuckles came from the others, which shut off instantly when he glared around at them.

"I sound nothing like that, Mouthy."

"Yes. That's why we're laughing. Because you sound nothing like that," Ashido giggled.

Rounding on her, Katsuki crackled his palm again, grinning like a madman.

"Look who just lost her kneecap privileges."

---

(10 am)

"So this is… u-substitution?" Kyoka asked, pointing at the elongated S shape on Ectoplasm's homework.

"You can try that," Midori nodded, wobbling his head side-to-side, "But I think you want to try integration by parts on this one."

Yaomomo nodded, looking at her with a tenderness that made her heart skip a beat. Kyoka started twirling her jack around her finger faster than before, trying not to turn red. Sure, she could get Midori back if he tried to tease her, but Uraraka- Ochako… she was scary.

What was Kyoka supposed to do, get Ochako to let her get away with it out of pity while she was stuck on her own bedroom's ceiling? Sure, it might work on someone as kind-hearted as Ochako, but it would be humiliating in front of her… kinda-girlfriend. What a thought, Yaomomo was hovering somewhere between her best friend and her girlfriend. The former she hoped would have happened in any event, but… seriously, wow. Someone lame like her and probably the reincarnation of Amaterasu or something.

Shaking her head a little to clear it of thoughts regarding how divine her crushes were (perhaps even literally in some cases), Kyoka quickly labeled the u and dv, writing out the various bits of information she'd need to solve the equation Ectoplasm had decided to torture them with. It was about the six minute mark when she realized she'd been writing the same conversion over and over.

"Um… can one of the geniuses explain how to break a time loop?" she asked, glancing up and frowning at the others.

Midori was currently curled over his own homework, but as he'd tried to look up and help her: Ochako had been disturbed from her place laying against his side and shoulder, and he'd put himself back down for her sake, shooting Kyoka an apologetic smile. Ochako, for her part, recognized her mistake and mouthed a "sorry" to her, which seemed genuine enough, but didn't stop her from continuing to lounge against her boy. Luckily, Yaomomo was ready and willing to help.

Sliding over until their shoulders brushed, Yaomomo brought her pencil over and tapped the spot where her new equation matched what she'd been given in the first place.

"See, if you set this equal to what it is," she explained, writing it out for her clear of the other scratch work, "Then you just have to bring it across."

Combining like terms… that was simple though. Too simple. Still, Kyoka gave it a try.

"Then if you-"

"It's just the original times 2," Kyoka cut her off, mumbling her way through it as she rewrote it again, "So if I divide by the other side… that's it?"

Yaomomo nodded, positively glowing with pride.

"That's it, Jiro."

Flicking her eyes over to the other lovebirds in the room, Kyoka decided to give Ochako a little push.

"It's Kyoka," she informed Yaomomo, leaning up to place a small peck on her cheek.

Her almost-girlfriend's face went up in crimson, her eyes sparkling with so many emotions it was kind of spectacular to watch. Of course, Kyoka wasn't done.

"Watch this," she whispered, giving her a wink before turning to the other two.

"That goes for anyone I've kissed, by the way: Midori," she called, grinning as her plan took effect.

"Eh?" he managed, his face going from a fading pink to a burning red as he realized what she'd implied.

Midori managed to stay sitting up for about another four seconds before he toppled sideways and impacted the floor. Ochako let out a little squeak of surprise as her backrest slid away, twisting to try and avoid falling before she impacted Midori's hip and came to a stop.

Kyoka could only just see them staring at one another, Ochako more or less on top of him now. Holding up a hand for Yaomomo to see, she lowered each finger slowly, counting down from five. She'd miscounted, and at "two" the pair rocketed apart; Ochako curling up into a ball and making it to the corner of the room's ceiling, while Midori skidded across the ground before his head bumped the wall and he winced, rubbing the spot.

She tried not to laugh, she really did, but they were just such dorks. Yaomomo was smiling too, but she kept silent.

"Hey!" Ochako objected, peeking from between her arms, "I don't laugh at you when… when this happens!"

Grinning even wider, Kyoka got up and jogged over to the bed below Ochako, hopping onto it and grabbing her wrist. Pulling the gravity girl down a bit, she smirked and placed a kiss on her cheek too.

"Just so you don't feel left out," she smirked, smirking past Ochako's grumpy-faced response, "And it'd be more fun if you did laugh, just sayin'."

Ochako glared at her for a moment, which suited Kyoka just fine. Even if she couldn't exactly twist her around a finger like Uwabami's cameramen, she could still bother Ochako. She dropped back down, grabbing her homework and going back to working on it with Momo's help, when she finally retaliated.

"Okay then, Kyoka," she said, her voice sinister and kinda scary, "Why don't we call Shiozaki over to come study too? I'm sure she'd be a lot of fun to have around. Maybe Kaminari and Kendo too?."

Uwabami's training kept her from panicking, but Kyoka felt all the blood leave her face, despite her expression not changing. Ochako was probably all talk, but… hot people were dangerous, especially when they were close.

"J- Kyoka?" Yaomomo asked, tapping her shoulder, "You seem rather pale. Are you alright?"

"I- Fine-" she squeaked, managing a nod, "Um… I think that's enough math for a bit, don't you?"

Yaomomo's frown seemed to suggest she thought otherwise, but relented with a shrug.

"Very well. What subject should we move to instead? Midoriya, do you have a preference? I believe you should have the opportunity to select our next topic, what with your aiding us during the last few."

Thank all the gods, including whoever Shiozaki's was and Yaomomo herself for the Yaoyorozu-brand practicality. Kyoka felt herself relaxing as the familiar logic of her bestie filled the room, knowing even Ochako was susceptible to her good sense.

Midori got that contemplative look again, and started his usual pattern. First he'd be speaking fairly intelligibly, then it would turn into mutters she could pick up, before eventually devolving into words she could hear but not understand.

"Well, I'm mostly in the above average categories for all of our classes except for the practical ones," he muttered, pulling out the pocket notebook Yaomomo had made him and starting to write down what he was saying for future reference or showing other people, "So I would normally suggest we do some sort of physical practice or perhaps timed scenario training, but we're not allowed to use our Quirks off of school grounds or in privacy, and I don't want to risk damaging the Jiros' home. Not to mention Ukiyo has improved significantly to the point I might call it fully integrated and my Stockpile should have enough finesse to at least begin showing results in class. I would like to train Blackwhip, but it's still an unknown and could potentially harm someone if left unchecked. I suppose we could do some Quirkless sparring, utilizing our Judo skills, but I don't know if Kyoka and Yaoyorozu would be able to enjoy or benefit from it, especially since my ability to teach is highly suspect. Further, we don't really have a good place to practice anything physical, even if we were capable of doing so. Perhaps we could try learning from Kyoka how to utilize some of her acting capabilities? My inability to relax around unfamiliar or particularly beautiful women is most definitely a shortcoming, despite my progress in not clamming up around Senchan and the others in our class. Senchan said she was going to help me with that though, so maybe it would come across as rude to replace her offer by accepting Kyoka's?"

Sliding her jack over, Kyoka stabbed him in the arm, vibrating it hard and causing him to freeze up as his muscles tensed involuntarily. A few dark tentacles emerged from his shirt, waving and reaching at her jack as it retracted, before he slapped his hand over them and the energy dissipated.

"Oh, is Blackwhip still bothering you?" Yaomomo asked, concern in her voice as she half-reached towards him.

""Blackwhip?"" Kyoka asked, smirking a little at the obvious name before her brain registered the rest of the sentence, "Wait- bothering? Midori, that part of your Quirk hurts you?"

Midori itched his head, looking a little more embarrassed than usual, which was saying something.

"Well… kinda? More like it doesn't trust me yet," he explained, shrugging with an apologetic look on his face, "I think it's kinda partially sentient, like how Dark Shadow used to be when I unlocked it? That or I'm just bad at controlling it. It doesn't hurt anymore; at least when I keep the percent lined up with the length."

Raising her eyebrows a little, Kyoka smirked and waited for him to realize what he'd said. He was dense alright, but after a few seconds of staring at her and Yaomomo slapping her shoulder; Midori blanched.

"I-I mean the number and reach of the tendrils!" he protested, waving his arms like a madman, "I wouldn't- that's not-"

Ochako fanned herself, blushing but not speaking. Interesting… so she could be affected by Kyoka's skills, just not so bluntly.

"Well, I have no doubt it will become more… comfortable, with one another, once you become better acquainted," Yaomomo assured him, laying a hand on his shoulder and giving him a comforting smile.

Poor guy squeaked at the contact, but didn't pull away or say anything to stop her. Kind of a dork, if Kyoka was being honest. Definitely her type, or one of her types. Fortunately for both of them: the bro code said she couldn't move in while Ochako was on him, and she was content with trying to romance Yaomomo at the moment.

"I wonder if Todoroki had a similar issues?" the Heiress wondered aloud, "With his own dual Quirk, that is. His ice use has quite an impressive spectrum, what with the glaciers on the larger end and the temperature control with his fire on the more precise."

"Yeah, have you asked him for help?" Kyoka wondered, tapping her jacks together almost like someone might snap their fingers as they got an idea, "You've got some range too, yeah? Those pincer things are short, but Yaomomo said you were able to hang from the ceiling yesterday. Wait, or was that a small one too?"

Ochako and Midori glanced at one another, before giving her a confused look.

"How would it work with a small one?" she asked, jerking a thumb towards Midori, "His whip things have to wrap around stuff for him to hang off them."

"He was able to make them adhesive yesterday," Yaomomo interjected, "While he was producing several of significant length, and at one point extended a lone pair to the ceiling, they seemed to be quite strenuous for him."

"Callouses, right," he mumbled, looking at his hand for a moment, "But maybe…"

Standing up, Midori held his hand towards the roof, fingers curled slightly upward like he was holding an invisible ball. With a little jump, he pressed the fingertips to the ceiling and stuck. For a moment, Kyoka thought he was floating, but the way his legs dangled seemed different from when he went all zen with the universe and stopped walking.

A strange sound caught her jacks' attention, prompting Kyoka to wave them around just a bit, the ends seeking the source. They quickly came to a stop pointed at his hand. The buzzing seemed to come through more on her right jack than her left, which was odd; as the damaged jack was a little more finicky as of late. Extending them a little further until they were both only a few centimeters from his hand, Kyoka frowned and tried to figure out what she was hearing.

"K-kyoka?" Midori asked, his voice annoyingly loud in her jacks.

"Shh!" she whispered, holding up a finger and closing her eyes to focus.

She heard Midori's fingers relax and the buzzing stopped, then the slight whistle of air as he dropped to the ground, and the thump of his shoes against the carpet. She frowned and shook her head.

"What were you doing to stick like that?" she asked, opening her eyes and retracting her jacks.

Midori showed her his palm, and the buzzing came back. She narrowed her eyes, noticing the black energy he was keeping along the pads of his fingers, not really as tendrils or whips but more like a sort of goop or thin aura.

"I can't really do big moves yet," he explained, closing his hand and letting out four finger-length whips from his knuckles instead, "But you mentioned how Todoroki had some finer control too, so I thought… well, if it's sticky and grabbing the ceiling with a big one isn't viable…"

He shrugged, and retracted his energy. Kyoka noticed the buzzing had become louder and less sharp when he'd made the tendrils, putting two-and-two together.

"Hey, could I get you all to do me a quick favor?" she asked, deciding to test her theory, "I think I can help you with your Quirks, kinda like you did with the group a few days ago, but… I have to check something first."

Ochako gave her a thumbs up, followed by Yaomomo and Midori's bright and eager nods. Kyoka inhaled and glanced around, trying to figure out how to go about it. She didn't want to waste time, so…

"Yaomomo?" she asked, bringing her right jack over to hover near her forearm, "Can you make a steel bar? Kinda like the one you fight with, but about half as thick and… like twenty centimeters? Right near my jack, o'course."

A gentle hum came through her Quirk, right as the pink, bubbly light began to glow and the bar emerged. It sounded comfortable, even happy. Kind of like Yaomomo's whole aura, really. It also meant her theory might be working.

"Kay, now Ochako," Kyoka said, bowing her head in thanks as she took the bar and handed it to the gravity girl, "You don't, ah… have to do anything but touch stuff for yours, right? No intention or control, right?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Ochako shook her head, letting Kyoka get her jack into place by her fingers before placing all of them on the bar, "I just kinda… touch and go."

Ochako's Quirk sounded more like a soft ding and a whistle. The others' were kind of like a string instrument, where the notes flowed into one another, but hers was much more like a solid note. Yes or No, On or Off. Binary. But at the same time, the whistle seemed like it… moved. Like the energy moved through the object.

"And off," Kyoka mumbled, grabbing the bar so when it fell it wouldn't dent the floor.

"Release," Ochako whispered, probably not wanting to distract the jack too much.

The return of gravity didn't have an obvious accompanying sound, but her jack's proximity let her pick up the ever so slight ping, the inverse of the first note.

"Neat… an A4, by the way," Kyoka said, handing the bar over to Midori, "Which just leaves you, Mr. Multi-Quirk. Gimme a sec and I'll check yours."

If that wasn't the third-most adorable pout Kyoka'd ever seen… but she had work to do.

"Ochako, your activation's kind of on-and-off, but… I don't think you're limited to one object," Kyoka explained, considering how to put it, "Your Quirk sounds… kind of like it's filling the thing up with it's sound. The object itself floats, but… I think that if you kept your hand on something the zero-gravity energy or whatever would like… flow into it? I dunno, here."

Picking up her drumsticks, Kyoka held one in her hand and offered out the other one. Ochako took it, careful to keep a finger free. They placed the ends together and Kyoka nodded. The chime returned, but Ochako held on. As Kyoka suspected, the whistling remained, though very faint. It seemed to remain in the first stick for a heartbeat, then it flowed outward into the next. She could still feel it's weight though.

Waiting, Kyoka listened to the energy move across, the cautious nature of the flow making her think it was because Ochako wasn't expecting success. Well, that would hopefully go away when-

Then the tone changed again, and she felt the ever-so-slight loss of weight in her hand, and the tone moving into her own hand. Based on how slow it was, Kyoka knew they'd never get her in the air before bedtime, and they weren't even staying that long. Instead, she let go of the stick, letting it float away; much to Ochako's shock.

"Whoa!"

"Looks like you have to fill up an object with Zero-G before it moves out to something else. That's why you usually only float one thing or complex objects meshed together, and some things float away faster than others," she explained, tapping the floating stick with her jack, "It also was pretty slow. You'll have to mean to get both next time or… something, I dunno how this works, it just sounds-"

"Thank you, Kyoka-san," Ochako interrupted her, releasing the objects.

Nodding, Kyoka turned back to Midori, trying not to blush that she'd panicked just then. Uwabami would be so disappointed in her.

"Okay, your turn. Um… just do your lightning thing and… twist it into a knot or something," she told him, gesturing to the bar in his hands.

Sighing, Midori lit up his "Full Cowl," letting loose a high-pitched whistle before the crackling into effect. Kyoka flinched a little as he powered up, the sound a bit sharp. As he tried to bend the metal, the whistle came back, amping up a little until it was starting to hurt to listen to.

"Okay, ow," Kyoka complained, retracting her jacks and rubbing at them to try and soothe the irritation, "Out of curiosity, how much are you putting into… that?"

"Um… 5%?" he said, a bit of worry in his tone, "Why, was it bad?"

Kyoka shook her head, pursing her lips as she tried to figure out what that meant. It was pretty high, but…

"Okay, turn it back on as low as you can and sort of… amp it up. Bit at a time, and I'll tell you when you're straining your body too far, kay?"

Midori nodded and turned the energy back on, but much less sharp than before. She noticed the sound shook a lot more though, like someone who wasn't blowing hard enough into a wind instrument.

"This is 1%," he informed her, before the sound raised in pitch and stabilized a bit, "That's 2."

They moved up to 5 again, with Kyoka wincing each time he jumped percentages before it leveled off. She noticed the more power he put into the energy gave it more stability, but also strained more. When he got to 6%, it was actually starting to hurt a little, but was a very constant tone. 7 caused her to grab her jacks with her hands, her head ringing from the tone.

"Okay, go back to six," she mumbled, rolling the metal bits between her thumb and forefinger, "Seven was too much, and I'm pretty sure you'll hurt yourself if you use it. Plus, it sounded like some of the sound was… I dunno, cracking? Like, the energy was being let out more."

"That sounds about right…" Midori mumbled, snapping out a short whip to pull over his notepad and starting to jot down his words, "5% is about where my body can handle it, and at 30% when I unlocked it: it released a lot of air pressure rather than what I'd call physical strength, so it's possible when it gets to the point my body can't handle anymore it has an emergency outlet of sorts, like a release valve in a dam to let out enough energy to prevent too much damage. Since it only let out a little at 7%, we can assume it's always active, but proportional to the energy release. In theory, 100% might be so powerful to destroy my arm almost entirely, but the outlet would be so explosive to limit the damage that while I might get off with just some broken bones: the air pressure release might be enough to destroy something like the Zero-Point Robot, even if I didn't actually hit-."

Reaching over, Kyoka grabbed his notebook right in front of his pencil, stopping him and trying not to strangle him with her still-aching jacks.

"You can go to 6% safely. You're welcome. Please shut up before I kill you for the sweet silence that would come after," she sighed, giving him a pleading look.

Luckily for Midori, he had enough self-preservation instincts to shut up, letting go of his energy and holding his hands up in surrender. After a moment, she nodded and let go of the paper.

"Okay. You can… say whatever you need to now," she allowed him, still holding her jack tips in an effort to ease the irritation.

Midori seemed hesitant, looking at her jacks uncertainly. Before she could insist it would be okay for him to ask whatever he needed to though, a cool hand touched hers. She nearly jumped at the sensation, before noticing it was just Yaomomo, taking her jack away from her and cupping it in her hand.

"You seemed comfortable with my Quirk's sound," she said, smiling a little, "Would it ease you to hear it again?"

Kyoka nodded. It would certainly be better than just rubbing her jack tips for a bit and hoping the sound went away.

The hum returned, and a hint of cool air hit her sensitive, metal sensors. She glanced to Yaomomo, who smiled and held out her hand for the other. Kyoka accepted immediately, sighing as her soon-to-be girlfriend restored her hearing.

"I'm creating air," Yaomomo explained, cupping the other jack which was more attuned to Quirk sounds, "I can't manufacture pressure, but a nitrogen-oxygen gas is quite simple to produce and fairly easy on my lipids. Since you seemed to be more comfortable with Quirk sounds that are easy on the user's body, I figured it would be a nice way to give you some constant comfort while you recovered."

Nodding, Kyoka relaxed against the wall, leveling a finger at her lazily.

"You're gonna have to do this again for me sometime. And you've definitely earned some kind of thank you," she informed her, "Cuddles at the very least."

Turning to face the now hot-faced cinnamon rolls, Kyoka smirked again and pointed to them.

"Ochako, I hope you're taking notes on how to steal physical affection from your crush," she teased, wiggling her eyebrows a little.

A few squeaks were all she could come up with before turning and burying her face in Midori's shoulder, much to his embarrassment. To his credit though: he did reach around to hold her back, almost protectively.

It's almost too easy with these two.

Shrugging, Kyoka reached up and placed her hands over Yaomomo's, easing them free of her jacks. She couldn't afford to get negligent.

"Well either way, since I know some of your secrets now, it's only fair you know one of mine," she yawned, getting up and stretching a little, "Get into a little circle or something, and watch carefully."

While the others got into position, Kyoka prepared to control her aura like Uwabami had taught her. Instead of creating a seductive, desirable, fearful, or intimidating energy like she had before though, she tried some of the new tricks she'd been practicing. Now all she needed was a single moment of invisibility.

Once they were all seated in their new positions, Kyoka gave them the thumbs up and started strolling around them. First she passed behind Yaomomo, who twisted to watch her, before turning around to see more comfortably. The moment she lost sight of Kyoka, Yaomomo's expression turned to one of confusion. She looked around the entire room, brow furrowed and rotating her body around to try and locate her.

Midori and Ochako had been watching her go around her almost-girlfriend, but when she started to act strange their gazes had flicked instinctively to the Heiress. That was all she needed. Once they turned to find her again, their eyes slid past and around her, looking everywhere but where she was.

"How did she-"

"That wasn't-"

"Holy-"

"Kyoka, where did you-"

"Right here," Kyoka beamed, leaning around Yaomomo's other side and holding her shoulders.

The three of them jumped in alarm, Midori actually flying backwards a bit as he activated his Quirk involuntarily, the almost imperceptible whisper of its energy so relaxed that Kyoka expected it would be silent even to her if he wasn't so alarmed and she was specifically trying to hear it.

"Was that some kind of new Quirk?!" Midori asked, alarmed but evidently interested beyond his fear.

"How could it be, invisibility has nothing to do with her jacks?!" Ochako protested, looking a bit scared.

Kyoka winked, sitting down beside Yaomomo and resting her head on her shoulder as she picked up their textbooks again.

"Aura control," she explained, seeing Midori's expression light up, "But instead of projecting an emotion or something for others to pick up on, I repress it until I seem like part of the background. It works best in crowds or open spaces, since if I make a sound or move too quick: you'll find me again otherwise, but once you lose eye-contact… well, you don't know what you're looking for anymore."

The others stared at her, amazed and a little scared. Kyoka just kept smiling. She would have to rely on support gear and technique to keep up with some of the heavier hitters in class, so knowing she could at least pull a fast one on some of the frontrunners was a definite and much-needed ego boost.

"Wanna learn how?"

---

(12 pm)

"Thank you for having me!" Ochako thanked the amphibious adults standing behind Tsuyu-chan, bowing a little.

"Oh, it's our pleasure to have one of Tsu's friends over," her mother promised, bowing in turn, "I'm Beru, and this is my husband Ganma."

"Kero," he greeted her, his voice fitting his bullfrog-like appearance.

"And of course, these two are Satsuki and Samidare," Asui-san continued, gesturing to the little ones hiding behind Tsuyu's legs.

"It's nice to meet you."

"You're not the slithery girl…" the girl said, frowning a little at her.

Ochako blinked at the odd statement, while Asui-san chided her daughter.

"Satsuki, Ochako-chan isn't my girlfriend," Tsuyu explained, patting her head, "She's just my best friend."

"Then… you're not going to lock your door tonight?" the little girl checked.

"Yes, kero, so if you need to snuggle: you can," Tsuyu assured her.

Not wanting to be rude, Ochako didn't ask what that was all about. Luckily for her curiosity, Tsuyu was very blunt at explaining things, even if they made everyone uncomfortable.

"You remember Habuko, right?" she checked, reminding Ochako of the snake-headed girl who they'd met at the end of May.

"Oh! So that's who she meant by slithery girl," Ochako nodded, "I didn't know you two were together."

"Yeah. We were crushing on each other pretty hard before the joint-training, but evidently turning into zombies together helps cement your relationship. Last time she was here we soundproofed the walls of my room so we would be ready to have sex."

Yeah, that was way too much information, but it made sense. Ochako was happy for her friend. Her own crush was… not as forward. Maybe if they'd been the ones to get bitten… but no. It was folly.

"Well, I can assure you that Tsuyu-chan and I will only be watching a movie," Ochako assured the kids.

"And eating popcorn," Tsuyu added, "Maybe doing homework if we have time, kero kero."

Ochako laughed. She supposed it should have been obvious. Tsuyu was fearless with her opinions everywhere else, of course she wasn't in her own home.

As Asui-san waved Tsuyu's younger siblings over so they could get to their homework, Ochako was led to Tsuyu's room. It was just as she'd expected.

The room was painted green, of course, with frog-themed pillows, stuffed animals, bedsheets, and even a little rug in the center. A tv screen was mounted on one wall opposite the bed, situated so whoever sat at the desk would have their back to the side of it, removing any temptation of distraction.

"You're room's super cute, Tsuyu-chan!" Ochako praised.

Whenever Tsuyu became bashful, it was truly a wondrous sight. She usually had a vocal response to just about everything, but that emotion just led to a blush and Tsu averting her eyes. It was also super cute.

Indicating she should sit on the end of the bed, Tsuyu went over to the screen, finagling with a disk-player rather than a streaming device. Ochako took care not to wrinkle the sheets, easing herself down on the edge and setting her backpack against one of the legs.

"Are you sure I can't, um… help out?" she checked, feeling a little guilty about being offered popcorn and a movie without anything to pay them back.

"Nope!" Tsuyu beamed, leaping back from the tv and landing on her back atop the bed, "You're enough."

Ochako nodded, a little unsure about that. She wasn't able to mope about it though. Tsuyu caught her attention with a tap on her shoulder, before patting the pillow beside her. Now it was Ochako's turn to blush.

"Um, wouldn't Mongoose-san be-"

"Habuko-chan knows I'm very physically affectionate, kero," Tsuyu assured her, propping her own pillow up against the headboard so she could lean back and watch the movie, "So, unless you're uncomfortable with it: you can sit right here."

Saying no to a comfy seat and cuddling wasn't an action Ochako could take, so she slid up the mattress in an instant, careful to put on her puffy, WWPussycat gloves just in case she brushed something and sent it floating about the room.

"So… what are we watching?"

"It's called The Iron Giant," Tsu grinned, hitting the fast forward button a few times for some reason, "Kero. I'm going to show all the girls and Midoriya this movie before summer, if I can."

"Why Deku too?" Ochako asked, surprised at his inclusion.

"Because I feel like I'd get a crying buddy out of him," she admitted bluntly, "This movie always gets me in the feels, but nobody else seems to tear up like I do, kero. Habuko says it's because she physically can't, but she likes to spend movie night sleeping on my head, kero, so I think she's just being nice."

Ochako made an "ah" shape with her mouth, nodding silently. She couldn't really fault Tsu on that. Deku was kinda emotional, and while she loved him for it: he really did cry a bit more than was probably healthy.

It was a pre-Quirk movie, but it was pretty good. The robot was so adorable, and the kid was pretty well done. The story had her enraptured almost instantly, making Ochako gasp and laugh exactly when Tsuyu did, which was a good sign. It really did grab her emotions and squeeze them for all they were worth though.

As the movie started to build into its climax, Ochako found herself cuddling up to Tsuyu, periodically shaking her or squeezing her as events continued.

"He can fly!" she squealed, some tears in her own eyes as the score built to a chrashendo.

"He can fly, Kero!" Tsu agreed, pulling over a box of tissues for them to avoid soaking their shirts.

Ochako couldn't tear her eyes away as things took a turn for the worse, quietly repeating "no" in a small voice. Her gasp of relief was so much louder than she thought it was, Asui-san looked in to make sure they were okay.

She thought it couldn't get any more devastating than that. But then the squeaky instrument came in, playing the sad music, and the smoke trail traced its way up the animated sky.

["I fix."]

"Oh no," Ochako breathed, feeling a sense of dread in her stomach.

Her fears were confirmed when it cut to the giant looking up into the sky, straight at the screen.

She couldn't look. She buried her face in Tsuyu's shoulder, wishing it didn't have to end this way. Her best friend betrayed her, nudging her to watch as the music began to build one final time.

Turning to watch the last few seconds, Ochako forced herself not to cry right up until the end.

["Superman..."]

The speakers boomed, and Ochako's will broke. She let out a wail of despair, clutching Tsuyu for all she was worth, feeling her hair start to dampen as the other girl's eyes let out the same torrent.

"How could you make me watch something like this?!" Ochako begged of her bestie, looking up at her in hysterics, "He was so good, and they- he-"

Tsu rubbed her back, trying to help her calm down. After a little bit, they managed to breathe regularly again. Ochako was only mostly distraught now. She would be getting the frog-girl back for this, some way, somehow. How was she supposed to emotionally recover from this before school? She was going to break into hysterics the moment Aizawa said "choose" in class.

When she unpaused the movie, Ochako was pretty sure Tsuyu was trying to torture her. She couldn't go through even more!

Ochako was barely able to listen to the dialogue as things wrapped up. It was good for the characters, but… what was the point? She almost didn't realize what was wrong when the box was shown empty instead of containing the screw, and by the time she realized it, the little blue light had begun to flash, and the flutes and violins came back in with her decidedly new favorite piece of music.

"Tsu! Tsu! Tsu!" she squealed excitedly, desperate for even a glimmer of hope.

She was shaking and squeezing her even harder than ever, Tsuyu starting to giggle a little and dab at fresh tears. Oh, she was going to be an absolute mess on Monday. Deku was going to think she'd missed a sale or something with how dry her eyes were going to look.

The movie ended, and Ochako let out a laugh of relief.

"He's okay! Tsu, he's okay!"

"Kero," she agreed weakly, running low on fluids and air.

Ochako eased up her grip, grabbing fistfuls of tissues to rub into her eyes. Since when had movies been so heart-wrenching?! She never cried during any of the mega hero movies they showed in theaters, and those were needlessly wasteful with their money!

They spent a few minutes just recovering, and then a bit cleaning up the spilt popcorn and mountain of tear-stained paper. Ochako felt bad about making a mess, but Tsuyu assured her it was okay, tossing a few pieces into the air to catch on her tongue. That helped her giggle a little, which was a lot more helpful than she wanted to admit in helping her get back to a normal emotional state.

"You can't ever show me something like that again," Ochako told Tsuyu, leveling a puffy finger at her in an attempt to be threatening, "I'm not sure my heart could handle it."

"Didn't you say your heart was a lot tougher than normal hearts though?" Tsuyu asked, tapping her lip thoughtfully, "Since it had to shift between long periods of zero gravity and normal gravity without warning?"

"No, I said I had to get it tougher, or else I'd have cardiac arrest when I started going back and forth a lot," Ochako pouted, "my doctor says it's got some kind of mutation to be able to, but I have to work it like any other muscle. It won't just grow on its own."

Tsuyu nodded in understanding.

"Well, then I suppose we'll have to watch something lighter next time. Maybe The Princess Bride? You could pick up some flirting tips there, and I could probably get Midoriya to watch it with us."

"Wh- you-?!" Ochako sputtered, embarrassed, "You can't just set me up with an awesome opportunity to curl up with my crush when I'm trying to find a time to confess!"

"Oh, you're planning something? Mina said you were just gonna hope he did it first."

"Not yet, but I'm working on it!" she protested.

If Tsuyu could look any more disbelieving, she might be able to drop her super-blunt mantra. Ochako puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Kay, not all of us are so confident to just get together with someone while our siblings are home," she grumbled.

"We aren't actually that far yet, kero kero," Tsuyu protested, "Kero. We just wanted privacy when the time comes. Making plans and preparing for the future is an essential part of a relationship."

And something Ochako was nowhere near ready to attempt yet. She wasn't even sure how to ask Deku out without it wigging her out so much she either passed out or said something really embarrassing.

"It doesn't have to be hard, you know," Tsuyu cut into her thoughts.

"It does though!" Ochako groaned, "I get all flustered and jumbled up inside when he smiles at me. I'm even worse than he was around girls back before school!"

Tsuyu seemed to mull that over, before offering a blunt question.

"Do you think he doesn't like you?"

"No! I know he likes me. We're best friends!"

"Kero. Do you think he finds you ugly or repulsive?"

"Wh- He's said I'm beautiful, and he isn't a liar, Tsu!"

"Do you think he has someone already that would disqualify you from taking him out on a date, kero?"

"I hope not… I don't think he does, anyway… He hasn't said anything about it."

"If you went on a date, do you think he would stop being your friend after?"

"No way! He's way too afraid of losing friends to do something like that! Even if he wasn't, he's super sweet and compassionate," Ochako said, a bit incensed by the implication.

"Do you think he's gonna be able to ask you first?"

"I mean… probably not?" she admitted.

Tsuyu shrugged.

"Then that's it. You have to make it known," she told Ochako plainly, "You're going to have to force yourself to ask him by just sticking with him until you slip up and say something, or do that whole hint thing other girls can somehow do and get him to realize you want him to ask you out."

"Couldn't I just, um… pretend these feelings aren't real? Lock them away until they go away and just be best friends forever?"

"Feelings aren't like butterflies, no matter how much they feel like them," Tsuyu chided, "You can't hold them down and put them in a box. They go where they like, kero kero, and they do what they want. Haven't you seen how unhealthy Midoriya's relationship with Bakugo is? He's rational enough to know he should break it off or ignore him, but he still thinks of him as a friend to be there for. He probably hates that he's like that, but he can't change it. Kero, You can't change how you feel either. All you can do is decide: how do you want to act on those feelings? Do you want to tell him and ask him to help you ignore them, or have him help you make them blossom, Kero?"

Ochako didn't know how to answer.

---

(1 pm)

Hitoshi was ready to be done now. He'd served his time, done his studies, and he was ready to sleep. Thank you, good night, he'd take his hours of rolling over in place while begging for the universe to let his brain shut down over… this.

It wasn't that he hated Midnight's classes. Usually she gave some pretty cool insights on how art evolved and cultural things like that. For him, the psychological edge was really kinda fascinating, especially since he could maybe use some of it eventually. She wasn't even one of the awful middle school teachers he'd had who just passed around busywork and demanded he study meaningless drivel. The major astrix came in the form of which classes he had with her.

General Studies got Midnight right after lunch, and right before she went back over to the Hero side of the school. Naturally, that meant Hitoshi and his class learned from her after she'd already warmed up her repertoire of innuendos, and immediately following her rejuvenation of food, but before she gave up on the species while teaching the wackadoos in 1-A.

Normally, Hitoshi was able to muscle through, even with all that. Unfortunately, today was Friday, which meant Midnight was antsy. Most of the time, that just her usual shtick of trying to pair off students and interrogating them about their love lives, sex lives, and any gossip she could squeeze out of them. Hitoshi had been begged by some of his class to just hypnotize them so they could ignore it all and write down whatever they heard, which he would usually turn down on principle, but this time he actually considered it.

Of all the things to distract the R-rated teacher from giving advice no one wanted, it had to be that she had a date, and was instead gushing about all the ways she would be putting her own advice into practice.

"You see, dates who give single flowers don't want to just have a quickie in the bathroom," Kayama-sensei giggled, pointing to a Van Gogh painting which had sparked her tangent, "While chocolates and bouquets are quick and dirty ways of saying "I want you in bed," the single flower represents a timidity and solidarity to one's partner. They're saying: "I want to please you and be pleased in turn." They want both themselves and you to enjoy your time together, as opposed to being into it just for the main event. Especially if they tuck it behind your ear. That's very important. It indicates they're into your eyes or face, as opposed to just your body, which means there'll be some passionate kissing to get ready for. I recommend being sure your jackets and collars are tight the next day, unless you want to publicly declare yourself."

Kill me. Kill me now, so help me Kami.

"Now, Van Gogh obviously wasn't thinking along these lines when he painted this masterpiece," she continued, somehow transitioning back to the actual lecture without her voice betraying the fact she'd rambled.

The lesson continued on like that for the next half hour, with Midnight periodically getting lost on some whimsical explanation of romance and sex ed. Hitoshi made it ten minutes before the end of the period before he started banging his head on the desk.

The repeated slamming caught the attention of everyone, earning him annoyed looks from those in the class who were interested in Midnight detailing the need for "game," and gazes filled with utter thankfulness from the normal people in the room. Kayama herself was evidently stunned and appalled by his actions, jolting out of her recitation.

"Shinso! Whatever are you doing?!"

He had to give her credit, she actually seemed to care, and wasn't just yelling because he might hurt school property. Hitoshi paused in his actions, forehead pressed against the top. He turned his head to look at her, his dead expression as consistent as ever.

"Giving myself an alibi."

"An alibi?! Wh-"

Kayama's eyes went blank, and she fell silent without any fuss. The other students gasped at him in shock or terror, but before anyone could say anything, Hitoshi sat up in his chair. He grinned in a mock-apologetic way.

"Sorry about that, Sensei, I must have activated my Quirk by mistake, what with how much I shook my brain up," he said to the empty-faced Heroine, "I'm so sorry for derailing the lesson."

The class remained silent for a moment, everyone looking between him and Midnight. Then he gave an over-exaggerated gasp, as if he'd just realized he still hadn't released her yet.

"Oh! I should probably deactivate the brainwashing, huh?"

Midnight jerked forward, her expression snapping to one of annoyance. The other students flinched back in a rush of self-preservation, but Hitoshi leaned forward, continuing to smile. Their teacher glared at him, not saying anything. He'd been fully honest: the head-banging alibi was something that Nezu would totally back up, especially after hearing Kayama-sensei fell for it. Then she smiled, and a touch of fear hit his heart.

"It's quite alright, Shinso," she said, sickly sweet, "I wouldn't want some misunderstanding to prevent you from getting into the Hero Course, after all. In fact, I'm rather hoping you make it in next year."

"I'm glad I have one of the teachers in my corner," Hitoshi thanked her.

"Oh, you have plenty of us rooting for you," Kayama-sensei chuckled, "I'm just looking forward to your second year."

Hitoshi should not ask why, he knew. He really didn't want to ask why. Asking why would invite all disaster.

So of course, when Midnight smiled invitingly, he had to ask.

"Why the second year?"

"Because that's the year I get to teach Sex-Ed to the Hero Course," she informed him, her sadistic grin freezing him in place, "And since the Hero Course are expected to develop and master their Quirks, they require some… unique classes, in order to ensure they're able to be safe about it."

Having his blood freeze in under a second while a picture of Van Gogh's sunflowers sat on the board was not a situation Hitoshi'd ever expected to find himself in. In fairness, he hadn't expected he'd start playing a game of quiet retribution against the entire U.A. staff either.

Steeling his soul, Hitoshi tried to smile like Midoriya had told him.

"One more thing to look forward to, then."

"I'll speak to Nezu about arranging some practical lessons, just to sweeten the pot then."

"Only so long as I can bring my own lab partner."

Before the dumbstruck class could respond to his evident death wish, a soft whine came from the intercom. Slipping his hand into a pocket, Hitoshi glanced up to see who was calling down.

["As much fun as it would be to see you press and manipulate the mating habits of our Hero Course, Midnight, I'm afraid we have board approval ratings to consider. You'll have to wait until third year to introduce the practical sections of the course. In the meantime, young Shinso: I believe Aizawa would like to see you in the practice gym after school today to discuss updates to your workout routine and dieting. That is all."]

As Nezu finished things off with his signature laugh, Hitoshi grinned, withdrawing his hand from below the desk to lace it with the other and make his chin a resting place. Kayama-sensei sighed dramatically, before walking back to her podium.

"It seems we've run out of time this week. We'll resume our studies of the post-impressionism period next week then. Feel free to chat until your next teacher arrives. And you:" she said, snapping her usual short whip to point at Hitoshi, "Two years. Better get to work on that lab partner."

And then she was gone, and he was able to drop his facade of calm to slump against his desk.

"Dude! When did you get the balls?!" one of his classmates asked, leading a chorus of people praising, lecturing, and otherwise shouting at him in loud ways he didn't like.

Inhaling deeply, Hitoshi sat back up and gave him a sarcastic thumbs up.

"It's the job of a Hero to always seem like you're in control of a situation," he explained, twisting his hand into a thumbs down, "And to find ways to beat enemies who you can't punch."

"You know she could totally expel you for using your Quirk in class, or just block your getting into the Hero Course, right?" the girl behind him warned, sounding concerned, "How did you know she wouldn't?"

"Because it's a game," Hitoshi said, smirking and pulling out a spare notepad, "Call it social chess. I can't cause too much trouble, or my grades slip. They can't punish me if I can get around the rules, or they'll be accused of prejudice. Neither of us would cross that line anyway, but it's an added incentive to play by the rules. At the same time, I get to train something for my Quirk, and their revenge will help catch up when I get into the practical courses."

Most of the other students shook their heads in exasperation. Hitoshi didn't care. He was just glad the period was over.

Cracking open his notepad, he began to write out potential Hero names and costume designs. He couldn't exactly wear his gym outfit after graduation, now could he?

---

(4 pm)

"Thank you very much for coming on this evening jog with me, Midoriya-kun!" Tenya thanked, barely noticing as Midoriya fought to keep up with his friend's longer legs.

"Y-yeah," Midoriya gasped, pumping his arms as wildly as Tenya did while lecturing his more rowdy classmates.

They'd met up a bit inland of either of their homes, so as to get some trail-running in and not make either side travel overly further from the other's distance. They were currently ascending a rocky trail near Mt. Takatori. Not terribly difficult or steep, but certainly a most excellent method of training one's ability to move on uncertain terrain and also build muscle more quickly.

Tenya had worried about his ability to make the run when he'd first overheard the idea from some upperclassmen. He could certainly perform it just fine, even without letting his mufflers out, but no one could achieve greatness alone. He'd learned from his brother's example and sidekicks that while self-determination and strength were excellent, if one expected to do well on their own, they'd always fall short of what they could achieve with a rival, an ally, or a much needed hand up when they inevitably fell. Luckily, he'd been paying attention at the Quirk Apprehension Test.

While he'd managed to snag a high ranking himself, Tenya had seen how few of his classmates had actually been able to perform the test on their own merits. Todoroki had skated his way along for a bit before getting uncomfortable and running rather slowly with probable frostbite. Bakugo had used his explosions for boosts and found himself limited to bursts. Yaoyorozu had utilized a bicycle and won quite nicely, but that wasn't helpful here. That left Kirishima and Midoriya, who'd won fifth and sixth respectively.

Seeing as Midoriya was his best friend and part-time rival, it was obvious who Tenya should ask to accompany him on these evening training sessions. This was the second so far, and he thought it was going rather well. Their physical and adaptable improvement would no doubt be of great benefit in the coming year.

Annoyingly enough, Tenya couldn't actually improve his Quirk very much. Despite popular belief, his mufflers were not the sole source of his and Tensei's propulsion. The name Engine wasn't merely for show, but a quite precise and well-reasoned title. Their legs did, in fact, have mechanical components, not unlike the wires along Jiro's nerves and in her jacks. His arm-motions weren't merely for show, but rather the idling of the engines in his arms when he became passionate about something.

While the mufflers did produce bursts of speed via exhaust, they couldn't make an Ida move nearly as fast as they were capable of running. Oddly enough, the exception seemed to be Tensei's mutation of having his mufflers in his arms. Somehow he'd been able to extend his mufflers' power and duration, allowing them to boost him even though normally he would be disadvantaged by his legs being unable to keep up. Tenya was able to seamlessly transition his boots into his running, but doubted he was capable of the same feats as his brother.

But no matter. Tenya could improve his muscles, and perhaps some support item could clear his way to a better Quirk application in the future.

"Midoriya-kun," Tenya wondered aloud, turning to his friend, "We are friends, correct?"

"Wha- yeah, of course, Ida!" Midoriya assured him, confusion and worry spreading over his expression as he fought to keep up.

"Please, do not mistake me for being ungrateful or envious," Tenya assured him, "But I wonder as to why your Quirk hasn't manifested some unique ability based on our relationship? In full truth, I'm not entirely sure how you have the powers you do."

Midoriya's face went to a much more nervous one, but with contemplation mixed in. It was odd, almost as if there were some secret he was trying not to reveal while also giving the correct answer. Quite odd for Midoriya, who was rather open with most things.

"Well, I think it's more than just a relationship," Midoriya theorized, Tenya slowing down a little so he could speak more clearly and without losing his breath, "It has to be something totally unique. For instance, Senchan was the first person to use her Quirk on me kindly, and she was the first person who I tried to save intentionally. So her making my body lose Zero Gravity was transferred into Float. Full Cowl, the um… lightning that increases my body's power? I'm not sure where it came from, really. I think it might have been because Todoroki was holding back his boundless power, and that enraged me? Or because Kacchan was finally fighting me as an opponent and not a punching bag? Or maybe Shinso's hypnosis let me tap into the pure energy Stockpiled in the Quirk before it unlocked, and it's the Quirk's center? Or it could be that it's from you treating me with respect, and it's mimicking how the engines run through your body and release exhaust? The dark tendril stuff was when I helped Tokoyami fly, which was something really special for him and Dark Shadow, I guess. I haven't really had any other big encounters with a good connection, I don't think?"

Tenya digested the information, nodding his head slightly. Well, it wasn't quite as worrying as he'd feared. He supposed he shouldn't be so much of a downer about these sorts of things.

"In that case, we need to provide you with more positive reinforcement!" Tenya decided, picking up his speed again, "If your Quirk is capable of increasing its power and versatility through such impactful events, then we must get more of the class to interact with you! Your potential for growth will be limitless, assuming the energy holds out. You don't feel as if you are expending it with use, do you?"

Midoriya shook his head in response, gasping out an answer.

"It doesn't feel any smaller, no matter how much I've used it."

"Then we can assume it either replenishes or is more of a crystalline capacitor, where your output is fueled by your body's intake of some kind. Likely food, but possibly sunlight or some other power. Regardless, we need to provide you more happiness and unlock more abilities!"

There was no answer to his decision, so Tenya decided to take the silence as agreement.

"What about your Quirk, Ida-kun?" came a sudden voice from above him.

Tenya glanced up to see Midoriya suspended in midair, green lightning crackling along his body as he Floated past, landing ahead of him and jogging backwards at the exact pace Tenya was holding at a good run.

"Midoriya-kun! We cannot use our Quirks outside of adult supervision and UA campus!" Tenya scolded.

The viridet's posture seemed to shrink a little, and the energy faded, but his presence in front prevented Tenya from keeping his speed. They slowed to a very gentle jog or speedwalk, which was not nearly as effective training.

Tenya was about to lecture his friend, when he noticed how drenched in sweat Midoriya was. His desperate gasps and ashamed expression caught Tenya's worry. Then he realized why Midoriya had resorted to his leap. Tenya was thirteen centimeters taller and accustomed to running at 70% of his max for long periods. Midoriya was fit, but clearly not used to applying himself closer to 80 or 85 for the same duration.

Clenching his fist, Tenya cracked his forehead into the knuckles. He'd been so stupid! How had he not recognized that Midoriya's stubbornness and will to push himself to unhealthy limits would result in his friend not only pushing himself without complaint, but that in desperation he would risk Quirk use to continue a conversation?!

Stopping, Tenya waited for Midoriya to catch his breath before bowing to him in apology.

"Midoriya-kun! I apologize for being inconsiderate!" he shouted across the mountains.

"P-please don't bow!" Midoriya protested, his arms waving around wildly, "It's good for me to push my limits-"

"Push them, yes, but I shoved you beyond your abilities to such an extreme we're lucky you haven't been injured!"

"I mean… it wouldn't be the first time I've-"

"That does not make it better, Midoriya!" Tenya protested, standing back up, "You must take better care of yourself, and I, as your good friend, must prevent you from hurting yourself!"

"Really, it's okay!"

"I must make this up to you immediately!"

"I won't accept it!" Midoriya shouted over his attempts to offer recompense, "I should have told you I was having a hard time, so this is my fault!"

Tenya stiffened up, unable to counter that point. Silently, he cursed his inability to win the debate.

"Be that as it may," he managed in a much more calm voice, "I still must ask your forgiveness."

"I forgive you," Midoriya said instantly, with far too much relief in his voice.

"Mid-"

"Ida, please do not be a person who won't accept forgiveness until it's genuine," he whispered, placing his hands together in a begging gesture, "If you absolutely have to do something for your family's honor to be satisfied, just… teach me some of that Tae Kwon Do you do sometime, or something."

"You are always genuine!" Tenya said, discounting the very idea, "I was merely going to clarify your question about my Quirk, though… yes, you might benefit greatly from my instruction."

Midoriya frowned, narrowing his eyes as if it was a trick question. Tenya held his expression innocent. There was no need for him to know Tenya was about to offer to purchase him a piece of Hero merchandise as an apology as well. If he was going to reject it out of hand, the Ida family pocketbook could do without the expenditure.

"I was just going to ask if you need to have surgery to get parts replaced after your engine overheats," Midoriya finally asked, clearly still skeptical.

Tenya was caught off-guard by the question. He knew that the components defied x-ray imaging, so they were ferris-based, but… could they be artificially produced or even updated?

"I'm not entirely sure, Midoriya-kun," Tenya admitted, "I know my grandfather at one point was intent on having some medical procedures on his engines, I believe to investigate if he'd damaged himself, but I've never heard how it went, nor has Tensei ever mentioned it. I'll investigate the possibilities and discuss them with you as soon as possible!"

"Er… don't go too crazy over it," Midoriya backpedaled, despite his fingers starting to twitch as if trying to scribble down shorthand, "I don't want you getting in trouble or anything."

"Rest assured, Midoriya-kun: I will find the answers to this question, and when I do: you and I shall find a way to apply it to enhancing my otherwise single-tier Quirk!"

With that, Tenya jabbed a hand toward the continuing trail.

"Now: you take the lead, and I will set my pace by you. I may be class representative, but you are the leader here."

---

(5 pm)

"Come on now," Momo pleaded with her boots, trying to get them to act according to her new plan.

She'd been trying for nearly an hour to perfect the ideas Midoriya had given her during their training yesterday, further motivated after Kyoka had taught them a bit of her self-control tricks earlier. Everyone was making strides forward by leaps and bounds, and not all in their Quirk usage, so Momo had to do the same.

Her current training was quite simple, in theory. Supplying a constant, but limited flow of fuel to her boots, she was attempting to train herself to hover; standing or floating in midair to give herself an advantage of footing control, even when the terrain was unfavorable. The issue was that her balance wasn't exactly keeping up with her head.

She could fly fairly well; leaping or soaring with the practiced ease of a week under Air Jet, but holding in place was currently out of reach. The issue was that she didn't really know who to speak to about it. Tsunotori and Tokoyami admitted to having overcome their balance issues by essentially changing their footing to match their feet, moving her horns and Dark Shadow to be stable instead of trying to balance on them at all. Midoriya and Ochako didn't have the issue at all, what with how their flying was unsupported. Air Jet flew with a back-mounted jetpack, meaning his balance was much closer to his center of gravity, and utilized body motion to counteract small changes, rather than limb movement.

"Wh-whoa-whaa!" she screamed, feeling the thrust overcompensate her left foot and sending her spinning towards the ground.

Momo tried to counteract her motion with her thrust, swinging her legs around to try and fight gravity, but she couldn't move her body fast enough.

She hit the ground hard, her back smashing into the grass and dirt of her backyard as the engines shut down. The breath went out of her, leaving Momo gasping.

As she tried to get her lungs back under control, Momo stared up at the dying light in the sky; the oranges and pinks, purples, and hint of dull maroon and blue; giving way to the black of night. The green of the trees, the deep brown of the wood, and the hint of white clouds at the edges of her vision. It was like a brilliant canvas, painted in the colors of her crushes.

And now it seems I've begun to subconsciously seek out and project my emotions and attraction towards others upon the terrain around me, she mentally recognized, trying to see which tied to who.

There was some overlap of course, with the possibility to find both Todoroki, Shiozaki, and Midoriya's main colors in the whites, reds, and greens that were like an off-brand Christmas amongst the others. Naturally the pinks and purples came from Kyoka-san, and possibly the blues and black, but the orange didn't seem to fit anyone she knew about. Perhaps it was incidental? It could be that she had a subconscious appreciation for her one of her fellow representatives from their sister class.

Oop, there's teal now. Joy, now I know I find Kendo attractive as well.

Momo was fully aware she'd never be able to pursue all of her crushes. Several of her most intense attractions were to dead people, after all. Ancient painters and geniuses, models and mathematicians. They were all quite impressive. And she was glad she was able to recognize when she felt such attractions, even ones only physical in nature. But at the end of the day, they did make things difficult when she didn't want them around.

She had duties to perform with Kendo on a weekly basis, and crushing on her excellent physique was simply not practical. Todoroki was quite amazing, but she had no illusions that he was interested in her in that way, nor that it would be appropriate to pursue such a relationship when she was already perfectly happy with her current attempts. Midoriya was clearly already committed to Ochako (despite their mutual words on the matter), and even if he wasn't: she hadn't properly cultivated their friendship yet to even presume a romantic light would be appropriate.

Closing her eyes, Momo pushed herself off the grass, inhaling deeply and getting back onto her feet.

Kyoka-san said she learned to control her emotions around myself and Shiozaki thanks to Uwabami. Perhaps I should learn that next time instead of aura control?

Kicking on her jets, Momo concentrated on remaining calm and only applying enough thrust to hover a few centimeters off the ground or so. She'd actually taken them in to the support course a week prior to get them adjusted for finer control with her Quirk, allowing her to control the thrust output by the minute shifts in her feet and legs, rather than just the glove controls.

Focusing on what Kyoka had said, Momo let herself vanish into the common and familiar around her, letting her emotions and sense of self fade into the background of her mind. Cool logic was all that remained to her, but even as she tried to control her footing: the continual, manual adjustments merely swung her further and further from her center line.

Panic flooded back in, destroying her meticulous focus. If she couldn't even hover, how would she fight while mid-air?! She'd been fighting this battle for nearly a month, and she was only getting further from the goal!

In frustration, Momo kicked the boosters into full power, launching straight into the sky as she tried to get some of the anger out by flying. As she raced around her home's various floors, avoiding the windows so her parents or the various maids and houseworkers wouldn't tell her to be careful and accidentally see how much this was bothering her.

Why are the little maneuvers in flight so much easier than on the ground? she wondered to herself, elegantly dodging around the floor-to-ceiling glass of her mother's study, It's not like this is so much different, I'm just holding still instead of moving…

She continued to fly about the grounds until she ran out of energy and returned to her spot, landing with a practiced ease that only served to bother her. She could return to earth without so much as a stumble, but remaining above it, even for a few moments, and she floundered like a baby chicklette.

"Okay," she sighed, picking up her staff from the ground and giving it a twirl, "This is just like the problem with Air Jet. Even Midoriya noted I overthink these things… I just have to relax and work through the problem one step at a time."

Momo smiled as she recalled how appalled he'd been that she'd been leaving steel staves around the city while on her internship with Air Jet, discarding them whenever she moved onto something else. Her over-reliance on her Quirk was a clear misstep, as while she couldn't neglect it: she had to keep herself more balanced.

She let her body start to move, practicing the blocks, jabs, and swings she'd seen videos of online and giving them a little Yaoyorozu flourish. It wasn't too complex after so long practicing, and it helped her focus.

Well and truly past the qualifications for the title of genius, Momo wasn't all-knowing or all-intelligent. She had some issues focusing from time to time, and her thoughts sometimes ran away from her, so multitasking helped to clear her head and keep things on track, so long as she didn't overdo it.

Alright. Why do I fall over? Simple question, simple answer, she thought to herself, whirling a spinning block around her back before shifting into a lunge, I fall over because I lose balance. Okay, so why do I lose balance? My weight isn't properly distributed, and I overcorrect the thrust to compensate.

Twisting back, she mixed in a kick with her next swing, letting her weight fall onto the single leg and dropping low in a dodge.

So, to solve it I need finer control or better distribution. I can't control my body's mass at any given time, since it changes due to my Quirk, so that leaves positioning. Longer objects are harder to control, so if I crouch then I should be capable of controlling it better, but even if I keep my center of gravity lower, if may not fully compensate for the variance.

Firing her boots for a single second, Momo backflipped into a different pose, keeping both hands on the pole to ensure her defense remained solid.

Some control jets perhaps? Mounted at hard-points? It might be difficult to feed them fuel, but… Hatsume did have that control harness on standby…

Pausing in her actions, Momo considered the shape of the support item Hatsume had used against Tsuyu and still had on her wall. The cup-like jets weren't particularly complex, and while hers had been able to swivel, Momo had another idea. She tossed her staff back to its spot, kneeling beside her Yaoyorictionary and pulling over a notepad. She knew what she wanted, but… she couldn't rely on guesses for this one. She needed to at least write it out.

The plan was simple, and she'd probably have to get someone to create the actual design more properly in her suit later, but for now she just needed to know she could create the thing and test the concept. She slipped off her skirt, allowing herself access to the skin of her waist and hips, Momo generated a type of belt, but with a pair of directional nozzles on either side and two in either front and back. They adhered to her skin like the fuel suction of her boots, which allowed her to use them as part of her body.

Generating air from the patch suctioned to the front, Momo watched as nothing happened. It was a good sign.

She kept pumping air in, feeling a slight tightness on her skin for a moment before there was a sudden release of wind from the cap, the carefully designed seal releasing the pressure as it reached the desired level. Momo had to take a step back for a moment, feeling the intense push of the release valve. But once she had the estimate of how much it could take by feel, she was able to fire the reverse side to balance herself.

"Now to make sure I can control it in midair, and pray Hatsume isn't the one in the shop tomorrow," she mumbled, kicking on her boosters and getting back into the air.

Bending her knees into a combat crouch and keeping her feet at an angle so her weight could shift properly, Momo tried to balance again. Each time she started to tip, she tried to use her new air belt to keep herself level. The blasts weren't strong enough to knock her over, but they did give her enough motion to at least stay upright for a moment. Still, they felt stiff and slow, almost like trying to ride a bike with training wheels. Each time she went a little further, they seemed to get in the way as well as help.

After maybe twenty minutes of trying, she realized they were too imprecise to help, and simply tossed the belt aside. The motion sent her wobbling back and forth again, and she tried one last time to control her falling. The slight up and down bounce was quite bothersome, her chest and legs not weighted as firmly as her arms musculature.

Of course, the higher lipid content would make them much more imprecise in weight, she reasoned, bouncing a bit with her body as it swayed too and fro, Though when in a controlled motion they're quite predictable.

It wasn't some lightning flash revelation, but as she hovered there, bouncing just slightly like one would in preparation for combat, she realized where her error was. In flight her body was being pressed towards her boots, effectively limiting her more loose mass from throwing off her balance, but when floating the effects were more prominent. However, by creating a controlled bounce in her hover: she could predict where her body was going and compensate as it moved, rather than after it had already happened.

Luckily, my Hero costume doesn't contain a restrictive hold over my legs or chest, Momo recalled happily, grabbing her staff and continuing to practice above the grass, otherwise I'd have to deal with internal shaking and vibrations, which would throw off the feel. Hopefully I'm not accused of being too provocative. I understand that the consistent shaking of one's breasts and posterior are seen as sensual in some instances, which is certainly not my intent.

To top off the good news, her belt hadn't been a complete waste. While it would no doubt be useless to her unless she gained significantly more control and body mass, she did have an idea on who it could be applied to great effect, especially as her reference book had contained a picture of an RCS system from the old space programs.

But those were tomorrow ideas. For now, she simply had to practice her hover combat. It was especially effective as her clothes now matched her Hero outfit, the discarded skirt not nearly as similar to her costume as just panties. Deciding she might as well go all in, she also unbuttoned her shirt, noticing the bouncing became more prominent and she had to compensate a little more.

Perhaps I should ask that the costume receive some reinforcement after all? she wondered, feeling her legs begin to strain a bit as she absorbed each motion into her calves and ankles, While it will be good to learn how in case of an emergency where my chest is exposed, it wouldn't be convenient… perhaps a re-alignment of fabrics to reinforce the shoulders and sides of the chest, leaving my chest open to use but also exposing my back more effectively, so I may continue to operate as needed without changing my comfort and experience in the design?

Ideas continued to bounce around her head as she sparred with no one, only coming to a stop when one of the gardeners came across her discarded clothes and promptly had a fit over the idea she was somewhere on the grounds without proper attire, not noticing her hovering above them around some convenient tree-branches for striking. Truly, some people could be so oblivious.

---

(9 pm)

If he hadn't brought his headphones, Fumikage was almost adamant he would have gone insane by now. Even through them, he could still hear the awful puns, which was starting to wear on his mental stability.

"I'm tellin' you: It's our Morel imperative to figure out how she's that good," Komori said, leading to everyone groaning, including Dark Shadow.

Or rather, almost everyone. Fumikage noticed Yanagi, the pale and morbid one he was growing to like, had just lost all of his respect as she instead hid a miniscule smile behind her hand at the pun. How truly disilluminated.

"Mmnn," Kodai shook her head.

"Oh… you're no fun…" Komori sighed.

"Kero, it's not that we aren't curious too, Komori-chan," Tsuyu said, taking a bite of her pizza before continuing, "But she apparently doesn't like how violent it is, and testing her with more would be rude to her, especially after she asked us not to anymore."

Dark Shadow made an X with her arms.

"No way am I gettin' on her bad side. I heard she cracked Kamui Woods' mask on their internship. No-thank-you-sir."

Fumikage sighed. They'd been hovering around a notebook for a while, before Shiozaki had left to the bathroom and Tsunotori had vanished towards her room. He wasn't really sure why, but he didn't feel as at ease when she wasn't around. At the very least, she was as close to him as Tsuyu, especially given their internship together, but even so she was… different.

"Hey buddy," Dark Shadow said into his thoughts, "I'm ah… not gonna be able to help you on this one, Fumi."

"This wha-?!" he tried to ask before a vine ensnared his leg and he was dragged towards the center of the girls.

"Dark Shadow!" Fumikage called, both as an attempt to call her to action as well as cursing her for betraying him.

"I'm sorry!" Shiozaki called, the sincerity in her voice almost making him ready to forgive.

Almost.

Fumikage wasn't going to take this attack lying down. He was about to lash out at the vine holding him when a pair of arms captured his chest from behind. A familiar pair of horns brushed the back of his head and he stopped struggling.

"Tsunotori… what dark purpose have you captured me for?" he asked with restrained anger.

"We, um… what color would you like your toes?" she asked, clearly worried he would take offense at their plan.

"I would like both my fingers and toes to remain the hue they are, Tsunotori."

"...even if I let you call me Pony?" she tried, her voice sickly-sweet.

Inhaling and closing his eyes, Fumikage tried not to turn red. He weighed all the options. The sinister cons and gloriously dark pros. Pony didn't play fair.

"Dark Shadow?" Fumikage asked, keeping himself very calm, "Who's nails are you painting?"

The black bird emerged from his stomach, hovering around to look at him timidly.

"I… I was gonna try Pony's…" she mumbled, peeking around his head at the girl in question, "She'd look cute in black, don't you think?"

He was being outflanked now. Sabotaged, even.

"Very well… Pony," he relented, "But you may not apply glitter. And… you can let me go, Shiozaki."

The vine relinquished him instantly, accompanied by a small "Sorry." Tsuno- that was, Pony let go as well. She gave him an apologetic smile before sliding back into her spot in the circle.

Sighing, Fumikage shuffled into the spot they'd made for him, crossing his legs and patting his knees in defeat. A small aura of tension faded away, and he wondered how they'd expected him to react. Perhaps how he'd been planning to react, had Pony not bribed him.

No one moved to begin, nor said anything. The tension was lessening, but it was very awkward, his presence probably a contributing factor.

"Is it just me, or are we having a party without music, and it's a total bummer?" Komori asked into the silence.

Kodai nodded solemnly, while Yanagi made a pair of pointing fingers to level at Komori as if literally pointing out the good idea. Pony frowned, but not as if she was displeased. It was more like confusion, Fumikage decided, as "bummer" was probably not a word she knew.

"Well… does anyone have any good group music?" Pony asked, still a bit unsure.

Dark Shadow went to raise her hand, but Fumikage quickly caught it with his own, pushing it back down. He could feel her pouting, and a twinge of fear touched his heart. His Quirk was becoming more and more distinct from him, what with Pony's advice to let her grow on her own, and… while he had no doubt she would continue to protect him, it was becoming harder and harder to direct her as he used to.

His worry was brought to an abrupt stop by Tsuyu holding up her phone.

"There's a K-pop concert live right now, Kero," she informed them, pointing to the miniature, dancing boys on the screen in her hand, "It looks like they'll be doing a few different bands, so we should be able to just leave it on."

There weren't any objections, despite Fumikage's desire to adamantly reject the idea, so the other two mutants went over to hook up the television and get the music going. That left the rest of them to begin removing their socks and picking out colors. He silently thanked himself from an hour earlier for thinking to take a shower beforehand and be presentable.

Fumikage supposed the singers weren't bad but… well, they were too bright. Too energized. He might have rolled his eyes, but he had a feeling taking his eyes off the girls would result in inevitable demise.

"Come, our feathered companion," Yanagi said, holding up a bright pink bottle, "It is time to make your keratin beautiful."

"You'll look positively dapperling," Komori agreed, lifting a green one.

Raising two fingers, Fumikage counted them down as he made a pair of points.

"Firstly: Komori, you've already used that pun already," he said, lowering the first, "Secondly: I find your color choices contemptible. Truly, your darkness is lacking."

That earned a few snickers, but no reprieve as they began to gesture for him to offer his limbs.

"Alright then, we'll give you a deal," the mushroom-themed student proposed, grinning evilly and turning sideways to give him an unobstructed view of Pony and Tsuyu finishing with the music, "You can either let us paint your nails or you can let Pony do it."

Okay, they all fought dirty here.

He made a vague nodding gesture.

"Amanita more definitive answer," Komori chidded, leveling the brush threateningly.

"Very well. Pony may perform the act."

"Pony may what-now?" the girl in question asked, her head poking up adorably.

"Tokoyami says you're the one who gets to paint his nails," Komori replied in a sing-song voice, firmly cementing herself as Fumikage's least favorite person.

Pony's eyes lit up as she beamed at him, before pumping her fist and letting out a tiny "YES!" between her teeth. It was absolutely not helping, and he was positively not going to enjoy this with her.

"Dark Shadow…" he sighed, rubbing his eyes, "Would you be so kind as to restrain Komori? I believe Yanagi had some options as to coloration that might aid in her redemption."

Her expression fell instantly as the Quirk eagerly obeyed, the zombie-themed girl bowing in either apology or appreciation, he wasn't sure. Komori began to squirm in distress, but much to Fumikage's dismay: Yanagi presented her with a red polish which seemed to calm her down. Traitor.

He didn't have time to regret her unfortunate betrayal however. Pony had produced a bottle of a color that was at least sixteen shades lighter than the abyss of his soul. Kodai was also approaching, to which he leveled a finger accusingly.

"I surrendered myself to Pony's assault, not yours," he objected.

"Mm," Kodai shrugged, her eyes suggesting she didn't care.

"Only we agreed to avoid your decoration," Yanagi said, not looking up as she pulled over a white bottle as well, "She never said anything of the kind."

"Noooooooo!"

---

(10 pm)

The voices had petered out almost an hour earlier, followed by dead silence, but Inko didn't want to push her luck. For all she knew: her boy had developed a silence Quirk and her walking in would result in seeing something she very much didn't need to. Or maybe they'd been arguing and her presence would just make things worse? But an hour of worrying had persuaded her to at least peek.

Tip-toeing down the hall, Inko eased the door open a few centimeters. Light from the computer and the lamps gave the room a mild glow, despite the main ceiling illumination being off. Inko didn't hear anything out of place, or smell anything unusual, which was a good sign.

Slipping in a little further, Inko glanced around to try and find her son and his friend. Her heart faltered for a moment as she saw where they were.

Izuku was resting on his bed, back against the wall and notepads in his lap, just as she'd found him many a night while preparing for school. But this time was different. Sitting beside him, her head on his shoulder and his head on hers, was Uraraka. Her bob of brown hair was splayed across his neck, and a pair of identical, content expressions were on either face. The scar-ringed hand she'd shivered at was now a source of joy, seeing as it was intertwined with that of his best friend, their fingers laced and loosely held together.

Stepping in with all the silence she could manage, Inko turned off the various lights and the computer monitor, before using her Quirk to ever so slightly ease Izuku towards the door as she left. He drifted forward, but rather than fall forwards onto the floor, he recovered and slumped to the side, his head hitting the pillow and dragging Uraraka with him. Neither of them woke as they repositioned sleepily, eventually finding a position that looked at least marginally comfortable.

Inko closed the door, not wanting to disturb their sleep. She had to go cry now. Her little boy was growing up; finding love and working so hard for both his own and others' dreams.

---

And there's the Dekusquad's month! You'll notice the roster is a little different from the canon, but that should be expected by now. Tsu's not in yet, and neither are Mineta and Aoyama, but they'll get their time soon enough. Also, Kaminari's got an arc coming, so watch out for Denki.

Yes, I did base a lot of these events on my life, because the emotions are real folks. Iron Giant always gets me like that, I love working out to that song, and sassing teachers who couldn't focus was my favorite pastime once.

As always: your thoughts, your criticisms, your ship arguments, and your ideas: gimme gimme gimme.

Be safe out there!

Love you all!