'I'm glad everyone is ok.' Izuku thought, as he checked the news.

The day after the attack, the HPSC had ordered all Top Ten Heroes to essentially 'avoid attention at all costs', which translated in having to barricade themselves in their hotel. Of course, the Green Valley Chat had immediately sprouted to life in the morning, everyone in it checking on the others. Iida had apparently missed the events of the night, much to his shame, because Slide n' Go, the Hero he was training with, didn't operate in the areas hit by the riots. He was sad because the Hero had organized a meeting for Iida with some other Heroes and people he believed would give him some great advice, but they had to understandably cancel. He had added something about trying another time. Good for him.

Everyone else, except Melissa, since she wasn't at an Internship, was involved in the attacks. Pony and Airjet had helped in the sky while All Might finished off the Noumus, Himiko and Kesagiri Man had fought in the riots, and so on. Jiro had worked with Sir Nighteye to take down several rioters. Apparently Nighteye had also found out about the explosives, but it hadn't helped much because he only did a minute before his office blew up. No one was there, but guessing why he was targeted was easy when one remembered Nighteye was All Might's former sidekick.

Now, the second days after the attacks, the full effects had been recorded. Two Hero Offices, four banks, six government buildings and two statues, one of All Might and one of Crimson Riot. That was the tally of locations hit by the bombings. 'As for the people, six dead and twenty injuried…' Izuku sighed. Of course someone would die when bombs blow up in a city. Thankfully, the alarms for the riots had led most people to run home, but some people had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On the bright side, they had arrested most minor Villains involved in the riots. And while a lot of Noumu vanished through portals not long after the bombs went off, before anyone could react, they still managed to catch several. Izuku had no idea what those things were. They didn't act like humans, but what else could they…

"Valiant!" Miruko kicked the door in, the hinges of his hotel room creaking dangerously as she stormed in.

"Y-Yes?!" He asked. 'Oh god she knows who I am I'm dead I'm gonna get smashed by those thighs Miruko's thighs GODDAMMIT!'

"Look at this!" She turned her phone towards him, and he stared at it. It was open on the Hero Network private messages page, on a private message from someone Miruko had named 'The Witch Queen of HPSCngmar'.

'Come to Tokyo immediately.' Izuku read, 'This is a mandatory convocation. And bring your current Intern. This overrules any request Nedzu might make of returning him to UA.'

"Wh-Why me?!"

"I have a guess. Look at this." She handed him a magazine, that Izuku only just noticed Miruko was holding. He pulled it up, and his eyes went wide.

He didn't know how they had published it so fast, but it was a 'special edition' of one of the Hero Magazines he bought every month.

Except that on the cover there was a picture of him. Izuku – no, Valiant, since he was in full Hero costume – was extending his hand toward someone, like he was greeting them. Behind him, the bank had just exploded. At the bottom, in bold white letter contrasting with the dark cover, the title read "THE HEROISM OF VALIANT" and below, "Harbinger of a new generation of Heroes?"

"What the…" He rushed to open the magazine. The first featured article started with another picture of him, this one showing him jump off to rush toward the burning building. 'Valiant leaping toward Hiroshima Dai-Mito Bank to make sure everyone was safe.'

The title of the article, 'Valiant, Hero of a new generation' was just the beginning of what seemed to be an article trying very, very hard to build him up as some sort of star pupil of UA.

"Izuku Midoriya, currently a First Year at UA… Has chosen the name of Smiling Hero: Valiant… Winner of the Sports Festival… Interning under Miruko… Quirk: Superpower, giving him strength that, in time, might rival All Might…" Izuku's jaw was falling more and more as he read through the article. That final sentence almost made him jump into a discussion on power-scaling a student against the Symbol of Peace and how laughable it was to compare the two, except this article was… technically right, wasn't it?

He slowly looked up at Miruko. "What?"

"Congratulations kid, you are now a nationwide celebrity." Miruko said, patting his back, "Welcome to hell."

Izuku knew he should have had a lot of thoughts right now. He was sure All Might would compliment him, since… well, this was what they wanted, in a way. Not the bombs, but announcing to the world a new Symbol of Peace was there. He was sure his mom was probably calling soon, and currently flooding their apartment. He was sure Tomura was likely cursing like a sailor.

But for some dumb reason, probably to detach from everything else, his mind had rushed to 'Nooooooo I have to meet Hiryu tomorrow!'

"Come on kid, no time to be shocked, we need to leave. When the Witch Queen calls, we have to go." She frowned, "Well, we could not go, but then she would get extremely pissed, and I don't want to deal with that."

Izuku managed somehow to change into his Hero costume before him and Miruko moved downstairs… Only to find leaving was gonna be a slight problem, judging by the sheer mass of people by the door. Miruko bodily pushed Izuku back, before the people outside could see him. "Alright." She said, "There's a siege outside. So, we have two options. Either we beat them up…"

"I don't think that's an option."

"… Unfortunately." She sighed, "Or we call for help."

"Help?"

"We need a distraction, and I know exactly who to call." She grinned, "Just… Wait back there, this will take a few minutes."

Izuku nodded, and went to sit down, with a sigh. "Well, this is… unexpected." He told to himself. Sure, he knew he was supposed to become All Might's successor as the next Symbol of Peace, but he wasn't expecting to become that so fast. Not knowing what to do, he took out the magazine.

Hero News Monthly was a famous magazine, part of the Hero News Network. Honestly, getting a front page on it was considered a sign you were making it big in the Hero world. He wondered how other people were taking it.

-x-

"Holy shit boss." Pony said.

"Damn, for real." Airjet said, "I had heard the next Green Valley Clan's head was hardcore but… Wow."

Pony nodded. She didn't know Airjet was a Green Valley Clan Hero when she joined his agency, but they had figured each other out pretty fast. Mostly because he had greeted her as Cow Lady's daughter, and from there it took exactly three questions to figure out they both knew.

"Yeah, I guess he didn't…"

"How did he even plan all this? I mean, it wasn't Handjob, right?"

Pony wanted to say that it was, but… Well, was it? 'Don't be stupid Pony, of course it is. You know Izuku wasn't prepared to become the Clan's head. You know it's just Hiryu's imagination!' She frowned, 'Is it?'

"I-I don't know, I guess the boss is pretty smart…"

"You can say that alright. This guy is… Wow."

Pony could tell Airjet was genuinely impressed. Frankly, she was too.

-x-

"What's Sir doing?" Jiro asked, as they stood in the middle of their temporary office, looking at the desk. Apparently, All Might's office was heavily reinforced, to 'protect my treasure', so both the desk and All Might's merchandise collection had survived the explosion, even when the rest hadn't. As a result, the temporary office was near identical to the destroyed one.

"I don't know." Mirio shrugged, "He saw the Magazine, started crying uncontrollably for ten minutes, told me 'this doesn't change anything Mirio, you are still the best', then opened the magazine and started crying again."

"Five years!" Sir Nighteye shouted, "Five years to figure out who he should have picked for him, and then he proves I'm still an amateur! Oh All Might, how could I ever doubt you!" The man pulled out his phone, "I should call him and congratulate- No, I can't. Should I…" He looked down at the magazine, saw a picture of Izuku, and promptly started to cry again, "And it's even a burning building! That is such a good reference!"

"… Do you mind if I say Sir is a total weirdo?"

"I thought that was obvious." Mirio said, pointing a thumb toward the tickle machine in the corner, and Bubble Girl strapped to it.

"Ahahah- Why did the explosionahahhah- spare this! Ahahahah…" Bubble Girl shouted.

"… You know, that is a valid point. The most normal man in this office is Centipeder." Jiro said.

"Hey!" Mirio gasped, as if he was offended, "I'm pretty normal!"

"Senpai, no offense, but over the course of this week I've seen you greet people by saluting them through a closed door a bit too often to call you normal."

"There is nothing unusual about doing that!"

"There is when you are standing through that closed door!"

"… Touché."

Jiro sighed, taking a deep breath.

"Ahahahah- Why?!"

"Look at this! He even references All Might's hairstyle! How appropriate to pay tribute to him like this!"

Jiro passed a hand over her face.

-x-

Masutaro stared at the pictures on the page, along with Tokage, Intelli, Sekigai and Hagakure. "Holy shit Izukun." He said.

"I can't believe you know this guy." Sekigai commented, "He looks so… Heroic."

"He is quite remarkable…" Intelli commented.

"Down, girls, he has a girlfriend." Tokage said.

"You know, ninety percent of teenage couples broke up…" Sekigai replied.

"… Wow. I expected that from Intelli, not from you."

"Look, Friday was stressful and yesterday hardly better, and now I see this." She grinned, "I'm not made of stone."

"No you are made of hormones." Tokage sighed, "Intelli, can you say someth- Intelli?"

"She has been staring at the picture of Izuku fighting Todoroki for the past minute." Hagakure supplied.

"N-No I'm not!" Intelli replied, pointedly not stopping to stare at the page.

"Isn't that the picture where you can see his abs?" Tokage asked.

"Yes!" Both Sekigai and Intelli said at once, before the girl with the monocle coughed in her fist. "I'm just studying a… remarkable future Hero. Very remarkable…"

Hagakure sighed. "Shouldn't you stop them, Masutaro? Himiko is your best friend." She tilted her head, "Masutaro?" The teen still didn't answer, "Oh god, is he also hypnotized by the abs? Have I just lost my boyfriend for some boys' love?!"

"No you haven't!" Masutaro darted around, "Izukun is great, but I'm not into that! Also, you are the best partner I could ask for!" She blushed – or, well, she did the movements she made when she was blushing – and he turned toward the two girls. "Anyway, uhm, yeah, you two should stop thirsting over my best friend's boyfriend. Who is also my other best friend."

"Yeah, sure." Both girls said, turning the page.

"You tried." Tokage said, giving him a pat on her shoulder, "It's just a celebrity crush, it will pass."

"Yeah, but just in case it doesn't, can we have his phone number?" Sekigai asked.

"No!" Hagakure, Masutaro and Tokage said in unison.

Intelli and Sekigai huffed. Masutaro had the distinct impression this wasn't the end of it.

'Izukun, run, I think you just got upgraded from romcom protagonist to harem romcom protagonist.'

-x-

Izuku shivered. "I feel like I'm in danger."

-x-

The Vestiges all turned toward Hikage Shinomori, the Fourth. He blinked, "What? I didn't do anything!"

"Are you sure? This feeling of being in danger is just getting stronger." Banjo pointed out, shivering, "God, what is this? What could be scaring him so much?!"

-x-

"What. The. FUCK!" Bakugo roared, before slamming his hand on the magazine and annihilating. "Heir to the Symbol of Peace?! A Hero worthy of being the next Number One?! He didn't even beat the Villains! He just saved all the people around the bank!" He tossed the burnt remains of the magazine on the other side of the room, "That bastard!"

"Has he been going for long?" Jeanist asked.

"About an hour." Tsuyu replied.

"We should probably stop him, before he gets a heart attack."

"Nah, this is pretty hot." She said, staring at Bakugo's muscle glistening thanks to all the sweat he was producing.

"What?"

"You heard what I said, Mister Jeanist."

"I did." He nodded, "You know, I'm pretty big on the delinquent-kuudere pair aesthetic. I'm rooting for you."

"Thank you, sir. Your support is welcome." Tsuyu nodded, showing her hand. Jeanist gave her a low five, while she took out her phone. The teen didn't stop screaming, and eventually Tsuyu sighed. Alright, this had gone a bit too long. She pulled up the article. "Katsuki. Hear this. 'Apparently, interviewed, the Symbol of Peace said, 'I'm very proud of young Midoriya. And yes, I do think he could prove a good successor'."

"A-All Might said… He said…" Bakugo went pale, then he turned red. Then redder. Then a bright crimson Tsuyu had never seen on a human. "RrrrrrrreeeeeeEEEEEEE…" He shouted.

And then he collapsed.

"Oh god did he actually get a heart attack?" Jeanist asked.

"Nah. Himiko told me, if he gets too angry, he passes out."

"I'm not sure that's normal." Jeanist mused, "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Do you want to wake him up so he starts screaming again?"

"… That's a compelling argument." Jeanist sighed, "Well, at least there is no one that could possibly take this news worse."

-x-

Fuyumi glanced in the kitchen. Sitting there was her dad, staring down at the pages, a defeated look in his eyes. Ochaco and Shoto, sitting opposite to him, looked really uncomfortable.

"You should talk to him." Burnin', standing next to her, whispered.

"What am I even supposed to say?!"

"I don't know? You are the only one in your family that doesn't hate him, though." Burnin' replied.

"Couldn't you do it?"

"Girl, I'm not suicidal."

"I hate you." Fuyumi hissed.

"Love you too hon." Burnin' replied with a smirk, and Fuyumi felt her cheeks… well, burning. She shook her head. Dad now. Sexy girl on fire later. Preferably once she figured out how to ask her out. She took a deep breath, and stepped into the kitchen.

"Come on dad, cheer up!"

Endeavor took a deep breath, and then slowly looked at her. He looked almost deflated. "Why is it always superstrength?"

"… What?" Fuyumi asked.

"Why is it always superstrength?!" He shouted, "I could accept if the next Symbol of Peace was someone not related to me-"

"No, you couldn't." Everyone in the room said. Including Ochaco. Man, the girl was learning fast.

"-but the same Quirk?!" He slammed a fist on the table, "What the hell?! Years of totally-not-eugenics and this is what I get? What did I do wrong?!"

"Do you want that in alphabetical or chronological order?" Fuyumi asked.

"And it's superstrength! That's the blandest, most boring, most overused, least impressive superpower! 'Oh, look at me, Endeavor can literally set himself on freaking fire and incinerate a Villain like a piece of paper thrown on the sun, but I can lift'!" He said in a frighteningly good vocal impression of All Might.

"Uh… Ok…"

"I think Midoriya is All Might's secret lovechild." Shoto replied. Fuyumi, Ochaco and Endeavor all turned to stare at him. He blinked. "What? He has the same Quirk, he said it too." He pointed to Endeavor, "And he has definitely been getting special lessons from All Might."

"… Oh." Endeavor scratched his chin, "Well, that's… Uh." He started to think, "Well, if you can't beat them…" He glanced at Fuyumi, "Say, Fu-"

"No."

"… You don't know what I was gonna ask."

"Try me, but if I guessed right, I will set you on fire." Fuyumi replied.

"Come on, you aren't serio-" She pulled out from under the table a can of gasoline, and watched her dad blink. "Uhm… How long has that been there?"

"Long enough. You were saying?"

"I was just wondering if you…" He coughed, "Nevermind."

"Yeah that's what I thought." Fuyumi sighed, raising her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Uhm… Well, I will come up with something."

She pinched harder.

-x-

Dabi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, ignoring the weird sound his nose was making as burnt skin fell off. That was just normal. What wasn't normal were the two distinct crying men he had to watch.

Stain was in tears. Of joy. "They call him the next All Might! My pupil, the next Symbol of Peace! I was right! They called me insane but I knew this child was destined for greatness!"

And Tomura was crying in a corner. Tears of rage. "That motherfucker! I was on top of the fucking world! I was the Symbol of Evil! And then he comes in and steals my thunder like this? He planned it! He planned it all! He probably got the info from one of the rioters and used it!"

"Maybe it was just a coincidence…"

"There is no coincidence when dealing with him!" He hissed that him, clenching his fist and at the same time clutching the glass he was holding with all five fingers, reducing it to dust and spilling the content all over the table.

"It's still a big win."

"I don't care! I was supposed to terrify them, and instead he gave them hope! Again! That… piece of shit! I will…"

"You can't murder him, you know that, right?"

"Also I'm fairly sure your sister is the heir to that 'Symbol of Evil' title." Stain added, finally listening to something that wasn't his own rambling.

"I know, thank you for reminding me." Tomura growled, before his phone rang. He pulled it out, "What is it?!" He shouted.

"Ah, Togaraki. It's me, Crust."

Toga- Oh right, the Agency thing. He had sent the kid home in advance, using the excuse he didn't have an Agency anymore, but promising he would write a good recommendation to transfer him in the Hero Course. Tomura had actually done that – or well, Compress had and 'Togaraki' had signed it.

What? If Togaraki was an asshole, the kid wouldn't come back, and his attempt to turn him to evil would fail. "Hello, Crust." Tomura replied, changing his tone of voice like the bitch had taught him.

"Togaraki! I'm so sorry about your place. Does the insurance cover it?"

"Yes, but we will probably have to move…"

"Nonsense! I have contacts in Tokyo. I can get you a new building in no-time for a good price!"

"I-"

"And don't worry, I can cover the advance cost. You can pay me back by giving me criminal intel for a while." He replied. For a moment, Tomura wondered if Crust had figured him out, then shook his head. No, all Underground Heroes collected criminal intel. Apparently, that was supposedly their main job.

"Alright."

"Great! See you!"

Tomura thanked him and closed the call, sighing. Whatever, Midoriya aside the plan had gone well. The League now had street cred, and he was going to use it. Next time, there would be no Green Valley Clan in the way.

He'd make sure of that.

-x-

Izuku felt the last of a number of shivers since he had woken up, and felt really like either a lot of people were talking about him or they were gunning for his life.

Maybe both.

"Mind on the game, Valiant, if the vultures see us they will jump us and you will be forced to give your opinion on anything."

"What's distracting them, anyway?" Izuku asked, before peeking toward the main road. A pair of Heroines, one with a heteromorphic turtle Quirk and one with a heteromorphic Shark Quirk, were shouting at the press.

"The girls are. I'll owe Kameko and Sameko for this."

Izuku nodded, and they reached Miruko's car. They snuck in, and before the press could notice and swarm the vehicle, they were rushing away.

His phone rang, and Izuku pulled it out. The caller was… Himiko? "Hi?" Izuku answered.

"Izuku?" Himiko asked.

"Yeah, it's me Himiko. I'm in Miruko's car." He replied.

"I see." She took a deep breath, "Uhm, Izuku, there is something I wanted to ask."

"Y-yes?" Izuku replied.

"Uhm, I was wondering, if… If…" She paused for a moment, "If next week you want to come with me at the aquarium for a date!"

Izuku's eyes went wide. He was happy to not be driving right now, because he'd have probably crashed face first in the closest lamppost. "I… Of course! I mean, I'm glad!"

"Great! You know why, right?" Himiko asked, and Izuku, after thinking for a moment, had an epiphany.

"We… We studied together for the first time on that day, right?"

"Yes we did! I thought it would be a good c-cover story, right?"

"Y-Yeah, definitely. Thank you Himiko!"

"D-Don't mention it." She replied, "See you tomorrow!"

Izuku sighed in relief, his back falling against the seat of the car as the call ended. Already, this was a wild day, but it couldn't get any wilder, right?

His phone rang and Izuku whimpered. With trembling hands, he answered. "Hello?"

"Izukuuuuu!" His mom howled, and Izuku sighed in relief. Oh thank god, it was just his mom. "Hi mom. Sorry, I probably gave you a scare."

"A scare?! Izuku, did something bad happen?!" She asked, a scared tone in her voice.

"What?!" Izuku frowned, "No, I was just…" He paused, then shook his head, "W-Well, nothing bad anyway, I will tell you later. More importantly, sorry mom, but why did you call me?"

"Oh, right." She coughed in her fist. Izuku waited, but his mom's voice didn't come back.

"Mom?"

"I…" Inko Midoriya took a deep breath. "Sorry, baby, I just never thought I would have to… I would…"

"Mom? Are you ok mom?! Is something wrong?! I can-"

"Izuku, this is dad." Hisashi's voice suddenly said. "Sorry, I think your mom is a bit caught up in her emotions right now. I'm knee deep in water here."

"Seriously dad, I'm freaking out, is something wro-"

"Your mother is pregnant, Izuku."

stopped working, before it very loudly rebooted. "WHAT?!" He shouted, ignoring Miruko's very loud 'Holy shit!' from the driver's seat.

"Sorry, I just figured breaking the news was probably better than dancing around it."

"A-Are you sure?"

"She took the tests three times over the weekend. Either they suck, or your mom is expecting." Hisashi coughed, "Uhm… Surprise?"

Izuku wasn't sure what to say. "H-How… When…"

"We should probably talk about this later, but we figured ambushing you with the news tonight, when you came back, would have been a bit exhausting. Although I'm fairly sure you know how." He coughed in his fist, "Actually, you might also know when…"

"Oh god Was it the Sports Festival?!"

"… Maybe…"

Izuku took a deep breath. "Alright. Tonight dad, alright?"

"Yeah. Just… Sorry Izuku, this has been a surprise for all of us." Hisashi sounded really apologetic, "It was a real surprise. Uhm… See you later, Izuku."

Izuku breathed again. "Alright dad. Later. Bye mom!" He shouted, and heard in response a sound that could have been the cried version of 'bye Izuku'. He closed the call, and shook his head. "What…"

"Kid, your life is my favorite soap opera."

"My life isn't a soap opera."

"… Are you sure?"

Izuku made to answer. Then closed his mouth. He shook his head. "Nah, if it was, I'd have some ancient rivalry with another family or something."

"… Yeah, good point."

-x-

All Might considered for a moment calling, but then remembered young Midoriya was training with Miruko. While he liked the Heroine, telling Izuku on the phone, if he was around her, would fire back. He just sent a message, informing him they would have to talk on Monday, and sighed.

The Noumu had multiple Quirks. It was confirmed with the analysis of the one he fought at the USJ, and now the other showed the same thing. He thought that evil was gone, but no, he still lived and breathed. All for One was still alive, and it would be Young Midoriya's job to face him and end his legacy once and for all.

Who could even guess what that monster could be doing right now?

-x-

All for One tried the sunglasses on. He didn't need them, but people asked a lot less questions when they weren't constantly staring at his face, or lack thereof.

"What do you think?" He asked the owner of the store.

"You look very good, sir."

'Lie.' His lie detection Quirk told him.

"Do they make me look ridiculous?" He asked.

"No, sir."

'Truth.'

All for One sighed. Well, better than the last sixteen models then. Oh how he wished he still had his eyes. "I'll buy them."

"Excellent sir."

The Symbol of Evil smiled. Yeah, this vacation was definitely what he needed.

-x-

Izuku shook his head. What a day. And he had been awake for three hours.

It couldn't get weirder, right?

... Right?

(XX)

MHA folks have no idea what just hit them.

So, this chapter was a lot of fun to wright. The reactions to Izuku become the next superstar of Heroism are... varied, to say the least, and boy o boy will he get to enjoy the good and the bad of it.
I don't know which reaction is more hilarious, I'm letting you guys decide. I just know I had some good fun coming up with them.

I also want to congratulate the people that figured out Fuyumi has the hots (eh) for Burnin' and ESPECIALLY the people that figured out Inko was pregnant from the like, three hints I put through the chapters before. I thought it would fly over everyone's head, but it seems I was wrong, and that's fantastic. Indeed, her feeling sick and her being in a pharmacy to buy something somehow turned out to be enough hints.

Aquarium date too. Indeed, someone showed me an art of Toga on a date at the Aquarium, and I figured 'yeah, that probably works for that mid-may date'. This time around, coming from Himiko.

Next chapter, the meeting with the Witch Queen of HPSCngmar, and then some more stuff before we go back to UA.