God damn it has been awhile huh? Sorry about that folks but you know how it is, life and all that...man life hits ya hard sometimes.

But! Good news is that a new chapter has graced us all! I've been reading all of your reviews and they've really been a big help in helping me get this chapter back, I'm really glad you're all liking the story thus far!

Well, without any further ado I think I've kept you waiting long enough! Let's get to it!

Chapter Three: Momo Yaoyorozu & Eijirou Kirishima

Kirishima liked to think of himself as a good friend. More than that he liked to think of himself as a manly friend, which is why he was so adamant on his support of his best friend in the form of Bakugou Katsuki.

Sure, at the beginning of the year he was a bit rough around the edges but he had really mellowed out as time went on! They didn't even have to drag him to meet ups and hangouts anymore. Ever since the USJ Incident Kirishima felt himself drawn to the explosive blonde, not just because of the power and skill he showed but also his drive.

When Bakugou proclaimed he was going to be the best Kirishima believed him, despite his cursing he had this strange sort of charisma about him. It was one of the reasons he joined up with him at the Sports Festival and why Kaminari and Sero started hanging around them during lunch too.

Mina often joined them as well, but he wouldn't exactly say she was part of the squad. She liked to mess with Bakugou and considered him a friend but the pink skinned girl didn't hang out with them as much as people outside of 1A tended to think.

Which was understandable considering the nickname that seemed to annoy her in the beginning.

He's glad she saw it as a term of endearment now.

But back to the point, Kirishima prided himself on being a good friend—no on being a best friend to Bakugou Katsuki. He'd broken through the prickly shell first and that cracked allowed the others to worm their way into the boys heart. But then…then things started to go wrong.

Then Bakugou got kidnapped.

They saved him of course but from there it had all gone on a ride that ended with them downhill.

From the Culture Festival things had just gotten bad, really bad. The war had changed and damaged everyone and none were more affected than Bakugou was.

He was fine. He didn't need any help, his friends were more important.

He had lost his quirk and with it his spark, Kirishima could see the fire that had drawn the redhead to him dwindle into an ember once the war had come to an end. For the first few weeks back Kirishima had to watch as Bakugou became a different person. He became quiet and subdued, hell he barely yelled at the squad during the study sessions if he even bothered to go in the first place.

It hurt Kirishima to see him this way and to know he could do nothing to help.

It hurt even more to see someone he considered a friend do everything in their power not too.

Even now sitting in class Kirishima didn't understand the sudden change in Midoriya, he was so adamant in saving Bakugou back in Kamino. Hell, he was Bakugous childhood friend! So to see him avoid Bakugou so suddenly was…jarring…to say the least.

Even more so after that private conversation they had.

'Never seen him curse before.' He thought, looking ahead as Aizawa entered the room. 'But if he got that angry then that just proves my point right? Why else would he react like that?'

Maybe he was being unfair, but he couldn't come to any conclusion other than Midoriya was quirkist against people without them. He didn't want to think that, but things added up too nicely.

He started avoiding Bakugou when it was revealed he didn't have a quirk anymore, when everyone showed their support he stayed silent or walked away. He refused to even look at Bakugou and said that it was none of their business why he was acting like this according to Todoroki!

Well fine! If he was going to act like a jerk Kirishima wasn't going to hang out with him anymore, something his friends seemed to agree with. Well, not all of them agreed with lightly antagonizing the green haired boy but that's besides the point.

Midoriya needed an extra push to get his head out of his ass and Kirishima was going to give it to him!

"Today you'll be doing individual sparring," Aizawas voice brought the redhead out of his musings. "You'll be doing so without the use of your quirks. For those with mutations we'll have you try your best to limit the use of your boy. Ojiro no using your tail, Asui no using your tongue or hopping, Shoji don't use anything but your initial arms."

Kirishima perked up with a smile. Quirkless sparring? This was perfect!

He sent a smile Bakugous way who caught it before rolling his eyes with a 'tch' but he knew he was excited. He was close enough with the blonde at this point to catch the way his hands flexed in excitement. Bakugou always liked a good fight and that hadn't change because he'd lost his quirk. In fact it seemed to grow since then, his explosive friend seemed to be annoyed whenever they weren't in a combat lesson nowadays.

'He needs to prove himself now more than ever after all!' He thought standing up with the rest of the class and getting into groups. 'And since its quirkless fighting he should ace this!'

Bakugou was always more than his quirk after all, even without it he'd been improving and making his own fighting style with Uraraka and his help. He'd even started taking those extra lessons with Shinsou that Aizawa had offered and he was making steady progress!

Progress that was evident when Kirishima soon found himself flat on his back inside Gym Gamma.

"Lost again Kiri!" He heard Mina giggle over from her own group causing him to laugh as well.

"Tch, get up shitty hair we're going again."

"Ah, c'mon Bakugou, give him a break." Uraraka said, helping him up. "You've fought him more than me already."

"Because shitty hair over here needs it more! In case you haven't noticed, his plan is just to punch things Round Cheeks!"

Kirishima chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, he had to admit that his friend had a point there. For the longest time he'd just used his quirk to bulldoze or tank through any task in front of him, even during the war he'd been little more than a berserker on the field. Now fighting without the use of his quirk he realized that wouldn't cut it in the long run, especially with the remnants of the LOV still out there.

He looked over to the other groups as Uraraka and Bakugou got into one of their playful arguments, something that'd been happening more and more since she started hanging around them, and surveyed how they were doing. As expected, they were all having some form of difficulty in one way or another.

Kaminari was getting trounced by Tokoyami in their group with Sero and he could see Mina and Ojiro having a pretty intense spar while Aoyama remained on the floor all bruised up beside them.

But really, only one group caught his full attention.

"Crap!" Jirou yelped as Midoriya tripped and pinned her to the floor. "Everytime!"

"You telegraph your punches a lot." The boy laughed as the punk girl groaned and their frog partNER looked on in amusement.

Kirishima had some…conflicting views when it came to 1A's resident music girl. Oh, don't get him wrong, he thought she was great! Jirou was as manly as any of his classmates and he'd always have her back in the field but…well…

He had to suppress a wince when he looked over and saw Kaminari staring at her in sadness. The two hadn't been seen together once since she'd ended their friendship, heck Mina said that it was rare for her to come to girl nights anymore too. His pink skinned friend seemed really worried about her.

'I don't want to isolate her from everyone Kiri.' He remembered her saying.

'But that's what we've been doing to Midoriya and—'

'Don't think I feel good about doing that either! I feel sick doing this to him but I'm trusting you because Bakugou won't say anything and you're the only one who's gotten Midori to open up. Jirou is showing support to our friend who's been alone for the past few weeks and don't think I don't know what you, Kaminari and Shinso tried to do in our last rescue session.'

Kirishima winced as the memory surfaced in his mind, yeah...not one of his manliest moments. Mina had been furious that he'd let the two carry out their plan and even more so that he knew about it at all. He had just been upset at how upset Kaminari was for taking Jirou away from them. He knew how bad that sounded but he knew Kaminari was upset because it looked like Jirou had abandoned their friendship for Midoriya.

Who was basically bullying his other friend.

Nevermind the fact that said 'bully' was more withdrawn than ever, only seemingly relaxing and opening up when around Jirou or Tsuyu.

You wouldn't tell at an initial interaction what with Jirou constantly making jokes about him frying their brain but the two were good friends and now…well the fact Jirou hadn't made a joke once about it since then was evident in how that had deteriorated.

But they were trying to knock some sense into Midoriya not actually get him hurt, something Mina had further beaten into both his and his fellow conspirators heads. Of Class A she had been one of the more vocal against their plan with Midoriya, the only reason she went with it was because she was outvoted and she trusted his word.

It meant the world to him, but it also meant the pressure was on.

He came up with this plan and now he had to deliver results.

He had to get Midoriya to make up with Bakugou and he had to do it soon, at the end of the day they had all come too far to be split up forever over one persons wrong worldview.

'I think it's an awesome quirk! Definitely a quirk that'll be of great use to a pro hero!'

He shook his head as Bakugou chastised him for not paying attention and called him back to continue their training. How could someone so excited about every quirk under the sun be so against those without?

It just didn't make any sense.

This doesn't make any sense.

As the class took their break Momo Yaoyorozu found herself deep in thought because none of what had been happening recently made any sense whatsoever.

'Midoriya-kun isn't that type of person, I know he isn't. He's put his life on the line for us so many times…there has to be another reason for his actions.'

Yes, Momo Yaoyorozu did not adhere to the same conclusion that the rest of her classmates assumed was fact. Especially with so little evidence on hand.

'I understand everyone's worries but just his word alone shouldn't be the only evidence to justify their plan of action. I—I don't believe anyone has really asked for Midoriyas side of the story.'

Speaking of which.

Momo took some comfort in seeing Jirou and Tsuyu staying by the boys side, the vice president of Class A was happy that he seemed to relax around them. She will admit however that she missed Jirou by her side, her presence was sorely missed as was Tsuyus.

'At least Jirou still comes to girls night occasionally, Tsu has stopped coming all together.'

The frog girl hadn't been seen outside of class or Class A outings and even then she always went with and stuck to Midoriya. Jirou at least made some time to spend with Momo but it was like the frog girl had cut them off as one cuts off a rotting arm.

"Then again…it's not like I can blame her."

"Hm? What was that Yaoyorozu?"

"Oh! Um, nothing Ida."

"Are you sure?" The boy frowned. "You seem to be down as of late."

She winced, was she that obvious?

"It's nothing just," She looked at her classmates. "I'm worried about the schism that is forming between us."

"I understand what you mean. It is quite unbecoming of the actions taken as of late."

Momo smiled up at the boy, he knew her fellow representative would get it. After all they did come from the same background just as Todoroki had. They knew the effects of ostracization albeit in different forms. She wasn't so arrogant to say their experiences were on the same level but she was glad that—

"Maybe I should talk to Midoriya, a direct confrontation may work better with him." He said, wiping the smile off of Momos face. "His behavior is having an effect on all of us and…I'm concerned about his deteriorating relationship with Bakugou."

The black haired woman withheld a sigh and a wince. An action she found herself doing more and more of as of late. She had complicated feelings when it came to their classes resident explosion boy, he was what Momo would describe as a typical delinquent. He was brash and loud and cursed in every other sentence and at first Momo wrote him off as that.

But as the year went on, and god isn't it crazy that so much happened in only a year, Momo saw a different side to Bakugou. The blonde was smart, in the top ten of the class academically and when it came to battle? Well, Momo could admit her faults when she made them. She had judged Bakugou at face value and he'd proved her wrong, something he seemed to do a lot.

Momo wouldn't say she was close with him but she considered him a friend and she supported him like all of their other friends did….but Momo was also a realist.

Bakugou would never become the Number One Hero.

Not that there's anything wrong with that! Nor did she have a problem with people without quirks, it's just…

"Ida, do you really think Bakugou could become number one as he is now?"

"Of course." He said chopping his hands in the air. "Bakugou is one of the most determined people I've met, I'm sure he can achieve his dream!"

Momo wasn't so sure. Bakugou could very well become a hero but there was no way he could become a hero like All Might or Endeavor. Especially with how he was going, he was still fighting like he had his quirk. He was too aggressive, too used to keeping the pressure on and while that could work most of Bakugous fighting style needed his quirk to work.

But he was stubborn. Bakugou may have changed but he hadn't changed enough, he was refusing to adapt to a new form under the guise of stubbornness that everyone else saw as determination and progress.

It wasn't progress. Whatever he was trying to learn was clunky and complicated, he was trying to add aspects of other fighting styles into his original which, again, required that he still had his quirk to use! He may be beating Kirishima in these spars, but the boys strategy was to bulldoze his way through fights.

Kirishima didn't have a fighting style which worked for him because he made himself a tank that took hits and hit back hard.

Bakugou was a mobility fighter, said mobility came from using his explosions to propel himself and Momo knows he's smart enough to request something to help make up for that but he hadn't. He had added some more basic grabs and kicks she recognized as Aizawa senseis style but that was it. He wasn't like Shinso who was using a copy of their senseis capture tool and she knew he wasn't going to ask Uraraka for anything more than a few spars.

Heck, the only change his costume had received had been the removal of his gauntlets!

Bar Kirishima, Kaminari and Koda when it came to practicing CQC Bakugou had lost to everyone in the class almost consecutively and no one seemed to want to confront him on why.

'It's going to get him killed.' Momo thought, glancing his way. 'It's going to get him killed if he doesn't change. If he doesn't realize that he's not the same as he was.'

People wanted to act like nothing had changed but it had. When it came to how he wanted to handle his career everything changed for Bakugou.

He was quirkless.

He wasn't the same anymore; he was at a disadvantage.

Momo wanted to speak up, she wanted to confront her classmates and discuss how to actually help their friend and move on…but she was afraid.

She was a coward.

She looked over to the new version of the Dekusquad as their break was called to an end. Her gaze focused on their leader, on her friend that everyone seemed unaware they were turning against.

She remembered what had happened months prior, how that conversation had put so many peoples views into perspective. She pushed that feeling of lead down because surely they all remembered what had happened. What they had learned and why it was ridiculous that of all people Izuku would be quirkist.

'This will only get worse if someone doesn't do anything but I can't act rashly.' The vice-rep thought. 'I have to get Midoriyas side of the story, I can't just sit on the sidelines and watch everyone fall apart!'

With newfound resolve Momo stood with confidence as Aizawa called for their break to end. She'd get to the bottom of this by doing what she did best, it should be easy to simply ask Midoriya for information after all.

But she already had that information didn't she? She had all she needed but she was being a coward and she knew it.

One week later and Momo found that it was actually extremely difficult to get a moment alone with Midoriya.

The boy seemed adamant in wanting to avoid everyone but Tsu and Jirou and those two were adamant in keeping him away from the others.

Try to call out to him? He pretended to not hear her.

Try to approach him and one of the girls would be there to dissuade her or direct him away.

Momo wouldn't dare try to bring this subject up during class or their practical lessons for fear of both possibly failing and pushing Midoriya away.

Not that she hadn't already, she hadn't spoken up to stop her fellow classmates after all.

"What do I do?" The black haired beauty bit her nail as she sat cross legged on her bed.

In front of her was an open notebook with various plans written across its pages. Some were crossed out while others were highlighted, as always Momo did her best work when she had a plan in mind beforehand. Yes, she knew that simply putting all her bets onto one plan was bad—as her fight during the Sports Festival had shown her- but that didn't mean not coming up with one was the way either.

Momo thrived on plans.

She enjoyed having a schedule and sticking to it. Yes, over the course of time at UA she's learned to enjoy and adapt to deviations to said plans but she much liked it when things went how they were thought out.

Which brings her to her current situation.

Knocking on the dorm door Momo wasn't surprised to see the scowl planted on Bakugous face upon being interrupted. The boy tended to love his alone time away from the chaos of their class and unless you were one of the Bakusquad you could expect a yell that boiled down to 'leave me alone' with curses attached in the middle.

So it was important to get her point across first and sternly.

"We need to talk Bakugou." She said, the red eyed boy frowning at her tone. "May I?"

The blonde scowled for a moment before letting her in, Momo admired how clean his room was. Despite his prickly attitude Bakugou always had a surprisingly good amount of domestic skills and that seemed to extend to his room as well.

"You gonna gawk all day or do you want to get to the point Ponytail." He growled, hopping onto his bed.

"Very well," She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'd like to talk to you about your relationship with Midoriya."

Bakugous scowl turned into a deep frown at her words and she noted how his entire demeanor changed. His shoulders became hunched, his body visibly tensing and his eyes gaining a certain hard edge.

"What goes on between me and the nerd isn't anyone's business but our own."

"Forgive me but I beg to disagree." Momo pressed with a frown. "It is not just between the two of you, not anymore."

His silence told her that he knew exactly what she was talking about. To even imply that Bakugou didn't notice what was happening would be an insult to his own intelligence which begged the question.

Why hadn't he said anything?

"Bakugou, I know this may be difficult but I need you to be honest with me regarding Midoriya. It seems like people have taken Kirishimas words and facts and no one seems to be willing to hear his side." Momo said. "Before UA you were the closest to him, is there any way that—"

"Shitty hair and the other extras are being stupid, the nerd clean." He snapped, cutting her off. "Of everything they could accuse him of being a racist is the dumbest shit I could think of."

"Then why is he acting this way? If what you say is true, why not step in and clear the air?" She asked noting how he got more agitated by the question.

"It's none of your fucking business."

"It is very much my business Bakugou."

Momos voice was as firm as her eyes were hard, she had come a long way since the self-doubting first year she had been. She had been through a war however brief it was, she'd gotten her Provisional License on her first try, she was the Vice President of Hell Class 1A and it was high time she started acting like it.

"Whatever is happening between you two is affecting the rest of the class, it is fracturing us Bakugou and I won't have that." Momo shook her head. "The others are supporting you in continuing heroics, we're all supporting you through your sessions with Hound Dog—"

The blonde flinched at the mention of his therapy sessions.

"—But I feel as if we're overlooking a great many things. There is always a reason to peoples actions and someone like Midoriya wouldn't act like this without—"

"Whatever shitty Deku is up to has nothing to do with me." Bakugou growled, cutting her off and taking a step forward. "If you want to find out what's going on, ask him."

"I am asking you."

Black stared into red as Momo looked down at the boy…he hated it. You know now that he thought about it, he may be beating her in the physical aspect of Heroics but she's always been ahead of him in academics. Even when it came to helping their classmates they all flocked to her instead of him, he may have the upper hand in the physical department but what good did that do him in the long run?

What good did that do him in the war?

He felt the scar from Shigarakis attack flare up in pain.

He was weak and his body knew it.

Momo knew it too, she had too. It was the only reason she was looking down at him and demanding answers right now.

He wasn't weak, he took that hit so they would all have a chance to survive. So Deku would get the motivation to win. Save and Win, he wasn't weak for living up to that ideal. He should care about what everyone is doing, he knows exactly what's happening even if these extras were too stupid to realize it.

"Get out."

"Bakugou please—" Momo stopped at the look Bakugou gave her, she saw something flare in them. Something beneath the reservedness that had consumed him as of late. It was something she saw when their classes first started and as she quietly left she realized that it wasn't just determination driving Bakugou anymore.

It wasn't just the desire to keep his place and prove he was still just as good even without a quirk.

No, as she silently walked back to the girls dorm Momo realized that she had to get her answers much faster so she could resolve what was happening before it was too late.

Because if Bakugou was truly regressing to who he was at the start of their first year then things were about to get very bad very fast.

She had a plan.

It took her three days to think of a plan, three days of being a coward, she'd go and sit with him at lunch today. Whether he was there with his friends or not Momo would simply walk up and ask to sit with him. From there she'd eat lunch and hopefully settle into a calm atmosphere before bringing everything up. She hoped that her friendship with Jirou and Midoriya would prevent them from simply shutting her down if she was sincere enough.

She had a plan. Yet the universe seemed to want to always blow her plans out of the water because on this particular day Midoriya was sitting alone…and that made him a target.

When she'd entered the cafeteria her eyes immediately zeroed in on the green haired boys table which was absent of his now usual friends. A table that she saw was gaining more and more attention as a voice she knew all too well was getting louder and louder.

She opened her mouth to speak, to try and get Kirishima to calm down from whatever argument he was having or trying to start. Maybe get them both to calm down so they could talk more amicably when she caught sight of Midoriyas face. He kept it down, eyes planted firmly on his food as he poked at it. It startled Momo that he looked so…defeated…it was jarring.

She had seen Midoriya nervous before, heard him become a stuttering blushing mess at the giving of compliments as well as the opposite. She'd seen him determined, seen him fierce in battle, fierce in protecting his friends but now…now he looked…

He looked like he'd given up.

It sparked something in her, something that caused her to rush before and before she knew what she was doing she was pulling Kirishima backwards and pushing him away.

"Momo wha—"

"Enough."

Whatever Kirishima was going to say was silenced by the edge in her tone, she paid no heed to how a similar hush fell over the cafeteria as she glared at the boy.

"Enough. You're going to stop now Kirishima."

Whatever plans she had. Whatever calm words she wanted to convey were thrown out the window and replaced with a fury she reserved for their enemies.

"You are going to stay away from him from now on Kirishima, if you confront him like this again I will have Aizawa put you in detention. You have been harassing and pushing him since the war ended and I won't—I can't stand it anymore."

"I'm not harassing anybody!" He exclaimed. "I just want answers! I want him too—"

"So what you want just supersedes what your friends want? Your thirst for knowledge dictates that forcing it from him is the acceptable solution?" Momo fired back. "You've done nothing but hound Midoriya and I've had enough of it Kirishima. None of us are entitled for answers but even if we were how you're going about it is the wrong way. Leave. Now."

Kirishima seemed hurt by her words, by her turning against him just as Tsuyu and Jirou had but she couldn't find it in herself to care. Not when Midoriya had reminded her too much of herself in that moment. Not when she had a duty to uphold.

She was a hero and right now Midoriya needed saving.

"Yaomomo, I—"

"Kirishima, I won't ask you again. If you don't leave I'll call the teachers next." He flinched. "I know you're confused and I know you're trying to protect your friend…but maybe you should think about how 'manly' your help truly is."

It wouldn't get through to him. She knew that. Kirishima was too stubborn for his own good, it was a trait she thought she could admire. But now she saw it as nothing but a detriment both to their class and his own wellbeing.

The black haired girl waited until Kirishima had fully gone from the area before turning around, it was only upon seeing Midoriyas stare directed to her and her alone that she realized what she'd done.

'Ahhhh!' She screamed internally. 'The entire plan I had is ruined! Here I am reprimanding Kirishima for his brashness and I did the same thing!'

"I—I'm sorry Midoriya." Momo bowed. "I meddled in something I didn't understand I had hoped to talk to you privately but—"

"Want to have lunch with me?"

She looked up in surprise. "E-excuse me?"

"The others had other things to do today, it's probably why he came over in the first place. He always wants to talk to me when I'm alone." The boy said moving over to make space for her. "I don't want to risk him coming back if you leave…"

Was it really that simple? She had so many possibilities and plans for if Midoriya didn't want to talk to her. Scheduling a private talk, asking the others to sit in, talking to the others as a proxy but she didn't think he would just let her in.

Especially since she's been nothing but a cow—

"Momo?"

"Ah! Yes?"

"It was brave, standing up to him like that. No one else wants too. Thank you."

…Oh.

As she sat down and Midoriya smiled while talking quietly to her Momo thought that maybe she wasn't such a coward after all.