You've certainly waited long enough, so let's just get right into it. More will be in the AN at the bottom.

################################

Kytheon had been in several battles. One would be hard pressed to describe his previous life as anything but stressful.

Whether it was fighting eldrazi by day and goblin gangs at night, fighting off hordes of monsters trying to overrun a city, or even just trying to survive, his nerves had to be made of steel to survive. And no matter the enemy, he always carried on with his head held high and a heart prepared to fight.

Which was why he was internally laughing and screaming about the fact that he, Gideon Jura, the hero of many tales, was struggling with a paper test.

To his credit, he knew where his strengths lay. He was a physical person, and often left the heavy mental work to someone more suited for it, like Jace. Unfortunately, that left him struggling fairly frequently against an academic situation.

Like, for example, let's say a school final.

He was having a rough go of things, but he managed to persevere and continue with his best efforts through all the days of written exams.

And, with the end of the third day of exams, and the call for pencils to be put down from Aizawa, Kytheon breathed a heavy sigh of relief. All that was left was the practical exam, and he was fairly certain that he would be able to handle himself just fine, no matter what the teachers threw at them.

################################################

A few days ago…

"With the connection between Hero Killer: Stain and the League of Villains, there is the possibility that the villains will be reinvigorated, huh?"

Principal Nezu led off the conference between the professors late at night, as the meeting had been called to discuss the finals for the students.

"Of course, it would be better to prevent that before it begins, but as a school, it would be best to be completely certain. If we consider how fights against villains will continue to intensify in today's society, then combat training against robots is not practical. Originally, robots were used to avoid complaints about people being injured in the entrance exams." the hero Snipe continued, leaning forward a bit as he talked.

"We can just ignore those. Let them say what they want." Aizawa said, folding his arms. Midnight paused.

"We can't exactly do that now, can we?"

"I understand why you want to change the exam, but having the students fight us in teams of two…"

"Yes, I think that is a bit unfair."

"If we win too easily, we won't be able to give them grades."

"Of course, we could take that into consideration and give the students a handicap."

"Principal Nezu, what do you think?"

The animal principal closed his eyes. "Of course, I also agree with changing the practical exam. What should we do to keep the students from being in even more danger? The answer is simple. We must have the students themselves become even stronger."

"That's true. I have no objections." Thirteen said, nodding their head.

"Then to determine the teams."

Aizawa began to speak, discussing the teams and the reasons he felt to pair them up, often getting confirmation from the other teachers. Then…

"Now, the last two we have Hanta Sero and Kytheon Iora. This… I will be honest and say that the only reason these two are paired together is because I did not know who best to partner Kytheon with, and Sero was the last student remaining who hadn't been paired up. We have little to no verified background information on him, and he has proven himself again and again to be vastly different to the rest of our students. Midnight, as your guardian, has he told you anything about himself?"

Midnight closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes, but I do not know how much I am at liberty to say. I will tell you, despite his outward appearance, he is a very troubled boy, with immense power, and we have yet to see it fully on display, I feel."

Aizawa nodded. "My thoughts exactly. He won the sports festival tournament pretty handily, and if the reports are to be believed, he has some form of connection with that teenager who was rampaging with the animals in Hosu, another teenager we barely know anything about with immense power unlike any we have seen so far. I am unsure of who we could even put Kytheon up against, as his hieromancy is so versatile it could negate so many of us in a one on one confrontation no matter how much we would like to dismiss it. But to create a special test just for him could backfire as well, since the finals are supposed to be a fairly standardized test…"

Principal Nezu rubbed his chin. "You are not wrong. Kytheon is a very strong young boy, but it is clear something is holding him back. He has very strong morals and an incorruptible sense of justice, and I am glad he is on our side. We do not want our students to get too comfortable with always relying on him in tough situations. Having him carry a student through this final would be unfair for the rest of them, but leaving young Sero to face a teacher by himself would be just as unfair. This is quite the predicament we have found ourselves in…"

Midnight held her chin and looked down, trying to think of the best test for Kytheon. She thought back on everything he had shared with her and tried to put together the pieces that should be there. 'Come on, think! How can we test Kytheon in a way that would challenge him?'

"Aizawa, put Kytheon and Sero in a team, and put them up against me."

"Hm?"

All the teachers turned to look at midnight.

"I know him the best after all, and my quirk stands the best chance for any of us to stop him, as we know his hieromancy can't stop suffocation, as he said he almost drowned during the USJ attack. I have the beginning of an idea for a way we can test Kytheon, but I may need a few items from the support department to bring it to fruition in a way that will force Sero to not be reliant on Kytheon, and also will not be an easy win for the pair."

Aizawa glanced at Nezu, who nodded. "Alright, I will trust your judgment on this one. Speak with Power Loader after the meeting about what you will need, and I wish you luck."

####################################

Kytheon stepped off the bus with the other students, clad in his armor, yet again repaired by the support department. He really appreciated the handiwork, as there always seemed to be some new improvement each time. An eyebrow went up when he saw the teachers all standing out front of the building, however.

"Now we will begin the practical exam. Of course, it is possible to fail this exam. If you want to go to the training camp, then don't make any stupid mistakes."

"There are a lot of teachers…" Jiro noted quietly, causing the pair of students around her to glance at her.

"I expect that you all have gathered information ahead of time and have some idea of what you will be doing."

"For various reasons, the exam will be different starting this time!" Principal Nezu declared, emerging from Aizawa's scarf and causing Kytheon to do a double take. Was Aizawa ok with that? Didn't exactly seem like something the stoic cynic would approve of. But he quickly shook himself out of it and focused again.

"From now on, we want to focus on person-to-person combat and hero work, and stress teaching that is closer to actual fighting. So… We'll have you form teams of two to fight against one teacher!"

A shout of surprise came from the students, and Kytheon himself was a little caught off guard by the statement. That was a bit more drastic than he anticipated, but he figured that it would be only fair, considering what the students had already been through. Robot combat wouldn't cut it any more.

"In addition, the pairs and who each pair will be up against have already been decided. These were determined at my discretion based on various factors, including fighting style, grades, interpersonal relationships, and more, so here they are: First, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are one team, and they're fighting me." Aizawa said, gripping his scarf. Kytheon nodded. He could see why the two were up against the quirk nullifying stare of the homeroom teacher. "And Midoriya and Bakugo are a team, and their opponent…"

Kytheon heard the wind whistling before the impact, and was shocked to see All-Might standing there.

"I… will do it!"

Now Kytheon understood the true scale of the test. And as the rest of the teams were announced, he was not too surprised to hear that he would be going up against Midnight. She did know him the best out of the staff, after all. But being partnered with Sero was interesting, he did not interact often with the tape wielding hero-in-training. He glanced over at Hanta, who had given him a resolute nod.

"The time limit for the exam is thirty minutes! Your objective is either to put these handcuffs on the teacher, or to have one of you escape from the stage!"

"Is it really okay to run away?" Kytheon heard from Mina, and he nodded. Retreating was usually a very good option, far better than trying to fight a far superior foe. Of course there are always times where retreat and escape is not an option, but that was a matter for a different lesson entirely.

"This time, your exam will be very similar to a real battle. Please think of us as villains."

Kytheon chuckled upon hearing that from thirteen. Easier said than done with some of the teachers. But looks can be very deceiving and he wasn't about to take Midnight lightly. He knew how frightening she could be.

"In cases where there's too big a difference in your abilities, it would be smarter to run away and get help. Iida, Midoriya, Iora. I'm sure you three understand this well."

Kytheon nodded, hearing similar thoughts from Izuku and Tenya as well. He paid attention to the rest of the explanation of the exam, and began wondering what Midnight would be bringing to the table when their turn came around. They were pretty late in the circulation, and so had a decent amount of time before their exam. Kytheon turned to Hanta.

"Alright Hanta, we better think of something we can do against Midnight. As much as I hate to admit it, they really chose the perfect counter for me on this test. This won't nearly be as easy as we think."

Hanta nodded, expression unreadable behind his helmet. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on being carried through this by you. Let's talk strategy."

####################################

The first few exams were exciting to say the least. Eijiro and Rikido's crushing defeat followed by Fumikage and Tsuyu's clever victory were certainly interesting spectacles. Tenya's quick thinking ensured that his team passed fairly quickly as well, and then it was time for Momo and Shoto to take the test. After a shaky start, a sudden breakthrough for Momo marked the fourth exam team's success. Time was passing quickly, and with each siren, Kytheon got more and more antsy. He wanted to watch his classmates and cheer them on, but he knew he had to focus if he wanted to pass.

"Alright, so let's go over strengths and weaknesses one more time." Hanta said, rubbing his temples. "Your shield is going to be largely useless in this fight, since it doesn't protect you from needing to breathe. You can only produce your glowing chain things from your body or the ground nearby, but you can't make them appear out of literally anywhere. Apparently you have the ability to boost the strength of teammates if you focus as well, at least, that's what you've told me."

Kytheon nodded. "That sounds about right for what I can do. And unfortunately we don't know exactly how far away from her Midnight's quirk can reach, so it is not a guarantee that I would be able to chain her in the first place. As for you, you can produce tape at high velocity from your elbows to bind opponents or utilize them for mobility. I have to admit I borrowed that idea a few times, since I had not considered it before. You seem to have a really good grasp of your quirk, despite its seemingly limited function." Kytheon stated, to which Hanta rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wow, hearing something like that from you feels pretty good. But you've pretty much nailed it. I seem to have a longer range than you with my tape, so I could possibly keep us covered if we intended on fighting or fleeing. But given the style of her quirk, I would prefer to stay out of close combat as much as possible, since getting that close would likely result in us falling asleep."

"Absolutely correct, so fleeing would be the most logical choice. However, she is built like a gymnast, and so is probably faster than at least I am, probably even with her weights on. Then there is the final problem."

"Oh?" Hanta asked, tilting his head. "What's the final problem?"

Kytheon got a serious look on his face.

"That woman has absolutely no sense of shame."

Hanta stared at him before bursting out into laughter. "Don't tell me you're such a prude that seeing any of her skin will cause you to freak out!" Kytheon shook his head and waved a hand, trying to dismiss the laughter as quickly as possible.

"No way. That is not it at all!" He declared. "It's just… She has been my legal guardian I've been living with. How would you feel, fighting your mom and she just started tearing her clothes?"

That got Hanta to shut up with a shudder. "Whoa, yeah, ok I guess I can see where you're coming from there. But hold on, you've been living with Midnight? I thought you said you were from somewhere in greece?"

Kytheon nodded. "When I was taken into police custody, they found I had no living family, and she volunteered to care for me."

Hanta blinked. "Alright. There is a lot to unpack there and I don't even know where to begin, so I am not going to even touch that whole mess. I guess the question now is, are you even ok with fighting her if you have to?"

Kytheon nodded. "That will have no bearing on this test. She is the teacher, and we are the students. That is all."

A siren blared out, announcing Mina and Denki's failure to pass the practical, earning a shake of Kytheon's head. As Koda and Jiro began their test, Kytheon glanced at the schedule, seeing they had one more after their current group before they had to report. Kytheon took a deep breath.

"So we have agreed that fleeing is the best option. One option would be to split up and run in opposite directions. However, that would mean we would be facing a Pro hero alone and without backup. One person would basically be a sacrifice while the other would make it through the gate. That doesn't sit well with me though."

"I figured you would say that." Hanta said, shaking his head. "You're not one for sacrifice plays unless it's you that you're sacrificing. I heard about what you did at the USJ, and that was pretty stupid. However, if we both ran together, Midnight would catch up to us both at the same time and we would likely be forced into a conflict scenario."

"Which neither of us are particularly fond of." Kytheon finished with a grimace. "Bad situations all around, huh."

Hanta laughed. "I mean, they did make these teams specifically to test what people aren't great at." He said. "You weren't kidding when you said they chose the best possible candidate to shut you down. At least that will give me a chance to shine a bit!"

Kytheon nodded. "If it comes down to a fight, I will more than likely have to rely on you to fend her off. I can probably shield you from any incoming attacks, since I'm fairly certain I have a more powerful defense than you, but you will have the better offense in that situation. We are missing one important variable: we don't know where we will be fighting her. We will need to adapt to the terrain pretty quickly, and our strategy might change depending on where we will be located."

"Yeah, that tracks, having an increased or decreased number of hiding places can definitely make or break our test. Too close and there's no way to avoid Midnight's quirk, too open and it could spread even farther… It looks like we will just have to see."

Kytheon nodded as the alarm went off. "Right. Well, it looks like we are up after this next one, so we'd better get going to the station we will be testing in. Don't know how long the test before us will take." He stood up, stretched, and clasped a hand on Sero's shoulder. "We are going to pass. I promise."

Hanta laughed. "Coming from you, that's serious business. Let's go show them what we're made of, big guy."

#########################################

Kytheon and Sero looked around at the rocky crags they would be fighting on. The ex-planeswalker gave the ground a kick, watching as some loose gravel skittered across.

"Alright. So clearly footing is going to be an issue here."

"And we don't have any higher places we can potentially grapple to. We are kinda stuck on foot here, aren't we." Hanta said, looking at the clear blue sky above them. Then the horn sounded and their test began. Immediately they went on guard, as despite the relatively barren location they couldn't see Midnight at all. They began to work their way towards the direction of the gate, keeping an eye out for any sneak attacks that may be launched at them. Kytheon was really curious about what his guardian was going to try in order to beat them. He knew she was a clever and brilliant hero despite the sometimes ditzy attitude she sported. Add to that how her quirk makes it very difficult to be able to combat her and you have the recipe for disaster.

"It's far too quiet. I can't even hear any wind…" Sero whispered, almost afraid to disturb the eerie silence that fell across the battlefield. Kytheon nodded.

"You're right, now that you mention it. Something isn't right. Be on you-"

He was cut off by the deafening crack of a whip.

And suddenly all he could see was flame and ash.

######################################

In the observation booth, a quartet of students were excitedly watching the screens, eager to see Kytheon in action again. Izuku always leapt at the chance to see Kytheon's quirk in action, with its strange and seemingly limitless applications. And Momo was pretty interested to see as well, since this was going to be her first time watching while also knowing about his origins.

Needless to say, there was a lot of confusion when Kytheon suddenly dropped to his knees like a stone while clutching his head.

"What the heck happened? Is Kytheon ok?" Uraraka asked, shock clear on her face. Izuku blinked.

"I… I don't know! Midnight is nowhere near them, so her whip can't possibly have hit him, so why is he reacting like this? The only time I saw him act like this before was when we were being overrun by other students, and it's not like that's the cause this time… Was it the sound?"

Momo was concerned, looking at the screen with her eyebrows furrowed as Sero tried to snap the warrior out of whatever state he was in. But then her memory brought back something Kytheon had told her.

"Erebos… he wields a whip that can reach everyone. There is no escaping the pull of death. He caught the spear with the end of his lash, and spun it around him, flinging it back at me. You guys have seen my aura firsthand and the impacts it can take. So I stood there, and the spear struck me like the blast of a bomb. There was a blinding flash of light. And… I was fine. But my friends who fought alongside me… they were not."

His hand that was resting on the table balled into a fist as he felt his heart clench, feeling a warm hand resting on it.

"That day… it haunts my dreams. The smell of burned flesh… the emotionless expression on Erebos's face, the light that seared into me… that was the day my planeswalker spark ignited. Overwhelmed with emotion, I was coated in light… and then I was gone."

Momo brought a hand to her mouth and gasped when she realized what had happened, drawing Tsuyu's attention.

"What's the matter Momo?"

"I think I know why he reacted this way… They don't know it, but they really did pick the perfect hero to go against him…"

"What do you mean?" Izuku and Ochaco asked in unison, turning to the creation hero.

"I'm not really at liberty to tell you, but he has told me a bit about his past. And let's just say… He has some trauma with whips…"

"Oh dear…" Recovery girl said, shaking her head. "That is certainly the one kind of injury I can not fix. Kytheon is a strong boy for sure, but it definitely seems like he has his fair share of baggage. All the better that he starts facing it now, rather than on a serious battlefield. Here we can help him take the important steps to recovery."

"I hope he can make it… It must really be some trauma if it managed to scar him of all people…" Tsuyu said, tilting her head.

"No kidding, he took some pretty serious injuries in the Stain incident, and was walking it off with a smile a few days later, he's so tough it's hard to imagine him getting truly traumatized by anything… Now I'm scared for him." Ochaco said, clasping her hands together.

###################################

Hanta Sero never claimed to be the best at anything. He knew his quirk was not the strongest, and his combat skills were mediocre at best. He was always fairly middling in academic affairs. He looked up to the people who were the strongest, as all kids do, and despite never really interacting with him, the tape user had healthy respect for the strange boy known as Kytheon Iora.

So needless to say, he was shocked when Kytheon was halted in his tracks with the crack of Midnight's whip. The tanned warrior seemed healthy enough when they started, but now he looked… haunted. He was sweating and trembling as his eyes stared forward, flinching when another crack echoed across the battlefield.

"Kytheon! Snap out of it, come on man!" He shouted, trying to pull the Akroan to his feet.

"R-run… get away from here…" Kytheon mumbled, trying to shake Hanta off.

"No! We decided we were going to escape together! No sacrifice plays!"

But Kytheon didn't seem to hear him, taking a shaky step towards where the sounds were coming from, only to flinch with the crack of the whip once more.

"Rrgh… Come on man!" Hanta yelled, giving a yank to his arm. When Kytheon didn't budge, Hanta paused. This was it. This was his moment. This was what the test was for after all, he couldn't just rely on Kytheon, it didn't even seem like Kytheon could rely on himself! Think, think, think!

"Come on boys, where are you~?" Midnight crooned, licking her lips. "I want to hear you good boys scream and beg~" She flicked her whip, pulverizing a nearby rock with a crack.

Suddenly Hanta had an idea. Pulling out a length of tape, he wrapped it around Kytheon's head, covering his ears with several layers of tape. Then, once that was achieved, he reared back, and slammed his fist into Kytheon's face. It felt like punching steel as the light flared brightly from the impact, but the rocking motion as well as the flash of light was enough to snap Kytheon out of the dreams he had been sucked into. He looked around, dazed and confused before seeing the very nervous looking Hanta bleeding from the knuckles. He looked back and saw Midnight just cresting over a rock and put two and two together. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reaching out and grabbing Sero's hand, a brief light glow healing the light scrape. He touched the tape covering his ears, and when he looked back and saw Midnight crack her whip again, but heard no sound, he found himself no longer worried. At this range, her whip couldn't reach them.

She wasn't Erebos.

He saw her as the guardian who had been there for him in a strange land, selflessly taking him in when she had no reason to, wearing a silly costume and carrying a strip of leather. There was no cord coiling across the sky made out of souls of the damned. It was a clear blue sky. The warrior turned to Hanta and nodded, making some handsigns to point to where they needed to go and what to do.

Hanta made two strips of tape and handed one to Kytheon before hopping onto a rock and firing a strip of tape at Midnight. Kytheon ran up, layered some magic over himself, and lifted up the rock. It wasn't a surprise that Midnight had dodged, so Hanta broke off the strip and shot a new one at a loose stone, yanking on the tape to lift it up, swinging it around before flinging it at their teacher again, who dodged and started closing in. As she approached, she tore open her sleeve and a pink cloud began to spread. Kytheon was surprised at how fast it was spreading, so both boys took a moment to apply the tape to their mouths and noses.

Knowing they had very limited time now before they needed to breathe, Kytheon braced and threw the boulder as hard as he could towards the gate. Sero, in return, turned and fired a strip of tape at the armored teen, wrapping it around his torso and pulling. With the force of the rock, the pair of them were yanked out of range, Midnight's whip barely missing Kytheon's ankle. When the rock landed, Sero leaned into the tape and heaved with all his might, sending Kytheon flying further. As he passed overhead, Kytheon couldn't help but grin as he pulled back on the tape himself, yanking Sero off his feet. Kytheon landed, planted his feet, and with the strongest pull he could manage, threw his partner like he was Mjolnir, the force of the throw bringing him along too, sending both of them flying through the gate. The alarm sounded, and the two guys collapsed in a pile, tearing off the tape, breathing heavily and laughing their butts off.

"Man that was brilliant!" Kytheon cheered, bellowing with laughter as he peeled the tape off from around his ears.

"I'd say, I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting to be able to pull my weight in this test!"

Kytheon sobered up. "Yeah, I apologize for that rough start. I have some… past with whips."

Hanta shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm kinda relieved you aren't as perfect as you seem. I-I mean, no offense or anything, but… it's kinda nice to us normal folk to see that you're human too."

He stiffened when Kytheon pulled him into a big warm embrace. "What you did today was anything but normal. You had every right to leave me there and make a break for it but you were determined to make it through with me. You're a hero."

"Aw, I love to see such youthful respect!" Midnight said, causing Kytheon to let go. "But Kytheon is right, Sero. Your quick thinking saved your partner from a dangerous situation. And both of you, managing to communicate so efficiently without the need for verbal commands, immediately knowing what the next step was as the plans changed? Amazing work that few heroes can manage to do. Kytheon… You and I will talk later about what exactly caused that trigger. That was something I didn't expect. But the important part is that you two both passed in a beautiful manner! Congratulations!"

############################################################

Kytheon sighed and closed the front door behind him, avoiding the gaze of Nemuri as he moved to drop his rucksack and take his shoes off.

"Well?" she asked, folding her arms as he stepped into his slippers and walked into the apartment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Right, I guess I never did tell you everything…"

"And now you are going to, and I won't take no for an answer. Come and sit." She said, patting the couch next to her.

And so he did, and told her everything, making sure he did not skip over a single detail about the fight with Erebos or the nightmare from Emrakul. He also continued past his death, finally telling her about the events of the nightmare from the USJ incident, and wrapping it up with his perspective on the practical exam. By the time he finished, his throat was sore and the sun was almost set. Nemuri blinked twice, sighed, stood up, and retrieved a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"As your teacher I can't recommend this, but as a person, I think you need it." She said, pouring the glasses and passing one to him. "That… whoof. That sure is a story for sure. There is a lot to unpack there, and I am not qualified for that. How many people know?"

"Momo and Toru from class know the whole story. Yoroi Musha knows a lot of it. And various others know bits and pieces of half-truths." Kytheon said, picking up the glass and taking a long swig. Nemuri's eyes softened a bit as she saw how easily he drained the glass. She clapped her hands.

"Well! It is decided then. I am enrolling you for therapy at the earliest possible convenience! We can't have you going about collapsing in the halls or on the battlefield anymore, and we need you to get good sleep! No more nightmares!" She declared. "Now let's get dinner ready, to celebrate the end of finals!"

#####################################

Kytheon blinked.

"Jeez, did someone die? What's with the clouds?" He asked, looking to the corner where it seemed most of the negative energy was coming from.

"Everyone… I'm looking forward… to hearing your stories… about training camp…" A tearful Mina sobbed. Kytheon sighed and shook his head as he fully entered the classroom and went to his seat.

"How long have they been at it?" He asked the nearest person, who he was surprised to see was actually Sero.

"All morning, if you can believe it." he replied with a chuckle.

"I can. What I can't believe is that they would actually exclude four students from a chance to get stronger when they failed the physical exam."

"No kidding. I'm just glad we managed to pass together, I would have hated to drag you down if things went south."

"What are you talking about man?" Kytheon said, turning and clapping a hand on Hanta's shoulder. "You did brilliantly!"

"Man, you two surely seemed to have bonded over the exam." Mashirao laughed as he came over. "I think this is the longest I have seen you two communicate with each other."

"What can I say, Hanta's a swell guy when you get down to it!"

"Aw jeez, don't go spouting that off." Sero said, sheepishly scratching his head. The three guys looked up to the front as they heard Aizawa entered and everyone quickly scrambled back to their seats.

"Good Morning. Unfortunately there are those who did not pass the final exams."

Getting right to it, huh? Kytheon thought to himself as he glanced at all the nervous faces of the four who failed.

"Accordingly, for the training camp in the woods… everyone's going!"

Kytheon let out a sigh of relief. "Knew it…" He mumbled.

"We can go, too?!" "Really?"

"Yeah. Some failed, but no one failed the written exam. In the practical, Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, and Sato failed. For this time's exam, we on the villain side made sure to leave a way for the students to win while watching to see how you all would take on the task at hand. If we hadn't, most of you would've gotten stuck before you started."

"So when you said you were really out to crush us…"

"That was to make you feel cornered. In the first place, the training camp in the woods is one to increase strength. So those who failed need it the most. They have to get stronger. It was a logical ruse!"

Kytheon couldn't help but burst into laughter at the sounds of celebration from his other classmates and the outburst of disappointment from Tenya.

####################################

"Well, in any case, I'm glad we can all go together." Mashirao said, looking at the pamphlet for the trip they had all been given.

"A week of training camp, huh?"

"We'll have to bring a lot with us."

"That's right!" Kytheon said, draping his arms over Izuku and Tenya's shoulders. "Man, I haven't been camping in a long time! Last time was… well… aheh… well I don't think we will have the same troubles here that I did then, so let's… not focus on that." He trailed off as his mind filled with images of trying to survive the wilds of Zendikar.

"Well, regardless, I don't have a bathing suit, I'll have to buy a bunch of stuff." Kaminari said, rubbing his chin.

"Oh I have an idea! Since we're off tomorrow, and we just finished our exams, why doesn't class A all go shopping together?" Toru cheered, the grin visible even on her invisible face. Kytheon felt the infectiousness of her positivity spread.

"That's a great idea!" He declared, standing up. "As Class Rep, I declare that tomorrow we shall all go shopping together to celebrate the end of finals and get the stuff we need for camp!" He paused and looked to Momo for help. "Um… what's a good shopping place? I'm… not exactly an active shopper, myself."

"Kiyashi ward shopping mall, it's the biggest one, with all the newest and most popular stores. Let us all meet there tomorrow morning to get the most shopping done possible!"

"You heard the boss!" Hanta laughed. "See you all there tomorrow!"

##############################

Kytheon was certainly quite impressed when he arrived at the mall, dressed in a loose tank top and shorts. Most of his shopping that he had done since arriving in Japan was done at the various small stores nearby or by Nemuri. So the sheer grandeur of the marketplace was staggering to beyond. Never had he seen such an enormous place of business in his life. He looked at his watch, having gotten there early to provide a rally point for the other students to meet up, sending a text to the group chat that had popped up overnight thanks to Toru's insistence. Of course, shortly after that he realized the folly of arriving so early and not in disguise, as several people around him started whispering about him. He sighed to himself, put on a small smile and waved at some of the loudest of the gawking fans. He became a bit nervous as they started closing in until a cheerful declaration caught his attention. He turned and saw Mina Ashido waving at him while next to a bunch of other students, fresh from the train they must have taken to get here.

"Hey big guy! Thanks for the text!"

Kytheon laughed. "Even if I hadn't you probably would have found me anyways, it looked like the crowd was about to come crashing in on me, so thanks for the save. I forgot that people probably would have still remembered the UA festival…"

Mina giggled. "Yeah, that probably left an impact on quite a few people!" she said, and Kytheon saw how some of the people in the crowd and even some of his classmates shift a little awkwardly as the mental image flashed through their heads. Soon it began breaking down into idle chatter about the various things they needed to buy, and Kytheon pulled out the small list from his pocket.

"Alright, it looks like everyone's here, and it seems like we all need different things. Perhaps we should divide and conquer, then. Make sure you always have a buddy with you and never go anywhere alone. Then we should all meet back here at… let's say three."

Kyoka smirked. "I think Iida and Aizawa are starting to rub off on you, Kytheon. You sound like my dad." That comment earned a couple laughs, including one from Kytheon himself.

"Well, old habits die hard and all that. Someone's gotta keep you rowdy kids in line."

"I'd say you're one of the ones needed to be kept in line the most, mister showoff!" Denki teased. Kytheon let a big smile spread across his face. It almost felt like he was with his irregulars again.

"Point taken. But that plan sound good?" A chorus of affirmation rang out. "Good. Then I will see you all in a couple hours!"

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This was not what he had meant. When he heard that Izuku had been threatened by Shigaraki, he was furious, equally so when the police and other pro heroes would not let him join the investigation to find the man responsible. He had let his guard down, shopping with friends for frivolous items he didn't really need, and one of his friends could have easily died without him noticing. The entire walk back to his apartment had been silent, fists clenched tightly. Shigaraki was still out there. Domri Rade was still out there, and worse still it seemed like both were slowly gathering followers. Investigations into the so-called "Gruul" were constantly popping up in the news as areas in the slums were destroyed and their symbol painted on any rubble still standing. Not a single person had seen Domri since the incident, but people tired of living constrained to societal norms had been finding themselves pulled into the tide of his wake.

The whole mess pissed Kytheon off to no end.

He growled and punched the wall of the alley he was in, his aura flaring briefly as he made a small hole in the bricks. Then he noticed something strange. He closed his eyes and focused before touching his hand to the ground, attempting to draw some mana from his surroundings, only to find there was a little bit more permeating the earth than when he had tried in the past. It felt almost like the mana in the Gruul territories on Ravnica.

He needed to keep an eye out, he decided. Domri had to be up to something.

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I think I will call it there for this chapter.

Yeah, it has been way too long since I last updated this. God, January of '21 huh?

A lot has happened since then, which has delayed me updating any of my stories for so long. Classes, getting a job, leaving that one for a better job, discovering my passion for woodworking, stuff just kept piling on, and these stories kept getting pushed to the back of my head. Not to mention, I really struggle with writing fight scenes sometimes, and every time I took a break, I would end up having to reread my whole story just to remember the major points I've hit so far. Perfectionism can kinda suck.

But that's not to say I've completely given up on writing any of my stories, this won't be the last update. It may take a while but I do intend to keep writing this one and the Pentakill Peerage story too. But it won't be fast since work eats up so much time and energy.

Thank you all so much for the support on this story, I felt so guilty leaving you guys for so long and I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Up next is that wonderful summer camp arc, and I'm actually pretty excited for that one. Trying to fill the little gaps between the enormous plot points is always a bit of a challenge.

But once again, thank you for the continued support. See you all later!