Izuku yawned behind his hand shortly after sitting down for lunch in the cafeteria. It had become a somewhat normal ocurrence over the weeks, and he wasn't the only one to notice it.

"Say, I'm not that used to you guys yet, so let me ask, is that a normal thing for you? The yawning? Because you've been doing it way too frequently." Shinsou asked from his right.

"It isn't. Worse is that I don't feel tired at all, I could run around the school if I wanted to." He ran a hand through his hair, hoping that that would somehow alleviate the sensation. "I went to Recovery Girl earlier just in case, and she doesn't think there's anything wrong with me. She even took a blood test. Says it might be just my body's way of adjusting to a new routine."

"A new routine? What might that be...?" Shinsou said with a smirk, doing a purposely bad job at feigning ignorance.

"Shinsou... I know exactly who voted for me, and you were one of them. Why pretend you don't know...?"

"Because it's hilarious."

So, notable change, he was assigned class vice-president. He didn't know exactly why. Maybe it was because he was seen as a good planner, or maybe just because the class didn't want others in the position. In all honestly, it wasn't even that big of a deal, it was a whole less responsability that he thought it would be, so far he just had to assist to some meetings outside of class.

The fact that it wasn't that big of a deal made it specially strange that he had been getting sleepy lately. He didn't went through that when he picked up his training routine, or even entering classes at U.A. The fact that he shouldn't even be getting like that, at least from a medical standpoint was beyond bizarre. The whole thing was, being full of energy but with his body still wanting to sleep was a whole new sensation to him, one he wasn't exactly a fan of.

"I just hope this whole thing goes away soon..."

"Hm. At least you don't fall asleep out of nowhere, you're Top Deck, not Narcolepsy Man." Shinsou commented. "Maybe see if coffee helps."

"It doesn't. Not even the energy drinks Hatsume uses when she wants to work on a baby all night." He sighed before pulling out his phone. "Also, yes, drinks, plural."

"Huh. I feel like that should surprise me. It doesn't." Shinsou also pulled out his phone. "I'm assuming since she's not here, she's working on something, right?"

"Yeah... Apparently she's been working on some high density weights for a while now. Weird thing it's that she said she's not supposed to tell me about them."

"Huh, weird."

Just like that, that small conversation was over.

Lunches with the guy were like that. Quiet. He sat next to Izuku whenever Uraraka decided to have lunch with her other friends and Hatsume was busy with her babies. They didn't talk much, commenting briefly on one topic before simply staying quiet until another topic of interest came up.

Izuku stared at the news feed, checking if there was anything of interest.

Huh, Burnin started her own agency. I guess it makes sense, she was well known as Endeavor's sidekick, and when you were well known as a sidekick in an agency with lots of them, it's possible that you might suddenly have a better chance at being a standalone Pro. I suppose.

He kept scrolling, it was pretty much the usual, a few heroes debuting, other defeating a villain that was commiting a grave crime, some of the heroes activities outside of heroism. That was until he saw an article that made him frown. 'Movements in the criminal underground. Sightings of Hero Killer Stain along with mysterious ally.'

The article barely contained more concrete information other than that. There were multiple people that claimed to have seen what the title said, however, given that it was from a distance, that was barely news worthy. What was, was the fact that one of those people managed to get a picture. Blurry and taken a distance away, making the quality worse when zoomed in, it showed two people, one of them at the very least was wearing very similar clothing to the Hero Killer, and the other seemed to be someone wearing a yellow cape and a top hat. Or was it a trenchcoat?

The rest of it was mostly speculation, what could this mean if true, should people be worried about this, should the Heroes make more of an effort to capture the villain?

People were talking about it in the comments, a decent portion saying 'Slow news day?' 'Just a bad quality pic, doesn't mean anything'.

He'd like to think that way as well, but... With just a guess, he could tell. This was real. That really was the Hero Killer in the picture, and next to him was an ally of his.

"I don't get it..." Disbelief and frustration echoed on the small room, illuminated only by a pair of of computer screens. "It makes no sense. No sense at all!"

"Care to elaborate, Shigaraki Tomura?" The mist asked calmly, hoping that the query wouldn't cause much of a reaction.

A finger violently thrust itself towards one of the screens, almost knocking it over, it displayed the somewhat blurry picture of a figure wearing red clothes with hints of silver, and another figure with a yellow trenchcoat and a top hat.

"This is, it's another one. They're still talking about Stain! He hasn't even done anything since our attack! I've been counting them, Kurogiri. Seventy-nine. Seventy-nine articles about him ever since they said he killed Native and that other kid. They announced that less than a month ago! Eight of those articles were published yesterday! And for what!? For a crappy picture taken with a shaky cellphone!?"

Pause. Indeed. Those were the facts, there was no need to comment on those. Kurogiri didn't understand why those would warrant such a reaction, and in such cased, it was better to wait and see if Shigaraki explained himself furthermore.

"You know how many our attack got ever since we did it...? Eight. Five them the next day and three the day after! Why hasn't he faded into obscurity like he should!? I don't get it! And why are people barely talking about our Nomu!?" As he vented, Shigaraki grabbed the screen out of frustration.

There went another monitor. Kurogiri quickly and quietly disposed of the dust and the remaining pieces of hardware with his Gate.

"In time our actions will get more recognizition. You already know we are using our contacts and what reputation we have for recluitment, bigger numbers will also bring bigger infamy to our organization." After he said that Kurogiri silently contemplated.

It was the reason he was checking on Tomura's room instead of comfortably tending to the bar, yet he knew that telling him the news would cause a negative reaction on the man in front of him.

"However," he began, deciding it was better to get over with it now, "one of our contacts informed me of another party looking to expand and form into a respectable group."

Shigaraki saw right through his attempt of easing into the topic, judging by the way he narrowed his eyes. "Kurogiri... I know you wouldn't bring up a group of fodder that we would absorb into our group later. So, why, why are you just not telling me who it is?"

"If our friend is to be believed, then the Hero Killer is willing to recluit like-minded people to his cause. Given he has already gotten himself an ally."

"What?" Shigaraki looked at the remaining screen, still displaying the 'crappy picture taken with a shaky cellphone'. "So that picture's legit...?"

"That man is one of our informants clients, Mr. Compress, who came to him, accompanied by Stain, and asked to be informed of any individuals looking to join a group. Unfortunately, that's all that was said."

"Hmph. At least it's an easy mission, we'll just send one of our own to know their hideout."

"I am afraid that's not going to be possible, they had the foresight to ask if they were associated with us, the informant complied and answered truthfully. He was thinking that they were interested in joining our group, and wasn't aware we were on bad terms with the Hero Killer. After that, they left. We only have Mr. Compress' contact through our associate, which I'm sure it's been long replaced since they found out we would have a means of adquiring it."

"So we can't even locate him!?" He began scratching his neck. "What the hell...? So frustrating... I guess it's a waste, we'll just have to kill the informant."

"I would much rather we didn't. We're already short on numbers as is, and doing so would only make those who aren't on either side favor the Hero Killer's. We may not be as well known, but we have a bigger pool of resources to draw upon, that will attract people, people we can then join into our ranks."

"So we recluit as many as we can...?"

"Indeed. If I may, I would suggest using whatever new forces we adquire as soon as possible and with something that has a great impact, as that would help us obtain momentum for even more recluits."

"Ugh..." The scratching stopped. "Fine, hiring whoever we can find is gonna be such a pain, but... I already have a Quest we could accept."

Izuku yawned again as he entered the class accompanied by Shinsou, there were still a good couple of minutes before the last class of the day started, and as such, most of the class was chatting between themselves.

"Yo, Midoriya, Shinsou! C'mere!" Kaminari called out to them.

And so they approached, not really having a reason not to.

"So, you guys know the finals that are coming up?"

"Yeah, the one I'm somehow better prepared for than half of the class, what of it?" Shinsou asked casually.

"Not the written one! The practical. And for your information, Mr. New Guy with Good Grades-"

"That's a long ass name."

"-I've been studying, so don't get too comfortable in your spot."

"Uh-huh. So, what's that about the practical?"

"Well... It seems we don't have to worry about those. Y'see, some upperclassman told Itsuka from 1-B that the practical it's just a fight against robots. And that's easy peazy."

"So, I'm screwed, was that all?"

"Wait, seriously...? I mean, yeah, they're robots, but, c'mon man, if Mineta and Hagakure could handle them at the beginning of the year, so can you."

"... Damn it, I forgot that guy also passed the entrance exam."

"So, yeah, even if you don't do that great against robots, there's still time to prepare. Oh! Maybe Midoriya could ask Hatsume for something against robot. Think I could use an EMP?"

"... It'd be pointless." Izuku said, while holding his chin.

"Aww, don't shoot it down so fast, I'm getting all excited here."

"Uh, ah, wait! I mean, you could use it, I actually really think that's a cool idea, you could disrupt communications and even-!"

Shinsou gave him a light smack on the back on the head before he could go on a ramble.

"Uhh... Thanks, I guess. What I meant to say, it's that we're not facing robots."

Some around them faced him, and he now had their attention.

Shinsou smiled. "Hey, would you look at that, I'm no longer screwed."

"Wait, seriously? How do you even know... that... Oh, right, I forgot." Kaminari laughed sheepishly.

"Even though you're the one who called me magic 8-ball...?"

"I did that only once!" He sighed. "Well, do you know what we're gonna be doing then?"

"I'm trying to figure it out..." Izuku went back to his thinking pose. "It's still a combat test. We're not facing each other. Nor against 1-B... Or any other class for that matter..." He trailed off, not liking where this train of logic was going.

"And we know they're not using robots." Shinsou continued for him, anyways. "Since it's still combat, that really leaves only one option here at U.A." He groaned. "... Go ahead, tell me I'm screwed again."

"... We're facing the teachers."

Silence. Now the rest of the class was paying attention to him.

"It's in... pairs, yes. They're not selected randomly, and it's against one teacher... Uhh..."

The mental list was kind of hard to keep track of in his head, so he pulled out his notebook and began writing.

"Shinsou and Uraraka are against Thirteen... Sero and Mineta against Midnight... Tokoyami and A- Tsuyu against Ectoplasm... Kirishima and Sato agaisnt Cementoss... Ashido and Ojiro against Power Loader... Aoyama and Yaoyorozu against Eraserhead... Jirou and Koda against Present Mic... Hagakure and Shoji against Snipe... Kaminari and I against Nezu... and Todoroki and Kacchan against All Might. In that order."

"Yup. Completely screwed."

"Well. Thanks for the heads up, vice-prez, I think I'm gonna ask the support department for like a gas filter in my mask or something." Sero said.

"... The teachers are aware of changes to our costumes, do that and they'll change the teams."

"Fuck!"

That knowledge made it so that the day of the practical felt more impactful.

"Looking determined, class." Aizawa commented, standing alongside all of the teachers Izuku named, excluding All Might and Nezu.

"You said it, little pipsqueaks are doin' their best imitation of a classic western staredown." Snipe let out a chuckle. "I approve, but it sure does make me wonder why they're putting on that face."

"Now, now. Don't feign surprise, we all knew this was a possibility, specially with Mr. Midoriya's information gathering abilities." Nezu said, emerging from Aizawa's scarf. "And just like I predicted, they also knew that if they prepared any countermeasures for any of us, we would just reorganize the match-ups. As such, they've really just prepared mentally, am I not right dear students?"

"You said it! I'm ready, Cementoss!" Kirishima smiled, already hardening himself while staring at the hero.

"Yeah, bring it on!" Sato cracked his knuckles.

"Tch. I'm not seeing All Might here."

As if calling him, that caused the hero's laughter to boom from a distance, and soon enough, All Might landed in front of the class.

"Well, aren't you impacient, young Bakugo?"

"I made you a promise at the Sports Festival, didn't I?" He smirked. "Well, I'd rather keep it before you can blame it on your age."

Separated by a good couple of meters, Shinsou stared at the enthusiastic group with a quizzical look.

"Seriously, am I the only one here that doesn't feel that thrilled to fight actual Pros?" He said, not loud enough for the teachers to hear, but some around him did hear him.

"Hey, c'mon, I know you still haven't quite caught up to us in combat," Kaminari began, doing a poor job of cheering up his classmate, "but be optimistic, stop saying you're screwed and it'll be fi-"

"Welp, he's screwed." Kaminari said while staring at the screen showing how both Shinsou and Uraraka were holding to a lightpost for dear life as Thirteen's Quirk was sucking the two of them into it.

"Good to know your words hold weight." Jirou deadpanned.

"Just calling it like I'm seeing it. I mean, all Thirteen has to do is keep them there for... Uhh..."

"Twenty-eight minutes and fourteen seconds." Recovery Girl, who's in charge of monitoring the exam, said calmly.

"Yeah, that." He crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Don't get me wrong, I hate to see it, I kinda like the guy and was hoping we would all get to go to the camp and-"

"Whoah! That was manly!" Kirishima suddenly exclaimed.

Kaminari opened his eyes, and now the screen showed Uraraka on top of Thirteen, handcuffing the hero.

"Wait, wuh?"

"A brave gambit that paid off." Tokoyami said, nodding in approval.

"What happened!?"

"They won." Jirou said, pointing at the screen.

"But, how?"

"Uhh, Uraraka let go of the lightpost, Thirteen then stopped using Black Hole and... Yeah." Izuku had the mercy to explain to the clueless blonde.

"... Okay, damn, that was gutsy of her."

"I... I don't really think that's the case."

"Huh?"

Soon enough, the duo entered the room, with Uraraka repeatedly punching Shinsou's shoulder, by the looks of it, this was going on ever since they were finished with their fight.

"... How long are you gonna keep doing that?" The tired looking boy said, sounding quite exhausted of his current situation.

Her silence combined with her expression and the fact that she didn't stop in the slightest said enough.

"What happened, Ochako?" Tsuyu asked.

"This- This guy is the worst! He used his Quirk on me!"

"And we won because of it. Big deal."

"You made me let go!"

"It was logical, the teachers here aren't gonna kill us."

"You could have told me you had a plan! What happened to the whole 'trust me' speech? Does that not exist anymore!?"

"You watch too many cartoons." Shinsou scratched his head. "Thirteen could have listened in, and besides, you don't really trust me, even before this, we've barely talked, so why would you?"

"But... Why didn't you let go, then!?"

"You kidding? I've seen how you fight, you're infinitely better at close quarters than I am. Did you forget how you beat me up in the festival?"

"You- You! Ugh, forget it!"

After that, she went to the other side of the room to watch the other fights. Letting Shinsou rub his aching shoulder.

"Shinsou, you're cold, dude." Kaminari said in a mixture of awe and bewilderment.

"Thanks."

Fights kept going, most of the class passed, with so far only four exceptions, Kirishima, Sato, Aoyama, and Yaoyorozu. Hagakure and Shoji already finished, having captured Snipe, which meant that it was now Izuku and Kaminari's turn.

Waiting in a faux city, similar to a construction site, for the starting signal, with no sign of Nezu.

"So, any plans, Top Deck?"

"Well, I'm not sure, I've been investigating, but I haven't been able to find much about Nezu, he's technically a Pro Hero, but the only thing that comes up when you search him is his status as U.A's principal, so I don't know what he's capable of, I've guessed that his Quirk is not a direct combat type, so if we manage to get to him, it should be easy to capture him. We can use my compass to know where to go..."

He checkled his watch, and watched where it was pointing, Kaminari did as well, and what instantly caught their eye was the giant wrecking ball in the distance. Right as they did that, they heard the starting signal, and then the ball moved.

It crashed against buildings and they slowly witnessed the domino effect.

Like a snowball, the mass of destruction grew in size and approached them rapidly, they quickly left the avalanche of debris' path before it could reach up to them.

Right as they were doing that, the ball moved once again, controlled by the white animal, who was joyfully drinking a cup of tea.

"Ah, despite what they might say, the teachers have been asked to leave openings for you to exploit. However, I am the exception to that rule! For what better way to make sure Mr. Midoriya faces a challenge than to leave absolutely nothing to chance!"

Every impact, every push, every newton of force, all calculated and accounted for. The state of the buildings, the materials used, the weight of the buildings, every single path the two students could take, every single variable taken into consideration.

With utmost efficiency, with merely a well placed strike against a building, he was able to generate a wave of destruction that reached exactly where he wanted it to.

"This is exhilarating! Hahahahaha!"

Meanwhile, in the ground below, both teens were catching up their breath, hidden in a space created by the rubble, hearing the stampede of fallen building in the background.

"What. The absolute. Fucking hell!?"

"Intellenge Quirk... Of course. I can't luck out when he's using a loaded die." He let out a chuckle.

"Dude! C'mon, if you can laugh, you got a plan, right!?"

"...Kind of. He can't see us, he just knows our general position, and he's cornering us, besides, he has already sealed a good portion of the ways out. And the only reason he hasn't closed them off completely yet is because he wants us to look for the exit to corner us further. So that only leaves only one option."

"Damnit. Can we get to him when he pretty much commands this place?"

"Yes, we can. We have to be able to, their purpose is not to make us fail, if that was the case, then we'd be facing all the teachers at once without weights. This test's purpose is to give us a challenge."

"And so we must fight."

Izuku nodded, before taking out his watch and extending it to Kaminari. "Take this, it should point you to where you need to go-" He yawned. "Sorry."

His classmate did as told, but with a frown on his face. "I don't like where your plan seems to be going."

"It's better if we split up, he'll have to do a lot more to stop us from approaching him." As he said that, he took his cards, and shuffled them, just to calm him down a bit.

"Fine, fine, I get it. Just, wish me Luck. I don't want to be squashed in between concrete, y'know?"

Izuku smiled. "Sure, good Luck, Kaminari."

And so they ran, each in a separate direction.

It was a thing of wonder what Nezu was capable of, Izuku had to admit. Destruction seemed to chase him whenever he went, even with Luck as guidance he barely could find a safe path to move towards.

He's ready blocking almost every possible road. I have to take the most roundabout route possible to even move forward.

It was a slow process, but he could see it, he was steadily approaching the machine Nezu was operating to cause such chaos.

Then again, it is a really slow process... How long would it take for one of us to get to him in this way...?

Twenty-five minutes and fifty-one seconds. They've already taken four minutes and thirty-two seconds out of their thirty minute time frame. Off by twenty-three seconds. He berrated himself for his lack of foresight.

Even when separated, because Nezu only can approximate our location, he's still probably blocking the most direct routes toward his position surrounding our starting point, slowly expanding the area he's blocking, doing it in such a way that it also blocks the exit.

There should be something I can do. Think, think. It's just like I said, this is a challenge, so there must absolutely exist a way to complete it, if Nezu is smart enough to cause such a domino effect, he also must keep that in mind...

So, can I do something to change our situation...?

His eyes widened, it was a desperate move, he knew, but he reached for his pouch anyways.

Soon after, Nezu noticed something. "Smoke? No sign of fire, and there's nothing that could ignite in this area anyways. So that's must be caused by Mr. Midoriya's projectiles. It's rather far away from the start to be caused by a delayed activation, considering his physical performance I'd say he must be at most sixty meters away from that point around now."

The principal smiled, calming down from his enthusiastic state. "Dear me, that is such an obvious move. They've separated, and he wants to give his classmate a better chance to get to me by distracting me. Though, why would he think he needs to do that...? Even with all the obstacles, at the rate he's going, he'd reached me in around twenty-one minutes at most, and it's likely Mr Kaminari is going at that same pace. Either way, I'll play along, let him see what needless selflessness gets him."

After than, he pulled the lever, directing the mass of ruin towards Izuku, it didn't even take a minute for it to reach him, he still was running and throwing his dice, doing his best to avoid the wave of rubble. However, no matter where or how fast he ran, he noticed he was being cornered, soon enough he saw a similar bunch of debris approaching him from the front. He looked to the sides, and there he saw the entrance to a small building, with nowhere else to go, he ran towards it and soon he saw as it was covered by the remains of other buildings, essentially trapping him inside.

Even so, he smiled, in his eyes, that meant that his plan worked and that Kaminari would reach Nezu and as such, pass the test. He let out a sigh and he leaned back, letting himself rest on the concrete floor with a yawn.

Here it is again... That stupid... sleepy... sensation...

With one last yawn, he closed his eyes.

-l-

It didn't even feel like a second when he opened them again. No, that was wrong, when he saw something again. It didn't feel like he opened his eyes at all.

What was he seeing? It was hard to say. Before, it was the dim room of the building, now... It was nothing. An ethereal nothingness that expanded as far as the eye could see. No horizon in sight, just... Nothing.

"Whoo, took a while, but finally got you here." He heard a voice, a voice too familiar to him, and yet different in a way that felt uncanny.

Izuku turned around to see that misteryous person, and he saw a black silloutte. Again, one too familiar to him, one that he saw every time he looked at the mirror. "What...?"

"Ah, you can talk, great. Was afraid you wouldn't be able to. I mean, I knew this would work, I guessed it - it's an incredibly useful skill, one that certain idiot wasted for ten years by only guessing birthdays as a lame party trick - but I wasn't entirely sure if you would actually be able to talk to me. It's a relief, I've got a decade too many of only being able to talk to myself, and cursing you inside your subconscious doesn't count, there has to be at least two participant for something to be a conversation, and mumble mumble mumble..."

Not only the ethereal nothingness, but this... him felt entirely felt too surreal

"Uhh."

"Oh, ah, sorry. Guess we share a habit." Whoever this silluette was, he sounded sheepish.

"Who are y-"

"I prefer what. In a way, I'm you, a you that saw everything you saw, knows everything you know, but was otherwise stuck in your subconscious, making certain choices for you and was also forced to watch your dumb choices in life." It didn't sound happy about that last one. "Though I suppose it'd be easier to say, I'm your Quirk. Call me Luck if you like the name you gave me."

As if to emphasize, it gave a respectful bow.

"And it's time for us to have a talk, you selfish idiot."

A/N:

So, yeah, that's a thing.

Hope it doesn't feel too out of place. I debated myself a lot whether or not to include this or not. Since when? Well, since Izuku realized his Quirk had a mind of its own. I didn't decide on it until just now, that's why it can kinda feel sudden. I would have loved to have someone to discuss this with someone, but nobody DM'd here for that beta offer, and I had problems with the Discord account I set up (mainly having to do with verification).

Anyways, I thought this would be nice to get to know Izuku's Quirk a little bit more personally, since we know it doesn't actually have the same priorities as its "user".

Don't worry, this won't be that common, and it's not like OfA vestiges, those can just talk to Izuku in any dream, Luck practically had to summon him via sheer will and spite, which, yeah, Izuku's Quirk actually doesn't like him all that much, fun times.

Onto the other stuff, a little bit of Stain and the League, Mr. Compress already chose sides.

The exams, most of them I'm keeping the same. Even though I've changed some people around, I personally don't believe the dynamic changes that much to make a difference in most cases. Except for Momo, because: Signs of self-dissapointment start infiltrating. (Let's see if someone gets that one)

So, yeah, that's all. I'm still willing to accept if someone volunteers to beta this, tho this time, let's just try to use FF's DMs.

Hope you liked it, as always, your reviews turn me into a Nth dimentional being, so I appreciate them.

See ya!