Mina wants a new friend! Tsu wants to give hugs. Izuku calls up an old friend for some advice, then tries out Gear Shift! Nezu terrifies everyone. And the sports festival approaches!

Mina and Tsu were on a mission. Well, Mina was. Tsuyu was along to keep her from going overboard. Ever since the reveal of the trio's relationship and their subsequent half-adopted child, Mina really really wanted the details!...Okay, and she thought Ochako was like, super cool, and wanted to be her friend. So she figured she'd swing by her room in the morning and chat her up, maybe convince her to share a little bit of that juicy gossip she wanted to hear about.

She had no idea how Tsuyu knew she planned on that, only that the frog girl had simply invited herself along, saying she wanted to talk to Ochako anyways. So the Saturday morning after the impromptu class 1-A dorm party, at the ripe early time of ten A.M., the two found themselves standing outside the door to Ochako Uraraka's room. Mina was practically quivering in excitement, hoping the girl would be willing to have a little girl talk. And then the door opened.

Instead of the bubbly brunette, the two girls were treated to the shirtless, scarred visage of a half-asleep Izuku Midoriya, the greenette blinking slowly with lidded eyes as he looked at the two shorter women before him. Over his shoulder, a blonde head popped up, Himiko resting her chin on Izuku's shoulder as she looked at the girls as well.

"Need something?" Himiko asked, her voice cutting off into a yawn as she spoke.

Mina stared for a good ten seconds, the muscled, scarred man before her drawing her attention. Her eyes kept roving over the chest before her, tracing the defined musculature, the fractal pattern of electrical scarring that she now knew the source of. An elbow to the side made her gasp, turning to glare at the blank-faced Tsuyu before remembering what she was there for. "I, uh, we, um, w-we…"

"We wanted to talk to Ochako, ribbit," Tsuyu said.

"Oh! Yeah, we were just getting ready, come on in!" Himiko grinned, pulling the half-asleep Izuku back with her. The two girls went to enter the room, only to see that Himiko was also shirtless, wearing just a bra and part of sleeping shorts as she bent over to dig into what looked like a laundry basket. On the other side of the room, Ochako was looking in a mirror as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail, a tight tank top and pair of capris showing off her own muscled arms and legs to the girls.

Mina had caught glimpses of the girls in the locker room before, but this was the first time she was actually looking (because it's rude to stare in the locker room after all) and realized how in shape the two girls actually were. Idly she remembered the comments Izuku had made before about how they all trained together for UA, and she realized…yep. They definitely trained, that they did.

"...you sleep without a shirt on, Izuku?" Tsuyu asked bluntly, Mina currently still stuck in place, her skin having tinged purple as she goggled at the three people in the room.

Izuku's response was muffled, practically unintelligible as he struggled to pull a t-shirt over his head. Himiko took pity on him and spoke as she tossed her own shirt on. "He's got a higher body temperature than most people, so he gets hot at night. It's not like we mind," she giggled as she added that last part.

"Himi!" Ochako scolded, but the laugh in her voice made it clear she wasn't being entirely serious. As she finished putting her hair back, she turned to face the two girls who walked into the room, tilting her head to the side in confusion. "You needed to speak to me?"

"Um…y-yeah, I just…I wanted to uh…"

"She wants to grill you for details about your dating life," Tsuyu interjected.

"Tsu!" Mina whisper-shouted at the greenette, the purple tint to her pink skin growing darker.

"Oh you should ask me about that, I'll brag all about these two hotties any time!" Himiko proclaimed proudly, winking at Mina.

"Oh my god Himi," Ochako groaned. Izuku seemed to finally be waking up, his eyes widening slightly. He yawned, stretching his arms over his head, his shirt riding up and exposing his abdomen once more to the two women staring at him. With a shake of his head, he turned and jolted, having apparently not noticed the two extra women in the room until that moment.

"O-oh, hi Ashido, Asu-uh, Tsu," he sputtered, his own cheeks flushing as he started to remember how he'd answered the door.

"You'll get there, ribbit," Tsuyu replied. She looked over the three occupants of the room for a moment, before nodding. "You three are very hot."

"Tsu?!" came the flustered, almost shouted response from Izuku, Mina, and Ochako all at once.

Himiko just gestured towards Izuku and Ochako. "I know, right?"

"Okay!" Ochako shouted, pushing Himiko's hands down and taking a deep breath. "Is that really why you came here, Ashido?"

"Um…kind of? Um, I just…I just think you're really cool and I didn't have anything else to talk to you about but I wanted to be your friend and I thought we could talk about that or something and-"

"Ashido, breathe," Izuku, Ochako, and Himiko all said in unison, cutting the pink skinned girl off. The trio shared a glance, Himiko snorting as she tried to hold back her giggles, Izuku merely rolling his eyes fondly at her.

Ochako took another deep breath, turning a smile on the very flustered Mina. "Ashido, I'd love more friends, and you don't need an excuse to talk to me about things. Himi's taking Eri out for a walk, and Izu's got some stuff to do this morning, so if you want to hang out we can!" Mina lit up, a smile crossing her face as she hopped in place, clapping her hands together rapidly. Himiko cooed internally at how adorable she looked, but kept it inside so as not to interrupt the moment.

After a moment, Ochako turned to look at Tsuyu. "A-and what'd you need, Tsu?"

"I came to be friends with you too, ribbit. And to tell you three you're all very cute, but now I know you're hot too."

"...oh my god Tsu!" Mina gaped at her with her jaw dropped, as Ochako and Izuku's faces went red once more, with even Himiko flushing slightly pink at how blunt she was.

Tsuyu shrugged. "I told you, shame is for the weak, ribbit."

"...if you'll excuse me, I need to return a phone call," Izuku muttered, trying to slide past the two girls.

"Before you leave, Izuku," Tsuyu interjected, halting him in his tracks. He turned to look at her, a little bit confused and concerned about what she would say. She walked up to him, looking up into his face, and then wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I didn't get a chance to tell you thank you, ribbit. For saving me. For saving all of us. I was very scared when you got hurt, ribbit, but I'm happy you're still here with us."

Izuku stared at her for a brief moment, before returning the hug with a gentle squeeze and a soft smile, the much smaller greenette almost vanishing in his arms. "I'm just glad everyone made it out of there."

The soft moment was interrupted by a loud squeal from Mina, the pinkette shimmying in place in excitement at the cuteness before her. Himiko was also grinning widely, her fangs visible. Ochako rolled her eyes at the other two girls' antics, but she couldn't help the soft smile she had.

Tsuyu released her hug, giving Izuku a soft smile, her cheeks just slightly pink. Izuku smiled back nervously, releasing her and taking a step back. "Well, I'm going to go make my phone call now. You girls have fun!" He quickly left the room, heading towards his room to make his call.

"You can stay here with Ashido and 'Chako, Tsu! I'm gonna go take Eri for a fun walk around campus, I wanna show her the training grounds! Have fun you three!" Himiko proclaimed, as she left the room with a skip in her step. As the door shut behind her, Ochako shrugged, looking at the other two girls in the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but found herself cut off by her own Tsuyu hug, the frog girl giving Ochako the same treatment.

"I want to thank you too, Uraraka. Nomu was terrifying, and you kept it from hurting us, ribbit. Thank you."

Ochako froze for a moment in a mirror to her boyfriend, before she relaxed and returned the hug, for once being the taller one in the hug (Himiko being practically the same height as her). After a moment, the two felt another pair of arms wrap about them, with a strangely sober Mina squeezing them in return. "I wanna thank you too!" she proclaimed, squeezing the two tightly.

"Okay, okay, I get it girls," Ochako said with a smile as she detangled herself from them. "You don't need to thank me though. Honestly, I was out of it. I barely remember anything after Izu got…hurt," the final word being muttered as she looked away.

"You still helped. So thank you, ribbit," Tsuyu replied, Mina nodding along.

"...well, okay. But enough of the sad stuff, you wanted to hang out, right?! So let's do something! Oh, and, call me Ochako…if we're friends, we should call each other by first names, right?"

"Yay! You can call me Mina too!"

"Maybe you'll remember to call me Tsu better than your boyfriend does, ribbit."

Mina snorted in laughter. "Oh geez Tsu, don't kill the boy."

Ochako shook her head fondly. "Okay, well…what should we do?"

Mina zoomed up beside Ochako, her black sclera staring into Ochako's brunette eyes with a wide, almost manic grin on her face. "How'd you, Himiko, and Midoriya happen?!"

Ochako rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, you thirsty gossip gremlin, I'll tell you."

"Excuse me, I'm a thirsty gossip alien, get it right!"

Ochako snorted at Mina's faux outrage, gently shoving her out of her face. She glanced over at Tsu to see what she thought of the subject, seeing the frog girl calmly sitting on her bed with her legs crossed and watching the two of them with interest. Shrugging internally, she decided to go on. "Fine, fine, okay. Well, it started almost a year ago…"

Izuku entered his room, shutting the door behind him. He had some notes he wanted to work on, especially on Gear Shift. Toshinori was going to meet him later to discuss it, but he wanted to see what he could do if he was careful. He wasn't ignoring Second's warning, but he figured that it was important to see how it worked so he didn't go into it blind if he ever did need to use it. So, a safe training exercise with Toshinori seemed like the right idea.

And no, he was not ignoring the thought he had the night before, why do you ask, of course he wasn't intentionally avoiding thinking about how he was that attached to a tiny traumatized adorable unicorn child that he'd mentally adopted her already at the exceedingly young age of eighteen, nope, not Izuku.

Setting that aside once more, he had one more thing to handle this morning before training. He had noticed a text message from Tenko earlier that he wanted to return. He'd been talking with the hero on and off over the past few months, not super often because the hero was often very busy with work, but they'd been chatting occasionally. It was nice, having someone who got the guilt on a level even his partners and brother didn't. The young pro had been out on a mission for the past few days and had only just returned to town, finding out about the USJ attack and wanting to check in with him.

Izuku finished writing down some preliminary notes and picked up his phone, dialing Tenko's number (and yes, he was still internally fanboying about the fact he was talking to him, but still), waiting for the line to pick up.

"Hey Izuku! Heard you guys got hit by a surprise raid. You all doing okay?"

"Hey Tenko. Yeah, we're fine. There were a couple close calls but everyone got out fine, as far as I know."

There was a bit of silence on the other side of the phone, before the deadpan voice of Tenko returned. "Close calls, huh? Yeah, I heard about them from Anan. You were one of those close calls. They had to rez you, right?"

Izuku chuckled nervously as he ran his hand through his hair. "Um…yeah. I…kinda lost my cool for a bit."

"So I heard. Like a berserker status effect without the screaming. Can I ask why?"

Izuku let out a rueful sigh. "...so I never told you what happened with my parents, but…am I right to guess Toshinori told you?"

"He did, yes. I hope you're not mad about that-"

"Oh no, it's fine. I'm fine with people knowing, I mean…if I become a good pro it'll probably come out on its own, you know? But…well, the leader of those villains?...he's the one who attacked me and Kacchan as kids."

Tenko was again silent for a moment, but Izuku could hear a couple quiet voices in the background. After a long moment, Tenko sighed. "Yeah, okay. Damn, Izuku, that's a helluva coincidence. Did he know who you were?"

Izuku laughed, but there was no humor in it. Something about how Tenko never minced words or held back his thoughts he really appreciated. Tenko never treated him like glass, like he'd shatter if someone asked him the wrong thing. Tenko wasn't afraid to upset him, and that was something Izuku appreciated so much, because right now the fact he asked that just sent Izuku's emotions back into a tailspin. He felt the anger bubbling back up in his chest, the sheer rage he'd been holding back about that very fact that he'd locked away as much as possible seeping through into his tone as he spoke.

"No! The fucking prick had no clue who I was! He utterly ruined my fucking life and he didn't even have the courtesy to know he did!"

"Guessing you're pretty pissed about it and don't know what to do, huh?"

Izuku let out a disbelieving snort at how accurate Tenko was to how he felt. "How the hell are you doing that?"

"Toya. You'd probably know him as Pyre, that's his hero name. He has some anger issues with some people in his past as well. You get to know the signs after years with the guy in the same dorm."

Izuku's internal anger and fanboying were warring with each other at the same time, but it was interrupted by a new, gruffer voice coming over the phone, not as audible but clear enough for him to hear. "Who're you telling all my secrets to, Ten?"

"It's the kid I told you about, from UA. Izuku. Plus it's not a secret anyways, chill."

"I can't chill, it's literally my entire Quirk to not be chill."

"Aww, c'mon sparky, no reason to get so heated," a third voice came across the line, a teasing tone in it.

"...Keigo I swear to god I'm going to turn you into fried chicken one of these days."

"So you're saying you want to eat me?"

A loud clatter came across the line as Izuku blinked at his phone, hearing Tenko hissing at whoever else was there with him. "The line is still connected you bird brained bastard! Stop flirting in front of Izuku!"

"So it's fine when we flirt in front of you?"

"I've given up on trying to stop you at this point," Tenko replied with a long-suffering sigh.

"So the one on the line is the fledgling you've been chatting with?" the voice identified as Keigo asked.

Tenko sighed again, his voice coming through the phone more clearly as he turned back to it. "Izuku, can I put you on speaker? This jackass won't de-aggro if I don't."

"I-it's fine," Izuku sputtered, the fanboy part of him slowly taking over as his anger was slightly quenched by the sheer absurdity of the conversation he was privy to. A moment later the sound quality changed, a few more noises audible. He could hear some sort of movie playing in the background, as well as a grumbling Tenko contemplating murder (he wasn't going to ask).

"Ah, hey, you must be Izuku, right?" Keigo said into the phone with a bright, chipper voice.

"Yes?"

"Don't sound so sure, kid," came the voice he now knew was the hero Pyre.

"Ah don't be like that Toya, Ten said he's a big hero fan. He probably knows all about you, dontcha kid?"

"Well yeah! Pyre is one of the best fire based heroes out there! He can melt through steel and rock to reach people in trouble, and what villain wants to fight against that level of firepower? Is your fire always blue? Can you downgrade to a lower heat? Can you use your fire to drain all the oxygen from an area and knock out opponents? How precise is your control? What about-"

"Haha! Oh my god kid, you should see Toya's face, he's actually blushing!" Keigo cackled.

"Shut up you overgrown rooster!" Toya hissed back.

"Um…can I ask what your hero name is, Keigo, sir?"

"No sir, just Keigo. And yeah, I'm Hawks! I-"

"You're Hawks!? Tenko you didn't tell me you knew Hawks! Hawks is in the running for fastest hero in the entire country, if not the world! You can control your feathers to such a perfect degree, how do you do that? Is it a telepathic connection, or is it a form of telekinesis? Or is it perhaps some sort of sound based control? Are your feathers sentient like Dark Shadow or just get treated as an extension of your body? Are-"

"Izuku breathe!" Tenko interjected, his voice tinged with a laugh.

Izuku flushed bright red, glad the three pros couldn't see his face. "Uh…yeah, sorry."

"Nah, just laughing at these two, they are both blushing now, it's fucking hilarious. Surprised you never pestered me like that."

"Oh, because I just sneak questions in as we talk and you answer them without thinking so I've been taking notes ever since we met!"

Silence. A long, tense silence filled the air as Izuku realized what he'd admitted to, his eyes going wide. He opened his mouth to apologize but was cut off by uproarious laughter from Toya and Keigo, the two heroes sounding like they were literally rolling on the floor laughing at the sputtering Tenko.

"Alright kid, I like you. I see why Tenko thinks so highly of you," Toya said through his chuckles.

"I'm going to turn you both into ash, you fucking NPCs!" Tenko snarled.

"Now now, it's Toya who turns things to ash, you turn them to dust, get it right," Keigo mockingly scolded.

All Izuku could hear was grumbled threats coming from Tenko, wisely holding back his own chuckles at the trio of pros on the other end of the line. His attention was dragged back by the voice of Toya calling for him. "Hey, kid?"

"Y-yeah?"

"What was Ten talking about anyways, you and anger issues?"

Izuku paused for a moment, blinking rapidly at the phone. He sighed. "You heard about the USJ incident?"

"Kinda hard not to. You were there, right?"

"...yeah. The person in charge of it, um…he's responsible for the deaths of my parents…I kinda lost it and tried to kill him…"

"...well, can't say I blame you. Not that our issues are entirely similar, since I'd happily try to kill one of my parents, but still."

"Toya!" Both Tenko and Keigo hissed in admonishment at him, clearly worried about how Izuku would take that statement. They were relieved when they heard Izuku let out a startled bark of laughter, trailing off into a humorless chuckle.

"Not a fan of one of them?"

"My dad's a real piece of work, let's just put it that way. Either way, going off what Ten said…you got all that anger and rage bottled up and threw it in a box somewhere, right? And you've no idea what to do with the box."

"...yeah."

"I wish I could give you a magic fix for that. There isn't one. I can tell you what helped me, though."

Izuku gripped his phone tighter, almost excited to hear what Toya was going to say. He'd been keeping it quiet, as deep down as possible, but the rage hadn't gone away, he'd just supplanted it with his worries about Ochako, about his classmates. He'd pushed it into a deeper pit than he had his feelings about his lost parents. After the vestiges had told him how he'd fucked up (yes, they hadn't exactly put it that way but he had, and he knew that), he'd tried to just take all those dark desires and bury them as deep as possible but it was really fucking hard. And if this pro had an option, he wanted to hear it.

"Please, if you don't mind sharing."

"These jackasses, and the others in my school. My family too. I had to stop ignoring them. Which I was a pro at, considering how annoying the chicken here is."

"We're dating, you can call me by my name you know," Keigo interjected.

"Shut up, I'm dispensing wisdom! Anyways, look, it's trite as all hell, but it really did help when I just…talked to them. Sometimes Kei here would drag me out to see a movie. Ten didn't mind hanging out with me when I went apeshit in a training center. A bunch of our other classmates would spar with me, even if they weren't really in the mood, just to let me get some of that out. It really does help, to just be upfront with how you feel."

"...can't say that's the advice I was hoping for, but I'm trying to do that. It's just so hard though! Like, I don't want to burden them with all my issues, you know?"

"True friends don't consider that a burden, Izuku." It was the softest he'd heard Tenko speak, even on the first day they met and he told his story to Izuku. "I wasn't the only one with problems in my class…as you heard Toya, he had his own, and Keigo had some too-"

"My dad's a villain who abused my mom, and the HPSC tried to turn me into a fancy assassin after buying me from my parents! I was lucky Nezu managed to slip me out from their clutches when they weren't paying attention!" Keigo said in a way too cheerful tone for the subject matter he spoke, with Izuku staring at the wall blankly at the several different bombs that were just dropped on his head.

"Keigo you fucking idiot! Are you trying to freak the kid out?!" Toya snarled, the sound of him and Keigo brawling coming across the phone as Tenko sighed loudly.

"Izuku? You still there?"

"...I think so. I'm…just going to ignore all that. Again. Doing a lot of that lately."

"Please forgive Keigo, he has a terminal case of 'no brain syndrome'. Negative intelligence and wisdom stats, you know."

"His charisma is pretty high though," Izuku murmured back in reply, still a little shell-shocked.

"Hah! Well, you're not wrong. Public eats up his dumbass routine like you wouldn't believe."

"Because it works!" Keigo managed to shout out in the background, letting out an annoyed squawk a moment later as Toya apparently got ahold of him.

Izuku had to ask. "Is Keigo going to be okay?"

"Yeah, Toya's just trying to beat him to death with the couch cushion, this is a pretty normal get together for us."

"...and they're dating."

"Yep."

Izuku pondered how often Himiko and Ochako threatened him when he got himself hurt and concluded, yep, this checked out. "Fair enough."
A loud crash echoed in the background, before the sound of a panting Toya made it to the phone as Tenko cursed about a broken table. "Hey, kid? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure?"

Toya paused, his voice for the first time seeming much less confident and much softer, almost nervous. "You're in class 1-A, right?"

"Yes?"

Izuku could hear Toya gulp, before the pro continued in the same nervous tone. "I-Is there a Todoroki in your class?"

"...I'm not trying to be rude, but why do you want to know?" Izuku really wasn't trying to be rude, but this was incredibly suspicious, and he didn't want to get one of his classmates in trouble or anything to someone who was a stranger to him.

"...It's…hard to explain but uh…"

"For fucks sake Toya, just…ugh." Tenko interjected. "Izuku, I promise you it's nothing bad, but it's not our place to say why. But it's nothing bad, I swear."

Izuku trusted Tenko, a lot more than he realized until this moment when he had to consider if he felt comfortable answering the question. He still didn't really, but he did trust Tenko, so… "Well, if you say so, Tenko…Yes, Shoto Todoroki is in my class. He's very quiet so I don't know a lot about him though."

"That's cool, that's cool. Um, is he, is he doing well?"

"...he's good in class as far as I've seen, gets good grades. And his Quirk is strong. But like I said, he doesn't talk much or hang out with us much. I try to respect my classmates' privacy."

"Oh. Right, yeah, of course. Yeah, okay. Makes sense," Izuku could practically see the nervous nodding as Toya spoke, an almost guilty tone in his voice as he spoke.

"...is that all you wanted to know?" Izuku asked, still a little confused and a lot suspicious.

"O-one more thing? Uh, just…I know you're not really close like you said, but uh…can you just keep an eye on him?"

"I'm the class rep, I keep an eye on all my classmates. But I don't think that's what you mean. What's this all about? I trust you Tenko, but this is still a really weird line of questioning."

Tenko sighed. "Toya…you don't have to go into the full lore but you may as well say something."

Toya was silent for a good ten seconds before speaking. "Shoto's my youngest brother. Our parent's split a while back and um, our father kept Shoto but the rest of us went with Mom. We don't…really get to see him or talk to him. I just wanted to know if he's okay, that's all." Toya said, almost sheepishly. But Izuku knew the sound of guilt in a person's voice. Toya sounded like he was drowning in it as he spoke, misery coating every word that left his lips. Izuku knew there was a lot left unsaid there, a lot that they weren't telling him. But he didn't want to delve too deep into something that wasn't his business.

"Okay. I can't speak for him, but he really is a fine student. That's all I really know. I'm sorry I can't be of more help."

"No, no, that's fine, it's all good. Just…just figured I'd ask."

"Hey Izuku, mind if we talk later? I think Keigo, Toya, and me should uh…hang out for a bit," Tenko said into the silence that followed Toya's last statement.

"Yeah Tenko, it's fine. I have some training to do anyway. So uh…nice to meet you two! Well, talk to you, meet over the phone I guess? Uh-"

"Don't strain yourself," Keigo said, the first thing he'd spoken since the loud crash from before. "Was nice talking to you too, kid. Don't you worry, we'll cheer this firefighter's nightmare up in no time!"

"Keigo," Toya sighed, his tone exasperated and tired.

"Catcha later, Izuku," Tenko said.

"Bye!" Izuku replied, hanging up as the line clicked off. He sat at his desk for a minute, parsing through the half dozen things that had been dropped on top of him throughout that phone call. It was a lot to manage, and he wasn't sure he was ready to even consider what Keigo had said. Toya and Todoroki's connection was…a thing, and something told him that there was a lot more buried under that surface than he was told, but he didn't think it'd be a good idea to dig into that. Maybe he'd try to talk to Todoroki about it sometime, but not right now.

Toya's advice on the other hand, that he was seriously thinking about. He really wasn't good at the whole talking about how he felt thing. But when he thought about it, thought about how he'd feel if Ochako had kept her mouth shut about the money issue months ago, how he would have felt if Himiko had never said a thing about her urges or Quirk needs, he realized he really was being a hypocrite about it.

Wasn't sure how to stop being one, as it was just inbuilt to who he was to just…not talk about these things, but he could make an effort. For now, he wasn't going to touch it. He'd set aside what he learned and focus on learning about himself for now…rather, his newest power. Grabbing his notes, he quickly left the room, heading to one of the training centers for some with Toshinori.

"So, you want to try using the Second's Quirk on your discs, that's the plan?" Toshinori asked.

Izuku nodded. "I'm starting to get like…flashes? Memories? I think he's been trying to show me how it works. Just brief bursts of him using his Quirk I guess, and he used it on bullets to like, curve them or change their direction. I think I could do the same with my discs? And I'm hoping if I keep it to them, I won't hit that backlash he spoke of."

"Well, best to figure out how it works in a controlled environment. Recovery Girl is aware of what we're doing, so we can see her if anything goes wrong…but please don't let anything go wrong, she'll have my shins if you get hurt again," Toshinori pleaded.

Izuku snorted, quickly covering up his laughter. "Y-yes sir!" Turning back to the set of target dummies set ten meters away from him, he quickly generated a blunt disc in his hand. Instead of throwing it as he normally did, he simply held his palm up, the disc resting flat on it. He reached within, looking into his inner world, seeing the lake, tower, and shimmering lights in the sky.

Now that he looked, he could see the difference the unlocked Quirks were making in his inner world. A gentle mist was resting upon the surface of the lake, gently floating around the base of the tower. He recognized it as the Fourth's Quirk, Danger Sense. He knew when it was active, it would thicken and swirl, putting pressure on him and his world to give him that warning of danger.

And now he could see Gear Shift. Just to the one side of the tower was a whirlpool, one currently gentle in its speed and size. He focused on it, calling upon it, watching in his mind as its swirl escalated, as the water frothed and foamed and sped up. Waves rippled out from it, echoing across the lake, pulling more and more of it towards the whirlpool and sending it down under the surface as it gained in force and pull.

With but a thought, he enacted his will upon the disc, and to both his and Toshinori's shock, the disc rocketed from his palm, faster than either could track, slamming into the training dummy and ripping it clean from the floor. The dummy and disc flew across the entire training center, ramming into the back wall with a force so powerful even the reinforced concrete cracked, a spiderweb of breaks snaking out from the impact.

Toshinori and Izuku shared a guilty look. "...maybe you used too much there, young Midoriya?"

"...yeah. I think it has multiple um, gears, for lack of a better word. I went for the fourth of five…I think that was too much."

"Try the first?"

"You sure? Shouldn't we get that um…fixed first?"

Toshinori waved his hand dismissively. "Nah, Cementoss will fix it once I let him know, it happens when it comes to training. Go on, try again. We need to know the limits to know how to use them."

"O-okay." Izuku concentrated once more, summoning an identical disc to the prior one. This time, he simmered the whirlpool down, bringing it back to just above the base level rotation. The disc rocketed from his hand once more, but without nearly as much force. However, he quickly realized he hadn't adjusted its aim and was sending it straight towards the back wall once more. Eyes going wide in panic, he reached out, not with his hand but with his mind, and watched as the disc turned around midair and hit the back of the dummy he had wanted to aim at originally.

"Holy shit that's so cool!" Izuku whispered, both excited and shocked at how easy that had been. He felt a pain in his head, but ignored it, forming another disc and staring at it with a grin beginning to cross his face.

Toshinori took one look at that grin and narrowed his eyes. "What are you planning?"

"I have a really cool idea!" Izuku replied, his grin wide and eyes shining. With but a thought, a second disc forming in his left hand, both being held up in front of him. He expanded both of them, growing them in size until they were closer to the size of a medieval shield than the discus size he used before.

"...I have a bad feeling about this," Toshinori muttered.

"Just watch!" Izuku threw both of his hands up into the air, sending the two discs flying, and then willed them back to his side. Toshinori could only stare in shocked disbelief, as the two began to circle Izuku, spiraling about him like some sort of protective, floating shield. "Yes!" Izuku cheered, not waiting for further response as he summoned a third, a fourth, a fifth, and finally a sixth disc, letting all of them begin to circle him. His eyes shimmered from the glow of One For All, lightning sparking around his form as if he'd called upon Full Cowling.

"Are you sure you should push it this far?" Toshinori asked, concerned for how Izuku's body was shaking.

"I'm fine!" he proclaimed, too excited to stop. With another mental push, the constructs began to shift and shimmer…two of them becoming blades, another two formed into spearlike constructs, the first two remaining as shields. Izuku was surrounded by a veritable armory of green, glowing constructs, laughter bubbling out of him in sheer glee at how this felt. He could feel each of the constructs, hold them in his mind, control them at his will. The pounding headache that kept growing didn't matter, the way his body was shivering didn't matter, and how tired he suddenly felt didn't matter.

"Okay, now let's see how well this works!" he proclaimed. Before Toshinori could object, Izuku launched himself across the room in a blur of green lightning, darting towards the training dummies, the six constructs following along. As he ran, he leapt in the air, spinning about, mentally ordering the four he'd formed into weapons to target different dummies, keeping the two shield ones protecting his flanks.

Toshinori could only watch in dumbfounded awe as the four weapons destroyed the dummies in one smooth motion, the two shields in place to block from any retaliation. As Izuku turned back to him with what he could only classify as a shit-eating grin, he stepped forward to congratulate the boy before noticing the blood trickling from his nose. As if it were a sign, the six constructs vanished all at once, the greenette suddenly collapsing to the ground.

Toshinori moved, his buff form exploding into place as he darted forward, barely managing to catch Izuku before he bashed his head off the concrete. One massive hand cradling the greenette's head gently, the other propping him up as Izuku blinked dazed, woozy eyes up at him.

"Young Mi-no, Izuku…Less than five days ago, I had to bear witness to you being taken away on a stretcher, not knowing if you were going to make it out of that hospital. Please, please, don't cause me such fear again while training!" Toshinori's words were scolding, but the worry was practically radiating off him, the blonde's expression torn between fear and anger as he looked down at the greenette in his arms.

Izuku looked away in shame. "I'm sorry. I just…I need to be better, you know? Ochako almost died because I was too slow! I-"

"Uraraka almost died because she lost control of herself and overused her Quirk. Her actions do not reflect on yours. You all did the best you could with the situation you had…the only failure was UA, and especially mine, for not being there to begin with. How are you going to protect anyone if you kill yourself in training, Izuku? A dead hero protects no one."

"...that's not fair. You're manipulating me because you know I want to protect people."

Toshinori smirked down at Izuku. "Is it working?"

"...shut up," he muttered, trying to get into a proper sitting position. "I'll try to be more careful. I just…Gear Shift is an amazing Quirk! Between One For All's power, Danger Sense, what I can create with my Quirk, and Gear Shift? I could do so much! I was kinda against all the other Quirks when they brought them up originally, but if they all can do things like this? I could save so many people!"

"Maybe that's true, but still…heroism is an inherently risky business, Izuku, and I can't ask you to never get hurt. Even in training, you will likely get some bumps and bruises…but nearly knocking yourself out is too much. And I think you know that too. I doubt that came out of nowhere, did it?"

Izuku refused to meet his mentor's eyes, the blonde letting out a long sigh as his suspicions were confirmed. "Well, that's enough training for today."

"Wait, what? No! I need to-"

"You need to visit Recovery Girl. A bloody nose is a bad sign when it comes to a Quirk that utilizes your mind," Toshinori cut Izuku off with narrowed eyes.

Izuku sighed. "Yes sir…"

"Ah, Midoriya, do you have a moment?" Izuku was stopped by the voice of Principal Nezu as he left Recovery Girl's office, shoulders still hunched from the lecture he'd gotten from her. He started, not expecting the voice, turning around to see the principal standing there, paws clasped behind his back and smiling up at him.

"Uh, yes, of course sir!" Izuku replied nervously, worried he was about to get another lecture.

"Oh, don't worry, it is nothing bad," Nezu reassured him, somehow reading his mind and worries. "I merely wanted to speak to you about something I had hoped to approach you about earlier is all!"

"Oh, okay."

"Please, come to my office so we may speak comfortably," Nezu turned around and began leading the confused greenette down the halls to the room he'd been in a couple times since.

"Um…can I ask what this is about?" Izuku asked.

"Now now, a little patience never hurt anyone," Nezu admonished with a chuckle. "Don't you worry Midoriya, I believe you will be amenable to my suggestion. But discussions like this require tea."

Not wanting to pester the Principal any further, Izuku decided to keep his mouth shut as they walked. It did not take long to reach Nezu's office, the small hero opening the door and proceeding in, asking Izuku to close the door behind him. He walked behind his desk, carefully pouring two cups of steaming hot tea and passing one over to Izuku as he leaned back and took a sip.

"Well, I should start by asking how you're doing. After the events of the USJ, I would like to know if you are feeling well."

"Oh, I'm fine. Hospital got me all fixed up without an issue!" Izuku replied with a grin.

"I'm aware, but I was more asking about how you feel, Midoriya."

"...oh. Well, um, I'm doing fine."

Nezu took another sip of his tea, his beady eyes locked on Izuku's green ones. "Hmm. Yes, I see. I wonder, did Miss Himiko or Mister Bakugo tell you what we spoke about at the hospital?"

Izuku paused, thinking back to if they'd mentioned anything and shrugged. "No, I don't think anything came up."

"Allow me to explain…I wanted to ask them if they thought you would actually try to kill Nine," Nezu said casually, as if he was discussing the weather. Izuku gulped, eyes going wide as he opened his mouth to reply, but a raised paw from Nezu stopped him. "Before you try to protest, I will tell you what I told them. I am no stranger to vengeance or blood upon my paws. The ones who held me kidnapped and experimented on me perished in a painful fashion, save for the two who grew a conscience and helped me escape. I will not judge you for how you felt in a moment of high emotions and terror. I just wanted to know if you think that you have that in you, or if it was your rage talking for you."

Izuku stopped and thought about it. There was a part of him that was terrified to even try to think about it, to even accept the hate in his heart long enough to contemplate the question Nezu had posed to him…but he didn't think the principal would allow him to avoid answering it forever. So, for the first time in a long time, he just…accepted it. He thought about how he felt, all the confusing, painful, burning emotions that ran through his mind and heart every time he thought about Nine, about what he had done, about how he'd acted. Every bit of spite, of pain, of sheer berserker rage that burned in his veins as he considered it.

Nezu sat calmly and watched the young man before him actually, genuinely think about it. Without flinching or reacting, he witnessed the subconscious activation of Full Cowling, the green lightning sparking off his form. He witnessed the energy that empowered the boy and kept him alive begin to flow, rivulets of power dripping off his fingers to splash and vanish into the ether as they struck the floor. Nezu took a sip of his tea as the glow faded, the green that had filled the room slowly vanishing as the boy got more control over how he felt. Green eyes opened to look into his, a subtle glow still suffusing them as Izuku spoke.

"I…I think I might have tried it, that day. I just…I was so mad! And the worst part of it sir, was…he didn't even know me. He didn't know what he'd done to me. Even now I can't get over that!" Izuku clenched his fists, his entire body shaking as he growled those last few words. The greenette took a deep breath. "But…I don't think I want to think like that. I don't like it. I…I want to stop him. I need to stop him. If I see him again, I will bring him down. But I don't want to kill him to do it. He needs to pay for his crimes, in Tartarus where he belongs."

"Some say Tartarus is a fate worse than death," Nezu remarked calmly.

Izuku stared back at the principal. "Nothing more than he deserves."

Nezu's placid expression broke into a savage grin, teeth bared. "That is an acceptable answer. Now, I'm sure you're tired of hearing it, but I must reiterate my apologies for what you went through. And as you are the class representative, I must ask you to extend those apologies from myself to the entire class. You say you are doing well…do you happen to have insight into how the rest of your class is handling it?"

"I think we're mostly okay? We talked about everything a little bit, and we had a small party on Friday to just…you know, relax."

Nezu nodded. "Well, something else to inform your class is I am mandating you all visit Hound Dog at least once each for a short session to be sure everyone is managing. Of course, as you are well aware, anyone can continue to see him if they desire, but at least one visit is mandatory."

Izuku nodded. "I'll let everyone know."

"Now…one more matter I'd like to speak to you about, and this is one I've wished to speak to you about since the first time you arrived. Do you happen to have one of your analysis notebooks on you?" Nezu's smile had become almost painted on, his eyes glinting greedily as he spoke, not that Izuku noticed. The idea that Nezu, one of the most brilliant beings on the planet, was interested had excited him so immensely he happily pulled out his current in-progress notebook and handed it over.

Nezu flipped through the pages, seeing similar quality analysis to what he'd seen back in the first notebook Izuku had brought with him, pages upon pages of Quirk breakdowns, strengths, weaknesses, methods to overcome those weaknesses, methods to target those weaknesses, and even personality profiles that spoke to how the personality impacted the use of the Quirk and its development. The painted smile spread wider as he looked back up at Izuku.

"How would you like to take some extra classes with me, to focus on honing your analysis skills?"

Izuku's eyes lit up, his excited grin spreading wide and making him look like a small child being told Christmas had come early. "Really?! I-I'd be honored! That'd be so cool, sir!"

"Excellent! Why don't we work out a nice schedule to have you sit with me and we'll do a little work together…"

Somewhere else on campus, every member of the UA staff had a sudden, horrifying chill run up their spines, a warning sign of great danger. Aizawa woke up from a nap, his eyes narrowed as he wondered what that could mean.

Monday morning came, and the class sat, speaking casually to one another as they waited for the start of homeroom. Aizawa came in, trudging along with exhaustion behind every step. As the class quickly quieted down, he stared at them with dead eyes.
"The UA sports festival is in two weeks. It is your best opportunity to start building the connections you'll need for hero work, so it is in your best interest to put on a good showing."

"Is that a good idea, after the attack?" Kaminari asked, a worried tone in his voice.

"Yeah, what if they attack again?" Kyoka asked.

"The Board believes that UA must show strength after what occurred. I understand your concerns, but the rat has personally worked out the new security so that any villain who even considered attacking would be dealt with swiftly and decisively. Even another Nomu would fail without causing harm. So do not be concerned, we will keep you safe."

"Blah. Fuck the villains, they show up with that many fucking pros in the audience they'll just get blasted. That's if I don't blow them up first," Katsuki said, grinning widely.

"Yeah! Katsuki is right, we got nothing to worry about! We beat 'em last time, they can't even stand against a buncha pros!" Eijiro cheered, pumping his fist in the air.

The class spoke about it for a couple minutes, but they did eventually conclude that they trusted UA still to handle the security. It helped that Katsuki and Eijiro weren't the only ones excited…Ochako was exceedingly excited for it, making half the class step back from the sheer presence she was exuding as she chuckled low and deep. Aizawa dismissed homeroom, rolling over in his sleeping bag.

As lunchtime approached, Izuku found himself waylaid by All Might, the pro asking him to eat lunch with him. Most of the class goggled at him getting approached specifically by the number one hero, but Ochako, Himiko, and Katsuki just barely avoided bursting into laughter at the expression on Toshinori's face when he asked, holding a tiny bento in his hand that barely looked like it could feed someone as small as Tsu, much less his hulking form.

"So what'd you need, Toshinori?" Izuku asked, his head tilted to the side.

"I've been thinking…the Sports Festival is watched all over the world. It's a popular event. Normally, the third years are the stars of the show, but with your class having survived a villain attack within only a few weeks of the school starting up, all eyes are on the first years. And you, as the top scorer in the entrance exam, are going to be the one giving the opening speech. So-"

"Wait, what?!" Izuku screeched, eyes wide.

Toshinori paused. "Did no one tell you?"

"No!"

"Well, now you know. Good thing I mentioned it I guess, you get more time to prepare!" Toshinori decided to ignore the distressed expression on Izuku's face, figuring the greenette would get over the shock soon enough. "But what I wanted to speak to you about…with how much attention is going to be paid to this year's festival, I think it's time. Time for you to step up and announce to the world that 'you are here'! I want you to make a statement!" He paused to wait to see if Izuku had any response, but the young man stayed silent, his shock fading into quiet contemplation.

"I know it's a lot of pressure, but don't misunderstand me. If you're not ready or feel too pressured, no need to overdo it. But, if you do feel ready…and I think you are, I think you should show the world why they won't have any reason to fear when our generation passes the torch off to yours."

"...I'll do it, Toshinori. I can do it. I will do it! I'll prove to them all, and to Nine, that nothing is going to stop me! I'll save people, keep everyone safe, just like you would!" Izuku proclaimed, leaping to his feet.

"Not like me, Izuku…you're going to be better than me, of that, I have no doubt," the blonde replied softly, smiling at his protege with a sense of parental pride he'd never felt before. "But enough about that, let's eat our food before lunchtime is over, haha!"

Trying to leave class at the end of the day, the students of Class 1-A found themselves blocked off by dozens of other students. "Um…can we pass?" Momo asked calmly, confused by all the people blocking the door.

"Tch. They want to check out the competition before the festival. Since we're the ones who survived the villain attack," Katsuki remarked, walking towards them without a care in the world.

"Kacchan, don't kill anyone," Izuku said quietly as the blonde marched towards the group blocking the door.

"Not worth my time to do, Zu," the blonde shot back. He stared blankly at the crowd. "Move it, we've got shit to do."

"Bakugo, there is no need to be so rude!" Ida proclaimed, his hand chopping at the air.

"Them blocking our way out is rude, Glasses. They get what they give."

The crowd murmured at his response, some of them backing away slightly from the temperamental blonde. Izuku stepped forward, a calming smile on his face. "We would appreciate it if you let us pass. We do have to practice, as I'm sure you do too."

"This is the oh so famous Class A, is it? I have to say, I'm disappointed," a smarmy voice echoed out, as a blonde-haired boy with blue eyes and a contemptuous look on his face stepped forward. "I'm Neito Monomo, from Class B, the superior hero class."

"The fuck you say," Katsuki demanded, narrowing his eyes as he stepped up to face Monoma.

"Kacchan, don't!" Izuku said, stepping forward as well. One hand in front of Kacchan, he turned back to look at the other boy. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. We haven't had a chance to meet. You're in Class B then?"

Monoma flipped his hair back with one hand, smirking. "Yes, as I said, the superior class! Just because you survived a villain attack doesn't make you better!"

"...no one said it did?" Ochako replied, confused.

"And don't you forget it!" the blonde shot back, pointing at her with a wild look in his eyes.

Most of Class 1-A stared at Monoma in sheer confusion, almost all of them wondering if he had some sort of mental issues. A hand appeared out of the crowd, chopping down on his neck and sending the blonde to the ground, unconscious. A moment later, a toned girl with orange hair stepped out of the crowd, sighing in exasperation.

"Oh, hi Kendo!" Izuku said, smiling at her appearance.

"I'm so sorry Midoriya, Yaoyoruzu," she said in reply, exhaustion coloring her voice.

"You know this girl, Izu?" Himiko asked, tilting her head to the side.

"She's Class B's class rep! We met during the meet and greet we had to do last week," Izuku explained.

"Monoma hasn't shut up about the attack since it happened. He's gotten it into his head that you're looking down at us or something. I've been trying to keep him away but he's sneaky," came the explanation from Kendo, the girl staring down at the slumbering blonde.

"Yeah. Okay. Tell the blonde fuckwad that if he thinks we're looking down on him, he can rest assured I am…not cause you didn't get attacked, but because he thinks that we wanted that," Katsuki snarled, glaring down at the blonde on the ground.

"Please don't tell him that, he'll just get more aggressive," Izuku sighed, glaring at his brother.

Kendo hefted him up on her shoulder, ignoring the slowly disbursing crowd. "Eh, it's fine. I'm going to try to get it through his stubborn head, but well…he's pretty headstrong."

Izuku sighed, pushing Katsuki forward as the crowd began to leave. "Alright guys, c'mon, let's get back to the dorms. We got a lot of work to do before the festival."