Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for the delay! I promise I haven't forgotten about you guys, or this story!

As it turns out, working 70 hours a week slows down the writing process just a tiiiiiny bit.

Additionally, I'd like to apologize ahead of time...

This chapter will not hold Izuku's fight. Sorry, but I felt that a) I haven't done a very good job building up the main heroine of my story, b) certain events need to happen for the story to progress, c) I didn't want to create another long ass chapter, and d) a little break between the action was needed before we proceeded to the main event. It is my hope that this chapter will help solve at least some of these problems.

Please think of this chapter as the calm before the storm. It also won't hurt my feelings if you guys want to skip this chapter, I completely understand.

Happy Holidays, everyone! Thank you for your patience and your support of my long winded story, and I hope you enjoy the next two chapters!

I do not own Midol, nor do I own My Hero Academia.


About 70 minutes prior from the end of Match Four…

-Hmmmmmm… at a glance, it looks like the hero team is at a disadvantage. I'm not sure how Komori-san's quirk could be applied offensively... And if Kuroiro-san's quirk requires him to use the shadows, he might become powerless from all the precautions the villains are taking. I wonder what their plan is… they haven't done much talking, from the looks of it, and Komori-san just walked away from Kuroiro-san...

But on the other hand, it appears that the villain's plan relies heavily on Shoda-kun's quirk. In this particular instance, he's using it to create traps, and… Oh! I get it! Uneven footing on the floor, falling debris traps, and contingencies to knock the bomb out of the hero's hands should they get too close! Those, along with Kendo-san's earlier preparations… Wow. The villains have a really solid defense, don't they?

Objectively speaking, the villains definitely have the advantage, especially when it comes to close-quarters combat. But I still wonder who will win...

"Itsuka's team, obviously."

Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of the sly voice to his immediate right, his heart hammering loudly within his chest from the sudden scare.

Realizing that he had been mumbling his thoughts out loud again, he turned his flushed face towards the owner of the voice.

Somehow, he hadn't noticed that she had gotten so close that they were almost shoulder to shoulder, causing him to jump, again, in fright. (S-S-She's so close!)

The girl watched him with a bemused smile as he avoided making eye contact with her, and he quickly held up his hands as a sign of surrender.

"T-T-Tokage-san!"

"Thaaaat's me. Did you already forget that I've been here, like… the entire time?"

"N-N-No! I-I just, uh, I, u-uh, surprised, u-uh, w-w-weren't you a l-l-little farther away?"

One of her malachite eyes glimmered in the darkness from their spot in the back of the basement as she sent him half a smile. "I was, but I got closer. How else are we supposed to come up with a plan, all sneaky-like?"

"A-ah, yeah, t-that would m-make sense…"

As the silence between them grew more awkward, Setsuna took the chance to glance around the room with a deceptively bored gaze.

The moment the two of them had set foot in the basement, she had steered Izuku towards the back with just a little bit of resistance. It was the ideal place for the two of them, for multiple reasons. Back here, it was dark enough to give her costume some camouflage within the shadows, while being quiet enough for the two of them to hold a lengthy conversation.

But, more importantly, it was the best place in the house for eavesdropping- whether it was through listening in on the idle and animate chatter of their peers or watching them from afar with their all-encompassing field of vision.

Well, fields of vision.

She felt that these safeguards were necessary to win, especially when one wrong move could cripple their team against the two Spartans they were supposed to fight.

Setsuna once again heard the faint mumbling of her partner's thoughts. Sparing a quick glance, she wasn't at all surprised to see him immersed within his own speculations on the combatants of this round.

It was… quite amazing, how easily he became so swept up and fascinated by other people's quirks. Whenever it happened, it was like he forgot that he had his own incredible quirk, just for the moment.

But…

Underneath all of that whispered fascination was an incredibly sharp mind.

That incredibly sharp mind had intuited some… rather intriguing theories of her quirk that the average person just doesn't think about. And he came to these conclusions after only a single demonstration.

He already figured out her quirk's regeneration capability without even seeing it in action. He damn near almost got her average range, and that was from eyeballing the distance once (pun intended). And she wouldn't doubt it if he had already come up with a couple assumptions as to why she's able to float her pieces, or how she's able to control them.

She had also watched him during the assessment test, mostly out of curiosity to see how he would fair after doing all of that research. While she noted that his performances were above average even without quirk use, she was more interested in the way he watched everyone else with intelligent eyes. Eyes that perceived far more than they should have.

Hell, if what he told her about his hobby was even partly true, then he probably had at least half a page of data on everyone in the class by now… including their opponents.

If they could combine their intellect- that is, him with his observations and hypotheses and her with her tactics and strategies- they could blow their competition out of the water with hardly any effort, and very little risk.

But to get there, they had to be on the same page first. The twelve plans she had already made in her head wouldn't amount to anything if Izuku forgot their execution. And if she overlooked anything in their opponent's abilities that Izuku thought should have been noteworthy, things would end with a similar result.

So as she discreetly closed the gap between them once more, she did so hoping that the page number they needed to be on wasn't too far away for either of them to find.

She also hoped that he would play it cool this time around as she quietly spoke through his ramblings.

"So, tell me, even though Itsuka's team is gonna win… what do you think would be the hero team's best strategy in their situation?"

Izuku had, once again, jumped at the sound of her voice and close proximity. The surprised yelp that left his throat was quickly followed up by a slightly louder than normal response that cracked under his nerves. It wasn't loud enough for their classmates to hear his words, but it was loud enough for them to turn their heads in their direction.

Welp, so much for subtlety…

"Ah, w-well, T-Tokage-san, I, uh, I wouldn't w-want to say t-that I'd k-k-know what their best s-str- "

The boy stiffened at her gentle touch as her hand reached out to soothe his upper arm.

(Oh… wow… that's… a bit more muscle that I was expecting… and Jesus his heart's about to beat right out of his chest… more so than that one time I covered his mouth on the Monday…) "Izuku. Chiiiiillllll. It's just me, man! You don't gotta be all… worked up like that, ya know? I'm just asking your opinion, that's all!" Oof, I really hope his nerves ease up a little before our fight…

After she let go of his arm, the boy nodded vigorously a couple times in understanding as he took some deep breaths. He sent a tentative glance towards her way before quickly looking away again; was his face a little red? It was hard to tell in the darkness of the room, and the mesh of his mouth guard obscured the partially exposed portion of his face.

"W-well, Tokage-san, I don't want to be hasty, but… I-I think they have two options they could choose from. T-The first one would be the riskiest, where Komori-san would act as the vanguard and Kuroiro-san would hide in her shadow. Whenever she discovers where the bomb's at, she could force giant mushrooms to grow in the area to give both herself and Kuroiro-san cover as they try to capture the bomb. The problem with that, though, is it leaves Komori-san out in the open by herself without much for offensive possibilities."

"The second option would include Kuroiro-san using the shadows to scout ahead for reconnaissance. Once they have the info they need, Komori-san could use her quirk as a distraction to allow Kuroiro-san to get the bomb. The downside to this option though would be the lights, both artificial and natural sunlight. If they can't find a way to block out the lights, then that plan is null."

"T-though, uh... I-I'm sure there are m-many other better ideas t-they could use, b-but I can't think of any a-at the moment..." Izuku finished lamely.

"Wow… that's, uh... pretty insightful there, Izuku…" Setsuna trailed off with a surprised expression. Uncanny. These strategies were more or less along the same lines of what I was thinking. He's got a tactical mind, a level headed perspective, a good sense of other's quirk use… What else are you hiding in that big brain of yours, Izuku?

"Which one do you think they'll do? Which one do you think is better?"

Izuku continued to refuse to look his teammate in the eye as he answered her. "U-Ummm… I-I think the second one… for both of your questions, Tokage-san. If Kuroiro-san melded into the shadows, it would be hard to attack and perceive him. And with Komori-san's support, it would probably be hard to defend against him too. Oh, look!" Izuku gestured towards the screen, where the small girl in a red costume had approached the collection of utility service drops on the outside. "They are going with the second one! If Komori-san can find a way to shut them off, they can definitely get the edge on the villains!"

"Good call, Izuku," Setsuna nudged him playfully with her elbow, making him to freeze up again. "If I didn't know any better, I'd have said that you told Kinoko your plans already!"

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by All Might. As he turned around from in front of the monitors, he addressed everyone with open arms, a wide smile, and energy befitting the man locked in as the number one hero.

"Alright, my wards! We're about to staaaart… the simulations! Before we do, I would like to suggest to everyone that, as you watch your peers participate, take some time to start coming up with your battle plans! After all, you're only guaranteed five minutes of preparation time! Make sure to make every second count!"

"Understood, All Might Sensei!"

As All Might turned back around to wait for the countdown on his phone to reach 0, he heard some of his students begin to strike up a whispered conversation with their partners. Hopefully, they were doing as he suggested.

The tiniest of frowns briefly formed on his face before he discreetly shook his head to clear it.

If he were being honest… he was legitimately surprised (and a little sad), that Young Midoriya wasn't immediately behind him. It had taken him a second, but All Might finally saw his successor aaaalllllll the way in the back… partnered up with Young Tokage…

But, that was another thought for another time. Right now, as the countdown finally reached 0, he needed to focus on the fights before him and give the students a good class. Sorry, Young Midoriya, but right now, you are just another student in class 1B. No favoritism for you today, young man!

"INDOOR ANTI-PERSONNEL BATTLE TRAINING, ROUND ONE- START!"

The whole class buzzed quietly in excitement as they began to turn their attention to the multiple screens in front of them. Everyone watched as Kinoko headed back to her partner at a swift jog while he waited for her. At the same time, they watched as the two villains psyched themselves up with double high fives, before assuming battle-ready stances with the bomb safely between them.

But as the class directed their sights towards the fight before them, Setsuna kept her vision mostly undisturbed. The eye still on her face flickered discreetly between the monitors, her peers, and her partner, while the other dutifully continued its own surveillance.

Soon enough, the heroes began their assault. Izuku's attention had remained glued to the simulation since the moment it began, and he was incredibly thankful it had; otherwise, there would have been no way he would have been able to see Shihai blitz his way through the shadows. Utterly fascinated by what he had just seen, his mind began racing to search for an explanation.

Oh wow, he's really fast, isn't he? But he didn't move at that speed during the assessments… Is it because he can only move that fast when completely cloaked in a shadowy environment? Where multiple shadows can overlap, and he can travel between them with ease? Hmmm… He never mentioned what his quirk is… is it a pseudo-teleporting quirk? One that allows him near instantaneous travel when he is encompassed by shadows? Or, is it just super speed augmented by darkness?

Huh, I didn't even consider that… I just thought he had a specific merging quirk that granted extraordinary freedom… Setsuna thought with a slowly growing smile and steadily growing respect as she listened to his wayward thoughts. Slowly but surely, she was beginning to truly understand the quality of his thought process, and the clarity of his mind.

She was brought out of her musings by the sound of her classmate's rising excitement. Suddenly, on the dark monitors, a small shadow tripped and dragged Itsuka by the heel of one of her boots with remarkable speed as Nirengeki moved to grab her.

But as the class mostly focused on how quickly Shihai was turning the tide, Izuku and Setsuna both saw something peculiar at the same time. However, Izuku was able to understand what was happening first, and came to a logical conclusion before she did.

Wait, what's happening with her boot? It's like the shadows and her boot are one piece- no, wait- Oh! So that's Kuroiro-san's quirk! He's not merging with the shadows exclusively! He's merging with anything dark in color! He's only used shadows until now because they're common, available, and naturally dark! Oh wow, if he isn't restricted to just shadows, then he has a lot more operability than I originally suspected! I wonder what the limits and specifications are for him to be able to use his quirk… And the question still remains of how he's able to move so fast, but… Wow he's just so cool!

Setsuna could only watch him in astonishment, with her singular eyebrow raised high from behind her mask. Wow… that was impressive! When it comes to quirks, he really does have rather perceptive eyes…

He excels in analysis and deduction much more than I anticipated… This might be a lot easier than I originally thought…

She was shaken from her thoughts by the sound of All Might ending the match in his booming voice, unsurprisingly declaring Itsuka's team the victor.

The great hero then called up the next set of heroes and villains that were fighting, and began to quietly speak to them for a little bit after they had approached. Under the guise of boredom and under the cover of her classmates' excitement, Setsuna stole a couple of casual glances around the room.

The first place she looked was towards their opponents. Besides a couple of comments they had about hoping their fight was against Izuku, they prepared to be otherwise engaged in some 'friendly' arguments about manliness and toughness… or something. Not really wanting to waste the brain cells on trying to understand what was basically men's locker room talk, she decided to spare a few glances at the next group going to fight.

Well… it looks like all of Kosei's flirting is finally making Ibara's patience grow a little thin. I know I saw her earlier trying to make a plan with him… guess he hasn't contributed anything at all, eh? Looks like what we'll be seeing next is going to be a hundred percent her idea…

And Yosetsu and Rin look uneasy, but determined. Looks like they already know they're gonna lose, so they decided they're gonna lose with style. That's a shame, really, seeing as they would make a pretty good team…

When All Might dismissed the next group to go up and prepare, Setsuna figured it was time to get the ball rolling. They only had so much time, after all, and they had a lot to discuss.

Even though his quirk is powerful, the best thing he has going for him is his intelligence. Let's see if he noticed anything about our opponents that I haven't been able to discover yet…

In the midst of all the idle conversations, Setsuna suddenly turned to her partner with another quiet inquiry. "So, hey. What are your thoughts on Tetsutetsu's and Kamikir's quirk?"

Izuku jumped once more in place as his mumbling ceased and his eyes darted between her and the monitors repeatedly. Slightly shaking, he hesitantly turned to face her… and she absently wondered for probably the hundredth time today why he wasn't look at her.

It wasn't like the other times they'd talked, where he would gradually, shyly come around; rather, it was more like he was deadest on downright refusing to look in her general direction. He'd been like this ever since they had found out they were partners, and for the life of her, she just could not figure out why.

"I-I uh… what?"

Setsuna let out a quiet laugh at the confused look on his face as she folded her arms across her chest. "Sorry, sorry. I overheard you thinking about the true nature of Shihai's quirk." She paused slightly, noticing how he discreetly shrank away in embarrassment; she hastily decided to tack on some words of encouragement.

"Not that it's a bad thing! I just thought your ideas were really interesting! I thought it was pretty cool how you narrowed down his true power between pseudo-teleportation and super speed, just after seeing his quirk in real action for the first time. And, well, since you were able to do that with him… I was kiiiiinda wondering what you thought about the quirks of those two knuckleheads?"

"O-oh!" Izuku blinked a couple of times before he quickly looked away from her again. "I, uh, I uh, I d-don't want to a-assume anything- "

"From what I've seen, your 'assumptions' are pretty spot on, Izuku," she interrupted frankly, verbally chopping his flimsy excuse in half before he could use it. "You're extremely capable of making educated guesses that are wildly accurate, even when you're missing chunks of important information."

"So, go on Izuku! Take a guess at their abilities, and amaze me with that big brain you like to hide!"

Setsuna smiled easily as she deflected the rest of his modesty without any effort. This time around, she clearly saw his face redden in the dark of the basement through the mesh of his mask, and his body fidgeted accordingly as his mind processed her comment. Modesty was important and all (according to Itsuka, anyway; she never really had any use for the stuff), but now was not the time to be displaying that quality of his.

Izuku continued to look away for a few seconds as he collected himself enough to speak. All the random questions she kept asking were keeping him off balance. He had no idea what she was thinking, or what she was going to ask next. And there was just something about them that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Like, a part of him felt like she was reasonably interested in his opinion, but there just seemed to be… something more to her questions…

Regardless of what it was though, she had asked him a question on quirks, and before he knew it his mouth began to move on its own to answer her.

"A-Ah, well, uh… T-Testsutetsu's quirk… I-It seems pretty straightforward, but the simplicity of his quirk is what makes him powerful. He said his quirk's name is Steel, so I imagine that the metal his skin turns into is a variation of it. I'm pretty sure that his metallic skin gives him great durability, and it also boosts his physical strength, but I'm not exactly sure to what extent they can increase."

"I saw him eating his coffee can this morning during homeroom, after he was done drinking from it; a part of me wonders if the metal in his skin is subject to, and even influenced, by his diet. If it is, then depending on what he eats, he could probably change up the quality of his steel. Again, I don't know the extent, but it could very well be possible for him to take on qualities not normally found in regular steel by absorbing them through the metal he digests. Like… aluminum, for example. By eating aluminum, he could probably make himself nonferrous."

"I also noticed that he can't hold his transformations for extended periods of time. When he was doing the crunches portion for the assessment test, he tried staying transformed for the entire duration. About halfway through though, he had to turn back and massage his stomach. I heard him saying something about cramps, so I imagine that he can only stay transformed for about as long as he can flex his muscles. Which, now that I think about it, probably explains why he immediately dropped his quirk whenever he was done with an attem- O-oh, s-sorry Tokage-san, I-I bet I was rambling pretty b-bad- "

"No, no, you're- snort- you're fine Izuku! You're fine!" Setsuna wheezed into her hand one last time to get the laughter out of her system. Izuku's comment about 'stomach cramps' had suddenly created an image of Tetsutetsu standing in line at the grocery store to buy tampons and Midol for himself in her head.

Desperately trying to focus once more, she cleared her throat and gesturing for him to continue on. "And what are your thoughts on Kamikiri's quirk?"

"K-Kamikiri-san's quirk… h-has a lot of great offensive potential. During the assessment test, he was able to grow blades from just about every part of his body, from his back, to his hands, and even on the soles of his feet. During the 50-meter dash, I noticed that the longest his reach went was about 20 meters, but I have no idea if that's his greatest length or not. And the strength of his blades is also considerably strong, seeing as there were a few instances where his blades allowed him to support his entire weight."

"I also noticed that he can create a whole variety of blades, from the giant hook he used in the ball toss to that really thick cleaver thing he used in the long jump. I even saw him grow a razor blade yesterday, to shave in the locker room! But… I think the blades that are simpler in design are easier for him to use. Anytime he wanted to use just a regular blade during the assessment test, he could use them almost instantly, no matter how thick or long he needed them to be. But, if he needed them for a specialized purpose, it looked like he had to concentrate a little to create them. Even with the razor blade yesterday, he had to focus for a couple of seconds before it formed."

"I'm… also curious if his blades are metal, or if they're made from something else entirely, like keratin. I only say this because his blades seemed to grow out his skin, and not penetrate out of it. But, it's also possible that his body is just resistant to cuts and lacerations by virtue of his… of, his, uh… his q-quirk… A-Are you ok, Tokage-san?"

Normally, Izuku wouldn't have been able to notice his surroundings mid-ramble… but it was a little hard to ignore the annoyed humming coming from right next to him.

Right. Next. To him.

Setsuna's expression was one of concentration. Her left arm was still crossed across her chest as her right sat on top of it, and her fingers played with her lips as she mentally edited her plans to work with the insight that Izuku had provided.

Yeah… Tetsutetsu was already going to be hard to deal with, but if time really is a factor for his quirk like Izuku mentioned it might be… then this fight just got a whole lot trickier, specifically for me. That means… plans 6, 7, 8, and 12 just flew out the window. There's also no doubt in my mind that Kamikiri will probably only use simple blades for this fight as well, especially if he and Izuku cross paths. However, I am confident that I can move faster than he can, but… just to be safe, plans 3 and 9 are out as well...

Gosh, we could not have gotten a worse duo to fight against. One needs a strategy to target attrition, the other needs to be kept on his toes, and both are dangerous in close combat… we should probably try to split them up. Man, I am so glad that I consulted Izuku, because this just saved us so much time. I guess the next step would be to find out how Izuku's quirk works so that I can factor him in- wait, did Izuku say something?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the gentle boy sidestepping away from her. In the middle of his ramble, she had slid in right next to him again in an attempt to quietly begin forming their plans. The goal had been to make sure that he wouldn't jump and make noise at her sudden movements like he did before. And, she had been successful, to the point where they were close enough to have their arms touching!

But now, the sudden disappearance of his constantly fluctuating heartbeat against her arm made her look up at him in surprise.

"Sorry for spacing out like that! I promise I was listening to you; I was just lost in thought for a second. But, I'm good! Thanks for asking, Izuku!" She gently bumped her shoulder with his as she sent him a sideways smile.

For a fraction of a second, Izuku stiffened up once again as his eyes widened behind his mask. (Does he… not like being touched or something?)

After making brief eye contact with her, he looked away and stammered out, "O-Oh, don't m-mention it, T-Tokage-san. But, uh, I-I was wondering… w-why were you, uh, asking me about t-their quirks?"

Setsuna casually looked around to make sure that no one was paying any attention to them. Luckily (for them), the first group had come down with an unconscious Shihai in tow; as the medical bots got him to Recovery Girl's office, All Might began the first group's performance review.

Which meant that, right now, all eyes were facing towards the front.

Satisfied with her findings, she looked Izuku straight in the eye as she brought him up to speed. "I'm sorry I haven't told you this yet, but… we'll be fighting in the last round today, and those two will be our opponents. We'll be the heroes, they'll be the villains."

Izuku blinked in surprise. All Might just announced the next match, and no one else knew who or when they were fighting… so how…

As Izuku turned to finally look her fully in the face (and only her face), he noticed how her hair was parted…

…Parted, in a way, that one eye remained hidden under her bangs while the other gleamed through the dark of the room.

As if sensing his thoughts, Setsuna gave him a small smile. "Yes, Izuku. I'm keeping an eye on them, just like I did with class A the other day. Don't worry though- all they're doing right now is beating their chests at each other, more or less." She gestured towards their opponents with her chin before she addressed him again. "I'll let you know when they start to take this seriously and begin making plans. If they begin to make plans, that is."

Izuku… was a little torn on the inside as he took in her words.

It must have shown on his face, since his partner's shoulder gently bumped into his once more to attract his attention.

"Hey, you alright Izuku? I'm not gonna get caught, if that's what you're worried about."

"Ah, n-no, T-Tokage-san, that's not it. I-It's, uh, it's just… uh, n-nothing..."

The green-haired girl cocked her head in interest. "Are you sure? You can tell me, I won't mind."

Izuku did his best to try to think about the best way to explain his thoughts… but his mouth moved before anything concrete had formed.

"W-well, uh, I'm really grateful that you're capable of doing that. I-I don't think I would have passed the assessment test if you hadn't given me that little heads up about what it was. B-But i-it's just uh… it's j-just that… I c-can't help but feel that this... isn't… very heroic…"

As an uneasy silence fell between them, Izuku turned away from her, his eyes burning with something like shame. Here he was, thanking her for her assistance the other day, while metaphorically spitting on the very same assistance she offered as he did. What a wonderful way to show his gratitude…

As fate would have it, looking away made him miss seeing her easygoing expression warp into something… different. And as she processed what he said and looked away, a sharp, verbal rebuke reflexively lashed out at him.

"I'll have you know that a lot of things heroes do aren't actually heroic in the slightest, Izuku."

Izuku went rigid at the words as he heard her voice.

So often, when he heard it, it was warm, and friendly, and sometimes devious.

But now… it was just, cold. And detached. With the barest hints of something like… resentment, laced within them…

He quickly turned back towards her, and saw her eye narrowed minutely in unmistakable anger as she forcibly stared at the floor, her mouth in a taut, thin line.

In the shadows of the back of the room, all Izuku could see was how her malachite eye glittered dangerously in the dark, like a hungry nocturnal predator on the hunt. It made the hairs on his neck stand on end as he unknowingly held his breath. It was like… walking home at night during the new moon, and taking the sketchy shortcut that included the roughest back alleys and side streets to get there. As if there was a hostile presence just out of his field of perception, and one wrong step was all it would take to aggravate it…

But then… that feeling was gone as her eye glanced over at his and she coughed lightly into her fist. With another smile, she turned towards him and continued talking as if the last few seconds had never happened.

But even Izuku could tell that this smile and her abrupt friendly tone were forced… even if they were expertly disguised.

"Regardless of how it appears, reconnaissance is sometimes part of a hero's job. If it helps you out, you can think of this as me getting the edge on our opponents to guarantee our success. And trust me, for us specifically, we are going to need every edge we can get if we want to win against those two battle ready warriors. You do want to win, right?"

"O-Of course, Tokage-san..."

An uncomfortable silence grew between them after Izuku answered her loaded question. It became even more profound when All Might began to wrap up his review of the first group, and both of them ended up looking away in discomfort from the other for very different reasons.

For Izuku, there were a number of things from the last minute or so that left him… more than a little rattled. The suppressed anger in her voice, the bitterness of her body language... both left his mind reeling as he wondered what on Earth could have ever caused an easygoing person like her to react like… that. And that slight fear of the dark he was momentarily reminded of wasn't helping in the slightest.

But the thing that really messed up his brain- his naturally overactive brain, riddled with unease since his childhood- was how he couldn't help but decipher her words in the least favorable way…

'…For us specifically, we're going to need every edge we can get it we want to win'… Yeah… If I were in her shoes, I'd… probably feel the same way, too, if I were partnered up with someone like me…

Setsuna, on the other hand, couldn't help but chastise herself for letting some of her... personal issues... rise to the surface. She should have known better than to let an innocent line or two get the better of her like that, especially from a decent person like him. And she also should have known better than to force the desire to win down his throat like that. That was... well, that was a pretty shitty thing to do...

As she continued to berate herself for her slip ups, she felt a pair of eyes linger on her as the class began to bustle about. Looking around, she briefly watched the multiple pairs of partners in the room talking strategy and waiting for the next match to start. She also saw the first group huddled together by All Might; they each looked quite concerned, and it appeared that Itsuka was asking the great hero something she couldn't quite make out. Though, knowing her, she was probably asking for permission to go make sure Shihai was ok.

As her gaze lingered on the redhead for a moment longer, she felt the pair of eyes upon her once more, and returned to looking for them.

She was surprised to see Shishida looking back at her with a flat expression on his face, one that clearly said, '… really?'

She did her best to look confused, but apparently, he wasn't buying it. He casually glanced up to the point in the ceiling where her eye was hiding in the dark, then returned his gaze to pointedly look back at her. She would have laughed had she not felt so off from the last minute or so.

Shoot, I completely forgot about Shishida's perceptive abilities. I reeeeallly hope he doesn't snitch on me… Still, I wonder how he found me out? Did he overhear me talking to Izuku? Does he have really sharp night vision? Or, well… my eye really isn't too far away from him, so he could probably smell it nearby…

"Hey Setsi! Hey Midoriya-kun! Was that an awesome fight or what!"

"O-Oh, hi Kendo-san. Y-Yeah, it was a really good fight! You, uh, did really good against the heroes!"

"Thanks, Midoriya-kun! Though I gotta say, that match was a little too close for my liking…"

Setsuna turned to grin at the redhead before them; Itsi always had a knack for appearing whenever she was needed, and she was especially thankful for it now. She had no idea how to socially recover from the accidental remarks she had said to Izuku.

"7 minutes and 17 seconds? Good God woman, you're losing your edge. No wonder Shihai was able to drag you around the room like the blow-up doll you're dressed as- "

"Ok bitch, first of all, that guy is fast," Itsuka began with a hand on her hip and a finger pointed right at the other girl's face. While Setsuna snickered before her, Itsuka's expression became a mixture of annoyance and seriousness… but Izuku saw how her teal eyes betrayed her as they sparkled with suppressed laughter. "Second of all, I don't know if you noticed, but he tends to blend in really well with his surroundings. But I'll cut you some slack- I know it's a little hard to see here in the back of the room, with hair covering your eyes."

As Itsuka sent her best friend a cheeky grin, she was barely able to see Setsuna's eye dart towards her partner for just barely a moment before rounding back to her. She also noticed Izuku's mouth twitch downward at her joke. But before she could properly address it, the two of them were back to normal and Setsuna was firing back insults as usual.

"Cut me some slack?!" The sharp-toothed young woman crowed, while gesturing grandly to herself with both hands on her chest. "That's my line, sweetheart, because in case you didn't notice, you have the accuracy of a freakin' Stormtrooper- woah!- "

Izuku watched their exchange with wide eyes. Itsuka threw a couple of quick jabs at her friend, and Setsuna danced out of her reach with a gleeful smile and a subdued cackle in her throat.

"I-I think you did really good, Kendo-san! Especially given the fact that, uh, Kuroiro-san's speed gave him a, uh, hidden advantage, and Komori-san's mushrooms really aided her ally!"

Itsuka turned and gave him a wide, grateful smile. "Thank you, Midoriya-kun! It's good to know that some people will continue to remain being wonderful human beings, despite being stuck with a living, breathing internet troll for a partner. Did you see that, Setsuna?" She swiftly turned back to her friend as she adopted a patronizing tone, as if she were a nanny talking to her three-year-old charge. "That's called decency. Say it with me! Decency!" Itsuka clapped her hands with each syllable for emphasis. "Maybe now that you're stuck with him, you can actually learn what it means and have a little for the first time in your life!"

…Stuck with him, huh?...

Izuku repeated the redhead's words in his mind… probably more times than he should have.

"Wooooooow, you see this Izuku? This is how our esteemed class representative addresses her fellow students," Setsuna shook her head sadly before she snapped out of it and pointed a thumb towards herself. "Besides, why do I need to learn it?! You guys have it in spades, that's why we're friends, dummy!"

Itsuka simply rolled her eyes in fondness and exasperation.

"~Anyhoo~, I was just stopping by to say good luck! I take it you know when you're up and who you're facing? Actually, don't tell me who you're facing, I want it to be a surprise!" Itsuka said excitedly as she dismissed the last question with a couple small waves of her hand.

"We'll be going last, Itsi."

"Sweet! I'm heading to Recovery Girl's office right now to make sure Kuroiro-kun's alright. Once he's fine, I'll head right back. Hopefully, I'll be back in time for your guy's match! If not, then I hope you guys kick some butt!" The redhead smiled brightly as she held out a fist for the two of them to bump.

As Setsuna bumped her fist, she said in a serious tone, "Luck is always appreciated, Itsuka. But hey, make sure you check up on Shoda too, ok?"

"Shoda-kun?"

"Yeah, Shoda. His back's probably killing him from having to carrying your tea- "

WHAP!

"OW! Why'd you hit the same tit again!?"

"Good luck Midoriya-kun! I'm cheering for you guys! Please, please don't do anything too reckless today, ok?" Itsuka said as she offered her fist and a meaningful look to the freckled boy who was stunned and furiously blushing behind his face mask. She simply chose to ignore her grumbling friend as she rubbed her sore spot.

"T-Thanks, Kendo-san! I-I'll try my hardest to not be reckless!"

"I'm sure you will," she grinned back. She continued looking at him for a second in contemplation before she decided to add on an afterthought. "I like your costume, by the way. The spring green is a really nice color!"

"O-Oh! Thanks!"

"Of course! But, hey, I'll see you guys later! It looks like Shoda-kun and Komori-san are ready to go."

The redhead then waved goodbye to the green haired duo, and hurriedly left the room with the other two to go check up on their classmate.

Soon after, Setsuna's ache finally subsided enough that she gave her partner's costume another once over. Although her initial thoughts on it hadn't really changed, she had to admit: it was a nice shade of green.

But now that she was close enough to actually inspect it, she realized that his costume wasn't just simple… it was basic.

Basic, to the point, that his costume didn't even have any noticeable designer tags or emblems on it. And besides wearing the same red shoes as always, his other accessories were more or less sports gear instead of actual costume standard equipment.

As the two of them watched the new heroes and villains on the screens prepare for their simulations, she hesitantly decided to indulge her curiosity.

She wasn't sure if the uncomfortable situation they had just experienced minutes ago was still in the air or not, but… it if was, she wanted to put it behind them as soon as possible. And what better way to do so than through small talk?

"Ya know, Izuku… I don't think I've ever seen a costume design quite like that. Who's the designer for your costume, if you don't mind me asking?"

Izuku turned to her in confusion at her random question, before quickly looking away again. (He's doing it again! Why does he keep doing that?!)

"O-Oh, uh, w-well, um… well… this is… m-my m-mom bought all of this for m-me…"

Setsuna blinked in surprise as Izuku stiffened up out of reflex, waiting for the teasing to come…

But then, she was suddenly upon his costume's sleeve, touching his arm and the fabric to gently exam the quality, feeling the material for what it was.

Through her examination, she opted to ignore the steadily raising temperature, shaking, and heartbeat in his arm as Izuku's mind temporarily short circuited.

"Wow, this is… made of surprisingly high-end material. This is the kind of stuff college athletes typically wear to improve their performance… This can't have been cheap… and you said your mom bought all of this for you?"

Izuku couldn't trust himself to speak. He simply nodded his head. Rapidly. (S-S-S-SOCLOSE!)

"That's…" a soft smile grew from the corner of her mouth as she turned her attention back towards his face, "That's really generous of her… Did she not know that the school would have provided you with a costume?"

"Well, she, ah, w-we both knew, but… she bought it, before I was able to submit a design that I liked. She bought it as a way to say, 'congratulations on getting accepted!', and…"

Izuku trailed off slightly, as the more he talked about his costume and his mother, the more the memories of her gift touched the forefront of his mind. His nerves all but forgotten, he couldn't help the loving gaze he sent towards his costume as he finished his train of thought.

"… and, I can't help but feel like… when I wear this, I'm also wearing physical proof of her support, and all the faith she has in me…"

Setsuna couldn't help but stare in quiet wonder at the sight before her. She watched his eyes, barely noticeable behind his mask, shimmer a little with emotion in the dark room as he visibly relaxed and recalled everything kind associated with his gift. She heard the change of tone in his quiet voice- from timid and anxious, to gentle and clear- as he displayed some of his vulnerability for the world to see.

It was something she would have never dreamed to see from a boy she barely knew, and honestly… she was glad to have not seen it coming. Her face unknowingly softened up in response to the pleasant surprise, and her heart melted- just a little- with it.

He's… a really sweet guy, isn't he?

Setsuna suddenly blinked as she realized that her hands were still unconsciously examining his costume.

She'd never admit it out loud, but it made her just the tiniest bit of embarrassed for getting so caught up that she ended up tuning out the rest of the world for a few seconds. That was... not like her, in the slightest. Coincidentally, she was also glad that Izuku seemed to have forgotten she was there for just the moment. Using this to her advantage, she let go of his arm as casually as she could without backing away.

"Your mother sounds like a wonderful, sweet woman. I'm sure she's proud of you, Izuku," she whispered quietly to the boy next to her. She meant it too; what kind of mother would buy something like that- and cause a reaction like this- for her kid if she weren't proud of him?

He looked up from his costume to see her staring straight at him with a kind, subdued, smile, and he felt one of his own grow in response. "Thank you, Tokage-san. I really appreciate that, I do."

She turned away to watch the monitors again and gave him a shrug. She was incredibly thankful for the dark of the room, especially when her smile fractionally widened and the pigment of her cheeks under her mask slightly pinkened. "You're welcome, Izuku. And I gotta say, even though you look like a green rabbit, wearing this costume speaks volumes about your character. I dig it."

"A-Ah… it's not… uh… subostobeabbit…"

"Hm? What was that?" Setsuna asked, turning back towards him with a tilted head and a curious look.

"O-Oh, um… i-it's uh… I-I'm not, uh, s-supposed to be a-a rabbit…"

"Really?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow in interest, warping her mask as she did. "Coulda fooled me, dude. What are you supposed to be then? Because from this angle," she gestured from where she was standing, on his right, "you definitely look like a rabbit. Or a kangaroo. But, if you go over here…" She was suddenly in front of the boy- who was once again desperately trying to avoid eye contact- observing his costume with the light provided by the monitors with a slight frown on her face. "You look like… hmmm, I'm not sure… but your face-mask looks like teeth in this light, and at this angle… sort of like a smile, I guess?…"

Izuku prayed to any god that would listen that she would not connect the dots…

Regrettably, however, she noticed how he began to slightly quiver at the mention of his face-mask looking like a smile.

Now that she thought about it… the more she looked at his face-mask and rabbit-like hood, the more she felt that something about them seemed vaguely familiar...

"INDOOR ANTIPERSONNEL TRAINING, ROUND TWO- START!"

At the sound of their teacher's voice, it finally clicked in.

As Setsuna added the voice, the face-mask's 'smile', and the two 'rabbit ears' on his head together…

…All Izuku could do was helplessly watch in dismay as a downright evil smile grew on her face.

With her hands behind her back, she sauntered right up to him and got onto her tippy toes to whisper mischievously in his ear. "Your costume's based off of All Might, isn't it?..."

"…N-N-N-No…" His voice was more a squeak than a whisper.

Izuku felt her hold in a laugh at his horrible lie. And then…

"Sooooo~… is this, like, part of your stalker training? Where you learn to steal the skin off of All Might's face and wear it as your own? Ooooor~-"

"N-N-NO, I S-SWEAR T-TOKAGE-SAN T-T-THAT ISN'T T-THE CASE I-I-I SWEAR IT-IT-IT ISN'T WHAT IT L-LOOKS LIKE-"

"Is everything alright back there, Young Midoriya? Young Tokage?"

Izuku looked up in horror to see that his mentor and about half the kids in the basement had turned to look at the two of them in curiosity. Everyone else continued to watch the screens as Ibara and Kosei walked through the halls, and Yosetsu and Rin finished barricading their door.

But before he could even open his mouth to respond, his partner beat him to the punch. Somehow, she had moved back to her original spot beside him without Izuku ever noticing.

"I'm sorry we disrupted the class, All Might Sensei. We were discussing strategy as you asked, but we got sidetracked a little bit when we noticed how well Yosetsu and Rin were working together. The outburst was caused because I was teasing him about how he looked like he wanted to be partnered up with one of them instead of me. We're sorry, again, for the interruption All Might Sensei."

As Setsuna bowed and spoke with surprising formality, she discreetly elbowed the boy beside her. Izuku shook himself from his surprise before he, too, bowed low and apologized.

"Ah, well… That's all fine and dandy, Young Tokage and Young Midoriya. Just make sure to kindly keep your volume down, ok?"

"Of course! Again, we apologize for the disruption, All Might Sensei!"

As the great hero nodded and accepted their apology, he turned his attention back to the fight at hand. Many of the onlookers did the same, albeit at different paces. Eventually though, as the heroes got onto the second floor, everyone's eyes finally left them to continue observing the fight.

The moment they were left alone, Setsuna turned to the freckled boy with an honest apology at her lips.

"I am so sorry about that, Izuku…"

The green haired boy turned to see his partner staring at him earnestly, struggling to find the right thing to say. "I was… yeah, no… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to, to embarrass you in front of him… I know you really like him as a hero and all, but… yeah... I'm so sorry, Izuku…"

"O-Oh! It's… w-well, I appreciate the thought, Tokage-san." Izuku smiled at her awkwardly as he absently scratched his cheek. "I mean, it's not the first time I've embarrassed myself in front of him, so that's nothing new- "

"Wait, what?"

Izuku felt his blood freeze as panic flooded his body. He could feel Setsuna's confused stare upon him as he desperately tried to find a way out of the situation he just got himself in.

"I, uh, I've uuuhh, already embarrassed myself. In front of him! I-I've already embarrassed myself in front of him! With the, uh, you know, the, uh running into the w-wall. N-Nothing could be m-more embarrassing than t-that, r-right Tokage-san?"

Izuku chanced a glance towards the intelligent young woman and found her dark eye scrutinizing him in curiosity; he needed to change the subject, and fast.

"I-I like your costume design!"

"Oh… uh… thanks…"

Setsuna wasn't quite sure what just happened. One second, she was apologizing for what she did and the next… he was panicking? And changing the subject?

She shook her head. He may be a nice guy and all, but he was still a bit of a weirdo. There wasn't any need to ponder over what he just happened.

But... still. As she replied to his comment, the inquisitive part of her mind couldn't help but wonder…

Sure, he might have 'embarrassed himself' in front of All Might via the collision a couple of days ago… but something about the phrasing of his words, as well as his intonation of them, intrigued her.

And, he seemed almost desperate to talk about something else…

Absently, she shook her head as she brushed her hands over the material of her costume.

Maybe she was still distracted by her partner's last comment. Maybe she was still distracted by sentimentality, by how similar, yet how foreign her costume felt to her skin. Maybe she was still distracted by the constant mental editing of her plans, plans the two of them still needed to go over together. But as she replied to his compliment, her constant juggling of many thoughts slipped for just a moment. Before she even realized what was happening, she let slip something she shouldn't have.

"Yeah… I like the design of my costume too. It's, heh…" she snorted lightly, before smiling ruefully to herself, her eyes looking at something that Izuku couldn't see. "It's... kinda funny how you mentioned you feel your mom's support when you wear your costume. Because for mine... well, I included elements from my mom's uniform and my dad's equipment when I designed this, and... and with this on, it feels like… my dad's giving me purpose, and my mom's giving me guidance… ya know?"

"Wow! That's so cool, Tokage-san! I didn't know you put so much thought into creating your costume!" Izuku said earnestly, drawn in and starstruck by how much meaning was packed into her bodysuit…

…Her… skintight bodysuit

Ripping his eyes away from the green-haired girl for probably the hundredth time today, he forced himself to say the first thing that came to mind.

"So, wait, you said your costume was based off of your parents' uniform and equipment…" Izuku's eyes suddenly lit up as he quietly, excitedly, asked the question that was naturally to follow. "Does that mean they're heroes!?"

The moment he asked his question, he wished he hadn't.

Because for the first time, Izuku witnessed the girl before him freeze in place as the words left his lips. Her eye was wide and she seemed to forget how to breathe for a just moment as she finally realized what she had just said.

The seconds that followed seemed like an eternity as he watched her silently and rapidly sift through many answers in her head, before one seemed to come tumbling out of her mouth.

"N-No… not exactly…"

Her sudden change in demeanor was enough for the both of them to helplessly feel the air between them stiffen up with tension once more. Her answer made Izuku hope that he hadn't accidentally crossed a line he didn't see, as his mind couldn't help but wonder what she meant.

"O-oh… um, ok… I-I'm sorry if, if, uh-"

"No! No. A-Ah, no, y-you're fine..."

The silence between them was agonizingly present as the classroom's ambient volume grew with excitement. The heroes had just found the villains' layer, and were moments away from breaching the door… but for once, the two observant students in the back of the class didn't notice a single thing.

This social blunder- whatever this social blunder was- was beyond either of their abilities to fix. The only thing they could do was awkwardly look away from the other as they each tried to find a way past this situation.

It wouldn't be until All Might declared the heroes the winners of this round that life would be breathed back into their conversation.

As the class chattered happily, waiting for the reviews and the next round to start again, Setsuna cleared her throat and hesitantly turned towards her partner. Izuku saw her movement out of the corner of his eye and looked up to see her visibly collecting herself to speak as she absently scratched at her elbow.

"Hey, so… I'm, uh, sorry that our conversations today have gotten all… weird… and stuff. That's all on me. If you'd like, and, um, if it's ok… shall we... get back to making a plan?"

She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until Izuku immediately responded to her proposition. "Of course, Tokage-san! I-I'm also sorry too, for, uh- "

The freckled boy abruptly stopped talking when she gently placed her fingers on top of his lips. When he followed her arm up to her gaze, he saw the honest smile she wore that reflected the silent relief and subdued delight within. "Izuku, you're a good guy and all… but you really need to stop apologizing so much. Especially for things that aren't your fault."

"A-Ah, I'm s-sorry Tokage-san… oh, uh…"

Setsuna lightly laughed as she lowered her hand and gently patted his upper arm. For once, Izuku didn't flinch at the contact.

Setsuna then casually clapped her hands together in anticipation, eager to put this behind them and to get the ball rolling again once more. "So! Quirks! We both have pretty complicated quirks, but I think mine's going to be a little harder to explain. Why don't you explain yours first? It's called Super Power, right?"

"Uhh, yeah…"

Izuku was so glad he mentioned his interactions with Shoda and Kan Sensei to Al-Yagi-san on the ride home yesterday. It gave them a chance to come up with an explanation that Izuku was easily able to memorize.

"W-Well… my quirk gives me super strength… but immediately after I use it, it messes me up. It's basically a double-edged sword…"

Setsuna blinked once. Twice. Then, "… Wait, is that it?"

"... S-Simply put, yeah…"

(Bullshit.) "O… kay… hmmm…"

Yeah, no. There's no way that his quirk can be that simple. Plenty of people in the world have strength-enhancing quirks, but I can't think of a single one off the top of my head that rebounds on the user like his does. And, given how on guard he suddenly looks, he knows that's the case too. But that's fine- everyone has secrets about their quirk that they'd rather not share.

However… there are a few other things that I need to know for the finishing touches of our plans… Let's see if I can ask the right questions.

Right as Izuku was about to ask Setsuna about her quirk, she suddenly asked more questions about his. "Is there any way at all you can use your quirk, and not end up broken and battered?"

Izuku discreetly gulped as he thought about the best way to answer. It looked like she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth, but thankfully, she hadn't called him out on it. He already slipped up once talking to her- he could not afford to do so again, especially around someone as smart as her.

"W-Well… my body has an upper limit to power that it can handle before it breaks… I've, uh... started training with Kan Sensei before and after school, in order to safely reach and use that upper limit without any problems. I've been able to do it a couple of times, but it takes me a while to get there, and I can't hold it for very long."

"And, uh, I, uh, w-we… also… have been trying to incorporate multiple muscle groups at the same time when I use my power. I've been successful with that a couple of times, but again, it takes me a little while to be able to safely use my quirk that way. And the amount of power I've been able to generate when I do so isn't as much as my upper limit."

"How have you been incorporating multiple muscle groups? Also, how much time do you need to build up your power, in both instances? And how long does it usually last?" She asked her questions immediately, her eye focused intently on him.

"O-Oh, uh… I've… been swinging a sledgehammer around, to hit things… a-and it takes… probably five or six seconds to safely generate my power. And if I use my upper limit, it will only last, like, three or four seconds at the most before I start to lose control."

"Why a sledgehammer?" she asked curiously.

"W-Well… using it properly requires multiple muscles groups to work together, while in motion… and, uh… if I use too much power, the sledgehammer will break- "

"- Break before your body does! What an ingenious idea!" Setsuna said enthusiastically, lightly socking his arm with an excited smile. (Hell yeah! Everything's finally starting to fall into place!)

Izuku flushed a bit and scratched the back of his head at her reaction to his explanation. "Ah, i-it's n-nothing, really, n-not even my idea-"

"You really need to ease up on the modesty, Izuku. It's ok to be proud of what you've accomplished so far, ya know," Setsuna lightly teased the boy as an awkward laugh escaped his throat.

But immediately after that exchange, her expression became solemn and her tone turned serious as she fully faced her partner. The freckled boy saw the movement out of the corner of his eye; he only had a brief second to wonder about the sudden change before she spoke.

"And… look, Izuku… I'm not trying to tell you what to do. Obviously, you're totally free to do whatever you want… But I, personally, would like to insist that you use something similar to a sledgehammer for the simulation today when we attack the villains, instead of striking with your body."

"I-Is there a reason why?"

Izuku was still on the fence about taking the time to find something suitable for a weapon. Honestly, he was leaning more towards 'no', for multiple reasons, the biggest one being that he didn't want to waste their preparation time looking for something that wasn't guaranteed to work in the first place.

Against guys as powerful as Tetsutetsu and Kamikiri, he highly doubted he would have the time he needed to build up and apply One for All correctly. Besides, Tetsutetsu could turn his entire body into steel, and Kamikiri could probably cut through steel with his blades. What use would a measly sledgehammer have against opponents like that?

Thankfully, Setsuna was willing to share her views on the matter.

"Weeeell~, for starters, I'm pretty sure you can send everybody in this room flying with the raw power of a simple flick of your fingers," she playfully flicked the tip of his nose for effect, "except for All Might, of course."

"From that point of view, I guess you could say that we're sort of 'lucky' to be fighting against those two. They and Shishida are probably the only ones in class who could physically brush off the hits you'd be able to dish out with a beat stick." Setsuna did a couple of mimed swings of something that was probably supposed to be a sledgehammer to further back her claim.

The playfulness evaporated from her body as she reverted back to her previous state of seriousness. "But… From another point of view… I'm not sure if anyone would be able to survive a direct hit from you, especially if your control slips. That… goes for the building itself as well, if your power accidentally became unleashed. Having one more safeguard between control and chaos would be better for everyone involved, in my opinion. And… besides…"

Setsuna trailed off slightly as a few memories flashed briefly in the forefront of her mind. One was of her partner, laying broken from the aftermath of his collision a couple of days ago. Another was of an angry, defeated nine-year-old redhead as she did her best to hide both the wetness in her teal eyes and her new twin forearm casts. But the most prominent memory- which was actually a collection of memories- was of the sole occupant of room B2- 145.

Her gut clenched reflexively as she forced them all of away, refusing to be publicly affected by the last one in particular. It was partially effective, as the only thing that changed was a slight lift in her tone.

"Your power comes with massive recoil, right? Call me crazy, but... I think that, if we want to win, mitigating some of that recoil should become one of our highest priorities. I'm not… I'm not the biggest fan of reckless action, not at the cost of watching people hurt themselves. If there's a chance that we can do this exercise without any major damage- to yourself, the building, or our opponents- I would personally like to take it, no matter how unlikely success would be. I mean, it's not like we can't fine tune the plan to make it better, right?"

Izuku could only watch her in ashamed silence as she asked the question more to herself than to him.

Deep down, he knew that he wasn't ready for this exercise. He knew the unspoken truths of his terrifying strength. But to have the facts laid out so clinically bare of niceties in front of him was… painful. And it only proved that the 'progress' he had made was probably nothing more than the difference between two millimeters and three in the eyes of most people.

Maybe… this time around… he thought it would just be better if he followed someone else's lead. If he took the initiative for himself… his safety, as well as the safety of everything around him, would be at risk...

It… might just be… for the best…

"And! As a bonus!" She suddenly interrupted his silence with another toothy grin. "Just think about how cool you'd look, kicking ass and swinging a big ol' mallet! But, that's enough of what I think; what do you think, Izuku?"

Izuku swallowed hard as he came to terms with the truth of their situation, and he steeled himself to say the answer he knew he needed to give. "W-Well… I-I don't know a-about the last part… but you made solid points about everything else, Tokage-san. I was considering whether to use a weapon or not before it was mentioned, but since you're so adamant about it, I'll find something to use to that end for your plans. I'll do everything I can to support you, and I promise to not get in the way too much of your plan's execution!"

As Setsuna processed his words, her smile slowly slid off her face as she, once again, turned fully towards him. Under her inquisitive gaze, Izuku suddenly found himself unable to look her in the eye. Slowly her face began to display downright confusion as she tilted her head in interest.

The way he spoke just now… it didn't feel… right

As Izuku suddenly became really interested with the threads of his new gloves, Setsuna spent a few moments opening and closing her mouth before a question came forth, asked in a strange voice. "… Why… would you think that you would get in the way of the plans?"

Izuku's words came out quiet and trembling and hesitant as he forced himself to face reality. "I-I… uh… e-earlier… you said something like… 'w-we need every edge we can get…' a-and, uh, I-I get it… Being s-stuck with someone like m-me, who has little control of his… u-unwieldable quirk, would, uh, only b-burden someone w-who's amazing like you… so, uh, y-yeah…" Izuku closed his eyes briefly before looking up determinedly at her wide singular one. "But, I'll stand by what I said earlier. I promise, I'll do everything I can to back you up and ensure your plan's success."

"…Our… plan's success…"

Izuku looked away again in uncertainty as she quietly corrected him. Setsuna felt herself do the same, going over all her actions and every word they shared in the last half hour or so as she did.

Was this… was this what he thought about himself? What he thought about her? What he thought she thought about him?...

Shame began to well up inside of her as she continued going over every one of their interactions. And now that she had a second to go over everything, and see it from another point of view… yeah… it was all... so crystal clear now…

How on Earth did she not realize what was happening to him? She, who prided herself at being so perceptive of others around her- how did she not see the little clues that were obviously there? How the heck did she let herself be so thoughtless?

Somehow, in the midst of her swirling thoughts, her hand had moved on its own to gently reach out for him, to comfort and console. She wasn't the best when it came to stuff like this, but, still…

She had to at least try…

The boy shyly turned his eyes towards her as All Might finished the reviews of teams A and H and began the third simulation. She felt her throat go a little dry as she took in his expression, so similar to how it was prior to the ball throw a couple days ago, and so in contrast to what he had when he quietly demanded to know why she had told him about the assessment tests.

And even though her thoughts weren't properly sorted out, she quietly spoke to him in an effort to fix her mistakes.

"Izuku… I-I don't… I don't even know where to begin to say sorry- "

"I-It's fine, Tokage-san- "

"No. It's not." The hand trying to soothe gently squeezed his upper arm reassuringly to help try to reinforce her words. "Look, I don't want to lie to you… I'll admit, the lack of control over your quirk was a… a contributing factor to my thoughts and actions. I thought it would make our goal a lot more challenging than it was. But I never once thought that you were a burden, and I would never dream that you would hold us back from our success."

When Izuku didn't look away this time, she felt encouraged to continue speaking. At the very least, she felt she owed him the truth and a little bit empathy, if only to help him out and make things right.

"I… I've never been good at these kinds of things… Apologizing and… generally being nice, and whatnot…" she began, as she retracted her hand to hold her other elbow. "Itsuka's told me time and again that I tend to be too judgmental and competitive for my own good, and… and sometimes, they combine with other, um… o-offensive habits of mine. And typically, that ends with me creating a, uh, giant ball of… nastiness. N-Not that it excuses anything! But, uh, what I'm trying to say… I'm just… I'm so sorry, Izuku, that my giant ball of nastiness made it seem like I… thought little of you. Because I don't! Honestly, I don't. You're intelligent, and driven, and, just… so much more, than a guy with an unwieldable quirk…"

In the dark of the room, Setsuna's eye took on a reflective malachite hue as she spoke so sincerely to the boy before her. Izuku was certain that he had never received such a heartfelt apology from anyone before, especially for their conduct towards him.

If they ever apologized for their conduct towards him, that is.

The light from the screens reflected off her face but not her suit, and for a brief moment, it made him think about the full moon's luster during a peaceful night as it enhanced her genuine expression. He felt his mind begin to clear of troublesome thoughts as he continued to stare at her. The sensation was reminiscent of enjoying a cool night breeze, and the tranquil silence that came with it.

He was so briefly preoccupied that, for a second, he almost didn't hear the sound of her quiet voice asking a quiet question.

"Do you… want another partner? I completely understand if you do… And I'm sure All Might would be alright with it, if you asked…"

Izuku… still wasn't sure what to think about the girl before him. There were many sides to her, and she constantly switched between them. From devious to playful to serious to charming, and everything in between, her many facets always kept him off balance and wary of her for reasons he hadn't really taken the time to explore.

But at that moment, it didn't matter.

Right now, as she waited for his answer with an eye expressing her regret, he felt that he was actually seeing her for the first time. He still didn't know what to make of what he saw, but… he knew she wasn't a bad person, and he believed she was trying her hardest to become a better one. Or at least, better than what she was before.

So with the same gentleness that she showed him, he gave her an honest answer.

"I-If it's ok… I'd l-like… to stay with you…"

Setsuna blinked a couple times and stood a little straighter before she spoke a few more quiet, uncertain words. "Are... are you sure? I don't… want you to be uncomfortable. Not like this, anyway..."

Izuku then smiled fully for the first time during their partnership, finally free from any uncomfortableness he may have felt in the past half-hour or so. "Yeah. Yeah, Absolutely! Besides, I don't… heh, I'm, uh, pretty sure everyone here already has plans with their partners, and... uh, even if they didn't, I don't think they'd want to partner up with me."

"N-Not that I blame them!" He added quickly, his smile turning a little more bashful as he looked away and scratched his cheek. "But… if g-given the choice… I-I'd rather partner up with s-someone who believes I'm more than a guy with an, um, unwieldable quirk… than someone who doesn't…"

Setsuna took a moment to fully process his words before she smiled ear to ear, basking in his gentle honesty and kindness.

Unlike the times before, this incredible smile was empty of tricks and mischief, but filled with relief and joy as her eyes lit up with malachite brilliance. It wasn't necessarily radiant, but it was full of life and goodwill… and Izuku couldn't help but be drawn to it like a moth to a flame under a starry sky. He was just marveling at how her perfectly aligned fangs made her smile feel that much more unique when his mind, fully at ease, began to focus on one singular fact.

Oh… she has… a really nice smile…

But before he could fully process the thought, she spoke up again in a warm, clear voice.

"Alright then, Izuku! It took us a few tries, but I think we're finally now on the same page. Let's put all this uncomfortable stuff behind us, yeah? After all, we still need to create one hell of a plan!"

"I absolutely agree, Tokage-san!"

"I'm glad." Setsuna held out her fist as her eyes and smile shone with confidence and resolution. "We're a team, ok? Your problems are mine, and mine are yours. If you see a problem with the plan- our plan- then don't hold back! 'Cuz I'm gonna do the same thing!"

Izuku gladly bumped his fist with hers, hoping that his own confidence and resolution matched hers within his smile. "You got it, Tokage-san!"


The two of them spent the rest of the third match and most of the fourth brainstorming ideas and revising Setsuna's original plans.

Izuku was shocked to discover that Setsuna had so many detailed plans- each with their own emergency backup- already made. And Setsuna was amazed to learn that Izuku was able to not only remember each and every one of them, but could also recall which combination of plans worked best in conjunction with others during certain situations.

These pleasant little surprises helped to move things along greatly, as less time became needed to create, understand, and review each plan.

With Izuku revealing his sledgehammer techniques and the amount of time he would need to build up and control his power, Setsuna was able to easily modify her existing plans in order to accommodate him. And with Izuku's enthusiastic contribution, they were able to revise multiple layouts of several of her plans, further simplifying all of them.

Naturally, something so detailed was bound to have flaws, and Izuku pointed out many of them to his partner. Setsuna, in turn, either gracefully accepted his input and edited her plans accordingly, or else provided him with some insight that made him reconsider the original flaw.

This little dance of give and take added a layer of security and detail to their plans that neither had really anticipated, but both were more than willing to accept to help guarantee their victory.

However, there were also a few ideas that they argued over. To one, the idea may have seen as unimportant and/or illogical in respect to the plans they had, but to the other, the idea was crucial and/or pivotal for their success.

For example, Setsuna must have tried at least half a dozen times to convince Izuku that the particular item he wanted to use for a sledgehammer was just not optimal for multiple reasons. But, he had been oddly insistent on using it, saying that it was the only thing that would work for what they needed.

Another example was how Izuku could not, for the life of him, understand how they were going to be able to pull off some of the stunts she was describing, and tried to reason that they would need more than two people to pull them off. But, her only response to his objections were 'you'll understand once we really start going at it!'.

But despite their differences of opinion, the results of their combined intellect and their willing cooperation spoke for itself. With the both of them diligently working together and with each other, they fully broke down Setsuna's original twelve plans and improved them into five revised versions right as the fourth match began to really heat up.

Furthermore, they kept each of the plans complex enough that no one, let alone the villains, wouldn't know what to expect, yet simple enough to be able to both abandon and resume at any time they saw fit.

It was quite amazing what they could accomplish when one wasn't goofing off and the other wasn't so absorbed with his environment.

Setsuna was feeling really good about their chances by the time they finished their plans, which was also around the same time that the heroes first encountered the villains in the fourth match.

She used the commotion of their first contact to recall her eye back to her body, biting back a small sigh of relief as the two became one again. As she opened her eyes and parted her hair to watch the villains easily secure their victory, she couldn't help the snort that escaped her as she watched her male counterpart basically dominate the entire round. With ease.

Maaaan, having Yui on his team is borderline unfair to the heroes… Admittedly though, he probably still would have won, regardless of who he fought and who he was partnered up with. Thanks, Juzo, for raising the bar for us recommended students. You dick.

"…W-Woah…"

"What's up, Izuku?" Setsuna asked from his left side as Manga ran into a wall that wasn't there before.

Sometime before the fourth match started, she had meandered over there from his right side that way he would turn her direction whenever they needed to discuss something. Thankfully, because he did so without any prompt, he was able to avoid the downright dangerously zealous looks being sent his way from both of their opponents. It appeared that they had pieced together whom they were going to be fighting against.

Izuku… didn't need to be seeing that right now, even though she had already warned him about their… enthusiasm, during their planning session.

"I-It's just… wow… Honenuki-san and Kodai-san are amazing, aren't they?"

"Well, what did you expect?" She nudged his elbow playfully. "Yui has an extremely versatile quirk and a good head on her shoulders. The same thing applies even more so to Juzo, except the phenomenal control he has over his quirk is leagues above everyone else's. Fukidashi and Sen didn't really stand a chance against them in the first place."

"Yeah, I also noticed how fine-tuned his control was!" Izuku's eyes lit up in excitement, and Setsuna had to bite back a laugh. "During the assessment test and just now, I mean! With his quirk, it's really impressive how he's able to not only soften what he touches, but instantly reform it back into its original shape! Or, to a completely different one! I wish I had his control…"

"Dude, everybody wishes they had his control. That's part of the reason why he was selected as a recommendation student."

"Wait, so he really is a recommendation student!?"

"Of course!" Setsuna smiled proudly.

"Wow… it makes so much sense now…"

Setsuna was eagerly about to 'casually' let slip that, she, too, was a recommendation student. But, the sound of the great hero's booming voice cut her off.

"THE VILLAIN TEAM WINS WITH A FINAL TIME OF FIVE MINUTES AND TWENTY-SEVEN SECONDS! WELL DONE, VILLAINS! AND WELL DONE, HEROES, YOU BOYS PUT ON A VALIANT EFFORT! PLEASE COME DOWN FOR YOUR REVIEWS!" All Might turned around with a big smile to address the room as he called out the last teams for this exercise today. "TEAMS F AND I, YOU GUYS ARE THE LAST ONE'S UP FOR THE DAY! LET'S HAVE OURSELVES A PLUS ULTRA FINAL BATTLE!"

"That's us, Izuku," Setsuna whispered in his ear as the boy began to suddenly shake a little. She saw his mouth move in response, but she couldn't quite make out what he was saying over Tetsutetsu's frenzied hollering and Kamikiri's loud cackling. "C'mon, let's go get our stuff, and let's wish the other team luck! We have some prep work to do, remember?"

"Y-Yeah, T-Tokage-san, you're r-r-right!"

The young woman became acutely aware of a few things as she led the way to their teacher. First and foremost was the sight of their opponents rushing towards their teacher as well, their exhilaration more than enough to drown out any ambient noise in the room and warranting a few cautionary looks from their peers. The next was less obvious but just as easy to pick up on: the multiple sets of eyes locked onto the two teams as whispers floated among them. She didn't need to listen to any of them to know what they were whispering about.

But most of all, she could sense her partner literally quaking in his boots as he followed her towards the front of the room. Hopefully, they would have enough time for his nerves to settle down a bit before their match started.

As the two teams reached All Might, he graced them all with a bright smile, their equipment, and the same departing message he gave the other teams before he sent them off to fight.

"Alright, Young Heroes! Here's all of your equipment! Team F, you guys will be the heroes for this exercise! And Team I, you guys will be our villains! Does anyone have any last-minute questions before you go upstairs and start your battles?"

"Naw, let's just fight already!" Togaru sneered as he leveled a hungry gaze towards Izuku.

"WE'RE GOOD, ALL MIGHT! GAH! I'M SO PUMPED FOR THIS FIGHT!" Tetsutetsu proclaimed as he pounded his fists together in excitement and gleefully smiled.

"All good, Sensei!" Setsuna replied cheerily as she took the equipment for their team.

"G-Good! I, uh, w-we're good, All Might!" Izuku squeaked out as he gratefully took the items his partner gave him with shaking hands.

"Very good, Young Heroes! Well, as I'm sure you know, the exit is that way," he pointed a thick finger towards the stairway that the rest of their classmates had used to get to the surface. "Heroes and Villains will be on their own frequencies, and I'll be monitoring both of them. Once the previous teams have finished with their reviews, I'll give everyone a three-minute warning before combat starts. Have some fun, Young Heroes! And remember! This is just a simulation!"

The four of them gave their confirmation of understanding to the great hero, and immediately, the villains turned on their heel to hurriedly head towards the staircase, more than eager to start the fight.

But before they could get too far, Setsuna called out to them.

"Yo! Tetsutetsu, Kamikiri!"

The two young men turned around to see Setsuna stretching out a hand and giving them a pleasant smile. Izuku stood awkwardly next to her for a moment before he, too, extended his own hand.

"Let's have a good match, yeah?" she said, as Izuku nodded quickly in agreement.

Tetsutetsu eagerly ran back to them and snatched Izuku's hand into a vice-grip, shaking it rapidly in response to their opponent's sportsmanship. "HELL YEAH, MAN! I'M SO PSYCHED FOR THIS! DON'T HOLD BACK, OK BRO?"

The entire time as he shook Izuku's hand, he never once looked at the girl. Even when he finally removed his hand to shake hers, his eyes never left Izuku's as he continued to only address the boy with phenomenal power.

Togaru's reaction was similar. He simply brushed aside Setsuna's hand to clasp Izuku's forearm, getting right in front of his face with a vicious smile of his own. "I'm lookin' forward to this fight, Midoriya. Don't disappoint me, ya got that?!"

"Y-Yeah! L-Let's have a g-good match, K-Kamakiri-san! T-Tetsutetsu-san!" Izuku said as he did his best to look the intimidating taller boys in their eye while not quaking in fear.

Apparently satisfied with his answer, Togaru turned towards the staircase without dropping his viciousness. He took long strides towards their destination as Tetsutetsu quickly followed, howling up a storm of eagerness as he did…

…And neither of the villains noticed the small, three-centimeter objects hiding in the shadows of their blind spot, unknowingly working their way deeper into their costumes.

The heroes waited a few seconds to let the villains get a decent head start before they made their ascent.

In the meantime, Setsuna whispered to her partner. "Are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah… just… wow, t-that was so u-unnerving…"

"~I told you they'd take the ba-it~," she said smugly in a quiet singsong voice.

Izuku looked at her with appreciative eyes. "How'd you even know they would do that!?"

"I'll explain when we're alone. You did really good, Izuku!"

"T-Thanks! B-But… um, did you- "

"Yup," Setsuna cut him off, wary that their classmates with powerful sensory abilities might be eavesdropping in on their conversation. "You ready to go, partner?"

Izuku gave her a wobbly, determined smile. "Yeah! Let's win this match, Tokage-san!"

Setsuna couldn't help the confident smirk that formed on her lips as she led the way upstairs. "Awesome. Now that's what I like to hear."


As a reminder, the next chapter comes out tomorrow! I'll save the Author's Note until then!

Thanks for your patience, everyone! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you enjoy the next one even more!