Since Aizawa had pulled Bakugo aside for their talk, Nedzu insisted that everyone else get up to stretch and take a break as well. Given what was coming up, Izuku took the opportunity to have a private talk with his mentor.

"Is this really going to be okay?" Izuku nervously wrung his hands. He and All Might had gone to a corner of the room away from the others.

"Secrets always become more difficult to keep when more people know about them. But with the information being limited to just this room and these students, I think we'll be able to keep it from getting to the media or the villains."

"No, not that. I mean, that's important to think about too, but I meant, are you going to be okay? I, um, I know you probably never intended so many people to find out." Izuku sounded so earnest and his eye's shown with such concern, that All Might felt his heart melting.

"It's definitely not what I would choose, having the students find out like this, or at all really. But if them knowing will help us get through whatever ill the future holds, then I suppose I'll just have to get used to it. I can't bear the thought of my secret being paid for in blood."

Izuku nodded, his shoulders slumping at the thought. "Me neither."


"What do you suppose they're talking about?" Uraraka said, glancing over at Izuku and the skeletal man.

"It's hardly our place to snoop." Iida replied.

"I know, but I can't help but be curious! All this stuff about Izuku supposedly being quirkless and the way that guy seemed to transform into All Might a while back...I want to know what's going on, but he looked so nervous when it was brought up that I don't want to push him about it."

"I understand your frustration and hesitance; I have many questions myself at this point. After all, if Midoriya is trying so hard to avoid bringing it up, even to friends, then it must be something very important or very troubling."

Uraraka nodded. "I kinda hope we get answers, like Nedzu said we would, but I don't want it to hurt Deku either."

"Hey guys." Izuku called out as he approached them.

"Deku! You, um, all done?"

"For now, I guess."

Just then, Aizawa and Bakugo exited the room they had gone into. Aizawa went over to talk to the other teachers, but Bakugo went and stood close to a wall away from everyone else. Then he just stood there, staring at it.

"Did Aizawa tell him to do that as some sort of punishment?" Iida wondered.

"Ah, no, Kaacahn does that when he's thinking really hard about something." Izuku explained, giving his old friend a curious look.

"Well, I suppose that's a good sign."

"Hopefully." Uraraka murmured. "Deku, are you sure you are doing okay after all of that? I know I asked before it's just, you seem pretty calm about Bakugo right now, even after what he did back then and seeing it all again now. I don't think I could handle something like that nearly as well."

"I don't really know if I'm handling it, really." Izuku spoke slowly. "It's just, complicated. I admire Bakugo's strength and abilities so much, and I've known him for so long, but at the same time I've never really understood him. I never understood why everything I did made him so angry, but that didn't stop me from looking up to him...it's hard to explain."

"Do not push yourself Midoriya. You have no obligation to define your relationship with Bakugo to us." Iida assured him.

"Yeah, as long as I know you are doing okay, that's enough for me."

Izuku smiled at them. "Thanks guys."


"You know, perhaps we should add a course at UA that covers how best to handle those experiencing issues with mental health." Nedzu said to the gathered teachers as the students found their way back to their seats.

"This being brought on by everything we saw with Midoriya?" Aizawa asked.

"That is what has it on my mind now, but it's something I've been considering for a while. I know the teachers do their best to go over the issue of how to respond to panicked civilians, especially in second and third year, but issues of mental health really are on another level. The police are given mental health training in order to help them deal with domestic disputes, but I imagine that our line of work would find it equally helpful."

"Gotta admit, getting some lessons on how and when to try talking people down when I was younger would have been helpful. You learn a lot through experience once on the job, but it'd be nice not to have to rely on instinct or trial and error until you figure things out." Present Mic admitted. Then his seriousness was replaced by a teasing smirk directed at All Might. "After all, not all of us can punch our way through all our problems."

"Yeah, because screaming people down is so much better." Aizawa muttered. Mic pouted at that description, and Recovery shook her cane at him.

"You know perfectly well that he's right, boy. I heal far too many students with ruptured eardrums from that quirk of yours."

Everyone had been seated by then, so the showing continued.


The episode started off with a toddler Izuku once again watching All Might's debut video. He proclaimed that once he got his quirk he wanted to be just like All Might.

"How were you so cute all of the time?" Ashido asked while Hagakure continued to coo over the image. Izuku chuckled.

"I'm sure it wasn't ALL the time, my Mom would probably attest to that." That earned a few laughs. The mood was immediately brought back down when the screen once again showed the doctor telling Izuku to give up on his dream.

Izuku was shown flashing back to being called useless and his mothers apologies. Yet despite remembering those fears, Izuku still found the courage to ask All Might his question.

The students leaned forward in anticipation, hoping that the number one hero would finally give their friend and classmate some encouragement. Even the teachers looked interested, curious to see how All Might would handle the situation.

The exceptions to this were Bakugo and All Might. Bakugo wanted to know if the number one hero would actually contradict what he himself had always told Deku, while All Might felt his gut twisting. He remembered his words to Midoriya, and with his new knowledge of the boy, they seemed so much harsher.

Suddenly, All Might gave a painful grunt, and hunched in on himself.

Cries of alarm and confusion came from the student body. None of them had ever seen All Might show any kind of weakness before. Well, all except Kirishima, Todoroki, and Bakugo, who suddenly remembered that something similar happened near the end of the USJ fight.

'I assumed that happened because he pushed himself further than normal during that fight. But that slime villain fight was no challenge at all. So what is the connection?' Todoroki wondered.

'Is Midoriya about to see his other form? If the kid already found out the secret, that would have been nice to know earlier.' Thought Aizawa.

Midoriya continued to talk on obliviously. He talked about being teased because he was quirkless, yet he still wanted to save people with a smile.

"I admire your conviction, Midoriya, but you may need to work on your environmental awareness." Iida said, matter-of-factually. Izuku blushed.

"Yeah, from this perspective it seems really obvious. I guess I was just so nervous I had a hard time looking right at him."

Midoriya didn't look up until he said he wanted to be a great hero, just like All Might. Which was just in time for the steam to clear and for him to see All Might's other form.

Midoriya had been worried that people would make fun of him for how he responded to seeing All Might's other form for the fist time. But apparently screaming was not an uncommon reaction to such a revelation. The whole room became a cacophony of noise, with kids screaming, yelling in confusion, and one particularly loud 'What the FUCK?!' from Bakugo. The teachers had to intervene when the students didn't quite down after a couple minutes.

"Remember, no matter how confusing something is, it will likely be explained within the 'show' sooner or later. If anything of importance goes unexplained, then we'll try to clear up the confusion once we are all released from this place." Nedzu said to the room. The students nodded, some more sheepishly than others. Many made promises to themselves to try to show more patience and to keep a cooler head. Their teachers were watching after all.

The scene switched to a shopping district. A bottle was shown laying in an alley, filled with green slime and pair of eyes.

"How the heck did that get there? Didn't All Might take that with him?" Shoji asked aloud. Izuku shifted nervously in his seat.

The villain was shown waking up inside the bottle. Voices were heard down the alley, and it was shown to be Bakugo and his two friends from earlier. They questioned his past friendship with Midoriya, and said he went overboard with what he said. Bakugo said it was Deku's fault for getting in his way, then kicked the bottle with the villain in it. Which popped open.

Uraraka, Iida, Tsuyu, Mineta, Aizawa, and a few others all shot Bakugo a glare as he so casually brushed off the horrible way he'd treated Izuku. Kirishima looked uncomfortable and disappointed again. Bakugo looked away.

Those that weren't glaring made varying noises of exasperation at Bakugo accidentally letting the villain back out.

"Looks like Midoriya's not the only one who needs more environmental awareness." Kaminari teased, which earned a few laughs from the class and a scowl from Bakugo.

Bakugo flashed back to what Izuku had said about applying for UA. He exploded the can in his hand, and yelled about Izuku dreaming like a kid. The friends distracted him by suggesting they go out somewhere, which Bakugo agreed to until they said what they wanted to do. Then Bakugo yelled at them, saying he didn't want to get caught because it would go on his record.

"Is that seriously the only reason you would object to such a thing? Because it would look bad on your record?" Iida demanded, sounding appalled.

"Shut up Glasses, I have a rep to keep at that school. How else are those loser going to know I'm the best?" Bakugo growled back, though it lacked some of it's usual venom.

The two friends suddenly got scared and pointed behind Bakugo. He turned around and was face to face with the slime villain, who rejoiced at finding 'an invisibility cloak with a great quirk'.

Despite all the anger they were feeling toward Bakugo recently, many students couldn't help but give him anxious looks. Being here with them meant he was ultimately fine, but they didn't know if he got hurt back then, and none of them were looking forward to hearing a classmate in pain again.

The scene shifted back to the rooftop, where Izuku was still screaming.

Laughter was heard around the room.

"Dang Midoriya, have you been screaming that whole time?" Jirou asked. Her smile was teasing but she actually sounded impressed. "Have you ever thought of joining a band? You got a great pair of lungs on you."

"Oh my gosh, we should start a band!" Ashido squealed. "I could be a dancer for you guys!"

"I have been taught to play several instruments." Momo added.

"People, please focus, you can discuss extra curricular activities during the break." Iida interceded, taking pity on his very red faced friend.

Izuku continued to freak out about what he was seeing. The skeletal man tried to explain that he was All Might, and blood spilled out of his mouth.

Students were now looking back and forth between the All Might on the screen and skinny man who was in the same room with them, trying to make sense of what was happening.

All Might explained that his other form was similar to someone flexing to show off.

"Seriously?!" Bakugo yelled. 'He beats up villains like it's nothing and he describes it as just 'flexing'?'

Other students stared at the screen in shock.

Midoriya said how All Might always saved people with a smile, which caught the man's attention. He mused about the line before sitting down heavily onto the rooftop. He warned Izuku not to tell anyone about this. Then he lifted up his shirt, and Izuku reeled back.

As did most everyone else in the room. The scar on All Might side went from his waist to his armpit, and was covered in jagged lines and mottled colors. The room was filled with gasps and startled cries. It looked awful, and even the teachers, who had seen the scar before, couldn't help but wince or let out sympathetic hisses. It seemed the only ones truly unaffected were Recovery Girl and Nedzu.

All Might explained that it was an injury that he'd gotten five years ago. He'd lost parts of his organs as a result, and his body suffered from repeated surgeries. As a result of the stress, he could only keep his hero form for a few hours a day.

The students were too stunned to speak. They'd always put All Might up on a pedestal, thinking of him as someone who never lost, never got hurt, never wavered. And now to see that he'd gotten hurt on such an unfathomable level...

Bakugo may have been the most unsettled of all. To think that this had happened to someone he idolized, and had promised to beat one day. To think that same person carried such a weakness with them...what was he even supposed to do with that information?

Izuku on screen looked just as disturbed as his present classmates, but it didn't stop him from asking about how he got the wound. All Might revealed that the battle responsible for the injury was kept out of public knowledge by his request, to keep his image from being tarnished by it. All Might revealed what his smile truly symbolized to him. He told Izuku that heroes put their lives on the line everyday, and because of that, he couldn't tell Izuku he could be a hero without some kind of power.

Izuku looked devastated.

The students all looked over at All Might in shock.

"Did...did he seriously just tell you that you couldn't be a hero?" Uraraka demanded.

"Yeah...but I don't blame him." Izuku said quietly. All Might looked away in shame.

"I know that sounds harsh," Iida said "but the context is important. The All Might on screen doesn't know what Midoriya has been through, and he just got done showing off his own grievous wound. I imagine he couldn't bear the thought of someone getting hurt on his advice, especially without a quirk to help protect them from a similar fate."

Izuku winced and shifted away from Iida slightly. Uraraka looked far from satisfied. "Well, I can get why he'd say it, but it still doesn't make it okay. He could have at least had more tact as stomped all over a kid's dream." she said with an angry pout. The rest of the students seemed to be torn over which view point to side with.

"You are both right, in a way." Yagi's voice drew everyone's attention. "I was thinking of young Midoriya's safety when I said that, but that does not justify what I said, especially considering what happened later." The students looked at each other in confusion, wondering what he might be referring to.

'But when does he get the quirk that gets him into UA?' Todoroki thought in frustration.

'Can't say I entirely agree with All Might here. But if Midoriya really wanted to get in without a quirk he should have taken some self defense or martial arts classes to prepare.' Aizawa thought to himself. 'Though I suppose he may have assumed UA would teach him things like that. Maybe it would be good to advise prospective students to get a jump on that before coming. Even the on screen Midoriya could make some decent progress before the entrance exam if he version of him started right away. I'll have to talk to Nedzu about that.' he glanced at All Might. 'I should talk with him too. Make sure he's not giving the kids the impression that quirks are everything, even by accident.'

All Might then suggested trying to be a police officer, since it was still a way to help people. Before he left, he told Izuku he should keep his dreams realistic. Then he walked through the door, and left the stunned Izuku on the rooftop.

Uraraka looked even angrier when she heard his parting words, and even Iida looked uncomfortable.

"My boy...I'm so sorry..." All Might said. Izuku shook his head, and gave him an understanding smile.

"It's okay. It's in the past and things are better now. So please don't worry about it."

In the stairwell All Might discovered his pockets were empty. An explosion sounded outside, and All Might could see a cloud of smoke out the window. Izuku saw it too. He started to run to the stairs, eager to go watch the fight, but stopped in his tracks when he remembered what All Might said. After that, he walked slowly toward the exit with a sullen expression.

All Might felt his heart stutter in his chest. Had his words really caused Midoriya to lose so much of his spark?

All Might was shown struggling toward the source of the explosion. Then the shopping district was shown bathed in flame and smoke as people ran to get away. Heroes arrived on the scene, and at the center of it all was the slime villain, with Bakugo struggling in his grasp.

Bakugo made a choked sound, and his shoulders hunched in. Kirishima leaned forward in worry, as did Sero, Kaminari, Shoji, Tokoyami, and Koda, who were all sitting nearby. Everyone else looked over too, their attention drawn by the sound.

"Hey, man, you-"

"Shut it." Bakugo choked out. "Just. Watch. Get it. Over with."

People worriedly went back to watching the screen. Bakugo didn't seem to mind that Kirishima placed a hand on his shoulder though.

Death Arms attempted to attack the villain, but was unsuccessful. Other heroes tried to help and had to dodge out of the way of the slime villain's blow. The villain taunted them, but then Bakugo was shown struggling against the slime villain. He managed to get his face free.

Real time Bakugo took in a big lungful of air as the choking sensation stopped. But he remained hunched over as the on-screen villain yanked and compressed his body.

Bakugo yelled that the villain wouldn't defeat him, and used his explosions, but the blasts didn't get him unstuck. The villain rejoiced over Bakugo's power, saying he could get revenge on All Might with it.

Aizawa snorted. Even through his pain, Bakugo heard and gave the man a sharp look. Aizawa just shrugged.

"No offense kid, but you've got a long way to go before you're anywhere close to being on par with a powered up All Might. He might have an advantage with a hostage, but given how easily All Might took him out before, and without hurting Midoriya, the guy really shouldn't jump to that conclusion."

Bakugo gritted his teeth and looked away, a large part of him was still angry that he'd been unable to free himself from the villain. Aizawa seemingly looking down on his quirk didn't help those feelings. 'I'll show that quirk canceling bastard, I'm gonna be the best.'

The heroes were nearly blown away by the following power display. The shot then moved to the gathered crowd, who wondered about the villain,

Aizawa rolled his eyes at the crowd again. That was another reason he preferred being an underground hero. Less gawkers with no sense of self preservation.

before getting excited over Mount Lady's arrival. She was stopped dead when she got close though. She was too big to get any closer.

"Couldn't she shrink down and then go through?" Sato asked.

"Ah, but what would be the point if the conflict is happening in an area just as quaint and cozy as the one she travels through?" Aoyama pointed out, with a flip of his hair.

"Good point."

Kamuii Woods was shown rescuing civilians from the flames. He proclaimed that he'd leave the rest to other heroes. Backdraft was shown, busy keeping the fire under control. Meanwhile the other heroes were bemoaning how the scene was a minefield, with a villain they couldn't grab and explosions from Bakugo. Bakugo was shown with his mouth covered by the villain once again.

Bakugo started making that desperate choking sound again, and the students had to make a conscious effort to keep watching the screen so his pain would go away faster.

The heroes jumped out of the way of another swing from the slime villain. They ran back toward the crowd and said it was no use, none of their quirks were suited for this so they would have to wait for backup.

"Seriously?!" Kirishima burst out. "They're gonna leave Bakugo to struggle on his own because their quirks aren't perfectly suited to fight this guy? That's so unmanly!"

"Yeah, what the heck is that about?" Sato joined in.

"I'll admit, there are ways they could try to help young Bakugo if they thought more creatively instead of focusing just on their weaknesses." Nedzu said from his place beside Recovery Girl. "But there will indeed be times in a pro hero's career where they are simply outmatched and outgunned, and keeping casualties and damage to a minimum is all one can really do."

Aizawa narrowed his eyes. "Be that as it may, that doesn't change that these heroes should have tried thinking outside the box before just giving up."

Present Mic grimaced. "Definitely, they can't afford to wait long with a hostage at risk of suffocating, so that should have been the very last thing to fall back on."

"Very true. Perhaps I could contact their agencies with a suggestion that they have a renewal course at out school." Nedzu said with a dangerous glint in his eye. They really should have learned better at this point after all.

All Might finally arrived on the scene. He scolded himself for being too distracted by his time limit and letting this villain escape, especially after what he said to his fan not long ago. He gripped his wound through his shirt, thinking of how pathetic he was.

"No! Don't be mad at yourself! It was my fault for distracting you." Izuku said, looking at All Might with wide eyes. The man smiled sadly back at him.

"I appreciate your intentions young Midoriya, but at the end of the day I am the professional, and it was my job to keep an eye on that villain, no matter what was happening."

"But-"

"It's in the past my boy. Focus on the future."

Izuku nodded slowly. He didn't quite believe All Might, but he would do as he said. Also, a small, guilty part of him was relieved that Bakugo was too distracted by his own bouts of pain to truly take in Izuku's part in the villain getting free.

Izuku was now being shown walking down the street. He flipped through his hero notebook while the words of All Might and other people deriding him went through his mind. Izuku had to force himself not to cry. He scolded himself, telling himself that he really knew what All Might had said was true, and that he'd just been living in denial.

Uraraka shifted just enough so her side was pressed against Izuku, offering silent comfort. That almost made Izuku cry in real life.

"And yet he gets into UA with a powerful quirk. I just don't understand how that happens." Momo grumbled to herself, looking over what she'd written down so far. Little did she know that Todoroki was feeling the same way.

Another explosion sounded nearby, and Izuku turned toward it. He realized that he went to the scene of the fight without even thinking about it.

Despite how down Izuku looked on-screen, that still got some laughs.

"Leave it to Midoriya to automatically walk toward a villain fight." Mineta said.

"Kero, yup."

Aizawa shook his head and muttered about problem children.

Despite telling himself it was useless, Izuku still walked close enough to get a look. He stopped dead when he saw it was villain from earlier. He quickly put the pieces together and realized the bottles containing him must have fallen out while he was attached to All Might.

This time Bakugo did glare at Midoriya, and the boy shrank fearfully into the couch.

Izuku heard the crowd discussing how a student had been captured, and had been struggling for a while. Izuku was in fearful awe of how the student had held on so long.

"Like I was gonna let that side-show attraction get the best of me." Bakugo growled. His lips were curled up slightly due to the round about praise though.

The crowd started talking again. When they figured out All Might had been fighting the villain earlier, they demanded to know why he wasn't there now. Izuku shook where he stood, thinking it was all his fault, while All Might stood at the other end of the crowd, also scolding himself.

"These two really do blame themselves too much." Recovery Girl said with a sigh. "At the end of the day it was just an unlucky sequence of events."

"But it really was-

"Hush, Toshinori."

"If I hadn't-"

"You too, boy."

"I get that they are wanting All Might because the heroes that are present aren't doing much good for the hostage, but they really shouldn't expect him to solve everything." Present Mic said. Aizawa and Nedzu nodded in agreement.

Then the hostage turned enough so Izuku could see who it was. The next moment Izuku's was running through the crowd and onto the scene.

"What the-"

"Midoriya!"

"What are you doing?!"

"You can't!"

"Kero, I see what you meant about crowd control now, sensei."

Izuku ran toward the villain, freaking out the whole way. The slime villain moved to intercept him. Izuku flashed back to something he had written in his hero notebook, and it inspired him to yank his backpack off and throw it right into the villain's eye.

"Oh my gosh!"

"Awesome!"

"Go Midoriya!"

"I must admit, that is both an excellent example of quick thinking and applying previously observations in a useful way. Well done." Nedzu said. Izuku blushed at the praise.

The villain flinched back, and that allowed Bakugo enough room to get his mouth free.

The real life Bakugo gasped as well, his fists clenching the armrest so hard it was starting to rip. The on again off again feeling of being strangled was really starting to get to him.

Izuku ran forward and started trying to pull the slime off of Bakugo, who demanded to know why he was there.

"Yeesh, way to be grateful Bakugo." Kaminari said sarcastically. Bakugo ignored him.

Izuku said that his legs moved on their own. In his head, he thought that there were a lot of reasons but the most pressing one was the one he said out loud.

People gaped at the screen, impressed by Izuku's words but too in the moment to say anything.

'You really are something, Midoriya. To risk so much for someone who treated you so poorly.' Iida thought to himself. 'But I doubt you even thought of that at the time.'

'This kid.' Aizawa thought.

'That's my boy.' thought Yagi.

A jolt ran through All Might when he heard that. The slime villain moved to swipe at Midoriya. The other heroes ran forward, but they weren't close enough. The slimy fist came crashing down, but was intercepted by All Might.

"Oh thank god."

"Yes!"

"Go All Might!"

"Is it really okay for him to push himself like that?" Momo muttered worriedly. She would have known the answer if she'd looked over to see the somewhat pained look on Yagi's face and the exasperated look Recovery Girl was wearing. She hardly objected to him stepping in in this case, but she hated seeing him push his damaged body like that.

All Might said that he hadn't been living up to his words. All Might grabbed the two boys, then delivered a punch. The slime villain blasted apart, and All Might stood victorious.

The on-screen crowd may have looked on in stunned silence, but the viewing room erupted into cheers. How could they not after such an epic take down?

It started raining on screen, and people in the crowd deduced that it was the result of All Might's punch. That's when people started to cheer. Before All Might stood up, he wiped blood away from his chin. And when he raised a fist in victory, he nearly stumbled backwards.

The jovial atmosphere suddenly sobered. The knowledge of All Might's secret weakness swirled in their minds, and Momo's earlier question came to their minds. Was All Might really okay?

'We have to make sure All Might's injury stays a secret.' Todoroki thought. 'If my old man had any idea about what he was going through...'

Yagi himself slumped, feeling exhaustion tug at him alongside the on-screen version of him. It honestly wasn't as bad as he'd expected through...

All Might looked back at Izuku thoughtfully before the show cut to the slime villain being gathered up and delivered to the police. While All Might was swamped by the press, two of the heroes scolded Izuku for being so reckless.

"Seriously? Deku helped save Bakugo's life and their yelling at him?!" Uraraka's hands clenched into fists.

"Yeah, that seems kinda messed up." Sero agreed.

"Definitely! Manliness deserves praise!" Kirishima shouted.

"I don't like it either, but they aren't wrong. Rushing in without a plan was an extremely reckless thing to do." Iida pointed out.

"It's only because of All Might that I wasn't hurt." Izuku agreed. Uraraka sighed in frustration, but let it go.

Bakugo was getting praised by another pair of heroes for his bravery and quirk, though he didn't look at all happy about it. He looked over at Deku, and his eyes narrowed.

'That was so...condescending.' Bakugo thought to himself. 'Deku... he ran in there and he actually did something. More than any of them were doing at the time. Then All Might came and saved the day. All my struggling accomplished was making the place more dangerous, and I still had to be rescued in the end...'

"Dude, they're right. That was so manly."

Kirishima's casual praise brought Bakugo out of his thoughts.

"The fuck are you on about Shitty Hair? My fighting back didn't do a damn thing against that guy. It's like they were praising me for being weak."

"It doesn't sound that way to me." Kirishima replied. "Maybe you didn't get away, but you still fought back. You heard what Midoriya said. Getting choked by that thing was torture, but you still hung in their long enough for help to come. Not everyone could do that, you know?"

Bakugo looked at him for a minute, then grunted and looked away.

"I'm not disagreeing with you Kirishima," Sero interjected "but them saying all that seems really hypocritical after they were just going off on Midoriya. I mean, sure it was reckless, but he was being brave too, and the heroes don't have a nice word to say about him."

"The contrast does make their words toward Midoriya sound overly harsh." Iida agreed with a frown.

Uraraka nodded in agreement, and Izuku blushed slightly at the praise.

Izuku was shown walking home after the incident. He lamented that he couldn't apologize to All Might because he was still being interviewed.

"You stuck around to do an interview despite the fact that you were already over your time limit?" Aizawa asked with a raised eyebrow. Yagi sighed heavily.

"I tried to get away sooner, I really did, but you know how the media gets about these things."

Well, Aizawa could hardly argue that. It was one of the many reasons he was an underground hero.

His thoughts were interrupted by Bakugo yelling "Deku!" from behind him.

The class perked up in interest.

"Is...is Bakugo actually going to thank him?" Sero asked.

"Sounds too good to be true." Kaminari replied.

Bakugo ran up to Izuku. Then he started shouting that he never asked for Deku's help. He called Izuku names, and yelled at Deku not to look down on him before stomping away.

"You called it." Jirou said. Kaminari grinned, while several other class members sent Bakugo exasperated or incredulous looks.

Izuku looked nonplussed for a moment, but then he suddenly looked relieved. He decided Bakugo was right, and that he hadn't actually changed anything.

"That's not true! You totally helped!" Uraraka said.

"It may have only given him a few seconds to breath, but that means a lot to someone who's suffocating." Tsuyu agreed.

"Indeed, a few seconds can make all the difference, who knows what could have happened if Bakugo had not gotten air just then." Iida added.

Izuku blushed. "Thanks guys."

Aizawa gave him a look. "The point stands, but that doesn't mean you should go around running into any more villain battles until you get a license."

"Yes sir."

Izuku was just thinking to himself that he could start focusing on a more realistic future now, when All Might burst out from around the corner. Izuku asked how he was here when he had just been surrounded by reporters. All Might struck a pose, and said it was no trouble for him. Then he promptly imploded back into his skeletal form, spewing blood from his mouth. Izuku screamed.

The class winced in sympathy.

"Does that happen a lot? The whole, blood thing?" Hagakure asked worriedly.

"Unfortunately, yes." Yagi confirmed, absently rubbing his side. "However, don't let it get to you. It's a byproduct of the surgeries, so it doesn't mean something is immediately wrong."

"It would happen less if you would stop pushing yourself past your limits though." Recovery Girl scolded. All Might muttered an apology, and Recovery Girl shook her head.

All Might told Izuku he'd come to offer his thanks. He told Izuku that without their conversation, he would have turned into someone who was all talk.

Izuku tried to deny it. All Might countered that, without Izuku being at the scene, he wouldn't have found the strength to act. He went on to say that heroes have stories from their youth, and those stories tend to have one thing in common: The hero's body moved before they had the chance to think.

All Might asked if that was what happened to him, and Izuku's tears overflowed when he agreed it was. Izuku fell to his knees, thinking about how, when he was little, what he really needed to hear, was what All Might told him next.

"Dang it, man." Kirishima said through his own tears. "I shoulda brought a roll of toilet paper from the bathroom."

"Yeah, definitely." Ashido said, trying to blink back her own tears.

"G-go get one, af-after this ep-episode." Hagakure sobbed.

Even Izuku, who had already cried once for this event, felt tears starting to run down his face. He wondered if All Might truly had any idea what those words meant to him, even after seeing all this, how deeply he had needed to hear them. Iida lay a hand on his arm, and was rewarded with Izuku's grateful smile.

Izuku's narrator voice came on, and casually mentioned that this was the story of how Izuku became the greatest hero.

There was a beat of stunned silence.

"WHAT?!" Bakugo shrieked. He leaped up from his spot, and would've gone straight for Deku if Kirishima and Shoji hadn't stepped in to restrain him. "You damn nerd! Don't think you're gonna be number one just because some dumb show made by some static bastard said so! That's my spot!"

"Kacchan, I didn't tell it to say that! And, and, things will be different now, since we're seeing all of this! Us knowing things will change how things play out, so there's no way to know if that will really happen once we get out of here."

"I know it won't, because I'm gonna be number one!"

"Will you stop throwing a tantrum already?" Jirou demanded. "We're all aiming for the top, that's what being in the hero course is all about. So there's no point in having a hissy fit just because Midoriya is doing the same."

"Yeah! What she said!" Uraraka shouted.

"Jirou makes an uncouth but excellent point. There is no reason for this unsportsmanlike behavior, and as class representative I must insist you calm down." Iida said, chopping a hand through the air.

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Would you prefer it if they tell you what to do?" Ojiro asked, gesturing at the teachers. They were all looking at the display with narrowed eyes and disapproving frowns. Bakugo caught the eyes of Aizawa, who had one hand on his scarf. A scarf that he might not need his quirk to wield.

"I believe we had this discussion on the first day of school Bakugo, about how attacking one's fellow classmates will not be tolerated." Aizawa's voice was calm, but his cold eyes held the reminder that Bakugo was already on excruciatingly thin ice. Bakugo gritted his teeth, but looked away and stopped struggling.

"Let me sit down." he growled. Kirishima and Shoji shared a look, then let him go and returned to their seats. Bakugo saw that everyone was still staring at him, and scowled. "Just get to the next episode already."

People slowly turned away, or went got up to take advantage of the episode break. Todoroki's gaze lingered on Bakugo longer than any of the others.


As the room settled down, conversations started to crop up about the episode they had just seen.

"Man, I never would have guessed All Might was going through all that." Kaminari said quietly.

"That's kind of the point, isn't it?" Sero's voice was subdued. "He keeps up the act, makes everyone think he's unbeatable, and people feel safe as a result. But yeah, it's a lot to take in. And it feels wrong to say but I almost feel...I don't know...'cheated' isn't the right word, but it's a similar feeling, I think. Does that make any sense?" Kaminari looked confused, but Ojiro overheard and nodded.

"I think so, and it's understandable. It's always gonna feel weird to find out that people aren't exactly what you thought they were. Like finding out the parent that always lectures about responsibility used to sneak out every night. It doesn't really change how you feel about them, but it does change how you view them. It's disorienting."

"That's the word!" Sero snapped his fingers and pointed at Ojiro.

"Kinda sounds like you're talking from experience there." Kaminari trailed off leadingly, but Ojiro didn't follow up. Kaminari shrugged it off and continued. "But still, to get hurt that badly, and still go out and save people with a smile everyday, it's pretty amazing. It honestly makes me admire him even more, and I honestly didn't think that was possible!" Sero and Ojiro were quick to agree. Shoji, who had been listening to the whole conversation, agreed as well.


"It really goes to show how important appearance is to being a hero, even the Symbol of Peace puts on airs for his adoring public." Aoyama told Mineta, who was sitting next to him. Mineta had gotten up to try and sit next to one of the girls, since some people had been switching seats, but none of them had let him.

Mineta nodded along with what Aoyama said, but his mind was elsewhere. He'd wanted to be a hero because it always looked so cool and heroes had so many fans...but he'd never really thought about what came with that. Seeing that scar on All Might...something like that could easily happen to one of them if they became pros, something like that could happen to him. Granted Mineta couldn't see himself going up against the same kind of villains All Might would, but even a injury half as bad as that could change his life forever. Heck, something like that could have happened to him or one of the others at the USJ. Could he really handle that if it happened to him? Did he want to risk it? Suddenly he wasn't so sure about deciding to be a pro...maybe he would be strictly a rescue hero. That was probably safer right? Citizens, including pretty girls, would be super grateful to the person who dug them out of the rubble...


Elsewhere, Bakugo was standing right next to a wall and staring at it again. Somewhere not too far away, Deku assured Kirishima and Ashido that that this was normal for him. Bakugo didn't really pay attention to that though.

"Why?" He demanded quietly. "Why did you have to show them all that shit, huh Truth bastard?"

He would forever deny that he'd jumped when a thoughtful hum sounded in his ear.

'You sound upset Bakugo Katsuki, though I hardly take any credit for that.'

"I'm angry because of what you showed to these dumb extras." Bakugo growled under his breath.

'Everyone agreed to secrets being shared when I invited them here, including you. The events I have shown thus far are merely shadows of what has been. That they are what they are, do not blame me. '

A shiver ran up Bakugo's spine.


"To think that such a pillar of our society holds such a dark secret, and keeps it in shadow to shield the public from falling into despair, it is a beautiful and tragic thing." Tokoyami declared with a dramatic bow of his head. He looked back up when Koda murmured something and then pointed at Aizawa, then at All Might. Tokoyami nodded thoughtfully. "An astute observation. Aizawa may favor the logical ruse, but All Might's hero persona is a kind of ruse in and of itself, one that he uses to influence ally, citizen, and villain alike."

'It's more manipulative of him than I would have expected.' Todoroki thought as he listened to them. His thoughts strayed to his father for a moment, but he shoved them back. All Might put up a front in order to better help the people he served; it wasn't anything like what his father did during press interviews. That was for the benefit of Endeavor and no one else. His eyes once again strayed to a now seated Bakugo, and stayed there until the next episode started.


A.N.

I know plenty of fics that have Aizawa be very adamant that Izuku can be a hero without his quirk, and I do love that trope because our boy deserves all the support and good messages! For this fic though, I thought this reaction from what is supposed to be 'canon' Aizawa would be a touch more in character. After all, when Izuku gets OfA later he acknowledges that he needs to work twice as hard to catch up to the other students, yet before he got a quirk he didn't do anything to physically prepare himself for the UA entrance exam. Izuku's potential is never at 'zero' due to his analytical mind and quirk journals, but if really wanted to have any chance at getting into the hero course there was a lot more he could have done to bring that potential out earlier in his life, you know?