This episode started off with Izuku approaching a dilapidated building, presumably where his internship would be located.
People frowned at the screen. They were all very curious to see the man that had once trained All Might, but the place looked less like a hero's residence and more like an abandoned building.
"Are you sure you gave him the right address?" Present Mic asked, looking the place up and down dubiously.
Yagi hummed thoughtfully. "It's been a while since I've been there, but it looks like the right place."
"I certainly hope he didn't let himself go as much as he did the building." Aizawa commented.
"Oh, there's no chance of that I'm sure." Gran had always placed a great amount of pride in his skills after all.
Izuku hesitantly entered the building, calling out as he did so. When he saw what lay past the door, he immediately freaked out.
And he wasn't the only one, students yelled and gasped at the sight of the elderly body laying in a bright red pool.
"Holy crap what happened?!"
"Is he really...?"
"The villains found him! Midoriya could be next!"
"No!"
Their Midoriya was beginning to panic at the thought of losing another hero so soon after Ingenium and the idea that he'd have to tell All Might about the incident.
The noise only died down when All Might used his fingers to let out a high pitched whistle. His single lung couldn't hold a long note, but he was loud enough that it didn't matter.
"Calm down everyone, I'm certain things aren't as bad as they look."
"So am I." Nedzu piped up. "If you look closely, you can see that there is a fork laying not far away from him, and that those 'entrails' near him look more like sausage links than any human organ."
Hearing this, the students took a closer look at the screen, and saw he was right. Them all looking so closely made the show continue.
Gran Torino suddenly lifted his head and declared he was alive, and Izuku repeated it while still screaming.
That got surprised laughter from some people in the room, while others just sighed in relief. Midoriya practically melted into his seat at the strength of the relief.
The elderly hero was shown standing up then, explaining how he'd been carrying his ketchup covered food but tripped and fell into it. He asked Midoriya's name, and he gave it, only for the hero to act like he hadn't heard him and asked him to repeat it. He then fell back down onto his butt and declared he wanted something to eat, then called Izuku 'Toshinori'. He was also visibly shaking the whole time.
The students started frowning again. This was certainly not what they had pictured when they thought of someone who trained All Might. They hardly expected him to be young, but they didn't think he'd be so...out of it. He was acting almost as poorly as the building looked.
Over with the teachers though, Yagi only sighed. Not a sad sigh, but one of expected frustration, which is what made something click for Aizawa and Mic.
"He's playing it up isn't he? To see how the kid will react?" Aizawa asked.
"Pretty sure, yeah."
"So, he's done this with you before I take it." Present Mic guessed. Yagi nodded.
"He liked to see how I responded to 'surprises'. Nearly gave me a heart attack half a dozen times, but I suppose he did succeed in shortening the amount of time I spent readjusting after I saw something shocking."
Aizawa grinned. "Heh, a logical ruse, I can get behind that."
"Don't you start." Mic grumbled.
Izuku politely excused himself to make a phone call, planning to call All Might and ask for advice about what to do given his mentor's apparent mental state. Before it could go through though, he was distracted by Gran Torino opening the case for his hero costume. Izuku started to protest, but was taken aback by Gran's serious voice telling him to put his suit on and show off how much he knew how to handle OFA. Of course, as soon as Izuku started to take him seriously, Gran asked who he was again.
"The hell is up with this guy?" Bakugo demanded. "He just trying to mess with the nerd out or what?" 'Did this guy seriously train someone was strong as All Might?'
"Yeah, I can't tell if he's 'all there' either." Ashido griped.
"As I started to discuss with your teachers, I believe Gran Toriono is displaying some of these behaviors to get a feel for young Midoriya. Either that or he is just getting a kick out of confusing him and keeping him on his toes; it could be either one." Yagi explained.
"Why can't both be true?" Nedzu smirked.
"It certainly could be."
Midoriya was beginning to feel very anxious about how this whole internship was going to go. He couldn't afford to mess it up! He needed to learn how to better master OFA and Gran Torino was supposed to help with that!
Izuku told Gran Torino that he needed to figure out OFA fast, since All Might was running out of time, and that meant he couldn't waste time playing games here and turned to go.
"Huh, look at you showing some backbone." Bakugo said, grudgingly impressed at the nerd talking back to the hero that had trained his idol.
Suddenly, Gran Torino pushed off from the ground and started zooming around the room, at one point coming within an inch of hitting Midoriya before landing and sticking just above the doorway. Midoriya looked up at him in shock, and the hero declared that that made it all the more important that Midoriya show off with OFA.
"Hey!"
"Whoa!"
"So fast!"
"Awesome!"
The students met the scene with exclamations of surprise and delight. Seeing that display finally made them believe that this man could have once trained All Might.
Izuku took a deep breath and steeled himself. He still wasn't quite sure what to make of Gran Torino, but he wanted to be prepared for whatever the hero was going to throw at him.
The lighting made Gran's face look eerie as he spoke about watching the sports festival. He said that the way Midoriya used his power during the festival was 'unthinkable' and that All Might was a novice when it came to teaching.
Yagi hung his head. He knew it was true, but it was still disheartening to hear his old teacher say it.
Recovery Girl was just hoping that Gran's comment meant he would be more successful in teaching the boy how to use his quirk without hurting himself.
A quick flashback showed All Might referring to the students as 'zygotes' which was the word Gran used to refer to Midoriya at one point. Izuku decided that the use of the same phrase plus them both playing dumb in the same way meant that this man really had been All Might's teacher.
"Are we sure it's just 'playing' dumb in All Might's case?" Aizawa asked lightly.
Yagi chuckled while Mic scolded Aizawa and told him to play nice.
Gran declared that he couldn't stand to see OFA being used that way so he would teach him how to use it. Midoriya gave him a determined smile and said he looked forward to working with him.
"Aw Deku, so polite even when staring a man down." Uraraka teased.
"Yeah, his mouth said 'I look forward to working with you' but his face said 'bring it on!'." Kirishima said with a grin.
Izuku chuckled. "I hope he took it that way too." He had to admit, the scene did make him feel fired up for whatever training was coming. He leaned forward as he focused on the screen, eager to see if his future self would figure out anything new that he could use once they left here.
The same was true for the rest of the students too, as they were all curious to see how this would go.
"Young Midoriya, I should give you a heads up: when the training starts it would be a good idea to brace yourself. Gran Torino's training methods have always been rather...intensive."
Izuku nodded and gave him a thumbs up. "I'll be ready."
As Midoriya got his suit on, he found a note about how his gear had been given some upgrades. He was a bit put out that they hadn't asked him about it.
"Hm, that is a bit concerning. Even if it's to fix a safety issue, you should get a heads up before your suit or support items are changed." Yagi said.
"I'll be sure to talk to the support department if it happens in our future." Aizawa promised.
Once Midoriya was dressed and said he was ready, Gran told him to fire off OFA. Midoriya immediately started worrying about doing it indoors in case he accidentally did it at 100%. Gran told him he was a chatterbox.
"Welcome to every interaction with Deku ever." Bakugo said. Kirishima swatted him on the arm.
"I must admit that I would also be concerned. An outdoor location with plenty of space seems like it would be far more ideal for figuring out how to modulate such massive strength." Iida said.
"I mean, I know the building already looks like it's falling apart but that still leaves plenty of rubble to come crashing down if something goes wrong." Jirou agreed. "Plus, we saw he's spry, but taking a full hit from One for All can't be good for someone his age."
All Might chuckled. "I think he may surprise you."
Gran suddenly jumped and started bouncing and zipping around the room again. He changed direction suddenly and nailed Midoriya in the back with his foot. Midoriya asked if they were really going into combat right away, just as Gran landed on, and destroyed, a microwave.
Izuku flinched and grunted. "Ah, okay, I guess we're getting right into it." He slid off the couch and onto the floor. His friends were quick to join him.
"He's going into combat practice in the middle of the lounge?!" Ojiro asked, aghast. His parents would never let him practice moves in the living room! "I mean, it's a fairly open room, but come on!"
"Yeesh, no wonder the building looks like that if he goes around jumping on things so hard he crushes them." Hagakure said.
Gran said he didn't expect the ninth holder to be such a 'wet blanket' and repeated that All Might was a novice.
Present Mic's eyebrows rose skeptically. "Okay, I know we're mainly worried about Midoriya's self sacrificial tendencies at this point, but I'd think we'd want to discourage him from activities that could lead to great amounts of property damage too. Which I don't think is accomplished by calling him names for worrying about that."
Aizawa grunted in agreement, now frowning at the screen.
Yagi rubbed the back of his neck. "Like I said, he prefers training that's very intensive, and also very hands on."
"Hmm, perhaps he is hoping to tap into the same source of willpower that has allowed Midoriya to use his strength against others without gravely hurting them or himself. If he's surrounded by breakable things that might put more force into his desire and ability to control his strength." Nedzu mused.
"That could be, sounds like that kind of thing he'd do."
Gran started zipping around the room again, and got in two hits to Izuku while he was trying to process everything.
"Ow, ugh, OW! My back..." Izuku's back spasmed and his head softly hit the couch cushions. Recovery Girl got up and started making her way over. Might as well be near the one person hurting since the only other things she was doing was staring at a screen.
Gran continued flying around, but now Izuku's analytical mind had been given enough time to assert itself. He felt that Gran passed behind him twice, and figured out what direction he would be coming from next. He quickly turned to face Gran and started to power up OFA, but Gran still managed to dodge it and took Izuku down.
Yagi put a hand to his chin. "Your analysis was both quick and accurate. If you weren't up against someone so experienced there's a good chance it would have been successful."
Izuku didn't feel very successful, but he still appreciated his mentor's words. So he sent All Might a smile while he rubbed the back of his head and neck.
Gran told Izuku that they way he'd been using OFA showed he should understand it by now, but that his admiration for All Might and sense of duty were weighing him down. He admitted Izuku needed to get stronger fast because his enemies wouldn't wait for him to do so. Gran then said that Izuku was thinking of OFA as being more special than it really was. Izuku asked what he should do, and Gran said he needed to think on that himself, and left a confused Izuku behind while he went to get food.
Izuku ignored any lingering feelings of pain he was feeling in favor of grabbing his notebook and jotting down what Gran Torino just said.
"I don't get it." he said allowed "He says I'm thinking of One For All as too special, but it is really special! I'm pretty sure there's no other quirk like it that can be passed down like that...and why would admiration be a bad thing? I mean, I've been trying so hard to take the responsibility of all this seriously! Why would that be a problem? Unless, maybe he didn't mean that itself was a problem just that it was causing one? But what-"
Izuku cut off his mumbling as Iida lay a hand on his shoulder. "I know this must be very vexing for you, but perhaps it would be best lay it to rest for now. The answer may be revealed soon, after all."
"Yeah dude! No need to stress out about it now if the future you has that covered." Sero pointed out.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out!" Uraraka agreed, giving Izuku and encouraging smile.
Izuku nodded slowly and, with a great amount of willpower, closed his notebook and returned his attention to the screen.
The scene switched to somewhere in Hosu.
All eyes went to Iida, and the boy swallowed. His talk with his teacher and friends had helped him a lot, but now he was all the more worried about what this version of him would end up doing.
Iida walked with the Pro Hero Manual as he talked about what the job was usually like and how they'd been doing more street patrols recently. Iida's thoughts showed he was mainly thinking about the Hero Killer though. He thought about how it might be pointless, but he couldn't not go after him!
"Except you could, you absolutely could! There are so many other options available to you!" Mineta rambled, shaking at just the thought of fighting the Hero Killer.
"I realize that now, but I also know that this version of me must feel that there really is no other option." Iida admitted heavily, his shoulders slumping as though there was an actual weight on them.
He couldn't forgive Stain!
"None of us would ask you to." Izuku said immediately, and got a chorus of agreements. Iida nodded tightly, and desperately wished his past self could see options between 'get revenge' and 'forgive/forget'.
The scene changed to the bar that the League of Villains used as a base. Stain was there, talking to Shigaraki and Kurogiri. Shigaraki was inviting Stain to join the league, saying his experience would be useful.
The class immediately tensed when the villains were shown, and that tension only grew as they realized their fears of the League and Stain joining may be shown.
The teachers leaned in, curious to see how this would go.
"You think he'll join them?" Hizashi asked.
"Could go either way. It really depends on what Stain's exact motivations are." Aizawa murmured. Hizashi nodded thoughtfully.
"Good point. Both him and Shigaraki are very focused on heroes and All Might especially, but I got the impression it's for different reasons."
Stain asked what the League was after. Shigaraki answered that he just wanted to kill All Might and break things he didn't like. He held up a photo of Midoriya from the Sports Festival, and said that included 'kids like this'.
Izuku's breath hitched when he was reminded of how much Shigaraki wanted his mentor dead, and he stopped breathing altogether when the photo was shown.
"I won't let you!" Uraraka shouted at the screen. She turned to Midoriya, eyes narrowed and intense. "You're strong Deku! And so are we, so as long as we protect each other then he won't get you or any of the rest of us either!"
"My thoughts exactly!" Iida said, hands chopping the air.
Izuku felt something start to unwind in his chest at the declaration. His eyes found All Might, and the man met his gaze with the same determination that Uraraka had just displayed. Izuku finally managed to take a breath as the something finished unwinding. He nodded back to All Might then turned to his friends.
"We'll have each others backs." he agreed, and they all shared fierce smiles.
"I do wonder about the other photos." Momo mused nervously.
"You mean the ones behind the one of Midoriya?" Todoroki asked.
"Yes. I'm hoping they aren't just more of Midoriya, since that level of focus from such a villain would be...worrying."
"Hmmm...it's a picture of Midoriya winning the obstacle course, and there are two behind it I think. The other two could be the winners of the other events."
"If that's the case, then one of them is probably of you. You team did win the cavalry battle."
Todoroki nodded. "That's a possibility."
'How can he sound so calm about that?' Momo wondered.
'I'll blow those hands off of him if he comes after me.' Bakugo thought after overhearing the conversation.
Stain looked angry now. He declared it was foolish to have come here, and that those like Shiagraki were the people he most hated.
The class was about as confused by that as the villains were.
"I figured if he hated heroes so much that he'd be all over villains that are into killing them too." Kaminari said.
"Yeah, I thought he'd go with the whole 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing at least." Mineta agreed.
"Not all darkness is the same, it would seem." Tokoyami rubbed his lower beak thoughtfully.
Stain said Shigaraki was just having a tantrum, and that there was no point in killing without conviction.
'What kind of ideology could possibly justify what happened to Tensei?' Iida wondered despondently.
He put his hands on two of his weapons, like he was about to attack. Kurogiri mused to himself that they had reached out to Stain as a way to try and get Shigaraki to gain more of his own conviction, since right now he only cared about destruction. When Stain started to draw his weapons, Kurogiri asked 'Sensei' if this was okay. The voice over the TV responded that Shigaraki would never learn if they just handed him the answer. This is what it meant to educate!
Kaminari forced a laugh. "Gee, and I thought Aizawa was strict!"
A few of his classmates laughed, and a few more joined then when Aizawa made an indignant noise.
Present Mic snorted. "I never read that in any education textbook." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Well, the 'not giving them the answer' I did, but I'm pretty sure it was never paired with the possibility of death by serial killer."
The scene changed back to Gran Torino's place.
"And speaking of extreme teaching methods." Mic said in his 'announcer' voice.
The room was a mix of laughs at the joke and groans of those annoyed to have left the last scene before it's conclusion. Though Yagi couldn't help but wince at the thought of what Gran would do if he'd found out that someone had compared him to All for One.
Midoriya was shown standing in front of the broken microwave, thinking hard about what Gran Torino had said to him. What did it mean that he was thinking of OfA as too special, or that his movements were too stiff? What would it mean to be flexible instead? He suddenly whipped out his analysis notebook and started writing. He realized he'd been thinking of his smashes as 'special moves' rather than just using the quirk. He needed to think of OfA more evenly!
Izuku gaped at the screen. "Could that really be it? Could it really be that simple?"
"If you're changing the whole way you think of your quirk then that probably doesn't count as simple." Aizawa said. He was staring too, wondering if the problem child had truly hit upon the issue that was causing so much trouble. True, thinking of a quirk like that, as just another part of you, would seem obvious to most people; but it made sense that someone who had gained their quirk under such strange circumstances would have a harder time thinking like that. 'I kinda feel like I should have thought of that myself after hearing how he got it...'
"You may have something there, young Midoriya. When you look back on it, you've had very little chance to simply grow accustomed to One for All. All the times you've had to use it were under 'special' circumstances: The entrance exam, proving yourself during the quirk assessment, your fight with young Bakugo, the USJ incident, and the Sports Festival. I feel I must apologize for not seeing such an obvious oversight before we came here, or in this possible future."
"Y-you don't have to! Like you always said, you never thought villains would come this quick or anything!" Izuku rushed to reassure All Might, thought the man just shook his head.
"Be that as it may, I'll try to be more observant of such things when we leave this place."
Gran Torino was shown to be standing by the door, but just out of sight, listening to Midoriya. He thought about how Midoriya had shown off his creative mind at the sports festival. "You found someone pretty good, huh, Toshinori?"
"He...he thinks I'm..." Izuku hardly dared to hope that he was saying what Izuku thought he was saying, that he thought Izuku really was a worthy successor already.
"I've never known Gran Torino to give out praise lightly, young Midoriya." Yagi said, warmth spreading through his chest at Gran's approval.
"His teaching may be extreme, but at least he is a good judge of character." Iida said approvingly.
Uraraka handed over the roll of toilet paper as Izuku started crying.
The scene changed again, this time to 'the center of Tokyo'. Best Jeanist was shown inside an office. He was telling someone that he didn't like them, and that someone turned out to be Bakugo.
"You managed to get an internship with the number 4 hero? Awesome!" Ashido praised.
"But, why did he offer you an internship if he didn't like you?" Kirishima wondered.
Bakugo shrugged, but watched the screen closely, wondering what the pro hero was getting at.
Best Jeanist asked if Bakugo picked him because he was in the top five, and Bakugo shot back that Jeanist had been the one to make the offer. Jeanist explained that he'd only had 'good' kids recently, and that Bakugo had stuck out to him by how well he'd used such a volatile quirk. He said Bakugo was already talented enough to recruit as a sidekick.
"Did he really just say that?" Sero asked incredulously.
"What? You think I'm not good enough?" Bakugo rounded on him. Sero held up his hands.
"I didn't mean that, I just didn't think a pro would say that to a first year. I mean, the guy almost sounds like he want to recruit you now, but pros can't do that, right?"
"Well, he can't go around recruiting sidekicks that don't even have their provisional license certainly!" Nedzu replied. "There may be some precedence for hiring someone who has one that is still in school, though only under specific circumstances. But I'm sure Best Jeanist doesn't intend to do such a thing." 'He's smart enough to know there's more to heroics than pure talent after all.'
Bakugo frowned at the screen. A part of him preened at what the number four pro hero was saying, but he could sense that he was building up to something. He felt like he wouldn't like what it was.
He said Bakugo had a fatal flaw though. Bakugo thought he was the strongest, and tried to act like it without caring about how that would look. He had a ferocious nature.
"What's this guy getting at, huh? Shouldn't 'ferocious' be a good thing when you go off to beat up villains?" Bakugo demanded.
"Ferocious is good for a villain fight, so long as it doesn't get anybody hurt in the process." Present Mic explained. "I think Best Jeanist is more concerned about the other part of the job though, interacting with the public. A hero needs to be able to save people as well as hurt villains, and being too unapproachable can be a big problem for a pro."
Bakugo opened his mouth, but Aizawa spoke up first. "Before you say that I'm not very approachable, keep in mind I'm an underground pro, we tend to work differently. Plus I can be more accommodating when I need to be, I practiced because I knew it would be needed."
Bakugo almost said something about how Endeavor wasn't approachable, but then remembered what they'd learned about the man recently and reminded himself that having things in common with Endeavor would be bad. "Fine, I'll see what he has to say."
Bakugo took a few steps forward, demanding to know if Jeanist invited him just to lecture him, but was brought up short by Best Jeanist using his quirk to lock Bakugo in place. Jeanist said it was part of his job to 'correct' people like Bakugo. Heroes and Villains were two sides of the same coin after all. Bakugo asked what he was going on about. Jeanist said he was going to educate him on the way he spoke, his appearance, emotional control, and enforcing good morals. There was much to do for Bakugo to become a great hero.
"Seriously?" Bakugo grumbled. The hero's hold on his other self wasn't painful, but he could still feel the pressure of the strands of fabric around his knees. "What is it with adults and tying me up?" 'Not to mention calling me a villain...'
The teachers frowned or flinched at that. Best Jeanist looked like he'd made sure to restrain Bakugo without hurting him at all, but it was still an uncomfortable reminder that people, themselves included, were too fast to jump into restraining Bakugo when it wasn't strictly necessary.
"Hopefully he was only using that as a warning not to cause a scene." Aizawa said. "I agree with what he's said so far though. You have a lot of talent when it comes to combat and your quirk, so your main weakness right now are all the parts of being a hero that aren't combat related. Learning more about those things will help balance you out as a hero." 'The real question is if his other self will accept any of those teachings.'
"I get it, I get it." Bakugo was still grumbling, but he didn't sound as dismissive as he might have been at the start of the year.
At the agency of the Chivalrous Hero: Fourth Kind, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were surprised to run into each other in costume. That didn't stop them from happily greeting their 'bro' though.
"Okay, these two constantly running into each other is getting a bit weird." Sero said.
"No kidding, we don't even have Midnight to blame for it this time." Ashido agreed.
"I thought they were annoyed with running into each other so much." Momo said. Jirou sighed.
"They probably bonded over beating each other up during the festival, boys are weird like that."
"Chivalrous hero? That's perfect for you, man! Congrats!" Kaminari gave a thumbs up to Kirishima, who blushed slightly.
"I just hope I do well enough to get there in real life."
Fourth Kind said they should get started, and the boys bowed to him. Fourth Kind said he had admired their guts at the festival, but being a hero was about more than just brawn and brute force. So he would teach them the nuance that came with experience. They started to get excited, and Fourth Kind scolded them for interrupting and said they would be learning manners too.
"Huh, that sounds pretty similar to what Best Jeanist was saying to you, Fourth Kind just said it with fewer words." Kirishima noticed.
"Heh, wish my guy got to the point as fast as your guy." Bakugo said. Internally, he felt relieved that he wasn't the only one getting told these things the first day.
Fourth Kind started talking about how hero wages worked, and the differences between being a pro and a civil servants, despite the fact that pros technically are civil servants. The boys suddenly looked like they wanted to be somewhere else.
"He got all intense and then launched into a social studies lesson? I'd be disappointed too." Hagakure admitted.
"It is a bit odd that he'd go over that, since it's part of the curriculum and they would learn it at school eventually anyway." Present Mic agreed. "But maybe he's leading up to something."
The scene changed again. Now the camera was following Uraraka as she listened to Gunhead talk about controlling crime.
"Whoa! You went to intern with Gunhead! That's so manly!" Kirishima cried.
"Impressive." Shoji said. "You said you wanted to diversify, right? Is that why you chose him?"
Uraraka pursed her lips in thought. "Well...I guess after we saw my fight with Bakugo I did think about how it would be useful to know more about hand to hand combat since I have to get up close to use my quirk. So I must have picked him to help with that."
Shoji nodded. "Makes sense. I hope it works."
"Thanks!"
Gunhead went on to explain how pros were called by the police to assist with crime and how a pro's pay was based off the assessment of their actions by a special agency. Uraraka seemed to be listening attentively, then her thoughts showed she thought his style of speech was cute.
Uraraka blushed and coughed awkwardly. "Well, um, I certainly hope that's not the only thing I was paying attention to."
"I'm sure it wasn't! You've always seemed to be a good student after all!" Iida stated confidently. Izuku's head bobbed in agreement.
"Can't say I blame you though, it is cute, kero."
The scene changed to a TV station, where the Snake Hero: Uwabami was talking to Momo and Kendo (from 1b) about how heroes could have side jobs.
Mineta couldn't help but stare when the camera panned Uwabami to show off her legs and beautiful dress. Which he didn't feel too bad about since he noticed he wasn't the only one doing so.
So she told them to stick around while she filmed a commercial. Kendo admitted she'd been hoping for some actual hero work. Momo argued that they'd have to do stuff like this to make it in the hero world, and declared she'd learn everything she could since Uwabami had invited her despite her being so pathetic.
"Pathetic? The hell are you going on about?" Jirou demanded, jumping to her feet to put her hands on her hips. Momo startled at that, but managed a reply.
"I performed so poorly in the one on one matches, being defeated so quickly and all. I clearly have a lot to learn..."
"Well, yeah, but so do Bakugo and Kirishima, you heard the other pros say it, and they made it way farther. Just because you didn't do as well as you hoped doesn't make you pathetic. I mean, I didn't even make it to the one on one battles, does that make me pathetic?"
"What? Of course not!"
"Then getting out in the first round of the one on ones doesn't make you pathetic either."
Momo opened and closed her mouth, but found it hard to argue the simplicity of that logic, even if her emotions insisted there was a difference.
"Jirou makes an excellent point." Aizawa added. "Having room for improvement does not make you pathetic, it just makes you a person."
Momo nodded, trying to make herself accept it.
Kendo said they couldn't do much while she filmed though. Uwabami asked if they knew why she chose them. Momo jumped to say it was their qualifications. Uwabami agreed that was part of it, but was also because they were cute. The girls seemed dismayed by this.
Momo groaned and let her head fall back. "I was trying to avoid getting reduced to my looks...at least for a while."
"There's no way to avoid that completely I'm afraid, not as things stand. Like many fields, the hero industry holds plenty of biases toward their female heroes." Recover Girl said. "Still, there are ways to reduce it. I could have a chat with you about some things I've picked up over the years during the break if you'd like."
"That would be very much appreciated, thank you."
"Could I come too?" Ashido asked.
"Oh! Me too! Me too!" Hagakure bounced in her seat.
After a minute, all the girls were in on the meeting. Momo felt her dread dissipate as plans were set. Surely, with the guidance of Recovery Girl, and her friends, she would be able to make a better decision when internships came up for real.
In Tatooin Station, Jirou was shown jogging with Death Arms as he talked about the job. She thought keeping this up was harder than class.
Jirou wrinkled her nose. "Ew, hope I find a better person in real life too." she shifted in her seat, fruitlessly trying to address the burn in her legs and sides. "And I don't mean because he's driving me hard, I mean because we saw him be a jerk to Midoriya and his coworkers. I wanna learn from someone who is less of a jerk."
"That's fair." Tsuyu said.
Mount Lady was shown lounging on a couch and eating chips. She said that part of being a hero was learning what to do with idle hours. It was then revealed that, while she relaxed, Mineta was cleaning the floor.
"I don't think that's what I was hoping for either." Mineta sighed. "I mean, it's probably good that I didn't get what I was probably hoping for here. Maybe it'll make the other me learn to, uh, consider more things when he makes choices."
"Here's hoping." Jirou agreed.
"It's starting to sound like it might be a good idea for everyone to get together and have a workshop about our choices once we get to this point." Ojiro said. "I mean, it looks like we should have done more research in general, but getting other opinions would probably help too."
"I'll be sure to be more involved when this comes up as well." Aizawa promised. He really should have done that the first time, to make sure the students were picking internships based on bringing out their potential rather than anything else.
At a harbor, Tsuyu was doing push ups with a group in sailor uniforms.
"Well, that does seem like a good place for water rescue, which is what you want to go into, right?" Izuku asked.
"Yup, kero."
"Great! I hope you get some good practical experience."
At Endeavor's agency, Endeavor welcomed his son, saying he was glad he was ready to follow the path of the mighty. Shoto corrected him, saying he would forge his own path rather than follow his. Endeavor smiled and replied that, either way, he needed to get ready. They were going out, and Endeavor would show him what a hero was.
Despite a few of the students seeing that they ended up in internships they were unhappy with, the atmosphere had grown to be relaxed as the audience let themselves enjoy seeing what everyone was up to throughout the city. That atmosphere flew out the non-existent window when Endeavor was shown talking to Shoto.
"If I've learned anything from watching all this it's that Endeavor has no clue what goes into being a true manly hero." Kirishima had been scowling angrily at the screen, but it turned into a smile when he turned to Todoroki. "What is manly is seeing you stand up to him like that and keeping your promise to yourself."
"That's...comforting. Thank you." Todoroki said. He wondered now, would it be better for his 'starting line' to begin with distancing himself from Endeavor or confronting him with his new outlook and goals? Of course, his father had never taken his previous goal seriously either, so he wasn't sure why this time would be different. But doing that wouldn't really be about his father, it would be about him. He'd have to decide which he needed more, when he came to this point.
Back at Gran Torino's building it was nighttime. Gran was shown snoring in bed while Midoriya stood nearby and wondered if he was really asleep.
"Why are you watching him sleep?" Ojiro asked.
"I don't know." Izuku shrugged.
Izuku went through the rooms, thinking about how Gran did nothing but test him during the first day, and that he fell asleep right after getting food. He started sneaking out of the building, thinking about how he couldn't find any information on Gran at all.
"Huh, I guess old people go to sleep early even when they're pros." Sato mused.
"And just why are you sneaking out while your mentor is asleep?" Aizawa asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know that either." Midoriya said, shrinking under his teacher's gaze.
"It is strange that Midoriya couldn't find any information on Gran Torino. Even if he wasn't active very long, you'd think he would have been involved in a few incidents that got reported on." Momo said.
"Maybe they just aren't public." Todoroki suggested.
"That's a good point, if he's wrapped up in all this One for All stuff then any reports or files about him might have been sealed or something." Jirou said.
Midoriya stood in the alley next to the building and thought about his earlier revelation. He needed to find a way to use his quirk as a natural part of him rather than something he consciously used, like those born with their quirks did. If he could do that at 5%, then many more options would open up to him.
When the other Izuku thought about Kirishima and Aizawa telling him there was lots he could do with his quirk, the red haired boy grinned. "Happy to help Midoribro!"
'Good to know he does listen sometimes.' Aizawa thought.
While thinking about the things he could do if he improved, Midoriya had been shown thinking back to some of the moves Bakugo had pulled, which definitely caught the boys attention. 'He thinks of me when he thinks of moves he wants to learn? Huh...maybe all that praise over the years really was genuine and not some kind of back talk...'
Midoriya moved further into the alley. He told himself that the first step was getting used to using it instantly and intermittently, and looked up at the walls of the alley.
"Midoriya, please tell me you aren't about to experiment with your quirk, which has broken your bones before, while you're alone, at night, and your mentor is asleep and may not be able to hear you yell for help." Aizawa pleaded,
"...well when you say it like that it sounds reckless."
"That's because it is, Problem Child!"
"Would it not be simpler to wait until tomorrow, young Midoriya?" All Might interjected.
"Not really? I mean, not to me. I need to figure out how to get stronger fast but I didn't make any headway yet aside from this one idea, and if I don't do something to look into it then I won't be able to stop thinking about it and that will keep me up all night which could hamper my performance for the next day which would make progress even slower and-"
"Easy, easy young Midoriya." All Might interrupted, which allowed Izuku to suck in a breath. "I get the impression you speak from experience, my boy."
"Um, yeah, my brain tends to do stuff like that...and I'd probably be worried about making Gran angry by waking him so..."
"Hmmm, I see how all that would be a problem. Still, if you get into such a situation again it would be a good idea to have some sort of plan if things go awry."
"Um, maybe you could call someone?" Uraraka suggested. "Just call someone you think would still be up and say 'If I don't call you again in 20 minutes then get help for me'?"
"That would be better than nothing." Aizawa said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"O-okay, I'll try to do that at least, in the future." Izuku promised.
Midoriya decided to try jumping off the walls to try his theory. He crouched, powered up, and leaped into the air without breaking his legs. Only to slam his face into the wall and fall back into the garbage bellow while thinking 'I knew that would happen'.
The laughter of his fellow students nearly drowned out his yelp of pain, and did cover up the grunt he let out when his other self fell into the trash pile.
"If you knew that would happen then why did you do it?" Present Mic asked, completely baffled. Aizawa groaned as he sunk further into the couch.
"Heh, I guess I'm still working on learning to think ahead." Izuku said, patting his face to ensure his nose wasn't bleeding for real.
"I'm- I'm sorry. I know you're in pain, but the timing and your expression were just too funny." Ashido managed to say through her giggles.
"It's okay, I get it." he smiled sheepishly.
While laying on the ground, Izuku talked himself through what he would have to do to bounce up the wall. He got up and tried again, and slammed into the wall again. And again. And again. And again...
"Ow! Urk! Ack!" Izuku let out small noises of pain with every impact, despite trying to keep quiet.
"Deku..." Uraraka sighed, equal parts exasperation and worry.
The laughing had quieted down, since the surprise of the initial impact had worn off. Now they just looked on in mild concern.
"Maybe my theory is a little off." he admitted between hits.
"Perhaps, or perhaps you just need a little more time and assistance to perfect it." All Might did his best to sound encouraging.
A couple of people walking by became alarmed by the sounds from the alley, and the garbage bags getting thrown out of it, and ran away in fright.
"And we were all thinking that Bakugo would be the one scaring civilians!" Mineta joked, and got a few laughs and chuckles for his efforts. Midoriya blushed in embarrassment.
The next morning, Gran Torino came downstairs and, when he saw Midoriya, asked what was up. The boy looked half dead, and admitted that he'd been training on his own and it got away from him.
Aizawa was pinching his nose again. Of course the kid stayed up all night slamming his face into the wall in the name of training, it was just the sort of thing the problem child would do.
Midoriya said that he'd tried to take in Gran's words and put them into practice, but that he had a long way to go. Gran said that, since it was the first time he tried it, that was to be expected.
That actually did make Izuku feel a little better. Somehow, despite knowing that very few people get things right the first day, it still helped to hear it from someone so experienced.
Gran also said it wasn't surprising that Midoriya hadn't learned this kind of thinking from All Might, since he had been able to use it normally right away.
"Hmm, I never thought I'd regret being such a natural with One for All, but I didn't take into account how it might hinder me in teaching the next holder." Well, that and having so little time to learn things from Nana herself.
"We all have or weak point big guy; don't be so hard on yourself." Present Mic said.
Gran had taught All Might differently because of that, since his only redeeming feature was his body.
All Might winced. Well, he probably should have seen that comment coming. This was Gran Torino after all.
"Th-that's not true! All Might isn't just strong! He's also really brave and kind, he has a lot of heart!" Izuku immediately defended his mentor. Iida tapped his glasses thoughtfully.
"If his other defining features have to do with his 'heart' does that technically make Gran Torino's words true due to the heart being a part of the body?"
Izuku opened his mouth, paused, then closed it slowly so he could frown down at the ground. Iida started sweating a bit when he saw how intense his friend's expression had gotten.
"That was mostly a rhetorical question, please don't strain yourself."
Izuku shook himself out of his thoughts and smiled sheepishly before looking back to the screen.
Midoriya was excited at the thought of All Might as a student and eagerly asked what he'd been like as one. Gran told him that All Might's training had all been practical. This prompted a flashback where a younger Gran punched Yagi in the stomach so hard he puked then socked him on the jaw.
Yagi gave a strangled cry and doubled over in his seat.
"All Might!" Izuku sprang out of his seat and rushed over to his mentor, and Recovery Girl was quick to follow. While there were still making their way over, Yagi gave another cry of pain and his head jerked back in an effort to escape a non-existent blow.
The screen managed to get off of the image of the flashback by the time everyone turned to look at All Might, which made Yagi incredibly grateful. It meant he could be completely honest when telling them that he felt fine now and that the nature of the show made the pain fleeting. Recovery Girl still insisted on shining a light down his throat to make sure he hadn't coughed up any blood, but after finding none she was satisfied. She went back to her seat, but Izuku decided to sit by him for a little bit. Yagi hoped he wasn't feeling responsible; it wasn't as if Izuku had intended for that particular memory to be shown after all.
"I think I owe you a bit of an apology." Aizawa admitted. "I still think it would have been good idea to get outside help sooner, but I can see why you were hesitant to bring him for actual training if that's what your own experience was like."
"I appreciate that, young Aizawa."
The on screen Midoriya had now figured out why All Might had been so scared of Gran and was rightly frightened by the revelation.
As was the rest of the class. Anyone that could train All Might so hard that he was still nervous around him years later was someone to be feared, and the class now hoped they wouldn't have meet him in person. Well, everyone except Bakugo, who now wanted to fight him.
Gran admitted that he couldn't slack off even a little when it came to All Might's training, since that duty had been given to him by a dear friend who had died. Midoriya was surprised to learn that All Might's master had died, and Gran seemed surprised that Midoriya was surprised. The doorbell rang then, and Midoriya left to get it. Gran frowned at the thought that Toshinori hadn't told Midoriya about the seventh holder.
"We, er, you didn't know that? I feel like that came up at some point." Kaminari asked in confusion. "I mean, she was in that group shadow things wasn't she?"
"Well, yeah, but All Might was too, and he's still alive." Mineta pointed out.
"Oh yeah."
"I assumed she had passed, but that was based on the way she was spoken about, and what little we saw of her. It was as though she were something beloved but longer within reach." Tokoyami said gravely.
"But, we wouldn't see that stuff normally." Koda pointed out softly.
"True. Midoriya himself would likely have had little insight into the seventh holder just based on what has been shown to be said in front of him.
Yagi felt somewhat guilty when Gran's confusion was shown. "I'm sorry, my boy. I know there is much you still don't know, some of which my other self probably should have told you by now. It's just...talking of her, of Nana, is still so difficult despite how long it has been." he hung his head, and Izuku patted his arm comfortingly.
"It's okay, I trust that if something becomes really important you'll tell me. You don't need to push yourself."
Yagi smiled down at his successor, and wondered how he'd gotten so lucky in finding him.
The door turned out to be a delivery person. When the box was brought in and opened, it turned out to be a microwave. Gran said that, somehow, the other one broke so he got one delivered fast. Midoriya dismayed over being unable to tell how serious Gran was being.
"Despite being retired he must not be hurting for money if he can afford to be so casual with losing his appliances." Uraraka said.
Gran declared that they would have the frozen taiyaki he bought yesterday. Midoriya was surprised but happy that they would have something like that for breakfast and Gran admitted he liked sweets.
That had been very valuable knowledge to him, Yagi remembered. Things usually didn't get quite as intense during training if he'd brought Gran something sweet to put him in a good mood first.
"I certainly hope you don't get into the habit of having those for breakfast while there. A balanced diet it important!" Iida stressed, and Izuku shook his head fondly.
"Don't worry, I'm pretty used to following a meal plan at this point."
While the food cooked, Izuku continued to think about Gran's words from the day before, and how much he needed to catch up. When the timer went off the food was put on the table. Midoriya started to talk about not having much time, and Gran told him to just focus on breakfast for now. He bit into it and found it was cold, much to his displeasure. Midoriya was confused, saying he'd used the right setting. Gran scolded him for putting in too big a plate and making the food cook unevenly. Midoriya started to apologize, but then his eyes went wide.
Students and teachers alike leaned in, sensing that something was happening. They'd begun to wonder what was important enough about his meal that the show had focused on it for this long.
Midoriya yelled "I've got it!" then held up the taiyaki and declared...that it was him.
People slowly turned to look at Izuku with dumbfounded expressions.
"Um, Midoriya, just how many times did you end up slamming into that wall during the night?' Sato asked warily.
"Have you been having any pain or other symptoms I should be aware of?" Recovery Girl asked.
Izuku though, looked ecstatic. "No, no, it's not that! I'm not in pain, but I think I get it! I know what he figured out! At least I think I do, I gotta keep watching to find out!"
Izuku then stared so hard at the screen that it was immediately clear that any further questions would be pointless, so everyone turned back to the screen.
Gran refuted the claim and asked if Midoriya was alright. Midoriya sheepishly explained that he didn't mean literally, but he had figured something out. Until now he'd been 'using' OfA only when needed and in the places it was needed, but switching it on and off like that made his reaction times worse. What he needed to do was have it switched on and throughout from the start! As he said this, the streaks of red that signified he was using OfA started to appear all over his body.
"Yes! That's it! I need to learn to have it on all the time and spread through my whole body, not just in the arm that's throwing the punch or the just my legs for a jump!" Izuku bounced in his seat, drinking in the potential solution to his bone breaking problems.
"That does make sense, now that you've said it. My own use of One for All bulks up my whole body after all, not just the parts I most need in the moment." Yagi mused. He smiled down at Izuku. "Good job, my boy!"
"I never thought about how just certain parts of your body would 'light up' when you were using your quirk." Present Mic grinned. "Just seemed like one of those 'quirks' that quirks tend to have!"
Aizawa elbowed the man as he laughed at his own joke. "We shouldn't celebrate before we see if the idea actually works, but it sounds promising."
The students leaned forward, eager to see if this was indeed the breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
Gran was happy to see it hadn't taken him long to figure it out. The 'lights' of the previous holders were seen once again as Midoriya's whole body began to glow and spark. Gran asked if was okay with using a metaphor as boring as taiyaki in the micorwave for this.
"Yeah, come to think of it, what is it with you and microwaves? First the things with the egg not breaking and now taiyaki? I'm sensing a pattern here." Sero said.
"I don't know, it just sorta happened." Izuku said, grinning. He was too happy with the new progress to care much if his metaphors were a bit weird.
"The lighting probably has something to do with it." Aoyama decided. "Or maybe those lovely green sparks."
Midoriya brushed off the question, since All Might already agreed to his egg metaphor. Gran asked if he could move in that state, and he sounded strained when he said he didn't know. Gran smiled eagerly and asked if he wanted to try, and Izuku instantly agreed. That's where the episode ended.
"Guys! Don't spar in there, you're gonna break the microwave all over again!" Hagakure whined.
"Seriously, you guys should get a designated sparring area." Ojiro agreed.
Izuku could only nod rapidly. His teeth were clenched while they spoke, and he could feel his muscles burning with the effort his other self was putting in to maintain the power output. When the episode ended, it all drained out of him and he felt suddenly tired. He didn't feel bad though, he didn't think he could when he was now closer than ever to doing One for All justice.
"All right, another stretch break everyone! I know you're excited, but it will be quick." Nedzu announced.
"Let's get you back to your friends, young Midoriya. I think I'll sit with you this time. I wouldn't want to miss a moment of your new abilities after all!" Plus, then he could be there if the training got as intense as his own had. Midoriya smiled brightly at him when he spoke, and Yagi felt warmth spread through his chest, and for once even the pain of his old wound seemed distant.
