A.N.
A big Thank You to everyone for your support during my recent hiatus and your encouraging words upon my return! You're awesome!
Gran told Izuku that if he could maintain his all over power usage while still moving, then his performance would be completely different from what he did at the sports festival. Gran Torino challenged him to get a hit on him within three minutes, then started bouncing around the room.
Everyone was paying close attention now, curious to see if Midoriya had really hit the breakthrough he'd been hoping for.
Midoriya tried to land a hit, but Gran was too fast for him. Gran gave him a few hard blows and taunted him while Midoriya desperately tried to keep OfA going all through his body.
Izuku yelped every time Gran Torino struck him. Yagi held him snugly against his side, and did his best to comfort his protege while also trying not to fall into flashbacks to his own training with Gran.
Midoriya thought to himself that the hits didn't hurt too much but that he couldn't keep up with Gran's movements by following him with his eyes.
A few people gave Izuku confused skeptical looks. The blows certainly looked painful enough, but it's not like Izuku had a reason to lie in his own head.
Yagi frowned. Did that thought mean that Gran was holding back? Or that Izuku's pain tolerance was higher than his own had been at that age? 'Well, with all the bones he's broken a higher pain tolerance would make sense.' Yagi thought, his frown turning into a grimace.
Midoriya decided he needed to buy himself more time, and dove under the couch. Gran scolded him for being so obvious about his hiding place, but was soon cut off when the couch went flying up and knocked him off balance.
Students giggled when Izuku dramatically hid under the couch, but that was soon drowned out by Kirishima's whoop of excitement when Izuku sent the couch flying.
"Huh, I guess training in the living room does have some advantages." Hagakure mused. Ojiro chuckled.
"Yeah, that move would have been harder to pull off at the gym.
Midoriya shot up using OfA and tried to swipe at Gran, but the old man still managed to dodge. Izuku landed on the ground, and Gran bounced off the wall and came at him from behind. He was greatly surprised when Midoriya used OfA to leap out of the way and end up above him. Midoriya pushed off from the ceiling to go after Gran. The man managed to dodge, but just barely. He pushed off another wall and headbutted Midoriya so hard in the gut that he hit the opposite wall. Gran then declared that time was up.
Izuku's hands when to his mouth and stomach as the first blow made him suddenly nauseous. They were dislodged when his muscles spasmed as his other self's back hit the wall, and he let out a grunt when his shoulder was shown hitting the floor.
"Are you alright, my boy?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine." Izuku said in a tight voice. "I didn't get the hit in though..."
"True, but it was still a good match." Uraraka said. "I mean, did you see his face when you dodged him after you threw the couch? He was totally shocked you pulled that off!"
Iida nodded along and chopped his hand through the air. "An excellent point, Uraraka! And Midoriya, don't you remember what Gran Torino said after you admitted to your nighttime training? It would make sense that you would need more than one training session to get used to using your quirk in a new way."
"I'm pretty sure I never managed to surprise him that much within only two days of training." Yagi said, smiling proudly at Izuku.
Other students added in their own exclamations of how cool or impressive the whole thing had been, and Ojiro admitted it was the most exciting sparring match he'd ever seen. Well, the most exciting one outside of the Sports Festival anyway.
Izuku felt his spirits lift at his friends' encouragement, his pain almost forgotten in the wake of his bright smile. They were right. As much as he wanted his other self to learn things as fast as possible, he needed to focus on the progress that was being made. If he did that, then learning to do it in real life would be easier.
Izuku sat against the wall, and it was clear he was now sore all over. He cursed how hard it was just to keep OfA up steadily, and said he had a long way to go. Gran refuted him, pointing out that Izuku had managed to use analysis and prediction to catch Gran off guard. It was clear he had improved much since yesterday.
"See? Even he agrees!" Uraraka pointed at the screen with a grin. Izuku didn't know whether to laugh at how pleased she sounded or cry from the praise Gran was giving.
Aizawa nodded along with what Gran Torino was saying. In many ways, Midoriya's mind was his greatest asset. He'd improved himself quite a bit just by changing how he thought about things and applying his smarts to the fight. Midoriya had once asked him if he would have considered him to have potential even without a quirk, and moments like this made him all the more sure that Midoriya could have been a hero no matter what.
The camera angle shifted to show a thin red line on Gran's face, and the man thought about how this was the first time in a while that he'd had to actually dodge during a fight.
"Wha- you got him! Oh my gosh you actually got him!" Sero cried excitedly.
Izuku's mouth fell open in astonishment. He could only stare at the screen while Iida called out a boisterous 'Well done!' and Uraraka clapped in delight. He snapped out of it All Might slung an arm around his shoulders and gave him a side hug. But now he stared at All Might, tears in his eyes over the sudden show of affection.
"That's awesome!" Mineta cheered, then he looked thoughtful. "He says the first time 'in a while', how active is he these days? Does he still get into fights often?"
"I don't keep track of everything my old teacher gets up to, but I believe he still assists with investigations. Either way, coming from Gran such a compliment means a lot." Yagi explained.
Gran looked back at Midoriya, who was muttering to himself, already trying to think around the new problem, and hadn't even noticed the mark on Gran's face. Gran grinned and thought that the boy could someday be a monster.
Izuku was able to shake himself out of his shock and had enough presence of mind to frown. "Is that a compliment?"
"From Gran? Most certainly!" Yagi said, pride welling up inside him. He knew young Midoriya would grow to do amazing things, and seeing that happen right in front of him was a feeling more incredible than he could describe.
"Yeah, it's like when people call you a beast for being really big and strong!" Sato said, flexing his muscles to emphasize the point.
Aloud, Gran said that Midoriya now had to get used to his power. The boy was very willing to keep sparring, but then Gran remembered that they hadn't had breakfast yet. He went back to continue prepping it, and was distraught to find that the taiyaki was now all over the ground. Midoriya frantically promised to go get more.
The sudden dramatics got some laughs and giggles out of the audience.
Jirou raised an eyebrow. "Well what does he expect after having a sparring match in the middle of the kitchen?"
"I think it might actually be the lounge or living room." Momo pointed out.
"Either way he still made the choice not to move away from where the food was before bounding off the walls and stuff."
"That's true."
Izuku was shown running down the street, presumably to get more food, and thinking about how he could now see the light at the end of the tunnel and that he was going to make this new aspect of the quirk his own.
Yagi smiled at his successor. "You are making excellent progress, my boy, so I have every confidence that you will accomplish that!" He thought back to how he'd once called OfA a borrowed quirk, and he felt even more proud of young Midoriya's progress.
"Y-yes sir! I'll do my best!"
"I know, my boy, you always do."
The scene changed to show Uraraka learning the basics of hand to hand combat with Gunhead and his sidekicks. Gunhead told them to be purposeful with their punches, and that what mattered most at the end was your basic physical strength. He did a little pose when he said it, and Uraraka couldn't help but think about how cute it was.
Aizawa hummed thoughtfully. "I'm not sure it's the most important, but physical strength is certainly much more important than many heroes and the media make it out to be. It's one of the things you can fall back on most if your quirk isn't beneficial to the situation."
"He is very cute, kero." Tsuyu agreed. Uraraka held up a fist and Tsuyu lightly bumped it with her own. Ashido studied the image for a moment before nodding in agreement.
Mineta tapped his pen against the cover of his notebook. He'd have thought that girls would have latched onto a pro like Gunehad for his muscles and cool mask, not for making cute poses. He opened the notebook and jotted the observation down; maybe he'd been wrong about how to be 'cool' and appealing in more ways than he realized.
The scene switched to Fourth Kind, who berated Kirishima and Tetsutetsu for not being able to make tea correctly. He hit them both on the head, though it didn't do much since they activated their quirks, and said they had to do this so they could interact with the public.
"Not what I would have started with for the topic of public relations, but I guess I can see how that could work as an introduction." Present Mic admitted.
"He could be trying to instill an attention to detail as well, since they've already shown they are strong." Recovery Girl suggested.
"That could be."
"All these different internships really aren't shaping up to be what I thought that would." Kirishima said. He'd never thought his training would involve learning how to make tea for someone like Fourth Kind.
Fourth Kind turned his back to them, and said it was satisfying to hit their quirks. They agreed right away, but the camera angle showed that the hero was actually nursing a pair of hurt hands.
Several people giggled, Bakugo barked a laugh. "Serves him right."
"Huh, didn't think that would hurt him that much." Kirishima said, he'd hardly felt the blow after all.
"Like I said, serves him right for hitting a hard head like yours with only those knuckle things on."
The scene changed again, and Best Jeanist's voice was heard. He was saying that a hero should be capable of putting those around him at ease. Capability was important, but so were one's appearance, words, and actions. Elegance was important. As he said this, the camera suddenly moved and showed the new hairstyle Best Jeanist had given Bakugo.
Bakugo's face instantly heated as the room filled with snorts and giggles.
"Shut the hell up!" he barked.
"It's-snrk!- it's honestly not that bad." Kaminari said through his laughter.
"Then why the fuck are you laughing?!"
"It's just- just the hair with that expression and the timing it just-" Kaminari broke into full on laughter as Bakugo continued to glower at him.
"He's right dude." Sero said. "You just look so confused and the hair is so different that it's kinda hilarious."
"Yeah man, your spiky hair suits you so well that seeing your hair all slicked up and stuff is super weird." Kirishima agreed, though he smiled the whole time.
"I know right?" Ashido jumped in. "Everyone has a style that works best for them and 'elegant' is so not yours."
Meanwhile, Izuku was desperate trying to hide the fact that he was one of the ones laughing. He didn't think Kaachan looked that bad, but it reminded him of when Kaachan's mother had dressed him up for some party when they little. The blonde boy had hated it then too, and complained the whole night, despite the hairdo not lasting that long.
While the sidekicks congratulated their boss on his work, Bakugo came to the realization that he had made a poor choice in internships. At that exact moment, his hair somehow poofed back into it's usual style.
The room filled with laughter, and Bakugo felt caught between embarrassment at the laughter and relief that the look hadn't stuck.
"I think Best Jeanist may be a little out of his league here." Present Mic grinned.
Back with Uwabami, she was posing for pictures while Kendo and Momo talked on the sidelines. Kendo said they were just her entourage while Momo insisted that this too was a necessary part of being a hero. She declared there had to be something to learn from all this, though this was somewhat dampened by them seeing the strange new pose that Uwabami was now doing. Kendo thought to herself that Momo just didn't want to accept their current position.
Momo sighed. Kendo was probably right. She undoubtedly wanted to find ways to improve her performance after her fight with Tokoyami ended so quickly, and this wasn't going to help with that. Sure, public image was an important part of the hero business, but it wasn't the part she wanted or needed to focus on right now. She really should have picked her internship more carefully.
As if reading her thoughts, Jirou gave her a consoling pat on the arm. "Don't be too hard on yourself, I didn't make the best choice either. We can do better when this comes up for real."
Momo smiled and nodded. "Yes, that brainstorming session that was mentioned before would be a good idea."
With the last two internships shown, Aizawa was once again reminded that there were parts of his class that he really should be more actively involved in. This was a first year class after all, so they had no experience in picking out mentors who would help them grow. He and the other teachers really should give them more guidance until they had more understanding of how these things worked.
In his own notebook, Nedzu made a note to himself to revisit the internship evaluation procedures so that they could make sure that the agencies suggested to the students would be ones that would actually teach them things, rather than using them as just props or menial labor.
Back at UA, Yagi and Tsukauchi were talking in one of the lounges. Yagi asked for an update on what Tsukauchi had learned about the USJ incident. The detective told him that they had learned something from the DNA tests on the Nomu that could lead them to the identity of the mastermind behind the attack.
The whole room perked up and leaned in, eager for any information that might help them capture the villains that tried to kill them. The exception to this was Midoriya and Yagi, who gave each other knowing looks and steeled themselves. Things could get intense very quickly if information about All for One was about to be revealed.
The detective explained that they had studied the Nomu. It gave no reaction to anything they did, so they concluded it couldn't think for itself at all. They had traced the Nomu's original identity, and found them to be just be a garden variety thug. Yagi asked what all this had to do with the lead Tsukauchi had mentioned. The detective then revealed that there was DNA from at least four different people found in the thug's/Nomu's body.
"Mon Dieu!" Aoyama exclaimed. "How is that even possible?"
"Could his quirk absorb people or something?" Sato wondered.
"I doubt he would have been described as a everyday thug if he inherently had such an ability." Tokoyami pointed out.
"What could it mean then?" Momo wondered.
Nedzu's eyebrow raised slightly and he turned to look at Yagi, who grimaced. Aizawa and Present Mic noticed the interaction and gave each other a confused look.
Yagi wondered aloud if the Nomu still counted as human at this point. Tsukauchi explained that his whole body seemed to have been tampered with; he'd been modified so that his body could hold multiple quirks. The drop in brain power was likely a result of trying to fit so much into the Nomu.
"Modified?" Iida tested the word out, his voice becoming laden with growing horror. "Are the villains that attacked us also involved in human experimentation?"
The air in the room grew heavy as the implication of this new information began to sink in. First willing to kill children, now human experimentation? Was there any line this new group of villains wouldn't be willing to cross?
Izuku's mind whirred as he took everything in. Given what the detective said just now, and what they had heard after Shigaraki escaped the USJ...was it possible the league was planning to create more Nomus?
The detective explained that the multiple quirks and DNA was what they were worried about at this point. Even if different DNA was introduced, it would have to be completely integrated for the person to actually gain any additional quirks. Which All Might should understand, given that he had One for All. Yagi looked horrified as Tsukauchi said that there was likely someone involved who had the Quirk to give quirks to others.
"That's...how would that even work?" Jirou asked desperately. "I mean, Sato's thing about absorbing people sounded weird enough, but someone who can give quirks? Where would they even come from? Could whoever this is just summon quirks from nothing to give to people? That's ridiculous!"
"What if Sato was right?" Mineta looked like he was on the verge of tears. "What if this mastermind can absorb people to get their quirks and then he gave them to this thug guy to make the Nomu?"
"There's no way something like that could be a real quirk right? I mean, we'd have heard about it if something that overpowered existed, right?" Ojiro asked, hoping someone would refute him.
"Perhaps you have and you just didn't realize it." Nedzu said. "After all, you all heard about All Might before you came here and learned how his quirk actually worked, didn't you?"
Yagi stood up in alarm, asking if it could be true. The detective said that's what the evidence was pointing too, which is why Tsukauchi thought All Might needed to know. All Might walked over and looked out the window. He shifted into his muscular form as he slowly asked if 'he' was moving again. The scene cut away.
"Alright, what's going on?" Aizawa demanded before any of the students could voice their confusion.
"What do you mean?" Nedzu asked pleasantly.
"We saw you and All Might look at each other earlier, like you knew where this was going before we got this far, and now it sounds like All Might knows the guy who might be behind everything." Present Mic clarified. "So we want to know what you guys seem to know."
There was a few moments of tense silence while the teachers assessed each other and the students watched them. It ended when All Might sighed, and stood up to address the whole room.
"Based on what we've seen and heard so far, I believe I know the identity of the man who is in charge of the League of Villains. Nedzu already knows, as does young Midoriya now. I told him the story after I had my first suspicions about who 'Sensei' was. His identity has close ties with One for All's history, so I decided he deserved to know. I only kept it from him before then because I fully believed the man to be dead, but it is looking less and less likely that is actually true. Despite this, I would...greatly prefer not to tell the whole story to you here and now. It is likely to be revealed as we continue to watch anyway, and some parts of it are personal. So I would like not to have to repeat it more times than necessary." his voice turned pleading. "So please, I know how frustrating this must be, but please have patience and wait until the story reveals itself naturally."
Silence followed. Everyone had questions, and their curiosity and fear demanded to know even just a little more information, but how could they ask when the number 1 hero had practically begged them not to? So they all agreed to wait, though some nods and answers were more reluctant than others.
"Just one question, please." Aizawa said. Yagi looked wary, but nodded at him. "This villain, is he the one that gave you your scar?"
Yagi's hand went to his side. "He is."
Aizawa nodded his thanks, and that seemed to be the end of that. No one addressed it any further, but fear was still palpable in the air. After all, what chance did any of them stand against a man that could create something like the Nomu and could hurt All Might so badly when he was in his prime?a
The scene changed back to the villains' bar, where Stain was addressing Shigaraki's proposal for Stain to join them. Stain said that, no matter the goal, one needed to have conviction and desire in order to achieve it. Those that didn't have that would be weeded out, that's why things turned out this way. The camera shifted to show that Stain was saying all this while pinning Shigaraki to the floor with his blade.
Several people winced at the image. Iida's jaw clenched the moment Stain came into view.
"It's so interesting to discover the motivations and viewpoints of different villains." Nedzu stated cheerfully.
"It would probably be too convenient if Stain ended up killing Shigaraki here, wouldn't it?" Hagakure asked.
"Probably, yeah." Ashido agreed.
Shigaraki told Kurogiri to send Stain back, but Kurogiri said he couldn't move and was shown to have a cut on his arm.
Izuku shifted forward, his eyes focused on the bloody sleeve. "He only wears armor around his neck, as far as I can tell, but he still has enough of a body to be able to get a cut on his arm. I wonder why he only wears something around his neck then...and why can't he move? A cut in that locations shouldn't be able to stop him from moving at all, not normally. Is it something to do with his unique biology, or is this a clue as to what Stain's quirk is? It's probably Stain's doing, since he's been shown to have some kind of connection to blood. I wonder what it says about Kurogiri's quirk that he has to be able to move to some degree in order to make the portals...unless the inability to move applies to the 'smoke' parts of him as well and not just the more solid parts." Izuku only stopped talking when he felt something poke his cheek and turned to see Uraraka in front of him with her pointer finger held out and sporting a amused smile.
"Careful Deku, you might miss the answers if you're too busy muttering the questions!"
His face turned red and he stuttered out a 'thank you' as the show continued.
Kurogiri said this must be the hero killer's quirk.
"See?" Uraraka teased. Izuku chuckled.
Too caught up in their own exchange, neither noticed how Iida's eyes narrowed at the new information. 'Is that what happened to Tensei? Did the that villain manage to paralyze him and then force him to watch helplessly as he grew closer to death?'
Stain went on, saying how society was overrun with fake heroes, so much so that the title had lost its meaning. Not to mention the villains that used their power idly, they should all be purged.
"Tensei isn't a fake." Iida growled, startling his two friends. They were quick to agree though.
"Yeah, if he's anything like you, then your brother is definitely a real hero! This guy is buying way too much into his own ideology!" Uraraka couldn't say that Stain was entirely wrong; they'd seen a number of heroes acting not very heroic since this whole viewing started. Just look at what Endeavor was really like! But his idea of what a 'real' hero counted as was also way to strict!
As though he could hear her thoughts, Izuku nodded along. "Yeah, he said something about All Might being the only one allowed to beat him, which probably means he holds All Might up as the standard, but that's just not fair! I mean, as much as I want to be like All Might, I know that you don't have to be just like him to be a good hero! Ingenium has done a lot of great stuff and so have our teachers and a lot of other heroes too!"
Aizawa nodded. "It's hardly Tensei's fault that the system has come to value marketability and popularity as much as it has."
Iida managed to relax a little after hearing others defend his brother. He felt guilty after Uraraka's words though, because he got the impression his other self was going to do some decidedly unheroic things in the near future.
Stain started to move one of his blades to cut Shigaraki's neck, but Shigaraki grabbed the blade. It started to crack and fall apart as Shigaraki told him that he wasn't allowed to damage the hand on his face and that Stain talked to much.
"He's showing reverence for that hand again. The way he talked made it sound like the found the thought of the hand getting damaged more upsetting than the stab wound he already have or the cut he was about to receive." Momo observed.
"Sometimes I feel like the more I see of this guy the less I understand about him." Jirou said.
Izuku wrote down the event in the section of his notebook dedicated to Shigaraki. Just what kind of history did Shigaraki have with his father to do something as deranged as use his hand as a mask while also caring so much about it getting damaged?
Todoroki frowned. He understood a little bit now why Midoriya had been so distressed at having some similarities with this villain. He didn't like the fact that he could relate to having 'complicated' feelings about your father the way Shigaraki seemed to.
Shigaraki said that he didn't have the grand conviction Stain talked about. The closest thing he could think of was his hatred for All Might and how much he wanted to crush the society that glorified him.
Yagi frowned deeply, wondering what he could possibly have done to have resulted in this young man hating him so much. As much as he didn't like thinking about it, he was only human and couldn't save everyone. Was the strange reverence for his father's hand from All Might failing to save his father at some point? Or perhaps it was less direct...had 'Sensei' convinced Shigaraki to hate him so much so that he'd be easier to control for the man's own goals?
Stain actually looked startled and a bit scared before jumping away when Shigaraki swung a hand at him. Shigaraki complained about getting injured again after just finishing healing from his last injuries, and asked if Stain would take responsibility for that.
Shivers went up the spines of the students. Despite how childishly Shigaraki could act, moments like this, where he got that crazed look in his eye, reminded them why they shouldn't underestimate him.
Stain stated that their goals directly contradicted each other, but that they could both agree that the way things were now needed to be destroyed.
"No no no please don't tell me he's actually going to join them after all!" Ashido begged.
"The amount of darkness they could spread in tangent would be enormous." Tokoyami said gravely.
Everyone watched the screen intently, tense and wary of how this meeting would ultimately end.
Shigaraki told Stain to get out, and Stain said he'd just been testing Shigaraki's motives. People showed who they truly were on the verge of death after all.
"Well, he does have a point there." Aizawa admitted. "You can know a person a long time and then find out something completely unexpected about them when something life threatening occurs."
"That seems to be a theme for Stain. He's not exactly wrong about things, but he's also far from right." Present Mic said.
Stain said that there was a 'sprout' of desire inside Shigaraki, and he wondered how Shigaraki would grow and 'bud'. He might be able to see just how Shigaraki turned out before disposing of him.
This time Aizawa was the one feeling uncomfortable. The way Stain talked about seeing how Shigaraki would turn out reminded him of how he sometimes talked about his students' potential. Not to mention how he pushed his students hard to bring that potential out, like how Stain had done to see what Shigaraki's true motivations were...not that he would ever stoop to stabbing one of his students of course.
Shigaraki decided he didn't want someone this crazy on his team, and told Kurogiri as much. The man tried to argue that Stain could be a great asset, but then Stain himself told them to return him to Hosu so he could finish his business there.
"Ugh, could you stop giving us all the weird, gross close ups?" Mineta complained.
"I actually did get kind of hopeful for a second that one of them might kill the other and we'd have less bad guys to deal with." Ashido said. Hagakure slumped in her seat.
"Me too, but we were right the first time. It was too much to hope for."
There were conflicted feelings about how that meeting had gone. It was a relief that the deadly Hero Killer and the LOV wouldn't be joining forces, but would it have been better in the long run if they had joined together? Stain's behavior clearly caused tension with Shigaraki after all, and that could have made them fight each other as much as others.
The scene changed to Manual's hero agency, where the pro and Iida were taking off their helmets at the end of the night. Manual said that villains wouldn't come out with the city on such high alert, and walked off.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that, given what we just saw." Present Mic said.
"Even if he doesn't know what we do, he shouldn't make assumptions like that." Aizawa said.
"Indeed. The tension in the city may cause villains to lay low, but that's not a guarantee. Not all villains are cowed at the thought of gaining attention, and it seems Stain is likely one of them." Yagi agreed.
Iida stayed where he was, and thought about Stain. He'd learned that the Hero Killer had injured at least four heroes whenever she showed up somewhere. He didn't know if the cause was superstition or something else, but the fact remained that Tensei was the only one who had been attacked in this area, so Stain was likely to show up here again. He couldn't help but think of Tensei at the same time.
"As much as I disapprove of your other self's decision to seek revenge like this, I'm glad to see that your showing off some skills in research and pattern recognition." Aizawa said. "Or, assuming that was something that was reported in the future rather than something you noticed yourself, that you are recognizing that better than Manual apparently is."
"Thank you sir, I will try to cultivate those skills in more appropriate ways in the future." Iida said stiffly. Despite knowing they'd do everything in their power to prevent these events, it still hurt every time he saw his brother in that state.
"Four heroes every time, eh? It's like he's trying to curse heroes as much as he can with his every action." Recovery Girl said, thinking of how unlucky that number was thought to be. "Hopefully it will end up bringing bad luck onto himself instead."
An intense close up was shown of Iida's face as he internally dared the Hero Killer to strike again so that Iida could dispose of him personally.
"You are exuding a strong darkness here." Tokoyami said. Koda flinched away from the image a bit and Shoji extended on of his many arms to give the other boy a comforting pat on the back.
Iida winced at his own image, and bowed his head. Even with how he felt now, how could he have let himself fall so far so fast? He felt something rest on top his wrist and then his shoulder. He looked up a bit to see that Midoriya had rejoined them, and was laying a comforting hand on his wrist and Uraraka stretching her arm across Midoriya's shoulders so her hand could rest on Iida's shoulder. He gave them a small, grateful smile.
Aizawa berated himself again for not paying closer attention to Iida's choice of location after what happened.
The next morning the focus changed back to Midoriya, who was sparring with Gran Torino once again. He was managing to keep up 5% this time, but still got kicked into the wall.
Izuku yelped and jumped in his seat as pain jolted across his back. Now it was Iida's turn to comfort him.
"They really should have some padding set up if they are going to be hitting that hard." Present Mic said. "Realism is all well and good, but I think Midoriya already has the whole pain tolerance thing covered and it's going to be hard to learn to implement this 5% power thing if he has to be taken to the hospital from a spar gone wrong."
"Gran may be harsh, but he is plenty experienced. I'm sure he knows how to fight in a way that will not injure young Midoriya to that extent." Yagi said. Present Mic didn't look convinced but let it drop.
Gran called things to a stop there, saying that if the two of them continued to fight then Midoriya might develop weird habits. The boy lay on the ground with a line of blood dripping from his hair and his mouth.
Yagi winced as he saw that and heard young Midoriya groan and hold his head in his hands. He hoped Midoriya's revelation about OfA would truly be enough to help him not break his bones, if only so that Gran's harsh methods would be worth it.
"He makes a good point, having different sparring partners and types of training is very important in learning how to be a flexible hero." Nedzu said to the students.
Izuku tried to get Gran to fight him more so that he could continue to work on getting used to using 5% full cowl, but Gran insisted that was enough.
Uraraka and Iida let out sighs of exasperation, which made Midoriya look sheepish.
"One of these days Deku, one of these days we're gonna teach you how to take a real break now and then.
Instead, Gran told Izuku to get his costume on so they could move onto phase two.
"With that look, I'm not sure I want to know what phase two is." Shoji said. Koda fidgeted nervously and nodded in agreement.
Izuku himself just looked at the screen in determination. Whatever was about to happen, he'd face it head on.
The scene changed to Midoriya in his costume as the pair were leaving the building. Gran announced that they were going to go fight villains, explaining that he needed to have experience with fighting people other than Gran so that he wouldn't be caught off guard in new situations. Izuku was understanding, but hesitant about how sudden in was. He said he needed to prepare and Gran pointed out that he'd already faced villains before and that he didn't have anything major planned.
"Well, that doesn't sound so bad, especially after everything that happened at the USJ and the sports festival." Izuku said.
"Then why am I getting a bad feeling about this anyway?" Uraraka asked warily.
"Is it normal for most internships to have the student fight villains?" Momo asked.
Aizawa nodded. "For most first years the internships are the place where you would experience your first real combat, since interns often join heroes on their patrol routes at least a few times."
Momo sighed 'Figures I'd end up picking one of the internships where that doesn't seem likely to happen.'
Gran hailed a taxi and ushered Izuku in, explaining that they were going to go looking for villains elsewhere due to the population in their area being low. More people meant more crimes after all, so they'd be going to Shibuya. Midoriya immediately became nervous about wearing his outfit in such a 'fashionable' area. Gran encouraged him, saying that he lucky to show it off to so many people.
People giggled over how shy Midoriya suddenly got.
"Aw, come on Midoriya! You're hero outfit looks great!" Kaminari said. "It's way more distinctive than mine."
"It does suit you very well, a personal flare without being too overstated." Iida agreed. Uraraka nodded along.
"It could be a lot worse after all. You could be wearing Todoroki's first hero outfit!" Jirou pointed out.
Todoroki frowned. "What was wrong with my hero outfit?"
"It was...well...it just seemed like it sacrificed efficiency for style." Momo explained. Not that her own costume couldn't do with a few improvements, but at least hers didn't affect the usefulness of an entire side of her body.
Todoroki's brow furrowed, then he nodded. "I see what you mean."
Midoriya realized that, in order to get to Shibuya, they'd have to take a train that would pass by Hosu city. His mind went to Iida, wondering how he was and making a note to try contacting him later.
'Oh, that's probably where the bad feeling is coming from.' Uraraka realized.
"I certainly hope I haven't been ignoring calls from you in this future." Iida said.
"Given everything that's happened I probably haven't tried to call you yet. I mean, I spent the first night after meeting Gran Torino ramming myself into a wall to try and One for All to cooperate." Izuku reminded him.
"Ah yes, I'd almost forgotten."
The scene switched to Iida and Manual on another patrol. After a bit of small talk, Manual confronted Iida, asking him if he was here to chase the Hero Killer. Iida was surprised, and Manual admitted he couldn't think of any other reason Iida would choose this agency to intern at. He was happy to have Iida of course, but warned him not to act on a personal grudge as a hero. Using a quirk for personal gain, even for a hero, would be a serious crime. Manual became nervous when Iida didn't respond right away, but then Iida thanked him for the warning and the patrol continued.
"Well, at least there's one authority figure who managed to talk to you about this." Aizawa said, still feeling guilty for his other self not talking to Iida about this at all.
"Unfortunately, I doubt it changed my mind." Iida said grimly.
"Yeah, Manual was right about you being very earnest and focused. Sometimes we forget how stuff like that isn't always a good thing." Mic replied.
"Hmmm...Manual getting nervous like that did make me think of something." Izuku interjected. "Not being able to see your facial expressions could make it harder reach out to civilians, but it would be good for hiding your emotions from villains. And of course you wouldn't want to take the helmet off and expose your head just to talk to people if there was still a fight going on. Did Ingenium ever have problems with that?"
"Now that you mention it, Tensei did mention a few instances where that duality became inconvenient." Iida admitted. "Perhaps I should ask the support department to look into making certain parts of the helmet out of a clear material."
"If you end up having the same fight with Mei in our future then you could leverage how you helped her show off her stuff to get her to work on your helmet." Uraraka pointed out. Iida face turned red.
"I'm not sure that would be worth the embarrassment."
As they started walking again, Iida wondered what else he was supposed to do with these feelings if not hunt down Stain.
"More intensive training than walking around like that can help." Aizawa said. "Getting your muscles to the point of really burning can have a bigger impact than you think."
"It can help to try and focus on other work too. Distraction isn't a permanent solution, but it does give some relief." Mic advised.
Yagi nodded. "Whenever I have felt helpless to change certain things, I often channeled it into changing other things that were in my power. Like saving as many people as I could."
Iida thanked them for their advice, and Recovery Girl pondered what Yagi had said.
'Maybe that's why he's having such a hard time with the idea of retiring.'
The scene changed to Stain on a rooftop. Shigaraki stepped out of a portal behind him and asked him what he planned to do.
"These two again? I thought they ended on bad terms!" Mineta complained.
"Not bad enough to not chat now and then I guess." Sero said.
"Either that or Stain just doesn't see the point in starting a fight." Shoji suggested.
"Depends on whether or not they planned to meet up or if Bad Touch Bastard just showed up." Bakugo pointed out.
Stain said he planned to reform the city, but would need more victims to do it.
"Pretty sure none of the cities you visited would consider themselves 'reformed' but whatever you say." Jirou said caustically.
Kurogiri asked if that's what he meant when he said he had things to do. Stain declared that the title 'Hero' was supposed to be given to people who accomplish great deeds, but these days there were too many who took the title purely for the sake of earning money. He said he would not stop his own deeds until the world realized it's mistake, then took off and left the LOV leaders behind.
"Such a rude exit." Aoyama said. "Though I give him points for its flashiness and drama."
"He's being way to strict again! You can want money and be earnest about saving people at the same time!" Uraraka tried to sound more confident than she felt. Despite her friends' kind words when she told them about her motivations for being a hero, something tightened in her chest when Stain called heroes 'money worshipers'.
"That's right, most people are a lot more complex than Stain is making them out to be." Izuku agreed. "I mean, if you paid heroes nothing then they wouldn't be able to provide for themselves and how could they save anyone then?"
"Exactly!"
"I can certainly see the point about the hero industry being too commercialized, but I hardly see how killing some of them off is going to help." Aizawa said.
"Indeed, serial killers aren't known for their tendency to change things for the better." Nedzu said. "If that kind of change is truly his goal, he could have put more of his time toward starting some kind of movement. I'm sure some will listen to him, if he repeats that rhetoric enough for the cameras, but by doing things this way he will mostly be labeled as just another villain. Though I suppose this would hardly be the first time a serial killer rationalized their actions as having some higher purpose."
Shigaraki commented that Stain talked big, but was essentially trying to start a grassroots movement. He held a hand over his wound and mocked Stain for being so very noble.
"Hm, perhaps Shigaraki is more perceptive than I originally thought." Nedzu mused.
Kurogiri spoke up, saying that it would be unwise to brush Stain off. The cities he visited showed a decrease in criminal activity that some attributed to a rise in the conscious of heroes.
Jirou frowned. "Okay, maybe he managed to do something, but I still wouldn't count the towns as 'reformed'."
"I believe your initial comment is still accurate." Nedzu said. "The crime rate might lower for a while as a result of his actions, but I doubt it will be a lasting effect, especially after he is caught." He put a paw to his chin thoughtfully. "Though there is a chance that his actions will inspire others to take up a similar mantle which could extend the effectiveness. Still, long term effectiveness would be greatly improved by actively trying to make it so such ideas will take root. From what I've seen of him so far, he's relying on chance that someone who is or will be in power will hear his ideals, agree with them, and then do something about it. Which is possible given how much the media covers hero related events, but could still be done much more efficiently."
Shigaraki decided that Stain's methods were too roundabout, and that they wouldn't be able to agree. Plus he was annoying. Then Shigaraki told Kurogiri to summon the Nomus.
Laughs that had started in response to Shigaraki's childish reasoning suddenly died when the last line was spoken.
"Nomus? As in plural? As in they made more of those monsters?!" Mineta cried in panic.
"Oh no oh no oh no!" Hagakure whined.
"So the USJ really was more of a trial run. They had more of those things waiting in the wings, ready to prep and use after they saw the first in action." Recover Girl said.
"I had my suspicions, but it's good to have in confirmed either way!" Nedzu said brightly. Recover Girl shook her head. The blasé response wasn't helping the mounting tension in the room.
Three Nomus stepped out of the portal. One similar to the USJ Nomu, one that could fly, and one that was slimmer but no less deranged in appearance. Shigaraki muttered to himself about getting Stain back for stabbing him and that if he wanted to kill people he just would.
"Okay, three. The city could probably manage three, right? I mean, the city isn't isolated the way the USJ was so they won't have to worry about getting word out to get back up. But there are also a lot more civilians in the city and depending on how strong the Nomus are the heroes might need to wait a while for someone powerful enough and they could cause a lot of damage in that time..." Izuku mumbling was not having a positive affect on the mood of the room, and Uraraka put a hand on his shoulder to bring him out of it.
Iida's lips pressed together. He grimly wondered if, after all this worry about meeting Stain, he'd end up getting killed by a Nomu because Stain had angered Shigaraki.
"I suppose it would be too much to hope that those three are the only other ones they have." Todoroki said. Momo nodded.
"Probably."
The scene changed to a place 'near Hosu'. A train came into view, the one that Midoriya and Gran Torino were riding. Izuku pointed out that the train wouldn't arrive until nighttime and Gran just said there would be more scuffles at night. Midoriya was less than enthused, but switched his focus to his phone. He'd sent a message to Iida that he'd be passing by the area, but it hadn't been replied to, which worried him.
"My sincerest apologies for making your future self worry!"
"It's okay, I mean, you were patrolling earlier, you might have just not seen it."
Bakugo scowled. The nerd was getting all nervous and panicky when he himself would have been thrilled to go out and fight someone rather than be stuck in the stylist's chair. 'If Deku doesn't need to get taught by the old man after all this, maybe I should go train with him. At least I'd see some action.'
While the two students talked, Aizawa suddenly stiffened and his eyes grew wider.
"What's up?" Mic asked, noticing the change.
"That train is passing by Hosu, and judging by the lighting it's not long after Shigaraki transported three Nomus to the city."
"Oh...something is about to happen to that train isn't it?"
Aizawa groaned and Yagi bit his lip in worry. The timing did seem a little too perfect.
Memories ran through Midoriya's head as he continued to worry, but he was snapped out of it when a passenger pointed out that a building had just exploded somewhere outside the window.
"A whole building?" Koda whispered in horror.
It was about now that the rest of the class made the connection that one of their classmates was passing by the city just as it was being attacked and that there was a good chance that the classmate that was already there would be caught up in the action.
A part of Bakugo made a note to try getting an internship somewhere in Hosu, assuming Gran wasn't available, just in case this happened again in their future. He never got a chance to try his fire power against the Nomu at the USJ after all. He used that thought to drown out the part that whispered worries over what was about to happen to the nerd.
Midoriya and Gran twisted in their seat to try and get a better idea of what was going on. An announcement urged the passengers to hang onto their seats, just before an impact rocked the car and something burst through the side of it. When the dust settled they saw a hero get smashed to the floor by the slim Nomu.
"Deku!" "Midoriya!" Uraraka and Iida weren't the only ones that cried in alarm when the train car wall blew apart but they were the ones he heard the most clearly. Todoroki had sat bolt upright when he saw the Nomu come in, now much more attentive than he was before.
"Young Midoriya! Are you alright?" All Might was up and out of his seat in an instant.
"I felt a few twinges, probably from the other me falling over when the train was attacked, but no other pain yet." Izuku reported.
'Yet being the key word.' All Might couldn't help but think.
"The Nomus just happen to attack the city just as the problem child's train is passing through and one of them just happens to bust into the exact car the kid is sitting in. Because of course all those things would coincide perfectly." Aizawa grumbled to himself.
"Hm, if I believed in fate I might be tempted to say that the boy is somehow being draw to things this 'Sensei' is involved with, or vice versa." Recovery Girl said idly.
"Now, this will be very interesting! By seeing how the other Nomus function we can get a better idea of any strengths or weaknesses they might have as well as the kind of firepower most useful in bringing them down!" Nedzu squeaked excitedly.
"Good on you for bringing up the positive side, sir." Mic gave him a thumbs up.
Gran Torino ordered Midoriya to stay where he was and shot off toward the Nomu. He managed to kick the monster off the hero and out of the train car, and continued to speed after it as it fell among the buildings. Midoriya ignored Gran's order and ran to the opening to see where his mentor went. It was then that he saw the red haze in the distance.
"Oh...oh that is a lot of fire..." Ashido whispered fearfully. The class stared at the spot with mounting dread. Unlike the boy on screen, they knew what was going on, but were still shocked that the three creatures had caused so much damage that the affects could be seen from so far away. Tokoyami internally comforted Dark Shadow, who was shuddering at the thought of being in such a blaze.
"And now the mentor has left Midoriya alone while he deals with the villain and of course he didn't listen and stay put so now he's seen that there are people in trouble over there. There won't be any stopping him now." Aizawa was rubbing his temple now.
"It might not end up being so bad, they did promise to listen better in the future and not go rushing into these things." Mic reminded him.
"That was these problem children, the ones on screen promised nothing."
"Oh yeah..."
Yagi could feel himself start to sweat. He knew young Midoriya learned best by doing, but that didn't mean he wanted him to learn about his new control of OfA by fighting Nomus!
Flames were everywhere and screams filled the air as a Nomu was shown walking the streets. Manual and Iida were shown a little ways off, getting called into help. Iida ran after Manual, and wondered if this could be Stain. He dismissed it as being too flashy for him. Then Iida suddenly stopped and looked off to the side. His eyes went wide, and he ran off in a different direction, away from Manual.
"It doesn't seem like a good idea to run off without telling your mentor. Especially since something really big is happening, kero."
"Dude, where are you going?! Get back there and help evacuate people!" Kirishima demanded.
Iida's whole body was tense. "Go back, go back. Lose sight of him and go back." He urged himself. He could think of only one thing that would cause his other self to break away and say nothing when there were others in danger.
Izuku's expression of dawning realization showed that he also realized why Iida was running off.
The scene changed to show Stain in an alley. He was clearly annoyed by the chaos the LoV was spreading, and vowed to deal with them after he dealt with the hero he had pinned to a wall.
"I was dearly hoping my other self wouldn't actually find him." Iida said, fear making his voice sound higher than normal. He suddenly remembered what Aizawa had said about his parents having to deal with another child in the hospital, and grimaced. Would he even make it as far as the hospital?
"N-no matter what happens, we'll find a way to make it right!" Izuku declared. Uraraka nodded, but was also biting her lip as she stared at the screen.
"And of course Iida just happens to catch sight of Stain while Manual is too distracted by the Nomu situation to notice him missing right away!" Aizawa looked like he was on the verge of having either a heart attack or an aneurysm.
"I'm beginning to see what you meant about fate, it's like the stars are aligned or something." Mic said.
"I sometimes hate it when I'm right." Recovery Girl said.
Yagi had to bite back a cough as he realized that young Midoriya as well as Iida were now in danger from both the Nomus and a serial killer.
The pro hero, Native, sounded strained as he said that his body wouldn't move. He insulted Stain, and Stain told him to choose his last words better. He readied his sword, but suddenly jerked and turned to be met with Iida's boot flying at him. In one swift motion, Stain sent Iida's helmet flying off and his body crashing to the ground.
The students were on the edge of their seats, desperate to know what would happen while also fearful that they were about to see a classmate die.
"Okay, I know it ended badly, but that entrance was still super manly." Kirishima said. He got a few looks and shrugged. "What? It was! If the blow had landed it would have been awesome!"
"I'll make a note of that." Iida said distantly, too focused on the screen to really listen.
Stain wondered what a child was doing dressed up in a suit like that, and tried to get Iida to leave. Iida refused, and told Stain he knew who Stain was and that he'd been chasing him. Stain noticed the look in Iida's eyes and asked if he was there for revenge. He warned him to be careful of what he said, lest he become a target too.
"Again, cool speech, but not the best timing." Kirishima said.
"Yeah, if your out to get him then shut up and start doing something." Bakugo admonished.
Iida's muscles twitched. Even Bakugo was scolding him for this? This really was a terrible idea all along!
"Well, at least we know Stain has at least one more scruple than the League, he gave Iida a chance to run instead of trying to kill him too." Mic pointed out.
"Of course, killing children isn't a part of his ideology, killing heroes is. The League doesn't really have an ideology at this point, that was what Stain found so abhorrent about them." Aizawa reminded him.
Iida was insulted by the fact that Stain didn't consider him a target.
Tsuyu shook her head. "I'm very concerned about your priorities right now."
Bakugo stayed quiet this time, because now he felt he could actually relate. It was like a more extreme version of his own fight with Todoroki, getting so amped up for a fight only to find that your opponent thought so little of you was all kinds of insulting.
"Iida..." Uraraka whispered fearfully, staring at the blade still pointed at her friend's face. Iida set a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm right here."
The move also placed part of his arm around Midoriya's shoulders. Until that point the boy had been feverishly writing down everything he noticed about Stain and what was implied by Native's words about being unable to move. He was desperate to be prepared for if this happened in real life. But the warmth against his back grounded him a bit, reminding him of where he really was.
As memories of Tensei flashed through his mind, Iida revealed that he was the younger brother of the hero Stain had attacked. He declared that he would defeat Stain in his brother's place. Taking up the name Ingenium for himself, he told Stain to remember it for as long as the lived as the one who defeated him. Stain looked him in the eye, acknowledged his words, and ordered him to die.
The screen went black and the episode ended.
"Nooooooo!" Ashido cried in dismay. "You can't end it there!"
"You enjoy doing this don't you Staticky Bastard!" Bakugo yelled at the ceiling.
"Iida, would you like any time to prepare?" Nedzu asked, beading eyes focusing solely on the boy.
Iida took a deep breath and shook his head. "No, delaying the inevitable won't do any good." Uraraka put her hand over his and Izuku leaned into him, offering their silent support to each other.
"Very well, we'll continue th-"
"Hold it." Recovery Girl hopped up and made her way over to the couch Iida and his friends sat on. "Now we can start."
"Very well, if anyone needs a break, speak up now!"
No one did. They all stared attentively as the screen flashed to life.
