The episode started with Izuku's internship officially ending, and him leaving Gran Torino. Izuku thanked Gran for taking care of him. Gran said he didn't feel like he did anything worth thanking, and Izuku argued that he wouldn't have been able to go up against the Hero Killer without his teachings. Gran used his cane to hit him on the ankle.

Kaminari snorted a laugh "Yeah, maybe not the best idea to remind him of how off the rails your internship went."

"Literally off the rails if you count the part with them on the train." Sero joined in the laugh.

"Ow ow ow!" Izuku had folded his leg so he could grab his ankle. "Yeesh, I already know he can hit hard he doesn't need to remind me!"

Gran said that was against a hero killer that wasn't serious.

Todoroki raised an eyebrow. "Did he see the same hero killer that we did? Because he seemed awfully serious to me."

"I fully agree." Iida said, narrowing his eyes at the image of Gran Torino.

"Yeah, that whole fight felt serious enough to me." Izuku agreed. Even without breaking so many bones, he hadn't gone without injury, and he had definitely believed the lives of himself and his friends were on the line.

"Perhaps Stain's action of saving Midoriya from the Nomu left Gran Torino with the impression that Stain did not intend to kill him during the fight. And perhaps that is true, given his statements about taking down fakes rather than real heroes. But I wouldn't be so certain in saying that Stain would have not killed Midoriya or Todoroki if they'd let their guard down and got in the way enough." Momo said.

Gran started going on about how Izuku had still gotten stress fractures during the fight and how he still strained himself when he got impatient and how he needed to work on staying calm and alert. As he did this 'Nag' started appearing over and over again on the screen.

Laughter filled the room when the words appeared on the screen.

"I guess we know how Midoriya feels about that." Mineta laughed.

Izuku blushed lightly and rubbed the back on his neck.

"Hey, I don't blame ya little listener. They're all good points, but if you say it like that it can sound an awful lot like complaining." Mic said.

Gran reminded Izuku he still had a lot to learn if he hoped to be a great hero like All Might. Izuku agreed immediately, and Gran said good bye and turned to leave. Before he could, Izuku stopped him to ask one more question. After some stuttering, he managed to ask why the name 'Gran Torino' was so unknown despite him training All Might and how skilled he was. Gran said it was because he'd never actually wanted to be a hero in the first place. This surprised Izuku greatly, and Gran explained that there had been something he wanted to do which required him to use his quirk freely. That's why he got the license.

"Ah, I see, that does explain why he seemed so blasé about his own punishment earlier." Aoyama noted.

"Is it common for people to get a hero license for things other than becoming a pro hero?" Iida asked, sounding just as surprised as the on-screen Izuku had.

"I'm not sure of the exact statistics off hand, but it's far from unheard of." Nedzu said. "It is one of the things I wish was more nuanced about how our society handles quirks."

"If there were more ways to get quirks approved for use without a hero license there would be plenty of people at my parents' company that would use their quirks to help with construction, it would make things a lot easier." Uraraka agreed. Her parents sometimes let their employees use their quirks here and there as long they were sure they wouldn't get caught, but saying that in a room with five different pro heroes was probably a bad idea. She was pretty sure they would be cool with it, but better safe than sorry.

Gran said he'd have to ask All Might for more information, then dismissed the boy. Izuku said good bye and walked off, limping a bit as he did so. Gran thought about how Izuku was both very different and very similar to Toshinori, and how his friend had made a good choice in successor. He called out, asking who Izuku was. Izuku thought he was having memory troubles again, and gave his name, but seemed to understand what Gran was really asking after Gran refuted that. He then said his name was Deku. Gran thought to himself 'let's watch over him together, Toshinori'.

"Heh, the man certainly has his own special brand of encouragement." Recover Girl mused.

"Strange but effective, like most things with Gran Torino." Yagi said with a fond smile. He turned and aimed that same smile at Izuku when he heard the boy sniffling at the praise. 'I'll certainly do my best, Sorahiko.'

They would watch over him until All Might faded into history and Deku became the new Symbol of Peace.

"I...I can't be you...but I'll-"

"I never intended for you to be an exact copy of me." Yagi cut off young Midoriya's tearful words. "I hope you'll be different from me in some respects. Maybe you will take up the same mantle as myself, and maybe you won't. Maybe you'll be a new kind of symbol, or you'll find a different way to change the world. But whatever you end up doing, I know it will be great."

All things considered, All Might really should have expected the bawling that followed that little speech.

The scene changed to UA, where Kirishima and Sero were laughing uproariously at Bakugo's hairstyle. Bakugo angrily argued that his hair had gotten so used to it that it wouldn't go back to normal even after being washed.

"It's not that funny!" Bakugo yelled.

"Chill dude, we're not laughing at you, not now." Kirishima said with a grin.

"Yeah, we got all that out of our system when we first saw it." Sero smirked.

"Plus, if you really wanted it gone, couldn't you do whatever hair poof thing you did to mess it up in the first place?" Kirishima challenged.

"Shut up! It's not like I know how to do that on command!"

"Seriously though, I wonder how much and what kind of hair products he used to make that happen. Mine never lasts that long."

"Ah yeah! I'll definitely have to ask Best Jeanist about it, because whatever he used, I want some!" Present Mic crowed. Aizawa gave him a flat look.

"If you manage to make your hair look like that permanently I will refuse to associate with you."

"Aw come on, Shouta! Don't be like that!"

They continued to laugh and argue for a bit longer before Bakugo got so mad his hair spontaneously poofed out again.

"Aw look Bakugo, they got it back to normal!" Kaminari said through his laughter.

"Yeah, we helped! You should thank us!" Sero agreed.

"Don't push it!" Bakugo growled. Kirishima just looked at his hair in mild fascination.

"You think that has something to do with your quirk? How-?" Kirishima cut off when Bakugo slapped a hand over his mouth.

"If you get the nerd started on some rant about how my quirk may or may not affect my hair, I will kill you."

Ashido gushed over the fact that Jirou actually fought villains. Jirou argued back she just helped with support, and didn't do any actual fighting. Ashido said it was still amazing.

"That is a fairly big thing for a first year intern to get involved with." Recovery Girl agreed.

"At least you saw some action, any action." Momo groused.

"Heh, yeah, I'd definitely choose support over posing for pictures." Jirou agreed.

Tsuyu then said that all she really did was train and patrol too. Except for that time they caught a group of smugglers of course. Ashido and Jirou both said that was crazy.

"It was even more crazy after seeing it in person! Well, sorta in person." Ashido said.

"Your internship was definitely intense." Hagakure agreed. "I can't believe you can act so casual about it afterwards!"

"I agree! Such splendid accomplishments should be presented with style!" Aoyama did a kind of flourish with his hands and spread his arms wide. Tsuyu just shrugged.

"I think I just don't feel comfortable making a big deal out of stuff like that. We were all just doing our jobs after all."

"Well said." Aizawa nodded. "You did good, and you don't need to flaunt it to know that."

"Still, that attitude can hold you back if you aren't an underground pro. If you don't take due credit, you can get pushed out of the ratings." Present Mic argued.

"It's best to find a balance between the two." Yagi concluded.

Tsuyu then asked how Uraraka was doing. The camera moved to show Uraraka surrounded by some sort of energy as she practiced moves she'd learned. The trio of girls were impressed, and made a comment about Uraraka having 'awakened'. Kaminari and Mineta were seen watching too. Kaminari noted that was a big change after one week.

Uraraka beamed at how power seemed to flow from her. "I must have taken to those lessons really well!"

"That would certainly seem to be the case, well done!" Iida said.

"Oh man, if the other me is already blown away by Uraraka I can't imagine what the reaction to Midoriya is gonna be!" Kaminari said.

"Seeing ourselves react to something we've already seen and then reacting to that ourselves, that is quite the rabbit hole." Tokoyami said. Koda perked up slightly at the word 'rabbit'.

"I can't wait to see it!" Uraraka laughed. Izuku blushed.

"But I've really only figured out how to use my quirk without hurting myself. Isn't learning a bunch of new moves, like you, more impressive?"

"They are both different kinds of progress that should be valued equally for their value to the user." Iida declared.

"Yeah! Come on Deku, can't we both be impressive?" Uraraka giggled, and Izuku's blush deepened.

"Oh! Y-yeah! Of course we can!"

Mineta argued that it wasn't progress. Then his face took on a haunted look as he declared that all women were just demons hiding their true selves. Kaminari demanded to know what he'd seen while working with Mount Lady.

Uraraka started to feel insulted, then actually became a bit worried when she saw the sudden change in Mineta. She wasn't the only one to turn and look at him with concern.

"I thought she just gave you a bunch of chores?" Shoji asked in confusion.

"Well, that's all we saw. Maybe after she ran out of chores she got him to do something else. Either that or the chores got really intense somehow, kero."

Mineta himself had paled when he saw the look on his other self's face. "Okay, I don't know what happened, and I don't want to know. I am so getting a different internship now!"

Kaminari gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure we can find something less...whatever that internship was for you."

"I would argue he's right though, women are secretly demons." Jirou said with a wicked smirk. Ashido matched it.

"Oh totally! Everyone should beware our power."

Momo giggled, while others either joined her or looked unsure over how serious the girls were being.

Kaminari did what he could to snap Mineta out of it while saying that he'd been treated pretty well at his internship. Then he pointed out that the students who went through the most during internships were Iida, Todoroki and Midoriya (who were all standing together). Sero said 'oh yeah, the hero killer!'.

"I thought they weren't gonna get credit for that..." Sato trailed off in confusion.

"They didn't I'm sure, but even being associated with something that high profile for internships is gonna draw attention" Ojiro pointed out.

"Oh man, can you imagine what would have happened if they did get credit?" Kaminari asked.

"We'd probably mob them for details once the class got together." Sero said.

The class turned their attention to the trio, saying how worried they all were and that they'd heard Endeavor had saved them. Todoroki thought back to what the police chief had said, and agreed that Endeavor saved them. Only Iida and Midoriya seemed to notice his reluctance.

Hagakure grimaced. No one could see it of course, but they could sort of hear it in her voice. "Sorry Todoroki, the other me doesn't know..."

"I know. It's okay." Todoroki was still annoyed that they had to hide their involvement and give undue credit to Endeavor, but it wouldn't make sense to put that on someone who didn't even know about about any of that.

"I still think they should have found a way for you guys to get a little credit."

Nedzu mulled that over. If such things did still find a way of happening in the future, would it be better to spin things so the students could get some credit, or would it be smarter to hide it to avoid making the students bigger targets than they already were? Would such a thing even make a difference to the villains they were most worried about? He'd have to give it some more thought.

Ojiro brought up the media connecting the hero killer and the League and shuddered at the thought of Stain showing up at the USJ.

Ojiro shuddered in real life as well, and he wasn't the only one. They knew now, of course, that Stain wasn't connected to the League and would never have shown up to such an event. The idea of it happening was still terrifying though.

Kaminari admitted the hero killer was scary, but then started going on about the video that was posted of him. Kaminari said that his tenacity and such also made him cool.

Kirishima raised an eyebrow while Sero gave Kaminari a side eyed look. "Seriously dude? Right in front of Iida?"

"Yeah, learn to think before you speak." Jirou scolded.

"I know I know! I'm watching it and it hurts and I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" Kaminari ducked his head in shame.

Iida himself only sighed though. "It's alright. We've all talked about how Stain does have some points, despite his overly violent actions. I'm sure you didn't mean anything against my brother."

While Kaminari fell over himself thanking Iida for his understanding, the teachers gave each other wary and knowing looks. This was blatant evidence of how Stain's rhetoric could spread now that he'd been arrested and the media could talk about him in more detail.

The on screen Kaminari also realized his mistake after Midoriya spoke up. The on screen Iida also said it was alright. Iida gave a small speech about how he understood how people could admire Stain's tenacity, but that choosing to purge people as a result of his beliefs was definitely wrong. But that just made him even more determined to be a hero and keep others from falling for the same trap he did.

Todoroki nodded. "It's good to figure out where your starting line really is. You'll be able to move forward better now."

"That is an excellent way of putting it Todoroki! I will keep that metaphor in mind!" Iida promised. Izuku and Uraraka smiled, happy for them both.

He then started energetically directing the class like usual. Not everyone was happy about this. Midoriya smiled though, remembering the promise Iida made to himself in the hospital, and thought about how cool Iida was.

"To have someone as impressive as you look up to me, despite the mistakes made so recently, is truly an honor Midoriya." Iida bowed to him and Midoriya was quick to brush it off.

"Oh come on, I'm not that special. What's really cool is your comeback after you went through so much with your brother and everything."

"We are happy for you too, even if I do wish you'd be a bit quieter in the process." Tokoyami admitted. The other students were quick to agree, even the ones that had spoken against it on screen. The more relaxed class atmosphere was nice, but they didn't want it at the expense of Iida continuing to be down in the dumps.

The scene switched to later in the day, at hero basic training. It was being held in a large industrial looking area, and being lead by All Might once again. He explained they were going to be doing a 'rescue training race'. Iida asked why there weren't at the USJ if this was rescue training. All Might said that was for disaster training, but this was a race!

"I suppose the USJ, despite it's multitude of environments, doesn't have the space needed for a race. I mean, you could do it if you went through different areas, but hardly anywhere is going to have that many different landscapes so close to each other." Izuku said. Momo nodded along.

"True. I can also see how learning to move through a cramped industrial area like this one, quickly and efficiently, would be a very useful skill to have for both battles and rescue missions."

All Might explained that the class would split up into 4 groups and each group would go through one at a time. All Might would set off a 'distress signal' somewhere inside the industrial area, and each person would have to make their way there from outside. Damage to buildings should be avoided of course. As he said this, All Might ended up pointing at Bakugo. Which everyone noticed and Bakugo was very annoyed by.

"Oh man, All Might is calling Bakugo out!" Ashido laughed.

"It makes sense does it not? Were these factories real, damage or explosions could cause a much more 'dazzling' affect than Bakugo meant for." Aoyama pointed out.

Bakugo wanted to snap at those laughing, but these two comments made him think. The first about his talk with All Might, and the second of the criticism he received during their first hero training. As much as he hated to admit it, Sparkles had a point about the factories. It would be dumb not to learn from his first training and not treat the factories as more 'real' than he did the building or fake bomb. This would also be the first thing he'd see himself competing for something since All Might gave him that talk about losing.

Deku had improved his battle skills so much over his internship, while it looked like Bakugo had done nothing of the sort. It could be argued that he'd learned something about dealing with people during that internship, but it didn't look like he'd done well at that and it wouldn't help him with this race. As much as he'd tried to hone his explosions so he could fly through the air, he wasn't sure it would be enough to best Deku's new speed. Deku might get a better score than him here. Would...would that truly be okay? Was it really okay for him to not be number one in something like this? All Might had said it was, and he should be the biggest expert on hero stuff like this, but a part of his mind still rebelled against the idea.

All Might told the first group to get in place, and Izuku was shown at his starting point. It was shown that Ojiro, Iida, Sero, and Mina were also a part of the first group. The rest of the class gathered to watch their progress on a big screen. Some expressed concern for Iida not being fully recovered. Others said this group was all people with good mobility.

"Oh! Did you do that on purpose? It would make sense to have those who of similar mobility levels all be in one group for this, to make sure there aren't unfair advantages while scoring." Momo said.

"You mean like how wrestling has weight classes so one person can't just win by flopping onto their opponent or something?" Shoji asked.

"That would make sense. Martial arts tournaments do something similar." Ojiro said.

"I'm sure that was my intention, very good observation!" Yagi praised.

Momo commented that Midoriya would have a disadvantage, and others agreed with her, remembering how often he'd gotten hurt while using his quirk before.

"The minds of our future selves are about to be blown." Mineta predicted.

Izuku smiled, looking forward to seeing if he'd be able to keep up full cowl and how the improvement would be taken by those who hadn't seen how his training had gone.

Kirishima bet that Sero would be the one to win. Kaminari pointed out that Ojiro was also there, and Mineta bet that Ashido would win because of how athletic she was. Bakugo declared that Deku would be last.

"We can always count on Bakugo to be supportive." Jirou said sarcastically.

Hearing the exchange made Midoriya a bit nervous. He hadn't thought about how Kaachan specifically would react to Full Cowl. He hadn't really said anything while watching here, and Izuku wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign.

"Aw, thanks man." Sero smiled at Kirishima.

"Heh, I'm sure I'll try my best." Ojiro replied to Kaminari's vote confidence.

"Oh, thanks Mineta!" Ashido said, quickly hiding her surprise. She figured he only picked up on her athleticism due to how much he stared at the girls, but it was still a nice, non skeevy compliment.

Uraraka thought Iida would win despite his injuries. Tsuyu nodded in agreement.

"Your confidence in me is appreciated!" Iida said with an air chop.

All Might pressed a button and yelled 'start!'. Sero launched himself into the air with his tape. Ashido used her acid to slide along a pipe. Ojiro was shown using his tail to make big leaps and Iida sped along the ground with his engines. Kirishima watched in excitement, happy that Sero was first like he'd predicted, saying that it was natural to go up to navigate such an area. Shoji pointed out that this gave Sero a natural advantage. Koda looked worried.

"Are you quite alright?" Tokoyami asked upon seeing Koda's on screen nervousness.

"Well I...um...he's probably scared about someone falling and getting hurt...and about having to find a way to do that without falling himself..."

Tokoyami nodded. "A perfectly reasonable fear, though I'm sure you will do well. Animals always know the best ways to get around I'm told."

"Oh, oh yes, you're right. I'm sure some of them will have good advice." Koda said, calming down a bit.

Then Midoriya came rocketing onto the scene. With full cowl, he was easily able to leap from one landing to the next. Izuku thought about how perfect this exercise was to show of the training he'd just done, while All Might and some other students were shown gaping at the screen.

"Huh? I didn't expect All Might to be surprised too. I figured part of the reason he chose this race was because of what Midoriya could do now, as a way for him to show it off a bit, you know?" Uraraka said. Yagi coughed into his hand, thankfully without any blood.

"Well, I'd certainly hope I wouldn't show such blatant favoritism, but I'm sure that could be part of it. As for my surprise, I imagine there's quite a difference between getting a report from Gran Torino and seeing his progress with my own eyes."

Todoroki recognized Midoriya's moves from somewhere, and so did Uraraka. Bakugo made the connection that the way Izuku was moving looked very similar to how Bakugo himself moved. Bakugo cursed that he'd spent so much time doing useless things at his internship while Deku made strides forward once again.

Izuku ducked down a bit. He wasn't sure if he should be proud that Bakugo recognized the moves and admitted, if only to himself, that Izuku had made good progress, or be scared about how angry Bakugo seemed about it.

Bakugo caught the movement. It made him feel...he wasn't sure how to describe it but he didn't like it. It felt a bit like he'd eaten something that was just about to go bad. 'I remember this coming up before, him using my moves. First at the USJ, then during his internship. He learned from them, just like he did with Kamui Woods for taking on the slime villain, and others since then. I don't think he's shown off moves from other people in the class either, at least not as much. I always thought he was mocking me somehow, but he wouldn't use them if he was actually making fun of them would he?'

Izuku was shown overtaking other members of his group while they looked on in shock. Izuku didn't pay attention to them though, he put his thoughts toward maintaining full cowl instead. He urged himself to stay alert and calm like Gran said, but that faltered when his foot slipped. A moment later, Sero was shown receiving the 'first place' banner while Ashido and Ojiro bemoaned the loss and Iida fretted over a face planted Midoriya.

"Are you okay?" Uraraka asked, looking him over for any signs of pain.

"I think so." Izuku said, evaluating the pain radiating from his face and a few other parts of his body. "Definitely don't feel like I broke anything; I'm mainly just sore. I must have had a hard landing when I fell from the pipe."

"Unfortunate, but it certainly could have been worse." Iida said.

"Well, at least now you know what to focus on for training once you get full cowl down better." Uraraka said. Izuku chuckled.

"Yeah, practicing finding good footing will be put high on the list."

Bakugo listened to that, and All Might's words about failure helping you find ways to improve came to his mind. 'Is it possible that part of the reason Deku is improving like this is because he failed so much? Then used that to do better next time?' it went against everything he grew up being told, but it did fit in with what All Might had told him.

All Might told them that Sero was the winner for the round, but that he could tell that all of them were better at using their quirks than they had been at the start of the year. He urged them to keep at it and prepare for their final exams.

Those All Might had spoken about on screen beamed with pride at the praise. All except Izuku, who was a bit distracted by his pain, and still disappointed in himself for not doing better the first time he got to show off full cowl.

All Might called the next group to get ready. While they did, All Might went over to Midoriya. He told the boy how surprised he'd been, hardly believing his own eyes. He gave Midoriya a subtle 'thumbs up' and told Midoriya to meet him after class. He said it was time Midoriya knew the whole story behind One for All.

"Yes! We'll finally find out what's been going on." Hagakure said. "I almost want to skip the rest of the race and go straight to that."

A murmur of agreement went through the students. Izuku caught All Might's eye, trying to ask from a distance if he was okay. He thought All Might looked a bit more grim than usual, but he still smiled and nodded. 'Maybe I'll join him once the episode gets to that. I don't want him to feel alone.' Izuku thought.

The scene changed to after class. The boys were shown in the locker rooms, changing from their hero outfits back into their school uniforms.

"Or we could stay here a little longer, that's fine too." Hagakure changed her tune quickly as she eyed a few shirtless guys.

Iida immediately stood up and started chopping his hands through the air while saying "Seeing into the locker rooms while all classmates are here is highly inappropriate!" This grabbed everyone's attention, so the show stopped. "That being said, I know we must watch to continue forward but I believe we should think of way to make this less intrusive."

"Um, yeah, can I ask what the rule is here?" Mineta asked tentatively.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I get the feeling that if I said something like what Hagakure just said while the screen showed the girls locker room, the girls would get mad at me, and maybe some of the boys. But no one seemed mad about what Hagakure said about looking at the boys. So is there a different rule for that?"

Mineta's question made people think, and caused some to realize that there were several boys who looked very uncomfortable about the idea of the locker room being shown off.

"Well, I mean, it's not like any of the boys have been shown in just their underpants or anything..." Hagakure argued weakly.

"Still, we may see more skin than some are willing to show off normally, which isn't okay just because they are boys. That would be a double standard." Momo pointed out. Hagakure sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right None of us should be looking so close when no one on screen agreed to it. But what can we do about it?"

"We could follow Koda's example." Shoji suggested. People turned to see that Koda's hands were partially covering his eyes, but he was still watching everything. It was something he sometimes did when training fights got too intense.

"It is not a perfect solution, but it may be the best one we have for continuing. Does everyone agree to do so?" Iida asked. Students nodded and voiced their agreement.

"I'm glad you could all come up with something on your own." Aizawa said. "We'll do that too. Except for me, because I'm going to be watching the rest of you to make sure no one puts their hands down too early." The look he gave them said their would be consequences for anyone who peeped more than they had to during this scene, and everyone immediately put their hands up over their faces.

"Nice work class president." Uraraka praised as Iida sat down.

The boys talked about how the class went and what things they could improve on. Midoriya was shown thinking about what All Might said to him, but his thoughts were interrupted by Mineta. Mineta told him he'd just found a hidden peephole into the girls locker room, and he caught everyone's attention as he spoke more loudly.

"Speaking of peeping..." Jirou grumbled. She sent a glare towards Mineta, though having her hands partially over her eyes ruined some of the affect. It still had enough strength to make Mineta squirm though.

"I promise not to do that for real! And, and we know where it is now, so you guys can cover it on your side so it can't be used."

"And we'll cover it on our side too." Todoroki promised.

"Yes right, with something more than a poster, I mean." Mineta was quick to agree.

"We'll definitely cover it." Momo said.

"And we'll grill Midoriya to make sure it gets covered on your side too." Ashido said.

"Why me?" Midoriya asked, bewildered. "Come to think of it, why did you tell me first Mineta?"

Mineta shrugged. "You were probably just the closest person that I was on good terms with."

Some of the boys just stared at Mineta, while Iida immediately began to scold him for his criminal conduct. Mineta ignored him and started to look through.

"At least one of the boys is willing to speak up." Jirou grumbled.

"You're right, the rest of us should have done something too. It isn't fair to leave that sort of thing all to Iida just because he's the class president." Izuku agreed.

"We must all do better in the future!" Iida declared.

Many of the boys suddenly looked uncomfortable, and started giving quiet apologies.

"Heh, am I getting official permission to explode Balls for Brains if he gets annoying like that? Because I'm good with that." Bakugo smirked and looked at Mineta. The small boy flinched at the gaze.

'Now I'm definitely not doing it ever again!'

"How about we all agree to keep each other in line about his sorta thing?" Kirishima proposed.

A quick agreement was made among the boys, and the girls did one in solidarity. By then, everyone was feeling able to continue.

Mineta started going on a weird rant about all the things he wanted to see, only to be cut off when something stuck into his eye.

"Augh! OW! My eye!" Mineta cried, hand clutching his face. Kaminari put a hand around his shoulder to steady him.

"Huh, guess someone beat me to the punch this time, kero."

"I'm not sorry." Jirou said, recognizing her own quirk at play. "...okay, I'm sorry about your pain right now Mineta, since you didn't do anything yet, but I'm not sorry for my other self's choice."

Izuku recognized it as Jriou's earphone jack, and gave a quick explanation about why it was so effective.

Uraraka laughed. "You really can fanboy anywhere, huh Deku? And what's up with freaking out when he gets hit but not when he's gonna be peeping on us?" She gave him a look of mock sternness. Izuku smiled awkwardly.

"Maybe I figured I could pull him away quick if he actually saw something. I probably didn't expect him to start screaming so much though."

The girls locker room was then shown, the girls also in various states of undress. They thanked Jirou for what she did. Jirou herself looked disgruntled over the fact that she was the only girl that Mineta hadn't mentioned in his little rant.

Ashido gave her a side-eyed look "Did you really want to be talked about like that?"

"Of course not!" Jirou denied. More quietly she said "Just...didn't like the implications of it..." It wouldn't be the first time someone had said or implied she wasn't pretty, that she was too boyish. It shouldn't bother her, and most of the time it didn't. Someone who didn't like the way she naturally was wasn't someone she wanted to bother with, and she knew she had plenty of people in her life who did like her the way she was. But, for some reason, the implication still hurt sometimes.

Momo brushed her shoulder against Jirou's, and she leaned into it. She also happened to catch Kaminari's eye as she adjusted her position. He smiled and gave her a small wave. She returned it.

The scene changed to the end of the school day, with people shown heading home. Izuku was shown knocking on the door for where All Might said to meat him. All Might looked grave as Izuku walked inside, and he picked up on the tense atmosphere right away.

There had been sighs of relief when the time of day changed and people could put their hands down. That relief went away pretty quickly when they saw the expression on All Might's face. Just what kind of story was this going to be?

After giving a quick explanation to his friends, Midoriya went and sat down next to All Might. He smiled at Midoriya gratefully.

All Might invited Midoriya to sit down, then apologized for not being near enough to help him when he went through so much recently. Midoriya was quick to say that wasn't something that he needed to apologize for.

Midoriya said this in real life as well, at almost the same time as his counterpart. Yagi refuted him. "I know I can't be everywhere and do everything, but I should still be able to keep such dangerous matters from falling on your shoulders when you should be focusing on yourself and your studies. That's what a mentor is supposed to do, and I'm going to try being better at it." 'Nana's death prevented her from being there for me, from protecting me when I was still young. Gran Torino did his best in her place, but I want to make sure young Midoriya does not feel so alone in this position and power.'

Midoriya asked what All Might meant when he said he wanted to talk about OfA. All Might said he heard that the hero killer got a taste of Midoriya's blood, which prompted Midoriya to explain Stain's quirk. Midoriya asked why that was important, and All Might asked if the boy remembered what was said when he was given OfA. Midoriya said 'Eat this' while doing an impressive impression of All Might's face and voice.

If anyone had been drinking anything during that last bit, a spit take definitely would have happened. As it was, more than one person choked on their own spit at the sudden absurdity of the scene.

"Oh, oh my gosh, that is not a voice that should come out of him at this age!" Sato laughed.

"Dude, how are you even doing that with your face?" Kirishima demanded "Are you sure you don't have a quirk? Because there has to be some kind of shape-shifting involved in that!"

"There's not, I just practiced a bunch in the mirror!" Izuku insisted.

"You see what you can do when you apply yourselves?" Mic asked with a highly amused smirk.

"I feel like it shouldn't work like that..." Kirishima trailed off. Bakugo shrugged.

"Nerd can pull off some shit when he sets his mind to it."

All Might brushed the impression off and told him he meant that part about how Midoriya had needed to consume some part of All Might's DNA, no matter what it was. Midoriya began to freak out and asked if that meant Stain now had OfA. All Might assured him Stain didn't, he just meant to reassure Midoriya since he thought the boy might be worried about it. He reminded Midoriya that OfA can only be transferred if the holder wishes it.

"Thank goodness for that. Can you imagine how self righteous Stain would get if he somehow managed to get a hold of All Might's quirk?" Uraraka joked.

Kaminari made a show of shuddering. "I know right? His conviction was already turned up to eleven, he'd be unstoppable if you upped it anymore."

"Hmmm, One for All is a very curious quirk, to be able to tell when its holder does or does not wish to transfer it. It makes one wonder just how conscious such a quirk is." Nedzu mused quietly.

All Might went on to say that OfA couldn't be stolen, but it could be transferred by force. Like one accepting a gift out of obligation.

"So, it can't be taken from me against my will, but I could force it onto someone else against their will?" Izuku asked.

"That is what I was getting at, yes." Yagi nodded.

"But why would you ever want to do that?"

"Obviously it wouldn't happen under normal circumstances. But, in extreme circumstances it may be the only option for keeping One for All alive."

"Oh...you mean like if the holder was about to die and you didn't have a chosen person to pass it on to yet or the person you wanted to pass it to wasn't going to get to you in time?"

"Yes. Like I said, very extreme circumstances, which we will do our best to avoid."

Izuku nodded at All Might's grave tone. He didn't like the idea of forcing a quirk on anyone, but he knew it was important information for him to have if the worst case scenario came to be.

All Might said that OfA came from a quirk that existed in the past, one called All for One. AfO could steal quirks, to either be used by the holder of AfO or given to others.

Around the room, people shifted uncomfortably, or gave each other wary looks. Though they had been introduced to the idea of someone with the power to give and take quirks a few episodes ago now, no one felt good about the idea of such a power. Especially if that power was in the hands of villains, as was being implied.

Izuku put together that the name referred to one person having it 'all'. All Might explained that this quirk showed up a long time ago, when quirks first started appearing and society had yet to adapt to them. With the appearance of quirks, the ideas of what made someone 'normal' began to fall apart. Laws lost their meaning, and civilization ground to a halt. As All Might spoke, images of the past came on screen, with people protesting against those with quirks, and demanding they be kept away from and segregated from the normal humans.

Everyone had heard about this time period in their history classes and text books before. However, something about the way these images were show, combined with All Might's narration, made it seem more real than any class lecture had managed to do.

"I'm glad I was born in this time period." Tsuyu said. "It must have been even harder for those with mutant quirks back then, kero."

"That's true." Todoroki acknowledged. He ran a hand through his hair, and wondered if he would have dyed it to avoid any suspicion if he'd been born back then. Assuming he would have come into existence at all. Quirk marriages didn't really start up until quirks became more accepted, from what he could recall.

'There was a time when Deku would have been part of the majority, and I would have been the one people wanted gone.' Bakugo thought. It wasn't the first time he'd thought it, the idea had occurred to him when they went over it in history. But back then it seemed so ridiculous that he dismissed it as old timey people being backwards cowards. But now, after seeing how he scared those kids on the street, the idea didn't seem quite as far fetched as it had before.

Izuku quoted someone that said that if quirks hadn't shown up, then by now humans would be advanced enough to go on interstellar holidays. All Might agreed, and explained that, during that dark time period, there was someone who tried to unify people. He stole quirks from people, to bolster his own power and spread his influence.

"It's kind of ironic when you think about it." Momo said suddenly.

"What is?" Todoroki asked.

"Well, since quirks were so biased against back then, I bet some people were actually happy to have their quirk stolen. It might have meant they would be accepted by certain family or friends again. Maybe some even asked him to take them."

"That would make sense." After all, there had been a couple of times when Todoroki himself had made a desperate wish to have a different quirk, or none at all, if it meant his father wouldn't be so obsessed with his training. With an entire society baring down on them, he could see how people like that could have felt the same.

This man used his power to manipulate people and commit cruel acts. In no time at all, he became the leader of evildoers and ruled over Japan. Midoriya admitted that he saw plenty of rumors about that online, but he'd thought rumors was all they were, since textbooks made no mention of him. All Might pointed out that they can't put secret dealings in a textbook.

"Not gonna lie, if it wasn't All Might saying it, I'd say it was a crazy conspiracy too." Mineta admitted. "I mean, it just really sounds like one doesn't it? Shadow governments and secret evil big bad guys controlling everything sounds like something out of a movie."

"At times, reality truly is stranger than fiction." Nedzu pointed out. "It's also important to remember that just because something isn't in textbooks, doesn't mean it didn't happen. After all, history is written by the victors, and they are prone to skipping or glossing over information that may be inconvenient for them if it were widely known."

All Might said that if people get powers, they look for places to use them. Midoriya asked how this related back to OfA. All Might explained that AfO's ability to give quirks could also be used to make others trust him, or surrender to him.

"But we just went over how much people hated quirks back then. Why would giving a quirk make someone trust him?" Ashido asked.

"Well, even if there was a major bias against quirks, there were probably still people who were attracted to that kind of power. Especially if it was something that most people didn't have." Mic pointed out. "I mean, having a strong quirk can allow you to bully others for things even now. If only a small number of people had quirks, that kind of thing could become even easier. Like, if most people were quirkless, whose going to want to say 'no' to a person capable of melting their face off with acid?"

"Okay, good point." Ashido nodded in understanding. "Then, for making people surrender, if someone was no longer accepted by their friends or family or anything once they had a quirk, then the person might not have any choice but to side with All for One, huh?"

"Bingo."

But there were many who were given quirks who could not bear the burden of them, and they became like living dolls. Just like the Nomus. Meanwhile, there were quirks that changed or mixed once they were passed on. All for One had a quirkless younger brother, who was small and sickly, but still had a strong sense of justice. The younger brother hated the actions his older brother was taking, and tried to resist him, so the older forced a quirk onto him, one that could stock power. At this point, it was impossible to know if it was an attempt at kindness, or meant of make the younger submit.

"You mean there was a chance the older brother gave him that quirk so that he could build up strength? So he wouldn't be so small and weak?" Bakugo asked. Yagi nodded.

"It is a possibility. It is also possible that the older, All for One, was trying to force his brother to see his own point of view, by making him quirked rather than quirkless. Perhaps it was even meant to do both."

Something clicked for Midoriya, and All Might confirmed what he was thinking. The younger brother had been thought to be quirkless, but that wasn't quite true. It turned out he had a previously useless quirk that could allow him to pass on quirks and that mixed with the stock pilling quirk. That was how One for All came to be!

"So, the biggest, baddest villain of all time accidentally made one of the strongest quirks ever? And that quirk ended up getting used for heroics?" Shoji asked.

"That All for One guy must have been kicking himself for that later." Sato said. Yagi let out a short, humorless laugh.

"You could say that."

All Might said it was ironic, how justice always comes from evil.

"Well said." Tokoyami nodded. "The darkest shadows are always accompanied by the brightest light."

"What? That doesn't make sense! How can all justice come from evil?" Hagakure asked.

"It is the nature of justice. After all, if all things are well and good in the world, then what need is there for justice? Enforcing justice only becomes necessary when something unjust has happened after all."

"Huh...never thought about it that way..."

Midoriya said he understood the origins of the quirk now, but not why a villain from so long ago was important today. All Might said that, for someone who can steal quirks, they can do just about anything. He probably stole a quirk that stopped aging, or something similar, so the Symbol of Evil was pretty much immortal.

"W-wait...that means, that villain that ruled all of Japan and can steal quirks is still alive?!" Mineta asked in fright. "When you guys talked about someone capable of doing that before, I was thinking that it was that guys grandkid or something!"

"It would be nice if that were the case, then at least there would be some transfers of power to make him more vulnerable now and then, but no. It's just been him this whole time." Yagi said.

With All for One being so powerful, the younger brother, the first One for All holder, was defeated and had to entrust his quirk to future generations. He hoped that one day, with enough time to cultivate the power, OfA would eventually be strong enough to defeat AfO. And when it was All Might's turn, he finally fulfilled that hope! At least that's what he'd thought, but it turned out he actually survived. He knew this because AfO started moving again, this time as the man behind the League of Villains.

Ojiro let out a nervous laugh. "Wow...we really had no idea what we were getting involved in when the League attacked the USJ, huh?"

"If I have anything to say about it, that will be the end of any of you being involved with the League." All Might said firmly. "Shigaraki has made it clear that he's fixated on Midoriya after the USJ, which was likely inevitable since he is the current holder of One for All, but I don't want it to fall entirely on him either. I hope to use the knowledge we gain here to keep any of you from becoming more involved than necessary. This is my unfinished fight, and I don't want to force anyone so young to finish my mess for me."

"Just because we're young doesn't mean we're too weak to help!" Bakugo argued.

"That's not what I'm saying, young Bakugo. I have no doubts about the strength of you and the others after seeing all of this. But this is not your fight, it is mine. If remnants of this organization still remain even after you graduate, then you can join the fight if you want, but it should be taken care of by me as much as possible until then. It's the legacy I agreed to, after all."

"I agree that the students shouldn't bear that responsibility." Aizawa said. "But after all this, I certainly hope you trust us, and other pro heroes, to help you put an end to this."

"Yes, I know I must. I thought it was over before, when I did it on my own. But look how that's turned out! I know I'll have to get help this time if I hope to end this once and for all." Yagi let out a breath. "Perhaps the League's formation is even a sign. After coming so close to defeat, All for One has officially rallied others around himself to continue making a stand. Perhaps it is time I myself do the same, maybe even past time."

OfA was essentially made to defeat AfO. That meant that Midoriya may one day have to fight against this great evil. All Might started to say it was harsh of him to ask Midoriya, but the boy cut him off, saying that he'd do his best. He'd do whatever All Might asked of him. He felt that if All Might stood with him, he could do anything.

"That's exactly what I expected him to say. Just like when he first offered the quirk." Aizawa sighed. He glanced over at the student teacher pair, and wondered why they still looked so grim. Usually a declaration like that would signal the start of the water works.

On screen, All Might didn't look happy about the declaration. He looked sad, and urged himself to tell Midoriya something. He told Midoriya that wasn't it, but couldn't make himself say the rest, and just thanked the boy. As Midoriya walked away, he was able to admit to himself that by the time Midoriya got to that point, he likely wouldn't be able to stand by him.

"I told you before, when you first told me, that even if it gets to the point where I have all of One for All, that just having you in my life will count as standing beside me. We'll still be standing together, as long as I have your support." Midoriya said firmly. Yagi smiled the same sad smile as he had on screen.

"I know, my boy, and that bolsters my heart more than you know. I'll do everything I can to be there for you." 'But what will you do if I turn out like my Master, and am forced to leave?'

The scene changed back to day time. It was during class, and Aizawa was reminding them that summer vacation would be coming up. Aizawa announced that there would be a training camp in the woods during the summer break, much to everyone's excitement.

Those watching were excited too, though their own celebrating ended up being toned down by the heavy atmosphere from the big reveal still lingering.

Students talked excitedly about festive things to be done, Mineta being very into the idea of baths, while others thought about how a different environment would affect training opportunities. Aizawa cut off both sides by saying that anyone who failed the final would be in summer school instead.

Aoyama sighed. "There is always a catch it would seem. I suppose UA didn't get its sparkling bright reputation for nothing."

Izuku mused over how, despite how mind blowing what All Might said was, their daily lives continued none the less. What he needed to do hadn't changed...though it suddenly occurred to him that All Might had avoided saying what he himself would do.

Midoriya looked at All Might with both worry and curiosity, and the man smiled back at him. "Don't let my own worries trouble you, my boy. I'm sure I'm just dealing with my own worries about the future. Plus, my other self is still getting used to the idea that his greatest enemy is back." 'Midoriya doesn't need to know what Sir predicted about me. Knowing won't make it easier for him.'

In a tall building elsewhere in the city, a deep voice mused over Stain. He didn't expect Stain to be captured, but he figured things were progressing well anyway.

"Who the heck is this?" Bakugo voiced the question everyone was thinking.

"I recognize his voice. That is All for One." All Might said.

If people hadn't been paying attention before, they certainly were now. They had heard the man speak before through the TV to Shigaraki, but this was the first time they would see him in person. Plus, it was hard to look away, now that they knew he was a literal living legend.

An image of Shigaraki appeared on a screen. AfO said that those who wanted to go wild would sympathize with him, and seek out the League of Villains to fulfill that urge. Which would put Shigaraki in a position to unify them.

"Hm, it would seem that, while Shigaraki had no intention of using the Nomu to associate himself with Stain, All for One had other plans. If that was the goal all along, that was a very well executed plan." Nedzu said.

Another voice said things would move faster if 'Master' would show himself as well. AfO said that the Doctor should hurry up with healing him then. The Doctor bemoaned the fact that they hadn't found super regeneration years ago. The quirk became useless after his initial wounds were healed after all.

"So the biggest baddest villain around now has a quirk called super regeneration. Fantastic." Mic groaned.

"At least he didn't find it earlier. Having the man out of commission for any length of time is a good thing." Aizawa said. 'Though I can't help but wonder what happened to the person that used to have that quirk. Does All for One leave people alive after taking their quirks?'

The Doctor wondered if a child like Shigaraki could really lead the League well. Master said it would be fine, he'd have Shigaraki work hard to become the next 'me'. He was born with the twisted mind needed for it. The camera showed that AfO was missing eyes, his upper face just a mass of scar tissue. AfO said "Celebrate while you can, All Might, celebrate this farce of a temporary peace."

It was silent for a minute after the episode ended, the threat hanging in the air like a sudden fog.

"Well, I'd imagine that this All for One could have no idea we are seeing the future like this, so there is at least one way we'll take him off guard." Nedzu said.

"Does it really help? I mean, he can have pretty much any quirk! How can we know he doesn't know? Can't he do anything?" Mineta asked fearfully.

"While All for One is indeed powerful, it is important to remember that he is still human." All Might instructed. "He has a great amount of potential due to his numerous quirks, which is why it's taken so long to get him even this low. However, he can't be everywhere and do everything. He is still only one man, and can't actively use every quirk he has available to him all of the time."

"That's a good point!" Midoriya spoke up, eager to relieve his classmate's fears as well as support his mentor. "He seemed surprised to hear about me from Shigaraki, so that means he likely didn't know that All Might had found a successor, or at least not who it was. So that proves he doesn't know everything."

"Plus, while All Might did get badly hurt from fighting him, this confirms that All for One did as well." Aizawa said. People shivered a bit at how All for One's head had looked. "All for One may be powerful, but we have insight into him now that we never did before. One way or another, we'll find a way to beat him."

Mic smiled. "In other words, do not fear!"

"Because we are here!" All Might finished with a smile.


Though people were still nervous, the inspiring words had dissipated the fog enough for the room's atmosphere to relax a bit.

"Guys, I just realized something." Kaminari said.

"What?" Sero asked.

"I was more right than I realized when I said Shigaraki was a dark version of Midoriya. Midoriya is the successor to the biggest good, and Shigaraki is gonna be successor to the biggest bad!"

"...well shit."

"I know right?!"


"So, what All for One said about Shigaraki Tomura becoming 'another me'. Do you have any insight into what that means?" Nedzu asked.

"I'm uncertain." All Might admitted. "He could just mean he wants to turn Shigaraki into a version of himself by twisting his mind and morals. Or it could mean he plans to pass All for One itself on somehow. It was never something I considered before, but it is possible given One for All's own origins. I never thought he'd be willing to give up that kind of power though."

"Yeah, it seems like a weird choice to make for someone who has stayed in power that long. Even with him being as injured as we saw, he seems to have mostly kept his place among the villains." Mic agreed.

"Then perhaps some part of his overall plan requires someone else to take on his quirk for a while. Or it could be something we haven't even considered." Aizawa pointed out. "Even with seeing the future like this, there's still so much we don't know about Shigaraki and where he comes from, and why All for One chose him. Not to mention what he ultimately plans to do with the Nomu. I know Shigaraki mainly wants to kill All Might. But I feel like someone like All for One would have goals with a wider scope."

"In that case, I suppose the only real option we have right now is to just keep watching, and hope Truth lets it go far enough so that we can find out just what his plans are. Can't derail them if we don't know what the real goal is after all." Recovery Girl said.

"Unfortunately, I wouldn't put it past All for One to have back up plans, and back ups for those back ups. He's a very experienced and intelligent man after all, and he's had plenty of time to plan." All Might said, his shoulders hunching with sudden weariness.

"Well, then we'll just have to work on our own adaptability I suppose." Nedzu said brightly. "Like you said, he is still human. A very long lived and powerful one, but human none-the-less. And I do so enjoy finding and exploiting human vulnerabilities when I have the chance."

Normally this would have disturbed the other teachers, but right now it served as a comforting reminder that the villains weren't the only one with scary people on their side.


A.N.

Thanks for reading everyone! I'm gonna take another break now that this arc is done. Not sure how long I'll be gone, but I'm aiming for shorter than the last break at least. Thank you all for your patience!