Welp, here we are once more with another chapter of Hero! Here we shall deal with some consequences of the USJ incident, from all sides. This story has rapidly become one of my most popular, but I'm mostly blaming that on the vaguely consistent update schedule. Dunno where it came from, but at this point I'm not going to ask in case it goes away.

Putting a rather important WARNING WARNING here because there WILL BE SOME VERY UNPLEASANT IMAGERY LATER ON. I should not be as good at writing nightmares as I am. But Kytheon has been through a lot, and seen horrific things, so of course his nightmares are going to be vivid. If you do not wish to read his nightmare, the bolded and Italicized text is the block where it happens, so feel free to skip over that part to the next of my usual ## break lines. And if you're sick and twisted like I am, well, enjoy.

Anyways, I don't really have much else to say about anything, so let's get to why you are actually here!

######################################

In a dimly lit bar in the bottom of a building, all was still and silent. That is, up until a portal formed, depositing a heavily bleeding and heavily breathing Shigaraki onto the floor.

"Ouch…. Shot in both arms and both legs… Entirely lost… even Nomu got beaten! All of our underlings were beaten in no time at all… And the kids were incredibly strong… The Symbol of Peace was healthy… And that damn glowing brat wouldn't stay down! You were wrong, Master!"

"No, I wasn't. We were just not prepared enough." A voice rang out from the television on the counter. It spoke with an aura of authority, clearly establishing immediately who was in charge. Another voice spoke up.

"Yes, we underestimated them. It's good that we did it under that cheap 'League of Villains' name. By the way, what about Master and my joint creation, Nomu?"

The first voice spoke again. "He was not retrieved?"

Kurogiri's eyes narrowed. "He was blown away."

"WHAT?!" The second voice exclaimed. Kurogiri continued his report.

"More precisely, without coordinates to his precise location, I could not find him, even with my warp. I did not have time for that."

"After all we did to make him as powerful as All-Might!" The second voice raged, only to be immediately followed by the much calmer first voice.

"Well, I suppose it cannot be helped. That's unfortunate."

Shigaraki slowly tried to push himself upright. "Then there was that golden boy, Kytheon Iora… The one who brought us the schedule also brought him to our attention as a potential danger."

Kurogiri nodded, as there was a questioning hum from behind the screen.

"He almost seemed to have multiple quirks… He had these chains that negated my quirk when he caught me in them… he also seemed to be making All-Might glow at one point, allowing him to overtake the Nomu by a slight margin… And then there was his seeming invincibility… This teenager took several hits from Nomu, and didn't have a single bruise or even a broken nose! Nomu, who could make even All-Might bleed, couldn't even scratch this boy!" Shigaraki ranted, slowly getting more and more worked up until Kurogiri laid a hand on his shoulder. There was silence on the other end of the television screen.

"I see... " The first voice spoke. "He will certainly pose a threat to our plans later if we allow it. Keep an eye out on him, and find as much about him as you can. Someone like that is bound to be unable to stay beneath the radar. Is there anything else?"

"There was… one more… While Kytheon was tougher than All-Might and aggravatingly versatile, there was a kid that was as fast as All-Might."

"Oh?"

"Had he not intervened… there was a good chance that we might have been able to kill All-Might. That damn brat… Both of them! Both of them are god-damn brats!"

"Of course you have regrets." The eerily calm voice of the first person spoke out over Shigaraki's growing distress. "But this was not a futile exercise. Gather the elite. Take all the time you need. We cannot move freely, which is why we need a symbol, like you. Tomura Shigaraki. Next time, show the world that you are to be feared!"

################################

Sirens were blaring outside of the USJ, as the villains were carted out of the building and the students that were unharmed gathered off to one side. A man in a beige coat and hat stood in front of the students with some papers.

"15, 16, 17, and 18. Other than the boy with both legs seriously injured and the unconscious teen, everyone else seems unharmed. Even the kid that was unconscious didn't have a single mark on his body."

All of the students seemed to devolve into their own conversations at that point. Tsuyu glanced over to see Toru and Momo coming over towards her.

"Say, do you know what happened with Kytheon?" Toru asked her. "I asked some of the other students, but they apparently either didn't see him, or saw him from really far away…"

Momo nodded. "And seeing as he is the only one aside from Midoriya that isn't here, we can assume he is the unconscious student they mentioned. I am pretty concerned with how our class rep is doing. I didn't think he could get hurt."

Tsuyu ribbited, before blinking. "Yeah, I was with Kytheon and Midoriya when we all got separated by the warp villain. We ended up in the shipwreck area. Kytheon almost died there."

"WHAT!?" The two girls exclaimed, Momo unable to keep the surprise off her face. Didn't he say he was practically invincible? How could he have almost died?

"We were dropped from really high above the water." Tsuyu continued with a finger on her chin. "With the weight of his armor, he sank like a stone into the really deep water. I had been closer to Midoriya, so I got him to the boat first before going back to get Kytheon… Some fish-like villain rammed him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him… He almost drowned but I got him out quickly enough."

The two others let out a heavy sigh. Momo nodded. "I suppose that would make sense. He's invincible, not immortal. But if that's the case, how did he end up unconscious?"

"Well…" Tsuyu began before telling the others about the hairbrained plan, Kytheon's ability boosting power, and him taking the brunt of the landing for the other two students, headfirst into the ground. "I kinda felt something was up by the way he swayed a little when he got up, but he insisted he was fine, so…"

Then she began describing everything up to and through All-Might's arrival, and Momo seemed to narrow her eyes in thought with each new twist and turn in the story, all the way up to the arrival of Todoroki, Bakugo, and Kirishima.

"That's when I got too far away and had to focus more on bringing Aizawa out of danger, and last I saw, he was conscious, I'm sorry."

"No, It's fine!" Toru said, resting her hand on Tsuyu's shoulder. "You must have been terrified for a decent part of that! I was nowhere near that level of danger, I was in the same zone as Todoroki! He's super strong!"

Momo rubbed her chin. "I wonder what could have happened to Kytheon then, to knock him unconscious, if he could even take blows from the thing you said was designed to kill All-Might…"

"Let's have the students return to their classroom for now." A voice interrupted their musings, the man in the beige coat returning once more. "We won't be questioning them right away, anyway, right?"

Tsuyu hopped forwards. "Detective… What about Mr. Aizawa?"

The detective pulled out a phone and dialed a number, and a doctor on the other side began speaking.

"Comminuted fractures in both arms and a facial fracture. Fortunately, there does not seem to be any serious brain damage. However, his orbital floor has broken into small pieces, and his eyes may suffer from its aftereffects."

"What about Thirteen?" Mina said, stepping forward as well with concern on her face.

"Thirteen has been treated. The laceration from the back to upper arm was bad, but Thirteen will survive." Everyone heaved a sigh of relief at the news as well. The detective decided to continue. "All-Might will also survive. Recovery Girl's healing is enough to treat him, so he's in the nurse's office."

"Deku!" "What about Midoriya?" Ochako and Tenya called out at the same time. The detective looked confused for a second.

"Midori? Oh, the treatment in the nurse's office is enough for him, too."

"What about Kytheon?" Toru asked, causing Ochako and Tenya to glance at her before their eyes widened when they remembered their friend was still not here. The detective blinked before looking down at the ground.

"Initial tests have led doctors to believe that he may have an Intracranial Hematoma. They are usually caused by extreme head trauma like a car crash or something similar. Fortunately, they are treating him immediately, and he should be out of surgery and recovering in the not too distant future."

Kirishima rubbed his chin. "He did take one heck of a blow at the end there before he passed out on us, so that makes sense…" when the other students looked at him with a questioning gaze, he explained further.

"He used himself as a distraction, aggravating the villains until they sent the Nomu at him, which allowed All-Might to blindside it and win the fight! He was so manly!"

Momo shook her head. "He's gonna get himself killed that way some day…" she muttered under her breath.

"Alright, everyone go back to your classroom."

"Right!"

#################################

(Hey, Nightmare begins now!)

Kytheon found himself in a location he never wanted to be again. He found himself standing in a circle of untouched ground, but surrounding him was a charred and blasted landscape. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's just a dream, it's just a dream…"

Is it, Kytheon Iora?

Kytheon flinched and dropped to his knees. That voice... How could he ever forget that voice. That voice that berated him that fateful day. That voice that filled the nightmare he was put under by Emrakul when he found himself overwhelmed on Innistrad. He had pushed the voice and the memory of that nightmare behind him in order to soldier on…

You can not run from me, Kytheon Iora. You know this to be true.

Kytheon's eyes shot open, and he looked up in terror at the massive figure on the horizon of his dreamscape.

Erebos. The Bleak-hearted. The god of the dead. Few images could strike Kytheon Iora with terror, and the deity of the underworld of his home was chief among them. It was he who had sent the titan to attack Akros. It was he who ignited Kytheon's spark after claiming all of his friends in one fell swoop.

The enormous humanoid stood taller than the mountains, touching the skies with his black, twisted horns. His face looked disturbingly human, albeit pale and gaunt. His eyes, though, his eyes filled many with fear, for in the purple glow, one could see the figures of damned souls, writhing and screaming as black smoke drifted upwards from the corners of his eyes. Halfway down, his torso devolved into naught but blackened bones until his hips, and his fingers were tipped in sharp claws. He was draped in cloths that appeared as though made from the night sky itself, constellations blinking amidst the folds. And clutched in one hand was a long black whip, his tool of harvest. There was no fleeing Erebos's whip, and it will grasp everyone someday, certain as the grave.

You try your best, but you will never escape me.

Kytheon tore his vision away from the towering god to look around, but something was different from the last time he was brought here in a dream. Yes, something was much much worse.

Scattered around him were the charred bodies of the new friends he had made at UA. Thirteen and Aizawa's bodies, smoldering in the forefront where they evidently tried to protect the students. The Hulking form of All-Might, completely bisected, lying next to the mangled remains of Nemuri, his guardian who had cared for him despite the strange situation. Eijiro, only recognizable by a patch of red hair that wasn't charred black. Shoto, lying in a boiling pool of water that was once his ice, normally impassive face twisted in a scream of agony. A pair of gloves and shoes next to a pile of ash was all that was left of his invisible friend. And further did the bodies spread, with no one spared from the slaughter. Had he not been unfortunately used to such sights, he would have vomited, but even still, tears poured from his eyes.

"K-Kytheon?"

Oh no. Not this again.

He turned to see a very frightened Izuku, Ochako and Tenya standing there. His eyes widened as the three teenagers clutched each other. In a panic, Kytheon whirled to face the God of the Dead once more.

"What…"

What is it that you, Kytheon Iora, most desire? What do you truly want?

The words from Erebos that haunted his dreams since Innistrad. These words, that tortured him more efficiently than any physical method could ever hope to achieve.

"No… please…" Kytheon mumbled, not wanting to relive this nightmare again. He looked skyward at the god.

Answer, Mortal. Tell me what you desire, or your friends shall perish.

"I want… I want to be a hero, and protect and lead…"

You lie.

Kytheon flinched at those words, already knowing what was coming next. Agonizingly slow and yet with blinding speed, Erebos's whip cracked forwards, sailing past Kytheon and striking Tenya in the chest. Izuku and Ochako screamed as they watched Tenya's armor rust and disintegrate, followed by his flesh being stripped away and the bones turn to dust, all while the teen screamed until he could do so no more. More tears poured from Kytheon's eyes as he slumped, defeated. Izuku and Ochako clung to each other, looking between the terrifying figure looming over all of them, and the sight of Kytheon, more pathetic than they had ever seen him.

You continue to lie to yourself and to me, Kytheon Iora. How many must perish before you see truth?

"K-Kytheon, w-what's happening?" Izuku asked, tears streaming from his own eyes even as Ochako buried her face in his chest, weeping openly. Kytheon turned his mournful gaze up to the God once more.

"I want to see you torn from the heavens, and all evil-"

You lie.

The tone of Erebos's voice remained as calm as a cemetery, yet one could feel the fury within. Kytheon leapt to his feet, trying to get between his last two friends and the incoming point of the whip, his aura flaring. But the whip, as though it had a mind of its own, wove past Kytheon, wrapping around Ochako's neck. She choked as she was yanked from the crying and screaming Izuku's arms, Kytheon bellowing and trying to grab the whip as though he could tear it apart with his bare hands, but nothing could be done, and they could do nothing but watch as Ochako's squirming weakened and weakened, until the ever present light in her eyes went out and she went limp. This time, Izuku was the one to fall to his knees, despondent and staring at the floor as Kytheon glared at Erebos with unbridled fury and hatred, mixed with agony and despair.

You are determined to feel the most pain, Kytheon Iora. To what end? What is it that you truly want, Kytheon Iora?

Kytheon's jaw worked as he tried to say something, anything! To spit a curse, or to try and answer, anything! But no words could come out. His voice was nothing. He could not say a single thing, despite his efforts. And soon he came to a conclusion.

"I don't know…. I don't know what I want…"

He looked up, only to see the whip, the whip that had taken so much from him, rocketing forwards, closing in on-

"KYTHEON!"

##############################################

(Hey the nightmare is done here now!)

Kytheon jolted upright at the shout, gasping for air, sweat pouring from pretty much every pore. He took a moment before glancing over at the cause of his awakening. A very concerned looking Nemuri sat on the edge of the bed with her hand on his shoulder. He sighed and rested his face in his hands, elbows on his knees as Nemuri rubbed gentle circles into his shoulder.

"Kytheon… are you alright?"

Kytheon sighed again, shaking his head. Nemuri scooted closer before wrapping Kytheon in a hug. Kytheon stiffened. It wasn't that he had never been hugged before, but he had never been hugged as the comfortee before. He has held people in an embrace to comfort them, or more commonly to protect them from something using his own body. But he had never been comforted before. He was always the one people turned to as a strong pillar, having to force down his own emotions to help others. It was always onward. He was never able to stay still for very long, always having to go to the next crisis and help. He had never had the chance to just… stop. And now, he found he couldn't stop the tears that were coming unbidden to his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it? Was it about the USJ?" Nemuri asked.

She had been terrified, when she had found out what had happened to the boy in her charge. He was one of two injured students, and when she had heard from All-Might what exactly Kytheon had done, she became even more frightened. As much as she wanted to scold him, she found that she couldn't do that yet. For all his maturity, he was still a teen. Impetuosity to the point of stupidity was just par for the course when dealing with teenagers, so she couldn't really fault him too much. It was only thanks to Recovery Girl that Kytheon was able to return home. After he had recovered enough from surgery for her quirk to not be lethal, he had been immediately taken care of. He had received multiple get-well cards despite only being there for a day or two, which brought a smile to Nemuri's face. She had always been a little concerned about if the militaristic teen would struggle to make friends but that seemed to not be an issue.

She was brought out of her musings by Kytheon shaking his head. Not about the USJ then? She wondered if this had something to do with what happened to him before he came to Japan then. She pulled back from the embrace and looked at him.

"Kytheon, please, I am here if you need to talk about anything. I may not understand completely, but you are not alone here." She said with a small sad smile. Kytheon took a deep breath to try and calm his racing heart before nodding.

"I… I know… just… not right now." He said. "Did I.. wake you up?" He asked, glancing over at her.

She shook her head. "No, I was just getting ready anyways. I've got a meeting to attend over at UA, so I'll be out for a while. You sure you'll be alright while I'm out?" She asked, the concern written clearly over her face. Kytheon tried to give her a reassuring smile.

"Yeah. Think I'm gonna go for a walk, get some air and clear my head." He said, shifting so his legs were off the edge of the bed. Nemuri sighed, but nodded with a smile.

"Alright, but if you have another of these nightmares, you better tell me, alright young man?" She asked, sternly pointing a finger in his face. He chuckled and wiped the last of the accumulated sweat from his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it. Now you had better go, I don't want to make you late."

"Always thinking about others, aren't you?" She asked with a laugh, shaking her head. "One of these days, I'm gonna make you take a you day, and do whatever you want." She said before leaving the room. His smile quickly fled from his face as he looked at his hands.

The haunting images of his dream and the words spoken within echoed through his head once more.

"You are determined to feel the most pain, Kytheon Iora. To what end? What is it that you truly want, Kytheon Iora?"

Even across the multiverse, Kytheon could feel the piercing gaze of the God of Death, watching and waiting. He shook his head and pushed himself to his feet, grabbing a set of light exercise clothes. He needed to clear his head, and he found that the beach that was covered in junk was now clear. He'd have to ask around and find out who was responsible to thank them.

#########################################################

Everybody had been given a bit of time off to fully recover from the USJ incident, and Kytheon had returned twice more to Recovery Girl to make sure that his head was fully healed. Once the hematoma had been drained out, it was just a matter of waiting for his body to finish repairs, and for that, he was eternally grateful for the elderly nurse. Thanks to her ability, a process that should have taken weeks or months had been cut down to a few days. What he would have done to have her on the fields…

But it was time to return to school, a strange notion altogether. Just a few days ago he was fighting against the men who wanted to kill the Symbol of Peace, and now he was double checking to make sure his homework was completed and in his knapsack. The first, he could deal with. He was much more used to that than the second option. He was admittedly embarrassed with how much he was thrown by the mundane life of a student. Not having to keep your ears peeled every second for a new threat, every muscle coiled to spring to self-defense. But he was barely through the door of the classroom when those very reflexive defense maneuvers sprang into action, catching…

"Toru?"

Kytheon blinked as the invisible girl wrapped him up in a hug. He supposed he was going to have to get used to the notion of hugs, people here in Japan seemed a lot more emotional than previous places he had been. He mentally snorted at the idea of getting a hug willingly from Jace. He awkwardly patted her shoulder.

"Oh man, I was so concerned when you didn't come out with the rest of us! And then we were only able to visit you briefly when you were asleep, and then the next time we came back you were recovering at home! Are you alright?"

Kytheon glanced over, raising his eyebrow as he watched Momo approaching with a small smile. "You did have us all worried there for a while, Kytheon."

Eijiro jumped up from his seat and made his way over himself, as Kytheon finally extracted himself from the embrace of the invisible girl. "Man, I couldn't believe it when I saw you step up and distract them! That was so incredibly manly!"

Kytheon shook his head with a smile. "I'm just glad that it was only Izuku and I that were injured among the students… I do hope that Thirteen and Aizawa are doing at least a little better. My head still aches a bit even after treatment, so I can't imagine what shape they are in. Gotta say, not a big fan of the news right now."

Eijiro tilted his head as Denki chirped up. "Yeah, the news has all been over the event!"

"It surprised me." The redhead said, before Kyoka spoke up herself. "Can you really blame them? The place where many of the biggest pro heroes come from, under attack?"

Kytheon shook his head. "Of course the media would snap that kind of a story right up. It's a nightmare how ravenous they are for a good scoop. And of course, the less said about the tabloids, the better." He shuddered. He had picked one up one day out of curiosity, and he was impressed at the sheer gall these "reporters" had at times. "Forbidden love? The true story about a hero-villain rivalry that goes deeper than it appears!" Yeah right. However, everybody was soon interrupted by Tenya sprinting through the door. As he made his way back to his seat, he waved at Ochako, and gently patted Izuku's shoulder as he passed him to get to his seat.

He briefly heard a quiet question from the other side of the room, and that got him thinking. Who would be teaching Homeroom? Aizawa was supposedly laid up and still recovering, not that Kytheon could blame him. The man had the crap thoroughly beaten out of him. But that left him with the important question of who among UA's illustrious staff would be teaching them in his place?

Only for the door to open, and an Aizawa clad head-to-toe in bandages yet still clad in his normal outfit stepped through. His mouth fell open in shock. Talk about dedication to the job! "That… can't possibly be good for him… He should still be recovering?" he mumbled to himself, hearing similar voicings all around him.

"My well being doesn't matter."

'Like hell it does!'

"More importantly, the fight is not yet over."

Ah. Kytheon's expression turned to one of stone. That made sense, from what he had heard, one or two managed to escape the USJ and would undoubtedly continue causing havoc. Not to mention his own… more personal fights…

"The UA Sports festival is drawing near."

Kytheon wanted to slam his head right through the desk, but he feared for Recovery Girl's wrath if he managed to undo the hours of healing he went through just because he was frustrated with the stoic nature of his teacher. Though he supposed with the right wording, she would understand… But a sports festival? That sounded big and important. And since he was both the Class Rep and new to the area, that meant he would likely have something to do with the running of such an event that he had no idea about. Though he knew it wasn't her quirk, he tried sending Momo a telepathic plea for help.

"Is it ok to have a sports festival so soon after villains snuck inside?"

The question from Kyoka made Kytheon pause. To him it made some degree of sense. They wanted to kill the Symbol of Peace and failed, but they would take any sign of weakness or fear and claim it as a victory. And from Aizawa's words, it seemed that he was right. Display the resilience of the school publicly, but don't be foolish enough to let down your guard. Five times the security though? That's a pretty drastic step up, there.

"That's a lot of security for some Iroan Games style show…" he mumbled, but it was apparently loud enough for Izuku to overhear.

"What's the Iroan Games? And have you never seen the UA sports festival?"

"Uhh… no? I'm not from around here, remember?" He said, hoping that Izuku will get distracted by that enough that he wouldn't have to explain the pantheon of gods from back home. While his faith had been shaken in his travels, he still felt that what the gods stood for back home was just as important no matter where you went.

"Oh! Right, sorry! But the Sports Festival is one of the biggest events in all Japan!"

"Thank you, Izuku, but I can handle this." Aizawa said with a concealed sigh as the green haired kid turned back around in his seat. "In the past, the Olympics were called a festival of sports, and the whole country was crazy for them. As you know, with reductions in scale and population, they're now a shell of their former glory. And now for Japan, what has taken the place of those Olympics is the UA sports festival!"

Ah. In his preliminary research on Greece, since that would likely be his alibi for quite a while, he found the Olympics to be a very close analogy to the Iroan games. And this festival is Japan's equivalent? Now this, he could get behind. A long quelled part of him yearned for those days of his childhood, when he got to sneak into the theater and watch the games. And now he would participate? He couldn't stop his blood from heating in excitement.

"Of course, all the top heroes around the country will be watching." Kytheon heard from behind him, Momo speaking up this time. "For scouting purposes!"

Kytheon nodded sagely. "Makes sense, so this is almost like an advertisement of our capabilities. Pro heroes will be looking for the ones they can take under their wing. I see now. It's much more important than I thought."

"Of course, joining a famous Hero agency will get you more experience and popularity. Time is limited. If you expect to go Pro, then the path to your future will open up at this event. One chance a year. Three total chances. No aspiring heroes can afford to miss this event. If you understand that, then do not slack in your preparations!"

Kytheon grinned. Oh he was going to prepare all right. Even all these years later, the thrill of the competition done in the name of the god of victory still filled him with excitement. And if this was the closest he would get? Then he would absolutely do his best.

"Homeroom is dismissed."

###################################

Lunchtime came around, and finally freed of the classes, Kytheon stood and stretched. "Man this sports festival is gonna be amazing! I can feel it in my heart already!"

"You bet!" Eijiro cried, coming on over. Hanta came over as well.

"If we put on a good show and stand out, we'll stand a good chance of becoming a Pro!"

Kytheon grinned as Izuku came over. "Kytheon, when Aizawa first mentioned it, you said something about the Iroan games, is that something from your home?"

Kytheon paused, figuring that telling them some of the truth wouldn't hurt, especially how several of the other students were crowding around and looking interested. He couldn't really blame them, he supposed, he had managed to successfully avoid most inquiries about his past so he must seem pretty mysterious. So he nodded.

"Yeah, my home city of Akros had two sister cities of Setessa and Meletis. Every year, we held our own miniature Olympics style event called the Iroan games, named after Iroas, the god of victory."

"God of Victory? That sounds cool!"

"Were there other gods?"

"Do you still worship them?"

"Guys! Guys! Let's let Kytheon talk!" Izuku intervened, despite his growing urge to interrogate every last detail himself. Kytheon sweatdropped and nodded in thanks.

"Thanks, Izuku. Yes, and somewhat. But the Iroan games started a long time ago, and participants used to compete for medals. However, it changed over the years, and eventually became a competition purely for the chance at victory and being claimed a 'Champion of Iroas'. There were no prizes on the line except for reputation and the benefits such a reputation brings. I myself never got the chance to compete… but boy did I dream of it." He said, staring off into nothingness. The other students all murmured among each other about this interesting new detail about their beefslab teammate. He was religious? Not many really expected it, but also couldn't say they were surprised. He was such a virtuous man.

Kytheon glanced over and saw Ochako with a rather interestingly dark look on her face. "Ochako, you excited for the sports festival?"

"I'm gonna do my best!" She shouted, but this was very different from when she declared that before the entrance exam. This version was… scarier? She seemed almost like Katsuki…

"Right…"

###########################################

Kytheon found himself walking to lunch with Izuku, Ochako, and Tenya, moving down the hallway in a little pod. He managed to successfully duck out of the spotlight when Ochako began making her very fierce declaration, and he was very grateful for that. Because if he had to start explaining the gods, then it would bring up… him… and Kytheon was not willing to dump that bit of exposition just yet.

"Uraraka, why did you decide to come to UA to be a pro hero?" Kytheon heard from beside him. The Akroan teen blinked and looked over at Izuku, who in turn was looking at Ochako.

"Huh? Well… umm… because…"

"Wait, for money?" Izuku exclaimed. Kytheon blinked at how Ochako seemed really embarrassed by this. "You wanted to become a hero for money?"

"To boil it down simply, yes…" She said, avoiding eye contact. Kytheon shrugged, but since the others stopped, he decided to wait with them too. He personally didn't find her motivation too surprising. Hero didn't carry the same meaning here as it did back home. "Sorry, it's such an unwholesome reason! You guys have such admirable motivations, it's embarrassing…"

Kytheon shrugged. "I don't see what's wrong with it. Here in Japan, a Hero is a profession. You don't see business students embarrassed about trying to get a good job…" he said with a shrug.

"Indeed!" Declared Tenya, catching Kytheon off guard. "How is having a goal to support your livelihood not admirable?"

"Yeah, but it is unexpected." Izuku chimed in.

"..." Ochako was quiet for a bit. "My family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work lately, and we are flat broke. This isn't really something to tell other people…" she said, running her hands through her hair constantly.

"Construction, huh?" Kytheon mused, rubbing his chin.

"With her quirk, if she gets licensed, then it'd bring costs way down, right?"

"She could make raw material float. So they wouldn't need heavy equipment." Tenya said, nodding. Kytheon nodded as well.

"See? That's what I told my dad since I was little! But… My parents wanted me to follow my dream and become a hero. I'll definitely become a hero, and make money. And then I'll be able to let my parents rest easy!"

Kytheon blinked, but ultimately ignored Tenya as he began applauding in the middle of the hallway. Instead, he stepped forwards and rested a hand on Ochako's shoulder.

"A hero is someone who does good for others, yes? Then how is raising money for others bad? Don't be ashamed of your motives, Ochako. You're still a hero."

The friend-shaped girl smiled at last, giggling a bit at Tenya still applauding away in the background. "Thank you, Kytheon, and you guys too, Tenya and Izuku."

"BWAHAHAHA!"

All four immediately looked towards the source of the commotion, only to see an All-Might clad in a blue suit charging towards them.

"YOUNG MIDORIYA IS HERE!"

"Uh… yes he is?" Kytheon mumbled under his breath, a bit confused by the sudden arrival of the mighty man.

"What's the matter All-Might?"

"Lunch! Would you like to eat together?"

Kytheon blinked. Every single staff person here was so damn overdramatic! First it was Aizawa's ominous projection, then there was All-Mights's… All-Mightness. Ochako tried so hard not to burst out laughing, and even Kytheon found it amusing how almost embarrassed All-Might was about asking him.

"How about it?"

Izuku glanced over at the other three. Tenya nodded and Kytheon shrugged, and Ochako was still trying to stifle her laughter. Izuku smiled and began walking over. "I'd love to!"

With those two retreated elsewhere, Kytheon, Tenya, and Ochako continued on and got in line for lunch.

"I wonder what those two are up to?"

Kytheon rubbed his chin. All-Might and Izuku seemed to have some sort of connection with each other. He had noticed All-Might out of the corner of his eye always keeping an eye on the green-haired kid. He almost seemed like a concerned parent much of the time.

"I heard that when All-Might was attacked by villains in the USJ incident, he rushed out to help. You were the other one they said that did that, Kytheon, is that true?"

Kytheon shrugged. "Izuku was certainly there, but I got knocked out before the end of the fight, so he might have saved All-Might's life for all I know. But don't you think they have to have some kind of connection? I've seen All-Might a few times, trying to stealthily watch us. He's like a protective dad or something…"

"Oh yeah!" Ochako exclaimed. Tenya blinked and brought his hands together.

"Then there was also what Asui said on the bus… something about Izuku's and All-Might's quirks being very similar! Their boundless power is very similar, too, so maybe All-Might has taken a bit of a shine to him!"

"Come to think of it, Izuku has never talked about his dad, has he?" Kytheon asked. At the incredulous looks from the other two, he spread his hands. "I'm not saying they're related, but I know several tabloids that would most certainly portray such evidence as fact."

What Kytheon was unaware of, was what that comment would spark in a certain half-and-half individual just ahead of them in line.

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Oh dear god this took waaaaaaaay too long to bring out. This was a much larger gap than anticipated between chapters, and I want to profusely apologize for making you wait.

To Death Reaver66, I'm not planning on bringing any other MTG characters to the universe. As much as I love the Eldrazi, there is absolutely no feasible way I can possibly balance their powers while still keeping what makes the Eldrazi frightening. The only potential MTG villain I would consider bringing would be Xenagos, since he is very much dead, and I feel like he could possibly be fun to bring here. But I certainly won't stop you from writing that story!

And to the rest of you reading, I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter! I hope I can start getting the sports festival chapters out for you guys pretty soon! That is definitely going to be fun and exciting!