Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 48:

"Next up," Midnight said. She sat in the back of the small auditorium, right in the middle of the line of teachers for the freshman hero course. "Is Zach Sazaki," she read out, smiling and looking to her right down the audience towards a chair at the aisle right next to the steps on the outside. The seating got higher up farther away from the front of the room so everyone in it could see the front without worrying about seeing over the person in front of them, except for Mineta who sat behind Shoji and was regretting it with every girl's presentation he had to strain himself to watch closely.

Everyone in the room looked to their rights where another student from Class A got up. The order had been picked randomly, and Hanta Sero just sat back down before Midnight called Zach up there. Zach gave Sero an encouraging smile as he headed up towards the front himself, though he turned forward again quickly and tried hard not to gulp. He walked up to the podium that had a projector screen right next to it and a clicker on top for him to use if needed, and Zach hoped the teachers were ready with the visual he had created.

In the audience, everyone stared down towards the boy with black hair that was pushed down flat and combed to the right side today, and who wore his school uniform looking ironed and wrinkle-free. Everyone in Class A, Class B, and even most of the staff members looked ahead with interest and anticipation as they wanted to know what his research paper was on. Only Yaoyorozu, and the principal who sat on Midnight's right side between her and All Might knew what his research was about. All Might glanced down at Nezu's face and the smile on it that relieved him a bit, before he turned back to look at Young Sazaki and make sure he knew he was watching if the boy looked up there.

Most have been uses of their Quirks so far. A few interesting ones, Aizawa thought, humming to himself as he thought back a couple of presentations. I knew Asui's was going to be good, but Aoyama's "secret" paper actually turned out good. He kept making a big deal out of how it was a secret though, whereas Sazaki's just kept it under wraps. Aizawa focused his gaze on the boy who did not look nervous as he turned behind the podium and faced out at them all. Even if it is just one on his Quirk though, I'm expecting a different kind of presentation here.

Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu leaned forward in his seat and narrowed his eyes. What's it going to be? I want to know how his Quirk works. The Quirk that saved my buddy Kirishima!

Monoma glanced out the corner of his eye at Tetsutetsu on the seat next to him, but he refocused up on Zach quickly. Will he talk about how much it hurts bringing someone back? Feeling my own head twist back on, and the other pain Mt. Lady must have felt before dying, it was rough. Monoma smiled even as he thought back on that, because of a conversation he and Zach had had a couple of weeks back. Mt. Lady thanked… No! I can't hope his presentation is good! So far the most stand-out presentation was a Class A! We cannot lose!

Across the small auditorium that was split mostly between Class A and Class B, Midoriya leaned forward. Uraraka looked next to her on her left and she saw Midoriya with a hand over his mouth, and she whispered quickly at him, "Don't start muttering."

Midoriya's eyes opened wide and his cheeks turned red as he nodded in gratitude at Uraraka who sighed in relief. They both turned back though, and Izuku thought instead of muttered, It could be so many different things. I couldn't do a paper on my Quirk since it's a secret, but I had such a hard time finding a topic that really interested me outside of it. Zach's been working on this from the start though, and he wouldn't say what is was even though he was working so hard on it. Is it about his Quirk? Is he going to tell people here things about it… or is he going to talk about more serious stuff? The stuff he talked about with me, about the villains- but if he does that now, he's going to be admitting to those things he said he took part in. I never said anything to him, about what I think about him doing that, but I don't want him to say it all right here. I don't want him to go away again! No, no calm down. Zach wouldn't do something like that. He's careful. He's always, careful… Right?

Mineta leaned left to look past Shoji, almost as interested a look on his face as there was back during Itsuka Kendo's presentation three back. Is he going to talk about Nightmare form?! I can't believe he calls it that! Mineta thought about how he had pestered Zach about it a while back after a training session, wanting to know how it worked only for Zach to deflect away from his "unstable Nightmare form." He hasn't used it since that day with Ectoplasm sensei, so not even everyone in the class has seen it yet! Unless they saw the video, but even then it was only half! I want to know how it works. It being a mystery is half of why it's so scary Zach!

Todoroki stared closely at the boy who he had not spoken to much at all for a couple of months. I could see it being a presentation on harsher punishments for villains. Or arguing that killing villains is alright. How does he live like this? The sixteen year old with half red hair and half white leaned back in his chair but kept a thoughtful yet straight expression as he stared down at Zach. Sometimes I see it. The look in his eyes he had when he first came back. It's still there. He'll just be sitting there with the same smile as when he's really happy, but I know the things he's thinking about. Whenever I see that dark look, I'm worried you're looking for revenge now. I can't shake that feeling either, because I know it's what I would be doing in your shoes. "And when I close my eyes! I see her burning! She was my age, but I always thought of her like a little sister. I loved her, more than I knew I could ever love someone, and I only realized it as she screamed my name! As she died, screaming out in agony yet still believing that I would come save her. Until her very last breath, she believed in me. And I failed her! I let her die!" I haven't forgotten a word I heard that night, Zach, as hard as I have tried.

On Todoroki's left side, Yaoyorozu held her hands together down in her lap. Good luck, Zach.

Zach took in a deep breath through his nose so it would not be noticeable, then he began. "My research paper is titled: Flaws of the Legal System in Regards to Quirk Usage." No sooner were the words out of his mouth that he saw smiles go away, uneasy looks on students and teachers' faces, but Zach's expression stayed completely calm. His hands lifted up and he put them together over the podium, and he continued to face his audience without faltering, and kept going after pausing after the title. "In the past year, our society has started changing drastically. Villains are on the rise, with more villain appearances recorded last month than any month previous in the past twenty years. There were more arrests last month than ever as well, but also the highest number of villain incidents resolved without the capture of the villains who caused them. This is not a sudden shocking statistic however, because it has gradually occurred with six of the eight months before this March breaking those same records. The dynamics of our society, are changing, but our laws remain stagnant. This is a problem that most people do not see as one, because how could the laws be at fault? We live under the same system today that we lived in so many years of relative peace under." Zach paused, then he said without looking up towards the man, "The system is kept the same as it was when All Might was active, when most villains were kept at bay by the idea of the Symbol of Peace. That is not the same world we live in anymore. When everything else is changing, why does the law system stay the same? Is it because those laws are absolute; they're the only guideline our society could exist under? No. Because even before All Might's retirement, these flaws still existed. It is only because of recent trends that they have become more pronounced, even if there is not yet a public, vocal claim of such."

Zach took a deep breath, There's an introduction. Alright, keep steady. Ignore those looks. "The legal system in our country is very similar to that in most countries of the modern world today. And most parts of the law codes have clear reasons for their existence, are clearly protecting the public from crimes. But then there are laws where the morality of the offender comes into question, where citizens may have used their Quirks in an illegal way yet against a villain. Sometimes the offender is not punished. However, in most cases this is not the case. The flaws in the legal code stem from laws stating that citizens will be penalized for fighting against a villain if it's not in direct self-defense. The only thing to do in any emergency situation is to run away, and if you run up to a villain to try and distract it, even just to allow a hero time to arrive, you can get in serious legal trouble."

A lot of people in the room who felt skeptical about Zach's choice of report topic, or uncertain about the controversial things he was saying, lost those looks. He mentioned without really mentioning his own court case, and it was difficult for them to think of telling him how the laws were perfect and set in stone, when their classmate or student had such a hard time because of it. Zach continued to them, "Protecting someone else with your Quirk, if not possessing a hero license and causing a villain a certain degree of harm, is cause for arrest, fines, and even possible jail time with actual villains." He said the last part with a frown on his face, but then he lifted it and held up his left hand in an offering way, "The biggest problem with changing this however, is that without this rule, people would think it's okay to fight back against villains. Most people don't know how to use their Quirks though, and they can cause collateral damage to others, get themselves hurt, or badly hurt the villains with an uncontrolled power. This problem seems insurmountable, because there is not an easy solution to fix it. After all, this problem traces back to the very basics of society, namely education. Everyone takes a Quirk safety course when they're kids, just developing them. Quirk counseling as a child is important, but then schools stop. They teach in those courses that Quirks are not to be used, unless one is going to try and be a hero. So by high school it's decided whether or not you will need your Quirk for the rest of your life, and people are strongly discouraged to stop using them anymore at all. Then, when people don't use their Quirks in high school, college, they forget how to use them, or they become weaker than they were even as children. They don't train what could be very powerful Quirks, and these are the people who run away from villains when they appear. The school systems fail by not teaching students how to properly use their Quirks, not developing them and training students how to use them. It should not just be hero high schools, but all schools should have courses on Quirk development and for all ages. It is not the schools' responsibilities to change this though, but the legal system that determines the curriculum." He paused for a second, then lowered his left hand and lifted his right inside of his black glove. "I only recently learned how to use my Quirk, after having it kept under wraps for years because no one ever wanted me to try training it. Then when it came time to use it in emergencies, I was unprepared, and I wound up killing two people." He lowered his right hand back down and kept a serious look on his face, even as he saw a lot of the people in the room staring at him with wide eyes that he would bring that up. Zach continued on, only using himself as one example, "Something that could have been avoided. How many others in this room arrived at U.A. without having a good hold on their Quirks? Quirks that crippled the users after one use, or just Quirks that no one had ever tried helping you master. Within a single year of training, everyone has gotten stronger to the point that looking back on the first fights with villains, wouldn't you have reacted differently? Fought better? With just one year of training, in a school environment, this is possible. So what may have happened differently, if schools had developed Quirks with us from the start?"

Zach took a breath and then continued in a lower voice, "There's another problem though, this time with changing the schooling system. If the biggest problem in regards to changing the laws on Quirk usage was the education system, then this is the biggest counter-point to changing the education system to train Quirks. That is, that schools would inevitably be teaching future villains," Zach said, and he saw some eyes widen as a lot of his fellow students were barely keeping up and now saw this huge problem. "Wouldn't this make those future villains stronger?" Zach asked. He nodded his head and replied to himself, "It will, however when everyone else raises their strength as well, it will more than even out. Why? Because villains train their Quirks anyway. Whether or not they're given help by the system, they will abuse the rules keeping civilians from training. They prey on those weaker than them, weaker only because they never trained or were taught how to use their Quirks." Zach pressed a button on the clicker he had subtly grabbed with his right hand, and everyone focused solely on him spun as the projector screen suddenly turned on with a bright image of a road in what looked like Musutafu.

He took a step out from behind the podium and faced sideways so he could look at the picture he chose, as well as turn his head when needed. On the picture, there were hundreds of people running away. The camera angle was right from the middle of the road, showing people running towards it down the street, on the sidewalks, some people were jumping up on cars others were speeding away and picking up dust. Two people were flying, one using jets coming out of their feet, the other just pointing her hands down and staying higher off the sidewalk. Most people were not using their Quirks though, just sprinting away from something. The 'something' that they were running from was not even in the picture. The angle just showed down the road to an intersection where there were some crashed cars and a lot of smoke rising up from the building straight ahead that had a lot of shattered windows. "This is the scene of a villain attack two months ago, here in Musutafu. In this picture, there are over a hundred visible civilians caught on camera running from the scene, while there are also two heroes rushing towards it." Zach pressed a button on the remote, and two tiny green circles popped up on the screen. They appeared over the back of a man barely visible past some civilians running towards the camera on the road, and another crawling on a wall at the top of the left side of the picture who was barely in it and missed by a few people who had not looked up that high.

"How many people in this crowd have Quirks stronger than those heroes, had they trained them?" Zach posed a question. He looked around, then he turned back to the screen and said, "In a crowd this big there are bound to be a few, so let's just circle a couple at random," he clicked on the clicker, then again, and a third time. A random young woman on the sidewalk really close to the camera so she was almost off the screen, a muscular man with four arms running away on the opposite sidewalk, and a guy who looked a bit like Tsuyu and had hopped up on top of a car for a quicker path out of the madness got all got circled in a small purple color. "What about people who are faster? Not faster than the heroes, but faster than whatever villain they're all running from?" Zach asked. He clicked a couple more times, more than last time when he asked how many were stronger than heroes. The two who were flying, the guy with dust coming up behind him, and a couple of others all got yellow circles around their bodies, as did the woman on the front left who already had a purple circle on her. "A Quirk making them faster than the villains, means that they could have distracted them while letting others get away. Yet in this picture, people who are faster are running away faster than the slower people. The stronger ones," Zach clicked a button but did not pause even as ten more circles appeared in red on the screen over figures in the crowd, "are ignoring the weaker people around them who they could protect. People with hardening or strengthening Quirks ignore people around them, because everyone has the same directive in this situation. Run away. If every person in this picture knew how to use their Quirks, many would still run, but many would be able to distract or push back. They could help. And how many of them want to help?" Other colored circles had appeared over people when Zach mentioned hardening and strengthening, but at this final question, eighty percent of the people on the screen got circled in green, the same color attached to the two heroes.

Zach left the picture up there and turned to the audience again. "This brings up the problem of why there would be a need for heroes though," he said, as was somewhat implied when he labeled most of the people in the picture the same color as the 'actual' heroes. Zach got a somewhat confused look on his face as he looked around though, and he asked, "But when did we decide as a society to make everyone defenseless?" He walked back behind the podium and put his hands on it, and he continued, "In most countries around the world, people used to be armed at all times. Citizens carried swords, and then guns on them, because when someone attacked they needed to be able to fight back. Regular citizens had this ability. And yes, this led to some problems when stronger weapons were made, but now every citizen in the world is carrying a weapon at the same time, and only the bad ones know how to use them. Laws put in place eventually fixed the problem with guns, because no one could get them anymore, but that's impossible to do with Quirks. Laws preventing people from training their Quirks, don't stop villains from becoming stronger and practicing," Zach said, in a tone like it was obvious since why would the villains listen to those laws. "These laws only stop regular, law-abiding people who will very likely in this world with rising villain patterns, one day have to face those villains in the street."

Zach's eyes narrowed and he continued in a lower but just as serious and strong a voice, "A villain with a half-trained decent Quirk can slaughter a group of civilians, even if two or three of those people had naturally stronger Quirks that they just don't know how to use. If you want to keep laws in place that say people can't use Quirks in public, that's fine, even though there are so many non-dangerous Quirks that could help with jobs, medicine, and other things people should not have to get licenses to use. But, laws preventing people from using Quirks against villains, and from training them hurts the entire society. Because any half-cocked thug standing on a street corner wanting to get into villainous activities now has an outlet. Groups of villains will, and do, go up to corners of delinquents and turn them into hardened villains. They teach kids with weak ideologies that they easily mold into ones that can help the villain groups' plans."

Tetsutetsu leaned forward in his seat, his eyes opening huge. The training forest. That poison gas kid. Is that what…

"And how many months," Zach continued. "Weeks even, does it take to turn a teenager who had barely used his Quirk before, into someone who can fight better than any average Japanese person?" He shook his head around, then he lifted his darker and narrowed gaze that he had for that portion of the speech which just came naturally to him as he talked about it. He stared at shocked and thoughtful looks alike, and he tried to keep himself calm even as he saw people considering all he had just talked about. Zach continued, "And while villains increase in number, the amount of people who want to become heroes decreases. They see how bloody the lives of heroes are becoming on television every day. They hear about the increase in hero deaths, and crippling injuries that force heroes into retirement." Grappler, All Might… "Did you know that the application rate to U.A. is drastically lower this coming year than it was last spring?" Zach questioned, then continued, "And even though U.A. has been a target on several occasions which could be a reason, it's also because people are afraid of becoming heroes in this scarier world, as it is the hero course that took the sharpest drop in applicants. It's not just U.A., but Shiketsu High, Ketsubutsu Academy, Isamu Academy." Zach listed off high schools that the other students knew of as their rivals and other big hero schools, and their eyes were much wider hearing this than just U.A. as they had realized it made sense after Zach first said it. "Hero courses are receiving fewer applications, and yet at the same time, the Hero Licensing Exam is getting more selective. This can only lead to one possible future, and that is one with fewer heroes than we are accustomed to. It will come gradually, as more heroes are killed. As heroes are forced into retirement because of injury, because of villains stealing or destroying their Quirks, or they choose to retire before one of those other things happen. It is not unbelievable, and it is something that is already happening, that heroes who did not realize what their job would come to entail break under the pressure of this changing world. Having less heroes, and more villains, is scary enough. But when villains are experimenting with drugs like Trigger, which can make an average villain powerful enough to take on several heroes at once, and when they are creating Nomus who can hold several Quirks and cause damage on unprecedented scales, it becomes something that we cannot simply stop by sending out more heroes. There has to be an institutional change to fix something as big as this."

Zach took in a deep breath and grabbed the sides of the top of the podium. Almost there. Conclusion has to be strong. I've got this. "My solution to these problems, is an upheaval of society's law codes. Reexamine what it means to be a hero and a villain. At its very foundation, our society frowns upon Quirk usage and only allows certain people to use them. There still need to be regulations, yes, but the current regulations cause more harm than good. The current regulations can not keep up with the changing society. When laws have become restricting, and people get hurt because of it, something is wrong with that. But most people are too afraid to even consider changing something that has been a constant for their entire lives. Laws limiting Quirks exist because of fear though, even though most people consider Quirks the next stage in human evolution. Afraid that Quirks will become too powerful they've been strictly regulated, and most people are told to just not use their natural abilities. Fear of progress has always led to the discrimination of others. People do not need to fit society's boundaries though, society needs to extend its boundaries to be able to include everyone. People don't want things to change, but they are changing. We are in a transitionary period. Villains keep getting stronger, their groups keep getting larger, and their attacks are becoming more frequent. Yet as a whole, society has had no response to this except to 'stay the course,' like suddenly things are going to go back to the way they were in the days of All Might." Zach said it incredulously, trying to show them, and succeeding in a big part, how ridiculous that sounded. "The problems I mentioned have always existed in our society, but now the world is becoming a more violent place by the day, and people are starting to realize it. People are living in fear of villain attacks, and they can't train to protect themselves without being afraid of getting arrested if they do something wrong. There is unrest growing in society, as more people become upset with the current trends but can't do anything to stop it. With every villain who appears, twenty more regular citizens feel unsafe, feel unsatisfied with the ones protecting them. The people are relying solely on heroes to protect them, but the dynamic of society is changing, and now there are an equal amount of villains out there as there are heroes, or even more villains. Organized crime is at an all time high in twenty five years. Next year it will be higher. Next month it will be higher."

He looked around into his classmates' eyes, one by one and staring into as many of them as he could. Those people who had been wondering what Zach was going to do for over a month now were staring at him wide-eyed as he continued his conclusion, "Things are getting worse, fast, and if the next big incident is bigger than all the ones previous, it might cause a loss of faith in hero society altogether. But if blame can't be put directly on the heroes, if everyone is able to fight back, that civil unrest that we are bounding towards will not come. And maybe if everyone could fight back together, if everyone had a good hold on their Quirk's abilities, the disaster I can see coming could be avoided. Teach every student in school how to protect themselves, and others, with their Quirks, safely. People who are already out of school, have pro heroes offer courses to them in self-defense, and change the laws that prohibit citizens from stepping in when a villain appears. Make whatever pro hero arrives on the scene the commanding officer, and let the others help him or her out following the pro hero's experience. Why is the line separating heroes and civilians thicker than the one separating them from villains?" Zach asked, and he shook his head once after asking it. "Because the villains' numbers might rise higher than heroes, it may have already happened, but those who want to do harm and wrong, will never outnumber the people who want to help and do good! Because I believe, people are inherently good. And if given the chance to stand up and protect each other, if given the freedom to stand by heroes and fight villains by their sides," he turned to the screen on his right that still had his picture from before up there. Zach stared at the people with different colored markings all over them, and most of them with green, and then he finished as he turned back to the audience, "How many citizens could become heroes in their own way?"

Almost everyone in the room just stared in shock at Zach as he finished. One of the only ones who wasn't, was Yaoyorozu who just started smiling wide after he got the final line out. She felt her heart pounding and she let out a breath of air as she had been holding it at his final pause. It was even better than yesterday. That was-

Amazing, Midoriya thought. I never really thought- because I thought that once I could use One For All at full power I could just stop everything like All Might did. But Zach said these problems existed before, and he was right about that too. His own example is the perfect one. In such a short time he's become able to control Death, but it wasn't until after we got attacked. Others probably agree with what he said about our powers injuring ourselves since we couldn't use them right when we got to U.A., thinking about me. Did he do that on purpose, even though he knows the real reason I can't control it? Even if he did though, I'm not the only one…

That was, crazy, Kaminari thought. He looked straight towards Zach who stood there facing them all calmly after finishing his speech. If I had more control over Electrification at USJ, Zach wouldn't have had to push my dumb self out of the way. And if he had more control, he wouldn't have had to kill that guy either. Just the amount of power we both have right now, is enough to make the difference that would have changed things that day. I didn't use my power to the point of going stupid too much before high school, because no one was telling me to train it and I thought it was strong enough. But if I had gotten help training it sooner…

What was that? Todoroki stared in silence towards Zach with his eyes wide. I was thinking about him saying something like- well, I was worried when he brought up changing the laws. I thought he was going to talk about heroes being allowed to kill villains, but even when he mentioned his own actions, he treated them like mistakes that could have been avoided. He's, he said that people are "inherently good," that he really thinks that way?! Todoroki's eyes opened even wider as he stared at the boy whose screams he heard echo in his ears again. How?

I've done so much wrong, Zach thought after finishing his essay, relaxing but keeping his posture since he was still up there in front of everyone. Jenny thought I was a hero up until the second she died though. I let her down. I let her die. I can't just be okay with saving people, more than I had killed, or more than my parents could have saved. Jenny was that important to me. No number of people I save will ever make up for it. Not, in my lifetime at least. But if I can change society. If I can make the world a safe place again, with laws set that will protect people for decades, centuries to come. It's too hopeful- but if I can help establish the world as a safer place from villains, how many countless people could I save? As well as promoting the use of Quirks so that society can keep advancing instead of stagnating and decrying the use of Quirks by normal people. Overcoming the fear of progress. Treating Quirks like the amazing things they are, and making future children who are like me and Eri not feel like they're cursed because theirs don't fit the kind of Quirks that heroes would have.

Zach looked over towards Midoriya who was staring at him just like everyone else in the room. I know I won't become the greatest hero. I know that, but a Symbol of Peace can only last as long as they're alive for, though I know you can pass it down sooner or later. What I want to do though, I hope will last longer than a single Symbol of Peace. I want-

The room filled with loud clapping all at once, one person doing it which immediately made everyone else snap their hands up and start clapping as they realized it was over and they were all just too absorbed in their own thoughts after all the different things Zach just brought up. The clapping was loud, and Sero did not care that it was louder than it was a few minutes ago when he ended his speech, as he was clapping loudly too and finally grinning as he lost his wide-eyed look.

Yeah but what if, Monoma frowned even as he clapped with the others around him. Training future villains is not such a simple problem he can just get past by saying other people would be stronger too… but if they're being trained in school and given hero ideology courses while training Quirks, couldn't that fix problems of how some of those villains come to be anyway when they're shunned for using their Quirks… Hmm, I want to look for that answer, but I also want to ignore it! There was so little in there that he gave room to argue with, when he spent as much time talking about the counters I would have had. The blond boy from Class B trying to find reasons to dislike Zach's presentation was not finding it easy, as easy as it seemed to be at the start.

That was awesome! Kirishima kept clapping much louder than the boy on his right side who was not clapping at all.

Bakugo finally leaned back in his seat, and he grunted as he had to do that since he did not remember leaning forward at all. Damn it, he thought, and he lifted a hand and rubbed his forehead while looking straight up. The fuck did I have to go after him for? Bakugo thought in annoyance.

Itsuka Kendo smiled as she clapped for the Class A student whose presentation really surprised her. When she stopped clapping she got a more thoughtful look on her face again though and thought back on something in his report that caught her attention. She had lost focus on it as he kept going strong at the time, but she thought back on it now and her smile lowered a bit. Villains picking up delinquents on street corners. That middle school kid was probably like that. Mustard. Even though he attacked us, I felt bad for him. Did Zach see people like him being brainwashed while he was with the villains? I'm glad, they didn't get to him too.

In the back of the room, the pro heroes were clapping their hands as well. Midnight turned to her left at Present Mic while they clapped with impressed, thoughtful, and surprised looks on their faces. He looked back at her and stopped clapping, then Midnight said thoughtfully, "A change in society like that is not an easy one to make."

"Bureaucracy takes a long time to get anything done," Present Mic added in an annoyed tone. "If an incident happens like he says though, and his report topic were to become common opinion, it, could change things."

On Mic's other side, Snipe said in a lower voice, "Does that mean we have to wait until after another giant disaster, allow it to happen before things can change?"

All Might looked left at what he heard Snipe say, then he turned back forward and continued clapping for a few more seconds as he stared at Zach. I am always surprised by you, Young Sazaki. Everything you do catches me off guard. I did not expect this to be your answer. Is this what you have concluded after all you have been through? This is the solution you see? Those are your true ideals, that you have just laid bare before us? You have been secretive, and keep so much to yourself, but you have tried to push your hidden past aside and have focused on the future. The effort you put into this paper, your own heart that you poured into it, I could feel them and for once could hear that you meant every bit of what you said. Your presentations were supposed to be on something you are passionate about, but I never knew this was something you were thinking about so deeply on. The future of our society without me… When Young Midoriya told me that he told you everything, I trusted his decision and trusted you. But as much as I accepted it, I also assumed that it would have a different effect on you than it did on Young Bakugo. He would strive to be stronger than even me, to be the best no matter what, so it could not stop him. Anyone else though, I would assume they would feel the pressure of the world lift off their shoulders, allowing it all to fall on Young Midoriya's. All Might lowered his arms as he finished clapping, and he smiled down at the boy who was looking up towards the teachers now as they sometimes asked questions after the presentations. All Might looked into that boy's eyes, and his smile lowered down a little, He feels that pressure still though. The knowledge that there will be less heroes, and more villains, like the days before the pillar which is now gone. Even without All For One, the world is becoming what I feared it would be with his influence. Young- no, not anymore. Sazaki, I do not know if I can call you a young man after hearing this. You have looked beyond the near future. You are looking at something far away, that I can not see. What is this world you are imagining?

Aizawa leaned back in his chair as the final claps in the room started to fade out. He stared down towards Sazaki in a thoughtful way, humming to himself before lifting a hand and scratching his right cheek. I was wondering if Sazaki was really hero material at the start of this, when he was still questioning hero procedure, but… He scratched under the deep scar under his own right eye, while looking down at the boy who had a longer one that was thinner near his nose and side of his face, but just as thick just beneath the eye. That was, more like a college-level thesis, Aizawa thought, a small grin on his face while he lowered his hand. Still. There are other problems he did not address. He did not even talk about how the reexamining of the law codes could take place. He's not considering the bureaucrats, those old guys at the top who will be the last ones to want to change things. Letting people without licenses fight villains, is asking for citizens to get themselves killed out there. I know that, yet it's because civilians are weak and untrained that this problem exists, for the most part. And it's not like there aren't already citizens getting pulled into things and killed. If citizens get killed trying to help out though… if they do… then they'd be considered heroes. Even in our society now, that's the case. People who break the rules to help out where they're not required to, most of the time get punished for it, but if they're killed in the attempt it doesn't happen like that.

In the middle of the line of faculty members, Principal Nezu lifted up his tiny right bear paw. Zach nodded at the principal who was the only one to raise a hand for a question, and Nezu started while all the students looked back to see who it was asking. "Very good work, Sazaki. I do have a question though, one that I believe is a very large problem that you did not address in your report. This is a very radical idea while at the same time one that sounds undeniably sensible. In your report at one point however, you mentioned how we believe Quirks are the next step in human evolution…"

Zach's eyes opened wide as did most people in the room, and Zach held up a hand and quickly said, "I'm so sorry- I didn't mean-"

Nezu continued, "Oh I am not offended. After all it is true that it is the next step in human evolution, and you did not make a claim that it was not in any other creatures." Zach felt a huge amount of relief and lowered his hand, getting a more serious look on his face as he awaited the actual question Nezu was building towards… just in a really long-winded, dragged-out sort of way. "This is not just seen as progress though, but a spiral. There is a reason for the fear that you said, correctly, causes laws regulating Quirks so stringently. That reason is that a major concern in society is that Quirks will ultimately become too powerful. Quirks will arise with the power to destroy the world. Training everyone, and making Quirks stronger for everyone, would be seen as increasing the chances for this to come to pass sooner."

Everyone in the room turned back to Zach as the principal finished there. He did not ask a question, just posed that information to Zach and awaited to hear what the boy's response would be. Nezu was the only one smiling while everyone else stared at Zach, realizing themselves how that was actually a huge problem to the solution Zach had suggested. Even Momo stared towards Zach with a worried look, afraid the work he had done for so long would be undermined if Zach could not come up with a good response to the principal. They had worked the speech down to every detail, so the thing he was least prepared for were questions to come at him afterwards.

Even though he was less prepared for them than for giving his speech, that did not mean Zach had not prepared. He responded without more than a short pause to seem like he was thinking about it, "As much as there arises the possibility of someone with a world-ending Quirk in the millions who start training theirs, there is also the possibility of several people training abilities that can defend against that power. When, or if, the day comes that someone with a power to destroy the world appears, and that person also turns out to be a villain, could someone among the eight billion of us have a Quirk able to stop them? I think so. But does this person who can stop that potential villain know they can do it right now? Is this person one of the tiny fraction of the percentage of good people in this world who actually know how to use their Quirks to their full powers?" Zach's response made Momo smile again in relief, as he had it under control, while most of the students around her were just staring in more surprise that the principal's question they all thought made sense was getting countered.

"And truthfully," Zach continued. "If the possibility already exists, that a world-ending Quirk could come to be, then that's just a further reason for why the system needs to change now to match the next level up from our current state. We can't just have these old rules and laws in place when the world is gradually changing around us, to the point that when someone appears with a Quirk that is impossible to control within the current rules and system, we don't have any response for it." Zach hesitated, because he did not know if he wanted to add on this last thing. I took it out of the speech because I thought it would sound too preachy, but it really seems like it would work here. He took a breath and then added, "'Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.'" Zach let out a breath after saying that, then he looked up into the principal's eyes as Nezu nodded with an impressed look on his face, because he recognized that already. "That was a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., an activist for equal rights in America in the 1900s. I know it is a scary thing to try and change laws that are supposedly protecting the world from some distant world-ending villain, but if we want to keep advancing as a society and a species- a world, then we can't keep denying progress. And I think if enough people strive to make it work: if heroes are willing to accept civilians' help, and citizens are willing to train and be taught by current heroes, so that we can face the villains together with overwhelming numbers, then we can move forward to a world that's even safer than it was before All Might's retirement."

Nezu hummed and he nodded again at Zach's response, a small smile on his cute mouse-like face. "Very good response, Sazaki." The principal turned left and right down the line of teachers with him, then he nodded as they all seemed satisfied with leaving it at one question. Nezu turned back and said, "Once again, that was a very nice presentation. You may take your seat."

"Next up, is Katsuki Bakugo," Midnight called out, and the spiky-blond boy in the audience started out of his seat.

Most people in the room turned to Bakugo, and a lot of Class B stared at the other boy who was captured by the villains and wondered if he had some crazy presentation for them too. Most of Class A who looked at Bakugo though, just leaned back at the angry look on his face as he got out of his seat. Zach made sure to stay out of his way as he headed back for his seat, but he was not focused too much on Bakugo. The room filled with another round of applause after Nezu had told him he could take his seat, the applause going right over Midnight calling out Bakugo's name. As more attention started shifting to the next presenter though, Zach's gaze shifted around the entire room and his eyes focused on everyone there. The spy is in this room.

Zach continued towards his seat, not making it obvious he was looking around at them for any reason other than to smile at a few friends giving him encouraging looks. That was a good speech. I did it exactly how I wanted to, maybe even better. I'm glad I got to say the quote. Spent so much time looking up quotes on progress just to take it out. Still though, it was great. I worked harder on that, then I have on anything in my life. Shigaraki hasn't been trying to capture me. Not very hard at least, considering how often I've been out of school and out in the open. I've given opportunities, so now I know that Shigaraki has a plan that involves leaving me here.

Zach walked up the steps towards his seat, and his smile lowered down as he neared it. So go on, spy. Whoever you are. I know you're in this room of what, fifty people? I made eye contact with most of them, and probably with you. I looked you in the eyes right there while giving that speech, and I hope you saw how much I meant every word. I want you to tell Shigaraki everything I just told them all, because I want Shigaraki to regret thinking he can use me by leaving me here. Whatever his plans for me are, I'll destroy them. I want him to know that by staying at U.A., I'm going to be doing things to stop him that I could never do on my own. Influence my friends, classmates, even teachers. I can push change. What do you want with me Shigaraki? Are you going to just wait until I've gotten more popular, wait until more people see me as a hero, then reveal everything I've done? Did you make that biography video? If so, you were a fool not to rat me out for the illegal things I did for you. You'll come to regret it. I am going to make up for everything. I am going to do so much good for this world, other than just bringing people back to life. I'll change the society that makes children with "cursed" Quirks feel that way. I'll change people's minds, and prevent a clash between heroes and the people they're meant to protect. I'll destroy everything you've worked for. I'll break all of your plans. Take away all of your pawns one by one, and tear down everything you've built. I'm going to make sure this beautiful world, never becomes your plaything. Like I was…

A/N Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Found myself writing an actual essay here, but I had fun with it and think it's a good progression for Zach. I tried showing through earlier scenes his thoughts on some of this, like with the guy Mt. Lady accidentally crushed who had been trying to help against the villains, and those two teens last chapter. Even Gentle and La Brava I had Zach talk a bit about some stuff that came up in this report, which he had been working on earlier that day showing why maybe Zach was interested in Nico and Riley's Quirks... Anyway, hope I surprised some of you guys with the report topic, as well as what Zach's opinions are in the first place. Leave a review telling me what you think, and time for some review responses:

D-Koy24 chapter 47 . 10h ago

You're gonna stall this ship till we get to like Chapter 70 right...?
Sigh
But I'll still be stubborn! Team Momozaki FTW,!
By the way I've been waiting all day for this chapter!
~D-Koy, the red dragon emperor! Sorry for shouting so much I'm just excited about their moment! (Eyes sparkling)

Haha no telling when this ship might sail... if ever! Sorry for the long wait, I know it was almost a day without an update so that would've been terrible! Thanks for the review, and glad you liked their moment last chapter!

Guest chapter 47 . 6h ago

If this emotionally unstable boy doesn't kiss this polite and bubbly girl soon, I'ma lose my mind!

XD Thanks for the review! We'll see about that...

Guest chapter 47 . 3h ago

We're running out of manga material faster than I thought we would

Me too, me too. When I started reading the manga I thought I'd get a whole lot of new stuff to add, but admittedly I had done a pretty big time skip through the fall right around the time I started reading it. Didn't realize the manga was still only halfway through the fall, so I thought I'd have up til like midway through the second year or something. Anyway, added a whole ton of it last chapter with Overhaul, Magne's death, Gentle and La Brava, and I mentioned the Culture Festival had been cancelled in the fall unlike the manga. Some things have changed, and who knows what else from the manga may have and has yet to be revealed what different turns it took? Thanks for reviewing!