A/N Hey guys! Special chapter 50 coming at you. This is now the fiftieth chapter in 42 days, and this story is hitting 460,000 words with it. Thank you all for reading this far, favoriting, following, and reviewing too. New arc starting up this chapter which I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 50:

Zach sat straight up on his folding chair in the middle of the big grassy field set up in one of the massive stages used by U.A. High School. He lifted a hand and pulled at his collar that felt a little tight all of a sudden, and he shifted his gaze around the stands surrounding the field he was sitting on. There were hundreds of seats around them, and no gap between Class A and Class B, with barely any gap between the rest of the first year classes either. The forty-one of them were shoved right into the pack of first years, though at least they were all sitting together. On the other half of the field were the second years, one of the reasons Zach felt a little nervous as he sat in his seat.

For the first time all year since getting to U.A., Zach saw someone from his middle school. He saw him when they were heading out to the field together, a boy a year older than him who had been on cross country with him years back. I can't believe I almost made it the entire year without seeing him! Zach thought, a bead of sweat dripping down the left side of his face as he glanced towards the second years again. I never knew what he did after middle school, but I remember people saying he applied to U.A. Did he get in the hero course a year above us? Zach gulped, and he shook his head and kept focusing on Nagiso, Yeah, I'm just nervous because of the time we saw Best Jeanist fighting the villain, and he almost got killed trying to use his Jello Quirk, and he saw me reaching for my glove… Gah! I can't handle this! There are so many people watching!

Zach pretended like he did not notice. He was not looking around the stands around the huge field they were on, just trying to keep his focus on the stage up ahead. He'd occasionally look to his left when he got too nervous to pretend like it was Nagiso who was getting to him, but this whole situation had him on the edge of his seat. While Bakugo sat two seats down to his left with an annoyed and bored expression on his face, slouched down with his hands shoved in his pockets, Zach was sitting up like he was in class feeling like everyone's eyes were on him. On his left sat Kirishima who was leaning left to see past Shoji and down the field farther towards the front rows that were lined with all the third year students. The third year section was only half as thick as the underclassmen's sections, because it was spread to cover the whole middle of the field instead of only half and pushed back longways. That section wound up looking more than twice as thick though, as behind all the third-year students were their parents and family members who had come for the graduation ceremony.

Class A was at the front of the first years, but Zach stayed in the second row back and in the middle of a few of his friends. There was not a huge gap between the front of the first years and the back of the family section, since there were a lot of a family members for all the graduating students. Zach thought about that small gap and how hard it would be to spot him in the field, but he was still doing his best to avoid looking to the sides and the stands where others had come to the graduation too.

The U.A. graduation ceremony. There were pro heroes all over the stands, a whole ton of security for such a huge event, and reporters gathered there to welcome a whole new class of heroes out into the world. Many of them had already made their debuts as interns; most of the graduating class of heroes actually, as this was U.A. after all so all the third years still in the hero course were out doing hero work already. Zach looked ahead and towards the stage where Principal Nezu was giving a long, long speech about all the hard work U.A. students put in over their three years, different anecdotes about the students and advice he had about being heroes in the real world. He had to look past all the families of older students and past those older students themselves, all but three of whom were still sitting. The Big Three, Zach thought while staring at the three students representing the graduating class who were already on the stage with much of the faculty who sat on chairs behind the podium Nezu stood at.

Zach focused on them, then his eyes started to shift towards cameras on the side of the stage. I really didn't want to come to this. What if they make a big deal about me? God I would hate that so much. So fucking much. Everyone would think I'm an asshole taking attention away from the seniors. I don't want to do that to the seniors either! They've worked three years for this. And all their families came out to see them. I don't know why I think any focus would shift to me, it's not like I've done anything of importance lately. Two people. A total of two people since I came back. It's not a lot, but I'm definitely training Nightmare form up in school. And wait! Not just those two I brought back, but all the people I might have saved helping Webb too. Stopping Diamondfist, getting those drugs and weapons and costumes confiscated… Why hasn't Webb hit me back up for so long? Not a thing in March, and now over a week into April and still nothing.

Zach looked towards the seating just ahead of them again. He turned his head left and tried to focus on Nagiso, but his eyes shifted right again and his head turned back forward. He stared at the back rows of the seating for the families, and he thought quickly to himself, Would Webb… what am I thinking? Just because he's, the one person outside of my school life who I might be, who I consider myself, close to… Geez, I don't even know his real name. He saved me, and I thought maybe because of the more open way I act around him, that I realized when we were at Ganji's… But if not him. Zach's eyes lowered from those seats just ahead of him. He looked down at his knees, and at his hands he had resting over them. His shoulders slouched a little out of his sitting-up position, and his mouth lowered into a sad frown. Wouldn't the Akers? They would have come, when I graduated. They would have been like my real family. They were my real family. I won't ever get back in contact with Aunt Maye, and as soon as the first internship starts next year, I'll throw out her ATM card… Aunt Maye, and Tsura. No, no! Don't think about them like they're family. I made that decision to push them away, to just end things instead of, having a family. I could have had that… but Shigaraki would have just killed them. He still will if I ever try to do anything with them again. He might think he'd be doing me a favor taking out my Aunt Maye as things are now. So never talk to them again. No family. That's what you decided. Just accept that. No family, nobody to sit at those seats at graduation. No one, to love.

Zach imagined their faces as he lifted his head back up a bit. The principal called up the number one student, and Zach looked towards him, but his eyes shifted back down to the families sitting in the section behind the third years. It shifted down because he saw people in those chairs looking back towards him, except those people were translucent. He stared at their faces: his mom, his dad, the Akers, and Jenny. His bottom lip shook for a second and he bit down on it and brought his gaze back up to the stage fast. Damn it, he thought as he watched the guy at the top of the class step up to the podium. He kept his eyes solely on the bland-faced older boy with a blond flip of hair sticking up over his head, and the people he thought were looking at him in the family section faded from his peripheral vision.

On Zach's left side, Eijiro Kirishima glanced in at Zach to say something. Spotting the look on Zach's face though, his eyes opened wide as for some reason Zach looked on the verge of tears.

"Hey Zach, did you know we fought him?" Midoriya asked on Zach's right side.

Zach spun to his green-haired friend in some surprise, then he looked back forward fast as he saw people out in the stands way past Midoriya. He asked as he stared back up at the stage and the number one graduate though, "Who did?"

"All of Class A," Kirishima added from Zach's left. Zach glanced his way too while leaning back a little in his seat, feeling more relaxed as he was fully distracted. He thought maybe the two at his sides had noticed, but instead of getting annoyed at himself for letting what he was thinking about show through, all he felt was a small warmth in his chest that the two of them were trying to distract him, if that was what it was about. "He crushed us though. Happened so fast; we didn't know what was happening."

"I would have kicked his ass," Bakugo said, crossing his arms over his chest on Kirishima's left without getting out of his slouched position.

"Bakugo, you weren't there?" Zach wondered.

"Bakugo and Todoroki weren't fighting with us," Kirishima replied.

"It wouldn't have made-" Midoriya stopped himself mid-sentence, and he shut up fast as Kacchan turned his head and glared past Kirishima and Zach with a glare that was daring him to finish that sentence. "I mean, Togata-senpai is just very strong," Midoriya turned back to Zach and whispered.

"Didn't you intern with him?" Zach asked. He remembered Midoriya mentioning Togata-senpai before, though he kind of regretted bringing up Midoriya's internship now. The hero they were interning under, Sir Nighteye…

Midoriya thought about it too for a second, but he nodded his head at Zach's question without getting a depressed expression. Zach saw his friend's still composed look and he shook away his own dark thoughts at the sight of Midoriya's strength at being able to talk about this. "Is he really the best-"

"Better," Midoriya whispered, a look of awe on his face as Mirio Togata started up a speech to his classmates and to everyone around them. They all stared up at that plain-faced upperclassman who spoke with passion, with confidence, and with the smile of a hero on his face. He waved a fist and pointed out at his comrades he was graduating with, and Zach felt himself getting pumped-up even though Togata was talking mainly to his own class.

Zach leaned back in his seat while a lot of the third years started cheering out. He looked towards the blond boy standing on that stage, and his eyes focused in on him and that smile on his face like he could take on the world right now. How do I become like that? "Better" than the best? The number one at U.A. "What's his Quirk?" Zach whispered, glancing next to him to Midoriya on his right. "It has to be super strong, right?"

"Permeation," Midoriya responded quietly. "But it's not his Quirk that makes him strong, it's how he uses it." Zach's eyes widened while Midoriya kept staring forward with a big smile and admiring look. "He was actually weaker in his class before training with Sir Nighteye. He told us it's thanks to training, that he's been able to come this far."

"Kind of like us then, right?" Zach asked. Midoriya turned to him in surprise, and Zach added with a smaller smile, "Remember during the Quirk aptitude test? I really thought one of us was going to get expelled for sure."

Midoriya sweatdropped as he thought about how Aizawa had threatened it and he believed it. Then he considered what Zach said and remembered how they came in twentieth and twenty-first respectively. He smiled a little thinking about how far he had come since then, from the day when he had first used One For All in a way that did not cripple himself. It had been about a year now, and Midoriya had to agree with a growing smile at how far they had come. Thinking about how far they had come reminded him of Zach's research paper presentation last week and what Zach mentioned about that, which made him think about a different part of Zach's presentation. He lowered his gaze down to the families behind the third year students while Togata had changed his focus from the past and how hard his classmates had worked to get there to what their future had to be now. It was inspirational, motivational, and Midoriya smiled as he listened to it while searching the crowd of families.

Zach saw Midoriya looking down and around at the family members, and he got a confused look as to why he would be distracted from the amazing speech he had just started watching for a good twenty seconds. He followed Midoriya's stopping gaze into the crowd and one row in from the back on the right side up ahead of them. At two seats close to the outside on the right, Zach spotted two short figures sitting. "Oh hey," he whispered, and Midoriya glanced at him to see Zach looking the same way. The green-haired boy's eyes widened though as Zach whispered to him, "That's Gran Torino, right? What's he doing here? He someone's Grandpa?"

Zach turned in more at Midoriya who he knew was close to Gran Torino, and since he had been looking towards the short old man he figured Midoriya was looking for him and knew why he would be there. Midoriya got a hesitant look on his face though as he glanced back towards Gran Torino, then to Zach again. He looked past at Kirishima, but Kirishima was too into Mirio Togata's speech and Zach was whispering pretty quietly anyway. Midoriya turned to Zach and spoke with a flat lip, confusing Zach who stopped smiling and looking interested, instead getting serious himself. "He's here for Togata senpai," Midoriya started to whisper. "Or mainly, he's here to bring her to see him."

"Her?" Zach whispered, turning his head and looking back towards Gran Torino, and then the chair right next to him where another short figure was sitting. The little girl next to Gran Torino had long silver hair, she wore a little red dress, and Zach could see the tip of a horn sticking up in front of her head. He could only see a part of the side of her face, but she was smiling wide from what he could see.

"That's Eri," Midoriya said softly.

Lemillion, Eri thought, smiling brightly towards the stage. Her face lit up even more as she felt like the man standing up there turned her way, and Gran Torino on her right side let out a small silent chuckle at the look on her face.

Only for him, or Midoriya does she get that look. "Gramps," Gran Torino felt a tug on his left pant leg and he turned in. He was sitting farthest to the outside of the family section, and he looked in at the girl next to him who smiled as brightly as she was just doing as she asked, "We can go see him after, right? We can right?"

"In a bit," Gran Torino assured, lifting a hand and patting the small girl on the head. He ruffled his hand around a little over it, and Eri lowered her head as he pushed some hair lightly down over her face. She smiled too much at that answer to be annoyed by it, and she just blew upwards at the hair over her eyes to push it away, before lifting her head to look at the stage again as Togata was giving his finishing remarks. Gran Torino stared at the girl who turned back to the stage, and he humphed while turning back to it quickly himself, though he could not stop from smiling either.

Zach's eyes opened wide as he stared at Midoriya and then back up towards where those two were sitting. "…He got in the way to protect her, since only he was fast enough at the time. He got hit by the Quirk Destroying bullet though. Yet even after losing it," Midoriya started smiling again as he looked back to the old man he was talking about, "he's still acting as a hero. At least to Eri, and to me, he is. He's protecting, and looking after her at a secret location."

So that no one can get their hands on the Quirk Destroying drug again, Zach thought as he looked that way. If I had known about this Midoriya, I would have added Gran Torino into my report too. Mentioned more about heroes losing their Quirks. A veteran hero like him, losing his Quirk to this new generation of villains… What am I thinking about? The presentation is over. In that case, I shouldn't think about it as classwork, but just a grim reminder of what my presentation said. Gran Torino was a great hero. I saw him in the videos of Camino Ward doing stuff after I thought he had been killed. He saved All Might, he saved Eri, and he was there in Hosu City too. It's sad that he lost his Quirk… Zach's eyes widened and he spun to Midoriya in surprise at the last thing his friend just finished on. Her Quirk is Rewind, and she might be able to bring his Quirk back? Hell, she could turn him into a young man again then, couldn't she? What does mortality mean with Quirks like these?! I could bring anyone back to life, and she could keep them young forever. That's WILD! Oh man. Oh my God! That's so absurd! I'm never mentioning I just thought that to anyone. That's not life. What is life, without death? Holy crap. Zach shivered at the terrifying thought he just had, and Midoriya glanced at him in confusion as to Zach's reaction to him saying Gran Torino could get his power back.

"That's really great," Zach whispered, shifting his thoughts back. The main reason he focused on Gran Torino was so he would not have to focus on Eri, but he glanced at the little girl again too and the genuine smile on her face before she started clapping for the end of Mirio Togata's speech. That's really, really great. She's young. I was so worried. I didn't want to think- or even look at her. When they told me the things that had happened to her… but she has people. She's not alone. And she looks like she's recovered, or recovering from the things Overhaul did to her. That's so great! Zach started clapping with everyone else, but Midoriya looked to his left and into Zach's eyes while he clapped too.

Midoriya's smile as he started clapping for Togata senpai lowered and his eyes opened huge at the water he saw in Zach's eyes. Zach didn't look sad though. Midoriya stared with such wide eyes, because of how happy Zach looked. Zach leaned back while everyone was still clapping and he subtly lifted his left hand to rub each of his wet eyes quickly. If she can do it, then I can too. I won't let what happened to me define my future. I can't. If I think like that, I wouldn't be able to take it. Always look forward. Never forget, but always look forward.

"You too Sero?" Kaminari asked after Sero just said he was going to be leaving for the break between school years.

A lot of Class A students were gathered in the first floor of their dorm room after graduation. It was the last thing they had to do before the next term, and next school year's classes started in a little over a week. They got off in early-mid-April, and they had to be back still in April for the start of the next semester. Sero nodded at Kaminari and opened his mouth to say what he was doing, but he paused and then asked in confusion, "Wait, 'too?' I didn't know you were doing anything."

"You're really going?" Zach asked, turning to the blond next to him with a skeptical look.

"I kept telling you I was," Kaminari said, rolling his eyes with a laugh that Zach was still surprised. The others looked his way now, and Kaminari explained at their looks, "I'm going on a couple of trips. Had all these big plans, and Zach kept calling me out on it saying I wasn't going to do it." He turned back and smirked at the boy at his side still a couple inches shorter than him. "But just because I hadn't bought the tickets or anything until this week, didn't mean I wasn't going to do it."

"You should just plan ahead more," Zach said, crossing his arms as he felt a little defensive at that. Really didn't think he was going to do it, he thought though.

"Where are you going? I'm just spending the week with my parents and extended family. Got really traditional grandparents who live at this old-timey temple," Sero said, looking at Kaminari as it was a question despite his explanation raising questions of its own.

Jirou and Yaoyorozu opened their eyes wider though as they thought back on when they checked out Sero's room and saw how Japanese-y it looked. They had kind of forgotten about it because of Todoroki's even more amazing Japanese-styled room and Sato's delicious cake that came afterwards, but now they remembered it and realized where it may have come from.

"I'm glad you asked! I'm-"

"Sero-kun! Your father is outside waiting for you!" Iida shouted into the building from the door he just rushed into.

Sero spun away from Kaminari in surprise, and he pulled out his phone before smacking himself in the forehead with a palm. "Oh crap. Yeah, thanks Iida!" He started rushing off, and Kaminari sweatdropped as the other boy completely forgot about him.

"See you guys when I get back," Sero called over his shoulder. He turned and said goodbye to a couple of others near the couch area too, but he was in a rush to get to his room and grab his packed bag. His phone had been on silent and he missed the several messages his father sent him from outside the school, so he even used his Quirk to shoot himself towards the stairs, which got Iida chasing after him and calling out not to use his Quirk in such a manner.

Kaminari sighed once Sero was gone, then Jirou said, "So where are you going?"

Kaminari turned back to the others and grinned at the two girls who had been talking with them and did not know his plans unlike Zach. "I'm going on a bus tour over to Kyoto, then take a flight down to Okinawa to hit up some beaches now that it's getting hot!"

"You really did the Okinawa thing too?" Zach asked in surprise, and a bit of jealousy. Always wish I had gone there too.

"Yup," Kaminari replied, putting his hands up behind his head. "Got some money saved up, and what better way to spend it than on a 'vacation,' right?" He nudged Zach with an elbow, then he smirked more at the confused look on Yaoyorozu and Jirou's face at what seemed like an inside joke. Kaminari continued while grinning, "Considering how many pics with cute girls Zach got on his 'vacation' to Kyoto, I'm sure a good-looking guy like me's going to hit the jackpot!" Kaminari explained his reasoning for his amazing mood.

Yaoyorozu let out a small, uneasy laugh, while Jirou got an annoyed look on her own face. She shook her head at Kaminari and said with a smirk, "Afraid Zach's a bit more popular than you Kaminari. Not going to be any girls who want your picture."

Zach got a little red-faced as Jirou mentioned that, but Kaminari just replied in a smug tone, "That's not true. We're all pretty famous by now. I'm going to be swarmed with hotties."

Jirou frowned more in an annoyed way and scoffed, "I'm sure they'll run off as soon as you try a corny pick-up line."

Kaminari rolled his eyes and then replied jokingly, "Well if you're that worried I'm gonna fail why don't you come with me then?" Jirou's left earphone jack swung around and smacked Kaminari on the shoulder which he grabbed only to start laughing. "Joking, joking," he said defensively between laughs. Jirou turned away with a humph and an annoyed look on her face, but Zach and Momo both noticed a slight shade of red on her cheeks there for a second.

Zach smirked and turned to Kaminari, saying before the laughing boy could focus back on Jirou, "When are you leaving?"

Kaminari turned to Zach and said, "Tomorrow morning. Earrrrllyyy," he stretched out the last part and groaned afterwards. "Bus leaves early, and I have to get to the bus station itself- it's a whole thing." He said it with in exasperated sigh, but he smiled again after, "But I'm sure a 6 a.m. energy drink will get me going. Don't want to spend the vacation asleep, you know?"

"Well, send some pictures," Zach said, as he nodded in agreement with Kaminari's sentiment. He paused for a second, then added, "And be careful."

"Ha what are you, my mom-"

"Seriously," Zach said, lowering his smile as he had said it in a lighter tone himself at first that he thought Kaminari might not have realized he meant it. Jirou and Yaoyorozu turned to Zach in some surprise, but Zach did not get too serious. He just said, "The League could target any one of us. Can't be too careful, right?"

Kaminari looked at Zach in surprise for a few more seconds, then he nodded his head and just smiled at him. "Yeah, got you. I'll be fine though," he pulled his shoulders back and then lifted his palms and made sparks come out of them. "I can be really strong, after all."

"And really stupid too," Jirou added, then started giggling herself with a hand over her mouth as she thought about Kaminari's short-circuited state.

Zach turned to Momo again as Kaminari retorted something at Jirou, and Zach smirked again. He lifted his eyebrows as Momo looked his way and motioned them at the other two, but Yaoyorozu just nodded after a second's hesitation and looked back with that small smile that showed she understood what Zach was hinting at. Either she doesn't think it's as amusing, or maybe she's thinking about something else. I'm treating these two like they're being a thing, when we- stop. Don't think about that. You know why you just told Kaminari to be careful. People know who I'm friends with. I haven't been hiding it anymore. I accepted Shigaraki's going to leave me here for some reason, but that still doesn't mean he won't… Calm down. He'll be fine. A lot of the class are taking off for this break. I'm sure, everything will be, okay…

"Oh really? What's that like?" Kaminari leaned in next to him on the bus and looked interestedly at the girl a year older than him. "I'm really into biology," he added at her surprised look at how interested he was about the book she had out, trying to get some of her homework over break done early on.

The tall girl with a pair of glasses on, but a good-looking face behind them and a brown ponytail that made her look like even more of an intellectual looked at Kaminari's face and hummed, wondering if he really was into biology like he said. So she asked him about something pretty simple, that anyone with a basic understanding would be able to understand. Kaminari nodded with that interested look on his face as she talked about it, then he paused after she finished the question, and a thoughtful look came to his face as he leaned back in the seat. It would have actually been convincing which she was surprised about, except it did not work with how simple of a question she had asked to make him look so thought-provoked.

"That's really, just such a…" Kaminari shook his head and then chuckled in an amazed way. "I guess I still have a lot to learn. By the way what are you looking forward to in Kyoto the most?"

The older girl almost laughed at how quickly and shamelessly he changed the subject. Instead of laughing though she sighed, and she glanced back at her book before turning again and out the window on her left side. It was raining out and the sky was pretty dark, but they could still see for miles out from their elevated road. "There's a lot in Kyoto I want to see. A good friend visited recently and told me about it," she said, and Kaminari's eyes widened. Before he could say 'me too,' though, she added, "I'm actually looking forward to the bus tour a lot too though. We're taking such a scenic route, I almost forgot, but look at that." The girl stared out towards the forests and distant giant mountain even bigger than the one they were driving on. The road curved around the side of a tall mountain between Musutafu and Kyoto, and it was a scenic path with a great view at one point that the bus was going to stop at so they could all get off and take pictures.

"Yeah, it is pretty beautiful," Kaminari said. He got such a huge smirk on his face and the girl in front of him sweatdropped with a growing look of dread. "Just like y-"

The bus started slowing down with a hard jolt. The two teenagers jolted forward in their seats and the girl next to Kaminari lifted a hand to push her glasses back up, while she smirked because of what must have been the best luck to avoid hearing that corny line. Kaminari felt the opposite way though, grimacing as he got interrupted. The bus driver had hit the breaks for some reason, and Kaminari leaned to his right into the aisle to look forward and call up asking what was wrong. He looked towards the front of the bus as they slowed even more though, and he did not call anything out because he could see through the front windshield and onto the road around the bend that had just become visible.

"What are we going to do?"

"Can we still get to the top?"

"Are we going to miss the arrival time in Kyoto?"

The bus driver brought them to a full stop and he ran a hand up into his hair. He turned next to him at the younger female tour guide and shook his head before saying something that made her sigh and stand before the rest of the upset passengers. Her voice came out clearly through the bus because of the microphone attached to her shirt collar, "We'll have to find another route. I'll call this in."

"This must have just happened," the bus driver's voice announced over the bus speakers too. "I can still see some smaller rocks falling, but that just makes it clearer that we need to turn back. I didn't think the weather was this bad." He leaned forward and looked up to his right at the wall going up the side of the mountain next to them that the road was carved into.

Kaminari glanced to his left at the girl who had such a disappointed look on her face. "Well this sucks," he said, leaning back himself and agreeing with her expression's tone. "Nothing we can do about the rain though."

"I wonder if-" the girl next to him started. He glanced at her and she stopped talking, shaking her head which just made Kaminari more interested. "I'm Jessica Thompson by the way," she said, turning to the boy who she was talking to and realized she still didn't know his name.

"Denki Kaminari," he replied back. "But what were you starting to say there?" He asked, still interested in that look on her face.

She hesitated, then she leaned up and looked over all the seats in front of her again right as the bus driver started backing them in reverse to try and do a several-point turn to get the bus going back the other direction. It was going to be difficult on the narrow road with such a long vehicle, but he told them that they should be able to work it out soon. "My Quirk would actually, really help with moving those rocks," Thompson said.

"Really?" Kaminari asked in surprise. She did not look like the heavy-lifting type, so he asked, "What's your Quirk?"

Thompson coughed into her arm and looked away, then she replied, "Slime." Kaminari's eyes widened and he leaned back which he grimaced at doing a second later as it seemed like she was already self-conscious about that. The older girl continued quickly, "I can touch thinks and make them slippery. Things that I touch slide against each other really easily too, so even those big rocks would slide over the road, and off the other side… But, it doesn't really matter." Kaminari opened his mouth to say it sounded like a great idea, but she continued, "If more rocks could fall while we're driving, then there's no point in clearing the road. It would just make other people think it's not dangerous."

"Huh," Kaminari said, then he heard the bus driver's exasperated sigh and many of the people on the bus start groaning. Kaminari and Thompson looked back when they saw others looking behind them, and Kaminari sweatdropped before muttering, "Like these people. Oh man," he added, rubbing the side of his head. "How do we back up now? If there's traffic we're gonna be stuck here all…" he faded off.

The truck that pulled up behind them pulled up close enough that the bus driver could not try reversing and then pulling forward again to continue the turn around on the mountain path. That truck did not have a good way of turning though, as a smaller black van seemingly trying to go around the stopped larger vehicles had pulled onto the other side of the road and drove past the left side of the truck so it was closer to the side of the road with the drop off instead of the wall on the bus's other side.

"Don't people get that we're not stopped for no reason?" Thompson asked in frustration, as now they were not getting to the scenic spot and it seemed it would be even longer until they reached Kyoto.

"What's wrong?" The bus driver's voice that should have been quiet from the tone of his whisper came out of the speakers of the bus.

The tour guide spun to the people behind her who all looked up as the bus driver said that, and the driver grimaced as he forgot to turn off his microphone. The younger woman who just told him something turned to the bus passengers, and she hesitated but then lifted a hand to her mic and turned it on. "Sorry everyone. I tried to get in contact with emergency services so they could come out and clear the rocks, but it seems we don't have service this high on the mountain."

"What?!"

"How are we going to get back then? These cars are blocking…"

Thompson turned to Kaminari to say something about their situation, but her eyes opened wide at the sight of the sixteen year old next to her. Kaminari's eyes had narrowed, and his face was deadly serious as he looked past her and towards the black van that kept driving past the side of their bus too but had to stop before getting to the front since they were at an angle from the few turns they tried. He glanced back and saw another two SUVs, a dark red one and a black one pull along the other side of that long truck, but what really got to him was the front door of the truck opening and the driver getting out.

The girl at Kaminari's side glanced back in confusion as to his serious expression, and she hummed as the driver opened his truck door. "At least they'll figure out what's…"

Kaminari's eyes shot open wide and he pulled out his phone fast. He looked down at it and his fingers sparked, and Thompson spun and looked at him with wide-eyes as she caught those sparks in the corner of her eyes. "What are you-"

"It's not the service," Kaminari whispered.

"Who's that?!"

Kaminari's eyes darted up and he looked out the front of the windshield. His breathing picked up faster while others on the bus started talking in more panicked voices, considering there was a man standing out there on the rocks on the road.

"He just dropped down out of nowhere!"

"He's wearing a costume! Must be here to clear the rubble!"

"How'd he know?"

"Maybe there were other cars here before us?"

"What do you mean it's not the service?" Thompson whispered, her eyes huge.

What do I do? What do I- this is- this is definitely… Kaminari's fingers sparked on his phone more, and he started tapping on it quickly.

"Oh my God!"

"Why are they all getting out- holy shit!"

"They're all wearing-"

"Those aren't heroes-"

Kaminari snapped his head up and looked through the front windshield, to see the tall, light-skinned, bald man standing on the largest rock blocking the road smirk through the windshield of the bus at the panicking passengers inside. People were getting out of the SUVs and van and truck, and they were all wearing costumes, and they all had appearances that did not match those of heroes. Thompson whispered on Kaminari's left, "They're all, villains."

Kaminari's face covered in sweat as he looked at that bald man through the windshield. "Oh fuck me."

A/N Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. What's Kaminari going to do? What's going on? So I just finished up my study abroad program here in Japan and I won't have time to write very often in the next few days, which means I'll likely catch up to where I'm currently at editing-wise. Gonna travel the country now that I've got a week before it's back to the states. Anyway, also wanted to mention about the first scene in this chapter. Nagiso was a guy in a flashback with Zach much earlier on who I wanted to add back in for a while. Mirio Togata, still has his Quirk, but Gran Torino lost his? Things changed when Zach became Lifebringer. Big part of that, might have been that Kurogiri and Zach were working together to save people with him as Lifebringer around that time where in the manga Gran Torino left the Overhaul mission to hunt down Kurogiri. Wondered what would've happened if Gran Torino was there, decided to still have Sir Nighteye die, but Gran Torino lost his Quirk instead of Togata. So stuff like that wasn't really delved into much as I never specified exactly what differences happened b/w the manga and Death before. Could be other differences, other things could have changed, so don't assume everything from the manga has happened in this AU. A new arc starts here at the end of the chapter during the break between school years. What is going to happen?! Find out next time!

Favorite Reader chapter 49 . Jul 27

Does Zach's quirk grant him any enhanced physical abilities in his Nightmare Form?
SO... if we were to translate this properly. Zach's durability comes from the Diluted Death on his body in Nightmare form, but does he gain any noteworthy enhanced strength, maybe not on the same level but enough to break stone or concrete effortlessly. I know this was not touched upon because Zach never really fights against inanimate things because he thought Nightmare would only work on living things like his right hand. So, basically he never learned if his strength was enhanced because was never put into a situation where his strength was being tested and was forced to use Nightmare.
-The only thing I'm wondering now is... Does Nightmare give him any level of enhanced strength
Can his long range attack energies be used to destroy physical inanimate objects at a distance rather than just knock people out? (Did Death Grenade damage the floor or something like that when he landed it testing it against Ectoplasm? (Is he awake now? Did Zach apologize to him?...)
Awesome story by the way!
Why is Zach still Fun-Sized?! If he and Momo get together please dont make it awkward and that includes the fact he's four inches shorter than her...

Thanks for the long review! Cut out a little bit of it, but I'll try to respond to it all. As of the last chapter we see that Zach is able to focus Death to make himself a bit stronger, since he was able to smash out of the ice when he wasn't able to before, as well as land that far drop and still be able to walk away, even if he was limping. He's been training for a few months straight too that we've seen, and doing it in Nightmare form specifically. We have yet to see him do anything really big strength-wise with it though, and I wouldn't say 'effortlessly' he can break stone, we haven't seen anything implying he can do that yet. Zach was not proved to be immune to disease, but back in the court case one of the prosecutors made the accusation that considering Zach's right hand kills whatever it touches, then bacteria that cause disease would die and he might not never get sick. Never mentioned that Death Grenade destroyed any of the floor, and the next chapter kind of sped by the days after that, so considering I think the second scene in it they made no mention of Ectoplasm it was left to you to kind of guess that he was alright so there was no bigger deal made out of it. I'm glad you've liked the story so far, and don't worry, Zach's still getting taller! We'll see if he manages to pass her though... XD Thanks again!

LordOfTee chapter 48 . Jul 27

That was a wonderfully written presentation! And I'm glad that Zach isn't Super hung about the traitor but is still very keen.

Thanks, (from me and Zach). Zach's starting to relax more around his classmates and friends, but he knows the spy is still there somewhere... Glad you enjoyed, and hope you're ready for the new arc!

D-Koy24 chapter 48 . 20h ago

I shall vote for Zach! That was amazing- surprised you made the whole chapter about his speech- but who cares, you/ Zach I don't know which anymore killed it,no you didn't kill it you killed then brought it back and killed it over and over!
*clears throat* (Kneels down and chants "I'm not worthy") Seriously Bakugo must be pissef he's going up after that XD LOL

Zach was awesome even though he didn't surround the flag with death... But hey a nice chapter where Zach doesn't feel like he has to be an outcast.
~D-Koy, sorry for short review I have a headache! (Ouch too loud!)
Haha thanks! Really glad you liked chapter 48. Didn't know if I could make a chapter about an essay actually come out interesting and good. Bakugo was def pissed, still thinking about it the next day at capture the flag for the beginning a bit. Also glad you liked the game, and don't worry about the short review, 'cause the consistency's awesome! Thanks for the reviews!

Guest chapter 1 . 19h ago

i loved it it was amazing! i also love my hero academia

Thanks! I love it too!