Disclaimer: I don't own Boku no Hero Academia

Chapter 70:

"All of you have been given offers for the week long workplace internships that you went through last year," Mother Russia said to the class of twenty-one students in front of her. "Which is good, because as second years there would be no list of heroes to send those of you without offers." Mother Russia paused as the whole class looked confused and excited and nervous at the same time.

"Excuse me, sensei," Iida began as he threw his hand up in the air. "Is it really, pertinent to us to-"

"Are you too afraid to leave campus, future hero?" Mother Russia interrupted with a glare in his direction. Iida leaned back and then shook his head quickly, but before he could deny such a thing, Mother Russia said, "In that case, you're free to stay here instead. The internships are optional," she said, and the students started glancing around at each other wondering what that meant. A few of the more nervous ones gulped and looked down at their desks in hesitant ways. "The training you undergo here with me through that week will not be easy, but I admit it will be safer," she said, scratching her chin and humming to herself. "Recovery Girl will still be here, after all."

Mineta gulped and in his head saw a rock and a hard place and he was bouncing back and forth into them. He lifted his gaze to the scary Russian lady in front of them whose training they had gone through in the past week and a half. Yaoyorozu thought of something as she thought about that training they had been doing too, and she said, "Excuse me, but last year we received the internship offers the day we returned after the Sports Festival. Is-"

"There was a bit of confusion and deliberation over whether or not the school was going to let this happen," Mother Russia began. "But if we're too scared to send students out to get experience, then we're going to be sending half-prepared brats out into the real world when they graduate just to be killed by villains." Half the class gawked at her blunt wording of that sentence, and a few more of them gulped if they were thinking about staying at school and taking her training course. "Then again, the choice is yours. With all those recently-escaped villains, heroes need more help than ever these coming weeks. It also means that you'll almost definitely be getting in fights with villains out there. Considering the amount of offers this year, heroes are really desperate for the help."

"Wait," Mineta whispered as he remembered what Mother Russia started with. "We all got offers?!" He asked in surprise.

"Yes, even you tiny Mineta," she said. She smirked after saying it though, and she pointed the remote at the green board behind her so names would start appearing. They rose from the bottom of the board to the top, and Koda's name appeared first with 6 offers next to his name. Then Mineta's appeared and the smallest boy in the class's eyes widened as he thought, Not last?! He only had a couple more offers than Koda, but he still spun towards the bigger student with a victorious look on his face that made Mother Russia lose her smirk as somehow that boy felt this was a victory.

Koda lowered his head a little, but Sato leaned forward and said to the boy in front of him, "It's just not fair huh?" Koda lifted his head and saw Sato's name appeared above Mineta's, and he turned to Sato who let out an exasperated sigh at their low number of offers. Koda nodded in agreement with a small smile as it still was not that bad. I got offers from pro heroes! Koda thought, spinning back to the board and wondering who those six heroes were.

"Aww," Hagakure snapped in a disappointed way as she appeared five up from the bottom. "I even showed off my Super Move and everything."

Ojiro waited until he popped up two more above his girlfriend, then he looked towards her and shrugged his own shoulders as he was not expecting that much either. After Ojiro in seventh to last though, there was a jump from the seventy offers he received to two hundred that the next person up did. Sero dropped his jaw at the huge jump from last year, then he spun to his right as the next bar popped up right after with his partner from the first round's name on it. "Eyy, looks like you got some this year."

"Whoopee!" Ashido pumped a fist in the air, and Mother Russia did not say anything as she looked back herself at the bar with 240 next to it. The bar still looked tiny though, and everyone looked closer wondering how much larger they were going to get.

"Dang," Uraraka smacked her hands down on her desk in an upset way. Iida glanced back at her while a bunch of others around her looked her way, and Uraraka frowned while saying, "Out of everyone in the finals…"

"I get the feeling," Shoji agreed, a mouth appearing on his bottom right hand. Uraraka looked towards him, then back and her eyes widened as Shoji had actually appeared farther down.

Kaminari's name appeared one above Uraraka and the blond grinned, leaning back in his chair while the two finalists who got fewer offers frowned in his direction from behind him. "Guess my power's just too cool," he said, and more of the others who did not get as high numbers frowned his way too. Zach glanced to the right at his best friend and then back at the board, feeling a nervous excitement as his name had yet to appear.

Yaoyorozu hummed to herself and then smiled in acceptance of the number she received when it popped up. Much more than last year. I believe I did better as well. Kirishima was just the better fighter this time around, she looked towards the redhead with a small smile as Kirishima's name popped up on the board.

"Nice!" Kirishima said, slamming a fist down with a big grin on his face as his name popped up with just over 1000 offers. Three quarters of the class were up on the board already, a little more as Tokoyami's name popped up with a few hundred more than Kirishima. Then there was another gap of over a thousand, and Iida leaned forward with wide eyes behind his glasses at the sight of his name and how large the jump was from last year.

Whoa! This is, this is crazy! Zach thought, and then his jaw dropped as the next name appeared on the board. The room was silent, and no one dared look his way. The whole class just stayed silent as they watched the next few names appear until the list was finished. Zach gulped as he looked three from the top, where he saw his name and the number of offers that was somewhere around the amount that Todoroki got the year before. I can't believe this. Zach started panting while looking at the bar labeled '4072.' What was more unbelievable than the number of offers though, was the name below his that made him hesitant to look over but had him darting his eyes that way as he could not stop himself.

Midoriya stared at the board with his jaw dropped. He looked at it with shaking eyes, and his hands closed into fists over his desk shaking wildly from the sight of his name at the top of the list. I beat Todoroki, and Kacchan?! Midoriya stared at the bar that stretched across the board, and the half dozen thousand offers he received next to it. "I-I-I," he stammered, then he gulped and his hands kept shaking over his desk. I must have done it. I told the world "I am here." That video we watched on the first day of class, how many heroes were watching it? All For One isn't the only one who knows now, everyone is looking at me.

Bakugo ground his teeth over and over again as he stared his name down on the board. He snarled and darted his eyes Midoriya's way, then his eyes shot open wide as the nervous and shaky look he first saw appear on Deku's face had gone away. Only a few seconds after seeing how many pro heroes wanted him at their agencies, Midoriya's breathing had calmed down as did the expression on his face. Damn it, Bakugo thought, looking down at his arms that he lifted in front of him. Then he looked down towards his legs under his desk and narrowed his eyes at them. There were no places in this year's Sports Festival, but, he rose his eyes to the board and a spot four places down where he barely got any more offers than he had the year before. I know I lost.

"As expected, Todoroki," Yaoyorozu said with a glance to her right at the boy sitting next to her.

The boy with the second most offers in the class nodded thanks at her instead of attributing all the offers to his dad as he had the year before. Videos showed Inhuman destroying those ANTs, and yet we took him down. After seeing how strong the Anti-Nomus were in the first round, every person involved in stopping Inhuman was obviously going to receive a lot of offers. Still, 5500 is a lot to choose from. I won't go with Dad again. Even if he is a better hero now, I've seen him in action enough. I need to diversify. Aizawa sensei said it during the Sports Festival, my fighting style is too predictable. Tokoyami avoided my flames, and Midoriya had counters prepared for everything. Inhuman also saw my attacks coming as well, and he was able to stop me from using my Quirk because of his power. Getting close to my classmates or pulling them towards him. I need precision, more like Bakugo.

Todoroki glanced to his right towards Bakugo, only to see a much more frustrated look on the spiky-blond boy's face as he clenched and unclenched his fists under his desk. In Todoroki's mind he saw Bakugo scream at the top of his lungs while blasting the two of them through the air after he had been nailed by a powerful blow from Inhuman and needed to be saved. He had seen Bakugo's arms after that and known something was wrong, but seeing his arms shaking still now made him frown at the thought that his getting hurt might have been part of the cause. I'm, the Hand-Crusher, Todoroki thought sadly, looking back down at his desk with a dark look in his eyes. He didn't want to say it aloud considering how Midoriya and Iida reacted to it, but he had been serious despite how much those two had laughed.

I really, can't believe this. Zach was still staring at the board in disbelief. Most other people don't have recordings of the Sports Festival maybe, so they might not remember all the stuff that happened then. The news hasn't replayed any of the weird stuff either too. I saw myself mentioned as being at the hospital bringing people back who died from their injuries, and they talked about me bringing Shoji back too while still on stage. Is that it? Or fighting Inhuman too? How much of me in Nightmare form did they get on video? We had the full footage to watch, but I know not all of it was televised. Whoever had control was making the televised bits jump around between Musutafu and the stadium. Then after the better video got put on, I think it started recording the stage again so it should have gotten me turning into Nightmare. Maybe that's actually why people have been staring so much. Not because of the scars or the torture or the crazy things I threatened, but they're just terrified of Nightmare.

Zach looked down at his desk, then he got a more thoughtful look on his face. Maybe Softy was right though. If I got that many offers, maybe they aren't really that afraid of Nightmare? I mean, Tokoyami, and even Kuroiro are some pretty scary and dark guys. If people saw Tokoyami's Dark Shadow go out of control too, they might be freaked-out. But I had control in Nightmare. The first time they saw it, if they didn't see it in the Lifebringer video, it was me fighting villains! That's gotta count for something- it did! It did count for something, seeing as I have 4072 job offers. It's the work thing where we spend a full week with them though, and not actually something we get paid doing-

"After these week-long internships, if you make good connections out there, you can attempt to keep your internships going in similar fashions to your fall ones after the week is over," Mother Russia said to the class while they were all still looking at the list showing their offers. They looked up at their muscular teacher with long white-blonde hair who turned towards Zach, "Ask the others what that entails if you need to. If you'll be doing-" Zach started nodding in agreement and Mother Russia grunted, then she turned back straight ahead and continued, "I'll hand out your lists now with the hero agencies you can pick from."

Jirou looked ahead of her with a hesitant look on her face. She glanced to her right at Kaminari, and he looked left as well to his friend sitting on his left side. Jirou leaned forward a bit on Zach's right in between him and Kaminari, and she said in a low voice, "You sure about that?"

Zach glanced right at her, then at Kaminari, then around in some more surprise as they were not the only two looking at him oddly. "I need the money," Zach started. It's been way too long. I haven't used the ATM card that much in the last month, barely at all actually. Still though, using it even a little is too much. Besides, I need the experience too. I'm not staying here while everyone else goes out. Not when I have so many offers. So many opportunities. Zach smiled and added, "It'll be fine. It's no more dangerous than staying here."

The others looking his way had things they felt like they needed to say. A lot of them were scared that Zach would get taken again, now that they knew what had happened to him the last time he was with the villains. It was pretty clear he was a target too, but the last thing he said made all of them open their eyes wide. It was such a simple statement that none of them had really thought about.

Kurogiri, could make portals anywhere, Kaminari thought with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face.

With that many villains on their side, if they stormed U.A., would anyone really be able to stop them? Jirou got a grim look in her eyes. Hopefully the ANTs are a deterrent, and there are heightened security- plus the school is just a lot safer than… but, they have Trigger. And who knows if there are more guys like that Inhuman in their ranks? Not to mention…

If All For One attacked U.A., no one would be able to stop him, Midoriya thought while looking across the room towards Zach's seat. Why doesn't he then? Why allow this society of heroes to keep existing? Why not tear it all down if he has the power to? He hummed, and then he lifted his head and looked at Mother Russia who was walking towards him first with the thickest packet of papers in her hand. The papers were covered in list after list of heroes who had sent him offers, compared to the one he received the previous year.

Zach looked towards Midoriya who he spotted start looking down at his packet with a nervous but serious look on his face. His eyes widened for a second, and then he turned the other way and looked out the windows. Oh yeah, he thought. He frowned for a second, then his lips curled back up and he smiled while looking out at some dark clouds that just blocked out the sun. It's not so bad. Shouldn't be too hard actually…

Zach got his stack of papers that was a little thinner than Midoriya and Todoroki's. He started looking through the names and got a small smile on his face as he reached the bottom of the first page. Mt. Lady's still with me at least. He thought about a piece he watched on an entertainment news program the night before on his phone that had been going viral. The program got more views the more controversial it got, and the young edgy crew arguing with each other on the show had talked about him extensively. They showed a clip of me angry at the courthouse and then a picture of me in Nightmare back to back. Glad they didn't get clips of me saying I'd kill All Might on there. I haven't seen any of the clips Hackerman showed actually, even in the replay we watched in class we couldn't see the big screens… Hackerman, Ganeshi, Twice, K-Blaster, and a whole bunch of others were all arrested. Bomber and Spinner are dead. Inhuman got caught too, not that I knew who he was before, but that's a nice blow. Zach flipped through his packet while not really thinking too hard on the names he was looking at.

He scrolled through the hundreds upon thousands of heroes who sent him offers, and occasionally he grinned at certain names. Then his lips dipped far down at the name he saw in the middle of his packet's fourth page. Endeavor… Going with the number one hero, would be pretty amazing. I'm sure there are things Endeavor can teach me. And, he's a pretty amazing hero too. Zach's eyes darkened and his hands tightened on the sides of his packet. "Todoroki, Shoto? Weird that you'd bring him up. Hey kid, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret…" Dabi. I told you all about me, you knew everything. So when you told me about yourself, I was glad. I was looking for the good in you. But, I wish you had never told me that, you fucking psychopath.

Zach's eyes twitched and his fingers dug harder into his packet. Keep searching, he thought, trying to push certain thoughts out of his head. He had to resist the urge to look back towards Todoroki, keeping his gaze pointed down at his packet that he flipped a page of. He flipped through for a few more seconds, then he lifted his head as Mother Russia told them they could take their time with picking. They had two days to return with their answers of whether or not they wanted to do the internships and which hero they would be going to if they decided to go. Mother Russia then left the room since they were doing this at the end of class anyway.

"Dude," Kaminari got out of his seat and leaned over Zach's to look down at his packet. "I can't believe how many you got. So unfair," Kaminari said, though he was grinning at Zach's stack of papers anyway. "So, you thinking about anyone in particular yet?"

Zach started shaking his head, and then he turned and noticed Jirou up and standing next to him too as were Sero and Shoji. "I was," he started, then he frowned and glanced back down at his packet. He turned again and looked at Kaminari, "Remember when we fought Shatterer? And afterwards," Zach slowed as Kaminari's eyes widened, then the blond looked down with a grimace on his face too. Zach continued to the others who just got confused by that, "Edgeshot, gave me his card. If I was going to be allowed to do an internship, it was going to be with him."

The others started frowning as they realized why Zach had that unenthusiastic look on his face despite how many offers he had in front of him. Zach stood up after saying it, and he took his packet with him while looking around at the others and asking the same question Kaminari asked back to them. All of them had over a hundred offers and replied that they had not searched through all of them yet. Mineta then chimed in that he didn't know how he was going to pick between all his offers. They all looked back at the short boy who was leaning back with a smug look on his face, and a slip of paper with nine heroes listed on it in front of him.

Zach waited a little just talking to his classmates, then he headed back a little and to Midoriya's seat where Uraraka and Aoyama were already standing. Aoyama was making a big deal out of the 50 offers he had received which the other two were going along with as Zach walked up. "Hey," Zach started as Aoyama stopped talking for a second. "Nice job Midoriya," he said, nodding at his friend's huge pile of papers sitting open on his desk.

"Th-thanks," Midoriya replied. He looked at Zach funny for a second, then down at his papers again with a more serious look.

"You got a lot of offers this time too, Zach," Uraraka said while turning to the black haired boy on her right. "Do you know who you're thinking about?"

"Not a clue yet," Zach replied with a small laugh. Trying to narrow it down though, he thought, glancing back at Midoriya and sighing internally at his curly-haired friend's indecisive look.

Midoriya wasn't flipping through the papers as he stared down at them, and Zach leaned forward a bit to look down at where Midoriya was looking. "Looks like you've got someone you're interested in though?" He said it like he had noticed but ended with his tone raising since he did not know which name it was Midoriya was staring at. None of the names at the top of the sheet were really sticking out to Zach as obvious choices.

"Deku's, between two right now, right?" Uraraka turned back to the green-haired boy who finally rose back his head only to shake it. "You've decided, already?"

Midoriya took a deep breath and then nodded, steadying his expression though there was still a bead of sweat on the side of his face. All Might already told me she was giving me an offer. I thought maybe I would go with someone else, the top ranked if I could. And number 2 ranked Hawks is a really cool hero, and Tokoyami said- but, All Might's suggestion last year changed everything. Though, Gran Torino was my only offer last year too… But I'm decided! Midoriya took a deep breath and then his cheeks went a little red, A hero that All Might sounded so impressed by, even though I haven't heard much about her. I can't wait to see what kind of Quirk she uses up close! I wish there was more online about her.

"Sooo, who is it?" Zach asked, as Midoriya was just looking somewhat nervous and pretty excited.

"Oh! She's," Midoriya lifted up his packet to point at the name second from the top. "She's?" Uraraka, Aoyama, and Zach all thought at the same time as Midoriya hesitated before continuing. While Uraraka frowned a bit, Aoyama turned in towards her, which Uraraka saw and went bright red in the cheeks as she thought about something Aoyama had asked her before.

Zach thought it for a different reason than the smirking blond boy and embarrassed brunette. There's only one female hero at the top of that list. Which means-

"The Smashing Heroine: Wonderlass," Midoriya said while pointing at the female hero's name. "She's a little like Aizawa sensei, in that she isn't too into press conferences." Midoriya smiled softly while saying it, but his smile lowered down after a second as it was too soon to think fondly back on their homeroom teacher without feeling bad. Sensei. Why did, they hide your body? Could they have not wanted Zach to, Midoriya looked up at Zach, and he got a confused look on his face as Zach had taken out his phone and was focused on it unlike the other two who also had more grim expressions.

Up in Hokkaido, and nice! Right in the middle of the island. Zach checked out something on the web and then noticed Midoriya looking up at him just past his phone that he did not take his attention off of. I think within 100 miles of Yabino City should be good. "I'm surprised," Zach said, looking up from his phone and looking back at his friend who the others were about to mention something to as well, though Uraraka looked ready to pounce on Aoyama and cover his mouth if need be. "That name sounds pretty amazing for someone who isn't well known. 'Wonderlass.' Sounds like one of those old comic book heroes." Zach glanced back at his phone and tapped back a few pages then clicked on images without moving his hand around very much. "Doesn't look like it though," he added, turning the phone so the others could see the black and dark blue costume she was wearing.

"Whoa," Uraraka said, feeling all her jealously disappear at the sight of the woman on the screen. She gulped and then scratched the back of her head, while Midoriya got some sweat on his face too at the sight of her.

"Not very, dazzling," Aoyama said. The woman they were looking at had a thick black helmet on both sides of her head but nothing over the top of her scalp, showing off that her head was completely shaved. Her costume was not skin-tight, instead looking baggy on the picture taken of her frowning during a press conference two years back. Her eyes were blue, but what should have been the whites of her eyes were red instead. Her skin was light-toned, her baggy pants were black without any design on them, and the costume over her torso only had a dark blue 'W' in the center of it to make it not all black. Her cape was the same dark blue though, as were her big gloves that made her hands look disproportionately huge compared to the rest of her body.

"All Might says that she is very strong," Midoriya said in defense of the woman his friends did not seem all that impressed by.

"You talked to All Might about it already?" Uraraka asked in surprise, considering they just got the lists.

Zach sweatdropped at his friend who got a flustered look on his face for a second while spinning and looking at the short girl next to his desk. "He just mentioned that she had sent an offer already, so I was thinking about it before we-"

"Well if you've already had a head-start," Zach cut in, trying to help Midoriya get off the subject while also glad to have a good excuse to move back to his seat. "Then I need to get to looking," he said, turning and waving around his thick packet he had still barely looked through. Alright. There've gotta be a ton of heroes in here who work in Hokkaido. Zach smiled while heading to his desk. And now since I don't have any real preference, Edgeshot's face appeared back in his head and his small smile dipped back down. He was not lying when he told his friends he was looking forward to it before, and thinking about that great hero who thought well of him made him sad. It was not as much that he could not work with him any longer, just the fact that he had been killed that was getting to Zach.

He sat down and shook his head around though while looking back at his packet. It'll take a while to go through all these names, but I need to do it. I promised All Might after all that I'd try to protect my friend. Zach's eyes shifted to the corners and he looked back towards Midoriya who was talking with Iida and Tokoyami too now who were interested in all the heroes Midoriya got who must have passed up even Todoroki. I'm not going to slack on my own internship, but All Might's right to be worried. I am too. This is the perfect time for them to attack you. And really, I guess attack me too. And I don't need to tell you. I just know, if I am the one who is targeted during this, you're as likely to come help me as I am to help you. Plus you don't even have to plan it out beforehand like this.

Zach looked down at his sheet and at the very first name at the top of it. He sighed and pulled out his phone, searching the hero's name on the web since he did not really know of the guy's agency. Do it for everyone. It doesn't matter if I've heard of them. Just narrow down first, then pick from the remaining few hundred. Luckily I don't have to search a few of them. Zach sighed to himself as he thought it though, while reaching down and scribbling out the name of 'Mt. Lady,' who he was only a little disappointed worked so close to their school. Mineta warned us about that anyway, Zach thought with a small grin, before losing it as he had to reach up and scribble out the name at the top of his list too. He recognized the name below as well from his trip to Kyoto when he saw the hero and his sidekicks patrolling, and he scratched that one out with a bead of sweat on the side of his face.

There are a lot of heroes in Hokkaido, right?

Zach sat at his desk in his room. He let out a gasp and dropped his pencil on the desk, and he leaned back in his chair with an exhausted look on his face. That took, way too long. He looked forward and through his window into the dark sky outside. Should go to sleep soon. Do I save picking the agency for tomorrow? Zach sighed and lifted his left hand to rub his forehead with. He looked down at his papers while rubbing his forehead, and he grimaced while flipping back to the first page.

Let's see, he thought, while skipping pages and checking how many circled names he had. Ten, twenty, more more more… There must have, been less offers from heroes in Hokkaido. He frowned and pressed his fingers into his forehead that scrunched up even more. It's not bad. I had three choices last year- though, Grappler was an easy choice. Seems like All Might had a good one picked for Midoriya too. Everybody pretty much had it figured out by dinner already too. Jirou and Kaminari both picked Condoriano. Wasn't expecting that. Kaminari said he picked first, maybe Jirou's- Ah, focus! Zach shook his head around and then sighed again, though his sigh turned into a yawn halfway out of his mouth.

Yaoyorozu still doesn't know who she's going to, Zach thought, trying to convince himself to just wait until tomorrow as there were other people who were undecided too. What if she's, doing what Jirou- Zach's eyes opened wide and he spun on his chair to look at the door behind him, imagining through it and a door down the hall across from his where he could practically see Yaoyorozu's door. No no, she's, she's probably not, Zach thought, leaning back on his chair and turning forward again. Then again, he looked up at his ceiling. He thought about looking up like this, and a face leaning down over his with tears in her eyes. Even when she's crying, she's…

Zach closed his eyes and let out a smaller yawn this time, though he was feeling less tired all of a sudden. Guess, I should pick tonight, he leaned up and looked down at his packet which was something to distract himself. He frowned as he kept flipping through the pages though, and then he let go of the packet again and started rubbing his head with his left hand. What's stopping me? I can't even look up any of these heroes seriously. I checked where their agencies were, and now I know pretty much every town and city in Hokkaido. Geography's my new strong point. "Ughh," he groaned as he sidetracked himself with useless thoughts. It's because I'm back to life.

Zach rose his right hand, and he pressed it into his head while sliding the fingers from the glove. He had two gloves now for casual use so that he could do laundry and wash one while still wearing a protective cover on his right hand. I tried it on a spider the other day, so insta-kill is still in the picture. What about Nightmare mode though? Does this, he looked down at his blackened arms that had wisps coming out of them when he moved them. Does this still just knock people out? I haven't really used it since I revived. Bringing back Kirishima, made something change inside him. How could Death not work on those people anymore? It's like a bullet to the head, but the bullets are suddenly blanks if they're shot at certain people? It's poison that all those people have gained immunity to? That's decent, I guess. Except for Shigaraki… Zach thought about bringing the leader of the League of Villains back to life, and it made him think of what happened right after that.

His expression turned dark, and his fists clenched while he leaned back over his desk. This is no time to be decisive. I changed the answer. That part of my life is over. Jenny, I'll always love you. Your parents too. And I'll get justice for you too, when I've become a great hero. Zach looked down at the papers and he pulled the staple out of the top left corner as if doing so made it more serious or something. He spread all the sheets out around his desk, and he looked at the dozens of circled names he had there. Thousands of heroes, but only a hundred or so close to Yabino. There were more offers from heroes in Shikoku and Kyushu… Alright. Forget about it. It probably won't even matter, but it's just a precaution. I'll get a lot out of any internship I go to. Most of the class doesn't even- well, a lot of the others still don't even have this many.

I'm not too tired. I'll do my research. Check each of them, pros and cons, and pick the best! Shouldn't take all night…

At five in the morning, Zach rose his head to the blinds in front of him. He grabbed one of the strings over his desk and pulled it, making each of the blinds twist a bit to let in all the light from outside. He did not raise them, so bars of light just hit his body instead of a wave of it all at once. He winced and lowered his head a bit to keep his eyes in between two bars of light, but he still had to squint and blink his eyes a few times in a tired way.

"How much time 'til class?" Zach muttered, a small smile on his face. He yawned and lifted his phone in front of his face, then as soon as he checked the time, his phone died again. Zach rolled his eyes and walked to the side of his bed to plug it into his charger. Maybe it'll be back up to half by the time my alarm goes off, he thought in an exhausted way. He yawned again while walking back to his desk, and he pushed aside some papers he had written notes on. He crumpled up a sheet that had a bracket on it of heroes he had pit against each other, but he smiled before fully crushing it into a ball at the name in the center of the bracket. This was totally, well, not the best hero on the list, he thought, almost laughing to himself at the way he worded that thought. But even if I had the entire list to pick from, I feel like I couldn't have gone any better.

Zach leaned back in his seat, a smile on his face while thinking, The Racing Hero: Bikergang. This is going to be, epic.

In the library near central Musutafu, Zach Sazaki leaned back from his boxed-in table and rubbed his hands up through his black hair. This is crazy. Too many, too many people are just way too crazy. Zach's eyes darted around, then back to the screen where he saw himself on it. After bringing someone back to life he was desperately trying to do it again for someone else. He gulped while scrolling back down through the comments, while the video at the top of the screen got pulled down with his scrolling so he could keep watching while reading.

"It's pretty obvious. Lifebringer is clearly a God. All hail the coming of the new messiah."

"Look at his arms at 3:32. Remind you of anything?" There was a picture of Zach that flashed on the screen at that exact time with big red writing covering the video. It showed Zach in the middle of the torture he had not even remembered at the Sports Festival, and the creepy video flashed to pictures like that one throughout it. I don't like this, Zach thought. He glanced around him again, and he shivered thinking about the feeling he had on his way to the library. That girl's probably still following me around. Ignoring her might make her leave me alone, though, she's kind of insane! I wouldn't be surprised if she found out where I was going for the internship and followed me there. I need to do something about that. What if she gets as crazy as Toga or something, and she tries killing me just because she's that obsessed?

Zach gulped while looking at the video that just neared the end, as he heard the woman he was talking to outside of the hospital in Musutafu say something that had shivers go up his spine. "…the tumor was gone, and we- we lived our lives to the fullest this past year." Zach watched as the screen went black and red writing covered up that black screen slowly. He read the text for a few seconds before closing his eyes and shaking his head. Too many crazy people. But, now that people know stuff like that… Won't they, start trying what I was afraid of? People with cancer giving up, and calling me so I'll come and bring them back without it? Should I do that? I mean, it would keep them from suffering from it and paying so much in hospital payments. I could save so many more people, if I put my number out there and let people with deadly diseases… But I'm in school. I have a busy schedule- a busy schedule? Should that stop me from saving people?

A picture of Zach reappeared on the screen as it ended, no text on the video with him. It just showed Zach held there with his arms pulled to the sides by large metal hooks. He was in the middle of getting cut, but the look in his eyes was defiant and strong. How do I get as unwavering as that guy? He wondered while staring at himself. Wasn't very hard to find conviction like that I guess, when it's not like I could have done anything to back up my words. When I actually have the power to, choices to make and options laid out in front of me, how much harder it gets.

Zach got up from his seat at the library and he decided to head back to campus. Shouldn't be leaving for such long periods of time. Principal Nezu told me the punishment has been completed, and that the school trusts me again. I don't know what I did to gain it back. Maybe saving Shoji. Or just the way I acted after the Sports Festival? Zach walked out of the library and headed down the steps to the sidewalk. He glanced around the street, and he sighed as another nice weekend day was going by without many people out enjoying it. Makes it easier to walk around though. Not going to wear a hoodie out in this heat, but it's nice not having to worry about being swarmed.

He walked down the sidewalk back in the direction of his school. He could not shake the feeling he was being followed, which he wondered if it was because he actually felt that sensation or if he was being paranoid because of what that girl had told him a week earlier. Zach shook his head to rid that anxiety from his mind, then he narrowed his gaze and thought, Don't have to worry about being swarmed by civilians, but villains could attack at any time. Couldn't they? His fists tightened and he glared towards the rooftops, towards windows on every floor of tall buildings all around him. Come on, Zach thought, the right corner of his lip curling up as he spotted movement in a window. Even if it's just a random person, it's time to smile.

Zach faced forward and started grinning as he walked back towards his school. I'm about to spend a week away from U.A. And if all goes well, I'll be leaving often to go to an internship afterwards. Making money to provide for myself. Saving people as a real hero. This is no time to cower in fear. People need positivity. They need to see their heroes out and about. Most people don't think I'm a monster, or evil, like those assholes on the Weekend Tonight show. Most people aren't really crazy about me either too, and those commenters might've just been messing around online too. Whoever made the video wasn't though. That shit, was really weird. I've never seen anyone talk about Stain like… well, those cult guys were actually acting kind of like he was a God. As they butchered the-

Zach lost his smile, but he had to force it back up as he continued to walk back to school. He saw a couple of people walking the other direction as him down the sidewalk, and those two immediately recognized him by the look of it. They stared at him with wide eyes, and they looked a bit nervous at the scar-faced teen's appearance in front of them. He smiled in a friendly way towards them though and it put them at ease. "Afternoon," Zach said while walking by, nodding at them and then continuing on his way without slowing down.

Don't be secretly villains, Zach thought. He was glad they just nodded back at him without saying anything, as he would have felt obligated to start talking to them after that friendly greeting if they did stop. They didn't pull weapons out once he had walked past either which made him smile even more. She'd probably take you out before you could get to me anyway, Zach thought, and he almost laughed darkly at the idea of that. Alright no, that's way too creepy. I need to do something about her. I should have asked her name at least. Then, I could tell the police who to… Zach's expression got darker. I told her I cared. I don't even know why she killed herself. Is bringing her back, enough to save her though? I didn't think so back then. I still don't. But what I did back then wasn't enough either. How do I help this person, this creepy, creepy person?

Zach got back on U.A. campus and showed his I.D., then he went and checked in at the main office. He saw Present Mic in the office and talked to him for a minute, mentioned where he was going for his internship since he had not seen him since deciding. Zach felt a little sad as he left the office. Mic sensei, really isn't the same anymore. The blond teacher had smiled and talked to Zach, but he wasn't his loud usual self and it had Zach's expression dark as he headed back to his dorm in Heights Alliance. I think Aizawa sensei, was probably his best friend.

Zach pulled his phone out as he walked back to Class A's dorm building. He checked a couple of new texts from the class group chat; Mineta finally decided who out of his small list he was going to like he had had such a hard decision to make, and Jirou called him out on just picking the only female hero on his list. Zach chuckled at an enthusiastic response from Iida, then he put his phone back in his pocket while walking through the front door of his building.

"Hey Zach," he was one step in the door but turned towards the couches where Ashido was waving over to him after calling his name.

He took his shoes off and walked over to the common area thinking something about him might've been on tv from the look on Ashido's face. He glanced at the screen but saw some gameshow on instead of the news like he expected. Kaminari, Jirou, Mineta, and Tokoyami were all sitting around the couches too, and Mineta called out a guess on the show that was asking trivia questions. He got it right and smugly looked towards the couch Kaminari and Jirou were on while the two frowned towards his and Tokoyami's couch. Guess they're losing, Zach thought, then he sat down next to Ashido in the middle couch and said, "What's up Mina?"

The girl who called to him had a laptop in her lap, and she motioned towards it after Zach had looked at the tv so he knew she really did want to show him something. "Look at this," Ashido said, and Zach leaned in a bit to read what she was showing him.

Zach read the comment she was showing him on a message board she was on, and he smiled at the sight of it. "Awesome," he said. "Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks that way," he said, leaning back with a small grin on his face.

"What is it?" Mineta asked, turning away from the screen for a second.

Zach opened his mouth to answer, but Ashido was quicker, "I keep seeing stuff about Zach's final report from last year online." The others all looked back towards the middle couch, and Zach glanced in at the girl who cut in before he could say anything. She continued though, "Look, it's not just that guy." Zach looked back at her screen as she scrolled down and then clicked on another feed. Zach's eyes actually widened a bit as an entire feed about his report opened up with other people talking more specifically about it and not just the similar main ideas.

"Looks like your report got leaked," Ashido said, lifting her eyebrows as she read something put in quotation marks apparently from Zach's report.

Zach turned his head to the right and looked at Kaminari. "You?" He asked. Kaminari lifted his eyebrows in surprise at Zach's question, and Zach said defensively since Kaminari did not seem to know why he got looked at first, "You did say you were the one who spread 'Lifebringer' around." Zach put up hand quotes when he said "Lifebringer," but he smiled at the same time as he appreciated Kaminari doing that.

"Wasn't me this time," Kaminari said, as the others looked his way too after Zach said that wondering if maybe he was onto something.

Zach shrugged and then scratched the back of his head while looking back down at Ashido's computer. I deleted all my original posts under Anonymous, but enough people had copied and pasted it around already. None of the original posts are still out there, but my report is forever on the web now. Wonder if it'll start getting more attention. Only been a week, but I was surprised no one in class heard anything all week. Kind of disappointing, but maybe Mina noticing means that it's gaining steam? I can only hope. There need to be answers to our problems that don't rely on murdering villains, or accepting things will keep getting worse before they get better. Need a solution before Midoriya gets strong enough to be the new All Might. And I need to make sure he can do that, in case the solutions I'm trying to make happen don't work. All Might is a proven solution. To at least some of the problems facing us, we could use a Symbol of Peace.

Zach read some more of the messages below one that had parts of his report quoted in it, then he leaned away and pulled out his phone as he realized he was using Mina's computer. "I think it's pretty cool," Ashido said while turning her computer back to herself. "Your report was totally right you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Zach said, though instead of sounding smug about it like that sentence should have sounded, he just sounded disappointed. People are blaming heroes for what's going on now. They didn't blame them in the days right after Musutafu- the Sports Festival Invasion. How could they blame heroes after so many were killed in the attack, protecting them? But crime is skyrocketing. I get why the others don't want to watch the news right now. It's fucking terrible what's going on everywhere.

Crime rate dropping in April surprised everyone, and people thought maybe things were getting better. Shigaraki was just holding the villains back though. He was gathering strength, fighting all the other villains and forcing them all into his army. Now that he's done what he needed to do. Now that he has his "sensei" back, it's a free-for-all out there. Tartaros villains on the loose getting in fights with heroes. Stain just crippled two heroes and killed another in Higucha- Thinking that city's name made Zach's teeth clench and then grind over each other. He lowered his phone he was barely looking at, and he closed his eyes for a second. I still, don't even know her name. Spinner, you fucking bastard. Making me feel bad for you, after telling me how you killed her!

Zach opened his eyes and glared forward at the gameshow where a question was just asked. "2063," he said, while getting up out of his seat. Neither of the teams on the couches to his sides said anything, and they got confused as the dark-haired boy they were looking towards said that number.

"2062?" Someone asked on the screen, and a loud buzzer rang out followed by the guy falling through a trap door screaming.

"So close!" The gameshow host called out, and Zach gained a small grin on his face before turning to head up to his room.

"I knew that too," Mineta turned and said after Zach, since he had been distracted by Zach's intense and angry look and had missed the question.

"Yeah but I said it first," Zach said while turning and looking back at him. He noticed some weird looks from the others in the sitting area, but that was why he needed to get up in the first place. Thinking about her while around people isn't a good idea. I can't keep it together. I let her die. Zach clenched his fists after he turned and started going for the staircase again. How could I do that? Even in that condition, even as, broken, as I was… "She was shooting at us… With the gun you gave her, to give yourself time to escape…" I, I wanted her to escape though. I didn't mean for- I thought it was enough, if she was free and had means to protect herself- didn't I? What was I thinking? I wasn't just, crazed. I had enough thought to try and save her, but not enough to think about how impossible it would be… Or is Spinner right? Did I just free her, to give myself a better chance of escape? Am I that deranged?

Zach stopped on the stairwell, putting his left hand out and grabbing the wall next to him. "Fuck," he whispered. His fingers curled in for a second, his teeth grinding over each other and his chest aching. Over the aching feeling though, was anger that made him push his lips apart and bite down harder. "Fuck," he just whispered again, lowering his hand from the wall and continuing up the stairs with a dark look on his face. He wiped some of the anger from it though as he thought about making sure no one saw him looking that way on his route to his room, which actually distracted him too. He was quick to shift his attention, so he didn't notice the small finger-sized dents in the wall he had just been grabbing, or the small black wisps disappearing inside them.

A/N Start of a new arc this chapter! I'm not too far into it right now (sorry), so probably going to have to slow the updates this next week unless I really pound them out these next two days. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter! Class A get offers from heroes, a whole lot of offers, and Zach picks out the Racing Hero: Bikergang for his internship. He thinks about how he promised All Might he would try to protect Midoriya too, and picked an internship at least somewhat close to his friend's. Still upset over what happened with that woman in Higucha, Zach unknowingly leaves those dents in the wall there at the end... Thanks for reading! Leave a review below telling me what you think, questions, comments, or predictions for upcoming chapters!

Super Power Sensei chapter 69 . 19h ago

Three things...
One, are there only two members of the Wild Wild PussyCats with quirks left now?
Two, what was the Faculty's (mostly Midnight's) reaction to Aziawa's death?
Three, with all the different opinions and perspectives going around, I think it would be incredible if this story was building up to a civil war/revolution. With Zach on the front lines of course.

1: Seems like it ;(

2: Got some Present Mic mentioned in here when Zach returned to campus near the end.

3. ...awesome. Great idea, won't spoil/ say if I'll use that or not. Thanks for the review!

Shade11224 chapter 69 . 12h ago

I'm really happy that your considering adding supernatural bits, a good way to subway into it would maybe have him seeing things, not necessarily ghosts but maybe something to warn him of big events where people could die (watch odd Thomas). You could use the fact that his power shifted from his hand a bit into his eyes. Thanks for responding to reviews by the way, it's really interesting to know if your considering ideas and of course thanks for the Chappy!

Cool ideas. Won't spoil anything or say what I'll be doing with this at all though. Glad you're enjoying the story, and thanks for the review!

D-Koy24 chapter 69 . 12h ago

I may like this new character, I wonder if she is just a one-chapter character or will be more involved? Will she be all Yandere over momo? What's her name? and does this hat look awesome on me? *does pose* ... Of course it does!
~D-Koy, I think I should read your chapters waaayyyy after they're released coz my two awesome reviews of the double release got overlooked *angry pout* (not really angry though...) nya

Well he thinks about her a little more this chapter so at least she's been in more than one now, though Zach was wondering what her name was too since he was too quick to get out of there last chapter. Main reason I didn't respond last time... someone put a review for chapter 67 in after u had reviewed 68 so I thought I had scrolled down all the way. Anyway though, only commenting to a couple of reviews this time, so hope it makes up for it that I picked u! Hope y'all enjoyed, and thanks for reviewing and reading everyone!