Izuku never had such a scrumptious tomato bisque in his entire life. The steam roiled upward over his eyes as he slurped on the thick soup from the golden bowl. He thought it was weird that the teachers all ate in the lunchroom with the students, but he supposed that could be an American things.

And what a lunchroom it was. Of course, you had the buffet counter where the lunch workers piled on food, some of the most delectable food for any diet possible. The table ranged from sizzling bacon to lobster drizzled in butter to freshly-picked tomatoes and grapes from the vineyards of Napa Valley.

Once he left the chrome long table, he traveled over the marble flooring to the table by the teachers section. The cafeteria was more like a great hall with a ceiling high enough to fit in Godzilla. It was a giant rectangle with baby blue brick walls and giant bay windows that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. It gave the room a vintage, American feel like a large diner from the mid-century era.

Seated at the periwinkle table, he slurped the soup himself. After passing out, he was quickly rushed to the nurse's office. Despite there being no healing hero today, the nurse on duty simply declared him dehydrated and gave him water. What would be hurt the most was his pride, and there was nothing she could do about that. He knew because he asked her.

"Oi. Deku."

Bakugo clapped a lunch tray onto the seat next to him. A giant New York strip covered the tray with a side of bushy broccoli. A tall cup of some dark peach liquid sloshed in the corner. He plopped himself onto the hard stool seat and swiveled towards Izuku's slouched frame.

"Stop slurping. You sound a like a fucking fire hydrant."

Izuku put down his spoon and shifted his eyes towards Bakugo. "What took you so long?"

"I had to cart off one of your kids to the nurse's office," Bakugo said as he stabbed a stalk of broccoli. "She wasn't even there."

"So is he okay?"

"Tch. I don't know. I just left him by the door."

Izuku gasped and put his hands on the sides of his head. "Kacchan! You can't leave an injured student. What if he has a concussion?"

"Probably be less annoying then," Bakugo said. He shoved a piece of steak and wrestled it in his mouth.

Izuku sighed and looked around the class. In the teacher's section were four or five long tables. Since lunches were staggered throughout the day, only a few teachers were there to begin with. However, some of them appeared to look over at Izuku and Bakugo. When he noticed their stares, they shrunk their heads down and continued their own conversations.

"Have you noticed none of the other teachers are talking to us?"

"Wusses."

"Do you think they don't like us?"

"What do we care about being liked or not," Bakugo said in a brash tone. "We're teachers. It's our job to not be liked by people. We came here to teach these kids to be good Pro-Heroes, not how to get along with each other."

"You sound like Aizawa," Izuku stated.

"These kids are annoying, too. Bunch of smart-asses that can barely fight."

"Fight? Kacchan, you weren't supposed to fight them," Izuku flailed his arms in the air like the inflatable dummy at a car dealership.

"I didn't. They were just supposed to move me from a circle. Didn't have enough time for all of them yet," Bakugo sipped some of his juice. "Two of them moved me, but one of them was lucky and the other one threw a cheap shot. Kept going even though the fight was over."

"You were supposed to just pass out my syllabus for me. It's syllabus day!"

"Since when?"

"Every first day of school is syllabus day," Izuku whined.

"I don't even know what a syllabus is," Bakugo said. He wiped his mouth to eradicate the thick juices of the steak. "Gotta admit, this school went all-in on the food."

Izuku nodded as he looked down at his soup. He pulled out his phone and looked at the date on his home screen. A sad smile grew on his face. Today was a very bittersweet day for them, even if Bakugo did not realize it.

"Hey, Kacchan," Izuku said. "You know what today is?"

Bakugo swallowed his bite of steak and faced Izuku. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "It's our first day with this shitty job."

"No, Kacchan. You know what today is. The fight."

Bakugo dropped his for onto the tray. It clattered on the surface of the table. A dark shadow appeared to crawl across his face. He lowered his head, gazing at Izuku through his scowling eyes.

"The fight that we won."

Izuku nodded. "Yes, but...I feel bad for missing the ceremony. It's at Uraraka's mom's house every year and this is the first one we missed. We were there, after all. When it happened."

The memories began to flood Bakugo's head as Deku's voice faded. He gritted his teeth. His clenched fists shook, and he felt the veins in his head begin to bulge. He saw destruction everywhere. Rubble rained down. A villain that was defeated, but buildings toppled and cars overturned. His own body badly beaten and blood dripping from wounds that criss-crossed his skin.

The search. The recovery of the pink-tinted face shield, it's glass cracked and the frame snapped in half.

The body just a few feet further.

Eventually, he regained his place of being as Izuku's voice crescendoes back into existence. "...and I think you should call him. I bet he'd like to speak to his father since he's beginning to walk and talk prope-."

Like a dragon awakened by a peasant, Bakugo shot up to his feet, his tomato juice rippling over the edge. He snatched up his tray and spun away from Izuku.

"Wait, Kacchan? Where are y-."

"It's been two years!" Bakugo screamed at Izuku. "Get over it!"

The rumble of chatter in the cafeteria ceased as all eyes snapped towards the source of the yell. Bakugo seethed down at Izuku, the green-eyed hero having a pensive and compassionate face towards Bakugo. It was almost a face of melancholy sympathy, and Bakugo wanted to take a straight razor and carve that face off for showing any hint of pity towards him.

Without another word, Bakugo ignored the stares and rushed out of the cafeteria. He rushed towards the doors, his tray still in hand as he spilled a small drip of his juice.

As he exited, he passed another table, this one with his new students.

Due to assigned seating at lunch, Lloyd peered at Bakugo's retreating figure as he flew past him. Next to him, Katsu sat at the small rectangular table mid-bite into a sandwich. A bandage was taped to his nose from just leaving the nurse's office. Across from them, Abel was sandwiched between Austin and Megan. All of them stared as their teacher left in a huff.

"I hope he knows he's not supposed to take food out of here," Lloyd said while pointing at Bakugo's frame. "It's in the rulebook."

"Yeah, a rulebook for students," Megan said. She chomped on a head of broccoli. "He could probably do whatever he wants. Including slamming us into the ground."

"Hey, Catsu," Abel said mispronouncing his name. "What did he mean when he screamed at you about a door?"

"I guess...uh...me and Moxie kind of broke down his classroom door," Katsu said with a nervous chuckle. He scratched the back of his head. "Was kinda hoping he'd be impressed by it more than anything."

"Wow," Abel perked up as he looked at the table on the other side of the room. He spied Moxie in her assigned table by the large bay windows of the Pacific Ocean. "You and that southern girl?"

"Yup."

"Well," Abel said as he leaned forward, a flirtatious expression on his face. "You and Moxie already got to know each other? Gotta admit, she's got legs and she knows how to use them."

"You can's speak that way about a fellow student," Lloyd said. "What if she has a hearing quirk and can hear you from here?"

"Calm down, La-Lloyd," Abel chirped. "Nothing wrong with saying that someone is hot. We're all into girls here, right Megan?"

Megan shrugged her shoulders. "No argument here," she said and slurped up a strand of spaghetti.

"You see, Catsu," Abel ran a hand through his thick hair while turning his attention back to the blonde Japanese kid. "In America, breaking down doors together is practically first base."

Austin and Megan both slapped Abel on the back of the head at the same time. He whined in pain while massaging the back of his head.

"Creep," Megan muttered towards him.

"Assault isn't allowed on campus unless consensually agreed to!" Lloyd said as he pointed at Megan.

"That last comment made the assault consensual," Megan stuck. She tongue out.

Lloyd crossed his arms and perched his head up. Looking down at Megan, he huffed. "Enough of this tomfoolery. Do any of you even want to be heroes? This is no way we should act!"

"In fact, I do want to be a hero," Megan said as she pulled out her phone. Turning it on, she slid her fingers over the pictures that flashed on the screen. Coming across one, she flipped it over and showed it to the rest of the table.

It was a picture of her in a mock policewoman's uniform, roughly a year or so previous. She swung a pair of handcuffs in her hand, a cocky smile on her face as he periwinkle hat was just tilted over her left eye. She stood in front of a squad car of the London Police Department, the grey sky hovered above on the narrow side street she posed on.

"Damn, you're sexy," Abel said. "I'd love to get arrested by you."

Austin smacked him again.

With an eyeroll, Megan put her phone down on the table. "That was taken about a year ago. My father was a detective with the City Police. It was ride along day. So, I got out of soccer practice early and got in the car with him. We drove down to this one pub. There was a fight there. I think it was Barley & Jaspers, and it was Pride Day in central London that day. For some reason, people really get extra drunk on Pride Day. Have you ever noticed that? Anyway, we got to the bar, and we pull in. It was a full on brawl. People throwing each other. Some old guy slamming a pint on the barkeep. My father tries to break it up, and guess what happens. Some crazy guy pulls a gun on him."

The rest of the table sat in rapt attention. Megan made eye contact with Lloyd specifically.

"Had I not used my quirk and disarmed him, he would have killed my father. We got back to the station after the whole thing calmed down, and they put me in a cell. That's right. Me. Apparently, officers aren't allowed to use any quirks. Even the ones that don't normally patrol."

Lloyd uncrossed his arms and rested them on the table. His food was becoming slightly cold. He blinked as the girl's serious expression melted into a soft sigh.

"The judge threw it out immediately, but the point stands. I can't stand for that kind of injustice, and I realized that day that my future would be better suited in a place where my quirk could stop people like that. So I can keep saving my father every time I save somebody else. The next day, I applied to almost every major hero school around the world, so here I am. That's what inspires me."

Lloyd cleared his throat. He had become uncomfortable at his admitted black-and-white view on some of the students. Perhaps he was even more judgemental than he accused other people of being. The story connected with him far more than he thought.

He reached his hand underneath his crisp white undershirt and yanked something out. It was a necklace with white beads threaded onto a black string. At the bottom of the necklace hung a large wooden cross. Turning the cross around, the back of it held a tiny photo encased in a protective plastic. There were three people that looked almost exactly like him except for height and gender. They all had the dark ruby hair and gold eyes as they circled themselves around a young boy. The little girl hugged his midsection as the two adults froze in mid-clap at the sight before them. Around ten years old, the boy's buck teeth shined in the sun above the early morning lake as he held up a salmon dripping with water.

"My parents with my older sister, Elena," Lloyd said with a fond tone. "She's a Pro-Hero that rescues stranded hikers in the Yukon territory. My parents were both police officers in Edmonton. I remember the day she got her Hero's License. It was the greatest day of her and my parents life. And...I believe that I want them to feel the same way about me. I have worked tirelessly for this, and I won't rest until their legacy is fulfilled."

Megan nodded as she took a sip of her water. Yes, this guy was as uptight as a broken wind-up doll, but he seemed to be someone who meant well. Screaming about rules maybe more about keeping his classmates safe from trouble than being a goody two-shoes. They had a thing or two in common, and she imagined the pressure of being more than what they were destined for was just as powerful in him as her.

Waving around her glass like a magic wand, she swallowed. She needed to keep a cool head regardless. "Well, not the most original story, but it works."

Lloyd stammered. "It's not supposed to be original. It's my story, and you have to accept with it." He said as he pointed at her.

"I was inspired by Shrek." Abel piped up. "Mainly Shrek 2."

Austin again gave him a smack.

Lloyd shook his head. "I must apologize to you, Megan. Your inspiration is worthy of any Pro-Hero, even if your attitude isn't."

The British girl took in the unexpected apology at face value. If she thought friends were too much of a stretch this early in the year, might as well try to make allies.

"Thank you," Megan said with a tight grin. "And fuck you, too."

Lloyd choked on his own spit. "What?"

"My attitude is exactly what it needs to be, you hoser."

Izuku stood in front of the obsidian surface of the chalkboard. The bell had rung about a minute prior, but his mouth was still unprepared to formulate words. He was still embarrassed by passing out, and he flicked away a bead of sweat that traversed down his cheek. Izuku realized he still had a chance to create a good impression. He had the excuse of simply being dehydrated, exhausted from the trek to California. Surely, the kids would still have some respect for him.

"So, we got off on the wrong foot," Izuku said. "That's okay, because now it's time for me to actually teach class. This is going to be so much fun, isn't it?"

Silence.

Izuku cleared his throat. "So, first off...we're gonna learn about Hero History. That is this period, right? Okay, so first...does anyone have a question for me?"

A hand raised. Izuku pointed at the person squarely seated in the middle of the room.

"Hi, Mister Deku! I'm Blake Marseilles! I just want to say that this is a really cool class. So, is Ground Zero going to be teaching us fighting or you?"

Izuku tugged at his collar. He was also thinking at a rapid rate in his head. That last name sounded familiar for some reason. "Well, it's interesting. I'm your homeroom teacher, but Kaccha-I mean...Baku-I mean...Mister Bakugo will be teaching you in certain classes. Now, today was his own idea, so rest assured h-."

"No, it's okay," Blake chattered away. "He was great, and he did some really cool things. I've always wanted to see him in person. My parents ran into him one time, and they told me that he was one of the toughest Pro-Heroes ever! It's a good thing they're fast runners. Ha! Anyway, are you going to teach us about your quirk? There's still a lot fo questions people have about it. You didn't show it until you were around our age, so why did it have to be like that? Are you just slow?"

Izuku had to hold his head together to avoid losing his balance. The barrage of words was making him dizzy. He tried to focus on one question at a time, but he looked back at the chalkboard. The words "Hero History" were etched into the board.

And he couldn't help but feel that he had seen this specific kid before. He had heard his last name before. And...Bakugo had run into his parents? What did his parents do?

He looked beyond him at the rest of the class. One girl all the way with short, hipster-looking hair in the back was twirling her pencil around and rolling her eyes like they were bowling balls. She was the girl that ate broccoli earlier in the day. Either she hated this class, or she had been subjected to Blake's ramblings already. He needed to focus and get back on track.

"I'll answer all of that soon," Izuku said with another tug of his collar. "Geez, it's hot in here. Anyway, let's start with a basic question. Just to get a grasp on what you all know."

Another hand raise. This time from the kid that criticized him.

"Yes, mister..."

"Lloyd Thomas," Lloyd rose to his feet. "I just wanted to apologize as a class for making you pass out."

"That's okay, Mister Thomas!" Izuku blurted out.

"Did you take all of your vitamins this morning? Are you fully hydra-."

"I'm fine. Just sit down!"

The class froze in place. Izuku nearly covered his mouth as he realized he had just raised his voice. Great, now his class were going to be afraid of two loud and angry teachers.

Lloyd lowered himself like he was expecting the chair to electrocute him. He seemed a tad hurt at the shout since he was only making sure that his Pro-Hero teacher was healthy.

"Okay, now a little question for you all," Izuku said. He strained a smile onto his face, attempting to put the class at ease. He clapped his hands and paced in front of the class.

"You're gonna love this little piece of trivia," he spoke like a corny kindergarten teacher. "What was the name of the first person ever born with a quirk?"

The brunette girl in front of Megan shot her hand up in the air. She waved at him like she was calling a cab towards her. She even made a couple of "oh, pick me's" as she rocked in her chair.

"Yes," Izuku said.

Moxie stood up from her seat and nodded at Deku. "Jesus."

Izuku blinked. He looked down at his shoes and tried to regain his train of thought.

"Uh...sorry. That's not correct."

"What do you mean it's not correct?" Lloyd said from his chair. "Moxie is completely right. Jesus was the first person with a quirk."

Izuku covered his mouth as he researched a way to not step on any toes in his head. He heard North America might be more evangelical than Japan, so he was unsure how to proceed.

"Are you two daft?" Megan said from her chair, her legs propped up on the desk. "Jesus did not have a quirk."

"Nor did he exist," Synaes muttered under her breath from the desk next to Megan. The British girl could not help but snort at her witty retort. It seemed only Megan heard it, so it was meant for her. She felt good at sharing the small joke. The blind girl was starting to grow on her.

Lloyd shot up to his feet. Moxie clutched her chest as the Canadian boy gestured at Megan. "So dying and coming back to life is not a quirk?"

"Or starting a whole religion?" Moxie said with a grin. "Sounds like a quirk to me, sweetie."

"That was divine intervention," Megan said.

"It was, and so was that comet that gave everyone quirk's to begin with," Moxie said. She then looked up at the ceiling. "Thank you for the quirks, Lord."

"Jesus Christ eradicated our sins, and we must respect that," Lloyd said to the entire class. "I suggest that we all have that same kind of selflessness and dedication in our hero work. If we do that, then we will become the greatest school in the entire world and then the greatest Pro-Heroes in the entire world! And take your legs off the desk, Megan. This isn't your house."

"It isn't your's either," Megan said. "So here my legs stay."

Katsu, meanwhile, looked back at Moxie. Despite having her views questioned, she was still pleasant and open-minded. He was glad she had a cool head; he would probably be as defensive as Lloyd.

Izuku coughed and regained everybody's attention. "Okay, that was an unfair question. How about this? Who was the first American Hero?"

Katsu raised his hand. The desk behind him scooted into his chair with Moxie sitting back down.

"Yes," Izuku instead pointed at the tall, serious kid next to the headphone's wearing party guy.

Austin planted his hand back down in his lap.

"George Washington," he said with the assuredness of describing the color of the sky.

"Preach it, bud," Abel raised his hands up like he was hitting the roof.

Izuku scratched his head. "I don't even kn-you know what? I mean the first Pro-Hero? The first one with a quirk?"

"Hendrix!" Abel shouted, flashing peace signs in front of him. "Can't play guitar like that unless you got superpowers."

Izuku was not sure if the entire class was conspiring to mock him, or if there was a density to American teenager brain's that even All-For-One could not penetrate. He turned and noticed the empty plastic water bottle on his desk. An idea raced through his head. Yes, if he could get the class to be intimidated in him just like Bakugo, then maybe he could get control again. He did not have to be angry, he just had to show that he could.

He leaped over to the desk and swatted the water bottle off the desk. It slapped onto the floor and rolled over to the doorway.

"That is enough," Izuku said. "You are all going to listen to me!"

The bottle clattered to a halt at the door.

The class snapped into obedient silence as Izuku's face began to redden.

"This is my class, and it is a class that will learn how to be the best," Izuku shouted. "But you won't be the best if you bicker and slack off. It is every day, every moment. Teaching and training. Learning and earning! I was a nobody when I was sitting in a chair just like you all. I was just a kid with a quirk that wouldn't work properly. But now, I'm living my dream of saving people everyday. And you can, too. You can learn and I will help you. I will do whatever it takes, because a great man did that for me."

Izuku stopped and blinked. A flash of his old class at U.A. swam into his sight before him. Class 1-A. Aizawa. All Might. Such tough times, yet such hopeful times. He remembered the bonding and the arguing. The innocence and the hard-headedness of assuming they already knew everything. The endless possibilities that lay before them. He was lucky; adulthood had been just as fulfilling as he wanted.

Thinking back to his earlier conversation with Bakugo, maybe that had not been the case with everybody in his class.

Izuku licked his lips. He sighed and, with a quick shake of his head, he gazed around the room. "Things don't always work out how they should. And I think that's a lesson you all need to know right away. People are going to disappoint you, and maybe they even betray you; both in battle and in life. But you need to focus on the people that don't. The people that do more for you than you deserved. People that take you in and teach you what it means to be a Pro-Hero. Not just training your quirk, but training you as a person. How to be strong and push through. How to be the person that the next person that sits in that chair can look up to. A person they dream about being. And this is the first step you take. The only question is how far you will go. And I promise you, I will help you go as far as you want. No matter what it takes."

Izuku let his words sink into the class. The air was as thick as a pit of quicksand.

The class remained silent.

Anton gazed out of the window and reflected back on his journey. One thing he had not taken into consideration was the character of a Pro-Hero. His brother never trained him in that department of being a hero. For his brother, it was only about being strong and having a strong quirk. However, the idea of compassion and empathy being a part of it was far off his mind. The rest of his class not hating him made him feel something, different than what he felt before.

Katsu drummed his fingers on the desk. He now knew where Shoto got his dramatic speeches from. Izuku was just as emotional and honest as he was warned. That being said, he completely agreed with what was said. He needed to do everything he could to become a Pro-Hero. For him, there was no other option in life. He was going to use his quirk for good and be better than his parents thought he would be. He would be the greatest hero of all time.

Lloyd touched the cross draped around his chest. His parents had supported him every step of the way. In fact, he felt that he would receive no support if there was any other way than becoming a Pro-Hero. Every good thing he did would be for them. He owed it to them.

Robyn looked over at the cross. She bit her lip, and her face fell into a rare frown. She had seen the back of Lloyd's necklace while they were in the training arena. The picture of his family fishing. It was a memory that was robbed from her. She had no immediate relatives to fight for. She had felt that disappointment and betrayal. From that villain that attacked her family. From her mom for drinking day in and out. Her whole neighborhood was a petree dish that showed what that despair could do to somebody. That was why she needed to be a hero. She knew the cycle of loneliness and despair, and she wanted to break that circle for good.

She looked down at the sword in her backpack. The old hilt had two names inscribed into the handle. One was the name of the sword registered with the Support Item Registration list. The other name was underneath it, this one in shimmering gold.

Her brother. Joshua. He would never use the sword again, which was why she needed to use it. She would be a Pro-Hero.

The rest of the class wallowed in silence.

Then, a giggle.

From the corner, Megan tried to suffocate the laugh, but her shoulders shook in failure with every giggle.

"Did you really just hit that water bottle to scare us?"

Then, the laughter erupted. Every student cackled out, snapping the tension with a butcher knife. The class was so loud, they could probably hear it all the way at the front entrance. Even the quieter students like Anton and Austin had to let out a few easing chuckles.

Soon, the whole class were shaking in their chairs with the throes of humor wracking them.

"Oh no, someone help us," Abel said in a dramatic fashion. "He hit an empty water bottle!"

More laughter.

"Watch out, guys," Robyn held her hands up in mock terror. "He might make us recycle it next!"

Izuku noticed the way that the class seemed to relax. It was a strange magic that made him wonder if they were laughing with him or at him.

Then, before he knew it, he felt a giggle bubble up his stomach.

He covered his mouth, but it was no use. He laughed just as much as they did. AS he did so, he felt small tears well up in his eyes. This laughter was a time machine, and for a split second, he was completely drenched in the environment of his old school. There was Bakugo yelling about seat arrangements. Kirishima trying to calm him down. Iida chopping the air because somebody's uniform has a small stain on it.

Uraraka. Her face. Her brown eyes.

She would be so proud of him right now.

As they all laughed, Izuku examined his class. He had a feeling they would all be just fine.

And if All Might was there, he would tell him that the class was in good hands. After all, the Symbol Of Peace was their teacher.

So even MMMOOOAAARRR STUFF!

No knew people introduced this chapter. Sorry about that, I am still accepting and putting in new characters. Understand that not everyone can have the limelight on them at all times, so some people will be very important in one arc. Some others...not so much.

By the way, I wanted to ask this: Do you think Bakugo should be like a second teacher for class 1-A, or do you think he needs to be the teacher for class 1-B. I'm not stressed either way, but I wanted to know how you felt.

But what do you think? Some backstory is being introduced more often! What did you think of the conversations? The characters? Feel free to tell me how you feel about anything! Suggestions, fan art, ideas, and story arcs are all welcome.

Keep reviewing! It's more important and means more to me than I can say! And keep submitting! I'm also interested in taking a few villains. They can be of any power level or any age. Don't be afraid to be creative!

Thank you. See you soon!