I'm reminded of when I first started this project in September of 2018. My god, has it really been four years? Time flies, and I have to catch up and get this story updated!

My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight (Remastered Edition)

Saga I: Dusk

Arc II: The Incident

Chapter XVIII: The Trial's Conclusion

"Nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear."

― Stephen King

A bright white light shined above the battlegrounds, where blood and water flowed equally. The clashing and twanging of steel continued to pierce through the air, with two massive shadows circling at its epicenter. There were large blasts of cannons firing; the roars of a blazing inferno were laced with screams that echoed from every direction with no apparent source.

Streams of salted water ran, some from fear, others from grief.

Lighting thundered and crashed onto the battlegrounds ripping the earth asunder, causing a great fissure to form before releasing a great demon that reached for the white light. And from the heavens above came an emerald dragon with bright golden eyes glowing with righteous fury.

The bright white light was suddenly spirited away by dark clouds as the clash of these two fantastic beasts began. An emerald dragon with a blurred rainbow of light trailing behind him slashed with his blade-like claws. While a black demon responded with a stab from a cruel beak and long-rake-like claws that seemingly destroyed all it touched,

With every clash, the ground would quake; with every slash, the wind would rush; with every roar, blood would spill. The battle was short though it felt like an eternity; the demon fell when a black blade charged with lighting struck it down; the dragon roared in rage, cheated by his hollow victory. The rainbow of light that surrounded the emerald dragon began to fade. He was replaced by a long black shadow that engulfed him turning those golden-dragon eyes into those of a ruby-eyed devil.

A vicious roar, a blood-curling roar echoed out as it now parted the dark clouds revealing the white light reaching for it.

A piercing scream ripped out as his claws grew closer towards the white light.

Sir Nighteye woke up from his nightmarish nap with a yell, his eyes snapping wide open as he tried to gain control of his breathing as the door to his office burst open. Kaoruko Awata, formerly known as the Pro-Hero Bubble Girl and now his personal secretary, had rushed inside with a worried look etched on her blue face.

"Are you okay, sir?!" She asked, concerned as she stood in front of him, shaken by his scream as her boss was never one to show a display of fear like that.

Nighteye blinked a few times as his nerves began to steady themselves, his hands slowly running over his face before reaching his eyes. He removed his glasses and placed them on the desk in one fluid motion. As he rubbed the grime from his eyes, he thought about what he had just seen.

'It's been a long time since that's happened to me...'

A moment or two later, he replaced his glasses and finally spoke -albeit his voice was still a little shaky.

"I'm fine... it's just a dream..."

Kaoruko frowned, unconvinced by his words.

"Your quirk, sir?" She asked with an educated guess. Nighteye leaned back in the chair; his brow furrowed, and his eyes narrowed to recall the more vivid details of his dream.

"I am not sure... but if it was my quirk... then this would be the first time it has done something like this in years." He answered cautiously.

Typically his Foresight quirk needed specific conditions to work on an individual. However, he knew under certain conditions, his quirk would show him the future hidden of an individual who would affect his own future. The last time this happened was shortly after All Might's clash with All For One when he learned that he would need to become a politician.

Yet, what made this case so different was that his quirk never acted so symbolic, a fact that was now annoying him to no end. This was a possibility of a dark future that could affect everything. He sighed as his nerves finally returned and slowly relaxed his body into his seat.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Awata," He answered with a quiet but firm voice. "It was…nothing."

Kaoruko laughed with a small uneasy smile, knowing he was still acting strange.

"Now I know that something is wrong."

Nighteye could not help but allow a slight grin to form on his narrow face. He sat up straight while taking out a notepad and pen from his desk, jotting down notes to try and remember all the essential details he could remember from the dream. Kaoruko found the activity strange, but this was relativity tame for Sir Nighteye. Still, she had a job to do and began to speak.

"Sir, before... whatever this happened, I have a few updates for you."

"Proceed," he responded, not looking at her as his attention was fixed entirely on the notepad.

"First: The Speaker of the House has announced the next full session of the Diet."

"When?"

"Next Monday."

"I see...good. I can take my chance to propose my own bill in the next session given my failure to stop Kimura's idiotic bill from passing," There was a brief pause in his jots. "I may not be able to save active foreign Pro-Heroes with this bill, but I hope to shield the students that would be affected at least. What else?"

"I got a call from...a Chief Kiriyūin?"

Nighteye stopped writing and looked at Kaoruko, eyes laser-focused on her.

"What did he say?"

"An Internal Affairs investigation has been opened up in the Kantō Regional Police Department."

'That's Doumeki's department!' Nighteye's eyes widened, "I haven't called to vote on that yet...Did Kiriyūin mention who opened the investigation?"

"It was The Chief Superintendent himself, Kai Doumeki." She answered, slightly confused on why this was important, unaware of her boss's investigation. While Nighteye sat there stunned as his thoughts began to run at a mile a minute.

'Kai Doumeki opened himself up to an investigation? Is this a trick? Is he so confident that he decided to spring open a trap? Have we been compromised?' Nighteye rose up from his seat, he needed answers, and he needed them now.

"Sir?" Kaoruko called out nervously, seeing the face the man was now sporting.

"I am going to step out for a while; I need to make some urgent calls and need to speak with a friend personally. Take any calls, note, and file them accordingly; I will return as soon as I can." He answered as he grabbed his coat, pulled out his phone, and made his way out of the office.

The call was to Chief Kiriyūin, and the visit was to Tensei Iida so he could verify this investigation via his contact with the police.

There was no time to lose.

Nejire was worn out from her hunt.

Ryu may have failed to land a single hit on her, but he did manage to get her winded by the time she finally caught and knocked him out. Now, however, Nejire was dealing with one of the two Recommended Students from the class and judging his technique and sheer judgment as their fight continued.

He had to have been trained well by a Pro-Hero and a damn good one to boot.

However, that being said, Nejire could tell that the boy was not using the full extent of his abilities. She could see quickly that the lad primarily used his ice for capture and defense. While using his flames for offense instead of mixing and matching the two elements to gain the edge.

She was unsure if this was on purpose or if he hadn't considered using his quirk in this manner.

His lack of combat experience also showed when she found a pattern after only a few test rounds at the start of their fight. It proved to be her saving grace since it allowed to her conserve her strength while he seemed to be using it without concerns. However, Nejire knew that she couldn't last much longer despite how good she was at hiding it. The boy with the dual-colored hair had the edge in stamina here, without a doubt.

Nejire blasted another wave towards the ice shielding Shouto and swiftly jumped aside to dodge the incoming fire blast that she foresaw coming. That was when she began those familiar coded taps on her earpiece.

'Oh? Mirio got trapped? These first years really are something else!' She thought, surprised at the news, yet she also found herself proud of these first years.

However, now was not the time to be impressed. Nejire knew that she could not waste any more time on this fight. Mirio needed backup, so she planned to make her escape. She dodged a few more times before noticing a pattern in Shouto's fire attack. It was always slower at the initial blast before picking up speed.

'Does using his ice slow down his fire attacks? I could use that...'

With that thought in mind, Nejire picked that opening to make her escape, she began building up as much energy she could into her limbs as she waited for the moment. It wasn't long until Shouto blasted another stream of his fire at Nejire. However, instead of dodging, like he had expected her to do, the senior took a step back to brace herself. Raising her arms up to blast through the fire itself, causing the flames to split right down the middle catching Shouto by surprise. The boy quickly switched out his flames for his ice to protect himself against Nejire's suddenly surprise attack.

Nejire did not relent as she continued to focus the energy beam, narrowing it to pierce through the thick layers of ice. Prompting Shouto to create even thicker layers, causing a lot of frost to coat his body. Nejire saw that both the line of sight had been broken and placed her hopes that he was slowed. She swiftly turned around and kicked off from the ground using the energy that had been charging in her feet to go airborne and make her way to Mirio's location.

"Damn it," Shouto gasped, shaking ever so slightly from the cold, trying to produce heat from his left side as quickly as possible to melt the ice that now coated his body. "My target has escaped, and I believe she heading out to back up the boss."

"Leave her for now. I got something more important for you to help with," Shouto heard Katsuki's voice growl out.

"Understood," Shouto answered as he began to listen to the new plan.

This fight with their seniors had really helped put things in perspective today. He had kept his thoughts on most of the class to himself up to this point. Especially after Tenya told him about his frustration of being initially assigned as the medic. Now, Shouto knew that Tenya was trying to prove himself here at UA. Still, he has also always known that Tenya had a small but noticeable bout of envy of his best friend, which started with his one-sided rivalry.

One that started shortly after they first met.

Shouto was not the most social person and, at the time, did not understand why Tenya, the one who had become his closest friend, acted that way toward him.

Now, however, he could feel the gap himself. It reminded him of something that Mei had said only now. In hindsight, it made it easier not only to understand Tenya and where he was coming from but why Mei seemed to hang on him so much.

"Teni has always looked up to the big boss, but I could tell that...he just wanted to be seen...to be noticed like me! Maybe because it was the same with me and Yuno. Our parents always praised them; our elder brothers! I mean...they left us to catch up. We had expectations that we were kind of scared we might never meet...I know none of my babies got any attention from them...not like with Yuno...but they did get a lot of attention from Teni!"

Shouto remembered that Mei had a massive smile on her face that day. Tenya had come from a family of heroes that started before heroes were even formally established. However, one could say the true irony was within Shouto himself as he had his own bouts of envy towards Tenya.

The two share quite a bit in common; both came from wealthy hero families. Both that their moments of being socially awkward. Yet, they both were the youngest siblings, with high expectations weighing heavily on their shoulders.

Yet despite these similarities. Shouto was envious of Tenya's ability to be so much more forward than he could. Such as speaking out without too much concern, a skill he always seemed to lack.

While Tenya could be a bit much at times, he had a way of grabbing attention when needed. Something Shouto still struggled with, and lunch today was proof of this. Since it was Tenya, who had done almost all of the talking for the both of them. Spoke to Izuku, Ochako, and even Katsuki without any trouble, as if they had all been old friends.

Well, Katsuki, not so much, but still.

While he mainly had just sat and ate in silence. Barely got a word in as he often found the small talk to always be a bit troublesome. It didn't help that he almost gave Izuku a minor panic attack when trying to reach out to him. In his mind, he wanted to be the first to offer that reach out to Izuku despite Tenya warning him not to push it. And yet that is precisely what he did, and now he regretted it; Shouto gave a deep sigh as the trial was reaching its climax.

Shouto could feel the weight of the trial crashing down on him, making him deal with these complex emotions. From what he could observe, this trial was designed to break them down; maybe it was something they were all going to need in the end.

"I don't have to repeat myself, right?" Katsuki asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice as he finished explaining his plan to the boy.

"No, I'm on my way," Shouto answered as the last of frost melted away from his body; he knew it was time to finish this.

Izuku and Tenya had been going through every room on every floor to try to find the bomb. Splitting up to search through each floor, Izuku took the even-numbered floors. While the speedier Tenya checked the odd-numbered ones.

"Iida, any luck?" Izuku asked his earpiece as he searched the last room on the fourth floor.

"I just finished my sweep of the fifth floor; this does not make any sense! We saw a picture of the bomb during the briefing; it is far too large for it to be hidden so easily!"

"We have to keep looking for it! It has to be here somewhere!"

"THE ROOF NUMBNUTS! YOU HAVEN'T CHECKED THE FUCKING ROOF!" Katsuki suddenly yelled out in their earpieces, making Izuku start sprinting toward the staircase as it doubled as an entrance to the roof. Tenya, however, had stood there for an extra second when he realized that Katuski was correct.

"Right! We have yet to check that yet!"

Izuku was the first to arrive at the roof, with Tenya appearing right him behind a moment later. In the middle of the roof, there was a large cardboard box decorated with doodles from their upperclassmen. The doodles included words of encouragement, a few jokes, and what Izuku suspected was an adorable set of five chibi portraits of their upperclassmen.

A stylized blue eye served as the artist's signature.

"Midoriya...I am perplexed by this..." Tenya said with a stony face as he looked at the box.

"I am too, Iida, but we can't wait," Izuku immediately ran to the bomb. "We don't have much time left; help me take the cardboard box off the bomb. The system said that the new objective is to get the bomb out of Site Gamma... and while it is easier said than done, it could be tricky if we're not careful."

"That's where I come in. I already got a plan in the works," Katsuki said as he began explaining his plan, "Izuku, Legs listen carefully."

Mirio was actually enjoying his time floating in the air without the usual pull of gravity applying to him. He even thought of ways how Ochako's quirk could synergize if the two worked together someday. Of course, if it weren't for the fact that he needed a way to propel himself around without support gear. However, he wasn't wasting time.

Mirio had also been testing if he could somehow use this effect to gain momentum to get himself moving and back into the game. No luck; however, the gravity girl simply shift him back into place if she noticed any strong movements or motions to get him back to the ground. Mirio could see that the girl was not taking any chances after the last time he had gotten the drop on them.

So, when physicality failed, Mirio tried getting her to talk. But after the first question, or more accurately when her two teammates left, she had seemingly gone silent, wearing a firm poker face.

'Weird...and here I thought she was a little more like Nejire,' He wondered as he started to float upside down. 'She was talkative during our earlier fight, but now she's just quiet. Not like the chatterbox girl I was expecting to remain here...'

"Uraraka!" He heard a feminine voice say, making Mirio look up. The senior saw another duo of his juniors. Both on the taller side, one male and the other female.

'These two are Yaoyorozu...and Satou, right?' Mirio observed as he tried to remember what he could about their quirks, though their outfits were quite telling. Momo was wearing a rather exposed-looking red leotard with matching red boots and a yellow belt. While Rikidou had a much simpler mustard yellow suit, save for the white boots, gloves, and belt.

"Yaoyorozu, Satou!" Ochako called out as the appearance of her companions helped her snap out of her funk and put her mind at ease.

"I am sorry it took us a while to get here, but Bakugou managed to brief us on the situation," Momo answered, slightly out of breath as she made a small cloth to wipe her brow. "Aoyama and Ojiro should already be on their way as well."

"Sounds good," Ochako chirped, trying to keep focused on the trial, despite seeing the look of disappointment on Momo's face with all the "What ifs" running through her head at the moment.

"OCHAKO, WATCH OUT!" The trio suddenly heard Izuku's voice call out to them over their earpieces as a large blast of energy flew at them from the sky.

"Looks like my backup has arrived!" Mirio said delightfully, looking up at Nejire, who continued to blast away at the three juniors. At the same time, she slowly descended and made her way toward Mirio's floating frame. The trio immediately split up in different directions to try and dodge Nejire's powerful blasts.

"Ohoho! Mirio, you're going to get us in trouble for going too easy on them!" She playfully chastised Mirio, who in turn simply stuck out his tongue as he answered her.

"I know! I know! But I just couldn't help it in the end!" He had a somewhat sheepish grin, "Mr. Aizawa's demands are just too harsh for me to go all out!"

"Well, we got about three minutes before the test is done...so as long as they don't get the bomb out, we'll still win."

"Oh! I forgot to mention," Mirio interjected with a laugh. "Two of our other juniors are currently searching for the bomb right now!"

Nejire pouted for a moment before a villainous smile appeared on her face, "Okay then! I'm in charge now, Mirio~. No more holding back!"

'Oh boy...' Mirio thought nervously, looking behind and casually adding. "Oh, might want to watch out, Nejire-Cha-"

Nejire instinctively dodged to the side rather than question Mirio, avoiding a net that had been launched to catch them mid-air. She turned her head to see that Momo had created a catapult and used it. However, she wasn't the only one who had begun their counterattack.

"SHIFT!" They both heard Ochako yell out as Nejire suddenly found Mirio becoming increasingly heavy to the point he began to drag them back down to earth.

"Let me go!" Mirio yelled out as they rapidly descended, Nejire tried to slow their descent by blasting more energy from her legs, but it wasn't enough.

"Nejire!"

The girl looked down, seeing that confident smile on Mirio's face that always made her heart skip a beat.

"Trust me," was all he had to say. Without a word, Nejire let go, allowing Mirio to phase through the ground as gravity took him while she landed safely on the street. Her eyes were hidden underneath her hair.

Rikidou charged right from behind, thinking this was his chance, hoping to catch her off guard. Unfortunately for him, she was ready with her own remote with one quick assist from her quirk. She turned at breakneck speeds as she landed an uppercut on the tall boy's jaw, knocking him onto his back. Nejire wasted no time and made her point by stepping on him as she pointed a remote at him with the coldest expression on her face.

POP

"Hero, Rikidou Satou has been Killed-In-Action!"

As poor Rikidou laid there, stunned that he had gotten taken out so quickly and easily. It only added to Momo's continued loss of morale and confidence as it had been her plan to try and catch their seasoned senior. Nejire looked at the two girls, with those cold, blue eyes freezing them with her icy death glare.

'She's not even a real villain yet…I could almost feel like I'm staring at Death Incarnate!' Thought Momo as Nejire turned to face Ochako. 'These seniors...what have they been through to be this skilled?!'

Ochako was doing her best to keep Mirio out of the game, but after seeing Nejire turn her attention towards her, nausea hit her full blast. Plus the unknown risk of keeping Mirio underground for so long, Ochako had no choice but to let him go.

"Release..." Ochako gasped out, touching her fingers before clutching her mouth and stomach.

Soon Mirio launched right out off the ground. Although his face still had his trademark cheery expression, he was secretly a bit panicked as he stayed back to catch his breath. The sudden descent and the extra time underground despite his quirk timing out due to the lack of air should have had him just shoot up when it was done. Of course, he couldn't really do that due to being kept underground by Ochako's gravity quirk.

Nejire, however, darted after Ochako with the remote in hand, seeing her as their biggest threat at the moment. Momo could only stand there and watch, unsure of what to do next as almost everything she had tried continued to go wrong, making her second guess herself.

"Sorry I kept you all waiting." Said a cool voice from above as ice began to launch forward, trapping the two villains by their feet.

"Todoroki!" Momo called out, relieved to see Shouto descend from one of the buildings sliding down expertly on his ice.

"Ooooo!" Nejire pouted with frustration. She had hoped that she had bought enough time to keep the Icyhot boy out of the picture, but clearly, this wasn't the case. Instantly, Nejire started blasting away at Shouto to keep him at bay.

Ochako, seeing the chance, began to retreat towards Momo, not wanting to take a chance at getting popped like Rikidou while she was this nauseous. However, as she ran, an idea began to form in her head as she remembered reading about Momo's quirk from Izuku's notes earlier today. Using this, Ochako told the recommendation student of her concept. Ochako knew Mirio would simply phase through the ice without too much effort once he had taken a moment to catch his breath.

She had to be ready for him.

"Two minutes remain until bomb detonation!" The system announced, only further putting pressure on the young heroes-in-training.

"HOLD THEM THERE FOR NOW! LEGS AND IZUKU GOT THE BOMB! DON'T PANIC, JUST KEEP IT UP!" Katsuki's voice rang out in their ears. "Ponytail! Stop worrying and just keep them busy with another net or some shit! Uraraka, Legs will be down there in a second; make sure he gets away!"

At this demand from their explosive Operator. The girls got their a second wind. After completing Ochako's request, Momo opened up her costume to begin working on another net, not realizing she just flashed Shouto by accident. The young Elementalist instantly snapped his head to the side to look away, despite it making it more difficult to defend against Nejire.

'You saw nothing, Shouto...' One voice in his head said before another piped up, 'But I di-'

'NOTHING.'

Tenya was still inside the building, taking in the battle unfolding in front of him. Katsuki's plan was simple yet clever, and while he disliked his role in the plan, he again forced himself to swallow his pride as he gripped his cargo as if his life depended on it. His engine legs were revving, ready to go when given the signal.

"Ready, Iida?" He heard Izuku's voice over his earpiece.

"I am."

"OK, NOW!"

"RECIPO BURST!"

They all heard Tenya's voice yell out as he blasted through the front door with a large cardboard box overhead.

Unfortunately for the speedster, he had failed to notice two critical things. One was the thin layer of ice that now covered most of the street, including the very front of the building's entrance causing him to slip. The second was Momo's exposed chest.

In his efforts to be a gentleman and despite falling on his ass, Tenya forced himself to close his eyes. Leaving himself completely defenseless as he still held the cardboard box overhead. Making him an easy target for the seniors. Mirio quickly leaped into action, going after Tenya, only to have Ochako run right behind him with a bit of surprise from Momo. Nejire couldn't attack Ochako due to her declining stamina and efforts to keep Shouto at bay.

All eyes were on the ground level and not to the sky above.

Tenya had landed awkwardly with his armor protecting him from the worst of the damage. Still, between his brain rebooting from the pain and the shock of having Mirio getting closer to him, he couldn't do much of anything. But before Mirio could do anything, he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"SHIFT!"

Mirio turned around, un-solidifying the upper half of his body as Ochako launched right through him with ease. The lass couldn't warn Tenya of her plan since she needed to keep the element of surprise, preventing Mirio from defending against it.

When Mirio turned around, making himself solid again, he was immediately met with the flash of a stun grenade that Ochako had Momo produce with her quirk. Typically Mirio's quirk would have prevented light from going into his eyes, blocking such things. Yet, it also made him temporarily blind and deaf as well. The moment he turned around and became solid again was the moment Ochako had pulled the pin on a gamble.

Despite his stinging eyes and ringing ears; The First Seat of the Big Five, couldn't help but keep on grinning. He was impressed by the sudden improvisation of his juniors as Ochako managed to touch him and get him floating once again. Nejire was about to blast Ochako out of the way when a thick beam of light shot through Shouto's ice wall, striking the dead center of her stomach.

"Kohf!" She wheezed out as the remote slipped from her hands.

"We are here!" Yūga called out from behind Shouto, sparkling like a beacon, while Mashirao got a running start using his tail to assist his jump. He gracefully cleared the ice wall before taking full advantage of his opponent's lowered defenses. The tailed boy began to strike at her with his fists, yet Nejire managed to dodge and block most of his attacks despite still being in pain from Yūga's own attack.

But she was utterly spent on stamina by this point.

"Ojiro, move out of the way!" Shouto called out. Mashirao, hearing the urgency in his voice, instinctively hopped back just in the nick of time for Momo to fire her freshly reloaded catapult net again. This time Nejire wasn't able to dodge in time and had been caught under it.

Only to almost end up becoming utterly frozen save for her head and her right arm by a layer of Shouto's ice.

"Oh! SO COLD!" She shrieked as her bodysuit gave her very little protection from the cold. Mashiro seeing his chance, wasted no time as he jumped forward and cuffed Nejire's hand, capturing her.

"The Villain, Nejire-Chan has been captured!"

Mirio took in a deep breath and gave a big smile, despite still being blinded. He truly couldn't help, but be extremely proud of this new first-year class.

"Hey, Gravity girl!" He called out as he turned his head to and fro, unsure where exactly Ochako was due to his blurred vision. Ochako looked at her senior with an air of caution.

"No tricks, cuff me. There is no way I can beat you guys like this," Mirio requested as he slowly extended his arms outward, fingers outstretched, showing no remote in his hands. Ochako slowly and carefully walked forward before cuffing one of Mirio's arms as he floated in the air. He had proven true to his word.

"The Villain, Lemillion has been captured!" The system announced, followed by another message. "All Villains had been successfully captured!"

The remainder of the hero group either sighed with relief or cheered. While Shouto began removing the ice on both his body and Nejire, who was begging to be unfrozen. At the same time, Ochako gently released Mirio from her quirk's influence.

"The Bomb must still be removed from Gamma City! Countdown T-Minus 32 seconds!"

As if that trial was not stressful enough. The students had to be reminded of the bomb, and almost everyone who could still stand scrambled towards Tenya's position to help him remove the bomb.

"Iida, hurry! You need to get the bomb out of here!"

"Here, I can make it lighter!"

"You're the only one fast enough to get out of here in time!"

Tenya couldn't help but laugh as he opened his eyes, revealing their dark red color*. Having been spared from the flash bomb's glare and giving everyone a reassuring smile.

"I do not believe your concerns are warranted, everyone; after all, where do you think Midoriya is at the moment?"

As if on cue from the far distance was a massive flash of light followed by a loud.

CRASH

It was only a few seconds later when the speakers called out to all of them once again.

"The Bomb has been successfully removed from Gamma City! Hero, Izuku Midoriya has been Killed-In-Action from the bomb's detonation! Mission Accomplished!"

A loud horn began to sound out throughout Site Gamma, marking the battle trial's end.

"GOOD JOB, EVERYONE. PLEASE REPORT BACK TO THE BASE AND REST UP. WE WILL GO OVER THE RESULTS AFTER A SHORT BREAK!" All Might's voice announced from the speakers.

Almost everyone from the field to the control room to the teacher's observation room remained silent; many simply left stupefied by the whole event. Eraserhead himself was left speechless, not necessarily by the victory; but by the last-minute switch.

Katsuki's plan of having Izuku use an ice bridge that Shouto had created to get the bomb from the highest roof-top. Only to then use his own quirk to jump from roof-top to roof-top carrying the bomb. All before landing safely on the ground nearby the entrance.

Tenya and the cardboard box was just a distraction, it was reckless, but it had gotten the job done. Eraserhead could observe an exhausted Izuku making his way back to the base completely winded. His costume was torn to shreds with a crater only a few feet away from the fake bomb he had left there.

'Well, looks like they did much better than expected for the first years... still, they have a lot to learn, and it looks like some of my third years need to be reminded of what I expect when I demand the kid gloves; to come off...' Shouta thought, annoyed bit by the results, but in the end, he reasoned this may just be karma. 'Heh, as if I would believe in something so irrational..'

Everyone slowly began to unwind; some were using the restroom, others were at the nurse's office, and the rest simply stuck around awaiting the results.

Mina was slowly stirring awake in the makeshift recovery room, thanks partly to the light chatter that filled the room. She blinked as her eyesight slowly returned; she could hear the deep groans of someone in a nearby bed followed by the cries of a familiar voice.

"I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" She could hear Eijirou cry out from behind the curtain to her right.

'Kiri?' She thought as she processed the voice.

"This is…still the worst...pain...ever," She heard another familiar voice wheeze out between breaths; one that helped to snap her out of her daze.

'The battle trial,' Mina finally remembered as she forced herself to sit up; only to receive a sudden shot of pain that made her gasp out loud, forcing her back down. The noise was enough for Eijirou to stop his pleas and peek around the curtain to see her.

"Hey, Ashido..." The redhead laughed nervously. "Glad to see you're awake. I'm sorry about your injuries; Springfield threw me on top of you while I was hard..."

"PHRASING! HAHAHA!"Alex called out from behind the curtain, only for a hard smack to be heard. "OW, SON OF BITCH!"

Eijirou's face turned a deep scarlet upon realizing now how that could be interpreted. Mina, however, simply waved it off with a laugh. She wasn't entirely displeased given that Eijirou's body left very little to the imagination, which she wasn't going to complain about.

"It's okay, horn buddy. I can think of worse ways of getting knocked out," she then blinked a few times as she looked at her surroundings. "But how did I get here?"

Eijirou was about to answer when Alex called out again mockingly.

"Your prince charming here carried you~."

"HEY!" Eijirou called out, his face really starting to burn now, which made Mina giggle. "Can't you spare me, Springfield?"

"Nope! Not after what you did to my nuts, boyo! I need my nuts, damn it! You have broken one of the most sacred rules of the bro code, so you have yet to begin suffering my true wrath!" Then, there was another hearty smack. "Ow! Fucking hell, Shouji! You're supposed to be on my side!"

Eijirou groaned at that, much to the amusement of everyone else.

"Well, if that's the case. Thank you, Horn buddy." Mina said warmly, hoping to cheer him up. The redhead blinked a few times at that, but he smiled.

"Uh...Yeah, it was no trouble." Eijirou answered back, a bit relieved that at least Mina would grant him mercy.

"You know I can hear you guys..." They both heard Hanta's voice call out from the left side of Mina. "Seriously, your flirting is cute and all, but can you keep it down a bit?"

"Shut up, Sero!" Eijirou yelled out, his face finally turning as red as his hair.

"I ship it..."Alex called out again, followed by a few laughs from around the room.

"Oh, come on!" Eijirou exclaimed, clutching his head from the teasing, while Mina spoke up, answering Hanta.

"I'm sorry, Sero!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"WHEYYYYY!~"

Mina blinked at that last noise, unsure of the source.

"What was that?" Mina asked Eijirou, only to have Kyouka answer instead while clearly trying to keep herself from laughing.

"K-Kaminari apparently goes dumb if he," Kyouka had to stop for a moment. " Hehehe...Overuses his quirk."

"Oh hey Jirou, you okay there?" Mina asked as she turned around to face another curtain, hearing it as the source of Kyouka's voice.

"Ehh...I was the first hero to 'die,' so that really blows..." She answered while sounding very annoyed by the fact.

"Hi everyone! It's nice to meet you all." A new voice called out from another corner of the room accompanied by squeaking wheels, where Mina assumed the entrance was. Eijirou proceeded to open her curtain, along with Tsuyu and Fumikage, to give everyone a clear view of their guest. A girl around Momo's height with tan skin, short shiny blonde hair, and amber eyes. She was wearing a cute white fluffy apron over her UA uniform and pushing a small cart that seemed to be completely packed with snacks.

"I'm Jou Mori, but you guys can all call me Pani," She cheerfully introduced herself.

"I'm your Business Course Liaison, and I've got a bunch of homemade shacks to get you guys feeling better." She added as she uncovered some of the more tasty-looking treats such as brownies, mochis, jellies, fruits, buns, and a few simple sandwiches. In addition to a few other random assortments, much to everyone's delight. Several of the students who could still stand began to make their way to get their fill.

"I've got another two carts outside the room in case you guys want more, so you just let me know, okay?" Jou reassured the heroes-in-training as some seemed unsure if they could have some of the scarcer items on the cart.

"Awesome!"

"Sweet!"

"Oh good, ribbit." Tsuyu added as she happily helped herself to some of the jellies on the cart.

Jou looked delighted as the hero class seemed to enjoy the treats she and her fellow business course classmates made. All while slyly pulling out a small notepad to jot down the incoming results. Katsuki helped himself to a spicy pork bun while eyeing up Jou though he didn't complain at the sight.

"She catch your eye, man?" Hanta joked as he ate a sandwich seeing the Ash blond's eyes looking around.

Katsuki only grunted in response as he currently had a mouthful of the juicy and spicy pork bun.

'Damn, this is good.'

"Oh yeah, baby, that's the good stuff." Alex proclaimed as he was being helped up by a now awoken and singed-looking Mezou Shouji. Scarfing down a plate of brownies that had been brought his way by Eijirou. Meanwhile, Rikidou Satou made his way inside the recovery room without his face mask, surprised to see Jou here. Still, he wasn't going to complain, given that she had brought them all some much-needed provisions.

"Hey, Pani," He yawned out, grabbing a bun and sandwiches, only to be enveloped by a hug from the blonde.

"Heya Hun," She answered, much to everyone's surprise.

With her shipping senses maxing out, Mina made herself shoot right up, ignoring her pain, and looked at the two with a surprised yet gleeful smile.

"Hun?!"

"We've been dating since middle school," Jou answered her, "but I've known him for ages longer."

Rikidou bashfully looked away from everyone else; he wasn't as touchy as Jou. However, it wasn't like he would keep it a secret.

"Oooh, ouch, looks like you had no chance, to begin with, Bakugou," Hanta whispered to Katsuki, who clearly looked irked by this revelation.

"GUYS, I THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE!" Tōru cried out as Ryu seemed to be convulsing on his bed. Mezou being the second oldest and currently most capable, made his way to Ryu's bedside.

"Get back; I think he might be having a seizure, someone please go get Recovery Girl." He ordered as he grabbed Ryu to steady him while ensuring he wouldn't choke himself on his own tongue.

After a few moments, Ryu's eyes snapped open, and unable to breathe, looking around wildly. Mezou, almost by complete instinct, pulled back while making Ryu face the ceiling before the black-haired boy coughed out a large jet of fire from his mouth.

"HOLY SHIT!" Was among the cries as the fire began to blacken the ceiling, Ryu now coughing heavily, trying to get air in his lungs.

"You okay, my young friend?" Mezou asked calmly as he held the teen firmly while keeping an eye pod on the ceiling to ensure it hadn't caught fire.

"W-wa-w-w-water." Ryu managed to croak out before being handed a bottle by a concerned-looking Minoru, who had just returned from the restroom only to see his friend seize up like that. Ryu simply nodded his thanks before biting the cap off and downing the whole thing in one quick gulp.

"Damn man, easy there before you choke again," Hanta commented nervously.

"Ah...yeah, sorry about that," Ryu growled out, his voice sounding much hoarser, "it happens sometimes when I forget to breathe."

Katsuki clicked his tongue, annoyed by the guy who already made him on edge, "How the fuck do you forget to breathe Ass Breath?"

"It's called Sleep Apnea** Asshole." Ryu deadpanned with an annoyed look on his face.

Katsuki, irked by Ryu's response and seeing it as a challenge, shot back.

"Then how about you swallow your tongue? After all, corpses aren't supposed to be breathing or talking Ass Breath!"

"Whoa, man, isn't that a bit much?" Eijirou interjected, trying to defuse the situation.

Ryu, however, wasn't one to back down either, "I don't see you saying that to Jirou or anyone else who got killed, blondie!"

The two continued their back and forth, with some of the other braver students trying to calm the two down. Katsuki only grew angrier with the teen who seemed to have his dead master's face and saw it as an affront to the man he respected.

"You're pushing it, Ass Breath!"

"Can't handle the fire, Kacchan?"

Katsuki stood up with murder in his eyes, motioning his way toward Ryu's bedside. His master, Eri and Izuku aside, nobody was permitted to call him that, least of all this prick.

However, several of their classmates moved in front of the explosive blonde to block his way.

"YOU'RE PUSHING IT ASS BREATH!"

"CAN'T HANDLE THE NICKNAME?!" Ryu continued unconcerned with Katsuki's increasingly aggressive attitude; in fact, he matched it with a cruel sneer. "YOU GIVE ALL OF US THOSE STUPID NAMES! ARE WE ALL UNWORTHY OF BEING ADDRESSED BY OUR NAMES? WHAT ARE WE THAT BENEATH YOU SHIT HEEL!?"

"Kasei, calm down, please!" Tōru pleaded, trying to get the two to stop. While Mezou finally stood up and got between the two, extending both sets of his arms to ensure they kept their distance.

"I AM ABOUT TO BLOW YOUR ASS TO HELL!" Katsuki bellowed out, the tension reaching its breaking point until someone else yelled to serve as a voice of reason.

"PHRASING! HEHEHEH...OW!" Alex laughed out again loudly. This time to gain everyone's attention as he forced himself out of his bed, clearly still in pain given how much trouble he was having standing up.

"NOW, BOTH OF YOU SPICE BOYS SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP!" then he let out a small groan of pain as he slightly bent over before straightening himself, "...Bruised nuts aside, I will smack the both of you down if I have to! Now, I don't know, and I don't care what is up both your asses, but it stops now!"

The room finally stood quiet as their senior had laid down the law, ready to act if either teen tried something.

"Now, neither of you ladies are winning a beauty contest anytime soon, so eat some of these kick-ass brownies and chill the fuck out." Alex finished up, sitting back down on his bed once he saw Katsuki's body language slacken as Ryu laid back down. Much to the relief of everyone else.

Until one of them felt the need to make one last remark.

"For the record, I don't swing that way, my fellow spice boy," Ryu added dryly to the laughter of a few in the room.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

Hitoshi groaned when he heard the commotion from the recovery room opposite the break room they sat in start again. Everyone who was still out in the field yet was not injured came in to relax before the results were announced. Hitoshi spoke at length with Reiko, his fellow liaison, about their experiences and general complaints about their roles.

"So noisy..." Hitoshi commented, rolling his eyes at the antics of the hero course students. "I'm just glad it's over, and we'll get our chance to train with Eraserhead soon."

"Well, I mean, at least you got to eat something," Reiko pouted as she relived her experiences with Nejire. "I had to deal with Hadou's constant questions, which got old very quickly."

Hitoshi, however, simply took a sip of his water bottle as he observed a pink hair girl from the support course. She gathered everyone's support gear and met with two others in Class 1-A.

"You'd think they would have secured us first, though." He finally added, only for Reiko to counter with,

"This trial was way more advanced than what any of them were clearly ready for Shinsou. You can't blame them for that."

Hitoshi simply grunted his response though he had to reluctantly agree with her.

However, he also knew that if he had been given the liberty to use his quirk, he could have easily gotten out on his own. The same could be said with Reiko's poltergeist quirk, they could have been used for supporting the heroes, but no such chance was given nor permitted. How else would they get an opportunity to practice using their quirks?

In the end, all he could hope for was that the side training would be worth it.

The announcement was made to have everyone change back into their usual uniforms. Their broken gear or torn-up costumes were handed to a small team of support course students led by the wild card Mei Hatsume. Some got changed quickly due to their simple costumes, while others took a bit longer thanks to the multiple layers that needed to be removed.

"Man, is anyone else feeling better after eating?" Hanta asked aloud as they got dressed.

"It's most likely Pani's quirk whenever she makes food or drinks. She can add a small boost to it, kind like a stat boost or a buff in an RPG," Rikidou answered offhandedly. "Last I checked, I think it kind of depends on the food like spicy stuff makes you stronger, cold stuff makes you tougher, but avoid the sweet stuff if you can."

"Why?" Izuku asked as he seemed to stop getting dressed in favor of jotting down notes about Jou's quirk.

"Ehhh...It just gets kind of…weird..." Rikidou answered awkwardly, much to the confused looks from everyone else.

"Well, I wouldn't worry about the brownies. If you ate like one or two, you should be fine," Rikidou continued with a reassuring hand, trying to ease his concerned-looking classmates who had eaten said brownies.

"Wait a minute..."Eijirou thought for a moment when he remembered what he had done earlier. "Oh...oh no."

Outside of the conversation, the trio of Denki, Ryu, and Minoru chatted as they got changed. Denki was still suffering a few side effects from his quirk yet was feeling better thanks to some sour candy Jirou had brought him. Then Denki noticed something rather odd about his dark-haired companion.

"Dude, are you okayyyy~?"

"What?" The muffled voice Ryu questioned as he started putting on his shirt.

"Dude, all those scars on your back, man..."

The other students, who simply happened to be listening, faced to see what Denki was talking about. Some were still worried due to Ryu's earlier freak out despite getting the all-clear from Recovery Girl. It was not a pretty sight as Ryu's back was riddled with several scars, both big and small. The most noticeable were two long, jagged ones that ran parallel to his shoulder blades. Maybe the most disturbing thing to note was that they looked like they had been burned into his flesh.

"Ah...those..." Ryu paused for a moment before putting his shirt on. "Eh… I got into a few fights here and there, mostly due to bullies. But I did need surgery to fix up some of the worst ones, ya know?"

"Kaminari, it is rude to point out something like that," Tenya interjected as he finished putting on his shoes.

"Oh geez, sorry, man," Denki said sheepishly, putting his hands together as a way to confirm his sincerity.

"Thanks, Iida, but it's cool. I honestly tend to forget that I even have these scars."

"Don't worry about Ass Breath's shit," Katsuki said as he walked by, bumping right into Ryu intentionally before walking out the locker room.

"Kacchan!"

"Bakugou!"

Izuku and Tenya said in unison before leaving the locker room to catch up to him. Shouto's eyes, however, narrowed. Katsuki didn't seem to have an issue with anyone except Ryu, but why was this the case?

Ryu, however, seemed to shrug it off, his golden eyes narrowed. 'That Bakugou punk had been a real pain in my ass...What the fuck is his deal with me? Does he know something about me?'

"Damn, what's his deal?" Denki asked, having been informed of their last confrontation by Minoru.

"Yeah, he seems to have it out for you. You should be careful," Minoru added worriedly about the way the ash-blond teen had been acting.

"I don't know what is up his ass, and I don't care. A hothead like that is the type that normally causes trouble with his alpha dog bullshit anyway. It's not worth my time to worry about it," Ryu answered dismissively. "Come on, let's go get the results."

Izuku finally caught up to Katsuki in the hallway after he had asked Tenya to go and check on Ryu, given that he knew how to best deal with Katsuki.

"Kacchan! What was that about?" He asked nervously, given what he had heard happen earlier, "You've really been getting on Kasei's case...just what is the matter?"

Katsuki turned around slowly, his brow furrowed, showing that he was clearly deep in thought.

"The Prick rubs me the wrong way ever since he showed his fucking face."

Izuku remained silent; he had noticed it as well. Ryu's face looked a lot like his deceased father, save for the shape of his eyes, which actually looked more like Katsuki's. Still, Izuku also knew that saying that would likely set him off. It didn't help that tabloids still spread rumors of his father having mistresses when he was alive. Yet, Ryu had a quirk that let him breathe fire, rather than his father's quick that gave him scaled skin and claws.

"I mean, Dragon Slayer comment aside, it's not like he's done or said anything that would set off alarm bells. Besides, you acted like this with Ochako."

"Last I checked, she still doesn't know about Uncle," Katsuki said with an annoyed huff. "Look, just keep an eye on the bastard, okay?"

"Kacchan, this isn't middle school anymore..." Izuku tried to reason, unsure if he should mention what Shouto had told him earlier.

"Then why did I have to shut down some of the cameras from the control panel near the end of the trial to make sure you weren't seen?" Katsuki retorted to shut him down.

Izuku flinched but continued by saying, "Still, there is no proof that he knows anything."

"You don't know that for sure...my gut just keeps telling me to keep an eye on the guy..."

Izuku sighed; he knew Katsuki wouldn't let this go anytime soon. Hell, he had only just recently warmed up to Ochako, and that took over a month. Izuku knew he simply had let it go for now and let Katsuki be, hoping that he would slowly let it go as he did with Ochako.

Finally, the two began walking back to class in a silent agreement about their next course of action. Izuku would allow Katsuki to continue his paranoid behavior. Only if he doesn't rock the boat and wouldn't interfere unless he felt like Katsuki was going too far without any real reason.

The classroom filled up with chatting students. Some showed signs of fatigue, others seemed a bit more relaxed than they should have been, and the rest still seemed to be full of energy despite the hell they had gone through.

After a few moments, Eraserhead and All Might walked in, followed shortly by The Big Five. Only Alex was being pushed by Mezou in a wheelchair, groaning and giggling to himself as his head lolled to and fro. His lips stained brown from all the brownies he had eaten.

'Ah, crap.' Eijirou thought to himself upon seeing Alex's condition.

"So the results of your battle trial proved to be far more interesting than originally expected." Eraserhead started as he held up a few of the reports.

"Indeed, my young batch of heroes! You all performed far better than was originally projected, given that your first trial was far more advanced than what you were meant for!" All Might proclaimed while being everyone a thumb's up in approval.

The class collectively felt like that was the understatement of the century.

"Originally had I designed for you to fail this exam no matter the circumstances, and even though you captured all of the villains and saved the city. You still failed by saving the hostages," Eraserhead continued after allowing All Might to comment.

Most of the class collectively flinched or looked away in shame, especially those who lost hostages in their care or were just within their reach.

"However, in terms of an overall grade, you all passed."

The room went silent, some from relief and others from shock, as the comment only raised more questions from the class.

"Sir!" Tenya said as he raised his hand in full view of everyone.

"Yes, Iida?" Eraserhead said, looking at the tall engine quirk user.

"Just why was this trial so advanced?" he adjusted his glasses with a raised brow. "As much I would enjoy a good challenge, why the need to throw us to the wolves?"

The final line especially made some of The Big Five laugh a bit.

"A valid question, my young lad." All Might commented as he turned to see how his peer would answer this.

Eraserhead, however, was more than prepared.

"I'm going to assume you have all had some idea on how the day-to-day life for a Pro Hero works: flashy fights, interviews, marketing deals, and the like." He started off before continuing with a severe tone. "Like many things in life, there is often a bit of an exaggeration than the straight truth. No one ever talks about mission or incident reports that need to be filled, the victim processing reviews, the real down, dirty and unglamorous side of our work as Pro-Heroes."

After taking a moment to see everyone's reactions. He continued with his explanation.

"Using this trial, for example, unless the Hero in question has a quirk to assist with it. They do not serve as Mission Operators," Eraserhead looked at Momo, Izuku, and Katsuki. "That job tends to fall to the police who can authorize changes in the mission parameters as prescribed by law."

Shouta could see the cogs in some of his students' heads beginning to turn as they processed what he just said.

"This trial was also used to identify glaring issues like certain habits," His voice suddenly snapping, "Getting distracted..."

Denki and the many others who knew they fell under this category lowered their heads.

"Underestimating the threat of your opponents and mission on hand."

Izuku and Katsuki both fell into this one for sure. However, Ochako and Tenya could also feel some shame in this.

"Losing your cool as the situation continued to grow dire."

Momo took that last comment especially hard.

"And collectively not taking the trial as serious as you should have. Since some of you decided to take full advantage of the trial and allowed yourselves to die," Eraserhead had an especially stern look in his eyes. "And if I start to see martyrs among you. I'll be sure to have your homeroom teacher address those possible concerns."

"All of these and much, much more, are habits that need to be identified so we can begin correcting them early; when lives are not at risk. I'll be sure that Midnight will go over the individual reports with you to work on your individual faults... Now as for you lot..." Eraserhead finished before his scarf suddenly activated and wrapped around Mirio, Nejire, and Tamaki.

Mezou and Alex, however, seemed to be spared from his wrath.

"You will introduce yourselves before joining me in my office for a very severe lesson in what I mean when I say not to take it easy on them." The sudden shift in tone and aura from Eraserhead terrified everyone in the room. When he seemed satisfied that he had finally made his point across. Eraserhead released his senior students and began walking out of the room, leaving four of the Big Five sweating lightly.

Alex, meanwhile, simply sat there, still completely out of it as he giggled in his wheelchair.

"Oh, that reminds me," Eraserhead said as an afterthought when he stood right by the doorway. His head turned to the class and eyed two specific students.

"Bakugou and Tokoyami, please stop by my office after school. There is something important we need to discuss." And with that, he continued his exit out of the classroom. The two boys looked at each other for a moment before giving each other a silent nod, understanding something that no one else knew. Izuku wondered just what that was about, yet he wasn't the only one.

Mirio quickly snapped out of his own funk caused by Eraserhead and started off the introductions.

"Hello everyone, this may not be the best way to make a good introduction, but the name is Mirio Tōgata! My Hero name is Lemillion! First Seat of the Big Five!" the blonde pointed a thumb to himself.

"And I have to say, you guys really impressed me with some of your skills!" He said with a great big smile and gave everyone a thumbs up.

Next up was Tamaki, who simply turned around, placing his head against the wall dreading the "lesson" with Eraserhead.

"Tamaki Amajiki...I'm the Second Seat...and I just want to go home..." He said with a trembling voice as he produced a depressing aura that seemed to darken the room.

"His Hero name is Suneater!" The bubbly Nejire interjected to spare Tamaki and to try to brighten up the mood with her own. "Hi! I'm Nejire Hadou! I'm the Third Seat of the Big Five! My Hero name is Nejire-chan! Some of you really impressed me! Others not so much."

Ryu's head drooped with an annoyed click of his tongue, feeling the blow to his ego on how he had been taken out by her. Denki and Minoru both patted their friend on the back. Katsuki, on the other hand, had a silent cackle to himself with knowing how badly Ryu had been owned.

The tallest and most formal of the group, the boy with six arms bowed to everyone as he introduced himself to the class.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Mezou Shouji, Fourth Seat of the Big Five; my Hero name is Tentacole."

"Hheeheh...Don't mind the biiig guy! He'sa definition of da' Strong, silent type.' "The brown-haired boy in the wheelchair suddenly spoke up, slurring before going through another giggling fit.

All Might whispered to Mirio. "He is alright?"

Mirio shrugged before whispering back. "Recovery Girl got him on some painkillers since she can't heal him yet, but she said it shouldn't be affecting him that much..."

All Might grimaced a bit; the injury must be bad if Recovery Girl is delaying treatment.

"Alex Spriiningfieeldfld issss mah na- mah na- mah name; I-i'm fine! I mean...five! I mean...And... I juss wanna say...I love y'alllllllll..." He groaned out with a bit of drool coming out from the corner of his grinning mouth while becoming wall-eyed, much to everyone else's confusion in the class by the foreign boy's antics.

Of course, it would be Katsuki who would be the one to break the ice. "Is he high?"

"Bakugou! It's rude and disrespectful to ask something like about our upperclassm-! " Tenya had started, only for Alex to interrupt in a high-pitched voice.

"Like a kite!" With a completely straight face, only for him to start breaking into another giggling fit. Causing some in 1-A to laugh as well, finding his laughter infectious. Eijirou laughed nervously as he continued to feel guilty for Alex. As he both punched the guy in the balls and had gotten him several of the brownies, Rikidou had warned him about eating. Which may have led to his current condition.

All Might coughed, trying to get everyone's attention as the Big Five made their exit.

"Hey, Shouji...can we get mora 'ose browries? They he'lp make pain go a'way...Oh! And milk too!" Alex could be heard saying as he was wheeled out of the room.

"Now for the final bit of the trial. There is one more key lesson. While this was a collective class trial, we still hold rankings for both teams and individuals."

This made everyone look back up at All Might. As he pulled up the roster with point values via a hand projector.

1st Place, Team Four: 2 Captures, 4 Assists, 1 recoveries, -1 loss

2nd Place, Team One: 1 Capture, 2 Assists, 3 recoveries, Bonus: Bomb Capture 1, -1 loss

3rd Place, Team Three: 1 Capture, 2 Assists, Bonus: Scouting +2, -2 losses

4th Place, Team Two: 1 Capture, 1 Assist, 1 recoveries, 0 losses

Everyone looked at the scores with unease, especially those in Team Two who had basically been exhausted early on in the trial with no chance to recover.

"However, despite the results, our MVP for this operation is none other than Team Two's Katsuki Bakugou!" All Might announced with Katsuki's name appearing at the bottom highlighted. A sudden ring of praise and applause was given to a smug-looking Katsuki as he sat confidently in his seat.

"From being on the field to taking control of the situation when things took a turn and building on what the others left behind. You did an excellent job today, young Bakugou!" All Might continued, remembering that Eraserhead had been entirely against this placement. Still, it was ultimately All Might's choice in the end.

"I'm aiming for the top All Might, nothing more, nothing less," Katsuki answered with a proud smile.

All Might nodded firmly.

"Excellent, now I will end today's lesson with this: I am sorry about the trial," The veteran apologized. "If it makes you feel better, Class 1-B will be going through the very same exercise once young Springfield recovers. We will be going over hero work that is more in line with your year group."

Many in the class felt relieved to hear that.

"Secondly, for those of you who were taken out of play or feel especially drained from this trial, chin up! All of you did much better than expected, far exceeding our expectations despite the hardships that were laid out to you unfairly," All Might gave a thumbs up. "Yet I know now I can say with absolute confidence that we do, in fact, have a very promising batch of future heroes here."

Those who felt down due to their personal shortcomings were revealed in the trial. They did start to feel better upon hearing those encouraging words from the Symbol Of Peace that almost everyone in the room admired. Others, however, continued their mullings over the trial in the hopes of taking this lesson to heart.

"All Might you all done~?" A rather sultry voice by the door said as the class collectively turned to see their homeroom teacher Nemuri in a rather provocative pose leaning against the door.

"Hmm, yes! Yes! Class dismissed! I will leave them to you now, Midnight." All Might answered with an awkward cough before walking out of the classroom. While Nemuri retook her place at the podium, with an armful of sheets to go over with the class.

As the day ended, Katsuki walked to the teacher's lounge with Fumikage.

The blonde knew that this would have to come up sooner or later. However, he didn't want to worry Izuku about the details. So, he simply told his friends to go on home without him since he wasn't sure just how long this could take.

"Bakugou…it is not my place to ask but tell me; are you also on probation?" Fumikage asked with a quiet caution as the two of them walked down the hall. Katsuki remained silent for a moment before answering; there was no denying that they were both heading the same way for the same reason.

"Yeah... had to go to anger management counseling before I was allowed to come here. You?"

Fumikage hummed in acknowledgment.

"My quirk has a mind of its own," The raven head boy started. " While I can control it, for the most part, but there have been times when I have lost control and well…The laws in place have a heavy bias towards those like myself."

Those with volatile quirks.

Or so Katsuki wanted to say that but found it to be redundant.

When the two arrived at the entrance of the teacher's lounge, they were met by two other students. Their uniforms confirmed that they were also First Year, Hero Course students***. The first was a tall, muscular boy with glasses who had a face that reminded Katsuki of a dog due to the tremendous amount of wild brown hair covering his body. The second was a tall and lanky boy with palish green skin and green hair styled in a mohawk who had what looked like two hooked blades on the sides of his face.

Upon seeing the two walking towards them, the hairy boy started to speak up.

"Hello there, gentlemen; I am assuming you are here to see Mister Aizawa as well?" He said in a very polite and formal tone of voice that mentally threw Katsuki off guard. Fumikage, however, simply nodded to answer his question.

"I see, then forgive me if I seem forward. However, are you two on-"

"Yeah...It's exactly what you think," Katsuki interrupted before turning away to not look him in the eyes.

"Ah...Yes, I understand," The boy added in an apologetic tone. "I know none of us are proud of our shared status."

However, the lanky green-haired boy simply clicked his tongue seemingly out of frustration and annoyance.

"What's your problem, bug face?" Katsuki said, facing the teen not liking the sudden attitude.

"Kamagiri, please, there is no need for that," The hairy boy interjected before turning to the other pair of students as he motioned toward his classmate. "I apologize for him, friend."

"Sheheheh, ah stop that Shishida. There's no need to apologize when I'm not going to be doing that shit for 1-A rivals." The boy commented with a wild grin, a comment that only served to get Katsuki's blood boiling.

"So you do want to start something, huh, Bug Face?"

"Bakugou, wait!" Fumikage stated quickly, trying to diffuse the situation, not wanting a repeat of his spat with Ryu.

The door suddenly opened with Shouta Aizawa standing there with his quirk active.

"Inside. Now." He said sternly as the tension broke as suddenly as it came when the four made their way inside.

"I hope for your sakes that little spat of yours is the only thing I will see from any of you." He started, however, before any of the boys could retort; Shouta continued. "Look, I know you've all been briefed with your parents and or guardians. So I am not going to waste our time by repeating information you already know."

The man crossed his arms as he raised an eyebrow. "However, I do have to inform you that since you are still on probation until the beginning of next month. You are forbidden from the following: Joining after-school clubs, getting a part-time job, and joining the student council."

After a moment of shared glances between the boys, Shouta continued.

"The last one is especially notable since the first-year class elections for class president and vice-president will be held tomorrow. So your names will be removed from the ballot."

All four students could feel the sting of being told about their probation as serving on the council would always look good when the Pros would begin to scout them as the school year continued. Shouta sighed, seeing the hurt and humiliation on the faces of his students.

"I know that this can be very frustrating and illogical given your records, and yes, gentlemen. I have seen all of your records, and nothing in them warranted the extremes that you are being subjected to, in my opinion," he held up a hand. "Although I won't deny that the anger management counseling for you two, Bakugou and Kamagiri, had to take would be seen as a negative."

The blond and greenette looked at each other with narrowed eyes before turning away.

"Keep your noses clean, and soon we'll be able to remove you from probation; however, I do need to make one last thing clear," the man's voice became stern.

"If you get removed from probation and then cause trouble shortly afterward. Your probation will be reinstated, and it will be doubled in extension," He continued after taking in the boys' grimaces. "Now, I do not expect that to happen, but it is something I need you all to understand."

The four boys remained silent, making sure to not interrupt their teacher until he was finished.

"With any luck, the recent changes in the public sphere may soon make this system pointless. And we can drop it altogether," Shouta then added, almost as if it was an afterthought.

"You are dismissed."

When Izuku arrived home after a long day. The first thing he wanted to do was have a feast of Katsudon that his mother had made. He was absolutely famished, given how much power he had to use at the last minute of the trial.

He ate with Eri bouncing on his lap; his thoughts were flooded with many things that occurred today. From the trial to Katsuki to even Ochako, acting strange ever since they completed the test. He wasn't sure if it was just exhaustion or something else. As they had simply sat together quietly for the whole train ride over, barely saying anything to each other the entire time.

"Are you okay, Izuku?"

Izuku turned to look at his mom as she brought him back to reality. The boy lowered his bowl and pondered for a moment, thinking carefully before he gave her an answer.

"Yeah, it was actually a really cool day; tiring but really cool. I mean, I even got to wear my first hero costume!" Izuku began with a cheerful demeanor. "I think I'm just pretty tired from the first real test we had."

Inko smiled, relieved to hear him say that. She thought back fondly to her own time at UA with a chuckle. She was glad her son was off to a good start.

"I can understand from my own time at UA," her smile soon became wistful.

"When your father..." And suddenly, she trailed off, and the room became quiet. The anniversary of Hisashi's death was approaching once again, near the end of the month. As such, the mood became much more somber in the household.

Eri looked at the two, seeing the sudden shift in tone and the sadness that now lined their faces. So she made her own effort to try and lighten the mood. She lightly poked Izuku in the chest, causing him to look down at the child's bright red eyes before she gave him the biggest hug she could manage. Izuku smiled, grateful for the sudden affection, so he slowly placed down his bowl to gently return the hug back and whispered, "Thank you, Eri."

Once she was satisfied with her work, Eri hopped off Izuku's lap and ran up to Inko to do the same. It was a small gesture, but it proved that Eri had clearly learned and grasped the importance of physical affection.

As Inko doted on the white-haired girl, Izuku sat there amazed that it was the same girl he had found with Ochako just a little over a month ago. While she still didn't smile, she was less jumpy and more expressive. She certainly was much livelier, and Izuku hoped that he could teach her how to smile someday soon. As her psychiatrist had pointed out, that would be a significant point in her development. Izuku had even been reading up on the subject, which led him to read some research materials on parenting.

Then he felt his phone buzz and was about to answer it when his mom asked about something significant, something that had completely slipped his mind.

"Izuku, are you and Uraraka ready for tomorrow?"

Izuku paused, his eyes going wide as he remembered what else he had needed to do today.

'Oh, crap...I forgot we're taking Eri to school tomorrow... and I forgot to ask Tokoyami to take pictures of him; IDIOT!' Izuku sighed in frustration, angry at himself for forgetting something so important.

"I told the class, and they seemed same okay with the idea, but I didn't get the picture..." Izuku answered in a bitter tone.

'So much for making Eri a priority.'

"I see; that's okay, honey, it happens. You'll simply just need to be extra careful when you try to introduce her to everyone," Inko reassured her son as she held Eri in her arms. "I'm going to get Eri ready for bed, okay?"

"Yeah...thanks, mom," Izuku said while looking down at his partially empty bowl of uneaten Katsudon. His appetite left him as he felt like he had let Eri down.

'How could I have forgotten about that?'

That's when he felt his phone buzz again; remembering that he had gotten an earlier message, he finally pulled out his phone and saw a notification from Ochako. To his surprise and amazement, he opened the chat with her. He found many different pictures of one Fumikage Tokoyami inside of the base. A message from Ochako followed the pictures.

Occhan: Hey, Izuku, sorry about being so quiet after school. I had a lot on my mind from the battle trial and I kind of needed some time to myself, ya know?

Please tell Eri I'm sorry that I couldn't visit. I knew that you were trying to ask Tokoyami for pictures back during lunch. But I got the chance to ask him during the trial while we waited for our turns. It was actually just like your mom said! He did have experience with accidentally scaring kids before, so he was, I guess I would say, happy to help? Anyways, I'll be sure to swing by a little early tomorrow morning to help prep Eri for school; see ya then!

Izuku couldn't help but feel grateful to Ochako, who had come to his rescue, making up where he had fallen short. Still, he endeavored to correct this and do better next time, but this did secure one thing in his mind.

'I'm not alone in this.'

His appetite returned quickly as he felt so much better about the situation.

Eri walked hand-in-hand with Izuku and Ochako.

Izuku carried a large basket filled with yummy food, while Ochako had a giant rolled-up blanket as they walked to find the perfect spot to start their picnic. They walked past emerald green fields, gigantic mountains with snowy tops, and a great big tree with its crown hidden in clouds.

The cool breeze was oddly soothing for the little girl, so she basked in it, and the sun rays from above warmed her face.

"This seems like a perfect spot!" Ochako proclaimed with her trademark arm pump that went straight up as they arrived at a large lake with crystal clear waters that mirrored the sky. Save for the ducks that graced the surface with only the tiniest of ripples hinting at their movement.

"You're right, Ochako. This is the best spot!" Izuku cheered, mirroring Ochako's gesture. At the same time, Eri looked at the two with some confusion, yet she started to feel this strange warm sensation in her heart every time she was with them.

As they set up the blanket and broke out the food, Eri looked around, wishing every day could be like today, sunny but not too hot, cool but not too cold, with yummy food and with the two who had helped her.

Eri's thoughts returned to the fluffy white bunny in the picture book. For a moment, Eri thought she dared to ask, to speak out what she truly wanted to say. 'Mama' was what she wanted to call Ochako, and 'Papa' was what she wanted to call Izuku. As they were the ones who had saved her and who had always made her feel safe. She wanted them to be her family.

"Only…they are not… your family… Eri…" A cold voice said behind her, making Eri freeze, the warm feeling in her heart snuffed out as though an icy hand had suddenly gripped it.

"No..." She spoke ever so quietly, slowly turning her head trembling with fear, a fear that she had been found by the Demon that stalked her.

"What's wrong, Eri?" Izuku asked with a worried look on his face.

"Are you okay, Eri? Are you tired?" Ochako asked, sitting closer to Eri, embracing her to try and ease her fears. Eri, however, continued to look out for him.

Searching for Overhaul, the man who had been the ruler of her nightmares for as long as she could remember.

"I'm scared, Mama," Eri said tearfully to Ochako, grabbing onto her as hard as she could.

"Of what, Eri?" Ochako responded, doing her try and ease her worries.

"Of me." The voice said again; however, it sounded much closer to Eri, and Ochako and Izuku disappeared in an instant. Only to reappear right in front of her with faces that looked like they didn't have a care in the world, and standing right behind them...was him.

Eri sat there in horror as Overhaul began reaching for the two of them with hands ungloved.

Eri couldn't call out; she couldn't breathe; all she could do was watch the nightmare unfold before her, knowing what was going to happen next.

"I will always find you, Eri, you accursed little bitch. And for your punishment, a reminder of what happens to those who defy me."

Finally, Eri let out a scream.

Izuku's eyes snapped open the moment it happened.

The instant Eri started screaming, Izuku lept out of bed and made his way to Eri's side, finding her thrashing wildly in her bed screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Eri! Eri, it's okay!" Izuku spoke out, grabbing hold of her in the way the psychiatrist had taught him.**** It wasn't as common as before, but Eri would still have night terrors from time to time. Izuku knew that she simply had to ride out the storm. After a few minutes, her breathing steadied and slowly returned to normal. Her eyes snapped open, revealing those bright ruby eyes that were now swimming in tears.

"It's okay, Eri, it was just a dream," Izuku quietly reassured her, holding her as firmly yet as gently as he could while rubbing her back.

"T-tt-the bbbired per-pel-people...took me aga-again..." She managed to say as she sobbed, latching on to Izuku as tightly as could before stuttering, "Th-they killed you and mama..."

Izuku's mind went blank as he heard the word Mama and wondered if Eri was finally starting to see his own mother as her mom. It would make him a big brother, a title he definitely wouldn't mind having.

"Izuku, do you have it covered, sweetie?" He heard his mother say from behind his door.

"Yeah, mom, I've got it... no problem." He answered back before hearing her footsteps fade away.

"Eri..." Izuku thought very hard about what he should do next, then an idea formed when he saw Ochako's book on his desk. He carefully sat Eri up, wondering if this was the best course of action.

"Can I… show you something very important?" Izuku then asked the sniffling Eri.

"It's one of my greatest secrets that not even Ochako knows about it. It's the secret that will make sure I will always keep you safe," He said as Eri looked at him, a bit confused about what he meant before Izuku continued speaking.

"Eri, what I am going to show you, well… it can look a little scary," Izuku momentarily glanced away with a bit of shame. "But, it's part of how I fight, how I use my quirk to protect people. You know how Ochako can make you float?"

Eri nodded, remembering all the times Ochako would play with her using her quirk.

"You've never seen my quirk yet, have you?"

She paused, thinking about it for a moment when she realized that he was right and shook her head. Izuku slowly took off his shirt before focusing; he began to glow. With a slow warm glow, Izuku's skin became green and scaly.

Eri looked surprised. Yet, she didn't seem scared by Izuku's sudden scaly appearance as he had light green scales that now covered most of his body. Scales that shined like polished steel, while Izuku's eyes had a warm blue glow to them.

"This is my quirk...my power..."Izuku looked Eri right in the eyes.

"My armor. It's what I will use to protect people. Like how Jin does in the storybook." Izuku said, pointing at the book on his desk with a clawed finger.

"Like Fafnir?" Eri questioned, remembering snippets of the book.

Izuku gave her a smile and answered with a slightly pointed grin, "Yep, like The Fafnir Knight..."

Izuku slowly raised his clawed hand to Eri's face, using it to gently wipe away some of the tears away. While Eri reached forward slowly to feel the scales on his shifted arm. She could feel the weight as well as a great power hidden beneath them. Just like Izuku said, he was like Jin from the storybook; someone who can turn to a brave knight to send bad guys away.

He was her Fafnir Knight, a thought that eased her mind, if only for a while.

"I promise you, Eri, Bird people or otherwise. I will always do my best to protect you. I also know that Ochako and everyone else in the Hero course at UA will protect you too," he had a surefire grin when he declared. "We want to be heroes to use our power to save people just like you."

Eri was no longer crying as she looked at him, yet she still had a slight hiccup.

"But...there is something else, Eri," Izuku followed up, just as softly.

"I need you to protect me too. Because there are people who would be scared of me, just like how you are scared of the bird people," his eyes looked down, a crestfallen tinge to them. "Because of my quirk."

Eri gasped; she couldn't believe anyone would be scared of Izuku since he had always been so lovely and polite. How could anyone be scared of him?

"No," She said firmly with a slight pout, an action that actually surprised Izuku. "You're nice...nothing like them."

"Then can you please promise me something, Eri? Please don't tell Ochako about my power...she doesn't know yet, but I am planning on telling her soon." He pleaded to her, knowing that every day only increased the chance of exposure.

Izuku had finally decided to tell her on his own terms. After Eri's evaluation, Izuku would reveal the truth to Ochako about one of his greatest secrets. Eri looked puzzled again because, like how Jin was like Izuku, Ochako was like the princess in the storybook, like Arianna.

"Chako likes you; she wouldn't be scared of you."

Izuku's face, despite being partly covered in green scales, still turned a deep shade of red by Eri's comment but did it help make him feel a bit more reassured about his choice.

"Umm..." Izuku chuckled nervously as he scratched behind his ear. "I'm not sure about that just yet. But you promise me this, Eri? Just for now?"

Eri looked at him for a moment before nodding.

"Thank you, Eri." He said, giving the little girl the biggest smile he could muster, only to see her fidget around with her hands as if she had a question.

"Ummm..."

"Yes, Eri?" Izuku asked, seeing the pleading look in her eye.

"Can I please sleep with you tonight, please?" Izuku knew this was coming and wasn't surprised by the child's request. Like every other time she had a night terror like this, Eri would immediately request to sleep with him or Ochako afterward.

"Okay, Eri." He said as he returned back into his normal form and put his shirt back on.

Then Izuku gently lifted her up, slowly, and moved her to his bed; tucking her in first before climbing in next to her. Eri quickly latched on to him as he finally settled in. Within moments, Izuku started to gently brush Eri's soft silky hair, slowly lulling her back to sleep.

"Good night, Eri," Izuku whispered to her, giving her horn a small kiss, and settled back to sleep himself.

Author's Commentary

Tenya's red eyes*: In the manga, Tenya Iida actually has blood-red pupils that were changed in the anime version; I changed them back to red for story reasons.

Sleep Apnea**: A real thing in which someone's brain can actually forget to automatic progress of breathing while you sleep. (Yours truly has some personal experience with this, and it is scary as fuck)

Night terrors***: I actually consulted a few psychiatrists I happen to know for this story. (As I didn't want to write something that may not be medically recommended) waking up people/children experiencing night terrors and if it is okay to try and wake them. And they are all almost basically the same thing. While it is better to let them calm down on their own, in some instances, like if someone could have breathing or heart issues, it might be better to wake them early to avoid straining the heart and or lungs.

ZX