Izuku grumbled as he leapt off a rooftop and landed on another. This was not something he was looking forward to. He just wanted to watch the festival, but noooo. Naomasa just had to inform him of an appearance of members of a notorious pedophilia ring. Nao suggested he let them take care of it, but Izuku went anyways. His conscience wouldn't let him sit idly by.

He landed in the location the police sent, and Izuku made sure to stay hidden in the shadows.

His nose crinkled in disgust. They just had to send him to a strip club, huh?

It wasn't that Izuku hated strip clubs, it was that he hated men that circled around them. Usually the worst scum imaginable hung around these establishments, and Izuku frankly didn't care about the women who worked in them. They needed to provide for themselves and their families, so Izuku left them alone.

"Oi! Who the hell is that?!"

Damn.

His cover blown, Izuku watched as several burly men with large beer guts surrounded him. Each man grosser than the other, and some wearing business suits, while others wore t-shirts and jeans.

A larger man with brown hair a bull horns on his head smirked. "Looks like we got ourselves a little hero, eh? Kinda reminds me of that vigilante fella Jim was talking to me about."

The other men chuckled at the idea of finishing a hero off. Izuku almost showed his disgust.

"Hey, QL! What's going on down there?" Naomasa's voice sounded in Izuku's headset.

Izuku remained stoic, responding to Naomasa not so casually. "Currently having a party with esteemed gentlemen. Tell me, what did the suspects look like?" He inwardly panicked as the men closed in on him slowly.

"Twelve men, white, rugged features. The leader of the group is a man names Franklin Dimo. His quirk is Bull. He has the horns of a bull as well as the strength of one as well."

Izuku grinned.

"Hey, uh, you found something?"

Izuku chuckled, deterring the group for a moment. "I'll get right back to you. I have to get to work." Turning his headset off, he leapt at one of the members with a grin.


{Student box}

Ojiro and Mina both left to their preparation boxes, and Kirishima was ready to see his girlfriend dominate the round. He was slightly worried about Izuku. The guy left abruptly, his expression stern, as if he'd been told some bad news.

"Who do you think is going to win?"

Kirishima immediately swung his arm to the voice, instinctively grabbing the owner by the collar and slammed him/her to the floor in front of him.

A pained moan brought him back to reality, and he finally noticed Kaminari on the floor, his arm behind his back.

Kirishima immediately picked him up. "Hey dude! I'm so sorry about that! You just startled me is all."

Kaminari blinked, dizziness in his eyes, but quickly focused onto the redhead. "Its no prob, I kinda thought you were paying attention."

Kirishima sheepishly placed a hand behind his head. "Yeah, uh, what was your question again?"

"Who do you think is going to win?"

Kirishima looked surprised. "Mina, of course!" He couldn't believe it. Her friend had no faith in her? So unmanly.

Kaminari's eyes widened. "No! That's totally not what I meant. I know Mina will do well, its just..."

"Youre putting faith in Ojiro."

"Yeah! Exactly! I don't want to be biased about the whole thing, I just want to talk advantages and disadvantages."

Kirishima nodded thoughtfully. Maybe Kaminari had a head on his shoulders after all.

"Well, Mina-"

"Alright, ladies and gentle-listeners! It's time for the next round to start!"

Kaminari and Kirishima chuckled, their answers were going to be shown.

"On the left field, he's a man of art, of calm, of collection! He has a mighty tail and a mighty heart. It's our resident tail man, MASAHIRO OJIRO!"

The crowd roared in anticipation and excitement.

"And on the right field, she's a mean, lean, acidic queen! She can corrode appliances and she can burn through floors! The only thing hotter than her acid is her shining personality! Give it up for MINA ASHIDO!"

Mina was one for entrances, so she slid her way to her spot on the field, spinning in the air as she approached.

The crowd cheered as well, just as loud as Ojiro.

"Begin!"

Ojiro and Mina stood still, observing their opponent, daring the other to move. Then, the both dashed at the other.

Mina didn't want to just rely on her quirk, not this time. She wanted to show off superior skill. which she was fully confident she had. Every time Ojiro swung a hand, she blocked it. Every time he kicked a leg, she countered with her own. There was just on thing she did not take into account.

His quirk.

She gasped as she fell to the ground, the tail swiping from under her. He smirked, if there was one thing he knew he dominant at, it was the use of five limbs.

She rolled backwards, standing away from him. Summoning acid to her feet, she slid to him, not unlike an ice skater. As she maneuvered around him, she would send punches his way, which turned him on the defensive this time.

Ojiro's mind was a mess. Every time he found an opening, she would close it at the same rate they opened. She was blazing fast on her feet, and now that speed doubled thanks to her quirk.

In a bind, he swung his tail in different directions, praying he would hit her at least once.

Soon enough he did.

As the tail slammed into her stomach, some of the acid landed on his outfit, prompting a hiss as the corrosive substance dug into his skin.

She didn't hesitate to utilize this moment.

She sprinted at him, all of the muscles in her lower body screaming at her to take a rest, but she couldn't back down. She would not back down. She had enough of feeling useless.

She leapt in the air with as much force as she could muster, and used her hands like a hose, spewing acid around Ojiro, careful not to burn him again. She watched as he became an island in a sea of purple.

She landed unceremoniously on the ground, knowing she sprained something, but watched as her opponent struggled to move past the acid. She smirked, walking calmly out to the boy.

"Hey Ojiro! How about that? It looks like you're stuck!" Her smile was blinding.

Ojiro groaned, then grinned, throwing her off. "It may look like I'm stuck, but you know that's far from the truth."

With a mighty slam of his tail, he vaulted to Mina, completely passing over the sea of acid.

Mina stood completely surprised, her eyes shaking, her hands quivering.

No! He shouldnt have moved past it! it was the most I could do! What can I do? I can't beat him in physical strength, or skill! I only have my acid!

Ojiro took advantage of her pondering, and rushed her. Before she could blink, he grabbed onto her arm and swung her to the boundary line. She helped as she landed, and sat up. She peered at the paint in front of her foot, and her shoulders slumped.

"Mina Ashido is past the boundary line! Masahiro Ojiro is the winner!"

Midnight's call stabbed into Mina. She stood up, bowed to Ojiro, the ran out of the field, tears welling in her eyes. She felt so useless. It wasn't fair!

Ojiro blinked as he watched his opponent leave. He was about to complement her on her quick thinking, but never had the chance. As he started to walk, he was stopped by Present Mic's speech, and tentatively waved to the crowd, thoughts of Mina slowly leaving him.

{Student box}

"Hey Kirishima, I guess Ojiro really -" He looked to where his friend should be and noticed Kirishima wasn't there.

Probably went to check up on Mina, I guess.

Kaminari looked at the rest of the class, who was chatting away with the exception of Kyoka. She looked deep in thought.

There was only one student who didn't participate, and he looked somewhat...pleased?

Hesitantly, he walked behind Bakugou, and listened.

"Serves her right. No one dates a little red bitch and wins."

Kaminari knew there was more to it, but this was enough.

Anger bubbling in his soul, he grabbed a metal rod from his waist and pumped some electricity through it. Without warning, he slammed the static rod into Bakugo's neck, effectively jolting him to Kaminari's position.

The rest of the classes grew silent as they heard Bakugou scream. They all stared Bakugo, who looked thoroughly pissed, but their biggest shock was Kaminari, who was livid.

Sero was the first to speak up.

"Hey, Kaminari, what's going on?"

The electric user didn't remove his eyes from the explosive teen. "Why don't you ask Katsuki here. I'm sure he'd love to explain his words."

Bakugou scoffed. "Bite me."

Kaminari raised his rod again, but cellophane tape latched onto the metal. Sero shook his head, disappointment evident on his face. His usual toothy grin was long gone.

"Kaminari, I'm sure you had a good reason, but that's no excuse to attack a classmate. What he said makes no difference. Is he cruel and mean to others, sure. Does he attack his teammates, definitely. Does he sabotage his opponents, oh no doubt." Sero sighed. "But that's no excuse to stoop to his level, Kaminari. This is the same behaviour that got us disqualified from the battle rounds, why make it worse for yourself?"

Everyone stood rigid at Sero's wise words. He had a point, and were surprised he was the one to say something.

Kaminari glared one last time at Bakugou. "Fine." He sat in his previous spot.

Sero sighed, glad the disaster was averted.


{With Kirishima}

He recognized the look on Mina's face. It was the face of utter defeat, of shame. He knew this look well. He knew because he was there.

He remembered his training with Quirkless. After a couple weeks of training, he returned home broken. He didn't know if he was good enough. Quirkless had been harsh, but completely right when he told Kirishima that in order to do what they're doing, he needs to stop whining like a little kid. They're taking on grown adults, not high school students.

Kirishima didn't know what he meant by that. He took it offensively. He felt weak. He remembered Izuku beating him until he was blue. A time after graduating from his training, and he completely understood what Izuku meant. He became stronger after that, vowing he would be more serious.

The emotions Mina was feeling right now, Kirishima understood. And she needed him.

He walked up to the door of the prep room, and peered inside. He didn't notice she was in until she sniffled. Smiling warmly, he walked to the farthest wall, and rushed to her.

Mina looked like a mess. She felt worse. She failed. She was a shame to her class. She didn't even make it past the first round, so what good is she to the hero course?

She felt alone.

Until a pair of arms wrapped around her. She looked up and smiled when her boyfriend leaned into her, soothing her. She couldn't hold back anymore. The dams fully broke.

Kirishima just held her and rubbed her back as she cried. She needed this.

He'd be there to help, always.


The couple returned to the student box, and they were all calling out complements to the acidic girl, which she readily accepted. The couple sat down, waving Uraraka good luck as she went ahead of Shinso, who was waving to his own friends

Pony hugged him and wished Shinso luck, to which he reciprocated with a blush.

Kendo nodded to him, wishing him luck.

{Elsewhere}

Izuku grunted as he took down the last of the thugs that surrounded him at the strip club. Tying them up, he contacted Tsukauchi, who was on his way.

Just before he left, he smelled something steely, like copper.

He turned around and stopped. A figure stepped out of the shadows, peering curiously at him.

The figure appeared to be a young girl, possibly six years old, with silver hair, a single pale horn on her head, and big round eyes. What drew his attention were her arms. They were covered in bandages, and one of the bandages was coloured red with blood.

She followed his gaze, and panicked when she looked at her arms. She quickly put her hand over the wound, preventing him from seeing it.

Izuku softened his gaze, and didn't walk. He risked scaring her if he did. Thinking quickly, he lowered his face covering, revealing a smile that immediately calmed her down.

"Hey there, are you hurt?" She didn't answer him, she just opted to stare at him.

Izuku was concerned. "Hey, are you ok? I have a first aid kit with me-"

"~Oh Eri.~ Where did you go, my little one." A chilling voice sang out, near the two. Izuku immediately noticed the young girl tense up, fear evident in her eyes. She ran to Izuku and attempted to hide in the cloak he was wearing.

Shit.

Shit.

Fuck, I'm not even good with kids. What do I do? Oh! I got it!

"Is he a scary man?" Izuku whispered, unsure of what to do in this situation. The little girl nodded, burrowing herself deeper in the cloak.

Thinking quickly, he picked her up and tied her to his chest. He looked to her. "I'm going to need you to hold on tight, ok? I promise you'll be safe with me." She nodded ferverently, closing her eyes.

He grabbed a grappling hook out of his cloak and aimed, successful in securing a way out. Holding tight, he soared up to the top of an apartment complex, and he looked to where he just came from.

A tall man with a large purple coat appeared, a mask similar to a beak donned on his face. He tapped away with a walking stick, looking for something.

Izuku stayed hidden, only a piece of his face visible, observing the figure walking by.

"~Eri. Oh Eri~ I know you ran away from me, that won't go unpunished." The man's voice made Izuku's blood boil. Oblivious to the hiding vigilante, the voice continued. "I promise you'll get an apple if you just come to me, my little experiment."

Izuku stumbled back, shock overtaking his features.

Experiment?!

Oh, how he wanted to kick the man's ass.

He shook his head. He took out a camera and snapped an image of the exiting man.

He had to get the girl and the picture to Nao.


{UA STADIUM, minutes before Izuku's discovery}

"All right, everyone! Let's get this show on the road! On the left field: Shes an unstoppable force ready to whisk you off your feet, literally! She's a ball of sunshine but will rain on your parade if you hurt her! From the hero course, it's OCHAKO URARAKA!"

The crowd oohed and awwed as she floated herself to her spot, releasing herself as she bowed.

"In the right field: He's a knight in shining armour for one of the students-"

"Hizashi!"

"-And he has a heart of a dragon! He can punch! He could speak! He's HITOSHI SHINSO!"

The crowd cheered anyway despite the confusing introduction.

"Begin!"

Uraraka didn't need to be told twice to start. She immediately ran to Shinso, who only stared at her passively.

He smirked. He wasn't going to finish her off just yet. He needed to make an impression too.

"He just stood there weaving through every punch she gave him, hopping over any kicks sent his way, and made sure to avoid touching her at all costs. Though, he did have a back up plan.

Uraraka grunted as she finally began slowing down. She was dead tired while Shinso didn't even look winded.

Shinso finally had enough. Smacking an arm away, he raised an elbow and used it to jut accross to torso, sending her stumbling back. As she recovered, he went to action.

He punched her in the shoulder, he kneed her in the gut, he even kicked her calves and shins, and she could not keep up.

He left no opening for her, she knew this now.

And then, he messed up.

In his assault, he failed to noticed a piece of rubble left over from the last match. Thinking, Uraraka grabbed onto it, and sent it flying at Shinso.

Shinso recoiled instantly, grabbing onto his right shoulder blade, feeling as though he'd been shot.

Uraraka stood up and touched his arm, and Shinso started floating.

Shinso gave a subtle smirk, which went unnoticed by his opponent.

Check.

Uraraka laughed lightly. The match was finally going her way! Midnight was about to speak when-

"Heh. You think you're so clever, don't you? You natural hero types think you're so great." His taunt unnerved Uraraka.

"What do you mean by-" Uraraka's pupils shrunk. Internally, she knew she screwed up. In her mind, she was screaming at herself to wake up from the trance.

Checkmate.

She remained standing, and Shinso grinned. He got her! "Uraraka. I'm going to need you to release me, if you'd please."

Silently, she nodded, bringing her fingers together.

NONONONONONONONO

"And if you'd kindly walk past the boundary line, please."

NONONONONONONONO

She nodded once more, turning around and walking.

NONONONONONONO

She woke up, surprised she can feel herself come into control, and looked over to her opponent, who was smiling.

"Ochako Uraraka is out of bounds! The winner is Hitoshi Shinso!"

The girl fell to her knees. She couldn't believe it.

She failed. Like Mina.

Except, this defeat was embarrassing.

"Hey." She looked over to see Shinso extending a hand. "You did great, Uraraka. I had a great time." She accepted his hand and be pulled her up. She lightly smiled as they left.

Maybe this battle was ok, if her opponent says so.


"Whats your name, young lady?" A friendly face smiled at the girl, his voice soft enough to scare her. Tsukauchi had experience calming kids down, as he often watched over runaways and abused children. Izuku didn't know this, but the detective often spent his free time reading to kids in foster care, doing the same as he did to Izuku.

The girl hid behind Izuku's leg, peering out enough to glance at the tall man.

"Eri." Her voice was so soft Izuku barely heard her.

"Well, Eri, would you mind answering some questions for me? I promise we can get you a snack while we talk."

Eri looked towards Izuku, who nodded.

"O-okay."

Tsukauchi smiled, before noticing her eyes looked up. He chuckled and placed his hat on the girl's head.

Izuku beamed at the actions, and almost died to the adoreableness of the girl. He didn't know it, but he was starting to become attached to her.

As the three walked to an interrogation room, he couldn't help but wonder how the students were doing.


Two figures once again blocked attacks with their own.

Yui Kodai immediately retreated as the arms of her opponent slowly overpowered her own. She needed to find anything as a projectile.

An idea sprouted to mind, and she took a slightly ripped thread of her sleeve, plucked it, and enlarged it. In a matter of seconds, the thread turned into a whip. Silently, she rushed at Shoji, who raised his arms in defense.

She thought about the way Present Mic introduced her before the dupliarms guy and her started.

"In the left field, we have a man of mystery. He never reveals a face, but his actions speak for him! His arms are like tentacles waiting to bring down his opponents' ship! It's Mezo Shoji!!!

"And in the right field, she's a silent beauty waiting for the right time to strike! While she doesn't speak much, the teachers of UA can guarantee she is a raging force of power! Please welcome Yui Kodai!"

She blushed when she recalled what he said. Somehow, she was kind of sad the counselor couldn't be here to watch the match. A small part of her wanted to show off her skill to him.

While distracted in her musings, Shoji quickly jumped over the girl, landing with a tentacle stretched to her. He grabbed her arm and flung her to the side.

Yui regained her balance as she landed, and used her whip towards Shoji's feet, and pulled on them as the thread wrapped around his leg.

Pulling more threads out of her sleeves, she enlarged them to the size of ropes, and quickly tied his tentacles together.

She finished him off by tying his feet together, and enlarged a couple more threads and pulled him to the out of bounds line. Eventually, she threw him over when close enough.

"And Yui Kodai wins the match! She moves on to the semi finals!" Present Mic's tone prompted cheers from all over, in which Yui bowed and walked out, not bothering to release Shoji from his hold.

He stared after her, deadpan, as Cementoss and Midnight attempted to untie the bindings.