Hello earthlings! I own nothing but a dysfunctional computer.

"So." Gran Torino stared Izuku down from across the room. "You went looking for a villain."

"Um… no sir? I mean, I found one but I didn't mean to, I just saw it happening and-"

"Knowing full well that you're not supposed to engage with villains until you graduate."

"Except in emergencies, and I think it definitely was an emergency-"

"And then you almost died. And would have, apparently, if the princeling hadn't stepped in at the last second. Heroes and kings shouldn't have to have others fight their battles."

"I know. I failed. But I don't regret going to fight Stain, even if I didn't listen to the law. I saved one of my friends and I won't-"

"Of course don't regret it! What the hell are you thinking? You saved someone and managed to capture one of the biggest villains of the century, that's definitely not something to regret!"

"Oh. But it kinda sounded like you were about to… I don't know, get mad at me or something…"

"Nah, not right now. You did the right thing, kid. However, I think that it would've been better if you'd been able to use the full power of the Sword in the fight."

"Oh." To be honest, Izuku had completely forgotten about that. He'd only gotten out of the hospital about an hour ago and was supposed to have his stuff packed up so he could leave for UA that morning and arrive in two days, where he'd have one last day of class and then three months off. Some weird lack of power that hadn't gotten him killed yet wasn't on the top of his list. Yet. "Have you found out anything about that?"

"No. Not yet. But I'm gonna keep looking. Think there's some type of spell or potion or… something. But for now, I'm just gonna keep an eye out for anything useful and send a letter over if I do find something."

"Thank you, sir!"

"Eh, it's what I was told to do. Now, run through all your sword drills one more time before you go finish getting ready to leave."

They weren't just running through sword drills. They were having a full on battle in the relatively small room. By the end of it, though, Gran Torino looked satisfied, even though Izuku had, if not lost, definitely not won. The old man didn't even have a weapon. "Good. Good. Some improvement. Not as much as there should be, clearly, but not a bad amount. Now, any new developments with your connection with the past Rulers or just the Sword in general?"

"No, sir. Um… well… I think I saw them for a second, during my fight with Stain. And I was able to summon the Sword to my hand from a few feet away. Oh! And the paralysis thing Stain did to me wore off a lot quicker than it did for the others. Is that because of the Sword?"

"Maybe. It does increase your healing speed…"

Izuku blinked. "It does what?"

"All Might really didn't mention it, huh?"

"He's a great teacher!"

"He's left out some pretty useful information, kid. Think that's bad teaching."

"He's taught me a lot about fighting and…"

"That's his problem, though. He focused too much on the fighting part of the Sword, not enough on the other, maybe more important side. Don't get me wrong, he was a decent king, but he saw the Sword mainly as just a weapon, instead of what it really is."

"What… what is it?"

Gran Torino's 'senile old man' act slipped back on. "Dunno. Guess I forgot."\

It was really irritating, but Izuku wasn't going to say anything. The man had helped him with a lot of things, and had given Izuku a decent exam grade even though he hadn't really taken the exam. So he bowed. "Thank you for everything, sir."

"Eh. Fine, fine, leave. Tell the Iida boy to come in here next."

"How'd it go?" Uraraka asked. She was standing right outside the door talking quietly with Iida. The tall boy walked into the room, nodding to Izuku as he passed and the half-elf was dragged away by his energetic friend. "What'd he do to you? He made me fight him without any magic. It was so weird."

"Yeah, he made me spar with him."

"He's actually kind of taught me a lot. Not having to rely only on spells was useful during the exam." Uraraka threw open the door to their room, where Todoroki and Tsuyu were sitting on their beds not talking, but that was pretty much their default state.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask. How was it?"

"Oh my god, it was so hard! That man is a psychopath! I came this close to failing, I swear."

"She's not exaggerating," Tsuyu added. "It was hard."

"I can't believe you got out of it." Almost instantly, Uraraka's eyes went wide. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

"It's really ok."

"But what you guys went through must have really-"

"I'm ok."

Both of the girls had bought the story that Izuku, Iida, and Todoroki had all been outside doing various things when the villains attacked and had all gotten injured saving civilians, which was why Gran Torino gave them a passing exam grade. When Uraraka had first visited Izuku and the other boys the day before, she'd been the most worried Izuku had ever seen her, hugging both him and Iida tightly and making them both promise that 'if they were going to do get themselves hurt, they should at least let her be there.' Apparently she and Tsuyu hadn't been allowed to leave the inn. And, unlike Todoroki who'd also not been allowed to leave the inn, they hadn't found a way to sneak out through the window because they were relatively well-behaved and also Tsuyu had the most common sense out of the entire group and had made Uraraka stay.

Uraraka still looked upset. Staring at the door, she quietly said, "Is Iida ok? He hadn't talked to me about… well, about any of it. He told me that his arm might be permanently damaged, but… I don't…"

"He hasn't really talked to either of us. I think he's feeling kind of guilty."

"Guilty? About what?"

Shit. Izuku looked at Todoroki, who just shrugged. "He… um… we were trying to help him and… you know how he is. The last couple of weeks have been rough for him!"

Izuku was an absolutely awful liar and Uraraka seemed to guess that he wasn't telling her everything but moved past that. "You think he's going to be ok?"

"I will be soon."

Everyone turned to see Iida, standing at the door with his good hand braced against the wall. Uraraka turned red. "Oh, I'm sorry Iida, I thought-"

"My session ended earlier than the others'. I was… I made a lot of careless mistakes. Most of my session was him lecturing me about being more careful, a lecture I've already gotten from many members of my family and multiple Heroes. I will be more careful in the future, and will not endanger innocent people."

"But you didn't endanger them. They were already in danger."

"Yeah," Izuku chimed in, stepping forward to join Uraraka. "It definitely was not your fault." Of course, Uraraka didn't know exactly what had happened, but it didn't really matter. She was right. It was absolutely not Iida's fault, and Izuku would remind him of that every time he could.

Iida just smiled and took a few steps forward, sitting down on his bed. "Thank you, both of you, but please stop. I must keep reminding myself of my error, so that-"

"As your best friend, I am ordering you to stop."

"I do not think that is how it works, Uraraka."

"As your other best friend, I am also ordering you to stop."

"Midoriya-"

"As… someone who is your friend and also the heir to the throne of your country, I am ordering you to stop."

"I also think you should stop, even though I'm likely not your best friend."

For a few seconds, Iida's calm appearance broke and he looked like he was about to cry. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"I don't exactly…"

Izuku stepped in, touching his friend's shoulder. "I get it." And he did. The people in that room were the first friend group he'd ever had. He was grateful to them, and going off of some stuff Iida had said before, the same was true for him. He'd likely never had anyone be willing to support him and be there for him the way they were supporting him and being there for him.

Izuku would make sure he changed that.

After a few seconds of silence, Uraraka grinned. "I know! We should all go out for a meal tomorrow after classes, to celebrate exams being over! Does that sound good?"

"That sounds fun."

"I'm in."

"Of course."

"I'll pay."

"Todoroki-"

"I will pay."

"You don't have to-"

"My father is a shitbag, Uraraka."

Izuku nearly doubled over laughing at the look on Uraraka's face. Iida and Tsuyu were much calmer about it, but he could clearly see that it was a struggle. He loved all of them. And he was so excited that he'd been lucky enough to be put in the same class as them and that they'd get to become Heroes together.

"I can't believe I ended up in the same group as you idiots."

Kirishima laughed, guiding his horse way too close to Bakugo's. He hated the goddamn horses. "Oh, c'mon! You don't mean that! We're the best group ever!"

"No, you're really not. The only reason any of you dumb shits passed the exam is because of me."

"Lighten up!" Kaminari called from across the narrow trail, where he, Ashido, and Sero were riding and being annoying. And yes, Bakugo knew their names. Of course out loud he'd refer to them by their dumb nicknames, but he wasn't an idiot. They were the people he'd be spending the next three years with. Might as well at least know who they were. And they weren't… awful. Sure, they were loud and annoying and really dumb and had no real understanding of personal space but they were… fine, he guessed. And he didn't move his horse away from Kirishima's. "We all passed the exam!"

Bakugo scoffed. "Barely." That wasn't really true. Their test had been to fight some weird magic "villain" in the woods, and since it barely required any kind of brainpower, they'd done well. Bakugo really didn't want to admit it, but they were all… fairly capable.

It was a decent group. There was Sero, who used to live in a temple before leaving to become a Hero. He wasn't exactly an amazing fighter, but he was smart and knew how to use his abilities, and was one of the best archers Bakugo had ever met. Then there was Kaminari, who used to be a thief. Probably. His skills did seem very thief-like. While he wasn't that smart, he wasn't a bad fighter. Ashido was the strongest of the assholes, besides Bakugo, of course. She was a demon, so had extra strength and mobility. Also she had some disgusting acid-y stuff come out of her body every so often, which hurt like hell when it touched someone. And then there was Kirishima. He was probably the one who most… interested Bakugo. For no real reason. Just that he was a really weird guy.

From what Bakugo had heard, he'd been abandoned by his parents and raised by one of the peaceful demon tribes. Raised by fucking demons, in the woods, with no human contact whatsoever. Bakugo didn't hate demons like a lot of people did, but it still seemed a little unnatural to him. So he'd grown up with demons. Then about a year ago he'd gone missing, only reappearing a little bit before the UA entrance exam with no memory of where he'd been, which seemed really fucked up, but he really wanted to take the exam for some reason he hadn't mentioned. And he could make his skin rock hard. Which was really fucking disturbing to look at.

More than that, there was something about him that made Bakugo want to keep getting to know him. He was one of the bravest people he'd ever met, and he would work hard at everything, and he was kind. Kinder than anyone Bakugo had ever really known, besides maybe Deku and Inko. Shitty Hair had been one of the first people to try and become real friends with Bakugo, even though he kept trying to force the red-haired boy away. Yes, the rest of the shitty idiots tried to include Bakugo in literally everything, but Kirishima was different. Something about him made him different from the rest of the shitheads.

Bakugo had never had a group of real friends before. Maybe he actually had one. And all it took was not talking to Deku.

Bakugo would not think about Deku. Ever since they'd fought at the beginning of the year, and Deku had brought down a goddamn building on top of them trapping Bakugo so he could see his best friend lying there maybe dying and not being able to move, there'd been too many emotions there. Yes, of course Bakugo would do anything for Deku. He'd die for him if he had to. But things were changing. It wasn't as simple as them running around on the mountain anymore. Deku was the future king. He didn't need Bakugo to protect him. He had other friends, and it was only natural for them to grow apart.

That was how Bakugo justified it, anyway. He knew the real reasons they didn't talk.

"Hey, bro, you ok?" Kirishima asked quietly. The other three idiots were so busy talking about something stupid that they didn't even notice.

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. You just look kinda upset."

"Just thinking. Not like you would know anything about that."

"Seriously?" Most people would leave Bakugo alone after that kind of insult, but Kirishima just laughed it off and kept looking at Bakugo with that stupid concerned look on his face. "I'm worried, man. You know you can talk to me, if you need to, right?"

The asshole was persistent.

"Sure. Whatever. I'm fine, Shitty Hair."

He clearly didn't buy it, but the red-haired boy just sighed and turned sideways to talk to his friends, which was probably stupid while on a goddamn horse, but that was just Kirishima. While Bakugo tried not to freak out.

No. He couldn't take people noticing how weak he was. Because he was a Hero, and Heroes were supposed to be strong. So he refused to be weak. He refused to lose. Even though Kirishima felt so familiar, and he was so good and kind and thoughtful and cute-

Nope. Not doing that. Bakugo had no time for fucking feelings. So he did what he'd been doing since he was four years old: he repressed them, and went back to staring angrily straight ahead and planning all the ways he could make the weird gang of idiots who were the first people besides Deku, Inko, and All Might to even try to take care of him in pretty much his entire life pay for… for whatever they'd done.

Kyoka groaned and flopped down on the couch in the common room. Kaminari's group was already back at the dorms. God, the five of them were so annoying and loud. All she wanted was some peace and quiet while she thought about the exams. Which, she was happy to say, hadn't gone as terribly as they could have. She'd passed, at least.

Her team had been her, Koda, Tokoyami, Shoji, and Shinso. Their test had been some kind of weird obstacle course type thing, but they'd gotten through it. Kyoka had even learned a few new strategies for spying from the Hero assigned to work with them. And she'd spent time getting to know that group. For the first few months of school, Kyoka had mostly kept to herself. She was a naturally introverted person, so the only people she ever really talked to were Yaoyorozu and Kaminari, strangely enough. While being around people was tiring, it was kind of nice, hanging out with the group. All of them were quiet, like her, but they had fun, exploring the beach and the small village made up of part water-spirits where they'd been staying. At one point they'd ended up sneaking out of their tiny inn and having a probably illegal bonfire on the beach. Tokoyami had muttered some stuff about revelry in the darkness or something, Koda had used their nature-y powers to make fish jump out of the water, and they'd stayed there almost the entire night. Kyoka felt like they were all actually friends. Even Shinso, who never went to any of the group stuff, seemed to have a little bit of fun. He was actually a good guy. Sarcastic and bitter, but nice enough.

"How was your test?"

Kyoka's eyes jolted open as she looked into the beautiful, smiling face of Momo Yaoyorzu. The girl looked tired, sure, and something was upsetting her, but she was trying to hide it. If Kyoka didn't spend so much time staring at the other girl's face, she probably wouldn't have noticed.

"Oh! Um! Hi, Yaoyorozu, I was just about to come find you! My test went well, how about yours?"

"It went very well. It was a wonderful way to bond on a deeper level with my classmates."

"Yeah, my test was… also that."

Yaoyorozu laughed, sitting down next to Kyoka. "I missed you."

And Kyoka could feel herself start to break down.

Yes, she had a very small crush on Yaoyorozu. Who wouldn't? She was beautiful and a badass fighter and kind and smart and a literal princess who was engaged to one of their classmates who was a prince and also probably wasn't even interested in girls. So all in all, it was a really inconvenient crush.

"Yeah, um, I… I missed you too."

"Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight? We can talk more about our tests then. Also, I… I would like to be around you tonight."

"Oh, yeah. Of course. Is everything ok?"

Yaoyorzu smiled. "Yes. Don't worry, Jiro. Can we meet down here at six?"

"Yeah."

Her friend walked upstairs, and Ashido, who'd apparently been watching from her group's little corner, ran over and sat down next to Kyoka. "So?"

"So what?"

"What did Ms. Gorgeous want?"

"She just wants to go to dinner with me. I think something's bothering her."

"Ok, obviously that sucks, but is it a daaate?"

"Oh my god, Ashido, shut up!" Kyoka was well aware that she was blushing madly. She hated crushes. It made her usual awkwardness and shyness ever worse. "It's not a date! We're just two friends who haven't seen each other in a while going out for a meal. It's nothing like that! Plus, she's engaged to Todoroki, remember?"

"But if she wasn't?"

When Kyoka didn't answer, Ashido seemed to take that as an answer. The pink girl grinned. "Well, keep me updated!"

"Please don't tell anyone."

"Oh, honey, of course! I think Kaminari knows, but no one else does, and no one else will ever know unless they figure it out because you're kinda obvious or you tell them!" Ashido beamed and walked away.

How the hell did Kaminari know? Yes, they were kinda friends. They hung out together during class a lot. While he was really, really irritating, Jiro thought of him as a friend. She guessed. But they weren't close at all, plus he didn't seem all that observant. So how the hell did he know?

It didn't matter. It was just a stupid crush. It didn't matter who knew about it or not.

Koda appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Jiro's hand, signing frantically. Something about one of their pet rabbits getting loose while they were gone? Jiro didn't know, but they wanted her to help find it, so she did.

Luckily it was still alive, but they found it near Aizawa's house, and Kyoka was sure that the mewing they'd heard from behind the door was a really bad sign for the poor, slightly traumatized little animal.

"Got any plans for the break?" Ojiro asked Tooru as they waited for their last class of the semester to start.

"Um, not really! Gonna go home, see my parents, that sort of thing. What about you?"

"Pretty much the same. Oh, and my sister's forcing me to be a dancer in the Fire Festival next month. It's a really big deal in the town I grew up in."

"Oh my god. Well, good luck with that!"

"Thanks."

Last day of the semester. To be honest, Tooru wasn't really that excited. She'd missed her parents, yeah, but things had been kind of strained since she'd decided to be a Hero. Since her only real ability was the invisibility her family had been cursed with ten billion generations ago, they didn't really think she'd be good enough. Of course invisibility was useful, and just because they didn't understand it didn't mean it wasn't, but it was still kind of… hurtful that they didn't think she'd be good enough.

And she'd miss her friends. For the first time in her life, Tooru had friends who didn't look at her strangely because they were also really, really weird. For example Ojiro had a tail and was apparently part of a mysterious race of sub-humans. Tsuyu was a frog spirit. Koda was a nature spirit or a Druid, depending on who she asked. Tokoyami and Ashido were demons. More than that, Tokoyami had a bird head and Ashido was bright pink. The fact that no one could see her didn't make her any weirder than the rest of them.

She'd made some really good friends at UA. Like Ojiro, or Ashido. They were probably her best friends, but she was also close to Aoyama, Sato, and most of the girls. And no one was really mean. Well, Bakugo and Shinso weren't exactly friendly. And Todoroki had seemed a little stand-offish at first and still didn't really talk to anyone besides Midoriya and his group, but he did seem a little nicer then he had at the start of the year. And Yaoyorozu had scared Tooru at first, but she'd ended up being really kind and friendly.

Their test had gone… they'd passed. That was something. Despite what Yaoyorozu said, it was definitely not her fault. They'd tested on the third day of the week, and during the rest of the trip the princess had seemed different. More withdrawn and less confident during the training exercises they still had to go through even though the exam was over. Well, she'd lost confidence after the Sports Festival too, but even less confident. Tooru was kind of worried, but she'd decided not to push her.

"Do you-" she started to say, but just then Aizawa came in and gave everyone his usual 'please shut up' look. Ojiro shrugged at Tooru and took his seat.

"Great. Everyone passed their tests. It was kinda close for some of you, and there were some incidents-" there, for some reason, Aizawa glared at Iida, who seemed out of everyone the one least likely to cause incidents- "But yippee, everyone passed. During the break, there will be a two-week-long training camp on the east border, where you'll learn things from Heroes in the field, as well as survival techniques for being in the woods. Talk to your parents. If you're coming, be at the school in four weeks, exactly. Have a good break." And he just walked back out.

"So…" Kaminari said, sounding confused. "I guess the rest of the day is a free day? The only class we had was homeroom, right?"

"Why the hell did we even come today? That bastard could've just told us that shit in the dorms!"

"Bakugo, watch your language!"

"Don't even try," Midoriya groaned. Tooru felt sorry for him. He had to sit between the two most unfriendly people in the class, and he was such a nice guy.

Tooru was kind of excited. Her parents would probably let her go to the training camp-thing. It sounded like fun. Like a vacation. She'd probably get to ride a horse. UA was only a few miles from where she lived, so she could just walk, but going to the eastern side of the kingdom would mean riding a horse. Though maybe the reason they were meeting at the school was because they had some magical transportation planned?

"Sounds like the whole class is going," Ojiro said. He'd moved into Shoji's empty seat, since the quiet boy had gone to talk to Tokoyami. "Are you?"

"Yeah, obviously! Well, if my parents will let me. What about you?"

"Yep. There's no way they won't let me. They're always telling me I need to get stronger, and this is a way to do it!"

"Yeah!" Tooru was excited. Judging from how loud the classroom was, it did sound like basically everyone was going. She'd get to spend two weeks in a place she'd never been before, working with even more Heroes and hanging out with her best friends. It was going to be amazing.

Taking a deep breath, Izuku knocked on the door of All Might's small house/office.

The man opened the door after only a few seconds. He was smiling widely. "Ah! Midoriya, my boy! I haven't seen you since before your exam. How was it?'

"Good."

"How was Gran Torino?"

"Um… I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"Aren't you supposed to be heading home?"

"Yes, but I needed to talk to you first. Can I come in?"

All Might looked confused but let Izuku in, leading him to the small couch where they usually sat. "What's wrong?"

"Why didn't you tell me I wasn't using all of the Sword's power? And why didn't we talk that much about the previous Wielders?"

"I…" All Might looked completely shocked. He leaned back in his chair and shook his head slowly. "I don't know. Honestly, I hadn't really realized there was a problem. Of course you weren't as strong as a Wielder in their prime, but I don't remember how strong you should be at this stage in the process… I should have noticed something, though."

"Gran Torino said I should be stronger."

"And I trust his judgement. It's just that… I almost can't believe it."

"I've seen the previous Rulers twice now, I think. Once during the Sports Festival, and then I might have seen them while I was fighting Stain-"

"You were what?"

"Oh yeah, I fought Stain, but King Endeavor told me not to tell anyone."

"... Alright."

"Anyway, how come we never talked about them?"

"Because I… didn't feel qualified to teach you something I didn't know how to do. Even with all that Queen Shimura did for me, I still couldn't do it. I tried everything. I had all of the Swords strength and healing and speed and all of the other gifts and I knew how One for All was fully supposed to work, but I could never communicate with the other Wielders. And then Nana died before she could teach me everything, and I had to concentrate on ruling, and I guess I kind of… forgot."

Forgot about the fact that he was supposed to be able to talk to dead people but couldn't? Sure. Izuku was going to concentrate on some other issues right that second. "Oh right. Yeah. Healing. Did you mention that on the Quest?"

"I don't remember. I thought I did, but maybe…"

Izuku frowned as something occurred to him. "If we have better healing, how'd you end up with that wound?"

"It's a long story, but some wounds are too powerful to be healed by the Sword. In fact, without the Sword, I would be dead right now."

"Ok. Um. So what are we going to do about me not having all of the strength?"

"What did Gran Torino suggest?"

"He's going to read some books. Apparently the Third Wielder had the same problem, so maybe the solution'll be there. I hope so."

"I hope so as well. I'm sorry, Midoriya. I feel like I have failed you. I can teach you basic things about the Sword and I can explain the concept of One for All, but I can't do anything more than that. For whatever reason, I have no connection with the more spiritual side of the magic. I have failed you as a teacher, and I am deeply sorry."

"Oh, no!" Izuku started waving his hands frantically. "You're a great teacher! It's not your fault!" Not mentioning the existence of One for All or the previous Wielders at all was actually his fault, and him not noticing Izuku's lack of power wasn't exactly a sign of a great teacher, but Izuku was nothing if not loyal. All Might was doing his best. Whatever was wrong with Izuku's connection to the full power of the Sword was definitely not the man's fault. Something was wrong with him. "We're gonna figure this out! But, um… after break… do you think we could try to do even more training sessions? I want to get stronger however I can, and I want to learn more about One for All!"

All Might smiled. "Of course, my boy. Come by any time."

The two stood up and walked for the door. When they reached it, however, All Might suddenly grabbed Izuku and wrapped him in a hug. "So, you fought and defeated Stain?"

"Yes, sir. But… I think Stain figured out that I'm a Wielder. I'm sorry."

"Where he's going, it won't matter. You are such a brave boy, and I'm so proud to call you my Heir. I'm proud of you."

Izuku fought back tears. No one ever really told him they were proud of him. His mom, sure, but she was the only person. He kind of liked it. Squeezing his eyes shut, he hugged his teacher back for a few seconds before they pulled away from each other. "Thank you, sir."

"No need to thank me. I'm just grateful that the kingdom will be in such great hands. Well, you should be going. How long is the ride home?"

"Oh, I'm not riding."

"But Midoriya, your village is almost half the kingdom away?"

"Um, I don't really own a horse…"

"I don't like the idea of you walking in the woods alone."

"I won't be alone! It turns out Uraraka and Iida's homes are in the same part of the kingdom as mine, so I'll be with them for most of the way. Besides, it's probably only a five, six day journey, since I don't have to stop in any villages or set up camp early enough to train. It's gonna be fine!"

All Might looked slightly concerned but decided to let it go. He waved goodbye as Izuku walked outside into the bright sunny day. Perfect for a walk in the forest with his best friends and for forgetting that a slightly mythical villain might be targeting him and his teacher had no idea what he was doing.

Perfect.

To temporarily distract himself, Izuku thought about his plans. There weren't really any. Of course he wanted to go to the training camp, but he had more important things to worry about. His mother hadn't said anything in her letters, but he knew she was struggling a little. If she needed him, he'd stay. He owed it to her, after all. They hadn't seen each other in almost a year, and he couldn't leave her after only a month.

Kacchan was coming out of the dorm building when Izuku passed on his way to meet Iida and Uraraka. He couldn't stop himself from smiling. Maybe he could get things back to the way they used to be. To be honest, Kacchan had kind of become a secondary thing lately with all the other stuff going on, but Izuku did miss him. "Kacchan!" he yelled, rushing over to the blond boy, who didn't immediately run away. Progress.

"What the hell do you want, nerd?" And then they were actually talking! So much progress!

"Do you wanna walk home from the academy with me, Iida, and Uraraka? Well, I'm splitting off from them after a few days, but you and me-"

"Nope. Not going home."

"What?"

"I'm going with Shitty Hair and Pinky. They wanna introduce me to their tribe or some shit." Kacchan looked nervous as he said that. He shrugged, kind of caving in on himself in a way that only someone who'd known him since literal birth would notice. And Izuku knew what it was about.

Despite their reputation, Izuku had spent enough time with them to know that Kacchan's friends weren't stupid. They were observant. Or they'd just found some way to pry the truth about his mother out of Kacchan, which was not easy, Izuku knew from experience. While it kind of hurt that Kacchan had chosen to stay with someone else despite Inko offering to let him live with them at least once a month before he left, he was still happy his friend was getting away from all of that.

"That's great! I'm happy for you!"

"It's not a big deal, Deku! I'm just going because they begged! That's it!" Kacchan snapped, sounding really angry. Not just, defending-his-honor-but-not-really-caring angry, but angry. Izuku had seen little comments like the one he'd just made cause Kacchan to explode at other people, but not him. And after he'd said that, Izuku noticed his friend looking… maybe guilty for a few seconds. Izuku was not always the best at reading emotions, but he knew Kacchan. Guilty, and maybe scared? The sorcerer huffed angrily and walked off.

Izuku stared after him for a few minutes. Kacchan would come talk to him about whatever was clearly bothering him when he was ready. Or maybe… maybe he didn't need Izuku anymore. Maybe he'd just talk to his other friends.

It kind of hurt, sure, and of course Izuku was still worried, but… there was nothing he could really do about it. Of course he'd still try with Kacchan. He'd never abandon his old friend, or stop trying to figure out what exactly he did wrong because there was no way it wasn't Izuku's fault, but maybe things would never go back to the way they used to be. Maybe they weren't supposed to. It hurt, it hurt so badly, but maybe it was for the…

Shaking his head and trying to dislodge that thought because it hurt way too much right then, Izuku went to meet Iida and Uraraka.

And then pretty much the second Izuku said goodbye to Iida and Uraraka at the crossroads, he ran into a villain. Which was honestly typical for him.

Shigaraki was just walking in the woods. No one else was around him, he was just… there. Izuku felt him before he saw him, but it was too late to do anything but pull out the Sword. The white-haired young man's eyes lit up when they saw Izuku.

"Ah! The elfling! I've been looking for you!"

"Um… why?"

"I have some things we need to talk about!" He stepped closer. Izuku wanted to run, but he knew that he couldn't. If he went back the way he'd come he might lead him to Iida and Uraraka, and if he tried to go the way he was originally going he'd have to get past Shigaraki somehow, plus he didn't want to lead the man back to his village. "Well? Sit down, sit down!"

"Nope. No. No thank you."

"Eh, whatever. Fair. I'd recommend putting your sword away, or else I;m gonna go over to that nice little mountain village about a day's walk from here."

Izuku put the Sword away. "Why are you doing this?"

"Talking to you, or-"

"Yes."

"I have some questions. Like, where did you get that sword? It's nearly a perfect copy."

"From a blacksmith I ran into while I was traveling."

"What village?"

"I don't remember."

"Pity." There was no way Shigaraki believed him. "Are you sure that's all there is to it?"

"Yes. I'm completely sure." Also Izuku was a really bad liar, but he could get through it.

Shigaraki shook his head. "No. There's no way that's all there is to it. You're different from all of the other little Heroes. There's something… off about you."

"I- I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do." Shigaraki was way too close to Izuku then. With one hand, he reached out and grabbed Izuku's neck with all but his thumb. "Elfling, be honest. Are you the Heir?"

Izuku forced himself to look up and meet Shigaraki's eyes. God, he was such a bad liar. "No…"

"I'm kinda an Heir too, y'know."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just a funny little joke. You know what'll happen if I bring my thumb down, right?" Shigaraki laughed, high pitched and grating. "You'll turn to dust. So I think you should be honest."

"I am! I promise!" Izuku was going to die. He needed to get away, but he wouldn't have time to stab Shigaraki before he brought his thumb down. No one would ever know what had happened to him. The League of Villains would get the Sword. Why hadn't he ran as soon as he'd seen Shigaraki?

"Let's try an easier question. Why didn't you let that Koshai kill me in the USJ?"

"What? Oh!" Izuku had nearly forgotten that had happened. "I knew that he'd feel bad about it after. Plus, even if you're a villain, you don't deserve to die."

"Just the fact that he was about to kill me makes him a villain, wouldn't you say?"

"Of course not! He's my friend!"

Shigaraki laughed again. "All people who have been broken by society are counted as villains. I'm counted as a villain. Even before I became who I am now, people still looked at me and thought of me as a monster. But they were the ones who hurt me, who made me who I am. So who's the real villain there?"

Why were they talking about that? Izuku had no idea what was happening. Was Shigaraki really talking about his childhood and why he was a villain to him? "So you think society should be redone. Like Stain-"

Almost instantly, Shigaraki's eyes shifted, becoming angrier. Instead of having some sort of maniacal, strangely joyful light like they'd had before, he looked furious. "I am nothing like Stain. Stain wanted to burn society down so it could be rebuilt. Me? I just want to burn it all down. We are nothing alike!"

"But-"

"Imagine. A world with no rules, no kings, no Heroes. People could be whoever they really were without being punished for it. No more society. Doesn't that sound amazing?"

"People will get hurt!"

"People get hurt every day, elfling. Every single day. It's all so pointless. Society, rulers, Heroes- all some big joke. It needs to be destroyed. Not so it can be rebuilt, but so that it is completely eradicated! People's lives don't matter. Nothing matters except turning everything to dust! First this kingdom, and then the entire continent. All of the things that have held us down for so long will go away!"

Izuku tried to flinch back, but Shigaraki was still gripping him. Was that what all villains wanted? From what he'd been told, Stain was the exception to the 'most villains just want power and money' rule. But Shigaraki genuinely didn't want either. He really just wanted to destroy all of their society. And Izuku had no idea how to reason with that.

For a few seconds, the two just stood their staring at each other. Then Shigaraki let Izuku go. The half-elf stumbled a few steps away, shaking and trying frantically not to start crying. "What… why…"

"My master wants to leave you alive. For the time being, which is the only reason I didn't kill you right there." Shigaraki scratched his arms. "I want to. God, do I want to. But my master told me not to. So I'll ask you one more time: are you the Heir?"

"N-n-no!"

"Fine." The man looked disgusted, even through the hand on his head. He scoffed and shook his head. "Fine. It doesn't matter, anyway. Don't know why the hell I'm even here. Just wanted to ask you some things. Why do you like All Might?"

"Because he's a hero!"

"I know, but why?"

"He's brave and strong and-"

"You're so blind! He left our kingdom to suffer for years! And even when he still ruled, he wasn't a good king! Innocent people still suffered! That's how it's always been, and how it'll always be, but you and the rest of the pathetic little idiots look at him like he's the savior! Why?"

Izuku didn't have an answer. He didn't think Shigaraki really wanted one. The villain was seemingly getting frantic, scratching at his arms with even more urgency than he'd been a few seconds ago. "Um… I'm not-"

"Ugh. Already been three minutes. Master said I could only come talk to you for three minutes. But know this, elfling." Shigaraki cocked his head at Izuku, who got the feeling he was smiling under his hand. "We are the most dangerous people to ever exist . And we will win in the end. Remember that." And he walked off into the woods without a care in the world.

Even though he was only an hour from home, Izuku wandered around aimlessly for three, just in case Shigaraki or anyone from the League of Villains was watching. And he spent the next two nights in the forest, not sleeping. He would not lead them to his home.

As he walked up the mountain to his house, Izuku was still processing the… attack? Conversation? He really didn't know. Shigaraki had just showed up randomly, said some random stuff, and then left? It made no sense, but Izuku would have sensed if Shigaraki or any of the League of Villains had been following him home. If he didn't know better, he would say that Shigaraki only wanted to mess with him.

It made no sense, but when he knocked on the door to his little green cottage, he could forget all of it for a few seconds as his mother threw open the door.

"Izuku!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him. "You're finally home! Thank goodness! I was so worried when you didn't arrive on time!"

"I'm sorry, my friend needed my help with something." Izuku hugged her back, trying to hold back tears. He'd missed her so much. It'd been months since they'd last seen each other.

"Of course I'm not mad, I'm just happy you're safe. You've grown so tall! And muscular! I missed you so much, Izuku! Come in, come in! I've made you vegetable dumplings! Tell me everything! How were your friends? How was the journey home? How's Katsuki? Is he going to come over for dinner? Tell me everything!"

Of course Izuku noticed that the house was dirtier than it had been when he'd left it, and his mother looked more tired than usual. It made him feel guilty. His mother had to work so much harder with the apothecary since he wasn't helping. Well, he'd help out all he could during the summer. And as soon as he graduated UA, he'd send so much money home that she'd never have to work again unless she wanted to.

But that was the future. During the summer, Izuku promised himself that he would do all he could to make life easier for his mother, even if it was just for a little while. Even if it meant no summer training camp.

Yeah, Shigaraki just randomly deciding to screw with Midoriya for five minutes and then leaving again is gonna be a running theme throughout this lol. Anyway, leave a review with constructive criticism, suggestions, questions, and/or words of encouragement! Later potaters!