Their Hero Academia – Chapter 88: Time to Get Back to Normal, Right?

After the two weeks of the training camp and everything that had unfolded there, it was almost strange to be back in the classroom. There had been an extra desk added to the back row, putting Kocho to Isamu's right. Her chair was slightly different, he noticed, in order to accommodate her wings more easily.

"Excited for your first day?" he asked. "I mean, not that what you were doing at the camp didn't count, because it did, just that, well, first real day, I guess? I should stop talking now. I'm going to stop talking now. Because I'm word vomiting. Crap, still doing it."

Mercifully, she laughed and smiled, putting him out of his misery. "I get it," Kocho said. "I think I barely slept last night. Though I know most of this is just going to be like regular classes, until Heroics. I can't say I'll miss math first thing in the morning though. That was a pain."

Isamu nodded. He was actually decent with mathematics, at least as far as calculating things like angles and velocities, but was definitely glad it wasn't the first class of the day. Their first class after Homeroom was Literature with Hopper, Tokoyami's uncle. That wasn't too bad, at least not most of the time. "I get it," he agreed.

Around them, the rest of the class was settling in. On his left, Mineta was talking animatedly to Kaminari. "Soooo," she drawled. "You sure took your sweet time coming back from dropping Shiro off at the 1-B dorms. Which you totally didn't have to do. 'cause Kana could have done that, being class rep and all. That's something a girlfriend would do, Chi."

Kaminari just buried her head in her hands, head down on her desk. Her Cords snuck up through her arms and jabbed accusingly in Mineta's direction. "I swear, if you do not shut up, I will send Uncle Minoru pictures of everything in your closet. T-shirts, underwear, even that box of 'toys' you think no one knows about."

"You wouldn't!"

"You wanna try me?!"

"Dating's made you spunky, Chi. I like it."

Down at the end of the row, Kirishima-Bakugo shot them both a dirty look. "Tell you what," she growled, "you can both shut up before I throw you out the window!"

"Don't pay her any attention, Chi," Mineta said. "She's just sore because you've got a boyfriend and she doesn't."

"Shut up!"

Both Kaminari and Kirishima-Bakugo had yelled it at the same time. They both looked at each other for a moment before hastily looking in opposite directions, looking deeply disturbed.

Isamu was going to file all of that under things he wasn't going to think about. Just like he wasn't going to think about the fact that Kocho was staring pretty intently at Kirishima-Bakugo.

In the row in front of them, Ojiro was excitedly grilling Aoyama and Koda. "So, where're you two going to go on your first date? You haven't been on one yet, have you? You have to tell me when you do! The public deserves to know!"

Koda was looking incredibly uncomfortable with the questions, a blush visible even through her stone-like skin. Aoyama, meanwhile, merely seemed annoyed. Down at the end of the row, Shoji was making a concerted effort not to be paying attention to any of it. The six-armed boy's ability to avoid the nonsense of others was practically legendary at this point.

"My dear Ojiro," Aoyama said, "as loathe as I am to dodge the spotlight, Koda and I wish to keep our relationship away from prying eyes, at least for now. Please respect that."

Ojiro pouted with exaggerated motions, crossing her arms. "Well, since you said please…"

In the row beyond that, Sero was showing Sato something on his phone. Isamu couldn't make out every word, but he definitely heard "we gotta try that" and "what's the worst that could happen?" Sato, however, looked rather skeptical, but Sero was getting increasingly animated. If he was a gambler, he'd bet there was going to be a major headache for Midoriya and Tokoyami sometime in the near future. Meanwhile, the Iida twins were reviewing blueprints spread between their two desks. Presumably, something for their Support Course classes later in the day. The only concerning bit was that they occasionally lifted their heads, looked at one or more of their classmates, then nodded to one another before continuing to review.

Up in the front row, he couldn't hear much, but Shinso was describing something excitedly to Izumi, Midoriya, and Tokoyami. All of them were humoring him good naturedly, with Frog-Shadow likewise listening in. He couldn't hear what it was, but if he'd had to guess, it was probably about Heroes.

It was strange, when he stopped to think about it. In some ways, it seemed like school had been going on for years already, but it was only the start of the second term. But maybe it was because so much had happened. The Sports Festival, somehow getting a girlfriend in Kana Tetsutetsu, the internships and the Nomu attack, the final exam, I-Island, learning the secrets of One for All, the training camp with the Shiketsu students and The Rookies… Well, he couldn't say it hadn't been eventful.

All the while carrying his own secrets. His friends talked about their parents and their adventures all the time. And sure, he was able to talk about his mom as a music reporter, his dad as a pillar of the community, but he was still leaving their past as Vigilantes out. Trying not to talk about the legacy he was trying to live up to.

It didn't feel right. Maybe it was time to stop hiding. He'd have to run it by his parents first, but… these were his friends, right?

All conversation stopped as Aizawa approached the podium, shedding his sleeping bag like some kind of sinister caterpillar. Over the course of the previous term, they'd gotten very good at getting silent when he approached. He looked them all over for a moment before he began to speak.

"Welcome to the second term," he said. "You all performed well at the camp and in the prior term. But this new term will be even more intense and unrelenting. While we don't have the need for you to receive your provisional licenses as your parents did, let me assure you… we have no intention of allowing you to slack off in the slightest. Also, I think it's a waste of time, but Principal All Might and Midnight said if I didn't allow you to attend the new term's commencement ceremony, there would be guest lectures from Present Mic. So that's a thing that's happening."

He looked down at his paperwork. "For those of you who requested changes to your costumes following consultations with the Rookies, those changes have been completed and are in your costume cubbies. Your costume has also been completed, Kocho. Midoriya, the paperwork for the change in your Hero name has been processed."

Midoriya had changed his Hero name? Isamu supposed Gravi-Might was an awful lot of legacy to live up to…

Aizawa continued speaking. "Finally, Midoriya, Kocho, Mineta, and Haimawari… Principal All Might wishes to see you in his office before the ceremony."

What?

The principal's office hadn't changed much since the last time Koharu had been in it, what seemed like a lifetime ago. And in some ways, it was. She'd thrown herself into training harder, signing up for whatever gym slots she could, for the remainder of the first term, and then she'd gone through training that had made that look like nothing. And now she was a Hero Course student. The office was still full of books, with a nook for a tea service, and multiple monitors lining one wall displaying different classrooms and areas of the school.

The desk was different, bigger now, to accommodate All Might's massive frame. Even in his seventies and his Quirk long burned out, he was still a fit man of well over two meters tall.

There were new pictures on the walls too. There was one of All Might with the late Principal Nezu, and one of a very young All Might with a smiling, muscular, dark-haired woman and a scowling, gray-haired man. There were many pictures of the man with his family. And there were also more than a few drawings that had been made by children, all carefully preserved.

"Good to see all of you," All Might said, with one of his trademark grins. The man smiled easily, she realized. A true smile, not just one for the cameras, with a warmth that reached his eyes. "Our Sports Festival winners! Excited for your second term?"

"Yes, yes, sir," Haimawari said, only stumbling over his words slightly.

"You know it," Mineta said. She was actually sitting properly in her chair, like a lady, as Koharu's mother might have said. She must have understood that there was something serious going on.

"Of course, Grandpa Might!" Midoriya cheered. He was the most relaxed of any of them, if a bit puzzled. Which made sense. To him, All Might was just family, not a living legend. His whole family were practically legends.

"Yes, Principal," Koharu said. "Nervous too, if I'm being honest."

"Such youthful vigor!" Vice-Principal Midnight said. "I love it! It takes me back…"

"Erm, yes," All Might said, before Midnight could start with any memories that were probably not appropriate for sharing. "I'm sure you're wondering why you've been called here? Let me assure you that none of you are in trouble. Far from it, in fact."

"But first, tea, anyone?" Midnight asked. They all politely accepted and she set about making it. Once they were all sipping their tea, All Might went on.

"Now, as you know, U.A. is traditionally the only school which broadcasts its Sports Festival. There are arguments to be made about that either way, especially with the first-year students, but it's generally accepted that it's a good way to assure the public that the up-and-coming Heroes are capable of stepping into their roles."

"Unless you get disqualified for 'unnecessary nudity'," Midnight growled, sounding annoyed. "Didn't stop His Purple Highness from snapping me up though."

Mineta started to raise her hand.

"It's not on the internet," Midnight said quickly.

Mineta's hand went down.

All Might cleared his throat. "Anyway. While they don't broadcast them, the other major Hero schools do have their own Sports Festivals. Winners and footage are available for review in the HPSC database, so they still get some measure of exposure."

He went on, "Now, have any of you heard of the National Sports Festival?"

Somehow, she wasn't surprised when Midoriya piped up. "The National Sports Festival was when all the top Hero schools in Japan sent their Sports Festival winners to compete against each other. Kind of like the Olympics in the pre-Quirk era. Since this was before the U.A. Sports Festival was broadcast, it was the first chance people who weren't Pros had the opportunity to see Hero students in action. It got to be pretty popular, but U.A. began to dominate it, to the point where U.A. was an almost guaranteed winner. So, they decided to just broadcast U.A.'s Sports Festival instead. Though several other countries did also collaborate with Japan for a time with the International Sports Festival as well, taking the winners from each country's National Festival, with the winners usually being pretty evenly split between Japan and the United States most of the time. Though Russia and China were also strong contenders, with the other countries sometimes taking the win, including a year where it was swept by Kenya. But neither has been held since before you were at U.A., Grandpa."

He stopped when he realized all eyes were on him. "You and Grandma got Dad a bunch of recordings for Christmas one year," he said to All Might. "I watched a bunch with him growing up."

All Might laughed at that. "I don't know why I'm surprised, Young Grandson, but you are entirely correct."

Koharu felt her heart start to flutter like a hummingbird. There was only one possible reason why they would have brought that up. But it couldn't be, could it? And even if it was, why them? Why not third years?

"What you may have guessed from my question is that the government has decided to reinstate the National Sports Festival, to show the world that in spite of recent events, the country is still standing strong," All Might said. "And they plan to hold it at the start of next month."

"A lot of posturing, if you ask me," Midnight said, sounding annoyed as she crossed her arms. "Every time things look a little less rosy, the government trots out some new bread and circus to try and make sure people don't think things are anything less than okay."

Between the Quirk Virus, which had fizzled out mysteriously, the Nomu attacks, which had been beaten by Deku and the other Heroes, and the attack on I-Island, a lot had happened in the world, if not confined entirely to Japan. Something was clearly going on, even Koharu could see that. But surely it wasn't as shallow as Midnight made it seem?

All Might frowned. "I do fear you are correct, Midnight. However, the government is also proceeding lightly and has decided to only allow first years to compete. Most second and third years are either working towards their Provisional Licenses or are already in their work studies. They feel it would take too much away to have them compete this year. They have asked that U.A., Shiketsu, Isamu, Ketsubutsu, Seiai, and Seijin all send students to compete."

There were plenty of other Hero schools, of course. And while U.A. and Shiketsu mostly stole the spotlight, the other four were all very well regarded and had produced any number of well-liked and solidly ranked Heroes. It would be a highly competitive group.

He looked over all of them, and for a moment, he truly seemed his age, as though the weight of the world was pressing down upon him. All Might had shouldered the weight of the world for so many years, and it seemed the weight of U.A. was pretty heavy too. "I cannot force you to attend. The competition will interrupt your studies and you will have to work hard to catch up. But I will think no less of you should you decline this opportunity."

"The HPSC is 'generously' providing hotel accommodations for the event," Midnight explained. "Which is being held at one of the unused Provisional License testing facilities. And they'll provide for your parents to attend too, if they want. And as cynical as I might be about the why's… it is a good chance to get to show off on the national stage."

Koharu's head was spinning. Her hands tightened around her tea cup and saucer until her knuckles were white. This was all too much. Way too much. Joining the Hero Course had been like being thrown in the deep end of the pool. This was like being picked up by Godzillo and tossed into the deepest ocean like a giant monster in one of his movies.

At least Haimawari looked equally stunned. So she wasn't completely alone in that. Midoriya looked thoughtful, perhaps even a bit baffled, but less stunned than either of them. And Mineta had a small, satisfied smirk on her face. She was confidence goals, if nothing else.

"This has got to be what Shinji was talking about," Mineta said. "Count me in."

"Of course!" Midoriya said. Not surprising, really. She hadn't known him long, but he definitely wasn't the type to coast on his parents' good names. He was probably thinking this was another chance to come into his own.

Koharu exchanged a glance with Haimawari. He was rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Well," he said, "ah, I guess. Pretty big step up." He paused, as though having a conversation in his head. She could see his lips moving and was pretty sure he'd mouthed the name "Deku."

Haimawari nodded to himself. "Yes," he said, with a little more confidence this time. "I'm in."

And then it was just her.

Midnight seemed to pick up on her discomfort. She gave her a kind smile. "There's no shame in not going, Kocho. Especially given your rather unique situation."

No shame. Maybe that was true, but could she live with the regret if she didn't? With the uncertainty of knowing whether or not she'd have done well? Deku had believed in her too, after all. What kind of Hero would she be if she saw a challenge like this and just backed down?

"I'll do it," she said.

After the morning's surprise revelation, it had been extremely difficult for Isamu to concentrate through the new term's opening ceremony, where All Might had promised that things would continue as they had under Nezu, and that he had faith in the kinds of Heroes, Support personnel, managers, and people they would all become. His other classes hadn't been much better. He was pretty sure his notes from the entirety of the day were one gigantic mess. With any luck, he'd be able to get a copy from Tokoyami or Izumi. They were always good note-takers.

He was with his usual lunch group, Midoriya, Tokoyami, Shinso, Sora Iida, and Izumi. Kana was with her own class today. As expected, Shinso was the most excited about the announcement of the National Sports Festival.

"I can't believe they're bringing the National Sports Festival back!" he said. "It's gonna be so awesome! I hope they let us watch some of it, because if it's on during class, then I'm to have to record and it and that won't be the same as watching it live, especially because I know everything's going to be on the internet before I have a chance to see it, and that's just no fun and…"

"Breathe, Shota," Tokyami said, not looking up from her food. "And eat. Your food's getting cold."

The short boy stopped his babble to suck in a few breaths. "Thanks," he said, hastily stuffing a few bites into his mouth.

"And don't talk with your mouth full," Tokoyami added.

"We'll be cheering for you, no matter what," Izumi said.

"I will, of course, be rooting most strongly for Toshi," Iida said. "But please do not take this as an insult or a lack of faith in your abilities, Haimawari. As his girlfriend, I must support him the most."

Midoriya blushed a little at that. "Thanks, Sora," he said. "But we don't even know how they're going to run this thing. In the past, it was mostly team events, with it being schools, not individuals, competing against each other."

Iida considered this. "Then I shall still cheer for you the most, and hope that cheers have a transference property that shall cover you, Haimawari, Mineta, and Kocho. Enthusiasm has, unfortunately, not been scientifically investigated."

"Still," Isamu said, "pretty intense. Still can't believe they just dropped this on us. And then announced it in front of everybody. Felt like everybody was looking at us at the ceremony."

"Still not used to being in the spotlight, huh?" Midoriya asked, not unkindly. "You get used to it. Eventually."

Isamu was once again reminded that many of his friends had all probably had public eyes on them since the day they went home from the hospital, if not from the moment the news cycle picked up on the fact that their mothers were pregnant. It was something he was definitely going to have to get used to, if he was ever going to be anything other than an Underground Hero. And he definitely didn't want to go that route. He wanted to be a Hero like All Might and Deku, who made people feel safe just by showing up. That wasn't something he could be if he flinched every time people paid him attention. Being a Hero like that, it took charisma. And public speaking. And lots of being comfortable with being on camera.

He still had a lot of work to do.

The U.A. Sports Festival already had national attention. People from all across the country had seen him win. And now he was being thrust back into the spotlight once more.

Fortunately, the topic of conversation took a turn back to what they thought Ground Zero was going to be like as a Heroics teacher. They'd had plenty of instruction from him at the training camp, of course, but back at school was a whole different thing…

Katsuki looked over the assembled Hero students of Class 1-A, gathered in the training gym. It hadn't changed much since he'd been a student here, what has felt like a lifetime ago. It was still a wide-open space, populated by many different rocky outcroppings. Cementoss's retirement meant that repairs were now done by specialized repair robots and took longer, but U.A. boasted more than enough training grounds to make up for it.

Already today, he'd put Class 1-B and 1-C through their paces. 1-B had impressed him, having picked up quite a few skills and developing their Quirks further during the camp. He'd give most of that credit to the Rookies and their U.A. teachers. But, if he was forced to admit it, he'd give some of the credit to Copycat Bastard's kid. Whatever problems he had with the boy's father, Shiro Monoma did know how to strategize and motivate his classmates, and the boy had been making the most of the pause in his own training by shouting feedback and encouragement to his classmates from the sidelines, even more than usual. Many of 1-B's Quirks weren't as direct as those of 1-A, but they made up for it with a lot of ingenuity and creative applications. Ever since their midterm, they'd been exploring new ways to synergize with one another's Quirks, and Katsuki would be surprised if a number of them didn't find places at the same agencies, or maybe even starting their own together some day.

As for 1-C, well, they'd come a long way since their final exam. He'd watched that in preparation for his first days of class with them, and much of what he'd seen had made him wince. Most of them had perfectly capable combat Quirks or Quirks that were esoteric but useful in the right circumstances. But there was just something that had been… lacking in their chemistry and teamwork as a class. No one like Izuku or Glasses, who could pull them together, or like Shitty Hair and Raccoon Eyes, who were good enough with people to help them get along.

He remembered that from his own school years. When he'd been in his own third year, that year's Class 1-B had been a mess. Sometimes, classes were just a bad mix.

But he gave Itsuka credit. She and her husband had pushed the kids just as hard over the two weeks as the others had been pushed at the training camp. They weren't quite up to the level of the other two classes, not yet, but they would be soon. Joint training sessions in the near future would help push them further.

Which just left Class 1-A. Many of these kids were practically family, even if you didn't count his daughter. If he was honest, they were the group he'd been most… Not anxious. He didn't do anxiety. And definitely not worried. Because he didn't worry either. But they were definitely the ones he anticipated being the most challenging to teach. He was going to have to make sure to be extra objective, especially with the likes of Toshi and Izumi.

"All right," he growled. "You've been through the Rookies. But now you've got to get through me. You've got one chance to show me what you learned and prove to me you've got what it takes." Most of them were taking it seriously, their faces set in determination. Katsumi had a scowl on that wouldn't have looked out of place on his own face. For some reason, Sleepy's kid thought the most appropriate serious face was a big grin. He'd deal with that one later.

Katsuki gestured behind him. "We've got rocks, we've got robots, we've got plenty for you to hit, so you can go all out. Aizawa and Doc Izumi are here to keep you from seriously hurting yourselves."

He snapped his fingers, producing a small explosion. "Now… show me what you're made of!"

Shota Shinso let out a mighty whoop of excitement. That kid was going to be exhausting.

Izumi's heart was pounding in her chest. Time and time again, she drew upon her Quirk, unleashing freezing waves of ice, followed by scorching blasts of flame. She hadn't made many changes to her costume. It was still the same orange and blue, split into alternating quadrants, with the silver bands and backpack of her regulator rig. The only difference was that now the information from it fed directly to a small pair of goggles, rather than displaying their information in flashing lights. Boost-Rush had wisely pointed out that she did not want to give information to Villains about her status and she had requested the change almost immediately.

The training camp had done her well, overall, pushing her endurance to new limits. She did still need to worry more about over exerting herself than some of her classmates, of course, but she was continuing to get stronger. Her parents still worried for her safety and her health,, but after the camp, their last conversation had gone very well. Perhaps Bioshock's medical report had been enough to sway them from considering withdrawing her again. Perhaps they had simply been impressed by her performance.

Or perhaps it had more to do with Uncle Katsuki's call threatening to come over and have words if they even considered it.

It could have been almost anything.

"Izumi," Mother began, sitting on the plush couch, Father by her side. It had been her last night at home, before returning to U.A. for the party and then classes the next day. "May we speak to you? About the next term at U.A.?" She was hesitant, worried. Father's arm was around her and he too looked as serious as she had ever seen him.

"Of course," she said, carefully. Her thoughts were heavy. She still had not told them she knew about Plague. Nor had she told them that she had spoken to her grandfather and learned so much about what had happened to her as a child and why. She had been waiting for the right moment. But she did not know when that would be.

Her mind immediately raced to the possibility that they would, once again, ask her to withdraw from U.A., as they had so many times before. It seemed to be a conversation they had again and again, even as she improved. But steely determination filled her. She would not allow that to happen. Not when she had come this far.

"Bioshock provided us with the results of the medical tests he ran during your training camp," Mother began. "It's quite positive. Increased stamina and endurance, and your training seems to have greatly increased your ability to move and hold heat. You've gotten so much stronger."

This much, she knew. She was quite familiar with her own limitations and how the boundaries of them were changing. She was already capable of competing with her classmates, albeit occasionally needing to rest. But both All Might and Best Jeanist had continued their heroic careers minus vital organs. Uncle Katsuki was working to continue his minus a leg and many other Heroes had prosthetics of some kind. And there were many other Heroes who required medications due to various conditions, including Can't Stop Twinkling, who still suffered health effects from the overuse of his Naval Laser. She required rest and medication, yes, but she was still strong and capable.

Why did she have to remind them of that, time and time again?

"It's as clean a bill of health as we could hope for," Father added. There was a note of cheerfulness in his voice. It was a risky proposition, but Izumi allowed herself to hope. Perhaps this would be the end of the doubts. Perhaps…

"And we've spoken with your teachers," Mother added. "Including Katsuki." She closed her eyes and let out a breath. When she brought her head up, she was smiling. "He told us you're incredibly skilled and that no one works harder than you. And that your ice nearly defeated a rather powerful girl from Shiketsu."

Father looked uncomfortable for a moment, but he seemed to gather his courage so he could look her in the eyes. "And he reminded us, in his rather colorful way, that we were doing you no favors by treating you as though you were made of glass. Or as he put it, "Why the hell are you treating her like she's any kind of frail?" The Sports Festival, your internship, the final exam, the training camp, all of it has made one thing very clear."

"We've been afraid, for a long time," Mother said. "Of losing you. We nearly lost you once, as a child. And after, you were so fragile, so weak, we worried that any little thing could take you from us."

"As Plague nearly did," she said simply. Maybe it wasn't the right time, but maybe it was time. If they were willing to give ground, then she needed to press forward with all she had.

Her parents' eyes went wide. "Where did you hear that name?" her father demanded, looking as stunned as if he'd been slapped across the face. "How?"

"During my internship," she explained. "Please do not be mad at Uncle Denki. But he left a file open on his desk. And when I asked, he said that Plague had nearly killed me. Or rather, he said that Plague 'definitely wasn't someone who had nearly killed me'. But that seemed very much like a denial."

Father looked very uncomfortable. "That," he said, "is a very long story. But I suppose it's long past time you knew."

"I already know," she told him, crossing her arms. "After I found out, Chihiro and Mineta helped me locate Grandfather. I will not betray their trust by saying how. But he told me everything. About his sins, about how I was collateral damage in Plague's revenge against him, about how Uncle Izuku's compassion convinced Plague to give up his scheme, and about how Grandfather took the fall to prevent societal collapse. It was a lot to absorb."

"We meant to tell you," Father said after a moment, the silence hanging in the air, heavy and oppressive. "When we thought you were old enough. When we thought you were ready to hear it."

"But we kept telling ourselves you didn't need to know just yet. That there was time." Mother looked so sad as she spoke. Her eyes seemed far away, as though she were rethinking so many different decisions.

Izumi pulled herself up higher in her chair. "I deserved to know," she said. "I should not have had to find out like this. I spent much of my life thinking myself merely unfortunate, a victim of circumstance. I accepted that. I was working to overcome it. I had made my peace with my lot in life. But now, I find out I was a target. And not even a target on my own merits. But a target to hurt someone else. This was done to me. I thought I knew who I was. Instead, I was forced to reevaluate everything I thought I knew."

The temperature in the room had started to drop, growing frostier as she spoke. Her mother had even started to shiver. Izumi stopped when she realized it.

"I am sorry," she said.

"Don't be," Father replied. "You have every right to be angry. We didn't want what happened to overshadow your life. But it looks like we did that anyway."

"We were so afraid," Mother said. "You're our only daughter, Izumi. Our only child. We had planned for a big family. But when you became ill, you became our everything. Even after you were cured, we could never be sure if you wouldn't be snatched from us in a moment's notice. It's why we've always tried to keep you safe. It's why we always tried to give you the world."

"But we realized," Father added, "that we weren't giving you the world you wanted. We were giving you the one we wanted, where you were always safe, never in danger, where we never had to worry about losing you. But you've proven yourself. Time and time again. And every time we've tried to tell you that you shouldn't keep pursuing your goal, you've gone forward and proven yourself. Every time, you've surpassed whatever limits we thought you had. You're just like your mother. A fighter, no matter the odds."

Mother smiled a little bit at that, blushing too. She always lit up at Father's praise. But the seriousness of the moment quickly returned. "So, we aren't going to stand in your way any longer. We've talked about it these last few nights. Done almost nothing but talk about it when we weren't at work. And we talked to our friends too, who all told us the same thing as Katsuki, albeit with slightly less colorful language. We won't take you from U.A. No matter what happens. We promise. From now on, we'll stand behind you every step."

Father gave Mother's hand a squeeze. "And that is a promise we intend to keep. Katsuki, Izuku, Kyoka, all of our friends have been very clear in their intentions to make us keep that promise."

There was another quiet moment. The moment she had hoped for was here, but it was bundled in so many other emotions, she didn't know how to properly respond. Finally, Izumi stood, as did her parents, and she crossed the room so they were standing together. After a moment, they hugged. "I know we still have a lot to talk about," Father said. "But we hope you can forgive us."

"I am not happy with the secrets that were kept from me," she said, after they had broken. "I am, in fact, quite angry about it all. But I believe you were doing what you thought was right. I just wish… I wish that you had believed in me more. More than the secrets, that is what hurts." She was crying, she realized, tears tracing salty tears down her cheeks.

"We're sorry," Father said. He embraced her once again, gently moving a strand of hair out of her face. "We were wrong. After what your grandfather did to me… We went too far in the other direction."

"And we believe in you now," Mother added. She, too, was crying. "We'll always worry. But we'll never doubt you again."

"I know," Izumi said. She could sense their sincerity. It was like a dam being broken. All the barriers, all the perceptions of fragility, they had finally, finally come tumbling down.

"I forgive you your worry," she said quietly, bowing her head, "because I know it came from love. And I am learning to forgive the lies, because I believe they came from the same place." She brought her head up. "I love you, Mother. I love you, Father."

"And we love you," Mother said.

"Always," Father said. "We will always love you."

For the first time in a long time, Izumi truly felt light. No more having to prove herself, no more fights and arguments for every single remotely risky thing she wanted to do.

For the first time in a long time, she felt truly free.

Now, she ran, occasionally freezing the ground ahead of her. Her boots were now designed to let her slide on the ice without falling. The Rookies had helped her realize she tended to stand still when using her Quirk, using a "point and shoot" style that could be effective, but could leave her vulnerable. Now, after some practice, she was getting better at using her Quirk while moving. Ahead of her, there was a large pillar of rocks. Checking the readouts in her goggles, she had plenty of heat for her next trick. Uncle Denki had started teaching her this during her internship, and she had only refined it further in the time since.

She pointed as she moved. Instead of unleashing flames, she instead simply released and directed the heat she had absorbed so far. Raw heat made the air ripple as it slammed into the rocks, until she pulled the temperature from the air around it, instantly dropping it into sub-zero. The quick change did exactly as she'd intended. Brought from one temperature extreme to the other, the rocks shattered. She had just enough time to steal more heat from the air and form a barrier of ice to block the shards.

"Doing good, Iz!" Katsumi called out, as she rushed by. Somehow, her friend's cheers made her feel more confident than any of her instructors ever could. Her endurance continued to improve. She would succeed.

Katsumi's costume was mostly the same: black leggings, a black top that left her arms and midriff bare and which bore a golden bomb insignia, pointy golden shoulder guards, and a golden belt. The heavy gauntlets she'd gotten during her internship were now a shiny gold and segmented for carrying different types of ammunition beyond just explosive disks and bb's. Her boots were now clunkier and likewise gold, with vents on the outside.

Katsumi jumped, and the vents in her boots spat fire, lifting her up with a quick rocket boost. According to her friend, there was a material inside the boots she had pre-treated with her Quirk, making them explosive in potentia. She simply had to trigger it and it gave her two or three shots of rocket power. Not enough for flight like her father, but enough to boost a jump when she needed it most. Much of her training at the camp had been further expanding her explosive power. She could still detonate anything she touched, of course, or even transmit that power through the ground, but she could now store that power… including in her weapons. She fired several darts from her gauntlet into a pair of robots, and only detonated them when both she and Izumi were long past them.

"YAHOO!" Katsumi shouted, pumping the air. She cast a glance around, then grinned wickedly. "That's twenty already, Toshi! Beat that!"

Izumi followed her gaze to where Toshi was tearing through robots, shifting between gravity extremes as he ran. He'd become much faster at doing that, no longer limited to single strikes. Toshi had also changed his costume the most, along with changing his Hero name. Rather than attempting to trade on All Might's colors, he now wore a black bodysuit, imprinted with a white starfield pattern, a white belt, white trunks, heavy white gauntlets, and chunky white boots. He'd also added a white helmet with a black fin and visor that hid his green hair. The boots contained CO2 jets that he could use for propulsion when his gravity was reduced, and the gauntlets better protected his hands. He had, perhaps inadvisably, also added a white cape.

At Katsumi's challenge, Toshi ran towards the nearest rocky outcropping and proceeded to run straight up it, having shifted where his relative "down'' was. At the top of it, he did a flip, landing in the center of a group of robots at maximum gravity. The impact sent off a shockwave that knocked them all down. It was followed by a rumbling as one of the other outcroppings collapsed, taking many more robots with it.

Toshi had gotten a lot of advice from both Uncle Katsuki and the Rookies, much of it about becoming his own Hero. Now, he was The Meteor Hero: Cosmos. It seemed to fit.

"Look, Toshi, technically, this is Rookie coaching advice," Uncle Katsuma said. "But I'm also definitely doing this as your honorary uncle."

"Sure," he said. "What is it?"

"You need to change your Hero name and your costume."

"What?"

Uncle Katsuma laughed at that. "I know I'm not one to talk." He gestured to his own green, white, and black costume. "It's no secret my costume is patterned after your dad's. And my sister will deny it to hell and back, but it's no secret either she takes after Katsuki with hers." He brought up Toshi's original costume request on his tablet and tapped at the screen with a finger. "But you, this is basically your granddad's Silver Age costume with a different insignia. You can do better. And you can definitely do better than Gravi-Might as a name."

"But I'm just paying tribute to where I came from," Toshi had protested. Grandpa Might was a very important person to him! He was trying his best to live up to his example!

Uncle Katsuma just gave him a flat look of disbelief and then shook his head. "But that's not you. It's one thing to do a tribute. It's another to practically copy the whole thing. You can do better. And we can definitely do better with your costume. I know Katsuki's got you doing more with gravity, but I think we've got a few more tricks we can teach you before the camp's up…"

Well, when you put it like that, it really was a rather stark reality to see…

Maybe he was trying too hard? His parents and grandfather were all so amazing, he'd just wanted to do them proud. Carry on the legacy they started. But…

Uncle Katsuma handed Toshi the tablet, open to a new costume design app. "So, let's work together," Uncle Katsuma went on. "And figure out what you want. Not who you want to try and be. What you want. For you."

Just like Uncle Mirio had said. He'd tried to step back some, be a little less "Team Dad.". He was trying not to shoulder the world. But Uncle Katsuma was right. He was trying too hard to be Grandpa Might, when he needed to just be himself.

Toshi had stared at the app for a moment. So, something different. Something him…

"How many was that, Katsumi?" Toshi asked, tossing off a smile and a wave.

Katsumi stared for a moment before angrily shaking her fist. "That only counts as one!"