Izuku's legs hurt. It's like he just absolved two soccer matches in a row without ever stopping his running. It's like he's run the big parcours round thrice.

That's not to say that he doesn't feel exhilaratingly alive. The adrenaline and his team's victory put a wide smile on his face, now uncovered from goggles, facemask and hood. He sits between Haiken ("Call me Mu, you ridiculous Kiwi-boy!" "Why Kiwi?!" went unheard by the boisterous girl) and Sorahoshi ("I... My name is Shimiru." she had hesitantly offered, shyly nodding when he'd stuttered out: "I-Izuku?" as if he were unsure on whether that's really his name or not). Izuku doesn't know why the two of them offered their respective first names – or, in Hai... Mu's case a nickname – but he isn't about to turn down such a nice gesture.

Vlad King's silhouette is illuminated by the big TV screens in front of him. They show the second battle of the day whilst those who were affected by Shimiru's quirk's skin irritation have been sent to Recovery Girl's office... basically, what this means is that the three of them are the only ones aside from their teacher in the dark observers' room. "Should be more awkward than it is." Izuku thinks. There's a sort of satisfied exhaustion clinging to his frame.

Vlad King hums, turning his attention from one monitor to another where a broad back clad in grey is seen. Nagare crouches a little bit to the side of the camera that's sending the picture to the screen, his neck bent downwards. "I wonder what his quirk is..." Izuku absentmindedly mumbles, still watching in mild excitement – he's too spent for a more cheerful exterior right now.

"No idea, man. Gummy worms?" Mu asks, shoving a bag of said gelatinous goods in his hands. Without taking his eyes off the screen (and without really thinking of why and where Mu has kept them on her), the boy grabs a small handful and begins devouring a green-yellow one. "Thanks" he says as an afterthought.

Then he blends out Mu and Shimiru. He blends out everything else, his mind running a kilometre per second as he focuses on Nagare's descend. Underneath the small one-story building on whose roof he's perched on, a fight between two other students has broken out. Unluckily, Izuku has no idea whether one of them is on the pink haired boy's team or not.

All of a sudden, Nagare jumps, landing right next to a broad, navy-skinned shark-teethed girl who seems to be able to extend her neck. Immediately, the Handsome One places a hand on her head...

...and what then happens catches Izuku off-guard.

The girl's eyes roll up and... she just... drops? "What kind of quirk is that? Most likely an emitter-type; has to do with brain functions, mind or consciousness..." he mutters in awe. What an interesting quirk indeed.

"Looks brutal as fuck." Mu comments.

"... But she doesn't seem to be hurt." Shimiru intervenes.

"Nagare seems to be able to make it instantaneous. Maybe, though, he could extend the duration of whatever it is. I wonder if it's actually painful – could be a good torture method... u-um, I mean..." Izuku clears his throat when Vlad King sends him a concerned glance over his shoulder.

Mu snorts, cackling as the Midoriya starts to blush and splutter.

To save the boy's grace (at least the little of it that's left), prompt in that moment the other students start trickling in again, looking a bit tired for wear but much better now that the red blotches on their skin are gone. A tall, really buff guy with red skin, who reminds Izuku a bit of a traditional depicted Japanese tengu, heads over and drops little bundles of gummy bears on each of their laps. "I asked Recovery Girl if I could take some of them with me for 1-A but she gave me three of those."

Izuku decides to disregard being called '1-A'. Firstly Kiwi and now... 1-A.

Also, at the rate he's getting candy, he'll be overweight in no time. Ah, to hell with it. He chews on the bears, immediately feeling his overused muscles relax. Wait a minute. From Recovery Girl? Huh... did she kiss each one of them or how does that work? Is her spit in those or why are they relieving his pain? Alright, Izuku thinks with a grimace, better not to ask about that. He doesn't want to be mentally scarred because of gummy bears of all things.

Suddenly, he's stricken with a thought. Where are his manners? His mom would be so incredibly disappointed! So, he puts on a bright smile and says: "Thank you, ...?" but he halts mid-sentence as he doesn't know the other's name. Talk about hypocrisy, huh?

"Otakebi Funk." the muscle package says with a grin.

"Thank you, Otakebi! I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"I know, 1-A." Otakebi guffaws light-heartedly, making Izuku die inside just a little. He's not going to get rid of his nicknames, is he? Maybe he should just surrender and call himself the 1-A Hero: Kiwi.

"Other teams incapacitated! Winners are Nagare Kokoro, Shiro Kuro and Bao Agma."

...How?! How the hell has he missed an entire fight in the span of three minutes? Staring at the winning team displayed on the monitor, he notices the lack of any evidence for an occurred battle. The three of them seem perfectly fine, one of them even bored.

And he'll have to duel one of them.

Their teacher turns to them. "You will join the other winning team right away." A gloved hand motions for them to return to the faux city. Izuku's stomach begins to churn. It's certainly not because of the gummies.

He's... a little bit intimidated. This is an entirely new situation for him. Of course he's had taekwondo tournaments – in which he managed to best some very tough opponents before he eventually ended up losing to someone more experienced – but this? To fight one-on-one against somebody else who harbours the dream of becoming a hero? Someone who, most likely, has trained just as hard as he has? Someone, on top of that, who can freely use their quirk? Well, no wonder his heart's thumping faster at the prospect.

Despite that, he's also ecstatic, all of his otherwise nervous energy bundled in the exciting idea of having his first real fight that's specifically targeted towards bringing him closer to his goal.

"Damn, you're thriving on this, aren't you?" Mu pokes him in the upper arm as they're heading into the battle arena again.

He sends her a broad grin, his steps becoming bouncy. "Hihi!" he giggles.

"...'Hi...hi'?" whispers Shimiru questioningly.

"You know what? That's how it's done, Kiwi! We're ready to throw some hands, yeah?!" the shorter girl yells encouragingly.

"Yeah!" Izuku cries back, apparently having forgotten about his anxious nature... only for a moment, though. Then he has to wince as his own voice resounds in his ears.

They arrive at the bottom of the staircase, the other three winners coming into sight. Izuku glosses over Nagare – and he has to admit it's hard because the boy's glaringly pink hair keeps trying to draw his attention – as he takes in the other two. He assumes Shiro Kuro is the person clad in a pantomime getup. In all honesty, he's not sure what gender they have as they sport quite the androgynous looks. Their high pony tail whips around as their dark eyes meet Izuku's. A warm smile stretches Shiro's (or Kuro's?) black painted lips grotesquely far up, somehow managing to convey goofiness instead of Joker vibes. Izuku answers with a nod before he assesses the third in Nagare's group.

Ah.

It's the literal devil.

No, for real. Two small horns grow from Bao Agma's head, a pointed, black, thin tail that protrudes from his lower back swishes lazily. Two demonic wings that are definitely by all laws of physics too small to carry a human being twitch in anticipation while Bao's red eyes, surrounded by black sclera, muster Izuku's team. The devilish boy has left behind his previous air of indifference for sure.

Izuku's heart flutters. A storm swirls in his innards until they're reduced to a mess of pure anxiousness. Who will he fight against? Who can he win against?
Nagare's quirk is an absolute unknown aside from the activation mechanics. He doesn't know if he could recover from it if he were hit by it. Also, Izuku has no long range weapons in his arsenal – which means he has to get real close to his opponent. In Nagare's case this would be incredibly dangerous and dumb. If Izuku's matched up against him, though, there's nearly no other way he could best him. Speed. It's speed he will have to rely on. Luckily, now that his legs are healed, Izuku can maybe somehow wing it... but that's only if he is paired up with Nagare.

If he has to go up against Bao or Shiro? Izuku has no idea how they fight. Absolutely none. All the footage he's watched has either focused on other teams or on the Handyman. Bao has a tail – If he could control it... but no, Izuku shouldn't assume things before the fight starts. And –

"Ouch!" the freckled boy hisses, rubbing his upper arm, "Why, Mu?!" He shoots her a betrayed look that the slightly shorter girl counters with her own unimpressed eyebrow raise.

"Don't mumble yourself into an early grave, Kiwi." she advises. Izuku's mouth closes automatically. Ugh. This habit of his is a damn pain in the ass.

"Alright, boys and girls!" Shiro gestures animatedly to themselves after Vlad-sensei's greeting. The man clears his throat and begins anew: "Sorry for that. Alright, people! I have drawn lots and paired you up at random. The first match is Sorahoshi Shimiru against Bao Agma. Second one's Haiken Mamushi against Nagare Kokoro and, last but not least, Midoriya Izuku against Shiro Kuro. The round ends when either one of you gives up, gets too injured or flies out of the bounds the helper bots have marked with holograms (Seriously? They bought those damn things again?! They were so fragile last year and cost so much, goddamn it, Nedzu.)! Eh... anyways, Sorahoshi and Bao, please go to the bounds. You others sit down on the provided bench." Izuku, Mu and Shimiru exchange awkward glances at Vlad King's budget rant but Bao and Nagare snicker at its ridiculousness and Shiro... mimics laughing. The devil and the blue haired girl then obediently walk to their destination while Izuku and Mamushi sit down next to each other on the aforementioned bench.

"Good luck, Shimiru!" Izuku calls after her. Mu adds: "Beat the devil out of him, girlie!" ("I think you basically instructed her to kill him." Izuku murmurs. Yellow un-slitted eyes blink sheepishly. "Oopsie") Shimiru nods thankfully with a tiny smile.

"C'mon, my man, you got this!" Nagare roars from his seat next to Mu and Shiro gives their third teammate a good luck thumbs up.

"Yeah, yeah." Bao drawls unimpressed.

The two of them come to face each other in the boxing ring-akin marked out battlefield. Cute little robots (that Izuku coos at internally) hold up the hologram projectors with their hands, one in each corner of the square. He watches entranced as, after their teacher begins the match, Bao rushes forward so swiftly and with such a high velocity that Izuku's surprised Shimiru manages to dodge the frontal attack. All pretences have fallen from the boy – his laziness vanished, his bored expression given leeway to a concentrated face. But Bao isn't the only one who has changed in such short amount of time.

Shimiru's smirk sends a shiver down Izuku's spine. His teammate resembles a murderous goddess intent on sending Bao back to hell where he belongs. (Alright, maybe he's being a bit too dramatic but really, the amount of seriousness during this mock fight astounds him.)

The girl seems to wait for the perfect moment to strike. Most people wouldn't notice it but she's not making a tight fist. Instead, she's producing a few of her stars and Izuku has guessed her intention right because when Bao hurls himself towards Shimiru, she remains still until the very last second. Then, in a flurry, she hurls those tiny hellish metal stars right in the boy's face.

What?!

Izuku stares open-mouthed. All noise has been reduced to a buzz as he watches Bao's black-red hair flies backwards, his head ducking right underneath Shimiru's stars' trajectory. He balances on his tail – the thin black rod is a lot sturdier than Izuku's anticipated. Bao jumps up with the help of it and aims a punch right at Shimiru's nose. She dodges, grabbing his fist mid-air. A yowl of pain from Bao makes Izuku guess Shimiru has just in that moment decided to grow one of her stars out of the palm with which she's holding Bao's fist. Ugh, that must have hurt them both.

It's the factor of surprise that the pale girl is aiming for, though. And she has it. For one second, the devil is distracted by the unexpected burning ache and that's when Shimiru strikes. Her boot-clad foot lands in Bao's stomach, sending him careening backwards.

In the air, Bao cleverly uses his small wings to stop his flight. Steadying himself against one of the marker-bots he drawls with an unhinged smile that could have easily been seen on Aizawa's mouth: "Damn, you aren't bad at all."

Shimiru flicks her long midnight blue hair back. "Same to you." she says.

Bao recovers quickly and as soon as he appears ready to continue, Shimiru steadies herself once more. But he doesn't attempt to do the same move a second time. No, he begins running circles around his opponent, getting speedier with every second until he's just a blur.

"He's using his tail and wings to propel himself forward... can't keep that up for long 'cuz his muscles are gonna protest pretty soon." Izuku thinks out loud, gaining an appreciative nod courtesy of Shiro whose eyes are straining to stay on the fight in front of them.

Just as predicted, Bao shoots out of a random direction towards Shimiru. She doesn't see it coming. Can't see it coming, in all honesty. He's too fast for her. Izuku winces when her body's flung over the blue hologram and crashes to the ground. Automatically, he rises from his seat and rushes towards his teammate. "God, are you okay?" he asks but it's so fast it sounds more like "God'reyougay?" and that's... wow.

Shimiru lets out a pathetic groan. Her hair has been blown into her face. "Hurts..." she grumbles and has to cough right after, "Got him."

Mu, who kneels at her other side and slowly helps her steady herself, frowns in confusion. "Huh?"

"...think you should... bring him to Recovery Girl..." the gothic girl rasps out haltingly.

Izuku opens his mouth but reflexively, he cranes his neck to check on Bao... and for fuck's sake, that boy doesn't look good. He's whimpering, clutching his stomach where his dark hero costume's torn apart due to some of Shimiru's burning stars literally having been rammed into the flesh of his abdomen. "Shit." the Midoriya curses.

"I don't know who's won that but both are K.O so... that's... wow. I called Recovery Girl, she's on her way. In the meantime, please remain calm. We are going to continue our matches shortly. (Holy shit, what's up with those little monsters?! It's always Yamada's class that's the absolute fucking worst, I can't believe it. Oh, the mic's still –)"

"Pffth" Shimiru snorts. Leaning against a fake house's wall, she's at least more stable than on the ground. "Vlad-sensei's such a dork." she slurs and Izuku and Mamushi share an alarmed look as their third starts laughing airily.

"I think she doesn't feel so good." Mu provides unhelpfully, scratching the back of her unruly black mophead.

"I think Bao doesn't feel so good." Izuku adds, eyes wandering between the delusional girl and the now crying boy.

"Damn, they really went at it, didn't they?"

"Well, you were the one who told her to beat the devil out of him so..."

They look at Bao. They look at Shimiru. They look at each other. Izuku begins giggling and Mu isn't far behind.

"You know what, Kiwi?" Mu says between bouts of laughter, "Ya really aren't a bad one. Not at all."

Izuku smiles.

...

"Please take it slow for the next hours. Here are some gummies, dear."

"But I already –" Shimiru tries to intervene, holding up her small bag she'd previously gotten from Otakebi.

"Take it, dear."

"I don't-"

"Take. It. Dear."

Note to himself: Recovery Girl is absolutely not to be messed with. Izuku watches with a weird fascination as she rips out Shimiru's quirk from Bao's stomach while she kisses him at the same time. He's never seen such an accurate representation of the phrase 'carrot and stick' before. Bao doesn't even have time to cry as he's immediately healed by... essentially himself. Odd.

"Good. Now that we have those two cared for, we'll go ahead with our exercise. Nagare and Haiken, it's your turn. Recovery Girl, please stay on stand-by."

Recovery Girl nods sagely and sits down where Mu sat previously.

"Destroy him!" Izuku pumps his fist in the air. A cough from the professional heroine and a pout from Nagare let him recoil hastily. "Um... I-I mean... Take care!" this time, the fist pump is a lot less enthusiastic. Shimiru's barely able to lift her head, much less to encourage the other girl. Nonetheless, Mu seems to get the gist as she flashes Izuku and Shimiru a grin.

Then she heads into the boxing ring. Nagare's pink irises follow her movements. He's not as serious as Bao'd been – however, he isn't taking this lightly either.

"Go!"

Maybe, Izuku thinks deadpan, randomizing the thing wasn't Vlad King's best idea. Imagine: Nagare Kokoro, a guy whose quirk most definitely involves direct contact with his enemy against Haiken Mamushi who can pull a gigantic ash snake out of thin air. It's the ultimate short vs. long range battle... but poor Nagare hasn't been able to really prepare for such a scenario.

And it shows. "Man, this hurts to watch." Izuku mumbles sympathetically as the handsome boy is chased by the snake. Oh... there he goes, running out of the bounds because he tries to avoid being consumed by the ashen creature.

"The winner is Haiken Mamushi."

"That was so lame, dude. You gotta build a... a spear or something into your repertoir!" Mu rants after dissolving her quirk.

"A spear?"

"Or, like, a bow. Or a rifle!" the girl exclaims, then turning away from the befuddled Nagare.

"A rifle...?" Izuku hears him repeat quietly. But he ignores the other's incredulousness as he throws little glances at Shiro Kuro who musters him unabashedly.

"Now for the last duel. Shiro Kuro against Midoriya Izuku. Please... ah, I guess you get the gist by now. Go!"

Shiro waves their hand. Because Izuku's polite, he waves back.

"..." For some reason, Shiro sends a judging look his way.

Oh. It's... it was their quirk. They activated their quirk and Izuku waved back like an absolute moron. "Swallow me, ground. Swallow me and never let me go." He tries to overplay his embarrassment by starting an attack with his baseball bat ready to strike. Shiro does the odd motion again right before Izuku's bat hits them.

"Fuck!" It's a wall. Shiro can mime an invisible wall into existence and he has just pretty much used his own force against himself. Painful tremors run up his forearms. Izuku's face mask has gone back to hiding his mouth and his goggles obscure his eyes. At least his opponent hasn't seen his reaction because of that and Izuku can play his pain off.

He hits the barrier again, lighter to assess whether it's still there or not. Quirks like that often have set duration times and Izuku thinks it can't be running for long because Shiro has had to renew it once already. One more time he hits the invisible wall until Shiro does the wave motion. About ten seconds then. Now the question remains whether this shields them from all sides or just from the front. To find that out, Izuku runs – inspired by Bao – in a circle around his opponent, striking the air from all sides. Nope, he doesn't feel any resistance.

The boy then decides to up his velocity and get in a hit from behind. Shiro's a lot slower than Izuku is – they don't come across as very athletic.

Izuku's bat swings. It nearly meets its target but...

...but Shiro walks on air.

"A pantomime quirk! Oh my god, how exciting is that? Holy shit, that's so rare! The last known pantomime quirked hero died around sixty years ago – and she was European. What a cool power. I wonder what they can do with it? Can they create anything – only invisible? Or does it have limits?"

"Midoriya, please refrain from going off on a tangent. Your opponent has stood still for the last minute just to give you a chance of snapping out of it."

"..." Izuku only closes his mouth in absolute horror. It's true. He's been rambling – in the middle of a duel, might he add – and... and... what the hell must Shiro think of him? Firstly he waves back stupidy and now he has just started analyzing their quirk like a total creep. It's a wonder Mu and Shimiru still talk to him!

Vlad King clears his throat.

Finally, he's able to completely clear his head. A quick plan forms in Izuku's overheated brain as he fiddles his rope out of its holder. Shiro's wary eyes trail his every movement. With his bat in his one hand and the rope in his other one, the green haired one starts to run once again, not in a circle but straight behind Shiro who can use their stair technique a second time.

But that's exactly what Izuku anticipates. Swiftly, he forms a loose noose with his rope, spins around and – gotcha! – he catches the other's foot in it. Tripping them midair, they flounder for a solid second before having no choice but to land on their hands. Izuku's heart speeds up, eustress hammering against his ribs as he sits down on Shiro's back. He uses the rope to bind their hands and just as he's about to do the same for their feet –

- Shiro throws one of their legs up in Izuku's direction.

"Ah" the Midoriya thinks before the immense pain of that last effort attack on his enemy's part engulfs him, "They don't need their hands to use their quirk... makes sense. Fuuuuuuck."

"Shiro Kuro wins." he hears... but why would Vlad-sensei say that when Izuku has... when Izuku has...? Yeah, what did he actually do? There are bright lights dancing in his field of vision that remind him of Shimiru's stars.

What...

Um...

"Dude, I" someone says. Someone else yells something. Izuku closes his eyes and just listens to the dark drums roaring in his ears.

...

"What did you mime? You knocked me out cold with it – I'm impressed by the way! – I'm just curious what exactly it was!"

Shiro holds their face in their hands.

"You don't have to be ashamed! It can't be that bad, I'm sure!" Izuku reassures.

They shake their head, floppy black ponytail waggling left and right. With one hand they slowly grab their whiteboard and write down what they used to destroy the entirety of class 1-A.

"An... elephant." Shimiru, who's been feeling a lot better (albeit more tired), reads out loud slowly.

Shiro hides their face again.

...

Izuku packs his stuff in a snail's pace. With every arm movement his poor abused muscles, that have been nearly pierced by a whole imaginary elephant's tusks, mind you, groan in protest. He's so glad for Recovery Girl's presence and he now considers her to be number three on his "Favourite Heroes" list – right behind his personal number one, Sir Nighteye, and his close number two, All Might. (How ironic.)

He's the only one left in the boy's locker room as everyone else has already been dismissed with their small amounts of battle damage. Even Bao had recovered quite well by the end of the lesson. That makes Izuku the sole exception. Maybe because he's exhausted his legs like crazy prior to his match against Shiro.

When he's finally done packing, he hugs his dark blue backpack carefully with one arm to his chest. He doesn't think he could carry the thing on his actual back right now. Izuku walks out of the building slower than usual but at least he can listen to his Another Day Ends playlist while doing so; songs to let the day end and soothe himself are mixed with nature's early evening sounds.

So he wanders a while. Every so often a flare of discomfort makes him flinch but the pain gradually eases, he notices. The early evening sky, coloured in a beautiful orange-y yellow and pinkish cloudy gradient, extends endlessly over Izuku's head. While the day had been fairly hot, now a cool wind mouths at his bare-skinned forearm.

Oh, don't be scared about it.

Don't forget it was real.

Do you remember the way it made you feel?

Jarryd James – Do you Remember

Izuku hums the tune, has to stop when for a single moment his back rebels harsher than before. His head hurts in response before the pain calms down. Ugh, that Shiro truly has a terrifying quirk! What one could do with such a power... not that he should fantasize about having a quirk. It only makes him kind of tired to think he's at such a disadvantage.

Abruptly, he comes to a halt. His thoughts stop. His breath stops. Even his music seems to stop.

He's on top of a bridge.

There's a deer right in front of him. Standing on the asphalt, it raises its head in a greeting, almost.

"Um." Izuku doesn't feel well. How? How could this be?

How could the same deer he's created in his mind appear right before him?

You don't need to worry.

a voice says.

It's the deer's.

You don't have to worry about not having a quirk for your chosen path.

the deer says deceptively calm.

Because your chosen path does not exist.

it tells him in the same unnerving tone. Its beady eyes quell out of its skull. They're melting, melting onto the pavement and they roll towards Izuku's shoes. Black orbs judge him, watch him from below – something that shouldn't be.

Every hero has once been a breathing human.

But breathing humans can't be heroes.

it says.

Izuku can't breathe.

Izuku wakes up. He's lying on a bench. Gasping for air, he looks around in confusion. Ah, shit, he only wanted to quickly sit down and now... now he's dreamt that. A shudder runs down his spine. That felt real and surreal at the same time, a paradox of an experience.

He heads home.

And ignores that he can't remember sitting down.