Trtt

by Nexus Sannin

T

5. Smit

Quantity of Quirks

by Primordial_Vortex

A bin for ideas and one shots that don't quite fit into one of my full stories but I still REALLY want to write. No overt slash, lots of multipairings.

slash, lots of multipairings.

The King of Beasts

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The King of Beasts

Oh man, I had SUCH a blast writing this one. Its been a while since I've been giggling through the entire writing process.

So, welcome to my MHA idea bin! Anything you find here MAY or MAY NOT get expanded on at a future date. I'm writing them because if I DON'T, they won't leave me alone and be huge distractions for my main fics. As such, while not all of these will be shorter than you're used to from me, many of them will be similar in size to this one.

Here's an update for The Emerald Phoenix: Part one of a planned three for the USJ arc is already complete at just shy of 20k words. My plan at this current time is to complete the entire arc so that I'll have three chapters to post, probably spaced out by a month each. Look forward to it! :D

I have a discord server! Come say hi! Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh. You're way more likely to get a response out of me there than you are PMing me. Seriously. sucks.

"Midoriya." Aizawa-sensei looked more than a little irritated, as he had to crane his neck to stare up at Izuku, "You scored the highest by far on the Entrance Exam. How far could you pitch a ball back in middle school?" The rest of the kids seemed like newborns next to him, though most of them also didn't really look surprised. Bakugo looked like a steamed lobster getting ready to explode and would need an eye kept on him.

"Uhhh?" Could someone that huge even look sheepish? Was that allowed? His voice was probably the deepest they'd ever heard too, "I...'m not sure?" He rubbed his long, shaggy-looking hair, "They let me throw one time in elementary and no one ever found the ball, so they never let me throw again." A cloud seemed to appear over his head, "Or bat... or kick. Or... be goalie too. Said it wasn't fair I could cover the entire goal just by sitting down." He slumped in depression as lightning crackled over his head. "They even stopped letting me play basketball when I got too heavy for the court."

The other kids around him started to giggle at various volumes. All of them except for a couple had been utterly terrified of the boy just based off of appearances. And who wouldn't be intimidated? He was five-and-a-half meters tall and built like a brick wall. Solid, intimidating muscle rippling all throughout his frame. The shirt and pants of largest U.A. uniform they'd ever had to make had been tearing at the seams every time Izuku had needed to move. He'd entered the classroom causing mini tremors with each step. It was little wonder most of the student had been wary of him.

Not Ochaco though. She smiled brightly at him, "Hey, at least your parents never lost you in the supermarket right?" The entire class burst into laughter, including Izuku himself.

Seeing him act like a cinnamon roll did a whole lot to alleviate their fear of him. But not Aizawa's

headache. No, that just throbbed harder, "Fine then." He tossed him a ball, "Time for you to find out. Step into that circle and throw as hard as you can without using your Quirk."

Izuku stared at the ball sitting in his palm. It looked like what a marble would have looked like in a normal hand. He looked at Aizawa, then back to the ball, a sweatdrop growing on everyone's heads when they realized the problem, "Y...you got anything... bigger?"

The shortest boy in the class – a Minoru Mineta – mumbled under his breath, "I feel bad for him. How the hell would he even play with a girl with those huge fingers?"

He wasn't nearly quiet enough, because the girls collectively blushed and glared at him heatedly.

"Sensei!" The tallest girl in the class – which wasn't saying much since she came up to about Izuku's thigh – raised her hand like they were in class, "I can make a bigger ball for Midoriya-san if you can show me the schematics."

Aizawa let out a sigh, "Very well. Come here. Though keep in mind you'll be on duty making items for him."

He showed Momo his phone, and the beautiful girl quickly glanced through it for about thirty seconds, her lips moving with no sound escaping. Finally, she nodded to herself, handed the device back to Aizawa, and stepped away from the rest of the class before opening her tracksuit shirt. Most of the boys (and even some of the girls) started to blush. Rainbow sparks started to shower out of her front, before she put something on the ground, zipped herself back up, picked it up and brought it over to Izuku. It looked like a small medicine ball in her arms, but for Izuku it was the perfect size for him to grip like a baseball. "Here you are, Midoriya-san. I'm actually very much looking forward to this." She smiled up at him and he blushed.

"Thanks, Yaoyorozu-san."

"Alright, so if we could finally stop wasting time and get this show on the road," Aizawa sounded very irritated at this point, though he was also kicking himself and the staff for not having already considered this, "Step into the circle and throw. You are not allowed to leave the circle. Don't use your Quirk so we can get a baseline."

Izuku stepped forward, walking perfectly calmly despite every step sending Mineta five inches into the air. When he was inside the circle, the cracked his neck and his arms before taking a pitching stance. With a growl, he stomped with his leading leg – cracking the ground beneath him as though it were thin ice – and threw.

The class and Aizawa regretted not bracing themselves because a gale force wind whipped at them and nearly knocked several people over. A thundering BOOM rang out as the sound barrier was shattered by the flying ball. Mineta tumbled ass over teakettle and didn't stop for about a hundred meters. When the winds finally died down and everyone had an impromptu new hairstyle most were very unhappy with, they stared at Aizawa, whose eye was twitching like a drumbeat. They listened to the rapid beeping coming from his device as Aizawa visibly got angrier and angrier, "Midoriya, I told you not to use your Quirk. Are you looking to get expelled before the first day is over?"

Predictably, the class erupted, "Expelled?! That's not fair, sensei!" Ochaco was the first to stick up for him.

Mina looked pretty unhappy too, despite not yet even having had a word with him before, "Yeah, I mean look at him! How is he supposed to not use his Quirk?!"

"Fair?" Aizawa latched onto the word, "You think this is supposed to be fair? Natural disasters... rampaging Villains... freak accidents... The world isn't fair, Ochaco Uraraka. Calamity is always just around the corner, and Heroes are the ones who correct that unfairness. If you were planning on hanging out for the next three years, you're in for a rude awakening, kids. U.A. will do its best to put you through one hardship after another, because villains and disasters don't discriminate. The only way we can ensure you survive to be splendid heroes is by ensuring you are the strongest. That's Plus Ultra. Any one of you can lose your place here in the Hero Course with a stroke of my pen if I think you're fooling around. And in fact, whoever performs the worst in these tests will be going home." The students all shut up and most of them looked a little unnerved by his speech. The phone was still beeping as he turned to Izuku, "So Midoriya? Explain yourself."

"I didn't use my Quirk." Izuku said calmly. "I've only ever used my Quirk once; when I first awakened it. It happened when me and mom went on vacation to Norway. I was a late bloomer, so it actually came in when I was six. Back during that time, mom had been hearing about kids with powerful Quirks disappearing, so she asked me not to use it until I was older and could protect myself. No one has ever seen it other than my mom." At this, even Bakugo who had known him for over a decade froze in shock.

'What.' Bakugo's thoughts were like a scratching record, 'No, that's a lie. That can't possibly be true! It's impossible!'

"W-w-wait!" Ochaco stammered, "Y-y-you mean you didn't even use it at the entrance exam? You crushed everybody's scores AND took out that giant robot in one hit with no Quirk?!"

Izuku blushed and rubbed his head, "Yeah..."

Dead silence. "Kero, that's hot." Came from the cute froggy-looking girl.

Izuku blushed brightly before he forced himself to look in the direction of their teacher, "Truth be told, I wouldn't even use it in a ball throw either. I'd probably lose distance."

All of a sudden, everyone in the clearing – including the hiding All Might who had decided to watch this assessment after seeing someone possibly match him in strength during the entrance exam – was right back to being terrified. The device in Aizawa's hand chimed and he was almost afraid to look at it. "...one-hundred and seventy-four Kilometers."

"YOU THREW IT OFF THE COAST?!?!?!?!" The class yelled.

Momo raised a shaking hand and pointed, "A-actually... the coast is that way. ...If my calculations

are correct... it probably landed in...Nagano. ...I hope no one got hit."

"HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO COMPETE WITH THAT?!?!?" Mineta wailed, thinking that he

was already going to be expelled.

Aizawa took a deep breath, "You said it wouldn't be useful for you to actually use your Quirk as a demonstration?"

Izuku nodded sheepishly, "Yeah... actually I'd break the "stay in the circle" rule too." "YOU GET BIGGER?!"

Aizawa snorted like an angry bull. His eyes even were more bloodshot than usual. "Fine. Bakugo; your record?"

Katsuki stepped forward, his face the dictionary definition of 'mind-numbing rage.' Seriously.

You'd find his face next to the word. No definition needed. "Sixty-seven meters." He snarled as he accepted the ball. His muscles strained to their limits as he probably tore his own throat up with his scream, "FUCKING DIE!"

BOOM

This one did not send Mineta rolling back like a ball, and Izuku didn't even budge despite the fact that Katsuki definitely hadn't waited for him to get clear. The device in Aizawa's had beeped for a couple seconds, before chiming, "A kilometer and some change." The number was 1073 meters.

"FUCKING DAMN IT!" Katsuki howled furiously, "DON'T THINK THIS MEANS YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME, DEKU!"

"Uhhh, I think that's the textbook definition of better." Mina laughed in his face, watching as his eyes seemed to grow, sharpen, and pulse in rage.

"Enough. You kids are still not being rational and we're burning daylight. Demonstrations over. Let's go."

The grip strength tests were first, with the most impressive results being Shōji's and Momo's. Shōji displayed a good mount of brute strength with a score of 540 kg though creation of extra arms. Momo created a hydraulic clamp that maxed out the reading. Of course, Izuku needed a turn as well, so she created a much heavier-duty version for him to be able to hold. Izuku squeezed.

SKREEEEE

He sheepishly dropped the mangled metal Momo had just created for him, shooting her an apologetic look. Aizawa ran a hand down his face, before opening up his pad and scrolling to Izuku in this event. Grip Strength: Yes.

They also handled the sit-ups and pushups indoors, with Izuku easily outpacing everyone despite his enormous bulk. Of course, Momo had to create insanely heavy shoe-casings on the sit-up portion to keep his feet down. Izuku had blushed brightly, as he had to stand in front of her when she created them to catch them before she hurt herself, which meant he had gotten to see her supple cleavage.

With the indoor events done, it was time for the outdoor events, starting with the fifty-meter dash. Izuku cleared it in half a second.

"WHAT THE FUCK MIDORIYA! IT'S NOT FAIR!" About half the class wailed.

Momo herself was quieter, but no less astonished, "How is that possible? You're so... big." She looked incredibly frustrated, "It's not possible for someone so huge to move so quickly! I could barely even see you!"

"I don't know either." He rubbed his head sheepishly, "I've always been quick."

"And I can't help but notice," Aizawa glared at him, "That we still have yet to see a Quirk." "Which is the next event?" Izuku asked him.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, "The standing long jump."

"Yeah, I'll use it in the next one then. It'll actually be useful... kinda. If it doesn't break the rules." Izuku said, and the class almost ran over to the next event's area, totally hyped to see his Quirk in

action. This event marked quite a few amazing results, from Katsuki's controlled explosions to Tsuyu's simple show of leg strength to Ochaco's skywalk. But despite everyone giving it their all, everyone was really just waiting to see what Izuku would be able to do. "...Okay... Here I go..." he said, stripping his shirt off – to much catcalling – and as he released a breath. He inhaled and reached inside of himself for the first time in years. Almost a decade, in fact. He clenched his fists and strained his muscles as he began to yell like he was powering up like a Dragon Ball z character.

Immediately a dark-blue crackle of lightning raced along his statuesque form. "What! No way man!" Kaminari complained, since now there was another lightning user apparently in the class. "How am I supposed to stan-"

Izuku's skin turned green and scaly. The iridescent scales shimmered in the light, up until an unnatural wind kicked in and the skies started to darken rapidly. His muscles jerked and bulged, before visibly getting larger.

No, it wasn't just his muscles. The five-and-a-half-meter tall boy had already grown past eight meters, and he was still getting bigger. His shaggy mane of dark-green hair had darkened further into black, and green tufts of fur had replaced his eyebrows with swirly patterns. He had rapidly grown a beard as his face elongated and his teeth turned into daggers.

And then he positively seemed to explode in size. He rapidly started gaining dozens and dozens of meters in length as his body continued to transform and soar into the air. Finally, his lower body shrank into just a tail, and his gym pants fell off of him and onto the floor.

"-d out?" Kaminari finished his statement in the squeakiest voice that ever did squeak.

The kids and Aizawa stared. And stared. And rubbed their eyes. And pinched each other/themselves. And rubbed their eyes again.

Yep.

There was still a fucknormous DRAGON staring at them. And floating. "Surprise?" The sheepish tone sounded totally wrong coming from the titanic beast with an even deeper voicer now. It flew around, with the personal storm surrounding him shooting lightning around. Near his elbows were rings of intense flames burning bright blue. A single one of the smaller teeth were bigger than the tallest person in their class, sans Izuku himself.

Katsuki sank to his knees in despair, knowing he could never compete with something like this. The entire time he'd known Izuku, his explosions had never once done more than itch his hated rival's skin. He'd consoled himself with training and experimenting, making stronger and stronger explosions to ensure he'd always be ahead of the damn nerd. His Hero costume was designed to be able to hold his sweat for the biggest booms possible. But he knew in his traitorous heart that even his best wouldn't even be able to scratch his old friend. They couldn't even be rivals with this kind of gap.

Even if he surpassed All Might... he'd always play second fiddle to that. He placed his hands on the ground and howled in despair.

Similarly, Shōto Todoroki mentally reviewed every single bit of torment his sperm donor had visited upon him, his siblings, and his mother. All for the sake of creating a being capable of surpassing All Might, as he never could do it himself. Shōto Todoroki stared at the behemoth above them and started to laugh. He laughed so hard he started to sob.

Shōta Aizawa stared at his student. His flying student. He turned to his pad and scrolled to Izuku's name. Standing long jump: 'Yes.'

He paused, glancing numbly up again before looking back to the pad. Distance running: Also 'Yes.'

Chapter Summary

It's Always Bunny in Musutafu

Usagiyama Rumi - Hero Name: Miruko - happens to come across Izuku and All Might when they are just a month into Izuku's training for UA. Everything changes.

Izuku/Rumi

( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡) in this chapter

Hey all! Here's prompt #2, and at a significantly higher word count than Kaidozuku! And we're getting straight into the good shit. No pussyfooting around!

This one is Izuku/Rumi, and is one of the snips that has a high chance of eventually becoming a full-fledged fic because Izurumi is love, Izurumi is life.

Big shout to TheSinful for the title as well as generally helping out. Big shouts to Salante and Ignis18 as well for helping with the planning. Thank you Ori for the light betaing!

Reminder that I have a Discord! Come hang out and throw wild ideas around, because some of them land right here! Discord . gg / 3ZwnRbh

It's Always Bunny in Musutafu

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"It's been about two weeks since I've seen you! You're making good progress, Midoriya-shonen!" Rumi normally would have kept on walking when her ears picked up the faint sound of talking coming from the piles and piles of trash on the beach. As much as it disgusted her that the area had gotten this bad in so short a time when some of her earliest memories were playing in the sands of this very beach, it wasn't exactly illegal to be dicking around in the mountains of junk. But something about that voice slowed her steps. It seemed... familiar.

But frankly, it wasn't really any of her business. Despite the niggling sense of familiarity, it wasn't a voice she recognized, and she had places to be. Her area of Heroing had gotten so boring the past couple of months. The criminals were all pretty terrified of her, so you could almost call the area 'pacified.' Not that it wasn't a good thing for there to be less crime, but it did mean mind-numbing boredom for her. So, she had hit up her old teacher and current friend Midnight for a girl's night and was heading up to U.A. to visit her. She hastened to keep moving, when a different person's voice – this one unfamiliar but clearly this 'Midoriya' – said something that stopped her dead in her tracks, "Thanks, All Might!"

'All Might?' Her large bunny ears wiggled slightly on her head as she focused on her hearing. 'That wasn't his voice. It was... close, but All Might was much louder and deeper.' All of a sudden, this was much more interesting than her plans for the night. She'd never admit it out loud, but she'd been a total fangirl of the man when she was younger. She had been inspired right from the moment she'd seen his debut video. She clenched her powerful leg muscles and cleared the entire beach up until the beginning of the mountains of trash in a single bound. She landed softly in the sand and focused on her hearing.

"I can see you've managed to clear out that entire pile. You're a far cry today from the boy I met last month. You've been working hard!" The voice... If Rumi had to describe it after hearing the younger boy call the speaker All Might, she would describe it as 'bargain bin' All Might. Or 'cheap knockoff' All Might. Until all of a sudden, it wasn't. "Keep working hard and you'll be ready to inherit my Quirk in no time!"

What?

Rumi froze, jaw lowering and eyes shrinking to pinpricks. What? WHAT?!

'Inherit his Quirk?' Rumi screamed to herself in her own head, 'What the fuck did I just hear? Is some Villain scamming a kid? It was his voice but there's no way that was All Might!'

"Say All Might, you never explained how it's possible to pass on One For All in the first place. You told me it was like the Olympic Torch and that you weren't the first, so why have I never heard of any Heroes like you before?" Midoriya asked the other person.

'WHATWHATWHAT?' Rumi's brain was like a record players player that kept scratching.

"Hmmm." All Might's voice seemed a little hesitant, before there was a sound similar to hissing or rushing air and Bargain Bin All Might returned, "Yeah, I suppose I owe my successor that much. Though I hope it won't make you change your mind when you hear the story." There was a pregnant pause and Rumi's heart continued to thrum in her chest, "Right, I'm sure you've listened to your teachers ad nauseum about the early era of Quirks, but one area everyone leaves out is a certain Villain. No one writes about him, because most people either think or wish he were a myth. All For One." Rumi's eyes bulged again, and Midoriya must have done the same, because Fake Might's voice was grim, "Yes, All For One was real. As real as you or me. He was the one who injured me, in our final battle. The one who turned me into... this."

'Injured?' Rumi felt a chill run down her spine, 'All Might injured? That's... that's impossible! There's no-' But it made sense. The declining appearances. The slightly-but-steadily climbing crime rate. '-way...'

All Might – and unless this was a very elaborate ruse, the man probably was All Might. Rumi had to admit that as she listened - continued, "A man capable of stealing the Quirks of anyone who caught his eye, and equally capable of simply giving them away to his followers. Some would be unable to handle the transfers and would become his mindless puppets. Others would happily serve him. He transformed the lawless land into a hellscape, with him as a true Lord of Evil."

"Wow, why don't the books say anything about him? I knew the name but thought he was a myth!" Midoriya breathed out. Rumi couldn't help but wonder as well.

"Well, it's not like the books speak about the specific doings of the yakuza either." All Might chuckled darkly, "But that's a bit off topic. What matters is that a person who had a Quirk who

received another from him... sometimes had their Quirk... mutate. All For One had a younger brother. A Quirkless brother. Small and fragile, but with a gigantic heart and great sense of justice. He out of all the people of the era stood up to his brother. So... either out of a desire to make his brother submit, or out of genuine love for his only family, All For One forced upon his brother a Quirk. A Quirk that would stockpile power." He laughed, "How ironic for Justice to be born from the greatest evil, no? His younger brother had not been Quirkless. No, he had a Quirk. A hidden Quirk. A useless Quirk by any standard, for what use is a Quirk that serves no other purpose than to be passed on to another? Of course, when combined with a Quirk that stockpiles power..."

"You get One For All." Midoriya seemed a little awed, a little unsettled, and a little nervous, "You get All Might."

"That's right, and after seven generations of failure, it fell to me to face All For One once again. The man was powerful. So powerful and with so many different Quirks that he was able to tear that hole in my side."

Rumi choked on her own saliva. Tore a HOLE in All Might's side? No wonder he'd been seen less and less over the past couple of years! She felt her heart swell. He was still fighting the good fight, and no doubt it was for them. Even when he must be living every day in agony. All for them. She felt her admiration for the man shoot back up to where it had been before she'd ever joined a Hero school.

"Of course, he got cocky after he hurt me. After my entrails were hanging out of me. That was his mistake. After seven failed generations... I was able to defeat him." All Might concluded.

'Fuck YES you did!' Rumi had a strange mixture between a snarl and a smile gracing her beautiful features, 'I only wish I could have seen it!' Rumi could have walked away at this point. She should have walked away at this point. No doubt she'd already heard enough secrets for a lifetime. But that wasn't her. She had eavesdropped and she was the type to face her problems head on. Plus, even after hearing all that she had; she wasn't sure she would possibly believe it to be true until she saw him with her own eyes. She leapt and landed at the top of the trash heap and felt her gut drop when she took in the sight of the emaciated skeleton of a man and the... rather-wimpy-looking green-haired boy down below. All Might... he... he looked bad. He looked worse than even her own imagination had conjured.

Neither of them would have ever noticed her, especially since people rarely looked up. "I really, really wish I could have seen that, number one!" She almost laughed as she saw the young boy flail in panic and... blanched when she saw All Might cough up blood in a stream from his lips. It was with a tiny bit more hesitance that she tried to joke, "Or is this where I say, "I am here!"" She leapt down and landed easily by them.

The two were sweating bullets as All Might held a hand up like he was waving her off, "I-I have no idea what you're talk-"

"Yeah, don't bother." Rumi scoffed, and pointed up at her fluffy rabbit ears, "These aren't for show, you know. I heard the whole thing. One For All, was it?" She wiggled her ears and watched as the boy started to sweat even more, and was sure she heard a muttered, 'shit,' from the greatest Hero.

All Might... didn't exactly glare at her, but it was a close thing. And then she watched as he quickly put on several feet in height and a probably a couple hundred pounds in muscle. Fuck. He really was All Might, "It isn't polite to eavesdrop, young lady. I trust you understand that I absolutely do not want to hear about any of this anywhere."

"Crystal." She did not stammer through sheer force of will. When he turned that gaze on you, he was intimidating no matter who you were. He also didn't recognize her. That... that stung just the tiniest bit, if she were honest enough with herself, "To be fair, the only reason I even heard enough to get interested in listening in was because this one-" and here she pointed at Midoriya, "-was using your Hero name in public. And maybe next time don't discuss gigantic secrets where anybody could overhear you?" She smirked at him, 'Shit Rumi you had one job and you're already snarking!'

"WAH!" The boy – who had already looked panicky when she showed up – yelped and started apologizing profusely to the Hero. "I'm so sorryallmightitwasallmyfault." Holy hell was that a motormouth! And waterworks!

All Might facepalmed and rubbed his hand down his face as he looked at the boy, " No Midoriya- shonen, it's my fault. I should have thought about that a month ago." He side-eyed her and let out a sigh, "Okay!" He said in English, "Unless I'm in my Hero form, my name is Yagi Toshinori. Please call me whatever you wish but keep my Hero name down if we're in public. Especially in my weak form."

"Yes, Yagi-sensei!" Midoriya nodded rapidly, before he turned to her. She saw him stop and actually look at her, and she was pretty sure she saw the gears turning in his head.

All Might turned to her, before deflating into Small Might – and once he had to retire she was totally going to call him that and only that – and starting to speak, "Now, what is your na-" He stopped and peered at her a little closer and she almost smiled when she noticed a tiny spark of recognition in his eyes, but before he could open his mouth again Midoriya exploded.

"OHMYGODYOUREMIRUKOIMSUCHAHUGEFANPLEASECANIHAVEANAUTOGRAPH?!" How could Midoriya not recognize her? She was on pace to smack even Hawks out of his title for youngest ever to break the top ten!

'HOLY CRAP!' Rumi almost reflexively kicked him away when he seemingly teleported in front of her holding a notebook and a pen. Even Small Might looked a little shocked at how quick he moved. Instead, she smiled at him, "Yeah, sure kid. Where would you like me to sign?" She snickered internally, 'Holy hell, All Might found himself a hell of a fanboy to replace him.' She took the notebook from him and her eyes widened again. 'Wow, he's a good artist!' She signed her name in her signature manner, with the 'i' looking almost like a little carrot. "Am I really that pretty, kid?" She playfully shot at him after reading a small little line that had not been erased fully and watched as he turned into a tomato and started to steam. She laughed a bit at his face, "What's your name?"

"M-Midoriya Izuku!" He managed to chirp at her.

All Might chuckled, "Well I suppose if anyone had to overheard that conversation, I would prefer it to be a great Hero. Sorry for not recognizing you immediately, Miruko."

She did not feel warm and fuzzy from the praise from the man himself. Shut up. "Thank you, Small Might." She teased him and was pleased when both of them started to laugh. "And far be it for me to be the only one not getting named here. Usagiyama Rumi! I don't really care for formality either, so call me Rumi or Miruko. Now I gotta ask, how come you chose the kid?" She was legitimately curious, since he truly didn't look like anything special, "No offense, but he seems a bit on the wimpy side."

Izuku deflated and looked as if an arrow engraved with the word 'wimpy' had struck his heart. She

swore she saw a rain cloud form above him too. Was that his Quirk?

All Might laughed, "You should have seen him a month ago!" Izuku slumped even further and Rumi almost felt bad for him, though she couldn't help but wonder what All Might saw in him, "Did you hear about the Slime Villain incident?"

"The one where a kid got caught by a Villain with a really nasty Quirk?" Rumi asked a confirming question, "I caught bits of it. Was on a hunt of my own at the time. This kid doesn't look anything like the one that got caught."

"No, that was another boy." All Might confirmed, before he raised his shirt. Rumi hissed like a cat or snake when she saw the ugly purple bruise on his side, "Because of this wound, I can only work as a Hero for three hours a day now."

Three hours.

Three hours.

Rumi had heard about it, but she had no idea it had gotten that bad.

All Might continued speaking after dropping his shirt, seemingly unheeding of her reaction, "The Villain had been wily. He had scampered into the sewers to hide and had done far too good a job of it. He wasted a LOT of my time that day, especially since I couldn't exactly Detroit Smash inside the sewer if I didn't want to blow out every toilet in the city." Izuku and Rumi both blanched, looks of disgust crossing their faces, "Right." He laughed, "So by the time he caught that boy with the explosive Quirk, I had been out of time." He sighed and gave Izuku a fond smile, "There were half a dozen Heroes on the scene, and not one of them could get even close. It was a damn sorry sight to see, as much as I don't like speaking ill of fellow Heroes."

Izuku stammered a bit, "I don't remember which one," He said quietly, "But one of them said that they, "had to wait for someone with a suitable quirk" to show up."

All Might scowled as this was the first he'd heard that bit, but Rumi looked positively murderous, "A boy was suffocating and dying, and they had to "wait for a proper Quirk?" They should have their fucking licenses revoked!" She snarled, an aura of anger surrounding her.

All Might's tone was audibly displeased as he continued, "And to my shame, I was also a bystander. The past five years had torn me up, to the point my smile had just become a façade. I was just as bad as they were." He clenched his fist in impotent frustration as Rumi looked to him in a new light. It wasn't one she enjoyed, "And just when all hope seemed lost for the victim, who should jump into the fray with no desire or plan other than 'save him...' but a young Quirkless boy. The same Quirkless boy who had been told every day since he was four by doctors and bullies everywhere that he could never be a Hero. The same Quirkless boy who even I hadn't been able to bring myself to reassure that he could be a Hero not ten minutes prior, with this damn wound weighing so heavily on my soul."

"...Fuckkk..." Rumi breathed out, looking at Izuku with new eyes.

"A powerless child was the greatest Hero in that entire city block." All Might smiled, showing his renewed faith and dedication, "Time limit? I was pathetic. There was a child hurting and I was doing nothing. He put hope back in my heart, after All For One's attack and countless surgeries had torn it out. Anybody can wave a big and powerful Quirk around and say they're a Hero, but if you can't put your money where your mouth is when the chips are down..."

"Then you don't deserve to be a Hero." She smirked and turned to Izuku, "Well what do you know, kid? Maybe you're not a wimp after all." Seeing as Izuku looked like he was going to burst into joyous tears, perhaps she should... reconsider that praise, "...So..." Her smile became a little strained. All Might's successor... could do with some work. A lot of work. SO much work, "What kind of training are you guys doing?"

All Might raised a hand in front of his chest, "While the young man's heart is perfect to take my power, that limp-noodle body isn't. His limbs would probably explode if he tried taking it now."

Rumi started to laugh, "Ha! That's not really surprising! You can change the fuckin weather with a punch, so clearly you gotta build him up a bit."

"Right! So I've been having him clean this beach by hand!" He clenched his fist in front of him, "It is good strength training and a community service all in one. I've thought for years now that Heroes are way too preoccupied with looking good for the cameras. Being a Hero means less-than glamourous jobs too!"

"Not bad! And man, will it be awesome to see this place restored! This was probably my favorite beach when I was younger. Before they stopped caring about it, anyway. What else you got him doing?" She grinned, though that dropped when they kinda just... stared at her, "...Wait, that's not it, is it?"

"...Well yes." All Might was looking at her a bit strangely.

"..." Rumi felt her respect for him drop back to post-Hero-Course levels, "...No offense All Might... But yer a fuckin idiot." She deadpanned, staring blankly at him. All Might looked very offended and Izuku looked scandalized, "Look, this feel-good story about cleaning a beach is great and all; I'm all for it honestly! But at the end of the year, the kid is going to have to pass an exam to get into the Hero Course. And he sure as shit ain't passing U.A.'s exam off of hopes and dreams!" She said, putting a hand on her hip, "All cleaning this beach is going to do is enable him to hold One For All, not use it. Kid looks like he's never even thrown a punch much less a good one." She paused, before looking closely at him and narrowing her eyes, "And I definitely don't think he has the genetics to pull your buff form out of his ass! How the hell did you plan on him actually passing?"

"I, well, I mean-" All Might started to stammer nervously.

Rumi narrowed her eyes, "Wait, you weren't seriously...?" She grabbed him and dragged him off so that they would be out of earshot. "Were you hoping he'd get in on one hurrah by kicking the shit out of the Zero-Pointer to get a fuckton of rescue points or something?"

"...maybe?" He grinned a little sheepishly, "To be honest I wasn't really sure what else to do. He's just so far behind. He hasn't said as much, but I don't need Nezu's brain to know he was probably bullied for his Quirklessness. The race is starting soon and he's not even in the building yet."

"You fucking." She slapped a hand to her face and dragged it down, "Okay, fine, I guess it could work but it's still a fucking stupid way to do things. Be straight with me. Would the ten months doing things that way get him to the level where he could safely use your Quirk?"

All Might sighed, "I'm not sure. There's going to be some kickback, though I have no idea what that will look like. I managed to get a hold of it almost immediately, but I know my predecessor had some trouble. He should be fine."

"Wait..." She narrowed her eyes at him, "It's a stockpiling Quirk." She said, "Doesn't that mean

he's going to be starting with your full power and building on it?"

All Might looked frozen like a statue, "...Shit, you're right. His base is going to be my peak. I

wasn't even thinking about that."

"He's going to be hard-pressed to get that power in anything even pretending to be 'control.' Probably for years." She said, "Yeah, sorry, but if you continue with this plan you're a fucking moron. Even if the kid makes it in he's going to break himself over and over for months, maybe years. Ya gotta teach him how to actually fight so he has something to fall back on."

All Might smiled juuuust a tiny bit nastily at her, making her sweat, "Well miss Miruko, seeing as how you're so much better than me at this, I suppose I better defer to your expertise."

She froze, 'Wait, is he???' She glared at him, "Are you ask- of course you fucking are." She snorted as he grinned cheekily at her, "Fine, but only cuz the kids interestin and its you askin." She stomped off back to Izuku, "Alright kid, good news, bad news. Which you want?"

"Uhh..." Izuku looked a bit like a deer in headlights, "Bad?"

"Kay. Bad news is your mentor's a dumbass and we're completely changing your training schedule. If you thought the past month was hell, then you're not gonna want ta even wake up for what's coming next." Rumi replied.

"...And the good?" He said, looking a bit worried.

She grinned nastily at him, leaning towards him until their noses were almost touching. He blushed as his eyes traitorously dropped to her supple cleavage. As her grin widened a little bit, having caught him looking, he also realized that he was a tiny bit taller than her already, "You've caught my interest. Try to keep it."

-[-

Izuku hated to say it, but Miruko had understated things. The very first thing she had done was sit him down and talk to him about pacing himself. "Pay attention because I will only say this once! Overworking yourself is worse than not working hard enough! Once me and Small Might get your new schedule ready, you will follow it to the letter unless one of us says otherwise! No 'finding' empty times to fit more workouts in. No deviating from rest requirements. Nothing. You ignore this warning and waste our time and I will personally kick your ass so hard you'll land in Shiketsu." Izuku trembled at the warning, "If you overwork yourself, your muscles can actually start to break down. Rhabdomyolysis ain't no joke, and if you think it is, look it up. I'm sure you'll find your muscles cannibalizing themselves and starting to clog up your kidneys fun to watch. So don't be an idiot! Got it?!" She snarled the last bit, and Izuku nodded so rapidly his head was a blur. Even All Might was sweating a little bit and he wasn't even her target. "Good, now I want to see your general fitness level! Start squatting!"

The second thing that Miruko had done was get his address and had ordered a year's supply of the original versions of her branded protein shakes, bars, and other nutritional items and supplements. All of them had been formulated by a personal friend of hers with a super-intelligence Quirk back when she had been younger and still training to be a Hero. They were packed full of every essential nutrient he needed. The mass-produced stuff everyone could buy was still actually better formulated than even the All Might branded supplements because of her old friend's Quirk, but the originals were way more potent and were what she used herself. They were designed to help the body repair when resting; specifically helping to build muscle and bone back up. The only reason those weren't mass-produced was that they were cost-prohibitive and only the well-off would be

able to buy them with the needed regularity. This had – again – almost driven Izuku in to tears.

And there it went. For the next week, they had Izuku doing new exercises and more importantly, making sure he was doing them right. Proper form was important, and they made damn sure he had a good feel for the exercises he needed.

Now, it wasn't as though he had entirely stopped cleaning the beach. That wasn't the case at all. Neither Miruko nor All Might could afford to spend every day of the week with him or even all the hours that he actually worked for on the days they were there. On the days where they weren't available, he was right where he had been, toiling away at getting the trash diminished. Only now, he wasn't just hauling things away to the truck as fast as he could. No, Miruko had turned even that into an exercise! Every bit of trash he picked up, he had to squat with, both after he picked it up and before he got it to the truck. Any items that could be carried by one hand, he also had to work out with. Curls, lateral raises, shoulder presses, you name it. And not to mention all the suicides she and All Might had him run and all the stretches he had to do to increase his flexibility. Thankfully he was still rather young.

Yet still, Izuku hurt. His entire body was just one giant hurt. His muscles hurt. His lungs hurt. His lasagna hurt.

Wait. That wasn't a body part.

Yeah, if he had thought it was exhausting before now, he really had absolutely zero idea what the word actually meant. And that wasn't even compared to how – roughly a week after they had met her, All Might and Miruko had transformed a section of the beach he had already cleaned (and had All Might move some of the trash himself to another area to create more space) into his own personal torture den. Giant wooden tree trunks had been driven into the sand with a mighty heave from All Might and wrapped with rope. They had gotten much shorter and thinner stumps and buried those too. Two larger trunks had also been buried with a smaller bar in between the two, which he did pull-ups on as well as hanging inverted sit ups.

The first session of training he actually had was with her, rather than All Might. After some consulting between the both of them, they had decided on a mix of Muay Thai and Savate for Izuku, with their own special tricks and moves thrown in for flavoring instead of keeping it all basic. Rumi told All Might to do whatever he wanted upper-body-wise. Lower body was her territory, and she had started immediately by showing him a few simple stances and kicks. "Okay kid, simple round-house kick here. Pay attention!" Forcing himself to not ogle her shapely legs was a challenge he didn't think he had the willpower for, and was subsequently proven right when he messed it up pretty badly, "No! You hit with either the shin or the instep! Your other foot has to pivot! Put your hips into it and keep those damn arms up!" As soon as he had gotten passable form in Rumi's eyes, she had broken his mind, "About damn time! Now I want a hundred kicks with each leg, and your target is those posts!" She pointed to the hemp-wrapped logs.

"EHHHHH?!" Izuku yelped, sure he had misheard her.

He hadn't, "Come on kid, get to it! Like this!" She delivered a picture-perfect kick to the stump, her leg landing the blow with a resounding thud.

"D-doesn't that hurt?!" He asked, trembling as he stared at it.

Rumi scoffed, "If you're worried about that hurting then you really aren't cut out to be a Hero! No pain no gain!" She struck right at his heart. "Don't disappoint me already, kid! Simply kicking is all well and good, but actually striking an object will help calcify your bones at the impact zones and make them stronger once the microfractures heal. Eventually you won't feel a thing even if

you kick the post hard enough to snap it like a twig! So ya better get started otherwise I'm gonna start kickin!"

Izuku hurried to the post and took his stance, biting his lip. His leg shot forward and landed rather gently on the post, creating nowhere near the sound the Rabbit Hero had created. "O-one!"

"Ehhhh!" Rumi shot him a thumbs down, "Zero! What kinda pansy ass kick was that?! Kick the fuckin thing like ya mean it!"

Izuku grit his teeth and kicked much harder. The pain raced up his shin like a tiny current of electricity and he cried out, "O-one!"

"Fucking better. Two!" Rumi called, wondering how many kicks he would last before calling it quits. He would be working up to that 100 and beyond, but she in no way expected him to get it even a month from now. Even with the shin guards that he was wearing, that shit hurt until you got used to it.

"Three!" He called, his leg smacking into the rope and badly jarring him. "Four!"

And impressing her with his determination, he hit fifteen before he fell out of his stance and cried out as he clutched his leg, "You feel that taste in yer mouth, kid?" She patted him on the shoulder, "That's what failure tastes like."

"It's awful!" He almost snarled through his teeth.

"Damn right it is. Is that what you want to taste in nine months?" Rumi smirked at the back of his head.

"No!" He yelled as he not-quite-glared at her, trying to keep his tears in.

"Damn right!" She smirked, "So get that ass up and do fifteen with your other leg."

Every single day she was with him, she was pulling things like that. Her warm-ups were what he thought full workouts would be. Stretches and jogging to the beach to start the day, followed by basic training. She would have him elevate his legs on the shorter stumps to do pushups, and once he got used to that she then decided to torture him by sitting on his back while he did them. Feeling her shapely ass was already enough of a distraction, and when he got used to it she started tossing suggestive comments at him. Once he was done with those reps, he would go do core upside-down on the bars. Then he got off the bars and forced to take a horse stance while holding weights out to his sides. His core and arm muscles screamed, and once he had started getting a little used to it she had started lightly (for her) kicking him to 'toughen him up.'

"...This is abuse..." Small Might looked shaken the first time he saw his successor fight to even stay on his feet.

"Oh please! It's tough love!" Rumi had scoffed, expertly laying another kick into him and watching as he trembled in exertion.

If she was honest with herself, he was impressing the hell out of her.

After he'd stayed in his stance for the required amount of time, he did some light cool-down stretching and then was allowed to rest for a little bit while drinking his Miruko-branded multivitamin shake. Once his resting time was up, he stretched again and followed her through an acrobatic routine. "Being able to move is just as important as being able to fight!" He followed as she somersaulted, cartwheeled, and even free-ran around the beach and scrap heap, fighting to keep

close to her pace. She taught him many moves such as the butterfly twist/kick, proper somersaulting form, and others.

He would refuse to admit that he was almost more motivated by the view than by his goal.

Once they were done with that, he'd have another rest and shake, and then continue with another set of all of his exercises, before having to spar with Miruko. By the time he went home for the day, he would be limping, exhausted beyond belief, and would practically fall into a coma after his shower. The first few weeks, Rumi had to carry him home and hand him to his mother with an apologetic and sheepish grin.

All Might actually went easier on him in comparison. He had to punch the logs the same way Miruko had him kicking, but at least All Might didn't sit on his back when he was doing his pushups. All Might also focused more upper body as requested by Miruko, so rather than horse- stance he would have him climbing up and down a chain strapped to the broken crane they'd found when All Might moved one of the piles of rubbish. And rather than having to tank or dodge attacks from All Might, the greatest Hero had added weights to the equation once Izuku got used to it. Then, once that was done, he would do more sparring with his Hero.

All Might proved to be an incredibly skilled boxer even when in his emaciated form, and Izuku had to struggle to trade blows with him as he learned more and more techniques. All Might was kinder than Miruko was and allowed him to wear protective gear when they fought. Of course, Izuku practically had his soul escape the first time All Might tried to up the intensity and accidentally smacked him good a few weeks in. "No Midoriya-shonen! Don't go into the light!"

But it was working. Izuku could feel it working, and both his mentors could see it working far better than All Might's initial program had been. Izuku was tired less, and was completing more, quicker every week. His determination to be a Hero just grew and grew alongside his body.

-[-

May and even much of June had actually been pretty cold. Unusually so even, so Miruko and All Might had only been able to look through his progress through his tracksuit. The first weekend in July came with a massive heatwave that wouldn't go away until late September, as well as a rather uncomfortable conclusion for Rumi, 'Oh no!' She eyed her...student?... almost hungrily, 'He's hot.' She whined in her own head. The only thing that had been missing for their training set-up was swimming, and now All Might had gotten him private access to swimming pool. Swimming was not only great exercise on its own, but they could also use the pool to practice his kicks with some resistance training thrown in.

And staring at him in his so-tight-it-looked-painted-on swimming jammer (All Might branded of course, for the dorky factor) revealed all of the progress he'd made since he started training with All Might back in early April. First and foremost was a rather annoying realization; he was actually closing in on eye-level with the tips of her ears now. Having met his mother and then chatting with the woman, she had to assume that either his MIA father was really tall, or her supplements had helped do far more than build his muscles and bones up. She was officially going to be the shortest of the group soon and yes, damn it, her ears counted for her height, shut up. As for his body itself... you couldn't quite say he was chiseled yet, but he was fast approaching it. Much of his baby fat had melted away and his hard work was definitely shining through. 'Damn it Rumi, stop eating the eye candy. He's fifteen. Stop. Eating. The eye candy.' It didn't help that he was eyeing her just as much. "Right!" She didn't quite bluster – she was Miruko damn it she did not bluster – but her voice was a bit louder than necessary. It was only the two of them there, "Get that tight ass in the water!" 'Fucking hell Rumi!' She scolded herself as Izuku's face lit up in a massive blush

and he jumped into the water.

You know, some cold water was exactly what she needed right now. She leapt, tucked into a ball, backflipped about half a dozen times, and landed in the water with a giant splash. "Ahhh, that hits the spot!" She exclaimed happily when she sprang out, flipping her hair and totally looking like a gorgeous mermaid. She kicked off the wall and sped like a damned torpedo to Izuku, "Right, here's the plan!" She said as she neared him, "We start from that end-" she pointed, "And we do high kicks all the way to the other end! Once you hit the other end, kick off the wall and swim back. Do butterfly, then backstroke, then breaststroke, then freestyle."

"Uh-huh." He said, a little dumbly, nodding but not taking his eyes off her, mouth slightly open.

"Hmm, see something you like?" She smirked at him, squeezing her arms to push her chest out a bit. He turned lobster red and she swore she heard a teakettle whistling somewhere. "Hmm, maybe you were looking to do a different kind of training today."

"WAH!" Izuku yelped, his face actually steaming. She burst out laughing as he turned around like he thought she was going to hit him, covering his head with his arms and lifting one leg to appear as small as possible. "I-I'm s-s-s-s-sorry!"

She frowned at the reaction, 'He was bullied... has a girl hurt him before?' She slapped a smile onto her face and pressed her chest into his back in a hug, "Don't be." She whispered throatily in his ear, not being able to resist teasing him even while comforting him, "I like feeling sexy, and that gaze does a good job of it." She was playing it up a bit for him, truthfully. She normally hated the gazes when they came from men who only wanted to fuck her to have a Miruko-shaped notch on their bedpost, but Izuku was so innocent it was endearing.

Izuku went stiff as a board and started to stammer, "S-s-s-s-s-sen-s-s-s-sei! T-t-t-training?!"

She frowned a bit more, realizing how deeply mistreated this young man had been the past few years. That definitely needed to be fixed, but she wasn't exactly sure how yet. You couldn't exactly kick mental problems in the ass. She would have to think on it. She plastered a smile onto her face as she backed up, "Yeah, time's a wasting! Let's get to it! Now I'm going to keep pace with you for the most part. But when I shout 'final,' it's a race. Try to win, got it?!"

"Yes!" His head was still steaming but he had his game face on as he turned towards the other end of the pool.

She did the same and yelled, "Go!" They both kicked up, sending a deluge of water straight into the sky. They kicked again, sending up another plume. It was a good thing this was a private pool, otherwise they would have been annoying all the other people hoping to actually swim. They quickly reached the other end before kicking off the wall and swimming at breakneck pace all the way back down. "Again!" She idly made notice that his form sucked. She'd correct that later. He was visibly breathing a little bit harder during the second round of kicks but didn't drop his guard or lose height in his kicks. Good. Very good. She would have restarted if he did.

His backstroke was much tighter than his butterfly. Something she belatedly realized made sense. Butterfly was a harder stroke to learn than most of the others. They reached the other end and again restarted their regime. Back and forth they went, with her watching as his stamina drained lower and lower. He started to flag, refusing to not perform the movements correctly but being slower and slower. She kept pushing him with a small smile gracing her lips, knowing him well enough by now and loving his determination to not let either of them down. Finally, as they were nearing the end of a set of kicks, she yelled, "Final!" Even she was breathing a little bit harder by now, and as they reached the wall she paused, letting him kick off and freestyle back as quickly as

he could. She smirked, dipping down into the waters, and then kicking off.

She shot forward like a torpedo, a cavitation bubble surrounding her as she quickly caught up to and then passed Izuku. She touched the wall with a hand about a half second before he did, before they both got up and shook themselves out. "Good job kid!" She raised her hand for a high-five. They both knew even with a hell of a head start; he couldn't have won. He just wasn't at that level of fitness and she was too prideful to take a dive, as it were. But effort needed to be rewarded!

"Thank you Sen-" He stopped his jaw dropping and he stared, his hand only halfway up, "Sen-" He was staring at her with surprisingly hungry eyes.

"Ehh?" Why did he look broken? She looked down. Her perky nipples were saluting from the relative chill of the water, her supple breasts completely uncovered by her swimsuit. That was because her swimsuit was barely clinging to her hips, with both of the tiny straps that had held it to her torso snapped. Her lady parts were just barely covered, having not slipped off far enough from her jarring torpedo maneuver. A glint appeared in her eyes as she smirked, leaning forward and moving her shoulders forward to squish her titties together, "I know you're not allowed sweets, but maybe a bit of chocolate wouldn't hurt." Nope, she didn't have even an ounce of shame. What a useless emotion.

"WAH!" Izuku fell into the water with the reddest face she'd ever seen on him, the pool starting to boil around him. She burst into laughter.

-[-

July melted into August, with the continuing heat wave practically trying to bully the population into submission. Even the crime rate seemed to go down during the day, with less obvious crimes – such as the one that had led All Might and Izuku to one another – happening very rarely. Or at least during the day. For the entire month, Rumi and Toshinori did not let up on Izuku at all. They continued working him just to his breaking point each day before laying off and giving him a break.

Izuku had progressed at a pace that had honestly astounded All Might, and he had been forced to concede to Rumi's expertise in training. "I'm very surprised at how much your edits to the plan and supplements changed the game. I knew the supplements were better than my branded ones, but holy shit." He kept his voice low, not wanting to distract Izuku or give him any inkling on how far ahead of pace he was, "I have to concede that he wouldn't have been anywhere close to where he is if you hadn't happened upon us."

"Ha! My friend is a genius! She formulated all of this stuff for me. It would have taken me years longer to get to where I am if it wasn't for her. Less time healing, and much stronger gains. And if there's one thing I do know, it's getting the body into optimum shape. Not saying you don't, obviously," She waved in his general direction with a smirk on her face, "-but you're clearly not used to teaching. I don't do partnerships, but I at least give tips at the gym so I don't have to deal with fools embarrassing themselves."

"Yeah, well..." Toshinori rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "My master's style of teaching was beating me to a pulp every day."

She snorted, dribbling some of the water she had been drinking down her hand. She had been this close to having it come out her nose. She coughed a few times, "Holy shit, who the hell could kick your ass? Wait, never mind. It was the one who passed One For All to you, yeah? Was she stronger than you?"

Toshinori's smile grew a little strained. Sad. "No, she passed not long after giving me my Quirk. She was taken from us far too early by that bastard All For One." His fist clenched and started to swell by his side, drawing a slightly wary glance from her, "My master was her sworn friend. He was the one who kept me safe long enough to become who I became."

"Bastard." She snarled lightly, glaring out at the ocean. She shook her head, "Think he's going to be ready for One For All soon?" She nodded over at Izuku, who was currently flipping the biggest tire Rumi had ever seen in person up and down the beach.

He snorted, "He was ready two weeks ago, by the measure I originally planned for. I wasn't kidding when I said this new regime worked out far better than expected. But we have time. I'm going to wait until the final month before passing it on to him. He still has plenty of time to build himself up more. I'm hoping to minimize the kickback as much as possible, so he can spend the maximum amount of time training with it."

"No, that's a good call." Rumi agreed, watching as Izuku finished a final flip of the tire before running over to the posts and starting to kick and punch at them with fervor. The ropes even frayed from one of his kicks and started unwinding. "Let those bones toughen up more. The less likely he is to break them the better off he'll be."

Toshinori grinned as he turned into All Might, "Excellent work, Midoriya-shonen!" he leapt forward as Izuku turned to accept his thanks, before his eyes bugged out seeing one of his mentors winding up to knock his block off. He put up his guard and ducked under the punch, launching one of his own forward and nearly sinking it into All Might's ribs.

Of course, the huge man was far more experienced and parried it away easily. Rumi grinned, "FREE FOR ALL!" She screamed in challenge as she materialized between the two of them in a handstand. She had a slasher smile on her lips as she did a split, kicking out at both of the boys in one smooth motion. Izuku caught her foot as he winced, sliding back a bit in the sand, "Don't disappoint me, boys!"

"Oof!" All Might laughed a bit as he backed away, "Beaten at my own game!" He yelled playfully, even as Izuku tried to kick at her arms in an attempt to drop her. She flipped over his kick and landed on her feet, leg already swinging for his head. All Might jumped back into the fray.

-[-

Rumi had a thoughtful frown on her face as she watched Izuku going through the motions. It was closing in on October and the heat wave had turned into one of the coldest falls on record so far. Izuku had continued growing in leaps and bounds. His body was now prepared to handle One For All, even if All Might had kept to his words and not passed the Quirk on to his student yet. Rumi had honestly been astounded by his sheer determination and grit. No matter what they threw at

him, he never complained and always did his best to exceed expectation. He'd even lasted five whole minutes in a spar with her when she had been legitimately putting in some effort against him. Nowhere near her maximum obviously, but she had no longer been just playing with him.

It had honestly been more than a little attractive; and the thought that of all the men she'd met in the past couple of years, a fifteen-year old was the best of them was more than just a little frustrating. Though in her defense, with all the work he'd put in, all the muscle he'd built, and height he'd grown, it was quite easy to forget he was still only fifteen.

Of course, that wasn't her only frustration. No, her biggest worry was Izuku himself. Take him away from his training or his comfort zone, and he was right back to curling in on himself. Back to being that quivering little child who had cried a literal river at accidentally revealing his mentor's

secret to her.

His body was ready for One For All. His heart was ready to be a Hero. But his personality?

All the bullying, all the negativity, and all the ingrained behavior forced from those actions and emotions didn't just vanish. He didn't truly believe in himself, no matter how hard he pushed. She could see it in him; that he attributed all of his success to them, not himself. He was still trapped in that emotional shell he'd created from over a decade of different forms of abuses.

He desperately needed some confidence training to break him out, and sooner rather than later. Now, after months of seeing him in that tight jammer every other day and now weeks after having that eye candy taken away, Rumi was frustrated enough to do something a little... ill-advised.

"Hey kid!" She yelled, her standard teasing smile on her face, "Wrap things up early today, and don't train at all tomorrow."

"Huh?" Izuku blinked, "W-what for, M-Miruko?" Getting him to drop the honorifics and just call her by her name had been like pulling teeth. He still wasn't a hundred percent comfortable, clearly.

"It's Friday tomorrow!" She said, as if that explained everything, "I'd say we've earned ourselves a little cheat day, no? Come by my apartment when you get out of school tomorrow. Tell your mom you won't be home for the weekend."

Izuku's eyes widened, "Y-your apartment? And I won't?"

"Yep!" She popped the p, "I have some different ideas for training we could do, so I want you nice and rested, and we can't have any interruptions." Her smirk was more cat-like than rabbit-like at that moment.

"O-okay!" he agreed and started to clean up and head home.

"See you tomorrow!" She called as she hopped away, kicking up a plume of sand in her wake.

-[-

Izuku knocked on the door of Rumi's apartment, "It's open! Take your shoes off and lock it behind you!" He did so, putting them beside Rumi's and entering her apartment, wondering what Rumi had planned for him.

"M-Miruko?" He called out as he wandered in, not seeing her. He glanced in the kitchen and didn't see her there, so he walked past a closed door into the living room. A question mark appeared over his head as he realized the sofa was turned around, away from the TV. He tilted his head to the side in confusion. His ears caught the sound of the door opening and he started to turn around, "SensEI?!" His word ended in a shocked shout. Rumi was smirking at him wearing the most risqué outfit he'd yet seen her in. Well, calling it an outfit was a bit much. She was just wearing thigh- high socks, and the rest of it was Thicc RabbitTM branded; a tiny pair of white briefs as well as a crop top with a cleavage window (as well as a slice cut up the fabric revealing some underboob) that was a little bit of sweat away from being translucent. "W-W-W-W-W-WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?!"

Her smirk deepened as she sashayed forward, laughing a bit internally as he backed up a bit. She backed him up to the couch and when his feet hit it, she watched as the proverbial light bulb lit up. She placed a hand on his chest and leaned forward, whispering into his ear, "Appropriate clothing." She shoved forward, making him sit down with a gasp as she reached behind her to tie

her hair up into a messy bun in one smooth motion.

"M-M-Miruko???" He squeaked, and she could see the steam leaving his ears. She swore she hadn't left the teakettle on.

Wait. She didn't have a teakettle. Her smirk widened, "You see, I~zu~ku~, I've been noticing how, despite all the effort you've put in to grow as a potential Hero, you haven't grown as much as a person. You still have a very dim view of yourself, and even attribute all of your current success to me and Yagi, rather than yourself." Izuku stopped steaming and instead looked a little like he was going to cry. She couldn't have that, so she hurried on. "And that ain't right. It's not me or Yagi doing all the heavy lifting. It's not me or Yagi working down to the bone and utter exhaustion day in and day out. It's all you, and you have to start to see that. You need to be proud of yourself and all you've worked towards and stop letting those other shitfucks get to you! You got to smile and know that you're going to be better than all of them! Soooo..." She smirked as she straddled and watched the starry look in his eye at her speech be replaced with a frightened, lustful one. He shrank into himself, looking down and then realizing he was ogling her breasts and seemingly not knowing where to look. He fidgeted beneath her as she licked her lips as she reached behind him. She seized a fistful of his fluffy hair and gently pulled down, tilting his head up and exposing his throat, "We're going to do some confidence training."

She kissed him.

-]( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡)[-

He locked up. Went stiff as a board, and not just in the way she wanted him. Disappointing, but not unexpected. She pulled back, before again lightly using his hair to expose his throat. "Come on, I~zu~ku. Relax a little." She lightly kissed at his pulse, her puckered lips pulling gently at the skin. She didn't suck hard enough to mark, and quickly let go, moving up an inch and repeating, "You've got the number thirteen Hero wanting to be in your lap, you know? You should be proud~" She lightly ground her hips, grinning internally as she got a hint of what he had hidden in those pants.

"Mi-Miru-" Izuku panted, his breath coming out hot.

"Ah, ah, ah!" She placed a finger on his lips, "That's not my name, I~zu~ku." Her breasts squished

into his chest as she took his earlobe between her teeth, "Call me Rumi."

"R-Rumi!" He groaned as she again ground into him, meeting her halfway for the first time.

"That's it..." She whispered hotly into his ear, before tracing a wet line on his skin back to his lips. She flicked her long tongue against his, which had just been poking out of his mouth. Involuntarily, he stuck it out farther, and she wrapped her lips around it, sucking with a little bit of intensity. He shuddered underneath her as her hands trailed down his neck and started rubbing his nipples through his shirt, before surging up and grabbing the back of his neck. She pulled him up, meeting his lips for a full liplock for the first time. She definitely dominated the kiss, her tongue squirming against his as she continued to grind herself on his clothed cock. She could feel he was going to be pretty big, and she had already started getting a little wet herself. She pulled away, a trail of saliva following her tongue before snapping. Izuku's eyes were glazed over and his breath was visibly puffing in front of him. She trailed her hands down his shoulders and arms, her nails lightly scratching and leaving shivers in their wake. When she got down to his hands, she grabbed them and moved them to her backside, "It's no good if only I play, Izuku." She squeezed his fingers, making him squeeze her ass, "It's all yours baby."

Izuku looked as if the lights were on but nobody was home. "Rumi..." That word appeared to be

the only one he currently knew as he played with her bum. He leaned up and surprised her by kissing her this time. Again, their tongues battled for dominance, and Rumi was delighted to feel him getting more into it. He was grinding back up into her now and the clothes were getting annoying. She pulled away again, smiling at his look of disappointment.

"I remember how wordless you were when my swimsuit snapped at the pool." She teased as she reached up to her crop top. She pushed her breasts together again to tease him, pulling the cloth even tighter and exposing more of her skin. When his attention was firmly on her cleavage, she pulled her arms apart and tore the thin cloth apart, exposing herself to him once more. Her dusky nipples were just a shade or two darker than her perfect skin, standing out proudly on her chest. His eyes went wide as she pulled his face close, pillowing his head from both sides, "Aren't they better up close, Izu?"

"Beautiful!" He mumbled hoarsely, looking like he was in heaven. His hands had not left her ass, and now they pulled at her briefs, making them look like a thong.

"Go on... I know how much you've wanted to see them again..." She whispered as she pulled away, starting to unbutton his own shirt. One hand left her ass and grasped a nipple gently. A little too gently for her. Before she could say a word, his lips attached to her other breast, "Ah!" Miruko let out a little appreciative noise of surprise, "I like it a little rougher, Izu. And don't just play with the nipples either." She reached up and squeezed his fingers harder, showing him the amount of force she liked. Izuku let go with his mouth and instead suckled the flesh around her breasts, slowly trailing upwards until their lips met again for another steamy exchange. 'Hrnng, the wait is torture, but the reward will be so great!' She pulled back and got off of him entirely.

He whined at the loss, "R-Rumi... wh-" He went silent as she abandoned unbuttoning his shirt in favor of just ripping it off and exposing his toned chest. "Meep!" She almost laughed at the noise he made as the buttons clattered away from them, but instead leaned forward and started languidly tracing his hard nipple with her tongue, tweaking the right one as well with her fingers. He twitched under her ministrations and didn't even notice as she unbuttoned his pants. She leaned up forward and captured his lips again, delighting as he needed no prompting to play with her breasts before she moved away again.

She smirked up at him, before trailing kisses down his chest, stopping to lick at both of his nipples before leaving a wet trail of saliva down his toned abs. His eyes bulged and he whimpered as she took his zipper between her teeth and dragged it down. He instinctively raised his hips and before he could blink, his pants were around his ankles and Rumi was staring at the bulge exposed by his tight boxer-briefs – and thank EVERY KAMI IN EXISTENCE that they were plain green – in a way that made him feel like a god, "Fuck yes." She breathed, before she tilted her head and suckled his length through the cloth. He threw his head back and clenched his fists, letting out a moan. Rumi smirked again and dug into the undergarment, grasping his raw cock for the first time and fishing out her prize.

Izuku chanced a look and nearly came undone as he saw the number thirteen Hero measuring him with her face with the hungriest look he'd ever seen on her. Her tongue poked out and licked him, and Izuku trembled under the sensations overcoming him. Slowly, torturously, her tongue brushed up his length from base to tip, stopping at his frenulum. She stopped and her tongue flicked up and down a few times on the sensitive location until he twitched, almost starting to see spots. She grabbed the base of his dick and held him firmly as she swirled her tongue languidly all around his head, before pulling away. As Izuku panted she reached up and grabbed his chin, making sure he was watching her. She smirked, "Ita~daki~masu~" She tilted her head down and opened wide, swallowing a quarter of his length in one go, his girth stretching her lips.

"RUMI!" He yelped falling back on the couch and grabbing onto the upholstery so hard that his knuckles turned white.

She bobbed her head once, twice, three times, her lips a tight seal and the suction driving him insane. Then she pulled off entirely, the skin stretching to the max before escaping her mouth with a loud POP. She grabbed his boxers and tore them apart, flinging the scraps behind her. Her tongue pushed out and moved up and down right on the tip of his cock as her hand went down and massaged his balls, before she again sealed her mouth on his tip and sucked hard. Izuku's vision went white as his hips jerked.

When he came to again, it was to the sight of Rumi's open mouth next to his cock, filled with white. Her eyes twinkled with amusement as she closed her mouth and made a show of swallowing. He swallowed too. Hard. "S-sorry!" His cock had been flagging the slightest bit, but it was rock hard again.

"Not bad." She admitted, happy with the taste. It could have been worse. She was a little disappointed with how quickly he came, but he was a sweet little cinnamon roll that she was defiling. It was probably to be expected. "Hope you have more in the tank, I~zu~ku." She grabbed his cock and coaxed him to his feet. His legs felt like jelly as he stared at her sashaying ass, her beautiful, white, fluffy tail wiggling behind her as she led him to her bedroom by the firm grip she had on his dick.

The door slammed shut behind with a sense of finality, and there was no turning back now. His eyes had been glued to her luscious ass ever since they'd started walking, and he almost keened when she turned, and he lost sight of that bubble butt. She pulled him close and kissed him again, long and hard, "My turn, lover~" She fell back onto her bed and lazily spread her legs, performing a split as easily as a regular woman could breathe. Izuku kneeled before her with his eyes still rather glazed over, and marveled as he ran his fingers along her thighs. There was already a little damp spot on her briefs which he hesitantly traced with a finger, drawing an appreciative noise from the woman.

Izuku couldn't take it anymore and got closer, pressing his face into her clothed muff and inhaling. His nose pressed on a hard, little nub and drew a small little 'ah' from his lover. He loved the way she smelled, as his tongue hesitantly stuck out of his mouth and probed at the wet spot on her panties. He reached with both hands and gripped onto her briefs, pulling them up into her ass and making them look like a thong again. He could just see a small little part of her puckered star and the cloth was digging between her pussy's lips, driving him wild. He kissed her thigh, his tongue sticking out and leaving a wet trail of his own, before he suckled on her flesh and repeated it on her other thigh.

She smirked, "Like how I taste, baby?" She reached down and pulled the cloth aside, revealing herself in full, "It'll taste better here~" She teased him with a sexy little grin. Rumi's puffy lips were hairless and beautiful, he thought, and Izuku couldn't help but lean forward again. His tongue trailed up from just the beginning of her hole all the way to the little nub sticking out proudly. Rumi squirmed minutely for the first time, "That's it..." She whispered, "But these briefs are getting annoying. Why don't you take them off for me?"

Izuku reached up and grabbed the waist bands and yanked them off her with only the desperation a virgin could have. They tore and Izuku flung them away, before using his thumbs to peel her lips apart and attacking with his tongue. It was hard to describe her taste, but he definitely couldn't get enough of it. "Use your fingers too, Izu~" He obeyed, clumsily rubbing her lips while his tongue continued rubbing up and down on the little nub, since she seemed to enjoy it a lot. "Not like that." She reached down and grabbed his hand, flipping it palm up and guiding his middle and ring

fingers inside of her.

Izuku moaned, feeling her grab his fingers like a vice. 'J-just my fingers feel good?' She was just so

hot.

"You feel that?" She asked him after forcing his finger's to curl up with her own. "Y-yeah!" He managed to get out, before resuming his licking.

She made a 'come-hither' motion with her fingers, "Like that, Izu. Do it like that." He did as she commanded, curling her finger into the little rougher patch she had shown him and doing the motion, "Just like that... That's my G-spot Izu. That's a girl's best friend..." She said, her grin widening as she closed her eyes, "Yessss..." She hissed out, "Little faster baby. I like it rougher, remember?" Izuku did so, pressing a little harder and moving his hand faster. "Now suck my clit! It's the little nub you like so much~" Izuku latched on, and Rumi let out a little squeak of joy, "Yes! Just like that! Just like that!" She chanted, starting to roll and buck her hips up into his mouth, "Fuck! You're so good, Izu!~" She exclaimed, and he felt her getting tighter on him and even noticing her split was starting to close up as her muscles clenched. Her toes started to curl. "Fuck! I'm cumming!" She called out as she clenched, her thighs snapping around him snugly.

He felt her feet on his back, and noticed her toes were curling. He abruptly decided that if he were going to die, being squeezed between this goddess's thighs would be the best possible way. She had enough control to not crush him between her thighs in her orgasmic high, but what a way to go it would have been! He watched as his goddess's back arched up off of her bed and felt the mini quakes tearing through her body. Even her cute bunny ears were twitching. Izuku also felt liquid splashing up on his face and he drank greedily, though he wouldn't have been able to pull away even if he had wanted to. He continued lapping at her, extending her orgasm as his left hand clenched on her right thigh and ass, and his other hand continued working inside her.

Finally, the rabbit Hero relaxed, falling limp on her bed with her thighs in the air. He fell back to gaze at her in full once more. Her skin was starting to get shiny from sweat, and her breasts were heaving hypnotically. Izuku watched as a little tremor of aftershock ran through her, her asshole puckering and unclenching, drawing his attention. Before he knew that he was doing, he had leaned forward again and stuck his entire tongue as deep inside of her as it would reach, drawing a surprised squeak from her. His left arm wrapped around her thigh and snaked down her body to reach her clit once more, before resuming rubbing again. "Fuck baby, you wanna make me cum again so soon?" She moaned, before her eyes went wide as he started rubbing her asshole with his slick fingers on his right hand, 'Shit, he's going for my ass so soon?' She thought in rapture, 'I'm going to make you the perfect lover, Izu!'

Another few minutes of that had her thighs clenching around his arm again, squeezing tightly as she screwed her eyes shut and rode the wave he was giving her. Her thighs were practically vibrating as her body shook from her latest orgasm. When she opened them again, she was cross- eyed for a few seconds. She raised her legs up and crossed them behind her head, making his eyes bug out in shock, "You like?" She smirked at him, grinning wider as he hurriedly nodded. She smirked at him, "Just one more and we'll continue, Izu."

"Con-" He swallowed heavily, "Continue?"

She smirked wider, "Oh yes. You're not leaving this room a boy, Izu~" She breathed, before her hand reached forward and grabbed at his neck, "You had fun playing with my ass earlier. Why don't you play a little more?" She pulled him forward, and his eyes widened when she directed his mouth not to her pussy, but her asshole.

"Mphh!" He tried to exclaim, but was muffled. His mouth had been open, and he'd been caught by surprise, so he had dragged his tongue across it by mistake. He pulled back once she let go, and looked a little quizzically at her little star, 'It doesn't taste bad?' Indeed, it tasted just like the rest of her skin. He reached forward hesitantly and started licking her asshole in earnest, tracing his tongue around her puckered hole and then jabbing his tongue into her tight sphincter.

"Surprised?" She grinned as he motioned 'yes' with his head, "Well, don't be. I prepared for today you know? Didn't think I'd actually get to put it to use, but you're an amazing little lover, aren't you? So eager to please!" She winked at him, making him blush, "Just don't try it without warning, because doing it with no prep is probably what you thought it would be!" She laughed, before staring to play with herself. "Play with my tits too, Izuku."

He reached up and grabbed them, massaging her pillowy breasts and tweaking her nipples. Again, she started getting louder as he continued tonguing her asshole and she kept rubbing herself. She started to rock her hips again and moan lewdly, her spare hand grabbing his hair and holding him tight against her, "Mmmmh! Spank me!" She demanded. He wasn't sure he had heard her correctly, "Spank me!" She demanded, squeezing his hair for emphasis. He dropped his hand down to her ass and clapped it down.

"FUCK!" She squealed as her ass jiggled, "Mmmmhmmm, more Izuku! Spank me more!" She was already wound so tight up and him bringing his hand down on her ass once more was enough for her to come undone. She screamed her loudest yet and squirted again. Izuku loved her taste so he stopped licking her ass to go up to her pussy again, immediately trading his tongue with a finger. The feel of her ass clenching on his finger was divine as he forced it in up to his knuckle.

She spasmed a few more times, before finally stopping, 'Holy fuck! My little cinnamon roll is a natural!' She thought to herself as she caught her breath. She felt amazing. 'I'm keeping him and fuck everyone and everything that says otherwise!' She sat up and grabbed his cheeks, pulling him up to her and kissing him as deeply and passionately as she could.

He came eagerly, allowing her to wrap her legs around his waist and trapping his cock against her moist heat. They rocked against one another for a moment as they hugged and kissed for all they were worth. When they finally parted, it was only so that Rumi could throw him onto the bed and straddle his cock before leaning down and continuing their makeout. Izuku was rocking up into her and his hands were leaving thin scratches on her back, before he reached down and grabbed both her cheeks, spreading her tight ass.

She broke the kiss and pushed him into the mattress, sitting up on his lap. She took his cock in hand and held it proudly in the air, lifting her hips up and rubbing it against her slit, sliding it from her clit all the way to her waiting hole, "You want to fuck me, baby?"

"Yes!" Izuku bucked, feeling the amazing warmth radiating from her and wanting to feel more.

She smirked, letting his head slip into her, before pulling him out and rubbing him back up to her clit. He groaned in disappointment, "Well, I have different ideas." She smirked, pressing his dick to his stomach and sliding up. Izuku moaned again, throwing his head back as her plump lips hot- dogged him.

"Rumiiiiiii!!!!" He groaned again, his hands shooting forward. His right hand went up to her perfect tits and started massaging again, while his thumb found her clit and started rubbing, hoping that if he made her cum again she would let him inside.

"Noooope!" Sher popped the p as she grabbed at his hands, forcing them off her body as she continued to rock her hips, sliding him up and down between her pussy agonizingly slowly. She

pressed his wrists together and held them above his head with one hand. She hoped he wouldn't realize he could maybe break free if he tried. Her upper body wasn't quite as strong as her lower. She brought her other hand to her lips, letting out a small glob of spit to cover her fingers. She reached down and started playing with his nipples now.

Izuku continued to rock his hips up into her, moaning lewdly and concentrating on nothing other than the pleasure she was giving him. Between her thighs was already a sticky, lubed up mess as she continued rubbing his thick length between her lips. She would rock back all the way up to the point where he was just shy of being in position to penetrate her, before rolling her hips back and denying him in an agonizing fashion. Every time her clit rubbed against that hard ridge in the middle of his dick, it would send a pleasant shock through her spine and into her brain. She picked up the pace, rocking the bed from her motion, "You like that, Izu?" She breathed a little raggedly, "You like that baby? You want to come for me?"

"Yes!" He gasped, "Rumi, I'm!" His breath caught as he came explosively again, a long strand of his sperm shooting almost to his neck.

"Yes! Cum!" She redoubled her efforts as she milked him, lasting a few more seconds and beginning her next orgasm as his ended. She shook and trembled on him, her thighs spasming and clamping down on him. She let go of his hands and they both shot to her hips, gripping tightly as she rocked out her ecstasy, head thrown back and moaning lewdly. Finally, she stopped trembling and let out a steamy puff from her lips, "Fucking best decision you ever made, Rumi." She whispered, though not nearly quietly enough to keep Izuku's ego from getting a booster shot. She then let out a startled yelp as he yanked on her and brought her down to him, kissing her deeply and flipping them over on them bed.

Her legs immediately wrapped around his waist as their tongues dances and their bodies smushed together. The cum on his chest felt a bit strange, so they'd definitely need to take a shower or ten before their night was over. They both were hugging one another tightly, Rumi in pleased surprise. She hadn't expected him to try to take the reins, but after all of her teasing and the sexual tension that had built up between them since the summer when he first saw her tits, he clearly had enough after that pussyjob.

She'd been looking forward to 'Amazoning' him, but this would be fine too. Just another little push, "Ooooh, you want to fuck me that bad baby? You've cum twice already. Are you sure you can still get it up?"

"F-f-fuck yes!" Izuku shocked the hell out of both of them by swearing and backing up. She grinned widely as he grabbed beneath her knees and brought her ankles up beside her head, fully exposing her swollen pussy to him. Her lips were parted, and a small trickle of her fluid was leaking out.

"Come on then, Izu. Fuck me. Fuck me hard!" She demanded.

He reached down and gave her a slow lick from ass to clit, before sucking on her sensitive little nub and drawing a squeak from her. Then he moved up and kissed her, her hand grabbing him and lining him up. Izuku thrust forward in one hard motion, their hips smacking together as he sheathed himself inside her.

Stars exploded in both of their visions, with Rumi clawing his back and clenching her thighs around him. Nothing, not her toys, not even Nemuri's toys had ever stretched her out like this. As for Izuku, the hot vice gripping onto him was almost enough to bring him to climax just from resting inside of her. She was clamping down on him so tightly, and she was just so hot. He barely held on. "Mating Press is the beeeeessssstttttt..." Rumi groaned out after biting down on his neck.

"Don't quit on me too soon baby! Fuck me! FUCK ME HARD!"

Izuku complied, his instincts to mate coming alive as he dragged his cock out of her inch by inch, before ramming home once more. "Rumiiii~" He dragged himself out again and thrust, clapping their hips together, "So good!" He moaned almost deliriously, "So hot!" He sped up, every thrust feeling like a lightning bolt up both of their spines.

They both could see hearts in the other's eyes as they came together again, messily kissing one another and pressing their bodies tightly together, not backing up this time. Rumi did a split again to reposition her legs from his shoulders to clamping down around his waist. She reached down, grabbing and squeezing on his toned, muscular ass even they pressed their pelvises tight together and rocked their hips. She reached down further and started fondling his sack.

She felt Izuku rumble against her as his lips clamped onto her neck, suckling on her flesh lovingly, "Yes! Mark me!" She doubled down on her humping, before Izuku pulled her hand away from his balls and started pumping into her once more, "Oh, you're gonna make me cum Izu! You're going to make me cum all over your fat cock!" Her thighs started to squeeze onto him, "You're close aren't you? Cum for me! Breed me!"

"Rumi!" Izuku roared as he slammed his hips home roughly. She screamed his name back as her entire body locked up, her pussy clenching on his cock like a vice. Her thighs locked and trembled around his waist while her arms hugged him to her body. Her nails scratched into his back as she trembled and her toes curled, screaming his name hoarsely.

It was far too much for him. He almost felt like his balls imploded, discharging what had to be every drop of semen in them inside his chocolate lover. He moaned deliriously as he pulsed inside of her, rocking his hips when he felt like he was slowing down and squeezing more into her.

Rumi felt his cum churning into her and she damn near whited out. When she came to, Izuku was laying limp on her, "That~" She stopped as another tremor rocked through her. Izuku slowly backed out of their embrace and pulled his cock out of her, both of their eyes glued to her mound as a hot pulse of cum started leaking from her. The sight caused his flagging cock to turn to steel again. "Jeez!" She laughed, "I told you to breed me but damn." She already missed him, and hooked her heels behind his back and dragged him back in.

"Amazing!" Izuku said hoarsely, before kissing her again. She kissed back happily, "I never thought something could feel that good." He moaned into her neck as she headpatted him and ran her fingers through his fluffy hair.

She smirked, "Why're you talking like we're done?" "...what?" He squeaked in shock.

She flipped them, putting him below her, "Why do you think I told you to pack for a weekend, baby?" She grabbed him and impaled herself on it once more. As Izuku moaned from the assault on his now definitely hypersensitive cock, she leaned down and claimed his lips, "Don't worry Izu~" She pulled back and whispered in his ear, before sucking on his earlobe, "I'll give you a break soon." She pulled back and started rocking her hips with him still inside her. Her words said one thing, but the evil look on her face said another, "Maybe."

-[-

After that, everything changed. Or at least Izuku felt like it should have. All Might had noticed something different about him that following Monday. He'd almost looked as emaciated as his

mentor and had just been going through the motions while training. All Might had been worried about his health and had sent him home early for the day, where his mother had similarly sent him to bed and he'd just slept until school the next day.

He'd finally shown some signs of life after that and had been almost back to normal by the time he'd finished with school and gotten over to the beach. And then Miruko showed up and he was right back to being that stuttering mess he'd been months ago. He had no idea what they were now. Not after doing nothing but kissing and being inside her all damned weekend. So yeah, he definitely felt as if things should have been different, yet Rumi acted as if nothing had happened between them. Beyond a hop in her step and a more genuine smile for a couple days, she didn't even acknowledge the three days he'd spent on her couch, bed, tub, and every other surface of her apartment they had found. She'd just asked if he had already warmed up and was ready to go. He honestly felt a little used and hurt by it.

And after a week, it became pretty clear that she had zero intention of changing the status quo and he was far too shy to bring it up to her. She hadn't even made any more mentions to his lack of confidence, making him wonder if she had just used that as an excuse to do what she wanted with him. Despite legitimately feeling a little betrayed by it, he'd continued throwing himself through her continued training, and watched as she slowly lost that good mood and reverted to that classic, irritable Miruko. That made him wonder if maybe it wasn't affecting her too.

Of course, another problem had arisen after their tryst; Rumi had not just awoken his libido, she'd given it enough stimulation that it absolutely refused to go down without a fight. Once his pelvis didn't feel like it was a flick away from shattering like bad glass anymore, he started getting horny. Just being near her when he wasn't actively working out was enough to get him to pop a stiffy, and he kinda didn't know what to do about it. He'd never even looked at a porno before! And it made him feel guilty and shameful up until he had snuck one in when his mom had been out of the house, and he'd been utterly disappointed by it. It didn't even come close compared to Rumi.

It took three and a half weeks before he broke, and shyly went up to Rumi after a training session, "Ah, Miru-" he hemmed and hawed, "Rumi." That caught her interest and she had to fight to keep a smile from popping up, "Can we- I mean, that is to say..." He trailed off, not able to meet her eye or even finish his statement.

She groaned inwardly in disappointment, "You want something, kid?"

He flinched at the word. 'She called me Izuku when we were together.' He took a breath, "Can

we... go to your ap-p-partment-t-t, R-Rumi?"

'Finally! Some fucking progress!' She cheered inwardly, though she feigned a look of disinterest, "My apartment?" She faked a gasp and raised her hand over her lips, "Oh my! Is little Izu-chan feeling frisky?" She dropped the fake surprise, "Sorry, no can do kid." He flinched again, "I told you, didn't I? We were doing confidence training, and it clearly didn't work if you can't even say the bloody word." He looked down to the ground, feeling a little destroyed. She turned and walked away, waving over her shoulder, "If you want to touch me again, then fucking grow a pair. Otherwise I'll see you later." She slipped her hands into her pockets and made sure to put an extra little shake in her step. She even used her hands to pull her pants even tighter on her ass, 'Take the fucking hint you little shit!'

'Wait!' Her words rang in his head as he watched her sashay away in disbelief, 'Is she...?' He bit his bottom lip before running after her, wrapping an arm around her waist and gripping her chin with the other.

'YESSS!' He saw her blinding grin for a bare second before he covered her lips with his own, kissing her for all he was worth. She flung an arm over her shoulder and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him deeper into the kiss as he pulled from all the lessons she'd taught him. He reached up with the hand on her belly and started fondling her right breast, while his other hand dipped and rubbed between her legs, letting out a moan as she stood on her tiptoes and sensually rolled her hips, slowly grinding her ass on his crotch.

He broke away from her with a little gasp, "Y-you're evil! Are you sure you don't have a succubus Quirk instead?"

"And you're fucking dead if you fucking keep me waiting for three fucking weeks again!" She hissed, before spinning around and picking him up bridal-style with a little crazy glint in her eyes.

"Shouldn't this be the other way around?!" He yelped and laughed at being manhandled. It must have been a hilarious image to see, with the shorter and slender Rumi picking up the bigger and heavier Izuku with ease.

"You can't jump buildings yet!" She riposted before doing just that, jetting across the city at maximum speed.

-[-

After hours more of lovemaking (and officially making Rumi his girlfriend. He was over the moon), Izuku went home feeling like he was on top of the world. The only reason he hadn't just slept at her apartment was that he had school in the morning and training with All Might tomorrow. He and Rumi were surreptitious about their new relationship, keeping it on the down-low until

they were alone as he continued to train. It wasn't really a conscious decision by either of them. Neither really felt like bragging about it until they were sure it wasn't just sex between them. Neither felt like it was – they both knew Rumi would absolutely not have taken him to bed if he hadn't impressed her – but all the same, they wanted to be surer since they knew the age difference between them would be a problem for a whole lot of people. Finally, the ninth month arrived. Just one month left before the entrance exam for U.A. High School, and All Might arrived with a – to Izuku – a surprise.

"R-R-Recovery Girl!!!" Izuku squeed, "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?!"

Rumi chuckled as even after all he'd been through, he still fanboyed over one of his favorite Heroes. It was one of the things she liked about him; he was just so pure, even after she had corrupted the hell out of him.

"How are you doing, sonny?" Recovery Girl beamed at him as she signed his notebook – and Rumi still couldn't figure out where in the hell he kept it – "Toshinori asked me to be here today. Wouldn't say why." She replied but had an amused little glint in her eyes that spoke of knowledge he didn't have.

"That's right! Ahahaha!" Toshinori buffed up into All Might, "I asked Chiyo to be here today, Midoriya-shonen... because it's time!"

Izuku stopped, his eyes going wide, "T-time?!"

"That's right!" All Might beamed at him, "Your growth rate has been nothing short of miraculous, and it happened all because of your grit, your work ethic, and your determination! You've been nothing short of an INSPIRATION these past nine months,

young man! NOTHING makes me prouder than knowing how great you will one day be! It is an honor to finally pass One For All to you!" He reached up to his signature V-shaped locks and plucked a hair out.

Izuku was valiantly fighting not to cry and losing that battle. Once upon a time he would have wondered if he truly deserved it. Whether it wasn't just blind luck that had brought him to this point in life. After Rumi, there was no way he could think that anymore. She made sure – in her own way – to care for his mental health as much as his physical health. He said nothing but, "T- thank you, All Might!" Izuku and Rumi were both almost vibrating in excitement. Neither of them could wait to see what he would be able to do!

"Now," All Might's grin changed a little. He looked like he was about to tell a punchline, or like there was an inside joke only he knew. Both of them leaned in a little, "Eat this!"

"..." They stared at him with shocked befuddlement, "EHHH??????????"

He laughed, "You need to consume some of my DNA to acquire One For All." He explained, watching a twin looks of disgust crossed their faces, "Yeah, I know. I figure a hair is the least disgusting thing you could eat..." He rubbed the back of his head a little sheepishly.

"Wait, if it's as simple as consuming DNA, couldn't someone steal it?" Rumi asked, her nose still wrinkled as her man took the hair with a grimace. She definitely wasn't going to kiss Izuku until he brushed his teeth.

"No." All Might shook his head, "One For All cannot be taken by force. It can be forcibly passed on, but the only way it can be taken from its user is if its user actively WANTS it to pass on."

"Good." Rumi said, though inwardly she was thinking to herself how awkward it would be if she could steal Izuku's new Quirk with a simple suck.

"Now eat, Eat, EAT!" All Might chanted, much to their disgusted amusement.

"Well..." Izuku did not look very happy with what he was about to do, "Down the hatch." He mumbled before tilting his head and trying his hardest to just... drop it down his throat so he didn't have to taste it. Of course, it didn't work in the slightest and he gratefully accepted a water bottle from Recovery Girl as he gagged.

...

"Okay, it definitely should be digested now!" All Might grinned as he called Izuku away from where he was doing some light workouts with Rumi. He wondered a bit at their closeness and Izuku's increasing lack of shyness around the woman, which must have meant her confidence training was working. It swelled his heart to see the normally prickly woman acting so much more lighthearted nowadays. "Time to see how you do with it! So let your heart cry out, clench your butt cheeks, and yell SMASH!"

"Is that..." Rumi slapped herself in the face, "I can't even give you better guidance. Mine's a mutant, not an emitter. I have no idea how emitter Quirks work. Can't you give him better directions, Yagi?"

Chiyo sighed to herself as All Might drew circles in the sand with a finger, a cloud over his head, "Okay Sonny, listen up. Emitter Quirks require conscious activation as I'm sure you know. Mine

may be a contact type but I've helped plenty of students over the years with the more classical emitters. You're going to want to close your eyes and imagine, if you will, a ball of light deep in your soul. Reach out and grasp it... and then I suppose do what Toshinori said."

"Right..." Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He did exactly as Chiyo directed... and almost immediately, he felt different. Power. Overwhelming POWER started coursing through his veins. Grins popped up all over his mentor's faces as green lightning started to arc through his body, specifically through his legs. He crouched and leapt up, making Rumi's jaw drop as he instantly cleared even her highest jump with ease. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, preventing him from feeling just how badly he'd just damaged himself. He flipped forward at the apex of his jump and started to fall, "Lunar..." Rumi beamed as Izuku called out a similar name to one of her techniques rather than one of All Might's classic smashes, "Arc SMASH!" He swung his leg down like an executioner's axe.

'Heh, combining both of ours, huh? I'll take it!' She beamed as she watched Izuku split the fucking sea. "YES!" She cheered, only for her grin to fall completely as she took in his legs waving in the air. As if they were broken. She cursed as he started to howl in pain and leapt up, catching him and landing as gently as she could. "Holy shit!" She cursed, finally noticing his pants had torn and taking in how his legs had started to purple. "Shit, Recovery Girl!" She yelled back, watching as a stricken All Might and a troubled Chiyo ran over.

"Holy shit!" All Might had shrunken into Toshinori. "He's this badly hurt?!"

Recovery Girl stretched her lips over and kissed his cheek, making his legs glow and straighten

out.

ehe Izuku let out a small little curse in relief, "W-what happened?"

"You broke your fucking femur is what happened." Rumi looked a little furious.

"I truly had not expected this." Toshinori cursed, "Midoriya-shonen, we purposely kept you in the dark about this, but you passed the mark I had wanted you to be months ago. We kept training you and training you to try to minimize any possible kickback. Shit, just thinking of how badly you would have hurt yourself if Miruko hadn't come in and helped make the changes she made..." he trailed off.

"I'm sorry..." Izuku's voice warbled, looking unsure of himself for the first time in a while.

"Don't be. It's not your fault. The very nature of One For All is the problem." It was Chiyo who spoke, "One For All is a powerful Quirk. One of the most powerful, in fact. You're taking all of All Might's strength into yourself. It isn't a surprise that there would be some growing pains."

"That's right." Toshinori nodded, "Now we have one more month to get you using it as best you can. You're a fine vessel already, but you can be tempered even further!"

"R-right!" Izuku got up but wobbled and fell back, "...tired..." he leaned on Rumi, and she ruffled his hair. An intrigued glint appeared in Chiyo's eyes as she took in the interaction.

"Yes, my Quirk does that. Here, have some candies to restore some stamina." She smiled at the boy, "Now, what's the plan to help him get used to it?"

"Clearly going all out is out of the question." Rumi shot in immediately, "So first thing's first; get him used to coursing it through his entire body rather than just his limbs. Hopefully that will help."

"It should. I constantly use it at a low level and then spike the percentage when and where I need

it." Toshinori nodded, "So first order of business is teaching him how not to go Plus Ultra every time he uses it. We'll find the percentage he can safely use without breaking himself."

"And then push him to his limits so he breaks them!" Rumi pumped her fist. Izuku tiredly raised his as well.

-[-

"Haven't been here in a while. Wonder why he called us!" Toshinori commented to Miruko as they walked to the beach. After Izuku had received One For All, he had pleased Rumi and shocked All Might by outright demanding that they not come to the beach again until he called for them.

"Yeah," Rumi smirked, "I tried to take a peek but it's like he smelled me from a mile away or something. Showed up out of nowhere and I almost kicked him across the face." She started snickering as she remembered his indignant face, before he grabbed her and whisked her away for a distraction.

"In any case, he's improved by leaps and bounds no doubt. I haven't been able to show up for the past two weeks or so. What's he at?"

"He can hit 40% in a pinch with only a lot of pain, but he's about at 15% sustained. He's also got the finger flick of doom!" Toshinori could practically hear the TM joke being told as she grinned, "He charges up One For All in his finger and just lets loose an air cannon. Uses roughly twenty- five percent from what he's told me. When he showed it to me he just about ripped one of those shitty cars in half."

"That's not bad!" Toshinori grinned, "Never considered doing something so simple before!"

"You're a meathead." Rumi deadpanned, before smirking at him, "You have just two modes; Punching and no-" The rest of the statement was cut off as they got close enough to hear Izuku screaming. "Wha-!" She took off, a bare second before Toshinori puffed up and sped past her.

"HOLY SHIT!" She heard Toshinori scream in English as she caught up.

"What's the ma-HOLY SHIT!" She screamed in delight as a blinding grin appeared on her face.

There he was, screaming like a Dragon Ball character, complete with green lightning coursing through him. Not a single bit of scrap remained. "Midoriya-shonen! He cleaned even outside of where I had originally told him to!" Toshinori beamed, laughing gaily and launching himself towards his successor. Izuku had even removed the stumps and various training stations that they had created for him!

"It looks beautiful! Just the way I remember it!" She looked around with a beaming grin on her face. Then she started to laugh as Izuku walked up to them, "Well look at you! Looks like you got your 'feel-good' story after all!" She grinned, and then Izuku shocked the shit out of All Might with what he did next. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a happy, aggressive kiss. She returned it eagerly.

"BLEHHHHH!!!!" All Might coughed out a fountain of blood, "M-M-MIDORIYA- SHONEN?!?!? MIRUKO?" He gaped as the paid him no heed, "Wait! WAS THIS WHAT YOU MEANT BY CONFIDENCE TRAINING?!"

That finally caught their attention, and Rumi couldn't help but start laughing, messing up their kiss and resting her head on his shoulder. Izuku started to laugh as well.

-[-

And we're done!

For you pervs on ff . net, you can find the ( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡) on AO3. Its only my second ever lemon and my first one in several years, so be gentle.

Actually

No.

Fuck that. Tear that shit to shreds so I can get better at it.

Next up will (probably) be a MHA/FGO crossover. That one was originally meant to be a one shot, but I decided not to do a 40k chapter in here. LOL It is fully planned out and ready to be written, so it's one that will become a full fic.

And since I know you're all wondering where Emerald Phoenix sits; it's at 27.5k still. My mind has just been totally invaded by these other bunnies. Hoping to get back on it while the MHA juices are still flowing.

Unnamed FGO cross

Chapter Summary

Izuku's quirk reverse-summons him across the multiverse.

Chapter Notes

Let me know if any of you got a title for this thing. This is a story that is 100% planned and is intended to be short.

Hope you guys enjoy this one! As promised, it is partially a Fate Grand Order crossover

Also, I have absolutely zero idea what to call this thing, and it IS a story that I have completely planned. This one WILL become a full, "short" fic. If any of you have any ideas for names, I'm all ears. Pretty much anything will be better than 'Mentor Hopping Izuku' LOL

MHA/FGO Cross

-[-

-[-

It was strange how getting what you wanted for so long could feel so... lackluster.

Midoriya Izuku stared up at the pristine glass 'H'-shaped façade he'd once dreamed of. It really felt like a lifetime ago now that he would get up every morning, bid a hurried hello to his wonderful mother, and then park himself in front of his computer to watch All Might's debut on repeat. A lifetime since he'd dreamed of nothing more than walking into these halls and learning from the best and brightest how to be a Hero.

'Someone's laughing over this. I just know it.' He smirked as he took a step forward, entering U.A. University as a student for the first time. He quickly made his way to 1-A; his assigned classroom, and slid the door open. Immediately, most conversation ceased as they got a load of him. It wasn't a surprising outcome. Whereas most of them were young adults who hadn't even scratched twenty yet, he was visibly older. Where many of them were still on the shorter side – with one of them being outright diminutive – he was tall. Very tall. He stood at a whopping 210cm, just barely shorter than All Might himself. Izuku's green hair was long and messy – with part of it pulled a ponytail – and while he wore the same uniform as the rest of them, it was perhaps a little too tight on his muscular frame.

His introspection was cut off as a man with blue hair wearing square glasses stopped his tirade against the ashen-blonde Izuku had known in his childhood – over the way he was lounging in his chair of all things – and pointed a finger at him in shock, "You!" He exclaimed loudly. The blonde

in question – Katsuki Bakugo – threw a strange look at Izuku; half fury and half shame.

"Me." Izuku smirked, getting at least one of the girls in the class to look like she was about to swoon. "You alright there, Stick-kun?"

"S-Stick-kun?" The boy stammered, before placing a hand on his chest, "My name is Tenya Iida, not Stick-kun!"

"Well, seeing as you were so eager to accost me and accused me of being an exam plant, I figured I'd give your stiff ass an appropriate name." Izuku shot back easily, making several of the class who had been present remember how the man had tried to chew Izuku out before the entrance exam. "Can't say it ain't appropriate, if you're giving ol Katsu over there the riot act for his feet on the table."

"I- that is-" Iida began to sputter, and the class erupted into murmurs. The girl with pink skin was staring at him dreamily, and he shot her a roguish smirk as well when his eyes caught her. She nearly squeed, much to his hidden amusement.

Before Iida could say another word, an excited gasp drew his attention, "Hey, you made it too! I'm so glad!" Izuku turned and smiled at the bubbly brunette from the exam. She started swinging her fist at the air excitedly, "You were so COOL! I was sure you were going to make it in, but I wasn't sure what class! You totally demolished that big robot! Thank you so much for saving me again!" Izuku smirked internally, wondering if any of them were going to notice the person in the yellow sleeping bag behind the brunette before he spoke up.

He wasn't disappointed. "If you're here to socialize, then go home!" She froze at the unfamiliar voice and turned mechanically, her face visibly going through an amusing myriad of emotions as her imagination went wild, thinking it was a giant caterpillar.

"You comfy there, sensei?" Izuku broke the silence.

"Quite." The scruffy man that came out of his chrysalis deadpanned as he grabbed his sleeping bag and marched in. "Don't bother taking your seats. You've already wasted enough time as it is. We'll be leaving momentarily." He got behind his desk and glared at them; his eyes sharp but face expressionless. "My name is Shōta Aizawa, and I'll be your homeroom teacher. Nice to meet you, I suppose." The very definition of enthused, this guy was, "I expect you all in your seats and ready next time I walk in. Be more rational. You're not here to fool around, but to learn to be Heroes." Izuku held back his snort very carefully. He was definitely not here to learn how to be a Hero. He was here because he needed a stupid little bit of plastic allowing him to be one legally. "Now, put on your gym uniforms and meet me down at field. You have fifteen minutes." The class didn't move, still frozen at the unusual introduction. "Well?" he snapped, and the class jumped into action.

...

"Midoriya, step up." Aizawa called him, and Izuku casually strolled forward, "You had the most points by far on the entrance exam. What was your time on the fifty-meter-dash?"

Izuku raised an eyebrow, "Dunno. Haven't exactly run one recently."

You would think he was snarking, but he wasn't and Aizawa should have known it. Katsuki looked sullen for multiple reasons. Staring at his old friend brought nothing but unpleasant emotions to the normally bombastic boy. He'd been nothing but a total asshole to the shy, cheerful boy who had followed him around like a lost puppy. He'd even blown him up with a couple

firecracker-sized blasts of his Quirk. Izuku had been a joke. A Quirkless nobody who had done nothing but annoy others with his stupid dream. You couldn't be a Hero without a Quirk. Everyone knew that. But Izuku always insisted the doctor said it wasn't impossible for him to develop one; something about a joint on his toe or whatever. Katsuki didn't care. He just wanted the pebble out of his way. He was the one who was going to make it big, not that loser.

And then Izuku had vanished without a trace. He'd just been gone. Auntie Inko had been forced to move in with them so the old hag could take care of her. She'd quite nearly passed from sheer depression, and like hell was the hag going to allow that. They'd scoured everything they could, put up missing posters, consulted the school and police alike, and eventually had found a simple video. Izuku had looked depressed and angry at himself on some street cam. He'd slapped a wall and clearly regretted it immediately, crying what must have been tears of frustration as he'd sat down. And then he had glowed a bright green and vanished without a trace. He'd been seven.

Eleven years had passed since that day, and all of a sudden, in the same bright flash of green he'd left in... Izuku had reappeared. Reappeared and shown up right at Katsuki's house, wanting to see his mother. Known exactly where she was somehow, and had gone right for her. The reunion had been tearful, though apparently grown-up Izuku wasn't much of a crybaby. Katsuki... he hadn't known what to feel. Izuku had thanked the hag for taking care of auntie, but had totally ignored Katsuki himself.

They hadn't spoken a word to each other in years, and for once Katsuki clammed up. He wasn't sure what to say. Not when Izuku had aged more years than he'd been gone. Auntie hadn't elaborated to the hag when she returned home from their outing, but despite being gone eleven years from their perspective, he'd been gone twenty from his perspective. And Katsuki didn't know how to react to that information. Didn't know how to deal with the boy he'd bullied so long ago being nine years older than him... and built like a brick wall. ...and that wasn't even going into the three women who were constantly with him. He'd even heard auntie squeeing over them being his girlfriends!

Even the rage he felt when Izuku had somehow beaten his score at the entrance exam hadn't ended the silence. In any case, Aizawa had to have been briefed on the fact that Izuku's school records ended at seven. The man in question let out a long-suffering sigh, looking as if he wanted to be anywhere but there, "Very well then. Take your place and get ready. Use your Quirk and complete the race as fast as you can."

"Gotcha." Izuku lazily walked up to the starting point and did not even take his hands out of his pockets. Aizawa's gaze hardened but he said nothing.

That was not the case for several of the students, with one of them even stage-whispering, "How arrogant can this dude be?" The speaker was Mineta Minoru, the shortest amongst them, with balls adorning his head.

"Chill little dude, he's probably just super confident! You heard what sensei said! He came in first during the exams!" Ashido Mina exclaimed cheerily, watching Izuku like a hawk.

"Just you wait!" Uraraka Ochaco cheered as well, "He was amazing during the entrance exam!" "Enough chitchat!" Aizawa snapped, starting to lose his patience. "When the starting gun goes off,

run your race."

"Sure thing sensei." Izuku said almost carelessly.

Aizawa's eyebrow twitched. If this kid didn't excel he was the first one getting expelled.

The robot responsible for the race raised the gun, and the high-speed cameras turned on and prepared to start shooting. Everything was timed perfectly, as befitting U.A. University's standards. The gun shot off its blank.

Almost everyone was knocked back and nearly off their feet as a physical wall of air hit them. As if a bomb had gone off. Little Mineta rolled backwards like a ball, having to rip one of the large grapes on his head off and using it to stick to the dirt. The floor where Izuku had stood cracked and cratered, dust and stones exploding away. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

The rest of the class screamed as things calmed down, jaws dropping as they stared at the outcome. The ground before them was demolished. The entire track was unusable and would need to be repaired. And with his hands still in his pockets, Izuku was whistling a jaunty tune as he paced back to the rest of the class. "How was that, sensei?"

Aizawa stared at the device in his hand in disbelief, before they watched as the monitor attached to the high-speed camera projected video for them to watch, split between the start and finish lines. The ultra-advanced camera hadn't been able to catch his movement, just a blur. He entered the frame of the finish line the same time he left the starting frame. Aizawa's voice had a notable note of disbelief, "You... ran it so fast the counter – which we time to the millisecond – couldn't even tic over." Indeed, he showed his device and it was reading 00:000.

The class erupted in a wall of noise, all the while Katsuki stared at Izuku as if he'd seen a ghost. As if the boy who he had once bullied had slapped him clean across the face with a trout. The rest of them were practically throwing a party. "That. Was. AWESOME!" Mina chanted over and over. "I can't believe we get to use our quirks right off the bat!"

"No way man! How can we compete with that?!" Mineta wailed in anguish, knowing instantly that he had a MAJOR hurdle to overcome in dating the girls in the class.

"The counter couldn't even time him to the millisecond?" The tallest girl in the class seemed to be doing math in her head, "How fast was he going?"

"Hero Course is awesome! This is going to be fun!" Another cheered.

And that snapped Aizawa out of his shock, "Fun you say?" Aizawa was staring at them. His expression hadn't really changed, but there was something about him that made it seem like a bucket of ice had been dropped into their gym uniforms. "You've only got three years here and you're thinking about fun? Alright then. If you're just here to have fun, then I'm going to make a new rule. The person who scores the lowest in these exams will be judged as hopeless and will be on a one-way train back home before the day is over."

The class erupted in noise for an entirely different reason now, with panic starting to take in. Ochaco yelled out, "But it's the first day! That's not fair, sensei! We all worked hard to get here!"

"You think the world is fair, Uraraka?" Aizawa asked her slowly, "If the world was fair, we wouldn't need Heroes. Natural disasters... rampaging Villains... freak accidents... Calamity is always just around the corner, and Heroes are the ones who correct that unfairness."

Guy was a little bit overdramatic for his tastes, but at least he had his head on straight. Izuku grinned as he took it all in, feeling very much like an outsider here. The pressure that Aizawa was plying on the young adults just slipped right off his back. As if the mere idea of failure could even bump his heart rate up. When he'd been young? Sure. He would have been panicking. Had the trials he'd already overcome never come into play? You'd best believe he would have been freaking with the rest of the class. Well, most of them. Hiding an evil grin and deciding to play a

bit of a prank, he spoke up, "You're laying it on a bit thick, sensei. It looks like some of them don't believe you're serious."

"Oh?" Aizawa side-eyed him, noting his grin. Was that sheer confidence in himself or thought that his display had firmly put him in 'unexpellable' territory? Well, in any case, time to terrify the rest, "Well if that's the case, shall I let you know that I expelled my entire class last year? They were all hopeless." Now even Yaoyorozu Momo looked shocked and pale, "There's nothing worse than allowing someone to chase a half-baked dream. Every one of them would have been nothing more than a sad note in the obituary. I'll say it again. You're here to be Heroes. Not to fool around." He grinned, looking like a psycho, "So give it your all if you want to earn your place here. And don't think you're exempt either, Midoriya. That showing may have been impressive, but I don't give a damn how fast you are if you think you're going to slack off just because of one decent score. Push your Quirk to the limit, otherwise I'll put you on the bus out of here myself. Demonstration is over. Since Midoriya destroyed the track, let's go inside and start with the Grip Test." With that he phoned Cementoss to come fix the field up.

As the subdued class trekked to their first exam, Izuku couldn't contain the tiny snort that left him. ''Push my Quirk to the limit.'' He chuckled inwardly as he paced with the rest of them, 'Riiiight...'

-[-

"Enough, Kacchan!" Little Izuku yelled, tears building in his eyes, "You're hurting him! You already made him cry! A Hero wouldn't do that!" He trembled like a leaf, despite his valiant attempt at being brave.

BOOM. "So, the Quirkless wonder thinks he can play Hero, huh?" Katsuki had his eyes closed and a cheerful smile on his face as he pounded a fist into an empty palm, his Quirk igniting his sweat into a tiny explosion.

"I'm not Quirkless!" Izuku protested, "I just don't know what my Quirk is yet! The doctor said I surely have one!"

"You're a liar, Deku!" Katsuki sneered at him, "Everyone knows Quirks don't come in after you're four. You're three years too late already!"

BOOM!

Katsuki's little fist smashed into his face and ignited, throwing him to the ground. There wasn't any real heat, but his face became covered in soot. He whimpered as he held his arms up, trying to defend himself.

But the bullies were done already, "Quit trying to be a Hero, nerd. You're useless. Tch. Let's go already."

Izuku wiped his face and turned to the boy he had tried to defend, "Are you o-" His words died in his throat, seeing the boy running away without even looking back at him. Izuku drooped, his head falling. His fists started to tremble, before he sighed out in a tiny bit of despair and started to walk away, 'I want to be a Hero too. Since when do Heroes hurt others like big bullies, Kacchan?!' He didn't know what happened to his friend. He used to be so nice, even if he had misread his name and stuck him with that mean nickname. 'At least I managed to help that boy.' He thought to himself, before stopping, 'Even if he didn't even say thank you...' He slapped his hand on the wall in frustration, instantly rearing back as his hand started to hurt, 'Why couldn't I have a cool Quirk too! I want to be a Hero! I want to help people! Why do I need a flashy Quirk for that?!' He

clenched his fist again as he sat against the wall, "Just one person... just one!" He whispered through clenched teeth, "One person who believes in me! I'll prove them all wrong! I'll be the greatest Hero who ever lived!"

A bright flash of green lit up the path. When it died down, Izuku was gone.

-[-

"Hmm?" The pale, admittedly handsome man tilted his head in momentary confusion. He brushed a hand through his pure white hair as he stared down from his tower to the endless gardens of pink flowers below. "My, oh my, something interesting is about to happen, isn't it?" With a sigh, he raised a hand and a beautifully carved staff appeared in his hand in a flash of light. "Now..." He sighed again and began mumbling a series of inhuman-sounding words, annoyed at the necessity of casting one of these spells. He always tripped over his own tongue with long incantations like these. Finally, a circle appeared before him, and not a moment too soon.

In a flash of green light, a young boy who couldn't have been even ten appeared before him. He didn't move. Didn't open his eyes. He didn't even breathe. Or more accurately, he couldn't do any of those things, due to the stasis field the mage had erected for him. He was perfectly frozen in time. "Safe~" The man smiled, "Now, what to do with you, my young friend? You've got yourself into a quite a pickle, haven't you? A mere whiff of the air here in Avalon will lead to your untimely demise. And what a shame that would be."

"Fou!" A little white animal who could have been a cross between many different species with pristine fur and a puffy tail exclaimed, "Fou fou!"

"I'm not certain, Cath Palug." The man answered the little animal, "My, my, what a history this one has." He let out a laugh as he peered into the young boy's past with his Clairvoyance, "To think a world like his exists! No magic anywhere in sight, and yet the entire population has strange abilities! Oh, I think I might like to follow your adventures, young Izuku. Your dreams are so delectable! It would be a shame to let you die here."

"Fou?" Cath Palug tilted its tiny head cutely.

"It appears that his 'Quirk' was a manifestation of his desire to be a Hero." He started to laugh, "I've watched endless would-be Heroes rise and fall, I've seen countless try futilely to run from their destinies, but never have I seen someone desire so strongly to help people that he would throw himself across the multiverse to find a mentor. Ha! If that old bat Zelretch had been paying attention he would have gotten such a kick out of this. Hmmm..." He rubbed his chin, "Oh yes, that certainly gives me an idea." He descended down into the tower, "Now where did I leave that jar?" He muttered to himself as he started casting another spell, projecting his voice across the dimensional barrier directly to his target.

"...Fou..." Cath Palug's ears drooped. ...

The jar in question was gigantic. Bigger than Izuku in fact. He could have fit comfortably inside of it. Cath Palug sat nearby, watching in confusion. The mage smiled as a kaleidoscopic tunnel burst into life above them, dropping a gray greatsword into his hands. "My thanks, my friend." He eyed the magnificent blade as he sat before the suspended boy, laying it across his lap.

"Hmph." A disembodied voice rang out as the magical portal collapsed and evaporated, "It's not often that you contact me, Merlin. This better be some entertainment you're providing."

"Ahaha! My friend, you wound me! You hardly ever contact me, either." Merlin shot back easily, "In any case, I will need to concentrate for this. I'll make sure to share this event with you later!" He didn't get a response. He hadn't expected one, "Now...come to me..." He held his hands over the sword and began to attack it magically. Balmung was a wonderful blade, but for his purposes he had something else in mind. Lightning began to crackle between the hilt and his palms as the sword resisted his influence.

Finally, he got his prize. The sacred jewel embedded in its hilt. A True Ether Reactor. "Fou, fou!"

"Yes, it is!" Merlin replied to the furry little creature. "Well, won't need this anymore." He casually threw the sheathed Balmung over his shoulder as he stood up.

"Fou!" Cath Palug yipped angrily as he caught the sword by the wrapping and kept it from falling off the tower. He dragged it back to the safety of the tower and sat back on his haunches, "Fou..."

"Carefully now," Merlin muttered to himself, the jewel glowing a brilliant blue as it floated between his hands, shining with a dazzling inner light. He pushed it forward with his palms, chanting under his breath carefully. Last thing he needed was to trip over his own tongue like usual during an incantation. As the jewel approached Izuku, his clothes simply disintegrated off his body. Yet it did him no harm, and when the jewel touched the center of his chest it simply phased into his body. Immediately the veins in his body seemed to illuminate with their own glow, a bright emerald green.

When the glow disappated, Merlin casually used his magic to open the top of the jar and float it underneath Izuku. It was filled with a roiling red liquid. With a cheeky smile, Merlin ended his stasis and float spells, dropping Izuku straight into the jar with a red splash.

"FOU!" The white creature exclaimed angrily, "For, Fou, FOU!" He had nearly fallen off the tower to avoid getting splashed by the red wave, and had to scramble to get back on. Hissing angrily, he climbed up Merlin's clothes onto his shoulder, and then his little paws started hitting Merlin's cheek repeatedly.

"Ow! Ow! Cut it out, Cath Palug! A little blood never hurt anyone!" A falser statement had never been uttered in the history of mankind.

"AHH!" Izuku burst from the top of the jar, gasping for breath. His skin and hair were stained crimson from his bloody bath. He licked his lips and reflexively swallowed, before turning a bit green at the taste. "Who ar- what is th- where am- why?!?" He stammered an endless stream of questions.

"My, my, deep breaths Midoriya-kun. Deep breaths!" Merlin smiled cheerily at him. Izuku visibly took a couple, and Merlin's smile widened, "Ah, excellent! It did work after all!"

"I-It did?" Izuku asked, futilely trying to wipe off the blood... with his bloody arm, "What? Who? When? WHY?!"

"Well, those are the million-yen questions, aren't they?" Merlin replied, before his smile dropped as he watched Izuku try to lift himself out of the pot, "Do stay in there a while longer. I'd hate to have this effort go to waste. In any case, my young friend, my name is Merlin."

He would have gone on, but Izuku immediately interrupted, "Merlin?! You mean the super mage who made King Arthur who he became in the legends I read?" He asked excitedly.

"Ohoho, I'm blushing. You're praising me too much. Please do so more." Merlin laughed

delightedly.

"Fou!" The little critter punched him again.

"Ow! Stop it, Cath Palug! You're making me look bad!" Izuku sweatdropped as the two started glaring at each other. Merlin shook his head, "Yes, I am Merlin. The greatest Kingmaker in the world, its said." He smiled, "And what I did was to save your life."

Izuku stopped cold despite the heat of the blood his still bathed in, "S-saved my life?"

"That's right." Merlin confirmed, "Congratulations on being the first person of your universe to ever leave it, by the way."

"...what?" Izuku squeaked out, eyes wide with his pupils shrunken to pinpricks.

"That's right, I'm afraid. You're no longer in Musutafu, Dorothy." Merlin laughed at the look on his face, "Your world was fascinating to me, once it came into my sight from your presence. Such fascinating powers, your Quirks." He smiled as Izuku visibly drooped at the word, "And while your Quirk isn't the flashiest, it certainly has the most potential out of any power that world has ever seen."

"M-my Quirk?" Izuku stammered, "My Quirk?! It manifested?! What is it?!" He asked excitedly.

"Why, nothing less than the ability to transport you to the greatest possible teachers to make your dream a reality, young one!" Merlin smiled, "Never have I seen such a desire to do good from a little human like you. Your wish brought you here to me." He tapped his staff onto the ground, and the splashed blood vanished, "Of course, with every boon comes risk. The very air here in Avalon is enough to kill a human with even a single breath. Someone like you who comes from a world with no magic would have died instantly. To save your life, I had to provide you with a way to generate your own True Ether or at least enough magical power to survive. The dragon's blood you're bathing in was one method, but I was unsure it would be enough."

"DRAGON BLOOD?!" Izuku shrieked in shocked horror and no small amount of disgust.

"Fou!" Cath Palug squeaked in pain at the yell, "Fou!"

"Oh, come now." Merlin sighed as he eyed the look of disgust on the child's face, "Not everyone gets to bathe and drink pure dragon blood you know? You should be thanking me. With that one action you would have already become stronger than most of your 'Pro' Heroes."

Izuku gasped, "Really?"

"Oh yes." Merlin confirmed with a nod, "Arthur did the same when she was born. Dragon Blood is one of the most highly magical substances around. That blood there was taken from Vortigern himself. The same dragon Arthur slew." He smiled at Izuku, "But again, I wasn't sure just the blood would be enough. You were even more non-magical than regular humans of the current era, coming from a land where magic never existed. So, I asked a friend to provide to me Balmung, which had a True Ether Generator in its hilt. I extracted that jewel and implanted it into your heart. It amuses me to know a complete and utter neophyte like yourself now possesses more magical power than almost every mage of the current era. Ahahaha!"

"Th-thank you, Merlin." Izuku stammered.

"In any case, please drink at least a mouthful, and then you can come out. You wish to be a Hero, no? Focus on making yourself as strong as possible, if it helps." Merlin commanded, and Izuku

scrunched up his nose.

"O-okay." He dipped his hands, marveling at how the liquid boiled around him, before bringing some fresh blood to his lips. He grimaced, before drinking it down. "Huh?" He eyed it curiously, "That... wasn't... bad?"

"No, I imagine it wouldn't be. I also imagine you might find you like your steaks a bit on the rarer side too, nowadays." Merlin smiled, "Well, no use wasting time. You'll see no more benefit from that blood." He clicked his staff onto the ground, and the entire pot and boiling blood within vanished. His feet touched the tiles of the tower and sent a little jolt up his spine from the cool touch on his hot flesh. Another tap and Izuku's bloody body was cleaned, making him 'eep' and cover himself up. A third tap had Izuku in brand new clothes, "Fascinating textiles. Your clothes are much more comfortable than the ones Arthur garbed herself in."

Something clicked, "Her???"

"Oh yes, a fascinating masquerade she had to pull off in our home universe, pretending to be a man. You humans can be such unusual, stupid creatures. A mere 'change' of gender gave her more credibility than any amount of victories would have in her society." Merlin grimaced as he thought of his former student. Izuku couldn't understand it, coming from a world where women were equal and had just as much potential to be strong as men. He thought it was just as stupid as Merlin clearly did. But another thing about the way Merlin spoke caught his attention.

"You... aren't you human too, Merlin?" He asked curiously.

"Half." Merlin smiled at him, "Only half. It is why I struggle so hard to connect with you humans. But enough about me, my little student. It is time to get some rest. Your Quirk brought you here to become a Hero, after all. Tomorrow begins your training." He turned and started walking to the stairs

"Ah! Yes!" Izuku cheered, running after Merlin, before stopping, "Wait, but... but what about mom?"

Merlin sighed, turning around, "I'm afraid she is out of your reach for now, little one. Your Quirk won't bring you back home until you've accomplished your goal."

Izuku clenched his fist again. "...Be careful what you wish for, huh?" He looked at Merlin with determination, "I will see her again, won't I?"

Merlin smiled again, "Do you feel you will?"

"Yes!" It was a promise.

"Then see her you shall. Come now." Merlin made his way down.

"Fou, fou!" Cath Palug cried out as Izuku made to follow.

His eyes widened as he saw Fou sitting by Balmung. "Is this?" Fou put his paw where the jewel had once sat, "So, this is Balmung, huh? This is what kept me alive?"

"Fou!" The tiny animal mewled.

"Thank you, Cath Palug." Izuku said, before snickering, "Bit of a mouthful though, isn't it? How about I call you Fou?" He offered his hand. Fou scampered up his arm and sat on his shoulder, rubbing his cheek on his.

"Fou!" the newly christened Fou licked his cheek, and Izuku tickled under his chin with a smile, before grabbing Balmung. He shouldn't have been, but he was a little surprised by the weight. Grasping it tightly, he got to his feet and made his way downstairs.

-[-

"Guh!" Izuku blocked Merlin's copy of Excalibur with a groan. Despite his vastly improved strength from the year he'd trained under the Incubus as well as the general improvements to his body, he wasn't up to matching brawn with a grown adult. He parried with Balmung, trying to throw his mentor off balance, but Merlin surprised him by stabbing the ground beneath them and stopping their blades flat.

Izuku leapt back, and not a moment too soon. A blast of pink eradicated the earth he had stood upon moments ago. "Good, good! You're learning faster than Arturia did in at least one respect, my young student." Merlin laughed as he held his blade and staff gently, "I can't tell you how many times she fell for that move."

Izuku let out a little snort after regaining his breath, "Little hard to believe. About as hard as learning she was a girl in your home world. You should see some of her depictions in games on my world!"

Despite the fact that Izuku should rightfully have been even more nervous and shy from his new reclusivity – having only a half-human and animal for companionship – he'd actually grown as a person as well. Positive attention was leagues better than what had been heaped on him before. Now, his bruises meant something. They meant he was growing ever stronger and better prepared to help others. Now, the periods of silence were companionable, not judgmental.

Merlin never minced words. Izuku knew when he finally went back home he would have difficulty connecting with people. Izuku knew it too. By the time he got back, years and years would have passed. He doubted he would find it easy to connect with kids his age. And he especially wouldn't be connecting with any of his old... friends.

Nevertheless, Izuku was far more confident than he had been. He was never chided for speaking his mind, and had been encouraged from the get-go. The lack of mean-spirited laughter and taunting worked wonders in building him up.

"Well, that was enough of a break." Merlin smiled at him, which really contrasted with the little yelp Izuku gave when the man sped towards him to continue their duel.

-[-

BOOM

The ten-year-old Izuku groaned as he landed flat on his back, "Okay... Used to be jealous of Katsuki's Quirk... can't really say I am anymore. My EARS!"

Merlin let out a delighted little chuckle, "Well my young apprentice, I have to say... I've never seen someone blow up a simple Mana Burst so spectacularly before." He tapped his staff on the ground and a pink light engulfed Izuku and rapidly started healing his injuries.

He sat up with another groan, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth as he sat up. "Maybe next time don't tell me to go all out!"

...

"Better luck next time!" Merlin jabbed forward with his staff, aiming to hit Izuku in the stomach and knock him down. The eleven-year-old had grown leaps and bounds under his tutelage. Balmung was held far more securely in his hands, despite the weight of the blade. Merlin really didn't know what he had been thinking when he had just tried to toss the thing over off of Avalon, and it was a good thing Fou had saved it. It may not be the same weapon it once was with its True Ether Reactor removed and implanted into Izuku, but it was still one of the most finely grafted blades in the land. And Izuku's prodigiously growing skill with it had even proved how sharp it was in a few of their spars, having sliced off a wee bit of his hair. In any case, Merlin had needed to step up his effort a little bit to keep ahead of his young protégé.

His staff thudded into Izuku's stomach... or rather it would have if it didn't phase completely through him. Merlin almost fell forward with a bit of a comical look on her face as he was unbalanced by his student's lack of presence where he should have been.

"Gotcha!" Izuku roared, appearing to his side and engulfed himself in a Mana Burst, looking to pay his mentor back for some of the torment of the past four years. His fist slipped right through Merlin's mug and this time Izuku has the comical look of surprise on his face, 'Oh... I'm going to die.' He plowed straight into the fields with his fist. A massive plume of dirt and flowers flew into the air as Izuku dug a trench with his own face.

Merlin started to laugh heartily as he watched his smoking, dirt-covered student's legs twitch while half buried in the fields. "With my own trick?" He managed to get out in between his wheezing, "Come on now, Midoriya-kun, you know better than that!"

-[-

Izuku stared out at the starry sky of Avalon, staring at the constellations. Fou slept peacefully on his shoulder, his cute little exhales tickling Izuku's neck. It was always peaceful up here, though Izuku wouldn't be lying to say he wasn't getting a little...restless. Years had passed since he'd arrived. Years of training under his mentor, playing with little Fou, and...well... blowing himself up quite a bit from his attempts at magic. If Merlin tripped over his own tongue doing long incantations, then Izuku may as well do headers face-first into concrete. Not to say Izuku didn't learn magic. He was quite skilled with some aspects of it. One of which he was putting to use now.

"Glad to see you're doing okay, mom." He whispered so as to not disturb Fou too much. He watched with eyes that saw more than just the night sky. His mom was sitting down for dinner, talking animatedly with auntie Mitsuki. She was fit and though her eyes contained very little fire anymore, she looked leagues better than she had when he had first watched her.

He regretted how his disappearance had nearly broken her. While he hated Bakugo now – spending so much time personally following so many different Heroes with his sight showed him exactly how much of a cesspool his personality was, even if his disappearance had affected the blonde – he still loved auntie Mitsuki and uncle Masaru. The two of them had barely let his mother out of their sights and had helped his mom work through the depression that had onset when he vanished.

The first time he had managed to gaze through space and time like this, his mother's eyes had looked so lifeless that he had turned around and begged for a spell to let him talk to her. His mentor had refused him. The last thing his mother needed was to start hearing her son's disembodied voice and making people think she was crazy. That first year had been hard. Just the sight of pork cutlets

had been enough for his mom to burst into tears, and Izuku had promised unholy vengeance on Merlin if his mom killed herself because Izuku was unable to talk to her and tell her he was alright. Merlin had sighed but agreed. If she looked to be in danger, he would allow Izuku to speak with her.

It had never happened. Auntie may not have been an awful person like her son, but she was just as willful and intense when you got her going. And Mitsuki loved her childhood best friend like the sister she never had. When it became clear her depression was weighing her down and preventing her from living, auntie had barreled in the front door, packed Inko up, and moved her over to her own home. Slowly, his mom had healed with her best friend.

Katsuki never said a word about how he had treated her son even as he noticeably wallowed in his own shame. Just one of the many reasons he came to greatly dislike the ash-blonde who had once been his friend.

"I'm doing well, mom. I know you can't hear me, but one day I'm going to give you the biggest hug of your life." He smiled as the breeze ruffled his hair, watching as she laughed from a joke auntie had told, "So stay strong, okay mom? Love you."

-[-

"Midoriya-chan."

Izuku was drawn from his reminiscing by the cute froggy girl, Tsuyu Asui. He smiled at her, "What's up, Tsu-chan?"

She flushed a little, pleased that someone in the class who she practically demanded call her by her given name was actually doing so. When she felt comfortable around someone, she just loved to know they felt comfortable around her too. Far too few of the people in her life ever became people who actually mattered. Only Habuko-chan amongst her former classmates before coming to U.A. ever seemed to warm up to her fully. She knew her attitude was a little strong and that her looks were not... classically considered beautiful, but was she really so off-putting? Luckily, her new classmates didn't seem bothered at all by her, Izuku least of all. She smiled back at him, "I generally say what's on my mind." She stated simply, before following with, "The strength and speed you've displayed so far is incredible."

Indeed, after crushing every test Aizawa had given them, Izuku had later attempted to sit out All Might's battle trials, surprising everyone. Some classmates had jeered at him, trying to get him to admit to being scared. Izuku had rolled his eyes and claimed, 'The rest of you won't learn a damn thing if I'm in your trial.' Many people in the class had started thinking him arrogant. As if they weren't and would never be a threat to him. Mineta had been whisper-screaming complaints to all and sundry until Aizawa had gotten out of his sleeping bag. Their homeroom teacher was also All Might's supervisor for the first month or two since he was a brand-new teacher, and had given Izuku his ultimatum; either participate or get expelled.

Yet unlike much of the rest of the class, threats of expulsion never seemed to phase the green- haired man. He'd just scratched the back of his head beneath his ponytail and let out a suffering sigh, but kept his mouth shut. And by luck of the draw, he'd been partnered with Tōru Hagakure – who would not shut up about how hot she thought he was. Something that Mina shared, leading to the two gossiping incessantly in the locker rooms – against Bakugo and Todoroki. The two unanimously thought to have the most powerful offensive Quirks in the class.

And clearly, there was at least some history there, because Bakugo had been chomping at the bit to face Izuku. Todoroki had been eager to prove his superiority as well, though the rest of them had to

infer that from the look on his face when it had been over.

And yet, neither of them had gotten their wish. According to a somewhat unnerved Tōru later, she had excitedly gone up to him, bouncy as always, and asked what the plan was. Izuku had merely headpatted her and told her, "Sorry Tōru-chan. I have a point to prove." She hadn't exactly complained, but the second the first syllable had left All Might's lips, Izuku had sprung into action. He'd broken into the building on his own, jumped through three floors to appear between Todoroki and Bakugo, and had kicked the both of them into separate walls before touching the 'bomb' with a hand. Not a single other member of the trial had a chance to do anything beyond Todoroki raising his foot in preparation to freeze the room and Bakugo's arms starting to crackle as he prepared to race out to face Izuku. The rubble from his breakthrough hadn't even had a chance to fall before it was over.

Everyone had just been struck silent in awe. Bakugo had looked broken. All Might hadn't even finished his announcement that the trial was starting before he had to switch gears and declare a Hero victory. Izuku hadn't said a word, beyond apologizing once more to Tōru once he'd gotten back outside. Aizawa had not forced him to participate again.

Mineta hated the green-haired man.

When the alarms had gone off the next day – he'd been voted Class President and immediately passed it off to Momo, explaining he hadn't even voted for himself because he didn't want to do it – he had nonetheless taken command and stopped everyone with nothing but a mere word. Just the sheer aura of danger he exuded during that moment had been enough to stop the panic, both because none of them wanted to set him off and because in that moment, everyone figured that an invading Villain would be the unlucky one.

The entire class was at least a little wary of Midoriya Izuku. Just the thought of him becoming a Villain was enough to make it feel like they were stuck in a freezer. But Tsuyu would overcome that wariness. Izuku clearly wanted to be a Hero and was nothing but kind to her whenever they spoke. She would not allow herself to be afraid of him. She smiled at him again, "Your Quirk is both amazing and kind of terrifying. It seems a lot like All Might's Quirk."

Izuku surprised everyone by bursting into laughter. He started laughing so hard he was almost crying. He was flat out holding his gut and nearly sliding out of his seat. Tsuyu tilted her head, a little bewildered and a bit hurt too, "...Was it something I said?" She tapped a finger to her chin.

Izuku wiped a tear away, "S-sorry." He let out another choked bit of laughter, "It was just really funny, Tsu-chan. My Quirk isn't what you think it is." He looked entirely entertained, "None of you have ever seen me use my Quirk, and you likely never will either."

The atmosphere in the bus seemed to freeze. Bakugo himself looked like he'd seen a ghost "W-wh-what?" Someone stammered. Izuku thought it was Hanta.

Tsuyu's eyes were wider than usual. "W-what is that supposed to mean?"

"Hmmm..." Izuku seemed to debate with himself, "Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter if I tell you. I never meant to keep it a secret, after all. Though it will cost me my amusement whenever someone thinks my abilities are from my Quirk." He grinned, "Ehh, was bound to get old I suppose. Just don't go telling the other classes, eh? Keep it our little inside joke." The entire class – even Aizawa – was rivetted on him.

"I suppose you all know by now that I went missing when I was seven, yeah?" Izuku started,

getting nods from most of the class. Bakugo had told them to look him up once the gossip had started getting on his nerves. The bombastic blonde still hadn't spoken to his old best friend, and auntie Inko hadn't shared any details with him either. His attention was squarely on the man who he still couldn't reconcile with the boy he had bullied. "Well I didn't get kidnapped or anything like that. My Quirk was responsible for my disappearance."

"What did it do?" Momo was the one to ask, her eyes shining with that light that always appeared whenever she was learning something new and fascinating.

"Any of you ever watch that ancient anime Naruto?" He asked, causing some of them to almost fall out of their seats at the seeming non sequitur.

Kyōka scoffed and muttered under her breath, though she was easily heard in the silence of the bus, "Trash ass anime. What a waste of a good first half."

Izuku barked out a peal of laughter again, "Can't argue with ya there, Kyōka-chan." Kyōka flushed, "But anyway, you remember the Summoning Jutsu?" Eyes widened on the bus as some of them started to connect the dots. Before Momo could speak in her excitement, Izuku continued, "Yep, looks like Momo-chan has it. My Quirk reverse-summoned me elsewhere. It brought me to the greatest Heroes and teachers of Heroes... period." He grinned, and it was all teeth, "Through time and space, I've been learning at the sides of the greatest Heroes ever since I was seven. That's why I'm older than all of you. I've been in battles and fought Villains across the ages. Everything you've seen from me has been entirely strength I've wrought for myself. My Quirk is essentially defunct. Even after it evolved, I don't use it anymore. All it does now is allow me to bring the Heroes I sweat and bled with to my side, and neither of the three are leaving any time soon." He paused for a little breath, 'Well, other than Merlin. Even my Quirk can't break that spell on Avalon.' He continued, "It's purpose has been fulfilled. That's what's so funny."

If it wasn't for the sounds of the bus driving, a pin falling would have sounded like a bomb going off. Bakugo spoke to him for the first time, "Who are they?" He asked shakily, his entire world turned upside down, "Is it those three women that are always with you?"

"Aye." Izuku agreed, smirking at his old 'friend,' "Perhaps I should have them come over to U.A. one of these days? Kick you lot into shape." The entire class was right back to being terrified of the affable green-haired man. He laughed at the looks on their faces, "Don't worry, they won't hurt you too bad. In any case, looks like we're here, eh sensei?"

The bus had indeed stopped, and Aizawa looked as unnerved from the revelation as the rest of the class. He tried to not let it show, "Right you lot. Off the bus. Welcome to the USJ."

"Universal Studios Japan?!" Mina and Kaminari screamed in shocked joy.

Izuku burst into laughter again as several students turned to look at them, "Man I love this class. At

least it's never boring." ...

Izuku was only half listening to Thirteen's speech, despite it being a good one from one of his old favorites. He was over a decade past the point where he would be taken in by such a... flowery speech. It had been quite difficult to reconcile his past with the relative naivety Heroes seemed destined to possess in this world. Killing in the defense of others as a Hero wasn't exactly illegal, but it was considered a last resort, and something that often got promising Heroes stigmatized. It was as though parts of society seemed to believe Heroes should be perfectly happy to give their lives in the defense of others, but not be allowed to fight for their own lives.

Villains didn't have that problem. They were basically expected to kill their enemies. The real villains held no compunctions about doing anything they wished to you. Like that Muscular guy who didn't just kill the Water Hose duo, but tore them apart for his own amusement.

Teaching these kids that they didn't have to kill was important, but not acclimatizing them in some manner to the fact that they could very well be put in a dangerous situation that would require them to kill could be bad.

He blinked, feeling the air become charged a second before the lights above them sparked and sputtered. He let a grin cross his lips as a cloud of dense black smoke seemed to appear in the middle of the plaza. 'Speaking of dangerous situations.' He chuckled internally as the rest of the class seemed slow on the uptake. The gaseous mass expanded outwards, before a hand broke through it. And then another. And another, framing a poisonous-looking red eye. As more of his body came through, it became clear the man was covered in severed hands.

And then more and more people started coming through, each one with malice in their gazes. "Get back!" Aizawa roared, slipping his goggles on, "They're Villains!"

He watched as the black smoke condensed, revealing a 'face' with yellow eyes. The one covered in severed hands scratched at his neck. And not light scratches either. That pasty, white haired dude looked like he was actually scratching his own flesh off. "Hey, what gives? I went through all this trouble getting a party together and the boss isn't even here? Where's All Might?" He stopped scratching, "Think if we kill some kids, he'll come?"

Aizawa barked out more orders, "Thirteen, get everyone back to the bu-" Yeah no. Izuku bent his knees with a maniac grin on his face and shot forward. "MIDORIYA?!?!"

The entire world seemed to slow in Izuku's gaze as he took them all in. Threat assessment; big guy first, then the smoke, then the quote unquote leader. Rest were obvious cannon fodder.

Things sped up, and almost all of the Villains were blown away or bowled over by the blast of wind that whipped at them when he appeared with his foot buried in the giant Villain with the beak and exposed brain's sternum. The black-skinned Villain shot backwards like a rocket, plowing into and through the mountain of the landslide zone. Before the Villain had gotten even a meter away from his foot, Izuku had already turned his attention to the gaseous Villain and caught a gleam of silvery metal as the smoke blew backwards from the shockwave. He sprang forward and flipped over the wave of shadowy smoke sent forward in a panic, before he axe-kicked the metal brace that he'd seen earlier. The impact dented the brace horribly and the Villain crashed to the ground. A deep male voice groaned before the shadows shrank into a humanoid form. It didn't move.

Izuku's Clairvoyance warned him of an impending attack that would disintegrate him if it touched. He quickly held out a hand and in a green glow, the shaft of a great spear appeared in hand. He spun around with his spear already whirling, and his ears caught the noise of flesh being parted. The white-haired man screamed as his four fingers flew through the air and splattered on the grounds, before his new stumps burst into flames. Before he could even register the pain, Izuku's foot crashed into his gut and put hairline fractures into multiple ribs. He fell to the ground and started the writhe in agony, the concrete beneath him turning to dust each time his other hand came in contact with it.

"So." Izuku said conversationally as he stabbed the blazing head of his spear into the ground and leaned on it, "Yer the one who dusted the barrier, eh?" The white-haired man continued to scream and choke as the hand clutching his face fell off, revealing the most chapped lips Izuku had ever seen. "Shit, you ever seen a Chapstick, dude? Man, those are the antithesis of DSLs." The man's dying cries were replaced by a rumbling as Izuku smirked again. He lifted his spear, the blade

catching ablaze again when it left its concrete sheathe. Another shockwave blew even Aizawa – who was racing down – back again as the giant Villain's fist impacted it. "You're big." Izuku quipped as he stared at the brain-head's face, his spear's shaft holding firm, "Fought bigger."

"N-Nōmu..." A raspy voice rang out, and the brute immediately disengaged and scooped up his obvious boss, getting him away from Izuku, "Who-who the fuck are you?" The guy started throwing a tantrum, "You blew back Nōmu and stopped his punch! HOW!" He started looking pretty unhinged, "NOMU WAS BIO-ENGINEERED TO KILL ALL MIGHT! HOW DID YOU OVERCOME HIS SHOCK ABSORPTION?!"

"Oh, is that what that was?" Izuku asked carelessly, a savage grin on his face, "Didn't really notice it. You should find a new mad scientist. Yours clearly ain't doing a good job."

"KILL HIM!" The white-haired brat screamed out, and Nōmu charged forward.

Izuku left his spear impaled in the ground, "Been a while since I had a good scrap! Bring it!" He met Nōmu and ducked a wild jab, before unloading with an uppercut straight into the beast's jaw, lifting it off the ground. He grabbed its leg and swung it over his head, before hammering it into the ground and causing an earthquake to rock through the USJ. "Come on ya slab of meat, don't tell me that's all ya got!"

The Nōmu roared as it got up, punching wildly at blazing speeds. Each attempted hit shot out shockwaves reminiscent of All Might's punches, carving furrows into the ground and demolishing the fountain. Izuku dodged them all with his superior agility before he spun and caught Nōmu's arm at the wrist and kicked out. His foot landed square in the beast's knee and a sickening series of cracks and snaps rang out as he pulverized the joint. Its leg was sticking out at an angle it definitely should not have been, and Izuku used its arm to slam it brain-first into the pavement. With a tug and a twist, he dislocated its arm at the shoulder before ramming his knee into the elbow and pulverizing it too.

"Huh, that's some pain tolerance." He said lackadaisically as Nōmu didn't make a sound. He let go and turned, walking to the leader brat, "Now Handjob," he started, speaking in a faux-friendly manner, "Why don't you tell me who you're working with, since you're clearly not smart enough-" he jumped and backflipped over Nōmu, who was fully healed and tearing furrows into the concrete with his fingers to slow himself down, "Well now..."

The leader brat started to laugh, "What, did you think that was it? You broke its knee, elbow, and ripped its shoulder out of socket? Did you think that would be enough?" His red eyes were burning with hatred, "I told you! Nōmu is our bioengineered weapon to kill All Might! Did you think Shock Absorption was its only Quirk? It has Hyper Regeneration too! It'll keep coming and coming until you fuck up and then it'll tear you apart!"

"You would be more intimidating if you weren't screeching like 12-year-old losing at a Call of Duty game." Izuku shot back, "I'd call you noob at this but that would be insult to all the noobs."

"F-FUCK YOU! NO ONE CALLS ME A NOOB!" the brat screeched, "Fucking kill him, Nōmu!"

"Man, I was hoping for a good fight." Izuku whined as he resumed dodging, "But you're just a mindless beast aren't you? That brain just for show?" He punched his two fists together, stopping its punch and breaking its wrist between them, before he kicked it back. He sighed, "Man, what a drag. You're not even alive, are ya? You're just a living puppet following orders. Not even a wince of pain." Nōmu shot forward again, and this time Izuku dodged behind it and wrapped his arms around its waist. "Up ya go, big guy!" He threw himself back as he lifted Nōmu over his shoulders and performed a picture-perfect German Suplex. The ground cracked and cratered again, concrete

pieces flying everywhere.

Up on the sidelines, the completely and utterly unworried Mina held up a scorecard with an 11 on it.

But Izuku didn't let go of Nōmu's stomach. He rolled the both of them standing again and then did another Suplex, breaking the ground of the USJ even more. And then he went for another one. This time when he rolled, he pushed himself up with his arms and flew all the way up to the top of the dome. Nōmu was already getting to his feet, when Izuku pushed off the ceiling and rocketed down, "OLÉ!" Both feet impacted squarely on Nōmu's chest and he felt bone and organs alike shattering beneath his heels, driving Nōmu back into the ground and digging a trench with its body. Izuku even stuck the landing, "AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!"

"FUCK YEAH MIDORI!" Mina cheered, her scorecard having the 11 crossed out in favor of a 13.

Izuku laughed as he hopped off Nōmu and started walking to a shaken white-haired brat, "Now, where were we, World's-Worst-Blowjob?" He asked rhetorically, before stopping and turning with a twitching eyebrow. He held his hand out and his spear wrenched itself from the ground and into his hand, "Enough." He said, disappearing in a blur of motion and appearing behind Nōmu, "Heal that." He said dispassionately as Nōmu crumbled, its torso separated from its hips as the rest of the students cringed. Even with the fire engulfing the beast, it still regenerated, though noticeable slower than before, "OH COME ON!" He snarled in frustration, before he stabbed it in the chest and his Magic seared a rune into its flesh. "Burn!"

A firestorm erupted in front of them, its blaze making even the other students cry out from the heat from over a hundred meters away. When it burned out, nothing but an oily dark smear on the ground remained. The rest of the Villains had been playing dead, and upon seeing all three of their leaders down for the count, threw up their hands in surrender.

The leader took one look at it and seemed to die internally, "Man, it's game over. Get us out of here, Kurogiri." Nothing happened, "Oi, didn't you hear me?" he rasped, tears of enraged frustration starting to fall as he scratched at his neck with his one good hand.

Izuku shook his head and walked forward with his spear in hand. He stared at the defeated man, who held such a look of rage and madness in his eyes that Izuku was surprised he wasn't spontaneously dying from the death glare.

"I'll kill you." The man said, madness apparent in his voice, "I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

Izuku's eyes widened as his Clairvoyance screamed, seeing the man's Quirk evolve so that it would carry on dust like a virus and disintegrate anything for miles. He flashed into action, his spear cutting through the man's wrist and burning the stump. His one good hand fell useless to the ground, and for good measure Izuku jabbed his spear at it. appeared again in front of the tip of his spear and the hand disintegrated in a small but intense flame.

The man seemed to be beyond pain at this point, lunging forward with the intent of tearing Izuku's throat out with his teeth. Izuku's boot crashed into his face and broke his nose. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"NEVER FEAR, FOR I AM...here?" All Might burst into the building and almost fell on his face as he beheld the surrendering Villains and the unconscious ones.

Izuku twirled his spear and then held it on his shoulders, his arms falling over the shaft and his hands seemingly limp in front of it, "You're late." Izuku smirked at his old favorite Hero.

-[-

Aaaand we're done. This is BY FAR the most overpowered Izuku I've come up with yet, as I'm sure you can tell. And let me tell you, I've come up with some PRETTY FREAKING OVERPOWERED concepts. Now this initial pilot IS missing some bits during the Merlin sections that I was getting stuck on. I elected to just get it posted to see how you guys like it. When I actually post this as an actual chapter, the Merlin section will be expanded.

And as some of you know, this entire story is planned with a concrete end. I don't plan on this being a forever fic while the manga continues.

Who are Izuku's three girlfriends? I've stuffed enough hints in here that you should be able to at least guess if you're familiar with FGO, though it will be difficult for two of them.

Let me know how you guys liked it!

Chapter 4

So here I'm trying something a bit new. Many fics I've seen give Izuku some awesome Quirk or makes him strong early or what have you, and then either contrive situations to keep his personality the same or just barely change it. Well, not this time. Izuku's Quirk has a direct effect on his mentality and he's definitely not as much of a cinnamon roll as usual.

Come say hi! Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh

-[-

"I'm not Quirkless!" Izuku pleaded with his old friend, "The doctor said I don't have something on my toe, and that means I DO have a Quirk!"

"Ehh??" The much meaner-looking ash-blonde didn't look impressed, "Then where is it? Huh, Deku? You're already four!" His hands started crackling with little sparkles of miniature explosions, "I think you're a liar!" He sneered, "I think the doctor said you were Quirkless, and now you're just lying about it. Well you should give up, loser. Quirkless people can't be Heroes."

"Jeez, Deku." The fat boy with wings laughed as he casually floated in the air, "You're not just useless, but Quirkless too."

"Quirkless! Quirkless!" The rest of the playground chanted, sticking together as kids were wont to do. The teachers watched on, only half paying attention and uncaring about the boy being bullied. They'd step in if the kids went too far, but if you didn't have a Quirk then you really were worthless in this world. And it wasn't like they believed Midoriya either. He turned four six months ago. The last child in their class had come into their Quirk more than nine months ago. Lying wasn't going to make a Quirk appear.

Izuku clenched his fists, tears streaming from his eyes, "I am NOT QUIRKLESS, Kacchan!" He screamed, and then he changed. In the blink of an eye, rather than a young boy... there was a tiny green-tinged-black kitten. Everyone started, wide-eyed at the tiny little kitten. Its tail waved in the air in confusion, and it titled its little head, "Rowr!?"

Two things happened almost immediately. The girls nearly exploded from cuteness overload and rushed over, and the boys burst out laughed, "WAHAHAH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT, DEKU?!" Katsuki was nearly crying, "YOU FINALLY GET A QUIRK AND YOU'RE A LITTLE KITTY CAT?!"

"RAWR!" Izuku roared ineffectually, causing Katsuki to actually fall over in laughter, holding his gut.

"YOU REALLY ARE USELESS! EVEN YOUR STUPID QUIRK IS USELESS! WHO TURNS INTO A LITTLE KITTY?!" He laughed, ignoring how the little kitty seemed to be growling in frustration, "You really will never be a Hero, Deku! What are you going to do? Cute them to death?! AHAHAHA!"

"RAWR!" Izuku lunged forward, paw bashing into Katsuki's face and dragging downwards, his tiny claws digging tiny furrows into the boy's face from his forehead down to his cheek.

"AHHH!" Katsuki screamed in shock and pain, his hand clapping onto the lightly bleeding wounds.

"What's going on over here!" The teacher finally ran over at hearing their star pupil screaming in pain.

One of the boys immediately tattled, "Sensei, Deku finally got his Quirk and Katsuki was making fun of it and then Deku clawed him!"

The teacher couldn't believe his eyes, seeing the little black cat on the floor looking shocked at what he'd done, and Katsuki rolling on the floor in pain. 'I don't believe it. Midoriya really was telling the truth. And of course, he goes and mars the best Hero hopeful in the class. Damn brat.' He snapped out of it, "Come on Bakugo, let's get you to the nurse. Midoriya, transform back. Kurenai, bring Midoriya to the office and call his mother. He just scratched up Bakugo's face."

...

The next few hours were a blur for Izuku. He spent the forty-five minutes it took his mom to arrive learning how to transform back and forth, and it tired him out. He kept himself busy trying to forget he had just attacked his best friend. Or probably ex best friend now. Somehow he didn't feel like

he liked Kacchan too much anymore. It was weird. Maybe it was because of the way Kacchan made fun of his Quirk? So, what if it wasn't super flashy? He'd proven it could be strong, right? And even if it couldn't, there were underground Heroes. He could be one of them if he needed to.

His mom arrived, bursting into tears when he gleefully showed her his Quirk, though she was supremely confused at how he ended up with it. She didn't have a transformation Quirk, and neither did Izuku's father. When they finally calmed her down, they told her that Izuku got into a fight and scratched Katsuki up bad, causing her to burst into more tears!

"Izuku, why would you hurt your friend?!" She asked him, shocked.

"Hmph!" Izuku crossed his arms, shocking her even more at how mulish he was being. Her son had never been so willful! Had his Quirk changed something in her precious boy's brain? "Some friend he was! He's been making fun of me since he got his Quirk and I didn't! He called me useless and said I could never be a Hero!"

Inko stared at him, agape, "What?!"

"Yeah!" Izuku nodded sharply, "And even after I got my Quirk, he just made even more fun of me! He said my Quirk was useless because it was too cute and kept saying I could never be a Hero. Well I sure showed him! My Quirk's not useless and I'm not either!"

"Of course, you aren't!" Inko said, warping him up in a tight hug. Izuku relaxed in her embrace, "I thought you two were best friends! Why would he say mean things like that?"

Izuku shook his head, "I don't think we've been friends since last year." He said, a little forlornly.

"Sorry to interrupt," The Vice-Principle of the school shuffled in, "But I think it's time to take your son home, Midoriya-san. I would suggest taking him to the specialist and keeping him home for a few days." She looked pained, "At least until this blows over. It looks like he's going through some changes, so we want to have a better idea of what we're working with. Midoriya-kun has never been aggressive like this."

Inko looked equally pained, while Izuku looked annoyed. She did as asked and took her son home. Her son surprised her by refusing to go see the specialist. When she asked why he was refusing, Izuku just said that the doctor had told him he probably had a useless Quirk the last time they visited, if he had one at all. "I don't like that old guy."

As they finished the drive in relative silence, Inko couldn't help but hope this would just be a phase that would pass Izuku by. Some fresh Quirk jitters, as it were. She wanted her sweet baby back. As for Izuku? 'So what if my Quirk isn't the flashiest? It's a great Quirk anyway! I'm going to be the best Hero, and no one is going to stop me!'

-[-

"Oh boy, you look happy, Izu-kun." Ochako said, though she honestly was a little bit wary.

"Happy?" Setsuna piped up from beside her, "I'd say bloodthirsty." She grinned, showing her equally fanged grin, "We going all out?"

Komori – the last member of Izuku's four-member team from the Cavalry Battle – tilted her head cutely, "I thought we weren't going to show off for the Festival?"

"Not the Festival." Izuku countered, turning a rather evil-looking grin on the girls, "Just the first couple stages. Me? I was planning on sandbagging until I got to face him. What luck that it ended up being in the first round!"

"Oooooh!" It dawned on Ochako, "The scary-looking boom boy?"

Setsuna winced, "Man, those explosions are loud. Why were you looking forward to fighting him?"

"He's a dick." Izuku said flatly, causing Setsuna to giggle, "The teachers always overpraised him, and he got a big head. We used to be friends, up until he started being a bully about me being 'Quirkless' or calling my Quirk weak after I finally got it. Just like the rest of my class."

"Wait!" Komori looked a little angry, "Are you saying he and the rest of your class bullied you?" Izuku nodded, patting her head. "That's not right! Oooh I should shroom the hell out of him!" She swore, causing him to grin.

"I was the last in our class to get a Quirk. If I didn't know any better I would say our teachers were Meta Liberationists. They never did a thing, even after I got my Quirk. The bullying didn't last long, because once I got my Quirk I got stronger and more willing to fight back for myself. I kicked everyone's ass at least once in class, but even after that." He grinned again, his teeth looking even sharper than usual, "I was still 'just a little kitty.' As far as Bakugo knows, that's still the case."

Setsuna burst out laughing, and Ochako and Komori followed, "Oooh I can't wait to see this. Wipe the floor with that asshole, Midori-kun."

"That was always the plan." Izuku started, before he heard Midnight calling him and Bakugo. ...

"Deku!" Katsuki snarled as he stared at his enemy, "How the hell did you get to the final stage with that shitty Quirk of yours?!" He spat on the ground, "I guess it doesn't matter. Too bad you ran into me! We're allowed to use our Quirks this time, you shitty Deku. You won't even get close, kitty."

Izuku smirked, "How's the face, Kacchan?" His smirk widened when a vein visibly started to pulse on his old friend's head. The three scarred lines running down his face were still on the red side.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, Deku." The bombastic blonde 'promised.'

"Let's NOT kill anyone, boys." Midnight deadpanned, turning the mic off so that her voice wouldn't transmit to the audience. At least Bakugo had the self-restraint to not shout at the top of his lungs for the world to misinterpret. She eyed Cementoss, thinking to herself, 'Great. A grudge match.' She almost let out a sigh as Cementoss nodded minutely to her. "BEGIN!" She flicked the microphone back on and cracked her whip.

"I'm going to end this in one-" Katsuki rushed forward, only for his eyes to go wide when Izuku seemingly vanished and appeared inside his guard in the blink of an eye. "GAHHH!" He coughed spittle from his mouth as Izuku's knee crashed into his sternum and forced him five feet off the ground. Izuku spun rapidly, throwing a roundhouse kick that smashed into Katsuki's face and sent him smashing into the stage below.

And before Katsuki even stopped rolling, Izuku vanished again, reappearing exactly where he had been at the start of the match, hands in his pockets, "What was that, Kacchan? I didn't quite catch it." The stadium burst into applause at this feat of strength and speed.

"What the FUCK was that?" Katsuki forced himself to his feet, wiping the drool from his lips, "That wasn't your Quirk!" He accused Izuku.

"Why does everything have to be a Quirk with you?" Izuku grinned savagely at him, "I call itSoru, and I've already taught it to a few of my classmates."

"What the fuck!?" Katsuki raged, "Who fucking taught you?"

"I did." Izuku got serious, "I promised myself I would become the greatest Hero in the world, and that meant I had to be better than you and everyone else. Why don't I show you the fruits of that labor?"

"Not a FUCKING CHANCE!" His right arm crackling with tiny explosions, Katsuki swiped up, carving the concrete of the ring into medium sized chunks and propelling them at Izuku as a distraction. His left arm built up a sheen of sweat as his glands began to weep at a faster rate. The chunks of ring that he blew at his enemy were all evaded with insanely rapid movement, Izuku appearing to be in multiple places at once. Not a speck of dust touched him as he used Soru rapid- fire, confident smile still on his face. "FUCKING DIE!" Katsuki threw his left arm forward, the crackles much louder than the previous ones.

BOOM

The stadium rocked minutely as a huge explosion engulfed the other half of the ring, several in the crowd clapping their hands to their ears or flinching from the thud hitting them. They couldn't even imagine actually being in the ring to take that blast.

Katsuki kept a wary eye on the smoke, "COME OUT, DEKU! I KNOW THAT WASN'T ENOUGH TO TAKE YOU OUT, COWARD!"

Nothing could have prepared him for what came out of the black cloud of smoke. The sound went right to that 'prey' part of every living creature's brains as the giant pitch-black Jaguar rushed at him, yowling in that classic manner you always heard in the movies.

Katsuki let out an uncharacteristic squeak of fear as fight-or-flight picked 'run the fuck away' for once, diving to the right and avoiding having the other side of his face clawed off this time. The jaguar chuffed at him as it skidded to a stop in the ring, its claws digging into the concrete. His eye twitched as he realized it was laughing at him.

The roar that came after made most everyone nearby flinch in primal fear, before Izuku morphed back into his human form, his clothes thankfully reappearing. "How you like my Quirk now, Kacchan?" He taunted the blonde.

"What the fuck?!" Katsuki blinked, before rage started creeping back in, "What the FUCK, DEKU!?!?" He roared, "Was it funny, huh?! Were you having a great big laugh behind my back?! What the fuck was that Quirk?! You were a shitty little kitty!"

"That's right!" Izuku confirmed, "Why would I tell a jackass like you what my Quirk was? Wasn't it a 'useless Quirk that could only turn me into a shitty little kitty? ' You and all of your little sycophants assumed my Quirk was useless! Why would I correct that when you were doing such a good job making fools of yourselves? Newsflash, asshole!" He grinned savagely, "My Quirk is Jaguar, and I'd take it over your stupid explosions any day. Shall I show you my next party trick?"

"EHHHHHH?!?!?" Katsuki nearly had an aneurysm on the spot in sheer fury, "You have more?!"

Izuku stripped off his shirt, throwing it off the ring and getting plenty of wolf whistles from the crowd, Setsuna loudest of all. "Enough talk!" Izuku visibly started to grow, and grow huge. He stopped at nearly ten feet in height, with giant hulking muscle and fur covering his entire body. He looked like a cross between a human and a jaguar. His tail waved side to side behind him, and then he vanished at even greater speeds than before, his huge fist smashing right into the side of Katsuki's face and sending him crashing into the ring once more, "How do you like my Hybrid form?"

"DIE!" His response was an enraged explosion from the bomber. "YOU THINK YOU CAN PLAY ME FOR A FOOL AND GET AWAY WITH IT?!"

"Yeah." Izuku said simply, smirking with all his teeth visible, "What are you going to do about it, bitch?"

"RAAAARGGGGGHHHHH!!!!" The blonde was practically incoherent now, "You were a shitty pebble in my path then, and I'm going to put you back where you fucking belong, DEKU!"

Izuku vanished again, his knee once again abusing Katsuki's sternum as his old friend coughed in agony. A shockwave ripped through the air as he flew back, his entire body feeling the shock. He was going to land way out of bounds, perhaps even crashing into the lower audience wall. Izuku vanished with another Soru and beat Katsuki to the punch, kicking him in the back and practically rag-dolling him from the momentum change. Katsuki flew back towards the ring with a rasp of agony being the only sound he could make. Izuku appeared above him this time, and kicked him down to the ring like a missile. He crashed into the concrete and kicked up a cloud of powder and rocks from the crater. Izuku landed in a crouch on the ring, bloodthirsty smirk all over his face.

Off to the side, Cementoss stared at the boy in disapproval. Midnight was of two minds. On one hand, Izuku had definitely not shown himself in a very heroic light right there. The match was over. He had already won. It was clear Bakugo wasn't going to be able to recover. Izuku had then prolonged the match and kicked his opponent back into the ring. She had known when she started it that it was probably a grudge match between the two, but hearing the exchanges had shone some light on the situation. Not that anyone but her, Cementoss, and anyone in the crowd with Quirks like Jīrō's would have heard. Izuku's image was definitely going to be taking a hit after this. On the other hand?

She couldn't help but rub her thighs together and had to bite back a very inappropriate moan. "See, I am a generous friend. I even kept you in-bounds!" Izuku taunted him, relishing the

beatdown he was delivering to the boy who had let all of his potential go to his head.

Katsuki's glands practically disgorged themselves of sweat, putting him at serious risk of total dehydration as he glared hatefully at his opponent. Off to the side, Cementoss made to act but he was too late. "FUCKING DIE!" He thrust his arms forward, firing off a titanic blast that was bigger than even the one his gauntlet had managed to produce. The explosion engulfed the entire ring and rose up nearly a hundred meters. Screams rang out, but were totally deafened by the sheer force of the explosion.

When the smoke cleared, half the ring was gone, and a giant crater was left in its wake. "IZU- KUN!" Three voices in the crowd screamed out in fear.

Katsuki wavered as judgmental voices started streaming in, with Cementoss looking horrified, and Midnight was almost pure white over the realization that her momentary distraction had caused a student's death on national television. Finally, someone screamed, "UP THERE!" Heads snapped up and Midnight almost sank to her knees in sheer relief.

Plummeting to the earth was Izuku, not a scratch on him. And then he just stopped in midair and bounced back up, roughly twenty feet above where the ring was. And then he bounced again, an audible twang hitting everyone's ears. And then he just kept hopping in midair, smirking directly at Katsuki all the while. Katsuki's arms fell limp at his side, shock engulfing him. "Man, I expected more, Kacchan! Weren't you always screaming about how you were going to surpass All Might?" He laughed at the cold fury and despair he could read plainly in the boy's face, "You're boring-" Katsuki looked like he had just straight-up stabbed him with those words, "Time to end it!" He stopped hopping and flipped, his leg almost visibly rending the air in front of it, "RANKYAKU!" A blade of what appeared like pure energy shot from his leg like a sickle.

Katsuki gaped, but his danger senses were screaming at him to dodge, and he did so. The blade of air cut straight through the ring, splitting what remained of it into half, before continuing and cutting through another meter of earth. Izuku landed on the ring as he scrambled to his feet, but Katsuki winced as he practically felt his sweat glands cough when he tried to activate his Quirk. He was bone dry. Izuku's tail lashed out and wrapped around his neck, choking him.

Izuku's huge fist landed in his gut before the other screamed for his face. Katsuki threw his arms up to try to defend, but he may as well have tried to stop a car for all the good it did him. Blood started leaking from a small cut on his forehead from the impact of Izuku's fist. He tried desperately to defend himself, but it was clear he had nothing left as another blow buried into his ribs. And then he was jerked forward and he swore he felt his skull crack when Izuku headbutted him. He fell limp as he blacked out.

Midnight hurried to call the end of the match, but before she could even open her mouth Izuku flicked his tail, sending his old friend to land on the grass, totally beaten and brutalized. He morphed back into his full human form, and turned his head to Midnight.

She swallowed heavily, before raising her arm, "Victor! Midoriya Izuku!"

There was no applause as Izuku collected his U.A. gym jacket with a satisfied smile, not even glancing at his old friend as he was carried to the medical bay by U.A.'s robots.

-[-

"Well that was...certainly a match." Ryūkyū said a little delicately, a look of mild disapproval on her face as she took a sip of her tea, "I can lip read, so I was able to 'hear' some of what they were talking about. Not a good look for either of them, in my opinion. They could have settled things in

school rather than on live television. What do you thi-" She stopped, eyes going wide.

Usagiyama Rumi was sparkling. Literally. She had little stars in her eyes and her foot was thumping like her Quirk's namesake. She had the biggest grin on her face as she mechanically turned to Ryūkyū, "Hey Ryūko... how do we send in one of those intern requests?"

Ryūkyū facepalmed. Why had she expected anything different?

-[-

And here we go! Hope you all enjoyed Katsuki getting the shit kicked out of him. One of these days I have to write a Brotsuki fic, but not today. Now obviously, quite a bit of Izuku's growing up was cut out for this snip, but I really just wanted to get up to this point so I could write that fight for this pilot. I imagine that made it quite jarring for the personality changes, but rest assured if I turn this into a full fic I'll be going through all that.

Now why did that personality change come into effect? Because this Izuku is based off Rob Lucci and his carnivorous Zoan Devil Fruit. Carnivorous Zoan users are usually naturally a lot more aggressive. Izuku in this LOVES fighting, and Jaguars are pretty territorial. With Katsuki acting like he had the biggest dick and their backstory together, really the two just wanted to beat the stuffing out of one another. Yes, I'm aware Lucci was a Leopard and not a Jaguar. Izuku is a melanistic jaguar or "Black Panther."

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed! Hit me with them reviews! Not entirely sure which one will be next yet, but I have a number of concepts in the works.

Come say hi! Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh

The Great Sage

For once, I'm doing a disclaimer!

In this fic, I'm doing something I've been wanting to experiment with for probably over a year at this point. It's something entirely different, as I am adding characters from other series I really enjoy to the main cast. And that means REMOVING some characters from 1- A! No. I don't care that they're your favorite. If all you're going to do is bitch about it, save yourself the trouble and don't review.

Thank you Ignis for your help with the gratuitous spanish. -[-

Midoriya Inko never had the normal worries regular parents had. She never had to worry about whether her precious little boy would be special. If he would be one of the unlucky few to be the wrong kind of special; the kind with no Quirk. No, from the moment she laid eyes on him for the first time, she knew her little Izuku could be anything he wanted.

Instead, her worries were about keeping Izuku safe long enough to be whatever he wanted. When he was born, she and her husband were befuddled. Her Quirk was the Attraction of Small Things. His was Fire Breathing. As far as they knew, no one in their immediate lineages had any Mutant Type Quirks. Most were either Emitters or more rarely Transformation.

So, it was quite a shock to see her little boy for the first time, and realize he had a lot of hair. You could even call it light fur. He was FAR too furry for a human child, never mind one his age. It didn't cover his entire body, but it covered enough. And that wasn't even counting the extremely prehensile monkey tail coming from his lower back.

But despite the differences and extreme confusion his obvious Quirk gave them, she and her husband didn't love their child any less. And he was their child. No one else could have that diamond-patterned series of freckles, dark-green hair, and emerald eyes. The doctors had been just as confused, and got the shocks of their lives when they examined little Izuku.

"My word!" The lead doctor's exclamation immediately drew their attention, prompting Inko to frantically ask if there was anything wrong with her baby, "Wrong? Perish the thought! I've just never seen Quirk Factor numbers like these!" The man exclaimed, a look of excitement on his face as he adjusted his glasses, "His numbers are off the charts! And not only that, but they're high everywhere! He has classic signs of not only his clear Mutant Quirk, but Transformation and Emitter on top of it! You two will need to be extremely careful with little Izuku, Midoriya-san. He just may surprise you!"

The knowledge had done little to settle her nerves about being a new mother, and the doctor's words had proven prophetic. Izuku developed with a speed that caught his parents flatfooted, beating every physical developmental milestone by months. He was capable of sitting unsupported at two months, and had been crawling by month four. By month six, he had been capable of standing on his own, using his tail as support. By month eleven, he had been walking totally unsupported.

At a time that most parents would be cheering on their baby taking their first unsupported steps, Izuku had nearly given Inko a heart attack by hanging from the dinner table using his tail. Her son

was trying to kill his poor mother! She couldn't take frights like these!

Unfortunately for her, she was forced to learn to roll with the punches, because Izuku developed into an extremely free-spirited, mischievous little boy! By the time her books said he should have been slowly climbing steps one foot at a time and maybe kicking a ball around... her little boy was running and jumping all around the house, flinging himself to and fro using his tail and even doing acrobatics. She swore he must have been a gecko and not a monkey because she'd caught him on the damned ceiling once before! And by that, she meant she had been looking frantically for him and he'd just dropped onto her shoulders from above, scaring the lights out of her and laughing in delight all the while.

It was almost with unwilling relief that she finally was able to put him in preschool, right next to her best friend's little Katsuki. Once Katsuki awakened his literally explosive Quirk, she wasn't sure if she envied or pitied Mitsuki.

Of course, that was when the doctor's words came back to bite her. Izuku had been the center of attention in the pre-school classes. Everyone was in awe of how developed he was, and the fact

that he could have run circles around a child twice his age. By the time Katsuki awakened his Quirk at age four, Izuku had been able to leap halfway across the playground in a single bound, and could even lift something heavier than even his own body without so much as a grunt of exertion. But Katsuki's explosive Quirk? Now that was cool, and suddenly he wasn't the center of attention anymore. Everyone was praising Katsuki and his amazing Quirk, and while Izuku was happy for his best friend he couldn't help but be a little jealous. For Izuku, his abilities had always just been his normal. They'd never been unique in his own mind, despite the astonishment they created in others. Now he saw his best friend getting explosions, another classmate getting wings, and so on and he did start feeling a little annoyed that his special ability hadn't come in!

Pouting while the other fickle kids surrounded their new leader Katsuki, Izuku imagined himself launching fire from his hands, or summoning a windstorm, or anything cool and new. Adults would have laughed out loud if they had known what he was thinking. Izuku's Quirk was already so unique and amazing, so it was their job to make him realize that no 'flashy' powers would be coming.

Except they did.

He was swinging a stick around while pouting, and then all of a sudden the stick was twenty feet long and almost hit a teacher. The entire playground froze as they gawked at Izuku and his huge stick. Even he was staring at it in disbelief, "Izuku, what was that?!" Katsuki yelled at him, a little irritated at his spotlight being taken.

"I don't know, Kacchan...?" Izuku didn't really have an answer, before he focused on the stick. He imagined it becoming smaller, and it snapped right back to regular size. He grinned and pointed it into the air, imagining it growing and it shot into the sky while he laughed in delight. It snapped back to small size and the rest of the class surrounded him.

"Wow that was so cool!" One of the little girls exclaimed.

Another was pouting, "It's not fair! You're already super strong! Why do you get to have a super cool Quirk too?"

Katsuki was scowling a bit, "So you can make stuff big? Try something else!" The dumbfounded teachers watched in total disbelief as Izuku went around the playground, trying to grow other things. The kids were confused, because nothing he tried actually worked. Only the stick did. It wasn't a wood-based power, because he tried it on the wooden blocks keeping the sand in the

sandbox, and got nothing. It was only the stick.

A teacher came over, "Try this, Midoriya-kun." She handed over a broom gently. A plastic one. Like the stick, the broom grew twenty feet, before snapping back to normal in his hands, "How bizarre." She couldn't help but comment, "You can only grow sticks? Or poles?"

"I guess?" Izuku was equally lost, of course, "Still, that's pretty cool! I have a Quirk!"

"That's not fair!" One of the boys who hadn't awakened a Quirk yet exclaimed, "I don't even have one Quirk and Midoriya has two! That's greedy!"

"What do you mean?" Izuku cocked his head, "Isn't this my Quirk?" He grew the broom again for emphasis.

The rest of the class stared at him deadpan, and the teacher explained gently, "Midoriya-kun, adults can't move or jump the way you can. Your sense of balance and flexibility are also amazing. Adults also don't look furry like you-" Indeed, Izuku's arms and legs were already darkening and he even had what looked like the beginnings of sideburns, "Or have a tail. Your Quirk was your Monkey traits. This is extremely surprising."

"Really?" Izuku was still confused, "That's always been normal to me. I didn't know it was a Quirk."

The teacher laughed, "Well little monkey, you could already have been a good Hero with just that, so you're going to be a great one, aren't you?" Izuku and the rest of the children cheered.

The spotlight totally taken off him, Katsuki frowned in annoyance.

When Inko had learned of her son's new ability, she'd almost started to weep at how much more mischievous he could be. Indeed, she got used to him standing up on a vertical broom-handle, perfectly balanced like a little cat, and then jumping onto her shoulders. The trip to the doctors hadn't revealed much they hadn't already known. His Quirk numbers had climbed even higher than when he had been born, and she had already known he had Quirk Markers for all the types.

The doctors had wanted to do tests on him, but Inko hadn't been comfortable and had taken Izuku home, though she promised to contact them if anything else came up. And come up things did. Not immediately no. Beyond Izuku's strength growing to the point he could jump vertically a story and a half by the time he was five, and start outright being able to lift weights half a year later, nothing much changed.

Katsuki had learned how to make bigger explosions, and the entire class had Quirks by now. It was during a new year where a new student came in from a different school. She didn't end up staying long – her dad had been transferred to Musutafu for training for a few months before being sent elsewhere for a higher position – but the impact of her arrival echoed in the class. She had a transformation Quirk, and a really cool one at that! It let her turn into a dog! A full blown, amusingly colored Siberian Husky to be precise.

Izuku had fallen in love with her Quirk, and had poked and prodded her about how it felt, how cool it was to run on four legs, and all sorts of questions about her Quirk. Amused and happy at the attention, the girl had happily answered all of them. Izuku had declared that he wanted a Quirk like hers too and had scrunched up his nose in concentration.

The boy with long fingers snorted, "Yeah, that'll be the day! Midoriya getting a third quir-" BAMF. In a flash and small puff of smoke, a garishly green Siberian Husky barked happily as the

other husky visibly jawdropped, "-k. WHAT THE HELL?!"

Izuku barked in excitement before running in circles chasing his tail. Then, in a flash that no one could follow, had knocked down a slightly-fuming-in-jealousy Katsuki and started licking his face, "Gah! Get off me!" And Izuku was off again in a flash, bounding this way and that way and even doing a wall run nearly to the roof of the school vertically. He bounded off, spun, and landed in his normal monkey boy form.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Izuku cheered, surrounded by his classmates. Katsuki clenched a fist and stomped off, annoyed that he'd once again been 'beaten.'

Inko had been rendered... immune to her son's shenanigans lately, so for once she took his new ability in stride and had merely grabbed her keys to take him to the specialist again. Once there, Izuku demonstrated his new ability to transform into a dog, and this time the specialist who had been seeing him since he was born gained a gleam in his eye.

"Midoriya-kun, that is a fascinating new ability you've shown us today, and it gave me several clues about what your Quirk actually is!" He pulled a book from his shelf, "Do you think you could try turning into this?"

Izuku looked at it, with Inko looking over his shoulder and blanching. She rapidly shook her head, instantly starting to sweat and waving her hands to the doctor. She was ignored. Izuku put the book in her lap and with a BAMF, there was a gigantic Siberian Tiger in the room, grinning toothily. The doctor started to sweat, realizing that maybe this hadn't been his best idea. Inko straight up fainted, a ghost flying out of her mouth as she slumped.

Izuku roared. The ceiling shook and shrieks rang out throughout the hospital, with Inko squealing in fear as she revived and the doctor involuntarily wetting himself as he jumped. Cries from young children started filling the air and Izuku transformed back with a wince. Not because he felt particularly bad for his prank, but because the shrill sounds hurt his ears.

The doctor moved his clipboard to hide his shame, and coughed in embarrassment, "Y-yes, good job, Midoriya-kun." He smiled, "I have one more test, and if it succeeds I think I've figured out exactly what your Quirk is!"

"Really? What do I have to do?" Izuku asked excitedly, vibrating in his seat so much his tail slid underneath his butt and raised him up. He started doing tail ups in his seat, much to his mother's exasperated amusement.

"I want you to stop and picture a cloud. A golden cloud that looks as fluffy as a marshmallow that you could lay down on. I want you to picture it forming right in front of you!" The doctor spoke almost frantically.

Izuku quirked his head, "A cloud? That's really weird." He closed his eyes, "But I'll try." He focused on the doctors instructions, even though he thought it was way too strange. With his eyes closed, he didn't notice the golden mist starting to coalesce in front of him or his mother's disbelieving eyes or the doctor's near maniacal excitement.

"You did it!" The doctor couldn't help but exclaim.

Izuku's eyes popped open and he gaped at the beautiful, fluffy golden cloud before him. "Seriously?" He grinned madly as he jumped at it before his brain engaged. Inko was a little worried, but knew he'd done bigger jumps before so he wouldn't be too hurt if he fell. And then Izuku landed on the cloud, cheered, and a millisecond later started flying circles around the tiny

room.

Inko turned dead eyes at the doctor, "D-did you just... teach my son HOW TO FLY?!" The doctor recoiled, "Uhhh, Midoriya-kun, please come back down."

"But this is fun!" Izuku complained.

"I-zu-ku!" His mother didn't have to do anything more than use that tone. Izuku made the cloud go back down and sat on it angelically. "Now doctor." She said, smiling in that way that looked kind and inviting but was actually meant to drive fear into your soul, "Why don't you explain why you thought that would work?"

Rubbing some sweat off his brow, the doctor replied, "It was a hunch that I actually developed after the last time you came here. I found it strange that he could only use his growing and shrinking ability on sticks and poles, so I started doing research. I found something but dismissed it as being too silly. It wasn't until he showed me his ability to change into animals that I remembered about it, and the cloud confirmed it. Yours son's Quirk... well." He smiled as he got up – forgetting about the stain in his pants and drawing a snigger from Izuku, who quickly shut up at the look from his mother – and came back with a book, "I think you'll make better use of this than I did, Midoriya-kun."

The name of the book?

Journey to the West

-[-

Izuku let out an exasperated sigh on his way to the market. While he had something to be happy about since mom was making katsudon for him, it was another day of his old friend Bakugo being a dickhead. They'd been thicker than thieves when they had been toddlers, despite the annoyance he had displayed at Izuku being so much stronger than him. But when Izuku had come back that day with his new Quirk diagnosis and armed with the power of the book he'd been given, all of that time together had seemingly evaporated and blown away in Katsuki's mind.

Izuku's Quirk was one of the extremely rare – though in modern times it was coming along more often than before – Omega Quirks. Omega Quirks were classified as such because they didn't fall in just one of the three normal categories. While a person with an extremely powerful Quirk could be confused for an Omega, normally they were just extremely powerful Emitters, and so on. Omega Quirks were different, because they could embody two of the different categories, or even be Omni-Typical and display traits from all three of the regular classifications. Izuku's was like that. Over the years he had trained his newly defined Quirk – which had been renamed from Monkey to Monkey Sage – Izuku had learned that his Quirk was almost exactly like the legendary fictional Hero. His Mutant traits were obvious, but then he'd displayed the Emitter ability to summon the Nimbus, and also had the ability to transform into various creatures. He wasn't sure if he was also limited to Seventy-Two as he hadn't tried that many yet, but it was a reasonable assumption to make.

The sheer jealousy Katsuki had experienced learning his old friend was seemingly destined to be a better Hero than he ever could be had almost literally turned him as green as Izuku's fluffy locks. He'd gotten increasingly short and gruff with Izuku, and the more abilities Izuku learned to use from what had basically become an instruction manual for his own Quirk, the nastier the jealous boy got.

He'd come up with an insulting nickname – Deku, claiming it to be an alternative reading of Izuku – which hadn't stuck since Izuku was the opposite of useless. He started constantly challenging Izuku to fights to prove his Quirk was better. Izuku of course hadn't taken it lying down, and for a few months their friendship had burnt out as they got into scraps on the daily. They'd both had their worried parents called in regularly, but refused to make up. Katsuki was too prideful, too stubborn, and had that classic superiority/inferiority complex from his general personality and upbringing. Izuku himself was too prideful, too stubborn, and honestly having too much fun egging Katsuki on.

But after years of it, it had gotten tiring. It stopped being fun for Izuku because the blonde was too easy to rile up. And unfortunately, while Katsuki was miles ahead of where he would have been without a rival (those AP shots HURT if you got hit), he didn't grow nearly as fast as Izuku did. It didn't help that Izuku mellowed out a bit over time. He still loved his pranks – do NOT bring a rubber chicken near Daichi – but he had focused on being a Hero, so he didn't do them as often. In any case, once it became clear to Katsuki that he wasn't keeping up physically, he had turned up the vitriol and verbal abuse.

And Izuku had stopped putting up with it once it became clear they weren't friends anymore. He'd just gotten out of class when Katsuki had tried to swipe and destroy one of his notebooks. They'd both gotten in trouble like usual when a tail-slap from Izuku had knocked him away before he could plant a crackling hand on Izuku's book. Like hell he would allow the bombastic blonde to destroy his hard work.

The teacher had predictably freaked and given a lecture they'd once again ignored, and Izuku had leapt away out the window the second the bell had rung. Three great leaps had him in the forests miles away from the school, and Izuku had wasted no time pulling his staff from its place behind his ear and enlarging it to normal size. He'd had it made from a really tough tree that he'd brought down. It was a dark wood with silvery, metallic ends made of Titanium. The forest probably hated him at this point, what with how many of the trees he'd knocked down over the years training his body to the limits. He wasn't sure if the saplings he'd planted made up for it.

Hours later, his phone had rung, and his mom had asked him to come home with pork cutlets, which was why he was now heading to the market. Of course, he had his face on his cell as he walked, looking up Hero news for the day. "Huh, a new heroine debuted? It was close by too." He clicked on the article, and his eyes bugged out and a dirty grin crossed his face, "That outfit can't be legal. I can see everything."

He would have gone on, but an explosion rang out and he immediately went serious, his phone disappearing into his pocket. "...Those sounded familiar. The hell is he doing?" He was engulfed with a small puff of smoke and became a falcon, quickly winging his way to the site of the explosion and transforming back. "What's going on?" He asked one of the bystanders.

"Huh?" The man turned to him, "Some Villain grabbed a kid." "All Might was chasing him! Where is he!?"

"Why are the Heroes just standing around?" Another asked, unbidden.

Izuku's eyes hardened, forcing his way past the mob, pushing and shoving his way forward, ignoring their indignation. He got to the front and took stock, eyeing the anthropomorphic sludge, and grinding his teeth when he noticed Katsuki caught inside it.

A Hero that he had thought pretty cool named Kamui Woods had people in his wooden grasp, "Explosive fires are my weakness!" He groaned, "Someone else has to take this one!"

He was at least rescuing people, but Backdraft was right there. 'They could team up and cover Kamui's weakness!' Izuku's fists started to tighten as he watched Backdraft put out fires that just lit right back up when Katsuki's dumb ass blew more shit up.

His attention was drawn by that new Hero Mt. Lady stepping over them; the same one he'd just been ogling on his phone! But it was no time to take in that sexy bod. Not when her first words were, "Oh no! This street isn't wide enough! I can't get close!" She had frozen above them, with the pervs looking up and drooling and the skintight Hero suit clinging to her body.

'You've got to be kidding me?!' Izuku snarled inside his mind, 'Can she not control her size at all?!'

"He's too slippery to get a hold of!" Death Arms snarled out, "We can't do anything against him! At least his hostage is resisting!"

'Are you-' Izuku cut himself off. Katsuki was causing more problems by resisting, not less! They had been useful in getting attention but now they were actively impeding the Heroes! If he stopped then just that by itself would allow Kamui to get close and try to pull him out! Plus, he was just blasting around wildly and causing property damage everywhere!

"It's no good! There's no one here that can stop him!" Kamui cried out, "We have to wait for someone with the right Quirk! That boy just has to hold on a little longer!"

Izuku's blood was pounding so hard in his ears, everything else was drowned out. Wait for the right Quirk? These morons already had everything they needed to save Katsuki! Izuku knuckles cracked and then he saw Katsuki's face. The despair in them. The terror. The pleas written right in his eyes for help.

Izuku leapt forward. He moved so quickly a shockwave followed his body. The 'Heroes' around the street didn't have a moment to even react and tell him off before he was at the scene, flipping over the enemy. His hand flashed out and grasped right for the sludge's eyes, the only weak point he had seen. The sludge rippled violently with a scream of agony as Izuku wrenched its eyes right from its main body, the action freeing Katsuki's mouth as the sludge flowed to follow its eyes. Izuku continued his flip and chucked the eyes to the right the second he'd seen it flowing towards him, sludge following. He landed and skid backwards, idly aware of the Heroes screaming at him. He didn't care.

With a roar of anger, he transformed into one of his favorite forms; the Elephant. His trumpet ringing out, it dug into the sludge and wrapped around Katsuki's waist, dragging him right out. He flung his old friend behind him and transformed back into regular form, Katsuki landing and stumbling. Izuku's hand went for his tiny staff, bringing it out and spinning it as it grew to regular size. With a grunt of exertion, he swung it down hard, extending it to far larger than it normally was. The sludge had just been regaining its senses when the titanium head of his staff smashed into where its skull would have been and continued through its body. It impacted the floor with a tremendous bang, a pressure wave blowing outwards and blowing the slime apart into tiny pieces. But it didn't just do that. Savage winds buffeted the flames and put them out, while Mt. Lady had to use her body and arms to protect the civilians who were still just standing around.

When the smoke cleared, a crater remained on the pavement, with scattered bits of sludge here and there. Izuku stood from his stance, letting out a snort of frustration as he put his staff behind his ear once more and waited to deal with the peanut gallery. He could see news crews training cameras on him and knew this might blow up in his face. He knew his mom was probably worried sick too.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Kamui roared at him.

Death Arms looked even angrier, "There was no need for you to put yourself in danger!"

Izuku snapped, "Maybe if you morons knew how to do your damn jobs I wouldn't have had to!" He bellowed back at the man, before snapping a finger at him, "I heard every word you lot said! 'He's too slippery!' His eyes felt damn solid to me! Maybe aim for the obvious weak point next time!" Eyes practically growing in rage as he turned his gaze to Backdraft, he continued sending them to the burn unit, "And you! If you hadn't wasted time putting out fires that this idiot-" He pointed at a scowling Katsuki, "-just kept reigniting with every explosion, you could have COVERED KAMUI'S BRANCHES WITH WATER! Wet wood wouldn't have burned as easily!"

The media was absolutely eating his words up, and both Kamui and Backdraft looked thunderstruck, "'That boy just has to hold on a little longer?' What kind of Heroes are you?! The only reason Kamui gets a pass is I saw him rescuing people! The rest of you just stood around! Mt. Lady can't even control her size, despite the fact that she visibly grows and doesn't just poof into max height! And even if her Quirk was just an 'on/off' switch, why the hell doesn't she have equipment that can grow with her like her costume can? She could easily have blown out the fires with a giant fan!" He then turned to Katsuki, who was far paler than normal as he beheld Izuku truly furious with him for the first time in his life. "And you! Good job not being able to stop exploding things for FIVE SECONDS to let the Heroes rescue you! If you hadn't spent the last five minutes blasting everything and causing hundreds of thousands in property damage, they could have pulled you out of that sludge with Kamui's wood after Backdraft put the fires out! But no, it's just one mode with you isn't it? Blast everything, and then blast it again for good measure!"

Izuku spat at the ground after taking a breath, before he schooled his face. "Wait for a proper Quirk." He snarked, "Well one sure showed up. Too bad it only needed to get involved because none of you stopped to think for five seconds." Without another word, he bent his knees and leapt right out of the street, disappearing past the urban skyline.

-[-

"Would be nice not to have to deal with Katsuki or the glasses guy." Izuku mumbled to himself as he walked through the halls, "Now where is 1-A?" He stopped short of the absolutely gigantic door to his class, "...Well they've got the whole 'inclusion' thing down." He chuckled to himself as he opened the door, biting back a groan when he saw Katsuki sitting there with his feet up on the desk like he owned the place.

"Deku!" The blonde bomber snarled out as he laid eyes on his hated rival.

"I suppose one out of two isn't bad." Izuku deadpanned at not seeing the tall, stiff boy, before visibly ignoring the blonde and getting a vein to pop up on his head.

But before Katsuki could get up and start yelling like usual, Izuku's eyes were drawn to the busty goddess that stood from her seat and walked over to him, "Oho, you must be Midoriya." The redhead had her hair parted into three huge braids falling behind her back, and an additional two falling in front of her shoulders, framing a pair of breasts that were straining the buttons of her UA issued shirt.. "So, you're the one who took first in the exams." She smiled, but there was a hint of something else behind it, "I look forward to competing with you." She said finally, after a moment of staring him down.

"Only if you can keep up, sweetheart." Izuku smirked back at her challengingly, "Izuku Midoriya, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Irene Belserion. You'll remember that name, won't you?" She smirked back, and the air felt charged in a way that he hadn't felt for years. Not since he and Katsuki were competing on

somewhat the same level. She looked away, her brown eyes alighting on a gray-skinned girl with dark purple hair and a red gem on the middle of her forehead. The one who had tied with her in the entrance exam, denying her even a solid second place. "The same to you, Rachel Roth. You may have tied with me once, but it won't happen again."

The girl looked to her, her deadpan expression unchanging, "I'm not here to compete with anyone. Stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours." She said flatly, before turning away and ignoring them.

Irene's eye noticeably twitched at the snub, but before things could escalate an arm landed around her shoulder, "Hey, come on now." The dark-skinned young lady had rich purple hair as well, along with brilliant golden eyes and a catlike smile on her face.

'Fast!' Irene, Rachel, and Izuku all thought with slightly widened eyes. Irene didn't let her surprise show for too long, "Oh? Did you want to throw your hat into this game as well, Shihōin?"

"Nah, I just figured we could save the dick measuring for after we've had a class or two." The more conservative members of the class choked slightly at her crass words. Izuku himself bit back a chuckle as she visibly eyed him up and down, "Well aren't we lucky? We got a lot of good eye candy, don't we ladies?"

"Oh we're going to get along marvelously, Kitty-chan." Izuku smirked back at her, making a show of checking her out in turn.

All the while, Katsuki had started to resemble a steamed lobster as he continued to be utterly ignored by everyone in the room. He was just about to start yelling and asserting dominance over the extras when he was cut off by a bubbly brown-haired girl popping up behind Izuku, "Oh, yay!" She exclaimed, staring at Izuku, "We're in the same class! You were so amazing during the exams! You were all WHACK and BAM and wrecked all of those bots!" She mimed his actions, swinging an imaginary staff.

Izuku turned and gave her a roguish grin, causing her seemingly-permanent blush to darken, "You weren't bad yourself, Ochako-chan. Those gravity powers were awesome."

"Oho, she already has a 'chan' as well? Should I be jealous, Izuku-kun?" Yoruichi Shihōin wondered how this was going to turn out, but never got a chance to find out.

A massive crash sounded from the front of the room as the ceiling collapsed. There was a dichotomy of reactions from the students. The most unprepared let out little shrieks and nearly fell out of their chairs. Ochako jumped roughly a mile into the air and instinctively got behind Izuku, before getting a hold of herself and holding her hand out. The air cupped in her clawed hands started to visibly warp. Irene held out a hand and what appeared to be a more traditional 'magic' staff appeared in a red flash. She pointed it warily toward the front of the class. Rachel was engulfed in impossible black light, floating into the air with her chair falling over behind her. Katsuki's hands started to crackle, his explosions ready to go. Yoruichi dropped to her knees, but in a ready position to move quickly. In a flash, Izuku's staff was off his ear and at full size in his

hand. He thrust it forward and it extended forward into the dust cloud.

He grunted as he felt it get jarred from its path and slam into the wall instead of hitting a target. Finally, the dust cloud cleared, and jaws dropped, "¡Wow, estupendas reacciones! I give you forty points!" An adult woman with long blonde hair, gorgeous green eyes, and a green piercing below her bottom lip with an extremely bubbly voice stood there, giving them a peace sign. Her outfit almost had steam coming out of Izuku's nose, and he clearly wasn't the only one. Her top was literally just a red and yellow poncho that was so short it barely covered her navel. As she stood up

and it fluttered, it became clearly obvious that there was nothing else beneath it. Maybe not even a bra, judging from her exposed sides. The garment was that small. The bottom was some sort of makeshift skirt, clearly held up by her belt and not any sort of actual waistband. She wore bracers and greaves on her arms and legs.

She also had the brightest smile any of them had ever seen, ever since that day three years ago. There was dead silence as they took in the extremely famous Pro Hero before them, with Izuku not

being able to help himself in thinking, 'The Hero Course is the best...'

Another bit of the ceiling fell down with a crash. Up above them, a deadpan and exhausted voice

sounded, "Must you always be so irrational, Quetzalcoatl?"

"Of course!" Quetzalcoatl replied happily, "It's my joy to test all of you!" She clapped her hands, "And you're all such great kids, aren't you? We're going to have fun." Her grin now was terrifying. "In your desks, you'll find your gym uniforms. Put them on and meet me outside. You have fifteen minutes~!" With a wink, she leapt right out of the hole she'd made, and another crash sounded. Seconds later, more bits of ceiling fell down and smashed into her desk.

Not a single person moved, utterly stunned. The voice from above sounded again, "Fourteen minutes. You lot aren't very rational either, huh? Get moving." They scrambled.

...

"¡Perfecto!" Quetzalcoatl exclaimed, clapping excitedly as she hopped in place, doing interesting things to her supple cleavage, "Right on time everyone!"

"Ah, sensei?" Ochako raised her hand warily, "Why are we out here? Aren't we missing orientation?"

"Yes, yes!" Quetzalcoatl agreed easily, "No time to waste on all that! We only have a couple years to turn you into great heroes! We can worry about the rest of it later!"

"What will we be doing then, sensei?" Izuku asked her, and blinked when she focused on him for a moment and then seemed to blush and look a little bashful.

"Oh my, such handsome students I've got. You might be pushing a few of my buttons, Midoriya- kun." She hid behind her hands, and jaws dropped all around at the blatant flirting from their teacher.

Izuku grinned, "Well that's good, you've been hammering mine since that amazing entrance! Wanna get married?"

"EHHHHHH!?!?!?!?"

"Oh my!" Quetzalcoatl blushed, "So forward! Maybe if you can beat me I'll give you a shot, Midoriya-kun!"

"All the motivation I need!" Izuku grinned madly, getting the inkling that this was going to be fun.

"Excellent attitude!" She went back to her bubbly self, "And it'll be the attitude you need, because the best way to test you out and see how advanced you all are... is with some matches!" She twirled in place, laughing gaily as several students blanched, "¡Exacto! ¡Exacto! Your task for the day is to face me."

"But you're a pro hero!" One of the students cried out in shock, a cold sweat forming on his back.

"¡Si! ¡Si! That's what will make it so fun!" She grinned, cocking her hip and placing her hand on it. The other she raised, revealing a little silver bell on her finger, "¡No se preocupen! You're not expected to win against me! You're not being graded here. This is just for me to see how advanced you are," Her face became terrifying, revealing sharp teeth that looked shark-like, "-And if you really belong here at UA."

A clamor rose from the shocked students, and she continued, "¡Si! ¡Así es! While you may have passed the entrance exam, all you proved was that you could destroy some robots. Now it's time to test your mettle, your fortaleza. I may be nicer than Aizawa-sensei, but if you quake in your shoes at even the thought of facing me, then you might just find yourself moved down to Gen Ed!" She went back to happy, bubbly Quetzalcoatl, "So give it your all, everyone!" Despite her words, the students were definitely shaken, "And I know full well that not everyone is suited for direct combat, so here are your possible objectives! One; you must take this bell from me by any means possible! Take care not to harm your fellow students, or else this onee-san might have to spank you! If any of you succeed, it's an instant win!" She exclaimed cheerfully, "If you're unable to do that, you must escape the 'area' through a special exit!" She pointed behind her, where indeed there was a big, obvious, 'EXIT' gate. "If you don't fight directly, you must show me your analysis skills! Try to find a way that you could maybe win, even if you can't use it during this match! And finally... just survive for fifteen minutes! Those are your options!" She grinned menacingly again, "¿Están preparados?"

There was a clamor from the students, as everyone took on ready stances, "Quit trying to scare us, sensei!" Izuku grinned, his staff in hand and ready to go, "We didn't get here just to be taken out by words!"

"Wow! Good to hear!" Quetzalcoatl grinned back, "Let's see you back those words up! ¡Vamos!"

At the word, Izuku leapt forward at a blistering speed, swinging his staff to knock her block off. In a golden blaze, a strange-looking blade appeared in her hand, looking rather like golden-brown stone or some sort of wood with various green shards of glass making up the actual blade. It was a macuahuitl, befitting her origins from the Americas. The two weapons clashed with surprisingly loud noises, and Izuku grunted as he found his strength completely outmatched for the first time in his life. "Holy shit!"

Quetzalcoatl was smiling brightly, serenely. She didn't have a sign of strain on her face. "Oooooh, you really are a special one, aren't you, Midoriya-kun?" With a casual flick of her arm, his staff was parried into the air and her leg shot out for a side kick. Izuku let the momentum carry him backwards, throwing his other arm out and back-handspringing with one hand. He landed on his feet, and Quetzalcoatl jumped to avoid the giant boulder wreathed in a black aura that landed where she was standing. She landed on the boulder and turned to the flying Rachel, "¡Muy bien! You avoided your fellow student and aimed for when you thought I would be distracted!" Her hand flashed out and caught the shaft of Irene's staff, "You kids are so well trained!" She laughed gaily as she twirled forward, pulling Irene forward by jerking on the staff and hammering her elbow into the beautiful redhead's gut.

Irene grunted as she was flung back, but landed on her feet, seemingly no worse for wear. Izuku ran forward, turning into a jaguar and trying to claw the bell off his teacher's belt. Quetzalcoatl looked a little irritated for a moment as she proved her monstrous strength, flipping the large animal over her head and throwing him away. Izuku landed and grunted as he turned back, "Damn, she's so strong!"

Yoruichi formed multiple speed clones of herself as she circled around their teacher, "You're fast too, sensei, but are you as fast as me?" Her hand flashed out, reaching for the bell, but to her utter shock Quetzalcoatl caught her hand and threw her into Rachel, who had been preparing some smaller boulders she ripped from the ground. The Violette was forced to abandon her objective, grunting as she was forced back in the air with the dark-skinned girl in her arms. "Me and my big mouth!" Yoruichi groused.

"Ahahaha! This is fun! This is so much fun!" Quetzalcoatl never lost her grin as she ran forward, "Maybe you all are the ones All Might was waiting for!" She exclaimed as she dodged little balls of what looked like white webbing. The girl firing them from her wrists had blonde hair, with the right side of her head having a portion of her hair buzzed off. She had a piercing on her right eyebrow too. She continued firing the sticky little web balls, up until Quetzalcoatl got too close. She abandoned her strategy, instead nimbly leaping up and over her teacher's head, somersaulting multiple times, and firing strands of webbing down at the teacher. "Oh, it's so sticky!" Quetzalcoatl exclaimed as she grabbed at the two strands and spun the girl over her head.

"Wahhh!" Izuku still didn't know her name, but she screamed as she detached the webs and allowed herself to fly a good couple dozen meters. She landed easily, throwing herself into a tumble. "Oh she is so not fair!" She complained as Izuku helped her to her feet, "Thanks. Gwen Stacy." Gwen introduced herself to him.

Off to the side, Quetzalcoatl was shaking her hands off, "Quizás eso haya sido una mala idea... C'mon, get off!" Quetzalcoatl mumbled to herself as she continued trying to get rid of the webs. They were good and stuck to her palms.

"WILL YOU ALL QUIT IGNORING ME?!" Katsuki finally exploded and...well.. exploded. He bum-rushed forward, mini blasts propelling him towards Quetzalcoatl as he spun, before his hands crackled extremely loudly and unleashed a monstrous explosion at the bubbly blonde.

A ways away, Kyōka Jīrō cringed in a bit of pain as the loud noise assaulted her senses, even as she accepted some speakers from Momo Yaoyorozu, a girl with a Quirk allowing her to create items from her own lipids. As they weren't in costume, she would need some support items to be able to fight optimally. Thankfully she had gotten into a conversation with the gorgeous girl in homeroom, so she knew of her Quirk ahead of time.

"Ah, muchas gracias!" Quetzalcoatl beamed at him as she stepped from the fiery hell unscathed, webs conspicuously missing from her hands, "You'll find attacking me with flames quite difficult though!" She winked playfully as a gigantic vein throbbed on Katsuki's head.

"DIE!" He roared, exploding into the air and firing mass explosions like mortars at her.

"Bit of a one-trick pony, aren't you?" She asked, not smiling quite as wide as she bust through the blasts, "We'll have to fix that!"

Katsuki looked like a deer in headlights as her knees landed on either side of his head, just barely missing out on getting an eyeful as she flipped and directed his head towards the floor. 'Ah, I'm going to die.' He thought to himself blandly as he got piledrived into the ground.

A massive plume of grit rose up, and when it cleared Katsuki's legs were sticking out of the ground, twitching. Quetzalcoatl stood up and scratched her chin a bit sheepishly, "...Maybe a bit much... Whoops." She grabbed his leg and pulled him out, "You okay?" He groaned, "¡Ese es el espíritu!" She exclaimed cheerfully, putting him down somewhat gently.

Izuku was off to the side, "Lucky, dumb bastard." He shook his head, "Still, surprising for HIM of

all people to not research heroes that negate his Quirk."

"Lucky bastard?" Yoruichi laughed as she landed beside him and Gwen, "Would you have rathered your head buried in the ground instead?"

"Have you SEEN those thighs?" Izuku laughed, as he started pulling out a few strands of his hair. He kept them in hand.

"Point. She's got nothing on mine though." She slapped her right one for emphasis, grinning wildly.

"Or mine." Gwen smirked at him.

"We'll have to check just to be sure, Kitty-chan, Gwen-chan. I promise to be an impartial judge." He responded, getting another laugh out of them.

"Ballsy, aren't ya? Pretty sure most girls would have slapped you already." Yoruichi replied with a laugh.

"I am debating it. Perverts." Rachel landed next to them, tone monotone, and Irene just appeared. "Any ideas?" She asked as they watched the two-tone boy Shōto Todoroki create a massive glacier and send it at their teacher, who only laughed loudly as she broke through it with a single kick and sent the boy flying backwards.

"I'm struggling to think of a weakness." Another redhead - and Izuku had to do a double take because how the hell did he miss her? - landed beside them, her bat wings disappearing in motes of red light, "Kinda feels like she's invincible, doesn't it?" The sapphire-eyed redhead turned to them, "Pleasure to meet you all. I am Rias Gremory."

"Ahh, you're a Magic user as well?" Rias instantly caught Irene's attention, "What a stacked class we have. Other than my mother I've never met another." She told her.

"Yes, my parents' Quirks both manifested as the ability to cast 'spells,' although each were far more specialized. I also have 'Devil' Quirk ancestry from my Grandfather." Rias confirmed, "My mother's may be particularly useful here, although I AM afraid of actually harming her. Annihilation is not a power you throw around casually."

Izuku chimed in, "She hasn't so much as taken a hit and her durability is insane. You really think that your spell could overwhelm that?" He grinned at her.

Rias smiled prettily at him, before pointing a finger at the ground. A black bullet wreathed in a red aura fired at the ground, annihilating a basketball-sized mound of dirt. Not even ashes remained, "What do you think, Midoriya-kun?"

"Look." Rachel drew their attention as Quetzalcoatl clapped her hands to her ears. Unassuming little Kyōka finally did something that seemed to work. She couldn't defend against sound, after all.

Momo took advantage of her distraction and fired a net gun at their teacher, successfully wrapping her up. "Chance!" Yoruichi yelled gleefully as she blitzed forward.

"No wait!" Irene yelled out, but the dark-skinned girl was already gone, just as the spider girl landed near them.

"Just kidding!" Quetzalcoatl either got used to it or really had just been faking. She ripped through

the net easily and twirled around the Yoruichi missile, grabbing her leg and using the poor girl as a bludgeon, knocking down Kyōka and Momo. "Ahahaha! You kids are good! It's already been five minutes! Just ten more to go~"

"Damn! What magic do you girls have? Other than Annihilation, I mean." Izuku asked them. "Barriers and defensive spells would be the biggest aid, I would say." Rias said after a moment of

contemplation.

Irene let out a little sigh, "I can enhance our physical attributes with my enchantments."

Izuku let out a smile, "Perfect." He flung the hairs he had ripped off earlier into the air, and they began to glow gold, "I've got some magic of my own!" With little bursts of light, several clones of Izuku popped out. Gwen and Rias both slowly blushed brightly as their imaginations went a little wild for a moment.

"Oh my. I do believe I just figured out your Quirk, Sun Wukong-san." Irene's cheeks reddened slightly too, but she tried to hide it behind a smirk. "Let's do this!" She slammed the butt of her staff into the ground, and a red glow engulfed all of the Izuku, Gwen, and Rias. Yoruichi - blinking in shock - popped up in a little burst of light, courtesy of a Teleportation Spell from Rias. She was quickly also Enchanted by Irene.

Rias was next, waving her arm in front of her face. A blue magical circle appeared in the air, before smaller versions popped up on each of them.

Rachel however, shielded herself from the effects, drawing questioning glances from the rest of them, "My own magic won't play nicely with either of yours. The Void never does."

"Ahh, I thought you merely had telekinesis." Rias said in surprise, and the black was the medium it was carried on.

Rachel shook her head, "Regardless, this isn't the time. Let's get that bell."

"Spoke my mind, sunshine!" Izuku yelled, every one of his clones blazing forward. Some transformed into animals, and others just readied their staffs.

"...He is going to be exhausting." Rachel breathed deeply to try to center herself.

"That's what she said!" Gwen and Yoruichi both laughed as they flung themselves forward,

following Izuku.

"...I could make it an accident." Rachel ground her teeth as she rose into the air.

"OooWOW! ¡Que Tecnica!" Quetzalcoatl flashed out to meet them, "One Hundred Points!" She had a blush on her face as she beheld all of the Izuku clones, but ignored it. She parried a staff with her macuahuitl and kicked the clone away, leaping over Yoruichi who had actually attacked for once rather than going for the bell. Gwen was flinging her webs expertly at the other blonde, trying to snipe the bell. Quetzalcoatl weaved around them easily, "You really ARE such great kids! This is so much fun! How did you all get even stronger?" She kicked the massive boulder that Rachel had flung at her, cracking it in half. Before the right half had even fallen, she had grabbed it and flung it at the flying Rias.

Rias held her hand out and was engulfed by the black aura tinged with red, and the rock vanished in a burst of intense light. Not even ashes remained.

Irene took aim with her staff from her position in the air, "Disappear!" A massive reddish-pink explosion cratered the ground where their teacher stood, its bright hue blinding several students. Katsuki ground his teeth at seeing her show even his biggest explosion so far up, but couldn't get off the ground.

"That was dangerous." Quetzalcoatl pouted as she appeared unharmed in front of Irene in the air, "I have a full order of joint locks ready for you." She slashed forward with her sword, and was blocked by Irene's staff.

The redhead had an expression of strain on her face, but was trying to hide it, "No thanks, sensei. Not interested."

"Mou, that's a shame." Quetzalcoatl grinned evilly, "Too bad for you I wasn't really asking." She kicked the air behind her and flew forward faster than Irene could react, "You're tough! You can take it!" The two fell down towards the earth, crashing in another plume of dirt. Irene flew out of the cloud unscathed, having used a spell to replace herself with a nearby rock, "That's no fun!" Their teacher called out as Irene landed softly.

"Go for Midoriya then. I'm sure he'd love to be under you." Irene deadpanned.

"Facts, though I prefer top!" Izuku roared as a gigantic mammoth far bigger than the elephant he'd pulled off years ago to save Katsuki. He swung his trunk, the back blast strong enough that the earth cracked and broke behind it. Quetzalcoatl spun around with her customary smile and grabbed his trunk with both arms. The impact moved her back three feet, "Oh you gotta be-" Her sharp- shark-toothed grin made a comeback, "FucKING MEEEEE!" She started to spin in place, lifting the massive beast over her head and twirling him around as if he were as light as a pair of bolas. The whirlwind she created blew the other students back.

"HA! HOW DOES IT FUCKING FEEL, DEKU!" Katsuki roared in laughter, seeing his rival manhandled.

Quetzalcoatl stomped the ground and then slammed him down, shattering the field for dozens of feet around them, "Ahahaha! You okay, Midoriya-kun?"

Izuku let out a pained laugh, "I know this is real rich coming from ME, but your powers are bullshit!"

"¡Jajaja!" Quetzalcoatl laughed hard at his comment.

He let a puff of steam escape him as he shrank back to normal, "I think I'm in love."

"Oh, you charmer." She demurred, hiding her newly flushed face behind her hands again. She wasn't distracted enough to miss the shards of ice being fired at her, and casually dodged them all. She ran out of the way by the directed blast of sound from Kyōka and the bolas being thrown by Momo before running vertically up the ice pillar left by the broken glacier from earlier. Nearing the top, she flung herself backwards, dodging waves of debris thrown by Ochako as well as black blasts from Rachel, another Disappear spell from Irene, more Annihilation bullets from Rias, various flying animals from the blocky boy with no hair, and heading straight for Rachel.

Rachel's eyes widened as she intoned, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" A three-layered black shield appeared in front of her as her hands glowed with dark energy. Quetzalcoatl crossed her arms in front of her, forming an 'X.' She crashed straight through all three barriers as if they weren't even there, getting Rachel to gasp in shock before getting chopped and sent hurtling towards the ground from the impact as if she were fired out of a cannon.

She landed right beside Izuku before tumbling and landing on top of him. He chuckled a little after having the air forced out of him, "Come here often?"

Rachel let out a defeated groan, letting her head fall to the ground. ...

In the end, they had failed to put even a single scratch on the beautiful blonde, and failed to get a bell. What hits they'd gotten in were shrugged off, and she'd appeared almost entirely

untouchable. A defensively enhanced Kirishima maxing out his Hardening Quirk had managed to put a hairline fracture on her macuahuitl, and had swiftly been defeated after that. The blazingly fast Yoruichi had engulfed herself white energy which blew her gym top away, revealing a simple black tube-top binding her breasts. She'd rushed the teacher with explosive force and tried to pound her into submission, only to exhaust herself and be taken out without putting a scratch on the woman. Yuga had nailed her with his laser, and the bubbly blonde thanked him for warming her up a bit. Ochako managed to get a hand on her and removed her gravity, thinking that she'd gotten them at least a chance to win. Yet it was for naught, because Quetzalcoatl laughed at Zero Gravity. Katsuki had gotten up and been put back down. Shōto had encased her in a glacier. Gwen had snatched the bell finally with a strand of her spider silk. Rias and Irene had both blasted her with spells including a tentative Annihilation, and nothing worked. She'd flexed out of the glacier, snatched the bell out of the air and burned away the sticky goop, shrugged off the spells as if they didn't exist...

Irene had even revealed her relation to the current Number Nine Hero in Japan Ryukyu by transforming into a giant red dragon. Izuku still thought she was gorgeous, but the young woman insisted it was hideous and she hated it. The blast of apparently-not-fire from her maw hadn't done jack, and the Tyrannosaurus-inspired Izuku had managed to close his jaws on her, only for her to no sell a T-rex's bite force and prevent him from clamping down, laughing all the while.

And finally, blessedly, the fifteen minutes expired, leaving the entire class in various states of exhaustion and misery, with Quetzalcoatl fresh as a daily, and smiling as widely as possible. She had Quetzalcoatl had more than proved her position as the Number One Rank Hero in the whole world currently. "I love this class already! ¡Excelente trabajo, everyone!" A mass of groans entered her ears, "¡Si, Si! We certainly are feeling the burn, aren't we! Congratulations! Every one of you certainly earned your spots here at UA. You all showed that grit and determination I wanted to see! Even when you got knocked down, you got right back up! That is important in this day and age! When an earthquake rocks the world, we have to be ready to save people. When evil villains attack, it is us who must be ready to take them down! The world can be very unfair, and it is up to us to correct that unfairness! We must all be ready each and every day to grow and learn, so that we can prevent future tragedies! Anyone who gives up at the first hurdle does not belong!" She gave them a thumbs up, "Welcome to 1-A! Officially this time! I look forward to working with you all, everyone! PLUS ULTRA!"

This time, she got the shouts she had wanted to hear, "PLUS ULTRA!"

-[-

Despite knowing it was coming, nothing quite prepared Izuku to see All Might in the flesh for the first time in years. When he had been young, All Might had been larger than life. Heavily muscular, piercing blue eyes, that gravity-defying 'V' shaped hair... He had just had a presence that had instantly made Izuku want to be better than he was. It had been what made him start taking his training more seriously, despite not exchanging more than a few words with the man while he had a poster autographed.

And while he still had that presence when you were with him...

Gone were the muscles. His flesh was sunken on his frame. He was skeletal, and even his signature hairstyle hung limply. The night All Might had gone on national television three years ago to announce his retirement had been... harrowing. It had been two years after he had saved Katsuki from that sludge Villain, about midway through his first semester of high school. He... no... the world had been disconsolate.

Seeing the greatest man alive... the man who had saved millions year after year for decades sit down in that chair and look human had sent something cold down everyone's spines. To hear the jovial man sound so exhausted had instantly put tears in Izuku's eyes. Hearing the greatest Hero's story; hearing how for seven years, the man had been fighting on borrowed time to keep them all safe had been as inspiring as it had been a gut punch.

And then the real gut punch had come. To the utter silence and shock of his interviewers and the entirety of their watchers... All Might had started to steam, and had visibly shrunk into a skeleton before their very eyes. Not a soul had moved, and not a sound was made as the exhausted, gnarled- looking man had raised a finger and pointed it at the camera.

"Next." He'd smiled. It was an ugly thing. Not at all like the smiles he'd worn as the number one Hero. And yet people had cried all the same. "Next...is your turn." That simple sentence had said more than any number of explanations or analysts possibly could.

Izuku and Katsuki had ramped up their training explosively. Even as they bumped heads in class and competed for the top spot in everything, or how nasty their words for one another got, they had never fought again. They didn't have the time to waste on such frivolities. All Might was gone. Their Symbol of Peace was retired. Another had arisen eventually, reportedly enraging Endeavor, but she had been a newer Hero. One who had been untested as All Might had been.

They both threw themselves into training, and even through their insults with one another had given the other ideas on how to get stronger. Their fights became spars on occasion to try new things out, but they'd gradually drifted away. Their parents had hoped they would reconcile with All Might's retirement, but the boys had too much between them now. Katsuki wanted to be number one and had lost something when he lost the ability to ever challenge All Might to test his own might. Izuku wanted to be the new Symbol and help those frightened now that All Might was gone. They both had looked to different aspects of the man for inspiration. They both had the desire to surpass him.

Maybe now that they were learning from him, they would understand better the burden he had once held on his shoulders. Getting into U.A. had been the first step, and both had aced the exams with top scores. That wasn't to say it was easy, however. This particular entrance exam had been absolutely packed with talent. Any other year, many of those who had missed the cut would have made it in. But this was U.A. The best Hero Course in the world, not just the borders of Japan. The top five had single-digit point gaps from one another. Izuku had come in first place, and he only had seven more points than Yoruichi, the fifth place finisher.

All Might's retirement had galvanized the world, with the youth of every country eager to step into his shoes. It truly said something that in both the entrance exam AND the "test" their homeroom teacher Quetzalcoatl had put them through, Izuku – with a Quirk like the one he had – had needed to fight as hard as he could for every inch he could take.

And now, with All Might's sunken grin shining as he held the word "Battle" up on a placard, Izuku felt the need to prove himself once again.

"That's right! We're going straight to battle trials in Heroics 101." All Might told them, "I would like all of you to meet me down in Ground Beta. But first!" It still felt weird to see All Might like this; out of costume and in a well-tailored suit showcasing his lack of muscle. But never let it be said the man didn't still know how to work a crowd, pointing grandly to the wall, "You'll need these!" The entire class cheered, some even standing out of their seats as All Might laughed, "That's right! In accordance with your Quirk registries as well as your own submitted requests... COSTUMES! Let's go get dressed, shall we?"

-[-

And a here we ARE! I had a BLAST writing this one, and there are some significant changes from canon: Izuku and All Might never met. One For All is long passed on and Izuku can't have it. Not that I would have given it to him anyway. All Might is retired and is actually a seasoned teacher at this point.

I also did something I've been wanting to do for a while; which was to include some MHAified crossover characters. The other class has some others planned as well. Quite a few overpowered as fuck Quirks in this one too... really makes you wonder what the other side has, doesn't it?

I also finally had a chance to include one of my favorite TFS lines in a fic. LOL

Let me know how you liked this one guys, and as always, you're invited to the discord! Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh

Next one is ALSO going to be fun as fuck. Hope you're all ready for it. LOL

Chapter Summary

Critical Overcharge

This chapter is dedicated to all the people whining and moaning that I didn't make Izuku overpowered enough in Emerald Phoenix despite not even having hit the USJ yet. You want overpowered? I'll give you fucking overpowered.

While I can honestly say I love MHA and Izuku is probably one of my favorite main characters, I can't say the series doesn't have flaws. Especially not with a straight face. Izuku is set up as this really intelligent character and while we often see it, often we see just the opposite. And it sucks, because of how Izuku could honestly have figured so many things out if he had just been allowed to. There have been quite a few times where I've felt Horikoshi was purposefully keeping him dumb because if he didn't, he couldn't write his fucking underdog story. Izuku never analyzed his own damn Quirk when he got it, despite that being his whole fucking shtick. Because if he had been allowed to be the character he was set up to be, he would have at least had Full Cowl figured out by the Quirk Assessment Test.

Instead of smart analysis over his own Quirk and reasonable growth. We get: BREAKING NEWS: 15-YEAR-OLD BOY DISCOVERS HE HAS LEGS

Because he always has to be the fucking underdog. I'm honestly getting a little sick of it happening in so many major series.

And to that effect, I hope you enjoy this one.

Fair warning: There are EXTREME amounts of Thirst approaching, and I fucked with some Quirks for my own amusement.

-[-

Two days after having finished his entrance exam with a grand total of zero points, a dejected Izuku sat on the barrier of the beach he had spent months cleaning. Training. Trying to prove to himself and All Might that he was ready to inherit One For All. But it had all been for naught. He'd disappointed his mentor and he'd disappointed himself on top of it. Despite all the effort he had put in to make himself stronger, he'd frozen and floundered the entire exam, panicking instead of using his brain. All Might hadn't contacted or spoke with him since.

Where had he gone wrong?

He sighed, staring at his hands. They were calloused, and nowhere near as baby soft as they once had been. He rubbed them together, and let out another sad sigh. "Will All Might want his Quirk back?" He whispered into the dawn air. He clenched his fists. He didn't want that. He didn't want to go back to who he had been. Back to the useless Deku.

He hardened his gaze and leaped off the barrier, falling ten feet and bending his knees when he landed. Just as All Might had shown him. "So what if I failed?! There are other Hero Schools!" He

declared, thankful for the empty beach, "I'll get into Shiketsu! They still have a month before their exams! There's time to prepare! But for that, I need you to work with me, One For All!" He drew on that feeling deep in his chest. The overwhelming blaze that had engulfed him when he faced down the Zero Pointer.

Immediately, his veins lit up beneath his skin, before he was engulfed in crackling green lightning. He let out a groan. Already he could feel his arm starting to ache, even without him moving it an inch. He let the feeling vanish. "Holy cow! How does All Might DO it?!" he groaned again, falling back on the sand. He flexed his arm, working out the kinks. His muscles already felt sore even from that short little burst of One For All.

"This doesn't make sense!" He whined, "Even All Might's giant muscles can't be enough to contain all of that! He never gets hurt! There must be something I'm missing!" Even as he said that, he was thinking back to all the times he'd seen his Hero in action, "Wait..."

He paused, before slapping himself in the face, "I'm an idiot!" He kicked up to his feet and prepared himself again, spreading his feet and clenching his fists at his sides. He reached for One For All again, and this time he spread it all throughout his body. Again, his veins lit up and sparkled, but not just on his arms. Green lightning crackled around him, surrounding him in a miasma of power. He groaned under the load, and his shoes tore themselves apart from the action. He didn't notice. He ground his teeth, struggling to contain the power. But he could feel the pain in his body building up, and let it go. He let out a pained sigh once he did, "Even that was way too much! If I had moved an inch- MY SHOES?!" He yelped, almost crying as he noticed his ruined footwear. "Those were my favorites too..." He moped dejectedly as he shrugged off the rest of the ruined pair. Even his socks were torn.

He shook his head and clapped his face, "Shoes later. Come on you stupid Quirk! Work with me here, One For All! I can't get into Shiketsu with another pathetic performance like that!" He took out his notebook – not noticing it just appear in his hand like it always did – and started scribbling, "All Might has never shown any pain due to his Quirk. His forearm is about the size of one of my thighs now, so it can't be just pure muscle mass preventing him from getting hurt. Never mind his own power, he's rarely ever been injured. His debut video was a bit of an outlier in that respect. He's had cars hit him without a problem. Plus, my 100% punch didn't change the weather at all. Is my punch that much weaker than his?" Mumble mumble mumble. On and on he went, talking to himself and working out the problem, "There is the possibility that he's just used to it and he used to hurt himself too, but that makes no sense. He would have warned me if he knew. He did say there would be kickback, but I wouldn't call my arm almost exploding and my legs shattering 'kickback.' There has to be something I'm missing. Is he reinforcing his own body with One For All? Is that possible?"

He got up again, "Need more data. There's no way All Might can be firing at 100% all the time. He'd rip everything apart just by walking. Need to see if I can decrease the load." He sparked up again, gritting his teeth as the power ripped through his body once more, "Gkkk!" He felt his bones clicking. Not good. He tried to grasp the fire he was picturing in his mind, wrangling it down from a massive bonfire to a smaller, more manageable blaze. He nearly sighed in relief as the lightning around him dimmed, becoming far less chaotic in nature. He would say he was using about fifty percent now. He carefully moved his arm, and stopped immediately. It was still too much. WAY too much. "Can't even handle half?!" He cried in frustration, wrangling the fire inside of him to half the size again. But even that was too much. He shrank it down to ten percent of his maximum, and groaned in frustration, before cutting it in half again.

"Even ten percent is too much?!" He yelled out in frustration. He really was a useless Deku! "All Might didn't believe in me for FIVE PERCENT!" He jacked it back up to ten. It was a dull throb.

Just enough to annoy him, but not overly damaging to his body. It would take some getting used to, but he WOULD get used to it!

He let the energy drop, inhaling deeply as he did so. Then he cranked it back on. He missed his mark by about twenty percent, and had to grind his teeth as he decreased it again. He did it again, and again, and again, until his body ached, and he could summon ten percent on command.

Smiling in elation, Izuku took a pull from his water bottle...and then realized he was super thirsty and drained it in a few more gulps. "Wow! One For All must be super tiring to use." He mumbled, stretching himself out and feeling several joints crack deliciously. He grinned, "I won't fail you again, All Might! I think I'll call this Full Cowl! Let's see what this can do!" He powered up to ten percent, crackles of green lightning once more appearing around him. The sand beneath his toes crunched as he dashed forward.

Tiny grains of sand erupted behind him, fanning out and landing dozens of meters from where he had disturbed them. Izuku ran like a bolt of lightning, only the green from the electricity surrounding him marking him in the dim light. The streak travelled from one end of the beach to the other in two seconds flat. He ground to a stop, throwing up plumes of sand as he dug his heels in, "Oh CRAAAP!" He smashed into the wharf, instantly spiking OFA to around 30% to try to save himself.

He sat there, buried in the stone for a moment, before cartoonishly falling backwards and leaving an imprint, "...Ow." He brushed his face off, but realized he hadn't hurt himself too badly, "Okay. So I was right. It CAN'T be just All Might's bigger muscles protecting him." He sat up, "I should have more than just these scratches from an impact like that." He mumbled, "One for All must have protected me! I need to harness that! But how?" He looked at the sparking electricity surrounding him.

"Wait!" He stopped, releasing his hold on his Quirk, "...Why am I surrounded by lightning?! I've never seen All Might surrounded by lightning! Am I just wasting power doing that?" He held his chin, "I mean, it does look pretty cool, but I never saw All Might do it. It's the same Quirk." He held out a hand and powered to 5%. It came easier to him now. He knew what 10% felt like so he aimed for half of that. The green lightning was pretty small, merely crackling merrily along his skin. He spiked it to 10% and it was noticeably more violent. Gritting his teeth, he spiked it to 20%. The lighting crackled much more violently now. Stray sparks hit the sand around him and, surprisingly, did not turn it to glass. "It's not hot?" He winced and backed down to ten percent. He definitely couldn't hold 20% for very long.

He groaned and let his Quirk go. His entire body ached tremendously, and he was pretty tired. He would pick this up again tomorrow.

-[-

He did not, in fact, pick it up tomorrow. His body had protested mightily at doing much of anything by the end of the day, and he'd been forced to rest instead. It had been a while since he'd had the chance to just sit down and watch TV. That got boring pretty quickly though, and he'd spent most of his day on his bed writing in his notebook. Well, after he'd filled out his Shiketsu application. U.A. always had their exams first, since they had SO many applicants as the best Heroics School in Japan. The other schools hated them, since most of their applicants considered them as backups and not primary choices.

Unknown to him, his mother had been relieved. She had been frightened of Izuku the first day after the exam. He'd just seemed so...lifeless. She'd even caught him staring blankly at his fish. Seeing

him with life in his eyes when he'd come back from the beach had been a deep relief. She had sworn to support him, and she didn't know how after the exam. Seeing him so energetic now put a small smile on her face.

The day after, Izuku was back on the beach. "Okay, this needs a test." He cranked up to ten percent, and saw his lightning surrounding him merrily. "Good, I didn't lose practice with it." He sighed in relief, "Now..." He focused, hard, and drew his power inwards. He didn't blow out the fire like he had been when trying to figure out percentages. No, he let it keep burning brightly. Now was time for control. Slowly, despite knowing his Quirk was still firing, Izuku watched as the lightning fell away. He grinned, feeling One For All burning inside of him, with no visible trace of it on his skin, bar a small glow.

He relaxed, letting it flow back out. The lightning crackled again. He raised his fist and launched it forward. Wind blew, and the sand blasted itself back. He raised an eyebrow as the grains settled. He'd created roughly a fifty-foot blast with that punch, judging from the patterns in the sand. That... was pretty weak. "All Might changed the weather with his punch. And not even one of his strongest punches, probably!" He glared at the beach, "How the hell can a 10% punch only cause a fifty-foot shockwave?" He shook his arm, "And even that hurt a little bit. Damn it! I'm so far behind."

He pulled One For All back into himself, feeling it but watching his lightning recede. He took a breath and punched again. Still at ten percent, but this time a MUCH bigger wave of sand rose in front of him. A small little whirlwind blew for a scant few seconds, forcing him to shield his face. When it died down and he lowered his arms, he grinned wildly. "YES!" The shockwave had at least tripled in size. "I was right! I was wasting most of the power! When I beat the Zero Pointer and blew my arm to shreds, it was probably because I just let One For All run wild in my body! This has to be what All Might does! He reinforces his own body; his nerves, his bones, his muscles and skin... All of it! If he didn't, he would just rip himself apart the same way I did, and waste most of the energy!" He opened his palm and stared at it, "It didn't hurt a bit this time!"

He grinned happily as he set his feet, "One For All..." He wasn't sure what to call this, since it wasn't the same as Full Cowling. He focused hard, trying his best to keep coursing the power throughout his body without letting it escape, "Fifteen percent!" Unlike the last few times, he didn't feel the increasing ache of One For All tearing him apart. "Twenty percent!" Shimmers of his Quirk started appearing on his skin, "Getting harder to control...Twenty-five percent!" One For All started to visibly leak, lightning crackling around him, but not like it normally did at twenty-five percent. No, it was more like ten percent, and the ache in his bones felt similar.

"That has to be my limit right now! Maybe I'm just not strong enough yet?" He said, still focusing hard. He ground his teeth, a vein visible on his forehead as he tried to compress it down further. "Come on, come on!" The lightning receded, but he could still see his glowing veins. He trembled from the exertion, but didn't give up. "Fine, I'll take glowing veins! They still look cool!" He breathed in and out slowly, trying to acclimatize himself to the power coursing through him. "No sparks!"

He felt like he was going to vibrate apart if he didn't do something. He needed to get used to moving like this. "Hopefully this isn't a hospital trip!" He yelled, before taking a step forward. The world blurred around him and he instantly realized doing this on the beach might have been a bad idea, "OCEAN!" he veered left before plowing through the pier and entered open ocean, "HOLY SHIT!"

Izuku wasn't really the type to swear all that often. That had always been Kacchan. But now? Literally running on top of the ocean? Yeah, he could swear a bit, "FUCK YEAAAAAAAAH!"

He laughed joyously as his feet pounded the ocean, forming giant ripples with every step. "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD!!!!!" He cackled madly as he raced along the surface, before bracing and shooting himself upwards in a single bound. "IS THIS HOW ALL MIGHT FEELS EVERY DAY?!"

He reached the peak of his jump... and started windmilling his arms as he started falling back down, "NOT MY BEST IDEA!" He cried out in fear, suddenly remembering that he would have to land. "Come on One For All, don't fail me now!" He took a deep breath and managed to face the ocean and threw his arms forward to dive. He impacted the water like a speeding bullet, cavitating the water around him while a giant spray of water rose up out of the depths. He dove so far his ears started to feel pain, and with One For All reinforcement... that must have been quite a lot of pressure.

He turned upwards and swam, 'No bends. No bends. No bends. Damn it Izuku, don't be stupid!' He chided himself as he surfaced. His jaw dropped as he started treading water...and realized the mainland was just a tiny speck in the distance. If it wasn't for the trails he'd made in the waters which were still settling, he might not have noticed it. "..." He stared, before kicking and racing his way back. "One For All is scary..." He mumbled to himself, a little blue in the face. He landed back on the beach and collapsed, finally letting go of One For All. His body felt like he'd spent the entire day hauling trash back at the beginning of his training.

Despite that... he started to laugh. He hoped All Might would give him one more chance. He wouldn't waste it this time! "Just need a name for it!" He yelled happily as he lay spread-eagle on the sand. After a few moments of thinking of how even that giant dive into the ocean hadn't hurt him, he started giggling to himself, before he forced a deep, gravelly voice from his voice box, "I'm the Juggernaut, Bitch!" He cracked up and started laughing out loud. Juggernaut Drive it was.

-[-

Izuku sat numbly in his chair. His mom next to him was cheering happily and congratulating him until she noticed the look of supreme irritation on her son's face. 'Oh dear, I haven't seen his eyebrow twitch like that in years! What is he so mad about? He passed! My baby got into U.A.! And his acceptance was presented by All Might! He should be singing from the rooftops!'

Slowly, Izuku started to mumble to himself, and she listened carefully, "All Might you jerk!" Her eyebrow raised. What did All Might have to do with anything? "You give me your Quirk, don't give me any instructions on controlling it, and then let me think I failed for a week! Oh I'm going to punch you so hard!"

Her jaw dropped and she shook herself, 'Gave him his QUIRK?! What is that supposed to mean!?' She had to have misheard, right? That was impossible! "Izuku!" She shook him gently, "Izuku!" She raised her voice. He was still in his mumbling spree, "MIDORIYA IZUKU!" She finally yelled, and he snapped out of it and nearly jumped a mile into the air.

"Ah! Mom! I'm sorry, I did it again didn-" He started stammering apologies, but she cut across him.

"What do you mean, All Might gave you his Quirk?!" She asked a little shrilly, waving her arms up and down.

Izuku blanched, his face going milky white, "I-" He started to stammer and bluster, "Uhh, I mean." He cursed himself. He couldn't lie to his mom. He shook himself and cleared his throat, before calmly waving his hand in front of her face, "These are not the droids you're looking for?" He

tried. "IZUKU!"

-[-

Toshinori waited for his successor to arrive with a small grin on his face. Midoriya-shonen had done beautifully. Not nearly optimally of course, and the kickback had been rather insane and unexpected, but his heart had shone through all the way. He even had another examinee trying to give up her points for him!

His successor would one day be an inspiration to all! His grin widened as he saw the boy approaching, though it dimmed when he saw the expression on his face. Equal parts irritation, vindictiveness, shame, and happiness. 'What the?' He shook himself and raised his hand for a high-five, "Midoriya-shonen, excelle-"

"All Might." Izuku stopped him. His eyes widened a little. Izuku had never interrupted him before. "I'm going to punch you now," He said faux-calmly, raising a fist.

"E-eh?" And then Izuku was noticeably engulfed in One For All, his veins shining beneath his skin, "Holy shit!" He buffed up and dodged backwards as Izuku's fist practically exploded the sand beneath them, "What did I do, Midoriya-shonen?!"

"You let me think I failed for a week you jerk! Get back here!" Izuku screamed, "I had already prepared my Shiketsu application! I just hadn't gone to the post office and sent it in yet!"

"Ahahaha!" All Might started to laugh in elation as the two danced around each other, Izuku throwing up plumes of sand a hundred feet into the air with every punch, "Oh my GOODNESS, Midoriya-shonen! Where was this during the exam?!"

"What was I supposed to do with 'clench your butt cheeks and yell SMASH!' for instructions?!" He screamed back in irritation.

All Might sweatdropped, "Well, I mean." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "I've... never actually taught anyone, and One For All was always instinctive to me. I honestly had no idea how to instruct you." He shook his head as Izuku started to gawk at him, "A-anyway!" He stammered, "How wonderful! You've clearly kept busy! How did you manage this?!"

Izuku let out a sigh as he dropped his ten percent Juggernaut Drive. "I had to work it out piece by piece." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head after having let out some steam, "I figured out you had to be using OFA to reinforce your body, and spent like three days getting used to it. My maximum is twenty-five percent." He let out ten percent with his initial attempt: Full Cowl, "If I just course One for All through my body, this happens. I noticed you never looked like you had lightning around you, so I figured I was wasting power. If I don't reinforce myself even this much hurts, and it's only ten percent."

All Might laughed, "I knew you would be amazing, but this is beyond my wildest dreams!" He clapped Izuku on the shoulder, "Fantastic, my boy! It only took you a week to figure all this out? Perhaps you should go into Quirk Analysis!" Izuku snorted as he rumbled in amusement, "You're also incorrect. In my one fight against the enemy who... well... you know." They both grimaced, "I went past my limits and channeled more of One For All than I thought I had. That day, it was as though there was a lightning storm around me... and I still almost lost."

"How strong WAS this guy?" Izuku cried out in shock.

"A story for another day." His idol said, "Suffice to say it was the hardest fight of my life. One day I'll tell you, but for now, you should focus on getting stronger! Twenty-five percent is better than I dreamed, but there is a lot of room for improvement! We'll now try to get you an actual fighting style to go along with it."

"Actually..." Izuku looked sheepish, "Before that, I need you to come over and meet my mom."

"E-eh?" All Might chuckled nervously, "That's a bit muc-"

"I had one of my mumble storms." He said, and All Might felt this stomach drop, "And I may or may not have said I was going to punch you for giving me your Quirk and then letting me think I failed for a week. And my mom may or may not have been right next to me."

All Might slapped his own face, "Shonen...you have GOT to work on that. And I spent three of those days unable to feel my hand from all the paperwork! And the rest of it was filming those acceptance videos!"

"You didn't have five minutes for a text?!" He cried in frustration, "I was even worried I did so bad you'd ask for One For All back!"

"Well aren't we a right pair?" All Might shook his head, "Okay! Let's go then!"

As they left, two heads peeked out from under the cover of the umbrella, "...Holy shit, All Might

took a student!" He then eeped as his girlfriend pulled his shorts down, "Wha-ooooh!"

"Best. First. Date. EVER." His girlfriend told him, before lowering her head back down. He turned to mush.

'You got a fan for life, Green Guy!'

-[-

Weeks and then a month passed, and before he knew it, the end of year break was over and done with. It was time for U.A. to open its doors for its newest successful applicants for the first time. And of course, he stood in his doorway getting checked over by his mom, "You have your tissues, honey?"

"I have everything, mom." He pecked her on the cheek, and she squeezed him as tightly as she could. He still was rather shocked at the size difference between them now. Before the entrance exam, he'd been just an inch taller than her. Now? He had to look down at her slightly. Izuku wasn't sure if it was just a growth spurt coming in that had put him at 173 centimeters, but judging from how he had also bulked up a bit more in the short month since he'd taken One For All from All Might... Maybe One For All was affecting his growth as well? Especially Juggernaut Drive. Izuku had continuously practiced with it since its creation, even getting to spar with All Might!

"You've made me so proud, Izuku." She said tearfully, "And it always made me feel awful that I didn't support you when you needed me the most."

"Mom, you don't have to-" He started weakly.

"I DO!" She said, loudly and firmly, "I don't like how you and Toshinori went about it. That video of you in the entrance exam terrified me, baby!" She let out a sigh, "But what's done is done, and

you are wonderful! You got a hang on One For All so quickly, and I just know you'll be the coolest Hero!" She smiled so brightly Izuku was almost blinded by the light, "I promise, I'll always support you! If you ever need anyone in your corner, I promise I'll be there! Just... promise me you won't break your bones again." She giggled, "That can't be good for you!"

"I figured it out!" He protested, but he was chuckling as well. With one last hug, the two separated and he raced out. Inko waved goodbye behind him, before closing the door.

...

"Would be great to not have Kacchan or that glasses guy in my class." He mumbled, "1-A, 1-A... ah! ...That's pretty big. Guess they have to accommodate all sizes..." He said, and took a deep breath before opening the door.

"Take your feet off the desk! Have you no respect for our upperclassmen and the wonderful crafters who made that desk?!"

"Ehhh, who the hell are you, extra? What school are you from?"

Izuku deadpanned as he stood in the doorway, 'Of course.' He let out a little sigh and scanned the

room, 'Can I at least get the cute brunette girl I saved in here too?'

He then noticed that the glasses kid was heading towards him, and his expression dropped. "You're the one from the exam!" He bowed low to Izuku, "MY sincerest apologies for my actions! Before the exam began, I completely misjudged you!"

Izuku stared at him in surprise, completely shocked by the apology. He was so surprised he didn't really say anything back for a moment, getting him to raise his head and look at Izuku. Izuku shook his head minutely, "It's alright." Izuku said a little tiredly, "Not like I'm not used to it. Izuku Midoriya." He held out his hand.

"Used to it?" The boy questioned, "Regardless, I still apologize. My name is Tenya Iida. I hail from Sōmei Academy!"

"Pleasure to actually meet you." Izuku gave him a little smile, "Maybe try that first, next time, huh Iida-kun?" Iida flushed, before nodding his head rapidly.

"Midoriya-kun, you perceived the true nature of that exam, did you not?" He moved a little robotically, his hands out and looking like he was going to chop something with them, "As much as I hate to admit it, you were the far superior candid-"

"Perceived the true nature?" Iida stopped and looked at Izuku as he spoke with a confused note in his tone, "...I was angsting about it for a week dude. I thought I had failed."

Iida's eyes widened, and he resisted the urge to step back, "Truly? But why would you...?"

"Ahh! That curly hair!" He jumped as a voice piped in from behind him. He turned and smiled a little woodenly at the cute brunette from the exam, "You did make it in just like Mic-sensei said!" She cheered before starting to wave a fist, "Makes sense though! What an awesome punch!"

Izuku had slowly started to glow red, his newfound confidence in himself with All Might and his mom in his corner as well as his improvement with One For All decidedly not extending to talking to girls, "Ah- w-well, I- y-you spoke on my behalf too..."

"Ehh, how did you know that?" She asked curiously, before shaking her head as the bell rang,

"Anyway, I'm super nervous! We've got the Entrance Ceremony and Guidance Sessions today right? I wonder what our teacher will be like-"

"If you're here to socialize, then get out." The girl and Izuku both jumped, before they turned to look outside the door with dumb looks on their faces as they stared at the giant caterpillar. A second glance later and they realized it was, in fact, a sleeping bag, and the face staring at them looked decidedly unamused, "This is the Hero Course." A hand snaked out from inside the bag with a pouch, which the long-haired man squeezed empty in a single suck. Iida, Izuku, and the brunette were slightly blue in the face as they watched him sit up and toss off the sleeping bag. He wore all black which matched his messy hair and a grey scarf, "It took you all more than ten seconds to settle down. Time is precious. You kids aren't very rational, are you?"

He strode inside while everyone wondered who exactly this was. Izuku didn't recognize him, which said something. 'He has to be a Pro Hero, right? I've never seen him before. And I've never seen one who looked so worn out either.'

He even had a lot of stubble on his face and his eyes were bloodshot, "I'm your homeroom teacher, Shōta Aizawa. Pleased to meet you." He sounded anything but pleased. He reached into his sleeping bag and pulled out a dark blue uniform with red and white stripes, "It's a bit sudden, but you all need to put these on and head to the field."

Everyone in the class had varying degrees of confusion written on their faces as the man walked right back out.

-[-

"Midoriya, step up." Aizawa said, staring at him blankly. Izuku gulped, but did as he was commanded, "What was your record in the softball toss in middle school?" He asked softly. Aizawa had surprised much of the class by blowing off the Entrance Ceremony and the rest of orientation. He claimed that such 'frivolities' weren't worth the time they wasted.

Izuku couldn't help but feel that it probably wasn't a good idea to skip guidance sessions. Then again... when had they ever done anything good before? In any case, Izuku had been startled, having not expected the question. Well, not directed at him at any rate, "Err..." He paused, wracking his memory, "Seventy meters if I remember correctly."

Man, that day had been rough. It had been the first time he'd ever beaten Katsuki at anything, and the explosive blonde had proven predictable in the extreme. It had been the moment Izuku realized that even without One For All... he had gotten stronger.

"Not bad." Aizawa commented blandly, before tossing him a ball. "Now try it with your Quirk. You can do whatever you like, provided you don't leave the circle."

He heard a scoff from the crowd of students, "What Quirk? Fucking useless Deku doesn't have a Quirk. Should have had me for a demonstration." Izuku sighed as Katsuki's arrogance reared its ugly head for the nth time.

He hid a smile as he stretched his arm out, listening to the increasing jeers from his former friend. Several of the other students murmured in disgust over the blonde's mean-spirited words, but he ignored it. He knew he shouldn't... but he was going to enjoy this. "One For All..." he whispered. Ten percent should be fine for this, "Juggernaut Drive!" He stomped with his left leg, cratering the field beneath his shoe and flinging the ball as hard as he could with his right arm. A violent shockwave ripped through the air, leaving three visible vapor rings to dissipate in the air. The winds forced several of the students back, and left Katsuki staring at it in abject, stunned horror.

As for Aizawa? He looked utterly stunned. He nearly jumped when the tracker on his phone beeped, and he stared first at Izuku's unbroken arm and then to the device, "1800 meters." He said finally. "On the dot."

The class erupted, with several crying out at the same time, "THAT WAS AWESOME!", "HOLY COW! HE THREW IT ALMOST TWO KILOMETERS?!"

But the one that caught his attention was the one that drew him rapidly from his stupor, "DEKU YOU FUCKER! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE A QUIRK?!" Bakugō raced out, explosions crackling along his palms as he blasted towards Izuku.

Aizawa's capture weapon unfurled itself and struck out like so many snakes, instantly wrapping Bakugō up and binding him tightly as Aizawa's pupils glowed an evil red. "And what exactly do you think you're doing, Katsuki Bakugō?"

"What the fuck is this?! Why can't I use my Quirk!?" The blonde ignored the question. "You're Eraserhead!" Izuku gasped, "You can nullify a person's Quirk by staring at them!"

Aizawa frowned, 'Damn media.' He focused on Bakugō, "Quit using your Quirk. You're giving me dry eye over here."

'Such a waste!' The rest of the students thought at the declaration.

Aizawa's floating hair fell as his eyes dimmed to black, "Blasting forward at a fellow student with the intent of attacking? Are you looking to get expelled on your first day?" Katsuki and several other students choked at the word, "We don't tolerate nonsense here at U.A. Put another toe out of line and you won't be coming back."

Katsuki ground his teeth and clenched his fists, "Understood."

Aizawa released him, "Now that you're done being irrational..." He dropped some eye drops into his eyes and blinked rapidly, "As the demonstration showed, you all will be testing your Quirks. The softball throw, the fifty-meter dash, consecutive side-steps, endurance running, the grip strength, the standing long-jump, seated-toe-touches, and sit-ups. You all did those in middle school, but the Ministry of Education is full of irrational idiots still trying to pretend everyone is equal. In addition to all of those, you'll also be doing the fifteen-hundred-meter dash, reflex testing with whack-a-mole, weightlifting, testing your impact strength on the punching machine, and seeing how high you can jump during the vertical jump. You'll be pushing your Quirks to the limit on every one of them." He let out a little smirk behind his scarf, "Time to see where you all really stand."

"WE CAN SERIOUSLY USE OUR QUIRKS?! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO MUCH FUN!" The students all seemed to love it.

Finally, some normalcy. "Fun, you say?" Aizawa was staring at them. His expression hadn't really changed, but there was something about him that made it seem like a bucket of ice had been dropped into their gym uniforms. "You've only got three years here and you're thinking about fun? Alright then. If you're just here to have fun, then I'm going to make a new rule. The person who scores the lowest in these exams will be judged as hopeless and will be on a one-way train back home before the day is over. And I would recommend you check records if you think I'm not being serious."

"What!" Ochako - the cute brunette - gasped, "But it's the first day! How can we be expelled just

like that??! That's not fair!"

"Fair? Natural disasters... rampaging Villains... freak accidents... The world isn't fair, Ochako Uraraka. Calamity is always just around the corner, and Heroes are the ones who correct that unfairness." He grinned at them. An evil, slightly mad grin to their eyes, "If you were planning on hanging out for the next three years, you're in for a rude awakening, kids. U.A. will do its best to put you through one hardship after another, because villains and disasters don't discriminate. The only way we can ensure you survive to be splendid Heroes is by ensuring you are the strongest. So bring it on, if you can. That's PLUS ULTRA."

Aizawa said as much, but as he brought the kids to the first obstacle in front of him, he was lost in his thoughts. 'I misjudged him,' He admitted to himself. The memory of the Entrance Exam flashed in his mind. Izuku Midoriya had spent the entire exam running around like a headless chicken. He had opportunities to take some of the Villain Bots down, and had failed at every corner. Even students who completely irrelevant Quirks to that kind of exam had been able to defeat some of them. Izuku had clearly been panicking the entire time.

Aizawa had given him a zero vote on Hero Points with zero shame. Yes, he'd saved Uraraka. He'd also had both legs and one arm broken for his trouble. Useless. He traded himself to save one person.

But like usual, he had been overruled by less rational judges. And so, he'd broken his own routine for the first day and sent Izuku up instead of Bakugō for the demonstration. Izuku would either do nothing of note or would break his own arm. In either case, Aizawa would have sent him home. Permanently. If he wanted to kill himself to be a Hero, then some other school could handle his eulogy if they were stupid enough to take him.

And yet Izuku had done the exact opposite. One of the best results he'd ever seen in the event and not a cracked bone to show for it. 'He's like a child.' He frowned behind his scarf, 'A child who had never used his Quirk before.' That might not have been too far off if Bakugō's words had any merit, 'A late bloomer? He would be the oldest I have ever heard of.' In any case, Aizawa had egg on his face and it was a feeling he did not enjoy. They all stopped, "Alright, first is the fifty-meter dash, followed by the fifteen-hundred." He gestured to the track. There was the starting point, and fifty meters down was a robot measuring the fifty-meter record. The entire track was about five hundred meters, so they would need to do three laps. "Let's see how you do." He took out his phone, "You will now be randomized. Your partner will be your partner for any events that aren't performed solo. Bakugō and Mineta. You both are up first."

What followed was a very angry Katsuki Bakugō racing against the shortest student in the class; Minoru Mineta. It was, predictably, a massacre. Katsuki exploded from the starting line, basically hovering from his blasts. All of the balls that Mineta ripped from his scalp to throw onto the track to bounce off of were blown off course. Not only that, but the blasts from Katsuki's explosions forced him to lose precious time shielding himself until Katsuki got far away enough. The blonde got 3.9 seconds to the fifty meter, better than he would have done had he not been so angry. He had always been good at focusing rage as a motivator.

Mineta? He got a rather demotivating 12 seconds to the first marker.

And then the race was on. Katsuki zipped around the track with his explosions, losing a couple seconds on every lap. He finished with a total time of 3 minutes 15 seconds. He broke several of the old World Records, leaving his hands steaming from the exertion. It was a very impressive time, but did using his Quirk for the entire distance hamper him for later events? Izuku could see his fingers trembling before he stuffed them into his pocket.

Mineta looked quite pissed off from the early interference, but Aizawa merely repeated his statement from earlier. The world wasn't fair. Mineta tried his hardest, but it was clear his hardest wouldn't be enough. Even with him bouncing off of his purple balls, throwing them created drag while his body was exposed to the air. His short stature also worked against him. Despite not needing to throw his balls anymore, he was visibly exhausted by the second lap and only made it another 200 meters before he tripped in exhaustion and fell, getting a DNF. He looked a little scared now.

The next up was Ochako who was up with Iida. She ran the first fifty in 7.15 seconds, more than double Iida's 3.04 score... which he looked disappointed by. After Iida hit a hundred meters, he got even faster, making Izuku wonder if his "Engines" were real-world functional. He must have switched into a higher gear if they worked like Izuku thought they did. Iida completely embarrassed the old pre-Quirk World Records with a score of 1 minute 2 seconds. He had long strides and takeoffs, but noticeably slowed when cornering before picking up speed again on the straightaways.

Ochako looked to be struggling. It seemed she knew it too, and that she was going to DNF if she didn't think of something. With a look of determination on her face, she touched herself and then jumped, floating quickly down the track. She touched her fingers together at the bend and continued that portion running, before repeating the process. It wasn't the fastest, but it was effective and let her catch her breath for a couple seconds twice a lap. She finished with a time of 3 minutes and 45 seconds, but was visibly green.

Izuku was up next so he didn't get to congratulate her, and he was partnered with the beautiful Camie. He was not sure how she made the U.A. gym uniform look that good, but damn if it wasn't distracting. She smiled at him as they walked to the track, "Heya, cutie. I'm Camie!"

Izuku went red immediately. "C-Cutie?" He stammered, completely forgetting himself.

She giggled, a wide smile on her cute, pouty lips, "Aww, you're adorable! What's your name? Can I, like, get those digits?"

Izuku's jaw dropped, "D-digits?! S-so forward!" A girl wanted HIS phone number? Was this a dream? Was he getting punked? He shook his head, "M- I'm Izuku Midoriya. P-please take care of me."

She grinned, "Get me those digits and I sure will, cutie." They both got to the track as Izuku went iridescent, "Let's have a fun race."

Izuku clapped his cheeks and focused up, "You got it!" It was like a switch had been flipped, determination flooding him. Now it was Camie's turn to blush a little. He looked so driven.

Aizawa rolled his eyes, 'Great. Already got two of them distracting themselves and making cow eyes. Why did I take this job? Again?' He tiredly called, "Ready." Before shooting the starting pistol.

Juggernaut Drive engulfed him, and he took off, literally imprinting his footprint on the track. He had taken off his shoes, not wanting to risk them like his old pair. They weren't cheap! Camie also took off, and despite sprinting at max speed Izuku was lapping her. Quickly. Aizawa had to stop his jaw from unhinging. Izuku had beaten Iida. By a lot. Fifteen seconds even. For the full race.

Off to the side, Katsuki looked like he was going to have a conniption.

Camie focused on her own race, knowing that they weren't actually racing. She moved quickly.

Very quickly. Some of the athletes realized she was sprinting the entire thing, and expected her to get tired quickly. Only she didn't. She kept a perfectly even speed around the entire track, having the same lap times on all three laps. She finished even faster than Katsuki, at three minutes even.

"W-wow!" Izuku exclaimed when she broke the plane with a smile, "That was awesome, U- Utsushimi-san." He told her glowingly, "That must be some stamina Quirk you have!"

Camie took a deep breath to come down and relax, before she giggled and pointed her thumb downward, "Ehhh, wrong! I don't have a stamina Quirk, cutie." She hooked her arm around Izuku's arm and pulled him away for the next set of students to go, smiling wider when he blushed furiously at the contact. "And call me Camie."

"I- wha-" Izuku.exe has crashed.

It was about to crash even harder, "Holy crap! That was awesome!" The beautiful girl with pink skin and golden irises on black sclera exclaimed, getting right in their faces. "What even is your Quirk, Midori?!"

"Right on!" A green-haired girl with sharp teeth came up to them. Izuku almost fainted from suddenly being surrounded by beautiful ladies, "Looks like you work fast, Utsushimi!" She smirked playfully at the fawn-haired girl, "Run fast too!" She joked.

"I am quite fascinated though." Okay, all of the girls in his class were goddesses. Beautiful just did not cut it. The speaker was the tallest of the girls in his class, and had her long black hair done up in an awesomely wild ponytail. She clearly had won the genetic lottery as well, since her body was straining its gym uniform in ways that had him feeling hot, "You both have fantastic Quirks! Midoriya-san seems to have beaten even the speed-based Iida-san, and I don't think I saw you take a breath, Utsushimi-chan."

Camie grinned, "I did. Six of them, actually. One before each bend." She smirked playfully, "Wanna guess my Quirk, gorgeous?"

Momo Yaoyorozu was taken aback and Izuku went even redder. Momo blushed minutely but soldiered on after accepting the compliment. She was used to them... just not from other girls, "Hmmm, well you say that it isn't a Stamina Quirk... "

"Must have something to do with your breath, right?" Another girl came up, this one wearing a fashionable set of glasses with the fluffiest hair Izuku had ever seen.

He was pretty sure they were going to be able to hear his heartbeat at some point. "A-Agreed."

"That's right!" Camie finally let go of his arm and playfully raised a hand to her lips. She kissed her palm, before playfully blowing it in their direction. Immediately, a big red set of cartoon lips rose off her palm and shot at them. It kissed Izuku square on the lips, and he could feel it. Three of the other girls giggled while the last blushed profusely as another set landed on her cheek. And then their eyes bulged as Camie's uniform melted off of her body, replacing itself with a red leather getup complete with a set of devil horns and succubus tail. She winked at them and they all blushed to varying degrees, with Mina turning a dark purple due to her skin color.

Camie giggled, and then everything shattered. Camie was back to normal, and the bright, cherry- red lipstick marks on Izuku's lips and Momo's cheek vanished. Camie was giggling loudly, "How do you like my Glamour? Anyone who breaths in that gas is mine." She licked her lips playfully, "Total sensory illusion. And since it's dependent on my breath, my lungs totally are super advanced. I could hold my breath for over thirty seconds when I was just a lil baby. Drove my

parents mad thinking I was like, not breathing. I can cover a big area with it, and it lasts until I break it, or fifteen minutes goes by."

"Girl that's so cooooool!" Mina was flapping her arms like a bird, "I'm a little jealous!" She grinned evilly and leaned forward, "You could totally get away with a lot with that. Maybe even sneak over and give Midori here a little kiss in class, huh?"

Izuku did not react. At all. He was just staring forward. Setsuna Tokage - the verdette - waved her arm in front of his face. Again, nothing. She started to cackle, "Holy shit girl, you killed him!"

Momo - face still red - frowned a little bit, "He seems very shy. That's a little unusual with an amazing Quirk like his, isn't it?"

The rest of the girls all frowned, realizing he was right, "Yao-chan is right. That's kind of surprising. What did that exploding guy call him again?" Nemuri Kayama stated while scratching just under her glasses.

"Yao-chan?" Momo blinked in surprise.

"I think it was Deku?" Mina tapped her lip. "Deku?" Setsuna scowled, "Isn't that-"

"Short for "Dekunobō," meaning 'someone who can't do anything.'" Momo scowled deeply as well, "If his name's Kanji are written the way I think they are, someone could misread them that way."

Mina was glaring past Camie over at Katsuki, and she was joined by Nemuri and Setsuna. Nemuri finally shook her head and raised a wrist up to Izuku's nose. A smell wafted off her wrist, and Izuku jumped, "WAH!"

"Welcome back, big boy." Setsuna leered at him.

"I- Wha-" Izuku shook his head, "What happened?"

Mina grabbed his arm, "Camie-chan broke you, Midori."

"Midoriya-san." Momo put a hand on his arm, "Why did that blonde boy call you, 'Deku?'"

Izuku's expression fell, confirming most of their thoughts, "I...well..." He hemmed and hawed for a moment, "...My Quirk came late." He finally mumbled.

Their expressions hardened, and Mina snarled, "I HATE bullies."

Izuku had a deer in headlights expression, "K-Kacchan isn-"

"Yes, he is." Camie said flatly, her lack of trendy/gamery speech a testament to her anger.

Momo had a look of wonder on her face, "And since he didn't know about your Quirk... is it safe to say 'late' was very recently?"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "I- I mean... yeah." He looked sheepish in the extreme, "...First time I used it was against the Zero-Pointer. Broke my arm and both legs..." He mumbled the last bit.

Jaws dropped all around him, "You went into the Entrance Exam without a Quirk?" Nemuri

gasped, eyes impossibly wide.

"That's awesome dude." Camie breathed softly, "Why though? Were you after fame? Fortune?" "Midori that's hardcore!" Mina squeaked, "You broke your legs and arm?!"

"And you've gotten this good with it already?!" Momo exclaimed, a hand crossed over her heart.

Izuku shook his head, flushing some more from the praise, "All I ever wanted was to help people." He replied softly, "It didn't matter that I was...Quirkless." The word was rough in his voice, and it was clear to them that despite the brave face, it had hurt. "To be an inspiration..." He didn't get to finish, because the girl's hearts were too busy going 'Doki Doki.'

"Even after getting bullied for basically your entire life, you still tried your hardest to be a Hero?" They all had strange looks on their faces. All of them were slightly flushed and just staring at him.

Mina grabbed his arm and hugged it, causing him to flush bright red again, the moment lost, "You're too good for this world, Midori." She declared.

Setsuna grabbed his other arm, "I think we're keeping you for ourselves, Hero." She went even further and broke Izuku again by pecking him on the cheek. "Awww... broke him again." She snickered in amusement.

"We'll work on it." Nemuri giggled, bringing him back with another application of her Quirk. Mina and Setsuna both wrinkled their noses from the short whiff of the smell, and both of them recoiled.

"Ugh, that hurts!" Mina rubbed her nose, and Setsuna had covered her nose.

"Concentrated smelling salts." Nemuri shrugged as Izuku shook his head. "Anyway, I don't think we all know each other yet! My name is Nemuri Kayama! I look forward to-" She licked her lips, "Getting to know you five."

A blushing Momo cleared her throat, "Momo Yaoyorozu. Please take care of me." She bowed to them.

Izuku went next, "I'm I-Izuku Mi-Midoriya. P-Pleasure to meet all of you too."

"Setsuna Tokage!" Setsuna greeted them, cocking her hip and putting a hand on it. "I ain't much for formality, so go ahead and call me Setsuna."

"Camie Utsushimi. Like, totally the same here. Call me Camie" Camie giggled and high-fived the other girl.

"Mooood!" Mina grinned, "Mina Ashido! Please call me Mina!" She showed them the peace sign and grinned happily.

Off to the side, Ochako Uraraka was pouting at seeing her hopeful friend being surrounded by girls. She had hoped to become friends with him after he saved her in the entrance exam, but it didn't look like she was going to have a chance with all the other girls grabbing his attention and turning him into a tomato-head. Especially not with Aizawa-sensei stomping over there looking irritated. Hopefully some other time? She allowed herself to get drawn into a quiet conversation with Tsuyu Asui as Aizawa stopped near them.

"I thought I told you all this wasn't the time for socializing." Aizawa's menacing voice froze them, "Be glad none of you missed your name. If you waste time I'll ship you out. You should be paying

attention to your classmates too. Or are you so confident in yourselves that you think you'll make it in regardless?"

"Ehehehe, s-sorry sensei." Mina clapped her hands in a prayer pose.

"Whatever." Aizawa shook his head, turning indifferent eyes towards them, "Yaoyorozu, Kayama, get going. You're next."

As the two hurried behind him, Setsuna tilted her head, "Huh, maybe he's a bit of a softie after all."

"Like, I totally don't get him. He looks so burnt out." Camie complained, "Does he expect us all to end up like him? Even if we're here to be Heroes, that doesn't mean we can't totally be friends and help push each other."

Surprisingly, Izuku agreed, "The last thing a Hero needs is for this to be just another job. We have to have passion for it!"

"Yeah, I don't think I like Sensei." Mina whispered as low as she could, "He seems like he hates the job and wants us to hate it too."

"He's an underground Hero." Izuku was frowning, "Which means he works mostly at night. No wonder he was going around in a sleeping bag. He must be exhausted. Why did he even take a job where he has to screw his hours up like that?"

"Dunno, but seriously, dude needs a nap." Setsuna didn't care much if she was overheard. She knew the teachers had their freedom, but she doubted that extended to them being able to punish them for their opinions. Not if the performance was there.

They watched as Momo and Nemuri started their race, jaws dropping as Momo pulled an electric scooter out of her chest. She quickly left Nemuri behind on the track, though the athletic girl was running a very good race, nonetheless. Not nearly as efficiently as Camie, but she was more than proving the hours and hours she'd spent in the gym training her body to peak performance.

Setsuna smirked at Izuku and unknowingly distracted him before his notebook could appear and mumbling begin. While the beginning of the race was exciting for obvious reasons, they weren't going to get much more out of just watching it. "And you never answered our question, big boy." She leered at him again, earning another heavy flush, "What's your Quirk?"

It was thankfully something he'd gone over with All Might, and he tried not to let himself be distracted by Momo's awesome Quirk. "My Quirk is a Stockpiling Quirk." He leashed five percent of Full Cowl, allowing the lightning to crackle on his arm. "I call it Critical Overcharge."

"Ooooh!" The girls stared at his crackling form in awe.

"Holy cow! That looks so cool, Midori! Where did the lightning come from? I didn't see any when you threw? Were you holding back?!" Mina squealed excitedly, squeezing both fists in front of her chest and unknowingly pushing her boobs together.

"And suddenly things make perfect sense." Setsuna declared, "A Stockpiling Quirk of THAT magnitude would have killed you if your body couldn't handle it. No wonder it didn't show up until recently."

"Wait." Camie looked confused, "Like, if it's a Stockpiling Quirk how did it get so totally awesome? Things like that take loads of time, don't they? You're our age." She curiously reached

out, hoping this wasn't going to hurt a lot. A bolt of Izuku's lightning leapt at her and touched her finger, crawling up her arm as Izuku shut One for All off in shock. "Ahn~" She let out a positively lewd moan, before clapping a hand to her mouth. Her face was as bright red as Izuku's had been.

"Did you just moan?" Setsuna and Mina looked positively gleeful as Izuku's shocked face went red for the nth time.

Still blushing profusely, Camie lowered her hand and cleared her throat, "...That felt really good." She blushed even brighter, very much off-balance, "...Why did that feel good?"

Izuku scratched the back of his head a little nervously, face iridescent. "...Quirks are weird?" He offered hesitantly.

"That they are." Momo had arrived back and overheard part of the conversation. There was a light sheen of red on her cheeks, having caught the tail end of that. "So, it's a Stockpiling Quirk? Those are pretty rare. Usually super strength Quirks are just that."

Izuku was thankful for the distraction, "I was p-pretty interested in your Quirk too, Y-Yaoyorozu- san. You made a working electric scooter!" He deflected, and thankfully the rest all focused on Momo as Nemuri got back, skin slightly glowing from sweat.

"It was totally sweet." Camie was not going to let it go, but she would allow the obvious deflection for now. "You made a whole ass scooter!"

"Damn near dropped my jaw." Nemuri giggled, "Gotta say, you didn't run it as fast as Zuzu but it sure was flashy."

Momo smiled at them, enjoying the praise, "My Quirk is called Creation. I am able to turn my lipids into anything non-living." She demonstrated, creating one of her favorite Matryoshka dolls.

"Wowwww!" Everyone clapped, making her blush prettily.

Izuku's eyes were shining, "That's so cool! Is it a direct conversion from lipid to whatever atoms you need? How fast can you create? Do you have any size limits?" His notebook appeared in his hand making them gawk as his voice gradually increased in speed until it was clear he was asking himself more than Momo as his pencil smoked on the page.

They all started to giggle helplessly until Nemuri had enough and snapped her fingers loudly in front of his nose. He jerked in shock and they burst into giggles, "Don't make me break out the smelling salts again, Izu."

Izuku held in his groan of mortification, "S-sorry... I get carried away." He hung his head, "Analyzing Quirks was the only thing I was good at back before..."

They all frowned. Now they felt bad. "Don't worry about it! It was cute." Mina and Setsuna both chimed in.

Momo giggled, "You just weren't letting me actually answer any of the questions." "S-sorry!" Izuku rubbed his hair sheepishly.

"Wow." Camie said as his hair caught her attention. She ran her fingers through some of Nemuri's hair, "Zu here might give you some competition in fluffiness, Nem."

"Oh really?" Nemuri leered and reached up, running her fingers through his hair and getting

another atomic blush. She stopped, face calm, "...If you spend any less than an hour on this every day I will officially be jealous."

Beat.

All of them - yes even Momo - started touching his hair. "Holy crap Midori! That's not fair!" Mina whined as she compared it to her own.

'Oh.' Izuku smiled half blissfully and half sadly, 'I get it now. This is all just a dream. I'm going to wake up any second now.'

"Oh, looks like Midori is enjoying himself." Mina giggled at the look on his face.

That seemed to make Momo realize what she was doing and with a cute little 'eep,' she backed away. She hurriedly cleared her throat and spent the next few minutes going over her Quirk; Creation. It was a really amazing Quirk that Izuku couldn't wait to deep dive into. From Momo's tone and some of her implications, he suspected she still had a lot to discover regarding her own Quirk. To be fair to her, it was an incredibly complicated Quirk.

Nemuri went next, "When I was young, I called my Quirk Somnambulist. I was able to create a gas from my body that would quickly put anyone to sleep." She blushed, "Got in BIG trouble a couple times with my parents. They were yelling at me and I just put them to sleep." The rest of them started to giggle helplessly as they imagined it. "But, it turned out that wasn't all my Quirk could do. I can create various gases with different effects, like the smelling salts one. Of course, the downside is that I have to be exposed to it first, or else I can't create it. And I'm not exactly immune to it myself."

"Ah. That makes it so that you can't just come up with them or study effects to use them. Powerful." Momo commented, and Izuku followed up.

"But not actually game-breaking." He smiled at her a little timidly.

"Yep! That's the gist of it! Although that doesn't mean I don't have some wicked weapons." She grinned evilly, "Anyone tries to get fresh with me and they're getting pure capsaicin gas in the eyes." The other five recoiled. "What about you, Mina?" Nemuri cheerfully turned to their pink friend.

"Wellllll~" Mina smirked playfully, and let a little blue dollop of liquid appear on her finger. It dripped from her fingertip and hit the ground, immediately hissing violently and immediately eating a hole into the tarmac. "My Quirk is Acid Control! I can generate and control caustic substances. I'm pretty bad with bases so I just do acids mostly. I can control them for around ten meters maximum, but the stronger the acid is the harder it is. My strongest acids I can control for like a foot max. It also dehydrates me if I overuse it."

"So many scary Quirks!" Setsuna looked a little blue.

Mina giggled, "You guys don't have to worry of course. Unless you're like villains in disguise or something." She assumed a mock thinking pose, before smirking, "What about you, Suna-chan?"

Setsuna grimaced a bit, "Cute, but I'm not sure I like being called 'sand.'" She deadpanned, before smirking, "Anyway, I actually have one of those rare Dual Quirks."

"Ooooh!" Izuku started to damn near vibrate, "That's so cool! What is it? I've never seen a Dual Quirk before!"

Setsuna grinned and held out her hand, "Shake!" Izuku hesitantly grabbed her hand and shook it. Her arm popped off and now he was holding her entire arm, face ghost white. Momo straight up let off a little scream and hid behind Camie, who had also curdled. Setsuna started to cackle, "Man, that never gets old!" The disembodied arm jerked itself out of Izuku's grip and waved at them, before attaching back to Setsuna. "As for the other half?" She grinned as Aizawa called her and Mina's names. "You'll see in a minute." And her teeth were decidedly sharp and evil-looking. More than normal.

They took their places, Mina taking off her shoes and getting into a running stance. Setsuna instead visibly changed, having also taken off her shoes. Her body grew and became scaly, with her taking on very animalistic features. Her fingers grew clawed and her toes grew talons, while a tail popped out from behind her. She looked like a humanoid reptile of sorts.

"And you called OUR Quirks scary?!" Nemuri and Mina (in the distance) yelled, affronted.

Setsuna merely let out a vicious grin before the gun went off, and so did she. She exploded forward, running extremely quickly. Mina followed as well, not nearly as fast but then she started forming acid on her feet, using it to glide as though she were ice skating. She definitely rounded the track more nimbly than Setsuna did, but was slower on the straightaways. They made quick work of the race and finished very close to one another, and very far from last place.

"Holy cow! Are you a freaking Zoan too?!" Mina asked Setsuna as they made their way back to the front of the group.

Setsuna burst out laughing, "Yeah, pretty much. My family has always had 'Reptile Transformation' type Quirks on my dad's side. It's always a different species too. My dad and grandpa are totally different." She shrugged, "My mom married into the family, and her Quirk was pretty much an even more advanced 'splitter' type from mine. If I ever lose a body part it grows back, but, mom's grows back in minutes instead of hours. We were pretty surprised to see me get both. Still, pretty good complement to Reptilian Transformation Quirks, huh?"

"That's awesome!" Mina cheered, "Man, I'm jelly! That's such a cool Quirk!" "Totally!" Camie was grinning, "But like, what kinda reptile are ya?"

"You ever watch that really old movie Jurassic World?" Setsuna asked, hoping for some other dinosaur fans to nerd out with.

Izuku.exe has crashed. Reboot?

Izuku started to sputter, "W-w-w-wait a minute!" He shook his head, "How does that make any sense! Dinosaurs don't look anything like the movies! We know a lot of them had feathers!"

Nemuri laughed, "It's like you said, right? Quirks are weird."

Izuku nearly crashed again, "Wait, you said World specifically! Not just Park?!" Setsuna grinned, elated that he both caught it and knew enough to apparently make a connection. She nodded, "But that doesn't MAKE ANY SENSE!" He waved his arms, "They aren't even REAL DINOSAURS! There's a limit to Quirks being weird!"

Setsuna started to laugh, "Hey, I'm not complaining! It was the crossover no one apparently wanted but the one I needed! My full transformation is some weird cross between the Indoraptor and the Indominus Rex! And we're totally marathoning the entire series, Izu."

"I'm game!" Mina pumped her fist with a massive grin.

"I'm so down!" Camie cheered as well, "Love me some carnage. It'll be so lit!" She used her Quirk, making devil horns appear on her head. The rest of the girls agreed as well, and Izuku couldn't disappoint them.

"S-Sure! I l-love those movies." He smiled timidly, getting another 'woop' from the girls.

"I don't know..." Momo looked a little frightened, "C-Carnage? I don't think I ever watched a movie like th-."

"And again, I find you lot chatting and not focusing." Aizawa deadpanned as he came up close. The six immediately turned to him, "Since you're so set on fooling around, I'll allow it. But if you fall out of the top ten you're into Gen Ed. And I better see at least one top five finish from each of you." He turned and left without another word.

Some of them paled, while the others snarled, "I really don't think I like sensei." Setsuna didn't mince words.

"Let's focus up!" Izuku let everything else fall away, "We all worked too hard to get sent home." "Right." Momo shook her head, "It was foolish of us to not heed him the first time."

"We'll talk more when sensei isn't being a fuddy duddy." Mina promised, and they all watched as the races finished and they moved on. The grip test was next, with Izuku, Momo, Setsuna, and a couple others in the class being standouts. Izuku broke his device with a quick squeeze and screech of metal, but only got an approving nod from Aizawa. Setsuna did the same with a single (hybrid) transformed arm, apparently granting her enhanced strength just like a Zoan. Shōji didn't quite get the same result, but peaked around 800 kg, emboldened by the strong competition. Momo literally made a jaws of life. Mic Drop.

The next was weightlifting, and Izuku blew everyone out of the water, hoisting the largest one they had (weighing more than a full SUV) over his head with one arm. Setsuna showed her full transformation for the first time and she was huge and terrifying. Around forty feet long and she was obviously not full grown yet. She grabbed the same barbell in her jaws and lifted it as easily as if it were made of paper.

Mina, Momo, Camie, and Nemuri all put up respectable scores, but were beat out by the stronger members like Shōji and Katsuki. Momo could have gotten a better score, but was pacing herself since she couldn't make too many huge machines without lunch. A mini excavator with fuel and oil included would have been a bit much and left her without much reserves left for the rest of the events.

Next was the seated toe touch. Kyōka Jīrō and Mezō Shōji both stretched out jacks/limbs for it and technically got good scores, but most thought they really didn't follow the spirit of the exercise seeing as their bodies didn't move at all. Mina, Camie, and Nemuri crushed it along with a froggy girl named Tsuyu and an Invisible girl named Torū. Izuku was a blushing mess, not even paying attention to the rest of them.

Next was the side-steps, and Mineta finally got a good score by bouncing between two ball walls. Even that wasn't enough to beat Izuku though, with Juggernaut Drive active. Katsuki was scowling as he basically copied Mineta's idea with his explosions. He wished he had gone first so that it would have been Mineta copying him. Poor Mineta was seriously starting to look worried.

The Whack-a-Mole was fun, with several of the students having reflexes good enough to do multiple machines at a time. Kyōka surprised them again, able to hear the 'moles'' springs releasing before they actually appeared, and whacking them precisely and quickly with her jacks. It ended up being a fun enough exercise for once, and they totally forgot Aizawa's looming threat.

The Vertical Jump was next, and to much hilarity Izuku buried his head into the ceiling, leaving him dangling like a Piñata. They had to pull him out. The rest of the class laughed and laughed over this development. Izuku was left blushing bright red again. Several other students had amazing scores too, with Tsuyu getting to show her stuff again. Momo made an extreme pogo stick for herself and cleared thirty feet easily. Setsuna decided to use her Splitter for this one, and had her torso fly up to the ceiling. And just for good measure, she grabbed onto one of the struts and reconnected her body, resulting in her lower half flying up. The rest of the girls did well, but just well. Well, other than Ochako who stood upside down on the ceiling for a few seconds after her jump. Poor Mineta was again betrayed by his stature, and got a great jump relative to his height by jumping on a Pop Off ball, but it was mediocre all around in real terms.

Next they went back outside to rows of punching machines. "Now I know these are called punching machines," Aizawa started, "But you don't have to throw punches. I want to see your strongest hits."

Here a whole lot of students went wild. Katsuki exploded the pad on his machine, generating tons of force. Shōji grew a massive arm and rocked it with a punch. Mineta got a running start and hopped off a Pop Off ball, shoulder tackling it. He fell to the ground and groaned afterwards. The rest of the class was starting to feel kinda bad for the kid. Momo created a mechanical battering ram and got easily the highest score so far, straight up causing the machine to lift up on its two back legs and ripping the front ones from the pavement. Setsuna went full-sized and tail-whipped the machine, totally addressing some of her aggression and frustration with Aizawa being so annoying. She ripped it from the pavement and sent it crashing a hundred meters away.

Aizawa coolly stared back at her when she turned a challenging glare at him. Several students were afraid he'd expel her on the spot. But he merely marked her score down and called the next person. Izuku was the last one for this event, and he didn't hold back. He spiked Juggernaut Drive to thirty-five percent, knowing it would give him a hell of a burn afterwards. He whirled around, throwing a spinning back kick at the machine. There were similarities from his kick and Setsuna's tail-whip. If you squinted. Same way a hill and a mountain were similar.

The machine totally blew apart, screeching as metal tore and rivets popped. The shockwave he caused blew the shattering pieces all over the place, but not before carving a two-meter deep and five-meter wide trench into the field. They'd be finding pieces here and there for months. He turned around, looking at pale faces, awed faces, and - 'Huh, don't think I've ever seen Kacchan that red before. Is his eye twitching? That can't be good.'

"Dude what the FUCK?" Sero and Kaminari yelled, a thought mirrored by everyone else. Well, almost everyone. "DAMN IT! LET ME GO AGAIN!" Katsuki roared at Aizawa.

"No." Aizawa replied blandly, marking Izuku with a 'yes,' seeing as the machine couldn't even register his strike before being annihilated.

Next was the ball toss, and despite his rage fueling him, Katsuki was only able to get 857 meters. Well short of a kilometer and less than half of Izuku's score. The blonde radiated an aura of death and everyone kept well away from him. Ochako again balled out and got infinity with her Zero Gravity. Mina spun like a top with her acid and launched it five hundred meters.

Setsuna batted it with her tail and got a kilometer. "Tch!" She was irritated as she realized she could easily have gotten a higher score if she had just carried it away with her hand. 'Stupid Aizawa pissing me off and making me aggressive.'

Camie and Nemuri managed respectable two hundred meter-ish throws. Amazing for two with no physical Quirks. Momo shot her ball out of a CANNON.

"I know this is filthy rich coming from me," Setsuna was gaping, "But your powers are bullshit!" "Mine?" Momo asked in shock at the words, but was blushing from the compliment, "What about

him?!" She pointed at Izuku.

"Nah fam, his is bullshit strong but it's basic as fuck." Camie agreed with Setsuna.

Izuku tapped the tips of his fingers together shyly, "Y-your Quirk IS amazingly versatile, Yaoyorozu-san." Momo blushed a bit harder.

The rest of the day progressed quickly, with almost everyone already tired and just wanting it to end by the time they got to the endurance test. "Good work." Aizawa commented, face unchanging, "Well, most of you." A couple cringed in fear, "No time to waste. Here are your rankings." His cell phone projected holograms before him.

1. IzukuMidoriya

2. MomoYaoyorozu 3. SetsunaTokage

4. KatsukiBakugō

5. TenyaIida

6. MezōShōji

7. MinaAshido

8. CamieUtsushimi

9. FumikageTokoyami

10. NemuriKayama 11. EijirōKirishima 12. OchakoUraraka 13. KōjiKōda

14. TsuyuAsui

15. YūgaAoyama 16. DenkiKaminari 17. HantaSero

18. KyōkaJīrō

19. TōruHagakure 20. MinoruMineta

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Mineta squealed, starting to cry. The class was feeling bad... up until he opened his mouth, "How will I be popular with the girls and touch some amazing oppai now!?"

And all goodwill gone. And inadvertently, his one chance of staying in the class. 'There's at least one in every damn year.' Aizawa groaned internally as he wrapped Mineta up in his capture scarf. "Well done to the rest of you. Kayama, you pushed it right to the edge, didn't you?" Nemuri was incredibly pale and had to use Izuku to hold herself up. Her legs were trembling, and Mina quickly helped her stand from the other side, "Regardless, you all passed, even if barely for some of you. There is a LOT of room for improvement and don't think your positions are secure. I can ship you out just as easily in a week as I could do so today. There's nothing crueler than allowing someone

to pursue a half-baked dream. I've seen far too many promising students in the obituaries." The mood in the class was somber as they finally understood what made Aizawa like this. He must have lost students before. Perhaps even a friend, back when he was a student himself. "In your desks you'll find the instructions for the dorms."

"Oh, THAT'S why they weren't with the welcome packet!" Ochako gasped as she understood. All of them knew U.A. had dorms but they had received no information on them.

"Precisely. No point in moving you in just to move you out. Wouldn't have been rational." Aizawa confirmed, all of them ignoring Mineta's increasingly loud wails, "That is also why your first day was on Friday. Use the weekend to move in." He started to walk away, "You're dismissed. Enjoy the rest of your day. Let's go see the principal, Mineta-san."

The rest of the class took a breath, pitying Mineta but no longer feeling bad after his comments. "Oh, one more thing." Aizawa stopped short and turned back. Everyone stiffened up again, "I suggest you all prepare yourselves for Monday. Today's trials don't even come close to comparing to what you'll experience once the term officially starts." Message delivered, he left, Mineta's noises fading in the distance.

"Holy shit... U.A. is no joke."

Izuku wasn't sure who said it, but the sentiment was definitely shared.

-[-

"And, done!" Izuku wiped his forehead as he folded up the last of his boxes. His new room was set up, not quite the way he liked it but...

Well, All Might had a point. He'd brought some of his collectibles but not all of them, as well as a few posters (and not just All Might ones either!), which were already arrayed where he wanted them. The rest of his items had been replaced, with modest emerald sheets with black covers on his bed. The curtains had also been replaced with simple blackout curtains as well. No All Might curtains, rug, or the like. He blushed a bit, remembering Toshinori's reaction to seeing his room when he'd come to speak with mom. He'd been simultaneously flattered, appalled, and bemused by the sheer amount of branding with his own face all over it.

Smiling at a job well done, he went downstairs to the kitchen to grab some water. He ran into a certain blonde on the way down, carrying a load of boxes and looking a little unbalanced, "H-hey Kacchan... Need some he-"

"Fuck off, nerd!" Katsuki snarled, "The fuck do you think I am, Deku?" The blonde stalked off, boxes noticeably wobbling more and more as he stomped away.

"Good talk." Izuku deadpanned as he turned away.

"Jeez, what an asshat." Another familiar voice drew his attention, and he shyly smiled at Setsuna. Her Quirk was in full effect, her arms separated from her body and holding boxes on either side of her steady. "He better hope he doesn't face up against me! I'll kick his explody ass."

"He-he's not that b-" Izuku tried to say as he took a set of her items from her, eyes widening at the weight. He easily hefted them over his shoulder, and blushed at the way her eyes were glued to him.

"He is." She replied flatly, before moving the other set of boxes behind her, arms still detached. "He's an asshole and you shouldn't have to deal with him, Izu." She got closer as Izuku's blush

increased, and he squeaked as she pressed her lips to his cheek, lingering for two seconds before she backed away. "Thanks for the help, stud."

"T-T-Tokag-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" She detached a single finger and booped him on the nose, before she wagged it in front of her. "Get it right, Izu. Set~Su~Na!" She walked past him and moved the boxes in front of her, making sure Izuku had a perfect view of her ass in her jogging pants.

Face so red you could hear sizzling, Izuku followed the sexy student, trying and failing not to stare despite her obviously putting on a show for him. He spent the new few minutes helping the shameless girl get all of her belongings up, and she thanked him with another peck on the cheek and a promise to see him later, before she shut the door and got started on setting her room up.

Izuku quickly made his way downstairs with his face still steaming, but didn't get a moment's respite. "MIDORI!" A gleeful shout had him jumping minutely before Mina crashed into him for a massive hug. He froze like a statue, feeling her press into him as she squeezed him, "Oh man, this place is awesome!" She squealed cheerfully as she backed away, "The rooms are way bigger than I was expecting! And despite Aizawa-sensei being annoying yesterday, there's plenty of stuff to have fun with here! I was definitely not expecting the giant indoor pool! That's U.A. for you, I guess!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her, "Can you give me a hand with my stuff? Pwetty pwease?" She turned and gave him the soulful puppy dog eyes.

Izuku caved immediately, "S-sure, Ash-"

"Mina." She interrupted, staring at him with a gleam in her eye.

"...M-Mina." Izuku managed to get out, wondering if he was even going to last the weekend with all these girls apparently wanting to be friends with him.

"YAY!" Mina cheered, "Let's go Midori! The quicker we get all of this done and set up the quicker we can go have some fun." Izuku let himself be dragged behind her, and she immediately had him grabbing her disassembled bed frame and hauling it up to the third floor. Setsuna had already started moving into the second when he'd encountered her, and had pouted when she realized that meant he wasn't near her. Mina on the other hand had just arrived and made sure her room was right in next to his.

He'd been quite shocked when he realized that U.A. was allowing a coed setup. He'd mentioned it to Aizawa since he'd been there when he had arrived, and the answer had shocked him. "We're not babysitters. You want to be Heroes and you're considered young adults by now, so you're expected to be able to handle yourselves responsibly. We're not going to waste our time trying to get superpowered teenagers to not be teenagers. As long as you're safe and you follow school rules and regulations, you're allowed to do as you wish. Just be aware there are no second chances."

In any case, as he carefully maneuvered Mina's round bed frame into her room in the position that she wanted, he couldn't help but hope U.A. knew what it was doing. Then again, he hadn't heard of any expulsions from ahem scandals, so they probably did. A few more trips up and down and Mina had all of her belongings in her room. Izuku and Mina were both lightly sweating, Izuku because he had considered it training and therefore had not used One For All. "Thanks, Midori! You're the best!" Mina leapt at him again and engulfed him in a tight hug. Izuku went stiff as her slightly wet form pressed against his own, and he felt himself heat up. She smelled so good. She also pecked him - on the jawline unlike Setsuna's cheek kiss - and hurried him out of her room, hiding a smirk from his reaction.

'They're going to kill me...' In a daze, Izuku made his way down, hopeful that he'd finally get to have that drink, before Momo walked in the entrance to Alliance Heights.

She looked like she was a little lost, but she smiled brilliantly at him when she saw him, before flushing a little when she actually took him in. He'd gotten a decent workout from helping the two girls already, and his shirt was starting to stick to him a little. "Hello Midoriya-san."

"Y-Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku stuttered, still a little frazzled from Mina and Setsuna.

"Are you available to give me some help?" She asked hopefully, "My belongings were due to arrive in two separate shipments, and the one with the smaller and lighter items got stuck in traffic." She looked a little irritated, "Unfortunately, all of the movers were in that truck. At this rate I won't even be able to begin moving my items until nightfall."

"Of course, I can help!" Izuku replied, inwardly crying as his drink got further away. But the blindingly bright smile she gave him chased those thoughts away, "Let's get started!" He punched his palm.

She bowed deep to him, making him start, "Thank you very much, Midoriya-kun." She led him over to her truck, not noticing him blush again at the new honorific, and his eyes widened at the size of it. It was at least twice as long as Setsuna and Mina's trucks. As she unlocked it and he helped raise the door, his jaw dropped. She had... exquisite-looking furniture, and a LOT of it. Just the bedframe he could see looked like it was more than twice the size of his own bed... and he had a full! If it wasn't custom made he'd be shocked... and that told him a little something about his new friend. "Hmmm, is something the matter, Midoriya-kun?" She asked him curiously, having heard him make a noise.

"Uhhh..." He started to sweat a little nervously at his more-than-probably very wealthy friend, "...I... don't think you're going to have enough room for all this, Yaoyorozu-san."

She stared at him, before she looked at her items, and then back at him, "...How big are the rooms?"

Izuku scratched the back of his head, "You could maybe fit two of those bed frames side-by-side and another half of one length-wise. Each room does have their own bathrooms and a small closet. Maybe three-fourths as long and half as wide as the bed."

"...Oh..." Momo looked a little crestfallen, "That's... smaller than expected." She blushed in embarrassment. "Oh my, I'm not sure what to do now."

"Let's get the essentials in." Izuku hesitantly took command, "Starting with your bed."

She nodded resolutely, "Yes, that sounds lovely." She moved forward to lift the other end of her mattress, figuring with just the two of them it would be hard to move the frame without disassembling it. But Izuku surprised her by lifting the whole thing on his own and carefully getting it off the truck. As she watched his muscles strain, she realized her throat felt very dry.

Swallowing heavily as he hauled her custom-sized mattress into the building single-handedly, she shook herself and clapped her cheeks. She focused up and created a power drill and set to taking the bed frame apart. From the quick measurement she'd estimated from the door, it wasn't going in in one piece even with additional help.

It was roughly two hours later that they finished, and by now Izuku's shirt was plastered with sweat and he'd greedily gulped down two bottles of water when he finally had the chance. He'd

even poured some down his hair and then Momo really started blushing, surreptitiously trying to fan herself as she tried to hide the fact that she was staring and feeling a very unfamiliar warmth.

Izuku had blushed up a storm when he realized he had unconsciously started moving Momo's belongings into the room directly in front of his. The mature girl had also flushed, but hadn't complained, secretly a little pleased.

The rich girl hadn't complained per se, but when she'd seen the room he heard her mumble it was just a bit bigger than her personal closet. She had tried to be optimistic by mumbling, "At least it's bigger than the smaller closets." Izuku had nearly stumbled at the confirmation of her wealth. She had managed to fit her mattress in the middle and her bookshelves on the right side. Her large L- shaped desk barely fit in the room in the corner to the right of the entrance, and she had to make some decisions regarding whether she would keep it or not. She'd eyed the closet, mumbling to herself regarding which of her clothes she'd be able to keep and which she'd have to send back home.

Throughout it all, Izuku had offered opinions and kept busy helping her get set up for the second load. The both of them turned into blushing messes at least three times when one was caught eyeing the other.

He started to yawn, quite tired after helping three of his classmates move in after doing all of his own moving too. "Thank you very much, Midoriya-kun." Momo bowed to him again, and he smiled.

"It was no problem, Yaoyorozu-san. Let me know if you need help again later. I'm going to go take a nap." Finally, Izuku had shyly bowed back to her and ran off to his own room. He didn't know if he was relieved or sad she hadn't given him a kiss too.

-[-

"I'm so boooooored!" Mina moaned, laying spread-eagle on her bed, wishing something would happen.

Thankfully, her prayers for something to do were about to be answered. Her phone chimed, and her face lit up. It was a group invitation from Setsuna!

Mina: Hey girls!

Setsuna: All moved in?

Nemuri: Took me forever. You three were lucky you had our stud helping you. :p

Momo: N-Nemuri! Wh-what is that supposed to mean?!

Camie: He's so hot!

Mina: I KNOW right?! Did you see Midori's shirt sticking to him?!

Momo: What a vulgar conversation!

Camie: You gals are so lucky! Me and Nem didn't get to see! Closest we got was that baggy U.A. Gym jacket.

Nemuri: *DisappointedNemNoises*

Setsuna: Don't act like you weren't checking him out, Yaomomo! I saw those eyes! You were almost drooling!

Momo: ...

Mina: I think I can hear her steaming!

Camie: LMAO

Momo: If we're all done with this... debauchery.

Nemuri: Don't you dare deny your thirst! And how could you ladies not sneak a picture for us! I thought we were friends!

Mina: *EmbarassedYaomomoNoises*

Momo: MINA!

Camie: LMAO, Denial ain't just a river in Egypt!

Momo: Okay fine, he's incredibly attractive! Are you happy?!

In her room, Momo clapped her hands to her face after tossing her phone away, and listened to some whooping from the girls on her floor (Mina and Camie) as well as the floor below. Face apple-red, she picked her phone back up.

Mina: I have a great idea! Let's all go out for some fun! We can go to Karaoke or the arcade or even bowling

Nemuri: "All" meaning with Izu, yes?

Mina: *affronted* Of course!

Momo: That sounds like fun! I don't think I've ever been to one of those places.

There were a few seconds of silence where no one was typing, and then Mina responded.

Mina: I'm coming over to help you get ready Momo. Let's go girls!

And barely a second later, Momo jumped as Mina barged into her room without so much as a knock, "Let's get you dolled up, Momo!"

"Ah!" Momo squeaked in shock as Mina pulled her off of her bed and dragged her into her new (still decidedly small) closet, "I can dress myself! Mina! Mina?!"

-[-

Momo was so red she was acting as her own heater. Mina had taken five minutes in her closet before declaring that Momo didn't really have any 'party' clothes and had dragged the latter girl into her own room despite her protests. Mina had quickly run into a problem with her plan when she remembered that Momo was a lot taller than she was, and had dragged her next door to Nemuri's room, as she was the tallest and most well-developed next to Momo. About thirty minutes after their messaging spree the five of them were walking to Izuku's room. Momo had been squeezed into a tight red shirt that exposed her midriff and jeans so tight they looked painted

on. The sheltered girl had never worn anything like it. Her hair was also in a higher ponytail. Mina was in a tight purple shirt with ACID written on it, and some short shorts with thigh-high leggings. Setsuna has put on a long-but tight sweater-dress with a belt around her waist. Nemuri had a skirt and a white top, with her fluffy hair done up in a ponytail. Camie matched Momo in tight pants, though hers were leather unlike Momo's jeans.

"Damn we look good. Everyone's going to be so jealous of Midori!" Mina snickered.

"You've corrupted me!" Momo had her hands over her face.

Setsuna laughed, "Chill, Mo. You look hot as hell." She turned to the door, "Is Izu ready yet?"

They stopped, "...Did anyone tell him we were going out?"

"Totally thought you did, girl." Camie chuckled sheepishly, while the others held back from facepalming so they wouldn't ruin their makeup.

Mina looked to the ceiling and took a breath. "Oh well!" She said finally, "Hopefully Midori won't take too long. Even if U.A. is loose with the rules we do at least have to be back on campus by curfew."

"We got a couple hours at least." Setsuna shrugged, "Let's go get our stud ready then!"

Camie opened the door to his room and barged in, finding they were taking too long. The others followed - Momo more hesitantly than the rest - and then they all either froze or ran into one another.

Izuku was staring at them with the most obvious deer-in-headlights expression they'd ever seen, and if they looked in a mirror they would have found they weren't any better. But that wasn't what had the five girls nearly drooling a puddle onto his floor. Izuku was completely bare except for a pair of compression shorts. He had two-hundred-fifty kilos on each side of a barbell on his shoulder, and he was just coming up from a textbook squat. Without using his Quirk. It was his one-hundred-and-thirty-ninth rep. A light sheen of sweat made him glisten.

They stared at each other in utter shock, brains fried. The girls from the eye candy and him from five beautiful girls walking into his room. "AHHHHHH!!!!!" He screamed before he was engulfed in green lightning and he turned into a blur. His barbell was put down in the blink of an eye and then he was gone, flying into his closet before flying out and slamming the door to his bathroom shut. "W-wh-what's going on?!" He stammered from the other side of the door.

Silence.

The girls were still stunned. And then the un-secured barbell rolled into his bed frame with a thunk, and they all jumped, the spell broken. Mina bit her knuckle and turned away, screaming internally. Momo had immediately clapped her hands to her face to hide behind them when she'd laid eyes on him, but her fingers had been wide open. It was Camie who put their thoughts into words, "FFFFFUCK!" She whimpered into her trembling fist, which was held up to her face.

-[-

Izuku was STILL red when they finally reached the restaurant/arcade Mina and Setsuna had chosen for them. It was a barbeque place where they were allowed to cook themselves, and Izuku had taken up the grilling, skillfully manipulating the meat as they talked.

Without Aizawa there to interrupt them, the six had gotten back into their Quirk discussions,

having judged beforehand that it would be easiest to get Izuku to relax and be himself if they started with that. Momo had confided with them about her struggles with her own Quirk, complaining that no matter what she seemed to do, she couldn't increase the speed of her own crafting very much. The other five had spent the entire cook time brainstorming with her regarding her abilities.

Izuku had been the one who helped her the most, despite Nemuri having the most similar Quirk. "M-Momo, what's the...hmmm...craziest thing you've ever created?" He'd tried to keep on with her family name, but had immediately been chided by the other girls. Momo had been a little disappointed that he called everyone else by their first names except for her, but had been mollified over them telling her that they'd practically ordered it from him.

"Craziest? What do you mean?" Momo asked curiously.

"Exactly what I said." Izuku said, "Obviously you can make simple things and even complicated

machinery from what we saw during the exams, but what about...weird stuff?"

"Come on, Yaomomo!" Mina cheered, "You're telling me you've never tried to create something

in a scifi movie or something?!"

Momo blushed, "I haven't seen very many movies at all." She poked her fingers together, "I was always so focused on my studies and all my classmates were either jealous or just trying to be my friend because of my money and my caretakers never..." Her voice gradually got quieter until it was inaudible, and her head lowered until she was staring at the table.

The rest of the gasped in horror, "Oh Yaomomo!" The rest of them who were in reach hugged the statuesque stunner, "Don't worry! You have us now! We'll get you caught up with everything you missed!" Mina squeezed her tightly.

Setsuna growled, "Why do people have to be such jerks?! If it wasn't Izuku getting bullied, it was people trying to use Mo!"

"E-everyone..." Momo sniffed multiple times as she got a hold of herself, "T-thank you." She squeezed a red Izuku's hand, who had quietly offered his own support. She took a deep breath, "Craziest... Would a fully functional computer count?"

Izuku's brain froze, "A-" he licked his lips in shock, "A computer?!" Momo nodded, "Yes, I think so."

Setsuna looked as shocked as Izuku, "What kind of computer?! One of those really old ones with the vacuum tubes?"

Momo let out a nervous little giggle, "Uhh, no. A modern one. Well, modern three years ago."

"But that's crazy?!" Setsuna's head popped off in shock, and she had to reach up to grab it and put it back on her neck, "Forget how complicated the circuitry is and the sub-nano scales they're made on, what about the programming?!"

"If you can make a modern computer with programming already applied, you can make anything." Izuku said flatly. "That's not even a physical feature of the device!"

"...You're making a lightsaber." Mina said flatly after a few moments of stunned silence. "B-but I have no idea how-" Momo started to protest, but Mina clapped both hands on her

shoulders.

"You are making. A lightsaber." Mina said forcefully. "...Okay." Momo squeaked.

"Oh, food is ready!" Izuku quickly got Mina's attention off Momo, and the girl was thankful for the distraction. Everyone filled their plates and with an "Itadakimasu!" They all dug in. Each of the girls froze, the same thoughts whirling in their minds.

Nemuri turned away. "He can cook too?!" She hissed, just quietly enough that Izuku couldn't hear her.

"I-is it that bad?" He asked, looking a little sad.

"NO!" He was nearly blown over by the volume.

Momo moaned, "I've had this particular cut before, and my chefs can't even compare."

Izuku blushed, poking his fingertips together, "Mom taught me. She always let me do the grilling when we went out when I got old enough."

"Thank the gods for Mamadoriya!" Mina cheered, taking another slice and biting it, her expression one of utter bliss. Izuku flushed red. Again.

...

"Cards?" Momo had a happy smile on her face, "I love playing cards! What game shall we play?" A deck popped out of her shoulder and into her hand.

"Poker!" Mina and Setsuna chimed in as one.

"Make it strip poker." Nemuri grinned, a look on her face.

"NEM!" That was a bit much for most of them - though Camie said nothing and stared at Izuku with a gleam in her eye - and as they turned to Izuku he looked like he was going to malfunction.

"Fine, fine. Ruin my fun." Nemuri pouted, crossing her arms with a huff.

"Poker it is!" Momo said cheerfully, and then had everyone else's jaws dropping. She skillfully trick-shuffled the deck, before dealing every card in one go - each card flying and landing perfectly where she wanted them - and then slapping the rest of the deck onto the table.

"..."

"Everyone?" Momo blushed as she noticed them all staring at her, utterly dumbfounded. She blushed harder, returning to poking her fingers together.

"That was awesome!" Mina suddenly cheered, making her flinch.

"Girl you sure they got your Quirk right?!" Setsuna laughed, scooping up her cards. ...

After a good number of games which proved Camie and Mina would have been buck naked if it had been strip poker, they moved on to pool. It was one of Izuku's favorites, and Momo proved

incredibly skilled at it as well. His schoolmates may have hated him, but no one had to know he was Quirkless if he just avoided the closer arcades.

"You have a pool table at home?" Nemuri deadpanned, "Of course you do. Why wouldn't you?" Momo blushed at the spotlight.

"Okay, Momo and Izuku can't be on the same team." Mina declared, "They auto win."

"I'm not that good." Momo and Izuku both pouted at the same time, and the other four just looked at them. In the end, Momo, Setsuna, and Nemuri were on one team, while Izuku, Mina, and Camie were on the other. Momo and Izuku were both last.

Nemuri went first, scrambling the balls around the table but not sinking any. She pouted as Mina immediately took an easy shot and sank the number one, meaning Izuku's team had solids. She missed her next shot, and Setsuna went next. She sank the fifteen and ten striped balls with one shot, lucking out as she had only intended to sink the ten. She tried a trick shot next, but ended up sinking the cue ball. She blushed in embarrassment, having proved the first shot mere luck.

Camie went next and proved equally skilled, though Izuku frankly didn't really notice. He was too busy paying attention to the way her ass looked in those leather pants while also trying to not get caught staring. With three shots she sank the two, four, and seven balls. Momo had a trick shot of her own, but unlike Setsuna she nailed it. She sat on the table (Izuku had to look down and away from the way her pants looked on her) and angled her cue stick downwards. She hopped the cue ball over one of the other team's balls and threw it into a spin. It rolled right into the fourteen. She quickly lined up the eleven and sank it as well, before knocking down two more, before getting stuck behind one of the other team's balls. She was too close to the edge to trick it in her estimation, so she put it into a difficult position for Izuku.

Setsuna grinned, making a show of brushing her hair out of her face, "Oh bother, I should have put my hair up back home." Her eyes were squarely on Izuku as he was getting set up, she made sure she had his attention. This was something she definitely wouldn't have done if they hadn't been in a private room, but seeing as they were... She detached her hands and lifted off of her thighs, leaving her legs standing by themselves. Making jaws drop at her shameless audacity, she reached underneath her sweater dress and pulled off her underwear. Staring and smirking at a dumbfounded, iridescent Izuku the entire time, she used it to tie up her hair.

Izuku's hand jerked, and he sank the cue ball.

"Oh, too bad." Setsuna leered at him. "Looks like it's us again." But her plan backfired, because the very bisexual Nemuri was just as distracted and wasted her shot, sinking one of the other team's balls. "NEM!" She whined, watching as her plan was wasted.

Mina missed her shot, and she was only able to sink one. Camie also was flushed and missed her own shot, but Momo was also frazzled enough that she just barely put too much into her shot. The ball hit the back of the pocket and bounced out. Finally, it was Izuku's turn again, and he decidedly ignored all of her attempted antics.

With a look of determination, he sank the remaining balls on his side. "Eight ball, c-corner pocket." He stammered minutely as he pointed, before sinking the shot.

"Curses! Foiled again!" Setsuna pouted, her clever plan (and very targeted teasing/seduction that ended up being an AOE weapon) having drawn the opposite outcome from the one that she wanted.

"Plenty of fun left to go!" Mina tried to cheer her up.

"Unfortunately..." Momo winced as everyone turned to her in surprise. She showed them her phone, "If we don't leave now we probably won't make curfew."

"..." They all deflated, having been enjoying themselves, "Guess it's GG." Camie mumbled sadly. "Izu could totally carry us back, right?" Setsuna shot him a teasing grin.

"I can definitely not carry all of you back safely." Izuku mumbled.

They mock-gasped, "Midori, are you calling us fat? How could you?!" Mina wailed playfully. Izuku started to panic, "What, no! I was just saying I only have two arms!"

"Relax, Midori!" Mina laughed, "You're too easy!"

Camie had an idea, "Yo, what if, like, Suna-chan transforms and we all ride her, with cutie carrying

Suna-chan!"

"Oh? You want to ride me, hmm Camie-chan?" Setsuna leered.

"I'm pretty sure you don't have a pulse if you don't want to ride Suna-chan." Nemuri leered at the dinosaur lover.

"Can we please desist with the lewding?!" Momo cried out, face in her hands again.

"Yeah or we're going to break Midori again." Mina laughed, watching Izuku studiously look away, red-faced.

Izuku coughed, "Besides, even if I could carry you I'm not sure I could do it safely. I can't fly."

"I like how he doesn't even trip over being able to physically carry us." Setsuna giggled behind her hand.

"Even with you in Indominus form." Momo managed to get out.

"Like, did you see what he did to that punching machine?" Camie laughed.

"The punching machine?" Nemuri asked, "Girl, did you SEE the weights he was squatting with?! It was over a thousand pounds!"

Momo turned to Izuku, who was doing his best Momo impression and hiding behind his hands. They could see heat haze above his head. "Zuku, how much of your Quirk were you using on those squats?" She asked curiously.

"Mhmpjmghnt." He mumbled through his hands. They obviously couldn't hear a thing. "Gotta speak up, Zu." Camie giggled as she pried his hands off his face.

"I wasn't." He looked away, blushing furiously still, "Wouldn't get anything out of it if I did." 'O-oh.' The girls whimpered again. "Holy shit Midori!" Mina wiped her mouth.

Setsuna bit her knuckle, trying her hardest to not open her mouth.

Nemuri had no such filter and a moan squeaked out, "Pick me up and wreck me, daddy." She

looked like her mouth engaged before her brain did, seeing as her mouth clicked shut almost immediately after.

"NEMURI!" Even Setsuna was shocked at that one, and Izuku was almost catatonic.

"You broke Midori again." Mina snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Let's... just go." Momo grabbed Izuku's hand and started pulling him away.

"Oh, like you weren't thinking about it!" Nemuri snapped in embarrassment and hurried after them, face red from her tongue engaging before her brain did.

-[-

"Made it~!" Mina cheered, "We still have the day off tomorrow, so what do you guys want to do?"

"We have an indoor pool." Setsuna replied with a grin, "Which is totally awesome because otherwise it'd be WAY too cold for another couple weeks minimum."

"Zu in swimming jammers and all wet?" Camie had a glazed look in her eye.

"Do you HAVE to be so lewd?!" Momo cried out. She couldn't be the only voice of reason here all the time! Eventually they'd get her too!

"No, no. She's got a point." Mina was drooling along with Nemuri and Setsuna, "If he looked that good in compression shorts just think of him all wet too." Momo whimpered, clapping her hands to her face in thirsty embarrassment again.

"Girls," Nemuri stated solemnly, "You're welcome." She turned to Izuku and put her hands on his shoulders, "Zuzu, if you wear a speedo for us I'll wear a sling bikini for you." She winked.

Aaaaaand Izuku was catatonic again, and now was actually stammering. Momo flushed bright red too. "You killed Midori again!" Mina exclaimed, pointing at Izuku.

"Woman, if you don't stop that, we can't break him with goodnight kisses!" Setsuna complained. "K-Kisses!?" Momo squeaked in shock.

Camie had a different look on her face, "Girl, sling bikini would be hot AF. Got one that would fit me?"

Nemuri grinned and slung her arm around her shoulder, "Oh I have plenty of fun toys, Ca~mie~chan~"

"Girls, please!" Momo moaned, "People are going to th-"

"Let em think!" Nemuri shrugged as she cut Momo off, "We know the truth. I act out sure, but I damn well only act if I'm not interested. If that's all idiots want to see, all the better. It'll make it all the sweeter when I prove the doubters wrong and step all over the haters." She smiled surprisingly sweetly, "And let me tell you, all the slips tonight have been legit slips, not just me playing up my future persona. I'm happy I was able to find some good friends who I could be myself around so quickly." She said almost shyly.

"Awww!" Mina hugged the black-haired girl happily. "Love ya too, Nem." Setsuna smiled back, as did Momo.

"Mood as fuck." Camie fist bumped her. "...Future persona?" Momo asked quizzically.

Nemuri grinned, "R-Rated Hero: Midnight! I've had my name picked out for years!" They weren't able to continue on that tangent because Izuku woke back up.

"Wh-what happened?" Izuku mumbled, shaking his head as he came to. "Oh, we're back?" He stared at the Alliance Height entrance.

"You agreed to wear a speedo for us tomorrow." Setsuna leered before anyone else could respond. "What?!" It was the squeakiest voice that ever did squeak.

"She's just messing around Zu. Nem killed you again." Camie laughed as Setsuna pouted, her fun ruined.

"Camie!" Setsuna whined, "We had him right where we wanted him!"

"I want him in bed." Nemuri rebutted with a massive grin.

Momo just let out a long, suffering sigh, "This is my life now." She moaned aloud.

"Girl, control the thirst." Mina had to join Momo temporarily as the voice of reason, which amused her more than anything. She snapped her fingers in front of Izuku again.

"Wow, pervs," Nemuri sniffed imperiously, "What's wrong with wanting a teddy bear?"

"Cuddles are totes the best." The rest of them started cracking up, with even Momo starting to giggle. "Anyway, we should totes be going to bed." Camie held back a yawn for a moment, before breaking and letting it out.

Momo yawned too, "It is past my normal bedtime."

"Yep!" Setsuna stretched, making sure Izuku's eyes were on her. She grinned at him, "Just one more thing!" She walked forward and threw her arms around Izuku's neck, pressing her lips to his. Just a quick peck, but it was enough for Izuku to light up like a Christmas tree, "Night stud." She walked away, making sure to roll her hips.

Momo's jaw dropped at the sudden move. "Setsuna!"

"Damn! I wanted to be first!" Mina cried as Setsuna stole the first kiss, "Well I won't be last!" She pulled Izuku close to her and claimed his lips too, for a much longer kiss too.

"MINA! You too?!"

She pulled away and pecked him on the cheek, "Night Midori!" She followed after Setsuna.

Izuku looked dazed as Nemuri sashayed up to him, and didn't resist as she pulled him into a kiss of her own. He moaned into her lips as hers was the lewdest one so far, her right leg wrapping around his as she rocked her hips on him. His pants were painfully tight as she pulled away, gave him one last smooch and walked away. Momo's head was on fire as she stared, and almost literally burst into flames when Nemuri shocked them by intercepting Camie and kissing her too.

Camie looked dumbfounded when the girl pulled away and shot her a wink, following after Mina and Setsuna with a pop in her step. Izuku's eyes were glazed over and he looked to be wobbling.

Face red, Camie touched her lips in shock, before she shook her head. She also ran up to Izuku, kissed him, and then hurried after Nemuri.

That left Momo and Izuku outside, with Izuku stumbling around drunkenly and muttering about 'dreams' and 'reality' and she was pretty sure she heard the word 'succubus' thrown in. She was a little unsure of what to do as she fidgeted, but when Izuku started stumbling away from the building, she hurried after him. She couldn't let anyone see him looking like he was drunk after all. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the building, and by the time they were in the elevator, he had somewhat snapped out of it and couldn't even look at her without blushing. Not that she could either.

She hadn't let go of his hand. As the elevator dinged on their floor, they walked out, still holding hands and still bright red. He walked her to her door, and finally glanced at her. "G-goodnight, M- M-Momo."

"Y-you as w-w-well, Z-Zuku." She stammered back, now averting her eyes in shyness.

Neither moved nor let go of each other's hands, blushes increasing in size. They stared at one another for a good five seconds, before as one they rushed towards one another and embraced, sharing Momo's first kiss. Her back was pressed against the wall, and the sheer amount of lust both were feeling after all the teasing and lewdness from the other girls and just the events from earlier in the day had her wrapping her legs around him. Finally, they pulled away, both panting hard like they had run a marathon. Momo squeaked as she 'woke up' before she dropped back to the floor, pecked him on the lips once more, and practically fled into her room.

Izuku stumbled into his room and made sure to lock the door this time. He fell back onto his bed, dazed and confused as to what reality he was currently in. He grabbed his pillow, put it over his face, and screamed. He threw it backwards and gasped for breath when he finally ran out of air, before tearing off his clothes and leaping into his shower. He wished he had ice, because the water definitely was not cold enough.

-[-

And, done! Quick things:

I have a discord server! Come say hi! Discord . gg / 3ZwnRbh

Yes, the thirst in this one was definitely fucking real! :rofl: But, you know, I was sick of all the slow burns I've read recently and wanted one where they actually got to the fucking point. No, I'm not sorry. Those are his girlfriends, and his only girlfriends. No other expansions on this one.

Yes, I am FULLY AWARE of how that scene with Setsuna looked. It was a Men in Hope movie reference, for those of you that didn't catch it. It made me crack up and I just had to include it, and it was either going to be her or Nemuri.

The altered Quirks for the girls was really just me having fun. Yeah, they're OP. But hey, Setsuna is replacing Todoroki in this one.

As for Izuku... hope I still captured his cinnamon roll nature while making him OP as fuck. And by the way, this was toned down. Originally I was going to have him unlock Float early too, to have the beach scene be even more of a Man of Steel reference! LOL

Hope you all enjoyed it, and yes, this one has a legit chance of being expanded on!

Chapter 7

Hope you guys enjoy this one! I know right? Two quick updates?! Well the next one is already at 9k too! guess I'm on a roll! LOL

I've been wanting to do something like this one for AGES, but about midway through it actually evolved since I had a very similar idea and the two fit really well together.

Oh, and before I get started, I just want to quickly mention; I know Kendō has orange hair in canon. Minor change but I made her a full redhead in this one!

-[-

"That's not a look that should be on the Symbol of Peace's face..."

Toshinori's scowl deepened at his colleague's words even as he took the cup of tea from her, despite her commiserating and frankly miserable tone. "How can I do anything but frown right now?" He gazed at the rows of students on the field below them, "When I know four more students should be standing there proudly, showing their stuff at the Festival." He clenched his fists ineffectually. Never had he felt his age the way he had when he'd been told that a student had perished. Never had he felt like more of a failure than when three more promising students had quit, the reality of the industry finally entering their minds. Making them understand that it wasn't just fame and popularity and interviews. Sometimes he cursed the path he had taken, which had resulted in the Heroics Industry becoming more Industry than Heroics.

Mere weeks ago, classes A and B of the Hero Course had gone off for joint training at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint. All Might was supposed to have been there, training the next generation and showing them how to save lives and hearts. Instead, he'd blown his time limit stopping minor crimes and doing rescues other Heroes could have handled on the way to work. Instead of being with his classes, he'd been resting in the faculty lounge. Instead of learning how to rescue, the Heroes of tomorrow had needed rescuing, and he hadn't been there.

Several students had quit Heroics entirely because of his idiocy. A couple more had been injured because of his idiocy. And one had paid the ultimate price... all because of his idiocy.

"We were all caught with our pants down." Nemuri sighed next to him, sipping at her tea. Due to the more somber atmosphere, Ectoplasm and Cementoss were down there instead of her, as it should have been. She wondered if that was the right move. She could be overly... much... but she felt that maybe that was what they needed right now.

Toshinori's Quirk weighed heavy on him. He practically could hear the former bearers telling him that he'd held on to it for too long. It was why he hadn't argued against holding the festival. If he didn't find a successor here in the next three days... no doubt he would have to go with Mirai's suggestion of passing it to young Mirio. Something he didn't want to do. Every holder of One For All had passed it on to the one person they felt most deserved it. None of them had just...handed it away to keep it alive.

He sat back as the student they'd elected to speak gave a short speech. It was Kendō, a wonderful young lady and class 1-B's president. He was thankful they'd taken that role from Bakugo. He was a bit too passionate, and this wasn't the time for inflamed words.

He watched as they all prepared themselves, and the sounding gun was fired. His eyes widened as

two students shot out from the throng of students, a green-haired boy and a brunette young lady. They made it to the Crush and past it before any others, and avoided the wave of ice from young Todoroki that froze many right to the floor. He watched the screens with renewed interest. Why did he not recognize either of them?

The two burst from the tight tunnel and noticeably laid eyes on the waiting Villain bots of the Robo Inferno. The boy grew a gigantic smirk, the likes of which told Toshinori that he would be enjoying this. And enjoy it he did, blitzing forward so fast his form blurred from view before he sliced right through the robot with his bare hands! Toshinori blinked, wondering how in the hell this kid was slipping his mind. He had to be in the Hero Course, right?

The brunette had an intense look on her face as she also blurred forward, drop-kicking the bot she targeted and hitting it so hard it blew back like a cannonball, a visible contrail following its path as it flew. It took out several more robots that the verdette had left behind, before stopping cold on the armor of a zero pointer. Neither of the two had missed a beat and continued running. The first zero pointer threw a fist forward, its own contrails forming around the mammoth limb. The verdette grinned madly before his hands seemed to glow with some blue energy, making visible patterns in the air as he took a noticeable martial arts stance. Toshinori's eyes widened as he parried the blow from the gigantic machine, visibly and audibly denting the steel and throwing it off balance.

The girl followed up beautifully. She was engulfed in a pink glow before she blitzed forward faster than the eye could see. She rammed into the zero pointer so hard it lifted off its tracks and fell flat on its back. "My word! Who are those two?!" He exclaimed in shock. A pang hit him, as he wondered if maybe young Mineta would still be alive if those two had been in the USJ with the rest of them. He didn't think any Villain short of Shigaraki, Kurogiri, or that Nōmu could have done a thing to either of them.

"I... I think I recognize the brunette!" Nemuri breathed in shock, pulling out her U.A. handheld and looking through the information, "Yes, I found her! Her name is Uraraka Ochako and she..." She stopped, eyes widening as she stared back at the screens, "She missed the final Heroics slot by one point! How's that possible?!"

He pulled out his own and split his attention between the action on the screen and her focus shots from the entrance exam. "Her style is completely different! What in the world?"

"You're right! During the Entrance Exam, she exclusively used her Zero Gravity Quirk to lift the Villain bots into the sky before dropping them. She showed zero martial skill back then." Nemuri smirked and playfully licked her lips, "Seems like failing by a single point lit a fire in her, doesn't it?"

"What about the boy?" He asked, even as he listened to Present Mic freaking out over the two unknown dark horses making the Obstacle Race look easy. The blonde evidently didn't have time to take his eyes off the race.

"I... don't see him in the Heroics applicants." Nemuri mumbled, even as she continued to scroll.

'Not in the Heroics applicants?' He thought to himself, before expanding his search to all first years. The two had passed the Robo Inferno and left the machines in their dust, a visibly fuming Bakugo and Todoroki making good time behind them. They reached The Fall and didn't even slow down. Uraraka had a pink glow flow through her before she leapt, floating across the chasm at speed. The verdette had merely leapt about halfway to the first platform before landing on one of the ropes and running across it. He repeated the process from each platform, sometimes making it from one to the other in a single bound, while other times he aimed for a rope and continued on foot.

He finally found the boy as they made it to the minefield, and he took his eyes from the event which was clearly all but over to read it, "Found him. Midoriya Izuku." He commented to Nemuri, who hastened to search as well, "Saitama Middle School. He tried to apply to the heroics course but..." his breath caught in his throat and the device slipped from numb fingers and landed in his lap as he turned sunken eyes to the two gleefully hugging after having crossed the finish line together.

Nemuri finished his words for him, wonder and disbelief suffusing her voice, "B-But..." She looked gobsmacked as she looked from the device to the student and back at the device, jaw unhinged.

As Todoroki and Bakugo arrived neck and neck for a bitter third place photo finish, the verdette flashed Bakugo a very rude gesture. Clearly the two had history because the blonde exploded, and it was only the quick reaction of Todoroki that stopped a fight from breaking out.

Nemuri turned to him, "Toshinori?" "Yeah?" The word fell from his lips.

She pointed at the field, "What the fuck?"

-[-

As the Cavalry Battle Progressed, All Might's incredulity rose with every moment in tune with Present Mic's freaking out. He and Nemuri were – to his knowledge – the only two who knew. Mic was just going on about underdogs and rising up, while Shōta played the straight man, as always when paired with his school friend. Nemuri was fidgeting and licking her chops as she eyed the two-man-team trouncing the competition. They'd had the ten million split between them, having joined hands before crossing the finish line, so each of them had five million. Of course, in the end it still amounted to one headband with ten, but the distinction had been made.

And during the Cavalry Battle, the two had joined up and declined any other members, claiming it would ruin their flow. Instead, Ochako had put on the headband and leapt up onto his shoulders to sit with his head between her legs, showing an obvious, intimate familiarity between the two. Nemuri had squealed when she saw it. Both had obviously not minded a word of the whispers surrounding them, and had merely smirked at the competition. Confidence poured out of every pore. And those smiles. It was if they knew in their bones they couldn't lose.

And they went out and proved it. Every team had been gunning for them, not only because of their points but the fact that they were total dark horses. Students from the General Classes who were not only beating but embarrassing the Heroics Course. Bakugo and Todoroki had nearly been rabid, with Bakugo leaping from his horse and flying straight at Midoriya the second the match had started. Ochako had giggled playfully before pushing off his head into the air as Izuku took another martial arts stance. Bakugo had been yelling loudly enough for both of his teachers to hear him call Midoriya, "DEKU!"

The verdette had dodged the blonde easily, his hands once again seemingly to glow with an inner light as he blew Bakugo's explosion apart with the wind from his hands. The shocked look on the blonde's face couldn't have been faked even as he soared past Izuku and ignited his hands to reverse course and turn back around for another go. He'd eaten a brutal kick right to the chops from Midoriya for his trouble and had been sent sailing away.

By rule, Ectoplasm had been forced to pause the timer to check on Bakugo. The boy had looked punch-drunk for a moment and struggled to get to his feet. He'd been just shy of being pulled from

the Festival and examined when he got his feet under him and furiously spat out a tooth. Also by rule, he surrendered his headband mulishly and rejoined his horses. The match had been restarted and the first team to take the headband from the clone kept it.

Despite his near concussion, Katsuki had furiously rushed his horses forward and managed to snag the headband back, blowing up Tokoyami's Dark Shadow in the process. As Todoroki sent a wave of ice at first place, Izuku leapt into the air and Ochako floated them casually out of danger.

As they landed, Toshinori tore his attention from the match and picked his phone back up. He read on. 'Midoriya attended his early education here in Musutafu up until he was seven. There were several visits to the school nurse for bruises and even mild burns, with several visits from his mother Inko. The father was never around.' His eyes narrowed as he opened up Bakugo's file, frowning more when he saw the boy also had studied in Musutafu. The same school too. He didn't have to have an Intelligence Quirk to read between the lines.

He went back to Midoriya's file which was much more complete past the boy's seventh birthday, 'The family of two moved over to the Saitama Prefecture after that, entering the best school in the vicinity with his grades. He was an exemplary student in every educational subject, but always struggled in physical subjects. He had no more nurse visits, but several teachers noted that he was a bit of a loner. While none of the children bullied him physically in Saitama to best knowledge, he also had no friends. All of that changed when he was eight years old. Midoriya gradually started doing better and better in gym classes and started outpacing all of his fellow students. As he grew older, he started getting into fights a lot more often. He stood out too much. Older students from other schools in the prefecture learned of his reputation and tried to bully him. While he remained kind and respectful to any who showed him the same courtesy, and was generally a sweet young boy, the second someone was nasty to him he flipped a switch and returned fire a hundred-fold.'

"It's over!" Nemuri cheered, "They won again! No one even got a fingertip on that headband."

As the winning teams celebrated and Ectoplasm revealed the final event, Toshinori only had eyes for the verdette. He really didn't know what to think. So he did what he did best; he stood up, "I think I'd like to have a word with him." He said as the lunch break was called.

Nemuri smirked, "I think I'd like a word with both of them." "Down girl." Toshinori deadpanned as he walked off.

-[-

Izuku kept his smirk on his face as he eyed the competition. He was paying attention to Ochako of course, but damn if replaying his kick to Bakugo's teeth in his mind didn't feel good. "Ne, ne, do you think we've done well enough to make it into the Hero Course already, Izu-kun?"

"We crushed it in both events, so I say we damn well better be in already." Izuku smirked at her, "You ready for your match?"

"Hmmm..." Ochako looked back at the board listing the tournament, smiling again when she saw they were on the opposite sides of the bracket, "Honenuki-san huh? What was his Quirk again?"

"He seemed to liquify the ground." Izuku replied immediately. "Perhaps a quicksand Quirk?"

She hummed, "Shame. I'm probably his worst matchup, aren't I?" She eyed the board again, "You got Monoma-san, huh? Who was he?"

"Blonde idiot who kept mouthing off and pissed off Bakagō." Izuku replied, the brunette stifling

her snicker, "He showed off three different Quirks. I'm guessing a copy Quirk." As the two continued to talk shop, Todoroki and Bakugō fumed nearby. In the stands, Toshinori glowered, having not been able to find Midoriya during lunch or the recreational games. "Looks like it's starting. Knock em dead!" He grinned, enjoying the little 'eep' from his girlfriend when he gave her a light spank.

He ignored the gawking from his actions as well as the smoldering glare from her as well as the whispered, "I'll get you for that, Izu." She blushed minutely, 'And didn't you have enough during the break?' She thought to herself as she walked onto the stage. Izuku and the rest of the competitors went to the special viewing area just for them.

Ectoplasm was the referee and he announced the match, "The first match of the first round is Uraraka Ochako against Honenuki Jūzō! BEGIN!"

Ochako was smiling cheerfully as Ectoplasm chopped his hand down. Honenuki bowed to her lightly, and she returned it with a nod of her head. "You two were awesome in the previous rounds." He said softly, "But you stuck together the entire time. Wonder how good you are when you're separated, Uraraka-san!"

"You'll have to find out!" She replied cheerfully.

"Then let's get to it!" He stomped his foot, and the stone tiles in front of him started to liquify, a line of strange-looking ground racing forward towards Ochako, ready to trap her like quicksand. Her smile widened as she crossed her arms and tapped herself with one of her cute little fingerpads. She no longer needed to do it, but it would probably look cool. The quicksand-like effect reached under her... and did absolutely nothing. She giggled at the dumbstruck look on his face as she casually paced forward, ignoring his Quirk entirely. "Why are you not sinking?" He asked in shock.

"Gravity and me are friends. Wasn't always the case though. Used to make me want to hurl if I used it for too long." She said cheerfully as she stepped on solid ground, "Sorry, looks like you got a bad matchup, Honenuki-san."

"Tch." He stopped using his Quirk, and had to hope his size would be enough to win him the match physically. The students had not been paying attention to the first event. He raced forward, but even as he did so, he started to sweat. Her smile never left her face.

He reached out for her and she grabbed his hand with an impossibly strong grip. She whirled around and hip-checked him, throwing him over her shoulder and straight out of the ring. Her Quirk was active, so he never landed, instead impacting the stands. "Sorry Honenuki-san, better luck next time." She bowed again as she was declared the winner. The stands erupted in cheering and goggling in equal measure, with the goggling increasing in volume when one person pointed out Honenuki was a recommended student.

The next couple matches were rather amusing. Yaoyorozu Momo casually deployed a lightning rod which absorbed all of Kaminari Denki's electricity, leaving him a drooling idiot. Ochako nearly laughed herself sick as the tall girl gently walked the blonde over to the edge. Tokage Setsuna displayed the awesome ability of the Bara Bara no Mi – and Ochako refused to call it anything else – to casually trip Iida Tenya and jump onto his back. The stronger student had been unable to find leverage and had slid right out of the ring with the other class's recommended student on his back, using him as a sled. Ashido Mina had displayed awesome acrobatics and slick movements against Itsuka Kendō, but just hadn't been able to beat back the better martial artist. Mina had used her Quirk for mobility, but hadn't wanted to hurt the other girl so she hadn't actually flung any Acid around. Likewise, Itsuka had seemed to accept the unspoken challenge and hadn't used her Quirk

from what they could see. Sero Hanta lost to Shiozaki Ibara, her Quirk proving superior to his in both offense and defense. Bakugō made short work of Tokoyami. Bad luck there, really. His Quirk did not work well in daylight, and Bakugō's explosions had made its weakness even worse. Kirishima Eijirō had put up a valiant effort against Todoroki Shōto, but it just had not been enough against his amazing Quirk.

Finally, Izuku stood in the ring facing Monoma Neito. "Let's have a good match!" He called out cheerfully, correctly predicting the response he'd get.

"As if!" Monoma scoffed, "Bad enough we got 1-B losing matches to 1-A. I'll crush you and prove the last two events were flukes, General Studies." He turned entirely metallic and rushed forward, heavy footsteps clanging on the stone tiles.

Izuku took his stance with a grin, "Jeez, aren't you just a ball of sunshine." He closed his fist and hammered it into Monoma's outstretched arm, throwing him entirely off balance and even spinning him around in the air a half dozen times.

As Monoma landed, he smirked, "Didn't feel a thing! And thanks for your... Quirk?" he trailed off as his fingertips brushed Izuku's hand and felt nothing. It was like he was a void, "Wha-"

Izuku's fist interrupted him, crashing into his cheek and blowing a shockwave past the blonde's steely head. Monoma's vision wavered and Izuku doubled and tripled before him as he started to sway. "Hope that steel is tougher than your cheek felt!" Izuku grinned madly as he unloaded blow after blow on the blonde, his fists audibly crunching through the defensive Quirk. Monoma couldn't even put up his fists to defend and Izuku spun and kicked him in the chest. A shockwave blew out from the point of contact, sending the blonde flying backwards faster than most people could see. He crashed into the stands which cracked and shattered, throwing up a plume of dust and stone. The crowd screamed and some used their Quirks to defend themselves, but no one was hurt at all. Just dirty. When the smoke cleared, Monoma was back to normal, visibly battered with heavy bruising and a bloody nose, and fell forward from his indent in the stands onto the ground below.

The crowd was silent as Izuku grinned wolfishly. And while some were obviously concerned at how badly the boy had been beaten, most in the stand just ate it up, starting to cheer for not the dark horse, but one of the obvious favorites of the entire tournament.

-[-

The second round of the tournament started with a surprise. "To simulate the element of surprise in Hero work and the fact that evil never sleeps, the second round will be done in reverse order!" The crowd erupted in murmurs as Izuku realized that meant he didn't even need to leave the stage. "Trial by fire, huh?" He grinned as he eyed a furious looking Todoroki walking onto the stage. 'Damn, what happened to him?' He blinked in confusion. In any case, Shōto took up his spot at the other end of the ring.

"Start!" Ectoplasm shouted out, chopping his arm.

"Let's have a good match, Todoroki-kun." Izuku tried a peace offering, as per usual.

Shōto glared at- no... no, he glared past him, "Sorry about this."

And then there was ice.

The entire stadium was utterly silent in utter shock. Shōto had created a glacier. A full on, bigger-

than-the-stadium glacier. Icy spikes rose past the top, poking out from the stadium. A chill immediately started drifting into the stands. Izuku himself was practically buried in it, his arms by his sides covered up to mid-forearm, "That's a bit overkill, don't you think?" He forced out.

"Midoriya, can you move?" Ectoplasm asked him, half of his body frozen too.

Izuku forced his teeth to stop chattering, "Whether I can or not doesn't matter!" He growled, before steadying his breathing and starting to strain his arms, "If I can't move, then I'll just break the obstacle in front of me!" He roared out, the ice at the thinnest portion cracking and then shattering. His right arm was freed, and his left came a moment later. With a roar, he raised his hands and pounded them on the ice, cracking it. He raised them again, and slammed them into the ice again, shocking Todoroki as it shattered and Izuku pulled himself free, panting. He grinned savagely at Todoroki, "You're going to need more than that to stop me!" The stadium erupted. Practically everyone was on their feet and screaming themselves hoarse.

Shōto growled lowly, "You're just delaying the inevitable!" He snarled, stomping his foot and sending another wave forward, this time smaller and more controlled.

Izuku dodged and rolled out of the way, racing forwards. He had to abort and dodge back as another wave of ice erupted from the dual-hair-colored boy, but wasn't fast enough to dodge the second hidden wave Shōto had arced with his hand. The ice slammed into Izuku from the side and drew a pained gasp from him as it pounded him into the tiles. "Stay down. You won't win." He said coldly. The crowd quieted, waiting with bated breath to see what would happen next.

Izuku was again frozen, this time on his hands and knees to the arena. He growled, "Who the hell are you to say that?!" He roared as he forced himself to try to stand. Shōto's eyes bugged open as the ice cracked, but this time didn't stay idle and allow his opponent to just get free. He put his hand on the ground and another wave of ice covered the old layer, reinforcing it.

Ectoplasm sighed, "The winner is-"

"NO HE ISN'T!" Izuku screamed as the ice cracked again. Before Shōto's disbelieving eyes, the ice erupted with Izuku standing tall. Giant chunks of ice were blown off the ring and dug trenches in the grass. And Izuku himself? There was a light shimmer around him. Something that could be mistaken for a mirage. But it was there.

"Tch!" Shōto snarled as he sent another large wave of ice at his opponent.

"This is getting old, Todoroki-kun!" Izuku raised his fist and punched the ice. It cracked, but didn't break and crashed into him, forcing him back. He rolled on his back and got back to his feet.

"I'll just push you out of the ring then!" Shōto yelled back, raising his voice for the first time in a while. A five-meter-tall cube of ice with jagged spikes on top formed and covered the entire length of the ring, before sliding forward rapidly towards Izuku.

"Any wall you put in front of me, I'll shatter!" The verdette yelled back, running forward and punching the solid chunk of ice. A much bigger crater formed in it this time and it slowed to a crawl, but Shōto was ready. It rapidly filled in with more ice even as he gasped out a steamy breath from the sheer cold his own body was feeling. It continued pushing forward, picking up speed as it slid. Again, Izuku's fist crashed into it, again and again. "Your little ice cube is nothing compared to the boulders I crushed in my training!" The verdette was getting forced back to the edge of the ring by the massive, self-healing and growing glacier. But every hole he put in it got bigger and bigger, and his own body was looking like it was starting to steam. His blood was boiling in his veins. Finally, his feet hit the very edge of the ring... and then he stopped. "I will NOT LOSE!"

This time there could be no mistaking it for a mirage. It was almost like ethereal green fire was starting to surround him, pulsing rhythmically with an audible sound.

His hands flashed as he hit the glacier again and again...and it got forced back.

Shōto could hardly move his right side. He looked like he was covered in ice himself, though only on the right side. His fingers and toes felt numb and his heart was beating wildly. Icy sweat dripped down his brow. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Izuku forced himself from the edge and planted his feet, cracking the concrete below him. With a roar of exertion, he threw his fist forward. The overgrown ice cube exploded. A trench was carved straight through it as chunks blew apart in every direction. Izuku grinned madly as he saw the utterly flabbergasted look on Shōto's face through the glittering caused by the tiny ice crystals floating in the air. "Thanks for making me stronger, Todoroki-kun! The real fight starts now!" Chunks of ice that hit his aura flashed to steam immediately.

The crowd ERUPTED. In the stands, Toshinori frantically closed his eyes and ignored Nemuri squealing next to him as he checked himself for One For All. Ochako was INUNDATED by the other Heroics students shouting questions at her, causing her to frantically wave her hands in a warding motion and tell them her Quirk wasn't Super Hearing, unknowingly quoting All Might during his first class.

"What even is your Quirk?! What the hell are you?!" Shōto lost the mental battle.

"I'm the one who will surpass All Might!" He roared out, and the world went silent as they beheld his smile, "I'm the one that Villains are going to run and hide from!" Izuku yelled again, "I'm the one that will be the greatest Hero, and not you nor anyone else is going to stop me!"

The stands exploded again, with the entire crowd starting to shout his name. Bakugo exploded.

Even as he said so, he was evaluating his own body. His boiling blood was fighting his icy cold skin. He could feel his fist quake from exertion. He knew he had to finish this soon. He wasn't sure how long he could keep it up. If it had been a sheer physical contest it would have presented no issue. But the sheer cold engulfing the stadium sapped a man's strength. Izuku bent his knees and blasted forward, crushing the ring beneath him as he crossed the distance to Todoroki in the blink of an eye. "GET AWAY!" Todoroki broke his one rule in utter panic, his left side erupting in flames and forcing Izuku to abort his charge.

"What the hell?!" Izuku yelped indignantly, "This whole time you had fire too? You think you're going to beat me half-assing it!" He growled, a furious look on his face. The haze around him vanished.

The warmth felt amazing on his near-frostbitten body, but the words made him immediately snuff them out. Shōto snarled near-rabidly, "I don't need this fire to win here! I'll never win using his Quirk!" He stomped on the ground and created not another massive iceberg, but a spiked ball of ice which rushed forward and then exploded, essentially turning into a giant, icy fragmentation grenade.

Izuku had a look of anger on his face as he took his stance. He mentally thanked Todoroki, because the flames had warmed him up too. His hands no longer felt as stiff, "Water Stream Encampment!" He said, before his arms blurred and what appeared to be a dome with flashing blue streaks appeared around him. The shards of ice hit the dome and were obliterated. "Stop holding BACK, Todoroki!" He yelled, "Why aren't you using your flames! I can see the ice building up on you again!"

"I'll never use those cursed flames for combat!" Shōto yelled back, "NEVER!"

Izuku moved from his place, dodging every attempt to stop him before landing a punishing blow on Shōto's stomach, "Then why are you even here?!" He yelled before his fist crashing into the boy's jaw, throwing spittle from his lips, "Aren't you here to be a Hero?!" Another crushing blow landed, "You're insulting every single student who gave it their all to be here!" He grabbed Todoroki by the collar and threw him over his shoulder to the middle of the ring. The boy slid on his ice before coming to a stop, groaning in pain. He struggled to get to his feet.

The crowd had grown silent, wanting to listen to the drama unfolding.

"DID HE PUT YOU UP TO THIS?!" He finally roared after stumbling and finally managing to get back up.

"I don't know who you're talking about AND I DON'T CARE!" Izuku screamed back, "And no one else is going to care what your issues are or who they're with when you let someone you could have saved die!"

The crowd heard every word, and Shōto balked as the murmuring rose, not just from the crowd but his classmates as well. Censure started to enter his ears as he clenched his hands in frustration. Even with that, he still refused to use his flames, merely attacking half-heartedly with his ice in another massive glacier as doubt started to creep in.

'Damn it, even my fists will give out if I keep punching these damn things!' Izuku thought to himself in frustration, 'I never got this to work before. Let's hope I'm strong enough NOW!' He changed his stance, curling his pinky and ring fingers in while clawing his thumb and other two fingers. Unlike the blue aura of before, this one seemed to be more red. As if his blood was steaming around him. Once more, he thanked his lucky stars for that brief burst of fire, because he was sure his fingers would have been too stiff to even try this otherwise. "Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist!" He yelled, thrusting his arm forward and twisting his hand as he leapt at the iceberg. A whirlwind erupted from his attack, cutting straight into the ice in an ever-expanding circle. "YES!" he cheered as he jabbed his fingers into the smallest of the cutouts of ice. The massive cylinder of ice slid forward and erupted from the other side, revealing a perfect cylindrical cut in the ice. The missing section of which he was still holding over his head. "HAVE THIS BACK!" He yelled, throwing the pillar of ice right back at Shōto.

"What the- HOW STRONG ARE YOU?!" Shōto yelled in frustration. Cursing, he dodged out of the way.

"You could have easily melted that instead of dodging!" Izuku landed, "And it would have cost you less energy! Use your Quirk, damn it! We're all giving it our all here except you! I won't accept a victory against someone half-assing it!"

Shōto's teeth ground inside his jaw, "You have no idea what he put us through! What he put mom through! I won't use his damned Quirk!" He was quieter this time, so his voice didn't carry.

"What are you talking about; his Quirk? IT'S YOUR QUIRK! DO YOU WANT TO BE A HERO OR NOT?!" Izuku exploded at him, and Shōto choked.

Izuku's words brought back a memory he had repressed. Of his mother's kind words, before her breakdown. "Damn you!" Flames exploded from his left side, "You crazy bastard! Do you want to win or not?!"

"SHOOOOOOOOOTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Endeavor erupted up in the stands. He was

saying something but both Izuku and Shōto totally ignored him.

Izuku's grin became a full-on slasher smile as he retook his usual stance, "Of course I do! And I'll prove it now!"

Shōto threw his left arm forward, a firestorm erupting and blasting out at Izuku. Wild grin still on his face, he took off running and leapt, using one of the broken glaciers to bounce off of and closed in with Shōto. The dual-natured buy was clearly unused to fighting with his flames, and he was running on fumes now. Izuku despite all the punishment of the fight still seemed fresh...somehow.

Of course, he was hurting too. But when had adversity stopped him before? He landed and with crushing strength, broke the entire ring beneath them, throwing Shōto totally off balance. He panicked and tried to swing his right arm to summon another glacier, but the back of Izuku's hand knocked it away, "Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist!" He yelled, the blue aura surrounding his fist erupting. He slammed his hand into his opponent's face, breaking his nose. His next blow landed in his sternum, emptying his lungs of air. Hit after hit landed, leaving Shōto just one giant bruise. With one final blow from both hands – looking almost like he was trying to fire a hadōken – Shōto was sent flying backwards and out of the ring. His body shot backwards until he crashed into the grass and ragdolled a few times before he rolled to a stop.

Izuku stumbled as exhaustion caught up, but he caught himself. He raised his fist and pumped it into the air. The stands almost blew him over with a solid wall of sound as they started to cheer! As he laughed in elation, he couldn't help but think it was a good thing he had gone first this round. If they had pulled it in round three he would have been pissed, since he might not have had enough in the tank for Bakugo. "...Damn, I'm starving!" he walked off the stage and finally allowed himself to slump against the wall once he was out of sight in the hallways. "Damn if that Todoroki isn't strong. If he had gone all out from the start I might not have made it!"

"Of course, you would have!" His girlfriend's bubbly, warm voice lifted his spirits. She grabbed him in a tight hug, "I wasn't scared for even a second! You've always overcome everything anyone has thrown at you. Oh my god you're freezing!"

He chuckled, "Please, you were vibrating in your seat in worry, weren't you?"

"NO!" She protested, but the wobble in her voice gave her away, "Okay maybe a little! He had you iced to the floor!~" He laughed, pulling her in for a deep kiss. She smiled when she broke away, "Come on you human food disposal unit. Let's get some food in you!"

-[-

Earlier in the stands:

"Excuse me, Uraraka-chan, right?" The pink young lady named Mina tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ah, yes?" Ochako said cheerfully, "Sorry, I don't quite know your name."

"Ashido Mina." She introduced herself cheerfully, "Nice to meet you! You should come sit with us! You're definitely a shoe-in for the hero course!"

Ochako giggled, "Jumping the gun much?" But she obliged, moving with the hero student over to their section of the stands. It wasn't as if she felt any solidarity with her class after all. It wasn't that they were beneath her notice or anything... they were just kind of jerks who spent more time feeling sorry for themselves than actually improving. She smiled inwardly, 'Boy are they all in for a shock later today. Especially that jerk Shinsō. I'm kinda glad he didn't make it past the Cavalry

Battle. Maybe now he'll actually shape up.'

"Hey guys! Let's give a nice big Hero Course welcome to Ochako-chan!" Mina cheered once they

entered the stands.

Ochako smiled warmly at all of the words of encouragement and welcome she received, noting idly that several people were missing. "Thanks for having me everyone!"

"Man, you manhandled Honenuki." One of the green-haired girls gave her a high-five, "I'm Setsuna! I think I can speak for all of us when I ask what your quirk is."

Ochako giggled, "Well, if you had asked me six months ago, I would have given you a totally different answer." She held up her palm and showed off her cute little fingerpads, "Until I started training with Izuku after failing the entrance exam, I called my Quirk Zero Gravity. Anything I touched with these pads would become totally weightless."

"Oh, but once you met that cutie you learned otherwise?" Setsuna asked, elbowing her playfully. Mina did the same from the other side, wagging her eyebrows for good measure.

"Izu-kun is AMAZING at analyzing Quirks because of how far outside the box he can make himself think. He doesn't get everything right, obviously. And this one time he got it so wrong I just HAD to smack him. But when he's right, he's right." Ochako laughed, "I had totally been underutilizing it. Honestly, I was shocked when I realized just how wrong the Quirk councilors were about it."

"Oh, how so, Ochako-chan?" A rather cute girl with long green hair tied into a bow behind her asked, "My name is Asui Tsuyu. Please call me Tsu."

"Nice to meet you Tsu! Well, the most important thing was HOW my quirk functioned." Ochako told her, "He asked me a simple question that I just... didn't have an answer for. 'Where does the weight go?' It was something I had never really thought of." She chuckled, "I felt pretty dumb afterwards, because with our experiments I actually learned how to eliminate a weakness of mine. I always found it strange that I could lift tons without much strain, but making myself weightless made me super nauseous. The doctors and my parents and even I thought it was just motion sickness, but medicine didn't do anything to counter it. It turns out that my Quirk takes an object's mass and uses my body to transform it into energy. Since my body recognized it as foreign, it just dispersed it into the air automatically. When I cancelled my Quirk's effects, the invisible energy would just rush back into the object. But when I used it on myself, it would STAY inside my body because it was MY mass. It would just float inside me and wreak havoc on my inner ear and core, causing me to lose my lunch." She grinned, "Once I became conscious of the specifics, I learned how to not only just disperse the energy like normal, but also manipulate it. So I became able to pump more energy in and make the same object more massive, and now I just barely started learning how to take more energy than there is mass. Izu-kun basically fangirled when he realized I could do things from that old game Mass Effect with my Quirk, so that's what I renamed it to."

"Holy shit! All that from a simple question?" Mina asked in shock. "Yep!" Ochako smiled a little smugly.

"How did you two meet?" Yaoyorozu Momo - returning from her 'fight' with Kaminari - asked her sweetly.

Ochako's blush marks deepened a tiny bit when she laid eyes on her. 'Holy crap, she's gorgeous!' She thought to herself, "Well, we met after the entrance exam. I was pretty depressed because I

think I knew that I hadn't done well enough, so I was moping. He saw me and tried to cheer me up, and it just kind of took off from there."

"Speaking of which!" Setsuna cut in and pointed down to the ring, where Izuku had just annihilated the class jerk Monoma in just a couple hits, "What the FUCK? How did HE miss the cutoff?!"

The quiet Kodai Yui pointed out, "The steel Quirk Monoma copied from Tetsu is incredibly tough... and he just punched through it."

"He's so awesome... and hot." The other shy girl Kinoko breathed out, before clapping her hands to her mouth and looking apologetically to Ochako.

Ochako giggled, "You think he's hot? He hasn't even taken his shirt off yet." The girls around her seemed to collectively suffer from brain freeze, and Ochako playfully leered at Kinoko, "And you're not bad yourself, cutie." The other brunette went scarlet.

"Ohohoho!" Mina laughed ominously, "Little bi-curious are we?"

"Nope." Ochako smirked at her, "I only dated girls before Izuku, so full homo. Guess there was just never a good guy in my previous schools." The rest of them froze, with Kinoko going nearly incandescent.

"Damn." Setsuna laughed, "She really just killed half the race."

"What a vulgar conversation." Momo chimed in, though the dusting of red on her cheeks betrayed her, "Oh my, it looks like he'll have to fight back to back. And against Todoroki too."

Tsuyu winced, "My worst nemesis. Kero, kero. That ice of his would have me hibernating in seconds." She shook her head as she watched Todoroki slowly exiting from one of the entrances onto the field, "You never answered our question by the way. How did he miss the cutoff? I can't imagine him getting strong enough to dent a zero pointer's arm in just five months. Kero."

"That..." Ochako smirked again, "Would be spoilers." NOW everyone was super interested, "Sit tight ladies. You are not ready."

Any response was cut off as the temperature dropped like a stone. Their vision filled with ice. "..." Everyone stared open-mouthed at the pillars of frost peeking out of the top of the stadium.

"Holy shit!" Mina cried out.

"Tsu?!" Ochako immediately noticed that the froggy girl had started shivering incessantly. She immediately moved over without thinking and hugged the girl. Tsu immediately snuggled closer for the warmth, and Momo got on her other side, shivering as well and having created a blanket with her Quirk. The three snuggled together to keep their classmate warm.

"Kero, thank you, Momo-chan, Ochako-chan."

Itsuka shook her head, "How do we compete with that?" She turned her head over to Ochako, "Sorry girl. Your boyfriend did great!"

Ochako merely smiled, though the bead of sweat dripping down her forehead betrayed her nervousness. "Why're you talking like it's over?"

"Hate to say it," Setsuna winced, "But he's froze-" Izuku broke an arm out and used it to free

himself, stepping from his frozen prison wearing an evil grin. "..." Her mouth remained open, while a massive blush rose up on her cheeks, "You lucky bitch."

They watched as Izuku was again frozen, this time on his hands and knees with a massive layer of ice holding him down. And yet again, with nothing but sheer determination and strength, broke the ice above him with a roar of exertion. And then the gradual push back from the massive glacier, with him visibly and noticeably hitting it harder and harder until it finally shattered into thousands of little pieces.

"Girl!" Mina screamed, "I reiterate; WHAT THE FUCK!" She pointed down at the ring, practically vibrating in her seat.

And then came his declaration, and Tsu - lacking her filter as usual - ribbitted, "Kero, kero, kero... He could crush me any day."

"TSU!" Momo yelped beside her as Ochako started to laugh, before getting overwhelmed as the rest of the girls started to hound her.

"No, seriously?! What IS his Quirk!?" Was the general cry.

"My Quirk isn't super hearing! And I'm not telling! Nyeeeeh!" She stuck her tongue out and laughed once it quieted down a little bit.

"Okay." Itsuka sat and started to think, "It had to be something about growth. Or maybe turning damage into power."

"Good idea." Momo replied, "No doubt his Quirk has to be along those lines. Maybe even literally? I've noticed that blue glow around his hands when he uses that martial art sometimes."

"What about that green aura? It looked like fire was surrounding him?" Reiko mumbled, and Itsuka froze.

"W-Wait! Flame like aura? It was green too?" She stuttered as she whirled to Reiko.

"Yes." Reiko nodded, "I could barely see it. I thought I was seeing things. It looked like a heat haze around him at first."

Itsuka shook her head rapidly, "N-no, I must be mistaken. There's no way." Ibara looked at her in concern, "What has you so frazzled, my friend?"

Itsuka shook her head again, "Nothing. Don't worry about it." She looked down, not seeing anything special from Izuku right now, beyond his extreme abilities, "Just an old legend..." She muttered.

Mina was scratching her chin, but stopped as she saw the going-ons in the ring, "But we DEFINITELY saw his hands glow blue right? What was up with that?! There were contrails made of blue light and everything! Is THAT his Quirk?"

"Hehehehe!" Ochako said cheerfully, "That glow comes with the art. I can't really do it on command, but he did teach me some moves. Only ever got it to work once and it was a fluke."

Mina grabbed at her hair, "It's killing me here! I gotta know!"

"Wait he has fire too?!" Ochako echoed Izuku's statement. She clenched her fists, something Tsu

felt since they were close together. Ochako mumbled, "Damn it... some jerks have all the luck!" Momo and Tsu were both close enough to hear her, despite the low volume, and looked at her a bit strangely. Why was she mad about Todoroki's fire? That sounded personal! Her quirk was amazing!

"Oh wow, your boy down there has issues." Setsuna commented lightly, referring to the 1-A girls. But it was clear from her expression she wasn't very amused.

Mina scowled, "Jeez, he may be hot, but his attitude is really getting on my nerves."

"Who is he referring to?" Momo asked, tapping her chin.

"Kero, do you think it may be Endeavor himself?" Tsu asked curiously.

Itsuka winced, "Oh...Oh jeez. I hope you're wrong there, Tsu, otherwise that's a PR nightmare waiting to happen."

"It makes sense." Setsuna had redacted her scowl, now looking worried, "Endeavor never has been very... personable."

"You're not wrong, but that's a stretch to go from that to him being responsible for Todoroki's issues." Momo replied quietly.

Kinoko piped up, still a wee bit red from earlier, "But his Quirk is fire, and Todoroki is refusing to use his own fire. I hate to say it, but it makes sense."

"DUDE!" Setsuna gaped as Izuku used an entirely different martial art to this time cut the glacier and heft out a massive pillar of ice before chucking it at Todoroki. The rest of the girls goggled as well.

"He did it!" Ochako jumped up and cheered, "He never got that to work before!" "Kero!" Tsu was bright red.

She didn't get a chance to speak up, because Setsuna cut in again, "So my bisexual friend!" She casually threw her arm around Ochako, "What's a girl gotta do to get a piece of that?"

"SETSUNA!" Momo, Itsuka, and Ibara all yelled at her, scandalized.

"Begone, THOT!"

Ochako smirked and grabbed Setsuna's chin, pulling her down and making the brash girl blush brilliantly and take a breath, thinking her new friend was going to kiss her. The rest of the girls watched in shock as Ochako grinned and pulled back, "Wouldn't you like to know, Se~tsu~na?" Ochako giggled at the gobsmacked look on her face, having turned the tables on her.

"OCHAKO?!" A new wave of yelps came from the more innocent girls.

"This has become a bastion of sin." Ibara clapped her hands and prayed, "O Lord, forgive my friends."

"Oh!" Mina cheered up, "He's using it! Looks like your boy got to him, Ochako!"

"He's good at that." Ochako smiled smugly, "That's Izu-kun for you. I think it's over now. I'm going to go meet up with him. Nice meeting you all!"

"You have a match coming up, Ochako!" Mina called after her playfully, "Don't take too long with your celebration!"

"MINA!" Momo yelped again.

"What?" Mina asked innocently, before faking a gasp, "Oh my! Lewd thoughts from our class rep?!" Momo turned as scarlet as her hero costume, clapping her hands to her face in embarrassment.

Ochako turned back and gave her a smoldering look, "You're right. We'd need another hour break just for a quickie."

Half of the girls choked, and Mina turned a beautiful lavender color, "Bullshit!"

Ochako merely laughed as she disappeared and ran down the steps to meet with her Izuku.

-[-

The next match was Ibara vs Bakugō. In the stands, Izuku and Ochako stood side by side, ready to watch. They hadn't returned to the Heroics Stands, mostly due to the massive amount of food they were carrying. Several of the plates were held in orbit around them as Ochako used the opportunity to train a bit, Izuku's chopsticks blurring to the point he looked like he had eight arms. Ochako had a happy smile on her face as she snacked on some of the items, still a little hungry herself. Nothing heavy though.

He kept a close eye on the match as Ectoplasm started it, and let out a heavy snort. Ochako turned to him curiously, "What is it?"

"Eight years and that idiot still starts with a right hook." Izuku snorted, "For someone with his battle sense, that's kinda pathetic."

They watched as Ibara turned, her hair growing into massive snake-like thorn-covered vines and forming a wall behind her. Katsuki's explosion ineffectually burned some of the layers away but did nothing to the deeper layers.

"Such a destructive Quirk." Ibara commented, "Perhaps it is time someone washed you of your sins, Bakugō." Her hair exploded outwards, writhing and grasping for purchase on her opponent.

Ochako giggled as Katsuki used his explosions to rapidly fly himself backwards, before prepping a far larger explosion to incinerate the vines. Together they may have been impossibly strong and capable of resisting, but alone they weren't enough. She shook her head, "If Setsuna didn't just make a tentacle hentai joke I'll be extremely surprised."

Izuku spurted some of his drink out, dribbling it down his chin, "Made a friend, have we?" He smiled at her, "But what a dirty mind! From MY innocent little Chako?"

"And who made me this way?" She leered back, before shaking her head, "And yeah, the 1-A and B girls are all super nice. You'll like them too, I think. But Ibara-chan is making a mistake, isn't she?"

"She's letting the idiot sweat." Izuku confirmed with a nod, "The more he sweats the bigger his blasts are. And no matter how much I hate him now; I still acknowledge he's a great fighter. This won't last long."

Indeed, Katsuki's explosions were getting bigger and using less stamina each time. Ibara had a look

of worry on her face as her shield got blown up more and more each time he hit at it, and she couldn't get her vines close. She formed another huge shield, this time blocking the view. She broke it off and sent another mass into the ground, starting to feel her mouth dry up as she dehydrated from all of the vines she'd had to grow in quick succession.

The vines broke out of the ground the second her shield was gone, and quickly wrapped Katsuki up like a mummy. The blonde bomber roared in anger, struggling to free himself. "It's over. You can't win with the blessings of the Lord on my side." Ibara said, directing her vines down to the grass outside the ring.

"Don't UNDERESTIMATE ME VINE BITCH!" Katsuki roared, detonating every drop of sweat he had currently stored in his shirt. The entire mass of vines erupted, green masses flying everywhere. Ibara screamed in shock as Katsuki rocketed back to the ring and at her. Before she could move, he bodily tackled her, tumbling on the ring with her and ending the match by flinging her off the ring.

"She did better than I thought." Izuku chuckled, "She almost won." "Could she have?" Ochako asked curiously.

"If her Quirk works the way I think it does, maybe." Izuku replied, a bit of an evil grin on his face, "She could have drained him of fluids once he was trussed up."

"Ewwwww!" Ochako made a face, and Izuku blinked. "Not like that!" He yelled at her, "I meant the sweat!" "So did I! With her hair?!!" Ochako yelled back, "Gross!" Izuku facepalmed.

-[-

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to go without your Quirk, babe?" Setsuna grinned cheekily as she stared down her best friend.

"Against you?" Itsuka smirked, brushing her red hair lazily, "Not a chance."

"Worth a shot!" Setsuna laughed, before splitting into hundreds of little pieces. The crowd roared in surprise as she displayed the sheer amount of control she had over her body, everything from fists to kicks flying at the redhead like little missiles.

But Itsuka was unconcerned, merely taking a breath and dropping into her Karate stance. Her body was far tougher than her friend's. Itsuka could see Setsuna wincing every time she blocked one of her blows, and she was still untouched. Her awareness was also great, as she dodged even blows from her blind spot. This was partially just skill and instinct and partially just familiarity with her best friend's tactics. She laughed, "Time to stop playing, Suna-chan!" She called out, getting a curse from her friend as the tornado of limbs increased in speed, trying to stop her.

It was futile. A golden glow erupted from her and exploded, blinding the crowds and forcing Setsuna back. Itsuka was smiling cheekily as she stood in the ring, now five times her height and completely golden. Everything about her was golden, from her uniform to her hair to her now- exposed six pack. She had grown not just in height but in size too, looking like an Amazonian goddess.

...

In the stands, Ochako and Izuku were staring in surprise, "Dude!" Ochako cried out, "First the Bara Bara now we got Buddha in here?! That's not fair! And she's SO HOT!"

Izuku chuckled, "Don't suppose you want to let me have a go with her?"

"I want a go with her!" Ochako laughed, "You could grate cheese on those abs!"

"I meant a fight, you thirsty little-!" Izuku cut himself off with a grumble, knowing before she even turned to smirk at him that she was fucking with him. "Where did my sweet, innocent little Chako go?"

"You killed her like four months ago." She laughed, "And hell no, I want to win this too, Izu-kun!" She laughed at his indignant face.

...

Setsuna gathered herself up and grumbled down in the ring, "Stupid Buddha Quirk." She pouted and started to whine, "Come on babe, that's overkill."

Itsuka shrugged, and her voice had an odd reverbing quality, "No kill like it!" She replied with amusement, before holding a palm out.

"Fuck!" Setsuna leapt back as Itsuka thrust her palm forward. The ground she had been standing on exploded, a visible shockwave throwing up a plume of smoke. "Stupid overpowered Quirk!" She whined as she took the loss, stepping outside the ring of her own volition.

-[-

"Too bad for Setsuna-chan. She sure got to show off though!" Ochako was a little sad, but she knew one of them had to lose.

"Very cool quirk, but she lacks physical power." Izuku commented, "She has an amazing Quirk, but that shortcoming is something she needs to take care of if she's expecting to be a front-line combatant. Would likely be smarter to focus more on stealth or control like Best Jeanist."

Ochako stretched, "Looks like I'm up next! Wish me luck?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him. He gathered her up and pressed her against the wall, drawing a moan from her as they kissed, and he ground into her. And just before it was getting good, he abruptly pulled away, leaving her a little light-headed. "Yo-" She growled as she wiped her mouth and stomped away, "I'll get you for that!"

"Promises! Promises!"

...

"Good luck, Momo-chan." Ochako called out.

"Are you okay, Ochako-chan?" Momo asked curiously, "You look a little flustered." "Oh, I'm just fine." Ochako replied airily, "I'm good to go, at any rate."

"If you're sure." The beautiful heiress bowed, "Good luck to you too." She bit her lip, 'Not that I think you'll need it.' Despite the brunette having given Momo basically everything on her Quirk in

the stands, Momo still didn't have the foggiest idea about how to beat the her. If she got close, Ochako could just remove her mass and send her flying into the stands. Staying at range would be difficult too. She had been one of the few who had been able to see Ochako blitz the zero pointer and she had moved far faster than even Iida could. Still, she at least had some ideas... She just hoped they would work.

"BEGIN!"

Momo's gym top bulged and ripped open, depositing a baseball cannon onto the ground with a car battery already attached. Much to her chagrin, Ochako grinned and wolf-whistled at her instead of... well... being afraid of her cannon. Momo blushed to her ears. Whether Ochako was legitimately into her or was just trying to get into her head didn't matter. It was definitely working. Momo fired her cannon, and it started spitting out baseballs hard enough to bruise extremely quickly, with three down range at Ochako before the girl even moved. 'Left or right?' Momo thought to herself, ready to adjust the cannon at a moment's notice to track her target. Her jaw dropped.

Rather than move out of the way as expected, Ochako calmly held up a hand that was sparkling pink. A bright pink, completely translucent shield appeared in front of her, ricocheting all of the baseballs away from her. "Nice try, Momo-chan." She started advancing.

Momo cursed to herself and kept firing the canon, but popped smoke grenades out of her tummy and ignited them. The grenades immediately started spewing smoke, hiding Momo from view. The mature young lady immediately made herself a gas mask with heat-vision goggles as well and put it on, sighing in relief as she breathed fresh air and was able to see her opponent easily. She circled around in the smoke, seeing clearly the rectangular shield and trying to get around it. She made herself a net gun as she did so, trying her hardest to be as quiet as possible despite the raucous cheering likely masking her noise anyway.

She burst from the smoke and aimed quickly, firing her net. Ochako looked surprised and Momo was elated to see that look on her face... but only for a second. Ochako was enveloped in pink and then before Momo could realize what happened, she was five feet in front of where she had been. The net sailed harmlessly by, and the smirk on Ochako's face as she turned to her told Momo all she needed to know. She'd been had.

Ochako glowed pink again, and Momo blinked, before gasping. Ochako was gone! "Nothing personal, Mo." She let out a little scream of fear, whirling around with a staff forming, but Ochako giggled and tapped her with her hands. Momo immediately felt gravity leave her and she started floating and spinning like a top. It was incredibly disorientating, and she hoped she wouldn't be sick all over Ochako. That would be mortifying. Ochako grabbed her leg, "Well aren't you the cutest piñata!" Ochako giggled as Momo moaned, hiding her face.

"I couldn't do anything..." Momo mumbling, holding back tears of frustration and getting a surprised frown out of Ochako.

As Ectoplasm ended the match and Ochako put Momo down, the heiress tried to hold out her hand for a shake. Ochako pulled her into a surprise hug instead, "You did great, Mo. Don't let yourself think you didn't."

"B-but-"

"No buts! That strategy would have taken down a bunch of the competition." Ochako didn't let her get a word in edgewise. She let her go and grabbed her hand, leading her back into the stands, "You Hero students may have been practicing Heroics, but me and Izu-kun have done nothing

these past five months but practice combat and tactics specifically for today. And like I told you earlier, Izuku is a genius at breaking down Quirks. We even have a game where I give him a random group of Pro Heroes and he breaks down exactly what that team could create to take down a Villain any one of them could not defeat solo." Momo's eyes widened in surprise, "We've been preparing for months, okay? There's no shame in losing to one of us. You did excellently against me! You knew nothing about my Quirk except the basics and still were able to come up with a plan against me. "

Momo took a deep breath, "T-thank you, Ochako." She swallowed her pride, "What could I have done better?" She asked her new friend.

"Guns." Ochako deadpanned, and Momo recoiled in shock, "I could still have blocked them, but while my shield absorbs kinetic energy, it doesn't recharge me. If you had made a minigun you could have had me so exhausted I couldn't move."

"B-but this is a competition! I didn't want to hurt you or worse!" Momo yelped, wondering if Ochako was insane.

Ochako burst out laughing, "Hey, you asked! Short of that there wasn't much you could have done to stop me. Not with my ability to move so fast I can trick people into thinking I teleport."

"Y-you weren't!?" Momo gasped in shock.

"Nope!" Ochako laughed, "I've been trying! But haven't managed to Blink through something yet. Instead I make myself have negative mass - which is HARD to do by the way. I can just barely make myself have a fraction of a 'gram' of negative mass - and then I launch myself. This makes me move extremely quickly, and eventually when I have an actual protective Hero costume 'quickly' will hopefully be more 'relativistically,' if you catch my drift."

"...Your Quirk is TERRIFYING." Momo squeaked out after a few seconds, looking blue, "Please do NOT move in percentages of the speed of light."

"Nyeeeehhh!" Ochako refused and then laughed at the look on her new friend's face. "Come on! Let's go find a good seat! I want to see Izuku kick Captain Explodo's ass!" She pulled her along, making the taller girl stumble and blush when she realized they were still holding hands.

"Wah! Ochako! I can walk! Let's just go sit with the other girls!" Momo cried as Ochako energetically dragged her along.

-[-

Izuku had his hands in his pockets as he stared at his opponent. He had a smirk on his face as he took in the blonde's apoplectically angry expression, "Yo, Kacchan!" He called, watching as a vein pulsed on his forehead.

"Deku, you bastard!" Katsuki ground out.

"Bastard? My parents were happily married, as you well know." Izuku shot back airily. "You son of a bitch!" Katsuki snarled, "Was it fun, having a laugh behind my back?" "Oh, I'm not sure what you're talking about." Izuku fauxly expressed confusion.

"You know damn well, bastard!" Katsuki yelled, some spittle outright flying from his mouth. "What even IS your Quirk, huuuuuuh!?" The audience noise dropped to a low murmur, everyone

wanting to listen to this. Especially since the two clearly had some history.

"My Quirk?" Izuku tasted the word, before scratching his fluffy hair, "My Quirk huh? You know it was funny coming from everyone else, but from you?" He was no longer smiling and was glaring at his old friend and bully, "You know exactly what my Quirk is, you dumb fucking bitch. You bullied me endlessly for it, after all. Even ran me out of school if you recall." The stadium was shocked silent.

"W-what?" Katsuki went cold. But not because Izuku had not kept quiet and just aired their dirty laundry for the entire stadium to hear. Not because he could already hear the censure coming from everyone, a low rumble of disgust with the Heroics Courses leading it. No, he started coldly sweating for an entirely different reason, "No. NO! NO! YOU'RE LYING MOTHERFUCKER! LYING!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.

"THAT'S RIGHT, KACCHAN!" He spread his arms out, "I'M STILL Quirkless! JUST AS I ALWAYS HAVE BEEN!" The sheer liberation he felt in shocking the world into silence was something someone could get drunk off of.

And then the din rose. Words and screams of disbelief coming from every part of the stands, "THAT'S BULLSHIT! WE SAW EVERY FIGHT YOU WERE IN! THERE'S NO WAY!" The stands drew up into an uproar, and Izuku could only drink it in.

Izuku laughed, "It's true! Why else was I not in the Heroics Course?! Why am I participating today from General Ed?! Or are you saying someone could get this good in just five months after choking in the Entrance Exams?"

Air was sucked out from every pair of lungs in the stadium, sans a couple. And then a new voice rang in, "Ahahaha! What a lovely show you've put on for us today, Midoriya-kun!" It was Nezu, the UA Principal! He walked out onto the field with his own microphone in hand, leaping a fantastic distance to land on a podium that had risen out of the field for this occasion, "And I can confirm that every word he stated was true! After he applied for Heroics, I decided to interview him personally. He had exemplary grades, and yet was one of the extremely rare applicants we get every couple years who was Quirkless. Such applications always fascinate me personally. As some of you may know, I have been one of the main proponents for changing some of our more... restrictive laws. No matter what you see from young Midoriya-kun today, I can personally confirm none of it is due to any Quirk. We had our very own Recovery Girl test him after I saw what he could do. He displayed zero Alpha Factors. Not minimal Alpha Factors. Zero. He is as Quirkless as can be!"

The stadium couldn't breathe.

Nezu had a very Nezu look in his eyes, "And as you may or may not know, the letter of the law states that no Academy of Heroics may accept an application for Heroics from a student with no Quirk. You humans always find the silliest things to throw in each other's paths." He smirked, "Of course, these idiotic, discriminatory laws say nothing about a transfer into Heroics from a worthy student. That's entirely up to the school in question. So, keep shaking the world, Midoriya-kun, and you just may find yourself where you wish to be!"

Katsuki looked like he was nearly foaming at the mouth. There was no way. This had to be a fucking JOKE! How the fuck did that damn Deku get the fucking PRINCIPAL in on his fucking shitty scheme?! No Quirk? After all the bullshit he'd been pulling all damn DAY?! "D-D-D" He couldn't even get the name out he was so angry, "DEEEEEEKKKKKKKKUUUUUUUUUU!" He exploded forward, the match having long been started before they started their trash talking. He

rushed his hated rival with the greatest speed he'd ever forced from his Quirk, "If you want to keep fucking playing around then I'll fucking beat the truth out of you!"

-[-

"Well someone looks excited!" Mina said cheerfully, "You two were so totally awesome!" She pumped her fist into the air.

"Thank you, Mina-chan." Momo replied, smiling at the pinkette.

"Why wouldn't I be excited, Mina-chan?" Ochako grinned, "I've been looking forward to this moment for months."

Ibara smiled peacefully, "You and Midoriya-san have performed admirably all day." Her smile brightened even more, "I look forward to welcoming you as a classmate, Ochako-san."

Ochako giggled, "Thank you, Ibara-chan, but I wasn't actually referring to the Sports Festival." "...You weren't?" The vine-haired girl blinked in surprise.

"Nooooope!" Ochako giggled some more, before turning to the ring, "I felt so disappointed when the exams ended. I knew I hadn't done well enough. Especially the way the zero pointer trapped me. No one came to help, either. If U.A. allowed their robots to go wild, I probably would have died. I doubted myself, and the entire world looked gray. I didn't have a backup for U.A. No other plans... And I doubted myself so much that I was close to just... giving up and going to work construction for my parents. My Quirk would have helped them immensely, and it's what I always would have been doing if they hadn't encouraged me to follow my dreams."

The mood was somber, and even the more bombastic of the girls looked sad, "Kero...Ochako- chan..." Tsuyu croaked lowly.

Ochako smiled, "I think Izu must have sensed my mood. Or maybe a star was shining on me that day. We could have never met one another. If I had been a few minutes later or earlier leaving the school... But we did, cuz he started talking to me and cheered me up. Walked me to the station, just trying to make me smile. Managed to get me to open up about how afraid I was that I hadn't done well enough, and that I had blown my chance at getting in." She stared at him as he walked out, looking far more focused than she had ever seen him. "I still remember what he told me that day, "Life's not fair. It'll throw obstacle after obstacle at you and try to make you fail. To make you fall. But you gotta keep your feet under you or you roll with the punches and get back to your feet. The only way life wins is if you give up." Thinking back, it definitely felt rude and like he was throwing it back in my face, but he wasn't. It was what I needed to hear. He offered to train with me, and it was the best decision I ever made." Her smile widened but it was not a happy smile. It looked outright venomous as Katsuki Bakugō came out of the other end of the stadium.

"I don't get it..." Pony looked confused, "Why Izzy talking like that? His Quirk super strong! He amazing!" Her Japanese still wasn't the strongest, but she had been improving massively throughout the semester.

Kyōka nodded as well, "Way you just described him makes me think of someone with a really weak Quirk! And we still don't know what it even IS or why he didn't make it in!"

Ochako laughed darkly, "You're about to find out." She clenched a fist, "Like I said...I've been waiting for this for months."

The other girls shut up, realizing Ochako hadn't taken her eyes off the ring ever since the two had walked in. So, they shut up, and listened. Listened as the blonde insulted her boyfriend with a demeaning nickname, listened as Izuku revealed their classmate's bullying tendencies, much to their disgust. Listened with bated breath as Izuku appeared to be ready to explain his Quirk much to the horror of Katsuki... and then listened, feeling as if they had been punched in the chest as Izuku shocked the world.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT! DID YOU SEE THE SHIT HE DID!?!" Several of the girls leapt out of their seats in shock.

"Yep!" Ochako chuckled darkly, "And I also saw his official rejection letter. He had it framed."

And then Nezu stepped onto the field and confirmed every word, "Oh holy fuck." Setsuna and Mina – the two loudest and most boisterous – felt their legs turn into jelly as they sank into their seats.

"N-no way!" Itsuka, normally calm and bright, looked shocked out of her mind, "There's no way! It's just a myth!" She sounded a little hysterical, "Something they told martial arts students to make them try harder in class! Legends from the Pre-Quirk era!"

Ochako didn't look at her but she grinned happily, "Oh, and just what's a myth, I~tsu~ka~chan?" "Holy shit he IS! He's using Ki! It's REAL!?!?!" She couldn't have looked more shocked or elated

if she tried. Ochako laughed.

-[-

Izuku took a deep breath as he assumed his stance, rolling his eyes as Katsuki charged at him. He could have dodged easily, but that wasn't what he wanted. His hand flashed out and smashed into Katsuki's wrist, the explosion blowing his sleeve off and singeing his skin. Katsuki was thrown off balance before a hard fist crashed into his sternum, launching him backwards and nearly rolling him off the ring. "C'mon, Kacchan!" He taunted the blonde, "Almost a decade since we've seen each other, and you still lead with that right hook. Aren't you supposed to be the best?!"

"What?!" Katsuki managed to gasp out.

"And next you're going to say, "Deku, you think you can read my fucking moves?" Aren't ya?" Izuku pointed a finger at him, a smirk wide on his lips.

"Deku, you think you can read my fucki- GRK!!!?" Katsuki choked on his words as his eyes bulged, turning red with rage.

Several people in the stands burst out laughing and a particularly loud voice was heard saying, "HOLY SHIT I LOVE THIS KID!"

Izuku wiped the smirk from his face as Katsuki leapt to his feet. He took his Water stance, "I should thank you; you know!" He called at his enemy, "If it wasn't for you, I would have been stuck in Aldera until we graduated. Maybe I really would have been the Deku you tried to make me." He smiled again, nastily, "So thank you, Kacchan! Thank you for bullying me to the point Mom moved us away! I wouldn't be here today if you HADN'T!" He rushed forward, moving far faster than Katsuki had expected, and hammered his fist into Katsuki's nose. The blonde gasped in pain as it broke, but adrenaline and pain were excellent for sweating! Even as he staggered back, his left arm came up, explosions crackling. A large blast engulfed Izuku, engulfing him in a smoke cloud.

Katsuki growled and set his nose as best he could, coughing out some blood. Izuku stood with his arms shielding his face, his gym shirt in tatters. He ripped the rest of it off, exposing his absolutely lean but ripped torso and the fact that that the explosion hadn't affected him in the slightest beyond some singing. The both of them totally ignored the catcalling and wolf-whistles from the stands, "That's it, Kacchan! Keep fighting! Keep making me stronger!" The green fire around him was back, pulsating weakly but visibly. "But you're going to need bigger blasts than that!"

"FUCK YOU!" Katsuki leapt back into the fray, his arms alight with explosions boosting his attack power. "FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU, DEKUUUUU!!!!" He punched again and again, throwing wild fists with no semblance of strategy beyond hurting the bastard making a mockery of him and his pride. Each blast was bigger than the last, with a cloud of smoke engulfing the entire ring and growing bigger with every boom. The people in the stands couldn't even see them anymore.

And then they stopped, with the flashes of explosions - the only things they could see through the haze - stopping as well. "HYAAA!" Izuku's voice cried out, and the entire smoke was blasted away from his body, clearing it nearly instantly. His aura raged chaotically around him before sinking back in. He stomped his foot and rushed forward; this time covered in some light wounds but not badly hurt. Katsuki readied another explosion but Izuku parried his blow so hard he spun, his wrist limp. His other hand flashed and moved quicker than most of the onlookers could see, crashing into his opponent's chin and damn near flipping the boy.

There was a glazed look in Katsuki's eyes, and he looked stunned. His back landing on the floor was enough to shock the air out of him, and he quickly rolled back despite his gasping for breath to avoid a heel drop. And it was a good thing he did, because Izuku cracked the entire ring width wise, separating it into his half and Katsuki's half. The people in the stadium were going totally wild.

Katsuki quickly backpedaled, hating to admit that he needed to get some space and hating the fact that DEKU was making him retreat. How the fuck did useless fucking DEKU force him to reveal his newest move?! But before he could prepare, Izuku shocked the shit out of him.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Izuku roared and stomped on the ring, a foot from where it had been broken.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Not a single person in the stands could remain silent as the other half of the ring started rising upright as if it was a giant book being closed. The floor became a wall that the shocked-out-of-his-gourd Katsuki was forced up against, and Izuku leapt up, engulfed by his aura again.

Izuku closed in on his enemy who panicked and just raised his arms to shield himself. It was all he could do; bar create an explosion and hope it forced Deku away. It didn't, "Ora!" Izuku roared and punched through the blast and into Katsuki's sternum, "Ora!" As the blonde's arms dropped unconsciously from the air again being forced from his lungs to protect his midsection, Izuku rocked his face with another punch, "ORAORAORAORA!!!" Again, and again, Izuku landed hit after hit wherever he wanted, his opponent powerless to defend himself. And with a final blow - a spinning back kick - he beat Katsuki though the three-foot-thick concrete ring floor and sent him crashing into the grass, utterly defeated. The boy's body dug a trench into the turf, and stopped near the wall. Medical robots immediately raced to him and gathered him up, rushing him to the infirmary.

As for the ring? It teetered for a moment before falling back as well, crashing into the stadium grass and causing a very minor quake to rock through the stadium. As Izuku landed and stared at

Katsuki disappearing into the stands, he clenched a fist. The brutalized boy looked bad, and despite the fact that he'd finally gotten back at his childhood tormentor...

He didn't feel good about it at all.

-[-

Ochako couldn't find her boyfriend afterwards, and was extremely worried. But she didn't have time to worry about it, because her match with Itsuka Kendō was coming right up. It only took fifteen minutes for Cementoss to remake the ring from the pieces, and Ochako had spent that entire time looking for Izuku instead of preparing, only for him to be a ghost. She hoped she wouldn't regret that.

As she stared at the redhead, they both offered each other hesitant smiles, "That...that was a match, huh?" Itsuka mumbled weakly.

Ochako rubbed the back of her head, "I...don't think Izu-kun was happy about that win at all. That was very...unlike him."

"I'll take your word for it." Itsuka took a deep breath, "I suppose I can understand being all rage'd up. I doubt what we heard during the match was all he went through."

"You don't know the half of it." Ochako confirmed sadly, "But we have our own match now, so we should focus up."

"Yeah... Good luck, Ochako-chan."

"You too, Tsuka-chan." Ochako took a deep breath, wondering if she should just Charge her opponent before she could take on her Buddha form.

She didn't get a chance. As soon as the match started, Itsuka immediately flashed up to Buddha form, "I won't underestimate you like the others, Ochako-chan!" Itsuka called out, her voice reverberating as the Amazonian Goddess made a return. If Ochako wasn't fighting her she may have been drooling at the closeup of those abs. Itsuka was really sexy. Now wasn't the time to admire them though! "IMPACT SHOCKWAVE!" Itsuka yelled, her massive hand flying towards Ochako.

"BARRIER!" Ochako yelled back and jumped up, tucking herself into a ball while a pink barrier surrounded her in a sphere. The explosion destroyed a circular portion of the ring, annihilating the concrete. Itsuka was forced back in shock, taking a few stumbling steps backwards and having to windmill her arms to regain her balance as her attack backfired.

Ochako's bubble burst and she blinked back onto the ring, her hair matted with sweat, "Holy crap, you hit hard!" She gasped out, sucking in air.

"I can't believe you were able to take that!" Itsuka was goggling at her new friend.

"My turn!" Ochako cried, her pink aura engulfing her right hand before she fired it forward. Itsuka crossed her arms and grunted as she was forced to take a step back, but was able to get her feet under her quickly, "Tch, too big huh?" She growled, "Try this then!" She used her power to levitate bits of the broken ring before flinging them at Itsuka, who batted them out of the way.

"The first power hit harder!" Itsuka called, raising her right palm to her head and readying another Impact Shockwave.

"They weren't supposed to be stronger!" Ochako called, her entire body getting engulfed. To her eyes, she almost turned into the pink glow, before ramming into the Golden Itsuka's chest. To everyone else's eyes, one moment she was on the ring, and the other Itsuka was flying backwards while gasping for breath. The giant girl landed on the grass with a mighty quake, with Ochako on top of her. Ochako was called the winner, seeing as how none of her body was touching the grass while Itsuka was all over it. The stadium erupted with cheers.

"GRK!" Itsuka choked, sucking in a deep breath for air as Ochako just lay between her giant boobs. "H-holy shit, girl! What was that!?"

"Mimblewimble..." The exhausted Ochako snuggled into her friend, "I'ma pass out now, kay?"

Itsuka blushed as she shrank down, Ochako whining as she lost her comfy pillows. Itsuka managed to get to her feet and bridal carried Ochako into the stands with a heavy blush on her face.

-[-

Ochako stood in front of Izuku on the repaired ring. They'd gotten a half hour break to allow the two finalists some rest as well as to fix the ring. The stands were almost vibrating with energy over the two dark horses of the entire tournament making it all the way to the finals to face one another. "You okay?" She asked her boyfriend, "I haven't seen you since before your match. And you look tired."

Izuku sighed wanly, "Revenge didn't feel anywhere near as good as I thought." He replied to his beautiful girlfriend. He thought back to the match, the ending, and what came after.

"It was very unlike you, love." She whispered back, not letting her voice carry.

"Yeah." Izuku agreed, "I hope I was able to make amends." He had gone to the infirmary after the match, where Recovery Girl was frantically stabilizing his... his victim. Recovery Girl had nearly forced him out, but he'd ignored her. He had charged some of his Ki and fired it at Katsuki, infusing him with some of his energy. After that, Recovery Girl had been able to use her Quirk on him, putting him out of danger.

Katsuki's parents had been rushing in as he'd left, but hadn't been able to say a word to him after he'd said a quiet "sorry" to them and rushed past.

Ochako smiled in understanding, "You shared some Ki, didn't you? You going to be good for our fight?"

Izuku took his stance, "You better believe it!"

"I won't go easy babe! I wanna win too!" Ochako started with a Throw, surprising the hell out of

Izuku who had never seen her ability move that fast before.

Izuku gasped in shock as it hit him in the chest, launching him out of the ring. He bit back a grin as he realized even after all the training they did, she still managed to keep something secret from him, 'She held back when she used it against Kendo! Clever girl!'

The rest of the stands gasped in surprise as Ochako seemingly won anticlimactically with one move. Even she looked shocked at that.

Ectoplasm was silent for a moment, before saying, "Midoriya-kun is out of the ri-"

"Am I?" Izuku grinned as he interrupted the Hero. He was engulfed in his Ki aura again, and as

Ectoplasm made a clone to check him, Ochako's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Ectoplasm's clone dropped down and inspected his feet, and his eyes bulged behind his mask.

Before the clone could say a word, Izuku floated upwards, smirking madly. He was flying.

"..." Ochako shook her head as the dead silent stands took in the sight, "...I think I hate Ki, Izu!" She stomped her foot cutely, cheeks puffed out. Both of her arms lit up as she flung twin lances of pink energy at her boyfriend, who dodged them both easily, flying back down to his girlfriend and kicking her. She formed a barrier quickly and he bounced off it, landing back on the ring.

She leapt at him, looking not to remove his gravity with her fingers but to crush him with it. He gently redirected her hands with his Water stance, before trying to grab her to take her down. But she had only been feinting, her entire body engulfed in pink which exploded outwards in a massive eruption of energy. Izuku hissed as he bounced away, flipping back and sliding nearly to the edge of the ring. As soon as that happened, Ochako Charged him.

But Izuku hadn't been idle and had released his Ki, roaring! The Kiai rebuffed Ochako's Charge, preventing her from making contact and forcing her back. She cried out as she was forced back and bounced off of the ring. She tried to roll back onto her feet, but her boyfriend straddled her before she could. His hands flashed out and held her arms above her head, and Ochako was just too exhausted to force him off. She struggled for a moment, before it became clear it was over. She let out a sigh, "You win, love."

"Uraraka-chan has forfeited! Midoriya WINS!" Ectoplasm called out. And as Izuku helped his girlfriend up and she happily raised his fist into the air, the stadium absolutely erupted in noise.

And all around the world, the Quirkless sobbed in liberation. -[-

Miles away in the Aichi Prefecture, a man sat in darkness inside Deika City. Where the television he had been watching the Sports Festival on once sat, there was now only a ruined hole. The man with the pointed, hooked nose seethed in his extremely fancy chair, only one thought running through his mind.

Midoriya Izuku must die.

-[-

That's a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed it! My betas have told me they LOVED how much of a middle finger this was to the MHA setting and people's obsession with Quirks. And this is setting up the Meta Liberation Army to have MASSIVE hateboner for Izuku, seeing as how his very existence is a "fuck you" to their ideology.

Originally it was JUST supposed to be Garou, but then we were talking over on my discord (Discord . gg / 3ZwnRbh) after I rewatched DBS: Broly and I was getting an idea to use Ki in a fic and then I was like: Okay no, they're the same fic.

The next one SHOULD (Fingers crossed) be the Bakubro fic I've been promising for a while. It's already at 9k.

Let me know how you guys liked it!

Chapter 8

Heyoooo!

Hope you all enjoy this one. The original concept cropped up on my discord a good number of months ago, and I finally got around to making a ficlet of it. Hope you all enjoy!

And as always, hop on the discord and say hi! (Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh) It's the best way to talk to me, since I usually have it at least open all day. You also get previews for all my batshit crazy ideas before they get refined into something readable.

-[-

"Your Quirk is basic telekinesis, is it not, Midoriya-san?" Dr. Tsubasa asked Inko, with her son Izuku sitting in stunned horror next to her.

"Ah..." Inko let out a little breath, "Well, I call it Attraction of Small Things." She replied, making a few pulling motions with her hand and bringing Izuku's All Might toy back into her hand in three little bursts of motion. He had dropped it because the doctor had quite rudely suggested Izuku give up on his dreams of Heroism.

"...Yes, that is basic telekinesis." He said lackadaisically, "Generally children inherit either of their parent's Quirks. He's yet to exhibit either the Fire Breath or Telekinesis you say he should, and he is very late in life now." He let out a creak, his spine audibly popping as he shifted, using a pointer to tap on an x-ray, "I suppose telling him to give up was a bit lazy and disingenuous of me." He used the pointer to tap a specific part of Izuku's foot, "As you can see here, Izuku does not have a second toe joint, meaning like the rest of the population, he currently most likely has a Quirk. It is very rare indeed for someone to lack the joint and also lack a Quirk. However, that is where the good news ends. First, there IS a possibility that he simply has no Quirk. As I said, it would be a rarity, but not an impossibility. His age does him no favors, as I'm sure you're aware."

Izuku looked both perked up and crushed at the same time. "So..." Inko struggled to get the words out.

Tsubasa shrugged, "There are three others; First, he may have an invisible Quirk. Something that barely affects his life, such as the ability to digest cellulose (which obviously most of the population lacks.) That is overwhelmingly the most likely option in this scenario. In other words, he has a Quirk, but it won't help him in anything, much less being a Hero."

Inko's teeth ground a little in her mouth, "And the other possibilities?"

Tsubasa stared for a moment, "There's hardly a point in discussing them." He said finally, "No need to get his hopes up only for time to crush them. The possibilities are low enough to nearly be considered statistical anomalies."

"Crush his hopes? Like you're doing now?" She finally snapped, an ugly look on her face. Izuku's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at her. It was so rare to see his mom angry.

Tsubasa sighed, "Band-Aids should be ripped off. Very well. The next possibility is that his Quirk is so powerful that his body can't handle it, and has instead locked it away. About a one percent chance." He said blandly, "You see why I didn't want to mention it? The chances are so low they're hardly worth speaking about." He shrugged his shoulders, "And the final possibility is that

his Quirk is every bit the Heroic Quirk, but has such ludicrously specific activation conditions that he likely won't ever discover it. Hardly something to put stock in."

"Thank you for your time, doctor." Inko nearly snarled out, standing, and grabbing Izuku's hand, "Let's go Izuku."

...

Later that night, Inko wandered into the darkened room, where Izuku was tearfully watching all might save people once again. "He saves people... with a smile..." Her heart broke at hearing his tearful voice. He turned, tears leaking from his eyes. She rushed to her son and hugged him, "C-can I be a cool Hero like him, Mom?"

Inko nearly cried, "You can do anything you set your mind to, baby." She replied after a couple seconds. There was a chance. The doctor had said so himself, even if it had been like pulling teeth. It wasn't impossible. She would not be the one to crush his dreams. Never!

...

"So what, are you Quirkless or not, Deku?" Katsuki asked him.

Izuku wilted a little, "I wish you wouldn't call me that, Kacchan."

"Stop being a Deku and I might stop calling you one." Katsuki shot back with a smirk, "Well? How did it go."

"The doctor was a jerk." Little Izuku mumbled, "He said I might have a Quirk, but also that there was a small chance I don't. He said if I did have a Quirk, it might be too strong for me right now, so it hasn't shown up yet. He also said it might be an in-invi"

"Invisible?" Katsuki always did have a better vocabulary than most of them in the class.

"Yeah!" Izuku nodded, "And he also said I might have a really cool one, but one that is hard to figure out how to use."

"Hmph, stupid Deku." Katsuki groaned, "You can't make things easy, can you? A yes or no would have been less annoying."

"How do you think I feel?" Izuku mumbled, a little annoyed, "At least mom says I can still be a Hero."

Katsuki snorted again, "You better start training and trying to figure your stupid Quirk out then. Can't have my sidekick being a Deku. DON'T start crying!" He pointed imperiously when he saw Izuku start to tear up at his encouragement.

"Thanks, Kacchan." Izuku said, smiling wetly.

-[-

Years passed, and no Quirk ever showed up. Almost everyone had started making fun of him and being jerks, though never when Kacchan was around. Izuku had started taking martial arts and training with Katsuki; specifically Muay Thai for the first couple years. Katsuki had suggested he get a weapon as well, since he'd seen some underground Heroes with them and with the elephant in the room that was Izuku's Quirk, that would most likely be the outcome for him. Izuku had bought two bokken (Because two swords were cool, right?) and had started learning how to use them.

He never quite could beat Kacchan in any of their spars, because his best friend was just awesome at fighting with insane instincts, and his Quirk gave him an edge Izuku had never been able to overcome. The others in his class were another matter. They'd gotten increasingly nasty and had started bullying him. The first time Kacchan had saved him. The second time, he got them all off him and told Izuku to fight for himself. He could hardly be a Hero if these chumps could give him a hard time.

It hadn't taken long for both of them to realize that he had way better prospects as a Hero than any of them. For all that they had Quirks and he didn't, they were the ones guaranteed to be D-Listers at best. They didn't have Izuku's drive to improve or his tenacity; beat in by his sensei, his best friend, and his circumstances and desire to overcome his limits.

Things were looking up for him. He had one good friend, and he'd already proven to himself that he could make it with hard work. He and Katsuki were top of the class in every respect, and his Quirklessness had stopped bothering him by the time he was eight. It looked like the doctor had been right and he'd simply been unlucky. He would really enjoy rubbing his success despite his limitation in, years from then.

And then he turned nine, and everything changed.

Izuku was - as Kacchan loved to tease him about - a nerd. He studied Heroes exhaustively. He meticulously analyzed strengths and weaknesses, and passed the time wondering how he could beat Villains with this Quirk or that Quirk. He also loved older fiction from the earlier centuries. Video games, books, sci-fi, anime, he loved it all. And it was when he happened upon One Piece that he TRULY fell in love with a series. Watching Monkey D Luffy and his crew battle adversity, watching their triumphs and failures, just watching their lives had brought him to highs and lows he had never imagined fiction could bring him to.

And then it happened, "Zoro is so COOL! RYŪMA IS AWESOME!" He squealed as he read the chapter where Zoro cut down Ryūma and took Shusui for his own, "Man, that's so cool! I wish I had a Shusui of my-" The book started to ripple. His words died in his throat as the pages of his manga started to ripple as if they were water someone had dropped a stone into. His breath caught in his throat and his heart beating like a drum, Izuku reached forward and tapped the page. His finger dipped into the page.

Izuku was stunned. This... this was a joke right? NOW of all times? When he'd already long made his peace with it? Tears starting to leak from his eyes, Izuku pushed forward and his hand dipped into the book. He closed his fist around a shaft, and he yanked it out. Shusui was in his hand, and his slack fingers dropped the book, letting the sword escape the pages entirely.

Shusui was in his hand. Shusui was in his hand.

It was heavy!

Mechanically, he put the sheathed blade down on his floor and walked over to his shelf. He grabbed some other book and tried to remove something from its pages. It failed. He pinched himself. Shusui was still there, lying innocently on his floor. It was gorgeous.

He slapped himself. It was still there. He ran over and grabbed it, "MOOOOOOM!" He almost crashed into the door in his haste to get out of the room. He heard his mom yelp and drop something, though thankfully it didn't appear to be anything glass judging from the sound. "MOM! MOMMOMMOM IFOUNDMYQUIRK!!!!"

Inko audibly gasped from the other room and started to run towards him, "Oh my baby, that's wonderful! How did you find it?" She opened the door, "What iS THAT A SWORD!?!?" She screamed in shock at the item in her baby's hand.

The scream deafened everyone in a mile radius.

-[-

It took all of about six hours for Izuku to analyze the life out of his Quirk. He didn't even remember to call Kacchan in his excitement! First, he had immediately tried to go and get awesome items out of his other bit of entertainment. He tried everything from Mass Effect to Fairy Tail to Harry Potter. Nothing worked. The ability was solely limited to One Piece itself! He'd been a bit disheartened that maybe his ability was a fluke or a one off, until his mom had told him to just try One Piece again. He'd successfully pulled out both Nami's Clima-Tact and Usopp's Kabuto. He'd then discovered that he could put them back into the manga. The second thing that he'd discovered was that it did not HAVE to be manga that he used his Quirk on. Anything that was officially One Piece would work, including the anime and databooks! The third thing he'd discovered was that he could NOT pull out any item that was a description of something. He had to be able to see it to pull it out. However, any item he COULD see, he COULD bring to life. Because of this, he was unsure if he would be able to learn abilities from the series, as he couldn't just pull them out. Time would have to tell on that front. It could be that that aspect of his power was limited to physical items, but that intangibles took a different touch. He just didn't have enough info.

Needless to say, One Piece was firmly cemented as his favorite series of all time. And he couldn't wait to tell his best friend! "KACCHAN! I FOUND MY QUIRK!"

Katsuki flinched as Izuku screamed in his ear, "Ah, damn it Deku! What was that fo-... What did you say?!" He finally registered the words as his ears stopped ringing, "You found your fucking Quirk?! Seriously?! After all this fucking time?!" He laughed as the rest of the dumbfounded class stared in shock at the verdette and started mumbling, "What is it!? Come on, don't leave me hanging!"

"One Piece!" Izuku said cheerfully.

"..." The class was silent. "Fucker what?"

Izuku pulled out the manga, flipped open to a page, and stuck his arm into the pages, "ONE PIECE!" He cackled a little maniacally, yoinking the Clima-Tact from the pages again, this time the one Usopp made for Nami after the time skip. He casually conjured a tiny thundercloud. It crackled and drew several flinches. Then he pointed it in a random direction and made one of his bullies flinch and flip backwards over his desk by extending the Clima-Tact just shy of his nose. It snapped back into position as the stunned kids freaked out.

"WHAT THE HELL/FUCK?!" The rest of the class screamed in shock. Izuku laughed joyfully.

-[-

Izuku was vibrating in excitement. He had finally finished the manga, and it had been as amazing as he had expected. He would have to give it a second read through later in more detail. He'd gone through it so fast he was surprised the pages hadn't caught fire. Regardless, he was about to try something that would be amazing if it worked. Chapter 840. Page 14. There was a very interesting item on that page, and Izuku was about to try to pull it out. He reached his hand into the page, and

grinned when he felt it touch his fingers. He pulled his hand out, and another book came with it. He started to laugh, "YES!"

In his hands was The Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. "...Hope this works!" He opened it up and beamed when he saw the contents, "YES!!" He cheered, though as he read on, his enthusiasm dimmed a little. Yes, every Devil Fruit he could think of from reading the story was in the book. Every one of them had descriptions and known abilities. It would have been perfect... but not every fruit had a picture. It made an unfortunate amount of sense. CP9 hadn't known what fruits they had been getting and they certainly had access to the book. Plus, this was from the time when Sanji was a child, so maybe it was less filled out. Oh well, time to experiment before he got himself excited and had it ruined.

He touched the picture of the Mera Mera no Mi... and activated his Quirk. "YES!" He cheered as he pulled the fruit out of the book. He didn't bite it, and in fact put it right back into the book. Now it was time to research. Kaido's Uo Uo no Mi, Model: Seiryū would be AWESOME to have... but he was disappointed to see that the book had no picture to it. He would be unable to take that fruit for himself. He pouted and moved on. Katakuri's Mochi Mochi no Mi would be an amazing fruit to take, and it did have a picture! He hesitated and read on, but definitely kept it on the list. There were dozens of fruits that would be amazing to have, but he could obviously only choose one. He wasn't Blackbeard after all. He really didn't consider that one either.

In the end though, after days of thinking about it, he finally had a fruit in his hand.

Well, "hand" was disingenuous. The massive beast of a fruit was in his arms and had to weigh at least fifty pounds. If he hadn't spent years training, he doubted he'd be able to lift it at all. Half of him thought he should have expected it, judging on who it belonged to in the story. He carefully sat it down and sat heavily, panting. "Izuku, are you sure this is a good idea?" Inko asked him carefully.

"It's my Quirk, mom! It wouldn't hurt me!" Izuku said cheerfully, drawing a wince from his mother. That wasn't necessarily true. She eyed the fruit like it was radioactive. It was a jackfruit obviously, though the size was the only tell. The flesh of the plant was white, and it had a massive stem that twisted upwards. There were light blue swirling designs all over it, making it look vaguely mystical. All in all... it looked like the classic depiction of a soul.

"...I'd be more comfortable if you let me try it first." Inko finally said, still eyeing it like it was going to hurt her baby.

"Okay!" Izuku chirped, and she moved forward, "Not this one!" Izuku said, holding his little arm out in a cute attempt to stop her, "Only one person can eat a fruit at a time. If you eat it, it just becomes a regular fruit." He reached for his book and pulled another fruit out. It was a pink, flower shaped fruit with a stem sprouting out of the top. The swirls on it made curly little "S" like-pattern on the petals. It looked a lot like a large pink dahlia. It was also significantly smaller than his fruit. "Fair warning mom. It's not going to taste good. Like at all. You just need one bite and it'll work. No need to eat the whole thing. If it tastes as bad as the story made it out to taste, I doubt we could eat a whole one anyway."

She eyed it even more distastefully now, before hesitatingly taking a bite. Immediately upon the juices filling her mouth, she gagged and dropped the rest of the deceptive fruit, clapping her hands to her mouth. It was the worst thing she had ever tasted, and it was filling her mouth. Her face was as green as her hair as she struggled to chew, falling to her knees as comical anime tears streamed down her cheeks. She dry-heaved multiple times before finally, she couldn't take it anymore and swallowed, not caring if it was chewed enough to go down. She hurriedly downed the full glass of

water Izuku had hurried to get her, but it didn't help much. After panting for a good minute while a worried Izuku stared at her, Inko finally spoke, "Honey...I love you... but if I ever come near one of those things again, I will not be held responsible."

Izuku giggled nervously, "Do you feel different?"

"No." Inko deadpanned, "and I will not be happy if I did that for nothing."

Izuku did not like the slightly angry look in his mom's face, "T-try it out then!" He chittered nervously, "Picture your arm and try to picture one on top of my head. The character who used it would cross her arms in front of her chest to concentrate."

Inko deadpanned, but scrunched up her nose and did as her son explained. To her surprise, in a weird sound a picture-perfect replica of her arm including her wristlet appeared on top of her son's head! She let go of her concentration in her surprise and it exploded into a shower of pink sakura petals, which floated away and evaporated. "Oh my! I did it!"

"You did it!" Izuku cheered back, "AND IT WORKS! WOOHOO!" He turned to the giant fruit and got close, gulping nervously for the oncoming assault on his taste buds. Gritting his teeth, he practically lunged forward and bit down "YUCK!" He couldn't help but screech, the piece falling out of his mouth as he stuck his tongue out. He grabbed it out of the air and with a look of disgust, stuffed it back in. He turned as green as his mom had as he struggled to chew, crying pitifully like she had. Finally, he forced it down, and then lay back spread eagle on the floor of their home. "...Okay... I'm SO glad I never have to do that again."

"What was your fruit?" She gasped curiously, tossing him a bottle of his favorite juice before she continued chugging her own. Izuku grinned and ran out, before coming back with his favorite All Might toy. "Izuku?" She tilted her head curiously as he sat it down.

Izuku closed his eyes and cupped his hands in front of his body, focusing, "Noboru!" Inko gasped as a little ball of bright light exited Izuku's core and floated over to the toy. It sank in and the toy glowed. Izuku grinned in anticipation while Inko stared in confusion.

"It'll be alright!" Inko jumped and Izuku cheered as the toy started moving on its own. It talked. In a very hilariously squeaky version of All Might's voice! "Why? Because I am here!" It posed Heroically.

"What the?!" Inko gaped, "Baby what did you do?!"

"I ate the Soru Soru no Mi!" Izuku grinned, "I can manipulate souls now and bring things to life! In the story, one of the characters turned a giant fire engulfing a whole town into a cute little sun! This will be awesome for Hero work!"

"Your SOUL!? But Izuku, isn't that dangerous?!" She shrieked in panic, "Oooh you little rascal, I wish I had read that book first!"

"It's okay!" Izuku waved her off, "The soul can recover! And I can take it back at any time!" He waved his hand, "Soul Pocus!" He drained the tiny bit of soul away and put it back in his body, "See!" All Might fell silent as he did so.

Inko breathed a sigh of relief, "Izuku, you're going to give me gray hair!" She whined, crying cartoon tears again. "You ever make a decision like that again without consulting me first and you're grounded for life!" She probably would have been more convincing if she hadn't been whining.

"Sorry mom." Izuku said contritely.

Inko sighed and got to her feet, "That fruit made me all sweaty." She complained, "I'm going to go take a bath." Izuku froze, and she noticed. "Izuku?"

Izuku looked meek in a way she hadn't seen in a couple years, "Uhhh...I may... have forgotten something about devil fruits." He said, sheepishly.

Inko grew alarmed, "What is it?"

He giggled nervously, "Well, they're called Devil Fruits for a reason." His voice got a little quieter, "It gives you an awesome power but you'll neverbeabletoswimagainandwillsinklikearockpleasedontkillme."

Inko stopped and went over his words in her head. Again. And again. Her eye twitched. Izuku ran away. An arm popped out of the wall and snagged his arm, "Oh Izuku~ Honey~ I just want to talk~

"

Katsuki didn't see Izuku for a month.

-[-

"You ate the SOUL Fruit?!" Katsuki asked, gaping. "Damn that takes balls! Big Mom was a giant bitch, but she was scary as fuck. I'm impressed you were brave enough to take that one, Izuku!" Izuku almost squealed. That was the first time in months he'd heard his name out of Katsuki's mouth. The blonde had obviously started reading One Piece when Izuku's Quirk had come in.

"Yep! I even brought my All Might toy to life! It can Detroit Smash hard enough to crack wood and lift about 80 kg!" Izuku said cheerfully.

"Damn, badass!" Katsuki said appreciatively, "And you can fucking kill Villains with it as well!" He said, his teeth in a snarling grin.

"What?! Kacchan that's not Heroic at all! I can't do that!" Izuku protested.

"This is why you're still a Deku, nerd." Katsuki glared at him, "You don't have to literally kill them, dumbass. But if you don't use your powers to the fullest, then you can't be a Hero. You chose this power. You have to use it! Cuz if you just keep using your soul you're going to kill yourself, moron. Auntie Inko must have been livid."

"Yeah she was pretty mad when she read up on our fruits." Izuku replied meekly, trembling in place for a moment.

"Our?"

"Oh, yeah she didn't trust it and wanted to try it herself first. I gave her the Hana Hana no Mi!" Izuku replied excitedly.

"...Has she tried using her Quirk with it?" Katsuki asked, swallowing a little heavily. "Yep! Her Quirk gets stronger the more arms she uses! She was even able to move a car!" "Holy shit! Auntie is broken now!" Katsuki said in awe.

"What about you Kacchan? Do you want a fruit?" He asked curiously.

"Pfff, fuck no. I love swimming and my Quirk is already awesome. Nerd." Kastuki replied, turning his nose at the idea.

"What about a RAID suit?" Izuku asked, the idea popping into his head immediately. Katsuki froze... "Oh fuck yes."

The two ran home, "Hi mom, bye mom!"

"Sup Auntie! Bye auntie!"

Inko giggled to herself as the two boys sped into the house and into Izuku's room. Izuku ran over to the shelf and grabbed one of the volumes. He immediately opened it up and took a few seconds getting to the correct page. He reached in but held back a grin. "Here you go, Kacchan!"

"Thanks!" Katsuki didn't suspect a thing, "Now how do they activate these things again?"

"Push the button and hold it in front of you." Izuku replied, finally letting his grin out when it was too late to stop it, the white 0 on the black can in full display.

Katsuki was engulfed in light, his own clothes disappearing somehow. A pink light engulfed him, and like Magic, cloth and armor started appearing on his body. When it was over, Katsuki was standing there, an angry vein pulsing like it was about to explode on his head... wearing a pink dress that just barely reached his knees (due to his age and height) with a split open top revealing his skinny chest. His hair had somehow been done up in Reiju's coiffed pattern. Completing the costume were the four purple butterfly wings behind him.

Izuku burst out laughing, almost crying at the sight. He fell to the floor and started rolling around in sheer hilarity.

"DEKU WHAT THE FUCK YOU ASSHAT!"

"What's all the swearing, KatsUKI?! Oh my!" Inko came into the room and clapped a hand to her mouth, stifling a snicker as she beheld Katsuki in all his... *ahem*... glory. "You look great, dear." She managed to get out, her face rapidly reddening as she struggled to keep it together.

"HOW THE FUCK DO I GET THIS SHIT OFF?!" He roared furiously,

"But Kacchan!" Izuku howled, "I thought you'd want your limbs uncovered because of your Quirk! All the other ones had sleeves and gloves!" He continued howling in laughter.

"DIE!" He lunged for his friend. In the end, Inko had to break them up. They did eventually get the suit off.

-[-

"I would hand out these career forms," Their teacher was saying, before laughing and throwing them over his head, "-but I assume you all want to be Heroes."

The class roared, approval dripping from every sound as they all showed off their Quirks.

"Yes, yes, you all have wonderful Quirks, but you shouldn't be using them in class." The elder chided half-heartedly. Controlling kids was exhausting, especially when you forgot they were kids and egged them on, "Now getting into a good High School will be vital to getting into the best

Hero courses in the country. Universities like Shiketsu accept only the best, and our very own U.A. accepts only the best from the entire world. You should all be focused on your studies now, rather than later."

He heard a scoff, "Stop giving these D-Listers hope." Katsuki was lounging, feet propped up on the table. Next to him, Izuku let out an exasperated sigh, "You shouldn't even have mentioned U.A. Only Deku and I are going to make it there."

"Asshole!" One of their classmates screamed, and that set off the rest of them. "Get over yourself, Katsuki!"

Izuku let out a groan, "Why'd you have to lump me in too, Kacchan?" He bemoaned.

"Oh, you think I'm wrong, eh?" Katsuki's arrogant look grew a little angry as he held up a hand, which started to crackle with firecrackers, "And when was the last time any of you lot even put a finger on me or Deku? Huh? You all even had years of a head start on Deku and once his Quirk awakened, you couldn't even hang for a month. Sorry, you life-long sidekicks, but that's all you're going to be."

The rest of the class seethed. ...

"You coming downtown, Deku?" Katsuki asked when class was over, "We're gonna hit the arcade."

"A little later, maybe." Izuku replied, "Mom wanted some help with something at home. She didn't tell me what it was, exactly."

"Tch, that's fine. We'll hit the training grounds after if you don't show up." Katsuki replied, fist- bumping with his best friend. "Catch you later, asshole." He had never forgiven Izuku for the RAID Suit gag.

Later, Izuku was walking under an underpass as he wrote notes in his Hero journal. Mount Lady's debut had been a little lackluster in his opinion. She had clearly gone for the "sex sells" approach if her costume and wiggling ass was any indication. And while Izuku found her pretty hot, that in conjunction with her stealing Kamui Woods' 'kill' spoke to some insecurity regarding her own ability.

As he was writing, he suddenly blurred into motion, leaping over a tentacle made of some dark- green sludge as his senses blared danger at him. He flipped several times even in the constrained space, before landing on his feet facing the threat.

"Damn brat! How did you hear me coming!" The large mass of goop gurgled as he flowed out from the sewers, making Izuku's nose crinkle, "Stand still! I need an invisibility cloak! I promise it'll only hurt for about thirty seconds!"

Izuku snorted. "Not exactly making me want to stand still for you." He told the disgusting man, 'And I didn't hear a thing. Thank you Mantra.' It was less of a mouthful than "Kenbunshoku Haki."

"Damn it! I have to get away from him!" The sludge exploded towards Izuku, dozens of tentacles lashing out and trying to grab him.

Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes, taking his Muay Thai stance as his limbs blackened.

He could see every strike coming clearly. His eyes burst open and he moved, utilizing Soru and Kami-E to dodge through every attack and getting closer to the main body. He landed feet from him and his fists flashed.

"GAH!" The sludge howled in pain as various indents formed on his body, each crater caused by Izuku's punches. "HOW!?" He recoiled in agony and fell back towards the sewers, "My body is formless! How can you harm me?!"

Izuku merely grinned toothily. A much nastier smile than normally appeared on his face, "Your body is still there, which means I can hurt it!"

"NO! GE-GET AWAY!" The terrified Villain cried out.

"Soul Pocus!" Izuku's shout came, and the world seemed to fall away into a formless mass. The universe seemed to surround them, and the terror the Villain felt skyrocketed. Pink energy seemed to leak from the formless being, and Izuku's hand grabbed at it. His other hand came up and helped tear away a chunk of it, which Izuku absorbed into his own body. The universe came apart, and they were back in the tunnel. The green mass swayed, looking a little grayer. Izuku had taken about six months of life away. It collapsed, splashing on the floor, eyes incoherent.

He let out a sigh before he stiffened, a voice he'd heard many times ringing in his ear, "My word, that was quite a dispatch." Izuku nearly squealed as he beheld All Might's smiling face, "That's quite a Quirk you have, young man. My apologies for getting you caught up in my hunt!"

"Annjdsdvbhuaoedbv!" Izuku squealed, making the huge man laugh as Izuku hurriedly dug around his bag for his journal, "Autograph!?!?!??!"

"Ahahahaha!" He laughed, "It's been a while since a fan could hardly even speak! What is your name, shonen?"

"Midoriya! Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku managed to get out.

"Don't explode in excitement, shonen! It would be a shame to lose such a promising Hero candidate to a heart attack!" All Might laughed some more as he signed with a flourish, "I also will excuse your Quirk usage, as this was a clear-cut self-defense situation. I must ask though, what in the world did you do?"

"Ah!" Izuku finally snapped out of it at the question of his Quirk, "Well, I didn't actually use my Quirk, All Might sir!" All might Quirked an eyebrow in disbelief, "It's... It's complicated." He finished lamely with a nervous chuckle.

"Oh?"

"Well, my Quirk is a bit weird. I can bring stuff from a certain fantasy series to life, and all of those abilities were things that the characters could learn. So technically I used my Quirk, but technically not since I didn't actively use it." Izuku explained.

"AHAHA! What a bizarre Quirk!" All Might laughed loudly, "Certainly an entertaining situation for you to be in!" He blurred into motion, and within seconds had the Villain bottled up, "In any case, I'm afraid I must be off! I will watch your career with great interest, Midoriya- Shonen! I wish you luck at whichever school you choose for your future!" Izuku blinked and the man was off in the distance before Izuku could get another word in.

"All Might believes in me..." Izuku squealed, "ALL MIGHT BELIEVES IN ME!" He hurried home while texting Katsuki. His friend would not believe what had just happened.

-[-

"We're here!" Izuku breathed out, "We're finally here, Kacchan!"

"Of fucking course we are, stupid Deku." Katsuki scoffed as he stared at the prestigious U.A. University main building. He had never quite forgiven him for getting All Might's autograph either. Izuku was also too wound up, he noticed. He hid a grin and stuck a foot out.

"Let's go!" Izuku took a step... and promptly fell forward, 'God damn it Kacchan...God damn it, me. I should have seen that coming.' He threw an arm out to catch himself... and instead started spinning in the air, "Whoa!" The locked pack he had on his back audibly rattled and clacked a little bit.

"Ah, sorry about that." A gorgeous brunette with permanent blush marks and a (to Izuku) angelic smile apologized to him, "I thought it would be bad luck if you fell today, Deku-kun, was it?" She beamed as she righted him, and then turned to Katsuki as Izuku stood there a little stiffly, "That was rude! Why would you do that?!"

"Ah, my name is actually Izuku." Izuku told her, snapping out of it, "And if I let that happen I deserved it." He chuckled a little nervously, "I should have been paying better attention. We mess with each other all the time."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I heard him say it and I really liked it. I thought it was short for Dekiru! "You can do it!" You know?" She said, "And training even at the gates? You guys must be super serious! It's making me a little nervous." She blushed a little.

"Deku it is!" Izuku gave her a thumbs up, "I'm used to it from him anyway and I like it a lot better with that interpretation!" He smiled at her, getting her blush to deepen a little.

"Hate to cuck you two lovebirds, but we should get going, stupid Deku, round cheeks." Katsuki marched forward without them.

"Geez, he's mean." She pouted a little, though her face was redder.

"He's... an acquired taste.." Izuku agreed, his face also blazing, "What's your name by the way? My last name is Midoriya. Oh, and your Quirk is super cool! Is it telekinesis?"

"Ochako Uraraka." She introduced herself as they started to walk into the building, "And no, I call it Zero Gravity..." Their voices trailed off as they entered the building.

...

"Oh come off it, Deku." Katsuki scoffed, "I thought we were here to be Heroes, not talk to girls before we're even in." Izuku was pouting over the assigned seating, meaning he'd had to separate from his new friend. "Better not get distracted, asswipe. If you fail I'll fucking kill you."

Izuku clapped his cheeks and put on his game face, forcing the beautiful Ochako from his mind. Before he could say a word, the lights dimmed, and he almost started vibrating in his seat as Present Mic walked onto the stage. The energy and tension in the room was palpable. It almost felt like a physical force. "For every one of you little listeners, welcome to my show! EVERYBODY SAY 'HEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!'" The man with blonde, extremely long gelled hair swept back and upwards cupped an ear with his hand.

"HEYYYYY!" Izuku shouted in excitement! Katsuki shook his head and slapped his hand to his face as he had been the only one. Around them, other candidates started to point and laugh. Even Ochako giggled a tiny bit, recognizing his voice.

"Finally, someone with some spirit! I like you, little listener!" Present Mic said cheerfully and pointed at Izuku, who was bright red. The rest of the jeering was silenced. "This is how the test will go! You'll all be doing ten-minute-long 'dry runs' against Villains we will be providing. These are 'Mock Cityscape Battles,' so you can bring anything you want with you! After this presentation, you'll be moving to your assigned battlegrounds."

"Consecutive IDs are all assigned to different locations." Izuku mumbled, after taking a peek at Katsuki's sheet as well as the unknown person next to him.

Katsuki also realized what was going on. "That's so people from the same school can't just form a group and slay the exam together, huh?"

"Probably." Izuku replied, "We're much more unlikely to form a team with random strangers, and even less likely to actually trust them or be able to coordinate abilities with such a time limit."

"Hmph!" Katsuki snorted, "I'll just crush 'em all. And you better do the same, Deku. No mercy, you hear! I won't have my sidekick getting any lower than second place."

"Same to you, Kacchan. First place is mine." Izuku smirked back at him competitively. Gone were the days where he couldn't even scratch his friend. Now he could play for keeps too.

They started paying attention to Present Mic again, "Each site is full of three different types of Villains! You can think of it like that old retro game, Super Mario! Every type of enemy is worth a different amount of points, from one to three. And that's your goal, little listeners! You want to use your Quirks to destroy or incapacitate as many of these Faux Villains as possible and RACK THOSE POINTS UP!" he grinned and waved a finger at them, as if chiding a disobedient child, "And of course, playing a naughty antihero is strictly forbidden. No attacking fellow examinees or else!"

"My kind of test!" Katsuki had a mad grin on his face, almost salivating at what was to come.

"May I ask a question?" A tall, muscular boy stood up with his arm raised high. Present Mic agreed and pointed at him, causing a spotlight to shine down. He looked like he moved incredibly stiffly. Whether that was nerves or otherwise was unknown. He had blue-tinted black hair – combed perfectly – and square-rimmed glasses. He raised his provided sheet of paper and pointed to it, "There appear to be no less than four Faux Villains printed on this sheet! If that is a misprint, then as the most prominent school in Japan, U.A. should be ashamed of such a foolish mistake! We are here as examinees in this place because we wish to be molded into exemplary Heroes!" He then whirled around, "And you two! You've been muttering this whole time! If you're just here to fool around, you should leave!" His voice was loud and prominent as he stared intensely at the pair.

"You born with that stick up your ass?" Katsuki snarked back at him.

"Maybe If you sat down and stopped interrupting, Present Mic could have already explained it." Izuku added, abruptly deciding he didn't like the guy much either.

The boy flushed and sat down quickly.

Present Mic was grinning anyway, "Good question regardless, Examinee 7111. Those are Zero Pointers. They're not worth a thing, and are meant to rampage in close quarters and cause chaos in

the exam. You're better off ignoring them." He shrugged, "Course, that's if you can." His grin turned a little sinister, "That's all from me, little listeners!" Present Mic switched back to his normal, happy self, "I'll leave you with our school motto! As the great Hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "True Heroism consists of being superior to all the ills of life." PLUS ULTRA!"

"PLUS ULTRA!" Finally, the rest of them showed some life and roared back at the man. "Break a leg, everyone!"

-[-

Izuku had switched out of his Aldera uniform, though he and Katsuki had elected not to use their RAID suits for this. While it would give them an advantage, they would essentially be Hero suits which the others couldn't have, which would make their victory seem cheapened. Instead, Izuku was wearing an outfit straight out of Wano Kuni. It was a black yukata with emerald flame patterns near the bottom, with a dark green jittoku haori. Crucially, he had two Katana strapped to his belt, one being Shusui and the other being the equally legendary blade Enma. It had taken him years to even be able to touch the sword while it was sheathed. He hadn't dared before unlocking his own Haki, and even after two years of hard training after unlocking the ability, his first attempt to hold Enma had still nearly turned him into a mummy.

His attention was drawn by the cute voice of his new friend, and he turned his head and smiled at the sight of her. She was talking to another cute girl, about their height with a slightly hunched posture and very long, dark-green hair. Izuku turned fully and made his way over, only being stopped by someone grabbing his arm, "And just what do you think you're doing?!" The same intense boy who had called him and Katsuki glared at him. He had switched out of his uniform as well into some skintight workout-clothes, "Are you a plant at this exam? Are you trying to throw us all off our game? I can think of no other reason for you and that other boy to have been clowning around! And now you try to go interrupt those two girls."

Izuku's temper boiled over instantly, and he jerked his arm out of the boy's grip. Only the boy had such a hold on him that he damn near threw the boy. The boy stumbled a couple steps and barely managed to keep from faceplanting. "What is your problem, asshole?" Izuku snarled, "Am I not allowed to speak with someone I met earlier? Who the hell are you to be grabbing random strangers?! Maybe you're the plant here!" The boy looked so surprised that some wondered if Izuku hadn't punched him in the mouth quicker than the eye could see. He was starting to stammer out apologies.

Off to the side, Ochako let out a little gasp as she and the other girl stared at the commotion. Before she could say a word to try to de-escalate things, Present Mic screamed out the start of the exam.

Mood totally soured, Izuku drew Enma and Shusui and didn't spare a glance at anyone else. He blitzed forward without a second glance at anyone else. His Haki responded to his anger as both his blades blackened. His Mantra sought out enemies, though he grimaced as he realized the non- living robots were nonentities in his senses. Hard way it was. He came upon a trio of three-pointers with several other bots behind them. "Nitōryū:"

"Target Acquired!" The lead three-pointer's missiles started to lock on, "Extermin-"

"Tōgen Shirataki!" Izuku roared, vanishing in a blur of motion with the darkened wisps of Haki surrounding his body. He appeared behind the three pointers, all of which were bisected horizontally. A shockwave blasted out, cracking the ground beneath them, and cratering the street, even as the enemy bots exploded behind him. His slash continued flying, not even scratching any of the cars in the street but annihilating the two pointers at the end of the street. In one fell swoop,

Izuku had already claimed seventeen points in his anger.

Behind him, the rest of the examinees stared in abject horror as they realized that not only were they competing with that, but they'd almost all been jeering at him. "WE NEED POINTS" They roared in panic before splitting up.

"Deku-kun! Are you okay?!" Ochako called out as she and the other girl landed near him, "I heard what that jerk was saying to you..." She trailed off as they continued to jog, looking for points. She put a hand on a piece of robot and threw it with all her might, before clapping her hands together and allowing the large piece of metal to pierce through three three-pointers.

"I lost my temper." Izuku said, somewhat ashamed, before shaking his head and focusing up. "Not important right now. Let's go get some points! I already have seventeen." He said, watching as Ochako lightened another piece for the other girl to grab with her... extremely long tongue? (Izuku blushed a little.) The girl spun it over her head like a lasso before using it as a bludgeon to take several more bots out.

"Kero, that guy was out of line, Deku-chan. My name is Tsuyu Asui, by the way. Please call me Tsu." The froggy girl introduced herself, in a rather flat tone. Izuku hoped that was just her style and not anything he had done. Her words seemed to indicate the former.

"Nice to meet you Tsu." Izuku smiled at her, "My name is Izuku Midoriya though. Deku is a nickname."

"A nickname already?" The three hadn't been idle, moving through the city and searching for enemies, as well as anyone who was getting overwhelmed. They had just naturally formed a team, without really considering the fact that they were supposed to be competitors, and dispatched dozens of the Villain bots together. "I thought you told me you two had just met. You work fast, Ochako-chan." Her deadpan delivery was as even toned as the rest of the conversation.

Ochako didn't have time to float off in embarrassment because someone called for "HELP!" The guy had been surrounded by two and one pointers while tunnel-visioning on a three-pointer and definitely wouldn't be able to escape.

"Tsu, throw me!" Ochako barked out, her game face on. Tsu obeyed immediately, wrapping her tongue around the now light-as-air woman, and flinging her forward. Ochako sped forward like a rocket, far faster than she could have jumped. Her hands flashed out, her fingertips touching each of the robots in quick succession as she pinballed herself on all of them around the frightened candidate.

Every one of the bots started to float in the air; a total of six lifting off the ground. Izuku leapt faster than most eyes could see and sliced two of them apart in a blink. Tsuyu wrapped a tongue around one and sent it hurtling to the ground. It impacted and flew apart in a shower of sparks and flying bolts. The other one she kicked as hard as she could, launching it into a car and causing it to also shatter. Ochako decided she had enough height and tapped her fingertips together, the pads coming into contact as she called "Release!" The robots hurtled down and blew apart from the impacts.

"Th-thanks!" The terrified examinee managed to get out, "You guys are real Heroes! I'm going to go hide! I guess I just wasn't cut out for this." He finished sadly.

"Don't be like that!" Ochako shouted at him, "You get out there and you get more points! Even if you fail, you still gave it your all! Everyone gets overwhelmed and everyone needs help at times! Don't give up!"

"She's right!" Izuku agreed, with Tsu nodding in time with him, "Believe in yourself man, you got this!"

"Y-you got it!" He yelled back, invigorated. He ran off to find some more opponents.

"That was a good thing you did, Ochako-chan." Tsu commented, smiling minutely.

She blushed, "Heroes are supposed to inspire too, right?"

"And you inspired beautifully!" He grinned at her. She clapped her hands to her face and started to float off.

"No time to float off! We have an exam to crush!" Izuku laughed as he sheathed Enma and grabbed her leg. She mumbled something unintelligible before shutting her Quirk off. She looked a little bit green, getting both of her new friend's attention. "You okay?"

She nodded resolutely, "Using my Quirk on myself is weird. I'm nowhere near as heavy as my max, but it makes me queasy."

"Maybe it affects your inner ear disproportionally?" He mumbled out loud, already starting to analyze her Quirk.

They were interrupted by the hideously loud rumbling that erupted near them. "Holy crap!" Ochako cried out in horror as they stared at the gigantic robot that was rising in the city, crushing buildings like they were toys. "That's the Zero Pointer?!!?!?"

"Good thing we don't have to fight it." Tsu said pragmatically, "We should keep getting points." Izuku blasted forwards, running towards the enemy rather than away from it, "Midoriya-chan!?" She cried out.

"Izuku!" Ochako did as well, before following, rushing past the people running away from the danger, "Izuku! What are you doing?!"

And then they heard it, "H-Help!" A weak voice coughed out through the smoke and dust. They landed next to Izuku and watched him bend over and grab a massive slab of concrete, "I-I can't get free. It's too heavy! It's squeezing!" The girl they abruptly realized was invisible cried out. They watched as little puffs of dust rose, indicating where her hands were. She was scrambling to get free but totally incapable of it.

Ochako rushed forward to lighten the load, but gasped when Izuku roared and simply flung the gigantic bit of rubble off of the girl. The gasp of relief the girl let out felt palpable. Ochako and Tsuyu helped out, idly noticing how bits of the rubble had landed in such a way that the girl had been squeezed but not crushed. The rubble had prevented the full weight from resting on her. She had been far too lucky, and the two girls breathed their own sighs of relief; both that the girl would be okay and that they hadn't been witness to such a grizzly sight. Even despite that good luck, the poor girl would probably be bruised and unable to sit properly for a while if U.A. didn't have a good healing Quirk.

"Th-that's too much!" Ochako complained, "You could have been seriously hurt!" She glared at the Zero Pointer.

The girl hiccupped, tears of relief flowing as she cried into Tsuyu's shoulder, "I...I guess that's UA..."

"We should get out." Tsuyu said, before she noticed Izuku had drawn Enma and Shusui again. She

let out a meek 'kero' as she noticed the apoplectic look on his face, and the two other girls 'eeped' as well when they noticed.

Izuku exploded with a purple aura, "Nitōryū..." He jumped at the Zero Pointer with a roar, "Tōgen Totsuka!" A flash of light nearly blinded them, and then they looked back, their jaws dropped. An 'X' shape had been gouged along the entire robot, separating it into four sections. But the robot hadn't merely been cut and blown apart. Parts of it seemed to have literally disintegrated as the parts of the enemy falling to the ground were definitely smaller than the Villain bot as a whole. The parts were sparking and crackling before exploding, shattering windows nearby and again moving buildings slightly off of their foundations.

"...Midoriya-chan is a little scary." Tsu's voice wasn't quite her normal deadpan as she stared at the sight of him walking back to them.

"A little?!" The invisible girl squeaked, "Is he nice? Please tell me he's nice. Remind me not to get him mad at me!"

"Deku-kun is amazing!" Ochako couldn't help but beam at her new friend as the exam was declared over. As he reached them, he instantly put the invisible girl at ease with his kind attitude as he fussed over her, making sure she was okay. He soon had his arms full of emotionally overwhelmed, crying invisible girl.

As Recovery Girl went around administering healing to those who needed it and the four new friends got to know each other better, the blue-haired boy who had been so rude to Izuku throughout the day couldn't help but stand nearby awkwardly, stewing in self-doubt and recrimination.

-[-

"Deku-kun!" Ochako waved as she saw her new friend, a bright smile on her face. Tsu and Tōru (the invisible girl they rescued) were already there as well.

"Hey Ochako-chan, Tsu, Tōru!" Izuku greeted each of them, "Good to see you again!"

"Kero, kero, where is Bakugō-chan?" Tsu asked curiously.

Izuku snorted, "Not coming. He was too busy training harder."

Tōru giggled, "Is he still mad you beat him in the entrance exam?" The other two joined her, though Tsu was far quieter.

Izuku rolled his eyes, "He's always been super competitive, so it was a huge blow to his pride." Indeed, Katsuki had come in second place with a grand total of 123 Villain points and 24 Hero points. A record-breaking entrance exam for U.A. It had been just his luck that Izuku himself had ended up with 89 Villain points and over a hundred Hero points.

Ochako shook her head, "He's WAY too serious." She let out a giggle. She had gotten third place, with Tsu just behind her. Tōru had done well as well, her invisible but very well-trained body making the difference. She had come in 17th place, and it really had only been bad luck that she had gotten caught up in a situation she couldn't handle herself.

"Dude needs a girlfriend." Tōru let out a little giggle.

"Kero, you volunteering?" Tsu elbowed her playfully, though her expression didn't change much beyond her upturned lips.

Tōru gagged a little, "No way! He's way too much!"

Ochako giggled again, imagining the look on her face, "Anyway Deku-kun, you still haven't told us about your Quirk! You promised you would when we got together!"

Izuku smiled, "That's because it's one of those "see it to believe it" Quirks." He chuckled, "It's really weird. And you guys haven't told me much about yours either!" He shot back playfully.

"Kero, is it not a superhuman body?" Tsu tapped her chin with one of her abnormally long fingers, "That's surprising. You moved faster than that speedy guy."

"Nope!" Izuku playfully flexed, and all of the girls blushed at least somewhat, though obviously you couldn't tell with Tōru. Izuku didn't really notice, "THAT is just hard work, just like Tōru- chan." The invisible girl blushed harder, "Anyway, let's go get some lunch!"

...

"Ugh, I just hate how weird my Quirk is!" Ochako pouted. They had started talking about them during lunch, and while Tsu had a simple but powerfully versatile Quirk (that she hadn't fully tapped into yet, in Izuku's opinion), Ochako lamented how she hardly ever seemed to improve with her own. "I can lift literal tons and it only makes me queasy after a while of using it! But thirty seconds floating around, and my stomach is already screaming at me." Pouting Ochako was adorable.

Tōru sighed, "At least you don't have to use it. I love invisibility. It's extremely useful but..." She sounded really down on herself, "But I can't turn it off!" Her clothes emoted, visibly moving like she was flapping, "It's SO frustrating! I can see myself but no one else can! I can't even look in a mirror, so I don't even know what I look like..."

"Tōru-chan..." Ochako looked like she was about to cry, having not known that about her friend and feeling really bad. Her own woes paled in comparison!

But Tōru built up a head of steam and just kept going, "And...and even though I did well in the exams, I just... I couldn't do anything against the stupid Zero Pointer! If Izuku-kun hadn't seen me, I could have died before U.A. realized something was wrong! I just-" She was cut off as her friends engulfed her in a hug, and she started to sniffle, "Damn it! I swore I wouldn't cry again!" She was obviously failing at that oath, "But I even had to be my own doctor most of the time! I got a real bad cut one time three years ago and I had to stitch myself up because the doctors couldn't see what they were doing and the hospital didn't actually have any healing Quirks! And obviously I can't show anyone any visible injuries! I just keep thinking I'll never be good eno-"

"You ARE!" Tsu cut her off in a no-nonsense tone, "You made it into U.A. You made it straight into the Heroics course! And you did it all on your own! You ARE good enough! Kero, kero!" Her angry croaking would have been adorable if the situation had been different.

"That's right!" Izuku said earnestly, "You were put in a situation where your Quirk was not an immediate benefit and you still made it in. You are amazing, okay Tōru-chan?"

"Guys..." She hugged them back, even harder.

"Man, I feel like such a jerk." Ochako mumbled, "Here I'm complaining about Quirk nausea when Tōru-chan has to deal with that..."

"It's okay Chako..." Tōru mumbled, "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Sorry for ruining our day..."

"You didn't ruin anything!" The three chanted at her, and Izuku continued, "In fact... hmmmm..." He rubbed his chin, "Come on girls. Let's go find somewhere private. I don't exactly want people to know about my Quirk."

...

"So, what IS your Quirk, Izu?" Tōru asked curiously. They had made their way to Dagobah beach, which Izuku and Katsuki had cleaned out. They hadn't cleared the entire thing because of how good it was to train in, but most of it was gone.

Izuku grinned, "It's REALLY weird."

"You've said that. Kero." Tsu said flatly.

"Yeah, so time to spill the beans, buster!" Ochako pointed at him imperiously.

Izuku smirked, "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you!" He reached into his backpack, "BEHOLD!" He pulled it out, sticking it into the sky where somehow, a spotlight seemed to shine on it.

"..." The girls deadpanned, "That's a manga, kero." Tsu said, her tone somehow even flatter than normal.

"Yep!" Izuku grinned, enjoying their expressions.

"...Deku-kun, I like One Piece as much as anyone, but what the heck does it have to do with your Quirk?" Ochako asked, looking totally confused.

"One Piece?" Tōru asked, "Never heard of it."

"It's pretty old, but I'm glad you asked!" Izuku laughed, before the three girls jawdropped when his arm vanished into the pages. He pulled out the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia and repeated the process, Ochako's eyes nearly popping out of her skull when she read the title.

She yelped when Izuku tossed something at her and fumbled with it, eyes going super wide when she saw it. It was a deep, royal purple fruit with swirls all over it, shaped like a pineapple. All of the swirls on the fruit seemed to converge on a central point. "...No fucking way!"

Tsu and Tōru gasped, "The cinnamon roll swore?!" Ochako ignored them, "Deku-kun?! IS THIS REAL?!"

Izuku grinned, "Yeeeeep!" He laughed, before screaming towards the sky, " Indra!" The girls watched in awe as a loud shriek rang through the air, and then the sound of galloping. An ethereal- looking beast was descending, one they all recognized that should not exist. It had icy blue skin that looked leathery, and it's mane and all of its fur looked like literal lightning. Clouds drifted around its hooves, and it's horn seemed to glow with an inner light, pulsing with energy.

"Oh my GOD!" The girls could scarcely breathe.

Izuku chuckled, "Meet Indra, girls!" He smacked the large Kirin beside him on the flank, "Don't be rude! Say hi!"

"Hello!" Despite the Kirin's fearsome appearance, it was as cheerful as its master. "You must be Ochako-chan, Tsuyu-chan, and Tōru-chan! Nice to meet you!"

"Deku-kun, you didn't TELL us you were so totally AWESOME!" Ochako was sparkling, "You ate the Soru Soru no mi!"

Izuku laughed, "Yep! And that one there... well I'm sure you'd like it!"

"Can SOMEONE tell us what is going ON!?" Tōru stomped her feet, "This is crazy! Why didn't you use this th-" She cut herself off, "-Indra during the exam?! What even IS he? It?"

Izuku laughed, "Not One Piece fans I take it?" Tōru and Tsu looked stumped, "Not surprising. Like I said earlier, it's old! Three-hundred years old, as a matter of fact! I'm surprised Ochako knew about it." The two gasped in surprise, "My Quirk is One Piece! Basically, anything physical from the series, I can pull OUT. And I can also learn..." His voice dropped to a bare whisper, "And teach skills and powers from it. Both of my swords were legendary blades the series, and there were also these mythical fruits called Devil Fruits. They give you an amazing power, but you're forever rejected by the sea if you eat one. So, it would be an extremely BAD idea to give one to Tsu. No matter how good of a swimmer she is now, anything deeper than her thighs and she'll lose energy and start sinking." Tsu recoiled and took a step away from the fruit still in Ochako's hands. The other three started to giggle, "Yeah, I figured!" Izuku chortled, "But I'm sure I could find a different present for you, Tsu. Don't worry! Anyway, I ate the Soru Soru no mi, which gave me the ability to manipulate souls. Indra here is PART of my soul! I created him out of a thunder cloud. Me, Kacchan, and our parents went to the stormiest place on the planet for one of our vacations and I spent all week first making Indra and then making him stronger. He loves eating storms!"

"Holy COW!" Tōru looked starstruck, "That's AWESOME! Again, WHY didn't you use him in the exams?!"

Izuku shrugged, "It was a self-challenge. I had him with me just in case. He actually lives inside Shusui's sheathe most of the time. But I wanted to see how far I could get off of just my swordsmanship." He smirked, "I'm sure you girls can imagine just how difficult it was to figure out WHAT my Quirk was."

"Oh wow!" Ochako's eyes bugged out.

"You're right! Kero!" Tsu looked dumbfounded as well, "Such an absurdly specific Quirk for such an OLD series... you must have found it by sheer dumb luck! Kero, kero!"

"That's right! Until I was nine, I assumed I was unlucky and had NO Quirk. But there was always a chance and unlike everyone else, Kacchan still believed in me despite me being "Quirkless." He pushed me to be strong despite it. He was the reason I started taking martial arts, and I started with two bokken. And that was what I was going to do; be the first big Quirkless Hero! Of course, then I found One Piece and..." He shrugged, "Of course, I was WAY stronger than I would have been because of One Piece, but it was still a challenge I set for myself." He grinned, "But now it's time to stop holding back! I hope you girls are ready!"

"What is this one, Deku-kun?" Ochako had a determined look on her face.

Izuku smirked at her, "Eat it and find out... You only need one bite!"

She pouted, "...Does it really taste as bad as in the story." Izuku turning green was her answer, and she paled. "..." The other two girls looked on in morbid fascination, wondering if she'd really do it. Ochako took a breath, steeled herself, and bit down. "YUCK!" She stuck her tongue out, an utterly disgusted look on her face.

She dropped the rest of the fruit and sank to her knees, anime tears pouring from her eyes. Her entire visage was green as she chewed as fast as humanly possible and swallowed it. She then proceeded to dry heave several times, just barely avoiding puking another rainbow. The other two rubbed her back comfortingly.

Tōru looked shaken, "...That's kinda scary."

Ochako wiped her mouth and stood up, taking several deep breaths, "...What did you just have me eat...?" Izuku grinned and walked up to her, whispering in her ear, "...Deku WHAT?!" She recoiled, staring at him as if he was the most precious thing on earth. "NO FUCKING WAY!" She shrieked, looking like she was about to vibrate out of her clothes in excitement.

Tōru and Tsu gasped in shock again, "TWICE?!?! Izu, what did you do to our cinnamon roll?!"

Ochako raced out and held her palm towards the sky. Three concentric purple rings formed around her palm and Izuku paled. The rings shot towards the sky, and Ochako paled when she realized what she had just done in her excitement.

And then the sky darkened.

"OCHAKO!!!" Tsu and Tōru shrieked as the goddamn meteor broke through the clouds!

"Send it back Ochako!" Izuku roared, readying Indra just in case Ochako couldn't figure it out.

The brunette panicked but flung her arm into the air again, and more purple circles shot out at the massive rock.it immediately stopped falling and sped back up out of the atmosphere.

Tōru and Tsu collapsed back, landing on their backs, and breathing hard, "...Please never do that again!" The normally placid Tsuyu yelled at her friend.

Ochako collapsed next to them, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It was the first thing I could think of!"

Izuku started to laugh. The rest of them couldn't help but follow.

...

"Jeez Deku-kun, I can't believe of all the fruits in the series, you just gave me the one that was "my Quirk but better." The Zushi Zushi is AWESOME!"

"Mouuuuu, now Ochako-chan is even MORE awesome!" Tōru pouted, "You got a cool present for me, Izu?"

"Hmm..." Izuku tapped his chin, "You said you had to diagnose and treat yourself sometimes. How good would you say your medical knowledge is?"

Tōru blinked, "Uhhh, well... I was actually planning on being a doctor if the Hero thing didn't work." Her head dipped, "No matter how hard I trained, there was always that doubt, you know. So, I always had a backup."

"Recovery Girl would love you!" Ochako and Tsu both patted her at the same time, and she perked up.

"Hey, you're right! I probably have a massive head start on everyone with my EMT training!" Tōru cheered up.

Izuku grinned and opened up the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. He reached inside and pulled out a red,

heart-shaped fruit.

The girls gasped, though Ochako also recognized it. Tōru was blushing hard, "Oh my, is this a confession, Izu-kun?" She tried to play it off, but they all could tell she was blushing bright and hot.

"You won't be saying that after you taste it!" Ochako immediately shot back, blushing somewhat as well.

Tōru paused, "Okay you're not getting me! What is it and what can it do?" She asked Izuku expectantly. Instead, he just handed the DFE to the girl, who took it and started reading it. The trio couldn't see her, but if they could, they would have seen her eyes get wider and wider. She didn't get very far at all before gasping and immediately stuffing the entire fruit into her mouth.

She very obviously regretted it.

The other three panicked, helping the invisible girl choke it down, "Tōru! Why did you do that?!"

The girl was gasping for breath, "...I...it was small so I hoped I could just swallow it and not taste it." She admitted, noticeably mortified. The other three groaned, slapping their faces. "I...I just hope this works!" She took a deep breath, "Room!" She breathed out, and to her, a small bubble formed. The others didn't really notice a thing. Then... she faded into view.

The other three (even Izuku) gasped, "What?!"

Ochako started fumbling around in her back for a mirror while Tsu just looked stunned and overjoyed. Izuku reached over and grabbed Indra, the massive beast shrieking as it shrunk into Shusui and its sheath. He drew the blade, and Tōru used its polished, mirror-like shine to look at herself.

She looked nothing like any of them would have expected. Rather than being extremely pale due to her Quirk revolving around unconscious light manipulation making her invisible, she was instead dark-skinned. Not super dark, but noticeably darker than any of their skin tones. Her hair was also black, and it fell in front of her right eye. It was long and fluffy. Her ears were also pretty big, like Elf ears. They were pointed as well just like them too. Her eyes were a pure, molten gold.

"Why do you look like a Dark Elf!?" Ochako cried out in shock.

Tsu blushed a little, "Tōru-chan you're so pretty!"

Tōru ignored them and started to cry as she touched her own face. Izuku sheathed Shusui and set it to the side as Tōru started to full-on sob. The other two girls began to cry too, in joy for their friend. "I... I'm not invisible!" She started to blubber, "I'M NOT INVISIBLE!" She shrieked, and dove directly at Izuku! "Thank you!" She cried out before kissing him full on the lips. Izuku's eyes widened, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She didn't even take a breath and just continued kissing him all over his face as the other two girls blushed. Izuku looked stunned.

Ochako – feeling a little bit of jealousy despite her friend's happiness – cleared her throat, "T-Tōru- cha-"

She didn't even get a chance to finish because Tōru stopped kissing Izuku and lunged for her. She only managed a surprised squeak before Tōru's lips sealed hers and knocked both of them to the sand.

Tsu was a solid red as she watched their two friends make out, "Kero, Kero!" She croaked, before

she looked at a still-stunned Izuku in determination. She quickly hopped into his lap and started kissing him as well. Izuku reflexively grabbed her and pulled her closer, but it only lasted for a few seconds before Tōru pulled Tsu away and a beet red Ochako's lips and tongue replaced hers. The foursome kissed for several minutes, regularly swapping partners, until they were all laying in the sand as closely together as they could be.

Izuku was silent, "...What just happened?" He finally croaked. The three girls looked at each other and started to giggle.

...

"I don't get it?" Tsuyu mumbled later, "What did you even do? How did you do it? I thought your

Quirk didn't HAVE an off switch?"

Tōru smiled brilliantly, eyes still shining, "It didn't, but the Ope Ope no Mi is something that can

create medical miracles according to the book. It doesn't really care if something is impossible."

"It's true." Izuku followed up, still red but smiling as well, "There was an incurable disease in the series. Every doctor Law ever saw nearly ran him out of town, fearing it was contagious. It wasn't. It was genetic. Law was able to cure himself once he ate the fruit."

"I remember, but..." Ochako trailed off.

"I gave my Quirk an off switch." Tōru explained, beaming in happiness, "I didn't know if it would actually work, but when I read some of the descriptions I just knew I HAD to try it. Of course, I need the fruit to use the off switch, so I can't help others like me but..." She signed, "I'm just... I hope this isn't just a dream, and I'll wake up in the infirmary at UA-"

"It's not." The trio interrupted her, pulling her in for another hug.

"That's what dream Izu, Chako, and Tsu would say!" She laughed, hugging them back tightly as

well. "I'm so glad I was in your testing group! I can't imagine not having met you guys!" "Hmmm, I am feeling a little left out though, kero, kero." Tsuyu tapped her chin.

Izuku grinned, "Don't worry Tsu! I have ideas for you too. It just needs some...tweaking, and sadly, it took years for me and Kacchan to get ours right. We need to find someone who can work with them who is actually good at it,"

"Kero?" She croaked in confusion, "Get what right?"

"It's a surprise!" He smirked at her disappointed look, "But in the meantime, I can certainly show you a few tricks! Actually, because of your Quirk, you might actually be good at using a certain fighting style!"

"...Ooooohhhhh!" Ochako looked like she was sparkling, "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Probably!" Izuku laughed, "But in the meantime, let me show you two things I think Tsu especially would love to learn. Tōru-chan too, but a bit less so." He hopped to his feet, "Watch this!" He hopped into the air... and then hopped again. And again. Jaws dropped as he showed off his Geppō, and Tōru especially had a gleam in her eye. "Tsu, I know you want to be a rescue Hero and not a combat Hero, but being well rounded is the best possible option. So watch this! RANKYAKU!"

Jaws dropped as with his last air hop, he spun in midair and let his leg lash out. A blade of wind ripped itself from his limb, and it flew towards the ocean. The girls could only gape as a gigantic rip carved itself into the water, before the waves clapped back together and exploded upwards, throwing a massive geyser into the air.

As he stared at their awed looks, he had to bite back a grin. They were awed now...but when they got down to training... probably less so.

-[-

"And done!" Izuku finished making his bed, and gazed around his room. One shelf was completely filled with every single manga volume of One Piece, the next was filled with all the anime series and the movies, the next with miscellaneous stuff like databooks and his Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. The rest of the room was filled with Hero merch; posters of his favorites, some figurines of his favorite Heroes, and some other trademarked knickknacks. The rest of the room was a bit plain. Emerald sheets with black comforters and pillows, regular blackout curtains, a plain rug.

It was a good thing UA was a university and not a high school, otherwise he definitely would have been super embarrassed if any of his girlfriends came in. Speaking of which!

"DEKU-KUN!" Ochako yelled joyfully as she barged in, leaping into his arms. He had a bit of a deer-in headlights look for a moment before he laughed and spun her in his arms.

"Hey Chako..." He smiled warmly as his girlfriend pressed her lips to his. He blushed a bit, seeing as he was still holding her up and her legs were around him, "Missed you." He chuckled when they broke apart.

"Clearly!" Tōru was giggling behind her hand. Tsu had a look of amusement as well, but said nothing.

"Ugh, I missed you all so much!" Ochako hopped off him and kissed the other two girls in the room as well, "It sucks so much that I only had two weeks here and then had to go back home! I mean, I love my parents and wanted to spend time with them too before U.A, but I missed youuuuu!"

"Kero, we missed you too." Tsu hugged her back tightly, before hugging Izuku as well, giving him a quick kiss. "Any idea why they're having us gather at 5pm?"

"We have to wear our gym outfits too." Tōru tapped her chin, "Do you think U.A. is going to hit us with a surprise test or something?"

"I mean, it is U.A..." Izuku trailed off, "Wouldn't really surprise me."

"Hurry up nerd." Katsuki growled, having opened the door without a care in the world. "You can play with your girlfriends later. Let's see what they want so we can go train. You better not be slacking."

Izuku rolled his eyes, as his girlfriends greeted his best friend with half-annoyed, half-amused tones. "Yeah, yeah, let's get going before you explode out of your pants."

"It was one ti-" He cut himself off, as Izuku's three girlfriends burst out laughing. "Let's just fucking go!" He snarled, stomping away.

They followed, eager to greet their classmates, and all of them went downstairs. They curiously eyed the yellow...thing in the middle of the room, but forgot about it when someone called out to

them. "YAHOO! Looks like everyone's here!" A pink girl exclaimed cheerfully. She had extremely fluffy hair a slight shade darker than her skin. She was waving cheerfully at them.

"Hiya!" Ochako and Tōru waved back cheerfully, while Izuku and Tsu smiled. Katsuki didn't, but he froze.

"Kacchan don't be a stic- Kacchan?" He paused, looking a little bewildered at the red on his childhood friend's cheek. He followed his eyes, and smirked. Katsuki was staring at a girl with spiky red hair who was talking animatedly to one of the other girls, a black-haired girl with a stoic expression. The redhead had a big grin on her face, and unlike the rest of them simply had a tank top on, rather than the gym jacket as well. That was around her waist...which exposed her exquisite musculature. She was short, and that just made her muscled frame that much more apparent. And not only was she cute, but she was rather stacked up top as well. "Ohohohoho!" Izuku laughed evilly, putting his best friend in a headlock, "What was that about not chasing girls, Kacchan?"

"Wha-" The spell was broken, "Fuck you Deku, gerrof!"

"So that's your type huh. Should have figured from all the Miruko merch." Izuku teased, while his girlfriends giggled evilly.

The pink haired one had sprung up to them, "Glad to meet you all! I'm Mina! What do you think we're here for? I hope they're not about to give us a test. I totally forgot everything from the last semester already." She stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Maybe one of those 'get to know each other' games?" Tsuyu suggested, though she didn't look like she really believed it. They were in college after all.

"Tch, I doubt it. They wouldn't have us in these gym outfits if that was the case." Katsuki dislodged Izuku's arm and elbowed him in the side, making Izuku let out a little grunt. "This is UA. Our teacher probably wants to test us himself or some shit."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, that sounds about right when you think about it."

"Hmm, I'm down for that!" Mina cheered, "But we could still get to know each other later! Some of us were thinking of having a room competition. You guys in?"

"Waste of time." Katsuki stomped off, determinedly not looking in the redhead's direction. "Jeez, who shit in his cereal?" Mina questioned with a frown on her face.

Izuku chuckled, "He's an... acquired taste, I suppose."

"Ah, so his personality is asshole. Got it." Mina nodded, causing all of them to burst out laughing. Izuku spent a while looking everyone over. There was another redhead in the group, though she was slenderer than the other redhead and a lot bustier. She looked just as intense, and had her hair done up in a spiky fashion, but not gelled the way the other redhead did. It looked like the headband she was wearing was keeping it styled. She had an intense look in her blue eyes as she talked to a very tall young lady, with black hair done up in a spiky ponytail and a shorter, purple- haired girl with what looked like headphone jacks for earlobes.

A girl with green hair was speaking with two other girls; one with candy-cane hair (and by that he meant that half of it was red, and half of it was white.) and another with dark blue hair.

And then the clock struck five, and his observations were cut off by the yellow thing they'd all been ignoring sitting up, making half of them jump back in shock. It fell apart, revealing itself to be

a sleeping bag hiding a... hobo? All of them had 'what the fuck?' looks on their faces. The guy looked exhausted.

"Hurry up and group up." The hobo grunted, and his eye twitched when no one moved. "You kids aren't very rational are you? Hurry up before you start the year with punishment."

"Ah, who are you?" One of them asked cautiously as they all went to stand before him.

"Your homeroom teacher." Their jaws dropped at the bombshell. Who the hell was this guy? Weren't all their teachers supposed to be pro Heroes? "Shōta Aizawa. Nice to meet you, I suppose."

What a lazy introduction!

"Don't bother getting all friendly. You're here to be Heroes, not to make nice. We've got three years to make something of you all, so if you were planning on fooling around you came to the wrong place." He said, glaring at them, "Now seeing as the principal is demanding that I allow my class to attend the orientation and welcoming ceremony for once, we're starting now so as to not waste that time. The entrance exam is far too irrational. It lets students who had potential fall through the cracks and allows students who are only here for frivolous reasons in just because they happened to have a fancy Quirk. All of you will be performing an Assessment, so I can see your strengths and weaknesses. And whether you belong here."

Almost everyone sucked in a breath of shock.

"Let's go. You have ten minutes to get to the field. Get any equipment you might need that will help you excel, because if not you'll be moving to a different dorm before the day is out." The implication was not a fun one. "Dismissed." And with that, he walked out. The only thing he didn't do was a mic drop.

"Oh." He stopped, turning around, revealing a positively diabolical grin that almost had some of them pissing their pants, "And welcome to U.A. Let's see how long you'll last." Okay, now the mic dropped.

-[-

Death to the slow burn!

I have a large part of this one planned, so it might be one of the next full fics. Maybe. If my cunt of a muse will fucking make up her mind.

For those of you waiting for an Emerald Phoenix update... I have to say, it's been a struggle. Next chapter is nominally finished but not yet ready to post. It's honestly been a slog. I vastly underestimated how difficult it was going to be to write both 1-A and 1-B together when there are some OCs to deal with, fucking 40 students with a whole lot of them just... Being kinda meh honestly. But I'm in too deep now. I have to finish what I started and then I can hopefully just not deal with it again.

I wonder how many of you will know who the surprise characters were in the ending section? Like with the Wukong snip, I did a wee bit of crossing over along with some composite character creation for a bit of fun.

Hope you liked this ficlet! Again, I have a lot of it planned and have some pretty fucking

amazing ideas for it. And again, hop on the discord and say hi! (Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh)

The NEXT QoQ is... going to be a little batshit. Not going to lie. Aizawa on suicide watch over his Problem Child. Capitals necessary.

Chapter 9

So... this happened. :rofl:

Truth be told, I had not originally intended this one to go like this. I had other plans for this idea (to the point I might do a second version of this one, or maybe something similar-ish) but then I started writing it and my muse was like NO YOU IDIOT LET'S DO THIS :rofl:

Hope you all enjoy it!

I have a discord server! Come say hi! Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh.

Also, Emerald Phoenix will be updated soon. Maybe in the next couple days.

-[-

"If you truly wish to help people, becoming a doctor or a police officer are equally noble pursuits." The words came from his sunken lips easily. The speaker was a gaunt, haggard looking man. He was skinny to the point of looking like skin and bones, and his lankiness and overly long limbs made him look sickly. His dull, spiky yellow hair hung limply on his strangely angular head in a disheveled mess, with two long bangs coming down nearly to mid-chest. He would look every bit the homeless bum in his overly large clothes were it not for his eyes. The whites of his eyes were black, as if in perpetual darkness. His pupils though? They shone a brilliant, mesmerizing blue, hiding such power within them that it could steal a person's breath away.

They were the only giveaway that this man was truly the Greatest Hero in the world. All Might.

But that didn't matter to would-be hero Izuku Midoriya. Not when his hero... his idol... had just told him he didn't believe he could be a hero. His glassy, now-fake smile hung on his lips as he broke out into a heavy flop sweat. His pupils were trembling in their sockets, mere pinpricks now really. The young, dark-green-haired boy had practically just had the rug pulled out from under his feet.

All Might let out a sigh, seeing how his words were sending his young fan's world crashing all around him. Truly, this brought him no pleasure. No joy. Perhaps if the boy had any visible training, any strength in his frame... his answer could have been different. But the boy clearly had naught but a dream in his head, and had never actually worked to accomplish it. The boy hadn't even been able to look him in the eye when he asked if a Quirkless person could become a hero. Instead, he trembled and closed them.

Izuku probably knew what he would say long before All Might said it. The man sighed again, "Officers may be mocked... but they are still a vital force." Still, Izuku didn't react. All Might closed his eyes for a moment, before he started walking away, "I'm sorry Midoriya-shonen. It's great to dream... but you also need to be realistic." He closed the door behind him and

started walking downstairs, leaving the young boy who had so carelessly hitched a ride on his leg alone on the roof. "Sorry to just leave you like that, kid... but I need to get this guy to the precinct." He patted his pockets where he had left the slime villain he had captured inside a bottle, sighing in relief that it hadn't gotten jarred loose.

And with that one little difference, the world changed. All Might left the one who would have been

his best possible successor behind, stewing in his own grief, disappointment, and for once... anger.

Izuku didn't cry. Perhaps he was beyond tears at the moment. For the barest moment, he looked at the edge of the roof in temptation, the words of his... once-friend Katsuki Bakugō filling his mind. For a moment, he wondered if a quick step off the side wouldn't be for the best. No one cared about him but his mom. He had no friends... No ambitions...

Nothing but the dream his idol had just destroyed.

The moment passed and he made his way down to the streets, still utterly despondent. He didn't even look both ways when he crossed the street, almost getting run over in the process. The person in the car honked at him angrily, and Izuku looked at him momentarily, his face shining in sadness. The driver stopped yelling in surprise, and Izuku just turned his head back to the road and kept walking. He all but dragged his feet on his way home, slipping inside quietly and removing his shoes. He walked limply to his room, stopping at the door.

He looked at his name, framed brightly in the All Might branded name plate he had. He stared at it for a good minute, before reaching for the doorknob and opening it. He reached up as well, tearing the name plate from its place, and casually tossing it in the garbage. He stopped short as he walked into his room, looking at all of the All Might branded items. Toys, figurines, even his sheets and comforter were all branded with that man's face. His entire room was a fanboy's wet dream.

Izuku clenched his fists at yet another reminder of who and what he was. What his diagnosis was. Quirkless. He was diagnosed as Quirkless at age 4. As if he had a disease. As if there was something wrong with him. He tossed his book bag away, not even wanting to look at it. He got under his comforters and laid down, just wanting the day to be over. His mother knocked on his door hours later, but he didn't answer.

-[-

The next day was a Saturday, and the light shined brightly into his room. He got up, hungry and walked into the kitchen. "Good Morning Izuku." His mom called, from where she was washing the dishes.

"Morning." He replied quietly. Curtly.

She stopped washing in surprise and turned around, and her breath caught in her chest. She saw no hint of a smile on her son's face. Izuku grabbed something from the pantry and walked back to his room, not saying another word to her. Inko turned the water off and dried her hands mechanically. She walked to her own room and sat on her bed, dropping her face into her pillow. Only now where Izuku would not be able to see or hear her did she let her emotions out. She started to sob.

The little spark of flame that always had been in her son's eye even after everything was gone. ...

The rest of the day did not go well. She left her room after only a few minutes and cleaned herself up. She needed to see if there was anything she could do for Izuku. She was surprised to see him carrying a box out of his room. "H-honey? Are you okay?" She asked hesitantly.

"Fine." Again, his answer was short. Lifeless.

She licked her lip and tried again, "What's in the box, sweetie?"

"My All Might stuff." Izuku said, his tone no different than it had been every time she'd heard

him. "I'm going to sell all of it."

Inko blanched harder than she thought was possible, "Wh-wha?!" Her eyes snapped to his room, and she finally noticed the missing nameplate. She swallowed, and put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Izuku... what happened?"

Izuku finally looked at her, and she flinched at the broken look in his eye, "You know that saying about how you should never meet your heroes?"

Oh.

Tears started to pool in her eyes, and she drew a shuddering breath. Something that normally would probably have had them both crying in short order, building off one another. Only that didn't happen this time. Izuku didn't react at all, and passed by her when it was clear she wasn't going to say anything else. She let him, though she reached a hand out before flinching back. He put the box down and came back, passing her and going to his door. "D-do you want some help? Th-there's a lot of it." Inko asked quietly, bracing herself for rejection.

Izuku stopped, before nodding quietly. She hurried after him.

-[-

Inko hadn't thought it was possible for her to despise someone as much as she despised All Might right now. Izuku's room was all but bare, and she'd changed his bedding for neutral ones she had lying around. Her son's room no longer looked anything like the room he'd loved. The posters were gone, the figurines and collectibles were gone, even the games were gone. Izuku LOVED video games. But all of them were hero related. Quirk related. She couldn't even begin to count the number of times he'd kicked her butt in Hero Fighter Royale! With International Hero DLC!

...How she hated that she truly was his only friend. Ever since that damn diagnosis, he'd never had another person his age over again. Nor did he ever go to another person's house.

In any case, after they'd finished all the moving, she had prodded him until he'd spilled the beans. She listened in stunned horror as he described the villain, All Might saving him, his utterly idiotic move in grabbing the man's leg, and then their rooftop conversation.

Every time she looked at that smile from then on, she would know how much of a liar the man was. He'd practically built the current hero industry. He was the reason for Izuku's entire worldview. And he was... that. She couldn't call him a fraud. He was the real deal. But he sure felt like one right now. For all his talk about saving people's hearts, he'd sure done a wonderful job with Izuku.

She let out a sigh. She was making Katsudon. Izuku needed some cheering. She hated that dead look in his eyes. But she understood. His last lifeline had been ripped from him. His dream shattered.

She'd just have to do her best to try to pick up the pieces. Maybe it was time to move away? She didn't think it would help. It wouldn't take long for everyone to figure out he was Quirkless most likely. But maybe with a fresh start, there would be some others his age who weren't... overinflated little shits like Bakugō.

She sighed, knowing Izuku probably wouldn't go for it. Not to mention the difficulty involved in just up and leaving. Finding a good school would also be hard.

But it was something to consider. Anything to avoid her precious boy becoming just another sad statistic.

-[-

Izuku didn't even look at his bookbag all weekend. He instead spent his time on his computer, looking up games. They were about the only thing he was actually good at, outside of hero analysis.

He glanced at his desk, where his old notebooks sat. Despite everything, he hadn't been able to bring himself to throw them away. He'd made them himself, with his own two hands and nothing but his mind. He probably should have gotten rid of them too. Anything to close this chapter of his life. But he couldn't. He turned his attention back to the screen. He couldn't stomach his old games anymore. Each and every one of them a reminder of his Quirklessness. His impossible dream. Quirks and Heroes in all of them.

No, he needed to look back over 200 years to find ones that weren't about quirks and costumes and fanciful figures who barked louder than they could back up. Like All Might. He looked for games from before the dawn of Quirks. Developers were actually creative back then. The dawn of Quirks and the hellish years that followed had done a giant number on the games industry, like many others. Several companies went bankrupt, others were caught in the crossfire of the fighting and rioting. Humanity sure hated getting along with one another. And after everything died down and society started to rebuild, Quirks became inherent in a lot of works.

He sighed when he realized even looking before then, he couldn't escape. Heroes and Legends on every corner. But he could stomach it. At least in the older games the heroes were people who stepped up to right wrongs, rather than people in costumes trying to look good for the cameras. With the rose-tinted shades pulled from his eyes, he couldn't believe how fake most heroes were now.

As much as he may have loved heroes because of him, even he had acknowledged that very few heroes were actually like All Might.

No, he could stomach ancient game heroes like Link, or Solid Snake. He could enjoy games like those. So he did. It was really the only joy he had left.

-[-

Four months had passed since that day. Izuku seemed like a different person than he had been. His grades had dropped, worrying his mother. But he didn't care. It all just seemed... pointless. He couldn't be a hero without a Quirk. Even All Might had said so. The giant man hadn't quite realized just what being Quirkless meant now. 80% of people may have had Quirks now, but the 20% who didn't were older generations. In his generation, Izuku was even more of an aberration. There wasn't a single other Quirkless student in his school. You had to hop three cities over to find another child his age without one.

What prospects did he have? Anti-discrimination laws wouldn't protect him. They'd just find some other reason to not hire him when they saw the Quirkless on his application. Or fire him for some minor infraction. He saw it in class. His teachers didn't care. His homeroom teacher had straight up poked the wasp nest by announcing he wanted to try for UA.

He rather doubted that would change just because he was an adult.

Izuku's room was still spartan, though some posters were hanging now. There were also a couple

weights scattered around the room. His money from selling all his limited-edition merch had gone a long way. He knew he couldn't be a Hero anymore. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be one anymore. But he'd needed an outlet. More than just his games. They didn't challenge him physically or make him ache. So he bought weights, an exercise bike, and a punching bag. It at least let him let out some increasing aggression. He almost felt like his emotions had been repressed all his life, and he was finally able to let them out.

His games had gotten darker over time. Less kid friendly. His taste in music had also evolved; he didn't listen to anything modern anymore. All of it filled with Quirk nonsense. It was a good thing he spoke English well, otherwise most of his music would have just been cool sounding nonsense now.

At school, he'd closed off. Didn't try to talk to anyone. Sat alone. Answered curtly if called on. The rest of the class had given him strange looks when they realized his stutter had gone away in a matter of a few weeks. Little had they known it was because he just didn't care anymore. He didn't care about any of them. He didn't want to be friends with any of them. He'd just wanted to be left alone.

So of course, they couldn't even give him that. His main instigators had tried to verbally attack him and messed with him in the halls or between classes. And then one of them had gotten tired of Izuku's uncaring nonchalance, and put his hands on him. Izuku had whirled around and broken his nose. He'd gotten a week's suspension for it, and he wasn't sure what he liked better. That he didn't have to deal with their shit for a week, that when he came back everyone gave him a wide berth, or that Bakugō had worn an utterly stunned expression on his face when he'd seen it.

He'd been feeling a little weird for a while now. Like something was buzzing under his skin. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was annoying. It distracted him when playing his games or putting in some lackluster effort into his homework with his mom's pleading. He ignored it as best he could, but it had gotten worse as time had gone by.

Over the past three or so days it had been annoying enough he had to stop playing Mass Effect because he was just screwing everything up. He got into a less... involved game because of it, and he was actually happy he did. It was a visual novel from hundreds of years ago from 2004. And damn if it wasn't poignant. Emiya Shirou was practically just like him. Or perhaps he was just like Shirou since he came second. Someone with little prospects with an impossible dream. Still, he couldn't quite say Shirou was his favorite character. That honor belonged to Arturia Pendragon. Her strength. Her demeanor. Even her tragedy and sacrifices... The story kept him gripped. He pumped his fist when Shirou was able to find her in Avalon in the Fate route. He'd been awed by Unlimited Blade Works and Excalibur in the same route. And he felt awful for Sakura in Heaven's Feel, and for Arturia's fate being Blackened and Altered. He stopped every once in a while despite being gripped utterly, because he knew that there were anime and movies for the series. Excalibur Morgan had been terrifying animated.

But the game kept him gripped outside of those few moments. He played everything. Every route. Every path. Seen every death. Seen every triumph. And now here he was, right at the end, with just one scene left for 100% completion. The second it finished playing, the second he finished reading the last word...his world changed one more time.

The buzzing under his skin seemed to ignite into a searing agony. He cried out in pain, knocking his chair over as he stood. The agony was so intense he didn't notice anything else, tripping over the chair as he stumbled back and only avoiding a concussion out of sheer luck.

He didn't notice anything else. Not the passage of time. Not his hand grabbing onto the steel leg of

his desk and crushing it in his grip, practically shearing it apart. Not the desk tilting and everything on it falling on top of him.

Not even the golden light shining in his chest and wind blowing across his room, coming directly from his body.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and blacked out.

-[-

When he next woke up, it was in the emergency room. His mother hadn't been in the house, and had come into his room when he hadn't answered. She'd screamed when she saw him laying there, unmoving, and had immediately called for help.

Izuku groaned as he tried to sit up, and Inko jerked into action, "Izuku!" She cried out shrilly, "Y- you're okay!" She tried to keep her tears in, to no avail. "You, are you okay? I found you on the floor. You were burning up. I, it was the only reason I knew you weren't dead..."

"Wh-what happened?" Izuku shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs, "I... I was just... I was playing one of my games, and next thing I know my entire body was on fire..."

"I don't know." Inko replied softly, "They haven't given me much information. You were out for a week." His eyes bulged, "They had a few specialists in here to help heal you and make sure you were getting nutrients. They had to take some blood as well, urine too. We were hoping you'd be able to tell us more when you woke up..."

Izuku shook his head, "I have no idea."

"Unfortunately, we just don't know much either.." A doctor came in, alerted that her patient was awake. "Doctor Ayumi Hasaki." She smiled pleasantly at him, "You certainly have had an ordeal, haven't you Midoriya-kun?"

"Were you not able to figure anything out, Hasaki-san?" Inko asked, her fingers twitching slightly as she pressed them into her thighs. "We have no clue what happened and I'm terrified that it'll happen again. And that it'll be worse."

"The results have been nonsensical. We're really not sure what caused it. It had some hallmarks of a seizure, but we couldn't call it one of those. His body appears fine now, honestly." The doctor admitted with some reluctance, "The most palpable theory right now is that his Quirk evolved and changed his body in some manner."

Izuku's face closed up, "That's impossible." He replied flatly, "I'm Quirkless." Hasaki raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

She clearly didn't believe him, and that made Izuku angry, "It's true. I've got the second toe joint and everything."

The doctor let out a frustrated huff, and muttered under her breath, "Fucking morons." Inko didn't hear a thing but Izuku did. It made him raise his eyebrow, "I hate to tell you this, Midoriya-san, but whoever told you that should probably be sued for medical malpractice. Yes, people with two joints are usually Quirkless, but that needs to be confirmed with DNA testing of your Alpha Factors. This actually helps us a great deal. If you thought you were Quirkless until now and you have the second joint to 'prove' it, then your accident was likely the result of your quirk activating for the first time."

Izuku and Inko stared at her, mouths agape. Izuku was shaking his head in disbelief. "Th-that's impossible. It's IMPOSSIBLE!" Izuku roared, suddenly furious, "STOP LYING TO ME! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"

The doctor squeaked and backed up in fear from his explosion of anger.

"IZUKU!" His mom screamed at him, and he stopped yelling and clenched his fists tightly. "I did not raise you like this! Apologize!"

Izuku started to cry, "I..." he blubbered, "I had already given up! Everyone everywhere did everything to crush my dream. I HAD GIVEN UP! WHY NOW?!" He put his face into his hands and started to sob.

Inko and the doctor shared a look. Ayumi took a deep breath and spoke lowly to Inko, "I take it he didn't have a good childhood?" Inko shook her head, her own tears streaming from her face. "I'm sorry." Ayumi said gently, gingerly sitting down on his bed, still worried about his outburst. But it was understandable. To have been lied to and put down for over a decade must have been tough on him, "Midoriya-kun..." She held something out, "Take a look at this."

Izuku set out a shuddering breath before dropping his hands. He raised his eyebrow when she dropped a ruined piece of metal into his hand. Frowned, "What's this?"

"That was clenched in your hand when you came in. You wouldn't believe the effort we had to go through to get you to let go of it!" Ayumi smiled at him in a little amusement. "Quite a grip for a Quirkless person, right?"

"Oh, that's right!" Inko jumped up, "I had to go home for a change of clothes for both of us. I came right back, but I went into your room. I took a picture." She showed him her phone.

Izuku's jaw dropped, "Is that the leg of my desk?! It's completely mangled!" and then he blanched, "My desk!" It was completely ruined.

"Solid steel too." Ayumi mentioned again, "You ripped the leg off with your bare hand." Izuku let it drop, legitimately unsure how to feel now. "Why now?" He asked again.

Ayumi sighed, "There is ONE type of quirk that manifests itself alongside the second toe joint, Midoriya-kun. That is why that test MUST be confirmed via direct testing of Alpha Factors. That Quirk type is Stockpile."

She didn't have to say anything more. Stockpile Quirks were some of the strongest BUT they took years and sometimes even decades to be discovered normally. By their very nature, they needed to be built up, and children didn't exactly produce the mountains of energy needed. Izuku the past four months had started building himself up, if for no other reason than letting out the increasing amount of aggression and anger he felt daily. His appetite had spiked up and he'd even bulked up a bit. All that energy must have gotten fed into his Quirk.

His Quirk.

What a bittersweet thing to learn about now. Did he even want to be a hero anymore? Did he want to be another Fake?

He drew another shuddering breath, but Inko asked something before he could, "Hasaki-san, why is this guesswork? You all drew blood and everything! Couldn't you have learned all this from the tests?"

"Like I said, the tests have been nonsensical." Ayumi snorted, "If they've worked at all. The majority of the tests were inconclusive at best. Most of them had to be thrown out. Something was interfering with them, and we can't figure out what. Just about the only test that actually worked was the DNA test, and according to that your son is genetically half amphibian, half plant, and a quarter jellyfish."

Izuku and Inko gawked. "But, that is more than one full?"

"Exactly, and these are the most conclusive results we do have." She laughed, "Like I said,

nonsensical. We have no information at all."

"You're telling me." Izuku mumbled for the first time in quite a while.

"Are you okay, Izuku?" Inko asked quietly, "I...I thought news like this would have had you jumping for the moon..."

Izuku looked down at his hands, "I don't know. I just... I think I have a lot of thinking to do." Inko hugged him, "No matter what, I'll be here for you, okay sweetie?"

He didn't hug back, but he did bring a hand up to clench her hand with his.

-[-

It didn't take long to issue a clean bill of health for Izuku, and then it was just him and his mom in the room. "You ready to go home, sweetie?" Inko asked her son.

He nodded, "Yeah..." He snorted, "I think I've been lying down long enough."

"Well, let's get you out of those hospital smocks then." Inko let out a little giggle, "Unless you want your butt hanging out." Izuku shook his head in amusement, before standing and pulling it off of his body. Inko's eyes widened and as the cloth was around his head, she screamed, "MIDORIYA IZUKU! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO YOURSELF?!"

Izuku screamed and fell back on his behind. "Mom! What was that for?!" The hospital smock almost choked him when he jerked. He ended up ripping it trying to get it off his head.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TATTOOS?!" His mom yelled at him shrilly.

Izuku blinked. He looked down at his chest and his eyes damn near popped out of his skull. "What the hell?!" He yelped as he raced for the bathroom. He took in his appearance and his jaw dropped. His eyes shrank right down to pinpricks as he stared at his reflection. First was the fact that he was...well... a lot hotter than he had been the last time he'd seen himself in the mirror. Yeah, he'd been working out, but he hadn't looked like this. It was like all of his remaining baby fat had melted away, and he saw the beginnings of abs. His muscles seemed a bit more well defined as well.

The fact that that was secondary to the tattoos was kind of mind-boggling. And he most certainly had not gotten himself tattooed, which stood to reason this was his new Quirk's fault and

Oh shit oh fuck

He RECOGNIZED the tattoos!

"OH NO FUCKING WAY!" He cursed as he staggered, almost needing to hold himself up.

"Izuku!" Inko gasped, wanting both to reprimand him for the swearing and hold him up. Even if he would probably just drag her down with him.

Izuku got his legs back under him and stood. He stared closely, thinking there had to be a mistake. The tattoos were blood red, looking almost like a tribal design that had been blown up so that it covered his torso instead of just an arm. The thick lines wrapped around his right arm, his chest, stomach, and his back as well. Jagged lines looking like someone had taken a paintbrush to his body.

"They're just tattoos. There's no way." He closed his eyes, "They're just tattoos. There's no way." "Izuku, you're scaring me!" Inko snapped him out of it. "What are they? Are they dangerous?"

Izuku swallowed harshly, "If they are what I think they are..." Izuku needed to confirm it. He stepped back out into the room, brushing past his mother. He closed his eyes as focused. He heard his mother gasp and his eyes snapped open.

Yup

He resisted the urge to pinch himself as he reached over his shoulder and grabbed it.

It was a massive weapon, with a golden handle and enormous handguard, all engraved with unfamiliar lettering. Where there should have been a blade, was instead a cylindrical black shaft covered in red strips much like his new tattoos. It was sectioned into three parts, each of which he knew would spin in different directions. Information about the sword in his hand was entering his mind. Everything about it. How to use it. It's power. Everything.

Ea. The Sword of Rupture.

Which he'd just pulled out of the fucking GATE OF BABYLON.

Both things which should absolutely not exist. He concentrated, watching as more gates appeared next to his body. Golden, shimmering portals, each holding insanely powerful treasures.

His quirk had turned him into Gilgamesh. The portals vanished as he cut them off, and Ea evaporated into particles before vanishing. He sat roughly in his hospital bed, looking like a shell- shocked veteran. "Izuku? Izuku baby talk to me. I'm so scared right now!" His mom pleaded with him.

He looked at her, before the sheer hilarity of the situation caught up with him. He started to laugh. He fell back on the bed and just laughed, harder than he ever had in his life, completely overcome by the absurdity. He laughed so hard he cried and his stomach, face, and chest hurt. All the while, his mom stared at him in total befuddlement.

It lasted for a few minutes, before Inko flatly asked him, "Am I going to get to know what is so funny?"

Izuku got up and put a shirt on, "You remember the old marvel movies? Captain America?"

"Of course." Inko nodded, "It was one of the few series that was just as popular after Quirks appeared as it was before it."

"Well, I think I just went from Steve Rogers before the serum to comics Odin." Izuku started laughing again as he got dressed, while his mother goggled at the information.

-[-

Izuku stood on the barriers of Dagobah beach, Inko right beside him. Well, calling it a beach was probably a bit of a misnomer. A junk heap would be a much more apt description. Ocean currents had started bringing junk ashore decades ago, with the government not really noticing until it was too late. The junk had started piling, and seeing as how nobody would keep it cleaned up, people had started illegally dumping their broken and unwanted belongings here. It had rapidly spiraled out of control, and now literal mountains of garbage littered the once pristine beach.

And it was here that Izuku was about to test his new power. After all, it was one thing to summon amazing treasures from another world. It was another entirely if they actually worked.

Izuku wasn't sure which would be the better outcome. If they were just pretty toys, then he still had amazing weapons to train with and use. And at the very least, their sharpness was the real deal. He'd pulled a sword out and dropped an apple on the blade at home. It had split so cleanly Izuku had been half certain he'd be able to put it back together.

But if they were actually as strong as they had been in the series? Izuku wasn't quite sure how he would feel about that.

"You ready honey?" Inko asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"...As I'll ever be." Izuku said after a few seconds, and took a breath. He stared at one of the dilapidated cars that was half buried in the sand. "Let's do this. Test one." One of the gates appeared by his head, the head and shaft of a golden spear appearing out of it.

And in a motion Inko couldn't even begin to follow, the weapon fired out of the golden portal unimaginably fast. Even Izuku's jaw dropped, despite him having been able to follow it. Apparently his senses and perception had grown far stronger from the change. The spear impacted the car and turned it into so much rubble. Bits and pieces of it rained down, while a massive pillar of sand rushed skyhigh. The entire engine block was flying directly at his mom.

Izuku saw red, instantly pulling out Ea and deflecting the improvised projectile with a single hit. Inko gasped as she realized what had happened and how close she had gotten to being flattened. She licked her dry lips, "M-maybe I should stay back?" She asked him quietly.

Izuku sighed in relief that she was okay, "I just have one more test for right now." He replied, staring at Ea. The Divine Gate had functioned as was expected. He was really scared of what was going to come next. "Yeah, get as far back as you want, mom. I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you."

Inko swallowed, before pecking her son on the cheek and running away, all but hiding behind her car.

Izuku straightened up, and stared at one of the massive mountains of garbage. Did he really want to know if this was the real deal? He shook his head. He needed to know just what he truly had in his hands. He raised the "sword" over his head, and it began to spin. Red energy immediately started circling the weapon and then him, and he immediately knew he could not allow it to spin up to full power. Nor could he let it hit the ground. He swung his weapon at the mountain, "ENUMA ELISH!"

With an air-shaking ROAR, the world turned red. It was like they were at the beach near sunset rather than bright and early in the morning. A massive energy blast erupted from the tip of the

sword, covering the distance between him and the mountain of rubble almost instantly. It didn't stand a chance. The entirety of the top half of the junk pile simply ceased to exist. Not even gasses remained when the beam petered off and Ea stopped spinning.

What remained of the mountain of rubble didn't look like it had been blasted apart. Rather, it looked perfectly smooth. As if it had been machined to be exactly that way, despite the variety of colors and material.

Ea vanished into particles, as Izuku turned away from the beach. His mom looked like she had seen a ghost, and Izuku was sure he was pale too. Forget being the strongest hero of his generation as he had wanted to be since he was a child. He could be the strongest anything he chose to be.

-[-

He really loved his mom. He smiled as he made his decision. It had been two weeks since his quirk had first activated, and he'd spent the entirety of it (once he'd awoken from his coma and left the hospital) agonizing over who he wanted to be now. Without the rose-tinted goggles he'd worn his entire life, he'd been understandably disgusted by the current state of society. Heroes who were in it for fame and fortune. Teachers who praised children with 'strong' Quirks to the point they gained massively overinflated senses of self. What had happened to not just him (even if he got the worst of it) but others with "weak" Quirks. They were constantly put down by their peers.

And now he'd gone from the absolute bottom of the heap to the absolute peak. He'd done two weeks of research. One week of nothing but deep diving into the Type Moon universe; watching the old anime, looking up old gameplay on youtube, etc. His Quirk had turned him into a living embodiment of the King of Heroes, complete with his entire arsenal.

It was utterly unfair.

He only knew what his quirk actually was because of his new Noble Phantasm; Sha Naqba Imuru, which allowed him to see through hidden truths. His quirk hadn't simply given him

Gilgamesh's abilities. Like the doctor had said, it was a stockpile quirk. It had been building up life energy from the moment it activated years ago, and accelerated once he'd started truly working on himself. That stockpile was burned all at once upon full completion of a game, transforming his body into one capable of using the most useful strengths from the medium. He almost thought he would have preferred Arturia's abilities instead, but wasn't sure if his quirk wouldn't have turned him into a girl to do so. His body had been irrevocably changed. He was faster, stronger. His eyes were better, being able to see more than he ever had even with his Clairvoyance suppressed. And he had Mana! Actual magic power!

This would have happened with any game that he'd gotten a Platinum Trophy on. He'd actually been close with Mass Effect which would likely have given him Biotics and/or the ability to create and utilize the technology in the series. Instead, he'd ended up as Gilgamesh because the stockpile had been "boiling over" and had made him more agitated than normal, forcing him to play other games.

And he'd gotten all of it. He'd walked out of the hospital and had literally been hit in the face with a winning lottery ticket. Which meant Golden Rule was active as well. He had all of Gilgamesh's power. Clairvoyance via Sha Naqba Imuru, tens of thousands of the greatest treasures and weapons, wealth that could literally rain from his Divine Gates (and nearly give his poor mother a heart attack), hell, he even had Vimana. And it worked. Flying was awesome.

He'd been insanely lucky as his stockpile was a one-off. If he'd completed some game with

relatively minor powers and abilities or none at all he could very well have never realized.

And that left him the most conflicted he'd ever been in his life. If this had happened five months ago, he would have been utterly elated. He would have been jumping off rooftops in joy. He would have signed his name on the U.A. application with a smile on his face and a song in his heart.

All Might's rejection and the way even he now came across as somewhat Fake (from his dozens of interviews encouraging people to stand up and be heroes in their own right) had hurt him in ways the man couldn't possibly have known. And that was before the anger had kicked in, to the point where months later he grew angry at his quirk being revealed.

It had taken a heart to heart with his mom before he made a decision. Before the bitterness, he had always wanted to help people. To inspire them. Just the way All Might had once done for him. And he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't still want to be the one kids would one day look up to. It wasn't the same altruistic reasoning he once had. The world was rotten and had been starting to smell. There was a lot more spite in him than there had once been as well. Now he wanted to prove everyone wrong as well as help others.

He would become the world's greatest Hero. Greater than All Might could have ever hoped to be. No one would stop him and if anyone got in his way, he'd deal with them. He would fix this broken society with his own two hands while he was at it. And if that meant cracking a few eggs, so be it.

-[-

The entire class erupted into whispers as Izuku walked in for the first time since his incident. Izuku looked different. He had an entirely different presence to him. His head was held high, and all traces of timidity that had once wracked him were gone. He even had a soft, calm smile on his face. Something they hadn't seen on him in months. The boys in the class immediately felt jealousy course through their veins as several of the girls seemed to swoon. "Ah..." Their teacher seemed nervous for some reason, "W-welcome back, Midoriya-kun."

Izuku nodded curtly, not bothering to respond as he sat at his desk. The whispers rose in the din a little bit, before the teacher coughed and started their lessons. A few seats away from him, Katsuki Bakugō seethed. In another world, Katsuki would have been attacked by the same Sludge Villain that had nearly killed Izuku. He would have been choked and nearly drowned in the villain's disgusting body, and would only have survived because Izuku himself inspired All Might to go past his own limits. It would have forced him to realize that Izuku wasn't as useless as he thought, and planted the tiniest seed of some humility in him.

No such thing happened in this timeline. 'That useless fuck Deku is getting a little bit big for his britches. I guess it's time to put him in his place again.'

...

"Hey Deku!" Katsuki yelled once they were outside, and immediately every student in earshot grinned. This would be entertaining! Izuku had always been terrified of Katsuki, and the blonde hadn't antagonized him in a while. Before Izuku had punched Moriyama, it was due to how broken the boy looked. He'd smiled at the thought that they had finally broken the Quirkless fuck and ended his dreams of being a Hero. And after the punch, it had been out of sheer shock, and some warranted observation.

Now though? Him smiling? Like he had something to be happy about? They couldn't have that. Izuku turned around, casually staring at Katsuki in a way that instantly raised the boy's heckles. He

was wearing an almost smug, self-assured smile, and the way he stood suggested he was relaxed. The smarter students (that weren't the increasingly angry Katsuki himself) immediately realized something was wrong.

"What the fuck do you look so happy about, huh?" Katsuki sneered at him.

"Oh?" Izuku asked, if anything, looking excited for what was about to happen, "We're not friends, Bakugō. I don't know why you seem to think I owe you an explanation for anything."

The entire courtyard was silent, stunned stupid at the Quirkless boy's reply. Bakugō himself had a look of disbelief on his face before it contorted in ugly rage. He dropped his bag to the floor before his arms ignited in crackles of explosions, burning his sleeves off and revealing his forearms. "What the FUCK did you say to me, you worthless shit?!"

"I said you look like a rabid animal, zasshu." Izuku taunted him, much to the shock of those around him.

"DEKU!" Katsuki EXPLODED forward, explosions crackling behind him as he rushed to teach his once-friend a lesson. Even the ground cracked and roiled in his wake.

Izuku smiled wider, and then there was gold. The Chains of Enkidu rushed from his Divine Gates, ensnaring the rabid boy and locking him so tightly he couldn't even move.

Stunned disbelief rippled through the courtyard as well as several screams as they witnessed Katsuki strung up like a pinata. His face was contorted in pain as the chains forced his limbs in directions they shouldn't have gone. His explosions did absolutely nothing to the chains, and as they pulled even tauter, he screamed in pain.

Izuku still had a smile on his face as he walked towards him, "Bakugō, even you can't ruin today for me. You see, it turns out the doctor who named me Quirkless was just a lazy hack who shouldn't have ever held a medical license." He said conversationally, and stunned horror rippled through Katsuki and the rest of the students, "While I do have the common tell of Quirklessness known as the second joint on my pinky toe, there is one type of Quirk that can still appear despite that; Stockpile. I never knew of course. The Doctor who tested me never bothered with DNA testing or letting me or mom know about that quirk type. Care to take a guess what kind I have?"

Jaws were slack all around, "Y-you!" Katsuki managed to spit out as Izuku came to stand in front of him.

"Me." Izuku replied, smiling sharply, and grabbed the back of Katsuki's neck. He forced his head down, ramming his knee into the boy's nose and breaking it.

"GAH!" Was all Katsuki managed to get out before the chains pulled him up and his arms out. Izuku clenched his fist before driving it squarely into Katsuki's face, a spray of blood immediately erupting from the boy's now broken nose. The next blow buried itself into Katsuki's sternum, and then another in the jaw almost knocked him out. All the air in the blonde's lungs had been forced out, leaving him almost rattling as he wheezed and gasped for breath. Izuku dispersed the chains, dropping the blonde down. Katsuki smacked into the ground and let out a groan, curling up and clutching his chest as he struggled to breathe.

Izuku grabbed him by the hair and forced his head up, watching as blood poured from his once- friend's nose, "I'll say this once." Izuku smirked, "You're no hero or even a hero in training. You're not the best and you'll never be like All Might. The man would probably weep if he knew you were aiming for his old school. You're just an asshole who gets off tormenting those weaker

than you. You're nothing but a villain pretending to be a Hero. A Fake. All those times you told me to give up... Take your own advice." Izuku dropped him and walked away, a satisfied smile gracing his lips. He suddenly stopped, "Oh, by the way?" Izuku turned and glared back at his

fallen foe, "My name is Izuku, zasshu."

Not a single person approached him as he walked out of the courtyard. No, they practically ran to not even be in his field of view.

-[-

Izuku smiled as he took in the H-shaped building of UA. It was amazing what a few months could do. Once he'd stood here with nothing but the desire to inspire people and make them feel safe. And to be sure, even now that desire remained. It had dimmed in those first four to five months since his meeting with All Might, but it hadn't been extinguished entirely. There was a lot of spite fueling that desire now too. His dream wasn't the same altruistic, idealistic one anymore. And he was done letting people stand in his way. He took a step forward and entered the building for the first, but most definitely not last time.

The halls were as pristine as expected, and he made his way to the auditorium, wondering idly if they were already being evaluated. He had no doubt there were hidden cameras all around. He made his way to the auditorium and sat, relaxing in the chair. His brows furrowed when Bakugō sat right next to him, "So, they're grouping us by school, huh? I see you didn't take my advice."

"Go fuck yourself, Midoriya." Katsuki had never called him 'Deku' again, the memory of his defeat seared into his mind, "You best hope they don't put us in the same exams. I'll fucking kill you."

"Yes, because that worked out marvelously for you last time." Izuku shot back, unconcerned, "If you didn't act like such a mongrel your entire life maybe I'd reconsider thinking you belong here."

Whatever he was going to reply with was cut off as the lights dimmed, "For every one of you little listeners, welcome to my show! EVERYBODY SAY 'HEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!'" The man with blonde, extremely long gelled hair swept back and upwards cupped an ear with his hand.

Silence.

He shrugged, a massive grin still on his face, "What a refined response! That's cool too, my little listeners. Time to show you then! I'll present the specifics of today's practical exams! ARE YOU READY?! YEAAAAAAHHHHH!" Again, he was the only one who shouted. Everyone was just too nervous or fanboying, or just taking the man's presence in. He was one of the more famous teachers, after all. Present Mic shrugged, and got on with it. It wasn't as if this had never happened before, even if it was annoying. He loved it when some of them showed some spirit, "Well I hope you all came prepared! I also hope you didn't bother trying to study previous exams! They won't help you in the slightest!" He laughed, and Izuku noticed several people curdle at his words.

Izuku shook his head, 'I'll never forgive All Might for what he said... but he was right. The me from before would have been just as shaken from that announcement as all of them.'

Present Mic pressed a button on his clicker and the projector turned on, "Each of you will be divided into battle groups and be sent to one of our mock cityscapes! Each exam will last for a total of ONE HOUR!" Mic shouted the time limit out, making sure every student hopeful heard it, "Each cityscape will have various different objectives, scenarios, and problems for all of you to solve. Rescues here, disasters there, etc! It'll be up to you to determine the optimal strategies to handle every situation! And while you all will be graded individually, teaming up IS allowed. If

you think you can trust anyone, that is." He grinned, "In addition to various tasks, there will also be villain bots all around, valued one to ten. Taking on a high number will certainly rack your points up! Destroying them and disabling them are worth the same number of points, so feel free to do as you like."

"My kind of test!" Katsuki started to grin as he took in the appearances of the robots, almost salivating at the coming fight.

"By all means, focus solely on them." Izuku smirked, "With any luck they'll see how much of a loose cannon you are and I won't have to deal with you anymore."

"Fuck you." Katsuki snarled, his palms crackling minutely, proving Izuku's point.

Mic grinned and continued, "However, I would read your packets once you're on the buses and heading to your battle zones. No doubt you'll find a few surprises here and there. Not every test site will be the same! And that's all from me, little listeners! I'll leave you with our school motto! As the great hero Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "True heroism consists of being superior to all the ills of life." PLUS ULTRA!" His grin widened, "Break a leg, everyone!"

-[-

Izuku smiled as he read through the entirety of the packet while sitting on the bus. His exam would consist of taking down villains, rescuing current students, hostage situations, and dealing with disasters here and there. Oh, and not all of the bots were "evil" either, and taking them out would cost points. The regular villain bots were sized one to five, and each was progressively harder to face. Most applicants would not be able to handle very many of them. As for the Ten Pointer? Well, there was only one of those in each area, and they were supposed to be meant as distractions more than anything. Something to draw eyes to it and make exam takers panic or tunnel vision. An appropriate test, and he was glad to see that it wasn't just mindlessly taking villains out. He would have been disappointed to see that sort of test, because it would have made it clear that UA only cared about physical ability or flashy Quirks. This gave others a decent shot.

Once they got off the bus, he glanced at the others in his battle group and stopped suppressing Sha Naqba Imuru. His eyes narrowed as his clairvoyance took in the other competitors. Cocky,

narcissistic, showboating trash. There were only a few students here because they wanted to be heroes. All the others grew up like Bakugō being told how wonderful their quirks were, or were just here because they wanted to be rich and famous. There were a couple bullies in the mix, and others who were just like Bakugō who were only in it to be able to fight. A couple were even here only because they wanted to legally be allowed to use their Quirks on other people; ie villains. One or two just wanted to be able to use their Quirks legally without the police or government breathing down their necks, which he supposed he could understand.

Ugh, one of them even intended to be a Pro Hero for the sole purpose of getting popular enough to have groupies he could play with whenever he wanted. Not only trash, but an utter degenerate as well.

All in all... Fakes. Almost every last one of them were trash.

Of course, there were exceptions to every rule, and he smiled as he took in a couple diamonds in the rough. Ochako Uraraka; She was a weird one. She was in it for the money, but not for herself. She wanted to give back to her parents and truly had a heroic heart, having dreamed of becoming a rescue hero like her personal favorite Thirteen. Eijirō Kirishima; someone who wanted to inspire others and save people, just like his idol. He'd spent a long time thinking of himself as unimpressive and hating his 'dull' Quirk. He'd been cowardly and hated his own inaction

whenever a chance for him to help someone came up. He'd almost given up entirely before finding an old interview from his idol, which had given him a whole new perspective on life and himself. Kyōka Jīrō; someone from two backgrounds. Her parents were musicians and had also been inspired by various heroes. She knew how to play several instruments and actually had an amazing singing voice, but also loved being rough and tumble and absolutely did not mind getting down in the trenches if it meant helping people. She even had such an incident on her resume, having helped rescue a couple other kids during an unfortunate sinkhole incident in her youth. Every child who had fallen or gotten close to being swallowed had been saved because of her.

All of them had potential, and all three of them were underutilizing their Quirks. They had far more potential than they realized. He smirked slightly, waiting for the test to start. He didn't have any doubt that they'd pass, but he'd have to ensure none of the other trash did either.

And just as he thought this, an earthquake seemed to rip through the area, nearly throwing off his balance before he activated one of his treasures and started to levitate, taking in the others. Ochako seemed to have a similar idea and was floating, and Kirishima had hunkered down, but Kyōka had immediately lost her balance and was about to fall. He zipped over and caught her, "You okay?" He shouted as the rumbling intensified, catching a building in the city collapsing out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah!" Kyōka was blushing like crazy as she took him in, "Thanks for the help!"

"That was manly bro!" Kirishima gave him a thumbs up and a wide grin, "Who would have thought an earthquake would happen right on exam day?!"

"I know! That was crazy! Even one of the buildings collapsed!" Ochako threw in as she floated nearby and dropped to the floor. It was already subsiding.

Izuku smirked at them, getting both girls to blush a little harder as he put Kyōka back on her feet, "Oh, I think UA knew exactly what they were doing!" He jumped up and a Divine Gate appeared behind him, disgorging a positively gorgeous motorcycle, which he landed on. "I suggest you three get moving!" He smirked and revved the engine.

"What kind of Quirk is THAT?!" Kirishima's eyes bugged out of his head, and the two girls weren't much better.

Izuku laughed, "I'll explain later. The four of us have an exam to crush. Want a ride?" He smirked at Kyōka, and her flush got even darker. She casually hopped behind him and he took off, leaving the other two gaping.

"Not manly! The test hasn't started yet!" Kirishima gaped at their receding backs.

"...I think it has!" Ochako realized no announcements were coming on, "Come on, red-kun! Let's go!" She tapped him and herself, and shot the two of them off behind Izuku and Kyōka.

"Wait, whaaAAT?! WAHOOOOO!!!" Kirishima started to ask, before whooping as he experienced zero gravity with the pretty brunette, pulling him along like the world's hardest balloon.

"Ha! What a bunch of morons! What are they doing?" One of the other test-takers jeered.

"Hmph." Another - a girl this time - sniffed haughtily, "Starting the exam early will just get them disqualified. That's four less competitors for me."

The group continued talking, getting increasingly amused by the loud explosions coming from the

city, though a few were getting a bit nervous. One of them asked, "W...wasn't the test supposed to have started already? When are they going to send us in?" No one had an answer, and the group started to worry. Every minute or so, another one of them took off into the area, while others laughed and adamantly waited for the exam to start.

Fifteen minutes into a sixty-minute exam, Midnight's sensual voice sounded through the PA system, "My, my, what confidence I see from some of you! Giving your other competitors such wonderful head starts!" All around the campus in practically every zone, jaws dropped in horror, "There are no such things as countdowns in real life, little ones. So I suggest you get cracking before I do." For emphasis, the loud noise of a whip breaking the sound barrier rang in their ears.

There was a beat.

All of them started screaming their heads off and charging into their battle areas. They encountered armageddon. Everywhere they looked were shredded and destroyed robots. Not a single one remained standing. "WE NEED POINTS!" They cried, splitting up into separate directions as best they could.

...

"Hey Green, what even is your Quirk?!" Kyōka asked in his ear. The two of them had already made a mess of things on the way to the collapsed building. The second they crossed the threshold; the villain bots had activated. Izuku had immediately instructed Kyōka to plug her jacks into the motorcycle, and as they drove his own sound system had been amped up to the max and blasted out soundwaves. Kyōka had been amazed as her Quirk acted more like Present Mic's destroying waves upon waves of robots immediately. Not with her own heartbeat, but with the music the radio had been playing. Izuku had picked off the stragglers, his divine gates sniping dozens of hidden bots and ones that had been just coming around the corners where her sound hadn't reached.

"Figuring it out is part of the fun, isn't it Purple-chan?" He teased, laughing as her jacks spasmed a little.

"Call me Kyōka!" She yelled a little louder than intended.

"Izuku then!" He introduced himself back, having already known her name but not wanting to come off as a creep, "Anyway, my Quirk is WAY too complicated to explain right now. You'll have to wait!" He chuckled, eyes widening in some surprise when Ochako and Kirishima shot past them above their heads. Ochako's Quirk removed gravity from objects, and Kirishima was using his powerful muscles to kick off buildings and get them closer to the collapsed one. Izuku grinned, having been proven right about those two. They were prioritizing the collapsed building and rescue just like they were. They just happened to not have any long-range capabilities, so they didn't have any bot points yet.

They arrived at approximately the same time and Izuku banished the bike. He stared at the building, "We've got ten current students in there as well as about five dozen friendly bots that need rescue!" Jaws dropped at the information he just stated as if they were mandates from God, "Kyōka, you and Red go straight through this collapsed entrance." He pointed, "Your quirk will be useful for finding survivors and Red will be able to get to them with his strength and Quirk. You!" He pointed at Ochako, "Go through that fifth window up, exit the room, go right and straight for three hallways, before taking a left. There will be a large concrete slab concealing a collapsed stairwell, where you'll find three current students. Let's get all of them out before this place collapses further!" Without waiting for a response, he activated his treasure again and flew up to what would have been the fifteenth floor, utilizing the chains to move rubble out of the way.

"Wow! You can fly too! That's so cool!" A really pretty girl with a blindingly bright smile and periwinkle hair stared up at him. Nejire Hadō easily could have handled this entire disaster on her own, and even the way she was trapped (with a pillar having 'fallen' on her legs) was something she could have easily handled with her own Quirk. "Neh, neh, what is it? Oh wow!" She gasped as Enkidu snaked around the pillar and lifted it, before he carefully pulled her out and into his arms, "Wow! Do you have more than one Quirk?! What's your name? You're really cute by the way, and your Quirk is so cool! How does it work?"

"You're beautiful too, Blue." Izuku replied, and Nejire blushed happily, "My Quirk is a little complicated, so you'll have to wait to learn about it."

"Awww, but I wanna know now!" She whined as he carried in his arms bridal style.

"Also," He had a teasing grin on his face, "Aren't you supposed to be a traumatized nurse in a building collapse?"

"Oh!" Nejire blushed, "Right! I forgot!" She stuck her tongue out as she rubbed the back of her head, eyes closed, "Owie! My leg hurts! I need a hero!"

Izuku burst out laughing as he floated them down to the ground, where a "rescued" section had been prepared, "I think we're past that part of the script, cutie."

"Mouuu, I messed it up!" She pouted, "Oh well!" She shrugged, "My hero!" She beamed at him as he sat her down.

"Stay safe!" He played it up, before rocketing back to the building and inside again.

"Stupid test." Nejire pouted, "I want to learn about his quirk!" She grumbled, "Wait, I'm supposed to be supervising! YAY!" She stripped on the spot, revealing that she had been wearing her costume underneath her office attire, and shot into the air herself. She kept a careful eye out, smiling as she noticed Kyōka carefully carrying her 'unconscious' best friend Yuyu, with Kirishima having piled about half a dozen bots on his shoulders.

A bit unorthodox, but since they were the bots and not actual live people AND the building was 'unstable,' it was a good strategy. Ochako flew out from the 'fifth' floor with two students in her arms; ones she didn't recognize so they must have been current first years. She wondered how Tamaki and Mirio were doing. Knowing Mirio he had probably started helping others before being reminded he was supposed to be getting rescued himself. Aizawa-sensei would probably give him a good smack.

She was surprised to see that only four students had made it there so far, so she nyoomed off to the entrance, though she stayed low and hidden as best she could. Her jaw dropped when she saw just how many were still standing around doing nothing. Man, this part of the test was going to weed out dozens from her group alone. She shrugged, knowing she couldn't do anything about them and returned to the building.

Ochako was carrying something above her head, with about two dozen "child bots" inside of it. Izuku had used one of his weapons to shatter the walls and allow her to get through.

Kyōka and Kirishima came running out with more rescues, Kyōka carrying a bunch of 'teen-sized' bots with her jacks and Kirishima carrying a bunch more adult bots. They settled them into the 'safe' area, and Nejire grinned. It was about time for the four and five pointers.

Izuku seemed to know it too. He burst out from the building carrying the last of the live students

and quickly dropped them off in the safe area. All the first-year students looked awed at his power. "Kyōka!" The two girls snapped to attention, "You two continue the rescue efforts! Red, Blushes, we've got incoming! You two go down that street and deal with the four and five pointers!"

"You got it, bro!" Kirishima and Ochako ran off, though he was huffing a bit, and Ochako was looking a little green. Kyōka was a little pale as well, but went back for the final stragglers. Both were clearly getting tired.

Izuku opened up more Gates, several treasures starting to peek out. A wave of the 1-3 pointers had been unleashed, and he started sniping them with his weapons, annihilating them and pretty much eliminating any possible chance of the rest of the riffraff in his zone getting enough points to pass. Sha Naqba Imuru told him that their rescue efforts already had them on the right track, so leaving the rest of the rescue bots to Kyōka had been the right move. Kyōka had gotten quite a few villain bots on the way there, so only Ochako and Kirishima needed some combat points to make it in.

His weapons flashed out of the gates, some of them piercing through enemies the second they came into view while others pierced or even phased through buildings and cars to take others out on the other side. Explosions rang out throughout the zone as villain bot after villain bot were destroyed.

Off to the side, Kirishima was being a brick wall for Ochako. Rubber bullets were firing out of a Gatling-like cannon atop the four pointer, and Kirishima was blocking all of them as they advanced as quickly as they could. Soon, they reached the four pointer, and Ochako tapped it with her hand. Kirishima grabbed it and lifted the entire tank over his head, before throwing it at the five pointer. "Release!" Ochako cried, tapping her fingertips together. Gravity returned to the behemoth, and the two bots blew apart in a shower of sparks upon hitting the ground.

"Manly!" Kirishima whooped, before concern took him over as Ochako barfed. "Woah! You okay?" He patted Ochako on the back.

"Hit my limit." She grimaced, before dry heaving a bit, "I'll be okay."

"Sit down for a bit." He commanded, "I'll protect you with my life!" He pounded a fist on his chest. She giggled weakly as she did so, taking a well needed rest. He had to prove it a few seconds later, when the five-pointer burst into the scene. It was a vaguely arthropodal robot, looking almost like a crab with long legs and "arms" that were actually rocket launchers.

Kirishima leapt in front of Ochako as it fired a rocket at the pavement, peppering Kirishima in detritus. Once it was clear that had done no damage, the machine stepped forward and aimed an entire leg at him, looking to skewer him. Kirishima caught the leg with a grunt, air escaping him as the leg jabbed into his hardened chest and core. "You'll have to do better than that!" He yelled, jerking the leg forward into the ground. He ran and hardened his arm, slicing straight through the appendage before grabbing it, "Here! You try it!" He yelled, impaling the machine with its own leg. It screeched as sparks flew from the hole as it staggered back, before exploding. "Right on!"

"Good job, Red-kun!" Ochako chirped as she got back to her feet, ready for more action.

All around the zone, the test takers who had lagged behind and weren't part of that main group grew increasingly panicked and distraught as they failed to get points. Several had seen some villains, but they had been taken out by one of Izuku's treasures before they even got close to them. The tiny pervert Izuku had seen earlier was in full blown panic mode, worried that he'd never get a girlfriend if he failed here.

Priorities straight, that one.

Izuku went out of his way to target any possible bots that he could possibly get to, and Minoru Mineta didn't even think of maybe trying to get some points by rescuing others.

Minutes passed and the older students kept a careful eye, Nejire especially. Really, it wasn't needed in this group. No one had run into any situations they absolutely couldn't handle, which was surprising. The last time this had happened, Nejire had needed to nearly knock herself out (via stamina drain) blowing apart a gigantic concrete slab that one of the giant villain bots had accidentally thrown towards an unfortunate applicant.

Still, with Izuku floating there like an Avenging God and delivering what seemed to be death at American Military Standards, there didn't really seem to be much reason to worry.

She couldn't even begin to figure out what his Quirk was either.

Finally, the time for the test to end was closing in, which meant it was time for the-

Yup, there it was. A building crumbled as the Goliath bot rose from its carcass. Three-limbed, and over three hundred feet tall, it truly matched its name. Armed with hundreds of weapons (most thankfully unloaded for the test) and even shield generators, it had never been taken down once in the entire time it had been in service. No doubt, All Might and Endeavor would probably have been able to take it down with ease, but they had left UA long before it was designed. It was a distraction for the battle hungry idiots taking the test. Something to make them waste time.

Truly, the most important objective (something the test takers had NOT been told about) was keeping the 'rescues' safe. The secondary (which HAD been mentioned in the packet) was limiting property damage. The Goliath was programmed and designed to cause calamity in empty sections of the city. Mortars fired from its back destroyed empty buildings where there were no applicants anywhere close to get hurt.

She knew for a fact half of the exam takers just dropped to their knees in horror at the sight, and several gave up on the spot. It truly was supposed to be that intimidating. She made sure to look at Izuku, since he was by far the most interesting person in the zone. She smiled as she saw the sheer confidence in his face.

"Oh my god!" Kyōka cried as she, Ochako, Kirishima, and Izuku grouped back up, "How in the world do we defend against that?! It's coming this way!"

"It must be coming for the people and bots we rescued!" Ochako gasped in shock. "Not manly!" Kirishima growled, "We need to keep them safe!"

Izuku hummed, levitating into the air and opening his Gates. Nameless weapons peeked out and fired, closing in on the approaching Goliath, before bashing harmlessly into its shield and shattering. The weapons disappeared into particles as Izuku frowned, his Gates closing before a new pattern opened up. The weapons that started exiting this time were much more powerful, practically shimmering with it. They fired, and again were rebuffed by the powerful shield surrounding the behemoth. "Tch!"

The Goliath fired more mortars, pumping out waves of destruction around the area. Izuku quickly reacted, firing nameless treasures at the shells and destroying them in midair, lighting the sky up with explosions. On the ground, everyone who had been looking at the sky in horror flinched and covered their eyes.

The pattern of the Gates changed again, and this time several named treasures appeared. Finally,

they pierced the shield, but lost so much power that they simply screeched on the armor and broke apart in showers of sparks and chipped paint.

"IZUKU-KUN!" Ochako screamed up at him, having gotten his name from Kyōka, "We need to retreat and keep them safe! IF I make them weightless you could use those cool chains to carry them!" The thuds of the giant machine's footsteps were getting closer. Each step it took made people, bots, and even cars hop into the air now. Several were surprised the road was even holding up under what had to be its colossal weight. Everyone ran for the hills, getting as far away from the Goliath as possible. It took a step and the closest building (which had already been unstable) collapsed entirely.

'A good plan.' Izuku thought in approval before his Gates closed. He smirked, 'Good, but unneeded. Time to blow some minds.' He confirmed that there was no one in danger anywhere close to the machine, and a single gate appeared in front of him. He smirked as Balmung rose before him. It was a rather large western greatsword, with a gem in its hilt. It immediately flashed to life in his hand, despite him not being its original owner. Gilgamesh would likely not "lower" himself to physically using any of his treasures except Ea, but Izuku wasn't Gilgamesh.

He personally thought the real Gilgamesh had been a bit of a fool for using all of his treasures in essentially the same way. It was insulting to each of them, as well as their eventual owners. He couldn't think of a situation in which he would use a sword like Balmung like any of the common blades. No, he would honor the owners of each treasure with his own two hands. He knew he could likely never reach their level of skill, but he didn't think he had to. Wouldn't mean he wouldn't like to try.

He held Balmung before him, smiling as it accepted the mana he was pumping into it. He raised it over his head and the blade erupted in ethereal green energy, piercing into the clouds with a wave of force that caused vapor rings to form around it. The cloud it struck was ripped apart as if a bomb had gone off inside of it, forcing the sky to clear. With a mad grin as the machine seemed to focus on him and only him, he roared its name, "BALMUNG!" He swung, cutting the clouds with the beam as it descended and crashed into the machine.

Its shields may as well have not even existed. They flashed into existence and instantly shattered before the rest of the titanic machine was engulfed and started disintegrating. An earthquake seemed to ripple, crumbling pavement. Finally, it shattered into so many pieces which turned into dust, vanishing into the wind. The beam exploded, causing what looked like a mini mushroom cloud to appear. The crater it left behind was red hot and molten. The pieces of the collapsed building next to it started slipping and falling into the crater.

Nejire stared in dumbfounded shock. An expression mirrored on every face.

Izuku smiled as Balmung vanished into particles, and the PA system came on, declaring an end to their exam. The voice behind the mic sounded like he was in utter disbelief.

One student started to sob, while another screamed in rage, "BUT IT HASN'T BEEN AN HOUR YET!"

"Be that as it may, all objectives have been cleared and there are no remaining villain bots to take down. This exam is finished."

Izuku stopped floating and dropped to his feet near his three fellow future UA students, "Great job, you three!" He smiled at them.

"Bro..." Kirishima looked shaken, a trembling finger pointing at the crater.

Ochako (who looked like she had never sworn in her life) was practically blubbering as she pointed at the crater, "WHAT THE FUCK!?"

Izuku started to laugh.

-[-

All Might stared at the screen in disbelief. The other teachers had long-since left the building. But not him. He had been staring at the same set of cameras on repeat since the exams had concluded hours ago. He knew that kid. It was the same kid who had grabbed onto his leg months ago! The same kid who had confessed to him that he was Quirkless! The same kid who had been shaking like a leaf and not even looking at him as he asked if a Quirkless child could become a hero.

And then here he was: floating, summoning what seemed to be hundreds of different weapons and even outright vehicles out of golden gates, perfectly determining how many people needed to be rescued in a building without even going inside after just a few seconds, and then THAT THING.

This...

This was impossible.

He just didn't understand how it COULD be possible!

No. No he did. But THAT truly WAS impossible.

HE KILLED THAT MAN WITH HIS OWN FISTS!

All Might clenched his skinny fists in rage, "All For One!!!" His teeth had been practically grinding themselves flat as he growled out the hated name.

Off to the side, the only other person in the room stared evenly at the screen. The furry animal shook his head, "No. I know you're smarter than that Toshinori. That's impossible."

"We never found the body." Toshinori growled, "I broke his face. I KNOW I did! He HAS to be dead!"

"You miss the point." Nezu said, shaking his head, "Regardless of whether you truly finished him or not, I rather doubt he is the root cause here. Look at that student and tell me All For One would have given up ONE of the abilities he displayed, much less all of them."

Toshinori clenched his fists, before relaxing them, "No. No, you're right, sir. All For One would have used those abilities against me in our battle if he had them then, and if he acquired them later I doubt he would give them up."

Nezu nodded, "And yet we have a mystery. A child who personally told you he was Quirkless no longer is, and fights like a top-class seasoned Hero while displaying frankly unheard-of power. Something is definitely afoot." He picked up the phone and dialed a number, "I need everything you have on Izuku Midoriya." Nezu said without preamble, "He finished his UA Entrance Exam earlier today. Age 14, green hair and eyes. Currently 5'7''." He didn't wait for a reply, before hanging up. He sighed, 'So, the game is afoot once more, huh?' He patted his old friend on the shoulder before turning off the monitors and dragging the man out of the room.

-[-

And done!

HOLEE FUCK, this definitely takes the cake for most overpowered Izuku I've done so far. LMAO

As I stated earlier, this one was supposed to be entirely different when I first came up with it. Originally the Quirk was going to keep stockpiling, and he was going to be able to just keep adding powers eventually. Not TOO many within the confines of the story, but quite a few. I was actually going to start with Arturia just so I could give him Excalibur, but then my brain went "Okay but why not Gilgamesh?" LOL And since its fucking Gilgamesh, I just stopped it at the one powerset. Literally doesn't need anything else. Lmao

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it. This one likely won't be continued unless I REALLY feel like roflstomping something.

Also, I KNOW that Gil wouldn't have had Balmung itself in his armory, and that it would be Gram. That just didn't have the same ring to it. LOL

Again, come hop on the discord! Discord.gg/3ZwnRbh.

First Order

In which I air some of my many grievances over the current canon trajectory, and have as much fun as I possibly can tearing canon to shreds.

-[-

Please everyone...please be okay.

Izuku opened his eyes, finding himself in the dark, swirling void that he'd only been inside a couple of times before. Dark Shadows swirled around his body, binding his mouth, and preventing him from speaking. Or maybe he didn't have a mouth in here.

Only things were different this time. The void wasn't entirely formless. There was a platform. As if someone had taken a chunk out of a building and just set it floating in space. In a ring, ornate chairs sat, each with a different color backing for it. And in them, sat who he assumed were the previous wielders of One For All, bar two. He could see two others standing apart, glaring at the walls behind the rest of them, leaving some empty seats.

"Before you wake up..." Banjo-san stated, "We've got to have a chat."

A pale man with a sickly pallor followed up, "Sorry to spring this on you so suddenly." It was the first wielder. All For One's brother. "Before, we could only interact with you in minor ways, particularly when you were flitting in or out of consciousness. But as of four months ago, One For All started rapidly growing in power. We were able to take on more solid forms. And our last battle seems to have pushed it past some limit. We'll be able to interact with you with much greater ease now."

Izuku smiled minutely as Banjo chimed in, "Don't worry though. We'll still give you your privacy!" He shot Izuku a cheesy thumbs-up.

Izuku nodded at him, "Wh d y n-d t tl m?" Izuku managed to force some words out for the first time. Banjo clapped cheerfully.

One of them stood. He was a giant man, looming tall over Izuku. He may even have been a bit taller than All Might. "Allow me. I am Hikage Shinomori, the fourth. You drew on my power without meaning to in your last battle." Izuku nodded, thinking of Danger Sense. "It was a shock to me. I get the sense that it would have been better for you to discover Danger Sense in a better setting." Izuku deadpanned a little at the pun, though his lips quirked.

Banjo took a friendly swipe at Hikage, which he dodged, "He was a bit of a weirdo, not gonna lie. He was a bit of a hermit."

"The other people were the weirdos." Hikage countered, focusing on Izuku, "Would you happen to know what killed me? Or how old I lived?" Izuku nodded to the latter, but shook his head at the former, "Well I'll tell you then. Old age." Izuku's eyes bulged. Old age? How was that possible? Hikage died when he was forty! "I'll get straight to the point. Banjo and I had no way of knowing why. It was only after Yagi researched it that we found out the truth. It was One For All itself that killed me." If he had a jaw, Izuku's would have dropped, "Shocking, isn't it? One For All cannot be wielded by an ordinary man. I held onto it for eighteen solid years, and spent all of it training to overcome the first's brother. I was the one to hold it the longest, after Yagi. I knew I couldn't defeat that monster, so I focused on building One For All up instead. And then these cracks started

appearing on my body. I thought maybe it had been a disease... But when Yagi dug up my autopsy, it revealed the truth. The strain of holding multiple Quirks was what did me in, eating away at my life force. The others never held it for that long. Only Yagi did. He had something the rest of us lacked."

Izuku shook his head, understanding immediately, "H lckd smtn y hd."

The first nodded, "He was Quirkless, and so was able to hold One For All without difficulty. We always thought our spirits were infused in One For All, but we're not sure that was the case any longer. What my brother said confirmed it. We are fragments of the Quirk factors One For All absorbed. Only Yagi truly infused One For All with his spirit."

He would have gone on, but something happened then. Their eyes all widened as All Might's flaming shade twitched, before it hunched over, and then solidified.

"ALL MIGHT?!" No lack of mouth would have prevented that shout. Nana also stood in shock, "Toshi?! NO! You- wha-"

Toshinori looked young again. Filled with life and vigor. You could even still see the whites of his eyes. He held up his hands, "Wow, I haven't felt this good in years." He chuckled.

"You were fine! You can't be dead!" Nana panicked.

"Relax." Toshinori smiled at her, "I could feel One For All pulsing inside young Midoriya. I think I just managed to learn how to fall in here. I should be able to wake up..." He paused, and a bead of sweat appeared above his forehead, "...I hope." Nana barreled into him, hugging the stuffing out of him.

"Then welcome, eighth. I hope you won't be offended when I say we hope you don't get in here for real for quite a while." This drew some chuckles, while Izuku clenched his pounding heart, "Regardless, to use the same 'glass' analogy Yagi once used, our bodies are like glasses. They can only hold a certain amount of liquid inside of them. A glass with a Quirk would warp and distort upon receiving One For All. You would merely spill, and trying to keep a handle on it just made more and more spill, until you ended up like me." Hikage continued the analogy, "One For All was a perfect fit for his Quirkless vessel. That was why he was able to hold onto it with an iron grip for forty years."

"By some twist of fate, the power that could be passed on was meant for someone who had none to start." The first finished.

"Ah, so I was right." Toshinori said. He let out a chuckle, "Guess we were more special than we thought, huh, young Midoriya?"

Izuku could only shake his head in bemused disbelief. He looked at his own hands. Some more of the shadowy wisps had faded, 'This means I won't be able to pass One For All on myself... not unless I found a worthy wielder who is also Quirkless...'

"And it's unlikely you will, in this day and age." Nana said gently, standing up and patting his hair. She closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them, she visibly looked older and her eyes were sorrowful, "Sorry for springing this on you after such a reveal... but we have to know." She backed away, "Can you kill Tomura Shigaraki?" Izuku's eyes widened as Nana sat down heavily, "That's not a request. I'm asking if you could bring yourself to do it?" She asked him, "You looked at him in that fight with All For One and saw someone asking for help. All of us could feel it because

we're in sync with your emotions."

The others stayed silent. Even All Might. Izuku couldn't help but look at him, but Toshinori shook his head, "You cannot look at me for an answer, Izuku." It was one of the rare times his mentor said his first name. "You are the wielder of One For All now. It is up to you to walk your own path. We have spent many months teaching you to be the Hero you wanted to be, rather than a carbon copy of myself. Though if you were asking... Yes... Even I have blood on my hands. And were I still healthy, I would fight All For One to the death myself once more."

Izuku closed his eyes, and Banjo spoke next, "You saw someone in need of help, but none of us did. He may have been hurting. He just got body jacked, after all. But even in that situation, his eyes were filled with nothing but malice and hatred. All For One's destroyed body is weak now. He tried many times in the past to steal One For All from me and En here." He jerked his thumb at his own successor, "He never succeeded. One For All must be passed on, not taken. Only an INTENSE emotion could overwhelm our willpower. Even now, we think All For One must have taken over Shigaraki and cultivated his hatred to have his cake and eat it too. He wants a new, younger, better body, while using Shigaraki's hatred to overwhelm our will and steal One For All, once and for all."

The first spoke up again, "We thought that Yagi had finished him. That our task to defeat my brother was done. But he escaped somehow. He rose again, to infect a new generation of Villains." He sighed, staring at his feet.

Nana looked ready to cry, "Izuku... I know full well how unfair we're being to you. Tomura is my grandson! I removed myself from my son's life to keep him out of danger, and yet it only ever seems like I make mistakes! It's beyond shameful for an adult to ask a child to fix their mistakes, but you're our only hope!" She floated to him, placing her hands on his shoulders, "If he takes One For All, it's all over. No one will ever be able to stand against him. I don't like it any more than you, but some people are beyond saving! They can't be reasoned or bargained with because they just want to see the world burn!" Tears were pouring from her eyes as she stared at him, "If it turns out that there's someone who is beyond saving... would you have the strength to do it?"

There was nothing but silence for a moment, while Izuku's emotions swirled around them, and then the darkness that surrounded him faded from his mouth, "It would be easy to say yes or no right now." He admitted, "But it wouldn't ring true. When we were fighting him, my rage was boiling. Sensei had to cut off his own leg to keep that Quirk Destroying Bullet from removing him from the fight. If it had happened during the fight, I would have felt AWFUL later... but I could have done it." He sighed, "He destroyed enough of a city to create a crater where it once stood, and killed so many people. So many good Heroes. And yet when his consciousness invaded ours, I could feel nothing but pain coming from him. Nothing but a little boy screaming for someone to save him." He clenched his fists, and the shadows dispersed from him entirely, "He's both a young boy in need of help, and a mass murderer who would stop at nothing to get his way. A monster. He's tried to kill me. He almost killed Tsu!" He almost snarled, and stopped.

He took a deep breath, and none of the others interrupted. "One For All may have been created to fight All For One, but now it's a power to save people. All Might showed us that for forty years! It's a power that gives hope to other people!" The rainbow light of their Quirk shone in his grasp, and he clenched his fist, "But at the same time... he can't be forgiven. Even if he was crying, even if something terrible happened that brought him into All For One's arms... He still committed all those vile acts. He still has a body count in the thousands. Or even tens of thousands." A tear leaked from one of his eyes, "Or even hundreds of thousands if we count Gigantomachia's rampage to get to him. I- I do want to save him. I've never wanted to kill anyone. All I ever wanted was to save people... But I don't know what that means with him."

The first stood up, "I know well how you feel. Even better than you." He sighed, placing his hand on Izuku's shoulder, "All For One was my brother. We grew up together. He always took care of me. And then he figured out that damn Quirk and it was like he changed entirely. Or maybe it just brought out the worst traits in him he'd hidden from the world. All I wanted was to stop him... but he was my brother. The same brother who had played with me. Taken me to school. Helped me with classwork... HOW could I kill him? With my own two hands?"

Toshinori sighed, a tear of his own leaking from his eye, "I'm sorry, Midoriya-shōnen. Sorry for leaving this burden to you." He stood, hugging the much younger boy, "We will support you no matter what, but you're right. Shigaraki cannot be forgiven. Perhaps... perhaps letting him rest is the only option."

Izuku nodded, "Yeah..." He said quietly.

"You're a good young man, Izuku. No matter what happens in the end, we will support you. But if there is no other option... I just pray you can find the strength none of us could before that madman tears someone you love from you as well." Izuku tried to respond to the first, but was interrupted.

"You all are too soft." A rougher voice said. They all looked as one of the vestiges that had kept away stepped forward. He looked not unlike Kacchan if you squinted.

"He's young, chief." The other one with the bandana joined them as well.

"Rest of them don't have that excuse." The Kacchan lookalike deadpanned, "Look kid, I get what you're saying, but that heart of yours could put the world in danger. I'm glad to hear you will do it if push comes to shove, but we need more conviction than that. There's no one else in this world that we know of that could stand against not one, but two All For Ones."

"And we all felt that screaming boy the same as you did." The other one said, "But even now, it may already be too late. All For One has taken over his body and is not only consuming his mind and soul, but using it as well. I doubt my Quirk would even work on such an amalgamation. By the time we fight, he might not be Tomura Shigaraki, Tenko Shimura, or All For One at all. Tenko would have been swallowed by much more dominant personalities."

Izuku pursed his lips, "I thought of that too..." He looked down, "I just..." He stared at his hand, "I could have ended up like him. Could have let the torment from when I was a child break me. I... we don't know the circumstances, but I can't help but see a twisted mirror of myself. Someone I could have become if All Might had never found me."

"You would never have become like him." Toshinori said vehemently, gripping his shoulder tightly.

Izuku let out a sad laugh, "You're in here now, All Might. I'm sure you can feel all the darkness in me. You helped bury all the sorrow and anger with your hope... but it was still there. Every time I get into a fight like with him... with Muscular... That rage comes out."

"And yet you've never let it control you." Nana said, placing her hand on All Might's and gently removing it from his shoulder, "Deep down, you're a good boy, Izuku. And none of us would have chosen another successor. Well, except maybe Second, but even Third agrees." She smiled playfully, "Second is a bit of a grouch, after all."

"I'm right here." The Kacchan lookalike snorted, "When I was your age and younger, I experienced the same things you did. I was treated like I wasn't human. Called a monster for my

gift. Spat on. Hated. I tried to make a better world because of it. I fought so that others like me could be safe from that. I didn't fight so a Quirkless boy could be treated as a pariah the same as I was. And yet you still buried that rage and sorrow. You kept hope bright, even when no one else ever gave you a chance. If we had met, my choice would have been the same as theirs." He glared at Izuku, "That's why you NEED to understand this. There aren't any do-overs. No one else could handle One For All, and even if by some miracle you find another Quirkless person, they would break themselves the same way you did. With All For One possessing Ragdoll's Quirk, they would immediately be found and killed at best. If you fail and have to pass it on, you're sending someone to their grave. We all have your back, but we have to know that you can do it. It's like Yagi said. If you really want to save him... let him be at peace."

"All For One is a different story." Izuku said after a few minutes. That steely determination filled him, "I don't know if I'll be able to finish Shigaraki if there's any Tenko left in him... but I will fight All For One with every fiber of my being."

"That's all we can ask for right now." The first sighed, and Izuku pulled Nana in for a hug as she continued to cry into his shoulder. "Now, let's talk about our Quirks. You'll need to master all of them if we're to be victorious. You already know of Danger Sense, Black Whip, and Float, so why don't we start off with En just to complete that chain?"

En nodded from where he remained sitting, "Smokescreen." He held a hand up and Izuku watched as smoke started wafting off of his body. En seemed like a man of few words, "Good for obscuring yourself. Surprise attacks."

"It's a cool Quirk." Izuku said, smiling at the man, "I'll make you proud by wielding it, En-san."

"You think every Quirk is cool." The Third snorted, "The name's Mitsunami Isamu. My Quirk was simply called First Order." He revealed, "With it, I could do a variety of things. I could place my hand on a concrete block and tell it that it was weak, and it would crumble under its own weight into sand. I could place my hand on the air and tell it that it was solid, and a solid shield of air would form. I could even use it on myself, and make myself five times stronger than a normal human even before One For All. It was incredibly versatile, but I could only have one 'order' up at a time."

"Holy crap!" Izuku yelled, stars in his eyes as his inner fanboy started to shine. But he couldn't even start pestering Isamu for more information, because Toshinori had let out a loud gasp at the same time.

"Holy stinking SUPER CRAP!" He yelled, "That Quirk sounds familiar!"

Most of the rest rolled their eyes at him slipping into English, but Isamu was curious, "The hell do you mean? The only one I ever explained my Meta Ability's mechanics to was the Chief. No one else ever found out about it."

"Did you have any children?" Toshinori asked excitedly.

Isamu's face was pained for a moment, before he sighed and looked down, "Yes... a Quirkless child with my Quirkless wife. I had to send them away like Shimura did for their safety, long before I began the battle against All For One. I... I never saw them again. They changed their names and appearances to avoid his eye."

"I'm sorry for the bad memory..." Toshinori sounded pained, "But be glad to know they lived." Isamu's head snapped to him, a look of hunger on his face. "And your child lived, loved, and had children of their own. And they had children of their own. All For One never found them." He

grinned fiercely, "When I was only eighteen, I fought a Villain in America. Well, two of them. One that had rocket launchers for arms and another with a transformation that turned him into a behemoth. He was going to crush a car with a family inside after they beat a few Heroes, and I saved them." His grin was splitting his face, "I met the family after the incident... and one of the young girls in that car..." Isamu had not taken his eyes off of Toshinori, a minute tremor in his frame. "Her name was Cathleen Bate, or-"

Isamu flinched as if he'd been struck, and he put his trembling fist in front of his face, "They survived..." he said hoarsely, joy in his voice. The Second clapped him on the shoulder, and it was the first time any of them had seen a smile on his face. "They really survived! Bate... that was the fake name they adopted... They kept it even generations later? Sakura... Sōsuke..." He let out a shuddering breath, and pulled his fist away. He brushed his tears away and cleared his throat, "Continue."

Only half of them were smirking at his attempt to play it off, "Cathleen Bate... or as young Midoriya would know her better as... Star and Stripe." Izuku's squeal nearly broke their eardrums.

-[-

Izuku stared at the list of injuries and fatalities from the battle at the hospital and abound. It had been worse than he had thought while unconscious. Far worse. A few tears leaked from his eyes as he let out a shuddering breath, the paper tearing under his fists, "Miss Midnight..." It was... far worse when someone he knew had lost their life during the incident. He... he hadn't even been able to say goodbye before she was laid to rest.

"This is what I mean." The voice of the Second sounded in his head, though not unkindly, "All Villains are flocking to his banner now. All of them will do as he commands. All of them will be out for blood. With One For All, I have little doubt you'll be able to put them behind bars. But what about Gigantomachia? What about Dabi? Shigaraki? All For One himself? You can't afford to be naïve right now, Ninth. Or else the next name you read on a list may be 'Uraraka Ochako' or 'Iida Tenya.'" He said nothing more.

"That won't happen." Izuku growled and released the paper he was holding, letting it float away in the wind. As he did so, an explosion rang out, a giant plume of dust rising into the air, shadowing a gigantic figure within it. The figure swiped his arm through the dust, revealing himself to be a rocky-looking behemoth that had just pushed over a building. Even from this distance, Izuku could hear the laughter.

He activated One For All and leapt, Float taking over and rushing him towards the Villain at speed. His version of Float was much more advanced than Nana's. She had laughed and told him he flew more like Superman than she ever had, even with One For All.

The Villain roared and tried to punch another building. The wind churned around his fist, but Izuku got in front of it all the same. With a grunt, he repelled the blow with twin thrusts of his hands, throwing out far more force at 30% than the Villain was capable of generating even with all of his power. "EHHH?!" The Villain bellowed, just barely keeping from being able to fall over, "Who the fuck are you?!"

With his emotions the way they were after finding out about his teacher's passing, Izuku didn't much feel like bantering. He looked intimidating as all hell with his hood up, even in broad daylight. His costume was currently pretty shabby, since he didn't have time to get it repaired before leaving U.A. Its torn nature was probably making him look scarier than he had intended. "I'll say this once. Surrender."

"HA!" The Villain barked out a laugh, "AS IF! I HAVEN'T GOTTEN ENOUGH REVENGE YET, BITCH!" He punched out at Izuku, even more rock forming on his arms. Did he have something similar to Kirishima's Quirk ON TOP of something similar to Mount Lady's Quirk? Talk about hitting the Superpower Lottery! And he was wasting it as a Villain.

'These kinds of guys piss me off.' Izuku growled in his head. All that potential for good and they waste it on evil. This should be an easy fight. 30% continuous One For All and Blackwhip would be more than enough. He could wrap the man's arm with Blackwhip and fly behind him, putting him in a shoulder lock and throwing him to the ground. He could also just punch him or kick him, but that might cause too much collateral.

And frankly, he needed to figure out First Order's limits, because the few classified things that All Might had been able to relay about Star and Stripe's New Order had Isamu's jaw on the ground. He really wanted to meet her at some point. He exhaled and spoke, "The air will mimic my body at fifty times the scale!"

Unseen to anyone else but Izuku, a giant version of himself formed around him. It was just as big as the enemy he was facing. The Air Titan Izuku caught the man's arm without even a whisper of strain, and Izuku smirked behind his cowl. "WHAT THE HELL?!" The man roared, trying to jerk his arm out of Izuku's iron grip.

"Holy shit, it worked! Damn if One For All isn't the best drug!" Isamu cackled in his head, with three different smacks following it with roars of 'DON'T CALL IT A DRUG!' Isamu grumbled, "Oh, and the first Order is still active, but I can feel it straining. Two is definitely your limit, just like Cathleen."

"Good to know!" Izuku responded, pulling the Villain forward and rearing his right fist back. He punched, and the air fist crashed into the Villain's jaw with a thunderous crack. The Villain went limp immediately, and Izuku held him up by the arm. He started to shrink, and Izuku dispersed his second Rule and raced underneath the falling Villain, catching him, and putting him on his shoulder in a fireman's carry for transport. He took his hood off, "Is everyone alright?!"

The crowd of onlookers who had been hiding and trembling behind whatever they could, cheered, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"Everyone is fine!" A salaryman called out to him, "There was no one on the floor he tried to destroy! Thank you for getting here so quickly!"

Izuku smiled, and then heard someone ask him his name, "Just call me Deku!" He said, before flying away and towards the closest precinct.

-[-

"L!" Tatami Nakagame had a deadpan look on her face as she walked behind Yō Shindō. She had her hands cupped in front of her face to make herself louder, "That's a pretty big fat L right there,

Yō!" Her fellow classmate was grinding his teeth as he stomped away in front of her, "Press F to pay respect-"

"Damn it! One quick application of Vibration and that entire damn building would have come down! I'd drag those assholes out myself if-"

Tatami's cellphone went off, and she stopped taunting her classmate to answer, "Hey, so the mission was a bust, as expec-"

"GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!" The phone screamed, making Tatami jump and almost drop it. Before she could get a word out, another yell came through, "Itejiro spotted him with his own eyes! He's on his way there! We won't make it in time! You all have to get out of there NOW!"

BOOM

They both whirled towards the sound, and their stomachs dropped as something huge impacted the building and started sliding downwards. Glass and concrete alike shattered and rained down to the ground. Their gorges rose as they saw the writhing mass of exposed muscles surrounding his entire torso. His bulging pants suggested his legs were just about the same. "Heya!" Muscular grinned madly at them, "Let's have some FUN!" He roared, before apparently taking stock of them, "Huh? There's only two of you?! Don't you have any more!? That's not nearly enough!"

Yō grit his teeth, "GO!" He yelled at Tatami, "GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE!" She took off running, "What about you?!"

"I'll demolish him!" Yō hissed, preparing his Quirk.

Tatami raced to the building and barged in just as a loud eruption sounded nearby, throwing up another plume of destruction behind a building, "We need to get away!" She yelled to the group which had ignored their request to evacuate not even ten minutes ago, "There's an extremely dangerous Villain on the loose here!"

The man shoved her to the side, "Our town's already been torn to hell!" He yelled at her, "Now you want us to abandon it too?! We'll take that Villain down ourselves!"

"You'll die! That's a S-Rank Villain!" She yelled back, but they were cut off as the roof of the building practically exploded, "Yō!" She screamed in fear. He looked beaten to hell and back.

Muscular cackled, "What, is that IT?!" He pressed Yō harder into the concrete, before grinning off to the side directly at Tatami and the civilians who had too much pride and not nearly enough sense. "'Spot a Hero and you're bound to find nine more!' Perfect!"

Yō tried to use his Quirk more intensely, and Muscular turned his bad grin back on him, "Ain't enough kid. You ain't got nearly enough power!"

Yō was bruised and bleeding, "Then I'll just have to max out! Your brain will be a milkshake by the time I'm done with you!" Even the air near them started to quake and vibrate. He was pouring every bit of strength he could into his Quirk, and the building itself started to shake itself to pieces.

Yet Muscular just raised him up and started to squeeze, "Ahahaha! Maybe that might have done something before jail, kid!" Yō hacked and coughed as he tried to get air, "Hey, do you think if I squeeze hard enough, your head will pop right off? I've never tried that before!"

"And you never will!" A hand dug right into Muscular's eye socket with an iron grip, before writhing black strands attacked his hand. The strands forced his fingers open, allowing Yō to fall to the floor. Before his feet had even hit, the two of them were gone. Muscular was impacting the ground and digging a trench into it, while Izuku floated there in front of Yō.

"Y-you!" Yō coughed as he tried to catch his breath. He could hardly move a muscle from his own attack, "Y-you s-s-sound fam-iliar."

Izuku glanced back at him, "You okay, Shindō-san?" He looked back at Muscular, "Sorry I

couldn't catch you. He's stronger than he used to be." His brows furrowed beneath his hood. Muscular hadn't been affected in the slightest by Yō's attack. He bit his bottom lip, 'Please tell me MUSCULAR of all people doesn't have Shock Absorption now.'

'We all know our luck is really that shitty.' The Second scoffed in his mind.

Yō laid back, "I couldn't do a damn thing!" He almost cried at the thought. He recognized Izuku now. He was the same kid from the Provisional License Exam. A first year. Was U.A. really that far ahead of the rest of them?

"You did enough." Izuku told him, "You were able to get Nakagame-san out and she was able to keep the stragglers away. I'm not sure if you injured him, but you gave me more than enough information."

He would have gone on, but Muscular landed in the destroyed street before them, even more muscles covering his body, "YOU!!!!" He yelled gleefully, "I know that voice! I'd NEVER forget that voice, Midoriya! It's really you, isn't it?!" He laughed in utter joy, "I've missed you, little guy! All these weaklings just don't measure up!"

Izuku stared dispassionately at him, not responding. He gently placed Yō down on the building again, now that it appeared stable.

"Looks like you've got a new trick up your sleeve too!" Muscular grinned, crushing a rock and inserting it into his eye socket, "I've made some improvements of my own! I'm just DYING for another battle to the death with you, Midoriya! Let's fucking kill each other!"

Izuku blurred from sight, landing in front of Muscular at a much greater speed than he could react to. "Texas SMASH!" The air churned around his fist as he threw a straight punch directly into Muscular's diaphragm. A windstorm erupted, shattering windows around the block and throwing up bits of the concrete. The onlookers watched in shocked awe as they all saw the shadow of All Might in their mind's eyes.

"H-Holy crap! I-It's like watching All Might all over again!" One of the stragglers who had refused to evacuate whispered in awe.

Izuku was frowning behind his hood, "So, I was right." He stood straight, glaring at the cloud of smoke. "Wasn't I, Imasuji Gōto?"

The smoke cleared, revealing that Muscular had simply slid backwards until he came to a stop. The civilians gaped as they realized just what they had been about to try to fight. Muscular was nothing like the ruffians they'd gotten cocky about beating. The two trainees that had been trying to evacuate them had been right. They would have been ripped apart by a monster like that. The madman rubbed his chest a little, but his grin was even wider than before. It was practically ripping apart his face, "THAT'S WHAT I'M FUCKING TALKING ABOUT, MIDORIYA!" He cackled in glee, "That felt JUST like the punch you beat me with last time, and your arm isn't even scratched!"

He was right too. That had been a full blown 100% Smash. The first of Izuku's Orders that he had active for this fight was a godsend. 'Midoriya Izuku will be capable of handling 100% of One For All's might.'

"This is going to be the BEST!" He launched himself forward at Izuku.

Only Izuku wasn't idle. Smoke started pouring out of him and completely engulfed his body and

the street. 'Crap, too much.' He could feel En nodding in agreement. He definitely needed more control using his various Quirks. Something which could only come via experience.

Luckily, he had an easy solution for the downside of En's Quirk. "Midoriya Izuku will be capable of seeing through smoke as if it is air." He mumbled in a low tone.

The ghostly En smiled beside him, seen only by Izuku. Though his high collar prevented his mouth from being seen, you could still tell, 'Third, your Quirk is definitely the best.' Isamu preened a little bit inside One For All.

'My punch did hurt him a little. We got lucky. It's Absorption, not Nullification.' Izuku thought to the others, getting nods of agreement.

"Hey, what the hell is this, Midoriya?!" Muscular swiped at the smoke with his enhanced muscles, trying to blow the particles away, "Come out and fight me, damn it! None of this pussy shit! You taught me a new meaning of fun back then! Don't you DARE make this boring!" He lunged at a shape, which was actually a motorcycle. It got crushed under his bulk, "DAMN IT! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Little did he know, but after forming the initial smokescreen, Izuku had left entirely. He had gently collected the fallen Hero in Training and delivered him to his partner. With them safe and running away, Izuku returned to the action.

"Here." Izuku growled, before landing a vicious, "Manchester Smash!" His heel crashed right into the crown of Muscular's head, cratering the ground beneath them and blowing all the smoke away in another hellish windstorm. He wanted to follow up with a St. Louis Smash, but Danger Sense blared, and he instead kicked with his other leg, blasting him back and away as Muscular tried a spinning backfist on him. 'This isn't going to work.' He thought to himself. 'I can overwhelm the Shock absorption well enough, but it's just like when All Might fought Nōmu. One hit isn't going to cut it. I could give myself Shock Absorption with another Order, but I have no way to know if that's the ONLY Quirk All For One gave him or if an Order is powerful enough.'

Nana responded, 'You've never been a brawler like Toshi, Izuku. Your greatest strength has always been your mind. That's why your usual non-critical-battle Order was so intelligent. As much as I love him, you shouldn't become a-'

'Meathead.' He could hear Isamu's smirk.

Nana let out an exasperated sigh, '-Like Toshi.' She finished glumly.

"You're killing my high here, Midoriya! Enough with the tricks!" Muscular yelled at him, before he grew even larger and dug into the ground and dug out a gigantic section of the street. "Take this!" He threw what amounted to a giant boulder at Izuku.

Izuku thrust his fist forward, blowing the entire thing to hell. Muscular had only used it as a distraction to race forward. Izuku ducked low underneath Muscular's punch, before Blackwhip snared him in a tangled mess of fibers. Muscular roared in anger as he increased his muscle mass, trying to break free to no avail. Izuku raced into the sky, dragging the Villain behind him like a sack of trash. Higher and higher they went, until the air started to thin out. Izuku leveled out and turned to stare at Muscular, who was thrashing and trying to rip apart Blackwhip ineffectually.

"FUCKING LET ME GO!" He roared.

"You do know you'll fall a couple miles, right?" Izuku asked him dryly.

"Ha! Sounds like fun! Wonder if it would be enough to kill me!" Muscular crowed as he seemed to

finally take stock of his position, "Wonder how wide your splatter would be if I threw you down from here!" he laughed madly, "You're really killing my vibe though! I thought we were going to have a grand old brawl like last time, and yet you're throwing out these cheap ass party tricks!"

The vestiges growled angrily at his cheapening of their Quirks.

"You really are mad, aren't you? Where is All For One hiding?" Izuku let out a sigh.

"Who the fuck cares?!" Muscular laughed, "I'm right here! Are you cheating on me, Midoriya?!" He leered at the much younger boy.

Izuku felt a shudder run through his frame, and didn't dignify that with an answer. "Was there truly no other path for you, Imasuji Gōto?"

"Imasuji Gōto?" Muscular sneered, "Who the fuck is that?! My name is Muscular! And Muscular means raging against this world and killing whoever the fuck I want!"

Izuku smirked behind his mask, having gotten what he wanted. If this didn't work, Plan B surely would. It had to. He grabbed at the air, "The air on our path to the ground shall impart no air resistance." His new Order took root, the world responding to it.

'At least name this something OTHER than an American City, you reverse-weeb.' The second snapped in his head.

'...Fine.' Izuku grumbled as One For All ignited in him.

"What are you mumbling about, huh?!" Muscular yelled up at him. He didn't notice Izuku angling him towards a condemned section of the destroyed city. He knew for a fact nobody was there. It was simply too dangerous even for squatters. "Are you trying to BORE me to dea-"

Izuku all but physically turned into a bolt of green lightning. One For All sparked madly around him as his foot crashed into Muscular, sending them racing towards the ground. "GACK!" The Shock Absorption couldn't take all of the force, and he hacked out a bunch of spit from the hit. He bulked up more and more to nearly maximum, and still, he couldn't rip more than a few strands of Blackwhip. "RAIDEN SMASH!"

The two of them hit the ground with a thunderous bang, shattering what remained of the pavement and blowing rubble away in a windstorm. Even a cyclone formed around them. When the storm settled, all that remained was a dirt crater. Izuku's hood had fallen off, revealing his tired face. Izuku leapt away, spinning backwards into the air while he tucked into a ball. He landed on the dirt and groaned as his leg twinged in pain. That had been a bit much, even for his Order. He would definitely need to rest after this.

'Raiden Smash.' The Second groused in his head, 'Seriously kid? Not something cool like 'Indra's Arrow' or 'Mjolnir Impact.' You just HAD to go with another themed name from that meathead. Fanboy!'

Izuku deadpanned as Yoichi unknowingly did the same thing as Tatami did minutes ago, 'Press F to pay respect-'

They stilled as he heard Muscular groan.

The giant man had torn muscle fibers hanging all over him as he tried to struggle to his feet. "H- Holy shit, Midoriya!" He panted as he fought his way to his knees, "You really are the best! I hope we can do this forever!" He slumped, unable to get up.

Izuku sparked with One For All and landed on Muscular's back with his hand on his shoulder, "Muscular will be unable to move a muscle." He mumbled, and Muscular completely locked up.

Muscular tried to speak, but was unable to do so. He also wasn't able to breathe, and his heart stopped pumping. Even his voice box was unable to function, so he couldn't even release a muffled groan. He didn't know what the hell had happened!

'I should have led with this!' Izuku groaned to himself. He could feel the man fading fast, but he had one more Order he wanted to try. He sacrificed the Order allowing him to withstand One For All at full power, "Neither Muscular's natural Quirk nor any of the ones given to him by All For One will work as long as this Order is active."

All of the muscle covering his enemy's form sloughed off of his body, revealing bare skin. Izuku poked him, and he could feel no resistance either. Seconds later, unable to comprehend what had happened, Muscular went unconscious.

Izuku sighed in relief and rolled off the man, landing beside him spread eagle and letting out a sigh of exhaustion. He straightened and got up, before he counted down a few more seconds to make sure Muscular was good and unconscious. The last thing he needed was for the madman to wake up. Finally, he released both Quirks and reset his Primary Order, "Midoriya Izuku will grow accustomed to One For All's power more quickly and efficiently." Feeling himself droop, he wrapped the unconscious man up with Blackwhip and flew off with him.

'...Seriously though, 'Mjolnir Impact' would have been so much better!' Isamu argued, and Izuku almost fell out of the sky.

The onlookers watched in both worry and awe as Izuku flew away, the enemy which had killed dozens and injured Yō in tow. Tatami blushed lightly, "We never even got to thank him..." She mumbled to herself.

"This is going to be a hell of a video though..." Yō managed to laugh before the pain made him flinch again. One of the civilians had gotten the whole fight up until the two vanished after Izuku did his best imitation of a lightning bolt. All they had been able to catch after was the aftermath of his attack.

"Here miss. We don't want anyone dying either." The civilians came in with a makeshift stretcher. She smiled in exhaustion as she helped get her friend on it.

-[-

All Might took off his sunglasses and stopped leaning on his car as Izuku flew into the alley and stumbled, skidding to a stop, "Midoriya-shōnen!" He exclaimed, "Are you injured?" He helped steady his successor.

"A little." Izuku admitted, slumping into his mentor's side, "Tired too. Had to fight Muscular again."

Toshinori growled protectively, "Did you not use your Order? That's what you set it aside for; fights you felt you couldn't handle without it."

Izuku straightened, "Worse. I did. Muscular had Shock Absorption like the Nōmu you fought at the beginning of the school year. I injured my leg breaking through it the final time."

"Damn... You weren't reckless, were you?" Toshinori asked in concern.

"No. He didn't touch me." Izuku shook his head, "Didn't want to risk getting hit by a hidden third Quirk."

"You did well, shōnen." Toshinori put his hand on his shoulder, "And I'm glad you aren't being reckless. Now, trust in the other Heroes following us and rest. I made many mistakes, and putting the world solely on my shoulders was the biggest one. It's time for you to rest and recover."

Izuku smiled as All Might led him into the car. He sighed as he got comfortable, inclining the seat back, "Midoriya Izuku will feel fully rested and recovered after four hours of sleep." His mentors and the vestiges were right. His mind was his greatest asset. Jailbreaking First Order in ways Isamu had never thought of had proved it to all of them. Normally he would do only two hours, but he didn't want to test it with an injury. Hopefully four hours would be enough. If not, he'd go right back to sleep.

He had promised his mom that he would be coming home. He wasn't about to break that promise.

-[-

The pounding of the rain in the dead of night painted a bleak picture. The entire city just seemed run down and depressed, with the weather reflecting it. And that night bore witness to a grizzly sight. "MONSTER!"

"KYA!!" A gigantic woman of over three meters nearly fell over as she was suddenly attacked. A ball of something that she really hoped was just water splashed her, soaking her fur, and making what little makeup she was able to wear run. Her jerky movements launched her umbrella into the air behind her as she tried to shield herself ineffectually with her arms. "No! Please stop!" She begged, tears in her eyes, "I haven't done anything wrong!"

"LIAR!" The three men attacking her roared, "You're just trying to get us to lower our guards so you can strike!"

She let out a sob, "Please! Just leave me alone!" They didn't listen. The leader aimed his arm at her, launching another ball of fluid. She closed her eyes, cringing in terror behind her arms. But nothing hit her. Instead, there was a loud WHOOSH along with some grunts.

She opened her eyes and saw someone floating protectively in front of her. "What the hell are you all doing?! Attacking an innocent woman who was just trying to find shelter?! Can't you see how terrified she is?!" Tears of relief started to pour from her eyes. A Hero had come to save her! A real Hero!

Izuku glared at them from behind his hood, and the leader of the trio sputtered under his intimidating visage, "Y-Yeah, well she shouldn't wander around in the dark looking like that!"

She flinched behind him, new tears of sorrow replacing those of relief. The sound of her sob went right to Izuku's heart. "Like what?!" He growled and the three seemed to realize that they'd actually stepped in it this time. They turned to run but Izuku raised his arm, flicking three of his fingers at the men. Three perfectly aimed blasts of wind erupted, tearing apart each of the three support items they'd (illegally) acquired. They went down with screams of shock, but were uninjured. "I understand being on edge on a night like this, but you weren't attacking her because she was dangerous. You just saw what she looked like and assumed she was bad! This is a hate crime!"

The leader turned around and howled at him, "FUCK YOU, YOU MUTANT-LOVING FUCK!"

That did it. Izuku used the last of his Quirks. His pupils dilated behind his hood, and a wave of something blasted out from him in a large sphere, pushing away the rain momentarily. The woman he was defending flinched, and then blinked as nothing happened. The rain began falling once more, and she gaped as her three assailants collapsed, foaming at their mouths. "Wh-wha?"

Izuku turned around and took off his hood, surprising her when she saw how young he was. He had a smile on his face, "Hey, are you okay?" He raised his hand and pointed it behind and to the side and a single strand of Blackwhip reached out. She turned in lieu of answering and saw her equally big umbrella being brought gently back to them.

She took it gingerly as he handed it back to her, looking down. "...I can't help what I look like..." She whispered brokenly, but Izuku heard it all the same.

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder gently, ready to take it back if she looked uncomfortable. She sniffed and reached up and gripped his hand tightly, "Not everyone is cruel like them. I think your fur is beautiful." He struggled to say it. He'd never called anyone beautiful before. But she needed it, and it wasn't like he was lying. Even matted down, her blue fur looked like it would be very soft and luxurious.

She smiled weakly back at him, "You're just saying that..."

Izuku's smile widened, "...I'm a very bad liar. You'd know." He chuckled, and she giggled, her smile looking a bit more genuine this time.

"I was slow to evacuate. I... things weren't bad around here, at first. I thought I'd be safe at home... that I could just wait it out..." She sighed, "But then people started getting hurt and I was just so scared." She had reacted well, so he pulled her into a hug. She relaxed into it, clutching onto him tightly. "I should have just left when they first asked us to evacuate. Everything just turned so horrible so fast..." She sobbed into his shoulder.

"U.A. will welcome you with open arms." He said, rubbing her back. It was taking everything he had to keep from reacting to the fact a very hot woman was clutching him like a lifeline. Her ordeal helped, otherwise he may have been freaking out, "My friends will make sure you're safe and happy there."

"Your friends?" She pulled back, but didn't let go entirely. "Did you graduate from U.A. recently? Wow!"

He smiled, "No, I was actually about to end my first year there." Her eyes bugged out in shock, "I had to leave for personal reasons." He looked away as headlights started to get closer, "I can't wait for this to end so I can go back home."

Her response was cut off by the thunderous roar of the engine of All Might's car. She let go of him but raced behind him as Toshinori left the car, "Are you alright, miss?"

She relaxed minutely, but her jaw dropped at Izuku's words, "She's okay, All Might. Can you get her to U.A?" He glared over at the still-fallen men who had been so cruel to the woman he was protecting. "I need to get those... scum to the precinct."

"Scu-" Toshinori's eyes widened, and then he took in the giant but timid woman behind him. Realization struck, "I see." His measured words hinted at none of the rage he felt. "This way please, miss. I'll get you to safety."

She hesitated, so Izuku patted her on the shoulder again, "Go on. All Might will get you to U.A."

"I don't even know your name..." She walked forward, before stopping and turning to him. "You're my Hero!"

"Just call me Deku!" Izuku smiled back at her, before pulling his hood over his head, "Goodbye!" Blackwhip lashed out, grabbing the three men none too gently.

"Midoriya-shōnen!" Toshinori called out, and Izuku caught the bento thrown at him. "It's tonkatsu in there! Should help keep your spirits up! Eat up before it spoils!"

"Thanks!" Izuku smiled, his eyes looking like cute little 'U's' in his hood. He raced into the sky, a shockwave blowing the rain away as the three strung up men followed.

Toshinori gave his best All Might smile to the woman, "This way, miss."

She hesitated for just a brief moment, before following, "Are you really All Might!?" She blurted, and Toshinori laughed heartily.

-[-

Danger Sense only had the barest of moments to warn him. He just barely managed to turn the hand which was holding his communicator and GPS tracker before the device was annihilated, leaving him uninjured. He stared at it as his hand lowered. The device had been stapled to the wall of the building in front of him, at a downward angle. The 'bullet' was made of pink and blue fibers and had a speaker attached to the end of it, "Hey you, boy in green." Izuku took a deep breath as anticipation rose in him, "Come quietly, and you get to keep your limbs."

'It's her...' Despite himself, Izuku smiled behind his hood. She easily could have blown his spine out with that shot. She was definitely talented enough for it. She had even nearly bypassed Danger Sense. Izuku couldn't count the number of times he'd fanboyed over her as a child. Someone who had taken a Quirk that provided nothing that couldn't be made or bought to the very limit. It had given him no small amount of hope that maybe he could make something of himself too.

He'd been devastated when her actions and capture had come to light.

But maybe there was some Hero still left in her? One For All started to crackle around him, and he was gone. A bare millisecond later, he was at his broken communicator and ripping it off the wall, and another shot blasted into the building, striking his afterimage. 'Everyone told me to retreat if I encountered her.' He thought to himself as he sped around the city, rebounding off of solid air platforms with another Order. 'But this is an opportunity I can't pass up!' His eyes widened and he turned in midair, where a bullet was curving towards him from above. He braced himself and caught the bullet with his bare hands. The impact was enough to blow him back nearly twenty meters. "She's keeping up with 40%... That's nuts..." He let out a little surprised/nervous giggle.

'Okay, seriously, your reaction to getting shot at shouldn't be 'this is awesome,' brat.' The Second holder grumbled.

He growled in a bit of pain as the bullet kept spinning like a drill in his iron grip for a few seconds, trying to escape his grasp. It finally ran out of steam, allowing him to drop it. His hands steamed in the rain as he remembered Snipe-sensei gushing about her in an interview. Snipe's Quirk Homing allowed him to hit anything in a 600m radius, and it wasn't limited to bullets. He could throw things too. Her?

Lady Nagant could hit anything she wanted within three kilometers, and she did it with pure skill. All her Quirk did was allow her to transform her arm into a rifle and use her hair to create different

kinds of bullets. That was what he knew.

Izuku focused on the building he assumed she was stationed on. One kilometer away, which meant she still had two to go if he had wanted to escape. But he knew for a fact that All For One was giving Quirks out. It couldn't be too many, otherwise they would turn into mindless puppets. Something he was sure All For One didn't want with Lady Nagant. But no doubt, there would be extra surprises.

He activated Smokescreen and flew in a zig-zagging pattern around the buildings, trying to see what she would do next. He wasn't disappointed. Danger Sense screamed and he abruptly used an

air platform to dodge to the left, avoiding another bullet that had come from behind him. It wasn't without casualty, however. His hood had slipped off his head and the shot had annihilated it, leaving only his mask. She was repositioning, he realized. Far, far faster than she should have been able to. And despite his erratic movements and Smokescreen, she still managed to nearly hit him. "Infrared scope on her rifle? Wonder if she's capable of that?" It was just a guess, but if it was true, En's Quirk would be useless.

But she'd given him more info than he needed. She was shooting from above now. Far above the actual buildings. 'All For One gave up that floating Quirk? Seriously? Does he have multiple copies? I thought he would never part with that one.'

'Focus!' Nana chided him.

'Right.' Izuku mentally slapped himself. "Midoriya Izuku may not be hit by ranged projectiles."

Isamu let out a sharp gasp of air as Izuku stopped on a dime and turned to face Nagant, 'Kid, not that I don't trust my Quirk, but are you SURE about that?!'

"It hasn't failed me yet!" Izuku blasted off towards Nagant, making a show of weaving and dodging her bullets. They started coming faster and faster, with less and less time between shots as he grew closer. And finally, they came at a pace Danger Sense couldn't even detect. And Izuku was nowhere near fast enough to dodge them with mere reflexes.

The bullet approached his right arm, and it was almost as if he could see it in slow motion. It slowly crawled to him. Ten feet. Five feet. One foot. Five inches.

And then it inexplicably veered away from him just slightly and missed him entirely, "WHAT?!" Nagant gasped as she somehow missed a shot she had fully intended on hitting.

And then Izuku was on her, twisting her arm back above her shoulder, "Jackpot!"

"I don't know how you made my shot miss!" Nagant yelled at him as her rifle retracted back into her arm so quickly that there were three little vapor rings left behind, "But don't think you won!" She used the momentum to throw her elbow at his face, and her rifle blasted out of it aimed directly at him.

Izuku was forced to let go as it hit him in the gut, and a kick raced him out of its path as another howitzer shot would have cut him in half just from the gas pressure coming out of the barrel. "You're so awesome!" He couldn't help but fanboy. He really thought he had her there.

She smirked, "Oh, a fan?" She aimed her rifle at him, the two simply floating in the air, "Didn't expect to still have any of those."

"How could a kid who grew up Quirkless do anything but admire a Hero like you?" Izuku asked,

and her eyes widened, "A Quirk like yours doesn't give you anything someone couldn't find or buy, and you were one of the best! It gave me hope I could actually be someone!"

"Quirkless?" Her eyes narrowed, "You sure don't look Quirkless from where I'm standing, Midoriya! Is that why All For One is so desperate to get his hands on you? You one of his little experiments that betrayed him?" Izuku growled, "Struck a nerve, did I?"

Izuku didn't respond, his eyes widening as a shot raced at him from behind. It also missed due to his Order, but he whirled around and took his eyes off her. The shot had... come from one of her previous bullets?!

"Tch!" Nagant clicked her tongue as she vanished into the night, 'How are my shots missing?!' "Why are you siding with that bastard of all people?!" Izuku yelled into the night, focusing on

trying to hear her voice. "Don't tell me you buy into his nonsense!"

"I don't give a damn about him! All I want is the destruction of this sham of a society!" She answered back, grinding her teeth as yet another of her bullets just missed. He had given up all pretenses of dodging, though he wasn't sitting completely still either. 'Am I going to need to shoot him point-blank?!' Her bullets weren't total wastes. Each of them had transceivers that allowed her to speak to him without giving herself away. "I was exhausted keeping this manufactured farce of Order on my shoulders! Exhausted from all the KILLING!" She hissed at him, "A group of terrorists; a Hero group collaborating with criminals to gain fame and fortune; even simple scientists who were delving a bit too deeply to make the damned Commission feel comfortable! Any time something could shake their damned society, law and order would no longer cut it! So, they sent me, and claimed it was for peace." She spat out, "Every Black Op they could think of found its way into my lap, until I was so covered in blood I couldn't wash it off!"

Now Izuku had stopped everything he was doing. His head was swimming with everything he was learning that one of his honest favorite Heroes as a child had to endure. His fists were clenched by his side and trembling as his rage started to boil.

She took another shot, and watched as her perfectly placed shot yet again weaved around her completely static target. "I was just a cog in a system with two sides. One which needed both sides to maintain itself. So, I complied! I did my duty! I killed and killed and killed until I couldn't even get near a group of young fans without picturing the blood on my hands! It was a system so fragile it made my HEAD SPIN!"

Izuku turned his head to look directly at her, and she unconsciously took a step back, "And that was when you killed another Hero?"

"Hah!" She barked out a suddenly nervous laugh. He'd caught sight of her with frightening ease. Had he somehow learned her patterns? 'This kid... he's GOOD!' She couldn't help but think in respect for her foe. "Even after what I did, they couldn't let people know the truth, huh? I never killed another Hero! I killed that bastard leading the Hero Public Safety Commission! I wasn't even allowed to question them. There were two crappy Heroes that baited civilians into causing crimes, so they could catch and cash in newly minted criminals and raise their reputations." She sneered, "They were awful scum, but nothing they did deserved anything but jail time. But that wasn't what was ordered, was it? No, instead of the jail time and punishment they deserved, I was ordered to make them disappear. Couldn't reveal the dark and hidden underbelly of heroics to the people, could they? Internal disputes? Mutiny? Public can't know about that! This society is nothing but a gilded illusion, seen through rose-colored glasses!"

Izuku's anger was still boiling, and he couldn't help but feel for her. But that said... "So what? A

future ruled by All For One will somehow be better?!"

"It would be a hell of a lot more transparent, at least!" She answered back, "Say you bring back the status quo... What then?" She asked, no longer bothering to fire at him. It was clear that no matter what trick she molded into her bullets, she just couldn't hit him, "History will just repeat itself! The public gets to gaze at the bright and shiny side... all the while someone else is eaten alive trying to hold the illusion together."

Izuku upped his usage of One For All to 55%, his current short-burst maximum. In a blaze of speed that caught Nagant completely blind, he was in front of her. A shockwave erupted from him, blowing the rain away from her. She gasped, aiming her rifle, but he caught the barrel and jerked it away.

"Wh-what the hell?!" She gasped, "What, did you step it up to second gear?!" Izuku had been incredibly fast.

"You're right." He said, and she stopped cold. He was looking at her with compassion. Something which astounded her, "First Stain and now you. Neither of you were wrong, even if your actions were. Are. This world is shades of gray. I'm seeing that now. And after learning about you, Nagant... Returning to the status quo would do more harm than good." She almost smiled, but his next words wiped it away, "But you've clearly forgotten why people like us wanted to become Heroes in the first place. It was always to help other people, wasn't it? It's BECAUSE this world is a blend of fear and anger that I have to extend a helping hand!"

"Tch! That phony education has done wonders for you!" She cancelled her Quirk, wincing in pain as a small section of the barrel tore from his grip. With another motion, she reached for her belt and pulled something off of it with a loud CLICK. She threw it and dashed away. Izuku's eyes widened, and he threw his arms up to block his eyes and ears.

BANG!

The flashbang disorientated him, forcing him to stumble around in the air and shake his head, trying to get his bearings as the tinnitus rang in his ears. Three more shots whizzed past him as Nagant fired her re-extended rifle at him, thinking that maybe she could finally hit him if he could neither see nor hear. "God damn it! I'm positive he couldn't see or hear those! It's a passive?!" She ground her teeth, 'And he easily found me earlier! Am I really going to have to try that?'

Izuku's ears stopped ringing as a new voice joined the fray, "AREN'T YOU DONE YET?!" His eyes narrowed as his hands curled into fists, "I UPHELD MY END OF THE BARGAIN! TAKE ME TO THE BOSS!"

A hateful rage rose up in Izuku for the first time in a while, "Chisaki!"

Nagant almost smiled. She had one more trick up her sleeve. Something she had only ever used once, on a mission that had almost killed her. The most dangerous she'd ever been sent on. But she only had a single shot at this. If it failed, she was going to be completely out of commission. 'Let's add one more thing to think about, shall we?' She aimed her rifle at Chisaki, but it was different this time. It bulged grotesquely, far bigger than it had been. This bullet would be the biggest and fastest one yet. It would be more of a howitzer shot than a sniper round, "If I know anything about you little Heroes, it's that you can't stand to let anyone die under your watch! Even a hated foe!" She yelled, and the bullet fired with a thunderous crack. Even as it did, her rifle started to change, and she raised her left arm for the first time. It also started to look like it was going to create a rifle, 'This should slow you down at least! Then while you're distracted, I'll- '

Izuku vanished, the rain blasting away from them entirely. It took a good two seconds for it to start falling again. Izuku appeared in front of Chisaki with his hand held out. It closed in an iron grip around her bullet, and unlike the last time he had caught one (with both hands too!) this one stopped spinning immediately. His grip immediately cut off every bit of momentum in her shot. He had turned on his "full power" Order in an instant, and spiked up to 100%.

'...Wow!' Nagant couldn't help but be reminded of All Might as she stared at his back. He had not only saved Chisaki (someone she KNEW he hated just from the vitriol he'd spat just saying his name.) but he had arrived long before her bullet, and caught it one-handed. His arm hadn't even jerked from the catch. Her plan was totally forgotten. Her left arm returned completely to normal.

"Boss... gotta see the boss..." Chisaki moaned, looking past his fist at Nagant, "He-he's all I have left! You promised to take me to him! I have t-to apologize!"

That seemed to trigger Izuku something fierce, "APOLOGIZE TO ERI, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" His fist, still clutching her bullet, crashed into Chisaki's face. The former yakuza boss got blown straight downwards into the roof, the rain again blowing away in a ring around him. He was out like a light. And apparently no longer in the mood to trade words, Izuku turned to Nagant, who rapidly turned and tried to flee. Izuku whipped his leg in a kick, and Nagant was blown away as the wind pressure from his kick acted more like one of her howitzer shots, wrecking her rifle's barrel. She could recover from a little damage in a short amount of time and keep using it, but not from having it bent in half like a weak pretzel.

'Not even a bit of hesitation...' She replayed the scene in her head, 'A truly despised enemy, and he jumped in to save him almost before I had even fired.' She replayed it again, and then flashed back to the moment the old president who had recruited her first told her that her arm would make the world a better place. 'When was it... when did the empty platitudes start making me want to puke?' She fell out of the sky.

And then Izuku caught her hand. She stared up at him in shock, "That shot wouldn't have killed him." Her eyes went even wider when she saw his smiling face, "And if you had really been behind All For One's brand of garbage, there wouldn't have been a fight at all. You'd have blasted me in the spine." A single tear rose up in her eye, "You did so much for us that no one else could, and they bathed you in darkness because of it. That's why you know the light can be brought back! You've still got the soul of a Hero, Kaina Tsutsumi!"

She felt her heart hammering in her chest, 'What a guy...' She closed her eyes, that single tear falling as she gave him a brilliant smile, "Midoriya Izuku..." By the time the third word had been spoken, her flesh had started to crack with inner bits of light, and Danger Sense had started to scream. "You're a real her-"

Izuku reacted immediately, his other hand flashing out and touching her forehead harder than he intended, "Kaina Tsutsumi will not be affected by any trap or monitoring Quirks put on her by All For One!"

"Wh-what?!" She shook her head from the sudden impact, "What was that for?" She asked him, reaching up and brushing his hand off to rub her forehead. The impact had been so jarring she hadn't actually heard his words.

"Damn that All For One!" He growled in response, "When he gave you that floating Quirk, he trapped you as well! You started glowing like a bomb and Danger Sense was blaring like a klaxon." He started flying them to one of the rooftops.

She stared at him in disbelief, before she bit her lip in anger, "Damn him!" She said as she touched down. He landed a bare second later.

"Did he give you any way to contact him?" He asked, earning a growl.

"Yes, he fucking did." She growled, pulling it out, "It likely would have been destroyed if I had been blown up." She clicked it on, and there was a response after only one ring, "All For One!" She growled hatefully.

"Ahahaha!" Yoichi's brother laughed, "MY, what a fascinating Quirk you just used, Midoriya Izuku." He ignored her entirely, incensing her.

"Cut the shit!" She yelled, "You had NO WAY of knowing I wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't what? Stick to the contract. Oh, poor little Nagant." All For One mocked her, "In the end, all you ever were was a tool to be used by others." Nagant reared back as if struck, "I didn't need to know anything. It was merely a failure clause I included in our contract when I gave you Air Walk. Broken tools should be thrown away like the trash that they are." He laughed uproariously.

"You...!" She trembled in rage and sorrow.

"But you, Midoriya Izuku. Now you're interesting. That delightful little gift of yours will be a wonderful addition to my collection." He kept on laughing, entirely amused by the situation, "I wonder," he asked playfully, "How long can you keep that little trick of yours up? Does it still

work when you're asleep? Unconscious? Oh, I so look forward to the exact moment you drop your guard! My only wish was that I still had eyes so I could watch woeful little Nagant go up in flames like a lovely summer firework!"

"..." Izuku glared at the receiver, "Tell me, you fucking potato," For the first time, All For One no longer sounded amused as he made a noise of affront, "Do you still have any nerves left after All Might turned your face into purée? Do you still feel pain under all that equipment and anesthesia keeping you alive?" He cut off All For One before he could even respond, "I hope you do, because I'm going to go looking."

He grabbed Nagant again, "Any and all trap and monitoring Quirks or equipment put in Kaina Tsutsumi by Mugen Shigaraki will be painlessly destroyed, leaving behind only her original Quirk and Air Walk!"

Kaina? She didn't feel anything. Just a sense of lightness she hadn't known she was missing. But All For One?

His voice came over the call, howling in agony. And then it cut off abruptly, with static replacing his voice. The destruction of the Quirks he'd left in her to monitor her caused some psychic backlash on the man, causing him to feel as if a spike was being driven directly into his brain.

Kaina felt elated.

Izuku let go of her forehead, "You're not a tool." Her heart hammered in her chest at his words, "And while I do hope you decide to fight with us, I'd only want it if you wanted to help us. If you wanted to just disappear, I'd support you all the way as well." She grinned broadly at his words and then he rubbed the back of his head, suddenly looking bashful, "O-Oh, and s-sorry for getting all grabby, Nagant."

She deadpanned, "You're kidding, right?" She let out a laugh, "That was more catharsis than I've felt my entire life. Don't you dare apologize, Izuku." She stepped forward, smiling down at him. She was just a bit taller than him, after all. "You saved me twice today, you know?" She took another step forward, and Izuku blushed as he seemed to realize how close she had gotten.

"Twice?" Izuku tilted his head to the side, making him look pretty cute.

"That's right." She said, "My life..." She got even closer now, and officially invaded his personal space. His cheeks lit up in a fiery blush, "And my heart." She reached her hands up and hooked them around his neck, pulling him up so she could kiss him.

Izuku totally crashed, his face lighting up lobster red and steam practically erupting from his ears. He backed away, "W-W-W" he babbled, making her smile widen, "L-Lady Nagant!"

"Call me Kaina..." She said huskily, "My name sounded good in your mouth..."

His face was still purple from how much blood had invaded it, but he was able to speak with some awe in his voice. "Kaina..." he breathed, and she kissed him again. This time he kissed back, one arm hooking around her waist and the other around her shoulders.

She broke it this time, "Oh, was that your first kiss?" She asked teasingly. He blushed, "That bad?"

"Could use some work, but that's normal. Not that I have much experience myself." She licked her lips, making him stiffen up, "I'm glad I get to be your first.~"

"W-Would this be a bad time to say you were my Hero crush when I was younger?" He mumbled, and a delighted look crossed her face.

"Well, looks like dreams do come true, don't they?" They kissed again, deepening it, and starting to tentatively include some tongue as well. Kaina even hooked her right leg around his left.

"You know, when we told you to capture any escapees you could, this wasn't what we had in mind." And then someone coughed, and they broke apart with a bit of fright.

"Hawks!" Izuku yelped, "We were- That is-"

"Yeah, don't bother." Hawks was smirking like a loon as he stared at their blushing faces. His wings were fully repaired. Something that had only been possible via an Order from Izuku speeding up his recovery. It had allowed him to patrol farther away than he otherwise would have. "I saw

the whole thing." He found it pretty telling that neither had fully let go of the other even as Kaina adjusted her hair.

"Were you just sitting there the entire time?!" Kaina asked incredulously.

"Since Deku called All For One a potato." He laughed, "And let me tell you, it took everything I had not to interrupt." He leered at Kaina, "I gotta ask, were you always a cougar, senpai?"

Nagant refused to blush like a schoolgirl, "Senpai?"

Hawks' smile dimmed, "Yeah. Your replacement, I guess you could say."

'And you still have that glimmer in your eye? After all they no doubt put you through?' Kaina thought incredulously.

She didn't have a chance to respond though, because Izuku stepped forward, shyly taking her hand, and wrapping his fingers with her. She hesitated for a moment, but squeezed back, "Hawks." Izuku said. And it was his serious voice. Something Hawks caught immediately, "The Commission."

"Ah." Hawks let out a sigh. Just two words, but it was enough to make him be serious.

"Are they as awful as Kaina told me?" Izuku asked, staring at him without blinking.

A roar filled the air along with light, and then Endeavor dropped down, "Sorry I'm late. Rain and I don't get along." Kaina blinked at how different, how human the man she remembered as a fanatic looked. She didn't even get a chance to question Izuku on what the hell he was doing partnering up with the asshole because she was so befuddled. "And I'm sure as bad as she made them sound, they're probably worse." He sat heavily on the ducting, same as Hawks.

Izuku flinched, and Kaina gave his hand another reassuring squeeze, "Explain."

"I didn't have as many assassinations as you." Hawks sighed again, looking at the ground, "If anything, I almost would have preferred it. My last mission forced me to infiltrate the Meta Liberation Army. And you know how dangerous those can be when you start to sympathize with some of them."

She looked at the ground, "Never really had much chance for that." But she turned towards Izuku, "But I know what you mean, now."

"Endeavor!" Toshinori yelled from way down below, having been only following his flame trail. They all blinked. "Is Midoriya-shōnen alright?!"

Izuku let go of her hand with a muttered, "All Might!" And jumped off the roof. "All Might?" Kaina blinked, "That didn't sound much like him."

Endeavor chuffed, "You were under a long time, Nagant. You're about to get one hell of a surprise if you didn't bother catching up on the news."

Izuku flew back onto the roof, helping another man. She gaped, "That's All Might?!" She sputtered, "What the hell happened?!"

Toshinori looked at Izuku and then Nagant quizzically, "Midoriya-shōnen... explain?" "Uhh, well?" Izuku rubbed the back of his head bashfully again.

"No, back the bus up! All Might, what the hell happened to you?" Kaina pointed at him incredulously.

"All For One happened." All Might replied flatly, drawing a flinch.

Izuku took over, "All Might and All For One fought before you killed the president, Kaina." All Might mouthed 'Kaina' at Endeavor (who was clueless) and Hawks (who smirked and made a with his hands, which got a flat 'what' in response) in confusion. "It was basically a double knockout, and All Might surgeries... well..." he pointed at Toshinori.

"And you want to fight him too?!" Kaina demanded, "You've got to be fucking kidding me." She growled in both anger and fear.

"Midoriya-shōnen is a lot less hot-headed than I was." Toshinori replied, "And he will be stronger

too." He said passionately.

Izuku walked over, "We'll be fine." He said in what he hoped would be a comforting manner, "I've got tricks All Might didn't." She still didn't look convinced, so he threw her what he hoped was a confident smirk, "Besides, I'll have you watching my back, won't I?"

"..." She glared, "Smooth talking little basta-" He kissed her, interrupting her small tirade.

They totally missed All Might coughing up a fountain of blood and Endeavor choking like he had swallowed a whole cigar. Hawks could only cackle like a maniac. "Oh my god, Midoriya- shōnen!?"

They broke their kiss and Izuku's face was flaming as he faced them. He cleared his throat and turned a stony glare at Endeavor, "What did you mean when you said the Commission was probably worse than she had told me?"

Endeavor looked down to his feet, "We're in the mess we are in now partially because of the mess I made with my own family. Did you think no one ever found out?" Izuku's eyes hardened, "How many other decently ranked Heroes do you think ever did illegal things that got swept under the rug by the Commission?" The man sighed, "I suspect if she had remained loyal, they may eventually have ordered me killed as well, to sweep it under the rug."

Kaina gave the man a hard glare, "What the hell did you do, Endeavor?"

Endeavor gave her a half-broken stare, "Something inexcusable. Something I'm trying to atone for, and earn forgiveness." He looked away, "It's all I can do, now." She stared at him, again struck by how different the man was.

Izuku ground his teeth at yet more confirmation, and turned to All Might, "I never really had very much interaction with them." He replied, "I was the poster boy, of course, but I was so powerful and had such a good record they generally left me alone. I liaised with them on occasion, of course. I'll have to defer, Midoriya-shōnen."

'This is what we meant, kid.' Isamu spoke up, 'Heroics was such a different thing back in our day. These jumped-up public figures sicken us. Why do you think we were so hesitant on interacting with you, at first?'

Izuku took a deep breath, "..." He started to pace, letting go of Kaina's hand as he did so. He prowled around the rooftop like a predator, just mumbling to himself under his breath.

"Does he do this a lot?" Kaina asked as she took a seat opposite from them, bemused.

"He used to be worse." Toshinori snorted, "At least he learned to keep his mumbling somewhat under control."

"Maybe he should get a voice-canceller on that mask of his?" She suggested with a wry grin. "Not a bad idea." Endeavor responded, before calling out, "What are you thinking, Deku?"

"That we can't just allow the Commission to regain their full power when this is over." Izuku responded, glaring at the roof, "The system is broken, and it was broken for a LONG time. The entire commission must have been completely mired in corruption. One organization can't have that much power."

Kaina smiled, and Hawks sighed, "That's a big ask, Deku. Do you know what you're getting into?"

"Probably not." Izuku shook his head, "But everything I've learned since starting at U.A. is screaming at me that if we just let it go, things will just get worse. There are laws on the books that need to be updated. Protections that need to be put in place, and archaic and stupid laws removed. The people know now how inept the Commission was, and how..." he hesitated, before growling, "...and how fragile the system was." They worriedly watched as Izuku clenched his fist, and then surprised them all by slamming a fist into the ducting, denting it with a metallic groan, "Fuck, I can't believe I'm somewhat agreeing with Stain of all people! There were too many people using Heroics as nothing more than get-rich/famous-quick schemes! Look at how many Heroes just quit when all of a sudden the public no longer loved them! When the public started criticizing them! When the public actually needed them the most!"

Toshinori looked down, "Part of that is on me." Izuku looked to protest, but Toshinori held his hand up and shook his head, "No Midoriya-shōnen, don't make excuses for me. I accomplished what I wished to do. I set out to become the Symbol of Peace and I succeeded at it. Look where we are now? I wasn't wrong to do what I did, but there were unintended results. I was too unapproachable, and once I was gone, there were very few people who had the will to even try to step into my shoes." He eyed Nagant for a moment, but Izuku seemed to trust her, and he was usually a good judge, "One For All had me too far ahead of everyone else. Something you'll experience as well..."

"What? What is that supposed to mean?" Kaina interjected in confusion.

"I'll tell you later." Izuku told her, sitting next to her, and putting his arm around her. She leaned into him.

"I've heard many times how no one ever tried to catch you, All Might." Hawks said, "I saw it myself. Even other Heroes would just cheer you on. Everyone looked at your back and thought it could hold the world up. The only one I ever saw even try to follow you was Endeavor-san."

Endeavor snorted, "And what a mess I made doing it. I was so obsessed with rankings I never saw who you truly were. I was such a fool..." He sucked his teeth unpleasantly, "And no one looks at my back the way they looked at yours. I failed, time and again; and then my crimes came to light."

"But you're still here." Izuku cut him off, "You're still fighting. You're trying to make things right. That's a lot more than we can say for a lot of Heroes. You made mistakes. We all do." He rolled up his sleeve to emphasize his words, and Kaina gasped in shock when she saw how littered with scars just that one arm was, "All of us, and they were painful lessons. But we learned them. We can't keep looking back at past mistakes and spiraling. We have to make a brighter future for everyone! We have to keep moving forward. And that starts with defeating All For One and his goons."

"Right!" All four of them responded to his words, smiles of different sizes on their faces. Kaina could hardly believe how good of a leader Izuku was becoming that he had grown men ready to focus due to his words.

"Kaina, if you had taken me in, All For One must have given you further instructions."

"He did, but I doubt it's relevant information." She scowled, "Looking back at it and our conversation with the potato-" Toshinori sputtered like Uraraka and started to laugh, hard, "I don't think he meant for me to capture you. That bastard is smart and charismatic and always had plans within plans. He said the explosive Quirk was a failsafe but now that I've had time to think, I'm pretty sure he meant for me to lose. I think he wanted you to succeed in making me return to being a Hero, only to explode me in your face."

"That sounds just like him." Toshinori growled, "One of the biggest dangers of All For One is how

good he is at enraging his opponents. Both times we fought; he constantly insulted my master. Said she begged for her life before he killed her." Izuku heard Nana growl in his head, "And it worked. I fought like an idiot, and he gouged my side out. In our second fight, he revealed that Shigaraki Tomura's real name was Shimura Tenko... my master's grandson. Something he knew and did specifically because he knew it would wipe the smile from my face." This the other two pros hadn't known, and they looked at him with wide eyes. "He excels at breaking his opponents mentally as much as he excels at breaking them physically."

"But why bother with such a convoluted scheme?" Izuku asked, "That would have really pissed me off, yeah, but despite, well..." He blushed, and Kaina smirked as he cleared his throat and moved on, "We didn't know each other at all."

"To break your spirit." Hawks said, immediately. They turned to him, and he shrugged, "Potato-" They all smirked, "-wants to steal One For All doesn't he? How else is he going to do it if Shigaraki doesn't pan out other than taking it from someone so broken they can't fight back?"

"One For All?" Kaina asked, "Am I going to know what you're talking about? Isn't that All Might's Quirk? That was what he called it, right? Why can't All For One take it like any other Quirk he's taken?"

"Because One For All can't be stolen." Izuku replied, "It can only be given willingly. I'm the ninth person to hold it, after All Might."

She choked, "You have All Might's Quirk?! How the fuck-?! You two fight nothing like one another!"

"Long story. We'll have time later." Izuku pecked her on the cheek. She pouted.

"I am astounded by how well that's working." Toshinori deadpanned, "In any case, we're not getting anything done with Nagant's information. I have little doubt that it was another trap, and even on the off chance it wasn't, I HIGHLY doubt All For One wouldn't have run the hell away as fast as he could after you foiled his plans with Lady Nagant so well."

"Then we keep hunting." Izuku said, standing... and then letting out a loud yawn, "Damn, that fight tired me out more than I thought. Is there room for both of us in Hercules, All Might?"

Toshinori shook his head, "I was ambushed as well. Hercules needs some repairs."

"As much as I hate to say it, we'll have to help ourselves to some of these empty apartments. We should scatter so we don't make a big target. We don't all need to be getting sick off this cold rain." Endeavor said, "Just make sure to leave phone numbers for the owners to be reimbursed. I'll take care of it on my dime."

"Right." Izuku said, "Hawks, Overhaul is unconscious over there. Can you get him to the precinct?"

Hawks nodded and took off with All Might, but not before the two smirked at Izuku, "Don't have too much fun, Deku." Izuku went bright red and hid his face behind his hands.

Kaina laughed, "What was that all about, anyway?" Kaina asked as she grasped his hand and they both rose into the air. The two took off, racing away from the site of the battle to find an apartment they could break into temporarily take possession of. "I knew you had a history with him, but he never went into details."

"Overhaul? He took a traumatized little girl with a unique Quirk and constantly experimented on

and tortured her in order to harvest her Quirk factors to create bullets which would erase a person's Quirk." With every word, Kaina had slowed in horror, but as soon as he finished, she stopped dead and reformed her (now healed) rifle arm, whirling around and taking aim at Hawks and the bastard who was still in her range. Izuku quickly grabbed her arm and forced it up, "If I was going to let you kill him, I would have just let you kill him." He said dryly.

"Damn it, I'm already stained red! A bastard who actually deserves it won't hurt!" She growled out, trying to force it out of his grip, but he was too strong. "Stop being so damn noble!"

"You love it." He said, smiling at her. He whirled her around and gave her a cool down hug, "And he's not worth it."

"Damn it!" She snarled, releasing her Quirk, and leaning into his embrace, "That's not always going to work! I can't believe I worked with that creep!"

"Forget it. He's going to rot for the rest of his days." He pulled back and reached up, cupping her cheek, and brushing her hair out of the way. She eagerly met him for another kiss. He really was a quick learner, and it was already way better than their first. But they were both starting to really freeze with the adrenaline fully gone, so Izuku pulled them to the closest building. As they neared, Izuku used Blackwhip to open the veranda door from the outside to get them in. By the time they landed, her hands had already worked his suit's zipper, baring his muscular chest to the world.

-[-

'A phone call is here! A phone call is here!'

Izuku jerked awake as Kaina groaned in his arms, fumbling for his ringing phone.

"Okay, I'm putting my foot down. That has got to go." Kaina groaned into his naked chest, and Izuku blushed hotly.

"Note to self...de-fanboy my room." He mumbled, getting a snort out of his new girlfriend. "Deku." He said seriously, upon seeing it was Endeavor.

"We have problems." Endeavor's voice was grave, making both of them stiffen. "Big problems, Deku. In two hours, we're all gathering at one of the warehouses for a meeting. You need to be there."

"I assume that's both of us?" Kaina asked, "What the hell happened?"

"...You work fast, Midoriya." Izuku blushed like hell again, "I only want to explain it once, so just be there." He hung up, and a second later his phone pinged with an address.

Kaina groaned and dropped back down on top of him, nuzzling into his chest, "He's still an asshole."

Izuku rubbed his eyes. "He... has gotten better, but... yeah."

She ran her finger across his chest, smirking as he twitched as she lightly brushed it against a nipple, "Still can't believe you really were Quirkless." It hadn't all been sex last night. She was still incensed and had called him a 'cheating bitch' over his Order preventing her bullets from hitting him. "Shit, I feel like a bitch calling you one of All For One's experiments."

"You technically weren't wrong, even if it was for the wrong reason. That asshole created One For All unintentionally. He gave his brother who he thought was Quirkless a stockpiling Quirk. Turned

Yoichi-san's useless Quirk into a powerhouse when they combined."

"Hah! Villain creates his own worst nemesis. Tale as old as time." She laughed as he started running his fingers through her hair, turning slightly, and pulling her close so they were chest to chest. He kissed her forehead as she smirked and ran her heel gently behind his knee. Surprisingly, he didn't react, beyond a small widening of his smile. She smiled back, though after a few minutes of them just staring and enjoying each other's company, she asked, "What?"

He blushed a bit more, "C-Can you grow your hair out again?"

She coughed lightly in surprise, "What, don't like it now? You certainly had fun with it last night." "No, no, I do! It's just..." He got all bashful, amusing her, "I love your old style."

She started to laugh fully, "Oh man, you're a riot. Long hair is a pain, even if it's useful for your Quirk. Especially when you're in prison. It's why I cut it." She smirked, "I'll grow it out if you really want it, but you gotta brush it."

"...I'm... not seeing a downside here." He smirked as it was her turn to blush, "Wash it, brush it, play with it, whatever you like." She started to steam, and then leaned forward and chomped on his collarbone, "Ack! Kaina! Let go!" She replied with a muffled 'no,' and Izuku poked her in the side, and she jumped.

"No!" She said, grabbing his wrists.

"Oh, is someone ticklish?" Izuku got an uncharacteristically devious grin on his face.

"Don't you dare, Izuku!" She yelped, backing away, before sputtering and flailing as he started to tickle her, "No!" She squealed, bursting out into laughter as he attacked her sides, "S-Stop!" She cackled, trying to push him away, but was pinned by his stronger frame. He was between her legs and after a few seconds, an entirely different sort of heat started to rise between them. Izuku stopped, grinding into her, and pinning her arms around her head. She moaned as he kissed her, and she turned her head to break it, "Ah~" She moaned as he started sucking on her neck, "Sh-shit! Izuku, we have a meeting in two hours! It's a hundred miles away!"

"Good, that gives us an hour and fifty minutes." Izuku replied huskily, lining himself up and thrusting. Her lewd moan in response sent a shiver down his spine.

"I've awakened a monster~" She moaned again, managing to free her arms and hooking them around him before digging her nails into his back. Moans once more filled the once-empty apartment.

-[-

Izuku and Kaina landed, her hair looking windswept. "You weren't kidding. That only took us five minutes. Was that your top speed?"

"Not sure. I've never tried to fly as fast as possible before. Hard to react to changes at that speed when you're trying to collect Villains." He knocked on the door, and a slit opened up and confirmed the both of them visually, before opening the door, "Deku. Nagant." Best Jeanist greeted them, welcoming them inside, "May I say what a pleasant surprise it is to see you back, Nagant."

"Good to be back." She smiled as they walked, "Never thought I'd say that to be honest." She took in the sights. It was a standard warehouse, so they must have just commandeered the place for their

purposes. Not uncommon in Heroics. There were two Heroes she didn't recognize, and Izuku quickly introduced them as Kamui Woods and Mount Lady. The others in there were Endeavor, All Might, Edgeshot, Hawks, and Jeanist. "What's this about, Endeavor?"

The large man looked down, and instead it was Toshinori who responded. "We received news a few hours ago." He said gravely, "We were just set back by quite a bit." He looked at Izuku in a way Izuku had never experienced before: pity.

Endeavor spoke up, his tone grave and almost defeated, "Three hours ago, the Commission informed All Might and I that several of the Villains we had captured simply vanished from incarceration."

"WHAT?!" Mount Lady was one of the loudest, leaping to her feet from where she had been sitting on a crate, "HOW?!"

Izuku on the other hand, after a moment of sheer anger and frustration, understood, "FUCK! All For One had his OWN Warp Quirk! It wasn't as good as Kurogiri's in some respects but in others, it was better." Toshinori nodded, and explained that they all started vomiting what looked like black water before vanishing into it. The same thing that happened in Kamino.

Edgeshot tried to be calm, but it was difficult with the sheer frustration in the room, "Who?"

Endeavor let out a sigh, "A large number of them do not matter... but Muscular is at large again." Izuku let out a groan, "It gets worse." Endeavor looked like he didn't want to reveal this, but grit his teeth and did so anyway, "One of them was Gigantomachia. He simply vanished, the same as the others."

Stunned, horrified silence struck the room. Mount Lady whimpered and backed into a crate, hugging herself. "Y-You've got to be kidding me!"

Kaina didn't know who that was, so she asked, "I don't know this one." Her voice sounded a lot louder in the stunned silence.

Izuku replied gravely, "Gigantomachia was the monster that singlehandedly destroyed every single city between the Gunga Mountain Villa and Jaku city." His response completely stunned his lover.

"There is one upside, though I hesitate to call it that." Toshinori replied, "Due to the Quirk suppressors on Garaki Kyūdai as well as Aizawa-kun's Erasure during the Raid, there will still not be any more Nōmu. Nor will he be capable of speeding up Shigaraki's development. He finally succumbed to his age in custody when his Quirk was no longer active a hundred percent of the time." They were hesitant on something even approaching celebration regarding someone's death, but the sigh of relief sounded like a harsh wind.

"E-Even despite that...what do we d-do?" Mount Lady's voice trembled as she remembered the giant beast that had tossed her aside like a sack of flour.

Hawks finally spoke up, looking at the ground with no smile on his face at all, "We can keep capturing these Villains all we like. It won't make a difference. All For One's Warp Quirk appears to have no range, or at least not one that matters here in Japan. Probably due to his other "Quirk Boosting" Quirks, unlike the one Garaki used." A somber mood ripped through them as they realized what he was saying, "The Government and the Commission have come to an agreement. Capture is no longer recommended for any escapees. Lethal force has been authorized... and recommended." He finished softly.

But to Izuku... he may as well have screamed it at the top of his lungs.

-[-

Well, hope everyone enjoyed this!

All of the Quirks were canon except for the Second (which is unrevealed at this point and I made into Haōshoku Haki because fuck it) and the Third (because fuck Fa Jin).

I'll be perfectly honest, I REALLY wanted to write something closer to this end of canon due to the sheer amount of dissatisfaction I've been feeling over the past... I don't know, fifty or so chapters?

I hate the fucking 'save shigaraki' subplot. My biggest fucking fear is us getting another fucking "Obito is the coolest" moment. I hate that the pace has sped up to a point it barely makes sense because Horikoshi wants to end the series. I hate fucking Fa Jin and it's 'faux 100%' bullshit. It's like Horikoshi is physically incapable of moving past the underdog angle and has to then fucking CHEAT instead of letting him progress naturally. Waste of a fucking Quirk. The fuck use is it going to have once Izuku has mastered 100%?

I hate the fact that so many awesome characters are dying or getting extremely injured while Deus Ex Machina seems to get the Villains off scot free almost every time. I really hated MOST of the Grimderp Izuku arc. I hate the fact that Izuku didn't fucking ROCK Chisaki when he saw him again. I hate the fact that all the bullshit ALWAYS SEEMS TO FUCKING HAPPEN to the female characters! Miruko: Dismembered. Midnight? Dead. Nagant? All but dead. Star (even if she wasn't my favorite waifu-wise)? Sacrificial lamb in order to weaken Shigaraki because Horikoshi realized he made him too fucking powerful. And they don't even have to die either. In the latest chapter, Hatsume explained she would be unable to "perfectly" recreate Izuku's Mid Gauntlets because she didn't have the proper materials. So she gave him a replacement she explicitly said wasn't as good.

MOTHERFUCKING MOMO IS RIGHT THERE. HORI, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!

But most of all? I hate that this series which I've been in love with for years has been turning out what feels like L after L for over a year. We have little moments of awesome like Izuku vs Nagant, and then best Raifu gets exploded and Izuku speaks to Chisaki like he's a fucking civilized person and not a mass-murdering cunt waffle. It just keeps reminding me how much I fucking hated the end of Naruto because of the fucking Ninja Jesus bullshit.

I love Izuku and his idealism, but straight up, the moments where Izuku's rage escaped, and he became feral in his fights were some of my favorites in the entire series. He spent over a fucking DECADE getting mistreated, and I love that the series didn't shy away from hinting at some bits of hidden darkness despite the idealism. The Sports Festival Fight against Todoroki was one of my favorites. It was fantastic. And everything in the Izuku vs Shigaraki fight prior to the mindscape dive had me fucking salivating for more. And now this fucking Shigaraki bullshit?

Fuck this fucking recentish Shōnen trend of fucking saving Villains. The only saving Shigaraki deserves is being fucking put to rest. And if Izuku LOSES One For All after we

were promised at the beginning that this was his story about becoming the greatest Hero, I swear to fucking god I'm never picking up another incomplete shōnen ever again.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk ...

Anyway, sorry guys, no lemon in this one. I really don't feel like I'm that good at writing them, and I frankly wasn't in the mood for it anyway. Just wanted to get this one out there. Lemons happen easy in my brain, but it's like I have a mental block getting those scenes to my fingers.

Regardless, I'm not really sure if I want to keep this strictly Izuku/Raifu, or if I want to branch out a bit. Kinda open ended at the moment. If I do make it a harem (which... I mean, kinda my brand at this point, LOL), it'll be Fuyumi, Star and Stripe (Though she'll look more like Captain Mizuki from One Punch Man. Canon Star was WAY too Bricc for me.), Ochako, and Momo.

XI: Sports Festival Watch

Mishmash

-[-

"Every year you try, and every year you fail. When are you going to learn, Ryu?" Rumi let out a little chuckle as she sat next to one of her only actual friends. She flipped her silver hair behind her with a quick movement from her hand, "Still, not exactly like I'm complaining about the day off. It's been boring as shit."

"Who knows?" Ryūko (The Dragon Heroine) smiled slightly at her sometimes-partner and occasional lover, "One of the kids may surprise you."

"That's what you said last year. And the year before that." Rumi rolled her eyes, "They have fat heads and the ones that don't couldn't handle it. Remember that one kid at the gym in third year? First and only time I gave the whole teaching thing a try. He didn't last even to the end of the first day. What a pussy. Sides, you know I hate partnering up."

"You do, huh?" Ryūko trailed a fingertip along her thigh, not even glancing at her as the First Years started entering the field.

Rumi smirked, "You best remove that finger if you want to do any actual watching." She put her feet up and threw her arms behind her back, getting comfy on Ryūko's couch.

Ryūko smirked lightly as she got comfortable as well, turning up the volume. Present Mic's voice blared through the speakers, "IT'S THE UA SPORTS FESTIVAL! THE ONCE-A-YEAR EVENT WHERE OUR FLEDGLING HEROES PARTICIPATE IN THEIR GRAND BATTLE! AND UP FIRST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION! THEY SURVIVED A FULL VILLAIN ATTACK IN JUST THEIR SECOND WEEK WITH THEIR WILLS OF STEEL! GIVE IT UP FOR 1-A!"

"Oh, that's right?" Rumi said lackadaisically, "Wonder if that dropped their balls a bit?"

"Oh, Hizashi." Ryūko shook her head in bemusement as, after that giant hype up for class A, he just introduced the other classes in sequence, and with more than a bit of boredom.

"I know he's the perfect commentator and everything," Rumi cackled beside her, "But damn if he doesn't get super biased. Oh hey!" Rumi grinned wider, "It's Nemuri! Wonder if she'll send any of them to the infirmary."

"I doubt it." Ryūko rolled her eyes, "She just loves to play it up." She eyed the screen as one of the students got called up, looking bored with the entire thing. His entire posture screamed nonchalance, "Katsuki Bakugō huh? Wasn't he in the news a while back?"

"Yeah, got caught by some sludge villain? All Might had to bail him out? Nasty."

"The athlete's oath..." the blonde began, "Make no mistake about it! I'm taking first place!"

The two pro heroines took it in for a moment, before groaning. "Well, that's one immediately eliminated," Ryūko groused, drawing a smirk from Rumi.

"What did I tell you? Kid thinks he has a big dick." She sneered playfully, "Oh I hope he gets his ass kicked. That would just be great."

"He could win the whole thing and I wouldn't take him." Ryūko replied, "Kid thinks the sun shines out of his behind. He's someone else's problem."

Rumi burst out laughing, "Bwahahaha! Oh, I HOPE Best Jeanist takes him. That would be a fucking riot!" Ryūko started to giggle beside her. "Well, time to get this shitshow started."

The leader immediately became apparent, with a boy with candy-cane hair coming out in front and leaving behind a trail of ice, "Oh? Not a bad Quirk." Ryūko commented, "Todoroki huh? Guess he's Endeavor's son."

"Froze the others with no hesitation. Not bad." Rumi replied, not really caring much. "Looks like the other brats didn't fall for it though. Not his classmates at any rate." The rest of 1-A easily evaded the trap Todoroki had left, with the midget leaping to try to throw some weird purple orbs from his head at the ice boy. Rumi again started to cackle as his 'ultimate attack' was cut short by one of UA's bots smacking right into him.

"EVERY OBSTACLE RACE NEEDS OBSTACLES!" Mic yelled gleefully.

"No shit Sherlock..." Three guesses who that was.

"AND HERE'S THE FIRST! IT'S THE ROBO INFERNO!" The blonde finished. "Thousand Yen says ice boy freezes all of them." Rumi lightly elbowed her friend.

"Why would I bet on a sure thing?" Ryūko rolled her eyes, as Todoroki froze every one of them as expected. "Honestly, I'm not interested in him. He'll probably go to Endeavor anyway. I'm more interested in the other kids."

"Ouch. Damn those kids got flattened." Rumi let out a wince, before deadpanning as the two burst from the robot's corpse using very similar Quirks. The redhead seemed to have an existential crisis at that, running away from the one with the steel Quirk while looking like he was going to cry. "WAHAHAHAA! What did he say? What did he say?!" She shook Ryūko, who knew how to lip read.

Ryūko was also hiding a smirk, "I'm generic enough as it is!" The two started to laugh heartily. "Oh man, at least I'll get my amusement for the week out of this." Rumi's ears quirked, "Huh,

blonde brat has a literally explosive Quirk. That wasn't a bad move..."

"And it all falls into place." Ryūko shook her head, "Ten thousand Yen says whatever middle and elementary schools he attended pumped up his 'amazing Quirk.'"

"Sucked his dick more like." Rumi shook her head, "I really hope he gets that ass beat now. He probably needs it."

Aizawa spoke for the first time beside Mic as more kids followed Bakugō with their Quirks. Both Ryūko and Rumi winced when a small picture of him appeared at the bottom of the screen, showing his practically mummified body. No wonder he sounded muffled. "Class A knows there's no time to hesitate. They've had the outside world exposed to them and had that fear planted in them. And they've endured it. Overcome it. Each has grown from that experience... and forgotten how to hesitate."

The camera focused on a green-haired boy with freckles on each cheek in a diamond formation. He picked up one of the destroyed plates with surprising ease and used it to cut straight through one of the smaller enemies.

Rumi whistled, "Huh, that one must be pretty tough. An armor plate like that must weigh about a hundred pounds."

Ryūko smiled slightly, "He hasn't used his Quirk yet, has he? Wonder why."

The focus changed as more of the robots were destroyed, with a tall young girl pulling a whole cannon out of her stomach and one-shotting one of the behemoths. Ryūko blinked in shock, "Did...did she just?"

"Pull a whole ass cannon out of her tummy? Yeah, I think she did." Rumi grinned, "One for you to keep an eye on, I suppose."

"Oh, is that interest I hear, Rumi dearest?" Ryūko shot back at her, smirking.

Rumi grumbled, "Why the fuck would I be interested? What could I even teach her?"

"SO THE FIRST BARRIER WAS A PIECE OF CAKE? HOW ABOUT THE SECOND? FALL AND YOU'RE OUT! AND FALLING INTO A BOTTOMLESS PIT OF DESPAIR!" Rumi snickered at the commentary, "IT'S THE FALL!"

"Way to be creative." Rumi snarked, "Why not 'The Dark Chasm' or 'The Big Drop?' Or 'The Eternal Void?'" They watched as the kids started getting through the trap. She raised an eyebrow but said nothing as she watched a froggy-looking girl leap halfway down a rope in one bound, her momentum making her flip underneath it. She acrobatically let her momentum pull the rope taut, and when she was the right way up she jumped again, landing on the next platform. She chanced a side-eyed glance at Ryūko and bit back a groan when she saw her friend smiling somewhat knowingly. "Tch. The hell you smiling about?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ryūko's smile widened. They ignored the support girl, even if she had some cool gadgets. Support students who did well in these things generally weren't actually interested in getting into Heroics, so there wasn't much point. They could always watch her replays if they needed to. Ryūko's eyes lit up as they saw a brunette girl simply float across the chasm.

"Oh? Found someone to keep an eye on?"

"Oh yes." Ryūko replied with almost a purr. "That certainly seems like an interesting Quirk. She could have potential. Just as I'm sure you aren't interested at all in the Frog girl."

"Shut." Rumi scowled. Her friend knew her too damn well.

"-THE PROS WILL BE SCRAMBLING TO GET HIM AS THEIR SIDEKICK! THE LEADERS KEEP BREAKING AWAY WHILE THE REST OF THE PACK HAS BUNCHED UP! OUR RACERS HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY WILL MAKE IT TO THE NEXT ROUND, SO ALL THEY CAN DO IS AIM FOR THE STARS! AND OUR LEADER HAS FINALLY HIT THE LAST OBSTACLE! A MINEFIELD! IT'S A DEADLY AFGHAN CARPET! A QUICK GLANCE IS ENOUGH TO REVEAL THE LOCATIONS OF THE MINES, SO WATCH YOUR STEP!" Present Mic's voice blared through the speakers again, "I SHOULD MENTION: OUR MINES DON'T PACK A DEADLY PUNCH. A LOT OF

FLASH AND BLUSTER, BUT NO INJURIES! STILL, THEY MAY MAKE YOU NEED AN UNDERWEAR CHANGE!"

"This one puts the leaders at a disadvantage. The more mines they trigger the easier it'll be for the stragglers to catch up." Rumi commented.

"Unless they can fly above them." Ryūko smirked, wanting to see one of her girls up on the screen.

"Booooo!!!!" Rumi yelled at the screen, giving it a thumbs down as Bakugō took the lead from Todoroki. "Damn it, kick his ass!"

"They can't hear you." Ryūko said dryly, though she understood the sentiment. "Besides, the rest are catching up. Maybe it won't be either of these two who wins."

Rumi shook her head, "Yeah right. They're too far ahead."

Ryūko blinked, "What is he doing?" She asked faintly. Rumi focused again, tilting her head to the side as the kid who used the armor plate earlier was focused on. He seemed to be digging up mines and... grouping them together?

Rumi slowly grinned, "He's not going to...?" The two pro heroines watched, one in disbelief and one with sheer hilarity-fueled rapture as the green-haired kid ripped his shield off his back and dove onto the gigantic pile of mines he'd created. "FUCK YEAH KID! BEAT THEIR ASSES!" Rumi cheered, laughing like a maniac as the gigantic explosion flung the green-haired boy past all of the other competitors and placed him right next to Bakugō and Todoroki. The blonde's face was one of pure disbelief as the verdette flew over his head.

"Do my ears deceive me? Are you cheering?" Ryūko elbowed her playfully.

"Fuck it!" Rumi didn't even care, "Balls like that at least earn him some attention. Now what's your landing strategy kid?"

"You're saying that like he has one." Ryūko grinned, showcasing her sharp teeth with the motion.

The verdette started slowing down, and even coming off of his 'sled.' The other two stopped their pushing and shoving and were instead just focusing on racing as fast as possible for the finish line. Rumi's foot started thumping, "Come on, you brat. Don't get a lady excited and leave her hanging!" The boy flipped and grabbed the plate by a cord that was attached, slamming it hard on the ground and activating a bunch of mines at once, right between Todoroki and Bakugō. The two boys were flung to the side as Green's momentum carried him over the explosion and flung him forward, "FUCK YEAH! I LOVE THIS KID!"

"Oh? Are you going to be taking your first ever intern, hmm?" Ryūko leapt on her words like a tiger leapt at dinner.

"Let's not get carried away." Rumi scoffed, "Besides, balls by themselves won't help him if I train him. He'd be crying for mommy by the end of the first day. I'm not wasting my time."

But despite her words, Ryūko just smiled, 'You know, I might take you myself. Not like Rumi isn't around all the time anyway. Let's see what you can do... and can we get a name for the new leader?' She abruptly realized something, "Hey, has he used his Quirk yet?" Rumi blinked as she tried to think, realizing that no, he hadn't.

Meanwhile, Present Mic was screaming, "AND MIDORIYA BLOWS AWAY THE

COMPETITION! YOUR CLASS SURE IS SOMETHING, ERASERHEAD! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING THEM?!"

"Don't try to foist this on me. They're all pushing each other." Aizawa replied, and somehow they could hear the eye roll.

"IN ANY CASE, WHO WOULD HAVE PREDICTED THIS?! THE FIRST ONE BACK IS MIDORIYA IZUKU!"

'Midoriya Izuku huh?' Rumi kept her thoughts to herself, 'Keep me entertained, will you?' ...

"Can I kick the grape?" Rumi's eye twitched as she witnessed the TV. Yaoyorozu had just come into view, panting with her gym shirt open revealing her black sports bra. Attached to her back was Minoru Mineta according to Mic.

Ryūko snorted, "How has Shōta not expelled him? Sure, his Quirk seems useful but look at the berth literally all of the girls are giving him. Even the one from the Support Course seems to be avoiding him."

Rumi shook her head, "Anyway, who caught your eye?"

"Midoriya, obviously." Ryūko relaxed into the sofa, "Uraraka, Asui, and Yaoyorozu from 1A. Kendo, Komori, Tokage, and Shiozaki from 1B. None of the other boys really stood out. They don't seem to be students that I would work well with. Bakugō is a hair short of a trigger, and Todoroki has this look on his face. 1B seems to be sandbagging so they didn't stand out at all. Frankly, if it wasn't for Midoriya getting some focus I don't think I would have noticed any of the guys."

"Tch, Legs wasn't bad." Rumi conceded. She could see high kicking ability in the Iida son, "The muscle head seemed interesting, up until he seemed to hulk out with whatever that was he ate. Didn't look like he had two brain cells to rub together."

"What about the one with the tail?" The blonde asked, eyeing him as he stood there with a sheepish look on his face.

"Who?" Rumi blinked in confusion.

"The martial artist?" Ryūko turned to her in a bit of surprise, "Thought you'd at least give him a glance."

Rumi still didn't see him, so Ryūko pointed, "...Never seen him before." She concluded with an uncaring shrug.

"He popped on screen at least three times." Ryūko started to laugh, feeling bad for the poor kid.

"Yeesh, talk about forgettable. I noticed the invisible girl more than him." Rumi shook her head, "So, what's round two going to be this year?"

"Looks like Nemuri is about to announce it." Ryūko replied, watching as the Dominatrix Hero spun the wheel of fortune.

Rumi let out a groan, sagging into the sofa, "Fucking Cavalry Battle? Really?"

"You're just mad because during our Cavalry Battle you-"

"SHUT!" Rumi clapped a hand to her best friend's mouth, her head all but lighting on fire. Ryūko made some smug noises, before licking Rumi's palm, "Why you little-!"

"ALL EXCEPT FIRST PLACE! MIDORIYA IZUKU IS WORTH TEN MILLION POINTS!"

They collectively turned back to the TV; Rumi held in midair via Ryūko's foot as they blinked at the words. "That's new..." They both smirked, "How are you going to handle it, kid?"

Predictably, Izuku looked as if his soul had vacated his body, as everyone else turned to look at him all but licking their chops. Rumi started to snicker. And she felt slightly bad as everyone just pretended they didn't hear him when he tried to ask them to partner up, but not by much. This kind of pressure was what he would have to deal with if he planned to make it bi-, "HOLY HELL IS HIS QUIRK SUPER CRYING?!" She started to howl with laughter, falling off the couch as a veritable waterfall of tears came out of his eyes when Uraraka asked if she could be on his team.

"Oh!" Ryūko let out a little noise, "I forgot about that one. The one with the Bird Head. He's someone to keep an eye on as well." She said after Rumi calmed down and Izuku got Tokoyami to join his team as well. The support girl with pink dreadlocks rounded out the team.

"Alright kid! Let's see what you got!" Rumi grinned at the screen as Nemuri called the start to the Cavalry Battle.

...

A snot bubble popped and Rumi jerked awake, "Huh? Wuzzat?!" She shook her head and got off Ryūko, "Did it start yet?"

Ryūko snorted, "Start? It finished an hour ago. Took you all of 30 seconds to fall asleep once the Cavalry Battle started. The break before the third round is almost over."

Rumi's skin darkened a little, "Well it's not my fault it's such a boring event..."

Ryūko rolled her eyes, "Yes, yes. I don't know why I didn't just go and grab a blanket once it was

announced."

"Shut." Rumi commanded again, "So who made it in?"

"Your boy did, if by the skin of his teeth." Ryūko casually ignored the exclamation that she had no boy, "Todoroki's team, Bakugō's team, and the team of some kid named Shinsō made it in from General Studies. Todoroki managed to steal Midoriya's headband, but Midoriya and Tokoyami managed to nab two of the headbands back. And I couldn't quite tell, but I think Midoriya finally used his quirk. Seems to be a wind one." She scowled lightly, drawing Rumi's attention, "And Todoroki has fire too. Midoriya got him to use it during their counter attack, but unless I'm very mistaken, Todoroki was staring at his arm like it had betrayed him afterwards."

"Seriously? Fire AND Ice?" Rumi's eyes widened, "Shit, you don't think that cunt Enji did what I'm thinking, do you?"

Ryūko scowled, "I damn well hope not."

"TIME FOR THE FIRST MATCH!" Mic interrupted their conversation as the Sports Festival tuned back in, "FROM THE RED CORNER, WE HAVE THE GREEN BEAN OF 1-A;

MIDORIYA IZUKU!" The crowd erupted with cheers, but Izuku looked vaguely nauseated being up there. He looks like a scared little gazelle, barely a few days old and being eyed up by hungry leopards.

"Jeez, he needs some serious attitude training if he wants to make it as a hero." Rumi scoffed, losing a little bit of interest in the boy, "Seriously, when did this nervous wreck take over from the guy who rode explosions to first place?"

Ryūko shrugged, "If you recall, I was nervous too. Almost threw up on you. For some people, the lights are a little too bright." She focused on the TV, "Let's see if he can overcome it."

"VERSUS...! THE GUY WHO HAS... NOT REALLY DONE ANYTHING TO STAND OUT YET! IT'S SHINSŌ FROM THE GENERAL COURSE! LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE A DARK HORSE THIS YEAR!"

"Hizashi..." Ryūko slapped her face, "Seriously, can someone just write out a list for him?"

"THE RULES ARE SIMPLE! KNOCK EM OUT, KNOCK EM OUT OF THE RING, OR KNOCK EM AROUND UNTIL THEY SAY UNCLE! THOSE ARE THE THREE WAYS TO WIN A ROUND! OF COURSE, IF MIDNIGHT OR CEMENTOSS SAYS A ROUND IS OVER, IT'S OVER! OF COURSE, GOING FOR THE KILL IS A NO NO!"

"Come on! Just get it started already! Show us some spirit!" Rumi yelled at the TV, drawing a sigh from her friend. She got her wish. Shinsō seemed to say something, and Midoriya dashed at him with an angry look on his face, yelling something back. And then he just froze. His momentum slowed and he started just standing there, staring blankly in front of him. "Huh? What's going on?"

"MIDORIYA SEEMS TO BE FROZEN IN PLACE?" Mic said what was on her mind. "HE LOOKS CONFOUNDED! HE'S NOT EVEN TWITCHING? COULD THIS BE SHINSO'S QUIRK? WE BARELY KNEW THIS GUY EXISTED, BUT HE SURE SEEMS TO BE ONE TO KEEP AN EYE ON NOW!"

Aizawa stole the mic from Mic, "I've said it once and I'll say it until it sinks in. The Entrance Exam isn't logical. Shinsō failed the practical exam despite his Quirk. His quirk did not fit the format of the exam in the slightest. It's far too geared to destructive powers and lets excellent abilities fall through the cracks."

Rumi groaned in disappointment, and even Ryūko let out an unhappy noise, "Ability that won't affect the bots and caused him to fail. Must be mental, and whatever trigger it has, he nailed Midoriya."

"It's over." She scowled, "I hate how Shōta is talking it up though. Kid has a mental Quirk and yet looks as if he's never seen the inside of a weight room. He's riding his Quirk's coattails instead of bettering himself after failing the entrance exam. Sucks that he's going to win, but I don't think he'll go any farther now that the rest know about it." Rumi shook her head as Izuku turned and started to pace to the edge of the ring, "Damn, and I had even gotten a little excited for the kid too."

Ryūko said nothing, but inwardly she was scowling, 'So close! I was so close to finally getting her to take an intern! Damn it!'

Izuku reached the very edge and then, right before he could take the final step, their sharp eyes caught something that made them blink. Two of his fingers started to glow. A cloud of dust erupted in front of Izuku, forcing him back from the edge and causing what looked like an explosion in

front of him. Izuku was thrown back into the ring, and he sprang to his feet, Shinsō's Quirk broken.

"HOLY SHIT! WHAT DID HE DO?!" Again, Rumi grinned wide, before it dropped from her face in shock, "Ryūko..."

"His fingers!" Ryūko clapped a hand to her mouth. Izuku's middle and index fingers on his left hand were mangled. The skin was a raw red, and they were dangling and clearly broken.

"What the fuck?" Rumi breathed, "I thought you said he had a Wind Quirk?"

Ryūko lowered her hand as they watched Izuku fight through the pain and ring out his opponent. They didn't really pay attention as Hitoshi was consoled by the crowd and even Izuku himself. They were more concerned about the green bean. "I thought it was!"

Rumi grabbed her own chin as her foot started to tap, "No, it can't be. I think what you saw must have been a shockwave from a blow. Holy shit. How strong is his Quirk? That's the kind of shit All Might does! It must be too much for him! That's why he hasn't used it much yet!"

"He must have tripped his max limit." Ryūko concluded, "If you're right of course. Oh, my lord. His poor hand."

Rumi half-sneered, "I... I'm not sure what to feel. How in the world does he have such poor control after eleven years with a Quirk?"

Ryūko shook her head, "I'm not sure. But if his quirk even approximates a percentage of All Might's power..."

"Shit the size difference alone." Rumi shook her head as well, "Bad. I think I feel bad for the kid. How would he ever even be able to practice it? Quirks like RG's aren't exactly a dime a dozen."

"No... they're not." Ryūko agreed, "And he's going to be going up against Todoroki next... I'm officially worried."

"You... don't know that..." Rumi trailed off lamely as Ryūko gave her a look, "Yeah, F for the green bean."

...

Rumi had once again gotten bored as the rest of the first-round matches had gone on. Sure, Todoroki had shocked the entire stadium with the size of the glacier he was capable of producing, but after that, there hadn't been much excitement for her. The Froggy girl hadn't made it into the tournament because of Shinsō, and she hadn't really paid attention to anyone else. Kaminari vs Shiozaki had been over in a flash, revealing the blonde to be an idiot. The girl had a powerful Quirk but seemed to be a bit of a stationary fighter. Not something Rumi could work with and not one Ryūko had much interest in either. Iida had apparently gotten tricked into being a live billboard for the support girl, which had the two of them cracking up. Ashido had put up a good show honestly. She was acrobatic and had a cool quirk, but flew under the radar because she was probably weaker than she should have been. Perhaps she wasn't taking things fully seriously yet.

It was when Yaoyorozu stepped onto the field that both of them became incredibly disappointed. "Incredible Quirk, but can't think on her feet." Rumi groaned as she watched the piss poor match.

Ryūko was rubbing between her eyes, "Said it in fewer words than I could have. She could have created a flashbang and would have won with laughable ease."

"She off your list?" Rumi asked curiously.

"No." Ryūko replied resolutely, "If anything that showed why I should take her. I won't allow potential like that to be squandered." She eyed the devastated look on the girl's face, "She needs a serious wakeup call. If she got in on Recommendation and looks like that, perhaps this is the first time she's even lost at anything. Though if she doesn't shape up, then I won't take her a second time." The next match damn near put both of them to sleep, "How can two guys beating the shit out of each other be so damn boring?"

"Cuz they both suck at hand to hand." Rumi facepalmed, "They both suck. They're just punching with barely any skill."

"And a tie. How am I even slightly surprised?"

"Well, time to see how your girl will do." Rumi shrugged as the next match started. Both of them stared silently at the TV, with Ryūko smirking a bit as the match went on. "Damn, the crowd sure is full of fucking morons today." Rumi shook her head, "How have they not noticed? What cereal box did they get their licenses out of?"

"Shameful. And there goes Aizawa." They listened as the mummified man all but demanded the pro who had spoken out retire. "And this is incredibly annoying, because it might give Bakugō a clue." Ryūko groused, and then groaned when Ochako herself stupidly clued Bakugō in by mistake.

That extra second or two gave Bakugō enough time to react to the meteor storm as Ochako rushed him, intending to use the rocks as a distraction to get in close and use her quirk on him instead. Even Rumi's eyes widened when she saw the absolutely titanic explosion Bakugō unleashed, "Shit, there goes your girl."

"Great heart, excellent plan, but needs a LOT of work." Ryūko again affirmed her desire to send Ochako an offer, "I know this Sports Festival IS technically a game, but if that's what she does on the field it could be disastrous for her."

After the tiebreaker crowned Kirishima, it was time for the next match. The one they were both sorta waiting for and dreading at the same time. "BOTH OF THESE COMPETITORS HAVE WON TOP MARKS IN THE FESTIVAL SO FAR!" Mic screamed to pump the spectators up, "BUT THERE'S ONLY ROOM FOR ONE OF THESE GREATS IN THE RING! IT'S MIDORIYA VS TODOROKI!"

They both sat a little bit more on edge, as the ground in front of Todoroki erupted in ice. Izuku raised his hand in front of him, gripping his wrist with his other hand, "He's not...!" Ryūko gasped, eyes widening in shock as his finger glowed once more.

And then right before the ice engulfed him as it had Sero in Todoroki's first match, it came to a dead stop. Then it shattered into millions of pieces, before rocketing in the opposite direction. Icy cold gale-force winds buffeted Todoroki, who had formed a shield of ice behind him. He let out a grunt as the blast forced him into it, preventing him from just flying off of the arena. The wind blast took almost ten seconds to calm down, and the entire time the audience were losing hats, masks, everything that wasn't tied down.

"Fuck..." Rumi cursed softly, "He really just..." Ryūko was speechless, staring at the boy with her jaw dropped. Izuku's hand was trembling and he visibly looked to be in pain. Obviously, when he'd just shattered his finger. Todoroki didn't give him a moment of respite, sending another wave

of ice at him, which Izuku again blasted apart along with a second finger, "That was a finger!" Rumi started chewing her own knuckle, "A fucking finger! That's not just approximating All Might's strength! If he wasn't shattering his own bones it would look exactly LIKE him!"

...

Down on the field, Izuku was quietly fighting through the agony as he analyzed the situation. He had no data. Todoroki's fights were always over too quickly. And it was clear that just using his fingers had been the right move. Todoroki's ice shield hadn't broken despite the boy being bashed into it. Izuku didn't know how much stronger a full punch would be, but there was a chance it still wouldn't have worked against it. He couldn't keep on just blowing his fingers up. He wasn't learning anything like this.

Todoroki took a step forward and breathed out, making Izuku's eye widen as he realized Todoroki's breath was steaming out of him. Was his own body temperature getting lower? Of course! Quirks were physical powers, not magical abilities! It was why Kacchan had made that gauntlet! The more Todoroki used his ice without countering with his fire, the more frostbitten and exhausted he would become from the cold. It was no wonder Endeavor had done what he did. The giant man must suffer from the complete opposite problem with his Hellfire Quirk. He abruptly realized that none of Todoroki's attacks had been that insane wide-area attack he used on Sero either. He'd been shooting him with smaller lines of ice! Was Todoroki probing him just as much?

Another wave of ice came forward, and Izuku took his position. But this time the outcome was different. He didn't change One For All into his finger. Instead, he charged just five percent into his right leg. 'The egg won't break! It won't, it won't, IT WON'T!' The second the ice broke line of sight between them, Izuku leapt.

...

Miles away, Ryūko opened her mouth, "Two fingers. He can't win this if he keeps-" She clenched her teeth tight inside her mouth, "-keeps... Just blowing his hand apart!" She swallowed, her throat dry, "Just what is going on in that boy's head? He's already proved himself capable in his match against Shinsō and previously in the tournament! Why is he just... breaking himself!?" She yelled, utterly distraught at seeing what the child was doing to himself.

"Look at his face..." Rumi said quietly, "That's not the face of desperation. He's hurt. He knows he is. But he's studying his opponent. Trying to find a weakness. Idiot must think RG will just be able to heal him indefinitely. He needs a wakeup call on that front. But with what he's working with now... I think it might be his only option other than just bowing out."

Ryūko clenched her fists as they continued watching, and their eyes widened when Izuku dove to the left seconds before a wave of ice hit him, rather than sacrificing another finger.

...

Todoroki didn't see it, wondering for a moment if maybe the pain had gotten too much for Izuku and he'd been taken out. He quickly revised his opinion when he didn't hear a ring out from Midnight, and he abandoned his plan of rushing Izuku by running atop his pillars of ice, wondering what the verdette's next move was. He even glanced up, knowing Izuku could easily have sacrificed his legs to get an aerial shot at him instead.

His eyes bulged when he heard his opponent's signature "SMASH!" coming from his right side, whipping around but knowing he was too late. Wind buffeted his body, the shockwave bouncing him off of his ice shield and whipping him across the arena. He hit the ground and rolled

uncontrollably, knowing he was unable to make ice from his left side! He was going to be ringed out! He turned his rough tumble into a somersault, his right foot hitting the ground and summoning a giant pillar of ice.

He smashed right into it, and the only reason he didn't hurt himself more than the jammed ankle was that Izuku hadn't been fast enough to get a direct shot from his exact right side. He'd come in at an angle, and once Todoroki had started tumbling he'd already been mostly out of the shockwave. He groaned as he got to his feet, his right leg wobbling slightly and screaming in pain as he put his weight on it.

...

"There we FUCKING go!" Rumi cheered, despite Izuku being down yet another finger. "He knew Todoroki could only make ice from his right side. Only reason he didn't manage to ring him out was that he couldn't jump or run into position fast enough and had to settle before Todoroki saw him!"

"He got him good too..." Ryūko let out a breath, relieved to see there was a brain behind the brawn. "He saw a weakness and immediately exploited it. Todoroki looks hurt. Probably a hairline fracture somewhere."

"Fuck!" Rumi hissed, seeing Izuku start talking with Todoroki instead of just blasting him a fourth time. "Fucking rookie mistake. Save the talking for AFTER you've won, kid!"

"That's what school and internships are for." Ryūko smirked slightly. Rumi just glared slightly at her. But despite the glare, she couldn't lie to herself. Her one BIG complaint had been blown up not once but THREE times in just this one fight. This was a kid who would absolutely never quit.

"What are they saying, anyway?" She asked, rather than responding. Ryūko focused on the screen. ...

Todoroki growled furiously as he iced his own leg, forming a pseudo cast. "You!"

"What's wrong, Todoroki-kun?" Izuku asked him. He was on one knee himself, his hand stuck out in front of him showing his third blown finger sharply on the cameras, "You look cold." He eyed him carefully, seeing the layers of ice forming on his body. Todoroki was covered in the stuff and was trembling.

Shōto growled, stomping his leg and sending out another line of ice. But it was slow. Way slower than even the last one. Izuku didn't even have to flick or charge One For All into his legs to get out of the way. He just ran to the right and dodged them entirely. Shōto's trembling had increased in frequency, and he gasped out a breath that steamed in front of his face.

"Quirks are physical abilities." Izuku yelled out, "You're covered in ice, and your attacks are slower than they were! You have a physical limit, just like me!" A slow grin formed on his face, despite the pain he was in, "Of course, you could just use your fire and warm yourself up, couldn't you?"

Shōto snarled, "Did my bastard old man put you up to this?!"

"Forget him!" Izuku yelled back, "I'm not fighting him! I'm fighting you! And you haven't put a scratch on me!" He clenched his fist, spiking the pain momentarily but also releasing more adrenaline. It had been starting to wear off. Adrenaline was pretty short-lived, after all. "Everyone else is here, doing their all to win! To become heroes! You want to win by using half your power?!

You're insulting every single person here who gave it their all!" He raised his fist, "If you want to take me out, you're going to have to give me all you've got!"

"I already told you why I wouldn't use his power!" Shōto yelled back at him. Izuku gritted his teeth in anger, "It's YOUR power, you idiot! Not his!"

In another world, Shōto Todoroki would have had the mother of all revelations at these words, remembering his mother's words from so long ago. And in this one, the same thing happened. Only Shōto wasn't the only one to freeze in shock. Izuku did as well.

'It's YOUR power...' The words echoed in Izuku's own head. He remembered every time he'd used One For all. Used All Might's quirk. Only that wasn't true, was it? It wasn't All Might's quirk anymore. He'd given it to Izuku. It was his now. He remembered the frost covering Shōto's entire body. Not just his right side. 'Your power...' Was it really that simple? Had he seriously been that stupid?

As Shōto was about to have his epiphany and his fire was about to start coming out, Izuku's uninjured hand came up and slapped himself in the face with a picture-perfect facepalm. "I'M AN IDIOT!"

...

"???" Rumi and Ryūko looked at each other in confusion. "Huh?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure what he just figured out. I'm way more concerned with what I lip read." Ryūko growled after a shake of her head, "That conversation they had did not paint a very pretty picture."

Rumi winced, "Yeah, that's a fucking landmine waiting for someone to step on it." ...

'Why did I never realize it?! All Might bulks up his entire body, not just a limb! How was I THAT stupid?!' Izuku castigated himself.

In the meantime, despite remembering his mother's words, Todoroki did not start using his flames. Not immediately. Izuku's own declaration had stopped him before he could start using it and breaking his vow for good. But he was hesitant now. It felt like something had irrevocably been broken. "What the hell are you talking about?" He asked, trying to focus back on the match.

And for the first time, Izuku grinned at him. Full on, confident grin, "Thank you, Todoroki-kun." He set his feet, crossing his arms in front of his body.

"For what?!" Shōto asked, setting himself as well. He wasn't sure yet if he'd break his vow. One spanning years didn't just vanish in seconds because of one memory. But it was in the back of his mind now. Distracting him.

"For being stubborn enough to give me a clue of my own!" And then Izuku's entire body started to glow, his veins lighting up red beneath his skin and starting to shimmer. And then the glow vanished, with green lightning starting to crackle around Izuku's body. 'One for all, full body! 5%!'

"Wha-" Shōto's eyes widened, and then Izuku moved.

Shōto barely had time to react before Izuku had crossed the distance between them, shooting a wall of ice (bigger but slower than all of the ones that had come before on this watch) towards the green-haired boy.

And then Izuku shocked the entire stadium when he simply leapt far higher and faster than they had been expecting, jumped off of the ice wall and landed left of Todoroki. 'Can't get a good punch in with this hand! I'm already injured! So take this!' The thought ran through his mind as he set his left leg as best he could and threw his right leg forward in something that could approximate a Side Kick. If one squinted. It landed square in Todoroki's ribs, making him hack from the impact as he went flying across the ring. He hit the ground and started to roll, coming inches from just flying off the ring and onto the grass. He stared at Izuku in disbelief, making no effort to get up.

...

"What in the world was that?!" Ryūko couldn't believe her eyes, "If he can use it without breaking himself then wh-?" She choked on her words, "He's like a child..." She said, a note of something in her voice, "A child just learning to use his Quirk... How?!"

Rumi was staring at the screen, "...That was a shit kick." She said flatly. Her thumping foot betrayed her interest.

Ryūko turned back, 'Come on, Midoriya! You can do it!' She just barely kept herself from squealing.

Rumi groaned, "Fucking finish it and THEN talk, you idiot!" ...

"What the hell, Midoriya?" Shōto groaned as he got to his feet, "You're yelling at me about not giving it my all and the-"

"I told you!" Izuku grinned. His body was on fire. Not in a painful way. He felt more like he was going to vibrate out of his own skin, "I was being an idiot!" He bent his knees, "But that doesn't mean you aren't! Come on!" He ran forward.

Shōto still could barely read his new, speedy movements. He knew he needed to get away from the edge. He formed an ice platform and shot himself into the sky towards the middle of the ring. Yet to his shock, Izuku just jumped left, and then leapt straight at him, again aiming for his left side. Shōto couldn't get his arm around quick enough and had to block another kick to his ribs. This one was even more amateurish than the first and had no power, but it still forced him off his ice platform and back onto the ground. He tried to touch Izuku with his hand but Izuku tucked himself into a ball and avoided his swipe. They both landed jarringly, but Shōto had it worse due to the earlier injury. He cried out in pain as his leg buckled.

Izuku was panting, and the lightning disappeared. He fell to one knee, propping himself with his good hand, "Damn, that's exhausting."

"Who's messing around now?!" Todoroki growled through clenched teeth, "That's twice you could have won already!" He forced himself up.

"I could have." Izuku agreed. "I could have kicked you at a different angle and sent you off the platform, or I could have used one more finger just now while you were in the air." He got up as well, "But what would that get me? A spot higher in the festival? It wouldn't help you at all, and

winning against someone half assing it would piss even me off." 'Help me?!' Shōto's teeth clenched, starting to get angry again.

"If a barely trained guy like me could knock you on your ass..." Izuku panted, "What would happen if you fought a villain with half a brain and some speed? All I have to do is aim for your left and I get free shot after free shot. You want to die?" Shōto froze, "Do you want other people to die when you fail?!"

'No...' Shōto thought to himself, a chill that had nothing to do with his ice filling his body. 'No, that's never been what I wanted...' But his thoughts felt hollow now.

"I can do this all day!" He was lying, of course. He was already staggering, and the pain in his hands was intense. Yet his spirit was overriding his body. Izuku turned on his full body usage again, the lightning crackling intimidatingly, "Either you fight me for real, or you walk out on your own." He grinned, his face tired. "Is your vow more important than your life? Than the lives of others? Do you want to be a hero or not, Todoroki-kun?!"

He swore he heard something shatter, his mother's voice echoing in his mind. Flames rose up out of his left side, driving the cold away in an instant, "You crazy bastard!" Shōto grinned back, tears in his eyes, "Do you want to win or not?"

Izuku's smile widened! He had done it! He'd got Shōto to break his self-destructive vow!

"What are you smiling about, huh?" Shōto asked, "I won't be held responsible for what happens next!" Neither of them even glanced in Endeavor's direction. Didn't pay the slightly deranged- looking man a single thought. He set his feet, ice forming on his right as his flames violently whipped around his left.

Izuku couldn't give it his all. Unlike Shōto. His full power would shatter his body. 5% was all he could use safely, by All Might's estimation.

Izuku dug deeper, One For All's lightning crackling a little bit more violently as he turned it up to 10%. He couldn't insult Shōto's new determination by just going with safe. He shot forward just as Shōto threw his hand forward at the same time as another ice wall formed protectively behind

him.

The gigantic burst of flames engulfed more than half of the ring, and Izuku shot directly towards it at speed. Midnight and Cementoss had tried to stop the fight, but Izuku had moved faster than they had. The barriers rose behind him after he had already passed them. He hit the wave of fire, a shockwave forming around his feet and blowing them apart like a sonic boom. He planted both feet into Shōto's chest (One For All gone, its job done.) in his best imitation of one of his favorite hero's attacks: Miruko's Luna Spear. The two boys flew out of the ring, Izuku with a growl of pain as microfractures appeared on his leg bones and Todoroki hacking from having 75kg of ballistic Izuku crashing feet-first into his chest. Both boys landed in groaning heaps outside of the ring.

The crowd erupted in noise, as Present Mic was forced to bring up the slow-motion replay. Both boys had appeared to land at similar times, so they needed to check. And by a hair's breadth... the winner was revealed.

...

"Wasn't that your-" She turned to Rumi, but her question died in her throat.

Contrary to expectation, Rumi was (angrily) dialing something on her phone. Ryūko leaned closer,

and her eyes widened as she recognized the faint voice coming from the other end, 'Am I a mouse, a bea-'

"Give me everything you have on Midoriya Izuku." Rumi cut across her former principal without a care in the world. Ryūko started to sparkle as Nezu started to cackle.

"Rumi, are you-?" Ryūko asked, glee infusing her voice.

"Like hell I'ma let some copycat go on live TV with such a half-assed effort at one of my moves." Rumi replied, her face giving nothing away. She couldn't have been more tsundere if she tried.

"YES! I LOVE YOU, MIDORIYA!" Ryūko literally jumped out of her seat and cheered, before glomping Rumi.

"ACK! Gerroff you little-"

XII: Alternate Quirk Assessment

-[- -[-

"Your fates are in our hands!" Aizawa looked demented as he said this, having dropped the bomb that someone in their class would already be leaving before the day was out.

Izuku was panicking. Despite the weeks since the entrance exam and acceptance, he was no closer to controlling his power than he had been that day he made a fool of himself! He hadn't even touched One For All! How could he when it broke him?!

Ochako put his fear to words, "Expelled?! But it's the first day! Even if it weren't the first day, that's too unfair!"

"Natural disasters... rampaging Villains... freak accidents... The world isn't fair, Ochako Uraraka. Calamity is always just around the corner, and Heroes are the ones who correct that unfairness." He grinned again, "If you were planning on hanging out for the next three years, you're in for a rude awakening, kids. U.A. will do its best to put you through one hardship after another, because villains and disasters don't discriminate. The only way we can ensure you survive to be splendid heroes is by ensuring you are the strongest, so bring it on. That's PLUS ULTRA. Use your strength to overcome it."

"Trial by fire, huh?" Iida took a sip from his drink. 'If this is what it's like at the top, then we've no choice.'

"The demonstration is over." Aizawa said, his evil grin falling away, "Now it's for real."

Izuku was nearly hyperventilating, and it caught Ochako's attention. He was quaking like a leaf, and she put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, you got this!" She gave him a thumbs up, "After the exam, there's no way you won't do well!" She gave him a bright, sunny smile.

Izuku nearly went slack, 'She's the best!' He thought to himself, before closing his eyes, taking a deep breath, and trying to calm himself. Her words had erased much of it because someone believed in him. Someone other than All Might. And thinking of his mentor brought him back to the beach...

"Midoriya-shōnen..." All Might had just finished his explanation for how Izuku would grow and

temper himself into the perfect vessel for their Quirk. "I know you feared I was disappointed in you, but the only disappointment I felt was in myself."

"Wh-wh-wh?!" Izuku was like a broken record. What in the world did All Might have to be disappointed in himself for?

"I did you a disservice, young man. A great disservice." Toshinori waved his skeletal hand all around the beach, "Look around you shōnen. Look at what you accomplished with nothing but your own blood, sweat, and tears. You worked harder than I ever expected, and you did it all without a Quirk. You even cleaned outside of where I told you!" Bidden, Izuku's eyes swept around the beach, "I wish to correct that mistake now, shōnen. Whether I had given you my Quirk or not, you would have made a great Hero."

Izuku's eyes started to water, and he choked, "Bu-"

"But nothing." Toshinori put both hands on his shoulders, "I spent so long on top I forgot what it was like. Forgot where I began. Midoriya-shōnen... years and years ago, I stood where you once stood. Quirkless, the same as you." Izuku stopped breathing, "I was chosen to accept the power and responsibility of One For All. The same as you. And it was a mistake to tell you that you couldn't make it there without a Quirk. A Quirk is only a tool. What truly matters is your spirit. And you have the spirit of a Hero, young man. No one will ever take that from you."

Izuku started to sob, his right arm flying across his face. "Th-thank you! Thank you, All Might!"

Toshinori grinned broadly, "Your training and performance during the exam has also shown me how deficient I am as a teacher. I spent so long helping you get to where you could use One For All that I forgot to train you in HOW to use it! We may not be able to get you used to it, but I will start rectifying that mistake. Prepare yourself shōnen. These next few weeks, I show you how to fight."

Izuku opened his and clapped his hands to his cheeks to wake himself up. He gave his best smile and thumbs up to Ochako, "Yeah! Let's do it!" No stutter? Score! She grinned back and started to focus herself, turning away from him.

Izuku practiced his breathing, calming himself further. He couldn't panic. He couldn't. He would NOT get tossed out of the Hero Course. Even if he couldn't control One For All, he still had all of his training. He'd spent months upon months doing everything from flipping tires to dragging entire vehicles across those sands. He could do this.

One step at a time.

He focused on the field, where Aoyama had just gotten a score of 5.51 seconds on the fifty-meter dash, falling behind Mina Ashido. Izuku momentarily felt a brain freeze because how the hell did a laser propel him backwards?!

No, focus! He could geek out on Quirks after he was not expelled! It was finally his own turn... and he was racing against Kacchan because of course he would be racing Kacchan. He took his mark, not noticing Katsuki staring at him because of his hyper focus on the finish line. He tensed, and the second he heard the starting gun he shot forward, running as fast as he could. He entirely dodged Katsuki's backblast, getting in front of the blonde and rapidly picking up speed. He crossed the finish line and slowed down, taking deep breaths, and hearing a roar of rage. He turned around, only to see Katsuki being restrained by white Capture Tape.

"And just what the hell do you think you're doing, Bakugō?" Aizawa drawled, his eyes glowing

red.

"What the fuck!? Why can't I use my Quirk?" Katsuki strained.

"I've erased it." Aizawa said simply, drawing a gasp of recognition from Izuku, "Another outburst out of you and you're expelled. Now calm the hell down. Both of you, back to the rest of the class."

Izuku hurried away, "My word, Midoriya-kun!" Iida got in his face, "Where was that speed during the exam? You even beat my score!"

"I did?!" Izuku yelped in shock, "There's no way! I saw how fast you were going during the exams!"

"Yes way." Iida nodded seriously, "Your score of 2.99 seconds just beat my own. My Quirk has similar functions to the gears on a ca-"

"Car! You weren't able to reach top speed in only fifty meters, were you?" Izuku jumped ahead, eager to discuss Quirks.

"Correct." Iida smiled, "Were that a one-hundred-meter race, I doubt you would have come out on top. But beating me in any speed event is a feat all of its own!"

"It was totally awesome!" Ochako jumped in, "You totally left Blasty in your dust!" She rubbed her chin curiously, "I wonder why he got so mad though. Do you know, Deku-kun?"

Izuku felt his heart break, "Ah, that's... not my name." he finished, looking away.

"It isn't?" She blinked, "But that's what Blasty called you! Sorry, I didn't hear Aizawa-sensei say your full name. I just thought it sounded cute! Like "you can do it!" you know?" She punched the air. "Blasty also was all "What was that Quirk?!" What was that all about?"

"C-cute?!" Izuku flushed red, "M-My old school was pretty mean. It wasn't a nice name. They were calling me useless..." The two gasped in shock, and several other students narrowed their eyes as they overheard it. "M-My name is Midoriya Izuku." He poked his fingers together shyly, "But I suppose if you say it like that, it isn't too bad." Ochako's face brightened up gleefully.

"Enough chit-chatting." Aizawa cut across the talk, "On to the next event." Despite his words, he pocketed the new bit of information. Bakugō's actions and Midoriya's words painted a picture of possibly bullying. Perhaps he should have taken a closer look at Midoriya's file in particular.

Izuku eyed the grip strength tester. He'd gotten 40kg in middle school, but that had been long ago. He had barely started training the last time they did these tests. He squeezed as hard as he could, smiling slightly when he saw the number displayed; 200kg. Five times better than his last attempt close to a year ago!

"Whoa!" Kaminari gasped as he saw the result, "That's some grip! Please don't crush my hand if we ever shake."

Izuku smiled lightly, relaxing as he saw that he was in the upper echelons of the pack. Shōji had beaten him by far with 540kg, and Momo had utterly decimated the competition with her Quirk producing a hydraulic clamp. She had totally maxed out the sensor.

The next event was the standing long jump, where he cleared the sandbox, though he fell well short of Katsuki, Aoyama, Asui, and several other students. Seeing as how others landed in the sand, he

felt he did well.

As they were headed back to the area where Katsuki had demonstrated the ball throw, Aizawa kept an eye on Izuku. Narrowed eyes. The boy was doing far better than he expected. He wasn't panicking at all, and for good reason apparently. He hadn't been using his Quirk either. After that first exemplary score in the dash, Aizawa had tried to erase his Quirk. But he'd gotten a good score on the grip test all the same. It was the boy's natural strength.

Aizawa clearly remembered the exam. He'd rewatched the file following only Midoriya. The boy had been a clown in the exam, not getting a single Villain or Hero point before his moment with the zero pointer. He'd been panicking literally the entire exam until that point. If it had been up to Aizawa, Midoriya would never have seen the inside of U.A. He'd been overruled like usual in the entrance exam, so he'd resolved to getting rid of the boy first chance he got. Better that than read his name in the obituaries.

The boy was clearly strong though, now that he was calm. But he still wasn't using his Quirk... He'd have to fix that.

The tests progressed. Izuku threw four hundred meters in the ball throw, performed admirably in the side-to-side jumps, and the final three tests. And before they knew it, the tests were over. "I won't bother explaining how things were calculated. I'm sure you can figure it out on your own time. Here you go." He held his device out and the standings were projected forward. Their eyes bugged out.

"WHAT?!" Several people screamed in shock.

Ochako led the pack, "HOW IS DEKU-KUN LAST?! HE DID AMAZING!" Izuku looked pale as a ghost, and looked like he was going to fall over.

"Yes." Aizawa said carelessly, "His scores were quite good. And yet not once, in this Quirk Assessment Test did he actually use his Quirk." The class seemed to collectively suffered from brain freeze, "I would have known if he had. After his showing in the Entrance Exam, I was ready to stop him with my Erasure. And yet I never had to use it." He glared at Izuku, "An explanation, Midoriya?"

Izuku trembled, "Uhm..." He said nervously, "D-did you not read my file, sensei?"

"Skimmed." Aizawa replied blandly, "I don't read them in full until I'm sure you'll actually be my student. No sense if you'll just be expelled on the first day." He said, and Momo Yaoyorozu felt a chill drip down her spine, "I try to get any important information, but evidently I must have missed something."

"W-well," Izuku retreated into himself, "I... have no idea how to control it. I never thought I had a Quirk until it appeared during the entrance exam..."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTT?????????????????!!!!!!!!!!" The wall of noise from half the class nearly blew Izuku over, Ochako and Katsuki the loudest of them all. The blonde looked like he was restraining himself from attacking Izuku again.

Aizawa himself stood there silently, with an open mouth hidden behind his scarf, "W- Are you telling me that the exam was the first time you ever used your Quirk?"

Izuku nodded shamefully, anticipating the incoming rejection. "Oh my god!" Ochako squealed,

"And you used it to save me?! That's so stinking AWESOME!" She hugged him, and Izuku died on the spot. The rest of the class clamoring to talk to him all but finished the job.

Aizawa stood silently for a moment, before letting out a sigh, "I'm assuming you haven't used it since either? You're going to be a pain in my ass, aren't you, problem child?" He groaned, before grabbing another ball and throwing it to Izuku. Izuku looked at him questioningly, "I want to see it with my own eyes, so I can try to gauge your power and see if I can figure out what you're doing wrong. If you broke your bones being as physically strong as you are, I'm not sure I want to imagine what it would have been like if you used it as a child. After this, we'll set you up with Quirk counseling as well."

"Wh-" Iida sputtered, "But if he hurts himself shouldn't he-"

"Heroes get hurt." Aizawa said. It was a simple statement, "If you can't get used to that idea, then leave. Better he hurt himself here where we have Recovery Girl to heal him. At least that way we might be able to figure out how to help him control it so that he'll stop hurting himself." He stared at Izuku, "Go on, Midoriya. And at least try to do a better job than you did in the exam."

Izuku stepped back into the circle, eyeing the ball nervously, 'Maybe I can limit it to just a hand? No, better a finger. Minimize the damage.' One For All came to life in his arm as he reared back to throw. His sleeve blew off from the power, just as it had in the exam. As his arm travelled forward, he compressed all of the power just to the tip of his middle finger. "SMASH!"

A windstorm blew through the field, knocking the diminutive Mineta on his back and rolling him backwards. Shōji had to catch him and prevent him from flying off. When the winds died down, Katsuki looked like he had seen a ghost. The rest of the class was cheering.

Izuku himself was clenching his hand, biting his lip to keep from crying out. His finger was shattered, as expected, the flesh reddened with burst blood vessels. Even tiny cuts leaked blood. But he could still move, and he showed it to Aizawa.

Aizawa stared at the digit, before turning to the device in his hand. It beeped, "...Three kilometers." He held in a groan, "Good job kid. That was much better than your first attempt." Praise where praise was due. He couldn't in good conscience send the boy home. He clearly belonged in the class if he was able to instinctually limit the danger to himself on only his second ever attempt at using the Quirk. "Here's a note for the nurse."

"Th-thank you, sensei." Izuku said through grit teeth as he took the card.

"I'll show the revised rankings later." Aizawa said, "Or rather, the real rankings, with Midoriya's updated score." He glared at them, "For once, every last one of you impressed me, so no one is going home today. Congratulations." The class let out a collective sigh of relief, "Don't celebrate too fast. Remember, I can send you home any time I wish. Keep pushing and improving or the potential I saw today gets erased. Tomorrow's trails won't be any easier." He turned and walked away, "Off you go. Rest of the day is free. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

And then the class swarmed Izuku, before Ochako loudly reminded them he had to go to the nurse. She walked away with him, Iida following behind with Momo following too, creating a splint for his finger so that it wouldn't jostle his injury as they walked.

-[-

XIII: IzuMomo

-[-

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Momo was startled when someone knocked on her door. Her brows furrowed, having not really expected anyone. They'd already had Mina's whole Room Competition last night, after all. Had something happened? She closed her math book after putting her bookmark between the pages. She could use a small break anyway. Even if it paid to be a couple chapters ahead during class, it could be a bit tedious at times.

She made sure her clothes were proper (she had yet to shower so she was still in her school uniform, just sans socks and her tie) and walked to the door, opening it. Her eyebrows raised slightly as she took in her surprise guest, "Midoriya-kun?"

"H-hello Yaoyorozu-san." She found his stammer pretty confusing at the best of times. How could someone with such an amazing, albeit dangerous quirk be so... easily frightened of everything? He had improved massively throughout the school year to be sure, but it never vanished entirely. "May I come in?"

She flushed minutely, trying not to let the sudden heat show on her face. A boy? Alone with her in her room? How improper! "W-well." Oh no! Now she was stammering too! Was it contagious? She cleared her throat, before standing to the side and letting him in, "Sure, Midoriya-kun." The room felt even more cramped with him inside and she felt herself flush a little more in embarrassment. How was she supposed to know the rooms would be so small? "My apologies for the lack of space."

He waved her off, "It's no problem." The silence after was a wee bit awkward.

Momo cleared her throat, "What can I do for you, Midoriya-kun?" She was no less confused than

she had been when she'd first seen him.

The stutter disappeared, "I just wanted to check up on you..." He averted his eyes, "See how you were...holding up after..." He trailed off.

Oh. "Your strength is a product of endless training and a wealth of experience. But I don't need it. Because your Quirk isn't one that would suit Tomura." The sheer terror she'd experienced a few nights ago hit all over again. Terror so thick and malevolent that it had almost made her sick. A villain with the power of All Might and the malice to use it.

Izuku's arms wrapped around her, and it made her realize she had been trembling, her breathing hurried and heart hammering in her chest. She hadn't even heard him calling her name, multiple times. With almost a whine, she wrapped her arms around him as well, her head dropping to rest on his shoulder. She clenched him like a lifeline, and he rubbed her back, "I know..." He whispered, "I know... I was terrified too."

Momo took shuddering breaths, not caring that they weren't really close enough to be doing this. She hardly thought she was close enough to any of her peers to do this. But they had shared that experience. For better or for worse, he had been right beside her during their hare-brained rescue mission. Right beside her when she was so scared she had almost powdered the bones in his left hand, squeezing it. This was something only they could share. It hadn't been Kirishima, or Iida, or even Todoroki who had come to try to see if she was okay. It had been shy little Izuku.

Izuku just continued rubbing her back as she calmed down. Her heart stopped beating so fast, and her breaths evened back out. "I couldn't do anything." She finally whispered into the crook of his

neck. Tears of frustration pooling in her eyes. "I-" She started to cry, "I can never do anything! I froze up in the sports festival and I froze up during the rescue too. How am I supposed to-"

"Yaoyorozu-san!" Izuku pulled away and held her at arm's length. "I can't believe what I'm hearing! Do you have any idea how amazing you are?"

Her mouth opened soundlessly, and clicked shut, "You're just saying that..." She replied bitterly. "I can never do anything outside of controlled settings. Who cares if I come in first in classes or if I do well in things like Aizawa-sensei's assessments? Whenever I have to fight I just fall apart."

Izuku looked bewildered, "Yaoyorozu-san..." He said slowly, "Have you trained as a combatant?" She opened her mouth again, but slowly closed it, "No. You haven't. You've trained to use your quirk. You've trained your mind. You've had mock battles where All Might put us against each other and all but told us to have fun. But you haven't trained in combat. Why would you expect to be amazing at something you haven't been taught to excel in? A musician isn't born with a violin in hand playing a symphony!" He sounded amused at the thought, and Momo smiled weakly as well.

She shook her head, "None of you were really taught either, but Todoroki-san and Bakugō-san-"

"Kacchan has known he would be a combat hero since he was a child, and Todoroki-san is Endeavor's son." Izuku replied so flatly she flushed a little bit.

"And what about you?" She challenged him, "I...no offense Midoriya-kun, but you came into this class breaking yourself at every turn, and now you're one of the best fighters we have-"

"A novice learns faster than a master." Izuku replied, cutting her off. He paused, and visibly had a debate with himself before he sighed, "Can you keep a secret? Seriously, I'd be trusting you with something really big here."

"I..." Momo hesitated. They... they really hardly knew one another. Could she trust herself with something like this? She bit her lip, before nodding. If he wanted to put his faith in her, she would never let him down.

"Until this year, I thought I was Quirkless. The first time I used my Quirk was the entrance exam. The second was Aizawa-sensei's test." He whispered, and Momo swore she felt her heart stop. That... that was impossible! She must have said it out loud, because he snickered a little bit, "Kacchan knows a little, obviously. We grew up together. That's why he freaked out and tried to attack me after I used it."

"Oh my god." She finally let out a breath, "No wonder you performed so badly to start with. A Quirk as powerful as yours... You were like a child playing with a... a loaded gun!"

"More like a landmine." He smiled weakly, and she shuddered at the mental image. "So everyone else had over a decade of using their Quirk to figure it out. I've been playing catch up this entire time. Obviously once I got an idea of how to use it, I would figure things out quickly. To be honest... it still doesn't even feel like my Quirk."

"That's..." Her estimation of him had started at the bottom. She'd been weirded out by his Quirk and frankly terrified of his mental state when it came to the sports festival. It was one of the reasons she had never really approached him. His willingness to shatter his own fingers over and over to fight Todoroki had truly been something else. Something crazy. But now? Knowing what she knew? Having seen him in action; seen him improving all the while? Her admiration for him shot into the stratosphere. "You're amazing... Izuku." He flushed, "It just makes me wonder even

more if I deserve to be here." And she was back to being down on herself. "Momo." Izuku was clearly not happy with her, "You. Belong. Here."

Momo broke, "But I DON'T!" She yelled in frustration, clenching her fists. "Every one of you got in on your own merit! You, Bakugō, Ochako, Tsu... All I did was mention offhand that I wanted to be a Hero during breakfast and my parents went and got me a recommendation for U.A! I didn't HAVE to prove myself to get in, and the first chance I had to do so, I blew it!"

"Momo." Izuku put his hands on her shoulders. She wouldn't look at him and he bit his lip, wondering if this would be too forward even for this new camaraderie they had. 'Plus Ultra.' He thought to himself, raising one of his hands to her cheek and forcing her to look at him. They both immediately flushed at the intimate act. "If you weren't here, Kacchan would still be in the League's hands and All Might would be dead. You're the reason we're not facing a total disaster right now!"

"What?!" Momo gasped, "No, surely no-"

"Even hurting and nearly unconscious, you had the wherewithal and intelligence to plant that bug on that Nōmu. If you hadn't done that, we wouldn't have been there, and All Might would have had to fight All For One alone while also protecting Kacchan! He couldn't do both and you know it! You were there." Izuku put his other hand back on her shoulder, "You saved All Might. Kirishima, Iida, Todoroki, and I may have done the work in the moment, but you're the only reason it was even possible in the first place."

Momo's lips trembled, "You're just saying that." Her voice warbled as she spoke, her eyes averted again.

Again, Izuku was daring, cupping her cheek, and making her look at him once more, emboldened by the lack of rejection from the first time, "I'm not. You DESERVE to be here, and everyone seems to know it but you." Izuku said, and blushed as her hand came up and grabbed his. He chuckled a little nervously, "Honestly, I'm the one who's supposed to be a mess wondering if I deserve to be here."

"No, you're not! You're amazi..." She stopped, "...oh."

He smirked, which was unusual for him, "Now you're getting it." He laughed in self-depreciation. "But let's put you to a little test if you still don't believe me." He pulled away and Momo was surprised to realize she missed the warmth of his hand on her face. Her blush intensified a little and she averted her eyes. Izuku noticed, but put it aside for now, "You say you want more combat ability? I had a lot of time to consider things and I have an idea. An idea I got based on the tracker you made."

"O-okay." Momo prepared herself. She'd listened to his (somewhat off putting) mumbling before, so she prepared for a potentially crazy idea.

"I want you to create a tiny little pellet of the heaviest material you can think of. Just a tiny little ball from the tip of your finger. Oh, and make sure it's not brittle too" Izuku told her.

She blinked, 'What use is that?' She wondered. It seemed pretty tame. But she inwardly shrugged, raised a finger, and out popped a tiny little pellet of Tungsten. Izuku picked it up and rolled it between his fingers, smiling softly. 'What crazy idea do you have, Izuku?'

"Good!" He chirped, and... walked past her? He opened the window, while Momo watched with

question marks all over her face. "Come here!" Momo did so, still in utter confusion. "See that tree over there?"

"...Yes?"

"Good. Point your finger at it like a gun." Izuku told her, and hesitantly, she did so, "Now I want you to create that same pellet...except I want you to create it with a velocity already attached to it."

"What?!" Momo lowered her finger in shock, "That's not how my quirk works though! I can only create physical, non-living objects!"

"Oh? Then how did you create a full tracking device with a pre-paired instrument to track it, both with full batteries that never ran out despite going over a week without a charge?" Izuku asked her, and Momo felt her brain seize up.

"I-wah?!" She stammered, all but logic bombed.

"Perhaps your Quirk evolved already, or maybe it was just something you never had the knowledge to do previously." Izuku mused, "But whatever the case may be, you're so used to it and what you think are its limitations that you're incapable of looking at it objectively. There's no harm in trying it out. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong, and we can try something else."

We. We can try something else. Momo flushed, but to her own surprise she felt pleased at the idea. She hesitated for another moment, but swallowed her lack of trust down. She raised her finger and took aim, closing her eyes and visualizing. A crystalline lattice of Tungsten popped into her mind; the atomic structure apparent. She normally wouldn't have to concentrate so much for something so simplistic, but this was an entirely new idea. In her mind, the pellet warped into a more bullet- shaped object, one that was spinning. She had never tried that before either, but knew old timey musket balls were about as accurate as a malfunctioning pitching machine. And then she pictured it moving. Moving extremely fast. She wasn't sure how fast guns shot, but 1000 m/s should be plenty, right?

She opened her eyes and aimed for a branch, her finger starting to glow and sparkle. The both of them flinched as their eardrums popped, before the branch she had aimed for practically exploded, falling to the ground. Momo gaped in shock, having honestly not expected that to work. At all.

"How fast was that going?" Izuku asked faintly, massaging his ears.

Momo's face was on fire, having not considered that shooting something faster than the speed of

sound would cause a sonic boom. They were lucky it was a tiny little pellet, "...1000 m/s?" "..."

"..."

"Holy crap Momo, you're overpowered." Izuku said, his voice awed.

Momo legitimately wished she had Ochako's quirk so that when she clapped her hands to her face, she could just float away. It took her a good two minutes to calm down, and then she faced him with tears in her eyes. She rushed at him and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him for all she was worth. "Thank you." She whispered, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She just repeated herself.

Izuku smiled happily, one arm around her shoulder and the other around her waist, "This opens a lot of doors for your quirk, doesn't it?"

"SO many!" She replied ecstatically. She pulled back, sniffing, "And I never would have figured it out if it wasn't for you. It's like you said... I could not look at it objectively anymore. I knew what my quirk was capable of." The dry emphasis she put on the word told him all he needed to know about what she thought of herself from five minutes ago.

He pulled back from her, but surprised her by cupping her cheek instead of letting go completely. Both of their faces flamed up at his boldness. "You're better than you think you are, and everyone can see how much potential you have. No more being down on yourself, okay?"

Her hand came up, squeezing his. They both blushed even harder when she nuzzled into his hand before she seemed to realize just what she had done. Her voice was remarkably even despite being so clearly flustered, "The same to you. I know you doubt yourself, Izuku-kun. If I'm not allowed to do it anymore, then neither are you."

Izuku swallowed heavily, and his eyes dipped to her lips. She clearly caught it if the sharp little gasp that escaped her was any indication. 'Plus Ultra.' He thought to himself again, closing his arms and retightening the hug. He pulled her in, hand on her cheek sliding to the base of her skull. She came eagerly as their lips met for the first time. She moaned both from surprise and happiness into his mouth as they kissed, wet smooches sounding in the air. She pressed up into him, pulling him up with her own hand in his fluffy hair.

When they finally broke for air, she couldn't help but blurt, "This is so bold! Who are you and what have you done with Izuku!?"

"One of the others was bound to grow a brain eventually!" Was his breathless reply.

Doki doki

She lunged at him, sealing his lips with her own again and knocking the both of them to her bed. Her romance novels had not prepared her for anything like this, and it was so much better.

XIV: V-Zuku

-[- -[-

"In your seats." Aizawa growled out as he stared at his new first year class, "If you're here to hang out or act up, you can leave." He shrugged off his sleeping bag and dragged it behind him as he made his way to his desk, "I'm your homeroom teacher. Aizawa Shōta. Nice to meet you, I guess." The students had hurried and made their way to whatever empty seats they could find; the tall blue- haired boy from the Iida family and the brown-haired Uraraka being the last ones to sit. "Fifteen seconds. That's 15 pedestrians that could have been injured while you were busy getting it together."

The class seemed to flinch at his words. Not all of them, though. The blonde who looked like he was allergic to hair gel was still slouching in his seat like he owned the place, feet up on his desk. He still had a look of haughty superiority on his face. As if his teacher's words wouldn't matter.

That one would have to either be broken or get kicked out. He wasn't the only one, but he was the only one that seemed to seep arrogance from his very pores. Aizawa took out one of the gym uniforms from his sleeping bag, making the class goggle momentarily. Why the hell did he have one in there?! "Get these on and make your way to training ground Alpha." He said, "You'll be getting started immediately. No time for any of the ceremonial nonsense."

The announcement seemed to suck the life out of some of them. He could already tell which ones probably hated academics. As they got up and filed out, Aizawa called out, "Oh, and I won't be the one doing this examination." They froze, and turned at him with quizzical expressions, "Nezu in his illustrious wisdom, has decided that some teaching experience will be invaluable for our last remaining third years. As such, two of our Elite Four will be assigned to either Heroics class."

"L-Last remaining?" Uraraka called out, putting a sick smile on Aizawa's face as planned.

"Oh yes, did you not know?" Aizawa continued smirking at them, "If you don't cut it in Heroics, you either drop out, get expelled, or get transferred out of the program by the time you graduate." The students paled to the color of snow. Well, most of them did, "And don't think talent will save you either. We're here to train heroes, not athletes. That's Plus Ultra." His eyes flash red, "So don't mouth off to your senpai, because we're affording them quite a bit of leeway. Go break a leg."

-[-

"Sensei was so scary..." Ochako mumbled to Yaoyorozu Momo, her new friend from the locker rooms. They were in an urban setting rather than a field.

Momo herself was feeling a little less self-assured than she had been all morning, "I thought he might have been bluffing, but I ran into an upperclassman after I left the locker room." With her ability to just create her own clothes, she had been the first girl out of the locker rooms, "They said that Aizawa-sensei was notorious for losing students throughout the year. Usually through expulsions."

The reserved Kodai Yui spoke softly, as if she were unused to speaking, "We have a better chance than most, don't we? Our senpai aren't Aizawa-sensei."

"Kero, hopefully they're nice."

The boys weren't quiet either. "Damn bro, I knew UA was rough but I didn't think they were 'threaten expulsion on day one' rough." Kaminari mumbled.

"If you don't think you can cut it, you should just buzz off now, Extra." Bakugō shot out with a nasty smirk.

"Jeez, let's all calm down, yeah?" Kirishima tried to placate everyone.

"Man, the girls are all so fucking hooootttt..." Mineta wasn't even paying attention, and was instead cursing that the gym uniforms weren't skirts for the girls. They weren't even yoga pants either!

He wasn't quiet enough, because several of the girls shot him dirty glares, immediately writing him off as boyfriend or even friend material.

Before anything else could happen, dust kicked up along with a burst of wind, "Hiiii, everyone!" A cute, bubbly girl descended on them, dressed in her full hero costume which consisted of extremely tight, blue spandex. Several of the boys nearly keeled over with nosebleeds. She was so hot. Her boobs were just as big if not bigger than Yaoyorozu's! "It's so nice to meet you!" She smiled brilliantly at them, making them all relax, "I have so many questions!"

'She's an airhead!' Most of the students who thought this relaxed further.

Momo diplomatically stepped up, "It's a pleasure as well, senpai. What is your name?" She smiled at the periwinkle-haired beauty.

Their senpai landed fully on the ground, "Hadō Nejire!" She cheered, "My hero name is Nejire- chan!" She shot twin peace signs at them with another beaming smile, making several boys (and at least one girl) fall in love immediately.

"It's a pleasure, Nejire-senpai." Momo smiled back with a short bow, "We were told that we would have two senpai administering this test. Has that changed?"

CLACK

"Your situational awareness could use work. I've been here all along." They all jumped as another CLACK rang through the air, and whirled around. A boy stepped out of the shadows, wearing what looked like a sleeveless leather coat that went down to his knees, with black slacks and combat boots. His coat was mostly open, revealing his pale skin and the fact he was covered in tattoos from the neck down. Something which immediately triggered Iida, who was all about propriety. He had dark green hair and eyes, which were piercing in their intensity. In his right hand was a cane; the reason for the loud clacking sound.

He made his way around them to Nejire, but one student in particular first stopped short in shock and then started boiling in rage, "DEKU?! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Several of the other students gasped, horrified.

'Deku' stopped short, turning to stare at Katsuki, "Bakugō. They let you of all people in here?"

Oh. They knew each other. And clearly hated one another. This could be bad.

Katsuki's hands crackled with explosions, "What the fuck did you say to me?"

"Bro, calm down!" Kirishima grabbed his shoulder and tried to get him to stop, only for Katsuki to jerk his shoulder away.

"You should listen to Kirishima-san." Izuku said, looking away from the blonde and making his way to Nejire, who had a scowl on her face as she stared at Katsuki. "Before you lose your chance at this school entirely."

But Katsuki didn't stop, "Look who grew a pair the last three years, Deku. How the fuck did a useless, Quirkless bastard like you cheat your way into UA?!" He took a step forward, "You fucking think you're better than me?"

"As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible." Izuku replied, which went over some heads momentarily.

"Oh my." Momo was hiding her mouth behind a hand, a little mortified at the interaction.

"Enough!" The normally bubbly Nejire snapped, and seeing as how it felt almost like a crack of thunder, everyone flinched. "Mou, Izuku-kun. It hasn't even been a minute and you're already causing trouble?"

"My apologies." Izuku had a small little smirk on his face, "I'm afraid Bakugō always brings out the worst in everyone." Yet more crackles of explosions rang out from the blonde, who had an angry vein pulsing on his head, "Midoriya Izuku." He called out, "That is my name. On the field... you may refer to me as Vergil."

Todoroki stepped forward, "We've wasted enough time already." He stared blankly at the two, "We came here to UA because it was the best school in the world, and yet we've been pawned off to two students on our first day." He stared dispassionately at Izuku, "One of whom appears to be a

cripple." Several students let out gasps at his rudeness, "What exactly gives you the qualifications to teach us?"

Izuku did not change his expression, though Nejire looked angry again, "I see you are as rude and unruly as your father, Todoroki-san." The heterochromic boy nearly let out a growl, squaring his shoulder and taking a more predatory stance, "But very well. You have no reason to trust us, after all." He grasped his cane by the middle of the shaft, "If you wish to test us first, then come at me."

Todoroki didn't even allow Bakugō a chance to move, stomping on the ground and sending a wall of ice spikes forward. The entire class let off shrieks of shock as Izuku was impaled multiple times by the attack, and even Todoroki looked shocked and regretful. And then Izuku faded away as if he were never there, and Todoroki let out a gasp of pain as his hair was grabbed from behind and yanked. He landed roughly on his back, the air escaping his lungs in a painful rush. And then Izuku's boot landed on his throat, pressing just lightly enough to make Todoroki realize he could have just died.

But Izuku wasn't idle. Katsuki had whirled to him, eyes wide in disbelief, but his arms sparking with his quirk nonetheless. He never got a chance to attack. Izuku's cane lashed out and hooked the blonde's ankle. Katsuki's leg was pulled forward, yanking him off his feet and landing him on the ground in an equally painful manner. Izuku pointed the cane at the boy, and then his tattoos came alive. They raced off his arm and down the shaft of his cane, before coalescing into a black panther with glowing red veins running through its inky fur.

The panther roared right in Katsuki's face, its fangs slavering.

The arrogant blonde nearly pissed his pants, covering himself with his arms in utter terror.

"Now, now, Shadow, no eating him. We don't want Nezu to complain again." Shadow moved away, following its master as Izuku took his boot off Todoroki's throat and turned away. The beast turned back into its namesake and crawled up Izuku's arm. He walked back to Nejire after shattering the ice with a wave of his cane, "Any other questions?"

No. There were not. Just terror.

-[-

Really glad the last one seemed to be basically universally loved. Raifu is waifu. Did get some complaints about the romance speed, but all I can say to that is FUCK IT. DEATH TO THE SLOW BURN.

Welp, I hope you enjoyed these four! They'd been sitting for quite a while with no more real ideas coming from any of them (or at least no ideas that didn't involve ( ͡ ͜ʖ ͡) ), so I decided to get them joined together and posted.

On the third-to-last one: I'm well aware that the time between the kidnapping and the rescue wasn't that long canonically. Still, I DO believe Momo is totally underutilizing her Quirk and that's one of the things that bothered me. I just exaggerated it a tad.

For the last one: That is Devil May Cry's Vergil reincarnated as Izuku. He starts off using V's powers exclusively because his body obviously can't handle full Vergil.

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