Midoriya Izuku was, for all intensive purposes, a patient guy. In fact, out of everyone within Class 1-A, he was probably one of the most patient, with only a select few being able to steal that title from him - and even then, it was a toss-up.

He had been blessed with patience; a gift bestowed upon him as he eagerly awaited the development of a quirk that would never truly come. Each morning when he awoke, he would sit on his bed, eagerly checking to see if maybe he'd developed some type of abnormal power, deflating when nothing changed, before immediately popping back to his normal mood, checking in different ways throughout the day. Each night, he'd whisper a quiet plea that the next day would hold something different, before he plunged into a dreamscape where he wasn't as powerless as he was in real life.

But nothing ever changed.

Even so, he had remained patient - reluctantly, perhaps, but nonetheless, patient.

When he'd developed his quirk, he'd learned that the patience he'd developed was critical to his development - that was, if he was to properly utilize and withstand it, he would have to be patient, lest he desire to shatter his body. He needed to get stronger - and there was no cutting corners in the pursuit of strength.

Sometimes, he forgot that not everyone was as patient as he was. He knew some of his friends lacked any semblance of patience - such as Mineta, when it came to talking to females. Instead of getting to know them, he rushed directly toward something lewd.

Perhaps Mineta wasn't the best example?

Kirishima lacked patience in combat, strangely enough. The Hardened quirk user was fast to rush in, and faster to throw the first punch, throwing strategy out the window in favor of overwhelming, relentless, brute force. It didn't quite suit his quirk, but it had its moments, so Midoriya let it be. Who was he to correct someone's habits if they didn't want correction?

He learned that Ashido was far from patient when it came to just about anything related to anything. School-work? She barely put the time in to study. Shopping? It was the first thing she found, there was no such thing as a better price. Training? It could take too long if it wasn't combat training. Genuinely, he liked her as a person - she was fun, sweet, and generally a great person. But patience was the farthest thing he'd use to describe her.

Other students could be better or worse, depending on the circumstances. For instance, Midoriya quickly learned that Todoroki's patience vanished when it came to ice cream, but he remained collected in combat - a strange combination. Bakugou lacked patience in everything except combat (and even then, he could be relatively impatient then, too).

Something like patience was necessary when dealing with two little children. It was one of the reason's that Midoriya was best suited to care for the young children; it was also one of the greatest tests he'd endured, and begged the question - how much patience did he really have?

At first, his patience seemed limitless.

Eri's hesitance to open up to anyone was duly noted, but as time went on, she slowly became accustomed to the presence of Mirio and Izuku - her duel dad team, as some would say. Once she became accustomed, she did everything in her power to remain at one of their sides, attaching to them like a baby duckling imprints to the first thing it sees. Midoriya didn't mind the amount of time he poured into coddling her, because in his mind, she'd earned it with all the horrific things she'd been through. He slept when she was able to fall asleep, he awoke when she shot up in bed, he consoled her when she cried, he ate with her when she was still recovering her weight... he was the definition of patient.

When Koda came around, the script remained the same. He didn't mind Koda's indifference, although compared to the first time, the young boy was significantly kinder than he'd been. There were far less injuries, too.

Heck, he was patient when the two children squabbled, their personalities rubbing each other just subtly in the wrong direction. He didn't mind separating them, putting his body in between their childish feud, smiling gently as they sheepishly clammed up and immediately understood what they'd done, before apologizing quietly.

There wasn't a time he was known for being... not patient. (Minus a few select instances in combat, which everyone could overlook)

So the silence that had settled between Mirio, who was looking awfully guilty, Kaminari, who was idly looking anywhere but at Midoriya, Kirishima, who was whistling a faint tune, Sero, who was smiling guilty, and Shouji, who was staring straight down, with his tentacles limp, had become quite tense.

"Who's going to fill me in?" Midoriya asked sternly, crossing his arms as he did so.

The silence remained thick between the five males, each one unwilling to break their silent vows. Midoriya wrinkled his nose, but understood that they did feel guilty. He could visibly see their guilt - but that didn't mean he wasn't upset.

He glanced back at Eri, making sure she wasn't playing with her puffy nose and was keeping it pinched, since she'd already begun fuddling with it once, to unfavorable results. His eyes slid over to Koda, who was quietly nursing an ice pack over a swollen eye, casually playing on Midoriya's phone, which ended up enrapturing Eri, too.

When he'd first seen them, he almost fainted on the spot. They hadn't been hurt under his care since he took charge of their care, proving to everyone that he was a worthy guardian. Though that wasn't to say they hadn't developed little bumps and bruises along the way. They were kids, after all. And a tender amount of TLC had them up and running in no time. However, once the shock had worn off, he'd sprung into action, dabbing at Eri's nose with gentle precise motions, and checking its alignment. Once he was satisfied it wasn't broken, he instructed her to pinch and lean forward to help stop the bleeding, soothingly rubbing her back as she hiccupped a few times as tears leaked from her eyes as she had to endure the stinging pain. Koda, on the other hand, was rather stoic, and easily accepted the bag of ice as Midoriya made sure that there was no damage to his eyeball. He had tried to play it off, but quickly understood that his caretaker meant business.

They'd also sustained small injuries - a few scuff marks here, a bruise or scrape there, nothing too out of the ordinary - but that was, unfortunately, to be expected.

Once the heir to All Might was satisfied that his children were properly cared for, he turned his gaze to those that were possibly responsible, and since then, they'd been locked in a silent stalemate. He certainly wasn't going to back down, so it was simply a matter of time before someone cracked - and Midoriya was going to be sure one of them cracked.

"We can sit here all day."

Silence reigned supreme.

Izuku sighed and turned away from the group of his classmates. "Or, I can just ask these two. And let their wild imagination run free."

A sudden chorus of "no, wait!", "please don't!", and "hold on!" rang out, putting a thin smile on Midoriya's lips momentarily, before he wiped away the smile and turned back to them, hands on his hips. "Then tell me what happened."

Kirishima bit his lip, before rubbing his arm. "We just thought they'd enjoy some games outside, and..."

He trailed off, but Midoriya was not satisfied. That didn't answer why his two children were bleeding and bruised, looking like they'd gone a round or two with a younger Bakugou. He crossed his arms and narrowed his gaze, which immediately caused Kirishima to look away again.

"W-we might have overdone it," Sero admitted. He shuddered uncomfortably as Midoriya's dark green gaze focused in on him, and for a second, he regret speaking up in the first place. Sensing the teen wasn't going to relent until more information was shared, Sero pressed on, doing his best to ignore the look he was getting. "We were rough-housing a little, and, well... they're not as sturdy!"

"Of course they aren't - they're children!" Midoriya said exasperatedly. He took in a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Mirio, you didn't stop them?"

"Actually, I di-"

"He encouraged it." Shouji said without remorse.

Silence.

"That's cold," Kaminari admitted, watching Mirio stare at the multiple-armed hero-in-training with betrayal shining in his eyes.

Sero did his best to not laugh. "Extremely."

Knowing that Mirio was equally - if not more - guilty didn't exactly help Midoriya figure out what to do. There wasn't exactly a handbook for how to punish people who were apparently not responsible. Plus, it wasn't like they were irresponsible people... they just had a terrible lapse of judgement, which warranted some type of punishment, right? Or did it only deserve a warning?

"What am I doing to do with you guys...?" Midoriya asked quietly, to no one in particular.

He asked himself, 'what would Mr. Aizawa do?', and quickly realized that he'd probably have them perform some terrible remedial punishment, which would inevitably include some type of exam or extra homework. He shuddered; that was too stiff, in his opinion. Midnight would...

He shuddered again.

Maybe he'd just do what he felt was right...?

"Why the fuck are you all standing around like a bunch of idiots?"

Five pairs of eyes widened, darting between the blonde-haired boy that entered the Common Room, and the green-haired boy that sighed heavily. "Please don't swear around the kids, Kacchan..."

He grunted, giving Midoriya a glare, but seemingly abiding by his request. "Doesn't answer my question."

"Koda and Eri were hurt when they were all playing outside, and I'm trying to figure out how to punish them."

Bakugou's eyes widened, and he peeked around Midoriya, catching an eyeful of Eri's swollen red nose, along with Koda's puffed eye, and immediately whirled on the group of teens - who were now much more regretful than they'd been a few seconds ago.

"WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU DUMBSHITS DOING, HUH?!" He pointed at the two kids - who were thankfully too distracted by Midoriya's phone to notice what was transpiring - and raised his other hand, detonating several miniature explosions to demonstrate his rage. "WHY DO THEY LOOK LIKE FUCKING DEKU WHEN HE FIGHTS?!"

"I-I wouldn't say they look like me..." However, Midoriya's weak protest fell on deaf ears.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING IDEA OF HOW TO FUCKING TAKE CARE OF CHILDREN, HUH?!" Nobody responded immediately, mumbling responses, but avoiding the furious red-eyed glare that Bakugou was now sporting. "I CAN'T FUCKING HEAR YOU COWARDS!"

Ignoring his profanity-littered tirade, Midoriya was somewhat impressed with the blonde boy's initiative and care for the two young children, despite his façade that he didn't care much for them. He knew that, deep down, he had a very small soft spot for the children, and he'd already been put under their spell.

He just wished that the explosive teenager would dial back his cursing... but that was an issue for another day.

"SHITTY HAIR, C'MERE." Immediately, the red-haired teen stepped forward without question. He grabbed Kirishima by the collar and began pulling him away, ignoring the teen's feeble protests. "Quit bitchin'! Take your punishment like a fuckin' man!"

There was a fade in the voices as Bakugou got Kirishima into the elevator, and a moment of silence descended upon the remaining students, knowing that their red-haired friend was probably going to receive the harshest punishment.

"R.I.P. Kirishima…" Kaminari muttered, his hand going to his chest, as he released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

Silently, everyone agreed with that assessment. Bakugou had relaxed a bit over the time he'd been at U.A., but his temper was still nothing to ignore, and something told the boys that Kirishima was not going to be released without a few bruises. He was in Bakugou's clutches now; there was no escaping punishment. Even Midoriya felt a small semblance of pity for the spiky-haired teenager, but the feeling passed as soon as it came; a consequence of his decisions, in the end.

Unfortunately, even with Bakugou's involvement, there was still no answer that was given as to what the ideal punishment was. Screaming and cursing was hardly a punishment (and it felt rather childish, in Midoriya's opinion - not that he'd ever tell that to Bakugou), and while he didn't need to punish them, it didn't feel right knowing they hadn't learned anything.

Besides; his parental alarm was going off, and he knew he needed to respond to it.

A sudden thought occurred to him: what if instead of punishing them out of principle's sake... he punished them AND helped them improve?

'Isn't that what Aizawa would do...?' He wondered for a second, before brushing it off. There was no way that Aizawa would have them train as a punishment - right? … Right?

A smile crossed Midoriya's lips, and for a second, the remaining males looked at him with a glimmer of hope. There was no way that their cinnamon bun would do anything cruel. He was a blessed child. A fluffy cloud in the sky. The flower that bloomed in the garden, sweet-smelling and pretty to look at. He was their sugar to all the bitter foods they'd encountered. The voice of clarity in a world of chaos.

He wouldn't really punish them.

"Izuku?"

"Yes, Eri?" Turning to face the little girl, Midoriya smiled widely as he casually lifted a dumbbell, feeling the familiar strain in his bicep; a welcomed feeling each time he lifted the weight. If he wasn't struggling, he wasn't improving - that's how he viewed weight-training.

The girl cutely presented a jump-rope and frowned as it appeared tangled in multiple places. "I can't use it."

"Here, let me fix it," Izuku suggested happily, taking the rope as he set his weights down. Meticulously, he began furrowing the plastic coil through each loop, slowly undoing the monstrosity that had became the tangled mess. He hummed a little tune as he did so, causing Eri to join in, bobbing her head up and down as she hummed.

She glanced to the background, putting a finger to the corner of her mouth (like she'd seen Midoriya do so many times before) as she studied the various movements going on in the back.

"Hey Izuku?"

"Hmm?"

"Why's everyone screaming so much?"

Izuku glanced at his friends, frowning slightly as he did so. Kota was watching over their exercises like a hawk, glaring at anyone who dared to slack off, while also giving quick rushes of water out to anyone that earned a break. It was like watching a drill-sergeant work his men without remorse, only pitying them enough to give them a few seconds of reprieve before sending them back into the field for more training.

Kaminari was sparring with Shouji- although, it was less of a sparring match, and more of a massacre, as the multi-limbed teenager was making quick work of the electricity-user. Even though he was permitted to use his quirk, Kaminari was only allowed to use it along his body. Discharging any currents would render him less and less capable - and since they weren't allowed to stop anytime soon, the yellow-haired teen had to be smart with his quirk-usage.

Mirio and Sato were also going head-to-head, though it was slightly more fair. Even with Mirio's current status, Sato was still on the receiving end of multiple quick jabs, and was sporting multiple bruises from the larger boy's more power-based offenses. Several times, Sato had been able to neutralize the burly teenager, but more often than not, he found himself pinned to the ground, face-to-face with Mirio's giant grin.

"I gotta say; this punishment ain't so bad!" Mirio exclaimed, throwing another series of punches, following by a sweeping kick to Sato's lack of awareness.

The wiry boy grunted as he hit the ground, before wheezing as Mirio spun him over and planted his foot on Sato's back. "E-easy for you to say..."

Kaminari couldn't even come up with words as he desperately defended himself from Shouji's relentless attacks, trying to coat his body in enough electricity to keep the jabs from coming. Even though they stung, Shouji was hardly deterred, opting to power through the tingling sensation, in an effort to recompense for his mistakes earlier.

Finally, a quick jab ended Kaminari's defense, and the yellow-haired boy threw his arms up in exasperation.

"I give! You win!"

He went to walk away - or limp, depending at the angle you stood at - but upon leaving the makeshift sparring arena, a shiver ran down his spine. Slowly, he turned to see Midoriya stretching, bioelectrical waves of energy crackling along his limbs, eagerly biting at the air. The teen had an innocent smile, as if he were invited to play a game.

"I didn't know you wanted to spar, Kaminari! You should've just said something!"

"W-what?!" Kaminari said, slowly backing up. His eyes glanced at Koda, who smirked, having rat the boy out. Kaminari's eyebrow twitched; he'd been played.

"One-For-All... Full Cowling!" Midoriya mumbled, squatting down as the energy built up further. Dust began to swirl, a sign of the boy's increasing power, and Kaminari's life suddenly began flashing before his eyes. "Ready or not... here I come!"

"Wait-wait-wait-wait-WAIT-WAIT-WA-"

"Rochester... SMASH!"

There was no time for Kaminari to even defend himself, as Midoriya swooped upon him like a bat out of hell, swinging his leg sideways, hitting the poor yellow-haired boy like a log rolling down a hill. Time seemed to slow as the teenager was sent flying through the air, crashing into Shouji and Sero, knocking the duo into a pile of limbs and bruises.

Mirio, seeing an opportunity to claim his victory, firmly placed a foot on top of the pile, ignoring the groans that came from below, and grinned, flashing Midoriya a thumbs up. "I have wo-"

Just as he went to speak, Kaminari's control over his electricity released, coating the pile of teenagers in an aura of yellow electricity, forcing Midoriya into action, darting forward to sweep Eri into his arms, before rushing over to Kota. Realistically, there wasn't a need to grab the two - nor was he fast enough to grab them before the attack started - however, he wanted to ensure that no stray bolt accidentally danced over to where they were. He wouldn't forgive himself if they were hurt twice in less than 24 hours.

The attack ended as fast as it began, and Mirio slowly removed his foot, a grin still on his face. "Ow."

Midoriya blinked, still surprised by the chain of effects, but it was Eri that broke the silence. "Looks like they're done for today."

"Can we get food?" Kota asked suddenly.

Eri seemed to agree. "Food!" She said, with a tiny amount of drool slipping from the corner of her mouth.

"Alright, alright," Midoriya said, laughing. He picked up the two kids - placing Kota on his shoulders, while holding Eri forward - and walked toward the dorms, shooting his classmates one more worried look. Once he heard Kaminari's 'whey', he knew everything was alright - after all, they were supposed to learn something, and punishments weren't supposed to be fun, right?

He smiled, sunshine emanating from his grin. Maybe he was cut out for this punishment thing after all.

Behind him, the group of teenagers sighed, groaning in pain as they untangled themselves. Maybe Midoriya wasn't so innocent after all...