A/N: Here's another update for everyone. I was a little nervous about releasing this chapter, and the one before it, just because now that the mystery is solved (and it will be a while before we get into the next one) the entire tone of the story has changed. I hope you guys like the change of pace, and I thank those of you who have left comments so far. It helps to know I'm going in the right direction!

XXX

Katsuki's Point of view- Friday

"Listen up, class. Today you will be participating in another speed test." Mr. Aizawa's voice rang throughout Ground Beta as we stood on the pavement facing him, his words met with a collective groan in protest. I'm guessing these extras don't feel like sprinting in this heat. Doesn't matter, I'll blow them all away by the time this is finished. With my fingers laced together, I apply enough pressure to get them to crack before rolling my neck and shoulders, working out all the kinks and crunches.

From the corner of my eye I can see the nerd stretching out his hamstrings in a low lunge, a light mist already covering his freckled skin from the heat. My eyes linger longer than necessary as he deepens his lunge, showing off the end result of hours and hours of lower body strength training. His muscles are lean, body flexible. I'm surprised he's still able to maintain that level of mass given he's barely fucking eating and has relaxed on his once stringent exercise routine. When he bends over at the waist and wraps his hands around his ankles, I have a very nice view of the rounded globes of his a- and what the fuck? Since when do I give a shit about what kind of shape the nerd's in? I shake my head and return my attention to Aizawa.

"You will be split into three random groups based off how much you've irritated me this week." At this, glasses raises his hand but is immediately cut off with, "And no, I will not tell you which level your group falls under. You can infer that for yourselves." And glasses lowers his hand. He won't be able to stand not knowing which group he's in and I bet that will throw him off his game. Maybe that's part of the point.

Next, Aizawa points to a line of white tape stretching the length of the road. "You will line up with your group, make sure there is plenty of space between each of you, and all you need to do is run to the other line that's just over there by the shorter, tan building. It's exactly half a mile off. Any questions?" This sounds deceptively easy but I'm not worried.

The purple shit stain raises his hand. I swear that fucker always has a fucking question.

"What is it, Mineta?" Mr. Aizawa asks with disinterest.

His beady eyes drift to where ponytail is standing before swinging back to Aizawa. "It's really hot today and I was just wondering if we could change into our swimwear for the run? You know, bikini's, little cut out pieces…"

"I concur!" Dunce face shouts out before receiving a swift kick to the shin from Pinkie. Idiots.

Aizawa rubs his temples with a groan, meanwhile some of the girls in our class look like they're suppressing the urge to beat the shit out of the little fuckwad. "I'm not even going to dignify that question with an answer. And Mineta?"

Pouting, the turd responds, "Sir?"

"You're in the first group. Kaminari, Sero, Ashido and Aoyama will be joining you. Second group-"

"Wait a sec, why am I in the bad group?" Tape dispenser whines.

"I've already informed you; I will not get into which group is which. Now then, the second group will consist of Bakugou, Midoriya, Uraraka-"

"Yay! Deku, we're in the same group!"

"For the love of- next student who interrupts me can run with a blindfold." Aizawa pointedly looks at Pink Cheeks as he says this. "As I was saying- Shoji, Jiro, Sato and Hagakure. You will all be running second. Everyone else, you will be last. Now first group, step up to the line."

Pinkie bounds up to the starting line with tape dispenser and shit stain sulking behind her. Dunce face trots over without a care in the fucking world with sparkles right next to him.

"Alright, on the count of three, you're going to run as fast as you can to the finish line. And before I forget, no quirks until you hit the halfway mark." We'll that's going to slow this down to a fucking crawl. "1… 2… 3!"

They're slow as shit without their quirks, and I'm surprised to see shit stain is actually maintaining his pace with the rest of the group. Watching them run is a waste of my time, even if they could use their quirks for the whole thing. I see Deku has his journal out, documenting even a mundane activity like this. After too fucking long, the band of extras finally make their merry way to that halfway point and I notice Mr. Aizawa smirks as he watches them approach the marker. I look on more intently, wondering what he's waiting for when it happens.

A huge cement wall breaches the ground, hurtling powerfully toward the clouds. Pinkie is the closest when it rises from the earth and subsequently smacks right into it. She hits it so hard she bounces back, landing hard on her ass. The rest of them aren't too far behind her and only sparkles is able to skid to a stop before colliding with cement. It's safe to say Cementoss is lurking somewhere nearby, probably enjoying this opportunity.

"Pft, fucking losers."

"Ouch, they're going to feel that later."

"Let this be a lesson to us all. As heroes we must always expect the unexpected."

Mineta once again surprises me when he starts pulling out those gross-ass grapes growing from his head and scales the wall before anyone else. The little shit is probably used to getting knocked on his ass and knows how to quickly rebound. It doesn't matter, it won't be long before Pinkie surfs on her little acid wave to the finish line. As they make their way to the end, a few more walls pop up, but the extras are unfazed, making it the whole way to the end.

The rest of the extras are jumping up and down, praising them for their accomplishment. It doesn't seem like much of one to me given the first obstacle slowed them all down considerably. I wouldn't call that shitshow anything worth celebrating. When they make their way back to the main group, they're all a little banged up, except for Sparkles but then I don't think I've ever seen so much as a bloody lip on that asshole.

"I hope everyone paid attention and has learned an important lesson here. Alright second group, you're up next."

Taking the lead, I jog to the starting point. The rest of my group follows close behind and I can hear Pink Cheeks chirping incessantly to Deku about one thing or another. Her tactical skills are almost admirable, but her bubbly personality drives me up a fucking wall. I look over my shoulder to find the two following behind everyone else, the nerd's pale and his gait is sluggish but Pink Cheeks seems to be too absorbed in whatever nonsense she's spouting to notice. Briefly, I wonder if his doctor fully realizes just how much he's pushing himself to stay here but then if I were in his situation, I would probably be doing the same damn thing, seeing my goals through until the very end.

"Okay, you know the drill. 1… 2… 3!"

XXX

Mr. Aizawa gave me a sideways kind of look when I asked him for permission to leave campus for the third weekend in a row. I wonder if he gives the nerd this much grief every time he asks but then again maybe Auntie has it prearranged for him. Either way, its fucking annoying and the only way out of it that I can think of is to get the Hag involved for a long-term excuse.

After my final class wraps up, I walk back to the dorms so I can change clothes and head over to Deku's room. He doesn't know I'm planning to go with him this weekend and I don't plan on giving him a fucking say in the matter. I was on the fence about it for most of the week but after staying up half the night last night and baking fucking cupcakes of all things, I finally decided it was not only what I needed to do but what I wanted to do.

As I roam the second-floor hallway, heading toward the nerd's room, a lump forms in my throat and for the hundredth time since getting involved in all of this, my body feels tamped down with regret. It's a bitter pill to swallow, especially since it's my own damn fault. So much time was wasted by pride driven actions and asinine comments whose sole purpose were to hurt. I went out of my way to saw into him, fucking smiling when my sharp words or bruising fists reduced him into nothing but a weeping mess on the floor. I never realized I was actually cutting into my own flesh too, leaving marks that would scar me because dammit, the whole time I bullied him he was already fucking hurting. Every time I weaponized my quirk against him, every time I spewed my venom, I was attacking a boy who already carried a burden too heavy for any one human to bear alone. And I made damn sure he was as alone and isolated as possible.

Uncovering his secret was a rude awakening for me. It opened my eyes to what I've done and left me with only one solution, redemption. And I don't want fucking redemption just to make myself feel better, but because when all is said and done, Deku was a good friend to me. He was a good friend to me through all the shit I put him through and now it's my turn to show him I can be one too. I have no fucking clue how to do it but I sure as hell am going to try.

Before I walk up to Deku's door, I glance around the hallway to ensure there aren't any nosy extras, whose intentions would be anything but fucking pure, hanging around the hall. Class 1-A is filled with a bunch of gossipy twats and I have zero patience or interest in drawing any extra attention from any of them. There's no one in sight so I go up to his door and raise my hand but before I can knock his door swings open.

"Kacchan? What are you doing here?" He pokes his head around the corner of his door, probably checking for the extras too. "If you're just here to yell at me about not eating, you can stop that right now. I had one of the cupcakes you made."

He had one of the- Jesus. "I swear to god Deku if that's the only thing you ate today, I will shove an entire meal down your throat on our way to the hospital! For fuck's sake."

"It's the only thing I could stomach and- wait a second. Did you just say on OUR way to the hospital? Kacchan, you aren't coming with me are you?" He looks unamused but he'll just have to fucking deal with it.

"That's right. I'm going with you, nerd. Fucking whine and throw a tantrum if you want but it wont change a damn thing."

"Kacchan… You shouldn't get involved with all of this."

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because you should be focusing on training to become a pro hero!"

"I'm pretty sure if a nerd like you can manage while maintaining your place in class then it should easy as hell for me. I'm not fucking worried about it."

Incomprehensible mumbles quickly spill form his lips while he twiddles with his fingers. It's too low for me to understand any of it so I cross my arms and lean against the wall as I wait for him to finish his freak out episode. It doesn't take long for his eyes to meet up with mine again. He looks worried and uncertain.

"So, you're coming with me?"

"I'm coming with you."