More interactions between Ace and class 1-A. Enjoy~


"I hope it didn't cause any problems with being gone from my post," Ace said. He was sad, still, that he'd left. At least he hadn't been alone and his family knew what had happened. But, he had to at least take All Might back.

They headed inside, Ace glad he had everything on him, even his dagger regardless of whether he'd be using it here. "Don't worry, young Ace. You didn't ask for that to happen. I do wonder how long we have been gone. At least through the night." Ace nodded, agreeing with that. The kids weren't so freaked out that he'd been missing for days. Probably just hours.

When they entered the principal's office, Ace and All Might sat down. "Where have you been, All Might?" Nezu asked immediately, looking concerned.

"I accidentally was taken to young Ace's world with him. I have good news. I have been healed completely," All Might said, getting straight to the point. Nezu dropped his tea in shock. All Might grinned. "The skills of devil fruits are amazing, are they not?"

"How? Even Recovery Girl could not fix you and she was the most powerful healer we have," Nezu said though he was grinning now.

Ace sat quietly while All Might began to explain, "Young Ace has a brother who had the power of a phoenix. With his blood, my stomach was able to regrow and my lungs have been returned to completely healthy. I am back in action, Principal Nezu. And we cannot thank Ace enough."

"It was Marco that did it, not me," Ace corrected. The pro-hero pointed out that it was thanks to Ace's connections with him that caused it. Nezu turned to Ace and gave a bow. Ace was uncomfortable with it and thanked him, saying he didn't need to bow.

Nezu asked what life in Ace's world was like. "Quie rugged and difficult. They live on a ship, and the storms are horrendous. And they happen multiple times a week. It's just lucky the hospital beds can be bolted to the floor and the patients strapped in or I'd have bounced around the walls."

All Might was in a great mood. "Ace, can you step out for a moment?" Ace nodded and opened the sliding door and closed it, leaning against the wall next to it. All the praise by these people was weird because they knew nothing about him and he didn't think they'd be sincere if they knew he was a wanted criminal. He expected All Might to keep it a secret for him. He really didn't seem the type to lie or betray.

He was no Teach.

Ace was welcomed back in only ten minutes later, and returned to his chair. "Ace," Nezu began, "How would you like to help All Might with his classes? Someone with your degree of fighting skill and strategy intelligence could be very helpful for our students."

The pirate commander would much rather do that than wait outside the wall and guard a gate all the time. Ace agreed happily. "Great, All Might will school you on how to best help them. Please do not actually burn them. Scaring them with fire should be enough." Ace nodded, saying he'd keep his flames safe.

"I must tell Recovery Girl," All Might announced. Ace said he wanted a nap, so he'd go with him.

"Thank you, Principal Nezu. For trusting me, I am grateful," Ace said with a bow. All Might looked at him strangely. "What?" he asked.

All Might laughed, making Ace confused. "It's like you have two personalities. When you interacted with your crew - family - you could be quite rude and foul. You dumped paint on them. It is just very different to see you respectful like this after what I've seen of you at your home world." Ace chuckled, saying home is where he could be himself.

Ace had been thinking for a bit about telling All Might his weakness, so someone knew to save him if he somehow drowned, and fell into water somewhere here. Though he didn't know where that would be since there was no ocean all around them. "I need to tell you something in private," Ace suddenly said, turning the atmosphere more serious.

"Alright," the pro-hero said, and brought Ace to an empty room that looked like it was for meetings.

"I need you to promise you won't tell anybody else. I'm going to trust you," Ace said seriously, and All Might promised. "I have one more weakness. I can't swim. Devil fruit users are weak to water, and we go limp and powerless. Water can kill me," he explained.

The man blinked twice. "I will not tell anyone, but if that is true, why on earth would you risk being a pirate surrounded by water?" he asked in disbelief. Ace grinned.

He said, confidently, "Adventure is worth risking your life at any moment. Plus, there were plenty of people to fish me out if I do fall in." All Might said they were crazy, but with a laugh. He said, "I have to say, young Ace, when you get back to your home permanently, I will be a bit sad. You're quite likable." Ace smiled.

"It's been interesting being here, but I'd much rather resume my adventure for good. It's hard being away from them. But, I'm trying to do my best to not be depressed. Helping you out should be a good distraction for me. Anyways, just don't tell anyone, and if I drown, I hope you save me." All Might nodded and said he promised before they left the meeting room and went to the infirmary.

Ace went straight to the back room and took off his shoes before falling asleep immediately. He didn't even wake when All Might told Recovery Girl and she screamed. He was so tired, and slept for hours before sitting up, stomach growling.

When he put his shoes back on and left his room, Recovery Girl hugged him. Ace awkwardly patted her back. "Thank you!"

"I'm not the one who did it, it was my brother. I'll pass on the thank you," Ace said nicely. "Now I'm starving, so I'm gonna go get something to eat." She was still blubbering. Ace wasn't good with people who cry. "Um, bye," Ace said, inching away before he ran for the door.

"No running in my infirmary!" she shouted, still tears in her voice. Ace just laughed. That was how Thatch would have reacted. He'd cry and then get pissy if Ace entered the kitchen, his kitchen. He stopped running and looked at his feet. Ace then slapped his cheeks and shook his head. Everyone would be mad if he moped the whole time. Nobody likes him being sad. The baby brother can't be sad. He smiled at the thought.

Even if this back and forth never changed… they would still love him, and he'd spend his time with them as best as he could. Time didn't pass for them, and he was glad of that. He would miss no adventures, but still. It was hard.

He passed two people, kids, didn't recognize them from the class he'd seen a few times. "Y-You're Ace, right? The guy not from here?" a girl with orange hair in a side ponytail asked.

"Yeah. I think I'll be seeing you both some time again, so I'll introduce myself to everybody there," he said, a strained smile on. The girl asked if anything was wrong. "I'm starving, so I'm gonna go get food. Are there a lot of people in there right now?" She nodded, and he sighed, not in the mood to be surrounded by people staring at him when he was sad.

"Well, there are some vending machines, you can try those. They have snacks and drinks," she said. Ace had no idea what that was. "I can show you if you want." He took her up on the offer, thanking her. While they walked, she tried to talk to him. If he was going to be working with All Might, he'd no doubt meet this girl again. And her silent friend with green hair that looked like vines.

"So, you really are from another world? And you took All Might with you?" she asked excitedly. Ace nodded, but said taking All Might had been an accident. "That's so amazing…" When they arrived at the vending machine, Ace had no idea how it worked. It looked like a clear refrigerator with a lock.

The vine girl put a few coins in a slot, and Ace was told to press anything he wanted. He chose a bag of chips and a chocolate bar. He stuffed the chips in his mouth and then unwrapped the candy, biting into it. It was delicious. Not as good as That- stop it! Ace frowned, but lost it before they noticed.

"Thank you. So you, put berries in and then food comes out?" They looked at him in confusion. "What is currency called here?" he asked, realizing they didn't know what berries were. She replied that it was "yen". Ace nodded. "Yen" was boring sounding, berries were better.

"Well, we should be going. It was nice to meet you, Ace," the redhead said. Ace waved goodbye, and sat down on a nearby bench. He changed into fire to calm himself. Being made of fire relaxed him, made him forget he was alone. It's what he'd done with his first months on the Whitebeard ship. Back when he hated them and tried to kill Pops.

He felt a presence and opened his eyes, going back to his normal form, only with flames still licking at his skin. Freckles was there. "Um, I… I want to thank you for fixing All Might. He was gonna die… But now he's better," Freckles said happily, tears in his eyes. Ace smiled.

"It wasn't me, it was my brother. He's a phoenix and gave his flames to All Might to heal him," Ace explained. All of the sudden, Freckles had a notebook and pencil, looking crazed a bit. He begged for Ace to tell him more. Well, why not. It wouldn't be giving away information about himself. "Sure, why not."

Freckles ran over and sat next to Ace excitedly. "Marco is a mythical zoan user…" and he told Midoriya (his real name) all about Marco. He described the difference between paramecia, zoan and logia, leaving out the weakness of sea stone and water.

Eventually, while he spoke, Ace noticed someone down the hall, hiding around the corner. "I know you're there, if you want to come out," Ace called.

"The fuck, how'd you know?!" Hothead shouted. Ace grinned, and said he used observation haki, something that didn't exist in this world. "Are you like, invincible or someshit?"

Ace shrugged with a grin. "I guess you'll find out tomorrow. Let's just say I'm no longer cleaning or protecting the wall. It was nice talking to you Freckles. See you later." Hothead started laughing at the nickname Ace had given. "See you tomorrow as well, Hothead." Hothead got angry and shouted at him not to say that.

"Stupid flame brain! You get a nickname, too!" Hothead said, and Ace laughed. That was Marco's name.

Ace said, as he turned the corner, "The nickname is already for my brother. Come up with something else."

He headed to find All Might, to ask him for more details about tomorrow, maybe know about the students so he was more prepared. He wouldn't go easy. He'd never been trained easy, he didn't know how to do that. He'd pull some punches, but he wasn't going to baby them. They were wanting to be badasses, weren't they? Codling wouldn't help them.

If Ace had fought easy as a kid with Sabo and Luffy, he wouldn't be who he was today. Learning to fight young was the best thing to happen. Recovery Girl and those in this world might balk at his childhood living conditions, but that was what made him strong, strong enough to handle the type of training he'd go through with the Whitebeards.

So, he'd rather have lived in a jungle than a fancy home. It was better for him in the long run. When he found All Might, it was on the phone. Ace thought den den mushis were a lot more interesting, even if they couldn't do as much as phones.

He waited outside the room, and when All Might came out, Ace saw his eyes were watery. He didn't know whether to interrupt. "Um, All Might? I have a question," the young adult said.

"Oh, young Ace. I wanted to talk to you. To prepare you for tomorrow. We'll be starting in the morning. And I also wanted to let you know it was due to your brother that I mended an important friendship, so add that to my message as well." Ace didn't point out that Marco said he didn't want any more thank yous.

Ace said he was actually coming to ask about that. If he could know the quirks of the kids. Apparently there were going to be forty of them tomorrow. All might took him to a study room and got two books. Ace opened them to see they held what they knew of the kids' quirks so far. They were quite varied.

"I'd like you to go easier on them for the first try," All Might said after Ace skimmed through the first book, with class 1-A. Some were just as stupid as the most useless devil fruits, but others were already powerful or would be powerful.

The pirate said, "That might be a bit hard for me, but I'll do my best. I won't cause any broken bones or burns, but they'll probably have some bruises." All Might laughed and said that was fine, as long as there was no long term damage. "When I trained as a kid, it wasn't like this. We had to be strong, to live where we did. We had to get cuts, bruises, gun shot wounds. It wasn't like this, voluntarily getting stronger."

All Might looked shocked. "No offense, but I liked my childhood more than this clean one. You saw my world, how you gotta be strong for it. If I had been sheltered in childhood, I would have never made it to where I am now. I wish everyone would stop acting like it was horrible. It wasn't," he said, unable to hide the irritation in his voice. He felt they looked down on it.

"That is true. You are stronger than many pro-heros, and even though he only got the power when you were 17, you were already well trained before that, which no doubt helped your improvement. We just can't see a world where people lived that way. It's nothing personal, I assure you." Ace nodded, though he wished they would stop.

"I'm going to use haki, if that's alright?" Ace asked. It would be hard to ignore his observation haki, and he'd be using armament for some, like Hothead's bomb power. It might hurt, even if it didn't seriously wound them.

All Might nodded, saying that was fine. They would face enemies that they didn't know their powers. "Since you are known for fire, they won't see the haki coming. I'm sure it will be interesting tomorrow! Oh, and I've gotten you a room other than the back of the infirmary. I'll show you."

Ace grinned, glad he didn't need to fall asleep to the smell of antiseptic and beeping of machines. He followed the pro-hero to a hallway with many doors. "This used to be a dorm area, but nobody uses it. You can pick any room you wish. You're welcome to eat dinner with the staff or students." Ace nodded, and opened the nearest room, finding a small bed, a dresser and a large window.

"This is great, thank you," Ace said and walked inside. Dust covered everything, and he knew burning dust caused explosions, so he couldn't burn it. He'd learned that the hardway, blowing a hole in his old ship. His crew had been so furious.

All Might stood in the doorway, and said, "It's hard to remember you are a leader in your world. You're a top officer of the strongest crew, and I treat you like a teenager." Ace laughed, and pointed out how no one had treated him like a superhero back home. "I guess that is true!" and he laughed.

Ace said, "But I do appreciate the respect. Even before your injury was healed. It is annoying, not having a say in anything, but there's nothing I can do about that, so I'll adapt as best as I can." He yawned, and said he was gonna take another nap.

"You sure do sleep a lot, Ace-san," All Might said. The sudden change in title didn't go unnoticed. All Might wasn't going to treat him like a student or child anymore. Ace had put up a good fight against him, so it was natural he was treated with a bit of respect.

The young man said, "I have narcolepsy. Makes me sleepy often. Luckily, I don't usually have sleep attacks during battle." He closed his eyes and started to snore on the dusty mattress. No blankets were there yet.

When Ace woke up, he found new changes of clothes, sheets and a duster. He dusted the whole room and then put his things away. This room was no commander's bedroom, but it would do. For however long he was stuck here, and how many times at that, at least he didn't need to sleep in the infirmary anymore.

-x-

Ace was eating a waffle sandwich while sitting on the roof of the stadium, where the ground was no longer black from the fight, waiting for the kids to come. He was thinking of strategies for each one of them. There was one in particular that he would not be using his full power on. It would be disheartening. He was there to kick ass, not break hearts.

The kid who could control animals. Ace could use his conqueror's haki to tame them himself, since he'd be frightening instead of loved. He wouldn't turn the animals on the guy. He wouldn't do that, it would be needlessly cruel. It wasn't going to be easy, he'd fight physically, even if birds or bugs or rats went after him.

He had just finished the food and the bottle of water when he heard class 1-A outside of the stadium. He looked down to see them, all wearing those interesting and sometimes stupid costumes. A few were a bit strange to wear for such young women, but he'd make no comment.

"Ace-san!" All Might called, and Ace dropped down from the roof of the stadium, landing easily on the ground with little sound of impact. "You will all be taking turns fighting him. And he won't go easy on you, so be prepared."

Ace grinned and said, "I promise I won't kill anybody. But I won't go easy," he warned. A few of the boys in the back grinned at this while a few in the front were worried.

All Might was grinning, like usual. The kids, Ace noticed, looked at All Might strange when he called Ace "Ace-san". A show of respect from the number one hero might be strange for them. But he knew of Ace's status, and since Ace respected his status, All Might would do the same for him.

"And I'm Ace, by the way. Nice to meet you," Ace said, giving an easy smile.

"Where did you come from? Where did All Might go with you?!" a tiny kid with purple balls for hair demanded.

All Might said, "If he wishes, Ace will share after the battles are over. Alright everyone, into the stadium! Who wants to go first?"

"Me! I'll take him down!" It was Hothed, and Ace was not surprised. The students besides him, walked up the stadium stairs. The barrier was already up, and Ace stood across the stage from Bakugo, his actual name. He didn't move, letting the guy attack first.

Bakugo didn't wait to start using his power, and made a blast that would have been too quick for normal people, or at least people who weren't as strong as Ace, but he saw it coming and easily evaded it. He shot forward and let out a plume of hot flames that were not bad enough to burn, and then broke through with a haki covered leg, kicking him in the side. He flew to the sideways, grunting before using his other hand to make an explosion to stop him from flying too hard.

Ace didn't let him attack before he was on him, letting loose fire after fire. When Bakugo had to block, Ace coated his arm in haki before slamming it down on his Grenade Bracer, breaking it before grabbing his hand and lighting it on fire, causing Bakugo to be harmed by his own explosion, forcing him into the barrier. He shouted, his arm burnt but not too badly.

He got up and ran at Ace, who wouldn't break the other brace. He let the kid grab his arm and blow it up, making Ace scatter as he hadn't coated his arm in haki, not wanting to end the fight too quickly. But he reformed behind him, and grabbed both arms, forcing him to the ground with his knee on his back.

Bakugo attempted to get out of his hold, but Ace grabbed both hands and pinned them down, hands covered in armament haki to stop the blasts. And he seemed to grow tired. He had a limit and had reached it. Ace knew he would be insulted if he helped the kid up. "Ace wins!" All Might calls.

Bakugo was furious and Ace gave him a wide grin. "That's not fair, you fucking used my power against me!"

"I did something you didn't expect. Isn't that what training is all about?" Ace replied. "The burn isn't too bad, it should fade by tomorrow," he assured him. After all, his whole arm was red. He accused Ace of going easy on him. "Would have rather I burnt your entire arm off, leaving a charred stump?" Bakugo scowled, but said nothing else and stomped away. Ace wasn't even out of breath. It was over in four minutes.

"Great first try, young Bakugo! You all have plenty of time to practice on Ace while he is still present! This is a great opportunity!" All Might declared. "Now, anymore volunteers?" he called. Ace was not surprised when there was no volunteer. "You will all need to participate, who wants to get it over with fast?"

Todoroki stood up, and raised his hand. Ace knew he worked with ice. He had never had the chance to fight Aokiji, which was a shame, so this might be fun. Especially if the ice doesn't melt easily. "Young Todoroki! Come on down!" the instructor said happily. Excitedly. Though he always seemed that way.

Ace stood on one end of the stage while the half and half kid stood on the other. "Don't go easy on me," Todoroki ordered.

"I can't promise that," Ace replied. Todoroki just barely narrowed his eyes. He shot forth a fast spike of ice, and Ace sidestepped it easily before melting it into steam completely, no water. Ace was going to let them all do the first attack, but wouldn't let up much after that. He shot towards the kid, sending a plume of fire at him. He blocked himself with a wall of ice that Ace punched through, grabbing a surprised Todoroki at the scruff of his shirt.

He was shocked but acted quickly freezing the hand. "Good reflex!" Ace said, unable to help himself. He melted the wall and ran at him again, the kid just barely ducking. Ace sent fire down on him, making the kid roll to the side, eyes wide. He wondered why he wasn't using his fire, only ice.

Todoroki shot a lance of Ice at Ace, who let it go through his stomach and straight through the other side. There were some screaming, and Bakugo laughed before Ace jumped away, hole gone, filled with fire, perfectly unharmed. "Take advantage of your enemy if they are in the air and harder to move around!"

He couldn't help it, he was supposed to help train them. Another ice wall was made, but Ace didn't use fire or dodge, he covered his fist with haki and punched through three feet of ice before pinning Todoroki down, yanking both arms up so he couldn't do anything. "Nice, you kept a cool head. Hah, no pun intended."

"Young Todoroki is out!" Ace almost saw the kid crack a smile at his non-planned joke. Ace melted the ice around the field. "Next!"

They went through each fighter, some doing worse than others. Some had an incredibly long way to go, but they were all kids, and in a world that didn't punish them for weakness at an early age. It was to be expected.

He used many of their quirks against them. He pulled the tape towards the kid who could shoot them from his elbow, and punched him in the gut, throwing him back and into the barrier. He had suggestions for some of them, but not others. He got a break halfway through where he chugged a bottle of cool water, and then was ready to fight again.

All of the kids who used physical attacks, like hitting him with a tail or extremity were useless. They learned pretty fast that blunt attacks didn't do much damage. There was one kid that he thought could become pretty strong. Kirishima, who could harden his body.

Flames didn't affect him, and Ace punching with no haki did either. He got good hits on Ace that would have landed if he kept himself solid. "Good, go for vital spots! Over and over, don't let your opponent get a break!" but he slammed a haki covered fist into his chest once, breaking the hardening and making him fall to the ground with a groan.

"Wow, you don't hold back," he said, hair out of its spikes. Ace helped him up and smiled.

"You could be pretty strong. Next time I might stay solid, see how that goes," Ace said with a laugh. He heard Kirishima mutter that he was so cool, and Ace chuckled.

There was one person he battled that made some yell that he was cheating. The invisible girl that he could find no matter how quiet. Could block every punch and kick. He closed his eyes to use his haki better. He heard her growl in anger and the stadium went quiet when he grabbed hold of her arm and slammed her down, pinning her on her stomach as she panting from the exertion and stinging burn on her arm. He'd burned each one at least a small, almost painless burn.

He helped her up with a smile. "Good fight. I think you should expect every enemy will know where you are, then you won't be surprised. Invisibility only affects one sense."

"Mmm," she said, and he felt her nod. She walked away, and by then most of them were nursing burns and bruises.

The little kid had probably the most useless power he had ever seen in his life. Creating sticky balls on his head that he weakly threw at Ace, who dodged each one, and when one stuck, he burned it away. "I give up!" he called. Ace was frozen in bewilderment.

"We haven't even started," Ace pointed out.

"I'm not invincible like everyone else!" he shouted. Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, if you insist. I win, then," Ace said. Then it was Freckles. And Freckles was a mess. He did his very best, which Ace could commend, but he seemed like he barely knew how to use his quirk, which seemed to be super strength. Or at least, would be.

He actually broke a finger to attack Ace. it didn't work, the projectile went straight past him, unlike All Might, who's projectile had hit him perfectly. He stopped him before he could break another finger and pinned him down, accidentally dislocating a shoulder. Well, it would be easy to put back in place.

"Maybe before you focus on using your super strength all the time, learn hand to hand first. Then you might not even need to use your quirk on some opponents," Ace said when he pulled Freckles up. "That's how I learned," Ace said with a smile. His eyes sparkled as he looked at Ace, who turned and walked back to All Might.

"Next!" he called. Ace was having a blast. It wasn't a fair fight with any of them, he was decades ahead of them in firsthand experience. But even if he knew he'd win them, fighting against different types of powers was pretty fun.

Ace imagined Thatch and Haruta cheering the enemy on. "That's not fair, Ace! You're too overpowered!" Thatch would have shouted. Haruta would have thrown popcorn kernels at him so they popped when they touched Ace. He wished they were there to watch. It wouldn't be the same, telling them about it.

Well, at least he wasn't moping. They'd be happy with that. He was distracted a bit until All Might announced that it was over, as he'd fought everybody. Many outfits were damaged and needed to be repaired, and they'd be incredibly sore. Hopefully they had a break the next day. It was more fun than guarding the gate.

"Was it inappropriate of me to give them advice? I was sort of channeling Marco, who gave me tips as he kicked my ass," Ace said quietly when he and All Might were walking outside to meet the kids.

All Might shook his head. "Your tips are from experience just like mine, and are useful. You did well to harm them but not too badly. You have great control over your abilities, both your devil fruit and other skills." Ace thanked him, and when they got outside, all of the kids were laying down or sitting down, exhausted or pouting.

Ace bowed. "Good fight, everyone. Your powers are all very interesting," Ace said with a smile. Bakugo was glaring murder at him, while others were grinning like he was the coolest person ever.

"Are you invincible?" Uraraka asked, one who did not have a versatile quirk. She had made Ace float, but he pinned her down seconds later by shooting flames out of his feet to propel past her ability.

Ace sat down and said, "No, I've been defeated many times by all sorts of people. You can't rely on your powers only. You have to use strategies, right?" A few nodded, and Todoroki asked, "Do you have multiple powers? You can use fire, but you also turned your arm into metal."

"No, I have the power of fire. The other is called haki, everyone in my world who wants to succeed in a dangerous life needs to know it at least somewhat," Ace said simply.

"Ooh, ooh, can we use it?!" the acid girl said. It was hard to keep their names straight. Ace shook his head, since it didn't exist in this world. "Well, then isn't that cheating?"

All Might replied to this one, "Will your opponent always be fair? Will they always have the same amount of skill as you do? You must expect your enemy to be many, many times stronger than you and have many tricks up their sleeves."

Freckles asked how Ace learned his power. Since he said he'd learned hand to hand before his fire power. "My world isn't exactly all comfortable and sheltered. I lived in a jungle with massive animals. My first weapon was a pipe. I only ate my devil fruit when I was 17. So, I already knew how to fight before that. It was lucky, though, that I learned as a kid first. it's kept me alive all this time," he explained honestly.

Freckles asked what it had been like to All Might. "Ace-san's family is quite powerful and dangerous. And there are many enemies they have to fight off. Plus, the ocean they sail in has horrible weather and sea monsters. You're tough there or you die." The others gasped, and Acee smiled, since it was true.

"Kill or be killed, then?" Todoroki asked.

"Exactly," Ace responded. He asked how many people Ace had killed. All Might stepped in and said that that wasn't a topic they were going to discuss. "Now, let us go get some rest and food. Come to the nurse's room if you are too injured to come back tomorrow. Great class!"

"WHAT?! We have to fight him again tomorrow?!" Grape Wimp asked. Sero pointed out that he hadn't even fought, that he'd given up at the beginning. All Might assured them that they would not be fighting Ace again the next day.

Freckles wasn't in pain from his shoulder as it was focused on his badly broken finger. Man, what a shitty power if it injured you in the process. Ace walked behind them, hands in his pockets, thinking about his family. He sure had the story to tell them. The distraction was over now. The worry seeped in, making him bite his lip, glaring. He didn't want to mope, so he slapped his cheeks quietly and focused on anything else.

Anything other than Pops' laugh, Marco's stink eye, Thatch's pranks. Anything else, and it worked. He thought about how to help the kids with their powers. At least, not ones like Bakugo. He had no idea how to help Tsu, the frog girl. Her fight had been the worst, since he couldn't burn her tongue. He just gripped it and yanked her towards him to plant a punch in her gut.

"Good work today, Ace-san. You can be a real help here," All Might said. Ace smiled and nodded.

"All Might, why are you being so respectful to him? He's just some new guy," Bakugo grumbled. Many others were listening in, no doubt noticing the respectful tone given. Ace wasn't a kid, he was in his twenties, but he wasn't a known pro-hero to anyone. He did just show up.

"Ace is a leader in his world. He respects my position, so I will respect his. Mutual respect is always something to strive for!" he shouted. Bakugo scoffed, still very angry about losing so quickly. Well, they all did. But they were all kids, powers or not.