Mystery56: Yup!

Some new drama in this chapter that will matter later, but not for awhile. Next chapter is the USJ battle! Enjoy~

"Yo, you guys coming?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah," Ace and Luffy said and followed behind, joining the group again, Bakugo pouting in the back. "I hope that we have insurance on these costumes," Ace said, surprising everyone. "They're bound to get torn or messed up eventually. So I hope we don't have to repay them every time."

"Ah, me too! I didn't even think of that!" Kirishima said. "Well, Midoriya's costume is the first to need repair, it seems." They expressed concern for his health, glancing back at Bakugo a couple times before resuming their cheerful and optimistic conversations. Luffy glanced back a few times and each time, Bakugo was looking at the ground.

It had been a big blow to his pride. The whole day, finding he wasn't at school with weak quirks anymore. This place was made for people with strong quirks. He had to deal with that fact, and come to terms with it soon, hopefully.

When they got back to the classroom, Ace and Luffy waited at their desks, wondering how hurt Midoriya was, and if he'd be okay. Everybody was talking amongst themselves before Uraraka walked over, seeing both of them moping. "You guys are close to Deku?" Neither of them scolded her for calling him that, since she didn't mean it in a terrible way.

Ace nodded. "We've been good friends since last year. He was our first friend and we were his. Well, a true friend. Not like some people we know." He laid his head on the table. "I hope he'll be okay," he mumbled sadly.

"Don't worry, Recovery Girl can fix him up. He'll be okay," Uraraka assured them. They smiled at her, but they were forced; they were very worried. Happy that he finally got a quirk, but definitely not happy with the result of it. When they sensed him coming down the hallway, both of them got up and left the room and stood in front of him.

They were looking at him in a slightly angry way. "Why did you do that to yourself? You were burned severely!" Ace shouted. Midoriya looked down, arm in a cast and the other wrapped in bandages. He still had his ruined hero costume on.

"I'm sorry that I worried you. I needed to prove a point, and I just ended up getting really injured from it," he said meekly. Then he looked up firmly. "I won't have you two protect me from Kacchan anymore. I'm not a quirkless loser anymore," he said in a strong voice.

Luffy frowned, and said, "You've never been a quirkless loser," simply. Ace nodded, now holding hands with Luffy to make him feel better. Midoriya looked down and bit his lip.

"I know you don't see me that way, and I'm grateful for that, but everyone saw me that way for years. And I won't let that happen anymore. I will get control of my quirk, no matter how long it takes, and become a hero who can smile and never make others worry about me again!" he said confidently.

Ace walked to him and bonked him on the head. "We'll always worry about you, whether you like it or not. You can't get your friends to not worry," he said. "Besides, we always knew you'd be a hero, even if you didn't have a quirk. Right?" Midoriya wiped his eyes and nodded. The three walked back to the classroom after the green haired composed himself.

When they walked in, Midoriya was greeted enthusiastically about his battle. How intense it was and how he held his own against one of the top students of the exam. Third place, behind Ace and Luffy. His friends didn't stick with him so he could enjoy the spotlight on his own. They didn't get him these friends. He did on his own. They both smiled, Luffy in his seat and Ace sitting on the desk.

Their friend glanced at them, but they both sent him a thumbs up. He was looking happy before he saw Bakugo's empty desk. Ace and Luffy hadn't noticed him leave when they were changing, and hadn't noticed he wasn't there anymore.

"We tried to stop him, but he went home early," Uraraka said. Midoriya frowned and then ran out of the room. Ace and Luffy didn't follow him. Their friend had a volatile relationship with Bakugo. He cared for him since they were childhood friends, but Bakugo was always so cruel. They both felt that it would be better for his mental and physical health if he just completely cut ties with him. Bakugo had shown countless times that he didn't care about or wanted care from Midoriya.

But, they couldn't help it, and closed their eyes to watch what was happening. Or at least sense the emotions and body movement. Midoriya ran across the building and out onto the steps, finding Bakugo slowly leaving. They both froze, Midoriya's mouth moving. Bakugo suddenly had a spike of anger. But then it turned into self-hate and loathing. And it was coming from Bakugo.

It got worse and then he started to walk away before All Might suddenly showed up, running after Bakugo. And he walked away from All Might, the self-hate gone and now back to anger. Some emotions were easy to sense. Negative ones, mostly. They were the strongest. "Yo, what are you doing?" Kirishima asked.

They both opened their eyes and blinked twice. That's right, they weren't being inconspicuous at all! "Doing that kind of thing is relaxing after the day. Like meditation, I guess," Ace said quickly, lying expertly.

"Ah, I get it," Kirishima said. Ace and Luffy got their stuff together and walked off of the campus. Gunhead was busy today and so they offered to take the train, which was easy to get to and get off. The train did speed by a fight with Mt. Lady and another large villain. But it was lost once they passed a large building.

Ace asked, "What did you think of the class? Their quirks?" He was sitting on the seat in front of Luffy while he stood.

"I think some of them are strong, and some are not. A bit pointless. Just a little bit! I'm not trying to be me-"

"I know, Luffy," Ace said in amusement. "Just say your thoughts, we're not in front of people anymore. Or at least, people who'd care." Nobody was focusing on them, on their phones or with earbuds in.

Luffy answered honestly. "I think Todoroki and Momo's quirks were helpful and promising. I have to say Mineta's is just useless and disappointing. I don't know how he got through the entrance exam with that quirk." Ace nodded, saying it was a good point. Then he asked what he thought of Bakugo. "I think that his pride will implode and make the year harder for him than it needs to be. Now that he knows our quirks, and Midorya suddenly has one, too, it'll make him either implode or it will make him realize there's nothing wrong with not being number one. I also pity him a little."

Ace nodded, agreeing with everything that he'd said. They still didn't know the other students' weaknesses, since all quirks had at least one. The brothers had different weaknesses than before they were saved. Luffy's new one was that he could only harden air when he was in contact with it. Meaning he can't throw it like a weapon. Ace's was that his flames were small. Incredibly hot, but small. It took more work to make a bigger plume. He could handle making flames big enough to cover the whole house, but not in larger settings. It's mostly good for hand to hand or close combat.

"I think we did really awesome, and he'll be proud. But man, Gunhead is a lot more likeable than All Might," Luffy said. Ace said he was biased, but did disagree with All Might allowing Bakugo to continue those brutal attacks. He could have told Bakugo to not use his devastating attacks, even if it didn't stop the mission.

"Hey, Ace. School and friends are awesome," Luffy said softly. Ace grinned and agreed. They'd never return to that old life again, even if they were cast out by Gunhead, they wouldn't allow themselves to go back to that life. They'd go to a foster home. Anything other than snuffing out their chance at a bright future. And no matter what, they'd stay together.

-x-

When they got to school the next day, they saw a mass of reporters waiting at the gate. "I don't really want to deal with them," Luffy said. He glanced at Ace and Ace climbed onto his back. Luffy walked up some not so steep air steps and over the reporters and wall, dropping down easily on the other side.

"Your power is so much more versatile," Ace mumbled. Luffy grinned, asking if Ace was jealous. Ace shoved his shoulder and they both laughed. Luffy made sure to say that he liked some of Ace's power's aspects more. And that was true. Having a body that was made of flames kept him from getting any real injuries. Luffy's was better for long distance with the air beams, where he can be high in the air away from everybody.

When they arrived at class, everybody was complaining about the press. "Hey, how'd you get past them, Luffy?" Tsu asked. Luffy explained that he walked over the wall and dropped to the other side. And that he carried Ace.

Kirishima made a noise and said, "Your quirk is so convenient! All I can do is harden myself for moderate defense and offense." When Aizawa walked in, everybody hurried to their seats and were silent. He looked tired, as always it seems. At least he seems to wash his hair, it's not oily considering how long it is.

"Good work on yesterday's combat training," he said in a bored voice at the front of the class. "I saw the video and results. Bakugo, you're talented so don't act like a kid." Bakugo grumbled that he got it. "And Midoriya, you settled it by breaking your arm again, huh? You can't keep saying you can't help it because you can't control your quirk. I don't like saying the same thing over and over. As long as you fix the control issue, there's a lot you'll be able to do. Feel a sense of urgency, Midoriya."

He grinned and nodded. Ace thumped him on the back, knowing he hated the teacher saying anything to bring attention to himself during class. When Aizawa spoke next, he told them, a little too suspenseful, that they'd be choosing a class representative. Ace and Luffy blinked and leaned forward. "They are in charge of the class behind the teacher and organize things. Like the middle boss," Midoriya explained patiently.

They nodded and watched as the class exploded with people wanting to be the rep. Ace and Luffy weren't interested, would rather focus on their other responsibilities closely instead of spreading them all too thin so they were useless. They had homework and school, plus their physical training and workouts, their daily quirk training and then a small time of reading or doing something else leisurely.

Doing so many things was better than being on the street where the only things to do were eat, sleep and stay safe. Keeping themselves occupied was nice. It gave them a sense of worth, especially when they would complete something and Gunhead would be so excited over it. Even when he got home late, he always asked them how their day went.

Iida suddenly told them all to be quiet and basically said "only responsible people can take this job as it requires a lot of work". And also that they should have an election. Ace and Luffy were glad to have one vote for either of them, not enough to be chosen. It would be awkward to have to decline it. Luffy voted for Iida, since he seemed determined. Strict, but also responsible. Ace voted for Momo, the smart girl who got in on recommendation. Midoriya would be too nervous and insecure, so neither of them voted for him.

Yet he got the most votes. Three, while Momo, the smartest girl, got two. Everybody else got one from voting for themselves or someone happening to vote for them. Bakugo got zero, meaning he didn't even vote for himself.

Midoriya ended up being the class rep while Momo was the deputy rep. Sounded boring and stressful. To be in charge of so many people. They looked out for each other and Midoriya. But he really didn't look happy with this. Why didn't he just decline? So now he was standing in front of everyone nervously, while Momo was unfazed. They had no doubt it wouldn't last long before Midoriya chose someone else or gave the position to the current deputy class rep.

At lunch, this time the twins were ordered to buy something other than sandwiches. They didn't understand why, they were more than happy with sandwiches. Gunhead had scolded them about it.

"I appreciate that you don't want me to spend money on you even when I do, but I want you to know that you deserve nice things. Including nice food. So I order you to buy something other than sandwiches. Taking care of you is not a burden, and neither is paying for your things. You refuse so much, the least you can do is let me buy you some good food," he said strongly. It was a strange thing to get scolded for, but they promised they'd buy something nice.

"Oh, you two got something other than sandwiches!" Uraraka pointed out. They nodded, getting something that wasn't a sandwich but was still not expensive.

Ace said, "Our guardian got mad at us when he learned we were buying the cheapest thing. So he ordered us to get something nicer." Then he grinned. "He doesn't need to know we got the second cheapest thing." The table laughed and they ate their food happily, talking about trivial things. Though it was clear to see Iida was bothered about not being the representative. Luffy took a swig of his water bottle and said, "I was the one that voted for you. I thought you'd win, too."

Iida looked at him in shock. "What? You act responsible. A little stern sometimes but still responsible. I thought you'd make a good rep. Not that we really know what you'd do about it," Luffy explained honestly. Iida bowed his head and thanked Luffy loud for his kindness. "It's not a problem," he said, sounding amused and awkward.

Ace said, "Midoriya, you didn't look comfortable at all up there, just give away the position so you don't make yourself miserable." He didn't say it in a mean way, but a counseling way, giving advice. He lowered his chopsticks.

"I am grateful the people chose me, but I know I'm not right for the job," he said honestly, a little ashamed. Iida said he thought he'd make a good one because of his quick thinking. "If that was the case, they should have voted for Ace or Luffy. They had their plan ready before they even entered the building."

Ace replied, "Just because we're good with each other at planning doesn't really translate anything with being organized and a leader. If you haven't noticed, we don't really do anything without one another. That's just how it is. Neither of us wanted to be reps." Luffy nodded in agreement.

Uraraka sighed. "I wish I had a close sibling like you two," she lamented.

Iida said that he was surprised the twins didn't get more votes based on how friendly and kind they were with everybody. Luffy said, "Being kind takes no effort. Being in charge of others does." It was simple but very true.

Ace looked at Iida for a moment. "Hey, I have a question," he said suddenly. "Are you related to Ingenium?" The others looked at him seriously. "You see it, too, right, Lu?" Luffy nodded, and said his costume was really similar and both had fast legs.

Iida looked surprised before he proudly told them about his family of heroes. How he admired his older brother very much. Ace and Luffy listened in interest. They didn't know if Gunhead considered them his kids or just charges, but he was like a father to them, not that they'd ever say that. So they were being raised by a hero, but that didn't make it run in the family at all. That had to be genetics, and they both knew for sure their parents weren't heroes.

"I want to become a hero because I want to be like my big brother. Why do you guys want to be heroes?" the tallest of them asked curiously. Uraraka looked embarrassed before she confessed she wanted to help make her parents live comfortably by getting money from being a hero. It wasn't what either Ace or Luffy predicted. Nobody pressed since she looked hesitant to say anything.

"I want to be like All Might and save people. I wanted to be a hero from the start, even when I didn't have a quirk. And Ace and Luffy convinced me more, that I could be a hero even without a quirk," Midoriya explained. Ace and Luffy nodded.

Iida said, "You know, your complete kindness baffles me." Everyone looked at him in shock. "I just don't understand how anybody could be so kind and humble. You guys have powerful quirks and fighting skills, are smart, but don't brag about any of that."

Ace said, "Well, we didn't grow up in the best of conditions, so when we were taken in, it didn't make sense to be upset or angry anymore. We want to be happy, and being kind to others makes us and them happy."

Luffy nodded and confessed that he didn't understand cruel people. "Why do they like hurting other people? Normal people, why do they want to be mean? That's not a way to make close connections in life. They'll end up all alone."

Midriya asked if he was talking about Bakugo. "Of course." The green haired said, "He's always wanted to be the best, the strongest hero. His dream gets in the way of other things. He's hyper focused on being the best. When you two came, and took him down even without showing your quirks, it made him realize he might not always be the strongest."

Uraraka pointed out that he could just train himself to be the best instead of trying to take others down. "I don't think he can reason like that, to be honest." They were all interrupted when an alarm started going off. An intruder was on campus. Ace and Luffy hadn't noticed anyone, but they also were distracted.

The alarm told them to go outside. When Luffy and Ace saw the crowd outside the door, Ace climbed onto Luffy's back and he walked on air steps above everybody else and dropped down outside, bypassing the crowded and frantic hallway. People were shouting that that wasn't fair. "Once again, your power is better," Ace mumbled. Luffy laughed with a shy smile. It was a lot more practical for outside uses.

Once they were back in class, Midoriya finally said what he and his friends had been thinking. He was not the best for the job. Ace and Luffy had missed anything that happened in the hallway, but apparently Iida had calmed everybody down so they could walk normally. Those in the hallway agreed. Nobody seemed to have a problem.

He stood and said, "If the class rep has nominated me, then it cannot be helped. From this day forth, I, Iida Tenya, promise to do my best carrying out class representative duties." Ace and Luffy smiled, as this class had a really good atmosphere. It felt sort of cozy, and everyone but Bakugo and Mineta had nice presences. Nobody felt evil or greedy or like they were hiding their real personalities.

After everyone was calmed down from that, Aizawa told them that that day's hero training would be different than usual. It would be with three teachers instead of one, and that it would be off campus. Rescue training! The class started to buzz and get excited. But Aizawa, ever the party pooper, told them to calm down and choose if they wanted their costumes or not.

Ace raised his hand. "What is it?"

"If our costumes are damaged, are they insured?"

"If they happen due to school activities, then they will be repaired free of charge," he responded. The others were glad, even though most of them hadn't known to even worry about that. It was because Ace and Luffy didn't like money being spent on them, so they made sure.

Some chose not to wear their outfits since they were restricting, but most including Ace and Luffy wore theirs. They were comfortable and it was good practice to use them while actually doing mock hero work. "When you're ready, get on the bus. The site is off campus." Midoriya wasn't wearing his since it was all ripped up and needed to be repaired.

His was made of regular fabric. Ace's was special for his flames, and both of them had asked for fabric that was hard to tear. And they got it, so they were probably never going to be seriously harmed. The suit parts. The others may be affected, though.

On the bus, everyone was excited, to actually put their hero training into practice. Ace and Luffy were looking forward to working together to save people and not just fighting. They had an ultimate move for fighting where they mixed their powers, but Luffy's was good for escaping and alerting other problems to heroes, since he was high in the air when he did. But they were both physically strong, so saving people would be easy if it was straightforward.

But if it wasn't, then that was what this training was for, to learn to rescue in all locations! It sounded so exciting. Ace and Luffy were sitting side by side, shoulder to shoulder, so they weren't holding hands.

They were sitting across from Midoriya and Tsu, the frog girl. She was nice and blunt at the same time. She never seemed angry or upset. "Hey, Midoriya, I was thinking," she said. "Your power is like All Might's, isn't it?"

Ace and Luffy's faces turned blank when they watched Midoriya's face start to sweat and he stuttered. He was lying. His heart rate picked up, but he was lying. When he said his power was not similar. And when Kirishima seemed to come to his defense and point out differences, Midoriya relaxed.

He looked across from him and saw Ace and Luffy look away sadly. They touched hands, both feeling worthless. Something they hadn't felt in awhile. In a long time. But their supposed best friend was and had been lying. He had told them his quirk manifested very late. But now that seemed like a lie.

"Ace, Luffy, I-" Midoriya said in panic, but he didn't say anything else. And the twins didn't respond. They distracted themselves with their quirks. Making light balls, something that had always been soothing. They learned it at a young age, and it felt nice to do it. But not when it had caused them attention when they were street rats.

"That's impressive. Have you two always worked with your quirks together? And man, Luffy's is so practical! You walked right over that hallway mess," Kirishima said. He was a pretty positive guy. Despite his tough guy looks, he was actually really nice and fun to be around. He was generally a positive person.

Ace nodded. "Ever since we were kids we have used them together. And I'm jealous of Luffy's, too," Ace said with a pout. Luffy just chuckled awkwardly. "He only learned how to harden the air last year by accident when we were training."

Iida asked, "You learned that in a year?" Luffy nodded and said they were fast learners. They avoided eye contact with their lying friend. It actually hurt a lot. Whatever it was was a big secret. Maybe he just didn't trust them like they thought he did. Maybe they pissed him off by telling him they were worried.

Maybe they weren't good friends after all.

They stayed mostly out of the conversations going on, trying to not fall into despair. Just, putting trust in someone else and not having them return it felt kinda shitty. Midoriya was the only other person besides Gunhead that knew about their haki. And he didn't even tell them how he got his new quirk, since he seemed so uncomfortable with All Might being involved.

After all, his quirk came before school started. Before he would have met All Might. So did that mean both of them were lying to the class and they knew one another beforehand? Surely Midoriya would have told them if he met All Might.

Luffy was the one to tell himself and his brother to not think about it. "Later, Ace. After school." Ace nodded and leaned his head on Luffy's shoulder. Midoriya didn't make eye contact the whole way. He knew they knew. But how would he react? He was the most timid of the three. But neither of them wanted to talk to him about it when they felt he wouldn't be honest.

It wasn't a nice car ride there.

When they got off, Ace and Luffy were the first to walk off the bus. Midoriya ran after them, started to talk. "Not now. We don't want to be distracted during this," Ace said, though not unkindly. Midoriya looked very upset, but nodded.

As a crowd, the class headed to the front of the dome that held the practice areas they were to use. Thirteen was there, a well-known rescue type hero who'd saved countless lives. She spoke for a bit, the twins trying to stay focused before she told them to come inside. When they did, awe and interest replaced the stormy feelings inside of their hearts.

"Wow! It's like Universal Studio Japan!" Kirishima exclaimed. There were multiple different zones in the massive building, if you could even call it that. Maybe more like an arena of a sorts. Ace and Luffy were side by side, their visors slid up so they could see completely. They sent a grin at one another.

Thirteen introduced it as "Unforeseen Simulation Join". Or USJ. Aizawa, always the sunshine out of the group, told them to calm down and come inside. Really, was he a teacher? He didn't seem to enjoy it much. Always seemed grumpy and sometimes a little mean.

Hagakure approached Ace and Luffy. "What do you think you guys will be good at?" she asked excitedly.

Ace said, "I can put out fires, so that would be good for me." Luffy thought for a moment.

"Well, I would only be able to evacuate people I can carry at once. So I'm not really sure. I guess we'll find out, huh?" Aizawa told them to be quiet (shut up, you're too happy) and then Thirteen ruined the party as well with true but unpleasant facts. Quirks can kill. Many of them can kill easily. Luffy looked at Ace, who hated that part of his quirk. Fire was destructive. And his was so hot it melted things. So it was even more destructive. That's why he and Luffy matched.

Luffy's wasn't strong by itself in close combat, while Ace's wasn't strong in distance fighting. So they worked together to overcome that barrier both of them had which they couldn't jump by themselves yet.