"Training today will be basic location exercises," Aizawa began. Kirishima could barely hear him. Blood was pumping in his ears and he was ready to move, to punch something and use his quirk to get all this restless energy out. Jogging after waking up from that strange dream did nothing to calm him down or even deplete the spare energy that welled up in his core. He kept pulling his quirk over and over himself in class, hardening his skin and then releasing after a few moments. He shuffled back and forth on his feet, his arms shaking with unbridled energy.

"You will be divided up into groups of three and will have ten minutes to locate thirty civilians and evacuate them from a building that is about to collapse. You may have to assess each civilian for basic injuries, but none are expected to be life threatening."

Keep an eye out for life threatening injuries then. Got it. Kirishima knew how Aizawa presented curveballs at them.

"Whoever can finish the quickest gets a sticker." Aizawa smiled, a horrible creepy smile that stretched over his face like a predator unhinging its jaw to take a bite out of unsuspecting prey, before presenting a sheet of golden star stickers from his back pocket.

...What.

The stickers gleamed in the sunlight. They were star-shaped and had words written in kanji like "Good job!" and "Fantastic!"

"...Sir," Iida began, and stopped abruptly when Aizawa's unsettling grin focused entirely on their class president. Iida gulped, and apparently decided that any question he had wasn't worth being under that look for a second longer. "Nevermind."

He was so goddamn hungry.

He wasn't sure what exactly he was looking for when he opened the fridge in the communal area, but he spied the cartoon of unlabeled and unnamed eggs and took them all out at once, roughly slamming a small frying pan onto the stove. Twisting the stovetop, it clicked twice before erupting into a pretty blue flame. Kirishima was able to get two eggs into the pan before Momo caught his arm.

"I said hello. Did you not hear me?" Her eyes were warm, but sharp with calculations and some sort of twisted emotion that Kirishima could not put a name for.

"Guess not." Kirishima shook her hand off and reached for a third egg.

"I think that's the most words I've heard you say this week." Iida pointed out. His tone wasn't sharp with malice, but it was thick with something that Kirishima couldn't put his finger on. Contempt, maybe. Sorrow.

"I say stuff." he huffed back, turning away from Iida to clear his nose of that sticky awful smell of burnt citrus that followed Iida like a heavy blanket. On any other day it would be a comforting, reassuring smell. The smell of a classmate. The smell of the class president that always led with his heart on his sleeve.

But not today.

"You haven't been talking to anyone, Kirishima." Momo smiled sadly.

Kirishima shrugged. The egg remained in his hand, but his grip tightened on it ever so slightly. It was an egg. He didn't want to cause a mess. "I don't think Todoroki has been talking to anyone either."

Todoroki was currently seated at one of the kitchen tables and slowly eating rice. He waved with his chopsticks at the mention of his name.

"He's been talking to me you know," Momo crossed her arms. Iida loomed over them both. "Everyone has been talking to me. And I've been talking to them. Except for you and Bakugou."

Kirishima rolled his eyes at the thought of Bakugou talking to someone. "Maybe it's because we don't need to talk to anyone. Maybe I don't need to talk to anyone."

Maybe he would always be that useless middle school boy who froze in the face of danger. Maybe he would always be the high schooler that led his friend to his death. Maybe he would always be stuck with his cowardly actions because that is what he was at his very core, a coward with a cheap parlor trick for a quirk playing hero with people's lives as consequences.

"Kirishima, please- "

"No, you don't get it!" he yelled. He whirled around, taking one step forward as the egg cracked in his hands and the yoke dripped down his clenched fingers. Iida shoved Kirishima with his shoulder, sending him stumbling back away from Momo."I don't want to talk to you! I'm tired of your pity! The chocolate cake, the room king, the in class exercises that are supposed to be fun. The damn stickers. I'm sick of it!"

"We aren't doing it just for your sake!" Iida wasn't loud, but his voice was sharp with venom. "Are you really so selfish that you think the rest of the class isn't mourning his death? Do you think that Aizawa has been trying to cheer you and only you up? Are you really so narrow minded that you cannot see the big picture?"

"Iida, that's enough-"

"Do you not see the mourning of your peers?!" Iida bellowed. "Do you not see that they are suffering because of our actions? Ours? Not just yours, ours!"

Hot, angry tears dripped down his face. "What actions?" his voice quivered. "You didn't do anything, remember? You just ran."

Iida stumbled back as if he was hit. Kirishima turned on one heel and raised his hand to his mouth.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. He forgotten what he was holding in his hands, only registered past his anger that it was food and that he was hungry ,

"Kirishima!"

Raw eggs were slimy and disgusting. When he was younger, he used to eat the paint chips off of his mom's front porch and chew on them with his sharp teeth, eventually upgrading to the sides of tables and fingernails and silverware. Egg shells had the same consistency and texture of those damned paint chips, but crumbled under his tongue like rotten wood. He almost spat it back out, choking on the membrane like substance. He swallowed, finally, and glared at Iida. Faced his unforgiving glare.

"What in the name-?" Iida just barely whispered out. A trail of egg white just barely hung out of the cornie of his mouth, cooling in the crisp air of newly minted AC units.

"Do you need me to cook that for you?" Todoroki asked from the kitchen table. "My hand doubles as a small frying pan under duress."

Kirishima couldn't help it. He laughed. He laughed harder than he had in days, clutching his stomach. His foot slipped, and he barely caught himself on one knee and a hand on the countertop as he shuddered though his laughter. He wasn't even laughing at todoroki, or the absurdity of the situation. Little bits of eggshell spat out of his mouth. Tears streamed down his face, and he activated his quirk just enough to hurt as he scraped the tears away, leaving angry red and raw skin in an arc upon his cheek.

He laughed until he had no laughs left. He laughed until Iida turned on one heel and walked away, his intense glare burning into his very cowardly being.

Mina Ashido: Kirishima, you need to see this. Come down to the common room.

Link: All Might's final stand (audio enhanced)

Read at 6:09 PM

Kirishima had watched the video three times already on his phone in preparation before finally coming down to face his friends, tears streaming down his face. Now, in the face of his classmates huddling around Shouji's ancient laptop, he could barely even flinch as explosions rocked the screen and All Might let out a mighty bellow as he punched the villain directly in the face, shattering his mask.

The footage was the closest thing to any recording of All Might's last words. The helicopter took footage from above and was able to get the last few shockwaves on tape, but this video was enhanced by quirks by mourning fans and determined detectives, further cleaned up by technology through media outlets. It was oversaturated, and the voices were disoriented. The owner of the video had died as the villain caused one of the buildings to collapse, but his phone was still recording until it was found by a sidekick in the rescue efforts.

The audio was fuzzy, despite the quirk and technology enhanced footage. Explosions rocked the background, and the handheld camera fell to the ground as its owner fell, exposing the night sky dotted with smoke. The outline of a collapsed building just traced against the sky, barely visible between the stars and the smoke.

Kirishima flinched as All Might roared, because he remembered hearing that same shout of pain and anguish from over three blocks away, and it rocked him to the core. Now, hearing it again and how potent the grief was in that simple, animalistic roar of suffering?

It made tears prick behind his eyes.

He has seen the video three times now and it still plucked a deep string of sorrow in his very being.

"If I had known that you were going to kill your own successor, I would have never picked up Tenko Shimera!" The villain didn't cackle maninacily as the stereotype forbade, but his voice was still filled with some sort of thick humor. "His blood is on your hands! I bet he came here without your permission. His death is because you failed as a teacher and had no control over him! You will die full of regrets, All Might! You and your Izuku Midoriya!"

"No way! That guy really knew Midoriya's name!" Kaminari screeched, drowning out All Might's response. The laptop fell from Shouji's lap from the sudden shout as the video continued. "I thought it was a rumor!"

"Shut up." Jirou's voice was cold and the jacks that pierced Kaminari's skin were unforgiving. "Have some tact."

"Don't be rude, Kaminari," Mina huffed.

"Hey! Cut that out." Kaminari rubbed his bleeding arm and sent a glare over his shoulder. "You can't get onto me for being shocked. I thought he was just trying to prevent their escape but this means so much more! It means that Midoriya's dea-"

"That's enough ." Iida slammed his hands on the coffee table, shaking the teacups full of cold tea and rattling the stacks of homework. "It doesn't matter what his motivations were. The fact of the matter is that-"

"It was premedatiave." Todoroki said as All Might shouted another battle cry from the fallen laptop, too far in grief to form even words. "It means that he wasn't targeted just because we were trying to escape like we thought."

"It is still our fault! Regardless if Midoriya was targeted or not!" Kirishima stood up, fists balled into hardened weights. He blinked rapidly to push back the tears, but one still escaped, cool against his heated cheeks. "We brought him there!"

"Guys," Ochako's voice was barely a whisper, but everyone still turned to look at her as if she shouted. "It doesn't mean it is your fault. This guy was dangerous and had multiple stolen quirks. It was only a matter of time before he-"

She sniffed, burying her face in her hands. "Before h-he,"

"Before he would have found Midoriya and killed him anyway." Tokoyami finished, eyes downcast. His feathers stood on one end, much like a cat's tail when one was startled. A defence mechanism? Something to make him seem bigger? "This man had the resources to craft Noumu and launch attacks on two UA locations. He would have found us eventually."

He said it so matter of factly that Kirishima almost didn't process the words. Found-

"That guy he fought at camp. The muscle guy?" Shouji whispered. "He said that there was a kill order on Midoriya."

"Then," Tsuyu spoke, her voice wavery with fear. "If there was a kill order on Midoriya and a capture order on Bakugou-"

"-Who knows who else would have been on the kill list." Iida finished. "It could have been anyone."

"But he's dead now, isn't he?" Kamimari said nervously. "Aren't we safe? All Might took care of it."

"Are you implying," Momo said through gritted teeth. "That we are safe because Midoriya is dead?"

"No!" Kaminari shrieked. "I meant the other guy! The villain!"

"All for One," Iida growled. "Just because he is dead does not mean that Shigaraki-"

"Who says he's dead?" Jirou cut in. "That man had apparently survived All Might before. He said, 'come to kill me again.' Just because the fight was televised this time doesn't mean that-"

"He is dead. He has to be." Kirishima snarled. "If he's not then-"

"Then All Might and Deku's deaths would have been for nothing." Ochako whispered.

This time it was a woman who reminded Kirishima so much of his mom, high above on the rooftop overlooking some unfamiliar city. The sun was setting, its golden glow casting long shadows onto the street below. His legs dangled over the edge, with untied sneakers and a well worn middle school uniform.

"You're pretty crazy, you know that?" She laughed. Her legs dangled off of the rooftop, the activation of her quirk just barely letting her float a few inches above the cement foot gap. The wind whipped her long black hair out of her ponytail, tangling in her face in a way that almost looked like a woven art form. She was beautiful. Her face and voice were young, but she had crows feet around her eyes and smile lines around her cheeks. "Does it have something to do with us?"

"I don't think so." Kirishima replied before he knew what he was doing. The wind blew away his voice, but his mom still heard his as she blinked in acknowledgement. His body shifted backwards against his will, so his legs were still over the building but his arms were behind his head, staring at the sky. "Is it wrong to believe in a theory wholeheartedly? To shout to the world that I am someone they can rely on? To create a pillar of support?"

"Maybe in this day and age," his mother laughed. It wasn't a mean spirited laugh, but rather one of joy. "Maybe not so in the near future. This quirk has been passed from generation to generation, and has always depended on a future. If you want to twist that future, then who am I to deny it? I can't wait to see what you will do with it, Toshinori."

She ruffled his hair.

Kirishima misses his mom.

(who is toshi-?)

Todoroki didn't find him in the bathroom rubbing never closing cuts like Mina did just a few days before. Todoroki found him on the roof of the dorm building, leaned against the door of the access point.

He definitely didn't come up here to do anything rash. It was the only thought bouncing around his head as he climbed the stairs. Not doing anything. Just needed some air. Just needed to get away from Iida's sharp glare and Momo's judgmental looks and Kanimari's pestering.

The morning bell came and went, the late bell still ringing heavy in Kirishima's head. A security bot spotted him just a few minutes ago and had ducked down before he could do anything about it. He had never skipped class before at UA, didn't pay attention to the reading of the new rules and policies. Kirishima had no idea what was going to happen.

But he was not expecting Todoroki.

He jumped out of his skin when Todoroki rounded the corner and held a hard boiled egg between them like a peace offering. Kirishima raised his eyebrow. "How'dja get up here?"

"Ladder."

Sure enough the legs of a ladder were hung over the side of the building. Where did he get a ladder? Why didn't he just climb the stairs? Todoroki was so weird.

"Mind if I sit next to you?"

Kirishima rolled his eyes, but scooted over so the door hinge was digging into his back. Todoroki plopped down next to him. Kirishima was for some reason reminded of his mom's cat when Todoroki folded his body so carefully to sit in the space next to him.

"I don't think a fall at this height will kill you." Todoroki pointed out bluntly. Kirishima shot to his feet.

"Who said anything about doing that?" He hissed, cheeks flush with rage and of the bite of wind. "That's the least manly way to go, anyway!"

A coward's way out.

Todoroki just stared at him, an eyebrow cocked. "You do know what this looks like, right?"

Wind brushed though Kirishima's ungelled hair, tangling in his face. "It's not like that," he grumbled, sitting back down next to him reluctantly. "I just wanted some air."

"You skipped class."

Kirishima only nodded, a twinge of guilt panging in his chest.

"You could have gotten air in class. We do outside exercises on Wednesdays."

"Didn't want that type of air," Kirishima grunted.

The conversation lulls comfortably into silence. Todoroki picks up a leaf and starts to tear it from vein to vein, the pieces scattering into Kirishima's face when he blows on them.

"Iida blames himself a lot for what happened. He doesn't blame you at all." Todoroki hummed. The leaf was nothing but shreds now.

"Why do you say that?" Kirishima didn't look at Todoroki, only at the edge of the roof where the main campus could be seen from this height. The hard boiled egg gets shifted from hand to hand but he doesnt start to peel it. Just holds it, thumbing the fragile shell.

He smiles sadly. Kirishima has never seen Todoroki smile before, sad or otherwise, and he feels like he should mark the date. Today Todoroki smiled at him. "I know him."

There was an awkward pause.

"Did you know," Todoroki cleared his throat. "He tried to stop us because he committed the same mistake once? Nobody died, but it still got stuck with him." he says ever so casually. Like he wasn't implying that Iida Tenya, class president of 1A, broke the law. "When he couldn't stop us from making the same mistake a-and," Todoroki stuttered, and took a deep breath before continuing. "He puts the blame on his own shortcomings."

Kirishima didn't know how to respond to that. He shook his head, trying to process the new information as the wind bit his cheeks, turning them rosy red.

All Might's mourning howl echoed in his mind.

"Well that's dumb," he finally huffed out. "He was the only one brave enough to try to stop us."