As soon as the fight began, Nana was pushing off the ground, her face turned towards the sky as the familiar feeling of weightlessness settled over her. She angled upwards, pouring as much speed as she could into her flight, determined to get above the battlefield, far enough to see her opponents' positions. The wind whistled past her face as she moved, filling her with the same joy it always did; here in the sky, she was in control. Here, she was free.

Nana heard a familiar hum beneath her, and she grinned; looking down, she saw her opponents racing after her. Sorahiko zigzagged through the air, the jets on his feet as powerful as ever as he raced towards her. Meanwhile, Hawks had spread his magnificent red wings, the sunlight gleaming gold off of them as he flapped once, twice, and launched himself upwards as well. He came on with all the speed he could muster, which, while impressive, seemed to be less than either Sorahiko or Nana could manage moving straight up. Nana wondered what his quirk could really do, if he was supposedly the second-best hero in Japan. It had to be more than just flying and weird swords, right?

The heroes chased her up, up into the sky, the vast arena providing plenty of space to maneuver. Nana knew she wasn't supposed to leave the test area, so she decided not to play cat-and-mouse with her opponents. Instead, it was time for a good old-fashioned brawl.

Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy; for all of Nana's bravado, she knew better than to underestimate her enemies. One-on-one, she could probably beat Sorahiko, but with Bird Boy in the mix, it was going to be trickier. For all that he seemed like a foppish, happy-go-lucky moron, Nana had seen the glint in his eye, and the way he carried himself; she knew it was an act, and that however such a young hero had managed to reach the very top of Japanese heroics, he had earned it.

At last, Nana stopped ascending; she estimated she was more than five hundred feet off the ground, above even the top of the stadium. Below her, Sorahiko and Hawks were racing to keep up, but Nana's head start and ability to go straight up meant that they were still far below her, maybe two hundred vertical feet or so. As Nana watched, they lined up perfectly, Sorahiko ahead of Hawks. Her grin sharpened, becoming almost predatory.

"Who am I to decline an invitation like that?" Nana mused, tucking her legs and tilting forward in preparation for one of her favorite moves. If naming your attacks wasn't stupid, she'd probably have called it "Orbital Strike," because that was badass. When she had her target, Nana simply...cancelled her quirk.

Five hundred feet above the ground.

Nana felt the pit of her stomach drop away, and her whole body was filled with a rush of adrenaline. She almost whooped with glee, only restraining herself to avoid her enemies finding out what was going on. As she plummeted to the ground, Nana somersaulted once, then twice in the air, before straightening out into a feet-first, straight-backed position that had her dropping like a bomb onto her enemies.

A second before she reached Sorahiko, the old man who had been her best friend looked up again, and instantly had flashbacks to years of getting kicked in the face by a woman moving at pre-quirk terminal velocity. If Nana had been able to pause time to see her old friend's expression clearly, she would have cackled at the "Oh, SHIT" look on his face as she dropped onto him like a speeding bullet.

But Sorahiko had a lifetime of heroics and aerial combat behind him, and reflexes honed to the very edge of human capability took over. His jets erupted, and he shot sideways at the last possible second, avoiding Nana by inches; the wind from her passing was strong enough to yank at his cape and make him damn sure that she hadn't changed a bit.

That was fine, though, because Sorahiko wasn't Nana's target.

Hawks, unable to see her coming thanks to Sorahiko being in the way, and less horizontally maneuverable anyways, had a snowball's chance in hell of dodging the human missile that landed on top of him. He felt combat boots smash into his face and sternum, along with a cackle of "Surprise, bitch!"

Then, he was a little bit busy plummeting hundreds of feet to pay attention to much.

Nana felt the satisfying sound of an opponent getting squashed flat, and laughed. Fancy wings couldn't save you from getting dropkicked from five hundred feet up, it seemed. The force of the impact sent Hawks plummeting another hundred feet or more, until Nana re-engaged her quirk and kicked off of him for good measure. She watched his wings snap out at the last second, catching the air, slowing and finally stopping his fall. Hawks shook his head a few times to clear it, then shot back upwards with steady wingbeats, moving back up towards her.

Nana would have laughed at the look of irritation on Hawks' face that was slightly undercut by the massive boot print stamped firmly on his features, but a second later, the hairs on the back of her neck shot up at the familiar whistling sound, and she whirled just in time to block a crescent kick from Sorahiko with a glowing, sparking arm. Her old friend had been moving so fast, there was an explosion of wind and force from the point of contact, as he tried to force his way past her guard, only to meet One For All's stubborn, unyielding strength.

At last, Sorahiko jetted away again, and there was a sudden and bizarre lapse in the fight, as the two opponents sized each other up, each waiting for the other to make the first move.

In that reprieve, Sorahiko hissed through teeth gritted in concentration, "Really? You just did that to that poor kid?"

"He'd have to learn sooner or later," Nana pointed out helpfully, though the playful smirk on her face betrayed her amusement with the whole situation.

"Learn what?" Sorahiko demanded.

"To look up, obviously," Nana replied with a grin, "You never know when resurrected teenagers might drop out of the sky and squish you flat, after all."

Sorahiko rolled his eyes with a sigh. He snapped, "The Number Two Hero is not your personal Goomba!"

"Tell that to the Number Two Hero," Nana countered with a laugh.

Sorahiko looked ready to attack again right then and there, but before he could, the topic of their conversation finally showed up again. With a swish of his wings, Hawks settled into place opposing Nana, forming the third point of a triangle between the three airborne combatants.

Rubbing his forehead painfully, Hawks said, "Gramps, why didn't you warn me that she's fucking insane?"

"It wouldn't have mattered if I did," Sorahiko grunted, apparently either ignorant of Hawks calling him Gramps, or electing not to dignify it with a response. Either way, Nana was cackling with vindication too hard to be insulted by Hawks' words.

With the expression of one who had been deeply wounded, Hawks turned to Nana and announced, "I'm going to have to kick your ass for that one, kid. All Might's daughter or not, nobody touches the face."

Nana couldn't stop herself from laughing as she retorted, "Personally, I think it looks better now!"
Hawks opened his mouth to respond, but instead, Sorahiko snapped, "Dammit, Hawks, just use your fucking feathers already!"

As Nana tilted her head in curiosity at what Sorahiko meant, Hawks shut up smartly, but then sighed, "Can't you let me have some witty banter first?"

"No!" Sorahiko shouted, "no witty banter! Just fight her, dammit!"

"Such a spoilsport," Hawks muttered as he splayed his wings out wide, dappling them with red and gold as they caught the light; Nana found herself mildly amused by the fact that she actually agreed with him for once.

Then, with a strange sound not unlike the whistle when Sorahiko used his jets, Hawks flapped his wings powerfully, and a rain of razor-sharp feathers shot out, moving at barely-visible speeds straight towards Nana.

Nana's eyes went wide in shock, and she barely reacted in time, shooting to the side as the whistling feathers shot past her.

"I knew there was more to his quirk," Nana thought. Those feathers may have been fast, but she was faster. Nana opened her mouth to taunt Hawks for missing her, but at that moment, the whistling sound came back.

Nana turned her head just in time to watch the feathers come to a screeching halt in midair, and turn around, shooting straight towards her once more. All of a sudden, the smug look on Hawks' face made perfect sense.

"Well, shit," Nana thought as she realized just how tough this was going to be, "this fucker has homing feathers."

Gritting her teeth, Nana got her head back into the game just in time, diving as quickly as she could to avoid the feathers heading straight for her back. They sped after her, moving so quickly that they were a blur. Behind her, Hawks grinned as Sorahiko dove as well, headed straight for his old friend as she ducked and weaved, trying to lose the feathers that Hawks sent after her.

All of a sudden, the fight had changed; Nana was on the defensive, forced to constantly evade, always on the move as Hawks filled the air around her with feathery missiles. Pushing her quirk as hard as she could, Nana tilted upwards, moving in a tight spiral. Behind her, Nana could hear that damn whistle as dozens of razor-sharp feathers slowly closed in on her, the lazy beats of Hawks' wings constantly sending out more, saving only enough for the blonde man to stay in the air.

Suddenly, Nana heard another sound, but it was too late to react, not if she didn't want to get skewered; from the side, Sorahiko slammed into her, kicking her in the gut hard enough to drive the air from her lungs. Nana grunted in pain as the force of the blow sent her off-course, causing her to spiral erratically to the side, fighting to regain control of her fall as Sorahiko disappeared again, doubtless preparing for another blow.

Sure enough, as Nana was forced to duck and dodge once again to avoid two feathers that passed close enough to her she could feel the wind of their passing on her face, another sudden attack came from behind, a two-footed kick to her lower back that was sure to leave a bruise. By the time Nana whirled around, a superpowered fist swinging for Sorahiko, the yellow-clad man had disappeared again.

Nana's ears filled with the whistle of feathers, and she shot upwards, tucking her legs underneath her to avoid another barrage. The earlier wave was already circling around to come at her back, though, and Nana cut off a yell as the razor edges cut her upper arms, leaving shallow, bleeding wounds.

Ignoring the pain of the cuts and already-forming bruises on her gut and back, Nana forced herself to focus; this time, she was able to dodge the kick Sorahiko aimed at her face, but when she went to follow up with an attack of her own, a sudden wave of feathers forced her to dodge backwards, giving Sorahiko a chance to disappear again.

Now, Nana was looking around wildly, desperate to find some way to even the score. At last, her gaze landed on Hawks, lazily floating above her, his eyes moving rapidly as he kept track of nearly half a hundred feathers at once, each and every one capable of ending the fight right then and there. They swirled and whipped across the battlefield, forcing Nana to weave and dodge continually, breaking off every course she took as she tried to move unpredictably to avoid getting stabbed.

Narrowing her eyes in determination, Nana summoned One For All, and launched herself towards Hawks, moving too quickly for the feathers to keep up. She flew straight and true, drawing one fist back as purple lightning danced across her taut muscles. She soared a hundred feet or more in a second, a bullet aimed right at her target.

Hawks looked surprised for a second, but instead of running or dodging, he quickly summoned two of his longest, strongest feathers back to him; they flew into his hands, his thumbs stroking over the stiff bristles that acted like crossguards with practiced familiarity. He smiled grimly as Nana reached him.

Nana smiled too, grim satisfaction dancing on her features as she aimed a punch with every last bit of One For All she had right at Hawks' stupid smug face. But instead of the cathartic crunch of a good hit, she watched in shock as Hawks swayed slightly to the left, and her punch sailed past him uselessly. Nana hissed as one of the long red swords the hero carried scored a long, though still fairly shallow, cut down her side, cutting through her costume and skin with surprisingly ease.

Surprised by the rapid shift to a swordfight three hundred feet in the air, Nana tried to spring backwards, out of range, but Hawks flapped his wings and refused to let her escape. He surged forwards, long dual swords making an X in front of him as he swung for her. Nana continued to try and give ground, ducking under a horizontal slash that came so close, she was thankful for the haircut Kamakiri had already given her; if she still had hair that long and spiky, she'd be getting significantly closer to a buzzcut right about now.

After one or two more rapid, whirling blows, Nana realized that just giving ground wasn't going to work; Hawks could follow her, or surround her with more psychic feathers until she couldn't escape. Her best bet was to get in a couple of good hits now, while she was in closer. But first, Nana had to deal with these fucking swords.

A relentless smile still on her face, Nana waited for one last thrust to pass harmlessly by, then surged upwards to meet an overhead slash from Hawks, who was wearing his own brutal grin, the kind worn when fighting an opponent who was good enough to make things fun.

The blade slammed down onto Nana's gloved palm, and Nana swallowed a cry of pain as the sharp feather sliced into her flesh, even through the tough, thick fabric of her yellow gloves. Even so, she grabbed the blade, that very fabric helping stop the winged hero from escaping her grip.

Hawks' eyes went wide in shock as Nana grinned at him through gritted teeth. Without hesitating, he attacked with his other sword, an overhanded swing that would come down on her while she was too busy trapping his other blade to react.

But instead, Nana grabbed that sword, too, using her left hand as easily as her right, ignoring the pain, letting it mingle with the dozen other cuts and injuries she already had, and then expelling it from her mind as easily as she had everything else that wasn't this moment, this second-by-second fight where adrenaline made time slow to a crawl.

God, she'd missed this kind of fight. It felt good to kick ass again.

Hawks stared at Nana as she floated up a little to put their eyes on the same level, tugging ineffectively at the swords still trapped in her grasp. The purple lightning that crawled and sparked across her body confused him; All Might hadn't had anything like that, had he?

Nana said, "Hey, Chicken Man!"

"W-what do you want?" Hawks responded, panting a bit from the effort this fight was requiring from him.

Nana's grin was sharper than the sword blades she kept trapped in her fists as she finished, "Bitch."

Then, with One For All flowing through her body, she reared her head back and brought it slamming into the winged hero's forehead, with enough force to shatter walls.

Stunned by the headbutt, Hawks faltered, head lolling back as his wings briefly stopped beating. When Nana summarily dropped him, he plummeted for a moment, before finally regaining his senses. By the time he had, though, Nana was already turning, satisfied for the moment.

"Now, where is Sorahiko?" she wondered, scanning for her old friend. Before she could find the answer, though, another powerful blow landed between her shoulder blades, making her yell in shocked pain as the force of the impact forced her downwards.

"There he is," she muttered to herself as she whirled around to see Sorahiko floating there, looking thoroughly unimpressed with her.

"Seriously, Nana, what did that poor kid do to you?" Sorahiko demanded.

Nana shrugged. "I have no idea," she admitted, "maybe if I beat him up some more, I'll figure it out."

Sorahiko rolled his eyes, and then the fight was back on as he shot forwards, his powerful kick meeting Nana's block, both of them grinning with the enjoyment of a good fight.

Nana had to break off the engagement before Hawks returned for revenge-she could see him below them, rising back into the air rubbing painfully at his forehead-but by then, she was being pursued by Sorahiko, too, who zigzagged after her fast enough that she had to aim upwards to slow him down.

When a flurry of sharp feathers started attacking her from all sides, Nana decided that she'd succeeded in irritating Hawks. When she managed to dodge them all by a hair's breadth, well, she sure hoped that it only made his mood worse.

Now, the pattern of the fight was set; Nana would continually dodge, duck, and weave through the arena's airspace, with Hawks' feathers pinning and corralling her as best they could when she broke off occasionally to try and make attack runs at him. After the first one, though, Nana never managed to get that close again; Sorahiko always intervened before she reached Hawks. Similarly, any time Nana managed to anticipate one of Sorahiko's hit-and-run attacks, she was immediately assaulted by a barrage of feathers, preventing her from committing to a follow-up attack.

Nana could see their strategy now, and it was simple, effective, and incredibly annoying. Hawks was trapping her and limiting her mobility in the wide-open space of the arena, harassing and corralling her so that she couldn't use it to her advantage, while Sorahiko used quick bursts of speed to hit her with constant, unrelenting hit-and-run attacks, keeping the pressure on, while Hawks covered him so that she couldn't respond. Similarly, whenever Nana tried to go for Hawks to free herself from the need to constantly be wary of his feathers, Sorahiko would interfere, forcing her to retreat or get walloped.

Of course, she was getting walloped anyway, so it wasn't like it was much of a choice. It was never that strong of a hit, since Sorahiko and Hawks weren't going to decide this fight with a single knockout blow; the durability granted by One For All made sure of that. Instead, they were tiring her out, whittling her down with countless cuts and blows; they littered her body as the fight dragged on, Hawks' feathers leaving countless small cuts on her arms and legs and torso oozing blood, while painful bruises from Sorahiko's kicks made her body stiffen and ache. When she got the opportunity, Nana was giving as good as she got, but she could tell that she was losing this fight. There were just too many things to keep track of, too many ways that she was getting hurt.

Nana knew that she was stronger than either of her opponents up close; the problem was that they knew it, too, and weren't letting her get close enough to knock either of them out. If she wasn't going to beat them both up for this, she would have admired their tactics, which were clearly smart and planned out.

Gritting her teeth as another too-slow dodge left a fresh cut scored across her cheek from a feather, Nana knew that she needed to do something to stop herself losing this fight to a death by a thousand cuts, but she couldn't think of anything. Her whole body was aching, exhaustion slowly but surely creeping through her bones.

Desperate to figure out some way to get these fucking feathers off of her, Nana flipped herself upside down, face aimed at the ground as she shot downwards, followed by more than a dozen feathers that tracked her every move. She dove as sharply and quickly as she dared, pushing herself to the limit, picking up speed and feeling the g-forces tugging at her. Nana streaked towards the hard-packed earth, gritting her teeth as the resulting wind whipped over her endless cuts and wounds.

At last, the ground rushing up to meet her was too close; Nana yanked herself upwards, now blazing through the sky parallel to the ground, perhaps fifteen feet above it; she'd pulled out of the dive at the last possible moment, a display of aerial mastery that would have turned a pre-quirk fighter pilot green with envy.

Hoping that her incredibly risky maneuver had shaken the feathers in pursuit, Nana craned her neck to look behind her, searching for the telltale red blurs. She found none; the feathers had either been pulled back or slammed uselessly into the ground under their own momentum. Nana allowed herself a quick cry of victory. At last, she had some breathing room. Now, all she needed to do was-

Out of nowhere, Sorahiko struck again, swinging his leg into Nana's side as he came down from her right, above her. Nana had less than a second to register the pain before she was going down, the shock and the exhaustion overwhelming her concentration and briefly making her lose control of her quirk. She went sprawling, hitting the densely-packed ground hard enough to make her body scream in protest, tumbling head over heels, rolling to a gradual, painful stop. At last, Nana was laid out flat on her belly, limbs sprawled uselessly as she fought to stay conscious.

"Ow…" she thought to herself, feeling like all of the little cuts and bruises across her body had merged into a single massive wound.

Nana sensed movement above her, and she managed to turn her head enough to see Sorahiko and Hawks hovering about twenty feet in the air, watching her. As the heavy beats of Hawks' wings rang through the arena, Sorahiko called out, "You done yet, Sport?"

Nana laughed hollowly as she tried and failed to get her legs under her, scrabbling for purchase in the dirt. She shouted back, "Like hell I am!"

Hawks rolled his eyes, muttering something about "stubborn baby heroes," but Sorahiko just smiled a little wider with what might have been nostalgia.

He replied, "Nana, you're outmatched here. You can't win. Give up, before you get seriously hurt."

Nana hissed as she finally got her legs to support her weight. Slowly, painfully, she dragged herself upright, ignoring the throbbing of her wounds as she staggered, her arms feeling like lead weights at her sides. God, she was so tired…

But she wasn't going to stop fighting; she couldn't. Even if Sorahiko was right. Nana knew that she was simply not strong enough to take on both of these great heroes at the same time. Even One For All wasn't-

Wait a second.

One For All…

Nana remembered a meeting a week ago, when she'd sat in a room with two generations of her successors and finally begun to piece together the mystery of her second chance. She recalled her own faith that One For All was good, that it was strong, that it was always on their side. But more than that, she recalled her own link with Izuku, crafted somehow by One For All when she'd come back. Even now, miles away from him and barely able to stay conscious, Nana could feel the link, could feel him; it felt like an endless spool of thread, linking something at the core of her being to him, and vice versa.

They shared everything; lives, memories, pain. If Nana had been willing to take herself out of the adrenaline-fueled moment of this fight, she could have reached out and read his feelings from here, known his thoughts as intimately as she knew her own. She'd never admit it, but that link was the reason she had been able to hold herself together since being thrown into a new life thirty years after her old one had ended. If he hadn't been there…she didn't know what would have happened.

But if they shared everything, and Nana could sense the power that roiled under Izuku's skin even from here…why shouldn't she be able to share that, too?

It was stupid, probably, and risky, and probably really dangerous; but since when had that ever stopped her before?

Nana looked up at her old friend, and the grin on her face was bloody and eager. She spat out the blood in her mouth, and told him, "I thought you knew me by now, Sorahiko. I never give up."

Before Sorahiko could respond, Nana took a deep breath, and opened a floodgate in her mind, hoping that this wasn't going to hurt as much as it probably would.

It was time to call in backup, of a sort.

Miles away (but closer than Nana thought, for reasons he kept as secret as he possibly could,) Izuku sat in a car, surrounded by friends, but lost deep in thought as he worried about Nana. For the past half hour, he'd been fighting to keep his mouth shut, gritting his teeth as pains small and large exploded in his mind, ghostly echoes that left him terrified about what was happening to the woman he loved.

Suddenly, Nana's voice came across the link, sounding harried but still as smug and cocky as ever.

"Hey, babe, how's it going?" she asked.

"Nana? Why are you talking to me? Aren't you in your test right now?" Izuku responded, doing his best not to change his expression so that his friends wouldn't notice his sudden distraction.

"Well, yeah," Nana began, only to skip a beat as she grunted in pain, pain that throbbed across Izuku's side in the same moment, "the thing is, fighting two people at once is a little tricky, and I've kind of got an idea."

"I get the feeling that I won't like this idea," Izuku said evenly, recognizing Nana's tone as the one she used when trying to convince him of a hare-brained scheme.

Nana replied, "Well, that depends."

"Depends on what?" Izuku asked.

Sheepishly, Nana answered, "Um...if you don't mind the feeling of getting your soul sucked out? Because it might feel like that for a second."

"Okay, what the fu-" Izuku began, alarmed by Nana's words. But before he could finish, green lightning was exploding over his skin, and his mind was filled with crackling power and a pained, wordless screaming.

Somewhere in the distance, Izuku could hear his friends crying out in surprise and alarm, but all he could sense was Nana, asking for everything he could give her, like a black hole in the center of his chest that guzzled up the familiar warmth of his inherited quirk. The link scorched and crackled from the flow of so much power, resonating and trembling in ways Izuku could never quite put into words.

For once, Izuku felt like the infinite dynamo of energy that was One For All might actually run out...but still, Izuku gave it readily, pouring all he had into what Nana asked, trusting her with his heart; what else could he do? So even as he grit his teeth and lightning storms wrote themselves into his skin, he let One For All guide him.

He didn't notice his oldest rival's red eyes boring into his back, bearing suspicion alongside a feeling that was unfamiliar in that gaze: worry.

For a heartbeat, Nana didn't feel a thing as the link seemed to warp and bubble like magma. But as a half-formed thought of disappointment flitted through her mind, there was a roaring in her head, like the sound of an enormous waterfall, and then there was power exploding in her veins. It was the warmth of One For All that was an old friend to her at this point, ramped up not to eleven, but twelve; it was to the power she knew as a wildfire was to a cozy campfire. It was Izuku's power, mixed with her own, and it electrified her.

Even as every cell in Nana's body exploded with renewed power, she felt like she was trying to contain a nuclear explosion in a snowglobe; One For All overflowed her body in an endless stream that sent jagged fingers of lightning shooting in every direction, arcing from her limbs to the ground below, mixing and dancing. Where the lightning that sometimes appeared when she used her quirk was purple, though, this lightning mixed in a deep, vivid green as well; the two colors wreathed Nana's rigid form in perfect harmony, bolts fading from one color to another halfway along their lengths as they flowed together.

At last, Nana crushed the threat of this new, overpowering strength escaping, bending it to her unbreakable will; it felt like nearly losing her grip on something, only to surge forwards and grasp it more firmly than ever. Even so, Nana finally understood why Izuku had struggled so much more than her or Toshi to control One For All; her body was simply not capable of holding this much energy in check, of regulating it so that it didn't destroy her own body along with whatever she aimed it at. All of Nana's experience, though, gave her just enough control that she thought she could handle it…for two, maybe three swings at most. After that, she'd start losing limbs, and fast.

But two or three good hits would be enough, Nana decided. With strength and speed as enormous as what she could feel flowing under her skin, nobody could stop her.

Above her, Sorahiko watched with uncomprehending eyes as Nana's body exploded with power so great that lightning bolts left scorch marks on the ground around her. What the hell was going on? Where was this coming from?

In some traitorous corner of his heart, Sorahiko found himself wondering whether Nana might have survived, all those years ago, if she'd had this kind of strength…if her spirit would have broken, had she been able to defend those she loved that much better.

Before Sorahiko's thoughts could follow that dark path, though, he got a frantic tap on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw the incredulous face of Hawks staring back at him. Jerking a thumb at the lightshow beneath them, the winged hero asked, "So, uh…did she get that from your side of the family, or her dad's?"

Sorahiko looked back down as Nana's gaze rose up to them. With a jolt, he realized that Nana's eyes were glowing, dancing with alternating green and purple light as she bared her teeth in a deadly grin. Sorahiko knew that grin well; it was a weapon as much as a promise, and it never meant anything good for the poor bastard on the receiving end of it.

Unable to keep the pride out of his voice, Sorahiko replied, "Oh, that's all her."

From below, Nana's voice called out, steady and confident, as lightning hummed around her and the power radiating from her turned the air to static. "Alright, boys, it's been real fun," she drawled as the cuts on her cheeks and forehead dripped freely, surrounding those terrifying eyes with dark red blood, "but now, it's my turn."

His expression grim as he readied his swords, Hawks asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Before Sorahiko could reply, Nana moved. In a fraction of a second, she vanished from sight, crouching and leaping into the air. The force of Nana pushing off turned the center of the arena where she'd landed into a shattering crater, a shockwave filling the entire arena as gale-force winds whipped themselves into a frenzy, buffeting both flying men until they were fighting just to stay aloft.

Then, Nana appeared again, above them, a halo of fire and light surrounding her as she descended towards them like a meteor, an enormous smile on her face as she drew back her leg for a single colossal blow; neither of her opponents recognized the move, but any of her classmates would have seen it and known at once that it was Izuku's Shoot Style at work.

Just before Nana struck, Sorahiko answered, a giant grin on his face and tears at the corners of his eyes, "We lose."

Nana's kick was true, and both of her opponents had no chance against it; they struck the ground hard enough to carve another crater, dust and rock and wind exploding outwards until a veritable windstorm had been kicked up. Even then, the glowing lightning at the center was unmistakable as it reached the ground, slowly diminishing, but not quite going away.

The men in the stands, specially chosen to score and observe this unique test, stared with open jaws and disbelieving eyes as the green and purple light at the heart of the miniature dust storm now covering the arena floor slowly resolved itself into the form of Nana Shimura, her body arcing with power, hands on her hips and a cocky smirk on her face. Behind her, the dust settled enough to reveal the unconscious forms of Gran Torino and Hawks.

"Hello, guys!" Nana announced, "I'd like my license now, please."

Fifteen minutes later, a newly-healed Nana strode out of the front gates, admiring her shiny new license. It was amazing what beating up the Number Two Hero could do to speed up bureaucratic red tape.

As she walked through the enormous doors, replacing the laminated card in her pocket, Nana found herself chuckling at the thought that she was probably the first person ever to pass the provisional license exam twice. She was just glad that Nezu had managed to fuck with the Hero Commission's records enough to keep anyone from asking weird questions like "hey, didn't you die thirty years ago?"

Now, all she needed to do was wait until Toshi showed up to drive her home, then find Izuku and absolutely fucking destroy his-

"CONGRATULATIONS!"

Nana's thoughts came to a screeching halt as she found herself surrounded by her classmates, who had apparently been waiting by the front door. Nana yelped in surprise, jumping six feet into the air and hovering there for a moment as her heart briefly stopped beating. Before she could get control of herself again, a familiar pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around her waist and dragged her down, hugging her tightly. After a second, Nana smiled and snuggled into Izuku's hug, tilting his head up to kiss him like it was the end of the world.

When she finally pulled away, Izuku murmured, "I knew you could do it."
Nana smiled softly as she replied, "I couldn't have done it without you."

Izuku told her, "Please, you did it all by-"

"No, literally, I kinda used your power to do it," Nana interrupted, quietly enough to not be overheard.

The look of mingled amusement and frustration on Izuku's face suggested that they were going to be having that conversation later, but for now, he just grinned and released her with one last soft kiss. Only then did Nana find herself mobbed by the rest of the class, who were cheering and congratulating her.

For all of Nana's confidence, she started to find herself just a little overwhelmed by the realization that these people were her friends. She hadn't had many of those in her first life, other than Sorahiko, and she definitely hadn't had this sort of camaraderie with her UA classmates. For the first time, she really felt as though she belonged here, in this time, with these people.
When the congratulations and backslapping had died down a little, Nana choked out, "T-thank you guys…for coming."

"Of course we came," Ochako replied, an enormous grin on her face, "You're our friend!"

A chorus of nods and agreements followed, making Nana fight off a wave of happy tears. Seriously, why was she being so sappy all of a sudden?

Then, Kirishima added, "Of course, this is all thanks to your boyfriend! He's the one who had the idea!"
Nana whirled around, her gaze landing squarely on Izuku, who smiled bashfully, his cheeks bright red as he nodded in confirmation.

For a moment, Nana debated whether throwing herself at him and kissing him silly would reduce her reputation for being terrifying and awesome with her classmates. Instead, she informed him matter-of-factly, "You, mister, are so getting laid when we get back to UA."

Cackles, splutters, and choked gasping followed from the rest of her class, along with a strangled plea from Kaminari to "Please stop saying things like that!" that was summarily ignored. With her reputation thus secured, Nana threw herself at Izuku and started kissing him silly, filling their link with love and happiness and thanks.

Eventually, Izuku managed to pull away long enough to smile and remind her, "That's gonna have to wait until tonight, Nana. If I remember correctly, I promised you a date."

Nana grinned widely, even as another curious probe into what exactly Izuku had planned was gently deflected, leaving her still wondering what her wonderful boyfriend was going to do.

Instead, she simply agreed, "So you did. Well, are you going to keep a lady waiting, or not?"

As Izuku laughed, Nana let herself just…bask in the moment. She was fresh off a thrilling victory, surrounded by people she called friends, and looking forward to an excellent night with the man she loved.

What else could she possibly need?