When Aizawa sensei announced the rescue training, Izuku couldn't help but feel excited. Even if he couldn't yet control One for All much, with every moment he spent at U.A, he felt closer to his dream. The dream that always seemed so unreachable as a child was now right in his grasp.

He still had a hard time believing it was real. After all the sleepless nights, lying awake and staring at the ceiling, always hoping but never daring to believe it would become real. But it was. And it made Izuku feel so damn proud, he felt like he could cry.

That, and rescue training sounded fun.

(If he only knew.)

Izuku pulled his gym clothes on while everyone else was putting on their hero costumes. His got destroyed the day before, in the fight with Kacchan. It made him sort of sad, his mom bought that jumpsuit after all. But he was now training to be a hero, which meant actual fights, so this was bound to happen sooner or later. But he didn't think it would happen this soon.

Stepping out of the building, he immediately bumped into Uraraka.

"You are wearing your gym clothes? Where is your hero costume?" She asked, smiling at him.

"Ah, it didn't survive the battle training." Izuku scratched the back of his head. "The school company is repairing it now, though."

Before Uraraka could answer, they heard Iida's voice shouting at them from in front of the bus. "Everyone, line up according to your I.D. numbers! Fill those seats in an orderly fashion!"

Izuku cracked a smile. "Iida is really enjoying this class president thing isn't he?"

"I guess so." Uraraka chuckled. "It was really nice of you to give him the position.

Izuku looked down, the shame filling him. How could he have kept that spot? It hurt enough already that people trusted him enough to make him class president. After all, they didn't know what he really was. He felt like he was playing their trust. "I gu… guess." He muttered.

Because he was looking on the ground, he completely missed Uraraka's searching look, directed at him. She had a thinking face on, as if she was trying to figure something out, but judging by the continuous frown on her face, she didn't seem to find any answers whatsoever.

After getting on the bus, Izuku ended up between Asui and Sato, and far from Kacchan thankfully.

"I generally say what's on my mind, Midoriya," Asui said suddenly, startling the boy.

"Oh. Why, what is it, Asui?" He asked with a bit of nervousness.

"Call me Tsuyu." The girl turned towards Izuku. "Your quirk resembles All Might's," she stated. Izuku felt like his heart just stopped beating for a moment.

"R-R-Really? Nah. I mean, I…" He frantically searched for an answer, any answer really, in his head, but there were none.

"Hold up, Tsuyu, All Might doesn't get hurt though. They are already different in that way." Kirishima objected, showing them his filed teeth with a smile.

"And he also can't open the ground to crash robots with it." Iida added thoughtfully.

Suddenly, there was silence, with people frowning and looking at the class president questioningly. At this point, Izuku was sweating buckets. The situation just went from bad to worse, and was heading towards terrible with a Gran Torino like speed.

"Open up the ground? What are you talking about?" Mina asked, her curiosity peaked.

Izuku wondered who else could hear his heartbeat, because to him, it seemed loud enough to join the conversation.

"At the entrance exam. I was at the same city block as him." Iida looked at Izuku questioningly. "But now that I think about it, I haven't seen you using that power since. What is your quirk exactly, if you don't mind me asking, Midoriya?"

"Yeah, what IS your quirk, Deku?" Kacchan asked in the background, his voice filled with resentment.

"Uhm, it's, uhm, you know, like, strength enhancement, and, uh…" Izuku was really in a tough spot now, and it didn't help that Aizawa sensei, who was sitting next to the driver, suddenly turned around, and looked at Izuku expectantly. "It's kind of complicated? It's nothing special, really, mostly it's just strength. The other part, it's impractical, barely usable, really, I don't use it much, uh…"

"Yeah, but what is it?" Asui (Tsuyu?) asked, staring at him with a poker face.

"It's…" Izuku felt the panic rise in his throat. Why did he not have an explanation ready? He should have known this would happen. He always had a plan. This was so stupid of him.

"If he doesn't want to talk about, he doesn't have to." A calm voice said from behind Kacchan. All eyes turned to Todoroki, who met their gazes without blinking. "It's none of your business. It's his quirk."

"Now that I think about it, Todoroki also has a dual quirk, doesn't he?" Kirishima said thoughtfully. "Not only that, him and Bakugou have the strongest quirks in class."

"Yeah, but Bakugou is always fuming, he will never be popular." Tsuyu stated blatantly.

From there on, the conversation got carried away, especially when Bakugou seemed to take that as a personal offense. (Which it probably was).

Izuku felt unimaginably grateful, letting out a deep breath. His eyes found Todoroki's, and mouthed a quiet thank you. The boy just nodded, and turned away, uncaring about the conversation that was now partly about him.

They arrived at the facility a short time later. Waiting for them there was space hero Thirteen in the flesh, and Izuku couldn't help but be a little starry eyes. Thirteen was one of the heroes who didn't exactly have a quirk you would flat out consider a hero quirk, and yet she was a great rescue hero.

"There's the flood zone, the land slide zone, conflagration zone, and so on, every disaster you can imagine." The hero explained to the class, pointing at different parts of the huge indoor space. "I built this place myself. The Unforeseen Simulation Joint!"

While all his classmates started chatting excitedly, Izuku spotted Aizawa sensei walking up to Thirteen. That in itself wouldn't have been suspicious, but he was close enough to hear him say 'All Might'. That, and the three fingers the space hero was showing, told Izuku all he needed to know.

All Might wasn't coming, huh?

"Alright." Aizawa looked at the students, silencing everyone immediately. "Let's begin."

"Before you do," Thirteen help up his hand, "I have one or two points. Or three. Or four. Lots of points I need to make."

The class stared at the hero curiously.

"So, as many of you are aware, my quirk is called Black Hole. It can tear apart anything."

"And you have used it to save people in all sorts of disasters." Izuku found himself saying, his inner fanboy coming out.

"Indeed. However, my power could kill easily. I've no doubt there are some among you with similar power."

Izuku gulped. Yes, you could kinda say that.

"In our superpowered society, use of quirks is heavily restricted and monitored. It may seem that this system is a stable one, but we must not forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for someone to die." Izuku felt his heart skip a beat. "During Aizawa'a physical fitness test you came to learn of your hidden potential. Through All Might's Battle Training, you experienced the danger that your respective quirks can pose to others. This class will show you perspective! You will learn how to utilize quirks to save lives!"

Can mine save lives though? Izuku asked himself quietly.

Of course it can. One for All will save lives. While Gates of Hell…

Who knows.

Thirteen bowed. "Thank you for your attention."

And in that moment, it all went to hell.

Izuku could feel it before he saw it. The crackling in the air, the shadow gate opening.

But mostly, so much death.

Izuku knew immediately that this was no practice. Those were real villains, carrying death with them like body odor.

"Huddle up and don't move!" Aizawa sensei shouted, but Izuku barely heard him, because what was this feeling?

His heart was beating a hundred miles an hour, and he couldn't contain his shivering. But not because he was afraid. No, it was a feeling much, much darker than that. His eyes met one of the villains, the one who wore a hand on his face. But he wished he had looked anywhere else in that moment, because wow. There was death in those eyes.

There was death everywhere.

There was this intense pulling in his heart, wanting to come out, wanting to be grabbed and brought forth, tugging at Izuku's heart in an all too familiar way. He stopped himself in the last moment. What was he doing? Everyone was here. He couldn't just summon his skeletons. Especially in front of the villains. Who knows what would they do with him if they saw his quirk.

When Aizawa grabbed his scarf, Izuku returned to the present, shaking himself out of the death death death that was surrounding everything. "Aizawa sensei, you can't fight them alone!" He said, clenching his fist. "Against this many, you can't nullify all their quirks!" His heart was still beating fast, but this time, it was different. He was thinking logically now. 'You will die too.' He added in thoughts, but didn't say it out loud. 'Don't you feel the death all around them?'

He could help. His secret was never going to be a secret forever anyway. If it meant saving his classmates, he would gladly reveal it, no matter the consequences.

"As Eraserhead, your fighting style involves erasure and quick binding capture. Head on battle isn't…"

"No good hero is a one trick pony." The teacher interrupted him, his eyes hid by his goggles.

"I can help!" Izuku shouted, stepping closer.

"You are student. What can you do? You would just injure yourself. Stay with the others." Aizawa ordered strictly.

"You don't understand. I'm not a one trick pony either!"

For a moment, Aizawa didn't move, then turned away from Izuku. "As I said, Midoriya. Thirteen, take care of them!"

And then, he jumped into the midst.

For a moment, Izuku wanted to go after him, but he quickly stopped when he realized that he wasn't needed. Nor his quirks. Either of them. Because Aizawa sensei was kicking ass.

He couldn't observe for long though, because the next thing he knew, they were being ushered out of the faculty.

Just to be stopped by the portal villain teleporting in front of them.

"Greetings. We are the league of Villains" he introduced themselves in a surprisingly polite tone. As if they were some sort of charity organization, instead of a bunch of villains attacking kids. "Forgive our audacity, but today, we've come here to U.A. High school, this bastion of heroism with one goal." There was a beat of silence there, and Izuku felt his anxiety growing. "To end the life of All Might, symbol of peace."

The villain kept talking after that, but Izuku didn't hear him, couldn't hear him. He felt the anger rising, and it was so intense, it drowned out everything else. Kill All Might?

And he wasn't the only one who felt that way. Kirishima and Kacchan wasted no time, attacking the portal guy immediately.

"Not if we end you first." Kirishima stated, his eyes screaming even if he wasn't.

And if that happens, I'll be glad to add you to my skeleton collection. Izuku thought but then, wait what?

But before he could realize the weight of his own thoughts, something happened.

They were warped. And then, Izuku was falling, and nononono was that water? The flood zone? Not water, anything but water!

Splash.

And then it was all gone. Izuku was sinking down down down, but he had no control, he had no air, and no ground, and no connection and he was all alone and help help help.

All the anger and determination was gone. All Izuku could feel right now was panic, because of course out of all the places he just had to end up in water. The one thing he hated more than anything. Water.

Skeletons couldn't swim. Skeletons didn't want to swim. Or maybe it was just because Izuku's connection to the ground, the ground where the skeletons were lying, was gone now. He was utterly, completely alone, no backup, no help. There was nothing he could do, not in water.

Anywhere else, but not in water.

Because as soon as Izuku entered water, he lost his power. It wasn't even like when Aizawa erased his quirk, it wasn't completely gone, it felt more like a blurred connection. It was there, but it only made Izuku feel helpless. Like when you wake up and you tell your body what to do but it just won't and you feel so helpless and alone and will someone help.

Izuku's prayers were answered a moment later. Something wrapped around his waist, and the next thing he knew, he was on a ship, landing with a thump. But he couldn't care, because there was at least something under his feet now. He coughed and tried to at least sit up, but he felt powerless, still stuck in a state of panic.

Ships were good though. They weren't anything like real ground, But Izuku could feel the connection to the dead now, so it was okay. He wasn't in the water.

"Midoriya, are you alright?" Asui asked, patting his back.

"Y…yeah, I guess, thanks Asui." Izuku shivered. "It's just, uhm, water is my weakness. I hate it."

Asui was looking at him for a long time, her face undecipherable. "Call me Tsuyu" she said eventually. "And it seems like we are in trouble here then."

Izuku slowly fought himself to get his right mind back, trying to piece together what had happened element by element.

And oh, right, the villains wanted to kill All Might. Immediately, the anger returned. Unforgivable. Who were they to decide who lived and who died? And Killing All Might? How dare they even…

"They know our schedule." He said eventually, gritting his teeth. "The simplest explanation is that they caused the media rush the other day in order to get their intel. It's like Todoroki said." Izuku could feel the shiver leaving him now, anger taking over. "They have been waiting for this chance, and prepared for it well." He stood up, looking over the railing, to the lake around them.

"But there is no way they could ever kill All Might. He would trash them once he gets here." Mineta insisted.

"If they hadn't figured out a way to kill him, they wouldn't have come." Tsuyu stated. "I wouldn't put it past them. That guy promised to kill us too, after all. Who says we can even hold out until All Might gets here? Even when he does show up, who says he won't be killed?"

Izuku had many thoughts running through his mind at that moment, and he was probably muttering again but he didn't care. He had bigger problems. Aizawa sensei was fighting against a horde of villains, and some of them seemed strong too. All Might already ran out of time. Everyone was teleported away, scattered all over the place.

The situation seemed hopeless. And they wanted to kill All Might. All Might.

You can be a hero.

Kill All Might.

With your quirk, and mine.

All Might.

Please don't give up on me.

I absolutely will not!

As if he would ever, ever let that happen. The only person opening the doors of death today was going to be him, and only he will decide who gets to cross it.

After all, it was his power to do so.

"If they… if there's a chance they have a way to beat All Might… Then we have to…" Izuku clenched his fist and looked at the villains in the water. "We will annihilate them."

When Izuku jumped above the lake, he didn't feel fear. He felt determination.

When Izuku broke his finger, he didn't feel pain. He felt anger.

When he walked on the shore, Izuku already had a plan. He knew what he would have to do.

To be honest, all his life, he thought it would be hard. Revealing his quirk. And to be honest, it did terrify him right now too, but it was the best option at this point. When, or if it came to that, he won't hesitate.

I know you have a heart that's true enough to always choose the living.

"Tsuyu, Mineta, I'm going to help Aizawa sensei. You need to go find a safe place and hide away." Izuku stated. It was a cover story, to be honest. He just wanted them to leave so they didn't see his quirk.

"Why?" Tsuyu asked. No other questions. Just why.

"Because…" Izuku looked towards the plaza, where the sound of fighting was loud enough to be heard at the edge of the floodzone. "A bigger group has a higher chance to be noticed. And no offense, but my quirk has the highest offensive power here."

Tsuyu slowly tilted her head to the side. "You just don't want us to see your quirk. Your other quirk."

Izuku stepped back, eyes widening. "No, that's not…"

"You never use it. You don't like to talk about it, and it seems like you are ashamed of it." Tsuyu had no mercy as she stated her observations. "You are afraid that you would be judged for it."

Izuku stared at the ground. Given he wasn't the best at keeping secrets, but… Tsuyu saw right through him, and he didn't, he couldn't come up with a way to counter that.

"My quirk is powerful. And terrifying." He said in the end. "It's not something that you would go and flaunter around. I… I have to use it to save people, but I'm afraid if I do, I..." He clenched and unclenched his fist. "You won't see me as the same Izuku anymore. You may actually be" he looked at his classmates "Afraid of me." He looked down again. "Which is why I won't tell you what it is and I, I don't want anyone to see it."

"Midoriya." Tsuyu put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him. "You saved us back there, ribbit. Your plan was solid. We may not have known you for long, but we know you are a hero. We won't judge you."

"That's right! But we should still hide away though." Mineta shouted from behind them.

"If I go, there is a good chance I'll get hurt, possibly die. And I don't even want to do anything unless it becomes necessary. If you come with me, I can't promise I'll be able to protect you too."

"We are coming. We are not letting you go alone. And besides, there are villains everywhere. Nowhere is safe right now."

Izuku nodded, looking at his friends with determined eyes. "Here we go then."