Kiyoshi Kokoro: Small, petite girl with pale blue hair, shy and airheaded, quirk is empathy

Kaneki Shika: Beautiful, curvy girl, determined but friendly, quirk is deer features

"Deku!"

Izuku freezes on instinct at the familiar insult. He should be moving, putting as much distance between him and his old friend as possible but everything about him has stopped. Just like that, he's in middle school again and there's nothing he can do but wait out the inevitable. A rough hand grabs at his uniform and Izuku's whole world narrows down to the tingling sensation of Kacchan's hands sparking threateningly. "You piece of shit, what the hell do you think you're doing here?" Kacchan demands.

"Y-y-you know I got in-into Y-yueei, K-kacchan, y-you've known for, for months now." Izuku stammers out, his tongue is weighty in his mouth as he tries to force the words out around the fear clogging his throat.

"Do you think I met you yesterday you useless Deku? You think I haven't seen your shitty face hanging around my classroom or scribbling in your dumb fucking notebook?" Kacchan wrenches him forward until he's right in Izuku's face. Kacchan looks the same as he always does, rough sneer and glowering red eyes but Izuku thinks there's something off about the situation.

Kacchan is handling him about as gently as he's capable of, normally by now Izuku would be sporting a bruise or two but Kacchan doesn't even look like he's trying to hurt him. "I know you're hoping to transfer to the hero program and I'm telling you right now to give up. You think you're hot shit because of that sludge incident? You're a fucking quirkless nothing and you'll never be a-"

Izuku will never know, though he could probably guess from a decade of similar comments, what Kacchan had to say as his head suddenly whips to the side like he'd been struck.

Izuku blinks and uses the opportunity to break out of Kacchan's hold. He stares at Kacchan's face, more specifically, at the long streak of blood which ran from his neck to just under his eye. Kacchan's brushes his fingers against the blood on his face with angry confusion.

"What the fuck," he questions only for Korudo and Patrick to charge forward and push Kaachan back a couple of paces as they insert themselves between the two of them. Properly aware of what was going on now, Izuku can see that much of the cafeteria has quieted down and was watching them intently. Kacchan gets over his surprise quickly and growls as he looks ready to fight.

"Who the fuck are you? Get lost; this is between me and Deku." Like before, a bright red streak glides through the air before stopping and solidifying into a long, thin point which is hovers threateningly in front of Kacchan's face. Kacchan glowers as the threat and his eyes turn to Taketsu who has come from behind Izuku, one hand held in taut concentration with the other palm openly bleeding.

"I don't care who you think you are but you can't just attack someone in the middle of the cafeteria," Korudo hisses. Patrick is doing his best to use his greater height to appear menacing but uncertainty is written all over his face. Taketsu's face is still as stone, the only movement is the gentle drip of blood from her hand falling to the floor.

"I don't have to listen to anything you extras say, you're fucking Gen Ed kids, you don't mean shit." Kacchan takes a few steps forward and while Korudo holds his ground, Patrick steps back nervously. Taketsu, however, steps forward and gets real close as she pulls more blood from her open cut which she solidifies and creates two more sharpened points aimed right at Kacchan's throat.

"I think you had better step back right now," Taketsu says softly, meeting Kacchan's red eyes with her own. His sneer deepens and it honestly looks like they're going to come to blows when Kacchan is pulled back violently by two other boys.

"Dude, what the hell are you doing?" A blond boy with a black lightning shaped stripe in his hair demands, glancing between Kacchan and their group. "You're already on thin ice after that stunt you pulled in the battle trial and now you're picking fights? You sure you didn't mean to sign up for the villain course instead?" Kacchan breaks his glare with Taketsu to sneer at the blond.

"Nobody fucking asked you, now get off of me, I'm not fucking done yet."

"Yeah man," the other boy who had startlingly bright red hair says with a disapproving frown. The hand holding Kacchan's other shoulder shifts until it's rock solid. "I think you are." Kacchan is struggling within the hold but, between the two boys, he's pretty well contained.

Izuku flushes suddenly and steps back until he's behind Patrick and Taketsu. He feels stupid and ashamed, twice this week his friends have had to come to his rescue and all he could do was cower. He says he wants to be a hero but maybe Kacchan is right, maybe he just doesn't have the right stuff.

"Sorry about Bakugou," the red headed boy says to them, cheerful despite Kacchan's enraged struggling. He glances at Taketsu and her hovering blood spears. "Wicked quirk by the way. You can put them down now, he won't bother you any more." Taketsu hums but holds her makeshift weapons steady.

"Yeah, we're still training this one; he's a bit of a handful if you haven't noticed." The blond boy says with a wry smile. "Don't let him give you a bad impression of us hero kids, we're not all psychopaths."

"What did you fucking call me?" Kacchan shouts right in the blond's face but he doesn't even look fazed. Without further ado, the two of them drag Kacchan away from the scene.

"Sorry again! Enjoy the rest of your lunch; we'll take care of him!" The redhead says with a bright smile revealing sharp teeth, sharper by far than Taketsu's. Kacchan turns his glare back towards their group, his eyes finding Izuku's easily.

"You think you can be a hero like that Deku? Hiding behind the riff raff? I better not see your stupid fucking face around anymore, you hear me? You stay the hell away from-" Kacchan jolts suddenly, as if he'd been electrocuted.

"Jeez, give it a break already or I'll up the voltage," the other blond mutters looking quite unhappy himself. "Aizawa-sensei is going to love this." Izuku vaguely hears him say to the other boy as Kacchan reluctantly lets his classmates pull him away. Once Kacchan and the other boys are engulfed in the crowd, Izuku hates himself for the relief that bubbles in his chest. Some hero he was.

"Oh my god who the hell was that crazy kid? I thought he was going to kill us." Taketsu, who had been so cool during the confrontation, lets out a heavy sigh as her blood spears liquefy and hit the floor with a dull splat. All traces of her earlier composure seems to melt away as normality reasserts itself.

"Midoriya are you ok? What is it about you that attracts these kinds of people?" She asks, rolling her head to look at him with a pale, tired looking face. He looks down at her hand which was still languidly dripping blood on the floor into what's now a rather large puddle.

"Forget that, are you okay? Criminy, that's an awful lot of blood." Korudo says, looking rather pale and sickly himself as he grips Taketsu's shoulders and gives her a light shake. "Can you stop the bleeding? Can you walk? The three of us could probably carry you to Recovery Girl if you need it. How much blood can you lose? Will you need a transfusion?" He says in an increasingly high pitched, panicking voice.

"Korudo, I'm fine. It's about as much as you'd lose for a blood donation, here let me just." Taketsu pushes him back a few paces and brings her uninjured hand up, gently pulsing it until the open wound on her other palm was fully clotted. Despite the fact that the bleeding has stopped, she still looks pretty worn out. "Look at this mess. Just let me sit down for a second and then I'll clean it up." Taking that as a signal, Patrick wraps one of his arms around Taketsu's waist and slowly walks her back over to their table. Izuku shuffles behind, still redfaced with embarrassment.

"Who was the guy Midoriya? He looked like he was in the hero class but he seemed like he knew you. You haven't been picking fights without us, have you?" Korudo demands, pointedly keeping his eyes up at the ceiling and away from the puddle of blood.

"Kacchan and I went to middle school together but we've known each other pretty much our whole lives. We actually used to be friends, right up until his quirk developed and mine didn't. He's, ah, he's always been like that." Izuku says as they all sit down at the table. He turns away from his friends, unable to face them right now.

"It was my fault for not being more careful. I knew Kacchan would be in here and I just sort of forgot for a moment. I'm," he risks a look up at Taketsu who is leaning against the table slightly and still a bit pale. "I'm sorry you guys got dragged into that and I'm especially sorry I didn't do more to control the situation."

"Don't you dare apologize for that creep, do you hear me?" Patrick says, leaning over the table and pointing his finger at Izuku. "Don't you ever, ever apologize for someone hurting you. That's no one's fault but his and, hell, everyone who let it get to that point. Are you telling me that punk has been treating you like that for that long? And no one did anything about it?"

Izuku shrinks a little, feeling a bit unnerved not just by Patrick's intense glare but by his words. Kids, teachers, people on the streets… he can't think of one other person other than his mom who ever told him that Kacchan's behavior was wrong. It's not something he's ever really given thought to because that's how things have always been but, thinking on it now, Patrick has a point.

"I mean, it's not that big of a deal," Izuku shrugs self-consciously. "It's like with the note, things have always been that way. Because Kacchan's got such a great quirk for hero work, he could basically do whatever he wanted."

"That's not right," Patrick says emphatically, his skin glowing slightly with agitation. "I don't care how fancy his quirk is, that's not how heroes are supposed to be. You should report this incident and cite whatever else he's done, I'm sure the hero department doesn't want a maniac in their program."

"What? No I couldn't- Look, it's fine, I don't want to get Kaachan in trouble..." Izuku stammers.

"Maybe we should table this for another time, Patrick," Taketsu says as she takes a long drink from her water. "It's been a pretty exciting week for us all." She catches his gaze and smiles softly. "But you did endure, you didn't let challenges or bullies keep you down. Sometimes being brave isn't about leaping into action, sometimes it's just doing your best when everything goes wrong."

"She's right you know," Korudo says with a wizened nod. "Well they both are but Taketsu's always right, we'll tackle that issue another day. All I can say is if that bully shows his face again I'll show him just what us General Education kids can do." He says, pounding his fist into his open palm.

"Dude, no offense but I'd rather send in the girl who can make blood weapons than the guy who can occasionally serve as a space heater." Patrick says, looking a little calmer. Izuku can't stop the snort of laughter at that comment. He covers his mouth and looks over at Korudo, expecting a blow-up. Korudo looks annoyed, his fists leaning on the table but eventually he forces an awkward smile.

"Yeah, good one, you sure got me, pal." Korudo says through gritted teeth even while his eyes promise Patrick that there will be retribution. Patrick just leans his elbow on the table, resting his cheek in his palm as he makes kissy faces at Korudo. Taketsu hides her smile between them with another drink of water.

Izuku is still uncomfortable about what happened, about still being Kacchan's victim despite how much progress he's made. But he also thinks there maybe might be some merit in Patrick's words. Maybe he didn't deserve Kacchan's cruelty. Maybe there still was some hope in his dream.

Izuku pulls an energy bar out of his bag and chews it thoughtfully. The road seems longer than ever but he's already come so far on his own, with no quirk and no one by his side. Izuku looks as Patrick and Korudo begin to playfully push each other with Taketsu in the middle trying to get them to stop. Izuku wonders how far he can get with a little help.

XxX

"So I take it things aren't going as planned at your new school, huh?" Rikimaru-shishou says casually as he dodges Izuku's punches like they're nothing. Izuku grits his teeth and changes tactics, pulling from some of his experience working in Aikido to mix up his style. All he gets for his efforts is a raised eyebrow from Shishou who continues to counter or dodge.

"I didn't meet you yesterday, kid. You only get this angry about not being able to hit me if something is bothering you and, since you don't have much of a life outside of school or training, it wasn't hard to guess." Shishou continues as he suddenly roots himself to the ground with his quirk. He beckons Izuku forward with his hand and a lazy grin.

Well he's right about one thing, Izuku is frustrated and he can't stop replaying the events of the last week, good and bad, in his head. He feels like he's going to explode with all the emotion and contradicting thoughts in his head. But this, this was simple. Giving his own toothy grin, Izuku dives forward and gives his master everything he can.

He kicks and punches and ducks and jumps away only to run back in head first until his troublesome thoughts become nothing more than a buzz, hidden behind his pounding heart and sore muscles.

Eventually Shishou gets him, his master has clearly been baiting him for the last few minutes now but Izuku simply doesn't know how to give up. But a quick strike to the jaw and a sweep at his feet and Izuku is flat on his back. He starts to sit up only to realize he's way too tired to even get up on his own. His head thumps back to the floor with a gentle groan as Shishou drops gracefully beside him.

"What would you like to talk about first? The fact that you've clearly been overworking yourself again or whatever happened at school that has you so upset?" Shishou's voice becomes tight. "You're not having any more trouble with that bully of yours? You mentioned that he got into Yuuei's Heroics department." Shishou has never liked Kacchan, even from Izuku's heavily edited descriptions. If his master ever found out the full extent of what Izuku's childhood friend had said and done, no one could protect Kacchan from the fallout.

"I did have a run in with Kacchan this afternoon in the cafeteria," Izuku says slowly as he tries to regain his breath. Seeing the dark look on his Rikimaru-shishou's face, he continues. "It wasn't that bad, really. Kacchan was being himself but he didn't hurt me at all. There were some kids in his class who dragged him off and, um, my friends stood up for me too."

"Someone needs to put a leash on that kid. But said you said you've made some friends? I like them already, tell me about them." Shishou instructs in a stern tone as if he wasn't asking a question like a single mother. The image puts a small smile on Izuku's face.

"Well there's a couple of people I talk to sometimes but I've mostly been hanging out with these other guys. There's Korudo, he can change his body temperature, it takes some time but he's real proud of his quirk. He's brash and he doesn't understand me but he's got a good heart. Taketsu is pretty, she's taller than me and is friendly but also sarcastic and funny. You should have seen her standing up to Kaachan today, you'd like her. Then there's Takamitsu, but he asks us to call him Patrick. He's Japanese-American; I don't think he could be any more energetic or friendly if he tried. He keeps the mood light when things got stressful."

Izuku sighs affectionately, "They're real great. Meeting them was the highlight of the week. We're all aiming for the hero course; well Taketsu keeps changing her mind and I'm not sure how serious Patrick and Korudo really are. I told them I'd help train them but we haven't really found the time yet."

"I'm glad; a boy like you deserves a good group of friends," Shishou says with a nod before standing up as gracefully as he'd sat down. "Alright, your break is over. Work through some of your stretches before your muscles get stiff. Trust me; you'll thank me later." Izuku gets up far less stylishly than his master but he does it eventually. They work through their cool down routine, stretching slowly and silently for a few minutes.

"So what's really bothering you, Midoriya?" Rikimaru-shishou asks, "It's more than the bully, I can tell, so spill it. I've put a great deal of work into you; I can't have you go ruining all my hard work by you taking out your frustrations on your body."

"It's-"

"Don't tell me it's nothing; I can tell you've been overdoing your exercises again, unless you think that you can get into the hero course exhausted and overworked."

"Well maybe I can't get into the hero course no matter what I do," Izuku snaps back before slapping a hand over his mouth. Not only was it incredibly rude but Izuku has been burying that particular insecurity ever since school started, meeting Kacchan today had only brought it to the surface. "M-maybe it's just impossible to be a hero without a quirk. No matter what kind of training I have, no matter how much I want it, maybe I just don't have the right stuff."

"Where'd this come from?" Shishou asks sharply, glaring down at Izuku who shrinks under the scrutiny. "You've poured your heart and soul into this dream, why are you questioning it now?" He narrows his eyes, "Was it the bully?"

"No, I mean yeah, a little but," Izuku says stressfully, running his hands through his hair. "A kid used his quirk on me the other day after he lost to me in a spar. He apologized but it was so easy for him to take control me and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. And when Kacchan grabbed me in the cafeteria today, all I could do was cower while my friends came to my rescue, again. I became the same pathetic weakling I was in middle school, the kind of person I thought I'd stopped being."

There are tears in his eyes and that just makes it worse, doesn't it? All he can reliably do is break down in tears when things get tough. But heroes didn't cry, they didn't freeze when someone yelled at them. They weren't quirkless losers who needed to be saved again and again. "I just can't stop thinking about no matter how hard I try, that for all my effort, all I'll ever be is the quirkless Deku." There's an awkward minute or two where the only sound is Izuku sniffling and hiccupping as he tries to force his tears, and his insecurities, back inside.

"You probably saved his life you know," Rikimaru-shishou says quietly after a minute once Izuku has a better handle on himself. "The damn news outlets wouldn't cover it because they're too far stuck up in their own asses to recognize true heroism when they see it." Izuku blinks up at him, "I'm talking about the sludge incident, kid." Oh, that. "You came to see me for the first time about a week or two after but the news was still running it. I recognized you right away."

"I didn't do anything really, all I could do was throw my backpack at the monster and try to pull Kaachan out. If All Might hadn't shown up we both would have died," Izuku says, averting his gaze.

"I'm not saying it wasn't stupid as hell but do you know what it also was? Brave. Not another damn person there was willing to help; even the so-called heroes were just standing by watching. I have nothing but respect for the Number One but he showed up late too. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't been there to serve as a distraction, to give that kid a lungful of air."

Shishou leans down until he's nearly eye to eye with him and grips Izuku's shoulders tightly. "That kid, who's given you hell for most of your life, and you didn't even need to think about running forward to help him. I don't know about you but that's possibly one of the most heroic things I've ever heard of."

"But-"

"So a punk with a fancy quirk got the better of you, use that big brain of yours and learn how counter it so it doesn't happen again. And don't you listen to another word that bully of yours says. Because anyone that hurts another to prove himself strong is no hero and a man who refuses to acknowledge when another saves his life can hardly be called a man. So you keep pushing Midoriya, you keep training and studying to be a hero because it would be a damn shame for that good heart of yours to go to waste."

Izuku is quiet; he doesn't even have the words to describe what he's feeling right now. The main one he can identify is relief, like he'd been carrying around a weight the last few days that has suddenly dissipated. He opens his mouth to thank his master but instead receives a sharp whack to the head.

"How many times do we have to go through this, kid? Don't make me have to tell you this again. Now get on home to your mother before I make you run through another set."

"I thought I was overworking myself," Izuku says flippantly and quickly regrets it. He blames it on the bone deep exhaustion and the two energy drinks he'd chugged on the way over to keep himself awake. He's rewarded with another light slap to the back of his head.

"You're right; don't do anything more strenuous than light stretching for two days or I'll really show you what it means to be overworked to make sure you don't ever do that again. I have your mother's phone number, don't test me."

"Yes Shishou," Izuku mutters only to receive a third slap to the head. He was going to get brain damage at this rate.

"I didn't quite hear that; what are you not going to do again?"

"Yes Shishou, I won't overwork myself and try to train more than I'm supposed to," Izuku says, straightening his spine.

"And you're also not going to listen to anyone who tries to tell you what you are and are not capable of." Shishou looks down on him for a moment longer. "Now get out of here and so help me if I find out you didn't laze away for two days, you'll be in for it."

"I don't think that will be a problem, sir, I don't think I'll be moving again once I sit down." Izuku says, bending down to grab at his bag, wincing with each muscle movement. The only response he gets is a bark of laughter but Izuku knows his master well enough to know that it doesn't mean anything by it. The ride home is long and he opts to stand on the train because he honestly doesn't think he'll be able to get up again if he sits. Izuku trudges up the steps to his apartment and nudges open the door.

"I'm home Mom," Izuku says as he walks in and all but falls on the couch. "I never want to move again."

"Hi honey, I see your session went well," Mom says warmly, patting his head while she bustles by. "Care to explain why I got a call explaining that you're not to exercise until at least Sunday or face consequences?"

"Not really," Izuku mutters into the throw pillow his face was squished into.

"Hmm," she hums perching lightly on the arm of the couch. "Are you okay sweetie? You've been kind of down the last few days, I've been worried. I thought you were happy at this school."

"I am," Izuku says into the pillow before groaning and rolling over so he was looking up at his mother. "I just had to get through some stuff, I'm better now, really. Rikimaru-shishou helped me set things straight in my head." She smiles and leans down to kiss his forehead.

"I'm glad Izuku, I'd be happier if you showered before passing out on the couch but I'll take what I can get. You rest up; I'll be starting dinner soon." Izuku's eyes follow her retreat as a thought comes to him. He is happy at Yuuei. He's happy in General Education, he's happy with his friends and he's happy with the progress he's made. It might not look like much right now, but he knows he's building up to something great.

Ta-da! The first appearance of Kacchan. Like Shinsou, I respect Bakugou as a character (even if he isn't even close to a favorite) but I try and portray him as he is, warts and all. More character development and scene setting, not much to say there. Thank you all for your reviews! I hope you like this chapter and the next one has some exciting character development and our first proper fight. See you then!