"... the Huntsmen of the world are warriors of the highest calibre. Most have physical culminations of their auras, known as Semblances. Interesting. Semblances are very similar to Quirks, but they are more limited, I suppose. I should keep an eye out and take notes. I wonder how many variations…" Midoriya rambled on as he read through his books. He was currently walking through the halls of Beacon. Classes had already ended and many students had already returned to their dorms. Young Izuku had made a quick stop at the library to borrow a few texts, hoping to get a better understanding of the finer details of this world. As he walked, he didn't notice the figure approaching with their own stack of books until they collided. The sudden force caused both to fall over. Izuku rubbed his head. "Uh, sorry about that. I should have watched where I was going." He smiled as he recognized the figure. "Ah, Jaune. Hey!"

The blonde boy in front of him laughed nervously. "Hey, Izuku. Sorry about that. I couldn't see." He said, gesturing to his books, all of which were now scattered on the ground.

Izuku nodded. "Wow, I guess we both had the same idea. Studying up for the pretest?"

Jaune scratched his head. "Eh, something like that. I'm picking up books for a… friend."

Izuku smiled as he gathered his books from the ground. "That's nice. I guess a group study session isn't such a bad idea."

Jaune laughed nervously. "Yeah, well, you know me! Always studying!" He quickly picked up his texts and rushed off.

Izuku looked after him, confused. "I wonder what all that was about." He hadn't known Jaune long. Class had only begun a week or so ago, but they were in the same session. However, other than a passing "Hello" or "What's up?" they didn't really talk often. "I guess I should get back to the dorm-" He suddenly looked at the small stack he was holding and sighed. "Aw man, some of these are Jaune's." He sighed as he turned around. "I should probably try to find him."

Izuku made his way through the halls, asking the few students around about the whereabouts of Jaune. Eventually, he made his way to the rooftop. However, just as he reached for the door handle, he heard voices on the other side. He peeked through the door, narrowing his eyes. "What's going on?"

Currently, Jaune was standing before Cardin Winchester and his goons. He still held the books, but his legs were shaking, obviously strained. Jaune feigned a smile. "H-Hey, Cardin. I got those books for the dust project!"

Cardin smirked. "Wow, Jaune. You sure are a pal! Let me get those from you." He reached forward to grab the books, but pulled away. "On second thought..." He looked at his nonexistent watch, wincing. "... I'm all booked for the night. Don't think I'll be able to get that project done tonight. I'm sure you can handle that, right… buddy?" Cardin raised an eyebrow, his smirk never leaving.

Jaune felt his legs beginning to give way. "Uh, I-"

"Thanks, pal! I knew I could count on you!" He began walking towards the door. "See ya later!"

Izuku quickly backed up as the door opened. Carding looked at the greenette before him, smiling. "Well, well, boys. Look who we have here. The weaponless loser."

Izuku stepped back, stammering. "Uh, h-hey, Cardin! I was just passing through from the library-"

"Don't care. Luckily for you, I've got things to do, so we won't have time to play with you." He points back. "Though, I think Jauney-boy over there needs a bit of help. I'm sure you can relate to being useless." Cardin and his goons laugh as they walk off, leaving a stunned Midoriya. Izuku realized he had been holding his breath and sighed. 'He reminds me of Kacchan, only…' He looked at the worn Jaune. 'He does things a bit differently.'

It had been a few days since Izuku's encounter with Jaune and Cardin. Ever since, he had been observing the boy, quickly figuring out that Cardin had Jaune in his servitude. 'But why? Why would Jaune help out such a creep? Whenever I ask about it, he just dodges the question.' Midoriya was deep in thought until a hand waved in front of his face.

"Hello? Remnant to Izuku! Anyone in there?" Ruby called, eyebrow raised.

Izuku shook himself from his thoughts, remembering where he was. The class had begun a trip to Forever Fall. Glynda was the chaperone for the trip, which was something Izuku was secretly grateful for. Another thing he was grateful for was his gym clothes. They were similar to U.A.'s, but the coloring was Beacon's black and red rather than blue and white. He looked over at his teammate, smiling. "Uh, sorry. I was just thinking."

"You do that a lot, huh?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Nevermind." Ruby said, giggling.

Midoriya smiled until his eyes caught sight of Jaune and Cardin's group on the other side of the airship. The blonde looked miserable as he carried everything for the group. Izuku frowned. "Ruby, you don't know what's going on with Jaune, do you?"

The hooded girl looked down, sadly. "Apparently, Cardin's blackmailing him. He didn't tell me much, but…" She looked over at Jaune. "I think he just needs to stand up to that jerk."

Upon entering Forever Fall with the class, Izuku marveled at the sight. The trees were coated in red leaves and the ground was covered in them. The whole area seemed to exude an air of mysticism that made him feel rather warm. As he marveled, he accidentally bumped into Cardin. The student turned, frowning. "Watch it!"

Izuku held his hands up, defensively. "Uh, sorry about that!"

"Hmph, just watch yourself." He said.

Once he turned, Midoriya frowned. 'If what Ruby told me is true, I should keep an eye out. 'If Ms. Goodwitch is right, this place is too dangerous to have even more creeps to worry about!' Izuku noted the glare Cardin gave another student, Pyrrha Nikos. Before he could ponder further, a familiar face bumped into him. Jaune Arc, holding several of Cardin's group belongings, stood shakily. "Uh, sorry, Izuku."

"No problem. Did you… need some help?"

"Huh, no, no. I'm fine, really!" The boy lied.

Izuku hesitated for a moment before returning to his team.

The trip went on rather uneventfully. Goodwitch had instructed the groups to gather one jar of tree sap each, which seemed simple enough. All the while, Izuku made sure to keep an eye on Cardin's group, but eventually lost sight of them. As he did, he didn't notice Weiss snapping her fingers in his face. "Hello? Stop slacking!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was-"

"I don't want to hear it. Get a move on!" She said before stomping away.

Midoriya looked after her, flustered. 'More yelling… she's been acting rather cold ever since I joined. What's up with her?' He shook himself from his thoughts as he continued collecting sap.

Ruby approached. "Hey, sorry about Weiss, she can be a bit… mean, grouchy, loud… you know."

"Uh, it's fine, really."

The red girl scratched her cheek. "You know, you do spend a lot of time away from the dorm. We've been teammates for quite a bit, but we haven't really talked much."

Izuku blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Uh, right. Sorry. I'm just trying to keep up with my studies."

"You know, Weiss is pretty good at that sort of stuff. Why not ask for a tutor?"

The young hero sweat a bit. "Uh, no, I'm fine. Nothing I can't handle."

A moment of silence fell between the duo before Ruby sighed. "I know it can be hard joining a new team out of the blue, but if you don't talk to me we can't get anywhere."

Midoriya nodded before standing. "I'm sorry. There's just a lot going on lately." He smiled. "I'll try harder."

Ruby smiled. "That's all I ask."

Izuku nodded, but suddenly caught a glimpse of Jaune being carried through the forest a short way away. "Uh. excuse me." He said before making his way to follow the group.

Upon reaching the clearing, he

Peeked from behind a tree to see Cardin and his goons pushing Jaune around. "So, you think you're a big man now, Jaune? Huh? We're gonna show you your place right here."

A wounded Jaune didn't say anything, merely laughing. Cardin seemed angered as he reared back a fist.

"Stop!"

Cardin and his goons dropped Jaune and looked over to see Izuku in a battle stance, forcing a smile. "Leave him alone!"

Cardin and his goons stared for a moment before laughing. "Well, look what we have here, boys. A little hero." They stepped forward, prompting Izuku to stumble back.

Jaune looked up, battered. "I-Izuku…"

"So, you want to be a hero?" Cardin prepped his weapon. "Let's see what you got, bare hands."

Midoriya sweat a bit. 'Crap! I shouldn't have run in without a plan. Using One for All on these guys might do more damage than I need. Hand to hand might be out of the question with their range.' He grit his teeth. 'But… I can't let Jaune do this alone!' As he prepared a plan, a roar rang out in the forest.

Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Pyrrha collected their sap, the former grumbling about their new teammate. "Where even is he? He doesn't honestly expect us to do all the work, does he?"

"I-I'm sure he's just looking for bigger, and better trees!" She said, unsure.

As they argued, two of Cardin's goons ran past. Yang made a quick grab for one of them. "Hey! What's going on?"

"Uh,uh, ur-ur-ursa! Run!" The goon broke from Yang's grip and ran for his life.

Pyrrha began to panic. "Jaune!" She made a beeline deeper into the forest.

Cardin looked at the beast in front of him, fear written on his face. His weapons were tossed aside like toys and he was defenseless against this beast. The ursa roared before bringing down a paw. Cardin closed his eyes… but the impact never came. He opened them, surprised to see Jaune using his shield to impede the attack. The blonde kept his defenses held while Izuku quickly dragged Cardin to safety. Jaune held his own for quite a bit before swinging his sword at the creature, getting a few good hits in.

Pyrrha, Ruby, and Weiss showed up as the ursa began to gain the upper hand. Ruby prepared to step in, but Weiss held a hand out. "Look!"

Izuku entered the fray as Jaune was swatted away by the ursa. H grit his teeth before running towards the beast and yelling. "Jaune! Get your sword ready!"

Jaune shook himself from his daze and looked at the greenette, baffled. "What? What are you-"

Izuku ran towards the beast, keeping an eye on its paws. 'I have one shot at this… judging by how high its paw was, I should go… now!' He quickly made a leap, leaping from the paw. He soared over the beast, aiming his hand and bending a finger. "Delaware… Smash!" He released his finger, letting go of a concussive wind blast that not only pushed the ursa down, but also propelled Izuku higher into the air.

Jaune was stunned for a moment before quickly grabbing his sword and attacking. He attacked with a flurry of blows before finishing with a clean cut across its neck, slicing its head off.

Midoriya panicked bit as he realized he was falling pretty. Granted, it wasn't too high, but falling in general was usually not fun. However, before he could hit the ground, Ruby rushed over, her speed catching him right on time. "You okay?"

Midoriya nodded. "Uh, yeah! Thanks!"

Ruby set him down, noticing him wincing as he held his hand. "Whoa, your finger!" She held it and examined it. "Izuku, what was that?"

"Um, w-well…" He scratched his neck. "That was my Semblance! It's a bit painful still."

Weiss approached, arms crossed. "Your Semblance? But your finger! It's broken!"

Midoriya laughed, nervously. "I, uh, have a hard time controlling it."

"Well, that explains why you don't talk about it much. You didn't have to be embarrassed by it." Ruby assured.

Midoriya nodded. "Right. I'm sorry. I should've told you guys sooner. I guess I was just afraid."

"Are you kidding! That was awesome!" Jaune exclaimed, running over to the greenette. "You went up over the thing and flicked a finger! That was a crazy amount of power!" He regained his composure and coughed. "And… thanks for coming for me. Cardin wasn't messing around."

"No problem. I'm just glad you're okay."

Weiss raised an eyebrow. 'That's where he went?'

After Cardin fled and the group rejoined their classmates, Goodwitch made sure to take Midoriya to the side as the students loaded up onto the airship. "Just what were you thinking? You know your level of power can't be handled yet. How could you be so reckless?"

"I didn't have a choice. I saw Jaune get hit and I just ran." He held his hand. "I… I still can't control it."

Goodwitch sighed. "I can see that. Go on. Get on the ship and try to keep ice on your wound. I'm sure the infirmary at Beacon will be able to deal with this." Midoriya nodded before heading to the ship. Goodwitch sighed as she rubbed her forehead. She pulled out her Scroll and dialed a number. "Ozpin? It's me. Any word on that temporary solution? Uh-huh. Got it." She closed her Scroll and thought for a moment before heading to the ship.