|Chapter 23: New Developments

Gym Alpha, Three Days Later

It was early morning at Yuuei, most students were only just waking up and getting ready for school. Some of the extra studious students may have been up already and would be studying. However, none were quite like the young couple found in Gym Alpha.

Mina slid over towards Izuku, acid covering her feet, and jumped towards him with a dropkick. The greenette blocked it and pushed her off, causing her to roll over.

'Right, acid.' Izuku thought as he felt a small tingle on his arms. 'Well, all or nothing.' Taking his chance, Izuku blitzed in front of her and struck downwards, but missed as she spun off her back and flipped back up.

"Breakdancing really helps in fights." The pink-skinned girl said matter-of-factly. "You should try it sometime."

Izuku sighed as he dodged another two kicks to his face. "Is this your way of trying to get me to play dance-dance revolution again?" He weaved past another one of her kicks and delivered a punch to the girl's stomach, sending her flying back.

'Damn, I forget how strong Izu is.' Mina flipped back up again and ran forward. "It's not a bad idea." She jumped up and delivered an axe kick to his shoulder which sent him to his knees. "I have great agility because of it."

The greenette smiled as he caught a punch aimed directly for his face. "Wow, trying to damage my plain face?"

"You're not plain, Izu." Mina's head suddenly launched forward and she kissed her boyfriend, causing him to stumble and blush. "You're handsome!" She swept her leg underneath him, throwing him off balance, before jumping on top of him. "I win!"

"N-not fair!" The greenette chuckled with a smile, looking straight into her eyes. "That was a dirty move." Not that he really minded.

Mina feigned offence. "I never." She suddenly leaned down and kissed him again. "It's called using my resources." Her sweet tone of deliverance and bright smile made Izuku's brighter as well.

"You know…" The greenette sat up. "If you wanted to cuddle, we could've stayed in my room."

The pink-skinned girl nodded. "I know, but I wanted to get a workout in as well and decided to compromise."

Izuku smiled at her and pulled her in by her waist. "Always the eager one." They held each other for a few moments, snuggling against one another, before the greenette lifted them both up. "Let's get back to the dorms and eat; I'm pretty sure Sensei said he had a special class for us today."

"Oh, I remember that." Mina tapped her chin and thought. "I think I heard some talk about third years or something." The pink-skinned girl smiled and shifted herself so she was now hugging Izuku's back. "Alright, let's get going, all aboard the Izu-train!" She exclaimed as she slapped his butt.

The greenette looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "Huh?"

The pink girl's face went flat. "… That means fly."

Izuku stifled a laugh and began floating off the ground. "Izu-train taking off then."

Gym Gamma, Afternoon

"I know this isn't where we'd usually meet." Aizawa started as his class gathered in front of him, their P.E uniforms on. "But I thought since we'd end up here anyway, there was no point in starting off in class."

Iida raised his hand. "Sir, will we be conducting more quirk training today?" He asked, chopping the air. "It was my belief that we would be diving further into the work studies you mentioned."

"We will be." Aizawa said, cutting the boy off with his quirk before he could begin a triad. "But you would all be better off hearing about the work studies from your Senpai." He clapped his hands and three figures walked in. "These three… are the pinnacle of the student food chain at Yuuei." One was a blonde boy that looked like a cartoon character. "They have years of experience under their belt despite not yet graduating." Another was a floating bluenette with very wavy hair. "If they were to graduate right now, I could comfortably say they would make top 50 in their first ranking." The final one was a meek looking indigo-haired boy with elf-like ears. "They are… Yuuei's Big Three."

Everyone immediately began to size up their Senpai with surprise. 'The school's strongest…' They didn't look threatening at all, but everyone learnt from personal experience this year that you never judge something by appearance.

Aizawa could see all of them eyeing the big three and inwardly smirked. 'Whether or not they've anticipated the oncoming fight, their minds are still sharp.' He turned to the seniors. "Brief introductions and then an explanation about the work studies. First up, Tamaki Amijiki."

Tamaki was the indigo-haired elf boy and was looking down with his hands in his pockets. "Okay…" He started, speaking barely over a whisper. However, his stare as he raised his head instantly had everyone on edge as a wave of power passed over them.

'So intense!' Class A collectively thought; a few of them unconsciously activating their quirks.

Tamaki's thoughts weren't as intense as his stare though; quite the opposite, actually. 'It's not working.' He inwardly groaned, looking at his Kouhai as though they were potatoes. "Guys..." The elf boy turned around and seemed to sink even further into himself. "I can't do it, let me go home!"

The blue-haired girl, who everyone could only assume was Nejire, laughed as she poked at Amajiki. "Aw, Tamaki's just shy." She said floating back in front of the class. "Hi there! My name is Nejire Hado!" The girl exclaimed this with a very loud voice and stars in her eyes. "I have so many questions for all of you!"

Aizawa sighed. 'Damnit.' He saw this coming, but he vainly hoped against it.

"Why do you wear a mask?" Nejire was immediately upon Shoji, floating up to his face to poke his mask.

Shoji – understandably – stepped back and quickly tried to find his words. "Well, in the past there was this little girl that-"

"You're Todoroki, right, where'd that burn scar come from?" Nejire, however, had immediately moved on to another person before the multi-armed boy could answer.

"That's a bit personal-" Todoroki tried to argue before Nejire flew off again.

"Horns…" The blue-haired senior had moved on to Mina and was prodding at her square horns. "What are your function?"

Mina blushed hard as the other girl poked them again. "Um…" She had trouble finding her words so was glad when Izuku came and lightly took away Nejire's hands.

"Sorry, Hado-Senpai, but her horns are sensitive." The greenette said with a smile, though his voice was lined with a warning. "And she's visibly uncomfortable, so I wouldn't continue if I were you."

It was now Nejire's turn to blush as she – uncharacteristically, not that they knew – awkwardly laughed and bowed her head while floating. "Oh, I'm sorry, I get super excited sometimes and I've been told that I can really get on a triad but I can't help it and-" The girl cut herself off as she realised she was about to start one. "Tamaki, I'm going to join you." And with that, she turned to the wall next to the elf boy.

'Well, that could've gone better.' Aizawa thought, looking to the last of the Big Three with his quirk active. "Maybe you can actually answer my question?"

The blonde senior visibly started sweating and nodded furiously. "Of course, Sensei, I'll wrap things up properly!" He exclaimed before looking to 1A. "Alright, Kouhai, my name is Mirio Togata!" Mirio introduced himself with a toothy smile before the atmosphere shifted. "And I have just the way to describe to you what you can expect from a work study."

Tamaki and Nejire had both turned around at his tone of voice. "Mirio?" They both asked, visibly confused.

Mirio, however, continued to smile. "You're all going to fight me at once!" He loudly proclaimed, his fist in the air.

"…What?!" It took a moment but Class A eventually processed what Mirio suggested. "All of us at once?!"

The blonde laughed off their incredulous stares. "Why do you think Sensei brought you all down here?" He asked, making the students look at Aizawa. "This is the best way for you all to see how big of a difference experience makes in a fight."

Aizawa nodded off his student's stares. "Positions, now." He smiled as his class immediately got their act together and formed up. "Togata, take your place." As they all got ready, he decided to set some rules. "I don't want this taking our entire lesson so here's the rules, you get hit once, you're out, got it?" At their nods, he waked away to stand next to Tamaki and Nejire.

Class A didn't know what to expect, but they decided that they'd just go with the flow.

Akira, Kirishima, Sato, Shoji, Fumikage, and Momo took the front line, acting as the first attack line. Behind them, Tsu, Iida, Ochako, Ojiro, Kaminari, and Koda stood as their supporters.

Aoyama, Mina, Jiro, Sero, Todoroki, and Hagakure all took the back, acting as long-range support. If their senior thought he could even get close to the front line, they'd show him otherwise.

And at the very front of the group, Bakugou stood with a grin on his face.

Izuku, however, had taken a back pedal and stood directly at the back, behind everyone else. He knew better than anyone that a happy face in front of immense danger spoke volumes about either one's power or arrogance. And seeing as this Mirio was regarded as one of the school's best, he knew it had to be the former.

"Alright, I hope you're all ready!" Mirio shouted, stretching as he rolled up the sleeves on his P.E uniform, showing off a number of scars. "Come at me any time!"

Bakugou grinned. "Don't gotta tell me twice!" His explosions rocketed him forward and he was immediately in front of Mirio's face. "Or once!" He was going to accentuate his words with an explosion but cut himself short as the other teen's clothes fell off. "Eh?!"

"Never let anything surprise in a fight." Mirio said, burying his fist hard into Bakugou's gut, making him stall in the air. "Ever." He jumped up and brought down another powerful hit in the form of an axe kick, knocking his fellow blonde into the floor.

Jirou looked at him like he was insane. "Dude, your pants!" She shouted, readying her attack. "Have some decency!"

Mirio ignored her as a combined attack of fire, acid, tape, lasers, and sound completely phased through his face. After it did, he turned to the attackers. "Right…" He suddenly disappeared from sight and everyone scrambled to look for him.

"Where'd he go?" Sato asked, looking around, eating a capsule of sugar.

"Long range fighters first!" Mirio's voice came from behind them and they saw his naked form above Jirou.

Shoji raised an eyebrow. "He's a warper?"

Todoroki nodded. "Likely, possibly a dual-quirk since he can also slip through thing-" His explanation was cut off as a gut punch sent him into a wall. 'By the Theory Boards he's so strong! Does he have three quirks? Why?'

'That's not it.' Izuku thought as he watched the fight, unknowingly sharing the same thoughts as Tamaki. 'It's a possibility but… it's just the power to slip through matter.' He watched as Mirio flashed in and out of sight before all of the long range fighters were on the floor.

"Power!" Mirio finished his attack with a 'T-Pose' of all things and a massive smile on his face. "Let's keep it going!" He suddenly disappeared again and rushed against the close-ranged combatants. "Ladies first!"

Momo grinned as a fist came towards her. "Boom!" Her gauntlets instantly formed on her arms and she threw a punch to match Mirio's. "Oof!" However, her punch never made contact and she took a direct punch to the face as the blonde's fist phased through her gauntlet.

'Incredible.' Izuku thought, watching Mirio make Iida and Tsu kick each other before disappearing. 'If it really is just matter-slipping or something of a similar nature than the control required for it to be used at this level would be insane!'

Ojiro and Koda were next to fall, both failing at piercing Mirio with their sharp tails and talons. Ochako didn't even get enough time to register she was being attacked before her and Kaminari got taken out with a split kick to their stomach and face respectively.

'Anticipate the movement.' Kirishima tried to remember Toshinori's words as he ran up against Mirio.

'Be faster than them.' Fumikage strafed around to the back and rushed at the blonde.

'Compress your muscles as hard as you can!' Sato took the senior's left as his arms compressed into hard muscle.

'Trust your senses.' Finally, Shoji took the right as a garden of arms began to grow behind him.

However, their thoughts and attacks were all in vain as their blonde Senpai pulled the same trick he did with Tsu and Iida; making all four of them crash into each other. "Hahaha!" The senior laughed as they all fell to the ground, striking one another harder than he probably would've… probably.

"Alright, my turn!" Akira tried to drop kick Mirio but went right through him. Turning around, he tried to spot him but saw he had disappeared. 'Behind!' Anticipating his Senpai's pattern, the black-haired teen turned back around again and threw his fist, putting it right on course to Mirio's face.

'Impressive!' Mirio thought, his sentiments shared by his fellow third years and teacher. "Nice try!" He shouted to Akira as the teen's attack once again went through him. "But you weren't fast enough!" The senior spun in the air, bringing down a hard axe kick on Akira's shoulder and bringing him to the ground. "Haha! I win!"

"Not so fast, Togata." Aizawa said, the rest of Class A sitting against the wall behind him and rubbing whatever part of their body they were punched in. "You still have my vice-rep to take care of." He suddenly pulled out a pair of sports pants. "And put your special pants on, I'm not having you naked anymore."

Class A looked at their Sensei incredulously. "You couldn't have done that before?!" They chorused before immediately silencing at Aizawa's glare.

"Vice-rep?" Mirio looked to Izuku as he put his new pair of pants on. "Izuku Midoriya, right?" He asked the greenette at the other end of the gym. "You're standing all the way back there, why?"

Now, Izuku had many reasons. First being that he wanted to see how Mirio would fight to come up with counters. Next was that he wanted to see if his Senpai was really all just bark with no bite. But the most important reason, was that he wanted to test out a new fighting style with his quirk.

One For All had been evolving in different ways for a while, and his most recent one had begun before the license exam. The base quirk was beginning to strengthen the other quirks he had already unlocked; this newly upgraded quirk was Smokescreen. Though, now that Izuku had learned how it functioned properly, he had appropriately decided to redub it as Fumes.

The sixth had described his smoke as being a product of him burning an energy inside of him. There were two uses for this; the actual smokescreen or compressing the burnt energy within him to give himself a speed boost. And this was a speed boost that didn't strain him. He had worked this into a fast fighting style to deal with different types of opponents. As he saw it, this was Izuku's best chance to test it on a dummy that would fight back.

"I'm just back here to watch." The greenette said, taking off his P.E jacket and showing off his body. "Though, I think I understand you enough to fight you now." Next was his singlet, and it revealed both his incredibly toned chest… and gigantic x-shaped scar. "You've been trying to show us that experience makes a difference." His skin glowed a light hue of pink and smoke began to wisp off him. "I agree."

Mirio eyed the greenette carefully, stopping on the scar for a bit longer than he meant to, before smiling. "Alright then…" He suddenly broke into a run and charged against Izuku. "Let's see how you roll." Without another word, he disappeared.

Izuku, knowing what was coming, flashed backwards, dodging Mirio's uppercut and leaving behind a small trail of smoke. "Nice try." He said before shooting himself towards Mirio with a jump.

'This is new.' Bakugou thought with a smirk as he watched the fight. 'Not as much power but it's definitely fast.'

"Hm?" Mirio turned around and let Izuku phase through him and landed gracefully on the ground. 'Is that smoke?' He thought before turning to Izuku. "What is your quirk?"

Izuku rolled his shoulders and jumped. "I can manipulate stockpiled energy that's stored in my core." He explained before he began to fall down, sending a dropkick towards his Senpai. "The smoke is just me testing out a new use I have for it."

Mirio phased through that hit as well and shrugged. "Well, can't fault you for creativity." He went to grab at Izuku as he finished phasing through him but the greenette flashed himself upwards with smoke. 'Good prediction skills…'

'Close.' Izuku flipped in the air to face the blonde before landing on the ground. 'Gotta get close.' The greenette quickly rushed in and begin to assault Mirio with a number of high spin kicks, each one phasing through his head.

'Doesn't he realise it's pointless?' Tamaki thought as he watched the battle from the corner of his eye. 'He can't hit him.'

Izuku's thoughts, however, were far from cynical. 'If his quirk works how it I think it should...' He smiled as Mirio suddenly disappeared into the ground and appeared behind him, breathing slightly harder.

While the greenette applauded his assumption, the blonde senior was looking at him with squinted eyes. 'Does he know?' He suddenly grew a serious face. 'If he does…' Mirio sucked in a large breath and disappeared before he was flashing in and out of sight at crazy speeds. "Phantom Menace!"

'I was right.' Izuku thought as he dodged each of Mirio's hits, his reflexes keeping him from being touched. 'He can't breathe when he activates his quirk, since he passes through everything.' He dodged around another hit before a loud voice shouted behind him.

"Nejire!" Mirio was high in the air, fully open. "Do the thing!"

The senior bluenette smiled and bright yellow energy began to spiral around her before it shot at her friend. "Alright, show him how we do it in the Big Three!"

The yellow energy flowed towards Mirio and began to spiral around his fist, making it glow a bright yellow. "Power!" The punch he threw made a large dust cloud and sent a shockwave throughout the gym.

However, that couldn't compare to the metaphorical shockwave that occurred when the dust cleared and everyone saw Izuku holding Mirio's fist with a smile, his own arm glowing like the Sun with his pink veins now visibly running along it. "Got you!" He said before launching his other fist – which was glowing less intensely – into Mirio's face, knocking him back. "Haha, I win!"

At the back, there were mixed reactions. Class A cheered for Izuku, glad that Mirio paid for the injustice against their bodies. Aizawa was only mildly surprised but was able to rub it off pretty quickly. Tamaki and Nejire, however, were absolutely slack jawed.

'He… got the first hit.' Tamaki looked at Izuku like he had just committed a war-crime.

'Aw, our special move didn't work.' Nejire was more disappointed that her combined attack was ineffective.

"Yeah, Izuku!" Mina shouted, running up to him instantly and grabbing his face. "That was amazing!" She planted a quick kiss on his lips and hugged his chest, running her hand along his scar as she calmed down significantly. "You're really cool, you know?" Her voice was more of a whisper, keeping the moment between them.

"T-thanks, Mina." And while Izuku could handle her PDA much easier now than he used to, her intimate words dug deep into his soul. "You're pretty cool as well." He pulled her closer as he said this, rubbing his nose affectionately against hers with a laugh

As the two teens laughed in their embrace, Mirio had finally stood up from the punch he received. 'Wow… he actually got me.' He looked to Izuku holding Mina's hand. 'Sir would like him, I'm sure of it.'

"Alright, you've had your fight." Aizawa said. "Do you all understand the lesson here?"

"No!" Class A shouted collectively. "All we did was get punched!"

Mirio smiled at this, still happy he was able to get most of the class. "You must think that my quirk is strong, don't ya?" He asked.

"Dude, your quirk is broken." Jirou said. "And really uncomfortable."

Hagakure nodded. "I can control light but being able to slip through objects and warp is the most broken dual-quirk I've ever seen." The bluenette rubbed her stomach. 'Not to mention you're strong as shit.'

Their blonde Senpai laughed but was cut off before he could explain anything. "It's not a dual-quirk, Hagakure." Izuku spoke up, moving back to the class with Mina. "His quirk is just an extremely well controlled form of phasing. The 'warp' was just him falling through the ground at an angle before coming back up at the same angle in the opposite direction to get behind us."

Momo nodded. "Ah, I see, that makes sense."

"Indeed, a very simple concept." Iida agreed, chopping the air.

"I concur." Todoroki also nodded.

The rest of 1A, however, looked at Izuku with confused looks. "Eh?" They said together.

Mirio's laugh forced them out of their stupor. "Wow, you hit it right on, Midoriya!" He exclaimed, looking at Izuku with respect. "My quirk is called Permeation, and it's basically what you just described." The blonde held his thumb up. "You even noticed my quirk's weaknesses in an instant!"

Tsu looked at him confused. "What weaknesses, kero, your quirk is super strong!"

Izuku shook his head. "No, it's a simple quirk at best, Togata just has a monstrous level of control over it." He inwardly sighed. 'A level of control I need if I want to keep up Fumes for longer than a couple minutes.'

Mirio nodded. "Right again!" The blonde shouted. "I can't breathe, see, or hear when my quirk is active, something Midoriya took advantage of." He eyed the class and also his friends. "Can you guess when he did that?"

Tamaki suddenly had an epiphany. 'His kicking barrage; he wasn't allowing Mirio to breath so he could force-confirm his theory.'

"Wait, then how in the world do you fight if you can't feel anything the moment you use your quirk?" Shoji asked. Being a person – and more importantly a hero – that relied completely on his senses, it seemed insane that someone could fight without it. "That'd be like punching in the dark."

Mirio tapped his head. "Predictions!" He exclaimed. "I had to learn to predict what my opponents would do! I had to learn to become tricky!" The blonde clapped his hands. "And I only learnt this through my hero work study; without it, I wouldn't have made it this far!" His eyes switched to Izuku and he smiled. "Experience makes up for a lot in battle."

"Well said, Togata." Aizawa said, raising his head and standing straight. "Well, that's all the time I'm willing to waste on this." His quirk activated and he stared all of his students down. "Class, now."

Class A, plus the big three, bowed immediately. "Yes, Sensei!" Before running off to their respective classrooms.

Gym Alpha, Days Later

Momo conjured her comically large gauntlets onto her fist, the bulky, burgundy contraptions rattling as a number of inorganic compounds formed and disappeared within them. "Let's go, Sato!" A pair of metallic, burgundy boots conjured themselves on her feet and blasted her high above her classmate. "Genesis Fall!" She shouted as she pulled back her right arm.

As she threw her fist down towards him, Sato threw up his own fist; the muscles on his right arm bulging before becoming condensed and steaming. "Sugar Stack Strike!"

When their fists collided, they shook the area around them. It was a struggle for dominance, both matching each other for several moments. However, Momo quickly put her left hand behind her and her gauntlets sparked before an explosion pushed her forward, winning her the deadlock.

"Haha!" Satisfied with her results, Momo let her gauntlets and boots be absorbed back into her body. "Looks like Midoriya was right, I can create modified versions of existing elements." She brought out a book with her right hand before creating a fricken Geiger Counter with her left. "Modified Francium Isotope plus water equals explosion and…" A smile crossed her face as she read her machine. "Absolutely zero radioactive waste or nuclear fallout!"

Sato laughed heartily at her, stretching his arms. "I don't know what's scarier, you making and using chemical explosions, or Midoriya for coming up with them." Steam rolled off his arm before it seemed to soften.

"I'd say Midoriya but…" The onyx-haired girl laughed. "He's nowhere near as insane as I am." She reabsorbed the Geiger Counter and began to jot down notes in her book.

"Yeah, I hear that!" Kirishima yelled from another part of the gym as he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding Akira's palm. "Midoriya's a unit in battle." He kicked at Akira and missed. "But you're a madwoman."

Momo flipped her ponytail happily. "Thank you, Kirishima, that's very manly of you."

Before the redhead teen could smile, Akira palmed him in the face. "No getting distracted." He swept Kirishima's feet from underneath him and the redhead fell to the ground. "But, yes, she is a madwoman." The golden veins of his quirk receded and he smiled. "Just like all of us for taking Izuku's equally mad – yet effective – advice."

Kirishima chuckled in embarrassment as he sat up, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile. "Yeah, still getting used to dodging stuff." His quirk deactivated and he stood up fully. "I've gotten used to taking people's hits head on."

Sato nodded. "I get ya, I'm used to smashing through things while buffed up." He flexed his muscles. "Now I'm trying to get used to automatically compressing my muscles while fighting."

Kirishima stretched his arms. "At least we're getting good practice in the case we get a hero that'll take us for a work study." He reasoned. "It'll be nice to have some new moves in the arsenal for our licensed debut."

"We've all improved leaps and bounds thanks to Midoriya." Momo said, slipping back into her more regal attitude. "Though, his own progress is quite scary… as well as Tokoyami's."

"I'm honestly not surprised." Akira said, drenching his face with his water bottle. "Ever since we were kids, he's been scarily good at picking up new things." The sound of clashing steel suddenly reverberated throughout the gym and everyone felt the air shake. "And he's shown no signs of stopping that trend."

In another part of the gym, the two aforementioned powerhouses were standing across from each other, sweating heavily.

"Come on, Fumikage!" Izuku shouted, clothed in only a pair of forest green pants and his katana held tightly in his hands, the metal wrapped by similarly coloured cloth. "One last round before we call it!" A light pink glow covered his body as Fumes burned within him and he took a side on stance with his blade held above him, pointed diagonally downwards.

"As you wish, Izuku!" Fumikage was also shirtless, dressed only in a pair of matt-black pants and holding his black-clothed katana with both hands. "Victor is owed lunch by the defeated!" Dark Shadow's claws covered his own hands and he got into his own stance, side on with his blade held in front of him.

Immediately, the two boys rushed forward towards each other and clashed, their blades ringing throughout the gym. Fumikage backed off from their clash first and went for a downwards slash that was parried by his friend. He had to quickly jumped backwards again as the greenette swung around and aimed for his stomach.

Izuku, after missing his initial hit, rushed forward and began a series of figure-eight slashes at his friend. Each one was blocked or parried but he still had his friend on the back pedal. However, that changed as the bird boy spun around his downward strike and was immediately on his side for a slash.

"Got you." Fumikage said as he went to strike at Izuku's ribs. 'Wait, what?' But, to his surprise, he was blocked as Izuku used his momentum to swing back around and hit away his sword. 'Damn, I was close.'

'Damn, he was close!' Izuku's thoughts mimicked his friend's as they both backed off of each other, breathing heavily. However, he didn't break for long and immediately went on the offensive. 'Maelstrom time.'

Jumping upwards, Izuku began to spin like a tornado and descended on Fumikage. The bird boy barely blocked the consecutive downward strikes and his guard was soon broken.

'Crap!' Fumikage tried to get back into a stance, but it was for naught as Izuku capitalised on his lack of guard and swept at his legs. And just as he regained his bearings, he found the tip of Izuku's blade at his neck. 'Damn.'

"Nice spar, Fumikage." The greenette panted with a smile, lowering his blade. "I think that means I'm owed lunch, correct?" He held out his hand.

The bird boy didn't do anything for a few moments besides take heavy breaths, before a smile quickly formed on his face. "Alright, friend." He laughed out, as he took Izuku's hand. "What does your stomach desire today?"

Izuku smiled, answer out of his mouth before he even thought of it. "Katsudon."

Heights Alliance

"Man, you two are insane." Kaminari dragged out, looking at Izuku and Fumikage. "We could hear your 'training' fight all the way on the other side of the gym."

Jirou nodded, plopping down on the couch next to the electric blonde. "Yeah, it's like I was watching an anime fight when I walked in, a movie one."

Izuku smiled brightly, his chin resting on top of Mina's head. "Glad to hear that we at least looked like we knew what we were doing." The pink girl beneath him poked his cheeks before giving a kiss to his chin.

"If our work study is with our last mentor…" Fumikage started, sitting next to Izuku and playing cards with Dark Shadow. "Then our swordsmanship will only better."

"Ugh, work studies." Hagakure drawled; her blue hair droopy from the shower she took. "There are so many heroes to choose from, but I don't even know if any will take me."

Kirishima nodded. "Fourth Kind isn't taking any work studies."

Akira and Ochako both grumbled, cuddled up with each other on the floor. "Neither is Gunhead."

"Then I guess you'll be glad to hear my announcement." Aizawa's voice cut into the class's conversation, causing everyone to stiffen. "At ease, none of you are in trouble." Cue visible relaxation. "Now, a few things, I'll start with you two first." He gestured to Akira and Ochako. "Hikaru, yourself, along with Kirishima and Koda, have been asked to meet with Amajiki from the Big Three."

Said three teens all looked at their Sensei with raised eyebrows. 'Huh?'

Aizawa didn't drawl on them and moved his eyes to Ochako. "Uraraka, Asui, Hado from the Big Three also wants to see you both."

The two girls looked confused. 'What for?'

"Now the important ones, Todoroki." Aizawa's eyes travelled to the heterochromatic teen. "Your Father has sent you a work study offer."

"I see." Todoroki sighed. 'It's not like I can ask for anything better.'

The tired man turned to Bakugou. "Bakugou, Best Jeanist has also sent you an offer."

The ash blonde smiled. 'Haha, yes!' He tried not to show it, but he enjoyed his time with Japan's Number Four Hero. "Sweet."

"And, unsurprisingly, Midoriya, Tokoyami." The two boy's looked up to their Sensei. "Hawks has sent you both an offer as well as a message." Aizawa held up a piece of paper. "Please don't consider anyone else, Hawks." With that, he grabbed a lighter and burnt it. "That was not the whole message but the ending line that got the point. Now, do you four accept your offers?"

Todoroki shrugged before nodding. "I'd ask for better… but I'm not finding that in this country."

Bakugou nodded immediately. "Hell yeah I accept!"

Izuku and Fumikage nodded as well. "We humbly accept." They said at the same time.

Aizawa grabbed four files and flung them to the four teens. "Good, here's the paperwork." With that, he turned around and walked off. "Have it to me by tomorrow morning or you'll be running laps with weights on."

As the door to the dorms shut, Sero whistled loudly. "Damn, guess you guys are getting the Top Four for work studies."

Shoji sighed, his arms drooping slightly. "It'll take a lot to catch up to you now; the gap was already big enough." Yeah, and so is the gap between your height and theirs, let them have this.

Ojiro smiled, his tail feeding him as he went against Momo in a video game. "Who doesn't like a fun challenge?" His smile faltered as his character got thrown off a cliff, grapple-hooked back up to the main screen, and thrown off the other side of the cliff.

"Haha! Victory!" Momo shouted, bouncing in excitement. "As for the work studies, these go on for at least a month, we'll all have plenty of time to get ourselves up to par with those monsters, even if we don't get trained by top ten pros." She held up Ojiro's controller. "Now, who next wishes to fall against the might of Genesis?"

?

A tan-skinned man with spiky black hair and a scar running down his left eye stretched his arms. "Well, I'm definitely awake now." His brown tail swished behind him as he stood up from his pod. "So, doc, you finally gonna let us shine instead of that pet project?"

"It is absolutely ridiculous to keep us locked up in a single city when we could be doing so much better than what they do!" A light-skinned woman with pink hair huffed. "Your pet project thinks he can just take what he wants without working towards it, has not even an inkling of strategy in him, and makes a mockery of true villains." Two wooden horns protruded from her skull and she played with them idly at the end of her triad.

"They have a point." A pale-skinned woman with dark-purple hair stated, floating off the ground in a meditative position. "Every single big hitter that 'League of Villains' get is immediately arrested or defeated; your faux Shigaraki can't hold on to a good piece if it has more power than him."

"That is by no fault of their own, and the real one couldn't either." The large, fat man with goggles in a coat they were talking to didn't look away from the four pods he was working on as he spoke. "They may have lost them, yes, but they were all defeated by the same person."

The tailed man sighed. "Yeah, yeah, Izuku Midoriya, but we can't go after him." There was an air of contempt lacing his voice.

"Good, you have been listening." Unbothered, the man in the coat held his face and let out a breath. "If it makes you feel any better, this is their last chance." His hands glowed red as black tendrils shot out of his fingers and entered the pod. "They fail to get the cooperation of the Yakuza, and more importantly, my greatest experiment which they kidnapped, you have full permission to hunt and dispatch of them."

The pale-skinned woman nodded. "Thank you, Garaki-Sensei." She said, the red gem on her forehead glowing. "Hopefully, our other brothers and sister will have woken by then."

Doctor Garaki refocused on the pods, a glow radiating from his entire body. "You have talked enough. You've been given your wake up assignments, go and complete them and get used to your new bodies."