Patterns of speech:

Normal – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

'Inner thoughts with single quote marks', "Radio speak, transmissions for double ones" – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

All Might – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

R3 – May the Plus Ultra be with you.

I only own my OC and the plot of this here story. All characters and locations in the MHA world are property of Kōhei Horikoshi. Star Wars is owned by Disney. Enjoy the new chapter!

Binding the Galaxy Together

Chapter 27 – Day Two: Complete

'Mistakes were made today.'

That was the thought running through All Might's head as he stood in his deflated body looking down at Izuku's resting form. Few people in this world could terrify the number one pro, and Recovery Girl was near the top of that list. As soon as he entered her office, All Might found himself on the receiving end of a stern glare from the elderly heroine. Scary as it was, he didn't try to protest. He knew on a few levels, he deserved it. Seeing how beat up his protégé was only reinforced that.

"How is it that this boy is already a regular visitor after only two days of school, All Might?"

All Might knew this tone. Her patience was already gone. Best-case scenario now was walking out of the nurse's office with his testicles in a to-go bag.

"I have no excuse. He's here again because I let things go too far." He sighed.

Recovery Girl huffed as she examined Izuku's body again.

"The poor boy was so exhausted when he came in here, I couldn't use my quirk to help him, lest I risk killing him. This was supposed to be a class, not a full-on brawl. How did things even get this far in the first place?"

All Might then gave a short retelling of the fight. The play-by-play he saw in his head only made him feel worse. It shouldn't have mattered if Camilla could sense their feelings. He should have ended this fight the moment he saw how unhinged Katsuki was when fighting Izuku.

"I was about to stop them, but it turns out young Midoriya had a trick up his sleeve and used One For All to end the fight. Save for himself, nobody was hurt."

"You nimrod! Nobody should have been this hurt, period! Including him!" Recovery Girl cried. "And let me guess, oh Symbol of Peace. You're actually commending him for it."

There was no point in answering. She could tell by the look in his sunken eyes that she was right.

"He still did the best with what he had readily available to him. Messy as it was, it doesn't change the fact that he won. I let things go far past what should've been allowed but…he needed it. The boy needed to know he could win. Up until now, I don't think that's something that's ever happened before."

Recovery Girl only sighed. She made it no secret that she was annoyed. All Might could understand why. Recovery Girl had been working here since before even he was a student here. She had been there during his training, and now with his successor here too, she hoped the man would be able to guide him the same way his master did. So far those hopes were dying.

"I know you want to help him because he's your successor and One For All is still new to him, but as I'm sure you've been told: playing favorites to this boy and bending the rules for him won't win you any favors from the students or the staff. Aizawa's opinion of you is already standing on thin ice. Trust me. You don't want to see what happens when that ice breaks."

All Might had an idea from his chat with him yesterday.

"I'll keep that in mind. Also, could you keep your voice down? I don't want people hearing anything about One For All!" he whispered in a wary tone.

"Hmph!" Recovery Girl just turned her head and sat at her desk. "And yet I hear your circle of trust grew quite a bit a few months ago with two pro heroes and two more students learning about it. Just what made you decide to even trust them anyway? Are you even sure they can be trusted?"

Of course, All Might knew they could be trusted. Ryukyu and Mirko kept the secret of aliens being real for months before that day. If they could keep a secret like that, then One For All was a cakewalk. True as it was, it wasn't a viable answer for Recovery Girl. Hopefully one day it would be.

"Tsukauchi signed off on them." He decided to go with the other truth. "Midoriya, of course, wanted his two friends to know, but Tsukauchi pressed that Mirko and Ryukyu could be trusted one hundred percent. I've come to find that's truer than I could have ever hoped. Since then they've both been great allies. Not really the best at visiting though."

"Oh, I know that. Gran Torino wrote to me recently saying the same thing."

The mention of his other mentor's name caused All Might to tense up. He whirled around afraid that he'd somehow snuck into that room. Once he was sure he was in the clear, he let loose the breath he was holding.

"Oh relax." Recovery Girl laughed before her look turned serious. "Look, All Might. Let me at least offer you some advice before today is over. I've seen a lot of teachers come and go out of this school. Different pros that each came with their own idea of how to best teach a new wave of heroes. Being the number one hero automatically means that children will listen to you. And now that you're a teacher, that's only going to make things tougher. I know you have a duty to Midoriya here to train as your successor, but I don't want visits to my office to become a constant thing. Nor do I want to see his self-sacrificial tendencies rub off on his new classmates. I know it's only your first day, All Might. These things take time to fully adapt to. But let what you see before you act as a motivator to ensure this doesn't happen too often."

Looking down at his student again, All Might couldn't help but agree with his old friend's words. Being a teacher wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He wasn't sure how but he had an idea that Nezu probably lied to him when he said being a teacher would be easy as "a cup of tea".

"I'll try to do better," All Might promised before heading for the door. "On that note, I should get going. There's one other student I wanna talk with before he heads home."

With that, he turned to leave and reached for the doorknob while Recovery Girl waved goodbye.

"Alright see you tom-oh wait. All Might, one other thing!"

She turned around to face him but heard the door quickly shut followed by the distinct sound of fast footsteps getting farther away, signaling to the heroine that All Might had bulked up again and ran off. She sighed and turned around to look at Izuku again. Her eyes trailed down to his arm. The robots that carried him into her office reported to her that his entire arm was broken from the backlash of his power.

When Izuku arrived and she inspected him, Recovery Girl noticed that a good portion of his upper arm had seemingly healed on its own. The swelling and darkened skin was gone from his shoulder nearly to his elbow. An x-ray showed that the bones had healed too. Happy as she was to see some of the injuries had been relieved, she had no idea what caused it. She hoped All Might would and planned to ask him, but now that would have to be held off until later. All she could do for now was treat Izuku the best she could.

"Young people. With all the stress you cause me day after day, it's a wonder I'm still alive."

*4 Days Ago*

In the office of the number nine hero, seven people and a dome-headed droid had gathered for a purpose. With Camilla, a Jedi Padawan being accepted into U.A.'s hero course, and the Force being able to grant one person many abilities and counting, they needed to come up with a cover story in case any of her classmates got suspicious. Gathered here were Tsukauchi, Mirko, Ryukyu, Camilla, Izuku, Ochako, Nejire, and R3. All Might was asked to come as well but he refused since Nejire would be there. Not that he had anything against the girl. She was just the only one out of all of them who hadn't been brought up to speed about One For All. So he kept away for now and asked Tsukauchi to let him know what the cover would be once it was settled.

It was harder than they thought to think of something. Ideas ranged from saying she was kidnapped as a baby to experimentation on her as a child. Either one seemed to raise more questions. That's not what they needed.

"What if we say she got too close to some toxic waste one day and it somehow enhanced her power?" Izuku suggested.

"Get your head out of the movies, broccoli head," Mirko grumbled. "In real life, that's not how it works."

"She's right," Tsukauchi affirmed. "I've had to deal with a lot of suicide cases in the past with people crazy enough to believe that could make them stronger."

Avoiding that can of worms, Izuku continued rubbing his chin in thought.

"This is taking a lot longer than I thought it would. I will admit I didn't expect to go into high school with an alien classmate who I'll need to keep secret."

A gentle hand rubbed his shoulder (only one finger not fully touching him so her quirk didn't activate).

"I don't think any of us did, Deku," Ochako said. "But don't worry too much. We'll figure something out…eventually."

"Right! And if we don't, it's not like Camilla has to answer every question thrown her way. Ignoring people is still a thing," Nejire commented.

"Be that as it may, we need to have something in place to act as cover for her power. Her fake quirk registration can only do so much," Ryukyu reminded.

As everyone sat in their places deliberating, Camilla was on Izuku's other side with a chocolate chip cookie in her hand, some crumbs on her cheek. She gazed at them all and smiled, still ever grateful to the Force for dropping her on this world. These people had already done so much for her and they just continued to give.

"What do you think, Camilla?" Ochako asked. "Any thoughts?"

Camilla turned to answer, taking another bite of the cookie. "I'm blanking. Making up cover stories is something I've done before with my master in the war. But that was to gain an advantage over our enemy. It was never for…something like this."

It was no secret she didn't like having to lie. She wanted to start off with her new classmates on the right foot. Nowhere in that foot did she want there to be dishonesty, especially if there was a chance they could end up being the rest of the figures in her vision.

"Big-ears has a point. You really don't have to answer any questions if you don't want to. All you have to do is lay low and not draw too much attention to yourself."

Camilla sighed as she turned to her droid. "It isn't going to be that easy and you know, R3. Everyone here has confirmed that eventually, I'll have to show off what I can do in full at this school. Some things they do are even broadcast for the world to see. Laying low isn't a possibility."

"I'd like to point out yet again that applying to that school in the first place was your decision. So every bit of stress you're feeling right now is self-inflicted. So you know, good call there."

"Hey drop the sarcasm, smart-aleck. It isn't helpful."

"I didn't come here to be helpful. I just wanted to get a laugh out of big-ears trying to use her brain."

"How many times have I told you not to use that name?"

"I lost track around the mid-sixties."

"…I let you hang around Anakin's R2 unit way too much."

"R2-D2 was an amazing friend, and my point still stands. Use your powers if you must. But going all out is only going to lead to trouble if no one here has even heard of the Force."

While the two conversed a few moments more, the others surrounding them just kept watching them talk. Even after all this time, it still baffled most of them that the bleeps, chirps, and whistles that came from R3 could be interpreted as a language.

"How could you tell any of that was sarcasm?" Ochako asked.

"You learn to catch on," Camilla replied as she used the Force to grab the last cookie from the bag on the table. "Are there more of these? They're delicious."

Both Ryukyu and Nejire giggled together as they amusingly looked at the powerful alien indulging her sweet tooth.

"Sadly no, Camilla," Ryukyu said. "Sweets aren't really important now anyway."

"She's right." Nejire leaned forward and grabbed her teacup. "Making sure you blend in as best you can is what's important."

"We've already been here for hours and the closest we've come to something solid is Deku's toxic waste idea," Ochako admitted.

Izuku internally grinned at that.

"Well…"

Mirko was not usually one to be caught in a moment of hesitation. So when Ryukyu noticed the tentativeness on her face, it felt like looking at an imposter. The rabbit woman's long ears flopped down, her lips were curled into her mouth as she squeezed her own hand out of nervousness. It felt quite foreign to the others there in the room as well. Even R3 was confused.

"Yes, Rumi?" Ryukyu urged, trying to get her attention.

Perking her head back up, Mirko spoke, "I may have an idea. But I feel I should tell you this now. You're not gonna like it."

"At this point, Mirko, we'll take anything," Tsukauchi retorted. "So what's your idea?"

Now with all eyes human and droid staring at her, Mirko breathed out a sigh and rubbed her hands down her face before she uttered her next questions.

"What if we say she comes from a quirk marriage?"

…

…

…

"…have you completely lost your mind?" the dragoon hero spat.

"Hey, I warned you!"

"That is absolutely horrible!"

"I know it is! But hear me out!"

"There is no chance I'm hearing you out on this! We'll find another way!"

"Um, excuse me!"

Both the pro heroes whipped their heads in the direction of Izuku. Once he saw the two piercing gazes, he flinched back as if they were brandishing knives.

"I uh….mmm…I just wanted t-to ask…what's a quirk marriage?"

He muttered out the same question Ochako and Camilla had on their minds too. Tsukauchi and Ryukyu looked away, not really sure how to tell the kids about this.

"It's when two people get married not out of love but solely for the purpose of mixing their quirks to get powerful babies," Nejire explained. "It became a thing around the second generation of quirks. Today they're outlawed, but, of course, that never stops everyone."

Luckily, Nejire was still as blunt as she ever was in some cases. Izuku looked mortified at the idea of quirks being used simply for reproduction purposes. Rage encompassed Ochako that such a thing could still be present in this day and age. Camilla was disturbed for a different reason entirely. Memories of one particular mission with her master came to mind, but she was not ready to divulge that story yet.

"That's…that's horrible," Camilla struggled to speak.

"I know. Believe me, I know. But just listen. This kind of shit isn't a fun subject but with a story like this, it's viable that people will most likely leave it alone after hearing it once. We could say she was the product of two people trying to create a powerful child but abandoned her once they saw she was blind and deemed her defective. Eventually, she made her way here, and that's when Ryukyu and I found her."

A viable story as it was, it still didn't make the idea any easier to swallow.

"I came here because I thought I was going to find it amusing. Now I just feel like we're back on Geonosis. Remember that lab-"

One of Camilla's fists pounded on R3's head before he could finish his sentence of beeps. The glare he received served as his only warning to keep quiet.

"Mirko, I don't feel like this is something we should be lying about," Tsukauchi firmly stated. "Cover story or no, there should be some boundaries here."

Mirko rolled her eyes and threw herself back into the couch. "And I'm telling you all to suck it up and accept the fact that there is no easy way to do this. You were the one to insist on a cover, Tsukauchi. The quality of said cover story hardly counts for anything. It's still going to be a bald-faced lie to every teacher and classmate she'll have, save for these three. I haven't heard any decent ideas from anyone else here. So please, if any of you think you can think of a story better than that, then please. Do it. I honestly want you to."

Boy did they try. They sat there for a couple more hours working their brains double-time to think of any story that would be a better one than the one Mirko just laid out on the table. By the time it reached four o'clock when Izuku received a text from his mother asking if the girls were joining him for dinner, that was the sign that they had little time left to spare.

"This is a mistake," Ryukyu unhappily said. "I don't like this one bit."

"I don't like it either, Ryukyu." Nejire tried to help her mentor calm down. "But Mirko is right. Earth just isn't ready to learn what Camilla is yet. So maybe one day we won't even need this stupid story."

Nejire's bubbly optimism was a proven winner for helping people feel more at ease. Ryukyu was thankful for that.

"I hope you're right." The dragoon hero smiled at her intern. "I'm trusting you. And that goes for you too Midoriya, Uraraka. Even though Camilla has past experience as a warrior she will still need your help to fit in at school. Will you do that?"

"Absolutely!" Nejire stood up and pumped a fist into the air.

"Of course." Ochako smiled at her blind friend.

"Jedi or not, she's my friend. Obviously, I'll help," Izuku proclaimed.

Camilla's heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest from all this affection. Mirko on the other hand looked like she wanted to puke thanks to it.

"Yeah yeah, we're all friends and we got each other's backs. Woopty doo. Can we go now? If Inko's cooking something good, I plan to be at the table tonight."

So they left, and Tsukauchi elected to work out the finer details of the cover to make it more solid. The day ended with Camilla going to bed that night with hope in her heart that things would not be too bad if this cover story of theirs had to be utilized.

*Present*

It was bad. The moment Camilla asked the first question to begin her false tale, she immediately felt like throwing up from the sheer dishonesty she was spouting. It was like the universe was trying to punish her for even going along with this idea.

Sick as she felt, she got through it and told her class the cover story. How she came from two parents who wanted a powerful child but threw her away once they discovered she was blind. She ended up in an isolated village called Corellia where she stayed for most of her life before breaking away and finding her way to Japan.

Now she stayed with her new guardian in Musutafu. She didn't go into any more detail than that, hoping they would leave her alone about it. Some questions were asked by Mina and Denki but Ochako, bless her soul, voided them off stating that she had been through enough and didn't need any pestering about bad memories. Most of them stated out loud that they wouldn't pry anymore and respected her wishes. So thankfully getting them to drop the subject now was a lot easier.

Thanks to that, the class found it in them to let it go. The young Jedi and Ochako then sat in patience waiting for Izuku to come back from the nurse's office. They were surprised by how much of the rest of the class waited too. Apparently, they too wanted to see him alright before heading home for the day. That warmed both girls' hearts. One of them, in particular, seemed to catch Camilla's senses though. Since the end of the fight, Shoto had had an air of anger around him. But after she told that story, she'd only sensed a burning interest in her. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why.

Right as she moved to go ask him upfront about it, the door opened, and in walked Izuku with his arm in a cast and sling. Immediately, he was bombarded by the other kids introducing themselves and complimenting him on his victory over Katsuki. The "sight" made Camilla smile. It always pained her and Ochako whenever Izuku talked about his past school life. Crowded by his new class, the Padawan could tell those days were behind him now. This was the fresh start he needed. Now if only hers could be a little less…unclean.

"Hey, Camilla!" Upon hearing her name called, the girl stood up from her desk and walked over to Izuku. "Sorry I ended up missing your battle. How did your team do?"

"We won all thanks to her!"

Toru was the one who answered Izuku as she came up and put an arm around Camilla. Mashirao sat at his desk not far away and nodded to confirm her statement.

"We went up against Todoroki and Shoji. We thought we were toast right off the bat, but Camilla saved our skin."

Stars grew in Izuku's eyes. "Oh man, you fought Todoroki's team?" he exclaimed. "You gotta tell me everything!"

"How about we save story time for later?" Ochako suggested, her stomach grumbling.

Izuku could agree to that. His mom was probably already working on dinner. Best to get home as soon as possible so it wouldn't get cold. As he moved towards his desk and his backpack, Izuku glanced around again at how much of his class was there.

There were people in front of him. Tenya was over in the corner chopping his arms in the air in Fumikage's direction. Even Shoto was still there sitting in the corner. Put simply, he felt really warm at the gesture his class gave him by waiting to see if he was alright. There was only one person who he didn't seem to see, and his desk didn't have his backpack hanging on it.

"Hey wait. Where's Kacchan?"

"Kacchan?" Eijiro wondered aloud.

Izuku shook his head, remembering not everyone knew what that nickname meant. "Um, you know. Bakugo."

"Oh right. He left just before you got here. I tried to get him to stay a little longer, but he just said he had to catch the train."

Izuku immediately turned and sprinted out the door, leaving everyone else behind him confused at the action. Camilla and Ochako stood looking at the open doorway while having an idea why he ran off like he did.

"He's...he's not. Is he?" Ochako fretted.

The Jedi simply sighed. "Yes, yes he is."

Not a second later, the two of them darted out of the room calling out to Izuku in the hallways. Only Tenya called out to them as they ran off.

"Hey! Don't run in these halls! You could hurt someone or yourselves like that!"

They didn't listen. All they did was keep running and turn the corner before.

"Ribbit. I have a feeling they wouldn't stop even if they could hear you, Iida."

Realizing Tsuyu was probably right, Tenya sighed in defeat and turned back to gather his things.

As fast as he could with a broken arm, Izuku ran to try and catch up with Katsuki before he was too far away. As he ran, his mind replayed all the things Katsuki yelled at him during their fight. It all sounded ridiculous but Izuku couldn't help but feel like he owed his old friend an explanation.

'I don't even know what I'll say. Sure I let in four others on this secret but All Might was there with me. But…I have to say something. At the very least, he deserves the truth.'

As he ran by a window, Izuku looked out of it and saw Katsuki walking for the front gate.

'I can catch him before he gets too-'

His thoughts were harshly interrupted when his entire body froze in mid-run and refused to budge. His feet weren't even touching the ground.

"Finally got you."

The pieces fell together as his body turned around, noticing Ochako and Camilla jogging towards him. The latter had her arm outstretched as she focused the Force on Izuku. When the girls were close enough, Camilla lowered her arm back down and released Izuku from her grip.

"Why did you two follow me?" Izuku asked, surprised.

"We followed you because we both had a bad feeling," Ochako replied. "Deku, why are you chasing after Bakugo?"

Izuku looked out the window again. Katsuki was still walking, albeit slowly. But still, the more time he spent here chatting with the girls, the further away he got.

"I have to explain things to him," he stubbornly answered. "I just have to."

"Wait," Camilla interjected, "when you say, 'explain things', define, 'things'."

It took a few false starts but after making sure the three of them were alone, Izuku gave Camilla what she asked for.

"I want to tell Kacchan the truth about my quirk."

It was the answer both girls expected, but definitely not the one they hoped for, as was evident by the looks on their faces.

"Izuku," calmly started. "Why out of everyone you could tell, do you want to tell him?"

"Camilla, you didn't hear him out there. Since yesterday he's been under the impression I hid my quirk from him to laugh behind his back."

She didn't respond because she already knew that. Katsuki came over personally and yelled it into her ear. Ochako, however, was hearing that for the first time, and she didn't like the sound of it.

"He bullied you for years because you were quirkless," Ochako bitterly remarked. "He knew how much you were hurting. Does he honestly believe you went through all of that willingly just for a cheap laugh? What would even be funny about that?"

"I…I don't know Uraraka. All I know is that I have to talk to him and set things straight!"

Not bothering to check if any of them would follow, Izuku turned back around and started running down the hall again.

"He thinks I mind tricked you!"

Izuku stopped. This time he made it happen himself. He wasn't sure what he heard right now, but he was almost certain it couldn't have been what he thought it was.

"What did you say?" he asked, mystified.

As he turned around, he noticed that much like himself Ochako too had a very shocked expression with a hint of anger leaking into her eyes. Now that she had both of their full attention, Camilla went on as Izuku walked back to her and Ochako.

"That's why he came by my house last night, Izuku. Everything that you've done so far, the training, the test, you standing up to him, Katsuki has somehow gotten it into his head that I mind tricked you or something into doing all of it against your will. He knocked on my door because he wanted me to tell him how to 'break you free'."

At that moment, Camilla was pretty sure she didn't need to see in any form to know the faces Izuku and Ochako were wearing. By emotions alone, she could already tell they were both a good-sized helping of disgust from Ochako and a whole serving of disbelief from Izuku.

'That…that can't be true. Sure, rationality isn't Kacchan's strongest suit, but even he wouldn't be this crazy. Would he? I can understand him thinking I just didn't tell him about my quirk but to assume I've only come this far because Camilla mind tricked me…that's…I don't even know what that is! I know it's bad but…what else do you call it?! And Camilla probably wasn't too…oh…oh no wonder she didn't look so thrilled this morning.'

Remembering her face from earlier today only made Izuku a bit angrier than he was starting to feel.

"So what did you say back?" Ochako softly asked.

"What do you think I said? I called him crazy and told him to leave. He didn't until I threatened to call the police, but that's not the point right now. My point is, Izuku, you don't owe that jerk anything. I cannot even fathom what your reason is for thinking you do, but you don't. You never have."

It still looked like Izuku wanted to protest and defend Katsuki but Ochako, noticing that, stopped him before he could.

"Deku, I know you may not want to hear this, but she's right. I understand you want to have your old friend back again but you have to wake up. Bakugo's made it abundantly clear he doesn't want that. Even if you do go and tell him about your quirk, what are you expecting to happen? That everything will just magically be hunky-dory between you two? That isn't how it works. Granted, I haven't really been bullied before but that can't be how it works."

There just had to be something he could say to shine a better light on his old friend. So why was it so hard to find as the girls kept talking?

"Izuku…can you please just answer me this? Why do you want Katsuki to be your friend again?"

Camilla's last question had him frozen to the floor. Izuku then put his mind to work thinking of a reasonable answer. He opened his mouth a few times thinking he had something to go with but no words left him. He couldn't believe it. All these years, Izuku realized that he spent them chasing after Katsuki but never once asking himself why he was doing so. He always figured it was because he could still see that Katsuki was going to be an amazing hero. Every teacher the two of them ever had always reinforced that idea. So Izuku just went with it. All the pain, all the beatings, all the burns on his skin, and Izuku never once wondered why he tried so hard to fix things between the two of them. Nothing he had done so far to try and mend their past friendship had ended positively. It always resulted in more burns and ringing ears from the explosions and his yelling combined. Izuku had to admit to the fact that trying to be friends with Katsuki now was hard.

But these two girls in front of him, being their friend felt so easy. He had gone for so long with only his mother giving him that sort of care, from time to time he forgot that others in his life would give it to him now. Ochako Uraraka and Camilla Sharro were his real friends. Even now they stood here trying to help Izuku when he clearly needed it. Maybe it wasn't in a way that made Izuku feel good but their hearts were definitely in the right place. And that brought up the question again. Why was he trying to run away from them and talk to Katsuki?

"I…I don't know…" he finally muttered. "It's…Kacchan and I always wanted to be heroes. We both grew up admiring All Might. Yeah, he went down a bad route but he was always so sure of being a pro. His ambition, strength, and unwillingness to back down in the face of danger made me admire him more and more."

Izuku's eyes trailed down to his feet, while Ochako and Camilla listened.

"But…maybe you're right. If he…if he truly is so wrapped up in himself to say those things to Camilla rather than accept reality…maybe you're right. Maybe…I should just let him go."

Camilla put one hand on Izuku's left shoulder and Ochako kept her pinky extended as she put her hand on his right. "Izuku, you wish to see the best in everyone you meet. It's an amazing quality that no one should ever ask you to let go of."

Ochako nodded her head with fervor. "You're amazing on your own, Deku. You beating Bakugo today proved that," Ochako warmly assured him. "But I think you have to accept that you and he might not ever be like you used to be."

He knew they were right. But it still didn't make the pill they put in his mouth easy to swallow. It actually felt to Izuku like something was trying to shove its way down his throat.

"See? Look. There's All Might talking to him right now. You don't have to worry."

Ochako's sentence made Izuku perk his head up and look out the window. Katsuki was still there by the front gate, and now All Might was there too. He could see their mouths moving, All Might's mostly, but it wasn't too long until the pro hero turned to head back inside the building. From a distance, Izuku could still make out some of his former friend's expressions. Whatever All Might said to him, it didn't seem to make him feel any better than before. All he did was turn around and head out the gate with the same slump.

"Yeah…alright. I'll go get my stuff…then we can get out of here."

"Deku…"

"Izuku…"

Both the girls tried to say something to help him feel better but their words died in their throats. All both of them could do was watch as their friend just slumped away with a look of utter defeat on his face with so many different emotions running in his mind.

"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything," Camilla murmured.

Ochako shook her head and rested a steady hand on the young Jedi's shoulder. "No. You did the right thing. He would've found out eventually. Besides, this may be good for him."

"Why? You know how much he admires Katsuki."

"And this could be his first step into letting go of that and stop chasing after his approval. I'd ask you two to do the same for me if I was ever in that position. Wouldn't you?"

Camilla didn't even need to think about it.

"If I felt the dark side pulling me, I'd absolutely ask you and Izuku to pull me back."

"Exactly. Now let's go be there for our friend."

That was something the Jedi could agree with. The two of them then followed Izuku back to the classroom to retrieve their backpacks with him. Once they helped Izuku get his over his shoulders, the three of them began to exit the school together. On their way out, they were stopped once more by someone who waited at the gate for them.

"Shoto?"

Upon hearing Camilla speak his name, the boy approached the three of them with his hands in his pockets. Izuku was a little bit intimidated by his face. He didn't seem angry or anything, but he just had an interesting aura about him.

"Is uh…is everything alright, Todoroki?" he sputtered out.

"Everything is fine, Midoriya," Shoto replied before turning to Camilla. "Apologies for stopping you, Sharro. But I wanted to ask if you had any plans after school tomorrow."

After the question was asked, the trio standing before Shoto shared a couple of confused glances with each other. Not one of them had a clue as to why the guy would ask Camilla that. Ochako for a moment thought it could be to ask her on a date or something but judging by how angry he was earlier, that hardly seemed likely. Camilla wanted to probe his emotions to try and find an answer, but she felt she had done enough of that today with not just him, but the whole class. So she decided to play this out the old-fashioned way.

"No," Camilla answered. "No immediate plans."

"In that case, would you mind taking a walk with me before you head home?"

As kind as the invitation was, Camilla couldn't help but feel that maybe this could be out of pity from the fake story she told earlier. Again, she wanted to try and sense his intentions but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Sure I can do a walk. Meet out here after school gets out?"

"I'll see you then."

No other words were spoken. Shoto turned and headed off, leaving the three of them where they stood, various levels of confusion on each of their faces. It wasn't until about ten seconds later, that they finally started walking again.

"What was that all about?" Izuku asked, hoping one of the girls would have an answer.

"Beats me." Ochako shrugged. "Camilla, any ideas?"

"I've spent enough time in his head today, and I'm hungry. I'll just wait til tomorrow to know what he wants."

"Really you're not even curious?"

"Oh, I'm plenty curious. I just think today has been long enough."

Ochako couldn't really argue with that. "Yeah, you're right. But while we're all together and alone, we might as well bring Deku up to speed."

"Huh? Bring me up to speed on what?"

The rest of the walk to the train was spent telling Izuku the cover story Camilla had told to the rest of the class. Once he understood, he too felt a similar pang of guilt just like the girls felt earlier. Granted the lie wasn't about him, but knowing the lie was now believed by the rest of the class as the truth, got him uneasy. He had been in the room when it was concocted after all. So in a way, it felt like he was lying too alongside Camilla.

From the look on her face, Ochako felt almost if not exactly the same way. The Padawan herself had to be feeling the worst of it. As they neared the station, Izuku maneuvered himself so he was on the right side of Ochako and Camilla so he could try to put an arm around both of their backs.

"Sorry," he said. "This is the best I can do with one arm."

The two girls both smiled at the gesture. With all three of them proclaiming once more, "Defects stick together", they boarded the train home.

After a session of assuring Inko that Izuku's arm being in a cast and sling wasn't so bad, the four then had dinner and the girls went home. The moment Camilla entered her front door, she kicked her shoes off her feet and let out a huge groan of relief at finally being back home.

"Mirko, I'm home."

At this moment, she was so tired she hadn't bothered to sense anyone else's presence in the apartment. But the silence she was met with didn't give off a good vibe.

"Mirko? Hello?"

"She's not here."

The binary language of her droid was her response as he wheeled out of the bedroom and into the living room to meet his master.

"Well where is she?"

Rather than hear a reply in bleeping, Camilla instead heard the sound of Mirko's distorted voice once R3 produced a life-size hologram of her in the living room.

"Alright so…she told me to just stand in front of you and you record me? You know what? Don't answer that. I won't understand you anyway, tin can. Martian Girl if your droid is doing this shit right then listen up. I'm heading out of town to Endoru for a couple of days. Apparently, since news hit that All Might's teaching full time at U.A., villain activity in other towns is starting to spike thinking they'll have an easier time since the big guy has to stay in one place. I intend to let them know that's sheer stupidity. It's just gonna be for two days, three tops. So don't tear the place down or you better catch the next rocket launch outta here before I get back. See ya."

As the hologram vanished, Camilla ran a hand over her face and groaned again.

"Great…."

"What's the matter with you?"

Camilla just sighed knowing full well how R3 was going to react. "I had to use the cover story."

"After only two days? What did you do?"

"Oh come on, I already had this talk with Izuku on the walk home."

"I told you. I told you so many times to not draw-"

"I know what you said, R3! But I was in a mock battle and I was just doing the best I could to win. It's not my fault some of the people watching me had sharp eyes."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Right now? R3, it's been a long day. All I want right now is to shower, get into my PJs, meditate, and then sleep."

R3 tried to talk more to his Jedi, but she wasn't in the mood to take any more of it. After doing the first two things on the list, she remained in her bedroom for the rest of the night with her phone on silent and her mind running like a wild animal. Still, she attempted to calm down and eventually reached a somewhat relaxed state of mind. All throughout it, Camilla tried calling out to her master, hoping to hear his voice in the Force as she did before. But to her sadness, she didn't hear a thing. Master Morlev always said no matter where Camilla went, he would always be there. With every passing day, she started to believe that less and less and that only made her miss him more.

A couple hours later, Camilla waved her hand towards the front door of the apartment and locked it with the Force. Then she nestled under the covers of her bed, while she let sleep take her. All she could hope for from this point was the bumps in the road wouldn't be too jarring.

A bit of blood from her teacher's face dripped onto her neck as she dragged him away from where he was almost killed. Fortunately for her, her fellow classmates were there, helping her out. But the thing in front of her was still there. This giant, muscular bestial-looking creature with a pointed face that she couldn't make out absolutely terrified her. There were no thoughts, no feelings, no nothing. But why did it still have multiple lights?

Suddenly she could hear screams, crashes, painful attacks, and even the hum and clashing of her own lightsabers as this monstrous being menacingly approached her.

"Well, you certainly know how to hack a game." She could hear a raspy voice from behind it. "I think I just might bring you along with me."

The monster then began to reach, a hand gripping her face.

"GAH!"

*THUD*

All at once, the furniture in Camilla's room fell a couple inches back down to the hardwood floor. She didn't mind, only a few things fell over. Camilla sat up and ran her hands over her face, feeling the cold sweat coming from her brow.

"What...what was that thing?"

For the rest of the night, sleep eluded the Jedi as she hoped that whatever that dream was would stay as just that.

A/N

Alright! Another chapter is over and done with! And yeah I know it's pretty dialogue heavy, but the next arc is the USJ as you can clearly tell. And boy, do I have an idea or two for that. I'm just hoping I can write it well for you all to enjoy. Anyway, until then, I hope you all stay safe out there and I'll see you next chapter. Also don't forget to check out this fic's TVtropes page if you ever wanna! you can also find me on Ko-fi and Twitter under the same username!

Also I wanna give a big thank you to my editor/beta reader, dreamingnewpeace!

EDIT: R3's text has correct formatting now. I don't know why it didn't in the first place.