Six months fly remarkably quick, Izuku mused. If you asked him, his first date – only date, and a friendly date – with Himiko was just yesterday, but in the following six months they never had a repeat.

Of course, that didn't mean that his friends had disappeared. Himiko and Masuchan both visited him every week to study together, and he would often go visit them now that he knew where they lived in Kamino. Himiko and Masuchan did the same.

No, the reason why they never had another date was mostly that Himiko was uncomfortable with the idea. Instead, Izuku, Himiko and Masuchan would often go out together, which proved to be a lot funnier. They had all picked up the arcade in Kamino as their meeting spot, and, much to Dabi's apparent delight, liked to play a lot of DDR.

It was probably fear that they would get punished by the Villain if they dared to not try it at least once per day, but it was still fun.

Izuku had noticed recently that no matter how hard he tried, his records never stayed on the board for long. A guy named BKG would always pop up and beat him. He did wonder if it was targeted, but he was probably just overthinking things.

On a Thursday, the day before the exam, Izuku was sitting on his bed, thinking. Dagoba was almost fully clean, and he could go out early tomorrow and finish the job for extra training. Then he would have his talk with All Might.

Right. All Might. His mentor.

And the man he still hadn't told the truth to.

To be honest, Izuku was feeling really scummy right now. David Shield's words were sensible, even more so when one considered that All Might, too, had kept a secret from his best friend. But that was one thing, but All Might was about to pass to him his power, the Quirk of the Number One Hero.

'I should tell him, I really should…' His hands trembled, as he held them together, 'All Might is making me his heir, I can't… I shouldn't lie to him about who he chose.'

What would All Might do? Ten months prior, he had said clearly that the son of a Yakuza boss could never be the heir of One for All, but they were close, right?

Were they close enough?

Izuku sighed, standing back up and opening his wardrobe.

"Let's see, pants, shorts, Kurogiri, pajamas…" He froze, "Uh, Kurogiri?"

The mist man nodded, "Good evening, Izuku Midoriya. Would you mind coming with me? Mister Stendhal wishes to speak with you."

Izuku blinked, then nodded, "Sure. Do I need my training outfit?"

"I don't believe that will be necessary." Kurogiri replied. Izuku sighed in relief.

-x-

Stain, dressed once more as the Vigilante he had killed to create the Villain, leaned back on the chair. He had finished his business with All for One. The three kids were well trained – at least for the time he had to train them – and would certainly pass any test all those fakes had been put through.

Speaking of the fakes, his reasons to talk to Midoriya were to make sure he was not one. He had no doubts that All for One's daughter and Masutaro were fakes. His ethic called for their deaths, but he had a debt to repay. No matter. If they were not found out, he would hunt them once they became Heroes. He might have liked them, and it would be a pity to waste the training he had given them, but he couldn't make exceptions.

Izuku Midoriya, on the other hand, was interesting.

Stain had very purposefully put Midoriya through the meat grinder in the last few lessons. He had tested is conviction, and even if it was training and not a real-life situation, had been impressed with the child. Enough to decide to give some last-minute advice.

Kurogiri opened a portal, and Izuku stepped out. "G-good evening…" He said awkwardly.

"Evening. Don't worry, I will be quick and then you can rest for tomorrow's exam." He slid a knife toward him, "Pick it up." Midoriya looked at the weapon, and slowly nodded. Stain didn't miss the speed of his movement or the fact he never broke eye contact with him. "Good. So, my lessons have worked. Now tell me, what do you think a Hero is?"

"A Hero is someone that saves everyone." Midoriya answered, without hesitation, "Someone that does the right thing no matter the risks."

Stain smiled behind the mask. "Good. Good. In that case, here is my final advice for your exam tomorrow. Remember that a true Hero never does what they do to hold the spotlight. They don't want to be the center of attention, it's their actions that makes them stand out. The Fa- The False Heroes that look only for fame will never truly become the greatest."

Izuku nodded slowly, and Stain hoped that he had understood. If not, he too would be culled in his crusade. Such was the duty of Stain, the man they called Hero Killer but that had never killed a single true Hero. His musings were interrupted by Izuku, "Uhm, I just wanted to say… Thank you for training me."

"No reason to. I was hired for it, it's not a favor or a gift." He paused, "However, that knife is."

"I thought you said I am…"

"Decent at best with knives, yes. Keep it anyway. All kind of Heroes out there should have one as part of their gear." He waved, "Now leave. I expect you to pass the exam."

"Thank you for everything you taught me sir! Good night!" Izuku replied, then stepped through the portal.

Kurogiri closed the portal immediately after, and looked at Stain, that made no motion to remove the mask.

"Sir, are you crying?" Kurogiri asked.

Stain sniffed, his voice cracking a bit, "… No?"

"Oh my."

"It's just a terrible day for rain."

"Sir, we are indoor."

"Tell anyone and you are a dead man." Stain snarled, removing his mask to pass a finger over his eyes. Dammit, he wasn't supposed to get emotionally invested in the kids.

"I technically am already."

"What?"

"I said, do you want a tissue, sir?"

"… Yes." Stain sighed. Oh man, he had really grown attached, hadn't he? "Ugh, I need to kill some Hero to calm down."

"I'm not sure that's therapeutic."

"I'm not sure I asked your opinion." He snarled back, "Take me to Nagoya today."

Kurogiri sighed. Sometimes dealing with serial killers was hard.

-x-

The next morning, Izuku shouted in triumph atop the last heap of trash, not even earing All Might's 'Oh my goodness'. He had done it. He had done it!

He almost fell in exhaustion, and granted, it was 7 AM on the day of the test and he was already tired, but this was worth it.

A few minutes later, once he finished his work, he checked the clock. His dad, Himiko and Masuchan were going to arrive in a matter of minutes, to accompany him to the exam site, so he knew it was now or never. He took a deep breath, and turned to All Might.

"All Might…"

"Young Midoriya." The man smiled. Given that his father and friends were arriving, the man had decided to keep his skinny form, which was kind of a pity but very necessary. "There are a lot of things I wish to tell you. But given we don't have enough time, let us cut the chase."

Izuku nodded, "Yes, actually, I should really tell you…"

"I understand, Young Midoriya. I've known for a long time."

Izuku blinked. "Wh-What? You knew?"

"Why of course." The man said, pulling out one of his hair in a weird gesture, "I completely understand your situation."

Izuku's heart beat faster, "Oh my gosh, All Might, thank you so much!"

"Don't worry! I'm here to support you no matter what!" He smiled, "Now, Young Midoriya, let's move on to passing the Quirk." He extended the hand holding the strand of hair, "Eat this!"

Izuku stared at him for a long, long moment. "What?"

"That's how my Quirk is passed, I need you to ingest my DNA, and this is the least disgusting way I can do it."

"Oh. Oh, that makes sense." Izuku nodded and took the strand of hair, looking at it, "But All Might, are you really sure that who I am is not a problem? You said..."

"I believe you truly are worthy, young Izuku. Do not worry." Izuku smiled wildly, and put the hair in his mouth, grimacing slightly, "Don't worry, the fact you come from a rich family is not a problem. I might have come from poverty, but a Hero is not measured by the luxuries he lived into."

Izuku gasped. That was a mistake, because the sharp intake of hair forced the strand down his throat and then, unable to cough it out, he was forced to gulp it down. "W-Wait All Might, that's what you think my problem is?"

"Of course young man, no reason to hide it. You always come around dressed in very average clothing, or with those weird and clearly cheap shirts, and you seem very embarrassed every time we mention your father, his business or his family. Why, you always try to distract me by mentioning the Yakuza, knowing it gets a reaction out of me. But do not worry, young man, I do not doubt your heroism. You have proven through hard work that you are more than just the son of someone rich."

Izuku gaped. Oh god, All Might had been so, so wrong. So unimaginably wrong. Granted, it was true he didn't like to discuss his father or anything concerning that side of the family, but he didn't mention the Yakuza just to distract him. Was All Might dense?

… Oh god he had just insulted All Might. Was seppuku an available option? No, that had to wait. Thinking rationally, All Might's theory made sense. It did seem like he was embarrassed of having money when he almost never had his father that had a private driver and went around in a limo come pick him up after training, or even watch him train. Of course, the real reason was that his dad was trying to pass for a normal businessman, living in an apartment and all, but All Might had never been to his house, only in the parking lot of the complex, and it's not like he could know which was Izuku's house if he never showed him. "W-Wait All Might, I think you misunderstood…"

"Good morning Izukun!" Masutaro shouted in that moment, and both Izuku and All Might noticed that they had been so enthralled in their discussion they hadn't noticed his father's car parking nearby, with Masutaro and Himiko already in it, waving from the lowered window.

"Well, young man, it seems we are done for today. There is a lot more I wanted to talk to you about, but I suppose it will have to wait. Just know that you changed a lot of things, before even becoming a Pro. And don't worry if you aren't feeling anything different, it will take a few hours for the power to become active if transmitted that way. I believe blood to blood is faster, but…"

"No, it's fine this way All Might, I…" He grimaced. What could he even say now? What was he supposed to tell him?

'Don't.'

'You'd be marked as a criminal.'

'Your only possible future would be this.'

The words of David Shield resonated in his head. He had been so prepared to tell All Might, but now… Now what could he do? He hadn't just spent months training with him, a waste of time if he then decided to not pass him One for All, but now for all intent and purpose he had stolen his Quirk!

He felt tears stream to his eyes. And that was when two hands touched his shoulders. "Hey, Izuku, are you ok?" Himiko asked, on his left.

"Don't let the nerves get you man." Masuchan added with a thumb up, "You can do this, Quirk or no Quirk."

He couldn't help it. He was worried sick, and felt like he had just tricked his favorite Hero, but… but they were right. He could do this.

He would be a Hero. He would be the next Number One.

He would do it to repay All Might, no matter who is father was.

-x-

Passing by the gates of UA was quite the magical experience for Izuku. He almost managed to fall on the gate, but Masutaro managed to catch him by the shoulder in time. Of course, they ran into Kacchan, but he just snarled a 'get out of the way Deku' at him and glared at both Masuchan and Himiko, before making his way into UA at a faster pace than them.

"What is his problem?" Masutaro asked.

"I think he is still angry for what happened at that dinner… nine months ago dammit Kacchan."

"I take forgive and forget aren't in his vocabulary…"

"Nope." Izuku sighed, "No they are not."

They had to separate in different classes for the written portion of the exam. To Izuku, it was a walk in the park, to be honest. Of course the level was really high, but he had studied a lot for it. He knew the others could do it to.

-x-

"Kill me…" Masutaro muttered as he, Izuku and Himiko met up in the corridor.

"Eeesh, that bad?" Izuku asked.

"No, just… I hate written tests so much." He turned to Himiko, "How did you go?"

"Good enough, I think. The examiner was some guy that looked like he needed to catch up on several days of sleep, but one guy tried to cheat and he spotted him immediately, kicking him out."

"Wow." Masutaro frowned, "I guess it was true that there is no point in trying to cheat here at UA."

"Of course not!" A new voice interjected, startling them. They turned around to a tall teen with broad shoulder, glasses and blue hair, "This institution is a majestic organization that could never be fooled by middle schoolers!"

"Uhm. Ok?"

"Ok indeed. Now please, proceed down the corridor, we shouldn't dilly dally in this respectable institution!" He said, and then marched off, following his own advice.

"Please tell me he won't be in our class…" Masutaro sighed, and Izuku chuckled.

"I don't know, he kinda broke the tension, didn't he? And he was right anyway, we should go."

Unfortunately, the seats in the school were assigned by school, meaning that Himiko and Mustard, who had been marked as homeschooled, were in a different row from Izuku, who was sitting right next to Kacchan. "Deku." He growled, "Is the bitch still here?"

"Kacchan, please stop talking about her like that."

"You idiot, are you so caught up in her you don't understand who she is?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked. Kacchan couldn't know about All for One, his dad had said time and again that All for One never existed as far as the wider public was concerned.

Kacchan looked away, "Forget it."

Izuku wanted to ask more, when suddenly Present Mic walked on stage and oh my god that was Present Mic! He instantly started to ramble about him, until Kacchan hit him on the side forcing him to stop.

The following explanation on the robots made Izuku realize that if One for All didn't come true, he was in trouble. And then made him think of his friends. 'Oh gosh how will they handle it? I doubt smoke and transformations will work…'

"And you!" The voice startled him out of it, as he turned around realizing that yes, that same teen from before was speaking to him, "You have been talking for a while now, stop it! Are you here to make a fool of this institution?"

"Uhm, I-I…"

"Ehi, that's not fair! He wasn't disturbing anyone!" Himiko shouted. Izuku went bright red, but before he could try to tell her to stop another voice chimed in.

"Yeah, that's totally not fair. Don't be a bully!" The phrase was spoken half in Japanese and half in English, by a girl with horns sitting several rows forward.

"I can't say if it's unfair but it doesn't make sense dude. You were the one that interrupted in the first place." A third girl, with earphone jacks for lobes and purple hair, intervened.

Before Iida could answer further, Present Mic spoke up, "Alright everyone, settle down. Some of us are popular with girls," He winked at Izuku, that went deep red and plunged his face into his hands while Bakugo just snarled, "But please, let's not fight. Anyway, to answer your previous question…"

Izuku almost missed the rest of the explanation, but got the gist about the Zero Pointer and then looked at the field he had been assigned to, as did Kacchan. They were in different ones of course; UA would want to keep them separated so they wouldn't help each other.

Izuku stood up with the others, but then he thought about that. Why wouldn't they want them to team up? Heroes did that all the time, even Stendhal had told him that. And he had also mentioned that stuff about true Heroes not trying to hog the spotlight, so why did the school make up a test for Pro Heroes that was entirely about not helping each other?

As he pondered that, he felt a touch on his shoulder. He turned around to see the same girl that had stood up for him before, the blonde one with horns. He blinked. "Uh?" He would have liked to speak more, but his brain had no way to put together a sentence when a girl apparently had just gone up to talk to him. He was used to Himiko, but this was different.

Himiko!

His eyes darted left and right to look for Himiko but she was nowhere to be seen. He had walked a bit, maybe he had missed her?

"H-Hello sir!" The girl said, bowing down and almost accidentally ripping his eye out of its socket with her horns due to her sudden movement. "I'm greatly humbled to meet the future boss!" She said, the last word distinctly in English.

Izuku froze, barely resisting the urge to jump back and scream. Oh no no no no he wasn't ready for this.

'My daughter is going to join UA, treat her well.' "Uhm, are you… Cow Lady's daughter?"

"Aye boss, I am Pony Tsunotori, thank you for having me! I've been tasked to be your bodyguard by miss Nene."

Izuku's head dashed from one side to the other, but luckily everyone was busy talking with friends or rushing to a bus. He should have too actually, but before that, "Uhm, th-thank you, uh…"

-

Izuku was very tempted to just bash his head on the window of the bus and end his suffering. Of course thing had to go bad today, first with All Might and now with the girl sitting to his left to try and be his bodyguard.

And the test, that he didn't know how to pass since One for All had apparently decided that no, he wasn't coming in, fail miserably kid, hadn't even started yet.

"Are you ok boss?" Pony asked, whispering now. Apparently, she knew when to not speak out loud.

"Can you not call me that?" He sighed.

"Of course boss."

Izuku wimpered. "Alright. Alright so, I have a bodyguard-"

"Correction sir, you have two!" She raised two fingers, "Although, I don't know why my… fellow has not approached us yet."

"Maybe she is on another bus?" He asked. Please be on another bus. Please fail the exam, other bodyguard.

"Impossible boss. The agency wouldn't commit such an oversight." He raised an eyebrow, "Ah, we shouldn't use dangerous words that could identify the agency our family works at."

Izuku tried to reply that this had nothing to do with the Clan, since the school had most likely assigned them randomly, but then realized he was talking with the daughter of Cow Lady, a Pro that worked with a yakuza clan, so maybe… "Oh my god, someone at UA is in the agency?"

"Aye boss. But we shouldn't talk out loud about it."

"Who is it?"

"I don't know." He stared at her and she quickly waved both hands in front of her face, getting worried, "I-I mean, the agency never publicizes its associates, right? So unless I needed to know they wouldn't tell me!"

"Because that way you can't reveal who they are?"

"That's right boss!" she nodded, "I also have no idea who your other bodyguard is."

"Ok… Ok, anyway, uhm, if we should say anything compromising, shouldn't you also call me something else?"

"Leader?"

"No."

"President?"

"What?No."

"… M-Master?" She asked, going red.

"Alright, you know what, Boss is fine."

"Oh thank goodness, I was worried you were some perv."

"Me too, boss, but it's nice to know my worries were for nothing." Someone said from the seat in front of them, just as the bus stopped. They both paled and turned to the seat in front of them. The first of the two teens sitting there walked off, but the second, a girl with purple hair and… oh, she was the earphone jack lobes one, "Nice to meet ya."

Izuku suddenly realized who he was talking to, "Y-You are my other bodyguard?!"

"Yep. I'm Kyoka Jiro." She winked, "Treat me well."

Izuku really had the urge to jump out of the window right now. This was the worst.

He was so busy trying to figure out the situation, he didn't even notice the eyes that focused on him.

-x-

Mustard groaned. This was the worst.

He hated his current situation for several reasons. First of all, he was taking a Hero School Exam, and that was already bad. Second, he was pretty sure this exam was rigged to kick him out of the school, because he was now supposed to fight robots with a gun and gas they couldn't breath.

But third and most important, he was stuck with the worst possible Hero candidate he had ever met. "Fucking extras!" Said Hero candidate was roaring, "You better not get in my fucking way!"

'Whyyyyyy…'

-x-

Himiko toyed with her knife. Izuku had gifted her a whole box for Christmas, and as it turned out, knives were considered acceptable gear by the school. Cool.

Then again, she would have to stab robot.

Yeah, that was also giving her pause. She had no doubt that the robots could be killed, but could she kill them?

Then she remembered why she was here. Izuku would go to this school, and her and Mustard had both promised they would do their best to ensure that. That ship had sailed now that they were all separated, but now, she had to ensure something else.

That they would be in the same school.

With that in mind, she got ready to start.

-x-

"Worried boss?" Kyoka asked, cracking her neck.

"D-Don't worry boss. I'm sure we can do this!" Pony added, encouraging him.

Izuku had no idea how to take the cheering from his two yakuza bodyguards. Uh, thinking about it, where they Yakuza, or just associates? He had no idea how the Clan worked, and if at least he knew how Pony was connected to it, Kyoka was a full mystery. She had just said something about their moms knowing each other, but that didn't explain much.

-x-

Mika Jiro sighed, looking at the picture. She was the youngest of the group of four girls smiling and waving at the frame. Inko and Mitsuki's kids were both there at UA with Kyoka, she mused. If only their other friend had a child too, maybe the next generation of their team would be reborn then and there.

'Then again, she didn't even come to the reunion. Maybe she doesn't want to deal with us anymore…' She thought with a heavy sigh. After all, becoming a Pro had taken her considerable work.

She shook her head. No time to reminisce on it. Her eyes moved to an old drawing on the fridge. Kyoka always said it was silly, but she liked it. It was her, her husband and Kyoka, but to the sides were other people. 'Uncle Maguma', 'Yuyu-chan', 'Konako-chan' and 'Auntie Urara' were all standing there.

Mika sighed. It wasn't uncommon for someone like her to end up marrying in a Yakuza clan. Marrying the disowned brother of Maguma's wife had been a bit of a bold move on her part, but luckily he was still in good relations with his sister, even if not with the rest of the Haya family. When Maguma had taken over, the two had become close friends, and so Kyoka had grown up knowing the… more interesting side of Hero-Yakuza relations.

"Hope she is doing well. Maguma and Isana said it's a simple job and it won't interfere with her work." She mused.

-x-

"Begin!" Present Mic's voice shouted. Izuku rushed in. He realized a few months ago he would have frozen dumbly right there, but Stendhal had thought him that a villain attack didn't start on a count, so he had no doubts about jumping into the fray. To his surprise, that meant he found himself rushing in first, with Kyoka and Pony on his tail.

Ah, the advantages of being trained by a violent Vigilante.

The rest of the students rushed in a moment later, when Present Mic told them pretty much what Stendhal had told him during their training, and immediately after the robots attacked. Izuku stopped, and immediately punched forward, imitating All Might's Smash.

He probably also shouted Smash, but a moment later he winced as his fist impacted metal. "Ouch." He pulled back to dodge a swipe from the robot and then touched his pocket. He had brought the knife Stendhal had given him the day before, and well, it didn't sound like One for All was active yet, unless those robots were All Might resistant, so knife it was.

Before he could use the weapon, though, a Earphone Jack planted itself in the camera that formed the robot's eye and a horn pierced it through. Izuku turned to see Kyoka and Pony glare at each other.

"Don't steal my kill!"

"It was my kill!"

"Uhm… technically it was mine…" Izuku pointed out, and then frowned.

Wait, that didn't sound right. A new robot rushing him forced him to rush forward and attack with the knife, following Stendhal's teachings about striking first and aiming for the vitals. Since he wasn't sure bots had vitals, he jammed the blade in the camera that formed its eye, and the thing stopped moving. 'Uh, that was easy…' He thought, before four more charged at him. He was forced to stumble back to not get hit in the face, and only watch as Pony and Kyoka killed them, still arguing over who was getting the kills.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense!" He shouted.

"What doesn't boss?" Kyoka asked, turning around to look at him with Pony.

"The whole exam, it doesn't make sense that it incentivizes working against each other. We aren't in a game, this is supposed to test future Heroes. There must be a trick!"

"You think? Maybe they just wanted something simple."

"But something simple doesn't help testing our Quirks, does it?" He asked, "What if someone had Quirks that don't give enhanced power to break down the bots?"

"So you think they are judging something else?"

"Yes! I don't know what, but…" 'A true Hero doesn't hog the spotlight.' "We should walk together, like real Heroes do during a crisis."

"If you say so boss…" Kyoka nodded, "Alright, I'll look for more villains, my Earphone Jacks is good for that." She said, planting her jacks into the ground.

"Alright. Pony, your horns, can you shoot them a lot?"

"I can fire ten per minute, but I can only control two at once, more and I lose focus."

"Alright, then…"

"Ahem." Someone touched him on the shoulder, and Izuku turned around, "Pardon me, but I overheard your discussion. Would you mind if I join you?" The teen with black hair and a vague Chinese accent said, bowing politely.

"Of course."

"Excellent. My name is Rin Hiryu. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." He bowed slightly again, then his arm covered itself in scales, "I shall help covering for those that pass miss Pony."

Izuku nodded, noticing the questioning look on Tsunotori's face. "What is it Pony?"

"I don't know, but his name seems… familiar." She shook her head, and launched her horn to destroy another bot, "Any new Jiro?"

"There are twenty that way!" She said, pointing forward.

Izuku nodded, "Alright, let's go!"

-x-

"We have a group." Sekijiro Kan, also known as Vlad King, noticed, pointing at the screen.

"My my, that's quite rare." Nemuri Kayama, Midnight, pointed out, her eyes moving to it, "Are they being effective?"

"Surprisingly so." Vlad King replied, "They have just attacked and defeated a group of twenty bots that was trying to sneak around another examinee to attack him from behind."

"It was luck on the latter part." Shota Aizawa, Eraserhead, pointed out, "They couldn't know about the examinee in trouble." He glanced at the group, and pressed a button to show the names. Izuku Midoriya, Rin Hiryu, Pony Tsunotori and Kyoka Jiro. Midoriya fought with a knife, which was odd. Did he have a Quirk that didn't work for the situation? Possible, Shota knew well what it was like to be in that situation. His Quirk, after all, only removed the opponent's Quirks.

They had organized themselves with one distance attacker, two close combat attacker and a tracker and supporter. He didn't know if it was just blind luck or they knew each other, but he couldn't fault the team composition.

He glanced at another screen. Snipe was looking at a child with… "Is that a gun?" He asked. Everyone turned to Snipe's screen, who chuckled.

"I thought so too, but no, his form mentions a Projectile Launching Multifunctional Support Item." The cowboy styled Hero replied. The other Pros in the room nodded.

"Oh, that explains it."

"Yeah, makes sense."

"Like a child could ever have a gun."

Shota shook his head, mumbling something about Support companies making their design to similar to a normal revolver, and then glanced at the screen Nedzu was more focused on. Granted, with High Spec, the UA Principal was looking pretty much simultaneously at all screens, processing rapidly information that the rest of the teaching body would only put together later, by studying the recordings of the various sites.

That said, he could tell the principal was very interested in a girl with black hair and grey eyes armed with a pair of knives. "Something odd, Principal?"

"No, I'm just very surprised at her skill. She is going precisely for the 'throat' and 'eye sockets' of the robots. Since they are programmed to 'die' if they receive lethal wounds, she is making quite a few points." He nodded, "Although, I find it a bit worrying that she is so decidedly dealing killing blows."

"What's her name?"

"Himiko Shimura."

Shota nodded. He would take note of this in case it became somehow relevant, but it was hard to say. "How long do they have left?"

"We are half-way through, so about five more minutes. Four before the final boss jumps in!" Yamada Hizashi, Present Mic, said.

Shota nodded, keeping an eye on the various students that were doing well.

-x-

"No please, I have a family and childre-" The machine pleaded before Mustard shot it through the head.

"Who is the sadic bastard that programmed those lines?" Mustard asked out loud, looking around. The robots were more scattered now, so finding them was proving to be a bit of a challenge. If only he could… A lightbulb switched on in his head.

"Everyone! Run! I need space to use my Quirk!"

"How is that our problem?!" Another examinee asked.

"Look, you can stay and argue with me or get away and let us both get points!" He shouted back. The guy with black hair and his arms spinning wildly tried to say something, but Mustard decided to put on his gas mask. It was surprisingly effective at getting the message across.

He released his gas, and quickly filled the whole road, sidewalks included. Now surrounded by the swirl of gas, he could perceive the robots the moment they entered his area of effect. Grinning, he spotted one and shot it directly in the head the moment it was too close.

Then another.

Then another.

"What the fuck is this gas?!" A voice shouted, and he looked wide eyed at the guy Izuku called Kacchan, Katsuki Bakugo, barge through his smoke and rush directly to him, "So you are the bastard that knocked me out, uh?!"

"What? Oh at the arcade- I mean, I have no idea what you are talking about!" He defended. Weakly.

"I'll fucking murder you!"

"Uh, I don't think so."

"Why?!"

"You do realize you are breathing my gas, right?"

"Ah, as if some stupid gas would work aga-" and he slammed face first into the ground, snoring.

"Uh." Mustard groaned, "Whyyyyyyyyy? Couldn't you just stay away?! No, now I poisoned another examinee! Aaaargh!"

He shot another bot and stopped his Quirk, letting the wind take away his precious radar. Two more robots charged against him, and he shot one before painfully realizing he was out of ammo. He searched his pocket. Nope, totally out. "Dammit!" He dodged the swipe of the bot, and then rushed to the still unconscious teenager, grabbing his arm and pointing the arm at the bot. "Stop or I will make you explode!"

"Ah, puny human, like you can activate his Quirk."

"Jokes on you, I can." Mustard moved his head close to Bakugo's ear, "Bakugo, Izuku Midoriya will pass the Entrance Exam with more points than you, if you don't kill this robot. Also, Himiko says you are painfully average."

Bakugo's eyes slammed wide open, "Like hell he will, fucking Deku!" He shouted, before creating an explosion that completely enveloped the screaming robot – was that a Wilhelm Scream? – and then wobbled on his knees, "Eh, fuck you, who the fuck is average here…" He murmured, before collapsing again.

"Alright, let's see…" Mustard thought, and then the ground shook. He looked up to see a giant fucking robot emerge from the side of the road, and nodded, "Yep, as I thought, time to run." He took a few steps back, then looked down at Bakugo and groaned.

Right, not letting him get hurt. He pulled him up and ran.

-

"Sooooo, how do we evaluate that?" Power Loader asked.

"He shouldn't have used his Quirk." Eraserhead pointed out, "No points."

"But he told everyone to stay away," Midnight said, "As a fellow gas user, I can attest that there is only so much one can do with the power we have. He told everyone, someone ignored it, that someone got hurt, and now he is making sure they get away."

"I feel like you are biased, Nemuri."

"I'm talking from experience. Those are the right actions, "She raised a finger, "Ten rescue points."

"Zero from me." Aizawa replied, "He shouldn't have used his Quirk, especially in a situation where it's not very effective."

Midnight pouted, and Snipe shook his head, before turning to another screen, "So next is this field right?"

"Yup!" Yamada pressed on the button.

-x-

Izuku looked up at the giant robot, the knife going back into his pocket.

"Oh fuck! It's a Mecha!"

"Should we run boss?"

"Yeah, I don't think there is any reason to…" Izuku paused and looked ahead, noticing, among the crowd of escaping examinees, one trapped under some rubble, a girl with brown hair.

"Midoriya?" Rin asked, but Izuku was charging forward.

"Pull her out of the rubble!" He shouted. Then there was an explosion of strength from his legs as he flew upward in the sky, propelled into throwing a Smash, remembering all All Might had taught him about using the Quirk.

Oh right, nothing, he had to wing it.

Luckily, the punch made the robot explode, before Izuku started to fall backwards. As pain rushed to his mind and he realized that his arm and legs were broken, he felt something else.

Seven voices groaned very, very loudly, and then a muffled 'For fuck's sake Toshinori, a Yakuza?' from a female voice resonated in his mind.

'Oh god I'm having auditory hallucinations.' He thought, before getting slapped by the girl he had just saved right before he touched the ground making him float in midair.

He landed with a soft thud, and a moment later the horns that marked the end of the exam faded, accompanied by the sound of the brown-haired girl puking rainbows nearby. Izuku sighed. What a day.

-

Himiko sighed. She had killed enough bots, hopefully. She had no idea if there was any other requirement, but forty Villain points had to be enough, right? She had heard some people count thirty or so, so she was supposed to be above average.

The only problem was that right now she was really thirsty.

Really, really thirsty.

'I just need to get away from here…' She thought, rushing out of the testing area. She looked around, and then started running. She was sorry for missing Izuku and Mustard's reunion but right now, if she had to wait too long… Her hand gripped her knife, while the other pulled out her phone. "Kurogiri…"

"Yes, Himiko Shigaraki?"

"Get me… Get me food… blood… I need it…" She gasped, "I'm… thirsty…"

"I shall inform your father. Call again once you leave the training grounds."

"Thank you." She whispered.

Before anyone could stop her, she had made it outside the UA grounds from the closest gate, and mud invaded her mouth as she reappeared back in their base. "Food…" She whispered.

"I thought your limit was a bit higher." All for One commented, while Kurogiri arrived with a blood bag. Toga immediately grabbed one and drank.

"I… I killed so many… but they gave no blood…"

"Ah, that would explain it." All for One nodded, "It was a mistake on my part to not give you some. From now on, you won't go to school without a thermos filled with it. Make sure no one finds out."

She nodded, sipping her blood carefully. "I think I made it though. The written test too, thanks to Izuku."

"Good, good." All for One sighed in relief, "We shall await your test results then."

-x-

"Thirty-seven." Masutaro said as he joined Izuku and the two girls at the gates of UA, before introducing himself briefly. Luckily, they explained who they were, since apparently they were aware of Masutaro's real identity in turn. Izuku found it a bit disturbing that none of them was even fazed at the idea of one of their group being associated with a villain, but hey, apparently everyone in this damn school was a criminal in disguise. "Himiko is sorry, but she had to rush home, but I think she made forty-something."

"I hope she is ok." Izuku replied with a nod, before turning to the girls. "How much did you do?"

"Forty!" Pony cheered.

"I got twenty-nine." Jiro replied, sighing, "I hope that's enough."

Izuku sighed. As it turned out, being 'decent with a knife' only awarded him seventeen points, and then he had busted both legs and his right arm with that final punch. Against a bot worth nothing to save someone that probably had never really been in danger. "Nice job, girls." He replied.

"You too boss, you took charge very well!"

"Yeah, and you broke down that robot completely, that was great!" Jiro added, trying to cheer him up. Izuku was sure they both knew that he only scored that measly amount of points.

"Yeah, and you also handled super well the other thing that happened."

"What happened?" Masutaro asked, and Izuku groaned.

-x-

"I should thank you." Hiryu, the Chinese student, said, surprising Izuku as he, Jiro and Tsunotori walked outside of the training ground, "It was an honor working together, mister Midoriya."

"For… For me too, Hiryu."

"Please, feel free to call me Feilong Lin, as a fellow heir." He replied, and Izuku froze, while Pony gasped.

"A-A fellow heir?"

"Indeed. I appreciated our alliance today, and I hope this will be the beginning of a profitable cooperation." He gave a courteous nod, "May you have a prosperous day."

Izuku could only stare at him walk away, before he turned to Pony. "What just happened?"

"I-I'm sorry boss, oh gosh, that was such a stupid move from me!" She grabbed her horn, "Ooooh, I almost had you in danger on the first day, nice bodyguard I am…"

"Why, what happened!"

"Have you ever heard about the Chinese Triads, boss?"

"Sure, the Chinese equivalent of the- oh my god that boy is a Triad heir?!"

Jiro was deep in thought, "Ugh, I don't remember… Did uncle ever talk about them?"

"You might know them as the Azure Dragon Syndicate, the Seiryu, or the Qinglong." Pony explained, shivering, "They are… they are one of the most powerful groups in the Chinese underground, and we let the son of one of their bosses, a Feilong, this close to the boss. Oh gosh!"

-x-

Izuku couldn't help it, as he walked away from the UA gates, he just covered his mouth and screamed in his hands. "Is everyone in this school a criminal?! Is this my life now?!" He shouted, sure that now he was far enough to not be heard by the cameras of the gate, "Why?! I just wanted to be a Hero but no, first the Yakuza, then the Villains, now a Triad son!

"No, I just think you are unlucky Izukun." Masuchan quipped, "There can't be more at this school right."

"Oh hey Izuku! Izuku!" A familiar voice shouted, and Izuku glared at Masuchan with such intensity he swore he had activated One for All, before turning around and seeing Melissa Shield wave at him, "Hello! You had your exams too?"

"M-Melissa, what are you doing here?" 'No no no no no no…'

"Oh, I'm studying here this year. Support course! You won't believe the practical today. There was this super awesome girl called Hatsume that built an amazing armor. Granted, it kind of… exploded… but it was super sturdy until then! I so want to know what kind of microprocessors she was using to make it run!" She paused, looking around, "Oh, Pony!"

"Melissa!" The girl with horns rushed forward and hugged the girl in a tight hug. Really, really tight. Izuku could swear Melissa was this close to have her organs squeezed out like toothpaste, You are here too! You never told me! she said, starting to talk in English.

Pony, I… am… suffocating…

Sorry! The horned girl let go, But my gosh, you are actually here too! We haven't seen each other in person in years! When was the last time?

Seven years ago, when you moved to Texas.

Oh, right, you came at our goodbye party! Pony nodded, I wish I could come around more often, but after… the incident mom doesn't want us in Cali.

I get it, don't worry. But you told me you wanted to join a Hero Course, but I thought in the US!

Well, I was thinking of going to Kent-Wayne High, but mom and dad thought connecting to my roots was a better idea! And then, I also get to bodyguard the future boss! She added, pointing at him.

"Did you catch all that?" Izuku whispered to Masuchan.

"About half of it." He replied, "Something about Texas?"

"Wow, half of it, sure." Izuku sighed, "Uhm, so, you are here?"

"Yep! Here at UA, probably, and so is she!" Melissa pointed at a wall nearby, where Hana was poking half of her face out.

"Uhm… Hi?" She waved, "I-It's nice to see you I-I-… Midoriya." She said, uncertainly, "I-I'm joining the business course."

"Isn't that great?!" Melissa interjected, "A Pro, a Support and a Business! Maybe you two will open an agency and I will handle the support gear!"

"Well first we have to make it into UA…" Izuku shook his head, "I only got eighteen points…"

"Hey, I'm sure it's plenty points-" She stopped seeing Masutaro, Pony and Jiro collectively shake their hands and wave their arms, "I'm sure you did great, trust me! We are all going to be in UA in two months! I-" She stopped, grabbing her phone, "Oh my, it seems I have to go. Bye guys!" She said, waving. Hana looked at her go, then turned to the four of them. "I-I think I hear my father calling."

"Doesn't Isana live in Tokyo?"

"G-Goodbye!" She shouted, and then rushed away.

"Uh. So that's Hana Shindo, uh?" Jiro shook her head, "Can't say she is much like her father, but maybe I like her more for it."

"You know her dad?" Izuku asked.

"I met him a couple time, at the family dinners Uncle Maguma invited me to. He is pretty cold, to be honest." She winked, handing him a piece of paper with a number on it, "Well boss, that was fun, but I think I have to go now, my train will leave soon. Call me sometimes!"

Izuku saluted her back as she rushed off, leaving Pony, Izuku and Masutaro alone. "I think we all agree this counts as getting a girl's phone number, right Izuku?" Masutaro asked, and Izuku elbowed him on the side, making him chuckle, "Soooo…" Masutaro coughed in his fist, "What now?"

"Well, I will follow the boss home to make sure he arrives safe. Then I will go to my apartment and I guess kinda wait two months doing nothing?"

Izuku and Masutaro exchanged a look, and Izuku sighed, "Well, I can't really leave you all alone for two months now that we have taken the exam together. Here." He pulled out his phone, "Give me your number."

"Damn Izukun, you are getting bolder and bold- ouch, that one hurt!" He shouted as Izuku punched him in the side.

"Are you sure boss? I don't mind waiting on my own…"

"Tsunotori, it will be fine. Masutaro comes around with me and Himiko all the time, one more person is just beeter."

Pony nodded enthusiastically and passed her phone number to Izuku, who then sent her a message to do the same on his side. "Alright!"

-x-

Izuku laid on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Eighteen points. That was the best he could do with a knife. He looked at his arm and leg, and thought at the punch he had thrown. All in all, he thought, it was probably better that One for All only came in there, or he would have broken his arm against the first robot and then never helped… Uh, thinking about it, what was her name? He hadn't really talked with the brown haired girl with round cheeks. She had thanked them all, but then had just walked away, probably a bit dizzy after puking rainbows for two straight minutes. Izuku had no idea you could keep up the stream for that long.

He rolled on his bed, thinking about the rest. "Ugh, what do I do? I didn't tell All Might and now I have his power. I found out there are at least five Yakuza related people in the school, plus the relatives of a mob boss and the heir of a Triad family."

It couldn't get worse at lea- Goddammit brain stop jinxing it!

-x-

"Can you believe it? He actually did the transfer!" All for One opened the champagne with a satisfying pop of the bottle cap, that then slammed straight into Tomura's face. If anyone asked, that wasn't intentional, "We did it, son! The day of victory awaits!"

Tomura looked at him confused, "Uhm, father, isn't… Himiko…" The name came out like he was pulling out a tooth, "your heir?"

"She is, of course, but you will be the one that will lead the practical action while Himiko handles our relations with the Green Valley Clan. And the next step on the agenda is killing All Might. You have two months to come up with a plan."

"On my own?"

"Well, you have Kurogiri and the anti-All Might Noumu. You'd need to be brain dead to be unable to plan something."

"Of course father."

"Good." He passed the champagne around to the various people surrounding him: Dabi, Kurogiri, Garaki and Compress all dutifully took the drink, even if Garaki didn't seem that enthusiastic. All for One knew well that Garaki disliked alcoholics, so he made sure to pour some extra for the doctor.

What? Malice came in many forms.

"So, who got the Quirk?" Dabi asked.

"I don't know yet. Consider it a secondary goal for you Tomura, try to figure out which student has One for All, if you can."

"Yes." Tomura nodded, and then grinned, "What should I do when I found him?"

"Capture him, of course. We want One for All."

"Of course." Shigaraki nodded.

He grinned. Two months to make his father proud. Kill All Might, capture whoever had One for All. And of course, the secret objective of killing Midoriya, Himiko and the rest without being found out, as his father clearly had planned for his true heir.

Yes, it would be a grand time.

(xx)

I kinda wanted to include the results too, but it will have to wait next week because this chapter is already 8k+ words long.

So yeah, this introduces us to the various character that are part of the underground but in UA. Or does it? What if there are more? Well, you will have to wait and see.

Pony was already called, but nobody ever expects the Jiro inquisition. Fun fact, it's canon that Mika's husband took her wife's family name.

And no one certainly expects Triad child Hiryu.

Poor Izuku, his school life is more and more complicated by the day.

Good.