Chapter 13: To Prepare for the End (Ep. 43-45

Save for Izuku and Shinsou (whose applications were still pending because of Nedzu), everyone else in E-class was accepted into the first or second school of their choice. But despite the accomplishment, it was clear everyone was too upset to enjoy it.

"Oh, please, don't let our stuff bring you down. You guys have earned the chance to celebrate," Shinsou remarked as they sat in class. "Not doing so because of us only lets the mouse bastard one-up us again."

The class laughed, the tension in the room vanquished, but no one was quite ready to pop streamers. Korosensei (who had been awfully quiet on his thoughts regarding the U.A. entrance exam debacle) was quick to change the focus and up the mood.

"Like Shinsou said, let's not waste another second on such depressing thoughts! We have a yearbook to edit, people!" he declared. Piles upon piles of photos instantly appeared on his desk. "Since Karasuma had to stand in for me on the official yearbook, I thought we'd make our own special E-class book to commemorate our time together! Now we just have to decide which of the thirty-thousand teacher selfies featuring beautiful candid moments of my students that we use."

"You really crashed every picture?" Izuku wondered aloud, which Korosensei replied with an indignant "Crashed? I was merely capturing every aspect of the moment!"

"It would be kinda nice though," Hara noted. "I mean, we're never gonna get another chance at a class like this. I wouldn't mind having something special to remember it by."

"Exactly! Now, should I use this adorable photo of stone-faced Hayami at the pet shelter, or this one of Mimura going ham on air guitar—"

"You were there for that?!"

"Oh, and not to mention this picture of Shinsou falling on his face the first time Irina made him walk in heels!"

"What?!" the brainwasher squawked as Korosensei continued to pull out embarrassing photos of them. Shinsou lashed out with his capture rings. "You better hand that over so I can burn it, Octopus!"

The whole class went full riot mode, attacking Korosensei's desk to find and destroy any embarrassing pictures of themselves. Izuku found a picture of Shinsou's Kiss of Death during their civil war duel and screeched, tearing it to shreds.

"Alright, alright, but what about these photos for the student events section?!" Korosensei, passing out a new round of photos. These ones were actually nice to look at, picturing the class hanging at the beach, or watching the festival fireworks show, or parading around Musutafu.

"Aw, we were such babies back then," Nagisa said, pulling out a picture of Izuku geeking out over an All-Might statue, as well as one of them all sitting together at lunch, Nagisa and Izuku comparing quirk notes while Shinsou and Karma looked at something on Shinsou's phone.

"It's hard to remember how simple things were back then," Izuku added, smiling. "I mean, you didn't even know what your real quirk was when some of these were taken. It's nice to see how much we've grown."

Despite literally having thousands of pictures, Korosensei simply wasn't satisfied and declared they all had to take cosplay photos outside. Which is how Izuku found himself in a surprisingly well made All-Might cosplay, with Shinsou as Eraserhead, Ms. Jelavić as Mt. Lady, Karasuma as Cementoss ("You have matching square heads!"), Muramatsu as Hound Dog, Kimura as Ingenium, Karma as Endeavor (Izuku and Shinsou visibly cringed, even if Karma wasn't showing much emotion), and Korosensei as Wash ("I support his clean agenda!")

"You know, given that Korosensei's deadline is only eight days away, things have been pretty chill lately," Izuku observed, smiling for the picture in his best All-Might pose.

"I think it's better explained that he's spoiling you, letting you guys take it easy to show how proud he is of you," Karasuma explained, looking positively unamused by the cosplay. "Given how intense everything's been, it's about time you kids got a chance to unwind. Especially you two," he shot a look between Izuku and Shinsou, "I'm extremely sorry for what happened with Nedzu. I wish I could do more about it, but I just want you to know how proud I am of you. I heard how well you performed on the exam. I know more than ever that if ever come on hard times, you guys will be the ones I call."

The duo grinned. "Thanks, Karasuma-sensei."

-.-.-.-

That night, they had their final career counseling session with Korosensei. Izuku tried not to focus on the nightmare that was his last one, refusing to think on the whispers of the tentacles as he made his way into his teacher's office.

"I'm happy I get to speak with you, Midoriya. I know I've been staying quiet on the matter, but it would seem there are some very important developments you and I need to speak about."

Izuku hid a grimace. He expected such coming here, but he'd still rather avoid it. "Yeah, I guess."

Korosensei was still smiling, but it was clear in his body language how serious he was being. "I'm going to admit, when I heard what Nedzu told you, I was furious. As your teacher, it is unfathomable that someone would make such deals at the expense of a student. But unfortunately, I can't do anything to change his mind, which means we need to discuss your options."

The octopus gently placed a tentacle on his shoulder. "I know what you told your classmates, and I'm very proud of you for that. Integrity is one of the greatest virtues in life, and it is the sign of a great hero. But at the end of the day, I know how much you two have on your plate. I know how much you and Shinsou have dreamed of making it to U.A., and as your teacher, it's been my goal to help you achieve that dream. And to hear I may be the reason you don't, breaks my heart more than you can ever imagine."

Izuku could already feel the tears threatening to spill and squeezed his eyes shut, holding back a whimper. Korosensei lightly brushed back his hair.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but I would much rather you kill me and meet Nedzu's terms than give up on your dream. I understand you don't want to," Korosensei added quickly before Izuku could object, "but I want you to know, that if it comes down to it, I am more than willing to die for you — for any of my students. So please, keep that in mind."

Izuku nodded even though he didn't want to and clenched his fists in Korosensei's uniform, letting the fabric muffle his sobs.

-.-.-.-

When Izuku saw a giant red beam strike down on the E-class mountain from the safety of his home, he felt like his world was ending.

He immediately lunged for his phone, but found it was already ringing. Shinsou was calling him.

"Hel—"

"Did you just see that?" the brainwasher demanded.

"Y-Yeah. They just — They just shot a high beam laser at our school! At Korosensei!"

"Look, now they're creating some particle barrier dome around the mountain top! Do you think that means he's alive?"

"Only one way to find out," Izuku said, throwing on his shoes and slipping out the door without a word to his mother. "We have to go make sure he's okay!"

He hung up and ran out of his apartment building, only to find the roads blockaded with military-grade vehicles and tanks. A red-winged figure flew over his head, straight for the mountain — Pro-Hero Hawks? — and that's when Izuku realized what this was. This was the plan Nedzu and the government was working on. This was their endgame strategy.

Shinsou texted him a link to some news feed, and Izuku quickly clicked on it. It was a live stream of a governmental press conference.

"Our initial attack failed, but thanks to the SHIELD of Earth, we were able to capture and contain the dangerous villain popularly known as the Tentacle. This creature is responsible for the moon's destruction just last year and has made credible threats to do the same to Earth in a week. The JSDF and every available Pro-Hero has been called in to contain the area until the laser is recharged for another attack," the media liaison explained.

"Sir, our sources say you've contained the Tentacle where a school building is located. Can you explain why the Number One Villain was at such a location?" one reporter asked.

The media liaison paused, an agent stepping up to whisper something, before responding, "As you know, the Tentacle turned himself in after the moon explosion but refused to cooperate and made continuous threats against the safety of mankind. As an attempt to contain him and eliminate him early on, we allowed him to pose as a school teacher for a Kunugigaoka Junior High class. We hoped cornering him there would give us a chance to take him out beforehand, but we grossly underestimated his strength. We won't make that mistake again."

"Excuse me, you're saying you allowed this creature to be around middle schoolers? To teach them?!" squawked another reporter.

"The operation was closely monitored by our best agents and the children's safety ensured. The students were well aware of who their teacher was, and they actively played a hand in eliminating the threat—"

It was clear the media liaison said too much, but it was too late. The press exploded.

"You encouraged children to participate in killing the Tentacle?"

"Are you saying that you provided the means and weapons for them to do this? It's no secret the Tentacle is unharmed by conventional attacks."

"How long have these children been exposed to this kind of environment? Would you say they are dangerous too?"

Izuku gulped. He had to get to Korosensei now.

-.-.-.-

It would seem he and Shinsou weren't alone in their plans. By the time Izuku made it to the government barricade at the base of the mountain, most of the class was already there.

"Nagisa!" he called out. "Have you seen the news? This is absolute insanity!"

The blue-haired boy nodded. "No joke. They're refusing to let us go up the mountain, and everyone in the city is freaking out."

Shinsou held up his phone. "Every news outlet in the country is talking about this. Everyone's losing their heads knowing that not only did the government hide the fact that the Tentacle was going to blow up the Earth, but that they let him be around children and forced them to become government assassins. Now everyone wants to know who these poor victim children are."

As if he summoned them, camera lights started flashing in mass as a crowd of reporters came out of nowhere, screaming questions.

"Are you the poor children held hostage by the government and the Tentacle?"

"Did the government train you to kill?"

"How well-versed are you and your classmates at using weapons?"

"Did you ever fear for your safety? Were you being threatened by the government to keep this a secret?"

"Were any Pro-Heroes involved in this setup?"

"Were you ever hurt by the Tentacle? Would he retaliate if you tried to kill him?"

"Is it true you were just normal children the government forced to become assassin soldiers because of convenience?"

Muramatsu growled and snapped his muzzle. "That's enough! Back up!"

Yada's eyes gleamed freely as she tried to Persuade the crowd. "Please, give us some space, we don't want to answer any of your questions!"

It worked for a few reporters, but there were simply too many of them. They were being swallowed whole in a sea of cameras and microphones. Izuku was so blinded by the lights that he lost sight of his class entirely.

A woman shoved a microphone right up to his mouth. "Did you feel unsafe during your time at school? Did you ever try to escape, or did you willfully endure the training?"

"Y-You're the one making me feel unsafe," he answered. "Please, just go away!"

It was clear the reporter was not pleased with the answer and plowed on. "Sources have been saying that the government even granted you licenses to use your quirk in public freely. Is that true?"

"You wanna find out?" Shinsou said, stepping in front of Izuku protectively. Seeing him as the first cooperative one, the reporters swarmed him like bees to a hive, responding to him in masses.

"Turn off your cameras and leave us all alone," Shinsou ordered, his voice clearly strained. Izuku recalled how the brainwasher got a headache controlling all the astronauts at the space station and instinctively held onto him in case he passed out.

To their relief, the brainwashed reporters left, and those that didn't respond were so confused they simply followed.

"I'm sorry you had to endure that."

The class jumped and spun around. "Karasuma-sensei!"

Kurahashi surged forward. "Please, Karasuma-sensei, tell us what's going on! Everyone is talking about us like they pity us, and no one will tell us what happened to Korosensei."

The man sighed. "I'll explain more later, but first I need you to come with me. I've been ordered to take you all into protective custody."

-.-.-.-

They were taken to a tent at the heart of the military base set up. They passed multiple Pro-Heroes on their way there, from Gang Orca to Fat Gum, but Izuku couldn't even bring himself to get excited. His mind was plagued with thoughts of Korosensei, wondering if he was okay, if he needed help.

"I'm sorry this happened, but the government was impatient," Karasuma explained once they were all inside. "He survived the initial attack, but there's no way for him to get through the particle barrier. They called in the heroes as a precaution in case this goes south, though their presence is mainly a political move to help instill trust in heroes again. The current plan is to wait a week for the laser to recharge and take him out that way."

"So what, you're taking away our assassination? After everything we've done?" snapped Maehara.

"Your efforts will not go unnoticed, rest assured, but it's time to leave this to the pros."

"Unnoticed? Unnoticed?" spat Shinsou. "The entire world is staring at us like circus freaks, and it'll all be for nothing!"

"This isn't fair, you should've warned us!" cried Hara.

Kanzaki nodded. "The media is making us out to be poor manipulated children, hurt by the government and Korosensei."

"This isn't right, you know Korosensei doesn't want to be killed by anyone but us!" Izuku added.

Nagisa balled his fists. "Sir, you've gotta let us in there!"

"It's too late. The mountain has been fortified, the Pros called in. Your work here is done," Karasuma answered robotically. A wave of anger and hatred rippled through the air as Nagisa growled.

"No, it's not! There's still so much we can do for him, ways for us to save him, and you know that! So if you aren't going to help us, then get out of our—"

The anger changed to shock as Karasuma lashed out and pinned Nagisa to the floor.

"You know I can't do that, not with national security on the line! What's done is done. So listen, all of you," he glared at each of them, but it lingered on Izuku and Shinsou. "Do not give me a hard time."

The agent released Nagisa and marched off, pausing in front of a soldier. "Call in the rescue heroes and have them escort the students out to a secure area."

The man left, and Izuku turned to Shinsou. "Did you hear…?"

"About giving him a hard time? Clear as day," the brainwasher replied, looking contemplative.

"Uh, wanna clue the rest of us in on your cryptic speak?" Mimura asked.

"Earlier, Karasuma-sensei said that if he ever fell on hard times, we'd be the first he'd call. I think it's his way of telling us that he wants us, expects us to handle things," Izuku explained.

Nagisa nodded thoughtfully. "We need to devise a plan. We still haven't reached our goal. It's what Korosensei would want us to do."

"Well, according to Karasuma-sensei, we've got a week," stated Shinsou. "So, Data Duo. You two up for one last ride?"

-.-.-.-

It spoke words that Izuku was escorted back home by Pro-Hero Ragdoll and didn't even blink. The exuberant hero kept trying to make conversation with the group of students she was charged with, but no one really even acknowledged her. Under normal circumstances, Izuku would've felt bad, but, well…

When he arrived home, his mother was in hysterics. "There you are! Do you know how worried I've been? I get home from work to not only find you gone, but to see all the news channels talking about your school and your class!"

"I'm fine, Mom," Izuku tried, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Is what they're saying true? Did they really train you to be their soldiers? How could you keep something like this a secret? My poor baby, forced to be pawns to make up for the government's inadequacies. To think you spent a whole year with that monster—"

"He's not a monster!" Izuku snapped but instantly regretted it. His mother jerked back, eyes wide like she was afraid of him. Afraid of what he might do.

Did she really think I'd attack her?

The thought broke what was left of Izuku's spirit and he tried not to cry, forcibly turning his back to her. "I'm going to my room."

She didn't say another word, so when Izuku opened his bedroom door, he was greeted by silence and All-Might's smiling face, looking down at him, telling him everything would be alright. That things would work out. That there was still hope.

Izuku tore down the poster and went to bed, sleeping fitfully the whole night.

-.-.-.-

It was a restless week for all of E-class. They weren't allowed anywhere near the mountain, so while they secretly plotted their big move, all they could do was sit around. They couldn't go to school, couldn't really leave the house without being mobbed. They texted in the class group chat to stay posted, but that was about it.

On the second day, Izuku snuck out of the house (disguised with a baseball cap and sunglasses) to meet up with Shinsou at the park and was appalled to find his best friend standing there with a stuffed backpack and a small suitcase.

"What is that?" he demanded.

The brainwasher shrugged. "My foster parents really like to read biased news reports. They thought I was going to suddenly kill them in their sleep — like I haven't had these skills for a year — so they kicked me out."

"Do you need somewhere to go? You can come stay at my place, my mom is so busy avoiding me I doubt she'd notice and—"

"Nah, I'm good, I have a place to go. In theory, at least, this whole debacle has kind of turned everything to shit, I might need you to help me out with that later. But that's beside the point," the brainwasher collapsed on a park bench. "Have you read the news lately?"

Izuku shook his head. "My mom has had the TV turned on 24/7, but I try to ignore it. What they're saying, especially about Korosensei, it's just so wrong and…"

Shinsou snorted. "Well, it's gotten a lot worse. Look." He passed his phone over, the list of articles and headlines pulled up. "At least it's safe to say they don't pity us anymore."

That was the understatement of the year. Izuku tried to stomach his breakfast as he scrolled down the list.

Government Confirms Tentacle's Students Trained to Fight, Kill

Politicians Demand JSDF Release the Identities of the 3-E Students, Claiming it a Matter of Public Safety

Students Turned Assassins, Country in Outrage

Citizens Fear Safety, Threat of Teenage Assassins Looms Over the Nation

Monsters In the Making: Peers, Witnesses Come Forward, Revealing Just How Sinister the Student Assassins Are

The last one was particularly intriguing. Izuku clicked on the link and it pulled up a playback of a news segment.

"The world is still reeling after the shocking revelation that the government allowed Number One Villain the Tentacle to teach a group of middle schoolers in hopes they could train those very students to kill their teacher," a female news anchor said. "It's been revealed that the students are members of Kunugigaoka Junior High's Class 3-E, and though no official roster has been released yet, reports of the class and the students within have been popping up like wildfire. Our reporters have been working day and night to find and gather was many legitimate reports as possible. Let's see what they have to say."

The screen changed, pulling up a guy Izuku recognized from 3-D. "Look, 3-E has always been filled with weirdos — there's a reason they're up on that mountain. But ever since the start of the year, they've changed. Started performing the best in sports events, even stole most of the Top 50 spots on our last finals. That kinda thing doesn't happen naturally, so hearing they're being taught by a supervillain is no surprise to me."

"Were there any instances where you felt unsafe around these students?" the reporter asked.

"Hell, there's so many. This one guy with blue hair attacked one of my buddies in the courtyard, left him scared shitless for days. To this day, he thinks the little blue freak is gonna jump out and kill him or something. And don't even get me started on the purple guy — you know, the one who brainwashed all those reporters? — he's a real freak. The class went on this big vacation and he came back in a sling. Everyone was spreading rumors that it was because of a gunshot wound, but I didn't believe it at the time. Now…"

The clip continued showing various people — some people Izuku recognized, some people he didn't. He skipped through most of it, part of him paranoid he'd find Bakugou in it (even though he knew logically that Bakugou wouldn't spend two seconds with reporters). He stopped skipping when he saw who the last 'witness' was.

"Is...Is that the wind quirk guy from the entrance exam?" Izuku breathed, and Shinsou jolted, growling.

"You've got to be shitting me…"

"Young man, are you saying that two of these students took the U.A. Recommendations Entrance Exam?" the reporter asked, and the guy (Yoarashi Inasa, according to the screen) nodded.

"No doubt about it. They were from Kunugigaoka, and they showed up in these military-style uniforms with an 'E' imprinted on the collar. They breezed through the exam like it was nothing, even coming in first together on the practical without once using a quirk. I thought they were just cool, but now that I really know how they learned those skills…" Yoarashi shuddered. "Let's just say, there's a reason I've decided not to go to U.A. If guys like that are there, I don't want to be anywhere near it."

Izuku couldn't take it anymore. He turned off the phone before he lashed out and threw it on the ground. His palms were shaking when Shinsou grabbed his hand.

"This is worse than Nedzu," Izuku whimpered. "They...they think we're monsters. Killers. Like he said, even if we do get into U.A., no one's gonna want to go anywhere near us because they think we'll kill them."

"Well, they're stupid if they think that. We don't need to be anywhere near them to kill them."

Izuku didn't even hesitate to slam his elbow into the brainwasher's side hard. "That is not the point."

"Ouch — alright, alright, spare me, Oh Pointy One," he said, still snickering, and Izuku jerked to hit him again. "No, please, I'll stop, I'll stop. Besides, you're worrying for no reason. Give it a month and this whole thing will blow over and the world will forget about it."

"How can they forget about it? Even if the JSDF doesn't release our names, our faces have already been plastered all across the world! Yours especially after the reporters attacked us! Half these articles bring up you directly in their list of reasons why we're a danger to society."

The brainwasher turned grim. "Yeah, I'm a real easy target to be made into a bad guy."

"That's not what I…" Izuku sighed, his eyes falling to the ground. "How are we supposed to become heroes when the entire world sees us as assassins?"

Shinsou snorted. "Easy. We save all their asses when we stop Korosensei from exploding and prove them all wrong."

-.-.-.-

When Shinsou said he had another place to stay, the last place Izuku expected him to mean was Principal Asano's house. Yet here they were, banging on the door of the Machevailan man's home.

"Why am I here again?" Izuku squeaked, wanting to be anywhere but. Shinsou shrugged sheepishly.

"Emotional support?" he tried. "Also backup in case this whole thing goes to shit."

"How do you even know where Principal Asano lives in the first place—"

He was cut off by the door swinging open, revealing the younger Asano on the other side. The boy blinked very slowly, like he wasn't quite processing what he was seeing, before he lunged forward and grabbed Shinsou by the ears.

"AH — get off me, Asano, don't touch me!'

Izuku realized this must've been what Shinsou meant by it 'going to shit' and quickly moved in to pull Asano off his best friend, only to get his face grabbed by the principal's son.

"Hey!" he cried, instinctively kicking Asano away. The boy stumbled, positively fuming.

"You idiots," Asano hissed, and Izuku wasn't exactly sure what he was referring to. Who knows what kind of info Asano just pulled out of their heads.

"Are you kidding me, Asano? I've been real nice to never brainwash you, but looks like that's about to change you piece of—"

"Well, I'm not the one hiding a secret the size of the Number One Villain," Asano snapped before sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just, get inside before the reporters come running."

Izuku absolutely didn't want to step one foot in that house, but he didn't have much of a choice as Shinsou dragged him inside. Asano promptly closed and locked the door behind them.

"Now, the reason I 'attacked' you is because you have a lot of explaining to do that simply wasn't going to be done in a timely fashion. So, this was just my way of skipping over your inevitable interrogation sessions. You're welcome," Asano said, though Izuku was far from grateful, trying to shake off the violated feeling in his mind. Asano's eyes trailed to Shinsou's bags and his face went unreadable. "I see you're actually taking my father up on his offer. That's a turn of events."

Shinsou shrugged. "Well, I'm kinda homeless now, and all things considered, there are way worse places to stay right now."

"True," Asano admitted, crossing his arms. "My father isn't home, and probably won't be for a while. He's been battling the media sharks since this whole thing came to light, trying to defend why he allowed a villain to teach at his campus. Needless to say, things aren't going too well for him; not that he cares. I think he finds the whole situation amusing."

Asano waved his hands, and a maid stepped forward, taking Shinsou's bags. "Hamasaki-san will show you to the spare bedroom. Try not to break anything."

The principal's son walked off as if he held the weight of the world on his shoulders (which was awfully ironic given who he was talking to). Shinsou rolled his eyes. "Yeah, no promises, Assano."

-.-.-.-

Throughout the week, they took the time to develop their plan. Mimura and Kimura went out for recon, scouting the mountain while Kurahashi and Yada (the least 'threatening' ones of them all) went out to scope the town. Izuku was put in charge of finding out every Pro-Hero put on assignment on the mountain. Thanks to the recon team's intel, they determined the heroes were defending the mountain while the military defended the ground base, so it was a matter of knowing who they were up against to gain the upper hand. With the help of a drone Itona created, Ritsu was able to map out every possible entry point and determine the best ones, securing their infiltration routes. Okuda and Takebayashi worked together to create a safe but powerful tranquilizer than could possibly take down even All-Might — not that they needed to. Oddly enough, according to Izuku's sources, the Number One Hero was nowhere to be seen.

"According to a statement put out by All-Might's agency, the current Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace will not be apart of the large hero effort to contain and eliminate the dangerous Tentacle due to the week length of the mission, saying All-Might couldn't be gone that long for personal reasons," a news anchor explained. "Superfans have taken to social media to express their disappointment that they won't get a final battle between the Number One Hero and the Number One Villain."

Finally, after waiting out the week, they were thoroughly ready to strike. Izuku suited up in his E-class mission uniform, snuck out of his apartment, and began jumping from roof to roof, cloaked in the darkness of the night. He met up with his classmates partway through the run, and they took off together. They had approximately three hours until their deadline. At that time, either Korosensei would be dead (killed by them or by the government) or the whole world possibly would be.

-.-.-.-

Getting passed the military line was the easy part, and the moment they stepped foot on that mountain — their home territory — no one else stood a chance. They moved like a flock of birds ready to take down their prey. They knew exactly which heroes would be patrolling the mountain, and Karma (who Isogai had given power to) was already calling the shots to take them out.

The first hero out of the gate was Edgeshot, who was known to be able to manipulate his limbs faster than the speed of sound, also known as Mach 1 — twenty times slower than Korosensei. Okano snuck up on him and contorted her body into a flip while slicing her tranquilizer-laced knife before the supersonic hero could even react. One down.

"What was that?" someone called — it was Pixie-Bob. "Report, I believe someone has infiltrated the mountain! Report!"

The Pro-Hero created a giant creature out of the Earth, knocking a portion of the class back, but before her ground monsters could do any real damage, Pixie-Bob was sniped down by Chiba with a tranquilizer dart to the neck. Her monster went down with her.

"Nicely done. Let's break up into groups to take out your assigned hero and then rendezvous at the building in ten minutes," Karma ordered, and the class nodded.

Izuku took off with Shinsou. Their job was to scope ahead in case there were any surprise heroes they didn't plan for. They passed Ms. Joke being taken down by Itona on their way; the Pro-Hero likely tried to use Outburst on him, not knowing it was practically impossible to get a semblance of a reaction out of the boy.

Hayami and Chiba went head-to-head in a shootout with Gunhead and Snipe before the Pro-Heroes were eventually overwhelmed by Okajima sneaking up behind to Snapshot freeze the gunfire and take them down with a quick slash of his knife. Kataoka took out Selkie, who was guarding the river, using her increased speed and powerful tale to get the jump on the Sea Rescue Hero.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I promise I'm a big fan," the female class representative apologized. "Maybe after this is over I can get your autograph?"

Kimura raced through the forest with Ingenium hot on his tail. While the Turbo Hero was undoubtedly faster, Kimura's Sticky Feet was much better suited for the terrain, plus the boy knew the forest like the back of his hand. He led the Pro-Hero right into a trap set up by Hara, the same one the Goat-Bite girl set to catch Kimura during the E-class civil war.

"Gets them every time," Hara commented.

"Wait!" Ingenium cried. "You're just a bunch of kids?"

Kimura laughed. "I think the popular terms right now are 'Teenage Assassins' and 'Dangers to Society' but kids works too." Hara smiled and gently placed the tranquilizer in an exposed part of Ingenium's armor.

"Izuku," Shinsou hissed, pulling them into the treeline. "Best Jeanist, up ahead."

The quirkless boy cursed and touched the comm in his ear. "Guys, we've got a problem. Best Jeanist is here. If he spots any of us, he can attack us using the very clothes on our body. What are we going to do?"

"We can have Terasaka and Muramatsu attack him in the nude. They're basically animals anyway," Nakamura suggested, eliciting growls from both boys in question.

"Yeah, no one wants to see that," Hazama stated. "Leave this to me, kiddos."

That was surprising. Hazama was one of the worst fighters in E-class and was even lazier than Karma when it came to mission assignments. Izuku was entirely terrified to see what the shadow girl had in mind. Was she planning on sneaking up on him through the shadows and taking him out in a blitz attack or—

"OH MY GOD, my eyes!" Izuku squeaked, and Shinsou had to cover his own mouth to keep from screaming in horror.

Hazama came out of the treeline completely naked. Granted, the Shadow quirk girl was literally a walking shadow with zero definable features, but this was just so, so wrong. The girl at least normally wore thin, all black clothing as a courtesy to their sanity.

"I'd rather see Bitch-sensei naked again than see that," Shinsou cried and Izuku had half a mind to whisper back, "Again?"

Best Jeanist seemed just as shocked as they were to see the nude shadow girl approaching, the Pro-Hero instinctively averting his eyes. "What the—"

That's when Hazama went full demon mode, flailing her limbs and hissing as she charged the Fiber Hero. The man jerked back and started to use the fibers in his own costume to protect himself but wasn't fast enough. The shadow girl took the opportunity to shoot a tranquilizer at Best Jeanist's exposed hand, and within seconds the Number Four Hero was down.

"I can't believe that actually work," Izuku said, mildly surprised, but then flushed again when he saw Hazama celebrating triumphantly. "Hazama, please put your clothes back on."

-.-.-.-

While their class was busy taking down the majority of Japan's hero community, Izuku and Shinsou ran ahead to finally meet their assigned target. Just as they expected, the man was standing guard at the top of the trail leading to the E-class building, stoically posed in front of the particle barrier like he was waiting for them. The white scarf around his neck rustled in the wind.

Eraserhead. A secretive underground hero Izuku had barely even heard of, but Shinsou apparently knew and idolized. An elite combatant with the ability to erase people's quirks, he was a challenging foe; at least for anyone but the E-class assassins, who were thoroughly trained to fight with and without quirks.

Moving with silent gestures, they attacked as planned. Shinsou lashed out with his capture rings on one side to get the man's attention while Izuku fired a tranquilizer from the other.

They should've known it wouldn't be so easy.

Eraserhead blocked Shinsou's rings with a swipe of his forearm while using his capture scarf to knock away the tranquilizer.

"You know, you could at least try to fight me as equals instead of attacking from the shadows like cowards," the hero drawled. Exchanging a quick glance, the two students stepped from the treeline. The Pro-Hero pursed his lips.

"I know you," Eraserhead noted, looking at Izuku. "I remember you from that dumb test I had to grade. You actually listened to me and outsmarted the system. Guess I now understand how."

Izuku didn't respond and simply raised his fists, and Shinsou did the same. The Pro-Hero sighed. "Looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way, huh? Children always have to be so difficul-"

Shinsou sent a flying kick for Eraserhead's face, which the man blocked and grabbed onto the brainwasher's leg, flipping him to the ground. Izuku jumped, attempting to mount the distracted hero around the neck, only to be elbow-jabbed away. It was enough to free Shinsou, though, who somersaulted away and slammed his fists into his idol's back.

Eraserhead hissed and lashed out with his capture scarf. Izuku, who was more than acquainted with attacks like this by now, easily blocked and kicked the white fabric back while Shinsou tuck-and-rolled away, whipping out his own capture rings, this time aiming for Eraserhead's feet. He succeeded in wrapping it around one ankle and pulled, forcing the hero's legs out from under him. The Eraser Hero landed on his back and Izuku tried to pin him, but instead received a hard kick to the stomach before Eraserhead flipped to his feet and kicked the capture rings away.

"You kids are good, I'll give you that," the hero said. "Pretty damn good...unfortunately, I don't have time to play spar anymore."

His hair floated upward, which according to Shinsou meant he'd activated his quirk, and lashed out lightning quick, punching Izuku in the face before spin-kicking Shinsou in the side. Both students went down in a heap, and Izuku only last-minute rolled away from the capture scarf. Shinsou wasn't so lucky.

"Look, you're fighting a pointless battle and only making things harder for yourself," Eraserhead said, holding Shinsou captive. "At the end of the day, we're all gunning for the same goal: kill the Tentacle. It doesn't matter who does it, so you kids coming up here only proves how childish you're being."

Izuku gritted his teeth and threw a punch, which Eraserhead dodged. "We're not being childish!" he cried, punching again and this time landing it with a satisfying crunch. "We're keeping a promise! He's our target, and we're the ones who are supposed to kill him! It's what he wants, it's how it's supposed to be!"

The yellow goggles stared him down harshly. "This fight is above you now. You kids should've never been involved in the first place, and now—"

CRACK!

The instant-kill stun clap echoed through the air, and the Pro-Hero, unsuspecting of the attack, reared back unguarded. Izuku grabbed his arm and judo flip the man over his back and onto the ground. Eraserhead coughed and groaned, slowly pulling himself to his knees.

"How — I erased your quirk. What was that?" the hero spat, and Izuku realized why he did so well on the first quirk exam; the man really had no idea.

"I don't need a quirk to take down a strong opponent," he declared. "I am Midoriya Izuku, quirkless, and I am going to be the one who kills Korosensei."

Before the hero could respond, Izuku finished the hero off with an axe-kick that would make Karma proud, knocking Eraserhead unconscious. Shinsou, now freed from the capture weapon, made quick work of tying the scarf around the user, sufficiently binding him before injecting him with a tranquilizer to be safe.

"You just axe kicked my idol," Shinsou stated, sounding numb. "Oh my god, I tried to kick my idol in the face. I punched him in the back! I just cosplayed as him last week, what have I done?!"

Izuku couldn't help but giggle at his friend's mental distress as the rest of their class descended on them. "Nice job, tying him up with his own weapon!" Mimura cheered. "Looks like you guys had a hell of a fight."

The quirkless boy laughed, wiping some blood away from his nose. "Eraserhead sure is a tough opponent. I take it all of your targets have been subdued?"

"Oh, dude, you should've seen it!" exclaimed Sugaya. "Present Mic tried to use his voice quirk on us, but Terasaka stepped up all manly like 'No one hurts my pride' and used his lion roar to cancel out Present Mic's voice! It was insanity!"

The lion boy in questioned blushed ferociously and tried to hide it in his mane. "I was just doing my job! Don't go making it sound all sappy or some shit."

"At least it wasn't as bad as Karma," Nagisa stated, sweatdropping just at the thought. "He tracked down Endeavor, tied the hero up and stuffed wasabi up the man's nose. Since his temperature quirk prevents him from feeling the effects of heat or getting burned, Endeavor was basically powerless. It was total overkill."

Izuku and Shinsou, being the only ones who knew of Karma's true heritage, understood the reasoning for excessive brutality, and couldn't help but shiver and shrink away from the devil-boy. Karma shrugged innocently.

"What? You'd think the Flame Hero could better withstand the heat, but he was crying like a baby."

-.-.-.-

With all the hero threats neutralized, they were able to walk right through the particle barrier without issue. It was designed to only hurt people like Korosensei, so for them, it was like it wasn't even there. The octopus stood there, clearly waiting for them, and the class broke out into a sprint to meet him. Relief flooded through Izuku. After a week of uncertainty, being able to see their teacher and know he was okay felt like a weight taken off their shoulders.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much time for a happy reunion.

"The laser is almost charged up," Kataoka noted, looking up at the sky. The octopus nodded.

"With that thing at full power, not even my Absolute Defense Form will stand a chance."

"Well, we have to do something, right? You can take us as hostages, help you escape," Kurahashi offered, but their teacher shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. Too many people are aware of this situation. Even if I don't explode, there's no way they'll let me leave this place alive. They know not even Tartarus can hold me, and I'm too dangerous in their eyes to be allowed to roam free. So long as I'm alive, I'm a threat to the very foundation their heroes stand on. If they want people to start believing in their Symbol of Peace again, the Symbol of Terror needs to disappear."

"You're saying there's nothing we could've done?" Fuwa asked. "We could've stopped the government's plan, argued your case to the public—"

"You all know by now you'd only get resistance. The world has already labeled you as dangerous because of the government's oversight and failure to protect you from the media's attacks. Doing anymore would only lead to people demanding you be locked up or worse. This was simply out of all of our hands."

"You can't mean everything we've done to save you was for nothing!" Yada asked, and Korosensei grinned, placing a tentacle on her head.

"Nothing you've done this year was for nothing, especially that. You not only went to outer space and gathered vital information, but it gave our class hope in our last month together. The hard work you've accumulated is what made it possible for you to bypass the greatest heroes in the world just to see me one last time. As your teacher, that makes me incredibly proud."

"We can't just give up!" Terasaka growled. "We know the risk of you blowing up is less than 1%, and society is already terrified of us! What does it matter if we go against them once more, huh?!"

Korosensei smiled. "Allow me to give you a word of advice, given the recent media publications. Society functions as a current, trying to force everyone in a certain direction. Going directly against it will only make your life much harder. If society is determined to cast you aside like driftwood, you find another way. You prove to them that you are not any more dangerous or powerful than the ones who defend them in the streets. The skills I taught you over this year weren't simply so you could kill me, but so you could protect and save everyone around you, including the whole world."

Shinsou scoffed, but his smile said otherwise. "Really? A lesson, now of all times?"

Korosensei giggled. "I can never pass up an opportunity to teach you kids. But really, your efforts tonight have truly touched my heart. I have to admit, I've been holding back tears." He reached out, placing a tentacle on each of their heads, patting them softly.

"Well, that was a mood dampener," Nakamura said, reaching into a bag on her belt and pulling out a bright pink cake. "Mind if bring it back up? It's been exactly one year since the moon exploded, which means this is the day Yukimura-sensei declared your birthday."

Izuku grinned brightly, the pain in his heart momentarily forgotten as Korosensei fawned and drooled over the cake. They sang their teacher the Happy Birthday song, and a sad part of Izuku wondered if this was going to be the first and last time someone ever sang that song for Korosensei. Their teacher inhaled, about to blow out the candle and—

BAM!

A large, dark tentacle lashed out, smashing the cake to bits.

"Oh no, are we crashing the party?" Shiro mocked, stepping from the treeline, once again accompanied by the dark, wiggly figure. "We're terribly sorry."

The dark figure pulled down the zipper on his face, revealing to beady yellow eyes and hissed, "Hello, children."

That voice. Izuku knew that voice, but where?

His question was answered when Shinsou stumbled back into him, shaking like a leaf. "Reaper."

"Ooh, very good. Yes, you two are especially acquainted, I believe," Shiro drawled as the Reaper stepped forward, his wiggly form erupting into a massive tentacle beast, the size of a two-story building. The only thing reminiscent of the human was the red hollow face that plagued Shinsou's nightmares.

"Yes, this is the new and improved version of your Korosensei," Shiro said, admiring the horrifying beast. "You see, my contractor decided he wanted something bigger, stronger, faster for the beast he paid me so much money to learn to create. So I came up with the perfect solution. Replace that irritating super intelligence your teacher so proudly flaunts with immeasurable power, and you have the perfect soldier. I call it: Nomu."

The beast launched in the air, landing on the E-class building, and everyone shrunk back in fear.

"He underwent the same process as your Korosensei, and unlike Itona and Izuku, he begged for it, willingly accepting every change, not fighting in any way. Truly, I have perfected the secret to creating a superbeing of quirks," Shiro flaunted.

Izuku gritted his teeth. Just seeing the man-made his shoulder blades sting and his mind fog with imaginary whispers. The phantom feeling of the tentacles caressed his cheek and he winced.

The Reaper jumped down at Korosensei, and a sonic boom knocked the entire class to the ground. Shiro laughed. "The Reaper's tentacles can reach speeds of Mach-40, and he is more than suited for battles of strength, unlike your teacher. Also unlike Version One, they were designed for prolonged battle usage. Oh, and his expiration date does not come with an explosion. In short, he is superior in every way possible."

Korosensei and the Reaper became a flurry of unidentifiable blurs, with their teacher grunting and groaning as he attempted to dodge the onslaught of attacks. It was obvious Korosensei was at a vast disadvantage to a beast like this.

"With my research and my contractor's support by providing me quirks, these super beasts will be the key to maintaining order in the world. Gone will be the days of heroes like All-Might — he couldn't even stop your Korosensei, much less my Version Two."

"Why are you always trying to hurt and use people to get what you want?" Izuku snapped. "Stop enslaving others for your mad plan. Do your own dirty work for once!"

Shiro smirked. "Oh, Izuku. You're more foolish than I thought if you think I won't."

The man pulled out a familiar syringe gun and Izuku instinctively jolted back. However, instead of attacking him like last time, Shiro plunged the needle into his own neck and injected himself with anti-matter. The effect was instantaneous; strange vein-like marks spidered all over his body and his muscles grew grotesquely.

"Oh no," Okuda said. "He completely changed his chemical makeup. His entire body is just muscle fibers and nerves!"

"More like an empty temple where God-like powers can thrive!" Shiro said, moving at superspeed to where the Reaper and Korosensei were battling.

"What the!" Korosensei cried before being slammed into the ground. The class gasped as their teacher rose slowly, weakly, so unlike himself and looked at them. "Listen class. I have one last lesson for you: for an assassin, no matter how clever or how long they avoid it, the fight will always come where they must put every last ounce of strength to the test. For me, and for you, that would be now."

The Reaper roared, and the two super creatures launched at each other with supersonic speed, moving so fast they were invisible to the normal human eye. The sonic booms made it near impossible to stand, much less do anything to interfere. Shiro lashed out, rocketing sharp objects at their teacher as he mocked Korosensei.

"Chiba! Can you see anything?" Nagisa asked. The boy paused in shielding his face and brushed his hair to the side, allowing him to get the full use of his quirk without censoring it down. His eyes glowed a deep red.

"Korosensei's getting his ass handed to him!" the normally stoic boy responded. "The Reaper totally has him outmatched, not to mention Shiro's interference!"

There was a particularly loud boom as the Reaper picked Korosensei up and slammed him into the ground, near embedding their teacher in the Earth. Dirt and debris flew as the Reaper ruthlessly attacked their teacher. Izuku tried to pull up his gun but ultimately dropped it, feeling more useless than ever before. They were powerless in this situation. They were no match for a multi-quirked being like Korosensei, much less the monster the Reaper was made into. Nothing they've learned would help them. They couldn't save Korosensei. They failed him.

"Wait!" Chiba suddenly shouted. "He's...he's dodging them!"

Izuku looked back at the blurred fight and could almost make out the yellow form of his teacher. For once, it didn't look like he was being beaten to the ground, and hope flourished in his chest. Shiro growled and tried to attack Korosensei head-on, but the man was easily beaten aside, Korosensei not missing a beat.

"Korosensei is using evasive maneuvers to preserve energy while throwing dirt to block the Reaper's vision," Ritsu explained. "He's analyzing his opponent and adjusting his weaknesses mid-battle."

"That was Shiro's big mistake," Shinsou realized. "He said he replaced the super-intelligence quirk for more brute strength and speed, but he completely disregarded how advantageous intelligence is. At the end of the day, if you can outsmart your enemy, you can beat him. It's why, when we all believed Karma just had an intelligence quirk, we still revered him as the most dangerous in the class."

Izuku nodded. "The world of heroes has led to outward strength being put on a pedestal, making people forget that at the end of the day, intelligence is always the most deadly."

"Which is exactly why I pride myself as an educator!" Korosensei declared, materializing in front of them, causing a standoff against the Reaper and Shiro. "That's why I want you to leave, Yanagisawa. You have no right to turn a place of learning into a war zone."

Shiro scoffed. "For an 'intelligently superior' creature, you're quite blind to the obvious." Shiro snapped his fingers, and suddenly the Reaper was behind the students, looming over them threateningly. "Well, what do you say Korosensei? Are you going to protect yourself or your precious school children?"

The Reaper began glowing red, and Korosensei just barely interfered with the impending explosion, causing him to be severely injured. Izuku cried out in horror as Shiro laughed and ordered the beast to attack again. Every time, Korosensei took the blow, growing weaker and weaker in his attempt to keep them safe.

"Sorry to break it to you children, but your coming here only further guaranteed the percent likelihood of my success. I honestly should thank you," Shiro mocked.

Izuku gritted his teeth. All along they've known it; they've known Shiro had no qualms going through them to satisfy his bloodlust. The man said so himself. It's why he targeted Izuku in the first place, trying to turn him into a toy. He exploited the bond Korosensei had with him.

"Don't you see it, Guinea Pig? These brats are your greatest weakness!"

He was right. Shiro was absolutely right. They were Korosensei's greatest weakness. And Izuku was so tired of being weak.

"That is preposterous, Yanagisawa! It must be the lack of one eye, because that's the only way to explain how blind you are to the truth. These children sacrificed everything, fought the greatest of opponents to be here with me all with their determination and infallible spirit! They are the greatest gift I could've asked for. My students aren't my greatest weakness: they are my greatest strength!" Korosensei began to pry away the Reaper's hold on him. "Call it what you will, but when it comes down to it, I will give my life to protect them!"

And that's when it hit Izuku — that he would do the exact same for Korosensei.

He picked up and fired his gun at the Reaper without warning, drawing the attention to himself.

"Izuku, you idiot, don't!" Shinsou cried, trying to stop him, but Izuku jumped away, firing another shot.

"Midoriya...what are you doing?!" Korosensei asked.

"I'm saving you, sir!" he responded. "I can never call myself a hero if I just standby and do nothing!"

The Reaper's tentacle lashed out, and he barely dodged it. Shiro arched an eyebrow. "I see. Even with the tentacles excised, your kinetic vision remains. How very fascinating."

"Midoriya, stop this at once!" Korosensei cried, but Izuku shook his head.

"You're the first teacher to ever believe in me even though I was quirkless. You're the only person who truly knows how I feel. I owe this to you."

The Reaper appeared in front of him, and Shiro gave him the order to attack. Izuku pulled out his knife and jumped out of the way from the first tentacle with a flip. He managed a quick slice on the second one, making the Reaper roar and attack with another headed straight for Izuku's heart. Already mid-air, there was no way to dodge. He could only watch in horror as it got closer, closer—

Something wrapped around his wrist and pulled him to the ground, safe from the attack. Shinsou's capture rings. The brainwasher was absolutely fuming.

"Idiot, are you trying to get yourself killed?" he spat. The Reaper loomed in front of them both of them, seemingly laughing. He licked his teeth as he stared at Shinsou.

"Recognize me, huh? Good," the brainwasher hissed, pulling out his own gun. "I was worried Shiro fried your brain when he made you into this big ugly monster. I want you to remember my name when I finally kill you."

Shinsou lashed out with the capture ring with one hand while firing the gun a few moments later, holding a tentacle steady to hit it. It worked, blowing it right off the beast. The Reaper roared in response and lashed out with multiple tentacles, and Shinsou barely got out of the way, seemingly safe. But then in almost slow-motion — likely because of this kinetic vision Shiro mentioned — Izuku watched a tentacle sneak up from behind, his best friend's back oblivious to the threat.

Izuku didn't think, just moved. "No!" he cried, pushing Shinsou out of harm's way. He didn't even have a second to celebrate, though.

The tentacle pierced cleanly through his chest, and Midoriya Izuku gasped his last breath.

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