Chapter 2: To Prove Your Heart

"Are we all here? Good, we can start."

Three days before the start of the new school year, Nedzu called a mandatory staff meeting for all teachers and staff who would be interacting with the first years. They crowded in his office, all waiting to hear what the principal thought was so important.

"As many of you have been made aware, two students of the Tentacle turned END agents will be attending this campus. I've called you here because I have a feeling many of you have questions surrounding the students — especially you two," he gestured to Aizawa and Kayama, "given you will be their homeroom teachers."

There was a long pause of silence, but not because there was a lack of things to say, but simply too many questions to be put to words.

"I have a question," Aizawa spoke up. "Shinsou Hitoshi is in 1-C. Why?"

There was a tense shuffling amongst the teachers, and Nedzu flicked his tail. "There are a number of reasons why. Public outcry was the main one I would say, but ultimately the school board negated any decision I tried to make. To appease both sides, I argued that one be let in the hero course at first, and ultimately Midoriya scored higher on the exam."

"By one question."

Yamada nodded. "I proctored their tests. Both blew their competitors out of the water."

Nedzu's nose twitched. "Yes, but I'm afraid it was a losing argument. The board and public didn't want them to be accepted to the school at all, and this was the best I could do. Dear Shinsou still has the opportunity to move up if he can prove himself through his academic performance and at events such as the Sports Festival."

"Sir, does that mean you'll allow him to prepare for the festival?" Kayama asked. "I know I sound like a broken record, but I don't see any problem with letting General Education get at least a little preparation for the Sports Festival. It's only fair."

"And as I've said before, the answer is no. The General Education course is supposed to challenge students academically, not physically. While it's true that many students rejected from the hero course end up there, there are still a number of students that apply simply for the rigorous academics and prestige education. Forcing them to train to fight would be wrong and risks unnecessary injury. And Shinsou should have plenty of opportunities to train outside of school with END, after all."

"Nedzu, surely we're letting the public be too harsh on these boys," Toshinori, in his All-Might form, boomed. "I may have not been there for the mountain raid, but I did lead the response team. I saw those children that night. They are not dangerous or vicious; their hearts are pure—"

"And their knives are sharper," Nedzu snapped. "Or at least, that's what the public thinks. I understand the situation is sticky, but I'm afraid we simply are low on options. With such a strong push back from the public and the board, there's not much we can do without severe consequences, such as dropouts and funding withdrawals. Until END is no longer a media target, our hands are tied, and I'm afraid I don't know how long that will be."

"Can't we do anything to help these boys' public image?" Vlad King asked, and Nedzu sighed.

"I have hopes the Sports Festival will help, but I also fear it could make it worse. Consider it. Many of you encountered Shinsou, Midoriya or their classmates the night of the mountain raid, and you are well aware of how well-trained and capable they truly are. That on top of the fact that they spent a year having their minds molded by the Tentacle makes them dangerous, whether they mean it or not. Any wrong move, and the public can and will cry for blood.

"We are in a very precious time. To prevent any problems, it is our job to reverse any effects the Tentacle or the government had on their development, specifically with dear Midoriya — seeing as he's in the hero course, I mean, so he'll be the closest watched by the public. I hope you are willing to assist me with this."

The room was tense, awkward. The teachers were highly unsettled. Because Nedzu was correct, they had met the E-class children before, and they knew what they were capable of. And while they were strong, they weren't more terrifying than the hero course students. They were playful, gentle, determined children who were just forced to kill someone they didn't want to.

Kayama shuffled in her seat, lost in her head. All-Might's smile twitched downward. Aizawa stared at the mouse principal head-on.

"Something's not right," the Erasure Hero deduced. "You claim it's public fear, but you're equally terrified of these kids, especially Midoriya. Why?"

Nedzu flicked his tail and tilted his head. "You may all be dismissed. I'd like to speak with Aizawa alone."

-.-.-.-

While Hitoshi had a plan, the problem was setting it in motion. He needed an opportunity to get his classmates to talk to him and hear him out; a chance to get them to see that a year ago, and even now, they weren't all that different. But, seeing how even by the third day of school, no one said a word to him, there inlaid the problem.

So he approached the only person who would talk to him: Midnight.

He approached the teacher after class, making sure everyone else left the room. "Midnight-sensei? Can I speak with you?"

The R-Rated Hero looked stunned, but it was probably because this was the first time Hitoshi ever initiated the conversation. "Yes, of course. Have a seat." The brainwasher pulled up a chair and they sat across from each other. "What can I do for you, Shinsou?"

The brainwasher hesitated. He had to be very careful with his word choice or else this whole thing would blow up. "What I'm about to say is going to sound insane, but please, hear me out to the end. Okay?"

Midnight looked extremely curious. "Of course. Hit me."

Deep breaths. "I guess first, I need to ask you a question. Why are General Education students not allowed any class periods to train their quirks? Given their requirement to participate in the Sports Festival, you'd think they'd get some kind of chance to prepare."

Midnight blinked, but instead of shocked, she just looked...extremely sad. "You know, Shinsou, I think I've been saying the same thing for years."

It was Hitoshi's turn to blink as he waited for his new teacher to continue. "I've always thought the Sports Festival was a bit unfair. It's why I always volunteer to referee, so I can at least make sure everyone has a fair chance. The Support course kids at least get to use their inventions, and the Management kids mostly just work in sales, but it's different for General Education. I mean, like you kids were telling me; Gen Ed is for the kids who don't make the cut for the Hero course.

"I've asked Nedzu to allow these kids some ounce of training, at least to prepare for the Sports Festival, but he won't budge; he's adamant that Gen Ed remains an academic course." There was a long pause. "Why do you ask, Shinsou?"

The brainwasher bit his tongue. It seemed Midnight was on the same page as him, or at least reading the same book. She acknowledged all the same issues Hitoshi saw, if not more. This meant she had to understand where he was coming from, right?

(And maybe if she didn't and flipped out on him, he could just brainwasher her and call in Maehara to Thought Block this conversation. Sounds like a good plan.)

"Midnight-sensei…I want to help 1-C dominate the Sports Festival."

At his teacher's shocked squeak, he continued. "At Kunugigaoka, E-class was created to motivate the strong to become stronger by mocking the weak, but our class overcame that. We tore that system down because it doesn't have any place in a school. And I want to do the same for 1-C.

"I know it sounds crazy, but I swear I don't have ulterior motives or bad intentions. It's just...a very wise teacher taught me that your quirk isn't everything when it comes to your potential; that anyone can achieve greatness. I know people don't like to hear this, but before Korosensei — the Tentacle, I mean — came into our lives, E-class was just like 1-C, if not worse. But now they're all so amazing and strong, and I promise it's a good thing, not something to be scared of. I think I can help 1-C regain their confidence like Korosensei did for us."

Midnight openly gaped and the brainwasher backtracked, wiping his nose. Jeez, just talking about Korosensei made him a blubbering fool. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I'll just—"

"No, Shinsou, stay." His instincts screamed otherwise, but the brainwasher sat back in his seat. Midnight took off her eye mask and stared at him. "I, well. I could get in big trouble if someone else heard this, but I've honestly been thinking the same thing to an extent."

Shinsou jolted, not sure he heard the Pro-Hero right. She...agreed with him?

Midnight continued, "I wasn't patrolling the night your class raided the mountain, but I was apart of All-Might's response team. I saw you all, kneeling over...kneeling over where it happened. I don't think I've ever seen a scene more broken, a person more mourned. I-I couldn't stop thinking about it. Why would a villain's death result in such a reaction? And when I heard you were going to be in my class, I knew I had to find out more about what actually happened in 3-E, not what the media claimed. I started to hear about the confidence the Tentacle brought you; how your class at first wouldn't use their quirks until he challenged you to, and every time you did, he'd shower you with praise.

"And the more I looked, the more I realized that this villain wasn't who everyone thought. He wasn't evil, he wasn't cruel. He was a teacher, a damn good one, one I always wanted to be. I teach General Education because I want to inspire students to be their greatest no matter their program, but I still haven't figured out how. But your Korosensei, as you say, did. And you approaching me, asking to do the same for your classmates — the same kids who openly fear you — just affirms for me what a good heart you have; what a good heart all of END has. And if you can do the same for my students, I welcome it with open arms."

Hitoshi's lip quivered. He probably would've been crying right now if Midnight hadn't been fiddling with the strap that went between her breasts the entire time. "Uh, t-thank you…"

The thank you packed a lot more than what he said; thank you for listening, thank you for understanding, thank you for seeing me, seeing my old classmates, seeing Korosensei. Midnight seemed to pick up on the hidden message and beamed.

"So, Shinsou," she said, suggestively leaning forward. "What's your big plan, then?"

The brainwasher sighed and scooted back. "Well, U.A. guidelines clearly dictate what classes Gen Ed can take, and we're not going to get that changed, but...it doesn't say anything about training in an after school program."

Midnight smirked. "Ooh, like a fight club? I like how you think. I'm more than willing to sponsor and oversee any secret fight club. Not that we can talk about it or anything." She winked.

Hitoshi shifted uneasily. "Thank you. But, um, I don't mean to offend you, but...do you actually mean it? Everything you said? You're not just saying this while planning to report it or anything, right…?"

Midnight's smile turned serious. "I meant every word, Shinsou. You're my student, which means I want you to succeed. I say this with all the love of a teacher: after the Sports Festival, I hope your name won't be on my roster. Because that means you'll finally be where you belong."

-.-.-.-

He texted Midoriya to go ahead without him, so when he walked into the END base for intensive training that day, everyone was already there and geared up (except for Karma, Nagisa, Kimura, Hayami, and Nakamura, who claimed the top mission point ranks. Again.) His best friend eyed him as the brainwasher suited up.

"What took you so long?"

Hitoshi smirked smugly. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"What—"

"Good, you're all here," Karasuma interrupted. "Let's get started, shall we? Agent Connect, start them out easy. Level 12."

Easy?! The brainwasher wanted to cry. There are only 20 levels!

Intensive training, as Karasuma warned them, was literal hell. The entire END training floor became a battleground as robot dummies sprung up from the ground and created various attack scenarios, from full-on brawls to hostage situations. Today, it was a full villain team-up battle. Hitoshi instantly teamed up with Midoriya as they tackled the nearby robots together; Hitoshi took care of long-distance with his capture rings, and Midoriya took on anything that slipped through.

It was clear, however, that they were becoming overwhelmed, but such was to be expected when your 'warm-up' was level 12. The villain robots circled in on them, and Midoriya grabbed his shoulders.

"I'm gonna try something!" he shouted. "Just trust me and don't stop kicking."

Not even getting a chance to retort, Hitoshi instinctively did as he was told. Midoriya hooked his arms under the brainwasher's armpits and suddenly they were — spinning?

The world became a Mach-2 blur, Hitoshi kicked wildly at what he assumed were robots, grateful for how padded his legs were. As quick as it started, the world slowed down, the robots now gone, and Hitoshi was being tossed on the floor before Midoriya preened over and threw up blood.

"Aw, dude, it spattered on my shoes!" Sugaya cried. Midoriya smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Sug- I mean, Agent Ink."

"Alright, that's enough," Karasuma said, passing Midoriya a towel. "Agent Connect, next level."

Oh, come on.

-.-.-.-

Three levels later, Hitoshi and the rest of E-class collapsed on the control room floor.

"Oh Korosensei, I'm going to die so young at this rate," Mimura whimpered. Nakamura (who was playing UNO with the other exempt members) looked up from her hand and grinned wickedly.

"What, can't take a little hard work, Agent Screen?"

"Yeah, like you and your card game buddies would know anything about that, Agent English."

Of all of Karasuma's extremely weird codenames, Nakamura's made the least sense. Sure, she was the best at English in E-class, but it's because her quirk was omni-linguism. She could instantly know any language just by hearing it once, though she could only remember three at a time — which meant sometimes she didn't even know English.

"Hey, we're here because we worked the hardest during the week. You're just jealous. Oh, and UNO."

Midoriya groaned. He used up a lot of energy earlier on with the spin-kick move, meaning the rest of intensive was extremely brutal (but, to be fair, it's what he gets for being so stubborn about using his quirk). "Oh Korosensei. Between hero training and this, I don't know how I'm going to make it through first year."

Hitoshi nodded. "Hey, don't you have All-Might's class tomorrow?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm really excited to meet him, it'll be so — oh no! We're supposed to wear our hero costumes tomorrow! I-I never submitted one!"

Kurahashi suddenly shot up with a screech. "How could I have forgotten? Itona-chan, we gotta get them!" She grabbed the poor white-haired boy and dragged him out of the room, accidentally knocking over the UNO card game.

"Hey! I was about to finally beat Karma!" Nakamura screeched.

The devil boy laughed. "No, you weren't. Nagisa was about to play a reverse card, sending it back to me to lay down my final card."

All eyes turned accusingly to the blue-haired boy in question. "What? It's my only green card...wait, how did you even know that? Are you cheating?"

"Nope. I'm simply taking advantage of Yoshida's conveniently placed rearview mirror shoulder."

Nakamura and Nagisa went full rage mode. "That's cheating!"

Before the fight could escalate, Kurahashi and Itona came bounding back in, holding separate boxes. "Here you go!" the bubbly girl cheered, placing a purple box in Hitoshi's lap while Itona gave Midoriya a green one.

"Wait, hold on, let me grab my camera — Mimura, you're Recording, right?" Okajima called, pulling out his DSLR.

"Um, my quirk is passive. I'm always Recording…"

"Okay, on three you guys," Isogai spoke up. "One. Two. Three!"

Hitoshi popped the lid off, slightly concerned by how dramatic his classmates were making this, and froze when he saw the contents.

Kurahashi grinned. "Do you like them?"

Inside the box was a tight-fitted deep red suit with white accents and a black line down the center of its chest. Underneath that was a black combat utility belt, a pair of clear, high-tech glasses, black combat boots and gloves, and a slick, dark metal mask that would cover his mouth area.

"Is this…?" Midoriya began, equally at a loss for words. Out of his box, he pulled out a black hooded jumpsuit with blue striped accents on the sleeves and legs, and bright yellow line accents on the gloves and boots. He also had the same glasses and belt, only his belt was yellow. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the yellow crescent moon on his chest.

"Since you never got to determine a winner of your bet, we thought we could design your hero costumes for you," Kataoka supplied. "We took inspiration from Korosensei's teaching uniform that he wore every day. Looking back on it, it was almost like a hero costume in our eyes; we thought it was fitting the actual future heroes carry the legacy."

Hitoshi looked down at the costume, suddenly overcome with a wave of emotion and burden. Wearing this uniform, he would wear the weight of the burden Korosensei left behind. It was massive. It was intimidating. But he also couldn't help but feel like it's exactly what Korosensei would have wanted.

"Oh, check this out!" Sugino said, grabbing Hitoshi's mask. "Itona invented it. It's called Artificial Voice Cords. It allows you to mimic the frequency of another person's voice so you sound just like them, so you can trick people into talking to you! And look at what happens when you put it in interrogation mode."

Sugino hit a small button on the side of the mask and it lit up in an outline of Korosensei's infamous smile. "Pretty cool, right?"

"Y-Yeah," Hitoshi managed, feeling way too choked up over clothes. Midoriya was openly crying at this point. His classmates grinned.

"And look what feature I helped add in," Sugaya added, taking both costumes. "If you hit the moon on Midoriya's suit or the black line on Hitoshi's, it triggers a setting that changes the costume into 'assassin mode.' Itona was inspired after he saw the camouflage capabilities of my quirk during the Reaper incident."

Sugaya hit the buttons, and both outfits went fully black. "You can also change it to brown and white. We're working on adding more settings."

He changed the costumes back to the original color schemes and passed them back. Isogai explained, "We tried to insert as many aspects of all of our abilities in there, even in the smallest ways. The shoes have a suction-cup setting so you can stick to walls like Kimura — though you won't be able to run, they force you to move kinda slow in that setting. The glasses are the craziest part; they allow you to see hologram screens that aren't visible on the outside, and are programmed to translate languages as fast as Nakamura, calculate statistics like Takebayashi, or narrow down and point out details to help aim like Chiba. They're also constantly recording like Mimura. And that's just the start; Itona and Ritsu are still programming. And not to mention all of the special gadgets we created for your utility belts…"

Yada appeared next to Hitoshi. "We were going to go with a jumpsuit design for you too, but Bitch-sensei totally flipped on us, saying no Honeypot can work in some baggy jumpsuit. She tried to get you in some weird latex costume with this massive plunging neckline to show off your abs, but this was the compromise — clubbing and bad guy ready."

Hitoshi sweatdropped, immensely grateful they stopped the demon teacher from over-sexualizing his freaking hero costume. And that's when it hit him.

Oh my Korosensei, I have a hero costume.

Nagisa smiled sadly at him. "We know that you won't be able to use it right now, but, well, the Sports Festival is a little more than a month out, so we figured it was close enough. Why wait until after you win the bet when you can speak it into existence now?"

His chest swelling, Hitoshi grabbed his sniffling best friend and forced them to bow together. "Thank you. We promise to make you and Korosensei proud."

-.-.-.-

Later that evening, instead of getting on the train to head back to Musutafu, Hitoshi decided to make a stop by his father's hospital. He was well overdue for a visit.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Midoriya asked anxiously before they parted ways. The green-haired boy gnawed his lip and fidgeted, so Hitoshi laid a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"I'll be fine, Jolly Green. Go visit your mom for a bit; I'm sure she's worried about you. I'll see you back at the apartment."

Midoriya nodded half-heartedly and squeezed Hitoshi's arm before turning to walk to his mother's apartment. The brainwasher sighed and made to walk to the hospital, body moving on autopilot. Before he knew it, he was winding his way through the stale white hallways and standing in front of his father's room. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Oh, Shinsou-kun," the nurse greeted, in the middle of switching out his father's IV. "What perfect timing! His vitals are very responsive today."

Despite that, his father looked the exact same he did every visit — though, for once, the flowers weren't old and wilted. Hitoshi nodded his thanks and the nurse quickly left the room, closing the door behind her. The brainwasher slunk down in the bedside chair.

"Hey, Dad," he greeted and wasted no time to catch his father up. "I started high school at U.A this week. I'm in General Education right now, but hopefully I'll be in the Hero course soon. Izuku is there right now. It sounds very...chaotic. Though I doubt anyone can hold a finger to 3-E."

Hitoshi huffed in laughter, shaking his head. "I really miss 3-E, though. My new class is...distant. They're terrified of me, of END. The only person who talks to me is the teacher, the Pro-Hero Midnight. She's a lot like Bitch-sensei, unfortunately, but she really does care. She even agreed to give me a chance to train 1-C and everything."

Hitoshi explained his plans for reviving the assassination classroom, and all the similarities he saw between 1-C and 3-E. How he planned to prepare his classmates for the Sports Festivals and break as many records as they could.

"But, well...I don't know, Dad. Even if they agree to let me train them and everything...how can I ever measure up to Korosensei? I mean, not only was he an unkillable super beast with a bunch of quirks, but he just always...understood us, you know? For all of his weaknesses and faults, he always knew what to say, always knew exactly what we needed. How can I even dream to be like him?"

Hitoshi sighed and shoved his face in his hands.

"Sadly, I believe such a dream is unattainable for even the best of us."

The brainwasher jolted at the sound of another voice, almost falling out of his chair. His head swiveled to the door and blinked at the sight of Principal Asano holding a bouquet of flowers.

"But, nonetheless, it is a noble one," the principal continued as he took confident strides into the hospital room. The man replaced the old flowers with new ones, which explained why they weren't wilted.

"Gakushuu informed me of your plans with your new classmates," said Principal Asano, taking a seat opposite of Hitoshi. "I can't say I was surprised to hear. That man's legacy was too great for it not to be passed on like this."

Hitoshi smiled softly, thinking about how Nagisa planned to become a teacher specifically so he could carry on Korosensei's legacy. Now that he thought about it, maybe Nagisa would be a good person to approach about his plan. He would probably be a big help.

"So, since there's no way you can replace Korosensei, how do you plan to accommodate this?"

Hitoshi contemplated the principal's words. "Well, clearly the first step is reaching out to them and gaining their trust, or there will be no training in the first place. But even if I somehow accomplish that, maintaining that trust will be pretty difficult, especially since I won't have an entire school day to work with them — Midnight-sensei said they only way to get around the school rules was to hold an after-school club."

Principal Asano hummed. "Quite the predicament."

The brainwasher nodded. It really was, and he had no idea what to do about it.

"But, of course, you'll undoubtedly figure it out. After all, you're not one to cower from a challenge, Hitoshi. Your father was very much the same way."

A nostalgic glaze covered the principal's eyes as he gazed down at Hitoshi's father. The purple-haired boy smiled at the implication that he and his father were similar. And, well, if what Principal Asano said was true, then he had no choice but to conquer this challenge, just as his father would.

-.-.-.-

r/END of the world

7.2k likes - Posted by u/downsideupdown - 12 hours ago

END AGENT IN U.A. HERO COURSE?????

My cousin is in U.A.'s management course and just confirmed that there is an END agent in Class 1-A! I'm not even joking, she saw him with the purple guy (who is in 1-C, meaning the leak was right). Are they really going to be letting an assassin become a hero?

Update* She says it's the small green-haired one.

cinnabunhun - 8 hours ago - 1.3k likes

The short one? Really? Lmao

allrightallmight746 - 10 hours ago - 4.3k likes

Well I know who I'm watching for in the Sports Festival. Can you imagine what a fight between them would be like? Insanity.

omgidontknowanything - 6 hours ago - 4.2 likes

Wow it really is the END of the world

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

While Izuku knew he was hardly experiencing the isolation the rest of E-class was, his interactions with 1-A were...interesting, to say the least.

No one was actively seeking to be his best friend, or reaching out to ride the train home with him (a good thing, since he usually went to the END headquarters anyway) or trying to sit with him and Shinsou at lunch (though that might be because they hide out on the roof). He was finally starting to learn their names naturally, even if no one formally introduced themselves; only three people did, actually.

The first was the Spiky Hair guy. After the quirk assessment test, when they went back to the classroom, he bounded up to Izuku with a wide smile.

"Hey, I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Kirishima Eijirou," he said, holding out his hand. Izuku stared at the palm widely, surprised the boy was willing to get so close. Everyone still avoided him like he thought he was going to pull a knife on them (which, considering he just pulled one out of his phone earlier, was an understandable assessment).

"U-Um, nice to meet you too. I'm Midoriya Izuku," he said, taking the hand and shaking it. Kirishima laughed.

"I know that. Aizawa-sensei said it. Say, why does Bakugou call you Deku?"

He gestured to the explosive blond that was watching their exchange with disdain. After the quirk assessment test, Bakugou flipped out, and probably the only thing that kept him from attacking Izuku was the fact that the assassin still was holding his phone knife.

"Oh, it's a nickname he gave me as a kid...y'know, to insult me…"

"Really? I think it sounds really cool though! Deku, the assassin hero!"

"O-Oh, thanks?"

The other interaction came when they took their seats. Kirishima was the only one willing to sit in the seat beside Izuku, but that left the seat in front wide open. He figured he'd just end up being moved to the front so no one had to sit in front of him, but that meant someone had to sit behind him, and probably no one wanted to do that either, maybe Aizawa will speak up and help? No, he won't want to deal with such childish issues, all he'd do is call them out. Maybe —

Suddenly, his vision was filled with a mix of red and white, and he felt his mind, body and soul stop when he saw the Ice Guy from the entrance exam (and Karma's long lost twin) sitting in front of him, staring with heterochromatic eyes and not saying a word.

"Uh, h-hi?!" he squeaked, and god he sounded so pathetic but those eyes were so intense and why was he sitting here, no one wanted to sit here—

"You mumble a lot," Ice Guy gruffed and Izuku stopped breathing.

"Oh...sorry," his whispered, not trusting his voice. "Um. I-I'm Midoriya Izuku?"

Why did he make that sound like a question? That wasn't a question, it's a fact.

"...Todoroki Shouto."

"N-Nice to meet you, Todoroki…"

There was a long silence, and Izuku figured this conversation was done, but Todoroki (oh Korosensei, is that what Karma's family name would've been?) didn't turn around. He kept on staring. Up close, Izuku realized that the red splotch over his right eye wasn't a shadow from his hair, but a scar. Or maybe a birthmark? Except he didn't remember seeing it in the baby picture Karma showed him…

"My father hates END," Todoroki suddenly said, and Izuku froze. "He thinks you're all a menace to society and should be locked up."

Considering Endeavor's interactions with END consisted of Karma stuffing wasabi up his nose, Izuku wasn't surprised. But why was Todoroki telling him this? And if that was the case, why was Todoroki even talking to him? Wouldn't he share his father's views?

"O-Oh. Well. I gu-guess he's pretty wrong about that."

Todoroki blinked widely and no more words were exchanged.

The third and final proper interaction was with a pink-haired and skinned girl, and she didn't so much introduce herself as Izuku kinda did it for her. Since he first saw her, he swore he recognized her, but he just couldn't place it. It wasn't until after English during his second day that he finally remembered.

"Hey, you're Ashido Mina, right?" he asked, and the girl looked absolutely horrified. Right, that sounded kind of stalkerish. "W-We met a while back at a summer festival, remember…?"

Realization dawned in her black and yellow eyes. "Oh, yeah! You were with the guy in the sling. You were both really good at the games, and when I asked how, you said it was because your school teaches you...odd...tricks…"

Needless to say, the rest of that conversation went downhill fast.

The remainder of the class was, well, there? Bakugou looked constantly ready to kill him, the speed guy, Iida Tenya, still bowed 90 degrees every time they saw each other. Oh, and Uraraka didn't scream when they accidentally brushed shoulders the other day. There was another girl, Yaoyorozu Momo, who was constantly competing with him to answer questions, but he doesn't think she hates him for it? Maybe?

Aizawa thankfully didn't pull out any other tricks, and Izuku assumed the dwindling hostility was because everyone feared expulsion more, but he'd take it. Anything was better than getting stared at like a monster.

-.-.-.-

When All-Might burst into the classroom declaring they would be doing combat training in Hero Basic Training, Izuku was actually somewhat excited. Not only would they get to start applying their skills and learning new techniques, but today was the first day they got to wear their hero costume prototypes.

Izuku was more than in love with his hero costume — and why wouldn't he be? It was super cool looking, practically given to him by Korosensei and made special by his closest friends. Wearing it felt like he never left E-class, especially with all the special features that let him mimic some of the E-class quirks; it changed colors, for crying out loud! Oh, and don't even get him started on the wonders that were the utility belt gadgets, or his gloves, or his shoes, or just — anything. This suit was the most amazing hero suit to ever exist, and that was just a fact.

The problem was, well, he forgot that his new classmates might not see it that way. Especially when they saw the crescent moon center.

He really should've thought this through.

He ran out from the tunnel a little behind his classmates (he had to wait for everyone to finish in the locker room before he changed, not wanting them to see the scar on his chest), which meant they were all able to experience it at the same time.

The reactions were very polarizing, to say the least.

"I-Is that—?" Hagakure screeched. Her invisibility quirk paired with her hero costume of gloves and boots meant everyone could clearly see her pointing at his chest.

"Holy shit," Elbow Guy, Sero, muttered, eyes wide.

"Perhaps this is some fear tactic to remind villains of Midoriya's success in killing the unkillable villain. If that's the case, it's quite brilliant," Iida wondered allowed, and Izuku was about to correct him, saying how this wasn't a way of flaunting Korosensei's death but to give his legacy life. A low explosion cut him off.

Bakugou growled and bared his teeth. "What kind of fucking statement are you trying to make, Deku?"

Izuku flinched, surrendering his hands. "I-It's not like that, I swear, it's just my costume, my friends made it for me and it's actually pretty cool—"

"Well, I'd say!" Kirishima said, though his cheerful tone wavered. It was clear he was also bothered but was trying to hide it to lighten the mood. "The yellow and blue on black is really eye-catching, and I like the hood. Very clean."

Kirishima's eyes were looking everywhere but the center of his chest, but Izuku was honestly grateful for it. Man, if they were so caught up by his chest with his hero costume, imagine how they'd react if they saw what was underneath.

"Alright, young students!" All-Might exclaimed, distracting everyone's attention. Izuku's sharp eyes noticed the Pro-Hero was also staring at his chest. "What strapping heroes you are all becoming!"

Despite the obvious discomfort (of course All-Might would find it weird, Korosensei was his arch-nemesis in ranking), the Number One Hero went on to explain the training assignment. They were going to be doing an indoor training exercise, where they would break into teams of two and fight, with half the teams being 'heroes' and the other half being 'villains'. The villains had a fake nuclear weapon hidden somewhere in the hideout, and the heroes had to find and dispose of it within the allotted time.

Izuku was barely able to hold in a laugh, hiding it with a cough. Just last week, Nagisa and the Alpha unit completed a very real version of this training assignment, with Izuku and Gamma walking them through it. He wondered how his classmates' tactics would differ. He highly doubted anyone was going to hang the enemy off a building for interrogation like Karma and Terasaka. Well, at least he hoped.

"Hmm. This situation sounds awfully unrealistic," muttered Iida, and this time Izuku did giggle, eliciting an entire class of stares. He blushed profusely.

"I-I'm so sorry! It's just that...um...p-please continue, All-Might, sir," he squeaked, trying to use his hood to hide his face

The Pro-Hero coughed awkwardly. "Yes, of course! Now, time to pick teams!"

They picked teams by random drawing. Izuku prayed and prayed, please don't end up with Bakugou, please don't end up with Bakugou, please don't —

"Oh, Team A, huh? I think you're with Uraraka," commented Kirishima, and Izuku's brain went into panic overdrive.

Uraraka, I can't be with Uraraka, she's so scared of me the mission will never get completed, we'll just spend the whole time awkwardly avoiding each other, and then All-Might will see how bad we are and he might report it and get me expelled, I have to do something!

Acting in pure desperation, Izuku used his Mach-2 speed to switch the drawings for the people around him, going so fast he would've been mistaken for the wind. As soon as he was done, he turned around, pulled out a tissue from his utility belt and casually coughed up blood.

"Hey, wait, I guess I was reading it wrong! Wow, that's weird, I could've sworn..." Kirishima shook his head. "Anyway, you're on my team! Uraraka's with Bakugou."

I'm so sorry Uraraka, I had no choice…

"Huh?! I swear, my team assignment just changed right before my eyes!" Iida exclaimed, and Izuku winced, praying he wouldn't get caught. It only worsened when Sero spoke up too, saying he thought his paper also changed.

"Ha! You guys are funny! You probably just can't see with those crazy costume masks you're wearing," Kaminari teased, and Izuku's knees almost gave out as the class seemed to buy the logic. Thank Korosensei, he got away with that one or else he would've been in deep —

"Hey, look, we're up first as the hero team! And we get to fight against Bakugou and Uraraka!"

Shit.

-.-.-.-

While the rest of the class went to the monitor room, the two competing teams remained. The villain team got a five minute set up period, which meant the hero team had five minutes to devise a battle strategy.

Or, in Izuku's case, lose his goddamn mind.

"What am I going to do, Kacchan is going to kill me, he's been trying to kill me all week and now he gets to, Karasuma-sensei is going to be so mad at me and Hitoshi is going to kill me again if I get killed, um, again, and oh no what am I going to do?" he spewed frantically, much to Kirishima's increasing distress.

"Whoa, dude, you're freaking me out a little with all of your mumbling!" the spiky-hair boy appeased. "I don't know why you're getting so worked up. You do realize how badass you are, right? You could probably take down the entire class in a mission like this, I bet."

"N-No way," Izuku muttered. It was a common assumption, especially after the mountain raid when they took down multiple Pros, but that was only with luck and great circumstances and planning on their part. "Everyone here is so amazing, especially Kacchan…"

"That's what you call Bakugou, right?" Kirishima asked, and Izuku nodded. "You said you knew each other when you were kids. What happened?"

The green-haired boy tensed. "A lot happened. We grew apart as Kacchan grew stronger. I...could never keep up. When I transferred to Kunugigaoka, I thought that'd be the end of it, but now after everything that's happened, it's just become so much worse. While everyone else is scared of me, Kacchan is just angry. And it's never good when he's angry."

Growing determined, Izuku turned to look Kirishima in the eye before hitting a button on his glasses, activating them so the screens lit up on his side and became shaded on the outside. "Kirishima...if we want to win this, you have to draw Kacchan away from me as long as possible. I know he's going to come after me, and that's how we'll win. If we can keep him focused and frustrated on trying to find me, but you keep intercepting him, it'll mean the weapon will only be guarded by Uraraka. I'll go straight for it and try to avoid a conflict, but it's up to you to keep Kacchan away from me."

The spiky-haired boy blinked widely but nodded. "I'll do my best, but Bakugou is pretty intense. I'm not sure I can give you enough time to find the weapon and take out Uraraka. Hey, can't you just use your super-speed and finish this mission in seconds?"

"Maybe, but I don't want to risk it in case I get intercepted or held up. For now, I can't use my quirk without it hurting me. To be frank, if I use it too much and try to fight someone with it for a long period of time, I could choke on my blood and die."

"H-Huh?!"

"We don't need to worry about finding the weapon, though. I can do that right now," Izuku said, Chiba's Eye of Detail programing popping up on the glasses, pointing out every important detail, from which direction the wind was blowing, to which window was unlocked from the outside, to the instabilities in the structure. In seconds, it locked on the smallest imagery of the weapon peeking through the top story window.

"The weapon is on the top floor. I'm going to scale the building from the outside; hopefully, Kacchan won't expect it and it will bide us more time. You go inside and make some noise. And be safe. Who knows what Kacchan's rage will make him capable of, and I don't want you to get hurt for my sake."

"What?!" Kirishima squeaked, but was cut off by All-Might's voice echoing through the intercom, telling them to start the mission. Izuku hit the crescent moon center on his costume, changing the coloring to white so he could blend in with the side of the building. The action only made Kirishima squeak again.

"We'll keep in contact on the comms," Izuku said, adjusting it in his ear. "Stay safe, Kirishima."

The red-haired boy nodded determinedly and smiled. "You too, dude!"

-.-.-.-

Bigger Than the Moon: An Analysis of the Tentacle's Impact on Society

By Ikehara Hisoka

It was the explosion that shook the world and cracked the foundation of hero work forever. With just one act of extreme power, the Tentacle became the most feared and revered villain in the world — the Number One, the Symbol of Terror. A beast so powerful, not even the Number One Hero, All-Might, stood a chance. But even in wake of his death, done by the hands of the school children the world governments permitted him to teach, the effects of the Tentacle can still be felt throughout society.

To the children of the future, the moon we knew will be one of fiction and history. The unchallenged reign of All-Might will forever hold a blemish. But above all, there will never be another villain so great, so impactful as the Tentacle. And it's not because he permanently destroyed the moon. It's not because his legacy is still carried on the back of the students turned END agents that loved him and killed him.

It's because, despite being the greatest Symbol of Terror, his track record is astonishingly limited to one crime. Beyond the moon, the Tentacle never attacked again, never hurt or killed innocent citizens, never tried to maintain his reign as Number One. And yet, he is still feared, still seen as the greatest villain to ever exist.

And that is what makes him so terrifying.

[Preview end]

-.-.-.-

Izuku was already outside the top story window, prying it open with a knife when he felt the first explosion go off. His hand went to the comm in his ear.

"Kirishima! Are you alright?"

Another explosion, followed by the sound of Kirishima grunting. "All good here, Deku! Wow, thank goodness my Hardening protects me from Bakugou's explosions, amiright?"

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that. He suspected as such, which was the only reason he entrusted Kirishima with distracting Bakugou.

"Good. I've infiltrated the top floor. Stay safe."

"You too!" Kirishima responded, and in the background, Izuku could hear Bakugou shouting, "Where the hell are you, Deku?!"

Exhaling shakily, Izuku silently slid through the opening of a window. He almost felt bad, avoiding Bakugou like this, but he knew it was bad strategy heading straight into a fight like that. He knew Bakugou was gunning for him, and as an assassin and a student of Korosensei, he'd be a fool to ignore such vital information. Fighting him, with the emotions so high, would only cause trouble and unnecessary harm, and likely nothing would be solved. A training assignment was no place for personal confrontations.

Making zero sound, Izuku turned his costume all black and crept through the shadows of the room, his Eye of Detail feature pointing out anything that would risk him making sound. He peered around the corner and spotted Uraraka standing in front of a giant fake missile, looking frustrated.

"I can't believe he just ran off like that and left me to guard the missile alone. Doesn't he realize who we're fighting against? Why would he want to go after Midoriya, he's so scary! I mean, sure, he's not normally so scary and actually seems kinda nice in class, but in battle? He's terrifying, no one can stop him! He doesn't even need his quirk to actually kill you, much less knock you out; even if he'd probably apologize for it afterward…"

Izuku grimaced hearing the speech. Well, this is going to do nothing but fuel the fire. I'm so sorry, Uraraka.

Pulling out one of Okuda's smoke bombs, he came out of the shadows with a sheepish smile. "Um, will it be better if I apologize in advance too? Because I really am—"

Uraraka screamed at the top of her lungs, undoubtedly alerting Bakugou and probably the whole city of their location, and Izuku cursed, setting off the bomb. He could already imagine Karma breathing down his back, telling him: "This is why you can't be nice to your targets!"

The glasses still gave him enough visibility through the fog, so he quickly jumped at Uraraka, poised to take her out with a swift jab.

And then the entire room started floating upward.

Oh no, Uraraka's Zero Gravity. I only got to see her use it once with the baseball throw, where she scored infinity! I don't know how it's activated, though, I'll just have to take her out now.

Dodging out of the way of a table, Izuku reached out to hit a pressure point in her neck that would take her down without really hurting her, but was stopped as the girl spun around, desperately slapping the air rapid fire. Her palm just barely brushed his sleeve, and by the time he realized what was happening, he was floating through the air.

Uraraka curled up, holding her hands in front of her face desperately before realizing what she did. "Oh my, I can't believe it actually worked, I survived!"

Gritting his teeth, Izuku tried to swim through the air, but that only seemed to send him upward faster. The ceiling was fast approaching, and he could hear Kirishima speaking in the comm, saying he wasn't sure he could hold Bakugou much longer. He needed to think of something fast, he needed—

His eyes landed on his shoes.

Plan formed, he risked moving his arms at Mach-2, since typically it was moving his whole body that caused him to cough up blood. It worked, and he rocketed to the ceiling. He reached down to push the buttons on both shoes, kicked out his feet, and shoop. His feet suctioned to the ceiling. Experimentally, he tried to walk, noting that it was hard to do. The suction on the shoes had to re-adhere every time, unlike Kimura's quirk that did it naturally, but it worked nonetheless. He quickly marched so he was posed directly over a shell-shocked Uraraka.

"H-How are you doing—"

With an apologetic smile, Izuku whipped out a gun from his utility belt and shot it right at Uraraka.

"AHH!"

A grappling hook launched out of the end, embedding itself in the ground right next to Uraraka. The girl, thoroughly distracted with screaming and dodging, didn't even realize Izuku had attached the other end to his belt and was being pulled to the floor until he was kicking her unconscious.

"I'm so sorry, Uraraka!" he pleaded, checking to make sure she was okay. He looked down at his hero costume in wonder. "Whaaaaaa, this suit is totally OP—"

The door exploded off its hinges, and Izuku barely reacted fast enough to grab Uraraka and roll out of the way before it hit them both.

Bakugou Katsuki stood in the doorway, looking more furious than Izuku thought possible. Kirishima came scrabbling in from behind. "I'm so sorry, Deku, I tried to hold him off but he got the best of me and—"

"Shut up!" Bakugou growled, setting off another explosion. "This is between me and the lying bastard."

Izuku slowly stood, not backing down as he stared Bakugou in the eye. The explosive boy sneered. "You're a real fucking coward, trying to avoid me and all. Sending Shitty Hair to slow me down. Are you trying to insult me?!"

"Kacchan," Izuku said carefully. "Now is not the time for this. This is just a training exercise, it's no place for—"

"Now is the perfect time!" Another explosion, and Izuku had to dodge again. "You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do, starting with that."

He pointed at the crescent moon on Izuku's chest, and Korosensei's words from the night he died echoed in his ears.

"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."

Izuku clenched his fists and raised his gun.

-.-.-.-

Izuku stared down the barrel at his old childhood friend, who was positively fuming.

"What, you're not even to use your fancy new quirk to take me down?" he spat. "Real pathetic, Deku. I guess you really are just a fucking killer now."

The green-haired boy tensed and fired his weapon, making everyone in the room duck. The grappling hook shot out again, this time latching on Kirishima's costume, and Izuku hit the button to pull the boy inside, out of harm's way.

"What the?" Kirishima screeched, stumbling at Izuku's side. "Holy shit. Okay. That just happened. Are we going to take him down together or…?"

"Kirishima," he said. "Grab Uraraka and get out of here. Take her to the capture zone or something, just stay clear of this room."

Kirishima looked like he wanted to argue, but Izuku sent him a desperate glance, begging him to leave. Finally, he did, throwing the unconscious Uraraka over his shoulder and high-tailing it out of the room. And then it was just Bakugou and Izuku.

Izuku pursed his lips. He could easily grab the fake nuclear weapon and leave, completing the mission before Bakugou ever got the chance to fight him. It's probably what he should do. But he knew doing so would only make everything so much worse in the long run. Bakugou was on a warpath, and Izuku couldn't run anymore unless he wanted everyone else to get hurt.

"I don't want to fight you, Kacchan," he said, putting away the grappling gun. Bakugou sneered.

"Do you think I give two fucks about what you want?" Bakugou set off another explosion and Izuku flipped out of the way. His costume was fairly temperature resistant, so while he couldn't feel the heat, the fabric was slightly singed. "Just look at you. Wearing that monster's emblem on your chest like some sick disciple. You know it's awfully suspicious that a quirkless kid goes away, gets a villain for a teacher, and then comes back with speed just like the Tentacle, don't you think?"

Bakugou threw a punch, which Izuku easily blocked and grabbed onto the arm, swinging Bakugou upside down with a judo flip. The explosive boy grunted in shock as Izuku pinned his chest with his foot.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Kacchan! Whatever you think you know, you're dead wrong."

Bakugou shoved him off with an explosion. "Is that right? I'm not stupid like all of the other extras in this damn class, Deku. I know what you are. You're a fucking assassin, which means you're nothing but a weakass villain!"

Izuku gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the jabs. He needed to think of a way out of here, and fast. His eyes scanned the room, the glasses pointing out all of the insecurities in the building structure that just kept increasing with every explosion. He noticed the high amount by the window, and figured maybe, just maybe, he could make this work. He jumped diagonally with a kick to Bakugou's chest before landing at a point near the window. Instantly, an explosion was fired at him, and he jumped out of the way so it hit just where he wanted. He punched Bakugou's side and jumped again, garnering the same result.

But then Bakugou decided he was done playing games.

He pulled at the grenade gauntlets on his wrists and Izuku froze. "If you're so determined to fight me like a coward and not use your quirk, then I'll just have to beat it out of you," Bakugou spat. "These grenades gather my nitroglycerin sweat. You know what that means, Deku?!"

"Young Bakugou, stop! You could kill him!" cried All-Might over the intercom, but it was useless. The grenade gauntlets began to glow.

"He won't die if he dodges! C'mon, you villain! Show us what you're capable of! Are you going to try and blow up the Earth too?! You deserve to suffer for what that monster did!"

BOOM!

The entire room lit up with fire and explosions, and Izuku, given no choice, used his Mach-2 speed to run right through the flame. He felt his bloodlust peeking through as Bakugou's cruel words echoed through his ears. Going full speed, he trucked the other boy down before the explosion even finished going off and held him to the floor with a nerve-knife to his throat.

"I said, you don't know what you're talking about!" he screamed, spitting out a glob of blood. "You don't know what happened to us! You don't know what we went through! You don't know Korosensei!"

Bakugou didn't even move, and Izuku plowed on. "He wasn't evil, he wasn't trying to destroy the Earth, he just wanted to save us! He protected us! He had faith in us when no one else did, when our own damn school set us up to fail, he helped us thrive! He sacrificed everything so I can become a hero; if it weren't for him, I wouldn't be alive! You didn't know him, so don't you dare call him or me a villain!"

Through his tears, Izuku realized why Bakugou wasn't saying anything. The boy's red eyes were trained on the center of his chest, actually looking horrified. Izuku looked down and saw why.

The explosion had completely ripped through his uniform, tearing off his hood and a good chunk of the upper portion, meaning the massive scar on the center of his chest was in clear view. While the scar mainly looked like a massive red splotch, Shinsou always said that the angriest, reddest lines seemed to form a crescent moon shape. And there's no doubt that's what Bakugou — and likely the rest of the class as they watched this on cameras — saw as well.

"The fuck…" Bakugou hissed, and Izuku, unable to take it, knocked the explosive boy out with a swift punch.

-.-.-.-

Izuku doesn't remember being stabbed through the chest, but he dreams about it.

His nightmares aren't as frequent as Shinsou's, but they are twice as violent, which was saying something. He broke so many bedside lamps in his terror that they just stopped buying new ones. In his dreams, he feels like his chest is being ripped apart, bit by bit, until there is a gaping hole that won't stop growing until it's consumed him.

But the worst dreams are when it's someone else being killed. Like Nagisa, or Karma, or Korosensei, or his mom, or worst of all, Shinsou, like it was originally going to be before Izuku took the fall; before he pushed his friend out of harm's way, only to get himself killed.

He doesn't remember dying. So maybe that's why he wouldn't have any problem doing it again, if it meant others survived.

-.-.-.-

After both teams recovered, they were taken back to the monitor room with the rest of the class. Izuku stood there awkwardly with his arms crossed over his chest, trying to hide it the best he could. He did his best to ignore the whispers: ("Wow, I heard the END kids had Stockholm Syndrome or something; looks like they're not wrong." "That's not very nice, Ojiro. Besides, Midoriya is so nice, he's not a villain like Bakugou said. He's just…" "An assassin?") or ("How do you think he got that scar? Did he die?" "Quiet, Ashido, he can hear you! Besides, he obviously couldn't have died if he's here.")

Despite who won or lost, both groups were solemnly quiet as they waited for their review.

"Well," All-Might began. "I think it's safe to say the true MVP of this battle is Young Kirishima." The spiky-haired boy jolted. "Who can tell me why?"

Yaoyorozu's hand shot up immediately. "He's the only one that stuck to the plan and listened to orders. Bakugou went off on his own, more focused on personal vendettas than protecting the weapon, and Uraraka was so scared of Midoriya she let it dull her attacks. You can't attack someone when you spend the whole time cowering. And while Midoriya took down both opponents, he chose to fight Bakugou instead of grabbing the weapon right in front of him and completing the mission. He let himself get sidetracked."

The lecturing stung, but the dark-haired girl was absolutely right. He let himself lose focus on the mission at hand and justified it by telling himself there was no choice. It was unprofessional. If Korosensei were here, he'd no doubt be feeling the octopus' rath for acting so recklessly.

Wow, that's kinda embarrassing.

Izuku read the message that appeared on his glasses and nodded in shame — wait, what? Message on his glasses?

There's a camera in your glasses, remember? I've been watching your every move; simply for research purposes. As your leader, it's my job to know how your training is going.

"Karma?" he hissed, low enough so no one else could hear. "Are you spying on me during school?"

What? I'm just bored, that's all.

"S-Stalker…"

Ooh, is Icy-Hot next?

Izuku rolled his eyes. Of course Karma had ulterior motives for creeping on him during school.

Icy-Hot, aka Todoroki, aka Karma's Possibly-Separated-At-Birth-Twin, was teamed up with Shouji, but he hardly even needed a partner. In seconds, the boy froze the entire building, immobilizing his opponents and claiming the weapon.

Wow, he's really strong, isn't he? Must be nice, having such a perfect quirk.

Izuku sweatdropped and prayed for Todoroki's sake that the two would never meet.

-.-.-.-

After their class was over, All-Might approached Izuku individually, and the green-haired boy almost wet his pants.

"M-Mr. All-Might-sensei sir?!" he squeaked anxiously. The large hero looked down at him with a wide smile.

"Young Midoriya!" the Pro-Hero boomed, and Izuku tried not to wince at the familiar nickname. Korosensei used to call him that all the time too. "I must insist you go to the nurse!"

Jolting, Izuku scrambled to cover up his chest. "Oh, don't worry sir, I promise it was there before today, Kacchan didn't give it to me—"

"Ah, yes, but coughing up blood is not a good thing to be doing. Trust me, I — I mean, I've seen many suffer from a similar problem, yes. You should get checked out for it!"

If Izuku knew any better, he would think the Pro-Hero was...flustered. Awkwardly, Izuku took off his glasses (not wanting to risk anymore spying from Karma) and pocketed them. "I mean, it's not that big of a deal, really…"

"Nonsense!"

And the next thing Izuku knew, he was being thrown over All-Might's shoulder and rushed to the nurse at top speeds. It wasn't quite near Izuku's speed, but it was still startling nonetheless.

"Wait, hold up Mr. All-Might-sensei! Please put me down!"

The hero suddenly stopped, gently placing Izuku on the floor. He noticed they were in the nurse's office, but Recovery Girl was nowhere in sight.

"Oh no, I must quickly go to find her. Stay here, Young Midoriya!" All-Might declared, getting ready to take off again. Izuku blinked. It almost looked like the man was...smoking? Maybe an odd side effect of going that fast?

"Wait, sir, please!" he said, latching onto the hero's cape. "Really, this is all for nothing. The situation with me coughing up blood is totally under control, I swear. It's just...well, as you can see, I was injured a little while back, so until I heal properly my body can't take moving at supersonic speeds and this is the side effect. There's no reason to go out of your way for me."

"Really, Young Midoriya, I'm just doing my duty as your teacher! I must go—"

"Recovery Girl is probably helping a student who needs it. Actually, since you're here, I want to speak with you; you know, about what happened in class today. I've always idolized you and wanted to grow up to be amazing as you, and I get that everyone is scared of me because of Korosensei, but I promise I just want to be a Symbol of Peace just like you and — heh? All-Might? Are you alright?"

All-Might was most definitely smoking now. The Pro-Hero looked genuinely terrified, and then POOF! He was consumed in a cloud of smoke.

"All-Might, sir!" Izuku cried, waving his hands at Mach-2 to blow the smoke away, clearing up the room. "Are you alright, sir, what just happened — HUH?!"

Standing right where All-Might once was, wearing a baggy hero costume, was the sunken-in blond man with shadowed eyes.