To Become a Hero

by jfpentsil

[Sexual of (To Save the World)] With Korosensei dead and the world saved, Midoriya, Shinsou and the rest of E-class just want to move on with their lives. However, with the media and public in constant fear of the child assassins who stopped the world’s Number One Villain, they find they don’t really get that option. Now they must balance the life of a student and an agent.

11. 11

Chapter 11: To Confront the Truth

The moment Izuku saw Kota, he had a lot of questions.

While, of course, he was curious why a random child that looked a lot like Karasuma randomly appeared. But he had heard the rumors and had a basic understanding of a possible why. But the more he observed the child, a different question came to the forefront of his mind: why did this child seem to hate heroes so much?

It was honestly bizarre. When Izuku was growing up, it was almost required to be obsessed with heroes. The first thing any child did after getting a quirk was imagine how they could use it to become a Pro-Hero. While he could understand a child being less enthusiastic about hero work than others, however, to outright hate it? Did something bad happen to Kota?

Logically, something bad had to have happened; why else would he be suddenly moving in with Karasuma? And while it probably wasn't any of his business to know, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened. But since it wasn't his place to know, he figured he'd never have an answer.

But then Kota almost fell headfirst into the river.

The male students had been enjoying their time in the substitute swimming pool Korosensei made the year before. Despite the large group with varying personalities and opinions of each other, there hadn't been any incidents. Everyone seemed to decide to tolerate each other for the sake of getting through the training camp, or at least the night.

But then Kota, who had snuck out to spy on them, slipped and fell off his tree branch. Izuku had never been more grateful for his quirk than at that moment. Before Kota was even halfway through his fall, he was there, grabbing the boy mid-air and carrying him to safety.

"Oh, shit!" one of the 1-B boys exclaimed. Nagisa immediately sprung out of the pool and sprinted to the rock where Izuku was standing. Kota was breathing heavily and his eyes were squeezed tight, making his face all scrunched up.

"He's really distressed," Nagisa said, holding out his hand lightly touching Kota's brow. Instantly, his squirming stopped as he fell unconscious. Nagisa frowned. "I calmed him down, but I guess this is his body's way of dealing with the shock. We should get him back to Karasuma."

"Right," Izuku said, his heart still beating out of his chest. Nagisa sent him a concerned look, and suddenly a calm feeling enveloped him like a hug. He gave the blue-haired boy a shaky smile. "Th-Thanks."

They carried him back to the base. Their ex-teachers looked haggard when they saw the young boy. Irina instantly took the boy, muttering, "Little brat, won't listen to a word I say."

"Thank you for taking care of him," Karasuma said, turning back to the two students. "It's been...difficult, adjusting to having him here. There's quite a few issues we're still running into, as you can see."

Izuku nodded. He felt uncomfortable asking, but after what just happened… "Why was he spying on us, sir?" he settled on. "It seems weird for him to do, especially if he's going to be at this camp with us."

Karasuma sighed and scratched his neck. "I'm afraid that's my fault. I...made a bit of a deal with him. To see if he could find the difference between agents and heroes. I'm trying to show him that there really isn't much of a difference. But he's determined that heroes are the bane of his existence. Since he doesn't have an issue with agents, I was hoping we could use this camp to help him see that heroes aren't so bad."

"Karasuma-sensei," Nagisa said. "I don't mean to pry but...he harbors really negative feelings towards heroes. If you don't mind us asking...what happened that made him feel this way?"

Their ex-P.E. teacher sighed and motioned for them to take a seat with him. It was odd, seeing him look like a long-suffering parent. "I was planning on telling everyone after the camp, but I guess this is the least I could do since you took care of him tonight. If anything, maybe you two knowing the situation will help."

Karasuma proceeded to explain that Kota's parents, his sister, and brother-in-law, were the Pro-Hero team Water Hose together. Izuku recognized the name; he also knew that they died protecting civilians in a villain attack a few years ago. Karasuma explained that while his parents were praised as true heroes, Kota saw it as them abandoning him over their job. Which was why he was so jaded about heroes and villains.

"I was on a long term international mission at the time, so our cousin offered to take him until I got back, but then Korosensei happened and I...maybe they were all excuses, but I didn't feel like I could take him in. Maybe this is all my fault; if I had taken him in sooner, I could have helped him better. My cousin is the Pro-Hero Mandalay — heroism is a standard in our family — and she felt like that always kept her from being able to reach Kota. If anything, it only made everything worse."

Karasuma sighed, loud and heavy. Izuku clenched his fists, unsure what to say; should he comfort Karasuma about the loss of his sister? No, it was a while ago, that might be awkward. Should he ask why Karasuma became a government agent instead of a hero like everyone else in his family? No, Izuku, focus, that's a stupid question!

Fortunately, his teacher kept talking so Izuku didn't need to fill the silence. "When news of END broke, Shino, my cousin, said that Kota seemed...intrigued by END. Curious. He didn't exactly like it, but he didn't hate it like he does heroes. Shino saw that as a sign that he'd be happier being with me and, well, there's only so many times you can avoid responsibility like this before you become a monster. It took a while to sort everything out, and it didn't help that Kota saw this as Shino abandoning him for heroism but...I guess, here we are."

Izuku thought of the scowling boy with a heavy heart. If he was being honest, well… he didn't understand it. He grew up like everyone else, loving heroes with all his heart. And now he's lived the life of being a government dog, felt the hate and distrust from the public. He only understood that heroes were liked and agents or assassins were not. So to think that Kota viewed things completely differently…?

"Thank you for sharing this information with us, Karasuma-sensei," Nagisa said, stirring Izuku out of his thoughts. "Is there anything we could do to help?"

A gentle, relieved gleam flashed in Karasuma's tired eyes. "At this point, any effort to reach him would be appreciated. I can't think of better students to do it, either."

Izuku and Nagisa blushed under the praise and left with promises to do just that. They weren't sure how, or if it was even possible, but in Korosensei's honor, they were going to do everything they could to help Kota.

-.-.-.-

The training camp was...chaotic, to say the least. Karasuma, Aizawa, and Vlad King devised a system so students were trained in areas where they'd benefit the most — or, in other words, where they were currently lacking in the eyes of an assassin. It should've been well-structured, especially considering E-class already had experience after teaching 1-C.

However, 1-C was much different than the hero courses.

"We do what now?" Sero echoed, gingerly holding a practice anti-sensei knife. Maehara, who teamed up with Isogai and Kataoka to teach knife fighting, sighed for the umpteenth time since the lesson started ten minutes ago.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was accidentally using my quirk on them," he muttered before demonstrating the proper way to hold the weapon again.

Kataoka glared at two 1-B kids. "Stop fighting like five-year-olds with plastic swords. You're wasting time by not paying attention."

Kendou sighed and smacked her two classmates before turning to the ex-class reps apologetically. "Sorry about them. I'll make sure they listen this time."

Isogai smiled his killer smile, giving a polite "Thank you!" and bow. Hagakure gasped and shook Kendou's shoulder dramatically. The orange-haired girl nodded knowingly.

"So dreamy…"

-.-.-.-

Chiba eyed the students wearily while Hayami went over basic gun safety. "You never want to aim your gun at a person unless you plan on shooting them. When you're not fighting, you aim at the ground."

The students did as instructed. Something gleamed out of the corner of Chiba's eye, his quirk warning him. "Hey, be careful, you're aiming at your-"

The gun went off, and Kaminari shrieked as the BB bounced off his foot. Chiba rubbed his temples.

-.-.-.-

Uraraka threw out her fist, just barely missing her opponent. She anticipated this, however, and quickly spun around, kicking Tsuburba's feet out from under him. The moment he hit the ground, she twisted his arm behind his back and pinned him.

"Amazing job, Uraraka!" Okano cheered. "You completed the move perfectly! And good job dodging the first attack, Tsuburba. Just make sure you don't let your defense fall, even when you try to switch to offense."

Uraraka preened. Her classmates mumbled enviously, wishing they could get positive feedback from their instructors. Terasaka scoffed and smacked Aoyama and Honenuki on the back of their heads. "Pay attention, you losers! You're getting shown up by girls!"

Ashido pouted and whispered to Komori, her sparring partner, "This is too hard without our quirks. How long are we going to have to do this?"

She thought she was being quiet, but a devilish aura told her otherwise. "Maybe until you finally beat the underdog from 1-C, huh?" Karma taunted, his face morphed into something sinister. Both girls screeched.

-.-.-.-

"But my quirk makes me almost invincible! Why wouldn't I use it to fight?" Kirishima argued, and Tetsutetsu echoed, "Mine too!"

Fuwa and Sugaya sighed. "Mimura, replay the presentation."

Todoroki turned his attention from the PowerPoint (this was the fourth time they were shown it) and stared down at his left hand. Midoriya had yelled at him to embrace his fire quirk, and now his friends were telling him to not use it. Was this supposed to be so confusing?

-.-.-.-

Izuku collapsed on the mat. Karasuma had thoroughly kicked his ass into the next week. An equally exhausted Shinsou, who'd been training with Ms. Jelavic, collapsed next to him. Apparently, the blonde woman still held a grudge from when Shinsou ran away from her in front of the U.A. teachers, and she was not holding back at all.

"This is so unfair," the purple-haired boy grumbled, wiping off his sweat with his shirt. "Why does Poofy just have to spar with Nakamura while I have to deal with the devil incarnate?"

(Judging by the infuriated and constipated look on Bakugou's face while Nakamura 'critiqued' his combat style, the explosive blond would not agree with that sentiment.)

"Do you think they're okay?" Izuku asked, glancing out the open base door where he could see most of the training being held outside. "They seemed pretty annoyed knowing that 1-A and B were going to be teaching them later on in the camp, so they might not be going as easy, which makes no sense because they're just asking for trouble if they do that, but most of them don't have any sense of self-preservation anyways—"

"A relatable trait," Shinsou muttered.

"—and I just want them to get along because there's no real reason for them not to, you know? They seemed fine at the pool last night but now I'm not so sure and I'm just worried."

Shinsou lifted his head, looking over at their classmates' training. Nagisa was working with Hazama and Kanzaki to teach stealth techniques to Iida and Satou. Nakamura was openly taunting Bakugou ("You look like the kind of guy who thinks he can explodo-punch his way out of anything, huh?") in a tactless approach to insult his pride and get him to work harder. It was working. Nakamura deserved a medal. Kurahashi stood with Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, and Shouda. "This stag beetle enclosure is amazing, Yaoyorozu! And I love the bunny pen, Shouda. Aww, look, Dark Shadow likes the birdhouse!"

"What exactly are we supposed to be learning out of this?" Yaoyorozu mumbled, cautiously throwing treats to the gathering bunnies. Tokoyami hummed in agreement and shuffled awkwardly. He seemed embarrassed that Dark Shadow was nesting in the birdhouse.

"Self-positivity!" Kurahashi cheered.

Shinsou dropped his head back to the ground. "They'll be fine."

-.-.-.-

Muramatsu was kind enough to make his famous acorn noodles for dinner. Kirishima and Sero looked ready to cry, while Bakugou hunted the coyote boy down and aggressively asked for the recipe. Todoroki, who had taken a seat next to Izuku, hummed happily into his bowl. It was the most positive emotion Izuku had ever seen out of the boy. He didn't get to embrace the moment, however. He and Nagisa had a mission.

It didn't take long for them to find the angry boy. Kota was sulking at the bottom of the waterfall, throwing rocks into the river. Izuku blinked away the flashbacks — the last time he had been here, he fought Shiro for the first time, and it didn't exactly end in his favor. Kota was, as expected, completely unreceptive to their arrival, demanding they leave immediately. Nagisa and Izuku exchanged knowing looks before placing the bowl of noodles next to Kota and sitting away to give him space.

The dark-haired boy scowled deeper. "Why do you even bother?"

Izuku frowned. "You really should eat—"

"Not with that. Why do you even bother helping out those wannabe heroes? You're wasting your time trying to teach them anything; all they do is use their stupid quirks for whatever they want and bring just as much violence as the villains."

"Do you think assassins or agents are different, then?"

Kota seemed thrown off by Nagisa's question, his guard dropping slightly (likely due to Nagisa's quirk). "I...at least you guys don't try to fake it or hide behind some stupid power. You guys hardly use your quirks, right? That's what they always say on TV." Kota shook his head. "It doesn't matter; they're all pointless titles anyway. Villains use their quirks for selfish reasons and hurt people, and heroes pretend they're being selfless to fight back, but they just hurt people more. And least assassins and agents don't fake it."

"I agree," Nagisa said, and Kota jolted again. "There's no denying that heroes hurt people too. They hurt us deeper than you can ever imagine, the day Korosensei died."

Izuku reluctantly nodded; it pained him to admit it, but when Nagisa put it like that, he couldn't ignore it. He couldn't ignore the heaviness in his heart. "Not all titles make sense, either. I mean, they called Korosensei the Number One Villain, but all he did was teach school children. It was the pressure from society and heroes, and the training by agents that made us learn to kill. If it was up to him, we probably would've just graduated as normal junior high students; it's what he always wanted, because his heart was good, and his intentions were pure. He was just a teacher to us, but he was a villain to the world because of the moon."

Which wasn't his doing, Izuku didn't add, no matter how much he wanted to. Even if this kid was now the ward of an elite government agent, it wasn't fair to throw such top-secret information on him like that.

"What we're trying to say, is that thinking one group is better or worse than the other, you're only going to make yourself more confused," Nagisa said. The duo stood back up to leave together, their dinner break almost over. "There are heroes that hurt, and assassins that are monsters, and villains that are misunderstood. That's how the world works, and you can't be mad at the world for that. You'll only hurt yourself more."

-.-.-.-

Wild, Wild Pussycats Attacked! Villain At Large!

Superhero rescue team Wild Wild Pussycats were attacked last night. The team was in the middle of an avalanche response when an unidentified villain attacked. The team's company reports that Ragdoll was seriously injured and hospitalized in critical condition. The extent of her injuries has not been disclosed at this time. Heroes have been put on high alert to find out more about this dangerous mystery villain before they attack again.

-.-.-.-

For their second day of training, the roles were switched, with the emphasis put on quirk training. After much persuasion (begging), Karasuma permitted Izuku and Shinsou to train with their classmates. Izuku was surprised when Aizawa assigned him in a group with Maehara and Yada, instead of Iida's group.

"You've established a mental resolve that keeps you from pushing you past your physical limits with your quirk," the underground pro said. "Let's see how well you do when that mentality gets challenged."

Shinsou, on the other hand, was paired up with Monoma to test his mental resistance if he went up against a copy of his own quirk, as well as learn if Monoma could still copy other's quirks while under brainwashing.

"Hmm, I must say, I'm quite excited for this pairing," Monoma said, a wicked gleam in his eye. Shinsou sighed and looked back longingly at where Ms. Jelavic and Karasuma stood, regretting all his life decisions.

"Glad someone is..."

Kurahashi and Kouda were paired together, Kouda helping her better understand the animal calls she could mimic, and the girl helping him get over his fear of bugs one stag beetle at a time. Terasaka and Muramatsu were paired with Shishida, Shouji, and other mutant-type quirk students, much to his pleasure. Izuku cringed to see Karma in a group with Todoroki. Satou and Hara were trying to test their sugar consumption levels together.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!" Bakugou screamed, letting off explosion after explosion. Fukidashi ducked behind Sugino, who cringed away from the blast.

"You've got to focus your energy," Sugino recommended. "You're just letting it go everywhere like, well, an explosion. It'll be more powerful if you focus the blast."

Bakugou bristled and bared his teeth. "What'd you say, Baseball Boy?! You're supposed to be learning from me!"

Hazama was put in a group with Hagaukre and Kuroiro from 1-B. She looked very unimpressed. "Am I supposed to learn something here?" she deadpanned.

"Dude...you literally have their quirk combined," Sugaya pointed out, and Hazama scoffed.

"At least I don't have stupid silver hair that makes me stand out from a mile away," she grumbled, and Kuroiro touched his hair self-conscious. "Fine, I'll work with them, but if she gets to walk around naked, so do I."

"NO!"

-.-.-.-

Despite the begrudging attitudes at the start of the camp, it seemed the mutual tutoring aspect of it really helped everyone get along, despite all the strong personalities. Terasaka and his gang quickly started rounding up all the mutant quirk students to hang out at mealtimes. Okuda and Yaoyorozu were chatting non-stop about different chemical compounds and experiments. Izuku had been joking around with Sugino and Fuwa when he noticed Uraraka and Iida watching him, looking solemn.

"Uraraka, Iida, are you guys okay?" he asked, and the normally bubbly girl smiled sadly.

"I'm fine, Deku-kun, it's just…" she shook her head. "We were just talking about how you seem so happy and close with your old classmates."

"Oh," Izuku blinked, not really sure where this was going. "We've been through a lot together, so I guess you can say that. You guys aren't upset about that, right?" He gnawed on his lip, hoping he hadn't offended his classmates. Iida violently shook his head.

"Not at all, Midoriya! We were just talking about how ashamed we are now for our behavior towards you at the beginning of the year, and for our prejudice towards your old classmates. We hope you can forgive us."

Iida started to bow again while Uraraka nodded fervently, and Izuku's cheeks flushed. "A-Ah, please, there's no need to apologize! Really, it's nothing! I mean, yeah, it stung a little at the beginning, but I can't blame you for only knowing what the media told you, and you guys have been really great ever since. Please stop bowing, Iida!"

However, the talk of the camp come dinnertime was the uncanny quirk similarities between Isogai and Awase from 1-B, who had a quirk called Weld.

"I'm no expert quirk analyzer like Jolly Green, but this is plain freaky," Shinsou deadpanned, and the group laughed.

"No kidding. Are you guys brothers or something?" joked Mimura. Izuku tensed and elbowed the other boy in the stomach.

"Uh, please don't say stuff like that around Todoroki," he whispered, gesturing to the dual-quirk boy who was eyeing Isogai and Awase suspiciously. Karma slung an arm over Mimura and Izuku's shoulders and smiled threateningly.

"Yes, how about we not?"

Since the start of the camp, Karma had been on-edge anytime Todoroki was around. It didn't help that Todoroki constantly stared at the devil boy. After their conversation on the night Stain attacked, Izuku knew Todoroki had some inkling of hope that his long-lost twin was still alive. His curiosity with Karma did not bode well either.

(Well, it didn't bode well for Karma, who was the only reason this secret was still a secret. If it was up to Izuku, he would've told Todoroki that night in the hospital, and he knows Nagisa is bothered by it too.)

They should've known, all things considered, that things were going to blow up sooner or later.

-.-.-.-

It was Kirishima that let it slip.

Now, it's not like he flat-out looked Todoroki in the eye and said "That super terrifying END commander guy is your twin brother that you thought was dead," because Kirishima was completely, utterly unaware of the situation in the first place. Like everyone else in the hero course, he didn't even know Todoroki once had a twin, much less anything about Karma. Which is why everyone was caught off guard by his story.

It was the third night, and everyone was getting ready for bed. Kirishima looked over at the E-class group with a frown.

"You know, I feel like I've met that scary red-haired guy before…" he said, and Sero snorted.

"Uh, you have, dude. They saved our asses back at the USJ, remember?"

Kirishima shook his head. "No, I mean before that. It's weird, I know, I just…" He went to towel dry his hair and suddenly froze. "Hair dye!"

"What?!" Izuku squeaked, dropping his toothbrush.

"Hair dye! He's the guy that told me what hair dye I should buy, back when I first started dyeing my hair."

Bakugou sneered. "You mean you choose to make your shitty hair that color?"

"C'mon, Bakugou, my hair color is awesome and you know it." Kirishima wasn't even fazed by the insult. Surprisingly, Bakugou backed down, diverting his attention to his clothes and flushing red. "Anyways, I'm almost positive that's how I know him. He knows a lot about red hair dye too, so he's probably been doing it for a long time."

"He dyes his hair that color?" Todoroki interrupted. The glint in his eye was unidentifiable, and Izuku's panic skyrocketed.

Kirishima nodded. "Yeah. He mentioned something about having to try out a lot of brands to get the specific color for his hair or something — I guess he's really picky about it, I don't know. But isn't that so weird?"

"It's a small world, man," Kaminari agreed, but Izuku wasn't paying attention anymore. His eyes were locked on Todoroki, whose eyes were locked on Karma. As if he sensed it, the END commander turned around. The temperature in the room dropped, and Izuku wasn't sure which twin was to blame. Hoping to deescalate the situation before it could even happen, Izuku stepped forward and grabbed Todoroki's arm. It was the wrong move.

"Midoriya," he said. His muscles were tense under Izuku's hold.

"Y-Yeah?"

"Tell Akabane Karma I want to speak with him in private."

He wrenched his arm away and stalked out of the room, and Izuku froze. How...how did Todoroki know Karma's name? Like with 1-C, they were still on orders to go by agent names except for himself and Shinsou. So how did he...just how much did he know?

Across the room, Karma watched Todoroki exit, and Izuku didn't need to be a telepath to know what he was thinking. Without Izuku prompting him to, the red-haired boy walked outside as well. Izuku contemplated his options (following them could very well result in his accidental death) before bolting after them. Thankfully, he wasn't alone. Nagisa trailed after his boyfriend, sending an alarmed ping to Izuku when they made eye contact. He shrugged helplessly; at this point, there was nothing else they could do.

They opted to watch from a distance. Todoroki and Karma were having an uncomfortable, silent stare down in the middle of the forest. The smirk on Karma's face was ruthless, mocking, as if he was daring Todoroki to speak up. The icy boy's eyes narrowed, and the temperature in the room got even colder.

"You already know, don't you?"

Karma's laugh was sarcastic and condescending. "Know what, First? I'm going to need to know a bit more context than that."

It was a blatant lie, and Todoroki knew that. His body was tense, his eyes ablaze. His hands trembled, literally shaking with rage. Not that Izuku was too surprised; Todoroki spent his whole life dreaming of a brother he thought he never had, and now he finally meets him. Except, it's the spiteful devil known as Akabane Karma.

"I'm not playing into any game. Just answer the question. Do you already know? Are...are you really Haruji?"

Silence. Deafening silence. Izuku didn't breathe. Karma didn't react. But then he hummed and tapped his chin.

"Ha-ru-ji?" he articulated. "Is that what my name is supposed to be? How lame."

The temperature skyrocketed, but Karma didn't flinch. He tilted his head to the side, his eyes gleaming. With a twitch of his fingers, it returned to normal. "No need to get so heated, First. What's there to even be emotional about?"

"What's there-?" Todoroki was at a loss for words. "How can you- do you really not care?"

"Care? Do I look like someone who wastes their time caring about anything?"

It was the final straw. "Stop giving such indirect answers!" Todoroki swung his hand out, but a wave of heat evaporated the ice. "Stop acting like this is nothing! Don't you understand what this means? Don't you know how this changes things?"

"You want to be direct?" Karma spat. "Fine. This changes nothing, First. I don't know you. You don't know me. End of story."

"How- how can you even say that? Don't you have questions too? Don't you want to know? Know what, why this happened?"

"No," Karma deadpanned. "Why would I bother wondering questions I already know the answer to? You're the one they wanted, and I'm the one they threw away." Todoroki flinched, and Karma's smirk grew. "What, you didn't know? Did that woman never tell you what she did? And yet you still figured it out — I have to admit, I'm impressed. You're not so dull after all."

Nagisa facepalmed, and Izuku prayed to Korosensei that Karma would stop. It was a fruitless wish.

"What are you talking about?"

Karma tilted his head to the side. The crazed look in his eye sent a sharp ping of terror right to Izuku's heart. "Want me to tell you a story, Oniisan?" (Suddenly, Izuku wished Karma stuck with the original nickname.) "It's about twins being born to a quirk marriage, and only the elder surviving; you're familiar with this version, yes? Well, in my version, the younger didn't die, but instead his poor, mentally unstable mother tried to throw him away because she didn't need him. Fortunately, he was rescued by a nurse and raised as their own, but his whole life had to be a lie, a fake version of what it was meant to be. His name, his appearance, his quirk all had to be lied about for the sake of a charade, while the elder continued on with his life as it was meant to be. And then, suddenly, they're reunited, and the elder has the audacity to ask the younger why he would care about a family that threw him away. A family that saw him as weak, as unnecessary." Karma laughed. "So, Oniisan. How was that for an answer?"

Todoroki was silent for a long, long time, to the point where it was becoming even more uncomfortable (which was impressive, considering this entire situation had been suffocatingly uncomfortable from the start). Karma never backed down, didn't even blink as he stared down his long-lost brother. Finally, Todoroki responded.

"Is...Is that really how you see it?" His voice was shaking; Izuku had never heard his voice tremble before, not even that night at the hospital. "If what you're saying is true, and our mother really did that...is that how you see it? Do you not understand what she did for you? You have to understand, after everything that happened with Stain and our father and — do you not realize what she did for you?"

It was the wrong thing to say, challenging Karma's intelligence and pride. No matter the circumstances, it was a bad idea, but when the emotions were so high…

Nagisa jumped in just in time. He grabbed Karma by the waist, pulling him back before he could lunge at Todoroki. The icy boy went on the defense, and Izuku zipped over, grabbing his right arm mid-swing.

"Did for me?!" Karma spat, struggling against Nagisa's hold. "She fucking abandoned me, that's what she did for me! She's a coward who can't protect her family properly and just hurts them even more! Look at your face!"

Todoroki jolted, almost throwing Izuku on the floor. His quirk was the only thing that kept Todoroki from using his fire side too.

"Don't you dare say that about her! You weren't there, you don't know anything!"

"You're right! I wasn't there! I wasn't there because she gave me away! She didn't want me, she just wanted you! You were the one they wanted and I was just disposable!"

"Do you think she wanted that marriage, huh? Do you think she wanted to worry about her kids' quirks from birth? Don't blame this on her!"

"What does it matter? We were babies, how could she have known, huh? She didn't even give me a chance, no, just one look and I was gone."

The surrounding temperature was fluctuating so much it was nauseating, and Izuku struggled to hold his classmate back. Todoroki was near tears, but he hid it with his anger. He snarled at his brother. "How can you be so bitter about this? Can you still not realize what she did?"

Karma laughed. "Oh, I know what she did. She chose to keep you!"

"And she chose to save you!"

Karma physically recoiled. There were so many emotions on his face: rage, confusion, bitterness, disbelief. His mouth opened, but no words came out. For possibly the first time in his life, Akabane Karma was speechless.

And Izuku knew Karma. He knew Karma was too smart, too cunning to not consider this possibility. To not look at the facts in front of him and realize that the reason he was given away, the reason his mother cast him aside, was to protect him. But also knowing Karma, and knowing the hurt and bitterness this situation caused him — he didn't even want to know who his birth family was for 14 years, and Karma was obsessed with knowing everything — that scenario was pushed away any moment it arose. Because if it was true, it changed everything.

Karma wanted to be bitter and angry about the situation, about being overlooked from birth and never given a chance. His whole mentality was about proving himself as the strongest, the smartest, the best in every way. To be better than his mystery twin who had apparently been superior from birth. If he was thrown away, he could be angry. But if he really was saved...if it was done out of the love of a mother, a desperate mother, a hurt mother, to protect at least one child; to give at least one child a happy life…

It. Changed. Everything.

A sharp, oppressive calm hit like a wave, and the two brothers stopped struggling. Nagisa's eyes were hard, his lips pursed. "That's enough. We can deal with this later. Midoriya? Can you take Todoroki back to the barracks? Karma and I are going to talk."

Izuku would've felt bad for Karma if he hadn't spent the last 10 minutes acting like an asshole to Todoroki. He nodded and gently tugged the icy boy away. Thanks to Nagisa's quirk, he was very calm and complacent, and he didn't change much even after they were out of the empath's range. He stayed silent, stoic the entire walk back to the END building. He came to a sudden halt right outside the doors and turned to Izuku. His eyes were even more haunted than they had been the night at the hospital.

"It's real, right? He's really…?"

"Yeah," Izuku replied. He wished there was more to say.

-.-.-.-

ARO ACE DRAGON @mightydragoon

I made memes about END because they deserve rights and Agent Devil is a bad bitch

It was clear by the next morning that everyone could tell something was up between Todoroki and Karma. Thankfully, 1-A just brushed it off as some quirk rivalry — they could connect the dots of the similarities of the two quirks, even if they were clueless of the true reasoning. E-class, on the other hand, guessed the worst. And unfortunately, the worst was the truth.

It took Shinsou about two seconds to grab Izuku by the collar and hiss, "What the hell happened last night?"

"Too much," Izuku replied hauntingly. There wasn't much time to go into detail, so Izuku tried his best to give a vague rundown ("And Karma was being a jerk, and Todoroki got upset, and everything was going wrong-") before they had to head out for training. Today, they were back to working on assassination skills, but with a new end goal set up.

"Beyond the obvious tension between U.A. and END, I've been informed there's a bit of a rivalry between 1-A and 1-B," Karasuma said, and multiple people glared at Monoma. "This, however, might work out in our favor. To test what you've learned and to release a little tension, I propose an E-class classic: a civil war."

Whispers broke out immediately. "A civil war? You mean you want us to fight each other?" Iida exclaimed, and the government agent smirked.

"Exactly that. It'll be a simple capture the flag-type game, except everyone will be armed with practice guns and knives. Quirks are free to be used as you wish, but the only way to get someone out is to use your weapons. The game won't start until tonight, so you have time to practice and hone your skills. Let's see which class is getting the most out of their experience here."

There was a competitive tension in the air as the two classes eyed each other. Sugino raised his hand. "What about us, sir?"

The grins on ENDs' faces were even more wicked than usual and only grew at Karasuma's answer. "Like before, you guys will get to pick which team you join. All I ask is that you split the numbers equally — both in numbers and strength," he added, glaring pointedly at Nagisa and Karma. The devil-boy grinned.

"What? I think if the 1-A kiddies get to have Shinsou and Midoriya, then it's only necessary we even it out. Seems much fairer that way to me," Karma argued, and 1-B grinned triumphantly at the thought of getting both of END's top fighters.

Takebayashi hummed and quickly reached under his shirt to pull out his statistics. "He has a point, sir. Karma and Nagisa match Shinsou and Midoriya in terms of strategy, stealth, and strength, so it's only fair they're split up. Though Shinsou and Midoriya arguably have the quirk advantage…"

Sero blinked. "Did you pull all of that out from your belly button?"

Takebayashi frowned and pushed his glasses up his nose. "You shoot tape from your elbow. I don't see why I'm the weird one."

Ashido scratched the top of her head. "Does the bellybutton calculate the statistics for you? How does a belly button do math?"

"I-I don't know?!"

Takebayashi was bright red, and he backed away from the 1-A students as if that would make him safe. Without hesitating, Nakamura grabbed his shirt and flashed his stomach.

"Hmm, looks like a normal bellybutton to me," she mused, reaching out to prod the spot in question. Takebayashi squawked and flailed to cover his body.

"H-Hey, cut it out! Don't poke my belly button!"

Kirishima barked with laughter before turning to Izuku. He was buzzing like a toddler on a sugar high. "This is going to be so cool!" he declared, shaking Izuku's shoulder. "So you guys did this in E-class? That's so cool! Did your team win? I bet they did-"

"I wouldn't be all smiles," Aizawa cut in, glaring at the joking group. "You're lucky you're being allowed to participate in this activity. If it weren't for the fact that this game needs even numbers to be played, none of you who failed the exam would get to play."

The students in question flinched and voiced their thanks to their homeroom teacher. Izuku winced, very grateful he managed to pass the exam despite going against All-Might and somewhat Bakugou.

"Well, let's split it up," announced Kataoka while Maehara and Isogai walked over carrying the familiar buckets of colored BBs and plastic knives. "1-A red and 1-B blue? That sound good?"

E-class nodded and moved quickly to choose their sides. Kurahashi quickly snatched up a red knife and brandished it at Kouda triumphantly. Takebayashi joined the blue team, eyeing Sero and Ashido. They were still staring at his belly button. Fuwa cheerfully grabbed a blue knife, declaring, "I love rooting for an underdog!" (was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?), while Ritsu again agreed to remain neutral.

"The teachers and I will also be neutral parties and act as referees," Karasuma explained. There was a loud huff, and Karasuma sighed, glancing over at the angry, glaring child beside him. "Kota too, so try not to be too destructive, alright?"

The rest of the class split up systematically, trying to keep it as even as possible. Chiba and Hayami went on different teams so both teams had a sniper. Okuda went to 1-A to balance out Takebayashi (and likely because she and Yaoyorozu were becoming fast friends). Class 1-A got Nakamura, Isogai, and Kataoka, 1-B got Maehara, Okano, and Kimura.

Hazama, who had chosen red (probably because she had beef with Kuroiro from 1-B for no reason), was eyeing Dark Shadow suspiciously as the quirk not-so-subtly stared at her. Monoma eagerly welcomed every agent that joined his "mission to bring 1-A to their knees!" Terasaka glanced down at his blue BBs, obviously regretting his life choices. Karma, however, grinned and crossed his arms as he stared down 1-A.

"Don't worry," he said. His glare landed on Todoroki and stayed there. "We'll make them regret they ever challenged us."

-.-.-.-

Come evening, there was an excitable buzz running through the camp. Even Bakugou, who had been grumpy the entire camp, was happily brandishing his dual rifles. Shouji was showing off his skills wielding six knives at once, while Yaoyorozu worked with Okuda to create endless amounts of ammo.

"Now, does anyone need a reminder of their positions and assignments?" Iida tried to direct over the noise and bustling, his robotic-like arms waving in every direction. "Well, in case you need a reminder, our defensive team will consist of—"

Shinsou came up behind Izuku, throwing his arms around his shoulders. "You ready to crush this thing together, Jolly Green?"

Izuku grinned and playfully shoved the arms off. "We don't even have the same positions, Hitoshi. We'll be on opposite sides of the mountain."

"Yeah, but at least we're on the same team this time," Shinsou pointed out, and Izuku nodded, glad he didn't have to duel his best friend again. While Izuku was tasked with scouting out the enemy territory, Shinsou was put in charge of guarding the flag with Sero and Itona.

Before it started, Itona strapped a camera to Izuku's chest that transmitted back to Itona, basically making Izuku his ground drone. "They may have Mimura, but this will work even better," he explained before turning to strap one on Iida as well.

"Remember this is just a game. Play fair, play safe, and play smart." Karasuma announced through the comms, and then the countdown started. Izuku focused on the flashing numbers while simultaneously taking in his surroundings, looking for any alarms. There were three seconds left when he spotted a suspicious glare far in the distance. The clock flashed zero, and the gunfire rained down. It was only thanks to his supersonic reflexes that he was able to dodge and run for cover.

"Agent Balance already has eyes on me — I'm going to take her out!" Izuku reported over the comms.

"Don't get out early, Freckles," Nakamura, who was acting as the brain of the operation, instructed, and the green-haired boy took off.

It was obvious right away how different this Civil War was from the first one E-class had. Not only were there nearly twice as many as opponents, but 1-B's approach was so different. Izuku barely got 100 meters before he suddenly ran into a wall of vines. Backpedaling, he barely managed to escape before he was completely ensnared in Shiozaki's trap, only to walk straight into another trap.

"You 1-A losers are so predictable," Monoma mocked, firing his gun. His aim was off, but it distracted Izuku from Kendou's attack from behind. The massive hands completely immobilized him, and he squirmed to get free.

"Hold him right there, Kendou, I got this!" Tetsutetsu called, charging with his knife drawn. Just before he could reach Izuku, however, he was stopped by a blur of red. Kirishima (who was a little too enthusiastic about being on the red team and insisted on wearing red face paint no matter how much Sugaya advised against it) shouted triumphantly and wrestled with Tetsutetsu aggressively.

"Rabid dog chomp!" Muramatsu declared, jumping out of a nearby tree and biting into Kendou's hand. The orange-haired girl screeched and dropped Izuku.

"Get out of here, Deku, we got this!" Kirishima assured before punching Tetsutetsu in the face. Judging by how much he was struggling to land an effective hit on Tetsutetsu (their quirks were too similar), the statement was questionable, but Izuku had to trust him.

Monoma pointed his gun again. "You're not getting away — huh?!"

Faster than the blond boy could complain, Izuku sprinted by, leaving a red paint slash across his shirt.

"Monoma — Out!"

It was satisfying to get the first hit of the game, but the triumph was short-lived when Ritsu soon after announced the elimination of Sugino and Satou. He ran for a little bit more, zigzagging around to throw off Hayami as he locked in on the sniper's position. He came across Kaminari and Jirou going toe-to-toe with Tokage and Yada. Jirou was using her quirk to drown out Yada's voice while Kaminari wildly shot his gun. His aim was dismal (it didn't help that he got scared and closed his eyes every time the gun went off), but by some miracle, he managed to hit Tokage.

Knowing she was outnumbered and outmatched, Yada quickly retreated. "After her!" declared Jirou.

"Wait, Jirou, don't!" Izuku tried to warn, but it was too late. The earphone jack girl ran straight into one of Hara's net traps. She screeched and Kaminari flailed his arms helplessly.

"Dumbass, stop standing there and cut me down!"

"Ah, right!" Kaminari said, pulling out his knife. He paused, realizing it was plastic, and Jirou facepalmed. "Uh, one sec, just let me put this away — OW!"

Kaminari, trying to free up his hands, decided to put his gun in the back of his waistband. However, he forgot to turn on the safety, and sure enough, the gun went off.

"...Kaminari?" Jirou deadpanned in disbelief. "Did you just shoot yourself in the ass?"

"NO!" Kaminari screeched while not so subtly nursing his butt. A few seconds later, Ritsu announced, "Kaminari — Out!"

"Aw, man," Kaminari whined. His eyes suddenly landed on Izuku, and he flushed bright red. "Oh dude, please tell me you didn't just get that on camera."

"He totally got it on camera," Nakamura helpfully announced over the comms, and Kaminari wailed in shame. Izuku grinned sheepishly and untied the trap, lowering Jirou to the ground. The dark-haired girl didn't hesitate to shoot Kaminari in the chest.

"Hey!" the blond yelped. "What was that for?! We're on the same team!"

"I know."

Eliminations continued to be called out like wildfire, with both sides losing evenly. It was good to know that both teams were well matched, but the lack of gap made Izuku nervous. Karma had to be planning something big, and the green-haired boy didn't want to find out what. He finally tracked down Hayami. She retreated to the cliff next to the waterfall, making it very difficult to reach her. You were also forced to attack her from the front, which was a death sentence with Hayami.

Standing at the base of the waterfall was Kota. He must have chosen this spot to act as a referee. Izuku felt an added sense of pressure. I have to do well in front of Kota. Karasuma-sensei said he was watching to spot the difference between an agent and a hero. This could be my chance to change his mind about heroes!

Izuku made a plan. If he rushed Hayami using his speed, he would be faster than her bullets. Just when he went to move, however, a sharp pang of fear shot through his heart. He stumbled. The next thing he knew, a blue blur descended upon him, and Izuku knew it was too late. Reacting on pure instinct, Izuku jumped back, narrowly missing the swipe to his chest. Another sharp burst of fear filled his heart, and Izuku's body reacted and froze. Before the adrenaline could kick in, however, numbing tranquility extinguished it.

Izuku was woefully reminded why he didn't like dualling against Nagisa. No one wants to go against a snake when it strikes.

"I walked right into this one, didn't I?" he asked sheepishly, and Nagisa smiled sympathetically.

"You know Karma's all about eliminating the biggest threats." The blue-haired boy lashed out, swiping at Izuku's chest. He dodged, but thanks to the emotional interference, he wasn't quick enough for the leg sweep that followed. Nagisa pounced, locking his legs around Izuku's neck in a scissor hold. The green-haired boy tried to break out, and then—

THUMP!

Hayami, waiting for her moment to strike. Her bullet spared Nagisa and nailed Izuku in the stomach with a well-aimed snipe.

"Really? You barely put up a fight," whined Kota. "You could have dodged it if you paid attention and didn't focus on talking."

This was coming from a child, and maybe that's what made it so embarrassing. Izuku's cheeks flared up. "Like uncle, like nephew," Nagisa said.

"Yeah, I'm sure Karma's thinking the same thing," Izuku sighed, waiting for the beratement to flood his comm. He was honestly surprised the END commander hadn't said anything yet...actually, he can't hear any chatter on the comms. Izuku glanced down at his Ritsu-watch. The AI girl never announced his elimination either. Nagisa tapped his watch, but his screen was also dark. Izuku pulled out his Ritsu-phone and found the same results. He couldn't stop the flashback to the USJ and glanced over at Hayami and Nagisa.

"You don't think…?"

Their answer came before they could even speculate. A huge blue fire sputtered to life near the END base, and screams followed. A massive villain with a robotic eye jumped down from the cliff and landed right next to Kota. He grabbed the little boy by the back of his shirt and held him up as bait. The villain seemed unfazed by the three guns drawn on him.

"Well, this seems fun," the villain sneered. "Now, let's not do anything stupid, hmm?"

-.-.-.-

The villain's name was Muscular. He was a part of some group called the Vanguard Action Squad, which was working with the League of villains. He wanted to smash as many people as possible. And END's nerve formula didn't work on him, or any of the villains attacking. Hayami tried to shoot him and save Kota. Muscular was unfazed by the tranquilizer and attacked the sniper. He grabbed her from her perch and slammed her against the cliff hard. There was blood and undoubtedly crushed bones and Izuku screamed.

"NO!" Nagisa cried, using his quirk to specifically target Muscular's emotional state. He got the villain to drop the unconscious girl. "Why didn't the weapon work on you? Is it your quirk?"

The villain probably would have sneered, but he wasn't in charge of his emotions anymore. "Your little neutralizers aren't going to work on us. While that little brainwasher's fight with our boss was humiliating, we still got the upper hand with a souvenir knife left behind. You guys aren't the only ones with smart guys that can create poisons and antidotes."

Oh, Korosensei, this was bad. This was very, very, very bad. END's weapons weren't designed to kill — Izuku even told Shigaraki that at the USJ, how stupid could he be?! — but they were meant to neutralize, to ensnare and confine. They weren't any good otherwise.

Cruel emotion twisted in Muscular's face. Nagisa was physically shaking, trying to keep the villain under his control. "Which means I can smash all you annoying assassin pests and you can't even put up a fight."

No. He couldn't let him attack again. Izuku sped forward, trying to stop the fist, but he vastly underestimated the villain's quirk. He was smacked away like a fly, and he could feel his ribs crushing, his mouth filling with blood. He rolled back, landing near Kota and Hayami.

The villain huffed. "You move pretty fast. You wouldn't happen to be the number one target on the list, would you? Midoriya Izuku?" Izuku's shocked face spoke for him. Muscular laughed. "They told me you'd be hard to catch, but they never said you'd be dumb enough to try and fight back. Bleed a little more, will you? That's what we need. And while we're at it, you think you can tell me where that Bakugou kid is too? If I bring in both of you, they'll have no choice but to promote me."

Izuku gulped. What did that even mean? Target? List? And what did they want with Kacchan?

No, no, he couldn't focus on that, he's got to get his friends to safety. That was his only priority.

"Midoriya," Nagisa whispered, standing in front of them protectively. "Take Kota and Hayami and run. I'll deal with this-"

"NO!"

Surprisingly, it wasn't Izuku who objected to the suicidal plan, but Kota. The dark-haired boy was teared up and sniffling, but he stood in front of Hayami protectively. Nagisa blinked. "I'll be fine, don't worry-"

"No! You don't get it, you don't get it!" Kota shook his fists. "That's the villain who killed my parents! I'm not going to run away, he has to pay!"

Oh. Oh, no. By what odds was this how it turned out?

Nagisa cried out. The blue-haired boy was picked up and thrown back on the ground so hard his body bounced. Kota's outburst caused Muscular's emotions to surge, allowing him to overpower Nagisa's weakening control over him. The enraged villain turned to the child and spat.

"Make me pay? If your dear old mommy and daddy died fighting me, what makes you think you can even lay a hand on me? Pathetic." Muscular bared his teeth. "You want a tip from a real pro, kid? Stop believing in the impossible and making promises that you can't keep. That's why your parents died after all — they swore to protect people like good heroes, and all that did was put them in coffins!"

Muscular reared but paused. A tense, murderous bloodlust filled the air — only it wasn't Nagisa Projecting it.

"Really? That's all you have to say for yourself?" Izuku shakily stood up and spat out a mouthful of blood. "You're blaming their deaths on themselves? On the oath they took as a hero, to protect people even if it means risking their own life? You mock us for playing heroes despite being taught by a villain, but you clearly have no idea what Korosensei stood for."

Korosensei openly admitted that his greatest weakness was his lack of strength, and Izuku understood that better than ever now. In a head-on brawl with Muscular, he was dead. But Korosensei also proved that you didn't need to be strong to be unbeatable.

Besides, he was already coughing up blood — what's a little more going to do?

Tapping into a power he hasn't used in weeks, he grabbed one of Muscular's growing muscle tissue and ran. The villain's quirk allowed him to augment his muscle fibers, and Izuku was curious to see just how far they'd go. At full Mach-2, he zipped around Muscular like a tornado and mummy-wrapped the villain in his own muscle. The shockwave that followed knocked Nagisa, Hayami, and Kota back, the blue-haired boy almost tumbling into the river

"Are you guys okay?" he asked, zipping over to them. Nagisa nodded and stared at the mass of muscle anxiously.

"Midoriya...I think all you did was make him angry."

He was right. The muscle-turned-rope unraveled itself. Izuku gritted his teeth. What other tricks Korosensei would try? Their old teacher also had about a dozen other quirks at his disposal; Izuku was much more limited. Wait, no, he couldn't think like that. Korosensei gave him this quirk, his most heroic quirk. He taught Izuku to win a fight by always having a second blade — a second blade that he honed for months in E-class. If he could outwit his opponent, he could win.

He assessed Muscular. He was too strong to be restrained, even by his own muscles. He was fast enough that using his slower speeds weren't enough, but he couldn't keep up with his Mach-2 speed. He didn't care who he killed, child or not, but his group apparently did have a target list, and Izuku was one of them. He wasn't sure if this meant Muscular couldn't kill him, but he wasn't really willing to risk it. The villain wanted to make him bleed.

And that's where Izuku was going to exploit him.

He could feel the gentle nudge of comfort, a boost of encouragement coming from Nagisa. The blue-haired boy stood in front of Kota and Hayami, ready to protect them at all costs. And with that, Izuku moved. He sprinted around Muscular in a zig-zagged circle pattern. The goal was to keep him contained and keep him distracted. The wind speed of Izuku's quirk countered the majority of the villain's attacks at bay. He confused Muscular by stopping for split seconds at a time, almost creating his own version of doubles like Korosensei used to do. They weren't as good as the octopus teacher's, but they were getting the job done.

A massively muscular arm struck out just in time to grab Izuku and slam him to the ground.

Okay, maybe not!

"You think your little tricks can work on me?! It doesn't matter how fast you can run, I'm still going to crush you to pieces!" Muscular spat. At this point, Izuku was coughing up so much blood that he didn't know what was from overusing his quirk and what was from Muscular crushing his lungs.

"Midoriya!" Nagisa screamed, horrified, but there was a look of pure determination in his eyes. And then the emotions started flooding in.

Pride. Admiration. Worry. Accomplishment. Happiness. Sorrow. Nostalgia. Wishfulness. Satisfaction. And love. So, so much love. The kind of love only a teacher could have. These were the emotions of Korosensei. These were what he felt about E-class all throughout their time together. This was how much he loved them.

It was like Korosensei was there, giving Izuku the strength to fight back, to move even faster. He started drilling punches into Muscular's arm, going faster than he ever had before. The villain didn't stand a chance, couldn't react fast enough to defend himself from the onslaught of attacks. He ripped through the muscles like a paper mache.

Izuku had never felt so powerful. This was so much more than Mach-2, so much more than 10% of Korosensei's power. This was all of his teacher's speed, all of his emotions, all of his being. With a final few punches, he broke through the villain's muscular defenses. With his temporary Mach-20 speed, he created a ring of doubles around Muscular and attacked simultaneously. The villain cried out and, against all odds, finally collapsed.

Izuku stood there, took in those beautiful, glorious emotions (Korosensei, please don't leave) one last time, and proceeded to do the same.

-.-.-.-

He woke up to a sharp pang of terror in his heart, one he hadn't felt since the Reaper was poised to rip a hole through Shinsou.

"Hitoshi!" he gasped, sitting up with a jolt. There was an immediate gentle hand on his shoulder, and the panic was quickly forced away by a deep, soothing calm.

"Sorry," Nagisa apologized. "I couldn't get you to wake up any other way…"

Izuku nodded shakily as reality settled in. He glanced over and saw Muscular lying unconscious a few feet away. Kota was clinging to Nagisa and Izuku and looked ready to cry.

"We need to move," continued Nagisa. "There's no saying how long he'll be unconscious, and we won't stand a chance against him a second time. We need to get Kota to safety, and Hayami needs medical attention. Can you move?"

"Yuh-Yeah, I think so."

With help, Izuku got to his feet. His breathing was patchy and it felt like his lungs were dented, but he could move. Using his quirk, unfortunately, was out of the question, but it didn't matter. No one could navigate this mountain faster than E-class, with or without a speed quirk.

Kota charged at his legs and wrapped around them like a koala hug. He looked up at Izuku with big, watering eyes. "I get it now."

"Hmm?"

"I get it. W-What makes a h-hero so different," the boy sniffled. "Th-Thank you so much. You almost d-d-died for me and I could never be so strong and — thank you…"

Izuku smiled softly and patted the boy's head. "You don't need a license or a cape to be a hero, Kota. Trust me, you're plenty strong."

Nagisa picked up Hayami while Izuku carried Kota on his back, and the group ran towards the base. Pretty quickly, Izuku noticed how weird and shaky his body felt. It made it difficult to keep up.

"Don't worry, I'm just a little tired. I think tapping further into Korosensei's power messed me up a bit," he dismissed, but it only made Nagisa more concerned.

"Is...Is that what happened? I thought you were moving faster, but it was hard to tell. Did you really access more of his quirk?"

Izuku blinked. Had...Had that not been Nagisa's intention when he Projected Korosensei's emotions?

"A-Ah, yeah, just for a little bit. I don't think I can do it again, especially since my body still can't handle Mach-2." He laughed it off, but deep down inside, he was scared. Was it a fluke? A coincidence, a stroke of luck? Maybe he wasn't actually moving that fast and the adrenaline tricked him? Or maybe—

He looked down at his shaky hands for answers and did not like what he saw. Because while the dark made it hard to tell, he swore that the veins in his arms were green.