AN: Lusamine - Himiko's definitely got a couple good quirks to copy among her immediate circle of friends. Emily's quirk is going to be a popular pick though, even if she "only" gets to fire fancy light bullets without the hax support gear. Plus side, I'm excited to see what nonsense Himiko can get into with her awakened quirk and Izuku's analysis backing her?

As they were getting ready for lunch, the students of Class 1-A began to hear a commotion outside the door to their classroom. Unfortunately for the rest of the class, Katsuki was the one to reach the door first, opening it to reveal a crowd of first year students. Class 1-B made up the majority of students, but there were a number of first years from the general studies and support courses as well.

With the door open, the rest of class 1-A was finally able to make out what was being said.

"So these are the guys getting all the attention huh?"

"Why does the media have to focus on them, bunch of vultures?"

"What makes them so special?"

"Yeah, there's more students than just them here!"

Katsuki just looked annoyed at the crowd in front of him. "That's because they know who's the best. Now out of the way, you extras."

Without waiting he began to shove his way through, only to be stopped by a sleep-deprived student with purple hair.

"You know, the sports festival gives us general studies students a chance to join the hero course if we do well enough. And if a student from the hero course does particularly poorly, they could be kicked out."

Katsuki responded with a sneer. "Tch. You're threatening the wrong person, because I'm the best this school's ever had." He then continued shoving his way out of the crowd.

The students in the crowd grew agitated by Katsuki's behavior until they heard a gasp from the front of the crowd, drawing attention back to the classroom, and the next student standing in the doorway.

Moving quickly, Izuku rushed to the door and began to bow deeply. "I'm sorry about my classmate's behavior, he doesn't represent the rest of our class. However, as class representative I take full responsibility for his actions. Bakugo has always been this way - he antagonizes everyone around him to purposefully back himself into a corner. He somehow has convinced himself that proves he is better than everyone else. I want to reassure you that the rest of us aren't like that!"

Behind him, he heard Eijiro speak up. "Isn't that a super sad way to live though?"

"Who cares, if that's how he chooses to live he only has himself to blame!" A gray-haired student from class 1-B responded.

"At least the rest of you 1-A students know your -" The blonde-haired student's insult was cut off by a giant fist karate chopping him on the back of his neck, sending him to the ground.

"Sorry about that! As you see, we have our own hothead to deal with, so we understand what it's like!"

Izuku straightened and smiled at his fellow class representative. "Thanks Kendo!"

Izuku then turned towards the crowd to address the larger issue. "I know it's not fair for the media to give us so much attention, everyone at UA is trying their best. Why do we get put on a pedestal for being attacked by villains? Why is that praiseworthy? Just because we were allowed to fight back without fear of vigilantism laws?"

The crowd was silent at his questions. Izuku found himself releasing a breath he didn't even know he was holding as he stepped away from the door. "We can't control what is said about us. I just ask that you judge us by our own actions, rather than what you hear."

He was pleasantly surprised to feel the tension dissipating, and actually saw several students from class 1-B enter the room to try talking with his classmates. It seems his attempt to prevent his classmates from getting caught up in Katsuki's nonsense worked. The rest of the students, seemingly satisfied by Izuku's speech, began to disperse.

Izuku, however, was curious about the purple-haired kid, who was sizing up the hero course students once more before walking away. Hoping for answers, he pushed his way through the thinning crowd to follow him.

"Hey, what is your name?"

The student turned and gave him a look of indifference. "Why do you care?"

"Some of us actually are trying to help people."

He scoffed at that. "My name is Hitoshi Shinso."

"I'm Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you. Um, if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to be a hero?"

The question seemed to catch Shinso off guard. "To prove everyone wrong. In middle school, my classmates told me that because of my quirk I was going to become a scary villain."

Izuku's face fell. "Oh. I'm sorry."

This seemed to anger Shinso. "What do you have to be sorry about?"

"Just that you were treated that way. It's not right."

"Why do you care? You are already in the heroics course, which means you obviously have a great quirk. It's not like you would ever understand."

This caused Izuku to laugh bitterly.

Shinso stepped forward menacingly. "What's so funny?"

"If my quirk came in any later, I would have been taking the entrance exam quirkless." Izuku's demeanor shifted as he gave Shinso a serious look. "So I know a thing or two about having a rough time at middle school."

Shinso seemed to deflate. "Wha- how?"

"My quirk didn't come in until I had enough muscle mass." Izuku sighed. "And it was hard finding someone who was willing to give me a chance and train me properly when everyone thought I was quirkless."

"Hmph." Shinso gave a neutral response, but looked like he was considering Izuku's words.

"If you don't mind me asking, what is your quirk?"

Shinso sighed, resigned to finishing the conversation. "My quirk is called brainwashing, I can use it to make people do things for me."

"That sounds super useful! I can think of so many uses for that as a hero!" Izuku paused for a moment, his eyes going wide as realization set in. "You failed the entrance exam, didn't you?"

"Isn't that obvious? Because my quirk doesn't work on robots, I never stood a chance."

"I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry about that?" Shinso once again felt himself getting angry, he didn't need pity!

"This is going to sound weird, but I'm sorry I didn't know you earlier. I um." Izuku swallowed. "This is also going to sound weird, but I'd like to help you join the hero course."

Despite himself, Shinso found himself smiling. "You're right, that sounds weird."

Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Y-yeah, I get that a lot. But if you don't mind, I would like to mention your name to a few people. After I was finally given a chance, it just feels right to help someone else?"

"Honestly, if you think you can do something, be my guest. I won't hold my breath though."

Izuku smiled at Shino. "Thanks! If this doesn't work, I'm sure we can think of something after the sports festival!"

Shinso let out a small snort. "You're a real weird one."

He turned around to leave, but raised his hand to wave goodbye. "Maybe I was wrong about you hero course types."

After his talk with Shinso, Izuku returned to the classroom only to see several students from 1-B were still talking to his classmates, and once again sighed in relief. While he knew Katsuki had the skill to back up his attitude, he wished he would at least be more considerate of how his actions affect those around him.

Then again, if he was more considerate, maybe they would still be friends.

With one crisis averted, Izuku returned to his desk to finish packing his bag before heading towards the cafeteria. While he would normally join his friends for lunch, he wanted to check if All Might was back yet, and to see if they could talk. Fortunately, it seems like All Might had the same idea, and found him first.

"Young Midoriya! I was wondering if we could have lunch together?" All Might asked, holding a bag of food that looked tiny in his hands.

Izuku smiled. "Yeah! I was actually looking for you."

That earned a soft laugh from his mentor. "I am not surprised, after what happened the other day, I am sure you have many questions."

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Follow me, I believe there is one other person we should be talking to, and his office will be good for this conversation."

Without another word, All Might led Izuku to Nezu's office. Once they were inside, the principal locked the door and set the room's anti-surveillance countermeasures.

"I'm sorry I haven't been around the past few days, young Midoriya. After the attack on the USJ I agreed to help with the investigation. I am afraid that what we have learned is troubling."

"What do you mean?"

All Might gave Izuku a sad smile. "It would seem that even beyond death, the ghost of my nemesis still haunts me."

This seems to surprise Izuku. "You mean the League of Villains?"

"Indeed! You see, after I defeated the man who wounded me five years ago, we of course tried to dismantle his organization with the help of the police. However we were never able to catch several key members of this organization. When the trails went cold, we were left to wonder when we would have to deal with them again."

Izuku thought about it. "The Nomu?"

"Precisely! No such creature should exist, but it reeks of the experiments we found in the aftermath of the incident."

This caused Izuku to pale a bit.

"It appears my initial hypothesis was right, and that they were in fact, targeting All Might specifically." Nezu chimed in. "And that you students were merely caught in the crossfire. Fortunately for us, your class put up a strong showing. Many of the villains that were arrested admitted that they were under the impression you would be easy targets. Their plan was to use your class as a distraction - after all, if All Might was forced to protect students, that means he could not devote his entire attention to dealing with that creature."

All Might smiled proudly at Izuku. "And ultimately, your class proved them sorely mistaken!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "T-thanks. When you had arrived, I got the impression that you knew something."

All Might frowned at that. "No, at the time I only knew that the students under my care were in trouble, and it angered me - how could someone stoop so low as to attack children! What's worse, they were trying to attack children as a way to get to me! It was only afterwards, when the investigation began, that I learned the truth."

"I see."

"Although, now that I know that there are likely ties back to my nemesis, I will dedicate the rest of my remaining strength to finish the job I began five years ago."

The way All Might phrased that concerned Izuku. "What do you mean, the rest of your remaining strength?"

All Might and Nezu shared a look, before All Might sighed heavily. "As you are keenly aware, I can only be a hero for a few hours each day."

"Y-yeah."

"Well, there is more to it, that only a few people know. If I reach into my reserves too heavily, the amount of time I can spend as a hero will shrink even further."

That shocked Izuku. "W-wait, does that mean…?"

"Unfortunately, yes. Remember when I explained how One For All was an accumulation quirk? As it accumulates power, it has to store it somewhere. And even though I have passed it on, that doesn't change the fact that I have been storing its power for forty years. This is why I am still able to perform my duties as a hero even though I have passed my quirk on to you."

Izuku pondered that. "I was wondering about that. Obviously you have been able to continue being a hero despite the fact that I now have One For All. I just didn't put the pieces together." He admitted with some embarrassment.

"However, now I must carefully manage the embers of power I have left. If I draw too heavily on them, then I risk using them up, and that will leave me with less power to draw upon in the future. If I do this too often, I will eventually have nothing left, and will be rendered quirkless."

Izuku looked down at his partially eaten meal, suddenly losing his appetite. "I-is this because you gave me One For All? If you still had it, wouldn't you still be able to draw upon its full power?"

He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You have it backwards young Midoriya. Ever since my injury five years ago, my body has been getting weaker. Even if I had not given you One For All, I would merely be delaying the inevitable."

"Indeed. Do you remember all of your training, Midoriya?" Nezu asked. "About how you needed to prepare your body to handle One For All's strength? All Might is unfortunately in the opposite situation. As time goes on, his body is slowly becoming less suitable for One For All."

Izuku looked at All Might with wide-eyes. "S-So no matter what, you will eventually be quirkless?"

All Might nodded gravely. "Indeed. Within the next five years, whether I like it or not, I will not be able to fight anymore. Either I will have spent the last embers of my strength that have been left behind, or my body will be weak enough that I simply cannot handle One For All's power anymore." He gave Izuku's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "For that reason, it is far better that you have One For All, and gain mastery over it, than it is for me to continue holding it."

Izuku nodded. "I get it. It's just - it's a lot to process. While I knew you would be retiring eventually, it just suddenly feels a lot more real?"

"That is understandable. Just remember young Midoriya, I am not going anywhere." All Might assured him.

"Thanks" Izuku smiled at All Might.

Nezu cleared his throat, before moving onto the next topic. "While we were preparing for the eventuality of All Might's retirement, in light of the news about the League I am afraid we may have to move up our timetables."

All Might sighed heavily. "Unfortunately that seems to be the case."

This shift in conversation broke Izuku out of the gloomy thoughts in his head. "Timetables?"

Nezu folded his hands behind his back and began pacing in front of his desk. "Yes. We had planned to gradually revise our curriculum for students, but in light of this new threat, we are going to begin implementing more dramatic changes. Some of these will impact your classes as a whole, however others will be more individually tailored. One of those changes would be of particular interest to you."

Eager to help in any way he could, Izuku turned to Nezu. "What do you have in mind?"

"In the past, when we have particularly talented individuals we have arranged for additional lessons for them to cultivate their talents. As part of the revisions, I am looking to expand these courses into more regular offerings, and begin aggressively recruiting students from among the hero courses, before eventually branching into the other tracks as well."

Nezu retrieved a folder from his desk and handed it to Izuku. "After reviewing your hero analysis notebooks, I had always intended to launch one of these extracurricular courses specifically to further develop your hero analysis talents. This was only reaffirmed by your actions during the attack on the USJ facility two days ago."

Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I-I just got lucky though."

"Nonsense!" Nezu responded. "At your current skill level, you were able to determine a strategy to handle the Nomu. And I must point out that other than Katsuki Bakugo you had only known your other classmates for three days. Imagine what you could do if you continued to cultivate those skills and were able to apply them whenever you worked with other heroes."

Izuku felt his face heat up in embarrassment. "I-it was nothing, really!"

"No, it was indeed something young Midoriya." All Might told him. "With your current talents, you were able to help me preserve the secret of my condition from those villains. You have a sharp mind, and it would be a waste to not develop that further. After all, as we have so recently been reminded, there are some foes in which simply punching them harder is not the right answer."

Izuku looked down at the folder in his hands, then back to Nezu and All Might "I-if you two think so, then I'll gladly do it!"

"Excellent! While you are the obvious choice for this class, I am aware that there are other students in the hero course who also have some experience in quirk analysis, as well as numerous students in the support course. If you have any recommendations for the class, I would love to hear them."

Izuku put his thumb to his lip as he thought about it. "The most obvious choice is Emily Song, from class 2-B. Her focus for analysis is different from mine, but she is extremely talented. Unfortunately I don't know anyone among the third years or either class 2-A or 1-B." He looked at Nezu. "I am not sure what she would think of the offer, but Momo Yaoyorozu from my class also would be a good candidate. She doesn't have any background in quirk analysis the way Song and I do, but given her intelligence and the sheer versatility of her own quirk, she would be a natural fit for the class."

Izuku momentarily paused, as if considering something, before continuing. "Depending on the other courses you had in mind, I can think of several students in my class that I would recommend as well. Tenya Iida, for example, shows leadership capabilities, and his family has a history of running a hero agency."

This earned a soft chuckle from All Might. "Always seeking to go above and beyond, I see!"

"I will keep this in mind." Nezu offered. "We are still working out the specifics of the additional course. The lessons on quirk analysis merely had the benefit of being prepared ahead of time, in anticipation of offering them to you."

"I see. Is there anything else I can do to help?"

"At the moment no. Once we have more solid information, we will be asking all of the class representatives for suggestions among their classmates, but I believe that is all we have at the moment."

Izuku nodded. "T-thank you for trusting me with this."

After they had finished their meal, All Might began to pack up the remains of their lunch, before taking his leave. Izuku however, lingered behind, waiting until All Might had left before turning to Nezu.

"Is there something else, Midoriya?"

"Actually, there was. There is a student I wanted to talk to you about. One of the students in General Studies - Hitoshi Shinso."

"Oh? What about him?"

"I actually just met him before this meeting. He has an amazing quirk, one suitable for a hero, but due to the entrance exam he was at a disadvantage compared to everyone else."

Nezu sits down and pulls up Shinso's file on his computer. "I see. Yes, that does seem like quite the particularly useful quirk."

"I am starting to think that the entrance exam is flawed." Izuku admitted. "The only reason my sister was able to pass was because of her training under Kan-sensei, a hero in his own right and a teacher at this school. And the same for myself - while we were intending that I had One For All for the exam, we all know how that turned out." He answered glumly.

"There is also the fact that had you not met All Might, you may have been passed over entirely." Nezu admitted. "Unless you had found another teacher that was willing to give you the necessary training to overcome the challenge presented."

Nezu spun his chair and hopped out, walking to a window. "I had originally thought that the addition of a hero point score would be a sufficient compromise for the entrance exam. After all, if a potential student didn't have the right quirk to deal with the robots, they could always seek to impress the panel. However, even that line of reasoning is flawed, due to the nature of the exam itself."

"And here is more evidence pointing out the problems with the exam. This student - Shinso - is yet another data point showcasing the flaws of the system. You are right that he could be a wonderful hero, and yet we have denied him his opportunity simply because he was facing the wrong type of test."

"Exactly! After all, you teach us the variety of roles we can specialize in as professional heroes, why is there a standardized test?"

That got a laugh out of Nezu. "Well, we have standardized tests in the interest of fairness. But I understand your reasoning - as the premier hero school, why have we not designed our test that allows for a wider variety of quirks to compete. After all, if we focus too heavily on combat quirks, we risk becoming complacent and losing our reputation."

"I haven't thought about it that way." Izuku admitted.

"Well of course, you are merely a student, while I am the one who is supposed to handle matters such as this!" Nezu turned to Izuku. "I will have to think further on this, but thank you for bringing this student to my attention. I am sure you will know when I have made a decision. Was there anything else?"

"N-no, I think I've had enough of your time."

"Oh it was no trouble at all! I think we have had a very productive conversation."

Nezu sat back down in his chair as Izuku gathered up his things. "Have a good afternoon, Midoriya. I can't wait to begin our lessons next week."

Izuku could tell that Himiko knew something was wrong as soon as she spotted him after school. She was always observant, and that was before she spent a year at UA. So when she saw him after school, he saw her expression change instantly.

At least she waited until they got home before she ambushed him. They walked to the train station without incident, and once again, Izuku and Himiko had to assure Ochako that it was still ok for her to come have dinner with them. She gave less resistance today, although Izuku began to suspect that it was going to become part of a daily routine.

However, Himiko's attitude changed the moment the three entered their apartment. Izuku could feel Himiko's eyes on him, and knew there was no escape. Once they removed their shoes and made their way to the living room, Izuku turned towards his bedroom.

"I'll be right back Uraraka, just let me unpack my bag!"

"Ok!" Ochako replied quickly as she sat down at the table, beginning to pull out her own books.

Izuku slipped into his room, and walked over to drop his bag on his desk, waiting to hear the door close behind Himiko.

"Ok Izu, talk."

"But Uraraka's out there!" Izuku weakly protested.

"So talk fast."

Izuku turned around to face his sister, seeing the concern etched on her face. "It's going to sound really silly."

She crossed her arms and leaned against the door. "Don't care, it's bothering you."

Izuku sighed. "So over lunch today I was meeting with Nezu and All Might. It was really good and I should probably tell Emily about it, actually!"

"But."

"But I suddenly came to the realization that All Might is going to be retiring eventually?"

"Wait, seriously? That's what's bothering you?" Himiko had a look of disbelief on her face.

"Y-yeah." Izuku felt his shoulders slump.

"I mean, I get it." Himiko waved her arms as if showing off his room. "But he has been a hero for how long?"

"Forty years."

"That's a long time! He deserves a break."

"You're right. I guess, he just has been such a cornerstone in Japan for so long, it's hard to imagine a world without him."

"Plus there's your personal hero worship." Himiko muttered under her breath.

Izuku winced at that.

Himiko looked down. "Sorry. That was mean. I know how much he means to you personally." Himiko crossed the room and pulled her brother into a hug. "But you know what, Japan's going to be ok when All Might retires. And you want to know why? Because they will have you." Himiko felt her lips tug into a smile as she added. "And they'll have me."

Izuku couldn't help but smile as he returned the hug. "And they'll have all of our friends?"

Himiko laughed. "Yeah, I guess they will help too." She ruffled her brother's hair. "Leave it to you to blow that out of proportion. It really is silly."

Izuku laughed back, and felt a weight lifting. "I think I just needed to hear it from someone else?"

"Good!" Himiko pulled away and stepped towards the door. "And if you need to hear it again, I'll keep saying it. Someday we're gonna be great heroes!"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah!"

Seemingly satisfied, Himiko turned to leave. "We should probably get back, don't want to leave Uraraka alone with mom for too long~"

Izuku couldn't help but laugh nervously. "Thanks, Himi."

AN: While I could definitely write fluff for these kids all day, I accidentally fell into a bunch of plot. I'm sure Aizawa's going to eventually regret what he told Izuku during the quirk assessment test,

Thinking it over this week, I'm going to slow down from my current pace of 2 chapters a week and try a new schedule of, essentially, 3 chapters every 2 weeks. So one week I'll only release a chapter on Sunday, and then the next week I'll release chapters on Weds-Thurs and then Sunday. That feels like a better balance for me, and will give me more time to work on other projects.

Related to that - I kind of assumed it would happen, but after reading the latest chapter from the manga, I've already outlined a follow-up chapter to the Reverse!AU that I wrote, although I won't actually write the chapter until the current arc in the Manga has wrapped up.

And a little bit of maintenance - I've also reorganized this story slightly. I've combined the first two chapters, and have moved my list of OCs to the first chapter in this story, so if you want to look up someone you can find them there.