Izuku had made it to the classroom with time to spare... but he was still almost late to class. Why? One little sign that had been posted on the door to the classroom.

The Urban Hunter 101 will be meeting outside, at the double-door entrance to the hall where first years slept this year. Don't be late

A lot of sprinting and Izuku 'just' barely managing to clip the time, arriving with just about fifteen seconds to spare. As he did so and took some deep breaths, his team noticed his arrival and quickly ran up.

"Wow, cutting it close there fearless leader. Guessing the sign threw you off too right?" Nora had been the one to ask that, the happy-go-lucky grin on her face telling Izuku she wasn't 'that' worried.

"Yeah... sorry about this. My business went on a little longer than I thought." The other two nodded as Weiss just frowned.

"Well-"

"You should probably make it a habit to make sure your business is concluded earlier next time then, if you don't want to be late."

"Yeah what... he said? Wait, what?" Weiss seemed pretty taken aback, first by someone taking the words right out of her mouth and then by the fact that 'no one' knew who'd said those words. Everyone quickly looked around their surroundings to try to find the voice and, unsurprisingly, Blake Belladonna had been the first one to stand up and take notice, her amber eyes going a bit wide at the sight as everyone followed them...

To a man in a yellow sleeping bag, zipped up to surround his head.

'Huh.'

"E-...Excuse me, sir? Are you... supposed to be here?" Tenya asked, seemingly a little surprised himself, as the man just nodded.

"I'd hope so... I'm Shouta Aizawa, your teacher for this period." Everyone's jaw dropped slightly as the man slowly stood up from the ground and unzipped his sleeping bag from the inside. A few empty pouches fell out from the sleeping bag as he did so, the man casually picking them up and tossing them into a nearby garbage can as everyone stared in stunned awe. There was no way...

"We'll be doing a live exercise today." Apparently it was true and, at that, he was going straight for some live exercise on the first day.

"Sir, doesn't that seem-"

"I doubt a lot of you have been trained for tracking and work in the Urban environment before today. A lot of Combat Schools still work on the assumption that our career is still purely one build around fighting the Grimm where they live. It's irrational given how much times have changed and how far the Hunter's sphere of influence has expanded, but it is what it is. It just means that schools like Beacon need to make sure you all are up to snuff." The man pulled out a little bottle of eye medicine and dropped a few plips of it into his eyes, blinking slightly as he looked over the class with slightly bloodshot eyes.

"To that end, this live exercise is meant to test where you stand right now. How good you are... or, more likely, how bad you are. You all have passed Beacon's Initiation so you have talent and potential on some level... but as to how that extends to my class is uncertain. I need to know what I'm working with so I can work my material around to what you all as a class will need. A live exercise that tests your talents in tracking in an urban environment is the most rational way for me to find this out." Shouta Aizawa pointed around at Beacon's campus.

"Now Beacon itself isn't a perfect example of what you'll be working with, but I can hardly take you out into the City of Vale to do this, not enough time. So we'll be using Beacon's Campus as an analogue. You'll be grouped up into groups of five so that you all don't trip over each other. I'll quickly make my way through Beacon's Campus and find a place to hide out... it'll be your job to find me. You fail if you don't even get close to tracking me down and, obviously, finding me gives a 100% credit for the day. Regardless of how well or how poorly you do, I'll be looking at where you all are stumbling and building the class to help fix it. Understood?"

Despite how utterly bored the man sounded... there was a lot of logic and reason to what he had said. That probably was a good way of building his class... though Izuku had the uneasy feeling that it meant the guy didn't exactly have a 'lesson plan' as it were and was mostly playing things by ear. Still, despite that, everyone nodded, a bit stunned by the man's demeanor; simultaneously bored and slovenly seeming but also direct and authoritative. It was a weird mix... not helped by the weird look in his eyes.

"One last thing... any natural advantages you have, whether it be strong Aura or a Semblance, use it if you think it will help you." Everyone in the class nodded in understanding as Shouta Aizawa brought up his phone. Pressing a few buttons a random selection of names popped up and he showed it to the class. "I'll be using this to pick out the groups. Like I said, try not to get in each others' ways. You'll have 12 minutes each to find me."

With that, time passed and eventually Izuku's own group of five got up to the starting line; Pyrrha, Tenya, Ren and Nora lined up beside him as they all watched their teacher very carefully. Shouta Aizawa waited for them all to be ready and then, same as the previous times, the man started to move 'very' quickly, dashing around and hoping through Beacon's infrastructure as he seemed to leave them all in the dust... and did so quite successfully. They all lost sight of him as he disappeared amidst the many buildings of Beacon.

As they all waited for Aizawa's signal, a thought actually occured to Izuku. Bringing his finger to his lips as he pondered things, he realize something.

'Aizawa's rules were pretty unclear when it came to this challenge. We are being put up into groups of five yes... but why? Surely it would've been easier to just test us all one by one. Time consuming, sure, but we all had a whole week of potential classes to do this and he could've messed with the time anyway he saw fit," he then continued to shake his head, not able to add everything up, "The only rule concerning how we can't interact with our group; we can't get in each other's way."

"And if that's the only thing we can't do… then maybe... "

Izuku decided to take a chance and be bold; the chances of him by himself passing the test were pretty low. He didn't know much about tracking outside of a forest environment and Shouta Aizawa was a professional Huntsman who knew his stuff. If he was going to find him, he had to work outside of the box and think creatively and right now...

"Guys." The four other members of his group looked at him as he met their eyes, a slightly determined look in his own. "I think we should work together to find Professor Aizawa." The suggestion actually seemed to startle them a bit, each of them looking at him in surprise as Tenya readjusted his glasses.

"Izuku, I understand that might be the easiest way of ensuring he's found, but the rules say-"

"The only rule he specified as to us interacting with each other was that we didn't get in each other's way. As far as interacting with each other, that's the 'only' thing he went out of his way to specify. He didn't tell us we couldn't work together, he didn't tell us we couldn't cooperate, he didn't even forbid us from following each other. He only said that we couldn't get in the way of the other. I think that this is our best bet for all of us finding him. If we do it like this not only can we cover more ground by working together but if any of us well and truly loses the trial, then there's the fallback that someone else would be able to find him in time." The others thought on that for a moment. After all, what he had said was true. Aizawa never specified anything about working or not working together.

"Well hey, if the fearless leader says it's a good plan, and if it sounds like a really good plan, then I'm all in!" Nora declared with a grin as she stretched out a bit. "I'm nowhere near as good as Ren when it comes to finding stuff, so this'll improve everyone's odds of passing even more!" Nora continued, Ren sighing as he looked at her.

"Nora, this is meant to evaluate our skills, what if-"

"Come on Renny! It's like Izuku said, we weren't told we couldn't work together. Also, what better way to test our skills at tracking a target than by pooling them together to find him at the same time! It's, like, Jolly Cooperation or something!" Nora declared, poking at Ren a bit as she did so. Ren looked back over to Izuku for a moment, the two sets of eyes meeting, before he sighed and smiled.

"Alright Nora. He does have a point I suppose." Nora cheered a bit as she jumped up, Pyrrha just nodding as she smiled.

"Izuku hasn't led us astray before now, I'm sure he won't now. This sounds like a very sound plan to me." Izuku smiled at his partner's vote of confidence, glad to have her on his side, as they all turned to look at Tenya. The bespectacled young man just nodded as he re-adjusted his glasses.

"Yes, I suppose this is a very straightforward, simple yet effective sounding plan... as has become par for the course for Izuku. Very well then! I shall follow it as well!" Tenya declared with an enthusiastic wave of his hands, the rest of the group just smiling at his energy. The five of them end up setting up a small joint call on his Scroll. At first he was a bit worried that his own Scroll, simple as it was, might not have that function. However, it seemed as though the school had the insight to install it into his system. It made sense; Teams really would need an easy way to start a call on their phones with all four members when out in the field to help coordinate.

Finally Aizawa gave the signal from wherever he'd hidden himself and the five of them went sprinting off.

It didn't take long after they all split up to find Aizawa. With all of them covering so much ground and communicating with each other most steps of the way, they were able to figure things out. While their individual efforts alone may have panned out so that not all of them would've passed, by working together they all managed to succeed together. While Pyrrha ended up close and Izuku hit upon a 'solid' trail that he thought might've led him to Aizawa, Ren was the one who called in the successful find. Within moments the five of them were all grouped up and, indeed, Ren hadn't told a lie. They all found Aizawa casually sitting some odd feet above them on one of Beacon's arches, the man staring down at them all with those bloodshot eyes of his. According to Ren, Aizawa had pretty much relaxed the moment he was found and, when he'd called the rest of the group in, had waited for them all to show up.

"... I have to admit, I didn't see this coming. Taught this class all morning and most first year students are so into the idea of 'proving' themselves by finding me before others that they just dart off. No one's actually stopped to think about my rules and how they can use their natural advantages to help make this easier... and having a talent for coordinated people is an advantage in my book." Izuku blushed slightly as Aizawa hopped down from his place, putting his hands in his pockets as he looked at the five of them.

"All of you are part of teams, so it's no surprise that some level of cooperation is expected of you all... but this will continue even after you all graduate and are permitted to go solo. There are some Grimm nests too large for even the best Hunter to handle... and when it comes to more sensitive matters like The Fang, Huntsmen and Huntresses are expected to cooperate for the greater good." Shouta Aizawa sighed a bit as he rubbed at his eyes. "Still, I had intended to use this test to see where you all stood as it concerns your tracking... this Ren kid's at least pretty familiar so I don't think I have to worry much about him and Mrs. Nikos wasn't far behind. The rest of you... hard to say." Shouta gave a bit of a spooky grin as he brushed the bangs away from his eyes.

"Still, I think that's enough information... and I'm legitimately impressed. Now don't tell anyone else got it? I don't want this getting out..." They all nodded as Aizawa said that, the man sighing as he let his hair fall again. "Now, go back one at a time... it'll be pretty suspicious if you all come back at once. You all get 100% for the day." They all grinned ear to ear after hearing that, a small round of congratulations being handed out to everyone and some heavy thanks being sent Ren's way for being so quick to find Aizawa. The congratulations eventually turned to Izuku as everyone thanked him for thinking it up. 'it, it really wasn't a big deal?' he thought. 'Other people will surely find this out, right?'

They all eventually made their way back and then, before they knew it, the other groups had finished. Some passed as well, some failed hard and others found themselves in the middle. Izuku couldn't say for certain if anyone else followed his tactics, but either way, he was glad he and his friends had done so well.

"Man, Slugger's killing it today," Izuku felt his ears burn as Yang spoke while walking ahead of him, holding up fingers in a pronounced manner as she counted the events, "There was the Bortbatusk," Izuku felt himself blush a bit more, "Then the history lecture," and a bit more, "Hell, and you just impressed Aizawa. Dad actually spoke about him-some kind famous hardass," she gave off a little smirk, "Seems we got ourselves a really impressive little guy to deal with, huh?"

Izuku felt like he looked like a tomato. Even worse was that everyone around him seemed to nod at that. He'd...he'd honestly never impressed any of his classmates like this before. And to get all of them to think so highly of him this soon about his performance.

Even Weiss seemed to look at him with approval.

Soon enough the bell rang and, thankfully, it was time for lunch. Since it was getting into the afternoon and, after lunch, it would just be the Live Exercises class on his schedule. He didn't wonder for too long about what was next to come as he sat down with his friends and started eating.

As Izuku's peer group sat down for lunch, they all actually just went ahead and dug in for a bit. It had been a fair few hours since breakfast and, while the amount of activity certainly hadn't been insurmountable, it had been a while since any of them ate anything... that seemed especially true for Ruby's Team who dug voraciously into their meals... or at least Ruby and Bakugou had, Shoto and Ren seemed to be maintaining their table manners while at the same time casting glances over to Ruby and Bakugou. Ren seemed more amused, and Izuku had to imagine it had something to do with Nora, while Shoto seemed genuinely surprised by the show. It didn't really surprise Izuku; they probably missed breakfast with how nearly late they were for classes.

After a while however Izuku smiled as he placed his silverware to the side. He was not done by any measure, he was pretty hungry, but he wanted to talk to his team about the plans he and Weiss made for that evening. Better to talk about it before the event itself.

"Hey, Team?" Izuku managed to catch all three of his teammates attention with this.

'Wow,' he felt a bit in awe at how quickly all three of his teammates had looked at him, 'they all listened to me… like they actually will listen… thats… thats never happened before.'

Izuku mentally shook off his shock, and continued, "Weiss and I were discussing this a bit last night and I think I brought it up this morning... but just in case, I wanted us all to talk about arrangements for us to all just sit together and talk this evening about Team MNVW and a few things about how we'll operate. You know, stuff like joint studying, training, exercises and stuff."

His words were enough to get Pyrrha to set her plate to the side as well, turning her full attention to him and Weiss. Nora was a bit more hesitant and it took a few seconds of her scooping some more food into her mouth and swallowing it almost instantly before she turned over to him. He saw Weiss study him for a few moments... which caused him to notice something lingering just on the edge of her vision...

But then it faded. He saw her light blue eyes just blink once as she nodded at his suggestion, Weiss pushing her plate away as she turned to face Izuku as well. He smiled slightly, glad to see that the almost predatory look in his teammate's eyes was gone... still, as he thought that, he couldn't help but think that there ha seemed to have been something else on her mind.

'Almost like she was thinking about herself?'

"Very well Izuku. I said your suggestion last night was quite a good idea... and I think setting an agenda before tonight would be the right move to make as well." Pyrrha nodded, as well as Nora, as Weiss continued. "Now... I think it would do us well to address a few topics. The Team isn't just tactics and strategy after all. It's supplies and equipment... things other teams might see to get their hands on should we fall lax in our own efforts. I think it'd pay for us to consider these options as topics for discussion tonight as well."

Izuku nodded his head as he stroked his chin, considering what to prioritize.

In the end, the four of them worked out a small schedule of topics to discuss that evening. With Pyrrha experienced in teaching or tutoring others in fighting, it was decided that she could make for a good instructor in either group or one-on-one training sessions and that it'd help the team move forward as it concerned their combat abilities. With Weiss and Pyrrha, being the more fabulously wealthy of the group while Izuku and Nora were technically unemployed, and Nora lacking even an allowance, the team's initial group fund would be coming from Weiss and Pyrrha. Finally Izuku stepped up and made the suggestion that working together in future exercises and team based activities would help them all far more than working individually, especially in live exercises. The three young women readily agreed with that notion and thus, without much argument, it was decided to dedicate some training time when it could be managed to group efforts and paired attacks, rather than just the solo drills that had been in mind when Pyrrha stepped up to drill them all.

With the topics of discussion laid out for later that evening they all proceeded to sit down and further enjoy their lunches.

After they all finish up their discussion, having kept to themselves enough not to disturb everyone else too much, a stray thought crossed Izuku's mind. He looked over to Pyrrha and got her attention again, the red haired former-tournament champion pausing in picking her silverware back up to turn her green eyes to him.

"Hey Pyrrha, listen... you know how I've brought up the fact that I've basically only awakened my Aura recently, right?" Pyrrha nodded, having well remembered the few times that had come up. "Well look... I'm looking to change that and improve myself but... well, you know, I don't exactly know what to do to make steady improvements. The professors are all going to be busy with various things and... well, I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't mind teaching me a bit on how to use my Aura?"

"Wooo! Tryin' to get the Invincible Girl all alone with you eh Izuku? You dog you!" Izuku immediately blushed as he turned to face Yang, the blonde just grinning nice and wide as he frantically waved his hands.

"Ah no! That's no what I meant at all! I just wanted to improve my Aura, that's it! I wouldn't ask Pyrrha something like that, I mean, not that there'd be anything wrong with it, not that I want it either, but not because she isn't great-" He was about to devolve into a small spiral of embarrassment as he kept trying to correct his statements when, all of a sudden, Pyrrha lightly touched his shoulder to bring his attention back to her, an amused but kind smile on her face as she nodded.

"Sure Izuku. That'd be just fine by me; I'm more than willing to help you out if it means you improve. That's what partners are for, right?" Izuku sighed a bit as he nodded, the smile remaining on Pyrrha's face as she chuckled. "Honestly, I was going to ask you for some help myself; I'm afraid that I know a lot more about fighting and what goes into combat than I do actual Hunter material or things about the Grimm. It was enough to get me to Beacon but I doubt I'll excel in Port's class with my own limited knowledge. I was wondering if perhaps you wouldn't mind teaching me what you know after we train in Aura? I think I'd certainly be helped in that regard."

"Wooo! Scratch that, looks like Pyrrha's looking to set up some alone-"

THWIP-CRACK!

"OW! Come on Tsu, I wasn't even making a pun!" Tsuyu just let out a 'ribbit' as Izuku shot an appreciative look to her, glad some of the embarrassment he felt had dissipated. He then returned to Pyrrha, who was sharing the look he had had with Tsuyu, who then finally returned her attention to him.

"Pyrrha, I think that will be a great idea," Izuku looked down at his fingers, and began to do some calculations, "Now, where should we start. I think the basicsofhuntsmanlawmightbeagoodplace,gooverthestrengthsandweaknessesofthecurrenthuntsmansystemindeelingwith-"

"Izuku!"

"I… I began ranting again?"

"We'll...we'll work on that too."

After having finished up speaking with Pyrrha, the conversations rolled along until eventually Tenya slid his chair over a bit, getting closer to Izuku while also ushering for Ruby to pay attention. The exaggerated hand gestures Tenya used in order to draw the silver-eyed teen's attention to him ended up also drawing the attention of most everyone at the table, though if Tenya noticed that, then he was certainly good about not showing it.

"Ruby, Izuku, as fellow leaders I'm sure that this day has brought to your attention the potential challenges and opportunities that our positions allow us. Not only are we responsible for the well-beings of our entire team, but we can also do our part to help shepard and shape the growth of those put under our responsibility by actively improving ourselves and our abilities as leaders."

The other leaders nodded cautiously as they saw the entirety of their peer group stare at Tenya, Yang offering a "we can hear you dude" as Tenya continued.

"I thought you both would. Izuku especially seems quite aware of the need to improve and of taking personal responsibility for those who follow him. It's for these reasons that I suggest that we take time every now and then to meet together and discuss our roles as leaders. Things we've found out that can help along the process of leading a team, news about things we've figured out... and a way for us all to continuously stay updated and in-contact about the things going on in our teams."

It took a few seconds of thinking, before Izuku and Ruby stopped, looked at each other, and then nodded. They then returned their attention to Tenya, and smiled.

"Yeah," Izuku stated, "Sounds like a plan."

"TEAM LEADERS RULE!"

"Oi! Would you shut up you damn brat!"

"DON'T YOU TALK TO MY SISTER THAT WAY!"

After the team leaders of TABY and RSBR had managed to restrain their more temperamental members from coming to blows, the conversation at the table seemed to die down. What felt like full minutes seemed to disappear, before the silence was broken once again.

"Hey Yang, something up?" Izuku seemed to startle Yang Xiao Long out of some thought as she blinked her lilac eyes and looked at him. At first, he hadn't had much of a mind to really chat more. After arranging all that stuff and making plans, he really was just ready to finish up his meal before heading off to the Live Exercises class. Still, as he and the others ate, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. It was an odd sensation, of course he was sure he was being watched; people were looking at him to talk here and there and there were so many people in the Dining Hall that surely someone was looking his way at any given time.

Still, he though it felt a bit closer and more... starey, if that made sense. he chanced a look around and he noticed none other than Yang who seemed to just stop and give him a look from time to time, her brows furrowing in some thought as she bit her lip slightly. Eventually after discovering that, why yes, she was looking at him, he decided to get her attention. The second he did, that wily look that was so the norm for Yang returned as she winked at him.

"Nah, nothing much there slugger. What's up? Oh, are you just done talking to your team and partner over there and now you're trying to branch out? Izuku, you really should wait till everyone else isn't around you know~" He blushed a deep scarlet tone as he stumbled a bit, Yang just laughing her ass off for a moment as she waved her hand. "Kidding, kidding. Seriously, what's on your mind slugger?" He eventually manage to calm himself down as he tilted his head slightly.

"A-Actually, that's more what I wanted to ask you." He saw her blink a couple times as he scratched the back of his head. "I just thought, you know... never mind, it's nothing."

"Nah it's cool Izuku. Come on, I'm not gonna bite." Yang said with a grin as she leaned on her hand a bit, Izuku just fidgeting for a second as he looked over at her.

"I was just wondering... well, it seemed like you were really intently looking at me a moment ago. I was wondering what was on your mind?" Yang nodded a bit as he said that, chuckling slightly as she scratched the back of her head.

"Well I guess I never was much one for subtlety. Alright Izuku, I'll let you bite." He saw Yang's expression shift into a... very genuinely curious one as she looked at him. "Now, don't get what I'm asking here wrong Izuku. You passed just the same as the rest of us... heck, more so if you really did beat that Giant Nevermore in one punch. And you're a nice guy and everything, I thought as much when I first met you... but I also thought you were kind of a shivery, nervous sort of fella-"

"-Not the kind of guy I'd pick out to be a Hunter."

Izuku flinched a bit as she said that but nodded. Well, she wasn't wrong. Even Izuku himself acknowledged that he didn't exactly have the demeanor of a Hunter, especially one in the vein of Toshinori. It was one of the reasons he looked up to him and, to a different degree, Bakugou.

"Plus you said it yourself; you only awakened your Aura recently and you aren't exactly the strongest guy here. It must've been pretty dangerous for you to try your hand at Beacon. And you passed, like I said, don't think that I'm thinking less of you being here, you earned it." He saw a stray thought pass by Yang's eyes, something like a memory, as she frowned. "I'm just wondering... what makes a guy like you say something like in Port's class? Why do you want to be a Huntsman this bad? I know you said it's your dream and I know you've talked about how cool you think it is to save people... but, I mean, there's less dangerous ways of doing it than being a Hunter... what's your drive, man? Why are you giving so much to this? Why do you want to be a Huntsman so badly?"

He saw that everyone of his peer group went a bit silent. he imagined that most of them were probably wondering that themselves but didn't know how to ask. The only person who seemed to not be interested was Kacchan and, even then, it wasn't boredom he saw on his face but annoyance, the face of someone who'd heard something like that one-thousand times before.

Izuku looked down a bit as he took some time to gather his thoughts.

'That's a pretty serious question,' he considered, rubbing his chin slightly, 'I want this… I want this so bad…,' memories of his past, of his classmates, of his… his life began to surface, 'Classmates laughing at my dream,' the feeling of warm arms and the sounds of sobs entered his ears, 'Mom... telling me she wished things were different,' his fist tightened, 'Years and years and years of desperately clawing for ny dream, trying to keep that flame alive... and then watching it die in one, single moment.'

"Most Grimm can't be beat unless you have Aura. So no, I honestly don't think you can become a Huntsman without it."

The man he had admired above all others. The person he looked up to... confirming his secret fears. Confirming what everyone had told him for years. Telling him what he knew, deep down in his heart to be true... that depth of despair... that... that...

"Have you ever felt hopeless? Like... everything is crashing around your ears, and there isn't anything you can do to stop it?" The question was heavy as it hits the air. At a glance, it's easy to tell who understood what you meant and who didn't. Ruby quirked her head a bit to the side. Kacchan just seemed disinterested, while Tenya and Tsuyu just looked at him curiously. Everyone else though? He saw a light of recognition in their eyes as they met his, almost as if seeing something all too familiar reflected back at them. "I have... it's horrible. It just... it crushes you, like a stone weight tied to your chest, and you don't think there's anything you can do to fix it."

'Ten months ago, for half a day, it seemed like my world was over. It seemed like everything I'd ever dreamed... it would never be mine. That I would just have to accept that…'

But...

"But... I was saved. My dream was saved." And... and all by the man who had crushed it earlier that day, funnily enough.

"Young man. You too can become a hero."

"It's... it's why I idolize Toshinori. It's why so much of my dream is wrapped up in what he represents, not who he is or what he's done. My mother told me about when Mountain Glenn almost fell... how people were losing everything they'd ever known, block by block. How they were backed into the tunnels meant to save their lives, facing a death they'd been promised rescue from... fearing that no one would come. And then... and then he did. He didn't do it all on his own... but he rallied the remaining huntsman and, block by block, he and the others took back Mountain Glenn... because Toshinori inspired them. He gave them hope that there was a chance. That their lives didn't have to end there! That there was still something better waiting for them!"

"That's what Toshinori really is! He isn't just a Hunter or a hero... he's hope. He's inspiration for the world over that tomorrow can be a brighter day. That we don't have to fear for our futures, that we can still dream. His example... it's inspired me to never give up. To never lose hope, even when it seems like there isn't a reason to... and... and that's what I want to be." Izuku looked up, a glow of determination behind his expression as he spoke. "I could go with less dangerous jobs and help people, I know. I could be a policeman or a fireman and save a life. Heck, I could even be a farmer and help someone that way. But... just helping people, just saving them... that's not my dream. That's not all I want."

"I want people to feel safe. I want people to feel hope that everything is going to turn out alright, no matter what's happened or what place they've fallen to. It sounds stupid and childish I know but... in this world we're living in, where monsters prowl at the corners feeding on our negative emotions... to feel hopeless... to feel like there's no future... it can only set you adrift." Izuku clenched his fist as he spoke. "If I can be what Toshinori is to me to even one person... to be there and to protect the smile of someone who 'needs' a hero... then I owe it to them to try, no matter how scared I get! That's what I want to give to people and to me, the only way I can do that is as a Huntsman. It might not be a perfect reason, if there even if such a thing... but I think that so long as you give it your all, then it doesn't matter. If you do what you can and give it your all, then your reasons don't matter."

"And... I might not turn out to be the best or the strongest Huntsman. It might just be that it won't turn out like that... but... but so long as I try my best, so long as I give it my all, I can be happy with whatever I've got. So long as I can inspire people and give them the courage to fight on, then I'll be happy!"

...

*Sniff*

"N-Nora... are you... crying?"

He was snapped out of his trance-like state as he snapped his head over in Nora's direction, the bubbly bomber looking a little misty-eyed as she just waved him off.

"D-Don't be ridiculous... I'm just... sweating through my eyes is all." It wasn't long before Ren's hand had found its way over to Nora's shoulder, placing it on there as the two shared a look. There was an understanding there, Izuku thought, a reflection of a past history. As Ren turned to him, he nodded in approval.

"I think that sounds like a very good reason to want to become a Huntsman, Izuku."

"You think?! That's absolutely the best reason anyone would want to become a Huntsman ever! To be a hero!" Ruby Rose declared loudly as she gave Izuku a wide, beaming smile, a tint of red came to his cheeks as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He looked around the table and saw that Tenya was likewise claiming to not be getting all misty-eyed, much to his partner's amusement. Said partner was looking at Izuku with those amber eyes... there was an understanding there that he didn't think there was before. Shoto seemed to be staring on ahead, the vague ghost of a smile on his lips as if he'd recalled some fond memory or another. Those reactions intermixed and mingled throughout the table, all except for Kacchan who was notably quiet at his end. Finally, the girl who asked him that question in the first place just gave him a smile. A mix of pleased and... vaguely uncertain as she nodded.

"Yeah... that's... that's one heck of an answer there slugger. Thanks."

He didn't really think it was all that much. It's just what he felt deep down. It was what he held as true to who he was. It really wasn't anything special. Still, he couldn't help but smile as the table got back to their meals. It would be best to finish up eating. After all, live exercises were the next period and they didn't want to show up hungry. The class was supposed to take up the rest of the day after all.