It happened when he was just outside of his dorm room, books stacked in hand and a wide smile on his face. He'd managed to snag a few interesting volumes out from the shelves of the Beacon Library, some material on Aura and making it stronger, and he was looking forward to making good use of the material. However, just as he was about to open the door-

THWAAAAAAAP!

The door slammed open and flew right into his face. If not for his Aura, Izuku was pretty sure that would've broken and bloodied his nose. As it stood he just shouted out in surprise, stumbled ass-backwards and fell flat on the ground, his books scattered around him as he brought a hand up to his face to rub his sore schnoz.

"Oh, goodness! Izuku, I'm sorry!" Izuku looked up to see Weiss. There was an odd combination of emotions on her face; aggravation was in the background and easily the most apparent as he'd seen it cross Weiss' expression more than often enough to know what it looked like. Thankfully it really didn't seem like it's aimed at him and just seemed to be a very general irritation that Weiss was feeling at the moment. The other emotion and, more importantly, the one actually aimed at Izuku was an apologetic expression as she reached down and helped heft him up... admittedly it took a bit of effort on her part but with his help they both managed to get him to his feet. "I was just rushing out to get some quick air and... well, I guess I didn't expect you to be just outside... darn it, looks like I made a mess at that." The irritation seemed to grow as she saw his scattered books.

"It's okay Weiss, accidents happen." Izuku saw her nod as, nonetheless, both Izuku and Weiss reached down to pick the books up off the floor, gathering them up between them before they went back into their team's room. As he placed the books in his reading space, and Weiss followed his lead, he looked over to his teammate with concern on his face as she quirked her eyebrow. "Something wrong Weiss? You seem a bit wound up." Weiss snorted slightly at that as she looked up at him.

"That obvious huh?" Izuku saw her wince as he flinched back a bit, Weiss just reaching up to rub her forehead as she took a deep breath. "No, no... I'm sorry. I am a bit... wound up as you said." Weiss admitted as he nodded, gesturing over to a chair.

"You want to talk about it or...?" Izuku left the question off as Weiss looked at him for a moment, furrowing her brow slightly before she shrugged.

"It would be appropriate I suppose. This involves your position as our team leader as much as it does anything else." Izuku blinked slightly as she muttered this, Weiss just running a hand through her ponytail as she took a seat. Before long he plopped down into a seat across from her and, as Weiss took a moment to collect herself, she then turned to him.

"First, I don't want to alarm you too much so let me start by saying this; our Team MNVW's supply of Dust, and it's current running cost, won't change. My own connections will see to it that whatever... little market fluctuations about to hit isn't going to hurt our team's bottom line." Izuku blinked as Weiss said that, causing Izuku to tilt his head to the side as he crossed his arms.

"Alright... good to know. What exactly are we dealing with that such a thing might've been a concern, Weiss?" At that the white haired young woman sighed in annoyance as she faced him.

"Tell me Izuku, how much have you heard about the Dust Robberies that've been afflicting Vale?"

The Dust Robberies? Izuku'd heard... only very little about it to be honest. It would come up in Mountain Glenn every now and then when the robberies would affect deliveries of Dust to and from Mountain Glenn but... well, such robberies really didn't hit Mountain Glenn as the supply of Dust was more closely regulated and controlled by the City Council of Mountain Glenn. No private entity ever got it and no one was stupid enough to try to barge down the Combat School or City Hall to try to steal some. He'd heard that such robberies were becoming more rampant in Vale though, which ended up killing a motion in the City Council to allow private shops to begin selling it commercially in Mountain Glenn.

Izuku'd also heard rumors that apparently The White Fang was behind an increasing amount of those robberies... though that was just it, a rumor.

"Well... you have to understand that the robberies haven't really reached Mountain Glenn, so there wasn't a lot of news about them going around. We'd hear about it if it interrupted a shipment coming from us or heading out to Vale, but it was rare outside of that." Weiss nodded in understanding, waiting for Izuku to continue his train of thought. "I have heard that they've been becoming really rampant as of late. A lot of shops have been getting hit and more frequently as time's gone on. I hear it's been getting pretty bad." He frowned slightly. "I know your dad's the Head of the largest Dust Company on Remnant, but I still don't quite understand why you'd be so upset." Weiss nodded again, having figured that, and crossed her arms.

"I suppose I couldn't ask for you to know if you live all the way out in Glenn. You see, Izuku, the problem isn't just that Dust shops are getting hit. That'd be bad enough for business on its own but it wouldn't be the worst thing. No, what's making matters worse, and why 'I'm' feeling so irate in particular is because so far only shops that work in direct association with the Schnee Dust Company have been being robbed!" Her voice raised up in volume toward the end, marking her truly frustrated state as he flinched back a bit.

"O-Oh yeah?" Weiss nodded as she bit the inside of her cheek a bit.

"Yes. It didn't start off that way of course, this is a very recent development. For some time the robberies affecting Vale hit, seemingly, any available target to them, getting Dust wherever they could. Now though? Every store that's hit gets its Dust directly as part of a deal with the Schnee Dust Company for exclusive rights. Any shipment that gets interrupted are shipments coming from our mines and heading abroad. It's 'stark', so much so that my own father's finally taken notice of it... and he's been letting everyone within earshot of him know how infuriated he is at this sudden attack on the company."

That... yeah, that would be pretty odd. It wasn't like the Schnee Dust Company wasn't used to being specifically targeted by groups of people. Lawsuits weren't all that uncommon in recent history for the Dust Company as former workers tried to get their just pay for accidents taken on the job, other businesses had also been trying to undercut the company's stranglehold on the Dust market for years...

And of course there was the whole can of worms concerning the White Fang. That... that wasn't a pretty issue to deal with at all and it wasn't something Izuku felt entirely comfortable thinking about. It was a pretty huge mess as far as he was concerned.

Still, usually criminals didn't take a 'direct' interest in certain companies. He'd heard about small businesses being targets for rackets and protection money, but usually he didn't hear about criminals targeting big huge corporations that had the money and resources to resist in most cases.

"You think it's some rival business buying them off or something? Or maybe someone trying to take advantage of how thin your father's company is?" Weiss puffed out her cheek slightly, but the annoyance seemed less to do with Izuku than something else.

"The former... it's possible, but you'd expect it to be something you'd see in Mistral... or in the very, very, 'very' back corners of Atlas, sad to say." Weiss huffed slightly, clearly bothered as she shook her head. "As for the latter, I doubt that any random, petty group of crooks would be stupid enough to directly target the Schnee Dust Company. Spread thin or not, it wouldn't take much effort for money to find its way into the right places for small groups of criminals to be put in their place. No... my father most definitely does not think it's just common thugs... and a lot of people are in agreement with him, myself included." Izuku got the vague sense that that might have been a pretty rare thing to happen but he kept his mouth shut.

"Well... who do you all think is behind it then?" Izuku saw Weiss practically turn on a dime to look at him, mouth open and ready to speak... but she paused. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment as she looks at him. It was... rare to see Weiss hesitate to speak her mind.

"Before that... er... tell me, Izuku. What are your thoughts on the White Fang? Just... thought I'd ask."

Well that wasn't exactly subtle.

The White Fang... well, that wasn't a potential minefield just waiting to be set off, now was it? Izuku knew all sorts of people had all sorts of feelings about The Fang and the issues surrounding them. In the end, while he couldn't speak to it a great deal himself... he did have his own thoughts on the matter.

"Well... I think the White Fang is... er, well, more like 'was' a good idea that forgot its message." Izuku saw Weiss raise an eyebrow as he spoke, clearly waiting for him to continue. "I mean, initially it was a group that was meant to foster peaceful relations between humans and Faunus. To help bridge the gap that was created by the Faunus Rights Revolution and to help fight discrimination against Faunuskind. They protested for better labor conditions and for more equal laws and did so peacefully... it really was a great idea." Izuku bit his lip slightly as he looked off to the side. "I probably would've been frustrated that things weren't changing quickly either. It really is a great cause when you think about it... and who knows, maybe that's what made them turn to violence. Still, that just makes it even more of a shame; the violence they commit, the hopelessness, despair and hatred they inspire... it hurts their message of equality and badly."

"Now... now that panic is the only thing people care about. The fact that they're hurting innocent people doesn't even seem to matter. It's reckless and... and they do need to be stopped. Not just because they're hurting our people, but because they're hurting their own people too... and they're making it harder for us all to just get along." Izuku sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Or at least, that's what I think..."

"It's not just that they're hurting their own people and cause by making themselves out to be as mindless as every bigot might think them. They're also hurting the Faunus through their choices in targets." Weiss wasn't necessarily scolding him. In fact, judging by her tone, she somewhat approved of his outlook. However, there was still a deep current of frustration in her voice. "Like you said, it's one thing to protest for better working conditions... but to actively attack the shipments of one of the biggest employers of Faunuskind for some kind of change? It's like they're just trying to spread misery and everything else is just a fig leaf." Izuku arched an eyebrow as Weiss said that. It felt more like the latter was Weiss' full feelings on the matter. More than that, he was beginning to puzzle together just what lay at the center of Weiss' nervous energy here.

"Hold on, I've heard some rumors, but do you think-"

"That it's the White Fang behind these sudden attacks on the Schnee Dust Company's businesses and imports into Vale? It's the only reasonable explanation Izuku. There's no business interest here suicidal enough to try to hire out common thugs to do this and, like I said, the reach of the Company is long enough that a common crook couldn't hope to think of getting away with this... plus it makes no sense. Why only attack Schnee targets when there's so much more scattered across the city and that would be, at this point, more lightly defended? It only makes sense if the Schnee Dust Company is being actively targets and I'd bet my last Lien that these rumors about the Fang's involvement aren't just rumors."

Weiss' certainty actually caused Izuku to flinch back a bit. Yeah, on a lot of levels it made sense; if there was one organization that certainly wasn't afraid to repeatedly and explicitly target the SDC, it was the White Fang. Still...

"I mean, I dunno Weiss, I mean, common robbery doesn't really seem up the White Fang's alley, don't you think?" he asked, scratching the back of his head. At that, Weiss just scoffs.

"So what? Terrorism, murder, the destruction of private and public property and more is right up the Fang's alley but they're 'too good' for stealing?"

...

Well Izuku couldn't deny it, she had a point.

"This isn't just common theft either. This is Dust. Highly combustible, used in many different devices and the cornerstone of modern, proper society and, when it comes to the especially 'fine' Dust, 'very' valuable. Who knows what a group like The Fang could do with a great deal of it put into their hands. Up to this point they've just been making due... that wouldn't have to be the case if they've been stealing 'this' much Dust. It's some scary stuff Izuku... and it's ultimately frustrating because there's so little to be done about it." Weiss threw up her hands as she continued. "The SDC is already putting as much of their resources together to deal with The Fang as they can but with so many cells acting in unison, there's only so much to be done. Meanwhile our company, the largest employer of Faunus 'period' is hounded for our business practices by other companies that barely employ the Faunus... if at all! As if my family is bringing this personal little vendetta on ourselves!"

Yeah, Weiss was getting more and more angry and it was starting to sound more and more personal. Weiss seemed to realize that herself as she took a deep breath and massaged her temples.

"Apologies Izuku... I've had to hear about things like this for a while now. It's grown rather irritating to have to come back to nearly every time I pick up a Scroll to answer a call from home." Izuku had to admit, having been around Weiss for several weeks now, it was getting easier and easier to forget that she was the daughter of the owner of the largest company in all of Remnant, one of the most politically and economically important at that as well, and that she was lined up to be its 'heir' to boot.

In addition, even he'd heard of the slightly more unflattering things that the SDC had been accused of doing as part of its business practices with its Faunus workers. To have all of that stuff swirling around her head so often... he could see why she'd get so aggravated.

Still... it seemed off.

"So... if this is the White Fang... then what's the plan?" Izuku saw Weiss' attitude jar a bit as he asked that, the blue eyed heiress turning to look at him, causing him to flinch under her gaze. "I mean... it sounds like you all have been dealing with the White Fang for a while. If the Fang really are behind this then... I mean, there's got to be some kind of plan to deal with them, right?" Weiss blinked as he said that though, in short order, she nodded her ascent.

"Indeed there is... when it's 'confirmed' that it's White Fang operating." Weiss clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms. "The morning report of a robbery before we arrived at Beacon labeled Roman Torchwick as the man behind these robberies though... which, looking as much into it as I have, I don't buy. He was a big time crook around here, but nowhere big enough or stupid enough to go specifically targeting my father's company." Weiss clicked her tongue again as she frowned. "But for right now, so long as the Vale Police Force is convinced that 'he's' the one behind it all, they aren't going to lift a finger and they're 'certainly' not going to use measures that would ensure The Fang would have trouble keeping this crime spree up."

Izuku nodded in understanding. Usually when it was The Fang that got involved with stuff... that was a big deal. Given how many branches of The White Fang there were, how many Kingdoms they infiltrated and how widespread their damage was, there was a certain heightened protocol in place for when people suspected The Fang got involved. It wasn't hard to imagine that Vale wouldn't want to go to those levels unless they were sure it was The Fang behind it.

"So for right now then...?" Izuku led as Weiss just sighed and rubbed her temples.

"So for right now, it's up to private investigators or Hunters to try to piece this together and see if there's proof one way or the other." Weiss scoffed as she stood up. "And given that this isn't Atlas, I wouldn't be surprised if Vale drags its feet on this." Weiss still seemed annoyed but her aggravation, frustration and anger seemed lessened now that she'd had an opportunity to talk things out. In fact, it seemed to lessen by the second as Weiss tapped her chin. Finally Weiss seemed to return to normal as she finally, fully, relaxed. "Thank you for listening to me ramble on Izuku. I realize that this subject must not be of much interest to you, but I appreciate that you took the time to hear my concerns out." Izuku nodded as he tried his best to smile at her.

"It's no problem Weiss, I'm your leader after all. If there's something bothering any of you it's my responsibility to make sure you all are alright." That actually caused a small smile to grace Weiss' lips, before she nodded imperiously and raised her chin slightly, obviously attempting to build that air of High Class pride back up.

"Of course it is. I'm glad to see that you're taking your responsibilities so seriously, even in these small details Izuku... our team really is in good hands." he blushed and scratched the back of his head, a sheepish grin on his face from the praise. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need a walk. A bit of fresh air is just what I need right now." Izuku nodded in agreement as the two of them parted ways, Izuku going back to the books he had intended to study.

...and yet…

...well, Weiss had given him a lot to think about...

"IMMA PAY YOU BACK FOR THE CLOSE COMBAT TRAINING FEARLESS LEADER!"

"UH, THANKS, THIS IS KIND OF WHAT I ASKED FOR?!"

Confusion over Nora's sudden shout of frustration aside, the two of them immediately got into it. By now he and Nora had finally figured out the patterns to their fights; that they'd eventually dissolved into a slug fest between the two of them in the center of the arena. Nora was way more aggressive than Kacchan and, even in the midst of her Battle Rage, as she liked to call it, she never deigned to use her grenades on Izuku for... obvious reasons. Likewise Izuku didn't spar with Nora for the sake of using his shotguns at range; he wanted to be a better fighter. So he'd meet her head on and just keep on trying to actually land some hits on her.

Which, after all his training, all his hard work, it seemed like he was starting to catch up in that regard. As the fight started Nora was going as aggressive as she possibly could, taking several swings at him... while they were all aimed at his torso, he could tell what she really wanted was to go for his legs.

'Man, she must've gotten really agitated sparring with Weiss. '

Still, as he brought Emerald Gust up he managed to smash it into the head of Magnhild to knock it away before ducking underneath the next swing. By then Nora had ground her teeth and brought her hammer in for a third hit, one that, for a moment, he was panicking at the idea of trying to dodge...

But then Izuku pulled upon his new reserve of Aura in order to force himself to meet Magnhild head on with Emerald Gust, the gauntlet smashing into the face of the hammer and, low and behold, the hammer was what gave first! Nora growled in agitation at not being able to hit him, much the same problem she'd faced with Weiss, but he pushed on. Izuku tried to swing a couple times at Nora but that effort was met with little to show for it as Nora just managed, with a small boost of Aura, to move out of the way of his one, non-flailing punch. As much as he was now able to properly knock Magnhild off its trajectory, it seemed that the force of the blow still knocked him off his own footing... Nora'd been working out, it seemed. She was even stronger than before.

Nora went for another trio of swings, trying her best to do more than just make him stumble around or be forced to use his Aura on the defensive. The first swing he reached out and grabbed Magnhild by the handle as it was coming for him, making a quick shift in the trajectory of Nora's swing to send it away from him. Growling a bit Nora brought Magnhild back around but missed so widely that he didn't really have to put much effort into moving out of the way. With a grunt of frustration Nora brought Magnhild over her head to smash down on Izuku but he just quickly hopped back and away from the blow as it made a small crater in the ground. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat as he went back in for a couple swings.

Nora's eyes went a bit wide as his first swing barely grazed her side, her Aura being the only thing that allowed her to move out of the way. That advantage, however, would not be there for her as he blazed in, his other fist reared back at he gave a quick yell and swung forward. This one struck Nora directly in her gut and the following shotgun blast... well, it caused her to flinch a bit. He gritted his teeth; his own punch didn't even bother Nora's Aura, having absorbed it entirely. The Gravity Dust in Emerald Gust's shells helped carried its own damage through but not by much. he'd gotten a hit in on Nora but, by the Gods, was it not enough to do much damage to the battle-crazy girl.

It was another trio of hits she tried to send his way that ware, again, with a little bit of Aura pumping through his system deftly parried, ducked and smacked away. Nora was fuming at that point; he managed to tag her while she was still having trouble getting a hit in on him. If it was any consolation to her, Izuku thought to himself, at least if she ever did hit him, he knew it'd 'hurt'. He was still having trouble doing much to her even when he did hit. Still, persevering, he went in for another couple swings. The next few seconds went on like that for both of them; while his punches were on point, Nora managed to burn her Aura to duck out of both of them, and tried to follow that feat up with a few swings of her own. They were wild and out of control though and only one of them really called for him to bring up his hands to slam Magnhild away from his body.

After a short time he finally managed to tag her again though! In a series of swings where Nora was forced, again, to use her Aura to duck out of the first, he brought his other fist around to slammed it into her ribs, the shotgun blasting off again... and again, Nora just flinched. He felt so frustrated; he was hitting her and hitting her hard yet it was for hardly anything at all! That point was perfectly punctuated to him in the next few moments as, again, Nora started swinging. So caught up was he in his frustration that he failed to really get in time with Nora's third swing. Not even burning Aura would be able to save him that time and so he braced for impact as Magnhild swung down from over Nora's head and into his chest.

The wind was quite forcefully expelled from his lungs as the head of the mighty hammer crashed down into his chest. He gasped in pain as the shock reverberated through him. His Aura didn't buckle and give under the pressure but holy woah was that still a lot of force he just felt push against his body. Nora really was terrifyingly strong when he thought about it. Still he grit his teeth and clenched his fist as, breathless though it was, he gave a quick shout back at Nora and swung forward. Both his punches started on point... but one seemingly more so than the other. His form was perfect as his right fist flew forward and, though Nora was able to move out of the way of his left, he managed to tag her once again with a forceful blow. She still only flinched from it all but... but it was a hit. He had paid her back tit for tat.

It just wasn't enough in this case.

Nora's next swing was a real doozy. Somewhere in the middle of it Nora's footing was dropped and, unable to dig in her heels, Magnhild's sheer weight carried into the swing caused the young woman to spin in place a couple times, the girl yelping slightly as she forced herself to stop eventually, a little more dizzy for the experience than before. He saw an opening and went for it, throwing two punches that he swore would hit this time. One did and, as before, Nora merely grunted and flinched while the second... well, Nora somehow managed to turn her dizzying experience to her advantage, moving with her flailing body to deftly dodge out of the way of his second attack.

Once she recovered her footing though she was immediately ready to go back on the attack and, well, that was that. Her swings were all on point and eventually one just caught up with Izuku. With a powerful smash it landed in his ribs, causing him to lose his breath and stumble off to the side. Moments later the warning bell went off and he knew Nora had won the spar, again.

"Wow Fearless Leader, you landed more hits on me than I did you this time! You're really improving!" With the fight out of the way and Nora having established her dominance after whatever was bugging her from the Combat Practice, Izuku just sighed at her good-natured attempt to lift him back up as he scratched at the back of his head.

"For all the good it did. I barely left a mark on you, much less actually moved the fight in any meaningful way in my direction." Nora just shrugged as she sat down to relax a bit, Izuku quickly followed her lead as he collapsed down onto the ground so that his Aura could recover a bit.

"Well I mean, it's not like you can help it, right? You just gotta keep working at it and you'll get stronger eventually. Heck, with your Semblance you'll probably be waaaaay stronger than me eventually! So just keep at it!" Izuku smiled a bit at Nora's persistence and... well, it did make him feel a little better.

'Plus, it's not like she doesn't have a point,' he thought, flexing his right hand, 'My use of One For All has improved a bit recently…'

He just hadn't really thought about how he'd wanted to use it in a fight. As it stood, his control over it wasn't that strong... and it grew weaker the more he tried to forcefully use that small amount of One For All. He probably shouldn't be using it for every little movement yet but... well, it wouldn't be a bad idea to come up with some strategy for it.

He groaned to himself…

'I still have so far to go…'

"Mr. Midoriya, it's been hours now, it's well past time that we ended our session for today." Glynda Goodwitch spoke to Izuku in a stern tone, signaling that she had just about run out of patience with his stalling. By now he'd learned to get a good read on the professor's moods as his weekly, and in some cases more than weekly, training exercises with One For All had given him plenty of opportunities to do so...

Admittedly it was learning exactly how her tone communicated that she was running out of patience with his insistence that he break his bones repeatedly, but still, progress was progress. It varied from time to time; some days he could push himself and wouldn't manage to annoy her for a while but other days she was going to be strict with his time spent breaking his arms. Like everyone it seemed she had good and bad days and, on the former, she was willing to see his point on the importance of his training...

But on the latter, she saw a seventeen year old breaking his arms and needing to stop before he got himself seriously hurt.

In all honesty, he couldn't exactly blame her for looking at it like that. Still, he needed to train and get better with One For All. He needed to get better with One For All. Being able to use the Glenn Smash was a start, but only a start. It still required Izuku to break his bones and he knew that it was still so much weaker than what he was capable of with a full punch. Plus it's uses were still limited; he didn't think he could quite stomach using it against human opponents of any kind, even those who were trying to attack him. He'd almost certainly reduce anyone like that to paste. So even as Glynda folded her arms, another sure sign that she was just about done with Izuku stalling for more training time, he looked pleadingly at her.

"Miss Goodwitch, please. I feel like I'm so close. Just a little bit more. Please?" He saw her face twist slightly into its more authoritative veneer, a look that said that she's about done with his pleading...

But still, it was only "about done". Izuku watched as she sighed and readjusted her glasses.

"One more. That's it. After that, we're leaving." Izuku nodded in firm understanding at that; she meant it and he was pretty lucky to have one last shot. It was with a steadying breath that he flexed his aching arm a bit as he prepared for another Smash, swallowing a lump in his throat as he stood off in the arena, tensing and relaxing his muscles.

He reared his fist back. He needed to control One For All better. He couldn't just be constantly breaking his bones every time he used it. Even if he could only use a little bit, even if it was only a small amount. Izuku felt One For All run up the length of his arm, pulsing through him and causing his muscles to swell, pressing against the skin and the pain began to well up. Izuku knew what came next; his muscles eventually tore and his bones broke from the pressure. It was like filling a balloon with too much air or microwaving an egg so hot that the yoke inside just broke the shell and comes splattering out... though thankfully without the exact same level of gore on his end.

As he started to bring his fist forward, that was the image in his mind. An egg in a microwave, power being pushed through it... he just... he just...

"SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!"

As he lashed out with his fist, two things immediately jumped out to him and, he imagined, Glynda Goodwitch. The first was that his Smash was nowhere near as powerful as it usually was. In fact, in comparison to a usual Smash, or even the Glenn Smash, the gust of air that followed his hit was downright pathetic. Still, he could live with that kind of disappointment as his eyes, and the eyes of his professor, immediately snapped down to his arm.

His completely and utterly unbroken arm.

"Mr. Midoriya... what did you do?" Glynda asked, seemingly stunned, as she brought a hand up to, at least attempt to, casually readjust her spectacles.

"I-I-I dunno!" Izuku cried out, surprise evident in his voice as well as he brought his arm back to inspect it. There it was, plain as day; unbroken and without even the slightest hint of a bruise across it. And yet just then he pushed in some amount of One For All into it, he felt its power coursing through it. What should've ended with his body cracking under the pressure and breaking instead ended up with an admittedly weak Smash... but no harm done to him.

"Mr. Midoriya... I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I believe that you just successfully used some small part of One For All." Izuku took in a sharp gasp of air as she said that, his mind racing with the possibilities.

'I have…?'

'...'

'I HAVE!'

"HOLY WOAH, I DID!" He exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face as he clenched his fist. "It wasn't a lot by any margin but... but I did. I used One For All without breaking myself! Oh man, what was I thinking when I did it... WHAT WAS I DOING WHEN I DID IT! I got to get my notes, I gotta write stuff down... I need to try to do it again to-" He was stopped from rearing his fist back in preparation for another Smash by Glynda who had quickly snapped her riding crop. Despite the clear satisfaction she had in his progress, there was a certain hard edge to her gaze too...

'Oh...right.'

"Or... I can take a break for today because that was the last I had in me for now?" A curt nod followed his assessment as Glynda let him drop. Izuku sighed slightly as he rubbed his arm, still feeling somewhat sore, but there's a genuine smile on his face. It was small potatoes compared to what he knew One For All could accomplish... but still, it was progress. Significant, obvious progress.

He immediately got to writing notes before either he or Glynda had left the arena.

'Still such a long way to go'

"HERE IT COMES!"

And Nora's words couldn't have been more appropriate as the swing came in hard and fast, slamming into Izuku's gut as the fight barely managed to kick up for the second round. Izuku gasped as his Aura immediately dropped back down into the red and he was sent skittering back. Nora winced slightly as she looked him over, laying stunned on the ground and doing his best to get the air back into his lungs.

"Man Nora... I knew you were strong, especially when you killed that Ursa... but you really are just on a whole other level, aren't you?" Nora shrugged her shoulders as she placed Magnhild across her shoulders, wrapping her arms around the handle.

"I don't know about that Fearless Leader. I mean, I only got 'that' strong because of Weiss' attack... and after that I would've been pretty useless in a fight." Izuku looked up at Nora, a wide smile on her face as she looked down at him. "Meanwhile you got that awesome Semblance of yours! When you get a hold on it, you'll be scary strong Fearless Leader! Plus even now you just have to break a finger or two to use it! Not as cool as breaking your legs to use it, but still!" Izuku couldn't help but chuckle as Nora eventually let Magnhild slip to the ground beside her as she extended a hand to pick him back up.

"Yeah, but right now, even without our Semblances, you're so much stronger than I am..." As if to punctuate that point, Nora rather effortlessly hefted him up from the ground.

"Eh, maybe, but there's tons of stuff you're better at than me besides being strong Izuku! Like school stuff... don't tell Weiss, but I don't think our team's gonna be getting perfect As..." She whispered conspiratorially and apologetically as Izuku just chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "You know a lot more stuff than I do and I'm a lot stronger than you... but stuff like that doesn't have to stay that way. You're training hard and Weiss is doing her best to tutor me... so hey, we've got room and time to change! So don't sweat the small stuff Fearless Leader!" Nora grinned nice and wide again and... well, her nonchalant and carefree attitude actually felt a little bit infectious.

"Thanks Nora." Izuku said with a grin while Nora just nodded.

"No problem! You can pay me back with some pancakes! Come on, I'm starving!" Izuku laughed and nodded in agreement as he follow in behind Nora. Pancakes did sound good at that moment. Though, as he opened the door out of the training room, he couldn't help but mutter under his breath.

"At least the food here is free."

E/N: If you thought that second round was anticlimactic for you, imagine what it was like for the people who decided to use 5% of One For All for the first time, who had to wait a day just for that to happen.

-Shovern

A/N: You know what they say; the dice giveth, the dice taketh away.

-gorilla_fingers