"And that's why I came to you."

Izuku blinked slowly at that, looking around in confusion before focusing on his grinning teammate. "Nora, you didn't say anything. You just walked up to my desk, sat down, and said 'that's why I came to you'. I'm going to need more context about what you're talking about."

Nora sighed and rested an elbow on the table. "Well, if you're gonna bug me with questions, I suppose I can answer you." She seemed oddly proud when she began to explain. "My semblance is awesome, right? Super awesome and powerful, right?" Izuku was smart enough to nod at both questions. "But it's kind of a waste of a lightning grenade just on me instead of, ya know, the bad guys. So I was wondering if your super smart brain had any ideas about how I could use it better." She pointed, and he leaned back as though he was expecting the digit to go off like a gun. But it was Remnant, and it WAS Nora, so he thought it better to be prepared just in case.

When the finger didn't explode or do anything other than be a finger, he forced himself to actually lean towards her as he pondered her request. "Well, you could crush lightning dust, but we don't know how much you can absorb, and the crystals themselves can be volatile so you'd have to be careful with storage. Hmmm..." Fingers idly drummed on the desktop for several moments. "I'm not sure, though I think Professor Oobleck has a semblance that's similar. You could ask him?"

Nora gasped in excitement. "Izuku, you're a genius! How do you know we have similar semblances?"

Having expected the inquiry, Midoriya calmly fished out Hunters of Remnant volume 7, the table shaking when he set his notebook down with a 'thud'. "If I remember right," He paused to fish through the pages. "his is more towards flame attribute, so you can at least ask what ideas he came up with. How's that sound, Nora?" When he finally looked up, she was gone. It was actually rather impressive, Izuku noted, that she could leave so quickly without making a sound. It didn't stop him from clapping his hands together and praying the teacher could forgive him for what he'd unleashed.

xXxXxXxXx

"And that's why I came to you."

"Hmm..I see." Professor Oobleck nodded, leaning back in his chair while the excited student leaned on his desk, hands grabbing the edge in a way that reminded him of a bird of prey. "Well, I cannot fault a student that wishes to improve herself, especially when our abilities seem to share some correlation. I would be happy to assist you, Miss Valkyrie!"

"This is so awesome! So what's your big secret? Do you break Dust stones in your teeth and absorb their power, or breathe in and suck up all the fire around you for a super cool power-up?"

"Actually, I find rationing it out is the most efficient." He shrugged as she sagged in place. "Breaking Dust creates a brief boost, yes, but the results are unpredictable due to the grade of dust used and its size. Too many variables that need to be accounted well in advance, you see. And while yes, I can actually absorb flame, I prefer to use it to bolster aura I've lost or for as a precursor to larger attacks. To improve my baseline strength and other basic abilities, I actually powderize my Dust and add it to my coffee thermos."

"Your thermos?"

"It holds my coffee. It's also a flamethrower."

The look of awe he got made the wait worth the theatrics.

"Whooooa. So can I get a coffee thermos full of whoopass? Would that mean I'd have to modify Magnhild? Oh that'd be tough." She gasped. "Maybe I could wield two weapons at the same time! I would be queen of the world! Ahahaha!"

Professor Oobleck, being a professional, simply smiled, nodded, and waited for her to wind down. That sort of mania was actually rather familiar to him, and amusing as well. "I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend that, Miss Valkyrie. You are certainly physically able to do such a feat, but it would make it impossible to use their more exotic abilities properly. Not to mention I wouldn't recommend coffee to a young lady for some time, as it could stunt your growth."

"No! I don't wanna be Weiss-sized forever!"

"Indeed. There are still strong teas that work just as well, and I expect you to come see me after classes at least once a week so I may teach you how to properly grind and ingest dust. If you fail to meet my standard, or attempt this without me, I will inform the Headmaster so he can punish you accordingly." He adjusted his glasses, letting the light flash over them as he leaned forward. "Am I understood, Miss Valkyrie?"

Nora stood ramrod straight and saluted with impressive crispness. "Yes sir, teacher-man, sir!"

"Capital! Now, do you know where you can get any tea?"

"Actually..."

xXxXxXxXx

"And that's why I came to you."

Ren looked at the open door, then to his teammates, then back to his very confusing friend. "Nora, you didn't actually say anything." Though the familiar antics did put a small smile on his face, which made her blush...from embarrassment! Yes! Purely from embarrassment! She was just so excited, not just because she was getting to see him, that she forgot the boring explaining part. Fine! He'd get the quick version.

"Ren! I need your tea!"

"About time she just said it!" Bakugo snorted.

"No no. She said 'Tea', like the drink." Shoto corrected with a brief shake of his head.

"Really?" An irritated sigh. "Fuck."

"Language!" Their leader chided, then continued. "And what are you talking about?"

"Nothing!" That time it came from all three boys, even through Ren had no idea either. Better to play it safe. He looked to Nora and quirked an eyebrow. "Why do you need tea? Is everything alright?"

"It sure is, but I wanna put lightning dust in a drink so I can be super awesome like Oobleck, so I thought to myself 'Who has the best tea in Beacon, though I don't really drink the stuff?', and then I thought remembered you always had good tea so I wanted to get some from you and maybe learn how to make itandhangoutwithyousomecauseweneverhangoutanymoreandImissyouand-"

Thankfully Ren was finally able to interrupt her before she passed out. She was looking rather red at the end. "I get the point." He let out a brief huff of amusement. "But I take making good tea seriously. Are you ready to learn?"

"Yes!" She pumped her fist into the air. "I'm ready for your tea! Anytime and anywhere!"

Bakugo looked over at Shoto. "You sure she said te-"

"Yes I am. Now shut up."

Blake sat down in her dorm room after her little chat with Toshinori. A small wave of calm flowed through her since she was in a safe place where she could relax and nothing could surprise her.

She leaned back in her chair, her hand reaching down for one of her ninjas of love books almost instinctively. Instead of her hand brushing against the leathery binder of the book, she touched the air and only the air.

A frown etched itself on Blake's face. Where did her book go? Surely no one from her team had taken it right? No, they wouldn't do that. They were her teammates so she could trust them with anything... Okay, maybe not anything but she at least trusted them not to steal her stuff.

She thought back to the last time she had the book. She remembered picking the book up but where did she take it? Her eyes opened wide with shock as she leapt up from her chair.

"No no no, please don't be where I think it is" Blake muttered under her breath.

How could she not? She took her book with her when she was following Izuku. That way, she would have something to read if he did something mundane, like studying aura again. Which means, the only time she would put down the book is if she dropped it. There's only one moment where she could have done such a thing.

When Toshinori jumped out of nowhere.

…

"Hmm, what is this?" Toshinori asked himself as he bent down to pick up a book. "This must be Miss Belladonna's"

It was quite an easy conclusion to come to. It was the exact spot he had a conversation with the young miss after all.

"I'll give it back to her the next time I see her in class" Toshinori said as he pocketed the book for now.

"I'm thinking about getting a job."

Weiss was the first to looked at their determined leader, quirking an eyebrow before reaching under her bed while Pyrrha was kind enough to unintentionally stall him. "Why do you think you need one, Izuku? I have money if we really need it, and Weiss certainly has lien to spare. Not that I'd expect her to just hand over money at the drop of a hat of course..."

"I understand perfectly Pyrrha, but please continue Izuku." Weiss offhandedly replied as she pulled a small box from under her bed marked 'PIFDSSK', ignoring the others as she opened it and withdrew a pair if silvery white half-moon glasses.

"Ah! Thank you Weiss." With his steam reclaimed, he pressed on. "I just don't feel really useful is all. You two give plenty of lien already, and I have a hundred to add. I don't want to ask my mother, and be any more of a burden then I already am, so I was thinking I should see if Vale has an places I can get a-GAH!" He was swiftly cut off when Weiss sprayed him with water from the spray bottle she'd pulled out of the box. "Weiss! Stop th-ah!"

After several more sprays, when he finally went quiet, the white-haired heiress nodded in satisfaction. "Now that I have you attention, allow me to explain why that is a bad idea." She calmly got up and began to tick off her fingers. "One, you are already close to overworking yourself with your training, studying, meetings, and this will eat into what little time you have left. Second, you routinely cause yourself extraordinary harm in the name of personal training. Can you say, with full confidence, that you will always be fully healed in time to go to whatever job you get?" She adjusted her glasses and waited for him to sullenly shake his head before continuing on. "Third, with everything currently going on that I've mentioned and most likely more besides, I know you will not be able to give any job you get your 100% effort." She pointed the spray bottle to stop his attempt at a counterargument. "Not from lack of trying, I know, but you will be physically and mentally exhausted when you arrive, and I cannot in good conscience allow you make such an attempt when there are certainly people looking for work that will certainly give more of their time and effort then you."

She looked like she was about to say more, then paused to lower the output on the bottle and spray the water into her open mouth. Much better. She hasn't properly lambasted anyone in ages. Wiping the remaining trickle from her mouth and chin, she resumed. "Fourth, you are our team leader. Monetary deficit or not, you are expected here. You will not be learning about combat effectiveness and leadership flipping burgers in some greasy spoon. And finally," She extended her thumb and stepped forward with her open palm drawn back, glasses glinting ominously. "I will hurt you if you try."

As Izuku winced, and Pyrrha went to defend him, Nora leapt to her feet and grinned. "Can I get a job then?"

"I swear to god Nora.." Weiss prepared her more literal backhand counterargument.

"Maybe that'd be a better idea, Weiss." Pyrrha offered as she moved between the girls, hands held out in a placating manner. "Nora certainly deserves a chance at self-reliance, and I think she has plenty of energy for a job."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Then maybe I could too." This time everyone was staring at the blushing Pyrrha. "I mean, it would be kind of nice to try something that wasn't revolved around beating things to a pulp while keeping Nora out of trouble."

"I don't know.." That time it was Izuku that looked doubtful as well as worried. "It wouldn't be fair to make you two do all of this. It was my idea."

"Aww don't worry fearless leader!" Nora flexed and grinned. "It'll be fine."

"And that is when you shot Mister Kuma, known locally as Junior?"

"YES!" Pyrrha sobbed into the blanket the police had given her. "He was just so...grabby! I'm sorry!" She shouted at the tall bearded man that was being helped into the ambulance. Hopefully he'd be able to walk again soon, she thought as she pulled at the blanket but felt no real cold.

The burning club was keeping things surprisingly warm at such a short distance.

Weiss had been kind enough to use her glyphs to assist the firefighters, while she had left Izuku on 'keep spraying Nora in the face' duty. Which had lasted all of three seconds before Nora decided to show off her new friends.

"Could you convince Miss Valkyrie that Miss Melanie and Miltia Malachite are needed for witness testimony, not for her team, and that she can't just 'adopt' people as she pleases?"

"I-I don't know. I think Izuku is trying already, but..."

"You mean the young man that Miss Valkyrie is throwing them at?"

She was silent for a moment, then nodded with a sigh. She didn't want to be the first teenage superstar that got into a fight in a bar!

Ruby Rose walked towards the room the leadership meeting took place in, lost in thought.

In the beginning she hadn't even been all that sure about joining it. Iida Tenya was a little imposing to look at when he started with those flailing hand gestures of his and Ruby had felt the meeting would detract too much from her time with her team.

Also Ruby Rose was aware she just... wasn't all that good with people to begin with. But Izuku had joined too and she didn't want to be the odd one out either. She also had promised her sister to make a bit of an effort to reach out to people more. Her team, with two very silent people and Katsuki who really shot down most attempts at that, she didn't get many chances to make right with that promise.

With Izuku joining, Ruby had also figured it would be a nice way to get to regularly ask him for advice regarding Katsuki Bakugo without having to impose too much on the boy's personal time. That way she could maybe also get her sister Yang to stop teasing her. Ruby could almost hear her just thinking about it.

"Running after your friend Izuku again? How daring! Oh my, looks like my little baby sister is finally growing up, eh? Never knew you were into abs, sis!"

Yang's done that most of the times Ruby went to find Izuku to ask for advice about Katsuki. Really, her big sis spent more time with the boy than she did, between those karate lessons she gave him and the spars they had, but Ruby had recognized a long time ago the simple fact that, unlike herself, Yang was near-impossible to tease or embarrass about anything and she would always lose to her in that regard. So just not getting more of that teasing was enough to satisfy her, no need to get even.

So, getting to see Izuku regularly without any rumors brewing and receiving advice to handle Katsuki from two sources instead of one was very welcome and had been enough of an incentive to make her join.

And while a council consisting of two socially awkward people and Iida Tenya, who insisted on following procedures to the letter to a comical degree had surely sounded terrible on paper. Well, Tenya actually had gone out of his way to make them feel welcome, gotten snacks and shown genuine concern about their teams' problems when they told him about them. He had done anything to be helpful. He had even taken notice of what snacks Ruby and Izuku liked best and gotten more of those the next times.

So in the end Ruby had been pleasantly surprised, and whenever Katsuki had worn her nerves down again, these team meetings had become something she looked forward to all week. Here at least she would be recognized as a leader and given some feedback. While Lie Ren and Shoto Todoroki tried their best to be helpful in their own ways, talking wasn't exactly high on their list of priorities, barring that mysterious wordless form of communication the two were capable of using with each other.

When Ruby entered, she was surprised to see that, today, it was only Iida Tenya greeting her.

"Hello Miss Rose. Please take a seat. Mr. Midoriya told me in advance something came up and he might be a little late."

She frowned at that. That was atypical for Izuku. Did something serious come up? Well, if it did, he would probably bring it up during the meeting. Then she concentrated on something else that had been bugging her for some time already.

"How often do I have to tell you to just call me Ruby?"

"Just always one more time.", Tenya answered with a little smile.

"Really, I mean, you've told me it's alright to call you Tenya, why not do the same with me then? It's kind of silly!"

The boy shook his head. "It would be improper for me to address you by just your first name. I was raised to hold myself to proper standards!"

Ruby scowled at that and couldn't resist. "So... since I address you by your first name, does that mean I wasn't raised properly? I may have been raised out in the woods, but not by wolves, you know!"

She held back her grin when Tenya began gesturing wildly, slightly shocked that he might have unintentionally insulted her. Yang would be proud of her!

"No, no, Miss Rose, I would never even think to insinuate something like that! It's a different thing for a gentleman to address a young girl after all and not just that, I also..."

"So, is me being a girl or me being younger than everyone else here supposed to be the reason you can't treat me the same as I do you? Because both of those make me feel worse about it!"

"Miss Rose, I would never! All of my team is composed of girls whose skills I can only admire and despite your youth, it's your skills and mindset that have allowed you to come to Beacon this early and advance to a leading position! Truthfully, Miss Rose, your and Mr. Midoriya's mindset have been nothing but an inspiration to me and I'd never look down on anyone for either of those reasons to begin with! I only have the utmost respect for you! Furthermore..."

Tenya stopped talking when Ruby just couldn't hold back her laughter anymore, while blushing a little at the honest respect he had shown her.

"Alas, you were joking, Miss Rose." The boy had a somewhat strained semblance of a smile on his face. "It seems that humorous streak indeed does run in the family. I should have known that someone raised with Miss Xiao Long would have learned a thing or two about that. If only to survive her teasing."

"I'm sorry, yang is having an effect on me. Like you said, it was pure self defense on my side. But you're making it too easy. And it's true, I really feel a bit uncomfortable with you never calling me Ruby, it's as if we were still sitting in class."

Ruby looked down for a moment.

"I mean..., sure, we're meeting for a purpose, but you try to make us feel good and relaxed. Still, I can't really relax that way. Also, haven't we become... a bit of friends by now? I'm not used to being called "Miss Rose" by a friend. It's not like you'd have to call me Ruby everywhere, but just here in our meetings perhaps, couldn't you make an exception and relax a little too?"

"It's your decision of course, but I'd be.. kind of happy about it."

Ruby Rose watched Tenya's reaction, with a bit of a pleading look on her face. While it started as a joke, what she said was true. While her team was alright, they didn't really bond all that well yet, so having some other friends to have her back and help her, really meant something to Ruby.

Iida Tenya was a serious boy. Proper manners and following rules were something ingrained in him from early childhood. But even someone like him wasn't immune to the might of puppy eyes. While he groaned a bit inside, he put on a smile and said:

"I..., if you feel that strongly about it, I... suppose I could do that... Ruby."

Ruby's smile practically exploded onto her face.

"At least occasionally.", Tenya quickly added.

Ruby held back the grin of victory to not damage the outcome and grabbed a cookie.

"That would be nice, Tenya."

"Just never tell your sister, please.", Tenya implored her. While his effort was only that of an amateur, puppy eyes did cut both ways.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it, she's teasing me enough as is about leading an all-boys team."

"So, you thought this was a good way to get acquainted?"

"I admit, this wasn't one of my better ideas." Tenya sighed as he sat at the table with Blake, watching the other two members of their team deftly maneuver around one another in the kitchen. It was almost like a culinary ballet, if he was being honest. "But when I heard what they had planned, I decided I'd at least see if I could be of some assistance. We're teammates, but I've never taken the time to actually ask your hobbies, or anything like that." He straightened his posture, then jumped as he nearly cut off his own finger when he looked away. He heard a snort of amusement beside him, giving Blake a level stare even as she continued working her knife through her own assigned material. "I assumed that's what you're here for as well."

"I'm here because they said shrimp."

Tenya sighed while Asui let out a brief 'ribbit' of amusement before making her way over to inspect his contribution to the meal. "Hmm...pretty good. Now you can get to the meat slicing like I showed you." She nodded, and he beamed At the praise. "And make sure not to cut yourself. Blood probably won't help the flavor, ribbit." And then he deflated again when she turned to his partner in prep. "How's the de-veining and mincing, ribbit?"

"It's going good!" He didn't like the defensiveness in her tone.

"Are you eating the shrimp?" Neither did the frog Faunus.

"...some?"

Tsuyu signed. "If you eat any more, you don't get any shrimp balls, ribbit."

With Blake soundly defeated as well, their overseer went over to Yang, letting the two actual cooks do a quick check of the sauce and broth. "I admit, I didn't expect either of you knew much about culinary pursuits. It seems Izuku and Ren are the ones everyone speak of when it comes to cooking."

"Yeah, but they're fixated on pancakes for some reason. They're a sometimes food, ribbit." Tsuyu snorted. "Since mom and dad were working a lot of the time, I usually did a lot of the cooking for my family."

Yang nodded in agreement. "Same here. Dad isn't a bad cook, but he sometimes had a hard time getting around to it. So when I got good enough, a lot of the dinners were on me."

"I see." Tenya nodded before slowly moving his knife through the meat, trying not to saw at it as he'd been warned against. "That's very industrious of the both of you. What do your parents do, if I may ask?"

"Hunter." Yang shrugged. Blake seemed hesitant to answer, or was at least how to phrase it. Tsuyu took a moment to stand up straighter. "Dad's an office worker, while mom's a chemist." There was an appreciative whistle from Yang, and she continued. "She's really super smart, ribbit. She even built some of the stuff I have in my combat suit, though the way I fight and stuff comes from my grandmother."

"Oh?" He wasn't sure if the genealogy or the chemistry interested him more, but Iida was intrigued all the same. "She was a huntress?"

"Yeah. A pretty good one, I think. A few in my family are Hunters, since we've all got our auras awakened." That surprised the others, but she barely glanced up as she mixed the minced shrimp into the prepared breading mixture. "Lots of people find that weird for some reason. We do it to help with our backs and stuff."

"Your back?" This time it was Blake that piped up. "I thought that was from Faunus physiology."

"What kind of frog has a hunch?" The amusement was clear in her Tsuyu's voice, which briefly became a 'ribbit' when Blake blushed. "It's a congenital thing. The vertebrae are actually a little further apart then for normal people, so it's hard for us to stand fully upright for too long because the pressure it puts on our spine. So to keep from scoliosis and debilitating back pain or nerve problems, we get our auras awakened when we're kids."

"That's very clever, actually." Iida nodded and submitted his work to Yang. From the way she patted him on the head, she was pleased as he continued. "Aura does remarkable things when you actually consider its benefits. What additions did your mother put in your suit, out of curiosity."

She waved a hand and shook her head. "I'd have to get my suit out to explain all the neat little things. Maybe I'll show you after dinner."

"Why not a spar?" All eyes went to the smirking Yang. "It's a fun way to show off, and we get extra hungry for the hot pot."

Blake rubber her chin. "I have been curious about your semblance, I admit."

Iida looked at the two of them with a sigh, then focused his attention on the faintly blushing Faunus. "I suppose the idea has its merits. What do you think Miss Asui?"

She rocked on her heels for a moment, rubbing her chin and letting the tip of her tongue stick out from her mouth. "Hmm..I guess we can. Nothing isn't really ready properly just yet, so we can let everything firm up in the refrigerator." With that decided, she put a hand on her hip and waggled her index finger at them. "Then let's finish up. I'll show you all the remaining prep and we'll have a quick spar."

The cheer was infectious, though Blake was most invigorated because she'd snuck another piece of shrimp.

"Ribbit." KER-THWACK!

"OW!"

"HA! About time someone else got a tongue-lashing!" A beat. "Wait! I didn't mean it like-" KER-THWACK! "Owwww!"

Izuku was walking through the streets of Vale when something in a shop window drew him towards it. It wasn't something that people would even look twice at considering how common it was yet it still drew him in. He looked inside the shop and was surprised that there was so much more. It's as if the shop was designed to sell that specific thing, if somewhat in different variations. He could hardly believe that something like it could exist. Despite that, he knew he had to buy one.

Though if he did buy it then there's something he'll have to do.

…

"I'm back" Izuku said as he entered his dorm room.

"Welcome back" Pyrrha greeted. "You were gone for quite a while."

"Yeah, I was a bit busy with something" Izuku said as he sat down on a chair and settled the plastic bag besides him.

"Ooh, ooh, what did you get" Nora excitedly jumped up and down. "Is it pancakes?"

"Oh yeah!" Izuku exclaimed as he rummaged through the bag in search of something. "I found something in Vale"

Izuku pulled out a small figurine. Unlike what his team was expecting, it wasn't a figurine of Toshinori. Instead, the figurine was of a girl with a red ponytail making an action pose with a sword and a shield.

"That's!" Pyrrha squeaked out before covering her mouth with her hand. Her cheeks flushed red as she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Yep!" Izuku said with a smile. "It's Pyrrha. I was shocked when I saw it. There were other stuff there as well but I liked this one the best"

"So cool!" Nora snatched the figurine out of Izuku's hand. "Did they have one of me!? Did they? Did they?"

"Of course they didn't" Weiss scolded the girl. "It's because Pyrrha's the champion of the Mistral regional tournament four times in a row"

Pyrrha shrank into herself, feeling more and more embarrassed with her fame being brought up.

"There is one" Izuku said.

"See, they wouldn't have a figurine of some Beacon student… there is?" Weiss had to check her ears to make sure she heard right.

"Yep" Izuku responded with a smile. He rooted in his bag and pulled out another figurine. This one was of Nora standing on her hammer.

"Yay!" Nora cheered as she held up the figurine as if it was some sort of trophy.

"What? How? Why?" Weiss was completely bewildered. It made no sense. Why would they have a figurine of Nora of all people?

"There's one of you as well, Weiss" Izuku said as he once more pulled out a figurine. As he said, it was a figurine of Weiss holding Myrtenaster. He passed it to a bewildered Weiss who subconsciously accepted it with blinking eyes.

"There's one of me as well" Izuku beamed as he lifted a figurine of himself. "We can display them as a team. Like we are, a team"

"Well" Weiss said, finally broken out of her stupor. "While I don't know why such a thing exists. It would be nice to have something as a symbol of our camaraderie"

"Yeah! Team MNVW go!" Nora fisted the air.

"I.. I think I'd like that" Pyrrha said as she lifted her head, processing everything that has happened.

Somehow, the embarrassing situation of having her figurine, and by proxy, her fame, on display. A situation that displayed her loneliness for everyone else to see has turned into a display that she's no longer alone. She's no longer put on a pedestal that no one else can reach. But instead, she's part of team MNVW. She has teammates to be there for her. But more importantly, she has friends.

Of course, the only one in the shop was the figurine of Pyrrha. But Izuku thought it would be a bit lonely to only have a figurine of Pyrrha so he spent a bit of money, bought the materials and made the other figurines himself.

If anything, he had to thank his experience of making so many Toshinori figurines that he managed to make them so quickly.

Weiss was studying when something caught her attention. It was a box of tissues that Izuku kept on his desk. Normally, she wouldn't even bat an eyelid at something like that but the 'incident' with the mail had her thinking.

There's another use for tissues that boys, especially teenage boys, use often. What if Izuku is one of them? What ludicrous things was she thinking? There's no way he'd do it in the dorm where three girls sleep. Would he?

Curiosity pulled her in and she peered over to the trash can by Izuku's desk. Inside she saw multiple balls of tissues. Each and every one of them looked sticky.

That was… She could think of something that would lead to the tissues being so sticky. But that was so disgusting! To think he would do it here, in this room. This is where she sleeps for god sake! Could it be? Could he be doing it while she's sleeping!?

That is absolutely vile and grotesque! How dare he do such a thing.

"Oh hey Weiss" A voice greeted her. "Why are you looking in my trash can?"

Oh boy was he going to have it. Weiss prepared herself to give him the talking to of a lifetime. Then, she stopped. What if this was all a misunderstanding? She didn't want to jump to conclusions again.

She took a breath in, calmed herself and spoke in a voice that went completely against the anger she had before.

"Izuku.. This box of tissues is yours, correct?" Weiss asked.

"Huh?" Izuku slightly tilted his head to the side before nodding. "Yeah"

"And these tissues… do you 'use' them?" Weiss questioned him, putting extra emphasis on the use part.

"Well, yeah. That's what they're for" Izuku stated as if it was the most simplest fact in the world.

"Wha, why? How often?" Weiss slightly stumbled at the blatant way Izuku admitted it.

"Why? It's better than just letting it be there, right? As for how often? I didn't really think of it before but at least a few times a day, maybe.

"That much!? How!?" Weiss yelled out in shock.

"Well, if you leave it then it's like an itch you need to scratch" Izuku said, still oblivious about why Weiss is asking such questions.

"That's, that's" Weiss stammered, only to recollect herself and stare at Izuku with the eyes of hawk.

"...when was the last time you done it?" Weiss asked with all seriousness.

"About an hour ago" Izuku stated

"An hour!? Where!?" Weiss yelled at the boy. Izuku was becoming a bit panicked now.

"B-by your bed. I-it sort of came out on its own so I had to do something about it! I'm sorry! A bit might have landed on it but I cleaned it up, honest!" Izuku rapidly apologized.

"M-my, my" Weiss slumped to the ground, completely shell-shocked by that revelation. "B-bed. My bed" Weiss continued to mutter to herself, her body shaking all over.

Izuku was completely and utterly confused. Why was Weiss taking so seriously? Sure, a bit of it might have landed on her bed but he couldn't help it if he sneezed with a runny nose. He has had a bit of a cold for the last week after all.

Gods this was going to be a absolute mauling, Katsuki looked like he was about to tear Izuku limb from limb. Poor Ruby didn't know who to cheer for, the person who was her partner and who she was making small strides in "bonding" with or the boy who shared her dream in becoming a Hero. Ruby still wanted to track him down and have a proper talk about that too, but it seemed he was busy with his team and training his ass off. You should know since you helped him and maaaaaaybe saw some outline of that ass when he squatted. Wasn't the best you've seen but it was alright.

Shit, looks like Goodwitch was about to start it. Hopefully the little dude doesn't take it too hard...

...did he just Judo flip Katsuki onto his back?

That one flip set the tone of the match. You were amazed, Izuku controlled the flow for most of it and laid in some damn good hits on Katsuki. The times you were able to take your eyes off the match showed everyone as speechless as you. Then Izuku had to pull off a damn gust of wind that cancelled the blast from Katsuki. Apparently he figured something out to control that semblance of his, although as your eyes strayed to his miss colored finger, he wasn't quite there yet. A short gasp from Pyrrha showed that she noticed as well.

And still Izuku curled that finger like it was nothing into a fist, squaring off again against Katsuki before they made a final clash. Then one last weak punch to the gut(Gotta work on his form and endurance...)from Izuku with a blast of his shotgun ended it.

Goodwitch called it then. A brief moment of silence like in one of those old cartoons you used to watch followed. Dammit if you weren't going to cheer after that match! Whooping and Hollering you lead the cheers followed very closely by Nora with everyone else behind them. Ruby however was stilled conflicted and you wished to help her. However it was something she would have to come to you with, ya just couldn't be there to fix every problem of hers. You had your own team to figure out, and you didn't even know where to begin for that sort of mess.

What a mess it was too. You had a little idea of what Katsuki's and Izuku's relationship was, but damn did it not compare to what was revealed by that fight. Admiring your tormentor for the past how many years for his Talent of a Huntsmen? The other wanting to crush the other beneath his heel still. What a distorted relationship.

In the back your mind however was the improvement Izuku showed. It was monstrous, no two ways to go about it. This was the man who went from losing to a single shot from some random kid in class to just two weeks later taking down one of the best fighters for the first years. Sure he knew how the other fought pretty well and he got damn lucky on some of those hits, but it still doesn't take away from what he accomplished. All that effort he spent training with you and his team. Time spent training by himself to reign in that crazy semblance of his. What would he be like a month from now, would he awaken his Aura yet again? What about when the Vale Tournament began? When next year was here?

That tenacity, that will to win, to improve himself every day, to be the best he could be and then some. It excited you really. Here was someone who had a style similar to yours if lacking in hand to hand and having shotgun boots. It had been awhile since you last sparred with him, before he had his Second Awakening. You could feel yourself grin wide and looked to see a sullen Katsuki walking back with a uplifted Izuku behind him.

Blood pumped faster and you hoped to be picked next to spar if only to bleed out this extra energy for a bit. First you had to congratulate him, maybe even fluster him a bit for some fun. Last time you wanted to know his character, what drove him if only because it shook what you stood for. Now however it was different. Now you knew your place in this world if only a bit better but it was enough. But now you wanted your shot at Izuku. If he asked for help working out you would be only too happy to comply but no spars. Not until you called him out yourself.

This is going to be the first fight in awhile you would look forward to. You knew Izuku wouldn't disappoint. You were hoping he would exceed your expectations after all. However it wouldn't be next class or next week, nah you've seen his growth. You want a good fight with him, and that meant waiting. Not your best characteristic to be sure but something you could do. Give him a few weeks to keep training and playing catch up. Then either in class or out of it during the week, you would wrangle a fight out of him, even if you had to drag his ass to the mats.

Heh, Izuku sure was an interesting dude. Bringing out your inner Battle Maniac side a tad. Hopefully he could handle ya, if only a little bit~

E/N: Tea a Drink With Jam and LIGHTING! By Preventer Squall, Lost NInjas by Thebebb, And That's When She Shot HIm by Preventer, A Rose by Any Other Name by Vandalgyon, Meet the Scout by Preventer, Figurines and Box of Issues by Thebebb, and A Eye Opening Fight by Lucker13. In that order.

-Shovern

A/N: Of note, the last Outtake, A Eye Opening Fight, is set during Katsuki and Izuku's fight from a while back. It would've been awkward to input in the middle of all of that so the decision was made to put it in a Tales of Beacon.

-gorilla_fingers