"L'amour est un oiseau rebelle

Que nul ne peut apprivoiser,

Et c'est bien in vain qu'on l'appelle

S'il lui convient de refuser."

...

Well, that wasn't exactly what Izuku was expecting to hear when he was walking back to his dorm room. His emerald eyes blinked in confusion as he took a few steps forward, standing before his dorm. The sound of music and a rather... loud singing can be heard from the other side of the door, the noise having echoed somewhat out from the barrier before dissipating. On the one hand he was not 'entirely' sure if he even wanted to know but, at the same time, he was kind of curious at that point. With a shrug he knocked on the door, trying to see if someone will answer... only to find no answer. 'Huh, maybe one of the others had left some music playing and forgot to turn it off before they left?' More sure that he wouldn't walk in on an awkward situation he slowly opened the door, only to practically choke when he noticed a head of white hair sitting in a chair, Weiss having occupied the room as she sat at 'her' desk and stared at her Scroll, a fierce frown on her face as she glared at it.

"Weiss?" Izuku called out, trying to get her attention. However, that gesture had been for naught as, instead of actually punching through the music, his weak voice ended up being drowned out by it. With a slight sigh he puff yourself up a bit, closing the door behind him. "Weiss!"

"ACK!" Izuku's sudden shout caused Weiss to practically kick out her own chair, the young woman having fallen backwards in her seat as the back of her chair slammed into the floor and her along with it. Izuku winced slightly, really not liking that his shout had caused that, even as Weiss turned her glare back toward the source of the noise that had surprised her. Upon spotting him, he watched as Weiss' gaze softened ever so slightly, even as she kept a very 'hard' edge to it. "Izuku? Why did you feel the need to shout? I could've heard you... and why didn't you knock?"

"I didn't shout at first... and I did knock." As Izuku replied, he watched as Weiss' face slowly sunk a bit as she took that in, before an embarrassed blush crosses her cheeks.

"... Sorry. Guess I'm a little bit distracted right now. The fact that I've been playing this so loud probably was of no help either." Thoroughly relieved that any hostility Weiss may have directed his way evaporated the second he explained himself, Izuku watched as Weiss forced herself back up from the ground and dusted herself off, fixing her chair slightly. "Was there something you needed, Izuku?" Izuku shook his head slightly as he put his hands in his pockets.

"I was just stopping by to pick up a few things was all... up until I heard that music that is." Weiss nodded understandingly as she reached over to her Scroll to turn down the volume, although she didn't silence it completely. "What is that anyway? I don't really understand what it's saying." Weiss nodded understandingly as she looked over at him.

"It's an old opera written in Tethys a while back, pretty popular for people to perform up in Atlas every now and then as part of concertos, especially if you're around that City State." Weiss remarked, almost clinically, as he nodded.

"Okay.. who's singing it? Was that you?" Some of that annoyance from before cropped up again as Weiss... actually blew her cheeks out. It seemed even the Schnee Heiress realized what an unusual move that was for her as her cheeks went red again.

"... Darn it Nora..." Weiss muttered to herself as she shook her head. "But no Izuku. No-hooo. I'm not the one singing this. Not by a long shot..." Weiss muttered as she shook her head. "No, this is... well, this is a new up and coming singer whose recent opera performance my... father attended recently. He thought I'd like to hear what he considered to be a rather good performance, Figured I'd be excited to know that an... old acquaintance of mine has been making waves in the Atlesian Music scene while I've been at Beacon.." Izuku nodded his head understandingly as he tried his best to smile.

"Well, that's nice of him." Izuku flinched as Weiss scoffed slightly, before continuing. "So you know this person huh? Were they a friend of yours while you were in music?" Weiss just huffed a bit.

"Not really. You see, she was an up and comer who had graduated from the Atlesian Academy for the Arts around the same time as when my father had me start performing following the completion of my tutoring. She was... popular, though I never... well no, I understood why. After all, she had plenty of..." Izuku saw Weiss hands raise up and stop around chest level, her face scowling even deeper before she just dropped her hands, "'talent' and could at the very least carry a tune. Of course, my tutors ensured that my own talents and abilities were more than a match. Their jobs were on the line if my father wasn't satisfied with my ability to perform, after all. Women in Atlesian High Society are expected to be masters of some art. " With that, Weiss huffed as she went to take a seat again, frowning slightly at the Scroll. She pressed a few buttons on it and eventually, the song changed to... yeah, that's definitely Weiss.

"Finest tutors in all of Atlas will get you somewhere, to be certain. I pretty well eclipsed most of my peers and was set to be considered a new star in Atlas' social circles. I suppose now that I've vacated that position, everyone else has some room to start playing for that position. I suppose father just wanted to keep me... updated." Weiss frowned as she leaned back, that annoyed glint in her eyes as she snapped back to look at him, which caused Izuku to flinch.

"You tell me Izuku... of the two of us, who sounds better to you?"

…

'Okay, guess I should give it my best shot…'

"Well... first off, just listening between the two of you, I think that you have the better vocal range. I can tell you're hitting a wider variety of notes, or at least I think you are... or at least it's noticeable enough that I think that's what I'm hearing." Weiss nodded, getting the general gist of what he meant. "As far as holding notes though, I think you're right about her having talent there, she can hold them a little longer than you." Weiss seems to sputter for a moment, though she just nodded with him as she seemed ready to move on from there. "Then there's understanding the two songs. Obviously you kind of have the edge there because I can't understand a single word of what she's saying but, even then, I'm getting a lot more emotion out of your performance... even if the background band drowns you out from time to time. Don't get me wrong, the foreign element of hers is neat, but I feel like I get your song and performance more."

"Then there's the mike... she sounds like she's really close to it." He shrugged as he crossed his arms. "So to me, you're the better of the two, but it'd be cool to hear you sing without such a loud backdrop threatening to drown you out." Izuku saw Weiss nod as he laid down his analysis, the Heiress brushing a strand of hair behind his ear as he did so.

"Well Izuku, you make quite a few salient points." With that, Weiss snapped up as if she was in the middle of a lesson. "Her range for this piece is 'deplorable'. Sure, she can handle the lower ranges quite well, admirably even, and she can hold her notes but she does not pass as mezzosopran 'at all'! She can't hit the right notes for anything and her breathing, yes, you note she sounds like she's close to the microphone but that shouldn't be an issue, actually, shouldn't be an issue on 'two' counts but we'll get to that later! If she had better control over her breathing her pitch and her range would be improved and she wouldn't sound like she's trying to stuff the microphone down her throat! Not to mention her actual use of the language is 'deplorable'. Even if you knew the language she was supposed to be singing, Izuku, I doubt you could understand her in the first place because she just 'butchers' it!"

"But even if all of this was fixed, the fact that she needed a microphone in the first place shows how little skill she has! The opera house she's performing in as part of this performance is very small, something that anyone who could properly cast their voice would be able to sing in and be heard even as far as the back with no difficulties at all! Frankly, she only has two, three, two things going for her..." Weiss stumbles a bit as she blushes, before shaking her head, "-and frankly, I don't see why people have taken to following her in my absence."Izuku nodded very slowly, doing his best to take it all in.

"Wow, that sounds pretty bad. If it's all as you say then your dad really must have some bad taste."

It was weird. What was meant to reassure Weiss seemed to only aggravate her, even as the winds were let ever so slightly out of her sails.

"No... no my father 'knows' good singing and music. He's 'cultured' after all. He'd understand a lot of this about her singing..." Weiss frowned deeply as she walked over to her bed and sat on it, placing a hand on her chin. Izuku blinked at that, as Weiss just scowled straight on ahead.

"Then... I dunno, why would he say something like that and send it to you?" Izuku tilted his head curiously, even as Weiss just frowned more deeply.

"... Izuku... I'd like to ask you a very 'honest' question. No speeches, no hyperbole, no... your usual shtick. Just... an honest answer." He blinked slightly, nodding his head as Weiss' ice blue eyes turned on his emerald ones. "Are you being truthful when you say that you've wanted to be a Hunter your entire life? That you've never really had doubts until you thought you were Broken? That you 'knew' this was your life's purpose?"

...

'Woof, that is a question and a half... but'

"Yes."

Weiss seemed to watch him carefully, 'oh so' very carefully as her eyes scanned about him. As if she were looking for a lie or a sign of doubt. Yet, he knew and he suspected she knew as well; she wouldn't find it. Not here. Not on this.

He watched as Weiss' eyes go slightly wide... as she looked at him. After a moment, he watched her nod slightly as she got up off her seat, dusting herself off as she did so.

"I see. That's... very respectable, Izuku. It's a rare thing for people to find the thing they want to do for the rest of their life... and you've known it for so long." He couldn't help but blink in some surprise. He'd expected Weiss to follow up, to question his resolve or to try to impugn his answer... but she didn't. "Well... I've spent enough time doting on this travesty to singing. I think I'll actually go ahead and go off to practice on my own."

"Uh... sure Weiss, sounds like fun. Good luck." Izuku offered to Weiss, who just gave him a grateful smile and a nod as she moved to leave the room. As she opened the door, she paused for a moment, hanging in between their shared dorm room and the hallway outside.

"Izuku?" She calls back to him, "I didn't get the chance to say this after The Tunnels, but this made me realize that I should get it out now. I'm glad you were made our leader." Before he could even get a chance to ask the 'why' of that sudden declaration, Weiss slid the door closed behind her, the steps of her high heels echoing down the hall.

...

'Huh.'

"Hmmm... you know what? We totally need to get Toshinori's autograph!"

Izuku's body's first reaction was to immediately choke on the drink that he'd been downing while sitting around with Ruby, the two of them having run into each other around campus while looking for something to do. His body's next reaction, to prevent itself from pretty much drowning itself into some papaya-based beverage that he'd bought out of a vending machine, was to spit it all out in surprise.

"Woah! Holy cow Deku, are you alright, you're not dying on me are you?!" Ruby sounded genuinely terrified that that was the case as he waved her off, coughing and hacking as he rubbed at his throat.

"N-No, I'm okay Ruby, I was just... just taking a breath at the same time I was drinking was all." Ruby grimaced a bit at that, taking a sip from her own drink as she shook her head.

"Bleh, hate when that happens." Izuku nodded in agreement at that as he looked at her with a nervous smile.

"A-Anyway, you were saying something Ruby? A-About trying to get Toshinori's autograph?" He really hoped that he'd either misunderstood what Ruby had said or, better yet, that she hadn't brought up anything remotely similar to that idea 'at all' before he nearly choked on his own drink.

"Yeah! I mean, you've been going on for weeks about how big a fan you are of the guy and how much of an inspiration he's been to you and your decision to become a Hunter. That he's been such a huge deal for you, well, that means a lot and I know you've been so hyped to have him as a teacher here! You were super gushing over him during that first exercise." Ruby chuckled slightly as she said that, scratching the back of her head. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, I gushed over Professor Goodwitch the first time she and I met and she's not even my favorite Huntress of all time." Izuku nodded in understanding, as Ruby continued. "And I could sort of get it; Toshinori's a really big deal, even if I've never really thought much about the guy outside of his status as the Symbol of Peace! This is probably pretty blas... blasph... insulting, but he's not really my favorite Hunter." Ruby said and yeah, that did surprise him given how many people counted Toshinori as their favorite Hunter, he didn't articulate that as the feeling of dread just built up.

"But after last week at the Underground Training Facility... well, I think after seeing that giant hole in the ceiling, I understand it 'a lot' better. Guy's certainly earned his title." With that Ruby gave a big old smile as she threw her arms out to the side, threatening to spill her drink out to the side as she did so. "So hey, why are we sitting around here? You 'definitely' want his autograph, I have to know that for a fact, and you know? I'd really like to add it to my own collection too!" Ruby gave a quick smile as she looked around. "Don't tell anyone else, but because my dad used to be a Hunter, he usually gets a lot of visits from some old friends... I got a lot of signatures back home at my house."

"You don't say..." He muttered to himself as he felt a nervous sweat build up on his skin, one which Ruby noticed almost immediately.

"What's wrong Deku, why so sweaty?" He just chuckled nervously as he raised his hands defensively.

"Oh it's nothing Ruby, it's just, you know... I-I don't know, it seems like Toshinori's been really busy ever since the whole incident and I-I wouldn't want to bug him with something like an autograph." Not to mention that he'd already established with Pyrrha that he'd gotten Toshinori's autograph, so doing it again with Ruby threatened to cause some headaches if the topic ever came up with the both of them. Ruby nodded, but instead of taking it seriously, the young girl just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Aw don't be so scared Deku! You've seen how much Toshinori likes the attention from other students! If he knew how much he meant to you, I'm sure he'd be 'really' excited to give you an autograph!" Wow, Ruby didn't even know how right she was on that, he realized. "Besides, there's no harm in asking, right? He seems like a really nice guy so I doubt he'd get mad! Come on, this is, like, a once in a lifetime chance to get an autograph from your personal hero! Are you really gonna just let it slide?"

...

'Okay, how were you going to handle this?'

'It's bad enough that Pyrrha knows that I and Toshinori had previous contact. The more distance between me and Toshinori that was closed here and there, the more people would notice things. Heck, Tsuyu had already noticed how similar my power set was to Toshinori's and, while he'd managed to push that off by explaining it as part of my fanboyism, he had to wonder if the 'very' forward and observant frog girl wouldn't think twice about that connection between the two if she knew he'd had prior meetings with Toshinori... after all, wouldn't that be something a fan boy like he would want to talk about and show off to people?'

'So if I don't want Ruby to know that I had contact with Toshinori before, I'd need to lie in some way or another 'or' I'd need to find a way to make a better excuse as to why I wouldn't want his autograph. Both of which would add to that earlier problem of spinning 'another' lie on top of the one he told Pyrrha which would slam into each other if the topic ever came up around Ruby and Pyrrha…'

'Gods, I just don't want people to potentially key into my closeness with Toshinori and, potentially from there, some kind of connection related to his ability, to One For All. Why did the universe have to make that so hard…'

'Okay. So the sort of half-truth that I've told Pyrrha should sufficed. It'd keep a lot of loose ends from flying around and potentially tripping me up 'and' it will get me out of this mess... at least in part.'

"Actually Ruby... the truth is, I already have Toshinori's autograph." He remarked somewhat sheepishly as Ruby just blinked.

"Huh? You do? Well when did you get that? I don't think anyone's seen you walk up to him and ask for it yet." Izuku nodded at that, giving her a somewhat nervous smile as he did so.

"Well I didn't actually get it from him here. You see, the truth is, I got it from Toshinori during one of the times he was around Mountain Glenn. It was really lucky actually; I just so happened to run into him!" At that, Ruby's silver eyes went wide with shock and awe, a smile on her face.

"No way! That really 'is' lucky!" Ruby remarked with some excitement as you excitedly nodded back.

"I know, right? What's even better is that he didn't even charge me for it!" Ruby again gave a gasp at that, before they broke out laughing. The moment soon passed as a curious look came over Ruby's face, her head tilting to the side as she scratched the side of her head.

"Well... if that's the case then why didn't you say so earlier Izuku? That really seems like something you'd want to share, given how big an idol Toshinori is for you. I know a lot of us would've been excited for you... heck, why did you even bother pretending to not have it when I brought it up a moment ago." Here he just nervously swallowed again as he scratch his cheek, looking off to the side.

"W-Well that's because... I really didn't want to brag about it and it just slipped my mind." Ruby gave a short 'pfft', as if that was unbelievable, before he shook his head. "I mean it. Being here at Beacon, being a team leader, having my chance to be a Hunter, 'earning' that chance... having friends... it really just made me forget about it. Don't get me wrong, like you said, I do treasure it so I didn't 'completely' forget about it... but it's not always on my mind." Izuku smiled as he looked down at the ground slightly. "Like I said, I don't want to brag about it either. The autograph is amazing and an inspiration but... actually being here, being allowed to have the opportunity to become a Hunter... well, that's more valuable to me than the autograph itself. Beyond that, I just wouldn't want people to be jealous over nothing. I know Toshinori's signature is pretty valuable, so I just didn't want to upset people." Ruby slowly nodded in time with all that, her cheeks no longer puffed up in disbelief as a smile slowly crossed her features.

"I guess that makes sense. I don't really do much bragging over my own parents either, despite everything." Izuku nodded in understanding, before offering Ruby a big smile.

"You know, if you're still interested in getting his autograph, you still can... heck, I can even show you mine so you know what you're going to be getting." At that, Ruby's eyes sparkle as she stepped up slightly.

"You mean it?"

"Sure, let me just..." Izuku quickly swung his bag around and shuffle through it; he usually kept his various notebooks and gear around just in case you read something or came up with something that he'd need to write down. Before long, Hunter Analysis For The Future Vol. 13 was in his hand and, as he flipped through the pages, he presented to Ruby Rose the very same signature that Toshinori had once presented him with.

"Holy cow! He signed the entire page and in this really neato style too! Wait though, why is the notebook so dirty and the edges are burnt... oh wait... Kacchan?"

"Kacchan."

"He really should apologize if he actually did this. That's just rude." Izuku laughed slightly as Ruby spoke, the young woman then flipping through a few pages as her silver eyes scanned them. "Wow... you've really been at this for a while huh? There's so many notes in here and so many Hunters..." He watched as Ruby flipped back to the front. "And it's just Volume 13? You have 12 other volumes full of signatures and Hunters?"

"Yeah. Like I said, I've wanted to be a Hunter for a long time... ever since I was a little kid, even. So I have 'tons' of notes on Hunters... admittedly, the early Volumes really aren't much worth looking at. I was really little after all but, hey, some of its still good." Izuku saw Ruby nod slightly as she looked through his notebook, a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Umm... would that include..." He saw Ruby fidget a bit as she looks back at him, seemingly a little nervous. "... Would that include Summer Rose? My mom?"

'... Huh…'

"Uhh... y-yeah, actually it would." He scratched at his neck nervously, dipping back into his bag in order to produce Vol. 9. Ruby seemed to fidget around for a moment, a nervous energy having been built up in her, as he scrounged around for his notes and, from there, flipped through the book to find the right page. "Here we are, the section on Team STRQ. Summer's right at the beginning of it because she was the leader but... well, Ruby..." He paused for a moment, hesitating to hand it over. The choice was pretty much made for him as Ruby reached out a hand, grasped the notebook and took it in. The transition caused a few pages to flip which brought Ruby to the back of the section on STRQ but, to his surprise, he saw Ruby just chortle.

"Wow, you did get better at drawing over time. Uncle Qrow looks so ridiculous here." He sheepishly scratched the back of his head at that; yeah no denying that he really wasn't good at art, and he was even worse in the earlier volumes of his notes. Still, he at least hoped that he'd gotten better over time, at the very least... and hearing Ruby, it seemed to confirm it. Ruby flipped the page from Qrow and... well, he saw her frown slightly; it was Raven Branwen's page just before Qrow Branwen's. he decided to stay 'very' quiet as she flipped through the pages, before he saw her smile again. "'The Wildman Hunter', seriously?" He chuckled a bit nervously as he reached a hand up for his chin.

"Well Patch was considered a 'real' backwater back in those days, so that's part of where the name came from. The other part was the fact that he was apparently a really risky, really ferocious brawler when you got right down to it." Ruby shook her head at that as she just chuckled.

"You really wouldn't think so if you knew him now. He's just dad at this point... still, if that's the case, I guess that means Yang got something else from him too aside from his... ugh, 'jokes'." Ruby rolled her silver eyes a bit as, finally, she flipped through the last page. He expected a lot of things when Ruby hit the page. He expected some kind of distress or some kind of outrage or disbelief. After all, while Summer Rose wasn't considered 'officially' KIA, as no one had ever found her body, it was pretty much considered de facto that she was dead and that no one would ever see her again. Still, that wasn't something he should shove in the face of a young girl who'd lost her mother.

Despite these fears... Ruby's smile remained constantly as she looked at it and, Heck, she even laughed a little bit as she glanced back up at him. "Your art's really terrible; it looks like she's surrounded by just some big white blob."

"Yeah, I didn't exactly know how to draw a white cloak so I just kind of went to town with a bit of white crayon. It was supposed to be her defining feature after all." He admitted somewhat nervously as he scratched his cheek, Ruby just having taken a look over the notes.

"... Summer Rose, Leader of Team STRQ, Second Place Finisher of the 31st Vytal Festival Tournament behind..." He knew it was Raven Branwen who finished first in that tournament, but seeing Ruby's face shift uncomfortably as she was confronted with that name spoke some volumes. Her look wasn't necessarily hateful or even bitter, it was just... a little muddled, a little uncertain. Still, that changed as she moved right along. "Weapon of choice was a longspear-Rifle which was used in conjunction with her Semblance to help keep fights at a medium-long range. Oh that's really cool. I don't really remember what mom took out on missions it was so long ago and none of her pictures have her weapon in it. I wonder what she called it... it definitely had to have a name." Ruby nodded slightly as she continued to read down the page.

"Missions carried out successfully numbering in the dozens, Heck yeah... continued being active even after Team STRQ officially disbanded following the disappearance of..." Ruby frowned again as she just flipped the page. As much information as there was on Summer, her career was still technically short. So there were really only a couple more notes that he jotted down before 'the big one'. "... KIA." He winced as Ruby's smile drooped ever so slightly as he immediately tried to leap into some kind of disaster prevention.

"U-Uh just ignore that, it's technically wrong anyway! No one ever really found Summer Rose, so she's technically just MIA, I was just-"

"Going with what everyone already assumes to be true." he was somewhat surprised as Ruby looked up to her, a smile on her face as she sighed. "Deku, it's okay. We... we have a gravestone for my mom back home. It might not have... have her under it but, well, the message is there. We know." Izuku deflated a bit as Ruby spoke so frankly, the girl having dropped her gaze back down to the page.

"... I'm sorry. It can't be fun to have it shoved in your face though. I really shouldn't have brought this up..." Ruby just laughed a bit as she smiled at him.

"Are you kidding? This had a bunch of stuff I didn't even know about. Dad likes to talk about mom, sure, but... well, he doesn't really talk about her Hunter career all that much. I didn't even know what kind of weapon she used... gotta say, as nice as a Longspear-Rifle combo might be, it sounds too mundane for me. I'll stick with Crescent Rose." Ruby closed the book up as she handed it back to him. "So thanks Deku. I really appreciated this... it was a lot of stuff I didn't even know." He do his best to smile back, even under the circumstances.

"Well... in that case I'm glad to help Ruby. Now, let's see if we can find Toshinori and get you his autograph." He watched as Ruby's face twisted up into a thoughtful expression before she ultimately shook her head.

"You know what? Maybe another time. Right now... I feel like making a call. Maybe I can get it on my own time sometime later." With that Ruby gave him a grin as she suddenly started to run off. "I'll talk to you later Deku, thanks for showing me that!" He blinked in slight surprise as Ruby ran off, presumably to place a call somewhere in private. He waved back as she ran.

"Uh... anytime Ruby, I guess?" Before long he shrugged before continuing on with his walk...

'You know, speaking of Toshinori…'

"Huh, she was in that good a spirit over Summer Rose huh? Can't say I really expected that; it's a pretty rough thing when you lose family no matter what age you're at. Still, she is Summer and Taiyang's kid. Shouldn't be too surprised that she's resilient." Toshinori Yagi, coughed into his fist following that little bit. After having spoken with Ruby and with Toshinori on the brain, he realized that today might've been a good day for him to go out and check on his mentor and, more than that, maybe even get some training in with him as part of his trying to get back into the groove of improving himself after the past weekend. The two were walking around the main buildings of campus, quite isolated now that people had no reason to go to them, as Toshinori walked around in his skeletal form.

Curious as to what was on Izuku's mind, Toshinori had asked and he'd answered, explaining about how he'd run into Ruby and what had transpired. He was slightly surprised to hear Toshinori speak so familiarly of Summer and Taiyang and... he couldn't lie, he was actually a little curious. Still, he had originally come here to just check on him and maybe get an update on those Monochrome guys.

... Even by Toshinori's standards, his mentor looked like he was completely exhausted. His hair is drooping slightly, his eyes were, if anything, slightly more shallow than usual and he was hunched over slightly as he walked. Honestly, Izuku was concerned: he seemed alright immediately following the fight and now he looked like he's just beaten and battered. HIs concern for his mentor overshadowing his interest in what he knew about Team STRQ, he spoke up.

"Hey, Toshinori? Are you okay? You look exhausted. Nothing's wrong, is it?" Izuku watched as Toshinori perked up slightly, the skeletal man having turned his gaze on his ward as the older man offered as big a smile as he could.

"You kidding? I'm great. Never better. In fact, I probably have enough energy to- blargh!" Izuku flinched just ever so slightly as a small geyser of blood shot out of Toshinori's mouth, quickly to respond by pulling out a handkerchief and offering it to him. Toshinori nodded gratefully as he wiped at his mouth, coughing ever so slightly as he did so. "... Okay, so I'm feeling a little rough. I think the adrenaline's died down and I'm finally starting to feel the effect of having exerted myself so hard." Izuku saw Toshinori take a slight breath as he offered him his handkerchief back, which he swiftly pocketed to be cleaned later. "I checked in with Peach earlier and she said I was no worse for wear... honestly, if I popped into Hero mode right now I'd probably feel fresh as a daisy. I'm just... damn, I'm just feeling sore..." Izuku watched as Toshinori reached his right hand up to his opposite shoulder as he rolled it around, several audible pops heard as he gave a slight sigh of relief.

"Sounds pretty rough." Izuku knew for a fact that he had felt really sore after some tough fights or extended training, so he could only imagine what Toshinori had to be feeling at the moment. The blond man nodded as he loosened up a bit.

"It was. Aizawa really strained his eyes after a while so the end of my fight with that birdbrain ended up being all on me... Aizawa and I were able to really soften him up by keeping him from healing himself with his Semblance constantly but, jeez, I really had to give it my all and go Plus Ultra at the end to make sure he didn't just patch himself up and go in to Round 2 fresh." Toshinori sighed as he rubbed at his chin. "Damn, I can barely even remember the last time I had a fight that tough... actually, that's a lie. I can remember the fights I had that tough of a time with easily." Izuku actually blinked slightly, tilting his head.

"Really? I mean, you've had to have a lot of fights, how could you remember all your tough ones easily?" Toshinori offered him a wide, cocky grin as he pointed to himself with his thumb.

"You kidding me kid? I'm The All Mighty Huntsman, The Symbol of Peace. Sure, I get into a lot of fights but I breeze through so many of them. To a lot of these criminals, their fights with me are probably the most climactic clashes of their lives... for me, it's a Tuesday." Toshinori offered a hearty laugh despite himself which caused Izuku to smile bright at his mentor. After a moment, Toshinori coughed a bit as he reigned himself in. "I haven't had a lot of 'tough' fights in my life. So it's pretty easy for me to remember them on the fly." He watched as Toshinori raised his fingers up to count. "Let's see... there's Nana of course, but I'm not sure if you'd count that since most of the time we sparred I didn't have Aura or One For All... then there's..." He watched as Toshinori 'visibly' shivers in fear. "... The old man. Then there were Glynda and Enji, they were pretty rough to deal with while I was actually figuring out what I could do with One For All. Let's see... I still have a 'little' trouble with Goliath Grimm and those unique Grimm you hear about in legends and fables... Mountain Glenn was probably one of the fights of my life just because of how many Grimm were there and how many people I had to protect."

"And... hrmmm..." Toshinori visibly deflated as his mind continued to move forward. For a moment, he was worried... but then his eyes follow his gaze to his side.

"... And then there's the guy who did that to you." Toshinori's hand reached up to grasp at his old wound, gripping it ever so slightly.

"Yeah... then there was this guy. Only person I can safely say nearly killed me my entire life."

That thought... it scared Izuku a little. Knowing how strong Toshinori was, even now in his weakened state... it was hard to imagine just how powerful he must've been in his prime. So to take that imagination and then to think that there was someone out there who could've possibly killed his mentor, his hero, the man who shaped his hopes and dreams... it sent a chill down his spine. Someone like that... they could've only been a monster.

Yet here Toshinori was, confirming that it was a person. The only person, in fact, who'd come close to ending him.

A human being or a Faunus.

Still, as much as his mind was on that topic, he realized that maybe dipping into it might not be great. Still, he was curious in general...

"Uh... an old man? You don't mean the former Headmaster Nezu, do you?" Toshinori choked for a moment as he narrowed in on that particular subject, the blonde scarecrow having just scratched the back of his head as he shook it no.

"Er, no young man, that's... that's not who I mean. The... the... t-the old man was a friend of Nana's. He helped me finish up my training with One For All." His eyes went wide slightly, a slight shine to them as he gave a genuine smile, as he excitedly clenched his fists.

"Oh wow, you had another teacher I didn't even know about? One who helped with One For All? No way! You have to tell me all about him! Does he know about me? Is he good?" He saw Toshinori's face 'pale' with each question, his eyes narrowing into pinpricks as a layer of sweat just started to slide down his skin, staining his clothes. Immediately he started to feel nervous as he watched his mentor be reduced to such a state. "T-Toshinori? Are you alright?" He watched as Toshinori immediately looked around their immediate vicinity, as if checking behind his shoulder for... something. He was surprised when, all of a sudden, Toshinori blew up into his hero mode, laughing loudly as he picked Izuku up by the back of his shirt, much to his surprise.

"SAY YOUNG MAN, SPEAKING OF TRAINING, I THINK WE SHOULD GET TO OURS! YEP, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN TO ME! HOW ABOUT WE DO THAT INSTEAD OF JUST SITTING AROUND HERE GABBING I THINK THAT WOULD BE A GREAT IDEA!" He gave a short shout as Toshinori dragged him away from their position. For a moment Izuku was worried that Toshinori transformed out in the open where anyone could've seen him but a quick look around told him that they were well and truly alone. That must've been what Toshinori was looking around for... right? Still, Izuku ended up just shrugging his shoulders as Toshinori dragged him off toward the Emerald Forest.

"Uh... yeah, I guess that sounds great. I was thinking about asking you to train me in that move you offered before."

"AH, THE PATCH SMASH, OF COURSE! A GREAT TECHNIQUE, SOMETHING I DEVELOPED AFTER I WATCHED HOW THE OLD MAN'S SEMBLANCE WORKED!"

"What was his Semblance?"

"AHAHAHA, I THOUGHT I SAID WE SHOULDN'T SIT HERE AND GAB IZUKU, NOW'S THE TIME FOR ACTION, FORGET I SAID ANYTHING!"

"B-But you're the one who-"

"SORRY I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE WIND BLOWING IN OUR EARS YOUNG MAN!"

"What wi-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He was immediately catapulted into the air as Toshinori took a mighty leap, carrying him even deeper into the Emerald Forest. By the time they'd landed, he'd pretty well forgotten all about what he was trying to talk with Toshinori about... though it seemed to weigh somewhat heavily on his mentor's mind.