Izuku stretched out his arms as he gave a short yawn, having woken up rather late into the day after having spent the previous evening reading so late into the night. He felt a little groggy from so much sleep and more than a little stiff, Beacon's beds were nice enough but they were hardly the most amazing mattresses a student could've asked for, especially considering their sizes.

Still, Izuku had a plan for today and that plan hadn't called for him to laze about while he waited for the kinks to work themselves out of his bones or for the sleep to drop from his eyes. Today he had planned on picking his Aura training back up with Pyrrha and, to that end, sought out his partner. He knew she was somewhere around school, as none of his teammates had left any note or message that they'd be leaving campus today, but it was hard to say as he'd woken up so much later than the rest of them.

'Still,' Izuku figured, 'I'm sure that I will eventually run into Pyrrha again if I just keep looking around our usual spots.'

"Like, oh my gosh, you're her! You're 'the' Pyrrha Nikos, The Invincible Girl!"

'Speaking of…'

As Izuku turned a corner and craned his head around to find the source of the voice, Izuku smiled slightly as he caught sight of his partner, decked out in her usual attire as she stood in front of another student who seemed just about half a foot or so shorter than her. Pyrrha was standing slightly angled to Izuku, allowing him to just barely make out her expression while also keeping himself out of her line of sight. The girl she was talking to was 'very' excited, a clear shine to her eyes as she looked up at Pyrrha, her fists tightly clenched from her giddiness as she stared up at his partner. For some reason, it seemed a bit...familiar. Like for some reason…

"HOLY WOAH YOU'RE TOSHINORI YAGI!"

'Oh,' Izuku suddenly felt the desire to go crawl into a hole, his previous nerdy existence coming back to haunt him 'Fan b-girl. Fan girl.'

"Uh, y-yes, that would be me. Hello~..." Pyrrha chuckled somewhat awkwardly as she greeted the girl in front of her, the tournament fighter having taken a somewhat awkward step back from the enthusiastic young women who, if she even actually noticed at all, made a step forward to compensate.

"Oh my gosh! You know, I 'knew' that you were supposed to be in the First Year Class but I didn't really think I'd ever get the chance to meet you! This is so cool!" The girl pointed to herself as she offered a slightly awkward smile. "You probably don't know who I am but, well, that's pretty natural; I'm technically supposed to be your senior by a year so, uh, hi!" Oh wow. Izuku blinked surprise at that; most of the seniors Izuku himself had come across come across... well, he'd been in complete awe of them. Mirio, Coco, they seemed like the kind of people 'he'd look up to'. To see one of his seniors acting... well, acting like Izuku himself in Pyrrha's presence was a bit of a shock.

"O-Oh! Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry if my reputation has gotten a bit ahead of me, considering you all are my seniors, so-"

"Psssh!" The girl waved her hand dismissively at that. "'Sorry'? Don't be sorry; your reputation is one of the big reasons I've been trying to hard in my own studies for so long!" The girl again turned her gaze on Pyrrha, an excited tint to her eyes. "I've watched your Tournament Career back in Mistral ever since you hit the scene! Your complete control of the battle, your grace under fire and your complete domination of opponents stronger and more experienced to you was just, like, a huge deal for me! I thought it was so amazing that someone who was even younger than me had so much talent, and was putting it to good use to boot! Not like that delinquent Coco, ugh." Izuku frowned a bit at that; having heard someone speak so ill of a friend of his, someone he'd looked up to as a senior now and had helped him in becoming a better leader, it didn't exactly sit well with him. Still, the girl just moved right along as she turned to look back at Pyrrha.

"So seeing that and then hearing that you were going to be my junior this year... well, it made me want to work harder! Not every day that someone whose career you followed so closely becomes your junior, right?" Pyrrha chuckled somewhat nervously, her face somewhat tense from all the attention the girl was pouring on her, while the young woman reached back into her bag. "Listen, I know it's kind of, like, cheesy to ask this and you probably get this all the time but it'd mean the world to me if you'd let me have your autograph! Seriously, it'd be so cool if you would, I'd really appreciate it."

While he didn't necessarily know anything about autographs, Izuku had spent enough time around Toshinori at that point to kind of get a read for those situations. It seemed like the best response to it was always to pretty much just let the fan have their autograph; after all, if really did mean so much to them, then how cool was that? Not only were they getting an autograph from their hero, but they were able to be that hero for them and really just completely make their day.

Izuku himself wouldn't lie; the moment he realized that Toshinori of all people had signed his own notebook with his name, that had pretty much been the highlight of his week up to that point. He wasn't kidding when he said that he would pass it down as a family heirloom. Even something as simple as a signature from his idol was pretty much amazing. Even if they didn't seem sincere, Toshinori would still give it; after all, an autograph was just an autograph right.

Plus, well, if he had been in this girl's shoes, he'd probably be hyped to potentially get a signature too. So he suspected that was what was about to happen. Pyrrha, he knew for a fact, was very kind and 'very' generous. Hell, she'd helped him through so many of his own hurdles in becoming a Hunter, always willing to extend a helping hand to him. She was also pretty experienced when it came to this whole being famous thing so, like for Toshinori, this was probably pretty routine for her too. He expected that she'd just hand over the signature no problem and that would be that...

So it was a bit of a surprise to him when, instead of doing so, Pyrrha seemed to get downright uncomfortable as she reached her right hand over to awkwardly rub at her left.

"Oh... I don't know. I'm retired from being a tournament fighter now so I doubt my autograph's actually worth that much. Besides, like you said, you're my senior... it probably isn't all that great to get an autograph from someone lower than you." Izuku and the girl blinked in confusion in unison, the young woman just forcing a smile back on her face as she gave a slight chuckle.

"I mean, yeah, you're retired but, like, you still won all that fights and kicked all that ass, so it's not like that isn't cool. Besides, you're here to become a Hunter, my job of choice too, so that's even better. Sure, you're younger than me but... well, if I'm being honest, you could probably kick my butt, so it's whatever." The girl just tilted her head to the side slightly as she looked at Pyrrha. "Look, I'm not gonna sell this or anything. I just want your autograph. It'd really mean a lot to me. Please?"

Pyrrha, again, just seemed uncomfortable as she looked down at the shorter, older girl, and it really seemed like Pyrrha would've preferred to not be in that situation. Izuku...hadn't really seen her like that before. Pyrrha seemed to be in...legitimate discomfort.

Still, the girl was only asking for an autograph... then again, maybe that was still a big deal to Pyrrha?

'What to do…' Izuku thought, only to look at Pyrrha's almost collapsing stance, 'Okay then, Social Intervention Plus Ultra!'

"Ah, Pyrrha!" Izuku's sudden exclamation seems to surprise both young women as they jumped a bit, turning their heads back to look at Izuku. While his senior looked a little surprised and shocked still, he saw relief almost immediately wash over Pyrrha's face as she saw him approach, waving his hand in greeting as he walked over.

"Oh, I don't think I know you, you are?"

"Ah, Izuku Midoriya, I'm Pyrrha's partner and the Leader of Team MNVW." Izuku said, with some solid conviction, as he patted Pyrrha on the shoulder, hoping that the gesture signaled his solidarity as the girl looked at Izuku, seeming rather amazed. At the same time, he felt his arm suddenly rise a bit, as Pyrrha suddenly seemed to stand a bit straighter than before.

"OH WOW, REALLY? Holy cow, for you to end up as a Team Leader on a team with someone like Pyrrha Nikos, you must be really good for your age!" Izuku... actually couldn't help but blush at the girl's sudden praise, him sheepishly scratching him cheek as she gave him a look over. He'd had Coco praise him before, but to have him praised by one he'd never spoken with bef-

"... Wait, Izuku Midoriya?" Izuku saw the gears turn in the girl's head before she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah that's right, you were one of the guys with Pyrrha when Team CRDL got outed for causing that mess with the bathroom, right?"

"By all means he was the one who helped lead us to that conclusion..." Pyrrha added, emphasizing his role in it, as the girl just chuckled nervously.

"Oh wow, really? Man, sorry for not recognizing you but, well, I hope you understand; I didn't exactly spend a lot of time watching you fight on the CCT, after all." The girl bowed her head slightly, still as excitable as ever. "Listen, I'm sorry about borrowing your partner for a moment, but I just really wanted her autograph, so if you two had a moment-"

"Actually, uh, that's the thing; I set up a bit of a team exercise to help us with our combat prowess today. By now we're actually a little late as it is so I-"

"Whaaat? Oh jeez, I'm like, really sorry! I didn't know, I was just 'so' excited to actually meet 'Pyrrha Nikos' of all people and I really just wasn't thinking at all!" He'd mention about how she barely let Pyrrha get a word in edgewise... but then again Pyrrha really wouldn't have been able to tell her so even if she had time considering that he was lying through his teeth. Pyrrha, however, seemed all too willing to go along with it as she waved her hand.

"Oh don't worry, I'm... I'm used to stuff like this. You didn't offend." The girl seemed relieved, having previously bowed her head she raised it up to look back at the two younger students.

"Maybe I could ask for your autograph another time when you're not busy? I'd still be really thrilled if I could get one from you... just maybe not when you're so busy?" The girl implored for a moment and Izuku scratched his cheek slightly.

"Well... maybe another time, yeah?" He figured if he went along with this that it'd be a simple enough solution; it'd get the girl out of Pyrrha's face and made his partner more comfortable. Pyrrha, too, seemed to realize that as she just awkwardly smiled as she looked off to the side.

"Yes, sure, maybe another time when I'm not quite so busy..." The girl's eyes shined a bit at that as she nodded.

"Thanks, I appreciate it! Anyway, I'll leave you guys alone now, I probably have some work I should be doing now myself! Sorry again and I'll see you two around!" Without much prompting the girl immediately turned on her heels and sprinted off, leaving Izuku and Pyrrha pretty much alone in the halls as he gave a short sigh of relief.

"Whew, that was easier than I thought." Izuku muttered to himself, Pyrrha having turned her attention back down towards him, a grateful look on her face.

"Thank you Izuku, I really owe you one. That situation was... well, it was a little bit uncomfortable for me." Izuku nodded; that much had been apparent when he stumbled upon the scenario. However, that had left a few questions in his mind still.

"Yeah, I could tell, you looked like you'd rather be just about anywhere else then there... which... I mean, I'm just curious Pyrrha; aren't you kind of used to this stuff by now?" Izuku asked, tilting his head to the side. The two of them began to walk as you move to get more distance between themselves and the young woman, Pyrrha having sighed as she crossed her arms just underneath her chest.

"Well... yes and no." Izuku looked at her face, and for a moment, he was shocked at the sheer exhaustion on her face, "I've gone through this dozens, if not hundreds, of times now, so I usually know how this is all supposed to go but... well, you never 'quite' get used to fans getting in your face so they can ask you for something, especially if they're really excited about something."

Izuku nodded understandingly at that; he could imagine that he'd even find it hard, sometime down the line, to pull off being the Symbol of Peace the same way Toshinori did. The guy seemed like a natural fit for it with how ham he can go nearly upon command, but Izuku? He'd probably need 'a lot' of practice to be able to stand that kind of attention without getting nervous.

"I can get that. Still, why didn't you just say no if you didn't want to give the girl an autograph? She was in your space and it wasn't like you were open or offering it, so you could've turned her down." At that, Pyrrha frowned a bit as she reached one of her hands up to stroke her arm slightly.

"Well... it's not that I was dead set against giving her an autograph, I really could understand why she wanted one... she just... well, I just..." Pyrrha sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I just... don't really want that to define my experience here at Beacon, I guess. I came trying to change my life and image, to get away from 'just' being famous, I guess..." Izuku frowned slightly; Pyrrha didn't even sound entirely convinced of that little statement. However, before he could dig into that, Pyrrha continued. "But on the other hand... well, it was just an autograph. The only harm in giving it out would've been others would've wanted them and then... well, it'd be like it was back in Mistral."

"You make it sound like that's a really bad thing." Izuku said somewhat disconcertingly, while Pyrrha frowned a little. The young woman brought a finger up to her lips as she hummed to herself, as if she was trying to put her thoughts together on the matter.

"... Well... it wasn't 'bad', I guess, not in the way I might be making it sound... it just... well, it wasn't exactly the thing I was looking for when I started tournament fighting." Izuku blinked a little at that. Pyrrha snapped her fingers a bit. "Well, let's start it like this... why do 'you' want to be famous, Izuku?" Izuku blushed a little at that, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips as he scratched at the back of his head sheepishly. He really hadn't been prepared for the conversation to be put back on him.

"W-What? Pyrrha, I don't want to be 'famous' per say. I mean, sure, I want people to know my name and feel safe, but-"

"But you want to be like Toshinori. You want to be The Symbol of Peace." Pyrrha remarked, the young woman's green eyes glancing down at him, a new found intensity suddenly arriving. "Izuku, Toshinori might be a Hunter 90% of the time, but he's also 'famous'. More famous than I am. You have posters of him hanging on our walls. Children Remnant over play with little toys of him. There's going to be a holiday in Mountain Glenn 'dedicated mostly to him' tomorrow. He's The Symbol of Peace precisely because everyone knows his name and everyone looks up to him as the Greatest Huntsman in Remnant, a Hero worth emulating and trusting."

"Don't get me wrong Izuku, I don't think that's why Toshinori does it 'at all', he's clearly in it to save people; a man who just wanted to be famous wouldn't do what he did in Mountain Glenn. I don't even think that's why you want it either; you've said it yourself again and again, that you want to 'help people' and be a beacon of Hope for them. But... you could be a Hero without being in the limelight like Toshinori. Plenty of Hunters operate like that... that's how Professor Aizawa does it, at least." Pyrrha looked back forward. "A Hunter who just quietly does their job and lives their own life..." Izuku saw a slight 'twinkle' in Pyrrha's eyed as the idea passed over her lips and through her mind. "You could be a Hero like that Izuku, but that's not what you want entirely. You don't want to be famous for fame's sake, but for the sake of being a Symbol that... well, might go on regardless of how famous you yourself get."

"So I'd ask... 'why'? Why would you want fame like Toshinori or I have if you could still be a Heroic Hunter without it? Is being The Symbol of Peace for other people worth that much to you?"

"Well... yeah. I'd say that being the Symbol of Peace means that much to me." Izuku remarked with a start as he furrowed his brow a bit, arranging his thoughts in order as he sought to answer Pyrrha as best he could. "It's the biggest reason I look up to Toshinori, after all; not his fame on its own, but the fact that he's able to use that presence to be a Symbol to inspire hope in people who might've nearly lost it on their own." Izuku looked down a bit more as he spoke, Pyrrha watching him as he did so. "Like I said on the first day... I know what it's like to feel hopeless. It can be so hard... to be on your last legs, your face down in the dirt, that weight pressing down on your chest. In a moment like that... you 'need' something to help pick you back up. A boost that reassures you that things can be alright again." Izuku clenched his fists slightly, a spark of determination behind his emerald eyes as he looked back up to his partner.

"I want to be that for people. I want to give people the resolve and the tenacity to keep fighting even when it's looking grim. I want people to have faith that everything will be alright, to have faith in someone if they can't put faith in themselves. Just being a silent Hunter, working from the background... well, it wouldn't be enough. To be that, to be a Hero that could inspire people... well, there's no better way for me to accomplish that than by following Toshinori's example as a Symbol of Peace." Izuku put his hands in his pockets as he softened a bit. "Besides... I really don't think fame should be garnered for fame's sake. When you're as famous as someone like you or Toshinori, you have an incredible power."

"You can influence things because you have this incredible leverage to empower others as much as you can empower yourself. To me, that's what fame should be used for... that's why I want it. Being famous, being a Symbol for others to follow, it means I can use that standing, that leverage, that fame in order to help push others to go beyond what they themselves are capable of. To help them rise up to become their own Symbols of inspiration, to be their own light in the darkness. To inspire them like Toshinori inspired me... and then for them to inspire others like I might inspire them." Izuku clenched a fist. "A single match is all it takes to start a fire... and that fire can grow and spread to start a thousand more. It only takes one Symbol to create others... and that's what I want."

"That's my Dream."

...

A slight silence ell over the pair of them as they both continued on down the hall. Once more he'd spilled his guts on one of the things he considered to be so important to him, his dream, to one of his friends. Pyrrha's green eyes had looked back forward after he finished, momentarily closing them as she seemed to think on it. There was, a look...frustration, admiration, something in between...though finally, she looked at him with genuine friendship.

"... I think that's a good reason to want to be famous Izuku. A grand reason at that." She said, genuinely, with a smile. "Honestly, it's probably good to have considerations like that for why you'd want fame before getting it... it helps to have that kind of perspective on things." Izuku watched as Pyrrha folded her hands together as she lowered her head a bit. For some reason, her pace began to increase in speed, forcing Izuku to try and keep up with her, "I mean... I didn't even think I was going to end up famous like I did. My family was just kind of average in Mistrali society and, height aside, there wasn't much indication I'd be much more than your typical young woman when I entered into a local Combat School. Even when the tournaments started and my wins started to rack up, I didn't quite understand the idea that I'd somehow be thrust into the limelight. I thought it was just a good way of making money while I was also training to be a Huntress…"

"But... well, things change and sometimes they can change fast." Pyrrha reached up for a strand of her hair, wrapping it around her finger as she thought, "Before I knew it, time that I'd usually had for myself was slowly sinking away. It seemed natural... I mean, first it was just appearances and autographs. Then it was endorsement deals and appearances and... well, before I knew it, I was living the high life in Mistral and my family had followed my coat tails up. It was overwhelming and a rush and... it was nothing I'd ever thought I'd have for myself..." Pyrrha laughed a little "I was so unprepared and so overwhelmed by how quickly it all hit that I just ended up going with the flow, listening to agents and my family and just pushing myself on. I figured I'd get back to a place where I was more comfortable eventually."

"People wanted to meet me. To 'be' me. Because I was a great fighter. Because I was tall and imposing. Because I had money and fame and everything most people could ever want. People wanted The Invincible Girl and... well, that's what they got more often than not. That's what I was presented as... the 'Symbol' I'd become."

Pyrrha's own fist clenched like iron, and Izuku frowned as Pyrrha shook her head a bit. "Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing and, increasingly, little idea of how to manage anything or to do anything with what I had... so I just put my life into other people's hands." And her eyes seemed to light with some kind of hot fire, "My schedule was just increasingly about what appointments could be shoved in or about what people would just walk up to me and beg The Invincible Girl for her autograph or her time. It just..."

Pyrrha stopped speaking after that, and came to a stop. Izuku nearly shot past her, and he turned to look back at her. The young woman had taken a deep breath as she sighed. Izuku stayed back, waiting for her to continue... and was instead surprised by Pyrrha just smiling at him as she clapped her hands together. "Now then, as much as your excuse was to get me out of that, I do think that maybe it would be a good idea to do a little training together this weekend, right? I've been a bit slow on my studies after all, so I could use my tutor."

"Oh, uh, sure that's... that's what I was originally coming by for; I wanted to do a bit of Aura training together with you... but... Pyrrha, I mean, you don't have to, I can-"

"It's okay Izuku." Pyrrha nodded her head as she laughed. "It sounds good to me; it sounds like something 'I' want to do." With that, Pyrrha practically dragged him off, further and further away from the sight of that encounter with the fan and back to the shared dorm room of Team MNVW.

After finishing a short training session with Pyrrha, who had been a bit… over eager in her socialness, Izuku had decided it was time to finally complete that figurine for Mirio. One shopping trip later and he was back in his dorm room, a couple hunks of wood on hand, some paper for him to sketch his ideas out on and a carving knife. It really has been too long since he'd indulged in this hobby of carving little figures out of stuff and, knowing that Mirio would've really liked to have one carved of Toshinori, he was really interested in actually getting himself started back up.

Right after he made sure to cover the carpet with some towels or something to help catch whatever wood shavings might fall off his desk.

After he set up his work space and put all his supplies out, Izuku grabbed a pencil as he turned his attention down to a sheet of paper in front of him. Now, while he still really couldn't draw too well, he found it 'very' helpful to actually put his idea onto paper in some manner of completeness, a sort of visual shorthand so that he knew what he was carving. It helped keep his work on track, even if the drawings weren't great. Especially because it helped him decide on perhaps the most important part of carving out these figures; posing them.

A simple, arms to the side pose was pretty easy to draw; there were no awkward holes to carve out, no chance for the wood to split here and there while he was trying to carefully carve out distinct features separate from the body, nothing too fancy... but, conversely, that would leave it as not being terribly flashy. However, the more flashy the pose was, the more difficult the actual job of carving it without breaking it would be. He was still kind of an amateur but... well, he did really want to impress Mirio, after all.

'Oh no...I sound like some school girl with a crush.' Izuku shook his head, before returning his gaze back down to the wood.

All that in mind, he started roughly sketching out his idea. His inspiration taking hold of him, leaving him oblivious to the passing of time.-

…

Izuku smiled as he wrapped up the little figurine in a bit of paper. He'd either quickly run it out to some shop himself or have it delivered as part of the mail to a place he knew that does a pretty good job of painting figures like this. It'll take them a bit as they did have their own customers to get to but, hey, it would be a quality paint job at the very least.

And with that out of the way, he looked back up at the clock. It was a little around 5:00, so probably a little bit of time before eating dinner, and before having to get ready tonight for everyone's trip tomorrow. He could probably use the rest of his time before then for something productive, but what...

'Welp, back at it again, I suppose.'

Izuku carefully breathed out as he stretched down to touch his toes, breathing back in as he slowly grabbed at each of them. It'd been a while since he trained with One For All proper. The training room had been open, and gosh darn it, he'd decided to be responsible and train One For All with his last free hours. He'd been training techniques and using 5% to help him in various battles but to train in it well and truly had been something he'd been putting off, at least ever so slightly. Maybe it was because of the fact that he knew what he had to do; while he could feel his control improving when he just used 5% in the flow of a harsh battle, he knew that such a thing was only coming through because of the additional stress he was putting on himself. In the midst of normal training, just sticking to 5% alone probably wouldn't be enough.

Izuku needed to push ever so slightly past his limits, to really tire himself out, if he was going to improve One For All in such a casual environment... which meant, well... good thing he brought the IDSSK with him. Izuku exhaled a bit as you pressed the tips of his fingers into the ground beneath him. Well, time to-

"Starting without someone, Mr. Midoriya?" Izuku nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard Glynda walk up behind him, turning to face the blonde professor.

"A-Ah! Professor Goodwitch, hey! I didn't expect to see you here. Weren't you also-"

"On vacation, yes. It was a very relaxing few days. The weekend will be here soon and Beacon will be up and running again by late Sunday. Which means it's time for me to get back to work." With that, Glynda cracked her riding crop slightly, bringing the IDSSK over to her. "Especially if you're going to be training this evening."

"... Thanks Professor."

"Nothing you need to thank me for Mr. Midoriya." Glynda remarked dryly as she readjusted her spectacles. "Now then, are we going to stand around or are you going to train?"

"I'm training, I'm training!" With that, Izuku immediately hustled off. Welp, good to get back into a routine, he supposed.

'Though,' Izuku smiled, 'I'm really looking forward to going home tomorrow…'

a/n: Next release is on the 27th as usual