Soulbound Heroes(rewrite completed)

by shados960

As the climatic battle continued to be waged on the moon to defeat Asura, Maka and Soul traveled inside the kishin’s very soul to try save Crona Gorgon while he planned to make the ultimate sacrifice to atone for all his sins. But due to the will of an unknown force; suddenly find themselves stranded in a strange world filled with heroes and villain’s.

7. Chapter 7: What is right and wrong?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own soul eater nor do I own my hero academia, both are respective properties of studio bones.

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Chapter seven: What is right and wrong?

*BEEP!*

*BEEP!*

*BEEP!*

The alarm next to Maka's bed continued to blast the room with it's obnoxious noise, stirring Maka up from her previously peaceful sleep. Maka grumbling under breath as she forced her eyes to open and fumbled to turn off the accursed device. "Dammit why the heck do I keep using this thing, instead of my phone?" Maka finally slapped the alarm off and after rubbing her eyes stared at the clock. "Barely five in the morning again. Ugh, why do I even have to wake up so early in the first place?"

"RISE AND SHINE YOU LAZY ASSES! IT'S TIME TO WAKE THE HELL UP AND START YOUR MORNING TRAINING!" The very loud voice of Rumi rang across the entirety of the upper floor outside her room, as she started to hear the exhausted moans of Soul and Crona.

"Oh yeah…that's why." Maka groaned tiredly, and pinched the bridge of her nose. Surprised how her morning exhaustion made her almost forget why she and her friends had been waking up at practically the crack of dawn every single day.

A month had flown by since they had decided to begin their training for the U.A entrance exam. And in that length of time, Rumi had made sure to put one hundred percent effort into making each one of them reach her standards of being prime hero material. Initially, it was arduous, just as Maka expected it to be, but nothing she hadn't experienced before as an EAT student.

It was already standard for Shibusan students in the EAT classes like herself and Soul, to put themselves through a daily regimen in order to be in peak physical condition when hunting for evil humans. Thus, she assumed that as their training continued, it would be a breeze for her to continue keeping herself fit.

But once the second month of their training had began, her assessment had been thrown out the window as she was quickly proven very wrong.

---

"KEEP LIFTING GODDAMMIT, YOUR NOT EVEN HALFWAY DONE!!!" Rumi exclaimed with the ferocity of a military drill sergeant, as she loomed over the teen struggling with a certain part of the hero's exerting regimen.

"I'm…trying…a-alright! I've d-done this 18 times now-what m-more do you want!?" Maka grunted in frustrated pain, as she tried pooling enough strength to lift the horrendously heavy weight of this damn barbell off her chest.

The hell was this?! She was expecting to do 20–40 kilometer run, acrobatic exercises or some more sparring. Not making her lift this lug of metal over and over, till her arms felt like they were inches away from getting crushed into paste!

"Well try harder you damn weakling! I mean for fuck's sake that's only 55 pounds! You think U.A wants your sorry ass enrolled if you can't even do a dozen of these!?" Rumi loudly retorted with a her hands on her hips, as she glowered the teen with a stern glare.

"Are you trying to kill me!?" Maka sharply hissed in outrage through her gritting teeth.

"If you mean killing the weakness in you, then yes! NOW LIFT!!!" Rumi shouted once again, as the loud and relentless fury swiftly returned in her voice. And without little choice Maka begrudgingly resumed what was all but torture for the scythe meister.

"As for you two, pick up the slack already! I think my grandma could go faster than this-and she's already dust and bones!" Rumi barked as she turned around with her heel and glowered her two other protégé's as they were preoccupied with their own grueling training.

Crona was looking even worse than any of them. The teen was practically coated in his own sweat as he forced his frail body to do a dozen push ups without any break, just as ordered. But from the way his thinly arms were wildly wobbling like sticks of jelly, the poor guy looking ready to pass out at any given moment should this torture go on any longer.

"P-P-Please help…I d-d-don't t-think I can h-h-handle doing this a-anymore…" Crona wheezed out as he continued his pushups despite his thin muscles screamed for him to stop.

"Well, you better learn how to, fast! Just because that black blood makes you strong, doesn't mean you should solely rely on your quirk! Now unless you want me to double your load, keep going till you're done!" Rumi snapped back without a hint of sympathy in her voice.

"O-Okay…" Crona murmured with evident despair in his voice.

Meanwhile Soul was currently going at it with his sharp sickles protruding from his arms and legs. The young death scythe was currently performing combinations of fast jabs, kicks and slashes at a reinforced punching bag, lined with steel threads and kevlar to better withstand highly offensive quirks or enhanced levels of strength.

Normally this wouldn't be beyond easy for the death scythe to do, since this was something he did to train whenever he had time. But with Rumi forcing him to do that and beyond his usual regimen for almost an hour, left soul close to his limits and the muscles in his arms screaming to stop.

"For god's sake, what the hell did we sign up for?!" Soul grunted under his breath, as he kept going at it lest he face Rumi giving him a "spar" in exchange for slacking off.

"Oi quit whining and keep up your form, or I swear to god your gonna be there for an extra hour!" Soul only responded by growling in frustration, and without any other choice, continued to swing and slash away at the durable punching bag.

Maka released a small groan herself, before she reluctantly continued trying her damndest to lift this accused bar of metal, to avoid Rumi screaming her ear off again.

---

From the crack of dawn, Rumi had continuously dragging them out of their beds to begin their preparations for U.A. Yet for a certain lazy as hell albino this became quite literal as Rumi "requested " with a swift kick out of his room to join them. Something she easily approved when it came to handling soul's slothfulness.

Their training sessions were split between the early morning and beginning the second half a few hours after school.

For the former, it would begin after having a hefty breakfast packed with enough proteins and a substantial amount of rich nutrients. With enough energy in their system, they would promptly undergo a number of rigorous exercises to push them past their physical limits. From lifting numerous hefty weights, two hundred push-ups, pull-ups, and curl-ups, and to top it all off sprinting for an hour and a half around in a public running track till their legs were practically throbbing. All with little to no breaks whatever in between these muscle tearing exercises.

The second half that came after school was just arduous as the first half was. Several hours were dedicated into focusing on improving their combative capabilities as meister and weapon pairs. These being through spars against Rumi or each other in order to hone and practice their resonance techniques, and work on fixing any apparent flaws or area's to improve.

And while that sounded simple enough…that was far from the actual case.

When it came to fighting with Rumi, the word "holding back" didn't exist in her vocabulary whatsoever. From start to finish she would unleash all the ferocity and strength she could muster in the battle ring. She moved faster than any cheetah could ever hope to be and hit as hard as a speeding truck whenever those steel legs hit them. It was like their first battle all over again. Only this time it not only went on much longer but it seemed the bunny hero was even more relentless in their duals than before.

And since Rumi had forbade any usage of their wavelength cancellation technique's, they were left to continuously struggle trying to overpower the Amazonian heroine. Which was easier said than done, when Rumi constantly attacked with raw, brute strength that was efficiently combined with her swift and agile maneuverability.

That didn't mean they were going to accept getting their asses kicked. If they were going to start winning against their guardian, they needed to adapt as quickly as Rumi was dishing out her attacks. But despite the sheer effort Maka and Soul pooled, they had yet to achieve solid victory against her. So far all those outcomes of those spars comprised of brutal losses with and without Soul. Yet at least the duo were able to hold some pride in managing to have the other half of their spars end with ties or close wins.

Sparring matches with Crona however was a more complicated matter, since the tall teen was still very much against fighting Rumi again in fear of another psychotic episode.

Even though he tried to get over what happened after Rumi forgave him, the sting of guilt from that incident continued to fester even after all this time. He just couldn't handle anything terrible like that spar happening again, and end up ruining his promise to Maka. He still couldn't find it within him to trust himself again.

But much to his shock, he was actually encouraged by Rumi herself to not let that hold him down, since she long since forgave him. He was still quite reluctant about raising a sword against her, but in the end complied with Rumi's request.

Yet unlike Soul and Maka, Crona fared somewhat better against Rumi than his friends did, even he was left exhausted from facing the robust woman's relentless fighting style. Her speedy kicks countering the velocity of his swings with his blades and held enough muscle power to rival their black blood empowered strength. Leaving him with more a handful of ties while holding a few victories and losses under his belt.

By the time they were finished with their daily ordeals, all three teenagers were left practically dragging their feet up to their rooms from the physical exhaustion of it all. Leaving herself by the end of the day wanting nothing else to do but lay on her bed and rest every single one of her heavily aching muscles and forming bruises.

At least until the next day came and they had to repeat this hellish cycle all over again.

'We should have been more prepared for Rumi making this more difficult as the months went by.' Maka tiredly lamented, scolding herself for her overconfidence when they first started this ordeal.

But stewing in these thoughts and keeping the same impatient rabbit hero waiting wouldn't help anyone. So, with a tired sigh she pulled away the sheets and crawled out of bed, while looking around her room. The once barren plain walls were now lined with different posters of solar systems, oceans, or japan's natural wonders like mount Fuji. And right across from where Maka sat on her bedside was a yellow bookshelf, filled with numerous novels she had bought to read whenever she had the time to spare.

Maka as she repressed a yawn, stood up and walked to the mirror placed underneath her dresser and stared at herself for a few minutes. Maka finding her eyes glancing at her mama's wedding ring on her finger. One out of only a handful of possessions that reminded her of the life she had before they were all taken to this strange place. "A lot has changed in such little time, hasn't it…"

It was amazing how it still felt like it was only yesterday when her life had taken such an unexpected turn and got flipped completely upside down. A month ago, she had been fighting with her friends to defeat the kishin and save the world from being destroyed. Only for her and two of her friends to wind up being abruptly taken away into another world where actual superheroes and superpowers existed. With their days being spent either finishing up junior high school or training to enroll in a hero school to become heroes themselves.

Funny how thing's could just turn out that way. Yet no matter how stupid it sounded, here she was currently living in this hero-centric reality, working hard like Soul and Crona for the entrance exam to U.A academy by the end of the year.

She couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh, at her thoughts. "I don't think I could ever understand how Blackstar would want to go through all this insanity every day."

After getting changed into her usual exercise attire, she walked out of her bedroom and down to the living room where Soul and Crona waited for her.

"Took you long enough. I was starting to think Rumi would've come charging upstairs if she was here." Soul remarked with some subtle weariness, as the scythe was still trying to push away at his morning exhaustion.

"Surprised that didn't happen to you, I know I would've done Rumi the favor of throwing you out of your room myself if I had to." Maka scoffed back, while rolling her eyes knowing it wouldn't be the first time she had to straighten him out like that.

"G-Good morning Maka, did you sleep well?" Crona greeted with a smile despite the evident tiredness in his face, to which Maka glanced at him and smiled back.

"Pretty good all things considered. I'm still not used to waking up this early, but maybe some breakfast can help me get energized." Maka remarked with a light chuckle to admit her lingering drowsiness.

"Y-Yeah that does sound nice. I just hope Rumi doesn't try making me eat too much again. I don't think I deal with any more of Ragnarök's tantrum over seeing me having more food than him." Crona muttered exasperatedly yet was glad his weapon was still asleep before he'd be awoken to satiate his appetite or rant about their early wake-up hours.

Maka however looked over her pink haired friend now that she had the time to do so, and was quick to notice her friend had begun to change.

Now that Crona was living a far more healthy lifestyle than he had for his entire life, he was starting to have more vitality to his appearance. Thanks to the many weeks of getting a chance to eat something without a certain pest stealing them without facing Rumi's kicks, the normally rail thin meister had gained some weight, as his clothes were fitting his frame far better than before. He still looked kinda lanky, but at least he wasn't as emaciated like he three months ago.

But he wasn't the only one gaining benefits from their training. Through Rumi's efforts in wanting Soul to improve the flaws she initially found when they first fought, her weapon underwent a series of exercises to hone said powers. In their fighting matches, Rumi forced soul to do more than just summon blades-but actually combine them with better precision and speed by forcing him to summon and retract his scythes in a second or more. All the while Rumi kept brutally berating him for his "crappy footwork" or "half assed attacks" before delivering a strong kick to his stomach and forces him to try again.

Yet that was only making Soul more determined to at least get one victory against the rabbit hero. Saying it's too "uncool" to not put the effort to beat someone like that.

It was a goal Maka couldn't help but respect, even if she had the hardest time resisting the urge to laugh her ass off whenever she saw soul get literally kicked out of the sparring ring and lie in a dazed heap.

But she did still notice he was getting steadily stronger from it regardless, as she saw the better fluidity and agility within her weapon's movements as he fought both with and without his sickles.

Though if Maka thought about it, she was starting to feel different too. Maybe it was a fluke, but she was starting to think her body was adapting to the intense strain of all this training done every single day. The weights she remembered having a hellish time lifting initially were getting a little easier to use each day she practiced them. Results that surprised Maka, when she recalled how she was never one to really use any seriously heavy weights whenever she did her exercise regimens back in Death City.

Her stamina and endurance were also showing improvements as it took longer for her to tire out when Rumi made them run around those grueling 400-meter laps for nearly two hours.

But it wasn't just her physical strength steadily improving. The bunny hero had also been particularly keen on teaching her some more adept kickboxing techniques since she was already adept in terms of hand to hand combat. Or as she put it, her fighting style could use some "fine-tuning".

She couldn't help but feel some pride in herself for actually starting to get stronger, to at least ease the lingering shadows of her old insecurities over being the "weaker" one compared to her two more monstrously powerful teammates. Something she had mostly gotten over and accepted, but could always feel its remnants tingling in the back of her mind.

But She wasn't going to get overconfident either. She would probably still be far from becoming some overpowered freak of nature like Kid or Blackstar even after a year of this intense regimen. But the fact alone that she was starting to see her hard work was bearing fruit was more than enough for her to feel happy and even excited to some extent.

Besides the last thing she ever wanted was to end up turning into some brute like that brainless ninja.

She'd rather die than wind up becoming infected with the same ungodly cocktail of egotistical idiocy that dumbass has as a sight effect of being a superhuman freak. The thought alone sent a shudder traveling down her spine to even imagine becoming like that in any capacity.

Yet Maka was taken away from her thoughts as Rumi soon came up from downstairs and approached her apprentice's. The rabbit heroine wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of orange sweatpants while her white flowing hair was tied in a long, flowing ponytail.

"Finally, your all here," Rumi remarked with an energetic grin on her face despite the slightly scolding look in her eyes. "The hell took you so long? Don't tell me you brats are still not used to waking up at these hours?"

"Well some of us ain't exactly morning people." Soul grumbled in equal parts irritation and exhaustion.

"Oh grow up you big baby, you should be grateful I even have the time in my schedule to train you for the entrance exam." Mirko scoffed indignantly at the ungrateful brat. Christ Maka wasn't kidding when she said soul could act as so freakin lazy sometimes.

"And trust me he is, otherwise, he'd be learning the hard way to appreciate what you're doing for us." Maka added as she was more than ready to discipline her weapon with her infamous Maka chops.

"Right just don't whack him too hard on the head, otherwise he might see his concussion as an excuse to get out of training." Mirko remarked casually, without a hint of worry over Maka's threat to pummel the albino.

"You two do realize I'm standing right here, you know?" Soul flatly spoke up, but neither woman seemed to pay him any mind.

"Alright now let's not waste anymore time," Mirko exclaimed while ignoring soul, much to the scythe's indigence as he muttered something about this being uncool before she continued. "Once you finished breakfast, we'll start with the usual rounds. And I think later on, we can devote some time today to not only sharpen up your fancy soul powers."

As if a switch was flipped within the duo, Maka and Soul's morning drowsiness immediately vanished as excitement blossomed when hearing that particular detail. The promise of practicing their techniques as meister and weapon again was more than welcomed to the pair, and what they always looked forward to in these training sessions everyday.

As both former Shibusen students had been making sure to not only rigorously hone their physical capabilities, but also improve their soul resonance techniques. Granted that subject wasn't something Rumi understood very well, nor the mechanics beyond the basics. But when concerning the external factor like improving their hunt techniques, them Rumi was more than glad to help iron out whatever flaws she could find.

Crona however wasn't exactly as enthusiastic as his friends were about performing soul resonance given the fear of whatever madness still dwelled within his soul's spectrum. But he was still relieved to train in a matter he's more familiar with than Rumi yelling at him to lift more excruciating weights. He just had to make sure to keep himself in check to prevent losing control again.

But soon a spike of pain fired from his back as Ragnarök made his uninvited appearance. One of the few things that hadn't changed in the past 2 months despite Rumi's disciplinary actions against his rude nature. "And what about me? You better not forget to give me some food this time lola, otherwise, the only thing I'm planning to do today is jack!"

"R-Ragnarök you'll have enough to eat today, so please stop yelling at everyone." Crona told his weapon, but like many other times he wasn't keen on listening to his meister.

"Me!? You got no room to talk considering that rabbit keeps dumping all the food into your stomach instead or mine!" Ragnarök ranted childishly as a vaguely angry scowl appeared on his mostly expressionless face.

"Well unlike like you Crona needs the food since you've always stolen it to satisfy your greedy gullet and left him starving!" Maka rebuked with a heated glare towards the bratty parasite attached to her friend.

"Stay out of it you cow! I'm the one who does all the work when kicking ass so I say I can-and should have all the meal's-HEY WHAT THE FUCK!?" Ragnarök shrieked as suddenly a strong hand grabbed his spherical head and started squeezing it like a stress ball.

"Since when the hell did anyone ask to hear your screeching so damn early in the morning? You should be grateful I still bother I give you anything to eat at ALL, with the crap you pull everyday. So drop the pompous attitude you sock puppet, before I start testing how many kicks it'll take to shut you up." Mirko snarled out with a savage grin, applying more pressure to her hand on the demon sword's round cranium, as he began frantically squirming in even more pain.

"O-OKAY, OKAY! JUST LET GO OF ME, YOU CRAZY BITCH!!!" Ragnarök screeched in agony, as he frantically struggled to free himself from the infuriated hero's strong grip on his head.

After a few more seconds Rumi released an annoyed huff out of her mouth, before finally pulling her hand away from the demon weapon's head. The sword sagging in relief as his head was finally released from that brutal grip. While Maka was having the hardest time hiding her smug smirk to see that little brat get what was coming to him.

Crona on the other hand while feeling some pity for his weapon, he was internally glad to see Ragnarök's tantrum put to a screeching halt before it got worse.

"I swear to god…I am going to get you back one day for this you bitch." Ragnarök grumbled as he held his throbbing head with both his balled hands before dissipating back into Crona's body.

Rumi however only rolled her eyes in exasperation to the sword's petty threat. "Yeah, in your dreams dumbass."

"Anyway with that pest back to his little den, let's go fill our stomachs and get started with your morning training." Rumi walked into the kitchen, with the trio following behind her as the teens readied themselves for another morning of their grueling regimen.

---

ALDERA JUNIOR HIGH-SCHOOL

"Hey Maka are you okay? Y-You're looking pretty tired today." Izuku asked with worry subtly laced in his tone as he looked over his exhausted ash blonde friend, as she and their friends studied in the school library.

Maka repressed a yawn that tried to rise out of her mouth and waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine Izuku. I guess I'm still a bit winded from our new morning schedule."

"Yeesh just how much is your guardian putting you through lately? I-I get the entrance exam's will be pretty intense, but I just hope you aren't being pushed too far." Izuku advised his good friend, but Maka simply waved it off.

"Don't worry Izuku-kun, we aren't made of glass. It's pretty rough but we're handling our training just fine." Maka assured the green haired boy with a smile, before her expression became lightly scolding. "If anything I should be saying that to you considering how much garbage Toshi-dono has been making you lift out of the beach nowadays."

Izuku's cheeks became a bit heated as he tried to regain his easy to topple composure. "I-It's been getting harder lately, I won't lie, but I can't let that stop me. I need to step up as much as possible if I want to get strong enough for U.A."

Maka chuckled softly and glanced down at her textbook. "With that attitude I think your going to do just fine. But you shouldn't forget that passing that exam isn't entirely dependent on muscles you know. There's still a written portion, so we need to train our brains too."

It was for that primary reason Maka suggested they'd spend their lunch period at the library studying. Much to soul's disgruntlement, but she made sure to drag that slacker by the ear before he had any funny ideas. Thankfully Izuku was there to support Maka's decision as he agreed that they needed to memorize everything they could, in order to have the highest chances of all of passing.

In fact, Maka could say Izuku was becoming even more determined to prepare for UA lately, but she knew learning they were also going to apply there, was enough to make his motivation grow stronger than ever.

She could still recall the beaming smile Izuku had on when she told him they decided to take his advice to apply for the entrance exam for U.A too. It was the happiest she had ever seen Izuku-at least since the day he told them about his secret training.

The rest of the day afterwards was Izuku having a conversation about UA and what to expect from the academy. All while carrying the same excited and joyful attitude the entire time they spoke.

At least until she was forced to lightly chop Izuku once he was starting to befall into one of his high paced rambling episodes even she couldn't make sense of.

Thankfully those "muttering episodes" weren't as common as they were when they first met. Over the past two months an air of subtle confidence started permeating around the moss haired teen that hadn't been there.

He stopped stuttering as often as he used to and was starting to speak with a firmer voice than before. Both of these changes she welcomed with open arms. It was yet another sign of Izuku truly beginning to come out of the meek and insecure shell he had formed from all the years living as a social outcast and become someone more confident than originally.

Unfortunately, their current study session might become more hindered than she initially thought, as she looked up from her book and resisted scrunching her facial muscles into a scowl as she saw soul using his book as a cover to snore away like some hibernating animal.

'Oh you've got to be kidding me!' Yet before her anger could settle in, Maka's expression softened in concern as she also caught Crona with a sleepy look in eyes. The pink haired teen was trying to continue to read his chosen book but from the exhaustion floating in his half-lidded eyes, looked ready to fall into the same slumbering position as her death scythe.

Mild annoyance still crept up in Maka's sore nerves, and was almost compelled to wake the sleeping boys up. At least for Soul in the usual skull bashing manner as she normally would whenever he pulled his usual slothfulness.

But for once, it might be best to just leave them be and let them rest for a little while longer. It's easy to understand why they'd be exhausted from the daily strain they'd been enduring as of late. Besides, she could always make them study extra hard back home to make up for the time they were wasting here.

Maka was soon cut off from her thoughts when she heard the sound of fabric ripping and turned to see Ragnarök having emerged from Crona's spine. She watched the black gremlin shoved himself into his meister's book-bag, and triumphantly come out with a pen in his balled hand while mischievously chuckling.

The kishin piercer instantly figured out what that obnoxious creature was up to, and with an angry scowl flung her textbook at the sword before he could even put the pen even an inch near Crona's face.

Crona and soul shot up from their seats in alarm as Ragnarök's pained yowling rang throughout the library ears. The young swordsman and death scythe looking down to see Ragnarök slouched over clutching a pen.

Crona put the dots together and wrinkled his brow into an exasperated glare. "Ragnarök I've told you for the sixth time to stop trying to draw on my face when I'm sleeping."

"Well, it's not my fault you make it so damn easy!" Ragnarök snarked back despite the throwing pain he was feeling.

"And you thought drawing on our faces would be the best way to pass the time?" Soul dryly asked.

"Of course it is! What else am I supposed to do while your lazy asses snooze away, huh?"

"Just scram already." Soul spat out irritably, not even bothering to entertain that merged weapon's immature antics any longer.

Ragnarök grumbled furiously under his breath that was no doubt compromised of foul insults and curses before oozing back into Crona's spine.

Once the sword had left, Crona blinked a few more times before glancing at Izuku. "Izuku-san d-did we fall asleep?" Crona quietly asked with a worried undertone.

"Uh I think for about…almost ten minutes." Izuku answered and cringed in sympathy as Crona looked down at the desk to hid his face in shame for falling sleeping instead of properly studying.

"Sorry about that dude, I guess we're still drained as hell from our regimen lately." Soul stretched his arms out, but soon a sharp spike of sore pain hit his arms muscles causing him to flinch back.

"Give me a break, you find every and any opportunity to sleep regardless of the circumstances." Maka huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

But just as soul was about to open his mouth and make a comeback, he paused as he noticed…something off. To the point he needed to blink several times and do a retake to make sure his eyes were working correctly.

Did Maka's chest look…bigger?

However, with a quick shake of his head, soul dismissed such a insane thought and dived right back into his book. 'Okay I think this whole regimen is starting to get to my head if I'm actually starting to hallucinate maka growing freakin boobs of all things.' Soul mentally sighed in disbelief, before he continued to study before Maka started ranting at him.

---

Once the four teens finished their studying in the school library the rest of the school day went relatively normal. So far despite some expected spikes of difficulty in their tests Maka, Soul and Crona had managed to keep their grades to decent standards even if one of them was a slacker about it.

It became especially easier to keep their grades up since Maka, soul, and Crona had begun to better understand the Japanese language compared to when they first came here. All thanks to not only the effort they put into learning it but also Izuku's help every now and then. Though out of all of them, Maka was proud to say she understood the language the most, thanks to her rough yet basic knowledge given by her mother. Something Soul decided to let her boast about, despite how annoying it got for him from time to time.

Nonetheless with their overall grades being in such good standards they were suitable to sign up for the hero course after their graduation. All they needed to do now was wait for the applications to arrive to cement their spots in enrolling into U.A.

Yet as they made their way outside, they were met with the sight of Bakugo, standing a foot away from the main doors looking once again more than ready for a fight.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me, is that idiot at it again?" Maka said with a huff as she saw the snarling teen standing afar from them.

"He really doesn't know when to give up, does he? You'd think he'd realize how this is gonna go down after getting his ass kicked the first time." Soul remarked.

"Well maybe this time it might finally drill into that dense skull of his to just leave us alone already." Maka frowned deeply as already she could see what needed to be done.

The explosive blonde's facial muscles scrunched in boiling anger, causing the white patch to cover his more recent injuries to stretch. The reason why he had these injuries, would be due to none other than his past confrontations with the same girl approaching him.

"Oi dipshits, where the hell do you think your going?" Bakugo snarled in a low toned.

"To go somewhere to eat-not that it's any of your business, so can you please move aside?" Maka indifferently asked, not at all in the mood to deal with the angry, blonde dumbass in front of her.

"And what makes you think I'm actually going to listen to you foreigner?" Bakugo hissed, as he started to ignite his hands with his explosive quirk.

Maka didn't answer, and keeping the same indifferent expression shifted her feet forward and rushed towards bakugo before he could even blink. The bully momentarily froze in surprise at the incredible speed but was quick to shake it off and instantly sent his body into action. Both his palms lighting up with crackling, charged explosions seconds away from going off.

The blonde bomber smiled in glee but before he could even move his explosive palms forward; Maka was already inches away from him. Bakugo momentarily stood in shock by her speed, yet quickly became enraged and tried to fire off his explosions at her.

Maka's reaction speed proved to be far superior to his own and swiftly thrust her steel fist into his gut. Bakugo grunted while suppressing the nauseous pain he felt and with his remaining strength tried throwing another explosion.

Unfortunately, he was too slow, in mere seconds Maka spun both her leg and upper body for a swift roundhouse kick aimed at Bakugo's left side. The air in the blonde bomber's lungs fled out as Maka's boot rammed into his stomach side. The force of Maka's kick instantly caused Bakugo to lose his footing and crash into the hard concrete floor, laying utterly defeated.

Maka sighed exasperatedly. "Don't you ever learn your lesson? What part of leave us alone don't you understand?"

"Fuck off…you think your better than me!?" Bakugo growled as he tried pushing himself back up yet before he could, Maka sent a hard kick to the right side of his stomach. The blow expelled the air from his lungs and double over before he fell into unconsciousness.

"No, I just don't think your worth causing trouble over." Maka dryly told the now unconscious Bakugo, before turning around and walking back to her friends.

Soul shook his head. "Jeez, that's the second time this month, you think he'll ever quit?"

"Don't know, but either way I don't mind giving that asshole a beatdown if he doesn't understand to stop bugging us with these ego challenges already." Maka irritably answered, still more than willing to put that stubborn bully in his place if he continued to bother her and her friends like this.

But unlike Maka and Soul, however, Izuku stared down at Bakugo's unconscious body in both pity and concern.

Rumors had been quick to spread around the school after the brawl between him and Maka had occurred, and how the toughest student in the school. Despite the different versions that were told, all shared the same premise. That Katsuki Bakugo had been pummeled and beaten in a fight; by none other than one of the new american transfer students. At first, nobody could really believe such an insane story, since both student and staff alike had known quite well that despite Bakugo's arrogant attitude, his boasts were fully justified by possessing such a powerful quirk. It's practically suicide for anyone to dare go up against somebody like Bakugo who could blast some poor sap into ash with a single hand. And Izuku knew that more than anybody else considering he would usually have firsthand experience with such destructive power.

But the boot imprint marked on Bakugo's cheek, which he tried hard to hide was undeniable proof that someone successfully stood up to him. The only reason why nobody talked about it so openly, was due to the seething glare granted to anyone who had the guts to mention or joke about it before receiving the end of Bakugo's fury.

Yet despite how much his friends told him many times previously that his former childhood friend wasn't a good person anymore. A claim that even a small part of him deep down, knew might be true, but regardless Izuku still couldn't help but feel bad for his former friend turned bully.

For the past two months, Bakugo's pride had been mercilessly brutalized every time he challenged Maka to try and beat her and finally get payback for humiliating him. Only to end up getting swiftly defeated with every attempt the hotheaded blonde made against his friend. And with each defeat, that ironclad determination and fury continued to accumulate and drive him to still face the young girl like a raging bull. But no matter how many times Maka beat him with brutal and efficient ease, Izuku knew Bakugo wasn't going to stop for a while.

Besides the fact a portion of his motivation was fueled by petty revenge for his pride, Bakugo had started to see Maka as more than just someone to get revenge against. Izuku could see that Bakugo was starting to see defeating Maka as a way to prove his strength. To prove he was more than worthy of being the next number one hero of japan. In a way, Bakugo viewed the ash blonde as a sort of mountain he needed to blast away to succeed in his ambitious dream.

And until that day happened this was gonna keep happening in some shape or form until he finally achieved victory and overcame this obstacle. Izuku just hoped Bakugo wouldn't go too far in that personal pursuit.

"Izuku-san are you coming?" Crona called out, snapping izuku from his thoughts.

"O-oh yeah coming!" Izuku looked down to give bakugo one last glance of pity before running back to the trio.

However as Izuku ran back to his friends, he remained unaware that Bakugo despite the blows inflicted on him, had been hatefully glaring at Izuku the minute he turned his back as he laid on the ground.

'I swear I am going put that pigtailed bitch in her damn place! She's gonna learn full well who her who her better's are! One way or another she's going down!' Bakugo internally declared as a determined fire ignited in his eyes. Planning to do whatever it takes to bring those American washouts down a peg and show them he was above them all!

---

After Maka subsequently mopped the floor with Bakugo in his latest bullheaded challenge against her, the trio finally left the school and made their way to have a bite to eat together, before Izuku had to head to the Takoba beach. Their chosen location was a restaurant called "the Den-Den sushi" which was conveniently located nearby their middle school.

It was a large and welcoming establishment filled with numerous oak wooden tables to allow a decent amount of customers to sit in and order their food, along with a sushi bar being placed on the left side of the establishment that faced the rest of the restaurant. It was well received place that was known to serve some appetizing meals at cheap prices. And with it being nearby the local school's made it a perfect spot to earn revenue by serving the numerous students coming after a day of school.

"Ah~ now this hits the spot." Soul sighed in satisfaction, as he and the others were eating their meals which consisted of large portions of sushi and other delicacies. Normally this would be a lot for even a party of four, but given how all of them were doing strenuous activities on a daily basis, the caloric intake was necessary to energize their bodies.

"Yeah it did. We should definitely try to come here more often!" Izuku said in content agreement as gobbled another spicy salmon roll. "The sushi here is so delicious!"

"While I'm glad you're enjoying your meals, I think I'm just going to stick to some more lo mein." Maka said casually, as she continued eating the bowl of hot noodles she ordered instead of the sushi like everyone else had.

"You don't like sushi, Maka?" Crona asked curiously.

"I just don't get why people could ever enjoy the taste of raw fish in their mouth. It sounds gross just by thinking about it." Maka retorted with a shrug, as every time she tasted it made her shudder by the cold and slimy sensation in her tastebuds.

Ugh, no thank you.

"I guess everyone has different tastes." Izuku accepted with a small amount of surprise within his voice.

"To me it sounds pretty ironic, considering Maka's technically Japanese, herself. So doesn't that mean you don't like what's a part of your own culture?" Soul spoke up with a raised eyebrow, as Izuku's eyes widened marginally at this reveal.

"W-wait a minute your Japanese, Maka-san?" Izuku asked in now more prominent surprise than beforehand. He never could've expected one of his friends to be Japanese considering they came from america.

Maka sent an slightly annoyed glare at soul for a few seconds, before turning to Izuku and nodded. "More like American Japanese. My mother came from japan before she moved to america and eventually met my…papa."

Izuku could only blink in puzzlement as he saw the scowl Maka was making from merely mentioning her father. But for now kept his curiosity on that subject at bay.

"But wait a minute, if you're half Japanese then how come you don't already know the language?" Izuku asked out of intrigue.

"I never really got a chance to learn her culture in my childhood." Maka's eyes soon took on a fond gaze as she recalled her mother. "My mama had decided two years ago to go on a journey, and explore the world, to help clear her head over some family issues that occurred with my father at the time."

"Did something bad h-happen with your father back home?" Izuku said, with his brow furrowed in half confusion and notable worry. As it sounded like whatever happened with her father caused some serious issues for her family for Maka to speak of him with that much resentment. The worst scenario that came to Izuku's mind was that Maka's parents had a divorce fairly recently.

Maka sighed and waved her hand dismissively. "It's nothing important. Trust me when I say what happened with my papa isn't remotely worth talking about."

"O-Okay then," Izuku nodded slowly, knowing it wouldn't be a good idea nor nice to barge further into what was a very personal and unpleasant matter involving her father.

Yet soon another question popped up. One that had been brewing within the green haired teen for quite some time now. "But there's something else I've been meaning to ask you about."

"Sure, what is it Izuku-san?" Maka tilted her head curiously.

"Ever since you confronted Bakugo, I've just been wondering how you know to fight so well. Not m-many p-people could be s-so willing to c-confront Bakugo-much l-less beat him so m-many times at this point. All without u-using a quirk no less. It's s-simply incredible." Izuku said with evident awe and respect trickling into his usually quiet voice.

Maka for a moment blinked in surprise before a bashful smile appeared on her face from such praise. "I-It's nothing really special Izuku, I just know how to fight when I need to."

"Are you kidding? The way you do it is on a whole other level than anyone else! D-Did you take some advanced martial art's classes in America? Or is it something you taught yourself to better utilize with your quirk when fighting?" Izuku inquired with curious excitement now pouring into him.

Maka paused at the question once again asked of her by the excited boy across the table, before with an amused sigh deciding to answer her friend. "Kinda but not really. It's actually something that I trained to do for the pre-hero courses I took back in our old school." The ash blonde casually explained, eliciting a gasp of shock from Izuku while Soul raised a curious brow by Maka's choice of response.

"W-W-Wait a minute, d-did you just say y-your middle school h-had pre-hero courses?" Izuku stuttered as he tried regaining control over his jaw which was currently halfway agape.

Maka smiled widened and spoke further. "In a way, yeah. We lived pretty remote, but our E.A.T class was still well known in some parts."

"E.A.T classes?" Izuku's brow quirked in curiosity by the unique name.

"It stands for 'Especially Advantaged Talent classes' or E.A.T for short. It was a small class compared to the main curriculum, but it was where the students with the most potential were offered special lessons and limited combat training to better prepare for the legitimate hero course." Maka further elaborated, yet by the end of her explanation, Izuku's jaw had gone comically slack. The boy's chopsticks having fallen out of his hands as he sat in stunned silence.

But thankfully before any flies could fly into students gaping mouth, he quickly regained his composure with a few slow blinks and started to speak again. "No way…and y-you guys really were apart of classes like those?"

Maka nodded in confirmation, as Izuku remained gaping in amazement and surprise at this unexpected discovery. "That's incredible Maka-san, I didn't think america could even allow any other school's-much less a middle school to have any sort of hero training programs!"

"Well, it was recently added to our school as a sort of experiment. And since the academy was located in a remote city within Nevada, it wouldn't make too many headlines too soon either. And so far, only a handful of people have been qualified to enter it. We were just some of the lucky ones who qualified, thanks to our hard work." Maka explained, despite the guilt that crawled into her stomach for having to lie to her friend like this.

But then again, she wasn't exactly telling an entire lie either. What she just told Izuku was at its core, the actual Shibusan academy and the general idea of the E.A.T classes; only heavily altered to fit as an american middle school with a unique and experimental program for talented students seeking to be heroes. And the fact that the hero system and Shibusan branches held a good chunk of similarities did help her mix some of the truth in her story.

Yet the beaming features on Izuku's face began to simmer down into bewilderment. "But I don't understand, why did you leave something so incredible and choose to transfer to japan?" Maka's features faintly flinched at this question, as Crona and Soul subtly tensed. "You seem to have your future's set for heroism if you stayed in america and graduated into some of the finer hero schools like in Rhode island. So why did you all give that all up and move to the east?"

Maka grimaced. "It's…it's a long story Izuku, but it was far from a decision we made lightly. It was something we did to support Crona and be there for him."

"W-What do you mean?" Izuku blinked in shock, as Crona kept his saddened gaze down at the table, as Maka sharing a similar expression began to explain.

"Before we came here, Crona was dealing with some…serious problems when he started in Shibusan as a trial student. His timid personality along with an ass like Ragnarök attached to him, already made it hard for Crona to socialize, so he had it rough from the start."

"When we first met him, things started…pretty rocky, but eventually after getting to know Crona, soul and I alongside the other friends we had back home were quick to befriend him." Maka explained with a fond tone as she looked back to the pleasant days Crona lived in death city.

Yet Maka's fond expression fell apart, as a somber frown made its way into her lips. "But one day due to…some unfortunate circumstances, Crona had no choice but to leave Shibusan academy and transfer somewhere else." Izuku's expression wrinkled with sympathy as he easily saw where this story was going.

"And I'm guessing Japan was where he decided transferred." Crona weakly nodded in confirmation. That reaction gave Izuku all he needed to begin to connect the dots.

"When we found out he was leaving, we were all heartbroken by the news…especially me." Maka recollected with a melancholic look in her jade eyes. "I knew it would be so difficult for someone like him to adjust to an unfamiliar environment like this by himself. I just couldn't stand the idea of seeing him being alone…so I decided to transfer here too."

"But she wouldn't go alone." Soul spoke up and added his own piece to the conversation. "When Maka decided to go with Crona, I tagged along with them. How else could I call myself the coolest around if I didn't stand by my friends?" Soul chuckled before a more serious gleam appeared in his gaze as his trademark grin remained. "Bottom line is wherever Maka goes, I come along with her."

"Wow, you guys really have a close friendship don't you?" Izuku remarked in astonishment, quite impressed by the lengths these three would go for each other.

"Of course we do. We've been friends with soul since I was ten years old. And while I only met Crona recently in comparison, I considered him just as dear to me once I got the chance to know him better." Maka said warmly as she glanced at her two friends. Even if her partner could be a lazy ass at times, she knew all too well soul had his moments to prove she made the right choice to be her weapon.

"A-And I feel the same way about you too, Maka." Crona stuttered as his face glowed with heated blushing; yet at the same time felt his chest fill with warmth from his friend's strong loyalty towards him.

"I just can't believe you guys had such incredible backgrounds, before coming here." Izuku smiled happily, as his amazement began to swiftly return to his face. "In fact, I want to ask if you can tell me more about this Shibusan academy and its pre-hero program! Did they have certain training methods based on an individual's quirk? It must besincewithquirk'slikeyour'sandsoultheymusthavevariousclassesdealingwithemitterandmutantquirks- "

Yet Izuku was cut off from his devolving ramblings as the spine of a textbook was sent down to his head; albeit with not much strength actually put into the blow itself.

Izuku flinched at the soft hit to his head as he was met with a flat yet amused stare of the ash blonde holding up her infamous reprimanding tool. "I…I was rambling again, wasn't I?"

"Yeah you were," soul sighed out a chuckle at Izuku's antics. "You really gotta get that habit under control dude. The last thing you need is your big head overloading from all the idea's your trying to say at once."

"G-Got it." Izuku muttered as a pink embarrassed blush took over his cheeks.

"Leave Izuku-kun alone Soul. If anything he might help upsize your brain capacity more if you bother to listen to him more often." Maka snarked causing soul to roll his eyes before the ash blonde turned to izuku and smiled. "But we'd love to tell you more about Shibusan! It be really nice to reminisce about our old school to a friend."

"That's wonderful! Do you mind if I take notes?" Izuku eagerly asked with stars in his eyes, already managing to pull out a notepad and pencil and ready to write in less than a literal second.

"U-uh sure, it's no problem." Maka sweatdropped at izuku's almost unnatural readiness to document anything hero related. But maka quickly regained her chirpy demeanor and continued. "So what do you want to know first?"

---

2 HOUR'S LATER

"For death's sake, Izuku really does know how to ask a ton of questions, huh?" Soul sighed exasperatedly as he alongside Maka and Crona walked back home after their lengthy discussion with Izuku.

"I knew he was excited whenever it came to heroes, but I didn't think he'd ask for so many details at once." Maka muttered tiredly, as she underestimated the level of curiosity Izuku had when it came to anything involving heroism.

The trio had spent a hefty amount of time trying their best to answer all of Izuku's inquisitive questions about their first school Shibusan. And admittedly the teens had enjoyed being able to have a conversation that revolved around a place from their home, despite most of what they told him being altered to fit this world. As they explained more about the academy from the advanced classes and what day-to-day life was like in Shibusan, Izuku paid keen attention would jot down everything they said into his notebook with incredible swiftness as his hand almost blurred as he wrote.

but even after a whole hour of discussing Shibusan and all its academic and "pre-hero" E.A.T classes, Izuku still with half his notebook filled with written notes still had so many questions to ask them. Leading to another half an hour of telling more about their school left the trio quite winded once Izuku finally had to leave for his training with Toshi.

"I-I just hope we satisfied I-Izuku's curiosity about Shibusan, f-for now. I don't think I can handle answering all those kinds of q-questions again." Crona murmured meekly, being glad that since he was a trial student he couldn't answer much of Izuku's inquiries.

Yet soon Ragnarök suddenly came bursting out of his meister's upper back and dopeslapped the back of his head. "The fuck are you bitching about?! It's thanks to all three of you morons telling him about that crappy academy, that I had to sit through what was probably the most insufferable hour of my life! Seriously there's only so much nerdy ass rambling I can take before I lose my shit!"

"Ow!" Crona yelped and clutched the spot Ragnarök hit his head. "R-Ragnarök why do you always need to be angry at something any of us do? And why take it o-out on me?" Crona asked his grouchy weapon.

"I have to vent the stress your sorry ass gives me on somebody! And since you're the jackass that decided to make friends with these loser's, I blame you!" Ragnarök ranted and once again punched his meister's head, yet all it did was make Crona flinch again.

"Well, maybe you should try to socialize with others, instead of being a prick all the time. Then maybe you wouldn't find our conversations so bad after all." Soul scolded the gremlin, with an annoyed expression.

"Oh please, like I need a bunch of losers around me twenty-four seven like some damn parasite!" Ragnarök angrily retorted while childishly crossing his little arms to his chest. Yet the blob didn't seem to notice the strange glances aimed at him.

"Uh buddy, have ever looked in a mirror before?" Soul remarked with a raised eyebrow, amazed by how Ragnarök was so ignorant of the irony in his comeback.

"Don't know, but have you bothered to do that shark breath!?" Ragnarök childishly rebuked, but soul only rolled his eyes at the little demon's immature ranting.

"Alright I think I've heard enough of your brand of idiocy Ragnarök. Now if you don't have anything pleasant to say, do yourself a favor and leave before I cave your dense skull in." Maka sharply told the bratty demon sword, as her hand already was inching towards her textbook.

Ragnarök however didn't seem too afraid of her threat and rolled his ping pong eyes at her. "Whatever cow. I honestly think getting hit by your temperamental ass might be better than hearing another slew of nerdy ass talk from losers like you and broccoli head!" Ragnarök barked back and swiftly disappeared back into Crona as he barely missed getting struck by the fed-up scythe meister.

"That pest just keeps getting more and more insufferable every time he pops up." Maka growled irritably, as she could only fantasize about being wished capable of just ripping that jackass out of Crona and throttling the damn parasite herself.

"At this point, I'm starting to think he's just saying more crap than usual out of spite from Rumi trying to keep him in line." Soul shrugged, honestly surprised Rumi's disciplinary kicks haven't gotten him to be less irritating at this point.

"Maybe I should ask if Rumi need's some help with that. I'd be more than glad to give her some pointer's when it comes to dealing with that asshole." Maka huffed before she put aside her annoyances with Ragnarök, her lips flipped into a warm smile as she recalled her conversation with Izuku. "But it was still pretty nice to talk about Shibusan with someone, wasn't it?"

"Yeah I guess it was," Soul smiled fondly. " I just hope of we talk moee about it with Izuku, you ain't gonna get all to homesick again."

Maka in response gave the weapon a sideways glare. "Oh, cram it Soul do you think I'm that sensitive? I was still trying to process the fact we got sent to another world, who wouldn't freak out? What happened is in the past, soul. I got over it. For now, we just need to focus on living here until we can find a way back to our world." Maka declared firmly, as both boys nodded in agreement with the ash blonde's words.

"I-I just feel bad that we h-had to lie to Izuku so much." Crona said remorsefully, as he felt his heart ache in guilt by how much they hid from their friend.

"Trust me I hated to as much as you did, but we both know that none of us can exactly tell the truth either. Not without him thinking we're out of our minds." Maka sighed, wishing things weren't so complicated to keep so many secrets from their friend.

"T-that is true." Crona accepted, yet his brow scrunched slightly in reluctance.

"Everyone has secrets they need to keep hidden Crona. Heck Izuku probably still has his own even after everything he was willing to tell us." Soul retorted casually, as despite feeling a little guilty himself for deceiving such a good friend, telling the truth would just open one big can of worms.

The trio soon after a couple minutes reached their home and as they entered the front door and walked inside, found none other than Rumi sitting on the living room couch waiting for them.

"Jeez took you guys long enough. Just where the hell have you guys been? I already finished my patrols a freakin hour ago." Rumi curiously asked as they were an hour late for the second half of their usual training regimen. The rabbit heroine wearing a loose white T-shirt alongside a pair of black leggings and white sneakers now she was off duty.

"Sorry we were late Rumi, we were just having lunch with Izuku at that popular sushi place near our school." Maka answered as she closed the front door after walking inside.

"Well, I hope whatever you were talking with the kid about was fun, cause you'll be having a few more matches with me to make up for the time you used up." Mirko smugly informed the teens of what was to come as consequence for being late.

"Are you shitting me? Just what the hell is this, military school?" Soul groaned, really wishing their guardian wasn't so freakin strict when it came to this practice exam training.

Mirko raised a brow and smirked at the weapon, standing up and crossing her arms and tilted her head. "Well can you still call yourself the coolest guy around if you can barely last ten minutes in the ring with me, without getting your ass kicked?" The bunny woman's smirk broadened into a shit-eating grin as soul's brow twitched in annoyance. "Hmph! Thought so."

"Yeah, yeah I get the idea." Soul grumbled, before glancing at Rumi with a determined smile. "But don't get too cocky. One of these days I am going to beat you. Can't have anyone know the coolest death scythe lost to a chick."

"In your dreams brat." Mirko chuckled at the albino's determination in half amusement and admittedly a little respect for how stubborn he was to defeat her.

"Anyway, we're just going to do our homework, before getting ready to train again." Maka said as she and the boys prepared to go upstairs to their rooms. Mirko however dropped her smile into a frown, as she realized this was the perfect time to address a certain matter.

"Actually Maka, I need you guy's to stay here for a bit." Mirko asked as the ash blonde and her two friends looked at her with curious gazes. "There's something important I need to talk to you three about, and I think you need to hear what I have to say."

The trio continued looking at the serious rabbit heroine with bewilderment before Maka, Soul and Crona walked over to the couch and sat down to hear what Rumi had to say.

"Okay Rumi, so what exactly did you want to talk about?" Maka curiously questioned at their guardian's suddenly serious demeanor.

"Look I just think it's fair all of you are aware of this, since this is involves Crona." Rumi revealed, causing Maka, Soul, and especially the tall teen to stare at her in surprise.

Yet once Maka calmed down, her features took on a more hardened expression once she had a good idea of what this could be about. "But why? I thought you already forgave Crona for what happened in that spar, so why are you bringing this up again?

"Don't play dumb Maka. You know damn well why I'm bringing that up. But how about you calm down before you pull your fangs out on me?" Rumi asked with minor exasperation.

"I already forgave the kid, so that's not at all the problem. What I'm talking about is how bad Crona's issues really go. I knew Crona had a few loose screws from the shit he went through with that bitch Medusa; but what happened in that spar showed me it goes way beyond that." The pink haired teen in question shrunk and shifted his gaze anywhere but the bunny hero.

"Even if he has a good heart somewhere, everything I've seen is telling me this kid's psychological issues are worse than anyone could've imagined. I can't just pretend they don't exist or else this shit's probably gonna get even worse." Rumi sharply told the ash blonde.

"I…I understand." Crona muttered in a near whisper volume, keeping his ashamed gaze away from the older woman.

Seeing the anxiety beginning to bubble into Crona, Maka softly placed a hand on the sword meister's back and slowly rubbed circles to ease his trembling wavelength with her calming presence.

"Crona it's fine, Rumi just wants to talk about trying to help you. She knows what you've been through and only wants to see what can be done to heal." Maka assured her worried friend with a kind tone, and after a minute did Crona's body begin to slowly relax.

Rumi watching the mushy as hell interaction felt her eyebrow twitch before releasing an exasperated groan and ran a hand down her face. "Alright listen here Maka, if we're going having this talk, Crona's gotta hear it without you treating him like he's some goddamn toddler, so how about you can it with this mushy crap for five minutes?"

Maka glowered at the rabbit hero's rude attitude. "Excuse me, but I think you're forgetting just how sensitive this subject is for him."

"Well coddling him ain't the answer either! For god's sake Maka, he's gotta hear this like a grown ass man." Rumi huffed in annoyance, yet that only seemed to further spike Maka's temper.

"How about you leave him alone! God, would it kill you to act nicer for once instead of being so abrasive all the time?" Maka snapped back with a sharp glare, but all Rumi did was roll her eyes.

"Sorry but that's not my style kid." Rumi scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm straightforward and don't dawdle around with that bullshit. Especially when it comes to shit as serious as Crona's psychological problems." The muscular heroine said with a shrug, even as the ash blonde's infuriated glare bore holes into her.

Soul placed an arm around the back of the couch and glanced at Rumi with a neutral expression. "While I get where you're coming from with all this, the dude has only started to recover from what was basically a living hell. It's inevitable he'd run into some bumps on the road to turn over a new leaf."

"Do you think I'm some kind of idiot? Of course I knew it was going to take a while, but it's fucking obvious he needs a whole lot more than just time. God only knows what's going to happen the next time Crona has another fucking PTSD attack if he sees something reminding him of everything his sick mom did to him!" Rumi rounded on the duo, laying out the cold, hard facts of what she feared could happen if nothing was done to fix Crona's mental illness before the worst possible outcome came to pass.

Maka gritted her teeth as heated frustration circulated in her heart. She wanted to just yell that Rumi was absolutely wrong and Crona wasn't as dangerous as her insensitive caretaker was describing he could be. But while a part of her was still vehemently disagreeing with the top seventh hero, she also couldn't ignore the undeniable fact that madness still dwelled within Crona's soul. It may not have been as monstrous as before but it was still very much there.

Heck even if it had been subdued it might be even worse than it was originally. All due to the twisted and cruel experiences Medusa put him through after she made Crona return to her. The snake witch's influence even now was no doubt still existed in crona-and tragically may always be despite how far he's gone from what he was on the moon trying to absorb Asura.

She could still recall the times where where she would come to Crona's room in the morning when he didn't come downstairs for school, only to find him having slept sitting in a corner in his room rather than on his bed. When she asked him why he slept that way, Crona said it made him more at ease from the bad dreams he was suffering from. While he tried to play it out as nothing terrible to try and ease her, she just couldn't believe him. Not when she saw the dried tear stains and faint bag's under his eyes to know these nightmares had been happening far more frequently than what Crona was leading on.

Maka had expected it was going to be quite difficult for Crona to move past the plethora of mental scars he was carrying, but seeing him continually haunted by those demons made her more resolved to help him.

Maka's facial muscles eased and took a short breath to calm herself before looking at Rumi with a slightly softer expression from before. "I know what happened before was disastrous, and there's still scars for Crona to heal from. But you have my word I'm going to do everything I can for him and make sure whatever demons are haunting him are kept at bay." Maka firmly said, as her jade orbs filled with determined steel to see her promise is kept.

"And how exactly do you plan to do that?" Rumi asked with a mixture of skepticism and an unimpressed tone rang in her voice while her eyes narrowed. "Cause until I'm certain Crona can get better...there's just no way I can let him enroll in U.A. Not with the risk of the kid losing his shit again."

Crona flinched at Rumi's declaration and tightened the grip on his knees till his knuckles started to whiten from his harder grip. He knew her declaration was more than justified, and even partially agreed with this decision. B-But the idea of being taken away from Maka…it was too much to handle even imagining. He didn't want to be taken away from his savior's side.

"What!?" Maka bellowed and shot up from the couch with anger sparking in her chest. "You can't just take that away from him, Rumi! He deserves to go to U.A as much as the rest of us!"

"You think I want to do this?! I want to see the kid have the opportunity to be a hero with all the effort I'm putting for all of you. But you gotta stop denying what's in front of you! Your friend just isn't well upstairs. He's kept showing me time and time again that he can be a serious danger to himself and others around him. So unless there's some soul mumbo jumbo you got up your sleeve to help keep him in check; l don't see it working out." Rumi exclaimed with the same amount of stern anger as she had before.

"Well believe it or not, there is actually something like that." Soul said in a calm tone, and sat up straight, as both women turned their heads to face the albino. With w looking at the teen with a baffled expression.

"The hell? Are you telling me there really is some soul technique to help Crona's head?" Rumi asked with a flabbergasted expression adorning her face by this absurd coincidence.

Maka's anger began to dim down and after calming herself sat back down on the couch. "It's a bit complicated, but it's something that revolves around how I utilize my soul wavelength to fight."

"Back in our world everyone's soul has a wavelength that varies in strength and properties. And depending on those properties they become the foundation of how meister's fight with their weapons; as we mentioned before." Maka placed a hand on her chest. "My wavelength is known as an anti-demon wavelength. A rare and special type that allows me to repel and destroy madness and any other evil or magic based powers."

"So what, your special 'wavelength' just expels all the crazy out of Crona's soul like some kind of exorcist?" Rumi asked slowly as she halfway understood what was told to her.

Soul shrugged. "You're not too far off. Her anti-demon wavelength cleanses anyone's soul that is infected with madness and restores them back to sanity."

"Maka was well known for having a particularly strong one that made her such a valuable student to Shibusan. It's not only one of our main strengths as a meister and weapon pair that allowed us to get stronger, it's what helped cure Crona from his insanity in the first place."

Rumi's eyes widened in surprise before she shook her head in both exasperation and admittedly a little bit of amusement. "And here I thought you brats couldn't sound anymore like characters straight out of a freakin manga series." Rumi's lips pulling into a faint smirk as she thought over the lunacy of it all. "I mean what are you gonna tell me next? That you can magically punch some poor fucker out of existence with the power of friendship or some shit like that?"

"Are you kidding me? I can do a lot things, but pulling off a friendship punch isn't one of them." Maka dryly told the rabbit hero.

"Doesn't mean you still have some tricks up your sleeve, kid." Rumi remarked with intrigue dripping in her voice, as she wondered what other applications her ability had in store to be the key component in soul and Maka's fighting style.

But more importantly, Rumi better understood how this wavelength must've helped Crona keep his inner demons and keep them at bay. Or at least as much as possible when he's always near Maka for those effects to take effect.

"But even if this special power of your's has helped Crona with his whole 'madness' dilemma, it's obvious he's far from cured. So I'm assuming it's not as perfect as you make it sound." Rumi stated with a frown, unfortunately seeing this evil cleansing ability had its limits.

Maka frowned as her facial muscles crumbled into a somber grimace. "My anti-demon wavelength was able to cleanse him the first time but at some point the madness he was producing had become…overwhelming." Maka glanced at Crona and deepened her frown seeing the faint trembling, choosing to rub his back to comfort him before continuing. "It still managed to get rid of the insanity since we've been here, but with how scarred Crona's mind has become, it could only do so much to completely destroy that powerful insanity." Maka said with a mixture of frustration and sadness filling up her voice and expression for her inability to better help her friend.

If only her grigori soul possessed the same properties as miss Marie's healing wavelength to better subdue such volatile madness wavelength like her teacher's presence could. Maybe then this whole problem could've been avoided.

"I-It's okay Maka, p-please d-don't be so hard on yourself. Even if I don't think I deserve your k-kindness, t-the fact you've done so much for my sake in the first place; means so much to me." Crona assured the scythe meister with a warm tone, as Maka's somber frown thankfully flipped into an appreciative smile from his soft spoken words.

"I'll always do whatever I can to help you Crona. It's like I promised you; we're going to be there for you. After all that's what friends do." Maka warmly assured her friend, with soul's small grin acting as a silent agreement with his meister.

"As touching as this little moment is, this all just puts us back to square one. If Maka's anti-psycho whatever power ain't enough to fix Crona's hand, then it's best to do it the old fashioned way." Rumi revealed, causing all three teens to divert their attention to her.

"Wait, you mean getting Crona a therapist?" Soul asked the rabbit girl, who nodded in response.

"Of course I am. What do you think I've been doing in my office for the past month?" Rumi grumbled while soul and Maka simply stared at the rabbit woman in surprise by this new information.

Yet Crona only looked at the top seventh hero in bewilderment by what she said.

"A therapist?" Crona asked with a brow risen up to his bangs, tilting his head slightly at the somewhat unfamiliar term presented to him. "D-Do you mean someone that I'm s-supposed to talk to about private topics?"

"That's barely considered even a simplified definition of what a therapist is, but at least it's good to know you're not completely clueless about it." Rumi flatly replied, yet decided not to go too deep into the kid's ignorance given the kind of childhood he had, and the sake of her own sanity.

"It's more like someone who helps you resolve any personal problems and traumatic moments you experienced in your life by talking about them and finding ways to move past them." Maka explained to her friend, who's eyes widened in shock for a second before calming down and nodded in silent understanding.

"You know, I sorta expected this would probably happen at some point. Sometimes you just need a more direct approach when facing the skeletons he's got in his closet." Soul remarked casually and glanced at his ash blonde meister. "And I think you must've known it too. Though it wouldn't surprise me if that little detail flew over your head."

"Do I look like an idiot? Of course I knew Crona was going to need to speak to a professional, I just never had time to consider when; since I was trying to knock some sense back into this dummy." Maka pouted, and pointed to Crona who averted his gaze away from her in equal parts embracing and guilt.

"I-I'm sorry…" Crona shrunk away from his friend, but maka lightly pulled him back.

"It's fine silly, you're here now so I say all the trouble was worth it in the end." Maka chuckled, allowing Crona to somewhat smile back.

"But if we really are doing this, there's still a few holes here." Soul countered, and stared back to Rumi. "While you probably found some doc qualified enough for Crona, I don't think it'll mean much since he can't exactly talk about his background. Least not without getting sent straight to the nuthouse the second he opens his mouth."

"Do you really think I didn't consider all that in the first place? Besides who the hell said this guy would be some average joe doing their job blind, here?" Mirko stated with a raised brow, yet her brow twitched when she noticed the trio tensing and exasperatedly groaned.

"Would you morons calm down, I didn't say jack about where you came from, just your cover story. But it didn't make it any less of a pain in the ass trying to find the right one." Rumi grumbled, yet at least found some humor in seeing hawk's face when she rejected the first batch of bozos he recommended. "But after searching for weeks, I finally found someone. She's young but not only has she gotten a shit load of degrees in psychology, but has helped all sorts of people who were victims of traumatic abuse and mental problems due to their quirks."

"Damn that's quite a résumé," Soul whistled at this woman's impressive background. "Maybe this lady could actually do something for Crona. Not saying it'll be perfect, but it sounds like it could make some progress."

"Yeah…I think this could actually work. It may not be under the supervision of someone like doctor Stein, but it could still be a decent substitution to him." Maka replied with confidence in her voice, despite the tinges of doubt still swirling around.

Even if it wasn't exactly like what she had in mind with her teacher, she had a good feeling this woman could still help Crona if she was as well experienced in helping those who had suffered under similar traumatic abuses as crona.

"And just who the hell is named doctor Frankenstein?" Rumi said with a very confused expression.

"Our old teacher back home. He was renowned as the best meister to graduate from Shibusan." Maka's brow twitched and looked away from Rumi. "But I think your better off not meeting him."

"And why's that...?" Rumi asked slowly, not liking the uncomfortable look on face.

"Let's just say the doc had a loose screw in his head...figuratively and literally. And had a...kink for learning all about his specimens." Soul flatly said, causing Rumi to cringe at the rather disturbing insinuations floating around.

"Oookay I don't know what the fuck that means, but I sure as hell don't want to." Rumi replied with a shudder at the fucking creep the duo were describing. And quite frankly Maka and Soul couldn't really blame her since they knew their teacher would absolutely love to meet the rabbit hero...on his dissection table.

After a quick shake of her head rumi regained her composure and glanced at the sword meister. "But all that aside, I still meant what I said earlier, Crona. If you want to enroll into UA, you have to start having these therapy sessions. I ain't gonna force you to do it now, but if you want to still go with your friends, this is the one condition you need to follow through on." Rumi confirmed one last time, as Maka's features flashed with anger but she chose to rein in her temper, to instead help Crona as he continued contemplating his decision.

"Listen to me Crona. The last thing I or anyone else here wants is to see you put into a uncomfortable position. But whatever you decide to do, I promise we'll be there for you." Maka softly assured Crona, with soul nodding in agreement with his meister.

Crona remained silent for several moments as he thought over what Maka said before sitting up straight, and looked up at the rabbit hero standing across from him with an uncertain and somber look in his ebon eyes. "I-I admit t-the thought of speaking to someone about my…my past is a lot for me to h-handle. It's almost too much to be h-honest. Just t-thinking about it terrifies me to no end."

However with a single breath Crona's anxiety and fear evaporated, and in its place was a sense of determination within his lavender eyes. "B-But I…I am willing to try. If going to this t-therapist will help me learn to better repress the madness still inside me; then I-I think this is the best option to t-take to stay with m-my friends." Crona decided, wanting nothing more than to finally try and change for the better.

Rumi nodded in approval. "Good answer. And here I thought you were gonna say no, and this whole conversation would get messy as hell, but glad to see I was wrong. Not many guys would have the guts to admit they ever need help, you know. There's no shame about it, so don't be down on yourself, alright?"

Crona blinked before his cheeks grew pink with a blush as his lips pulled into a timid smile. "O-Okay."

Rumi nodded in approval before switching her gaze to all three teens. "Now that's all settled, I'll be in my office setting up an appointment with this lady for the weekend. You guys in the meantime can study or whatever the hell you want until we start your training." The tan-skinned woman told the trio and started making her way upstairs toward her office.

Once the rabbit hero left the living room, the three teens were left to themselves as Maka turned to face Crona with a concerned look on her face. "Crona are you sure you're going to be okay doing this?"

Crona shook his head slowly. "It's fine Maka, I a-appreciate your concern for me b-but I think this is something I-I need to do. I can't keep trying to run and hide from everything I've done…I have to confront t-these sins at some p-point."

Yet before anyone knew it, Ragnarök popped out of his meister's back and made a scoffing sound. "Oh give me a break! The only thing this dweeb needs to fix his fucked up noggin is good ass whooping!" Ragnarök sneered and swiftly started to pull and squeeze the boy's features, as Crona tried pulling away the bullish weapon's small yet surprisingly strong arms. "See! Maybe a couple of these could get him to stop whining about his life all the time; before I have to be stuck in some shitty shrink sessions with this dumbass!"

"Radnarok stap steetching mah face! It huarts!" Crona tried to tell his weapon but it was falling on deaf ears as the sword only guffawed in return.

But thankfully Crona would be saved from his smaller tormentor had forgotten in his cruel enjoyment who was sitting next to him. As in less than ten seconds a swift yet hard textbook was sent brutally crashing into the weapon's cranium, by none other than a furious Maka.

"OUCH! What the fuck you temperamental bitch!?" Ragnarök grunted as she tried to desperately soothe the fresh dent made in his round head.

"I've told you for the last time to stop attacking Crona you rotten pest! Now get the hell out of here before I shove your insufferable ass back into his body myself!" Maka furiously growled as she held up her still smoking disciplinary weapon for good measure on her threat.

The sword growled vehemently. "One day cow…one day I'll get you back for the shit you pull on me." Ragnarok spoke through gritted teeth before releasing his grip on his merged meister's face, and promptly dissolved back into his spine.

"T-Thank you Maka…" crona sighed out as he rubbed his aching cheeks.

"It's no problem." Maka said back as she wiped her textbook of any spots of blood that insufferable imp may have gotten on her textbook. "If anything maybe this shrink can do me a favor and find a way to make that gremlin's foul mouth stay shut more often."

"You may never know, but I honestly doubt we'd ever get that lucky." Soul piped up with a shrug, unfortunately knowing too well a noisy jackass like that wouldn't be silenced that easily.

"A-Anyway, I-I think I'm going to my r-room a-and start doing my homework if that's alright." Crona said as he stood up from the couch and prepared to leave. "Though I-I would appreciate if y-you could help with some of the algebra sheets I have."

"Of course, I'll meet you upstairs in a bit." Maka replied kindly.

Crona returned her smile with one of his own before walking out of the living room and went up the stairway towards his room. By the time Crona was gone, soul released a long breath and turned his head to his meister.

"Crona has a point you know. I get you want to always have his back, but he's got to learn to do certain things on his own. Otherwise he isn't going to get much progress changing for the better."

Maka harshly glared at her death scythe. "I don't appreciate you treating me like a naïve moron. But there's nothing wrong with me wanting to support my friend.

"I didn't say you were an idiot, but if U.A's anything like Shibusan, perhaps it's best to take these measures so everything might work out better for him than it did back in Death city." Soul said casually, even as Maka was still sending a sharp glare his way.

The ash blonde's glare remained for several seconds before it faded away and chose to look down at her lap with wisps of worry now swirling in her eyes. "I just want to make sure he'll be alright throughout this whole process. Even you can understand just how overwhelming this would be for anyone in his position."

Who wouldn't be uncomfortable opening up and tell a total stranger all the unsavory and painful memories in their life?

"Honestly I'd just find it uncomfortable as hell if it were me in the little guy's shoes, but I get what you mean. Guess only time will tell if the little guy going to this special shrink is gonna work out or not." Soul summed up, as he leaned back and slouched on the couch.

"Well regardless of the circumstances, what we need to do above all else is there for Crona as much as possible. And I fully intend to be there for him no matter what." declared and prepared to walk upstairs to assist Crona with his homework as she promised.

And as Maka traveled upstairs to meet with the sword meister, soul now left to his lonesome allowed himself to release a long tired sigh and ran a hand down his face. "For death's sake, Since when did going to go to some hero school become so complicated?"

---

Several days have passed since Rumi announced her decision to take Crona to therapy, and yet the week flew by without much change or difficulty. The trio continued their fierce yet efficient training with Rumi and made sure to keep up their studies at decent grades in Aldera and managed to pass every exam without too much difficulty. And of course, they still had to deal with Bakugo relentlessly challenging Maka, but that particular nuisance was easily dealt with by the ash blonde as their encounters had in the past.

But between all of that, they still had their days hanging out with Izuku, where they either had study groups together or nowadays had all kinds of conversations about Shibusan. But as much as they enjoyed doing so, the trio made sure that topic never got to the drawn out lengths that it did the first time it was brought up.

Yet despite the week going by without much trouble or change, the two meisters and death scythe still had what was planned on sunday on their minds as the weekend approached them.

Crona especially felt more than a little nervous as that day was reaching closer, and constantly questioned himself if he could really handle going through with this. But with Maka and soul being there to support him, that mental tension became something that only roamed every now and then while they continued doing their daily activities.

But whatever courage he had managed to scrap together within himself in these past couple of days was now beginning to crack apart like glass as the inevitable had arrived.

Only an hour after they finished their morning training, rumi announced it was time for him to have his first therapy session. Crona felt a spike of fear rise within him, but thanks to his developed courage along with his dear friend's, it hadn't been as bad as he thought.

Yet it had been practically a war to keep his anxiety from getting any worse in his stomach as he got ready to enter Rumi's sports car and head to the therapist.

"Alright it's time to go, crona!" Rumi told the sword meister as she entered the driver's seat and waited for him to enter as well.

"O-Ok, I'm coming," Crona said as he stood next to the other side of the car while Maka and Soul were next to him to say their goodbyes."I g-guess I'll see you guy's later then. Hopefully I-I won't be gone for too long."

"It's just a shame you won't be able to come with us to Takoba beach by the time you're done with that therapy gig. But as long as you're able to get something out of it, then I'd say it's worth it in the end." Soul remarked with a confident smirk.

Crona nodded. "I-I'll do my best, though I just wish I was able to go with you to support Izuku."

"Don't worry, we'll make sure to tell Izuku you wish him best of luck." Maka assured the sword meister, and went to give him a quick yet warm embrace.

"I know your going to do well. But if you feel uncomfortable at some point just remember this is just the first appointment. So we can always find someone else if this doesn't work out, okay?" Maka gently told the pink haired teen.

Crona gladly returned the hug, and once he let go gave a small nod to his friend. "I-I know, but I'm still g-going to at least try to make this work and keep my promises to you as best as I can."

He had always acted like a coward whenever it came to facing the inner demons within his mind. But now if he wanted to be with his friends when they go to U.A, he needed to be brave enough to start moving past those shadows haunting him.

"That's exactly what I want to hear. Now what are you waiting for? You should probably get going before Rumi get's sick of waiting." Maka joked brightly, bringing a wave of warmth to Crona's being to see that beautiful smile on her once again.

"Oh for the love of god, your only gonna be gone for a few hours tops! Now enough with the sappy goodbyes already, It's time to go." Rumi once again called out with a more impatient tone, snapping Crona from his elation and started entering the car.

"Right, I-I'll see you later!" Crona said one last time, as he got into the passenger seat and closed the door.

"Bye Crona!" Maka said while waving her second best friend goodbye.

"Later man." Soul said with a confident smirk.

Crona waved back at his friends as Rumi started the car and drove off the driveway and made their way to the main road. Once Maka and soul steadily began to disappear from his vision Crona sat back in his seat, still feeling lingering traces of joy from his friend's warm farewell's. It truly helped to boost his confidence and better repress whatever anxiety still in his system. It almost made him feel like like this therapy session wouldn't be as challenging for him as he originally thought.

"Yeesh you guys know how to drag some things out, I though it take forever before you got ready." Rumi said exasperatedly, but with a single sigh her expression turned into amusement. "But I gotta admit, no matter what, you have some pretty damn good friends, Crona."

Crona stared at her for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Y-Yes I really do. I've always felt so lucky to have them in my l-life. Without Maka, I don't know what I would do with myself." Crona remarked softly.

"Well I'm glad that you have them. Depending on how long you guy's are gonna stay here I honestly see them becoming some fucking incredible heroes. And that includes you too." Rumi told the tall teen as she glanced at him while she drove. "If this whole shrink business manages to fix your head, you'll be making strides as a hero too."

"Y-Yeah, I guess." but wiped it away to look at himself with an unsure expression. "A-Are you sure I-I couldn't just wear my robe to this appointment? I-It would've made me feel more c-comfortable." Crona questioned as he once again examined the outfit he was wearing.

The sword meister wore a black T-shirt and purple sleeves, with dark grey slim fit jeans and a black belt with a silver buckle, alongside his black slip on dress shoes from his original outfit to go with his current one.

"Did you just seriously ask me that?" Rumi flatly told the shy teen before releasing a groan. "Kid we went over this already. That robe is considered a hero costume, you can't just wear that so casually around here. And even if that wasn't the case, like hell I'm going to let your shrink see you dressed up like some freakin goth lord, who likes to wear his own fucking blood as clothing."

Crona's cheeks became enflamed with a heated lushing as embarrassment skyrocketed from Rumi's brutally blunt remark over his old robe. Yet this wasn't the first time he had this kind of conversation, but every time he asked Rumi or Maka to wear his black robe, they were both against it every time. While Maka somewhat agreed with Rumi's reasoning to not wind up being confused as heroes again, she also saw it as a chance to explore choices of what outfits to wear. Especially since he had been gaining enough weight as of late, for all kinds of other kinds of clothes to start fitting him properly, and not feel oversized.

But he never really understood what the importance was for wearing different kinds of clothing. It was true that he had gotten used to wearing different attire to properly adapt to how society in this world functioned, but it still baffled him to no end why people held such importance of having multiple outfits. His black robe for years had always been good enough to wear every day, so what was the point of changing what he wore to something else? But he didn't want to dare cause any trouble, so he simply chose to continue wearing the clothes Rumi had been buying for him.

"But hey, if it makes you feel better, I might let ya take it with you when the exam comes. Though don't come crying to me when everyone thinks you're some kind of creepy ass villain."

Crona's lips twitched into a frown and his chest grew tight at the mention of him being possibly worthy to being considered a hero. "M-M-Maybe…but even after all this time it still feels so hard to think I could be anything like that"

Rumi frowned as she saw Crona once again get caught up in that pessimistic attitude she'd usually see him fall into. Sure it had become common, but it didn't mean she liked it. If anything it honestly frustrated the living hell out of her, to see him act like some lost puppy on a rainy street. Crona's confidence had admittedly better than when she first met him, but that wasn't saying much in retrospect.

"Crona I get your feeling tense with this whole therapy session, but you seriously got to cut it out with this depressed mood. It's just not healthy, kid. Whatever shit happened in the past, you gotta move past it and stop letting it haunt you. If I didn't think you'd ever be capable of that, I wouldn't have bothered trying to make a hero out of you to begin with." Rumi tried to reason to Crona and break him out of this gloomy as hell turtle shell he'd usually hide himself in at times like this.

Crona grimaced. "I-I…I don't know Rumi. I'm not used to b-being optimistic when it comes to myself. I've always thought I couldn't be able to handle that…or anything else for that matter."

Rumi's eyebrow started to dangerously twitch in exasperated anger, as her patience-which was always crap to begin with-was reaching its limit. 'For fuck's sake, what the hell was it going to take for this brat to grow a freakin backbone!?'

She briefly considered giving him a good whack on the head, but threw out the idea when remembering that usual method wouldn't do well for someone as fragile as Crona. At least not all the time. But she sure as hell had other ways to get him to stop acting like some pessimistic wimp.

"Well you gotta learn to handle things in life and stop whining all the damn time that you can't! Grow some fucking confidence already! Otherwise you're already gonna fuck up your chance at turning over a new leaf with that miserable attitude!" Rumi exclaimed, voicing out just how fed up with this cloud of despondency always latched to Crona like another parasite. As if the one he already had wasn't bad enough!

Crona flinched back at Rumi's loud voice as he felt his heart beating faster than before, but tried his best to keep his body from trembling. "I-I k-k-know but i-it's s-so difficult to change that about me. I want to try but I just don't know if it's possible at this point." Crona shut his eyes as pinprick tears threatened to leak out. "Y-Your telling me I need to be more c-confident, but how can I even try to, when my sins haunts me everyday?"

Rumi's annoyed expression remained on her face for several seconds before fading into a stunned expression as she heard the teen's small speech. In the midsts of temper getting loose, she only now remembered just who she was talking to in the first place.

A poor kid who was practically born with trauma beyond anyone's imagination, and hasn't even taken the steps to properly healing. Just what the hell was getting angry gonna do to help him? Jack shit that's what. And right before he'd be going to an actual professional who could do that job way better than she ever could.

Rumi's facial muscles relaxed, now devoid of her previous anger, but now filled with vague yet notable calmness or some would say sympathy even. "Look...I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I shouldn't have done that. But..." Rumi paused and released a long breath of air before continuing. "Listen kid, I just want you to try believing in yourself more you know? Not tailor yourself into thinking it's always gonna be a shitstorm for you, when it's not."

"Of course it's gonna be difficult, and nobody's expecting you to dramatically transform yourself in overnight. But you gotta at least make the effort for small changes you know? And that's going to this shrink is supposed to do, or that's how I see it. Does that make more sense to you, Crona?" Rumi elaborated without as much brashness in her voice as before. Her voice now sounding more genuinely gentle, an extremely rare sight for anyone's ears to hear such a tone come out of her of all people, yet here she was giving it to someone who for once needed it.

Crona's eyes opened slowly and managed to calm himself down as he listened to everything Rumi had to say. A minute or so of silence followed as he contemplated her words before taking his gaze away from the window and looked back at the rabbit heroine. "I…I think so. It d-doesn't sound pleasant but that's probably a choice Maka would want me to do make. S-So i should do it for her sake."

Rumi's expression relaxed and shrugged nonchalantly. "If that's how you want to go about it, then sure," Rumi then gave crona an an optimistic smile. "But I know for sure that if you keep that kind of attitude going, I definitely can see this whole therapy session off to a good start."

"Thank you, Rumi." Crona said as his lips turned slightly upwards at the heroine's compliment, a gesture rumi blinked to before giving her own wider and satisfied smile.

"Eh no problem kid, don't forget heroes have to do whatever they can to help others. I just have my own way doing it, so don't go expecting for sappy moments all the time." Rumi said smugly, but for Crona it elicited a small chuckle to hear out of the older woman. Already helping to make the atmosphere in the car grew far lighter than it had been before.

The drive after their conversation became silent as the pair were well on their way to the therapist's office in the upper parts of Mustufu city. Crona took the time to enjoy the city sights as they drove through several highways that gave him some pleasant sights of the Japanese metropolises. With the radio music helping to add more serenity and soothe his nerves to whatever anxiety lurked in his mind. It was quite peaceful, and at times Crona almost wished it could last for hours on end. At least so he'd have less of a chance of falling apart into a nervous wreck.

But unfortunately, that tranquil peace wasn't destined to last for nearly as much time. Not when a third passenger had decided to pop up and be quite vocal regarding his own opinions on the matter.

"I should've fucking known you were gonna do this to me! This is practically the third time you've gone and screwed me over! Now because of you and your screwed-up head, I'm stuck spending god knows how long in some stuffy ass room talking about your shitty emo problems!" Ragnarök ranted while furiously waving his arms, yet Crona only kept staring at the car window watching the other cars driving by to try to calm his tense nerves.

"Oh, could you shut the hell up already!? It's only going to be for two hours at most! and besides, your sorry ass isn't even the one this chick wants to talk to in the first place!" Rumi snapped back at the demon sword as she drove, growing so sick and tired of hearing that gremlin rant for the past ten minutes now.

"But I still have to twiddle my thumbs and listen to all that crap! And even if I stay inside this moron, I can still hear it, so either way, I'm still fucked into dealing with this therapy bullshit because of this fucking twig I'm stuck to!" Ragnarök barked while bonked the top of the sword meister's head with his balled fist, yet Crona only flinched back by the hit.

"R-Ragnarök I-I'm sorry for d-dragging you into this, b-but please stop screaming at Rumi. She's d-doing this for me out of good i-intentions, so I don't want to hear you b-being so rude to her." Crona quietly told his weapon, with a slightly louder tone, yet all he got in return was the impish weapon looming over his head and started cruelly pulling his ear.

"And there goes you thinking you can talk back to me, AGAIN! You know maybe I should try seeing how far it stretches to teach you a lesson to respect me! At least it give that pissy shrink something to start off with!" Ragnarök sneered as he mercilessly kept yanking at his merged meister's left ear as if it was a rubber band.

"R-Ragnarök, j-just leave me alone!" Crona exclaimed with a mild stutter, as he struggled to pull off his weapon from his head.

Yet thankfully Rumi came to his aid as Rumi took her right hand off the wheel and swiftly sucker punch the obnoxious gremlin. The blow though having not the full amount of force into it, still caused the sword to release crona and was slammed into the side of the window like a rubber ball.

"Son of a bitch! Not even the cow hits me that hard! Just what the fuck are you trying to do, kill me!?" Ragnarok whined with little tears in his eyes as he clutched the side of his face rumi punched.

"Oh, don't try acting like some kind of fucking victim, you deserve every bit of that and then some!" The brawny woman growled at the little hellion's pathetic display over his well just punishment, before clicking her tongue. "Forget what I said earlier, maybe you could join Crona to see what she can do to fix your fucked up personality. But I'm honestly thinking that's a lost cause."

"Like I need some fucking brainiac analyze my brain! So don't you start putting me in the same boat as this freak, or I swear to god I'll make a fur hat out of you overgrown hare!" Ragnarök shouted at the heroine, but she was far from intimidated by the demon swords screeching.

"Yeah right midget, I'd be able to kick your annoying little ass to next week and we both know it so doesn't try acting tough if you don't want any more concussions." Rumi scoffed at Ragnarök's threats, feeling more annoyed than anything by that damn gremlin's ranting.

"J-Just stop causing any more trouble Ragnarök. I can't handle dealing with your t-tantrums right now." Crona told his merged weapon with a much firmer voice than before.

Ragnarök growled angrily before switching his glare to Rumi. "Fine fuck all of you, I need to be harassed by either of you! But maybe if there's one thing I could enjoy it's watching this shit squirm when he's asked all the fun stuff." the demon sword cackled, before finally melting back into his meister.

Rumi growled in utter anger and clenched the wheel a little bit tighter. "I'm starting to think I'm way too generous with this little shitstain."

"I-I'm sorry Ragnarök insulted you like that, Rumi. I should've t-told him to leave sooner before he got out of hand." Crona somberly apologized to the rabbit hero, wishing he could have more power over his sword and stop his wild behavior.

Rumi released a long breath through her nose to calm herself down, and simply waved it off with one hand. "It's alright, I've honestly gotten used to that little bastard and all the crap he spews out of it. At this point it's just a pain to hear at times." Rumi's lips then flipped into a sadistic grin. "But I'll be sure that fucking muppet learns to his trap shut, once I throw one of my super moves at the little shit's jaw."

"T-There's no need to go that far! H-He's already been a-appearing l-less often these days because he's afraid of you and Maka, disciplining him. I t-think it's m-more than enough." Crona frantically pleaded to his guardian, as was getting legitimately terrified of the sinister aura emanating from her.

Rumi looked at the frightened teen for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Fine if you say so," Crona sighed in relief hearing that, but immediately felt his spine jump when he saw rumi with a toothy smirk. "But you better be ready to do an extra 50 push-ups later to compensate for your little friends mouth then."

"W-What! B-B-But I c-can't h-handle-!" Crona scrambled to get his words together, but realizing Rumi wasn't going to budge, stopped stammering and simply slumped in defeat. "Yes miss rumi…"

"Well either way, I hope Ragnarök is gonna stay put inside your body and not make anymore surprises when you talk to that psychologist." Rumi remarked as she focused on the road and made a turn down the city highway.

"I hope so too." Crona muttered and returned to looking at the door window. "But I'm just h-hoping more than anything Maka isn't getting too worried a-about me."

"Crona it hasn't even been that long since we left. They're probably hanging out with that Izuku kid by now, so they'll have plenty of things to do while you're gone."

Crona's body relaxed a bit remembering that bit of information. If there was one thing he was glad about, was that his appointment took place on their one day off from school, so he wouldn't be missing anything important in his education. At least giving soul and Maka the chance to spend the time waiting for his return with Izuku in the meantime. Though that still didn't help to ease the guilt swirling in the back of his mind for causing this whole situation in the first place.

He just hoped Izuku didn't find out why he wasn't there with soul and Maka in the first place. It was so shameful to withhold the truth about himself from the one friend they'd made so far since coming to this world. Unlike his cowardly self, Izuku was brave enough to tell them about his unfortunate past. But even with the courage Maka gave him, it just wasn't enough to make him any less of a pitiful sinner responsible for committing so many terrible crimes. The fear that Izuku would see him as a monster like everyone else back in his world rightfully did, was something he wanted to avoid. Even though he had no right to ever keep such monstrous secrets from the person that had actually wanted to be his friend.

"But speaking of which, what's this all I hear about you guy's needing to support Izuku's training?" Rumi curiously asked the teen sitting next to her.

"Wait y-you heard that?" Crona asked in surprise at the rabbit hero eavesdropping on his conversation.

Yet Rumi with an expression as dry as sandpaper pointed to her long rabbit ears as they twitched. "Do you think these things are for show? A fucking pin could drop ten miles away and I could still hear it. What the hell made you think I couldn't hear you guys talking to each other?"

"F-Fair enough…" Crona conceded, blushing a bit in embarrassment for forgetting something so obvious about their guardian's abilities. "But really, it's nothing. Izuku's just training so he could enroll into U.A like us."

Rumi raised an eyebrow at that reveal. "So, he's planning to enroll there too, huh? Make's sense since you guys have told me how much of a hero fanboy he is. Hell, I bet he'd flip out if he ever saw me in person." The rabbit hero chuckled mischievously at the idea.

"He p-probably would." Crona admitted with a nervous smile, knowing full well how Izuku would be immensely excited by the idea of meeting a hero, let alone one of the top ones in the country. "T-Though don't worry, we haven't told him about you being our guardian."

"And I appreciate that. I know your good friends with him, but the last thing I need is word getting out and those fucking parasites in the media pestering me over the fact I'm taking care of you three." Rumi said with hint of irritation at the thought of being swarmed by the goddamned paparazzi more than she usually would.

Crona's brow twitched but still nodded. "I understand, t-the last thing we ever want is to ever cause you any trouble. Not after everything you've done for my friends." And especially for Rumi having been so willing to put up with an unstable mess like himself. Even if he thought he didn't deserve such a chance in the first place, it still touched him someone thought he could be worth redeeming like Maka did.

"Though if this kid wants to head to that kind of hero school, he's gonna need to do some serious work to have a chance of getting there; instead of relying on his quirk and think it's enough." Rumi remarked casually, however was unaware of how Crona tensed greatly at that particular comment.

"U-Uh well Izuku has been working very hard training," Crona muttered and fiddled his thumbs somewhat nervously. "He's been spending every day lifting a-away piles of garbage from an e-entire beach and clean it without u-using a quirk." Crona said meekly, making sure to keep it as vague as possible and not slip out his friends lack of an actual quirk.

"Wait a minute, do you mean that beach park that got turned into some massive dump a while back? He's planning to clean all of that?" Rumi said in surprise, not expecting their friend to be dedicated for such a herculean challenge. And soon Rumi's lips pulled themselves into a very impressed grin. "Well goddamn, I'm starting to get some respect for this kid!"

Crona nodded with a small smile. "Izuku has wanted to be a hero for such a long time. M-Maybe more than anyone else has. S-So I have no doubt h-he's going to do whatever h-he can to fulfill that dream."

"Well your friend definitely has some serious freakin gut's to put that kind of effort for a chance at U.A, that's for sure. Hell, I actually see Izuku having a pretty good chance at making it if he's able to use his quirk well enough in the exam." Rumi remarked with that same impressed grin, as she made a turn and headed towards a highway.

"O-Oh, sure..." Crona said quietly, but his smile at that point vanished into a frown, and simply chose to look at the numerous cars passing by.

Rumi raised a brow at that sudden change in mood within Crona but simply shrugged and focused on the road ahead.

Another ten minutes passed by, after their exchange as they continued to drive to their destination without any trouble, thanks to the road being not too busy with traffic. Rumi and Crona spent the time to either have some light chats or enjoy the serene drive to the upper parts of Musutafu city. Thankfully Ragnarök didn't make any other unannounced appearances, thus letting Crona be able to spend the remainder of the ride letting his mind drift off once again by looking more at the city sights around him. Yet unlike before was able to better relax watching the passing metropolis than he did before, thanks to the dwindled emotional weight on his chest. To the point he started to even let him doze off and rest his eyes.

But his relaxing nap had taken an rather quick end as Rumi's car slowed down until it came to a full stop once again. Feeling that the car had stopped moving, Crona opened his eyes from his brief sleep. "Huh? W-Wait are we…?"

"Rise and shine sleepyhead, we're finally here!" Rumi announced, cutting off the freshly awoken sword meister, as she turned off her car and opened her door. "Now quit snoozing your ass off, the shrink is waiting for you."

Crona blinked slowly before rubbing his eyes, and got out of Rumi's sleek car. Once his vision was clearer from removing the last traces of sleep took the time to examine his current surroundings.

What the teenage meister found right next to the spot rumi parked, was a large office building around 3 stories tall. The building despite its smaller height compared to the other larger neighboring commercial building, had a rather elegant appearance to it. The majority of its exterior with white walls being adorned with several wide clear glass windows complimenting the upper part's of the building.

"Is this where I'll be meeting the therapist?" Crona asked as he curiously stared up at the office building in front of him. Yet was taken away from his curiosity as Ragnarök emerged from his back and used Crona's head as a surface to have a better look at the building himself.

"Are you kidding me? This crappy office look's like it's everything I said it would! I mean for fuck's sake I can practically see the tacky ass office just waiting for us down here!" Ragnarök brashly criticized, as he kept pushing down the pink haired teen's head.

"Q-Quit pushing down my head Ragnarök like that, it's starting hurt!" Crona demanded as he managed to pry Ragnarök off the top of his head, and gave the sword a scolding glare. "And d-don't make any rude comment's like that when we go in either. I-I don't want to make a bad first impression."

"This guy's expectations for you are probably low as hell to begin with, if she has an idea of who you are! So don't think you can toot your own horn at me!" Ragnarok snarked back, as Crona flinched at the demon sword's harsh claim.

Yet Rumi was there to come up and backhanded the obnoxious concoction of black blood with enough force to make Ragnarök reel back and clutch his head from the blow. "Goddammit! When will you stop hitting my head, you crazy bitch!?"

"Oi what did I say about keeping your big mouth shut!?" Rumi barked at the growling little imp, with her fist still raised and ready to bash the little menace again but put it down and chose to walk ahead of him and Crona. "Now c'mon we ain't got all day. The sooner we get this over with, the better."

"Right..." Crona muttered and followed the heroine into the therapist's office.

"Grgh, just when I though the cow was a total pain in the ass to deal with, you wind up making us all come to this crazy place and make me live with someone even worse than her!" Ragnarök complained while continuing to rub the sore back of his round head.

"Ragnarök I promise I'll buy you whatever you want to eat after this is over, but please just behave yourself in the meantime." Crona pleaded with his merged weapon, hoping Ragnarök would listen to him for once and not cause more problems.

Ragnarök thought it over for several seconds before rolling his ping pong eyes. "Fine I'll shut my mouth, happy?" Yet in less than a second the sword locked a glare with his meister. "But you better keep your promise ready for me when this is over or prepare for me to make the rest of the day a living hell for you." Ragnarök warned the tall teen one last time before finally melting back into his bloodstream, much to Crona's relief as he walked the entrance.

Rumi and Crona walked through the glass doors and walked down a short hallway till they made their way to a nicely designed blue painted lobby, where a well-dressed young man with a parrot head and colored wings on his back sat typing on his computer.

The man noticed the the pair and took his eyes off the computer and put a pleasant smile on his beak. "Well hello there miss Rumi, we were expecting you for some time now."

"Yeah, sorry we're a little late, we had some trouble while getting here." Rumi apologized the secretary.

"It's no problem, your barley late to begin with," the secretary waved it off and glanced at the pink haired teen. "Now I believe this is the patient?"

"Uh y-yes, t-that's me." Crona confirmed shyly.

The parrot man nodded. "Perfect, miss Iwata is waiting for you in the third floor. Once you take the elevator up there, you'll find her office straight ahead."

"Alright, thanks for the directions." Rumi thanked the secretary, before turning her head to face Crona. "Now I'll be back in an hour or two to pick you up after I finished patrolling around the neighboring cities if there isn't any trouble going on. So are you gonna be okay going in there on your own?"

Crona shook his head gently. "I should be fine by myself Rumi. Y-You're probably going to be needed somewhere soon, so I wouldn't want to interfere w-with your hero work any longer." Crona timidly assured his guardian, wanting to not be a hindrance to rumi when she could be continuing her heroic duties.

"For crying out loud kid, stop thinking some kind of freak in burden on me. In case you forgot you are are a part of my work in a sense, so this isn't a problem for me." Rum i said exasperatedly while pinching the bridge of her nose.

"O-Okay." Crona muttered.

"Ugh, I'm seriously hoping this psychologist can give you some kind of confidence boost. That alone is gonna make all this worth it." Rumi then started to leave the lobby but stopped short and looked back at Crona one last time. Only this time with a slightly softer gaze than before. "But in all seriousness…I wish you good luck Crona."

Crona's ebon eyes widened in surprise before a faint smile emerged on his face. "Thank you miss Rumi, I'll see you later."

Rumi simply smirked and continued making her way out of the lobby and back to her car. Once the rabbit hero left the office building the pink haired teen turned his head to the parrot secretary with an unsure expression. "S-So I just take the elevator?"

"Yep, just head to the third floor and in room B4 you'll find miss Iwata in her office." Confirmed, and pointed to the elevator to his right.

Crona nodded back and without any more delay walked to the elevator in question once he stood in front of it, pressed the button to go up. With a single ding, the twin metal doors opened themselves up and allowed Crona to enter the small compartment, and pushed the button designating the third floor. With the floor chosen, the grey metal doors then closed themselves and promptly began pulling upwards to the chosen part of the building.

The whole time Crona stood within the small compartment, the meister felt as if time came to a crawl as he waited for the elevator to deliver him to the third floor. Allowing briefly for his anxiety retake it's presence within himself as Crona wondered in worry what was going to happen.

What would this person think of him? Even if she was only given a cover story that mixed in lies with the truth, it still must've told her a plethora of the vile crimes he did. Would she think he was some kind of monster? He couldn't blame her for thinking that way, since that's exactly how he saw himself at times. Even if Maka forgave him without a second thought, it still could never justify everything else did to her and the world she fought for. It would particularly haunt him during his dreams, to the point of making him wake up several times in a cold sweat and take minutes before he calmed down from his night terrors.

It always reminded him of why he needed to do whatever he could to atone for his past sins. Even though he didn't hold much faith in himself, he at least wanted to believe there was something within him that could be worth all the efforts everyone was putting to redeem him.

Yet before these murky thoughts could continue to flow further into his mind, the elevator stopped moving as the metal doors opened to the third floor. Once Crona snapped out of his deep thinking walked out of the elevator and travelled down the wide hallway, with various paintings and a few doors on the right side of the hallway.

As he continued walking, Crona could vaguely hear what sounded like conversations going on within some of the rooms, but needed to focus on finding the one room he was told to go. Thankfully there wasn't too many rooms on this floor, otherwise Crona didn't think he could handle the task of finding where therapist was waiting. Yet fairly soon after scanning around found a white door where on the top railing, a small gold colored plaque was located with the number's B4 engraved onto its surface.

'This must be it then.' Crona stood in front of the seemingly inviting door, and slowly reached his hand towards the golden doorknob. Yet as he clenched the doorknob, his arm for a moment hesitated to grab the knob, as equal portions of doubt and fear entered his mind and made him wonder if this really was a good idea.

But no matter how much self-doubt tried tainting his thoughts, he refused to give in and lose the courage Crona gave him here and now. Running from this wasn't an option, no matter how much he wanted to find the nearest corner to try hiding from the overwhelming shadows within his mind and soul.

He couldn't let these phantoms hinder him any longer and prevent him from being with Maka and soul.

It was time to face them head on.

Thus, with a single deep breath, Crona banished the hesitation locking the muscles in his entire arm, and with a single twist of the doorknob pushed the door open.

What Crona found awaiting him inside was a medium-sized room that possessed some very elegant designing throughout it's interior. Various unique paintings were hung on the aqua blue walls, alongside a couple of colorful plants placed near the room's window. On the left side of the room, a sturdy mahogany desk was placed where files were neatly organized on top, with a filing cabinet next to one of the corners. A large and lengthy white rug was layered on top of the majority of the room's oak wood flooring where an orange coffee table sat in the middle. On the left side was a long white couch, and on the opposite side was a velvet armchair where someone sat.

The person sitting on the armchair was a young woman most likely in her mid-twenties with short silver-grey hair and a pair of reading glasses over her sharp amber eyes. She had a curvy yet slender appearance to her, that was further emphasized by the light green dress shirt underneath a black suit dress to match her white knee-length skirt and open-toe heels of the same color.

Crona remained where he stood and looked at the well dressed woman with curiosity before she noticed him and looked up from the notebook she held and smiled.

"Oh hello there Crona-san, I've been waiting a while to finally meet you." The young woman said kindly as her sharp, intelligent eyes examined the shy looking teen standing in the doorway.

"Uh H-Hello," Crona said back with a timid tone, while clenching his right arm. "A-Are you miss I-Iwata?"

"Why yes I am," The young woman now identified as Iwata confirmed. "Now come on why don't you come inside and sit down; we'll probably be here for a quite a bit."

Crona nodded in response and stepped inside Iwata's office and made sure to close the door. The pink haired teen then slowly walked towards the white couch and gently sat down across the therapist still smiling at him.

"I-It's n-nice to meet you, m-miss Iwata." Crona muttered as he kept staring at his lap, trying to keep the nervousness gnawing at him at bay.

"It's nice to meet you too Crona-san, but I must say it's been a while I had such an important patient come here. After all it's not often you get a call from one of japan's top heroes to set up an appointment for a child she recently took in." Iwata commented with a lighthearted chuckle, as retook her focus to her notebook and flipped through a few pages.

"I-I'm sorry if it c-caught you off guard." Crona apologized quietly, yet the silver haired woman merely waved it off.

"Oh, it's no problem at all, if anything I was surprised at most. This center once and a while has calls come from the HPSC to help certain…individuals who haven't lived favorable lives overcome their inner demons and reform from their old ways." Iwata's smile faded as a grim gleam overtook her gaze. "And from what I've been told from the HPSC, you fit into that category and several others for that matter."

Crona felt his stomach tighten at these words, and did everything he could to not directly look at Iwata in equal portions of icy fear and deepening shame. "S-So y-you know everything?"

Iwata's lips slowly flipped into a frown. "Not everything per se, due to wanting to keep your privacy, but the HPSC and your guardian have explained to me a basis of what you've been through. I can only begin to imagine the horrors you experienced from living under not only an abusive mother but who was also a villain no less."

"I-It's alright, I-I'm just trying my best now to move on from those t-times." Crona replied quietly, and kept his dark orbs down to his lap.

Iwata's looked at the anxious teen with genuine sympathy in her gaze and frowned as she noted the faint tremors that were emerging in his hands. 'It hasn't even been five minutes and he's already begun displaying symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. All just from the mere mention of his mother.'

Iwata had already been informed of how bad his trauma was, but seeing it firsthand easily showed her just how badly this poor child needed help. The HPSC had preemptively explained to her that Crona gorgon was the son of a villain known as medusa in the western states, that held anarchist agendas as she ran rampant and sowed chaos.

But this wasn't the first time she had handled patients who had villainous family members and were traumatized by the experiences and abuse usually inflicted. Which over their impressionable years, would lead them down the path to becoming villains themselves due to their psychological instability from their traumatic childhoods or because they believed a life of crime was the only path left for them at some point.

It was an all-around tragic story and one she had heard far too many times in the course of her career. She was just thankful there were times she was able to help some of those troubled individuals reform from their ways before it was too late.

But unlike most villains with children they abused as a twisted way to vent their frustrations or neglected them because they didn't care about them, to begin with; Crona's "mother" did all of those cruelties on purpose.

In all her years she had never heard of a villain being so malicious and coldhearted to purposefully torment their own child, for the sole intention of psychologically breaking him enough to become an unstable killing machine to use in her machinations. Yet that sick plan must've been heavily based on the incredibly versatile and lethal quirk her son possessed, that turning him into a psychotic villain would be ideal in the eyes of a twisted mind this despicable woman had.

Thankfully from what the HPSC detailed some of the stronger heroes had been able to find and subdue Crona before he ran wild any longer, despite his mother having escaped into obscurity. But seeing the risk of his mother trying to reclaim him and the lack of progress being made to reform Crona, the american hero law enforcement agencies had decided to transfer him to japan. This supposedly being for the effort that a new environment and overall making a clean slate, could aid the efforts to reform Crona and let him recover from his traumatic experiences.

And now the HPSC had selected her to be the most suitable option in helping this young man begin to heal from those same deep scars inflicted on his mind. It was definitely going to be some of the hardest efforts she'd have to make in a while, but she had faith it could go smoothly.

Of course for speaking to someone as nervous as him, a gentler approach was always the best option.

"But I am curious to know how you've been adjusting to living in japan since you arrived here. Have you've been acclimating well enough with the lifestyle here?" Iwata inquired, deciding to move from that the grim subject and start to better understand the boy through his experiences.

Crona blinked before pulling his head up and sat straight with an unsure expression. "Uh well it's b-been very nice so far. The cities c-can be a bit too loud and bustling for me to handle, but t-they're still a nice place to live in." Crona admitted with his usual timid tone, but at least he was glad she chose to talk about something else for now.

Iwata's brow rose up curiously at that particular phrase. "What makes you feel like you can't 'handle' that?"

Crona fiddled with his thumbs and shrunk a bit. "It's just that walking through so many crowds of people c-can be overwhelming for me at times. But when I'm with my friends it helps me feel more comfortable in those situations."

"I see, well its good to hear you have friends to help you alleviate that. You'll probably be able to get used it eventually with your friends helping out enough." Iwata remarked as she picked up a pencil on the table and started to write in her notebook. 'He seems to also have indications of social anxiety unless he's around people he's familiar with. Most likely from little to no interactions beside his mother and supposedly his sentient quirk. But this is actually something I think could probably fade away with enough time.'

"But I'm curious to know how you and your friend's been adjusting to japan so far? It be understandable if you're beginning to feel a little homesick after months away from your original home in the west." Iwata asked next, yet Crona only frowned at the question.

"I…I want to say I do, b-but the truth is that I don't think there is anything meaningful left for me back there." Crona admitted candidly.

"Well considering the grievous torment you endured before coming to japan, I can't say I blame you for feeling that way." Iwata accepted, before continuing to write in her notepad. "But after you were taken from your mother's influence there had to be some attachments you had back in your home in Nevada?"

Much to Iwata's relief, Crona's features became much less saddened as before as a fond expression took over. "Well the only good memories I can say I have was w-when I stayed i-in Maka's hometown as a t-trial student in her city's school," Crona's explained softly as his dark orbs took on a wistful look to them. "Spending my days with Maka and all her friends were probably the happiest memories I have of our home."

Iwata raised a brow curiously at this response, noting the affection lined within Crona's words as he mentioned this particular name. "You seem to have a strong sense of affection for this girl, Crona-san."

Crona blinked as he was taken out of his reminiscing and returned to reality as his cheeks reddened a bit in embarrassment. "M aka was the first f-friend I-I ever made. She was the one person who was ever willing to put the effort to befriend me despite everything I did, so yes…she m-mean's a lot to me."

"So, she know's of your background?" Iwata questioned with a frown, causing the sword meister's entire body to stiffen.

"Y-Yes she does. M-Maka and Soul both know." Crona grimly answered before his expression became slightly firmer. "But even though they knew of the kind of person I was, Maka looked past it and still chose to be my friend."

"I'm glad you were lucky enough to have made such a good friend, Crona-san. But how did you meet such a kind and accepting girl like Maka in the first place?" Iwata asked curiously.

The young swordsman shrunk at that particular question presented to him, and immediately felt his heart begin to beat at a higher and higher pace from the anxiety beginning to surge in his veins. "I-I…I'm sorry b-but I don't think I can handle talking about that."

"And why is that?" Iwata raised a bewildered brow, wondering why Crona was acting so anxious when it came to meeting his first friend. "Did something bad happen when you met her Crona-san?"

Crona took a single deep breath to try calming himself before looking at the therapist with an uncomfortable look in his ebon eyes. "I-In a way yes, it happened when I…I was what others would consider a despicable person."

"Doesn't that sound like you're being too harsh on yourself? If Maka was willing to look beyond your background and become such a close friend to you in the first place, she must've seen something good in you." Iwata replied, deciding to see if Crona's self esteem and image of himself was as bad as she was suspecting.

And unfortunately, it seemed to her fears were confirmed as whatever traces of confidence was left in Crona's expression fell apart like broken glass, as the young swordsman squirmed at the question presented to him and returned to his meek attitude. "I…I d-don't...well...she and soul s-say that I'm a g-good person deep down."

Iwata frowned. "While that's nice to hear your friend's are supportive for you, that's not the answer I was looking for. Just tell me how you feel about yourself, Crona-san. Do you think that they are right?"

Crona flinched, and kept his nervous dark eyes down to his lap as a whirlwind of conflicting emotions were occurring inside of him. Yet after several moments of patient silence, Crona looked at the psychologist with a rather disheartened expression. "I-I want to believe they're right about me…but I don't think c-can't do that. I just don't see myself like t-that."

"And why don't you see yourself as a good person? As from what I've seen in the past few minutes, you seem like a polite young man so far." Iwata pressed forward, yet Crona only shook his head as he hid his eyes underneath the curtain of his pink bangs.

"But it still can't change all the t-things I've done under M-Medusa's wishes. I can't j-just pretend I didn't d-do all those horrible crimes and c-call myself a g-good person." Crona croaked out, his voice cracking under the excruciating weight of numerous dark and twisted memories beginning to creep up. "E-Every night when I fall asleep I always relive everything I've done-o-or worse, see myself hurting e-everyone I care about. T-There's so m-much blood…and they're a-all on the g-ground strewn around me." Crona hiccuped as he continued curling himself into a ball, even as Iwata with a pale yet unreadable face kept listening. "E-Even when I'm awake I always see the images of everything I betrayed and the l-lives I've destroyed over and over in my head. I see t-their faces r-running t-through my head and w-when I can't I hear m-medusa's voice echo in my ears, I almost s-see her telling me to ki- "

"Crona, please calm down," Iwata cut off Crona devolving rambling in its tracks, as the look of frantic fear and panic rapidly overtaking his facial features paused and his wide eyes slowly looking up at the older woman. "Just take some deep breaths and relax."

Crona froze for a second before obeying her request and started to take long and slow inhales of air and exhaled it through deep breaths. The cycle slowly calming down the sword meister and allowed for his fear and anxiety to dwindle away into more tolerable levels.

"Do you feel better now?" Iwata asked slowly as she watched the shaken teenager heed her advice, and after a moment of hesitation Crona silently responded with a shaky nod.

Once the pink haired teenager finally calmed down enough, he looked at the psychologist with raw remorse. "I-I'm sorry…I-I should've done better to keep my composure."

His apology did little to make the unbearable sense of shame any less light for the teenage meister. He couldn't believe he almost broke down into a borderline panic attack right front of his therapist. And during his first session with her no less. It hasn't even been twenty minutes and he was already breaking his promise to Maka, yet again.

Why couldn't be able to have enough courage to face his demons like Maka would inspire others to do; instead of losing control of his emotions easily and turning into a pathetic mess after barely eight minutes into his therapy session?

Was he just that terrible in making efforts to change himself? Or maybe he just never could be truly successful changing himself when he already knew how twisted and broken, he was to begin with?

He could only imagine what this woman must be thinking about him now, after seeing him almost lose control of his emotions right in front of her.

Yet Iwata continued to stare at the guilt stricken meister with an unreadable gaze behind her glasses for what felt like an eternity before she finally spoke. "It's alright Crona, I'm not upset. You have to remember the point of all this is for you to feel comfortable opening up to me about these inner turmoils to see how I can help you."

"And from everything you've told me so far, I don't think your as terrible as you think you are Crona-san. At least not anymore." Iwata asserted without a hint of falsehood in her firm voice.

Crona's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates the moment that unbelievable sentence registered into his ears. "W-W-What?"

"Crona-san it's quite clear for anyone to see that you hold a great amount of guilt for these crimes you say you've done, when you were forced to be a villain under your mother and her toxic influence. You feel immense remorse, and are legitimately haunted by these memories of your past. That isn't the behavior of a true villain or psychopath; believe me I have seen how those types of people act. Maybe you were responsible for several crimes, but it doesn't seem they were of your own volition, to begin with."

"B-But I…I…That isn't true." Crona numbly said and shook his head in denial of such claims. "I-I still listened t-to medusa b-because I was afraid of being p-punished, b-but eventually I e-embraced spilling the blood of innocent people. I started to t-think that if I kept doing those a-atrocities I could prove my life h-had some meaning o-other than to s-suffer." Crona whispered in utter shame and loathing for himself. There's just no feasible way such pitiful reasoning could come close to remotely justifying all the death and destruction he wrought upon his world.

Iwata stared at the sulking teen with a sympathetic gaze by what she was hearing come out of him. No boy as young as this one should ever develop the broken mindset she was hearing come out of his mouth. And the fact that his mother was the one to have driven her son to commit such heinous actions, made her more sickened with this monstrous villainess than Iwata had even originally.

But as much as she was sympathizing with this young man, it was becoming quite apparent what Crona was truly alluding to. The fact this boy in sitting in front of her may have very well killed before in his life. It was a realization that made her blood turn ice cold and the gravity of what kind of "crimes" Crona committed truly sunk in. Any other person hearing this would've probably sent for a hero to arrest the boy out of sheer terror for what he was capable of. And admittedly…she couldn't blame them.

But after speaking to this boy and getting to know more about his mental state, knew that throwing him inside a cell was not the solution whatsoever. Over the course of her career she had interviewed numerous patients suffering from post traumatic stress from abusive relationships with incarcerated family or loved ones who were villains. Combining her experience with both these types of people it was apparent just what kind of situation Crona was suffering from.

And the fact of the matter was that Crona was simply so mentally destroyed by his mother's monstrous abuse, he psychologically shattered and accepted being a killer as a norm of his twisted life.

Crona was simply a victim. A victim who had been mentally and physically battered with years of torture by the one who gave birth to to him. He didn't need to be treated like a monster-the poor thing needed someone to hug him and teach him there's more to life than suffering.

She was definitely more cautious and quite frankly unnerved knowing what she was dealing with. But regardless it was still her obligation as a psychologist to help her patient move on from his inner demons.

Thus, after recomposing herself, Iwata stared at the swordsman with a calm gaze and spoke. "Crona-san…you need to remember what you've endured was beyond inhuman. Even from my experience and what I've dealt with in my career, this already appears to be the most brutal form of child abuse I have ever heard of. Your mother mentally and physically tortured you, till your sanity had been battered to the point you thought there was no other choice in your life but to hurt others."

"What you call 'embracing' these acts, appears to be more along the lines of you becoming brutally desensitized from all these gruesome actions altogether, Crona-san. Quite frankly, you did what you needed to do in order to survive that nightmare, and nobody should blame you for that. At least not entirely." Iwata spoke with a firm tone to drive her point across the stunned teen sitting across from her as a storm of conflicted emotions seemed to be raging within himself.

A patient silence filled the room as the sword meister contemplated the young woman's explanation to him and what she believed justified his crimes. But she…she wasn't wrong either.

As twisted as his life was, it was rather simplistic. Medusa would release him for her missions, and so long as he fed Ragnarök with the souls of those he slew, Medusa wouldn't punish him. It became so embedded into his mind and thought process that he almost thought it was the normal way to live. And when he fell deeper into madness, it simply evolved into believing that by becoming a kishin it would make him ultimately free.

But it was only now without that insanity clouding his mind, he understood that was a wrong path to take since he almost lost everything because of his foolishness. The only question left now was if be could learn to move on or not.

"I…I'm not sure Iwata-chan. A part of me wants to believe you're right. That maybe there is something inside me worth saving." Crona's features pulled down into a solemn grimace. "But I don't feel like it's enough. Even if someone told me to do those things, it shouldn't excuse everything I've done i-in the past. I still did them. And nothing is ever going t-to change that."

Iwata stared at the teenage meister with an unreadable expression for several seconds before clasping her hands together. "Your right. You did do those things and unfortunately there's not much that could undo the consequences of those actions. But even if that's the truth, that doesn't mean you still have people who want to support you."

"If there truly wasn't anything worth saving, there's no way on earth so many people, like one of japan's top heroes would be so determined to help you in the first place. But the reality is you have people who care for you, and want to help you as much as they can to this very moment." Iwata summed up, as she stopped writing in her notepad and looked at the teen with a assuring expression. "And I think the first step to healing would be finally accepting that you do deserve that chance to atone. So do you think you're ready to take that step?"

Crona's facial muscles immediately became much less tense as Iwata spoke to him and just stared at the warmhearted psychologist with wide dark orbs.

Would that really be the best way to start repentance?

The swordsman felt once again conflicted as a part of his mind was practically yelling that isn't possible for a vile man like himself. That there would be no way he could begin to think like that after all he was responsible for after choosing to betray Maka and return to medusa. And that pessimistic voice made Crona nearly tempted to listen to and deny Iwata's claims. But even with the strong presence of self-loathing infesting his thoughts, Crona felt within that mental miasma the spark of Maka's wisdom resurfaced once again.

Remembering how even when he assumed there was no hope beyond being trapped within the void of asura's soul, he still kept the belief he would see Maka again. And since then was only shown time and time again just how powerful believing in others could be.

So…so maybe it really was time he tried to believe in himself for once?

Thus after a deep breath to push away any remaining traces of self loathing, Crona looked at the patient therapist with a more firm expression than before, now almost devoid of any timidity. "O-Okay Iwata-chan, I...I think I-I can try."

Iwata smiled warmly seeing a flare of hope flaring in her patients eyes. A good sign she was starting to reach him beyond that gloomy pessimism that seemed to entangle Crona's mind. "Thank you Crona-san. I know this may be difficult for you, but I promise to be there for you throughout our future sessions. Whatever problems or fears you feel you can't tell, remember I'll be here to help you through them no matter what."

Crona's looked at the therapist in surprise by her sincere and assuring promise, before letting his own lips slowly flip into a small yet warm smile. "Thank you so much miss Iwata-san...that means a lot to me."

"Glad to hear it," Iwata said happily, before refocusing on her notepad. "Now is there anything else you'd like to discuss? Perhaps your time in Maka's hometown?"

Crona blinked before he rubbed his chin with a curious expression. "Well I do remember the time Maka and her friends invited me to play basketball..."

---

TAKOBA BEACH

The ride to Izuku's training spot had been a rather uneventful one for Maka and soul since at this point they had taken this route numerous times. It had quickly become a common occurrence among them, as after Maka, Soul, and Crona's first visits to the junkyard beach to cheer for Izuku as he pushed himself to his limits.

But unlike their previous visits to this neglected place, it was only Maka and soul who arrived to the beach park. Much to Izuku's surprise when he greeted them, but saw only Maka and soul walk down the steps to the beach. It was only after one of his breaks had come that Izuku was able to chat with his friends and learn why exactly Crona wasn't here.

"Oh, so Crona had to go for a doctor's appointment?" Izuku said with surprise in his tone. The moss haired teen sitting by the steps of the beach park with soul and Maka and listened to what his friends had to say.

Soul nodded. "Apparently our caretaker noticed Crona wasn't looking too well lately and wanted to make sure he wasn't getting sick."

"Y-Yeah I noticed Crona-san hasn't been acting himself for a few days. I-I mean I know he's a quiet person overall, b-but I was starting to get worried since he's been even more quiet than usually." Izuku replied with concern visible in his dark green orbs.

He was curious with a quirk like Crona's relating to control over his own blood, how he could catch a cold in the first place. Given it might allow him to strengthen the antibodies in his bloodstream. But Izuku figured that not even a resilient quirk like that is impervious to certain illnesses.

"Don't worry Izuku-kun I'm sure he's doing well right now. But I really appreciate you showing concern for Crona, it really means a lot to us." Maka smiled brightly, causing the green haired to start blushing profusely from the ash blonde's warm words.

"I-I-It's n-no pro-problem Maka-chan, I-I just really hope Crona-san is doing okay." Izuku stammered with a shaky smile, yet at the same time felt more than a little embarrassed that he was still getting flustered from maka thanking him.

He's already known Maka for months now, so why was he still becoming a stuttering wreck in moments like this? T-Though perhaps it was because he could still felt his heart hammering in his chest from the fact he gad a pretty girl like Maka as a f-f-friend in the first placeeventhoughitsoundedprettycrazytoeverthinkhe'dbesuchgoodfriendswithagirlinthefirstpla-

"Hey dude, is the heat starting to get to you? Your face is starting to look red as a tomato." Soul spoke up casually, as he watched the moss haired teen's entire face become bright red.

Maka's head turned to the albino and tilted her head. "Really? It doesn't seem too hot today."

That was enough to snap the teen out of his inner ramblings as he quickly waved his hands and recomposed himself as much as possible. "N-No, no I-I'm fine g-guys, I guess I'm just a bit exhausted with all the heavy lifting I'm doing today."

"No kidding, I guess Toshinori-san must've decided to step up your training recently and tackle the heavier pieces of junk around here." Maka remarked as she glanced at the pile of appliances and hefty garbage bags now off the beach. "I almost can't believe you managed to pull around an entire fridge by yourself."

Izuku's lit up once again with a pink blush and scratched the back of his head. "I-It's no big deal Maka-chan. If I'm being honest I was barely able to keep myself from collapsing the whole time I moved that thing around."

"Nobody said getting stronger was gonna be easy or happen overnight. It takes time, so just appreciate the progress you've been making. Beside's it's not like anyone would have the guts to clear this much garbage." Soul inputted, as he noted how the numerous junk piles laying around were looking a little smaller than before.

"It makes me wonder why nobody else has tried to clean this beach in the first place. If it was left up to me, I'd have this place spotless in a few months tops." Soul confidently said with a toothy grin plastered on his face.

"Oh, give me a break, you can't even bother to clean your own room-much less a whole junkyard of what you surround yourself in back home. In fact, it's lazy slobs like you that created this whole dump to begin with." Maka huffed with an annoyed glare directed at her overconfident weapon.

"C'mon Maka that's just not cool to bring a guy down like that. And besides what makes you think you could do it either? Last time I checked you could barely do 20 sets on that barbell without-" Unfortunately the scythe couldn't even finish his sentence, as his skull was once again well met with the thick spine of Maka's textbook.

"S-S-Soul-san!" Izuku cried out in horror as he could only stand up and watch as his poor albino friend fell forward from the blow and sent painfully tumbling headfirst down the beach park stairs.

Once he reached the bottom, soul was left collapsed into a twitching pile on the sand; all the while Maka stood on the stairs glaring daggers down at her weapon's groaning form. "At least it's giving me the arm strength to bash your brainless skull harder than before, you jerk!"

"M-M-Maka-chan just take it easy, t-there's no need to get violent!" Izuku nervously pleaded to the peeved ash blonde next to him. "I m-mean do you have to keep hitting him like that? You could seriously hurt him if you aren't careful."

The still fuming scythe meister however merely put her textbook away and crossed her arms. "Trust me Izuku-kun, when it comes to dumbasses like soul who lack the ability to use their head properly, pain is the best and only lesson to rectify the problem."

"I-I'm not sure about that, b-but alright…" Izuku murmured in defeat, as despite fearing Maka's fury he had grown used to moments like this for some time now.

It was quite shocking to witness Maka bashing soul or Crona's quirk with a textbook the first few times this occurred. He never thought a girl as cheery and kindhearted as Maka would possess the temper of a wild gorilla. And if he was being frank, thay temper was eerily similar to Bakugo's own attitude in some ways.

But he'd never say anything like that in front of either one of them. That would all but assure a nuclear level disaster between those two.

But as he grew more concerned with seeing Soul frequently getting bashed in the cranium, Izuku finally decided to ask Maka why she kept hitting soul with that textbook. But all he ever got was Maka saying a little too casually that "it was sometimes necessary to discipline idiots who don't know better" as she put it.

He still thought her "Maka chops" were more than a bit excessive, but despite not approving her violent tendencies knew Maka wasn't going to change her mindset anytime soon. Plus, Soul seemed relatively fine despite how hard Maka would hit him, so perhaps it was best to simply leave that particular subject alone for now.

But to this day Izuku still kept wondering where Maka even kept hiding that textbook…

"A-Anyway it's good to hear you guys have been putting as much effort into U.A as I've have been. But I didn't think you'd need it in the first place since you guys are already pretty experienced." Izuku admitted, as from what from they told him about the strict requirements to have been apart of that program; they seemed to be already skilled in using their quirks.

Maka lost any remaining anger in her expression and looked at Izuku with a small smile. "Maybe, but we think it's best to be prepared with how hard some people are saying it is to get in U.A," The teen's smile however flipped into an annoyed frown, as she recalled the hell their caretaker had been putting them through. "Though it would be nice if that woman wouldn't be so relentless about it."

Izuku raised an eyebrow at what Maka muttered under her breath, but merely chuckled lightly. "It may be rough, but since all this hard work is so we could become heroes i'd say it's more than worth it!"

"I couldn't have said it better myself young Izuku-san. When it comes to enrolling in the top hero academy in japan you need to put in one hundred percent effort." A new voice said in agreement with the moss haired teen, as Maka and Izuku turned their heads to find none other than Toshinori walking up to them.

"Oh Toshinori-san, it's good to see you!" Maka cheerfully greeted her friend's trainer.

"Same here young maka, and uh…" Toshinori frowned and looked around as he noticed a certain albino was missing.

"Oh don't worry, he's right over there." Maka waved off indifferently, and pointed right next to the frail blonde.

"Oh I see, so I guess he's-holy shit!" Toshinori turned his head to his left, only to have his eyes nearly pop out of his sunken sockets to find the battered and bleeding death scythe sprawled on the sand. "Y-young Soul are you alright!?"

Soul groaned as he shakily stood up and wiped off the sand on his clothes before looking up to face the older man. "Yeah, I'm alright, man. This is something I'm pretty used to by this point when it comes to miss prickly up there."

"Maybe I'd stop chopping you if you didn't like a rude asshole most of the time." Maka huffed out, knowing full well her brainless weapon had that chop coming.

"Tch, whatever." Soul muttered, rolling his eyes in exasperation at his meister's usual stubbornness.

All the while Toshinori and Izuku could only sweatdrop as they watched the duo argue like an old married couple. But for the former however, Toshinori had already become pretty acquainted with moments like these happening despite the…unique dynamic Izuku's two friends held with each other.

Toshinori had never really seen two people be simultaneously such good friends, yet at the same time flip in seconds to witnessing them acting like cats and dogs. It felt like something straight out of a comedy skit happening in real life. Yet despite their occasional squabbles, the symbol of peace could tell the duo strongly cared for each other deep down despite their differences.

"W-Well I just came to check on you all and see if everything's doing well. Though I've noticed young Crona isn't with you guys. Did something happen?" Toshinori brought up as he found a missing member in their usual group.

Maka's face dropped her fuming expression as the mention of her absent friend dampened her face with sadness. "He…he couldn't come today. Crona hasn't been feeling well recently so he had to go to the see a doctor."

"Oh…" Toshinori's sunken eyes widened in surprise to hear this before immediately fell into a solemn gaze. "I'm terribly sorry to hear that young Maka; but hopefully Crona will be making a speedy recovery soon from whatever bug he caught."

Maka's sad expression faded out hearing these words and allowed a small smile to form on her lips. "I don't doubt that for a second."

"Couldn't said it better myself," soul agreed with the lanky trainer as he regained his bearing and walked back to the stairs with his friends. "Believe it or not while Crona may not look like it, the dude is a lot tougher than he looks, so I bet he'll be alright in no time."

"That's the spirit!" Toshinori gladly concurred with the albino, before turning to his moss haired protégé. "Now then Izuku-san I think it's time we resume your training before we pack it in for the day."

"Y-Yes sir!" Izuku responded quickly and looked back at his friends one more time. "Well I guess I better get back to it then."

"Alright then, we'll just stay here and watch in the meantime." Maka replied with a bright smile.

"Yeah just make sure you put a hundred percent, alright? Otherwise how the heck are you gonna prove you'll become some badass hero?" Soul told his moss haired friend with a small grin.

"You g-got it." Izuku nodded firmly, and started heading back to the beach and the dump that was waiting to be cleaned.

"Good luck Izuku-kun! I know you can do it!" Maka called out to her friend one last time, as Toshinori couldn't help but smile at the two teens cheering for his apprentice.

'You really made some good friends, huh kid?' Toshinori remarked, feeling legitimately proud at izuku for the friendships he was able to forge with these impressive youngsters.

Throughout these past two months Izuku's new friends had continued to visit him while the teen did his arduous training, and as he watched him hard at work, got to know more about the foreign exchange students his protégé befriended.

Maka seemed to relate the most to Izuku in terms of academics and intelligence as he would sometimes see them have deep intellectual discussions. But despite izuku meeting a fellow bookworm, toshinori saw quite a few times how the girl had a very strong sense of willpower and spirit than most girls her age possessed.

While that albino boy Soul was quite a coolheaded lad despite his rather lax demeanor and consistent desire to be seen as "cool" as the kid frequently called it. Crona seemed more of an enigma as the boy was quite timid-even more than izuku was, yet despite his meek attitude seemed to possess a soft and good-natured personality.

Though he honestly pitied him for being forced to deal with that rambunctious quirk of his; as he could only imagine the struggles he must go through every day with that creature harassing him constantly without end.

But the one thing they all had in common was how each of them held a strong friendship with each other. And that same bond was now shared with Izuku as they all wholeheartedly supported Izuku's goal of being a pro hero despite the fact he was quirkless.

Which admittedly caused the hero in disguise to feel a pang of guilt for how unlike himself, these children immediately believed Izuku could fulfill his dream of being a hero without a quirk.

Yet that just made him gladder that Izuku had miraculously found these good-natured foreigners to befriend-as he could easily see in the last few months the positive impact they were having on his soon-to-be successor.

The cheers and support Maka, Soul, and Crona gave as they watched Izuku do his grueling training, seemed to further ignite the moss-haired teen's will to overcome his limits.

He still was primarily driven to achieve his old dream of becoming a hero by inheriting his quirk, but now he seemed even more motivated to do so, for the sake of joining his friends when they arrived to U.A.

The symbol of peace genuinely had to thank these foreign children for being there for his future successor, and hoped they would continue being there for Izuku in the future.

"Well I better catch up to him and make sure he doesn't push himself too far again." Toshinori muttered as he started walking to the dump, yet Maka and soul were quick to catch what the coach said.

"Hang on a second what do you mean by that? did something happen?" Maka spoke up with her brow furrowed in concern hearing, as the emaciated blonde froze at the teen's sharp ears.

'Oh crap!' The disguised pro hero mentally cursed at his own slip up and not controlling the volume of his voice. Dammit all, what the heck was he supposed to say?!

"W-Well uh, y-you see it was n-nothing too serious but…" Toshinori scrambled to come up with something to say, before glancing behind him to see the skepticism written all over the duo's expressions.

The skinny blonde realizing it was fruitless to lie sighed in defeat and turned around to face the two teens. "Okay look, young Izuku didn't want to say anything to worry you guys; but since there's no hiding this anymore I think it's best if I just told the truth."

Thus for the next few minutes Toshinori explained to the scythe duo what occurred last week during their running sessions in the park. As he unfortunate learned how Izuku went secretly beyond the agreed schedule and wasn't taking any necessary breaks. Causing him to overwork his body in the belief he needed to work hard as possible to excel in U.A.

And by the end of the brief tale Maka and soul could only be exasperated by their friend's over-determination.

"*sigh* Izuku-kun you senseless dummy. Just what the hell were you thinking?" Maka groaned in frustration while rubbing her forehead to ease her headache over Izuku's foolishness.

She couldn't believe Izuku had done something so reckless as overtaxing himself thinking it was necessary to be a great hero. She understood he wanted to be one very badly, but that just wasn't the right way to go beyond his limits. All that would do is potentially destroy his body and get a trip to the hospital if it was bad enough.

Hell not even Blackstar was that stupid...or at least not unless he was pushed hard enough to do so anyway.

"Believe me young Maka, I already scolded him for recklessly endangering his physical health like that. But even though it was far from wise thing to do, his reasoning is admittedly respectable." Toshinori remarked, as despite fearing his protégé would hurt himself, it had given him insight to just how far Izuku's desire for heroism went.

"I gotta agree with the coach here. It was pretty stupid for Izuku to push his body so hard and expect nothing to go wrong. But at the same time...it's sorta respectable in a way. It's hard to find people as dedicated as he is to something like this job." Soul's lips flipped into another of his sharp grin's as he watched the jogging moss haired teen carry a hefty tire out of the beach.

When soul first met Izuku he honestly didn't see much in him beyond a meek and nerdy guy, with a big heart Maka befriended over how similar they were. Quite frankly he never imagined Izuku would be able to put so much effort into his fascination and deep admiration for heroism. If anything soul compared it to when Maka went through that annoying angel phase, and became so freakin obsessed with the idea of being one when she discovered she had a grigori soul.

But after learning his rough childhood and what Izuku had been doing in this beach, those initial opinions got thrown right out the window once he saw how much guts Izuku had in him.

Every time he saw Izuku talk passionately about becoming a hero he began to see the bright fire in his eyes to pursue that career, even after his dream had been trampled by everyone else around him for years. And even with the odds against him and the fact he had no superhuman abilities that were seen as a necessity to be a hero-the dude still sought to prove he could be one.

At that point Soul started to actually respect the guy for how determined he was to become an incredible hero. Sorta like an old muscle-headed friend he knew back home. Though nowhere near as egotistical that's for sure.

"Why am I not surprised you'd see it that way? Just what the heck is with men having the same malfunction in thinking doing stupid and dangerous things can prove themselves." Maka said dryly, unable to see the sense in guys imperiling themselves for the sake of their pride.

"Your one to talk considering all the stunts you pulled back home for Crona's sake." Soul retorted as shit eating grin crept up on the weapon's lips, causing his meister to deliver a harsh glare to him.

"You two don't need to worry, as your friend has already promised not overdo his training again." Toshinori assured the pair, helping to ease the ash blonde's worries over her friend's safety.

"That's good to hear Toshinori-san. Cause if he hadn't I would have no other choice but knock some sense into him myself." Maka said with a light frown, yet made Toshi flinch in terror as he knew full well what the ash blonde meant despite her good intentions.

"T-That's a-alright Maka! I promise it won't be necessary." Toshinori reasoned while frantically waving his hands in refusal, as the last thing his successor needs is a concussion from one of his friends.

"B-But I should get back to Midoryia now and supervise his progress, so I guess I'll see you two later." Toshinori said before walking down the trash-filled sands to meet up with his working apprentice.

"See you later Toshi-san." Maka said with a smile, as she waved goodbye to the blonde trainer.

"Man, you really found us one interesting dude to hang out with, huh?" Soul remarked to himself, and he turned his head to meet his partners gaze. But once he did the albino teen furrowed his brow at the sight of Maka staring vaguely in Izuku's and Toshinori's direction, but really it was off in the distance. Her expression seemingly tranquil, but once one looked closer could see how maka appeared rather downcast.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time he saw that restless face today. Throughout their venture to izuku's training spot, he had been noticing Maka with that same face. He asked throughout the venture to Izuku's training spot if she was alright, but with every attempt she would just wave it off saying she was fine. But there was just no way he could ever buy that load of crap, and he suspected Maka in knew it too but didn't want to deal with his prodding.

Yet as much as she would vehemently deny it, Maka's emotions were at times quite easy for him to read given the fact she had always been very vocal about her emotions. Especially when she was pissed off and pulled off her violent antics.

And given what was happening today, it didn't take a genius to know what was bothering the usually hot-tempered meister this much.

Soul now making up his mind walked up the stairway and returned where he originally sat next to the ash blonde before speaking up. "So are you gonna start telling me what's been bugging you?"

Maka sighed irritably, and glanced at her weapon with an irritated expression. "Gee what do you think? Cause in case you forgot, I'm stuck waiting around, while my friend is discussing with a complete stranger about the most traumatic moments in his entire life. So, excuse me for not feeling too peachy at the moment."

Soul frowned and raised one of his brows skeptically. "C'mon Maka don't you think your overthinking this? I get why you're so worried, but i keep telling you can't keep coddling him. He's got to learn to deal with this stuff by himself."

Maka snapped her head towards soul and glowered the scythe. "I already knew that Soul, so stopping treating me like I'm that naïve anymore." Maka's lips twitched as she fiddled with the sleeve of the pink T-shirt she wore alongside a pair of skinny jeans.

"I understand how important it is for Crona to confront his trauma-and I have no doubt he's capable of beating those inner demons." Maka's frown deepened as her firm gaze faltered with concern. "But I'm just worried if this might be too soon for Crona."

"You saw how badly he broke down in that park when medusa's death was brought up. Whatever happened that day, along with death knows what else that twisted woman did to him ravaged Crona's mind even more than it had been before." Maka gritted her teeth as hands pulled into hard fists. "I can only imagine how painful it's going to be for him to speak all about that trauma. And the fact all I can do is sit here while Crona's going through that kind of experience frustrates me to no end."

Soul bit his lip and admitted that maka was right in some aspects of this situation. They both knew this shrink was gonna benefit Crona in the long run, but at the same time he kinda felt bad for the poor guy since this whole process was gonna revolve around opening old wounds he'd been carrying for years now.

Not to mention the new ones that only he had begun to heal in Crona's battered soul. At this point, he wondered just how much mental abuse Crona could even take at this point and what he could even recover from in the first place. The inner turbulence and abuse his soul contained was something he simply couldn't fathom and quite frankly, he didn't think he wanted to. All he could do was put on a kind face and attempt to understand and comfort when he could, hoping Maka and this shrink would help save whatever remained of him.

But whenever Maka was having moments like these, he'd simply have to do his best as her weapon partner to keep her spirits up; as the aggressive and temperamental meister he knew and enjoyed having as his best friend. At least when she isn't trying to leave dents in his skull every time she was up to her violent antics.

"Yeah it's probably going to be pretty rough for Crona to start opening all those wounds after only a couple of months. On that end, I understand why you'd be so worried. But I think you should just take a moment to calm down and take your own advice." Soul retorted, causing the troubled scythe meister to lock eyes with her weapon.

"And what would that be?" Maka questioned her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Jeez, I think you've made yourself so worried sick your big brain is starting to overload and give you memory loss if you can't remember that." Soul teased with a smug smirk, but immediately cut it out when he saw the death glare maka was sending his way.

"Look I think you should try to have more faith the dude will handle it. Sure it'll be far from pleasant for Crona to open all that baggage, but it's only thanks to you giving him courage that he's willing to confront it in the first place. So shouldn't that mean something?" Soul countered and watched as after moments maka's cold glare faded away as she contemplated her weapon's words for several moments before releasing a short breath.

"Since when did you start making sense for once? Seriously did that last chop fix whatever broken neurons were inside your head?" Maka asked sarcastically, with a half curious brow at soul's sensible words.

"I'm just saying what you would've told me or any of us back home if we needed it. Crona isn't the only one you changed through your brave attitude you know?" Soul said casually, as maka rolled her eyes in half amusement and breathed out a chuckle.

"Alright fine, maybe you have a point." The taupe girl conceded as a smile began creeping up on her face. "I almost forgot how you can be actually smart when you want to be."

"What can I say? It's my job as your death scythe to do what I can to keep your spirit's up through thick and thin. Nobody wants to deal with you whenever your moody to begin with." Soul replied with a casual shrug, simply seeing it what to do when his partner and good friend was down in the dumps.

Maka's brow twitched hearing that last part, but for once let it slide. "Well I do feel a little better now, so I guess you're doing a good job so far." Maka thanked, feeling the weight on her mind lighten slightly.

A corner of Soul's lips pulled subtly upwards watching maka beginning to cheer up, even if he still spotted her concern swirling in her forest green eyes. But an idea soon popped into his head that may be able to get her mind off this therapy session.

"I'll tell you what, how about you decide where we go after izuku is done with his training with Toshi?" Soul offered the taupe girl next to him who looked at him with surprise within her features.

Maka raised a interested brow hearing this. "Since when are you that generous? Usually you're so determined to go to that local arcade whenever we have the free time."

"Hey if it'll get your mind off what's going on with Crona, then I don't mind. You need to relax, so why not just go somewhere that'll calm those tense nerves?" Soul waited for maka's answer as she looked at the shores and started contemplating the offer presented to her.

But after several moment's of hard thinking, maka looked back at her weapon with a smile on her face. "Well okay then, I think I know the best place we could go after izuku's done!"

"Sure, so what do have in mind?" Soul asked, with a mixture of a curiosity and amused tone in his voice.

While there was probably going to be a good chance he'd be sitting in some dusty old library or a fancy little bookstore, in the end, it would be worth it to allow maka to let herself relax. Even if it meant spending an hour trying to keep himself from snoozing from such a boring place to spend on Sunday, he'd do the manly thing and just endure it for his friend's sake.

I mean how bad could it possibly be?

---

ONE HOUR LATER

'I really need to know when to shut my damn mouth…' Soul remarked sourly, as he was seriously beginning to regret what was on retrospect a stupid as hell decision.

While Maka had thrown him off, he should've expected this given her needy and demanding personality at times. Maka may have been a bookworm that loved to spend hours of her time reading novel after novel-but in the end she was still a girl. And other than her love of books, there was one another thing she like any other girl her age would want to do to pass the time.

That being none other than the dreaded scenario for all men alike known as clothes shopping…

Now thanks to that large oversight on his part, he along with Izuku currently found themselves within the woman's clothing department of the local mall, as Maka continued cheerily trying on different outfits in the fitting room.

"Hmmm so what do you guys think of this one?" Maka asked as she came out of the fitting room, presenting to the pair a light green button-up shirt matched with a pair of skinny jeans she wore at the moment.

"U-Uh I-I t-t-think it look's n-nice o-on you." Izuku nervously stammered as his cheeks heated up to a bright pink seeing maka in that outfit from where he sat. Having changed his attire after finishing training and wore a blue and white stripped hoodie underneath his dark green V neck shirt.

Soul however still with a frown on his face, shrugged indifferently. "Eh I think it's alright. Maybe a little better than the other 20 freakin clothes you've tried on-but if you ask me they all look the same."

"S-Soul-san, y-you shouldn't be so rude!" Izuku frantically scolded his albino friend for his lack of politeness. Especially since the last thing he needed was to once again trigger maka's temper.

Maka however placed her hands on her hips and sharply glared at her frowning weapon. "Could you at least try to care, instead of standing there brooding like some angry little kid?"

"Well sorry, but not everyone would enjoy being your living clothing rack for what feels like an eternity while you're playing fashion model." Soul bit back irritably, as he and izuku were currently forced to hold a rather hefty stack of clothes in his hands.

Maka rolled her eyes. "Grow up Soul, it's not going to hurt to stand here and learn to have some patience." The ash blonde turned around and looked at herself in a nearby mirror. "Hmmm the jeans don't look bad but maybe I'll see what else looks good with them."

"B-But didn't you just say that for the fifth time?" Izuku spoke up with a hint of exasperation hidden in his voice.

"I'm only going to buying two outfits, so I have to see what fits me the best. Then we can head straight for that bookstore on the upper level." Maka said with a delighted smile, one that izuku started share with his fellow bookworm as his previous exasperation vanished.

"Oh t-that actually sounds pretty nice! M-Maybe I can see if they have the latest copy of maze runner it's available." Izuku said with a excited smile of his own sprouting on the teen's lips.

"That's a great choice, Izuku-kun! I just hope I can find the next installment of the hunger game series I've been reading." Maka said ecstatically before walking towards the weapon turned shopping mule. "But that's after I'm done here. After all I still have to check out all these other clothes that caught my eye."

"Oh, you've got to be shitting me…" Soul grunted under his breath while maka went up to him and went through the clothes he had been forced to hold for the past twenty minutes! "Remind me why I have to be the one to carry all this to begin with?"

"A-Actually if you want, I could carry some of those if you guys want. I'm m-more than willing to help." Izuku suggested and albeit shakily, stood up to take some clothes to carry, but maka stopped him.

"I appreciate the offer, but that's not going to be necessary Izuku-kun. There's no way I would let you strain yourself after all the hard work you just did today." Maka said kindly and guided izuku back to his seat before walking back to soul. "You need to relax yourself far more than he does, so don't worry about it."

"Plus if I gave this guy a chance to rest, he'd probably be snoring like a lazy bum." Maka flatly countered as she pulled out a bright-colored turtleneck sweater, before giving her weapon a smirk that looked a little too satisfied. "And you could consider this payback for being so rude at the beach."

"Wasn't pulverizing my grey matter enough for you?" Soul asked with an annoyed frown, yet maka only snorted before spinning around with her chosen clothes and returned to the fitting room.

And as she left to try her newest outfit, soul took the opportunity to release an exasperated groan at his crappy situation right now. Seriously this was not cool, not one bit. God if Blackstar was here to see this he'd probably be rolling on the floor out of laughter to see him reduced to a human clothes rack. And just gave him all the more reason to keep this as another moment he would keep to his grave.

'What the hell is up with chicks needing to buy so many clothes? Christ now I know what Kid must've felt whenever he was dragged to liz and patty's shopping spree's.' Soul internally remarked…even if the only thing Kid ever really complained about was the pistol sisters not buying a symmetrical amount of clothing.

'Of Course, only kid would complain about that.' The corner of Soul's lip twitched upwards when reminded of the young shinigami and his OCD shenanigans.

Yet he was quickly taken away from his thoughts over his friend's back home, as Izuku came up and tapped his shoulder with a concerned expression.

"H-hey Soul-san? How much longer are we gonna have to keep doing this?" Izuku asked quietly, eyeing the still large number of clothes the taupe girl had yet to try on-let alone decide what to actually buy.

"I want to say not much sooner, buuuut," Soul glanced at the other seat next to izuku and cringed when reminded of the six other dresses maka wanted to try on. "That's sadly wishful thinking."

"We're going to be here for a while, aren't we?" Izuku moaned tiredly.

"Yeah…" Soul confirmed with a mixture of pity and tiredness in his voice. Both boys accepting the grim reality that the next thirty minutes or more even, were going to be quite long and tiring.

---

After an hour of shopping in one or two clothes stores and now another thirty minutes in the bookstore on the mall's upper level, Maka was legitimately enjoying herself more than she had expected. She still had her concerns for Crona roaming around in the back of her mind, but knowing in the end he was in good hands helped to ease her concerns for her friend. And being able to look around numerous stores shopping with her closest friends was quite a relaxing and fun activity that distracted her from those kinds of thoughts. Plus she was lucky enough to have remembered the shopping center that was located within Musutafu city.

In fact this mall was where Rumi had taken them to buy more clothes than just the ones they've been wearing on their backs when first coming to this world. And it was easily proving to have been a good idea to have come here to pass the time. She just knew Liz and Patty would've loved to come to here and practically drag Kid around every clothing department in this place.

Except they weren't here…neither were any of her friends.

That alone made her gut twist. How Liz, Patty, Tsubaki, Marie, and everyone else back home were most likely in grief from their disappearance within asura's soul and never came back as they promised. But Maka immediately shoved away those thoughts before they dug any deeper into her heart. Even if it hurt to know they were separated from their friends, letting herself get caught up in sorrow about it wouldn't be the answer. For now, until a method to return to their world presented itself, she needed to stay positive and be patient for that opportunity to arrive.

Not to mention with all the opportunities to do some good here and making more friends like the moss haired teen walking beside her, easily lessened the pain of that emotional baggage.

"S-So Maka-chan are you having a good time?" Izuku asked while he walked alongside her, receiving an upbeat nod from the girl.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be having a fun time spending my evening shopping with you guys?" Maka said with a happy smile, and looked down at the two bags in her hand. "Though I'm kinda surprised I bought this much in the first place." The ash blonde pondered before shrugging and beamed. "But I can't say it wasn't fun!"

"Well good for you, but I think you forgot who was carrying most of this crap for you…" Soul grunted while he trotted behind the two teens.

Maka and Izuku suddenly remembered the third person that came along with them, and turned around to see soul carrying the rest of the bags with a giant frown on his face. Evidently the albino weapon was reaching his patience's end being the pack mule for his meister.

Izuku looked at his friend in pity for the teen's unfortunate plight, yet maka didn't share the same view as her friend and simply scoffed. "Soul can you stop being so whiny, it's only four bags your carrying around. Some of which have stuff you also bought yourself so I don't see why your complaining so much."

"Yeah, well you try holding all this for an hour, then we'll talk." Soul sighed out before quickening his pace to catch up to Izuku and Maka. "Can we at least get something to eat after we're done here? It just ain't cool to make me do all this work only to be stuck on an empty stomach."

Maka mulled it over for a few moments before glancing to weapon walking next to her. "Alright fine, I guess it wouldn't hurt to have a bite to eat in the food court," the corners of soul's frown immediately flipped upwards upon hearing this but stopped when maka raised a finger. "But don't expect to have any junk food. Remember we're on a strict diet to go with our regimen."

"You gotta be kidding me. Even when your relaxing you still don't know when to quit following the rules, don't you?" Soul said with disappointment coloring his voice, at his meister's by the book attitude even when they were meant to be chilling out. "You seriously can't let me have that least? I can't even remember the last time I drank a goddamn soda."

"I-I actually agree with Maka-chan. I really can't have too much s-since I'm also on a diet to accelerate the results of my own training as well." Izuku spoke up in agreement with the ash blonde, knowing just how important those diets were to the success of their regimens.

"C'mon izuku-san, you shouldn't be so rigid with yourself all the time like that. If you ask me, it wouldn't hurt to take a cheat day once and a while." Soul retorted, yet paused as he felt his partner's elbow lightly pushed into his right side.

"Trust me you've have more than enough of those back home! If anything you should hope this ten month detox can clean up your insides from all that junk food you used to eat." Maka scolded her albino weapon with an annoyed glare at his lax behavior rearing it's unwelcoming head once again.

But as much as Maka would never say this out loud and give soul something to be smug about, he wasn't completely wrong. As much as she loved pulling another jab at Soul's slacker habits, even she was starting to miss treats like ice cream.

But maybe that was for the best...

She didn't know why but lately, some of her old clothes were beginning to feel tighter than she last remembered. Of course it wasn't anything too serious, but it was becoming more and more noticeable as time went on. That's why when Soul offered to let her choose where they hung out, she decided to use the opportunity to try fixing the problem. But deep down she knew it still danced around the question as to what was causing it to begin with. Yet one possibility passed into her mind that for a single second made her blood freeze like ice.

Did she gain weight?

Maka nearly shuddered and furiously shook her head to quickly banish that horrifying thought from her mind without a second to spare. No way, that was impossible. Even if the hardy diet that was apart of their training regimen was making her eat more than she would've, there was no way she could've gained anything with the crazy amount of exercise she'd did nowadays. Maybe she was overreacting. It could all just be chalked up to her clothes simply shrinking up in the washing machine. Y-Yeah, that was it!

…At least she hoped so.

While Maka was continuing to have her internal crisis, Soul kept trying to grip with the crappy predicament he was caught in. But as much as it sucked, he was just glad this shopping trip had done the trick to help Maka get her mind off Crona.

The whole time they'd spent their time in this shopping center, Maka had kept that big happy smile on her face, which was a milestone better than the somber worry that had been prevalent on her face before. Even if he was stuck being Maka's walking luggage rack for the rest of the evening, he could at least say it was worth putting up with her demands if it meant being able to cheer up his friend.

The trio continued to walk their way to the food court yet as they explored the rows of the other stores on the third level within the vast shopping center. Yet as they were nearing the escalator's, izuku stopped in his tracks and looked back at one particular store.

Soul and maka noticing their moss haired friend wasn't following them turned around. "Izuku-kun? What's wrong?" Maka asked curiously as she glanced around to find him standing in front of one of the store windows.

"No way…they actually have it!" Izuku practically gushed in excitement with star's in his eyes, much to the bewilderment of his two friends.

"They have what?" Soul asked with a risen brow, as he and maka walked over to the store to see what caught izuku's attention.

That being a giant poster of the number one hero, Allmight. The window itself being full to the brim of numerous pieces of hero merchandise.

There were well-detailed plasticine figurines of several popular heroes the duo had seen from time to time on TV, during news reports about their exploits during a crisis, or when a part of interviews. There were sneakers displayed inside that had colorful designs matching the color scheme of certain heroes that were based off of. And from there saw more posters, action figures, bobble heads, T-shirts, and mugs with heroes' faces plastered-basically every kind of hero centric merchandise one could imagine.

"Oh is this a hero gift shop?" Maka asked with surprise as she glanced at all the hero promoted items seen inside the store.

"Yeah and they have the collectible Allmight smash poster! C'mon let's go check it out!" Izuku exclaimed gleefully and was quick to rush inside, leaving the scythe duo standing in surprise and amusement before following him inside.

The two teens opened the door and entered the hero store and found even more hero merchandise and items inside than even what was seen in the display window. Much to Maka's surprise and Soul's intrigue as they explored while Izuku with the poster he sought in hand, went to the register.

"Shit this place has more hero merch than I thought," soul remarked as he looked around the gift shop, till his interest was piqued by a dark blue and red lined hoodie with a ninja like design scheme. "Hey that hoodie looks pretty damn cool. Isn't this based off that ninja hero, Edgeshot?"

"Good guess kid, I just got the latest shipment this morning!" The middle aged man behind the counter told the albino, while tending to izuku's purchase. "In fact we have a 20% discount on all Edgeshot merchandise going on for the rest of the week!"

"Wait really? You know what, I might just take one for myself." Soul said with a smirk, as he put down the bags and pick up the Edgeshot hoodie to buy.

Maka however wandered around the store, scanning over all the shelves filled with all sorts of hero merchandise. The scythe meister took an Allmight mug off one of the shelves and looked at it curiously. "Do people really buy all of these items?"

"Of course they do young lady! With how much heroes do for everyone in the whole country, it's no wonder anything promoting them would be bought like hotcakes!" The cashier happily told the teenage girl, sounding like he knew from experience.

"But isn't america the same when it comes to their heroes?" Izuku questioned curiously.

"Oh no don't get me wrong, the heroes back in america are very well loved by the public, especially in our hometown. But our city just never went too far with all the merchandise." Maka elaborated with a wave of her hand.

"Huh, I guess every country has its different take on expressing its love for heroism then." Izuku replied with intrigue in his voice, as soul walked up to the register to pay for the hoodie.

"Eh, all the attention for heroism is generally the same wherever you go, izuku. I almost feel jealous these guys get all this stuff promoting them. Hell, maybe when if we become heroes, we can get all kinds of merchandise based off us ourselves." Soul remarked with a grin at the thought of having all kinds of promotion around him as a badass hero. He knew for sure Blackstar would absolutely be enthralled by the idea of having so much promotion for his "godly self" and fans who'd rush to buy them.

"In your dreams Soul. If anything I can't think of any reason why anyone would ever want to buy anything revolving around a slouch like you. The parents would probably complain all the time about you being a bad role model for their kids." Maka scoffed with a dry tone in her voice at such a ludicrous idea ever happening.

"C'mon that's just not cool. Can't ou let a guy dream a little?" Soul sighed out, yet maka only huffed in response.

"Its okay Maka-kun, there's n-nothing wrong with wanting to be a little famous. At the very least so with a good reputation people could know that no matter what happens, they could be there to help them, just like Allmight would." Izuku retorted optimistically, as he unveiled the gold poster revealing to show the symbol of peace in a heroic outfit and wide smile rearing a mighty punch.

"Everyone does seem to really want to be like Allmight, don't they?" Maka muttered to herself with interest, as she stared at the poster of who was supposed to be the dubbed symbol of peace.

She and Soul had become more than aware of who was considered to be the number one hero in all of Japan. Not just because his face was seen practically everywhere they looked, but by Izuku himself who was a huge fan of the hero. From what Izuku described in detail, Allmight was considered by many as the foundation for heroism within society that started off this era of peace for the country. Whenever a crisis came he would be there in almost the blink of an eye to avert it before the situation escalated. All while smiling with the radiance of a sun to proudly to reassure those around him he would be there to help. And in conjunction with his herculean strength and incredibly noble spirit, he inspired an entire generation to become heroes just like their idol in some shape or form.

The more they saw of his heroic feats on television and from what izuku told them, the more she and her friends began to truly admire Allmight. They had already grown used to the presence of superpowered people who work as heroes, but unlike those guys, Allmight looked like a genuine superhero that had been brought to life. From that beaming smile, the insanely brawny build, and heroic attire, he looked and acted like the prime definition of a superhero.

In a certain way, Allmight appeared to be almost like what Lord Death meant to everyone in their world, but on a countrywide scale rather than the entire planet. Whereas Lord Death promoted generations to become meister's to retain order due to being bound in death city and maintain the order of the shinigami, Allmight inspired others to be heroes due to his sheer charisma and numerous acts of infallible strength.

She wasn't really what someone would call a hero fangirl, but Maka couldn't deny how incredible Allmight was. Every time she saw that bright smile, it filled her with a sense of wonder and awe for how he could bring hope no matter how dire circumstances grew. It was no wonder why he inspired an entire generation to become heroes. Soul on the other hand simply admired his "cool attitude" to doing his job, and how he resembled some of his favorite heroes in the comics he used to read; while Crona was simply intrigued by how everyone held such faith in a single man.

'Though I don't know why but there's something vaguely familiar about him…' Maka pondered, but no matter how hard she tried she simply couldn't put her finger on it.

"Uh Maka…I think you should take a look at this." Maka hearing the albino's voice turned her head to find soul in the other half of the store staring at one of the wider shelves.

Yet as she walked over to her friend felt her eyes widen in astonishment by what she found sitting on the shelf.

That being a 28-centimeter-tall figurine of none other than Mirko the rabbit hero encased in a flashy plastic box. The figurine itself was very detailed and well-crafted as it presented the robust heroine in a powerful-looking landing pose with an excited grin sculpted on her plasticine face.

"You've got to be kidding me…" Maka murmured with an exasperated voice, her left eye twitching as she stared numbly at the sight of their guardian as an honest to god action figure.

"Well, she is one of the most popular heroes around here. I sorta figured she'd probably have some companies promoting her image; I just never thought it be this surreal when I actually saw it." Soul replied with surprise still tinting his features as he examined the the detailed figurine. Particularly its price. Once finding it however, the scythe's eyes widened significantly when he saw how much it cost. "Jesus christ 16,000 yen for a freakin action figure?"

"That's insane. I know heroes are so popular but how could anyone pay so much money for a toy?" Maka stated while holding the box, as she can only begin to imagine what other kinds of absurd merchandise existed to promote that battle-loving jackrabbit they lived with.

"Wow I didn't know they had this too!" Izuku's amazed voice entered maka's ears as she glanced around to find him walking up to them and examined the figurine. "It's the limited edition Mirko figurine that released after her rise to the top ten!" Izuku cheerily stated and turned his head towards the duo. "It's a shame it's so expensive since they're almost impossible to find these nowadays."

"Nah it's fine. It just caught our attention since we've actually seen her in action a few times." Maka told the moss haired teen in the midst of his fanboy moment.

"Oh, I get it! You must've become fans of Mirko after seeing her on TV, huh?" Izuku gushed in evident admiration of the bunny hero and her impressive reputation.

"I guess you could say that..." Maka replied with an undertone of sarcasm in her voice, while Soul merely chuckled at how wrong and in some ways right their hero loving friend was.

---

The trio after making their purchases at the hero gift shop continued traveling downstairs to the food court to have their light lunch. But despite maka's previous warnings it still didn't stop Soul boldly trying sneaking in a burger and soda at a fast food restaurant, only to wind up meeting a brutal maka chop from his annoyed meister for his defiant attitude. The whole scene was enough to cause numerous incredulous eyes to stare at them, but Maka was unfazed by the attention as he dragged the concussed Soul by the leg back to their table.

Nonetheless, it still proved to be just as enjoyable as the rest of the evening turned out to be, as the three teens soon began heading towards the exit of the shopping center once it started getting late.

"Well we better get going soon Izuku-kun, Crona's probably wrapped up with his therapy session so we shouldn't keep him waiting for us back home." Maka told izuku as they all stood around the mall's entrance.

"That and we should get back before we're late for our training and our caretaker rips us a new one. Seriously you do not want to get on that lady's bad side." Soul quipped with a small smirk on his face.

"Oh of course, b-but t-thanks again for bringing me with you guys, I really had a lot of fun today." Izuku smiled with gratitude in his tone for what was probably one of the best days he had in a long time.

"Don't mention it Izuku-kun, it was a blast for me too. This shopping trip definitely helped me to unwind with everything that was going on, so I should be thanking you guys for making it more enjoyable." Maka replied with a bright smile on her face, causing the moss haired teen to blush heavily from her kind words.

"While I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, I hope you have somebody else carry your stuff cause I sure as hell ain't going through being your personal coat rack again." Soul complained as he held up the bags, he'd been carrying for the majority of their time here.

"It's called being a gentleman Soul, something you should try more often." Maka rebuked flatly and placed a hand on her hip.

"Why the hell are saying that when I let you choose to go wherever you want? Heck I even poured some of my allowance on your stuff, so doesn't that get me any points?" Soul countered with an exasperated frown.

"Maybe if you tried to change your attitude and quit being so rude most of the time." Maka huffed, but softened her gaze somewhat as the corner's of her lips pulled upwards. "But I am grateful for everything you did for me today. It was really sweet of you to do, so thanks."

Soul blinked in surprise by the quiet thank you before he released a chuckle and smiled back at his partner. "Anytime, maka."

"Alright then, so I guess I'll see you guy's tomor-"

*BOOM!*

Suddenly before Izuku could finish his sentence the piercing sound of glass being shattered erupted, as the twin doors were destroyed by a man being flown straight into the mall's entrance. The three startled teens stared in shock like everyone else in the mall, as the severely wounded man lying on the marble ground appeared to be none other than a hero. The hero in question wore a green bamboo-themed costume that was now torn up and stained by the red blood leaking out of the lacerations on his chest and arms.

The crowds murmured in astonishment at the sight of the brutalized hero, wondering what had happened. Izuku being one of them to a lesser extent as he stared at the bleeding man a couple feet away from him in shocked horror.

"T-T-That's b-bamboo S-Shinobi…w-what the h-heck happened to h-him?" Izuku whispered numbly at the local hero's terrible condition.

Yet unlike izuku, maka and soul stared at the injured hero in shock for a short time, but with the experience they had as Shibusan students were quick to regain their composure. Both teens had an air of tensity and caution surrounding them as they knew well that whoever did this was nearby and could come at any moment.

Maka immediately sprung into action and grabbed izuku by the shoulders and shook the boy to snap him out of his shock. "Izuku listen to me I know this is horrifying but we need to get out of here before-"

Yet maka paused as she turned to find the hero with great effort pulling himself barely off his chest and reached towards f-for the stunned civilians.

"A-A-All…A-All of you, p-please e-evacuate! R-run away!" The bleeding bamboo hero forced out of his throat, as he desperately tried pulling himself up despite the terrible condition he was in.

Yet no one could listen to his pleading as another more massive figure bursting out of the already destroyed entrance. The figure revealed itself to be a hulking individual that resembled a combination of man and crab. His bulky upper body was covered head to toe in a murky red shelled exoskeleton that added to his girth. And while his right arm was "relatively" normal, his left arm was an asymmetrically massive and grotesque pincer claw. It's pincers being big enough easily fit around a person in its clutch and cleave them in half.

"Hehehehaha! And just when I thought heroes couldn't lose any more of their standards. God you guys are so fucking weak lately!" The man crab cackled out of his several mouthparts at the sight of his defeated prey.

The villain stomping towards the downed hero before noticing the crowd of frozen civilians and slapping his left hand on his forehead. "Ugh you've gotta be shitting me. Of all places for your sorry ass to land, it had to be with a bunch of witnesses."

"Hey boss what's the deal? You'd said we'd wait till the mall closed before robbing the place!!" A man with a clam for a head shouted as he and four others holding firearms ran to their boss.

"Well blame this shitstain for snooping around and finding out stakeout spot!" The villain leader jerked his head to the bamboo hero. "Besides he probably called backup so it's all or nothing now. Start raiding all the stores and take what you can find!"the giant crustacean ordered his crew as they already started raiding the nearby stores. "In the meantime just gimme a second to get rid of this waste of flesh before I join you."

Hearing the threat of the hulking villain getting ready to kill the hero, the crowds snapped out of frozen horror and started fleeing in utter terror. Men and women racing to the other exits, as the mall alarm systems blared throughout the center as more civilians tried to run from the villains.

Izuku finally overcoming his shock started to get ready to run as well. "C-Cmon we need to get out of here, till the heroes can put a stop to this!"

Soul however remained where he stood and glanced back at the villains before looking at his partner glaring daggers at the villains. "Maka what do you want to do?

Maka trying her best to control her fury, looked around at the the chaos happening around them before facing soul with a grimace. "I want nothing more than to take down those scum…but we know what will happen if we use our powers in public."

Soul's frown deepened at the grim logic. "I was afraid you'd say that. But for god's sake Maka you really think we should away when a man is about to be killed?" Soul rebuked with a hint of anger in his mostly calm voice, feeling all kinds of wrong at the idea of running like cowards when they had the capabilities to do something.

But at the same time understood that doing so was considered illegal here without having permission. It was fucked up beyond measure, but he still understood Maka's line of thinking here when considering the consequences.

"Of course not! I despise the idea of running away just as much as you do, but are you forgetting about Izuku?" Maka sharply rebuked, as the death scythe grimaced remembering who was with them in this disaster. "Do you seriously want to go rush into this and risk him getting caught in the crossfire?"

Soul remained silent and glanced at izuku nervously waiting for them to come. The scythe looked back at the pigtailed girl with a grimace and sighed. "I really hate it sometimes when your right, you know that? Dammit all we really have no choice, we have just have to get out of here."

Maka nodded respectfully, knowing that choice was far from easy to make. A part of her mind screamed that she and soul shouldn't be running away. That they should rush back there and take down those criminal scum and prevent them from having their way.

it made her own innards twist in writhing frustration at what was going against all her morals and Shibusan teachings. Yet the logical part of her mind reminded her how they could risk endangering Izuku if they left him alone. Not to mention risk all these people seeing them breaking the law. It felt so wrong, but she accepted how fighting recklessly would only end up making matters worse.

The duo turned and started running with Izuku as the teen started frantically dial a number on his phone. "I-I'm going to call the authorities and tell them what's happening! Hopefully they can send any more heroes as soon as possible!"

But just before he could enact that plan, an elongated clawed arm propelled itself towards the teen and clutched him tightly within its strong pincer. "Agh!"

"Izuku, no!" Maka shouted and instantly sent herself charging to free izuku, only for the claw to swiftly pull back to its monstrous owner.

"You son of a bitch, let him go now!" Maka roared in utter fury at the humanoid arthropod, yet all he did was cruelly laugh at her.

"Oh that's cute sweetie, but don't do anything stupid. We're just gonna be using your friend here as a little insurance, in case thing's go sideways while getting the hell out of dodge. As long you or any other heroes coming don't try anything stupid, I'm sure I won't have to butcher the brat….at least not entirely anyway." The monstrous crab man sneered, watching in sick pleasure as the teen squirmed in utter terror.

"G-G-Guys…j-just run." Izuku gritted out in pain, while he struggled within the bulky pincer claw nearly crushing him.

Maka however firmly remained where she stood, without even a single trace of fear coming out of the girl. Instead, hidden underneath behind her wheat blonde bangs, was her jade orbs contorted into a glare containing nothing but raw fury and cold determination. The villain and his goons would've probably been reduced to nothing but ash if looks could kill. But instead while the leader seemed somewhat unfazed, the goons were getting nervous at the seemingly civilian girl glaring at them with the ferocity of a tiger ready to pounce on its hopeless prey.

"Looks like we don't have much of a choice anymore," soul grimly remarked at the situation, and turned to look at his livid meister. "Maka, are you ready?"

The pigtailed girl turned to look at her patient weapon and nodded without hesitation. "Is that even question at this point?"

"Heh, fair enough." Soul grinned back, and in an instant was engulfed in light and transformed into his weapon form.

Maka immediately grabbed the large scythe and spun the weapon in her hand with ease and venomously glared at the villains. "I'm giving you one last chance, you overgrown shellfish. Release my friend and that man now before I make you regret the next ten minutes of your life."

The villain's and especially Izuku alongside the barley. conscious pro hero were stunned by the teenager's declaration. Yet in moments the brief silence within the mall was broken when the crustacean villain fell into near boisterous laughter with his goons following suit.

"HAHAHAHA!!! I-Is this some kind of a fucking joke? I don't know who the hell you two think you are, but playing hero ain't gonna work here! Now quit playing hotshot before I slice these fuckers up like pieces of fruit!" The man crab guffawed and waved around the bulky claw clutching izuku to further add to his threat.

Maka only responded by coldly narrowing her emerald eyes at the cocky moron. She should've known it wouldn't be that easy. But at least she'd get the satisfaction of teaching this freak a good lesson he'd never forget.

In less than in a second rushed towards him. Before the humanoid crab could even react at the ash blonde seemingly disappearing, to his immense shock, was quick to find the girl now less than a feet or two away from him with her scythe pulled back.

"What the fuck!?" The villain blurted out in panic at the teen's insane burst of speed, yet that was all he was able say before maka vertically slashed the crab's chest. His armor around his chest and abdomen appearing to be weaker than the rest of his exterior-something Maka immediately noted-as soul's long sickle pierced through the pectoral shell and created a long and thin slash.

The hulking man screeched in pain by his bleeding gash and quickly released izuku and the hero as he recoiled in pain. Both he and the wounded hero fell ungracefully to the ground, with the former shakily pulling himself up and glanced at his friend in shock.

"Maka-kun!" Izuku called out, yet paused as he heard the the clicking sound of a pistol's safety going off come from behind him.

"Oi where the hell you think you're going-!" The thug however was interrupted by the wheat blonde lunging towards the crook and slammed her boot into his stomach. Sending the poor bastard flying from the momentum behind the dropkick and straight into a marble wall before with a pained wheeze slumped into unconsciousness.

Once the thug was subdued Maka snapped her head back to Izuku still stunned in awe. "Izuku you need to grab that guy and get out of here!"

That snapped the moss haired teen back to reality as stood back up as fast as possible. "B-But what about you? You c-can't face these villain's w-w-we have to wait till the heroes arrive!"

"There's no time! If we run now they could fire their weapons into the crowd or take more hostages. Soul and I are just going have to stall them long enough till you and everyone else has evacuated. Once everything is clear we'll try to catch up to you, now hurry!" Maka urged her friend one more time.

Izuku's heart raced with panic and conflicting emotions as he was basically leaving his friends to face against this group of dangerous villains. He wanted to refute maka but knew fully well that he was powerless in this situation. Even more than the incident with that slime villain.

"A-Alright just please be careful!" Izuku said reluctantly and ran to the wounded bamboo hero and despite the strain began carrying him out of here.

"Don't worry I will." Maka affirmed before glancing back at the crab villain now panting laboriously as he clutched his bleeding chest.

"You little bitch, I'M GONNA RIP YOU TO FUCKING SHRED'S! BOY'S SHOOT HER!" The leader roared and in an instant the three thugs aimed their guns at the unfazed meister.

The thugs fired off their guns at the girl but the meister's feet proved faster than their bullets could fly to their target, as maka moved like the wind and successfully darted around the storm of bullets targeting her and continued running towards them.

The thug tried to reload his shotgun but the ash blond was already a foot away from him. The crook with a battle cry flipped his gun and tried using it as a club to bash her, but she easily sidestepped the brutish attack and quickly slammed the backside of her scythe into the side of his head. Continuing her relentless assault immediately dashed towards the other goons. Soon enough maka got close enough jumped into the air and performed a jumping dropkick into the second mook's face that sent him flying a short distance away. The last thug seeing his cohorts beaten left and right outright panicked and tried rapidly firing his magnum revolver at her, but with his trembling made his aim quite poor. Allowing maka to flip around and easily lunge straight towards the man and sent her hard knee into his stomach, taking the air out of his lungs before maka finished him off with a strong right hook.

The crab man stood there fuming in pure rage as he watched his subordinates taken out with ease by what he thought was just some stupid little girl. He couldn't believe this was happening. Just who the hell was this chick?!

"You know if you want to kill us, at least have the balls to do it yourself instead of leaving it to others. Or are you just nothing but talk after all?" Soul quipped within his weapon form as Maka held him over her shoulder.

That last line was all that was needed to break the last straw of his already poor patience, as with a guttural roar he wildly charged at the teenage scythe wielder like a raging bull. The hulking villain as he approached her raised his monstrous left claw and prepared to strike at the pigtailed girl. But before it could come anywhere near her, maka jumped a good distance in the air and acrobatically leaped over the brute and landed behind him.

The villain finding her gone turned behind him to find the teen standing behind him unharmed, a sight that only pissed him off even more.

"You damn rat, just die already!" With a shout he raised his left claw again, only now began to change as it extended once again into a long and sharp spear-like pincer that came after maka.

Yet seconds before it reached her, Maka bent backwards and avoided the speedy attack and once she rolled around propelled herself towards the villain. The brutish crab growled before retracting his elongated claw and transforming his right arm into a sharp whip-like pincer he flung at the running girl.

But the scythe wielder with increasing momentum in her movements, elegantly vaulted around the tendril and with a push of her feet propelled herself further to her target. The clawed whip kept trying to smash into the agile girl but continuously failed to land a single hit on her. Maka then once gaining enough space outstretched soul and consecutively sliced into the extended limb while acrobatically evading its strikes. To the outside eye, the meister appeared almost as a blur, as she and soul created a myriad of small and lengthy slashes all over the villain's enlarged arm that while non-lethal, each making his right limb feel like it was on fire.

"Argh!" The monstrous villain grunted in pain, scrambling to know how they're piercing his armor. But once he bothered to look down nearly flinched back in in fear to find this accursed girl now getting dangerously close to him.

"Don't you fuck with me, you little shit!" The humanoid crustacean screamed and sent his massive left claw crashing at the sprinting scythe wielder. But much to his horror maka easily sidestepped the bulky pincer and closed the distance. The teen got into a hand stance and as if she poured all the energy she had into her limbs, catapulted herself into the air, and pulled off a drop kick into the arthropod's stomach followed by a spinning hook kick to the villain's face.

Her buckled boots slammed with the precision and force of a nail gun, to the point that despite the villain's durable armor negating a portion of the kicks-each attack possessed enough strength to send the man buckling over. With the humanoid shellfish now wide open, maka flipped back to her feet and spun her scythe with both hands. Allowing her weapon to gather plenty of momentum before raising her scythe upwards for a mighty downward slash to finish this.

*CRASH!*

But before maka could send her scythe down, immediately sensed a change in the air and realized something was coming. Before either she or the villain knew it, the sound of glass shattering was heard from above, accompanied by a white and purple blur suddenly crashing from the mall's window ceiling like a meteor and collided with the brutish arthropod.

Maka quickly leapt back as the intense force and momentum of the sudden impact resulted in a small dust cloud erupting. As the dust began to clear, maka used her soul perception to see who or what was responsible.

"No way…is that who I think it is?" Maka muttered to herself, as she recognized that fierce soul wavelength from anywhere.

Standing right across from her was none other than Rumi in her hero costume. The rabbit heroine stood right on top of the now unconscious villain as he lied sprawled within the small crater created by the muscular woman's impressive landing.

The scythe meister was left standing there amazed by the rabbit hero's explosive arrival. Even though she and soul were only seconds away from defeating that savage, Rumi had appeared from seemingly nowhere and instantly dealt with the villain.

And to top it off, Maka was fairly certain Rumi was patrolling an entirely different city a good couple miles away from here.

"That must be what comes with the role of being a top pro hero." Maka muttered to herself in awed surprise. While she had suspected Mirko could rival their own speed-at least when flying-she was all but certain now she could very well surpass it.

Yet maka was taken out of her thoughts as she saw Mirko hopping off the brutalized villain's back and started walking around the unconscious body and towards the meister.

"Rumi I can't believe you made it here! We tried to stop him sooner but we…" Maka however halted whatever else she would say once she was a few feet away and saw the face the older woman wore.

That being one of utter rage.

"What the fuck were you two thinking?" Rumi growled out, as she stomped towards the pigtailed meister. "You were told not to pull shit like this again, and yet you still went ahead and did it!"

Maka however remained somewhat calm as the furious heroine approached her. "Rumi I'm sorry we charged in, but we-"

"Oh save your excuses! I told why you couldn't get involved with situations like this; yet you still went ahead and did it anyway!" Mirko sharply cut off the stunned meister, before hot anger started arising within her features as well.

"We had no choice! Did you just expect us to do nothing and let those bastards start killing innocent people!?" Maka snapped back with her brows knitted into a furious glare that nearly matched the rabbit heroine's.

Soul sensing the rising fury between the two girls transformed back into his human form, and placed a firm hand on maka's shoulder to try calming her down before things got any uglier. "Hey, hey, everyone just cool it. This isn't the time nor the place for this. I think we can at least agree on that."

Rumi's infuriated glare at the two teens before scoffing indignantly. "Just get the hell out of here while I clean up this mess."

Maka removed soul's hand from her shoulder and huffed past the furious heroine. "Fine…let's just go and see if Izuku is okay."

The scythe responded with only a short sigh before following his meister to the evacuation point of the wrecked mall. Yet all the while Rumi with a peeved glare watched with her arms crossed as the pair made their way to the exit point. The rabbit hero scanned the entire scene around her and all the villains lying sprawled on the ground.

The heroine scowled indignantly as a cocktail of conflicted emotions flowed chaotically inside of her, as she released a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "God fucking dammit…."

---

Sitting alone in one of the ambulance car's medical compartments was a very anxious Izuku as he was being treated by the ambulance workers. So far he had some bruising on his stomach but luckily enough due to how the villain hadn't used too much force, would heal in a week or two. But Izuku couldn't bother to truly care about his injuries, as what continued to swarm his thoughts far more was what could be happening to maka and soul.

It had been barely ten minutes since he and the others had managed to evacuate the mall when the villains launched their attack. The police were quick to arrive and surround the building and prepare for when it was clear to enter. He and the hero he carried were the last to escape as the second they came out the authorities came to assist him. The hero was immediately rushed to the hospital to be treated for his injuries but assured everyone he'd be fine despite how horrible his condition appeared to be.

Yet as relieved as he was to hear that man was going to be okay, Izuku was far more worried about his friends. He had desperately told the police about how his friends were still in there but had been assured that one top ten pro heroes had come to handle the situation.

But as much as that piece of information greatly comforted Izuku, a part of him was still intensely worried for the safety of his friends.

This was just like what happened with the slime villain months ago. Only this time he was the one to have been kept hostage by a villain. But at least Bakugo was able to defend himself with his quirk and even tried to fight back against that monster. He on the other hand was completely powerless. And because of his weakness, his friends were currently risking their lives to hold off those villains. Even if he knew Maka and Soul were quite stronger than anyone their age, it still made his stomach twist with gnawing shame at being the main reason to have endangered themselves like that.

And even worse, it just showed him how nothing had truly changed.

Even after these last few months of his nine month-long training, he was still the same weak quirkless kid who couldn't save himself or others like he always sought to. And seeing just how strong Maka, Soul and Crona were made him seek to push himself even harder for the sake of catching up to them. To prove he can push past his limits and enact the kind of courage Maka always seemed to have in the face of danger.

He always admired that aspect of her so much, and it only made izuku more ashamed of himself for forcing maka and soul to put themselves in danger for his sake. How was he supposed to inherit One For All if he was still weak to make others have to save him?

This whole disaster just showed him he still needed to work much harder to be the kind of her he wants to be. Somehow he needed to be stronger, not only to live up to Allmight's expectations but to prove he wasn't that helpless anymore.

Yet Izuku was taken out of his self-loathing when he heard the officers announce two others had come out of the building. The moss-haired teen gasped in shock and practically bolted out of the ambulance despite the protests of the ambulance workers. Izuku weaved through the crowd as fast as he could until he stood in front of the back entrance, and saw none other than soul and maka being escorted by an officer.

"M-M-Maka-chan! S-Soul -san!" Izuku called out with a tremble in his voice. His bright green eyes quickly grew wet with unshed tears as raw relief practically flooded within the boy to see his friends unharmed.

"Izuku-kun!" Maka exclaimed, immediately running to meet up with izuku and instantly pulling him into a soft embrace. An action that momentarily stunned izuku but despite feeling his face turning several degrees up, shakily returned the hug.

"Izuku-kun are you okay?" Maka asked in immediate concern as she let go of izuku and looked him over.

"Y-Yeah, I-I'm alright. I h-have some bad bruising b-but it'll go away in a week or two." Izuku replied and pulled up his shirt to reveal the bandaging around the middle part of his stomach.

Maka cringed seeing the extent of Izuku's injuries and stared back at him with a guilt swirling within her forest green orbs. "Izuku I'm so sorry this happened to you. Shit, if only we did something sooner…"

"H-Hey d-don't blame yourself maka-chan, we both k-know using quirks in public isn't allowed unless it's necessary." Izuku's expression dimmed as a somber air began leaking into him. "If anything I should a-apologize for forcing you t-to e-endanger yourselves like that."

"Dude what the hell are you talking about? What happened was out of anyone's control. And besides, we weren't just gonna abandon you like that." Soul immediately countered, as he walked up to Maka and Izuku and stood next to them.

"B-But you both could've b-been seriously h-hurt! You should've just r-run away instead of endangering yourselves l-like that!" Yet the second those words came out of izuku's mouth he was immediately met with Maka "lightly" slamming her textbook on the top of izuku's head, causing him to stagger back.

"Ow!" Izuku yelped as he rubbed his small goose egg, but once over the sore pain glanced at a rather peeved maka. "M-Maka-chan?"

"Are you out of your mind!? Why would you ever think we would run away?" Maka scolded the stunned moss-haired teen as she held her textbook before the anger in her face dissipated and her expression softened. "It doesn't matter if we were in danger, soul and I would've fought those villains thousand times to save you no matter what."

"You guys…" Izuku trailed off in stunned amazement in his voice.The meek teen was left speechless by his friend's incredible selflessness and their strong willingness to protect him. Yet he already expected his friends to have such deep loyalty to each other, he just never expected it to go this far but was far from complaining about it.

"A-Alright then…b-but I promise I'm going t-to d-do better to make sure you d-don't have to put yourselves in that situation again." Izuku timidly promised his friend before his expression started to brighten up. "B-But regardless t-thank you for saving me, I really appreciate it."

Maka warmly smiled back. "Anytime."

"A-Anyway, I h-heard from the cops that a top pro hero intervened and stopped the villains. D-Did you see which one it was?" Izuku asked curiously.

"You're pretty much on point. But believe it or not it was actually that Mirko chick who came crashing down to take down their leader." Soul casually informed izuku, yet noticed how maka's expression dimmed down when mentioning the rabbit hero.

"No way Mirko came! That's unbelievable, did you get a chance to meet her? Gosh I can only imagine how cool it must've been!" Izuku gushed in excitement, but that feeling quickly dimmed down once he saw the frowns on soul and maka's faces when the rabbit hero was mentioned.

"Trust me we did, but it wasn't anywhere near a pleasant experience seeing her. If anything I still feel like giving her a piece of my mind." Maka scowled with clear anger lining her voice as she crossed her arms.

"D-Did something happen?" Izuku asked in bewilderment and concern. But he already had a bad feeling what it might've been about.

"It's a long story, but let's just say Mirko didn't exactly approve of us getting involved. And it didn't really help that maka here went ahead and snapped back and argued with her." Soul further explained while pointed his thumb to the fuming ash blonde next to him, who only indigantly huffed in response.

Izuku's facial muscles scrunched in sympathy, knowing exactly how it felt in to be in their shoes. "Yeesh t-that sounds really rough, I'm s-sorry to hear that. But since it may c-count a-as self defense a-and helped to save that wounded hero, you m-might not be punished b-beyond a harsh scolding."

"Probably, but it's probably not going to stop our caretaker nearly biting our ear's off when she hears what happened." Soul sighed out, and placed his hands into his jean's pockets. "But we should probably heading out soon to face the music. No point in us delaying the inevitable."

Izuku nodded in agreement. "Y-Yeah I think I really need to get back to my mom before it gets any later. But I can tell she is going to freak out when she finds out w-what happened." Izuku groaned with a fretful tone in his voice, as he could already imagine just how distressed his mother was going to get once she was alerted to how he became a hostage to villains.

Maka's anger subsided from her features as seeing her friend stew in his worried thoughts and walked over to him with the best smile she could best muster despite her frustrated mood. "Don't worry Izuku-kun, I'm sure Inko will understand once she learns the full story. But we really do need to get going, so we'll talk more tomorrow, okay?"

Izuku blinked before his facial muscles relaxed and nodded back with a small smile of his own. "Y-Yeah sure, I'll see later then.

But as he waved his friends goodbye and watched them being permitted to leave the parking lot by police officers, izuku couldn't help but begin wandering back to his previous thoughts. Despite how this situation mildly turned out okay he still felt tinges of guilt crawling in his heart, for how his friends wound up getting harshly scolded by the top seventh hero for trying to save him. He shouldn't ever have to put his friends in that kind of situation where they had to break the law to protect him. Especially with the expectations Allmight had for being his successor when it was time to inherit his power.

Something needed to change, that much was certain. And he knew one method to try improving himself for the better.

His training thus far had been solely focused on strengthening his body till it was in suitable shape to handle possessing One For All, but now he realized he needed to train beyond that original purpose. Maybe finding ways to improve the results of his regimen without overtaxing himself like before was a part of the answer. But Izuku had more in mind than just that. If he wanted to prove he could become a great hero like he always dreamed to be he had to find out how to improve not just his lack of strength, but also his lack of experience when it came to fighting in general. Even with all the effort, he was putting in at Takoba beach, it still felt like he several steps behind Maka, Soul, and Crona.

In a certain way, he related to Bakugo when it came to his attempts at challenging maka. But while his desire to surpass them was solely born from his growing resentment and pride, Izuku wanted to match his friends out of admiration for how strong they were. He was already driven to try harder in his training with Allmight for that desire emerging in him, but seeing Soul and Maka immediately jump into the fray against those villains only further ignited his desire to become as strong as they were somehow.

Hopefully, he could discuss this more with Allmight and see what could be done, but the newfound yet powerful sense of determination within Izuku demanded he became strong enough to be like his friends and enter any kind of danger for the sake of others.

'I promise I'm going to catch up to you maka-chan and the rest of you guys. No matter what it takes or how hard it's going to be, I have to push past my limits and become the kind of hero who can save anyone!' Izuku resolutely declared to himself and began to plan how to use the remaining months; until the entrance exam arrived to make some progress in this newfound pursuit.

---

USAGIYAMA RESIDENCE

Crona never imagined he'd come back home to such an overwhelming atmosphere of awkward tension. After he finished his appointment and Rumi arrived to drop him less than an hour ago.

He didn't mind being alone, as admittedly the peaceful silence helped to better organize his thoughts after his session had opened his eyes to a few things about himself. He still couldn't fully understand what might have changed in himself exactly, but hoped Maka's insight could provide some clarity.

However, when Maka and Soul actually came back it didn't seem likely that he could discuss much with her when he caught the angry scowl painted on maka's face.

He tried to ask what was wrong, but despite the evident anger on her face, she simply told him she was fine but needed some time alone before heading upstairs to her room.

By the end of their brief conversation, it only left him standing confused in the living room, wondering what could've happened while he was gone to make Maka so upset like this?

Yet it wouldn't be very long before he got the answer to his question from soul, who was quick to explain what had happened in the last few hours.

Needless to say, he was quite shocked to learn the events that occurred in the mall-not to mention horrified that izuku was nearly a hostage for villains. Thankfully Maka and Soul were able to save their friend and hold off the villains till Rumi unexpectedly arrived to resolve the situation. But as relieved as he was to hear such good news, it was quite clear Rumi was not very pleased about Maka and Soul intervening.

That became very evident when Rumi came in fifteen minutes later and practically slammed the front door behind her as she stomped inside with a scowl like Maka had beforehand. Only Rumi's made his spine nearly shiver with fear seeing her livid expression as she marched into the living room and barked for Maka and Soul to come downstairs. Yet even though he wasn't called for and the fear over Rumi's rage gripping his stomach, chose to come downstairs to at least support Maka as much as possible.

Thus leading to Crona sitting in the bottom left side of the table next to Maka and Soul, while Rumi, still wearing her hero costume, stood on the opposite side of the dinner table with an incensed expression worn on her face. A tense silence practically enveloped the entire living room, to the point a fly's buzzing wings would sound like a helicopter flying in the air.

Crona wanted to try saying something to try to end this uncomfortable silence, but whenever he glanced at Maka and Rumi and saw the flare of hot anger in their eyes made whatever he wanted to say stay stuck in his throat. Leaving him like then others to remain stuck in the frigid atmosphere that permeated within the table, until the tempers within the room lowered to some extent.

Finally after what felt like an eternity within the minute or two of Rumi staring at them with her enraged glare did she break the silence. "You better be fucking glad that I was able to cover your asses before anyone saw what really happened. I wrote in my report that I kicked oversized crab's and his goons collective asses and left you two out of it."

"And what about that injured hero?" Soul questioned out of half curiosity and concern.

"He's fine." Rumi gruffly answered the young death scythe. "He's got a couple of broken bones and lost a shit load of blood, but he'll recover in a few weeks. Though given how the guy was barely conscious at the time he's probably not gonna remember much about you guys." Rumi then sharply glanced at the ash blonde sitting on the left side of the table.

Maka released a short breath to ease her own inner frustrations before locking eyes with Rumi. "I know what we did was very risky and dangerous; but I promise you, we had everything under control."

"Under control my ass! You were just fucking lucky I was nearby after I dropped off Crona! Otherwise, you two could've been in deep shit if some other hero came and caught you using your quirks in the open!" Rumi slammed her first on the table causing it to rattle from the impact. "Dammit all Maka, I told you guys about this fucking months ago! You had one rule to follow! Don't use your powers in public again! Even if those fuckers needed to be stopped, and you have the power to do so, that doesn't mean you can ignore the law and do whatever the hell you want!"

Maka feeling her blood beginning to boil, barely resisted the urge to snarl back at the furious heroine. "We weren't going to just run away either! I'm sorry we ended up breaking our promise and broke the law. I really am. But I don't regret doing it for a second if it meant being able to save lives."

"And the same goes for me," Soul said, pointing to himself his thumb while he lounged in his chair. "Whatever Maka decides to do, I go along with her no matter what. That's something that ain't going to change anytime soon."

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Rumi growled and ran a hand down her face before quickly glaring her red orbs back at the duo. "At least tell me what in gods name, made you dumbasses think it was a good idea to ignore what I told you in the first place!?"

Maka angrily stood up from the table and slammed her hands on the table, startling Crona as her anger started reaching its peak. "How about the fact those bastards took our friend as their hostage! There's no way either of us could just take that lying down!"

Rumi's red eyes widened momentarily hearing that new piece of information before narrowing back down to a sharp glare. "Well, that explains a lot. But even if your friend was in danger, you still had no damn right to get involved!"

"Are you insane!?" Maka shouted in fuming outrage and specks of venom in her voice; beginning to truly lose whatever meager control over her temper she had left. "How can you tell us we should've left behind Izuku and still call yourself a hero!"

"M-Maka p-please calm down!" Crona fearfully pleaded with his incensed friend, but Soul briefly locked eyes with him and silently shook his head; knowing full well that it was fruitless to try to rein in maka's anger once it was ignited this much.

"I never told you to leave him behind! I'm trying to tell your stubborn ass that you should've at least waited till I arrived to stop them! There was no need for you to barge in that mess whatsoever!" Rumi shouted as her already furious glare began to intensify, much to Crona's anxiety as he sat audience to these two furious women arguing.

"Even so, we would've still done it…" Maka frigidly muttered, her jade eyes hidden behind her bangs as she glowered at the table.

"What was that?" Rumi asked as one of her brow's rose up up to her hairline.

"I said we would've still fought them!" Maka sharply exclaimed, looking up at the rabbit heroine with a mixture of righteous and defiant anger enflamed within her vibrant jade orbs. "I don't care if it meant breaking those stupid hero laws! I can't just stand by and wait for someone to come help when Soul and I had the power do something!"

The former SPARTOI warrior placed a hand on her chest. "I'm still a meister of Shibusen. It's always going to be my duty to stop anyone threatening to endanger or kill innocent lives! That's why we want to be heroes! So we could be allowed to take down criminals before they can endanger the lives of innocent people!" Maka resolutely declared without a hint of deceit or hesitation in her voice, having meant every single word she just said.

Even if it was considered breaking the laws of this world she couldn't fully agree to become some kind of bystander that doesn't do anything in a crisis. A part of her still did feel guilty for breaking her promise to Rumi, but at same time, it wouldn't exactly be the first time she disobeyed someone's orders for the sake of a dear friend.

Rumi stared at the teenage girl with an unreadable expression before glancing at soul. "So I guess you're on the same page as your friend here?"

"Pretty much," Soul bluntly replied with a indifferent shrug. "I don't think either of us could've been able to follow these hero laws for long before something like this happened."

"And how about you Crona? If you were with them, would you have pulled the same stunt as these two did?" Rumi sternly asked the apprehensive sword meister.

"I…I," Crona stammered nervously as the fear tugging at him made it hard to figure out what to say. Yet once his eyes landed on maka and the determined face she still wore, was instantly reminded of what his answer should always be.

Crona glanced back at the awaiting rabbit heroine with a somewhat firm expression despite the cracks of nervousness still evident in his facial muscles. "I promised maka that I would always fight for her, and if that m-mean's breaking these laws to protect her and my friends…then I w-would do it without hesitation."

Maka for a second glanced warmly at the display of her friend's loyalty before returning her eyes back to rabbit woman. "Like I said, we aren't the kind of people that could ever stay as bystanders. So if you want to take away our chance at U.A as punishment for disobeying you, go ahead. But neither I or Soul will ever regret fighting those thugs to save our friend."

For the next minute, the bunny hero remained silent as she continued staring at the resolute meister with a gaze that maintained the remainder of steel within it, and maka being no different as both stared back at each other as soul and Crona simply waited in worry to see who would break the silence first. Yet much to the bewilderment of all three teens, they noticed fairly quickly that Rumi had begun to actually chuckle.

"Uh did we miss some kind of joke here? What's so funny?" Soul asked blankly with evident confusion in his voice, as he along with his meister and Crona' continued to watch Rumi outright laughing now.

"Hehahaha!!! D-Did you dumbasses actually think I was going to keep you from going to U.A? Why the hell would I do that after you gave me what I was looking for?" Rumi said between her fits of boisterous laughter, her lips shifted into a wide smile, much to the astonishment of the two meister's and death scythe in front of her.

"What are you talking about? Aren't you mad at us?" Maka was now quite perplexed by Rumi's sudden change in demeanor, watching as her laughter died down.

"Oh believe me I'm still pissed off at you two; but there's no way in hell I'm gonna punish you brats after giving me a helluva answer like that!" Rumi chuckled and ran upstairs to get something from her office most likely. But what exactly that is, was anyone's guess.

"I don't understand, is this some kind of weird prank she's trying to pull?" Maka whispered to soul, with a confused frown on her lips.

"Beat's me, maybe she's got some kind of mood swing going on like you do sometimes." Soul replied nonchalantly, as Maka's frown deepened with rage, but couldn't sock her weapon in time once Rumi came rushing back while holding a few papers.

"I already knew you had some serious spunk, but you guys just keep impressing me, don't ya?" Rumi remarked.

"I still don't approve of you being so freaking reckless, cause I assure you two things won't go as smoothly as today, but what I respect is you sticking to your principles to protect others no matter the consequences. Not many chumps have the guts to that these days and you certainly keep proving you got the heart and guts to be a hero."

"So I guess that means I won't need to rip these up after all." Rumi replied with a satisfied grin, leaning forward as she presented the papers to the two meisters and death scythe.

At first, they were still confused about where Rumi was going with this, but once maka grabbed the papers and looked them over…her eyes practically popped out of her skull once she read them. "No way, are these are our UA applications?"

"Wait are you serious?" Soul said in surprise and was quick to grab one of the papers and grinned once he saw his name written in. "Holy shit, I thought we wouldn't get these till we graduated Aldera."

"I d-don't believe it…" Crona murmured in stunned surprise as he examined what was his application paper for UA academy with wide lavender eyes. Yet was taken away from his awe when Ragnarök ruptured from his chest and grabbed the paper from his hands. "Well it's about damn time this came! And just when the hell were you gonna tell anybody about this?"

"Eh I actually submitted your applications when you made your decision. Buuut I managed to pull some strings and got them last week; and decided to hold off showing them with everything that was going on." Rumi elaborated with a cocky smile as she stared at three amazed teens and pulled out one of the chairs to sit down, while she propped her legs up and placed her hands behind her head.

"Rumi I don't know what to say…" Maka murmured, as her amazed green eyes remained locked on her application paper.

"Don't mention it, kid. If anything, this will help make sure I won't have any more headaches hearing you guys in situations like that again, once you get approval to kick the living crap out of villains." Rumi replied with the same cocky smile, as she honestly respected their brave decision despite still being somewhat pissed, they disobeyed her.

Plus if she was being perfectly honest with herself, what Soul and Maka did was probably something she would've done back in the rowdy days of her youth.

"Well that turned out well after all. It's just a shame nobody is going to hear how cool we were fighting those chumps." Soul remarked with a sigh of disappointment towards to the end.

"Are you kidding me, Is that really all you care about?" Maka said with a flat glare directed at his weapon.

"What? We might as well have gotten some good rep from all this." Soul responded with a laid back tone.

"I think that's the least of your problems…" both teen's flinched hearing the menacing tone in Rumi's voice, and slowly turned to see the bunny hero overflowing with an intimidating aura of rage.

"Did you really think that just because I respect your ballsy moves, I'd let you entirely off the hook for almost causing me a shit load of trouble? Not a chance…" Rumi drawled with an utterly vicious grin to match the air of intimidating anger that surrounded her as she got up and started walking out of the dining room. But not without glancing back at the pair one last time with a merciless glint in her red orbs. "You better prepare yourselves, cause for the next month your spars with me are gonna make the normal ones you had before, look like they were a walk in the park!"

Maka and soul had faced plenty of far more terrifying moments in their lives as warriors of Shibusan academy; but for once in their lives, the duo legitimately felt a shiver of fear run down their spines at the thought of what nightmarish punishment awaited them. And the fact Rumi kept cackling as she left, didn't help to ease them either.

Maka sighed and plopped back her chair. "That's just perfect, as if fighting that monster wasn't already a nightmare."

Maka lamented over what was to come in the near future, before glancing back at her application paper and smiled. "But at least we got something to look forward to while we're going through all that."

Even though the entrance exam was still months away, seeing before them the very papers that would place them all on the path to becoming heroes brought a hefty amount of elation to the young meister.

"Sorry you were thrown into that mess Crona. You probably didn't expect to see so much drama when we came back." Maka apologized with a lighthearted smile.

"It w-was surprising, t-that's for sure. But I'm just glad you were able t-to resolve everything with Rumi." Crona replied with quiet relief layered in both his face and tone.

"But now that whole debacle is settled, I'm really curious to hear how your therapy session went." Maka sat down and turned her head to Crona who blinked in surprise by her request.

"A-Are you sure M-Maka? D-Don't you want to talk more about our UA a-applications? T-That s-seems more significant than t-talking about m-my problems." Crona replied meekly, and lightly grabbed his right arm but Maka only chuckled lightheartedly.

"Are you kidding me? Your wellbeing is far more important to me than something we have months to wait for." Maka replied in a warm tone mixed into her voice, one that sent waves of relaxation to Crona's soul wavelength.

"Of course you of all people would be interested hearing how this guy talked forever about his pathetic problems." Ragnarök snapped tiredly while running a balled hand down the X making up most of his empty face. "Honestly do you just get off listening to boring crap that make most peoples ears bleed?"

"Funny 'cause I could say the same about you when it comes to annoying the living hell out of anyone around you. Only you must be borderline suicidal if you want to do that in front of the girl that bashes your skull in." Soul quipped as he sat down next to maka, who judging by the bulging vein beginning to emerge on her forehead, was reaching the end of her already short span of patience.

Ragnarök flinched back, before quickly scoffing to save his bloated sense of dignity. "Fine you morons want to listen to this drawl sob story, be my guest."

Without another second to spare, the loudmouthed concoction of black blood and irritable malice retreated into his meister's body, much to everyone's relief.

Crona afterwards began to explain to the scythe duo what had occurred in his session with Iwata. From his introduction to his therapist that eventually went to the discussion Iwata started to better understand him. Some parts were admittedly quite unpleasant to talk about but in the end Iwata got him try accepting the idea of forgiving himself.

"Well it sounds like you managed to accomplish a lot from talking to that shrink for only a few hours." Soul remarked in mild surprise by how this woman understood Crona's plight to some extent and reasoned with him to stop being so hard on himself.

"I-It's not a big deal, t-to be honest I still feel mostly the same after I spoke to her." Crona admitted with uncertainty in his voice.

"I don't know about that, cause to me you look a little more relaxed than you usually are." Maka lightly countered with a bright smile, as she was quick to notice the more eased frequency within his soul wavelength.

"I do?" Crona blinked in bewildered surprise, before he started pondering her words. "W-Well I do feel a little lighter f-for some reason. Is that a good thing?"

Maka brightly nodded and grasped Crona's hand. "Sounds like a positive change to me. It be pretty nice for anyone to start getting rid of that emotional baggage."

Crona's cheeks heated up as he felt the sensation of maka's hand grasping his own, and gave her a small yet warm smile. "I-I'm glad you think so, Maka."

"But I think Crona lucked out the most today. I mean who the heck wouldn't be a little jealous knowing he gets to spend some time chatting with a beauty woman?" Soul remarked, yet flinched back when maka flicked him with a flat expression.

"Ignoring that moron's unnecessary comment, I'm just happy your therapy session went this well. I admit I was worried whether or not this was too much for you too soon, but hearing how nice Iwata is reassuring." Maka said candidly, feeling with how well doctor Iwata helped Crona after their first meeting, she could truly assist her friend in the future.

Crona was also quite relieved to see that maka believed speaking with Iwata was supposedly having some positive effect on him, even if he didn't fully understand those changes yet. But if maka believed speaking more with doctor Iwata was already beginning to help him, maybe it would be best to continue them. At least so with his mental health improved as much as possible despite his doubts, he could be suitable to attend U.A with maka and soul.

"Well I guess we should start getting ready for our sparring matches soon. Rumi probably isn't going to be very patient waiting to start "punishing" Maka and I for what we did at the mall." Soul sighed out while getting out of his chair and begin preparing for the hell Rumi had no doubt planned for him and his meister.

"Don't worry, we've faced a lot worse than some angry rabbit girl waiting to kick our asses. Besides, who said we'd ever go down without showing her what students of Shibusan are made of?" Maka said with a confident smile, as determined steel flowed within her emerald orbs.

Soul's lips curled into his iconic toothy grin as the same confidence surged within the scythe. "I agree wholeheartedly. Like hell I'd lose without giving that hare at least one time she'd fly out that ring."

Maka's smile broadened seeing her weapon just as fearless for the most likely hellish hours of training they were about to endure. But no matter how hard Rumi was going to push them today she was going to make it her mission to drag that musclehead back here to help finalize their UA application papers. Today had been hectic, that's for sure. But seeing those application papers and how well Crona's first therapy session went, made her feel so elated despite the hiccups that came by.

But as much as a part of Maka wished she and soul broke the laws of this world again, she still couldn't feel much regret knowing how she saved her friend. If anything, today made her more determined to succeed in becoming a hero. Soul no doubt felt the same passion flowing within his own soul as it did in her's. This was the next step to finally earn the right to do what they've always done as students of Shibusan academy.

Only seven months remained until the entrance exam began. But Maka was quite certain that at this rate they'd be more than ready for whatever was thrown at them.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE

After one year and a month Soulbound Heroes has made an unexpected yet long awaited return! And on the anniversary month the story went on hiatus to boot, so happy Halloween everyone!

I know that a lot of you people out there are wondering what happened to me and why I took such a long time doing this rewrite than what I originally said it would take. Thing is, I underestimated how long and admittedly difficult it was going to be at times rewriting the entire story and had a little too late realized thanks to my friend dmandog056 I was going overboard with doing a total rewrite. As with your reviews and his advice, I realized it was less of a length issue and more of a content refinement issue. Some plot point's didn't make sense and could use improvement, or needed to be fixed to more sensible routes to take without outright changing the outline to unnecessary length's.

And look…I'm not gonna sugarcoat this, but the whole process of doing the rewrite with as much quality as I can muster left me drained of energy, and tragically as I despise saying this……I even lost some of my passion for this story due to burnout. And worse yet feared i lost touch with the SE characters and how to write them, which absolutely terrified me since the last thing I ever want, is to write maka, soul and crona acting OOC. And certain parts of this chapter to boot was really difficult for me to write, and I've experienced some big roadblocks creating it and combined with the tons other personal shit that was going on in my life, made me need to take several breaks and continue writing when i felt up to it, in order to get rid of this accursed burnout and fully regain my passion.

However, as you see, I have not abandoned this story, and do not EVER intend to abandon it either. As I was absolutely determined to write this chapter and end this hiatus by October or Halloween the latest. After all I promised you i would return and refused to keep all the readers waiting for this story any longer. Though I am very curious to hear what you all think of the rewritten chapters and if you like the few changes made and smoother writing I've implemented.

I thank every single one of you for your incredible patience and your dedication to this story. It makes me happy to know a number of people love this story so much, and I truly apologize for the wait all of you have endured. And I only hope that word spreads far enough so I can see what everyone thinks of this rewritten version of the story now that it has better quality and desired changes. Though I will say that very little has changed except for what occurs in chapter four(as old readers will be quick to see it) as that was a plot point that in the end didn't make much sense and decided to alter it without messing up the overall structure of the story.

For all you eager new and old readers, you will not have to worry about waiting nearly another year for the next chapter. I've already got a really good idea of how I want the next chapter to proceed, and hopefully, I'll be able to get it posted as soon as possible.

And I know i have no right to say this considering how long I've made everyone wait but i really hope you guys could give me lot's of follows, favorites and reviews. As that is fuel for any author and what would make me feel so happy and further energize my passion for this story to hear your feedback of the rewrite and this chapter! And you can find fan art for this story on korisch's deviantart page, and I urge you to check out his work!

Remember criticism is always allowed and enjoyed to help me improve, but i ask there be no flames as all that does is hurt me as an author and overall hurt the story I give to all of you.

Until next time Shados960 out!