The first Student Council meeting Ikumi had ever gone to was a surprisingly relaxed affair. Half ducking on reflex before straightening up, Ikumi hesitated. "Um… M-my name is Midoriya Ikumi. From 1-A."

Yaoyorozu smiled gently. "Yaoyorozu Momo, from the same class. I'm the vice-representative."

Ikumi quickly bowed. "N-nice to meet you all!"

The girl with bright orange hair smiled. "Nice to meet you Midoriya! The name's Kendo Itsuka, pleased to meet you as well! I'm the student rep of 1-B, and Shoda Nirengeki is my vice-rep."

She gestured to a grey-haired boy who was about the same height as Mineta but with a more solid build. "Hello…" He shyly waved.

"Let's get this over with," A slouching purple haired boy said from his seat, shifting position to lean forward on the table.

"Don't mind my vice-rep!" A boy with a pronounced lantern jaw said, giving him the side-eye. "The name's Agoyamoto Tsutsutaka from 1-D, and the definitely ecstatic guy there is Shinsou Hitoshi."

Shinsou sat back up with a sigh. "I still don't know why I'm even here."

"You got more votes than the rest of the class and we wouldn't let you switch," Agoyamoto reminded him. Shinsou rolled his eyes at that.

A chubby boy with beehive hair coughed. "Do we have everybody-"

WIth that, a girl with long blue hair and a cheerful smile came in, a boy wearing a high tech helmet and gloves coming close behind. "Sorry I'm late - I had to stop Hatsume from levelling the Support lab again."

Ikumi traded a glance with Yaoyorozu. What did she mean, again?

She bowed deeply. "My name's Kitagawa Nomi, Class-rep of 1-H."

"Hidaka Jounetsu, and the same." He paused. "Mostly because nobody else wanted the position."

"Maybe so, but you have still been chosen above your peers for this position." The beehive haired student turned to face the rest of the room. "My name is Moriyama Tetsujin of 1-J, and I hope to be working with you in future."

The rest of the meeting was surprisingly mundane, all things considered. Ikumi knew that it would be unrealistic but she had half thought, given everything else about U.A, that the Student Council would be like something out of an anime - where they could expel people like Aizawa had threatened for minor infractions. Instead the main discussion was about small things like clubs, other representatives for Student Council Roles (Ikumi recommended Iida for the role of Health and Safety Representative since it struck her as something he would throw his whole being into), and the school's Festivals.

Ikumi paused, a flash of memory hitting her. Oh, right. The Sports Festival was in three weeks! Back in Aldera the Sports Festival was later in the year but U.A preferred to have it earlier to give the other courses a chance to be competitive with the Hero course. Shinsou had sat up more when they'd mentioned the possibility of students getting into the Hero course - was he aiming to transfer into the Hero course?

Moriyama shuffled through the stack. "Anyway, where we come in for the Sports Festival is organising the games for students between the second and third rounds. They need to keep the interest of the crowd and help students who didn't pass the second round."

Shinsou snorted. "Nobody actually watches that bit at the Sports Festival anyway."

"The live crowd does," Agoyamoto pointed out. He turned to the rest of the Council. "Any ideas?"

Kitagawa raised her hand. "Maybe a treasure hunt? I don't think I've seen one in past Sports Festivals."

Ikumi smiled, giving a thumbs up. "That sounds like a great idea! Maybe we can get them to find specific Heroes in the audience and get an item from them - if-if that's okay," she mumbled.

Moriyama hummed. "Not a bad suggestion. We'll have to clear it with the teachers but it's a start."

The rest of the meeting went along similar lines, with a couple of suggestions for side events that weren't the cheerleaders. Ikumi made a couple of tentative suggestions which were taken on board, though ultimately none of them had been used.

As they walked home, Kacchan looked up at her. "So, how was the Council stuff?"

"Pretty much the same as normal school, I guess." Ikumi sighed, then paused. "Out of curiosity, who did you vote for?"

"Ponytail," Kacchan flatly responded.

Ikumi adopted a mock-hurt expression. "So you weren't one of my votes?"

He snorted. "Just cause you're my friend doesn't mean I can't vote for somebody else. Ponytail's actually got a brain, plus she wasn't Glasses."

Ikumi hummed, conceding the point. Then she grinned cheekily at her friend. "Well, I didn't vote for you either. I voted for Iida actually."

Kacchan barked a laugh. "Man, some friend you are."

She lightly shoved him, still grinning.

—

Toshinori knocked on the door of one of his oldest friends he still talked to. Which, well, was a narrow demographic. He had heard about a recent case his friend was working on and decided to check in while it wasn't busy. "Are you alright?"

Tsukauchi looked up, then sighed. "Honestly, Toshi, not really."

"Oh?"

He pointed to his file. "This whole situation with Yokoyama Ken is a mess. Kind of reminds me of the Villain Factory Incident at Naruhata."

That had been a headache and a half to deal with. There was a staggering amount of paperwork regarding its earliest incidents alone. Not mentioning the Anonymous Villains and the valiant efforts from the Crawler to stop Number Six's rampage. All he had done in that attack was play clean-up.

Toshinori's sunken eyes scanned the pages then flicked back to him. "This man-"

"-Has no discernable motive or drug history, I know," Tsukauchi replied, draining his cup of coffee. "We took a blood sample, managed to check his tongue and…" he paused. "Well, we determined that Yokoyama's on Trigger and… something, and it's still in his system. Probably made from a Quirk and boosted with a mix of Trigger, then he took it or had it injected into him."

Toshinori winced. "Making it harder to purge from the body."

Quirk created substances often held a middle finger up to things like 'wearing off' without specialised help. Finding a potential antidote was going to be a time consuming and difficult process. If they had an inactive sample it could help but this attack had been way too sudden and random.

"Whatever it is, it's not wearing off and it's hitting hard. As far as the Quirk scientist can determine, it's locked his brain in a near constant rage state - we've had to sedate him so that he doesn't tear his body in half trying to break free."

Toshinori frowned, looking at the images of Yokoyama before the incident. He had been an office worker with a quiet record and even had a girlfriend. A far cry from what had been done to him - a raging berserker that had killed several people.

"This feels like a hate crime." All Might sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I really, really want this to be an isolated incident."

—

In a rather unassuming townhouse, a plain looking businessman stared at a news report of some of U.A's students. His lip curled back with disgust. The multi-armed freak, the oversized fox creature and its rock monster friend parading around decent people… In a less degenerate society they should have never been allowed out of doors. A truly pure society would have never suffered such creatures to live.

"Great Shepherd." A subordinate came up while he stared at the screen. "There's been hints in the underworld of a major attack on U.A students."

He contemplated it. It would be difficult for any member to get away but U.A had long been a symbol of degeneracy with its abominable creature Nedzu as the Principal. "Any creatures joining the attack?"

They sniffed disdainfully. "Several, as is expected. A rampage could be quite dangerous."

The Great Shepherd smiled. "Send a couple of our lower ranked acolytes in plain Villain outfits then. No need to reveal just what we're doing yet, but this is too good to pass up. We should make sure that this attack is as bloody as possible."

They bowed deeply. "As you command."

He turned back to the television and his thoughts, sighing. Hopefully an incident like this would help show that the Great Jeda Purge had been necessary all along. Certainly there were Pure ones among the Creatures, but it was a sacrifice that he was willing to make. Besides, cavorting with Creatures like that meant they were no better than them,

—

Pausing just outside the door and easy eyeshot, Shouta sighed as he watched Iida shoot over to Midoriya. "Ah, Class President Midoriya! Good morning!" He boomed, like it wasn't too early in the morning to be so cheerful.

"Oh! Good morning Iida!" Midoriya gave Iida a hesitant look. "Um, what did you-"

"If it is not too rude, I have some suggestions for how to prepare the class in a fashion befitting this great institution!" Iida practically vibrated in place, hands chopping at odd angles.

"Um-"

He pulled out a binder with at least fifty different tabs, holding it up to Midoriya like an offering to a shrine. "I've also taken it upon myself to organise a class schedule! If that's okay with you!"

"Wow, Glasses, that's way too much information," Bakugou drawled.

That earned him a glare from Iida before Midoriya smiled. "A-a bit, yes. Then again, I'm like that with analysing Quirks and talking Heroes, so…" She paused. "I-I mean, if I need help Iida, I'll ask. But thank you for trying to help."

Iida nodded rapidly. "Understood! I'll try not to get in your way regarding your role as Class President!"

Shouta chose that moment to walk into the classroom, watching impassively as chatting students shot back to their seats. "Not too bad but could be better," he commented, sweeping his gaze across the students.

He hadn't had so many good students before. It was both heartening and worrying - sending teenagers into a world as dangerous as Heroics had grated on him ever since he'd become a teacher. Depending on how well they did at Rescue Training his opinion of them would shift one way or another.

The Principal had had a bad feeling after the break-in yesterday. As a result, Eraserhead was going as well as 13 and All Might and had improved security across the main campus. For his students' sake, he really hoped that the break-in was just a stupid media event.

—

Their trip for Rescue Training was heralded by a really tall bus. Mina had stared, slightly gobsmacked, then remembered it was likely for Midoriya and shut up. Then Iida turned to Midoriya with a whistle in hand. "Ah, Midoriya! Should we not be ordered by our student ID's to get on the bus in a safe and orderly fashion?"

Mina sighed as Iida badgered Midoriya. Guy just didn't know when to quit. The large girl just smiled awkwardly. "M-maybe tone it down a bit Iida? S-sorry, it's just-"

"Ah. I'm being overbearing, aren't I? Sorry." Iida looked abashed.

In the end, his needling about student ID numbers hadn't meant much given that there were a pair of benches facing each other in the front half. As Iida slumped in despair that his idea hadn't been necessary in the first place, Mina just patted him on the back. "Eh, it wasn't a bad suggestion! You just gotta trust that Midoriya'll talk to you about any issues she faces."

Tsuyu turned to Midoriya, who was currently stretching her hand up hesitantly, seeing if she could touch the ceiling. "Speaking of Midoriya. I generally say what's on my mind."

"Oh! W-what is it, Asui?"

"Please call me Tsuyu. Your Quirk's kind of crazy, since it's essentially two or three in one."

Midoriya looked dumbfounded. "W-well, it's really only two… I-I just have more pronounced mutations than my dad…"

"Dude, you breathe fire and have invisible armour on your body!" Kirishima spoke up, before a slightly downcast look came over his face. "Plus you're super strong! All I do is get rock hard…"

"Phrasing," Mineta drily commented, high-fiving Kaminari.

Midoriya looked affronted. "It's a really cool Quirk though! You're probably the toughest person in class!"

"You're not the only one with two Quirks," Tsuyu commented. She turned to Mina, a slight smile on her face. "I mean, Mina can make acid and has super strength. How are those related?"

Mina shrugged, trying to recall the explanation. "I did some more physical conditioning and… it sort of turns out I had a secondary stockpile aspect to my Quirk where my acid's been stimulating my muscles?"

It worked well enough as an explanation - though Mina had to admit she did feel a bit of a failure since she couldn't use One for All to its fullest like All Might had. She just knew her body would break and snap under its full force - and she wasn't desperate enough to break her everything just to get ahead in school.

Kirishima sighed at that. "Which is crazy manly and all, plus it's flashy! Cause today it's not enough to have a good Quirk, you have to really stand out!"

"Like moi!" Aoyama sparkled. And yeah, Mina would pay that - he fired laser beams from his belly button. Didn't get flashier than that. "Power and flashiness in spades!"

Mina couldn't help but poke a bit of fun at the sparkly French kid. "So long as you don't blow up your stomach."

As Aoyama pouted, Kirishima shrugged. "Now, if we're talking powerful and cool… Well, it's gotta be Ashido, Midoriya, Todoroki and Bakugou - you guys are just insane!"

Midoriya flushed, trying to shrink as much as her huge frame allowed. Todoroki didn't even react, staring off to the side. Mina and Bakugou both grinned widely at the well-deserved praise.

Tsuyu shrugged. "Shame Bakugou's a bit of a jerk though."

Bakugou glared at her. "The heck do you mean, Kermit?!"

Kaminari chuckled, a lazy expression on his face. "Yeah, you're just kind of rude and angry all the time, man."

While Bakugou raged, Midoriya looked at the class with mild amazement. "Never heard anybody else rib Kacchan before… Well, except Kamakiri, he and Kacchan are very similar…"

His head snapped over to Midoriya, Todoroki watching him with a frown. "What?! I'm nothing like Stabby!"

The bus came to a halt then and Mina hopped out. She honestly couldn't wait to get this Rescue Training started!

—

"WHOA, THIS PLACE IS MANLY!"

"Is this Universal Studios or something?"

Shouta sighed as his students boggled at their latest training grounds. No matter how many times he'd taken students here, the first time always got them.

"No, but damn close! This facility is designed to simulate any natural disaster imaginable! Whether it's flooding, landslides, earthquakes, wildfire or storm conditions, you name it, it's here!" Thirteen popped in front of them, spreading their arms wide. "This is the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!"

Midoriya perked up. "Oh! It's the Space Hero, Thirteen! They're a Rescue Hero known for their charming attitude!"

"Oh, I love them!" Uraraka squeed, almost loud enough to pierce Shouta's ears. Fanboys and fangirls were always the same.

While the students were chattering and milling around, Shouta came up to Thirteen. "Where's All Might?"

Thirteen spared a glance at his class, in particular Jirou and Midoriya. The two students with enhanced hearing had already glanced over their way, mildly curious. "Oh, he had to resolve the paperwork for three incidents at his office. He should be here at the end."

Shouta sighed, despairing at how All Might was so irrational even with his time limit. "Well, guess it's just us. Let's get this started. Thirteen, would you mind explaining the purpose of today's lesson?"

The students perked up as Thirteen came in front. "Well, before we get started I want to say… oh, I want to say a lot of things…" They held up some fingers before snapping their eyes on the class. "As I'm sure you know, my Quirk is called Black Hole. Like its namesake, it can suck in and destroy anything."

"Yes! You've used it to rescue an incredible number of people," Midoriya explained while Uraraka nodded almost as rapidly as Iida's hands chopped.

Thirteen nodded. "Yes, I choose to use my Quirk to save lives." Their voice lost its jolliness, becoming more serious. "But don't forget that my Quirk could just as easily kill or maim." Their gaze swept his students. "And some of you likely have Quirks like that as well."

Most of his students looked shocked or contemplative at that blunt statement. He was privately pleased to note that Bakugou, Ashido and Todoroki, three of the biggest powerhouses in the class, were listening and taking this seriously. Sometimes students only focused on the battle aspect because it was the most publicised part of Heroics.

"In this superpowered society, Quirk usage is still heavily restricted - even using your Quirk for a business has many restrictions outside of Heroics. It is easy to forget that it only takes one move from an uncontrollable Quirk for people to die." Thirteen's tone was deadly serious, their words hitting their mark with the students.

They spread their hands to make their point. "Eraserhead's initial Quirk assessment helped demonstrate where your strengths lie and started making you more confident with using your Quirks. All Might's battle training introduced you to how dangerous your Quirks can be to others. In this class, I will show you a new perspective - I will show you how to use your Quirks to save others!"

He saw Midoriya nudge Bakugou with a slight grin on her face, the blonde scowling. Thirteen continued, heedless of this. "Your Quirks are not meant to harm others. I hope that by the end of today you will leave with the understanding that you are meant to help people, not harm them!"

They took a bow, Iida leading the class in clapping and cheering for Thirteen. Shouta leaned against the railing. "Alright. First off-"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a speck of something by the main fountain. Focusing directly on it, his eyes widened when he saw what was coming.

—

Ikumi's ears twitched when she heard a faint sound. Eraserhear whipped around to the class, face frantic. "Everybody, huddle together and don't move!" He shouted, the loudest they had ever heard him talk.

In the main plaza below, Ikumi could see what had made the noise. Black-purple mist spread out, and what emerged…

A tall, skinny man with white hair stepped out, covered in what looked like hands. Following him were an assortment of people in various costumes - she'd seen a couple of them on the news - usually having run away from the Heroes pursuing them. Her heart thundered in her ears.

Then the monster stepped out. Almost a foot taller than All Might, with black, angrily scarred skin and an exposed brain. It vacantly stared at them, its beaked mouth filled with teeth. A slight breeze came from the plaza behind the group, carrying up to them.

And Ikumi couldn't help but be nauseous.

Ikumi's sense of smell was incredible. She had been banned from Hide and Seek when she was four because she could find her playmates wherever they went. Only about a week with her classmates and she could already tell them apart just from how they smelled - every person was unique.

There was a whole host of smells for the various people there, but two stuck out. The monstrous figure and the man with hands clutching his body stank of blood and decay ostensibly, but she would have to classify that scent as nothing less than death.

She stared, wide-eyed. Kirishima peered at the group, unsure what to think. "Are they robots like in the exam or-"

Their teacher pulled his goggles on. "Stay behind Thirteen and don't move! Those are Villains!"

A man who seemed to be made of the same mist that had brought the Villains here materialised, yellow eyes studying their group. "Hm… Only Thirteen and Eraserhead. According to the staff schedule I received yesterday, All Might is supposed to be here. Did he have a change of heart?"

Ikumi's eyes widened. The reporters yesterday… That had been their doing!

"Aw, what?" The man covered in hands rasped, looking at them. "We went to all this trouble to get our raid group together, and the Symbol of Peace doesn't even show up!" He stood there, distractedly. "Well, if he's not here… killing these kids'll be a good consolation prize."

—

Ironically it happened in what was supposed to be Rescue Training. When we were supposed to be learning how to save and help others, we were the ones who most needed those teaching applied to us. We were thrown into the deep end, confronted by dark forces that had lurked in the shadows for their chance.

To make matters worse… Unknown to us, another group was making its moves as well.

AN: Again, a bit of a shorty but a goody. I decided to add a bit of student council stuff because that's always fun. Kitagawa and Hidaka are OCs I introduced in my other fic, Villain Notebook. Kitagawa is fun, I like using her.

The USJ is here, with a couple of extra add-ons. Will it be worse than the original? Or will it be better?

Sorry there wasn't much action - the next chapter or so will hopefully fill that void. There won't be any more delays on that high-octane action - the next couple of chapters might be intense.

As always, thank you Banchoking for editing this. Don't forget to comment to tell me what you liked and what you didn't! Also, check my Discord here: /BBVa2xFsTf. In my poorly organised server, I've added a channel for discussing this fic.

Next time, the attack will begin in earnest!