The summer has finally cooled down a bit, but the writing of this story is still going hot. Here is you new chapter. Izuku is training more than ever but has more company to do it with.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 13: Training

Izuku was spending his Saturday morning training against the Nomus, now all three of his remaining kidnappers at once while wearing his villain costume. He'd progressed enough to avoid or defend against their attacks most of the time without having to regenerate, but only caused scratches with his blades or local damage with his vibration. He had not gone for the brain since the one Nomu that died.

He had been training harder than ever since agreeing to help his father by going to UA, but he still wasn't set on it. It didn't feel right, not after everything that had been done to him, or everything he had chosen. Not to mention he would have to have All Might as his teacher. Going to school with Shinso and Ida was an attractive idea though.

"You aren't focused!" His father shouted. "Is this how you're going to fight when you face Bakugo? He's going to declare you worthless all over again. Is that what you want? Even if you managed to win like that with your quirks that won't change your value without them. It won't prove people were wrong about quirkless people. Until you can beat him even without quirks you haven't proven him wrong."

Izuku didn't respond and blocked a Nomu's punch with his flame shield. By the time he recovered from the momentum of the impact he had already reformed it back to a blade. He jumped away just in time to avoid an air blast from his father. The bang as it hit the ground reminded him of Bakugo's explosions. His father had upped the amount of force he used again.

"Not good enough. People are going to come after you. I am already a widower, do you want to add a father of a dead child to that?"

Izuku sliced a Nomu's arm off and instead of going for a kill jumped away as another attacked. He was biting his teeth together, swearing he wouldn't let his father's taunting get to him. He knew what it was for, but that part of the training was something he didn't want to play along with, even if the Nomus' old appearances as his kidnappers flashed over them.

"Maybe I should have left you with the Bakugos since Inko raised such a weak child, or taken you with me years ago before she taught you to be so soft. Did you ever even fight back when Bakugo came after you? I am sure he loved having a punching back that didn't even try to fight back because that is what Inko made you."

Izuku's eyes hardened. He vaulted over the attacking Nomu's arm and brought his palm to strike at its external brain as his vibration quirk activated at full power. Visible waves crossed the brain like when a stone falls on the water's surface and as the first waves reached the skull the whole thing exploded into a formless mass. The other two Nomus rushed at Izuku only for both of them to lose their hands to his blades, soon after those fiery weapons finding themselves penetrating the Nomus' brains, no chance for regeneration.

Izuku was left breathing hard in the middle of the three Nomu corpses, his Dragon Blades still active but twisting and bending with his emotions until his eyes found his father and hardened. The blades straightened and stretched even longer and sharper than before. Izuku raised one of them at his father and started walking towards him.

"Leave mom out of this. She isn't some training tool you can drag out whenever you want to push me. No more."

"No," he answered. Izuku stared at him and took a step closer. "As long as you can be influenced by those words, they are a weakness that can be used against you. Until you realize that, they might as well help raise the anger you need to surpass your limits in battle."

"You can find another way. She was a great mom, and I don't want her involved in this even if she's dead. I am not going to fight or," he stopped briefly to look at the Nomu corpses, "kill because of her, not even Nomus. Even if you weren't with us you should respect her memory at least that much."

Izuku stopped a few steps from his father. Suddenly the man smiled so wide even his breathing mask couldn't hide it.

"Finally, I can feel it, a true threat and you didn't even stutter. Not many would stand up to me, family or not."

"Dad I mean it. Leave mom out of it or… I'll let All Might know you are alive," Izuku said without any wavering in his voice. His father's smile disappeared instantly, his face tensed and his hand squeezed into a fist.

"That's what I feel like when you attack mom, betrayed."

They stood opposed to each other in silence for a long time. Slowly the smirk returned around father's mask followed by a chuckle and eventually full-on laughter.

"Impressive, most impressive, you are truly my son. You went straight for effective threats and blackmailing using information you have gained. Very good. Fine, I won't talk about Inko during training anymore."

Izuku still stared at him, confused by the rapid mood changes. He barely leaned away from an air blast directed at his face, but his father moved faster than he had ever seen and grabbed Izuku by his shirt before Izuku could evade. Izuku's feet left the ground.

"Never even suggest betraying us to the heroes, especially All Might." He held Izuku up for a moment in silence and then put him down gently. "That wasn't very fatherly I guess, but there are some things I won't tolerate even from family."

"I wasn't really going to do it," Izuku said, "not after all that he has done."

"I know," his father responded much calmer. "I should congratulate you for your combat prowess. There is a not insignificant percentage of pro heroes who would lose against three Nomus. Though you were still unable to react to my attack."

He said it, but the words lacked the bite it usually had when criticizing Izuku's performance. The training was over, and he was turning back from trainer to father. Izuku himself was calming down enough to notice the difference and consciously not look at the corpses. It wasn't just the realization he had killed the creatures that worried him, but it also felt good, like a weight had been lifted off him. Now there was nothing left of his kidnappers except bad memories and that felt relieving. Part of him thought it was sick to feel that way, but he was still going to be happy to never see these nomus again.

"Your goals might have grown, but we started this training so you wouldn't endure that again," his father said with perfect timing. Izuku wouldn't have been surprised if the man had a mind reading quirk.

"It is safe to say you have reached this goal. Try to put it behind you and focus on what is ahead."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"So," Izuku started, "do you think I am ready for UA?"

"For the entrance exams, more than ready. Have confidence in your skills. For your mission there however. There is at least one more test you need to pass so we know you can do whatever the mission might require, one that the Nomus are not sufficient to provide."

"What test?"

"You will see. Meanwhile, you should take pride in what you achieved here today, and without any broken bones. You have also impressed me with the other jobs you have done. Tomura might be unwilling to use your analysis, but your ability to see how to best utilize people he has recruited is impressive," he paused for a moment and grabbed Izuku's shoulder.

"You can spend the rest of the day with your friends. Try to enjoy yourself. Befriending likely future heroes may not be the wisest option, but as a father I can't deny they have raised your mood more than anything since… Inko."

"They accepted me for what I am," Izuku said quietly.

"Only part of it. Don't forget that," his father corrected.

"Being what is considered a villain is different. Even if they found out and didn't accept it, at least that would be for my choices, not for how I was born. I can live with that, I think."

"True, but that won't change how they would act if they knew, so try to keep the secrets you still have left, especially once you are around pro heroes at UA. You cannot spout out whatever you feel like the moment someone pushes the right buttons. Either you get angry and say something you shouldn't… or flood the room."

Izuku evaded his father's eyeless gaze, embarrassed at the last comment.

"You should also realize the potential consequences of helping your friends enter UA."

"I know what it might mean eventually, but it is their dream and… if people see different quirks being used by great heroes, that might impact how they treat others with similar quirks. Even if they don't, every good person that doesn't get in is a spot that a Bakugo can take to become rich off a lucky quirk."

"Thinking so far ahead. I wish I could teach that to Tomura," his father said and took his hand away. What are you still standing here for? You are going to be late."

…

Izuku went to change from the black uniform to a regular long sleeve shirt and loose pants he used for exercise. He had just finished when a portal appeared under the sweaty uniform he had piled on a table. Izuku turned to face Kurogiri. He was afraid of how the Nomu would react to the fate of the other three Nomus, but couldn't help but smile at his favourite Nomu/teacher/guardian. Kurogiri handed him an ice-cold bottle of water.

"I heard you were able to defeat three of the training Nomus simultaneously. I am proud of your progress."

The fear was gone and Izuku stepped into the mist and appeared at his basement. Passing the hot pool, the thought of a bath was attractive, but he wasn't done sweating yet. He took a waiting backpack, got out and started running across the city. Training and even regeneration had greatly improved his stamina but by the time he reached his destination, he was panting. His breathing sounded like a villain that had reminded him of his father in an old scifi movie he planned to watch with his friends.

"Hey."

Izuku turned to face Shinso, walking calmly towards him carrying a backpack and an extra-large cup of coffee.

"Hey," Izuku responded, "it seems we got here before…"

Something whooshed past the two on the empty lot they stood in front of.

"…Ida."

"One day," Shinso said.

"Unlikely," Izuku said, "unless you know someone willing to loan me a speed quirk."

"Excluding the current company," Shinso sipped his coffee, "I don't know many who would stay in the same room with either of us voluntarily, at least not without getting nervous."

Izuku stepped through an open gate into the fenced-in empty lot and activated his Dragon Blades.

"People are fine with slicing and burning or deadly force in general, but being a threat to their quirk or mind is too much." He turned to face Shinso while forming both of his blades into shorter and thicker shields. He also tuned down the heat as much as he could.

"Unfortunately, the entrance exams don't care about how we feel, especially with UA. Their robots are infamous. If you are finished with the coffee, let's see if the caffeine did you any good. You aren't going to get to those robots' weak points if you can't get good hits past my shields."

"Just let me get my gloves," Shinso responded and pulled out thick blackened and charred boxing gloves from his backpack. Izuku picked up his water bottle in the meanwhile. He was still drinking when Shinso got his gloves on and charged. He thought he could catch Izuku by surprise.

Izuku dodged out of the way of Shinso's first punch and blocked the other with the flaming shield on his free hand while still holding the bottle to his lips with the other.

"Can you at least pretend I'm giving you a challenge?" Shinso whined.

"Sorry," Izuku said, "but you're the one who attacked while I was drinking."

"That was unsportsmanlike," Ida commented as he finally slowed down and joined his friends.

"If you want to get into UA you should forget that word," Izuku corrected and focused on Shinso. "There is nothing wrong with striking when your enemy is distracted, unless you underestimate them and strike carelessly. You were too slow and overextended your arm. I could have cut it off when I dodged. Those exam robots don't have blades… probably, but they could break your bones if they get a good hit in or if you get in their way when they are moving."

"So, more dodging training," Shinso said.

"Yep," Izuku confirmed.

"Has Ida gotten any better at accounting for his speed when holding back?"

"Nope. He'd have to literally pull his arm back or stop at the last moment," Izuku said and turned to look at Ida. "There is not much point for you to be any faster in a battle until you can manoeuvre better. You'll just be a bull charging through the red cloth and into the wall of the arena. At worst you will hit someone at speed and kill them. The stupid entrance exam with robots won't account for that either."

"I understand that, though it shames me to admit I have not sufficiently addressed the issue before."

"Not surprising," Izuku said. "Most of the time people only think how to make quirks stronger. Try not to hurt Shinso too badly. It's your turn to pay the bill if we need to take him to that quirk healer."

Izuku pointed at a large sign of a medical clinic on the next building and lowered back into a fighting stance.

"At least you know how to hold back," Shinso said.

"Yes, well depends how I'm attacking you," Izuku said and blinked. "I haven't yet shown you my newest trick."

"What 'trick'," Shinso asked with narrowed eyes.

Izuku focused on using three quirks at the same time. He held his hand partially open towards the ground near Shinso. The vibrating flames of his Dragon Blade twisted with a presence of the third quirk making them all look like one. Suddenly an arrow of flames left his palm, pulling some of the Dragon Blade's flames out with it for the same effect. In an instant the flaming arrow hit the ground behind Shinso with a flash, leaving behind black scorched ground.

"It doesn't really pierce through anything yet, but that might just be a matter of control like with the basic blade," Izuku said. "It's still kind of hard just focusing enough to fire one off."

"You continue to impress us every week," Ida praised Izuku. "Though you are correct if you suggested using this technique for Shinso's training would be unwise."

"Agreed. I'd rather get slapped around by Ida."

"My turn first."

Izuku got back into a fighting stance and went straight for a punch. Shinso partially dodged, but Izuku still hit his arm. They sparred like that for half an hour. Shinso evaded some of Izuku's attacks but didn't get a single proper punch back. They were just too slow compared to the air blasts and Nomus. Eventually he got a single hit in on an exhausted Izuku.

"Okay. That's," Izuku gasped for breath, "enough. I need a break, Ida! Your turn."

"Don't I get a break?" Shinso asked with a deadpan expression as he took off his now smoking gloves.

"How many kilometres have you run today?" Izuku asked with a similar expression.

"Point taken. Just let me get some water first."

Izuku moved to sit on a piece of concrete left behind from when whatever building formerly stood there had been demolished. He pulled a thicker jacket out of his backpack to stay warm now that he wasn't constantly on the move. Ida ran literal circles around Shinso, making sudden dashes to slap his shoulder. It helped Ida train his manoeuvrability with the quick turns while helping Shinso with his reaction speed and dodging. Feeling the cold January wind even through two jackets, Izuku activated one of his blades and let it heat up to keep sweaty clothes under his jackets from freezing.

"Hey, you! Stop at once!" Someone shouted. Izuku raised his head to see a police officer walk into the lot. "You are not allowed to use quirks like that in public even if it is an empty lot."

Ida hit the brakes instantly. The tenseness in his stance was screaming that he was on the brink of bowing and apologising more than anyone should for using their natural quirks in a harmless way. Izuku extinguished his fire, pulled a folder of papers from his backpack and got up.

"Officer," he called, "the public quirk use ban only applies fully in public spaces. This is a private fenced off property and subject to limited exceptions as long as quirk use doesn't cause general danger and is permitted by the owner."

The officer turned to face Izuku, looking down on him like some random thug or quirkless person beneath his attention.

"Are you going to claim you own or have the owner's permission to use this property?"

"Yes, the second option. I have here a written permission from the developer that owns this land for me to use this property till the end of February along with any person I choose to invite here regardless of my presence. It specifically highlights permission to use quirks to the fullest extent the owner can permit. There are also documents containing parts of the police code and precedents by the courts on what is considered permitted quirk use under such conditions." Izuku held his id in one hand and handed the folder to the officer, who grumpily skimmed through the papers.

"The last paper contains the contact information of my father's lawyers in case you need to ask for clarification."

The police officer handed the folder back to Izuku, biting his teeth together. His next words were almost a hiss.

"You may continue, apologies for the disruption."

He walked away.

"How does anyone manage to train enough to have a chance at UA with these rules?" Izuku sighed.

"Being lucky… or rich enough to have good lawyers," Shinso said. "No offence."

"None taken, I am just glad I could use that to help. We can't get into UA without a place to train."

Both Ida and Shinso stared at Izuku, who blinked in response.

"What?"

"You said you were going to go to UA," Ida pointed out.

"Did I? I didn't mean to. I mean…" Izuku stuttered until Shinso grabbed his shoulder.

"You can say what you meant if you want, or not if you don't want to talk about it."

"Right… So I don't know where else I should go, so I might as well apply to UA. I got a good feeling there might at least be a couple of people there I like."

"That is amazing," Shinso said, so exited his eyes almost didn't look tired. "It would be great going to same class or even just the same school, if I manage to somehow get in. Even with training, there's only so far I can go fighting robots."

"You will do fine," Izuku said with no sign of the hesitation he had when talking about himself. "I've actually been thinking about the exam. It is clearly biased towards physical fighting quirks, but I think there might me more. Remember what principal Nezu said at the fair about it?"

"That was almost two months ago. I can't exactly remember everything he said."

"Never forget the hero's first duty is to rescue. He said that as he was talking about the entrance exam. That never made sense seeing how he supposedly has the exam set up, unless he was hinting that there is something else going on with the entrance exam. The application to UA includes a pretty solid nondisclosure agreement about the content of the exam that wouldn't make sense if it was just fighting robots."

"Of course," Ida muttered. "You are right. Even if the hero system has its biases a school of UA's calibre wouldn't have that narrow entrance exam, I think. A hero's first duty is to rescue. What does that mean for the exam?"

"They vary the details every year. Considering the supposed point system this time, they probably have people there acting like they are in danger or just give points for helping applicants that get in trouble. Hopefully they aren't counting on just students to keep each other safe. People could easily get killed or maimed beyond even the best quirk healers' abilities."

"Hopefully my training is enough to help with rescues then, though other quirks still have an advantage."

"It has to unless either of you know someone willing to loan you theirs for the exam," Izuku said. Both Ida and Shinso stared at him again.

"Right, your quirk can do that too. I almost forgot since you mostly use the fire," Shinso said.

"We can't use quirks most of the time anyway," Izuku said. "There aren't exactly many chances to use my quirk and it won't help against the robots."

"You will have your chance eventually with living villains. Both of you can neutralize most dangerous people without even injuring them," Ida assured. "It doesn't cause any serious side effects to people you use it on, right?"

"Not for taking quirks as far as I know of. I think it maybe can have temporary effect if the person tries to resist," Izuku responded, watching his words, "but I have noticed getting new quirks can be though. I wouldn't try to give someone more than one."

"That would still let someone have two or three quirks depending how they were born," Shinso said. "That would be life changing. I can hardly believe you just offered to do something like that for me, even if there really aren't any who would give their quirk for that."

"Then you have to train harder." Izuku raised his arm and lit a flaming shield. "If I am going to UA, I refuse to do it alone."