Welcome to a new never before seen chapter. Thanks again for sticking with me.

Aizawa comes to terms with the D word. Eri lives out the TikTok meme. Interviews are harder than they look. Izuku meets someone.

Aizawa rolled his head, letting his neck pop several times, instantly relieving some of the strain on his muscles as he walked. The night air was brisk and his tired eyes watched as his breath came out in long clouds and then dissipated into nothingness. It was a nice, lulling calm for him as he walked, not letting his mind wander too much. He still had a bit to do before he could get some shut eye, something he was most definitely longing for. He longed for sleep the same way Miss Joke longed for him. He wasn't stupid, he knew she down right adored him, maybe even loved him, but he still hadn't brought himself to take her on more than one date so far. He'd contemplated doing so a couple times but her energy levels were just a little too exhausting for him. It was the downside to being perpetually tired and relatively good looking. Lucky for him, a distraction to any lingering and mildly sensual thoughts about Emi was right in front of him.

"Dammit," he groaned, sighing heavily as he heard the amount of noise coming from the other side of the doors to the 1-A dorms.

He'd nearly forgotten that it was a Thursday night, which meant that he'd left Eri smack dab in the middle of Karaoke Thursdays. He gritted his teeth knowing there was a very good chance she was scared and close to losing control of her Quirk. All of his hard work to keep her in check and keep her, and everyone around her, safe, was going to mean nothing. So with that, he opened the door and pushed his way inside, expecting the worst as the music began to ramp up, building to something with heavy marching snare and double bass drums.

"DISRESPECT YOUR SURROUNDINGS!"

Shota stood silent and bewildered as his students began cheering and jumping around with the small silver haired girl. She was happy as could be, shouting at the top of her lungs and then fist fighting and kicking the air around her, much to Suri's enthusiastic enjoyment. He couldn't help the small grin as he watched her interacting with his class like they were one big happy family and then quickly wiped it away and cleared his throat just in time for the song to wind down to its conclusion. He'd never tell the kids or let them know that seeing Eri happy made him genuinely happy. Made him a proud… Wait, did he actually want to be the D word?

"Well shit," Suri grumbled aloud, taking Aizawa out of his own thoughts. "Guess it is about your bedtime, ain't it?"

"Is it?" Eri questioned with wide eyes and then looked at the clock on Suri's phone and gasped from how fast time had flown by. "Awwww! Can I come tomorrow night too?"

"We might be able to, I think," Aizawa answered, most definitely succumbing to Eri's recently obtained secret Quirk; Puppy Dog Eyes.

"Yay!" she cheered, thrusting her arms into the air before beginning to make her rounds of telling everyone goodbye. It was quick, sweet, and adorable to watch as she then made her way to Aizawa and gave him a small nod and smile. "I'm ready to go now."

"Good," he replied softly, nodding as he opened the door for her and then looked back to his students. He found Suri standing in front of him, smiling as she watched Eri pad her way out the door. He decided to dare to show a peek of his softer side as he gave Suri a far less stern face than normal, which took her a little by surprise. "Thank you for letting her spend the evening."

"Oh! Not a problem," Suri grinned, quickly recovering from her initial shock. "You know she's welcome here any time, Teach."

Aizawa watched the sincerity light up Suri's eyes and then he turned his gaze to the little girl playing around on the front porch, idly chasing snowflakes that were beginning to fall. He smirked watching the playful display and then looked back to Suri out of the corner of his eyes.

"I think she'd like that."

He walked out the door, with that smirk still in place as Mina and Tooru crowded around Suri. Though he may have flattered as he overheard the girls gossipping because he didn't close the door fast enough. To be fair, there was just no way to recover his cool after hearing the three girls openly and blatantly say the other D word. It just made it known that Emi, Nemuri, and Hizashi weren't the only ones who'd referred to him as a DILF.

"C'mon! Let's go, Zawa," Eri called out, waving at him from a few meters away.

"Yeah," he answered, coughing and clearing his throat before quickly following after the small girl who was truly, purely, most definitely was so not his daughter. "Let's go get you tucked in."

Nope.

Definitely not a dad at all.

"C'mon! You gotta admit it's funny as fuck," Suri snorted, leaning against Izuku's desk and watching Katsuki fume.

"No it's not, Mohawk!" he barked back angrily. "Those assholes cut me out of everything! I'm gonna blast 'em all into bits!"

"Oh come on dude, that's the exact reason they did it," Kaminari snickered, still holding up his phone. On it was the interview Todoroki and Bakugou had conducted after beating a villain a mere hour after finally getting their provisional licenses. Bakugou was shoved basically out of frame and every clip of him being interviewed was cut. His classmates rubbing that in his face did not make him any happier.

"Calm down Baku-bro," Kirishima chuckled softly, trying to defuse his best friend's temper. "You just gotta laugh it off. You'll get more interviews some day, right?"

"Sad to think that was his third interview," Momo sighed, a quiet rebuttal to Kirishima's words.

Suri chuckled softly to Momo's comment as her attention turned back to Izuku who was intently watching the latest news about the Deika City Incident. A small group of villains, which Suri suspected was tied to the League, flattened half a city in less than an hour. It was double the damage done in Kamino during the last fight between All Might and All For One but, as luck would have it, was less casualties. That little fact was only thanks to Deika being a rural city out in the boonies and was far less densely populated than Kamino was. Even more surprising was the fact that, instead of condemning heroes like what happened during Kamino, the push was to praise heroes, especially the ones that had been far less equipped or had the notoriety of the Hero Billboard Charts. The destruction was stopped by a bunch of no name heroes and everyday citizens just trying to step up to the plate.

Was the support push really all thanks to that "Don'tcha See" kid from back when Endeavor had straight up pummeled the High End Nomu with Hawks? Was it really because Endeavor had stepped up and shown that he just might be a decent successor to All Might?

"The future ain't that bright kids! It might seem like the winds of change are on our side but really it's a sense of urgency. It's a response to real danger. These cheers for heroes are actually prayers that we come out victorious," preached Mt. Lady as she threw the door to the room open.

Behind her was Midnight who was looking less and less happy that the younger heroine was most definitely stealing all of the attention. Or maybe she was just as confused by the words that came from the blonde's mouth next while she was posing and accentuating the way her cream and purple spandex bodysuit hugged her ass.

Though Suri was most definitely with most of the guys whose eyes all traveled to that exact spot she was flaunting. And, like practically all of the guys, Suri agreed; Mt. Lady had a great ass.

"They've had enough of the showbiz side of heroism," she proclaimed excitedly. "They want us to prove our worth for real!"

Again; the irony was not lost on Suri. Even more surprising was the fact that Mineta was the first one up to criticize My. Lady's almost blatant hypocrisy. Just what had happened during his internship with her all those months ago?

"Today we'll be talking about the media," she declared after pushing Mineta back out of her face. She was now holding one of the subject blocks that the teachers used, this time it was a blue card with a bold, stylized action font with a yellow and orange gradient. "And as a rising star myself, I'm the perfect person to teach you how to work it!"

Her words and the way she presented them gave everyone a big boost of excitement. How she was going to teach them or what she was going to teach them was anyone's guess. It was a great, warm buzz that filled everyone as they left the classroom, went and got into their hero uniforms and was great until they got outside. The sight of their training grounds made everyone pause and every amount of excitement left the group in a collective sigh that was a mix of despair and realization of just how lame today's class was going to be. Because today's training grounds… was a giant press conference stage.

Surrounding that stage was another class headed by a tall, lanky man in a pair of black skinny jeans, white tee shirt, and an open black vest that had rainbow trim up the sides and across the shoulder. The girls all agreed that his eyeliner and makeup was more on point than they could pull off on a good day and the single gold trinket hanging from his left ear was a very nice compliment to his perfect complexion. The only offsetting thing about his look was the fact that the white thick framed glasses made his pink colored eyes bigger than they needed to be and his sandy blonde hair made them even brighter than they were.

In short; he looked Fabulous. And it was definitely fabulous with a capital F and in all italics.

That became even more apparent when he addressed Mt. Lady as darling, strutted up to her, and they did the whole double cheek kiss thing. Then he did the accentuated clapping to draw his student's attention to the press stage where he was vigorously explaining the importance of image and media personas. Suri made the realization of which class she was looking at when she saw Aiko among the students, taking notes of everything her teacher said on her tablet. To top it off, she looked engaged, excited, and eager to learn about the ins and outs of press conferences and hero interviews.

"Hello everyone," the man said, turning everyone in Class A's attention to him. "Lemme introduce myself right quick, my name is Yuta Nakamoto and I teach Branding and Media Arts for the Business Course here at UA. I'm the homeroom teacher for class 1J."

"Say hello," Aizawa droned after a moment of silence.

"Hello, Mr. Nakamoto," everyone replied dryly, save for Iida and Momo who were a tiny bit more passionate and respectful in their responses.

"Thank you! Now, let's get you kids up here and show us what you got," he grinned, oozing playful confidence and joy.

He was more than ready for the mock interviews and it matched both Mt. Lady's and Aiko's expressions. How Mt. Lady, Aiko, and Mr. Nakamoto were excited over Media Interview Training was beyond anyone and right off the bat, basically no one else wanted to be in class right now.

And, unfortunately, Todoroki was the sacrificial lamb in Mt. Lady's training.

"Great work out there Shoto!"

"Sorry, what are we talking about?"

"Pretend you just finished a mission and say thanks!"

"Um… thanks."

"Now tell us, Shoto, what kind of hero do you want to become?!"

"The type… that can make people feel at ease when I arrive…"

"Fantastic! But if a looker like you suddenly showed up, I think my heart would burst out of my chest!"

"Do you… have a heart condition?"

Suri sighed and cradled her forehead in her hand, torn between wanting to laugh and being concerned for Shoto's well being. There was an extent to how cute someone could be with their social awkwardness and both Izuku and Shoto were in that area just before you red line; just on this side of outright lost causes. The saddest part was the fact that this? This was the most open and forward the boy had been since Suri had met him. There was a possibility his social awareness was a form of aspergers or some other mental illness but it spoke volumes to just how sheltered of a kid he was.

As Shoto threw up his signature Heaven Piercing Ice Wall, Suri was reminded of some of the things he'd opened up about with his home life. The fact that the mere mention of his dad made him visibly uneasy was a testament to that. It reminded her of how not too long ago, the subject of her and her dad would have had the same effect on her. It also reminded her that she needed to call home now that Yule was about to start.

"... if you're trying to put people at ease, smiling would be a good start. Flash some smiles and you'd be a genuine lady-killer!"

"If I smile, women… will die?"

Oh dear gods.

And Suri did pray to the gods, but not for herself and her own sanity watching the awkward half and half cinnamon roll that was too attractive for his own good. No, she prayed for Momo and Jirou. The two of them had recently asked about adding to their dynamic at the last Girl's Night and it was clear that Shoto was one of their potential interests. Knowing that Kaminari was another, Suri prayed for the best of luck and patience to them cause they were going to need a lot of it.

"Are we supposed to showcase our moves during interviews?" Tokoyami asked, which made Suri nod her head in agreement. It was a good question.

"Oh you sweet, naive UA kiddies," Mt. Lady sighed as she stepped to the edge of the stage and squatted down so that she was closer to everyone's level. "It's not like everyone in the world knows who you are already. Some of you, sure," she shrugged, motioning towards Shoto, Katsuki, Iida, and Suri. "But your ultimate moves symbolize you, show people what you're capable of. It helps prepare you for impromptu team ups and combos, and gives a warning to villains and potential criminals. It helps build people's trust to put their lives in your hands so you gotta remember that there's more to just shouting the names of your moves. There's actually a lot of meaning behind it."

"Wow," Suri chuckled softly, "I didn't expect that from her of all people. She didn't used to give a shit about anything but being in front of a camera not too long ago."

"Mt. Lady's not the only one who's changed," Aizawa answered. "Every hero out there has been going in a new direction ever since we got a new number one."

Suri pondered that for a long while as she watched her classmates go up one after the other and do their mock interviews. They weren't all media darlings of course, but they were pretty damn close. Everyone's interview had gone smoothly, showcasing everyone's unique personality and letting them have a brief chance to shine and show what they could be soon in the future. It was going so smoothly that Suri had a smirk on her face as she got called up. She wore the pride she had for her friends on her shoulder and it had the confidence overflowing inside of her. When she got to center stage in front of Mt. Lady she struck a pose with one fist on her slightly cocked hip, a sly smirk on her lips, and a fire in her eyes. She was oozing with that top dog, queen bee energy and that aura was what blinded her to the sly grin that creeped onto Mt. Lady's lips.

"Great work out there today, Wild Eyes!"

"Thanks! It was a great win."

"Oh, completely. How do you think the lycanthrope community feels about you being so open about you being a wereanimal?"

"I… what?" Suri was ready to answer any question, or so she'd thought. That question had thrown her through a loop and it left her wide open.

"Ya know. Werewolves. You are one aren't you?" she asked, grinning ear to ear, knowing that the sudden question was flustering Suri.

Suri's brief pause was highlighted by the fact that she peered at Aiko from the corner of her eye and found her looking a bit flustered herself. The fact that many of her classmates were looking at her since the question was posed meant only one thing; they knew. If they knew, the faculty, and, of course, her own classmates knew the truth about her then there was no sense in lying about the fact. The hesitation came because, outside of heroes and first responders, the general public was still in the dark about the existence of the preternatural community. A lot, if not all of the elders in the various species wanted to remain secret, hiding in plain sight. A lot of the younger generation didn't want to hide, but did out of respect for said elders. Suri was torn between wanting to hide in plain sight and continuing to use the ruse of her lycanthropy simply being a Quirk. On the other hand…

"Half, actually," Suri smirked and corrected her posture and attitude. With her restored attitude came back the memories of watching her dad deal with the media, good and bad press, for as far back as she could remember. He was an absolute media darling so if he could do it, then so could she. "And I'm mixed in more ways than one so I've got a lot of communities to help represent out here. So if I can go out and put a positive spotlight for those like me, then I'm gonna keep doing it and just be the best me I can be."

"Nice recovery, kid," Mt. Lady grinned, giving Suri a playful jab in the shoulder.

"Sweetie, what made you decide to give that answer?" the other teacher asked, leaning against the top of his wrists that he'd propped onto the stage. "From what I've known, your kind always back pedals that question or gives a sort of vague answer."

"I could've given the old answer, sure, but I dunno," Suri shrugged and pursed her lips as she thought about her answer and the intention behind it. "After the Training Camp incident and facing a villain that was like me and outed me in front of all my friends, it changed a lot of things. It took… a long time to regain everyone's trust. And now, everyone in 1-A knows all of the basics of being in a lycanthrope group, we're a clan, and… it's nice not having to hide anything from people you're close with."

"Well ain't that refreshing to hear," Nakamoto grinned before gracefully hopping onto the stage in a single leap and walking forward to stand next to Mt. Lady. "Sweetie, you're a brand manager's dream; easy to talk to, easy on the eyes, and a hell of personality from what I can see. Now, not to steal your thunder Yu, but what kind of hero are you wanting to be, hun?"

"I mean the easy answer is to be the kind that wants to help people," Suri answered, carefully watching Mr. Nakamoto. Her eyes then fell onto her classmates and she remembered what each of them had done during their mock interviews.

It was her time to show off a little bit now and so that's what she did, releasing the hold on her and Atiena's power and letting it flow from inside her. Electric wind and warm energy flowed around her, prickling off of her skin as she went into beast woman form. It was her battle ready form that saw her shift from human to non-human, taking on her animalistic features like full claws, fangs, a tail, digitigrade legs and large footpaws, and a short coat of fur. The transformation was perfect with a smooth, seamless metamorphosis as she backed to the center of the stage, once there she took off running fast enough that a dozen shimmering images of Suri appeared around Mt. Lady and Mr. Nakamoto.

"The better answer," all of the Suri's spoke in unison, voices deepened with the sultry purr of Atiena's tone. "I want to let people know they're safe, protected, and seen. I chose the name Wild Eyes cause I want people to see my eyes and know everything is gonna be okay just like I want those people who choose to harm others; to see fear."

Just then, the dozen Suri's disappeared as a single vision of her slid to the center of the stage, leaving claw marks in the flooring as she skid to a stop directly in front of the teachers. She rose upwards from her animalistic stance before striking a pose, flashing the claws on her left hand in front of her face while cupping that wrist with her right hand and peered through her splayed fingers. The fang bearing smirk was enough to be intimidating as she saw some of the business course students let their jaws drop.

"Cause once you see my eyes, you'll know the Beast Queen is here."

Suri kept the pose up, watching the two adults in front of her through her fingers. She waited for a reaction, any kind of reaction and all she got was nothing. No applause or praise, no fanfare, no criticism. Nothing. Just absolute and undeterred…

Silence.

Her facade began crumbling almost instantly as her eyes flicked back and forth between Mt. Lady and Mr. Nakamoto before she turned her head to her friends and classmates. The expressions she saw were either blank, dumbfounded, or held a small cringe.

Oh gods.

Finally she turned to the business course students, expecting jaws to still be on the floor and found that they'd been picked up and so had their brows. Suri looked to Aiko and then to Izuku, Mina, and Tooru for reassurance and found shaky smiles that were trying to hold in just how bad her line had been. The nail in the coffin however was the shaky, very poor attempt of a supportive thumbs up from Aiko. Suri cringed hard and turned a nervous glance towards the teachers once again and gave a weak chuckle.

"That… was terrible wasn't it?" Suri asked cautiously.

"That was…"

"Get off the stage, Mohawk! That was so stupid even I feel embarrassed for you," Bakugou barked, pushing his way onto the stage and butting himself into Suri. Suri didn't even react, simply letting the explosion user force her out of the way before she slunk backwards and made her way to the stairs off the stage. "Now lemme show you idiots what a real interview looks like!"

Suri wallowed in despair and the mutual embarrassment of forty plus people for a minute or two as she hung her head standing next to her girlfriends. They tried to cheer her up, even Aiko tried to cheer her up but alas her embarrassment never went away. Instead it shifted from being embarrassed of herself, to being embarrassed for Bakugou and how shitty of an interviewee he was to just down right pity for Izuku. If Bakugou was too much of a loose cannon and too loud when it came to interviews, Izuku was his polar opposite. Suri got to watch in shared dread as Izuku stood on stage frozen stiff and even more socially awkward than Shoto was at the beginning. To top it off, his interview included once of his famous mutter fests, a short session of nervously rambling and to top the cake; a lackluster debut of Black Whip.

At least Suri wasn't the only one reduced to nerves.

Those nerves faded to anticipation once school was over and dinner had been served. The evening became typical for all of them, turning on a movie after dinner before everyone retreated for bed afterwards. Everyone except for Suri and Izuku. The two of them said their goodnights to Mina and Tooru, deciding that the two of them would be crashing in Tooru's room for the night. Suri and Izuku would either be joining them later, returning to their own rooms, or crashing in either's room tonight.

That would be decided after the next evening activity.

The activity saw the two of them walking outside into the cold, night air where their breath instantly turned to soft puffs of steam. Their feet crunched under the soft layer of snow coating the ground before becoming the snapping and trudging sounds of them making their way into the first line of forest. The trek through the trees in the cold and snow proved to be more difficult than Izuku had gotten used to as he tripped over tree branches and snow weighted foliage several times. It made Suri smile and giggle each time he tripped and tried to play it off as if he hadn't done so, or even better, he meant to trip and be clumsy. His clumsiness and consistent falling was soon rewarded for his efforts as they made it into the clearing. Both Suri and Izuku grinned as they came into the open space where the moonlight bathed the grove in light, making the frost covered grass sparkle like fairy dust in the night air.

In the center of the clearing was the flat stone that Suri used as a throne and had, on several occasions, used as a bed as well. It was multipurpose in a way which made it a great centerpiece for the clearing. On top of it were three familiar figures already waiting for them, all of which brought smiles to both Suri and Izuku.

"You're late, you know that right?" Pazuzu chuckled as he hopped down from his perch on the stone and met the two of them halfway.

"Sorry, the movie ran a little later than we were expecting," Izuku apologized with a small smile before he was wrapped up in the taller boy's arms in a gracious hug.

"Nah, you're good, homie. I'm just giving you shit," Pazuzu chuckled as he released Izuku and then turned to Suri and swept her into her own hard hug. "Besides, I wouldn't blame you two after the trainwreck I heard about."

"You told him," Suri sighed as she pulled back from the hug and gave a soft glare towards Aiko.

"Sorry," the wereleopard girl whined, giving her own apologetic smile as she followed Pazuzu up by hugging Izuku next. "But I couldn't not tell them about that cheesy one liner. They probably would've heard about it sooner than later anyway."

"Oh gods, don't tell me," Suri groaned as Aiko embraced her and held her tight.

"Yeah," Aiko sighed with a pained smile as she pulled back to watch Mai wrap her arms around Izuku and pull him into a hug with her. "You two, Bakugou, and Todoroki were the talk of the business course after class."

"Speaking of which," Suri gave Aiko a quizzical glance before hugging Mai tightly. "How did your class find out about you anyway?"

"It," Aiko started cautiously and turned a playful but also apologetic glance at Suri. "May have sort of perhaps been your class' fault?"

Suri paused for a moment as the five of them made their way back towards the large stone. She thought back to anything that could have happened that would have caused Aiko to be outed. Nothing really struck her off the top of her head that might have been the cause. There was nothing in the Entrance Exam that might have done it. Nothing that would have really caused anything during the USJ incident or Sports Festival. She'd outed herself to Izuku, Iida, and Shoto when she visited them after the whole Stain thing. There had been the close call during midterms when they'd faced the teachers and she'd almost become a Reaver when…

Oh shit…

"Midterms. Holy shit," Suri said aloud as she traced down the event and remembered that Grandma Kuroyashi had to stop several young lycanthropes from rampaging. She'd just now remembered that Aiko had been one of them. "Hun, I didn't realize you were one of the ones that got affected. Wow. I'm… I'm so sorry."

"Sounds like, Mai and I got lucky then," Pazuzu chuckled and sighed as he took a seat onto the large stone face. The five of them created a pentagon formation facing away from each other with Suri at the head, Izuku on her right and Pazuzu on her left, while Aiko sat on the bottom right and Mai took the bottom left. As Mai took her seat, Pazuzu playfully jabbed her in the shoulder with his elbow. "Thank the gods for that gremlin, right?"

"Gremlin?" Izuku asked innocently. "And how did you two manage to make it through?"

"Hatsume," Pazuzu laughed. "She found us starting to freak out and saw our beasts trying to get out. Freaked her the fuck out but, in exchange for me helping her with one of her babies, she made a shit ton of noise and explosions in the lab to cover us."

"Hold on," Suri and Aiko said in unison, turning themselves to face Mai and Pazuzu.

"Did you?" Izuku asked cautiously as he not only picked up on the implications of what Pazuzu was saying but also remembered who was telling the story.

"Yeah," he chuckled happily, no shame in his response whatsoever. "Shoved ourselves into a storage closet and fucked all of that pent up rage from our beasts out of us."

"We were lucky I'm mute," Mai signed, rolling her eyes at her best friend before making eye contact with the other three. "It's extremely rare I make any noise, even during climax, so don't take it the wrong way if I'm not as vocal as you're expecting when you fuck me."

As soon as she signed that phrase, she looked squarely from Suri to Izuku. When the realization that that phrase was directed at him made the greenette blush furiously and tense up in surprise. The reaction made Mai smile, giving him a coy grin before turning back to Suri and winking at her. Then Mai blew a kiss at her and it made Suri begin to chuckle to herself, smiling as she shook her head and turned to nudge her boyfriend with a giggle.

"Wow, Romeo, look at you go," Suri teased.

"I-I umm," Izuku chuckled nervously. He watched Mai for a long moment, tilting his head curiously at her before clearing his throat. "So uh… does that mean you'd say yes to a second date with me?"

"Absolutely," Mai smiled, silently chuckling as she signed her answer. She then narrowed her eyes at Suri and Aiko before a wicked smirk came over her lips and she looked Izuku in the eye again. "I'll take silk rope or chain instead of flowers, by the way."

Izuku paused for a long time after that response and it was clear it wasn't clicking. It became even more apparent when he looked to Suri, Pazuzu, and Aiko for guidance on an answer. The answer he got was Pazuzu bursting into laughter, Suri hanging her head and shaking it trying not to laugh, and Aiko blushing furiously as she punched the werewolf girl in the shoulder.

He'd missed the point.

That was until he ran the answer a few times over in his brain and remembered the company he was in. He knew the answer was clearly not innocent at all and he let that fact simmer in his thoughts only to be hit with the metaphorical lightbulb moment. He mouthed a surprised, and sort of shocked 'oh' towards the girl and got a playful wink in response.

So yes, he wasn't going crazy. The werewolf didn't want flowers or treats, like he'd done for the other girls, no she wanted to get straight to business. The fact that she trusted him to reciprocate that kind of request was not only putting a lot of pressure on him, it made him realize how much she trusted him. Her teasing had become reminiscent of his girlfriends Suri, Mina, and Tooru. Teasing that he wasn't sure about in the very beginning but now saw as endearing and loving after his experience with it with the three of them. It was one of the ways they showed their love for him.

Wait.

Was Mai in love with him?

"Anyway, we should get started," Suri said, breaking the small lull of silence between conversations. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as the four behind her quieted down, both physically and mentally. "Everyone remember where we left off last time?"

Suri posed the question to get everyone in the headspace for what they had been practicing the last few weeks. Refining that inner sanctuary. It had been presented after the fight with De'Jon in which Suri was going to start meditating sessions with Aiko and Mai so that the three of them could bond and figure out why their beasts were able to somehow end up inside hers and Atiena's mind forest. She'd asked her dad and Grandma Kuroyashi about it and neither of them had ever experienced something like it happening to them so the girls were on their own. That was until the day Black Whip emerged from Izuku and he'd told Suri about seeing the previous users of One For All inside his mind. Pazuzu joined in because he thought developing his inner sanctum might help him in the long run and it was a shock to Suri to realize just how much pain, suffering, and struggling was masked by his sarcastic, devil may care, flirty personality.

It had become a sort of bonding experience for the five of them. And it wasn't a surprise that, when the wereanimals learned about Izuku's extra Quirks that were looming on the horizon that they'd deduced that something deeper was going on. Thankfully for Izuku, they didn't press. Pazuzu, Ryuko, Aiko, Mai, and Yumei settled with the fact that they'd understand what was going on with Izuku once he felt comfortable letting them in. For now, those here decided it was good enough to sit in the meditation circle and hash out their inner sanctums together and help each other if they needed it.

So far, Suri and Atiena had been able to push the black mist out further, expanding the view of trees around the mind forest deeper. Currently they were mentally constructing a small structure together that resembled a small wood cabin. It was feeling more cozy as they continued to work out their unity of mind, body, and soul.

For Pazuzu, it became clear to everyone that he'd always gone by the name of his beast. It was how he'd been able to become as powerful as he had been thanks to the bond he shared with his other half. What he hadn't realized was that by choosing to live as his beast, his human side had started to become a shell of himself. Now they were working on that balance. Pazuzu and Tadashi's inner sanctum had transformed itself from a non-descript forest to a large mechanic's garage with several classic cars and motorcycles that were in need of repair and TLC. They'd begun restoring one of the projects which Suri realized were pieces of his mind and personality that needed repair or maintenance. For them, it was their much needed therapy.

Mai's inner sanctum turned out to be quieter than even she was. For her and her beast, Kyu, their inner sanctum took the shape of a shrine that was similar to ones deep in the mountain forests above Kyoto. Apparently her family line had been guardians of a shrine near Lake Biwa for a couple centuries and had been outsiders among their pack. Being an outsider was how she and Tadashi had become friends when they were little and had stuck by each other ever since. The shrine had been a place of comfort for her as a kid, a sanctuary from the bullying she'd been on the receiving end of for years. It turned out that her beast had a soft spot for the sanctuary as well and, when they'd first made physical contact inside their shared mind, had created it for her.

As for Aiko's inner sanctum that she shared with her beast, Hinata, it had undergone a similar expansion that Suri and Atiena's had. Their inner forest had been a beachside cove, surrounded by forest on three sides and an endless ocean on the other. Before, when Aiko had come into her mind on the Lupanars she took her rest in a hammock covered by a shelter made of maple and oak canopies. Now, they too had taken the lead of their Queen and had started mentally constructing a proper shelter that was taking the form of a small bungalow. The fact that their inner sanctum was a beach reaffirmed what everyone had come to learn about Aiko and her love for water. It also did not dispel any rumors or implications that she may or may not have admitted that she really really wanted to go on a date with Izuku to the beach… for reasons.

Izuku was still getting the hang of letting his mind, one of his strongest features and talents, become its own being. Sure he'd always daydreamed and had no problems with that but mentally constructing an inner sanctum and molding it to his mind and soul's will was a bit of a different task. So far he'd managed to turn that black, inky, abyss where everything was hidden by a scribbled mess of living mist into a singular hallway made of steel and concrete. His descriptions had made it sound dilapidated but still, it was a start, and that was what was most important. Tonight, he let himself get comfortable in the warmth at his back, letting that fill him and ease any tension or stress as he let himself get to work once again.

"Take this time to bond with yourselves," Atiena said, as she wrapped herself around Suri and let herself and her power to come to the forefront. "I think the last few weeks have been a great experience for all of us and we've made some wonderful advancements. Remember to let yourselves be open to not only to your own beasts, but the ones by your side as well."

The clearing filled with the warm electricity flowing off of the wereanimals and the act made it clear as to why the grove had little to no snow inside of it. The warmth melted the frost near the large stone and the breeze that came with it pushed the frozen powder backwards like it was loose sand. The scent of wolf and leopard flooded the clearing, letting the air fill with the mixed smell of warm jungle and alpine forests with a hint of earth and cinnamon. As Atiena, Pazuzu, Kyu, and Hinata came forward and let their combined power roll and flow, so did One For All. While the beasts' powers flickered off of their skin with electric wind, Izuku had a soft glow on his skin with small jolts of lightning arcing off of him.

The flood of power made everyone shudder with anticipation as they worked to expand their shared minds. The inner sanctums of Suri, Tadashi, Aiko, and Mai continued to slowly morph as they openly shared power with their bonded beasts. All the while Izuku stood in front of the door at the end of the hallway inside of his mind, carefully looking over the locks he'd mentally placed there to keep it so his expanding powers didn't rip him into pieces. Even from inside this cold dark hallway he could feel the warmth from his friends caressing him, keeping him warm and feeling safe, even inside this dark recess of his own head. He heard Atiena again continuing to encourage him and everyone to try something new, something that would help each of them become stronger. He felt bold from hearing her in the distance and swallowed the lump in his throat as he hastily unlocked the seals on that cast iron door and reached for the handle. As soon as he touched the cold metal of the door handle, he froze again, scared to open it at the risk of getting ripped to shreds by the swollen power that had been cultivating inside OFA.

"Dammit… I'm right here, why am I scared?" Izuku scolded himself. "All Might, what would you do? You'd probably break down this door and just bust in with a smile right. Just like you always do. Heh. So why can't I do it? Suri, Atiena, Aiko, Pazuzu, Mai, they're all here to help me. They're pushing and trying their best, so why can't I take this step?"

Izuku growled and closed his eyes tight, gripping the handle to the point that his skin turned to a pale white from the pressure. His growl turned into a low, rumbling snarl that reverberated down the hallway in his mind. He recognized the snarl from when he'd been angry and filled with rage, knew it was his. If he couldn't be brave, he could at least be angry, that usually helped to stomp out the caution he'd have otherwise. He just needed that extra push and that's when he felt extra heat beside him as a hand wrapped around his own and pushed downward.

His emerald eyes flew open as the door began to creak and slowly swing inward. He felt a presence beside him and he went pale as he saw a figure standing next to him, one that was quite clearly a mirror image of his mother from back when she was just about his age. She was about his own height with a slightly toned build with long, emerald hair that rippled and waved toward the bottom. The biggest difference between her and the pictures he'd seen of his mom when she was younger was the makeup that included dark maroon lip gloss, and pink and black eyeshadow that made her black sclera darker and bright emerald eyes shine even brighter. She had a loose rocker chick vibe that he'd only ever encountered with Suri and Jirou which seemed to immediately quell the hesitation and nervousness inside him.

"You're…"

The woman grinned wide, bearing fangs and stifling a playful giggle as she pushed the door even wider. The motion startled Izuku and he froze again only to get two hands placed on the backs of his shoulder followed by a forceful push.

"C'mon, kid, the others are waiting for ya."

"Wait… you're… I-I…. mom?"

"Haha, not quite, sweetie," the woman laughed, walking backwards, hands shoved in the pockets of her baggy khaki capris. "The name's Izumi, nice to finally meet ya."