Hello, everyone. I'm glad to see so many people are still reading this story. Making something for myself and other people to enjoy was my whole aim with starting this project in the first place.

I'm still getting the overall picture together of how I want to specifically capture and portray canon events in the manga, and I like to think this chapter is the last example of my beginners' understanding of that plan, as a portion of it may be depicting events many of you already know, but don't let that dissuade you, this chapter does go into further original content afterwards, so I ask that you all please be patient and just read through to the end to get the experience I was aiming for. From here moving forward, I'm exercising a more restrained and selective means of portraying established events.

So with that being said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and if you do, or have anything you'd like to suggest as a legitimate improvement, or even if you want to just share what elements or parts you like most, please, leave a review so I can know for sure how people are receiving this story.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. The only thing I own is my original characters, and the alterations of events that result from their existence in this universe.

A/N: [[]] indicates that characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 7

Trial by Battle

(Испытание боем)

Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov had finished putting on the last piece of his brand new Hero suit, looking himself in the mirror, taking in the entire ensemble for the very first time. He briefly recalled just how unfamiliar he looked to his own eyes wearing the Yuuei uniform for the first time five days ago, and now he just wanted to laugh at that version of himself. This was a completely alien look on himself, on a completely different level. The entire getup was…unique, to say the least.

Sitting atop his head was a dark brown mariner's cap; the brim lined with a thin strip of what looked like brass. He wore a pair of circular, black-rimmed welding goggles he could just manage to see his own eyes through in his reflection. On his body, he wore a thin yet well-insulated dark red turtleneck that went all the way up his neck, and all the way down to his wrists. His hands were adorned with dark brown leather gloves, but the insides of the fingers were outfitted with strange mechanical inlets to slip his fingers through. Those inlets were attached to what looked like tiny microphone speakers sewn into the palms, joints and fingertips of the gloves themselves, lining up with each of the holes dotting his hands. Taking a wild guess, Nikolay figured they had to be there to help better control the exact amount of power he could release when the situation called for it. Down below he wore an especially tight pair of black pants, topped with rather tall black leather boots that went halfway up his calves. But nothing else about his new Hero costume resonated with him as much as the most standout piece that he wore over his turtleneck.

Over it, he was wearing dark olive-colored shirt that almost liked like a cross between an overcoat and a vest, ending in a sharp V-neck line halfway down his chest, with two lines of what looked like cylindrical pockets running across the chest from the V-neck, each one carrying what looked like a small tuning fork, meticulously sewn into the fabric itself (surely one of the touches his father had implemented). From the shoulders, two notable folds of the same fabric extended down his arms to his elbows, almost serving like makeshift protection from the rain. The skirt of the over-shirt extended down to just above his knees, and the entire front was split in the middle, buttoned together before splitting apart from the waist down. His waist was tied with a thin, gold-colored belt; from which hung two small pouches he discovered were filled with what looked like a tiny roll of nylon thread.

As he took it all in, especially the over-shirt that served as the centerpiece of it all, Nikolay felt himself starting to get choked up all over again. He had never dressed like this before, but there was something he knew to be so bitterly nostalgic about it, he could feel the stinging of tears beginning in his eyes from underneath his goggles again.

However, he could see the rest of his male classmates beginning to file out of the locker room to head for Grounds B, and so trying to stuff the emotion back down, he hurried on after them. Soon he was marching down the halls among the rest of his classmates, all now dressed in their own colorful and unique ensembles of Hero costumes. Trying to remain in the back of the crowd, it was hard for him to identify a good number, but there were some he could not possibly mistake among them, and he found himself taking in the costumes they had all apparently come up with the designs for themselves.

Spotting the very familiar head of red spiky hair that was Eijirou Kirishima, Nikolay found his costume of two clock gear-looking shoulder pads, baggy black pants and, from what little he could see, a black face guard, to be very unusual, especially since he wore nothing but the shoulder pads over his torso.

A little ways ahead, he could recognize the short brown hair that belonged to Ochako Uraraka, even if she was wearing what almost looked like a pink helmet, and a black full bodysuit with pink circular wrist guards, and similarly pink yet bulky-looking boots.

Not far from there, he was surprised at how casual the suits for Denki Kaminari and Kyouka Jirou were. They pretty much looked like plain street clothes, with similar leather jackets and casual t-shirts, jeans and shorts. The only outlandish parts were the little red marks painted under Kyouka's eyes, and the blue-tinted sunglasses that Denki almost looked like he was wearing upside-down.

Easily able to spot her by her constant slouch, Tsuyu Asui looked to be wearing what was essentially a green and black wetsuit with a set of large orange goggles resting atop her head that resembled frog eyes, and from where he stood from behind, he saw what looked like a single stripe of green face paint running across her face and under her big eyes.

Taking the lead of the whole crowd, and unable to be missed with his spiky blonde hair, Bakugo was wearing what looked like a sleeveless black and orange shirt, but the most standout (and yet most fitting) detail was the massive wrist guards or bracers he was wearing that deliberately resembled giant frag grenades. Every single chance he got, Bakugo was making Nikolay believe with more and more confidence he had a better mentality for being a Villain than an actual Hero. Not that he was ever going to say so if he valued his life.

Also prominently taking the lead was a particularly taller boy in a pristine suit of white armor, complete with a very well-designed mask and helmet that completely protected their head, and almost gave them the look of what Nikolay could only describe as a modern day cyborg or knight. If it hadn't been for the two rows of what looked like engine pipes protruding from the back, he never would have ultimately guessed it was Tenya Iida in that getup.

Some pronounced hurrying footsteps coming up from behind got Nikolay's attention, and he was met with someone about his size, dressed in a full body green suit with a full-head mask lined with what looked like a drawn on smile lining the jaw. The part covering the face was somewhat transparent, but the eyes looking through, he could quickly recognize, were Izuku's. The boy looked to be in far too much of a rush to catch up, to really notice the young Russian looking at him. Nikolay almost felt the beginnings of a snicker building up when he noticed the two protrusions from Izuku's mask that at first resembled bunny ears, but he then began to realize looked more like the V-shaped locks of hair that All Might had. Izuku's suit was certainly cruder than a lot of the other students' but he could not deny there was also a very pleasant homemade charm to it, almost as though his own mother personally tailored it.

Of course, such a thought brought his mind back to his own suit, and with it, the burgeoning swell of emotion he had been trying to keep from coming out in front of everyone. He was trying hard not to focus on it, when another pair of footsteps began noticeably approaching from his side.

"Kolya-kun! I was looking for you in the crowd, I was starting to think you got left behind!" Minas' cheerful voice was almost echoing down the halls, she sounded so excited. Nikolay was just grateful everyone else was too busy chattering among themselves to pay attention. When he turned to address his sudden companion, what he saw made every word vanish.

Mina Ashido was wearing a simple white eye-mask on her face that perfectly framed her eyes, with a single line running down the middle of each. But the rest of her costume dwarfed that little detail. She was wearing a sleeveless unbuttoned tan leather vest that only reached halfway down her torso, and the collar was lined with a trim of white fur that actually resembled her just-as fluffy pink hair. Underneath that, she wore a skintight single piece bodysuit sporting a camouflage design, but in splotches of purple and turquoise, that ended just at her chest; and finally down below she had on a pair of surprisingly heavy-duty looking plumb and tan-colored boots.

For as much of her pink skin was revealed in this getup, the bodysuit itself left virtually nothing to the imagination as to her clearly athletic and shapely figure; a realization that was not lost on Nikolay, as he had to force himself to keep staring ahead down the hall and hope it was dark enough that Mina couldn't see him blushing.

"Isn't this amazing? We finally get to see the costumes we drew up brought to life; and we actually get to wear them! Oh, everybody's outfits look SO COOL! This has got to be the best day ever!" Mina's excitement was higher than he had seen from her yet (a fact he himself found almost impossible to believe), but it was easy to sense that everybody else was feeling pretty much the same. "Some are certainly more…unexpected than others, while some are just plain obvious."

"Ooh, but what about yours, Kolya-kun? Did you design your own costume, too? I've been through more than a few dozen fashion stores and magazines, and I've never seen a style like this before." Mina's fascination with his outlandish over-shirt was crystal clear, but he was quick to drive the attention away from himself as much as possible, as always. "This is nothing I could have come up with myself, I've never designed any clothing before; I wouldn't even know where to start. The hat, turtleneck and the gloves don't typically go with this, but it's actually called a chokha. It's a traditionally Georgian outfit."

By this point they had transitioned further into the crowd of their classmates, and Nikolay and Mina's banter over his costume couldn't help but draw the attention of Denki and Kyouka. "Did you say Georgian? What, you mean like the American state? No way, I've never seen an American wear something like that." Denki joked before being swiftly silenced by a light elbow to the ribs from Kyouka. "He's from Eastern Europe, of course he doesn't mean the state, dummy. There's also a small country in that region called Georgia."

Kyouka's answer was painfully blunt, but it was still enough to get an amused chuckle out of Denki. "Well, well, the recluse turns out to be a geography major." The purple-haired girl just gave a grumble of distaste, rolling her eyes as she left Denki behind. At the same time, Nikolay was mildly impressed at her display of uncommon knowledge, while Mina was visibly confused. "Wait, I thought you were Russian, Kolya-kun. I didn't think you would go for wearing something totally different from that."

It was such a blunt and, frankly, childish assumption to make, but Nikolay did realize that outside of their school uniforms, he had given her no reason not to think he chose to dress strictly Slavic-style. "Oh, I am Russian. But my mother, she was Georgian-born Russian." This unexpected mention of family made Mina perk her head up in curiosity as she began looking up and down Nikolay's costume in keen interest. "Really? Did your mom design your costume? You don't have to be embarrassed if she did. My mom helped me with a lot of the design for mine. See?" With this, she lifted one of her feet, hopping on one foot to keep pace, and revealed two rows of small holes lining the sole of her boot. "I melted so many pairs of shoes, trying to get the hang of my slide. She helped me find the materials to make my whole costume acid-proof, and the design to make me able to slide with these babies on."

While Mina was putting on an awkward smile to try and help him feel less embarrassed, Nikolay's mind was honestly far from that moment. The subject had once again left him with a painful cold sensation in the pit of his stomach. "Yeah. Yeah, my mother did design this…well, most of it, anyway." At his admittance, Mina's eyes (and especially her sharp fashion sense) lit up, as she couldn't hide her admiration for the design of it any longer.

"Wow, it's so snazzy-looking, and in a simple way, too. It's so hard to strike a balance between those things. Your mom must be really talented. Do you think she would be willing to design something like this for me if I asked? Not for a Hero costume, but it just looks like it would be so comf—"No. She's…she's not around anymore."

Nikolay's blunt refusal blindsided Mina, as his normally awkward demeanor was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced with an air of cold emotional distance much like what she had witnessed earlier in the cafeteria. Just like before, she felt a wrenching in her chest to see the young Russian boy looking like this. "I…I'm sorry, Kolya-kun, I didn't mean to get all pushy. If I'd known your parents weren't together, I wouldn't have—"No. I mean she's…" Nikolay had to swallow an upcoming choke, as he tried to gather his senses. "I mean she's really not around anymore."

Just like that, the air around Nikolay grew so much thicker and colder with dread. From where she stood beside him, Mina could tell she wasn't the only one who felt the change, as several of their classmates around had clearly overheard what he had just admitted, and likewise felt the anticipation in the air drop. Just like that, so much of why Nikolay was always so insistent on being so emotionally distant from others, why he was always acting so withdrawn, why he never wanted to talk about himself or where he came from, it all began to make so much more sense.

With the goggles over Nikolays' eyes, Mina couldn't see just what was being reflected in them, but she could see he was pursing his lips again, as people were want to do when they were trying to keep themselves from crying. She didn't dare to ask if he was okay; how could anyone be okay after having to bring up something so personal, and so painful?

Before long, the class had finally exited out of the tunnel and found themselves standing amid an empty replica of the city, virtually identical to the training grounds for the entrance exam. And, standing as loyally vigilant as ever while awaiting their arrival was All Might. "Let's see what you're made of, you embryos! It's time for the Trial of Battle," he wasted no time announcing, and while nobody said anything, the anticipation in the air was undeniable.

The Symbol of Peace began silently looking them all over with that unreadable smile on his face, proudly taking in all their individual tastes in Hero costumes. "I'm liking everyone's styles! Very cool!" For a moment, All Might's focus was shaken, and to anyone really listening close, he momentarily sounded as though he were trying to stifle a laugh. Had they looked, they would have seen it was in response to the protrusions from the mask of Izuku's costume; the obvious allusion to his own V-shaped golden locks.

Without missing a beat, Tenya dutifully shot his hand up to get their teachers' attention. "Sensei! Regarding the performance ground we'll be using, is it the mock city from the entrance exam?" All Might seemed to be glowing even further with pride, as though he were just chomping at the bit to get this trial started and see what his students could do. "You'll see—in fact, take two steps and you'll be there! This will be an indoor battle trial!" With that, he motioned towards an un-outstanding office building nestled between a couple other similar-looking structures. This was to be the place they were going to conduct the trial in.

"Villain cleanup is usually seen out in the open, but statistically, the better part of it is an indoor job. Most acts of Villainy are committed indoors. Imprisonment, house arrest, the black market; in this Hero saturated society…hehe…why, any Villain with intelligence is lurking in the shadows! For this test, you'll separate into 'Hero' and 'Villain' groups. For a two-on-two team battle!"

In the wake of All Might's announcement, a wave of apprehension began to settle among a good number of the students, especially Nikolay. To think that they would go through the entire school year without having to fight other students or each other for the sake of improving their effectiveness in the field, was just plain foolish. However, none had thought they would have to do so this early into the year.

"What about the foundational training?" Tsuyus' nasally voice spoke up, only for All Might to close an encouraging fist in confirmation: "THIS IS FOUNDATIONAL TRAINING! Only this time, there won't be any robots it'd be okay to just destroy!" By this point, several of the students began following in kind with their own questions; ranging from the conditions of victory and loss from Momo, permission to blow the opponent away from Bakugo; worries about further threats of expulsion from Ochako; the specifics of how groups are formed from Tenya; and a barely noticeable quip about the quality of his costumes' cape from Aoyama. All the while, All Might simply looked shaken, overwhelmed by the questions all coming at once.

Finally, he redirected the discussion by pulling out a tiny folded piece of paper, looking at it seriously as he recited what was written down, much to everyone's surprise he would come so visibly unprepared. "For this training, we'll have some "Villains" guard a nuclear weapon they intend on deploying! The Heroes must stop them and their nefarious scheme before it's too late! If the Heroes capture the Villains or reach the nuclear core before the time runs out, they win. If the Villains manage to keep the core the whole time or capture the Heroes, they win."

The rules sounded simple enough to virtually everyone, and taking that cue, All Might suddenly pulled out a crude little box labeled 'lots', with a little hole in the top. "Your teammates and opponents will be chosen by lottery!" At this, Tenya in particular visibly flinched with surprise. "Is that really how we'll do it?!"

From where he stood among the throng, Nikolay could see Izuku most likely explaining the benefits of such random team selection, since it seemed to make Tenya visibly lose tension, but so much of it was going in one ear and out the other. Ever since it had been said they were going to be fighting each other, all Nikolay could feel was an unsettled trembling from the soles of his boots to the top of his head. More than anything right now, he just wanted to turn around and run from this test above all others. He would have happily taken robots any day. The idea of actually turning his Quirk against anyone here left his stomach in knots.

"All Might-sensei! Normally a two-on-two team battle would be easy to organize, but Class 1-A has an odd number of students this year. How are we to arrange our teams with that setup?" Momo suddenly asked, and everyones' head immediately perked up, having forgotten that tidbit in the midst of their excitement. However, All Might, as always, remained as glowingly confident as ever. "Yes, I had taken that into consideration, which is why I wished to inform you all that among the letters that will designate who is in what team, one of those letters has an extra third ball, which will designate the members of one three-person team. Whether that team will serve as 'Heroes' or 'Villains' remains to be seen."

Now, the chatter among the class was at a fever pitch. The idea of a two-on-three battle got the likes of Bakugo visibly fired up, while others looked understandably uncertain of their own odds if they were unlucky enough to face that situation. Nevertheless, before long, the team lot drawings had finally commenced, and before long, everyone had their teams selected as followed:

Team A was comprised of Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka.

Team B was composed of the red-and-white haired boy, Shoto Todoroki (who Nikolay now noticed had the entire left half of his body encased in a full suit of actual ice) and Mezo Shouji.

Team C was comprised of Momo Yaoyorozu and Denki Kaminari.

Team D was composed of Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida (much to their mutual consternation.)

Team E was composed of Mina Ashido and the fancy armor-clad Yuga Aoyama. As much as nervousness was dominating Nikolay's thoughts, he was still able to feel disappointment they didn't manage to get into the same team. He had no idea what to expect out of anyone else.

Team F was composed of the muscular big-lipped boy, Rikido Sato, and the rock-headed boy, Kouji Koda.

Team G was comprised of Nikolay Bezpalov himself and Kyouka Jirou, whose lack of reaction left the young Russian more than a little put off.

Team H was comprised of Tsuyu Asui and Hanta Sero, whom was almost unrecognizable underneath his black and orange costume and domed helmet.

Team I was comprised of the blonde tailed boy, Mashirao Ojiro, and Tooru Hagakure (who Nikolay and many of the other boys had now realized only had a pair of light blue boots and gloves to comprise her Hero costume. Once that, coupled with her Quirk being invisibility, registered, many of the boys instinctively felt their faces going red at the inevitable conclusion they reached.)

And finally, Team J turned out to be the ones to draw the lucky three entries, and thus was now comprised of Tokoyami Fumikage, Eijirou Kirishima, and Minoru Mineta.

The buzz of excitement among the respective teams was almost deafening, before All Might drew their attention to the two boxes standing next to his sides, labeled 'Heroes' and 'Villains'. This was it, the moment of truth to see who would be facing against whom. Even despite his apprehension to the test as a whole, Nikolay could not deny the almost natural sense of anticipation.

"And the first two pairs to do combat will be the following!" Finally, he pulled out two orbs in each hand, labeled 'A' and 'D'. "Pair A will be Heroes! Pair D will be Villains!" Many of the observing students didn't feel the intense spark that surged through the participants themselves, as well as those that had come to know the truth about them. Even Nikolay felt his mouth go dry out of concern for what was coming: Izuku and Bakugo were finally going to go head-to-head. Even the lingering urge to laugh at the appropriate placement of Bakugo as a Villain didn't dare come up.

"This scenario has the Villains inside the building first! Then, after five minutes, the Heroes will be let in as well! Everyone else will be able to watch what unfolds through the surveillance cameras! This will allow Iida-shonen and Bakugo-shonen to get inside the heads of Villainkind! This is a practical training exercise! So go all out without fear of injury! Though naturally we'll cut it short if things get out of hand."

With that, the two teams set off, and the rest of the class followed their teacher down another passage connected to the trial building, until they found themselves in an underground surveillance room, adorned with multiple screens that seemed to show every room of every floor above. From what they could see, Bakugo and Tenya had already set themselves up in a larger room on the top floor, where there stood an admittedly crude-looking replica of an almost cartoonish depiction of a nuke.

Shortly after, an electronic voice announced from within the surveillance room and the trial building itself: "TRIAL OF INDOOR BATTLE: START!" Everyone's anticipation was silent yet simmering as they all began watching every monitor with the utmost concentration, while All Might simply stood by, observing everything with that ever-present smile. "Now watch and hatch strategies of your own, everyone!"

After observing Izuku and Ochako entering through the window, the next several minutes passed by in tense silence. Nobody said a word, instead simply taking in the layout of the building itself, every one of them no doubt coming up with their own plans already. All the while, Nikolay was teetering on a fragile balance between his personal anxiety for what would happen when it would eventually be his turn, and his concern for what was going to happen once Izuku and Bakugo finally faced each other.

Shortly after Izuku and Ochako had rounded the corner to another hall and made their way, out of nowhere, Bakugo came rushing in like a flash, punctuated in the surveillance room by the screechy voice of Minoru Mineta declaring: "A SUDDEN AMBUSH!"

In the blink of an eye, an explosion erupted in the hall, and for a moment, many of the students couldn't help but feel the first battle trial was already over. However, once the smoke managed to clear, many felt awash with relief that Izuku had managed to push both himself and Ochako out of the line of fire, even though the green-haired boy had lost half of his costumes' mask in the process.

"That Bakugo's a cheater! An ambush is so unmanly!" Eijirou instinctively voiced his distaste at what they had just seen, while All Might remained as resolute as always, simply stating: "Ambushes are good strategy! They are in the heat of battle, after all!" At the same time, Mina was eagerly looking back and forth from the screen to Eijirou and Nikolay, almost bouncing in excitement. "Midori-kun actually ducked away from it pretty well, though!" Nikolay, while silent, likewise felt relief at Izuku's improved reflexes, but that didn't change the fact that this fight was now in full swing, and Bakugo clearly wasn't going to pull any punches.

Already, Bakugo was reeling his right arm back for another explosive strike, but this time, to everyone's surprise, Izuku instead rushed at his hotheaded opponent and grappled his attacking arm, before suddenly managing to turn himself around and flip Bakugo over, slamming him hard into the floor. There were scattered vocalizations of amazement from the rest of the class as they watched the fight with bated breath.

The tension between the two felt just as palpable on screen as it did in the flesh, as Izuku showed none of the timid nature he had with Bakugo in the past. It was like a complete transformation as he stood defiantly against the explosive student, whom looked utterly blindsided by what had just happened.

"Just look at him. It's like he's a totally different person right now, not backing down an inch. So manly." Eijirou commented, mostly to himself, while Nikolay and Mina were both smiling in satisfaction at such an awesome display of courage; although Mina couldn't help but slightly giggle in amusement to herself. "Maybe it's because Midori-kun really wants to protect Urara-chan. I mean, she said 'Deku' gives her a never-give-up kind of vibe, right? Maybe he's trying to live up to that for her. So sweet!"

Even in the face of the now dreamy air Mina's voice had suddenly taken, Nikolay was watching the unfolding events with intent. Her theory could have had some weight, but as he observed Izuku and Bakugo now facing off, with Ochako having now been fortunate enough to not get caught in between, he could not help but think back on what Izuku had said during lunch: "If Kacchan were to get right up to that level so I could stand alongside him, and he could acknowledge me as his equal again…well, that would be really nice, too."

More than anything, the idea that Izuku was finally standing up to Bakugo in order to cement that idea of them being equals made the most sense to him. However, he could not let himself get too wrapped up in his own introspection, as on the screen, it looked like Bakugo was now talking, or rather snapping, at nobody in particular. However, all the class, despite their curiosity, was only met with silence.

"What is he saying? There's no sound through the surveillance footage." Eijirou asked anxiously, while All Might continued watching the unfolding events with silent excitement. "Teammates can communicate through wireless transceivers. And they all have a rough sketch of the building." As he explained, he quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny roll of what looked like masking tape. "And then there's this capture tape. The second someone's wrapped this around their opponent, that's the sign they're 'captured'."

The students began anxiously murmuring among themselves as this sudden detail was made clearer. Among them, Nikolay suddenly thought of something he had neglected to at the outset. "Sensei, the time limit is fifteen minutes, and the Heroes don't know exactly where the core is being held, right?" "YES!" All Might declared with excessive bravado as Nikolay tried to stay focused on his sudden realization. "Each time Midoriya-san has used his Quirk, at least I'm basing this on what Iida-san said, he's gotten himself critically hurt. The instant he uses his Quirk, he's essentially out of the rest of the fight, and I don't see how Uraraka-san's Quirk would be useful in an enclosed environment like that, and they're both up against much more experienced Quirk-users."

As he tried to lay out all the disadvantageous factors at play, many of the students likewise felt their own sense of uncertainty in the result coming about. Even Mina's once excited smile had now given way to a look of particular concern. "The Hero side is at a pretty big disadvantage in this scenario." However, despite all of this, All Might's confident air still refused to wane, as he simply looked proudly upon all the students he towered over. "Didn't Aizawa teach you kids our motto? Say it with me now!"

Like a well rehearsed chorus, everyone but Nikolay instinctively shouted "PLUS ULTRA" alongside the Symbol of Peace, only for the fanciful voice of Aoyama to suddenly break the excitement as he mentioned Bakugo's name, drawing everyone's attention back to the screens.

In the few seconds they had let themselves get distracted, Bakugo had gone after Izuku again, while Ochako had taken off on her own. Izuku was still managing to hold his own, even ensnaring Bakugo's attacking foot with his own roll of capture tape. Even despite this, Bakugo was still throwing one explosion after another at him, yet Izuku was still managing to keep himself in the fight and dodging them for everything he was worth.

"Look at him go! He hasn't used his Quirk once, but he's still going toe-to-toe with the kid who got first place in the entrance exam," exclaimed Rikido Sato, while everyone else was equally impressed speechless. Once Bakugo had gotten sufficiently ensnared, Izuku took the chance to actually run away, while Bakugo made quick work of his trappings with yet more furious explosions.

"Damn, that kid's pissed! It's actually pretty scary…" Denki Kaminari commented to nobody in particular. There was certainly no denying that, as Nikolay was silently thanking whatever universal power was listening that he hadn't been unlucky enough to get Bakugo as an opponent in this trial.

As they all watched the pursuit continue from one screen to the next, Nikolay soon found himself taking in the setup of the building itself, primarily the practically unlit narrow corridors and the numerous twists and turns. On one hand he was trying to commit the layout to memory while he could, but at the same time there was another stirring of apprehension in the pit of his stomach as he took the gravity of it all in.

"Hey, are you all right, Kolya-kun?" Mina's much softer voice suddenly broke his unconscious concentration as he realized she was once again looking at him with that worried look in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay. Why do you ask?" he had no choice but answer awkwardly while her gaze shifted slightly lower before meeting his eyes again. "Well…because your hands are shaking."

His eyes widened with surprise as he looked down and saw, much to his momentary confusion, that his hands were indeed trembling at his sides. "Oh. I-I hadn't even noticed. I think it might be from just looking at the setup we're all going to be going through. I…I'm not entirely sure how or when it started, but I've never… really been comfortable with dark, enclosed spaces. They just really…really make me anxious."

As embarrassed as he was at that moment, having to actually say it out loud, it was only exacerbated by the unmistakable sound of Kyouka Jirou making the slightest 'tch' sound in response. As humiliating as that was; he couldn't necessarily blame her. They were going to be in those halls together soon enough, and if he was going to be a hindrance in the heat of it, of course she was going to voice her displeasure at it. Who wouldn't?

"Hey, Uraraka-chan made it!" Tooru Hagakure suddenly exclaimed, and sure enough, everyone's attention flocked to the screen depicting Tenya and the fake nuke, and barely visible behind one of the pillars, was Ochako in her pink-visor helmet. Though the video quality wasn't the best, it looked from a distance as though she was trying not to laugh, but whatever she had done had been enough to get Tenya's attention as he visibly got into a defensive stance, motioning to the floor with his arms, before slowly starting to approach her as she nervously stepped out into the open.

"She's at a serious disadvantage indoors. If Iida-san's Quirk really does grant him super speed, then there's virtually nothing she can do to avoid him if he decides to charge at her." Nikolay was essentially talking to himself, but enough of his classmates had overheard, to the point that the air was steadily growing more tense, with many silently pulling for her to do something miraculous.

"Oh damn, look!" Hanta Sero suddenly exclaimed likewise, and like a hive mind, everyone followed his pointing finger to see on another screen, that Bakugo now had Izuku dead in his sights in another hallway, with one hand extended despite the distance. "What is he doing? He can't really trigger explosions from a distance, can he?" Mashirao Ojiro muttered to no one, but the question now rang equally loud in everyones' heads. As if to answer their question, Bakugo began to reach for one of the pull-rings attached to the hand grenade-looking bracer on his extended arm.

For the first time since the trial began, All Might's confident exterior shook, and he swiftly grabbed the microphone sitting at the control panel. "BAKUGO-SHONEN, STOP THIS! YOU'LL KILL HIM!" For once, the whole class could now hear what was going on up above, as Bakugo's snarling voice replied: "IF IT DOESN'T HIT HIM, HE WON'T DIE!"

Before anyone could even begin to think of just what kind of a sociopath the boy on screen really was; with a sadistic grin on his face, Bakugo finally pulled the pin from his bracer, and the entire screen was instantly filled with a blinding light, instantly followed by a tremendous rumbling from above, almost as though the whole ceiling was about to come crashing down on their heads. Many of the students had already reflexively cried out in surprise and fear before the rumbling just as quickly subsided.

"What the hell is that maniac doing?! This is meant to be a lesson!" Eijirou exclaimed, unable to hide the shaking in his voice, while All Might was frantically searching the now out-of-commission screens for some kind of visual sign. "MIDORIYA-SHONEN!" Unfortunately, there was no discernible answer.

As the rest of the students began to calm themselves from the admittedly terrifying surprise rumbling, Mina quickly noticed Nikolay was no longer standing at her side like before. Instead, she now found him shaking like a leaf on the floor where he once stood, curled up tight into a ball; his breathing shaky and panicked, nearly to the point of hyperventilating.

While she was busily trying to get through to the shaken young boy and get him to look at her, the rest of the class was back to watching what screens were left to see what was happening. One by one, the feeds began to return, and soon they had their eyes on Izuku and Bakugo again; the two of them now standing amid the rubble of several blown out walls, leaving a massive hole in the side of the trial building.

On the screens depicting the confrontation between Ochako and Tenya, the latter had clearly been very distracted by the recent explosion, and the former had decided to seize the opportunity, rushing the armored boy. As he began to intercept her path, she brought her hands together, and with a single hop, she suddenly levitated right over his head; earning surprised exclamations from many of the onlookers at this unexpected extension of her Zero Gravity Quirk.

However, the advantage didn't last long, for as soon as Ochako touched her hands together to bring her gravity back, giving her a straight shot at the nuke, Tenya snatched it in the blink of an eye with his super speed, sending Ochako crashing and rolling on impact.

Everyone was anxiously switching from one confrontation to the next, none of them certain who would ultimately come out on top. As this whole scenario kept unfolding, Mina was still anxiously trying to get Nikolay to steady his breathing in order to calm his nerves. Thankfully, her persistent care had finally started paying off, as the Russian boys' trembling finally seemed to subside, and his eyes began to reflect a return to reality as he looked in confusion at why he was in the fetal position on the floor.

"Oh, thank God, I wasn't sure what else to do if you didn't snap out of it. What the heck happened, Kolya-kun? What was that?" Mina asked, not even trying to downplay just how off guard his little episode had caught her. Unfortunately, the confused look on Nikolay's face told her she wasn't going to get any answers. "I-I don't know. All that rumbling started from that explosion, and I…I just blacked out, or panicked, I'm not sure which."

Mina was visibly not satisfied with that non-answer, but before she could ask anything else, both their attention was drawn by another worried exclamation from Eijirou, who by now was anxiously at All Mights' side; the both of them watching a screen depicting Bakugo now aiming his other hand at Izuku, who was currently incapacitated in the rubble.

"Sensei, please put a stop to this! That Bakugo kid's gone mental! At this rate, he'll kill him!" Despite the crystal clear pleading in the redheaded boys' voice, All Might simply answered: "No." Instead, steadying himself once more, he took hold of the microphone again, with surprisingly no anger or any other outlandish emotion evident in his powerful tone. "Bakugo-shonen, if you shoot another blast like that, I'll end this exercise forcibly and you will lose. Launching an attack with such an extensive damage radius while indoors defeats the purpose of protecting your stronghold. It doesn't matter if you're a Hero or a Villain; that was just foolish. Once more and you'll earn yourself massive demerits!"

All Might's announcement seemed to leave a visible effect, as Bakugo's already aggressive stance devolved into one of complete and utter rage; culminating in him launching himself straight at Izuku, who looked like he was already prepared to intercept. However, before everyones' eyes, at the last second, Bakugo suddenly ignited an explosion from one hand, altering his trajectory and sending him flipping right over Izuku's head and completely past his grapple. As soon as he got behind the green-haired boys' back, he stopped his momentum with another explosion, while at the same time igniting another one from his opposite hand, delivering a devastating payload point-blank into Izuku's back.

While many of the other students couldn't help but voice their observations, Nikolay simply felt his blood go cold seeing Izuku get waylaid so harshly. For all his courage, it was looking more and more like he was simply out of his element against someone like Bakugo, who now demonstrated he was not only physically dangerous, but frighteningly intelligent when it came to using his Quirk for fighting.

While Izuku was writhing in pain from the concussive power and the heat, Bakugo was already reeling for another strike. Even through his visible pain, Izuku already was preparing to deflect, but instead of another expected punch, Bakugo instead grappled him by the arm, and proceeded to ignite several explosions from his free hand, propelling himself into a spin, and thus allowing him to flip Izuku over his head, and slam him down hard into the ground with one hand.

By now, even among the scattered exclamations of indignation from the others about this no longer being a fight but outright bullying, there was one air of complete agreement among the rest of Class 1-A as they observed this utter beatdown. As much as many of them hated to admit it, Nikolay especially, there was simply no use further denying it: when it came to sheer intuition in the chaos of battle, Katsuki Bakugo was nothing short of a total monster.

As he towered over Midoriya, preparing himself for the final strike, the green-haired boy below looked about as helpless as a lamb on the line for slaughter. Such an awful sight honestly tugged at the heartstrings of a good few of their classmates. Even Nikolay was finally beginning to feel the same urges as Eijirou had, all but ready to beg All Might to put an end to this carnage before it was too late. For a moment, something in his head was even urging him to go out there and put an end to it himself if he had no other choice. Common sense of course won out, but for an instant, the thought had been there.

Suddenly, Izuku got back to his feet and took off in a desperate sprint, trying to put as much distance between himself and Bakugo; earning several confused and, perhaps even disappointed, mutterings from the others as they could not take their eyes off the screen. "What the-? Midori-kun's running away!" Mina instinctively exclaimed in disbelief, while Eijirou let out an immensely heavy sigh. "Yeah, it's not terribly manly, but hell, I'd do the same if I were him. Something seems a bit off, though."

Nikolay wanted to ask his redheaded compatriot to explain, but right now he was simply too anxious to see how Izuku was going to get out of this mess, if he even could; an especially good question once the boy found himself up against the wall, well and truly cornered by Bakugo again.

For once, everyone in the room could finally hear what was going on in that fight again, as All Might had silently grown so tense watching the two; he had inadvertently turned the microphone on again. "Why won't you use your goddamn Quirk, already?! You looking down on me?! Ever since we were little kids, you've always been like that! ARE YOU LOOKING DOWN ON ME, YOU WORTHLESS NERD!? HUH?!"

Bakugo's rage was at a level so different from his outburst at the apprehension test. There was a much deeper, personal depth to it, one frankly lost on many of the others, but one that resonated much more with Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou, remembering what Izuku had admitted to them before about their history.

"That's not it. Kacchan, it's because you're amazing that I wanna win! I WANNA WIN AND SURPASS YOU! HOW DO YOU NOT GET THAT, YOU DUMBASS!?" "KNOCK THAT EXPRESSION OFF YOUR SHITTY NERD FACE!" Izuku and Bakugo had both broken out into both different-yet-similar outbursts of long repressed but clearly powerful raw emotion, their faces twisting with fury on Bakugos' part, and anger and sadness on Izukus'.

This display of clearly historical rivalry brought out into the open left the whole class shaken. It was honestly like watching a legitimate clash of brothers, like something born from the most intense of Shakespearean scenarios. "Man, Bakugo really won't let it go, will he?" was the only comment that could be made, from a clearly stunned Kyouka Jirou, while everyone could only silently agree.

Finally, the standoff was coming to a head, as Izuku and Bakugo finally began to close the distance, both reeling for what was surely going to be their final attacks. The flare of another explosion began building in the palm of Bakugo's hand with each passing second, and Izuku's arm began to emit a red lightning from within as the two boys edged closer and closer to impact. What was about to come was going to be devastating for both, and everyone knew it in their gut. Once these two finally met, this fight would be over, one way or another.

"Sensei! Enough is enough already! Sensei!" Eijirou's once anxious protests had turned into a cry of desperation, and by now, everyone could see even All Might himself was visibly shaken and breaking out into a nervous sweat as he finally acquiesced and grabbed the microphone. "Attention both teams! The match is suspe—"I'M HERE, URARAKA!"

Izuku's sudden announcement brought the entire surveillance room to a stand still. Those that instinctively turned to the screen with Tenya and Ochako, found the gravity girl was at that moment, clinging onto a pillar with both hands. Before anyone could even ask what was going on, Izuku and Bakugo were finally within striking distance. However, as Bakugo unleashed the full fury of another bracer explosion straight into Izuku's face, the freckled boy instead directed his illuminated striking arm straight upwards into the ceiling.

The resulting boom and shaking was deafening and devastating, as every single window for several floors up exploded simultaneously, and a gaping hole was blown through several floors directly above at once. The surveillance footage in Tenya and Ochako's floor somehow managed to stay intact, as the floor directly beneath Ochako's feet was blown out, sending numerous chunks of debris flying. However, she and the pillar she clung onto managed to stay afloat. Without any hesitation, she swung the pillar like a baseball bat, sending several pieces of rubble flying at Tenya, who instinctively set himself up to block it. However, while he did so, Ochako used the momentum from her swing to propel herself just past him, and before he could react, she planted both hands and feet onto the side of the nuke.

"Oh my God, she actually did it! She did it!" Hagakure immediately began cheering excitedly, while many others now instinctively returned to the aftermath of Izuku and Bakugos' fight. As the smoke cleared, both boys were miraculously still standing. Like everyone else around him in that crowd, Nikolay felt his heart light up when he saw the extent of Bakugos' explosion had only gone so far as burning away the left sleeve of Izuku's costume. His arm was especially burnt, but the damage was far less severe than everyone had feared it would be. He had managed to dodge the worst of it at the last possible second.

Seeing both results, the tension in All Mights' stalwart frame vanished, and with a visible air of both relief and pride, he grabbed the microphone and declared with the utmost bravado: "The Heroes…the Hero team…WIIIIIIIIN!" And as if just waiting for their cue, that was when Izuku finally collapsed to the floor, and Bakugo likewise collapsed to his knees, a look of the utmost disbelief and shock plastered on his face.

"Now then, I shall recollect our participants and we can officially begin their critique." All Might announced, swiftly making his exit while everyone else kept looking at the aftermath of what had unfolded, all visibly shocked, and some even looking pensive. On the screens, Ochako was currently hunched over and dry heaving from the overuse of her Quirk, and a couple of tiny robots with a stretcher had arrived on the scene below, loading Izuku up and taking him away. That was when the rest of the class had realized that his right arm, the one he had used his Quirk with, was horribly bent and discolored. As painful as it was to look at, after what they had witnessed at the entrance exam and the apprehension test, such a sight was hardly surprising.

"The losing team is fairly uninjured; the winning team is collapsed…in other words, they lost the scuffle, but won the match," Nikolay finally found the first words he could say after everything that had just transpired. "This was only ever just training, though." Tsuyu Asui answered bluntly. That was the scariest thing, as far as the Russian boy was concerned. What they had just witnessed had all the intensity and bloodlust of an actual fight to the death, and yet it was still technically no more than training for the real thing that was inevitably to come.

While everyone else was slowly beginning to recover from the shellshock of such a spectacle, Nikolays' right hand had barely begun trembling again.

When All Might had finally returned with Ochako, Tenya and Bakugo in tow, he motioned for everyone else to stand across and observe, while the other three now stood in a row, as though on display. For a good few moments, nobody said a word, and All Mights' static expression was looking over the three participants with a silent intensity. However, before long, he finally put his hands on his hips, threw his head back, and spoke with complete confidence: "Hmm, I'd say the best in this match was Iida-shonen!" This announcement immediately caught the bespectacled boy off-guard as his whole body flinched with surprise, barely managing a confused stutter.

"But weren't the winners Ochako-san and Midoriya-san?" Tsuyu asked, her monotone voice actually carrying an air of legit confusion that matched the looks on everyone elses' face. All Might let out an amused chuckle before shooting his hand up into the air. "I wonder why I could possibly think so? WHO KNOWS WHY?!"

Like a shot, Momo had her arm raised likewise. "Yes, All Might-sensei. It's because Iida-san was the one who adapted the most to the situation. Having watched the fight, Bakugos' behavior was clearly driven by some personal grudge, and thus totally arbitrary. Furthermore, just as you told us earlier, sensei, a large range attack in an indoor arena is just plain idiotic. The same reasoning goes for Midoriya-san. Uraraka-san's game got loose halfway through, and her final attack was far too reckless. We were treating that papier-mâché prop as an actual nuclear weapon, so that kind of attack wouldn't have flown. Iida-san devised a counter-strategy against an opponent because he correctly realized the match revolved around the core itself. While he was too slow in reacting to that last attack, I believe the Hero teams' so-called 'victory' is being too nice in calling this 'just training'. And that gets dangerously close to skirting the spirit of the rules."

Nobody could think of what to say, all far too impressed with how concisely and professionally Momo had just summed up everything they had seen. Even All Might, visible only through a slightly off-put tremble, was clearly impressed as he gave a very awkward thumb up. "W-well…Iida-shonen might also have been a bit too stiff…but…correct answer!"

In the face of their teachers' approval, Momo simply stood tall and proud, and while some of the boys (particularly the diminutive Minoru Mineta) could not help but look her up and down in the tight red one-piece that stopped at her hips and utility belt, and had an opening in the chest that really showed off her…considerable assets; many others could not help but feel a glowing sense of admiration in the confidence she exuded, and the serious glimmer in her black eyes as she simply stated: "We should always start our studies with what's familiar! And if we don't cheer each other on wholeheartedly, then we'll never become Top Heroes!"

The second battle trial had commenced shortly after, thankfully in a new arena, one of the neighboring buildings to the first. The selected teams ended up being Mashirao Ojiro and Tooru Hagakure as the Villain team, and Mezo Shouji and Shoto Todoroki as the Hero team.

After what everyone had witnessed earlier, the anticipation for what was going to happen here was utterly palpable. Like before, after five minutes to prepare, Shoto and Mezo had gone in, but were cautious enough not to proceed much further. As Mezos' face was still masked, everyone now discovered that the fleshy appendages from his back could actually replicate parts of the body, as two of them actually formed human mouths at their ends to communicate with his teammate. It was undeniably cool to everyone, but it all still could not help but slightly creep Nikolay out personally.

To everyones' confusion, since they once more could not hear anything, Mezo stepped back out of the building while Shoto remained in place. However, in a matter of seconds, the screens all began to frost over, and soon the entire building became completely encased in ice, with Hagakure and Ojiro unfortunate enough to now have their feet frozen to the floor, while Shoto simply strolled further in with not even the slightest hint of apprehension or defense to be seen.

He simply stepped past Ojiro, put his hand on the core, and with that, All Might once again declared the Hero team the winners. And all the while, Todoroki had the same distant, almost apathetic look in his eye.

Everyone was frankly speechless at just how easy Shoto had made the entire thing look, having taken care of the entire trial on his own without even really trying. Among them, Nikolay found himself muttering in amazement: "Nam deystvitel'no povezlo." "What?" Mina instinctively asked, looking at the boy in total confusion at the apparent gibberish she had just heard him muttering to himself, causing the boy to instinctively squirm in embarrassment. "Sorry. I was thinking out loud. I was saying that we're really lucky. Lucky that that kid is here to learn how to be a Hero, I mean. I…I'd honestly be scared out of my wits at just what kind of Villain he would be as an adult, otherwise."

The time had finally come for the third battle trial to be announced, and after the first two everyone had seen, the excitement in the air only seemed to intensify more and more. However, Nikolay felt his heart momentarily seize when All Might had pulled out the respective team spheres for the third trial: Team G as the Hero team, and Team J as the Villain team. It was official: he and Kyouka Jirou were going to up against the three-person team of Tokoyami Fumikage, Minoru Mineta, and Eijirou Kirishima.

The young Russian could feel his legs beginning to shake underneath him, and his face break out into a frigid sweat, as he was handed his paper with the arena layout and his own wireless transceiver. However, the following stuttering was silenced when he suddenly felt a pair of warm, soft hands grab onto one of his own. His trembling and anxiety all seemed to stop when he instinctively looked to see Mina was right there, giving him a look of honest confidence in her eyes, and an inspiring smile. "I know you're nervous, but you've pulled through so far, and I know you'll do great in there, too."

Nikolay could feel his face grow slightly warmer, before an impatient nudge to his arm from Kyouka forced him to start following hers and their Villain teams' lead to their respective arena. Just as quickly, the rest of the class hurried back to the surveillance room.

As Nikolay hurriedly fit his transceiver into his ear and tried looking the layout paper over, he soon noticed Eijirou was slowing his pace from the rest of his teammates, a reassuring grin of his own visible through the mouth of his face guard. "Hey, you don't gotta be nervous, alright? Ashido never says anything she doesn't mean. If she says you'll do great, it's because she fully believes it. You should, too. Besides, just think of how much fun this could be, instead!"

"Kirishima! Make haste so we can form our plan," the crow-headed boy, Tokoyami Fumikage, ordered with unmistakable impatience, as he and Minoru Mineta took the lead and entered into the trial building; Eijirou hurrying after them, while Nikolay and Kyouka were left to themselves on the street, just anxiously waiting for the announcement of the trials' start.

"You're not going to have another episode like you did in the surveillance room, are you?" Kyouka suddenly asked with painful bluntness, catching her Russian teammate off-guard and unable to come up with an immediate answer. She simply rolled her eyes with aggravation as she kept looking over her own layout paper. "This kind of team-up is poorly thought out at best. Our Quirks are too similar, there's no real way to work them off each other," she muttered to herself just loud enough for Nikolay to hear.

Before he could ask what she meant, the electric siren for the commencement of the test sounded, and Kyouka was already on the move, with Nikolay hurrying after her. Instead of going through the front entrance like the Villain team had, she instead sidetracked and went for the nearby fire escape. Once they had reached the second floor, the two carefully climbed in through the window, with Kyouka silently motioning for them to step lightly.

Once the two had made their way out into the dimly lit hall, with thankfully no sign of movement to be seen, Kyouka took hold of one of her dangling earlobes, and stuck the audio jack end directly into the wall. Nikolay could only watch with keen interest, as Kyouka's face was tense with concentration. However, his interest was soon replaced with that accursed nervousness, as he looked up and down the darkened halls, and Kyouka's sustained silence was not helping. The fact they were outnumbered was bad, the unknown element of who would end up attacking them first was worse, and the idea that one of them was one of his few friends in this class was the worst; and each of those factors was making him more and more anxious.

"Would you stop with the trembling? I'm picking it up through the walls while trying to listen for them." Kyouka scolded in a particularly harsh whisper, which thankfully managed to make Nikolay go still again. "Look, we only have less than fifteen minutes to figure and carry out a plan, and I can't figure one out alone, so get your head on straight, or else this trial might as well be over already."

Before Nikolay could reply, the faintest hint of movement from down the hall made his head perk up in alert. For a good several seconds, no matter how hard he tried to discern anything unusual, he simply wasn't seeing it. Kyouka noticed this odd change in his demeanor as she pulled her earphone jack from the wall. "Those goggles are tinted, can you even see anything in a place like this?" she asked in only mild interest as she got back to her feet.

"They only look that way. I think this might be some of that special glass that tints in sunlight, and goes clear in darkness. I can see just fine." Nikolay answered only halfheartedly as he was still trying to look for that same movement, while Kyouka just shrugged her shoulders in disinterest. "Well, I only heard something faint, might be from a couple floors up. Let's double back to the fire escape, see if we can pick up anything clearer from there and—

FPPT!

With the swiftness of a snipers' bullet, a small projectile suddenly came flying down the hall from the shadows ahead, and before either of them could react, Kyouka found one of her hands pinned to the wall with a medium-sized purple sphere that adhered to the wall like a suction cup. Nikolay's reaction time thankfully had him moving in to intercept, before the door right next to them swung open hard, and the Russian found himself getting tackled straight into the wall by a charging Eijirou Kirishima; knocking the wind out of his lungs.

Soon after, the dwarf-sized figure of Minoru Mineta came rushing down the hall, dressed in a dark purple suit that matched his grape-like hair, yellow boots and gloves, and an unfortunate bottom half that almost resembled a diaper on his miniscule height. However, as ridiculous as his costume looked, that did not take away from the aggravating look of smug victory on his face.

"Oh, man, this was way too easy! We didn't even need Fumikage at all! All right, let's tape them up and get this trial over with. If only we could've gotten pit against Yaoyorozu, this would be absolutely perfect. Why did it have to be the one built like a surfboar-?"

Minoru's gloating was swiftly cut short as, with shocking precision and speed, Kyouka's earlobes suddenly shot out from her position like two vipers, and embedded their audio jacks straight into his and Eijirou's ears, before emitting an ear-splitting screech of what sounded like audio feedback, causing both boys to go into convulsions, and thankfully allowing Eijirou to let go of Nikolay, as the Russian tried to catch his breath.

Once he saw how thoroughly their two opponents had been incapacitated by Kyouka's surprising defense tactic, he felt a rising sense of confidence build up in his chest, as he turned to address his partner once she retracted her earlobes from the two. "Jirou-san, I'll hurry and capture these two. You head further up, see if you can find where Fumikage-san or the core are."

Her normally apathetic expression slowly gave way to a slight smirk of satisfaction to see he was finally getting his head in the moment. With an agreeing nod, Kyouka hurried down the hall for the nearest set of stairs, while Nikolay hurriedly reached for the tiny roll of capture tape from one of his belt pouches.

'Wait…oh, no…' he silently realized once he found he wasn't feeling the roll inside. He had completely forgotten to grab his own when their teams had been announced for the trial. He had no official means of capturing either of them.

His momentary fumbling allowed Minoru and Eijirou all the time they needed to recover, and the purple-clad dwarf was already on the offensive, grabbing two handfuls of the spherical hair atop his head, pulling them off with a distinct pop, and hurling them straight at Nikolay, who only then realized what was coming his way.

BWOOM!

Out of sheer gut reaction at the knowledge he was in the path of danger, the kinetic buildup rushed straight to his hands as he instinctively began moving his body to jump to the side, and the resultant blast launched him sideways, directly into (and nearly through) the wall, leaving Nikolays' head ringing from the hard impact. However, it had been enough, as Minorus' hair spheres flew harmlessly through the air he had just occupied, and instead latched directly onto Eijirou's face, sending him tumbling back in momentary panic.

"Damn it, Kirishima, why would you stand right behind him?!" Minoru exclaimed (or rather whined). In that moment of their distraction, Nikolay's fight-or-flight instincts continued to take the helm, as upon pulling himself free from the dent he left in the wall, another surge of energy rushed to one hand, launching him forward toward Minoru at breakneck pace. Before the shorter student could even react, Nikolay felt another surge rush for the one hand he had extended forward.

BWOOM!

The resultant blast rocked the entire hall, as Minorus' body was sent flying backwards, bouncing off one wall then the next, before finally getting embedded in the wall at the hallways' end, and ultimately falling face first to the floor, unconscious. Now that the threat had been taken care of, Nikolay's racing heart began to slow, and his senses were beginning to come back.

At least, this was the case, until an ill timed look down the hall at Minorus' now unconscious body sent a jolt through Nikolays' entire being more unsettling and painful than anything he had experienced yet. The boy wasn't moving; it didn't even look like he was breathing. Sprawled out on the floor beneath a devastating impact crater, one would have been forgiven for thinking the shorter Hero-in-training was…

'Dead.' The word hit him like a ton of bricks, and his once steadying heart rate skyrocketed into full-blown panic. His entire body was burning hot with anxiety and horror as he barely began stepping back, his fingers and eyes twitching uncontrollably as everything began to go black. "No…no…no, no, no, no…" he kept repeating mindlessly to himself in pointless denial as he couldn't take his eyes away. His senses had become entirely disconnected from reality, as he never heard the rushing footsteps coming from behind, as Eijirou (long since recovered) tackled Nikolay to the floor, activating his Hardening Quirk to add weight to keep him down.

Kyouka had been careful to listen for anything up above with each floor she ascended, but each time, there was nothing. It couldn't have been possible that she had overshot wherever Tokoyami or the core were, she would have at least been able to hear a heartbeat. However, once she reached the top floor, her frustration beginning to build, she finally caught trace of something.

She had to put her mild excitement aside as she tried to stay quiet. The setup of this floor was different enough from those of the last two trials, she had no idea which room they could have been hiding in. The first couple turned out to be duds, but she soon noticed one doorway down another hall that had been darkened inside, whereas every other had the sunlight coming in through the windows.

The purple-haired girl kept on her toes as she carefully slinked to the doorway, just barely peeking her head through to see what, if anything, she could find. Lo and behold, fate decided to play her a lucky hand, as she soon spotted the cartoonishly designed core standing in the middle of the room, and the black cloak topped with crow head that was Tokoyami Fumikage, standing ever vigilant beside it. Thankfully, it didn't look as if he had noticed her presence.

A confident smirk began to spread Kyoukas' lips as she began thinking it would be enough to simply sneak in and touch the core without even having to fight. A part of her almost wanted to laugh at how seemingly easy this felt. Of course, seemingly proved to be the operative word, as when she pulled her head back, she suddenly found herself staring into the glowing yellow eyes of a large bird-shaped being of pure shadow, right before it let out a terrifying roar in her face. Every fiber in her being immediately forced her into running as fast as her legs could carry her, as the shadow creature instantly took off after her; each inhuman sound growing ever closer.

With every turn, she could tell she wasn't losing her pursuer. Now was the time for a desperate action. Thinking back to the layout of the building so far, she came to the realization the wall she was approaching now would lead back to the fire escape. With no other ideas of escape, she swiftly threw one of her ear jacks to the wall, focusing and releasing a pulse from within down the line as it flew. The instant the jack sank into the wall, it instantly exploded outward with a deafening blast.

Kyouka wasted no time as she jumped through her newly made exit, just barely managing to make the fire escape, instead of missing the mark and plummeting the whole way down. She didn't dare to look back and see if she was still being chased, opting instead to continue down to the second floor, hoping Nikolay would be there and ready to cover her if she indeed wasn't in the clear.

'He's dead. They'll all be dead in time. You know it's true. This is what Quirks ultimately do. They can prattle on about the good they do for others, but in the end, they're all just ticking time bombs waiting to explode, and destroying everyone and everything. And you? You're no better. In fact, you may even be worse.'

These were the chilling taunts echoing in Nikolays' head as he continued gazing helplessly upon the motionless body of Minoru Mineta, while his body continued fruitlessly trying to struggle under the increased weight of Eijirou Kirishima, as he struggled to get his own roll of capture tape around his captive. "Hey, c'mon, man, calm down! It's just a trial, remember? You gotta stop struggling, you're gonna pull something if you don't!"

None of Eijirous' warnings came through, as Nikolay kept squirming and trying to get himself free from underneath, by this point completely blinded by lifelong fear and panic. He soon managed to get his hands free, and on complete impulse, brought his palms to the floor and fired two blasts at once.

BWOOOM!

The sheer power left a sizeable crater in the floor, but more importantly launched Nikolay and Eijirou both directly into the ceiling. The redheaded boys' hardening managed to keep him from getting hurt, but the impact had been strong enough to make him release his grip on Nikolay out of reflex.

The instant the two boys' landed (Nikolay on his knees and Eijirou barely on his feet), the running blind Russian boy immediately turned on his heels, reeling his right arm with open hand for a palm strike directly into his opponents' face; a large cluster of kinetic power rippling through his arm and directly into his hand. "Whoa, man, wait! My skin's still-!"

Eijirou's warning came too late, though, as Nikolay's furious hand didn't alter its course, coming directly at his face with full force, and in a moment, contact, and all the weight behind it, had finally been made with his still hardened hide.

KRAK!

BWOOOM!

The nearly deafening sound of Nikolays' right wrist snapping in half from the complete lack of give in Eijirous' face upon impact, didn't even register in his head, instead focusing all the collected power still in his hand to release point blank into the other boys' face. The sound was overwhelming, and the release of kinetic energy even more so, as a large crack instantly formed in Eijirous' hardened face, and his red eyes almost immediately rolled into the back of his head as the collective vibration rattled the entire inside of his body like he could not believe.

Eijirou Kirishima blacked out within seconds, collapsing to the floor, while Nikolay likewise fell onto his side, finally feeling the ungodly pain flaring up and down his right arm as he finally realized he had completely broken his wrist. He couldn't even bring himself to scream, only groan through his clenched teeth, and wheeze painfully with tears in his eyes. It was so overwhelming, he didn't even notice when Kyouka Jirou had suddenly stepped back out into the hall from the door they had originally come from.

The suffocating fear, the blind panic and the pain all in one left Nikolay feeling like he was drowning in a tumultuous sea within himself, completely cut off from the rest of the real world, until the sharpest pain suddenly flared across his face, bringing all his consciousness and senses back in a flash. Through the still searing pain in his right arm, he quickly came to realize where he was, what had just happened, and most importantly, that Kyouka was currently kneeling over him, with his turtleneck collar in hand, and from the look and feel of it, she had just smacked him across the face to bring him back to his senses.

"Looks like you're back with us. Good. Now listen to me, Niko-san: we've got barely more than five minutes left, and we still have Fumikage-san to deal with. I just tried, and he's got some sort of shadow…thing, on standby to deal with us. I barely managed to get away, somehow. If we're going to have any hope of winning the trial, we're going to need to get him away from the core long enough for one of us to get to it."

Nikolay tried to process everything she was telling him through the pain, but that sadly did nothing for his planning skills, as he honestly felt as much at a loss as she sounded. "Okay, so we get him away. How? If we got into a fight, my right hand is completely screwed. What good is that if he has a whole second fighter at his command?"

The cluelessness in his tone earned a further annoyed grimace from Kyouka, before her lazy-looking eyes suddenly grew a little wider in realization. "If he wanted to capture me and take me out of the trial, he probably would have tried to summon multiple of those things to get me, but he didn't. That probably means he can only control the one. It sounds like we're going to need to launch a two-front assault on his position, with one of us serving as a distraction so the other can get the drop on him. All we have to do is either incapacitate and capture him, or just distract him long enough to get to the core, and we win this thing."

Figuring Tokoyami would now be listening intently for their approach, Kyouka and Nikolay took back to the fire escape, only ascending to the third floor before stopping. "I'm going to head for the roof, I remember the top floor layout pretty well now; but I'll fire some pulses on the next floors on the way to keep him guessing. You just distract Tokoyami long enough, and then let me know when to make my move with the transceiver. Got it?"

Kyouka was now practically radiating confidence, as Nikolay gave her an affirming nod, by now in too much pain to really talk. With that, she continued the rest of the way up the metal steps, while Nikolay climbed in through the third floor window and, taking a steadying breath, began to run like mad down the halls, firing a burst from his one good hand at every other turn. He could even hear the corresponding bursts from his teammate on the floor above.

Kyouka had seemed rather confident that the two of them doing this sporadically all the way up to the top floor would confuse Tokoyami enough as to what direction the inevitable attack was going to come from, but even the best laid plans had a way of blowing up at the last minute. Nikolay had to shake away that nay-saying voice as he ascended to the fourth floor, continuing the same pattern before eventually reaching a different stairwell to continue upwards.

Upon reaching the fifth floor, Nikolays' blind rushing had now given way to much more methodical movements as he prepared himself for the fight that was inevitably going to come. Following Kyoukas' directions, he soon found himself facing the same dark hallway to the same dark room she had described. With another unsteady breath of anticipation, Nikolay tried to focus as much energy as he could into his left hand as he tensed his legs, getting ready to run like his life depended on it.

He tried to push his right hands' agony to the back of his mind as finally launched himself into a sprint for the door, before suddenly aiming his hand at the wall to his left and firing his accumulated blast point blank into the drywall, blasting a large and extended hole through it. Before the dust had even settled, the very same shadow creature Kyouka had described erupted through the wall and began pursuing Nikolay like a wild animal.

There was no use in further blasting; he had gotten Tokoyamis' attention now. Nikolay immediately turned the corner away from the door and ran like the devil was on his heels, for as far as he was concerned, it was. He could hear the fierce growling growing every closer as he took every right turn he could, ultimately making one large circle back to the original hall. A strand of shadow-like energy was still extending from the previous hole in the wall. It looked as though Tokoyami was incapable of fully separating this thing from himself. 'Good. Then he can't just summon it up again to cut me off.'

Nikolay hurriedly ducked under the strand and finally made the rest of the way through the door and into the core room, with Tokoyami Fumikage already standing at the ready; his eyes piercing straight through the façade of courage Nikolay was trying to maintain.

The inhuman howling of the shadow suddenly came back, as Nikolay saw it had retracted the way it had come before, and was now filling the doorway, ready to attack. Against every survival instinct in his head telling him to aim for what was directly about to attack him, Nikolay hurriedly aimed his charging hand at Tokoyami himself, but the crow-headed boy had already foreseen this, as the shadow immediately plowed through the doorway and slammed into Nikolay with ungodly force, pinning him to the ground with crushing weight.

Despite the aggressive growling from the shadow pressing down on his chest, it did not proceed to attack him further. Instead, the creature seemed to just be waiting patiently from a further command from its controller, while Nikolay looked and saw Tokoyami was beginning to approach, with a roll of capture tape in his hands.

"It was foolish of you both to think you could simply elude my Dark Shadow by blindly charging in and trying to give it the run around. It's a shame that your bravado has cost you both a victory much necessary for your advancement." Despite the clearly intimidating edge Tokoyamis' deep voice naturally gave him, Nikolay wasn't feeling himself drown in his own fear again. Instead, he simply found himself mentally counting the steps the crow boy was taking away from the core.

As soon as Tokoyami was now looming over Nikolays' prone form, the young Russian took a breath of seeming defeat, and instead met his opponent with one word: "Now!"

The ceiling above immediately exploded down upon them all with a deafening burst of sound. Tokoyami barely had time to get out of the way of the falling debris as blinding sunlight came pouring in, illuminating the once nearly pitch black room. As soon as the light landed upon the shadow creature, its fierce disposition quickly faded, and the weight it had upon Nikolay lightened just as quickly. The dust from the falling debris was blinding to both boys, but Nikolay could still barely make out Tokoyamis' all-black getup, and that was all he needed.

Barely managing to get his one good hand back up from underneath the weight of the shadow, Nikolay tried to focus as much energy as he had left into the palm, and in the haze of concentration mixed with suffocating weight, desperation, and the ever-present pain, he felt the overpowering blowback of another kinetic burst nearly send his body sliding back across the floor, as Tokoyami, in that moment of surprise, was blown back off his feet by the resulting wave, sending him likewise sliding down the hallway on his back.

Amid the chaos of it all, Kyouka came freefalling from the hole she had just made in the roof, both ear-jacks in hand, as she landed neatly next to the core, and with the first cry of excitement she had made since coming to Yuuei, planted both her hands on the side of the core. Nikolay could only watch with a strained smile of satisfaction in her plan succeeding, as the air was soon filled with the same electronic siren from before, declaring the trials' end, and with All Mights' voice declaring the Hero team the winners for the third time today.

Of course, the sense of raw pride in his gut did little to mitigate the still excruciating pain of his arm, as he struggled to get back up, before Kyouka suddenly approached and extended a helping hand, which Nikolay gratefully took. Her face had gone back to that inexpressive, nonchalant expression, but there was no denying that she was still feeling quite pleased with the outcome all the same.

"Congratulations, Jirou-san. You're…well; it's because of you we won, today. It was a good plan you came up with." Nikolay tried his best to properly thank her for everything, but Kyouka only gave an unmistakable scoff of disagreement in reply. "It was a reckless plan at best, honestly. We could have been able to come up with something better if you had kept your head in the game the whole time."

Nikolay was visibly taken aback that she was actually taking the time to chastise him, even in the face of their victory. Before he could say anything, though, Kyouka stepped up, looking him dead in the eye to communicate how serious she was, even behind her typically distant expression. "You're far too reactionary and prone to letting your emotions take control, Niko-san. Keep in mind; this was just a training exercise at the end of the day. Things are only going to get harder in here, and much more dangerous out there. I don't know what's going on with you that makes you…well, like you are, but you need to get all your personal baggage sorted out and quick. Otherwise, a broken wrist is going to be the least of your problems."

With that, Kyouka proceeded to leave Nikolay to process her words as she made her way for the stairwell and the exit. He knew every word she said was correct, and he knew how important it was he get his issues figured out. He simply had no idea how to go about fixing something that had pretty much been with him his entire life. That reminder managed to sap away what happiness at their victory was left.

From the time All Might had come to collect the participants and bring them back to the surveillance room for review, Nikolays' state of mind had been caught between two things: trying to ignore the pain of his busted wrist, and agonizing with guilt over the damage he had caused his three classmates on the opposing team. Minoru was visibly trying to nurse the immense aching in the back of his head, and Tokoyami looked to be none the worse for wear; only visibly irked by his loss (though with his default expression looking so angry, it was really hard to tell the difference.)

"I'm sorry again, Fumikage-san. I still have a really hard time controlling how strong my blasts are. You're not really hurt, are you?" Nikolay once again apologized, at least as best he could when naturally intimidated by the crow boys' icy demeanor. Tokoyami didn't even bother giving his Russian classmate the dignity of eye contact when he finally spoke up. "There's a darkness inside of you. Both of you."

Nikolay at first felt overwhelmed with a sensation of guilt, before the following comment made him visibly perk up with confusion, which Tokoyami refused to even acknowledge. "You and your father. I could sense it from the moment you first walked through the classroom doors. There is something within you both that silently eats away at your hearts and souls. It is of no concern to me, but unless the two of you seek out a way to properly confront that darkness and control it, you will both forever be at risk of being completely consumed by it."

The foreboding nature with which Tokoyami spoke left Nikolay visibly shaken, as it didn't take much for him to guess just what darkness he had been referring to. He thought he had been managing to keep his emotional imbalance rather hidden away, but clearly not enough if Tokoyami could read it so easily from both himself and his father.

"You and Jirous' plan…it was reckless, foolish even; but undeniably effective, all the same. It still requires a great deal of energy for me to summon and control Dark Shadow extensively, so forcing me to do so in order to ultimately weaken me was a sound approach, in theory. Using the light to weaken it while I was distracted was also wise. Right now, I just cannot figure out what it was that gave away the fact that light makes Dark Shadow lose its strength to the two of you."

While it was clear he was expecting an explanation, all Nikolay could meet Tokoyami with was a look of almost childlike surprise. "I didn't. I don't think Jirou-san did, either. We were just trying to get you away from the core long enough. Everything with the light was, I guess, just a fortunate accident." Tokoyamis' refusal to answer the Russian boys' explanation left him feeling a bit threatened, but thankfully the angered retaliation he had instinctively been waiting for, never came.

Afterwards, Eijirou, all the while, thankfully didn't look to be visibly damaged after his hardening had been recalled, which surprised Nikolay immensely after having seen the large crack his blast had left on the redheaded boys' face earlier. "Hey, don't worry about it. Trust me, it takes a lot more than that to leave a lasting mark on me. But damn, those blasts of yours hit harder than I thought they would. I'm pretty sure one of my ears is still ringing."

His attempt at a good humored laugh was a wasted effort, as Nikolays' face was wrought with guilt at having caused even the slightest bit of damage to one of his friends, regardless whether battle was the point of the whole trial or not. Even if Nikolay didn't notice it, Eijirou likewise felt himself become wracked with guilt as he couldn't help but keep looking down to the right hand dangling limply at Nikolays' side.

"God, I'm so sorry about that, man. I tried to warn you about my hardening, honest. It's just like you…like you couldn't even hear me," he apologized as Nikolay shook his head in refusal. "No, it's my fault, really. I-I don't know what happened. I've never…I-I've never actually fought anyone with my Quirk before. It's honestly been one of the things I've been the most afraid of for as long as I can remember. I was trying to focus on how the trial was supposed to be carried out and follow the rules, but when I…when I saw what I had done to Mineta-san, even if he was only unconscious, it was like I blacked out. It felt like I had been robbed of complete control of myself and just ran on complete reaction, or panic and impulse alone. That's…never happened to me before."

The gravity of what Nikolay was confessing was not lost on Eijirou, as it all once again just left him wrought with curiosity as to just what on earth was this boys' deal. What could have possibly happened to this kid to make him so emotionally and psychologically fragile as to fly off the handle so suddenly, on top of being seemingly overwhelmed with so much constant fear inside?

Once they had finally returned to the surveillance room, neither Eijirou nor Nikolay had time to even think before they suddenly found themselves being rushed by a visibly ecstatic Mina, while the others simply continued on with various degrees of annoyance written on their faces: Tokoyami from sheer indifference, Kyouka for seeing how the two boys had been consistently doted on by their pink classmate, and Minoru out of pure jealousy that they got so much attention from a girl so pretty.

"I knew it; I knew it; I knew it! I knew you guys could do it! Watching you two fight, that was so intense, I thought—oh my God! Kolya-kun, your hand!" Minas' rapid-fire exclamation of excitement was swiftly cut off by her own shocked discovery of the unnatural angle of Nikolays' wrist, his hand still dangling listlessly. "When you both went down, I thought it was just because you hit him with his skin hardened, I didn't think you broke your wrist! Doesn't it hurt?"

"Honestly, not right now. I think the pain might have subsided as long as I don't move it…or maybe it's the shock setting in, I'm not sure which." Nikolay muttered out of both guilt and embarrassment, trying his best to downplay the damage when he saw the sad look in Minas' eyes. However, her concern, and subsequent confirmation of what everyone else had seen, spurred All Might to finally step in, all the while silently cursing himself for not having done so from the onset. "Ashido-shoujo is right, Bezpalov-shonen, I should have had you sent to Recovery Girl right away. I'll call the paramedic bots to take you there right now."

Nikolay felt frankly humiliated, being seen in such a sorry state by the entire class, but he could only manage a grateful nod to their teacher, before the pain, or the shock, finally made him lose consciousness.

Nikolay had no idea how much time had actually passed by the time he finally regained consciousness, but when he did, he had found himself in a pleasant nurses' office, laid up in bed, with his right hand bound in a small cast. Miraculously, the searing and lingering pain was gone. It still felt really sore, but for all intents and purposes, it actually felt like his wrist had miraculously been put back together.

"Oh, you're finally awake. The pain must have taken quite a toll on you." The voice of a sweet little old lady broke the silence, and Nikolay found himself looking across the office to an old woman nearly the same diminutive height as Minoru, in a white doctors' jacket and a pink visor over her squinting eyes. He naturally assumed this had to be the eponymous 'Recovery Girl' All Might and Izuku had mentioned before. It was almost heartwarming, how much she seemed to fit the picture perfect image of a babushka.

"How long have I been out?" was the first question that came to mind as he realized the light outside was beginning to more resemble late afternoon. "Oh, I'd say you've been under for a little over an hour. The rest of your class' battle trials have probably come and gone by now. I've already done what I could for your wrist, but it should be all better and good as new first thing tomorrow morning. So, you're free to go, dearie. Here, have a Red October on your way out."

The little babushka quickly reached into her coat pocket and tossed a tiny object at Nikolay, who thankfully had the forethought to catch with his good hand. He felt a whole new stirring of nostalgia ignite in his heart when he recognized the tiny ethnically Russian chocolate candy in his hand. The absolute glimmer in his green eyes sparked an amused laugh from Recovery Girl. "I always make sure to be prepared for whatever any student needs. Now go on."

"Balshoy spasibo, babushka (Thank you very much, granny)." Nikolay thanked wholeheartedly before getting out of his bed, throwing on the suit jacket to his uniform, and hurrying out the door, while Recovery Girl gave another heartwarming laugh in response to his sudden manners.

As soon as he stepped out into the hallway, ready to make his way back to class, he noticed a heavy set of footsteps rapidly approaching from behind, and the unmistakable booming voice of his father calling to him. What calm he had felt instantly vanished as all he could feel now was humiliation, silently hoping Tunguska didn't already know.

[[Kolya, All Might told me everything about what happened at the Battle Trial. Recovery Girl wouldn't let me in to see you, so I've been waiting for when you would wake up. How are you feeling?]] Olegs' fatherly concern was unmistakable, but Nikolays' embarrassment was the one thing keeping him from being able to fully appreciate that as he awkwardly showcased his cast arm. [[It feels better now. Still a little sore, but she said it should be better by tomorrow.]] Oleg let out a great sigh of relief at this news, but was quick to realize the pained look on his sons' face. [[Kolya, what's wrong?]]

Nikolays' face twisted with humiliation as he couldn't even bear to look Oleg in the eye. [[I'm sorry, Dad. I was a total joke out there. I had no composure, no control; I made myself look like an idiot in front of everyone. It was like everything you had been trying to teach me just left me right when I was in the middle of it all. You would've been ashamed to see it.]]

Nikolay was already on the verge of tears, and he didn't even want to begin talking about the painful realization of his long dormant fears that caused him to fly off the handle in the first place. That was simply too much for him to put into words, let alone words that Oleg would really be able to understand. However, all that apprehension vanished when he felt his fathers' large hand gently rest upon his shoulder, forcing him to meet the older mans' compassionate gaze.

[[I'm not ashamed of you in the slightest, Kolya. When I said All Might told me everything, I mean he told me everything. He told me how even though you were clearly frightened by the gravity of the whole thing; you still stuck with it to the very end. You didn't buckle under and give up; you kept fighting. I could never, ever be ashamed of you for that, no matter what.

[[Look, in any given situation, whether it's rescuing someone or fighting a Villain, strategies and tactical planning is a great thing to have. But something you need to keep in mind, no matter what your teachers try to say otherwise: when you are caught in the thick of battle, in the heat of that moment, when every survival instinct you have tells you it's a do-or-die situation, the only thing that matters in that moment is that a real Hero never, ever gives up fighting. They go on until they can't go a step further, in order to protect what is important to them. Never forget that, Kolya. And never, ever be ashamed when you find yourself in that position. Understand?]]

Nikolay didn't give Oleg an answer, but when his father saw the contemplative look in his eyes, he no longer needed to. To simply know his son would take his words into consideration was reward enough. [[All right, you go on back to class, Kolya. I'm sure your classmates must be anxious to see you on your feet again.]] The boy did exactly as he was told, rushing down the hall as fast as he could.

However, while Nikolay vastly appreciated what his father had said, it still didn't do anything to alleviate the fear itself. Today, he had seen his most dreaded fear made manifest, and the bitter truth was that nobody could understand just how painful that was but him; not even his own father. The fragile balance between his desire to live up to his old dream, and the long-instilled fear of his own inherent power, had been irreparably skewed.

As soon as Nikolay rounded the corner and was no longer in sight, Oleg looked back the way he came. "All right, the coast is clear." Not wasting another moment, the emaciated form of Toshinori Yagi stepped out from another corner, dressed in the now comically oversized suit that All Might had been wearing. "Thank you, Tunguska. Were it not for the other battle trials, I would have gotten here sooner. Perhaps you would not have needed to act as my lookout, then."

"It's no trouble, Yagi-san. We Pros need to look out for each other, after all. However, Recovery Girl did say she wanted to speak to both of us once you got here." Olegs' beaming disposition noticeably dimmed once the possibility of their own lecture came up. For once, the two veteran Heroes felt like two schoolboys, in for the scolding of their lives. And once they had finally stepped into the nurses' office, that was exactly what happened.

As soon as the two grown men had made their way inside, Recovery Girl had wasted no time instructing them to lock the door before pulling away a curtain and revealing the unconscious body of Izuku Midoriya, his right arm done up in a sling, while his other was now hooked to an IV.

"Maybe I should step out for now. I feel this concerns the two of you more than—"Oh, no, you don't! Midoriya-kun and Bezpalov-kun are students to both of you, so you both need to hear this!" Olegs' attempt to step out had been swiftly shot down by Recovery Girls' now much more serious demeanor, and the tiny old woman now had both these men who literally towered over her, quaking where they stood like two scolded little pups.

"Now, let's start with the obvious. *Ahem* IT'S BEEN NO TIME AT ALL SINCE MIDORIYA-KUN ENTERED AND THIS IS HIS THIRD TIME HERE! WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP THEM, ALL MIGHT!?" The Symbol of Peace twitched in nervous reaction to his name being called, unable to try and stand tall as he looked upon the freckled boys' unconscious form. "I apologize, Recovery Girl—"DON'T APOLOGIZE TO ME!"

With the energy of her anger spent, the fierce old woman looked pitifully upon her unfortunate repeat patient. "That poor boy has already suffered crippling exhaustion only yesterday! I can't treat him all at once anymore! I've taken the liberty of administering emergency first-aid and hooking him up to an IV. And now, because of this, the only available option is to revitalize him gradually over the rest of the day! For crying out loud…this is the disciple you granted your power to, and that's precisely why indulging him is the last thing you should be doing!"

As intimidated as Oleg was even being party to this verbal lashing, he still found it utterly shocking to see someone like All Might, even in his current form, being reduced to scratching the back of his head with his eyes on the floor, too ashamed of himself to even look someone in the eye. "I have nothing to say in my defense, nor would I try if I did. Everything you are saying is true, Recovery Girl. I just…I wanted to understand Midoriya-shonens' feelings, and…I hesitated. And…uh…"

Toshinori instinctively looked back to the window of the door, as if to make sure nobody was listening in or even passing by. "If it's not too much to ask, could we perhaps not speak too loudly? When discussing One For All…I mean…" At this, Recovery Girl turned her seat so she had her back to the two men, letting out an exasperated groan. "Yes, yes, I know, 'Mr. Natural-Born Hero'. 'Mr. Symbol of Peace'."

Even in the face of such a cynical reaction, Toshinoris' usual impassioned air began to return as he put an imploring hand to his heart. "This true form of mine and my injury are common knowledge among the Pro teachers of Yuuei, but the nature of my Quirk is known only by you, the headmaster, a few of my closest friends…and Midoriya-shonen, of course."

Although he didn't say anything in the moment, Oleg couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of appreciation that apparently Toshinori respected him enough to have him included in one of those categories. All the while, Recovery Girl kept her back turned to them, letting out another tired sigh. "It's not as though I'm itching to rest my laurels at the top, either; but is it really so important to you to still be seen as a 'natural-born Hero' or 'the Symbol of Peace' now?"

At this, Toshinoris' gaunt face seemed to take on an even more serious look, even if nothing outwardly changed. It was honestly kind of chilling to witness from where Oleg stood. "Without such a symbol, this society of superhumans would fall to evil. Such is the responsibility of whoever holds the power of One For All." For a good few moments, there was only silence. Then, bowing her head in resignation at her desk, the little woman spoke: "If that's the case, then you need to learn how to be a proper guide to him all the more! That goes for both of you! The boy needs all the guidance he can get, but it won't make a difference if one mentor keep rushing him into an early grave!"

With that having been said, she finally turned herself back around, and Oleg could instantly feel the intensity of her stare upon him now. "Now, speaking of you, we need to talk about your son. His injuries were nothing to be overly concerned with; he'll be fit as a fiddle in no time. But from everything I read from the report when he was brought in here, it sounded like he suffered some kind of panic attack, in the middle of a simple training exercise! If that's all it takes to set him off, then there's no chance he will be able to handle active duty on the streets as an intern or a Pro!"

It had been hard enough to hear from All Might before, but to hear it put so forwardly by this little old babushka, somehow felt even worse, as Oleg pursed his lips with worry as to just what the nurse was getting at. "I have no idea just what on earth has happened over the years to make that boy so psychologically and emotionally fragile, looking like he's about to have a heart attack whenever someone even talks to him, but by God, you need to figure out some way to address it and deal with it! You can't keep acting like his problem isn't there, just because you keep telling him to try his best. If neither of you, or that boy, do something to curb whatever's got him so scared soon; I'm afraid he's going to suffer a complete and total breakdown. And God forbid that should happen when he's on the field and trying to protect the citizens and his allies!"

Nikolay stood frigid at the door to Class 1-A. In spit of whatever glimmer of hope was telling him otherwise, that same nagging doubt kept coming back to get him ready for the barrage of ridicule that was coming his way once he showed his face. No matter what his father could have said, his classmates surely did not think the same way. For them, this was all about using their Quirks masterfully and professionally, and at the end of the day, everything he displayed was the exact opposite. He had sufficiently earned his place as the class laughingstock, and try as he might, he could not convince himself otherwise. But he knew he also could not hide from everyone forever.

Sucking in air through his teeth, he finally grabbed the doorknob, mentally counted down from three, and finally threw the door open.

Instead of the wall of raucous laughter he had pretty much already heard echoing in his own head, he was instead met with some scattered exclamations of pleased surprise at his return from across the classroom. Nikolay soon found himself being eagerly approached by Rikido Sato, Denki Kaminari, Tsuyu Asui and Tooru Hagakure.

"Hey, the Berserker is already up and about again! I thought you'd be out of commission for the whole day with your arm busted up like that!" Rikido immediately opened up with some quite masculine bravado, not even giving Nikolay time to breathe, while Denki couldn't help but laugh. "That's the kettle calling the pot black, isn't it? At least he actually managed to take someone down before he was officially out." At this confusing taunt, Rikidos' already aggressive demeanor took on a slightly angrier air. "You just got lucky you had a good partner to work off of, Kaminari! And the saying is 'the pot calling the kettle black', stupid!"

Nikolay felt completely miniscule next to the sudden turn the two boys had taken, clearly not even paying him any mind anymore, yet he still felt the need to interject somehow before blows could be traded. "Please don't call me 'Berserker'. That…that wasn't intentional, what happened." Having spoken up, Rikido and Denkis' attention had been regained, and all visible tension had magically disappeared as they just laughed at his perceived modesty.

"Hey, intentional or not, it was still pretty badass seeing you launch yourself and Kirishima into the ceiling like that. That Quirk of yours is pretty cool." Rikido admitted with another hearty laugh, before nearly slamming Nikolay face-first into the floor with a hearty slap to the back. "Yeah, if you having a total spazz attack like that managed to work out even that well, I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when you actually plan something out." Denki stated in agreement. While Nikolay couldn't rightfully tell if that was meant to be as insulting as it sounded, the friendly thumb up and wink from the blonde boy helped do away with his apprehensions.

"You and Jirou-chan worked so well together, even though your Quirks are so similar! Is there anything else you can do we didn't get to see?" Tooru immediately chimed in the first chance she got, not even trying to hide her excitement. For Nikolay, he just couldn't help but find it so bizarre to have a floating schoolgirl uniform talking to him. "I-I don't think so. I mean, I've actually not really practiced with my Quirk for that long, so I don't know," he muttered, feeling completely out of place among his much more experienced classmates.

"Hey, if he keeps it up, there's probably gonna be tons of surprises even he won't see coming. You don't get a Quirk that can already do the stuff we saw with barely any practice, and not come up with some fancy new tricks." Rikido butted in with an intense excitement of his own, only for Tooru to verbally kick him right back out of the conversation with her own energy. "Maybe the next time we do a battle trial, we can be partners. I'll bet we would have won ours if I had someone with a farther reaching Quirk than Ojiro-kuns' tail."

Nikolay could only awkwardly look away as he nervously scratched at his cheek, unsure of how to answer an incredibly forward invitation like that. "I-I'm not entirely sure that's how that works. And besides, I think Todoroki-san having that insane of a Quirk had more to do with you guys losing, than Ojiro-san did." However, Tooru seemed to either ignore or completely miss what he had said, as she had immediately and, rather forcefully, brought the ever-unreadable Tsuyu forward. "C'mon, Tsuyu-chan, you must have something to say, too, if you came here with us."

Nikolay and Tsuyu made very uncomfortable eye contact for what felt like minutes. Her nearly emotionless eyes and froglike face made it impossible to know what she was thinking, and it was only exacerbated when she put a finger to her mouth, as if she were deep in thought. "Your Quirk is pretty strong, but you overreact too easily."

Nikolay could almost physically feel the force of that incredibly blunt statement on her end. "I get that it was everyones' first time fighting, so being nervous makes sense. But if it weren't for Jirou-san putting that plan together, you both definitely would have lost." Even Denki and Rikido were put off at this point by how straightforward their green-haired classmate was proving herself to be. 'I guess everyone should count themselves lucky she doesn't want to be a nurse. Her bedside manner is god-awful.'

"That being said, though, Yaoyorozu-san said we need to cheer each other on wholeheartedly to become Top Heroes, so…if we ever end up becoming partners somewhere, we can both try to help you not flip out so easily-kero," she finally reached her point, punctuated with a compulsive frog croak, before finally bowing her head in formal introduction. "I know we met at the park the first time a while ago, but this might as well be the first time again. I'm Asui Tsuyu, but just call me Tsuyu, okay-kero?"

The young Russian momentarily found himself at a loss for words that they were suddenly in the middle of an actual formal introduction, but thankfully had the wherewithal to meet Tsuyus' bow in kind. "I-I know, I heard during the apprehension test yesterday, same for everyone. But I…um, I'm Nikolay Olegovich Bezpalov. N-nice to meet you...*ahem* Tsuyu-san."

"Man, you Russkies have a damn mouthful when it comes to names. I'm Sato Rikido; way easier to remember, I'm sure. And the blonde sparkplug with the smart mouth over here—"Hey, I can introduce myself at least! Kaminari Denki. Looking forward to seeing what else you can do, so long as you don't keep getting yourself waylaid like Midoriya-san does." By this point the two boys' constant bickering had gone from nerve-wracking to actually being rather humorous in Nikolays' eyes. They seemed like they might have made for a halfway decent comedy duo, from what very little Japanese comedy he had actually seen in his time in this country so far.

Before he could say anything else, he heard the sudden squeak of a marker, and looked in surprise to see Tooru had actually just finished writing what he had to assume was her signature on his cast. "Hagakure Tooru; nice to meet you, Niko-kun! And congratulations, you get your very first cast signing!" The invisible girls' excitement was swiftly countered by Tsuyus' continuously blunt means of speaking as she once again put a contemplative finger to her mouth. "Isn't that something people only do in bad American high school movies, though?"

"Well, so what if they do? It's still a nice sentiment, all the same, Tsuyu-chan!" Toorus' clearly fake indignation, judging by the exaggerated motions of her uniform, coupled with her incredibly bubbly voice, made the overall exchange admittedly adorable; Nikolay was not afraid to think to himself. However, not wanting to stay the center of attention any longer than he needed to be, he bid his sudden new colleagues goodbye and hurried over to his double desk, only to stop in his tracks when he found himself confronted by a clearly emotional Mina Ashido.

"The next time you get yourself hurt like that, Kolya-kun; don't try to pass it off like it's nothing," was the very first thing she had to say, and it was shocking to hear the pink girl speak with an air of legit seriousness for once. Once Nikolay began to open his mouth to answer, she suddenly held an objecting finger up to his face, motioning for him not to speak. By now, the intensity in her black-and-gold eyes had begun to waver with what were unmistakably tears, and her lips even began to tremble.

"You scared the hell out of me when you passed out like that," she finally admitted in a nearly silent mumble as her extended arm likewise began to shake as she was trying not to let her emotions get the better of her. Nikolay felt an overwhelming sensation of guilt, seeing her like this. "I'm sorry, Ashido-san. When you said that you knew I would do good in there, and I…acted out like that, I-I just wanted to help you believe there was some part of me still worthy of that kind of faith."

The words just came automatically; he honestly didn't know what to say to alleviate Minas' worry, and he could tell she wasn't buying a word of it, shaking her head in refusal, even despite the tears in her eyes. "You dummy, I still believe in you because I know you have just as much of what it takes as everyone else! But don't go getting yourself hurt and then acting like you aren't, like some kind of stubborn dumbass! Friends don't lie to each other like that, okay?"

Nikolay could only bring himself to nod in understanding, and this thankfully seemed to satisfy Mina much more, as she wiped the tears from her eyes and finally began smiling again. However, before anything else, she suddenly took out her pink pen and, much like Tooru, wrote out her own signature on his cast. "If what I've heard about Recovery Girl is true, you'll probably be out of this by tomorrow. But still, you can hang onto it as a keepsake, if nothing else. Your first official Hero badge of honor."

Nikolay didn't know what to say to that, but still felt his face warming up at such sentimental words coming from her. That was when he noticed further movement out the corner of his eye and turned, surprised to find Ochako Uraraka standing nervously at his side, looking like she was struggling to come up with words while poking her index fingers together pensively.

"I-I'm…I'm g-glad to see you're all better, N-Niko-san. Did you…d-did you happen to see if Deku-kun was in the nurses' office?" Her concern was crystal clear, and honestly rather heartwarming, as Nikolay had to think. "I was honestly kind of rushed out of the office when I woke up, but I didn't see him. However, given the state he was in after that fight, I wouldn't be surprised if he had been in one of the beds behind the curtains. But if Recovery Girl could make my wrist be 100% again in a day, I'm certain Midoriya-san will be just fine by then, too."

This unusual and, admittedly forced, display of confidence just looked plain outlandish coming from someone like Nikolay, but it was enough to earn a barely restrained fit of laughter from Ochako, and that was good enough for him. The smile on her face by the time she could breathe again clearly showed that his effort was much appreciated.

"Thank you for saying so, Niko-san. But I-I'm honestly not too worried about his injuries. I'm mainly more worried about what might happen after he gets out, especially if he runs into that Bakugo kid again. He hasn't said a word since our trial ended, and after we were given the rest of the day to review all our trials, he just took off without a word. I'm scared that he's going to take whatever he's feeling out on Deku-kun the next time he sees him."

Despite the immensely justifiable grounds Ochakos' concerns were built on, that didn't stop Mina from immediately stepping in with that encouraging smile on her pink face, giving the brown-haired blushing girl a friendly nudge to the arm. "Hey, come on, Urara-chan; remember what Midori-kun said? He's known Bakugo for years. I think he's smart enough to have an idea how to get around another fight if he can help it. I'm sure everything will be just fine in the end."

While the two girls began to talk amongst themselves, Nikolay decided to take the opportunity to finally plant himself back at his desk, really feeling just how physically exhausted he still was even after getting patched up. Of course, it wasn't long before he heard his neighboring seat being filled, and looked to find Eijirou Kirishima looking at his cast with a remaining flicker of regret, before just as quickly regaining that confident macho smile.

"Recovery Girl said it will be fine by tomorrow. She also said I was out for well over an hour. So…what all did I miss?" Nikolay finally asked, wanting to avoid another go-around of apologies. Eijirou simply kicked back, a reminiscent look in his red eyes. "Well, given the first three trials made up thirteen of twenty-one classmates, there were only two more after that. They were still really exciting, though.

"After our trial, the next one had Kaminari-san and Yaoyorozu-san on the Hero team, and Sato-san and Koda-san on the Villain team. Sato tried rushing them like some kind of Berserker right from the start, forced them to double back for a while. Then, completely out of nowhere, Yaoyorozu creates a whole bucket of water from her skin, throws it on the floor, and Kaminari shoots a whole ton of electricity into it as soon as Sato steps in. Brought the guy down like a ton of bricks, but Kaminari was pretty much a vegetable the rest of the trial. Then Kouda literally calls in a whole bunch of mice from pretty much everywhere, but Yaoyorozu conjures up these big suction cups and just makes her way down the hall on the ceiling! She just used that to climb up the building, but it looked like Kouda was expecting it. But then she conjures up an actual tear gas canister, throws it in, practically KO's Kouda-san with it, and grabs the core just like that!"

As obvious as Eijirous' excitement just thinking back on it was, Nikolay was silently amazed at learning some of his fellows' Quirks, finally. From the way he described it, it sounded like Kouji Kouda could actually communicate with animals, and Momo Yaoyorozu could somehow conjure up entire objects "from her skin" as he had described it. That was definitely something Nikolay wanted to see in action one day.

"The last trial after that was Ashido and Aoyama-san on the Hero team, and Sero-san and Asui-san on the Villain team. That was actually pretty funny, they were doing well on the infiltration end, until Ashido accidentally burned some holes in Aoyamas' cape. The guy was pretty much despondent the whole time after that. Asui tried ambushing them and captured Aoyama with her tongue, but Ashido was sliding all over the place. Asui couldn't catch up, especially since Ashido was throwing some of her acid to keep that distance between them. When she found the core, Sero had a whole bunch of his tape set up all over the place like tripwires, but no joke, she literally just melted her way through all of it, flipped and danced around the lines he was trying to set up when he was chasing her, and got her hands on the core before he could even come close. I'm telling you, man, you would've loved it, I'm sure!"

Nikolay felt a previously unnoticed tension fade as he collapsed back into his chair, overcome with a feeling of…relief. After everything up to this point, he felt genuine relief to know that one of the few people he felt a genuine friendship with (as much as he could understand what that was supposed to feel like), had managed to succeed, and seemingly with far more grace than he had ever managed. "I was afraid she would stay mad at me after I'd blacked out earlier," he finally felt comfortable enough to admit, but Eijirou remained unperturbed.

"Are you kidding? Ashido might get upset every once in a while, but she never stays genuinely mad at anybody. I don't think she physically could if she tried. No, the only thing I've ever seen get her that rattled is when her friends are in trouble or get hurt. So take that as all the confirmation you could ever need: she says you guys are friends, and she means it, one-hundred percent."

Nikolay felt a familiar warmth building in his chest just to think about it. No matter how many times she said it, his own self-doubt kept making him question the sincerity of it. And yet, like clockwork, hearing her say so never felt any less wonderful inside. Sitting there, Nikolay would have happily given anything to be able to just hang onto that pleasant feeling of actual friendship and not have that damned voice in his head come back. "I'm glad to hear she won," he eventually spoke up.

"Ah, I was never worried. Honestly, Ashido was practically born to be a Hero. In the few years I've known her, she's been one of, if not the bravest person I've ever known." Eijirous' confession spurred a surprised look from Nikolay, and the redheaded boy could clearly see it. "Oh yeah, a lot of the people here might not have ever met before yesterday, but that doesn't go for all of us. Ashido and I went to the same middle school together.

"Back in those days, she was one of the most popular students in school; mainly cause of her constantly cheerful attitude, the fact she could pretty much get along with anyone and everyone, and because no matter how big or small a conflict or problem was, she was always the first person to step up and confront it. Have you ever thought a person could diffuse a confrontation completely outside of themselves, solely through break dancing?" Nikolay didn't even try to hide the skepticism on his face at the mention of this, but Eijirous' confident smile never wavered. He was being completely serious, but the young Russian boy simply could not fathom such a sight.

"I always thought she was so cool back then, especially cause I could never bring myself to do what she could for everyone. I hate to admit it, but back in middle school, I was…well, I was a coward, always standing on the sidelines cause I didn't want to get caught in a fight or get into trouble. As much as I wanted to be a Hero like Ashido did, I didn't know how to even start.

"But then, one day on my way back from school, I saw Ashido and a couple of her friends, and they were being threatened by this…this giant creature in a robe. Thing was as big as a small house, and it sounded like it would eat them if they weren't careful. I wanted to rush in, try and help them out somehow, but no matter how much I kept yelling at myself to do something, just to move…I couldn't. The fact was that I-I was just too scared to do anything.

"But then, without any hesitation, I saw Ashido step forward, and actually tell that creature off…and it worked. Size-wise, she was practically nothing to this thing, and yet she stood up to it, just to protect her friends. Even if she did start crying with them once it was over, that didn't change the fact that even in the face of such danger, she went right into it, just to help people, because that's just what real Heroes do. She did that all on her own, while all I could do was just stand there and watch. That…that still, to this day, is the single manliest thing I've ever seen. And that's when I knew I wanted to become a Hero more than anything. I wanted to be just like that, somebody who doesn't stand aside and do nothing when other people are in danger. I want to be the kind of Hero that she could be proud of."

At some point, Eijirous' demeanor had gone from retelling the past to his Russian classmate, and had sifted into a voicing of his own personal goal to himself. If anything, it was simply a clear sign of just how much he had truly been inspired by Minas' example. And honestly, even hearing it secondhand, Nikolay found himself feeling very much the same.

Up to this point, he had already been considerably moved by just how confident Mina had consistently shown herself to be, both in her capabilities and in her conviction to not only become a Pro Hero herself, but to also cheer on, encourage and help all those around her reach that same goal. Her continuously proven selfless, upbeat and friendly nature only compiled onto that whole image that had already made her so much more present in his mind than he ever thought she would have been when they very first met.

Hearing Eijirou sum it all up, Nikolay could feel the admiration he already had for Mina bloom into something much greater, much stronger. She really was a perfect example of what a great Hero could be, and in this moment, even despite the constantly nagging fear and doubt that even now still lingered, he wanted to try and fit that example the best he could as well; if for no other reason than to help prove to them both that the constant faith she had been showing in him was not wasted.

"Kirishima-san, would you mind giving us a minute?" The voice of Momo Yaoyorozu suddenly spoke up, breaking the Russian boy from his latest mental state, immediately noticing the ponytail-wearing girl towering over him in his seat, those cat-like eyes of hers watching him with intent, arms crossed firmly over her chest.

"I'm pleased to see your injuries are on their way to recovering, Bezpalov-san. However, that doesn't change the fact that your less-than satisfactory performance in the battle trial is primarily to blame for ending up in such a state to begin with." Even though Momo was not yelling, the serious edge in her tone left Nikolay sitting up straight on instinct, as though afraid he would be chastised further for not doing so if she saw fit.

"From what I observed in your trial, there is clearly more on your mind than you have been letting on, and it is drastically affecting your potential performance, and as a result, the ultimate performance of our class. You need to understand that the battle trials are not there solely to gauge our overall skills and effectiveness in combat. They are about observing how we as classmates and partners are able to work together as a team.

"All the best Pro Heroes are capable of working efficiently together, no matter who their partners might be in the moment. And the key to that is that all Heroes involved are on the same page, mentally and emotionally, in order to effectively handle whatever problem they are presented with, and most importantly, in order to be able to save and protect people.

"Look, despite whatever you may be thinking right now, know that I'm not chastising you, Bezpalov-san. You're not a loose cannon, and you're not a coward. You clearly have the drive to improve like the rest of us. I'm just letting you know that I'm willing to do whatever I feel is necessary to help everyone in this class overcome whatever is holding them back and reach their true potential, and that goes for you, as well. So try not to be a stubborn fool, and simply tell me if you want my assistance."

Nikolays' gaze fell onto his now twice-signed cast as Momos' lecturing sunk in. Everything she was saying was absolutely correct, he knew this. None of them could afford him having another panic attack like that when it counted. "I want to improve, Yaoyorozu-san. I do. But…the things I've been carrying…the things that just won't leave me alone, and made me do…well, the things you all saw today; they've been with me; they've been a part of me for so long now, that I…I don't even know how or where to even start dealing with them. I don't even know if there really is someone I could even begin to explain any of this to."

Despite his clear doubts in his own ability to change, Momo simply gazed upon the young foreigner with deep contemplation, thinking back on everything she had observed from him since yesterday. "Well, forgive me if I'm being too bold, but it seems to me that you already have a couple of quite loyal friends among our classmates who might be willing to at least help you get started."

At her suggestion, Nikolay immediately lifted his gaze to see Mina and Eijirou had now joined Rikido, Denki, Tsuyu and Tooru near the entrance of the classroom, eagerly and excitedly chattering among themselves. But while the warmth of knowing they were his friends lingered, so too did this awful nagging doubt. "You're right, Yaoyorozu-san. They are my friends. But…but they wouldn't begin to understand. I don't think anyone here would, even you. What happened to me in the trial was because I've been scared for so long. And…and the fact that I actually have friends now, for the first time…that's why what happened today still scares me more than anything has before.

In the brooding silence of a dimly-lit bar somewhere within the depths of downtown Musutafu City, three silent figures sat in deep contemplation, looking over a single copy of the most recent print of the cities' newspaper, upon which was plastered a photo of everyones' all-time favorite Hero, All Might. The headlines were practically screaming of his recent induction into the prestigious Yuuei Academy as a teacher for all the fresh and upcoming future Heroes to learn from.

While they all felt a similar distaste at such news, there was no denying that something about the very idea was nothing short of laughable. So much so, that a long-developing thought within the mind of one of their number, finally decided to let itself be known with one thoughtful question: "Hey…what do you think would happen…once the 'Symbol of Peace'…got snuffed out by Villains?"

And there it is, everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter, and if so, please leave a review so I can know for sure. Until then, I wish you all a very happy Valentine's Day tomorrow, and I hope you're all keeping safe with your loved ones, and I will see you all with the new chapter on 02/20! За ваше здоровье!