Hello again, everyone. Well, we're finally here. This officially marks the end of my first fully original story arc, the Vukodlak Arc. It has been one hell of an experience plotting out this beast of an arc and putting it all together to form a coherent narrative that I'm hoping will be able to carry over and contribute to future story arcs as this story goes on. I'm grateful for all the feedback I've received thus far, and I can only hope you'll all continue to give me your feelings and opinions as this story goes on, cause I have no intention of stopping anytime soon. I'm fully committed to making this the best kind of story it can possibly be while respecting the established story it works around.

After this chapter, we'll be 100% back in established canon territory which on one hand makes things a little easier, but on the other hands also makes it more difficult, as I find myself faced with the same challenge as I faced when adapting the Sports Festival Arc; that challenge being figuring out exactly what pre-established events to showcase, and in how much detail, so as to provide as fully fleshed-out and complete a reading experience as I can for long-time fans and newcomers alike. In a way, that just makes figuring out how to tackle future story arcs that much more exciting.

If you like what you read here today, please do be so kind as to leave an honest review to let me know what you all think so far. To know that I provide so many people with something they genuinely enjoy is just one of the many things that makes this project worth it.

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

I would also, once again, like to give a shout-out of gratitude to my beta reader, Mizu Hikikomori. Even if real life has kept them away for a considerable while, their presence and support goes far from unappreciated. Here's hoping things can hopefully settle down and we can work together more regularly again.

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

Chapter 29

Catching Up

(Наверстывание)

The Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

Out on the streets of Moscow, life was as normal as could possibly be; but within the halls of the seat of Russia's government, and especially within the office of the head of the Anti-Quirk Mobilization and Armament Bureau, Konstantin Khodamchuk, things were far from normal, and even farther from pleasant.

Ever since the very first whispers of it had started hitting the airwaves in Japan, he had been made fully aware of it, and for the last three days straight, had practically secluded himself in his office, unable to stop watching every single news report from Japan detailing the appearance and arrest of a foreign Villain only calling himself 'Vukodlak', with no evidence upon him to connect him to anyone or anything else. However, even in that case, the fact that his existence was now public knowledge in another country, and he was in their legal custody, for all intents and purposes for life, was something that had Khodamchuk feeling especially hot under his collar with anxiety.

Outside of his office, it had only been recently that the news of a Villain of Russian origin attacking Heroes on Japanese soil had reached Mother Russia's airwaves. As such, it was honestly to be expected that one of his employees would come practically barging into his office in a panic, which was exactly what happened that otherwise common morning. Khodamchuk didn't even flinch or take his eyes from the broadcast on his computer when his door flew open, with one of his younger and far less experienced employees gasping for breath in the doorway. [[Secretary Khodamchuk, sir, forgive me for coming in uninvited, but have you seen the-?]]

[[If you're about to ask if I've been seeing the news coming out of Japan, then yes, I've seen it. I've heard it. It's pretty much all I've seen and heard for the last three bloody days! Now if you're going to stand there, then at least come in the rest of the way and shut that blasted door behind you!]] His barking orders practically reverberated off the walls, his temper had come up so quickly and left the young man before him visibly shaken. Of course, he did exactly as he was told, and soon it was just the two of them in the closest thing they could get towards privacy.

Khodamchuk then let out a deep, gravelly sigh of pure frustration. [[I didn't think it was possible to be done. Vukodlak, our single most effective trump card; gets taken right out of our grasp like that, by a bunch of Quirk-possessing children, no less! Not having him available is going to make any future covert operations of ours especially difficult. I suppose the one good thing we can take away from all this is that the Japanese government hasn't come to our doorstep with any accusations of us sending an operative onto their soil without consulting them first.]]

While he angrily rubbed his temples in frustration, his unwitting companion couldn't help but speak up: [[Sir, the fact that Vukodlak came through here before leaving to go after Tunguska, means he took a fair amount of equipment and monetary and travel resources with him. If the Japanese haven't come knocking at our doors yet, that has to mean he destroyed all of that before he was ultimately arrested. If I may speak freely right now, that sounds to me like he was actively taking action to make sure we wouldn't be implicated in his actions. I suppose in that way, this proves that Vukodlak was ultimately loyal to the end.]]

However, this sentiment only earned him a deeply cynical burst of laughter from his superior, looking at the young man like he was looking at an idiotic child. [[Oh, good God, don't be so naïve! This business of ours has no room for such thoughts. If anything, Vukodlak was probably just burning the last remaining bridge between him and us so he could go on and kill as many Heroes as he wanted once he had done what he was told to. He'd been going on about how the world needed to be purged of so-called Heroes for years, you really think he was going to step foot in a country that was chock-full of them, and just stop after he'd gotten the one we sent him after?

[[No, that bastard knew we wouldn't be able to send any of our own men after him if he decided to go rogue outside our borders. Such actions would doubtless spark an international incident, and unlike the old days, Russia needs relations with other countries in order to remain stable. It's the very same reason the Japanese haven't come to us about this whole mess, themselves. Without any solid physical evidence to back their claims, they would be doing nothing more than throwing unjustified accusations in the eyes of the global political community, and diplomacy would quickly start to fall apart afterward. As of right now, we find ourselves at a stalemate, but things are still more or less stable, and that's how they're going to remain for the time being.]]

The younger man stood humiliated in the center of the office, looking not unlike a scolded little child in the face of his domineering father. However, once he was sure that his boss wasn't going to proceed to lambaste him any further, he worked up the courage to finally ask the most dreaded question in this scenario: [[So…sir, if we don't have Vukodlak in our repertoire anymore…what are we going to do from now on about any lingering Quirk elements in our former territories?]]

Khodamchuk was clearly deep in thought, himself, as he sat back in his chair, looking contemplatively through the ceiling at the overcast skies above. [[As much as it's going to hurt us going forward in terms of options, the fact remains that Vukodlak was ultimately very effective for us in the years he was in our employ. He erased quite a few concerning names from our lists; names of Quirk-possessors and wannabe Heroes that, given enough time, would have proven very troublesome for us.

[[With all the noteworthy ones having been taken care of, if there were any at all left, they've doubtless unhitched their tents and taken off running as fast as they could so they could get to territory we couldn't legally follow them into, much less so with Vukodlak now gone. For now, I think we can actually breathe easy that most, if not all, of our potential problems are currently outside our range of worry right now. If any of them prove foolish enough to try and set foot in former Soviet ground again, we'll be the first to know about it, and by then we'll have everything we need to eradicate them so effectively, we wouldn't even need Vukodlak's skills any longer.]]

As surprisingly confident in this train of thought as Khodamchuk sounded, the younger man didn't look nearly as much so. In fact, he looked to be silently struggling to decide whether or not to say something, and he could tell his boss was seeing it on his face. [[Well, sir…I hadn't heard the news about Vukodlak before I came in this morning, but there was something I had been picking up on for the last couple days I wanted to bring to your attention beforehand. It started out only as some baseless rumors, but we've been picking up more and more references to it from across the country the last couple of days, so I knew I needed to bring it to your attention now.]]

With that, he hurried over and placed a manila envelope he had kept tucked under his arm onto Khodamchuks' desk, swallowing the lump in his throat as his boss immediately began thoroughly looking over the paperwork inside. As soon as his eyes finally lifted to meet his young subordinates', he immediately began trying his best to explain these findings.

[[It started a few years ago with a couple families in northeastern Russia disappearing from their homes overnight each year. Then it started increasing to a family every couple of months. However, none of them have ever been described or reported as abductions. Witness reports have described them essentially as migrations, and all of them heading eastward, since they just vanish with their belongings in the middle of the night, and never in great numbers all at once. It was localized to that general area for a while, but over the last few months, similar witness reports have started circulating through numerous local law enforcement bodies scattered across former Soviet territory of several families practically migrating east in several moderately sized cities and small towns per country.

[[Given where all the witness testimonies have described the migrants were heading, and using that information to try and pinpoint their collective destinations at the eastern Russian shoreline as best we can, we've deduced that these people may have been heading to Japan, since from that collective destination point within our borders, it's the next closest landmass they could go to.]]

His explanation was as clear and concise as could be; he and Khodamchuk both knew this. However, the inquisitive glimmer in the older man's' eye did not fade, as he kept staring his subordinate down. [[Thank you for the cliff note summary, but that still says nothing as to why this is going on. A couple people leave their homes a year, fine, people have the right to emigrate elsewhere if they want. But numerous families practically leaving their homes across the former bloc territories and all heading in the same direction for what you believe may be the same hypothetical destination, and you only now bring this to my attention? I should have you thrown on your ass out on the street for withholding something so potentially serious. Do you at least have some speculation from the witnesses as to why these people would do this all of a sudden?]]

With his job having now officially been threatened, the younger man was visibly beginning to tremble, while also still trying to maintain as professional and stoic an air as he possibly could in his superiors' presence. [[Sir, I'm sorry to say we don't have any concrete answers to that as of yet. However, some of the witnesses have theorized that the families that migrated may have had one or more Quirk-possessors in their numbers, hence why they decided to emigrate in the cover of night. And it hasn't just been a guess from a few random people. With each passing hour, similar speculative theories have been coming in from witnesses across the former territories.]]

To the young man's concern, his boss looked visibly surprised by this hypothesis; surprised and enraged. If this were in fact true, and there had been far more Quirk-possessors living with their heads kept down within their borders for this long, and they hadn't managed to pick up on it, then hell would rain down on all their heads for such gross incompetence.

However, a thought then occurred to Khodamchuk that made him take his hands from his head, looking as if he had just made a wondrous realization. [[Wait…perhaps this may not be the bad news we're thinking it is. Our entire purpose is to remove Quirk-possessors from our old territories in order to make the rest of the citizens feel safe and secure that another incident like the Siberian Flash will never repeat. If these people that are emigrating do in fact have members among them with Quirks…then perhaps this is the sign we've been waiting for, for so long. They're finally taking the hint we've been giving them for the last nearly thirteen years; that we don't want them, and they're no longer welcome here. Without Heroes like Tunguska or any others like him to look to for some semblance of hope, they're finally moving on to avoid the threat of our forces kicking their doors down. If they're leaving, then by definition, it means we are still fulfilling our sworn duty.]]

To Khodamchuks' delight, his younger subordinate seemed to be catching his drift as well, managing an exceptionally awkward smile of attempted confidence. [[Here's hoping you're indeed correct, sir. So, do you think we should inform the president of this development? No matter how you look at it, these kinds of numbers of people leaving their homes are going to get some of the publics' attention, and they may come with questions.]]

Khodamchuks' answer came near instantly as he hurried around his desk to grab the younger man by the shoulders and force him to meet his intense gaze. [[No, no, no! The president is a very busy man, still trying to put the rest of our country back together after all this time, the last thing we should do is present him with anything that does not call for immediate attention. I'll contact the local heads of public media and have them spin a story about foreign job offer programs or some other such bullshit those backwoods folk will buy. Unless something of very immediate concern comes up, we must continue to carry out our duty and leave the president to his own, for the sake of all of us. With that being said, get out there and get back to work!]]

Thankfully, his subordinate got the message loud and clear, and thus hurried out of his office, leaving Konstantin Khodamchuk alone once more, silently praying to whatever god was actually there, that this news he had just been presented with would turn out to be the accidental success he hoped it was, and that it somehow wouldn't come back to bite them in the ass somehow.

If their president was going to want to hear anything from them, he knew it was only going to be if they somehow got a stroke of cosmic-level luck and arrested Tunguska. With Vukodlak no longer available to them, he had since resigned himself to that kind of occurrence being a literal impossibility.

Yuuei Academy, Japan, Monday

The long-awaited return and reuniting of all the Class 1-A students went as they had all silently expected it would. From the very start, the air was alive with nothing but shared stories of everyones' experiences with their respective internships, recounting the invaluable lessons and experiences they had gotten to go through over the course of the previous week.

At least, that was how it managed to go, once students like Hanta, Eijirou, Denki and Rikido (and even Nikolay, albeit much more low-key) managed to stop laughing uncontrollably upon first seeing Katsuki Bakugo again, only with his usually spiky blonde hair now combed into a ridiculous Beatles-esque bowl cut, courtesy of the Pro Hero whom he had interned under, Best Jeanist. Even his typical threats of outright explosive murder hardly did anything to get people to stop laughing at his expense, although it did ultimately manage to get his hair back to normal.

Everyone shared their stories with one another with more enthusiasm than could be physically contained, for nobody's internship was anything close to a slog. However, if there was one unspoken fact that could be agreed upon by all the students of Class 1-A, it was that there were definitely some among their ranks that had more star power about them than others right now. And in this case, that distinct honor fell onto the shoulders of Izuku Midoriya, Tenya Iida, Shoto Todoroki, Ochako Uraraka, Denki Kaminari, Tooru Hagakure, Minoru Mineta, Mina Ashido, and Nikolay Bezpalov.

Truly, ever since the national news of the incidents involving the Hero Killer: Stain, and the bombings and subsequent attacks conducted by the Hunter of Heroes, Vukodlak (as the news had now taken to calling him); all those students had unknowingly become the primary talk of their classmates in their own respective rights. Of course, it did strike Nikolay and his compatriots with considerable guilt that they got the honor to take their due credit for resolving that case, while Izuku, Tenya and Shoto didn't for theirs.

Of course, that sense of guilt didn't stop Mina, Tooru and Ochako from regaling their fellow girls of the class who hadn't been there on the whole thing, like they were telling campfire stories, leaving virtually no detail left out from beginning to end, even giving them the second-hand rundown of everything Nikolay himself had told them about Tunguska and Vukodlak. If nothing else, it was a testament to the threes' ability to share an elaborate, complex story off of each other in practically no time at all.

Needless to say, Kyouka and Tsuyu were visibly impressed with what their friends had ultimately gone through together, especially in comparison to what they themselves had gotten to do, with Tsuyu having essentially done nothing but patrolling with the coast guard. "Man, I can't lie, that…that is a lot to take in, you guys. If some Villain had just pulled a ton of bombings where I was interning, I have to admit, I'm not entirely sure I would've been able to handle it. I mean, I just basically did evacuation help and logistical support where I was, it's not like I got to gain any real fighting experience, myself."

"Yeah, and for Vukodlak to not only take out Tunguska-sensei, but to then come to your agency personally and take out all the Pros, just like that, gunning for Kolya-san alone? How is it you guys weren't scared out of your wits-kero?" Tsuyu asked; her normally blank expression betraying the genuine astonishment she was feeling just listening to her three classmates retell it down to the letter.

In contrast to how they had all felt when it had actually happened, being able to look back on it now, Mina and Ochako actually couldn't help but shoot each other knowing sunny grins. "Are you kidding? That was, like, probably one of the scariest moments of my life! Seriously, you should've heard Tooru-chan when we were hiding in that panic room; her teeth were chattering like castanets!"

"Oh, come on, Mina-chan, I wasn't that loud, and it's not like you could blame me! I mean, you were shaking so much, I would've thought Kolya-kun had shot one of his blasts into you point blank if I didn't know better!"

As Mina and Tooru continued teasing and prodding at each other, Ochako of course decided to step in between. "Well, you both still handled it better than me. I don't know how, but I was somehow managing to cry, but not start wailing, no matter how much I actually wanted to. So, yeah, all in all, it was really, really scary. You should consider yourselves lucky you didn't have to go through it, Kyouka-chan, Tsu-chan."

While the purple-haired and green-haired girls silently took in Ochakos' heavy statement, Mina was quick to step in, herself, pulling Tooru and Ochako into a group hug with her arms draped over both girls' shoulders; her big upbeat smile shining brighter than ever. "But hey, even for how scary it was, we still kicked that Villains' ass and got to be real Heroes together! Isn't that the real takeaway from all of that other stuff? Just goes to show both our instructors taught us really well, right?"

"Yeah…yeah, it does. Tunguska-sensei's training was really…really fruitful, in the end." Ochako ultimately agreed, looking down at her hands and feet, remembering just what she had ultimately managed to do to help save the day. She felt a swelling of indomitable pride in her chest, while also giving off a seriously determined aura that the rest of the girls couldn't help but feel the slightest bit intimidated by. "Ochako's looking like she's become awakened-kero."

Kyouka smiled knowingly as she crossed her arms, looking over the trio intently. "No argument there. But really, all three of you just feel a lot different to be around now. Again, Uraraka-san looks and even feels a lot tougher after Tunguska-sensei's training. Hagakure-san, you clearly grew a lot gutsier over this last week. Why else would you actually go into the lair of a Villain like that, by yourself? And Ashido-san, I didn't think it was possible, seeing how you've been this whole school year so far, but you somehow seem even more confident than ever. I guess standing up against such a tough Villain and winning will do that for anybody."

To hear the normally stoic Kyouka acknowledge their respectful growth left all three girls feeling especially proud of themselves and each other, before Mina looked back over her shoulder to look upon the rest of their friends and allies across the classroom. "Well, we've all gotten way stronger, braver and all that cool stuff this past week. But yeah, it's a really awesome feeling, knowing we all got to help each other take that Villain down and be real Heroes, finally. Even when we were all scared, we just kept going, and look at us now! It feels like we grew so much, it feels weird remembering we're still just in our first high school year, you know?"

As the pink girl mused surprisingly deeply while she gazed upon their classmates with true admiration, Kyouka and Tsuyu couldn't help but notice how her golden irises flicked more than once in Nikolays' direction; currently in the middle of no doubt recounting the exact same story to Izuku, Tenya and Shoto a few rows ahead.

"Maybe that kind of surprise should be a warning not to let yourself grow up too fast." Kyouka chimed in, thankfully managing to get Mina back down to earth as she chuckled with an embarrassed grin.

However, Tsuyu was still staring up at the pink-skinned girl intently as she laid herself forward on her desk. "You know, Mina, listening to you all tell that whole story, it really does sound like you're way more attached to Kolya-san than I originally thought. I mean, Ochako and Tooru made it sound like you were downright despondent the whole time he'd been kidnapped."

"Yeah, not to mention how you keep glancing his way every few seconds. I'd guess you're either afraid he's gonna disappear again, or you just wanna keep his face fresh in your head to admire." Kyouka piped in as well with a devious little smirk.

Minas' black-gold eyes went nearly wide as saucers as her pink face flared red hot at what both girls were not-so-subtly suggesting, as she tried to stand as strong and serious as she possibly could. "Whoa, hold on, you two! You're making way more out of this than it really is! Like, I don't know about you, but I would think being really, really sad, even desperate, would kind of come naturally when someone you really care about is in mortal danger, and you're not able to do anything about it!

"And for the record, my reaction back then, wouldn't have been any different if it were literally anyone else in this class that got pinched in Kolya-kuns' place! I'd be just as sad if it were either of you, Urara-chan, Kirishima, Iida-san, Midori-kun or anyone! You know what? I'll bet if it was Midori-kun who'd gotten nabbed and we were all there; Urara-chan would've probably reacted even worse!"

In Minas' desperate attempt to try and defend herself from her own embarrassment, she had inadvertently left Ochako the one now furiously blushing with both surprise and humiliation that she'd just been dragged into such an unwanted spotlight. "Hey, why the heck are we suddenly talking about me, Mina-chan?! This has nothing to do with me or Deku-kun! Talk about anything else, please!"

At this sudden turn of discussion and subsequent reaction, Kyouka, Mina and Tooru couldn't help but grin mischievously, especially when the invisible girl decided to finally chime in, herself: "You know something; you might actually be right about that, Mina-chan! Ochako-chan really does get super attached! I mean, she was already super sad when Tunguska-sensei got taken, way more than you'd think any student would feel for their teacher. Then again, you two really did start looking like a dad and his daughter throughout interning; it was so cute! You really do wear your heart on your sleeve, don't you, Ochako-chan?"

By this point, Ochakos' attempts at deflecting had devolved into near incoherent and humiliated babbling, culminating in the brown-haired girl starting to slowly levitate herself into the air against her will, while Mina and the rest of the present girls all laughingly tried to pull her back down.

At another spot of the class, Denki and Minoru were busy eagerly recounting every detail of their climactic battle with Eijirou, Momo, Rikido and Hanta, having to actively resist the urge to actually start physically reenacting the whole thing in the throes of their excitement. "It was awesome, you guys! Ashido-san comes diving in to drop kick this guy, but he catches her by the neck and we were thinking she was done for! Then Uraraka-san comes flying in all low and takes his gravity right as he's about to choke slam Ashido-san into the ground, making him spin while she sticks the landing!"

"Yeah, then I come in and I just started wailing on this guy with my hair, plastering his metal leg to the wall, and that's when Ashido just waylays him with this big handful of acid, melting right through it and taking away one of his biggest weapons!"

"But get this, the guy turns out to even have metal claws on his feet, too! Almost took Kolya-sans' head off if Ashido-san hadn't pushed him down and took the hit to the arm instead! Then I come in and zap him with everything I've got. It definitely shakes him up, but still no dice!"

In all honesty, simply watching Denki and Minoru retell any kind of story so animatedly off of each other was entertaining enough in its own right. But to have simply gotten to hear every detail of such a huge battle their classmates had experienced made it all so much more enthralling. "Damn, you guys sound like you kicked some serious ass, and this dude sounds like a freaking powerhouse, himself, and for a blind man no less!" Rikido finally commented in his own kind of awe as soon as they had reached the end.

Needless to say, the smiles on Denki and Minorus' faces couldn't have been more proud. "Damn right, dude! Getting to actually give our Hero names and technically be on TV at the end just made it all the sweeter! I've been riding the feeling nonstop since then!" "Yeah, this is what Hero superstardom must feel like, and it feels good!"

Unable to resist, Denki proceeded to started roughly grinding his hand into Minorus' spherical hair at the sound of the tiny boy sounding so cocky, mussing it all up. "Oh yeah, real big superstar Hero, aren't you? I heard you screaming and practically crying through the whole thing; don't lie!"

Of course, once he had his fill and Minoru fussed to try and get his hair back in order, Denki momentarily glanced over to see Nikolay in the middle of talking to their other three big superstars of the class for the day. That was where his euphoria slowly began to dim. "Still, it's not like we're the only ones that risked our asses last week. Midoriya, Iida and Todoroki went through a hell of a lot, too. Yet they don't get to just tell the world what they did. I get that they had to have broken the rules about internship and all that, but it just doesn't feel fair, you know?"

"Yeah, it really does suck, but the fact we all still ended up getting to hear about it's gotta make up for it somehow, right? I mean, those guys gave their all just as much as you all did, they deserve at least this much recognition for it." Hanta agreed as he and Eijirou followed Denkis' gaze; the latters' red eyes showing an even mix of admiration and relief.

"Hell yeah, it does. Right now, though, let's just be glad nobody among us got permanently hurt and are all okay. I mean, those Villains were all clearly serious business, and yet our classmates all still managed to win. That's enough to be grateful for, even without the public recognition."

At this, Momo even began nodding, a deeply retrospective look in her eyes as she finally spoke up: "Kirishima-sans' right. Both situations easily could have gone much, much worse, and yet our classmates managed to utilize everything they've learned, and emerged victorious for it. That's all that's worth hanging onto right now. I must admit I was very worried about all of you when I first heard about these incidents happening. If only I had been posted somewhere closer at the time, perhaps I would have been able to provide assistance."

In truth, Momos' internship with the Snake Hero, Uwabami, alongside Itsuka Kendo from Class 1-B, had given her a thorough education on the importance of Hero public relations, especially in the world of advertising, but it had hardly given her any experience at all with actual on-street combat against criminals, or even rescuing people, which did little to assuage the still-lingering sense of overall disappointment the class vice president had been feeling in herself ever since dropping from the Sports Festival. To now know that so many of her classmates had gone through so much more, and managed to succeed, couldn't help but leave her feeling immensely proud, but also the slightest touch envious.

From the very beginning when they had returned to class, Nikolay had actively sought out Izuku, Tenya and Shoto, just to get personal confirmation from the three that they were indeed alright after their own intense battle with Stain. Although he should have expected it likewise, he was still surprised when the three actually admitted wanting to find him for the very same purpose after having heard about his and their friends' battle with Vukodlak.

For what felt like nearly an hour, they shared every detail they had with each other of both incidents, and everything they had ultimately learned from them, both from their mentors, from each other, and from themselves.

Such a series of epiphanies ultimately culminated when Nikolay could no longer keep his thoughts to himself when he saw the pronounced scar adorning Tenyas' left hand, while the class president, Izuku and Shoto had likewise taken notice of the scars across their Russian classmates' arms. "Is your hand really going to be okay after that, Iida-san? Are you sure you wouldn't want to see if Recovery Girl could do something about it?"

The bespectacled young man looked to his hand, as he had come to find he did quite often now, looking upon it contemplatively. "If it had been under any other circumstances, perhaps I would, Bezpalov-san. However, given the fact that Stain was the one who gave it to me, and after everything he had said to me, everything I had been forced to realize and learn about myself…I've decided to keep it, regardless of any nerve damage I may have because of it. I'm not keeping it as a mark of my failure, but as a reminder of just how close I had come to letting myself diverge from my own self-chosen path in life."

"Iida-san, you don't have to force yourself to explain it all again if it's too hard right now. The kind of foundational trauma you went through would be hard for anyone." Izuku piped in concernedly when he saw the glimmer of pain in Tenyas' eyes. However, the rigid boy silently motioned to their mutual freckled friend that he was alright, and this was something he wanted and needed to get out in the open again.

"I realize it's quite awkward to be going through this speech again in Midoriya and Todorokis' presence, but I feel you deserve to hear it as well, since you had likewise tried to reach out to me before we all left, Bezpalov-san. I apologize for how cold I had been acting towards all of you back then. I…I was a fool, plain and simple. I had willingly blinded myself from what my true duties and goals were as an aspiring Hero, instead choosing to focus solely on revenge, and letting my personal feelings cloud my judgment. A Pro Hero could have very likely lost his life because of me and my single-minded focus on fulfilling my own desires, and in that moment, I hadn't even taken a moment to consider that. That is a mark of shame I know I will have to carry for the rest of my days.

"All of those things, together, make this scar a reminder of how close I had come, and why I must not allow myself to ever lose focus on what makes a true Hero, the kind that Stain claimed he wanted to make room in the world for. While I will never be able to forgive him for what he did to my brother and so many other Heroes, I am reluctant to admit there was actually an element to his ideology that did make sense, even to me.

"There are indeed those that see the world of Heroics as a means to obtain easy fame and wealth, and unlike someone like Uraraka-san, not for the sake of providing for those less fortunate than themselves. In that way, I suppose you could say that there has been some understanding of what really constitutes being a real Hero that has been lost somewhere along the line. However, Stain went about his ideology the wrong way. He could have gone out into the world to try and spread his ideals of true Heroism to the next generation, rather than engage in a senseless murderous culling.

"Keeping all of this in mind, this is why I have decided that I shall dedicate myself to becoming a true Hero born anew, one that can meet the standard he was aiming for, and one that can spread that positive influence to others, so that perhaps a monster like Stain won't ever feel the need to poke their head from out of the shadows in some misguided attempt to reshape the world again!"

It was of course a touch disconcerting to hear their normally so strict and by-the-book class president actually express wanting to meet the standard of an ideal held by a Villain, let alone the same one responsible for maiming his brother, but the fact he did ultimately have what should have been an admirable conviction and code was something they all did need to keep in mind. Nevertheless, compared to the utterly distant and unresponsive shell of his former self that Tenya had been the last time Nikolay had seen him; to see him and his typical spark of conviction and determination be re-ignited like this instinctively brought a deeply relieved smile to both himself and Izuku alike.

"What about you, Kolya-san? Those scars of yours…I guess when you get down to it, they're technically self-inflicted. I didn't think you would keep them, too…or are they permanent, as well?" Izuku then asked with both curiosity and regret, instinctively looking down to the scars adorning his own right hand; a permanent reminder of the insane lengths to which he had pushed himself during the Sports Festival. Likewise, Nikolay took his eyes from the scars adorning Izuku and Tenyas' hands, down to his own.

"Unfortunately, they're the latter. But I don't want to think of them as signs of how inexperienced I ultimately still am, or that I'm weak. Iida-san has the right idea; I want to think of these as…the proof of a promise, I guess would be a good way of putting it. They're a promise to myself, to my Dad, to all of my friends, to the rest of the world…and to Vukodlak as well. A promise that I'm never going to give up on becoming a real Hero, and prove to him and myself that the real Heroes he was so sure could never exist, are just as real as anything else…even if I, if any one of us, have to push ourselves to become the very first ones to truly wear that kind of mantle. They're a promise of the existence of hope…as cliché as I'm sure that may sound."

He was sure at least one of them wouldn't be able to help cracking a semi-grin at something so over-the-top-All Might-speech-worthy, but to his relief, none of them did. In fact, they all actually looked to be smiling with genuine approval at such a noble meaning being given to what so many others would have simply called physical reminders of weakness. Of course, for as much as he liked the idea of what Nikolay was saying, Izuku couldn't help but briefly chime in: "I mean, if you stopped to think about it for a moment, you could argue All Might may already be the first 'real Hero' in the world, based on the definition you said Tunguska-sensei has for it."

Nikolay, and even Shoto, couldn't help but give the slightest of chuckles at Izukus' inability to resist being a total fanboy for at least a moment, but once that had run its course, Nikolay realized the green-haired boy was still looking quite deep in thought. "It is quite a bizarre coincidence, though. With the exception of one major mentality difference, you could say that Stain and Vukodlak's ideologies are essentially identical. The only difference is that Stain actually believes true Heroes exist, hence why he gave All Might the distinction of being the only one worthy of beating him. All the while, Vukodlak thinks real Heroes never existed to begin with, and never will. It's just something interesting to consider, how two Villainous figures from two totally different parts of the world with considerably different upbringings, could still somehow end up so strikingly similar to each other, even down to the fact their Quirks both involve the ingestion of someone elses' blood."

All three of his compatriots nodded in full agreement now that Izuku had finally expressed out loud what they had all been thinking the entire time. It really was a stirring reminder that, in some ways, for as big as their world was, it still could somehow turn out to feel so small at the same time. "It's so strange: for the longest time, I was convinced that people like serial killers had to be the most nihilistic beings that humanity could offer. And yet, looking between the two now, it's so bizarre to say that, conceptually, a Villain with genuine lives on his hands like Stain, could somehow prove to be more inherently optimistic about the world than another murderous Villain. Such a strange world we all live in." Nikolay mused to no one in particular, despite having his three classmates' attention.

However, now that Izuku had essentially opened the floodgates when it came to expressing what others were thinking, Nikolay looked to the ever-contemplative Shoto, unable to keep a very pressing thought to himself any longer. "Todoroki-san, I'm sorry to bring this up, but it's been pecking away at me ever since we found out you helped in beating Stain. The news ultimately said that Endeavor was the one who defeated him in the end, but I at least did a little research since then, and his agency isn't even close to Hosu City. So if you both were there…then does that mean you actually went ahead and signed on as your dads' intern?"

The fact that Shoto didn't immediately answer with outright refusal, told Nikolay more than actual words ever could have. His wide-eyed expression of surprise couldn't have been more obvious, much to the red-white-haired students' chagrin. "I'm honestly amazed, I'm sorry. I just…listening to how you talked about him at the Festival, and knowing everything he'd been responsible for, I never thought you would have gone for it."

Just before Shoto finally began to open his mouth to answer, Izuku was right there with some enthusiastic recollection of his own: "It was even more than just that. Throughout the entire battle, Todoroki-san was actively using both sides of his power without any hesitation."

Nikolay didn't even notice the brief glimmer of annoyance in Shotos' eyes at Izukus' interruption. However, that annoyance quickly dimmed when he noticed the mutual looks of genuine happiness and pride in him for doing so, reflected in both boys' eyes as he momentarily flinched with embarrassment at so much attention.

"Try not to make such a tremendous thing out of it, you two. I've just been trying to live by the examples you both gave me during the Festival, that's all. Midoriya is right that this power is mine and mine alone, and Bezpalov is right that if I ever want to become the kind of Hero that can surpass All Might and Tunguska, then I need to start taking my life forward with me. It was hard to convince myself to do it, but I ultimately came to the conclusion that the best first step towards finally moving on with my life, would be to intern under my father, force myself to spend any time at all at his side. There's no possible way I can simply move on from everything he'd done to us over the years, but this past week of experience…it was at least a start, if nothing else."

While the rest of the boys took that moment to process just what a truly tremendous leap forward this was for the boy in question, Shoto immediately had his piercing eyes focused on Nikolay in particular. "From the way you tell the story, Bezpalov, it sounds as though your overall physical strength, and the threshold within which you can confidently control your Quirk, have both increased quite a bit. Clearly the same has gone for all those that allied with you, as well. I have to be honest; I'm rather looking forward to seeing what you're capable of, the next time we find ourselves facing against, or working with each other."

His opening had left Nikolay a touch apprehensive as to whether or not he was being challenged, but for Shoto to instead even bring up the idea of them working together again, felt like it was as close to an actual offer of friendship as the Russian boy was going to get from him. With that in mind, Nikolay actually found himself smiling in likewise anticipation. "Yeah…I am, too. Not just to see what your two sides must work like in tandem together, but for you as well, Midoriya-san. It sounds like your instructor put you through a lot even before Stain, so I can only imagine what you can do with your Quirk, now."

With a momentary glance to the clock, Nikolay realized how close they were to class actually starting, and thus bid farewell to his three comrades before hurrying over to his nostalgic spot at the double desk, with Mina almost immediately planting herself right next to him like clockwork. "I never thought I'd see the day you and Todoroki-kun would actually be talking to each other outside the Festival. You're becoming so much more social; I'm so proud of you, Kolya-kun," she congratulated him teasingly with yet another adorable cheeky grin.

Nikolay, on the other hand, was once again feeling his throat go dry for lack of anything to answer her with. Ever since that last-second kiss she'd pulled on him last night, just like at the photo booth, he found it more and more difficult to just have regular casual conversation with her right off the bat like nothing had happened. Worse yet, was the fact he simply didn't know if she really did mean anything behind it, or if it was simply her most effective way of teasing him. He had been hoping he wouldn't be feeling this way around her so soon after what they had just gone through, but clearly she and the universe had other plans, and that involved leaving the poor Russian boy blushing like a freshly picked apple in her presence.

Of course, he couldn't dwell on it for too long, as they were quickly approached by a brightly grinning Eijirou and an equally enthusiastic Rikido and Mezo Shouji, watching Nikolay and Mina like the legends they practically were to the rest of their classmates. "Hey, didn't wanna miss the chance to congratulate you two for pulling the others together and beating that Hero-hunting bomber Villain last week. God, I wish I could've been there to see it!" Rikido immediately opened up with as much gusto as he always did, shooting them both an excited thumb up in approval.

"Likewise; had Kaminari and Mineta not told us all the details, I would've thought a whole bunch of you against one Villain would've been a no-brainer. But for the guy to be tough enough to take out Tunguska-sensei and all the Pros you were interning under? I can't decide if you guys all working together just makes for a really good strategizing force, or if you all just got insanely lucky. Either way, you did damn fine work out there, Bezpalov, Ashido. Hopefully I'll get a chance to measure up just as much come next intern period." Mezo likewise congratulated, offset by the always stern and stoic look in his eyes as the mouth ending one of his tentacles spoke up for him.

For two of the more physical powerhouses of the class to be heaping that kind of praise on them right out the gate left Nikolay and Mina visibly flustered as they both started waving their hands in mock denial: "Oh, c'mon, you guys, it wasn't one thing or the other, and it definitely wasn't just us. You should be congratulating Urara-chan and Tooru-chan, too."

"Yeah, I would say you should also be looking to Tokage Setsuna-san, but since she's in a different class, that'd obviously have to wait. But really, we only came out the winners because we all knew how to work together and around each others' Quirks. I mean, that's what everything we've been learning so far has been for, right? If anything, we should all be thanking the teachers for getting us that prepared to begin with."

Despite Nikolay and Minas' mutual attempt to try and keep themselves as humble as could be, Eijirou, Rikido and Mezo couldn't help but laugh amusedly. "Oh, c'mon, you guys, nobody's saying it was one thing that got you to win over the other, but at least learn to take some of the credit when your own classmates congratulate you. I mean, you all didn't seem to struggle with doing that when you were on the news, at least.

"Seriously, you two especially have such naturally flashy Quirks to begin with, the kind that are pretty much made to draw peoples' attention. You gotta learn to be comfortable with getting attention like that sooner or later; especially you, Ashido. I thought you had that whole part of the Hero persona down pat back in middle school. What made you suddenly so camera-shy; metaphorically, I mean."

What struck Eijirou as even more surprising, then, was just how quickly and confidently Nikolay and Mina were able to answer him: "Really, we have our instructor, Willow Light-sensei, and the rest of the Pros from the agency to thank for that." Nikolay initially replied, before silently gesturing for Mina to give her piece.

"Yeah, big time. They taught us…or, well, pretty much reminded me, that real Heroes always remember just where they get their start, and always remember to thank every single person that helped them get to where they are. I mean, being a famous Hero is still really cool, and I know we'd all like to know what it feels like to stand in that spotlight where everybody cheers for you…but at the same time, we also still want to be Heroes because we want to help people.

"I'd definitely let my excitement partially hide that part from me, and they all helped me to remember, helped us both take it to heart, you know? So I'm really trying not to let a lot of attention start going to my head again, and I'm just trying to focus on being the best kind of Hero I can be, just like we all are. I mean, even now we're all constantly silently cheering each other on, picking each other back up, and pushing each other to get better and stronger and braver, and that just goes to remind us that we have everyone here and each other to thank for helping us become great Heroes, just as much as we have the people we would be saving and protecting out there to thank, too."

Mina had become so enraptured in giving her answer to the fullest from the bottom of her heart, she'd become almost completely ignorant to the astonished looks on Nikolay, Eijirou, Rikido and Mezos' faces, having never once seen the bubbly pink ball of happiness and sunshine sound so deep and introspective before. Eijirou honestly looked like he was struggling to even recognize her right now.

However, his surprise quickly changed to a warm look of pure admiration as he looked between his two friends, clenching his fists with pure enthusiasm. "Wow…just wow…to put on such a seriously down-to-earth display of humility, and after having just beaten a super seriously powerful Villain like that…that is so damn manly, you have no idea! God, it reminds me of all those speeches on the value and codes of chivalry that Crimson Riot would always give that I'd listen to at night! I love it!"

Eijirou eagerly planted his hands upon their desk, jolting Mina and Nikolay with surprise as he looked them both in the eye with that approving sharp-toothed smile. "You're a real Hero here, Ashido. From the beginning, that awesome fearlessness of yours has really been rubbing off on Kolya-san like crazy! You're like the best possible influence in the world for the guy!"

Mina couldn't have looked more bashful if she tried, glancing in Nikolays' direction with an awkward grin. "Oh, c'mon, Kiri, I'm not that big a deal. I mean, you weren't there, so I don't blame you if you don't really believe me, but I seriously was scared to death for a lot of it; we all were, Kolya-kun included."

Nikolay firmly nodded in agreement to aid her point, but as Eijirou was visibly trying to comprehend one of the bravest people he knew actually being genuinely scared, Mina suddenly grabbed both boys' attention by placing an affirming hand over that of her Russian neighbors', forcing him to see the deeply grateful smile now on her face. "And yet, even though we all knew we were scared to death…not one of us ever gave up, including him. Even when things have been at their lowest, not just last week, but since the year started, he kept picking himself back up, even when he said himself he wanted to quit. That has been huge, for both of us. If he could come that close and still bounce back, I knew any one of us could, too. Inspiring others like that, even if they don't realize they're doing so…that's one of the things that makes a real Hero, if you ask me."

Nikolay felt a pounding at his chest, with Minas' little speech ringing way too close to what she had said last night right before that befuddling kiss. However, he knew he couldn't just leave everyone hanging with dead silence, and so said the first thing that came to mind as he tried to steady his heart rate and not start turning red again: "Well, I guess you could say we kind of influence each other, then. I honestly think Minas' natural courage and willingness to take on pretty much anything has been really inspiring for me, too. So I guess you could say it's like an influential cycle we've got going on here…well, that pretty much involves every one of us in this classroom, really. Just like she said: we help each other all around to get better, right?"

By this point, Rikido and Mezo both silently agreed this was getting way too personal between the three for them to just linger, and thus quietly slipped away to leave the trio to their thoughts, while Eijirou simply looked upon this unintentionally affectionate display; one of the most low key joyous smiles on his face as they looked to him in curiosity to just what he was thinking. "It's really an inspiring thing, seeing your friends have such a huge, positive effect on each other. Ashido, your bravery and willingness inspires Kolya-san to try and approach every challenge the same way, and Kolya-san, your unwillingness to give up when things are at their worst likewise inspires Ashido to keep fighting even on the rare occasions she's actually scared. That's like one of those, uh…what's the word…symbiotic circles, or something like that? It's really, really cool to actually see in person."

Lifting himself up from the desk, the red-haired boy eagerly clenched his fists, almost trembling with anticipation. "Willingness, courage and persistence in the face of hardships are some of the manliest things a Hero can have! I'm promising you two that from this point; I'm taking both your examples to heart, in order to be the manliest Hero I can!"

However, this declaration of intent only spurred Nikolay and Mina to rise from their seats, looks of concern evident in their eyes. "Oh, c'mon, Kiri, don't start thinking like that. You've already been proving to be enough of a manly kind of Hero all on your own. I mean, you and Tetsutetsu-kun saved a bunch of people caught in a landslide right alongside Fourth Kind, remember? Don't start ignoring the victories you manage to get through your own ability, okay?"

"Yeah, man, don't start thinking you need to start following our example. Be the kind of Hero you know you can be. If you just start trying to emulate someone elses' attitude and behavior down to the letter, you're just doing yourself and the world a disservice; depriving both of you of the chance to be the kind of Hero you can really be, and the chance to see that very same Hero in action."

Driven by the need to place the final bit of punctuation on this uplifting moment, Mina swiftly reached and pulled Eijirou and Nikolay into another group hug around their necks, though from the outside it obviously resembled more of a double headlock. Nevertheless, all three of their faces were bright with amused smiles as Mina kept holding them close. "Yeah, don't you see? Nobody has to try and copy anyone! We all just keep going and stay right there for each other every step of the way, every last one of us in here, and you'll see, we'll all become awesome Heroes one day!

Eijirou and Nikolay both looked genuinely touched to hear their mutual closest friend say so once she had finally let them both free. However, with that most prominent discussion settled, his once confident smile slowly gave way to a look of genuine sadness. When he finally looked to meet Nikolays' gaze, the Russian boy could tell his friend was struggling to find it in himself to speak, as though he were fearful of the answer he was going to get when he did. However, Eijirou knew a real man faced the things he was afraid of, just as his two friends right in front of him had done, and he needed to step up too.

"Kolya-san…when I heard the news talking about everyones' condition after the fight was over…I didn't want to believe what I'd heard, but…but I just have to know, and I know neither of you would lie to me. So, is it true that…Tunguska-sensei actually lost two fingers to this guy?"

He had secretly been hoping they both would have looked at him like he was crazy once he asked, at least then he would know he had simply been hearing things. However, he was instead met with dead silence and saddened glances shared between his two friends, which unfortunately answered all his questions completely.

Eijirou looked completely shell-shocked as he tried to reach for a desk to steady himself on. Once he did, though, his grip tightened to the point his knuckles were turning white, and his sharp teeth began gritting with frustration, while his red eyes looked especially emotional, like he was seriously struggling to try and remain calm.

"Goddammit…the whole time until the internships started, there was this nagging doubt in my head that kept saying I should've volunteered for Tunguska-sensei's internship surrogate program! I'd been sticking with it through that whole week, why didn't I just choose to go with it officially? Maybe if I had, and I'd gone with everyone, maybe I could've done something to keep him from getting hurt like that!"

"Yeah, or for all any of us know, you could've gotten hurt just as bad, if not worse! You can't just go rushing in and acting like you can just take the full brunt of the damage for everyone and you'll just come out of it a-ok, Kiri! That Quirk of yours isn't really invincible, we all know that now! You gotta be smart about things from now on!" Minas' sudden interjection came especially intense, rendering Eijirou silent as she looked him square in the eye to emphasize the gravity of her point.

Nikolay was quick to follow suit, albeit much less heated, as he placed an affirming hand on the spiky-haired boys' shoulder. "I know it really hurts to have to accept this ended up happening, Kirishima-san. Believe me, I'm still trying to cope with it, too. But there's no point in us asking what-ifs about things that have already happened now. I know my Dad would never have asked any one of his students to just jump into the line of fire for his sake, nor would he have ever wanted them to of their own choice.

"Yeah, my Dad lost two of his fingers, but we've seen him since, and he's not letting that wound bring him down. You say you really want to be a manly kind of Hero like him, among others? Then believe me and listen when I say that right now, the manliest thing you could do is just follow his example in that regard, and just keep being you. Keep being that aspiring bright-eyed student that Tunguska loves like a whole other son, alright?"

Eijirou instinctively looked at Nikolay incredulously, his face practically the picture of disbelief. "N-no way, you're making that last part up, I know it. There's no way Tunguska-sensei would say something like that…right? D-did he actually say that he…he looks at…me like another son?"

Nikolay didn't laugh. Instead, all he did was give his now visibly shaken red-haired friend a humorous smirk. "Whether he did or not…it still made you feel a lot better, didn't it?"

Before either he or Eijirou could say another word, Mina practically hopped in, laughing joyously as she held onto Nikolays' shoulders, bouncing eagerly where she stood. "Oh, Kolya-kun, just look how much you've grown! Now you're actually telling real jokes, and even starting off all serious! Man, you even had me going for a second!"

As Mina and Nikolay started laughing together as she kept her grasp on his shoulders and kept bouncing in celebration, Eijirou simply looked at their wholesome display of energetic friendship, an approving and admiring smile on his face. 'You know what, you guys? I may not be smart enough to spin together a bunch of fancy words to express myself, but I can at least say I think you two really do deserve each other, even if you yourselves might not recognize it. In your own special ways, you're both more manly than anyone else I've ever met…and the fact you both manage to keep pulling each other higher and higher up, that's a cosmic kind of fate if I've ever seen it. I'll keep climbing that mountain to the world of real Heroics right alongside you guys, alongside everyone here, and we'll all get to stand at that summit as truly manly Heroes together! That is a true mans' promise to his true friends!'

When Foundational Heroics Studies had started as their first class of the day, all of Class 1-A had been called out to the part of campus designated as Playing Ground Gamma to meet with All Might after they had changed into their Hero costumes. Nikolay had of course received his newly repaired suit earlier that morning, relieved to find the claw marks had been removed from the chakha and turtleneck, the tuning fork bandolier had been restocked, and the pants and boots had once again been replaced.

However, much to his surprise, when he had finished suiting up, a quick look over in the locker room mirror had revealed that some crude little holes had been made in the soles of his boots, specifically lining up with the holes on his actual feet. Had Tunguska actually made some last minute changes in the instructions to whoever he kept having repair Nikolays' suit in order to hopefully accommodate for his new foot launching ability? If that were the case, and this weren't simply a sign of a Hero suit maker half-assing their job, then the boy knew he would have to thank his father profusely later; hinging of course on whether or not it would even work.

Needless to say, when Mina first noticed the slight change, she couldn't help but jokingly imply Nikolay admired and was trying to emulate her impeccable costume style.

However, it was all back to business afterwards, as the students had soon found themselves gathered together to be greeted by their towering forever smiling teacher (this time dressed in a primarily red and white costume that had Izuku practically trembling with excitement) at the gates to what looked like a large, elaborate construction site surrounded by high walls.

"Hello! For I am here…is the usual note I would start things on, but instead, let us commence today's Foundational Hero Studies, boys and girls! It has been quite a while, hasn't it? I trust you are all still in good spirits?!" It of course stood to reason that All Might couldn't just outright reveal in front of the rest of the class his minimal involvement in the aftermath of the Vukodlak incident, so he had to give the students the illusion that all was normal. It didn't seem like they would have noticed if he hadn't, anyway, as his off-kilter introduction only drew out a few confused and disappointed murmurings from Mashirao Ojiro, Tooru and Yuuga Aoyama.

"Right on the heels of all your collective workplace experience, what do you say we now add in an element of play this time around? Your lesson today, class, will be a Rescue Training Race!" As had come to be routine, Nikolay only felt confusion as to what an activity like that specifically implied, since in Yuuei, lessons rarely ever were as simplistic as their names suggested.

Luckily for him, he wasn't the only one left curious, as Tenya dutifully decided to speak for the rest of them: "Sensei, if it's rescue training, then shouldn't this test be carried out at USJ?"

Ever ready with an answer and all the confidence in the world, All Might replied: "I'm afraid not, Iida-shonen! USJ is specifically reserved for disaster rescue. Now, what was I saying? Ah, yes, a race! This area you see before you is Playing Ground Gamma! Within these walls, densely packed lanes make this construction site environment seem more akin to a complex labyrinth! As was the case with the Battle Trials, your class' odd number of students will force you to split into unusually numbered groups! There will only be four groups, but three will consist of five participants, while one will consist of six! We will conduct the training one group at a time!

"When I have activated my distress signal from somewhere within the grounds, you will all start simultaneously from outside the limits! This is a competition to see who can come to my aid first! Of course, also be sure to keep damage to surrounding buildings to a minimum along the way!" Everyone could see clear as day that their teacher was deliberately pointing a jabbing finger in Bakugos' direction at the final note, much to the blonde hotheads' fuming anger.

"The groups shall be composed by my random choosing! As such, the first group for this exercise shall consist of the following: Midoriya Izuku-shonen, Ojiro Mashirao-shonen, Iida Tenya-shonen, Ashido Mina-shoujo, and Sero Hanta-shonen! Starting group, take your positions!"

"Wish me luck, you guys!" Mina called out excitedly to Nikolay, Eijirou and the rest of the girls as she and the rest of the starting group hurried out to their respective starting points around the course. As the minutes passed before the starting bell rang, Nikolay couldn't help but get drawn in to the numerous discussions among the rest of the class, many of whom were making guesses as to who was most likely to win, Momo and Kyouka most prominent among them. "Iida-san still hasn't made a full recovery yet. He really should be hanging back and studying through observation right now. Still, almost all the students with the most maneuverability are in that group."

"Yeah. If you were to force me to pick, though, I'd say Midoriya is probably the one with a slight disadvantage. Frankly, his true worth hasn't been pinned down yet." "Exactly. Up until now, every time he's used his Quirk, he's received such grievous injuries." As he listened to the two girls talk, Nikolay felt a chill of worry go up his spine. Surely Izuku had to have made some significant changes over the past week; otherwise even with Tenya and Shoto on his side, they might not have been able to beat Stain. Even with the surrounding skepticism, he had to believe this could pan out in the curly-haired boys' favor.

Elsewhere, Eijirou, Denki and Minoru looked like they might as well have been taking bets; they were so anxious and animated. "That reeling in ability of Seros' was super fast back at the Festival. I'll bet he comes out in first place!" "True, but don't forget that Ojiro's there as well, and that guys way more nimble on his feet than any of us, and that's not even including the tail." "Oh, c'mon, Kaminari, did you forget everything we saw last week? I'm betting it'll be Ashido, her motor reflexes are insane!"

Of course, among their constant chatter, Bakugo was simply standing as still as stone, bluntly stating "Deku's gonna be dead last!"

"What about you, Kolya-san? Who do you think might win?" Ochakos' curious voice snapped Nikolay out of his own train of thought for a moment, failing to notice her and Tsuyu had approached him, with Eijirou, Denki and Minoru quickly following suit.

"Like it's any question just who he's pulling for. It's gotta be Ashido, right?" Minoru asked with considerable cockiness, as though he was hinting for the Russian boy to back up his claim.

Finally, Nikolay answered: "Well, it's hard to say. Everybody has something that works in their favor. Sero-san does have a natural maneuverability advantage, as does Ojiro-san. Mina is really well-balanced and fast on her feet, and her natural reflexes are a cut above any of ours. However, Iida-san is naturally made for speed, so if he can find the most direct route to where All Might will signal them to, he pretty much has the race already, especially if he decides to use that Recipro Burst of his. As for Midoriya-san, though…until we get a clear idea just how differently he's learned how to use his Quirk…then Jirou-san is right, he's currently the one most at a disadvantage."

"STAAART!"

Everyones' chatting was swiftly silenced as they all immediately turned their attention to the multitude of screens planted around the site, wherein all the participants were instantly on the move, with Tenya immediately launching into a powered sprint, Ojiro cracking himself off the ground with his tail like a whip, Mina immediately throwing herself into an acid slick slide while at the same time coating her hands, and Hanta launching a reel of tape from his elbows, and reeling himself right off the ground and over the rooftops, practically making himself airborne.

"HA! See? What'd I tell you guys? Seros' Quirk is practically made for a course like this; he doesn't even have to worry about navigating!" Eijirou pointed out excitedly, leaving Nikolay and the others considerably convinced. By the time Tenya had managed to find himself a lengthy walkway that could at least get him a direct course to the prominent tower All Mights' signal was coming from, and Ojiro had started swinging himself from horizontal pipe to horizontal pipe, and Mina had even begun scaling the wall of the tower itself by melting grips for her hands and feet into it with her acid-coated fingers, Hanta was already more than halfway there, with practically nothing in his way.

However, that was when a green blur suddenly shot through the air, cutting Hanta off and forcing him to land again. Everyones' eyes were on the sudden intruder now, and to their amazement, they found themselves watching Izuku, his entire body now sparking with that familiar red glow his Quirk always emanated before. However, their impression with that soon went to his incredible new skills of agility, as Izuku proceeded to practically hop and bounce from surface to surface at breakneck speed and perfect timing, almost resembling more a human bullet than an actual human.

"Holy crap! What the hell kind of moves are those?!" Rikido exclaimed, voicing everyone elses' astonishment at just how effortless their classes' underdog made his agility look. Nikolay couldn't have looked more fascinated by what he was seeing his freckled friend pull off so suddenly.

"Incredible! Somehow, he's figured out a way to spread the effect of his Quirk to his whole body at once, instead of in one concentrated place, and he's pulling off such powerful jumps without breaking anything this time! For him to have expanded and improved the scope of his Quirk so soon, whoever his instructor was must be some kind of genius…or they both could be."

"Hey, when you look at it, those moves actually look pretty similar to…" Ochako then pointed out, and as if all the 1-A students observing were on the same mental wavelength, they all instinctively glanced in the same direction to see Bakugo was staring in disbelief at the screen, his fists just barely trembling.

Nikolay could already feel an intimidated chill go up his spine as he immediately returned to watching Izuku pretty much take victory before even reaching the finish line, as even the other competing students were now watching him in astonishment, even as they continued racing against him. 'Watch yourself, Midoriya-san. If Bakugo hates you enough as it is; I really hope you know what you're doing, straight-up copying his moves like that.'

However, just as he was about to reach the last pipe that could serve as a jumping off point to propel himself to the top of the tower, Izuku actually missed the landing just barely, instead having his foot give out from right underneath him. From there, he was sent plummeting down as the rest of the onlooking students groaned painfully, as though they could feel the heavy impact right alongside him. All the while, Bakugos' trembling anger had just barely subsided, feeling a sense of satisfaction at Izukus' failure.

From there, the race was ultimately decided within seconds, even after Izuku had picked himself up and tried to launch himself to the top of the tower. That one momentary slip had cost him the entire race. In the end, Hanta had come in first place, with Tenya having barely missed the win himself and coming in second a half moment later. From there, Mina managed to actually beat Ojiro to the finish line by practically vaulting herself the rest of the way up the tower instead of her previous pace, earning herself third place. All the while, Ojiro had struggled at the end to find something stable enough to grip his tail onto for another flip, thereby earning him fourth place, leaving Izuku to end up desperately scrambling his way back up, and coming in last.

Even in the wake of having seen his personal pupil finish last, All Might didn't show even a trace of disappointment, still standing as tall, confident and proud as ever while the rest of the students tried to catch their breath (or at least in Minas' case, finish airing out her childlike frustration at having come in third by pumping her arms up and down like a little kid).

"Sero-shonen was Number One, but all of you have learned how to use your Quirks more broadly since you first entered Yuuei! Now all of you keep at it for me, and begin preparing for the Final Exams, the tests that shall officially end your first terms of the school year!"

Izuku struggled to get back to his feet, while also dealing with the knowledge of his failure, and the fact that the end-of-term tests were already upon them far faster than even he had expected. As he tried to process this, All Might inconspicuously passed him by, managing a whisper only his disciple could hear: "You really surprised me, Midoriya-shonen! I almost don't recognize you now!"

Izuku instinctively looked to find his mentor not looking back to him, but instead shooting him a covert thumb up of approval. Simply that alone made his recent loss all but a distant memory as his chest swelled with a whole other kind of accomplishment. Even as All Might kept his back to him, he continued his secret little whisper: "When this lesson is all over, I want you to please come meet me in the break room."

Of course, Izukus' curiosity was beyond piqued, knowing full well by now that All Might never asked for these kind of private discussions unless it was immensely important. "S-sure…?" he replied, unable to even try and hide his curiosity or his confusion. However, what All Might said next left the freckled boy visibly shaken, as the Symbol of Peace silently watched the rest of the participating students take their leave to rejoin the others down below: "I have something I need to talk to you about…the complete story of me…and One For All."

It took practically no time at all for the students from the first group to reunite with the rest of their classmates, already exchanging excited banter with each other about how they did and how their skills had improved. Of course, Mina still looked a touch pouty, even after being congratulated by the rest of the girls and Eijirou and Nikolay, both boys unable to help but put themselves in the middle of it. "Man, that was seriously close back there, Ashido. Had you been practicing that melting in grips trick long? All I've ever seen you do before is melt through walls to get around."

"No, it's just something I'd been thinking of trying the past week. I just figured if I can coat my fingers alone in acid, instead of just big handfuls of it, why not toy around with what I can do with it?" Mina explained with her cheeks still puffed out in that admittedly adorable childish pout.

Nikolay, meanwhile, tried to keep laying on the praise in the naïve hopes it would make her feel at least a little better. "Well, even if this was your first time trying it, it technically still worked, didn't it? I mean, third place in a race like that isn't anything to sneeze at."

"I know that, you guys. I just hoped it would've worked a little better, that's all. I don't know; maybe if I hadn't gotten distracted with Midori-kuns' crazy jumping, I would've at least gotten second." As she kept her eyes glued to the floor, Nikolay and Eijirou exchanged likewise knowing glances. Clearly, for as much as she was trying to keep to the whole humility aspect of last weeks' experiences, there were some aspects of her old flashy personality that were harder to get past than others, and her natural desire to try and win was part of it.

"Well, at least your idea has more solid ground to base it on than mine does. I don't even know where All Might is going to be signaling from next, but I know that wherever I start, my hand blasts aren't going to be enough to get me all the way there, even with my energy stores full up." Nikolay admitted, already regretting doing so, as Mina and Eijirou both looked visibly curious just what this new idea for traversal of his was going to be.

"Attention, boys and girls, the second group for the Rescue Race is about to be announced! The second group shall be the one composed of six students, as opposed to the other three groups of five! The second group shall consist of: Todoroki Shoto-shonen, Nikolay Bezpalov-shonen, Kirishima Eijirou-shonen, Asui Tsuyu-shoujo, Tokoyami Fumikage-shonen, and Bakugo Katsuki-shonen! Second group, take your positions!"

All Mights' announcement thankfully broke the conversation, and with it also came the display on-screen for where the finish line was going to be this time: atop what looked similar to an industrial smokestack towards the southeastern edge of the center of the playing grounds. Symbols for each student were situated in an almost circular pattern around the grounds, with Nikolays' starting position located almost exactly across from where the finishing point would be.

As he and the rest of his participants began to head out, Nikolay felt an icy dagger shoot into his side; the subject of a glare of pure contempt, and he didn't even need to guess who it was from. As Bakugo crossed Nikolays' path for the exit onto the grounds, his red eyes simply burned right into him, just on the verge of grinding his teeth. "It's bad enough that damn Deku steals my moves, I'm not playing second fiddle to a baby who can't do anything on his own like you, I don't care how many Villains you fought! Once we're out there, you better watch your ass!"

With that, the explosive hothead stormed the rest of his way out, while Nikolay had to try and will himself to start walking again after him, swallowing an instinctive lump in his throat. Eijirou hurriedly followed after him likewise, while Mina watched the two with hope in her gaze and smile. "Don't let that bully get to you, Kolya-kun, you've got this," she murmured confidently to herself, almost like she was praying for him, while Ochako and Momo were staring after the new group intently as well.

"You think Bakugo's mad at Kolya-san because he got named before him? That seems kinda childish, don't you think?" Ochako ultimately asked while Momo simply looked exasperated just talking about the boy in question.

"Honestly, it's hard to figure out what doesn't set Bakugo-san off. We should just hope he stays focused on the race itself, and not going after Bezpalov-kun in some kind of single-minded grudge." While the ponytailed girl said this, she didn't seem to notice how the idea she suggested made Mina visibly tense up, clearly having not thought of that possibility. Bakugo was scarily unpredictable as it was; the idea of him deliberately aiming to hurt someone in the process of a simple school test definitely did not feel out of the realm of possibility for him.

The thought now had the pink girl clutching her fists anxiously as she looked to the screens as the students of the second group began taking their places. 'Oh, Kolya-kun, please watch yourself out there. Whatever you've got planned to get you to the finishing spot, do it fast. Kiri, please try to keep an eye out for him, I think he's really going to need it.'

Nikolay stood anxiously on his own at the spot designated as his starting point, anxiously wiping away at the lenses to his goggles to make sure they weren't fogged or smeared by the time he affixed them over his eyes, focused strictly on the industrial smoke stack straight ahead.

From where he currently stood upon a steel walkway, there was a good little bit of distance before the edge, enough for him to at least build some good momentum. Once he would launch from that point, however, that was where absolute concentration, and a fair amount of luck, was going to have to come into play. All he could think in those few spare moments was how much he wished this so-called idea of his would have come to him sooner, at least then he would've had time to try and figure out the mechanics of it and if it was even feasible.

"STAAART!"

The starting alarm rang, and Nikolay immediately broke into the closest thing to a sprint he could in these conditions, watching as the walkways' edge neared more and more. 'Okay, Nikolay Olegovich, this is it! If this doesn't work, do you have any last words? Yeah, I really wish I had a better plan than this!'

The moment that thought crossed his mind, the edge was before him. This was it! Nikolay bent his legs and kicked himself forward over the edge, and with that tiny little boost, then proceeded to launch through his hands, sending him over and skyward, thankfully gaining some good distance.

From up where he was, he could already see from across the ground most of his fellow classmates all closing in on the stack from their own directions. Shoto was creating pillars of ice to serve as jumping off points, and then immediately following with a burst of his fire to propel himself upward, keeping himself airborne.

Tsuyu was practically swinging from point to point with her prehensile tongue, showcasing remarkable accuracy and aerodynamic maneuverability outside the occasions she would catch herself on a vertical surface with her hands and feet, before just as quickly springing herself off, looking very much akin to her frog-like nature and appearance.

And Fumikage was likewise keeping himself airborne, projecting his Dark Shadow each time he was getting too close to a level surface, and springing him up into the air again with enough power to provide height and distance alike.

However, even from up where he was, Nikolay could find no sign of Eijirou anywhere, and even more worryingly, no sign of Bakugo, either.

'Dammit, focus! Each second, they're beating you to the punch! Either go through with the idea, or it's over! You can't make it using the energy you have through your hands, and even if you did, you could risk starting some more damage to your arms using them that much! Now act!'

Feeling gravity embrace his body as he began to descend, Nikolay struggled to keep his feet level to the quickly approaching ground, and with his mind screaming for him to advance and win, he felt a large surge of power rush down his legs and expel through his feet, sending him up and further over, thankfully buying him a little more time. 'Okay, lucky save, but now it's time to put this new idea of yours into action. Try to focus on one foot at a time and…'

Just as he began to feel his ascension reach its peak and become replaced by the pull of gravity yet again, Nikolay kept his eyes on the prize and focused upon it with everything he had, while also envisioning his right foot specifically. Somehow managing to keep his body as balanced as possible, he focused more and more until he could feel the next surge of kinetic energy run down his right leg specifically, and just as he could feel it begin to shoot out, he coiled his right leg back and kicked it down into the air just at the moment of release, springing him further up and forward, but not with as much excessive power as it would have coming from both feet at once.

With this new burst of motion quickly reaching its end, Nikolay hurriedly focused on the exact same process, but this time through his left foot. Just as before, as long as he concentrated on that alone, he felt the power come coursing down his left leg, and with another instinctive coil and downward kick at the same time of release, Nikolay felt his left foot launch him forward, while maintaining his mid-air trajectory to the tower.

'Oh my God…it…it's working! I can't believe it, it's actually working!'

This was all the ecstatic Russian boy could think, over and over again, as he continued the same routine, through one foot, then the left, then right again. Each time, the amount of power being released and the amount upward and forward it managed to propel him seemed to even out more and more. Soon, he had actually managed to distinguish a much less demanding and natural rhythm and pattern, allowing him to maintain the exact same level above the ground, while managing to keep himself moving forward.

To his fellow competitors who were able to spare the moment to observe what their Slavic classmate was doing, those like Shoto, Eijirou and Tsuyu felt an immense wave of genuine impression and even a feeling of pleasant surprise once it became clear what Nikolay was essentially doing.

Down at the communal portion where the rest of the students were observing, they likewise felt very shaken, in a good way, at this sudden revelation of what Nikolay was able to do, even though he had shown nothing but doubt in it just minutes ago: for all intents and purposes, it looked as though the Russian boy was literally running on thin air.

Mina was pumping her fists excitedly in a silent supportive motion for him to keep going, that bright encouraging smile on her wide-eyed face, while Ochako, Kyouka, Momo, Tenya and Izuku likewise were observing with rapt attention. Given that their foreign classmates' Quirk hadn't essentially crippled him every time he used it, this new discovery of what his Quirk could do wasn't quite as groundbreaking as what Izuku had displayed, but all those that had been there beside him last week knew it was still a very impressive feat after the still generally limited scope he had to work with then. It was clear that his abilities of focus were right up there with some of their smarter alumni.

In fact, taking everything he had observed of what Nikolays' Quirk was proven to do and how it essentially worked, Izuku found himself instinctively scribbling in his handy notebook of Quirks, rapidly shifting his focus from the screen to his writing, while everyone else kept watching everyone on the active field, enraptured.

As for Nikolay himself, he felt positively ecstatic now that he had found his rhythm. If he could keep this up, he might not have been able to get first place, but it could still be enough to get him a good finishing position, at least.

However, what he didn't realize at that moment, was that Bakugo was watching him intently as well, having been keeping himself down low throughout in order to get himself into a position where he could simply ignite a series of explosions to catapult himself to the finishing point right under everyone elses' noses. However, once he saw what the Russian boy overhead was actually managing to do, he felt a whole new wave of white hot anger start boiling his blood.

'Goddammit…GODDAMMIT! First Deku, and now THAT spineless worm?! How are they both getting better and better?! One week of me wasting my goddamn time, and even HE manages to get this more skilled?! No, not you! You're not better than me! NO WAY IN HELL!'

Up above, Nikolay had his eyes focused squarely on the tower. Only a handful of these midair strides, as long as he kept focusing on his rhythm, and he would be right there. It was going to be close, that much was certain; he could tell Shoto and Fumikage were both mere seconds from reaching it themselves.

BKOOM!

A sudden fierce exploding sound from below broke Nikolays' focus, and that distraction turned to shock when that was quickly followed by what sounded like a chain reaction of explosions, growing in volume and heat, as though it were shooting straight up from below him.

Before Nikolay could react, Bakugo had come soaring straight up like a rocket directly in his path; the heat from his explosions hitting Nikolay hard. However, just to cement his position in the race from this moment, Bakugo proceeded to swing his hand straight in Nikolays' position, igniting another fierce cluster of explosions right in the Russian boys' face, sending him reeling back, and freefalling to the unforgiving construction equipment below, while the blonde hothead proceeded to propel himself forward with a self-satisfied sneer.

At the communal spot, many of the students watching felt an ignition of indignation at the sheer aggressive cheating they had just witnessed, right when it seemed like Nikolay actually had a shot at a good finishing position. Many were actively booing Bakugo at this point, but Minas' reaction was by far the most animated, now pumping her arms furiously and crying out for either Nikolay to recover and get back at Bakugo, or shouting at Bakugo himself, calling him a dirty cheater, a stupid bully, or both.

Back in the race, Nikolays' mind was racing as everything around him kept spinning. He knew he only had seconds to react and correct himself, or else he was going to end up a grease stain all over the floor. As he tried to figure out his positioning so he wouldn't risk propelling himself into the ground even harder, his body was suddenly slammed into by a red blur from out of nowhere, breaking his trajectory and momentum, as they both came roughly rolling to a stop on one of the rooftops.

Once Nikolays' head had stopped spinning, he realized he had just been saved at the last moment by Eijirou, who looked to be suffering a dizzy spell of his own from such a close call and rough landing. "Are you…are you okay, Kirishima-san?"

The red-haired boy looked to the Russian beside him like he'd literally lost his mind. "Am I okay? Man, you would've been a goner if I hadn't stepped in! What the hell is that Bakugo thinking, pulling some cheap-ass move like that!?"

Nikolay followed Eijirous' gaze to the tower. From the nearby ice towers and the fading visage of Dark Shadow, it was clear that Shoto and Fumikage had already beaten them both, and Bakugo might as well have already done so as well, as he was one more explosion away from reaching the finishing spot.

However, regardless, Nikolay wasn't about to just lay down and quit, hurriedly getting back to his feet and pulling Eijirou back up with him. Before he could even ask to make sure the Russian boy was really all right, Nikolay hurried into another run and jumped from the edge of the roof, quickly launching himself up by his hands, now simply relying on that to keep himself moving, while thankfully spurring Eijirou to get his head back in the game too, hurrying after him as fast as he could go with a Quirk that did nothing for his maneuverability.

Alas, in the end, it amounted to little difference. By the time Nikolay had finally reached the finishing spot, he realized Tsuyu had swung her way over the railing and across the finish line just a moment before he did, thereby earning himself fifth place. It was nearly half a minute later when Eijirou finally scaled the smoke stack by driving his Hardened hands into the walls to make his way up, ultimately coming in last.

Despite both boys' sense of disappointment, it was once more off set by All Mights' continuously positive aura as he looked upon them all with that constant smile. This time around, Nikolay had half a mind to ask their teacher if he had even seen what Bakugo had nearly done to him, but he knew igniting a fight between them wouldn't end well for him, in more ways than one. He likewise had to restrain Eijirou from getting in the blonde boys' face as soon as he had recollected himself, as well.

"Congratulations, boys and girls! Todoroki-shonen came in first this round, but you have all clearly shown great development in your Quirks and how you control them since you first came to Yuuei! However, there are some among you whose attitudes are still in need of some work. However, now is not the time to dwell on such things, so all of you, continue to improve yourselves for me in preparation for the end-of-term test, the Final Exams! That will be the chance for all of you to truly showcase everything you have learned thus far!"

With that announcement, the students all began to take their leave. However, even as he still felt a wave of satisfaction within himself, Bakugo could feel the two pairs of eyes staring daggers into his back. However, instead of letting it get to him, he instead whipped his head to meet their gazes with an angered glare of his own. "Hey, if you dumbasses should be mad at anybody, be mad at yourselves! If one thing getting in your way screws you up that immensely, then neither of you are gonna be long for the world of Heroics! Learn to pick yourselves up by your bootstraps and fight through that shit! Seriously, I shouldn't have to be the one to tell you idiots that!"

Both boys were of course still fuming, even after Bakugo had taken his leave, but between them, Nikolay was actually thinking of what his most disliked classmate had said. As much as he didn't want to believe it, there was actually a point in there.

When they had finally rejoined with the rest of their classmates in the communal spot, Nikolay was still deep in thought over it, even when Mina, Ochako and Tenya had come rushing in to make sure he and Eijirou were both alright. "What the hell is Bakugos' problem?! He could've actually killed you if Kiri hadn't been there!" Mina was practically fuming, having to mentally force herself to not go over and tell the boy in question off herself.

"You would be well within your rights to ask All Might to have Bakugo sent to the Headmaster for disciplinary action, Bezpalov-san. What he did was completely uncalled for in a non-combative test." Tenya stated in vehement agreement, sounding like he was about ready to do so himself if Nikolay wasn't.

"C'mon, man, at least say something, get a little angry, anything! You can't seriously say you're willing to just let him get away with that!" Eijirou implored, unsure what the right course of action to take was, but simply wanting their mutual friend to have some kind of a reaction.

That was when Nikolay finally seemed to come back to the present and meet the worried gazes of his friends and the rest of their classmates, regardless whether they were actually listening or not. "Of course I'm angry. I had that race in my hand, and he swooped right in, and for all intents and purposes, just straight up cheated. But he did have a point, what he said back at the finish line, Kirishima-san.

"The truth is I shouldn't have let one other persons' involvement throw me off that badly. I mean, most everyone here has reflexes enough where that kind of thing wouldn't have disrupted them more than a moment, but I let it cost me the entire race. The fact is, I was so focused on seeing things through one specific way, I didn't even stop to think of a backup plan, just in case."

Many of his classmates listening couldn't help but look at Nikolay incredulously, scarcely able to figure out how it was he could get screwed over so royally, and yet still come out managing to regain his sense of calm so quickly and thoroughly. However, seeing such doubt and confusion on their faces, Nikolay felt the beginnings of an actual anticipatory smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Of course I'm not gonna let what Bakugo did to me go, but I'm not going to have the teachers go about fixing it for me, that would ultimately prove him right. He thinks I'm incapable of doing anything for myself, that I'm just a spineless coward? The next time we're involved in anything together, I'm going to show him everything I'm capable of, myself."

It was clear to everyone that this was just as much a promise to himself as to anyone else, as Nikolays' eyes were momentarily focused on Bakugo through the crowd, the boy in question completely ignoring the disapproving looks from all his classmates for his overly aggressive actions.

"How do you plan on doing something like that, Kolya-san? It's not exactly like you and Bakugo are on the same level when it comes to fighting prowess. And even if your grasp of your Quirk has really improved, he still has years of fine tuning over you-kero." Tsuyu commented as bluntly as always, while clearly still expressing genuine concern for the young Slav in the scenario of actually taking Bakugo head-on.

Inspired by the general idea, Mina perked up likewise, eager fists at the ready to go with her confident smirk. "Yeah, it sounds like if you really want to have any kind of real chance, you're gonna need to train a lot more. If that's what it takes, I'm more than happy to help, Kolya-kun!" "Hell yeah, count me in! Somebody needs to try taking his attitude down a notch, anyway! Deliberately sabotaging someone else in order to win isn't manly at all!

As visibly touched as he was by Mina and Eijirous' offers to help him train, and the clear air of willingness to do the same from Ochako, Izuku, Tsuyu and Tenya, who simply hadn't had the chances to express as much themselves, Nikolay simply shook his head. "Thank you, you guys, seriously. But right now, I need to try and focus on being able to plan ahead better so he doesn't throw me off so badly again; heck, so nobody can do that to me again. I'll keep the training offers in mind, but let's put it on hold for now."

"Very well said, Kolya!" The sudden boom of Tunguskas' voice made nearly half the class instinctively jolt in surprise, Nikolay included, as they all turned to unexpectedly find their Quirk History teacher standing at the entrance to the playing grounds. His hands were planted firmly at his hips as he stepped forward, gazing pleasantly upon his students and his fellow educator, who looked surprisingly pleased to see him here.

"That's exactly the right kind of attitude to have, even when someone deprives you of an otherwise well-earned victory. One must always try to keep their baser emotions in check and remain level-headed. I'm proud of you for that, Kolya." Nikolay couldn't help but be instinctively embarrassed at his father calling him out specifically and thus solidifying his place as the center of attention.

However, some of the other students weren't as willing to simply remain quiet. "Tunguska-sensei, what exactly are you doing here?" Shoto asked bluntly before anyone else could, while Tunguska himself remained completely unperturbed.

"Well, my first history class of the day has been moved down, as Class 1-B is conducting some training lessons of their own as well. I had nothing else on my schedule, what with my lesson plan having already been written up for the day. Therefore, I simply decided to drop by and see how Class 1-A is holding up with their own training. So far, I have to say those of you that have gotten the chance to participate have improved exponentially already; most impressive."

Naturally, receiving such acknowledgment from any kind of established Pro Hero couldn't help but leave a good number of the 1-A students feeling considerably proud of themselves. However, one absence among the chatter Tunguska was surprised to notice, was Eijirou. He had pretty much come to expect the red-headed boy to be the one most vocal with excitement whenever Tunguska congratulated the students. And yet, now there was nothing.

When he looked down to probably the one student who admired him the most, he was rendered silent to find the boys' red eyes were solely focused on his left hand, and Tunguska didn't even need to guess exactly where on his hand he was staring so intently. Figuring it was best to simply rip the band-aid off now, he proceeded to hold his hand up for all the students to see; his fancy new prosthetic fingers on full display, which of course earned some surprised murmurings from the students who hadn't been as thoroughly informed on what exactly had happened to him, Nikolay and Mina last week.

"Yes, I realize something like this on one of your teachers is going to take some getting used to, but don't worry too much about it. If anything, it's honestly kind of an improvement. Couldn't shoot my old fingers and pull them back like bullet-boomerangs, after all." The older Russian had really been hoping his attempt at a questionable joke would have helped lighten the collective mood. However, he had no such luck. If anything, the fact he was trying to play what was still such a grievous injury as nothing more than a joke, left Eijirou visibly shaken and emotional, having momentarily blocked out everything Nikolay had advised of him before.

"I'm sorry, Tunguska-sensei…I-I should have volunteered to intern with you when I had the chance. I should've been there! I don't know what, but maybe I could have been able to do something and you wouldn't have-!"

He was swiftly silenced when he suddenly felt the overpowering presence of Tunguska towering over him, looking upon him in a manner that truly emphasized that in reality, Eijirou was still simply a boy in comparison. Tunguskas' eyes were serious, yet not stern. If anything, he looked upon his student in the most fatherly way he could manage. "Malenkii Kirishima, listen to me very carefully: I would much rather have not had any more of my students be put in harms' way than there already had been in those circumstances. Even one was simply too many, but it happened, and there's no point fretting about it.

"Don't go blaming yourself for the choices you didn't make, understand? In the end, I'm truly glad that all of you students made the choices you did as to where you went and interned under. They were clearly the choices you were all meant to make so that you could learn and experience everything you absolutely needed to, in order to become the best possible Heroes you all can be…and that includes you, malenkii Kirishima."

Eijirou looked genuinely conflicted between his own nonsensical feelings of guilt, and his desire to try and take his teachers' words to heart. Thankfully, Tunguska could see this conflict brewing in the young boys' head, and thus knelt down to be more at his eye level. "Keep this in mind, my boy: there is no shame in feeling regret or sadness. Anyone who tells you that allowing yourself to feel sad and shed tears is a sign of weakness is nothing but a damned fool. However, just because it's okay to feel those feelings, you mustn't let yourself get weighed down by them. Real Heroes simply learn how to make room for them, and subsequently learn from them. I know you can find the space within yourself to be able to do just that."

The sheer wisdom ringing in Tunguskas' voice as he explained this resonated in Eijirou like few things ever did, pretty much on the same level as all the old Crimson Riot speeches he'd fallen asleep to over the years. It was nothing short of awe-inspiring, to see a Hero he had quickly come to admire just as much, manage to shrug off such a bad injury and be able to handle and even joke about it like he was. If he could manage his way through it this well, then there was absolutely no reason Eijirou Kirishima couldn't follow his example in that way, too.

As Tunguska got back to his feet, visibly satisfied that he had gotten through to Eijirou, he proceeded to make his way elsewhere through the onlooking crowd of students. As he did, Eijirou once again clenched his fists in eager anticipation and inspiration, barely managing to utter the familiar admiring words "so, so manly" through his grinning sharp teeth, while Nikolay, Mina, and nearly all the other students couldn't help but smile gratefully that Tunguska had lifted his spirits so thoroughly, so quickly.

"Attention, boys and girls, the third group for the Rescue Race is about to be announced! The third group shall consist of the following: Shouji Mezo-shonen, Kaminari Denki-shonen, Yaoyorozu Momo-shoujo, Jirou Kyouka-shoujo and Aoyama Yuga-shonen! Third group, please take your starting positions!"

As the third bunch of students began taking their leave, Tunguskas' cellphone suddenly began to ring from within the pocket of his costume. Hurriedly fishing it out, he wasn't remotely surprised it was All Might on the other end, no doubt taking advantage of the brief time it would take for the students to get ready, while the rest were once more attentively discussing among themselves while watching the screens. "I'm glad you were actually able to make it, Tunguska-san. Having to manually find you wouldn't have worked in matters of timeliness. This will work much better."

Tunguska hurriedly inched his way to a further corner where nobody would be able to overhear him. "I figured you invited me over here for a pretty obvious reason, and it's not to be a one-man audience to our students racing each other, so I'm just going to guess with a question: have you gotten the chance to invite malenkii Midoriya to discuss One For All yet?"

"As a matter of fact, I have. That was indeed why I wanted to talk with you. We shall be meeting in the break room once this lesson is officially over. In fact, given how much I've already filled you in on up to this point, and given how much time and dedication you yourself have been putting in to help me in Midoriya-shonens' training, I have decided I would like you to be there, as well. Not for cold feet, mind you, but because, frankly, I feel you deserve to know the full extent of the truth as much as he does."

Tunguskas' reactionary smile came almost instantly as he looked out to the number of tall structures within the playing ground his fellow Hero was doubtless calling from. "Well…I suppose saying I'm grateful for the trust would be redundant at this point. Understood. I'll be there."

With that, the two men hung up, and Tunguska proceeded to take his leave, assuring the remaining students he didn't wish to throw them off by thinking they had to perform for a professional crowd. From there, the third Rescue Race commenced.

The rest of the Rescue Races went considerably smoother, and before long, All might had declared class to be finished, and thus all the students filed back to their respective locker rooms to change back into their uniforms. Nikolay had since grown much less awkward changing around the other boys, but that once adolescent discomfort had changed into a much deeper sense of such when it finally came time that the others began taking notice of the five clawing scars running parallel to each other across his chest to his right side.

He could just feel the air in the locker room change without a sound when he had heard much of the surrounding chatter cease when he had turned to get his shirt back on. Many of the boys had previously been taking notice not only of the scar on Tenyas' left hand, but the number of scars now adorning the backs of Izukus' legs, and even the ones adorning Shotos' forearms, all courtesy of Stain, of course.

Nikolay could practically feel the number of eyes on him once the previous three had silently drawn their attention to his previously hidden wounds as well, all three of them, among others, visibly caught off guard by how savage-looking these ones were, especially. Ultimately, Nikolay knew it was time to finally address it. "Yeah…I had hoped Recovery Girl would've been able to completely heal these over, but…obviously no such luck. I wish I had Minas' luck, at least. She got a slash on her arm, but that healed to where you wouldn't think she'd have gotten hurt at all."

Before anyone else could answer, Eijirou stepped forward, trying to ease the young Russians' spirits with a reassuring macho grin. "Hey, try not to let it get you down, man! We gotta think of scars like badges of honor, right? I mean, scars have been considered a token of manliness since it was even a concept! You, Midoriya, Iida, Todoroki, you all got yours, that just shows how tough you all are."

"Well, if that's the way you think about it, Kirishima, then I would think you'd go charging headlong into danger every chance you got so you'd get one." Hanta blurted out amusedly, while Eijirou actually looked a touch embarrassed.

"Yeah, you'd think so. Unfortunately, my Hardening makes it pretty much impossible for me to get the kind of wounds that scar. Plus, even if it does protect me from damage, the impacts still hurt like hell, and at the end of the day, I still get reflexively scared at the anticipation of getting hit, like any sane person would get. Guess some old habits are really hard to break after all." As Eijirou started chuckling awkwardly in an attempt to play it off, Nikolay suddenly spotted something about the boy he realized he had never noticed before now.

"Hey, Kirishima-san, what about that one on your brow?" The red-headed boy momentarily stopped in realization as his Russian friend stepped in for a closer look after getting his uniform shirt over his head. "Yeah, that tiny one just over your right brow. How come I never noticed that before? Or did you get that during yours and Tetsutetsu-sans' internship with Fourth Kind, and just wanted to see how long it would take us to notice?"

While Nikolay was trying to be as casual and good-humored about it all as Eijirou was, to his surprise, his masculine friend now looked considerably embarrassed, motioning for them to take a step back, even though most of the other boys had gone back to talking amongst themselves. "Yeah, that one…that one was kind of an accident, from a long way back. It's actually a reminder of how my Quirk first manifested, you know?"

As he expected, Nikolay looked quite intrigued, and clearly wanted Eijirou to continue. Figuring he'd already opened the floodgates, he proceeded to recall for him: "Back when I was four, one night I got up late to go to the bathroom. I was still really tired, of course, and I tried to rub the sleep from my eyes, as you do. What I didn't know, then, was that my Hardening decided to manifest at just that moment, right on my knuckle, specifically. It gouged right into my eyebrow like it was nothing. It hurt like crazy, as you probably already guessed, but once the pain had gone away, in a weird way, I was happy, because now I knew I had a Quirk. I mean, no matter how you look at it, what kid wouldn't be thrilled about something like that?"

However, just as soon as the question had left his mouth, Eijirou had half a mind to bite his tongue, at that moment remembering exactly who he was talking to, and their old attitude about Quirks, especially their own.

However, to his relief, Nikolay looked to have already forgiven the redhead for the slip in his train of thought with an assuring smirk. "I have to say, I'm surprised. Given how driven you are to be as manly a Hero as possible, and especially considering, by your own admission, don't forget; that it wasn't until you saw Mina standing up to that giant Villain that you were finally convinced to go all in on Yuuei, I would've naturally assumed you'd gotten that scar right around that time. Like, as a sign of you turning over a new leaf in life, the sign of you deciding to officially try becoming brave, so to speak."

With another embarrassed chuckle, he at least had gotten Eijirou smiling again. "Yeah, I had actually thought of telling people that was the case if they asked, but Crimson Riot has always said that true men are always honest. I mean, I still don't think that applies in literally all cases, but I'm not here to nitpick. Needless to say, the truth is kind of embarrassing."

For a few awkward moments, neither of the two boys could think of anything else to say, but considering the subject had unofficially been brought up, Eijirou couldn't resist his own curiosity. "How…how exactly was it when your Quirk first manifested, Kolya-san?"

This time, it was Nikolays' turn to start rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Honestly, you'd have to ask my Dad about that, since according to him on the occasions I've asked, I apparently wasn't awake for it. Based on everything he told me those times, it happened a little over a year after the Siberian Flash happened, so it would've been a little after I had turned four.

"The way he told it, I guess I'd already mentally blocked out the fact my mom was dead, because the day before it happened, I had been asking him where she was. I guess I'd just convinced myself she'd disappeared or gone away somewhere. Either way, he didn't have a real answer for me.

"Again, according to him, that following night, everything just started shaking. He thought it was an earthquake. The area we were living at the time was more prone to those than most other places in Russia, after all. Either way, he rushed to get me from my room. When I asked him what he saw, he kept saying he found me sobbing uncontrollably in my sleep, and he was feeling the vibration that was causing the whole house to shake emanating from my hands, channeling into the foundation for the house.

"Eventually it all subsided. After that, when he tried telling me about what I had done, that was when he came up with the old idea of my constantly wearing gloves, for my protections and everyone elses'. Back then, we were both convinced…well, he had me convinced, as young as I was, that my Quirk worked through absorbing sound releasing that energy through my hands. So he simply assumed if I wore thick enough gloves that could muffle outside sounds, I wouldn't absorb as much and therefore if it had to come out, it wouldn't be nearly as powerful."

Thinking back on it, Nikolay found himself looking down to the holes lining the palms and joints of his hand, a strangely nostalgic look in his green eyes, while Eijirou, Izuku and a few others around couldn't help but observe his strange reverie as well. "It's so weird…it was barely less than two months ago, but it feels like so much longer ago when we found out how my Quirk actually works. Almost feels like a whole other life, sometimes."

Just as Eijirou began to try reaching out to have a further heart-to-heart, Minoru suddenly came dashing around one of the lockers, slamming his hand against the steel to get the attention of as many of the other boys as possible. His face looked downright frantic. "You guys, shut up and take a look at what I just found!"

Naturally, he had at least gotten the attention of a few of the boys, Izuku, Eijirou and Nikolay included, thus they naively followed after their diminutive classmate, only to find him standing excitedly at a completely unassuming wall. However, before they could even form the expressions of curiosity he had already seen coming, Minoru hurriedly reached and peeled away one of the small posters on the wall, revealing a tiny pinprick of a hole.

"Check out this Shawshank-looking hole I found!* I'll bet you one of our upperclassmen must've left this here just for us before they went to the next year! I'm so grateful! Don't you guys know where this hole looks into?!" For a moment, the boys could only look to each other in mild confusion, before two specific synapses zapped together in their brains one after the other, and the satisfied grin on Minorus' face told them he knew what they'd realized ahead of time. "The girls' locker room is just on the other side of this hole, you guys! We could be getting treated to the single greatest show on Earth right now!"

A wave of shock (as well as some adolescent hormones) hit a good few of the boys rather hard at that statement, but Nikolay was barely able to ride out the flash of heat in his face enough to try and speak up: "Mineta-san, what are you doing, drooling over something like that? No, why would you even be thinking of such a thing? We, including you, nearly died fighting alongside half the girls in there right now! I would've at least thought that would have taught you to have a little more respect!"

Considering they were all still developing boys, Nikolay half expected a good number of his classmates to tell him off for trying to play the oh-so righteous one among them, but to his surprise, far less of the boys seemed enticed by Minorus' suggestion than he had expected. Out of any of them, it seemed only Denki and Hanta were the ones who seemed even semi-tempted. Even despite having gained the support of hardly anybody among them, Minoru remained no less driven. "Oh, come on, Bezpalov, that's in the past! You said yourself life is for living in the present! Well, this is the present, and the most beautiful thing about a high school youth is being able to embrace it and live it to its fullest!"

Just as they began to once again glance to each other, momentarily unsure what to do, if anything, Minoru started ushering Nikolay, Eijirou and Izuku forward, even though they remained firmly rooted where they stood. "C'mon, you guys, think about it! By peeking through that tiny little hole, you could be getting to see more of Uraraka and Ashido than you'll ever get to see otherwise! You can't tell me you're not even the slightest bit tempted! And that's just two out of a whole classroom of total bombshells!"

Between them, Nikolay and Izuku both looked the most visibly flustered, both their faces turning red and their hair nearly standing on end at the thought of the respective girls alone. However, out of all of them, Eijirous' reaction was the one most animated, albeit in a way Minoru certainly hadn't been expecting. "For crying out loud, Mineta, are you still on me about that? What's it gonna take to convince you what I said earlier? Actually, forget all that, what the hell are you thinking, practically announcing how you wanna peep on our friends like that?"

As Eijirou continued chewing Minoru out, and Izuku thankfully seemed to be riding out the last of his boyish embarrassment, Nikolay was between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, he was likewise pissed that Minoru was essentially being so disrespectful to the very same girls that had helped save both their hides last week.

However, on the other hand, there was the tiniest little spark of a thought in the depths of his head that had him genuinely considering at least taking a split second peek, if for no other reason than to just satisfy his curiosity and sense of peer pressure by saying he had at least done it and could therefore walk away.

Of course, the moment that thought took form; he immediately began shaking his head as furiously as possible, desperate to get rid of every trace of it. 'What the hell, man, why would you even consider it? I mean, yeah, it's understandable why someone would want to look, it's not like any of the girls in class are anything short of at least pretty. I can't say anything certain for Hagakure-san, but Uraraka-san, Tsuyu-san and Jirou-san are all really cute, and Yaoyorozu-san is beautiful in a mature kind of way…and Mina, she's really—.'

However, before Nikolay could get any more lost in his wildly veering train of thought, Tenya had officially stepped in, chopping his mighty hand through the air at Minoru in his typically robotic-yet-authoritative manner with an intense glare behind his glasses. "Mineta, cease this lascivious behavior at once! You're actively disgracing yourself and the reputation of this class!"

Alas, even for his impassioned scolding, it did nothing to deter Minoru, as he hurriedly scurried for the whole, looking downright ravenous by this point. "It's a disgrace worth my living with, Iida! This is what a teenagers' life is all about! Oh, just think about it, what's on the other side: Yaoyorozus' rack, Ashidos' thighs, Hagakures' floating panties, Urarakas' bright, sunny beautiful body, and not to mention Asuis' surprise ta-!"

THWIP!

The moment he had leaned in to finally take his first peek, Minoru was instead met with something small swiftly poking right into his eye, causing him to cry out in a manner almost resembling a gremlin, and that was before he suddenly felt a harsh ringing feedback start pounding its way into his head through it, while all the other boys simply watched in momentary confusion, which quickly turned into its own kind of satisfaction once they realized it was one of Kyoukas' earlobe audio jacks attacking him. This spurred Nikolay to actually express: "Well what did you expect was gonna happen, you fool!? You're so loud as it is, they probably heard every word you said loud and clear through that thing!"

Indeed they had. Across the wall in the girls' locker room, they had heard every word Minoru had said clear as day. Some were better at hiding their annoyance at his latest of antics than others, but that simply could've been due to Tsuyus' naturally blank expression and Toorus' lack of an actual face to be read.

"Thanks a ton, Kyouka-chan!" Tooru thanked eagerly as the girls continued changing back into their uniforms while Kyouka remained standing vigilant at the tiny hole with her earlobe still plugged into it.

"Honestly, how can someone be so blatantly without shame, and cowardly to boot? We should have that hole plugged up permanently." Momo muttered in annoyance. All the while, none of them ever knew that as she stood watch, all Kyouka could think to herself was: 'What the hell? He didn't even mention me once."

"How is it that hole has managed to be there all that time and no one ever bothered mentioning it? If he'd actually looked, Deku-kun could've seen everything!" Ochako whined in embarrassment, blushing furiously regardless of the miraculous close call. However, her inadvertent specifics drew some mischievous smirks from Mina and Tooru alike.

"Oh, is that the only one you were worried about, Uraraka-chan?" Tooru asked teasingly while Mina quickly closed in on the gravity girl as she pulled her own skirt back on, that all-too familiar cheeky grin on her pink face. "Why so bashful for Midori-kun specifically, Urara-chan?"

Ochako was almost immediately reduced to a babbling, blushing mess as she was being cornered by her pink and invisible friends. However, by now, even Momo and Kyouka had felt the need to get in on the discussion as well: "It's not as though Midoriya-san was the only one out there that could've gotten a personal look at someone special."

"Yeah, Bezpalov-san and Kirishima-san could've just as easily gotten an eyeful of you too, Ashido-chan." When Kyouka had finally made hers and their vice presidents' respective point, Mina was now the one to go completely rigid, with her black-gold eyes wide, pink face flaring red and pink hair nearly standing on end. Of course, to see one of their mouthier classmates get reduced so silent so fast couldn't help but bring a devious smirk to Kyoukas' face.

"Well, here I was starting to think nothing could get you of all people looking so flustered. So, which of them do you like more?" All the girls were visibly surprised that Kyouka could be remotely as blunt as Tsuyu could be, but they were even more surprised by just how quickly and firmly Mina had managed to regain her composure as she stood in a childish kind of defiance to her purple-haired classmate.

"What the heck kind of question is that, Kyouka-chan? I mean, that's a total trick question, there's no right answer! I don't like Kiri or Kolya-kun any more than the other! We're all just really close friends, and that's it!" As serious as Mina was trying to make herself come across, that certainly didn't stop Tsuyu from chiming in.

"Well, even if you don't refer to him as 'Kiri', you do still refer to Kirishima-san without a suffix, while still addressing Kolya-san with 'kun'. Isn't the former usually reserved for two people with really strong feelings for each other-kero?" The rest of the girls looked visibly impressed at this sideline to the discussion, all of them pretty much certain their frog-like classmate had gotten Mina into a corner.

However, the pink girl remained firm, not even hesitating or stuttering with her response: "That's only because we've known each other longer than we've known anyone else in this class, and that's just to be expected. And besides, the only reason I call Kolya-kun…well, Kolya-kun, is because I want our friendship to be something really special for him, just as much as it is for me.

"Tunguska-sensei calls him 'Kolya' alone, and I feel like if I were to do it too, it would just feel weird for him. Honestly, it feels weird even for me, just thinking about it. Yeah, Tooru-chan pretty much took it, too, but I feel like 'Kolya-kun' coming from me just has its own special meaning for us, you know? It just bounces right off his short name really nicely, and it sounds really cute, too."

The surprisingly composed and thought-out answer on Minas' part did seem to visibly resonate with most of the girls, none of them able to deny that her reasoning, as unusual as it was, made sense in its own way. That still didn't stop Tsuyu from once again being as subtle as a cinderblock to the bare foot: "So…you don't have feelings for Kirishima-san?"

"You mean as anything more than just a really good friend? No, of course not. I mean, I like romantic manga as much as anyone else, but do you have any idea how cheesy that would be for two people to…you know, like each other just because they came from the same middle school and just knew each other longer? It's cute on paper, but some things stay in fiction for a reason."

It was genuinely hard to tell if Mina was simply saying so out of desperation, or if she was being absolutely genuine about it. Normally she practically wore her emotions and affection for others on her sleeve, the girls had all pretty much come to see that as fact. And yet now, when it came to where she stood between Eijirou and Nikolay, she had somehow managed to make herself virtually unreadable, without being cold and distant about it, either; a very impressive accomplishment, to be certain.

In the wake of this, Tooru couldn't help but lean in to Ochako with a cheeky little whisper: "You know, Mina-chan says she only likes Kolya-kun as a really close friend, but they certainly sounded a lot closer than that last-!" Ochako had practically jolted with shock once she realized what the invisible girl was hinting at, and swiftly clapped her hand to Toorus' mouth, lest they risk Mina overhearing her. The last thing either of them needed was for her to know they had essentially been eavesdropping on her little heart-to-heart/mouth-to-cheek moment with Nikolay the previous night. As accepting and universally friendly as Mina was, Ochako felt quite confident that people listening in on her at her most deeply personal was crossing the line.

With nothing else having been left for Mina to say, Momo finally decided to step in, while at the same time Kyouka had finally withdrawn her earlobe jack from the hole in the wall, before ripping one of the posters from the wall and plastering it over the little pinprick, just in case. "Your answers are all very sound in their own special way, Ashido-san. Try not to feel like you have to be too defensive about it, though. Please understand that we haven't been able to help but notice how close, nigh inseparable you and Bezpalov-kun have become to one another over the course of this school year so far. It's not often you see any two individuals of any age gravitate so quickly and thoroughly to each other as you two have. Such is the case, I'm afraid prying questions like Asui-sans' and Jirou-sans' are only natural."

Mina thankfully looked to understand what Momo was trying to say, as she seemed to let her tension leave completely. "Yeah…yeah, I know. I mean, c'mon, I'm no better; I was just getting on Urara-chan about it with Midori-kun. But how else do I explain it? I mean, let me just make it clear from the start: I've always loved all my friends with everything I am, and yes, that includes Kolya-kun.

"From the beginning, back at the Entrance Exam, I just wanted us to be friends, just like I wanted to be with everyone here. Then when I learned everything about what he'd been through before coming here, I admit, there was a part of me that really wanted to be there to protect him and just let him know he didn't have to be alone ever again. Then from there, the more time we've spent together and the more I've gotten to really know him and help him open up again, I found out just how much I really, really like being around him.

"I just don't know how to make it any clearer, or how to say it any other way to help you all get where I'm coming from or how I feel. There's just been something about Kolya-kun from the very beginning that I feel really drawn to, something very different from anyone else. Maybe it's his really sweet nature, or maybe it's that natural courage and desire to do good in his heart even when he was so scared and angry all the time, or maybe it's something else entirely. I guess, if you think about it, maybe it is similar to what Urara-chan has with Midori-kun, or maybe it could be something totally different. I just don't know."

Mina couldn't help but look a bit disappointed that she couldn't express herself as fully as she had hoped she could, in a way that would make her overall stance between herself and Nikolay crystal clear. Instead, she had ultimately dismantled her own original argument, and left herself just as uncertain as the rest of the girls. Alas, that hadn't stopped her from still managing to rope Ochako into the discussion again, leaving the rosy-cheeked girl an unintelligibly embarrassed wreck once more.

However, as much as she had wished she could've been able to cover all her bases with her answer, there was one detail amid the whole thing that Mina had previously neglected to think further on, that had now come back to her with full force as she physically perked up in realization, before immediately meeting Momos' inquisitive eyes once again. "And hey, if you all really want to start talking about someone maybe having feelings for someone else, you might wanna look at Kyouka-chan. As much as I love spending time with Kolya-kun, she's actually gone a step further. Nobody else here has gone the extra mile of giving him an actual gift when there wasn't even a holiday to go with it, and from her own personal stuff, too."

The rest of the girls all visibly jolted with surprise at this out-of-nowhere secret, but Kyouka was especially shocked, with her normally lazy-looking eyes now fully opened with shock, with her normally cool and stoic expression visibly flustered and red, and her earlobe jacks almost jolting this way and that in her surprise. The moment she could feel the rest of the girls' eyes solely focused on her, she struggled with every syllable she could try to answer with: "Whoa, n-now hold on! Y-you all don't g-get it! I-I just gave him one of my old MP3 players, but not for what she's suggesting! I just hated the idea that someone in our class had listened to practically no music; that kind of thing just didn't sit right with me! So I just put some stuff together on it from my parents' collections and gave it to him so he could expand his horizons for music, and that's it! I mean, Tunguska-sensei even told us how he used to like to sing; there was no way I could just let him wallow in practically nothing when there's so much stuff available out there! It was just a show of good will, and that's it; seriously!"

Kyouka looked like she was nearly on the verge of a panic attack, but she felt confident her straightforward explanation for herself had bought herself a little breathing room. At least, until Momo followed up with: "You know, Jirou-san, if you really wanted to help expand Bezpalov-sans' repertoire of music, you easily could have just written down some selections you were particularly fond of, and leave it to him to seek it out. To go to the lengths of actually manually putting together an entire assortment of selections onto a device from among your own personal belongings for his benefit does raise a few eyebrows, I have to say."

With Momos' summarized suspicion, Kyouka was now just as much of a stuttering nervous mess as Ochako had been, while she and Mina alike both let out sighs of relief that they were no longer the subjects of so much suspicion and prying, even if it ultimately was at Kyoukas' expense.

However, even for as much as she was enjoying seeing one of the most cool-headed girls in 1-A babble like an idiot in an attempt at verbal self-defense, Mina couldn't help but find herself thinking back to her general reaction right from the onset when the idea of her either liking Eijirou or Nikolay had come up. She'd had no problem whatsoever simply brushing aside the idea of her and Eijirou being a thing with some easy sarcastic commentary. And yet when it came to the idea of her and Nikolay; that was what had her fumbling and veering off course with her words in a manner she'd never done before. Why didn't she simply brush that off with a sarcastic joke like she had so easily done just moments before?

Soon enough afterward, all the students had finally finished packing away their Hero costumes and getting back in their uniforms, and just in time for lunch break, where many of them finally could no longer deny that they were frankly starving.

Amid all the hustle and bustle, Izuku hurriedly made his way for the regular break room All Might had asked him to head for, and when he had rounded the final corner, he nearly came skidding to a stop, surprised to find his secondary mentor, Tunguska, standing vigilantly at the break room entrance, visibly pleasantly surprised to notice the young boys' sudden arrival. "Ah, malenkii Midoriya, I'm glad to see you could make it."

"H-hello again, Tunguska-sensei. I was supposed to meet All Might inside," he hurriedly explained himself to the large Russian before him, while silently chastising himself for acting like he was trying to make excuses, despite knowing they were both in on the same secret, just as Tunguska hurriedly reminded him: "Yes, I know. He invited me along as well, being a fellow trainer and mentor for you, and all. He said he wanted us both to hear what he had to say. So, shall we?"

With that, Izuku and Tunguska both stepped inside to find the lanky Toshinori Yagi sitting dutifully before them, greeting both his visitors and offering them respective seats after reminding them to lock the doors so no one would potentially come barging in and interrupting.

As soon as his colleague and disciple were both seated, Toshinori focused solely on the green-haired boy, his otherwise unreadable gaunt face reflecting an air of clear remorse: "Before we begin properly, I want to personally apologize to you, Midoriya-shonen. A threat like the Hero Killer: Stain was far too great an adversary for you to face against so early into your education, regardless how many of your peers you had fighting alongside you. I should have been there with you in Hosu City when things got rough. I pray that you can forgive me for my absence in your time of need."

In the face of his idols' self-flagellation of words, Izuku was hurriedly trying to dissuade his morose mindset: "N-no, All Might, you have no need to apologize for anything! I had read and heard a lot of the news surrounding that Villain, Vukodlak, and what had happened in Erubi City around that same time! Tunguska-sensei, Kolya-san and so many of the other students were in danger, and it was ultimately closer; you were only doing what you had to. I'm not mad at you for not being there, you were just trying to do what the Symbol of Peace does, which is try to help save people. How could I ever be mad at you for that?"

Toshinori was visibly relieved to hear his freckled disciple say as much; however he could also glimpse an air of intense curiosity in the boys' green eyes. He could practically tell what Izuku was about to say before he finally opened up and said it: "So…w-what is this story you wanted to tell me…about One For All?"

Toshinori felt a massive weight settle upon his spirit. The time had finally come. After already having forced himself to tell the boy and his colleague so much, this was by far going to be the hardest in the end. Meeting Izukus' curious gaze head on, Toshinori proceeded: "I heard you got your blood licked by the Hero Killer."

Immediately, Izuku perked up at attention: "Y-yeah, that's right. It was a Quirk that could rob the freedom of those whose blood he ingested, rendering them immobile, specifically. What about it, though?"

Toshinori hung his head low, leaving student and fellow mentor alike very off-put at the especially intense atmosphere about him at that moment: "Do you remember what I told you when I first granted you this power?"

"Yeah, you said 'Now eat this'." Izuku immediately replied, even putting on a mighty (albeit very forced) strain on his voice to try and emulate All Mights' typical way of speaking; the complete unnaturalness of it all making Tunguska instinctively start snickering to himself.

"No, not that. I must have told you something along the lines of 'It doesn't matter how, so long as you take in my DNA." Tunguska momentarily looked to Toshinori in confusion what that specifically could have meant, but before he could even ask, Izuku had suddenly bolted up from his seat, his freckled face the picture of horrified realization.

"Hold on…no…then are you saying that…no way…One For All goes to the Hero Killer?!" Toshinori could see the beginnings of the same fear flash across Tunguskas' eyes, but he was immediately one step ahead of the ensuing mutual panic.

"No, no. I just thought that, well…you being you, you might be worried…so…I guess you forgot. One For All won't transfer to a new recipient unless the user specifically wishes it so. So it can't be forcibly stolen, but it can be forcibly passed on." To his unspoken contentment, Izuku and Tunguska both looked vastly relieved that a very dangerous Villain hadn't in fact received such a powerful Quirk by accident. However, they could both feel the intent of his gaze, and they knew more was to come.

"The reason I called you both here, is because I want both of you to know the full story of One For All's origin. Midoriya-shonen, you need to know the full extent and history of the power you will be expected to wield as my successor as the new Symbol of Peace. Tunguska-san, if you are to continue aiding me in preparing him for the trials and tribulations that will shape the path of his life as a Hero, then you deserve to know exactly what it is he's fighting for…and what it is he will be expected to stand against when the time comes."

Thankfully, Izuku and Tunguska alike seemed to understand exactly what Toshinori was saying without question. The lanky man slightly nodded his head in gratitude. Their willingness to hear it all was going to make his job here much simpler.

"One For All is a very special Quirk, you know, and the same can be said for its origin. You see, One For All is derived from a separate Quirk which has existed since the beginning." Simply that statement alone would have been foundation-shaking enough. However, the fact Toshinoris' overall atmosphere continued to grow more intense, left his fellows visibly anxious. "In order to fully understand the origin of One For All, there is one other name that you need to commit to memory right now: All For One. It robs others of their Quirks and renders them the users' own…and it's also a Quirk that can grant them to others."

As Tunguska bowed his head in visible contemplation, Izuku looked genuinely stricken to his core. To think there was such a Quirk whose properties matched its namesake so literally. "'All For One'…so it really is just as it sounds."

Toshinori bowed his head further in remembrance…the most painful kind, as it was. "It started during the dawn of the phenomenon…when society hadn't yet adapted to the shift brought on by Quirks. There was a time when the norm for what it meant to be 'human' suddenly crumbled away. That was all it took. The law lost all meaning, and the advance of civilization came to a halt, spiraling down into all-out devastation."

Izuku suddenly perked up, as if having just then remembered something he at least considered pertinent to this sudden history lesson. "'Had the phenomenon never occurred, then humankind might well have been enjoying interstellar travel by now.' I remember reading a quote like that from some famous guy from way back when."

Unperturbed by the sudden interruption, Toshinori continued; his two fellows watching him with rapt, yet grave, attention. "Yes…and during that age of upheaval rose a figure who promptly gathered the people together. You surely must have heard of him, too. He stole people's Quirks, and through his overwhelming power, his influence spread like the worst malignant cancer.

"He moved the people, his pawns, according to his plans and piled up malicious deeds to his satisfaction, taking control of Japan in the blink of an eye as its evil ruler." By this particular point, an instinctive muttering rumbled out of Tunguskas' throat as he brought his hands together over his mouth in contemplation; drawing the attention of Toshinori and Izuku alike.

"Forgive me. You know how dedicated I've always been to history. Stories like this, of one bringing people together in times of turmoil, only to consolidate their power and create some sick perversion of the nation they claim to want to save…it's a tragic process as old as the history of civilization itself…some examples hitting home much harder than others."

Unfortunately, Toshinori didn't look as though his words had been misinterpreted. If anything, he seemed to be on the very same page as his Russian colleague. "Yes, the rise of military dictatorships under the guise of societal prosperity, simply serving as a means of sole individuals gaining power and trampling all those they deem a problem in their views of a better world for themselves…when you get to brass tacks, this example might as well have been no different."

Looking back, it seemed that Izukus' mind was now similarly awhirl with memories as much as his history teacher now was. "I've seen the rumors of such a thing all the time while surfing the internet, but…it still feels too insane to have been real. I know how crazy that sentiment must sound, with the world we live in, but is it really not just fiction? I mean, it's not in any of our textbooks…"

"No, it wouldn't be. The dealings of the underworld, whether it be regular organized crime or Villains, don't make it into the textbooks. People with power want a place they can use it, after all." At this, Tunguska lifted himself up from his slouch, letting out a noticeably embittered sigh as he looked up to the ceiling thoughtfully. "History is written by the victors, after all…for better and for worse."

"So, this man who became Japans' 'evil ruler', how exactly is he related to One For All?" Izuku finally asked, with Tunguskas' eyes pretty much reflecting the same question. As such, Toshinori continued once more:

"I told you both, didn't I? All For One can also grant Quirks to others. Either he placed his trust in those he granted Quirks, or they were meant to make them submit to his yoke. The most prominent problem was that the bodies of those whom he granted Quirks, couldn't handle the strain, and those who didn't die from it ultimately became virtual dolls without the ability to speak or even think…just like the creature called 'Nomu' that we all faced at USJ…the same creatures you encountered in Hosu City."

Now it was all finally starting to come together, for he could see it in the deeply-rooted fear reflected in Izukus' eyes, while he and Tunguska couldn't help but momentarily wince in remembrance at the respective injuries they had received that day.

"On the other hand, among those who were granted Quirks, there were also cases where their Quirks mutated and blended together. You see, the man had a Quirkless little brother. The little brother was small, and frail, but unlike his elder sibling, he harbored a strong sense of justice. His brothers' actions pained his heart, and so he opposed him.

"The man forced upon his little brother a Quirk that stockpiled power…and whether that was from the kindness of his heart, or to bend him to his will, we still don't know." At that moment, a spark suddenly ignited within Izuku, and both his mentors could see how heavily it hit the boy, the power of immense realization.

"No way…"

"Yes, he who was thought Quirkless, did in fact possess one prior. Although, neither he himself nor anyone else around him had ever noticed: the erstwhile meaningless Quirk that could only grant itself to another! And so, the Quirk that could stockpile power, and the Quirk that could pass itself on, merged together! THAT IS THE ORIGIN OF ONE FOR ALL!"

With his voice having reached its crescendo, Toshinori realized he had unknowingly been letting himself get so swept up into his rendition, he had thrown his arms out wide like a grand orator. However, neither Izuku nor Tunguska could bring themselves to even snicker at such an over-the-top display of unintended theatrics.

Just as quickly did his upright posture deflate as the most bare bone summary of everything he had detailed came to mind. "It is rather ironic. Justice always seems to be born from within the bowels of evil."

Surprisingly, Tunguska was right there with likewise deep philosophizing of his own: "Yes, but only because it is out of that evil that good people realize the need for change, and thus justice is only naturally to be born from it. It's like a symbiotic cycle, just like the very laws of nature and physics and whatnot. It is ironic, but inevitable."

However, while his two mentors were proceeding to wax about the infallible balance between good and evil, Izuku couldn't keep his own questions to himself, either. "I-I understand everything you're saying about how One For All was created, but…about that older brother, the bad guy from so long ago…you speak about him and his Quirk as though he were still around even after all that time. How could he possibly…?"

Toshinoris' sunken eyes widened, surprised the boy with his active mind hadn't started putting it together on his own by this point. "He's a man who can steal Quirks, remember? Meaning, anything goes. Like a Quirk that stops his aging. It's most likely he stole himself a Quirk in that general category. He is a symbol of evil that will live on indefinitely, and the gap in might between him and his brother admitted no chance of toppling him, not to mention the state of society at the time.

"The younger brother who suffered defeat decided to entrust it to the next generation. Although he couldn't defeat him then, his power would accumulate, little by little, and someday become able to stop his evil once and for all…and I was the successor to finally beat him! Or…so I thought."

Reaching this point, Toshinori instinctively reached for the ever present wound at his left side, and that one involuntary action solidified for Izuku what Tunguska had the misfortune of knowing: this supreme Villain, this Quirk known as All For One, was the one that had brought the Symbol of Peace to the state they both saw him in now. Izuku could feel an immense chill run up his spine; to imagine the man in this story was the one powerful enough to ultimately force the hand of a great Hero like All Might.

"Unfortunately, the truth is far less simple than that. The man who wields All For One has returned, and is this time serving as the secret brains behind the League of Villains! One For All is the power handed down through generations for the sole purpose of defeating All For One! And you, too, may have to confront that man…that great evil…in a final showdown one day. That is the inherent responsibility of one who wields One For All."

The air was silent yet heavy between all three now that Toshinori had told Izuku everything he possibly needed to know. Izuku looked downright stricken, both with worry, and contemplation of just what it was his destiny was ultimately going to lead him toward, if All might was truly correct in this All For One indeed still being alive. Tunguska, likewise, looked truly shaken by the scale of the threat they were now ultimately preparing for, what he now had a direct hand in preparing the green-haired boy beside him for. He had never faced any such threat of such a timeless and world-shaking nature before, but if All might truly considered him worthy enough a Hero to aid him in molding Izuku into the disciple he needed to be, then he would give it his all more than ever if need be.

"You know, it's actually quite funny. For years I had come across folklore from around the world that had similar stories, whether they explained the very aspects of the world, or were simply moral tales, they always involved the ultimate dissent and confrontation between brothers, usually as representations of diametrically opposed forces. I had always thought of them as simply that: nothing but stories. But to hear your tale, the tale of One For All…I never thought I would see the day such a timeless narrative would actually weave itself into real life like this. It honestly can't help but make one wonder just how many more of the worlds' most legendary myths may have a piece rooted into reality as well."

Tunguska couldn't help but momentarily fear he had started going off on a rambling tangent. However, when he finally got out of his own reverie to look Toshinori in the eye again, he was surprised to see his colleague looked to be considering the same thing. Given how he had once been Quirkless as well, it was easy to imagine Toshinori Yagi may, to, have at one point been a true skeptic about myths and folklore and their ties to the reality of the world. To have become a personal link in this outlandish chain, of course ones' mental grasp on what separated reality and fiction had to be at least a touch blurred.

"I apologize, to both of you. I understand this is a great deal of information and responsibility I've heaped upon both your shoulders, in your own respective rights. You are still so young and with so much more to still learn and experience in life, Midoriya-shonen; and Tunguska-san, I'm asking you to devote as much of yourself as you can to preparing him for the trials to come, while you still have your own son and his development to look after. You have been a tremendous aid to both of us thus far, but if you feel you would rather dedicate yourself to helping Bezpalov-shonen along instead, I would completely understand. You're well within your natural born right as a father to say and do so."

Before Tunguska could even start to answer, Izuku suddenly clutched tightly to the pants of his uniform, his face reflecting indeed, the very overwhelm that Toshinori had feared. However, when he lifted his head to meet Toshinoris' eyes, his own gaze was filled with nothing but raw, youthful determination. "I'll do my best! Whatever you task me with…no matter how intense, overwhelming or terrifying it is, I'll answer to your call, All Might! As long as you're with me, I can do anything…I can feel it, I know it's true!"

Tunguska felt a deep warmth of pride swell in his chest to see Izuku still standing so proudly and willing, even now knowing the scope of what he was bound to stand against. Such was yet another sign of a truly great Hero in the making. However, while Izuku was momentarily blinded by his own passion to live up to what his mentor was asking of him, what he failed to notice was a momentary twitch of reluctance on Toshinoris' part, the most minute little involuntary reaction that no one else would have given a second thought.

However, Tunguska was not like everyone else, for he had noticed it, and given the timing with which it came, right at the peak of Izukus' declaration, he knew it was no accident, no coincidence. Such things didn't exist in their world, and they didn't have the luxury of simply chalking occurrences up to such things.

"I want to hank you both again for everything you've been doing for me all this time." Izuku suddenly stated, thankfully snapping Tunguska back to the moment at hand, realizing the freckled boy was finally addressing him specifically alongside All Might, catching the larger man by surprise.

"Well, you don't have to go out of your way to say so, malenkii Midoriya. The fact you keep pushing yourself and taking what we both have taught you to heart is reward enough." However, despite his attempt at teachers' humility, Izuku didn't back down.

"No, I want you to know I don't forget what you've been doing for me in all this, either, Tunguska-sensei. All Might has always been my icon of the kind of Hero I want to be, and that hasn't changed. But I know that I'll need the help and guidance of many others to help me reach that goal, and that includes people like Eraserhead, Gran Torino and you. I'm sure sometimes it must feel like you're something like window dressing in all our training, but I just wanted to tell you that's not the case. In class, your lessons on the examples of past Heroes have been monumental for me figuring out improvements to old strategies and tactics, and in our personal training, all your lessons on improvising and environmental awareness in order to carry myself outside of times when I need to use One For All have been tremendous for me. That was one of the biggest reasons I even made it as far into the Sports Festival as I did. So I just didn't want to end this without letting you know how much I truly appreciate you sticking with helping All might train me for this long, even when you had so many other things with Kolya-san and the rest of our classmates going on as well. Thank you."

With Izuku having finally given the due acknowledgment and thanks to both of his mentors, he was at last given leave to go and rejoin the rest of his class, leaving Toshinori and Tunguska alone once more, the large Russian feeling another swelling of likewise gratitude and pride in his chest, riding something of a wave of happiness to know he actually was having a genuine influence on their shared pupil.

However, now that they were alone, Tunguska knew he needed to finally bring to light exactly what was still hanging in the air over their heads, something he and Toshinori alike knew was there, and unable and unwilling to be ignored. "What was that flinch back there for, Toshinori-san?"

Rather than try to play him for a fool and act like he didn't know what Tunguska was talking about, Toshinori sighed wearily. "Yes, I suppose I couldn't have hidden that from your eyes."

"When malenkii Midoriya said he could do anything as long as you were by his side, you flinched. What are you still holding back from him?" Toshinori slowly got back to his feet, looking past Tunguska to the door on the other side, practically envisioning the bright and hopeful look no doubt still shimmering in Izukus' eyes.

"I…I couldn't do it. I just couldn't bring myself to tell him that, when the day eventually comes he will face All For One…it is very likely that I won't be there with him."

Tunguska practically shot up from his seat, grabbing the scrawny mans' shoulders, practically imploring him to look in his eyes. "Toshinori-san, you mustn't think like that! Yes, I understand your time wielding One For All is running out, but that doesn't mean you'll be—"I know exactly what I'm saying, Tunguska-san. This isn't me being paranoid or pessimistic; this is me making peace with a very real possibility. It's happened to every one of my predecessors before me, so why wouldn't I think it'll eventually happen to me as well when the time comes?"

As Tunguska took a shaken step back, Toshinori looked downright resigned as he went on: "When my predecessor passed…it was one of the single most devastating moments of my life; the kind that can easily shatter the spirit of many others. If Midoriya-shonen is going to become the inheritor of One For All I know he can be, then it's my responsibility as his predecessor and mentor to try and keep that willingness and determination of his alive for as long as possible so he can continue to improve and grow stronger."

Toshinori could practically feel the indignation bristling off of Tunguskas' shoulders, as the Russian Hero looked to be in a state of mental tug-of-war between his own personal convictions, and simply following his colleagues' lead in a matter that he would never 100% fully understand like Toshinori did.

"Did you even listen to anything I said when I told about what my keeping secrets had done to Vukodlak? What it had nearly done to me and Kolya because of him? What keeping such vital things to yourself had nearly done to Kolya and I over all those years? How do you think this is going to play out when you'll inevitably have to tell malenkii Midoriya about this possibility?"

When Toshinori finally met Tunguskas' gaze, there was a deeply emotional intensity to his eyes that the larger Hero hadn't witnessed from him in this state before; piercing enough to render his booming voice silent as the grave. "Of course I listened! I listened to every single word you said, and I took it all straight into my heart, because you were absolutely correct! You still are! That's precisely why it hurt me so much to have to keep it from him. That's why you saw me flinch, because as much as I wanted to tell him for his own sake, I just couldn't, not yet. However, the thing you need to understand is that Midoriya-shonen represents more hope for the world than you or I could ever fully realize. That's why it is both our responsibilities, as his mentors, as well as the responsibility of all those that will aid him along on his path, to try and keep that fire of hope he carries in him alive and as strong as possible…even if it means having to keep the full extent of the truth from him for the moment."

Tunguska could feel his own heart grow ever heavy, just as Toshinori did, as he followed his gaze to the door, to the boy who was essentially carrying the very fate of the nation, if not the entire world, upon his shoulders. However, that was when a very difficult thought came to the Russian teachers' mind, one he had to physically force himself to say out loud: "But…what if malenkii Midoriya didn't have to shoulder all that responsibility by himself? All the students of this school are learning how to become the next great Heroes. Surely a threat like All For One is exactly what all their training would ultimately go toward."

"NO." Toshinori stated with incredible intensity; his entire body momentarily shuddering as he said so. "I'm sorry, Tunguska-san. Believe me, there have been times such ideas occurred to me as well. However, you do not understand the force of pure evil that is All For One, not like I do. Those children, as pure as their hearts and aspirations may be, as powerful as their Quirks may become, as driven as they may grow up to be in their desire to save people and fight Villains…they would never be able to stand against him, not without One For All. It is a truly tragic and lonely fate, but it is the fate that has been chosen for Midoriya-shonen, just as it was chosen for me. I'm sorry, but it is ultimately a task that only he will be able to carry out."

With that, Toshinori finally beckoned for them both to take their leave, a much heavier understanding of where they both now stood in the grand scheme of this twisted play, established within them.

As soon as lunch break had ended, all of Class 1-A had finally reunited, the air alive with the typical chatter that punctuated the beginning and end of every period. Capitalizing on what little time was left before Aizawa would come and homeroom would officially commence, Nikolay had decided to take the opportunity to approach Kyouka at her desk, surprisingly catching her completely off guard, as she nearly shot her earlobe jacks right into him when she realized she was no longer alone.

"Sorry for intruding, Jirou-san. I just wanted to let you know I'd finally gotten through all the music you'd put on that device you gave me. It was all incredible. Bolshoi spasibo (Thank you very much). I really can't thank you enough. I really could've used a lot of that stuff years ago."

Despite the casual, grateful smile on his fair face, he never noticed the distinctly shaken look in Kyoukas' onyx eyes to suddenly be on the receiving end of so much heartfelt gratitude. The little conversation she'd been made subject of back in the girls' locker room had definitely not helped. She couldn't even look him in the eye, let alone speak clearly, instead sitting rigid as a rock at her desk in a cold sweat, with her face having almost immediately turned cherry red.

"I know you had brought it up when you first gave it to me, but now I just have to ask, do you really have much more you would be willing to share with me some day? Oh, actually, let me ask you this: is there perhaps any classic or traditional Russian music you would be interested in that I could share with you? It's really the least I can do." As blissfully ignorant of just what the purple-haired girl in front of him was going through as ever, Nikolays' sudden offer to reciprocate on the same level she had, left Kyouka Jirou a deeply red, shaking, frigid sweat-soaked mess. The moment he had offered, she felt like actually answering him with words would cause her to drop dead with flustered embarrassment on the spot.

As this awkward little one-sided conversation was going on, Mina still sat at her half of the double desk, watching the two with the most satisfied smile on her pink face. What she was seeing from Nikolay and Kyouka at that moment, was frankly adorable.

Kyouka always tried to play herself off as so cool, collected and calm, sometimes to the point of coming across as cold. However, if she actually did have a crush on Nikolay, then perhaps a little moment like this between them would be exactly what she needed to start thawing out, being a bit more sociable. At the very least have a little more personality range between distant and snarky.

Taking that moment to consider how she was feeling while watching the two interact like this, Mina felt a very reassuring sense of acceptance in her chest. If she really did have as serious feelings for Nikolay as the rest of the girls had been suggesting, then surely she would be fuming with jealousy at the thought of Kyouka moving in on him, or at least trying to. And yet, all she felt at this moment was deep happiness for both of them. She wanted to help Nikolay become more sociable and open with more of their classmates, and here was the perfect proof that it was working.

However, for as reassured as she was by her own current attitude that she didn't in fact have stronger feelings for Nikolay than as one of her closest friends, this still didn't answer one serious question that had been nagging at Mina all day long:

If that really was the case, then why was her very first impulse when Nikolay had called her his Hero last night, to not only hug him like she normally would have, but to even go the ultimate mile and kiss him on top of that, instead of simply telling him he was her Hero as well, like she had done, and simply left it at that? It wasn't like when she had kissed him in the photo booth, this was complete and total impulse, with no actual pre-planned intent or anything of the sort.

It wasn't like this was the first time anyone had ever called Mina their Hero. Heck, even Eijirou had pretty much said as much right around the time they graduated middle school, and her only impulse then had been to hug him in gratitude and encouragement. So then why was her immediate impulse this time so much more extreme in comparison?

The whole thing had silently left a great feeling of confusion in Minas' heart, and it simply added one more item to a growing list of serious questions she was desperately seeking an answer for.

Before she could dwell on it any further, Aizawa had finally made his way in, forcing all the students back to their desks, as he wasted no time getting right down to business. "All right, let's see here…right, summer break is fast approaching. But of course, it stands to reason that none of you have enough leeway to just relax for thirty."

Nikolay felt a sudden wave of anticipation overtake all his classmates, with some even hitching their breaths in preparation. He could swear he even heard Denki begin to ask: "Could it be…?"

It was like time momentarily stood still as Aizawa lifted his tired gaze from his paperwork to drive in the point of his announcement that much further: "We'll be going to a summer break forest lodge."

Just as it had at the announcements of the Sports Festival and the naming and internship announcements, the entirety of Class 1-A erupted into excited cheers, while Nikolay once again found himself the odd man out, having never heard of such an event in relation to school before. Was this something akin to a holiday in someone elses' dacha, or was it something else entirely?

It didn't matter what he was thinking it was, as he could hear a multitude of ideas being thrown from one end of the classroom to the next among the cacophonous cheers, from Shoto and Ojiro simply speculating on the logistical nature of the journey forcing them to be more creative and selective with the use of their Quirks, to much more casually pleasant comments from Tenya, Ochako and Tsuyu about curry, bed and food with the whole class and fireworks respectively. Then of course there was Minoru standing atop his desk, screaming repeatedly at the top of his lungs about the outdoor baths; an image Nikolay immediately found himself remembering from the old days when thinking about Japan. Of course, now came the realization that it would be an environment wherein he would be among all his classmates, and when thinking of that, he could feel his scalp beginning to grow hot.

And of course, this awkward realization was not lessened when Mina suddenly started eagerly cheering for them all to give each other dares. For as much of modern outside culture as Nikolay still had no knowledge or experience in, the game 'truth or dare' was downright universal, and the idea of him getting roped into such a game with a multitude of his classmates, especially her, had his heart instantly pounding mercilessly at his chest. Why now, did that still lingering memory of their last interaction the previous night decide to hit him like a 2x4 to the back of the head?

"However…!" Aizawa suddenly announced, thankfully managing to render the majority of the class quiet. "…should any of you fall short of a passing grade in the end-of-term Final Exams, then you'll find yourselves stuck in school, in remedial hell!"

Just as quickly as everyones' excitement had come, did their homeroom teacher just as quickly instill the fear of God in every last one of them. There were soon numerous outcries from the students to one another, encouraging them all to give their absolute best. Of course, among them, Nikolay and Mina both felt that veritable Sword of Damocles hanging especially low over their heads. This week was to be their final week of that accursed after-school detention period Aizawa had sentenced them to, since their internship week obviously hadn't counted. What kind of life would this be if they had both struggled tooth and nail through that month-long torture, just to once again fall short and find themselves in essentially the exact same place?

Mina was already throwing her balled up fists in the air, grimacing with frustration that when fun was on the horizon, Aizawa was dutifully there to smack it all away with overbearing threats of more school. However, without even taking his eyes off the path ahead through the walls of the classroom, Nikolay reflexively reached out and grabbed onto her right hand, grasping tight. Minas' black-gold eyes flew to her Slavic desk partner in confusion, only to feel a sudden inexplicable pulse-like sensation emanate from her chest when she saw the outright determined glimmer in Nikolays' green eyes as he refused to let go, somehow managing to control his grip all the while.

"No…we worked too hard for this…and we're not wasting it." Muttering this to himself, Nikolay turned to look her in the eye; his fair face now bearing a smile of pure confidence and drive that left her frankly speechless, it looked so different from any other expression she'd ever seen from him before. "We're gonna make it to that forest lodge, both of us. All of us. I don't care how long it takes, I'm gonna see to it we do well enough to make it there, Mina. I don't know if I can make it happen, but I'm gonna try."

Nikolays' eyes were simply focused on their mutual goal the whole while, but even after he had finally let go of her now opened hand, he never noticed the distinctly warm blush on Minas' cheeks as she kept looking at him with surprise at this wholly new driven image of him. Nor did she ever stop to acknowledge the fact that when he made that oath to help them all succeed; her heart had actually skipped a beat at how sincere he clearly was.

In the dark confines of a rather auspicious-looking tower, a single man sat alone, observing a multitude of screens depicting numerous headlines from across the nation, and photographs of numerous individuals. Among those pictures were those of a young adult man with long white hair adorned with numerous disembodied hands, another young adult man adorned in leather and red cloth armed with numerous bladed weapons, and a middle-aged foreign man adorned all in black with steel-tipped claws and clouded eyes surrounded with scars.

"I must say, it's surprising. I never would have thought the likes of the Hero Killer or the Hunter of Heroes would have gotten caught so easily. For all the whispers I'd heard across the sea about the latter, especially, I would've thought he'd proven to be a much more reliable pawn in the game when I'd made the call to have him sent over. Nevertheless, even with both their arrests muddling things up a tad, things are going as foreseen."

Switching his focus from those sole photos, his gaze fell upon the numerous Japanese headlines, all telling virtually the same story around the two recently apprehended Villains, along with the occasional whispering of the USJ incident from over a month ago. Sprinkled throughout were numerous internet chat rooms expressing numerous cries of support for those very same individuals from all three incidents. Frankly, the man couldn't help but find it all a touch amusing, in a childish way, of course.

"The veritable children who just want to run wild, and the ones who sympathize…all sorts of people now seek the League of Villains as a place whereby they may finally be able to take the lid off their own impulses. Shigaraki Tomura, his assigned role now, is to unify and support those people so that they may become a single formidable force when the time comes."

"I wonder if the kid can actually pull it off, as you seem so confident he can. Honestly, I think things would be proceeding much faster if you had stepped in earlier, Sensei. Things out there certainly aren't going to get any easier for the likes of Villains with time. The fact that not only did All Might actually go out into the world and bring a Hero of likewise power and former influence back out of obscurity, but that both Heroes have respective disciples of seemingly growing power and potential, is something I would think is just cause for concern on our end." The only other man in the room, much older by the sounds of it, made no effort to hide his own doubts from within the shadows, while the titular 'Sensei' continued observing everything playing out before him.

Instead, he simply answered his only other visitor with a wry chuckle of malicious amusement. "If that's really what you think, then patch me up faster, Doctor. If only I could have gotten my hands on Super Regeneration five years sooner…it truly was a major disappointment of a Quirk, meaningless after my wounds finally heal."

Staring intently at the screen baring Tomura Shigarakis' visage, the man reached a single hand out, running his fingertips across it as though hoping his words would somehow reach across the airwaves to the young man in question. "It makes no difference, though. I'll let him do all the hard work…so that he may become the next 'me'! That child was born…warped enough to do so."

As he sat back in his seat, staring past the screens into the encroaching shadows, the man spoke with pronounced bitterness, sending every last ounce of ill will his physical body could contain into his words, in the vain hope that it would reach to the heart of the one intended.

"You'd do well to rejoice in this farce, this 'transient' peace while you still can, All Might. It doesn't matter how much outside help you try to recruit, or how many promising young disciples you try to take under your wing in order to make up for your growing weakness. In the end, you will see, and you will know with unshakeable certainty, that all such efforts are only delaying the inevitable."

And there is the new chapter of the week, and the end of the Vukodlak Arc. I hope you all enjoyed it, and if so, please be kind and leave an honest review when and if you have the chance.

I will see you all on 07/03 with the first chapter of the next story arc! Until then, stay safe and have a great rest of your week!

* This is obviously a reference to Frank Darabont's legendary 1994 drama 'The Shawshank Redemption'.