Hello again, everyone. I would just like to say that since this site isn't giving me notifications for new favorites, follows or reviews, I'm deeply grateful for all of the aforementioned I've received over this past week. It's encouraging to see people are finally starting to give feedback like I've been asking for. Hopefully it can keep up from here, because things are only going to keep getting bigger from here as I set the groundwork for multiple story arcs in the immediate future.

I would like to give another grateful mention of my two consultants and beta readers, Mizu and Johnny. The former has been unfortunately absent from communication for this past week, so I can only express hope that things are okay where they're at, but all the support they've both given me throughout this experience can't be summed up with words. The same goes for all of your support as well. It really does my heart good when I see just how many people out there across the globe still tune in to read more of this story with each passing day. You all are the ones that truly make this worth it; my own desire can only attribute so much to the sense of immense accomplishment and satisfaction I feel with each chapter I complete.

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 of established events that occur from their existence in this universe.

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

Chapter 67

Man To Man

(Мужчина Мужчине)

Tuesday, September 9th

From the beginning of Nikolay, Mina, Kyouka, Tenya, Momo and Izuku's first day back from their respective internships; once more and more of their classmates had started to come to the commons area for breakfast, the air was already more than abuzz with curiosity and excitement from everyone, all simply wanting to know what their luckiest classmates' internships were shaping up to be like so far.

There were, of course, those that were reserved yet no less sincere in their enthusiasm for their accepted internships, like Tenya and Momo ("Knightfall-sensei has a very clear-cut and commendable idea of chivalry much like that of the very knights his costume is modeled after. I would almost dare to say he speaks and thinks like a progenitor of what the idea of a Hero actually is. It's a wonder we never hear about him and the other Heroes around his ranking more often, I would swear he must at least be a colleague with Crimson Riot.") ("Whiteout-sensei has a similarly admirable balanced mindset when it comes to being a Hero as well; that of one being able to exude grace and ingenuity alongside physical prowess. She's incredibly cultured as well; I really believe my Class B partners and I stand to learn a great deal from her.")

Then, there was the surprisingly eager example of Kyouka when it came to describing how in-sync and like-minded she was with her mentor, Blast Beat; only furthered when Denki had decided to look up on his phone and ended up finding a local Arakisu City headline describing how they had managed to apprehend a Villain's car-chopping ring. The article already had the purple-haired girl grinning with accomplishment, even before Denki had started chuckling to himself when looking at the picture of her and Blast Beat together: "Wow, Jirou; I thought you looked pretty rocking on the regular, but this guy is something else; you're like two peas in a pod. Maybe I oughta apply and see if I can get in with you two; we'd look like a complete rock 'n' roll set."

Of course, while Kyouka was now blushing with more than one kind of embarrassment at the blonde sparkplug's comments, Nikolay was quick to interject: "I agree, but I don't think it would be that easy. The only reason they accepted Mina and I under one instructor was because we'd specifically asked to be taken in as a team ahead of time."

All the while, Mina was all but racing a mile a minute, with Nikolay close behind, in explaining to everyone not only the different Quirks and attitudes of their mentors at the Kapenta Agency, but primarily going on about the Slavic refugee city of Gagaringrad that was still to be their week-long stomping ground. Of course, just the very idea of something existing without any of them, especially the more news-savvy students, ever having known about it was astonishing all on its own.

"Wow, are you for real? A whole town full of Quirked foreigners just like Kolya-kun? All tucked away in a little corner like that? It sounds so unreal!" Tooru instinctively commented, with Mina enthusiastically nodding in confirmation and agreement.

"You and Tunguska-sensei keep saying that there's virtually nobody around nowadays who has a Quirk back in Russia, right, Bezpalov-san? What does that feel like, knowing there's an entire community of them out there you're now able to look after?" Mashirao asked once Mina had started rambling on and on with Tooru and Kouji about the whole place, while Nikolay had started to look rather pensive.

"You know, Mina actually asked me the same question the first day we were there. It honestly feels like something out of a dream; like what back home might've looked like if the Flash had never happened. Even though we've been there twice, there's still a part of me that tries to convince me it's not real, even though I know it is. I don't know how else to explain it, Ojiro-san." Nikolay answered as brutally honest as he could.

"If it's a whole town full of your countrymen with Quirks, they must've had some pretty impressive ones, right?" Rikido asked curiously, with Mashirao and Hanta quickly echoing the same sentiment.

However, before Nikolay could answer, Mina practically jumped onto his back; eyes wide and smile beaming once she overheard the question. "Oh, you have no idea, you guys! They don't have a Hero Agency or a school, but they actually have this old guy who can make you think and speak a whole other language like a natural just by poking you in the head! It felt so weird, but it's so cool! They also have their own little local security team-like thing instead of a Hero Agency, and their Quirks were all so awesome!"

Thankfully thinking to get off the Russian boy's back, Mina stepped aside as she and Nikolay proceeded to give their classmates the run down on all of the local town protectors, as they ultimately decided to call them:

"It wasn't even just Russians, it was people from all over the Bloc; people I never would've expected to have seen travel all the way out here! They had someone who could shoot glowing explosive balls from his wrists like a grenade launcher, a guy who could make blades and spears of air just from swinging his arms, a guy who could literally redirect the entire force of a physical blow into whoever threw it, another guy who could actually rewind the trajectory of projectiles and debris, and a girl with this really cool Wax Quirk that could get our feet stuck, make walls and even decoys of herself!"

"Yeah, yeah, and not even just that, either! There was a girl who could teleport herself anywhere she saw just by blinking, a girl who could control people like puppets with just a strand of her hair, a guy who could shoot bullets out of his fingers, and this one creepy dude who could make your whole field of sight go black just by looking at you. I didn't like that guy, though; he was like Mineta if he was way taller and had a mustache."

Kyouka nearly choked laughing, while Minoru nearby was already just envisioning himself with a mustache, and how all the ladies would fawn over him for it, completely missing the disapproving tone in Mina's voice when making the comparison.

"So did all of those people in that town already know who you were, or who your dad is, Bezpalov-san?" Mezo suddenly asked nonchalantly, and everyone in the commons area could just feel the atmosphere change when they saw the regretful look on both Nikolay and Mina's faces. Already, the masked boy found himself wishing he could take his question back, but before he could apologize, Nikolay let out a soft sigh of what sounded like acceptance.

"They eventually did, and…yeah, it didn't turn out well that first night. But yesterday, it really felt like those people had processed it. That's the main reason I'm actually looking forward to going back tomorrow."

As soon as Nikolay admitted this, Mina was practically squealing with joy as she pulled him and an unsuspecting Kyouka into a group hug, grinning as brightly as ever. "That's the spirit, Kolya-kun! Oh, you guys would've all been so proud, hearing him after that whole thing on our intro day! He sounded so cool! This whole thing's gonna be an awesome step towards us all becoming Heroes, I just know it!"

Before the conversation could carry on much further in any direction, Tenya and Momo dutifully reminded everyone of the approaching start to class, and thus everyone hurriedly got themselves ready and headed back to Class 1-A; Nikolay, Mina and Kyouka all feeling especially enthused by how well their respective internships together were going.

However, that feeling of overall contentment didn't last long, as once they got to class, many of them were shocked to find Bakugo, Shoto and Izuku had all taken the initiative of getting into class just that little bit earlier than them. Many of the other students didn't react when seeing the former two specifically, but those that had missed the sight due to their internships yesterday, were all stricken by the sight of Bakugo bearing a number of bandages and bruises on his face; perfectly complimenting the simmering scowl on his face.

The visible anger on his face thankfully made Mina realize how unwise it would be to ask him directly; hence her first instinct was to immediately turn to the passing Tooru: "Hey, what's up with Bakugo's face? Did he get into another fight?"

While Nikolay had to silently admit that would have been his first guess as well, Denki was especially quick to answer in kind: "What, did you not notice, girls? He and Todoroki got all roughed up on Sunday! Those Provisional Remedial Lessons must be serious business!"

All at once did Nikolay visibly light up with remembrance of just where their classes' two failed students had gone on Sunday while he had left for internship; while Mina took one look at the similar bandages and bruises adorning Shoto's face: "EEEK! His pretty-boy face is ruined! What could have happened?!"

However, while Mina's asking was purely born out of a natural air for melodrama, Nikolay's approach was much more straightforward and casual, as he actually stepped toward Shoto himself, thankfully managing to snap his attention away from his textbooks. "Good morning, Bezpalov. Is there something you need?"

Shrugging aside Shoto's natural bluntness (if not outright coldness), Nikolay couldn't help but smirk in embarrassment as he began motioning around his own face. "Forgive me for prying, Todoroki-san. I just couldn't help but notice…well, all of us couldn't. I guess your first day of the Remedial Lessons was rough?"

However, Shoto showed no outward sign of having taken offense, while also awkwardly never breaking eye contact. "I wouldn't say that's incorrect. It's certainly proving to have been a wise investment on mine and Bakugo's part. I'm confident we'll be able to make up for our previous failures when the next chance for obtaining our licenses comes around. However, I would suggest the rest of you simply focus on maintaining your internships as of right now; those of you that have managed to obtain them at least."

Nikolay could certainly appreciate Shoto's advice, while also being grateful he wasn't simply throwing his empathy in his face. "Well, that's fair. But I was also wondering: did you by any chance see any other familiar faces there yet?"

Shoto was exceptionally quick to get on the same page as the faintest upturned corner of his mouth became visible. "Yes, as a matter of fact. Yoarashi Inasa and Utsushimi Camie from Shiketsu High were there. He really seems to have let the experience of the Exam really sink into his head. She, on the other hand, has been acting and speaking completely differently from how she had been back then. I could only assume it was because of the somewhat lessened pressure of these only being lessons."

Nikolay was simultaneously grateful to know Inasa was still giving his all, and curious to know that the enigmatic Camie apparently was acting completely different, just like the furry-bodied Shiketsu student had made note of back then as well.

"CLASS IS STARTING, EVERYONE! HAVE URARAKA-SAN AND ASUI-SAN STILL NOT ARRIVED?!" Tenya suddenly bellowed to the entire class before Nikolay could ask Shoto anything further.

"They're actually both on authorized absences today, President." Momo hastily and concisely explained, forcing Nikolay and the others to realize their rosy cheeked and frog-like classmates had actually not even been seen during breakfast, either.

"Kirishima-san looks to be missing today, too." Kyouka suddenly noted as she took her seat, and the moment Nikolay and Mina spotted their spiky-haired best friend's desk was likewise empty, they exchanged glances from across the classroom (as she had taken to eagerly asking Izuku about his own internship alongside Minoru), and they could both instinctively tell they had the very same theory: their three absent classmates had to finally be making their internship introductions today.

Even despite knowing they only had about a minute before Aizawa would come in and commence class; since Mina was already doing so, Nikolay knew he couldn't go without asking as well; hence he all but leapt across the classroom to Izuku's desk: "I'm sorry, Midoriya-san, but really quick, I just have to know: what's your internship with Togata-senpai and that Sir Nighteye Hero like so far?"

"Yeah, if he's the Hero training Togata-senpai to be so tough, he's gotta be all intense too, right? How long are you gonna be there for, Midori-kun? If we decided to switch Agencies one day, you think we'd be able to join you guys, too?" Mina eagerly asked right alongside him. However, to both theirs (and their other classmates) surprise, the green-haired boy looked as though he wasn't even listening to either of them. His normally so studious expression was furrowed with such intensity; it sent both their imaginations awhirl with what could have possibly been on his mind.

However, before either of them could ask anything else, they could hear the doorknob starting to turn, and thus Nikolay and Mina all but back-flipped their way back to their double desk, sitting tall and at attention the moment Aizawa finally stepped in, setting his materials at the podium as he took his place for the day.

"Good day, everyone. I see those of you that had your internship periods yesterday had no trouble acclimating back to a school day schedule…just as I see others have decided to take advantage of their approved absences to get their own internships already as well. I can certainly hope the rest of you start managing this before too long as well."

As Aizawa explained all of this, he suddenly began rummaging through his own book bag, before pulling out another stack of papers and setting it beside his regular material. "I suppose I should just go ahead and let you all know that today's regularly scheduled Quirk History class will be replaced with Ectoplasm-san's mathematics, even though you'll still be given today's originally assigned Quirk History homework to make up for it, due to Tunguska needing to now conduct himself with his Pro Hero employer as an internship instructor, starting today. Considering just who of your classmates are absent today, I think it's easy to guess just where one of them has gone, in that regard."

The moment Aizawa finished explaining this, Nikolay and Mina were immediately grinning in anticipation to one another. This had all but confirmed their suspicions. Right now, Eijirou almost certainly had to be living the greatest day of his life as Tunguska's long-awaited Hero Intern. Already, they could both just feel the eagerness to reach out and ask him how it was, if not just outright bombard him, Ochako and Tsuyu alike with questions once they got back tonight.

However, what should have been another regular school day turned out to be anything but for Izuku, and as the day went on, this was becoming increasingly worrying to all of his classmates. Sure, in training, he would at least fumble once, that pretty much was how it went for all of them. But when it came to written exams and such, he was right up there with Shoto, Tenya and Momo.

And yet, throughout homeroom, Ectoplasm's mathematics and Cementoss' literature, Izuku was continuously caught drifting mentally, as though his focus were a million miles away.

By the time lunch period had finally come, the whole class had become notably concerned about what could have possibly been making Izuku, of all people, so scatterbrained.

BRRING!

However, at that very moment they had taken their spot at a table with their food, both Nikolay and Mina's cell phones simultaneously began to ring, both of them already in the middle of getting the devices out, only to feel a spark of excitement when they realized they were both being video called by Eijirou.

The instant they answered, they were immediately met by not only the sight of a brightly grinning Eijirou in his Oni-esque face mask and Hero costume, but a similarly grinning Tunguska leaning in right behind him. "Hey, you two! Glad I was able to catch you in time!" "Hello, Kolya, malenkaya Ashido! I take it you two made the transition from interns to students alright? That's going to be quite the hoop-jumping routine you're setting yourselves up for!"

"Yeah, well you taught us all how to be able to handle tough situations; you and every other teacher we've had. We can handle this, I'm sure. So if you two are together and class got cancelled, does that mean what I think it does?" Nikolay immediately asked, causing Eijirou's sharp-toothed smile to somehow get even brighter.

"You bet it does! You guys, you're looking at the newest official intern for the Fatgum Hero Agency, working with Amajiki-senpai right under Fatgum and Tunguska-sensei himself!" As Eijirou proclaimed this, he wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was crying just being able to say it out loud and not have it just be a daydream of his. Tunguska's chuckle that went with his smile made it all too clear he was just as thrilled for his student, if not a tad embarrassed by how energetic the boy was. "Yes, well, malenkii Kirishima has worked so immensely hard, just like the rest of you. I had no right telling him to look somewhere else. I know that Fatgum-san and I will help make these boys the best Heroes they can possibly be, just as all your mentors are doing for you and your classmates."

However, the moment Mina was already asking Eijirou if he actually legit screamed with victory when he got his contract stamped (which his embarrassed grin immediately confirmed), Nikolay's own curiosity had been caught. "Wait, Eijirou-san, did you say Amajiki-senpai is interning with you, too?"

At the mention of this, Eijirou's eyes widened with eagerness as he already began angling his phone so they could get a glimpse of the dark-haired and pointy-eared third-year in the background. However, as though he could just tell eyes were on him, Tamaki immediately pulled the white hood of his own Hero costume over his head and planted his forehead to the nearest wall. Of course, this did nothing to deter Eijirou: "Yeah, believe it or not, Senpai has actually been interning with Fatgum-sensei already; he and Tunguska-sensei have just been missing each other by a day up till now. I'm definitely hyped, we're about to go out on our first patrol together! I just wanted to let you both know before we left!"

However, even with the news of their soon having to leave, Tunguska chimed in from over his new intern's shoulder: "Before we do, though, please tell us: how have your internships up in Hokkaido been going so far? I know our alternating schedules have made it impossible to be able to share all this face-to-face, and I apologize for that, Kolya."

With Eijirou echoing similar eagerness to know; Nikolay and Mina proceeded to fill them both in on all the same details they had shared with the rest of their classmates just that morning. When it came to their mentors, Eijirou and Tunguska both looked utterly fascinated by just the sounds of their Quirks; and also happy to know Tenya, Momo and Kyouka were interning up that way just the same as them.

However, when it came to finally telling them about the town of Gagaringrad and the people who lived there; while Eijirou looked downright fascinated…Tunguska looked deeply thoughtful, if not just immensely emotional.

"That is so cool, you guys! A whole town of other Quirked Slavs like you, Kolya-san? Man, I can't even imagine what that must feel like! What kind of Quirks did they have? What were they like? No, no, you gotta tell me, did they already know who you were when you showed up? Surely they must've heard all the talk about Tunguska-sensei over the internet, right?"

As Eijirou kept bombarding Nikolay with all these other questions, the big one from before once more got the biggest physical reaction out of him, which Eijirou thankfully noticed, right before seeing the similar looks of regret on Nikolay and Mina's faces. At the same time, when Tunguska saw this, he could already feel his stomach turning, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

With a heavy sigh, Nikolay gave his friend and father his answer: "At first, no, they didn't. But at one point, we heard a crash and found this dog that had gotten killed by an out of control car. Then, out of nowhere, this little, little kid came up and actually brought the dog to life with his Quirk like nothing had ever happened to it."

As Nikolay explained this part, the description of this little kid's Quirk sparked a now-distant memory in Tunguska's head, leaving him wide-eyed with disbelief and realization, all while Nikolay continued: "The kid's father recognized me when I gave him my real name. It turns out he was the shipyard worker in Vladivostok that Dad rescued the day we left Russia for Japan.

"The thing is, though, that when he announced his realization that Tunguska's my Dad…a lot of the people that were there got really mad, saying things about Dad not being brave enough to show himself and sending me in his place, and how I was pretty much responsible for them losing their original homes purely by proxy. That's when we ultimately were forced to leave the town for our own good so the people could calm back down."

Just as Nikolay had dreaded would happen when having to explain this, this story left Eijirou looking completely in disbelief that Tunguska's own fellow Quirked countrymen would react to his son in such a way for something he had no involvement in. At the same time, Tunguska now looked clearly distraught, sucking in a deep breath to try and steady himself, and gaining his intern's attention, before he stepped in to take control of the conversation, looking Nikolay and Mina in the eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Kolya. I'm so, so sorry I couldn't be there to try and take this burden off your shoulders. Those people have every right to be angry with me for what's happened to all of them; it's not right you should have to bear my stigma. I'm sorry to you as well, malenkaya Ashido. Such an experience can be immensely disheartening, for either or both of you. The responsibility of trying to raise everyone's spirits in times like this shouldn't be on your shoulders alone."

However, despite this expression of his overwhelming guilt, the man was rendered silent the next time Nikolay finally looked him in the eye; reflecting something Tunguska had not expected from a moment like this.

"It's okay, Dad. Really. To be honest, even as I'd kept pushing myself to get stronger and learn how to become a Hero, I'd actually been trying to prepare myself for something like this. I just had a feeling in my gut that this was inevitable. Now that it's happened, though…I actually feel more prepared because of it."

Tunguska and Eijirou both looked utterly stricken by this statement from the Russian boy as he continued: "I know it must sound weird right now. But after all the times you and the other teachers have been saying that being a Hero is a life of struggle, this just feels par for the course. This whole thing is about learning how to be a Hero…our own kind of Hero for people all over. Well, if I can't bring myself to swallow an experience like this and continue trying to be a Hero for these people, then how can I possibly learn to become a Hero to everyone else in this country, or anywhere else? That's why I want to keep going, no matter what those people or anyone else might say. Besides, yesterday they seemed to have settled down, anyway."

Right after Nikolay had thrown in the last line to try and ease Tunguska's worries, Mina just as quickly leaned in; her golden irises reflecting just as much determination as his green ones. "That's right, and that goes for trying to be Heroes to each other, too! I wanna be the kind of Hero that can be there for everyone for anything, and I don't care if it's against a Villain or a whole mob of upset people; I won't leave any of my friends behind, and I definitely won't just leave them without trying my best to comfort them when they need it! So don't apologize for anything, Tunguska-sensei! In fact, thank you!"

In the wake of both their declarations of never giving up after such a disastrous end to a first day, Eijirou's smile had changed from that of an extremely eager child being given what he always wanted; to one of incredible warmth that complimented the immensely proud look in his red eyes: "Wow, you guys…both of you, that was probably one of the manliest things I've heard you say yet. I knew you two were perfect partner material for each other from the start, and yet you somehow keep managing to just prove that more and more."

All the while, Tunguska similarly looked like he was trying to keep from breaking down into emotional tears as he looked Nikolay in the eye. "Yes…and you, Kolya, your words make me so proud, you have no idea; precisely because you aren't simply trying to be some kind of replacement Hero for me in order to try and clear my name with these people. You understand not only that I deserve the distaste of those people for what I did…but also that the best thing you can possibly do is work hard and give everything you have to become the kind of Hero that only you can become. That's all I, or anyone else, could ever ask of you…of either or any one of you all.

"As long as you all work hard to become the kinds of Heroes you can all personally be proud of, then all people will recognize that, and they will come to feel just as proud of having you as their Heroes as well. That is one of the greatest hallmarks of one having truly become a Hero, and you will hear that from any seasoned veteran anywhere in the world. It's one of the few universal truths in our world."

To know that simply speaking from their hearts in full honesty had touched their friend and teacher/father so deeply had Nikolay and Mina both feeling a surge of raw emotion of their own as well. However, wanting to try and avoid making a scene here in the middle of the dining hall, Nikolay hurriedly cleared his throat: "Thank you both, seriously. I think it's safe to say we'll both be keeping that in mind whenever we're up there. I know there's definitely some really powerful Quirked people up there I'd like to be able to leave feeling the kind of pride in Heroes you're talking about, Dad."

Once more, the subject of the Gagaringrad security team had Mina light up with eagerness all over again as she and Nikolay once more rapidly began running down all the different members they'd gotten to know over the last two days and their respective Quirks; each one leaving Eijirou amazed, and Tunguska similarly intrigued.

"They're all so super skilled, they could make an awesome Hero Agency all on their own, you guys! The old guy leading them seemed really tough in that scary-Aizawa-sensei kind of way, too. What was his name again, Kolya-kun? Those Russian names are so hard to remember completely."

"Pietro Dobrynich Granin was that guy's name. I'm sure if you just called him 'Mr. Granin' next time, it would be good enough." The instant Nikolay mentioned the name, he and Mina both almost failed to see the way Tunguska's weathered face suddenly went white as a sheet, and his blue eyes grew nearly twice in size, much to Eijirou's (and even the background Tamaki's) similar surprise. "DID YOU JUST SAY 'PIETRO DOBRYNICH GRANIN,' KOLYA?!"

The sheer volume Tunguska suddenly began speaking with had Nikolay and Mina both forcibly lowering the volumes on their phones so the rest of the dining hall wouldn't overhear them. Finally, Nikolay replied: "Yeah, that was his name. Dad…do you actually know that man?" "Whoa, is that for real, Sensei? Is he someone you actually knew before?!"

Tunguska looked like he was actually struggling to stay on his feet; his eyes looking as though he were also mentally miles and miles away, just like Izuku. "I…I did, yes…a long, long time ago, long before you were even born, Kolya. I'd convinced myself for years that he'd died shortly after the Siberian Flash. But if what you're telling me is true…my God…"

Neither Nikolay, Mina nor Eijirou could decide if Tunguska's response to this man being alive was positive or negative, but either way, Nikolay knew they all deserved some kind of an answer: "Who exactly is Pietro Dobrynich Granin, Dad?"

Thankfully, Tunguska seemed to recollect himself as he cleared his throat. "Right. Well, Kolya, you know how I used to say I'd spent a few of my younger years in the Red Army like every other man, Quirked or no?"

As soon as Nikolay rapidly nodded, his father continued; his young audience listening in rapt attention: "Well, during those few years, Pietro Dobrynich Granin was in the same unit as I was. After I'd done my service, and went on to learn how to become an official Pro Hero, Pietro stuck with the Red Army and actually made quite a name for himself right alongside me over the years. Besides, his Quirk was considered far too subtle, short-range and just not suited to actual Hero field work. To be honest, over those years, I'd noticed that he always seemed to have some issues regarding emotional stability…but I can scarcely even imagine how it was he was somehow able to not only get on his feet again, but somehow end up all the way out here in Japan in the wake of the Flash and everything that came after it. It's a genuine miracle."

Nikolay, Mina and Eijirou's face all pretty much reflected the same sentiment, unable to believe just what a cosmic-level twist of fate this turned out to be. Taking note of this, Tunguska's eyes lit up with an idea of his own. "Kolya, there's actually a picture in the old photo album I took from the house back in Vladivostok before we ran, that has a picture of me, The New Bogatyrs when we first formed up, and Pietro Granin. It's kept in my room in the faculty dormitory. I'll contact Aizawa-san to deliver it to your room, and you can all see for yourselves."

"Tunguska-san, Red Riot-kun, Suneater-kun, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we do need to get to patrolling right about now." The off-screen voice of Fatgum could suddenly be heard, and at his mention, Eijirou all but jumped up in preparation, with Tunguska instantly switching from a look of nostalgia to a complete image of Heroic professionalism.

At the last possible second, Eijirou quickly ducked his head back in to address his friends:"I'll tell you all how patrol went when I get back, I promise! Hopefully it shouldn't be too late by then! Good luck with the rest of school today, you guys! And best of luck on your next internship day tomorrow, too!"

"Good luck to you too, Eijirou-san! You worked hard to get here; I know you can do it!" "Yeah, you're all gonna make the bad guys out there scared to poke their heads out, Kiri! You've all got this!" With Nikolay and Mina's respective enthusiastic well-wishes, Eijirou finally ended the call, leaving them both leaning back in their seats; their spirits lightened now that they knew for sure what a good place their shared best friend was in. "I'm really happy for Eijirou-san, he really deserves this."

"We all deserve it, Kolya-kun; like Tunguska-sensei said, we've all been breaking a sweat to get this far. We should all be congratulating each other right now." However, once Mina had said so, a timely growling of both their stomachs quickly reminded them they had just gone through half of lunch period simply chatting away, and they still needed to brace themselves for their last two periods of the day, all the while hoping that this little gap would somehow be enough to get Izuku specifically back in the game with the rest of their class.

However, it all ultimately came to a head when it finally came around to today's practical training session once lunch had ended, which this time revolved around a return to USJ to test the students' mobility on non-solid surfaces; in this case, a race across an expansive and extreme take on a water park.

This whole thing went rather smoothly for most of the students, and it had Nikolay especially excited, as it was finally a chance for him to see if he could utilize his mid-air run technique in a way that would allow him to effectively run across water. To his surprise, it at first actually seemed to work, until he got the timing of one of the supporting blasts from his feet off by just a second, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the water. It was a failure of a technique by any means, especially in comparison to Tenya, whose Recipro Burst pretty much allowed him to fly across the water. However, the important thing was that he used his ability to propel himself out of the water through his Kinetics, like he had learned in the training camp, to get himself back out and utilizing the same method again for the rest of the way. In the end, it had proven enough to get Nikolay across the finish line at about the middle point in comparison to the rest of the class, with Mina just barely managing to get across before him purely thanks to her upper body and leg strength giving her a speed boost in swimming.

However, for Izuku, who had proven well by now that his Full Cowl could have allowed him to fly across just as easily as Tenya and Fumikage had, his unexpected stumble and subsequent crash into the water had proven to be the final straw for Aizawa, who had long since taken note of just how his underdog student was suffering in his performance today. In the end, he had ultimately made the call of pulling Izuku out of the rest of the race, even for as little as there ultimately was left.

By the time the rest of the class had changed back into their uniforms in time to call an end to the school day, there was an undeniable air of great concern hanging over much of the class at this out-of-nowhere drop in Izuku's performance.

"You know, at first I thought Midoriya was just really hyped about the next day he'd get to his internships, but that's no reason for him to keep stumbling like he has been, is it?" Denki ultimately asked once the final bell had rung, and the students were already beginning to make their way either back to the dorms, or out into town for a brief little trip.

"Yeah, I'm really worried about him. Maybe that Nighteye guy said something that really got under Midori-kun's skin or something." Mina hazarded a guess, while Nikolay was likewise deep in thought, especially since after their training race, Izuku had just disappeared, nowhere to be found when closing homeroom had let out.

"I think we should go talk to him! If he knows he doesn't have to hold whatever's bothering him in, then surely that oughta make him feel better, right?" Tooru inevitably asked, with Mina, Denki, Nikolay and virtually all of the class soon echoing the same sentiment.

"I understand all of your concerns for Midoriya-san, everyone, I truly do. However, we still need to be able to learn to manage all our time properly now that we're in the midst of internships or seeking them out. We need to be able to prioritize staying on top of school just as much as we have to for our professional training." Tenya ultimately had to cut in, and as much as it left the more eager of his classmates looking particularly deflated, they couldn't deny that he was still correct.

"You are correct, Iida-san, but part of learning to be a Hero is still being able to communicate with our friends and allies; we've all come to know that by now. If Midoriya-san needs some emotional support, then we have a responsibility to provide that. The only issue, as you said, is timing. It just wouldn't feel right to say nothing." Momo noted; upon which she and the others soon noticed Nikolay's head perk up; his green eyes lit up like he had an idea.

"Iida-san and Yaoyorozu-san are both right. Just because time management is something we all need to get the hang of, doesn't mean we all have to be weighed down together by the same issue. If we were to, perhaps, form up a study group for tonight so we can all help each other stay on top of school, I could at least try and see what's bothering Midoriya-san for us."

Tenya, Momo and Mina all looked so proud of their Russian classmate for stepping up to bat like this, and the vice president looked particularly approving of the study group idea. "I can't think of a reason that couldn't work out for all of us, or at least those of us who wish to volunteer."

With that and a resounding Class 1-A cheer (as well as obligatory declarations from Mina, Denki and Tooru to provide refreshments, once again confusing a study group for just another kind of party) it was ultimately decided, and with wishes of good luck, many of Nikolay's classmates began to take their leave for the dorm.

Nikolay had no real idea where to even begin looking in order to find Izuku; it wasn't necessarily like he had any particular spots of the campus he frequented. It was honestly by complete and total luck that he eventually found the freckled boy when he did, after nearly a half hour of searching. "Hey, Midoriya-san!"

To Nikolay's relief, this time when addressing his classmate and friend, Izuku actually seemed to notice and thereby acknowledge his presence with a noticeably more at ease smile on his face; a far cry from the deeply troubled furrowed brow from before: "Oh, hello, Kolya-san, Todoroki-san. Is there something I can help you two with?"

Nikolay nearly dug his heels in like slamming the brakes to a car at what Izuku had just said. Turning back, the poor boy nearly had a heart attack at the sight of Shoto nearly standing right behind him, as nonchalant as ever. "TODOROKI-SAN, WERE YOU FOLLOWING ME THIS WHOLE TIME?! HOW DID I NOT EVEN HEAR YOU?!"

"A good question indeed, since it's not exactly like I had any reason to sneak around. You were just so focused on finding Midoriya-san, you didn't even notice." As Shoto explained this, now it was Izuku's turn to look confused.

"You two were looking for me?"

With that being said, Nikolay finally got his head back in the game. "Well, yeah. Our whole class has been worried about you all day, Midoriya-san. You've been unresponsive, absent-minded and stumbling through all our classes all day. If it weren't for all our homework, everyone would no doubt be here with us to tell you that."

Nikolay saying this seemed to make Izuku realize all at once just what his display today had to have sent running through all his classmate's minds, and just how deep in his own thoughts he had truly been to have not even noticed them reaching out to him at all. "I'm so sorry, you guys. I never even realized. I should apologize to everyone when we get back. I never meant to make anyone worry."

Seeing this look of guilt on their friend's face, Shoto finally asked: "Something's clearly been troubling you, Midoriya, more than usual. Is it something to do with your internship?"

The fact that Izuku didn't immediately tell them otherwise ultimately said so much, as Nikolay and Shoto exchanged a brief glance, neither of them entirely certain how to follow that. However, it was the young Slav who ultimately took the plunge: "Was interning under that Sir Nighteye Hero too much in the end, Midoriya-san? You don't have to keep it to yourself if it was."

To his surprise, though, Izuku suddenly threw his head up, an imploring intensity in his eyes: "Oh, no, it's nothing like that at all! Sir Nighteye has actually been proving to be a really interesting mentor so far! I can really see how he was able to cultivate Togata-senpai into what he is now. It's just that…well, through Sensei, there's a lot I've learned all at once that I'd been trying to process, mainly about him, Senpai…and All Might. That's why I didn't show up in final homeroom for the end of the day; I needed to talk about it with All Might personally. He filled me in on a lot. Don't worry, I'm feeling better, but it's a long story, though."

"And you really think that's going to dissuade us from hearing you out?" Nikolay suddenly asked, and when Izuku saw the genuinely compassionate smile on his fair face, alongside the faint supporting smile on Shoto's, he could feel his heart lighten that much more than it already had been earlier.

Izuku knew Nikolay and Shoto were his friends, it was only natural for them to worry about him and want to reach out; that was the way it was with nearly the entire class. Hell, if the roles had been reversed, there was no question he would've been where the two boys were standing right now, trying to extend a helping hand their way. Since they had gone this far for his sake, it was only fair they knew the truth about what had been going on with him…at least, as much as he was allowed to share with anyone.

"You see, the thing about Sir Nighteye-sensei is that he's more than just the Hero mentoring Togata-senpai…he actually used to be All Might's sidekick when he came back to Japan from America. They worked together for five whole years, but six years ago, when he suffered the injury that's put him in the state he's in now, they had a complete falling out. Sensei…well, his Quirk is Foresight; so if he makes eye contact with someone, he can see their future."

Already, Nikolay was feeling completely blown away by the fact that Izuku was actually directly learning under their teacher's former personal sidekick, but the realization of just what a game-changing Quirk he had made it like a one-two punch of information. Even Shoto's slightly widened eyes made it clear he was similarly impressed.

However, that was when the once at ease expression on Izuku's face once more began to sink: "The day they fell out, Nighteye-sensei had used his Foresight on All Might, and said that if he didn't find a successor to take his place as the Symbol of Peace, he would die a death too terrible for words. He and Nezu-sensei both insisted he find a successor…and I learned that before we had even met, it was originally supposed to be Togata-senpai. Nighteye-sensei had hinted toward it a lot when we first met, but hearing it from All Might himself hit really different. All this time I've been working myself so hard to try and get stronger and stronger so I could be worthy of being his successor, precisely because he told me I could do it. Finding out I was originally never meant to be…that really hurt."

Izuku's fists were already clenched hanging at his sides as his gaze sank. Nikolay could already remember hearing him say how he used to believe he would never get to become a Hero, only for All Might to tell him otherwise. To be lifted up from such a despairing place, from Izuku's perspective, only to learn it was ultimately a fluke he even got here in the end, it was now no wonder why the boy had been mentally suffering like he had been today. It sounded like a complete crisis of identity or purpose.

"Midoriya, you of all people should know by now that other people don't get to decide if you're anyone's successor or not." Shoto suddenly stated, bringing both boys' eyes to him. There was a deeply reflective look in his brown and blue eyes, as though he were thinking back as he spoke; a particular rigidness now visible in his body language.

"Remember, back at the Sports Festival? Up until the moment we fought, I'd spent my entire life resenting the idea that I'd only ever been born to succeed my father in the way he wanted, but you were the one who helped me realize my Quirk was entirely my own. You helped me come to the decision that I would become the kind of Hero I want to be; more than simply the successor of Endeavor. You should know that you're the only one who gets to make that decision for yourself, not anyone else."

Hearing Shoto sound this empathetic and speak this earnestly lit a spark of similar inspiration in Nikolay's chest, as he now turned to address Izuku: "And what about me? Remember? I lived my whole life thinking I was only ever going to be the successor of a man who had brought destruction and death upon countless people; I thought that was all any of us ultimately were meant to be. But because of you and everyone else here, I finally found it in myself again to step away from that and choose for myself to become a Hero that could help people to heal from those memories and know that there was still hope."

As Izuku's gaze softened with the realization of what his friends were really saying, Nikolay finished: "The point is that Todoroki-san and I both suffered from the same struggle of identity as you must've been feeling, but we ultimately found it in ourselves to pursue our own futures away from that mold, and become the kinds of Heroes entirely our own. I mean, you've pretty much been doing the same all this time, haven't you? That's why your entire style has been veering so far from how All Might's was, isn't it?"

Their shared sentiment was definitely getting through to Izuku; they could both tell from how his eyes were already beginning to shimmer with grateful tears. However, the boy sucked in a deep breath to try and keep his steady composure. "Thank you, Kolya-san, Todoroki-san. I know you're both right, and it really does mean a lot that you would both open up like this for me…but to tell you the truth, that's not what's been weighing me down recently. It's actually what else All Might had told me."

Nikolay and Shoto remained respectfully silent as Izuku's deeply emotional gaze lifted up to the early evening sky. "Remember how I said that Nighteye-sensei's Quirk allows him to see someone's future, and how he saw All Might's death on the day their partnership folded? Well, when he told me that today, I asked him if Nighteye had given him a time frame of when…that would happen. He said that it would be…six or seven years from that point."

"And that was six years ago…" Shoto suddenly confirmed to himself, and all at once could Izuku see the same look of silent horrified realization flash across his and Nikolay's faces, with the Russian boy muttering in disbelief under his breath: "That would mean he'd either die this year or next year. Oh my God…"

It hurt just as much for Izuku to have to think back on hearing this, but to have to actually tell his friends this himself hurt in a way entirely its own: "All Might even told me that…for the longest time, since that end point had been put up, he raced head-on toward it. In fact…the battle at Kamino Ward was where he said he'd originally planned to finally die."

"But that obviously didn't happen. So where does that leave All Might and his future now?" Shoto suddenly asked, and with that, Izuku's gaze went down to his scarred right fist.

"What he told me when I brought that up is what I've been thinking about the most up until now: that it was because of precisely who I am, and how I've been constantly pushing myself every day to try and meet his expectations and beyond, that All Might's regained the will to live. During the teacher house visits afterward; in the end, my mother even pleaded for him to keep living, in order to keep looking after and helping me to grow. In the end, both those things have given All Might back his old resolve."

The pit of sadness that Nikolay and even Shoto had been feeling at the realization of All Might's inevitable end had started to shrink in the wake of the glow of hope that this news gave all three boys. It was almost as though Izuku could sense this change as well, as when he lifted his head to look his two friends in the eye; he could see the very same glimmer of inspiration in them that they saw in him. Finally, the green-haired boy formed a determined smile, not of the same kind of over-the-top brilliance of All Might, but one that was just as inspiring in a way only he could convey.

"The fact is that, from the moment Nighteye-sensei had told All Might of his fate, and ever since the Kamino Ward battle, he's been twisting his fate into whatever shape he wants, simply by continuing to live and fight on with what he has…just like I've been twisting my fate ever since he said I could become a Hero after all, by continuing to train and push myself to become as strong as I can, even through all the injuries and losses along the way."

"And just as I'd been twisting my fate by refusing to use my father's power, but have now been using both sides solely for myself." Shoto echoed with resonating acceptance as his own gaze fell to both his open hands.

"And just like I've been twisting the fate of dying in obscurity I once thought I deserved, by trying to climb my way towards becoming a Hero at all, let alone one that can help embody everyone's hope…just like everyone else here." Nikolay finally admitted with an emotional shakiness to his own voice, feeling that already unbreakable sense of connection, comradery, and even familial attachment he had towards his whole class somehow become even stronger in this moment.

"Exactly! I said this to All Might myself, but it's no less true between us and everyone else in this school. No matter what might happen, we'll all continue to twist our fates into what we want them to be…together." As Izuku declared this with all the heart his body could muster; he, Nikolay and Shoto all knew what they, and everyone else in their entire class, in this entire school, were unified by, even beyond their own bonds of friendship: the desire to act to defy that which was considered fate.

As soon as the resonating effect of Izuku's words had run their course, Nikolay actually started to chuckle wryly to himself, drawing the curious gazes of his two friends. "I'm sorry, it's just that…ever since school started today, I'd been running myself ragged, worrying about what I could've possibly been able to say to try and lift your spirits, Midoriya-san. Now that I know that you talking to All Might was all it took, I feel like I've been trying to hype myself up for this for nothing."

However, his chuckling was swiftly stopped when Izuku finally closed the distance and met the Russian boy with a friendly fist bump to his arm, meeting him with an appreciative smile. "That's not true, though, Kolya-san. Nothing you or anyone else here does, for yourself or others, is ever for nothing. Everything we do, in both those regards, is ultimately driven by all our desires to try and become the best Heroes we possibly can; the kind that can be there to help their friends just as much as they can help any number of civilians."

Now Nikolay was the one looking especially appreciative of his freckled friend's reassurance, while Izuku had now turned his gaze to Shoto as well in his next enveloping statement: "To be honest, it's actually just as reassuring, knowing that everyone in our class is doing everything they can, each in their own ways, to help themselves and each other to grow as best they can towards that same goal. It really does mean a lot to me that you both came all this way just to try and help me in that same regard, Kolya-san, Todoroki-san."

However, the moment his name was dropped, Shoto answered with all the stoic bluntness he was recognized for: "Actually, I mainly came to speak to you, because I was hoping I could help you get your head back on straight, Midoriya. After all the setbacks our class has suffered up till now, the last thing anyone wants is for us all to risk being weighed down further because one of us is mentally miles away."

Anyone who didn't know Shoto nearly as well as the two boys did, would have instantly been able to write him off as apathetic and cold. However, Nikolay and Izuku both knew better, as they could both actually just laugh in response, much to Shoto's silent bemusement.

Looking upon the faces of his two friends, Izuku felt an immense swelling of gratitude in the pit of his chest for their support, and for just the all-around friendship of their entire class. However, with that gratefulness he felt for their honest empathy, he soon found himself also feeling a twisting of a different kind of guilt in his stomach, for there was one immense lingering detail of his recent experiences in his last two days as a Hero intern he couldn't dare to let them in on, simply for the number of risks it would carry with it if he did.

Once Nikolay and Shoto had returned to the 1-A dorms with Izuku in tow, and he had hastily apologized to the rest of their classmates for his concerning performance, and given the assurance he was truly all better now, the whole atmosphere among the class truly felt like everything had returned to normal. Although, the overall festivities didn't last for long once Momo and Tenya had hastily reminded everyone of the open invitation for study group, after they had all freshened back up in the showers for the night.

"I'll be right back, my notebook's already full, so I need to get a new one." Nikolay quickly informed his fellow students he now knew for a fact were actually going to be part of the study group when all was said and done: Momo, Tenya, Mina, Denki, Hanta, Kyouka and Rikido.

When Nikolay finally got to his dorm room and unlocked the door, he was surprised, then just as quickly elated, to find his father's old photo album sitting atop his bed, complete with a scrawled on note from Aizawa on a piece of paper sitting atop it that simply stated: 'I'm not doing this again. The next time you need something from Tunguska, ask him for it before he leaves campus.'

However, even his homeroom teacher's curmudgeonly demeanor in writing couldn't extinguish Nikolay's curiosity, as he already began flipping through the pages, trying to find the aforementioned proof that Tunguska and the man known as Pietro Dobrynich Granin did actually know each other.

Along the way, though, he found himself turning the pages slower and slower with every little picture his eyes graced across…especially those of his father and mother together in such simpler and personally happier times. When it finally came down to the pages of them after he'd been born, Nikolay came to a stop and needed those few minutes to let the tears run their course. Regardless how good everything else in his life now was, it could never do anything about just how much he wished Gamayun were still here.

However, by the end, after nearly glancing right past it, Nikolay finally found the picture in question: a whole group shot of Tunguska and Gamayun with several other New Bogatyr members, like the gill-necked Volga, the bear-headed Volos and the gold-armored Zolotoy Strazh. And right in the middle of the whole bunch, right next to Tunguska with a big smile on a much younger and less scarred face was undoubtedly Pietro Granin, even dressed in the very same clothes, only nowhere as aged as he had seen with his own eyes.

However, upon closer inspection, Nikolay spotted something that made him do a complete double take: not the absence of the lengthy scar that ran along the left side of Pietro's scalp, but his eyes. He knew for a fact that the man he and the others met on their first day in Gagaringrad had eyes that were unmistakably orange. Yet the man in this picture had eyes as blue as the sky. There was no mistaking it, but Nikolay couldn't for the life of him find a way to explain it.

He knew he couldn't leave the rest of his study group members waiting for him for too much longer, so Nikolay ultimately chose to keep the confusing photo tucked safely in his pocket for the next chance he would get to speak with his father. If anyone would have an explanation for any of this, surely he would.

As soon as he finally returned to the commons area with his new notebook in hand, the sound of the front doors opening got everyone's attention, only for Mina to instantly throw her arms up in excitement: "URARA-CHAN, TSU-CHAN, WELCOME BACK!"

Just as she said, Ochako and Tsuyu had finally returned, both girls looking no worse for wear, but definitely tired. However, the sudden convergence of their classmates in their eagerness to know where the two had gone had left them both looking considerably excited as well.

"Did you two actually go for your internship intros? What am I talking about; why else would Aizawa-sensei actually let you go absent? Where did you go? Did you both get it?!" "Please, Mina-san, give them a moment to breathe; they'll explain everything." As soon as Momo had managed to calm Mina down some, Ochako was already smiling brightly as she nodded in affirmation.

"We're sorry we didn't tell you all before we left, but we'd only gotten told by Hadou-senpai to meet her at the train station this morning late last night!" As Ochako put her hands together and bowed her head in apology, Tsuyu just as quickly jumped in: "Yeah, we both had our first options for internships, but my Field Training teacher, Selkie-sensei, said I should learn from a different teacher; and Ochako's first choice, Gunhead, was just too busy-kero."

"So you both actually got to introduce yourselves to Hadou-senpai's instructor instead?" Izuku suddenly asked with growing interest that echoed many of the other students. At this, Ochako visibly lit right back up.

"That's right! Tsu and I got to meet the Number Nine Hero, Ryukyu, and she even accepted us both! We even got to help stop a battle between some really big-sized Villains already! I'm feeling really good about this now! It's kinda funny that we're both interning right next to one of The Big Three, huh, Deku-kun?" Of course, while Ochako was musing on this cosmic coincidence, Izuku was once again flying right back into his extremely enthusiastic fanboy mentality at the thought.

"Oh wow, that's incredible, Uraraka-san, Asui-san! The Dragoon Hero herself! Did you get a chance to actually see her Dragon Quirk or Hadou-senpai's Quirk in action in the field? What were they like?"

However, while Ochako was stumbling while trying to answer the curly-haired boy's numerous questions (while Mina could only watch their exchange with a knowing smile), Tsuyu decided to chime in to the rest of her classmates: "Ryukyu-sensei actually mentioned we might be working together alongside Midoriya-san and Togata-senpai's mentor, and even Amajiki-senpai and Kirishima-san's as well. She wouldn't say when, though-kero."

As though that were either the cue or the magic word, the front doors suddenly opened up again, and everyone was quickly greeted by the booming declaration of: "WE'RE BACK, EVERYBODY! RED RIOT, OFFICIAL HERO-IN-TRAINING AND SIDEKICK OF THE SUN OF JUSTICE IS HERE!"

Nearly everyone echoed similarly excited exclamations at the return of their red-haired classmate, while Tunguska's voice could just barely be heard mentioning from behind Eijirou's back: "An intern and a sidekick aren't necessarily the same thing, malenkii Kirishima; don't get too ahead of yourself!"

However, nobody else even heard their Quirk History teacher say this, for just before Nikolay and Mina could both jump Eijirou with a surprise group hug and the countless questions of his experience that were to follow, the grinning boy turned back to address his classmates, and they were all met with the sight of his face adorned with a multitude of band-aids. On top of that, Tunguska's left sleeve was hanging limply at his side, empty of his prosthetic arm; his right hand was completely bandaged up, as were both his legs; and his aged face was sporting a few band-aids of his own. Even his hair and his beard looked to be notably singed short in a few noticeable places.

"WHOA, KIRI, WHAT HAPPENED?! YOU LOOK LIKE YOU LANDED IN A THORN BUSH!" "Yeah, I thought nothing was able to get past your Hardening! And Dad, you lost another arm again?! What did you guys do?! What happened on that patrol of yours?!"

While Mina and Nikolay both exclaimed similar concern for their friend and teacher, with many of their classmates asking just about the same thing; Eijirou was still grinning from ear to ear, looking back to Tunguska with a pleading look in his eyes, as though he were just begging for the chance to fill the class in on his first internship day.

"Oh, go right ahead, malenkii Kirishima. This was your night in the end, you deserve the honor." With Tunguska officially giving his permission, Eijirou looked to his classmates as though he were about to break out into the most over-dramatic reenactment of anything ever, leaving them all especially eager-looking to hear this.

Esuha City, Kansai Prefecture, a few hours earlier…

From the moment Eijirou had finally set out on his very first ever Hero intern patrol alongside Tamaki Amajiki, Fatgum and Tunguska, things had already proven plenty busy, with there already having been a few instances in which the BMI Hero and the Sun Hero had to intervene with attempted robberies and muggings from wannabe gangsters and street punks. All those times up until now, all either of the Yuuei students were able to do was simply watch (and in the red-haired boy's case, admire) as their two mentors continuously made quick work of these ne'erdowells before leaving them to be taken away by the police.

Sure, every instance simply left him burning for yet another shot at finally exercising his skills on the field, but it simply wasn't happening as quickly as he would have preferred. It thankfully wasn't doing anything to extinguish his spirits, though. Frankly, just the continuous visual reminder that he was here, right now, in the flesh as Tunguska's official intern after all the time he'd spent imagining it, had Eijirou practically floating with excitement and happiness. Tamaki, not so much, though he barely even spoke a word to say so.

By this point, the sun had been starting to set, and the four were finally starting to make their way into one of the major market centers of Esuha City, where every corner had some kind of mounted food stand, with every single shop owner happily calling out to either Fatgum or Tunguska specifically for their patronage. Of course, Fatgum was more than happy to accept the first offer of a complimentary meal when given the chance, and it was clearly taking an effect, as by this point, even Tunguska doubted if his co-worker would be able to really fit in any room of his Agency once they called it a night.

All the while, Fatgum was simply reeling from what an eventful day they'd already been having, let alone just from having a second new intern added to the Agency's roster. "You know, it's easy to make the mistake that my colleagues on the other shifts have been keeping everything completely under control around this town, but the truth is there's never a shortage of trouble from these punks and wannabe gangsters lately, boys! It always keeps one on their toes when out on patrol; and that kind of constant alertness makes me hungry as heck! You should all take a few takoyaki for yourselves; keep your energy and your wits about you!

"That's precisely why Hero Agencies in these parts are always in need of good fighters. You were a perfect choice for that purpose, Red Riot-kun; Tunguska-san made a good call bringing you along." As Fatgum made this statement, while Tunguska himself was in the middle of swiping one of the takoyaki from the platter in his hands, Eijirou was beaming with enthusiasm as always.

"Happy to be here, Fatgum-sensei! Honestly, I've been waiting for a chance to intern under Tunguska-sensei for months! I mean, I was prepared to go back to Fourth Kind-sensei if you'd turned me down, but I'm really glad you didn't!"

At this, the Russian Hero couldn't help but chuckle to himself before tossing another takoyaki ball to his red-haired student and Tamaki alike, while Fatgum simply answered: "Yes, your respect and admiration for him is far from a secret. He's a good Hero to learn under, I can already tell that much from our work together thus far. Just make sure you always remember, Red Riot-kun; that a Hero never actively goes looking for or starts a fight. Ours is to simply be sharp and quick enough to know when and how best to react when danger shows itself to us."

Tunguska then planted an assuring hand on both Fatgum's arm and Eijirou's shoulder, positively glowing between them. "You don't need to worry about him not knowing that, Fatgum-san. Red Riot has consistently been one of my most enthusiastic and eager students back at Yuuei. Not only does his Quirk make him a powerhouse, but he's got an especially good heart and a solid head on his shoulders. He won't let either of us down."

Eijirou could feel a veritable swelling of pride in his chest at Tunguska's words of approval, before the man himself turned his gaze down to that head of spiky red hair. "That all being said, though; I feel it's important you keep this in mind for the future, my boy: no matter what may happen, you can't allow your emotions to completely control your sense of decision-making, but neither can you let yourself be emotionally detached from everything. Being a truly great Hero is a continuous act of maintaining inner balance. Just as you must always show situational awareness, so too must you always be willing to show compassion, even to your opponent, when the chance presents itself."

While never breaking his stride, the confident grin on Eijirou's face momentarily reflected confusion. "I'm not doubting what you're saying, Tunguska-sensei, but Kolya-san told us all about what that Villain, Vukodlak, told him about you after our Field Training periods ended. He was terrorizing your country, and when you caught him, you actually showed sympathy and eventually made him your sidekick, only for him to turn back into a Villain and even kill your own dad. Is that really all true?"

Tunguska let out a regretful sigh, all while Fatgum couldn't help but listen in, and was by now reflecting total surprise, having since then read up all about the Villain responsible for the Erubi City incident; at least as much information as there was available.

Finally, Tunguska answered his curious intern: "Yes, Red Riot. And since you brought that up when I told you about a Hero always needing to show compassion, even to Villains, I can pretty much guess what your next question is; and no, I don't regret showing Vukodlak compassion when I did, regardless where it ultimately led. The fact is that Heroes are no more perfect than anyone else. We always need to be willing to learn from our experiences, both good and bad, and we must never let ourselves forget to act on what we know inherently within ourselves to be right, and that includes showing mercy and empathy when we can, especially to our opponents. If you keep that in mind, you'll go farther than you could imagine."

That little note of encouragement, on top of the sincerity in Tunguska's voice as he explained all of this, left Eijirou's red eyes wide and glistening with inspiration. "I will, Tunguska-sensei! Oh man, I just knew having you as a mentor would be the best! You just keep proving to be manlier every day, it's so awesome!"

While Eijirou was already pounding the knuckles of his fists together with another wide sharp-toothed grin, Tamaki was keeping himself back from the others, simply watching his fellow intern's outward display of excitement with a narrow and disapproving eye, well hidden under the blue-tinted visor he wore over the top half of his face, under the white gold-trimmed hood draped over his head, which was attached to the white cloak hanging over his shoulders, with a metallic mouth guard hanging around his neck. Underneath, he wore a black body suit that was covered by a heavy-duty dark purple vest with numerous pouches covering it, armored shoulder pads and a pair of greaves over his forearms and hands to act as armor.

"I wish Mirio was here right now. That enthusiasm and determination of yours is seriously scary, Kirishima-kun. At least you didn't come to me directly, though. I guess I should thank Tunguska-sensei for that."

However, even though Tamaki muttered this under his breath, it still wasn't enough to escape Fatgum and Tunguska's sharpened senses of hearing, as the towering BMI Hero immediately answered: "You may have been interning with me for a while already, Suneater-kun, but I still have faith you'll make for a truly fine team member as well, once we do something about that fragile psyche of yours!"

Just as confidently did Tunguska chime in: "That's right! From everything I've heard from your teachers and read about you, you've got the potential to become a Top Ten Rank Hero in time, malenkii Amajiki! It's just a shame you seem to hold yourself back personality-wise."

At receiving a double dose of such comments from two Pro Heroes at once, Tamaki immediately began anxiously raking his fingers through his hair, another of his instinctive reactions to being the focus of any amount of attention when there wasn't a wall to put his head to. "Dammit, that sort of pressure just sends me spiraling even deeper! It's always like this! I swear he scouted me out just to torment me! That was bad enough as it was, but having two people do it at once is just too much! It's an abuse of power! I just wanna go home!"

Fatgum and Tunguska were still proceeding forward with their patrol, while Eijirou was already eagerly pulling the despairing Tamaki alongside him, still all smiles and encouragement: "Oh, come on, Senpai; I think Fatgum-sensei's just trying to encourage you! That's what it sounded like to me! And you can trust anything Tunguska-sensei says about you! If he goes out of his way to say you've got what it takes to reach the top, then you can know he truly believes it! He's a great judge of character like that!"

To Eijirou's concern, however, Tamaki's downtrodden expression didn't change one bit. "You can say whatever you want, but I'll never be a cheery type of Hero like you, Mirio or All Might. That's just not the kind of Hero I am."

To Tamaki's surprise, Eijirou's childlike grinning expression became noticeably serious, even reminiscent. "Honestly, Senpai, I know exactly how it feels, what you're dealing with. There've been plenty of times where, when things got really bad, I either completely froze up cause I was scared, or I was just completely useless cause I couldn't do anything. A lot of the time, it feels like all my classmates are getting way stronger and gaining tons of experience, leaving me in the dust. That's why I wanna close that gap and stand as equals with them!"

Before Tamaki could instinctively answer with something condescending to match Eijirou's lingering optimism, Tunguska suddenly spoke up, while having never taken his eyes off the path ahead: "Red Riot's correct, malenkii Amajiki; I wasn't just saying what I did about you and your potential just to make you feel better or hear myself talk. I've suffered immeasurable consequences because of my own rash actions and terrible mentality as well; in a way far worse than even yours. I've had more than enough time to recognize where I completely failed as an example of a Hero back then, and as a result, I've come to understand the mentalities of other people far better, especially since first coming to Yuuei as a teacher to all you kids.

"With that being said, the way I see it: regardless what you say about not being the kind of Hero that can embody cheer and hope like All Might or malenkii Togata, the fact is that, if you didn't have at least a sizeable bit of that deep-seeded optimism that inherently comes with being a Hero, you wouldn't have forced yourself to come this far in the first place. Your persistence in that goal says a lot more about you than your surface words do."

"HEY! A FIGHT'S BROKEN OUT! SOMEBODY HELP!" The sudden cry from a nearby civilian at the corner of one of the back roads brought both Pro Heroes to a full stop, both their fighting spirits soaring right back up as Fatgum addressed their interns: "Speak of the devil! Get ready, boys! There's no telling what we may be dealing with!"

Just a ways up the road, four thuggish-looking individuals of varying shapes and sizes were currently in the middle of running as fast as their legs could carry them, while an equally gruff-sounding sounding voice was shouting at their backs: "YOU BASTARDS THINK YOU CAN JUST CONDUCT BUSINESS ON MY TURF?!"

However, none of them were gutsy enough to actually slow down and answer that, they knew they were simply being threatened more than they already had been, with the biggest lumbering one of their ranks even muttering anxiously to himself: "There really ain't no luck for us, is there?!"

"And just when we were about to finally make a name for ourselves, too! Let's split up for now," shouted the one punk lucky enough to have gotten the lead on his compatriots, nearing the next corner that could very well lead to the biggest nearby market, and they could hopefully shake their pursuer.

WOOSH! DING! WHAM!

Suddenly, all within the blink of an eye, a flying disk of light came racing in from the sky above, ricocheting with a resounding ring off a nearby street light pole, before slamming straight into the massive thug among them, meeting him right in the corner where the shoulder met the neck, knocking his lights right out and sending him tumbling over unconscious like an oak tree.

Before his partners could even finish looking back to see what was going on, they suddenly found themselves being obstructed by the colossal egg-shaped frame of Fatgum, unable to stop themselves before they went plowing face first into his bulbous gut; his mass engulfing around them completely, all while the grinning BMI Hero declared: "Not so fast, you lot!"

At the same moment Tunguska came running in to finish apprehending the unconscious giant of the bunch, Fatgum suddenly felt a stirring from within his mass, and to his astonishment, one of the criminals actually wriggled and shot his way out from within one of the only remaining openings, bending and unfolding his body like a human piece of origami, and rushing ever onward to freedom. "Unbelievable! Tunguska-san, that one's got a Quirk just like Edgeshot!"

However, just as Tunguska rushed to get a bead on the fleeing Villain's back so he could knock him out with a subdued beam from his aiming finger, the running man just as quickly found himself running headlong into a sudden set of octopus tentacles wrangling him from all around. "WHAT THE?! WHERE'D THIS STUPID OCTOPUS COME FROM?!"

As a matter of fact, those very tentacles were extending from the fingers of Tamaki Amajiki, who had silently stepped out into the middle of the road and simply raised one arm. While to anyone else watching, he looked like the perfect example of the silent and stoic Hero, the fact was that the criminal's instinctive derisive comments had him feeling even further crestfallen. "So cruel…"

"Oh, c'mon, Senpai, he's just talking about your tentacles, it's not a personal jab at you!" Eijirou quickly tried to reassure his senior. Without another word; and simply wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible; Tamaki suddenly yanked his tentacled arm back, reeling the Villain in helplessly. In a flash, Tamaki's left hand suddenly took on the form of a huge clam, and with a resounding SMACK, he drove the whole weight and mass of it straight into his target's face, knocking him stone cold unconscious. The moment he was on the ground, Tamaki took the extra measure of making sure he couldn't slip away, as his left foot suddenly changed into that of a giant chicken, clasping down onto his back and pinning him down.

As the crowd began applauding the all-around solid work of the Heroes before them, Eijirou was looking at this display of his senior's Quirk with astonishment. This was Tamaki Amajiki's Manifest Quirk in action, wherein his body was able to adopt the properties of anything he ate; in this case, fried chicken, preserved oysters and takoyaki.

However, that momentary image of Tamaki's stoic display didn't last, as his whole body began trembling under the massive pressure of being applauded by all these people everywhere. "I…did good, didn't I?"

"Hell yeah you did, Senpai! You were like a beast, whipping your Quirk out like that!" Eijirou immediately answered with all the excited honesty he could, while Tunguska stepped in, his massive criminal haul slung limply over his shoulder as he gave Tamaki a reassuring pat on the shoulder with his free hand. "Quick and precise control of your Quirk to fit the exact situation, and with such versatility? Your reputation and potential is well-deserved, malenkii Amajiki."

As he and Fatgum quickly got to work handing off their unconscious criminals to the nearby police, even Fatgum couldn't help but get in on the praise-giving action for his long-time intern: "My Suneater-kun's already as good as any Pro when it comes to his sheer skills, even if his psyche needs a little work!"

Of course, all this praise aimed directly at him once again had Tamaki going pale and trembling with anxiety, no matter how well he'd just done in the heat of the moment.

However, while this was all going on, none of the Heroes were currently aware of two other men, wearing similar eyeliner as the thugs they'd just captured, watching from within the crowd; with one of them, a skinnier man with messy light-colored hair, already starting to pull out a small revolver. "Our brothers…we gotta save them!"

His compatriot, another scrawnier man with a shaved head and a thin strip of a goatee running in a straight line down his chin from his bottom lip, looked especially wary as he took in their circumstances. "Two of us against four Heroes, there's no way we'd be able to get away from them all, let alone take them all out! We need something to distract them!"

Acting on total impulse, the latter thug suddenly threw both his hands up above his head, emitting two colossal plumes of fire that roared through the air above the crowd, and plowed directly into the third and fourth-floor windows of the nearest building, setting it alight into an instant inferno, with multiple civilian screams for help echoing from inside already.

As the entire crowd and the Heroes alike instinctively reeled from this sudden explosion of fire, the first man took that opportunity to aim his gun at the first of the quartet he could focus his sights on, the one in the white hood.

However, while his eyes were focused on Tamaki alone, even in this moment of surprised distraction, Fatgum was able to spot the glimmer of something from within the crowd, aided by the added light from the fire. His heightened sense of situational awareness helped him to instantly realize what he was looking at as he bellowed: "GUN! EVERYONE GET DOWN!"

What followed only lasted but a couple of seconds, but felt to everyone liked it passed by in slow-motion. The thug with the gun had already fired two shots in rapid succession, with Tunguska acting like the Wild West quick draw, as he immediately fired two of his prosthetic fingers from his hip the instant Fatgum had yelled about a gun.

The thug's two bullets flew free just as Tunguska's two fingers slammed into the criminal's gun, shattering it to pieces within his hand and sending him reeling back in surprise. At the same time, the first of the bullets, which looked more like tiny syringes, landed dead center in Tamaki's right arm, the momentum behind it being enough to send him tumbling to the floor. Immediately afterward, as his senior was still in the middle of falling, Eijirou's body had acted on complete reactionary instinct, throwing himself in front of Tamaki and crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to try and defend himself, only for the second bullet to hit him directly in the head…and harmlessly rebound off his forehead.

As Fatgum and Tunguska both instinctively looked back with fright for their interns, they and the two criminals were met with the miraculous sight of Eijirou still standing on his feet; his once gentle red eyes now sharp and fierce with drive as he instantly honed in on the man who had just tried to attack them; his face, hair and arms already taking on the crystallizing texture of his Hardening, the one thing that saved him from ending up like his fellow intern. "YOU'RE MINE!"

By now the entire crowd had taken the hint and made a run for it, leaving the two criminals standing right out in the open, with the one looking at his shattered gun trembling with confusion and fright. "It…it just bounced right off!"

As if to simply add to their newly hopeless situation, Tamaki actually began to get up, visibly no worse for wear. "That…actually hurt less than I thought it would."

While Eijirou's fierce anger momentarily diffused for him to express relief and admiration alike for how well his partner was taking having just gotten shot, the same criminal's sweat-streaked face was continuously fluctuating between fear and anger. "They…they're both okay? What the hell are these pieces of trash they gave us?!"

Without wasting another moment, his partner suddenly rushed in and blew out another massive plume of fire from his hand, creating a flaming wall between themselves and the Heroes as he began forcefully dragging his only ally along.

However, even this did nothing to deter Tamaki from suddenly rushing in, reeling his right arm back in preparation for a repeat of mere minutes ago. "My octopus fingers should at least withstand the fire long enough to hold them so you all can take care of the rest!"

However, the moment he threw his hand forward to send his tentacle fingers out…nothing happened. While his fellow Heroes were already in the process of trying to act, Tamaki was stricken with an icy cold sensation of total confusion. 'My Quirk…won't activate?!'

"I GOT THEM! TUNGUSKA-SENSEI, FATGUM-SENSEI, GET THE PEOPLE OUT OF THAT BURNING BUILDING!" As Eijirou gave his spur-of-the-moment orders, he was already taking off into a mad dash after the two fleeing criminals, and Fatgum was chasing right after him as well: "WAIT, RED RIOT-KUN! IF YOU ACT TOO HASTY, YOU COULD END UP IN A BAD SITUATION! Tunguska-san, you and Suneater-kun, if he's alright, get the people out of that building and make sure everyone here is okay! I need to stop those two criminals before that boy ends up in something he can't handle!"

"Fatgum-sensei, I'm not injured, but my Quirk won't activate!" The instant Tamaki said this; Fatgum came to a screeching halt; him and Tunguska both looking at the boy and each other with frightened confusion. Did that criminal who attacked them have the same kind of Quirk as Eraserhead? There was no way to know, and no time to ask.

"Fatgum-san, if you can act as a human trampoline, then throw me up into those windows and I'll get the civilians down to you! There's no time to bring every one of them down to the ground floor if we want to catch up to Red Riot in time!" Tunguska's urgent tone made it clear to Fatgum that this was no time for a discussion. And so, with a resolute nod of agreement, Fatgum proceeded to toss Tunguska like a human baseball through one of the fourth floor windows.

Fighting his way through the blazing heat and the choking smoke, Tunguska rushed like a whirlwind through the halls and rooms of both floors, managing to catch the individual cries for help from every civilian around, and masterfully taking them into his arms and getting them out through the windows, where Fatgum was continuously waiting and at the ready to catch every last one of them with his mass, allowing them to land completely unharmed.

Within the span of less than a single minute, Tunguska had managed to save every last person that had gotten caught in the fire on both floors, and thankfully none of them were seriously injured; the worst many of them had were singes, slight smoke inhalation and just being overall stricken with fear, but not enough to where they still couldn't express their deepest thanks to Tunguska and Fatgum for their help.

However, the Russian Hero knew he couldn't afford to stay and accept everyone's thanks; taking off into a mad dash down the last direction he'd seen Eijirou run towards an indoor section of the market, with many of the lingering civilians thankfully helping point him in which directions the boy and the two criminals he was chasing had gone.

Every step of the way, Tunguska was almost verbally expressing his concerns and hoping he wasn't too late. His student could've been running into serious trouble, and no matter how much his skills with his Quirk had improved, that didn't change the fact he was outnumbered, facing off against at least one Villain whose Quirk they weren't even certain of just yet.

"DAMMIT, WOULD YOU STOP CHASING US?! WHAT THE HELL'S THE MATTER WITH YOU; YOU'RE OUTNUMBERED! JUST LEAVE US ALONE!" The two thugs ahead of him kept continuously screaming this at Eijirou as he relentlessly chased after them down every corner and winding back road they could think to go down; all the while keeping his initial Hardening activated in the off-chance they actually tried something to force him to back off.

"No, you guys stop running! At the very least, shouldn't you two be trying to save your friends?! You even said so yourselves, there're two of you, but you're not even going to try?! You're both just gonna leave them behind?! You're the ones throwing fire and shooting at people, and now you're both getting scared and running away! You guys should just man up!"

The moment Eijirou called this out to their backs, the two thugs turned yet another corner, only to dig their heels into a dual grinding halt when they realized they'd just run into a dead end alley, just at the same time Eijirou finally caught up to them, standing vigilant in the middle of the passage, while a handful of civilians were all curiously watching what was going on from behind his back.

"Give it up, you two! Just surrender and I promise I won't hurt you." As Eijirou tried to play the peacemaker in this situation, cautiously taking a step forward, the much more jittery of the two thugs hastily turned back to face the boy; his eyes the picture of absolute panic. "SHUT…THE HELL UP, KID!"

With lightning fast reflexes, the man suddenly threw himself toward Eijirou, his right arm extended, just as three small blades suddenly popped out from the length of his forearm, the lights of the numerous storefront signs of this indoor market reflecting off of them. That glint proved just the hint that Eijirou needed to react in time, Hardening his face and torso that much more so that when impact was made, all three steel blades grazed off his surface harmlessly.

Thankfully, this deflection was able to surprise his attacker just enough to leave an opening, which the red-haired Hero immediately capitalized on, as he reeled back a hardened fist and slammed it straight into his face, sending him tumbling backwards to the ground like a sack of potatoes, all while he gave a determined battle cry at the moment before impact: "RED COUNTER!"

The moment he saw his partner go down, the Villain with the shaved head grimaced with intense rage, multiple flames starting to erupt from around his body, burning away his clothes bit by bit. "That Quirk of yours may be able to guard against physical strikes, brat…but no way can it do anything against intense temperature damage, can it?!"

Just like that, the man's whole body suddenly erupted into an inferno, leaving Eijirou facing off against a human-shaped blaze, which was at that moment suddenly launching itself right at him.

Even as he stood his ground, Eijirou's mind was already racing: 'Crap, he's right! My Hardening doesn't make a difference against heat or cold! I can't just get out of the way! Not only are there civilians right behind me, but this alley's too narrow for me to dodge worth a damn even if there weren't! I screwed up; I jumped the gun without even really knowing what these guys could do!'

FWOOOSH!

Just as Eijirou was bracing himself for a very painful impact, a huge flow of rushing water suddenly flew right past his shoulder from behind, slamming into the fiery Villain head-on, extinguishing his flames and sending him sprawling to the floor. The red-haired Hero couldn't help but look on in momentary shock, just as the water flow began to die down as quickly as it had come. Looking back behind his shoulder with his eyes wide, he saw Tunguska standing at the corner he had last rounded, holding a manhole cover in his hands, which he had used to redirect the free flow of water he had unleashed upon busting open a fire hose valve on a nearby wall. "Are you alright, malenkii Kiri…I mean, Red Riot?"

Eijirou's Hardening instantly dissipated the moment he realized his teacher had just saved his ass; his expression brightening. "Yeah…yeah, I'm okay, Tunguska-sensei! I'm sorry for running after these guys like that, I didn't stop to think!"

The sound of Tunguska dropping the manhole cover rendered Eijirou silent, as the towering foreign Hero approached him and gave an approving wink and a thumb-up. "It's okay, my boy. You showed initiative and took command the best way you could when the situation presented itself. Not every Hero is able to do that much for others on their first day of field work. You did well. The most important thing right now is that neither you nor the civilians were hurt."

Eijirou felt so immensely proud, but he knew they couldn't afford to lose focus, turning his gaze back to the two downed Villains before them, specifically the one he had personally taken down; all while taking the caution to start Hardening himself again."I held back a little! Stop resisting and just give yourselves up, you jerks!"

At this point, Tunguska was moving in and already forcing the extinguished Fire Villain onto his feet with his hands behind his back. Eijirou figured that meant he should've been doing the same. However, instead of either doing as he said, or stubbornly continuing to talk smack or fight back…the former gun-toting Villain instead began to make the unmistakable sound of crying, which caught Eijirou completely by surprise.

"That's not fair…all I've got are these dinky little blades that don't even extend past ten centimeters…they're just like box cutters…it's just not fair! Of course I want to save my brothers! But I'm scared! Why don't you compliment me for having the courage to shoot in the first place?!"

The fact that he couldn't begin to comprehend this guy's completely frayed sense of logic brought Eijirou to reply almost immediately: "No, man! Besides, if you're going to break down into tears and say things like that, you really shouldn't be getting mixed up in this kind of stuff anyway."

Remembering everything his mentor had said just minutes ago, all of Eijirou's aggressiveness had long since gone, and now he was simply trying to be the best example of a man he could be, showing a genuine compassion he was starting to feel towards this man as he helped him up to his feet. All the while, the sobbing thug continued rambling pitifully to himself: "I wanted…to become strong…I thought that if I hang around strong people…then I can become strong, too."

Those words sounded so painfully familiar to the sharp-toothed boy holding onto his arm. Now that pity Eijirou felt turned into real empathy, as he could already just see his old self while listening to this man. "I get how you feel, man; I really do. But still…"

Tunguska watched the display between his intern and this common thug with a soft smile of approval. Just as he'd thought, Eijirou was once again proving to be the best kind of student, willing to listen and put into practice every bit of knowledge he was given. However, for just a fraction of a second, he caught a glimpse of a tiny object suddenly falling from out the Villain's sleeve and into his open hand just outside of Eijirou's field of vision, just as the man began to answer: "If I stick with my brothers…then I'll be granted real power…"

Before Tunguska could tell Eijirou to watch out, he suddenly felt the criminal in his own hands start jerking about violently, as though he were suffering from the worst case of muscle spasms imaginable. What he'd failed to notice in that moment of watching his student, was that the Fire Villain had been carrying an identical vial within the smoldering tatters of his own clothes, and at that same moment he'd let it roll into his hand and injected it into his wrist.

"YOU DAMN HEROES WON'T GET TO PUSH AROUND PEOPLE LIKE US ANYMORE! NOT WITH THIS!" As he defiantly made this cry amid his spasms in Tunguska's grip, Eijirou's own captive had just then done the same, injecting himself in the neck and letting out anguished howls of pain. "I don't want someone like you who could become a Hero to talk to me like you know what it's like!"

"WHOA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHAT WAS THAT STUFF JUST NOW?! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Eijirou's multiple questions came flying one after the other as his caution and concern alike skyrocketed at whatever the hell was happening to his captive.

And just as quickly as it had started, both Villains' convulsions stopped, and for but a moment, their expressions of anguish and anger looked completely vacant, replaced only with smiles of…anticipation.

SHHHNG! FWOOOOASH!

All at once, Eijirou's Villain suddenly sprouted a multitude of rapidly growing blades from all over his body, resembling more a human pin cushion, giving the boy barely enough time to react by activating his Quirk, before one blade ended up piercing through his Hardening, sending him reeling back and bleeding with a pained grunt.

At the same time, the Fire Villain in front of Tunguska suddenly erupted into a blinding hot supernova; his entire body aglow with an incomprehensible heat that was already in the process of melting the metal beams overhead. It was a sheer miracle that none of the civilians had gotten blinded or incinerated the instant it had happened, while Tunguska had instinctively shielded himself, suffering an intense burn to his one flesh and blood arm and his legs in the process.

"GOOD LUCK CATCHING ME NOW, OLD MAN!" The now-Supernova Villain taunted Tunguska before suddenly flying like a rocket through the glass ceiling, long since melted by the heat emanating from his body. Despite the lingering burning pain in his arm, legs and midsection (not to mention the extensive damage the sheer heat had started already doing to his prosthetic arm), Tunguska knew he couldn't risk letting him run free, no matter how much he wanted to intervene and get Eijirou out of danger.

However, this was the caveat of being a Hero: the safety of civilians came before anything else. And so, with immense regret in having to do this to the boy that admired him so much, Tunguska took off through the roof right after his enemy; silently begging his intern to forgive him all the while.

Thankfully, the insane glow of his Supernova state, made the Villain instantly easy to spot, as Tunguska chased after him across the rooftops and through the air as quickly as he could, every now and then taking the chance to try and either throw a loose projectile, or fire one of his prosthetic fingers after him. Unfortunately, each time he did, all he got in response was yet further insane laughter, as the heat radiating off the Villain melted down every object Tunguska could throw at him before it could even make impact.

"Dammit! If I fire all the pieces of my arm at him, they'll just get reduced to ash, and then I'll be down just as many techniques to beat him with! I can't get close to him myself, either; his heat is just too strong! I need to try and direct him away from the heavily populated areas and somewhere his Quirk would be vulnerable!"

However, Tunguska didn't have nearly enough time to try and come up with a plan, as the Villain had decided he was sick of running, and was now rushing like a comet straight for Tunguska himself; the Sun Hero barely able to get into a defensive position in time before getting knocked flying right off his feet. "WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, YOU FOREIGN ALL MIGHT WANNABE?! NOT SO TOUGH NOW, ARE YA?!"

The Villain once again started cackling wildly, up until another massive flaming punch to Tunguska's face sent the Hero flying towards a nearby radio tower. Thankfully, he was able to regain control of himself in time to plant his feet flat on the side of the tower and launch himself right off it towards his opponent like a human pinball, making full impact and sending them both flying; Tunguska fighting his way through the burning pain all over his body in the process.

At the trajectory they both flew at, they ended up plowing straight through a water tower, the few precious seconds of frigid coldness providing only the briefest relief before the Villain's Supernova of a body quickly reduced it all to steam.

"GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU OLD BASTARD! I'LL BURN YOU TO A CINDER," the Villain howled as he planted his feet into the edge of yet another rooftop, using their momentum to flip Tunguska over his head and away from him.

This time, though, Tunguska's reflexes and environmental awareness was at the top of its game, as he just as quickly planted his own feet atop a street light and used it as a springboard to launch himself flying right back up, clocking the Villain right in his burning hot jaw, sending him flying and flipping through the air, just before Tunguska flew right up after him and bodied him, sending them both plummeting straight into the nearby river below.

Tunguska gripped onto his enemy's burning midsection with his hands for dear life; the heat turning his pained tears into steam as soon as they could come out, just before they both crashed right into the water. However, that still did nothing to stop either of their momentum as they flew up the length of the river through the middle of the city, as the Villain's heat continued to leave a massive wall of steam billowing into the air in their wake. All the while, though, Tunguska began to notice how the constant submergence in the water was actually starting to make the Villain's Supernova glow dimmer second by second. 'Yes, so he does still have a weakness to water! It just needs to be cold enough! And I think I know just the place to end this!'

Without another moment wasted, Tunguska nailed his submerged and steaming adversary with another devastating uppercut, sending him once more free-flying out of the water and into the air, with the Sun Hero in hot pursuit.

Keeping in mind the map layout of Esuha City in relation to where their patrol had ended, Tunguska started firing concentrated light beams from both his hands one after another, each one nailing the Villain and redirecting his trajectory, until they soon found themselves quickly approaching the industrial section of town. Tunguska had distinctly remembered seeing trucks carrying loads of liquid nitrogen on the roads leading in and out of this area more than once during the train rides. If things went well, he could get this Villain where the stuff was being made and offloaded, and hopefully be able to use it to weaken his Quirk enough to where he could finally be able to apprehend him and bring him to the authorities.

However, just as he began to fly in and land another glowing punch, the Villain finally recollected his bearings and unleashed a massive shockwave of fire from his body, nailing Tunguska in the midsection and sending him plummeting hard onto the thankfully empty road below.

As the older Russian Hero tried to get back on his feet, the Villain came landing right before him; his flaming face lined with murderous intent. "I'm so sick of you Heroes going around, acting like you can treat the outcasts like us like gutter trash! Time for you to get what's coming to you and all those like you, you damn fossil!"

However, that momentary distraction on the Villain's end kept him from noticing how a single 18-wheeled truck with a massive cylindrical tank on its trailer was currently barreling towards them both, with the driver only just now realizing what he was about to drive into as he made this wide turn.

With a deafening screech, the driver turned hard on the wheel in a panic, causing the entire vehicle to start to overturn on its wheels, just about to flip over.

The singular moment the Villain had taken his eyes off Tunguska's kneeling, burned and battered form to see the vehicle that was about to plow into them, proved all the time Tunguska himself needed, as he'd spent the moments since his crash landing building up the energy he still had stored up into his eyes. The moment he knew he was ready, he took that chance and lifted his head, unleashing a blinding wall of light with his Flash Bang technique, sending the Villain reeling with a pained scream as he had to cover his eyes to try and spare his retinas from burning any more than they already had been.

And in that moment he had the Villain completely lower his guard, Tunguska dashed for the truck, planting his hands to the side of the tank and digging his feet into the asphalt, grinding across it while putting in all the physical strength he could muster to stop the vehicle in its tracks, and prevent it from tipping over. After a few precious seconds, he'd finally brought its momentum to a stop, allowing it to finally fall back on all its wheels.

The moment he could visually confirm the driver was alright, Tunguska realized he'd just been given a serendipitous opportunity. The Villain was still in shock from having gotten blinded by his Flash Bang, and the sharp turn the truck had taken had ultimately allowed its tank of unmistakable liquid nitrogen to now be facing length-wise towards him. His Supernova glow had considerably dimmed by this point, but it was still too dangerous for Tunguska to just leave it to chance that he wouldn't try something even more devastating as a last desperate act.

"Forgive me for this, sir. Desperate times!" Tunguska quickly apologized to the driver, just before he reached back behind his head, took a huge leap up and over the tank, and threw the glowing disk behind his head down the face of it, splitting the tank open with a thin tear, allowing the beyond-frigid liquid contents to come spraying out down the road ahead, and dousing the blindsided Villain in the stuff.

Within seconds, even as he kept trying to call out for it to stop, Tunguska could see his glow finally come to an end. The moment he did, Tunguska quickly grabbed onto the tank and pulled with all his might, snapping the cables connecting it to the cab of the truck, and rolling the tank over on its other side, finally bringing the liquid nitrogen flow to an end, and leaving the extinguished Villain audibly shivering from the unbelievable cold.

Thankfully for him, Tunguska was still just as quick to step in and pluck him up from where he stood, out of the inhumanly freezing mist and onto a moderately temperate section of the road. Villain or not, there was no way Tunguska would ever leave someone in such a situation where they'd very easily be at risk of getting killed.

Thankfully, he wouldn't have to stick around keeping an eye on this man for long, as within seconds, a multitude of police cars came racing up the road, clearly having followed the Villain's Supernova glow across the air and figuring out where they'd landed.

"He's burned through his Quirk, doing what he did, but you officers still be careful." Tunguska initially informed the police once they had arrived, handing his shivering enemy off to the first officers he could find.

"Thank you so much, Tunguska-san, who knows what this guy would've been able to do if he'd kept running around in the state he was in. We should get you to the hospital, too. It looks like he really did a number on your arm and legs," one of the officers noted, unable to keep from staring at the scorched gloves, sleeves and pant legs of Tunguska's Hero costume, and the burns adorning his limbs and face from the process; his beard and eye mask noticeably smoking and singed throughout.

However, the Hero in question didn't take his eyes off the direction he knew he'd come from. "Don't worry about me right now, officers! Just get that man into proper custody and stay alert; there may be one more needing to be taken in before too long! I just hope I'm not too late!"

With that, Tunguska rushed for the railing of the road, planting his feet on it, and propelling himself off into another flying leap, desperately hoping the few precious minutes he'd spent beating the Villain into submission hadn't been too much, and that Eijirou would somehow still be holding his own.

From the moment Tunguska and the Supernova Villain had taken off through the roof, Eijirou couldn't even take the chance to call out in worry for his teacher, as his own Villain's Blade Quirk was still going berserk, stabbing and chopping into every surface all around. It was only by some miracle that none of them had shot past him and gotten near the civilians that were still out in the open.

Eijirou dug his heels in and kept his arms crossed defensively over his chest as he saw the deranged look in his enemy's eyes. He could still feel the pain from the one piercing wound he'd actually received. One of the blades had even managed to hack off half his face guard upon the initial eruption of them. 'What the hell just happened?! This guy…he must've taken some kind of drug to boost the strength of his Quirk! I remember reading something about that before! This is bad, I can't let him or his blades get anywhere near those people! I gotta end this fight here and now!'

"EVERYBODY GET DOWN! TAKE COVER WHERE HIS BLADES CAN'T REACH!" Just as soon as Eijirou had called back to the civilians with his urgent instruction, the Villain before him let out a similarly animalistic war cry/cackle, as another series of extensive blades erupted from other parts of his body, flying in at breakneck speed.

Even as Eijirou tried to focus his Hardening strength all over his body, the blades kept stabbing and cutting away at his sleeves and pant legs, chipping and cracking away at the crystallized surface of his skin, leaving a searing and cutting pain erupting all over his arms and legs, making the sharp-toothed boy actually bleed from each wound, with some blades even managing to nick his cheeks and forehead. 'He…he's actually cutting me! Even with my Hardening…there's no way I can get close to him like this!'

All the while, the Villain's psychotic grin and rolled back eyes added to his utterly monstrous appearance as he continued standing tall before the young boy standing in his way. "GOT TOO COCKY BACK THERE, DIDN'T YOU, YOU BRAT?! ACTING ALL SELF-IMPORTANT WITH YOUR GAME OF MAKE-BELIEVE JUSTICE! MY BROTHERS TOLD ME ALREADY! THE TIME OF HEROES WILL COME TO AN END! THE TIME OF US SOCIAL OUTCASTS IS NEXT! YOU HEARD ME! ALL OF THIS HAS GOTTEN ME FEELING SOME KIND OF HIGH! MOVE, BRAT! IT LOKS LIKE I'M GONNA BE ABLE TO DO EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID…AND SAVE MY BROTHERS!"

With that declaration, the Villain suddenly threw himself into a murderous dive right for Eijirou with another screeching battle cry. All the while, as Eijirou looked with desperate eyes towards the oncoming threat, his mind began racing all the way back, only now thinking to remember just what Tunguska had told him all the way back during his training for his Provisional Exam: "You can actually power your way through a multitude of obstacles and opponents without wearing down your durability in the process. Don't think that this means you can't still get any stronger. As long as you just keep acting with your heart and your head, your capabilities will become that much more numerous. The advancements you've made may not exactly be considered special moves, but you are on your way towards finding your own."

With that, he could even remember what Nikolay had told him the night after they had started their special move training: "Even for how limited you think your Quirk is, you've still managed to get this far with the rest of us despite that. That tells me you've got a natural sense of how to best utilize it when the situation calls for it."

Right alongside those memories, Eijirou could distinctly recall one precise moment during that same period, back when he and the others had all been trying to rest from the exhaustion of all that same training, a moment when he'd finally decided to open up just enough to vent his long-held frustrations regarding his own Quirk:

"Tunguska-sensei keeps saying that my Quirk can get stronger, and with it I can use it in a more versatile way, but no matter how much I try to think how I could do that, I keep drawing a blank. The fact is that I just don't have the kind of flashy Quirk that can help me compete with you guys."

The moment he had admitted that to Bakugo, Denki, Hanta and Fumikage, he'd ultimately put himself right on the spot, with an especially discerning glare from the explosive boy he'd all-but crow-barred himself into becoming best buddies with. Nevertheless, since he'd finally worked up the guts to say it, he couldn't have possibly taken it back that night: "I mean it, you guys! I mean, you all have medium and long-ranged attacks to go along with your Quirks, and with the exception of Kaminari, better mobility as a result. I don't have anything like that. I wish I could see what Sensei does, that would make him say stuff like that to me.

"I mean, even now, all I've got going for me is pretty lackluster…and if everyone is going to move on and turn Pro after this…what could I possibly be able to do to catch up with you all?" While others had been quick to simply accuse Eijirou of getting down on himself back then, he'd insisted that wasn't the case, but in all honesty, even he hadn't been completely sure of that.

However, what stuck out to him the most about that night, was just what Bakugo had answered that deep and difficult confession of his with: "What's all this crap you're talking about 'catching or keeping up'? Back at the Sports Festival, that Human Cavalry shit, you're the one who said you'd be a horse that would never crumble, remember?"

Even more than that, though, was the resonating effect Eijirou had felt hit him to his core, when he'd actually seen the annoyed scowl momentarily slip from that boy's face, a show of emotional depth he'd never willingly shown to anyone else before: "That time with All Might…and Tunguska, back at Kamino Ward…all the way to the very end, even after losing an arm and giving up his whole damn Quirk…how neither of them ever broke once…that was strong as hell, wasn't it?"

All those memories, Tunguska's encouragement, his own training and all the encouragement from so many of his friends despite all of his self doubt; all of these things running and coalescing into one another in Eijirou's head and heart within this singular moment, ignited a drive within himself he'd scarcely imagined himself capable of feeling.

'They're right…all of them, they're absolutely right! I've gotten this far even with the limits I have, now I just gotta push myself that little bit farther! My Quirk may not ever get to be as flashy as the others, but it doesn't need to be! Brawling has always been my style, and if I can just push my Quirk past its limit, I know I can pull through this! This could be the Special Move I've been looking for all this time! There's only way to know for sure, though…PUSH IT! MORE! EVEN MORE! BOTH MY BODY…AND SPIRIT!'

Time passed at a snail's pace as Eijirou mentally and spiritually screamed with every fiber of his being to push his Quirk as far as it could possibly go, and beyond! He could see his enemy's blades progressing towards him with each passing nanosecond, ready to pierce through his chest and face if given the chance, but he was never going to give this guy that chance! This was it, his time to finally prove to himself that his teachers' and friends' words of encouragement and faith in him were deserved and earned, that even a straightforward and non-versatile Quirk like his could help him to stand equally among his friends, to help him become the truly manly Hero he always wanted to be!

'HARDER! HARDEN! BECOME…AN UNBREAKABLE WALL!'

Finally, the tips of the fast-flying blades were about to reach his skin. It was now the moment of truth. Eijirou Kirishima would either push his Hardening the farthest it could ever possibly go…or he would die here. There was no third option.

KRRRRIISSSSH!

A deafening cacophony of shattering steel echoed up and down the indoor market alley, as the Villain's blades burst into multitudinous pieces upon impact, forcing Eijirou back several feet, and his aggressor along with him; looking at his obliterated blades with total confusion and disbelief: "WHAAAAT?!"

Mere feet in front of him, Eijirou still stood tall on his own two feet, even if the upper half of his body was reeled back still from the impact. However, he could still see the boy was breathing. And when he finally brought his torso back to his regular standing posture, looking his attacker dead in the eye, the Villain felt an absolute chill rush up and down his spine.

Standing before him, Eijirou Kirishima didn't even look human anymore. His sharp teeth, his hair and his eyes all seemed to blend with the rest of his body as some kind of spiky, jagged crystal-textured nightmare with razor sharp claws where his fingers had once been, with nearly every inch of his skin ending in pointed edges that would obliterate absolutely anyone or anything that tried to hit it.

However, even in the unbelievable adrenaline of this moment, deep inside, Eijirou knew full well what he had just accomplished: this was it for him, his Plus Ultra, an extent to his Quirk he'd begun to doubt was even possible. Right now, the young Hero Intern standing in that hall was not Red Riot as his classmates or any of his teachers knew him. This was something, someone else.

This was RED RIOT: UNBREAKABLE!

The Villain, despite the absolute terror rushing through his veins at the sight of this Plus Ultra-hardened monstrosity slowly stomping his way, still somehow managed to maintain a twitchy, nervous grin, especially as his ears picked up a distinct creaking sound emanating from Eijirou's body with every step he took, almost like the sound of steel or stone grinding against itself. "W…w-what the hell is that sound?! His whole body…it…it's g-grating against itself!"

Eijirou had likewise noticed this much more limited range of mobility his new state put him in, but he wouldn't let that stop him from continuing to close the distance between them. Another thing he immediately noticed that left him feeling much more concerned deep inside was a distinctly sharp pain slowly but surely growing in the pit of his chest. 'Oh, damn…I should've figured, if my whole body is hardened this much, that's gotta mean my organs are, too…and my heart! It can't beat if it's hardened! I've only got about thirty…forty seconds max I can stay like this! That's okay, though! That's all the time I'll need! This guy…WILL NEVER TAKE ME DOWN IN THAT TIME!'

Seeing the abject terror in the Villain's eyes somehow managed to embolden Eijirou that much more, as he began to throw himself into as much of a sprint as his Unbreakable state could allow. "LOOK OVER HERE!"

The moment his voice reached the man's ears, his fight-or-flight senses kicked in, as he all but blew himself backwards upon releasing a veritable tidal wave of blades from his torso, all aimed directly at Eijirou and flying at full speed: "I'LL BLOW YOU AWAY, YOU FREAK!"

However, Eijirou immediately dug his feet in, and the moment all those blades rammed into his torso, the Villain quickly found he was actually being pushed further back by the momentum of his own Quirk. It was literally like he was trying to break through a reinforced steel wall with nothing but a toothpick; he would be moved by the force long before his obstacle ever would.

As Eijirou continued to stand his ground and take the blades grinding at his chest with no effect, all he could think about in that moment, wasn't about planting his fist in this Villain's face, but of the people that still hadn't taken the chance to get out of here while he was protecting them. 'The people behind me haven't gotten away yet! Plus I'm sure there are still people in the shops, too! I'll force all of this guy's blades towards me! The fact is…I am a steeled man! Instead of style and variety…I'll do what I do best! I'll use brute force…TO OVERWHELM HIM!'

SMAAASH!

With a lightning fast and devastating throw of his fist, Eijirou shattered every single one of the collected mass of blades, leaving another huge opening for himself to advance, and leaving his opponent wide-eyed and pale as a sheet with horror.

"SUPER MOVE…RED GAUNTLET!"

WHAAAM!

With a mad sprint and a reared back fist, Eijirou's cry of his first and possibly only offensive Special Move echoed all across the market, as he threw his fist with all that focus, momentum and spirit straight into the Villain's stomach, knocking every last ounce of wind out of him, and nearly making his eyes bulge out from the sheer force he'd just taken at point blank range, all before ultimately tumbling ass-over-tea kettle down the way and crumpling into a listless pile on the floor.

Even from here, Eijirou could tell he'd taken the last of the fight out of his enemy, and thus finally allowed this insane level of his Hardening to dissipate, leaving him finally looking human again. Despite the multiple scratches now adorning his face, limbs and torso, and despite the numerous mutterings of the civilians behind him, all Eijirou could focus on was the sheer gravity of what he'd just accomplished: his very first true victory against a Villain, fought entirely on his own, by his sheer show of skill and heart. A Hero couldn't ask for a more picture perfect example of Heroic manliness, and that resolution was what finally drove him to let out a bellowing victory cry: "YEEEEEAAAAAH!"

Of course, in his head, he couldn't deny just how immensely relieved he was that he'd managed to end things just before his time limit could run out. He knew he would definitely be feeling that achiness in his heart for a good few days after putting his body through that.

All things considered, he was on Cloud Nine, and nothing could bring him down from it…although he now found himself immensely regretting the fact that neither Tunguska, Tamaki nor Fatgum were here to have seen it themselves.

However, now was not the time to dwell on such things, as the Villain he'd just knocked out cold was already starting to stir. Unsure what to expect, Eijirou knew he couldn't risk this guy pulling another massive blade attack now that the civilians were starting to come out in numbers.

So, he finally decided to start approaching, hoping with every step that the guy would finally know what was best for him and just stay down and take the loss. The moment the man in front of him finally managed to roll onto his back and see the young Hero approaching him; his confusion and daze instantly turned into complete terror, desperately trying to crawl backwards. "AAAGGH! KEEP—KEEP AWAY FROM ME!"

To his relief, Eijirou did exactly that, watching the Villain's expression closely. 'He's bawling again, just like he did before taking that drug. Did its effects wear off already?'

The man looking Eijirou in the eye looked so utterly pitiful at this point, a far cry from the cackling monster he'd been mere seconds ago. That had to be all the proof he needed to know this guy was no longer the threat he once was. As he continued sobbing and choking from the crushing weight of his loss, the man started babbling inconsolably: "I just wanted a little power for myself! Please let me go! I'm just a sorry soul who wanted to feel even a little powerful for once!"

Once again, Eijirou could just hear his old self back in his elementary and middle school days, always lamenting about how, despite the potential of his Quirk, always feeling so much weaker than everyone else, simply for how scared he always was of fighting. The similarities between himself and this man were too close for him to just ignore; but he couldn't let that make him forget just who he was dealing with, either.

It was just like Tunguska had taught him: being the best kind of Hero was an ongoing act of maintaining balance between the heart and the mind. Don't detach, but make informed decisions from more than just emotion.

"Sorry, no can do. You shot my Senpai, and you have to answer for that. I definitely understand how you feel, though. You see, I—"LIKE I CARE ABOUT YOUR STORY, DUMBASS!"

The moment he'd rudely cut off Eijirou in the middle of his empathizing, the Villain suddenly shot out two blades from his back, driving them into the floor and, through the same physics with which his previous attack had proven useless against this boy; used the resistance to propel his body up and forward, flying right past Eijirou before he could react.

Eijirou himself had instantly leapt back the moment he realized the Villain had started flying towards him, and the moment he realized the guy wasn't trying to continue the fight, but rather make a break for it, he instantly hardened his right arm and drove his elbow into the blades, shattering them and forcing the Villain to keep going on foot for all he was worth; all the while silently cursing himself: "Dammit, I'm such an idiot!"

"YOU'RE WAY TOO TRUSTING, YOU STUPID KID! HAHAHA, I'M MAKIN' A RUN FOR IT! I'M GONNA MAKE IT! I'M SERIOUSLY GONNA MAKE IT!" The Villain was bellowing this out like a madman as he saw the open exit doors to the indoor market just up ahead. It would only be a few more feet with his wide sprinting strides, and then he'd finally be home free.

Extending two more blades into the ground before him, he practically catapulted himself through the air, ready to come flying out those doors and into the sweet cool air of guaranteed freedom—

KRRIISSHH!

A sudden pair of beams of pure light suddenly came shooting through the glass ceiling overhead, smashing right into the blades the Villain was currently grounded to, and sending him reeling face first and rolling across the ground, completely breaking his momentum, and ultimately sending him colliding right into the massive doorway-filling mass of Fatgum, who'd stepped in to block his one remaining exit as though he'd expected this outcome the entire time. "Sorry for the wait, Red Riot-kun!"

"Fatgum-sensei!?" Eijirou exclaimed with joyous surprise that one of his mentors had finally returned, just before Fatgum stepped back from the doorway, and the boy came rushing back out, just in time to find the injured-yet still proudly smiling Tunguska jumping down from the rooftop of the market; his costume, arm and legs noticeably burned, but still looking victorious and manly all the same.

As the Villain continued trying in vain to try and wriggle free from Fatgum's gut, the BMI Hero victoriously declared to his and his colleague's young student: "When confronting an enemy, a Villain's victory conditions are: 'Kill, escape, beat up, etc.' As for us Heroes, it's just the one: 'capture without any victims!' Remember that before you leave tonight, Red Riot-kun!"

Finally, all of the Villain's wriggling and struggling had stopped, with his legs just hanging in exhaustion from out his gut. Realizing he'd effectively drained what energy their enemy had left, Fatgum let out a sigh of contented victory. "To suppress Villains, you gotta take away their will to fight, as quickly as possible!"

Eijirou could only look at the rotund Hero with an immensely impressed smile. Despite having pushed himself to his absolute limit to fight this one person, Fatgum had taken him out instantly. That was nothing short of incredible and praiseworthy, as far as he was concerned. Of course, he could only focus on that for so long before Tunguska laid a burned yet assuring hand on the young boy's gear-shaped shoulder pad, smiling down at him.

"I've already taken care of this one's friend. I was really worried about leaving you to fight on your own, Red Riot…but I'm glad to see my worries were for nothing. You carried yourself the best I could ever ask you to back there."

Eijirou, even despite the residual ache in his chest, could feel his heart racing with excitement, knowing he'd well and truly earned this praise from his most admired teacher. "T-thank you, Tunguska-sensei! I-I don't know if I'd have been able to do it if you and my friends hadn't—

"Thanks a bunch, kiddo! You were seriously something back there, a real Hero people could fall for!" the sudden loud intrusion of an especially enthusiastic-looking old man suddenly broke the atmosphere of the conversation, as they all looked to see he was all but crowding a stunned-looking Eijirou, exhibiting the kind of energy usually reserved for a star-stricken teenager. "You were moving to keep that Villain from attacking us back there, right?! It's something you don't know unless you've been watching Heroes for a really long time! Against that kind of blade guy, you'd usually get spooked! You really saved us, young man! We owe you our lives!"

Eijirou couldn't say anything; his expression completely blank, as though he were actually trying to process just what was actually happening right now. All the while, Fatgum and Tunguska both towered over him, smiling down at him like a pair of real fathers praising their youngest son, the towering Russian Hero even starting to get the slightest bit teary-eyed: "That was a magnificent debut, Red Riot-kun…definitely far different from my own."

Following Fatgum's proclamation, Tunguska knelt down so he and Eijirou were on the same eye level, his loyal student giving him his full attention in the midst of receiving so much praise. Finally, the Sun of Justice spoke up: "There's only one thing more I need to ask you right now, Red Riot, and be as honest with me as you've always ever been: knowing now that it didn't get through to your opponent this time around, do you regret showing him compassion when you did?"

Eijirou immediately looked back just in time to see the police that arrived on the scene, taking the listless criminal out from Fatgum's stomach, silently leading him to their patrol car to be put in jail.

Thinking back on everything he had heard the man say in his throes of despair, a deep glimmer of understanding began to reflect in Eijirou's red eyes as he looked back to Tunguska: "No, I don't. I mean, yeah, it's true that there are some Villains out there who are just plain too far gone, but that doesn't mean all of them are like that. They always talk about being rejected by society and stuff like that, well…maybe there's some truth to that, you know? Maybe those kinds of Villains just want to know they're not being completely shunned by everybody.

"I wanna think that maybe just showing them that one little bit of kindness and understanding could be enough to make them wanna turn themselves around. I mean, people who turn to crime can't all be the kind of murderous psychopaths you see and hear about on TV, right? And if a Hero lets one failed act of kindness towards someone convince them that it's not even worth the effort, then who knows how much extra damage could end up getting inflicted on society, innocent people and themselves; all of which could've been totally avoided?

"I don't want to be the kind of Hero that would let that kind of thing happen. That's why, if I'm ever given the chance to just try and reach out to someone, no matter if they're a Villain or not, I wanna be a Hero manly enough to take that chance every time."

The silence that hung in the air as Eijirou finished his speech was so thick, one could actually feel it, and the sincerity carried in every word left Fatgum and Tunguska alike positively glowing with pride in just what a mature viewpoint on such a loaded question Eijirou had just displayed.

In fact, Tunguska was actually looking genuinely misty-eyed as he smiled, planting another proud hand on Eijirou's shoulder as they looked each other in the eye. "That's the kind of answer only a truly manly Hero could give, malenkii Kirishima. I couldn't be more proud of you than I am right now. I never had a doubt you had everything it took…but now I know that you'll become a truly splendid, and one-of-a-kind manly Hero one day…Red Riot."

That was the final verbal push needed to not only have Eijirou's eyes widen and light up like the sun itself, but to finally bring him to the single most joyous tears he had ever shed in his life, knowing that this was well and truly his moment he had fought, sweat and bled to earn, and the heartfelt approval of his most trusted mentor made it all the more irreplaceable for him as he answered Tunguska and Fatgum with a resounding: "THANK YOU, SENSEI!"

The process of giving their respective witness and intervening Hero reports to the police once everything had been cordoned off thankfully only took less than an hour. Fortunately, all their timely actions had prevented any civilians from getting hurt, and once it had been confirmed that Tamaki hadn't been seriously physically injured, the four Heroes had finally been given leave to continue with the rest of their patrols for the night.

However, such a return to normalcy was far from what Fatgum was particularly focused on, as he'd been thinking about what both Tunguska and Eijirou had mentioned about their respective Villains apparently shooting up with some kind of drug that allowed their Quirks to spike with such power as they had.

"A Quirk power-up drug, huh? That kind of thing is illegal here in Japan. If we look at the short effect duration, though, it's clear that it's an inferior type manufactured somewhere in Asia. I've heard reports from international law enforcement of one variation that's popped up in America and Africa that has effects lasting between one and two hours." As Fatgum explained this, both Eijirou and Tunguska could feel themselves awash in relief that they'd gotten lucky these thugs didn't have that type. All the while, Tamaki was still as brooding and silent as ever, still reeling from the fact he couldn't activate his Quirk now.

"You really seem to know your stuff about this kinda thing, Sensei." Eijirou finally noted, unable to help but smile with yet further admiration, but at this point Fatgum was still far too deep within his own train of thought to bask in it.

"Yeah, well, a while back, I was working with the cops, and we caught all sorts of criminals peddling that kind of stuff."

Before Tunguska could chime in about the possible relationship between this Quirk-strengthening drug and whatever had prevented Tamaki from activating his own, a single police officer came rushing up to the BMI Hero: "Fatgum-san! There was a discharge, even though it was just from a handgun!"

Looking to address him, Fatgum and his colleagues were presented with a tiny plastic bag with what looks like syringe fragments inside. "The first projectile got shattered after hitting your first intern! From what we pieced together from the remnants, there was no actual bullet, and despite being shattered by Tunguska-san, we can already tell the gun he used wasn't your average piece. For starters, we'll investigate a few things and report back to you with what we find."

"I see. Thank you, officer, and sorry for the trouble." As Fatgum thanked the police officer for even this tiny bit of information, Tunguska and Eijirou quickly noticed how Tamaki was once more pulling his hood up, as if to try and hide his face from the world out of shame.

"Whoa, Senpai, are you okay?" Eijirou immediately asked, just before he and his mentor could hear the third year mumbling dejectedly to himself: "…such a bitter pill. It's such a poor showing…for a Hero's Quirk to not work anymore."

Just as Tunguska and Eijirou both were about to try and somehow lift Tamaki's spirits, the red-haired boy froze when he realized his senior was now looking just the slightest bit in his direction as he mumbled further: "But more importantly…you had to cover for me. You really are the same as Mirio…you're another one of those Heroes that shines bright like the sun…no pun intended…" Tamaki quickly muttered the last part when realizing just who was standing to his right when he actually complimented his fellow intern.

However, Tunguska wasn't about to dare embarrassing the downtrodden boy by laughing at the irony of such a comment, as he instead spoke as sociably and calmly as he could so as not to put too much pressure on him: "Every Hero shines brightly in their own way, malenkii Amajiki. They don't all have to be as bright and smiling as All Might, myself or anyone else. If you keep carrying on to be the kind of Hero you know you can be; that image you've chased that's taken you this far already, then you're already shining just as bright in the way only you can."

Of course, the reassurance discussion couldn't carry on forever, at least not with Tunguska involved, for as Eijirou carried on trying to help his senior lighten up even a little bit; what little information they now had regarding their attackers was forcing Fatgum to really have to delve into just what they were potentially looking at, from what the Villains had used on themselves, and whatever they had used in their gun to effect Tamaki like they had. Leaving the two boys to speak among themselves even for a little bit, Fatgum pulled Tunguska aside; his normally jovial expression now furrowed and deathly serious.

"I don't like how this looks, Tunguska-san. In my time, I've heard of plenty of chemical agents that can strengthen Quirks. The whole idea was originally devised to help salvage the weakest Quirks, to help people. But I've never heard of a drug or anything of the like that could actually deactivate or erase them."

Just the idea had the once smiling Tunguska looking especially worried as he glanced back to their respective interns. "Me neither, and the Soviet Union tried delving into all kinds of different chemical alternatives to affect people's Quirks for all kinds of purposes. What worries me is how or where those thugs actually got a hold of such thing…and if whoever gave it to them has that many more, and where else they could be sending them."

Just going down that particular rabbit hole had Tunguska instinctively imagining the ramifications of if the current Russian government were to ever get their hands on such a thing, God forbid in bulk. The consequences for countless people could potentially be enough to dwarf even the Siberian Flash itself.

"There's still a lot we don't know for certain yet, and we can't properly act without it. So for now, let's get Suneater-kun to the hospital. There're some things I wanna look into while we're there, and you and Red Riot-kun need to get your injuries looked at, anyway. Afterwards, we can head back to the office and the boys can call it a night." With Fatgum's declaration, the four finally hit the pavement again, this time making their way to the hospital, with Eijirou still riding the euphoria of his first major victory as a Hero-in-training, while at the same time unable to deny just how exhausted this whole experience now left him feeling.

Present

The entirety of Class 1-A was utterly enraptured after Eijirou and Tunguska had finally finished recounting their respective stories to them, the red-haired boy having gotten more than a little animated at a couple of points throughout.

The smile on his face couldn't have been happier when seeing just how impressed and proud all of his friends were of him, and he could already feel the same proud smile on his teacher's face behind him as well. Right now, he felt like the king of the highest mountain.

And that feeling quickly spread from him to Ochako and Tsuyu as well, for partway through his recounting of his story, Denki and Mina had both taken to eagerly looking through their phones to see if either of their classmates' exploits had gotten media coverage, only to immediately pull up the headlines the moment Eijirou had finished:

"Yo, check it out, Kirishima, you blew up online fast! They got the whole thing printed up right here, see?"

"Urara-chan, Tsu-chan, look! You two, too! They got your pictures and names up and everything! Ooh, you two look so cool here! Look: 'New allies at the Ryukyu Hero Office, Uravity and Froppy! These two joined on their internship! Their looks are super cute!' Heck yeah, they are! 'A great achievement! A major incident overwhelmingly resolved in an instant! Their strength is the real deal!' Oooh, you guys, I'm super jealous!"

Instantly, Eijirou, Ochako, Tsuyu and the whole rest of the class began crowding around both their classmates respective phones to see for themselves, before ultimately deciding to look through their own themselves; all while Momo was quick to note in response to Mina's good-natured admission of jealousy; how she, Nikolay, Denki, Minoru, Tooru, Setsuna, Kyouka and Ochako herself were the first students of their whole class to actually get press coverage already.

Reading it over out loud, Nikolay could feel so much pride for his red-haired friend as he threw an arm over the Russian boy's shoulder to bask in the moment: "'Newcomer sidekick, Red Riot, breaks onto the scene! Shouldering the lives of civilians on the first day, he and Sun Hero, Tunguska, take down vicious Villains mano-a-mano!' Congratulations, Eijirou-san! You've absolutely earned this!"

While Eijirou was laughing joyously along with his friends, Tenya stood tall, looking their classmates of the hour over with a deeply empathetic eye: "Provisional licenses notwithstanding, for all of you who have managed to gain your Hero Internships, once you enter your respective cities, you are no longer considered students, but fellow Heroes through and through! You've all rendered a splendid service already, and as president of 1-A, I give you all my sincerest congratulations! However, school studies are still the true duty of a student! Regardless how busy we all may become with our internships, we still have a responsibility to maintain our grades!"

Even despite his previous physical exhaustion, Eijirou could feel himself getting fired up by Tenya's declaration alongside Izuku, while Momo took that chance to step forward and offer a welcoming hand to the couches in the commons area: "We were actually just about to begin our study group for just that purpose. Kirishima-san, Ochako-san, Tsuyu-san or anyone else who's interested, you're more than welcome to join us."

"Yeah, man, last I heard from you, your grades are still pretty crap, too. You just might need this!" Denki noted with a cheeky smirk, only for Eijirou to let out a tired groan while making his way for the entrance to the boys' wing.

"Thank you, Yaoyorozu-san, but Aizawa-sensei actually is already giving me supplementary lessons for my days not interning to make up for whatever I miss, so I think I'm covered. It's damn tough, though."

While he and many more of their classmates were finally starting to likewise make their way to get to bed, ultimately leaving the study group in the commons area in the end, Nikolay, Mina and Kyouka all found themselves asking the same question: "If Aizawa-sensei's giving supplementary lessons, then why'd he give us homework instead?!"

Of course, being the Number One grade-bearer in their whole class, Momo's answer was immediate, succinct and fully confident: "I have no doubt it's because all our travel times are considerably greater in comparison to everyone else's. Supplementary lessons might run the risk of upsetting our delicate schedules between intern work, classes and making sure we get enough sleep for our next intern shifts. It is what it is, everyone."

While Momo and Tenya began gathering the rest of the study group together so they could finally get down to business, Tunguska was already beginning to make his way for the front door. "Well, all you kids have quite the busy days ahead of you, and the last thing I want is to hold you back. Oh, Kolya, did you get the photo album from Aizawa-san?"

The moment his father brought it up, Nikolay's original curiosity from before came zapping right back as his hand instinctively went for his pocket; his eyes darting to Tunguska, Mina and back. "Yeah, about that…Dad, Mina, could I talk to you both alone for a second?"

As soon as she was given permission by Momo for but a few minutes, the pink girl hurried over to Nikolay just as Tunguska did, and soon they were standing outside the front entrance to the dorm, where Nikolay finally pulled the photo from out his pocket.

"Okay…yes, I found that picture you were telling us about before, Dad; of you, the New Bogatyrs and that Pietro Granin guy in Gagaringrad from way back when. But look at this." Nikolay then held out the photo for Tunguska and Mina to look over; and while she was initially amazed with just how different the much younger Tunguska looked without his long graying light brown hair and beard, she was thankfully just as quick on the uptake as Nikolay was, once her eyes landed on the man who looked the most like the Pietro they'd met.

"Whoa, what? But this can't be the same guy, can it? Didn't he have orange eyes? But this guy's eyes are blue…but he looks just like him, without all the scars, grey and wrinkles." As Mina finally stated what Nikolay had been trying to ponder over, Tunguska now looked just as confused.

Finally, Nikolay had to ask: "Dad, did Pietro Granin have some kind of eye color-changing abnormality, or was that something that went along with whatever his Quirk was?"

Instead of a confused utterance of "I don't know" or any other kind of non-answer he'd braced himself for, Nikolay was instead answered immediately by his father: "No. I've known Pietro Dobrynich Granin for years before you were born, and while he may have had some emotional imbalance issues, not once did I ever see him go through complete eye color change like what you're describing. This is very, very odd, Kolya, malenkaya Ashido.

"However, as much as I'd like to simply assume this is a hidden genetic factor of his we simply never knew about, the times and profession we're all living in don't give us the luxury of simply writing such things off. We have no reason to assume anything beyond what we're seeing here; but if you really want to know how it is Pietro Dobrynich went through this change, just ask politely, you two. The last thing we'd want is for you to be unintentionally rude and sour your standing with anyone out there after the way your first day ended, right?"

It was hardly the definitive answer Nikolay had been hoping for, but his curiosity was hopelessly piqued, and this was the closest thing to a next step he now had towards satisfying it, and that was all he could ask for. "Okay…we will, Dad. Thank you."

With thanks and good nights wished between them, Tunguska finally retired to the teachers' dormitory for the night, while Nikolay and Mina finally rejoined their study group, working their way into the later hours of the night until Tenya and Momo both finally declared it was time they all headed to bed.

While everyone else was finally making their way to their respective wings, the similarly tired Nikolay and Mina couldn't help but linger, as the frizzy-haired girl saw her precious Russian bestie still looking so deep in thought, but about what, she was somehow able to guess. "Kolya-kun, are you still thinking about going back to that town tomorrow? Everything went so well yesterday, though; I don't think we have to worry about that anymore."

Nikolay let out an exhausted sigh, trying to rub the sleep away from his eyes just a little longer. "I know, I really shouldn't worry about that anymore. I've been trying to tell myself that since telling Dad about it just earlier today. But now with this weirdness with that Pietro guy…I don't know why I can't stop thinking about it."

With that, Mina stepped around Nikolay so he could look her in the eye. "Yeah, it's really weird, but Tunguska-sensei said we shouldn't get all worried about it. I mean, it could be nothing, right?"

Nikolay was right now feeling equally grateful for Tunguska and Mina both trying to give him the same sentiment in this confusing time. "Yeah…yeah, you're right, both of you are. I gotta stop doing this to myself. How can I possibly become a real Hero for those people or anyone else if I dwell so much on something like a picture inconsistency?"

With a reassuring smile, Mina gave Nikolay a playful light fist bump to his arm. "Aw, don't beat yourself up about it, Kolya-kun. Thinking things over a lot is just part of who you are; don't change that. Sensei said we'll become real Heroes to people when the time comes, so why don't we just keep going like we have been, don't rush, and see what happens? We've gotta have lots of time left to get there if we keep interning, right? Where's the fun in being a Hero if we keep trying to rush?"

All of a sudden, Nikolay actually began to laugh, for once catching Mina totally off guard. "What? What'd I say?"

"No, it's…well, okay, it is pretty much all of what you just said, Mina. I'm so used to you bouncing off the walls whenever we get to go out and do Hero stuff, I honestly never thought I'd hear you actually saying for us not to try and rush anything. If you, of all people, are saying that, then my approach to presenting myself like a Hero to those people must be worse than I thought."

It was at least a relief that Nikolay was now able to actually laugh at himself in any capacity, but Mina's honest sentiments couldn't be kept quiet, as she silenced his laugh by cupping her warm and soft palm against his equally warm (and growing warmer) cheek, while still looking him in the eye with that loving smile. "No, not really. I just can't stand seeing the people I hold dearest looking so down in the dumps, that's all."

There was hardly anything else either of the two teens could say in response to such specific wording on her part. Unfortunately, their respective exhaustion kept them from carrying it any further, ultimately wishing each other good night in preparation for tomorrow, while still dealing with their own emotional aftershocks.

As she worked her way up to her room and ultimately threw herself face first onto her bed, Mina was all the while mentally chastising herself: 'C'mon, Mina, you were right there, you had it! You'd gotten Kolya-kun all warmed up and worked your way to finally just telling him! Dammit, I can't keep going like this! I don't care what happens; by the end of this week, I'm telling him exactly how I feel for him, it's the very least he deserves after everything we've been through!'

All the while, at the same time, Nikolay was similarly going through it with himself long after he'd finally collapsed into his bed: 'For God's sakes, man, that was the perfect opportunity! She practically opened the door for you to walk through; and you could've gone for it and finally told Mina how much you love her right then and there! How long are you going to keep this up?! Look, this can't stand, alright? By the end of this week, you work up the guts to tell her! No more beating around the bush, and that's a man's promise!'

Wednesday, September 10th

After yet another lengthy train ride all the way up to Hokkaido alongside Tenya and Momo (wherein they finally learned that they were both actually being joined in internship by Monoma, Tetsutetsu, Pony, Yui and Reiko of Class 1-B); Nikolay, Mina and Kyouka had once again returned to the Kapenta Hero Agency in Arakisu City.

Upon clocking in and making their way up to the staff lounge on the third floor, the three interns were met with the average sight of the three day-shift Pro Heroes going about their preparations as usual, except that this time they were actually being joined by the Agency head, Chiaroscuro herself, and De-Condenser was currently slouched over on the couch, rubbing at his head as though he'd been suffering from a considerable headache.

Of course, this didn't stop Blast Beat and High Noon from greeting their returning young charges with all the necessary energy: "Good morning, Solovei-kun, Pinky-kun, Earphone Jack-kun! Glad to see you're all up bright and early, as you should."

As Blast Beat gave this hearty greeting, to which Kyouka quickly rejoined his side with a veritable spring in her step, Nikolay and Mina just as quickly rejoined The Giver and De-Condenser, as the young sidekick gave her partner a glass of water. "Good morning, De-Condenser-sensei! Is everything okay with you?" "Yeah, you don't look so good. Did everything at the town go alright yesterday?"

At Nikolay's mentioning of Gagaringrad, the mood among the present Heroes completely changed, much to the interns' concern, as Chiaroscuro looked considerably pensive. "Actually…Mitsudo-kun and Erumi-kun never made it to Gagaringrad yesterday."

Before either of them could even ask why, De-Condenser himself answered: "I don't know why, but all throughout yesterday, I got hit by this splitting headache like I'd never felt before, to where I couldn't even stand. It wasn't a hangover, I don't even drink. No matter what I tried, it just wouldn't let up. This morning, though, it was gone like it'd never even happened. On top of that, I'm now feeling this sense of…o-of clarity, like something that'd been muddled around in my head is suddenly gone for the first time in I don't know how long. I couldn't even say what it is; I just have this gut feeling it's something to do with Gagaringrad."

That entire explanation had left Nikolay, Mina and even Kyouka with so many questions; they couldn't even decide where to begin. Nikolay quickly turned to address Chiaroscuro herself: "Didn't anyone else volunteer to go there in Sensei's place?"

At this, the much older female Hero gave a look of very similar concern to her two young new hires. "The entire agreement between Gagaringrad's local government and our own is that there's a very specific schedule of which of us goes for Gagaringrad duty every other week. If something comes along that prevents the Hero assigned from being able to make it, we have to personally contact the town's leader to arrange having someone else take their place. We tried that very thing once we saw the state Mitsudo-kun was in yesterday; multiple times, even. No matter what, though…we never got an answer back from Leonid-san, and I honestly can't recall the last time that ever happened."

Mina just as quickly asked: "So you weren't able to get in touch with anyone out there at all, Sensei?"

At this, High Noon suddenly chimed in: "Well, thankfully the chain of command out that way is very specific, so once it was clear we weren't going to be able to talk to Leonid-san, we got in contact with the person in charge after him: the local priest, Sergei Cherenkov-san. He was able to tell us that Leonid-san had recently fallen physically ill yesterday, and had specifically asked not to be disturbed by anyone. Plus, since Mitsudo-kun had told us how ultimately peaceful things in the town had been the day before…we, uh…honestly didn't find any real reason to intrude on those people."

Now all Nikolay could feel was determination, if for nothing else than to at least make sure things in that town were all right with Leonid out of commission. Fortunately, that feeling showed in his classmates as well, as once Mina and Kyouka saw the sharpened focus in his green eyes, they too could feel that similar drive begin to build.

"Things may have been quiet there the last time we came by, but just because it's quiet one day doesn't mean it'll stay that way. We can do our day of work there ourselves if nobody else is able or allowed to come with us." As Nikolay made this declaration, Mina was throwing a fist in the air; her eyes shimmering with similar determination.

"Yeah! You can count on us to do it, sensei's! Pinky and Nightingale are on the case, one-thousand percent!" In the wake of the showcase of enthusiastic energy that only Mina could convey, which Nikolay and Kyouka both visibly appreciated immensely, De-Condenser and The Giver just as quickly got up to meet their two interns' gazes.

"Don't get so ahead of yourselves, Solovei-kun, Pinky-kun. Regardless what happened to me yesterday, you two are still my responsibility. You're not going anywhere without me and Erumi-kun…so both of you get into your costumes, and let's get to work."

With a resounding "Yes, Sensei" from both of them, soon the four Heroes finally stepped back out into the morning light, all of them ready to make up for their one day of absence as they made their way back to Gagaringrad; with Nikolay's burgeoning curiosity around Pietro's eye colors changing still scratching at the back of his mind.

And there it is, everyone, the new chapter for the week, and events are slowly coming into motion for both the Hokkaido Arc and the Shie Hassaikai Arc, which I will be showcasing at a later time. That story arc is way too instrumental to MHA as a whole for me to just not give it its Son of Justice-style due.

I hope you all liked what you read here today. If so, please be kind enough to leave a review. I'm really grateful to the few who took the time to do so over the course of this week.

Have a great rest of your week, stay safe, and I will see you all with the next chapter on 03/12!

Also, for however much it may be worth, including whatever flak I may be opening myself up to; I would like to express my heartfelt sympathies and well wishes to the people of both Ukraine and Russia. It's far too easy for us as human beings to look at situations like this with a solely black-and-white perspective, but what we always need to try and remind ourselves of is that in the end, nobody on the ground level of society with the rest of us wants conflicts like this. We need to remember that we are all ultimately humans, and that it's the power structures that make horrendous decisions like this we should direct our anger towards, not the random stranger on the street. This is a time in our lives where we need to pull together, not let ourselves get torn apart any further than we already have been. We all need to strive to be better as a society, as a species.