It was getting pretty late in the day when they finally gave us the go-ahead to close up.

"Thank you all so much, really," said the teacher, bowing to us. Bakugou jumped in to blast the icebergs to smithereens, and I had to caution the kids "Keep back, he's dangerous."

"So I'm on cleanup duty, huh?" he shouted, shaking with excitement. "Fine by me! I'll just blast everything to hell!"

"Thanks a whole lot for being such a team player, for real!" said Utsushimi.

"Everyone got to play, so everyone cleans up!" shouted Yoarashi.

"Okay!" the kids replied.

"Hey, five wienies!" one of them said to me. "My quirk can eat up the ice pieces and make em disappear!"

"Is that so? And it's Shoto, not five wienies. Your quirk would really shine in urban disaster rescue efforts," I added.

"Shine?! Heck yeah, it would!"

When the clean-up was over, Everyone shouted "Thank you!" at us and Gang Orca called us all together for a meeting.

"Cooperate to open up the kids' hearts.' It was a Ridiculous assignment, but you did well."

Ridiculous? At least he's honest.

"The rest of you did a great job keeping up! Don't forget today's training, and try just as hard next time! I see a lot of potential in - IN YOU TURDS!" he shouted, getting back in control.

Later that day our group left together.

"Now that I've thought about it," Yoarashi said to me, "I'm a big fan of yours too! And our quirks are awesome together!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Once you stop yapping," Utsushimi said to Bakugou "you're not a bad guy, Bakugo. So how about just keeping that mouth shut?"

"You first," he growled.

As we came out, we saw my damned old man, All Might, Mic, the strange Shiketsu guy and some one I did not know all together talking.

"What's this, Shishikura's chatting with the symbol himself, All Might?' cried Utsushimi to the strange boy. "Crazy! Whatcha talking about? Life and stuff?"

"It's about you, you dunce!" he yelled at her.

"For real? Yikes!"

"We now know the League of Villains is prepared to attack other schools besides UA," explained the stranger. "Shakiest and UA have never had much of a special relationship, but in the interest of cooperation, we're now considering sharing information. The motives behind whatever they did to you are still unclear, Utsushimi, so we're hoping that joining forces helps us paint a more complete picture."

"Yikes."

"Joint practical training is on the table!" the boy told Bakugo.

"I'll mess you up good next time."

"Still acting the savage? Know your place!"

"That's rich, coming from you."

I did my best to walk by my damn old man without making eye contact, but he talked to me.

"It's been a while, Shoto. You've changed a lot." He reached out his hand, almost like he was gonna ruffle my hair. I slapped it away.

"Shove it."

"Shoto, I'm proud of you, son."

What.

"On that note, I'm hoping to become a hero you can be proud of. As your father and the #1 hero, I want to be deserving of those titles."

"Good luck with that," I said, and looked away.

There was a loud noise. Yoarashi had punched himself in the face and strode up to the old man.

"Endeavor! I'm rooting for you!" he said, unnecessarily dramatically.

"Thanks. You're bleeding like crazy."

"C'mon," said All Might. "Let's go."

We walked away. I tried not to, but in the end I turned back to glance at my old man. Against my will, I actually found myself smiling.

We all headed out, back to Heights Alliance.

Soon enough it was October, turning from summer to fall and we were back to classes, all of us. Math with Ectoplasm Sensei, just like always

"It's not an elegant equation, but who can solve this definite integral?" he was asking us. "Raise your hand if you know."

"Ectoplasm-sensei really focuses on what he's into," I heard Jirou say.

"Solve for Yay…." said Kaminari.

Next to me, Yaoyorozu was surprisingly quiet. She looked stumped, which didn't happen often.

Towards the front, Midoriya leapt up. Sensei called, "Midoriya!"

"107/14!"

"Incorrect!"

Yaoyorozu jumped in this time.

"Yaoyorozu!"

"It's 107/28!"

"Correct! Onto the next page…"

The next morning, he Iida and Uraraka all came in together.

"NO running allowed! Just power walking at Maximum speed!" Iida was shouting at them. "One minute until class! Just in time!"

"It's too early to be that loud," said Sero.

"All-Nighters are ill-advised,"Iida lectured Deku. "You'll throw off your autonomic nerves."

"Sorry, Mr. President," he said, and threw what at the time seemed to me a weird look at Aoyama. who winked at him saying "Surprise!"

Midnight Sensei's class started. When it got out, before Hero lessons, I overheard Kaminari talking to Mineta.

"Yo, Mineta! You heard about this?"

"Something R-rated?"

"Nah. Suitable for all ages. Mt. Lady and Edgeshot are teaming up. Kamui Woods too!"

"They're calling themselves 'The lurkers', said Jirou. "There've been rumors for a while."

"Lots of team-ups recently, huh?"

"Mt. Lady's career is going places."

"We should team up when we're pros too!" said Ashido. "Uraraka! You can make me float and I can make acid rain!"

"Kinda brutal, no?"

"And you can control me with your tape, Sero!"

"Where are you going with this?"

"While Koda, Shoji and Jiro run reconnaissance! WE'll be team rainy Day!"

"Yahoo…"

"What about Us?" said Mineta and Kaminari.

"No thank you!"

"Meshing personalities matters just as much as quirks when it comes to partnerships," said Yaoyorozu, gently.

"Wow, Yaomomo," said Hagakure. "Talk about adding insult to injury."

"GET READY TO MOVE OUT, EVERYONE!" said Iida. "IT'S TIME TO GET CHANGED!"

We were headed to Gym Gamma. More hero training.

"Today's Assignment!" said Cementoss. "Keep working on your ultimate moves! The previous benchmark was to create two ultimate moves. Those who haven't done so will keep trying, while those who have will work on improving their existing ones."

We all nodded and headed off. From the corner of my eye I could see Midoriya and Bakugou, possibly having one of their more dramatic conversations. But it was time for me to concentrate instead on my ultimate move.

Aside from the iceberg, and using both at once. What comes next?

Something with fire, I suppose. Dammit. OK. Don't forget what Midoriya said. Your power is your own. Just because the old man is acting differently now - just because of all that - that doesn't mean you should let it throw you off or stop your hard work.

Concentrate and do your best.