-Izuku-

True to his belief, she could keep the demons at bay, at least for a night. It was the most restful sleep Izuku had obtained in a long time, about a year and a ½. Doubts and questions would have plagued his mind most of his life, but after All-Might had made his offer almost every night, I had kicked into high gear. Not to say that every night was nightmares or horrible, far from the truth, but the stress had begun to build more elevated, and for someone already high-stressed from the daily bullying, it eventually compounded.

Was he good enough? Would he be able to inherit One for All? Can he get into U.A.? Can….

The list could be endless, with all the questions that followed him into U.A. and beyond. But last night, as he settled to sleep, it was just thoughts of Mina, how she made him feel safe, how she made him realize that he had done all he could. Most notably, she finally made him realize he wasn't alone and had been going at everything alone when he didn't need to. He silently cursed himself for not opening up to Ochaco and Tenya; they were his best friends; they would have kept his secret and been able to help support him. Instead, he let things and hints slip to Katsuki.

Katsuki Bakugo. Now that was complicated, childhood friend (maybe), tormentor, bully, asshole, and just as broken. Nothing could excuse Katsuki's actions; understanding why he did it only helped them move past it. The fight had been very violent; no one saw how brutal it had gotten; if it weren't for Recovery Girl, the consequences would have been dire. There was no sitting down and talking it out between them. There was so much rage, anger, guilt, and self-loathing between them that words had no meaning, only violence. Violence was their language that night; after the violence was the tears, and after the tears finally came the words. Locked in a room for 6 hours, they railed and screamed at each other, verbally bashed, and insulted each other, then, in the end, listened. A new understanding of a reset was reached. Forgiveness wasn't there yet, and at first, that hurt Izuku when he realized that he couldn't just forgive Katsuki, but it was the truth. Actions needed to be taken and deeds accomplished to earn that.

The warmth that greeted him as he pulled his way into wakefulness was comforting and oh-so-warm. He lay on his back, his left arm above his head, and a warm, sensual, beautiful girl cuddled against his side. Her breasts were pressed against his chest and side as she draped over him, one arm across his chest, one of his legs trapped between hers. She was lying on his other arm, wrapped around her slim waist holding her tight. He began to take acute notice that his tank top was not blocking her hand on his chest. Instead, it was under said clothing item, and his hand also touched the skin. Then his fear rocketed through him as a particular member of Izuku was fully awake.

Izuku was horrified; she would think I was a pervert now; oh god, what do I do? Please calm down; please calm down. Oh, she smells so good; I noticed before, but now…no…no…stop. This is the opposite of calming down. HELP, Nana, Banjo, ANYONE. They did not come to his aid, but he could hear them snickering. Mina moved and shifted her knee, sliding up his leg, resting against the great betrayer; she stirred more; he knew she was waking up. Well, that's it. She was about to break up with him; everything accomplished yesterday disappeared.

-Mina-

Why was she waking up? Her alarm hadn't even gone off yet. Oh, Muscles…leg in between mine…thigh pressed against…something stiff…. OH MY GOD! …be cool…just be cool…ok maybe he hasn't noticed…but I need to shower defiantly… SWEET BABY XENOMORPH… I need to stop reading Momo's romance novels… the things he does to me should be criminal…

A torrid of thoughts caused her face to burst in a shade of lilac that began to run down her body as the heat started to increase in areas that should not be named, Mina in what she would declare if it had been recorded would have earned her an Oscar nomination causally woke up, disentangled herself from her boyfriend, stretched, glanced over her shoulder giving him a very sultry good morning and sashayed her way to the bathroom.

The reality, on the other hand, she bolted upright, eeped, shouted good morning, and ran into the bathroom.

Izuku took the opportunity to get out of bed. "Mina, I am going to head to my room and shower," his voice cracked.

"Sounds good; I will see you downstairs," her voice doing the same.

He didn't want to go out into the halls in his present situation, fearing running into someone else. Instead, he saw the window and, like any sane teenage boy using a black whip, made his escape being meticulous to avoid anyone else's window, and scrambled to his, slipping in he could finally breathe as he made his way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Tsu couldn't help but giggle as she got more than a good look at Izuku scrambling to his room; as she was making her way towards her own, thankfully, her camouflage was good enough to allow her to go unnoticed unless someone was looking for her and Izuku was not.

-Day One-

Izuku preceding his regular morning workout this morning found himself downstairs relatively early; he was looking in the fridge when a thought danced through his head; he began to pull out all the ingredients for breakfast, not just for himself but for the class. Morning breakfast told them how much he appreciated them; he looked over his phone to figure out how to increase the pancake recipe when Sato came down.

"Good Morning Izuku; need some help?" he asked.

Izuku was immediately about to fall back on old habits but stopped himself. "Yes, I do, and you are the perfect person. I wanted to make breakfast for everyone, to thank all of you, but I realize that doing so alone may not be freezable. Would you please help me?"

"I would love to; what did you have in mind? Besides Pancakes?" He said, smiling as he walked over.

"I was thinking we could do some sausage that All-Might has sent me, salad, maybe?"

"We can manage all that, but why don't we do something more special and make blueberry pancakes? I can even make some blueberry compote to go over the top."

"Won't that be much work?"

"No, actually, it is super easy, barely an inconvenience," Sato replied with a brilliant smile. "I'll teach you so you can make it for Mina one day."

"Thank you, Sato; I would appreciate that."

The boys set to work as Sato was giving a cooking lesson about blueberry pancakes and guiding Izuku through cooking American Sausage patties; soon, surprisingly, Toru joined them in the kitchen and happily volunteered to get the salad prepped. Mineta sauntered in, and his eyes and mouth watered when he was told that breakfast was being made for everyone. He then started rummaging through the freezer before pulling out a dark green bag with a boar.

"What's that?" Toru asked.

"This is Kona Peaberry coffee; it is one of the best coffee beans in the world. My mom sent me a bag from Hawaii, and I want to share it with all of you who drink coffee. It is special to me, and I want to share it with you all." The boy said simply with no questionable comments or anything. He walked over, opened another cabinet, pulled out a coffee grinder, and began to get the coffee brewing.

"I didn't know you were so passionate about coffee," The girl replied, plugging in the tea kettles.

"My dad loved it; he would talk about it. When I was little, I would wake up and have some with him before he passed away. Not a lot, only a little bit, it was mostly cream and sugar, but it was our thing. Every day he was home, he would do that; he would wake me up so we could have private time together. When he got sick, I started making the coffee; I would take it to him, drink it, and talk. So now that he is gone, I still do it; I drink my coffee and imagine I am talking to him. It keeps him alive; you know." They could all hear the emotion reverberating through his voice; a vulnerability they had never seen from him was fully displayed. None of them knew that he had lost his father; he didn't talk about his home life; it was always comments, learns, girls, and games. He had taken off the mask and showed them himself.

"I would love to try some," Sato said. Izuku chimed in that he would as well.

"Mineta, I have never really tried coffee, but if you make it for me as your dad did with cream and sugar, I think I would like to try it," Toru said, almost waiting for a comment to fly from the boy.

"Thanks, guys," was his simple response, and he returned to his task.

As more came downstairs, there was happy chaos as the food was served on compliments were dished out; Toru hesitantly took her sip of coffee then smiled, proclaiming that she liked it with all the cream and sugar; Sato took his black and just marveled at the taste, he looked to Mineta and started commenting about different notes and flavors he was tasting. Prompting Izuku to take another sip, he could now put what he was tasting into words. The joy it seemed to bring Mineta as he excitedly responded to Sato was endearing.

When Mina came down, he excused himself to sit and eat with her; thankfully, there was no mention of their morning, only of how well they slept. Ochaco sat with Tsu and Tenya close to the new couple but not too tight. Eijiro did the same, sitting with Bakugo and enjoying breakfast. With a stack of food, Momo thanked the chefs, happily sat in the middle of everyone, and enjoyed her food. She usually would sit off the side, slightly embarrassed at how much food she needed to consume, but she was stepping forward and working on one of her insecurities.

The class waited till they were all gathered in the lobby of the dorms and left as a unit, Izuku taking Mina's hand to the girl's delight as they walked hand in hand towards class.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go with me to the hospital today after class to meet Eri?" he said.

"Really?" Mina was surprised but also excited to meet the little girl who her boyfriend had rescued. She had heard from Eijiro how shy the little girl was; Mina was afraid of scaring her. "Are you sure? I don't want to scare her, but I know how much she means to you, so I want to meet her."

"I think she will love you; we must take it slow and let her set the pace. But if you are with me, I am sure it will be ok. She trusts me, and once she sees how much you mean to me, I am sure it will work out."

"Then yes, I would love to meet her," Mina said, still worried, but his words' warmth overshadowed that. "Maybe we can stop so I can pick her up a gift or something?"

"That sounds like a plan." He responded.

Members of 1-B noticed something different about 1-A in how they moved and talked. Setsuna Togake's curiosity peaked, but it was soon overshadowed when she saw Izuku and Mina holding hands as they walked.

As the class entered their homeroom, they were surprised to see their homeroom teacher standing at the podium instead of asleep behind his desk.

"Yo are we late Tenya?" Denki asked.

"I assure you that we are not late, though if you had followed my advice, we could have arrived an hour early as proper students should." The president snapped back.

"Yea, that's a hard no, and if we had, then we wouldn't have been able to have breakfast together," Toru said. "Are you saying we shouldn't do things to build us closer as a class, Mr. President?"

"That is not what I was implying…but I suggest we find our seats." Tenya said, noticing the glare from their teacher. The room sat silently for a minute before Aizawa stepped from around the podium. He then bowed to his students.

"I have failed you, all of you," Aizawa said as he bowed before the class. "When I was in school, I didn't start in the hero course; instead, I made it through the route of the sports festival, and despite my sunny disposition, there wasn't anyone to which I was close. Then one day, an extremely extroverted, problematic, and all-around pain in the ass decided he couldn't let this stand. His name was Oboro Shirakumo, and he wouldn't leave me alone; he was this constant irritating source of joy and sunshine that refused to allow me to be alone. Mina & Toru, you remind me a lot of him. If it were just him, that would have been one thing, but then that annoying cockatiel joined in because he did.

They wouldn't leave me alone, and then Midnight joined them, and my solitude was over. I had found friends that would last a lifetime. We did everything together, trained, studied, worked studies, outings, late-night talks, broke curfew, everything." The glass smiled at the thought of their teacher being like them and that he broke some rules. "Any of you break curfew, and you're expelled!" he added with a minuscule smile.

"As we neared graduation, much like all of you, visions of top hero spots, high billboard rankings, and epic team-ups danced through our heads. We would take this world by storm until the day Oboro was killed during his work studies." The class knew it was coming off the absence of Oboro since the beginning of the school year, but the pain and crack in Aizawa's voice reached out to them. "Oboro died, and I blamed his death on the faculty, the pro hero he interned with, and everyone else I could. It was because he wasn't trained enough, his attitude was right, he was too carefree, he was too nice, his quirk wasn't suited for heroics, his dedication, everything, and I never let it go.

I have expelled so many students that didn't fit the idea of how a hero should act their dedication was lacking, you name it. I did it all under the guise that I was doing them a favor and saving them from Oboro's fate and those around that person who cared and loved them from that fate. I WAS WRONG."

Leaning back against the desk, he looks over his class. "Yes, there are some instances where some students should be expelled or removed from the hero course for multiple reasons, but I can see that I didn't always have that valid reason. MY JOB within these walls is to train each of you to be a hero, survive, thrive, and live. Not judge you at a glance and dismiss you.

Izuku Midoriya, I threatened to expel you the first day because you were a glass cannon and a danger to those in the field. That was a true statement, but I failed to understand why you couldn't use your quirk without injury. The fact that it had manifested for the first time at the exam would have provided that answer, but I didn't. I saw you, judged you with knowing my ass from a hole in the wall. That goes for your mental state; instead of dismissing or ignoring your problems, I should have gotten you help.

Katsuki Bakugo, I ignored all the obvious problems between you and Midoriya and how you treated your classmates. Why? Because it wasn't necessary to me, and that was wrong. You know now that your behavior is unacceptable, and that society let you get away with it and would have continued to do so because of your quirk. It is part of our bias towards powerful quirks. I ignored the obvious problem because of the strength of your quirk.

Shoto Todoroki, Your withdrawn nature and refusal to use the other half of your quirk was a sign that help was needed. It wasn't like you were hiding your quirk. It was in the name on the registry, half-hot/half-cold. It shouldn't have taken one of your classmates destroying their hands to reach out to you and help you get the help you needed.

Tenya Ida, Your brother was attacked by the hero killer stain, and no counseling was offered. You took an internship in the very city he was shot in the hopes of going into to combat against a villain you had no hope of defeating on your own with the sole goal of vengeance, and if again, if it wasn't for Midoriya figuring it out, and sending the worst call for backup ever. You wouldn't be here.

Now imagine if you had expelled Midoriya for failing to find the answer to a simple question.

Toru Hagakure, how has being invisible affected your life? Your hero costume is not a costume at all. Did I or anyone else ever direct you to the support department to help with that? We can make a costume to keep Lemillion from running naked but nothing for you.

Momo Yaoyorozu, Does having to expose so much skin for your quirk bother you? Does the amount of food you need to consume in public bother you?

Mineta Minoru, it is OK to be attracted to your classmates, but learning and other matters are unacceptable, and you know that. Still, it should have been addressed more sternly, and counseling why you felt this behavior was acceptable.

Mina Ashido, Tsuyu Asui, Fumikage Tokoyami, Koji Koda, and Masahiro Ojiro, have you experienced bias due to the mutation of your quirk?

There are others that I could point to, but these are questions and things I should have asked and sought answers to long before today. I have not devoted time to you, but that ends today. I cannot go back in time to correct all I have done wrong, but I can ask that we move ahead together starting today. Now how can we do that?"

"How?" Sero asked.

"I promise you all from this day forward that you can come to me if you are having a problem, and I will listen and do my best to direct you to a solution, whether with me or someone else. There will be no more idle threats of expulsion, and as of today, I have scaled back on my hero work to be more present during class hours. I want any suggestions you guys have on improving together."

"How to fight," Bakugo said. "Not with our quirks but how to handle ourselves without them."

Aizawa smiled and went to the board, writing it down.

"Physical Fitness, we have access to gyms, but some of us have never really worked out and are just doing things we saw online," Denki added.

"Extra help with schoolwork," Mina chimed in. "Sometimes I feel bad always having to ask the others to explain things; now I have my private tutor but still." Izuku blushed at the comment."

"I want permission to start a quirk training club," Izuku said. "I want to invite 1-B."

"Explain," Aizawa said.

"I have all these notebooks and notes on our quirks and theirs; many people in this class have said that it has helped them, and I want to extend that help to 1-B. I also want us all to keep getting better and get used to fighting with each other. Shigaraki is still out there, and he is not alone."

"You will need an advisor, but I will bring it up to the principal, and we will work it out."

"Help with our costumes," Todoroki said. "Some of us need redesigns or things that can help us survive. Or use our quirks better, or even manage a weakness."

"Though Mei Hatsume may be evil, I cannot deny that she is brilliant," Tenya added.

"I think we should have permission to take a step back or a 5-minute break if needed. Sometimes when training gets overwhelming, I need to take a minute." Mineta said.

"We would need to work out a system, but I think we can do that," Aizawa replied. "Anything else?"

Momo stood up, "It does bother me; my quirk, while helpful, made me consume such a high caloric intake that it made me mature faster than my peers. And the need for skin exposure is critical; I was never completely comfortable with it."

"I haven't seen myself since I was 4; whenever I get picked up or grabbed in training, I have to get used to the fact that almost everyone has copped a feeling of some sort whether I like it or not. It messes with my mental health." Toru said. "I am not mad at any of you; we naturally use our eyes to know where to grab someone, but in my case…."

"I had a difficult upbringing," shared Ochaco. "Nowadays, I become anxious when I see uneaten food because of my past experiences. Even though I recognize that more food will be available later, I still worry about the possibility of insufficient food. I acknowledge this irrational fear but struggle to let go of it."

"I question if my parents truly support me being a hero or if I have disappointed them by not becoming a musician." Kyoka said, "I also have body issues, and if any of you boys say anything, I will poke your eyes out."

Koji "I had a vocal cord problem when I was little. I couldn't talk till I was eight. No one wanted to talk to me by then, so I stopped for a while. No one noticed. But you guys talk to me, I don't have to talk back, and you guys are still there with me. I find it hard to speak up, but I am trying to get better."

The class all looked at each other and then at their sensei. "The first step is going to be that I am going to schedule appointments with Hounddog and with Midnight as licensed therapists; they are both qualified to help. We will then work on implanting your changes and integrating them into how we move forward. We will take a 20-minute break to focus, then move on to history class."

-Lunch-

After such a heavy morning, returning to some regular classes was a welcome distraction for the class; when the bell rang, Izuku asked them to save him a seat as he had to see Recovery Girl to get another treatment. The class watched him walk off before they moved together to the cafeteria.

It was abustle with the regular activity, but as they moved through the lunch line, they started talking about silly things like the food or some show they had seen the other night. It was an attempt not to let all the events weigh them down; the emotional release was draining differently than most were used to.

Mina was getting her food and chatting with Toru as the invisible girl was helping her grab some when Midoriya joined them. As they made their way to the group of tables, their classmates claimed that Setsuna from class 1-B fell into step next to her, carrying her lunch.

"Hey, Mina," the girl said with a huge smile.

"Hello, Set," Mina replied, already knowing where this was likely heading. "So, what's up?"

"I saw you walking to class today, holding Midoriya's hand. Are you together now?"

Mina smiled broadly, "Yup, as of yesterday at lunch." Mina realized it had been only 24 hours, and it ranked up there with some of her life's most intriguing 24 hours.

"So, when do I get the deets?" Set asked. "Want to come over later?"

"I would, but I can't today; I have something to do with Izuku."

"I wouldn't want to interfere with your date, but I want all the details," Set said with a smile as she moved to her lunch table.

The class was eating and enjoying the simple act of being together as a group when Midoriya made his way with no slings on his arms and sat next to Mina, who slid his food in front of him. "Thank you, Mina, that was sweet," he said, kissing her cheek shyly, the young couple blushing.

"Toru helped, too," Mina responded.

"Thank you as well, Toru."

"It is all good," Toru replied.

"What did Recovery Girl say?" Mina asked.

"I have a clean bill of health; I am in no worse shape than before I went on the raid. I am in a little better shape because of Eri. I can't wait for you to meet her today."

"I am a little nervous, but I want to meet her too," Mina responded.

-A Rabbit, an Alien, and Unicorn Walk into a room-

Mina stood outside the hospital room, fidgeting; she was carrying a bag with a stuffed animal she had noticed the way as a gift for Eri. She was so nervous it was funny; you would think she was about to meet Izuku's mom or take an important meeting. As soon as the door opened, she heard a voice call out. "DEKU!"

"Hi, Eri; I told you I would come to see you today," Izuku responded. "I brought a friend with me; she is incredibly special to me. I wanted to know if it was ok for her to say hi to you."

"Is she nice?"

"She is genuinely nice, I promise. And you know I keep my promises, right?"

"….Ok," Eri said after a pause.

"Come in, Mina," Izuku said.

Mina was unsure what to anticipate as the child's appearance had been altered on the video for her security. However, when she entered the room, she found Izuku seated on the bed with a little girl with messy, unkempt bluish-off-white hair parted in the center of her forehead and extending almost to her waist. The girl had wide, innocent-looking eyes that were bright red in color. A small brown horn was visible on the right side of her forehead.

Mina noticed that the little girl was wearing a hospital gown and had bandages wrapped around her arms and legs. The girl appeared frightened and was holding onto Izuku tightly. To avoid causing any distress, Mina decided to keep a safe distance from the little girl.

"Hi Eri, I'm Mina. It is nice to meet you." Mina said with a lovely smile.

"You go to school with Deku." The little girl said as they were both in their U.A. uniforms. "Are you a hero like him?"

"That's right, I am a hero in training like Deku; my hero's name is Pinky," Mina said, smiling slightly brighter. Mina noticed the girl relaxed just a little.

"I like your horn and your pink skin; it's pretty," Eri said.

"Why thank you, Eri, I like your horn too. I brought you a present is that ok."

Eri looked at the bag and then at Izuku, wondering if it was ok; Izuku smiled at Eri. "It's ok, Eri. I promise you Mina is nice, and she would never do anything to hurt you. She helps take care of me."

"She takes care of you, but you're so strong?" Eri said, her eyes big.

"And even the strong need people to take care of them," Izuku said, looking towards Mina with a smile that made Mina want to kiss him without delay. "Everyone needs help and people to take care of them."

"If she takes care of you, then that means she is nice," Eri said. "Thank you for the present."

Mina could feel herself wanting to smother this girl in hugs. Mina moved forward, crouched before them, and opened the bag to reveal a green stuffed rabbit. Eri eyes seemed to widen as Mina pulled the animal out and held it out. She could see the conflict play across Eri's face as she wanted to grab it but was hesitant.

"It's OK, Eri," Izuku said softly.

Slowly Eri took the rabbit into her arms, staring at it intently before she hugged it closely. The tiniest smile tugged at the corner of her lip. "It looks like you, Deku." Mina giggled, and Izuku blushed. "Now I can have you next to me even when you are not here," Eri said, making their hearts melt. "Thank you, Mina."

After that, Eri began to talk not much but a little bit more about how the people here were friendly, but she still felt afraid that when Deku wasn't there, Mirio would visit her all the time, and that made her feel better. Izuku promised to return tomorrow, and when he asked if Mina could go with him, Eri nodded. "She has a horn like me, is very pretty and nice, and protects you. So, she has to come to keep you safe."

Mina smiled. "Yup, we can be horn buddies, and I promise I will always try to keep you, Deku, safe."

Eri hugged her bunny, "Thank you for the bunny, Mina." Eri hugged Izuku tightly as the nurses came along with Mirio so Eri could do some tests. Eri clambered into Mirio's lap in the wheelchair and waved as they rolled down the hall.

"She doesn't smile," Izuku said, taking Mina's hand as they walked out.

"I saw that."

"I want that more than anything; I want her to smile. She has suffered so much, Mina, more than any of us. And I want to give that to her."

"You will, baby; we can figure it out together. Do you want to talk about it? About what happened to Eri?"

"We can, but I am telling you it will be tough to hear."

"I understand, but I am here to help you carry that burden. Eri's smiling is important to you; therefore, it is important to me."

"Ok, later tonight then, when we get home." Izuku said, before blushing some, "Mina would you like to go to dinner with me?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Mina said teasingly.

"Yes. I mean, it's okay right… you are my girlfriend…" he stammered.

"I am glad you still get flustered," Mina said, kissing his cheek. "I would love to have dinner with you, Izu."

"MINA," Izuku said, blushing up a storm. The young couple walked into the night, unsure of what tomorrow may bring but thankful that they would face it together.