3 Years Later:

'Time flies.' Izuku thinks fondly as he sits down on the bench in the dojo's backyard, gazing upon the aftermath of today's party. It's Sakura's 14th birthday today and their sensei went all out. They invited more of their friends than Izuku had met prior, including some who were pro heroes! The whole party was fun from start to finish, and, as expected, some fights broke out but they didn't disrupt the flow of everything thankfully.

As the adults left and the trio of kids remained, Sakura let out a content sigh as she plots down next to the 11-year-old Izuku. "That was really fun." Sakura says with a smile.

"Yeah!" Izuku agrees. "I got so many autographs."

"You already had most of them though," Sakura points out with a giggle. "Pictures with them too."

"Well, you see - you see, sometimes, it pays to get a spare. Just in case, you know?"

"How many spares do you need, Izuku?" Ryoya says suddenly, making them both jump in surprise.

"Ryo-kun! Don't do that!" Sakura shouts. "I almost punched you in the face on reflex!"

"Reflex," Ryoya shoots back dryly. "Sure. Sorry."

When Izuku regains his composure, he laughs nervously. "Where'd you go all night? I feel like I haven't seen you that much today."

Ryoya coughs awkwardly into his fist and looks away. "I don't do well in crowds."

Sakura makes a sound of acknowledgement. "You really are a wallflower, aren't you?" She teases, while reaching over to grab his cheek. She's always been taller than they were, but now… Ryoya's about to pass her and Izuku's not far behind.

Ryoya catches her hand. "Don't." Sakura gives him an innocent smile and retracts her hand.

"Always so serious," she says fondly. "Anyway, you might be wondering why I asked you two to come out here."

"Something to do with school, right?" Izuku tries, and the brunette nods in confirmation.

"Yeah, that." Sakura's bubbly disposition suddenly simmers down a bit. "As you both know, this is my last year of middle school…"

"Yeah! Just about done, huh? Does Tamagawa Minami have a high school section too?"

"Er, yeah, they do. But that's not really what I'm interested in." Sakura starts to touch her fingers together, if only to keep her hands busy. "I think - I think I want to get into heroics. At UA."

Upon mention of the famous school, Izuku can't help the blinding smile that appears on his face. "Oh! That's great! You'd make a great hero, Sakura!"

Sakura takes the praise in stride, with only a light dusting of pink on her cheeks. "Yeah, my folks think so too. So I'll try it with everything I've got! I want to save people… but I also like good street fights. So I figured this would be the best thing to do!" She says proudly, punching her fist for emphasis. "And besides, training is more fun when you have a specific goal to work towards."

Ryoya says nothing for a while before raising a brow. "I get the feeling you aren't telling us everything." He says with a frown. Sakura's smile falters ever so slightly.

"You don't miss anything, do you? Basically, my grades aren't the best right now. They aren't bad, but they need to be better if I want to pass the written exam. So… my parents want me to cut down on dojo time - like, a lot."

Izuku deflates. "Oh. That's… understandable, I guess." He says, forcing a smile to his face. "You want to pass with flying colors, after all."

"Mhm! I don't want to just make it into UA. I want to take it by storm!"

"I feel so bad for your classmates."

Sakura has the decency to feign offense at Ryoya's comment. "Aww, you're so mean, Ryo-kun! That's no way to treat your moirail!"

"I still won't read Homestuck."

"You should! It's great!"

Before those two could get lost in yet another Homestuck conversation, Izuku interjects with sheepish laughter. "Well, I guess we don't have that much time left. We may as well have fun, right?"

Suddenly, Ryu walks in with a slightly drunk Chun-Li hanging off of his shoulder. They're both grinning like idiots and a bit red in the face. Then realization dawns on them both that they aren't alone. "O - oh… you lot are out here." Ryu says lamely, smile dropping from his face.

What follows next is a painfully awkward silence as realization dawns on the three students. Ryu and Chun-Li watch in amusement as their expressions contort.

"Wimps. Anyway, before you go running off, be back here in two days. We have something serious to take care of." No one budges, so Ryu, in typical Ryu fashion, leans over and kisses Chun-Li on the lips. The disgusted yelling is music to his ears.

When two days come and go, Izuku, Sakura and Ryoya all wait patiently in the middle of the dojo. It's early morning, and the springtime sun brings enough warmth to counter whatever lingering winter breeze dares to breach the walls. None of them are particularly ready for today, and Izuku is pretty sure that Harushi is sleeping while standing up, but the tone with which Ryu-sensei brought it up was enough to make them understand.

"Good. You're all here." Ryu says evenly as he and Ken enter the room. They're both dressed in their respective gi, as expected, but both have several plain white duffle bags over their shoulders. "I just got off the phone with your mother, Midoriya. You're good to go."

"Same thing for you, Sakura." Ken adds. "Your dad was a bit against it, but he warmed up after some encouragement."

"Er, what about Harushi?" Izuku asks with a yawn. "Can we come with us on whatever… this is?"

"Yes, I'm his legal guardian." Ryu explains. "He'll be right there. Chun-Li wasn't the… happiest about the plans, but she understood. Whatever the case, here." He and Ken throw the bags over to the kids and grab their own. "You're carrying your own things. Don't lose them, we're gonna need the extra supplies. Well, except maybe you, Harushi."

"Um, sensei?" Sakura chirps. "This bag is kinda heavy. What's in here?" Whatever it is is loose and rugged, making hollow clanking sounds whenever jostled even the slightest bit.

"Camping gear." Says Ken. "We're going to learn ki."

That woke everyone up.

"It's time. I'm sure Sakura has told you two about her taking less time here and focusing more on her studies." Ryu says, mostly as a formality. When the boys nod, he continues. "We knew about this before you two did, and as such, planned around it. Normally, we'd wait a lot longer before we got into ki training. Ken and I didn't really even start until our early twenties."

The three students share a look at that, all showing various levels of shock. "But - but sensei, why are you starting so soon for us?" Izuku couldn't help but ask.

"A few reasons…" Ryu trails off. Despite being a master of stoicism, those people closest to Ryu could see his indecisiveness clearly on his expressionless face. Ken puts his hand on his shoulder.

"I got this, buddy." The blond says with a smile. "It's not really that complicated but… crime has been picking up recently." He says, uncharacteristically serious. "You want to be heroes, correct?" Sakura and Izuku nod, but Ryoya offers nothing. "Things have been getting rougher as of late. Feels like new villains are popping up out of nowhere damn near everyday. We just want you guys to be ready. Sakura, this is likely the last real major thing you're going to be doing here before you all but stop coming around, right?"

Sakura nods solemnly. "Yeah, my parents are limiting me to coming this far maybe once or twice…a month. It's so unfair."

"Chin up, Sakura! Shotokans don't look down unless it's on our opponents!" Ken says with a smile, attempting to cheer the girl up. "It sucks, but you've proven yourself to be pretty flexible when it comes to training. I'm sure you'll be golden. But we digress. For now, you need to be ready for what's to come. We fear the Era of Peace might be ending sooner rather than later…" Ken trails off with a sigh.

Before Izuku or anyone could ask what that meant, a car horn echoed through the room.

"The chauffeur is here. Let's not waste time."

The car ride is long, quiet and awkward. Sakura and Izuku try to make conversation but it's forced and stilted as the tension eased towards a crescendo as they got further from the city. Ryoya, much like Ryu, had his arms crossed with his head leaned against the window, sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.

Ken watches the boy sleep with an odd look on his face.

"Midoriya. Sakura." Ken says in a lower tone than either are used to. "...have either of you ever been camping?" When both kids shook their heads 'no', Ken nodded expectantly. "Didn't think so. You two will be sticking with me for most of the hike to get where we need to be."

"Where're we going, Sensei?"

"To the Akaishi Mountains."

"In - In the Minami Alps National Park?" Izuku asks, confused. Ken nods. "But why?"

"Best place to learn ki," Ken says simply. "We have a friend there. The same guy who taught us all those years ago."

That caught the two kids off guard, and they shared a look of excited anticipation.

"It's going to be a long trek though, as a fair heads up. Minami is known for its black bears, wild boar and deer. I'll be there with you both though, so don't worry, but stay close and don't wander off."

"Um, sensei? What about him?" Sakura says, pointing at Ryoya. "You say us both and not 'all of us'. What gives?"

"He's going with Ryu. They're taking a different route."

"Why?"

Ryu, at the mention of his name, stirs in his sleep. "...has Harushi ever told you about where he's from?"

Izuku and Sakura share a look before slumping their shoulders. "I've asked before," Izuku says with a sad sigh. "But he just gave me this look and -"

"He seemed so sad." Sakura finishes for him, sporting an equally upset look.

"Yeah. He never answered and I - I couldn't ask him again."

Ryu gives them both an even stare before turning back to the sleeping boy. He hadn't stirred once this entire drive, which was good. "I see. I'm sure he'll tell you some day. But I'll say now - the reason he's coming with me is because he's pretty used to nature. Where he was before this… wasn't great. He's essentially lived in the wild."

"Not essentially," Ken corrects bitterly. "He did. The poor kid. For years."

"Lived… in the wild?" The green-haired boy asked with concern dripping from his face. "You're - you're kidding, right? Sensei…"

"I wish." It's Ryu's turn to sound bitter. He remembers that night in Hawaii all too clearly. Being given a barely conscious, malnourished child who was clearly trained based on his body, but nothing else. He barely spoke coherent Japanese and barely knew where he even was. Suffice to say, Chun-Li was not expecting that call that night. "Anyway, he'll be coming with me for other reasons too, but rest assured, we're going to the same place. We might arrive before you."

"Oh?" Ken says challengingly. "Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Ohoho! My friend! We -"

"Please," Ryoya says slowly in a raspy voice. "Let's just… not right now, Sensei."

"Oh, did we wake you?"

"No," The boy says plainly, stretching as he does. "I wasn't sleeping."

"Oh." Izuku said stiffly.

Ryu clears his throat and breaks the awkward atmosphere. "Get ready, we're almost there."

Minami Alps National Park is beautiful, even from the entrance. Tourists are all over the place and the staff seems to be hard at work which makes it easy for the shotokan group to slip by unnoticed and into the dense brush. When they got far enough away that people grew scarce and mountains got taller, Ryu and Ken led the kids on a trail that led them to an open clearing with a nice view.

"Harushi." Ryu calls out. "Use your quirk. Look exactly west and focus as hard as you can."

Ryoya raises a brow, but does what he's told; looking down then activating Visionary. He does something strange, looking up towards the sun and tracing its pattern before turning his head.

"What do you see?"

The group watches in interest as Ryoya's eyes narrow and the golden flower pattern in his eyes starts to slowly rotate clockwise. It's incredible, since no one seemed to know they did that.

"H - huh?"

"I see a few bears, deer and a river about a kilometer away. There's not really much of a beaten path but it's manageable."

"Is that all?"

"Should I be seeing more?"

"No," Ken says smoothly. "We're just checking before we try something." The blonde man walks up with a glowing hand and taps Ryoya on the shoulder. The effect is near instant as the tanned child perks up near immediately and his eyes go wide. "Try now."

There's a beat of silence as Ryoya blinks a few times to readjust to his newly enhanced vision. "...whoa." Then he groans and closes his eyes.

Izuku and Sakura watch on with slack jaws as the golden flowers start to rotate a bit faster making them stand out even more against the pale blue background. "You okay?" Izuku asks while rushing to his friend's side.

"Yeah…" Ryoya says while rubbing his temples. "Just… wasn't expecting that much sensory overload. Anyway, give me a second."

Izuku and everyone else does as Ryoya takes his time reopening his eyes before narrowing them once more towards the west.

"What do you see now? Look at the horizon this time."

"I see…more. It's far, and blurry but I see a temple? I think it's a temple." Ryoya groans and rubs his eyes. "I can't see that far…"

"It's fine." Ryu says, patting the boy on the back. "I know that's not how your quirk works. Basically, we're going to be hiking roughly 30 kilometers that way over the course of a day or two. We made sure to pack light, but essential things. Sakura's bag is a bit heavier since her mother would kill us both if we didn't make sure she had extra things. It should take a day and half to get to the destination. Any questions?"

"Do we - uh, have snacks?" Izuku asks with a nervously raised hand.

"Yes. We have enough food and water for the trip. Is that all?" When Ryu's answer is silence, he nods to Ken. "Good. We'll meet up as a designated spot by the end of the day. Let's go Harushi."

Sakura, Izuku and Ken wandered the dense brush for a while, talking only in small intervals about whatever their mind came across.

"So, kids. It's beautiful, ain't it? The great outdoors. I remember when I first met Ryu out here, actually."

That gave Izuku a pause. He had known his Sensei's history of course, they spoke about it from time to time, but he rarely had the full picture painted for him at once. While they walk, Sakura continues to be in awe of her surroundings and tunes out the blonde man, but Izuku is at full attention.

"It was years ago," Ken starts dramatically. "I had just dyed my hair blonde after my parents got back together. Right around when I turned twelve - god, it's been over twenty years - dad sent me to train under his best friend at the time, some old fart named Gouken. Let me tell you, at first, I hated it."

That sentence caught Izuku off guard. Ken-sensei has always spoken of his time with Gouken and Ryu back at their dojo with nothing but rose tinted glasses. For him to be so candid about it took the boy by surprise.

Ken snorts. "What? Do you think I enjoyed those weird methods?"

"Er - well, I guess?" Izuku says lamely. "You seem to enjoy them when we're back at the dojo so I figured -"

"Midoriya, I enjoy them because I don't do them. I tell you kids to do it and your misery is cathartic." Ken says with a thumbs up and without a shred of shame. "Anyway, after a while, I just got used to it and I really started to respect Gouken-sensei. It helped because Ryu was there though."

At the mention of Ryu's name, Sakura comes to and gasps. "What was Ryu-sensei like when he was younger? I asked him but he never answered…"

Ken paused for a beat before erupting in laughter. "You should've seen 'im! Harushi's actually a great example. Picture him but like… he has an aversion to shoes and talks a bit more."

"Oh my God!"

"Yeah!" says the older fighter. "He was so awkward! But he kinda grew out of it with the help of yours truly. You should've seen when he figured out he liked Chun-Li. It only took him until their fifth date!"

Sakura barely stifles her giggles while Izuku looks on in shock.

Ken wipes a tear from his eye when he stops laughing. "Good times, good times. Now look at us. I'm married and me and Eliza are trying for a kid, and Ryu and Chun-Li are together and they recently adopted this little girl, Li-Fen and -" Ken stops walking and glances to his left. He can sense Ryu in the distance and lets out a fond sigh. "We've grown up. And it's less about fighting and more about passing onto the next generation… The old man was right at the end of the day. Who knew?"

In the midst of the melancholy, Ken suddenly pauses. "Oh, I sense a beast."

Sakura and Izuku are on edge immediately. Seconds later, sticks crack and leaves rustle behind them as a large black bear slowly creeps into view. Its fur is dirty and the scent that comes with it is disgusting and its biggest feature has to be the mess of scars on its paws. "Oh, it's the Boss!"

"B - boss?!"

"Yeah! He's the biggest, baddest bear in the area! I'm surprised he's here. We must be in his neck of the woods." Ken says casually. "Anyway, this is a good time to bring up your first test! Fight the Boss!"

"What!?" Izuku shouts while Sakura starts to stretch. "B - but - but… what!? We can't fight that!"

"Not with that attitude! Midoriya, you might not have noticed, but your body has been using ki for a long time now. A bear is nothing."

Izuku opens his mouth and closes it once, then twice. And before he could continue his impression of a goldfish, Sakura throws her bag down and runs forward.

"Neat!"

The bear stands up on its back legs and roars, loud, booming and guttural, but while Izuku flinches, Ken smiles. Sakura continues her charge. "Shouoken!" She yells. It's an imitation of her master's Shoryuken. Its form isn't perfect, nor does it have the tight, picturesque movements, but it's no less powerful. Boss finds this out the hard way when it swipes at the girl and misses, before Sakura's fist lands squarely on its chin, causing it to stumble back. "Whew, you're a big boy, aren't you?" Sakura says excitedly. "Get in here, Izuku!"

Izuku hesitates at first before Ken lightly taps him on the shoulder. "Go on, kid!"

And so he does.

His first attempt didn't go well. He takes his stance and moves forward, trying to watch out for any openings. There are many, of course, but it's hard to exploit due to the animal's sheer size and unpredictability. Boss drops to all fours and tries to charge at the girl, but Izuku, moving without thinking, meets Boss halfway there with a strong fist to its hip that the bear doesn't seem to notice.

"H - huh?"

"You hesitated!" Ken shouts. "You got the power, but you aren't using it! Throw like you mean it!"

"Yeah!" Sakura says with a pant as she narrowly avoids Boss's jaws. "You gotta hit with purpose. We shotokan are only strong because we don't raise our fists for nothin'! Everything is stronger when you have purpose behind it!"

As if to emphasize her point, Boss charges again and like a viper, Sakura strikes. The bear opens its mighty jaws again, and before they could clamp down, Sakura pivots to her side and throws a right hook with everything she has. Boss staggers and nearly topples over.

Boss tries to swipe at Sakura again, but she's much too quick and agile, and while the bear is distracted, Izuku sneaks up to its side and, in a near flawless copy of Ryu, steps heavily on left foot, twists his hip and pushes right foot forward, extending with no wasted movement. The titan of a bear recoils on impact and nearly falls over.

"See?! That's what it means to be a Shotokan! You gotta fight like you mean it! Do you mean it, Midoriya!?"

"Ye - yeah, sensei!"

Boss gathers itself and grows. Its charge is fast but streamlined, and Izuku easily avoids it. He mirrors Sakura's previous action, turning his body to the side and punching the bear in the jaw. It doesn't budge and Izuku is struck by the back of its massive paw and is sent sprawling to the ground.

"That's not good enough! You can't stutter! You can't hesitate! You're a Shotokan! You want to be a hero, Midoriya! Get up and move with meaning!"

Izuku groans in pain but manages to stand after Sakura calls his name. "Right!"

Sakura and Ken can see it now, the spark in Izuku's eyes as his resolve strengthens. Ken's proud smile is enough to brighten the forest. "Swing like you mean it! Act like you mean it! Be who you want to be and mean it!"

Boss roars like before, spine-chillingly loud before charging. Izuku assumes his stance and waits. The bear gets close and rears back on its hindlegs and Izuku strikes. 'Move forward! Crouch down! Step diagonally to build more core strength and then…!'

"Shoryuken!"

The force generated by the eleven year old was enough to give Ken a pause. Even Sakura can't really believe it when Boss's head snaps back and the massive creature falls on its back. It takes a few seconds before the creature scurries back to its feet and disappears into the brush.

"Damn straight, kid!" Ken booms. "Couldn't have done it better myself! Well… I could've, but still!"

"That was so cool, Izuku!"

Izuku pants and gathers himself before looking down at his fist in awe. He did that. He did that. And all because he believed in himself. He's still a bit tired and his chest aches, but it feels like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders and he's allowed to breathe easier. It's surreal, really. Seeing the world a bit clearer and moving with just a bit more pep in his step than before.

"That was your first test, kid." Ken says. "Ki is neutral by nature. It feeds off the energy you give it. If you had continued with that self-doubt in your heart, it wouldn't have been nearly as effective nor powerful. How do you feel now?"

"...better." Izuku says honestly and his voice sounds a bit different to his own ears.

"Good. Now, let's go. We've got to meet with the others by sun down."

A/N: Oh no, the green bean learned how to be confident. The world isn't ready. Thank you for the reviews last chapter and thank you for reading!