Symbols and Stars:

"Again!"

Izuku groans, but complies with his sensei's orders. The heavy bag is dented and unforgiving and his whole body aches, but success in this trial is his only option. Failure doesn't even cross his mind. The combination starts simple, but the repetition of it raises the difficulty.

A straight punch followed by a low hook to the midsection. When the bag recoils, Izuku moves with it, taking a step forward and letting the ki pool up around his left leg.

"Now, super charge that kick!"

Izuku knows what that means and lets the ki flow freely around the appendage. Black, inky lines follow his foot as he slams into the middle of the bag. It recoils far enough to nearly hit the high ceiling of the dojo and while it falls down like a pendulum, Izuku plants his feet. Ki starts to bleed off of his person in waves; covering him like a black suit of ethereal armor.

"Focus!"

Leather meets skin with a thundering bang but the green haired teen doesn't budge. He stands proud and unmoving like a mountain in the middle of the dojo, before throwing a jab with the focused energy still around him. It's always jarring, Izuku notes, to inject his ki into things like this. But when the bag dents, but doesn't move, he finishes by putting his hands low, near his hip with his wrists together. He's exhausted after doing this all day, but still, the ki forms in his extremities after a moment and glows bright and powerful. He slides his foot diagonally to gather his balance and then throws his hands forward.

"Hadoken!"

The surge of energy flies across the small distance and all but destroys the heavy bag on impact. Sand, leather and tape fly everywhere as Izuku collapses in exhaustion. Sweat drops from his brow and he struggles to get precious air in his lungs.

"Good work, Midoriya." Ryu says easily while throwing the boy a bottle of water. "You put a bit too much energy into the kick and Hadoken, but that's what practice is for."

Izuku nods as best as he could and chugs down the water with near desperate thirst.

"Get up and stretch then take a lap to cool off. Harushi, you're up next. I'll get a new bag."

Ryoya nods and starts stretching. He notices Izuku struggling to get back to his feet - which he could understand. Ki exhaustion was no joke. In a few short strides, he wordlessly places a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Izuku perks up slightly, but immediately. "Thanks."

"Hm."

"That was, uh, rough."

"I saw. But, you did really well. I don't even think I could take that and not fall."

Izuku feels his cheeks get warm at the praise and scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Right. Right."

"Anyway, you're -"

Ryoya is cut off when the dojo's door slides open and there's a rhythmic pitter patter of footsteps. Some are quicker than others, but as they get closer, voices are heard.

"Just go talk to them, Rumi. It's not the end of the world."

"Easy for you to say! I don't even know how to word it."

"Say it with your fists."

"That's stupid, Kendo."

"So? Life's no fun without a little stupid."

Otsu groans as she, Rappa and Rumi enter the room. "Of course it is." The woman says flatly. "Anyway, here we are, little rabbit. And they're right here already. Good, saves up the trouble."

Rumi looks uncharacteristically flustered at being put on the spot and gives the otter woman a mixture of scowl and pout.

"Hey, boys! Old enough to fight to the death yet?!"

Izuku and Ryoya share a look. Both are confused and Izuku is visibly terrified.

"No," Ryu says calmly as he and Ken return to the room, bag and bottles of water in hand. "No, they aren't. But soon though."

"Hello, old friends." Says Otsu, with a smile and nod. "Don't mind this big oaf. He's just kidding."

"I am? I didn't think so."

"Don't push it."

"Gotcha."

Otsu gives him a glare to make sure he won't say nor do anything to embarrass her further. He's been doing well lately, in that regard. Keeping his violent tendencies to within her dojo and the occasional fight club. She just wished he held back a little more and that his more aggressive, feral tendencies didn't rub off on Usagiyama. Too much, at least.

"As much as I would like to say we're here for a fight," everyone in the room perks up when Otsu says the word 'fight'. "We aren't. We're here because the little bunny has an announcement to make."

Rumi pouts/glares at the woman until a large tail taps her on the backside and pushes her forward.

"I'm moving back to Hiroshima." Rumi says stiffly and through gritted teeth.

Izuku and Ryoya look surprised.

"Huh? I didn't know you were from Hiroshima." Izuku says with widened eyes. "And you're moving back? Why?"

"I'm getting to that!" Rumi snaps and Izuku goes quiet. "Sorry, I - just - damn it! Look, my folks are getting back together and my dad wants us to go back to Hiroshima with my mom and siblings."

"You don't sound happy about it." Ryoya notes. He looks upset with his arms crossed and his mouth in a thin line.

"I ain't!" The rabbit girl hisses. "I like my life here! Things are easy! Dad doesn't really care what I do and I can spend a lot of time at the dojo. Training and fighting as much as I want! And I like you guys! You can fight! Sure, the pretty boy here cheats with his magic eyes, but you guys are cool! I just - ugh." Her agitation manifested in her ears twitching and her foot rapidly tapping on the floor.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Izuku tries.

"Unfortunately, 'fraid not, kid. Her dad is a bit stubborn." Otsu sighs. "I offered to let the little bunny stay with me but he said no. I can't really fault him for wanting the full family but -"

"You might not, but I can!" Rumi cuts off. "This is bullshit."

"...when are you due to leave?"

"First flight is tomorrow morning."

"But - but, why didn't you tell us before? That's so sudden."

"I tried! But you guys went on your little camping trip and I couldn't reach either of you."

Ryu and Ken share a look as the three kids start to talk amongst themselves.

"Is there anything we can do before you go?"

Rumi chews her bottom lip and her scowl softens. "Maybe…" She turns and looks towards Ryoya. "How about one last fight before I go?"

Ryoya's expression doesn't change for a moment. Then he sighs. "Can't we just hug? Like normal people." There's a look in his eye that Rumi can't place.

The girl ignores how hot her face feels and the smile that she can't keep off her face, no matter how hard she tries. "Hey! I just want to remember the feeling is all!"

"You can't remember hugs?" Ryoya asks, looking and sounding crestfallen and disappointed.

"You two are disgusting." Rappa says with a gag. Otsu's tail slams into his chest and he doubles over.

"Way to kill the moment, Kendo."

"But - But, we'll still see you again, right?" Izuku asks after a moment.

"Of course. I'll pester my folks to get into U.A.'s Hero course. Just gotta get my grades up and I'm sure it'll be fine." Rumi says with a challenging grin. "You can't get rid of me that easily. We're gonna see each other as heroes!"

Izuku matched her expression with a small grin of his own, "Yeah!"

Ryōya remains curiously silent. He wasn't much of a talker; she knew that. But he seemed particularly quiet. Rumi notices but she doesn't say anything. Though her ear does twitch and flop down just a bit at his lack of a response.

"You both would be terrible rivals if you slowed down. So you ain't allowed to stop until I beat you!" The girl proclaims. She looks over to Ryoya and holds out her fist. "You guys have two years to keep going since I won't stop until I'm the number one pro heroine!"

To her pleasant surprise, Ryoya meets her fist with his own. "I look forward to seeing you again, Usako-san." That name. Usako. The same childish one Ryoya always called her in the same dry tone he always did never failed to make her stomach feel funny.

"Damn straight!"

For most normal teenagers, being asked to run six kilometers out of nowhere would be an immensely unpleasant endeavor. Being asked to do it everyday would be akin to torture. But Izuku was not a normal fourteen-year-old by any means. He was in great physical shape but six kilometers would still be something of a challenge. Between years of training, avoiding Kacchan and running towards hero fights, Izuku's stamina was something of an anomaly. He knew that the run to Takobah Beach and back would be nothing.

He was only marginally wrong. Sure, he made it there in record time, but it took more out of him than he was willing to admit. As he found out, waking up early and eating a minimal breakfast because 'ki will keep me fine' was not a good idea. The excitement of being in his final year and training his new abilities weren't enough.

He had aimed to be there before the sun really rose, just to have more time to himself. Izuku had known the place was a dump for some time and had passed it a few times with his sensei but upon closer he realized just how bad the place was. It was a nice place to test out a few things. Firstly, his ki sense. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to recall the lessons Ryu-sensei had told him about sensing someone else. There were many things to search for, and as noted, people with exceptional ki could be sensed by that alone. However, for the vast majority, in order to sense someone, one had to choose something in particular to focus on. In this case, Izuku chose intent. After a few seconds and ensuring he was alone, Izuku got to work.

He started to wander, looking through the walls of trash in an attempt to find a decent enough wall to hit. Until, after a few minutes, he comes across a break in the trash. He's greeted by a fantastic sunrise - nearly rivaling the one that he'd laid his eyes on during the camping trip. It's beautiful and he couldn't help but to stop and appreciate it.

And then he heard some rustling coming from some part of the massive labyrinth of trash. It sounded a bit too large to be a cat or dog, and sounded like it was coming closer. And then he sees… something floating?

Izuku assumes a fighting stance just in case he has to get away from or fight whatever ghost was haunting the beach when he finally catches a glimpse of the phantom.

A brown haired girl about his age was seen jogging up and down and out of the maze with several appliances in her hands and two mini-fridges floating above her like balloons tied to strings. She was dressed in pink and black workout shorts and a Thirteen branded tank top that made it clear that this was not the first time the girl had lifted heavy weight. She wasn't heavily muscled, but her tone and definition made him pause and was a bit more than he would've expected from her chubby cheeks.

Izuku dropped his guard and continued to watch the girl, who seemed completely oblivious to his presence. She didn't break her stride as she jogged up the steps from the beach, to the road, and then to the large dumpster that was nearly as tall as he was. He was impressed when she just casually tossed everything in the dumpster before positioning the mini-fridges above it and pushing the tips of her fingers together. They fall and Izuku's brow goes up. Must've been the work of her quirk.

Seemingly only somewhat affected by her last feat of strength and quirk use, the girl slowly turned back towards the beach, dry heaving as she did so, only to freeze in place when she saw Izuku staring at her. Izuku offhandedly noted how the sunlight caught her brown eyes and made the chocolate brown seem like a rich honey.

Then it dawned on Izuku. Well… crap. This must've looked creepy. Silently watching someone this early in the morning probably wasn't entirely common. Although, to be fair, neither was cleaning a beach.

Focus, Midoriya! The girl wasn't really moving, but she did have a small, awkward smile on her face. From this distance, he could sense her ki clearly and it was a storm of awkward uncertainties and unknowns. Nothing to do but speak. Hopefully, he could find his tongue to help with this incredibly awkward atmosphere he created.

"Uh, good morning…?" Nailed it. A perfectly normal, casual greeting delivered with the face full of embarrassment and as though he was being held at gunpoint.

"Green."

Of all responses Izuku could've expected, being called 'green' certainly wasn't one of them.

"I'm sorry?"

The girl's mind caught up to her and she slammed a hand over her mouth. Seconds later, her eyes widened as she realized what she had just done - considering she'd be touching trash for who knows how long - and started to panic and blow raspberries.

Izuku, in turn, starts to panic. "Are you okay, miss!?" He slowly closes the gap between the two and offers the girl one of the small towels he kept on him, which she took easily before wiping her face.

Then they both stop and stare at each other. Then, to his surprise, the girl starts to giggle. It starts off slow and small, barely above a whisper. And then it gets louder until she breaks out into a full belly laugh. Izuku slowly joins her.

"Oh, geez. That was so embarrassing!" The girl says between her giggles. "I just saw you and I didn't know what to do."

"No, no. I'm sorry." Izuku says with a dismissive wave. "I shouldn't have just stared like I did. My sensei sent me on a run here to train before school and I wasn't expecting to see anyone here."

"It's okay. You just scared me, is all. My er, trainer, says that no one comes out here." The girl says sheepishly, looking off to the side at the mention of a trainer.

"Well, that's true. No one does, usually. It's -"

"Young Uraraka! I'm back with breakfast!"

"Coming!" She shouts back. "Sorry, I have to go!"

Without even pausing to take a breath, the girl - Uraraka, apparently - sprinted back into the maze of trash. Izuku could vaguely hear the clutter of metal and other appliances before resolving to not interrupt the girl further and head to the complete opposite side of the junkyard. He had more important things to worry about, as of now anyway. Namely, how to finely tune his Hadoken so he wouldn't be tired after throwing a potentially lethal one, nor would he throw one so weak that it doesn't reach his target. He navigated his way as far as he could possibly get with only a spare, passing glance at the direction the girl had gone.

"Uraraka, huh?" He says to himself. He picks up his pace, resolving to return to the same place on his next run. To talk to the girl further and discuss her quirk, of course. He tries - and fails - to ignore how pink his face felt or any other possible reasons he'd want to meet the brunette again.

Ryu, Ken, and Chun-Li all sat around a single phone - Ken's cell phone - in the middle of the blonde man's condo.

"I think we should just do it," Ken says, breaking the silence. "It'll help the kid a lot."

"It might…" Ryu says evenly, "I can't help but feel like we're just making him someone else's problem, though."

Chun-Li and Ken both make sounds.

"I don't think you should think about him like he's a problem," the woman says softly. "I will admit, I'm not as… informed on the Satsui no Hado and all of that as you guys are, but I do care about the boy. And I think a little time with Terry would do him well."

"But -"

"Ryu," Ken cuts off. "You remember what Dhalsim said. He is troubled and -"

"I know what Dhalsim said!" Ryu snaps. "I just -," the man sighs to regain his composure. "Are you sure this is the right choice?"

"We can never be really sure, Ryu." says Chun-Li. "We just have to trust Dhalsim's judgment on this."

Ryu gives the woman a look and then looks at Ken and finally relents. "Fine. But what of Midoriya? Surely he'll ask some questions as to why his sole partner isn't really available anymore."

"Well, he's just awakened ki. He has much to learn and we have much to teach. Especially in regards to the Kyoi No Hado." Ken explains with a small smile and a thumbs up. "He's trying to join Sakura in UA next year, right? We have a lot of time to teach him what we know, but something tells me it'll just fly by. But for now, let's ring Terry. He'll be happy to have a new student!"

"And he lives a train or so away from the girl I'm instructing, Yaoyorozu. Maybe we can set up something since the girl desperately needs some friends that aren't her housekeepers and Ryoya needs to get better at socializing."

Ryu snorts. "That's an understatement."

Chun-Li giggles and kisses him on the cheek. "That's rich, coming from you."

Ken gags. "You two disgust me."

A/N: Hi I'm back. Thank you all for being patient with me. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.