MY HERO ACADEMIA DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. BEN 10 DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY SPACESHIP DOES BELONG TO ME, AND I'M USING IT TO LEAVE. NO, YOU CAN'T USE IT, IT'S MINE.

After all the action from last chapter, I'd say our heroes need some time to wind down, wouldn't you agree?

My Alien Academia

Chapter 27

Stars, Part 3

When All Might led the students and David downstairs, they were swarmed by police, paramedics, and other Heroes. At first, Midoriya and his friends tried to stay together, but they were eventually pulled apart to be treated for injuries and interviewed by the police. All Might delivered the unconscious Wolfram to the police, and then had a quiet word with the officers; shortly afterward, they escorted David to the hospital.

Thankfully, no one else needed to visit the hospital, and were cleared by the paramedics. Asui was told to do as little as possible to let her legs heal, and Ashido was given similar instructions regarding her arms. Iida needed to rest his legs because he'd overused his engines a little, and Todoroki had accidentally overheated himself, so he had to cover himself in a thin layer of ice for a little while. Sero was dehydrated, and Yaoyorozu had almost completely drained her lipids. Midoriya had healed himself as Swampfire; only Uraraka had escaped the fighting with little more than some bruises.

The Big Three were in similar states—Hado had a minor concussion, Amajiki's arms were bandaged, and Togata was using some of Todoroki's ice on his bruises.

Once everyone had been treated—and Midoriya had assured his parents that he was fine through hugs and crying—they were able to reunite by the buffet table, which had somehow survived the chaos. The Heroes and the police had cleared away the crowds, leaving Midoriya to explain what he'd learned to his friends.

"I can't believe Professor Shield would do that," Yaoyorozu said around a mouthful of food, too tired and hungry to care about manners for the moment. "I looked him up after you talked about him, and he seemed too upstanding a person to commit a crime."

"He had good intentions," Midoriya argued. "He was just blinded to everything else… including his own daughter."

Iida shook his head. "Regardless of his intentions, his actions allowed for Villains to infiltrate I-Island, and could have caused serious harm to many people. I doubt he will not face consequences for this."

"What will happen to Melissa, ribbit?" Asui tilted her head. "If her father goes to jail, she'll be all alone."

Togata coughed to get their attention. "I overheard All Might mention her to her father, actually; whatever he said made the professor more relaxed."

"Cool, so All Might is handling it." Ashido grabbed a plate full of brownies from the table, handed most of them to Yaoyorozu, and then paused and turned to Amajiki. "If you eat one of these, will youturn into a brownie?"

"I hope not," Hado said brightly, "he's already sweet."

Amajiki started to turn to the nearest wall to hide his face, but Hado grabbed him in a hug and kept him in place.

"I'm just glad it's over," Uraraka said, and rested her head on Midoriya's shoulder. "It is over, right? Everyone is done with us?"

"I think so," Sero said, and then finished his third bottle of water. "They might just be double-checking our statements before letting us go back to our rooms."

Ashido sighed. "Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but I need a hot shower, clean clothes, and ten hours of sleep."

There was no disagreement from anyone. Of the Big Three, only Togata's costume was undamaged, but it was still filthy from dirt and sweat. The Rising Stars' clothes were dirty, torn, and sweat-stained. Ashido, Todoroki and Iida had the worst; Ashido's dress had dozens of tiny holes from stray droplets of acid, Todoroki had burned off most of his shirt, and Iida's pants had become shorts after using his Quirk.

Eventually, the students were escorted to their rooms by a group of Heroes, but as they walked, Sero realized something.

"Hey, we never did find out why Nejire and Tamaki were up on the eightieth floor."

The Big Three remained behind a little longer to speak with All Might, but as they waited, Togata elbowed Amajiki.

"I saw how Nejire was acting with you, dude; did you finally tell her?"

Amajiki had wanted to use the time before the preview to finally confess his feelings to Hado, feelings that had been building for over two years. He had ended up babbling about everything except his feelings to her, and they had wandered around the tower—eventually reaching the eightieth floor, and the insanity had begun.

"Not really." Amajiki tried to look away, but ended up making eye-contact with Hado, who beamed at him. "But, uh, I think she knows."

It was already six in the morning by the time everyone went to sleep, and Izuku eventually woke up at almost four in the afternoon. His parents were still asleep, so he went to their room's modest kitchen to make himself something to eat; while he waited for his food to heat up, he checked his messenger app.

All Might: Hey, everyone feeling better?

Book: I am. The other girls all slept in my room.

Crayon: we wer 2 tird 2 make it 2 r rooms, and ur room is hueg

All Might: Are you both messaging from the same room?

Comet: No, we all went back to our rooms an hour ago. How are you, Deku-kun?

All Might: Better. Still trying to wrap my head around what the professor did.

Glasses: Someone you respect did something reprehensible. I am sure it will take some time to process it. Also, hello, everyone. I am feeling better as well.

Snowflake: My father somehow found out about what happened. He's been calling me over and over for three hours.

Crayon: r u in truble? Do i need to melt his shoes or sumthin?

Snowflake: That would be funny if you did. No, he's been praising me. It's been weird, please help.

Tape: Tell him he's interrupting your recovery. If all else fails, turn off your phone.

Frog: EVERYONE PLEASE SHUT UP. I'M TIRED AND MY LEGS HURT, AND I WANT TO SLEEP.

Izuku nearly dropped his phone when Asui's all-caps message came in. He considered sending an apology, but figured that would just annoy her further. From the way no one else responded, he wasn't the only one to reach that conclusion.

"Why didn't she just turn off her phone?" Ben asked.

"Maybe she didn't want to seem rude?"

"I think she did that when she text-yelled at you all-all-all." Ben flickered wildly in place for a moment, then stabilized.

Izuku frowned. "Are you okay?"

Ben shrugged. "My software is having a little trouble equalizing with the Hyper-Evolutionary feature. There's some programming clash, but it's fi-fi-fine." He flickered again. "It will be fine."

"If you say so." Izuku started to eat his food. "Hey, how did you turn the dial and make me go Plus Ultimate?"

"Is that the term you're sticking with? Okay." Ben floated over and 'sat' in a chair. "Well, since I activated the function, I was able to rem-rem-remotely use it. Remember, I'm a tutorial program, so I had to be able to show you how to activate it."

"That makes sense, but why were you there to turn and hit the dial? You didn't need your hologram out for that."

"Oh, that?" Ben grinned. "I thought it would be cool."

Izuku rolled his eyes. "Really?"

"Hey, you're gonna do a billion heroic things in your life, let me have this!" Ben was obviously joking, but it made Izuku think.

"You know you're just as responsible for me becoming a Hero as I am, right?"

Ben blinked. "How do you figure?"

"Well, if you hadn't chosen me to use the Ultimatrix, I wouldn't have done all these things."

Ben shrugged. "I guess, but all I did was give you the tools you needed to be a Hero. I'm sure you would have done other things to help people if I hadn't shown up."

Izuku mumbled something self-deprecating into his food, but didn't argue further.

"Hey, your parents are waking up," Ben said. "Why don't you make 'em breakfast or something?"

"Y-yeah, and then maybe we can actually enjoy our stay here!"

Izuku spent most of the rest of the day with his parents, but he did meet up with his friends that evening at a restaurant. The first thing Asui did when she saw them was bow her head.

"I'm really sorry about earlier, ribbit," she said.

Ashido waved her off. "Eh, now we know that you're not a morning-frog. It's cool."

Yaoyorozu noticed something odd. "Are people looking at us?"

Hisashi glanced up from his menu. "Yeah, I've been seeing that all day. The news mentioned you kids after all that happened at the preview—nothing much, just that you were 'a big help with averting the crisis'."

"So this is what it's like to be a celebrity." Sero's only sign of nervousness was how tightly he gripped his cup of water. "At least it's good practice for when we're Pro Heroes."

"Indeed." Out of all of them, Iida seemed genuinely composed. "My brother has mentioned that it makes going out difficult."

"Your brother wears a helmet that hides his face," Ashido pointed out. "How do people even know who he is when he's not in costume?"

Iida sighed. "He made the mistake of taking off his helmet during a few interviews last year, and now his fans know what he looks like." He shuddered. "Just before I started at UA, I was shopping with him, and some woman asked to have his babies."

"Sounds like a typical fangirl," Todoroki commented.

"She was old enough to be my grandmother!"

Sero nearly choked on his water. "Oh my god, that's hilarious! Please tell me we can meet him someday, I want to ask him about that!"

Izuku joined in on the laughter, but when they calmed down, he noticed Uraraka peering at the Ultimatrix. "Is something wrong, Ochako?"

"I've been meaning to ask, Deku-kun." She pointed to the watch. "What was that thing you did during the fight?"

"You mean Ultimate Humungousaur?" His friends and parents all nodded. "Well, my normal transformations are just that—normal. But I can push a few of my forms past their limit for a little while; it's like a second transformation, with new powers."

Since they were in public, everyone knew that that wasn't the whole truth, but it was enough for them to understand. Izuku had mentioned an Ultimate function before, but had never gone into detail, because he didn't know much. They knew he'd explain in more detail when there weren't any eavesdroppers.

"How many of them have this boost, ribbit?"

"Only ten, according to Ben." They all knew he meant the hologram, not the real Ben. "But I had to get stronger with my Quirk before I could even try."

Translation: Izuku had met another standard of Ben's programming, unlocking a new part of the Ultimatrix.

"I can't wait to see Bakugo's face when you pull that move," Ashido said, a little too gleefully.

Sero unconsciously scratched the scar on his jaw. "Oh, please let me be there when that happens."

"Okay, kids, enough of that," Inko said, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Let's just enjoy dinner for now."

The teenagers all obeyed, but none of them could stop the image of Bakugo throwing a fit from popping into their minds.

"Hey, Dave."

David cracked open his eyes and saw All Might in his skinny form and wearing normal clothes, sitting across from him. He tried to sit up, but the handcuffs only let him move so far on the hospital bed.

"Hey, Toshi."

"How's the shoulder?"

David chuckled. "Better, now that there isn't a bullet lodged in there."

"I'll bet." All Might leaned back in his chair. "Sorry, Dave, but I have to ask you something."

"I already told the police about everything I did."

"Just one question, and it might be important." All Might looked directly at him, and even with his eyes sunken, David could see the fire that drove the man.

"Fine. Go ahead."

"Did Wolfram ever mention someone named All For One? Or where he was before you hired him?"

David raised an eyebrow. "He didn't talk about much, and he definitely didn't say anything about an 'All For One'. He did mention that he was in Japan recently, though."

All Might nodded and tapped his chin. "So he's probably still there. Maybe he never even left; I should have investigated sooner, I could have picked up his trail."

"Toshi, what's this about?"

All Might stood abruptly, but the sudden movement made him cough up blood. "Sorry, Dave; I shouldn't have said even that much."

David winced; once upon a time, the man told him almost everything. Now, All Might was all-business, and David had only himself to blame.

"Just tell me two things," he pleaded; he waited until All Might nodded, and then spoke. "First, is this guy really that dangerous?"

"More dangerous than anyone I've ever fought."

At that, David's eyes narrowed. "Then that leads me to the other thing—promise me that you won't let this bastard near my daughter."

For a moment, All Might switched to his muscle form, and David let himself think that his friend was back to his former glory, if only for an instant. "That, Dave, is something I swear to do."

Later that night, Midoriya and Uraraka managed to find some time to themselves, wandering through the shopping centers of I-Island. Midoriya took her hand in his, shyly at first, but with growing confidence; Uraraka leaned in closer to put her head on his shoulder.

"Now this is how I thought this trip would go," she said. "You and me, walking on a beautiful island."

"Y-yeah." Midoriya took a moment to enjoy holding her entire hand; she was wearing gloves that left the ring and pinkie fingers exposed, so he could hold her hand without fear of accidentally floating away.

"I kinda wished we could have had that dance, though," Uraraka said wistfully, and then she paused. "Wait. I don't know how to dance."

Midoriya tried not to laugh. "W-well, neither do I."

They looked at each other and broke out in a fit of giggles. When Midoriya finally got control of himself, he spotted a familiar figure sitting on a bench, wearing the same kind of outfit she'd had when they first met.

"Hey, there's Melissa! What's she doing here?"

Uraraka followed his gaze; sure enough, Melissa was there, and it was heartbreaking. The poor girl looked like she was about to cry, and the people walking by acted like she didn't exist. The news had broken that her father had been at least partially responsible for the Villain attack, and even though Melissa had helped to fix things, the public saw her as guilty by association.

Midoriya looked from their friend to his girlfriend. "Ochako, I know we were—"

Uraraka immediately shook her head. "This is important; let's go see if we can cheer her up."

Melissa looked up from staring at her knees when she felt Uraraka's hand on her shoulder. "Oh! Ochako, Izuku! What are you doing here?"

"We were on a date," Uraraka said as she sat next to the older girl.

"Well, don't stop on my account." Melissa tried to sound cheerful, but anyone could see how upset she was.

Midoriya wanted to ask what was wrong, but he knew; she was still processing everything that had happened since the night before.

"How's, um… how's your dad?" he asked.

Melissa flinched. "He was arrested. He confessed to everything a few hours ago, so he's definitely going to prison."

Uraraka bit her lip. "For how long?"

"At least ten years," Melissa said, forcing back a sob. "Maybe he can get paroled in five if he behaves. And even if he does get out early, his career is over."

"I'm sorry," Midoriya said, even if he wasn't sure what he was sorry for.

Melissa took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "It just… it hurts. It hurts, and I don't know what to do."

"Well, let's find somewhere a little quieter, and then we can figure it out," Uraraka said, and looped her arm through Melissa's; after a meaningful look at her boyfriend, Midoriya did the same with Melissa's other arm.

Melissa sniffed. "Thanks."

Melissa ended up staying with them the rest of the evening, and joined the Rising Stars a little later; Yaoyorozu saw that she really needed friends, so she decided that all the girls would stay in her room that night.

"You don't have to process things alone," she said to Melissa. "Even if you don't want to talk about it, we'll be there if you need us."

Melissa managed to hold the tears back until she and the other girls were in Yaoyorozu's room, and then a flood that would have impressed a Midoriya was let loose. Asui, who had no problem getting completely soaked, volunteered to hug her for as long as necessary. After almost an hour of crying and babbling, Melissa finally started to calm down—and then someone knocked on the door, making them all jump.

"That better not be one of the boys," Ashido half-joked, and then called out, "We're not decent!"

"Mina!" Ochako tried to hit her, even though the girls were all wearing either long nightgowns or other modest sleepwear.

"It's me!" Hado's muffled voice came through the door. "Can I come in?"

Yaoyorozu opened the door, allowing Hado to come through with several bags. "What are you doing here, Nejire?"

"Mirio and Tamaki and I thought Melissa might need some company, but we couldn't find you." Hado smiled as she sat next to Melissa. "Then Izu-kun told us you were here, so we decided to bring you some of your stuff."

Melissa opened a bag and found toiletries; the others contained clothes and even some books. "Wait, this is all from my room. How did you get all this?"

"Oh, that?" Hado grinned unrepentantly. "Mirio phased his arm through the door and unlocked it, and then I grabbed a bunch of your stuff! Don't worry, I was the only one who went inside."

The other girls weren't sure what to do with Hado's confession to breaking and entering. For the sake of their sanity, they decided to let it go, since it was for a good cause. Besides, Hado soon had all of them in a better mood with her energy and upbeat personality, and when even Melissa laughed a few times, they considered it a win.

"I can't say this trip went like I thought it would," Hisashi said, scratching the back of his head. "But I'm glad I got to see you two."

Izuku hugged his father tightly. "Me too, Dad." He looked up. "Do you… do you think we could do this again soon?"

Hisashi glanced at Inko, and both smiled sadly. "Sorry, kiddo, I don't know. I'd love nothing more than to see you both all the time, you know that, but…"

Izuku nodded; he had spent most of his life understanding why his father couldn't stay home. It didn't stop him from wishing otherwise.

"But I'll try to call more often," Hisashi said. "At least four days a week, definitely the weekends."

"I'd like that." It was more than Izuku had before; he would take what he could get.

Hisashi ruffled his son's hair. "Don't be so sure; I'm still gonna tease you about your girlfriend. Say, did she and your other friends already leave?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah, their plane took off an hour ago." He grinned. "You were too busy making out with Mom to notice."

Finally, it was his parents' turn to go red-faced, and Izuku allowed himself to feel a sense of triumph.

Hisashi gave his family another hug. "Seriously, though, I'm going to miss you both. I love you so much."

"We love you too," Inko said, holding onto him tightly. "We'll talk again as soon as we can."

Hisashi let Inko go, but stayed a little longer with his son. "Izuku, I can't tell you how proud of you I am. You're going to be an amazing Pro, but as far as I'm concerned, you're already a Hero."

Izuku tried and failed to blink away his tears. "Th-thanks, Dad."

"You earned it." Hisashi paused. "Hey, Ben?"

Ben couldn't risk someone seeing him, so he just answered from within the Ultimatrix. "Yes, sir?"

"Don't call me sir, it makes me feel old." Hisashi laughed for a moment. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you for helping Izuku realize his dream."

"I've said it before—all I did was give Izuku the tools he needed to succeed." Izuku could easily imagine Ben smiling proudly. "Everything else was all him."

"Then I still have to thank you." Hisashi reached out and tapped the watch. "Keep an eye on Izuku, though; he seems to get in trouble a lot."

"Hey!" Izuku protested, but Hisashi and Ben both laughed.

Hisashi ruffled his son's hair one more time. "All right, you all had better get going. Your plane leaves soon."

"Right." Izuku hugged him and then stepped back so that Inko could take his place. He blushed when his father pulled his mother in for a deep kiss.

"Since I know it'll be a while before we can do that again," Hisashi whispered. "I love you."

Inko blinked away tears. "I know."

She reluctantly pulled away; she and Izuku grabbed their bags and headed for their plane. Hisashi waved until they disappeared into the crowd, and then looked at his phone.

"Ah, well, I've got a few hours before my flight," he muttered to himself. "Might as well get some coffee."

He had just started going to a coffee shop nearby when his phone rang. Hisashi hesitated; there were less than ten people who had his cell number, and two of them had just boarded a plane. He looked at the caller ID, and he felt a chill go down his spine. Hisashi found a quiet corner in the shop and brought the phone to his ear.

"Yes, sir?"

"Oh, don't sound so formal, Hisashi!" The voice of the man on the other end of the line was very aware that he could make or break Hisashi's career, and took a perverse delight in teasing him. "I heard about what happened on I-Island. Terrible, really, and on your vacation! Is your family all right?"

"Y-yes, they are." Hisashi took a deep breath. "My son actually helped resolve things."

"Really? Your son won the UA Sports Festival, didn't he? I'm sure he has a bright future ahead of him. I don't suppose he'd accept us as a sponsor when he becomes a Pro Hero, would he?"

"Er, I'm sure he'd be grateful to have a sponsor like you, sir."

"Well, I'll keep an eye on his progress when he graduates, and we'll see where things go." The man seemed genuinely satisfied, though Hisashi had no idea why. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation, Hisashi—oh, and before I forget, you'll be getting a bonus to your salary, as compensation for your troubles."

"Oh! Thank you, sir!"

"It's absolutely no problem," his boss dismissed, and Hisashi could almost see him waving his hand. "Besides, after all your hard work for us, you deserve it—this is just an excuse to give you the reward you so rightfully deserve."

Hisashi knew he wouldn't have earned a bonus if he hadn't deserved it. "Thank you again, sir; I promise that I'll work even harder!"

"Glad to hear it. I look forward to hearing that you've arrived safely in London."

With that, the line went dead. Hisashi sank into his chair, one hand over his rapidly-beating heart. Despite the good news, he found himself wanting something stronger than coffee.

"Why does that man always scare me so much?"

"Excuse me, sir?"

"What is it?"

"Is the Midoriya boy really so important? Powerful or not, he's just a child."

"All Might was just a child, once, and look at him now. That is why I am investing so much into Hisashi now, though I admit that he does good work for us—either he becomes a way to convince his son to join us, or he becomes a hostage to control him."

"Of course, sir. Is there anything else you require?"

"No, Curious, you may go." Yotsubashi Rikiya, known to his followers as Re-Destro, waited for his lieutenant to close the door behind him.

I am a businessman, he thought. Regardless of how it is achieved, the Midoriya boy is an investment worth pursuing for the Revolution.

When Midoriya came back to school on Monday, he and the other Rising Stars were quickly surrounded by most of their class.

"Dude, I can't believe you guys fought Villains on I-Island!" Kaminari grabbed Sero by the front of his shirt and shook him. "How are you all so lucky!?"

Jiro smacked Kaminari upside the head. "Lucky? They could have been killed!" She turned to Yaoyorozu. "Are you all okay, Yaomomo?"

"Other than some bumps and bruises, we're all fine," Yaoyorozu assured the rest of the class. "Now, please return to your seats before Aizawa-sensei gets here. I'm sure none of us want detention the week before the summer camp."

That got the rest of the class moving, but Midoriya suddenly found Bakugo walking next to him.

"You kicked the Villain's ass, right, nerd?" His voice was low, so no one else could hear him.

"W-well, we beat him," Midoriya said.

Bakugo narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Good. It won't feel as good to beat you if some shitty Villain gets there before me."

Bakugo nodded again, as if that settled the matter. Midoriya sat down next to Uraraka, who looked at him with concern, but he shrugged; this was probably the closest Bakugo would ever get to respecting him.

Class 1-A had just settled down when Aizawa entered the room; he looked even more tired than usual, if that was possible. His gaze seemed to linger on the Rising Stars, and there was a calculating gleam in his eyes.

"All right, get ready for class," he said. "And the first person to talk about I-Island gets detention for the rest of the year. The media has been hounding the school for answers for hours; I couldn't take it anymore, so I threw All Might at them."

More than one student suddenly had the mental image of Aizawa literally throwing a man several times his own weight at a crowd of reporters. It sparked a few giggles, which died down when Aizawa's eyes glowed.

"Moving on, don't even think about slacking off just because this is the week before summer camp. If I think you're dropping the ball, I'll make sure you miss that bus."

Despite the threat, Aizawa didn't make them do any extra work, and only insisted that they complete any unfinished assignments before crawling into his sleeping bag. Once the students were sure he wasn't going to tear into them, they got out of their seats and chatted quietly amongst themselves.

"Okay, so, I'm bringing stuff for s'mores," Ashido said. "Hanta, you said you have some scary ghost stories?"

"Yeah, some old books I found in my house." Sero's grin remained, but he still shivered. "I only read a few of them, and they were terrifying."

Uraraka bounced in her seat. "Oh, this is gonna be so much fun!"

Iida chopped at the air. "We must first work diligently before we do any goofing off! This camp is not just for fun, you know."

"He's right," Todoroki said. "This is a chance for us to really work on getting stronger, and we shouldn't waste it."

Ashido pouted and put her head on his shoulder—which resulted in one of her horns poking his cheek. "Aw, don't be like that, Shoto! Just because we're all working hard doesn't mean we can't have fun! After everything that's happened so far, I think we deserve some relaxing summer nights."

"Y-you're both right," Midoriya said, not completely sure if Ashido and Todoroki were about to argue. "We have to work hard, but we shouldn't burn ourselves out."

Uraraka nodded. "Yeah, just think of every night as a reward for every day of hard work."

"Just be sure that you do earn that reward," Yaoyorozu said sternly, but then saw their homeroom teacher walking over to them, phone in hand. "Aizawa-sensei, is something wrong?"

Aizawa shrugged. "Not really. Midoriya, Uraraka—the principal wants to see you both after class. It's about Eri." When he saw the teenagers' eyes go wide, he sighed. "It's not bad, Nezu just figured out her Quirk over the weekend, and wanted to fill you in. If you really want to help her, you should know this."

Midoriya and Uraraka shared a look, and then nodded. "Thank you, Aizawa-sensei," Uraraka said.

Aizawa shrugged again. "I still have to be on hand in case her Quirk goes out of control. Thank me when that stops happening."

Midoriya and Uraraka practically sprinted out of class when the day ended, the rest of their friends seconds behind them. Eri might have been attached to her rescuers above everyone else, but the rest of the Rising Stars had quickly become just as protective.

Within seconds of arriving at Nezu's office, Eri was hugging Midoriya's legs, while Uraraka knelt next to her and gently patted her head.

"I missed you," Eri said softly.

"And we missed you too, Eri-chan." Midoriya leaned down to hug her back. "Did you have fun while we were gone?"

Eri shrugged; she still wasn't sure what 'fun' was, but at least she wasn't unhappy.

"We did learn something interesting," Nezu said from his desk, and then winked at the students. "Excellent work on I-Island, by the way."

"Thank you, Nezu-sensei," Yaoyorozu said with a short bow. "But what about Eri-chan? Aizawa-sensei said you found out what her Quirk is."

"Ah, yes; quite the discovery, actually." Nezu typed at his computer for a moment, and then turned the monitor around to face them. "Watch this."

A recording began to play; Nezu was speaking to Eri, and Aizawa was in the corner, ready to erase Eri's Quirk if necessary. Nezu slid over a plate that held a piece of uncooked chicken to the confused girl.

"Please use your Quirk on the chicken, Eri-chan," Nezu said in the recording. "You don't have to worry about hurting it, since it's dead."

Eri tentatively reached out and pressed a single finger against the dead flesh; a moment later, her horn grew and glowed. Aizawa erased her Quirk less than three seconds later, and when the light faded, there was a whole chicken standing on the table, alive and likely very confused.

"Eri-chan has a very special Quirk," Nezu said as the recording ended. "At first, we thought she disintegrated organic material, but that was incorrect. What she actually does is rewind time around organic material, bringing it back to a previous state of existence. Unfortunately, her Quirk is so powerful that it can rewind them to before they existed, effectively destroying them. However, if used in extremely small doses, her Quirk is capable of amazing things—such as undoing injuries, or even bringing the dead back to life."

Most of the students processed this with no small amount of awe. Midoriya kept looking between Eri—who was now held in Uraraka's arms—and the notebook he was putting all this down in. Quirks like Eri's were extraordinarily rare; they were rarer still for being so powerful in someone so young.

"That's incredible, Eri-chan," Midoriya said quietly.

The little girl shook her head and clutched Uraraka tightly. "But I hurt people…"

"Remember what I said, Eri-chan." Nezu smiled kindly. "A Quirk is only dangerous if you don't know how to use it, and this is the perfect place for you to learn. Once you do, you could help so many people."

"He's right!" Midoriya gently stroked her hair. "If someone is hurt or sick, you could make them better!"

Nezu had already told Eri as much over the weekend, but hearing the words from Midoriya's mouth was much more reassuring.

"We plan to give Eri weekly lessons to control her Quirk," Nezu said. "Once she's more settled, we may increase it to twice a week. If it's not too much trouble, I'd like Midoriya-san and Uraraka-san to be there for these lessons; I'm sure it will make Eri-chan more comfortable."

Midoriya and Uraraka looked at each other, and then at Eri, who had fallen asleep in the latter's arms, and holding two of the former's fingers in one tiny hand. There really was only one answer they could give.

"Of course, Nezu-sensei!"

Shortly before school the next day, the Rising Stars got a text from Togata, asking them to meet up with him at the Support Department before lunch was over. They were curious, but the text didn't hint at anything urgent, so they were content to wait.

After eating lunch, they headed out, only to be intercepted halfway there by a pink-topped blur. Of course, they smelled Hatsume before they saw her; by this time in the day, she practically reeked of sweat, oil, smoke, and several other chemicals that were probably unhealthy to be around for long periods of time.

"Hey, guys!" Hatsume waved at them with a hand holding a screwdriver, which went back to adjusting the innards of what looked like a cross between an old alarm clock and a hand grenade.

"Hi, Mei," Midoriya said; they weren't especially close friends with Hatsume, but she had insisted on them using her first name. It wasn't because of any sentimental reason, she just thought that conversations would go by faster if people addressed her by her first name, which meant she could go back to work sooner.

"Are you all headed to the Support Department?" Hatsume's eyes went wide, and she grinned wildly. "Are you all getting upgrades, or new Support Items? Can I help!?"

"Uh, sorry, I don't think so," Uraraka said; she was always a little put off by Hatsume's energy, which eclipsed Ashido's and Hado's combined. "We were just asked to stop by."

"Okay, fine. Oh, Ochako, I've been tweaking that request you made a while back, and I think I can reduce drag by another four percent, which should increase your speed." Nobody took offense that Hatsume basically ignored the rest of them; she couldn't even remember someone's name unless she was working on something for them, and that only lasted a few days after it was finished. The only exception was Midoriya, but only because Hatsume kept asking him questions about the Ultimatrix.

"Thanks, Mei." Uraraka glanced at the others, who shrugged; they could tell that Hatsume wasn't even thinking about them, so it was all on her. "Um, why are you headed to the Support Department? Lunch isn't over yet."

Hatsume rolled her eyes, and then turned her attention to her gadget; she would have walked into a wall, had Iida not gently steered her in the right direction. "Power Loader-sensei wants me to work with a third-year student, something about 'being guided by someone with more experience'."

"Maybe he's hoping you won't blow up the classroom so much," Sero muttered; Hatsume's accidental demolition of school property was already infamous.

Midoriya almost commented, but when they rounded the next corner, he froze. "No way…"

Togata noticed them, and gently elbowed Melissa, wearing a UA uniform, to get her attention; she turned from her conversation with Power Loader and smiled.

"Hey, guys! Surprised to see me?"

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then Ashido sprinted over and hugged her. "Hey, girl, what are you doing here!?"

Power Loader chuckled. "Shield-san transferred here today; as of now, she's a UA third-year student."

For the first time that day, Hatsume's attention was away from her 'babies'. Instead, she stared at Melissa with such intensity that her Quirk activated for a moment.

"Wait, 'Shield'? As in Professor David Shield!?" Hatsume ran over and shoved Ashido out of the way. "Please tell me you're related to David Shield!"

Melissa sighed, but unlike at I-Island, mention of her father didn't bring her to tears. "Yes, he's my dad."

Hatsume grabbed her by the shoulders. "Teach me everything you know!"

Power Loader gently pried Hatsume off Melissa. "How about you let her get situated before you pick her brain, okay?" It was hard to tell with his helmet on, but he might have given Melissa an apologetic glance. "If you don't mind, Shield-san, Hatsume can show you around the workshops; she knows them as well as I do."

"Um, sure?" Melissa looked uneasy, especially when Togata had to hold a flailing Hatsume back.

"Not that we aren't happy to see you, Melissa," Iida said, "but why are you here? I thought you had to remain on I-Island."

Melissa smiled bitterly. "That rule only applies to active employees and their families. Since Papa was arrested, I didn't have to stay. But Uncle Might is also my godfather and legal guardian, so I was allowed to live with him. There's still some paperwork to get through, but I just have to remain on campus for a few days, and then I'll be a Japanese citizen!"

"That's wonderful!" Yaoyorozu beamed.

"Just be careful about the press," Todoroki warned. "You're the daughter of someone famous, and if they find out you're living with All Might, they'll never leave you alone."

Melissa's smile turned crafty. "Oh, I've already got an idea for how to get past them."

"Oh, oh! Is it camo-tech!?" Hatsume nearly dislocated her arm getting free from Togata, but she managed. "Light-bending properties? Pheromone-repellant to make people avoid you?"

That last one caught Melissa's attention. "Actually, I hadn't thought of something pheromone-related. A time-released system could work better than just an applied chemical mixture, like perfume."

"Oh, god, there's two of them now," Power Loader groaned. "If she causes explosions, I'm going to kill All Might."

"Well, at least she made a new friend," Midoriya pointed out, as the two inventors' conversation devolved into technical terms that not even Yaoyorozu understood.

"I just hope they don't blow up the school, ribbit." Asui shrugged. "As long as we're not in it, anyway."

"Thanks again for this," Aizawa said over the phone. "I'm sure the students will learn a great deal. Right, see you in a few days."

"So, no problems on their end?" Vlad King asked.

"None, but I'm still not taking any chances with the students' safety." Aizawa sipped his coffee—it was his third cup that day, not that it woke him up much. "We're taking each class on a separate route, and at different times. Only you, me, and Nezu will know who will be going where, and when."

"You're that concerned about an information leak?" Vlad King crossed his arms; his bulging muscles made his skintight red outfit creak.

"We still don't know how the League of Villains knew our schedule for the USJ incident," Aizawa reminded him. "This is why we're not putting anything on computer this time, in case there's a hacker involved. If something does happen, we'll know every name on the list of people who are in the know."

"I can't believe the idea of a traitor is even on the table," Vlad King growled.

"Personally, I don't think there is, either, but I'd rather be sure." Aizawa glanced longingly at his sleeping bag, but Vlad King was one of the few faculty members who wouldn't let him get away with sleeping through anything.

Vlad was actually the only teacher Aizawa thought was stricter than he was; it almost made him pity Class 1-B.

"All right, let's take care of the last of the paperwork," Aizawa said. "After that, we're putting our students through hell."

(Anima—ReoNa, TV Version)

The music begins, revealing the gates of UA. The Rising Stars are just outside, looking up at the gate. Each of them has a serious, determined look on their face, and they take a single step forward.

The scene changes to show Midoriya in his school uniform, standing up straight and looking nervous. He is then replaced by an image of him in his costume, hand over the Ultimatrix and ready for action. The background shows brief flashes of his first fight with Bakugo, his battle against Nomu, and him punching Wolfram.

The next scene is that of Uraraka, also in her school uniform with a big smile on her face, and then in her costume, her smile replaced by a determined frown. The background shows her fighting Iida, then the Villain who tried to recapture Eri, and then her holding an I-Island robot over her head.

Iida is next, standing ramrod-straight in his uniform, and then running in his costume. The background shows him kicking a robot in the entrance exam, then attacking Stain, and then knocking down a door on I-Island.

Asui replaces him, hunching over in her school uniform, and then leaping through the air in costume, tongue stretching out. The background shows her saving Mineta in the USJ, lifting Eye Guy through the air during the Sports Festival, and helping Sero on I-Island.

Sero appears, waving in his school uniform, and then shooting a line of tape while in costume. The background shows him holding off Kurogiri in the USJ, helping Inko during his internship, and protecting Yaoyorozu in the server room.

Ashido is next, grinning and holding up a peace sign in her school uniform, and then in her costume, skating across the floor on a trail of acid. The background shows her melting the USJ door for Iida, capturing Nezu during the exam, and narrowly avoiding a robot's attacks on the roof of the I-Island tower.

Todoroki replaces her, looking almost bored in his uniform, but that changes when he is in costume, one side covered in frost, the other in fire. The background shows him using his fire against Armodrillo, his ice against Stain, and both against the horde of robots at I-Island, as Ashido skates around him.

Yaoyorozu is last, hands on her hips in her uniform, and then creating a spear from her arm while in costume. The background shows her blocking Todoroki's ice with salt, fighting Villains at the USJ, and trapping Iida with a thick chain during the Sports Festival.

Eri, the Big Three, Melissa, the rest of Class 1-A and the UA teachers briefly pass by in a line, ending with All Might, whose smile shines and makes the scene turn white for a second.

The scene returns to the Rising Stars as they begin to run to class. Behind them stands Ben; a single tear falls down his face as he flickers and vanishes.

Wow. This is the first chapter in a while where I wasn't surprised by something bad in real life. I mean, my grandfather is still in the hospital, but he's stable.

Anyway, some big stuff happened this chapter, both on I-Island, and at UA. David is going to jail (deceived or not, he still did some pretty illegal stuff, at a location that is supposed to be secure; he was gonna get a harsh sentence). Melissa is now a UA student, so we'll be seeing more of her. And Hisashi works for Re-Destro, though he doesn't know it. For those of you who haven't reached that far in the manga, I won't spoil anything, but it'll be a big plot point later. There's actually not much else to say about this chapter, since it was mostly just wrapping up from the last part.

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or physical copy. Please help, as I haven't had a sale in over a month, and money is particularly tight right now.

If you don't want to read the book, you could also consider donating on P-atreon (link in my profile). Every dollar helps, especially since I want to live on my own. It would be awesome if I didn't need to do anything but write stories all day, and you can help with that!

I'd like to thank the following patrons for their generosity:

Serious Muffins: SpaceEmperorSpar, Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, ChaosSpartan575, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, Shaolin Khalil, killroy225

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Next Chapter: Class 1-A has one more day of fun before heading off to camp, where things aren't what they seem. Meanwhile, the League of Villains gets ready to move out, and All For One has a task for his successor…

Stay safe out there!

Plus Muffin!