Hello once again, everyone, and welcome to the last chapter covering this story's take on the Endeavor Agency Arc. It was a lot of fun working my way through this one, as well as branching out even a little bit by giving us an internship with lots of promise, in Mina and Mirko, as well as reimagining Ochako and Tsuyu's internships in a post-Ryukyu world with Selkie. I hope you've all been enjoying it so far.

I have an important announcement in regards to my chapter upload schedule going forward, now that my next college semester is in full swing. You'll find it at the very end of this chapter.

I would once more like to thank every single one of you for your continuous readership and silent support, even though I'd really love to hear your thoughts in reviews every once in a while.

Another tremendous thank you to my two beta readers and consultants: Jonny and Carlos; as well as to the now updated roster of artists on DA that have helped bring this story to life piece by piece: Syyndev, Akane Kahomi, Suki-Chan2509, effasempai, Eliza-Frost, Venera-Taro, Shallisey-N, Yumake, and now the newest addition: AnekoBS. Go over and check out their work, because they're all absolutely fantastic.

My Hero Academia is the property of Kouhei Horikoshi and Shonen Jump. I only own my original characters and the original events surrounding them.

A/N: [[]] indicates characters are contextually speaking Russian.

Chapter 136

Showcase

(Витрина)

Yuuei Academy, Thursday, January 8th

By the time Nikolay, Izuku, Shoto and Bakugo had finally returned to Shizuoka Prefecture, and then to Yuuei Academy, it was already well past midnight. As such, there was no surprise among any of them when they had finally returned to Class A's dorms, only to find the commons room completely empty. But considering the belated reunion celebration was undoubtedly going to be waiting for them first thing in the morning, they were all four quite eager to finally get back to their rooms and get some sleep.

Of course, not wanting to get yelled at by Bakugo and risk waking up the entire dorm when they still had a packed day of school tomorrow, Nikolay initially went along to his room. But once a good several minutes had passed after hearing Bakugo's door shut next door, he could no longer resist, and quietly made his way back down, across the commons area and up several floors of the girls' wing, until he at last found himself standing before the door to Mina's room.

'There's no question she'll be bouncing off the walls once she lays eyes on me again; but since nobody's actually in the room next to hers, it's not like we'd risk waking anybody else up. Well, only one way to find out how this goes.'

Without further hesitation, Nikolay proceeded to give a gentle wrapping at Mina's door. Things being as quiet as they were, she was surely going to be able to hear him. She couldn't possible have been so heavy of a sleeper as to not, even this late at night.

But after a good couple of minutes of waiting for some sign that she was awake and moving about, and hearing no such thing, Nikolay let out a sigh of contentment, as he began making his way back to his room for the rest of the night this time. 'Why be disappointed? She said herself that Mirko's been putting her through the wringer; how could Mina not be exhausted and sleeping like a log? Being well-rested will do us both way more good when we see each other in the morning.'

But Nikolay would never get to see if he was right about that, for the moment he'd finally stepped back into his room, he was met with the sight of a shadowy figure standing before him with a pair of unmistakable black-gold eyes almost piercing through the shadows.

Just as his door clicked shut, Nikolay felt himself getting pulled forward by his shirt, and subsequently tossed and pinned onto his bed with the utmost ease; all culminating in an overwhelming sweet flavor filling his senses as Mina's soft, warm lips eagerly mashed against his, in a passionate kiss that had the last entire weeks' worth of longing behind it.

The moment Mina finally broke this amazing kiss that left her and Nikolay both tingling from head to toe, she shot that familiar cheeky grin that he could make out even in the shadows of night. "Welcome home, Kolya-kun. Here, I was starting to think you might've ended up staying at Endeavor's Agency one more night. It's not like you were all super far away, after all."

Despite his heart fluttering in his chest, Nikolay thankfully had the self-awareness to keep his voice low along with her, so as not to risk waking up Bakugo. "Have you actually been waiting for me in my closet since you got back, Mina? I know I left my door locked after we'd left for New Years Eve, and it was locked when I first got back, and you weren't anywhere to be seen."

With that same persistent and mischievous grin, Mina made herself nice and comfortable, lying next to her boyfriend and hurriedly pulling the blanket over both of them as she answered: "Pfft, no, do you have any idea how creepy that sounds? I would've preferred we all have a big welcome home party for each other once we got back, but with everybody getting back at all these random times from all over the place, and it just getting later and later, we pretty much agreed that throwing a bunch of mini surprise parties was just dumb…so instead we can throw one after classes tomorrow once we all figure out what two days out of the school week we go do more internship work. It sucks we won't be able to have weekends off anymore, but that just means we gotta find a way to make our days here a hundred times more fun.

"Anyway, when I heard you knocking at my door, I just couldn't help but wanna lay a big surprise welcome on you. So I used my Acid to grip my way across the walls outside to your room…and I might've ended up needing to melt the lock to the window in order to get in. I didn't wanna scare you by hanging outside your window in the middle of the night. But don't worry; I'm sure we can ask either Sero-kun or Bondo-kun from Class B to fix it."

Looking back over his shoulder, Nikolay could quickly see that the lock mechanism for his window was indeed melted, but right now he was frankly just impressed. "First of all, I'm pretty sure sneaking in through the window and waiting counts as far creepier, but I could probably just ask Yaoyorozu-san to Create a new lock for me to install, myself. Secondly, did you really climb from your room all the way across the building to here? Wow, it sounds like Mirko's training is already really paying off. Why didn't you just climb down to the ground floor, run across and just climb up here that way?"

With another sudden but lingering French kiss to make Nikolay stop over-thinking it and simply savor their long-awaited reunion, Mina giggled sweetly. "I didn't wanna risk running into any of the Heroes patrolling the grounds and getting in trouble. I just wanted to be able to hold, kiss and cuddle with you like this all week so badly, Kolya-kun; I couldn't help myself."

Mina proceeded to do just that; wrapping her warm and gentle arms around Nikolay just firmly enough; pulling herself in close so he could shiver while feeling her whole body pressed tight against his; her brightly smiling face nuzzling and repeatedly kissing his neck, cheek and lips with all the affection her body could physically contain, and the strawberry scent of her hair filling his lungs as his arms likewise came around her sides on instinct.

With the night already being as late as it was, and his fluster quickly giving way to his own long-built desire to just be able to hold his adorable girlfriend like this again, Nikolay couldn't be bothered to ask more questions; even after he at one point reached to turn on the lamp on the nightstand next to his bed, only for Mina to grab his hand and tell him to keep it nice and dark.

Instead, he continued indulging Mina, as the two of them continued to hold, cuddle and kiss one another to make up for the past week under the comfort of his blankets; eventually burning away what little energy they had left, before finally falling fast asleep in each other's arms; both with their spirits soaring with excitement to be back together, and in anticipation for whatever tomorrow had in store.


Friday, January 9th

The next morning, Nikolay and Mina woke up to find they were just in time to get ready and down to the commons area for breakfast alongside everyone else; hence they could avoid drawing an unnecessary scolding from Tenya or Momo by being seen coming from the boys' wing together. So, she ultimately decided to sneak back to her room the same way she'd come here, leaving her boyfriend with one more good morning kiss before taking her leave out the window; making sure to avoid climbing in front of anyone else's along the way.

As soon as Nikolay was freshened up again and dressed and on his way back down, running into Shoto and Izuku along the way; the excited welcome they all got from nearly all their classmates already waiting for them in the middle of breakfast was no surprise. Why wouldn't they have all wanted to know just what a week spent learning from the Number One Hero was like?

But amid the three's attempts to try and answer the multiple questions coming at them from every direction all at once (and Bakugo's naturally screaming for them all to mind their own business), there of course came their own acknowledgments and questions about everyone else's internships, and the congratulations that came with that.

"What was it like being Mirko's only intern, Mina-chan? Like, the rest of us at least had one partner along for the ride; was it super hard? You looked so tired the last time we called." Tooru immediately asked the moment she had the opportunity, while Kyouka noted: "It definitely must've helped you a lot, though. There's a wholly different air about you now, like you just look and feel stronger."

Looking to her arms and legs again, Mina grinned in satisfaction as she answered: "super hard doesn't even begin to do it justice. Mirko-sensei's totally no-nonsense, like Aizawa-sensei without the whole 'being a wet blanket' thing. I definitely feel stronger, but honestly, I'm glad my figure hasn't changed. I'd rather be a strong Hero who can still be cute. What about you guys; what was it like for you?"

At the same time, Eijirou and Maja were all eagerly trying to pry any kind of strong answers out of Nikolay, Izuku and Bakugo; much to the latter's visibly growing frustration. "Come on, you guys must have so many awesome stories from the last week; throw us a bone here, could you? Endeavor's so awesome and tough, every day must've been a blast!" "Yeah; Tunguska-sensei and Fatgum-sensei are both really cool teachers and even cooler Heroes and all, but they're almost too good at their jobs, even without Kolce (Spikes) here, Tetsutetsu-san or Amajiki-senpai around to help out. I didn't get to wet my feet on the field even once. I gotta have something to mentally chew on."

"Then go bug somebody else for a story! Why do you gotta be hounding us?!" Bakugo answered with that same simmering scowl; made worse when Eijirou and Maja both naturally laughed off his abrasiveness. In contrast, Nikolay answered much more welcomingly: "Honestly, I'm more interested in hearing what the week was like for you two. Even if you weren't able to actually do any field work, Maja-san, surely you must've had plenty of time for training. I hope Dad wasn't too extreme with you."

The two of them shot a knowing glance at each other before forming an almost identical grin of knowing between them, before the Polish girl answered: "Training; I definitely got the lion's share of that if nothing else. We were able to put something together I think you're all gonna find really cool…assuming we get to show off at all anytime soon. The only downside was that Amajiki-senpai wouldn't say a word to me, no matter how much I tried to get to know him even half as well as Kolce does.

"As for Tunguska-sensei, he wouldn't really be much of a teacher if he took it easy on us, would he? But he and Fatgum-sensei together are like a force of nature to be reckoned with, on and off the field. Although, he did tend to mumble worriedly about you a couple times a day, but he'd keep trying to deny it whenever any of us brought it up. Seeing you in-person again today's sure to do him a ton of good. I'm honestly surprised he hasn't come barging in here first thing Kolce-Tetsu style."

"Whoa, what does that mean?" Nikolay asked curiously; leading Maja to grin knowingly at a similarly smiling Eijirou. "One day, we ended up getting a call about a bank robbery, where a few robbers had taken the employees and guests hostage. They locked themselves up in the vault when we showed up; Tunguska-sensei and Fatgum-sensei both said their Quirks wouldn't be able to break through in time without risking the hostages, so Tetsutetsu and I decided to smash our way through the walls behind their backs, head-first, like a pair of super-manly battering rams."

"Oh wow, that is such a you thing to do, Kiri! They must've looked so shocked when they saw you two!" Mina exclaimed with raucous laughter; easily able to picture the whole scene, with Nikolay, Maja and even Eijirou himself unable to help but laugh at the thought of it all as well.

At the same time; Izuku noted how much Minoru was trembling in silence, while Denki and Hanta were eagerly sharing stories about their internships with Mt. Lady. "Are you feeling alright, Mineta-san? You never really said anything to us about your week in any of our class text messages. Your internships couldn't have been that rough, could they?"

Minoru slowly turned to look the freckled boy in the eye as though he had decades' worth of rust in his neck joints, before answering in a hushed and terrified whisper: "You don't know anything about real fear, Midoriya-san. Mt. Lady…is like no woman on this Earth…just like Midnight-sensei. Women…they… they truly are a terrifying species…terrifying."

Overhearing this, Denki couldn't help but chuckle before finally clarifying for the confused Izuku: "Let's just say that Mt. Lady-sensei definitely has a type she likes to get rough with for training…three guesses as to what that is, and the first two don't count."

Instead of Minoru's terror, Izuku could only nod with an inquisitive understanding. At that same time, Mina and the rest of the girls had joined this part of the room full of recapping conversations; clearly energized after hearing of Ochako and Tsuyu's week with Selkie, Tooru and Yuga's week with the Number Nine Hero Yoroi Musha, and Momo's week learning alongside Setsuna under the Magic Hero, Majestic.

As such, after overhearing Minoru's clear-as-day shellshock, and Denki's vague explanation why; Mina simply couldn't help herself but to comment: "I mean, Mineta's already tiny compared to everyone else. What did Mt. Lady do: grow and threaten to eat him?"

"In so many words." Hanta answered; as everyone saw how Minoru instinctively flinched at the reminder.

Seeing this, Mina answered: "I can't imagine she was being serious. She was probably trying to give you that fight-or-flight mindset so you could actually fight back. I mean, that's how it worked back at Erubi City and Final Exams, remember?"

Minoru didn't answer, but that didn't stop Mina from now pointing out the faintest bruises on the sides of her neck for the rest of her present classmates; much to Nikolay's shock. 'No wonder she didn't want me to turn any lights on in my room last night!'

"Honestly, I doubt any Pro Sensei's as tough as Mirko-sensei. See these? Every day, even more than once, she wanted me to spar with her and see if I could get fast enough to land a single hit. I've honestly lost count how many times she got me in a headlock with her thighs. Seriously, those things are like a death trap."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?! MIRKO…LIKE, THE MIRKO, HEADLOCKED YOU WITH HER THIGHS?!" Minoru suddenly exclaimed from out of nowhere; his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets, as Mina instantly flinched now that he was suddenly so energized again. "Y-yeah, do these marks lie? She squeezed me that tight with her legs, and I'm just her intern. I feel sorry for any Villain unlucky enough to get grabbed by her like that."

With no thought given to what a scene he was making of himself in front of his classmates; Minoru suddenly fell to his knees, rapidly hammering his fists against the floor as he wailed: "NOOOOOO! IT'S NOT FAIR! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN MEEEE! NOT HER! MEEEEE!"

But Minoru's return to normalcy was all but ignored by everyone else, with Nikolay similarly blushing at the image of Mina with her head trapped between Mirko's powerful legs; while Mina could only take in the sight and sound of Minoru's tantrum with a look of distinct worry; whispering out the side of her mouth to Nikolay: "I can't be the only one to notice Mineta was actually pretty well behaved after that little…attitude adjustment after Joint Training, right? So…why can't I shake this sudden feeling like I just accidentally got him back to normal?"

While Nikolay was now likewise stricken by that feeling of silent dread as his girlfriend; Shoto approached Momo; his eyes quietly scanning the room. "Yaoyorozu-san, have you seen Iida-san at all this morning? It's not like him to be late when class is this close to starting."

Momo nodded in agreement, but surprisingly didn't look nearly so worried. "He texted me earlier. Apparently, Aizawa-sensei wanted to speak to him about something solely meant for the class president, so I'll be organizing us for heading to class. Speaking of which…"

With a resounding clap of her hands, Momo quickly caught the attention of her whole class; and soon they were all on their way. But before they could even make it off the dormitory grounds of campus…

"DOBROE UTRO (GOOD MORNING), CLASS!" The booming power of Tunguska's voice rushing from the direction of the faculty dorms quickly caught the whole classes. The sight of their Quirk History teacher smiling ecstatically in the brightness of the morning sun had nearly all the students smiling just as brightly as they all greeted him in turn; with Nikolay naturally breaking rank in order to meet his father in an eager hug after having not seen the man for a whole week. "And a very good morning to you, Kolya! Goodness, it's so good to finally see you again! You have an entirely new aura about you; all of you do, in fact! That's about as promising a sign that your internships have been working out for you so far if I've ever seen it!"

"Well you should know, since you're the one who taught us, Tunguska-sensei! Thank you so much again for the opportunity!" Eijirou eagerly chimed in, before Maja gave him the slightest elbow to the side for intruding on what was clearly supposed to be a father-son moment between Tunguska and Nikolay.

[[I'm sorry I didn't speak to you over the phone as often or as long as I should've this past week, Dad.]] Nikolay finally answered firstly with an apology, only for his father to give a kindhearted chuckle; mussing up his short brown hair in his one real hand, while motioning for the whole class to continue on their way; the two Russians keeping pace with them.

[[Don't start with an apology, especially when you have nothing to apologize for, Kolya. I may not know Endeavor-san nearly as well as All Might-san, but I can still see that he's a Hero who takes the training of his students at all hours of the day as seriously as possible. I may be your father, but I'm not going to be nearly so irresponsible as to keep you away from training as often as you can, like all your friends. You gave me an update every day of how you've been progressing, and for your first week of internships, that's as good as I can ask for.

[[But we'll have plenty of time now to catch up on both sides, at least for the days you'll all be here at school. It's not like I don't have anything to fill you in on, myself…unless, of course, malenkie Kirishima, Kieslowska and Tetsutetsu don't do so first. They've all been doing quite a bit of development in their respective styles as well.]]

That reminder had Nikolay smiling in excitement again as he looked to all his friends. [[Yeah, it sounds like everyone's already been learning a lot. I really wanna see how, though. You don't think you can maybe give us an idea what the curriculum today is supposed to consist of, can you? Would it have anything to do with why Aizawa-sensei called Iida-san away?]]

Tunguska's blue eyes shifted up to the sky in a mock show of ignorance. [[I can't say yea or nay about that, Kolya. That's a matter entirely between Aizawa-san and malenkii Iida. But it's only a few minutes before the day's set to begin, so you may get the answers you're looking for much sooner than you think. I just hope I'll get a chance to see what you've learned, too.]]

With that, Tunguska bid Class 1-A farewell until his class period would begin later today. From there the students all finally made their way back to their homeroom class, where there was no sign of Aizawa, but Tenya was standing dutifully at attention at the podium; all his classmates wasting no time to bid him good morning and asking just where he was while taking their seats, and Momo took her place beside him at the head of the class.

The air of positive anticipation Tenya was radiating had all his classmates in high spirits before he finally rang in the beginning of the day once they were all in their seats. "I know we wished each other this when we first left for our internships, but let us take our awaited return to Yuuei and to each other as a class, as the beginning of a new chapter, as all the reason we need to wish this from the bottom of our hearts: HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY FELLOW CLASSMATES!"

As soon as everyone eagerly wished Tenya an official happy New Year wish in return, their president continued: "We have all given our all to integrate ourselves into our continuing Pro Hero internships for this past week, and now that we have finally returned, it is at last time to showcase exactly what those weeks away have taught us! Today, we'll all be giving practical reports on our progress thus far! Everyone grab your costume suitcases and report to Training Ground Alpha, and be prepared to show just what you've gained through your experiences!"

Everyone could feel their hearts start racing in excitement. As much as they had all been hoping they'd get the chance to show off what they'd learned; none of them had expected it to be the very first thing. As they were already scrambling to grab their cases; the classroom door was already slamming open; Aizawa standing in the doorway with that same exhausted aggravation on his face as he had his trusty sleeping bag visible, tucked under his arm. "Everyone stop your chattering and get moving!"

Despite their homeroom teacher's typical impatience; just being able to finally see him face-to-face for the first time since the New Year had his students still more excited than ever, as Mina was the first to spring out the door past him; glowing as bright as the morning sun with her classmates right on her heels. "HAPPY NEW YEAR, AIZAWA-SENSEI!"

As the rest of the students all likewise greeted their teacher happily one after the other; Tenya similarly greeted Aizawa with the same kind of gusto while on his way out: "I've instructed everyone just like you asked, Sensei! ONWARD, CLASS A!"

Overhearing Tenya expressing such eagerness while still embodying his typical intensity, couldn't help but leave a knowing or curious smile on many of his classmates' faces, as Denki noted: "You're even more fired up than usual, Iida-san. Your internships went that well, huh?"

Tenya naturally took the lead of his class; a veritable spring in his rigid step as he answered with the same glimmer in his eyes. "Unquestionably, Kaminari-san! I decided that since I ended up ultimately squandering my opportunity to learn during our Field Training assignment last year, it was only right that I make up for my error by returning to learn under Manual-sensei in Hosu City to learn properly, with no further distraction! It may have just been a week so far, but thus far, I've finally learned the art…OF BEING FLEXIBLE!"

To visibly prove his point, Tenya suddenly began to gyrate his hips as though he were working with an invisible hula hoop; earning some surprised but overall supportive cheers from Tooru, Ochako, Izuku and Nikolay; while everyone else could only just look in bewilderment at how he could still somehow be able to look more flexible, and still so utterly robotic at the same time.

As the students continued on their way to their changing rooms, Aizawa began to follow them after tucking his sleeping bag away under his desk. But he had to stop and check when his phone began to vibrate. Opening it to find a message from Principal Nezu, calling him to the faculty office, had his heart momentarily seize in apprehension; all but certain that whatever the mouse headmaster had to tell him was anything but good.

At the same time further down the halls, Mina could no longer help herself and was hugging one of her arms around one of Nikolay's, while taking the chance to try flexing her free arm for the rest of their classmates to see. "What do you all think? Mirko-sensei's all about buffing up for a close-up hand-to-hand fight, and she's been making me feel the burn like I've never felt before. Do my arms look any bigger to any of you?"

"Well, your grip was already really strong, but I can definitely feel the difference from here." Nikolay immediately answered; earning himself a sweet giggle of gratitude from Mina, while the rest of the girls, Eijirou, Denki, Minoru and Izuku were looking over her arm closely; a look of regret visible on all of them.

"I don't know what to say, Mina. I don't doubt Mirko's been pushing you to your limit, and your arm certainly feels a little tighter, but it still generally looks the same-kero." Tsuyu explained, while Eijirou was still maintaining an encouraging grin: "But hey, don't sweat the small stuff, Ashido! It's just been one week! I have no doubt by the time our internships are over, you'll be looking like an absolutely manly badass Hero wuith the muscles to match!"

However, Mina's expression was that of pure relief as she answered: "I appreciate the enthusiasm, Kiri, but I'm actually glad. I wanna be as strong as I can be, but if I'm being honest, I woke up every morning worrying I was gonna have big muscles like a bodybuilder, and there wouldn't be anything cute about my look anymore. I'm just glad Mirko-sensei's training is letting me keep my brawn and my figure, like she promised it would."

Mina's positivity was practically infectious, as the girls were all smiling happily for her as a result, while Eijirou was once more pounding his fists together in anticipation. "Awesome, then it all works out! Good for you! Personally speaking, I hope a week with nobody but Maja-san, Tetsutetsu-san, Amajiki-senpai, Tunguska-sensei and Fatgum-sensei has helped make my muscles bigger! I definitely feel a lot stronger today! Maybe you guys can all confirm once we're in costume!"

Naturally, the mentioning of their learning together urged Eijirou and Maja to give each other another enthusiastic high-five, before she continued: "This is gonna be so fun! I made their gym at the agency like my personal playground! Just you wait; I'll prove that you don't need field work to sharpen up your Quirks the best they can be."

Everyone's moods were just feeding off of each others', as Mina was practically skipping along in excitement, while still keeping her arm linked with Nikolay's; her black-gold eyes sparkling in the morning light through the windows. "Oooh, what do you think it's gonna be like when we show off our new moves? You think we're gonna get to spar against each other, or is it gonna be another display against robots? Oh, I can't wait!"

Many of the other students couldn't help but voice their agreement as to just what lay in store for them; but the one thing that soon became unanimous among them, was how it was Nikolay, Izuku, Bakugo and Shoto that they were the most eager to see in action; a notion that made the former two admittedly nervous, but also made all four of them that much more determined to show the new full extent of their respective abilities with gusto.

Upon entering their changing room, the girls wasted no time getting into their Hero costumes. While Momo was fitting her cloak over her shoulders, she couldn't help but take a momentary glance to Maja nearby, who after applying the Wax in her body to form her costume over her body, proceeded to pull out four ornate-looking metal vambraces, which she proceeded to slip her arms and legs through; the strange items fitting just perfectly.

"Those are new, Kieslowska-san." Momo pointed out bluntly, but still smiling at the sight of her Polish classmate adding some flare to her costume.

Grinning in satisfaction to herself, Maja answered: "Not really, these are just an improved version of those mounted lighters I had you Create for me during Joint Training. I'd been thinking about it since then, and I realized full-on open flames with my Wax could easily bite me in the butt, so I decided to dial it back. Now these are just some heating coils that can always keep my Wax just soft enough for me to whip or throw it far in a pinch, and even add a scalding effect if I ever have to get into an actual fight. Tunguska-sensei got me in touch with the company that makes Support items for Fatgum-sensei's agency, so that's how I was able to get these so soon."

As Momo nodded in acknowledgment; on the other side of the changing room, Ochako had already gotten into her costume proper; showing off her new two-piece headgear fitted over both her ears, with a retractable projected visor that could go over her face at the touch of a button.

"That style looks so much cuter on you than that big helmet you used to wear, Ochako-chan!" Tooru complimented, with Mina eagerly nodding in agreement once Ochako had finished demonstrating how her new headgear worked; causing her to smile in relief. "You really think so? Thank goodness; you both are way more fashionable than me, so I wasn't too confident, myself."

An audible groan of strain from Kyouka quickly caught Ochako's attention, as she and Mina were currently carrying her two wrist guards; the former visibly struggling to keep carrying it as she handed it over. "When you said you'd upgraded these things with a tether, I assumed you meant like a regular rope. What's in these things, steel cables?"

A quick touch of Ochako's fingertips made the heavy object light as a feather as she quickly slipped her hand through it. "I wanted to make sure it was something that wouldn't risk snapping on me if I ever had to try and lasso a Villain or save a bunch of people at once. But I just keep it weightless as often as I can."

"So does that mean you're keeping your Quirk active the whole time carrying those things, and all without getting sick? You've really come a long way, Uraraka-san." Momo complimented; causing her to blush even more strongly while scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "Aww, it's really not that big a deal, Momo-chan. I just want to be as prepared and capable as I can be when the time comes. Besides, there's still some other changes to my costume I've decided to make, too."

"So are those heavy cables in both of your wrist-guards then, Urara-chan? What do you keep in this?" Mina suddenly asked as she began lifting and tossing Ochako's utility belt. But the moment it landed back in her hands, a tiny compartment in it suddenly popped open, and the sound of something small hitting the ground snapped her to attention, while Ochako visibly froze in wide-eyed shock at what just happened.

Kneeling down to grab it, Mina found herself looking from the little open door in Ochako's gear, to the very same All Might keychain that she had been given by Izuku for Christmas; Kyouka and Tsuyu likewise recognizing it as soon as Ochako broke into a mad sprint to try and grab it.

But it was too little, far too late.

'Midori-kun…Urara-chan…Christmas…his very first gift to her…Urara-chan keeping it close…OOOH!'

The moment Mina put the pieces together in her head; lightning struck from deep within. She could feel her heart start racing, and her adrenaline start rushing at light speed through her veins as she turned to address Ochako with the biggest lights in her eyes, and the most overjoyed smile on her glowing pink face. "I KNEW IT!"

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT, MINA-CHAAAN!" Ochako squealed in humiliated desperation as she snatched the keychain away, while Mina was hopping ecstatically where she stood, giggling uncontrollably in her boundless delight; her shipping senses going completely through the roof. "THAT IS SOOOO ROMANTIC, URARA-CHAAAAN! YOU'RE KEEPING MIDORI-KUN'S FIRST PRESENT TO YOU CLOSE ALL THE TIIIME! YOU DOOOO HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM, DON'T YOOOOU?! DON'T TRY TO DENY IIIIT!"

Thankfully, Tsuyu and Kyouka were quick to try and restrain Mina before she could try grabbing and shaking the poor red-faced Ochako in her insistence; who could barely even string the words together: "I-i-i-it's n-not like th-that! R-r-really! I-I'll just…put this away," she stuttered in her embarrassment.

But once Ochako had her back to Mina, she took the moment to look over the keychain in her hand, and her embarrassed blush quickly began to turn into one of affection; a warm glow filling her brown eyes as she finally tucked the little keepsake and good luck charm away in her belt for safe-keeping.

At the same time, while Mina was finally remembering to breathe and calm herself down from her hopeless romantic's euphoria, Tooru suddenly chimed in: "What about you, Mina-chan? That little ballerina figure Kolya-kun gave you wasn't that big, and we know you've got pockets in your vests. Admit it: you're totally keeping it close to you, too, right?"

As soon as Mina was back to normal and finally slipping her costume's winter vest on; clipping the fluffy moth-like collar around her neck; she had a light of pure affection in her eyes. "You'd think so, but…no. I don't need one of Kolya-kun's presents to give me good luck out there. Just thinking about him is all the good luck I could ever need. He's the best Christmas, birthday, Valentine's Day or any other gift I could ever want or need…the gift that just keeps on giving."

By this point, Mina was allowing her mind to wander in whatever she was fantasizing about the more she spoke; completely ignorant to the dumbfounded looks on Kyouka, Tooru and Maja's faces, while Tsuyu could just bluntly comment: "That's…probably the cheesiest thing we've heard you say yet, Mina-kero."

But Mina was simply in too ecstatic a mindset to let her froggy friend's comments effect her at all, as she instead turned to address all her friends. "Maybe, but that doesn't make it any less true. And hey, you don't get much more of a fairy tale romance brought to life than Maja-chan there."

Now the rest of the girls in the locker room turned to look confusedly at Maja; the poor girl herself looking the most confused of all. "What the hell are you talking about?"

But Mina was now on a roll, as she continued: "Oh come on; Urara-chan playing dumb is adorable, but two people doing it is just sad. Ever since you and Kiri met at the School Festival, you've practically been inseparable. Getting to work together for internships must be the best thing you two could ask for, just like it was for me and Kolya-kun."

While Kyouka and Momo could both only quietly mutter between themselves how ironic it was that Mina of all people was having this lecture with Maja; Tooru chimed in: "Mina-chan does bring up an interesting point. You and Kirishima-kun have been really chummy in record time since you started attending; much like she and Kolya-kun were and have been. Is there anything you have to say about that?"

In a display far less flustered than that of Ochako, Maja stood her ground as she answered bluntly: "Yeah: you've all clearly got way too much free time on your hands if you seriously think me and Kol—I mean, Kirishima-san are anything remotely like that. Just because two people click as well as we do doesn't automatically mean there has to be anything more to it. Clearly you and Kolya-san were a very strong exception to that rule, Ashido-san."

But Mina was, naturally, not backing down, as her eyes only seemed to grow that much wider and more emboldened: "But what about back at the Christmas party? I can't have been the only one outside you two to see it: you straight up gave Kiri one of those roundabout kisses on the cheek when I had the mistletoe over you."

"Yeah, because I felt like indulging you in the spirit of the season. I didn't think you were actually gonna keep rolling with it after that." Maja answered without any hesitation.

That miraculously managed to give Mina pause to think of any other ways to carry her romantic suspicions any further, but Momo thankfully managed to step in and direct her fellow girls to continue to the training grounds.


At the same time in the boys' changing room, Eijirou was positively glowing with excitement once he'd gotten changed into his costume, and many of his classmates finally confirmed his hopes that his training under Tunguska and Fatgum had gotten his muscles even bigger. That had been the perfect catalyst for the rest of them to start asking each other how they felt their progress had been going. And, as to have been expected, the four students of Endeavor found themselves the ones approached the most with their classmates' questions.

Of course, neither Bakugo nor Shoto were willing to indulge when they were already about to give a practical demonstration in the first place. But Izuku was proving far more open to share…even though all his classmates' excitement stopped him from going much further than his initial answer: "My control over Blackwhip has at least improved…"

"You finally got full control over that thing?! Dude, that was awesomely fast!" Eijirou congratulated his curly-haired friend, especially once Nikolay couldn't help but chime in: "Yeah, it's a trip, seeing that move in action with your own eyes."

All the while, Izuku was once more looking to his gauntlet-adorned hands; a smile of dedication stretching across his face. "Yeah, but it's not the full-leap in control I was hoping for yet. I can only really handle Blackwhip for about a second. It doesn't have a wide variety of uses so far, but it's still very strong."

THUNK!

From out of nowhere, Bakugo's eye mask came flying across the locker room like a ninja's throwing star, embedding itself in the side of Izuku's head and bringing him to the floor; a tiny spout of blood spraying out of it, much to the shock of all the rest of the boys; Eijirou exclaiming in both fright and indignation: "BAKUGO, WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!"

But while Minoru and Rikido were hurriedly trying to grab one of the nearby first-aid kits to try and patch Izuku up, while Nikolay tried to pull the mask out as if it were the fabled Sword in the Stone ("He threw it like it's light as a feather, but it's not coming out! The hell is this thing made of?!"); Bakugo simply turned his back to the scene and stormed off with the same disgusted scowl on his face. "He can barely control it, and he still talks it up like he's got it all figured out. That damn geek is hopeless!"

Fortunately, it didn't seem that Izuku had been dealt any serious harm, as despite the momentarily empty look in his eyes once he was back on his feet, he seemed to be normal, for all intents and purposes; still continuing on with talking about his plans for developing Blackwhip the rest of the way to the training grounds.

Once they were all dressed and making the rest of their way over; knowing there was clearly nothing more they could try to do for Izuku, Denki and Hanta took that chance to ask Nikolay: "What about you, Kolya-san? You didn't look nearly so disappointed, listening to Midoriya-san go on about his Quirk's growth." "Yeah, how do you feel about your own?"

Cracking his knuckles and shaking his wrists in order to try and limber himself up, Nikolay answered as honestly as he could: "Well, I'm not about to say it's anywhere as impressive as Midoriya-san's Blackwhip, but I definitely feel like I could take on a fight much better now, more fluidly, and not have to focus so much on every little thing I want to do. I just don't know if it's gonna come through as well in a demonstration as it did in an actual incident."

Before either of the boys could ask Nikolay to elaborate further on what he meant: "I AM…MAKING COTTON CANDY!"

From out of nowhere, the boom of Toshinori Yagi's voice snapped all of the students to attention; many of them instinctively calling him out as All Might out of pure habit upon seeing the scrawny teacher frantically stirring away at a cotton candy machine for the sake of emphasizing his lackluster attempt at a joke catchphrase; the complete lack of subsequent laughter leaving him feeling more than a tad awkward. "Come now, are none of you really going to react to my almighty gag? I was pretending to say 'I am here'."

"Pffft, hahahahaha!"

Out of nowhere, Nikolay suddenly burst into a fit of laughter, after having taken the moment to think Toshinori's comment through; running the Japanese annunciations of his normal catchphrase and his bizarre greeting, and only just then realizing how close they both were, and what the man was actually going for.

None of his classmates or Toshinori himself could tell if Nikolay's laughter was genuine or simply done out of the desire to indulge their teacher; but either way, it was enough to make Toshinori smile in accomplishment to himself.

As Nikolay was finally beginning to catch his breath, Tenya raised his hand: "Forgive me for asking, All Might-sensei, but where is Aizawa-sensei? I was to understand he would be here to observe us for this activity!"

Shutting his cotton candy machine of, Toshinori answered: "Yes, that was the original plan. However, some sudden emergency business has been brought to his attention that he needs to attend to, so I will be taking his place. Now all of you please prepare yourselves, for the time has finally come to showcase for each other exactly what it is you've learned thus far from your respective internships, against Yuuei's legions of attack robots!"

At the press of the button on a small remote Toshinori pulled from his pocket, multiple trap doors across the training ground opened up, revealing multitudes of the same robots the students had long since grown used to working off for their training. Once they were all in place, Toshinori continued: "Now while most of you went to your internships as groups, I understand that one or more of you actually went to train solo under the Pro Hero of your choice. As such, those lone wolves among you can volunteer to display your new skills with the group of your choosing. So, who among you would like to go first?"

"US FIRST, ALL MIGHT-SENSEI! THIS IS TOO COOL TO WAIT FOR!" Tooru and Mina simultaneously exclaimed in a burst of excitement; both girls rushing out to the nearest clearing in the training ground, with Yuga quickly following suit while flourishing his cape in his instinctive need to look dramatic. "Tres bien. Such an occasion as this can only justifiably begin with the most dazzling display of them all. Observe in awe, mes amis, at how a reborn and dazzling Hero truly shines! NAVEL SABER!"

The moment the three students stepped into the clearing, multiple of the robots immediately ame charging in. But Yuga didn't waste a moment, as he brought his hands to his hips, touching his thumbs to two of the buttons lining his belt buckle, and suddenly producing his Navel Laser.

However, it wasn't the same unstoppable beam that his classmates were used to; but instead a medium-length concentrated projection from his stomach that managed to stop and maintain its current form; drawing many surprised exclamations from the onlooking students; Denki immediately commenting: "Damn, that's a nifty trick, Aoyama! You made your Quirk into your own personal lightsaber now!"

But Yuga couldn't break his concentration in order to respond; instead breaking into a dash and leaping to and from on the tips of his feet as fast and accurately as he could; throwing himself into ballerina-like spins in order to slash his Navel Saber through the first of several robots he could reach; bringing them down in sparking and smoking heaps.

But that didn't stop several other robots from rushing in, but by now, Yuga's concentration and consistent activation of his Quirk was once more taking its toll on him, as his knees were beginning to shake. Fortunately for him, though; Tooru quickly came rushing over to his side. "Nice work, Aoyama-kun! I'll take it from here!"

Then, before everyone's eyes, the moment the invisible girl actually grasped her gloved hands onto Yuga's projected Navel Saber, the light itself actually began to warp, curve and bend to the manipulations of her hands, as though she were molding the shape of the light itself all on her own, before she finally released her hold, and the laser finally proceeded to shoot forward in a completely different direction from where Yuga was facing; destroying a few more of the robots that were coming in closest.

The many amazed exclamations from her classmates got Tooru to twirl back in her toes to pose for them; the body language visible in her gloves and boots complimenting the ecstatic pride in her voice: "Looks awesome, right? My Invisibility is all about refracting light beams away from myself, so it just made sense that I should be able to manipulate light even further than that!"

However, just because Tooru was taking the chance to explain how she came up with this new technique, didn't mean the robots that remained were just going to leave her be, as the rest were all getting ready to rush her from behind. But before any of the other students could warn her; Mina suddenly came all but literally flying through the air in a blindingly fast leap and roll towards the robots; the cloudy liquid that was her Acid starting to emerge not just from her arms and legs, but from all over her body.

"VISCOSITY, CORROSIVITY MAX! ACIDMAN!"

With that excited battle cry, Mina's roll finally unfolded into a diving dropkick; her whole body now encased in a human-shaped glob of Acid that matched her movements to the letter; as she drove herself straight through the mob of robots with ease; skidding to a halt on the ground upon landing, while the robots melted away in a steaming pile.

And knowing that she had landed her first display of her new technique flawlessly, Mina likewise twirled back to face her classmates while still in this insanely powerful Acid shell; arms spread wide and her smile reaching from ear to ear. "TA-DAAH! JUST LIKE THAT!"

"EXCELLENT! APPLAUSE, EVERYONE!" Toshinori exclaimed in genuine pride at how masterfully the three students had worked their new techniques on the fly and alongside each other. But before any of the other students could likewise applaud; several blurs of movement from out of the rocks behind the trio's back caught their attention; looking to the sky just in time to see several winged robots come dive-bombing right for them.

"LOOK OUT ABOVE!" Nikolay and several others cried out in urgency when neither Tooru nor Yuga looked like they'd noticed the incoming surprise attack in time. Even Mina didn't look like she'd noticed. But the sound of them warning her and her friends about an unseen attack got her smiling in further anticipation. "STEP BACK AND GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR, EVERYBODY!"

Nobody knew just what their pink classmate had in store, but if she sounded this confident and unworried, then they instinctively felt they had to trust in her. So, they, Toshinori, Tooru and Yuga quickly took a wide step back and got down flat to the ground. The moment she knew they were safe; Mina squatted and sprung up high into the air, flipping her body so she could see the incoming flying robots head-on.

Her heart raced even further with excitement, as Mina suddenly opened her mouth, stuck her thumb in and blew against it as hard as she could; her cheeks fully puffed out with air. In a strange physiological reaction to this move on her part; the blob she called Acidman suddenly began to swell, wobble and fluctuate violently, before it suddenly inflated like a bubble and burst; sending its corrosive contents in all directions; mostly straight into all the diving robots, melting them away into nothing before one of them even hit the ground.

As the smoke from the Acid that hit the ground cleared, Mina landed perfectly on her feet in a low squat, before springing back up and striking that same victorious pose and blinding smile. "ACIDMAN SURPRISE!"

With that sudden impressive new move on top of another; as soon as they were sure no other robot sneak attacks were about to happen; Toshinori and the rest of the class all got back up and enthusiastically applauded the opening trio. "THAT WAS SO AWESOME, YOU GUYS! JUST AS TO BE EXPECTED FROM THE INTERNS OF THE NUMBER NINE HERO, YOROI MUSHA, AND THE NUMBER FIVE HERO, MIRKO!"

As the three quickly rejoined their classmates; Yuga was visibly already suffering a major stomach cramp, while Tooru was bouncing excitedly: "I know, right?! In order to follow all his crazy different battle methods, we had to come up with all kinds of new combos!"

Mina was likewise twirling like a human top, she was so ecstatic that she'd pulled her new moves off so well. "And Mirko hammered in how important it is I be able to defend myself when I'm super-outnumbered, and in a way that puts them all on their butts in a flash! So I worked and worked, and my new move just came to me!"

At that mention, Mina hurriedly pulled off her domino mask and shook her head to get the last flecks of her Acid out of her hair, before her sparkling eyes fell on Nikolay, Eijirou and Maja, and she came sprinting up to the three of them. "Hey, hey! You noticed I called my new move 'Acidman', right? I got the idea from your Unbreakable, Kiri!"

"Eh? For real?" The red-haired young Hero looked completely dumbfounded at this sudden reveal; to which Mina could only shoot him a full-hearted cheeky grin, poking her tongue out through her smile in the process.

That twinkle of enthusiasm in her eyes made it all too clear to Eijirou, Nikolay and Maja, just how sincere she was being in where she'd gotten her inspiration. With a happy smile of his own, Nikolay gave his male best friend a light elbow to the arm. "Looks like it's finally come full circle, Eijirou-san."

"Oooh, this is just too precious! And you keep going on about how you're not inspiring, Kolce!" Maja chimed in with a teasing giggle, which Mina and Nikolay both soon couldn't help but join in on, while Eijirou formed a deeply emotional smile of realization on his face.

They were right. As much as Crimson Riot had been his idol for virtually his entire life, it was Mina's example that had inspired him to finally go for a Hero career in the first place. And now, to hear that his own example had likewise inspired her own development as a Hero, let alone inspired anyone, was without a doubt one of the greatest feelings in the world; as he let out a heartfelt and happy "AWESOME," in response.

With that deeply moved air about them already so strong, Mina just as quickly turned her overjoyed smile to Nikolay; leaning her whole body his way on her feet while her cheeks turned a warmer shade of pink, and her black-gold eyes sparkled that much more. "And aren't you a teensy-weensy bit curious where I got my Acidman Surprise from, Ko-l-ya-kuuuun?"

Nikolay had to take a moment to contain his instinctive fluster at her purring his name in order to try and guess, and the moment his green eyes widened with that light of realization, Mina couldn't stop giggling, even as she confirmed: "That's riiiiight! Looks an awful lot like that Refraction ability of yours, doesn't it?"

"OH, DUDE, THAT'S RIGHT, IT TOTALLY DOES FEEL A LOT LIKE THAT, HUH?!" Eijirou exclaimed with that same astonishment towards his Russian pal, while Nikolay was already scratching at the back of his head in embarrassment. "R-really? I mean, I-I haven't even gotten close to mastering it, though."

Mina's giggle was so sweet that it could have melted ice, as she quickly brought one arm around Nikolay's shoulders, hugging her boyfriend tight to her as she began affectionately rubbing her cheek against his. "So what? It's still a totes amazing move, either way, Kolya-kun! You're both super awesome, so why wouldn't I get inspiration from you as much as anyone else? I can't wait to see what you all can do now!"

With a resounding clap of his hands to regain the whole classes' attention, Toshinori announced; having been unable to avoid overhearing the trio: "Agreed! At this rate, each of you is already showing the effectiveness of your internships! Now, who would like to go next?"

It took no further invitation than that for Mashirao and Rikido to quickly volunteer. With the push of another button, another batch of robots came emerging from trap doors all over the training ground.

But neither of the two students backed down; instead opting to be the ones to charge at their mechanical opponents. In a matter of seconds, they too reduced them all to a bunch of scattered pieces of scrap; Rikido moving even faster and with greater physical strength behind his punches than ever before, while Mashirao's already insanely graceful movements now looked borderline inhuman, as every attack any robots close enough tried to throw at him, he managed to not only avoid, but devastatingly counter as though he'd seen it all coming minutes before the fact.

As the students all once more applauded the duo excitedly, Toshinori replied: "Very well done, Ojiro-shonen, Sato-shonen! You both decided to intern under the Number Thirteen Hero, Shishido, correct?"

Dusting themselves off, Rikido and Mashirao answered respectively: "That's right! He was able to help me figure out how to not only boost my speed and strength while in Sugar Rush further, but he also helped me figure out a means to make its effects last longer, too." "And he taught me how important it is to read every bit of your opponent's body language so you know exactly how they'll react before they even do so, no matter what direction they come at you, or you come at them."

As soon as they were off the training ground; next was Kyouka and Mezo; who proceeded to showcase not only a farther-reaching and more powerful use of her Earphone Jacks to pinpoint some much farther hidden robot enemies; per their request, but Mezo likewise proceeded to focus his Quirk into producing eyes and ears out the ends of some of his tentacles, in order to confirm their targets' whereabouts.

From there, once the robots had been sufficiently dealt with; they likewise gave the summation of their past weeks' education: "Gang Orca-sensei may have a whole organization to help him with reconnaissance, but he taught us that every Hero needs to have eyes and ears enough to catch any situation on their own at any moment so they can properly act."

Next was the trio of Hanta, Denki and Minoru; who by now had thankfully overcome his persistent case of the terrified shivers, in order to properly help out his partners. In an insane flurry, Hanta lassoed Minoru in his Tapes and sent him swinging; using a combination of Tape and adhesive hairballs, to completely entrap all the robots coming at them, so Denki could then use his Electricity to short circuit the whole lot of them in one place.

Even before the three of them went on to confirm for their classmates; the whole of Class 1-A could tell that Mt. Lady and her team, The Lurkers, had really cemented in the plucky trio, the value of real teamwork.

Tenya proceeded next, and with his previously displayed increased flexibility in his speed, courtesy of the Number 222 Hero, Manual; he was less like a human bullet, and more like a human whirlwind on his feet; making it impossible for any of the robots to even get a bead on him, let alone even put up a fight, before his invisible kicks managed to smash them to bits.

Afterwards came Kouji; who in a very subtle show, managed to pinpoint even but a scattered handful of ants on the ground, was able to order them all into his hand, and from there proceed to individually command each of them to go in very specific directions across his body without any struggle. Clearly, his time spend learning under the Number Eight Hero, Wash, had not only helped him to fully conquer his fear of insects, but had vastly improved his ability to utilize his AniSpeak Quirk, to be able to give far more concise orders.

After that came Fumikage; who while not having developed any standout new special moves, displayed an even greater mastery of the various techniques he'd taught Dark Shadow to do in order to lay waste to all the robots in his wake; a testament to what an effective teacher Hawks was; even if he actually hadn't been present for much of the past week this time.

Next, it was finally time for Eijirou and Maja to excitedly step in and showcase what their time with Tunguska and Fatgum had taught them; with Toshinori and the rest of the class more than curious to see just what this time would have done for Maja especially, without a license to allow her to get any experience out on the field.

With no hesitation, and a well-timed activation of his Unbreakable, Eijirou managed to bulldoze his way through the several robots foolish enough to try and encircle him; the berserker-style stance he took afterwards actually causing the remainder to pause and back away, as if his assault had actually managed to sap away the willingness to fight from soulless machines; which left everyone only able to wonder just how effective he would be against actually organic enemies with a sense of self-preservation.

At the same time, with careful observation of her surroundings and her odds, Maja carefully timed the activation of the heating coils around her forearms and shins, before actually activating her Quirk, which caused her Wax to come flying from her swinging arms and legs at even farther range and faster pace; splashing and coating several of the robots, which caused their temperature damage alarms to start ringing, before the stuff just as quickly proceeded to reinforce and dry against their chassis; causing them to freeze up, unable to move as easily.

However, in Maja's aggressive flurry of burning hot Wax flying from her arms and legs, she had ended up getting a good amount splattered on Eijirou's torso, arms and legs in the process; his momentary flinching upon contact quickly reminding everyone that even his Unbreakable stage didn't make him impervious to temperature-based attacks.

However, neither he nor Maja looked perturbed by this accident, as the Polish girl grinned in anticipation before taking a step aside. "Like we've been practicing, Kolce?"

"YOU KNOW IT!" Eijirou eagerly replied. With that go-ahead, Maja's face noticeably intensified with focus.

SHHK!SHHK!SHHK!

Without warning, and even drawing some deeply surprised gasps from the students; the Wax that had spilled onto Eijirou suddenly erupted into a multitude of large spikes lining his torso and legs, and even protruded from his elbows and knuckles, like a frightening pair of devastating brass knuckles. With that added boost to his offensive and defensive capabilities, Eijirou proceeded to come charging in and using Maja's added Wax to further destroy the immobilized robots in a flash.

Once that was all over, and Maja had the Wax melt again off of Eijirou's body so it could come collecting back into her body; the duo looked back to their classmates with bright and sunny smiles on both their faces. "Pretty kickass, right?" "Yeah, I figured that until I get my license, I could at least come up with ways to help everyone else in a pinch, and so I thought: what better way to than to give their arsenal just a little bit more bite? I've taken to calling it Płaszcz Woskowy, or Wax Coat."

As the two of them returned to their congratulating classmates; Nikolay and Mina happily meeting them both with encouraging fist bumps along the way; Toshinori watched them while nodding with approval at how they'd done. 'It's a shame you can't be here to see all of this with your own eyes, Tunguska-san. You and Fatgum-san have clearly done astonishingly well with them already.'

Now it was time for Ochako and Tsuyu to step in…and once they had gotten the green light to act as the robots had gotten into position; their already incredible sense of teamwork was completely overshadowed by where they now stood; their coordinated timing and ability to work off of each other in order to get their targets in their blind spots; between Tsuyu's towering leaps and Ochako's new cable-assisted swings and launches; they were like a wholly new well-oiled machine.

Watching the two girls in action on such a higher level had many of Class A wide-eyed and awe-struck, while Toshinori watched with a deeply approving smile on his gaunt face. 'Very well done, you two. Clearly, the tragedy of losing Ryukyu-san hasn't stunted your developments at all…in fact; her memory, on top of your education under Selkie-san, has only made you both work a hundred times even harder. She would be so proud of you.'

Lastly, Momo stepped up and went on to show how, through her education under the Magic Hero, Majestic; she had learned how to use her Quirk to plan ahead for every possible circumstance, given the variety of attack capabilities the robots now proved themselves to have; and had managed to Create a multitude of different tools and traps at a far greater pace than she previously could. Being on her own in such a large training ground, she couldn't necessarily go around to lay those tools in place to prove how much more her sense of strategy had improved, but her preparedness had been proof enough to everyone as to just how far she'd come in just one week.

Finally, with their vice president stepping off the field, the time they had all been anticipating the most had finally come: the time for the four students of the Number One Hero of Japan, Endeavor to all step forward and show their stuff. Nikolay, Izuku, Shoto and Bakugo could all feel everyone's eyes watching them intently, but they all exercised amazing resistance to that sense of pressure, as they all marched in tandem into the training ground.

Toshinori had already long since pressed the button to summon up more robots than any of the previous students had faced; feeling a great swelling of assuredness in his chest as he saw how the four young Heroes carried themselves into the battlefield. 'I know just what incredible potential you all possess. Show us just what Endeavor-san was able to help you unlock within yourselves.'

"You wanna know what we learned?! I'll show you! Increasing potential power!" Bakugo announced with all the same aggressive energy as ever, before he suddenly launched himself like a human cannonball into the first cluster of robots, igniting compact but devastating Explosions at the touch to each of them, ricocheting off of and annihilating them one after the other at near the speed of light.

"Improved speed!" Shoto likewise announced as he took off like a blur across an instant path of Ice from his right hand, before then flying off the ending ramp and igniting a vortex of Fire from his left, sending his own cluster of robots flying and burning through the air in his wake.

At the same time, Nikolay proceeded to bolt across the ground at even greater speed and precise directional aim of the Kinetic Blasts coming out his hands and feet. This allowed him to move and swerve across the ground like it was made of butter; flipping and gliding through the air overhead between his own bunch of robots with greater fluidity than any of his classmates had seen from him yet; never once faltering in his momentum, even when making the sharpest turns in mid-air with his Quirk.

With remarkable speed, Nikolay struck a precise point-blank blast into most of the robots he passed, causing them to come apart from the inside out from the overwhelming vibrations surging through their chassis and wiring, while others he managed to pierce through with throws of his smaller tuning forks so fast that nobody could even see when he'd taken them out of his bandolier, before then just as quickly activating the Magne Grips on his gloves to send them coming right back, piercing through their targets again, and bringing them down as well.

Finally, when it came to the last two robots he had standing, Nikolay drew out both his larger tuning forks, and with another incredibly fast charging blast out of his feet, he suddenly swung both his weapons upwards into them as hard as he could with all the Kinetic Energy he'd already been channeling into them; a deafening BWOOM sounding on impact as they were both launched high into the air.

From there, Nikolay once more launched himself up into the air after them with not a moment's pause in all his previous momentum; redirecting himself around them with such grace that it genuinely looked more like he was flying, rather than using his Quirk to launch himself one direction after another. And then, when he was finally in the middle between them:

"CONTROL!"

Nikolay's answer came echoing down loud and clear, as he suddenly began to fire one Kinetic Blast from his hands and feet after another, sending his body into a chaotic mid-air rolling spin sending him in all kinds of different directions, in an airborne recreation of one of Mina's break-dances (which she and the rest of the class immediately realized, much to her speechless delight), before firing one powerful and precise sniper-like Kinetic Shot from his pointing fingers after another in multiple directions, punching straight through the two remaining robots with ease, until they were reduced to nothing but minuscule pieces of raining scrap.

Finally, as the multitudes of robots previously launched by Shoto's display hung in the air, Izuku likewise took off in a blinding blur of green energy straight into the air, , until he now hovered just above the whole mechanical cluster.

Then, with a reeling back and subsequent throwing down of his arms, a multitude of extensive black tendrils erupted from out the knuckles lining his gauntlets; all expertly latching onto and reeling the robots together into one concentrated clump in the air. Then, Izuku began to channel that unmistakable spark of green into his right leg, as he subsequently called out to all those below in answer: "EXPERIENCES!"

With that, using his Blackwhip as a sling to launch himself, Izuku proceeded to drive his Full Cowling Shoot Style-empowered foot straight through the cluster of robots in a massive explosive strike; destroying the rest of them as he looked back with an ecstatic gleam in his eye, and a truly accomplished smile on his face; much like the bright-eyed joy on Nikolay, and the aggressive, confident smirk on Bakugo.

Down below, watching the four boys' incredible simultaneous display of vastly improved ability; Toshinori almost felt like his chest was physically swelling with the pride he felt in their respective growth; just as he could instinctively tell the rest of the students were feeling in themselves and one another. 'All of you kids have come so, so far in so little time; undoubtedly more than any previous first-years I can think of in any Hero school. You've all helped pull each other forward so much; truly you're more than a class. You're a grand Hero team in the making if I've ever seen it.

'Bakugo-shonen, your utilization of your Quirk has become so much more refined; if you were to just adjust that attitude a little more, you could truly have the capability of becoming Number One, one day. Todoroki-shonen, ever since you started training your father's half of your Quirk, you've grown so much stronger than you already were. You'll definitely skyrocket over Endeavor-san's legacy when the time comes. Bezpalov-shonen, with not even half the time's worth of experience your classmates have with their Quirks, you've met and excelled through every challenge beautifully. Oleg-san will be so, so proud of you when he sees this! I know I am!'

Every sentiment Toshinori had going through his head as he watched the four final students was as sincere as could ever be, but when his eyes set upon Izuku in the wake of his final strike; when he saw the absolute pride and confidence on his face; he could feel his own heart shudder, as a single tear of indescribable emotion began to run down his sunken cheek.

'This is the power you've attained for yourself. Those first days between us feel so long ago. You won't need to look back to me for advice anymore, my boy. You don't need to look back. You only have your own path to forge ahead from this point on! So go, Midoriya-shonen!'

As soon as the quartet of young Heroes finally touched back down to solid ground; they were quickly getting swarmed by their ecstatic classmates; all of them eagerly congratulating the boys with gusto; with varied reactions between the four of them; between Eijirou eagerly heaping his admiring praise on Bakugo ("Dude, did you really finally conquer the winter?!" "Wouldn't you, dumbass?! These are compression shots!"), or Tooru unsubtly trying to both congratulate and flirt with Shoto, to his utter obliviousness ("Todoroki-kun, looks like you've finally become a real hottie, huh?" "No, I still can't hold a flame against Endeavor").

But next to that, Nikolay had no chance of being prepared for how excitedly Mina met him; almost tempted to use her Acid Slide in order to help launch herself through the air that much faster, as she came flying with arms spread wide, before wrapping them tight around his shoulders as she came crashing into him; the young Slavic Hero barely managing to stay on the heels of his feet as his body spun around where he stood upon impact; pulling her along before finally coming to a stop and holding Mina close; his girlfriend giggling joyously the entire time.

"That was so totally amazing, Kolya-kun! You've finally mastered my dancing! I knew you'd be able to do it! Aww, that totally reminded me, I never even got to show how I've started using your dance moves in my fighting, too! All Might-sensei, is it too late to ask if I can go on the field one more time?!"

Amid all the chaotic energy of the students still congratulating each other; Toshinori gave an apologetic shake of the head. "I'm afraid so, Ashido-shoujo. Your school day has still only just begun, and there simply isn't enough time for repeat demonstrations. But I'm confident you'll all get plenty of opportunities to show one another your new tricks in time."

But this time, Mina couldn't even pretend to stay disappointed, as Nikolay turned her head by the chin so she could see the glow of happiness in his eyes that so perfectly equaled her own. "You don't have to prove anything you've learned to me, Mina. Besides, I want to thank you more than anything right now. I wanted to try and improve with my fighting so much whichever way I could, and it's because of seeing how effortlessly you throw your all into everything you do that I was able to as well. As good a teacher as Endeavor-sensei is, I know you have a way bigger role in my getting this far, without a doubt, and I'll never be able to thank you enough for that."

Mina's golden irises were shimmering like the morning sun overhead, as she properly brought her arms around Nikolay's sides and fully embraced him. "Would it be lame if I were to just say 'ditto' to that? God, you're way too good at being so sweet, Kolya-kun. I wanted to thank you, too. Thanks to you and that can-and-will-do attitude, I feel like I could take on anything right now, taking up your style and putting it with mine. We really are, like, totally in sync in all the ways, aren't we?"

Nikolay didn't want to risk their little scene together getting any more mushy, lest they end up throwing away all restraints and start kissing right here in front of their whole class. Whether their being a couple was now well-known fact to them or not; such a display wouldn't be any less embarrassing. Instead, the young couple proceeded to simply hold each other close; both growing warmer in the face with the satisfying knowledge of just how far their examples had helped each other grow.

And, being as close of friends to the two as they were; it didn't take long for Eijirou and Maja to likewise come in and ultimately turn this personal moment into a four-person congratulatory group hug; after having heaped on and received extensive praise from their classmates and each other before as well.

But it was as though the universe had heard Mina and Nikolay's silent desire for some kind of display of affection equal to their own for each other to play out; as at that moment, once Izuku had gotten some noteworthy congratulations from Minoru and Denki; he had finally spotted Ochako among his classmates, and eagerly called out to her: "Uraraka-san!"

For once, the sound of Izuku's voice, and his eagerly coming to her, didn't leave Ochako a tomato-faced blubbering wreck; instead smiling brightly and confidently as he was, as he came to a stop before her. "I was finally able to get a handle on this new power!"

Ochako's nodding was so excited, it was almost as though she'd been the one to master Blackwhip instead. "Uh-huh, you looked really cool up there using it so well, Deku-kun!"

But to her surprise, as well as that of all the other watching students, Izuku instead proceeded to bow his head deep before her. "I'm really sorry again for causing you so much trouble with it back then!"

Ochako immediately began frantically waving her hands to try and get the curly-haired boy to stop bowing; her laughter sounding especially forced. "W-what time are you talking about?"

Izuku thankfully took the hint and stood back up straight, but his regret had now turned into the same inspiring smile that got Ochako to freeze up. "But the truth is that, if it hadn't been for you leaping in as bravely as you did to try and help me calm it down that first time, I'm not sure if I'd even be standing here, having learned how to control it like I can now. You said that you want to be a Hero who can help everyone when they need it, including other Heroes…and I'm really happy to say you really helped to make this all possible, Uraraka-san."

This time, Izuku's bow was clearly out of immense gratitude, which left Ochako smiling brightly; while the permanent pink blushes on her cheeks started to turn a light red. But her self-restraint to keep from blushing entirely was nothing short of admirable. Instead, she proceeded to show off her improved wrist-guards more up close for Izuku to closely observe with fascination. "It's not like it's totally one-sided though! Look! I didn't get a chance to really show this off to you over our video calls, but I honestly got the idea for my grappling cables from your Blackwhip. I may not be able to use it as far or effortlessly as Sero-san, but I turned it into a whole new strength I can use. So…it looks like we've helped each other improve a lot, Deku-kun."

With both of them wearing smiles as bright and emboldened as could be, Ochako suddenly extended a closed fist towards Izuku; a gesture he was quick to pick up on, as he gladly met her knuckles with his own; an infinitely sincere "Thank you" being his first answer, as he and the first girl he ever spoke to met each other with their very first mutual fist bump.

And this unspoken gesture of unbreakable comradery between them was far from lost on their watchful classmates. While Minoru could only watch with a silent and shell-shocked envy; Nikolay, Eijirou, Denki, Tenya and all the girls watched with admiring miles of their own; Mina springing up and down on her feet with ecstatic giggles at this irrefutable proof of clear romantic feelings between the two; validating all her assumptions. She ultimately capped off her celebration by springing herself up for Nikolay to catch and carry her in his arms; hugging him tight around his shoulders while the two of them couldn't stop watching.

With the whole classes' shared congratulations and thanks to each other having been spread all around, Toshinori was finally able to step forward and regain control of all the attention, as he proudly announced: "You all seem to have been educated quite well; and as your internships continue from this point forward, your development and growth as Heroes will only continue to carry you higher and higher. You'll be happy to know that all of your showcases today have been recorded and will be sent forward to Aizawa-san to review for himself…and I would be remiss if I neglected doing the same for Tunguska-san as well. That will wrap up this class…so go forth, all of you young Heroes, and continue working hard at your internships. Work…and grow even further!"


Earlier, elsewhere…

For the last several minutes, a single muscle car had been speeding like a force of nature through the winding streets of Musutafu City; its ultimate destination still quite a ways away, but the driver, none other than Present Mic himself, refusing to take his feet off the pedal; while Aizawa sat broodingly beside him; his tired eyes now burning with an indescribable fire that left him looking downright terrifying in his intensity. "Can't you make this thing go any faster?"

"JUST SHUT UP AND CALM DOWN, MAN!" Present Mic answered with none of his usual energy and peppiness towards his longtime friend and colleague. Anyone who knew the Yuuei English teacher remotely well would know just how rare it was for him to be similarly as serious as Aizawa and their fellow Hero teachers, but after what the two of them had been informed of that demanded their departure from the school, there was no way he could've been nearly as upbeat as usual.

In fact, that news, as cryptic as it was, was all that the two men could think about; something so terrible to imagine that it had Aizawa clutching the sleeves of his crossed arms as tight as he physically could; his eyes burning solely into the unseen horizon ahead. "That…thing we fought back at USJ…the behavior it displayed…no…there's no way he could be right. There's no chance in hell. There's only so far a bad joke can possibly go."

Present Mic; his grip on the steering wheel making his knuckles white, answered through tightly clenched teeth: "You're gonna drive yourself crazy if you start talking about it out loud, Shota! I don't wanna believe it any more than you do! We don't know anything for certain yet! Let's just focus on getting there, first; and…and just hope this is all some big misunderstanding on Tsukauchi-san's part."

As the two teachers continued to drive, they found themselves in the most unique of mental positions. They wanted nothing more than to get to their destination and uncover the truth as soon as possible. But at the same time, that same truth was so potentially horrifying, that they likewise didn't want the journey itself to ever end, just so they could stay in that blessed place of ignorance.

But they knew all too well about how futile blind hope could be, as soon they had reached their destination: the offshore maximum security Villain prison known in whispers as Tartarus.

Upon their arrival and welcome by the guards, Aizawa and Present Mic were dutifully shown their way in, where the detective, Naomasa Tsukauchi, and the elderly and diminutive Pro Hero, Gran Torino, stood readily in wait for them. The expression both their faces were just as grim as that of the two teachers, and thus no wastes of time such as extended formal greetings were shared, before their two hosts beckoned they follow further into the depths of the prison. "Thank you both for taking time from your busy schedules to meet us here. I'm afraid this wasn't something we could afford to sit on any longer than necessary."

"Yes. For the last several months since the Kamino Ward incident, we've been conducting multiple extensive studies into the captured Nomus, and all of that research led us to a conclusion we felt you both deserve to know more than most people." Gran Torino explained in an attempt to try and prepare Aizawa and Present Mic for just what was waiting for them.

Naomasa could sense that this was doing nothing to ease the tension between the two visiting teachers, and thus cut to the chase. "As you've both been informed, we've come to understand that Nomus are created by modifying human bodies; oftentimes multiple into one being. This is done in order to help them physically withstand the effects of possessing numerous Quirks.

"However, physical origins notwithstanding, these are not living human bodies by any stretch of the imagination. From their brains to their hearts, their bodies are a complete nightmarish mess. It wouldn't be inaccurate, in fact, to say that Nomus are essentially puppets; grotesque marionettes without a soul, consciousness or even sentience of their own selves."

"Or…at least, that's what we believed for the longest time." Gran Torino chimed in grimly; which finally spurred Aizawa to speak up; his voice as cold and foreboding as the proverbial razor's edge:

"Gran Torino-san, Tsukauchi-san, I had to leave my class for this…so please…get to the point."

Present Mic looked with unmistakable worry to his friend; silently clutching onto his shoulder in an attempt to try and help him calm down. But even Naomasa and Gran Torino could tell that Aizawa's tension wasn't out of being pulled away from his educational duties…but simply because his apprehension for what was waiting for them was threatening to express itself through him as genuine fear…and he was not the kind of man who let any such feeling come out.

And so, it was out of that fundamental understanding, that Tsukauchi continued: "Things have an order to them, Eraserhead-san. We had to begin this way…in order to help you both prepare your hearts."

Finally about to reach the end of this arduous descent into what might as well have been Hell itself, like its ancient Greek namesake, Gran Torino answered, just as the massive steel double doors ending the hall they were currently it began to loudly open before them:

"This guy we've been studying is, essentially, the very center of the League of Villains, the means through which it's conducted the majority of its crimes. We had hoped that, with his capture, their ability to carry out their actions would be cut off altogether…but the way things are shaping up out there, it looks like we were simply fooling ourselves. From that fact, we had likewise hoped that there would be some sense of betrayal stirring within him that would convince him to talk to us. If we could get him to open up about their operations, we could get straight to the heart of the issue. Unfortunately, he hasn't given us a single useful piece of information. Sure, he'll talk tons about useless stuff, but not a single word about anything we could use against the League. Every time we've tried, he just completely shuts down on us, like a lamp with the plug pulled out of the socket."

"What exactly is it you're trying to say here?" Present Mic asked apprehensively, just as they began to see just what…or rather, who was waiting for them on the other side of the single steel door within this now-opened entry way: sat in a lone chair behind a wall of shatterproof glass, and wrapped tightly in a military-grade straitjacket, was none other than the humanoid figure of black mist that Gran Torino and Naomasa had nearly lost their lives trying to apprehend so long ago: the former means the League of Villains had to leap halfway across the globe, as history had by now proven: the creature who only ever addressed himself as Kurogiri.

By now, Aizawa's anxiety and gut-borne fear were at such a peak, that he had to clasp a hand to his face in order to try and steady himself, while he stared intensely at the prisoner through the gaps in his fingers; while Naomasa answered: "It's more complex than anything we've ever seen before, so it took us quite a while to figure it out.

"But…in his case, multiple Quirk Factors have been combined in the process of his creation, which led to them ultimately forming an entirely new Quirk…and we've come to discover that, lying at the root of all those Factors…is the young man whom you both once worked with through thick and thin back in your student days at Yuuei Academy…and tragically lost his life at such a young age because of it."

Present Mic could feel the deepest chill of horror suddenly spread throughout his gut once his mind caught up with just what Naomasa was suggesting…but that sensation was nothing compared to what Aizawa was feeling, as he felt all of his deepest fears become realized in that single moment; his eyes wide and bloodshot with horror, despair…and rage; as the painful nostalgia of a single bright and smiling face momentarily flashed before his eyes, calling his name.

"We didn't want to believe it…but with everything we've managed to figure out about his Quirk makeup, there's no other possible conclusion. Lying at the heart of the creature, the Nomu known as Kurogiri…is something that bears an undeniable resemblance to your old friend: Shirakumo Oboro." Gran Torino finally finished; that name striking into both teachers' hearts like a wooden stake of anguish.

"In other words, there's a very high probability that Kurogiri is, in fact, a Nomu created with your friend, Shirakumo Oboro's body as its foundation." Naomasa summarized; the grim finality and certainty in his voice ringing deafeningly in the two teachers' ears like church bells.

Looking upon their subject now; neither Aizawa nor Present Mic could see the shadowy haze of Kurogiri. Now, the only thing they could see was a young man they hadn't seen in years, and yet was still unmistakably familiar, as though they'd just seen him hours ago: a young man with tall wavy hair as bright blue as the clear summer skies with eyes to match; a band-aid permanently affixed across the bridge of his nose, and a large toothy grin that could equally tease and inspire everyone in a room like even Heroes such as All Might couldn't hope to compare to.

This nostalgic visage was so crystal clear to them, that they both nearly felt certain that they could reach out and touch the face of their long lost friend; both of them hearing with a striking clarity, the words the late Oboro Shirakumo would always say each day while they were students of Yuuei Academy, and especially whenever he saw Aizawa himself feeling especially downtrodden: "As long as the three of us stick together, there's not a problem in the world we can't resolve!"

Yes, those words always worked wonders to keep his friends' spirits as high as the sky. Oboro had an incomparable talent with people like that. If he truly believed that the three of them could make a Hero Agency like none other in Japan, then what reason did Aizawa and Hizashi Yamada possibly have to believe otherwise? Such a future back then felt like it would've been a dream come true.

But a dream was all it had ever amounted to, for no matter how clearly they could now see their old friend sitting before them beneath the cruel image of Kurogiri, it didn't remove the painful fact that it wasn't really him. There was no way it could've been. Oboro Shirakumo was gone forever, and they both knew this more than anything.

Surely Gran Torino and Naomasa had to be mistaken in their conclusion. That was the one thing Present Mic was trying to convince himself of, as he tried to ignore the nostalgic figure playing out before his mind's eye, and finally responded, his voice unnaturally calm and collected: "Y'know…the three of us, we used to be called 'The Three Stooges of Class A' back in the day…not exactly the brightest bulbs in the box and all that. So…WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

The sudden explosion of desperate confusion in Present Mic's tone was just about what Gran Torino and Naomasa had expected. They didn't want their conclusion to be true, anymore than their guests did. Alas, it was truly the only answer they could come to that had made any sense. And for as expressive as he was, they could all only imagine just what this information was stirring up in Aizawa's head.

After all, between the two of them; he'd been the one to actually see Oboro's demise play out before him, all those years ago.

Sucking in a breath full of regret through his teeth, Gran Torino answered: "We've made multiple attempts to interrogate All For One; trying to find out exactly how it is the League of Villains was able to find the means of creating these Nomus. Most of the time, he either gave us the silent treatment, or laughed in our faces. However…the last time we tried, he decided to indulge us, though I'm certain it was more out of wanting to mock us further for being so far behind.

"He said that Yuuei is the place where all the most promising Quirks around tend to bunch up together. Thus his course of action, to him, was obvious. To us, that means he clearly had been keeping his eye on the student there back then for a while, and was just waiting for such a tragic opportunity. So, like a homeless man scrounging for scraps behind a 3-star restaurant, we believe that he had Shirakumo's body switched out before the cremation process, and had him turned into this deformed beast we now have seated before us. There's no point in trying to understand it beyond that, disc jockey. Everything that revolves around All For One can only ever be summed up with two words: pure evil."

"I…I just don't get it…" Present Mic groaned torturously through clenched teeth; his right hand twitching as though he were about to clutch at his chest, just to stop the crushing sensation surrounding his heart. The certainty in Gran Torino's voice was only serving to make his despair sink further and further into the pit of his gut.

Meanwhile, Aizawa was still keeping his head bowed, clutching his face in his hand, as he tried to hide the pain threatening to reveal itself. Naomasa took his silence as permission to explain further: "We've been keeping him sedated ever since we caught him. Ever since he used his Quirk to help Vukodlak escape from under the guards' noses for so long before they even realized it, we aren't taking the slightest chances with him."

"So why us in particular?" Aizawa suddenly asked; his usual irritable-sounding voice now carrying a far deeper bitterness to it. Naomasa could even see as much reflected in the man's eyes, as he finally removed his hand and looked the detective head-on. "Don't tell me you were hoping for some kind of miracle using the power of friendship. Real life isn't some shonen manga or dumb Hollywood movie."

"With the proper details in place, 'miracles' can become 'possibilities', Eraserhead. In the world we live in, I would've thought you'd know that by now." Gran Torino suddenly answered, drawing the teachers' attention before continuing further:

"The Nomu that Endeavor defeated back in Kyushu clearly possessed a sense of individuality, as well as a lingering obsession with fighting a powerful opponent. After examining the DNA of its burnt corpse, we discovered that its original body was a ruffian from an underground fight club."

"So you're saying his original character may have remained intact underneath all these modifications?" As much as Aizawa could understand now why he and Present Mic had been called here; years of living with the bitterness of this loss, and the unrelenting realism it had planted within his heart, made it impossible for him to reflect any of that cautious optimism the elderly Hero was expressing: "Unfortunately, I've already fought him once before at Yuuei. Not only is his way of speaking completely different, but he didn't react to seeing me at all when we fought."

Naomasa gave the faintest nod as he listened. "Yes, his original character may have remained intact back then, but he may also have been acting off of erased or falsified memories. The incident up in Gagaringrad made it impossible for us to ignore how possible it is for a Villain with the right resources to make loyal soldiers out of even the strongest-willed people. Like I said before: if we can somehow get him to talk, it could finally help clear up everything. Eraserhead-san, Present Mic-san; I would like you two to reawaken Shirakumo Oboro's resolve."

In the strangest way, this felt like a whole new kind of torture; being asked to actually try and dig up the consciousness of their dearest friend whom they only minutes ago had been informed was used to create this monstrosity sitting unconscious before them. There was a great portion of Shota Aizawa that wanted to tell Naomasa and Gran Torino to go to Hell, to outright refuse and not go through this game. After all, what would it do to get their hopes up, only for it to amount to nothing? What if the last remnant of their friend's being was truly gone forever, and all that was sitting before them was just the husk of his body being manipulated like some grotesque puppet?

But where Aizawa could only focus on the pessimistic outcome of going in there; Present Mic, even despite his growing anguish, wanted to try and keep hold of that faint glimmer of hope. That was virtually his entire purpose after Oboro's death; to be that anchor to keep himself and Aizawa both from falling into the depths of inescapable sadness, of giving up on the dream the three of them together had been working so hard to achieve. To have let that happen would have been akin to spitting in the face of his memory.

And it was with that desire, that need for his old friend to see that there was still some hope, that he finally took Aizawa by the sleeve, and practically led him into the room once the single door opened; the two teachers taking their seats on their side of the glass, simply watching in grim silence as Kurogiri before them continued to sleep.

On the other side of the one-way mirror lining both sides of this cell, Naomasa and Gran Torino stood in silent observation while one guard was keeping an eye on Kurogiri's vitals; both men just as observant of how the two teachers would carry themselves, as much as how Kurogiri could potentially react. This was as close to a sure thing as they had, which they both knew was a pathetic thing to admit, but they had to pursue it the furthest they could.

"So you're telling us to just talk about our memories?" Aizawa finally asked through the intercom.

"Please."

"What about his family? Shouldn't they have been the first ones you went to for this?" Present Mic followed up; unable to hide his last bit of apprehension for doing this.

"If you two aren't enough, then…we'll have to." Naomasa answered, reflecting just as much reluctance to do so.

THOOM!

In that moment, Aizawa's long hair began to fly up; his irises glowing red as he stared Kurogiri in the face; to everyone else's surprise. "You'd let them have lived all this time making peace with his death, only to reopen that wound all over again. As if I'd let you tell his family about any of this."

"He's awake." The guard suddenly announced. With a deep breath to compose himself, Naomasa finally gave the order: "Alright. Please begin."

As Aizawa kept his eyes open and focused on Kurogiri, and Present Mic tried to watch for the first sign of regained consciousness; that same pair of golden glowing eyes began to manifest within the seemingly infinite black haze that made up Kurogiri's head; impossible to tell if he was looking at the two Hero teachers before him or not.

"Oh-hoh? What rare guests…I haven't seen or spoken to you since the attack on Yuuei."

Knowing now that this villain with such a potentially devastating Quirk was now awake and aware of their presence, Present Mic couldn't stop a cold sweat from breaking out upon his brow. 'That damn mist doesn't dissipate even when Shota's looking right at him. That must mean his whole body is made of the stuff.'

That wayward thought manifested one last desperate flicker of naïve hope; something that quickly forced its way out the teacher's throat, as he suddenly turned to the mirror. "Are you sure you guys didn't make some kind of mistake?! This guy's got nothing in common with Shirakumo-kun!"

"Shigaraki Tomura…is he doing alright? He hasn't been caught as well, has he?"

Their host's lack of any confirming answers had Present Mic's desperation finally turning into anger enough as it was, and the sound of Kurogiri's voice was only compounding it further, as he swiftly spat back: "AS IF I KNOW!"

"I see…that's too bad." Kurogiri answered as calmly as any man could possibly be.

Observing this lack of any volatile reaction, and the sound of what seemed to be genuine disappointment; Aizawa finally proceeded: "Are you concerned about Shigaraki?"

Those two glowing eyes seemed to rest squarely on Aizawa, as he answered: "Yes. Ensuring his well-being is the entirety of my mission."

"WELL THAT'S A DUMBASS MISSION! WHAT KINDA MISSION IS THAT, TO LOOK OVER SOME GLOOMY OLD BRAT?!" Present Mic spat right back; unable to keep his cool…until realizing too late how much he was letting all of these simultaneous emotions get to him at last, once Kurogiri had calmly responded: "It is no burden to me whatsoever. After all, I can't just leave him be."

Present Mic turned to look and apologize for flying off the handle to Aizawa, but any words of apology he tried to come up with fell flat, as he saw a look of the most painful recognition in his old friend's glowing eyes.

Aizawa wanted so desperately to let his tears come out, but he knew that with his Quirk, and the responsibility he had in this moment, he couldn't even allow himself that much relief, even as he once more could see the distant image of his old friend now taking up the seat before him.

That answer; they carried more proof of Naomasa and Gran Torino's suspicions being true than anything else he could have asked for, and that only made the twisting proverbial knife in his heart that much more painful, as a distinct memory began to fill his mind; something he hadn't wanted to think of for years now.

"He was…the type of guy who would go out of his way without any hesitation…to pick up the abandoned kitten that I couldn't bring myself to pick up."

Present Mic could feel his stomach twist and turn as he listened to the stoic façade in Aizawa's tone only barely begin to shake, while Kurogiri's eyes only began to look all around the room. "I don't see your point. What exactly are you here to do?"

But Aizawa didn't answer, as more and more memories came rushing back; each one adding yet another unforgiving pin of mourning within his chest, as he instinctively began to reach for the pair of slotted goggles hanging around his neck. "I was the type of guy who would always be hesitating…but despite that…"

As his fingers felt along the rim of his eye wear, Aizawa once more thought back, hearing and seeing Oboro before him as clear as day; a pair of blue-tinted goggles like the ones always adorning his forehead now dangling before Aizawa from his friend's fingertips, and always with that same bright and wide grin on Oboro's face.

"Here, Shota, I'll lend you my goggles! Now you don't have to worry about your eyes when you fight! See? We're like a perfect match!"

Clutching his goggles tight in hi free hand now, Aizawa's voice now trembled and shook, with only faint moments of trying to regain his stoic tone coming and failing all at once. "…you were always pulling me forward."

"Are you sure you have the right place? This isn't some church confessional." Kurogiri answered with that same blind ignorance that bordered from confusion.

But Aizawa couldn't bear to hear his heartfelt words be ignored, as now, all he could think of was that one damning moment; the moment that broke him deep within forever:

The moment he saw his closest friend get buried under untold amounts of rubble, with nothing but blood to be seen once the paramedics were finally able to dig him out…and the painful sensation of an emotional void building within his heart as a result, as his tears fell indiscernible against the rain.

With that same nightmarish moment replaying over and over in his head, Aizawa continued; his voice only continuing to shake more and more: "You were always so bright…always looking straight ahead…always without ever considering the consequences…even though everything…would be over if you died!"

This time, Kurogiri said nothing; his glowing eyes focusing on Aizawa once more. The constantly fluctuating nature of his physical form made it near impossible for anyone to notice how the mist of his head only gave the slightest wobble in reaction to what the teacher was saying as his defenses further and further lowered in the wake of his emotional outpouring.

"You know…Hizashi-san and I…we're both teachers now. I've been…really strict with my students since day one. I've been given the right to expel and re-enroll them as I see fit, and I'm sure that, even among those that have graduated; some may hold some resentment towards me even now for having put them through that experience.

"But in all these years, I know that there are those that have an inflated confidence about themselves, and that confidence makes them reckless. The Heroes that will come to replace our generation need to learn the difference between self-sacrifice and recklessness…and I know that the best way for those headstrong youths to learn that, is by having them experience the death of their dreams of becoming Heroes just once. Once they understand, it will push them to strive even higher."

Finally, Aizawa couldn't keep his posture anymore, clutching tight at his head and hunching over; his shoulders trembling; as he reached the peak of this sudden confession: "Ever since that day…I wanted even one of my students to grow to become like you; that's what I wanted more than anything! I wanted Heroes that could be able to pull their fellows forward like you could! So they could be able to go out there, and live even longer…longer than you did!"

Finally, the homeroom teacher could no longer fight the brunt of his emotions back; forcefully tearing his goggles free from his neck and holding them forward, like a holy flame to light its way through the darkness encroaching upon Aizawa and Present Mic's hearts; burning tears of desperate hope finally flowing down his unshaven face as his bloodshot eyes burned imploringly into Kurogiri, into this last remaining fragment of their best friend and brother in Heroics; his encouraging words of the past now emerging from out his once withdrawn friend's mouth:

"SHIRAKUMO-KUN! IF YOU'RE STILL SOMEWHERE IN THERE…LET'S ALL BECOME HEROES TOGETHER!"

On the other side of the one-way mirror; several lights suddenly started flashing across the monitors the guard was looking over; jolting him to full alertness. "Detecting unusual brain waves!"

"Meaning?!" Gran Torino practically barked.

"He's actually getting agitated!" The guard replied, and all at once could the old Hero and Naomasa feel their hearts start to race. Looking out, they couldn't believe what they or the two teachers were starting to see:

Kurogiri's overall composed body structure was starting to spread, shake and disperse, almost as though the Villain were going into a seizure. At last, they were getting some kind of a reaction. If they didn't capitalize on it now, then there was a good chance they would be forever in their investigative dead end.

Hence, Naomasa instantly spoke into the intercom: "Where are the Nomu manufactured? Where is Shigaraki hiding?"

And while the detective continued asking the same questions over and over; Aizawa had to keep fighting the burning pain in his eyes, not just to keep his Quirk activated, but to make sure that what he and Present Mic (himself looking on in wide-eyed horrified disbelief as Kurogiri's body continued to malform and dissipate), was indeed real.

'If what they said is really true…then what I'm looking at right now used to be Shirakumo-kun…my friend's corpse! Even though, for all this time, they said he was dead and gone, never to return! If any trace of him is still in there…I can't let it end like this so soon! I have to know for certain!'

Still holding his goggles forward; convinced the sight of it was helping to break through Kurogiri's apparent programming; Aizawa spoke out; his voice now ringed with righteous anger alongside his years of sadness finally coming out: "WHO DID THIS TO YOU?! WHERE'D THEY TINKER WITH YOUR HEAD?! DIDN'T YOU FEEL ANYTHING WHEN YOU ATTACKED US AT YUUEI?!"

The glowing eyes of the Villain were starting to lose their solid shape and dissipate along with the black mist; the rest of Kurogiri's body going into violent spasms against his restraints; an unmistakable strain in his voice as he tried to answer with that same unnatural calm: "I…I haven't the…slightest…idea…about…"

"ANSWER ME, SHIRAKUMO-KUN!"Aizawa shouted from the bottom of his heart; Present Mic unable to keep his eyes fixed on either his friend or Kurogiri for more than a second as he began trembling from head to toe at what was unfolding; unsure what to say or do.

"I…am…Kurogiri…the one who protects…Shigaraki Tomura."

Finally, Aizawa let the last of his emotional floodgates open, as he shouted at the top of his lungs with a fury that could very well shake the heavens: "YOU WERE A MEMBER OF YUUEI ACADEMY'S CLASS 2-A! WE WANTED TO BECOME HEROES TOGETHER!"

"SHIRAKUMO OBORO!" Present Mic finally howled with the same kind of impassioned anguish alongside his old friend; his bespectacled eyes wide with desperation for this to work, more than anything else in the world in this pivotal moment.

"Again, I haven't the faintest idea what you're-!"

Suddenly, Kurogiri's speech and body stopped altogether, as if a switch had literally been flipped within him. The mist composing his head stopped spreading and pluming about…and instead began to slowly and calmly part from the left side of his head, but not completely vanishing.

Instead; before the eyes of Shota Aizawa, Hizashi Yamada, Gran Torino and Naomasa Tsukauchi; a solid form of nearly pitch blackness began to form from within the parting mist; the lights overhead being the only thing to shine upon this new form and give it definition, shape, with which they could finally make out just who they were seeing underneath the literal obscuring haze.

In that light shining upon blackness, they could see a tall head of wavy hair, a single wide eye, a youthful face…and the indentation of a bandage upon the bridge of the nose.

"Shira…kumo…" Present Mic uttered in a sharp, pained exhale. There was absolutely no mistaking it. He and Aizawa recognized the obscured face looking serenely back at them like the back of their hands. All at once, the last fragment of doubt within either of them had been fully erased, and that truth which they dreaded most since coming here had been proven infallible.

But that peace upon even just this half of Oboro Shirakumo's recreated face didn't last, as the moment he began to try and speak; the very constitution of his physical form began to dissipate and react violently all around him; his voice coming out like an agonized echo: "S…Sh…Ah…Sho…Sh…"

The sound of their deceased friend calling to them from so far away brought Aizawa slamming his hands to the glass; wishing he could get through it to try and help Oboro's visage. To see him again with his own eyes, only to now see him beginning to fade away once more like a mirage; he couldn't help but think back once more to the day the three of them had first discussed the dream of becoming a team of Heroes; how his own skepticism had been met by that unshakeable optimism:

"You really think we could become Heroes together?"

"Are you kidding? The three of us? It'd be perfect! I mean, even if one of us were to screw up, the other two could be able to pick up the slack!"

But with reality proving so cruel as to keep him on this side, he did the only thing he knew he could; the one thing he knew would be his best means of picking up the slack between their scattered trio at last reunited: "FIGHT IT, SHIRAKUMO-KUN!"

Finally, even as the mist continued to fluctuate and spread all over, Aizawa could feel his whole body become stricken with an unspeakable chill, as the iris of Oboro's obscured eye met his own. For a second, his body's violent reactions came to a sudden pause, and that once-distant voice came echoing out once more, as though he were putting every ounce of strength he had left to try and speak to his desperately watching friends.

"Hos…pital…"

FWOOOOSH!

In an instant, Oboro's resemblance was consumed in a sudden skyward explosion of that black mist, completely erasing every trace of his being, while leaving Aizawa, Present Mic and all their observers with the same mocking form of Kurogiri once more; before the Villain's body fell completely limp within his restraints.

Both men were speechless; bone dry in the mouth in the aftermath of what had just happened. After what felt like a lifetime of mourning, having their sorrows shattered, digging deep into their hearts and souls to try and get through to the one remaining spark of their dearest friend, they had finally seen him right there in front of their eyes, heard his voice as clear as a bell…and just as quickly as he had come, Oboro Shirakumo was once more gone, and they were left with so many things still left unsaid, and with no idea if they would ever be able to speak to him again; that stabbing pain of loss setting in all over again.

"Eraserhead-san, Present Mic-san, that's all for now. You both did great." Naomasa's voice rang out on the intercom; but his tone reflected no such celebration. He could see clearly just how anguished both teachers were, and he couldn't have begun to blame them, after what he'd ultimately forced them to go through.

Present Mic could now only collapse in emotional exhaustion into his chair; unwilling to take his eyes off of Kurogiri's form, but still noticing that Aizawa was refusing to step away from the glass; his head hung low in grim silence.

"Your eyes…you okay, man?" He finally asked; knowing this was the longest his old friend had ever had to keep his Quirk activated at one time…but they both knew just what the Yuuei English teacher was really asking.

But Aizawa couldn't turn back to address his friend; his voice low and utterly drained. "So what? They're just dried out…"

From there, neither of the two teachers could say anything else. The only sound there was now, was the faintest pitter-patter of tears upon the floor.


It was only a matter of minutes before Aizawa and Present Mic were being led back out to the entrance yard of the prison; accompanied by Naomasa and Gran Torino.

Neither the detective nor the elderly Hero had wanted to say anything that could have further opened the deep emotional wounds the two teachers were still reeling from. But when they had finally stepped back out into the sunlight and had to give their goodbyes and final thanks; to say anything otherwise would have felt completely disingenuous.

Finally, Naomasa broke this unbearable silence: "He said 'hospital'. For the first time in months, I feel like we've really stumbled onto some valuable intel."

"That makes one of us, then. I'm sorry I couldn't have been more helpful." Aizawa answered bitterly. Despite Naomasa's forced optimism; Aizawa knew that in a country as densely packed as Japan; simply the word 'hospital' gave no idea where they could even begin investigating. But that naturally didn't stop him from asking: "So what's going to happen with Kurogiri now?"

Looking back the way they'd come, Gran Torino replied: "Like all the other times, he's completely shut down for now…but I must agree with Tsukauchi-san; we finally have a clue to follow up on."

From there, now there was only that same awful silence. He could no longer just try to ignore what his two fellow Heroes had just been put through. Looking up to meet their gazes, the little old man had a glimmer of empathy in his eyes. "The two of you…ever since that day, you've always been chasing your old dreams in Shirakumo's memory, huh? I'm sorry to have made you have to reopen such a painful old wound…but I'm certain that we can salvage something useful from it."

But Aizawa simply couldn't just accept Gran Torino's sympathy; this experience leaving him with one final question that burned away at him more painfully than he previously expected it would: "The Nomu…what are they, really? Why would All For One make those…things?"

As much as Gran Torino wanted to answer the man before him; he could only bow his head in regret…for the answer he'd received from that monster of a Villain when he'd asked the same question a while back, would only tear away at Aizawa and Present Mic's hearts even worse:

"You people still fail to understand. It's like making wine: Trampling the grapes to extract their juice. I merely wanted to keep enjoying those delightful flavors."

With that awful, awful metaphor still clawing away at the back of his mind, Gran Torino answered regretfully: "Who knows? But…we won't stand for any more sacrifices, okay?"

Aizawa couldn't bring himself to nod, but only look back to the horizon across the bridge, to where all of his students; the young and aspiring Heroes that would come to inherit the responsibilities of his generation, were all even now working themselves to the bone and beyond to become the Heroes capable of doing so. "Here's hoping for more progress."

With that and a final farewell, he and Present Mic got back into their car and proceeded on their long and mournful trek back to Yuuei; leaving Gran Torino and Naomasa with the weight of their discovery, and specifically what to do with it.

But that was something the detective had been prepared for since the beginning, as he immediately pulled out his phone, hitting the speed dial. "Hospital. As vague as Kurogiri's clue is, we still need to send it up the chain."


BRRRING!

In keeping with the instructions that had been all but forced onto him by the rest of the Paranormal Liberation Front members; Hawks had begrudgingly resigned himself to spending much more time in the mountain villa compound when he wasn't carrying out his Pro Hero duties in order to maintain public appearances. As much as he truly hated being kept under their magnifying glass while he was here (if not even when he was out), he knew that his mission was ultimately far too important to risk by complaining.

So while he was here, he would at least make himself useful and hopefully blend in with the rest of the members so as to further aid his cover. And today, what better way could he have done that than to indulge Twice's surprising request to help him better understand the writings of the Meta Liberation Army book. Analyzing and understanding the book from cover to cover was just about one of the only things the Wing Hero could do while he was stuck here, thus he was the perfect choice.

And as he carried out his tutoring duties, deep down he always knew that communication between himself and the Hero Public Safety Commission would only ever be one way; from him to them. The only reason they would ever reach out to him, as they had agreed from the beginning, would be if any the other forces investigating the League of Villains would have uncovered something of great potential value for the Heroes going forward.

And now that he could feel his phone humming to life in his pocket, he had to exercise a great effort to keep his heart rate from jumping even for a moment as he stopped drawing on the whiteboard and picked it up to answer.

After all, he'd very subtly been checking over his shoulder to the nearby shut door to this small room, and always saw a single pair of small shadows blocking the light from the outside hall; the telltale sign of Vukodlak standing guard and listening in.

That Villain's senses were simply too sharp for Hawks to take even the slightest chances; but in a place like this, with walls and doors this thick, surely even he wouldn't be able to make out whatever his caller would have to say once he answered.

The moment he hit the button, Hawks spoke up with all the laid back charm he always gave off: "Good morning; what's the situation?"

Just as he'd long come to expect when this situation ever came; it was the voice of Madame President from the Commission on the other end; her voice giving nothing but that same straightforward, all-business bluntness: "We've received numerous reports of a disturbance at Wakagumo Hospital. They're requesting for a Hero to come and rescue them."

Without a moment's hesitation; lest that risk leaving even the tiniest crack in his façade; Hawks answered nonchalantly: "Sorry, I'm kinda busy right now, so I'm gonna have to pass."

"What was that? Hero work?" Twice asked pryingly the moment Hawks hung up; the Wing Hero going the extra mile to sell his permanent calm by tossing the phone over his shoulder onto the nearby sofa. "Yeah, just simple Hero business, but it's a bit out of my way. Sheesh, these people are always turning to me, no matter where the case is at. The price of being Number Two, I guess. So, how far did we get with your lessons last time?"

But while Twice was once more asking him to start explaining the organization's concept of liberation for probably the twentieth time since asking Hawks to be his tutor; the Wing Hero himself could only keep his back turned to the rambling Villain; chancing only a moment to once more glance to the door, and see that this time, those two shadows of Vukodlak's feet were no longer obscuring the light through the bottom of the door.

As naïve as he felt it most definitely was, Hawks was eager to take that as a good sign that his call hadn't been overheard. That thought couldn't help but bring an encouraged smile to his face as he began writing across the whiteboard again; thinking confidently to himself: 'She said 'Wakagumo Hospital'. Excellent; they were able to narrow down the specific location faster than I'd expected. The pieces are all finally falling into place. Now it's just a matter of getting all those young Heroes ready when the time finally comes.'

And as Hawks was smiling subtly to himself while his back was turned…so, too, was Vukodlak, once he had decided to take his leave from standing guard over Twice's little tutoring session.


Within the pristine yet empty halls of one of countless other hospitals across Japan; one would have never heard anything but the echoes of their own footsteps. However, if one were to delve deep enough, and listen closely, they would have been able to make out the distinct sound of buzzing machinery sounding out in some kind of unsettling mechanical, inhuman rhythm. Reverberations through the walls would have been able to clue one in to this.

But within the soundproofed walls of this very same room where these machines were hard at work; that same unnatural, cold and calculated rhythm would've been punctuated throughout by bloodcurdling, agonizing screams; screams that every few minutes turned into a psychotic laughter born of pain-induced mania.

This grotesque scene was exactly what was being orchestrated before the wide and excited eyes of the very same Dr. Ujiko; watching enraptured from his side of the windows into the surgical theater that was his laboratory, as a multitude of opposable mechanical arms, tendrils and tubes ran from the ceiling and within the operating table itself, into the bloody and writhing body of Tomura Shigaraki; drilling, sawing, prying, sucking and pumping god-only-knew-what into him as his eyes had long since rolled into the back of his head. Now he was only able to scream and laugh out of sheer muscle memory; his body systematically mutilated and operated on relentlessly; not even allowing him a single moment's rest as his blood continued to paint the lab around him; the whole scene looking like something straight out of the cover of a death metal album.

Ujiko had run experiments like these on countless others in his work that had ultimately created the Nomu, and even in his many attempts to try and recreate the power of All For One. While those experiments had less than a handful of successes; the dearly departed Nine being one of them; nearly all the others had died long before reaching the stage Tomura was now at, and to see his body continuing to fight back against his machines as they worked his scientific magic upon the young Villain, had him watching with intense childlike glee unbefitting a man of his many, many years.

"Incredible! Absolutely incredible! A man as young as you, to experience such relentless agony, to feel the very genetic foundation of his body being twisted about, and yet still be able to maintain a full sense of self! You truly are someone capable of wielding infinite amounts of power just like him! You really are the one: the ultimate being, sought after by All For One himself! I can't believe I didn't see it as soon as he had! You…you truly will be…MY MASTERPIECE!

"YES! YEEEES, SHIGARAKI TOMURAAA! YOU'RE EVEN MORE PERFECT THAN EXPECTED! YOU REALLY WILL BE THE INHERITOR TO RESHAPE THE ENTIRE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT!"

As Ujiko's euphoric delight at his experiment's current success continued to run through his veins; he took a moment to look back to the highly-secured glass safe on the other side of this little observation room; wherein the ornate pin containing the spirit and proposed power of Koschei the Deathless lay in patient wait for when the day would finally come.

Ever since he had taken that relic into his hand, and the ephemeral echo of the man within showed the scientist just what future lay in wait once he, All For One and Tomura were combined; Ujiko was borderline frantic for that moment to arrive as well; his once concrete adherence to the word of science well and truly shaken. This was ultimately a chance to see the world change in a way he never had before envisioned. 'Oooh…and what a new world it will be!'


Yuuei Academy Faculty Dorms

When the time had come for Class A to have their day's lecture for Quirk History; it was no surprise that Oleg had to really fight himself to keep from asking how all the students' internship showcases had gone. Toshinori had promised he'd have the results recorded so he could see it for himself, so he needed to simply stick to playing the father-teacher as always. But once the bell signifying the end of the school day had finally come, nobody could've been able to stop him from racing to the faculty dorms so he could see it for himself.

Nothing…but the sight of Aizawa and Present Mic, finally having returned from their surprise excursion earlier, and both looking well and truly beaten down; the English teacher specifically lying flat on his face on a sofa, while Aizawa sat slouched, looking more exhausted than the older Russian had ever seen him before.

"Hey, what's all this now? It's the first day we all finally get our students back, and you two look like you've been put through the wringer. Did you only just now make it back? I was just on my way up to watch the recordings of Class A's internship showcases. Why don't you come join me? Surely that'll be enough to help perk you both up."

"Go away, Tunguska." Aizawa grumbled under his breath just enough for Oleg to hear; rendering the large man silent with surprise. Yes, the Class A homeroom teacher wasn't exactly the sociable type, but he never sounded this deathly serious before. Looking to Present Mic to try and reel his friend in for being so abrasive, that was when he saw how similarly drained the blonde-haired teacher looked as well. Both these signs were enough to get Oleg to tone down the jovial demeanor and step in.

"Hey, what's going on? Where exactly did you two go today?" he asked quietly, taking a seat next to Aizawa; ignoring his muttered protests along the way.

His long black hair kept Oleg from seeing the sheer bitterness in Aizawa's eyes as he bluntly answered: "None of your business. It's solely between us, alright?"

"Shota…you might as well tell him." Present Mic grumbled; his voice halfway muffled by the sofa cushions his face was half plastered against. "This is all eventually gonna come around to involve everybody else here, so what harm is it gonna do to tell one person; especially when he's just trying to be helpful?"

Aizawa was simply too tired to look at his old friend threateningly for making this whole moment that much more frustrating; instead only able to sigh like a man ready to put both feet in the grave. "We were called in to help with something involving the police's investigation into the League of Villains, and…we ended up learning something…too terrible to describe. Something you couldn't understand."

Oleg clasped his hands together into a contemplative ball as he listened intently to his fellow teacher's words. "Far be it for me to disagree with you, but I thought you'd know by now there's not a whole lot left in the world I'm not able to understand…and even less than that when we're in the Pro Hero profession. Don't think you can't tell me, so long as you want to."

"Of course I don't want to, but it's not exactly like I'm being given a choice right now." Aizawa answered with a razor's edge of impatience lining his words; shooting another sharp glance at Present Mic for forcing his hand. "Do you have any idea what it's like to spend so much of your life thinking that you've lost something or someone forever, only to see it brought back in front of your own eyes, and you have no idea how to process it?"

Oleg couldn't hide the curiosity on his face. Aizawa was honestly one of the last people he ever expected to actually face this kind of conundrum. But he wasn't about to back down now. "I guess that depends how specific you want to get. I didn't get to be up there to see it for myself, but don't forget that Kolya discovered one of my old allies, Pietro Granin, to have become a Villain, and one of my best friends, Volga, to have not only survived the Siberian Flash, but to have been manipulated into being one of his lackeys. That feeling in my gut when I first heard those things was undoubtedly as painful as what you're feeling right now."

Aizawa sighed once more as he ran his hands through his hair; revealing at last just how bloodshot his eyes still were; to Oleg's shock. This couldn't have been just because of having to use his Quirk. These were the eyes of someone who'd all but literally just had his heart torn out and stomped on. "I seriously doubt that. You didn't get to see your friend die before your eyes; you could only just make the worst assumption in the end in your circumstances. I knew what I'd seen, and today I learned that even the truth I knew to be carved in stone couldn't be believed, either."

For a moment there was only a very deep silence; the only sound to be heard being the monotonous ticking of the wall-mounted clock. Oleg could only listen to the genuine pain framing Aizawa's words…until he could ultimately voice the one thing that made any sense of what he was hearing: "This is about that old friend of yours from way back when…that one with the cloudy-looking hair from back when I first visited here: Shirakumo Oboro, isn't it?"

Aizawa's whole body completely froze; which told Oleg everything he needed to know that he was right on the money. At the same time, Present Mic could just feel his old friend's eyes burning into him before Aizawa even spoke up: "You actually told him about that. When…and why?"

Present Mic finally lifted his head up to look Aizawa in the eye as he answered: "Back when you stormed off after we'd talked about letting Shinso-kun into the Hero Course. What did you want me to say? Tunguska-san was worried about you, and we both know how stubborn you can be when people ask you anything, and I thought he deserved to know."

This time, Aizawa's body language looked like he easily could've smacked his fellow teacher for telling Oleg about something that was so distinctly personal for them. But again, he was simply too exhausted in every way to do anything. Sensing this resignation, Oleg asked as empathetically as he felt was necessary: "What exactly is it you learned today, Aizawa-san?"

Bowing his head even lower, Aizawa proceeded to tell Oleg everything about what they had learned: of Kurogiri being a Nomu created from Shirakumo's stolen dead body, and what little concrete evidence they had to work off of, as to where the League of Villains was potentially hiding out, or working from.

Naturally, Oleg looked just as shocked as his two fellow teachers had been from the onset; genuinely at a loss for words. To learn of Volga having been deceived into becoming a Villain's henchman had been painful enough, but for these two men to have learned that their deceased friend had been turned into that same misty monstrosity even after the supposed finish line of death, had a whole other ring of unnatural cruelty to it that; just as Aizawa had suspected; he struggled to comprehend.

But eventually, Oleg had to conclude that the normal platitudes of sympathy one would normally give simply didn't work in this instance. The best thing he could do for them was to try to level with them. "So, we have a clue as to where to start looking for the League. It's not much of a clue, but it's something. So what happens next?"

"That's actually what we've been trying to figure out, too. Tsukauchi-san and Gran Torino-san are sending all the information to the Public Safety commission to investigate further. Once they've managed to pinpoint the specific hospital…it's safe to say we organize and make our move en masse. We don't give those Villains a chance to get away again."

Aizawa's answer was straightforward and textbook as Oleg had ever heard…which made it obvious he was just speaking out of instinct, rather than any genuine thought. "You know that's not what I meant."

Aizawa's hands clutched tight in response. "Like I said…I'm trying to figure that out for myself. Even he won't give me a straight answer."

Present Mic could naturally tell Aizawa was talking about him, and thus answered just as dryly: "What do you want me to say, man? That I'll head over to the guy who makes the Nomus; over to the whole League, and invite them to stew and a karaoke battle? How do you think I'm feeling right now? I'm just as pissed off as you right now."

Aizawa sighed in further frustration; his eyes downcast, before speaking up once more: "There's one other thing I've been thinking about a lot since we left. The news that we got any kind of information we could use against the League, no matter how vague, would be enough to elicit a response from the Commission, calling for as many Heroes as possible to gather to move against them, and yet we haven't heard anything from Nezu-san about it.

"On top of that, they make the sudden decision from out of nowhere to reinstate Hero internships immediately after the incident at Nabu Island…it's almost as though they knew that the League hasn't been lying dormant like we previously suspected. It's as if they're just waiting for them to do something…and are having all Hero students' training commence in the meantime, as though to prepare for when the ball finally drops."

There was a distinct air of uncertainty in Aizawa's tone, as though he were actively trying to convince himself he was wrong, but instinctively knew he wasn't. His suspicions were simply too great to be ignored, and hearing and seeing such had left Present Mic and Oleg alike visibly unsettled; before the larger man finally asked: "How confident do you really feel about that, though?"

"I'm—"

SLAM!

"SENSEI!"

Before Aizawa could have given his honest answer; the door to the faculty dorm suddenly burst open; snapping all three adults to attention, to see Mirio and Tamaki urgently rushing in; their faces awash with a very nervous sweat, as the pointy-eared third-year wasted no time: "Eraserhead-sensei…it's Eri-chan."

The idea of something unfortunate befalling the little girl he'd taken into his custody had Aizawa practically flying up to his own personal dorm after the two seniors; Tunguska following closely on his heels.

The moment they got inside, they were met with the sight of a very worried Nejire holding Eri close; the small child visibly in pain, as her single horn was visibly growing even just the slightest bit by the second. "My horn…it…it's tingling…"

Those words, and even the minuscule sight of little energy sparks starting to emanate from her growth, had Aizawa instantly swoop in and place a reassuring hand to her forehead, before his eyes suddenly flashed red with his Erasure Quirk; once more deactivating her power before it could grow out of her control again.

"Don't worry, Eri-chan…this is Yuuei Academy. You won't get hurt here, no matter what."

As Eri's body quickly loosened up and fell slack in Nejire's arms from exhaustion; Oleg breathed a similar sigh of relief before speaking up: "I don't understand it. It seemed like she was doing so well."

Aizawa got back to his feet, popping a joint in his neck as he answered: "Yes, but there's no way of knowing just how far the maximum extent of her mutation really goes. That's why we need to start training her in how to get a handle on her power ASAP."

Watching as Eri slept; Oleg asked: "Getting control over her power is incredibly important…but perhaps a little touch of basic social learning for her age could help towards that, too; help her work up the courage and improve her readiness to learn from training that much more. At least one of you is with her at all times; is this basically where she spends all her time?"

Nejire immediately answered: "Pretty much. The outside world could prove overwhelming for her if we can't ease her into it a little bit at a time; and that's without the threat of Villains around every corner, too."

Oleg firmly shook his head: "That's not…exactly what I was thinking. The fact malenkaya Eri gets along so well with all of you and the other students is great…but she's still just a little child with so much to learn and experience…including the prospect of making friends with children her own age."

Obviously, the idea of making friends with complete strangers had Tamaki instinctively inching towards a wall to keep his face to, but Mirio's eyes lit up with the beginnings of understanding. "I think I'm seeing what you're getting at, Sensei…but making friends is all about someone being willing to take that first step; and Eri-chan isn't exactly what you'd call a social butterfly, and other kids rushing over to make friends might scare her even worse."

To this, Oleg smiled as he looked the Big Three and Aizawa in the eyes. "We may not have to take that big a risk to begin with. We may have some of the perfect people in mind to start with already."


Staff Break Room

At that same time, once the finishing bell had rung, Toshinori had called for Izuku and Bakugo to meet him in the same break room they'd often met in; and once the two boys had finally arrived and taken their seats, the former Symbol of Peace happily opened up: "First of all, I want to personally congratulate you both on a successful first week! You've absolutely excelled with the mastery of your Blackwhip, Midoriya-shonen! You as well, Bakugo-shonen! I was constantly asking myself 'how far will you riser?', and yet you've managed to exceed my expectations with flying colors!"

Naturally, Izuku was immediately and deeply grateful ("Thank you, All Might!"), while Bakugo was sneering at what sounded like such a backhanded compliment "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Of course, he didn't even give Toshinori a chance to clear the air, before once more spouting off impatiently: "Where's Tunguska-sensei, huh? Usually when you call us over, he's glued to your hip."

With an understanding nod, Toshinori smiled: "Normally yes. But he understandably wants to spend some quality time with Bezpalov-shonen after they've been apart for a whole week. I overheard that your classmates are putting together a little celebration with your friends in Class B right now, so if you want to talk to him, that's most definitely where he'll be. But bringing up Bezpalov-shonen, I need to ask: given how his Quirk reacted in conjunction with your first unlocking Blackwhip; did you notice if his Quirk acted up again at all during any point of your training?"

To Toshinori's visible relief, Izuku and Bakugo both resolutely shook their heads; the freckled boy answering: "Thankfully, no. I can only assume that means he's really gotten a full rein in on his Kinetic Gatling for good now. The way he carried himself on our last night and at the demonstrations this morning, I think, is proof enough he has."

To this, Bakugo opined bluntly: "But that was all just regarding your damn Blackwhip, though! When the time comes you start trying to go for any of the other Quirks hiding in that big skull of yours, how do we know the Russkie isn't gonna go through the same chain reaction shit all over again?"

"Speaking of all your remaining Quirks to unlock…"

Without further ado, Toshinori suddenly reached into the interior pocket of his suit jacket. "One of the bigger reasons I called you two here, is because I have something to give you, Midoriya-shonen. Your advancement aside, you still need to take the next step forward! Gran Torino was able to come across some very old personal documents written by my Master in regards to the previous Users of One For All, and I've been dedicating much of my recent time to transcribing and organizing it all together for you. I'd originally planned to give it to you before New Years, but unfortunately it proved a more challenging and time-consuming task than I'd expected."

With that, Toshinori suddenly planted a fresh notebook on the table before Izuku; who could only look upon the title written on it with a wide and intense stare.

It simply read: 'Generations of Successors – Quirk Notes for Midoriya-shonen'.

"Unfortunately, neither she nor I were able to uncover anything regarding the Second and Third Users, even with her notes. Given the chaotic era back then, and the multi-faceted nature of One For All, there was nothing about them in any records she or I could find. If they realized early on that they were now harboring Quirks, it's very likely one of them could have made the conscious decision to leave something behind outside of officially passing One For All itself on. That's why I believe that one of those two unknown Users could very likely be the one descendant that ultimately links Bezpalov-shonen to the chain of One For All, in the bizarre way he is."

"Yeah, well it's still not like we can just go up to the guy and Tunguska-sensei and just ask them to recite the whole friggin' family tree to find out for certain. How about you stop waxing with hypotheticals, get to the damn point and stop wasting my precious time!" Bakugo suddenly spat impatiently.

As though Bakugo had actually been speaking to him instead of their teacher; Izuku quickly sat up straight and met Toshinori's inquisitive gaze. "All Might, about Blackwhip; so far I'm only able to use it for a second, so I'm nowhere near Sero-san or Aizawa-sensei's level, but it already makes for a pretty powerful Support-type technique."

Toshinori nodded in understanding of this current state of progress. "I see. Have you managed any further contact with the other Users' vestiges recently?"

"Not yet." Izuku answered regretfully, while Bakugo had taken the chance to peruse through his new notebook; soon landing on a page that got his attention, reading it out loud:

"'Fifth User: 'Lariat'. Real name: Daigoro Banjo. Quirk: Blackwhip. Because of the strips of energy he could shoot from his hands, he was best suited for wrangling up enemies and maneuvering through the air.'"

From there, he began lackadaisically looking through the other few pages. "Doesn't look like any of these guys have any real strong Quirks. I haven't heard of any of them."

"Huh? No, I'm certain they all had awesome Quirks, Kacchan." Izuku instinctively argued with that same bright-eyed awe that instantly got his old friend growling angrily. "Just having a Quirk to begin with is awesome to a loser like you!"

But while Izuku initially looked hurt by such a scathing, yet familiar, insult; Toshinori suddenly chimed in: "Bakugo-shonen isn't wrong. All For One was obsessed with One For All. When it first emerged, it was during an age when evil wielded a degree of power that's nigh impossible for us to comprehend nowadays. He went around crushing the strong, because there was simply nobody that could defy his sheer malice and lust for power and control. Writhing in that hellscape, as they lay down to die, the past Users all made sure the power of One For All would pass on to the future. They weren't really chosen ones. Through all those battles, all they could do was receive the Quirk and then entrust it to another."

Toshinori could see just how hard this fact was registering in Izuku, as the boy's body sat rigid with tension, while Bakugo simply tossed the notebook back to the table with a disappointed-sounding sigh. "Yeah, that tracks. From all these notes, it looks like they all died pretty young. Assuming your theory is right; either the Second or Third User made a run for it pretty much from the moment they got One For All, tried to put up roots out in the Russkie's neck of the woods, then decided to suck it up, come back and pass it on to the next User. Maybe they thought All For One might one day get the best of the next User before they could pass it on, and assumed starting a family elsewhere he wouldn't think to look would cause the Quirk to branch out, so he still wouldn't fully get his hands on it."

Bakugo sounded noticeably sure of his theory, while Toshinori bowed his head in honest consideration. "That's just about where my mind had been taking me in regards to Bezpalov-shonen's apparent ember of One For all as well. But there's one other very important question, regarding this apparent ability to make it branch out: did One For All simply rest dormant in the resulting family line up until Bezpalov-shonen, or is it possible that each of his ancestors in that line ended up being born with their own One For all-granted Quirks, and simply didn't realize it?"

With that very thought having now been put out in the open, Izuku's head jolted up with a brightness of fascination in his eyes. "All Might…are you suggesting that, given the right kind of training…Kolya-san might be able to unlock and utilize the Quirks of his ancestors in that specific branch of One For All, like I'll be able to?"

Clasping his hands together in continued contemplation, Toshinori answered: "It's too soon to say…but we may not have to wonder for very much longer. Tunguska-san and I met with Sir Nighteye-san relatively recently, and he tasked him with looking into his wife's family tree to see if there's anyone there with a Quirk at all similar either to Bezpalov-shonen's Kinetic Absorption/Release, or to that Kinetic Gatling technique he gained when you unlocked Blackwhip."

Izuku looked understandably fascinated by the possibilities this potentially had for their understanding of the properties of his Quirk, as well as just generally excited for Nikolay's potential alongside his own; but Bakugo looked less than enthused. "I still say we should just cut the secrecy crap and just tell the Russkie about all this already. He actually seems to be in a halfway decent headspace for once; he might actually be able to handle the truth if neither of you go mincing your words."

To Toshinori's great surprise, Izuku actually had a look of genuine consideration on his face when he started nodding in actual agreement. "I think Kacchan's right, All Might ("OF COURSE I'M ALWAYS RIGHT!"). Now that Kolya-san's managed to gain control over Kinetic Gatling like I have with Blackwhip, this could be our best time to finally tell him the truth about all this. I hate the feeling of keeping secrets that directly involve him like this."

But Toshinori couldn't hide his own disappointment as he firmly shook his head in denial. "I can't argue with either of you boys; I wish we could just tell Bezpalov-shonen the truth and finally put the secrecy behind us…but there's still simply too many unknowns in this whole situation for us to risk jumping the gun. Let's say you were to tell him he has an actual connection to One For All…and Nighteye's investigation were to prove all our suspicions wrong; that he'd simply unlocked a new extension of his Quirk entirely independent of you unlocking Blackwhip. By then, his confidence could have been bolstered all the way into blind recklessness; landing him in a situation too great for him to handle on his own or with any number of other Heroes by his side. We can't take any risks with this until we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this connection is a proven concrete fact. Until then, though, the best I can suggest is that you all just keep an eye on him, and see if his Quirk starts acting up when you finally start working towards unlocking your next Quirk, Midoriya-shonen."

With that, Izuku clutched the note book tight in his hands; understanding fully of Toshinori's reasoning; as disappointing as it was to know he would have to continue keeping the whole story of One For All to himself from Nikolay. The thought of the two of them training this surprising shared power between them together had seemed like such a great thing to him.

"WELL, IF WE'RE JUST KEEPING OUR TRAPS SHUT STILL, THEN HOW ABOUT WE TALK ABOUT WHATEVER POER THIS DAMN GEEK IS GONNA TAKE UP NEXT?!" Bakugo suddenly exclaimed with less than no patience; spurring Izuku into hurriedly flipping through the pages again. "Please be patient, Kacchan—"NO! I'VE HAD IT WITH ALL THESE DAMN TANGENTS!"

Suddenly, Izuku finally slammed his pointing finger down on the page of his choice; the sight of which made Toshinori momentarily fidget with a deep recognition and nostalgia; the most painful kind. "Float…the Quirk of my Master, Shimura Nana."

The confirmation that this was the Quirk of the Hero who taught All Might had Izuku feeling like his heart was about to seize, before that adrenaline of pure determination began racing within him. "Then that's what I want to try and learn next, no doubt about it!"

"I WIN!" Bakugo suddenly roared at the top of his lungs; scaring poor Izuku near to death; the blonde hothead's bloodshot eyes burning with confidence. "I CAN ALREADY GO AIRBORNE WITH MY EXPLOSIONS! NOW YOU GOTTA WASTE TIME LEARNING A TRICK I'VE ALREADY GOT IN MY TOOLKIT! THAT PUTS ME LEAPS AND BOUNDS AHEAD OF YOU! SHIT, EVEN THE RUSSKIE, BIRDBRAIN AND ROUND FACE CAN PRACTICALLY FLY, TOO! HOW'S IT FEEL TO BE BACK IN YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE, EATING EVERYBODY ELSE'S DUST, DEKU?!"

The ensuing excuse for an argument was simultaneously intense enough to blow Toshinori back in his seat, and hilarious enough to put the biggest smile on his face as he watched; for Izuku was completely oblivious to Bakugo's attempt at riling him up; instead simply taking it as a friendly challenge to put his all towards training, much to Bakugo's simmering rage.

To witness such a scene between them filled Toshinori with the strangest, and yet most heartwarming sense of nostalgia. Truly, despite how far both boys had come along, there were just some things that simply would never change between them, and there was something indescribably nice about that. It was truly a dynamic that only the two of them could ever have.


Shortly After, Class 1-A Dorms…

"Dang, the Class A house arrest boys are late again?" "Where the heck have you two been? We went to the trouble of getting all this food together! If you want any, get over here and help us!"

As soon as Izuku and Bakugo had finally returned to their dorms, they were met by the sight of the students of both their class and Class B already in the midst of partying hard through the commons area, with Oleg and Aizawa currently in the middle of watching the recorded internship showcases on the projector taken down from Nikolay's room; while Hanta, Denki, Nikolay, Shoto, Yuga and Rikido were all hard at work getting the food prepared to put on the grill.

"You better not have wolfed down all the meat already!" Bakugo shouted as he and Izuku hurried over to get their shares; before his eyes fell on the nearby cutting board. "Who the hell cut these green onions?!"

"I did." Shoto bluntly answered; completely oblivious to the sloppy manner in which said vegetables had been cut; that ignorance only making Bakugo that much angrier. "Gimme that knife, Half-N-Half! Your sister would be crying if she saw this half-assed hackjob!"

While Bakugo began furiously hacking away to salvage what he could of the onions; everyone else was still up to their eyes in just having fun. With the meat finally cooking and all the condiments, soups and courses prepared for everyone to have at their leisure, Nikolay had finally taken the chance to rejoin everyone else in the center of the room, where Mina was currently in the middle of showing off the insane hybrid dance-style she'd been practicing during her time with Mirko; punctuating all of her typical break-dancing spins, kicks and flips into several seconds of full-circle squatting kicks, sky-high leaps, graceful strides and twirls from his own native dance routines he'd shown her.

Seeing his girlfriend so happy in the moment, getting to do one of the things she loved the most, and actually incorporating the style he knew most, had Nikolay smiling both literally and within; the happiest smile he could have had in that moment. So much so, that he soon couldn't help but join her in the dance as well, which got several of the onlooking students around cheering them on even harder, as the couple started synchronizing their mutual dances alongside each other in perfect harmony.

As Nikolay and Mina continued to dance; the life of the party was strong with everyone else as well; from Oleg instinctively cheering like a man watching his favorite sports team win the game of the year as he saw all of the students' improvements on the screen, to Eijirou, Maja and Tetsutetsu once more finding themselves in the middle of a most heated conversation the likes of which only their trio could have, as the Iron Hero of Class B proudly exclaimed: "It may be neck-and-neck between us right now, Kirishima, but as soon as Maja-san gets her License, we're all going straight for the Major Leagues of Heroics, no ifs, ands or buts! That Wax Coat move of yours is gonna be so cool for us to work with! Heck, I can actually take that scalding heat no problem; so looks like I've got a head start on you already, dude!"

"Hey, let's wait to find out until I actually get my License, guys." Maja tried to intervene before Tetsutetsu and Eijirou could get heated enough to get into another arm wrestling or slapping tournament between them; causing both boys to give her the same encouraging smile; the latter answering confidently:

"I don't think there's any reason to worry, though. You've been poring through the books and getting awesome grades across the board since you got here, and you came up with an awesome Support tool and several Special Moves already. I'll bet they'll be ready to give you your own shot at your License before you even know it. By the time our Second Year starts, for sure."

Suddenly, Tetsutetsu's face softened with thought. "Hey, speaking of, Shinso-kun transfers into the Hero Course with the next year. Which class do you think he's gonna pick?"

Maja likewise lifted her eyes up with the memory of her fellow Joint Training extra, Hitoshi Shinso, and that impressive mind controlling voice Quirk of his. "Oh, yeah. Whichever class he chooses, you guys think that's gonna do anything about my two-class jumping schedule or what? I've actually been really liking getting to spend just as much time between these classes as I have been. It'd suck to not get to see one as much as the other anymore."

But before either Eijirou or Tetsutetsu could answer, Monoma suddenly sprouted up from the back of their sofa; clearly having been eavesdropping, as he instinctively shouted with all the gusto in his chest: "IF YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE, THEN PICK THE CLASS YOU KNOW TO BE THE FAR AND ABOVE SUPERIOR IN THIS COURSE! WITH YOU AND SHINSO-KUN ADDED TO OUR RANKS, CLASS B WOULD HAVE A FOREVER NUMBERS ADVANTAGE OVER CLASS A AND ITS PALTRY RABBLE!"

Before Maja or Eijirou could say anything; Denki suddenly exclaimed: "Pretty big talk! I don't see your class having anybody who learned under the Number One, Endeavor, himself! Your class doesn't even have any boss nicknames for anybody!"

Denki making note of the four students of the Flame Hero naturally snapped the four boys to attention; Izuku naturally asking: "Wait, you all actually came up with nicknames for…us?"

Momo answered, almost apologetically so: "It's nothing official. Everyone was understandably excited about seeing what you all learned, and the conversations eventually turned to coming up with some kind of moniker for you."

Tooru all but literally leapt in with excitement as she continued: "YEAH! It was super-heated at first; Tokoyami-kun wanted to call you The Four Horsemen, but we all thought that was way too scary, so we all settled on The Four Elements!"

Seeing the initial confusion on the four boys' faces, Mezo explained: "It actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Bakugo-san's Explosions could count as Fire, Todoroki-san's Ice could substitute for Water, Bezpalov-san's Kinetics could stand for Air, and Midoriya-san's all-around physical Quirk could stand for Earth."

"Not to mention that his hair and costume being green makes it super obvious, too." Kyouka chimed in; earning some giggles of genuine amusement and understanding out of Ochako and Mina; while Nikolay and Izuku both looked deeply embarrassed that everyone deemed them worthy of such a title, while Shoto looked almost entirely apathetic…and Bakugo just sneered. "That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Giving us a group name makes it sound like we're friends, or some crap like that!"

Of course, anyone could see that Monoma was not of the same opinion; as his eye and mocking grin began to twitch with building frustration, before he began frantically waving his arms and calling out to the rest of his classmates; or at least those who would listen: "WE CAN'T JUST SIT BACK AND LET THIS PROVOKING GO UNANSWERED! WE MUST COME UP WITH A MONIKER WORTHY OF CLASS B'S RIGHTFUL REPUTATION!"

Of course, with star students like Itsuka and Setsuna paying him no mind; Monoma's call for action from his class ultimately fell on deaf ears; while more and more of the Class A students began chattering more and more excitedly between themselves; Minoru being especially animated: "we should try spreading that name around the school as fast as possible before our Second Year starts! How cool would it be if Class A were to get the same kind of reputation in the eyes of its juniors as we did with The Big Three? Any fresh-faced lady students would come flocking to us in admiration just from the benefit of proxy!"

However, while Denki and Hanta were all nodding in agreement with Minoru's specific train of thought; Ochako visibly lit up as she suddenly proclaimed: "What if we were to all try working extra hard so that even just the name of Class A itself is just as meaningful a title to the whole school as our Senpais?"

Mina immediately was at Ochako's side with an arm over her shoulders; smiling bright once more. "Heck yeah! That's about as close to the perfect dream as we can get before becoming Pros! Class A as a whole spoken in the same breath as some of the best Hero teams! Can you just imagine it?"

Of course, Nikolay was more than familiar, and more than excited, by Mina's previously professed dream for all their futures as Heroes. Anyone else that she had deigned to tell of it beforehand would undoubtedly be feeling just as excited as he was by the idea. But before any of the other girls or similarly excited boys could voice their agreement; Tenya stood tall with his hand raised to try and gain his classes' attention.

"Before we get too much farther ahead of ourselves, everyone, that brings up the fact that our First Year Finals are only three months away! We mustn't let our increasingly busy schedules between school and internships stop us from making the time to study properly for it! We must set a shining example for our future kouhai's that will be looking up to us for guidance!"

"Indeed! Let's start tomorrow anew and work hard together towards becoming a beacon worthy of Yuuei!" Momo echoed alongside her fellow representative; which spurred Itsuka to raise the glass of juice in her hand in a toast. "I couldn't agree more!"

With that, all the rest of the students of both classes proceeded to likewise raise their own glasses in a two-class toast to their united and gleaming futures to becoming the best Heroes they could possibly be; all their hearts soaring within their chests.

No sooner than the toast had been made, did Oleg finally stop his third or fourth rewatch of the morning's showcase, so he could stand tall and likewise address his students; Aizawa lingering quietly in the corner as he simply watched the students in action. "I don't want to keep you all from celebrating further for too long, but I'd like to at least speak on my own behalf, when I say just how proud you all deserve to be in yourselves and each other for much every one of you has grown, on your own and together, over the course of this past year. I know I don't hold the same kind of responsibility to you all as your homeroom teachers, but that doesn't make me any less proud of you brave young Heroes."

As usual, the sensation of being sincerely praised by Oleg had Nikolay, Eijirou and Ochako all feeling and looking strikingly more emotional; but Mina and many others would soon follow, when they saw and listened to how Oleg now spoke when he approached his son specifically.

[[And that goes for you especially, Kolya. In so little time, you've grown into a far greater Hero than I ever was at your age…and even beyond that. To see you continuously rise up to every challenge in order to protect your friends and others; and to see you be able to fly through the air like you did this morning, looking just…]]

Oleg had to pause and suck in a sharp, almost pained breath before continuing: [[…looking just like your mother…I couldn't be more proud of the Hero, the man that you've become; not just as a Hero…but as a father.]]

Oleg didn't care in the slightest just how many eyes were on him and Nikolay, as his son quickly got up to his feet and hugged his father tight; audibly trying hard to control his breathing so he wouldn't start crying in joy from this moment, even if many of his friends were feeling their eyes start to sting with the beginnings of supportive and happy tears for the two of them; regardless of any language barrier.

Once Nikolay finally released his embrace on Oleg and sank back into his seat on the sofa; Mina just as quickly embraced him tight; her lips already wetted by her own joyful tears as she pressed them to his cheek in a lingering display of boundless affection and emotional support. But once she'd finally thought to pull away and get back to happily chatting with the rest of the girls of both classes; Nikolay caught a glimpse of Izuku, where he saw possibly the deepest look of emotional contemplation in the freckled boys' eyes yet.

"Are you feeling alright, Midoriya-san?" he asked; for once not catching Izuku by surprise, as he instead had that same warm smile as his eyes scanned over every one of their classmates in the throes of innocent and youthful fun.

"Yeah…I just couldn't help but start thinking. Until fairly recently, I thought my life had been completely decided for me. I didn't think I'd ever be sitting here, having gotten to do the things I've done over this past year. I never thought I'd actually have All Might, the Hero I've admired the most all my life, and so many other great Heroes watching over me. I never thought I'd get to make so many great friends like everyone in our class…and I never thought there'd be a day where Kacchan and I would actually be able to have a regular conversation like we used to when we were little. Thinking about all of that now, it makes me finally realize…"

Much like Oleg, Izuku had to pause for a moment; clutching his pant legs tight as his green eyes began to shimmer with so much emotion; his smile barely quivering as his voice shook: "…just how blessed I really am."

Izuku could have suspected, but ultimately had no idea just how truly those sentiments hit home for his Russian friend beside him. Nikolay had to hurriedly wipe the tears forming in his eyes, just listening to him. "I couldn't agree more. When I think of how much I used to believe I was destined to live a meaningless life, with no friends or anyone else, to just die all alone as the last in a disgraced legacy, with not a shred of hope…more often than not, I feel like I'm looking into a window of another life of someone else entirely. In fact, there are some nights, where I feel as though I'm in some kind of waking dream, and if I wake up, I'm going to be right back in Russia; living that old life again, and would never have really gotten to meet and know any of you…and that thought scares me more and more every day.

"When I first came to Japan, I didn't want anything to do with anything or anyone here…but now, I wouldn't want to be anywhere or anyone else than where I am, or who I am now…and I know I have you, Mina, Eijirou-san, All Might-sensei, Aizawa-sensei, and everyone in this school and all the Heroes out there to thank for helping me get to this point."

To this, without any prompting, Nikolay suddenly held out an open hand to Izuku; the curly-haired boy looking from it to the Russian boy's smiling face, to see there was no mistaking his intentions; before Nikolay finally made his intentions clear: "Thank you."

Izuku's confusion turned into another deeply empathetic smile of similar gratitude as he gladly shook Nikolay's hand. "You're welcome…but you should be thanking yourself more than anyone right now, Kolya-san. You gave just as powerful an example for everyone in our class to follow, too. The rest of us spent all our lives idolizing Heroes and wanting to be just like them…but you went through so much loss and pain because of the world of Heroes. I don't think anybody could've blamed you for feeling the way you did when we all first met…but that drive to keep going, no matter how difficult or dangerous things got, that was ultimately all you, deep down. In my eyes, you're just as much a real Hero as everyone in this room. You should always try to remind yourself of that."

Before either of the boys could continue much further with their waxing sentimental; they were soon both called away by Mina, Ochako and the rest of their classmates to participate in further fun and games with their Class B schoolmates; while Oleg and Aizawa simply watched them in this precious moment of childish innocence.

But in the midst of all this energy, Oleg suddenly felt the phone in his pocket hum to life. Pulling it out, he saw a single text message from Toshinori that simply read: 'Come outside, please. Nighteye-san got back to me. We need to talk.'

All at once, Oleg could feel his heart grow heavy with nervous anticipation. Looking between it, and the sight of his son smiling joyfully with all his friends; his grip on his phone tensed before finally typing out in response: 'Could we perhaps discuss this in the morning? Let's just enjoy our students' celebrating tonight.'

The seconds that passed as he waited for an answer were undeniably tense; Oleg growing increasingly worried that he'd made the wrong call…before Toshinori's reply finally came: 'I agree. Let's meet in the employee break room in the morning.'

As Oleg let out a sigh of relief; he didn't realize that Aizawa had caught glimpse of the messages, and as such proceeded to make his way out the front doors; where he found Toshinori sitting alone on the stoop; looking back over his shoulder; half-expecting it to be Oleg himself having changed his mind at the last second.

"What're you doing out here?" Aizawa immediately asked, while his colleague looked away in embarrassment with a matching smile. "Oh, not much. I've mainly just been debating whether I should join in the party or not."

"I'd say you should. Seeing you would probably be the one thing to make their spirits even higher than they already are." Aizawa answered as straightforwardly as ever before taking a seat tiredly beside Toshinori.

The sunken-faced blonde smiled in consideration, letting the two of them sit in pleasant silence for but a brief moment. "I heard from Oleg-san about Eri-chan. How is she?"

"Thankfully, she's fast asleep. It's too soon to say whether or not her Quirk will still be pacified once she wakes up. No matter what, I'm going to start training her to get a handle on it next week." Aizawa explained.

Toshinori smiled approvingly. "Good; I know you'll be the best teacher for her, Shota-san; but if there's ever any doubt, don't hesitate to ask me for help. I'll provide whatever I can. I'm sure Oleg-san's already offered you the same as well, even with teaching and Pro Hero work to consider."

Aizawa formed the slightest smirk. "He did. I appreciate both your offers, but let's hope for the best before anything else…but that can't be the only reason you're sitting out here alone. What's really going through your head, All Might?"

Toshinori sucked in a deep breath; looking up to the stars with a resolute gleam in his eyes. "For a while now, I've been struggling with a very important decision for myself…and it's only recently that I've finally made my choice. Quirk or no Quirk; Symbol of no Symbol, I've decided to continue living."

Only watching Toshinori from the corner of his eye, Aizawa answered: "Well, I would hope so. It's not exactly an encouraging sign for everyone if the Symbol of Peace decides to just up and quit on everything."

Aizawa was clearly bad at showing he was being sarcastic, but Toshinori chuckled all the same. "You all don't have to worry about anything like that…but to be completely honest; after seeing just how much all those kids have grown earlier today…I can't help but feel powerless in comparison."

Aizawa sighed tiredly. "Well, after you've been wearing the title of Symbol of peace for as long as you have, it's not at all surprising you'd start feeling that way eventually in your state. I don't doubt Tunguska felt the same way for years before he and Bezpalov came over here. But like he did, you need to understand something."

Suddenly, Aizawa got up to his feet; prompting Toshinori to look him in the eye as he saw the seriousness in his gaze. "Just because you're not the All Might they grew up with anymore, doesn't mean there isn't still a whole lot you can do for them as their teacher; starting with simply being there for them when they need advice or any other kind of help. Helping people is just the kind of person you are, even in the strangest, roundabout ways. You had the eye to seek out a Hero that had all but literally died; who was withering in shame and defeat, and you managed to not only bring him back into the fold to help raise these kids up and put his foot back in the Pro Hero race again, but you also brought his son, and he's ended up growing into a Hero with more promise than I'd ever given him credit for; and they both ended up having the similar inspirational effect on all those around them.

"That all resulted because of you, because of your actions and your instincts. With or without your Quirk, you're still a bright guiding light those kids will all continue to look to for guidance, and that role is more powerful than any kind of ability, so don't ever think that you're powerless, understand?"

As Aizawa finally finished this most surprising and heartfelt speech to try and keep Toshinori's doubt-filled spirit kindled; the man himself likewise got up and bowed in gratitude to his fellow teacher. "Thank you, Shota-san. It's embarrassing to know I still let myself get like this every once in a while…but it really does mean a lot to hear you say these things. A little reality check really can do wonders. Well, I shouldn't keep you from carrying on the celebrations with the students any more than I already have."

As he began to take his leave, Toshinori stopped when Aizawa called after him: "The offer still stands for you to join in while there's still a little time…but before you do whatever you decide to; there's something else I needed to tell you: Detective Tsukauchi-san wanted me to pass a message along to you: please postpone your meeting with the Hero Killer Stain for now. As of right now, we need to dedicate all of our time and efforts to educating those kids every which way we can. That should obviously go without saying for people like us, but it feels as though there's something ahead he's expecting that we don't know about…and he's not the only one who knows it."

Toshinori could clearly tell that this was a subject that weighed heavily on Aizawa's mind, but if he was to take up the homeroom teacher's invitation to join in the students' celebration; then it would be less than appropriate for him to press for any further details, and risk souring the mood any further.

With that, Toshinori ultimately relented, and soon rejoined Aizawa into the 1-A dorms to join the party; both men knowing full well just what responsibilities they must continue to take up for the sake of giving those young Heroes the best education they could get, in preparation for whatever the future had in store for all of them.

And besides, if fate allowed; he could find a chance to speak with Oleg alone and finally tell him of just what Sir Nighteye's investigation had turned up, regarding Nikolay's maternal lineage of Quirks, and its potential connection to One For All.

And there it is, everyone. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Let's try to keep in mind what I described earlier, regarding my writing plans for this story going forward.

With this being the end of the Endeavor Agency Arc, it's time to divert some. I will be uploading the third Son of Justice School Briefs spinoff two weeks from now on 09/16; and since I uploaded the first two within a single day of each other previously, I'll then be uploading the fourth one the following week instead on 09/23.

Afterwards, I'll then start uploading the chapters covering the events of the third MHA movie: World Heroes' Mission, two weeks after that on 10/07.

I hope you'll all be okay with this schedule, as it's simply what I have to do while working with my college classes, in order to avoid completely burning myself out.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this take on this particular arc. If you have any thoughts or feelings, please feel free to share them with me in a review or message, and I will see you with the third spinoff story in two weeks.