Our Wayward Friend
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Hailstorm Vol. 2! It's Class 1A vs Midoriya and it's not going to be the most pleasant experience for all involved. A more pleasant experience, though, would be checking out my Pat reon! That's right, if you like what I do come on by and drop a donation or become a patron and see some news, drafts and other tidbits I've got happening in the world of Masked Spider! And to our guest reviewer, yes Slade should've but he wanted to sound scientific, and also, yes she is adorable. Now then, onto the story!
Rainy Day: City of Musufatu
Rumors had been going around the city for the last few days, rumors pertaining to a strange individual. It was said he appeared without a sound, wielding multiple quirks yet was not All For One or a Nomu. In fact, it was said he saved people with the numerous quirks he wielded. This individual always appeared to be hurt, covered in dirt and blood, the ragged state of his costume making him look like anything but a hero.
There was a time when many people would've recognized this person on sight. His green costume and hair had become known to numerous citizens he'd saved over the course of his short career as a student. And there was a time when they could see his smile, plain as day. But the mask hid it all now: his smile, his tired eyes, his messy, matted hair.
Izuku Midoriya had given himself over fully to his best and worst quality: his willingness to sacrifice everything for other people. It had been this quality that pushed him so far before, that kept him going no matter how bad things seemed to get. But there was one drawback to it. Every time he became hyper focused on protecting other people, he'd forget to take care of himself.
He fought villain after villain, engaged in battle after battle, hardly stopping to rest. Midoriya knew he needed to find One For All and Shigaraki before they could prepare. He would not let them do as they'd done before. But it was exactly this urgent, selfless behavior that All For One sought to exploit.
It was why he hired three villains of the more dangerous variety to hunt down the holder of One For All. The villain's first mercenary, Lady Nagant, failed and was later brought in for medical treatment and interrogation by, according to Hawks, a friend who was looking for him. The next mercenary he defeated in an instant, his anger and impatience rising when he again failed to acquire any information. What followed could be described as almost a rampage as he pursued and fought any and all villains he came across, hunting for even the slimmest lead on his adversary.
Thus he found himself walking alone in the park beneath the rain, searching for his next target. 'I have to stop them,' Izuku repeated to himself, almost like a mantra, 'I have to stop One For All, Shigaraki, and the League of Villains. I have to, so that everyone can smile again.' But his body chose now to betray him.
He stumbled, falling down on his hands and knees as exhaustion caught up with him. His breathing was labored, it was hard to remember the last time he ate a substantial meal or slept to any real degree. But in his mind this was no time to rest. That would come only after he'd defeated the villains. Only then would he be able to smile with his friends again.
A sudden and very sharp stabbing pain in the back of his head alerted him to a threat. This was the quirk of the fourth holder of One For All: Danger Sense. It allowed him to detect threats and other people with negative emotions aimed at him. Though in this particular instance all Midoriya had to do to identify the current danger was raise his head.
"It's just like that person said," the new threat spoke with a deep but excited sounding voice, "rampaging because of impatience, wishing to be alone, pushing yourself to exhaustion." Midoriya recognized this man, or rather this villain. It would've been hard not too, given that his whole body was hunched over so low that the coat he wore required buttons above his head to close. Adding to his strangeness were his regular-sized arms which contrasted with his potentially stubby legs, though it was near impossible to tell because of the black coat he wore.
Most striking of all was the white mask he wore which was denoted with large yellow eyes and a massive grin. Though given that the mouth moved when he spoke, this could just as easily have been his real face. "Numbers equal justice," he stated, indicating the crowd of people gathered around him, "If I bring you in them I'm set!" This man was called Dictator, a villain whose quirk, Despot, allowed him to control people like puppets, hence the crowd of innocent bystanders readying to assault the green-haired boy against their will.
"Dictator," Midoriya spoke in a low, monotone voice, "another hired gun. Maybe you'll have information on All For One."
"Oh, you wish to fight, good, good," Dictator laughed, moving his fingers like a puppet master, "fight these ignorant fools to your heart's content!" The civilians began moving forward, their bodies controlled by Dictator as they raised a number of crude weapons and other random items. The people charged then, their panicked cries filling the air. Izuku thought quickly, or what he assumed was thinking quickly.
He ran through the options in his head, already noting Dictator had surrounded himself with half the people as human shields. Midoriya knew the weakness to the quirk, Despot, was a good hit to the head of the victims or knocking out the villain himself. But how to do it? Air force, he didn't have his gloves, Black Whip then?
It was just so hard for him to think right now. The U.A. student was so tired that he barely noticed when the people started grabbing him, yanking his mask off while yelling in both protest and apology at what they were being forced to do. But it was alright, he would figure out a way to save them, he just needed another moment, just a moment longer. "Figures you'd wind up here," a voice stood out, one that wasn't panicking or laughing, one that Midoriya recognized.
A sudden burst of smoke, no, mist, that wasn't right either. These were clouds, a sudden burst of clouds raced along the ground, rising up and seizing the possessed civilians in a grip that was firm but not crushing. It moved fast, slithering all over like a pack of snakes before converging on the surprised Dictator and launching him into the air. "AP SHOT!" Another familiar voice shouted before an explosion impacted against the villain's head, knocking him out.
The source of the explosion landed while the clouds set the civilians, and villain, down and away from Midoriya. "Guys, we found him," Bakugou announced on an earpiece he was wearing. Midoriya's eyes widened, not expecting to see his classmate here.
"Good thing we showed up when we did," Clay said matter of factly, the clouds moving to reveal him standing next to the green-haired boy. He pulled off his mask and goggles then, not hiding the concern on his face. "You….look like shit."
A Day Earlier: U.A. Office of Principal Nedzu
"Principal," Endeavor observed, looking between the rodent-like man and the gathered members of Class 1A, "it appears as if you've already made up your mind."
"I'm always updating what I do," Nedzu informed, "the students here arrived at the same conclusion that you and the others heroes have arrived. We knew such an operation was a long shot from the beginning but it was deemed the safest option at the time. It seems, however, that things have gotten somewhat out of hand."
"This should never have happened in the first place," Todoroki narrowed his eyes at his father, "I thought we talked about stopping Toya together?"
"We did, and just those feelings alone were enough to save me, Todoroki," his father revealed.
"And you think it'd be enough for me?!" The dual quirk user snapped, "Why is Midoriya the only exception? Because he has One For All? That's even more reason for us to be out there with him!"
"You're right," Endeavor admitted, "you might've been able to make him see reason before it came to this."
"But instead you relied on All Might," Bakugou growled, "because you left those two alone together all he can think about is the weight on his shoulders. All Might became a hero by thinking about others way too much and barely considering himself. Because of that, he couldn't stop Midoriya who's exactly the same way!"
"I think we all came here acknowledging mistakes were made," Clay spoke up, not wanting to waste time, "and we're all in agreement on what needs to be done. The problem is we haven't been able to track down Izuku on our own so far. So we need to borrow whatever you guys have been using to keep track of him."
"That is one mistake we managed not to make," the pro hero reached into his belt and pulled out a small device. "Even if we hadn't known the full importance of Midoriya and why All For One wanted him, we weren't going to be so irresponsible as to set him loose without a tracking device." He tossed it to the nearest student, Momo.
"It's a GPS tracker," she informed, "and it's still transmitting, thankfully. I don't know if he's left it on as a precaution or if he just forgot, but we can find him with this."
"Then we should move out immediately," Iida stated before being halted by one last statement from Endeavor.
"You know him better than I do," he began, "but what do you intend to do if he refuses to return?"
"We'll convince him, of course," Iida answered, his determination reflected in the eyes of all his classmates, "and once he's returned to his senses Class 1A will follow along and act with him. No matter how much responsibility goes hand in hand with One For All, Midoriya is still our friend. And none of us will be able to smile about the future knowing that our friend is walking a path of thorns."
"You've all certainly grown up," Nedzu praised, "even after seeing the chaos outside and knowing that your friend will likely resist returning you still wish to venture out after him. Know that I fully support his return and will do everything on my end to ensure it goes as smoothly as possible when you bring him back here."
"So it's true then," Slade grunted, "even though the heroes are providing shelter there are still some who are antagonistic towards us?"
"That is a matter for me to worry about," the principal assured, "I'll find a way to make those who are uneasy understand. After all, I didn't designate U.A. as a shelter merely for our size alone. We have several upgrades to the barrier and the security system designed to hold off even large-scale villain attacks. So focus on bringing your friend back, with your own hands."
End Flashback
It took practically no time at all for the rest of Class 1A to show up. They moved like a well-oiled machine with Todoroki, Sero and Momo restraining the villain while the others moved to check on the civilians once Clay released them from his clouds. Though most of them confirmed their own health by running for it. "The villain's secure and we have no immediate threats in the vicinity," Momo reported after getting confirmation from Jirou and Shoji.
"Good work, we can focus on the task at hand," Iida acknowledged. The class turned its attention to their exhausted friend then as he finally seemed to register what had happened.
"Everyone," he spoke tiredly, "why….are you here?"
"You're worse off than we thought if you really have to ask," Clay commented.
"We're here because we're worried about you," Uraraka spoke for all of them.
"I'm-," he started to say while putting his mask back on.
"You're not fine," Slade interrupted, "you're clearly exhausted, idiotically left behind any backup that could've helped you and nearly got taken out by a villain you normally would've smoked in about a minute. You are very much not fine!"
"I can still move," Deku weakly argued while finally securing his mask, "you all need….to stay away."
"Oh that's great to hear!" Bakugou mocked while slow clapping, "just the kind of thing we want from the great One For All successor!" He turned more serious and pointed at himself then, "so, are you able to smile right now?"
"In order to smile again," his muffled answer came, "for everyone to live in peace, I have to go. So please, everyone, get out of the way." The green electricity of One For All flared around his body as he stood up and took a ready stance. Clay sighed, having suspected his response but still regretful it was coming to this.
"Afraid that's not gonna happen," he revealed while putting his mask and goggles back on, "if you want us out of the way-."
"You're gonna have to make us you All Might wannabe!" Bakugou declared, a little too happily in Clay's opinion.
"Let's do this everyone," Iida added, donning his own helmet while receiving an affirmative from the rest of the class. A tense moment passed with the rest of the class readying their quirks. It would be Midoriya who made the first move by activating the sixth user's quirk, Smokescreen. A pinkish smoke filled the immediate area, obscuring everyone's vision.
"LANDMINE BLAST!" Bakugou countered with his hands on the ground, creating a blastwave that scattered the visual obstruction. "Don't let him get away!" But Midoriya had already leapt into the air and began utilizing his float quirk to escape. But a sudden grip on his ankle forced him to stop and look back.
"You really think I couldn't track you in a smokescreen," Clay asked, already floating up to his level on a cloud, "its bad enough you think you can just blow us off. Don't go insulting our abilities too." The One For All user quickly understood what had happened as he looked down. Clay had attached a cloud cable to his ankle the moment he tried to escape and now Slade was holding the other end on the ground at maximum density.
"You won't stop me with-," Midoriya started to say before a whole flock of doves obscured his vision and reduced his movement.
"Listen!" Koda yelled from below, "the principal said its okay for you to come back! So please, don't run away!" 'Sorry, Clay, Koda, Slade,' he thought to himself before firing out a tendril of Black Whip, 'I can't.' He broke the cloud cable with another Black Whip before yanking himself away. Sero was already there to intercept.
He shot some of his tape around the tendril, yanking it down with his swinging weight which flung Izuku upwards before he shot another length of tape to wrap around his left wrist. "You've been leaving that thing just hanging out, no wonder people are scared!" He commented with a smile. Midoriya responded by easily ripping the tape with his hand.
"Heartbeat Wall!" Jirou declared next, her form being held up by Tokoyami's Dark Shadow. She slammed her two detached sound projectors together with her earphone jacks, creating multiple soundwaves that raced towards their friend. He reacted too quickly, unfortunately, and shot another tendril of Black Whip to pull himself out of the way. "Midoriya, this might not be that important, but that time you helped me out with my notes during the school festival, it made me really happy!"
If he heard her he didn't acknowledge it. But it might've been enough to distract him as Ojiro came in next. "Whirling Tail Dance," he announced, dropping from one of Clay's clouds and wrapping his tail around his classmate. "Do you remember your match against Shinso at the sports festival? I'll never forget how you got mad for my sake! I can't let you be the only one to fight beat up like that!"
"But if I'm there," Deku responded slowly, "you'll all be in danger…..you'll be taken by All For One. That's," he used his enhanced strength to loosen Ojiro's hold on him, "why I left-SLAM!"
"Push Dark Shadow!" Tokoyami ordered, shoving Midoriya through the window of a large building's middle floor. The quirk pushed him against one of the middle pillars, pinning him there. Sato caught both Jirou and Ojiro with his enhanced strength as the trio looked on in hope that their next plan would work.
"Ya know," Clay informed stepping off of his cloud, through the hole and onto the floor, "Sato's actually threatening to withhold his food coloring if you don't come back. I know you remember how much Eri loves those snacks you two make."
"That's fine," his friend breathed out, "she doesn't need them from me."
"No, she doesn't need the snacks," Clay agreed, "but she'd still like to have you around. Yes, I know you left because you wanted to protect us, but you're being way too naïve, right, Momo?" Four metallic straps reached around the pillar Midoriya was against while Clay used his clouds to drop a metal, gasmask looking contraption over his head.
"We discussed it at length," the creation quirk user explained while stepping out of the shadows. Clay had moved her into the building with his clouds in order to setup this particular trap. "At first, we all wanted to go out and help you search for All For One. But his use of mercenaries has made it obvious: he doesn't intend to show himself."
"Then I'll find him," Izuku countered while slamming his head down, breaking the mask over his face. It hadn't taken him long to realize it was pumping in gas meant to put him to sleep. "You all just…stay safe," he pulled against his restraints, the bindings stretching and straining under his strength, "don't bother with me…..anymore. Get away from me!"
The bindings snapped, unable to contain the U.A. student's might before he started forward again, held back only by Dark Shadow. "Of course we're going to bother with you!" Kaminari exclaimed, jumping out and throwing an arm over the green-haired boy's shoulder, "All For One might be scary, but that won't stop us from helping our friend, even against his will!"
"I said-UFF!" Multiple stretching arms came out of the shadows and shoved Midoriya back against the pillar before wrapping around and tying him there once again. It was Shoji, he and Kaminari had also been transported here via Clay's clouds.
"My arms are wrapped in electrical tape made by Yaoyorozu," the dupli-arms student explained, indicating the black tape on his limbs and the fact that he'd bound Kaminari too. "And why are you doubting our abilities now? At the training camp, you said the group we were in could go up against All Might and that wasn't even the whole class!" Midoriya didn't respond to this particular reminder, nor the fact that they'd all become even stronger since then.
"Ragnarok: Womb!" Tokoyami declared. His quirk increased in size, wrapping around and engulfing both Kaminari and Izuku with its body. "It's nice and dark in here so Dark Shadow has plenty of strength. But using its offensive ability in a defensive manner, that was your idea, Midoriya."
The answer they received was more green electricity and the sound of a cracking pillar. "Uraraka," Clay called over his earpiece, "we're resorting to the electroshock plan. Do I have the go ahead in case it fails?"
"No, that is our absolute last resort," the gravity girl responded with finality in her tone, "I know you want this done and over with as badly as the rest of us do, but Midoriya has to see what we're all capable of together. Just give it a little more time, I know our feelings can reach him."
"Fair point," Clay acknowledged, "it would be a bit hypocritical of me not to have faith in the rest of the class's abilities while trying to convince someone else to have faith." The cracking sound intensified as Shoji and Tokoyami began to strain against the force their friend was emitting. "So that being the case, make sure everyone's in position for the next plan."
"Midoriya!" Shoji yelled as the strain of holding his friend became too great, "are we just objects to protect to you!" They were past the point of no return. Kaminari yelled out one more plea with everyone else, save for Clay, as he activated his quirk. Electricity flashed before the pillar shattered completely, shaking the building.
A green blur shot past, kicking up dust as he crashed through the window at high speed. "I can't believe he broke out of Ragnarok," Tokoyami stated in disbelief.
"This is the power of….One For All," Momo breathed out, also amazed as she stood looking out the window with everyone else.
"There's a reason All For One considers it a threat," the cloud wielder acknowledged, "but we can't let that stop us. Everyone else should be in position, so let's move on to the next stage." He took flight on his clouds then with the others in tow. As for their friend, he'd lost his mask in the escape, revealing his pained visage.
"Heaven Piercing Ice Wall!" A massive pillar of ice suddenly formed in Izuku's path. In his exhausted state the One For All holder's reflexes weren't fast enough to avoid it and he slammed into the pillar with enough force that his head stuck out the other side.
"What kind of face is that," Todoroki asked from a top the pillar he formed, "does your responsibility not allow you to cry? It's not something you have to bear alone, let us share it with you." He didn't get a chance to answer as Tsuyu leapt up onto the wall of a nearby building.
"Midoriya," she called, "I won't let you go, I won't cry like I did after Bakugou was rescued. You're dear to me, so when it's scary I'll tremble with you, and when it's painful I'll cry with you. You're my friend, if you're going to be like a comic book hero, we won't let you go alone!" The response they received was the sudden shaking of the ice pillar.
"Midoriya!" Todoroki yelled, "I know the others have mentioned One For All's intentions! You have to think this situation might also be what he wants! He could be planning to attack U.A. while we're occupied here! You need a plan B, let us fight with you, let's protect U.A. together!"
"I can't," he grunted while continuing to struggle, the ice breaking under his power even as Todoroki added more, "this is a battle between One For All and All For One. You guys…can't keep up!" The ice pillar crumbled as the green-haired boy shot out of it like a bullet.
"Midoriya!" Tsuyu yelled while swinging her tongue outwards towards him. The boy adjusted his path with Float to dodge it but this had been anticipated by the students. Hence why Mineta was at the end of the frog girl's tongue.
"Mineta Beads: Tenfold!" The grape boy yelled before swinging a rope constructed of his quirk. The true beauty of it was the end piece: a lightened Slade Mason.
"I think Clay said it pretty well earlier, don't insult our abilities," the density shifter declared while grabbing onto his friend and increasing his density, and weight, to maximum, dragging his friend towards the ground. "We've been shedding blood, sweat and tears right alongside you, we've been keeping up better than you think! And even if we haven't we all got a stake in this fight. Our friends, our family are all in danger because of All For One so quit pretending it only concerns you!"
"Slade, Tsuyu, Mineta," Izuku responded mournfully before firing two Black Whips from his hands and latching them onto nearby buildings, "I'm sorry." He increased his output of One For All to forty five percent and began kicking both feet in the air. He was now utilizing the quirk Fa Jin, the ability of the third One For All user, which stored kinetic energy for release through the use of repetitive motions. In this case, the kicking of his legs.
"Uraraka!" Slade called, already anticipating how much this was probably gonna suck. His fears were confirmed when Midoriya went rocketing off by utilizing a technique known as 'Faux 100%', a result of his simultaneous use of Fa Jinn, Black Whip, and forty five percent of One For All. Even despite his heavy frame Slade could feel his grip slipping on his friend.
"Everyone!" Uraraka dropped down, having just missed her two friends. But her signal was still received as an ice ramp with train tracks was formed by Todoroki and Momo.
"Protective Coating at 0.1% acidity, Acid Man!" Mina announced as she threw a thick layer over a group of her classmates. Tokoyami assisted by pushing with Dark Shadow, giving his friends a running start. Todoroki accelerated them next with his Flashfire Heatwave aimed behind the group, blasting them off of the ramp.
Clay moved into his own position in the air as Uraraka added her quirk to decrease their classmate's weight and he attached a cloud to increase speed and control direction. At nearly the same time, Todoroki dropped off, allowing Bakugou to use his quirk next. "Explosive Speed Turbo," he growled as numerous sparks danced around his hands like firecrackers, "CLUSTER!" A focused blast increased their speed even more as their multi-stage rocket soared through the air like a comet.
The cloud wielder moved as fast as he could behind them, doing his best to stay in visual range as he adjusted his classmate's course. Bakugou dropped off then as the blue flames of Recipro Turbo activated. The acid coating was burnt away by the friction as Iida rocketed through the air, the G-force pulling on him proving strong enough to tear apart pieces of his costume. Under any other circumstances it might've been funny the way his face was pulled back by the sheer speed he'd achieved.
But in this case his determination was undeniable as he forced his hand forward against the massive air resistance and grasped Midoriya's hand, the surprised boy acting as an anchor for the speedster who went past him. The fact that Slade was still holding on was already amazing, but seeing Iida pass by shocked him more than expected and it was even more shocking when the cloud around the class president moved to grasp Izuku's other hand. "No," he choked out, "all of you…let go of me!"
"WE WON'T!" Iida and Slade declared before the speedster continued. "I'll come running, no matter where, to take the hand of a lost child! I'm Ingenium!"
"I'll be a gentle hand and an unyielding wall!" Slade declared, "I'm Dark Matter!" Iida gave the signal then, prompting Uraraka to release her quirk and add Iida's weight while Clay pulled them down with the cloud on Midoriya's hand.
"I'll be the storm that brings fear to villains and relief to the innocent. I am Cloud Warrior Cirrus." Clay stated before all of them said at the same time, "and meddling when you don't need too, is the essence of being a hero!" This reminder of All Might's, of Midoriya's own words seemed to take the fight out of him as his body went limp.
Clay cast some more clouds from his hand, only being able to send a small amount because of how far ahead they still were, and formed a net beneath them. He strained against their momentum, struggling to slow them even when Slade decreased his density to practically nothing. Fortunately, he caught a glimpse of another classmate down below. "Kirishima! Coming your way!"
The spiky haired teen moved into position on the street, his arms spread wide and his feet planted. Even with aid from the clouds the trio still slammed into their classmate with enough force to send him skidding backwards. "Midoriya," he yelled, "there was this kid, the same age as me that rushed out to save his friend even though he didn't even have a quirk! That was you, wasn't it?! It doesn't matter whether or not you or any of us have a special power, all that matters should be that we're willing to help our friends!"
Their momentum finally arrested and they stopped in the middle of the street. Clay dropped down next, followed by Hagakure and Aoyama. The rest of the class showed up via giant ice slide, breathing heavily from the exertion of keeping up. "Midoriya," Mina began breathessly, "I don't want anyone else to go away! Let's stick together, let's go to class again with everyone!"
Their ragged-looking classmate got to his feet, his eyes shadowed by his hair. "I wish….I could," he responded in a low voice, "But…..I'm scared. There are a lot of people at U.A., I don't want to cause them any trouble. Things can't go back to the way they were be-GAAAAAHH!"
"Will you stop it with that weak ass argument already," Slade ordered while putting his friend in a headlock and giving him a disciplinary noogie, "U.A. is gonna be attacked whether you're there or not because All For One and Shigaraki and the League of Villains hate our guts and want us all dead! You're causing more trouble running ragged out here than you would be back there." Any further beratement was halted by Bakugou stepping forward.
"Do you remember what I said, when Shigaraki stabbed me," he asked. Slade released his friend so he could answer.
"No, I don't," Deku admitted.
"I said 'don't try to win by yourself'," Bakugou reminded, "but there was more to that. My body moved on its own and then I got stabbed, so I thought I should tell you. I looked down on you our whole lives because you were quirkless. You were obviously way behind me, but I felt like you were way ahead of me, too. I didn't like it, I didn't want to see you, I didn't want to accept you. That's why I bullied you, to get away from you."
"I tried to feel superior by rejecting you, but in truth I was always losing to you. When we got into U.A., not a single thing went the way I wanted. Every day I saw how strong you were and how weak I was. It's not something that'll work itself out by saying it out loud, but it's how I really feel, Izuku." He bowed his head then, "I'm sorry, for everything."
A look of shock crossed the green-haired boy's tired features, clearly not expecting this on top of everything else. "Everything you've done since inheriting One For All has been ideal, you've done nothing wrong. But right now, you're unsteady, there's a wall you can't overcome with just ideals. That's why we'll take care of the things that you can't take care of. In order to surpass the ideal, we need to save you, the refugees at U.A., and all the people in the city."
'All of you,' Midoriya realized as tears poured down his face, 'you've already….far…..surpassed me.' He collapsed then but was caught by a quickly advancing Bakugou. "I'm sorry I said….you couldn't keep up," he practically whispered.
"I know," the blond teen acknowledged. His friend finally fell unconscious then, the exhaustion being too much for him. The class breathed a collective sigh of relief, happy that he finally saw reason.
"It appears we cleared the first hurdle," Momo noted, "it'll be even tougher from here on out." Uraraka acknowledged that grim reality with a nod as Bakugou handed the green-haired boy off to Shoji.
"Clay," he called, approaching the cloud wielding teen, "there's something I want to know."
"It must be serious if you're actually using my name," he replied, having just gotten off a call to the other heroes nearby. They'd been on standby, keeping the area clear and waiting to see if their help would be required. "What is it?"
"Tell me, would you have done it," Bakugou asked, "would you really have used that new trick of yours?"
"Edgeshot's attack is pretty effective," Clay acknowledged, "I would've felt awful stabbing my friend and opening a hole in his lungs just to make him stop, but yeah, I would still have done it."
"Damn, you really do sound like sensei when you say stuff like that," the explosion boy sighed.
"It means I'm just a big softie on the inside," the cloud wielder remarked, "but hopefully it'll only ever go as far as sounding like sensei."
"I guess since we're doing confessions right now, I might as well admit that you were half right, too," Bakugou continued, "back when you said he'd be a better hero than all of us if he ever got a quirk."
"Surprised you remember something that long ago," Clay replied, "which part was I wrong about?"
"He never needed a quirk, he was already a better hero than us," Bakugou stated.
"No kidding," the cloud wielder agreed, "but what's coming up next isn't something any of us can handle alone." And there was plenty coming up. The pro hero, Thirteen, showed up to escort them back to U.A., explaining to the tired Midoriya that easy to deal with gangs were all that was left and that the other heroes were more than adequate to deal with them. Of course, there was still one other obstacle to deal with before they could bring Izuku all the way into U.A.
Anyone got a count of how many times I said 'Midoriya' in this chapter because I feel like it was a lot. Hehe, all joking aside do feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! Also, don't forget to check out my Pat reon and consider becoming a patron! Last bit, feel free to stop in next time as our heroes deal with some not so happy individuals who might have a problem with them returning to their school! 'Til then.
