Chapter 24: Remembrance and Reconciliation

Kirishima loved his friends. He would go to hell and back for them a thousand times over. He also reserved the right to stop them from being stupid. That was his role after all, sometimes you shouted no one behind me's gonna bleed and sometimes you stopped your friends before they licked a proverbial electric fence.

"Ok, so here's the plan." Bakugo said, "We gotta force Midoriya and Yaoyorozu in the same room, so they can hash out whatever prompted this whole I need space bullshit."

"What about a fight?" Todoroki asked. "It worked for me."

Iida shook his head, "No, no. You all know how Midoriya is. He'd be afraid of hurting her."

"Okay, how about this." Bakugo suggested, "We get Aizawa and Recovery Girl in on it. Aizawa has me fight Yaoyorozu next time we do some kind of combat exercise, and I go a little too far..."

"And then Aizawa has Midoriya take Yaomomo to Recovery Girl!" Uraraka said, "Just like how at the beginning of the year she took him to Recovery Girl!"

"That's not going to work." Kirishima said, "Yaoyorozu's already feeling hella vulnerable, to the point where she's even distancing herself from Midoriya, and you want to kick her in the metaphorical balls?"

Bakugo and Todoroki looked at each other. "It worked for us?" Bakugo offered.

"We just need to borrow Midoriya's stop being a dumbass bat." Todoroki said solemnly.

Kirishima realized that he was probably the sanest person in this conversation. "You two aren't dating him! Look, I agree that this needs to be solved yesterday, but we need a delicate sledgehammer as opposed to a sledgehammer of mass destruction."

"What would you propose?" Iida asked.

"Bullshit, my plan was great." Bakugo grumbled.

Uraraka patted his arm, "It's okay, Sugar. I thought it was good."

Kirishima ignored the peanut gallery, "Oh, that's easy, Iida." He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "We yeet Mina at them."

Iida nearly facedesked. "I specifically told Yaoyorozu that I would keep Mina off her back."

"Do you want this fixed now or never?" Mina answered the phone, and Kirishima diverted his attention to her. "Hey, babe. Give them hell." He hung up.

"She's been raring to go this whole time, hasn't she?" Uraraka asked amid exasperated noises from the guys.

Kirishima looked her dead in the eyes. "You haven't seen her shipping notebook."

Momo Yaoyorozu was becoming painfully aware of how much she had grown accustomed to having certain things. Thanks to the HPSC's sudden fascination with the archaic laws that allowed them to seize the liquid and physical assets of known villains, most of her possessions were gone. They had been ruled as assets of her father because he had paid for them.

She hadn't been left destitute. As far as financial matters went, her parents had left her a sizable trust fund. Unfortunately it had caveats. Until she was eighteen, she couldn't use the money for anything but necessities and education. She also had her own savings account, as every rich kid made sure of keep some money out of reach of their parents. The allotment of shares in Sapato Corp they had left her were barely worth mentioning, with how the price was continuing to fall.

When it came to actual things, she had clothes, a couple of her dresses, makeup, and one small jewelry box filed to the brim. She had chosen to keep that particular one over bigger ones because her mother had given it we to her for her tenth birthday, and she would not let it end up going for an insultingly small amount of yen at some HPSC auction. All of the room's furniture was furnished by UA as were some of her casual clothes.

Yaoyorozu looked in the mirror hanging from the wall. She was a mess. Hair unkempt, bags under her eyes, and dressed in a UA t-shirt and athletic shorts. If you showed someone a picture of her, they would not be able to identify her as the heiress to the Sapato Corporation.

Soon to be heiress to nothing, once the buyout went through.

Her temper flared and her fists clenched. Her life was in shambles, her parents were dead, and anything that might've resembled their legacy was ash! All because Izuku couldn't keep his damn mouth shut!

She shoved those feelings away. She knew it wasn't his fault. The blame could laid at the feet of All For One. But that didn't stop the anger borne out of her powerlessness to change any of it. It was why she had to push Izuku away for now, even though it was breaking her heart to do so. Because if she didn't... the things she might say to him...

God, what if she hit him? Just imagining the look of utter betrayal on his face... no, she couldn't risk that.

A knock at the door roused her from her lament. "Who is it?" Please don't be Izuku...

"Who do you think, it's me!" Mina said, "Open up!"

Oh no, she did not have the mental energy to deal with Mina's high-octane shipping shenanigans. "I'm not decent." She lied.

"Girl, please." Mina said, "You know I have no shame."

Yaoyorozu felt a twinge of pain in her forehead. A headache. Wonderful. "What do you want?"

"You know what I'm about." Mina said through the door, "You can either let me in, or I'll keep shouting through the door where everyone can hear what I'm saying. Your choice."

Yaoyorozu drew in a deep breath through her mouth and let it out through her nose. She begrudgingly opened the door and stood aside to allow Mina in. She was carrying a large notebook which she threw on the bed. Yaoyorozu barely caught the title before Mina opened it. Shipping Book of Dreams.

"Okay. Now, I know you're going through literally all of the crap right now," Mina said, "But you are literally doing the opposite of what you need to be doing."

"Mina... what... what is all this?" Yaoyorozu asked, gesturing to the notebook.

"Oh, right." Mina rubbed the back of her neck and chuckled sheepishly, "Well, you know how Midoriya is about Quirks? I'm like that about relationships. I'm basically... I guess the easiest way to explain it is that I'm just in love with love. But more the romantic side than the sex stuff, y'know?"

Yaoyorozu sighed. "Yes. I assume you're about to tell me that I shouldn't be pushing Izuku away."

Mina grinned. "Yep."

Yaoyorozu rounded on her. "You don't understand, Mina! I have lost EVERYTHING because All For One killed my parents and sent proof that my father was spying for him to her media, and the only reason that happened is because Izuku told him -accidentally- that my father had switched sides!" She let out a sob. "I know it's not Izuku's fault, I've had training on how to handle being kidnapped and being taken hostage. Part of that was a... simulation. So I understand the pressure he was under. But I just... I'm just so angry. For the first time in my life, I have been made completely powerless to change my circumstances, and I HATE IT!"

Mina nodded. "And your solution is to push Midoriya away? Yaomomo, that boy wears his heart on his sleeve. He is suffering because he feels responsible for-"

"I KNOW!" Yaoyorozu screamed. "God, I know! But he isn't. It's not his fault, he's not to blame. I don't need him to fall to his knees and beg forgiveness! I just need him to LISTEN TO ME!"

Mina remained remarkably unflappable in the wake of Yaoyorozu's anger. "So why are you screaming at me when you should be talking with him?"

"But-"

"No buts." Mina cut her off, "If you need him to just listen to you, then tell him that."

"But what if I hurt him? What if-"

"Yaomomo, sweetie. Relationships are not perfect fluffy lovey-dovey cuddlefests all the time." Mina grabbed Yaoyorozu's shoulders, "Are you really going to quit on him just because things are hard right now?"

Yaoyorozu swallowed, "No. I'm not."

"Then what do you need to do?" Mina prompted.

Yaoyorozu broke away from Mina and looked back in the mirror. Her eyes had fire in them again, fire that had been absent since her parents' death.

"I'm going to go talk to him."

Midoriya had to devote complete focus to his task. Even the slightest misalignment could cause disaster. The fate of Japan- no, the entire world depended on it.

He gently placed his limited edition Silver Age All Might figurine on the display shelf he had brought from home. With steps as light as a whisper he backed away.

"You really are a fanboy, Ninth." Shimura noted.

Midoriya yelped, nearly jumping out of his skin. "Where were you during Kamino Ward?"

"We aren't sure if All For One knows all the past wielders are part of One For All, so we opted to only communicate if absolutely necessary."

"In case he could see you all somehow, maybe some sort of Quirk detection Quirk. Of course." Midoriya muttered.

"Don't you have something more important to do than put your... collectibles on a shelf?" Shimura prodded.

Midoriya ignored her.

"Really, Ninth? You're going to be like that?"

Midoriya ground his teeth together. "She wanted space. I'm giving her space."

"Ninth. Listen to me. Keeping you two apart is what All For One wants. He wants you isolated, off-balance. Don't give him what he wants." Shimura hesitated, "And... cherish that you've found someone that can stand by your side through all of this."

Midoriya frowned, "Gran Torino said you had a family but that All For One..."

"Had them all killed. After the funeral, that's when I went on my suicide run at him after giving Toshinori One For All."

Midoriya shivered. If that bastard ever laid a hand on his mom... "I'm sorry... if you need to talk about it..."

"I think what really did me in was my grandkids." Shimura said wistfully, "Little Tenko loved heroes, even if his parents tried to make him hate them. Kaina was the black sheep, she was actually a hero course student, but she disappeared without a trace around the time All For One had my family killed. The Inspector assigned to her case was dirty, being on the House of Glass's payroll. So I assumed that she was gone forever."

Through a bit of dredged up trivia, Midoriya remembered that the House of Glass had been one of the first villain groups to fall once All Might had begun cleaning house after his first round with All For One. Whether the organization's elusive leader Glassmaker had been killed or escaped the country was still a matter of debate, mostly by conspiracy theorists.

Shimura's presence in his mind faded away, leaving behind a vague feeling of gratitude. Midoriya sighed. If nothing else, Shimura was right about one thing. He needed to talk to Yaoyorozu.

He moved to the door and opened it, only to find Yaoyorozu standing in front of it about to knock. "Um... hi." Midoriya said.

"Hi." Yaoyorozu said, "May I come in?"

Midoriya wished he had time to go to Recovery Girl to get something for his stomach, it had started doing flips of the unfun variety. "Sure."

Somehow he managed to maintain his composure in the face of Momo Yaoyorozu with her hair down.

Yaoyorozu walked into his room and he shut the door behind them. She sat down in his desk chair and gestured for him to take a seat on the foot of his bed. "There isn't really any elegant way to start this, so I'll just... start." She said, before flinching at the glimmer of fear in Midoriya's eyes. "I know you're not to blame for my parents' deaths, Izuku. You were being held hostage and were under great duress. It's just with everything that's been piled on me the last few days need to vent it all out. I don't need you to try and fix anything, I don't need you to try to come up with a solution, and I don't need you to apologize. I'm likely going to say terrible things to you. It's going to sound like I blame you. I'm probably going to scream at you. I just... I just..."

Midoriya thought back to the time when he had actually considered writing out a suicide note, not because he planned on going through with it, but because he read on the internet that it could be cathartic. He barely put pen to paper when he stopped, out of worry for his mom's reaction if she found it. He decided against mentioning it. "It's okay, Momo. Um... start when you're ready, I guess?"

Yaoyorozu took a breath before beginning, "My life is in shambles because you couldn't keep your mouth shut! My parents are dead, the company they worked so hard to build so they could help people is due to be sold to the greediest bastard in Japan outside of All For One himself, and I have the HPSC breathing down my neck! That's not even mentioning that somehow the HPSC got permission to apply America's old civil asset forfeiture laws to everything my parents ever owned, which includes all the things they did for me! My workshop is gone, my dojo is gone, the tea set my mother got me for my eighth birthday is GONE!"

Midoriya said nothing. Yaoyorozu had been very clear that she needed him to just listen, so he was doing just that. It was killing him to see her suffer like this, but she had told him what she needed. He wouldn't fail her.

Yaoyorozu continued on, "Oh, and remember how I said the HPSC is breathing down my neck? They're trying to paint me as a future villain, all so they can hold my family up as a warning of what happens to people who support All For One and the League! If it wasn't for UA's protection, they probably would have scooped me up and thrown me in some cell in Tartarus and let me rot!"

Midoriya clapped a hand over his mouth to keep himself from pointing out that the odds of that were slim to none unless the HPSC got the Special Investigations Bureau involved. Also to keep him from crying at the thought of her being thrown into Tartarus with no recourse.

"And would you like to guess what the cherry on top of this nightmare is? Detnerat's CEO, Rikia Yotsubashi, wants me to sign the papers for his damned buyout of Sapato Corp! He could easily have the CFO or COO do it, but no! I have to be the one to sign away what scraps of my parents' legacy are left! My parents founded Sapato Corp to help people, and I have to sit back and watch as it gets absorbed into DETNERAT!" She hung her head and held her face in her hands. "I am an heiress to nothing. Even with the money my parents left for me and the money I have saved, I may as well have nothing compared to before." She sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Okay, that's it. I'm done." She looked at Midoriya for the first time and the tears shining in his eyes nearly broke her heart.

"Are... are we good?" Midoriya asked.

She stood, "Yes, Izuku. Even in my darkest hour, I'll always choose you. I... shouldn't have pushed you away. I was just... so deathly afraid of saying or doing something that would cause me to lose you forever, so I..."

She trailed off, and Midoriya decided that words weren't enough anymore. He rushed forward and wrapped his arms around Yaoyorozu's waist and held her close. "I missed you so much."

Yaoyorozu smiled as she ran a hand through his hair, causing him to look up at her with those big green eyes that always made her heart soar. "You deserve the world, Izuku Midoriya." She shook her head and blinked away some tears, "And somehow... some way... you've decided to settle for me."

Midoriya reached up and caressed her cheek. "Momo, you are my world."

There was a moment of silence before a mischievous glint graced Yaoyorozu's eyes. "Bed. Now."

Midoriya's eyes bugged out. "W-what are we gonna do?"

She brought her lips to his ear and Midoriya shivered as she dropped her voice to a seductive whisper. "Unprotected... premarital... handholding."

Midoriya didn't miss a beat. He met her eyes again, then took both her hands and interlocked their fingers.

Yaoyorozu laughed. "Oh my, how lewd of you, Izuku." She slowly backed him towards the bed. "But I think I'm alright with you corrupting me a little."

Midoriya took the opportunity to try to be suave. "Does that mean you would be open to cuddling, my dear?"

Yaoyorozu laughed again, more at Midoriya's terrible English accent than anything. "I suppose I would be open to that."

They fell back onto the bed, side-by-side in a fit of giggling. As soon as they were situated, they realized just how tired they were, even though it was only mid afternoon. Neither of them could think of anything better to do than to spend a couple hours like this.

As Yaoyorozu drifted off, she smiled. Whatever else was wrong with the world, this was right again. They could handle the rest later.

The next day was more of the same, oddly enough. Even though everyone had moved into the dorms, classes still hadn't resumed. Iida had asked Aizawa what was wrong, and had ended up going to officially bring the news of Mineta's death to his family.

The rest of the class was taking advantage of the downtime and lounging around in their dorm's common room. "Hey, isn't Heroics Tonight on soon?" Sero asked, "I saw on their social media that they were doing some sort of interview with Gang Orca."

Midoriya sighed. Heroics Tonight was not being kind to Yaoyorozu. "I guess. What's the interview supposed to be about?"

"The untold story of Kamino Ward, or whatever." Ojiro said. "They're being pretty hush hush about it."

Yaoyorozu shot a look at Midoriya, "You don't think..."

Bakugo tried in vain to reach the remote while refusing to move from his position of resting his head in Uraraka's lap. "Shit, I can't reach."

Kirishima raised an eyebrow. "You could... get up?"

"No."

Kamianri and Jiro laughed, "Valid." Kaminari said.

Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes and grabbed the remote. She changed the channel, and they began to watch. The interview had barely started.

"Hello everyone, I'm Yuki Terada, and you're watching Heroics Tonight. We've got something special for you tonight. We're here with Gang Orca, to get some perspective on why the League of Villains was so disorganized by the time All Might had caught up with them after they had warped out."

The camera switched to Gang Orca, who was inscrutable at the best of times, due to his Quirk. "Allow me to set the stage before you make me run the gauntlet," Gang Orca said, "All For One had just devastated the assault team assigned to the warehouse, Best Jeanist used his Quirk to throw all of us clear, but we were all more or less out of action. I can't speak for the others, but I had a couple of broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. However, my eyes worked just fine."

"So, what happened?" Terada asked.

"So, the first thing you need to understand is that... during the planning stages for this operation, it was decided to do something that I consider distasteful." Gang Orca explained. "A sizable group of UA students were included in the operation, under the premise that they were there to give the abducted student, Izuku Midoriya, a direction to flee in."

Terada's head tilted to the side, "Why didn't you object? You have a reputation for always doing things by the book, after all."

Gang Orca chuckled. "You try going against All Might."

Terada was taken aback, "It was All Might's decision to include the UA kids?"

Gang Orca raised a finger, "After what I saw, I hesitate to simply call them kids." He leaned forward. If nothing else, he knew how to spin a tale. "After the League and Izuku Midoriya were warped to our location, the League started in on him. Now, you know as well as I do that Izuku Midoriya is no slouch. The Sports Festival and his defeat of Stain proved that. But eight versus one? With Eclipse and Purity among that number? If Kurogiri and Dabi hadn't been disabled..." He trailed off and shook his head, "Regardless, it was a losing battle. And then... then his classmates showed up."

Terada stared at him in disbelief. "You're saying... that the UA students involved in the operation... engaged the League of Villains in combat?"

Gang Orca sighed, "Indeed. First, let me be clear. They should not have been there. Their role could've easily been replaced by say... Crust and Majestic. However, reality decided otherwise. Now, I made a point of learning their hero names in preparation for this interview, because these kids... these fledgling heroes... they went above and beyond." Something close to a smile graced Gang Orca's face. "They didn't just fight the League of Villains, they thrived. I saw Katsuki Bakugo trash talk All For One! Ha! Faceless Wonder, indeed! I saw bold young men pick up the mantles of Ingenium and Crimson Riot without hesitation. I saw three of their number keep Mr. Compress- Mr. Compress, the legendary thief locked down! I saw Momo Yaoyorozu -who many have dismissed as a villain waiting to happen in the wake of the news of her father- vibe check All For One with an Anti-Tank Rifle! No future villain would do that! I saw the son of Purity prove once and for all that he will not let his blood dictate his fate! I saw Tsuyu Asui -who Selkie will not shut up about since she interned with him, by the way- make Purity kiss the dirt! Did I mention she's a complex mutant? And I saw Izuku Midoriya go toe to toe with Eclipse."

Terada was grinning. "Then what happened?"

Gang Orca leaned back in his chair. "Tragedy. That's what happened. During the battle, All Might arrived and began fighting All For One. The villain blew All Might away with one of his Air Cannon attacks. Then he turned his attention to Izuku Midoriya. With murder on his mind. He sent some sort of metal spikes at the boy, but one of his classmates-" Gang Orca cut himself off to keep his voice from cracking, "One of his classmates took the blow. Minoru Mineta was his name. He later died from his injuries."

Terada's grin vanished. "Oh... that's..."

"Horrible." Gang Orca finished for her. "Tragic. It didn't have to happen. He and his classmates should not have been anywhere near that battlefield. But yet, they were. And so we must all deal with the consequences. My heart goes out to his family, and I hope everyone can agree that the best thing to do is to give them the peace they need to mourn. But I must say this, whatever Mineta was in life, in the end he proved that he had what it takes to become a hero."

Terada had become rather subdued, so she decided that the time has come to being the interview to a close. "Thank you for your time, Gang Orca. Do you have any closing remarks?"

"I do. First, I firmly believe that anyone who thinks that Yaoyorozu is a villain waiting to happen is an idiot. Second, I urge everyone to keep an eye on the members of this... Izuku Midoriya Rescue Squad. These fledglings have had their baptism of fire. Their resolve to follow the heroes' path has been tested, and they have not been found wanting. I wish... they could have enjoyed simply being young and foolish for a while longer, but if the opportunity arises I will welcome them as comrades with open arms."

"Thank you for those kind words on their behalf, Gang Orca. Now, we go to an update on Best Jeanist who is still in crit-"

Yaoyorozu turned off the TV in a daze.

"Holy shit." Jiro said.

Midoriya's face lit up, "Oh, Momo! All the stuff he said about you should help turn public opinion in your favor!"

Yaoyorozu rested her head on his shoulder, "I certainly hope so, Izuku."

After a moment Uraraka spoke up, "Hold on, aren't we going to do anything for Mineta? I mean..."

"Iida said it depends on if his folks are chill with us coming to whatever service they arrange. If they don't want us there, he said he would figure something out." Kirishima said.

Bakugo hauled himself up, "Well, I've got to go do some training. I've got a move that I've gotten to work one time during the training camp attack and I want to figure it out before the Provisional License exam."

"I'll come with you." Uraraka said, "I've got to get to a point where I can actually use my post-Awakening stuff all the time instead of just life and death situations. And how it actually works. It feels like I'm just fumbling around in the dark, y'know?"

"What about you, Midoriya?" Kirishima said, "Up for a workout? I could use a spotter."

Midoriya glanced at Yaoyorozu, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder and had her arms wrapped around his own. "I can't move. It's the law."

Bakugo and Kirishima solemnly nodded. They understood.

"Shota, how could you keep this secret from us, your closest friends?"

"Yeah, Eraser! It's totally uncool of you!"

Snipe and Vlad King looked at each other. "I'm sure that Aizawa had perfectly good reasons for keeping his family hidden from us." Vlad King said.

Aizawa rolled his eyes at Midnight and Present Mic. "Nemuri, you're literally Kaguya's godmother. And you literally babysat last week, Mic."

Present Mic flashed finger guns at Aizawa. "And we reserve the right to give you crap!"

Midnight nodded, "Someone's got to prepare you for the media firestorm."

Aizawa froze. "Oh no."

"The simps are rabid." Midnight said, "But Mirko's actual fans are pretty supportive."

Aizawa took out his phone and sent Mirko a text, "When you get a chance, please post on social media that you think all of the simps pissing their pants about me have a humiliation fetish a mile wide because they're threatened by me. Or something. You're better at this than me."

He calmly put his phone away and sat down. "Shit."

"What's wrong?" Midnight asked.

Aizawa took a sip of his coffee. "Midoriya and the others have infected me. I'm spreading chaos everywhere I go."

"Bullshit." Present Mic said, "You were always like this, you just did a better job of hiding it than the rest of us."

Any further conversation about Aizawa's chaotic tendencies or lack thereof was cut off by Nezu calling the staff meeting to order. And him jumping into Aizawa's binding cloth. "Is your chair not good enough?" Aizawa asked.

"This is the comfiest spot." Nezu said plainly, "First item of business, I received a rather blunt e-mail from the HPSC President this morning."

It was always the HPSC President with Nezu. He refused to use her name. "What is it this time?" All Might asked.

"I believe that she is rather put out by Gang Orca's opinions of 1-A's actions at Kamino Ward." Nezu said, "As it has caused public opinion of Momo Yaoyorozu to shift enough so that any interference in her future on the HPSC's part will not be politically expedient."

"So they fucked up." Snipe said bluntly.

Midnight gasped, "Snipe! Such language!"

Nezu ignored Midnight. "Indeed. This e-mail was her attempt to reestablish a semblance of dominance. I'll save you all of the idle threats and tell you what she means. We cannot bend the rules again. The next time 1-A goes into the field, they must have their provisional licenses."

Aizawa stood up and extricated Nezu from his binding cloth. All Might joined him. "Then I'll get them in gear. There's no point in waiting." Aizawa said.

Ectoplasm shook his head, "Aizawa, it's six in the morning, usually class wouldn't start until-"

"Normal classes aren't in session yet, not for another week. And you know how I feel about wasted time."

"Besides, they'll be just in time to join Izuku on his morning run." All Might said.

Aizawa smirked, "And people call me a sadist when it comes to training."

They were on the way out when Midnight stopped them. "Shota, check Twitter."

Aizawa begrudgingly opened up the app.

Mirko had posted a screenshot of his text to her. Her followers were dubbing him a chaos gremlin.

"Damn it, Rumi." He said with love.

Unbeknownst to Aizawa and All Might, all of Class 1-A was already awake. They had agreed to wake early for one reason and one reason alone. To honor a fallen friend. Mineta's father had made it clear that he wanted to be left alone to mourn, leaving 1-A to pay their respects on their own.

They had brought all of the furniture in the common room together and arranged it in a semi-circle. Iida hadn't been specific about seating arrangements, so all of the couples had gravitate towards each other. Melissa was also in attendance, given Mineta's efforts during the I-Island season incident.

"I... didn't have much planned." Iida said, "I'll say a few words, and then anyone who wants to can. Don't feel like you have to if you don't want to." He took a breath and looked to the ceiling as if pleading for some sort of divine inspiration on what to say. "When Mineta first came to UA, he was a nuisance at best, and a blight at worst. I don't think anything more needs to be said about his less savory behavior. But after the Sports Festival, he could've given up. He could've doubled down and gotten kicked out for it. But he did not. He came to all of us, and he apologized. We charged him with proving his words were not just words. During our exams, he faced Midnight-sensei, who undoubtedly was a opponent handpicked for him. Did he fail? No! He rose above his... inclinations. At I-island, he rose above his fear. During the Training Camp, while we were bathing that first day, he reaffirmed his desire to become better than he was before. He said that he-" Iida paused for a moment, his face quivering as he attempted to hold back a sob. "He said that he would go Plus Ultra every day of his life until he earned the right of stand beside all of us."

Iida hung his head, "Looking back, I should've seen that as a red flag. But hindsight is twenty-twenty. At Kamino... I failed him. I wasn't fast enough." Melissa squeezed his hand. He smiled appreciatively and soldiered on. "Just before he... died, he asked if he looked cool. I told him that the ladies were going to swoon. Just to keep him talking, no one but me would've known if he regressed. But he stayed true to the changes he had been making. Then Mineta told me that his body moved before he had a chance to think. As you all know, all of the greatest heroes have had stories from their school days where that very thing happened to them. So, at the end of the day... no matter what else... Minoru Mineta is the name of a hero."

Kaminari was the next to speak. "I... don't have anything profound to say. Nothing like what Iida said." He looked at the floor, his foot tapping out a relentless rhythm. "Yeah, Mineta could be a creep. Especially before and during the Sports Festival. But when he wasn't like that, he always had my back. Didn't matter if I needed someone to talk to or just wanted to hang out and play video games. He was my best friend."

His expression turned dark. "I don't know what dark crevice this... All For One crawled out of, I don't know why he's such a goddamned bastard. But I know one thing. He killed my best friend. Now I know my Quirk has... limits. But I'm gonna do everything I can to take down his League of Villains. Because if you hurt my friends? Then it's on sight."

A somber quiet descended. No one else seemed to feel the need to speak. They simply took comfort in grieving together. Midoriya sighed. He needed to say something. "There was something All Might said once. To do good recklessly. Imagine throwing a stone in a pond, and that the ripples are the good you do, the lives you save. Depending on the size of the stone, it can be significant, but it comes to an end pretty quickly." Midoriya gestures with his hands as he talked to counter his nervousness, "But what if you throw in another? The ripples meet and reverberate, creating more ripples. The good that one person does... doesn't fade away. It doesn't become invalid when they're gone. It ripples out and inspires others which goes on to affect others in an endless loop that only lifts up everyone around you."

"Well said, Midoriya."

Everyone turned to see Aizawa and All Might. Aizawa had an odd expression on his face, like he was in pain and was doing a terrible job at concealing it. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing was said.

"Aizawa-sensei, are you okay?" Yaoyorozu asked.

He could only manage one word. "No." He turned around and walked off, almost at a run. As he retreated, he heard All Might give instructions for training. Good, he wasn't abandoning them. He made it to the bedroom assigned to him before pulling out his phone and dialing Mirko.

"Mirko here."

He was only able to say a single word, their code word that meant he needed help now.

"Comfort."

"Shit, I'll be there as soon as I can!"

Aizawa dropped his phone and collapsed on the bed. It had hit him like a truck just how much like Oboro his students were. And how they had all gathered to pay their respects to Mineta... he and Present Mic never had that chance to mourn their friend.

Damn it. They were just like him. All of them, so willing to sacrifice for each other. He had to stop it, had to show there was a better way, had to protect them.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Mirko burst into the room. "Sho?"

Aizawa felt her arms around him, felt her warmth. He leaned into her. This was why they worked so well together. At first glance the two of them were a true odd couple, the classic extrovert that adopted the introvert. But this right here was what made it click. She knew when to push his buttons, and did so with regularity. But she also knew when to stop, and when he needed help. "I've got you, Sho. I've got you."

"Rumi, listen to me." Aizawa said, "All Might's with the kids now. I need you to go and help them train for the Provisional Licensing exam. I... can't today."

"Are you sure?" Mirko asked.

He nodded. It was a blatant lie, but they needed to be ready.

Mirko glared at him lovingly for what seemed to be an eternity. "I don't believe you." She kissed his forehead, and the tension in him visibly eased. "Don't worry, Sho. I'll help whip them into shape."

Shigiraki understood. He understood why Sensei thought he was a demon lord. Even with his original Quirk allowing him to render someone to ash with a touch, it hadn't quite clicked before.

"Please! I did what you asked! You have the QLF and CRC in the palm of your hand if you wish!" Kazuo Tomita said, frozen due to the effects of All For One, "Please don't kill me!"

Shigiraki rolled his eyes, removed of the ability to have his Quirk affect someone and the ability to fight back with a firearm, Mindtwister was kind of pathetic. "Why shouldn't I? Now that you've accomplished your task, you're only a liability to me. You said it yourself, you're not loyal to anyone or anything. Just whoever tells you to use your Quirk more."

"No! You've got it wrong, I'll be loyal to you! I'LL BE LOYAL!" Tomita begged.

Shigiraki hesitated for a moment. Should he take his Quirk? It wasn't his style in the slightest. But Sensei... he'd take it. Without a second thought.

No. He was going to do this his way, or not at all.

Shigiraki looked Tomita in the eyes, as if he was contemplating letting him live. After he say hope blossom in the man's eyes, he smiled with sadistic glee.

"Decay."

His screams trailed off as he crumbled to dust. After the deed was done, Shigiraki looked at his hand. "Huh. All For One gives me better control over Quirks I already have. That's nifty."

"You're not gonna turn on us like that, right Tomura?" Toga asked.

He looked at her, then around the warehouse that was acting as their temporary safehouse and the rest of the League. "Of course not. Sensei had tools and assets, people he controlled. That ain't gonna be how I do things. There will be the occasional person I use like Tomita, but all of you? No, we're friends. I won't do you like that."

Dabi looked unconvinced, but the rest of the League seemed convinced. "Okay, Tomura!" Toga said, "Should I continue with my plan to get some of Izuku's blood?"

He nodded, "Yes, the Provisional Licensing Exams are coming up. That will be the perfect time. Just be wary of Yaoyorozu."

Dabi scoffed. "The fallen heiress? She's not a threat."

Shigiraki shook his head. "I disagree. She has nothing left to lose. That is... except Midoriya. So she will be ever-vigilant for threats to him."

Dabi shrugged. "Whatever."

Shigiraki took a seat on a concrete barrier. All that was left... was to wait for the opportune moment.

A/N: I, for one, cannot believe how quickly I got this chapter out, especially since I got promoted at work and started my new position this week. So I've got that going for me. On to me explaining the method to my madness.

Kirishima is a good friend. He keeps his friends from making stupid decisions. In short, it was his turn with 1-A's braincell. Who has it now? Who knows? It's a secret to everyone.

You know what the worst thing to do is when you have big issues you're struggling with is? Talk to no one else about it and reinforce your viewpoint by screaming into an echo chamber. Like Yaoyorozu is doing before Mina crashes in.

Speaking of Mina, Mina is wiser than she lets on. Part of the problem Izuku and Momo are having is that when men are told that someone close to them are having issues, they will want to try to solve it, fix it. Meanwhile, women will just want someone to listen. Mina cuts through the mire that Yaoyorozu has built around herself and tells to just...tell Izuku she needs him to just let her vent and not try to fix something that he either can't fix or doesn't need to fix.

Now, Shimura just dropped a big hint of something. Suffer. And yes, I know the canon timeline doesn't support Shimura knowing about her grandkids. Just assume it works. The timeline goes wibbily wobbly timey wimey to make it work.

To be honest, I don't know how healthy "just let me dump all my problems on you, just listen please, I know you're not at fault but it's going to sound like you are" is. It's probably not, in hindsight. But it's what Yaoyorozu needs to happen. Sometimes to work through your anger -especially when you feel powerless- you have to scream and shout, and bleed off that stress to be able to think for what feels like the first time in ages.

Gang Orca is right, 1-A shouldn't have been there. Despite that, they proved that they are capable of handling extreme situations. They will be called upon to undertake similar assignments, but only once they get their provisional licenses, and can do so legally.

Iida still feels guilty, but he's slowly coming to terms with Mineta's death. Kaminari is ready to throw hands at the drop of a hat, and Midoriya's doing his best to show everyone that just because Mineta's dead doesn't mean that the good he did is.

Aizawa has baggage. This much we know. He hasn't had problems this bad in years, but seeing all of his students mourning Mineta brought back memories of Oboro Shirakumo's death with a vengeance.