Izuku striked with four lighting-fast jabs, his opponent blocking each jab before they followed up with a cross that the boy was barely able to dodge. He could feel the sweat forming on his body as the grey jumpsuit slowed him slightly.

Its weight was familiar now as he dodged a hook kick, the fighter taking in a deep breath as he continued to dodge the attacks. His spine-tingling before each blow could even come, warning him.

The fight continued this way, Izuku dodging the attacks while his opponent began to grow frustrated at how the hero in training side-stepped and read every single attack. Moving out of the way of danger almost effortlessly.

His opponent's red glowing eyes dimmed slightly before his mentor seemingly disappeared out of nowhere. Izuku's eyes widened as every instinct in his body screamed at him as he turned on his heel and blocked a roundhouse kick that slammed into his arms. The force of the blow was like getting hit by a freight train.

But Izuku knew for a fact that Hank was holding back, and if the man wanted to. He would have splattered the teenager. Wincing he stepped backward as a wave of pain flashed through his arms. Hank relaxed slightly as the mutant nodded approvingly.

"You've improved, first time you've been able to react to something like that. And nice block too." Hank said with a thumbs up, Izuku smiling at the compliment for a moment before immediately regaining a defensive posture. Hank looked at him in confusion for a moment before realization set in.

"Oh nah, we're ending for tonight."

"What? But-"

"Butts are for pooping, now shuddup and relax for a while. You've improved greatly, you're at a point where I can confidently say you can handle most anything that comes your way." Hank said, almost sounding genuine.

"You mean that?" Izuku asked, both surprised and happy at what amounted to praise coming from the Nevadian.

"Every word greenie, you've earned it." Hank replied as he patted Izuku on the shoulder.

A small smile bloomed on Izuku's face as he fully took in Hank's words. "Thank you, Hank."

"Ehhh, no biggie. Also, don't… thank me. Feels weird when someone says it."

"I'll be sure to thank you more often then."

"Blow it out your ass."

Izuku barked out a small laugh as Hank chuckled alongside him as the two shared a small moment.

"Anyways mold head, any questions before I send ya back?"

The hero-in-training was about to say a simple 'no' before he quickly remembered something that had been on his mind for a while.

"Yeah, a few questions. It's that… well, every day I feel stronger, my senses sharper, and everything seems just to slow down even more as I speed up. I didn't notice it at first, but after a while, it became more obvious" Izuku said as he looked at his hands.

"Sometimes… sometimes I feel invincible, and I want to… fight people. Just go out and find some scum of the Earth and beat them down, almost kill them… but…" He trailed off, feeling disgusted in himself as Hank just looked at him before sighing.

"Listen, I'm not the best at giving pep talks so I won't try. But, to answer your question, Nexus Energy is still 'mutating' you so to speak."

"Really?" He asked as he glanced down at his mutated arm again.

"Yup." Hank replied as he pointed a finger at Izuku. "When you first started out, you were like… a little sapling. Flimsy, weak, kinda pathetic in all honesty."

"Ok, I get it."

"Yeah yeah, anyways. You're still growing, not quite at your peak just yet even with the Hax you got. Right now you're a sturdy tree, strong and proud but you gotta watch out for a jackass with an axe."

Midoriya hummed to himself in thought for a moment. "That explains a lot, thanks Hank. And… what about those 'urges'?"

"Don't mention it, and as for wanting to go all murder-hobo. Well, Nexus energy kinda screws with your brain. Since you got a huge dose way back when, it fucked you up just a little bit, but with all the smaller doses the change is a lot slower and it'll probably go away after a while as you get used to it." Hank explained as he waved a hand around. The assassin quickly thinking of something to try and lift the boys spirits.

"So don't worry moldy locks." Hank then patted the hero in training on the head with his claw hand. "You won't suddenly start killing people, you're still a lil nerdy goody-two-shoes." He emphasized by ruffling Izuku's hair a little bit.

Once Hank retracted his hand Izuku just looked at him in confusion as silence quickly filled the air between them. Hank stared a thousand miles away and looked anywhere but the young man. Midoriya looked away as confusion turned into embarrassment.

"I'm… sorry. I'll never do that ever again." Hank said while scratching the back of his head, seemingly embarrassed.

"Yeah that was… just don't." Izuku replied as he finally look at Hank again. Quickly moving on from what had happened and hoping it would never be brought up ever again.

"Oh! And one more question." Izuku then lifted up his mutated arm, a mouth forming on the palm of his hand. "What… exactly is this thing's purpose?"

Hank pondered the question, humming in thought as he stroked his chin. Coming up with the best possible answer to give to his young protege. He shrugged.

"I dunno." Hank said as Izuku balked at the response given to him, not happy and partially disappointed.

"But, why is it even here? I know it screams really loud, but it's not super useful now that I have One For All, and I've never really used it even before that. It's… kinda redundant."

"You done bitching? To answer your question, I dunno why we have mouth hands. It's weird yeah, but when I first found out about it I went 'Woah! That's cool' and never thought about it again." Hank looked down at his own mouth hand.

"I mean… yeah it is kinda useless, by the time I think of using it to deafen a group or something everyone was already kinda dead. Huh. Now that I think about it, I only ever used it to eat pie faster."

"What?" Izuku asked as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Eat pie faster?"

"Yeah. Instead of putting my hand out, grabbing the pie, pulling my hand BACK IN, and then opening my mouth to eat the pie. I can just stick my hand out and eat to my heart's content. It's very efficient."

"Hank I… It's not that fucking hard to eat pie normally." Izuku said, disgusted by the picture of a fang-filled maw attached to Hank's mutated bug arm eating pie like an animal.

"Uh. Yeah, it is." Hank sassed as he crossed his arms. "Doing it the normal way is so exhausting, because of all of the actions I have to take to get to the pie in the first place. But with this way, it's far more efficient."

"That… seems like a massive waste of an ability." Izuku said as he looked down at the mouth hand.

"Well, at least it's not like your empath abilities the Author completely forgot about; hell, as of this chapter it's fucking retconned! Can you believe that? Fucker was too lazy to even remove mentions of it in previous chapters!"

"My what? wha? Chapters? Retcons? Hank what the hell are you talking about? What author? What retcons? That doesn't make any sense!" Izuku shouted as some strange mix of confusion and rage built up inside of him. Hank just looked back at him as the glow in the assassin's goggles faded slightly.

"Yeah, this jokes getting a little too meta for my tastes. Sayonara." Hank then waved his hand around before Izuku could say anything, and a moment later Izuku shot upwards and leapt off his bed. Scanning his room as cold air nipped at him.

The vortexes where his eyes used to be glowed a bit brighter as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"What the hell was he talking about?"

While continuing to diligently dot down notes while listening to the lecture about grammar in the English language. A small thought quickly passed through his mind.

'This is… surprisingly normal.' Izuku thought as he glanced around the second period of the day. After leaving homeroom class 1-A went to English Class. English class; if he wasn't currently taking notes would have found it a little funny.

Almost everyone else, aside from a few others, looked disappointed and bored. He saw Mina and a few others struggle to even grasp the basics as the Teacher began to go around and help those that needed it.

But what surprised him the most was who the teacher was in the first place. The Rock Star Hero Present Mic, probably shouldn't have been surprised considering who their home-room professor was. But still, he had a mental geek out when he found out.

Looking down at the notes and back at the bored, looking at the English words and letters. He found that he could understand what they meant. And it was surprisingly easy for him. He chalked it up to his brain being able to process information far faster and more efficiently than normal.

'Ah bullshit, we talk in English all the time. You can practically speak it better than most Americans.' Hank said as a shadow formed next to Izuku, the shade apparently only being seen by the young man. It was pretty bizarre.

'What do you mean? You're speaking to me in Japanese.'

'Huh? Hmm. Huh. Guess because our minds are 'linked' we sorta just inherently understand each other. Never really thought of it before.'

Izuku furrowed his eyebrows in thought before accepting the rather simple answer. It made sense to him.

After a moment he could feel something looking at him, glancing to the side he saw Tokoyami taking notes. And he spotted Dark Shadow currently shivering with abject horror as he glanced in Izuku's direction. Tokoyami seemingly took notice of his quirks' current panic while Izuku glanced at Hank. The shade looking back at Dark Shadow.

'Well then.' Hank said as he crept towards Dark Shadow, like a predator cornering its prey. The shade's bright red eyes glowed just a little bit brighter, the shadow growing in size.

'Hank. Stop.'

Hank continued to look down at Dark Shadow as Tokoyami looked at the seemingly empty spot at where his quirk was facing. Confusion in his eyes as he couldn't see Hank there.

Soon enough, Hank chuckled to himself. 'I had my fun. Cya around bird boy.' The shade said before disappearing from view. Izuku managed to keep a stoic look on his face, all the while panicking on the inside.

'Ohmygod!Ohmygod!Howdidheseeyou?!Whydidyougetclosetohim!?Whatare-'

'Calm down Moldy Locks. He won't make the connection if he snitches the tard brigade here will just assume it was some villain scouting or something.'

'Sometimes I really hate you.'

'Damn, I kinda don't care. Anyways, always hated English class so, sayonara.'

With that his head felt clearer in some way, Izuku blinked and mentally sighed. Glancing back at Tokoyami, who was looking directly at him. The young man paled slightly as the two made eye contact. Tokoyami's hawk-like eyes peered into Izuku's shades.

He knew.

The rest of the day was a blur, time passing by as he went from class to class. It went by faster than he expected, Each class felt easy with how quickly he picked up the fundamentals. And now it was lunchtime, students from all over the campus pouring into the cafeteria. The building itself following the U.A. color scheme of Blue and Gray, with a checker-board floor pattern.

Izuku kept a steady pace as he made his way to the line where students were picking up their lunch. Before he could make it to the line he paused and glanced behind him, seeing Tokoyami standing nearby. Both of them looked at each other for a moment before Fumikage nodded his head over to a corner of the cafeteria that was currently empty.

The former vigilante nodded back and followed his classmate over to the corner. Once both of them reached the corner Tokoyami turned to him, the mans' usually stoic features now slightly apprehensive.

"So…" Tokoyami said after a small moment of silence.

"So." Izuku said back, crossing his arms. Fumikage sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

"Back in English Class, Dark Shadow saw… something hovering near you. And when it disappeared, he sensed its bloodlust emanating from you."

"Tokoyami-San I-"

"You don't have to explain yourself, we all have secrets and I don't want to pry into yours. And I know that… you are powerful, very powerful, but that thing with you is… stronger. I just want to know…" Tokoyami paused, taking a deep breath as if trying to calm his nerve. "Can you… control it?"

"Yes. I can." Izuku replied with no hesitation, he knew that if Hank wanted, the assassin could do whatever he wanted. But as long as he was confined, Izuku felt… no knew that Hank could be kept complacent.

'Kinda underestimating me but alright.' Hank said with a mental shrug. 'I'll keep myself from having to much fun Mr. Goody-two-shoes.'

'Thank you.'

Tokoyami nodded and sighed in relief, looking far more relaxed than he had a moment ago. "That's good. Thank you for talking to me instead of just avoiding me."

"Eh, no problem. Better to just get it out of the way. Just… don't tell anyone else, alright?" Izuku asked as Tokoyami nodded.

"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Izuku replied gratefully as Tokoyami walked away. The former vigilante watched him leave as he thought to himself.

'That was… a lot easier than I thought it'd be.'

'Be honest, if this was you from a year ago you'd faint when someone confronted you about anything.'

Izuku grimaced slightly but couldn't offer any rebuttal, Hank was right. He would have passed out if someone even remotely scary tried to talk to him.

But that didn't matter, with that out of the way. He went to go get himself something to eat.

He got himself something to eat, a very hearty serving of chicken katsu that was slathered in katsu sauce with some rice and grilled veggies on the side. The fact that the Pro-Hero Lunch Rush, regarded as one of, if not the best chef in all of Japan made the food was something that shocked Izuku as he looked down at his food in awe. Said food seemingly glowing in the light. The pleasant aroma of the food filled his nose.

As he walked away from the line, something burned through his head. It almost made him gasp out as the heat came in full force, a dull ache forming in its aftermath. But he managed to keep himself from stumbling.

'What now?'

'The fuckin guy. Lunch-Man or whatever. Why is he a hero? I get that he's a good cook, but other than that what the fuck does he do? When some asshole that can kick a bus to the moon shows up what's he gonna do? Throw some hot tea at em?'

'Hank, I just wanna eat right now. Not listen to you rant about why you hate heroes.'

'Alright, fine. Jackass.' Hank growled before receding back into his little corner of Izuku's mind, the load from speaking to the ghost less heavy than it used to be.

Izuku sighed and made his way through the cafeteria. Spotting a few familiar faces through sitting at a table not that far away. Uraraka, Ida, Mina, and a few others were sitting there. All of them talking about one thing or another.

As he neared Ochako spotted him and gave a small wave, Izuku smiled. Getting closer he saw that Eijiro was talking about 'manly' heroes and vigilantes while Ida listened intently, Mina pitching into the conversation from time to time. On one end of the table, he saw Tokoyami, who spotted him, the bird man giving Izuku a small nod. Izuku nodded back. He then noticed someone sitting across from Tokoyami.

The frog girl from yesterday, Asui was her name, or at least he thought it was. He hasn't spoken to her yet so he doesn't know a whole lot about her. But it seemed like she knew Tokoyami.

Shaking his head he sat down at the table, sitting across from Uraraka. The girl's eyes widened slightly at the massive pile of food on his tray. The meal on her tray was tiny compared to Izuku's.

"Woah Midori, you training for a competition or something?" Mina asked bringing attention to the pile of food on his tray. A dozen fried chicken fillets stacked on top of each other along with a mountain of rice and vegetables on the side. Some of the others at the table glanced at him.

"Oh, uh. No, because of how my quirks affect my body I have a rather high metabolism."

"Ah, I see, a small downside of your quirk." Ida said as he nodded sagely as if he uncovered some great and unknowable wisdom. It just made Midoriya smile a little bit, he didn't really know why.

"Yeah, nothing too major." He replied with a shrug as he went back to eating his massive pile of food.

"By the way, have you guys ever heard of that 'Wraith' vigilante guy?" Kirishima asked while picking at some ramen. "I've seen some vids of him and the guy is so manly!" He continued a grin on his face.

"What? How could you compliment a vigilante? Someone that has broken the law?" Ida asked almost incredulously but in an overall calm demeanor.

Izuku began to tune out the conversation and focused on eating before noticing an uncomfortable look on Urarakas face.

"Is something wrong Ochako-Chan?" He asked as the light shining from his sunglasses brightened a little bit. Ochako glanced at him, slightly surprised before she looked away.

"I'm fine, it's just. I don't think it's right to glorify a vigilante or violence in general really." She said with a small shrug.

"But what about the exam way back when? You ripped those bots apart." Mina asked while leaning forward, Ochako frowned slightly.

"Well, that's different isn't it? Those are robots, it's not the same when it's against other people." She said softly.

"Eh, sorry for bringing it up." Kirishima said while looking sheepish. "It's just, it's been a while since he showed up again. He's gone missing ever since uh, that attack." He continued a small silence falling on the table.

Izuku felt himself shrink a little bit, another failure. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. The people who did it still out there. He sighed and glanced around at the now solemn mood as most of them just moved on to another topic while they ate.

Midoriya tuned most of it out as he ate, eating pieces of fried chicken while pondering to himself. And with this deep thought, he slowly began to piece something together, a deep and philosophical answer to his questions. The food was really tasty.

Sitting at his desk he tapped his talons against it impatiently, it was the last class of the day. Heroics 101. And he knew who was going to be the teacher, he just knew. Because All might literally told him that he was going to be teaching there.

But even if he was losing his patience, Izuku had to admit, he was still pretty excited for the class to begin. All around him, he heard chatter from the various students as they talked about various topics.

However, as soon as the door opened the class fell silent, as from behind the shadows none other than All Might himself walked into the classroom, wearing his signature Silver Age costume.

"I AM HERE!" The symbol of peace bellowed out as he looked at the class with a perfect smile and thumbs up, everyone in the classroom immediately brightening up on seeing the hero.

"WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" All Might continued before doing a picture-perfect heroic pose as excited murmurs rose in the class at seeing All Might there, and the revelation that he would be teaching them.

"First and foremost I welcome you, young heroes, to U.A. and now we begin Heroics 101! This class is to help you strengthen your heroic core through a wide variety of trials! And let's jump right in!" All might then dramatically pulled out a large card with bold red lettering on it saying 'battle'

"With a MOCK BATTLE!" As soon as the words left All Mights mouth excited murmurs grew once more, Izuku noticing a rather disturbing grin forming on Katsuki's face and also noticing Uraraka becoming uncomfortable when 'battle' is mentioned.

All Might then pointed at the left wall and soon slots opened up in the wall as briefcases labeled with their name slowly came out. "And to go along with your first battle, you will also get your first costumes!"

'God damn, they got your tacti-cool gear finished already? Pretty neat.' Hank said as Izukus' eyes widened at All Mights words. Realizing that the suit and gear he and Hank had designed was going to be put to the test. The other students were extremely exciting at the prospect, with Kirishima and Mina openly cheering.

"Now then Young Heroes, your first of many trials. Let's see what you're made of. Get ready to rumble!" All Might finished, his smile as wide as ever.

Costume: Acquired

Violence Required

AN: Hey, it's me. I'm unfortunately not dead yet so you're all still stuck with me. Sorry for taking so long and for delivering such little. But last year really kicked my ass. With college draining me and an Abusive partner almost driving me over the edge a few times killed a lot of my drive to do much of anything. But I'm getting better, slowly. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.