I don't own One Punch Man, nor do I own My Hero Academia. Each Franchise i owned by their respective owner..

ENJOY!

...

The wind breezes against Yagi's skin as he stood over the gates of the dormitory building. He wondered if he should leave. The Hero Commission is up to some shady shit, even now. Leaving would be a big mistake. Who's going to defend these kids if he's not here? Then again..

There's still the matter of that mysterious thing that took ahold of Tatsumaki and stashed her somewhere, possibly at 'the peak of Mount Fuji'.

Probably a ruse, but whatever. It's worth a try.

Maybe he should just ask for help from a couple of his colleagues, even the unlikely ones, to keep a watch on them in his absence.

Then, a voice called out from behind, "Sensei!"

Yagi turned around only to see Izuku approaching him, "Yo, Izuku. Everything's fine back at school?"

"Mostly, safe for the fact that my ankle got sprained when I was training." Izuku replied.

Yagi's brow furrowed, "You didn't push yourself hard, didn't you?"

"No, it was a little accident, I tripped over myself and fell face first into the floor." Izuku replied.

Yagi's lips quirked a little, "Hah! And you sprained your muscles over it? Didn't you at least warm up a little before going straight to the training?"

"No," Izuku sighed, "I was in a rush."

"For what?"

"To get stronger." Izuku replied, "I've been so adamant and dead set on becoming stronger that I forgot the proper...procedures."

"That's not good." Yagi said, "What'd I tell you? You oughta not take everything too seriously."

Izuku was about to say something, but he suppressed it.

He remembered about the heart in his hands, and how it's blood seeped and smeared all over his skin.

Not a pretty sight, and could be traumatising for some people.

Izuku then replied, "Sensei, I wish to not make you worry about me anymore. I want to prove to you that I am well-equipped to handle myself."

"I wasn't all that worried about that in the first place," Yagi said, "Though, I kinda did at first, but now that you've become a lot stronger since then.." He pats Izuku in the shoulder, "You do know that I'm proud of you, right? You don't really need to prove anything to me. All you've done for the past few months are enough for me to validate your strength."

Izuku smiled, as he nodded, "I'm aware, but that doesn't change the fact that you still worry about me."

"Everyone has their own worries, doesn't mean I believe you can't take care of yourself." Yagi said, "There's a lot of insidious individuals out there. Some of them cunning and tactful. In a moment of vulnerability, they could just snatch you away from the shadows, no matter how alert you are."

"So the very least I could do, is to outdo their cunningness, am I correct?" Izuku's lips bent upwards, sure and confident of himself.

Heh.

If only it were that simple.

Yagi, however, nodded despite his doubts.

"Sensei, do you mind if we spar for a bit?" Izuku asked, "I want to gauge my own strength to determine whether or not I've grown stronger."

"Well color me surprised," Yagi said as he crossed his arms, "You want another session of us just throwing our fists at each other? I don't know, don't you think it's kind of obsolete?"

"Why would you think so?"

"Because you wouldn't be able to gauge your level of strength." Yagi exclaimed, "This isn't a gloat or me discrediting your strength, but none of us would feel or sense the power that you exert if said power has no effect on me."

"Hm," Izuku murmured as he rubbed his chin, "I suppose you're right, Sensei."

"Can you just use that one machine back at UA? The one with the function of determining how powerful your strikes are?"

"It's the same as if we were to spar, in a sense." Izuku replied, "I guess there's no proper way to determine how much stronger I've become, then."

Yagi uncrossed his arms to pat the boy in the back, "Don't overthink it. You should just relax after everything you've done today."

Izuku pondered, before speaking again, "Speaking of relaxing, were you going somewhere?"

"Kind of." Yagi replied, "Won't be for long, though."

Izuku's brow raised, "Doesn't sound very convincing, Sensei. Not to mention that you've been acting off for the past couple of days."

Yagi looked at the boy for a moment, before saying, "It's fine, I'm just...clearing my head somewhere. Can't do it in a crowded, confined space where everyone is around me twenty four seven."

"Sensei," Izuku gripped him in his shoulder, "If you want to get something off your chest, please,"

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I just need to reflect on myself," Yagi's head turned to the sky, "And rethink my life choices."

"What life choices?"

"The kind that affects the whole country so much, it plummets and fucks over." Yagi replied, "I mean, do you see the consistent rise in criminal activity? Country's beyond repair right now, the foundation being what happened thirty years ago."

"Sensei," Izuku's expression softened as he shifted closer, "I..I don't mean to sound like I know how your situation were like, but, having that kind of responsibility being thrust to a teenager.. it's unfair."

"I chose that responsibility." Yagi said, "And I fucked it up, and look at how that turned out to be. A gigantic mess that I can't ever hope to fix."

Izuku kept his mouth shut, listening to his Sensei.

"'Izuku, I gotta ask you this, though. Been meaning to for a long time, but never mustered the necessary strength to do it," Yagi moved his gaze towards his disciple, "If I.." He stopped himself, his mouth left open, his entire body froze.

"If you what, Sensei?"

"If I'm not...what you thought I am, if I turned out to be some phony that lured you into my circle just so I can exploit you-"

"That's not true, Sensei." Izuku affirmed, "I know it."

"How'd you know for sure?"

"I just know it."

"...misplaced faith aside, let me rephrase my question," Yagi then continued, "What if I turn out to be...I dunno, disappointing?"

Izuku blinked, as his lips quirked into a delightful grin, "I'll still stand by what I said."

Yagi's eyes were fixed on the frame of his faithful, yet gullible student. If only he knew the sheer number of people that he hurt back in the day...

I'll always follow you.

He turned his gaze away, stammering on himself, "T..Thank you."

A pair of arms found itself wrapping from Yagi's shoulder, catching him by surprise.

"Hm-?"

"You're the best darn teacher I could ever ask for." Izuku muttered.

Yagi's lips found itself trembling, switching between bending itself upwards and downwards every few seconds. A surge of warmth reverberated through him, "Damn, kid, is this your way of getting back at me for making you cry that one time?"

"Shut up. I mean it."

"So does everyone, and look how that turned out." Yagi's voice trembled slightly, "I'm surprised that some of them were still willing to put up with my shit even after the heartache I inflicted on them twenty years ago."

His voice was becoming hoarse now, as he continued, "I need to go somewhere for a while, to recollect myself."

"If that's what you want then," Izuku retracted his arms back, "Go for it, Sensei. Just promise me one thing."

Yagi nodded in anticipation.

"Remember my promise. I'll never drift apart from you. Not now, not ever."

...

I don't think the same can be applied to me, kiddo... Yagi sadly thought, but he nodded nonetheless.

"I will."

...

Bang was never the type to turn down a favour, especially if it's coming from an acquaintance or a close friend. Yagi was no exception to this either.

But Garou, on the other hand...

"Tell him to fuck off." Garou dismissively said.

"Garou-"

"I'm fucking around." He said, "I don't mind getting into another round of fist clashing with a couple of human traffickers if I can help it."

Bang frowned, "You're in, then?"

"Yeah. On a side note, though, this doesn't mean that I'm supposed to be buddy-buddy with that spaghetti-haired cretin."

"I don't think he's concerned about that." Bang replied.

"Right." Garou added as he leaned against the sofa, "Still thinking resigning was a viable option, old fart? Look at what that rat did to your school. Turned it into a shithole susceptible to exploiters and opportunists."

Bang sighed, "I wasn't being candid about it, but the reason I resigned in the first place was-"

"I know, I know," Garou held his hands up, "But you gotta follow your own incentive, old man. Don't risk the well-being of others for my sake."

"Right." Bang took another deep breath as he stood up, "Yagi will leave the town for a couple of days, give or take. We should make our move."

"'Course." Garou followed suit, "If you don't mind, can I circumvent the little code that we go by just a little bit?"

"Wha-" Bang abruptly cut himself off, realising what he meant, and replied with a resounding, "No."

"What? They deserve it."

"Touché," Bang replied, "But you have to take into consideration what the law says about such an action.'

"Old man, fuck the laws, we're not bound by it anymore."

"Really?"

"I mean, you aren't really a professional hero anymore, right?"

Bang's lips thinned, "Ordinary citizens are still obligated to abide by the law, you..do know that right?"

"I mean, it's not like what we're doing are exactly legal, so what's the difference?"

"Killing is where we draw the line."

"But-"

"What I say is final." Bang's voice came firm.

"Fine, fine, no killing." Garou threw his hands in the air, "Maybe a permanent injury will do it?"

Bang contemplated for a second, before exhaling, "You're free to do whatever you want as long as it's not lethal."

"Sweet." Garou slyly smiled.