AN: Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying it, feel free to leave a review!

"Come in," Nezu called out from behind the door.

Toshinori lowered his hand. He almost managed to knock this time. Grabbing the doorknob he turned it, pushing the door open to enter the principal's office.

"Nezu," Toshinori began. "I'd like to inform you that I am going to be taking a trip to I-Island for a week."

"But the Expo isn't for several more weeks," Nezu replied.

"I am not going to the Expo- not this year," Toshinori admitted. "My reasons for going are personal."

"I see," Nezu folded his hands in his lap as he looked at the hero. "And why bring this to my attention?"

"It's… my successor," Toshinori admitted. "His training is going well, but I was hoping to find someone to check in on him over the next week."

"Oh, is that all?" Nezu stood up and circled around his desk. "And is there a reason you decided to come to me about this, instead of one of your staff?"

"Because I suspect my protegee is someone you're familiar with. His name is Izuku Midoriya."

"I see," Nezu said.

"He has told me the story of his sister, and how you have helped her find her place among the UA student body," Toshinori continued.

"And now he is going to become your successor," Nezu concluded. "It seems that that young man wasn't done surprising us."

"Indeed," Toshinori agreed. "So will you be willing to check on him in my absence?"

"I believe I can make some time to pay the Midoriyas a visit, yes," Nezu said.

Inko looked at Izuku in surprise when she heard a knock on the door.

"I thought your trainer wasn't coming this week?"

"Me too," Izuku agreed.

Getting up from her chair, Inko walked to the door and cracked it open to see who was there. Her eyes went wide when she recognized who it was.

"Good morning! Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear? It doesn't matter, for today I am your son's trainer!" Nezu announced from behind the door.

"Principal Nezu," Inko bowed slightly as she opened the door. "You said you're here to train Izu?"

"Of course," Nezu replied as he took the invitation and came inside. "I heard that his trainer will be out of town temporarily, and when I heard who he was training, my curiosity was piqued."

"I see," Inko said as she watched the principal remove his shoes. "Izu's managed to attract a lot of attention, hasn't he?"

"Indeed he has, although that isn't necessarily a bad thing," Nezu said as he gestured toward the living room. "After you."

Taking the lead, Inko led Nezu down the short hallway. "Izu, it looks like Mr. Yagi has arranged a substitute for you."

"Who-" Izuku began until he noticed who it was. "P-principal Nezu!?"

"Yes, it is I," Nezu chirped. "It appears our paths were destined to cross once again."

"B-but I haven't taken the exam for UA yet!" Izuku insisted. "That's still months off!"

"Indeed it is, and you certainly seem to be doing your best to prepare for it," Nezu said knowingly. "After helping Himiko out, which was a heroic action in its own right, you've gone on to attract the attention of no less than All Might himself."

Izuku laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "I just- wanted to do what was right."

"We have a term for people who want to do what is right, and that is hero," Nezu pointed out as he sat down.

"Would you like some tea?" Inko asked as she looked at the guest.

"Perhaps another time," Nezu waved at the woman. "We need to leave shortly to begin your son's training. However, I do have a request-" Nezu turned toward Izuku. "Yagi and Kan have both mentioned your quick thinking and analysis skills. I believe they made mention of some sort of notebooks you keep? I would be interested in seeing these firsthand."

"My notebooks?!" Izuku squeaked out. "I'm sure they wouldn't be that interesting to someone like you…"

"I disagree," Nezu countered. "As the principal of a hero school, I am always on the lookout for promising individuals - and that means being able to judge their talents. Besides, I am merely here to assure you are sticking to your schedule. I could use the distraction while you are performing your workout."

Izuku laughed nervously as he looked back and forth between his mom and Nezu, before standing up. "Let me get my latest notebooks."

"I believe that is all for today," Nezu announced.

Izuku finally stopped, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. "H-how'd I do?"

"Your training is coming along nicely," Nezu said as he looked at the young teenager. "More importantly, I'm impressed by the quality of the notes you've taken."

"You've read them already?!" Izuku bolted upright, shock on his face.

"Of course!" Nezu chirped as he offered the notebooks back to Izuku. "And I must say, if you haven't already been chosen as All Might's successor, you would have a promising career as a quirk analyst ahead of you."

Izuku's eyes went wide and he started coughing, choking on air at Nezu's casual revelation. Taking a moment, he steadied his breathing. "Of course you know, you said Toshinori asked you to come."

"Indeed he did," Nezu agreed before retracting his hand, flipping through a notebook a second time. "These notes are not at the level of a professional, of course, but are leaps and bounds better than your average self-taught hobbyist."

"I've always been interested in quirks," Izuku admitted. "And since I didn't have one, this was the closest I could get."

"Until All Might offered you One For All," Nezu said thoughtfully, before turning toward Izuku. "Now that you will have a quirk, what do you plan on doing?"

"I-'m not sure," Izuku admitted as he rubbed his head sheepishly. He held out a hand and took the notebooks Nezu offered him, only to flip through one, landing on a random page. "I know how strong All Might is, but I've spent so long working on these skills, I don't want to give them up."

"An excellent answer," Nezu agreed. "Are you up for another challenge?"

Izuku's head darted up and he blinked owlishly at the principal. "A challenge?"

"While you were training, I've been thinking about how to best cultivate your skills. I know your free time is limited for now, but how would you feel if I were to loan you the textbook and study materials our first-year support students use."

"Study materials?" Izuku asked lamely.

"Yes. I would not be able to teach you directly, of course, but it would give you a chance to refine your technique ahead of taking UA's entrance exam. Depending on how you do with the materials, there may be additional opportunities once you arrive at UA - provided you pass the entrance exam, of course."

Izuku's face brightened at the offer. "I'll do it!"

"Wonderful," Nezu clapped his hands together. "Although you may change your mind when you see what the students of UA have to deal with."

"I don't care," Izuku insisted, shaking his head. "I'll do whatever it takes!"

"Very well then, I'll be sure to bring the material when I return on Wednesday."

"I'm looking forward to it!" Izuku said.

"So am I," Nezu admitted. As he watched Izuku today, he had begun to understand what All Might had seen in the boy. And he liked what he saw. It was only natural that he helped prepare the young man to grow into his role as All Might's successor.

Izuku was deep in concentration, reading the textbook Nezu had provided him and making notes when he suddenly heard an annoyed huff behind him.

"Of course you're not ready yet," Himiko didn't even bother to hide the annoyance in her voice as she glared at her brother. "We're gonna be late!"

"Sorry," Izuku said sheepishly as he bookmarked the page, before exchanging his notebook for two others. As he got out of his chair, he offered his sister an apologetic smile.

"I still can't believe I got stuck with you," Himiko said as she unfolded her arms. "You're already spending most of your summer on your workout, and now you're studying too!"

"This isn't for school though, this is a hobby!" Izuku insisted.

Himiko made a gagging face. "Right, a hobby that involves school textbooks!"

"You know you love me," Izuku said playfully.

"I can't believe you're picking up my habits," Himiko said as she rolled her eyes and playfully elbowed him.

Izuku deftly dodged the attack as he hurried toward the door, pulling on his shoes. "I thought you'd like that?"

"I do," Himiko admitted. "But why didn't you pick up my cute habits instead?"

Izuku gave his sister a nervous grin as he opened the door. While he had opened up around her in particular, he knew he still had a long way to go. It certainly didn't help that, despite being transferred to a new class at Aldera, his schedule has been so busy with his new training - and was now going to get even busier with his newest hobby.

Which is why Himiko was dragging him out to meet her friends.

Of course, that presented a new challenge for Izuku. After all, he was currently quirkless, and as far as anyone but three people knew, he was going to continue to be quirkless. Sure, people with late-blooming quirks were a thing, and he's never been tested for signs of that, but the more people who knew, the more risk there was.

"Nezu, how am I supposed to talk to people about UA's entrance exam?" Izuku asked the principal on the final day of his supervision. "I mean… Himi's already enrolled, Kan still visits sometimes, and then there's mom…"

"Oh, the answer is quite simple!" Nezu chirped in reply. "The less you tell someone, the better! In the absence of information, people will fill in the blanks themselves. As a result, they will deceive themselves!"

Izuku mulled the idea over in his head. "I think I get it. If someone asks about the exam, I just say yes?"

"Precisely! And people will look at your training and assume that will be everything. They don't need to know that you will possess a quirk at the time of the exam. If they ask more questions, then you can simply repeat facts that support existing biases - such as the fact that UA doesn't require you to have a quirk to take the entrance exam."

"I don't like it," Izuku admitted with a frown. "But…" He let out a resigned sigh, "I know it's important to keep One For All a secret."

Izuku hoped to tell Mom and Himi about One For All someday. But for now, he had to deal with the dull ache that came with lying to them. After three months, he'd like to think he's gotten good at it, however…

Meeting Himiko's friends was going to be an entirely new challenge.

"What's wrong?" Himiko asked as they walked to the train station. "You've never been this nervous about my friends before!"

"I-" Izuku found himself broken from his thoughts. "This is different! Now I'm meeting future heroes!"

"Of course," Himiko rolled her eyes. "You know you're trying to become a hero too, right?"

"I guess," Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I just - want to leave a good impression."

Himiko couldn't help but laugh at his response.

When they reached the train station Himiko began searching for her friends. She had expected Tomoe to spot them first and smiled when she saw her friend waving to get their attention. Grabbing Izuku's wrist, she dragged him along to meet her friends.

"There you are!" Emily said as the pair approached.

"Blame Izu," Himiko said as she let go of her brother.

"Ehehe," Izuku rubbed the back of his head as he gave them a crooked smile. "H-hi, I'm Izuku."

"I'm sure Midoriya-aaa I mean your sister's told you all about us, I'm Habiki Hideo," He greeted Izuku.

"I'm Tomoe Sakura, nice to meet you," Tomoe said as she bowed her head slightly.

"And I'm Emily Song!" Emily chirped before holding out a hand. "Now where's the notebooks?"

Izuku let out a nervous yelp at how direct Emily was, stepping back hesitantly and earning her a glare from Himiko.

"Song, you shouldn't be so direct," Atsuko said before she gave Izuku a sympathetic smile. "That's just how she is - you'll get used to her." She shot a sideways glance at Himiko. "Maybe."

"I think I get it," Izuku said as he turned back towards Emily. "You just caught me off guard. I don't really know a lot of people who love quirks."

"Their loss," Emily shrugged. "So lemme see!"

"Not here," Himiko said as she looked pointedly at Izuku. "Let's at least get to the shopping district! Then we can leave you two unsupervised."

Emily looked like she was about to protest, but she was cut off by the sound of Atsuko's laughter. "She's right. I've seen both of you once you get going. We'd never go shopping if you started now."

"Fine!" Emily crossed her arms and pouted. "Lead the way."

"I'm surprised it's taken you this long to introduce them," Habiki said as they began walking.

"It's for my own sanity," Himiko responded. "I don't want to get dragged into it! Besides, Izu's been busy training and you saw how busy our first semester was!"

"But you always help when I ask," Izuku said fondly as he looked at his sister.

"Hey!" Emily protested. "Unfair!"

"Izu!" Himiko whined. "I don't!"

Izuku couldn't help but smile as he glanced at his sister. They both knew that despite her complaints, he was right.

Unfortunately, he caused a small argument between Himiko and Emily as they bickered over how unhelpful Himiko was, and how unfair it was that she favored Izuku. The rest of the group (smartly) stayed out of the conversation, listening to the girls argue until they arrived at the Tatooin Station Shopping District.

Not missing a beat, the two girls continued arguing all the way to one of the food courts. Cutting Emily off, Himiko quickly searched the area until her keen eyes found a large empty table and rushed over.

"Here we go!" Himiko said proudly as everyone caught up with her. "Now I can leave you two alone and run away before I get dragged into this."

"You're no fun," Emily grumbled, glaring at Himiko.

Himiko's response was to stick out her tongue at the other girl. "I've gotta pick up supplies for summer camp! Maybe I can deal with you after I'm done."

"Rude!" Emily said as she sat down.

"If you two don't mind, I'd like to listen in," Tomoe admitted as she pulled out a chair of her own. "I don't need anything, and I'm curious to see how Midoriya does things."

"Of course!" Emily said. "You're better than some friends of ours. Do you mind Midoriya?"

"Me?" Izuku squeaked out, looking at Tomoe. "N-no, not at all!"

"Great, I'll see you later!" Himiko called out as she left, Atsuko and Habiki in tow as they left the others to their own devices.

"S-sorry about her," Izuku said as he set his bag on the table.

"Her loss," Emily said before she turned toward Izuku, face brightening. "Now hand them over!"

Izuku gave her a crooked smile as he offered her the notebook for her class. "I know this isn't as good as what you have but here's what Himi told me."

Grabbing the notebook, Emily flipped to Himiko's entry, her eyes going wide as she scanned the page. Her head jerked up as her eyes bored into Izuku. "This is amazing!"

"She's my sister, so we spent a lot of time figuring things out," Izuku admitted.

Emily dug her tablet out of her bag before she pulled up her virtual database. Opening the entry on Himiko, she passed it over to Izuku. "I'm more interested in support gear to enhance quirks, unlike you. It looks like you prefer lateral thinking?"

"I guess," Izuku said as he looked at the entry in front of him. It was less detailed than his own, but then he saw the laundry list of potential support gear. Everything from listening devices to a collapsible baton that ran an electric current through it. There even was an entry for what was best described as a dart gun with a hose attached to it, that allowed Himiko to extract blood remotely.

"I see. She's focusing more on Himi's stealth and infiltration, playing into her future role as an underground hero. Trying to best figure out how to draw blood without attracting attention and sneak into a location where she can defeat the villains with minimal risk of detection and fighting…"

He was shaken from his thoughts by a bright laugh. "I see what your sister means!" Emily exclaimed. "If you're going to talk you should speak up!"

"S-sorry," Izuku said as he felt his face heating up. "Most people don't like it when I think out loud, so I try to keep it down."

Emily and Tomoe shared a look before Tomoe decided to speak. "Is Song's analysis of your sister wrong?"

"You actually kept up with that?" Izuku asked sheepishly. He waited until Tomoe nodded her head before he continued. "The ideas here are actually good," he admitted, "even if I don't understand why she needs some of these things, like the 'anti-robot baton,' but nothing here changes how she would use her quirk in particular."

"That's because of how her quirk works!" Emily protested. "She has a binary state where she either assumes someone else's form or doesn't. There isn't a lot to work with compared to others!"

"I see," Tomoe mused. "I must admit, I am curious. I'm in a similar situation as you and your sister where I'm essentially fighting quirkless. I've got some martial arts training and tasers built into my costume, but I still feel like I'm falling behind everyone in combat," Izuku wasn't sure if it was real, or if he was imagining a sad undertone in her voice. "How would you propose I even the odds?"

Izuku lit up as he grabbed his notebook back from Emily. Flipping to Sakura's entry he pulled out a pencil. "Himi says you can enhance your senses, but she never told me how much you can, nor how fine your control is. Could you make your skin sensitive enough to detect the changes in air pressure caused by motion? Or!" Izuku made a quick note as he continued "Can you enhance your hearing enough to give yourself echolocation? That might require an additional support device though, which is Song's department…"

Emily caught on immediately and grabbed her tablet. "I see where you're going!" Opening up a catalog, she began searching for a particular piece of support gear.

"I've actually tried using echolocation a bit in training," Tomoe admitted, "although I'm not the best at it yet. I can't pick out something human-sized or something moving. In theory, I can also detect air pressure, but I don't really like doing it because it's easy to overstimulate myself if I enhance my sense of touch for too long - although depending on what you have in mind I could practice it."

"Here they are!" Emily exclaimed as she held up her tablet, showing an information page about high-volume smoke grenades. "What do you think of these?"

"Those weren't exactly what I had in mind," Izuku admitted, "but it's the same idea. If you are at a disadvantage, you can always blind your opponent. It's not quite the same as Himi's blanking technique, but it has the same benefit. If you can train yourself to use your other senses when you can't see, then you're at an advantage over your opponent when you're both blinded."

Tomoe took the tablet and read about the grenades, before setting it on the table. "That could work. I'd have to adjust my costume and training if I wanted to make it work, but maybe…"

"I'm not saying you should do it right away!" Izuku held up his hands defensively. "But it's something to think about! The other option is talking to Snipe. With your vision, some sort of ranged dart gun or taser would be a natural choice as well!"

"Oh, there's plenty of good options there!" Emily exclaimed as she turned her attention back toward her tablet.

With the ice broken, Izuku and Emily dove into their own world for the next several hours. Sakura watched with interest as the two seemingly created a feedback loop with each other: Emily would help Izuku with an entry on a classmate, which led to him speculating on new applications for their quirk. This in turn led to Emily proposing new support gear to enhance these theoretical applications.

"Is it safe?" Himiko asked as she approached the table, several shopping bags in her arms.

"I think so?" Sakura said quietly. "They've only stopped long enough to get drinks so far."

"I um, this is good," Izuku said as he looked at the notebook in his hands. "We're not done yet, but we can stop now."

"Good!" Himiko said as she plopped down in the chair next to Izuku, setting her bags under the table. "I'm getting hungry."

The six took turns ordering food and then settled into much more casual conversation - with Himiko and Atsuko forcefully steering the conversation away from any quirk talk. While he still felt like an outsider - these were his sister's friends, after all, not his! He had to admit that he enjoyed the company.

He just hoped that when he got to UA, he found friends like she did.

The second semester proved to be largely uneventful, and before they knew it, winter break had arrived.

And with it, the promise of a new year.

Himiko woke up early, despite her family staying up until one in the morning. Normally she took every opportunity to sleep in, but today was special. It marked her first anniversary as a Midoriya!

And what a year it was!

Himiko stared at the four plushies of her friends - she even put Emily's plushie on the bed! - and felt a smile split her face. While she had naturally drifted apart from her middle school friends, she was closer to Atsuko than ever!

And they had found new friends among their classmates at UA. Even if Emily was still annoying.

Hugging the group of plushies, she set them aside to look at the foot of her bed, where the three most important ones rested. There a green bear and green rabbit sat, leaning against a tan cat that was pinned between them.

"Good morning Mom. Good morning Izu," Himiko whispered. Shifting around, she scooped them up and held them to her chest, feeling happy memories of the past year coming back to her.

Finally deciding it was time to get up, she got out of bed and quickly made it, arranging the pile of plushies so they'll be waiting for her when she returns. With a content smile, she grabbed her outfit - the same one as last year - and went to get ready for the day.

"Do you remember what to do Himi?" Inko asked her daughter as they approached the shrine.

"Yep!" Himiko happily chirped. "First we check our luck, then we get the new photo, then we pray!"

"That's right," Inko smiled proudly. "Let's get going."

The trio didn't have to wait in line long before it was their turn to select figurines. Scanning the selections, Himiko looked to see if any of the cats were chipped or broken. The one at home deserved a companion, after all.

There

Off to one side was a cat missing a paw, the paper hanging loose. She decided on that one for herself, cradling the figure gently in her hands as she slipped the piece of paper out.

Luck in the future.

She wondered what that meant when she heard Izuku gasp. "Oh no!"

"What'd you get?" Inko asked her son.

"Half-luck," Izuku said as he held up the piece of paper. "That's the lowest one!"

"Well don't worry, we won't bring that home with us," Inko assured him as she chose a bird figurine for herself. "Moderate luck."

"So what'd you get Himi?"

Himiko held the paper out and let her family see. "Hopefully it doesn't wait too long."

"I'm sure it will be worth it," Inko assured her. "Now why don't we go discard Izu's bad luck."

"Okay!" Himiko said.

Walking to the tree, they saw it had once again begun to fill up with slips of paper. Finding a spot, Izuku held the paper almost guiltily in his hands.

"Sorry, I'll try making my own luck this year."

With that, he tied the paper to the string, waving the fortune goodbye.

After that Himiko pulled out her camera as they went to get their family portrait. Finding 'their' spot, the three lined up and, with the help of a friendly passerby, got the photo that will sit in their living room for the next year. As the passerby returned the camera, Himiko couldn't help but smile at the photo.

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" She asked.

"We really have," Izuku agreed as he peered over her shoulder.

The family in this photo was vastly different from the one last year. Inko had begun to slim down, regaining some of her youthful beauty as she stood a little straighter. Himiko was excited by her growth spurt over the past year - she was a full 162 centimeters now! And she could see the long-term effects of having a proper diet - complete with blood - and exercise. She looked healthier, and the uncute bags under her eyes had fully faded, leaving her golden irises to shine brightly. Much like his sister, Izuku also stood taller - Himiko remained annoyed that she was shorter than him, even though she was older. He had also filled out throughout his own training, muscles thickening and shoulders broadening.

While they didn't look like heroes yet, they were certainly on their way.

"Do you like the picture, Mom?" Himiko asked as she showed it to her mother.

"It's perfect," Inko said. "Now then, why don't we go pray?"

Walking to the main part of the shrine, Himiko followed her mom to a spot and knelt beside her, while Izuku knelt on the other side. Closing her eyes, Himiko began to reflect on the past year.

So much had happened over the past year, it almost made her want to believe in spirits. Almost.

What she is starting to believe in are people.

While there are many bad people in the world - the Togas, her old quirk counselor, the teachers and staff of her old school - there are just as many good people in the world. People like Izuku. Like Kan. Like Atsuko.

As Himiko sat there, she reflected on all of the good people in her life who were making up for the years of neglect and abuse she suffered. As she felt a single tear escape her eyes, she quietly thanked all of them.

And she vowed to follow their examples as they entered this new year. For little Kyoto, and others like her.

AN: Got a bit of a time skip coming up, see you next time when Izuku takes his entrance exam!