It…was going to be a long day. Izuku had kind of expected that, it being the day of the Sports Festival after all. But it becomes clear to him that he didn't realize how long if the seething Kacchan in front of him was any indication.

The day had started off well enough. Iida woke everyone up way too early with the group chat, which led to a host of complaints, Izuku finding out Uraraka was not a morning person if her creative threats were any indication, and Tenko going to bed for a couple of hours because he had lost track of time gaming again.

After taking on the erroneous task of waking Kaminari up, something the blonde was very ungrateful for, the two ate a light breakfast courtesy of their mothers and set off, having to be at school early, but not before a foreboding promise from their fathers that they would be able to hear them from the stands.

Izuku and Kaminari shuttered as they tore their way out of the apartment.

The two walked in mostly comfortable silence before Kaminari broke it. "Did you know my name means thunder?"

Izuku put down his phone. "I hadn't really thought about it…but yeah I guess it does. Why?"

"Well I just thought, it's really on the nose isn't it?" If they weren't in public, Izuku might've changed Kaminari's clothes to that of a detective since he sounded like he was about to blow a case wide open. Heck, he might do it anyway.

"Like, what are the odds that my last name is thunder when I'm literally the son of the God of Thunder?" Kaminari begged the question.

"I bet Nezu could actually calculate that." They both laughed at Izuku's joke. "So what are you getting at exactly?"

"C'mon man, isn't it obvious?!" He waved his arms in the air like he was one of those inflatable tube men. "We're supposed to get our dad's last names, and mine couldn't put Thorson on his form so…"

Realization hit Izuku like a truck. "Our dads made up our last names…" Izuku said in growing horror. How hadn't he ever thought about that?!

"Yes!!" Kaminari screams. He had solved his case. "They made them up! And my dad, in all of his creativity, named me Thunder!"

Izuku facepalmed. "The first part of my last name means green…my dad loves that color…"

A silence fell over them as both boys thought about what other things their fathers could've made up. After a while, Kaminari spoke again. "Are we gonna talk about what we learned yesterday?"

"Which part?" Izuku chuckled. "The magical stones that can do whatever they want and that because of a dumb mistake, one of them still exists? How about the fact that our principal knows who we are, or the multiple universes thing?"

"Okay, I was talking to my dad last night about that," Kaminari said. "He told me they were going to talk about which stones to destroy first but some guy they were working with took a couple of stones to be destroyed before they could." He wrinkled his brow. "Thermos? Thermometer? Thanatos? I don't remember his name but yeah."

Before Izuku could respond, Kaminari pointed at him. "And that! Multiple realities! I mean, how many Earths are there? How many me?! How many you?! Why aren't you freaking out over this?!"

Izuku shrugged. "I already knew about it."

Kaminari's finger started to shake while pointing at him. "You…you…" He sighed, putting it down. "This is too much and I just don't want to think about it right now…can't I worry about competing in one of the world's biggest sporting events like a normal kid?!"

"The fake names don't seem so bad now, do they?" Izuku joked.

"No, I guess not," Kaminari conceded. "Do you ever think about what they would think?"

"Who?"

"I don't know, everyone I guess?" He scratched the back of his head. "Like how they would react if they knew what we were? You ever thought about telling anybody?"

Letting the image of Uraraka fade from his mind, Izuku settled with, "maybe…you think they'd accept us?"

"I don't know."

Wanting to lighten the mood a bit, Izuku said, "but maybe we should wait a bit. I think I'd be really weirded out if everyone started calling me Lokison like Nezu did yesterday."

Kaminari laughed. "I know right? I didn't even realize he was talking about me at first…you know, talking about fake names and everything has got me thinking…"

Izuku looked at him curiously.

The other Asgardian was looking everywhere but him. "Knowing our names are fake, it's kinda weird to keep calling each other by them, and we're family so…" he finally looked at him. "If you wanted to call me Denki, I'd be cool with that."

Izuku nearly tripped he was so surprised. "A-are you sure?"

Looking much more relaxed now that he had gotten what he wanted to say out, Kaminari responded, "Yeah, man! Of course, I'm sure! I've-uh" Some of the trepidation returned. "I've actually been wanting to ask for a little while now but wasn't sure how you'd take it."

With his, 'my friend is feeling bad about himself' alarm going off, Izuku is quick to reassure him. "No! I don't mind, I promise! Um, y-yeah, I'll call you D-Denki if you don't mind. And…" he took a breath.

'C'mon Izuku, you've dealt with villains and criminals, you can do this!…oh who am I kidding?'

"And you can call me Izuku," he got out. Wow, no wonder Kaminari looked like he felt so much better, that felt great!

Kam-Denki broke out a smile almost as bright as his lightning. "Thanks, Izuku!" Wow, letting someone call him by his given name after Uraraka got to see his injuries? Probably the first time his dad wouldn't be proud and if he was being honest with himself, Izuku didn't mind.

The two made it to the school gates at the same time another pair did. "Midoriya! Kaminari! Are you guys as pumped as I am!" Kirishima enthusiastically yelled, walking up with an increasingly sour-looking Kacchan.

"You know it, bro! We'll still be cool after I whip your butt today, right?" Denki asked, giving Kirishima a high five.

"Dropping the trash talk already? Manly!" Kirishima is so contagious that even Izuku was smiling. "Bakugo, get in on this!"

"I never got to bury you both for that shit you said on the way to the USJ," Kacchan said slowly. "Your mothers won't recognize you when I'm done." It's silent, with just Kacchan's dead serious voice and glare punctuating his statement.

"Awesome! Everyone's gonna be giving it their all for sure!" Izuku had seen many shocking things in just the past day, but Kacchan not blowing up Kirishima for slapping him on the back may be one of the most surprising.

"Let's go see who else-"

"Oi." Kacchan cut Kirishima off, leveling his glare at Izuku. "You two shitheads leave. I gotta have a talk with Deku here."

Kirishima's confusion cleared quickly. "Oh! You two have known each other a long time, yeah? Got it." He gave them a thumbs up and started to walk away but Denki stayed behind, looking between them.

"Dude…"

"It's cool, Denki." Izuku gave him a reassuring smile. "Kacchan will wait until he has a crowd to fight me."

Denki didn't look convinced but seemed to trust his word more so he left, bringing Izuku back to the present and the probable start to a very long day. Kacchan stares at him, glare deepening, and looking for something.

Then, without a word, he jerks his thumbs over his shoulder and walks off the path to a more secluded part of the campus. Izuku was tempted to just walk away but it's like that old saying, curiosity killed the cat. But he wasn't currently turned into a cat so he thinks he'll be fine.

Izuku follows Kacchan past some bushes and by a few trees before the red-eyed boy whips around. "Know this shitty nerd, I'm gonna be the one standing on top of that podium today."

"Kacchan, if you dragged me over here just to tell me the same-"

"How long, Deku?" Izuku opens his mouth to reply but Kacchan doesn't give him the chance. "Was I always a joke to you?! We get to UA, and your quirk is suddenly good! You can do all these things I didn't fucking know about! And now you got this secret fucking cousin out of fucking nowhere! How the hell could I not know that?!"

"Wait, are you mad that-"

"Then…" Kacchan gets right in his face and he hates his first instinct is to run. To make a clone and hide. He feels the burn scars on his arms tingle as Kacchan's hands get close to them.

"You had the fucking nerve to pull that shit you did in middle school," Kacchan growls.

He stops so Izuku takes the bait. "What-"

"You fucking vanished!" Kacchan roars. "I tell you to…to…that! And then you just fucking disappeared for a whole fucking week! No one heard anything, Deku! We thought you…" his face dials back for a moment before becoming even angrier than before. "Then you fucking come back as if nothing happened!! So, Deku, how long have I been a joke to you? Did you have fun spending a week making me think you…you…"

"Kacchan…are you mad I stopped telling you things?!" There's no way that can be it.

"I put up with your bullshit for years! And you seriously think you can just-just-just push ahead of me out of nowhere! Your quirk that makes no fucking sense, all those little extras that pal around you now, and then lying to me about going easy on me in the fucking battle trial-"

"I did!" Izuku can feel it. All the good feelings, the acceptance of his classmates, watching Eri heal and grow, training to be an actual hero, he can feel it all being dragged down by Kacchan. He had a taste and didn't want to let go.

"I did!" Izuku repeats. "I did go easy on you! What's really bothering you, Kacchan? Is it me pulling ahead of you, or is it that little Deku is finally happy?! That there's things in my life that don't revolve around you anymore!"

The angry blonde grabs his jacket roughly, a brief look of shock on his face. "I'm set to be the best! This is my origin story! Not yours! I'm not some pathetic side character for you to move past and forget about!"

"I tried for years to keep you a part of my life!" Izuku shoves him off and is only a little surprised when the other boy actually lets go. "Kacchan, I only ever wanted to be your friend. To be heroes together like we talked about when we were little." Izuku scoffs. "And this is all I got."

He roughly pulls back his sleeve to Bakugo, something he hadn't done for anyone in years, to show him the various burn marks that run up and down his arm. "This is how they both look,"

Izuku says quietly. "Back when I couldn't run from you, this is what I got. You know, to this day I still can't wear short sleeves in front of anyone."

Kacchan stares down at the arm, his face flickering through too many emotions for Izuku to keep track before he pushes his arm back to him. "Is that all I am to you now, Deku? Some footnote in your grand story to be number one? Well, do it then!"

He swipes his hands through the air, letting off small explosions in frustration. "Bitch and moan to everyone about me! Get me kicked out for what I did! What the fuck have you been waiting for?! Or are you still laughing at me?! Gonna make me think I'm safe before running to Aizawa! Fuck you!! Just get it over with!"

"I'm not that selfish." At Kacchan's bewildered look, he continues. "You're gonna help a lot of people, either by saving them or by beating villains. And I'm not gonna let them get hurt just for feeling a little bad." He fixes his sleeves.

Both take a few breaths, letting the last few minutes sink in. "Is that your last prank then?" Kacchan asks, his voice not exactly calm, more like accepting of what was going to happen. "You're gonna make me watch you become number one?"

Where is he going with this? "Kacchan, do you even want to be a hero if you can't be number one?"

"Of course I do!" He yells. "You think I would fucking let you or any other extra get it without going through me?!" He takes a deep breath, calming down a little. "So that's it then, you're just gonna let me get away with it? You're not gonna do anything?"

He almost didn't want to ask. "Do you…want me to do something?"

Both their phones go off at the same time. Izuku checks his and sees it's a message from Iida urging them to get to the classroom soon. When he looks up, Kacchan is already marching past him, but stops when they're side to side.

"If you won't do anything then I will." He's almost whispering. "If we fight today, I win, you tell me everything that's going on. You win, and I swear to never bother you about anything again."

'He's driving himself into a corner.'

Kacchan walks away without waiting for a response. "You better give it your all today, nerd."

"You wanted to see me, Young Tenko?"

"Uh, yeah, thanks for coming, All Might." The classes were on their way to their designated waiting rooms before the festival started but Toshinori got a message from young Midoriya that Tenko wanted to see him.

The young man closes the door to the private waiting room he was in and stares at him, clearly with something to say but not knowing how. He wants to encourage him but It seems they both didn't know how to put what they wanted into words.

"So…" Could Tenko sense his awkwardness? "How can I help you?" He barely keeps himself from wincing.

Tenko looks back at the door before turning back to the veteran hero. "Alright…" Toshinori thinks he hears the boy say 'fuck it' under his breath but he doesn't point it out. "I just wanted to say thanks for the help you've given me these past couple of weeks…and I'll do my best to place high on the leaderboards for you."

Now, Toshinori gets it. Because he had been helping him train for the festival, Tenko thought he was expecting him to do well. No need to add any extra pressure on the boy. "That's not necessary."

"Eh?" Tenko tilts his head.

"It never mattered to me how you did in the festival, my boy," Toshinori clarifies.

He gets mild amusement out of the blue-haired boy's confusion. "W-what? But all that time you helped me grind?…"

Toshinori chuckles, walking over to stand over Tenko. "That was just an old man wanting to help a student. The only thing that matters to me, is that you try your hardest. You could be eliminated in the first round but as long as you did everything you could, I'll be happy. After all, that's all anyone can really ask of heroes."

A small laugh escapes him before he can stop it at the look of amazement on Tenko's face before he schools it quickly. "F-fine." He crosses his arms and looks away. "And sure you like retro games but not super retro games."

Toshinori…thinks he understands what he means.

But he clasps Tenko's shoulders anyway. "I know you'll do well either way! Just try not to think about the millions of people watching you!" Oh, the look on Tenko's face tells him that was the wrong thing to say. Time to go before he makes it worse!

"I'll see you out there, my boy!" Toshinori walks around him towards the door but stops when Tenko speaks again.

"Hey. Do you think…she'll be watching?" All Might had never heard him speak so softly before.

"There's a good chance." Toshinori matches his tone.

Tenko nods, voice hardening. "Good. Then she can see the hero who's going to save her." The young man opens the door and walks back to his waiting room with renewed purpose. Toshinori couldn't be more proud.

"Looks like you guys had a good talk." It's only having known him for a year and the kid doing it at every chance he got that prevents Toshinori from jumping outwardly when young Midoriya appears next to him from thin air.

All Might sighs. "What did I tell you about listening in on people's conversations?"

"It was part of Eraser's training for me and you made it so easy with how loud you talk!" Midoriya whines. "And I promise I didn't listen to you guys! I was just waiting to see if everything would be alright after!"

"Heh, so how'd I do?" All Might asks.

"By the looks of Tenko, really good," Midoriya approves.

"I appreciate-what's that look for?" Toshinori didn't like the knowing look he was getting.

"So…" the greenette steps closer. "You talk to him about it yet?"

Of course, he figured it out. Toshinori shakes his head. "After the festival, I didn't want to distract him."

"That's fair…" All Might grunts when Midoriya crashes into his midsection, hugging him.

"I hope this means you aren't replacing me…" young Midoriya pleads in his most fake pathetic voice. It was nice to know the festival wasn't affecting him too badly.

"Believe me when I say, you are one of a kind," Toshinori compliments.

Midoriya hugs tighter. "You always know what to say, dad…"

"Present Mic made the joke one time, young Midoriya…" Toshinori grumbles half-heartedly.

The green-haired boy looks up at him with a wide smile. Yeah, a lot of people were gonna love that smile when he becomes a hero. "You didn't deny it! So I seized the opportunity!"

"I was in shock he said it!"

"Details." Midooriya waves him off. "Would I really be that bad as a son?"

Toshinori sighs, ruffling the kid's hair, something he discovered Midoriya liked and was sworn under threat of stabbing not to tell anyone about. "Yeah, you'd be a great one."

Maybe, he should take a page out of young Midoriya's book. "So, my boy, you consider Eri to be basically your sister, yes?"

"As long as she wants me?" Oh, he thinks there will ever be a time she won't, that's funny.

"And at the same time, Aizawa is essentially her father, also correct?"

"Yes?…" Young Midoriya was able to connect dots earlier but he's confused now?

"So if Eri is your sister…and Aizawa is her dad…that makes Aizawa your?…" Toshinori spells out.

Midoriya's eyes light up. There it is. "You can find him in the announcer's booth," Toshinori informs him.

"Thanks!" Midoriya is off so fast, that he's surprised there isn't a trail of smoke behind him. Ah well, that'll teach Aizawa to make his name 'All Shite' in the teacher's chat.

Ochako taps her fingers nervously on the table in front of her. Two weeks ago, it felt like they had years until the festival happened! Now, it was the day of and she can't stop going over everything she wanted to go over but didn't.

Her parents told her that focusing on the negative would only bring her down and she needed to look more at everything she's accomplished, and they're right, and she usually does that! But this stupid festival was making it so much harder!

Sure, her family wasn't having to rely on leftovers and turning one portion into two anymore because of that amazing job their company got, but they didn't get this far by blowing their money on useless things.

With the bills paid and food taken care of, a lot of it was going into a savings account to be the nice cushion they never had. But this job wouldn't last forever, and neither would that money, they had to be ready for life after it. Ochako was doing just that.

The waiting room most of Class 1-A is in is almost completely silent. Everyone sits in chairs or around tables, lockers line the walls of the room. The only real sounds were the creaking of chairs as people sat down, a few of them pacing, and the door opening every now and then for someone to head to the bathroom, probably to throw up.

It's a pretty solemn environment all things considered-

"Thanks, Koda!" A loud voice pierces the room like a nail into wood. Ochako looks up to see Koda holding the door for Deku who walks in looking at them all, seemingly more excited than ever. How does he do it?

"Hey, guys! Great to see you all!" Deku waves like he didn't just see them all a few minutes ago? Part of her wants to chalk it up to his nerves but something doesn't feel right.

"Midoriya!" Iida stands at attention causing her to giggle a little. "I hope your errand went well! There is nothing new to report on the status of the class!"

"Shouldn't that be you?" Kyoka whispers to Yaomomo who sits right next to her.

"He's not trying to do anything a class rep would, in addition, I think he needs it. We all have our ways of calming ourselves," Yaomomo responds quietly.

"Woooow!" Deku runs up to Iida staring at his hands. "They really do chop that fast!"

"Midoriya, what are you-"

"Oh, hi Uraraka!" Ochako squeaks when Deku is by her an instant later, throwing himself into the chair next to her which doesn't creak for some reason. "How are you feeling? Are you ready for the festival? Did you want any last minute fight tips? Or any tips at all? I got tons! Anyways, the second event is always a team-up event, did you wanna work together?"

Ochako's face heats up very quickly because, with each question he asks, Deku gets closer and closer to her face. "Well, you see, um, what was the first question again?"

Deku seems to realize what he's doing and quickly back up. "Ah, sorry!" He apologizes while waving his hands in front of him. Now, he seems normal again. "I just got so excited to be here!"

"I can understand that." Ochako relaxes a little, even if some part of her, which is quickly drop kicked, wishes he'd get that close again. "Sports Festival is a big deal, we're lucky we get to be here."

She looks over and is startled at how Deku is staring at her. It's as if she's the only person in the room with him, the only thing that matters, and Ochako very much does not think about what that's doing to her face and heart right now.

"Hm?" Deku comes back a little. "Oh, right. You meant the festival. Yeah, I m-meant t-that too." He leans back in his seat. "But that's not really because of the festival. It's exciting to be anywhere as long as you're there with me."

Now the whole room is dead silent. No one is moving or making any sound, save for two squeals that are growing steadily louder from a certain alien and invisible girl.

"D-D-D-Deku." Ochako probably doesn't have to throw people into the sun anymore with how hot her face feels. She can't even begin to imagine how red it could be. "W-w-what are you saying?…"

He looks her right in the eye. "Uraraka, I-" Ochako blinks once. Then twice. One more time. Yup. She sees correctly. Deku was interrupted when a second Deku appeared from nowhere and tackled him to the ground.

"That's enough out of you! Did you think we wouldn't know you left?!" The new Deku tries to retrain the original. Ochako and the class can only watch.

"You can't silence me forever, Two! The truth needs to come out! It sets you-" Deku is cut off again when new Deku, Two(?), puts a hand over his mouth.

"Not yet! Three, help me!"

"Not logical." Ochako is stunned when a third Deku appears, arms crossed, watching the other two wrestle on the ground. "I agree with Thirteen. Emotions only get in the way of making the right choices, might as well get it out and over with."

So, Ochako has questions. And looking around she's far from the only one. Even aloof Todoroki looks interested in what's happening.

The first question besides 'what was going on,' is who are these people? But they know that answer. They've all seen Deku do it a bunch of times. They were clones. Copies. But that led to the next question, how was this happening?

Deku had made clones a bunch of times in front of them all, but they usually did what he said or stood in place for him while he snuck off somewhere. Ochako is making it a point to learn when he switches.

But back to whatever was going on in front of her. Deku had made clones sure, but they had never been this…independent.

"We can discuss logic later!" Two yells. "Just get over here and grab ahold of his feet so we can-hey! Don't you lick my hand!"

"Also not logical." The Deku called Three shrugs.

"What's wrong, now?!" Two asks in exasperation.

"He could kick me."

A new but as of right now, very familiar voice stops their fight. "Don't worry, everyone!" It was another Deku! And he was standing on one of the tables! "I, the real Izuku Midoriya, in the flesh, will stop this fight!"

"Five! Shut the hell up! Get over here and grab Thirteen's legs so we can throw him off the roof of the stadium or something!" Two's very blunt statement seems to finally break the class out of whatever state they're in.

As usual, Iida is the fastest. "Now see here! What is-"

"If we're throwing Midoriya's off the stadium…" Ochako's head wants to start hurting at the new Deku's appearance but instead, he looks so sad. She's never seen a look like that on his face and wants to do nothing more than run up and hug him.

"Nine, now is not the-"

"If we're throwing Midoriya's off the stadium," Nine starts again, his voice sounds so broken. "Can I be next in line?"

"I'm with him." Okay, Ochako now has two Deku's to hug when the Deku that appears next to Nine looks sad too. Not as sad, more nervous than anything.

"Might as well," the new Deku says in resignation. "They've all seen us now, they're not gonna wanna talk to Izuku anymore…"

By this time, Five has gone over and helped Two completely restrain Thirteen. Cool name if you ask Ochako. "You both need to relaaaaax." Yet another Deku materializes in between the two sad ones. "Eight, Nine, you guys are always such downers. Think of all the amazing pranks we can pull now that they know about us!"

"Oh my god Four, if you-"

"ENOUGH!" All of Deku's clones go quiet, even Thirteen stops struggling, and the class stares at the standing Iida who chops at the decoys with vigor. "We demand to know what is going on this instant! Where is the real Midoriya?!"

The door to the announcer's room burst open.

"Dad!"

"What the fu-"

"Uh, sorry." Ochako has officially lost count of the Dekus. The one to just appear addresses the class, scratching the back of his head. "We wanted to meet you all for a long time but weren't sure how to do it…Thirteen kind of forced our hand here."

Yaomomo stands beside Iida. "And who are you exactly?"

The Deku looks at his copies behind him before shrugging. "We're Izuku's clones. I'm Eleven by the way." He gives a small wave. "I'm the self-sacrificial one, that's why I'm the one talking to you all…"

"You're all very self-sufficient," Tsu is quick to point out.

"We had to be," Eight responds, a slight quiver to his voice. "Izuku didn't really have friends growing up so-" he smacks himself. "Idiot! Why would you say that?! If they didn't hate Izuku before they will now!"

Three walks over and stops Eight from tearing his hair out. "Don't mind him. That's Eight, he's anxious." He faces the class. "Hello, I'm Three. Logic."

"Boooooring!" Four puts an arm around the clone next to him. "You have no presentation Three. What's up 1-A! Four is my name and pranks are my game! Speaking of…" He points at Yaomomo with a mock glare. "You have been a huge thorn in my side! Just let us prank!"

"You each have a different style of speaking as well as unique word choices and tone. I am noting them down so I will be able to tell the difference between one of you and Midoriya," Yaomomo states dryly.

Three turns to Four. "I will enjoy watching her thoroughly defeat you over and over."

Four's glare becomes real to his clone brother. "Careful, or you're being dropped after Thirteen, and that won't be a prank!"

"What about-"

"Nope!" Four interrupts the clone he still has his arm around. "My life's goal is to make you happy, not throwing you off any ledges. This one here is Nine by the way. Depression."

Nine looks away. "What's the point of introducing ourselves? Not like anyone cares about us, they probably think we're annoying…"

"No!" Ochako cries before she can stop herself. "You're not annoying, I promise." Clone or not, she couldn't stand to hear a Deku talk about himself that way. And it hurt it didn't look like he believed her.

"You're all introducing yourselves with numbers and different personality traits, why is that?" Shoji observes and asks.

"The Numbers are just the easiest way to name us," Eleven replies. "And we're each of a different part of Izuku."

Ochako takes that in, she takes a little more in and realizes she doesn't like what she's hearing. There was Eleven who was self-sacrifice and that was worrying but not even the worst part.

Eight and Nine. Anxiety and Depression. The way they talked, and what Eight said about Deku not having friends, which didn't sound possible in Ochako's opinion with how likable he is, it all led her to very bad conclusions.

She also starts taking mental notes about the clones and how they talk. Deku liked to disappear and leave a clone behind, he liked to hide, and not just himself she realizes as Ochako remembers him and his injuries after the USJ. Well, he's not getting away with any of that anymore if she has a say in it.

It seems she wasn't the only one worried, a lot of heads are not very subtlety looking at Eight and Nine.

"Anyway!" Eleven gets their attention once more. "The one trying to choke out Thirteen is Two. Confidence. Kind of pseudo in charge when Izuku isn't here."

"Wait a-"

"Quiet, Five." By the looks on all the clone's faces, this wasn't the first time they had to shut him up. "He's hard to explain…"

"Not really. He's a personification of Izuku's guilt for hiding himself all the time," Three says like he's reading something from a textbook. Oh, Ochako is helping her friend asap.

Two sighs while keeping his grip on Thirteen. "Please don't judge Izuku too harshly. Thirteen here is new and doesn't realize we're not supposed to show our personalities without permission!" The yelling and grunts from said clone are probably not ones of agreement.

"Okay." It takes Ochako too long to realize she's the one who spoke, but with everyone staring at her, she finds her resolve. "I mean, okay. This isn't a big deal, right? Deku is still the same person even after this, why should this change anything?"

"I'm with her." Ochako almost collapses from her chair in relief when Tenko speaks up. "I don't care. Personally, I wish I had a bunch of NPC's that did whatever I wanted."

"We don't do whatever he wants!"

"I agree with O-Ochako," Yaomomo speaks up. The gravity girl snickers a little, the heiress still has trouble with their given names sometimes. "This doesn't change anything about who Midoriya is. Although…" Her gaze lingers on Eight and Nine. "It may be prudent to check on his mental and emotional well-being every now and then." Agreements are made throughout the class.

The door to the waiting room opens and the person they had all been waiting for runs in with Koda behind him. "Hey, guys! Sorry, I'm a little late, I had to-" Deku stops in his tracks cold, looking between the class and his clones. Back and forth. Back and forth again. And one more time before slapping his face into his hands. "How much did you hear?" His muffled voice asks.

"It's Thirteen's fault!" nearly all the decoys yell at the same time, pointing to the offender.

"The class knows who we are and introductions have been made," Three informs Deku, who still has his face in his hands. "I believe they were just in the process of accepting us."

"What?!" That causes Deku to finally look back up at them in disbelief.

"Yes!" Iida speaks for the class. "And I apologize if we have given you the impression we would not accept this part of your quirk, please do not feel the need to keep your clones hidden from us any longer!"

"It doesn't matter to me!" Aoyama puts a hand to his chest. "There could be a hundred Midoriyas and none would shine as brightly as me so laissez-les venir!"

"It's like we have new classmates!" Toru cheers happily.

"Oh, man. And we thought 1-B hated us before," Sero laughs.

"It's manly to show emotion!" Kirishima pumps his fist. What Ochako can only assume are manly tears run down his cheeks.

"I knew you guys were cool!" Four runs up to Kaminari. "We can plan pranks so much easier now that we can talk face to face, dude!"

Kaminari cracks a smile and points at him. "This one's my favorite!"

"Mine too!" Mina dashes over. "They are so much fun! Can we keep them, Midoriya, please?!"

"Uhh…" Deku seems more lost than Ochako has ever seen him while he looks at everyone. "They can be a handful…"

"Like we aren't one big handful already!" Toru counters.

"What a mad banquet of darkness."

Deku still doesn't look very convinced. "If you're sure and you're not weirded out…"

The last person Ochako ever expected to walk over to Deku does, Todoroki. "Objectively speaking, I'm stronger than you," he says bluntly, much to everyone's confusion. "And you somehow have gained the favor of several teachers. But that doesn't matter. You can make any trick you want, or bring as many clones with you as you can, I'm still going to beat you." And with that, the scarred boy makes his way to the back of the room to sit.

"He needed a good prank yesterday." Four breaks the silence, eliciting laughter from several.

Jiro twirls one of her headphone jacks around her finger. "Aizawa is gonna flip when he meets these guys."

"He's gonna be so much fun to mess with!" Two says excitedly. "And we're not students so he can't expel us!"

"He can expel Midoriya though," Ojiro retorts.

"True." Tsu puts a finger to her mouth. "But we've seen the clones act on their own already, can Midoriya really be blamed for their actions?"

While a class-wide debate begins on the subject, Ochako moves closer to Deku. "Are you ok?" She whispers.

"Are you guys sure you're ok with this?" He whispers back.

Ochako hums, giving him a reassuring nod, which relaxes Deku a little. She feels better at the sight but then, another thought occurs to her. "Hey, what's Thirteen's personality?"

Deku freezes, face going red. Was it embarrassing? He looks between her and the again struggling clone several times before exhaling. "I want to tell you…but there's some other stuff I have to tell you first. Are you okay with waiting?"

It was better than nothing! And she would hold him to it either way. Ochako tells him as much, making him laugh, it's a sweet sound. "One last thing?" Ochako brings up. She just has to ask because she doesn't think she'll be able to forget about it until she does.

"What is it?"

"Your clones are a part of you, right?" Deku nods. "Thirteen said you're excited to be anywhere if it was with me, is that true?"

Before Deku can say anything, the speakers in the room came to life, telling the classes to get ready to enter the field. Ochako frowns at not getting an answer while everyone gets up. She's about to move when Deku's voice stops her.

"Yes."

She whirls around but he's already moving to the front of the class to lead everyone outside. That was probably for the best anyway. It let Ochako look down and not have to worry about him seeing the smile spreading on her red face.

"The classes are about to take the field, how many more 'selfies' could you possibly take?" Loki asks exasperatedly at Thor taking what felt like his millionth picture with a fan in the lobby of the stadium. He had stopped trying to keep track of the count.

"Okay, I'm going! How was I supposed to know I had so many fans in Japan?" Thor signs a few more pieces of paper shoved at him.

A child tugs on Loki's sleeve and he remembers what his mother taught him about not punting small children. "What?"

"Can you take our picture?" He points at Thor and himself.

"Do you know who I am?" Loki is barely able to keep his voice restrained.

"Are you a hero too?!" The child gets even more excited at the prospect.

The question douses Loki's anger as he tilts his head at the tiny human, thinking it over. "In my own way."

"I'm sorry! I really have to go! I'll happily take more pictures between events!" Thor waves to his crowd of supporters before walking back with Loki to their seats to join their wives.

They get there just in time as the announcer, Present Mic, his brain recalls sounding an awful lot like Izuku, begins to name the classes as they march out.

"Now, you both are going to behave yourselves, aren't you?" Inko turns to give her husband and his brother a pointed look.

"You two are still on thin ice for offering the boys alcohol," Mrs. Kaminari warns.

"Yes, dear." The two gods say at the same time.

The four settle in while the hero Midnight calls on the student representative, Izuku.

"Is it time for the foam fingers yet?"

Loki shakes his head. "Not until the first event," he tells his brother.

Izuku walks up to the stage, controlling his nervousness a lot better than his father was expecting but he was proud. They were royalty after all and speeches come with the job so practice with the mortals was a good thing.

"Hello everyone." His son's voice travels throughout the stadium. "I am Izuku Midoriya." Loki had insisted that Izuku let the world know of his glorious purpose but the boy persisted that it sounded too conceited for the speech he wanted. Disappointing, he supposes, but he'll respect his son's wishes.

"I should just address the elephant in the room." An illusion of an elephant appears next to his son on stage, trumpeting. "No, not you." He snaps his fingers and the animal disappears, causing some laughter through the crowd.

Midnight approaches Izuku. "Midoriya, you don't need your quirk to-"

"Stand back, you mewling quim!" Izuku yells, holding his hand out.

"Wait, what did he just call me?"

Thor groans as Loki roars with laughter next to him. "Brother, what did you do?"

"I told him to say that if someone tried to stop him from using his powers!" Loki barely gets out between laughs. He immediately sobers up when Inko gives him a stink eye. Dammit, he was going to have a talk later he was not going to like.

Izuku goes on, creating various illusions of villains from the USJ, including Shigaraki and Kurogiri. "You all have lined up in the sweltering heat for hours to see us, the class that survived the villain attack. You want the untold story, the…unseen sights, your imaginations have been running wild for weeks and you want more. I just have one question, where are the villains now?"

The stadium's silence is answer enough. "Hiding! Because people like them, who aim to hurt, don't matter. Today isn't about them. It's about us, and I mean all of us! Hero Course, General Studies, Support Department, and Management!"

"It's about all of us here at UA showing you how bright your future is! How those kinds of villains will stay not mattering!" Izuku dismissed his illusions. "Because us here at UA, everyone, are going to show you just how hard we're going to work, and give you a preview of how far we'll go!"

"Because this is UA, and everything here is…plus ultra!"

"Plus Ultra!" The stadium cheers, people clapping and whooping at Izuku's speech. Loki smiles proudly and claps along. 'It looks like my lessons in showmanship weren't a lost cause after all.' Not exactly the type of presentation he would have done, but Izuku is his own person at the end of the day.

"My baby…" Inko begins to tear up. Loki sincerely hopes this venue has some sort of flooding insurance.

Izuku runs off the stage to his screaming friends who look to congratulate him. Hopefully, he is still heeding his warnings of letting anyone close. Midnight is eventually able to quiet the crowd some with the help of Present Mic.

"Looks like you're all as worked up as I am!" Midnight calls out suggestively to the crowd. "Let's get this thing started right away!" A holographic screen appears behind her, circulating through different events. "This year's first event is…"