A/N: I DIDN'T TAKE A YEAR THIS TIME AROUND WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

!Warning! - There are implications of discrimination on identity towards the end of this chapter, it will be marked with a +. If you relate to or have had similar memories to the scenes depicted, I hope you've been able to find support.

Whenever a sports festival comes to its final event, the crowd comes to be the loudest part of the festival. However, now, it was uncharacteristically quiet. Murmurs and questions were all that were being said, as they watched the spectacle before them. Here were the two powerhouses of 1-A, seemingly both unbeatable, at a total standstill, unmoving. Bakugo Katsuki, the explosive blonde with a colorful choice of words, was standing composed and even bored looking with his hands in his pockets. His opponent was standing in a fighting stance, defensively, as if ready to combat whatever attack got sent his way.

This hadn't happened with either of these two students' previous rounds, as they both would usually launch instant offensive attacks. With one now on the defensive, and the other standing nonchalant, begged the question;

What were they waiting for?

Izuku pumped his fist silently when he saw Bakugo hadn't launched a quick attack, meaning he might actually be going along with the plan. Kyoka herself saw his movement, and even gave a surprised side glance to the greenette. Her focus quickly changed back to the fighters, as they started a conversation instead of a fight.

"Excuse me?" The ice and flame user retorted with no intent to hide his anger when his opponent spoke. Bakugo sighed, and even looked outright bored with his finale.

"I said, how the fuck are you supposed to be a hero numb-nuts?" He asked again, no emotion at all. Hell, he wasn't even smirking. Todoroki's face had not shifted, nor his stance, as he remained stoic and unemotional.

"I don't see how this question is necessary, as it is self explanatory that the answer would start with me beating you and winning this festival."

"And how exactly will you beat me? With what? That half-assed glacier you sent at everyone else? We both know my firepower. You lose 10/10 fights with me, icy-hot." Bakugo retorted, even looking down at his hands and picking at one of his nails, as if getting them clean were more important than their fight. Todoroki, however, visibly shifted both in his stance and face, to one on the offense.

"We have not fought yet, so allow me to prove why I am higher in the class than you." He said, and like his previous fights, he launched his now signature glacier towards his opponent. The crowd quickly regained their volume, but were quickly stunned back to silence when the blonde completely annihilated the entire glacier, even having created a shockwave that pushed both himself and the ice wielder.

But while the crowd was stunned, Todoroki was visibly mad. Not only had his opponent proven himself, but even continued to stand there, bored. Hell, he even sat down with his head on his hand.

"Was that it? The great recommended son of the Number 2 Hero Endeavor couldn't even wipe out me, a nobody from a shitty ass no name middle school, couldn't land a scratch on me." He said, resuming his task at cleaning his nails.

Kyoka was both impressed and taken aback by Bakugo's attitude, but when Izuku face-palmed next to her, she realized this was not the plan. All this would make Todoroki mad, and that wasn't the goal.

The boy in question, however, could be visibly seen to become more angered by the words and actions of his opponent, and decided this fight would not become the big spectacle the people, and especially his father, wanted.

"Fine. You blew away a weaker glacier. Congratulations." He spoke, before a small flurry of ice began to conjure at his right foot.

"You will not be getting a fight anymore. I'm turning this into an execution, and you asked for it." He said, which actually brought worry to the ones who could hear him. While they were aware he was powerful, they had not seen him truly go all out.

He might be speaking the truth.

The winds calmed for a small moment, with Bakugo barely looking up, before the temperature of the entire stadium completely dropped. A nice Spring day was suddenly reduced to the coldest day in Japan, before an actual ocean of ice spread out at almost light speed from him, covering the field in seconds. It even rose up to nearly meet the lowest stands, and had brought both himself and Midnight on top of the mountain of ice.

Todoroki fell to his knees, and barely maintained his breathing as his entire right side was covered in ice, and his left side almost completely covered in frost. He had never used his ice to that extent, and had he not stopped before going overkill, he might have passed out from the instant hypothermia he had acquired. He wanted to activate his heat just enough to warm himself up, but he couldn't. He couldn't break his oath.

He opted to instead look over at the ref, hoping she would get the message and call the fight.

Midnight stood best she could on the new frozen surface, attempting to not slip, before looking for both students. She almost missed Todoroki with how much ice covered him, but when she saw him awake, she began searching for the other. When she realized even the grass was covered in ice, that meant out of bounds couldn't be decided right now, only the options of unable to fight, or immobility. When she saw nothing detailing the blonde, she figured he was still inside the ice, back on the ground.

"W-well it s-seems that w-with that i-i-incredible move..." She said weakly, before forcing herself out of the shivers and the cold that now enveloped the arena. "Well, it seems with one incredible move, Shoto Todoroki has completely entrapped his opponent in the ice!" She spoke loud and clear enough so her microphone would pick it up, and she could continue to announce the match. "Bakugo Katsuki appears un-" she attempted to say, before she lost her balance and slipped down onto the ice. The crowd became a conundrum about what was happening, but before she could stand back up, she realized she hadn't moved to lose her balance.

The ice did.

She carefully laid her head down on the ice to listen for what was under her, before a large crack spanned the entire glacier. She recoiled at the muffled explosion she barely heard under the ice, before she realized what was happening beneath them.

Bakugo was in fact not trapped in the ice.

He was currently in the process of entirely demolishing it.

She carefully stood and made some quick calculations as the cracks spread. If they were standing in line of the lowest crowd, that meant this ice had lifted them almost 75 feet into the air.

Yeah, that fall was out of the question.

"Izuku, I have a feeling you're listening in because you're a part of this, you somehow always are-" She began to say to herself away from her mic, before the entire ground groaned in movement, and began to break apart.

"I could use an assist like RIGHT NOW!" She said frantically, before the ground made one final shift, and simply dropped.

Nemuri saw that beneath almost five feet of ice, there was almost no ice left between her and the solid ground, but before she could even scream, she felt a tight grasp around her waist, and her free fall stopped. With a glance down she saw Black Whip was snug around her waist, and when she looked up, she managed to see that she was right that Izuku had heard. She smiled softly at him, and he smirked in response, clearly humored about how she knew he was a part of this whole spectacle going on with this fight.

Wait, fight. fights had fighters.

Fucking hell she forgot about Shoto Todoroki.

A quick glance around showed he had fallen too, but thankfully, she just managed to catch a certain explosive blonde teen catching him mid air, and setting him down on the ground. She sighed in relief, before she felt the ground touch her feet again. Izuku landed next to her, and while she wanted nothing more than to squeeze him in a thanking hug, she opted to remain professional and simply give him her thanks vocally. He gave a mock salute of course, but when she turned around, she saw that Todoroki was trying to stand up again, a glare easily able to scare even All Might leveled at Bakugo from his face.

"You had me for a second, but you made one fatal error. Would you like to know what that was?" Bakugo said, squatting down next to him. Shoto was struggling to get up, his ice and frost becoming almost too hard to handle, before his opponent spoke the words he was afraid to hear for so long.

"You failed the second you entered this ring with that weak ass ice of yours."

Midnight began to head over, before a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She glanced back at Izuku, before his expression and a shake of his head told her this fight was far from over. There was a plan in place.

Shoto's hand slipped from trying to push himself up, before a few frosted tears began to fall. Baguko knew he had to remain unfazed by any emotion, as Izuku told him, but he still hated it. He might have once seemed to entertain the idea of making his friend cry from his power, but after realizing how hollow it made him feel, he resented his younger self for his actions. Here he swore to Izuku he would change for the better, yet he had once again made a classmate cry.

( . . . )

"I need you to let Todoroki go all out, and then you have to completely break his hope." Izuku said, completely serious. Before Bakugo could even react to what he said, the greenette continued.

"Look, Todoroki has a shit ass history with his family, and worse yet, Endeavor pushed him to be his perfect replacement. Todoroki is revolting by not using his fire, because he hates his father so much he's refusing to use the power that he inherited from him." He said, before taking a breath to reorganize his thoughts into words. Bakugo however, was only staring with a deadpan expression.

"Your point? What the hell would I do?" His scowl came when he heard Izuku wanted to break his hope, as he was actively trying to not do that anymore, and was only deepening as Izuku spoke.

"Yes, I know how I'm asking you to act is how you acted to me all those years, but this is different. I've watched Todoroki when he uses his power. He needs his fire to warm himself, because otherwise he'll completely freeze his insides in going overboard. I need you to do this to save him from himself, otherwise he could actually kill himself with his own stubbornness. Get him to realize he can't be a hero without his fire."

Bakugo still scowled at the thought, before he looked up at his old friend, and realized he no longer saw themselves as teenagers, but little kids again. When Izuku once stopped him from hurting another kid at recess. He failed to see the goal Izuku had for him back then, but he could see it now.

He saw the path to be a hero.

( . . . )

He was shaken from his thoughts to side step a weak icicle being flung his way, as he heard the frozen words of his opponent beneath him.

"My mothers ice is not weak..."

Bakugo sighed at that, and decided to give him a hand. Well, he says hand, but to anyone else it literally looked like he just shot him while he was down.

To be honest, that's exactly what he did. The crowd audibly booed him for his actions, and he even saw Izuku have to hold back Midnight out of the corner of his eyes. He was glad he was here to help out, and even more so he wasn't intervening. He had to do this, and Izuku was giving him that chance to see it through, all by himself.

Todoroki himself managed to sit up in slight shock, staring at Bakugo with all kinds of emotions that seemed strange to see on his usually unemotional face. Hurt, Anger, Confusion, Gratitude.

"W-what the hell do y-you think you are doi-ing?" He said with a slight shiver, to which Bakugo rolled his eyes and squatted down next to him again.

"I'm showing you how much of a failure you've become, dumbass. You're killing yourself out here just to prove a point, and where has it gotten you? On the brink of death, where your opponent had to save you from your stupidity." He said while making his hand heat up, but not explode and holding it near the frozen boy. Todoroki allowed the heat to warm him up, but swatted his hand away after he spoke.

"So that's what this is about, huh? My father decided it was fine time to start buying off my classma-"

*BOOM*

"Don't misunderstand, you frozen bastard. As big of a hero fan I am, I never once wanted to meet Endeavor, and I certainly did not accept fucking money to ruin your stupid oath." Bakugo said after sending an explosion into the ground to shut him up.

"Then why the hell do you care?" Todoroki asked, sitting up fully now that most of the ice and frost was gone, but still shivering. "Last I checked you only care about people who can help you achieve the top spot." He spat, and Bakugo was thankful the cold kid hadn't looked around tp spot Izuku.

"I don't care, you fucking moron. Whatever oath you got don't matter to me." He said, standing back up.

"So why the HELL did you stick your-"

"Because it's a HEROES JOB to stick his nose and meddle, you fucking idiot. You were literally killing yourself using only your weak ass ice. All because you have daddy issues." Bakugo shot back.

"Do not call my mothers ice weak!" Todoroki shouted, flinging more ice Bakugo's way. Bakugo let loose a small explosion and completely destroyed them, and looked down at the thrower.

"I'm not, you fucking idiot. It's your ice I'm calling weak, because guess what dumbass, your mother doesn't need to grant you permission to use it, right?!" Bakugo shouted at him, which made Todoroki flinch and stare at the blonde.

"RIGHT?!" Bakugo shouted again, before Todoroki nodded quietly in response, before looking back at the ground. The blonde knelt down close to his ear to finally say what he needed to hear.

"Then that means it's not your fathers fire either, you fucking dumbass. It's your power. Now quit screwing around and let's get this goddamn fight underway. With BOTH of our full powers." He said, before standing up. Without a response from the half cold half hot student, Bakugo instead sighed and turned around, heading back towards his end of the arena. He saw Izuku over with Midnight at the referee stand, and gave a small shake of his head and a shrug about the whole situation. He went to kick a bit of ice as well, before a blazing heat from behind him completely melted it, as well as the remains of the glacier in the arena. His face grew into a full smirk, and a smug grin he shot over to Izuku, before turning around fully to see a massive bonfire had erupted from where he just came. The source of the flame stood, and while Bakugo could barely see past the bright glow of the flames, he could make out a small grin on the usually stoic face of Todoroki Shoto.

"About fucking time!" Bakugo shouted, making a few pops in his palm to emphasize his point. He came here for a good fight, with everything they had, and he was about to get it.

"You never take no for an answer, huh, Bakugo?" Todoroki said loud enough over the roar of the flames, making Bakugo actually laugh.

"Hell to the Fuck NO I don't, Bitch!" He shouted back, getting into a fighting stance. He could hear another voice trying to yell out at them, but he completely tuned it out. It was time for a true spectacle to happen, time for the real fight to truly start.

Todoroki could hear this voice yelling at him, but he paid it no mind. While Bakugo had a strange way to emphasize his reasoning, after thinking it over, he wasn't wrong. While he did inherit his powers from his parents, it wasn't ever theirs he was using. Quirks change when passed down from parent to child, and this was no different.

He just needed someone to tell him that, as he was too blind to see it for himself.

He smirked at his opponent's brash attitude, and began to churn his power. He didn't have much control over his flames, seeing as he barely trained with them, but he decided that didn't matter. Bakugo wanted them to fight all out?

So be it.

"Plus Ultra it is then. Don't ask for me to apologize for what happens." He said, before Bakugo simply answered by Laughing again. Todoroki knew Bakugo was going to launch one of his more powerful moves at him, so why not meet him there?

"FREEZE..." He raised his right hand out and launched a new glacier, but thanks to his flames, the freezing recoil barely made frost on his skin. When he saw Bakugo had chosen to dodge this time by launching into the air, he switched to his left side by superheating his body, and completely melting the glacier he just made. He saw Bakugo had started spinning at a rapid pace with his explosions, diving towards him, so he only had a moment to act. He gathered as much heat inside him he could, before screaming, "FLAME!", he completely torched the entirety of the arena, for creating such a large explosion, even fans at the very top of the arena could feel the winds and the temperature change.

Safe to say, the first years seemed to have some actual calamities in their class.

Midnight was completely blinded by both Todoroki's fire, and Bakugo's explosion, but before she could get blown away, she once again felt herself get grabbed and brought into the air, safe away from the blast. She looked up to see Izuku was even sporting a worried look as he watched below.

"You good?!" She shouted above the wind and noise, as he nodded.

"Yeah, I'm more worried about them. I gave Kyoka a pair of muffs in case things got crazy, but I don't think they could withstand that decibel of explosion.." He said, and he even heard Nana in his head make some comment about how cute it was he was worried about not only others, but also a girl.

So, safe to say, he was gonna ignore her for a bit.

Midnight instead chuckled, but kept her similar thoughts Nana had at bay. Right now, she was on the clock and had to make sure her students were okay. They landed back on the ground, and while Izuku insisted on staying, Midnight shooed him to go take care of his classmates, and even told him if Kyoka's hearing was damaged to take her straight to Recovery Girl. He hesitated, but thankfully decided not to argue any more and leaped away. As she started to walk towards where she last saw either student, she could hear Present Mic over the speakers going crazy about the power in Aizawa's class, which while she knew she had tuned him out a lot, she couldn't help but agree. 1-A now had 3 completely overpowered students.

Quirks are such utter bullshit.

"Yes, I am looking for them now, Mic. Now quit screaming in my ear." She broke out her thoughts when her coms went off with Mic asking who won. She continued to search the field before she finally caught sight of one of the fighters, being propped up against some ice at the edge of the arena. She jogged over and quickly felt for breathing and a pulse, before the head covered in both red and white hair looked up at her. She sighed in relief at the site, but this was only Todoroki.

Where was Bakugo?

Medical bots had arrived from behind her stand and onto the field, where Midnight let them quickly inspect Todoroki. She backs away to let them do their job, before the smoke finally cleared enough for to check around the arena. She made her way to the opposite end, where she was able to see the other fighter laying on his back, staring up at the sky. She could see he was awake, and started making her way over to him. When he got next to him, he glanced over at her with a tired smile on his face.

Huh, so he actually could look nice when he wasn't screaming profanities.

"So turns out Todoroki's ice is nothing compared to his fuckin fire.." He chuckled out, coughing at the end of it. Midnight looked him up and down, ( not checking him out in his burnt top, she may have her persona but she is 30. Bakugo's 15 for god's sake.)

"The medical bots are on their way. Todoroki is sitting at the other end in the arena, propped against some ice but otherwise able to continue. Just sit tight kiddo." She said, before Bakugo looked back up at the sky.

"Oi, I can keep going, I just need to catch my breath." He said, which earned an eye roll from Midnight.

"Bakugo, we're in the grass."

". . ."

". . ."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Sorry to break it bluntly."

". . . Fuckin' Izuku is never gonna let me forget how 'heroic' I was, sacrificing the win to help fuckin half and half.." Bakugo said with annoyance, which made Midnight giggle.

". . No, no he will not."

"Whelp, there y'all have it! Todoroki Shoto is this year's FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL WINNER!"

The crowd was going nuts, clearly haven forgotten about the strange beginning to the battle. While Present Mic and Aizawa continued to talk about the battles and award ceremony, Cementoss finished cleaning the arena up, and Midnight was currently talking to the top four fighters about how the ceremony would be conducted.

Izuku, however, was taking Kyoka to Recovery Girl. Turns out the muffs she had weren't rated for such a forceful blast, and actually caused a little hearing loss.

"Look, Izuku, you didn't have to do this. One of our classmates coulda taken me down. Hell, I could've made it myself." She said, only slightly annoyed after hearing he was told by Midnight to take her to the heroic nurse.

"And as I've said, I won't have any of it. Plus, we're nearly there." He said, and sure enough as they rounded the corner they saw the nurses office ahead of them. Kyoka sighed, knowing Izuku wouldn't budge on his kindness.

As soon as they entered, however, the punk girl almost froze at seeing a certain cause for her predicament laying asleep on a bed.

"Oh, now this is fu-"

"Miss Jirou, I would watch that tongue of yours, or your hearing can stay impeded for a while longer." A voice cut her off, and when the purplette flinched and turned towards the source, she saw the Hero Nurse herself sitting at a desk filling out forms.

"Bakugo has taken quite a bit of damage from the fight and needs rest before the award ceremony. Please, I understand he is the cause of your visit, but it wouldn't be heroic of yourself to impede on his recovery." She said sternly, holding eye contact the whole time.

The punk rocker wanted to rebuttal, but with that glare, she opted to only nod her head and stay silent. Thankfully, Shuzenji took that as an agreement.

"Ah, Izuku. Thank you for helping. Not only with Miss Jirou, but also in the ring with Midnight. She would've had to make a visit as well if you hadn't intervened."

Izuku simply waved it off with a smile. "Ah don't worry about it. Just doing what I can to help out since I didn't compete. Plus.." His calm smile turned more into a smirk, "... I can hold this over Midnight's head for a while, having to need to be rescued and all.."

"Of course you do whatever you can to tease her right back." The older heroine chuckled back, before turning to siphon through her closet for meds.

Kyoka, however, looked bewildered at her taller greenette friend.

"Care to explain, Broccoli head?" She jabbed, poking him in the side with her hands to make sure not to irritate her jacks.

"Izuku chuckled at the antics, and simply shrugged. "Don't go spreading this around, but I've practically grown up around all the heroes here at U.A. Midnight is more like an aunt to me, so any chances I get to tease her is revenge for how she stays in her persona during class."

Kyoka's look went from bewildered to completely flabbergasted. With how dodgy the 1-A powerhouse has been about certain topics in his life, she was surprised he told her so easily.

"Plus, if you're wondering why I told you so easily, it's because I trust you. Simple as that." He said, almost reading her mind.

"Wait, what? Dude, we've known each other for a few weeks, and we've only talked a couple of times both inside and outside of class. Plus, you dodge certain questions about your personal life, especially questions about your family. What do I do to earn that kind of trust?" Kyoka said, now looking down with a little shame. Here he was trusting her with this, but she's barely even told him anything about herself. Why did she deserve this?

"Kyoka, first off, I don't need to have any reasons to be friends with you. We just are. For the trust, remember after the attack I showed up to class in civvies, without my arm and the other students showed up at our door?" He asked, before walking over to Recovery Girl and retrieving the meds she had gotten for the purplette. He let her remember on her own as he walked back and handed them to her, which she took automatically.

"When me and Momo moved in front of you?" She asked, expecting that to be the wrong answer.

"Yeah. That's when I knew I could trust you."

"..."

"... Dude, are you serious? That's all it took? But others have done more for you to earn your trust than that?"

They had started to walk back to the stands for now. They had to ask around if anyone had heard about Momo.

"Yep. That moment you knew I didn't want to be seen, nor be the center of attention. With the offensive jabs and questions the other students were saying, you figured they would direct them all towards me if I was seen. Momo did too, so you guys hid me. While I wouldn't, and soon didn't care about all that, it was the initiative that made me trust you. Not many in my past have done that for me." He said and shrugged again. Kyoka understood more or less, but that last sentence caught her off guard.

"Hold on, what do you mean by that? What kind of pa-"

"IZUUUUUUUUUUUU!" A scream startled her from her questioning as she turned her gaze back in front of them just in time to see a pink blur sprint at them, before it crashed right into the greenette and started rambling incoherently.

"Mei-."

"Holycowiwaslookingewverywhereforyouafterthefightsheranofficouldntstopher-"

"Mei-."

"Itriedtotalktohertounderstandbutyouknowhowimnotgoodatfeelingsidontknowwhattodo-"

"MEI! Calm down, slow down your words. Who are you talking about?" He said, holding her upright by her shoulders.

"Momo! I ran into her heading to my fight, and she had a bad look on her face, but when I asked about it she just said she needed to be alone." Mei said quickly, gesturing wildly with her hands.

"I can attest to that. Before her fight with Shinso-" Izuku immediately looked her way, before realization set onto his face, and he sighed.

"If she fought Shinso... Oh man, Ok, Mei do you know where she went after you bumped into her?"

"Yeah, I gave her the key to the support studio since she said 'alone'. I figured since that would be the best."

Izuku nodded, before turning back towards the punk girl. "Kyo, I need you to tell Midnight I might be late, if at all I might miss the ceremony. I gotta go talk to Momo."

"Uh uh, dude. Tell this hyper and way too busty crazy girl to do it. I'm going with you. Momo's my friend too." Kyoka said defiantly, before both Izuku and said pinkette looked quizzically at Kyoka. Izuku turned to said pinkette and whispered something in her ear, before she simply shrugged.

"Ok, fine, I'll go tell Kaya. Don't get any ideas Izu." She said with a slight teasing voice at the end, before she turned and started making her way back to the stands. The greenette sighed as well, and started making his way towards their new destination. Kyoka was confused about what that was about, but continued to follow her new green bean friend.

"Soo, what was that about?"

"Don't."

"Valid."

( . . . )

When they got to the design studio, Izuku was surprised to see that the door was slightly open. With a quick glance towards his purple haired friend, they shared a look of understanding that if Momo truly wanted to be left alone, she would've made sure to close and lock back up the door.

"Let's take it easy, hear her side. We only now know she went against Shinso, nothing else." Izuku whispered to Kyoka, and she nodded in agreement. She had explained on their way over how she was really pumped up to make her way through the tournament. What no one was expecting, however, was for her to simply walk out of the arena before she could even engage her opponent.

With that, they quietly slid open the door and made their entrance, only to be welcome with a completely dark room.

"Momo? Hey, are you here?" Izuku said softly, hoping to not scare her.

They heard a small shuffle from one of the private studios, specifically Mei's. The two new intruders shared a look of curiosity, and made towards the room. Izuku gently opened the door, only to be met with the one they were looking for, lying quietly on the Mei's couch, facing the wall. The two shuffled over and crouched before the couch;

"Hey, Momo. Are you feeling alright?" Kyoka asked this time.

"..mm... mmm..." The girl denied with a quiet mumble. Izuku glanced at Kyoka, before reaching out and gently set his hand on her shoulder.

"Mo.. Kyo and I are here to listen. It'd be better to talk about what's getting you down rather than bottling it up.."

"... -ero?" She mumbled, and Izuku glanced at Kyo. He didn't have super hearing like her, so hopefully she picked up on what she had asked them.

"Momo, of course we think you can be a hero." Kyoka started, and immediately Izuku knew where Momo's thoughts lay. "You have a fantastic quirk, and a level head. You've put more effort into developing your power over almost everyone I know, myself included. These doubts you're having are because of a bad match up-"

"IT'S NOT JUst..." Momo whipped around to face them in a spur, before all her sudden adrenaline vanished when she saw their faces. Her eyes were puffy red, with remains of tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It's not just a bad matchup Kyo, it was the worst performance I've ever had.. And I've had a number of them." She said solemnly, before sitting up straight to face them. Izuku and Kyoula took her silence and movement as an invitation to sit comfortably on the couch, ready to listen closely to her thoughts.

"Before even U.A., I had such a straightforward training regiment to develop my powers. My parents both did whatever they could to help, buying the right foods, hiring the best tutors, even assisting me in my studies and combat training..." She continued, before taking a shaky sigh.

"...But now that I'm here at U.A., nothing's been simple. Whenever I need to prove myself with my power on my own, I can, but whenever I am put in a group, of against someone, I..." She sniffed again, before the tears came back. "I crumble.. I completely lose focus, make the wrong stuff.. I can do anything by myself..."

"Momo, we've seen what you can, and have done. Especially at the US-"

"Kyoka, I barely did anything at the USJ. Those plans I came up with? I never would've been able to do that had I not talked with you, and especially you Izuku..."

"I've only pushed you in the right direction, Momo. I never-"

"But that's just IT!" Momo shut him down, even standing up from the couch. "I've only been able to do things after talking with others! I've yet to do anything on my own! All I've shown the class was my quirk, not who I am! And now, with the festival? I didn't even get to show anything to the whole world!"

The two receiving this were sitting quietly, thinking about what they could say to change her mind. She had done stuff, amazing things, to assist not only others, but especially herself. Izuku knew she had troubles stabilizing and improving her confidence, but he knew Shinso's quirk. If she was in this bad of a state, it just proves that it got deep under her skin, and definitely put a stake in her confidence.

"I don't think I can do this anymore.." Momo said exasperatedly, having gone over to the work bench and placed her hands on it, still facing away form the two. After that though, both Izuku and Kyoka shot up from the couch.

"Momo..."

"Momo, that's not true at all!"

"Yes, it is!" She denied, still not facing them. "I've thought about it a lot since my match. It's been on the back of my mind since the USJ. Hell, even since I got here! I was recommended to U.A. only because of my standing in Japan, or more like because of my parents standing! I didn't have to prove anything like you guys have, and worst of all, the whole worlds going to question my abilities and accomplishments because of today."

"Momo, when we had our talk that day in the classroom... Or even in the garden.. Why didn't you talk to me about any of this? Or at any point you hung out with Kyoka, or our classmates? Why didn't you-" Izuku tried to ask, moving closer to her, before she finally turned around to face them.

"Because I didn't want to rely on anyone for this!" She screamed at them, and they saw how bad this was affecting her. The tears were flowing now, all her frustrations and thoughts coming out.

"My whole life, I've always needed to rely on others to help me get where I am! Trainers because I could never figure out how to throw a proper punch, tutors because this molecule shit I've had to cram in my brain never stuck on my own studying! Hell, my prim and proper childhood made me an insecure ball of anxiety, wanting friends but never being able to relate to them. All my life there have been others helping me try to become the true Yaoyorozu Heir, and now trying to be a Pro Hero on top of that?! You want to know what my mother told me when I first spoke up about wanting to be a Hero?!" She shouted, right in Izuku's face. Kyoka was dead silent, eyes wide from her best friend's outburst. She's seen Momo's home, and only a fraction of the wealth she would inherit, but nothing about the true weight of how she would inherit the Yaoyorozu Conglomerate.

"She told me it would be damn near impossible. That the expectations to be a Pro, and to manage all my family's companies on top, would break me. And you know what?" She was right in Izuku's face now, her nose mere centimeters away from his, staring straight into his wide eyes.

"It did, and I'm not even a Pro yet."

All three students were quiet now, two in complete chock about what was heard from their usually well composed friend. Izuku's expression morphed into solemn realization, as he looked towards the ground.

"And us?"

Momo's furious glare flinched as she took in those two words. She even took a step back from that.

"Izuku...?" Kyoka said quietly, concern now written on her face. It was clear they had something going on, but Momo never told her what it was exactly.

Seems she was about to get the inside scoop accidentally.

"After everything you've helped me with, everything you've told me.. Izuku, with everything going on in my head right now..?" Momo took a deep breath she desperately needed after her rant, and leaned back against the counter for stability.

"... I can't keep going like this. I want to, oh I really want to go somewhere with this, Izuku." She looked down now, not daring to see his face. She felt that if she did, she wouldn't be able to say what she needed to get off her chest.

"... But with training to be a Pro, and still learning how to inherit the company?"

There was a crushing silence now once she said that. Momo knew he would understand what she was implying, that there was too much going on in her life to be able.. No, to allow a relationship.

".. Never took you for a quitter.."

Immediately eyes shot to the source of the voice, with shock written over their features as Momo looked towards her closest friend since coming to the school.

"... Excuse me?"

"Kyoka.."

The purplette scoffed and crossed her arms. "So you've been having problems since you were a kid, big whoop. So you're thinking about how you're trying to be a pro, and inherit some bazillion dollar company, and you're breaking after some scumbag weasel said some underhanded shit to you? A guy you've never held a proper conversation with?"

"Kyoka, that's enough. Don't-"

"Izuku, shut the fuck up. She had her turn to speak, and now guess what? It's time for some tough love." Kyoka said, now getting angry at her friends. One throwing in the towel, and the other so shell shocked he was about to do the same.

"You have no idea what expectations are. Everything you've ever wanted, you've gotten given to you. Trainers, teachers, tutors, helping parents, you fucking name it. The only expectations you have are the ones you've placed on yourself. Being a Pro, and the companies? Those are your choices. Don't wanna be a pro? Sure, quit right now from the hero course, go business in gen ed, and bam, inherit the company. Don't want to be rich anymore, go ahead and tell your parents to fuck off and be a pro. You will turn 18 in two and a half years, a couple months before we graduate as pros. Your parents can't pull you without a justification, and I'm sure the teachers will defend against them forcing their company on you so young. Don't want to be with-..." She sighed, now growing even more frustrated, even a couple tears forming in her eyes. "-With Izuku? Then sure, become a workaholic, and toss him aside, throw away all the connections you've made with him. But don't you fucking dare say you can't deal with the expectations you've put on yourself, because they aren't expectations." She took a breath, having said what she needed. Izuku felt like she wanted to say more, but was holding back, hoping she got through to their friend.

"Kyoka, I can't just tell my parents-" Momo started.

"Why not? I did." Kyoka shot back, her gaze wavering slightly.

"Oh sure, your parents are like mine. I didn't realize you were set to inherit a conglomerate responsible for a quarter of the economic prosperity of Japan." Momo snarked, annoyed now at her friend for comparing their situations. "What could you have possibly gone through to-"

"Fuck. Off." Kyoka said harshly, making the heir go quiet again. She took forceful steps towards her friend, and even Izuku could sense the hostility now forming in the room. He attempted to take the punk girl's hand, but she pulled it away. "You wanna know what struggles I've had to go through? What expectations were placed on me? REAL expectations I told my parents to FUCK OFF WITH?! FINE! They wanted me to become just like my father, lead a band, become a popular rockstar, model for stupid magazines, and stay as far away from heroics as I could. They told me I'd be the outlier, and wouldn't be able to stand next to the powerhouses without my original body! That I'd always be looked at as a freak!"

Now it was Momo's turn to be stunned into silence. Izuku had frozen too, realizing now he had become the outlier in this conversation, and probably shouldn't be hearing this, but he could only hope with how he conveyed he trusted Kyoka, that would mean she trusted him in the same depth.

"All I wanted to be growing up was like my parents. A great musician, bringing smiles to people with my songs and sound. But one day, in middle school, I had an incident where I came to realize something, that something about me felt wrong. Like I was.. Incomplete. After browsing online, and even talking to a doctor, I realized I wasn't truly.. me. I was only me in my mind, but not my body." She said looking down now, gesturing to herself. "You wanna know why I'm envious of the other girls in our class? Why I hate myself? Because my parents were right. I wouldn't be able to stand next to you guys in my original body. My wrong body. Because guess what, Momo."

She looked up now, tears coming down her own face.

"I was born a boy."

A quiet gasp came from both listeners as Kyoka turned away from them, walking back to the couch, flopping down. She kept her gaze on her friend as she continued.

"My name was Kanshi Jiro." She scoffed at that. "Ironic, right? 'Kan', as in 'complete', because I was supposed to be the best of my parents, with my moms quirk and voice, and my dads skills with instruments." She wiped her tears away as she told her biggest secret, remembering sad memories. "'Shi' was for my purple hair, but the worst part was when I told my parents about it. I told them how I wanted the surgery, how I wanted to become, truly, complete, and you know what happened?" She cast her eyes down to not see the faces her friends would make. She felt she was already ruining the friendship she's only had for a couple weeks, but the looks they might give would only make her feel worse.

"The look of utter disbelief and disappointment was displayed on their faces. They didn't even have to say anything, I gathered all I needed from that. I knew right then and there, I wouldn't ever be looked at as their possible daughter, only their failed son. So I left, packed up and ran away to my aunts. They took me in without a second thought because, you know, lesbians, and in the next few years, helped me in more ways I could ever thank them for. Not only did they help where they could when I told them I wanted to be a Pro, but my Aunt Yuuka even helped pay for my surgery.." She smiled at the happy memories with her aunts, glad they were able to accept him wanting to be her. Her smile faded back into a solemn frown as she thought more about her past.

Izuku had moved to sit next to her on the couch, and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. At first, Kyoka flinched at the contact, not expecting it.

"Kyoka... Thank you for trusting me and telling us this." He glanced sharply at Momo, who flinched slightly realizing her situation. Izuku was still upset at what Momo had said, but he could push his feelings aside for his friend. She was telling them something she'd never told anyone else in the class, and she was definitely scared about how her two now closest friends might react.

"I don't see you any differently knowing this now. In fact, I'm proud of you." He said, which made her glance up with a slight sniffle. "I understand how parents might affect our lives, and how they might want us to go one way, while we choose a different path, against them. Even my own Mom didn't want me to be a Hero when I was a kid, no matter how much I talked to her about it. But for you to stand up to them? To fight back and stand your ground, saying you will become who you were meant to be?" He chuckled lightly at that. "Sounds like you're going to be a great Hero one day."

And that got the tears flowing again for the punk girl.

Momo, now hearing all this, completely broke down crying as she rushed towards the couch and flung her arms around her punk friend, completely surprising both Izuku and the purplette. Even with Kyoka's impressive hearing, she couldn't understand the incoherent mumbles that she was quickly saying, but two words stood out from it all;

"I'm sorry"

And that's when the dam broke again. Those two words told her all she needed to know, that Momo apologized for her harsh words earlier, but also for saying how her struggles couldn't even begin to compare to what her friend had already gone through.

'Oh man, we're all just a bunch of balls of childhood trauma with mindsets of being inadequate, aren't we?' Izuku wondered in his mind as he watched the two girls cry into each other's arms. 'While I get Momo's side completely, Kyoka raises an equal point. While Momo is currently going through it, Kyoka already has, and can help Momo get through her depressive state.' He decided to carefully move off the couch and get them both some water, seeing as with all these tears, they were definitely going to feel dehydrated. He chuckled to himself as he reached the fridge in the corner, 'I should probably wait on telling either of them about myself, I think this is enough trauma dumping today...'

A small earthquake rumbled through the room as a being watched what was being broadcasted to the world. The child that had ruined their plans since he had first met him had not only been given the power of his greatest enemy, but was now unlocking the abilities of his past prey. He had a feeling the child had taken in that blasted All Might's power when he heard of the report about the USJ, but seeing him so effectively use it against the Pro Heroine Miruko? He was running out of time. If the boy were to continue at this rate, they would become a force even he would have trouble stopping.

His plans were in jeopardy now, the timetable has been moved again. He got up from his mobile hospital and headed down the stairs, hoping to get some good news.

"Doctor, give me something that will please me." His voice called from the shadows before he stepped fully into the lights of the laboratory. The doctor in question looked away from his specimen towards his boss, and gave a satisfied smile.

"It's finally ready, sensei. The quirks have finally merged and accepted each other, and the brain we've implanted has taken control of all bodily functions." He said, turning his boss' attention to a TV next to the large vat, showing many different calculations, formulas, and medical statistics. All were green, and the line that read one's heartbeat was finally operating at a steady interval.

The large man let his own smile leak out as he read the information, and even gave off an aura of pride.

"It seems you have once again proven yourself to be one of my most important allies in this endeavor, Uragiri. More so than my pathetic excuse of an heir, Tomura, has been able to." The voice spoke at first with pride, before venom became laced in at the mention of the man child. He was only using him as a tool in completely destroying All Might, but if he could only replace him…

"Sensei, I believe Shigaraki has been given too great of an expectation to live up to for you," The villain doctor began, and paused when his boss' aura grew dangerously agitated at his words. He took a small breath to maintain his composure, before continuing. "... But should he not prove to be who you need, I may be able to provide you with an alternative."

The aura surrounding his master quelled only a small bit, but it was all Uragiri needed to proceed in his explanation, and tapped a few keys on his tablet.

"I have created, and forgive me for doing so without your permission or knowledge, a contingency, should you encounter any more... hiccups... to your plan." He said strongly, as to not appear afraid of the possible wrath that could be incurred upon revealing this plan. He turned the tablet around to show the data he had been collecting, and held it out to his master.

The taller slowly took the tablet away from his underling, and began to read through the plan the doctor had created for him. Uragiri stood stock still, not daring to do much more than breathe in the presence of his agitated master, before he felt a change in the aura. Lowering only slightly in malice, growing in curiosity, before his master's face changed to an evil, sadistic grin. He handed the tablet back to his underling;

"While I am displeased with you doing this behind my back, I cannot ignore it's benefits of you doing so. Uragiri, prepare your contingency plan. Should Young Tomura fail again on his tasks, we will act." He said with such authority, the doctor took the tablet and immediately bowed to his master.

"I will make sure your goals come to fruition, All For One. Success for you is my one, true goal."

All For One grinned sadistically at the specimen in the tube, and placed a hand upon the tank.

"The time is soon for you to feel the sun on your skin, my fletching. The boy has indeed inherited my enemies power, and is now unlocking the quirks of my past prey. We cannot allow him to continue, and you will make sure of that." He said, facing the form of his Doctor's newest creation.

A new nomu, one with a power he had sought after since long ago, merged with quirks he only dreamed of being able to command. However, taking quirks came at a price. Should he have put the greatest power this nomu had into himself, he truly would've lost the war before it could even begin.

This one was completely different from the other nomu, however. It had black skin and black demonic wings on its back, but the worst part was its face.

It was a complete doppelganger to one Izuku Midoriya

-:- 27. Who You Want To Be Known As -:-