A/N: Okay, two quick notes. First, since several people have asked about the romantic pairing for this, I'm leaning towards Shoto/Izuku, but at this point nothing is set in stone as I intend to see how things develop in the future of the fic. Second, I'm sorry about how Aizawa came off last chapter. I intended for him to come off as a skeptic and with his bias against popular heroes showing, but apparently he came off as a jerk or even a sadist. Hopefully he'll start looking better in the future.

Rewind

Chapter IV: Just Do Your Best

Naturally, Kacchan didn't buy the 'power accumulation quirk' story. "What's the truth, Deku? And don't feed me another bullshit story, you know how close our moms are, and that your mom talked to mine about your little doctor's visit. You honestly don't have a quirk naturally, yet now you do. I want the truth."

Izuku thought about that for a while. Keeping the secret as long as he had helped them both grow in his previous life, but now ... maybe they could grow in a different way? They were already rivals, and in a much friendlier manner than before, and he already knew he could trust Kacchan to keep the secret ... but would Toshi agree? That was the big problem, wasn't it? "It's not just my secret, Kacchan, but I will tell you as soon as I can, I promise."

Bakugou stared at Izuku for a while before nodding and walking out of the locker room, apparently accepting the promise. Once his arm was healed, (with Recovery Girl looking very upset with Aizawa after he told her why he was there,) Iida and Uraraka met up with him and walked to the train station together. As before, Uraraka accidentally called him Deku, to which Izuku was quick to correct her. "Actually, my name is Izuku, Deku is just a nickname Kacchan gave me ... and a lot of people use it as a way to make fun of me."

"I like it, it sounds like the word for 'You can do it,' so it would make a great hero name."

"Thanks, but it leaves a bad taste in my mouth these days. I've been thinking about a hero name for a while now, and it's not going to be Deku." Izuku replied. Uraraka gave a sad look at that, before Izuku said "But that doesn't mean you can't call me that! I like what you mean when you call me Deku!" Before, Uraraka's encouragement and reimagination of the meaning had been enough for him to claim it as his hero name, but even five more years of bullying had been enough to utterly ruin the name for him. Fortunately, he had found a good name shortly afterwards.


All Might for once was smiling on the inside as much as he was on the outside. These young perspective heroes already seemed promising (even with his concerns about young Todoroki and his clear rejection of his fire. Maybe there really was something concerning about Enji like young Izu … Midoriya seemed to believe.) Speaking of whom, his protege was proving quite interesting with his costume design. While it was clearly based on his famous Golden Age costume (though in green and black rather than red and blue,) it also had signs of someone with some experience, such as bracers on the arms and legs, and armored soles in his shoes.

Ah, but that wasn't important right now, what was important was that Izuku and young Uraraka were about to face young Bakugou and Iida in combat! Yes, his scenario was based on a classic American action film, but having spent several years there, he had a soft spot in his heart for everything American. Besides, he had set this up specifically to see how his students used their quirks in combat and their natural fighting styles, which would then help him (and others) teach them to be more effective in battle. Naturally that meant that he had to grade absolutely fairly, there would be nothing in his actions to make anyone accuse him of any kind of favoritism. Not that young Midoriya seemed to need any favoritism, considering his odd request.

Ah, but the time for reflection was over, the show was about to start. "Remember, Infinity Girl, the job is to recover the weapon, nothing more. No matter who the villains are, all we do is recover the missile."

"I know that, you don't need to keep reminding me! And how many times do I have to tell you, Deku, the name is Uravity!"

Izuku smiled at that. "What can I say? Your internship with 13 left an impression. Well, that and the ball throw."

"What's going on? And how can we hear this?" Kaminari asked.

"Young Midoriya proposed letting you hear things once the test began, and both he and young Bakugou decided to roleplay as if this were an actual mission," All Might explained.

"Here's a better question: why is Midoriya breaking down doors, and why is Uraraka carrying them?" Jiro asked.

Honestly, All Might had been wondering the same thing, but knowing his protégé, there was a method behind the apparent madness of his actions. But before anyone else could think of a response, there was a large explosion near Team A. "Uravity, find another way around and get to the weapon."

"But that's-"

"I know who it is, Uravity, and I can deal with him, now go!" Midoriya turned and smiled into the smoke. "Same old Kacchan, you just couldn't resist coming straight for me, even if it would be smarter for you to stay and defend that missile you stole."

"We have some unfinished business, Deku, and I'm not giving up until I beat you!" Bakugou charged at Midoriya, only for the greenette to catch his arm by the gauntlet and throw him over his shoulder. "How?" Bakugou gasped from his place on the floor.

"You haven't changed since we were kids, Kacchan. You may be Bakuhatsu no Kami now, but even now you still start your fight with a big right hook. How many times do I have to beat you up before you change? Even when I wasn't using my quirk, I could beat you, do you really think you can win now?" Bakugou attacked again, but Midoriya caught his leg with capture tape. The blond followed up with another right hook that Midoriya again managed to dodge. "Can you even hit me without trying a sneak attack, Kacchan?"

"Why is Midoriya taunting Bakugou so much?" Sero asked. "Seems like that's only going to backfire. And why is he running away?"

"It could be that Midoriya is planning something, but only time will tell," Fumikage responded. "What will prove interesting now though is that Uraraka has found Iida."

Iida had been hyping himself up to get into the persona of a villain, but Uraraka had prepared herself several minutes ago. "Iida! Prepare to die, you damned traitor!" And now the watchers understood why Midoriya had been giving her the doors, as she started hurling them at Iida, seemingly consumed by rage. "You'll pay for killing my parents, you traitorous bastard!" She was so dangerous that she actually chased him out of the room and away from the 'missile,' but she didn't seem to care about that. Well, that is until she reported "Weapon's in the middle of the fifth floor."

"Well, that's unexpected, but it's still a poor showing," Yaoyorozu said. "She could win right now if she weren't so intent on ... wait, is she actually trying to kill him?" she asked in shock when a door landed a little too close to Iida's neck for comfort.

"No way! I wouldn't have thought she had it in her," Ashido said.

However, that was when young Todoroki spoke up. "Can we see where they are in the building, All Might?" All Might agreed, and the building plan appeared as a 3D hologram. "I thought so," he said with a smug tone.

"Okay, what are you seeing that we aren't, Shoto?" Yaoyorozu asked. Well, that was interesting, he hadn't realized Nemuri and Enji were that close. Hmm, he may have to speak to Nemuri after this.

"What seems like chaos is actually quite controlled, Midoriya has been in charge of the entire fight. Midoriya and Uraraka are leading their opponents to the same end of the building. Midoriya's taunts are causing Bakugou to lose his temper, and when the time is right, Midoriya will strike, trapping Iida and leaving Uraraka free to secure the objective."

"That's a brilliant deduction, young Todoroki. I expected nothing less from you," All Might complimented the heterochromatic boy. Surprisingly though, the young man seemed to be almost upset at the compliment. Hmm, yet another hint towards trouble in the Todoroki household. He would have to keep a better eye on both Enji and young Shoto in the future.

"Come on, Kacchan, how did you ever expect to beat All Might when you can't even beat me?" Midoriya taunted. Bakugou absolutely lost it at that and decided to use his gauntlet to attack, but Izuku made him proud there. "Massachusetts Smash!" Hmm? That wasn't one of his ... oh, so young Midoriya decided to add kicks in? Good, that meant his successor was planning on being his own hero rather than just trying to copy him. The new smash did exactly what young Todoroki predicted: the blast was pushed upwards through the building, cutting Iida off from the main hallway and weakening the area enough that he dared not use his quirk to escape. Bakugou was so shocked by the result that young Midoriya managed to easily bind him with the capture tape.

"It doesn't matter if you've stopped me, Deku, you can't secure the weapon in time. My ultimate explosion is all but ensured by now!"

"Wait, what's Bakugou talking about?" Kaminari asked. "Both of the villains have been secured, haven't they? Doesn't that mean the heroes won?"

"Under normal circumstances, I'd agree. However, young Midoriya insisted on using more realistic standards," All Might explained. "His explanation was that if you capture the villains, the weapon can still detonate, while if you secure the weapon but leave the villains, they can resecure the weapon or at the very least escape to cause havoc again. Therefore, he asked that the heroes only win if they can both stop the villains AND secure the weapon in time."

"Ah, that's not fair!" Kirishima complained. "Why did Midoriya have to go first and set such high standards? It's just unmanly and very much not 'Plus Ultra' if we use your standards now, All Might ... no offense."

All Might just beamed at the response. "None taken whatsoever, young Kirishima. Young Midoriya asked for no extra points for using his higher standards, but if you all wish to use his standards, well, there's no reason for me to say no, is there?"

"No sir!" the entire class chorused, announcing their intention to use the higher standard. All Might beamed all the more at the response. Not only was Midoriya shaping up to be a leader and a good influence, but the entire class was jumping at the chance to go beyond as a result! He couldn't be more proud! Speaking of which ... "The hero team wins!" he called out as both Izuku and Uraraka touched the weapon with two minutes to spare.

Young Midoriya was quick to rescue Iida, but when he came to Bakugou, he didn't release him right away. "Remember our deal, Kacchan."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Deku. I hate you right now, but a deal's a deal." Subconsciously, everyone leaned forward, curious as to what was about to happen. "Curses! Foiled again!" For a moment there was silence, until everyone burst out laughing at the cliched villain line while Midoriya thanked Bakugou and let him out of the capture tape.

"So, what was that last bit about Midoriya, Bakugou?" Ojiro asked.

Bakugou just growled while Midoriya laughed but decided to explain. "Well, as you've probably guessed, Kacchan and I have known each other for all our lives. Back when we played 'Heroes vs Villains,' we made a deal that the loser would say a cliched line about the loss."

"And what was the line if the hero lost, ribbit?" Asui asked.

"You'll rue the day you bested me!" The entire class laughed at the answer, and even Bakugou smiled at the response. With the battle finished, the review went quickly, with Midoriya and his genius plan winning MVP. As the others went into their battles, All Might noticed Midoriya muttering to himself and taking copious notes in yet another of his Hero Analysis notebooks, sometimes asking questions of his classmates to ensure he understood their quirks. Well, that would certainly make the Sports Festival interesting, especially if he went up against one of his classmates during the one-on-one battles.


The next day, the media showed up as before and one of them demanded to know what All Might was teaching them. "He's actually teaching us a lot about what's needed for us to be good heroes. Including how to make a quick getaway from the media!" Izuku said before speeding away so fast he left the media literally eating his dust.

Inside, Aizawa told them to choose their class representative and as before, Iida proposed an election. Kirishima was quick to stand up and ask "Okay, is anyone stupid enough to not vote for Midoriya?"

"Wait, what?" Izuku was quick to demand. "Why me?"

"Because you pushed us to go beyond yesterday, to treat the exercise as unfair reality rather than a fair game. You are an inspiration and the best embodiment of a hero in our class thus far. I agree with Kirishima, it would be foolish to not choose Midoriya as our class representative," Tokoyami explained.

A minute of silence later, Kacchan just smirked. "Congrats Deku, you're living up to All Might's rep and it's only day three. So Shitty Hair, what's next?"

"Obviously we still need a vice-representative, and Iida's suggestion sounds like as good idea as any," Shoto responded. Within five minutes the election had been held and the votes tallied, resulting in Yaoyorozu winning the election with three votes and Iida receiving two.

At lunch, Midoriya led his two friends over to where Shoto and Momo were sitting. Shoto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why are you sitting here, Midoriya?"

"Is it so hard to believe I want to make a new friend?"

Shoto scoffed at that. "I'm not here to make friends. And as I recall, Aizawa-sensei said that if you're here to make friends, you should just leave."

"Correction, he said if we're just here to make friends we should leave. Having at least a good working relationship with others is necessary to be a good hero, especially when you need to ally with other agencies or when you work with sidekicks and subordinates. Besides, I have a plan for the future that basically demands I make friends, or at the very least allies."

"You already have a plan for the future?" Momo asked. "What kind of plan?"

"A plan to replace the Symbol of Peace," Midoriya stated. He said it so calmly that one might have thought he was talking about the weather. Then again, he had been planning this for years now.

Iida had the misfortune of taking a drink at the time, resulting in him spitting it out in shock. No one laughed, as everyone else was as shocked as Iida. "Replace All Might?" Shoto asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"For that, I need to explain a little history. Do you remember what happened five years ago? All Might disappeared for a few months, and ever since then, his time in the public has been dropping, and as a result, his support has been falling. Remember the Sludge Villain incident that happened last year? People were doubting All Might because he hadn't stopped the guy after someone had seen him chasing him earlier. All Might is the Symbol of Peace, but for how much longer? And what happens when he retires? I'll tell you what I see: I see an age of chaos rising to take his place, just like how Japan was before All Might."

"Then someone else will take his place," Sato replied. Wait, when did he show up? Actually, why was the entirety of 1-A gathered around this table now?

"And who would replace him?" Izuku asked. "Endeavor is an asshole who only ranks as high as he does because of his win rate, Hawks is too modest and controlled by the Public Safety Commission, everyone else is either too weak, too unpopular or have too bad a win rate." Shoto raised an eyebrow at the first comment, not many would dare to say a negative word about his father, even fewer in front of him or his siblings. "Besides which, even if someone did manage to replace All Might as the Symbol of Peace, it would result in the same problem a few years later. A single symbol of peace can be killed, lose or will need to retire."

"Then what is your solution?" Momo asked. "How does one replace All Might?"

"That's actually the easy part, Yaoyorozu-"

"Call me Momo, it will be easier for us to work together, Midoriya."

"Well then, in that case, you can call me Izuku. Now, the thing is, no one person can replace All Might. But what about a team of heroes?"

"There are plenty of hero agencies in Japan, Deku, what makes your idea so unique?" Uraraka asked.

"Because what I'm thinking of is not one hero leading a group of sidekicks, but an alliance of heroes that work together as equals, kind of like the Americans Justice League or Avengers. Heroes can join or leave as they wish for whatever reason, the point is that the team continues, no matter what. A team is unassailable, a team is unkillable, a team cannot retire. That is how you replace the Symbol of Peace."

"Such a team could work, but it may also backfire," Iida stated. "Its very strength would invite challenge. Challenge incites conflict, and conflict breeds catastrophe."

"Except you forget what else results. Conflict may breed catastrophe, but it also incites growth, either mentally, emotionally or spiritually. Aren't we all already stronger just from the tests that All Might and Aizawa-sensei put us through?" Izuku asked. Everyone nodded at that, easily seeing his point. "Also, it is during catastrophes that you see just how great humans can be. When else do you see people pull together like never before, nations supporting each other, small acts of kindness that mean so much to a single person, but will never be known by those in charge?"

"And you wonder why it was a unanimous vote to make you class rep?" Jirou asked. "That could actually ... oh, what now?" she asked as an alarm sounded.

"A level three security breach means someone has gotten past the school barriers! It's never happened before!" a third-year student explained.

"Wait, it's never happened before?" Izuku asked.

"Is that a problem?" Ojiro asked.

"Well, yeah, and you can see the effects now," Izuku replied, pointing at everyone else. Even Mineta could see what he meant as the entire school was in panic mode. "At least in Aldera we had drills so we knew what we should do when something like this happened, and no one panicked as a result. Momo, you think you can create something to help calm people down?" Momo was quick to do so, and Iida's keen eyes helped them spot the media and calm everyone down. While the panic died down, Izuku pulled out his phone and started texting.

Small Might: Did you know that UA hasn't had alarm drills in at least two years?

Symbol of Peace: No, I hadn't. I assume there's a reason for this?

Small Might: The media got past the barrier, and everyone panicked as a result.

Symbol of Peace: I'll talk to Nezu about that right away.

A/N: Okay, three more notes. First, Izuku's costume is basically what you see during the Overhaul/Eri arc, but with two adjustments: no mask and his chest piece is, as I said in the story, a green and black version of All Might's golden age costume, you can get a better idea of what it looks like if you've played My Hero One's Justice, as it is an All Might skin. Second, Bakuhatsu no Kami is Japanese for God of Explosions, which is currently Bakugou's preferred hero/villain name. Third, thank you to Lauren LeClair for the line "You'll rue the day you bested me."