A/N: Man, I am on a roll with my new tablet! I've got a new piece for this week, next chapter, and the chapter after that! (I think that's like two month's worth of new art for each new chapter release?)

On the topic of my recent advances with my artwork, I am opening myself up for digital commissions! If you guys enjoy my content and want to help support my efforts in a financial manner, here is a chance to do so while getting something uniquely for you in the process! My stories are meant for all to enjoy, but if you want something that belongs to you alone, I am glad to be able to provide such content!

There will be more details concerning this during the omake, but for now, enjoy the show!

Different Heroes

"Dude, good to see you made it!" Mina said as soon as her boyfriend walked in the room. He had enough time to give her a tight hug before he was approached by half of the class, led by Todoroki and Yaoyorozu.

"You didn't doubt me, did you?" he grinned tiredly.

"Are you alright?" Their heterochromic friend asked, noticing his apparent exhaustion. "Do you need anything?"

Kurai nodded quickly enough before he answered, "I just had something kinda weird/really cool happen while I was out there."

"Ooh, did you get to use an ultimate move?!" Ruby asked excitedly. "Was it the Divine Eye?"

"I'll tell you guys about it after I get these targets off of me," he told them, much to most of their collective disappointment. "Where's the magnet to make that happen?"

"It's near the back wall," Yaoyorozu informed him. "There's food and drinks, too."

"That sounds amazing," the tired boy said as he grabbed Mina's hand and started leading her away, much to her delight.

"Very bold of you," she said mischievously.

"Haha, don't get your hopes up," Kurai said as he squeezed her palm gently while they wove through students from other schools. "I'm glad to see that you got here ahead of me- just shows how much your skills and decision-making is coming along."

"Oh, uh… Right," Mina said, suddenly seeming downcast.

"You okay?" he asked her as they stopped in front of a rack holding ten of the magnetic keys, which Kurai immediately reached for.

"Yeah, it's just…" The normally peppy girl let out a big sigh before she asked, "Please don't judge me?"

"Of course not," he assured her as he popped off the first target, the one on his right thigh. "What's wrong?"

"Well, nothing's wrong, exactly," she admitted. "I just… kinda feel like I didn't earn my spot here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Xiao Long, Kota, and I all wound up near each other after Ketsubutsu split us up," she explained as she took the target from him. "In less than a minute after the dust settled, we had four students coming at us. I tripped them up, but Xiao Long actually knocked them out. Then she told me and Kota to take the points and pass while she went to look for more people on her own. I'm just wondering if I should have tried harder to convince her to take the points, seeing as she's the one that did the hard part."

Kurai pulled the second marker off his body, from the back of his right hand. Since his limb was now metal, it had actually made it hard to see the target at all, which was why he risked putting it in such a vulnerable spot. "You definitely did your part in helping us hold off against every other student that came after us," he pointed out. "When you've got a hundred-plus people gunning for you, and you manage to make it out okay, I'd say you've earned the right to make it to the next round."

"Huh," Mina said, sounding a little more like her usual self in that single syllable. "I hadn't thought about it that way."

"Get offa me!" Kurai growled as he smacked the last target with the magnet, as it was being very stubborn in adhering to his left pectoral.

"Here, let me," Mina giggled as she took the magnet from him and placed it against the target. "So, what happened out there? You said something weird went down?"

"…To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm entirely sure of what happened, myself."

Izuku could feel his heart beating so hard in his ribs that he could hear it in his skull. He kept up his Full Cowling for any sign of danger coming from the very creepy, very naked girl from Shiketsu High in front of him. So far since he had been separated from his friends, he had been tagged on one of his markers by same girl in front of him, gotten ambushed by another two schools, and rescued the same girl while she was disguised as his girlfriend. Apparently her clothes did not transfer over whenever she changed shape, so going back to her normal body had left her in her current state of undress.

"What do you want from me?" he asked as he tried not to stare anywhere he wasn't supposed to while at the same time keeping an eye out for any trouble from her.

"Like I said, I wanna get to know you better… Or your handsome friend with the metal arm," the girl replied slyly, making the poor boy even more nervous.

"Sorry, but we're both taken," Izuku managed to grit out. "Besides, you, uh… don't seem like my type."

"Oh?" she asked as she tilted her head at him, as if she talked to strangers in her birthday suit every day. "What is your type, Izuku? I can be any type you want, you know?"

"Th-That's not the point!" he stammered. "I-!"

"Deku, get down!"

The boy didn't bother to question the order, he just obeyed, diving to the side just in time for a boulder the size of a large microwave to be hurled over his head, heading right for the naked girl, whose face registered surprise right before she twisted her body to move out of harm's way. "Release!" As Izuku recognized Uraraka's voice, relief flooded him that someone had shown up to save him from the most awkward moment of his life. This, of course, was followed by a terror that dwarfed his previous fears as he realized that his girlfriend was the one that had just ran into him having a chat with a naked girl.

"Ochaco, th-this isn't what it-!"

"Don't worry, Deku," she assured him as she helped him to his feet. "I know this wasn't you. Mina and I caught her checking you and Kurai out earlier, but we didn't get a chance to tell her to back off. Both of us were kinda hoping to get to tag her out."

"That's not very heroic, Uraraka," Sero said as he leaped into view to stand atop another cluster of rocks. "Heroes don't hold grudges, ri-?" He paused as he saw the Shiketsu girl, who now looked a combination of irritated and disappointed. "Okay, what I'm thinking right now isn't very heroic, so who am I to judge?"

"Sero!" Izuku and Uraraka reprimanded him, causing him to shrug helplessly.

"Now there's too many people," the girl pouted as she began to slink away. "I'd love to continue this later, Izuku…"

"Not gonna happen!" Uraraka yelled as she prepared to throw a ball at the retreating figure, only to be stopped by her boyfriend's firm grip. "Deku, what-?"

"There's no point," he said with a slight shake of his head. "She's… Well, she's not wearing her clothes, and I don't think that she had any of her targets on her. We couldn't get a point off of her, even if we wanted to, plus it doesn't make sense for three of us to chase one target- especially one that shape-shifts."

"Shape-shifts?" Sero repeated as he leaped down to stand in front of his friends. "What's she change into?"

"Uh… Ochaco?" Midoriya answered, causing his girlfriend's face to turn bright red. "Yeah, she tried to get close to me by pretending to be you…"

"She what?!" the girl sputtered.

"Huh," Sero commented as he put his hand on his chin thoughtfully. "So these guys didn't just research our quirks- they know that you two are really close."

"Probably because we worked together at the Sport's Festival," Izuku nodded in agreement.

"For all we know, that girl might've been stalking us," Uraraka said with a shiver. "I don't like her, at all."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Izuku said with that reassuring smile of his. "For now, we should focus on passing the exam. Spots to move on are still open, but they won't stay that way. Maybe she'll get penalized for taking off her targets, and then she won't be able to pass."

"Oh, yeah," Uraraka nodded as she did her best to return the smile. "You're right, as usual, Deku. What's our plan?" As her boyfriend began to strategize, Uraraka did her best to pay attention to what he was saying, but a small part of her was trying to figure out what about that other girl bothered her so much, beyond the obvious.

I feel like… déjà vu?

"So this 'Shadow' guy just ditched you right after you helped him out?" Ruby asked, looking mad for her friend. "That's so lame!"

"I suggest we avoid working with him in the future," Weiss added while the others made motions of agreement, to which Kurai simply shrugged.

"He's a jerk, but he's legit, too," he admitted. "He immobilized over a dozen people while simultaneously tracking the movements of others that we couldn't even see. And he did warn me that they were about to pounce, even though he didn't have to."

"Ugh, you sound like Midoriya whenever he's trying to defend Bakugo," Jiro muttered. "Where is this creep?"

"Bench by the bread bowls," Kurai answered quickly. He'd seen the older student on his way back from the magnet station, but he had merely given a curt nod in response to Shadow's smug grin that seemed to be his way of greeting. "Don't bother trying to get a rise out of him- he can probably tell what you're gonna do before you do it, if his psychic abilities are as good as I think they are."

"Is that so…?" Jiro murmured as she glanced over her shoulder. A smile split her face as she turned to Blake and asked, "Hey, Belladonna?"

"Yes?"

"What was that book you were reading last night? You seemed really into it."

Blake's first response was for her cheeks to turn crimson, while Weiss simply rolled her eyes. "How did you-?"

"Augh!" Several students were surprised when a shout came from near the food table, followed by a hooded figure storming away and growling, "I'm gonna need a cold shower after that." As he walked past, several of the UA students burst out laughing, minus Todoroki, who didn't seem to get it, and Weiss, who seemed unamused by their antics.

"That's for bailing on our friend!" Jiro shouted after the retreating senior, who did his best to ignore them. "Not rockin' to leave a guy behind, dude!"

"Gah!"

"So, what's this about your new ultimate move?" Yaoyorozu asked Kurai, now more intrigued by what her friend had hinted at than continuing to poke fun at the other participant.

"That's actually the part of the story that comes next…"

"Yo, class rep!" Yang chuckled as she ran up beside Iida, who was dragging an unresisting Aoyama by his cape. "Need a hand?"

"Ah, Xiao Long!" the tall boy exclaimed. "I'm glad to see you- I've been looking for our other classmates in the hopes of helping them to pass, but so far I've been unsuccessful, save for Aoyama."

"I keep telling him to leave me behind," the sparkling hero-in-training sighed. "Alas, he will not be swayed, despite the fact that two of my targets have already been hit, and it would be to his advantage to leave me behind."

"Nah, screw that noise!" Yang snorted as they heard a large group of people beginning to close in on them. "No man left behind, got it, Sparkles?" She cocked her gauntlets, down to her last round of explosives, but ready to make them count.

The students of 1-A waited with baited breath as the spots to pass continued to fill up. Every time the doors opened, they hoped to see their friends walking through them, but they had no such luck- until the very end of the first round of the test, that is. The overseer had just announced that the final spot had been filled when in walked Midoriya with Uraraka, holding hands with big smiles on their faces, followed by Sero, Iida, Yang, and everyone else in their class. They had cut it close, but they had nabbed the very last spots open to pass on to the next part of the test.

Iida was surprised when Kurai walked up to him with a huge smile on his face before he seized his friend's hand in a strong handshake. "We're gonna do Tensei proud," he said to the class president, who's face lit up like a Christmas tree. To the side, Mina was congratulating Kirishima on a job well done.

"We will," the taller boy agreed. "We still have a long road ahead of us, but I know that we are, at long last, on our way to being proper heroes."

"Hikari!" Midoriya called out as he and his girlfriend approached their friends. "Iida! You made it!"

"I told him not to worry," Uraraka said as they stopped in front of the pair. "I knew you guys would be here with us."

"Wouldn't miss it," Kurai chuckled as he released his friend's grip. Remembering how Yaoyorozu had helped him, he told the three of them, "Hey, the magnet to take off your targets is toward the back. You should get that done and then have some food. I get the feeling that the second part is gonna make the first bit seem like a cakewalk."

"I concur," Iida agreed as he led the way for the trio.

Before they could get too far, though, Bakugo bumped into Midoriya, and none too gently, either. "So, you're here," he growled as he brushed past the quartet. In a lowered tone, so that only Midoriya and Kurai heard him, he added, "Seems like you're finally mastering that 'borrowed' power, Deku."

Kurai and Midoriya's eyes went wide as he stormed off, before they looked at each other with worry. "Does he know?" the boy with the robotic arm asked. Iida and Uraraka were deep in conversation and already moving toward the station, so they didn't have to worry about them for the moment.

"…Kind of?" Izuku answered.

"Kind of?" Kurai repeated. "What does that mean?"

"I… may have let it slip that I wasn't born with my quirk on the first day of combat practice," his friend admitted, his eyes downcast.

Kurai sucked in a sharp breath before exhaling slowly in an effort to keep his anger from coming to a boil. "He doesn't know about the specifics, does he?" he asked once he was sure that he could keep his cool.

"Not where I got it from, no," Midoriya answered, keeping his voice lowered. "The only thing he knows is that I wasn't born with it."

"Then let's see if we can't keep it that way," Kurai murmured as they began to follow Iida and Uraraka. "Don't confirm anything else for him, no matter how close to the truth he is. There's no telling what he'd do with that information."

"I don't think he'd-"

"Izuku," Kurai said sharply, his use of his friend's first name quieting him instantly. "I get that this is your secret, and that the decision of who to tell is ultimately up to you. But as your friend and partner in this crime, as it were, I strongly suggest that you don't reveal anything more to him. If anything, Uraraka or Iida ought to know before he does. This kind of secret should only be shared with people that you trust implicitly."

"Like you and Ashido?" Midoriya replied as he gave his friend a serious look. "Tell me, Kurai. If this torch had been passed on to you, would you have told her about it, knowing the danger that it could bring to her?"

Kurai chuckled at that. "We're training to be heroes, pal," he told the other boy. "There's a lot of risk headed for us, either way. But to answer your question, yes, I would have told her. Even if- God forbid- things didn't work out between us in the long run, I know that I can always count on her to have my back, just like I'll always have hers'. Besides, I told her that I knew about All Might losing his power while the fight against All For One was happening, and that he had asked you and me to be his successors. I didn't mention your exact part in it all, but I did let her know my bit."

"And she's kept quiet about it," Midoriya murmured, looking impressed. "It's good that you have someone that you trust that much."

"You do, too," Kurai said as they reached the station where the keys were being kept, though they hung back a bit, seeing as they were all being used at the moment. As he spoke, he kept his eyes trained on Uraraka, who was smiling at something that Iida had said. "I'm not telling you that you have to explain the situation, Izuku. But if anyone in your inner circle of friends should be the first to know, it's her. She's had your back since day one, and trust me when I say that all of this is so much easier to bear when it doesn't rest solely on your shoulders."

Midoriya was quiet for a long time, even after he had taken off his targets and moved to grab some water. Kurai stayed by his side the whole while, waiting for his friend to say something, anything.

Finally, the greenette turned to his comrade and said, "Let's talk to the girls after we get back to the dorms tonight. You and I can discuss what we'll tell them before then, after the exam is over."

"Sounds good to me," Kurai nodded as he clapped his friend on the shoulder. He apologized profusely when his metal arm struck the boy a little more firmly than he had meant to, causing his friend to gasp out in pain. "Sorry! I keep forgetting that's the metal one!"

"I'm okay…" the smaller boy wheezed as Uraraka and Mina walked over, having just finished catching up.

"You beating up on Ochaco's bae?" Mina giggled, causing Kurai to smack himself in the face, and then let out a muffled groan of pain through his metal fingers as he realized his mistake.

"Ouch," Uraraka said with a wince. "You okay, Hikari?"

"Peachy," he grunted as he lowered his fingers and sniffed, trying to blink away the reflexive tears in his eyes. "Ow…"

"I guess now you know how I feel," Midoriya told him with a weak grin.

"There are more pain receptors in the face- I'm pretty sure that I feel worse than you do."

"You didn't have the wind knocked out of you."

"Boys, boys!" Mina laughed, drawing both of their attention to her. "Let's see if we can get to the next round without hurting ourselves, okay?"

Before either of them could make a reply, an alarm sounded throughout the room, drawing their attention upwards while simultaneously putting them on edge. "Yeah, so…" a voice they recognized as the overseer's echoed throughout the room before a large TV screen flickered to life, showing the entire arena that they had just been through. "If I could have you all look at the screens, and take a look at what's gonna be happening next on the test…"

Search and rescue isn't exactly my thing, but it is part of being a hero, Kurai thought as he and the other ninety-nine students charged away from the now-open orientation area. It was to be treated as the medical triage in a landscape that had been destroyed by villains, which now had many, many civilians in need of rescuing.

Of course, the city and its surroundings were all populated by people that were trained actors, meant to play the part of the helpless civilians that they, the heroes, were meant to rescue. They even wore makeup that made it seem as though they were bruised and bleeding as they cried out for help.

The students had been informed that they were being graded on a point system, which meant that if they didn't meet certain expectations, they would fail the second- and final- part of the exam. While this meant that they could now all work together, regardless of their given schools, it was now more complex than simply tagging someone out to advance to the next round.

"Okay, Hikari, you're probably familiar with this kind of op," Yang said as she and most of the class followed him toward the ruined city zone. "What's the plan?"

"Seriously?!" he yelped. "I don't know about this stuff any more or less than you guys do! We've all had the same level of education when it comes to these situations!"

"Your dad never taught you anything about this kind of situation?" Mina pressed.

Kurai thought fast, knowing that whether he liked it or not, his classmates were looking to him to help them pass the exam. "Break up into smaller groups to cover more ground," he told them. "Make sure your quirks are compatible, and when you find a person, don't rush into the situation. In a city especially, the rubble can shift suddenly, and then you bring a building…" His voice trailed off as he remembered the police officers telling him that his father had died in a building that had collapsed on top of him.

Iida heard his friend falter, so he took up the slack for him. "He's right! Be sure to search carefully, and keep your ears peeled. Those of us with strength or speed enhancements, be sure to remember safe paths back to the triage so that we can escort the wounded in an expedient manner!"

"I see someone!" Midoriya shouted as he broke off from the group, heading for what looked like a small child crying atop a mound of rubble.

"Let him go," Kurai told the others, having come back to himself. "If he needs help, he'll shout. The rest of us need to keep looking for survivors. Shoji, think you can go with a team to the outskirts of town to find any stragglers?"

"Of course," the massive boy answered. "Who will join me?"

"I shall," Tokoyami answered.

"Me too, ribbit," Asui added.

"Count me in," Todoroki said as he moved to follow their tallest peer.

"I'll help!" Weiss called as she went after the quartet.

"Yaomomo, can you and Jiro take Belladonna with you?"

"Of course," the class' vice-representative answered, the other two girls moving to follow her lead deeper into the remnants of the urban jungle.

"Wait, how're we suppose to find people in this mess without Shoji and Jiro?" Mina asked him. "Koda already went off with Aoyama, so what do we do now?"

"Now, we use me," Kurai answered as he skidded to a stop, immediately closing his eyes and focusing on his Ajna chakra. Within seconds, his black-and-silver hair had turned indigo, and a matching third eye appeared on his brow while he concentrated heavily, waiting for his mind to adapt to the rush of new sensory data that it was receiving.

Once he had adjusted, he began to fire off commands rapidly. "Two people, trapped underneath a building and mudslide combo to the southeast. Mina, you and Xiao Long should go. Rose, Hagakure, and Sero, get to the north, there's a family on a rooftop that's leaning over, and it could go at any second. Iida, you, Sato and Ojiro need to go to a building next to that one, you'll find three adults on one of the lower levels where the floor has collapsed. All of you should coordinate with other schools if you can when you run into them."

"What about you?" Sero asked Kurai as his hair returned to normal and his third eye disappeared while he rubbed his temples in an attempt to stave off the dull headache that had already begun to build.

"There's a couple of people about a half-mile from here that I need to get to," he replied as he opened his eyes and blinked them rapidly to make sure that they still worked.

Once he had, he looked to Iida, who nodded before telling the rest of the class, "Try to stay in your teams if you can, but not if it means slower treatment for the wounded. Kurai's suggested teams are good ones, and he's already provided us with multiple rescue targets. If you need help, call for us, and we'll do our best to assist when we can. Let's move out, 1-A!"

Kurai had moved quickly to find a pair of young adults, one of which claimed to have a broken leg along with several lighter cuts along her body, while her friend was 'bleeding' profusely from her head. After checking to make sure that she didn't have a concussion, he had her sit down next to her friend while he tore off the top part of his gi to leave his torso clad in his orange undershirt, all the while asking her questions about what she did for a job, if she had a family in town, so on and so forth, all under the pretext of making sure that she stayed conscious.

Once he had ripped up the blue fabric to make a bandage for her head, which he applied as gently as he could, he addressed the issue of the broken leg. Moving away for a brief second, he found a thin busted pipe sticking out of the rubble, which he then yanked out and cut in two with his sword, making sure that the metal had sufficiently cooled before he began to use it and the remaining pieces of his gi to make a splint for the wounded girl, all the while explaining what he was doing, mostly to keep her mind off the 'pain' she was in.

Once that was done, he fired a bolt of energy into the sky, hoping that someone would come quickly to assist him, as there was no way for him to move the two of them without worsening the injuries of one or the other, or even both. Leaving one of them alone was also unacceptable to him, so he assured them that he wasn't going anywhere until help arrived.

When it did, he didn't know whether to be glad or on edge at its source. "Hey there," Shadow grinned as he levitated himself into the ruined offices where Kurai had found the actors. "I saw your signal flare, and I came running to help."

As much as Kurai wanted to ask if he was about to get backstabbed again, he knew it would be in very poor taste to argue with another hero, even if this was just an exam. So he swallowed his pride and answered, "Yeah, that'd be great. Oichi here suffered a blow to the head, but she doesn't seem to have a concussion. Makoto's leg is definitely broken, so she's gonna need to be moved carefully."

"Understood," Shadow said as he moved closer, his mood becoming grim. After introducing himself to the 'frightened' girls, he volunteered to take Makoto, since his telekinetic powers would make it easier for him to move her without causing further injury to her body. As he began to float her out of the building along with himself, he looked back to see that Kurai had Oichi on his back, and was holding her up with his arms behind him.

"You'll move faster than I will, and she needs to see a doctor as soon as possible," he said to the younger student. "She may not have a concussion, but that doesn't mean she won't have some kind of head trauma- better to have it checked before she ends up suffering from something that first-aid can't handle. Go on ahead, we'll catch up soon."

"Good point," Kurai nodded as he moved closer to the edge of the building. Over his shoulder he said, "Hang on, Miss Oichi. I'll have you to a medical center in no time."

"Less talking, more heroics," she responded, causing him to give her a sheepish grin.

"Right, sorry." With that, he powered up his body and took off.

Midoriya had just finished leaving the 'child' that he had rescued in the hands of one of the other hero students, who specialized in medical treatment when Kurai arrived with his own rescued civilian. After relaying all the necessary information to another student that was working the triage, he turned to his friend, gave him a thumbs-up, and began to lead the way back out into the field, Midoriya following close behind.

Maybe I'm not so bad at rescue work, Kurai thought as they ran. He'd always trained his quirk to be a mighty weapon, so he'd hardly thought about how it could be used for non-combat situations, but apparently when he combined it with all the things that he'd learned in school, along with the stories that he and his brother had grown up on, he was pretty decent at it- or so he hoped. I guess I won't know until after the exam is over.

Looking over at his friend, who had a look of intense concentration on his face, he asked, "So, how are you doing with all of this?"

"It's a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"I thought that this kind of thing would be right up your alley," Kurai laughed as they leaped over a mound of rubble with metal pipes and braces sticking out like an angry hedgehog's quills. "I've never seen myself as the rescue type, but I know you look up to All Might because of his save count."

"Well, that's true."

"Still, nothing wrong with us being different types of heroes," Kurai pointed out. "Maybe you and Uraraka can be the rescue experts while Mina and I take out the bad guys."

"What?"

"We're gonna be hero team, remem-?"

KER-BOOM!

A resounding explosion rocked the arena, the source of the blast coming from about a mile away from the medical triage. "The hell is this?!" Kurai demanded as they skidded to a stop, watching as a dust cloud billowed out from the wall. "Another natural disaster?"

"No…" Midoriya gulped as shadows began to take shape in the midst of the dust and debris. "I think this is a villain attack!"

"Seriously?!" Kurai sputtered, shocked at how difficult this exam was being made for them. "This is crazier than anything I saw with my father! Even for a pro hero, this would be a bad day!"

"It's about to get worse," Midoriya told him as he pointed to a large shape that was emerging from the massive hole in the wall. "Look who's there!"

"Is that-?!" Suddenly, a wolf's smile split Kurai's face, followed by a full belly laugh. "No way!" His outrage had done a complete one-eighty, and now he looked positively giddy.

"Kurai, this isn't something to laugh about!" Midoriya said as he began to run back toward the triage, prompting his friend to follow him, though he kept chuckling as they went. "If those villains reach the medical center, the civilians are toast!"

"I know that!" Kurai replied. "But seriously, this is amazing!"

"Why?!"

"You might be the most observant fanboy in our entire school, but when it comes to him," the boy with the metal arm replied, "I probably know more than even you do. After all, I worked with him, remember?"

Stalking toward the medical center, with a small army of sidekick 'villains' at his command, was the number ten hero, and Kurai's personal idol, Gang Orca.

Mataras: See? It's not so bad working with me every once in a while.

Kai: ...Fine, you weren't that bad.

Deku: Will we be seeing you in the upcoming fight against Gang Orca?

Mataras: That's for me to know and hold over our readers' heads until the next chapter release.

Kai: Any chances that we'll be getting an extra chapter release for Thanksgiving?

Mataras: Sorry, but no. I'm gonna be pretty busy this coming week, so I don't really have time to force myself to crank out an extra chapter early.

Kai: And yet, you're opening up yourself for art commissions on your Pa+reon?

Mataras: Okay, fine, if you want the whole truth on that bit, a friend of mine is getting married in a couple of months, and I'm a little short on funds to make it out there. I'm going to try and get some commissions so that I can make it without having to break my bank. Also, sorry about the weird spelling, FF is kind of stingy when it comes to advertising on other sites, so I have to get a little creative.

Deku: Oh, wow. I mean, it's good that your friend is getting married- I hope you're able to make it.

Mataras: Yeah, I grew up with the guy almost like he was another one of my brothers, so I really want to make it out for his wedding.

Kai: Well, what are your prices gonna be looking like?

Mataras: Honestly, it depends on what the customer wants. It can be as little as $20, or upwards of 50. I've gotten fairly quick at producing drawings, so if someone wants something simple like a single bust image, I can be done in two days. If they wanted something more complex, like a full-body image with pair of people, it may take closer to a week to complete. Also, it'll be first come, first serve, but I can message my patrons to give them a timetable on when to expect their drawing as soon as I receive the commission. I'm aiming for a total of $300 before I close this round, but I'll take what I can get. Anyone who is interested in hiring me can find me on Pa+reon under the name 'Not Your Average Productions'. If someone would rather use Venmo as a payment method instead, feel free to shoot me a DM on this site.

Deku: I hope you have good luck with all of that.

Mataras: Sorry if that seemed like a data dump on everyone- I just wanted to share the news ASAP, mostly because I'm excited to see what kind of drawings people have in mind (provided I can get hired XD).

Kai: In the meantime, we hope our readers have a good couple of weeks, and a Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the States.

Mataras: Next time- Team Lightning Drop

Deku: Go Beyond!

Kai: Plus Ultra!

Next time on Your Hero Academia: Unveiling...

"Hey, Hermes," he said with a smile as he noticed a familiar figure.

"What the-?! Hikari?"

"Not today," Kurai answered before he slammed his fist into his former ally's stomach, causing him to let out a choked gasp before he went flying into his compatriots, bowling over four more of them. In the same movement, Kurai drew his sword and slashed through a couple of cement bolts that would have coated his body and immobilized him. This was followed by a trio of energon blasts that took out two more henchman. "Today, I am the Guardian Hero, Kai!"

"A bold claim," Gang Orca rumbled as he turned around slowly, his red eyes fixating on his former intern. "But can you back it up?"

"Only one way to find out!"

Despite his projected confidence, and the fact that he was putting up a valiant effort, Kurai knew that Gang Orca would blast him with a sonic wave the second that he had an opening, and he couldn't dodge forever. He thought about trying to trigger his root chakra power again, but he wasn't entirely certain of how he did it the first time. I need to stick to what I know.

He felt a shadow loom over him as he struck down another henchman, and he knew that he was about to get pulverized by the large man that he so admired. I think I know how Izuku felt when All Might pummeled him and Bakugo...