New year new chapter and new povs to experiment a bit. Please tell me if you feel the characters coming through at all in the narration.

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Comments:

Psy-Kick: Glad to hear you liked it. Fitting a new canon character into the new dynamics of the fanfic and fitting Gran Torino as a teacher to a very different Izuku could go reaal good or reaal bad.

Miqila: Well he still has things to do besides playing good-ish student.

Techgabe: So far I have managed to keep to the set triweekly schedule. Right now I'm bit short on the backlog though so need to really keep up. At least winter-spring is a lot easier at my job than last quarter of the year.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom

Chapter 64: Masters and Apprentices

Shirokuro flinched and bit his teeth together as cold steel cut into his arm, deeper than before, deep enough to scratch bone. He jumped back but the knife was left behind, clinging against the roof.

It took him a moment to catch his breath and heal before he could talk without wailing in pain.

"You were holding back last night."

"And you keep coming back from everything, so why complain."

"Wasn't complaining," Shirokuro responded.

It was mostly the truth. His confidence had taken a hit when he started doing even worse than the previous night. There was only so much he could do to compensate for lack of experience, especially while not actively using his quirks, and not even having the option to use several of them.

Stain used his sword to lift Shirokuro's fallen knife off the roof, then in one move caught and threw it at Shirokuro who narrowly caught it. Without his gloves his hand would have bled though.

"Good, had enough of that yesterday. You don't survive in the shadows thinking like that."

"Are you talking about…" Shirokuro had to pause to keep his confident voice from failing. "What you did to Long Arm?"

"I have yet to see your fantasy about people turning on that fake come true."

"I have not released the recording yet," Shirokuro responded. "I have been collecting more information on him first to go with it. People are going to deny things on the video, so I want to give people a clear path to dig out more."

"Well aren't you thoughtful."

"I can send my material out now if you want."

"If you need a break just say it. I might give you a moment since you are a kid."

Shirokuro decided to not try to argue that with the observant killer. The risk of exposing more by accident was not worth it. He still huffed, trying to sound amused by the accurate suggestion.

The killer at least seemed to hold his word and did not attack Shirokuro as he pulled out his highly modified and secured phone and turned it on. He already had everything in one folder with a bunch of single use online accounts and a list of social media platforms ready to post on. It took a while to tap through all of them even trying to hurry, but despite the impatient serial killer next to him he got through everything without finding a sword in his guts. He turned off the phone again.

"It is done. Make sure to watch the news the next couple of days."

The killer's stare did not change. Shirokuro took one more risk.

"You might want to move away from Hosu though."

"Why are you so eager for me to leave?"

"Because… when the news hits it will draw even more attention to you being here."

"I already killed the fake, many of them, and no one has caught me."

"Finding you wasn't that difficult," Shirokuro muttered.

"You haven't caught me, neither did those who found me before. You should know that with how you talked about Ingenium."

"I did not come to catch you. Which reminds me. When are you going to hold your end of our deal?"

Stain frowned. For most people that would have been enough to back off.

"You really think there is any point to me meeting the other Shigaraki?"

"Not likely, but that is what I'm here for. Well, these meetings have been… useful. I could consider some even after you meet Tomura, but I'm not interested in being dragged along with empty promises. Meet him. Talk to him. If you end up hating him, that is not my responsibility, and you will keep doing what you want."

"I would anyway."

They stared at each other for a long moment before it hit Shirokuro.

"Would?"

"Better get it out of the way. I'm tired of listening to you asking."

Shirokuro did not respond to that.

"I have heard what you think is your conviction. I want to hear the conviction of the other Shigaraki. There has to be something to do what he has done."

Shirokuro pressed his lips together but accepted the success of his mission. The rest was Tomura's problem.

"Tomorrow night good?" He asked. Stain looked away from him at the city.

"It has to be earlier than these meetings."

"We can skip tomorrow if you meet Tomura. I can't guarantee I'm free the next few nights anyway," Shirokuro said.

"And why is that?"

"I'm not going to tell you that. How about you?"

"What do you think?"

Shirokuro knew exactly what the man meant.

"Anyone specific?"

"You will see. This is one you also consider a fake at least."

Shirokuro was already running through a mental list of people he had investigated and mentioned to the killer. It was a challenge to not have a notebook appear on his hand to make sure, but the list of people he had talked out loud about in front of the killer was not very long.

"Native?" He guessed. Stain's face did not even twitch.

"So how will I find this Tomura?"

"Kurogiri," Shirokuro responded without elaboration, and dark mist materialized next to him, "we only need to agree on a location and time to pick you up."

Stain looked at the Nomu skeptically. Shirokuro continued speaking with seriousness in his voice he could not normally muster in front of the killer.

"Do not even think about trying to harm him in any way."

Stain finally turned to look at him again now with a wide smirk. After agreeing on when and where he would meet Kurogiri they trained a little more, but soon Stain suddenly left without explanation, leaving Shirokuro sitting next to the edge of the roof healing his newest wounds. Without a word Kurogiri had already began scrubbing the roof.

Shirokuro tried moving his helmet up to get proper fresh air but put it back on as soon as the stench of whatever the Nomu was using hit him. With such a stench he was surprised the chemicals hadn't melted through the roof already. At least he could be confident any DNA he had sprayed across the place would not survive.

"Are you ready to return," Kurogiri asked after Shirokuro's final wounds had closed and completely disappeared. He waited a moment to answer and glanced over the roof's edge.

"No, I want to take a look around first."

"As you wish, but please try not to make more of a mess. It would take too long to clean several roofs."

Towels and papers dropped from darkness onto Shirokuro's lap along with some cleaning spray, making him take a closer look at himself. The wounds might have healed but his clothes hadn't, not to mention the blood that was already on them. The only bloodied spot left on the roof was exactly where he was sitting.

"Sorry," a bit of Izuku got into Shirokuro's voice.

He got up to a crouch to give Kurogiri room to clean and started wiping the worst off himself, at least enough to not drip everywhere he went. A small warp gate next to him worked as a convenient garbage can for used towels and papers.

"Thank you," he said as he finished and started walking along the side of the roof, trying to remember what he had learnt about different heroes' patrol habits. Within the few steps he sped up to a run and leaped right to the next roof, then the next one. Some of his landings were not perfect and every jump still made him nervous, only barely making one of them, but he was glad for Stain's unintended crash course on this form of transit. Once he reached his destination, he crouched by the edge to observe the street below, soon feeling Kurogiri's presence behind him.

He focused on the street below, zooming in with his eyes, waiting. Soon a couple of heroes arrived and gathered at a nearby parking lot. A few other soon followed. Kurogiri covered Shirokuro under dark mist until a flying hero with the group arrived, just in case she had come over them. Good thing he had made it a point to teach Izuku's squad to look up sometimes.

Shirokuro facepalmed his helmet, silently cursing Hitoshi about the whole "squad" thing.

Finally Shirokuro spotted what he was looking for. The pro hero Manual walked on the street directly below Shirokuro and he was accompanied by a new partner in what seemed to be full body armor. A weight dropped from Shirokuro's shoulder, just for a moment though as he realized there was no one else with them, just one pro hero and a first-year student when the Hero Killer had just claimed a victim in the area.

Shirokuro had not found anything too dark about Manual yet, but that hardly helped if all it took to be on Stain's list was to take pay, and not be All Might. At least they now had a whole group together in the open while finishing their patrol. Even Stain would not attack that. Izuku might actually sleep for what little would be left of the night.

Shirokuro laid his hands on the edge of the roof and rested his head against them, watching the duo pass and safely approach the group. He was especially glad to see Tenya's head still turning around, keeping an eye on his surroundings including behind him despite the end of the patrol. Even Manual, as a so-called pro, seemed to only focus on waving to his colleagues. Shirokuro did not pay him much attention, preferring to watch as Tenya checked both directions before crossing the street.

Once they were across Shirokuro suddenly found himself looking directly at Tenya's face, well the face of his helmet, as Tenya looked up, checking the rooftops, and stopped looking at Shirokuro's direction. They were basically facing helmet to helmet even if Tenya shouldn't see him or at least not distinguish any details from that distance against the dark sky.

Izuku should help arrange some optics in his helmet.

Shirokuro blinked inside his and pulled back from the edge.

"Time to go."

After a change of clothes and a period of recovering, more mentally than physically, Izuku snuck back into Gran Torino's house. It was totally easy with no apparent security. It would have been so easy for a villain to take out the old man even without Stain's skills.

Izuku quickly changed out of his hero costume this time and got to bed. It only took minutes to fall asleep, even if the sleep itself did not last much longer.

After getting up Izuku headed to the kitchen. Thanks to the Sleep Deprived he was still feeling fresh like he had slept 10 hours, but in a different way he could feel the limits of the quirk filling. He tried to calculate how much time he had stored but he had still slept short periods so it wasn't as easy as remembering when he previously woke up. The calculation was interrupted by Gran Torino.

"Good morning kid. Sleep well, for whatever time you actually slept?"

"What do you mean 'actually'?" Izuku asked, acting well rested and cheerful, at least more cheerful than one would expect from him with a stranger.

"I woke up during the night. You were not here. Thought about looking for you but it is a big town and after yesterday I figured if something happened with you it would be the other people I would need to worry about."

"Was that a compliment?" Izuku asked.

"So where were you?"

"I couldn't sleep so I went to get some extra training."

"Couldn't, or thought you wouldn't need to?" Gran Torino pressured and poked Izuku with his cane, well tried to. Izuku tilted to the side evading the cane before he even thought about it.

"I didn't need to. I told you I have a quirk for that."

Gran Torino held the top of his nose and sighed.

"Even if that is the case, every quirk has its limits and costs. Whatever your quirk does to compensate, your body still needs rest sooner or later. You should not use a quirk like that when you don't need to."

Izuku turned his head. Mostly because looking at the old man he could imagine a worried Hitoshi in his place.

"I know."

"Knowing and understanding are two different things. So is accepting and acting accordingly for that matter. Young people often have difficulty with the latter parts. I guess we just have to cut the day short more than I planned."

"What do you mean… short?" Izuku asked. Gran Torino waved a hand.

"I'm supposed to give you practical experience on being a hero. You are not going to get that in my living room. We'll go on a night patrol, and before that we, you, are going to have a good long nap during the day, and no sneaking out! I know he-who-shall-not-be-named always talks about going beyond limits, but there are limits you don't want to pass, at least not unnecessarily."

Part of Izuku wanted to argue, but that could have had him defending All Might and the elder wasn't technically wrong. Izuku could imagine himself giving the same speech to any of the others if the roles were reversed.

"So, what are we going to do before that nap," Izuku changed the topic.

"Impatient are you," Gran Torino shook his head. "First we are going to eat a nice big breakfast, then talk a bit about the work of a hero and you can tell me more about your quirks that I should be aware of, which is all of them."

That was what he thought, though as long as Izuku remembered to draw a clean line between his and Shirokuro's quirks he could have talked about quirks till the end of the internship. He already had to mentally slap himself to focus.

"And then?"

"Then you get a second chance to punch me. I might have gotten slower over the years, but your performance yesterday was already quite impressive. I only ask you mind the old bones. Strength is valued in this profession, but injuring the hero you train under is generally not reflected positively in your grades."

"I can try to do that."

"Do or do not, and in the later case admit to it now. There is no try, not when using violence on anyone, whether training or not. If you are not confident in your ability to control your use of force even in the most intense of situations, you should not pursue this career. As a hero your second goal is always to catch the criminals, alive and uninjured. Sometimes they don't make it possible, at least not with certainty, but if you need to injure someone you should always consider it a failure, not an achievement even if you win. Your job as a hero is not to win."

"That is easier said than done in a real battle."

"That is why we train; I hope the teachers today teach this basic lesson."

"You know who teaches us."

"Hmm, yes," Gran Torino brushed his chin. "I take it holding back does not come naturally to you."

"Not really," Izuku admitted, "well, depends on the people. I'm pretty harsh when training with my friends. I fear they might pay for it later if I'm not, but I haven't hurt them any more than could be easily treated… usually."

Izuku looked down in shame as memories of his fight with Hitoshi at the sports festival flooded back.

"I see. If you learn to feel like that any time you harm someone, you'll be well on your way to being a proper hero. Until then, when you train with anyone else, try to imagine they are one of your friends."

"Okay," Izuku nodded, still somber from the memories.

"Except the redheaded one. Don't use him as the basis on holding back or you will kill someone, possibly me."

That made Izuku's lips twitch upwards, and the redhead in question wasn't even in the same city.

"Sure."

How had this old man learned to read him so easily already?

Talking about the others made Izuku wonder how they were doing.

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…

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Eijiro practically hopped out of the dressing room in his hero costume. It was still hard to believe he was in an actual hero agency, and not just for a tour. He might even get to save someone before the week would be over.

"Good morning Mister Brave!" He called out unnecessarily loudly. The pro shook a little and turned quickly, causing light to glint off a large yellow metal mask that covered his eyes and forehead. The rest of his costume mainly consisted of a dark blue bodysuit that he didn't fill with his pretty average build as much as Eijiro had expected of a pro hero. He at least had a red cloth tied around his neck that looked pretty cool and he could turn his pointy black hair into literal swords. His left chin was almost as black from a large bruise; Eijiro wondered if he should apologize again.

It wasn't quite like sparring with Izuku and his Dragon Blades. Mr. Brave didn't have the heat or muscles to really make Eijiro feel his hits, but he was a pro. He surely had tricks up his sleeve he had not shown to Eijiro yet. At least Eijiro hoped could learn something from the pro to impress his bro.

He stopped a few steps from Mr. Brave and raised his hands, already squeezed and hardened into rocky fists.

"Are we going to train again this morning? Please show me what you can really do. If you go easy on me like yesterday I won't get better fast enough."

Mr. Brave's face tightened, and he turned away rasping.

"Hmm, no. Yesterday was just… testing to determine what you are ready for, to make sure we can make this internship safe. You were… quite impressive, and with your quirk I think you are ready to come along for patrols and other daily jobs."

"Really?" Eijiro asked, ecstatic.

"Really," Brave said and continued quieter. "If you didn't get even a scratch from my quirk you should be okay even if you are still… a student."

His voice sounded strange at the end there, a bit shaky. Eijiro wasn't really sure what it meant, Izuku or Hitoshi would have been better with something like that. Perhaps he was getting sick. Eijiro hoped he would not strain himself for Eijiro's sake.

"Come on," Brave said, "afterwards we can try to find you something to punch for training… that isn't me," he ended in a mumble.

"What did you say?" Eijiro asked, catching up to the man.

"Just thinking for better ways to train you for the internship."

"Great, thanks! I can't wait!"

They exited the agency with Eijiro grinning bright enough to make people on the street stop to take a look, or perhaps it was his costume.

"I wouldn't do that even if they are heroes. At least you should be careful," a teenage girl told another, barely audible as Eijiro passed them. "Didn't you see that video in the news?"

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…

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Hitoshi yawned, walking across the office of an actual hero agency, but behind that yawn there was determination. He was finally living the dream that he had held for most of his life. He had to make it count. First, he had to complete his current mission, the most important task of the day, to make sure he could take full advantage of this opportunity and best help people when given the chance.

He reached the coffeemaker just in time to catch the last cupful from the pot without having to wait for more to be made. After the first sip he sighed. His shoulders dropped as he felt the warmth flow into him and relax his body.

"Finally waking up? I better see those lips turning upwards soon."

Hitoshi, his eyes finally opening properly, turned around as he raised the cup for a second sip. He decided to respond to Ms. Joke's wish. Now that he had his coffee it was easier. He just needed to message Izuku that he still got his coffee and even Izuku could not stop him. Hitoshi huffed at the thought while he smiled.

"That's the way!" Ms. Joke gave him thumbs up. "Ready for a day of intensive training?"

"So, it's going to be harder than yesterday?"

"Maybe a bit more actual work," she responded, "but I was thinking we would continue the same training. With our nonphysical quirks it is especially important to take our fighting skills beyond that of our enemies."

Hitoshi took another sip.

"So not that intensive."

Ms. Joke tilted her head, her smile twisting in confusion."

"What do you mean not that intensive? I pushed you pretty hard yesterday, even compared to training my second-year class at Ketsubutsu."

"Perhaps, but I could still walk straight when going to bed and there was no for need any medical treatment. I didn't even take painkillers to sleep without being brainwashed."

"W… painkillers? And what do you mean being brainwashed? You never told me you can use your quirk on yourself."

"I can't," Hitoshi said and twisted his smile into a smirk, "emphasis on I."

He enjoyed having his coffee and watching as pieces started to click in place in Ms. Joke's head.

"You mean that-" she paused, snapping her fingers, "that white haired kid who is also in Aizawa's class, Iz… something? The one people called Quirk Stealer."

Hitoshi's stare hardened. It wasn't anywhere near the cold stare of death Izuku could pull off when someone looked at Hitoshi wrong, but it delivered the message as Ms. Joke shut up.

"It's Izuku. Never call him by that ignorant accusation again."

"Oh," Ms. Joke said, leaning closer with a smirk. "Did I hit a sensitive topic?"

"I would not be here without him, never would have stood a chance at getting into UA without his tor- um, training," Hitoshi responded, not yielding a bit in what was about to become a staring contest, "and we both have lived with the same garbage from people because of our quirks. We actually first met when he got pissed at people doing that to me."

"Oh."

"I would also be dead couple of times over without him."

Ms. Joke gave up on the staring contest and her smirk disappeared.

"Really?"

Hitoshi nodded slowly, wondering if he should have shut up earlier. Then again, Izuku's reputation was still undeservedly horrible and every person that could see past that would be a win. He smiled over his cup.

"Really. There is reason my training has been so intense. I think he is afraid at going too easy on us and regretting it later. Considering what happened at USJ he seems to be right to do so." Hitoshi stared into the coffee and decided what he had said was enough without delving deeper into his feelings and concerns.

"I see. I guess trusting your quirk with him isn't such a big deal to you then. He has had your quirk, right?"

"Several times," Hitoshi responded. "It's not bad as long as I don't tense or resist the transfer, which is easy since that is when I get my best sleep even after training together. When I wake up my quirk is back."

"Sounds like you are close..."

Hitoshi gulped down the rest of his first cup.

"…and that I can afford to turn your training up a notch from what I was planning."

Her devious grin might have scared Hitoshi a few months earlier, but now he was just staring neutrally over his cup, wondering if he'd learn anything to show off during the next weekend's bootcamp. He was sure the others would. Sometimes it felt like he existed in a manga in which a week of special training could mean all the difference, especially for a stubborn training fanatic, and Hitoshi knew a couple of those.

"And after that you can tell me more about how my Aizawa is doing, and don't even try to pretend you wouldn't know I'm not going to buy it when you are wearing that," she pointed at the capture weapon Hitoshi had around his neck like Mr. Aizawa did. He was already starting to regret doing that. Not like he could really use it in a fight properly yet.

But it felt right.

"Finish your coffee. Today I'll show you some moves on how to quickly take down people one by one while defending yourself from others. With our kinds of quirks that is essential."

At least he had found a hero who could understand his position in a fight. Even if her training was soft compared to Izuku's, she might still have something to offer Hitoshi.

"Ms. Joke," one of the agency sidekicks called, coming into the room. He was not bringing good news. That much was obvious on his face. "Have you seen the news?"

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…

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Tokoyami walked around the agency with Dark Shadow peeking around corners ahead of him. All the quirk found was a young hero whose name Tokoyami didn't yet know that Dark Shadow caught by surprise.

"Hey! Have you seen that Hawks guy?" Dark Shadow asked. "He was supposed to teach Fumi."

"Oh," the young hero said, staring at Dark Shadow for another long moment before seeing Tokoyami. "Ah, you are that new intern. Hawks flew off a moment ago. Something about a sudden meeting, Hero Safety Commission or something."

They stood in silence for a moment.

"Soo," the young hero continued. "You could probably go to the training center to train while waiting for him. I'll tell someone you are there.

"That is probably best under these dim conditions. I hope what Hawks is dealing with does not take too long."

"He already spent yesterday flying away from us," Dark Shadow added. "We almost flew into a wall trying to fly after him."

"Heh, well sorry to tell you, but you are probably going to have more of that. He usually stays on the move."

If Tokoyami had a regular mouth instead of a beak he would have frowned. Well, at least he was getting extra training at Midoriya's place so he might not fall behind most of the class.

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…

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Shoto stepped out of the office building that was home for the agency where his internship took place. It wasn't a large place, nothing like when he had been made to visit Endeavour's agency for Endeavour to show him off. The building wasn't the agency, the agency was in the building. Even the training grounds were just slightly larger than an average yard inside the city block, with outside gym equipment next to the building and concrete and ground barriers lining three sides of the yard for safety. With any luck it was a small enough place to stay off Endeavour's radar.

Right now there was only one person in the yard. From a distance the short man, barely taller than Shoto, seemed unassuming. Shoto's first meeting with the younger looking thirty-something man had left Shoto in shame, remembering Izuku's words about looking down on people based on how he viewed their strength.

Also, getting closer to the man, some of that impression was lost. His hero costume was simply a martial arts gi, much like Ojiro's hero costume at school but light blue like a lightning, and that gi being sleeveless had quickly put cracks on the weak impression. The man might have been short and lean, but he was also what an ancient Greek sculptor would have sculpted if asked for a statue of a martial artist. It was easy to recognize Thunder as a pro hero up close.

Shoto stopped a few steps away from him, settled on his knees and waited quietly. He wasn't sure if he was okay acting submissive like that. People called it respect but was that just what those in charge taught him? He didn't want to cause trouble with everything going on and Thunder hadn't been bad to him, so he went along with the custom, but occasionally wondered what Izuku would do.

"How did you sleep?" Thunder asked.

"Normally," Shoto responded quietly. He was mostly honest. This kind of restless sleep had been normal for him before the Sports Festival and last night had not been much worse. He survived then. He would survive through this week. He only had to survive the week.

"Still not very talkative?"

How was Shoto supposed to answer that? He knew he didn't talk as much as others, but he didn't have much to say. Maybe it was okay to admit to that, but what if he said it wrong and the man got angry? Saying the wrong thing had meant suffering so many times before, at least when he wasn't talking to someone weak.

Then again, everyone he felt like talking to even when he didn't have to would not be afraid to talk back, even to someone strong, or especially someone strong, at least in Izuku's case. The silence was becoming threatening itself. What was the man in front of him thinking?

"I don't have much to say," he finally said. "Are we going for a patrol again?"

"Perhaps later. You might have been able to catch some practical experience yesterday, but that patrol was meant to introduce you to practical hero work and to get to know you. I am supposed to also train you, not just walk around with you."

Thunder walked away from Shoto, who stayed put on his knees.

"Get up," Thunder turned around to face Shoto, who obeyed. "You have great power, even greater than my own despite your age, but your use of it is not honed. You rely too much not only on your quirk, but applying it with overwhelming power. Do you see that?"

Shoto lowered his head.

"Yes, that has been told to me recently."

"Recently… so not by your father?"

"No, never," Shoto said, his tone turning harsher but also tenser.

"I was warned to not discuss or contact him, not just by your teacher but a whole group of people from some law firm that made some serious threats."

"I'm sorry," Shoto said before he had the chance to ask himself 'what would Izuku do?'

"Why are you apologizing? I saw how the sports festival ended. Seems there is something behind that request."

Shoto stayed quiet. He wasn't sure if that was right. Talking to others had helped, but it was also trouble for them, and he did not know how this man would react. What if he took Endeavour's side? Maybe he would already have called the man without Aizawa and Izuku knowing. What if he did?

Thunder glanced up at the clear sky.

"Did it just get colder?" He paused as his attention moved back to Shoto. His voice got more serious. "I see."

He took a few steps away and then just… waited. They stood there for a long moment before he even spoke again.

"Focus on controlling your breathing. It is the mirror of your feelings, but can also control them if you can control your breath. Draw air in slowly as long as you can."

He continued talking to Shoto about breathing and eventually Shoto found himself following the instructions. His breathing eased and the temperature around him evened out to normal. The frost around his feet disappeared.

"Sor…" Shoto started but Thunder raised his hand, silencing him.

"Don't. There are clearly things I should not poke, but you don't need to apologize for it. I should have heeded the warning."

Shoto gave a slight, quick nod.

"That said, there is something that has always helped me with all stress, anger and anxiety."

"Is it intensive training?" Shoto said to the surprised man.

"Yes! How did you know?"

"I think I know someone who does the same. He is always training." Shoto brushed his chin and muttered: "Should I be worried for that?"

"I don't know enough about that person to comment on it. Right now all I can do is help you. We were talking about the style you use your power with."

He spread his arms, expressing how open and vulnerable he was.

"Attack me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, just make sure to keep it in the yard. If that poses you any difficulty you are not ready to use your quirk out on the street."

"I understand," Shoto responded and crouched, ready for a fight. Suddenly his leg spun, and a line of ice launched along the ground at a high speed. Thunder lowered into a better fighting stance, but he didn't even hold his hands in fists. The ice was barely a meter away as it sprung upwards from the ground.

It passed Thunder who was now a bit to the side of the ice, looking at Shoto with a stupid expression, holding his mouth looking like an 'o'. Shoto frowned, but Thunder wasn't the first person to avoid his ice. It was rare, but had happened. Shoto instantly twisted his leg changing the direction of the ice.

But his feet weren't touching the ground anymore. Air blew out of his lungs as a much larger volume of air hit him with enough force to push him in the air. Suddenly the air current changed direction, hitting him in the back. Thunder was in front of him. Shoto raised his hands in defense, but he rarely needed to fight hand to hand, except when Izuku banned him from using his quirk.

Shoto's arm got twisted behind his back and he was pressed against the ground.

"Worse than I thought," Thunder said and twisted Shoto's arm a bit more while holding his head down and pressing a knee on his back. Trapped, Shoto breathed faster, trying to release more ice to not be at the man's mercy, but his heat also tried to burst out and slowed him down. He was quite literally shaking.

Thunder's hold eased.

"Now I know you could use your quirk to get out of this, probably could have turned me into ash by now, might have burned my hand already, but remember two things. First, that is the most horrible way to die and as a hero your job is not to burn people to death… Or to freeze them to death under a glacier, for that matter."

Shoto gasped and managed to calm down a bit. He tried to imagine he was held down by Eijiro, or Izuku. Izuku would be more likely to give a lecture. Either way felt safer and the pro hero was now even holding him down more gently than those two.

"Second, if I was a villain I too would have had time to do something much worse than hold you down before you recovered from the initial shock. Best way to get away from the enemy is to not be caught by them. To do that you must be able to stay mobile, not just stand there thinking your quirk will stop everything. I didn't warn you against relying on it just from principle. You cannot freeze or burn every problem in this world, but if you rely on your power too much you might think you can."

He released Shoto and his weight left Shoto's back. The man's voice had quieted a bit.

"And that day you will not be a hero."

"I don't even know if I will be one," Shoto muttered as he stood up.

"What did you say?" Thunder asked, his voice suddenly sharper.

"Nothing," Shoto responded, looking down.

"I don't think so."

Thunder reached for Shoto's shoulder, but Shoto jolted and the man thankfully withdrew. Thunder looked at him for a short moment, then turned around, nodding to himself thoughtfully.

"I want to ask why you would say that, but I sense it would not be smart. I am sure you have reasons for your feelings. You will eventually come up with the answer."

"Maybe. I don't know."

Thunder looked at Shoto over his shoulder.

"Do you want to save and help people?"

"I… yes."

"Then think what lets you do that best and you know what your choice is."

Izuku might have said something similar, but did helping mean being a hero?

"Hey Thunder!" Another hero called out from the door. "There's something you'll want to see."