Disclaimer: I don't own mha

Warning: Rated M for Mature themes

"You ready Midoriya?! Cause here I come!"

Kirishima charged at his friend full force ready to attack without an ounce of hesitation.

Midoriya on the other hand prepared to defend himself against the assault knowing full well he couldn't beat Kirishima at his own game and had to create the right opportunity.

As the red haired boy closed the distance he wasted no time in throwing the first punch with all the ferocity and determination one could expect from such a passionate and energetic fighter.

Midoriya dodged the first strike and blocked the second one after that he jumped to avoid one of the sweeping leg strikes that he knew his friend had grown fond of.

Kirishima wouldn't offer even a second for the boy to think or act as he kept attacking over and over until Midoriya managed to deflect one of his right hooks and gain some distance.

The boy raised his hand forward and sent an air force blast at his opponent with his fingers.

And sure enough managed to hit him head on with the distanced attack.

"Not good enough!"

It didn't do much as Kirishima once again charged at the boy with all the force he could muster.

Midoriya took a defensive stance and prepared to meet him head on.

As Kirishima lunged forward from several feet away he clenched his hardened fist and prepared to show off the full force of his offensive capabilities.

Fear and nervousness chipped away at the green haired boy as he looked at the determined and almost bloodthirsty grin across Kirishima's face.

'Gotta do this right or he'll clobber me.'

Steeling his resolve Midoriya ducked down a little to evade the brunt of Kirishima's assault, he was surprised to see the red haired boy follow up by trying to knee him in the face but manages to block it through pure reflex.

Not wasting any time Midoriya grabbed the boy by his hip and left leg while struggling to maintain his balance for a second. Though he succeeded in the following moments and with all his strength flipped Kirishima over his head and out of the ring.

Midoriya turned back and looked behind him with a surprised expression.

"Ah, Crap! I almost had you man!"

Kirishima slammed his fist down on the gym floor with a feeling of immense dissapointment in himself.

While still processing what just happened the green haired boy approached his fallen opponent and offered a hand up.

"You did great. I didn't actually know if I could beat you in this kind of thing... and to be fair I would've had a much harder time if I had to knock you out to win."

Kirishima looked up in surprise at the boy, after processing his words he couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he accepted Midoriya's hand and got back on his feet.

"Come on Midoriya. Give yourself some credit man, you keep improving everyday... in all honesty I'm the one who's envious of you. I can't help but fear I'll never catch up to you, or our other classmates. Everyone's working so hard, it leaves me in awe."

Midoriya stared wide eyed in shock at what he just heard as Kirishima looked down with a sad smile.

"But you stopped that thug just the other day and had an amazing introduction into the hero world. I saw the headlines, I think your doing more than fine Kirishima."

Shoji approached the two and they diverted their attention towards him momentarily.

"We we're just thinking about wrapping up this training session. We've been at it for hours and everyone seems a little worn down from it."

Midoriya and Kirishima looked past him and saw that everyone did indeed seem exhausted, some even possessing minor injuries from how far they pushed themselves.

Tsuyu and Ochaco were on the bench slamming down some bottles of water. Yui and Pony we're panting heavily as they rested nearby and Tetsutetsu just outright passed out after coming down from one of his many adrenaline rushes.

"Guess your right. Rest is an important part of being a hero afterall." Kirishima said as he looked away from them.

Shoji nodded and walked past the two only briefly looking back.

"See you back at the dorms then."

After the masked boy left Midoriya was surprised to see dome of their training partners coming towards them.

"You guys we're on fire, just watching you filled me with adrenaline." Ojiro said in awe and respect for the two.

"Indeed. I do believe you two can serve as shining examples for the rest our class to follow along the path of greatness." Iida added.

Midoriya chuckled at the praise as he plopped to the ground and let out a huge sigh upon finally being able to relax after such an arduous workout session.

"Thanks guys. Though even if that's true, I honestly think everyone in our class has the capacity and talent to take on the role of a leader and inspiration."

Ojiro and Iida we're both slightly surprised to hear such a remark but one could see in their eyes it meant a lot.

"Well, thankyou. All I have is my tail though and I don't fancy myself much of a strategist... Still, I try and give it my all everyday... and I'd rush to any of my friends sides if need be." Ojiro said as he reflected on his growth with a dissatisfied look across his face.

Kirishima soon sat down much like the green haired boy before and looked up at Ojiro with a confused expression.

"I don't know man. That sounds plenty like leadership material to me... I mean just look at All Might and Sir Nighteye for example."

The tail hero tilted his head in confusion while gesturing for the red haired boy to finish his what he was saying.

"Well, All Might doesn't come off as super smart in the straightforward sense, he relied on his brute force and physical abilities to get the job done... but he has decades of experience as a hero. Because of the hope he inspired and that experience in hand one could hardly call him stupid." Kirishima explained.

Ojiro and Iida both sat down across from their friends as the tail hero looked on in curiosity and intrigue.

"Sir Nighteye on the other hand is nothing like All Might. He thinks and plans in ways a simple guy like me could never fully understand, but he can't do the things All Might could. So he makes up for it with his own strength."

The tail hero seemed deeply contemplative as he listened intently and grasped the point of which his friend was making.

"What I think Kirishima is saying is that they're are many ways a hero can be a leader to people in need." Midoriya added.

Ojiro smiled gently as he stood from his seat and looked between his two friends with renewed confidence.

"I hadn't thought of it like that... I honestly really don't know if I have what it takes to inspire hope in others... but if you guys have that much faith in me, then how could do anything except give it my best shot?"

Midoriya, Kirishima, and Iida all looked at the blonde in surprise. Taken aback by his own determination they couldn't help but smile.

"We'll all do our best, but don't go thinking that I won't take an interest in seeing how you tackle things Ojiro. Perhaps we ought to have a sparring match some time to see how strong our convictions truly are." Kirishima said with a confident smile while happily extending his fist towards the tail hero.

Ojiro chuckled lightly and bumped his fist against the red haired boys promising to one day see how they've grown as heroes.

While everyone was caught up in their aspirations Midoriya looked to the side in surprise as he saw Ochaco approaching with a seemingly nervous and expectant look in her eyes.

With a sense of curiosity the boy couldn't help but get up to go see her. He left his friends to chat amongst themselves and ran over to the gravity heroine.

"Hey Izuku."

The girl hesitantly waved with a meek smile that only further bewildered the boy.

"What's up Ochaco? It seems like something is bugging you."

The brunette shook her head in disagreement while gesturing towards the benches on the side of the gym.

"Oh no, it's nothing like that. Why don't we take a seat though? I'm a bit exhausted from all that training."

Not seeing any reason to disagree Midoriya sat down beside the girl and looked towards the gymnasium doors.

"I know something big is coming up... and I know this has been eating away at you more than any of us... but I was thinking we could go out tomorrow night like we discussed."

The boy looked back at Ochaco in shock at the suggestion. As always his natural response was to contemplate.

Midoriya averted his gaze with a serious expression as he clasped his hands together.

'We really should be focusing on training... Things will undoubtedly get pretty heated once we raid the Hassaikai facilities.'

Ochaco looked over at the boy and only then did she notice that he was still thinking.

As he concluded his line of thought Midoriya finally looked back at her with a feeling of guilt and uncertainty in his eyes.

"I am really sorry Ochaco, but I don't really think we should distract ourselves with what's on the line... why do you want to anyways though? Surely hanging out with someone like me can't be that exciting."

Knowing her friend as well as she did Ochaco wasn't really suprised by the response as she silently stared into the boys weary eyes for a short while.

Sweat dripped from the brunette's forehead as she looked down towards the ground with a bit of anxiety.

"I actually think the opposite. We shouldn't be all stressed out and tense when the big day comes.

Midoriya looked on in surprise, not expecting such a response given her own devotion to the hero course.

"It'll make it harder to keep our composure if we're frustrated and stressed out... just one night. Let's try to forget about all these problems and have a little fun. After that we can focus on our hero duties again."

Still not sold the boy could only look down in conflict as he thought of her words and then of the hassakai.

"But what about... well y'know... Eri. She still needs us." He guiltily muttered.

"Look... I want to save her too, every bit as badly as you do... but we can't right now... You know we have to wait for the heroes... So why beat ourselves up over this?"

After some time he eventually sighed in defeat and leaned back against the bench.

"Alright... I guess it couldn't hurt to hang out tomorrow night... Where'd you wanna go?"

Ochaco's face immediately lit up in joy as she suddenly hugged the boy much to his complete and total shock.

"Oh Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! You have no idea how much this means to me!" The girl joyously declared while threatening to squeeze the air from his lungs.

Midoriya heaved and groaned in pain while reaching out to the light for salvation from the brunette's brutally affectionate praise.

A short while later she eventually released him and the boy stumbled a little as he was left panting heavily in a desperate attempt to regulate his breathing once more.

"I was thinking we could head to the pier. How about we grab some dinner while we're there? It'd be a nice change of pace from the food we have at the dorms or cafeteria."

The boy gave her a shaky and supportive thumbs up as he continued to try and regain his bearings.

"Alright I'll see you later then, and don't go pushing yourself too hard!"

Midoriya watched the girl leave the gym, almost everyone had returned to their dorms at this point except for Tsuyu and Pony.

'Is this really a good idea? Why is she so excited about it?'

And that's the chapter, hope everyone enjoyed it. Sorry it's been awhile... again, I'll try and get another chapter or two out relatively soon.