The Man Out of Time

by Ultimate10

After a 150 years in ice, Izuku Midoriya finds himself in a new world where meta-abilities or "Quirks" are the norm. His journey to becoming a modern Pro Hero will have its challenges keeping his old identity a secret, facing old and new foes, and learning to let go of the past. Does the world even need Captain America anymore? Or is he just too old-fashioned? Marvel/MHA AU World.

14. Chapter 13: Day of Rest

...

The Man Out of Time

Chapter 13

---

"Once the storm is over, you won't remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won't even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you won't be the same person who walked in. That's what this storm's all about."

- Haruku Murakami

---

Musutafu, Japan - April 2197

Yaoyorozu, Midoriya, and Uraraka comfortably lounged back in their respective seats in the limousine as the former kindly served her friends glasses of chilled, distilled mineral water, an expensive brand not available in stores.

"Even the water is fancy," Uraraka muttered.

"Only the best from our Yaomomo," Midoriya lightheartedly added.

Yaoyorozu blushed slightly. It was only water from a private mountain spring enhanced with minerals. Everyone had access to that, right?

Glancing at the time on her watch, she noted the time at 20:20 (8:20 PM). Her driver chauffeur had informed them earlier it would take roughly half-an-hour to arrive at Endor Apartments. For Yaoyorozu, that was preferable as it would give her some time to converse with her two best friends.

She knew they needed to discuss what had happened, but how could she broach the topic without sounding insensitive or intrusive?

However, much to the creation heiress's relief, a certain verdette soldier had spoken up first. "So…the USJ…"

Uraraka frowned and lowered her head, both hands on her glass. "Y-yeah…that really happened… didn't it?"

For a moment, the limousine went silent with only the sound of classical music playing on low in the background.

"Yes…it was…" Yaoyorozu managed to say. "I'm at a loss for words. Perhaps the shock hasn't worn off yet?"

Midoriya placed his glass down in a cup holder. "After an experience like that, it's not uncommon for the full weight to hit you later. Usually, time is needed to process everything."

Both ladies looked at each other briefly before turning to him curiously.

"You sound like you speak from experience, Midori-kun." Yaoyorozu pointed out.

Midoriya's mouth morphed to a thin frown and lowered his gaze to the carpet floor.

Uraraka looked at her friend closely and could tell that something was weighing heavily on him. It was like he wanted to tell them something but wasn't sure if he should. She then recalled the moments where Midoriya had taken charge of the battle, and how effortless he made it look. It made her wonder something.

"Hey, Midori-kun," Uraraka's tone was soft, "today…wasn't your first-time fighting Villains…was it?"

Midoriya lifted his head up and, after a moment's consideration, replied, "No. It wasn't."

"I-I see." The brunette said. 'Guess that's why he seems to be handling everything well.'

'That's not surprising, considering the combat skills and the battlefield awareness he displayed today.' Yaoyorozu rationalized. "It was during your time in the American military." She stated rather than questioned.

"Yeah." He nodded.

Wanting to lighten the tension, Uraraka smiled brightly. "Well, we knew you were skilled and all, but you sure acted like a Pro Hero back there, Midori-kun." She chirped. "You could probably go Pro now if you want."

Yaoyorozu didn't miss how Midoriya's expression faltered slightly at that comment.

"Uh… I'm flattered by that, Uraraka-chan. But I still believe there's more I can afford to learn before I could call myself a full-fledged Pro," he rubbed his neck sheepishly.

The heiress looked at the verdette closely and decided to ask him something that had been on her mind for a while. "Midori-kun, if it's not too personal, what exactly happened during your time in the American military? The skills and instincts you've displayed…it just seems more than what a regular military recruit should know in just three years."

Uraraka turned to Midoriya, equally curious herself.

He frowned pensively. "Well, I can't really go into details, but I'll say that a lot can happen to a person in three years."

Uraraka blinked. Carefully studying Midoriya's expression, she noticed something that made her wonder. "Hey, Midori-kun…did you have to fight in a war?"

Midoriya gaped, his eyes widening. "W-w-what?!" He spluttered, clearly not expecting such a blunt question.

"Uraraka-chan, that's too personal!" Yaoyorozu chided.

"OH! S-sorry!" Realizing her error, the brunette frantically waved her hands in front of her. "It's just that…I used to watch old war movies with my folks from time to time. Midori-kun's expression just then reminded me of the people in those movies. Sorry I don't mean to offend you or anything." She bowed apologetically.

Midoriya blinked twice, still surprised by her assessment; mainly because it was right on the nose. 'Is Ochako that observant or am I just obvious? Either option is concerning…'

"I-It's alright!" He quickly assuaged her. "I…just wasn't expecting that. But…" He trailed off and lowered his head, resting his elbows on his knees.

Should he tell them? Was it too soon? Maybe he could give them a little information here and there? That way he wasn't completely lying to them while not revealing the whole truth. He inwardly debated on what he should say next.

Several moments passed as Yaoyorozu and Uraraka continued to stare at Midoriya, patiently awaiting a response.

He sighed heavily. "...To answer your question, Uraraka-chan, yes."

Both girls' eyes both widened, equally taken aback by this revelation.

"But…how?" Yaoyorozu was agape. "America isn't engaged in any open conflict with another nation. Are they?"

"No, but there's always someone out there to fight." Midoriya flatly remarked. "Sorry, I can't reveal more about it, at least for now. I hope you both understand."

Another short silence fell in the limousine.

For Yaoyorozu, she realized the reason Midoriya was so much further ahead of everyone else in class made sense. His experiences fighting in this mysterious conflict had honed and sharpened his instincts and fighting prowess, giving him a distinct advantage over his peers. However, she was still curious as to what exactly Midoriya had gone through in those three years in the American military. But she could understand why he couldn't say anything to them, whether it be an oath or for personal reasons. Maybe one day when he was more comfortable, he could share it with them?

Uraraka, meanwhile, recalled the instances where Midoriya would train unusually early in the morning. At the time, she had brushed it off as a militarism he had carried over into his daily routine. However, as Uraraka spent more time with Midoriya, she began to realize there was more to it than that. The Zero Gravity user prided herself on being able to read people well and could tell that something had been bothering her dear friend. She had suspected he wasn't getting much sleep at night.

Why? She wasn't sure. It didn't seem like he wanted to discuss it when she brought it up either—playing it off as stress from their classes. But now, the problem was clear: PTSD.

'Oh Izuku… I'm so sorry I didn't notice sooner.' Uraraka frowned sadly.

"But anyways," Midoriya snapped both girls out of their respective thoughts, "I was going to suggest that perhaps we invite our friends to meet up somewhere soon? Somewhere we can relax and be casual."

Yaoyorozu perked up. "Why not my place? There's plenty of room to accommodate everyone. We would also have the benefit of privacy."

"Great idea!" He then looked thoughtful. "Although, your estate may be out of the way for most of our group…"

"Don't worry about that. I am more than happy to reimburse anyone's travel fares." Yaomomo placated.

Uraraka grinned. "Well, I'd love to visit your place again, Yaomomo!"

Yaoyorozu nodded excitedly. "I'll have several rooms set aside for us, and have the staff prepare plenty of food and refreshments!"

"Maybe you can show off those gold-plated robots you mentioned last time too," Midoriya commented.

"Hmm," the busty ravenette held her chin contemplatively, "well, father and mother typically reserve those for highly distinguished guests…but perhaps I could convince them to make an exception…"

Midoriya and Uraraka glanced at one another, dumbfounded.

"Um, Yaomomo," Uraraka laid a hand on her shoulder, "Midori-kun was just joking."

"Eep!" Yaoyorozu cutely squeaked. "My… my mistake."

Midoriya and Uraraka both laughed at their rich friend's expense.

---

As the drive progressed, Yaoyorozu sent out a group text to their friends to inquire if they would like to meet up at her estate to relax, even offering to reimburse travel fees. The group chat aside from Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka consisted of Tokage, Tsunotori, Iida, Asui, Ashido, Jiro, and Sero. Midoriya suggested they invite Kirishima and Kaminari as well since the former was Ashido's boyfriend and the latter seemed nice after talking with him.

After some back-and-forth discussion, the group of twelve decided to meet up a little after noon tomorrow. They'd spend a few hours together watching a movie, then study at the library, and simply do whatever came to mind with no real plan. Ashido made a token complaint about the library, but the idea of spending time with friends in a stress-free environment overrode her dislike of academic studies—and she became more interested when Yaoyorozu mentioned a large section of romance novels.

Later, the limo finally arrived at the entrance of Endor Apartments. Thanking Yaoyorozu for the ride once more and bidding her goodnight, Midoriya and Uraraka exited the limousine and headed for the respective apartments.

The pair silently walked together, taking the elevator and disembarking down the hallway.

"Hey, Uraraka-chan," Midoriya broke the silence.

"What's up, Midori-kun?"

He paused momentarily. "If you need to talk…or just need someone to be around," he rubbed his neck and blushed a little, "I'm only a couple of doors away."

Uraraka smiled warmly at him. 'He's so sweet.'

"Thank you, I appreciate that. My door's always open to you too."

The verdette smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Uraraka-chan. I'm fortunate to have you and Yaomomo as my best friends."

Feeling the butterflies in her stomach, Uraraka turned away with her blush marks getting deeper.

"Are you okay, Uraraka-chan?" Midoriya asked curiously.

"Well, I…" Uraraka trailed off. 'Momo and Izuku both have their own nicknames…and then there's me…' Her expression fell slightly.

Midoriya saw this and became concerned. "Uraraka-chan, what's bothering–"

"Midori-kun…um, I have a selfish request." She said suddenly.

"Oh?" He blinked. "What is it?"

"I…" She steeled herself. "I want a nickname."

"A nickname?" The verdette was confused. Where'd this come from?

"Yeah! I mean, Momo's is Yaomomo while yours is Midori…and I'm just Uraraka-chan. You see where I'm coming from?" She frowned a little. "Sorry if I sound petty."

Midoriya's eyes widened. 'Oh! I never even realized!'

"No, you're not being petty, Uraraka-chan! I'm so sorry. I didn't even know that was bothering you."

"Well…it wasn't at first but," she lowered her gaze, feeling embarrassed, "I dunno…after what happened today…I feel closer to you and Yaomomo, yah know? Beyond just using my surname."

"I see." Midoriya considered his brunette friend's words and was instantly reminded of a conversation he had with Coulson two days prior.

"Already on a first name basis with them, huh?"

"No, I'm only using their first names with you. I don't think they're comfortable with that."

"I wouldn't be so sure…For all you know those two may be waiting for you to take that step."

He furrowed his brows. 'Guess Coulson wasn't so off base with that assumption.'

Midoriya returned his eyes to Uraraka and smiled. "I understand. Tell ya what, why don't we discuss this with Yaomomo tomorrow? We can resolve this together. Sound good?"

"Well…okay." Uraraka nodded, her smile returning. "S-sorry if I sound silly…"

He shook his head. "You don't. Honestly, we should've come up with one for you sooner." He glanced at his watch. "Well, I think we should both turn in now. It's been an eventful day."

"That's putting it mildly." Uraraka commented. She then adopted a stern expression. "By the way, ya rememba what Recovery Girl said? No training tomorraw. Ya hear me, mista?"

Midoriya chuckled lightly and held up his hands in mock surrender. "I hear you. I'll take it easy. Promise."

Uraraka nodded, satisfied. "Good."

"Goodnight Uraraka-chan."

"Goodnight Midori-kun."

The pair parted ways and entered their respective studio apartments. As Uraraka shut her door, she fell on her butt and buried her head into her hands. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I slipped into my accent! Now he's gonna think I'm some country bumpkin! Stupid Ochako!" She chided herself, shrinking in on herself.

Meanwhile, as Midoriya shut and locked the door behind him, he realized something. 'Huh…was that an accent in her voice just then? It sounded cute.' He thought offhandedly. He shook his head and prepared for bed, keeping his field knife and a loaded handgun by his bedside table.

Could never be too careful these days.

---

The day following the USJ attack, UA University had canceled classes for the Hero Course students until Thursday, giving the members of Class 101-A two days to recuperate. Something they would sorely need.

Turning in at 21:30 (9:30 PM) last night, Midoriya had slept till 06:15 (6:15 AM) the following morning, much to his own surprise. To the super-soldier that was practically sleeping in. He was pleasantly surprised that nightmares hadn't plagued his sleep either. It was a welcomed relief.

He chalked it up to his body being more exhausted from yesterday than he initially realized.

Turning on his laptop, he pulled up live feeds of major Japanese news outlets. Needless to say, the USJ attack had become a national story. He figured it wouldn't be long before some networks from abroad reported on the incident too.

An official press conference from UA University would be released within the week, but an official statement of how they were evaluating and checking on the wellbeing of their students came first, along with putting a plan into motion on how to improve security. The reports had come from social media, with Dean Nezu only providing a few soundbites.

The media was relentless, however. News outlets from all over Japan were camped outside university grounds, grilling any faculty member or student leaving campus for comments. They also demanded to know why All Might wasn't available for comment. Dean Nezu's response via social media was curt, stating that answers to many questions would be made at the press conference.

All Might had made a social post that was currently running through the morning news.

[All Might: As a U.A. faculty member, I am not at liberty to discuss the school's position at this time. We will discuss the unfortunate incident very soon.]

The time on the post was timestamped early in the morning. Midoriya frowned. 'Guess Toshinori didn't get much sleep last night. Then again, I can't imagine many in our class did…'

As the videos played in the background, Midoriya prepared a hearty American breakfast for himself. He needed the extra calories to restore his lost stamina from healing.

After he finished cooking and eating, and with plenty of time before the meetup at Yaoyorozu's estate, Midoriya decided to dedicate time to checking items off his Things To Catch Up On list. There were some long overdue items on it.

Before that, he needed to do something else. Taking a seat at his work desk, he reached into the drawer and pulled out his 'Reports' notebook. Flipping to the latest page, he began writing in English.

FROM: CAPTAIN AMERICA

TO: COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

SUBJECT: USJ AMBUSH

OUR CLASS'S FIRST RESCUE EXERCISE WAS SCHEDULED AT AN OFF-CAMPUS TRAINING FACILITY DESIGNED TO SIMULATE REAL-WORLD DISASTERS, NAMED THE UNFORESEEN SIMULATION JOINT (USJ). BUT THE SIMULATED DISASTER BECAME AN ACTUAL DISASTER IN MERE MOMENTS AFTER STEPPING INSIDE THE BUILDING.

A VILLAIN CALLED "KUROGIRI" INFILTRATED THE BUILDING USING A WARP GATE META-ABILITY. HE BROUGHT ALONG WITH HIM A COMPANY'S WORTH OF THUGS AND LOW-TIER VILLAINS. THEY CALLED THEMSELVES "THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS", AND THE ONE LEADING THEM–AND I USE THE TERM LOOSELY–WAS A MAN WHO CALLED HIMSELF "TOMURA SHIGARAKI".

Midoriya paused and took a deep breath, steadying his nerves.

I CAN'T VERIFY IF TOMURA IS TRULY RELATED TO "ALL FOR ONE" OR NOT. ALL FOR ONE NEVER SEEMED LIKE THE TYPE WHO'D RISK HAVING CHILDREN THAT COULD POTENTIALLY INHERIT HIS QUIRK AND USURP HIM. BUT A LOT CAN CHANGE IN 150 YEARS, I SUPPOSE.

THE LEAGUE'S OBJECTIVE WAS TO KILL ALL MIGHT AND AS MANY STUDENTS AS POSSIBLE. KUROGIRI SPLIT OUR CLASS AND DROPPED US OFF ACROSS THE USJ, PLANNING TO TAKE US OUT IN SMALLER GROUPS. THANKFULLY, THE VILLAINS THEY RECRUITED WERE RATHER LACKLUSTER.

THE MOST DANGEROUS WERE THE RINGLEADERS TOMURA, KUROGIRI, AND NOMU—A MINDLESS BIOENGINEERED MONSTROSITY IMPLANTED WITH MULTIPLE META-ABILITIES. AFTER FIGHTING THIS MONSTER HEAD-ON, I CAN CONFIRM THAT THIS CREATURE WOULD HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF KILLING ALL MIGHT.

IT WAS A BATTLE WITH MANY CLOSE CALLS, BUT WE WERE SUCCESSFULLY ABLE TO HOLD OUR OWN AGAINST THE ENEMY UNTIL REINFORCEMENTS ARRIVED AND EVEN TOOK OUT NOMU.

NOTE, APPARENTLY THE SHIELD IS CAPABLE OF ABSORBING KINETIC BLOWS WHICH CAN BE UNLEASHED VIA A POWERFUL SHOCKWAVE. IT'S NOT SOMETHING I COULD USE OFTEN, GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF DESTRUCTION IT CAUSES AND THE FACT THAT A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF KINETIC ENERGY IS REQUIRED AS A CATALYST. SOMETHING TO LOOK INTO LATER, REGARDLESS.

IN THE END, NO ONE WAS KILLED AND ALL OF THE LEAGUE MEMBERS PRESENT AT THE USJ WERE ARRESTED. HOWEVER, I CAN'T SHAKE THIS UNEASY FEELING I HAVE ABOUT THE WHOLE ORDEAL.

COULD AFO STILL BE ALIVE? IT'S NOT A POSSIBILITY I WANT TO ENTERTAIN, BUT IT IS ON THE TABLE. I ONLY KNOW OF ONE INDIVIDUAL WHO COULD TRANSFER META-ABILITIES INTO OTHERS. THE RATIONAL SIDE OF ME SCREAMS THAT IT'S IMPOSSIBLE…BUT THEN I REMEMBER THAT I TECHNICALLY SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE EITHER.

Running out of space on his page, Midoriya decided to wrap his report up.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT SHIELD WILL DO FOLLOWING THIS EVENT. I IMAGINE COULSON WILL REACH OUT TO ME SOON TO DISCUSS THE MATTER IN FURTHER DETAIL. UNTIL THEN, I WILL CONTINUE MY NORMAL ROUTINES UNLESS ORDERED OTHERWISE.

Finishing his report, he closed the notebook. Before he could put it away, a couple knocks came from the door.

"Midori-kun, are you awake?" He immediately recognized Uraraka-chan's voice. He absentmindedly pushed his book to the side and stood up.

He opened the door, finding a disheveled Uraraka with her school bag slung over her shoulder. She was dressed in a grey zip-up hoodie with the Captain America shield on the front, pink pajama shorts, and black slippers.

He politely averted his gaze at the sight of her smooth plump thighs. "Good morning, Uraraka-chan." He paused and noted her messy hair and tired expression. 'Guess she didn't get much sleep…'

She smiled tiredly. "Good morning… Whatcha up to?"

He shrugged. "Not much. I was just taking it easy."

Uraraka giggled. "That's a first. But I'm glad you're resting like you're supposed to."

He shrugged. "Even soldiers need rest." He then stepped out of the way. "Come on in. I'll put on some tea and rice for us."

"Thanks, Midori." She happily said, stepping out of her slippers and placing them by the door with Midoriya's red boots.

Uraraka took a seat on his couch while Midoriya put on tea and prepared to make a few servings of rice in his rice cooker. The verdette glanced over to see the brunette pulling out her sketchbook, a box of colored pencils, and her laptop from her bag.

Curious, he exited the kitchen nook. "Tea and rice should be ready soon. Whatcha doing?"

"I'm getting ready to draw a commissioned piece." Uraraka replied, placing her sketch items on the coffee table in front of her.

"Oh?" He sat in a chair across from her. "I didn't know you did commission work." His interest was piqued.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, I started doing it in high school to help make a little extra money." She frowned. "Nothing fancy or anything. I mostly just sketch and color in with pencils. I can't afford the equipment or software to do the nice digital work."

"Pencil sketching is still good in its own right." Midoriya noted. "Comics and manga in the early days were all hand-drawn. They didn't need digital artwork to make it cool."

"Yeah…that's true." Uraraka conceded. "But-"

"But nothing. Besides, I've seen your art. You do fantastic work!" He encouraged, smiling. "Don't ever think it's inadequate."

The butterflies in her stomach returned. "T-thanks, Midori-kun," Uraraka turned away, her face heating up. 'Geez! Why does he make me feel so flustered?'

"So, how do people commission you for artwork?" He asked curiously.

Uraraka opened her laptop, an older model with scratches on the casing, and (as soon as it loaded) brought up an artwork webpage. "I post my work on this site called DeviateArt. People can reach out to me here and request a commission if they want one."

Midoriya studied her profile page closely. Some of the artwork he had seen, but most of it was new. "CaptainGravity-13, eh?" He smirked at her moniker.

"A-Anyways," Uraraka immediately moved on, "DeviateArt users can DM me for a request, and I can accept it as long as what they ask for meets my guidelines." She adopted an annoyed look. "Have to be really specific on what I don't draw."

Midoriya didn't have to ask the specifics. He already had an idea of what she was alluding to.

"I see." He blushed a little. Another thought then crossed his mind. "You mentioned that you do artwork for Yaomomo's story occasionally. So does Yaomomo reach out to you online for commissions?"

Uraraka shook her head, grinning. "Nah, that's just fanart. I do it for fun! Oh!" She perked up. "Speaking of, have you gotten caught up on Yaomomo's story yet?"

"Not yet. Was preoccupied with some other things." He glanced over to his Things to Catch Up On list on his desk. "But I can easily get caught up before we have to leave."

"Please do!" She seemed eager. "Yaomomo and I want to chat with you about it!"

He nodded and smiled softly. "Alright, I'll do that."

'Still hard to believe that she and Momo both are Cap fans…' He inwardly mused.

"So…what exactly are you drawing now?" He inquired.

"Well, a user called," she stopped to pinch the bridge of her nose, "NudeMaster69 wanted me to draw Mt. Lady's infamous debut photo." She brought up the picture of Mt. Lady in front of Tatooine Station standing over a large Villain, her rear end sticking out suggestively. "I'm not exactly thrilled to do it, but," she sighed heavily, "their request technically does meet my guidelines. And I could use the money, so…"

"Oh. I was actually there when that happened last year." Midoriya's eyes widened slightly. 'Wow…it really has been a year since that day, hasn't it?'

"Wait, you were there?" Uraraka cocked a brow.

Midoriya nodded. "Yeah. Long story short, I heard there was a giant Villain causing ruckus at the station. I went to see which Heroes would show up, and…uh…" He looked sheepishly, knowing she may not like the other other real reason.

"And?" She pressed.

"...I wanted to make sure no one got hurt. Assist wherever I could, if necessary."

Uraraka's gaze sharpened briefly before she closed her eyes and sighed. "I swear…you're a glutton for trouble, Midori-kun."

He shrugged modestly. "What can I say? If I see trouble, I can't look the other way."

"Yeah…I know." She smiled fondly, recalling their first meeting. "You're just that kind of person. You really are amazing." Uraraka blushed, realizing what she had blurted out. Glancing up, she saw that Midoriya's face had reddened a bit too.

DING!

"That must be the rice!" Midoriya shot out of his seat. "I'll go prepare us a bowl, and some tea too!"

"S-sounds good!"

He promptly walked into the kitchen.

The brunette, meanwhile, turned away and started fanning herself. 'Geez! What's wrong with me?! I mean, I know Izuku is hot, cute, smart, and amazing and all… it's not really fair…but I have to get a hold of myself!' She chided herself. 'He's my best friend!'

Midoriya walked back in with two bowls of steaming rice and hot tea. Giving thanks for the food, the pair proceeded to eat. It was a simple meal, but they didn't mind.

"Good job on the tea." Uraraka complimented. "It's not half-bad."

"Thanks. I've been working on my brewing skills." He smiled, feeling relieved. He was grateful for the tea brewing lessons Yagi had given him a while back. It would've been embarrassing (even disrespectful) if he served any of his friends bitter tea.

After eating and finishing their tea, the verdette and brunette settled in. Uraraka worked on her commission on the couch while Midoriya went to his desk to check items off his Things To Catch Up On list.

Most of it currently was music-related, consisting of popular bands and songs in both America and Japan from the last few decades. He slipped on a set of headphones and listened attentively. He wasn't a music expert by any stretch of the imagination, but even he could hear the differences from each decade and culture. He liked most of it, but it was still different from what he was used to.

Tired of listening to "retro" music, Midoriya pulled the headphones off and switched his focus to Yaoyorozu's story. He had stopped at the part where the main character, Detective Mukashi Kumiko, had been struck with the inspiration to investigate Captain America's mysterious death. Using her time-travel Quirk, Chrono-Jump, she was preparing to travel back to a certain time and place that moderately surprised Midoriya.

November 4, 2042. Los Angeles, California, USA. Dodgers Stadium.

'Wow…Momo knows about that day? She really does know her stuff.' Midoriya was impressed. Further intrigued, the super-soldier speedily read on, not missing a single detail.

Over an hour had passed.

"There." Uraraka set her pencils down and carefully examined her artwork. Nodding in satisfaction, she placed her items back in her bag. She'd scan the drawing and send it to the user later tonight. Hopefully they'd like it.

Noting the time on her phone, she turned back to Midoriya from her seat on the couch. "It's almost 12:00, Midori-kun. We should get ready to leave so–You're sweating through your clothes!"

Midoriya sat at his desk with steam wafting off his head. He shakily turned around, his head strongly resembling a tomato. "Huh? Wha?"

"Uh…" Uraraka sweat-dropped. "Are…you okay? What's the matter?"

"Well…I finished catching up to Save the Date."

"You got caught up so quickly. That's impressive! So, what do you think so far?" She asked cheerily.

"It's…" He averted his gaze, feeling very embarrassed. "...plot wise, it's good. The history is also fairly sound. I…just wasn't expecting Detective Kumiko's relationship with the Captain to get so…intimate…"

Uraraka snickered. "Yeah. That's part of the story's intrigue, I guess. Well, we can discuss it later. We need to both start getting ready for Yaomomo's."

"R-right…I'm gonna head to the bathroom to wash up. I'll see ya in a bit." He stood up and stiffly headed to his bathroom, closing the door behind him. He'd be taking a long, cold shower.

As Uraraka gathered her things, she glanced over to Midoriya's desk and spotted a couple notebooks lying on it. A small notepad and a larger composite journal. 'Wonder what he was working on over there for so long…'

Walking over to the desk, she read the notebook's titles, noting they were both written in English. She was able to make out 'Things to Catch Up On' and 'Reports' on the notepad and journal respectively.

'I guess a peek couldn't hurt, right? Maybe it's just school related?' She innocently picked up the notepad and opened it, flipping through the pages. Though it was all written in English, thanks to her study sessions with Midoriya and Yaoyorozu (especially with English), she was able to understand a fair bit of what was written.

'It's a list? Movies, books, music, sports…What does any of this mean?' Uraraka considered the notepad's title. 'So he's trying to learn about this stuff…? Some of these things are pretty common though.'

Placing the notepad back, Uraraka then picked up the 'Reports' journal. She paused. 'Wait…should I be doing this? I mean, what if this is supposed to be private…?' She briefly considered her actions, but her curiosity won out. One peek wouldn't hurt right?

She timidly opened the first page and read…

FROM: CAPTAIN AMERICA

TO: GEN. SIMON, ARMY INTELLIGENCE

PROTOCOL: RECON REPORT

THESE "AGENTS" CLAIM I'M ON AN ARTIFICIAL ISLAND. I HAVE NO OTHER FRAME OF REFERENCE. THE BLONDE GIRL IS ATTEMPTING TO PUT ME AT EASE, BUT SHE AND HER COHORTS ARE VISIBLY UNNERVED BY MY PRESENCE…

Uraraka stopped reading not even halfway through the page. She couldn't understand all of it, but she did immediately recognize the first line.

'W-what?! From…WHO!?' She gasped and her eyes widened.

To ensure she wasn't seeing things, she re-read it several times. Sure enough, it was the same. She snapped her head toward the bathroom door, hearing the sounds of the shower running.

Believing Midoriya was preoccupied, she returned her attention to the notebook. Now even more curious, she turned a few pages to find every page began with the same From-To-Subject format. Though the Tos and Subjects changed, the From remained consistent.

'From Captain America…' Uraraka shook her head, clenching her eyes shut. 'No! What am I thinking? That's just crazy!' She quickly closed the notebook and placed it back on the desk. 'I'm sure there's a logical reason for this. Maybe Izuku is writing a story of his own? Yeah, that's it!' Satisfied with her own rationale, she took a breath to calm herself before heading for the door.

Her thoughts were still fixated on what she saw in the two notebooks. 'So strange though…'

---

Later, a little after 13:00 (1:00 PM), the group consisting of Midoriya, Uraraka, Iida, Tokage, Tsunotori, Asui, Ashido, Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari, and Jiro finally convened outside the front gate to Yaoyorozu's estate while all dressed in casual attire.

"Whoa…" Ashido whispered, wearing mid-thigh jean shorts and a purple tank top that revealed a fair amount of her pink skin.

"Whoa is right. Damn…" Tokage breathed. "I knew Yaomomo was rich and all, but…this is insane." The sharp-toothed greenette was adorned tight blue jeans and a lime-green shirt.

"Kero." Asui simply croaked. She wore a simple yellow sundress with a green jacket over it. "This is a lot."

"It's as big as our apartment complex…" Tsunotori murmured in English. Her attire was a pair of tight navy shorts with a hole for her tail and a white shirt with blue stars printed on it. Her lyre horns had grown halfway to their normal size.

"Holy crap!" Kaminari exclaimed, wide-eyed. "Is this seriously her house!?" The blonde was wearing dark navy jeans and a loose maroon t-shirt.

Midoriya and Uraraka glanced at one another with knowing smiles, empathizing with their friends' reactions. The verdette had donned a green joke t-shirt with 'T-Shirt' printed in English, blue jeans, and his red-laced boots while his brunette companion wore her gray Captain America hoodie with a white t-shirt underneath, knee-length blue pants, and pink shoes; her hair was done up in a messy ponytail with two strands framing her face. Both had their school bags with them.

"This is actually her spring residence." Midoriya revealed.

"For real?!" Ashido gapped.

"Get out of here. Seriously?!" Kirishima was equally stunned. The spiky redhead was wearing loose blue jeans and a grey t-shirt with a faded image of Crimson Riot's head printed on it.

"It is." Uraraka confirmed. "Her family has one for every season, believe it or not."

The group, aside from Iida, was gobsmacked.

"Ah, I see…" Iida pushed his glasses further onto the bridge of his nose. With his khaki pants and polo shirt, he looked like he was heading to a business meeting rather than a hang out with friends. "I suspected that the Yaoyorozu family had multiple estates."

"You already knew, Iida?" Midoriya asked.

"Yes. I remember that my brother once worked on a case that involved the Yaoyorozu family. They invited him to their winter home, and he joked that they were renovating their summer home." Iida answered.

"Man, I feel so underdressed." Sero grinned nervously; he was wearing black cargo shorts and an orange shirt.

"Same here…" Jiro chimed, feeling self-conscious at her own casual attire, which was a lavender t-shirt with 'Dead' printed on it and tight black jeans.

"I get it, guys. But there's no need to worry." Midoriya assured them. "Yaomomo won't mind at all."

'She'll honestly just be happy that we're here.' He thought absentmindedly.

"He's right. Kero." Asui spoke up. "Anyways, we're not getting anywhere just standing here. Let's ring the doorbell."

She pressed the button on the gate side and, less than a few seconds later, Yaoyorozu's voice came out of the speaker.

"You're all here! One moment, I'll open the gate for you."

Tokage grinned. "She sounds happy."

"Yaomomo didn't have many friends growing up." Uraraka softly explained. "So of course she'd be happy to have us over."

"Really?" Kaminari sounded surprised. "I figured she'd have tons of friends. Being uber-rich and all."

Iida shook his head. "Wealth does not always equate to genuine friendship, Kaminari-san."

The gates opened and the group walked to the main doors that were opened by two butlers as they approached. Yaoyorozu stood in the doorway with a beaming smile. She wore a red-and-white long-sleeve blouse, mid-thigh blue jean shorts, and white sandals with her raven hair let down.

"I'm so happy you could all make it! Please, come on in!" She happily ushered them all inside. As they stepped in, she gave a nod of appreciation to Uraraka's hoodie.

Placing their shoes onto ornate wooden shelves, Yaoyorozu–much like she did during Midoriya and Uraraka's visit–led them on an abbreviated tour that ended in the dining hall. Needless to say, the newcomers in the group were blown away; even Iida was inwardly impressed by the opulence and sheer scale.

"I'll go bring the tea out for us. Please, make yourselves comfortable." As the ravenette scurried off, the group took their seats in beautifully crafted oak chairs at a long table.

"Okay, so…this is happening?" Tsunotori said nervously.

Tokage casually popped her head off her shoulders to look around the luxurious dining room. "Man, fancy digs she's got here."

"Kero." The only sign of nervousness Asui showed was smoothing out her dress. "This is a lot to take in."

"Yeah…no joke." Jiro murmured. "This room is bigger than my parents' place."

"Um…" Kaminari, who was sitting between Jiro and Tsunotori, seemed nervous. "Should we be paying to sit in these seats or what?"

Jiro elbowed him from his left. "Keep your voice down, idiot." She said sharply. "You don't want Yaomomo to overhear you."

"Oh, okay…" He pouted, rubbing his side.

Tsunotori glanced around in wide-eyed wonder. "Our barn back in the States could barely fit in here…"

Ashido nodded. "Aside from maybe Iida, I think all of us live in places much smaller than this room."

Iida shifted uncomfortably. "Well…yes, my family is fairly well-off, but I wasn't aware this would be so…overwhelming."

Midoriya smiled awkwardly. "Yeah…this is only mine and Uraraka-chan's second time over here."

"And it's still as imposing as last time. Hehe," Uraraka rubbed the back of her head, mildly nervous.

"Oh? You both already came here?" Kirishima asked. "What'd you do?"

The verdette shrugged. "Not much. She served us tea and lunch, and we hung out in her library mostly talking. It was pretty relaxing."

"Oh…I bet it was." Ashido had a devious grin. "You three had plenty of alone time, didn't you?"

"I'm sure they did plenty of reading together," Tokage added slyly, putting quote marks on "reading".

"Um…yeah, we did." Midoriya replied with a raised brow. Why were they grinning like that?

Uraraka blushed at Ashido and Tokage's insinuation, and silently directed a stern glare in their direction, her face reddening slightly.

Tsunotori giggled to herself at the display.

"I'm back!" Yaoyorozu pushed a trolley that had very expensive teacups and a large platter of teacakes. "Oh, is something troubling you all?"

"Nah, nothing's wrong!" Tokage grinned toothily.

"Yeah, it's just none of us are used to being in a house this big before. That's all." Ashido explained.

Sero chimed in, trying to look nonchalant. "This place is awesome! Thanks for inviting us!"

"Yeah! It's so manly of you to open your home to us!" Kirishima added dramatically.

The others quickly echoed the sentiment, without the macho part though.

Yaoyorozu blushed. "T-thank you. I'm just happy to have you all over." She began handing out the refreshments. "I wasn't expecting company so soon after Midori-kun and Uraraka-chan's visit on Saturday. I'm so glad."

Midoriya and Uraraka smiled at each other, happy that their shared best friend was getting to socialize more. They almost felt like proud parents in a way.

Sometime later, everyone got comfortable enough to enjoy the tea and have casual conversation. None of them mentioned anything about the USJ attack yet, Yaoyorozu was just too happy to bring that topic up while Midoriya didn't want to spoil the mood.

The group was then brought a fancy, light lunch by several maids who Sero and Kaminari couldn't help but discreetly admire due to how beautiful they were. Jiro, however, noticed and jabbed the electric-blonde in the side again.

Tsunotori merely tilted her head in confusion at the display. Why was Jiro bothering Kaminari so much?

After they finished their meals, the maids came to take their dishware away. Yaoyorozu then stood up from her seat with a bright smile. "If everyone is finished, why don't we head to the home theater room?"

"Sounds like a plan!" Tokage gave a thumbs-up.

"Still can't believe your family actually has a theater room." Jiro smiled wryly, resting her chin in her open palm.

"Will there be enough seats for everyone present?" Iida dutifully asked.

Yaoyorozu eagerly nodded. "Oh, of course! There's enough seats and then some for everyone here."

"Well then, let's head off!" Ashido said excitedly.

The group followed Yaoyorozu to another part of the mansion and arrived at the in-home theater. It looked like a regular movie theater, but instead of individual seats, there were several large couches–enough to seat everyone here and then some.

"I know we just ate, but if anyone would like popcorn or any refreshments during the movie, please do not hesitate to ask." Yaoyorozu asserted. "I'll be more than happy to instruct some staff to serve us."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So, what exactly are we watching?" Ashido asked.

The ravenette smiled. "Midori-kun gave an intriguing suggestion last night. I'm sure everyone will enjoy it."

"Speaking of," Midoriya reached into his yellow satchel to pull out a green flash drive, "here you go, Yaomomo. All the movies are in here. Choose the one titled 'Jurassic Park'."

Yaoyorozu nodded and skipped back to the projector room.

"Jurassic Park, eh?" Tokage perked up. "We were just talking about that movie the other day."

"Y-yeah…we were." Midoriya sweat-dropped, recalling a memory.

---

It was Friday evening and Class 101-A was in the middle of their Foundation Heroics Field course in the concrete facility Gym Alpha once more. All Might was overseeing another combat-related lesson. At the moment, Koda was the Hero with Yaoyorozu, Asui, and Tsunotori as the Villains tagging up against him.

The poor fellow was a bit out of his element in the confines of a concrete building with no animals to call upon.

"This may sound rude…but has everyone noticed that Koda-san kinda resembles a dinosaur?" Uraraka noted, tapping a finger on her chin.

"Hmm," Tokage hummed thoughtfully, "Vaguely. But he doesn't resemble any species of dinosaur I'm familiar with…and I know a ton of them."

"Oh?" Midoriya, who was standing close by, glanced at his fellow verdette. "You're into dinosaurs?"

Tokage grinned toothily. "Heck yeah! Who doesn't? They're awesome!"

A thought crossed his mind. 'It may be a long shot, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.'

"By any chance, have you ever seen Jurassic Park?"

The body-splitter rolled her eyes. "Obviously. I mean, who hasn't at this point. I've seen all of them."

Midoriya perked up. 'Wait, really?!'

Tokage went on. "Heck, I even went to see the first one in theaters several years ago when it first came out." She sighed happily. "Yeah, good times."

The super-soldier paused. 'Several years ago? Wait…'

"You saw it in theaters?"

"Yep. My first year of high school. 2193, I think." Tokage clarified.

Midoriya considered that. 'Sounds like they rebooted it. 200 years after the original, huh?'

"I see. By chance, did you ever see the original one? From 1993?" He inquired.

"Pft!" Tokage failed to suppress her laughter, catching the attention of classmates nearby. "Ha! You're a riot, Midoriya! No one watches stuff that old unless you're some movie nerd or whatever. Movies like that belong in the museums with the actual dinosaur bones!" The greenette then walked away as All Might called upon her for the next match up.

Midoriya, meanwhile, slumped his shoulders in defeat. 'Ouch…' That one really stung.

---

Midoriya shook his head to dispel that memory. "W-Well, this isn't the one you or anyone else are familiar with. It's the OG."

Tokage blinked twice. "Wait… Seriously? You actually found a copy?"

"Yep." He nodded.

"...How?" She was dumbfounded.

The verdette smirked. "I know a guy."

He was of course referring to Coulson. That man had a talent for uncovering things, whether it be as a spy in his work life, or in his personal one uncovering Pro Hero memorabilia and collectible Pre-Quirk items. His 1967 custom Chevrolet Corvette was proof of his skills.

"The original?" Sero tilted his head, bewildered. "You mean…the one released several years ago wasn't the first?"

"No. It's a remake of the original Jurassic Park released in 1993, which was based on a book…and also changed some things around…." Midoriya shook his head to prevent himself from going on a tangent. "Anyways, the recent film changed up and added a lot of things to account for Quirks and updated dinosaur designs." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's not bad or anything, but it doesn't have the same charm as the original though."

"1993?!" Kaminari shouted in surprise. "Holy crap! Are we positive that the quality is gonna be any good?"

Midoriya was a little miffed. "Trust me, it still holds up." He kept his tone even. 'I mean, it was considered old even in my time and it was still a classic blockbuster hit.'

"Well, I say we give it a chance." Uraraka insisted. "How often do you get to watch a movie from the Pre-Quirk era?"

"Indeed! This could prove to be an invaluable learning experience for us." Iida stated, chopping both arms. "We'll get to understand how films were made in an era before advanced CGI and Quirk-based special effects."

"I dunno what much of anything we can learn from an old dinosaur movie." Ashido shrugged. "But, what the heck. I'll give it a chance."

"Same here, kero." Asui chimed. "Besides, it might be a nice change of pace from all the same old stuff you see in movies today." She pointed out.

"Are there any manly characters in it?" Kirishima asked.

Midoriya smiled and nodded. "I think there's one guy you may like, Kirishima. He's not a fighter or anything, but he has a strong moral compass if that helps?"

Kirishima grinned, shooting him a thumbs-up. "Hey! Nothing wrong with that. A real man is more than just muscle." The verdette smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I think it could be fun." Tsunotori said bubbly. "I've never seen an old, old movie before." She blinked and looked at Midoriya curiously. "Uh, it's in color, right, Izuku?"

Uraraka's right eye involuntarily twitched again.

"Yeah, it's in color, Pony."

"Then I'm in!" She resumed her grin.

"So this is an American film, right?" Sero inquired. "Will it be a Japanese dub or sub?"

"I have both, but I honestly would recommend watching the original sub first." Midoriya replied.

"Ugh…alright, fine." Sero didn't seem too thrilled with that idea.

"On the plus side, it could help you improve your English, Sero-san. Kero." Asui mentioned. "You definitely need it."

Sero sweat-dropped, knowing the frog girl raised a fair point. English was not his best subject.

"So, is the music any good?" Jiro questioned, with hands in her pockets.

Midoriya smiled and nodded. "Yeah! Actually, the score is partially what made this movie so iconic for so long."

Jiro's interest level rose to mildly curious. "Alright. I'll give it a watch."

Tokage groaned. "Really? C'mon, I've already seen the newer improved ones. Why do I gotta sit through this old rigid film from 200 years ago? I seriously doubt it'll be any good."

Midoriya shot her a knowing smirk. "2000 Yen says you're wrong."

"You're on!" Tokage grinned smugly, already believing she had won free money.

Yaoyorozu stepped back into the room. "Alright, everyone! It's starting soon."

Uraraka popped up by Midoriya's side. "C'mon, Midori-kun! Let's take a seat!"

"R-right…" She suddenly grabbed his arm–keeping her pinky extended–and pulled him to one of the large center couches. There, he sat near the middle with Uraraka on his right, Tokage sitting next to her, followed by Kirishima and Ashido. On his left was Yaoyorozu, followed by Tsunotori and Kaminari. On the next couch over was Jiro, Asui, Sero, and Iida in order.

The room's lights went dim and the white projector screen–which nearly took up the entire wall–went black.

An old "Universal Pictures" title sequence played with the Earth spinning in space with the sounds of a jungle in the background.

"Whoa…" Kaminari breathed. "Even the opening feels so retro."

Ominous music blared through the surround sound systems as the opening titles played.

"The opening is kinda suspenseful." Jiro noted.

Midoriya smirked. "Just you wait…"

JURASSIC PARK

---

After the opening scene…

Uraraka frowned. "That's…not a good way to go…" She was briefly reminded of the Shark Villain almost killing her in the Flood Zone, making her shudder.

Tsunotori nodded somberly.

"Whoa…what just happened?" Kirishima asked, taken aback by what transpired.

"Kero. I think that worker was killed by that…uh, whatever it was." Asui replied, unsure.

"Was that a dinosaur in the cage?" Sero wondered. "They didn't do a good job of showing it…"

Iida adjusted his glasses. "I believe that was on purpose, Sero-san. To build up the suspense and mystery."

"Well, whatever it was…doesn't look like it'll be hurting anyone else anymore." Kaminari noted.

Tokage hummed thoughtfully. 'Only got a quick glimpse, but was that a raptor of some kind?'

---

After Dr. Alan Grant explains Velociraptors to a boy…

"I can understand wanting to teach a child to show respect, but that is too graphic!" Iida chastised.

"Well…" Kirishima smiled sheepishly, "...it got the point across."

Uraraka chuckled. "It was kind of funny too."

Tokage cocked a brow. 'Hold up, Velociraptor weren't ever 2 meters tall. That's some outdated paleontology. Hopefully this isn't a theme.'

Ashido grinned like a Cheshire Cat at the interaction between Alan and Ellie discussing children. "My shipping radar is going off."

Midoriya sweat-dropped. 'Note to self, never show them Jurassic Park 3.'

---

"Journey to the Island" plays as the helicopter flies toward Isla Nublar…

Jiro nodded in approval. "This is a really good motif."

Ashido chimed. "It's so upbeat!"

The group agreed that the music playing was adventurous and thrilling.

"It really gets you excited, huh?" Kaminari noted.

"Yeah!" Sero agreed. "The new one didn't have music like this."

"Dr. Hammond must be very wealthy to afford such an island that size." Yaoyorozu noted.

Uraraka looked at the heiress, smiling slyly. "Do you think your family could afford it?"

"Oh, I'm sure father and mother could." She replied nonchalantly. "Although I doubt they would make such a purchase without a way to recuperate or even triple the money they paid for it."

The brunette was stunned. 'I…was just joking. Is Momo serious!?'

Tokage watched as the helicopter began its descent and Alan comically fumbled with his seatbelt. 'The park is on an island. Whoa, that's kind of cool. A lot cooler than just having it in San Diego. It also makes sense in keeping the dinosaurs contained.'

---

After seeing the Brachiosaurus and the dinosaur herds…

The group marveled at the scene of the Brachiosaurus on screen and the high-spirited music playing in the background.

"Wow, it looks so real…" Tsunotori's eyes were wide with amazement.

Yaoyorozu couldn't help but admire the dinosaur's onscreen realistic appearance as well. Was there CGI or people with Quirks that could replicate this scene? Maybe. But she doubted it could match the charm that this one seemed to have.

Sero blinked. "Hey…we sure this thing was made 200 years ago?"

"Yeah… Most movies today don't have effects this realistic." Kaminari commented.

"I must commend the special effects crew." Iida praised.

Midoriya sipped on a soda through a straw, internally satisfied.

Tokage nodded as she internally appraised the Brachiosaurus design. 'Yep. The design and scale is fairly on point.' She then considered Dr. Grant's question to Hammond on how he created the dinosaurs. 'Wonder how they did it in this movie? Couldn't have been Quirk scientists reversing the genetic code of birds and crocodiles like they did in the modern one, right?'

---

After the genetic lab tour…

The group–sans Midoriya–was left dumbfounded by the movie's explanation for how they brought dinosaurs back to life.

"Um…" Ashido blinked twice. "I know I'm not the greatest with science and all, but getting blood from amber doesn't sound possible…right?"

Yaoyorozu shook her head. "It's not. In reality, the blood would've been fossilized inside the amber as well."

"So… movie science then? Got it." Kaminari said offhandedly.

"Keep in mind, many things that were considered impossible back in those days are mostly possible now." Midoriya pointed out.

"Kero." Asui crocked, intrigued by one caveat of the cartoon DNA's explanation. "They used frog DNA to fill in the gene gaps? Wouldn't that mean they're not pure dinosaurs though?"

Midoriya nodded. "It does. Keep the frog DNA part in mind though. There is a payoff to it."

No one knew what the verdette meant by that but they accepted it and continued watching the movie.

---

After the lunch scene…

Iida rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I must admit, I do find Doctor Malcolm's concerns valid. Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean you should."

"Uh, I don't really get what the dude's worried about." Kaminari shrugged impassively. "I mean, the dinosaurs are in electrified encampments and they're all female. Sounds like they have everything under control."

"Minus that worker getting killed at the beginning." Uraraka pointed out.

"Oh…right." The blonde sweat-dropped. "Aside from that, I mean."

"At least they don't have to worry about the dinos breeding rapidly." Sero paused. "Uh, dinosaurs can't breed if they're all girls, right?"

Ashido snickered at that implication.

"Naturally, no." Yaoyorozu answered. "However, this is a science-fiction movie. So we do have to take their explanations with a grain of salt."

"Also," Tokage added, "they're not pure dinosaurs anyway. So nothing's off the table."

"So…the Malcolm guy's saying nature can't be controlled, and they can't expect to fully control their creations?" Tsunotori glanced over to Midoriya curiously. "Is that right, Izuku?"

Midoriya nodded. "Essentially, yes. Good assessment, Pony."

"Thanks." She smiled brightly.

Uraraka observed this exchange from Midoriya's right and looked away, her cheeks puffing in mild annoyance. Yaoyorozu, who was in the middle, frowned a little as well. She didn't like how Midoriya and Tsunotori were already on a first name basis while she and Uraraka weren't.

It was too impersonal.

---

Following Alan's initial interaction with Tim…

The audience couldn't help but chuckle at Alan Grant's evasive interaction with Timmy.

"Funny, but not really manly though." Kirishima criticized half-heartedly.

"I believe this is an important lesson of what not to do with children in the future." Iida pointed out. "As future Pro Heroes, we need to foster positive interactions with the citizens; especially the youth."

Jiro shrugged. "Some people just aren't good with kids, I guess."

Ashido grinned at the interaction between Alan and Ellie. "Yep! Those two definitely got a thing going on."

"Looks like Doctor Malcolm is trying to get in on the action though," Tokage pointed out.

"That moppy weirdo better not sink my ship!" Ashido huffed indignantly.

Midoriya sweat-dropped. 'Mina sure has a thing for shipping people. Hopefully she doesn't start pulling me into it.' Unbeknownst to the super-soldier, his wish would NOT be granted.

---

The sick Triceratops scene…

The group looked on with a mix of amazement and sympathy for the sick Triceratops lying on the ground.

Tokage smiled. "I always loved Triceratops. I'm impressed by how real it looks. Great animatronics."

"Indeed." Iida agreed. "I must once again commend the filmmakers for their attention to detail."

"And the music too." Jiro chimed in. "Really sets the mood."

"Aw…the poor thing." Uraraka cooed sympathetically.

Tsunotori frowned. "It must've eaten something bad to its stomach."

"Doctor Saddler seems to be coming to that conclusion as well." Yaoyorozu noted while Ellie dutifully observed the Triceratops's symptoms.

"Uh…" Sero blanched. "Did she say she was about to go through its droppings?"

---

One big pile of…

Most of the audience couldn't help but burst out laughing at Dr. Malcolm's dry, sardonic remark; even the reserved ones like Iida and Yaoyorozu looked away and covered their mouths to hide their amusement.

---

After Dennis Nedry's escape…

"That thief!" Iida shouted indignantly. "He must be stopped!"

"He stole the dinosaur embryos." Tsunotori puffed her cheeks angrily, which only increased her cuteness factor. "That jerk!"

"He's really doing all this for more money, huh?" Sero questioned.

"Kero. It's no different from a lot of criminals today." Asui pointed out. "Money is a huge motivator for crime."

"That's true…"

"Tsk," Tokage clicked her tongue. "Moron shut off the electric fences. This ain't gonna end well…"

Yaoyorozu nodded in agreement, and then considered Doctor Malcolm's prior declarations. "Chaos theory? Disorder in organized systems? I believe I see where this is heading."

"But, it's not the park's fault right?" Kaminari tried to play devil's advocate. "I mean, how could they plan for something like that?"

"Well, they couldn't. But that's kind of the point." Midoriya replied. "Murphy's Law and all. What can go wrong, will go wrong."

---

Tyrannosaurus Rex makes her grand appearance…

The group's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the T-Rex's giant head coming into view out of the jungle, swallowing the goat in one gulp. The dark stormy scenery setting the mood for the impending doom. Its deep growls verberating through the surround sound speakers.

"That's not good…" Uraraka gulped fearfully.

"M-maybe the goat satisfied its appetite?" Tsunotori nervously suggested.

"Doubtful." Tokage shot that suggestion down immediately, crossing her arms into an X. "That was more like an appetizer for a dino that size! That big girl is gonna want more."

A few people turned to the greenette incredulously.

"Tokage-san, you're not implying you wish to see that monster eat those people, do you?!" Iida rebuked.

"Animal, not monster. And…well, maybe just that slimy lawyer dude since he bailed on the kids." Tokage shrugged indifferently.

Kirishima clenched his fists angrily. "That jerk! So unmanly to run away like a coward!" However, as he said that, the redhead paused. A certain memory from his middle school years came to mind with Ashido standing before presumably a giant Villain while he stood frozen in fear nearby. It occasionally haunted him to the present day. 'Of course…I don't have much room to talk.'

Ashido noticed her boyfriend's distress and quickly grabbed his hand, giving it a tight yet affectionate squeeze. He was snapped out of his lamentations and turned to the pinkette. Her bright smile warmed his heart. He returned the smile and squeezed her hand back, grateful for her encouragement

"Whoa… It looks so real." Sero commented upon the onscreen T-Rex.

"Yeah… Gotta give the movie credit." Kaminari admitted.

The T-Rex tore through the cable fencing and stepped out of its paddock. Its ferocious roar blared through the speakers, making a few people (including Jiro flinch) from the sudden volume.

The scene further progressed with the T-Rex flipping over Tim and Lex's car, much to the group's horror. The lawyer getting eaten, which felt more satisfying than it should. Doctor Malcolm getting injured and buried under straw. To finally the car getting pushed off a cliff with Tim still inside while Alan and Lex hung onto a cable, narrowly avoiding the vehicle as it fell.

While most of the group was apprehensive and tense, Tokage was starry-eyed through it all. 'So freaking cool! Yeah, it doesn't have feathers and all…but hot damn, who cares?! Look at that thing!' She appraised the correct size and proportions and general appearance as the King–or Queen, technically–of the Dinosaurs unleashed a ferocious roar that shook the theater.

---

After Dennis Nedry's death…

Tokage snickered. "Karma sure is a b**ch."

"Tokage-san! Language!" Iida reprimanded her.

"Pft! Lighten up, legs. We're all adults here." The greenette dismissed nonchalantly. "Besides, it's just a movie."

"I don't advocate death or anything, but I'd say that dude got what he deserved." Sero said offhandedly.

"Kero." Asui agreed.

Iida frowned lightly. "All of you remember that as future Pro Heroes it will be our job to save people, including the criminal types such as that Nedry fellow."

"Well yeah, but like Tokage-san said, it's just a movie." Kirishima shrugged. "It's not like we wouldn't at least try to help him in real life."

"After which, then you can arrest him for his crimes." Midoriya followed up.

"Um…unrelated, but could those things really spit venom like that?" Tsunotori tilted her head curiously.

"Nope." Tokage shook her head. "They pretty much got everything wrong about Dilophosaurus. And I do mean everything."

Midoriya shrugged. "The writers took creative liberty, I guess."

---

Sleeping in the trees…

The audience smiled at the warm, heart-touching scene of Alan comforting Tim and Lex in the treetops with the herd of Brachiosaurus singing in the distance. A softer, tender version of the main score played in the background.

Kirishima nodded in approval at Alan's actions. "Yeah…good on you, man."

"It is really sweet, especially after his earlier aversion to children." Ashido sighed happily.

Lex then stated on-screen how she hated the meat-eating dinosaurs while Alan politely corrected that they weren't monsters–just animals.

Asui nodded. "Yeah, the dinosaurs aren't evil. Kero. They're just animals doing what they do."

"Although, you can't really blame Lex for feeling the way she does." Uraraka advocated.

"Right. I mean, they were almost eaten." Sero agreed.

Tokage frowned a bit, reminded of a certain kouhai in her life. "Dinosaurs, like animals or even people with behavior-altering Quirks, sometimes just can't help how they act."

"What are you and Ellie gonna do now if you don't have to pick up dinosaur bones anymore?" Lex asked Alan as she and Tim leaned up against him in the tree.

"I don't know. I guess…we'll just have to evolve too." Alan replied, unsure.

Midoriya frowned somberly. He had seen this movie many times growing up, but now that exchange struck a chord in a way it never had before. Perhaps it was because he could sort of relate to Alan Grant's plight–struggling to adapt to a rapidly changing world.

Or, in the super-soldier's case, catching up to a world that has long since changed without him.

'This movie really hits home in a way it never did before…' He internally sighed.

---

Life Found A Way…

The group–sans Midoriya–were shocked by the revelation that the dinosaurs were breeding on the island as Alan Grant knelt by a nest of hatched eggs.

"Whoa, whoa, time out!" Kaminari shouted in shock. "How's that possible? All the dinos are female!"

"I'm sure there must be a logical explanation…" Yaoyorozu asserted, sounding unsure.

Alan Grant then explained how frog DNA was used to fill the gene sequence gaps, effectively mutating the dinosaur DNA. He further went on to say that some species of West Africa frogs could change their sex in same-sex environments.

The audience was left speechless.

"Is…that really true?" Tsunotori asked dumbly.

"It is." Asui confirmed, nodding. "I learned that by studying various amphibian species in high school."

"Hold on," Sero looked at the greenette dubiously, "you can do whatever a frog can, right, Tsuyu? Does that mean you can–"

"No, Sero." Asui immediately stopped him. "I can't change my sex spontaneously."

"S-sorry…didn't mean anything by it." Sero fumbled a bit. "I was just—"

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean anything malicious by it. It's fine. Kero." Asui directed the best smile she could at the plain-looking guy.

Sero was internally grateful for the dark room hiding his warm face.

"Aw. Look at the little footprints." Uraraka gushed at the screen.

Tokage smirked toothly. "Life found a way indeed."

---

Clever Girl…

Most of the crowd gasped as the Velociraptor matriarch's head popped out of the bushes, snarling menacingly at Muldoon as he had his gun aimed at another raptor hiding in the foliage.

"The hunter has become the hunted." Sero stated.

"It really set a trap, kero." Asui said with a hint of nervousness in her tone. "That's kind of terrifying."

"Clever girl indeed," Tokage muttered, sounding surprised.

Everyone grimaced as the raptor attacked the game warden and the camera panned to the other raptor, a snake slithering on the branch.

Ashido shuddered in disgust. "That's a disturbing visual."

"Man…Velociraptors are no joke, huh?" Kaminari noted.

"Well, real Velociratpors were nothing like this." Tokage pointed out. "These raptors look more like Utahraptors, actually. But still…I gotta say, they're pretty bada**."

"Regardless," Iida inserted, "we must remain vigilant in case we ever come across foes with similar abilities."

Midoriya glanced at the bespeckled teen sheepishly. 'Always a lesson with him. Needs to learn to lighten up a bit more.'

"He's not wrong. I know someone with similar abilities." Tokage offhandedly mentioned.

"Wait, really?" Ashido looked surprised.

"Yeah, definitely. Though he doesn't ACTUALLY become one. More like he ACTS like one. It's actually kinda cool…as long as you're not the one in his way." The greenette warned.

"Sounds pretty deadly to me." Uraraka said timidly.

"I know. I'll fill you in on it later."

"Yeah, please do." Midoriya smiled. "I'd love to learn more about his abilities."

Tokage rolled her eyes playfully. "Of course you would, Greenie."

---

Velociraptors in the kitchen…

Most of the audience were startled to see the raptor opening the door handle with its clawed hand. Opening a door was nothing special, but the fact that these creatures were portrayed as problem-solving creatures was astounding.

"Not good. Kero." Asui said with mild worry. "If they can open doors, then the other raptor Ellie trapped in the shed likely got out too."

"Ugh! Those kids just got out of the jungle and now they're being hunted by raptors." Ashido groaned, frustrated. "So not fair!"

"Remember what Aizawa said, the world's not fair." Uraraka reminded her.

"And it's up to Heroes to combat that unfairness." Tsunotori followed up, smiling.

"I know it's only a fictional movie, but I really wish I could help those kids out." Kirishima earnestly admitted. "I'm sure Hardening could protect me from the raptors' teeth and claws as I fend them off from the kids."

Midoriya hummed thoughtfully. "Perhaps. But you would be fighting more than one, and you'd have to keep your Quirk up the whole time. Any lapse in your armor and the raptors will strike."

"Um, dumb question," Kaminari started until a certain purplette cut him off.

"That's a first," Jiro said sarcastically, grinning slyly.

"Ha-ha," Kaminari rolled his eyes. "Anyways, were Velociraptors really this smart or not?" He asked no in particular.

"I don't believe so, but I'll defer to our dinosaur expert." Yaoyorozu directed her attention to Tokage.

"By dinosaur standards, yeah they were smart." Tokage responded without hesitation. "But nah, they were nowhere near this intelligent. It's definitely played up for the entertainment factor."

Some of the group–Jiro especially–shivered as the raptor's crock-like call blared through the speakers. The second raptor stepped through the door, communicating with each other in clicks and snarls. They watched as Tim and Lex quietly crawled around the kitchen floor, trying to avoid the raptors' sight.

All in all, it was tense and suspenseful. It quickly turned to panic when the raptors finally spotted them. As the scene progressed, a few of them let out collective sighs of relief they didn't realize they had when Tim and Lex trapped one of the raptors in the freezer. However, the uneasy feeling returned as the other raptor recovered and stared at them with a menacing expression.

Tsunotori gulped nervously. "It's mad."

---

Queen of the Dinosaurs…

The audience tensed up when the two raptors trapped Alan, Ellie, Tim, and Lex in the park's main lobby. So far, they had been on the edge of their seats as the quartet evaded the raptor pair. Now, they were defenseless and at the mercy of genetically modified dinosaurs.

"Uh…these guys aren't seriously gonna die right?" Sero sounded a bit worried. "I mean…it can't end like that."

"Yeah… That'd be seriously lame!" Ashido gripped. "Alan and Ellie still have to get married and have their own children!"

Midoriya winced slightly. 'Yeah… Best to avoid the 3rd movie just to avoid disappointing her.'

"Well, no offense or anything, but they are Quirkless and don't have any weapons." Kaminari mentioned. "There's only so much they can do against freakin' bloodthirsty raptors."

The super-soldier politely retorted, "I don't think the fact they don't have Quirks or weapons is gonna stop Alan and Ellie from doing everything in their power to protect those kids. See how they're huddled around them?"

"It's super manly on their part!" Kirishima passionately stated.

Tsunotori cocked her head. "But Ellie isn't a man…"

"He means it's brave and courageous." Ashido corrected.

Iida nodded in understanding. "Yes. A truly noble act that we can all take a lesson from."

Then, the dire onscreen situation took a drastic turn as the T-Rex suddenly appeared to grab an attacking raptor with its giant sharp-toothed mouth. The jubilant, brassy music from earlier in the movie was playing over it.

Instantaneously, the uneasy mood shifted to shocked jubilation. Some of them even whooped and cheered in excitement as the T-Rex focused on killing the Velociraptors. The rhyme or reason for why the T-Rex was killing them and indirectly helping the onscreen group escape was irrelevant. All that mattered was the excitement and payoff they received from the scene.

Most of the group laughed at Alan's sarcastic remark to Hammond about not endorsing Jurassic Park.

"Pft, yeah. That's a given." Uraraka said.

Yaoyorozu nodded with a stern visage. "If it had been me, my family would've shut down Hammond's park entirely and leave absolutely no trace of it."

The scene then cut back to show the T-Rex killing the matriarch raptor by violently tossing her into the T-Rex skeleton on display. Finally, the Queen of the Dinosaurs let out a powerful triumphant roar as the iconic "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth" banner fell in front of it.

"HELL YEAH!" Tokage shouted enthusiastically.

Tokage's response perfectly summed up how the vast majority of people spanning almost two centuries felt about that scene.

---

Midoriya almost forgot that it was considered polite in Japanese society to watch a movie or video game until the credits were done (at least the first time one sees it), giving all of the makers their respect. After the movie concluded, his friends clapped in applause. The projector shut off as the theater lights came back on and most of the group stood up from their seats to stretch.

"Alright, I'll admit that was a fun movie." Kaminari grinned.

"Heck yeah!" Sero backed him up. "It wasn't complicated. Just a simple survival thriller with dinosaurs. Don't need anything more than that."

"The film score was pretty good too." Jiro commented. "Maybe I can find it online somewhere…" She said to herself.

"Hey, Tokage, we're all getting up to leave. Are you coming?" Uraraka asked.

The busy greenette was still sitting on the couch with her emerald eyes glued to the blank screen.

"Uh…Tokage, are you alright?" Yaoyorozu stepped up, slightly concerned.

Tokage exhaled deeply. "...Sh*t…Where's the damn replay button?"

---

As the group stepped out of the theater room, Tokage quietly handed Midoriya two 1000 Yen bills and walked away. Midoriya couldn't help but smirk as he pocketed the money.

After the movie, Yaoyorozu led them to the library and the first-timers were amazed by the sheer size and volume of books filling their vision. The heiress suggested they all find something that they enjoy reading.

Iida found a history textbook of early Pro Heroes. Yaoyorozu picked out a metallurgy textbook–which made Ashido grimace. Uraraka selected an old science-fiction novel from the Pre-Quirk days called The Martian. Asui and Tsunotori both picked out encyclopedias on frogs and horses respectively, to absolutely no one's surprise. Tokage found the first Jurassic Park novel, much to her elation. Sero revealed himself to be a fan of older genres as he returned with a noir detective novel. Jiro and Kaminari coincidentally chose music books covering electric guitars, much to the former's embarrassment. Ashido and Kirishima took the longest to find a book, but they soon returned. While Kirishima's selection was a biography of The Chivalrous Hero: Crimson Riot, Ashido's choice made almost everyone blush; the cover involved a woman wearing only a sheet, held in the arms of an almost naked man who looked sculpted, not born.

Midoriya, meanwhile, had selected a Japanese history book covering the Age of Heroes in Japan, post-Dark Times.

The group settled into a set of beautiful recliners in the library with their respective books in hand.

"Well…at least we know each other's preferences," Midoriya pointed out. Much to the group's amusement, his face was still flushed slightly after seeing Ashido's choice in reading material. The memory of certain scenes from Yaoyorozu's story earlier in the afternoon were still fresh in his mind, which further compounded his embarrassment.

"What can I say, I'm into hunks. I mean, have you seen who I'm dating?" Ashido nudged Kirishima and winked.

"Ah c'mon, babe. Not here." Kirishima chuckled, slightly blushing.

This prompted chuckles from most of the group.

"Speaking of," Ashido waggled her eyebrows at the other guys, "how often do you boys work out?"

"I train at least four times a week." Iida answered. "Mostly cardio but I will hit the gym three times throughout the week."

Sero shrugged, unfazed by Ashido's saucy grin. "I go to the gym at least three times a week, but mostly for rock-climbing."

"I pretty much train everyday." Midoriya casually replied. "Today was an exception due to my injuries from yesterday though."

The group turned to the verdette with surprised looks.

"Seriously?" Tsunotori's eyes widened. "That's a lot…"

"Geez…no wonder you have the body of a freaking god!" Tokage exclaimed, which prompted her fellow verdette to rub his shoulder sheepishly.

"That so hardcore, man!" Kirishima exclaimed. "But," he then looked concerned, "you're not overworking yourself, right?"

Midoriya shook his head. "My body's durability and healing is enhanced, so I can exercise for longer periods without hurting myself unlike most people. I've gotten used to my regime honestly. Don't worry though, I'm being smart about it."

"I gotcha. That's so manly, dude! You gotta share your workout regime with me!" Kirishima said excitedly.

"Sure thing." Midoriya nodded, smiling. "Although, it'd have to be readjusted for other people. Not everyone can keep up with my workouts."

"Bring it! I can handle it!" Kirishima declared confidently.

'We'll see about that.' The super-soldier smirked.

"So that just leaves you, Kaminari-san." Ashido turned to the blonde, who had been trying to hide behind his book. "What's your workout routine like?"

"Uh…" the blonde sheepishly rubbed the nape of his neck. "I do a little bit of cardio and some pushups, situps, and squats at my house. Nothing to write home about. I…didn't see the need to train too much growing up."

"Ah, I see." Iida nodded in understanding. "With your Electrification Quirk, you could more often than not end any fight by electrocuting your opponents. It makes sense then why you didn't devote as much time to physical training."

"Exactly!" Kaminari grinned. "I thought focusing on Quirk training would be more worthwhile. I'd rather end a fight with a ZAP rather than getting physical."

"Well, all you guys keep at it, and you might be as ripped as Eijiro-kun and Midoriya." Ashido grinned even wider and turned to the other girls. "Heck, you could grate cheese on their abs!"

Midoriya looked away to hide his blush while Kirishima turned to her in fake-anger. "M-Mina…!"

Yaoyorozu gently nudged Ashido–a tint of pink on her cheeks. "All right, please stop."

"Fine, but just for today." The pinkette rolled her eyes.

"I'll give you until next week, kero." Asui remarked.

Midoriya calmed down and shifted his attention back to Kaminari. "Hey, Kaminari-san…you said you don't want to get physical with Villains, but why did you add batons to your costume redesign? Using them properly does require getting close to opponents."

"Well…y-yeah. I don't like getting close to bad guys, but with my Quirk I don't have much choice." Kaminari responded. "My electricity just goes everywhere if I release it when not wearing my new costume. I could fry my friends along with the baddies around me."

"I see…" Midoriya hummed thoughtfully. "Well, you could ask the Support Department to increase your long-range capabilities?"

"Perhaps a device that can absorb your electricity and shoot targets?" Yaoyorozu suggested. "That way you can take down opponents from a distance without endangering your allies."

"That's a great idea!" Kaminari lit up. "I'll get in touch with the support dudes when we get back Thursday."

"Keep in mind, Kaminari, gear can be broken." Midoriya mentioned. "You should learn some basic martial arts too, along with improving your baton skills."

"Yeah…I know you're right, but…" Kaminari became slightly downcast. "I'm just not too thrilled with the idea of getting into hand-to-hand combat with Villains. Not really my strong suit."

At the mention of the USJ, the group fell into an awkward silence.

"Are…" Tokage glanced around. "Are we gonna talk about what happened yesterday or what?"

Yaoyorozu sighed. "I believe we should. It's not healthy to bottle up these kinds of emotions for too long."

"Yeah…" Kirishima chimed. "I mean, better to talk about it with you guys than a school shrink, right?"

After another moment, they were quiet again. Midoriya waited patiently for anyone to speak to get the ball rolling as he didn't want to put any more pressure on them. He understood that this was a delicate matter.

"I was so scared," Uraraka's voice was small. "Everything happened so fast, and we all got separated. I fell into the lake and some water Villain was coming right for me…ready to eat me. Tsuyu saved me just in the nick of time. Then, I almost died two more times. Once by the lead Villain and then Nomu. I just…felt so helpless, I–"

Uraraka choked and her eyes watered. Without thinking, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu acted with the former grabbing her right hand while the latter wrapped her arm around the brunette's shoulders to hold her tightly.

A short moment passed as the super-soldier and heiress gently consoled the Zero Gravity user.

Ashido clenched her hands, which were still bandaged, on her knees. "I had to fight my fair share of baddies in the Downpour Zone with Midoriya and Mineta… It was pretty scary. And the looks some of those creeps were giving me." She shuddered.

Kirishima rubbed her back in circles to soothe her, and she immediately leaned towards him in response.

"Kero…I had a nightmare about that lead Villain last night." Asui admitted in a hushed tone. "He got me, Ochako, and Kyoka… It felt so real…"

Sero, who was sitting close to her, frowned empathetically. He was sitting right by her and wanted to comfort her…but he didn't want to make things awkward either.

"It's okay. None of us were killed." Midoriya said firmly. "That's what matters."

"Honestly," Iida lowered his head, "I know what I did was the right thing, running away to get help…but I still can't help but feel ashamed of myself for leaving all of you behind. Is…that wrong?"

Midoriya shook his head. "No, it's not. Retreat is never easy. But sometimes, it's the only choice we have. Like I said yesterday, Iida, if the Pros hadn't shown up when they did, the lead Villains likely would have escaped using Kurogiri's warpgate. That's thanks to you."

Iida smiled a little. "Yes…I suppose that is one silver lining to be taken from this."

Kirishima sighed. "I was with Bakugo in the Conflagration Zone. I had a couple close calls…but most of the bad guys we fought were pretty easy to beat. So…I dunno. For the most part, I personally feel fine."

"We're glad you were able to hold your own, Kirishima. You were a big help in that fight in the plaza." Midoriya stated sincerely.

Tokage stared at the floor glumly. "I got left at the entrance with Iida and Sero. I didn't get into any big fights, so I don't feel sore or junk. Is it weird that I feel bad about that?"

"You have what's called survivor's guilt, Tokage. And no, you don't have anything to feel guilty about." Midoriya reassured. "If anything, you were a HUGE help to all of us."

"Yeah!" Uraraka perked up, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. "You saved me, Tsuyu, and Kyoka from that lead Villain! You sacrificed your arm and gave Midori-kun time to get him away from us."

"You and Sero also pulled Uraraka-chan and I out of harm's way from the debris Nomu threw at us." Yaoyorozu added, smiling softly.

"And you returned my shield to me, and pointed everyone toward the plaza to back us up." Midoriya smiled confidently. "Trust me, you were the MVP yesterday. If anything, we're glad that you weren't hurt."

Everyone else nodded in agreement. Tokage's smile slowly returned.

"Also," Sero spoke up, "if you feel guilty, I should feel guilty too since I feel fine."

"Same here." Kirishima added.

"Me too." Kaminari slumped his shoulders. "I was able to electrocute or bash everyone around me with my new costume and batons, so I didn't really get hurt much."

"Yeah, you were pretty cool, Denki." Pony looked at him, beaming.

"Y-you think so, Pony?" Kaminari's face flushed a bit.

Jiro glanced up and looked between the two blondes, feeling an unpleasant feeling arise in her chest. 'What the hell? Are they using their first names!?'

"Preach!" Ashido exclaimed. "But seriously, Tokage, don't let this get you down. You were awesome! The same goes for the rest of you too."

Tokage grinned toothly. "Thanks, guys. And please…just call me Setsuna. After what happened yesterday, I'm more than comfortable being on a first name basis."

"Same here!" Ashido grinned brightly. "For now on, you guys call me Mina. I insist!"

"I'd listen to her. Trust me," Kirishima sweat-dropped a bit.

"Since we're on the subject, all of you can just call me Pony." Tsunotori chimed. "I honestly prefer it, actually."

With that, the group unanimously agreed to use the three girls' given names when around one another.

Midoriya smiled; it was good to see his friends being so supportive of each other and strengthening their bonds. At the mention of 'given names', he glanced at Uraraka and Yaoyorozu beside him, recalling what he and the brunette had talked about last night. The verdette internally decided that he'd pull the two girls aside later in the evening to discuss that topic privately.

"With all that said," Midoriya returned his attention to his friends, "none of you should feel down. We'll grow and learn from this."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Urarka sniffled as she straightened up, drying her tears. "I'm happy all of us are safe."

"Kero, me too. I'm thankful no one was seriously hurt. Actually, I think you four," Asui pointed to Midoriya, Tsunotori, Ashido, and Jiro, "had the worst injuries any of us had. How are you recovering?"

Midoriya shrugged. "My healing factor is enhanced, so I'm further along than most people would be. I feel okay."

Ashido held up her bandaged hands. "My hands will be fine. Recovery Girl said she'd give me one last treatment when we get back on Thursday, and then I'll be fully healed."

Tsunotori motioned to her head. "My head doesn't hurt anymore, and my horns should be fully grown back by Thursday. I've been drinking lots of milk to recover all the lost calcium."

Jiro chimed in. "Yeah, my eardrums were a bit damaged, and I suffered a minor concussion hitting my head on the ground after Midoriya's crazy attack."

Midoriya winced a little. "I'm sorry, Jiro-san…"

Jiro shook her head, smiling. "Don't be. Recovery Girl fixed me up and nothing's permanently damaged. But, while we're talking about it, what the heck was that move, Midoriya-san?"

The group turned their attention to the verdette, equally curious.

"Well, my shield absorbs kinetic energy…and it absorbed a LOT when I was blocking Nomu's punches–"

"Hold on!" Kaminari cut in. "Is that what that loud bell sound everyone was hearing?"

"Yeah. When hit with enough force, it'll produce a booming sound like what most of you heard. Anyways, Nomu hit my shield so hard and so many times it was humming and shimmering. It's never done that before…but considering the shield's properties–"

"You figured you could channel the shield's stored up kinetic energy against Nomu." Yaoyorozu finished.

Midoriya nodded in confirmation. "It was risky, I know. But we were in a pretty dire situation."

"Well, it worked out in the end. So nothing to stress over." Kirishima noted.

"Still, that attack was freaking insane!" Tokage blurted. "Can you use that move anytime you want or what?"

"No, I can't." The verdette responded. "The shield would have to absorb a ton of kinetic energy as a catalyst for me to pull that attack off again. And not many foes are going to be dishing out blows as strong as All Might and Nomu…thankfully."

"True, but that kind of is a shame though." Sero said. "Otherwise, that'd make a killer Ultimate Move or something."

"Maybe you can ask the people who made your costume for suggestions on that?" Asui suggested.

'Well, SHIELD will have to repair my suit anyway. Besides, there's actually a couple changes I could make while I'm at it.' Midoriya internally mused.

"I'll look into it, Asu–uh, Tsuyu." He corrected himself.

"Good, you're learning, kero." Asui smiled the best she could. "By the way, Midoriya, you should know something."

"Oh, what's that?"

"You're still holding Ochako's hand."

Midoriya blinked and looked down, realizing that he indeed was holding the brunette's hand. "O-Oh! S-sorry!" He quickly pulled away. "I-I didn't mean to–"

Uraraka interrupted with a giggle as her blush marks turned a bit darker. "I-It's fine, Midori-kun. Don't worry about it." She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she felt disappointed when Midoriya pulled his hand away.

Dismissing that thought, she looked between the verdette and ravenette sitting on either side and smiled softly, "Thank you both, I really appreciate it."

Yaoyorozu smiled kindly and squeezed her in a one-arm hug, inadvertently pressing her impressive bust into Uraraka's left side–flustering the brunette girl further. "Anytime."

"Y-Yeah…what she said." Midoriya turned away with some pink on his freckled face.

Tokage, Ashido, and Tsunotori glanced between each other and grinned as they silently communicated, "So cute~".

Yaoyorozu looked between Midoriya and Uraraka thoughtfully, feeling a nagging emotion at the back of her head. 'Strange… This vaguely reminds me of a book I read recently. What was it called?' Unable to remember, the heiress made a mental note to search through her personal collection tonight.

---

Later, after everyone composed themselves, they settled down into their seats and read their respective books. Midoriya, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu sat together on a couch while everyone else was spread out taking up the remaining couches and recliners with Kaminari and Pony at a nearby table together. A comfortable silence passed between them, only broken by the occasional giggle from Ashido as she read.

At one point, the silence was broken as Tsunotori leaned toward Kaminari and whispered, "How's your book?"

"Oh…um, it's good." He simply replied.

"What's it about?" She inquired.

Kaminari was a little taken aback by her sudden interest. "Electric guitars. Has a lot of superficial tips and whatnot."

Tsunotori blinked twice. "You know how to play guitar? That's so cool." She sounded interested.

"Y-yeah? Yah think so?" Kaminari grinned. Maybe his imagination wasn't playing tricks on him. Maybe he did have a shot with this foreign girl after all!

As the blonde pair continued to converse, keeping their voices down so as not to disturb their friends nearby, Jiro glanced up from her book and growled under her breath. Why did that sight bother her so much? She knew it was wrong, but she listened in on their conversation.

After a moment of discussing their favorite music, Tsunotori decided to change topics. "Um…by the way, thank you again for your help at the USJ, Denki."

"It was no big deal." Kaminari played off, trying to remain cool.

Her smile dropped a bit. "I just wish I could've been more helpful to you guys."

Kaminari furrowed his eyebrows. "Hey, hey, don't say that. You really went Plus Ultra taking down most of the Villains attacking me and Yaomomo. You were awesome!"

"Oh," Tsunotori waved off, "you're just saying that. After all, I overused my Quirk and was out cold for the whole final fight. You even had to carry me too." She frowned. "I was just a liability."

'Actually, carrying you was the best part of yesterday.' Kaminari thought. "Hey, don't let it get you down. What happened to you could've easily happened to me too."

Tsunotori glanced up at him, bewildered.

"You remember how I fried my brain during our first combat lesson last week?" When she nodded, he continued, "Well, if I hadn't redesigned my costume when I did, I wouldn't have been much help yesterday outside of shooting lightning everywhere and making myself stupid. I would have been useless after that."

"But you did upgrade your suit. You were a big support to Yaomomo, the others, and me! So please…don't feel down." She smiled softly.

"Alright, but only if you don't." He said slyly.

"Hmph," Tsunotori smiled cutely, "fine. But…only if you take me out for taiyaki and ice cream like you said."

Kaminari blinked twice. 'Holy crap! Is she for real? YES!' He outwardly grinned. "Deal. Um, are you free tomorrow?"

Jiro continued to silently eavesdrop on their exchange and froze up. 'What the hell!? She's actually going on a date with that dunderhead?! Does she not have any standards!?' She frowned hard and hid her face in her book.

With his keen hearing, Midoriya overheard Kaminari and Tsunotori and couldn't suppress a small smile. 'Good for them.' He returned his attention to his book.

Yaoyorozu had been in earshot of the blonde pair's conversation as well and struggled to contain her glee. 'So cute!' She squealed internally while squirming lightly, catching Uraraka and Midoriya's attention.

'What's up with her?' Both simultaneously thought.

As the heiress recomposed herself, she perked up when Kaminari's talk about his costume reminded her of something. "Midori-kun, Setsuna-chan…if it's no trouble, could I have a word with you two?"

Midoriya and Tokage both perked up at their friend's sudden request.

"Yeah, no problem." Midoriya replied.

"Sure thing." Tokage shrugged, carefree.

Both verdettes stood up and followed the creation heiress to the other side of the library to avoid disrupting their friends. Uraraka, Jiro, and Ashido watched them walk away.

"Wonder what they're talking about," Uraraka said curiously.

"Ooh!" Ashido's eyes lit up. "Maybe it's a confession?"

The others shot the pinkette mildly exasperated looks.

"I doubt that." Jiro deadpanned.

"I think you're reading too much into it, kero." Asui stated. "As per usual…"

"Not every private conversation has to be a confession, Mina," Kirishima pointed out.

"Agreed. Besides, it's not our business to know the details surrounding their private conversation." Iida sternly stated.

"Hmph," Ashido pouted, feigning frustration, "you guys are no fun."

"Who would Yaomomo be confessing to anyway? Setsuna-chan or Midoriya-san?" Sero wondered.

"Probably Midoriya-kun." Asui replied evenly.

Uraraka suddenly became alarmed. 'What?! T-that can't be! Does Momo really like Izuku? I mean, I can't blame her, but…' The thought that Yaoyorozu could potentially be confessing to Midoriya made her stomach twist into little knots. She didn't want to dwell on it; after all, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu were her best friends, and she was best friends with both of them; she wasn't jealous or worrying that they may fall in love and forget all about her–

She was jolted out of her spiraling thoughts when Asui tapped her arm.

"You okay, Ochako-chan?" Uraraka couldn't be sure, but she thought there was a knowing gleam in Asui's eyes.

"Uh, y-yeah," She hesitantly replied, not sounding convincing one bit.

"If it's a confession, why ask Setsuna-chan to tag along?" Kirishima questioned.

Ashido shrugged. "Maybe for support? Or she could be confessing to both?"

Uraraka's auburn eyes widened at that suggestion. 'If that's true…they'll definitely forget about me…' She sunk into the couch, a depressed aura wafting off of her.

Asui and Ashido shared a knowing look, silently communicating, We should stop.

"You know, Iida-san's right." Ashido sounded serious. "I think we are reading too much into this. It's none of our business anyways."

Everyone–sans Kaminari and Tsunotori–looked at the pinkette in moderate surprise. Why did she get so reasonable all of a sudden?

"If you really must know, they're talking about costumes." Jiro revealed.

"Huh?" Most of the group perked up.

Jiro pointed to one of her earjacks. "Sensitive hearing, remember? Anyways, it's not related to romance, so please…let's drop this conversation." She returned her attention to her book.

Everyone else accepted that response and followed her example.

Uraraka, meanwhile, felt her stomach knots loosen up as she straightened up, a sigh of relief slipping out. 'That's good…' She turned her attention back to her novel. Who would've thought a sci-fi survival thriller of an astronaut abandoned on Mars would be so interesting?

Ashido noticed Uraraka's reaction and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 'I swear this girl is way too easy to read.' She smirked slyly.

---

Meanwhile, across the library, Yaoyorozu led Midoriya and Tokage to a small table where they could sit down. Midoriya noticed Yaoyorozu's school bag sitting on the table.

"So, what's up, Yaomomo?" Midoriya asked. "Is something wrong?"

The ravenette shook her head. "No, nothing is wrong per say." She turned her gaze to the other greenette. "Setsuna-chan, do you remember when we discussed the basics of your costume?"

"Yeah. I told you it was made by using my own cells." Tokage then paused. "Well, technically they're using artificial stem cells and accelerated growth, but," she shrugged, "a lot of that biomechanical stuff goes over my head."

"Hmm," Midoriya was jotting down something in his notebook, "Artificial stem cell technology? That's incredible."

Neither Yaoyorozu nor Tokage questioned where the verdette was hiding his pen and notebook as they were used to him pulling stunts like this now.

"I see. Well, I have something to show you." Yaoyorozu pulled out a manilla folder out of her bag and opened it. "This was my original costume design with notes from the Support Company that my family used, Detnerat Lifestyle Support." She slid over the papers to them.

'Detnerat? I've heard of them before… They just recently got into the Hero Support business from what I've read.' Midoriya recalled.

"Whoa," Tokage looked over the original leotard design. "This is pretty risqué. Were you inspired by Midnight-sensei or something?"

"N-Not exactly," Yaoyorozu responded shyly. "However, our Quirks do operate in a similar manner that requires skin to be shown. That's why I made the note in my request form to reveal certain areas of my body where fat is stored."

"Still, this is a little much." Tokage furrowed her brows. "Is that a bookshelf on your back?"

"What? Lemme see," Midoriya scooted closer to study the design closely, his ire growing by the second. "Detnerat designed this?"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Yes. After reviewing the details of my Quirk and the notes I made in my request form, this was what they sent back."

"This design is utterly incompetent." Midoriya said tersely.

"No kidding. Your current costume looks way better, Yaomomo." Tokage agreed.

"It goes beyond just aesthetics. The design itself is dangerous." Both young women looked at him curiously, and he explained further, "The heels, for one. They're likely to damage your feet and ankles out in the field. Also, too many of your joints and vulnerable areas are exposed. And, lastly, there's the rigid shelf mounted on your back. That's a huge danger. Land from a fall the wrong way and you could break your spine."

Yaoyorozu paled at that gruesome thought. She never considered any of those things when initially reviewing her original costume before. She had just blindly trusted what the professionals had made for her.

Midoriya frowned hard. "If I were uncharitable, I'd accuse Detnerat of deliberately eschewing more expensive materials and relying on exposure as a means of cutting costs–putting Yaomomo's life at risk. If I were being very uncharitable, I'd say the designer was too enamored with the idea of skimpily dressed young Heroines to bother doing their jobs."

"I get'cha." Tokage nodded in understanding. "So Detnerat was trying to cheat Yaomomo's family out of money, and the designer was a huge pervert. Great combination." She grumbled.

"I see." Yaoyorozu lowered her gaze. "I feared as much. I'm relieved to know I wasn't the only one who came to this conclusion." She clenched her fists under the table in frustration. 'I'll inform father of this when he and mother return from their trip. We'll cut all ties with that organization.'

"Is that why you brought us over?" Tokage raised a brow.

Yaoyorozu looked up. "Partially. The main crux is that I intend to reach out to the Support Company you employed for your costume, Setsuna-chan." She revealed. "I wish to have a similar one constructed for myself."

"That's a great idea, Yaomomo!" Midoriya's expression brightened.

"Not that I'm against it, but why're you getting a new costume already? Don't like the one Midoriya drew up for yah?" Tokage questioned.

"Oh, heavens no!" The heiress immediately squashed that notion. "I love Midori-kun's design. It's just…" She paused and recalled events from the USJ attack. "...like everyone else in the Hero Course, I need to do everything in my ability to become the best Hero I can become. If there is a way to protect my body without compromising my ability to use my Quirk, I'd be foolish not to explore that avenue."

Midoriya smiled and nodded. "I agree. If your new costume has DNA-integrated clothing, your creations should be able to pass through that material the way they pass through your skin. You can protect your vulnerable areas without handicapping yourself."

"You sure that's the only reason? You sure you weren't getting jealous of some of the other girls in our class for wearing tight full-body costumes?" Tokage smirked teasingly.

Both Midoriya and Yaoyorozu blushed slightly at Tokage's accusation.

"I–I, t-that has nothing to do with anything!" Yaoyorozu stammered.

Tokage failed to suppress her laughter. "Sure! Whatever you say! Ha-ha!" She wiped a tear away. "But anyways, sure. I can give you some input…on one condition though."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Can you let me borrow that Jurassic Park novel?"

Yaoyorozu playfully rolled her eyes, nodding. "Of course. It's no trouble."

"Sweet!" Tokage grinned toothily. "I'll return it as soon as I'm done."

Midoriya brought out his notebook again. "I can draw up something for you too, Yaomomo. If you want, I mean…"

Yaoyorozu smiled and nodded. "Yes, I would very much appreciate that."

From there, the trio bounced ideas off of each other while Midoriya neatly cataloged each of their suggestions and did a rough sketch of Yaoyorozu's new costume. A short time later, Yaoyorozu had what she needed to submit a request form for a redesigned costume.

---

Later in the evening, Yaoyorozu insisted that everyone stay for dinner. Like with lunch, the meal was expensive but tasted amazing; needless to say, nobody complained. Afterwards, the group was preparing to leave as the sun had set.

"I would love to have all of you over again," Yaoyorozu said as her friends put their shoes on. "Perhaps we could study for tests here?"

"Ah, yes! A wonderful idea, Yaomomo!" Iida nodded decisively. "We should organize study groups on weekends."

"The weekends before tests," Ashido amended. "We all need time to relax, too, or we'll burn ourselves out. But I'm totally down for hangouts with you guys!"

The rest of the group quickly agreed; they were about to head out, but then Midoriya stepped up to Yaoyorozu and Uraraka. "Hey, Yaomomo, Uraraka-chan…do you think we could talk in private before Uraraka-chan and I leave?"

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka were bewildered by his request until the latter's eyes widened, recalling what she and Midoriya had discussed last night.

"Oh, of course. It's no trouble." Yaoyorozu smiled kindly.

Ashido, Tokage, and Tsunotori looked at each other to have a mental conversation.

Think it's a confession? Ashido mentally said.

Not likely. Tokage shook her head. Those three are too damn oblivious to recognize their own feelings.

I didn't think people could really be that dense in real-life. Tsunotori slumped her shoulders. It's kind of frustrating honestly.

Ashido adopted a saucy grin. Well, we could always give 'em a little push here and there in the right direction. You girls with me?

All three girls nodded and shared knowing looks.

Kirishima sweat-dropped off to the side. 'I don't even want to guess what those three are thinking…'

The group-sans Uraraka and Midoriya–began walking toward the gate.

"Mind if I walk you home, Pony?" Kaminari walked up to her.

Tsunotori beamed happily. "Sure! I'd like that. Oh, do you want to exchange contacts too?"

"Y-yeah!" He hastily replied. 'Score!' The electric blonde mentally fist-pumped. 'Can't wait to rub this in Mineta's face!'

Ashido and Tokage looked at each other, their respective grins growing wider. Looked like the Oblivious Trio weren't the only budding relationship in their class.

"Tsk," Jiro clicked her tongue and turned away. 'Whatever. It's not like I should care…' Her head said one thing while her heart was saying something else entirely.

Asui looked between the blonde pair and purplette blankly. 'Oh boy…'

"See you guys on Thursday!" Ashido called out, waving back at the trio remaining at the front door.

"Totally!" Tokage shared a high-five with her, taking care to not hit too hard because of her hands. "Had a blast with you guys!"

"Same!" Sero said. "Is it weird that I'm actually excited for class?"

"Yeah, just a little." Kaminari jabbed him.

The group shared a laugh while exiting the Yaoyorozu estate and split up to head to their respective train stations.

Yaoyorozu, meanwhile, led Midoriya and Uraraka off to the side into a lavish parlor room.

"We should have privacy in here," Yaoyorozu closed a set of beautifully carved doors. "What did you wish to discuss, Midori-kun?"

"Well, before I get to that," Midoriya's expression portrayed concern. "How are you feeling, Yaomomo? Everyone else opened up a bit today, but I noticed you didn't really say much."

"Oh, well…" Yaoyorozu momentarily paused. "...I had trouble sleeping last night. Uraraka-chan and I had a close call against Nomu yesterday and I had nightmares about all of us in danger."

"I see." Midoriya nodded while Uraraka looked at her sympathetically. "That's not uncommon. Please, let us know if it gets any worse. Alright?"

"I will. But….that's not the only thing that's been troubling me." Yaoyorozu admitted.

The super-soldier and gravity-girl gave the creation heiress their undivided attention, patiently waiting for her to continue. Yaoyorozu inwardly debated if she should continue or not, but relented that it'd be best to get this off her chest.

Yaoyorozu lowered her gaze ruefully. "I…I feel ashamed of myself."

"Ashamed? Why?" He asked, confused. "Of what?"

"I froze up during the last fight. When we were pinned between Nomu, Shigaraki, Kurogiri, and their henchmen. I tried to strategize a plan of action…but I panicked." She frowned dejectedly. "If you hadn't been there, Midori-kun…I fear that we would have–" She trailed off and turned away, covering her mouth as tears brimmed her eyes.

Uraraka immediately pulled Yaoyorozu into a tight embrace, and the ravenette heiress broke into tears. Uraraka consoled her while Midoriya stood close by. Part of him wanted to hug the sobbing girl too, but he didn't want to make it awkward for his female friends. He hoped his presence would be enough to bring Yaoyorozu some comfort.

Moments later, Yaoyorozu finally composed herself and pulled away, still sniffling. "T-Thank you…"

Uraraka smiled warmly and nodded. "Anytime."

Midoriya laid a supportive hand on Yaoyorozu's shoulder. "Yaomomo, you have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I froze up during a crucial moment of the battle. I allowed my fear to get the better of me." She berated herself. "Someone or even all of us could've died."

"Yaomomo, don't you think you're being too hard on yourself?" Uraraka questioned. "Aside from Midori-kun, that was our first experience against real Villains. It's only natural for us to be scared."

"Maybe so, but…" Yaoyorozu lowered her head, frowning. "...I can't help but wonder if I showed my true nature yesterday. Someone who crumbles under pressure. Will I do the same thing when the lives of civilians are on the line? I worry if I have what it takes…"

A moment of silence passed by.

"Yaomomo. Look at me."

The ravenette beauty looked up as Midoriya's strong verdant gaze focused on her. "As a soldier who's seen his fair share of conflict, let me say that you performed admirably yesterday."

Yaoyorozu blinked twice. "But I–"

"You came up with a plan that neutralized the Villains attacking you, Pony, and Kaminari. You successfully treated Pony's injuries after she overexerted herself. And you provided excellent support during the final battle."

Midoriya went on. "This may sound hypocritical as I'm my own harshest critic, but please cut yourself some slack. We're still Heroes-in-training, so of course we made mistakes. There's plenty of room for us to grow and learn from them."

Yaoyorozu smiled wryly, brushing away her partially dried tears. "This coming from someone leagues beyond all of our classmates' skills."

The verdette shook his head. "I'm not perfect. Heck, I made my fair share of mistakes yesterday like getting in Thirteen's way when Kurogiri showed up. But we can't dwell on what we could've done. We can only control what we do going forward. So please, Yaomomo, Uraraka-chan…don't let what happened yesterday shake your self-confidence; otherwise, the Villains win."

Yaoyorozu sighed deeply as her smile slowly returned. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the taller verdette's neck to hug him. "Thank you, Midori-kun."

"Oh…a-anytime," Midoriya settled himself and gently returned the hug, resting his hands on the small of her back while her chin rested upon his shoulder. Feeling her impressive assets press against his broad chest caused his face to heat up, but he made sure to control himself. Now was not the time to get excited!

Uraraka, meanwhile, watched Midoriya hug Yaoyorozu with a warm smile.

It was weird. She didn't feel the twinge of jealousy when another girl–especially Tsunotori–got close to Midoriya. Seeing her two dear friends, who were two giant nerds in the most endearing sense of the word, comfort one another was a touching sight. She wasn't insecure or jealous, rather she started to feel some kind of emotion that seemed like a weird relative of "proud".

"Thank you." Yaoyorozu pulled away from Midoriya–much to her inner disappointment–and looked between him and Uraraka. "To both of you. I…truly am blessed to have you as my dear friends."

The verdette and brunette smiled and nodded, returning the sentiment.

"So, this ties into what I wanted to talk to you both about." Midoriya segued, "all three of us are good friends. Actually, I consider both of you my best friends. And, especially after everything we went through, I was wondering if we could use our given names?"

Neither Yaoyorozu nor Uraraka needed to think it over for long.

"I'd really like that." Uraraka said, smiling happily. "I'm really happy to have met both of you. It's hard being away from my folks, but befriending you two has made the transition to the city and UA so much better. Also, I really enjoy being around you two."

"The feeling is quite mutual." Yaoyorozu nodded. "Truthfully, before I met you both, I did not have much positive interaction with those in my age group." She smiled wistfully. "It's been…quite enjoyable having true friends for once. I am quite fond of the nickname 'Yaomomo', but when we're alone, you both may call me Momo if you wish."

"We're happy to have you as a best friend too, Momo." Uraraka chimed back. "You both can call me Ochako."

"Actually, Momo," he looked at the ravenette "Ochako has brought to my attention that she would like a nickname. You know, since you and I have one."

Uraraka and Yaoyorozu both tried to ignore how nice it felt to hear Midoriya say their given names.

"Is that so?" Yaoyorozu gasped. "OH! You're right!" She turned to the brunette and bowed. "Please, do forgive us, Ochako. It was not our intention to leave you feeling left out."

"I-it's cool! Really!" Uraraka became bashful.

"What nickname would be sufficient?" Yaoyorozu straightened up.

Midoriya hummed thoughtfully. "Well, why not…Occhan?"

"O-Occhan?" Uraraka repeated.

"Ooh, I quite like that name!" Yaoyorozu's eyes shimmered, clapping her hands together. "It's so simple yet so cute too."

The brunette looked between her two friends and then beamed. "Okay, Occhan it is!"

Midoriya and Yaoyorozu both internally gushed at how adorable she looked.

'Why am I suddenly reminded of mochi right now?' the verdette thought absentmindedly. 'Maybe that would be a good name?' He promptly dismissed that idea. 'No! That nickname is something a romantic couple would use.'

"Well, Occhan, Momo…you can call me Izuku, or whichever you prefer."

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka nodded and beamed brightly at him.

Midoriya's face flushed as his heart skipped a beat. "Keep at it, Cap, and you'll have two potential love interests." Coulson's words echoed in his head. He then recalled the instance with the bunny girl Villain's Quirk at the USJ earlier too, and the form she had taken in an attempt to charm him.

'Dammit, Phil…' Midoriya internally swore.

"Is everything alright, Izuku?" Yaoyorozu inquired, noting his reddening cheeks. "Are you hot?"

Uraraka realized she had been staring at the verdette and quickly glanced away before she was noticed, feeling flustered. 'Yes. Yes he is, Momo.'

"Oh! Um, it's nothing, Momo!" He frantically waved off. He needed to switch topics quickly!

"You know, what happened yesterday sucked for all of us. Those Villains tried to break our spirits…and even take our lives. But you know what I say to that?" The super-soldier held out his hand. "Let's grow from this awful experience, and become stronger together. What do you say?"

Both girls smiled confidently and placed their hands on top of his.

"I'm in!" Uraraka said eagerly. "We're in this together!"

Yaoyorozu nodded. "Yes. Let's become the best Heroes we can be."

Midoriya's grin widened. "Go beyond…"

"PLUS ULTRA!" They exclaimed.

---

Wednesday morning, two days following the USJ incident, UA's Hero department and Detective Tsukauchi were holding a faculty meeting inside a secure conference room. Faculty members were taking a seat at a U-shaped table with TV monitors placed on the wall in the front. Several members of UA's Board were attending online, including the university president.

"Dean Nezu, please read out the casualty report if you would be so kind." UA's president instructed. His camera was turned off and displayed only a circle with his initials on the screen.

The white-furred marsupial-like creature, Nezu, read off the file that Recovery Girl had given him. "Of course, sir. We had four students that required medical attention. Ms. Tsunotori overused her Quirk to the point of collapse. Ms. Jiro suffered a mild concussion. Ms. Ashido severely burned her hands while overusing her Quirk. And Mr. Midorya suffered four cracked ribs, five bruised, a sprained ankle, various pulled back muscles, and multiple lacerations."

All of the instructors present frowned heavily, a few bowing their heads in self-disappointment; Yagi especially felt the guilt swell up inside of him.

"Additionally, two faculty members were hospitalized. Thirteen luckily received a patch job to her damaged suit from young Sero and will make a full recovery. Aizawa had both arms broken, the skin on one elbow completely removed, and suffered a facial fracture." Nezu finished reading off.

The conference room was silent and self-recrimination filled the after the report.

"This is unacceptable, as you can imagine, Dean Nezu." The president bluntly responded.

Nezu nodded. "I concur, sir."

"How could this have happened?" Another board member, sounding like a woman, inquired via the video call. "Shouldn't the security alarms have triggered the moment those Villains stepped foot into the training facility? Why was there a significant delay with the response?"

Nezu shook his head, a thin frown on his face. "I'm afraid these Villains came well prepared. One of them, Kurogiri, used a warpgate Quirk to teleport himself and the other Villains into the facility while another possessed an electromagnetic-type Quirk that disabled our security systems."

"And what about All Might?" The president inquired. "Wasn't he supposed to be present at the time teaching for the class?"

Yagi shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not looking forward to having to explain that he had recklessly gone over his time limit that morning during his commute.

"All Might was unable to attend the class on-time due to a one-on-one meeting that I personally held with him." Nezu immediately answered. "Considering Aizawa and Thirteen were both present and that Class 101-A's rescue exercise was taking place on secured UA grounds, I didn't see the harm in taking up some of his time."

Yagi turned to Nezu, frowning. 'Nezu… please, no. Don't take the fall on my behalf.'

Nezu went on. "It is clear this was a plan executed after months of formulation and gathering of common thugs and low-level Villains. However, if you and the board are hoping to find a potential scapegoat among us for this incident, then you need not look any further than me."

Several gasps went across the room as the faculty members turned to Nezu in subdued shock.

Yagi stood up in alarm. "Dean Nezu, that's not–"

"That won't be necessary." The university president interjected. "It is clear the blame cannot be pinned on anyone present here, or not here, for this incident. The simple fact that it was able to happen and cause injury to our students and faculty is what I find unacceptable."

The female board member chimed. "Thankfully, no one was permanently crippled or killed yesterday. Still, our institution's ironclad reputation will suffer a blow following this incident."

"This is the second incident with unauthorized personnel trespassing onto campus grounds in less than a week." Another male board member dryly added. "Perhaps our security system needs to be reevaluated?"

Nezu nodded. "I am open to further increasing the campus's defenses, however, I'm afraid there is little anything could be done against a foe with a warping ability."

"Fortunately," Detective Tsukauchi spoke up from his seat, "the warpgate-user, Kurogiri, and the leader, Shigaraki Tomura, were both apprehended with the rest of the 120 Villains that were rounded up yesterday."

"I suppose that is one silver lining to be taken from this." The university president commented. "Speaking of which, do we have any additional information regarding these criminals, Detective? What was their goal in all of this?"

"From all of the statements we've gathered thus far, it's clear their objective was to ultimately kill All Might." Tsukauchi replied. "Crippling and/or killing the students was a side objective to further taint UA's public image and reputation. As Nezu stated previously, most of the Villains present were common thugs just following Shigaraki's orders."

"Thankfully the group's ringleaders were sent packing in paddy wagons with the rest of the Villains." Snipe remarked, his voice distorted by his mask. "So we won't have to worry about them anymore."

Snipe was a 181 centimeters (five-foot-eleven) tall man with the overall appearance of a stereotypical western cowboy. He wore a brown stetson cowboy hat with a large "S" stamped in the center, a red cloak over a black tank top, a brown belt with a gun holster on his hip, and baggy dark brown pants with yellow chaps stuffed into grey cowboy boots with spurs. His face was covered by an old-school gas mask shaped like a horse's muzzle.

Yagi, a longtime fan of most American things, was constantly in awe of Snipe's ability to convey a western American accent in Japanese.

"The next unsettling news is the preliminary results we received from the bioweapon they had with them." Detective Tsukauchi informed the group.

Yagi turned his attention to the report in front of him. He read over the first several lines and frowned heavily. This was truly disturbing.

"The bioweapon they called Nomu was made from the body of a missing person." the police detective revealed. "It was heavily altered through various surgeries and procedures, including genetic modification that added the DNA of at least three other people to the body. This was how it came to possess multiple Quirks. It couldn't be called human anymore after what was done to it. It was more like a corpse being moved by residual memories and orders. Somewhat like a biological robot for lack of a better term."

Detective Tsukauchi and Yagi simultaneously recalled Midoriya's statement two days prior. It turned out the verdette student's observations were proven correct. The Nomu truly was a living corpse.

Yagi clenched his fists under the table, shaking slightly. 'Multiple Quirks…'

Midnight closed her eyes and laid down the papers. "This is twisted. Who could do something so horrible?"

"Someone with medical training, decades of experience, and years of experimentation with both genetics and Quirks." Recovery Girl looked apoplectic as she read over the file. The elderly Hero's hands were shaking with barely contained rage. This report hit closer to home for her considering her background in the medical field.

"It is as Recovery Girl said." Nezu inserted. "None of the Villains captured yesterday met these parameters. So the ones responsible for creating the Nomu are likely still out there."

"I see…" It sounded as if the university president was mulling over the disturbing report. "Is there any news on that front?"

"I and a few other Investigative Heroes are already looking into every registered doctor in Japan that fits the necessary parameters. We hope to narrow it down in short order."

"What if none of them turn out to be responsible?" Yagi asked curiously.

"Then we will involve the International Police and Pro Heroes from other countries." Nezu declared. "If we have to make this a worldwide manhunt to see justice be carried out, then that is what we'll do."

Yagi considered Nezu's words and nodded in agreement.

"Hopefully the monsters responsible for creating this Nomu can be apprehended sooner rather than later." A male faculty member commented.

"Agreed." The president said before clearing his throat. "Now, let's move on to the next agenda item for this meeting: the UA All-Star Games."

There was a brief pause in the meeting room.

"Should we continue the games, sir?" Midnight questioned curiously.

"The HPSC certainly wants us to proceed forward. However, the safety of our students is paramount." the president pointed out.

"We especially cannot risk a third incident on a nationally broadcasted stage."

"We can reach out to local hero agencies to beef up security for the event." Vlad King offered.

"We also have to be extra careful of who we allow to attend in the stadium." Present Mic chimed in.

"Dean Nezu, what are your overall thoughts?" the female board member inquired.

"As much as I would like to cancel the games, at least the freshmen events, I believe we should go through with them." Nezu declared. "We must show that as an institution that we have not been discouraged, weakened, or made fearful by the attack. Additionally, this is an important event for our Heroics students to get noticed by Pros as well as those in other courses who initially failed to get into the Hero Course to garner a second look."

"I am in agreement so long as the necessary precautions are taken." The university president replied. "One concern I have is if Class 101-A should be allowed to participate in the games. Perhaps it is too soon…"

"On that front, I'm requiring that all Class 101-A students visit Hound Dog for an evaluation upon their return." the Dean of Heroics stated. "I believe that so long as they are deemed mentally fit and not suffering from any sort of trauma, they should be allowed to participate. If not, then we can continue the All-Star Games without them."

The hyper-intelligent chimera gave a look to the Hero Department's psychologist.

"Of course, Dean." Hound Dog gave a short nod.

Hound Dog served as a member of campus security, but, in large part, his primary job was as a certified Trauma Counselor. He was there to provide support for Hero students and catch early signs of psychological trauma developing during their time at the academy. He normally dealt with third and fourth year students, ones that had participated in internships and work studies, seeing the industry firsthand. It was always possible that one of their students would see something in the field that would shake them mentally. He knew how to help and it was why he was at UA University to begin with. He wanted to help the next generation be prepared for the reality of Pro Hero Life.

"I believe that is fair and reasonable."

"It should at least reassure the public that the threat is handled and that we're taking the necessary precautions moving forward to prevent a similar incident."

"Very well then. The All-Star Games will commence as originally scheduled in two weeks' time." The president responded. "As for security, we can discuss the specifics in a one-on-one meeting soon, Dean Nezu. You may pass on the news to the rest of the faculty afterwards. For now, I'll prepare an official statement that the university intends to go through with the All-Star Games."

"Understood, Mr. President." Nezu nodded in understanding.

"If there is nothing else on the agenda, then I believe we can adjourn this meeting."

---

Yagi sighed heavily as he stepped out of the conference room with a manila file in hand containing the topics of today's faculty meeting. He was truly disturbed by what was revealed in the preliminary report of the Nomu's remains. Not only by the fact it was once a regular person, but the startling revelation it had been genetically modified to wield multiple Quirks. There was only one person he knew that could pull off such a feat.

'Is that monster really involved? I mean…a body was never found, but I smashed his head in. Could he truly have survived that?' The Number One Pro didn't have to ponder long before coming to a grim conclusion. 'What am I saying? If there's anyone who could survive those injuries…it would be him.'

"Hey, Toshinori." A familiar voice snapped him out of his musings. He turned to see Tsukauchi standing behind. "Do you have a moment to speak?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm free for a bit." Yagi responded.

The black-haired man smiled and nodded. "Why don't you follow me to my car outside. We can talk on the way."

The two men walked down the hallways. They passed a fair amount of non-Heroic students and faculty members along the way. The pair soon reached a stretch of hallway that was empty and silent.

'Naomasa mentioned he wanted to discuss something about Midoriya on Monday. Just gotta play it cool, All Might.' Yagi mused.

Tsukauchi was the first to break the silence. "The Nomu. I think you, Nezu, and I know who's likely responsible."

Yagi frowned pensively. "I already had my suspicions when I heard it possessed multiple Quirks. But…" his gaze dropped to the tiled floors. "...I'm trying to keep an open mind. It could always be someone else, yes?"

Tsukauchi turned to him. "Maybe…but his body was never recovered. He's already lived for so long. Who's to say he didn't have a method of restoring himself in the event he was critically injured?"

The police detective and emaciated Hero approached an elevator, the former pressing the down arrow button.

The haggard blonde didn't respond immediately. "I'm…trying not to entertain that notion…even though it is very possible."

The metal doors slid open and the pair stepped inside the elevator. Tsukauchi pressed a button for the ground floor before the doors smoothly closed.

"Until we can gather more concrete evidence that proves otherwise, I believe it's fair to say he should be the prime suspect as the mastermind behind the USJ attack…as well as the media break-in last week."

Yagi's expression hardened as he clenched his fists tightly. "All For One." He uttered the name with utter contempt in his voice.

Tsukauchi shifted his gaze to the doors. "I understand it's hard to fathom, All Might…especially after what happened six years ago. Believe me, I truly do hope I'm wrong." He rubbed his chin contemplatively. "Though not so much as a peep has been heard from him since the incident. Perhaps he's in a similar state you're in and is laying low?"

Yagi reflected on Shigaraki's words the other day, and the pure vitriol in them.

"All Might! This is your fault! Everything I have suffered…is because of you…and Heroes like you! I will kill you! SYMBOL OF PEACE! Wherever you are…just watch…as I turn everything you love…to dust!"

The unkempt blonde's brows scrunched up. 'What could have happened to make him despise me so much? He mentioned a master as well. Did they instill this hatred into him?' An unsettling possibility then entered his brain. "Or maybe…he's been molding someone to take his place?"

"Hmm…" Tsukauchi hummed. "His successor, huh? That's even more foreboding. Well, if Shigaraki was All For One's disciple, then it's good that we have him in custody now. He won't cause any more trouble for anyone from Tartarus."

Yagi nodded in agreement. "Right." That did make him feel better, but he couldn't shake a bad feeling he was having.

The elevator smoothly glided to a stop and the doors opened. They both stepped into the main lobby area. They glanced around to see no one was present.

"While we're on the topic of successors," Tsukauchi turned his gaze back to Yagi, "there's something I should mention to you. About Midoriya, that is."

Yagi tensed up a bit, but maintained his composure. "Yeah…what's that?"

"I detected a half-truth in the middle of his opening introduction. I went over the tape several times and determined it was when he gave his age. Strange, don't you think? Asking a person's age should result in a clear true or false response, not an in-between. I've been really scratching my head on this one."

'Damn…' Yagi internally cursed.

Tsukauchi cocked a brow, studying Yagi's expression. "But it seems like you're already aware." He pointed out.

Yagi exhaled deeply. This was one of the rare moments he cursed his friend's superb observation skills.

"Yeah…I am." No point in lying to someone with a lie detector Quirk.

"That so? Well then, why would his age of all things register as a half-truth?" Detective Tsukauchi asked curiously, keeping his voice down.

"I'm afraid I can't say anything regarding the matter, Naomasa." Yagi responded. "Please, don't take it personally. It's not that I don't trust you. Far from it. But it's not my secret to divulge. It's young Midoriya's."

"I see. Should I be worried about him?"

Yagi shook his head firmly. "Not at all. He's a good young man. I can assure you he's not a threat or anything of the sort."

The gritty police detective considered the top Pro Hero's response. "…Alright. I'll take your word for it, All Might." He relented.

"Thank you, Naomasa." He said appreciatively. 'Now please drop it.'

Tsukauchi's mouth curled into a small smile. "So…did you tell him about you-know-what the other night?"

The pair stepped through the doors and outside, ambling along the main pathway.

"Well…" he rubbed his neck awkwardly, "...I sort of got interrupted by his friends before I could tell him."

"Oh…?" Tsukauchi chuckled in amusement. "That sounds rather clichè."

"Yeah…hehe" Yagi chortled lightly. "Believe me, it was really frustrating."

"Well, I'm sure you'll have another opportunity so–" Tsukauchi's cell phone ringing cut him off. 'Now look who's getting cut off…'

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his phone, noting the caller ID. "Sorry. I have to take this." Pressing the accept button, he held the phone up to his ear. "Yes, Chief?"

Yagi and Tsukauchi stepped through the main gate and started walking in the direction of the parking lot.

Tsukauchi gasped as his eyes widened in shock. "What?! Are you serious, sir?"

The Number One Pro looked at his friend in concern.

The detective lowered his head as he listened to the chief of police on the other line. "Yes, Chief. I'm on my way back to the station. We can discuss it more there. I'll see you soon." He then hung up.

"...What's wrong?" Yagi asked cautiously.

Tsukauchi frowned heavily. "The police caravan escorting Shigaraki and Kurogiri toward Tartarus was attacked a couple hours ago."

Yagi gaped in shocked disbelief. 'What?!'

"Several officers were killed. A dozen more were seriously injured." Tsukauchi's shoulders trembled. "Shigaraki and Kurogiri were nowhere to be found either." He directed a serious gaze toward Yagi. "They've escaped."

"Escaped?" Yagi repeated. "How could they have—"

"I don't know yet. Listen, I have to head back to the station ASAP." Tsukauchi sounded urgent. "I'll keep you in the loop."

With that, the detective hurriedly made his way to his vehicle.

Yagi stood motionless, stunned from the bombshell dropped on him. How could Shigaraki and Kurogiri have possibly escaped? Their Quirks were surely suppressed. Did they have some kind of outside help? The possibility of the League being aligned with All For One came to the forefront of his mind once more.

"A TEXT MESSAGE IS HERE!" The sudden ringtone interrupted his musings as he reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone to read the notification.

COULSON: WE NEED TO TALK WITH CAP ASAP!

---

Earlier…Unknown Location

Darkness provided peace and comfort. He felt at ease. Like bats in a cavern or sea creatures in deep water trenches, the dark was his natural element. He watched the screens in front of him. The faint twitches of his and the good doctors' creations within their tanks and the whirring of machinery.

Radios and news stations were on in the background, ears perked and ready to receive any sort of news or tidbit.

The air cracked behind him. He recognized the sound. A scarred hand pushed a button for his seat to rise up and spotted a black miasma forming.

The Symbol of Evil sprung to his feet as two figures stepped out of the warpgate. One of them had bone plating visible on their hands before concealing it by putting on a set of thick gloves.

"Tomura. Kurogiri." All For One murmured as he stepped away from his throne, dressed in black dress pants and a white buttoned up shirt. "Welcome back."

Tomura wordlessly fell to a knee before him and bowed his head.

All For One's gaze shifted to the other one standing behind his protege as Kurogiri reformed into his humanoid shape. The individual was a robust man standing at 181 centimeters, (five-foot-eleven) decked out in a Musutafu police riot uniform with a black helmet concealing his face.

"Thank you for bringing them home, Crossbones."

Crossbones bowed slightly. "My pleasure, Supreme One. It was kind of fun actually, getting into a role and whatnot."

"I can imagine. Kurogiri, if you would be so kind as to take Crossbones back to his usual station." All For One politely instructed.

Kurogiri nodded and created another warpgate. Crossbones gave a lazy salute before stepping into the portal to places unknown.

As the mercenary exited the facility, All For One returned his attention to Shigaraki who hadn't moved from his spot kneeling on the floor. He noted the bandages wrapped around the young man's face and could only speculate about the injuries he had sustained.

All For One got down on one knee, placing a hand on Shigaraki's left shoulder.

"Supreme One, what's going on! My sensors are–" A cranky old voice blared from a speaker.

"Enough, Doctor Garaki. This doesn't concern you." All For One ordered, and the doctor remained silent over the intercom.

"Tomura, what happened to you?"

"…Master…I'm…sorry…" Shigaraki's voice was cracked and muffled by the wrappings. He was clearly overwhelmed with emotion.

"Don't worry, Tomura." He turned towards Kurogiri and gave a silent command. His faithful servant picked up the whimpering, ailing youth and took him to a small curtained-off medical ward across the mysterious facility. The King of Crime followed closely behind them.

The faint lights from the various computer screens and machinery revealed an array of horrendous scars plaguing his face and medium-length albino hair.

As Kurogiri laid Shigaraki on a bed, he floated to the other side, his golden eyes low and almost closed in regret.

"Master…" Tomura whimpered, his hand held out.

All For One clasped the appendage with his own.

"It's alright, Tomura. I am here." He said in a calm, soothing tone. "Please, don't talk for now." He lifted his hand and black-and-red prongs extended out of his fingers, painlessly piercing the youth's face. The scarred face man took a deep breath as his Quirks got to work.

He then focused his gaze on Kurogiri. "Obviously the mission was a complete failure." He said rhetorically. Shigaraki was trained to keep up with the most agile of Pros. He may not have had much experience, but his floor was far higher than any of the students attending UA University, especially freshmen.

"Yes, Supreme One." Kurogiri replied.

The black and red tendrils from All For One's fingers glowed in the dark alongside the computer screens behind the well-built man.

All For One exhaled in exasperation. "All Might…always the thorn in my side. I suppose we weren't as prepared as we should've been."

"I agree." Doctor Garaki's voice stated from the intercom. Hidden cameras and microphones placed across the bunker allowed him to listen and follow the conversation. "We underestimated them. Thankfully, we failed under that cheap 'League of Villains' name and not our own."

"Indeed." All For One nodded. "Too much is at stake to risk giving away our true name."

"S-Sir, if I may," Kurogiri hesitated, "we followed the schedule that we acquired from the campus. We even disabled the facility's communications and security systems. However…" His golden eyes looked down. "...All Might was not there."

All For One opened his mouth and then closed it, looking down at Shigaraki, whose eyes were becoming half-lidded, a side effect of Morphine Touch, Regeneration, and Bone Regrowth. He'd be sleeping like a baby for the next couple of days.

"Hmm… The media coverage is saying otherwise, but I will naturally trust your word over theirs." The Symbol of Evil said. "All of the thugs you and Tomura recruited failed. What of the Nomu I designed to kill All Might?"

"My apologies, sir. The freshmen students were more trouble than even we had anticipated. Some of them were able to defeat the ruffians we coerced and attacked me, Tomura, and Nomu. The Nomu was an unfortunate casualty."

"What?! HOW!?" The doctor blurted out in surprise. "And after all that work to make him as strong as All Might!"

All For One shrugged indifferently. "I suppose it can't be helped, unfortunately."

"Master…" Shigaraki's voice was slurred due to the morphine and stamina drain from healing. "...failed…I…couldn't…kill All…Might…" The youth's eyes watered up, expressing shame, self-loathing, and despair.

The very same eyes when he had found the boy.

With his free hand, All For One petted Shigaraki's head, and offered a warm expression…or the best one he could with his scarred face. "I am not angry or disappointed in you, Tomura. I am only glad that you and Kurogiri are back safe and sound. Please, rest. Know that you are in safe hands now."

The consolation seemed to appease Shigaraki as he settled back onto the bed.

"Thank you for rescuing us, Supreme One." Kurogiri bowed respectfully.

All For One chuckled. "Of course. I couldn't leave two valuable friends and assets to rot away in Tartarus."

The misty Villain nodded and turned his gaze to his ward "Will Tomura be staying here?"

"The doctors who treated his injuries did the bare minimum so it would seem. He's missing some teeth, his nose is still crooked, and he has several lacerations and broken ribs." He diagnosed.

"The healing will take time as it will consume his stamina. I will have Doctor Garaki hook him to an IV to aid the process as my Quirks do their job. So," All For One turned to his servant. "How was the Nomu killed? A lot of effort was put into creating that thing." A disappointed sigh slipped out. "A shame too."

Kurogiri shrugged or did the best he could as a humanoid mist. "The students concocted a plan. At first, there were only four, then reinforcements joined the fray. Their Quirks were quite troublesome." His golden eyes narrowed as a black tendril rubbed his dented metal brace. "Very troublesome."

The scarred man dutifully noted the damage to Kurogiri's brace. It was constructed of a special steel-carbon alloy, one that was almost impenetrable. Odd.

"I am curious. What exactly transpired that ultimately led to your defeat?" All For One inquired seriously.

Kurogiri explained the sequence of events following their arrival in the USJ. From splitting up most of the students across the Disaster Zones, taking down Thirteen, Iida's escape, and reconvening with Shigaraki.

"With All Might not present and the Pros presumably on their way, we shifted our mission goal to killing as many students as possible before escaping." Kurogiri further explained. "Tomura targeted three girls hiding by the Flood Zone, but he was stopped by a girl with a body-splitter Quirk…and a man with a shield."

All For One cocked a brow. "A man with a shield? Did his Quirk allow him to produce shields of some kind? Similar to Crust?"

"No, sir. He was only wielding an incredibly strong shield. He did seem to possess a strength augmentation Quirk of some kind though."

"Hmm. Go on."

Kurogiri continued. "This student allowed time for his comrades to escape while Tomura ordered Nomu to crush him."

"I presume it failed since there are no reports of student casualties?"

Kurogiri did his best at a nod. "Yes. He was able to hold his own against Nomu for a time, and his shield was even capable of withstanding Nomu's blows."

"Did it now?" Well now. Such information piqued his interest. "There are not many materials that can withstand a force on par with All Might's attacks."

"...nor display immunity to Tomura's Quirk…" Kurogiri mentioned hesitantly.

All For One's expression briefly faltered in surprise. "What…?"

"That's impossible!" The doctor shouted over the intercom. "Decay is capable of destabilizing any solid matter Tomura touches! Theoretically, an object's Molecular Stability would have to be completely perfect to resist its effects! That's not possible for any known elements or alloys!"

The scarred man was silent, inwardly mulling over this revelation. "Are you certain that Tomura touched that student's shield with all five fingers?"

"Yes, sir. He did." Kurogiri confirmed.

"I see… Tell me, what happened after this student with a shield showed up?"

Kurogiri continued his debriefing of the final fight with student reinforcements showing up, the shield-wielding student killing Nomu in a spectacular sound-related attack, and finally the Pro Heroes arrival.

"Following that, we were unfortunately apprehended by the authorities."

"Hmm," All For One hummed thoughtfully. "It seems luck was not on our side the other day."

"Those…damn…brats…" Shigaraki slurred, the teeth he had lost slowly regrowing.

All for One looked down at the teal-haired youth. He could see it within those crimson eyes, even through all the morphine... hatred burned like hellfire. The scarred man couldn't hold back his smirk. He'd be knocked out before long. The poor boy needed a rant.

"Oh? Who are these people? Name them Tomura. Name them so you may etch them into your mind. That you may seek revenge for your failure. Learn from this, Tomura, and become stronger. Become superior."

"Didn't get…names…won't forget…faces…" He clenched his fists, his teeth fully regrowing as his bruises and broken nose healed. "...the exploding sh*thead…Endeavor's brat…and then…the one…who attacked me…and killed Nomu…that stupid…green-haired…freckled bastard!" Even under the influence, his eyes widened in hate.

All For One's grin dropped. His curiosity was further piqued. "Green hair? Freckles?"

"The student wielding the shield," Kurogiri clarified.

"Yeah…the f**king a**hole…broke my face!" Shigaraki growled; his rage barely contained. "F**king cheater! Stupid wannabe…Captain…f**king America!"

The scarred man paused, his smirk dropping to a thin line. He needed to know for certain now.

"...Tomura…" All For One placed his free hand on the crown of Shigaraki's head. "I'm going to use one of my Quirks named Memory Peak to briefly peer into your memories of the attack. This will not hurt. Just relax."

Shigaraki wordlessly nodded and rested his head back, his energy levels rapidly declining from the morphine.

The multi-Quirk user activated Memory Peak and his eyes turned a light-blue as a result.

Various images played through his mind. He saw everything that Shigaraki experienced from the start and end of the USJ attack. All For One's eyes widened slightly when he saw one individual.

…

…

It was him.

He may be wearing a different uniform. His shield may have a new paint job. But there was no mistaking that face. Those defiant verdant eyes.

He even saw Shigaraki's last memory of being punched in the face by the man after Shigaraki had blindly charged at him. The images then faded to black.

'It looks like you haven't changed a bit.' All For One mused sardonically.

He deactivated Memory Peak and pulled his hand away, his eyes returning to the original blood-red.

He couldn't hold back his toothy grin. "I see…"

"Supreme One…?" Kurogiri stared at the albino-haired man quizzically.

The Symbol of Evil petted Shigaraki's head. "Everything is going to be okay, Tomura. Please, rest up."

"Kill…them…all…" Tomura managed to utter before falling into unconsciousness.

'Yes…let hatred be your teacher. Vengeance is a powerful motivator. It will drive you. Strengthen you. Let it grow and fester. In due time, you will become a raging unstoppable wildfire that will destroy this world.' All For One sneered wickedly.

The failed USJ attack was an unfortunate setback…but it needed to happen. This failure would either make or break his protege. Either Shigaraki Tomura would crack under the immense pressure placed upon him, or it would make him stronger…and turn him into the world's greatest living weapon.

"Kurogiri," the miasma Villain perked up. "You may return to the hideout. Have yourself a drink. I will call upon you later."

Kurogiri bowed in gratitude and disappeared into a swirling warp gate.

With his faithful minion dismissed and his protege unconscious, All For One stepped out of the makeshift medical ward and back to his throne. As he sat down, he rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands together.

His face suddenly started to morph and change shape. Not much detail could be seen through the room's darkness, however.

"It's been a long time since you revealed that face." The doctor commented.

All For One's mouth curled into a wicked smirk. "Today is a special occasion."

"...What do you mean?"

"I'll fill you in on the details later, doctor. But for now, there are several calls I need to make. If you would be so kind as to give me some privacy?"

"Understood, Supreme One." The line then went dead.

All For One's fingers glided across a keyboard and one of the monitors in front of him started playing an old video considered to be a classic around the world.

"~Who's strong and brave, here to save the American way?~"

"So…a man with an indestructible shield who shares his face and likeness."

"~Who vows to fight like a man for what's right, night and day?~"

"I wonder…is he a clone? An imposter?"

"~Who will campaign for peace door-to-door in America?~"

He shook his head, dismissing that notion. "No…the look in those eyes. The way he moved and wielded that shield. It could only be the genuine article…But how? Why?"

"~Carry the flag to unite all shore-to-shore in America~"

"Well…regardless, I am glad. I am on the precipice of total victory."

"~From Hoboken to Spokane~"

"It's only fitting that I be granted the opportunity to crush all of my foes…past and present." All For One chuckled darkly.

"~The Star-Spangled Man With a Plan!~"

"Brother…All Might…Captain America…None of you have any idea what's in store. No idea." A maniacal grin crossed his face as his red eyes glowed menacingly, signs of dark crimson skin vaguely present through the darkness.

---

Bonus scene!

Tuesday night, at 22:30 (10:30 PM), Yaoyorozu was in her bedroom sitting at an ornate work desk with a desk light and nightstand lamp both turned on. She was now wearing a frilly, baby blue night gown that stretched down to her knees with her black hair let down.

She was wrapping up one of her late-night personal studying sessions. The brilliant girl had discovered years ago that she retained information much better reviewing what she learned in the day before going to sleep. Coming to a stopping point, the ravenette beauty let out a tired sigh before closing her book on advanced chemistry and standing up.

Turning off her desk lamp, her gaze flickered over to her bookshelf across the room. It held her personal collection of books she read mostly for enjoyment rather than academics. At that moment, Yaoyorozu recalled the instance from today where she and Midoriya had comforted Uraraka in the library…and the peculiar feeling that followed.

'That's right. Something similar happened in one of the books that mother gave me. But which one?' She needed to remember, otherwise her curiosity would keep her awake…and she already didn't get much sleep last night.

The voluptuous university student sauntered toward the bookshelf. Starting from the top shelf, her silver eyes darted across the titles on the book spines. A moment later, still meticulously searching through her collection, Yaoyorozu was beginning to worry she may have been mistaken.

Then, she came across one book that immediately caught her attention.

"The Lord, The Lady, and The Maid."

Her eyes widened slightly as her breath hitched in her throat. 'This is it! I remember!'

She recalled the basic premise. A wealthy lord having a consensual three-way relationship between his wife and the young head maid. Keyword being consensual as all parties were involved in the scandalous arrangement.

For a brief moment, Yaoyorozu imagined herself in the role of The Lady, Uraraka as The Maid, and Midoriya as The Lord respectively. A hearty blush erupted across her face as a cute "eep!" slipped out.

Before she could chastise herself for such inappropriate thoughts, her gaze momentarily fell on the book's cover. 'I suppose I could read the first few chapters before turning in for the night.' She mused.

With red staining her smooth elegant face, Yaoyorozu Momo walked toward her bed and proceeded to read the book under the light of her nightstand lamp. The build up in the first few chapters was slow, but she knew it would ultimately pay off into a pure, lovely, and steamy threesome.

She was so engrossed in the literature that she didn't realize that she hadn't stopped until it was well past midnight.

---

A/N: A lot to unpack in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it though!

I'd like to thank everyone for the love, support, and fair and polite criticisms I've received so far.

I have a few things to mention before I sign out. One, I had to go back and make a few minor corrections with Izuku's age. He's technically supposed to be 22, not 21. Not a huge deal but just wanted to point that out.

Also, I made a minor adjustment to Izuku's Entrance Exam score. Won't say what the final score was since it's not a huge deal for the plot moving forward. He still gets first regardless.

Don't expect any action in the next chapter by the way. This is a cool down period before entering the renamed Sports Festival arc.

More details will be revealed as we enter that arc soon.

Please leave any comments, critique, or suggestions in the review box below. Thank you for the support as always!