Ignited Spark

by 3PeopleInACoat

When Midoriya Izuku was four years old, his quirk finally manifested - not a combination of his parents' quirks, but an entirely different mutation of its own. With the ability to blast lightning out of his body, a horrible accident convinces Izuku to give up his dreams of becoming a hero. But with the help of two girls, Izuku finds the inspiration to fight and become a true hero!

38. A Quirkless Hero

"- so yeah," Aizawa let out a sigh as he gestured to the frozen Melissa, who was standing at the board with her back straight, "this is your new classmate, Melissa Shield. Please treat her well."

Across Class 1A, the nineteen students gave a polite round of applause for their new classmate, many of them giving Melissa an interested look as they took her fully in. Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka, however, all felt themselves wince at the gobsmacked expression on Melissa's face as she stood at the front of the class for a long moment, as though still trying to figure out how she had gotten to Japan in the first place, before she seemed to snap out of her daze. Her cheeks turning red, Melissa hurried back over to the desk in front of Nejire and Izuku, Nejire giving her an excited look and Izuku giving her a pitying one.

It wasn't just Melissa being awkward, however. As a whole, a few members of Class 1A were … well … still a bit flustered with each other after their little party during the weekend. Coming into the classroom after Melissa had been summoned to the teacher's office so they could run through with her what they'd be doing to introduce her, Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka had seen many of their classmates arrive, and … kind of avoid each other's gazes. Tsuyu, for her part, had an embarrassed look in her froggy eyes as she tried to adjust the collar around her neck, hiding the imprint of a small bite mark there; Hanta glanced nervously at a laid back Setsuna as she leaned against her chair, seemingly nonchalant about why he was looking at her but occasionally having a bit of red come to her cheeks; and Pony was studying her desk while Mezo folded his arms tightly around his chest, not looking anywhere but his shoes, and definitely not at her.

There was also the fact that Tenya was dead silent as he came into class without telling everyone to take their seats, sitting down silently at his desk and not saying a word, that was causing everyone to keep quiet. Even Nejire, who would've normally jumped into asking Aizawa questions the moment he came into the room or asking everyone about their day off yesterday, was keeping quiet as she stole a nervous look over at him.

And … well, it went unsaid, but if anyone had a question as to why there were pink flecks in Ochako's hair, no one pointed it out.

Once everyone was back in their seats, Aizawa sighed as he scratched at the scar on the side of his head - from what they had seen, Recovery Girl had finished healing him up, with them seeing the small white line near his hairline where glass had slashed him back at the USJ, along with a scar under his eye as he put his hands down on the podium.

"So, as you've all probably guessed, Katsuki Bakugou has been expelled from the hero course," He said without preamble, "and Shield here has been brought in to fill up his seat. Just to let you all know, Bakugou will not be allowed back in this classroom, so if he attempts to enter or threatens you to let him in, report to me or any other teacher immediately, and we'll handle him. It doesn't matter much, but Shield has done tests this weekend to prove that she has a spot here, so I don't want you confronting her about it. I don't want to hear any rumors about any of you confronting Bakugou, either."

"Yes, sir!" The class confirmed, while Aizawa nodded and grabbed something under the podium.

"Good. Now, then," He looked around at the board, "before we get started with today's lesson, I have another announcement to make."

Raising the remote from under the podium, Aizawa pointed it at the blackboard and pressed the button. Everyone looked around at it as the board behind them hummed, turning on, and before they could blink, a few large-lettered words appeared on the screen.

UA ALL-DORM SYSTEM - HEIGHTS ALLIANCE

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed what the board was saying. And then they freaked out.

"DORMS?!" They all screeched.

However, before Nejire could leap out of her seat excitedly to begin asking questions, Aizawa's eyes flashed red, specifically pointing at the blue-haired girl, and everyone quickly shut themselves up. Nejire only barely restrained herself by letting out a weak little grunt and using her fingers to zip her mouth closed.

"Thank you," Their teacher sighed, turning to look back at the screen as he put the remote down, "now, yes, you're reading that right - we will be implementing a dorm system in the next following weeks, beginning next Monday. Its official name is Heights Alliance."

"Er - may I ask why the school is implementing this now, sir?" Momo raised her hand, feeling her own stomach lurch as she read the screen again. "This seems rather out of nowhere, Aizawa-sensei."

"It may be to you," He shook his head, "and … well, yes, it somewhat is. This is a plan that Principal Nezu has been brainstorming over for a while now, which we teachers were aware of, but it was only announced this morning during our staff meeting that we'll be rearranging UA into a dorm system. We'll be transforming a field near the school into a local community for students who might want to try living on their own, or with roommates. It's not something we don't have experience with - Toga, for example, is technically a student who lives here full time, so she'll be switched from having a room on the top floor of the building to a house where she can live with her classmates."

"House?" Tsuyu repeated, raising her finger to poke her mouth. "So it's not a standard dormitory?"

"No. We're essentially creating a suburban neighborhood for each class to live in." Aizawa pressed another button, and on the screen, a small diagram appeared: four houses, surrounding another larger building in the middle, all in the shape of a giant square. "You'll split yourselves into households of five, living in each house, and this larger building will be a common building for you all to spend time in, do homework, make food, whatever you need. Should you want to live alone, above the common building are small apartment-like rooms for you to stay in. Of course, all of this is completely voluntary."

"It is?" Yosetsu questioned, surprised. "I'd have thought we didn't have the option to refuse."

"Principal Nezu is aware that not all of your parents will be on board with our plan," Aizawa acknowledged, "so we are willing to give this to you as an option, or think up alternative days you can stay. For example, some of you may choose to stay at the dorm house for the week but go back to your parents' house for the weekend. We'll be preparing a full explanation for your parents to look over when you get home, and you can discuss it with them then. As for your potential roommates -"

Everyone gulped a bit.

"- Principal Nezu and I will be leaving the choice up to you all," He looked up to give them a frown, ignoring the collective sigh of relief that filled the classroom, "but I'd advise you to choose who you'd want to live with carefully. I won't be accepting any room transfers unless you're threatening to kill someone, so be aware that you'll have to give me a pretty damn good reason to move you if things don't work out."

As Aizawa turned to turn off the screen, everyone took that moment to glance between each other, their thoughts mixed but many of them looking intrigued. Momo, for her part, stared up at the display for the dorm houses while feeling her heart thumping in her chest. Nejire was practically trembling in her seat in excitement, barely able to hold back her questions by stuffing her fist in her mouth as she glanced around the room at everyone happily. Setsuna and Mina, at least, looked interested as they tapped on their papers.

Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka, meanwhile, weren't glancing at each other, but all three of them had the thought of being in the same dorm house together. And that … well …

… maybe it'd be better to talk about it later, with each other. Because the thoughts they were having right now - what with Izuku going a bit red, Ochako glancing at both her partners briefly, and Itsuka biting her lip, weren't exactly innocent at the moment.

"Now then," Aizawa sighed as he looked back to the class muttering quietly amongst each other, "with that out of the way, let's get started. We have a special hero informatics class today to get through."

Oh, no, was the class's mutual thought of despair at what Aizawa was about to drop on them.

The teacher himself paused for a moment to let the moment sink in.

"Code names," He then cooly informed them, "today, you'll all be choosing your hero names."

"WE'RE GONNA BE DOING SOMETHING EXCITING!"

Another flash or red eyes, and the class's outburst was silenced once again.

"Alright, so this is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned before I dismissed you all on Friday." Aizawa sighed as his hair fluttered back down and the red glow in his eyes vanished. "The drafts begin in earnest for the second and third years, after students have gained enough experience that they can serve as immediate assets to pros. So the fact that they extended offers to first years like you all shows that they're interested in your future potential. These offers are often canceled, however, if that interest dies down by the time of your graduation."

"So basically," Itsuka raised her hand, looking concerned, "once we catch someone's attention, we have to work to prove ourselves, or the attention will go away."

"That's right," Aizawa nodded, raising the remote again, "now then, here's your offers - we had to wait until this morning for them all to come in, to get them all organized. They'll be updated if we get a late request by the end of the day."

He turned back to the board and pressed the button on the remote. At once, words, accompanied by bars with a number beside them, all appeared on the screen.

CLASS 1A NO. OF OFFERS

Hadou Nejire - 3,457 offers

Kendou Itsuka - 3,324 offers

Tokoyami Fumikage - 893 offers

Midoriya Izuku - 670 offers

Iida Tenya - 554 offers

Uraraka Ochako - 443 offers

Kirishima Eijirou - 277 offers

Ashido Mina - 233 offers

Yaoyorozu Momo - 218 offers

Tokage Setsuna - 202 offers

Sero Hanta - 148 offers

Kodai Yui - 112 offers

Tsunotori Pony - 76 offers

Kaminari Denki - 69 offers

Yanagi Reiko - 68 offers

Jirou Kyouka - 67 offers

Asui Tsuyu - 45 offers

Shouji Mezo - 23 offers

Awase Yosetsu - 2 offers

Bakugou Katsuki - N/A

"Whoa," Itsuka blinked, feeling her jaw drop at how large the number was beside her name, while the rest of the class began gushing amongst themselves as they quickly looked for their names. Setsuna, for her part, let out a tension-releasing sigh as she sagged her shoulders, Momo frowned as she noted that she was the lowest of the finalists, and Yosetsu looked like he was about to pass out from relief.

"Whoooooooa!" Nejire happily squealed, quickly whirling around, and grabbing Izuku's arm to shake it, ignoring how he had dropped his jaw wide at the number beside his name. "That's awesome! I got so many offers! So did everyone else, but I got a lot! Who do you think requested me, huh? Huh? Hm, but wait, why are there so many offers, though? Not just because we won, probably, but what are they looking for? Me flying? My bursts? Maybe both?"

"Look at that!" Ochako teared up, leaning forward to shake Tenya back and forth. "We got so many offers!"

"Y-yes, yes."

While Tenya remained stone-faced and impassive, Yui stole a small glance at him, and then returned to look up at her own offers.

"Your performances have shown that several heroes have interests in all of you," Aizawa explained over their muttering, with some of them detecting a small hint of pride in his voice, "so be sure to look thoroughly through your list of potential internships. Keeping these results in mind, whether you choose from the list that we will provide you, you'll all be expected to participate in internships with the pros. With the exception of you, Shield," He turned to the still shellshocked Melissa, "you'll be doing catch up for the week while everyone is out on internships, so you have a chance to get caught up with the schoolwork you've missed. As for the rest of you, you've already experienced combat with real villains at the USJ -"

All of them collectively winced.

"- but this will still be meaningful training for you, so you can see how pros work firsthand."

"So that's why we're choosing hero names today," Momo nodded slowly, "so we'll have official codenames for when we go out into the field."

"Ooooooooh …!" Pony squirmed in her seat, clenching her fists as she looked around excitedly at Izuku and an equally excited Nejire. "Things are startin' to heat up!"

"Just remember," Aizawa gave them a serious look, "the hero names you choose today may or may not be temporary. If you're not serious about them -"

"You'll have hell to pay later!"

Everyone looked around at the door as it suddenly slammed open, and they all blinked (and some of the boys and girls blushed) as Midnight sauntered her way into the room, holding her arms above her head as she stretched. Since a lot of them were aiming their gazes at the floor, they missed Midnight glancing over at Izuku in his corner and clearing her throat a bit awkwardly, trying to fix on her usual seductive look. Behind her, Tenko walked in as well, wearing a black long-shirt and dark jeans with his black hair tied into a small bun on the back of his head, as he smiled and flashed everyone the peace sign.

"A lot of hero names that are used by students end up getting picked up by citizens and the media when you go out into the field," He explained as he joined Midnight at the podium, Aizawa moving quickly to slink into his sleeping bag, "and they end up becoming your official hero names."

"Take 'Tenko' here for example," Midnight giggled as she patted the young man's shoulder, Tenko going red and looking embarrassed, "he ended up getting caught up when it came time for him to pick a hero name, so he simply elected to use his real name. And before he could use a hero name he later wanted, the public had already gotten used to 'Tenko', so he was stuck with it."

"It was embarrassing," Tenko grumbled, "but since my first name was approachable and easy for people to say, I stuck with it. Still … what could've been."

"Out of curiosity, what was the name you eventually came up with?" Eijirou inquired.

"Duststorm," Tenko proudly puffed out his chest, "had the idea since I could decay stuff to dust, I'd be the storm that approached."

While nearly everyone in the room, teacher and student alike, gave him an unimpressed look, Fumikage and Reiko sat up, nodding in respect to the teaching assistant.

"In any case," Midnight likewise rolled her eyes at the meme, "to make sure none of you repeat Tenko's mistake, I'll be the one making sure that your names are alright."

She then reached under the podium humming happily under her breath, and she pulled out a stack of at least twenty small boards. Passing half to Tenko, the two of them began passing out the boards to the first person in each row, allowing them to begin passing the rest back to the person behind them.

"When you give yourself a name," Midnight reminded them as she stood near the podium, Aizawa already passed out in his sleeping bag on the floor while she ignored him, "you can get a more concrete image of the kind of hero you want to be in the future. That's what it means when they say, 'names and natures do often agree'. For example, you really set yourself up for what kind of hero you want to be if you name yourself something like 'All Might'."

Izuku nodded a bit at that, feeling his smile fall as he turned his attention to the board before him on the desk. As the sound of markers squeaking on the boards filled the room, there was movement in front of him, and he glanced up to see Nejire taking off her blazer, leaving her in just her white dress-shirt and red tie, and she spun around on her chair to beam at him.

"Sooooo?" She giggled. "What're you thinking?"

"Uh …" Izuku blinked, going a bit red, " … t-thinking about what?"

"Your hero name!" She gave him an excited look. "What are you thinking? What do you want your hero name to be?"

"Er -" Izuku paused for a moment, glancing down at his board - and then he let out a soft sigh, dropping his shoulders, and leaned over so Nejire could hear him mutter.

"- if I'm being honest," He admitted quietly, "I'm kinda stumped."

"Eeeeeeeh?"

"Yeah," He shrugged his shoulders, "I always knew that I'd have to choose a hero name at some point, but now that it's happening … well, I don't really know."

"Huh …" Nejire glanced off to the side for a moment, as though thinking, and then she looked lost as well, "… well, if I'm being honest, I'm not really sure either! But if I think of a cool name for you, I'll let you know, okay? I bet there's lots of cool things to name you!"

Izuku nodded, giving her a weak smile as she spun back around in her chair and leaned over her board, letting out a hum as she tried to think. Looking back down at his own board, Izuku felt his smile fall as he stared down at it and let out a soft sigh.

So, he thought to himself, a name for what I want to be like in the future, huh ...? I guess if I'm really desperate, I could name myself All Might Jr., but then I'll just be a laughingstock for Occhan …

Letting out a small huff of amusement at the thought of her reaction to that, he shook his head and uncapped his marker as he began thinking.

About ten minutes of muttering and marker squeaking later, all of Class 1A started looking around at what their classmates had possibly thought up. Before they could, however, Midnight smiled and tapped her long nails against the podium.

"Alright," She gestured towards the empty spot beside her as Tenko stood near the board, "if we're all ready, we can begin presenting!"

"W-wait," Eijirou started, eyes going wide, "we're presenting these?"

"Of course! I'm sure everyone is very curious about what you're going to name yourself, and it's better to get constructive criticism with everyone giving their opinions!"

"Oh, man," Hanta winced, "this is gonna take some nerve."

"Well, there's no need to be nervous," Midnight shook her head while smiling gently at the class, "we're all here to be heroes, there's no need to be afraid of getting a little advice. Besides, we also have to make sure what you're naming yourself is appropriate, right?"

"Says the queen of inappropriateness," Tenko muttered under his breath, quiet enough that his coworker wouldn't hear him.

"Now then," She gestured to the podium as she stepped aside, "who wants to go first? Or do you want me to start alphabetically?"

Everyone glanced nervously between each other, as though suddenly fearful that they were about to be put in the center of attention. Thankfully, Itsuka let out a small sigh from her spot, and raised her hand above her head.

"Okay," She shrugged, "I … guess I could go first?"

"Excellent, Kendou!" Midnight happily pointed at her, gesturing for her to get up, "Let's get the ball rolling!"

With a nod, Itsuka quickly got up and stepped up to the front of the room. As she headed up, Izuku and Ochako leaned forward curiously - they had never asked her what she had in mind for a hero name, so they were intrigued as to what she had chosen for herself.

As soon as she was up at the podium, Itsuka let out a small breath in and out, and then moved to put the board down on the table to display her name, giving everyone a sheepish smile.

"I figured out what I wanted my hero name to be a few years back," She explained briefly, "but I was kinda stuck with what the subtitle would be. Anyway … 'Handy Hero: Battle Fist'."

"Oh, how spunky!" Midnight clapped her hands happily together as she nodded in approval, "I like it!"

Itsuka let out a sigh of relief at her approval, and smiled as the class politely clapped for her as she tucked her board back under her arm and returned to her desk. Both Ochako and Izuku gave her approving looks, which she responded by subtly winking at Ochako and smiling at Izuku as she sat back down.

Invigorated, Mina quickly hopped up from her desk and hurried over to the podium with a grin.

"Then I guess I'll go now!" She eagerly put her board down on the podium's surface. "Here's my hero name - 'Ripley Hero: Alien Queen'!"

"Ripley?!" Tenko gasped in shock, looking pale. "You mean that movie with the alien with acidic blood? Rejected!"

"Rejected?!" Mina balked, looking around at the teaching assistant in shock. "Why?! What's wrong with it?!"

"Well, it does make you sound somewhat villainous, dear," Midnight advised her, "and probably naming yourself after the antagonist of a movie might not be a smart idea for a hero. As much as I hate to say, giving yourself such an off-putting name might damage your career long term if you're not careful."

"Plus," Tenko shivered, "it also brings to mind a giant Xenomorph coming to save me, and … eesh. No, thank you."

"Aw, man, really …?" Mina pouted, looking disappointed. Thankfully, Midnight patted her shoulder.

"I'd allow a variation to be a subtitle for you," She comforted her, "like, 'Alien Hero - insert your name here'! That kind of thing."

"I guess," Mina sighed in disappointment, walking back to her desk dejected. Tsuyu then raised her hand to go next, and made her way to the front.

"Kero," She put her board down on the podium, "I've had this name in mind ever since I was in elementary school. 'Rainy Season Hero: Froppy'!"

"Oh, how cute!" Midnight gushed, clapping her hands together. "It seems friendly, I like it! It's a great example of a name that everyone would love."

"Ooh!" Nejire likewise looked delightedly up at Tsuyu. "That does sound so cute! I love it! But wait, hold on, is 'froppy' the name of a frog? Not an official name - or is it? Wait, was it a pet's name? Are you naming yourself after your pet? Is that a thing? Should I name myself Pixie, after my kitty?"

"Er - no, kero, I just thought it sounded cute."

"Hmm," Nejire hummed, looking back down at her board as Tsuyu moved back to her desk.

"Right!" Eijirou jumped up with his own board. "Then I'm going next!"

"Take it away, Kirishima!"

From there, everyone started to get the courage to step up to the podium and show what names they had selected for themselves. Izuku, for his part, continued to absently write names on his board, stare at them for a moment, and then shake his head and erase them, while Nejire continued to bounce excitedly in her seat and try to ask quick questions that the presenter awkwardly tried to answer - at least, until Midnight headed over and covered Nejire's mouth with her hand, giving her the signal to try reigning it in.

"'Sturdy Hero: Red Riot'!"

"Ah, playing homage to Crimson Riot, eh?" Midnight grinned, walking back to the front while Nejire zipped her mouth closed again. "If you want to bear a name you admire, it'll come with that much more pressure, if you're ready for it!"

"I guess I'm next," Kyouka put her board on the podium, "'Hearing Hero: Amplifier'."

"That's good!" Midnight cheered while Tenko went down to Denki's desk to give him advice on what he could produce as a hero name. "Let's keep moving, people! Give me those names!"

"'Tentacle Hero: Tentacole'." Mezo confirmed.

"A mix of 'tentacle' and 'octopus'! I like it!"

"'Taping Hero: Cellophane'." Hanta grinned.

"Nice and simple! That's important!"

"'Welding Hero: Welder'." Yosetsu winced at his lack of creativity.

"Very simple and to the point!"

"'Size Hero: Rule'." Yui nodded.

"I'm suspicious about your subtitle, young lady, but I like it!"

"'The Alien Hero: Venus'!" Mina proclaimed.

"There you go, girl!"

"'Stun Gun Hero: Chargebolt'!" Denki flashed everyone a finger gun, which Kyouka eye-rolled to since he clearly didn't go with her thoughtful suggestion of 'Jamming-whey'.

"Ooh, I feel tingly!"

"'Horned Heroine: Rocketti'!" Pony pumped her fist.

"Ooooh, a name that reflects your body! I like it!" Midnight threw her hand happily in the air as the class all enjoyed the carefree atmosphere, Tenko grinned, and Aizawa napped. "Now come on, let's keep right on going!"

"I hope that I will not bring shame to this name." Momo declared in a serious voice, "'Everything Hero: Creati'."

"Creative! Heh."

"'Split Hero: Lizardy'!" Setsuna grinned, aware of Itsuka and Yui both snorting and resisting the urge to flip them off.

"Oooh, I like it!"

"'Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi'." Fumikage said in such a voice it sounded less like a hero name and more of a burden he was taking on.

"Like the god of the night!"

"'Mysterious Hero: Emily'." Reiko brushed some of her hair out of her face.

"I get that reference!"

With everyone settling back in their chairs after non-stop volunteering to go next, Midnight turned to look around the room to make sure that nobody was being missed.

"Ah, choosing hero names has been going a lot more smoothly than I thought!" She happily told Tenko as he stood near the board with her. "So, let's see … who's left?"

"Midoriya, Uraraka, Hadou, Iida and Shield," Tenko confirmed.

"Ah, yes, thank you!"

"Er …" Melissa spoke up for the first time in about half an hour, causing everyone to look around at her curiously as she awkwardly raised her hand in the air, "… sorry, but I had a question."

"Yes!" Midnight pointed happily at the new student. "How can we help you, Shield?"

"So, uh …" Melissa went a bit red, "… I … realize that I only just joined the hero course this morning, so … uh … I'm not really sure what to name myself. I don't really - I don't have any names in mind."

"Oh, that's fine!" Tenko nodded, giving her a smile and thumbs up. "Since you won't be heading out on internships just yet, you have the time to think of a name and submit it to us when we do the later internships."

"Ah," She nodded awkwardly, "well - okay. Y-yeah, that's fine. Thank you."

"Now then," Midnight looked around at the other side of the room, seeing Izuku looking concerned and deciding to give him a bit more time to think, "Uraraka, Iida, do either of you want to go next?"

"Um …" Ochako stood up, holding her board to her chest, "… I can go next."

"Excellent! Take it away, Uraraka!"

Walking up to the front of the class, Ochako moved past Midnight and put her board down on the podium, aware of Izuku and Itsuka paying extra attention now as she gave the class a sheepish smile.

"So, uh - this is what I thought of," She gestured down to the board, "'Uravity'."

"Sounds stylish!" Midnight praised her, which made Ochako sag a bit with relief.

With another round of applause, Ochako returned to her desk, smiling and blushing at Itsuka's thumbs up. Midnight then glanced in between Izuku, Nejire and Tenya, with Izuku still staring down at his board and Tenya staring blankly at his, while Nejire looked around excitedly.

"So how about you, Hadou?" She asked. "Are you ready to present?"

"Oh!" Nejire gasped, quickly standing up. "Right! I got so excited, I nearly forgot that I had to present!"

Midnight smiled gratefully at Nejire for taking the initiative, taking a step back as Nejire happily made her way to the podium. The blue-haired girl stood there for a moment as everyone leaned forward in anticipation as to what she was going to name herself -

- and then she blinked as she set down her board, seeing no name written on it.

"Wait," She realized, "I got so excited, I haven't thought of my hero name yet. Is 'Nejire' fine?"

Nearly everybody in the class face planted on their desks, while Midnight raised her hand to her eyes and Tenko sighed.

"Er …" Midnight looked back up at the concerned girl with tired eyes, "… it would be, but … just your name? Are you sure?"

"Ummmm …" Nejire looked away to think for a moment, while the rest of the class gave her a collective exasperated look - seriously, was she so curious about their hero names she didn't think of one for herself? - and then she suddenly gasped, her eyes brightening.

"Oh!" She clapped her hands together as she looked around at Midnight. "How about 'Fae'? 'Spiraling Hero: Fae'!"

"'Fae'?" Midnight repeated, and then smiled and nodded. "Sounds mischievous! I like it!"

Smiling happily, Nejire quickly made her way back to her desk.

As everyone muttered about Nejire's idiocy, Izuku let out another sigh as he scrubbed out another potential name that he had dismissed. Honestly, he was starting to get frustrated that nothing was really sticking - he thought of a few names that sounded stupid the longer he thought of it, names that wouldn't make sense, and names that were blatant rip offs of All Might (so no go's). He had been excited about one name he came up with, up until Denki unveiled his 'Chargebolt' title, forcing him to bitterly erase the 'Flashbolt' name off his board - he didn't want to look like he didn't have any creativity.

It shouldn't be that difficult - he just needed a name that people would think 'it's okay' when he arrived to save them. Something that they could be inspired by. Something that, when he arrived, they would know who he was -

- wait.

"Y-you were really cool yesterday."

"Huh? I was?"

"Y-yeah! You were really cool when you were swinging around the trees, in the second round. Avoiding everyone."

"Oh, uh … I wasn't all that cool. I was, uh - I was getting yanked around a lot of the time by Hatsume's devices."

"Yeah, but you still dodged everyone else! No one got to touch you until the very end! And you still won!"

Izuku found himself blinking as he had remembered what had happened on the Saturday following the sports festival. Katsuma … he had thought those things, hadn't he? He had recognized Izuku on sight, he had told him how cool he thought Izuku had been in the forest, and against Katsuki and Fumikage. And … he hadn't known him by his real name.

He knew him by … by …

Staring down at his board for a moment, Izuku felt his lips thin - and then he nodded to himself, swelling his chest up, and quickly scribbled down his hero name on the board. Once he was sure it looked fine, he stood up.

"Ah, Midoriya," Tenko grinned at him, "you wanna go next?"

"Y-yes, sir."

Taking a moment to hype himself up, Izuku walked to the podium, with Midnight stepping aside so he could have the spotlight. After a moment of glancing around the room nervously - and aware of Ochako and Itsuka paying him extra attention - he let out a sigh, and put his board down on the podium to face the classroom.

He saw everyone blink at what he had written.

"Huh," Kyouka gave him a curious look, "guess you're embracing the meme, huh?"

"I -" Izuku let out a self-deprecating chuckle, "- I guess."

"I mean, are you sure, man?" Eijirou leaned forward in his seat, giving him a surprised look. "I know it's kind of a joke now, but - well, you might be called that forever, you know."

"Yeah, I do," Izuku nodded, smiling a bit as both Ochako and Itsuka looked pleasantly surprised by his choice, "but, well … I met someone this weekend that knew me by this name, and - and I inspired him. So … well … why not try to inspire everyone else with this name, too?"

The class looked unsure for a moment - but then he saw some of them nod, looking at it in approval. Nejire looked excited for him, Melissa gave him a small smile, and both Ochako and Itsuka looked happy for him, while Izuku glanced down at the name he had chosen.

'Elemental Hero: Spark'

"Well, I approve!" Midnight flashed him a thumbs up happily while Tenko smiled at him, and as Izuku returned to his desk, she turned to where Tenya was silently at his desk.

"Now then, Iida, you're the last to go," She called out to him, "do you have a name in mind?"

Tenya continued to stare down at his board for a moment, aware of everyone turning to look around at him - and then he nodded, and abruptly stood up from his chair, making Ochako flinch a bit behind him. Everyone watched as he walked over to the podium, taking a deep breath - and then he put the board in his hands down on the podium, showing his first name there and nothing else.

"Oh? You're just going to use your first name?" Midnight raised her eyebrow, but still nodded (albeit giving him a sympathetic look), and Tenya returned to his desk. As he sat down heavily, he was vaguely aware of Yui looking at him out of the corner of her eye, but he stared up at the board as his gaze hardened behind his glasses.

Once Aizawa had been woken up from his nap (with Midnight coolly telling Tenko to kick him awake, and Tenko being weirdly happy to do so), the three teachers excused themselves, with Aizawa telling them that he'll be talking to them more about internships once they were back from lunch. Ectoplasm then came in to start teaching math, and to Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka's relief, Melissa had recovered enough from her shock from this morning to participate in class - and, well, answer each and every one of Ectoplasm's equations effortlessly, somewhat intimidating most of the class who didn't know her history in support studies and unnerving Ectoplasm, who muttered something about potentially bringing in more difficult questions and making Denki and Mina pale in horror.

Soon, the bell for lunch rang, and Ectoplasm excused them for their lunch break. The moment he closed the door behind him, many people shot up from their desks, but did not head out towards Lunch Rush. Instead, a small crowd quickly surrounded Melissa's desk, who was at least coherent enough now to look surprised at all the attention focused on her.

"So, I'm Kirishima!" Eijirou loudly introduced himself, bowing low. "I know that we usually talk in the chat, but it's nice to finally meet you face to face!"

"Y-yeah, I agree," Melissa stood up from her desk, giving him a small smile, "it's nice to finally put faces to names."

"If you do ever need any assistance," Momo gave her a concerned look, "please don't hesitate to ask, alright? I know that it must feel intimidating to join the hero course right after the sports festival, so I wouldn't mind lending you my notes for you to catch up with."

"Oh, well - that's - that's kind of you, thank you."

" Whew! I can't believe there's another person here who speaks English!" Pony happily clapped her hands together, before she blinked. " Er - wait, you do speak English, right?"

" I do," Melissa giggled as she spoke English as well, making Pony sag her shoulders with relief, " and yeah, Japanese can be a bit difficult sometimes, right? I'm lucky that one of my uncles is a native speaker, I've been learning Japanese since I was six."

" Oh, that's awesome! I've been speaking Japanese since I was thirteen, so I'm still a bit shaky."

" Well, I think your Japanese is pretty good. If you ever need help learning a word, just let me know."

" Okay!"

"Well," Mezo took a step forward as well, aware of Pony quickly falling silent and staring down at her hooves with a blush while he likewise went a bit red but tried not to look at her, "it's good to have you with us, Shield."

"Oh, you can just call me Melissa," She smiled up at him, and then glanced around the small crowd that surrounded her desk, "in fact, you can all call me by my first name, if you want."

"Well, only if you're sure," Tsuyu smiled up at her, "and in that case, you can call me Tsuyu, or Tsu if you want. So, Melissa, what's it like to live in America?"

"Oh, well - if we're being technical, I'm not from America. I was born there and spent some of my childhood there, but I've actually lived on I-Island most of my life."

"Wait, really?!" Mina's eyes went wide while several people let out several impressed noises. "You mean that super high-tech island? That I-Island?"

"The one and only," Melissa giggled.

"Okay, now we have to hear everything!"

As everyone continued to chat happily with Melissa to learn more about her, Izuku found himself smiling gently behind them, seeing the way Melissa's shoulders loosened from all the tension and her smile became more and more genuine. He then heard the sound of feet behind him, and he glanced over to see Ochako and Itsuka walking towards him with their lunch bags, their gazes on Melissa as well as she continued being the center of attention.

"She seems like she's fitting in fine, huh?" Itsuka smiled as she put her bag down on Izuku's desk, reaching over to Pony's discarded seat to pull it over as well.

"Yeah," Ochako likewise took Nejire's own seat and spun it around, sitting down across from Izuku as Itsuka sat down between them.

Behind them, they watched as the crowd began slowly filling out to head to lunch - from Tenya already having left, which made Yui frown but shake her head as she moved to join Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka, and soon enough Setsuna joined them as well as she stretched her arms above her head. Behind them, Nejire checked her phone, frowning, and then nodded and waved to the group as she quickly headed out the door, heading in Class 1B's direction.

Soon, their small group was joined by Momo and Kyouka as well, pulling over desks to make their eating space a bit bigger, and then it was just the seven of them and Melissa, who reached down for her own lunch bag as she gave the group an awkward smile.

"Er …" She pointed at a free space, and at everyone nodding, she pulled her chair over and sat down at the small desk.

"Thanks," She gave them all a grateful look, "I'm pretty sure that I would get lost trying to find the cafeteria on my own."

"O-oh, yeah, it's no problem!" Izuku gave her a thumbs up.

"Yeah," Itsuka smiled at Melissa as well, "we don't blame you, this place is big enough to get lost in really easily. And … well, I wasn't sure if you wanted to go with everyone else, either."

"No, no, I thought I'd stick by the classroom for the first day at least," Melissa shook her head, "at least until - you know - my shock wore off."

"Yeah," Ochako nodded in understanding, and soon, the entire group started getting into their bentos to start eating. For a few minutes, the group was more than happy to eat in silence, with them letting Melissa have a moment to just eat her sandwich before they overwhelmed her with more questions. Once she was finished eating the pieces of hot dog in her lunch, Setsuna sighed and put her bento box down as she looked around at Yui.

"So …" She grinned at her best friend, although it looked somewhat strained, "… how was it at the hospital yesterday? Did you, uh … did you find anything else out?"

Yui paused while sipping on her soup, and then frowned and put her spoon back down in the small cup.

"Nope," She shook her head, "it was the same as Saturday - I went there, I texted Iida, and he told me to head home. Wasn't as nice about it either, he pretty much just bluntly told me to leave the hospital."

"I mean," Itsuka shrugged, looking unsurprised, "I can't really blame him, honestly - it's his brother. We all know how much he looks up to him, so - so a coma must be - it must be devastating. I don't blame him if he's a little snippy."

"Yeah," Izuku frowned as well, putting his chopsticks down while Ochako bit her lip, "when I tried talking to him this morning, he pretty much brushed me off. And I mean, I can't blame him, it's just … it's weird."

"Indeed," Momo sighed as Kyouka looked uncomfortable, "but we must remember that everyone grieves in their own ways. If Iida wants to be alone with his thoughts, we can't begrudge him - it's only if we think he's going to do something to hurt himself that we should inform Aizawa-sensei."

"Do you think he'd do something dumb?" Kyouka shook her head. "I don't know, Iida seems … he's too much of a stickler for me to see him doing something stupid."

"His brother got put in a coma by a villain," Itsuka reminded her gently, "that's not just something you can brush off, no matter how much Iida's trying to convince us otherwise. I can see him throwing himself pretty hard into training, but … well, I'll keep an eye on him, anyway."

"As will I," Momo nodded.

The group was silent for a moment - and then Ochako cleared her throat, and glanced over at where Melissa was awkwardly sitting and quietly eating.

"Er … sorry, Melissa, that - that got pretty dark," She tried to smile at her, "I - I bet this isn't how you imagined things would be going down on your first day."

"Uh … not really," Melissa nodded, grimacing slightly, "I thought I'd be in the support studio right now, not - you know - here."

"Wait, what?" Setsuna blinked, looking surprised as Yui likewise glanced at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I came to UA this weekend," Melissa explained to her, pouting as she lifted up a sandwich to bite into, "I was under the assumption that I was doing tests and exams for the support studio. Only to realize when it was pretty much over that I was … technically applying for the hero course. And by the time I figured that out, it was … well, a little too late."

"So …" Itsuka gave her a concerned look, while Momo looked shocked, Setsuna snorting, Yui glancing down at Melissa's chest and nodding in approval, and Kyouka rolling her eyes at UA's idiocy, "… what technically happened? Did you get here, and - and the teachers immediately put you to work?"

"Pretty much," Melissa sighed as she leaned back against her seat, "I got here after the plane ride, and I sat down to do the tests. I was kind of confused about the subject material I was given - it was about hero laws and crime investigation and all that stuff -"

"So what we wrote during our entrance exams," Itsuka confirmed, while Izuku, Ochako, Kyouka and Yui nodded as well.

"- but I thought that, since it's a hero school, everyone had to do those tests, so I didn't question it much." Melissa gave herself a disappointed look at her gullibility. "Honestly, the only time I realized I was taking the wrong tests was after my physical exam finished - I was put out in one of the fields against several robots. I thought it was just part of the test to find a way to disable them, but after Principal Nezu congratulated me and welcomed me into the hero course, I … I realized that I had been taking the wrong exam all along. But I couldn't - I didn't have the time to correct him, so … here I am," Melissa took another bite of her sandwich unhappily, "in the course I'm probably not supposed to be in."

"Yeesh, girl," Setsuna gave her a weak grin, "that's … definitely not one of your smarter moments, no offense."

"None taken. And yeah, I'm an idiot."

"Is it possible for you to transfer over to support?" Kyouka asked curiously.

"Maybe," She grumped, "but I've been trying to talk to Unc- I mean, All Might, since he was the one who gave me the recommendation to do the exams here, but he's apparently been in meetings all day long today. No way I can get in contact with him. I might be able to ask Aunt Cathy, but … well, I don't wanna distract her anymore than I already have, she was the one who gave me the lift to Japan."

All of the group gave her a sympathetic look as she shook her head and sighed.

"W-well, it can't be so bad, can it?" Izuku gave her a hopeful look.

"Well …" Melissa hesitated, her gaze flickering between them all for a moment before she shook her head, "… honestly, I'm supposed to be building stuff right now, that's what I have all my textbooks and stuff for. And I'm not really sure about the hero course itself, but I don't think I'll have the time to build any support items - for myself or you, Izuku - if I'm going to be training full time. I just …" She sighed, "… I'm gonna have to see if I can get in contact with All Might, or talk to Aizawa after class and see if it's possible to get a transfer."

"That right …?"

"Yeah …" Melissa shook her head, and then straightened up in her seat and gave the small group around her a smile, "… anyway, enough about me dragging down the mood. What kind of offers do you guys think you got from the pro heroes?"

"Uh … well, I don't know about the rest of you, but too many to count," Itsuka shook her head, wincing while Setsuna snorted and Momo gave her a look that mixed sympathy with a bit of envy, "seriously - over three thousand offers? I'm probably gonna be going through the list all week long and have to pick someone at the very last minute."

"W-well, if you want," Izuku turned to give her a hopeful look, "I can have a quick look over your offers and see what might be the best fit for you? I'm probably gonna be finishing going through my offers tonight, so I'll have time."

"Oh," Itsuka smiled at him, "that's - yeah. Thank you, Izuku, I'll take you up on that offer."

"Er - I can also extend that out to you guys as well," He quickly looked around at the girls surrounding him, going a bit red, "if you're having difficulties looking for someone who might be a good fit, I can look through your offers and see where you might fit."

"I … might take you up on that offer, Greenie," Kyouka shrugged, "have no idea who would want to send me offers, so it'd be nice to see who'd help me out the best."

"I'll hold off on you for now, Midoriya," Setsuna shrugged, "I'm … well, I'm hoping that someone specifically reached out to send me a request, so … I'll have to wait and see my offers."

"Still," Kyouka turned to look over at Momo, frowning, "sucks that you got the least amount of offers from the finalists. You got second fucking place!"

"I'm not surprised," Momo sighed, looking disappointed in herself, "I didn't put up a very good performance during Friday's events."

"I thought you did really well, though!" Izuku gave her a surprised look while she shook her head.

"I … reviewed my performance with my father," She turned her gaze down to the table, "and with some of his commentary, I found that my performance during the sports festival was disappointing. I didn't do much to truly stand out - my performance in the first round was hindered by Mineta clinging to me, the second round had me in a supporting role, and … well, the third round had me do nothing while Shouto did all the work."

"I am sorry for that," Shouto frowned, "I should've been more considerate of you, Yaomomo."

"It's alright, Shouto," Momo smiled up at him, everyone nodding along as well and giving Momo sympathetic looks as they returned to their lunches.

And that was right about the time the voice that had spoken above them suddenly registered. Blinking, they all looked up from their bentos, and to their surprise, they saw none other than Shouto, standing above them and carrying a small bowl of what looked to be noodles, and looking between all of them with a neutral expression.

"T-Todo-Todoroki!" Izuku squeaked in surprise, feeling himself straighten up - seriously, how had he snuck up behind them without anyone noticing?! - and blinked a bit at Shouto as he used his chopsticks to raise some noodles to his mouth, sipping them up. "W-when did you get here?!"

"I've been here the entire time," Shouto nodded, glancing at the group of girls plus Izuku as they all glanced at each other in confusion, as though wondering if their perception of their environment was that low, "I noticed that you were all still in your classroom, so I decided to come and speak with you."

He then looked up at Melissa, and shrugged his shoulders.

"But when I saw someone I didn't know," He explained, "I decided to stay quiet until I could introduce myself." He then lowered himself into a bow before Melissa. "I'm Todoroki, over in Class 1B."

"Oh, uh … hello," Melissa stood up from her desk to bow to him as well, "I'm Melissa Shield. You can just call me Melissa, if you want."

"If you're alright with that," Shouto nodded in acknowledgement, and then turned to where Itsuka was sitting, "now, then - Kendou. I wanted to speak with you, if that's alright."

"Er …" Itsuka glanced awkwardly around - she knew that the two of them were in somewhat of a better place than last Friday, when they had spent all day as rivals, but most of the group didn't know that, what with Melissa recognizing Shouto and feeling her smile fade, Setsuna and Yui giving Shouto suspicious looks, Kyouka glancing between him and Momo with a small glare, and Izuku, Ochako and Momo looking concerned.

Still, she nodded, and sat up in her seat.

"… well … sure, Todoroki. What's up?"

"Well," Shouto sighed, putting his bowl down on the desk beside them - and then, to everyone's surprise, he moved to lower himself into a bow again, "I wanted to take the time today to apologize to you."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… oh," Itsuka said blankly, "uh … okay. Er … apologize for … what, again?"

"Well," Shouto sighed as he straightened his back, glancing over at Izuku and Ochako, while Setsuna, Yui, Melissa and Kyouka looked confused and Momo slowly nodded as she plucked a tomato from her bento box, "I suppose that … I am apologizing for my behavior towards you on Friday. And that would include you both as well, Midoriya, Uraraka - I already spoke to Hadou when he stopped by my classroom looking for Haya, so she's accepted my apology. I still wanted to come here to clear the air."

"Ah," Ochako said blankly, "er - right."

"Right. I suppose that I could give you all an excuse for my behavior, but …" He shook his head slowly, "… well, I had some time to think over the weekend, and discussed things with Yaomomo as well -"

They all glanced at Momo, who merely nodded and continued eating her lunch, albeit wincing over the fact that she could see the gears in Setsuna's head spinning at the 'Yaomomo' nickname.

"- and I came to the conclusion that my attitude towards you all was inexcusable. So I want to just say that I am sorry for how I treated you all, and I hope that I can do better."

All of them balked for a moment as Shouto pretty much laid everything on the table, and then took a step back as he awaited their response. And then Setsuna suddenly cleared her throat, causing him to look over at her.

"Hey, uh, buddy," She gave him a pointed look, "there's still one person you have to apologize to."

"Oh," Shouto blinked, "and who's that?"

"Me!" She pointed at herself, and then raised her other arm to show that her hand was currently missing. "You pulverized my hand during the second round! I'm crippled for life!"

"Ah," Shouto's eyes widened in alarm, "I see. I am very sorry, Tokage - er - perhaps I could have my father pay your family for a prosthetic -"

"Prosthetic?! How could you think a prosthetic would make up for your crimes?! And what, you think you can flaunt your daddy's money to get yourself out of trouble?!"

"Ah - er -"

"She's screwing with you, Todoroki," Itsuka sighed as she shook her head, "her body parts regrow, thanks to her quirk. She's just being an idiot."

"Yeah, I am," Setsuna flashed Itsuka a teasing pout, and then brought her other hand floating out from under the desk, reattaching it to her wrist before looking back up at him with a smile, "and yeah, I'm just kidding, Todoroki, I'm over it. I'm pretty sure you didn't even notice my hand there when I was going after Midoriya, and I still got some attention from the pros, so I'm not gonna haggle you about it."

Shouto slowly nodded at that, glancing unsurely at Setsuna as though he were still confused. After a moment, Itsuka smiled as she pointed towards a chair beside Shouto, and, after a second of hesitation, the boy with red and white hair took it, and pulled it over to settle in between Itsuka and Setsuna, awkwardly sitting down.

"So, uh … well, I'm not sure if I speak for Izuku and Ochako -" Itsuka glanced over at them, and saw both of them flash her a thumbs up before she turned back to Shouto, "- but we accept your apology. Tensions were kind of high on Friday, and you were - you know - dealing with stuff. But … um … speaking of that …"

She glanced between both him and Momo for a moment, unsure of how to ask her question, but Shouto seemed to pick up on what she was asking.

"Not well." He shook his head.

"N-not well?"

"Yes. So …" Shouto paused for a moment, glancing between Yui, Setsuna, Kyouka, Izuku, Ochako and Melissa for a moment, as though only now realizing that they were surrounded, before he shook his head again and sat up, "… well, I suppose that if you trust the people here, I can bring everyone up to speed."

"Wha- Shouto, are you sure?" Momo looked shocked, leaning forward and giving Shouto a concerned look while Kyouka continued to glance between both of them with a pout. "It's - it's a very personal matter, I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to keep it private."

"Oh?" Yui tilted her head. "Are we about to hear some good gossip?"

"Yes," Shouto nodded to the stoic girl, before looking back at Momo, "and I'm sure, Yaomomo. You said it yourself that I should try to be more open, and … well, Kendou has shown to be trustworthy, and I imagine that everyone she has in her group is trustworthy as well."

"Oh, yeah!" Setsuna confirmed, crossing her heart. "Anything you tell us doesn't leave my lips, dude."

"Mm," Yui nodded, "I won't say anything."

"I … guess not," Kyouka sighed.

Melissa was quiet for a moment, feeling Shouto turn to look at her, and glanced up and saw him giving her a serious look.

"Just so you're aware," He narrowed his eyes, "what i'm about to tell you is information that the Number Two Hero of this country doesn't want to be public knowledge. Are you alright with keeping a secret of that magnitude?"

Melissa paused - and Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka guessed that she was probably thinking about the secrets she kept for the Number One Hero of this country - and then she nodded.

"Yes," She smiled at him, "don't worry, I know how to keep secrets about top heroes."

Shouto raised his eyebrow a bit at that, but he still nodded.

From there, he pretty much brought everyone up to speed - Ochako, Melissa, Yui, Setsuna and Kyouka, being the ones who had no knowledge of what was going on with the Todoroki family, felt their jaws drop in horror at what he told them. Izuku, who knew the basics, felt his eyes widen when Shouto revealed what he, Itsuka, Momo and Nejire had discovered in the ice dome, to which Itsuka and Momo nodded along as he detailed the repressed memories he had no idea he had. Shouto, for his part, made it pretty quick, frowning as he detailed everything that he had discovered on Friday.

Finally, Shouto finished his explanation, and took a moment to sip on his noodles again. The group of girls plus Izuku were silent for a long moment.

"I …" Yui frowned, "… don't think I wanted to know any of that. Sorry."

"Mm," Shouto shook his head, "I really can't blame you. I wouldn't want to know about it if I were you, either."

"I … okay," Setsuna had her face resting in her hands, "so just ignoring for now that Endeavor is a fucking psychopath -"

"Amen," Itsuka grumbled darkly.

"- what happened after you got done at the Yaoyorozus?"

"Well," Shouto sighed as he put his now empty bowl down, "after we were done with dinner, Yaomomo and I talked things over as well before we went home. I had some time to think this weekend, and … well, I decided that if I'm going to get to the bottom of what actually happened, I need to talk to my mother."

"Your mom?" Itsuka raised her eyebrows.

"Indeed. I want to get her side of what happened - mostly because I don't want to talk to Endeavor more than I have to, and I want to know which of my memories are real - the one where she poured water on my face, or the one of her stabbing Endeavor."

"God, dude, that's -" Kyouka shook her head, "- seriously, really fucked up."

"It is," Shouto agreed stoically, "which is why I want to know which of my memories is the true one. But of course, I ran into a snag yesterday."

"A snag?" Ochako blinked.

"Yes. I went to the hospital where my brother said my mother was located," Shouto frowned, "but the doctors told me that she had actually been discharged two years ago."

"She was discharged?" Izuku felt his eyebrows raise. "So - so that means that she's probably living somewhere in Japan?"

"I think so," Shouto nodded, "and it appears that my mother forbade her doctors from telling anyone where she relocated."

"I mean, it makes sense," Setsuna shook her head as everyone glanced at her, "if she wants to make sure your old man doesn't fuck with her, I'd hide where I'm living from him, too. Wouldn't surprise me if they had restraining orders on each other, too."

"I agree," Shouto sighed, "so that's why I'm going to wait until my sister gets back home tonight - she regularly visits my mother, so that has to mean that she's somewhere in Musutafu. So I'm going to ask her where she and Touya go to visit Mother, and … potentially go there by myself."

"W-wait, are you sure?" Ochako gave him a concerned look. "It – it doesn't sound like it's a good idea to confront your mom if she has no idea you're coming. Who knows how she would react?"

"There is that possibility," Shouto acknowledged, frowning, "but … well, I have the idea that if I try to go with Fuyumi, Touya will forbid me from going. And … and I'm not foolish. Whatever's been going on with my mother, my brother … he's the one who keeps telling me about how my mother was in the hospital and didn't want to see me. If he realizes that I figured out that there's something going on … well, I don't know what'll happen, but I don't want to risk it."

"Well," Itsuka shrugged, sensing Shouto's uncomfortableness regarding Touya, "if you don't trust your brother, do you trust your sister to help you? I mean, if she's been going to visit your mother with him …"

"Yes," Shouto nodded at once, "I trust Fuyumi. She hasn't been able to help me much at home, but where she can, she does. If I ask her to help me find our mother, I think she'll help me. I just … I need to keep this quiet around Touya. He and my other brother have always been close – I don't know if Touya's turned him on me. If someone is going to help me find my mother … it'll be Fuyumi."

The small group of girls, plus Izuku, all nodded, glancing between each other as Shouto finished up his soba. Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka all glanced between each other, and then Momo let out a soft sigh as she looked around to Shouto.

"Very well," She nodded to her old friend, "if … if you'd like to find your mother, on your terms, you should. But please, Shouto, don't do something rash – or if you do end up needing help, please don't hesitate to come to us, and we will be more than happy to help you."

"Yeah," Setsuna grinned at him, while Yui slowly nodded as well, "I know that we should probably cast a vote with the whole group, but dude, if we're helping you with this, you'd be insane to think you haven't become a member of our little Kendousquad now."

Shouto blinked at the name, and then looked around to Itsuka as her own smile faded at once, and she glanced away awkwardly.

"I didn't choose the name," She defended herself with a grumble.

"Hm. Well, questionable raising of Kendou's ego aside," Shouto was unable to stop himself from smirking a bit as Itsuka flashed him a warning glare, "I … suppose that the more help I get, the better. It might be difficult, but … but if I ever need help with my family issues, I know who to turn to."

The group all smiled at him as Shouto was unofficially welcomed to their little band of weirdos – and then he blinked, and looked around to Izuku.

"Oh, right," He suddenly said, "Midoriya, I'd almost forgotten – why didn't you tell me that you copied my quirk after the second match?"

"H-huh?" Izuku looked around at the other boy in confusion for a moment, before what Shouto was saying suddenly came to him. "Oh, you – you mean the ice."

"Yes," Shouto nodded, looking troubled but still stern, "I warned Monoma that it was dangerous to copy my quirk, but you still went ahead and did it anyway. Took me by surprise."

"Surprise," Momo muttered under her breath, "like he wasn't fuming."

"Oh, uh – no, that's not how my quirk works," Izuku explained, before a sudden sullenness came to his face, "if I'm being honest, I have no idea how my quirk works."

"Ah," Melissa suddenly spoke up, the previous warmth in her voice fading, and everyone looked around to see her scowling right at Izuku, "speaking of that – wanna explain why you thought it was a good idea to tear my Full Gauntlet and have it tossed in a trash can?"

"… I, uh …" Izuku froze in terror, "… I can explain that."

"Oh, you better, you little son of a …"

While Izuku tried to stammer out an explanation to the suddenly cold and merciless Melissa, Setsuna let out a small giggle and leaned back in her seat, turning to grin at her fellow recommended student as Shouto glanced at her in confusion, pointing between the grovelling Izuku and the suddenly incensed Melissa.

"Oh, this whole thing of Melissa wanting to tear Midoriya apart is a huge meme in our chat. Don't worry, I'll add you into the Kendousquad chat, and you can catch up."

"Hm," Shouto slowly nodded, taking the matter of inside jokes utterly seriously as Itsuka gave them both a deadpan look, "I suppose I will have to catch up with the group's dynamic. I guess that if we're in a chat with Kendou as the figurehead –"

"Okay, I didn't agree to that –" Itsuka protested.

"- that would make us Kendou groupies? I believe that's the word for it."

There was a long pause, with Itsuka turning to stare in horror at him. And then both Setsuna and Kyouka let out loud cackles of laughter.

"Rejected!"

"Approved!"

"So tell us a bit about yourself, Mr. Shigaraki."

"Well, what's there to tell?" The political candidate leaned back in his seat, folding his fingers together as he smiled at the reporter. "Do you want the full resume, or the bullet list?"

The audience chuckled good naturedly at the joke.

"Ah ... well, to be serious," He sighed as he turned to stare down at his lap, his smile fading, "I was born here in Japan before I moved away, but I never knew my mother – I believe she died shortly after I was born. For a while, it had been me and my brother, but ... well, I'm sure that many of you well into their fifties and sixties remember that living in Japan when I was a child was … it was a much harder time. He was taken from me, and I … never saw him again."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's alright," He smiled at her, "I'm sure that my brother would be smiling down at us now, knowing that I am doing everything in my power to create a Japan that he would have thrived in. As I said in my speech yesterday, I want to create a world where my brother, someone who's quirk would be considered weak by others, would be able to live and laugh with love. It's the misfortune of being raised during the period before All Might came to save us - we knew all about survival, of course, but we knew practically nothing about just … living. The times my brother and I would just sit down and read manga together were times that I cherish, with my whole heart."

The audience let out a few 'aaws'.

"Ah, well, that got a bit sappy," He chuckled self-deprecatingly, causing a few laughs as he turned back to the audience, "in any case, my brother's legacy is the reason I want to become Japan's next prime minister. It's why I named my political party after him - the Yoichi Party will be focused on making sure the citizens of Japan, whether they be heroes or just normal everyday workers, feel safe. Random villain gangs roaming the streets, with the heroes no closer to stopping them? I wish to help. With me in the seat of prime minister, I will be ensuring that people are in the correct seats of power to make a difference in Japan, and force back the villain -"

BAM

As the camera focused on All For One's kind and determined grin, a fist smashed straight through the screen, glass shattering all over the ground and sparks flying everywhere as All Might breathed unevenly through his nose. Around the seething pro hero, Nezu frowned and stared down at the tablet in front of him on the desk; off to the side, Nighteye gritted his teeth, while Gran Torino frowned and Tsukauchi put his hands in his pockets.

The room was silent for a long moment.

"From what I've observed, the news has been given an … abridged version of the history of this Mugen Shigaraki." Nezu sighed as he tapped on the tablet. "Born during the villain riots over fifty years ago, he was moved to a distant European country called Otheon, after the death of his younger brother in a vigilante attack. There, he formed a passion for justice and soon returned to Japan as a philanthropist – money he gathered from his apparent late father. He recently entered politics and rose quickly through the ranks, and has now established his own party. He's gunning for the seat of prime minister - and as our current prime minister is retiring, and many parties are seldom volunteering potential candidates …"

"He's got a shot," Tsukauchi closed his eyes, "which is assuming that he'd even play fair."

"Of course," Nezu nodded solemnly, "I have to say, from how popular he's becoming with the public following his announcement, from the way things are shaping out, his victory is inevitable."

"This … " All Might breathed heavily through his nose, clenching his fists, "… how could he … the utter nerve to flaunt himself …"

"This is worse than we could've imagined," Gran grunted, "we thought that the best-case scenario would be him crippled for life, but he looks as though Toshinori never turned his head into mince meat. Whatever he did … I'd bet money that he's at full strength now."

"Indeed," Nezu put down the tablet on the table, "things are not looking very good."

Nighteye remained silent, staring down at his phone with the image of the candidate there to smirk up at him – and then he closed his eyes and put the phone back in his pocket, turning towards All Might's back with a frown.

"All Might," He said seriously, "we can't do this anymore. We need to get ready now. Please, let me bring Togata up to speed and –"

"Mirai, if you try to needle me about One for All right now, I will throw you out of this office through the window."

"Enough," Gran snapped before Nighteye could open his mouth and argue, tapping his cane against the floor, "there's no need for us to turn against each other."

"I agree," Tsukauchi gave his old friend a concerned look, "we can't fight against each other, that's what he wants."

"You're right," All Might turned to frown at the three men behind him, his face fixed into a scowl, "you're right, we can't - we can't do what he wants. He'll be in Tokyo right now, so – so I'll go and –"

"And what?" Gran scoffed. "Arrest him? On what charges? That he's an immortal villain that's trying to run for prime minister? In that case, let's go and get all the evidence we have and turn it in to – oh, wait, that's right, we don't have anything connecting Mugan Shigaraki to All For One."

"That isn't necessarily true," Tsukauchi tried to argue, wanting to look on the bright side, "you two have worked for decades to gather enough evidence of All For One's crimes, and there's no chance that this 'Mugan Shigaraki' backstory is real. Can't we just –"

"Like I said, how are we connecting Shigaraki to him? Do we have any pictures confirming All For One is the same man as this guy? And what evidence do we have that confirms this backstory is fraudulent?"

Tsukauchi fell silent, looking away with a grimace. Nighteye, gritting his teeth, slammed his fist against the wall, causing the men in the room to look around at him.

"So it's come to this," He shook his head, "he's going to be able to flaunt in front of us and we won't be able to do anything about it? We're just supposed to stand around and let him take the top position in Japan?"

"No," All Might growled, "he won't get away with this. I'm going to head to Tokyo now and –"

"I said no," Gran glared up at All Might, stomping up to him and poking the pro hero in the chest with his cane, "this is what he wants, Toshinori. He wants you paranoid, desperately scrambling for answers, and making rookie mistakes. You need to remember that All For One may be smart, but he isn't omnipotent. He has to slip up somewhere – that's how we pinned him down the first time, and it'll be how we take him down again. All we can do now is wait – patiently – and pretend that nothing's wrong."

"We pretend nothing is wrong?!" Nighteye clenched his fists. "He's running for prime minister! How can we remain calm?!"

"Because," Gran rolled his eyes, "neither of you two knuckleheads are wondering to yourselves why he's running for prime minister."

"Why does that matter?!"

"It matters, because even if we don't know why he's doing this, I don't believe for a second that All For One would do anything that he wasn't sure he would confidently win. And that," He tapped his cane against the floor, "is a lead we can follow up on."

The office went quiet at that, everyone turning to look at the old hero in surprise. Nezu, for his part, nodded in satisfaction that someone had figured out his thoughts as he tapped on his desk to get their attention.

"All For One has made a move that we won't be able to easily counter," He spoke up, his black beady eyes looking around, "but it also puts him at a disadvantage. He could have lurked in the shadows until he made a move, but running for prime minister means that he must have everyone's attention focused entirely on him now. And that means that he won't be able to make a move without people watching him closely. This way, we will be able to keep an eye on him while we investigate whatever he might be up to, and put together whatever connections he might have. He didn't just pull a political party out of nowhere - this means that he must have connections, public and discrete ones, and we can work to see how he came to connect to those that support him.

"However," He then gave both Nighteye and All Might a serious look, "this would mean that we have to pretend that nothing is amiss. All For One blatantly revealing himself is supposed to capture our attention and keep it solely focused on him, and stay on him. I believe that with him coming out into the open like this, it makes it all but certain that he has some kind of hand in the Villain Consortium, and as much as I hate to think about it, heroes are reporting rumors that they're still gathering forces, and gaining more notoriety."

"This ploy might be a way to make us focus on All For One," Tsukauchi nodded slowly, catching on to what Nezu was implying, "and lose focus on Nine and whatever he's up to."

"Precisely. All we can do now is pretend that we are ignoring his bait, go about our daily lives, and watch out for All For One when he inevitably makes a move. This way, while he tries to capture our attention, we can quickly start gathering the evidence we need, connect it to Mugen Shigaraki, and force him into a corner when we are ready."

"Forcing a dangerous animal into a corner," Gran shook his head, "that seems like a bad idea."

"Yes, but if running for prime minister is All For One's endgame, then both sides of this conflict are currently at a stalemate. He can't do anything to turn public opinion against us without potentially losing followers, and we can't make a move without having enough evidence. And since the election is a ways off," Nezu sipped on his tea, "we have time."

All Might slowly nodded to himself as the principal gave him a serious look – and then he sighed and shrunk back down to his weak form, coughing a bit as he heard Nighteye storm out of the room behind him, followed by Tsukauchi. He waited until he and Nezu were pretty much alone in the office, knowing that the principal wanted to have a word with him, and once Gran moved out the door and closed it behind him, he sighed as he took a seat, glancing at the broken television screen and wincing.

"Don't pay it any heed, All Might," Nezu waved his hand, "but I did want to talk to you about Young Kendou herself."

"You … aren't with Nighteye, are you?" He asked, uncertain

"No, no – Togata will be a great hero, but Nighteye refuses to consider the notion that he would be great with or without One for All. I have never questioned your choice, and Kendou has shown that she has the potential to replace you. But you must understand," Nezu gave him a knowing look, "that we can't keep Kendou in the dark about this anymore. I imagine, All Might, that All For One is waiting for you to completely lose One for All – it wouldn't surprise me if he's had his suspicions about how little you appear in public anymore. And if he intends to make a move soon … we'll have to get her ready, in case his first move is to strike against her."

"I …" All Might closed his eyes, feeling his chest hurt, "… I didn't want it to come to this. All For One was supposed to be finished with my generation. I can't … I don't want to force her to take on this burden."

"That was before things became dire," Nezu reminded him, "and we don't have that option anymore, All Might. I suspect that Kendou will have offers that will interest her for internships – but I want you to take her aside sometime in the next two weeks, and tell her everything about One for All and All For One. It's time to take her seriously as your successor – and that means that it's time to get her ready for what will come."

All Might slowly nodded, folding his hands together as he frowned. Unknown to either of them, a pair of yellow, judgmental eyes stared at All Might's back for a long moment, and then closed the door quietly behind him and stomped away from the office.

"Alright, welcome back," Aizawa grumbled as he returned to his spot at the front of the class, tapping on some papers to straighten them out before he looked up at them, "now then, let's talk a bit more about internships before I excuse you."

Everyone sitting back down in their seats, Class 1A all looked attentively at their teacher as he pointed his laser pointer at a few notes written on the board. On all of their desks, the papers that had been passed out before the bell rung were waiting for them, with some like Yosetsu and Mezo only having a single sheet with the names and information of the pros wanting to recruit them, while Itsuka and Nejire looked incredibly nervous at the literal hundreds of papers that were waiting for them. Still, they all turned to pay attention to their teacher as he scratched at the scar under his eye.

"Your internships will last for at least a week," He explained, "as I mentioned earlier to you all, you've had several pros reach out to you to extend invitations to their hero agencies. But if you feel that the agencies that reached out to you aren't a good fit for you, UA also supplies a list of forty potential hero agencies around the country you can apply for instead. Keep in mind while searching for someone to intern with that different heroes have different specialities you can learn from. For example, Thirteen would be focused on rescue incidents, from accidents to disasters, but wouldn't be too focused on villain capture. So, think carefully before you decide."

"Aizawa-sensei," Reiko raised her hand, "out of curiosity, you mentioned Thirteen-sensei as a potential internship. Does that mean the other teachers will be taking interns?"

"A few of us do, but not all of us," Aizawa shook his head, "Thirteen does take interns, but you should keep in mind that there's a risk you won't be able to get any experience out of it – she spends most of her time at the school unless an accident summons her, so keep in mind that you'll probably be spending a lot of time here or at the USJ, so it's not recommended by her."

"Ah, man," Ochako grumbled while Izuku turned to smile at her.

"And Present Mic is a similar risk – he does internships, but he also spends a lot of time at the radio station before going out at night. I myself only have one intern," Aizawa didn't look happy about that, "and I won't be taking on others – it's only because I owe the old lady a favor that I'm doing it."

With a short sigh, he tucked the papers under his arm and bent over to scoop up his yellow sleeping bag.

"Now then, you're all excused for the afternoon," Aizawa confirmed as he put the sleeping bag under his arm and headed towards the door, "All Might is excused from classes today, so you can do independent training if you wish. I'd advise you to use this time to look over your internship offers and think about making a decision – I'll be in the teacher's lounge if you decide and want to hand it in. You can also use this time to discuss Heights Alliance if you want, and just talk to a teacher if you want a tour. Now then, you're dismissed."

As everyone began turning to each other to begin chatting excitedly, however, Aizawa paused at the door, and then looked back.

"Oh, yeah," He said in a sudden sharp tone, causing everyone to quickly shut up and look around at him, "Midoriya, Uraraka – come talk with me in the hall for a moment."

Both Izuku and Ochako blinked, turning to glance at each other in confusion for a moment. However, Aizawa raising his eyebrow impatiently caused both of them to snap to it, quickly standing up from their desks and walking up to their teacher. They then stepped out and followed Aizawa out the door, closing it behind him.

Standing out in the hall, both Izuku and Ochako gave each other an anxious look as Aizawa let out a dry sigh and turned to look at them over his shoulder.

"You can both stop looking so nervous, you're not in trouble."

Aizawa rolled his eyes at how Izuku and Ochako sagged their shoulders in relief, and shook his head as he turned to face them.

"Right. So, this is about last Friday," He brought them up to speed, "during the sports festival."

"Oh," Izuku blinked, feeling himself straighten his back, "is – is this about Kacchan?"

"Yes and no," Aizawa grumbled, shaking his head and crossing his arms, "first off – I believe I owe you both an apology."

"…"

"…"

"This is usually the part where you both ask for clarification," Aizawa dryly commented.

"Uh –" Izuku sputtered, while Ochako continued to look comically shocked at the words that left their homeroom teacher's mouth, "- w-well, yeah, kinda."

"Well," Aizawa put his hands in his pockets while frowning, "I'm … apologizing to you both because I realize that I treated you both extremely poorly on Friday. If you want the truth – and that's if your parents haven't told you what we talked about after you left Recovery Girl's office -"

Both Izuku and Ochako shook their heads.

"- the truth is, you both fighting Bakugou in the sports festival wasn't a coincidence, or an accident," Aizawa closed his eyes, "I chose to make sure you two fought him."

The two kids were quiet for a long minute while Aizawa waited for their reaction. And then Izuku, in a slightly confused voice, said, "Er … sorry, Aizawa-sensei, but – but you might need to dumb this down for us. What does that mean, you chose to make us fight him?"

Nodding slowly, Aizawa decided to stop toeing around it and just cut to the facts, and explained everything to the two students. From what he observed of Katsuki during the first few days of school, to his reaction to Katsuki's actions during the USJ, to the decision he made that Izuku and Ochako could assist in humbling their classmate. He carefully watched both of their reactions when he told them, seeing Ochako tilt her head slowly and her lips thinning, while Izuku's eyes widened.

Finally, once he was done explaining, he put his hands in his pockets, allowing them a moment to absorb everything he had told them.

"So that's that," He said in a clear voice, "I used both of you to try and humble Bakugou, and it backfired. I'm sorry. You two have the right to be angry with me – hell, you'd be justified in hitting me. And from here on out …"

He hesitated for a moment, glancing between both of them, and then he nodded.

"… from here on out, if you want, I'll be behind you both," Aizawa offered, "to make up for what I did to you both. Midoriya, I'm aware of you … problems … so I'll be working with Recovery Girl and Tenko to try figuring out a solution. And Uraraka, I know that I can't make up for giving you that mark on your arm –"

He saw Ochako subconsciously roll her shoulder, and frowned.

"- but I'll try. But if you two want to be switched over to 1B, I won't stop either of you. Midoriya," He turned to look at Izuku, "I don't know what your entire deal is, but I want there to be no more secrets between us now. And Uraraka," He turned to Ochako, "I know that you're training with Toga on stealth-based tactics. So, if you ever need pointers, don't hesitate to reach out to me, and I can dedicate a weekend to teaching you."

"Er …" Ochako blinked at the offer, feeling confused, "… I … I guess, but – but why not just have Toga-senpai teach me, sensei? She – she doesn't mind teaching me stealth."

"Because she had to learn what she knows from somewhere," Aizawa was unable to stop himself from smirking slightly, "and I taught her many things, but passing on her knowledge wasn't one of them."

His smirk falling, he moved forward, and both students felt themselves blink as he laid his hands down on both their shoulders.

"I haven't been a very good teacher to either of you," He said in a soft voice, "and I plan to make up for it. Like I said, if you choose to drop out of my class and go to Vlad's, you won't receive any resistance, or be asked any questions. But if you choose to stay, I want to make up for my behavior with both of you."

Patting their shoulders, he then straightened his back, turning to walk away from the classroom – and then he said, without looking back, "I should also teach you stealth, Kendou, since you clearly need lessons, too."

Walking away, he didn't bother to turn back, but he still smirked at Izuku and Ochako squeaking and looking back around at the classroom.

Indeed, with the door slowly sliding open, Itsuka poked her head out, looking sheepish and guilty.

"I legit don't know how he does that," She sighed, opening the door properly and closing it behind her.

"Er – we don't really know, either." Izuku gave her a weak smile, watching as she walked over towards the large window that both her partners were standing near. They both watched as she sighed and leaned against the railing between them, looking out at the ground as the sun continued to poke out from the dark clouds that were now retreating.

After a moment, she turned to look at them.

"So," She shrugged, looking somewhat uncomfortable, "Aizawa-sensei really screwed you two over last week."

"Yeah," Ochako pouted as she joined Itsuka in leaning against the railing, rubbing her shoulder softly, "not really what I expected when we were called out here, but … well, yeah, I'm pissed."

"I – I get that," Izuku leaned against the railing as well, giving Ochako a worried look, "and you're entitled to being angry at him. But … well, at least he seems to want to make up for it? If – if he's alright with us transferring over to 1B, if we're not comfortable with him."

"Yeah," Ochako was unable to stop herself from snorting, "this has never happened before."

"What?" Itsuka glanced at her. "Teachers trying to use you to further Bakugou's education?"

"Oh, no, not that," Ochako shook her head, "a teacher apologizing for using us to further Bakugou's education. That's new."

"Yeah, that's never happened before," Izuku agreed.

"… you guys know how you tried to stop me from burning down Aldera a few times last year? I'm still not convinced, I should still probably do it."

"Eh, you'd have to fight our mothers over doing the honors, honestly."

Itsuka let out a small laugh at that, before her smile faded.

"So … uh … what do you guys think?" She said in a careful tone, although they both picked up the hesitation in her voice. "Do you want to transfer classes?"

Both Izuku and Ochako paused, glancing at each other over Itsuka's shoulder – and then they shook their heads at the same time and looked back at her with a smile.

"Nah," Ochako giggled, "I'd really rather not have to deal with Monoma every day."

"Y-yeah," Izuku shook his head again, "it'd, uh – it'd probably be irritating for the teachers to have to move us around, so – so staying in 1A is probably easier."

Itsuka smiled at both of their dorky excuses, although her heart did flutter a bit. She then reached out to squeeze on both of their hands, making them both quickly shut their mouths and go red as she glanced around the empty hallway, and then pulled them both off the railing and back towards the classroom.

"Sucks we … probably can't do much at school," She glanced between them, "but I love you two nerds, so I'm willing to wait for another time. Although … don't leave me waiting for too long."

Being sure to squeeze their hands with hers, she let go and moved back into the classroom. Izuku and Ochako stood there for a moment, blushing furiously, before they quickly shook themselves out of their fluster and followed her back inside before their absence would lead to questions from their classmates – although they both kept their eyes on their girlfriend's back as she returned to her seat, Ochako biting her lip slightly as she stared down at her butt and Izuku gulping as he imitated her as well.

Yep. It had been only three days after they all started dating, and they were both still ridiculously down bad for Itsuka. Shouldn't be much of a surprise.

Moving back into the classroom, they saw most of the class had broken up into smaller groups standing around a few desks, with Tenya being the only one on his own as he stared down at his papers with a focused expression. Walking back over to his desk, Izuku took his internship papers and pulled them towards him, feeling excitement overcome his fluster as he got ready to read through them. Ochako, meanwhile, walked over to where Itsuka was sitting back in her seat, with several girls chatting around them.

Beside them, the small group of guys were chatting as well, with Eijirou looking around at the girls as Ochako joined them.

"So, what are you guys thinking?" He flashed them a grin. "I'm thinking of trying to fight crime in urban areas."

"Meh," Kyouka grumbled as she looked over her own sheet, "got a lot of options here, but I've only heard of, like – half of them. No way I'll be able to pick someone without Greenie's help."

"Well," Tsuyu looked down at her own paper, "I'm hoping that I can intern somewhere with floods, kero. It'll be good practice for when I'm a pro."

"Oh, so you wanna work on the sea?" Pony gave her a curious look. "Like, uh, what's his name – Selkie?"

"Kero," Tsuyu ribbited in confirmation, giving them all a froggy grin, "Selkie's been my favorite hero since I was a little girl. And since I saw that he sent me a request, I'm going to accept it and turn the paper in to Aizawa-sensei at the end of the day."

"Oh, that's great, Tsu!" Mina gave her an excited look, shaking her shoulders before turning to the group of girls sitting around Itsuka's desk. "But what about Heights Alliance, guys? Doesn't it sound exciting to try living on the campus? I think I'm gonna go for it!"

"I'm not really sure, yet," Itsuka shrugged her shoulders, leaning back in her seat as the other girls glanced between each other, "I mean, on the one hand, it would be pretty beneficial to live on campus full time, so I can use the zones around the school whenever I want. Plus, I bet if people do end up moving in, they'll need me there as the class rep so I can keep you guys from burning your houses down."

"Ouch! But you know what, that's fair."

"Yeah, but …" She shook her head, "… it's still a pretty big step, moving away from home for the first time. I don't know, I'll have to talk to my mom and dad about it."

"True," Fumikage nodded from where he was standing beside Reiko's desk, "it's a rather big decision to make in a short time."

"I think I'm in the same boat as you, Itsuka," Ochako agreed with her girlfriend, "it sounds fun, but … I don't know yet. I'm gonna have to talk to my parents about it before I make a decision."

"Well, I think I'm gonna go for it," Kyouka shrugged, putting her hand on her hip as the other girls looked at her in surprise, "it'll be nice to get some experience taking care of myself, it's not like I'm planning to live with my parents after graduation anyway. Sounds like a good excuse to try practicing taking care of a house."

"That and you don't wanna live with your parents anymore, kero?"

"… okay, maybe I wanna do this so my old man can stop babying me," Kyouka grumbled while the other girls laughed, flipping Tsuyu off.

"I guess that's kind of the point," Mezo nodded in agreement, "the first point Jirou made, not the second. Learning how to care for a home while the teachers are there to help us if needed."

"Yeah," Setsuna chortled, "I don't think we need to hear about Jirou's daddy issues - gak!"

She choked as Kyouka dragged her into a chokehold, everyone turning and laughing as the two girls struggled for a bit. Once order was restored by Itsuka reaching over and chopping them both, everyone got back into the conversation.

"I agree with Shouji that it makes sense to learn how to care for a place," Reiko stood up from her desk, walking over to the girls with Fumikage while holding her own internship papers, "and I might give it a shot as well – as much as I might miss living at home, I think getting experience taking care of a home would be beneficial."

"Well," Melissa sighed as she joined the group as well, "I know that I really don't have a choice either way – I'm not exactly stable right now, so Heights Alliance is probably gonna be my home for … well, probably for at least the foreseeable future, anyway."

"That's fair," Itsuka grinned a bit, "like Yaoyorozu said –"

"You mean Yaomomo!" Setsuna called out, while Momo groaned and Nejire cheered from where she was sitting in front of Izuku.

"- okay, fine, Yao momo said," Itsuka sighed, nodding when Momo gave her a resigned nod to just go with it, "it sounds like things are gonna be rough for you, so if you do need help, just let us know."

"That's …" Melissa hesitated for a moment before nodding, "… that's good to know, thanks."

"Anyway," Itsuka turned back to her desk, wincing at the large stack of papers still waiting for her, "I know Izuku said that he was gonna look through these for me, but I should probably have a look through too, just to see if anyone catches my eye. God, it's probably gonna take a full week to get through all of them … how about you, Ochako? Are you gonna use the 'Deku internship look through' service?"

"Yeah," Ochako nodded a bit, going a bit red, "I could probably pick someone out, but … well, I trust Deku's judgment probably more than mine."

"Really?" Melissa gave her a surprised look. "I mean, I don't blame you for wanting a little help, but … I don't know, is he that good with heroes?"

Both Ochako and Itsuka paused, and then looked over towards where Izuku was hunched over at his desk. The two groups quieted down so that they could hear what he was muttering under his breath, with Nejire sitting in front of them and looking quite entertained.

"First, I have to research all these heroes and divide them up based on their specialities," He muttered to himself, a low giggle under his breath that made everyone gulp worryingly, "then I'll look at the number of resolved incidents for each since his or her debut up until the present and determine which has the attributes that would be most informative for me, as I am now … such an important decision must be made carefully and without haste. I'll also have to observe how each spends their time when not engaged in heroic operations. Yes, I'll be very busy, indeed … heh, heh, heh …"

"It's practically an art form," Nejire smiled happily, while Izuku's two partners gave him exasperated smiles and Melissa looked worried.

Walking over, the three girls stopped at his desk, patting on his shoulder to get his attention, and causing Izuku to snap out of his mutter spree.

"Gek! Oh, uh, sorry," He went a bit red, "got pretty distracted with my list."

"Really, huh?" Itsuka moved to lean against his desk with her hands, with Melissa walking over to her desk in front of Nejire, and the blue-haired girl picked out a random sheet of Izuku's to look over, letting out a inquisitive hum. "What were you looking at?"

"Well, I'm trying to organize my list from the hero with the highest position on the polls, to the lowest," He felt his smile fall as he looked back down at his open notebook, "just trying to figure out what would be a good fit for me. I've read up about a lot of these heroes before – they're strong, but I'm not exactly sure if they'll be a good fit for me."

"Really?" Nejire hummed as she read over his list. "So what are you looking for, hm? Someone static-y? I bet that there's lot of electric heroes! But wait, you also want someone ice-y, right?"

"Well, uh – not exactly," Izuku smiled weakly at her, "I actually did some thinking, and – and I think I want to find someone that can teach me self-control over my quirk. I think that's the biggest issue I'm dealing with right now – I need to get a handle on using my quirk, and make sure that I don't damage myself any further with it."

"I see," Ochako nodded slowly, "so you're basically looking for someone to give you self-control lessons over improvement lessons?"

"Exactly. I can probably experiment with my quirk after I learn how to control it. So yeah, control over improvement."

"Well, that's good," Itsuka gave him an encouraging smile as she sat on the edge of his desk, taking one page from his stack and giving it a look over, "and it'll probably make it easier for you to get through your list. I mean, I bet that you probably won't be needing any lessons on self-control from someone like … uh …" She paused, reading through the paper before she settled on a random name, "… Lady Nagant, right?"

"Yeah," Izuku chuckled, shaking his head, "I probably …"

However, as Izuku suddenly trailed off, feeling himself blink as he registered what she said, another voice across the room sounded out.

"Wait, did you say 'Lady Nagant'?"

The four girls around Izuku's desk blinked at the sound of someone calling out that name, and they all glanced over. Sitting near the other guys, Yosetsu was giving them a surprised look, holding his own internship paper.

"Er … yeah," Itsuka nodded, putting the paper back on Izuku's stack, "why?"

"Oh, uh – well, Lady Nagant was my other internship request," He explained, holding up his paper, "just her and Rock Lock."

"Wait," Tsuyu blinked as well, walking over to where she had her own paper and flipping it over, "I believe I got a request from Lady Nagant as well, kero."

"I did too," Mezo nodded.

"Me three," Kyouka realized.

There was a short pause in the classroom, as everyone went quiet and glanced between each other – and then at once, they all moved back to their internship papers to start flipping through them, the sound of mutters beginning to fill the silence as they all checked.

"Okay," Itsuka raised her eyebrow in curiosity, "so show of hands – who got a work offer from Lady Nagant?"

She watched as everyone looked through their papers, furrowing their brows, and then one by one, everyone in the classroom, save Melissa, raised their hands.

"Huh," Kyouka looked through her notes, quirking her mouth, "guess it's just some hero who really wants an intern, huh? Anyone gonna bite?"

"Well …" Denki thought for a moment, seriously considering it, "… is she hot?"

ZAP

"Ow!" Denki yelped, waving his arm and quickly backing away from Kyouka's earphone jacks as she glowered at him. "I was only kidding! C'mon, you didn't have to stab me in the shoulder, why are you so violent today?!"

"Perv," Kyouka growled, stomping back over to where Momo was checking her phone and pouting.

"Lady Nagant …" The heiress hummed, "… I believe that I recognize the name from somewhere, but I don't remember exactly where."

"I do."

Everyone blinked at the sound of Izuku speaking up in a much more serious tone, and they all turned to look at him. Rather than looking at his phone, however, Izuku was staring down at his journal, frowning as he stood up and looked around.

"Lady Nagant," He explained, "was a pro hero who worked with the HPSC. Pretty much before Hawks came in to be their representative, Nagant was the Hero Commission's mascot, and she was extremely popular – I think she once reached the Top 10."

"Whoa, really?" Pony looked surprised, looking back down at her paper. "And she just sent us all requests?"

"Yeah," He nodded, "she was pretty well known when we were growing up. And, uh - it doesn't have much to do with anything, Kaminari, but yes, she's considered to be very beautiful. It was one of her nicknames - the Beautiful Lady Nagant. Honestly, I - I think that she was once voted to be the most beautiful hero in Japan. Even more beautiful that Midnight-sensei."

A lot of the guys - and, to no one's surprise, Yui - looked intrigued by that, while Ochako, Itsuka and Nejire gave Izuku unamused looks at that praise. However, Izuku continued to give them a serious look, putting a stop to any of the guys making a comment.

"But," He shook his head, "her career ended up stopping when she accidentally shot one of the heroes she was on duty with."

That, of course, got the class's attention again.

"Wait," Yosetsu felt his eyes widen, "you're saying that this chick actually killed someone?"

"It was an accident," Izuku gently corrected him, although he was still looking serious as he stared down at the small drawing of the sharpshooting hero he had done at one point, "and she pretty much immediately went into retirement not long after it happened. I guess … I don't know, she felt guilty, and had a press conference announcing that she was quitting hero work. I remember the day it happened – she pretty much disappeared right off the grid, the hero forums called it an 'self-imposed exile'."

"So …" Kyouka stared down at her paper, looking as though a spider had suddenly crawled on it, "… this Lady Nagant killed someone, disappeared right after, and … and then just suddenly sent a dozen requests for all of us?"

"Yeah," Eijirou frowned, "that's weird."

"I'm not really sure either," Izuku shook his head while Ochako looked over her own paper, "maybe she's coming out of retirement?"

"Perhaps," Reiko sighed, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not very sure if it's a bright idea to intern with a hero with a murder under her belt. As much as this Lady Nagant might have experience …"

The rest of the class nodded as well, frowning and staring down at their papers. What Reiko said definitely had merit – it might not look good for their future prospects if they took a work offer from someone responsible for an accidental murder. So, with that, many of them were quick to cross Lady Nagant's name and phone number off their lists, and rejoined their groups as they began going back over their lists, or talking more about Heights Alliance.

Still, Ochako felt herself frown as she stared down at the disgraced pro hero's name. She didn't know why, but … it felt wrong to cross Nagant's name off her list. So she simply put her paper back down, and walked back over to where Izuku and Itsuka were looking through some of her papers.

Thankfully, from there, the rest of the afternoon passed by relatively peacefully, with everyone in Class 1A either taking notes on some of the pro heroes that had sent them requests, thinking of going to hand in their applications with their minds made up, or talking about Heights Alliance in excited tones. From the sound of things, a vast majority of people were looking forward to potentially living on campus with their friends, with everyone chatting about what kind of activities they could do under the same roof and what they could do for training.

During the afternoon, Tenya had abruptly got up to go and hand in his application papers, causing everyone, but especially Yui, to look after him in concern at how quiet he had been all day long. But they knew better than to ask him about it, instead keeping on with their note taking or heading out to the fields to train now that the sun was shining outside.

Still, it had saddened Izuku at the end of the day to open Tenya's locker where he kept his shoes, and frown when it had been empty.

"I … guess he left without us," Ochako said in a soft voice as Izuku closed the locker, turning back where she, Itsuka, Nejire and Melissa were standing with their backpacks on and their shoes changed.

"I guess so," Izuku nodded, letting out a soft sigh, "then … I guess we'll have to talk to him another time."

"Don't worry," Itsuka gently took his shoulder, and started to guide their small group out the door, "I'm sure that he just … he needs some time and space to himself. Once he needs help, he'll probably come to us, or Yui or Set. We just need to give him some space, but still be there for him, right?'

"Yeah, I – yeah."

"Mm-hm," Nejire nodded as well, looking around at the four of them as she took a step back, and opened another locker and brightened up when she spotted a pair of shoes, "well, uh – anyway, guys, today was great! Got a lot of work to do! But I'm gonna stick around and wait for Yuuyu, and ask her if she wants to walk home with me. I mean, if we're going the same place, it makes sense to go together, right?"

"Er … yeah," Itsuka nodded, feeling herself frown in concern as they turned to the blue-haired girl behind them, "I guess so. Hey, uh … is everything okay with you two, Nejire?"

"Oh … I think so?" Nejire shrugged nonchalantly, although the others gave her concerned looks at the forlorn look on her face. "At least, I hope so! I hope we can walk home together today and maybe … well … we'll have to see! Anyway, I'm gonna head back up to Class 1B to see if she's still there, and if not, I … guess I'll just go home! You guys don't have to wait for me, though, so go ahead!"

"Er … okay, I guess," Ochako nodded slowly, still giving the excitable girl a small smile, "g-goodnight, Hadou."

"Goodnight, guys! See you tomorrow!"

With that, Nejire spun around and quickly began jogging back into the school, running around the corner and out of sight. Staring after her with a concerned look, Izuku let out a small sigh as he allowed Itsuka to pull him out through the doors, Melissa and Ochako behind them as they stepped into the now warm spring air. All of them sighed in relief that the storm clouds from this morning had disappeared entirely, and the setting sun was now bathing them in light.

Soon, they walked out the gate, and the four of them walked across the street before sighing, with Itsuka turning back to Melissa.

"So," She stretched her arms above her head, having taken off her blazer and tied it around her waist, "where exactly are you staying right now, Melissa? If you want, we could take a train ride over if you want some company for a bit before we head back to my place and visit Eri."

"Oh, uh …" Melissa suddenly looked a bit nervous, "… well, you see –"

"Oi!"

At the sound of a loud and very familiar bark behind them, Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka winced, immediately recognizing the voice, and feeling themselves cringe. Melissa, for her part, merely looked around in confusion, and they all turned to see …

… oh, boy.

"So," Katsuki growled as he stomped across the street straight towards them, his eyes on Melissa, "you're the one who took my spot?"

"Leave it, Bakugou," Itsuka sharply said at once, quickly stepping between the advancing boy and Melissa as she started glaring at him, "it's none of your business."

"It is my fucking business," He growled at her, "since it's my fucking spot!"

He then turned to throw Melissa a glare, stomping up and only being stopped by Itsuka pushing him back from advancing even more. Before he could try to snarl at her, however, two other unwelcoming voices sounded out.

"So, this is her, huh?"

"Whoa, she's hot!"

Izuku and Ochako felt themselves frown as two more general studies students made their unwanted appearances known. Shinsou, for his part, was glaring straight at Melissa, probably not as hard as Katsuki was but still with complete dislike and resentment as he stopped just short of them, putting his hands in his blazer's pockets. Mineta, on the other hand, was staring up in wonder at the tall American girl, absently wiping some drool off his lip and making Itsuka curl her hands into fists as she continued to stand protectively in front of her new classmate, all of them standing near the hill that led down to the forested mountain UA rested on top of.

"Yeah … I have no clue who you're supposed to be," Shinsou haughtily said, looking Melissa up and down, "you aren't from general studies, so who are you?"

Melissa hesitated for a moment – knowing the sound of someone judging her – and then she took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. While she wasn't as tall as Shinsou or Katsuki, she tried to hold herself up with grace and pose.

"I'm the new transfer student, from I-Island," She tried to sound pleasant, "my name is Melissa Shield. What's your name?"

"Peh," Shinsou scoffed, not even bothering with the pleasantries while looking at her with such obvious dislike it made Izuku and Ochako straighten their shoulders and start to glare, "that doesn't matter. What matters is – oof!"

He grunted, however, when Mineta suddenly elbowed him right in the side, knocking him aside. The three girls and Izuku all turned to look down at Mineta, and Ochako and Itsuka felt like gagging at the look on the small boy's face – it seemed like he wanted to come across as charming and suave, but seeing as his eyes were firmly locked on Melissa's chest, it wasn't appealing to look at.

"Please ignore my rude classmates, miss," He tried to turn on what little charm he had, "they simply don't appreciate fine art as I do."

"… fine art?" Melissa dryly repeated, clearly not impressed.

"That you are! My name is Minoru Mineta, but … well, you can just call me Minoru, if you want."

"I'll … stick with calling you Mineta, thanks."

"Shut the fuck up, you little runt." Katsuki growled down at Mineta as he gave him a small kick aside, causing both general studies students present to glare at him with obvious dislike as he tried to push past Itsuka to get to Melissa.

Unfortunately for him, Itsuka was hard to push aside, giving him a glare the entire time, so he eventually settled down enough to just glare at Melissa from over Itsuka's shoulder as he pointed at her.

"Listen here," He snarled at her, "just so you understand, that seat you're in? That's mine. I fucking earned it, unlike you, and I'm gonna be taking it back once I get back into the hero course. I'm not gonna be putting up with these other extras for very long, so if you know what's good for you, you'll head straight up to the rat's office and quit."

"Heh, you kidding?" Shinsou scoffed at him, crossing his arms and glaring at the new girl. "No way she'll do that, she wants to probably soak up all the attention. I imagine that's how all the hero course students are – they get in with their powerful quirks, get everyone's attention, and then they just sit down and absorb all the glory. So, what's your quirk then, huh? Something loud and obnoxious?"

Melissa flinched quietly.

"Nah, it's gotta be something good!" Mineta tried to butter her up some more as he bounced around Katsuki's legs to get back into the conversation. "Something that fits her beautiful body!"

"Oh, my fucking –"

"Look," Ochako finally snapped, storming forward as well, "I don't know what you guys want –"

"I wanna know what she's got," Shinsou seethed, "or what she paid to get into the hero course."

"And I want her to know that the seat she's in is mine!"

"Bakugou, it's not your –"

"Quirkless."

The group all stopped arguing at the sound of a quiet mutter. Blinking a bit, they all looked around at Melissa, who was still staring down at the slightly wet ground, her blonde hair hanging over her face. And then she straightened up, trying to look as cold as possible, as she moved around Itsuka at long last to face Katsuki, Shinsou and Mineta.

"I don't have a quirk," She made clear, with steel in her voice, "I'm quirkless."

Izuku, Ochako and Itsuka all stared at her for a long moment, feeling their jaws drop a bit in surprise. Shinsou, for his part, looked taken aback as well by what she said, his eyes widening a fraction. Mineta, who had been lecherously staring up at her, blinked a bit as well, his face falling as he realized what she was saying.

And Katsuki, of course, felt his eyes narrow.

"You're kidding," He growled, shoving Shinsou roughly out of the way so he could stomp up to the American girl just a bit shorter than him, "you're fucking kidding. They took my spot in the hero course, and they gave it to some … quirkless nobody?"

Melissa flinched at the way he had spat that out, but still held her head high.

"That's right." She said coldly.

"You're fucking shitting me," Katsuki merely repeated, his palms popping with sparks.

"H-hey, man," Mineta suddenly looked awkward, glancing up at Melissa for a moment and then over at his new classmate, "maybe, uh … maybe lay off a bit."

"Ha?" Katsuki turned to glare down at the small boy, disgust clear on his face.

And then, without any warning, his foot came up and kicked Mineta again. Not with a lot of force, of course, but with enough that Mineta lost his balance with a gasp and fell back into the muddy grass. When Shinsou took a step forward as well, continuing to glare at Melissa, Katsuki got impatient with him as well, and threw his hand up. A small explosion made the lavender-haired boy fall back as well, letting out a grunt as he fell straight into a puddle.

"H-hey, Kacchan –" Izuku stepped forward to try to stop him, but Katsuki quickly threw his hand back, sparks popping as though in warning –

– but whatever he was going to do, however, was interrupted by a roar.

A high-pitched, whiny, terrified roar, but a roar all the same.

Blinking, all five of them looked around – just in time for Mineta to suddenly jump off the two balls he had put on the ground, screeching as he was launched up into the air, and landed right on Katsuki's face, wrapping his legs around his neck, and beginning to pummel him with his fists.

"What the f–?!" Katsuki yelled as Mineta continued to use his fists to smack him, hitting the blonde boy as hard as he could. While Katsuki tried to pry Mineta off of his face, Izuku stared in horror, Melissa in confusion, and Itsuka and Ochako in shocked delight as Katsuki took a step back, trying to rip Mineta off of him – and then, with a roar, his fist came up to slam straight into Mineta's kidney, making the pervert wheeze as he was forced to loosen his grip, and Katsuki took advantage of that to throw him down hard at the ground.

While Mineta let out a sound that sounded like a mix of a squeal and a grunt of pain, Katsuki quickly threw him straight down the hill beside them. Everyone watched Mineta rolling pathetically through the mud with no way to stop himself as he flopped down at the bottom of the hill. However, as Katsuki wheeled back on the group, scratches on his face and looking like he was about to flip out –

– he was interrupted from doing anything by Shinsou suddenly kicking Katsuki's legs out from under him, causing him to yelp as he flopped down into the puddle of mud near the hill.

"Oh, my god," Izuku whispered in fear, while Itsuka sounded like she was literally gasping for breath through her laughter beside him, and Ochako was attempting to control her shaking as she lifted her phone up to record Katsuki quickly climbing to his feet, an enraged, feral expression on his face.

"You're fucking dead, mime!"

Grabbing Shinsou's shoulders, Katsuki shouted as he threw his new classmate to the ground again, mud and water clinging to both of their clothes. But Shinsou was clearly seeing red now, struggling to his feet as Katsuki backed up, and instead of trying to run from the deranged blonde, he instead charged in and flat out tackled – tackled! – Katsuki off his feet, and off the solid ground and down the hill.

Izuku and the three girls quickly ran over to the edge of the hill, watching as Katsuki and Shinsou continued to roll over each other while grunting and snarling, picking up more speed and mud as they wrestled their way down to the bottom of the hill, the momentum rolling them a few more times before Katsuki eventually forced them to stop. Leaving him on top, Katsuki threw himself down to wrestle against Shinsou, both of their legs kicking out and arms angrily grabbing at each other as they rolled over again to let Shinsou punch at him, only for Katsuki to force them to roll again so that he could be on top of him again. Katsuki tried to grab Shinsou by the throat to choke him out –

– only for another screech to fill the air, and Mineta charged in out of nowhere, tackling Katsuki right off of the other purple haired student.

The hero course students at the top of the hill watched as Shinsou flipped over to join Mineta in pummelling Katsuki, and soon they were witness to a huge ball of fists being thrown and profanities being yelled as the three general studies students struggled and rolled all over the ground.

"Uh …" Izuku gave the three fighting boys another nervous glance before he looked back at Itsuka hunched over and wheezing, Ochako desperately trying to control her shaking to record the brawl, and Melissa looking completely and utterly confused.

"Er …" He gestured towards the road, "… we should probably get out of here, guys."

"Whaaaaaat?" Ochako whined a bit as she kept recording, gasping at Katsuki getting an elbow to the face. "But it's getting so good!"

"Yeah, but I bet the teachers will be here soon," He reminded them, glancing down the hill again and wincing at the boys rolling themselves over again, "and we really don't need to get caught in the crossfire, do we?"

"No, no, he's - he's right," Itsuka shook her head, looking disappointed but willing to go as she straightened her back, "let's skedaddle before Aizawa-sensei gets here -"

"We're already here."

Jumping at the drone-like voice behind them, the four teenagers turned to see three teachers walking out of the gate to the other side of the road and staring down at the brawling boys below. Aizawa, for his part, looked bored already as his eyes flashed red to disable their quirks; Tenko, meanwhile, looked tired as he rubbed his own eyes; and Midnight, changed out of her hero costume in a simple black suit jacket, white dress shirt and slacks, was giving the boys a disappointed look as she fixed some of her tied back hair under her ear.

"Right," Aizawa sighed as he crossed his arms, keeping his eyes on Katsuki in the writhing pile of bodies, "so I'll be handling this from here. You four get going."

"Er …"

"This way, you kids," Midnight shook her head and gestured for the teenagers to follow her, Izuku, Ochako, Itsuka and Melissa hesitantly moving away from the hill where the general studies were fighting.

"Now," Midnight clapped her hands together, turning to smile at Itsuka as she led them, not towards the road, but back towards UA, "Kendou, I was actually hoping that I could join you for dinner tonight - I wanted to do a check up on Eri, make sure that she's adjusting well to your home. We have plenty of plans for the next few weeks, so we want to run something by your parents before we proceed."

"Oh," Itsuka blinked in surprise, "oh, uh - of course, sensei."

"Excellent," She smiled at her, and then turned to the other three, "and since I'm offering Kendou a ride, I can give you guys rides home as well, if you want. Shield, you're staying at a nearby hotel, right?"

"Er - yes, sensei."

"Wait -" Ochako blinked, looking around at her in surprise. "- you're staying at a hotel?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Melissa shrugged, "just until Heights Alliance is ready next week."

"And …" Itsuka suddenly gulped, a thought coming to her "… how much money is that costing you?"

"Hm? Oh, about ... uh ... twenty thousand yen per night?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"... uh …" Melissa glanced around unsurely, taken aback by their blank stares, "… what's up, guys? Why's everyone -"

"– and she was paying way too much for a hotel," Izuku explained while Melissa studied her feet, "so I was wondering if it would be okay for her to stay with us for the week? At least until the dormitories are open."

Inko and Hisashi blinked, glancing between each other – and then Inko nodded, standing up from the kitchen table with a happy smile.

"Oh, of course you can stay with us, dear," She gave the embarrassed girl a happy smile, "we don't want you to spend all of your money, so of course you can stay with us until your dorm house is ready."

"I …" Melissa hesitated, letting out a small sigh, before she pushed her glasses up to the bridge of her nose and tried to smile at Izuku's mother, "… w-well, thank you for having me."

With that, the two teenagers made to sit down at the table, Melissa awkwardly sliding into the seat next to Izuku. As one could guess, he and Melissa had been the ones to return home to get Inko's permission for the blonde girl to stay with them until Heights Alliance opened next week. Ochako and Itsuka, meanwhile, had gone with Midnight to the orange-haired girl's house to see Eri (after Midnight had been more than happy to drive them to the hotel Melissa had been staying at, watching with an amused grin as Melissa tried to talk the other three into not letting her be a bother), and Ochako would be back later that night.

Although, speaking of absent Urarakas …

"Er … so no Taiyo and Miwa tonight?" Izuku asked.

"No," Inko smiled, "we actually have a new neighbor, if you didn't notice – they've been helping her get all of her stuff into the apartment next to ours."

"Oh! W-well, I guess we'll be going to visit soon?"

"We chatted a bit with her earlier today," Hisashi explained with a small smile, "she seems to be a very nice lady, so … try not to flood her apartment at all, you two."

Both Izuku and Inko awkwardly glanced down at their plates while Melissa giggled a bit.

"So, Melissa," Hisashi then turned to her in his seat, giving her a smile, "you're here on a school visa?"

"Y-yes," Melissa nodded with a weak smile, "I came down this weekend, did my tests, and … well, here I am."

"Ah … so you're here for the full three years?"

"I – I assume so. Once I'm done with high school, I … well, I haven't really thought that far ahead yet, but I suppose I can always find some residence here in Japan before I move back to America, if – if I'm in the hero course. That's what All Might did –"

No one noticed Inko cough quietly into her drink.

"- when he moved to America for a few years and then returned to Japan. I just … I think I'm gonna do the opposite. Work a few years in Japan, and then go to America."

"Oh, well," Inko reached over to pat her hand, "if you ever need any help, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. I imagine it can be intimidating, being in a new country all by yourself – are your parents still in America?"

"Er – no, but my papa is on I-Island," She explained, "it'd be a bit hard for him to relocate entirely, and … well, he's keeping an eye out for one of his old assistants on the island, just to make sure he's being looked after. So right now, it's just me – and my uncle, but he tends to be pretty busy."

"Well, like I said – don't be scared to reach out to us, alright? I'm sure that we – or Ochako and Itsuka's parents – would love to help you if you ever need it."

"T-thank you, Mrs. Midoriya."

"You can just call me Inko, dearie."

"Oh! Well then – thank you, Inko."

From there, dinner passed by relatively pleasantly, with Inko inquiring about their day, and Izuku talking to her a bit more about what they had learned about Heights Alliance, and their internship offers. While Inko had looked taken aback and emotional by the possibility of Izuku staying in a dorm house, she told him that they would talk about it when they got more information, which Izuku had agreed to. Soon, once dinner was finished and Izuku and Melissa helped put everything away, Melissa was told to head into Izuku's room to get ready for bed, while he got the futon ready for himself.

Of course … well … Izuku knew that there was nothing he could do, but he couldn't help but look humiliated as he stepped into his room and winced at the permanently raised eyebrow on Melissa's face, with her looking around and seeing her uncle's face everywhere.

"So, uh …" She was unable to stop herself from smirking a bit, "… do you remember when we first met, and I told you that I was All Might's biggest fan?"

"Y-yeah?"

"I rescind that comment."

"Uh-huh," Izuku sighed in defeat, rubbing his red cheek as he looked over at Melissa. She had changed out of her school uniform into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a t-shirt, similar to the pajamas she normally wore when Izuku had been training in the morning and she had been present via hologram. She looked far more relaxed than she had been all day as well, tying her long bushy hair back into a ponytail as she sat down on the edge of his bed, flashing him a smile.

"Anyway," She put her hands down in her lap, "I … guess I should thank you for this, Izuku. I know that I kinda put up a fight when you guys were getting my stuff, but – well, I'm not too big on spending a whole lot of money."

"Oh, no, don't – don't think anything of it," Izuku shook his head, "Occhan's beat me up for not saving money our entire lives, so I know how important it is to save money."

There was a pause. Melissa raised her eyebrow again, and glanced around the room at all the All Might merchandise again.

"… okay, but this was necessary money spending," Izuku defended himself with a grumble, crossing his arms and making her giggle.

After she calmed down, she smiled at him and patted the spot on the bed beside her. Blinking, and going a bit red, Izuku still moved to sit down beside his friend, giving her a small smile as she grinned back. Honestly, the shock of seeing Melissa in the flesh was finally starting to wear off – he half-expected her to reach over and press a button to disappear, somehow, but the fact he could feel her weight sinking part of the bed she was sitting on kind of made it real for him.

Seeing him stare at her, Melissa tilted her head.

"What is it?"

"Oh, uh …" Izuku looked embarrassed, but then he shook his head and smiled at her, "… I'm just … glad you're here, Melissa."

She faltered a bit at that, her cheeks turning a bit red, and then she smiled back at him.

"I'm happy to be here," She said simply, and then leaned back with an overly dramatic sigh, "but I gotta admit, I'm disappointed – Ochako promised me a hug when we saw each other, and she never delivered. And here I was, hyped as hell about it all weekend."

"Oh," Izuku chuckled, "well, uh – I guess you can grill her about it when we see her tomorrow."

"That I will," Melissa grinned.

They both lapsed into a small silence after that, Izuku turning to stare off at the nearby wall and Melissa down at her knees. They were both quiet for a while – and then Melissa, her smile falling, let out a soft sigh.

"So …" She folded her hands together on her lap, hearing the distant sound of Inko and Hisashi talking in the living room, "… I'm … guessing you're gonna ask me about it?"

Izuku blinked a bit, looking back around at Melissa in confusion. It was the withdrawn and intimidated look on her face, however, that made Izuku realize what she was talking about, which made his own face fall.

"Oh," He said blankly, "you're talking about …"

"Yeah," She nodded, "me being – y'know – quirkless."

Izuku felt himself frown at the soft and morose expression on her face.

"I'm …" He shook his head, "… I'm really sorry that – that Kacchan made you do that. He's …"

"A dick?" She guessed, smiling when Izuku shrugged in a way that meant that he totally agreed. "Yeah. And … well, I'm sorry about being so defensive about it. I'm … not normally awkward about talking about my – er – quirklessness. I just got called out by those guys, and I just … froze."

"N-no, it's okay," He quickly shook his head to assure her, "I get it, Melissa, I've – well, I'm not gonna pretend that I haven't frozen up around Kacchan before, he can be intimidating. But … well …"

"Yeah," Melissa nodded at his unasked question, straightening up on the bed, "I didn't develop a quirk by the time I was five, and my papa took me to the doctor and everything to confirm. I'm the type of person that's never gonna get a quirk."

"Oh," Izuku said simply, turning to look down at his knees, "I'm … sorry."

"Hm? What about?"

"W-well, just … to be told that you don't have what everyone around you naturally has … it must not have been easy."

"Heh," Melissa smiled despite herself, closing her eyes, "well, of course I was shocked about it. And … well, honestly, I was pretty bummed out that my future as a pro hero was dashed before I ever had a chance to reach out to it. And I know that a lot of the time, there were people who looked at me with confusion and pity, but – but I didn't care much when I was a kid."

"And …" Izuku glanced at her, knowing that there was a 'but' attached to this.

"But …" Melissa felt her smile fade again, "… when you're the only one in a big room without a quirk, it … it felt like I stood out, for the wrong reasons."

"Oh …"

"Well," Melissa shook her head, "at least that's what it felt like for a while. But then things changed."

"R-really? How?"

"I met Uncle Might," Melissa smiled, "and I watched him punch away a tornado without any effort. When he came back to see me and my papa, he told me that the only reason he was able to do that without a single scratch was because of the costume my papa made him. And that inspired me – my papa doesn't have a quirk that would allow him to be a hero, but he still supports Uncle Might and other heroes with his brains instead of his brawn. It's indirect, but through his inventions, he fights for peace."

Melissa held her hands together, staring down at her feet.

"That was the way I hoped I could become a hero," She explained to him, "not as someone who helps people, but as someone who helps heroes. The problem is, though … well, I'm in the hero course now, and I don't exactly have a quirk to defend myself. Honestly, that's why I thought it was a mistake when Principal Nezu told me I'd made it in – I've been spending so long trying to be a support item inventor, I had no idea that they were testing me for the hero course when I came to UA."

"R-right," Izuku nodded, adjusting himself in his seat and giving her a concerned look, "but … well … do you not want to be a pro hero anymore?"

"See, that's the thing," She sighed, "I still do. The heart wants what the heart wants and all of that. But … but I know that there's no way for me to get ready to take the step. I mean, I'm not exactly in the best shape," She pointed out with a small smile, "I can barely run a mile in gym class without feeling wiped out for the rest of the day. And since I don't have a quirk, I'm … I'm at a disadvantage."

She allowed them to fall silent for a few moments, just to wallow in how screwed she really was. She waited for Izuku to say something at first, but when the silence carried on, she opted to steal a small glance at him –

– and then she blinked when she saw Izuku sit up, and look around at her with a determined, stubborn expression.

"No," He shook his head, "no, I – I don't believe that, Melissa."

"H-huh?" She sat up as well. "Believe what?"

"I – I think you can be a hero, even if you don't have a quirk," He clarified, standing up and seeing Melissa's expression fall at that, "I don't think you need to be powerful or have a strong quirk in order to become a hero. You're plenty strong already, Melissa."

"Er … okay, but …"

Unfortunately for her, Izuku wasn't going to let her be down about herself, instead standing up and pointing to his arm, showing her the faded electrical scars.

"If it wasn't for you," He reminded her, "I'd probably be terrified of using my quirk right now. With the Full Gauntlet, you helped me get over that fear, and take the steps towards actually using my quirk. Even if I – you know, broke it –"

Melissa was sure to glare at him for that reminder.

"- that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up now. You said during lunch that you'd make me something to replace it, but – but thanks to you, I know what steps I need to take now," He lowered his arm, "and I know where I need to go in order to become a better hero. And your Full Gauntlet helped me! You're super smart! I bet you can create anything!"

"Izuku, I …" Melissa sighed, standing up as well to try and calm him down …

… and then she stopped. Blinked. And looked away.

"… uh …" Izuku felt the wind leave his sails, blinking as a contemplative look came to her face, "… Melissa?"

"I can create anything," She muttered, more to herself than anything, "if … I don't have a quirk to be a hero … then …"

"Er … Melissa …?"

"I can … I can make support items."

Y-yes? You can?"

"I can …"

She paused for another moment – and then she snapped her fingers. Without another word, she quickly made her way over to where her suitcase and backpack were resting in the corner, a wide smile on her face. Quickly bending down to her knees and pulling open the suitcase, Melissa began searching through it, with Izuku looking more and more confused by the moment and feeling like he was missing something as Melissa let out an excited mutter.

Finally, she found what she was looking for with a small 'aha!', and pulled out a large sketchbook from the suitcase. Zipping it back shut, she stood up and turned around, aiming a wry smirk at the increasingly nervous Izuku as she held the sketchbook to her chest.

"Izuku Midoriya," She said in a coy, yet excited voice, "you're a flippin' genius."

"I – I am?"

"That you are. So …" She leaned forward seductively, the smirk on her face making Izuku gulp nervously as she held out the sketchbook –

– and then she asked, "… do you want to help me design a giant robot?"

… Izuku, of course, didn't know it then, but that was probably one of the most arousing things he had ever heard.

"Okay!" Ochako let out a tired cheer as she glanced down the train tracks and didn't see any lights approaching. "So either I've already missed it, or we got here early."

"We're here early," Itsuka chortled, putting one hand on her hip and using her other to tug the back of Ochako's shirt to pull her away from the edge of the stop, "told you that we'd make it on time. So I guess we've just gotta hang out for a little bit."

Nodding, Ochako turned to smile at Itsuka as they both walked over to a nearby bench, sitting down and sighing as they stretched. Right now, no one was really in the station with them, other than the train station's police officer who was sipping on his coffee and returning to his office, so they pretty much had the whole place to themselves. Both girls had just run to Chiba's station, having been sitting in Itsuka's room with Eri while Midnight had talked to Itsuka's parents and Teko, and only when they had realized how late it had been getting did they hurry to the train station so Ochako could catch the last train home, or risk being stranded.

Which … wouldn't have been so bad, being stranded at Itsuka's, but … well, it was probably better not to test their luck. All it would take is the wrong parent coming into Itsuka's room at the wrong time, and seeing them making out.

… presuming that they would make out if Ochako stayed over.

…

… oh, who are they kidding, both girls would totally want to make out if they got the chance.

"So," Itsuka finished stretching her arms above her head as she settled back against the chair, "what do you think Midnight wanted to talk to my mom and dad about?"

"Don't know," Ochako shrugged, glancing over at her, "she mentioned that she was checking up on Eri, but then she asked us to look after her for a bit? I mean, I'm pretty sure the teachers have been giving your parents loads of room to take care of Eri over the last few weeks – maybe they were investigating her caretaker and had an update?"

"Maybe," Itsuka frowned at the possibility, "but … well, okay, I'm probably worrying over nothing – I bet she's just making sure that Eri's comfortable where she is."

"Yeah," Ochako nodded a bit, glancing away. The two girls were quiet for a moment, until Itsuka quietly slipped her hand into Ochako's, which made the brown-haired girl smile bashfully as she squeezed it back with four fingers.

"So, uh …" Itsuka stared down at her feet, her cheeks turning red, "… I was having a few thoughts earlier."

"O-oh?" Ochako glanced at her, blushing as well. "What about?"

"About, uh … Wednesday night," She clarified, "it, uh … it sounds like my mom and dad are gonna take Eri out for more clothes shopping, and dinner. And, uh – and my grandpa is gonna go buy some new mats, too, so he might take a while. So I was … maybe thinking that if I was gonna have the house to myself, you and Izuku could come over, and – and we can order some pizza."

Ochako felt her cheeks burn even hotter, even as her smile grew.

"So, uh … a … dinner date?"

"Kind of," Itsuka nodded, smiling bashfully as well, "we could, uh … we could just have a night to ourselves. Talk about stuff … eat pizza … hang out …"

"…"

"… maybe … kiss a little …" Itsuka glanced away as her face burned even hotter.

Ochako had to resist the urge to hide her face, but still giggled and nodded.

"I'm so there," She confirmed, "and so will Deku. We can, uh – we can even talk about internships, if we wanna get that over with, or – or Heights Alliance, or –"

"Or Nejire?"

Ochako paused at that, feeling her smile fall. Itsuka, for her part, winced, as though she hadn't meant to say that name, but it was a little too late to take it back now as she turned to glance at her girlfriend.

"Uh … sorry," She shook her head, "killed the mood, didn't I?"

"N-no, you didn't," Ochako disagreed, waving her other hand, "just … you're right, we will have to talk about her eventually, and – and Wednesday night sounds good. We can talk about her over pizza and … uh … kissing."

They were both awkwardly silent for a moment. And then Itsuka sighed, as she adjusted herself in her seat to look at her.

"Listen," She said in a soft voice, "I know that … the whole Nejire thing is weird. It has to be weird for you, since – since it's me and Izuku being all – you know – infatuated with her. I – I just want you to know, that if you ever have a problem with it, you just tell us, okay? We'll drop it."

Ochako blinked a bit at that offer, but shook her head and smiled.

"I … I know," She assured her, squeezing her hand, "and … well, I'll admit that I'm still kind of confused over it."

"You and me both," Itsuka shook her head, "that girl is … well, she's stressful."

They both giggled a bit together.

"But still," Ochako shook her head again, trying to be serious again, "I thought about it, and … well, this whole thing is confusing, isn't it? You and me and Deku. So I'm just … I'm trying to do what we said, and take it day by day. And I'm being serious, I'm not just doing this to appease you and Deku – the whole Nejire thing is something that I want to try and understand for myself. So we'll … we'll talk about it with Deku on Wednesday, and … we'll take it from there."

Itsuka smiled gently at her, opening her mouth to say something – but then the sound of a train's horn cut that out, causing them both to look around as the train slowly made its way into the station.

Ochako smiled and stood up with Itsuka, about to let go of her hand so that she could make her way over – but Itsuka holding fast made her stop. Blinking, she glanced around to see Itsuka continuing to smile at her as she stood up as well, and, with her other hand coming to take Ochako's other hand in hers, the brown-haired girl realized what was about to happen, feeling herself blink and turn red again.

But still, she smiled a bit bashfully as she moved up on her tippie-toes, with Itsuka grinning happily as she reached over to cup Ochako's cheeks. The brown-haired girl went a bit red, and giggled as she closed her eyes, and Itsuka leaned in to give her a soft kiss.

They held it for a long moment as the train came to a stop behind them and opened its doors. Disconnecting with a small smack of their lips, Itsuka smiled down at her while Ochako bashfully glanced away.

"Goodnight, beautiful," Itsuka kissed her cheek, "see you tomorrow."

With that, she spun away from Ochako and started making her way out of the station, being sure to blow Ochako a kiss before she moved around the corner and out of sight. Ochako let out a small, breathless laugh as she goofily waved goodbye to her girlfriend, and then quickly ran over so that she could get on the train, brushing her pass against the automatic barrier and headed onto the train, and soon it closed its doors and started pulling out of the Chibu station.

With a soft sigh, Ochako leaned against the window in her seat and grinned like a dork. Honestly, the fact that their goodbyes were being emphasized with kisses now … she could get used to this. They hadn't had much time to kiss each other following their party, so … well, Wednesday night? A night alone with Izuku and Itsuka? She was going to take advantage of that to get all the smooches she wanted.

She let out another giggle at her excitement at that, glancing at her reflection in the window – and then her gaze trailed up to her hair, and she found herself stopping, blinking at the collection of pink up there.

Sitting up in her seat, Ochako quickly fished out her phone and started brushing her fingers through her hair. Yep … the pink hair was starting to spread, she realized with a grimace. It was starting to slowly push through her brown hair – while her head still had mostly brunette hair, there were still some flecks of pink that were standing out more and more, that were making her frown.

Just … what the hell did it mean? Why wasn't she noticing clumps of brown hair in the sink while this pink stuff grew in? Where was it coming from?

It was this question that bugged Ochako all the way home, eventually getting off the train in the Shizuoka prefecture and walking home. Once she got back to the apartment, she let out a soft sigh as she rode the elevator up to her floor, wondering how Melissa was settling in the Midoriya's and if she should stop by to see what they were up to – but as she got off the elevator, she glanced over, and saw her father standing at the door to another apartment.

Rather, he was standing near the door on the other side of the Midoriya's, taking a drink from his beer bottle with a small frown. Blinking, she adjusted her backpack's straps and walked over.

"Daddy?" She called out to him, seeing him jump a bit and look over at her. "What're you doing?"

"Oh! Chipmunk, yer back." He gave her a smile, walking over and ruffling her hair. He grinned when she grumbled and tried to fix her hair, although the sight of some pink strands caused him to grimace, unbeknownst to her. "We were just helpin' out new neighbors."

"New neighbors? Did someone move in?"

"That they did – here, let's introduce ya."

Giving her a smile, he moved to the slightly open door and pushed it open, grinning at the appearance of someone in the doorway.

"Hey, Natsuo," He greeted him as Ochako straightened out her hair and looked around, "mah daughter just arrived, just wanted to say hi."

"Oh! Hey!" Coming out the door, a guy roughly the same size of her dad grinned at her, raising his hand in greeting. He looked young, probably college aged, with spiky white hair and a warm grin on his face. He was wearing a gray sweater and blue-jeans, and looked pretty relaxed, if a bit tired.

Behind them, Ochako saw her mom standing with another woman who looked around at her with a soft smile, walking over to the door where she was standing. The woman was very pretty, with long white hair and a few wrinkles around her eyes doing nothing to disrupt her beauty. She wore a nice yellow cardigan over her blue dress, and gave Ochako a warm smile as she stopped before Ochako.

"Hello," She said in a quiet yet welcoming voice, "I've heard so much about you from your parents, Ochako."

"Um – hi!" Ochako smiled a bit awkwardly, sinking into a bow before the woman and her son. "Yeah, my – my name is Ochako."

"I'm Rei Himura," She introduced herself, lowering herself into a bow as well, "and this is my son, Natsuo. He was taking a day off from college to help me move in when your parents asked if they could help."

"It's the least we could do," Miwa gently patted her arm and smiled at her, "we like to think we're close with our neighbors, so please, if you ever do need some company, don't hesitate to come on over – we and Inko would love to have you."

"Thank you," Rei smiled at her offer, "and I'm sure that it'll be nice to have some neighbors again – most of my children are fully grown by now, they don't have time to come and visit their mother."

"Hey, I'm wounded!" Natsuo laughed, holding a hand to chest as though his mother had stabbed him. "I like to think that I drop everything when you ask me to come over."

"Well, I don't like taking up too much of your time, dear," Rei lightly smacked her son's shoulder, before looking back to the Urarakas as they stood out in the open hall, "in any case, thank you both so much for your help today – I imagine that Natsuo and I would still be putting things away if it weren't for you two."

"Don' mention it!" Taiyo grinned as Miwa bowed to them. "And come over any time! I'm sure that Inko would love tah have yeh come over for dinner some night, she always cooks lots for us."

"I'll consider it," Rei smiled, bowing again, "thank you."

With that, the two Himuras moved back into the apartment, wishing the Urarakas goodnight again as they closed the door. With that, the three of them walked back over to their apartment, Ochako letting out a tired groan while both her parents went strangely quiet.

"Well, I'm beat," She giggled as she heard her dad close the door behind them, walking over towards her room, "I think I'm gonna take a shower and –"

"Er – wait a sec, Chipmunk."

Blinking at the sound of her father's quiet voice, Ochako felt her step falter. Looking over her shoulder, she felt herself blink at both Taiyo and Miwa looking awkward, and … well … honestly a bit afraid, something that made Ochako straighten her back.

"Er … Mama? Daddy?" She glanced between them. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Miwa shook her head, although her voice sounded heavy, "it's just … there's something that we want to talk to you about."

Feeling her brow furrow, Ochako still took a step back, allowing her parents to lead her into the kitchen. Walking over to the table, they both sat down, and Ochako, after a moment of hesitation, sat down with them, feeling her stomach start to clench at the serious looks on both her parents' faces – truth be told, she was starting to feel a little scared.

"So …" Taiyo hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head, "… there was … somethin' we wanted to talk to you 'bout, Chipmunk."

"Uh … okay …?"

"And," Miwa, for her part, looked far more certain than her husband, although she still frowned, "we want you to know that – that no matter what, we love you."

Now Ochako was feeling more and more confused and nervous, glancing between both her parents as Taiyo pulled out a blue folder from under the table, and slid it across it to Ochako.

Feeling her brow furrow, Ochako slowly took it from her dad, and opened it, glancing down at the first page she came to.

Observation of the test subject shows that she's perfectly healthy – no deformities, hearing problems, eye problems, anything that the initial surgery warned about. The only difference is the appearance of pink fibers in her hair, indicating that the quirk factor of Kaina Tsutsumi was passed along successfully to Ochako. There have been no signs of other physical characteristics passed along to Ochako other than the pink hair that is estimated to grow in over the next month or so. It is currently unknown if the growth will stop at a certain point, or move to cover her entire head with pink hair.

She displays a combination of her father Taiyo's quirk and her mother Miwa's quirk, being able to remove the gravity of whatever she touches and float it. However, further study, and the presence of pink fibers in her hair, may indicate that a secondary mutation may become present in Ochako.

Reading the page, Ochako found her worried thoughts grind to a halt. Reading the first two paragraphs over and over again, Ochako found herself blinking – and then she looked back up at her parents, who were watching her reaction carefully with frowns.

"Uh …" She licked her lips, suddenly feeling like her mouth was dry, "… w-what does this mean, Mama, Papa?"

"…"

"…"

"Who's …" She glanced back down at the page, "… Kaina Tsutsumi?"

"…"

"…"

"… Kaina Tsutsumi," Taiyo said quietly, "is … our ex-wife."

"She's …" Miwa let out a shuddering sigh, "… she's your mother, Ochako. Your biological mother."

There was a long pause.

"She's … what?" Ochako said blankly.

"Yo!" Mirio shot his arm up in the air. "Togata's in the house!"

"Oh! Mirio, hi!" Bubble Girl happily smiled at him as she walked by with a stack of papers. "Didn't know that you'd be visiting!"

"Got a request from Sir to visit!" He informed her as he stepped into the office. "I'm probably not gonna take that long, it was just for a talk."

Indeed, the Nighteye agency seemed to be winding down for the evening, at least. From what Mirio could see, Centipeder's desk was empty, with the sidekick apparently having already headed home if his computer being off was any indication. Bubble Girl, meanwhile, looked far more relaxed and excited than he had seen her in a while, wearing a nice black dress and leather jacket over her shoulders as she put her paperwork in the finished stack for Nighteye to review later.

"You look nice, Bubble Girl," Mirio complimented her, giving her a happy grin as she straightened her back, "is Sirius back in town?"

"Yep," She grinned, unable to stop herself from looking absolutely ecstatic at the thought of her girlfriend, "she's got the next two week on the shoreline, since her boss sent an internship request to UA, so we're gonna have a date night tonight and spend some time together this week before she goes back on seas."

"Oh, nice! I'm thinking of doing something with Tamaki soon," He pointed at his chest with his thumb, "maybe a movie or something!"

"Sounds exciting!"

"Well, I won't keep you – have fun tonight! Don't do anything I would do!"

Bubble Girl merely giggled and smacked Mirio's shoulder, making him laugh as they passed each other so Mirio could make his way upstairs, giving the sidekick a wave bye as she headed out the door.

Indeed, Mirio had been in a pretty good mood – not just for winning the sports festival yesterday, with the gold medal in his pocket making him grin a bit wider, but also the fact that Tamaki had done something so assertive on Saturday, agreeing to head into the pier so they could make out a bit. Usually they'd keep that indoors, so the fact that Tamaki did something so adventurous was great! Of course, he had looked like he was going to shrivel up and die when that one guy interrupted them, but baby steps!

Reaching Nighteye's door, Mirio knocked rhythmically on it, already thinking of how to make a funny appearance, but hearing Nighteye say "Enter," with a tired voice made him briefly stop, his smile faltering a bit, and ultimately just opened the door and stepped in.

Indeed, Nighteye was slumped over at his desk, his glasses off as he rubbed his eyes, and looking far more tired than Mirio had ever seen his mentor. Still, he knew better than to try and make the scene serious, so Mirio quickly threw his leg up in the air, pointing straight at Nighteye while sticking his tongue in his mouth.

"Lemillion, reporting for duty!" He announced. "Well, not duty – I already went to the bathroom before I got here, but you know what I mean!"

Luckily, Nighteye let out a small huff – meaning that the joke landed, to his relief – and sat back as he took his glasses from his desk and put them back on his face.

"Thank you for coming in, Mirio," He stood up, "this won't take long."

"Well, I'm still surprised!" Mirio closed the door behind him. "I thought internships didn't start until the next few weeks – did you have any updates on the Shie Hassaikai?"

"Not yet, but …" He paused, and then shook his head, "… well, we can forget the Overhaul case for now. There's something important I wanted to talk to you about."

"Alrighty!" Mirio walked over to his seat, sitting down and waiting for his mentor to gather his thoughts. After a moment, Nighteye shook his head and leaned against his desk.

"Has Bubble Girl left yet?"

"Just passed her out the door!"

"Good … good," Nighteye nodded slowly, "that's good. Mirio, I wanted you to come here tonight because … there was something important we had to talk about. Something that I … know that I am betraying a dear friend for this, but … but things are more dire now than they have ever been. If he won't make the right decision … then I will now."

"Er …" Mirio felt his smile fade, feeling confused, "… sorry, but what do you mean, Sir?"

"Mirio," Nighteye gave him a sad look, "the truth is … there was another reason I took you on as an apprentice. And its name … is One for All."